A Prisoner of Morro; Or, In the Hands of the EnemySinclair, Upton
History
A Prisoner of Morro; Or, In the Hands of the Enemy
Sinclair, Upton
Spanish-American War, 1898 -- Fiction
What the mysterious man saw was a tall, handsome American in a blue
uniform, his face rather pale.
Clif in turn saw also a man in a blue uniform; he had to take but one
glance to see that he was a lieutenant in the Spanish army.
He was a tall, finely proportioned man, rather young, and with a slight
dark mustache. He had the dark skin and the features of a Spaniard; but
Clif thought he had never seen a finer looking military man.
For a moment Clif gazed at him in silence. Then he stepped toward him.
"Tell me, sir," he said. "Why have you done this?"
The officer answered in a low, quiet voice:
"You will soon know," said he. "Do not be impatient."
"You have saved me from a horrible fate," said the cadet, his voice
choking. "I do not know how to thank you."
"Do not try," answered the other. "You have some one else to thank."
And then he became silent again, watching Clif. He seemed to be very
much interested in him, from the way he studied the American's face. And
once he gave a slight sigh.
Clif looked at him in surprise; but the man turned away, and he went
toward the door.
"I will return soon," said he, again in that quiet, firm voice. "Wait
here."
There was nothing for Clif to do but wait; for when the door shut he was
locked in the cell.
That man's action was a mysterious one indeed. It left the cadet plenty
to think of. He saw now where he got the keys. He was evidently one of
the officers in charge of the castle.
But why had he done it? Clif was utterly baffled before that question.
But it was not for very long; he soon learned, and in a startling and
unexpected way.
Clif had not noticed it, but there was another door to that cell. It was
behind him, leading to a small room in the rear.
While he stood there motionless and lost in thought waiting for the
Spaniard's return, that door was silently opened, and a figure stood
watching him.
And then suddenly it stepped out and came across the room.
The cadet heard it then, and whirled about. He took one glance.
And then he staggered back with a cry of consternation.
It was Bessie Stuart!
For one instant the two stood and stared at each other as if to make
sure that their eyes did not deceive them. And then, with a cry of
delight that came from his very soul, Clif sprang toward the girl.
Bessie Stuart looked as if she had been through some terrible ordeal,
for her face was pale; the emotion of meeting Clif almost overcame her,
and she burst into tears upon his shoulder.
Clif himself was so dazed that he hardly knew what to think. He caught
the girl in his arms to keep her from falling.
"Bessie," he cried, "how on earth did you get here?"
The cadet's brain was in a whirl at that moment. He began to see what
the Spaniard meant when he said it was for some other person's sake that
he had rescued Clif. It was for her sake!
And it must have been by some terrible sacrifice that she had saved him
from the torture.
"Bessie!" he cried. "Tell me--that officer. What----"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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