Howard had been sent, as other correspondents before him, to obtain the news, pure and simple, and at any cost. It was known that no amount of money could purchase his silence should he learn of anything detrimental to one side or the other, which that side wished to suppress. The correspondent sent before him had been bought off by the Spanish leaders, but there was no danger of this occurring in Howard's case. He would have indignantly resented the first intimation of bribery. In order to obtain direct information of what the insurgents were doing, he must be armed with his letters of introduction to the various leaders. Having heard their stories, and made various inspections, he would then be ready to turn to the Spaniards for their version of affairs. Personally he sided with the Cubans; but as a newspaper correspondent, with a high idea of his position, the news, the whole news, and nothing but the news, was everything. He thought of all these things as he sat in the darkness, and then he arose slowly and cautiously, and made his way back to one of the main streets of the town, and thence to the Anglo-American Club. He had here met a young American named Dilwoddy, who was a Cuban sympathizer, and who knew the city from end to end. Calling this young man aside, he explained that there was a disturbance at the Plaza del Silveo, and asked concerning the soldiery gathered there. "Want to catch some news first lick, eh?" laughed Dilwoddy. "All right, come ahead; I'll take you where you can see it all, and still be safe." A quarter of an hour later found them in the upper room of a house in the vicinity of the plaza. From this point they could see all that was taking place, and here Howard witnessed, for the first time, a skirmish between the rebels and the soldiery. He, however, took small interest in the scene. His keen eyes were on the watch for Estella, and when he saw nothing of the fair girl, he grew much disturbed. Finally he left Dilwoddy, and at the risk of being captured, made a personal search throughout the neighborhood for the girl who had proved herself such a friend. The search was useless. Weary and disheartened, he was about to return to the vicinity of an American hotel, when of a sudden he ran into a tall man who at once caught him by the shoulder and swung him around. "Howard Sherwood! When did you arrive?" "Thomas Herringford!" exclaimed Howard, as he caught the hand of the lawyer who had once managed his uncle's estate. "This is lucky. I was going to hunt you up to-morrow morning. I got in to-day." "I expected you," rejoined Herringford. "So you are a newspaper reporter, eh? Then you are undoubtedly here to kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes." "I am." "Come to my home--it is close by. I want to talk to you about that land business, although I'll tell you at the start that the insurrection here has disarranged everything. The courts are so upset you can do nothing in them."