As for Tacon's rewards, they were long as ineffective as his
revenue cutters and gunboats, and the government officials fell at length
into a state of despair as to how they should deal with the nefarious and
defiant band.
One dark, dull night, several months after the placards offering these
rewards had been posted in conspicuous places in Havana and elsewhere, two
sentinels were pacing as usual before the governor's palace, which stood
opposite the grand plaza of the capital city. Shortly before midnight a
cloaked individual stealthily approached and slipped behind the statue of
the Spanish king near the fountain in the plaza. From this lurking-place
he watched the movements of the sentinels, as they walked until they met
face to face, and then turned back to back for their brief walk in the
opposite direction.
It was a delicate movement to slip between the soldiers during the short
interval when their eyes were turned from the entrance, but the stranger
at length adroitly effected it, darting lightly and silently across the
short space and hiding himself behind one of the pillars of the palace
before they turned again.
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