"Have you ever been in Cuba?"

"No, sir."

"Or travelled in Spain?"

"Yes, sir."

"Acquainted with its principal cities?"

"I am, sir," replied Ridge, wondering in what direction these questions
were tending.

"Are you willing to encounter great risks and undergo great hardships
in your country's service?"

"Certainly I am, sir," answered the young trooper, with flushed face,
for he began to suspect that some more important duty was to be
required of him than simply remaining in camp.

"In that case I am going to offer you the chance of winning your
country's gratitude, and possibly with it an ignominious death. It is
deemed imperative that some one intrusted with grave secrets should
immediately set forth on an important mission to Cuba. If his identity
is discovered before the task is completed, his fate will undoubtedly
be that of a spy. Knowing this fact, are you ready to undertake it?"

"I am, sir," was the decisive reply.