other ways. The people were not glad that war had begun, but they felt
that their country was doing right, and that they ought to support her
efforts.

And what was the cause of the war? Spain, a large country across the
Atlantic Ocean, in the southwestern part of Europe, owned some of the
islands, called "West Indies," near the United States. Spain had been
unjust and cruel to the people living in one of these islands, for
many years. Several times the unhappy islanders tried to drive the
Spanish from the island, and set up a government of their own, but
Spain sent so many soldiers there that they could not get their
freedom. They fought bravely, however, but matters kept getting worse
and worse, and at last Spain sent a very cruel general to take charge
of affairs in the island. His name was Weyler, and he determined to
conquer the islanders. After a while he found he could not do it by
fighting them, so he sent his soldiers to drive those who were not
fighting away from their homes and farms and make them live in or near
the large cities. When he had done this, the people had no way to earn
money to buy food for themselves and their families, and soon they
began to get sick and to die of starvation. The cruel Weyler would not
give them anything to eat, and so they died by thousands.

[Illustration: Cuban Flag.]

When this dreadful state of affairs became known in the United
States, kind people sent several ship-loads of food and medicines and
clothing to the sufferers. This did a great deal of good, but all the
poor people could not be reached and they continued to die. Finally,
the United States told Spain that she ought not to have such a cruel
man at the head of affairs, and after a while Spain sent another