defend the honor of our great nation, and it was evident to all
that the time was near at hand when actual warfare was to begin
both on land and sea.

The insurgents in Cuba, who have been struggling against almost
overwhelming odds for so many months, received the glad tidings of
American intervention with unbounded joy, and at once sent
representatives to the United States to arrange for co-operation
in the invasion of Cuba, and to assist in planning a systematic
campaign against the Spanish forces. Every arrangement was
completed for final action and with men and money, munitions of
war and ships, all in ample supply, it was evident that the
crucial test was soon to come, and that war was at last an actual
fact.





CHAPTER II.

HOW COLUMBUS FOUND THE "PEARL OF THE ANTILLES."

In gratitude of Spain to the Great Discoverer Who Gave Her a New
World--How Spain's Evil Colonial Policy Lost the Western
Hemisphere to That Obsolete Nation--Early Settlement of Cuba--
Character of the Natives at the Time of the Discovery--Founding of
the First Cities--Havana Becomes the Island Capital--Docility of
the Natives and Their Extermination by Spanish Oppressors.