This treaty was supposed to protect American citizens from trial by martial law, but it was disregarded by Spanish officials in Cuba time and again, and, in fact, up to the time of General Lee’s arrival in Havana, an American citizen had very little advantage over a Cuban insurgent, when the safety of his property or his person was concerned.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Maceo dead by treachery.

A Great Leader in a Great Cause—­A Modern Judas—­The Worthy Son of a Noble Sire—­The Farewell Letter—­An Estimate of Maceo’s Character—­Rejoicing Among Spanish Supporters—­Their Mistaken Belief—­Patriotic Ardor of the Insurgents.

In the death of Antonio Maceo the Cuban cause lost one of its strongest defenders.  Besides being a man of acute intellect, and a general of great military skill, he had the rare gift of personal magnetism, and no one ever followed his leadership who did not feel for him the devotion which often gives courage to cowards and makes heroes in the time of need.

That his death was due to treachery there is little doubt.  Doctor Zertucha, his physician and trusted friend, is accused of having betrayed him to the Spaniards.  An Insurgent officer, who was with the general when he received his death wound, says that they heard gun shots in the vicinity of Punta Brava.  Zertucha galloped into the brush a short distance and returned, calling to them to follow him.  Maceo at once put spurs to his horse, and, followed by his aides, rode swiftly after the physician, who plunged into the thick growth on the side of the road.  They had ridden only a short distance, when Zertucha suddenly bent low in his saddle and swerved sharply to one side, galloping away like mad.  Almost at the same moment a volley was fired by a party of Spanish soldiers hidden in the dense underbrush, and Maceo and four of his aides dropped out of their saddles mortally wounded.

The single survivor, the one who tells this story, managed to make his way back to his own men, and brought them up to the scene of the tragedy, but the bodies had been removed, and when they were finally discovered, they had been mutilated in a most shocking manner.  It was then learned that one of the victims was Francisco Gomez, a son of the Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban army, who was one of Maceo’s aides.  It seems that his wound was not necessarily a fatal one, but he refused to leave his dying commander, and rather than to fall alive in the hands of his foes, he committed suicide.  This letter was found in his hand: 

Dear Mamma, Papa, Dear Brothers:  I die at my post.  I did not want to abandon the body of General Maceo, and I stayed with him.  I was wounded in two places, and as I did not fall into the hands of the enemy I have killed myself.  I am dying.  I die pleased at being in the defense of the Cuban cause.  I wait for you in the other world.  Your son,