Having attached himself to the American for better or for worse,
no human power could serve to detach him, so he asserted. He
threatened, moreover, that if he were compelled to suffer his
benefactor to go alone into the west he would lay down his arms
and permit General Gomez to free Cuba as best he could. Cuba could
go to Hades, so far as Jacket was concerned--he would not lift a
finger to save it. Strangely enough, Jacket's threat of defection
had not appalled General Gomez. In fact, with a dyspeptic
gruffness characteristic of him Gomez had ordered the boy off,
under penalty of a sound spanking. But Jacket had a will of his
own, likewise a temper. He greeted this unfeeling refusal with a
noisy outburst of mingled rage, grief, and defiance. Stamping his
bare feet, sobbing, and screaming, the boy finally flung himself
upon the ground and smote it with his fists, while tears streamed
from his eyes. Nor could he be silenced. He maintained such a
hideous and surprising uproar, answering Gomez's stern commands to
be silent with such maniacal howls, that the old soldier was
finally glad to yield his consent, incidentally consigning the
rebellious youth to that perdition with which he had threatened
Cuba.
Having won his point, Jacket regained his composure with
suspicious suddenness and raced away to triumph over his beloved
O'Reilly.
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