Happy Days: Tom Taylor, The Boy Who Worried Blanco

Boy's Paper Serial: Spanish-American War Adventure This August 1898 issue of *Happy Days* features "The Boy Who Worried Blanco; or, How He Won His Stars," a Spanish-American War tale by H. K. Shackleford. Eighteen-year-old Tom Taylor seeks confiscated property documents from Cuban governor-general Blanco, who refuses on grounds of war preparations. Taylor vows to return and "worry" him. Taylor subsequently organizes over a hundred Cuban insurgents in Jacksonville with his own funds, procures a steamer with rifles and equipment, and lands secretly on Cuba's coast. Elected captain by his men, he establishes a base at La Palma village. A mysterious Cuban woman warns him that a new recruit, Antonio Rodriguez, is a Spanish spy for Weyler and Blanco. Though fellow soldiers vouch for Rodriguez's character, Taylor resolves cautious surveillance. The narrative combines personal vengeance with military adventure in the nascent war.