The Conspirators

*The Conspirators: The Island League*, a serialized romance of Cuba and Cuban waters by Col. Prentiss Ingraham. The narrative opens in Havana harbor at midnight, where a seized pleasure yacht—actually a swift schooner armed with four brass guns—makes a daring escape under the command of a young, dark-haired helmsman and an elderly gray-haired patriot. After ramming Spanish guard-boats and narrowly avoiding collision with the American brig *Dart*, the vessel flees seaward. The gray-haired man identifies himself as a Cuban political prisoner escaping Spanish tyranny and death. As the fortress El Moro opens fire and the Spanish armed cutter *Magenta* gives chase, the Americans aboard the *Dart* sympathize with the fugitives' boldness, though their escape appears perilous.