Melvin Weaver

Waste Places Melvin Weaver

Brenten Justin was just a young lad living in southeast Florida when his parents were drowned in a hurricane. Upon their deaths, his only sister, Melanie, and her new husband, Mark Carson, adopted Brenten. After struggling for a few years, Mark got a job as a deck hand aboard the Virginius that was running guns and supplies to the insurgents in Cuba. The Spanish navy captured the ship and all those aboard were hanged. A few years later, Melanie died, as well, of heartbreak. Brenten swears revenge against Spain, and when old enough, works his way to Cuba and joins the rebel forces. He soon finds that vengeance offers little reward, and helping to alleviate the suffering of a whole people brings much greater satisfaction. Thus he decides to devote his considerable energies and talents to the cause of ridding Cuba of a cruel and unjust Spanish tyranny.