The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-07-19

with his raven Black haff, MS broad
white forehead. his long straight nose
and delicatelv curving lips; but he had
a pair of such cold blue eyes as made
Won wonder that they could have been
mismated with his dark hair and eye
brows. The common expression of his
face was unprepOssessing, even when
he smiled. 1t was not face to invite
the confidence of a stranger.
The contrast between him and his
companion was marked. The latter
was a head shorter, stout, squarely
built and muscular, with great rough
hands, and big head set upon his
broad shoulders with little appearance
of neck. A thick mat of grizzied hair
covered it, and shaggy eyebrows al
most hid his little twinkling gray eyes.
His face was tanned and Drowned by
sun and wind, a great livid scar showed
where his whole check had been once
laid open by sword-cut, and stubbed
beard and mustachc covered his lower
face. Notwithstanding the heat of the
sun, he wore tarpaulin hat and a
heavy dreadnaught coat. He looked
precisely what he was-a son of the
sea. who had followed it two-thirds of
his life, who was never at home when
| ashore, and who had sailed to every
quarter of the globe. His age was
nearly sixty years.
As he looked now upon the crowd
and the preparations for the execution,
his sturdy, honest face expressed an
Indignation that he dared not utter;
but his feelings found relief from time
to time by running commentary NUT
tered to the young man beside him.
1.-The Internal Spanish villains! All
the wonder to me is, that the Spanish
blood could make such q hero as the
man they are going to murder. There
must be some mistake about his family;
I'd bet a silver dollar there's dash Of
Anglo-Saxon blood in him.
"Uncle, uncle" whispered the young
man, "do be quiet! You'll be over
heard by some of these officers"
"Well, l wouldn't care very much.
feel ugly-that's the long and short
of it. tell you, Louis, if that noble
fellow up there had succeeded, he'd be
called another Washington or Bolivar;
and I'll be smashed if he wouldn' have
succeeded, too, and driven the whole
Spanish-Cuban army into the Gulf, if
he'd had with him two thousand of our
cOuntrymen such as stout old lack
Taylor had with him at Buena Vista,
when he rolled twenty thousand just
such soldiers as these here back over
the mountains. And I say, boy, that
if Washington or Bolivar had failed,
they'd have had the same fate dealt out
to them as Lopez. One would have had
the rope, and the other the garrote"
Twill you be quiet, uncle, or do you
want to get both of us in trouble9''
The sailor was by this time red and
angry. He looked at his nephew with
something like contempt, and said:
II don't think you're likely to get
into any trouble, Louis, that would
come from sympathy with any one
else.'
perhaps not" said the other, quiet
| ly, not in the least moved by his
uncle's retort. ''But l haven't any
sympathy to throw away on lot of
unwary adventures who 90 on des-
perate expedition with their lives in
their hands. The affair has turned out
just as | expected it would, and 1 say
they are being served exactly right"
The sailors wrath was rising higher
and higher.
"Well, by -, Louis Hunter, I'm
glad now that you're only my nephew
by adoption! My sisters own boy,
who died before she took you, had
some of the same blood that stirs in
my old veins; he wouldn't talk or think
as you do, if he stood here by my side
and saw what's going on up there"
The young man seemed not in the
least put out by the reproof. In fact,
he gave an irritating little laugh, which
| did not at all soften his uncle's dis.
pleasure.
you've got about as much blood as
goldfish" the sailor growled.
"Well, much OF little, don't mean
to get any Of it let out by these hot
tempered Spaniards. Now, uncle,
please stop talking. You've spoken so
loud already that you've attracted the
attention of some of them; and if you
don't stop III go back to the ship
alone and leave you to get into one of
their dungeons by yourself"
go, if You want to. I'll speak nv
mind, anyway. L always did hate a
Spaniard, and hate 'em to-day worse
than ever"
he probably did not intend to utter
this as defiance to the imposing array
of armed power that was right there
before hini: but he had become excited
by his own language and Louis indif-
terence, and his last words were spoken
quite loudly. The man in the sombrero
turned about, cast a quick glance at
his face, and then resumed his steady
gaze at General Lopez. The two Span
lards at his left also heard his words;
and though not perfectly understand
ing them, they evidently compre-
hendcd something of their meaning.
Both of them scowled, and the nearer
OF the two stretched his neck over to-
ward the two Americans, and hissed:
"Ah-Americano! Diabolo:'
Inc words were accompanied by a
siSnlhcant gesture, which plainly in
Dictated the putting on of hand-cuffs
| Inc sailor Understood Il and liz &C.,