The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-01-03

/
Then. if you won't resign. and
won't order an election, why can't you
| bolt some dark night with the treas
ury under your arm?
The presidents eyes flashed angrily
as 1 said this and / could see that he
was pretty mad However, he con-
trolled himself and said, in dignif1ed
way:
/ Don Smith, you don't seem to I'M
! derstand that for a president TO run
away with the treasury, without the
excuse of a revolution, would be both
dishonorable and unconstitutional l
! trust that | am incapable of such con-
| duct. 1 have always ruled this coun-
try in a strictly constitutional man
ner, and when 1 leave the presidency
it will be in the way that the consti-
tuition provideS-that is to say, by
| being turned out by revolution In
| that case 1 shall have the right to
take the treasury with me, and no
one will dare to say that 1 have acted
| dishOnora bly,.
.'All right said /. I don't pretend
to understand your scruples, for l am
practical American politician, and L
don't know anything about the sort OF
honor that you Spanish-AmericanS are
forever talking about, But that is
neither here nor there. 1 think l know
what you want. You want someone
>
drive you out of the country in the
usual Central American way
Just SOL said Don Villar Y Villar.
I know that man of your intelli-
gence could not fail to understand and
appreciate my situation. | have been
simply longing for a revolution ever
since the sum in the treasury reached
500, OOO but this Internal nation is so
well contented with my rule that
nothing can induce it to rebel. For
all 1 can see, 1 have got to stop here
and be president for the rest of my
life. and 1 tell you that it is a mighty
gloomy prospect. When l think Of
the good times all the exiled presi-
dents in Paris are having at this iden-
to stay here, even though 1 do have
the pleasure of playing poker with the
American minister
well, / felt downright sorry for Don
Villar Villar, f. he was by long
odds the best pu man that I had
met in any part Cenr l America.
So l just said to him. on the spur of
me l would undertake to get up
revolution against him in less than a
fortnight.
1T wasn't till after he had jumped
at my offer, and called me his pre-
server. and his dearest friend, that it
occurred to me that what | had really
undertaken to do was to help him steal
all the money in the treasury. How
ever, / remembered that he was
Central American. and that his morals
being of the Central American kind,
weren't like those of you and me.
"Of course, if l had been president
of Zarguela I should have considered
ii stealing to run off with the treasury,
especially as l could have collared the
shipshape decree that my salary should
always be equal TO the entire amount
in the treasury. However 1 had prom
iSed Don Villar V Villar to raise a
revolution for him, and l calculated to
keep my word, no matter what il might
cost my conscience.
Now 1 was acquainted with Captain
Intimidad, who commanded the preSi-
dents guard of honor, and was reSpon-
sible for the safety of the palace. 1
knew him a great deal better than the
president knew him, although the pres
ident saw him nearly every day. You
see that there couldn't be any intimate
social intercourse between a president
and mere captain; whereas l, being
an Independent American citizen, could
associate with any man who suited
me, no matter what his rank might
be-
This Captain Intimidad was a ro-
mantle sort of young chap, who be-
iieved that the president was the great
est and best man that ever lived. He
often said to me that he loved Don
Villar Y VilIar so devotedly that he
would die for him at any moment. I
felt pretty sure that if 1 went to work
in the right way l could persuade In
timidad to head a revolution and, as
the result proved, l was right.
Il called on Captain Intimidad the
next morning, and after a little pre-
liminary conversation about the
weather and bull fighting, and consti-
tutional law, and such like things. I
Queen Victoria had asked the presi-
dent to come to England to consult
with her on an affair of tremendous
Importance, but that it was absolutely
necessary that no one should know
anything about the matter except that
Don Villar Y Villar had left Zarguela
for parts unknown.
Now continued !, according to
your constitution the president cannot
leave the country for a single day I'M
less he is regularly and constitutionally
turned out by a revolution. In these
circumstances the president wants you
to rebel and drive him out of the coun-
try next Monday night. He expects you
to hold on to the presidency for, say
six months, when he will return and
head a revolution that will put him
back in office again. 1t stands to rea-
son that he can't speak of this matter
to you directly, so he has asked me to
arrange it with YOU. He said to me
as I left the palace last night:
Captain Intimidad is the only man
in Zarguela who loves me enough to
do me this little favor. Tell him that
there must be no unnecessary blood
she'd and that if he will send his bill
for the expenses of the revolution to
me l Will pay it at once
THE young captain was at first
knocked all in a heap by what / said
to him. but little by little he got to
understand that the president was
really anxious for a revolution, and
whatever his beloved president might
desire.
II told him that the president had
left all the details of the revolution to
me, and that I should rely on the de-
votion of the brave Captain Intimidad
to carry out my instructions. You
see I had already agreed to help the
president to steal the treasury, but
drew the line at stealing. but 1 didn't
propose that anybody should be killed
in any revolution of which l had the.
management.
Il spent the rest of the day thinking
out plan of action and in making the
necessary preparations for war. had
80 rifles brought secretly to the pal
ace, and planted them at the second
story windows. as if they We're so
many cannon, though I took good care
that they should not be visible from
the outside of the palace
When these were loaded and in