The Wadsworth dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1892-1899, 1898-09-17


ana higher unul tho American neeU
hlockadinS SsG1iago was merely a eel
lection OF tiny. shapeless shadows on
tho steel bosom of an immense sea.
AT the summit we looked upon u new
series of ridges and peaks, near and far,
all green. A strong breeze rustled the
foliage. 1t was tho kind of COUNTRY in
which commercial physicians love to
establish sanitariums. Then down we
went. down and down, sitting ON the
pommels OF our saddles, with our
stirrups near the ears Of the horses.
Then came a brawling, noisy brook like
an Adirondack trout stream. Then an
other ascension to another Cuban camp,
where just ut dusk the pickets in
punches Of three were coming in to re-
port to the captain, lazily aswing. One
barefooted negro private paused in his
report from time to time to pluck yuri-
ous thistle and cactus spurs from his
soles. Scovel asked him in Spanish,
"Shere are your shoes"
The tattered soldier coolly replied in
English, ~ lose dom in de woods. ="
We choered. why, hello there! Where
did you oone from!'' To our questions
he answered: I'm New York. / leye
dere, Mulberry street. One-t'ree yenr.
My pane Joe Riley" There he stood,
bearded, black, n perfect type OF West
Indian negro, speaking tho soft, broad
dialect of these islands, and--harp of
lreland-his name was Riley. l have
heard Of a tall Guatamalan savage who
somehow accumulated the illustrious
name Of Duffy. but Riley
AS we SWING and smoked in our ham,
mocks the Cuban soldiers crooned mar.
velous songs in the darkness, while the
freight covered with crimson glare
some naked limb or made tragic some
dark, patient face. The hills We're solely
iimned against a sky strewn with big
stars.
We were up in the cold of tho dark
just before dawn. With 10 men al es-
cort. VIZ moved again up the hills, In
time we arrived en- a path that curved
around the top Of n ridge. Here we
found Cuban posts. They. having no
tools with which 60 dig trenches. nat
urally turn to the machete. They can't
dig down, " they build up. These Gu
ban posts were each fronted with q curt
ous structure, q mere rack made Of sap
iings, tied fast with sinewy vines and
then filled with stones. They were
about six feet high, one foot thick and
long enough to accommodate from Ave
DO eight riiep,en. These structures par
alleled the path at strategic points.
Soon we came TO a point where upon
looking aoross a narrow but very deep
we could see In the blue dawn
the shine Of Spanish campfires. They
were within rife range, but we skunk
along unseen. Our horses had now been
left behind. Then came a dive into the
dark, deep valley-into Spain. The hill
side was the steepest thing in hillsides
which could we'll be imagined. We slid
practically from tree to tree, our escort
moving noiselessly below and above us.
By the time We reached the bottom of
this hill the day had broken wide and
clear. A stream was forded, and then
came a creep Of 500 yards through tall
grass. There was a Spanish post upon
either hand-100 men in one. so men
in the other. The Cubans had no tongues
and their feet made no sound.
To mako u long story short, there
were some nine miles of this sort of
lodging and badgering and botheration
nine Internal miles, during which
those Cubans did some of the best scout
ing and covering in the world. At last
we were at the foot Of a certain noun
tain. Olympus, what a mountain Our
weary minds argued that to this n the
other hills were as the arched backs Of
kittens. We assembled it-no matter
how-it took us years. At the top we
lay on the ground and breathed while
the Cubans chopped n hole in the foli-
age with their machetes. Then we got
up and peered through this hole and saw
what? Santiago de Cuba and the har-
Dor, with Cervera's feet in it and the
whole show.
The escort only behaved badly once.
It. seems they had had nothing to eat
but manages for three weeks, barring a
favorite mare which some stern patriot
had sacrificed Il the general appetite.
We were within two miles of the insur-
gent lines and passing through a thick
wood when the escort sighted o tree
laden with mangoes and with luscious
ripe ones crowding the ground. The
captain raved in whispers and gestured
sublimely, but it was Of no benefit.
That escort broke formation and scat
tered, fitting noiselessly and grabbing.
In QUE Of the camps we stopped to
lunch upon one a Of beef. 1t was a
mango CamD. Our manRo escort was