The age-herald., 1898-09-18

' rena on me.
 l But in the little hotel La Duke Pere moved around softly. The counter did not l shine so bright; the glasses did not look l so cheerful and even the long-necked fat l blied bottles looked dull. He looked at his 1 daughter-.n-iaw. She was weeping quietly | and had the little one clasped firmly to her breast, The old man went yer and said: | Let us say prayer fir his safe return | So the three of them prayed to Le Bon | Dieu to send safe home the missing one But he-he was to be court martialed and l jailed for life
 | CHAPTER ". | Hell make a splendid soldier" said the lieutenant after Private La Duke had sa- | Iutrd wheeled round, and marched off, af- l fer having received a few hours off. Cad, l I'd like to have his build myself" said the l lieutenant, and he sighed as he looked him | self oyer "No help for 1t, however" and 1 the lieutenant sat down to write to the | folks at home.
 | Ii was hot that afternoon in Ponce, l Porto Rico The streets of the little town | were crowded with natives, who gazed ana | feasted their eyes on los Americanos to | their hearts content. Occasionally a na- | five would address some American soldier l very laboriously with "How do you do, l Mester" and his companions would admire | his knowledge of the American tongue. l Even the Moros lying in the Plaza under 1 the shade of a monster Ceba tree were | picking up the language One. surrounded l bv a crowd of half naked compeers was | saving with great fluency and fervency | "Damn" He was learning fast. Through | this motley crowd strode Private La Duke l needless of their "Buenor Tarde Senor' needless even of admiring glances. | On pretty girl said to another: "Ei Amer i icanco soldad es ny grand
 | "Si" said the other Gel es my synpatica. | But Private La Duke needed not. He did | not even know that synpatica meant every | thing that was lovely and sweet, that noth- | ing could be said after that.
 | He sauntered along, for the blazing sun made fast walking impossible. But what made him stop at Calle Aphonso? He | slowly spelled the letters over the rude | looking door of the tumble-down shanty on ] the corner. C-A-N-T-I-N-A. Ahi he knew l what that meant. He would go h, not that he meant to drink anything, but he wanted | to rest, and besides there were a number | of regulars inside. So Private La Duke en- tered and as he did he shivered But the shiver passed and Private La Duke | called for a sangaree.
 "Take aquadiente, La Duke" shouted one | of the soldiers. "Theres fire in that, my boy"
 Private La Duke did take aquadiente, and ps he swallowed a glass of the fiery liquid, | felt the blood dash madly through his voire and his eyes begin to sparkle. The sun began to sink ust then. and as it slow ly slid out of sight, it left the horizon blood red. It looked like a sea of blood. Even the feGtrory palms had a ruddy gleam. But Private La Duke only glanced careless ly at the setting sun He had already be- come familiar with the tropical sunset, and the marvellous beauty of the scene did not | appeal to him. It was dark now, and he | turned to the light inside.
 1 Men were drinking, and this fiery liquor ' ;1.is something they were not used to- l Private Alexander La Dukes hot blood was | afire, and 1t needed but a word to start the 1 explosion The word came, for a second the veins on La Dukes forehead looked as if they would burst, then quick movement of his hand, the sharp crack of a revolver. | and Private Stafford of the regulars pitched forward. He fell face forwards on the | earthen floor, and a tiny stream of some thing red began to trickle towards La Duke. He looked duly at it. and at the thing that lay at his feet, then the revolver slipper from his fingers. He covered his face with his hands and wept.
 "He is dead" said the keeper of the catina, carelessly, and then he added ad- miringly. ''It was good shot" He rubbed his hands and smiled. Business would be good tomorrow. He could tell how the Americanos quarreled, and even show the stains of the dead mans blood "Bueno senores. Bueno," for business would indeed be good, Manana. Vira DOT el Americana soldados!
 No man can tell the thoughts that ran through Private La Dukes mind that | night as he sat in a crouching fashion in an adobe hut with an armed sentry pacing backwards and forwards. No man can tell | his thoughts for he kept them to himself!
 Did he think of his past life his parting | from wife, child and father? Did he think of his dearms of honor, fame and glory and | a heros name? Or did he think of the sud- den brawl in the cantina, and the dead man on the floor with the tiny stream of red trickling? An! who knows. It was a long and dreary night for the doomed soldier Well he know what his fate would be-a lifetime in a jail-yet he was anxious for the night to pass and to see the sun rise once more.
 Finally came a few streaks of gray, and La Duke shivered. He was cold. The sentry drew a long breath and expanded his chest. His duty nearly done Then the sun came forth in all his glory and the night mists fled before it. The lizards crawled out and began to bask on the logs and sand banks. The natives were drink ing their coffee and eating their three pieces of pan dulce. A new day had been born.
 Private La Duke was hurried before the court martial. There were no extenuating circumstances; nothing to warrant delay and the sentence was: "To be imprisoned for life"
 Ay de mi. It was indeed a grand day, the sun beaming gloriously down, and the air perfumed with the fragrance of many tropical flowers. But La Duke marched with steady step to his prison cell, noting not these things. His thoughts were far away. He heard not the murmur, "Le pobre soldado" by the girl who only the day before had called him "synpatica." He heard nothing and saw nothing.
 A file of soldiers stopped before a little hut. There was one without arms, who walked with bowed head and heavy tread. It was Private La Duke, the man who might have been a hero
 The door changed as La Duke began a lifes expiation, and the lieutenant murmur- ed regretfully: "He would have made a good soldier"
 The Champion Snake Story