The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1898-07-20

and retired. The newspaper men
'drifted off to make copy for next day s
papers. The girl in white aud blue
sat on, and McDuff waved her fau.
They talked like old friends, which
means that sometimes they did not
talk at all. Yet they had known each
other only a week. McDuff talked
about the North and she about the
East. They discussed books and
horses-the press and the army.
II saw young Brown of the Tenth
tonight. What a lot he has to say
about things he knows not of" said
McDuff. As the girl did not answer
he continued, telling of the "call-down"
delivered by the colonel.
She laughed--a little sadly.
'The colonel knew that Mr.. Brown
would very soon have chance to test
bis emotions" she answered.
McDuff smiled, feeling the weight
of his wal pass in his inside pocket.
"We all expect to get to Cuba in
side of two weeks" he said.
The girl looked at her watch.
"It is now eleven o'clock" she
said. eat half-past eleven Lieuten-
ant Brown starts for Cuba on q tug
loaded with ammunition and rifles.
He has fifty Cubans and few of our
regulars under him and will try hard
to make landing. You see, Mr.. Nc
Duff, that it is considered talent in
the army to be able to talk q great
deal without telling anything.
Sandy had no reply ready for this
statement. He wondered how she
came to know it ALL But he did not
ask. He only remarked upon the late
ness of the hour and went of toward
his rooms in town.
Three evenings later McDuff re-
turned from a hot ride, and went up
on to the second balcony to cool off.
He unbuckled his leggings, pulled q
cigar from one pocket and newspa-
per from another, and dropped into
steamer-chair. The first thing he saw
was an account of the landing of the
tug 'Lilly" on the Cuban coast, of a
fierce fight with Spanish cavalry, and
of the heroic behavior of Lieutenant
H. G. Brown and his men. The re-
port also said that newspaper corre-
spondent with the party had escaped
capture only through the bravery and
skill of this same young Brown, who
had freed the man, single-handed, from
the clutches of three Spaniards. The
enemy was defeated, the arms and
ammunition safely landed, and even
now the "Lilly" was on her return
trip to Port Tampa.
McDuff Immediately refastened his
leggings and went around to call ON
the girl in white and blue. He found
her in rustic chair, under a clump of
yellow-st -stemmed bamboo. He took
back all the evil he had said and
thought of Brown, and then praised
him highly.
"He was more successful on both
his other expeditions of the same kind"
she replied. They never had to fire
a shot BEFORE"
McDuff was painfully surprised.
"Why didn't he tell me that he had
been landing Cubans ever since the
declaration of WARP" he groaned.
A week went by and still the troops
were not ordered on board the trans
ports, and still the war correspondents
waited for the countersigning of their
passes. McDuff grew tired of rushing
about all day asking people what they
knew, so he decided to lie low and do
some work. He found that if he tried
to write during the day he lost too
much flesh, and at night he was near
ly killed by divers insects. So he
turned out few hundred words every
morning before breakfast, and spent
the rest of the day reading W. Clark
Russell's icy novel, '"The Frozen
Pirate" This and an outfit of white
duck clothing kept him fairly cool.
One night, much to his surprise, he
received call from Second Lieuten-
ant Brown. As they shook hands he
noticed an expression on his visitors
ldCc-u buuuOW dDOub bllo eyes WnlCH
had not been there at their last meet
ing. They sat down, and McDuff
spoke about Browns rescue of the
war correspondent.
eyes, replied the officer, 1T made
good newspaper story; but 1 am
sorry it came in my way. Remem-
ber what the colonel said the other
night about killing man? Well, the
colonel was right. One of the three
fellows who had hold of the corre-
spondent was a young captain-a man
who had received his education in
America. He and 1 were very close
friends once. About five years ago
he went home to Spain, and last week
1 shot him while he was looking
straight into my eyes-iust beginning
to recognize me. The man 1 rescued
wasn't worth that, L think"
Then Brown put his face in his
hands and cursed the necessity of
war. New York Independent.