The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-07-22

We asked for guide, and the colone.
gave Us an escort of five men for oul
ride over the mountains.
The first ridge we rode up was . sim
pie illumination as to why the insur-
gents il they had food and ammunition
could hold out for years. There Is nc
getting men out Of such hills II they
choose to stay in them. The path, rocky
as the bed Of stream, xigzagged higher
and higher until the American feet
blockading Santiago was merely COL
lection Of tiny. shapeless shadows on
the steel bosom Of an immense sea. Z
AT tho summit we looked upon new
series Of ridges and peaks. near and far,
all green. A strong breeze rustled the
foliage. It was the 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 brawling, noisy brook like
an Adirondack trout stream. Then an
other ascension to another Cuban camp,
where just at 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 vari-
ous thistle and cactus spurs from his
soies. ccovel asked him In Spanish,
"Whers are your shoes?"
The tattered soldier coolly replied in
English. 81 lose dem in de woods. "
We cheered. "Why, hello there Where
did you come FRONT ~ To our questions
he answered: I'm New York. leve
dere, Mulberry street. One--t'ree year.
My name Joe Rilsx" There he stood.
bearded, black, a. aiIpcrfect type Of West
Indian negro, speaking tho soft. broad
dialect of these islands, and-harp of
lreland--his name was Riley. / have
heard of tall Guatamalan savage who
somehow accumulated the illustrious
name OF Duffy, but Riley.
AS we swung 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 were softly
limned against sky strewn with big
stars.
We were up in the cold of the dark
just before dawn. With 10 len as es-
cort. we moved again up the hills In
time we arrived on path that curved
around'the top of a ridge. Here we
found Cuban posts. They. having no
tools with which to dig trenches, nat
urally turn to the machete. They can't
dig down, so they build up. These Gu
ban posts were each fronted with curl
ous structure. mere rack made of sap
lings, 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 FIVE
to eight rifemen. These structures par
alleled the path at strategic points.
Soon we came to point wheve upon
looking across narrow but very deep
valley we could see in the blue dawn
the shine Of Spanish campfres 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 coSsd well be imagined. We slid
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
'lear. A stream was forded, and then
anne creep Of 500 yards through tall
yrass. There was Spanish post upon
ither hand-l00 men in one, 80 men
n the other. The Cubans had no tongues
md their feet made no sound.
To make long story short, there
we're some nine miles of this sort Of |
lodging and badgering and botheration
mine internal miles, during which
hose Cubans did some of the best scout
ng and covering in the world. At last
ve were at the foot of a certain noun
ain. Olympus, what a mountain Our
weary minds argued that to this one the
ther hills were as the arched backs of
ittens. We assembled it-no matter
ow--it took us years. At the top we
ny on the ground and breathed while
ne Cubans chopped hole in the foli-
go with their machetes. Then we got
p and peered through this hole and saw
what? Santiago de Cuba and the har-
or, with Cervera's feet in it and the
hole show.
The escort only behaved badly once.
seems they had had nothing to eat
ut mangoes for three weeks, barring q
svorite mare which some stern patriot
ad sacrificed to the general appetite,
Ve were within two miles Of the insur-
ent lines and passing through thick
ood when the escort sighted tree
den with mangoes and with luscious
pc ones crowding the ground. The
'ptain raved in whispers and gestured
sblimely, but it was Of no benefit.
hat escort broke formation and scat
rod Aitfsnev ,,n,co1oocIx, a,,l .v~c Ll... |