The National tribune., 1899-05-18
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By THOMAS c. FISHERMAN.
ht 1875 by the ruolis of THE NATIONAL Tnrrr'sr

tramp dogs had yielded to the SlumbrOus
sucll of the cast wind that whispered in
tee trcetoEs-
| The conversation drifted into mystic
mira culouS topics, ard once more | had
to marvel at the rank sGperstitionS of our
r.oSStrGoECrS, ne, Il couple OF weeks ago,
/ had buried q favor;te cOmrGde without as
much as n hint of religious ceremonies.
! At Tie Usll folded haEGS merely expressed
tie awe inspired ry the presence OF death;
confession, redemption, prayers, and the
horc of resurrection were not mentioned
with a single wCrd; but these same ag-
nostics believed in weed COLLINS. They
Ih2d a banteryroo faith i'll CmenS and
iarraritiors Dreams, they were sure,
Ifuresil2dowed every important event IN Il
mans existence, and were Shghted only
| because so many m0rtalS mad lost the
/ gift of Interpretation.
| Two days after we had strange visitor
! from the river settlements, an unkempt
zarpo. He was Mike Lopez, our ped
dler's brother-in law. The errand of our
visitor was important, to Judge by the
hurry of the Colonels OrderlieS, who
started from Headquarters i'll different dl-
rectionS few minutes after:
Excuse me; there's some trouble, 1t
seems" said the Lieutenant, VINO was
talking with the Doctor and myself, as he
FASTENED away TO meet one OF the mes
SengerS.
Here's news, sure enough" said he,
vixen he returned with his haversack and
cartridge belt; they have located that de
ser;er that made of with our best mule.
He ran into a nice trap, il seems; tried to
cross the river and was chased by a
Spanish patrol. They made the air hum
with bullets around his head, but didn't
kill him, mOrc'S the pity. And now he'S
| irving to ruin US to buy his pardon. Last
night he wanted TO hire this dGrky, and
,.t,n ha, cnt1In't 10 terms, he
hunted up another go-between, and they
know where he's hiding.
"The Colonel is going TO send down 70
men right away" continued the i.ieuten-
ant. "Fie is aching to go along, but me
Doctor doesn't want him TO rIsl< 1t IN this
spell of warm weather. He will be here III
a minute, about those shotguns they
bought from the Pelado- killers.
Il our informer was right, there was,
indeed, not much time 10 he lost. The
ltraitor-"El Chato' rFlatfacei, as the
men generally called him-had tried hard
to bribe him, and explained enough OF ms
plan to make it probable that he was
going to betray the location and ap-
proaches of oUr camp, as soon as the
Spanish scouts could be induced to guar
antee the safety OF his own hide. ABOUT
three miles west OF the Chino ranch ne
had contrived to engage an accomplice,
ard was now awaiting the results OF his
-
Carries ford. His movements were being
watched, and there was fair chance to
catch him in his own trap by approach
ing the grove from different directions.
In case he had already left, we mad a
plan 10 head him off, Spanish escort and
all, on the BayanlO road, by taxing d
short cut through the mountains Five
or six Spanish rangers had been scouting
along the north shore of the river for the
last few days, and our guide knew the
location OF their bivouac.
"lhey are all mounted" said Col. Par
raS, .'and I'm uneasy about results, II our
men should miss: they would gallOp out
of range, sure, in spite of scatter-voIleys.
How would II do to take every one OF those
eight silotguns along, and load them up
with slugs enough to clinch our iOb,'
"All right; I'll attend to the ammuni-
ton, | replied.
Can't. HoIgar had ordered out six mules,
but in case of a lengthy pursuit our
mounts were going 10 be left on this side
of the river, the hill iungles Of the north
shore being too tangled for cavalry opera
tions. With a little luck, the first volley
would settle the business, as it was not
likely that we would find more than SIX
rangers in bunch.
Catch them alive if you can, but don't
give them a ghost Of chance for tricks"
were the ColOnels parting instructions.
OFF on A MAN-HUNT.
The afternoon was Oppressively warm,
a thin haze vailing the river hills, and no
air stirring. Winter IN Cuba is about
over by the end OF January, and a more
or less protracted spell of dry, hot weather
makes the lowlanders yearn for the be-
ginning Of the rainy season. On the last
spur of the foothills our guide halted, and
cast an anxious look up and down the
river road.
"Erny Chino promised to meet us here,
If everything is all right" he said. His
father started 10 San Carlos on a peddling
trip, and you can never tell how far you
should trust boy. Maybe that rascal
came to terms with the Spaniards; but,
never mind, well catch him yet: they
won't leave camp before morning, on his
account
We were almost in sight Of the grove
when we at last met one Of our guides
assistants-a bareheaded lad.
That thief left two hours ago." he
reported; "he had a white man along, and
Erny ran ahead TO see If they crossed at
the ford. They didn't seem to be in a
particular hurry. We could have caught
him on the river If you had come Just one
hour sooner"
They can't beat us yet" said the
campo; "the weather has been so dry we
can ford the river almost anywhere, and
get way ahead OF them before morning