The Opelousas courier., 1900-01-20

noW-bears the name kalamazoo
M. M. B., In Kalamazoo Telegraph.
Row zalezzO Ended The War
Zalezzo was good and. tired Of 1t. 81,
had defended the republic until hi
patriotism had begun to have ~callouse.
upon it. He had marched around witt
q Dayonet stuck in his belt, being mar
tal for at least a dozen dictators, two
or three pretenders and seven presi
dents, and afar In the mist of the pas
he remembered that he had upheld
the throne of Spain. 1t seemed to him
that about every time he got a good
Job cutting bananas for the -cantract-
Ing fruit shippers of New Orleans some
dark-complexioned man with fierce
Spanish discourse would come out up
on the plantation and inform him that
1T was time for him to get his machete
and come along and defend the coun-
try against the invader. Privately
lalezzo much preferred using his ma
ehete in cutting banana suckers, and
thereby earning the money of the
Northern dealers, but being g. true
Nicaraguan he must perforce leave
rongenial employment and go out and
buster around In ragged attire and
wearing his gunless bayonet and with
his empty cartridge-belt cinched
around him.
So far as he knew Zalezzo had never
killed a man in the many campaigns
In which he figured. OF course, you
can argue out that that was. most nat
ural, for he had never carried a gun:
and an empty cartridge-beIt, even
though augmented by a dull bayonet,
is not effective UPON an enemy which
keeps the width of the sathmus away.
His conscience, therefore, was easy,
but his mind was not. He had been
waiting for i've years to get together
enough money to pay the high pre-
MUM on a marriage license, so that
he might fetch Kisti Into his house
with propriety and establish himself
as the head Of a Nicaraguan family.
lalezzo was q soldier of the Govern
nent and he felt that the right thing
to do was to do things right and get
married with q certificate OF permits
ZION printed In three c0lors and BEAR
Ing the triangular design of the seal
of Nicaragua. Several times he had
been within a sol or two of the price
# this documentary m~agnifcence, but
every occasion, just as he was
'eaching out for it. some kind of O war
vas sure to break Out-a revolution, d
evolt, an instruction, an assault upon
he Government-and a call would
'ome to him to take up the bayonet
md the empty cartridge-belt and 20
trutting about for the intimidation of
he miserable wretcles of the OPPOSE
ion.
AS I have said, Zalezzo was getting
ired OF 1t. He had, indeed, been tired
t 1t for some time. The last time the
onscripting colonel summoned y
been d tight f~ootrace between the
commissioned officer and the private
older through three hundred acres OF
anana plantation, and not until some
Hessians had introduced trip
ing ropes into the quest had Zalezzo
cen overcome ard hauled away in
riumph. He fought through three
lonths Of warfare, which amounted to
othing more than the loss Of his Job
the banana plantation, and returned
scarless veteran, without even the
Omfort Of having anything brave to
e about.
The b-anaTa-cutter had been work
lg but three weeks when his last
Immons came to him-three weeks of
arrest hoping against revolutions;
Tree weeks of aspiration In the mat
II Of Kisti and the Government liz
to wed. Then came the colonel
ace Q and mentioned casually the
lct TINT the President had decided to /
AXE an aggressive movement against
le Filessina faction, which was con- /
'ntrated somewhere up on the Pacific
cast.
You will get your bayonet,'' said the ]
lionel, land also your cartridge-beIt. /
I'D join the command at Blueields. Z
BluefieIds was about as far away
ON the Gene Of disorder as 1t was i
'ssible for q military base to be with /
infringement upon the Caribbean
a. But TINT was the manner Of Nj j
lraguan hghting-to get d long way 1
I and shout and make u fuss. "a |
who was now but thirteen soils 1
way from the amount which would
~ the license, was I'LL woe Of spirit.
E tried to convince the colonel that I
was suffering from an infectious /
sease. and that Il he we're to josa
e reginent-whieh meant f~ortyssix /
en-the command would be decf- 1
atea. ~ was useless, however. |
nglssez, N~aIezxo.s neighbor, had Of
Eed exactly The same excuse but dc i
an minutes before. The colonel was
'1anne against such argument. b
lleaao aaa N throw aWay liz job /