The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1900-01-25

rainy season river, during the dry
season a rivulet. Along the southern
bank of the stream there was a mar
row strip of scattered woodland, be-
yond that three-mile strip of roll
ing prairie, and then a ridge sur
mounted by another bit of timber.
Eve miles beyond the ridge on a lit
tie eminence clustered the town of
Santa Barbara. 1t was an insurgent
stronghold, and its assault and cap
| ture were the first work of the au-
tumn campaign cut out for the little
detachment of American troops quar-
tered at Jaro. The American outpost.
| No. Z, was on the Jaro bank of the
stream. Just as a faint streak of
hight lllumined the eastern sky one
morning two privates clasped hands
with the pickets on No. Z, listened to
last word of caution from an officer
and then silently waded the stream
and disappeared in the timber on
the opposite shore. The officer stood
motionless for a few moments. with
ears strained for sound of the scouts.
and then, as the blazing sun leaped
above the horizon without the pre-
limlnary of dawn, he turned and
walked through the dusty streets of
Jaro to his quarters.
1t lacked an hour of midday. A mile
to the south of lJaro, in a slight dip in
the rolling prairie, two men in khaki
uniforms wriggleo cautiously through
the tall snn-crispeo grass. The sunrw y
Trectly overhead voneyed white-hot ar
rows that pierced them through and
through. They reelled with perspira-
ton; their faces were thorn-torn and
dust-smeared. The horny right hand
of each was wound in blue handker-
chief to protect it from the blistering
heat of the rifles they dragged along
| the ground beside them. They moved
| by inches, their faces ffattened to the
ground. After gaining each foot or so
of ground they rested side by side, their
cheeks fiat to the ground and looking
in each others bloodshot eyes. They
painted and their tongues lolled like
those of heat-spent dogs in August.
Their dust-crusted lips gasped for wa
ter and their lungs sucked wistfully for
air. Thus slowly, arduously. they pro-
crossed for another mile. Then one of
them lifted himself cautiously to his
knees and glanced first forward and
then to the rear. Then he fattened
out again, and, painting. whispered:
Were two-thirds of tn way from
timber to timber
sight any Kakiack pickets?" asked
the other.
i shake of the head was the answer.
and again the two men painted and
stared in each others eyes. Their lungs
laEoored huskily. The animate earth
seemed in dizzy, strangled silence for
lack of air.
"sevenspot," finally gasped the
larger man of the two, ''if you were in
the Waldorf-Astoria right now, what
would you order?''
Sevenspot Tapped a swollen. dust
rough tongue along mis- cracked lips.
''Darned av | know" he whispered.
'but av I were in Dolan's I'd order
corned bate an billed cabbig an key
ay cool beer"
| BIZ, continued sevenspot, after a
breathing spell, ''pwhat putt a college
man loike you in tn regulars ~
Bill hesitated. under perssure of mois-
tening his lips with moistureless
tongue. Then he whispered vehement
ly fiercely: Back in the states. in
time of peace, an enlisted man is dog.
isn't he?''
Sevenspot nodded.
But now"
Sevenspot nodded again.
But now" continued Bill, passion
ately, land right here. a soldier is a
man. And he wouldn't step aside to
kick the shins of the feather-bed men
who look down upon him in the states.
would he? The featherbeds back there
wonder what fool soldier Of $3.50
finds to be proud of. If one of them
could be in my boots right now and
could feel like | do in here, right now.
he'd know, wouldn't hep"
Bill struck his breast with his
clenched fist. and Sevenspot nodded.
''And Their" said Bill, less vehement
ly, there was a"
He came to full stop. Sevenspot
waited and then finished the sentence
for him: "A woman in it! Not
brown, but a white Margarita. An We
think she'll weep a bit when she sees
your name among TIL dead heroes?
An you're married to betel-chewin'
brown wan"
'Sevenspot," began Bill, "have you
ever noticed"
With his rife barrel Sevenspot list
lessly poked a tarantula that was com
ing his way and headed it in the other
direction. 1t would have required an
effort to lift the rife and smash it.
"Sevenspot," resumed Bill. did you
e--erric sTiis rims TsTaTru'
Sevenspot shook his head. Then he
said: "But there's an ondacint lizard.
about two feet long, pwhat roosts in tn
timbers over me bunk an shouts in his
Slape, An there's another that cIa+