Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-06-03

which hsd Nm tF1nslcfn6d INTO I'D
racks. n each Of fhe Two long rows of
cots sat : United Mates regular. They
were engaged II the usual after bed
time smoke gossip. In one Of the cots
lay Forbes restlesly sQuirming about.
He had become accustomed to the
nightly discussions. The present
speaker continued as though he were
occupying q cot in the generals man
sion instead of one in the carceI bar
racks; and Forbes rolled about, twirl-
ed the butt of his cigarette between the
iron bars of the window grating,
doubled up the pillow OF his cot and
lay down nat on his bed, q much per-
turbed soldier. The others kept on
talking.
well, a fellow that's just let out of
the army amt in no condition to make
up his mind about his future, nohow.
He might be happy with a wife, and
then again he might not. Ain . thai
right, Gates?"
Forbes knew well enough that because
his prospective release from the army
entitled him to fall in love, thers was
envy lurking din the breasts of his COM
rades. Yet he felt that he was not en-
5oying the prospect of discharge as well
as many of the takers might, for recall
as he would his earlier anticipations for
the now almost arrived day, he also
had a little envy for those who were to
remain in Santiago and enjoy the
strange associations of the Cuban city.
The electric light in the street glared
through the window and made a square
white patcn on the ceiling. The shadow
of long stringy palm leaves played
across the Write patch. "A lump arose
in Forbes throat when he thought of
how soon he would be where he could
not lie by that window and see the palm
leaves. While he had been in the trop-
les a good many months, he had not
keenly enjoyed its beauties a. he now
imagined he would If he were to live
there the months over again. If it were
not that discharge papers were so much
coveted, he fancied that he would re-
fuse to take them, would re-enlist and
continue to live in the barracks. But
then there were Gates and the other fell
lows who would understand his motive
and would nag him. No; he must go.
He must assume a stole front, no mat
ter what mis- feelings were. No more
PLAN trees, no more blue and pink
houses, no more terra Gotta roofs, no
more narrow cobblestone streets, no
more sugar laden donkeys, no more
blue mountains across the bay, no
here Forbes thoughts ~involuntarily
wandered into directions he had been
manfully trying to ward off. He was
thinking of the cigarette shop behind
the theatre.
The shadow of the palms on the
white patch began to flutter simulten-
eously with the oughing Of a gentle
breeze. The other fellows Lad quiete3
and the cigarettes had gone out. This
brought Forbes to his first resolution.
After all what the other fellows SAID
was perhaps best. His pass was made
cut for the "Shanks" which sailed 1T
il O'Clock the next morning. His bur-
d.. containing the brass comb, the NJ
ror, the two clean towels, and pack
ages of cigarettes and shells from the
Cuban coast was already made up. 1t
was too late now. He must go; he
must go.
When the sun was creeping owe the
terra Gotta roofs the next morning and
Illuminating fragments of the blue and
white walls, Forbes walked in the mid
die of the cobblestone thoroughfare
that led around the Cathedral, so crum-
bled that the men said it had the Span
ish scurvy, crossed the piazza by the
Venus Cafe, and neared the sign of the
"Fabrica de Cigarras." He had mace
up his mind that he had not been in
love with Toza at all. He meant to
cay "Adios," and leave her just as lie
would all his other acquainta1ces.
Surely she would laugh at him if she
knew row he had thought of her the
night before.
When Forbes entered the shop, Toza
was preoccupied over a bundle Of Gig
arctic papers. She vas giving out Or
ders authoritatively. He was contem-
plating her sweet brown face and try
ing to explain the languid beauty that
hung about it when Toza looked up and
smiling said:
"Ah, Mestair Forps. You early this
morning. You white-sick? How you
cali it?"
Forbes was in a state of sensitive re-
captivity for any attention, ana when
Toza dropped her work summarily and
became so concerned in his appearance
he felt like bursting into tears.
tTnz2 Pm 0oinr ,llo - dc~ d Ez-h.-