Evening star., 1901-08-31
CHAPTER NXKTI.
with the Gatinas of the North.

CHAPTER NXVIII.
With the Gatinas of the North.
Meanwhile We must go over the hill with
Sergeant Cardono. Whatever his thoughts
NAV have been as he trudged up the bar
rem gIens scanned and torn with the win
ter rains. no sign of them appeared upon
his sunburnt, weather-beaten face. Stealth
fly and swiftly. yet without haste, he held
his way. his eyes fixed on the ground
though perfectly sure of his road, like
man on well-beaten track which he has
trOd thousand times
For moro than an hour he went on, up
and ever up, till his feet crisped upon the
first SHOWS of Penalara and the hill ram
parts closed in. But when he had reache d
the narrows of a certain gorge he looked
keenIy To either side marking the en-
trance. y pile of stones roughly heaped
one upon the other fixed his attention. He
went up to them and attentively perused
their structure and arrangement, though
they appeared to have been thrown to-
gether at random. Then he nodded sage
ly twice and passed on his way.
The glen continued to narrow overhead.
The sunshine was entirely shut out. The
jaws of the precipice closed in upon the
WaNfarer as il to crush him, but Sorgt.
CaTdUnO advanced with the steady stride
of q mOuntaineer and the aplomb of one
who is entirely sure of his reception.
Suddenly through the utter quiet there
rang out, repeated and redupliCated, the
loud report of rife. The hills gave back
the challenge. \ moment before the
dingy bedrabbed snow at CardonO's feet
had been pufed upward in a white jet,
yet he neither stopped nor took the least
notice of this.
Again came the same startling chal.
lenge out of the vague emptiness of space
the bullet apparently bursting like a bomb
amid the wet snow And again CardOnC
took as much notice as if some half dozen
OF village loungers had been playing ball
among the trees.
Only when third time the whisk of the
bullet in the snow, yard or two to the
right, preceded the sound of the shot Car
donO shook his head and muttered: Too
long range The fools ought to be better
taught than that" Then he continued his
tramp steadily. neither looking to the right
nor to the left.
Whatever of uncertainty as to his fate
the sergeant felt rigidly concealed,
and even when Il dozen men dropped sud
denly upon him from various rocky hiding
places he only shook them off with quick
gesture of contempt and said something in
loud voice which brought them all TO
halt as if turned to stone by an enchanters
spell.
The men paused and looked at each
other. They We're all we'll armed and every
man had an open knife in his hand. They
had been mOmentarily checked by the
words of the sergeant. but now they came
on again as threateningly as before. Their
dark. long hair was encircled by red hand
kcrChiefS knOtted about their broWS. and
In general they possessed teeth eXtraO "di
narily white. cleaning from the duskieSt
of skins. The beady, Sloe-black eyes of
the sergeant were repeated in almost every
face, as well that indefnable something
which in all lands marks the gypsy face.
who are you?' demanded tall. Eray-
headed gypsy. who. like the sergeant. had
Remained apparently unarmed. What is
your name and what is your right to be
here"
The sergeant had by this time seated
himself on detached boulder and was
rolling cigarette. He did not trouble TO
look up as he answered carelessly: '''ro
the Gitano my name is Jose Maria of
ROnda."
The effect of his words was instanta-
neous The men who had been ready 10 kill
him almost fell at his feet, though here and
there some remained apparently un2on-
WINGED.
Prominent among these was the elderly
man who had put the question to the ser
geant Without taking his eyes from those
Of the Carlist soldier. he exclaimed. "Our
own great Jose Maria you cannot be. for
with these eyes ! saw him garroted in the
Plaza Mayor of Salamanca
The sergeant undid his stock and pointed
to blnod-red band about his neck in
dented deeply into the skin and more ap-
parent at the back and sides than In front
'Garrotted in good faith | was in the
i'i<st VI cdistiildlCSi, tS tnlS Sentler IN
says" he remarked. with great coolnass
But not to death. The executicner was
as good a Gitano as myself and removed
the spike which strikes inward from the
back So you see | still Jose Maria of
Ronda in the flesh, and able to strike a
blow for myself
The gypSies set up a wild yell. The name
Of the most celebrat ted and most lawless Of
their race stirred them to their souls
Come with U.S." they cried I'VE are
here for the greatest plunder ever taken or
dreamed of among the Romany-"
Hush. / command you cried the elder
man Jose Maria of Ronda this man may
be, but we are Gitanos of the north and
need not a man from Andaluca to lead us,
even if he carry a scarlet crayat about his
neck for a credential!''
1t was clear to the sergeant that the old
man was jealous of his leadership, and as
he himself was by no means desirous of
taking part in a midnight raid against a
characterization town. he proce5 ded to make
II clear that he was his way to his own
country of Andalucfa, and had been led
aside by the gypsy cryptograms he had
observed by the wayside and the casual
greeting of the crook-backed imp of the
Village.
Upon this the old man sat down beside
Sergeant Cardono. or, as. his new friends
knew him to be. Jose Maria the brigand
as the sergeant hoped he would. Being i'm
pressed by the greatness of his guest he
entered into minute catalogue of the cap
lures he had made, the men he had slain,
as recorded on the butt of his gun and on
the haft of his knife and of the cargoes
he had successfully run across the noun
1Ains or beached on the sands Of Catalonia