The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1903-01-08
TWO SOLDIERS
OF SANTIAGO
GOriginaL.1

ing occupied by United States troops,
Concha. who was heart and soul lin ia
yor of free Cuba. was so grateful to the
American iberators that she was ready
to fall in love with the first United
States soldier who presented himself.
Unfortunately two -aspirants for her af-
fections appeared about the same time,
Major Archibald Thelford and Hos
pital Steward Julian Arnold. The ma
jor was a fine handsome fellow of
about thirty-five, the hospital steward a
youngster of twenty-threa. Concha
seemed to favor the major. In the first
place, he wore the shoulder straps of
field officer; in the second, his bearing
was modest; in the third, he Was'a very
handsome nan. The hospital steward
was not in the fighting part of the, ar
my, was not especially troubled with
modesty and had disagreeable way of
referring to men mutilated by shot and
shell. as though he took q grim salts
faction in their sufferings.
why don't you accept the majorT'
said her bosom friend. che seems to
be everything that is desirable"
Because" replied Concha.
What do you especially require in
the man you marry"
Bravery"
''Well, then, test them"
Concha was struck with this advice.
She invited her lovers to call upon her
10 Of tho cor nd
served coffee for them on the veranda.
The major did not fraternize with the
hospital steward, Of course, but had the
good sense not to ignore him entirely.
The hospital steward had the assur,
ance to treat the officer as If he were
quite an inferior person. Concha sat
with them serving coffee and chatting
glibly.
"Ah. how hot it was" she said, 1.-THE
day before the surrender! The cannon
and the guns made such noise. and
then those funny machines that 60
,tr-rr-rrr-rr. turning from right to left
and left to right, as one would turn
the nozzle of hose! thought |
should 90 mad And do you know that
one great bombshell fell right here in
the garden and the-what do you call
it?-the fuse sputtered. and we all ran
for our lives. But after awhile we
came back, for it didn't explode.
What did you do with it." asked
the major.
1T is in a corner of the back veran-
'da. Would you like to see it?'
The major was Indifferent The hos.
object They rose from the table,
Concha giving a singular laugh at the
same time, which surprised both her
suitors. for they saw nothing to laugh
at. Then they went to the back veran-
da. Through the rear hall door they
could see Joaquin, Concha's little
brother. boy Of twelve, running wild
ly away to the back of the garden,
with a lighted stick in his hand. and
yelling at the top of his voice. An
other moment explained the cause.
The fuse Of the unexploded bomb was
Fourth Of July. 1t was plain that the
boy had been playing near it with fire
and ignited it.
Concha as soon as she saw what had
occurred gave shrek and stood stock
still, as if she had lost the power to
save herself. The major darted back
into the hall, crying: "Come away!
You will be blown to atomsw The
hospital steward gave the bomb a
quick glance. estimated that the fire
Of the fuse would not reach the bomb
for some seconds and, rushing up to
1t, seized it, giving it jerk to separate
1t from the bomb. To his astonish-
ment, the bomb went sailing up in the
air like a balloon. 1t was made of
pasteboard.
Turning. he cast look at Concha
and. seeing as many sparks in her eyes
as in the fuse, inferred that there was
mischief In the wind. Then the two
burst into merry laugh.
"What did you do lit forT" asked
Arnold.
swell, you see," stammered Concha,
II wanted to find out whether you or
Major Thelford is the drawer man."
IF you wanted to test my bravery,
you should have cut off another inch of
that fuse. I saw at glance that there
vas plenty Of time"
Then Concha explained that she had
concocted the story of the real bomb.
had made one of pasteboard and bribed
her brother to ignite firecracker fuse
she put into it, giving him loud laugh
as signal.
"But the major" said Concha rue
fully. "After all, he is SO handsome
and so nice What a nifx ha ia NOT