Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1903-07-30
ST. a I Z z
Z AID.
BY Frank L. Pollock
corwtaht iaa7, hu Frank L. Pollock


.e--7-e -S--.- ct Slutcrs horse. The troop
- numbered twenty men all
told drawn from every one of the An
gIo.SaNuu rurrs of the planet There
uale Americans, Euglishmen, Cana
dau-. Australians ana South Africans,
and they HAD come from the ends Of
the earth to take part in such a row as
promised tu follow when cuba libra
~yJ u1 hyr flag against that OF Spain.
Their leader was a Nirgiuian. There
WAS NOT 20 cuban or u Spauiard In the
company. and the name of Slater's
troop was q name of terror to the gov
crumyut forces from rinur del Rio to
Sa-ul la Guudc.
To -oe them thus Cncampcd no one
would have supposed that they were
ru-a-rd In one of the most daring
raids that had been ndyentured since
the war opened in 1898 The officers
tuere were but twol sat democratically
ou Tine ground among their men. There
was UuElug of banios, a mingled
sound of confused talking and Of jovial,
free handed profanity. The shadows
of The men loomcd big on the back
ground of tropical vegetation, where
Tie rcd freight flashed ftrully from
time 20 time and showed now the form
OF tethrrrd horse and now the figure
of sentry leaning against a smooth
coated palm.
1t was no small affair that these men
We're engaged in. nothing less, In fact,
than q raid ON the trocha itself. 1t was
not the policy of the Cuban leaders to
risk pitched battle, so to arouse the
enthusiasm of the men and at the same
time 90 keep the enemy on the alert
such expeditions We're undertaken from
time 20 time
They had cncampcd some fifty miles
from the Spanish lines, ana ,he attack
was fixed for the next ni- I. A dash
across the country, a stcalthy advance
on the fUrtifications, another dash, sa-
Der and revolver, and triumphal re-
treat this was the programme that
Slaters horse proposed to itself.
Next morning they rode up and down
the rolling hills IN the early dawn for
two hours and then rested for the heart
of the day I'm cool and very secluded
grove. where they would be screened
from any wandering gucrrilIas. Late
AT night they suddlcd again and rode
cautiously forward till they were not
more than forty rods from the trOCha
itself They could see the watch fires
on the farther side Of the great redOubt
shining between the strands of the
barbrd wire fence stretched along the
brink
Between them and the trocha lay a
dangerous obstacle. an ingenious de-
tcusc. composed of n number OF wires
drawn six inches apart and n foot
above the ground. This formed net
Worl, over which IT was impossible to
ride and, as its width was uncertain,
dangerous 10 leap. Slater knew of this
impcdimcut however, and had made
his plans accordingly. Half a dozen
then dISmouutcd In silence and, taking
uippers from their saddlcbags, crept
Nrwlrd into the darkness. The rest of
ruo troop sat silently on horseback
hnarkruuE TO the sounds and to the oc-
Casiouul clicking noise right ahead
where their comrades were cutting the
hostile wires.
In the course Of half an hour the
men came back ana in whispers re-
ported the way clear. The wires had
been cut and dragged aside so as to
leave u road of sufficient width for the
passage of the troop even III the hur-
ricd retreat which must follow The
whole party then dismounted and led
the horses stcalthiIy forward till al
most at the very brink of the trocha.
The Spaniards on the other side were
clearly visible, while they themselves
were hidden in deep shadows. Three
men We're left with the animals. and
the rest scrambled into the ditch and
up the other side.
So quietly was all this done that the
whole performance passed unobserved
till slater sprang upon the parapet
and began slashing MT the wires with
his machetc. Then came a shout and
a shot from the nearest Spaniard, fol-
lowed by a miscellaneous rattle Of ri
les along the lines. The troops swarm
II out and saw a string Of men hack
Ing furiously at the wires with one
hand and plying n revolver with the
other In the dim freight their num-
Jers could not be asccrtained.
At this amazing spectacle the sol
diers fired a yoIlcy-that is, discharged
their rifles in the general direction Of
the foe When the smoke blew off,
this operation seemed 10 have produced