Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1903-08-26

q shot from the nearest Spaniard, fol-
lowed by miscellaneous rattle of ri
fles along the lines. The troops swarm
ed out and saw string of men hack
ing furiously at the wires with one
hand and plying Il revolver with the
other. In the dim freight their num-
bers could not be ascertained.
At this amazing spectacle the sol
diers fired volley-that is, discharged
their rifles in the general direction of
the foe. When the smoke blew off,
this operation seemed to have produced
no effect on the invaders, who had now
cut and torn the strands apart and
We're actually within the Enclosure.
They bore down in line on the Span
iards, revolver in one hand, blade in
the other. No soldier marksmen were
they, but men whose lives had often
and often hung upon pistol shot, and
now their enemies felt the effect III
ten seconds thirty of the blue uniforms
were writing on the sod, and the re-
mainder beheld the machetes flashing
in their faces. The Castilians are not
without a proverb that teaches that
discretion is the better part of valor.
They drew back Their shots seeme,l
to have no effect on these madmen,
whose pistols emitted continuous
stream of fire. The withdrawal became
retreat, the retreat panic. They
crowded together and ran for the tents,
hundred men routed by seventeen.
Slater did not pursue them farther
The long roll was sounding up aif;
down the lines, and the firing would
bring down dozen regiments in five
minutes. He had done all that was
necessary, had cut up the enemy's lines
with n small quarter of company and
without loss, so that it was time to re-
treat as swiftly as he had made the at
tack.
A torch was thrust into the nearest
cluster of tents, the Maxim guns with
in reach We're tumbled into the ditch,
and the little band went back as they
had come, leaving the cut wires and
the rows Of dead to mark where they
had passed. A minute more and they
were mounted and laundering across
the country again.
AS they rode, Slater said to the man
nearest him, graduate of Harvard,
eve have singed the Spanish kings
beard, eh?"
And the other replied, Precisely"
Then, after a mile or so, They won't
let this pass, do you thipk7"
"What do you mean-that they'll fol-
low us?''
Eyes"
Nonsense! Not bit of it.
He was wrong, for there was at
that moment rage and cursing in the
Spanish camp. The officer in com
mand at that point had laid heavy
wager that the rebels would never
break the lines. Naturally he was
furious. That the majesty of the pow
Frs of Spain should be sighted, that
the works should be broken, that his
men should be slaughtered-this was
bad enough in all conscience, but that
he should lose his gold doubloons- this
was unbearable. He fumed and swore
and called to him captain of guerrilla
cavalry.
Captain"
"Senor"
"You have hundred men in your
troopY
"a hundred and fifty"
"Good. Pursue these accursed Amer
tcans There are not more than thirty.
Follow them to Santiago If necessary,
but catch them, dead or alive
very well, general" replied the
guerrilla, and he retired to muster his
men and to sound Boots and saddles!"
A hundred to twenty would be long
odds, even for Slater's horse.
So 1t came about that when Slaters
men drew rein fifteen miles from the
trocha and sat silent, clustered black
spot on the moonlit road, they heard n
low thunder come rolling up from the
west, the thunder of pounding hoofs.
"By Joye!' said the Englishman who
was related to the eminent author.
mot three miles away" assented the
Canadian who had just come from the
Sudan.
Forward, then! said Slater, and
away they went, up and down the roll
ing hills whittier the Ill made road led
them. The country was too rough to
allow Of taking to the fields, where the
Spaniards might be thrown Off the
trail, but itwould be smoother in the
course Of a few leagues. All night
they rode hard, and sometimes the fol.
lowing thunder was loud and often
faint, but never wholly died away
! The guerrillas We're well mounted, and
Slater's horses were not fresh. The
pearly dawn came up before them
and then the sun was trailing long
shadows behind as they galloped II
was o'clock and forty miles back tt
the trocha.
And now Mt last they seemed to have
distanced their pursuers, for no rumble
came out of the west. They fed theil
horses few armfuls Of the green tops
Of sugar cane, refreshing and stimu.
lating, gave them little water from O
roadside brook and rubbed them down
as time would permit That was moi
AAuCAp AOE UcAOIS luey lHu uulSHeu tue
sounds Of pursuit again grew upon
them.
FORTY miles farther and we will be
in our own lines" remarked Slater.
For three hours more the wiry little
Cuban horses bore their riders swiftly
though the sun grew high and angry
They had struck of the highway, had
ridden through field of cane and were
now galloping down wide stretch OF
sloping prairie dotted with cocoa palms
They scarcely expected that the enemy
would fail to notice where the chase
had left the road, SO they were not dis.
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