The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1903-03-11
THE GABEGll 4
BY Alphaass Daudsa

mass when they brought him the
prisoners. 1t was q Wild spot among
the Arichulegm mountains.
A fallen rock in which q fg, tree
had plunged its twisted trunk form
ed a sort Of altar, covered in guise
of a cloth With 9 silver fringed Car
list standard.
Two crafked water coolers took
the place Of vases, and when the
sa%cristan, Miguel. who wee ass;t
ing the priest at the mass, arose in
order to change the Sposition of the
holy book, the cartridges were heard
iingling in his cartridge box.
Al. around the soldiers of Carlos
we're silently ranged, their guns
slung across their backs and one
knee on the ground upon the white
beret. {
The bright sun was concentrat-
ing its dazzling heat in this burning
and sonorous rocky hollow, where
the flight Of q blaclkbird alone from
time to time disturbed Che psalmody
of the priest and ltheaservant. High
er up ON the jagged peak sentinels
were standing, .fordn motionless
~silhouettes aghinststhe SLY.
What q singular sight it ;Haass-
this priestly commander officiating
in the midst Of his soldiersl And.
how plainly the double existence of
the Cabecilla showed ITSELF upon his
conference.-the ecstatic air, the
hard features, further accumulated,
blythe bronzed complexionjpf tie SOL
der in the field, and asceticism with
out pallor, in which was lacking the
shadow of the cloister small black,
very brilliant eyes, the forehead
naversed By enormous veins which
seemed to bind the thought as with
ropes, to.fx it in an inextricable
obstinacy.
Every time he turned toward the
spectators with open arms to read,
the Dominus Vobiscum enc, saw the
uniform beneath the stole and the
butt Of a pistol, the haft Of q Cata-
lonian knife uplifting the rumpled
surplice. HWhat is he going to do
with us ?" the prisoners asked them
selves in terror, end
the end Of the mass they recalled all
the acts Of ferocity which had been
related Of the Cabecilla and which.
had won him q special renown in
the royalist army. 6
By q miracle that morning the
father was in a clement mood. The
mass in the open air, his success Of
the previous day5and also the cheer
fulness of Easter, yet felt by this
strange prieat, cast upon his face o
ray of joy and Kindness. Assoon as
the service was over, while the sac.
tristan cleared off the altar, fasten-
ing up the sacred vases i'm q huge
box, whichSE was borne on the back
of a mule In the rear Of theSexpedi-
ton, the cure advanced toward the
prisoners.
They were q dozen OF; republican.
'carbineers, exhausted by a day Of
battle and q night Of angnish5in the
straw of the sheepfold. where they
had been penned up after the action.
Yellow with fear, wan with hunger,
thirst and fatigue, they clustered
together Ikea flock ofssheep in the
courtyard OF an abattoir.
Their uniforms full yof hay, their
belts in disorder, pushed up in tho
fight and in sleep, the dust which
wholly covered them from the tufts
of their caps tosthe points Of their
yellow shoes, alEGcontributed well
to give them that sinister look Of
the yanquishe1a id which moral dis
eoaragement is betrayed BY physical
detection. q
The Cabecilla glanced at them for
an instant With q little laugh OF
triumph. He was not sorry to see
the soldiers Of The republic hum Bile,
wan and ragged amid well fed, WI
equipped Carlists, Navarro ana
Basque mopntaineers as brown and
hard as carobs beans.
viva Dios, my childrenF said
he to them with d goodSnatureda ir.
THE republic nourishes her de-
lenders very I'LL Why, you are all
as thin as the wolves .Af the Pyre-
nees when the mountains are Gov
cred with snow and they come into
the plain to sniff the odor Of the
table by the lights which shine un-