The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-01-04

' VA turned. 20 the S1lluTS IN Inc car be-
, hind them. Lie down. men," he said.
"And don't any of you fire unless l tell you
to. Let them do all the shooting. This
isn't our fight yet, and, besides. they can't
hit a locomotive standing stili. and certainly
not when it's going at full speed"
Suppose they've torn the track up?'
I said Williams. erinning. Wed look
sort of silly flying through the air.
'Oh, they've not sense enough to think
of that" said Clay. Besides. they don't
know 1t was We who took their arms away,
yet
MacWilHams opened the throttle gently
and the train moved slowly forward gain
ing speed at each revolution of the wheels.
As The noise of its approach heat louder
and louder on the air. a yell of disappointed
rage and eXecration rose Into the night
from the fort. and a mass of soldiers
swarmed upon the track. leaping Up and
Gcwn ard shaking the rifles In Their hands.
THAT sounds a little as though they
thought We had something 10 do with it,
said MacWiIliams. grtmly. III they don't
look ont some one will get hurt"
There WAS a flash of fire from where the
mass Of men stood. followed by a dozen
, more flashes. and the bullets rltt!ad or the
srnoiiestack and upon the boiler OF the en-
gnc.
Low bridge cried MacWiliiams. with
a fierce chuckIe Now. watch her."
lie threw open the throttle as far as it
would go. and the engine answered to his
tourh Ike . race horse to the whip. Il
seemed 10 spring from the track $40 the
ali. II cu;yercd and shook like :, iivc
,f,inr. and AZ II SHOT in between the sol
de - they fell back On either side. ard
MacWiliiinls leaned far ort OF his cab
window shaking his list at them.
"fuI got Jeff. didn't SrIT' he shouted,
THANK you for the Manrlichers.'
AS the locomotive rushed our Of the jun
~la and r.cSsr The npipt nm Tho road ;na@ =
est 10 the Palms. MacWi!liams loos nod
three long triumphant shricks from his
| whistle and the sailors stood up and
cheercd.
Let them shout cried Clay. Every
body will have to know now. It's begun at
last be said. with a laugh of relief.
And We took the first trick" said Mac
| Williams. as he ran his engine slowly into
the railroad yard.
The whistles OF the cr-ine and the shouts
Of the sailors had carried far through the
silence of the night. aad ~ the men came
saw all of those who had been left behind
grouped on the veranda awaiting them.
ID the conquerins heroes come" shout
ed King.
The do young L1nsham cried. 10y
ous!y. We've got al their arms. and they
slot 1t US. We've been under iira.'
Are any of you hurt asked Miss L.arg-
ham. anSiousiy. as she and the others hur-
RED down the STEPS. TO welcome them, while
those of the "Nesta's' crew who had been
left behind looked at their comrades with
envy.
We have been so frightened and anx-
ious abont you,'' said Miss Langham.
Hope held out her hand to Clay and
greeted him with a quiet. happy smile, that
was in contrast 20 tHe excitement and con-
fusion that rsigned about them.
Il knew you would come back safely"
she said. And the pressure of her hanl
seemed to add ito me-
CHAPTER MI.
The day of the review rose clear and
warm. tempered by a hight breeze from the
sea. AS 1t was a fete day. the ha-bor wore
an air of unwonted Inactivity: no lighters
passed heavily from the levees 70 the mer-
chantmen at anchor, and the warehouses
along the Wharves were closed and deserted.
a thin line OF smoke from the tunnels OF
the Ncsta showed that her fires were burn
ing. ana the fact that she rode on a single
anchor chain seemed TO promise that at
any moment she might slip away to sea.
As Clay was finishing his coffee Two notes
were brought TO him from messengers. who
had ridden ont that morning. ard who sat
in their saddles looking at the armed force
around the office with amused intelligence.
One note was from Mendoza. and said he
had decided not 10 call out the regiment at
the mines, as he feared their long absence
from drill would make them compare Nh
fayorebly with their comrades. and do MIN
more harm than credjt::He is afraid of
them since last night. was Clay's conf
Ment.- as he passed the mote on 70 Mac
" iiliams. Hes quite right; they might do
him HARM
The second note was from Stuart. He said
the city was already wide awake and rest
lesA. but whether this was due 10 the fact
that il was 4 fete day, OF to some other
cause which would disclose itself later. he
could not tell. Nine. Alvarez. the afternoon
before, while riding in the Alameda. had
been insulted by a group of men around a
cafe. who had risen and shouted after her.
one of them throwing a wine-glass into her
lap as she rode past. His troopers had
charged the sidewalk and carried off six
of the men to the carcel. He and Rojas had
urged the President to make every prepa-
ration for immediate flight. to have the
horses put to his travelling carriage. and
had warned him WHEN at the review to
take up his position at the point nearest
to his own b~odyguard. and as far as posi-
bic from the troops led by Mendoza. Stuart
added that he had absolute confidence In
the former. The policeman who had at
tempted to carry Burke's note to Mendoza
had confessed that he was the only traitor
in the camp. and that he had tried TO
work on his comrades without success.
Stuart begged Clay to join him
as quickly as possible. Clay went
up the hill to .he Palms, and after consult
ing with Mr.. Langham. dictated an order TO
Kirkland. instructins him to call the men
together and to point out to them how
much better their condition had been Stree
they had entered the mines. and to promise
the man increase Of wages il they remained
faithful to Mr. Langham's interests. and a
small pension to any one who might be in
jured from any cause whatsoever while
serving him.
Tell them. IL they are loyal. they can
live in their shacks rent free hereafter
wrote Clay. They are always asking for
that. It's a cheap generosity" he added
aloud to Mr.. Langham. because we've
never been able to collect any rent from
them yet"
AT noon young Langham ordered the best
three horses in the stable to be brought to
the door of the Palms for Clay, MacWf-
liams and himself. Ciay's last words TO
King were to have the yacht in readiness to
put to sea when he telephoned him to do go.
and he advised the women to have their
dresses and more valuable possessions
ready to be taken on board.
do you think I might see the review II
I went on horseback" Hope asked. 81
could get away then, If there should be any
trouble"
CIay auswered with a look of such alarm |
and surprise that Hope laughed.
."See the review. l should say not he
exclaimed. 81 don't even want Ted to be /
there" |
s.ol, chats oluayr the way." said Homo J