The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1907-01-18

A BATTLE IN THE STORM.

was in command of party aboard
a sea-going tug fitted out to carry arms
and munitions of war to the reyolu-
tionary army of Salgada, which you'll
find on the may of the east coast OF
South America if you look good and
hard. The government we were night
ing against had organized stiff block
AIDE along the coast, and had fast gun
boats and torpedo craft looking for
us, and they wanted us bad.
We revolutionists had plenty of men
but we were shy of rifles, cartridges
and field pieces, and if we could land
this cargo, l speak of, it meant putting
1000 well armed men and two batteries
in the field
so here we were, wallowing along
in heavy weather, the crazy old tub
loaded down plumb near to her
matches, and fifty patriots Of Sal
gada spraddIed all over her decks.
Our boilers were leaky, and our
coal was poor We had been out
week, and still had three hundred
miles to run where we were to make
landin' by night, if we didn't get
blown out of water this side of it.
There were no cabins or shelter for
my party and our decks we're fair
awash, and every sad-eyed patriot was
seasick all the time. Coal was strew-
ed in sacks all over the decks, and
washin to and fro among the coal
and rusty rifles and machetes and mil
dewed saddle-ba was this band OF
soldiers of Salgada.
Well, I'm rambling some, but
wanted to give you notion of what
the proposition was before | fetched
in my pal and shipmate, Perez Nor
ales He was a lieutenant and my
right hand man, slim, laughing,
black-eyed lad of nineteen or twenty
that never dropped his nerve or cared
whoop what was coming next.
He was the son of rich coffee
planter back in the Salgada mountains,
and he'd been going to school for two
years at military college up here in
Ohio. He was quick as a cat and hard
as nails, with drillin and playin' foot
ball and such warlike diversions.
After shutdown on this day l speak
Of | hunted up young Morales, my
side-partner.
my son." says l, cit looks as if
our fellow patriots was showing signs
of life, though they're not exactly ami
mated Let us mount a couple of ~
pound field pieces, fore and aft, and
try and break in gun crews for EN-.
We can't put up what you'd call a
spirited action, but if we do get over
hauled at sea, let's be ready to give
a little back talk
Morales jumped at the notion, as hap
by as if he'd received a bunch Of let
ters from home. He had done his time
as cadet Grtilleryman, and had med
ais for marksmanship-and I'd pulled
a lanyard or two myself.
So we hoisted two guns from the
hold One 12-pounder we mounted up
i'll the bow, and the other we dashed
aft on the overhang. 1t was a tough
job but Morales kept us going strong,
working like little cyclone, singing
the battle hymns of Salgada, and ham
mering action into the patriots who
were still shally in their legs
After we finished Morales came aft
with me to a pile of cCalsacks on the
oyerhang, which was my palatial state
room and we smoked cigarettes and
talked while for the moon was full
and the air soft as velvet
On deck forwards a reyivin' patriot
was picking at a guitar, and a couple
of his shipmates were singing Spanish
love songs in high quiverin' tenor
voices.
AS for my young comrade Morales,
he lust had to let out his heart to me
that night. OF course there was a girl,
she was in the town of Rio de Contas,
thirty miles from the little bay where
we were hoping to land This town
was held by 1000 government troops,
but this cut no ice with Perez Morales.
We were going to march our fifty
br-r-ave patriots against Rio de Con-
tas, "pronto," quick, right away, cut
our way through the enemy and carry
off the beautiful senorita.
1 was less than ten years older than
him. but l felt as if it was boy
talking to his daddy. There was none
too good for this Perez Morales, who
was all alive and boiling with patriot
ism and love and romance and hot
blood
About midnight the weather got
dirty again and soon it began to blow.
One souint at the needle told me that