The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1908-02-11
4 MAIDEN :
AND
A SOLDIER
ny Sadie Hoffman seaman.


led during the hestas and this alone
marked him among MS neighbors
81 Porto Rico Npt unly that bul
he owned the ueatest aud best Rep,
shack In the squatier district near
Puerta de Terra, ANA hal the pref
TEST daughter north OF Carolina.
TO make his ueiacy more
complete, Mateo came home one iay
with Il great can &c yellow paint
and daubed toth the SHACK and the
fence, This action startled his neigh.
bors. but when he boaght a table
4 and new chairs for tie Kitchen and a
little white iron boaslead for Carita
they were aghast
To be sure Car,ta Was all he
had left. He pad tie rent regularly
for her mothers grave near Rio
Piedras, and placed upon IL frequent
~ great bGnehcs OF the quick fad
ing red and yellow Towers that he
gathered along the highway beyond
Santurce. He had even been known
on saturdays 10 hand centavos TO
tiiS oCSSdE5 bD tue plaza,
But when the big. handsome Am
erican soldier from San Crislo5al
came down to the shack to see Car
ita, the neighbofs saook their heads
With grave apprehension
Uncle Sans fighting men are an
unknown quantity III Porto Rico
Their cool and calculating action,
their undisturbed demeanor III time
OF danger are foreign 10 the Porto
Rican understanding Their little
white-clothed aol.icFs were to them
the embodiment OF bravery until the
American troops marched up from
Ponce over tie great VIII te streak
the military highway and gained
a bloodless victory. They view with
doubt and apprehension the grande
Americana in the khaki Inform
Carter Young had been bat few
morths in Porto Rico. bat had all
ready become a hero on the dia-
rnond and the griIiron. where the
soldiers and the treasury team were
pitted against each other on Sunday
afternoons.
On pleasant Sunday evenings
when the band played in the Plaza
and the maidens and their
lovers strolled about in the cool sea
breeze. Carter Young and Carita
Menzano looked different from the
others. The handsome soldier and
the beautiful maluen OF the tropics
were. indeed. the most graceful OF d
very graceful throng.
The attentions or the handsome
eaFalryman % Carisa. however.
seemed to worry Maleo Menzano,
for he knew full welt that the SOL
der had been nurtdrea ia a differ |
ant mould than theirs and he Won
dered with paternal care .or the !
welfare OF his chila.
When he MAS selling his "cocoas |
Re aqua in tie early morning on
san Francisco street. and when he \
vas gathering the green cocoas in
he heat Of the Gay in the interior,
ais thoughts were more often OF
Jarita than upon his work.
One moonlight highland such
nights as they have in
Porto Rico-Carter Young was lean
ng against one OF the frowning
runs of san ChristoDal. looking over
he tops OF the houses OF sleepy San
uan. ont upon the Marina. mechanl-
ally watching the twinkling and
lights of the small mer-
hant craft that silently moved about
he bay. He was thinking OF the
marvellous things he had told her II
f his wonderful home beyond the
ca. He recalled the mental picture
e had drawn OF their happiness in ,
hat strange lana where the rivers
re frozen in the winter. This pic I
ure had been re citation 10 the !
lnoeent Carita.
He held IN his hand dainty let
sr. with suspicious spots upon it {
nat looked ike tear stains IL was
cstmarked New Csk. '
He reread 1t In the moonlight q
Margaret, Caiia, he said. .
This is a pretty mess AID to think
get my discharge tomorrow. Well. a
will ride down in the morning y
nd see Carita and tell her | have I
aimed short turlough. She will c
elieve anything 1 tell her. And
len. as though to relieve his con n
hence. he added Anyway sse will ]
E just as happy down here picking A
ranges with Frelrico he's a pretty
ecent 'spiggety. II
The next day the transport sailed
Ut in the confusion OF embarking ?
was not noticed dntil the flags OF d
ID MORO were almost lost from
ght that the troopers had sailed 3;
II home without Carter Young $,
The next day in Porto Rico Mateo g
enzano. with a strange look in his k
ark eyes. vas as usual gathering o.
,coas IN the valley. Bonito was q
'azing idly Oh the hillside. Lying "
j his back. not far from Santnrce. I'm
here he had won his victories fr
nong his fellows. Carter Young was A
und with a tiny dagger in his
art, and the hot sun pouring down
to his sightless eyes. Carita Men n
no. sobbing her confiding life out. b,
= on the little white he'd In the s,
llow shack beneath the palms n.