The Washington times., 1911-04-26
CHAPTER xxx.

owner has never lived upon IT, nor has
any of his family. The necessity of
maintaining an establishment In Quay
| ana so that his wife might have amuse-
ments and his children education-this,
with his other business interests at
pirations. has never permitted Senior
RojRs TO spend much of his time on
the estancia.
1t is for this reason. perhaps. that the
house which adorns the plantation has
nothing Of the modern: ii is much the
same old-fashioned Spanish hacienda.
, with walls of white adobe three feet in
thickness and sloping roof of red tiles
as may be found pientifully scattered
throughout the republics of Latin Amer
lea Like its neighbors. il has endured
for many generations, and will probably
exist for many more; earthquakes make
no impression on those massive. mud
baked walls; and. inasmuch as II serves
its purpose as a residence for his man
ager, Senor Rojas is not likely to re-
place. 1t with a dwelling less primitive
in design.
Entrance may be had through the
iron-barred doorway in the front to a
passage-way leading to the inevitable
way are the living rooms, and about
the patio runs a covered gallery upon
which the sleeping cells open. In the
rear of the building are the kitchen, the
laundry. the bath. and so on. Outer
windows It has but two, one on either
side of the entrance, and these firmly
barred.
This description is perhaps necessary
that you may understand what happen
ed upon that dawn in whose prismatic
glow four men-Curtice, Daniel, and
Captain Hendry. with their guide-rode
wearily up the burro-path TO the es-
tancia.
Their Journey through the night had
been long and hard. II had told upon
them all, but the more greatly upon
Daniel Haigh, in his enfeebled condi-
ton.
In their bearing one might read their
WEAKNESS, as in the dropping heads Of
the tagged horses. Dejectedly enough
they rode, their chins upon their chests,
each lost in dreary conjecture; not even
the mozo's statement that they neared
the end of their way had, served tc
rouse them from their gloom.
Curtice, for one, was obsesse6 by
presentement-Quite groundless, but
such as at times will come to shadow
the minds of the cheeriest of men-that
their quest would be fruitless. Captain
Hendry, as ever. mourned the loss of
his vessel, nor would he be comforted.
Haigh struggled with his great bodily
weakness.
To these dark moods. be sure that the
news from Guayana brought nothing OF
comfort. For although they had left
the city long before the first shot was
fired in the Plaza de la Reforma the
news of the downfall of the government
and of the assumption of the dictator
ship by Rojas had come to them right
speedily, flying by word of mouth-as
news will in those lands-more quickly
yet than the telegraph would have
brought 1t. A peon whom they had met
in the foothills. riding an absurdly
under sized burro, had told them with
wealth OF detail all that had occurred
in the city during the past night. And
they were too well acquainted with the
land to have any doubts about the
mans truthfulness.
Fresh, cool water which they pro-
cured, from a wayside hut in lieu OF
coffee. did something to tighten their
gloom. Haigh said that he felt con
siderable perked up.
IT'S not far now, Jimmy" he told
Curtioe with a wan smile, "or SO the
mozo says. Brace up: my son; jour
neys end" you know"
I'm afraid" Jimmy admitted frank
ly Il don't know why, but I'm shying
at shadows now; seems to me that
every time we get things fixed to our
satisfaction-or think we've got them
some one comes up and bats US over
the head with club. I'm morally GER
tain"
You're immoraIly uncertain" Daniel
broke in, bantering. You haven't any
right TO side-step at your own misg1v-
ings. Come. men, brace up. tell you!
! / say''-he turned the subject-'is this
gun of yours all right?'
TT was when I gave it to you, Dan,
but nobody Knows
What l may have done to put 1t on
the bum? That's just 1t. Hatgh pro-
duoed the weapon and handled it gin
gerIy. IT'S a funny thing" he con-
fessed with a laugh, that /, for an edu-
| Gated person of some civilization, should
know so precious little about the hand
ling of firearms And as for the shoot
ing end of the game, l don't believe I
| could hit-well, say your friend General
IIaZard. If he was more than yard
away; and I'd rather plug him good
one than ever smoke Turkish tobacco
again.
chance" said Curtice. Last 1 heard
of him he was raising trouble In the
northern provinces. Well interview
that pup Fetter, though, and some ma
tives."
can only hit him. And that's another
queer thing. when you come to think OF
it. Naturally, I'll go a mile out of my
way to avoid trouble, but this air down
here seems to ill me with an aching de-
sire to stalk in the awful hell Of battle.
For Capn Kidd, whatever he did. was
a Sunday school scholar to met" he
hummed lightly.
well, here's your opportunity, says
the mozo." grunted the captain.
For some time they had been follow
ing a well-worn burro-path-there are
few roads in the interior Of Anahuac-
which meandered aimlessly between
great groves OF banana trees and of the
sycamore-like bucuara, beneath which
nestled the coffee trees;-for protection
from the glare and heat of the sun.
And now they rounded small grove,
coming suddenly in sight of the adobe
casa.
At the same instant Curtice caught
a glimpse of two men running as swiftly
as they might across the fields toward
the casa; one dark of skin, the second
the sallow Fetter. An then he saw that
the door Of the hacienda was open, and
that the men were shouting, evidently
ordering the poems to close It quickly
The three spurred on their animals; put
as vet they were too far away to inter
cept the two runners. Curtce. reallzlhg
this ,reined in and took a pot shot at
the fugitives-though with little hope OF
winging either at the distance.
1.-THE Continuation of This story Wi0