The Elbert County tribune., 1912-05-31
BEING, some REAL STORIES FROmNTt
LIFE OF A MASTER. ADVENTURES IN N
9/cApTAIN GEORGE 8. BoYNToNI y \

result would be II his revolution failed
Then am sorry. my dear captain. but you
win lose your cargo while will lose my life,
which is OF infinitely more importance to rue.
But the revolution will not fall" he vehe-
mently declared.
AS though impressed by his confidence
announced that i would accept his offer. with
= mental reservation to escape at the first op-
portunity. for did not propose to fight against
GuzmAn.
That is excellent" he said, with the sug-
gestion Of bow. After coffee went with
him to inspect his troops. was formally
given command Of battalion of 800 men, and
Indian servant. who. afterward found,
had orders to shoot me IL attempted to es-
cape. was assigned to me. / accompanied Pull
gar back to his headquarters. where I was
given an old sword and the tarnished shoulder
straps OF a colonel these constituting my uni
form.
Now that you have allied yourself with
my forces" be then said, you will have no
for your ship. You will therefore write
. note to the ofncer in charge, directing him
to proceed TO Curacao and await orders. She
will be safe there and" with q quisxical
smile, you will be safe here"
Az there was nothing else for to do. I
complied with II at once.
had bean trying for about q week to whip
my lazy ignorant troops into some sort Of
shape. when word was brought In one morn
ing that "ths enemy" was approaching.
Instead Of allowing me to lead my battalion
Pulgar ordered me to remain with him on .
little knoll in the rear. from which he made
. pretsnse Of directing his forces
will say for them. though. that they
fought hard and stubbornly. but they were
gradually driven back. and Pulgar. who had
a terrible temper. furious. All at once
the opposing troops largely reinforced
and came with a rush which quickly converted
our orderly retreat into rout. Pulgar, ours
ing like madman. dashed into the disorgan-
lied mass of his liberty-loving louts. with Or
tega and the rest of his star at his heels.
left alone and was hesitating as to
what I should do, when my Indian servant
tugged at my trousersleg.
Follow me. colonel" he said. "I know
where there is a boat"
He started OF at and covered ground
fast that had to gallop my horse to keep
up with him. He led the way to the beach
near where my cargo had been landed and
pushed a native boat from under a clump of
mangrove trees. We jumped in and showed
on in hurry, for Ortega and several Of his
men had just appeared on the bluff above and
were making for us.
We drifted around for three days and
nights without much as glimpse of a
distant sail and without ounce of food a
mouthful Of water. save only such we were
able to suck out Of our clothes after a provi-
Dental rain the second night On the morn
ing OF the fourth day fog lifted, and close to
us was a fleet of fishermen from the island Of
Oruba, twenty miles to the westward Of Cura-
Gao. They took to their island. and after
we had rested. and eaten for two days a fishing
boat took US to Curacao
There l learned from Consul Faxon what
had happened in Venezuela Guzmans plans
had worked out more rapidly than he antici-
pated. and he landed in Venezuela early In
February at the head of a small force, but
with a large army waiting for him. With only
slight resistance he entered Caracas and pro-
claimed himself dictator His victory was
easily achieved and was SO largely a personal
one that he did not give to Pulgar the reward
to which he considered himself entitled and
Pulgar Immediately started new revolution
When / told Faxon how l had been Inn
posed on and impressed into Pulgar's service
he advised to tell Guzman the whole
story. went on the next steamer, which also
carried letter from Faxon, In which he told
Guzman the precautions had taken to verify
the signature to the order ortega had given
me.
called on Guzman after knew he had re-
ceived Faxon's letter and welcomed with
marked cordially. Tell your whole
story" he said. but let me assure you 1t ID
believed before it is told" His face took on
an ugly look when told him how Ortega had
tricked me with the forged order. and he in
terrupted me to say that he had sent an off,
Ger to Curacao to await the Juliette and direct
me to deliver the arms at La Guayra This
omcers failure to get to me In advance of
Ortega had not been satisfactorily explained
and had. Guzman said. been severely pun
ished. 1t was evident that he suspected col
lusion between his agent and Ortega
When l had finished Guzman told me he
surrounded by men whom he either sus-
pected or hesitated to trust He wanted
man whom he could rely on implicitly to watch
for evidences Of treachery among those around
him. and he kind enough to say he
thought was the he had been looking
for. He asked me to remain in Caracas for
an indefinite time. to mix freely with his fol-
lowers and ascertain who could be trusted
had been with Guzman Blanco for about
year after he proclaimed himself dictator of
Venezuela. February IA. 1871. when / began
to grow restless again. This was in no sense
due to any fault / had to find with Guzman.
He had treated me with every mark Of friend
ship and had proved, time and again. that I
possessed his entire confidence. But under