The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1914-01-02

: fifty Cuban officers and soldiers. Thei
/ faces were somber and their manne
: portentous. Near the fire stood Mis-
| La Tossa talking animatedly to sey
: eral officers, who were listening L
her with barred heads and other mark
of Difference
AS she spoke. however. a man II
the uniform OF captain rose ant
clapped his hands. The men to whom
the girl was speaking withdrew thei
attention from her, and as a matter
OF fact she. herself. appeared to make
no effort to hold them.
On the contrary, as soon as the OF
ficer clapped his hands, evidently pre-
paratory to speaking. she walked
away from the group and gave hei
entire attention to this man.
"Countrymen." he said. II think
we all recognize that In the event
OF the success OF the Americans, Cuba
VIII receive no benefit whatever. II
will be case merely of changing
masters. And as for me. between the
Spaniards, from whose stock we
sprang, and the Americans, the Yam
KEGS, who are utterly alien, give me
the Spaniards. We have already felt
their heel; we know what their scorn
is. and their contemplate man was
lashing himself to a fury-'I myself.
was shouldered out OF the trail by a
young pig OF an officer not five days
ago, and when drew my sword, a pig
OF Yankee private knocked me down
with his hand. Is this friendship? I
ask you, brothers-is this what we
were led to expect from our friends
of the north. our saviors. our deliv-
erers?"
But, Juan" interrupted an elderly
captain. that is all personal | my
self have felt the contempt which the
Americans feel for us, but should be
willing TO suffer more than contempt
for my country's freedom. | have al
ready suffered. as you know, at the
hands of our oppressors. Contempt is
very mild and easily TO be borne when
our liberty is the reward for It. IL
you have nothing more than narra-
tives OF personal affronts to give us,
| for one shall not be very much i'm
pressed"
BAH" The voice Of the first
speaker rose almost to shrek. q
put my personal feelings above my
patriotism! SO you say! That-that
was merely my beginning. Wait un-
til ! have finished and then let me
hear your sneers, IL sneers you have
left"
We'll, well, go on, am waiting"
answered the older man.
80" resumed the speaker, I'VE all
know what this generous nation OF
Yankees, this nation so given to es-
tablishing freedom throughout the
world, intends to do with the Phil
ippine Islands Their newspapers
leave us no doubt as to that. Impe-
rialism! That is the cry In the Unit
ed States, They have received their
taste of aggrandizement--and the
taste is good. Have you been deaf to
the talk about the American camp?
What is the word you hear oftenest
among their officers? Isl tell you:
'World-power!' That is what they
say; 'World-power!
A sort of low cry went the rounds
of his hearers. and Holton could see
that the speaker was bringing them
one and all beneath his spell
He sat down, looking gloomily at
the ground. paying no attention to the
round of hand-clapping that attended
his peroration.
,Ay,t .eg Il
appeared as though all were thinking
digesr>ng the eloquence that had been
poured into their ears. Then another
man arose. Holton leaned forward
with gasp.
1t was the spy. the waiter OF the
New Willard. come tonight to place
the capstone upon the spell he had
been weaving among the officers OF
the Cuban army
Brothers" he began. Il came here
tonight TO counsel prudence, and. In
fact, do so counsel you now"
Holton's face filled with amaze.
ment. What was he getting at? In
a few moments he found out.
IL do most earnestly counsel pru-
dence," he continued. There are
things that must be borne The sol.
diers of the United States have come
here. Well. good. We brought them
here. At least, so II would appear
"Of course. we believe that these
men were sent here because of the
great yearning OF the United States
to see US free. unshackled country.
And SO they have come down here TO
set us free, and then, having done so,
to retire with a blessing, and to con
template with pride the growth OF
the republic. free and untrammeled.
80 much we know. The Spaniards
will be driven from the island. and
then will these Americans turn to us
and say. Behold, here is your coun.
try; take II and develop II, and make
II great, and may God be with you
So ! say prudence.
But, on the other hand, there are
some OF US who may possess we'll
formed doubts as to the truth OF the