Rocky Ford enterprise., 1915-02-12

faces were somber and their manner |
portentous. Near the fire stood Miss
La Tossa talking animatedly to sew
eral officers, who were listening to
her with barred heads and other marks
of Difference.
AS she spoke. however. a man In
the uniform of = captain rose and
clapped his hands. The men to whom
the girl was speaking withdrew their
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
flcer clapped his hands, evidently pre-
paratory to speaking. she walked
away from the group and gave her
entire attention to this man.
"Countrymen," he said, II think
we all recognize that in the event
Of the success of the Americans. Cuba
will receive no benefit whatever. 1t
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 contempt"-the man was
lashing himself to fury-"I, myself.
was shouldered out of the trail by
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? l
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. I 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. l 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 1t. II
you have nothing more than nara
tiyes 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 a shrek. 4
put my personal feelings above my
patriotism! So you say! That-that
/ "aS hNiSss hy oS6hhAh6. aAe NIL
til have finished and then let me
left"
] answered the older man.
So" resumed the speaker, I'VE all
know what this generous nation of
| Yankees. this nation SO given to es-
\ tablishing freedom throughout the
4 ...A A., n nj
| ipnine 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-an 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? I'll tell you:
'Worid-power!' That is what they
sny: 'wcrld-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.
For a moment no one stirred. II
appeared as though all were thinking,
digestfng the eloquence that had been
poured into their ears. Then another
man arose. Holton leaned forward
with a gasp.
II was the spy. the waiter of the
New Willard, come tonight to place
the eapstone upon the spell he had
been weaving among the officers of
the Cuban army
Brothers" he began, 81 came here
tonight to counsel prudence, and in
fact do SO counsel you now"
Hoiton's face filled with amaze
meT;. What was he getting at? In |
q few moments he found out.
Il do most earnestly council pru-
dence." lie continued. There are |
things that must be borne. The sol
diers of the United States have come !
here. Well. good. We Brought them !
here. Al least, SO It would appear
"of course. we believe that these /
men were sent here because of the |
great yearning of the United States
to see us a free. unshacklcd country
And so they have cone down here to
set US free, and then. having done 80.
to retire with a blessing, and TO con
template with pride the growth of
the republic. free and untrammeled.
so 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 1t and develop 1t. and make
1t great. and may God be with you
So ! say prudence.
But, on the otser hand. there are
some OF US who may possess we'll
formed doubts as 10 the truth Of the