Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-04-16

sob sisters from Here To HudSOnS bay.
Mlz Austin. your pictures in every
newspaper In the country. and. believe
Inc, it's the worst atrocity Of the war;"
WAR" Frtller O'Aialley had Joined
the group now, and he asked, HAS war
becn dcclared?"
Not yet. but we've got hopes" To
.Alaire l,laze explained "Ellsworth's
in Washington, wavln' the Stars and
Stripes aud singln' battle hymns, but
.ecisnn the government figures that the
original Of these newspaper pictures
would hessafe anywhere. Well, we've
rot our own ideas In J0nesyllle, so
some OF us assembled ourselves and de-
clureh war on our own hook. These
gentlemen" blaze waved his hand
proudly ut his misunderstanding
the Jonesvile Guards, the finest body
Of American men that has invaded
Mexican soil since me and Dave went
utter Ricardo Guzman's remains.
Blamed II amt sorry you sidetracked
our expedition
II was evident. from the words OF the
others, that the JOnesville Guards were
indeed quite rs needless of interna-
tional complications ms was their COM
mander One and all were highly In
censed ut Longorio's perildy, and, had
Alaire suggested such thing. it was
patunt that they would have ridden on
La Feria and exucre,l Il reckoning from
him.
Such proof Of s'aendshlpYfrected her
deeply. and it was not untll they were
all under way bntk toward Romero
that she felt she had nlnde her nppre-
eia;iun fully known. When she reflect
~ TINT these men were soiie Ut the
vury ,eighbcrs whom she had Stunned
and sighted. and whose honest interest
she had 50 habitually misconstrued all
these years. II seemed very strange
TINT they should feel the lenst concern
over her. 1t gave her new apprecia-
ton of their chivnlry and their worth; ,
1t filed her with humble desire to
know them better and to strengthen
herself In their regard. Then, too, the
esteem In which they held Dnve--her
husband her Intensely. II
tnnde no more difference to them than
to her that he was u poor man, a man
without authority or position ); they evil
Identity saw and loved in him the quail
ties which she saw and loved. And
that was rs 1t should be.
They were gentle and cons!derate
men. too. as. she discovered when they
told her, bit by bit. what had happened
during her absence. She learned, much
to her relief, that Eds funeral had
been held, and that I'LL the distressing
details Of the inquiry had been attend
cd to. Jose Sanchez, II appeared, had
confessed freely. Although her new
friends made plain their indignation
at the manner Of Eds taking away,
they likewise let her know that they
considered his death only slight loss,
either to her or to the community. Not
one of them pretended it was anything
except blessing.
The journey drew to an end very
quickly. Romero, deserted now by Its
garrison, stirred and stared sleepily nj
the invaders. but concerned itself with
their presence no more than To wonder
Why they|laughed and talked so spirit
edly. Plainly, these gringos were q
harbarous race Of people. what witt
their rushing here and there, and Will
their loud. senscless laughter. God hat
wisely placed them beyond the III
: Grantle. said the citizens Of Romero.
The crossing was made Alaire fount
herself in Texas once again, and !
seemed to her that the sun had neve1
been so bright, the mir so clear, tn
/, sky ~ high, the world SO smiling. a.
: here and now. The men who had RID
4 den forth to seek her were smiling
tod, and they were shaking her hand
ana congratulatng her. Even the Guz
q Imam boys. who were shy In the pres
!. ence Of American ladies', were wishin
her the hest Of fortune and the creates
. Of happiness. IA
8 Blaze Jones was the Inst to leave
With especial emphasis upon her name
/. she said: "Nilz Austin. l'alomA mn
4 me would like t0 have sou come to O,l
!. house and stay until you feel like soil
4 back to Las pallnas." sat a
When Attire declined with noistonc
eyes, explaining TINT she could not we
= accept his Invitations. he slgnlficd HI
= understanding. S4 &t sa
"vc'rc goln' TO zee a lot Of you, jus
r the sdinc," he promised her. "'cause "
feel as II yo, sort Of belonged to Il
There's n. lot Of good people IN th
!, part Of Texns. and tlicin thht ain't
!. good. God and the RINGERS. Is slow
), wcc,lln' out. We don't always kno
!, the ones We like hest until sorlIethii
!, happens to 'cin, hut II you'd heard n
I prayers the folks Of JonesvillcA liz,
: been sayin' lately you'd know you ",
" our fnyoritc.' Then. with Il meanll
\ twinkle IN hfs eye, he told HER. gravel,
!. r''1t seems n pity that | aln't young
y nnd bctter-lookin. would sure q
a.