The Kadoka press and Kadoka reporter. [volume] (Kadoka, S.D.) 1910-1923, 1918-07-19


warrant plundering, and Rosa's dis
SuiSe concealed what charms remained
10 her. But once they had entered The
city, what an awakening What suf
fering, what poverty. what rags they
saw The three Of them grew weah
with dismay nj the horror OF It all
but there was no retreat.
Asensio built a makeshift Shelter
close under La Cumhre-from IL the
ruins Of the Quinta dc Esteban were
yisible-and there they settled down
to live. They had hoped to lose them
selves among the other prisoners, and
in this they were successful, for none
of their miserable nelghbors were In
! any condition 10 notice them, and
there was nothing sufficiently con-
! Spicuous about two tattered blacks
and their hunchbacked daughter TO
draw attention from the soldiers.
AsenSlo foraged zealously, and at
hrst he managed somehow TO secure
enough food for his little family. One
day the soldiers seized him and put
him to work on the fortfications along
with gang Of other men who ap-
peared strong enough to stand hard
labor. Asenslo was not paid for this.
but he was allowed one meal a day,
and he succeeded in bringing home
each night "A share OF his allotment.
1t is surprising how little nourish-
ment will sustain life. Rosa and her
two friends had long felt the pinch
Of hunger, but now they plumbed new
depths Of privation, for there were
days when Asensio and his fellow con-
scripts received nothing at all. After
time Evangellna began making bas-
kets and weaving palm-leaf hats. which
she sold ut six cents each. She taught
Rosa the craft, and they worked from
dawn until dark, striving with nimble,
urelesS fingers to supplement Asensio's
rauons and postpone starvation. But
1t was n hopeless task. Other nimble
fingers worked as tirelessly as theirs,
and the demand for hats was limited. |
Their hut overlooked the rond to
san Severino, that Via Dolorosa on |
which condemned prisoners were
marched out to execution. and in time |
the women learned to recognize the |
peculiar blaring notes OF certain cor
net, which signified that another "Cu- |
ban cock was about to crow" When |
In the damp OF dewy mornings they
heard that bugle they ceased their
weaving long enough to cross them
selves and whisper prayer for the |
souls of those who were on their way |
to die. But this was the only respjte
they allowed themselves.
Rosa medltated much upon the con-
trast between her present and her for
mer condition. Matanzas was the CITY
Of her birth, and time was when she
had trod its streets In arrogance and |
pride. when she had possessed friends |
by the score among It's residents. But |
Of all these there was not one to whom
she dared appeal In this, her hour OF |
need. But even had she felt assured |
Of meeting sympathy, her pride was |
pure Castilian, and 1t would never |
down. She. VarOna. whose name was |
one to conjure with, whose Lineage was |
of the highest! She to begl The |
thing was cutie impossible. One crumb,
so taken. would have choked her.
Rosa preferred to suffer proudly and !
await the hour when hunger or disease
would at last blot out her memories
of happy days and end this nightmare
misery.
Then, too. she dreaded any risk OF
discovery by Mario de Castano, who
was hard, vindictive man. His part
ing words had shown her that he
would never forgive the slight she had
put upon him; and she did not wish to
put his threats to the test. Once Rosa
saw him, on her way 10 buy few
centavos' worth of sweet potatoes; he
was huddled in his victoria, huge
bladder of flesh. and he rode the
streets deaf to the plants of starving
children, blind to the misery of be-
seeching mothers. Rosa shrank into
a doorway and drew her tattered shawl
rio might recognize In this misshapen
body and In these pinched, discolored
features the beauteous blossom he had
craved.
Nor did she forget Colonel Cobo. The
mans memory haunted her, asleep and
awake of him she was most desperate
ly afraid. When for the first time she
saw him riding at the head of his cut
throats she was like TO swoon in her
tracks, and for a whole day thereafter
she covered in the hut, trembling Mt
every sound.
In these dark hours she recalled the
stories Of the old Varona treasure and
Estebnn's Interesting theory OF its
| whereabouts. but she could not bring
herself to put much faith in either. Ot
course II "av barely possible thar '"ere
was i"S 'gsure, and at
EST h"