The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1918-07-25

grove swamps slip past, and the hills
rise out OF their purple haze. When
the salt breath OF the trades came to
his nostrils he turned into his state
room, and, taking the crate OF coco
nuts with which General Antuna had
thoughtfuIly provided him, he bore 1T
to- the rail and dropped it>overboard.
rheumatism was q fool disease,
anyhow" he muttered.
Great news!" Esteban Varona an
nounced one day as he dismounted
after a fOraging trip into the Yumuri.
I'VE met some of Lacret's men and
they told US that Spain has recalled
Captain General Campos. What do
you say to that?"
Does that mean the end Of the
WARP" Rosa eagerly inquired.
"Oh, no. They have sent new man
he's in Havana nova dark little
old fellow who never smiles. He has a
long nose and a big chin; he dresses
all in black-a very jew-bird' in ap
is WeyIer-Valeriano Weyler, marquis
of Teneriffe"
Esteban covertly appraised his sis
ter's charms. but respecting her terror
OF CObO he did not speak his thoughts.
He was certain, however, that Rosa
knew, as well as he, what motive lay
behind the fellows tireless persecu-
tiOnS of the valley jewellers; for, in
spite of their isolation, stories of CObo
had reached the refugeeS-StorieS that
had rendered both the boy and the girl
sick with apprehension. The colonel,
it seemed, had nearly died of his
machete wound, and on recovering he
had sworn to exterminate the wasps
that had stung him. He had sworn
other oaths, too, oaths that robbed Es-
teban of his sleep.
Esteban idOlized his sister; her 10y
atty to him was the most precious thing
of his life. Therefore, the thought of
that swarthy ruffian hunting her down
as hound hangs to the trail of doe
aWOke in him a terrible anger. Sec
Ond only to his hatred for the guerrilla
! chief was his bitterness against the
traitor, PaRchO CuetO, who had capped
his villainy by setting this new peril
upon them; and since RoSa's safety
and his own honor called for the death
of both men, he had sworn that some
how he would effect it. 1t was, of
course, a difficult matter to get at the
colonel of volunteers, but CuetO still
| lived in the fhidst of his blackened
| fields, and it was against him that the
| boy was now planning to launch his
| first blow.
The thought of the hated Cobo had
mOmentarily distracted Esteban's
| thoughts. Now he collected them and
said:
'Waiti I am forgetting something.
| See what Lacret'S men handed me
they are posted from one end of the
! island to the other" He displayed a
printed bandO, or proclamation, signed
by the new captain general, and read
as follows:
/ "Au inhabitants of the country dis
tricts, or those who reside outside the
lines of Notifications of the towns
shall, within a period of eight days, en-
ter the towns which are occupied by
the troops. Any individual found out
side the lines in the country at the ex
piration Of this period shall be consid
cred rebel and shall be dealt with as
such"
| 1t was that inhuman order OF con
centration, the result of which proved
to be without parallel in military his
| tOry-an order which gave its savage
author the name of being the arch
fiend of a nation reputed peculiarly
cruel. Four hundred thousand Cubans
| driven from their homes into shelter
less prison camps; more than two hun
dred thousand dead from hunger anC
disease; a fruitful land laid bare of al
that could serve as food, and changed
to an ash-gray desolatiOn; gaunt fam
inc from Oriente to Pinar del Rio
that was the sequel to those printed
words of "Weyler the Butcher" which
ESteban read.
Eight days! When is the time up?'
Rosa inquired.
''Bless you, this is already two week:
old!" her brother told her.
why, then, it means that we'll b.
II shot if we're caught"
Exactly! But we sha'n't be caught
Ell? Let the timid ones take fright a