Evening star., 1918-01-20
By Rex BEAcH 90
1918. by Harper & Bros,

Copyright, 1915, by Harper Bros.)
What do you call it?' the general
inquired, leaning forward.
This was the coloners moment. Il
will tell you!" he said. with a sneer at
O'Reilly. Il am something of a genius
fore | am not for a moment deceived
by this fellows common lies. This
he paused dramatically and held his
brother officers with burning glance
this instrument in my opinion. was
devised for the purpose of injecting
illuminate of mercury into dynamite.
There was a breathless hush. The
Spaniards stared at the little syringe
with amaZement.
And how does it operate?" queried
one.
"It is one of those ingenious Yankee
contrivances. I have never seen one
quite like it. but my Intelligence makes &c
its principle plain. Evidently one in
serts the tube into the dynamite. so'
and presses the bulb
There came loud cry from Gen. An
tuna, who had bent closer: he clapped
his hands to his face and staggered
from his chair. for in suiting his action
to his words the colonel had squeezed
the bulb. with the result that a spray
of salt water had squirted fairly into
his superior officers interested and at
tentive countenance.
my eyes! Dios Mic, I am blinded
for life!" shouted the unhappy gen
eral, and his subordinates looked on.
frozen with CONSERVATION.
The author of this calamity blanched;
he was stricken dumb with horror.
Some one cried: "A doctor, quickly.
Jesus Cristo. Such carelessness"
This is TERRIBLE another stam-
mered. "It will explode next"
There was a concerted scramble away
from the table.
Leslie Branch laughed-it was the
first time that oReilly had ever heard
l. hi -
ment His reedy frame was shaken as
by painful spAsm: his colorless face
was distorted. and from his lips issued
queer. hysterical barks and chortles-
Tell 'em it's nothing but Brine, he
said. chockingly.
When this welcome intelligence had
been translated. and when the general
had proved it to be true. there was
great sigh of relief, followed by a
subdued litter at the coleners expense
The latter was chagrined. Having
made himself and the comandante RI
dicuIous. he took refuge behind an as
sumption of somber and offended dig
nifty. But it was plain that he still
considered these Americans dangerous
people. and that his suspicious were as
keen as ever.
The interruption served to end
D'Reillys ordeal. for the moment at
least, and attention was now turned to
his companion. 1t was evident from
the first that Branchs case was hope
less. He readily acknowledged himself
to be a newspaper writer. and admit
ted having sent articles for publica-
tion through the mails. This was quite
enough: from the attitude of the mil
itary men it promised to go hard with
him. But he sprung a surprise by
boldly proclaiming himself an English
citizen and warning his captors not TO
treat him with the contempt or with
the severity they reserved for AmerI
cans Curiously his words had an ef-
It'd
suspended, and the two prisoners were
led away. after which another delay
ensued.
At last O'Reilly was recalled; but
when he re-entered the big room he
found Gen. Antuna> awaiting him,
alone.
Permit me to apologize for the in
convenience we have put you to-. the
comandant began.
Then am I free?'
You are"
II thank YOU.
The generals hard eyes cleaned
PERSONALLY I at no time put faith IN
the idea that you are a powder ex-
pert" said he. NO. I had my own
suspicious and I regret to say this ip-
quiry has not in the least served to
lessen them.
Indeed? May ask of what you sus-
pect me" Johnnie was genuinely IN
terested.
The general spoke with force and
gravity: "AIr. O'Reilly. I believe YOU
to be a far greater menace TO To-, Ihe t,a IN. :
a score of dynamite experts. L oeileFe
you are writer"
The American smiled. Are Wrlters
such dangerous people?
That altogether depends upon CIR
cumstances. The United States is IN
clined to recognize the belligerency OF
these Cuban rebels. and her relations
with Spain are becoming daily more
nd n q
cause of the exaggerations. the men
dacities. that have gone forth from
here to your newspapers. We are de-
terfnined to put down this uprising In
our own way: we will tolerate no 1or-
eign interference. War is never
pleasant thing, but you journalists have
magnif1ed its horrors and misrepresent-
ed the cause of Spain until you threat
en- to bring on another and a more
horrible combat. Now then. you un-
derstand what l mean when I say that
You are more dangerous than powder
expert: that your pen can do more IN
jury, can cause the death of more span
ish troops than could regiment OF
Americans with dynamite. Your Eng
lish friend makes no secret of his busi-
ness, so we shall escort him to Nuevitas
and see him safely out of the country,
once for all"
And yet You permit me to remain!
Johnnie was surprised.
For the present, yes! That is my
official message to you. Privately. how
ever"-the speaker eyed O'Rei1ly with
a disconcerting expression-"1 would
like to warn you. You are bright
fellow, and you have a way with you
there's no denying it. Under other con-
ditions it would be pleasure to
know you better. 1t grieves me.
therefore to warn you that your
further stay in Cuba will not be
pleasant. l almost regret that there is
no conclusive evidence against you: it
hadn't you better acknowledge that l
have guessed your secret?'
O'Reillv's perpleXity was changing to
dismay, for it seemed to him he was
being played with: nevertheless. he
shook his head. "I would only be de-
ceiving you. sir he said.
Gen. Antuna sighed Then /. see
emharrassments ahead for both of u.s."
more arrests?"
Not necessarily. Understand me. I
speak as one gentleman to another. but
you must have noticed that Americans
are unpopular with out troops. Eth ?
They are impulsive. these troopers: ac-
cidents cannot be prevented. Suppose
something should happen to you? There
is the trouble. You came to Cuba to
enjoy its climate; you cannot be eX-
pected to remain indoors. OF course
not. Well, Among our soldiers are
many new recruits, patriotic. enthusiast
are wretchedly unproficient marksmen
and they haven't learned the dangers
of promiscuous rifle fire. They are
forever shooting at things, merely to
score a hit. Would you believe it? Oh,
| have to discipline them freuuently