Judsonia weekly advance., 1918-08-28

putting an end to further inaction. An tonic began to hack viciously with his machete, in an effort to aid Hilario'S labors. The sound of his sturdy blows betrayed the party's whereabouts so clearly that finally the older man could restrain himself no longer.
 Give it to them, eompadres; 1t Is game that we can play!"
 O'Reilly had been gripping his rife tensely his heart in his throat. his pulses pounding. AS near q panic as he had ever been, he found, oddly enough, that the mere act of throwing his weapon to his shoulder and firing it calmed him. The kick of the gun subdued his excitement and cleared his brain. He surprised himself by d. recting Jacket in a cool, authoritative voice, to shoot low. When he had emp tied the magazine he led two of the horses forward. Then, grasping his own machete, he joined in clearing pathway.
 It seemed an intermmable time ere they had eytricated themselves from the trap, but finally they succeeded and gained the welcome shelter of the woods, pausing inside it's shelter to cut the muffles from their horses feet. By this time the defenders of the tro- cha were pouring volley after volley at random into the night.
 l Now that the skirmish was over, l Jacket began to boast of his part in it.
 "Hal Perhaps they'll know better than to show themselves the next time I come this way said he. You saw me, didn't you? Well, 1 made few Spanish widows tonight"
 When no one disputed his assertion Jacket proceeded further in praise of himself only to break off with word- less cry of dismay.
 "What's the matter?' Johnnie in- quired.
 Look Behold me!' walled the tiful trousers on that barbed wirep
 Antonio swung a leg over his saddle, saying: Come along, amigos; we have l fifty leagues ahead of us. The war will be over while we stand here gos- siping."
 O'Reilly's adventures on his swift ride through Las Villas have no part in 1 this story It Is only necessary to say that they were numerous and va ried. that O'Reilly experienced excite ment a-plenty, and that upon more than one occasion he was forced to think and to act quickly in order to avoid a clash with some rowing guerrilla band. Food became problem immediate ly after the travellers had crossed the trocha. Such apprehensive families as still lurked in the woods were liberal enough-Antonio, by the way, knew all of them-but they had little to give, and, in consequence, O'Reilly's party learned the taste of wild fruits, ber- ries and palmetto hearts. Once they managed to kill q small pig, the sole survivor of some obscure country trag- edy. but the rest of the time their meat, when there was any, consisted of iguanas-those big, repulsive liz ards-and jutias, the Cuban field rats.
 Fortunately there was no shortage or 1OOu TOT lle llOISSS, anu So, uSSpftS the necessity of numerous detours, the party made good time. They crossed 1 into Matanzas, pushed on over rolling hills. through sweeping savannas, past empty cIearings and deserted villages, to their journeys end. A fortunate encounter with rebel partida from General Betancourt's army enabled them to reach headquarters without loss of time, and one afternoon, worn, haggard and hungry they dismounted in front of that gallant officers hut.
 General Betancourt read the letter which OReilly handed him, then looked up with q smile.
 "Sol You are one of Gomez Ameri- cans, eh? Well, I would never have known it, to look at you; the sun and the wind have made you into very good Cuban. And your clothes One might almost mistake you for a Cuban cabinet officer"
 CTO BE CONTINUED)