Evening star., 1918-01-20

destruction of a shock
ing character against which 1t would
Espionage stricter than that to which
he had been subjected would utterly
defeat his plans. After a moment OF
thought he said, gravely:
consideration. sir. and-I shall CO."
Cen Antuna leaped to his feet. his
grim face alight; striding to O'Reilly,
he pressed his hands-he seemed upon
you,' he cried. "You render me
supreme service. See. I breathe easy.
Permit me to offer you refreshment--
one of our famous Spanish wines. Not
Then the best cigar in all Cuba
HIS expressions of gratitude were
fulsome: he swore that O'Reilly had
done him the greatest favor of his life,
but his words were like poison to his
hearer.
You embarrass me-" OReiliy told
him. endeavoring to carry off his de-
feat with some show of grace. In
his bitterness he could not refrain from
adding, IF my accursed aff1iction re-
turns, perhaps we shall meet again
before long. either here or elsewhere"
Oh. l have little hope for such a
pleasure the general quickly replied
But if we do meet, remember we
Spaniards have cure for rheumatism.
II is unpleasant. but efficacious. A lit
tie, ntckel-piated pill. that is ALL
Gen Antuna's teeth shone for an In
stant- There is another remedy. not
quite so immediate In its effect, but .
good one. / have tried 1t and found
it excellent Drink plenty Of cocoanut
water: That is the Cuban remedy: the
other / call the Spanish cure. Cocoa
nuts are splendid. l shall see that
aboard your steamer. Accept them
with my compliments. and when you
partake of them think of me-"
oRetlly did think of Gen. Antuna,
railway station at daylight. but when
he and Branch took their seats and
their guards filed in behind them. He
assured himself moodily that he would
not cease to think of that sardonic old
joker for a long time to come. He
cursed savagely: the memory of these
wasted weeks, the narrow margin of his
failure. filled him with a sick feeling
OF dismay and impotence. His mind
quailed at the consequence of this new
delay. Where was Rosa now? How
and when would he return? With DIFF
fculty he resisted the impulse to fling
himself from the moving train; but he
composed himself by the thought that
cuba was not fenced about with bay.
onets. He would come back.
Leslie Branch broke In upon his
gloomy preoccupation by asking. How
much money have your
Less than ten dollars"
You're rich. My landlady cleaned
me. Is 1t the practice of benefcent mon
arches to provide transportation for
their departing guests?"
Undoubtedly"
Branch coughed dismally. "Ieu be
all right il they just buy me ticket
to the first fog. One more hemorrhage
and III wing my way aloft. God! I'd
hate to be buried at sea-"
Cheer up" O'Reilly reassured him,
irritabiy There may be ice abroad"
Ice! Leslie gasped. "Oh. bulletsw
In marked contrast to the difficulties
OF entering Cuba was the ease of leav-
ing IT. A ship was sailing from Neuvitas
on the very afternoon when the two
Americans arrived. and they were hur.
ried aboard. Not until the anchor was
from them.
With angry. brooding eyes o'Reilly
watched the white houses along the
water front dwindle away, the man.
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 COCOA
NJ nuts with which Cen. Antuna had
to the rail and dropped 1t overheard.
rheumatism was a fool disease.
ANYHOW" he muttered.
Great news" Esteban varona an
nounced one day. as he dismounted
we met some of Lacret's men and
they told US that Spain has recalled
Capt. Gen. Campos. He acknowledges
nlmself powerless to stem the food of
Cuban revolution. What do you say to
that"
Does that mean the end of the war;"
Rosa eagerly inquired.
oh. no. They have sent a new man
mes IN Havana nova dark litIlc.
old fellow who never smiles He has 4
long nose and a big chin; he dresses
all in black-a very jew-bird' in ap.
pearance. from what I hear. His name
Ny-1a ayrs-
Of Teneriffe." Esteban laughed toier-
antly. for as yet the name of weyIer
meant nothing to him.
No wonder We knew nothing about
it," said the girl. I'VE hide like AMI
mails and We see no one for weeks at
a time I sometimes wonder how
O'Reilly will manage to find u.s.
oh. he'll manage 1t somehow" Este.
pan declared. cheerfully. Then he ran
an approving eye over the new bohio
and the new garden plot which Evangeo
INA had courageously begun. We're
not so badly fixed. are we? Al least
Col Cobo won't find US SO readily this
time" .''''
about him."
Esteban scowled. i've seen him at q.
distance several times. but he takes
pains to guard himself well when he
comes into the Yumuri They say he's
trying to destroy the whole valley"
He will never forget"
Esteban covertly appraised his sisters
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 dweIlers: 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 9TH
er oaths, too. oaths that robbed Este
ban of his sleep.
Esteban idolized his sister; her loy-
atty to him was the most precious thing
of his life Therefore, the thought Of
that swarthy ruffian hunting her down
as a hound hangs to the trail of a doe
awoke in him terrible anger. Second
only to his hatred for the guerrilla
chief was his bitterness against the
traitor. Pancho 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, difficult matter to get at the
Colonel of Volunteers. but Cueto still
lived in the midst of his blackened
fields. and it was against him that the
boy was now planning to launch his
first blow.
The mention of Cobo's name had mo- 5
mentarily distracted Esteban's thoughts.
Now he collected them and said:
Ivrtt