Evening star., 1918-02-17
t,osr1NuEp FROM LAST SUNDAY,

dismounted and lent Judson a hand
with his task. a..
he's sick. 1 suppose It's tfat damned
dungeon fever.
.Then we'd better look after him
ourselves. These Cubans are mighty
careless. you know. We can swing MIN
between our horses. and
hudson looked up to discover that
5ohnnie was poised rigidly. his mouth
open, his hands halted in midair; Inc
sicKrnan's voice had risen, and y Reiiiy'
with peculiar expression OF amaze
went upon his face, was straining his
ears to hear what he said
.Ehe what's the matter? Judson
FOR a moment oReiliy remained
frozen in his attitude then without
word he strobe to the sufferer ne
bent forward, staring into the vacant,
upturned face. cry burst from MS
throat. cry that was ike SOD ana,
kneeling, he gathered the irait' hi'hy
figure into his arms.
.eEstebanw he cried. "Esteban! This
Is O'Reilly. o'Rail-ye! Don't you
know me? O'Reil1y. your friend, your
they've done to you, Look at me;
Esteban, Look at me! LOOK AT me-
Oh, Esteban!"
such eagerness, such thankfulness,
such passionate pity were III ms
friends hoarse voice that JudSon drew
closer He noticed that the faintest
name of reason fiickered for an instant
in the sick mans hollow eyes: tnen
they began to rove again, and the same
rustling whisper recornrnenced. Judsoh
had heard something of O'ReillyS story:
ne had heard mention of Esteban ana
Rosa Varona: he stood, therefore, IN
silent wonderment, listening to the IN
coherent words that poured from MS
friends lips OReil!y held tne pos
tenderiy in his arms; tears rolled down
his cheeks as he implored Esteban TO
hear and to heed him.
.aTry to hear me, Try." There was
fierce agony in the cry. Where is
Rosa? -. Rosa? 49, r You're ssfe safe noM; Mish
: O'Reilly. came back 49,. l came
back for you and Rosa. Where is
she? - Is she-dead?"
other men were assembling now
The column was ready to move, but
Judson signale1 to Col. Lopez and made
known the identity of the sick stranger:
The colonel came forward swiftly and
laid a hand upon o'Reilly's shoulder.
saying: =,
"SoI You were right. after all.
Esteban Varona didn't die. God must
have sent us to San Antonio TO oe-
liver him
Hes sick, sick o'Reilly said.
ngssiiH nat ihevve rsese aone to si His voice
changed. He cried, aercely: We'll. Tn
late again I'm always just a little
bit too late He'll die before he can
tell me"
do all we can be done to save him;
Now come, we must be going. or all
San Antonio will be upon us"
O'Reilly reused; Put him In my
arms" he ordered. TIL carry him to
But Lopez shook his head. saying.
gently: It's long march, and the lit
ter would be better for him. Thank
heaven we have an angel of mercy
awaiting US, and she Will know now
to make him we'll.
When the troop resumed its retreat
Esteban Varona lay suspended upon a
swinging bed between O'Reillys ana
Judson's horses. Although they carried
him as carefully as they could through
Gut that long hot journey, he never
ceased his babbling and never awoke
10 his surroundings.
Ell DEMoNIos CHILD.
During the next few days O'Reilly
had reason to bless the happy chance
which had brought Norine Evans to
Cuba During the return journey from
San Antonio de los Banos he had dis
covered how really i'll Esteban varena
was, how weak his hold upon life. The
ing illness and of cruel abuse; starva-
tlon. neglect and disease had all but
done for him. After listening to his
rawlings, o'Rei1ly began to fear that the
poor fellows mind was permanently
affected It was an appalling possibility.
one to which he could not reconcile
himself To think that somewhere in
that fevened brain was perhaps locked
the truth about Rosa's fate, If not the
secret of her whereabouts. and yet to
be unable to wiring an intelligent an
swer to a single question. was intoler-
able. The hours of that ride were
among the longest o'Reilly had ever
passed.
But Norine Evans gave him new
heart. She took complete charge of the
sick man upon his arrival in camp;
thsn In her brisk, natter-of-fact way
some much needed rest. Esteban was
Ill. very i'll. she admitted: there was no
e0hpetent doctor near, and her own
facilities for nursing were primitive In
'Adence that she could cure him, and
reminded OrReilly that nature has a
blessed way of building up a resistance
to environment As result of her good
nights sleep.
Leslie Branch was later than the
others in arriving, for the baby proved
to be trial and handicap. His COM
fades had refused him any assistance
on the honeward journey. They ex-
pressed deep, hoarse condemnation of
his conduct, and pretended to consider
that he had sacrificed all claims to
their friendship and regard.
Branch took this seriously and he
was in state bordering upon despera-
tion when he reached camp In the
nope OF unloading his unwelcome bur-
den upon Norine Evans he hurried
directly to her tent. But Norine had
heard the story: Lopez had warned her;
therefore she waved him away
Don't ask me to mother your stolen
child" she said
in panic. You've just got to-"
Well. won't. In the first place, I
nave a sick man in my tent"
But loeki Listen, This baby dis
likes me. I've nearly dropped it
desen times. I'm going to leave
1t, anyhow"
But Norine remained firm in her
refusal You sha'n't leave your
ioundiing at my door. If you intend to
eteai babies you should make up your
mind to take care of them" She was
itching to seize the hungry little mite
put she restrained the impulse Go
ahead and keep IT amused until the
COW arives,' she told him.
Keep 1t amused. Amuse a starving
Drat" tragically cried the man. an
heavens name. howr'
why. play with it. cuddle it. give IT
your watch-anything. But don't allow
IL 70 cfy-it may ihjure Itself"
brdnch giared resentfulIy; then he