Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1918-11-14

had spirit He bought some stolen
rifles and armed band of his own
which wasn't a bad idea. / used to
hear about him. Nobody cared to
modest him. can tell you, until finally
he killed some of the regular troops.
Then of course they went after him.
Meanwhile he managed to destroy his
own plantations, which Cueto had
robbed him Of. You know Cuetof"
"Yes."
"Well, Esteban put an end to him
after a while; rode right up to La
Joya one night, broke in the door, and
macheted the scoundrel in his bed. But
there was mistake of some sort. 1t
seems that a body of Cobo's volun-
teers were somewhere close by, and
the two parties met. / have never
learned all the details of the affair, and
the stories Of that fight which came to
me are too preposterous for belief.
Still, Esteban and his men must have
fought like demons, for they killed
some Incredible number. But they
were human-they could not defeat a
regiment. 1t seems that only one or
two of them escaped"
"Esteban? Did he"
Colonel Lopez nodded; then he said
grayely: "Cobo takes no prisoners.
was in the Rubi hills at the time, fight
ing hard, and 1t was six weeks before
/ got back into Matanzas. Naturally.
when l heard what happened, tried
to find the girl, but Weyler was con-
centrating the pacificos by the time,
and there was nobody left in the Yu-
muri 1t was desert"
"Then you don't know positively that
she +. that She"
wait There is no doubt that the
boy was killed, but of Rosas fate
! can only form my own opinion. How
ever, one of Esteban's men joined my
/ troops later, and | not only learned
something about the girl, but also why
Esteban had been so relentlessly pur-
sued. It was all Cobo's doings. You
have heard of the fellow? No? Well,
you WILL" The speakers tone was elo-
II quent of hatred. "He Is worse than
the worst of them--a monsterl He
had seen Miss varona. She was q
beautiful girl.
go on r. whispered the lover.
II discovered that she didn't at first
obey Weyler's edict. She and the two
negroes-they were former slaves OF
her father, believe--took refuge In
the Pan de Matanzas. Later on, Co
bo's men made raid and-killed 9
great many. Some few escaped into
the high ravines, but Miss Varona was
not one of them. Out of regard fol
Esteban / made careful search, but
could find no trace of her."
"And yet you don't know what hap
pened?p o'Reilly ventured. you're
not sure?"
mo. but I tell you again Cobo's meI
take no prisoners. When heard abou
that raid gave up looking for her.
''This-Cobo,' the Americans voice
shook In spite of his effort to hold /
steady-I shall hope to meet hin
some time"
The sudden fury that filed Colone
Lopez face was almost hidden by tn
gloom eyes. Oh, yesr' he cried
quickly, "and you are but one of hun
bred; / am another. In my command
there is standing order to spare mel
Their Cobo nor any of his assassins
they neither expect nor receive quar-
ter from us. Now, companero'-th
Cuban dropped hand on O'Reiily'
bowed head-"I am sorry that had t
bring you such evil tidings, but we ar
men-and this Is war;"
: mo, mol 1t isn't warts merciles
savageryi To murder children and t
outrage women-why, that violates al
the ethics of warfare"
: "Ethicsl" the colonel cried harshly
Ethics? He'll is without ethics. VIII
look for, ethics In war? Violence
. injustice - insanity - chaos - that