Evening star., 1918-02-24

party was forced to follow back roads
and obscure bride trails. But the two
guides were never at a loss; they were
resourcefyl, courageous, and at no time
did the American have reason to doubt
their faithfulness.
Evidences Of the war increased as the
journey heightened. The portreros were
lush with grass, but no herds grazed
upon them; villages were deserted and
guano huts were falling into decay,
charred fields growing up to weeds ana
the ruins Of vast centraleS showing
where the insurrectos had been at work
Cuba, whence Spain had long drawn her
life blood. and from the first it had been
the policy of the rebel leaders to destroy
the large estates, leaving undamaged
only the holdings Of those little farm
ers whose loyalty to the cause of free
dom was unquestioned.
Food became a problem Immediately
after the travellers had crossed the
still Iurked in the woods were liberal
enough-Antonio. by the way. knew all
of then-but they had little to give and:
in consequence, OReilly's party learned
the taste Of wild fruits. berries ana
palmetto hearts. Once they managed to
kill a small pig, the sole survivor or
some obscure country tragedy, but the
rest Of the time their meat. when there
was any, consisted of iguanas = those
big. repulsive Hzards-and 1utlas' the
Cuban field rats.
Neither the lizards nor the rats were
quite as bad as they looked or sounded; !;
the meat of the former was tender and
white, while the latter, although strong,
was not unpalatable. To hungry men
both were nuy sabrosa. as Jacket put
it, This was not the boys first expert
ence with such a diet; having cam
paigned before in the west, he was ac-
customed to the taste of tuita, and he
told O'Reilly how his troop had once
lived so long upon these rats that it be-
came impossible to surprise a Spanish
enemy, except by approaching up the
Jacket gravely assured his friend that
the Spaniards could smell him and his
brother patriots from distance OF hve
kilometers-a statement, by the way,
which the American by this time was
ready to believe.
food for the horses. and SO. despite the
necessity Of numerous detours, the
party made good time. They crossed
into Matanzas, pushed on over the roll
ing hills, through sweeping savannas.
past empty clearings and deserted VII
lagos, to their journeys end. A fortu-
nate encounter with rebel partida
from Gen. Betancourts army enabled
them to reach headquarters without
loss of time. and one afternoon. worn,
ragged and hungry. they dismounted
in front of that gallant officers hut
Cen Betancourt read the letter which
OReilly handed him, then looked up
with a smile.
80. You are one of Gomez's 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 Cuba n
cabinet officer"
O'Reilly Joined in the laughter evok-
ed by this remark. He was quite as
tattered as the poorest of Betancourt's s
common soldiers; his shoes were brok-
en- and disreputable; his cotton trousers,
snagged by barbed wire and brambles.
and soiled by days in the saddle and
need of attention His beard had
grown, too, and his skin where it was
exposed, was burnt to a mahogany
brown. Certainly there was nothing
about his appearance to bespeak his
nationality.
in this letter to help you in some enter
prise. Command me, sir
AS briefly as possible Johnnie made
known the object of his journey. The
officer nodded his comprehension, but
as he did SO a puzzled expression cross
ed his face.
Yes, I reported that Miss varona had
to find out. Do you have reason to
mot the least. sir"
'Then-why have you come all this
way?"
Il came to find her and to fetch her
to her brother"
''But-you don't understand She is
actually inside the lines, in Matanzas-
a prisoner"
Exactly I intend to go into Matan-
zas and bring her out.
Gen. Betancourt drew back, aston