Martinsburg W Va evening journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1913-1920, 1918-08-02
swallowed hard. you know where

"Haye you heard nothing?"
Nothing whatever. That is, moth
4 ing since Rosa, his sister You I'M
derstand. she and l are--engaged--"
Eyes, yes; Esteban told me all about
you"
! Something In the Cuban's gravity of
manner gave O'ReilIy warning. A sud
den fear assaied him. His voice shook
as he asked:
"What is it? Not bad news?'
/! There was no need for the officer
to answer. In his averted gaze
/, O'Reilly read confirmation of his sick
est apprehensions.
"Tell mel Which one" he whis-
pered.
'Both ~
OReilly recoiled; spasm distorted
! his chalky face. He began to shake
weakly, and his fingers plucked aim
lessly Mt each other.
! Lopez took him by the arm. 'T'ry 10
control yourself" said he. "Sit here
while i try to tell you what little l
know. Or would 1t not be better to
wait awhile, until you are caimere
As the young man made no answer ex-
cept TO stare at him in white agony
of suspense. he sighed:
81 will tell you all ] know--which
isn't much. Estebcn Varona came to
Ine soon after he and his sister had
| fed from their home; he wanted 10
| join my forces, but we were harassed
on every side, and l didn't dare take
the girl-no woman could have en-
dured the hardships we suffered. SO
convinced him that his first duty YVES
to her, rather than TO his country, ard
he agreed. He'was fine boy. He
had spirit. He bought some stolan
rifles and armed band of his own
which wasn't bad idea. used to
hear about him. Nobody <cared to
modest him. l 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 Cueto?"
Eyes"
"Well, Esteban put an end to him
after a while; rode right up to La
! Joya one night, broke in the door, and
maeheted the scoundrel in his bed. But
there was mistake of some sort. Il
seems that body of Cobo's volun-
teGfs were somewhere close by, and
the two parties met. have never
Joo Cd oil hD dAt Of tha of a anH
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
We're 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
gravely: "Cobo takes no prisoners. l
was in the Rubi hills at the time, fight
ing hard, and it was six weeks before
/ got back into Matanzas. Naturally,
when I 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-
muir; it was desert" ~
"Then you don't know positively that
she = that She"
"Wait. There is no doubt that the
boy was killed, but of Rosa's fate l
can only form my own opinion. How
ever, one. of Esteban's men Joined my
| troops later, and i not only learned
| something about the girl, but also why
Esteban had been so relentlessly pur-
| sued. 1t was all Cobo's doings. You
have heard of the fellow? No? Well,
you WILL" The speakers tone was elo-
quent of hatred. "He is worse than
the worst of them-a monster! He
had seen Miss .Varona. She was a
! beautiful girl. =.
go on !'twhispered the lover.
II discovered that she didn't at first
negroes-they were former slaves of
her father, believe-took refuge in
the Pan de Matanzas. Later on, Co
bO's men made a raid and-killed a
great many. Some few escaped into
/ the high ravines, but Miss Varona was
not one of them. Out of regard for
Esteban-I made careful search, but
| could find no trace of her."
"And yet you don't know what hap
pened?" O'Reilly ventured. you're
not sure?"
mo, but tell you again Cobo's men
take no prisoners. When heard about
that raid gave up looking for her.
"This-Cobo, the Americans voice
shook in spite of his effort to hold ii
steady-'T shall hope to meet him
! some time"
The sudden fury that filed Colonel
Lopez face was almost hidden by the
gloom. Eyes. oh. yes!" he cried
! quickly, "and you are but one of hun
dred; am another. In my command
there is standing order to spare nei
ther Cobo nor any Of his assassins
they neither expect nor receive quar-
ter from us. Now, companero'-tht
Cuban dropped hand on O'ReilIy's
bowed head-'I am sorry that ! had tt
bring you such evil tidfngs, but we are
mainland this xrurv