Evening star., 1918-02-10
THAT SICK MAN FROM SAN
ANTONIO.


sanguinary resistance by its Spanish
garrison; how they released the prison
ers in the local Jail. replenished their
own supplies, and then retired in tho
face Of enemy reinforoements. It 10
quite q stirring story to read. and 1t
has but one fault, a fault, by the way.
not uncommon in historfee-it IL main
ly untrue.
In the nrst place. the engagement
was in no sense a battle. but merely a
raid. The number Of troops engaged
was, perhaps. one-fifth Of the generous
total ascribed by. tho historians, and
as q military maneuver it served no
purpose whatsoever. That the Cubans
delivered spirited attack there is no
denying. As matter OF fact. the en-
Hagement was characterised by an
abandon. by a lack OF caution. truly
sensational the reason being that the
insurrectos were half starved and
stormed the town much as hungry
theless, since the affair had a direct
bearing upon the fortunes Of several
people connected with this story. It is,
perhaps. worth relating.
The baths of st. Anthony consisted
OF q sulphur spring which for many
years had been held in high regard by
gouty and rheumatic Camagueyans:
around this spring village had arisen
which boasted rather better shops than
fact which had induced the gallant and
obliging Col. Lopez to attack It. for.
as he explained to his American
friends, II any place outside Of Habana
was likely to contain pickles, jam,
other delicacies as appeared necessary
to the contentment Of q visiting Amer
lean lady, San Antonio dc los Banos
was the one. Col Lopez did not be-
lieve in half measures: once he had de-
Norine Evans. he would have sacrificed
himself and the flower of his command: {:
he would have wasted his last precious
three-pound shell in preaching the
walls of San Antonio de los Banos
rather than fail. But, as a matter of
fact, the village had no walls, and it
was defended only by couple of
b1ockhouses. Therefore the colonel left
his artillery behind.
Perhaps its name was the most i'm
pressfve thing about San Antonio de
los Banos. Its streets were narrow
: and steep and stony. and its fiinty little
plaza was fanked by stores Of the cus-
tomary sort. the fronts Of which were
open so that mounted customers from
their purchases. Crowning two COM
manding eminences just outside the vii
lage limits were the loopholed fortinas,
where for months past the Spanish
garrison had been doing.
Lopez and his troop approached the
town in the early morning. AS they
deployed for the attack the colonel is
sued private instructions to certain
members OF his command.
"O'Rei1ly, you and Senor Branch will
enter one grocery store after another.
You will purchase that Jam. those sar-
dimes. and whatever else you think Miss
Evans would like. Capt. Judson, you
and Maj. Ramos will go to the apothe-
good one-and look for tooth powder
and candy and the like. shall see
that the streets are cleared, then
shall endeavor to discover some pickles:
but as God is my Judge. I doubt If
there is such thing this side Of
Habana-"
Leslie Branch, whose temper had not
improved with the long night ride, in
quired. caustically: DO you expect US
to buy the groceries? Well I'm broke,
and so Is O'Reilly.'
Have you no money!" asked the
colonel. vastly surprised.
Il haven't tipped my hat to dollar
since I quit newspaper work. What's
moro, 1 want to do a little shopping
for myself"
O'Reilly agreed: ''If you don't give
us some change. colonel. we'll have to
open a charge account in your name"
tended to borrow from you gentlemen.
Well. never mind-we'll commander
what we wish in the name Of the re-
public"
Lopezs attack proved a complete
surprise, both to tho citizens and to the
garrison Of the town. The rebel bugle
gave the first warning Of what was
afoot. and before the Castilian troops,
who were lettering OF duty, could re-
gain their quarters. before the citizens
nR
close and bar their heavy wooden shut
ters. two hundred ragged horsemen
were yelling down the streets.
There followed typical Cuban en-
gagement-ten shouts to one shot
There was a mad charge on the heels
OF the scurrying populace, scattering
pop-pop Of rifles, cheers, cries., shrieks
of defiance and far-hung insults d.
rected at the fortinas.
Bug1eS blew on the hiI1tops; the de-
tenders armed themselves and began to
fire into the village. But since the
insurrectos were now well sheltered by
the houses, and only q portion Of cer-
tain streets could be raked from the
obedient to orders. q number OF
Lopez's men dismounted and took
positions whence they could guard
against a sally. thus leaving the rest
In the outskirts of the town Mausers
spoke, the dust .leaped, and leaden mes
sengers whined through the air.
AS locusts settle upon standing
crop, SO did the army Of liberators de-
cend upon the shops Of San Antonio de
los Banos. It was great fun, great
excitement, while 1t lasted, for the
town was distracted and its citt1ens
had neither time nor inclination to re-
sist. Some OF the shopkeepers. indeed.
to prove their loyalty, openly welcomed
the invaders. Others. however, lacking
time to close up. fed tncontinently,
leaving their goods unguarded.
OReilly. with Branch and Jacket close
at his heels, whirled his horse into the
hrst bodega he came to. The store was
stocked with general merchandise. but
its owner, evidently Spaniard. did not
tarry to set price upon any OF 1t. As
the three horsemen came clattertng in
at the front he went flying out at the
rear, and, although OReilly called reas-
suringly after him, his only answer was
the slamming Of back door, followed
by swiftly diminishing cries of fright.
Plainly, that rush OF ragged men. those
shots, those ferocious shouts from the
plaza, were too much for the peaceful
shopkeeper and his family, and they
had taken refuge in some neighbors
garden.
There was no time to waste. Johnnie
dismounted and. walking to the shelves
where some imported canned goods
were displayed, he began to select those
deltcacies for which he had been sent.
The devoted Jacket was at his side. The
little Cuban exercised no restraint: he
seized whatever was most handy. mean
III A{v.or HAA vSelr a a .