The Red Cloud chief., 1918-08-15

had been Quickened hour by hour.
Now that he looked the matter square
ly In the face, It seemed absurd to be.
lieve that a tender girl like Rosa Va.
roma could long have withstood the
hardships of this hideous place strong.
er people than she had succumbed, by
the hundreds. Even now the hospitals
were full, the sick lay INTENDED in
their novels. No one, so far as O'Reilly
knew, had undertaken TO estimate how
fast they were dying or the number of
dead which had already ridden out of
Matanzas In those runbling wagons,
but there were many. What chance
vas there that Rosa had not been
among the latter7
As he breasted the summit Of La
Cumbre, OIseilly beheid at some dis.
lance u bent figure of want. 1t was a
negro woman, %grubbing In the earth
with a sharpened stick. After q sus-
picious scrutiny Of him she resumed
her digging.
Nothing but a heap Of stones and
plaster remained of the Varona home.
The grounds, once beautiful even when
neglected as in Donna Isabel's time,
were now q scene Of total %desOlation. A
few orange trees, to be sure, remained
standing, and although they were cool
and green to look at, they carried no
fruit and the odor Of their blooms was
n trial and q mockery to the hungry
visitor. The evidences of Cueto's van
dalism affected O'Reilly deeply; they
brought him memories more painful
than he had anticipated. Although the
place was well-nigh unacceptable,
nevertheless It cried aloud Of Rosa,
and the unhappy lover could barely
control the emotions 1t awakened. 1t
was indeed a morbid impulse which
had brought him thither, but now that
he was here he could not leave. I'm
consciously his feet turned toward the
ancient quarry which had formed the
sunken %garden-his and Rosa's tryst-
ing place.
O'Reilly desired above all things to
be alone at this moment, and 80 he was
annoyed to discover that another per-
son vas before him-a woman, evident.
ly some miserable paciflco like himself.
She. too. appeared to be looking for
roots. and he almost stumbled over her
as he brushed through the guava
bushes fringing the depression.
His sudden appearance alarmed the
creature and she struggled. panic
stricken. out Of his path. Her rags
could not conceal the fact that she was
deformed, that her back was crooked,
SO he muttered a reassuring word to
her.
This place was more as he had left
it-there was the stone bench where
he had said good-by to Rosa; yonder
was the WE'LL
"Senor!" Johnnie heard himself ad-
dressed by the hunchbacked woman.
Her voice was thin, tremulous, eager,
but his thoughts were busy and he
paid 40 heed. "Senor! Do you look
for somethlng-some one"
"N-nO. Yes" he answered, abstract
eddy. "Xes, I I'M looking for some
~thing-some One."
Something you have lost?"
Something I have lost" The ques-
ton came to him family, but 1t was so
in tune with his unhappy mood that 1t
affected him strangely. He found that
his eyes were blurring and that an
aching lump had risen into his throat,
This was the breaking point.
O'Reilly's hearing, too, was going
wrong, for he imagined that some one
whispered his name. God! This place
was not dead--lt was alive-terribly
alive with memories, voices, a pres.
ence unseen yet real. He laid hold OF
the neares bush to steady himself, he
closed his eyes, only to hear his name
spoken louder.
"O'Rail-ye"
Johnnie brushed the tears from his
lashes. He turned, he listened, but
there was no n to be seen, no one
that Is, except the dusky cripple, who
had Strengthened herself and was fac
ing him, poised uncertainty. He looked
at her a second time, then the WORLD
began to spin dizzily and he CROPPED his
way toward her. He peered again
closer, for everything before his eyes
was swimming.
The woman was thin-little more
than a skeleton-and so frail that tn,
wind appeared to sway her. but hel
face, uplifted to the sun, was glorifed
O'Rellly stood rooted. staring at heI
until she opened her eyes, then HI
voiced a great cry:
"Rosa" What more he said HI
He took the m!sshapen figure int
his arms, he rained kisses upon tn
pinched, discolored face. But Ros'
did not respond; her puny strengtl
had flown and she lay inert In his EN-
brace, scarcely breathing.
Dazed. doubling, astounded, 1t wa
some time before Johnnie could con
vince himself Of the reality Of this me
ment, and even then words did no