The Pulaskian., 1918-07-05

sternness, the exalted detachment, of
the eagle, and O'Reilly gained hint of
the personality behind it. Maxine
Gomez was counted one of the worlds
ablest guerrilla leaders; and indeed
it had required the quenchless enthu-
siasm of real military genius to fuse
into homogeneous fighting force the
ill-assorted rabble of nondescripts
whom Gomez led, to school them to
privation and to render them sufficient
ly mobile to defy successfully ten
times their number of trained troops.
This, however, was precisely what the
old Porto Rican had done, and in doing
it he had won the admiration of mill
tary students.
With q bluntness not unkind he
asked O'Reilly what had brought him
to Cuba.
When O'Reilly explained the reason
for his presence the old fighter nod
ded.
$50? You wish to go west, eh?"
"Yes, sir. want to find Colonel
Lopez"
Lopez? Miguel lopez" the gen.
eral inquired quickly. "Well, you won't
have to look far for him" General
Gomez leathery countenance lightened
into smile. "He happens to be right
here in Cubitas." Calling Judson to
him, he said: "Amigo, take Mr.. O'Reilly
to Colonel Lopez; you will find him
somewhere about. / am sorry we are
not to have this young fellow for a
soldier; he looks like a real man and
quite equal to five quintos, eh?"
1t was the habit of the Cubans to
refer to their enemies as quintos-
the fifth part of a man! With a wave
of his hand Gomez returned to his
reading.
Col. Miguel Lopez, handsome, ami
mated fellow, took O'Reilly's hand In
a hearty clasp when they were intro
duced; but moment later his smile
gave way to frown and his brow
darkened.
"Soi You are that O'ReiIly from
Matanzas," said he. 81 know you now,
butt never expected we would meet"
'Esteban Varona told you about me,
did he not?"
The colonel inclined his head.
I'm here at last, after the devils
own time. I've been trying every way
to get through. The Spaniards stopped
me at Puerto Principe-they sent me
back home, you know. I've been per-
fectly crazy. L You" O'Reilly
swallowed hard. "You know where
Esteban is? Tell me-"
'Have you heard nothing?"
Nothing whatever. That is, moth
ing since Rosa. his sister You I'M
derstand, she and are-engaged-"
eyes, yes Esteban told me all about
you"
Something in the Cuban's gravity of
manner gave O'ReiIly warning. A sud-
den fear assailed him. His voice shook
as he asked:
"What is 1t? Not bad newsr'
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 oner he whis-
pered.
"Bothf
O'Reilly recoiled; a spasm distorted
his chalky face. He began to shake
weakly, and his fingers plucked aim
lessly at each other.
Lopez took him by the arm. 'Try to
control yourself" said he. "Sit here
while I try to tell you what little I
know. Or would 1t not be better to
wait awhile, until you are calmerT
AS the young man made no answer, ex-
cept to stare at him In. a white agony
of suspense, he sighed:
81 will tell you all know-which
isn't much. Esteban Varona came to
me soon after he and his sister had
fed from their home; he wanted to
join my forces, but we were harassed
on every side, and didn't dare take
the girl-no woman could have en-
dured the hardshlps we suffered. SO
I convinced him that his first duty was
to her, rather than to his country, and
he agreed. He was a fine boyl He
had spirit. He bought some stolen
rifles and armed band Of his own
which wasn't 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 CuetoY
EYES,"
"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 a mistake Of some sort. 1t
seems that a body of Cobo's yolun-
teers were somewhere close by, and
the two parties met. I 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