Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-08-12

iabors. Thesound Of his sturdy blows
betrayed the party's whereabouts 90
clearly that finally the older man could
restrain himself no longer.
"Give 1t to them, compadres; It Is
game that We can plays
i O'Reilly had been gripping his rife
tensely, >hls heart In his throat, his
pulses pounding. As near panic as
he had ever been, he found, oddly
enough, that tho mere act Of throwing
his weapon to his shoulder and firing
It Gained him. The kick Of the gun
subdued his excitement and cleared
his brain. He surprised himself by di.
recting Jacket In cool, authoritative
voice, to shoot, low. When he had emp
tied the magazine he led two Of the
horses forward. Then. grasping his
own machete, he Joined In clearing a
pathway.
It seemed at interminable time ere
they had extricated themselves from
the trap, but finally they succeeded
and gained the welcome shelter Of the
woods, pausing inside its shelter to
cut the mufiies from their horses feet
by this time the defenders Of the tro-
cha were pouring volley after volley
at random into the night.
Now that the skirmish was over,
Jacket began to boast Of his part in It,
Stat Perhaps they'll know bette,
than to show themselves the next time
I come this way said he. "You saw
me, didn't your Well, I made few
Spanish widows tonight"
When no one disputed his assertion
Jacket proceeded further in praise Of
himself, only to break OF with a word
less cry Of dismay.
WHATS the matterr' Johnnie in.
quired.
"Lookl Behold me r. walled the
hero. II have left the half Of my beau
uful trousers on that barbed wire |"
Antonio swung leg over his saddle,
saying: "Come along, amigos we have
fifty leagues ahead OF. ~. The war
win be over while We stand here gos-
siping."
O'Reillys adventures on his swift
ride through Las villas have no part IN.
this story. It is only necessary to-
say that they we're numerous and va
Red. that O'Reilly experienced excite
ment a-plenty, and that upon more than
one occasion he was forced to think
and to act quickly in order to avoid a
clash with some reving guerrilla band.
Food became a problem immediate
~ after the travellers had crossed the
trocha. Such apprehensive families as
still lurked ain the woods wore liberal
enough-Antonio. by the way, knew all
Of thembut they had little to give,
and, in consequence, O'Reilly's party
learned the taste Of Wild fruits, ber-
RES and palmetto hearts. Once they
managed to. kill q small pig, the sole
survivor Of some obscure country trng-
edy, but the rest Of the time their
meat when there was any, consisted
Of iguanas-those big repulsive liz
ards-an jtltias, the Cuban field rats.
Fortunately there was no shortage
Of food for the horses, and so, despite
the necessity Of numerous detours, the
party made good time. They crossed
into Matanzas, pushed on over rolling
hills, through sweeping snvannas, past
empty clearings and deserted villages,
to their journeys end. A fortunate
encounter with q rebel partida from
General Betancourt's army enabled
them to reach headquarters without
loss Of time, and one afternoon, worn,
haggard and hungry, they tiismounted
In front Of that gallant officers hut.
General Betancourt read the letter
which O'Reilly handed him, then
looked up with q smile.
$50! You are one Of Gomez Ameri-
cans, eh7 Well, I would never have
known 1t, to look at you; the sun and
the wind have made you into a very
good Cuban. And your clothes One
might almost mistake you for Cuban
cabinet officer"
o'Reilly Joined in the laughter
evoked by this remark. He was quite
as tattered as the poorest Of Betan-
courts common soldiers; his shoes
were broken and disreputable: his cot
ton trousers, snagged by harbed wire
and brambles, and soiled by days in
the saddle and nights in the grass,
were In desperate 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
hesneak his natfonalitv
(Tol be Continued.)