The Mena weekly star., 1919-01-16

lcontinued from last weekly

Gomez leathery cOuntenance lightenec
into a smile. "He happens to be right
here In Cubitas." Calling Judson Il
him, he said: amigo. take Mr.. O'Reilly
10 Colonel Lopez; you will find hin
somewhere about. / am sorry we are
not to have this young fellow for
soldier; he looks like real man and
quite equal TO five quintos, eh?"
1t was the habit of the Cubans tt
refer to their enemies as quintos--
the fifth part of mani 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 a moment later his smile
gave way to a frown and his brow
darkened.
"Soi You are that O'Reilly from
Matanzas," said he. Il know you now
butt never expected we would meet
"Esteban varona TOLD you about me
did he notf'
The colonel inclined his head.
'Im here at last. after the devils
own time. I've been trying every way
to get through. The Spaninrds 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 nothing7"
Nothing whatever. That is, moth,
ing since Rosa, his sister You uL
derstand, she and are-engaged--'
Eyes yes; Esteban told me all about
you"
Something In the Cuban's gravity OF
manner gave o'Reiily warming A sud
den fear assailed 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'ReiIly read confirmation Of his sick
est apprehensions.
Tell mel Which onef" he wills
pered.
"Both!"
o'Reilly recoiled; 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. "St here
while | try to tell you what little
know. Or would it not be better to
wait awhile, until you are calmerT
As the young man made no answer, ex-
eept to stare at him In white agony
of suspense, he sighed:
Il viii tell you all / know-which
isn't much. Esteban varona came tc
me soon after he and his sister had
fed from their home; he wanted to
on every side, and / didn't dare take
the girl-no woman could have en-
dured the hardships we suffered. so
i convinced him that his first duty was
TO her, rather than to his country, and
he agreed. He was q fine boy lie
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 final
" he killed some of the regular
troops. Then Of course they went aft
er him. Meanwhile he managed to de-
stroy his own plantations, which Gu
etc had robbed him of. You know Gu
eto?
Eyes"
We'll, Estaban 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
mere was mistake of some sort. 1t
seems that a body of Cobo's volun-
seers were somewhere close by, and
me stories of that fight which came to
ne are too preposterous for belief.
sun, Esteban and his men must have
fought like demons, for they killed
some Incredible number But they
we're human--they could not defeat
regiment. 1t seems that only one or
Two of them escaped"
Estaban? Did he"
Colonel Loped nodded. then he said
sravely: "Cobo takes no prisoners. !
was IN the Hubi hills at time. fight
,ng hard and 1t was six weeks before
got back into Nationals. Naturally,
wnen ! heard what aappened tried
" ma the girl, but Weyier was con-
eenerating the pacificos by the time.
anu 'here was nobody left in the Tu-
murl 1t was a desert"
Then you don't know positively that
sue that She"
Wait. There Is no doubt that the
wy was killed, but Of Rosa's fate /
san only form my own opinion. How
ever enc of Esteban's men Joined my
uoops later, and not only learned
SSvniething about the girl, but also why
-s'eoaa had been so relentlessly pur-
sueu. 1t was all Cobo's doings. You
AaVe heard Of the fellow? No? Well.
sou VIII The speakers tone was elo-
vuenf Of hatred. "He is worse than
ne worst of them--a monsterl He
1ao seen Miss varona. she was
BEAUTIFUL girl. ~.
no onl" whispered the lover.
! discovered that she didn't at first
ooey Weyler's edict. She and the two
hsroes-they were former slaves of
n rather, l belleve-took refuge in
s ne ran de Matanzas. Later on. Co
sos men made raid and--killed a
saSdl many, Some few esccnad info