The Washington herald., 1919-11-19
WHAT HAS GONE BEroRH.

ton In Ouba and many slaves: the mcneg he
accsnulat-d he hid away, and with the death
Of his wife. Q fnithful slave. Sebastann, and
himself. tho secret of the hiding paace perished
His second wife. stepmother TO the twins. Este
ban and Rosa. finally lost her LIE seeking the
treasure. The children are cheated out o. the
plantation By q diShonet managtr. Pancho
Oueto. He informs the Spanish suthorities that
Estebsn 10 in league with the insurTection. then
raging in Cuba Tho children ars forced N
exile and ind nefass with Esansclina. old
Sebastian's daughter. and Ascensio. her husband
Jchn O'Reilly. young American % whom
Rosa is ensaeed. having sone 70 New fon 70
free himself from any allisncs there, learns of
their danger and returns 10 Cuba With the soea
Of rescling Rosa The twins have been driven
still further into the wilderness by The spAnaaros
and before o'Relly can reach them be 70 ar
rested 40 a spy and depcrted along with an
weyler. the Butcher. has been ssnt IRON
spasn and the eztsrminAtion Of Tie Cnbans
beginS The vsronAs isnors orden 70 repon
tn ths eitiea and Esteb.n, douby cun0cs
prooseds 10 nd himself q his srcn cnemieA'
Col Cobo and Pancho Oueto.
Go On with the story.
CHAPTER XL-continued)
But It seemed to him that he had
barely closed his eyes when ne was
awakened by a tremendous vibration
and found himself in the center OF tne
floor, undecided whether he had been
hurled from his bed or whether ne
had leaped thither. Still in q daze,
he heard a shout from the direction OF
Cobo'sy room, then a din Of other
voices, followed by a rush Of feet; the
next instant his door was flung back
and he saw, by the light of high-heid
torches, Esteban Varona and ragged
rabbIe Of black men. Cueto knew that
he faced death. He uttered q shriil
scream Of terror, and, eeizing his re-
volver which was always close AT
his hand, he fired blindly. What nap
pened thereafter took but an instant
He lodged a blow from Esteban's
clubbed rifle only to behold the nash
OF a machete. Crying out again, ne
tried to guard himself from the de-
scending blade, but too late; the
sound OF his hoarse terror died In MS
throat, half born
Quick, Soak the bed with OIL
and fire it." Esteban directed; then
he ran out into the hall to investiA
gate that other shouting. He found
the chamber whence il issued and
tried to smash the door; but at the
second blow he heard a gun-shot
from within and the wood splin-
tered outward almost into his face.
simultaneously. from somewhere
outside the house. arose the notes
Of a Spanish bugle-call.
Young Varona waited to hear no
more. Nor did his men; realizing
the peril into which they had been
led, they boIted from the house as
fast as they could go. There was
no need for questions; from the d.
rection OF the sugar-mill came bel
lowed orders and the sound Of men
shouting to their horses. Evidently
troops, too. for> they took no
time to saddle; they were up and
mounted almost before the marau-
lders had gained the backs Of their
own animals. There was no oppor-
tunity to choose a retreat across
+. the helds: Esteban spurred down
the driveway toward the main cal
zada, yelling to his men to follow
him.
The approach to La Joya was by
way OF a notable avenue, perhaps
half-mile in length. and bordered
| by tall, even rows OF royal palms
These stately trees shaded the ave-
nue. by day and lent il a cavern
like gloom by night. Near the pub
| lie causeway the road was cut
through a bit of rising ground, and
was walled by steep banks over
grown with vines.
Into the black funnel formed by
the palms the fugitives plunged,
with the clatter Of hoofs behind
them. Those of the Volunteers who
pressed them hardest began to shoot
wildly. for this typically Cuban re-
fusal to stand ground enraged then
beyond measure.
Esteban's party would doubtless
have made good their escape had IL
not been for that other guerrplerc
returning from its raid; but, as II
happened. the two forces met in
the sunken road. Nothing but tht
darkness and the headlong ap'
proach OF the fleeing men saved
them from immediate destruction
for the collision occurred betweeI
banks too steep for a horse to climt
and with that yelling pack too Gloss
behind to permit OF retreat
Instantly there began a blind bat
tie in these desperately crampct
quarters After the first moment ol
two friend and foe were indis
tinguishable and the men OF potl
parties began firing or thrusting a
whatever loomed nearest out Of tn
gloom. The narrow ravine quickl!
became a place OF utter confusion
a volcano of blasphemies, a press o
jostling. plunging. struggling bod
les. Horses reared and bit at on
another. Riders fought stirrup {
stirrup with clubbed rifles and ma
chetes; saddles were emptied an,
the terrified horses bolted. Some o
them lunged up the banks. only {
tumble down again. their threshinl
limbs and sharp-shod hoofs working
more havoc than blows from old
time battle-hammers. Meanwhil
those of Cobo's men who had riddel
out from the sugar mill naturall,
. attributed this new uproar 10
stand OF their enemies, and begal
| to rake the road with rifle fire: ther
in obedience to the commands o
their half-clad colonel, they charg
ed. A moment and they were fight
ing hand to hand with their re
turning comrades. Spaniard clashe,
with Spaniard, and somewhere 1,
the melee the six marauders battle,
for their lives.
OF course. after the first momen
OF conflict. Esteban had not beel
able to exert the least control owe
his men; in fact. he could not max
himself heard. Nor could he spar
the breath to shout: he was too des