The Washington herald., 1919-11-30
WHAT HAS GONE BEroRH.

1 r tcopyriGht\hy Harpef
WHAT HAS GONE BEroRH.
Don Esteban varona ownea . rich plants.
ton In Cubs aad many lases; tbs money be
accumulated he bid away. and with the death
Of his wife, . faithful slave, Sebastian, and
himseif. the secret Of the hiding place perished.
His seoond wife. stepmother to the twins Esse-
han and Rosa, finally lost her Life seekine the
treasure. The children sre cbss'ed out q the
plantation b. dishonest mahsstr. Psncho
Cyeto. He informs the spanish authorities that
Esteban is In league with the insurrecion. theu
rsging In Cuba. The chilaIen are forced In
exile. and md refuge with Eyangelina, old
sebsstian's daughter. and Ascecs.o %. her husband
Jchn o'Reilly. Q young American To whom
Rosa 10 engaged hsving gone to New York to
their danger and returns 10 Cuba Nth the ides
of rescuing Rosa. The twins AVE been driven
etill further into the wilderness ~ the spaniards
and before O'Rdlly can reach ,hem be Is ar
rt.ted ss SPY and derorte along with an
other American. Leslie Branef.
Weyler. the Butcher. bss oeen sent from
Spain and the determination Of the C,bsns
begins The VaronAs isnor, orders to trpon
to the cities. and Estebau. doubly cautious.
pgoceeds to nd himself of his arch enemies
Col. Cobo and Pancho Cueto.
He dynsmites the ranch house at night. him
self slsys Ctieto. but he and his en-
sagsd ty Cobo and his troors. quartcred in
the sugar mill; desperste battle ensues in .
and tries 10 drag himself back to Rosa
Go On with the story.
CHAPTER XVI-CONTINUED
II will tell you all I 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 l didn't dare take
the girl-no woman could have endured
the hardships we suffered. So l con-
vinced him that his first duty was to
her. rather than to his country, and
he agreed. He was a fine boy, He
had Spirit. He bought some stolen
rifles and armed a band of his own
which wasn't a bad idea. used to
hear about him. Nobody cared 10
modest him. l 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 Cueto?"
Yes"
"h,Ii. Esteban put an end to nnn
r''cr 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.
II seems that body of Cobo's Volun-
teers were somewhere close by. and
the two parties met. ! 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 iled some incredible number.
But they were human-they could not
defeat a regiment. 1t seems that only
one or two of them escaped
"Esteban? Did he
Col. Lopez nodded; then he said.
sravely: "Cobo takes no prisoners.
was in the Rubi hills at the time.
fighting hard. and it was six weeks
before got back into Mstanzas.
Naturally. when heard what had
happened. l tried~to find the girl,
but Weyler was concentrating the
pacificos by that time. and there was
nobody left in the Yumur; it was .
desert"
Then you don't know positively
that she. that she"
Wait. There is no doubt that the
boy was killed. but OF Rosa's fate
I can only form my own opinion.
However. one of Esteban's men joined
my troops later. and l not only learn
ed something about the girl. but also
why Esteban had been so relentlessly
pursued. II was all Cobo's doinss.
You have heard OF the fellow? No?
Well, you will" The speakers tone
was eloquent of hatred. He is worse
than the worst of them-a monster!
He had seen Miss Varona. She was
a beautiful girl....''
Go on" whispered the lover
II discovered that she didn't at first
obey Weyler's edict. She and the two
negroes-they were former slaves of
her father. | believe-took refuge in
the Pan de Matanzas. Later on
Cobo's men made a raid and-killed
a great many. Some few escaped into
the high ravines. but Miss Varona was
not one of them. Out of regard for
Esteban I made careful search, but
l could find no trace of her."
And yet. you don't know what hap
pened?" O'Reilly ventured. You're
not sure?"
mo. but I tell you again Cobo's
men take no prisoners. When l heard
about that raid l gave up looking for
her"
'This-Cobo''-the Americans voice
shook in spite of his effort to hold
it steady-"I shall hope to meet him
some time"
The sudden fury that filled Col.
Lopez's face was almost hidden by
the gloom. Yes. Oh yes," he cried,
quickly. 'and you are but one of a
hundred: ] am another. In my COM
mand there is standing order 70
spare neither Cobo nor any Of his
assassins; they neither expect nor re-
ceive quarter from us. Now, COM
panero"-the Cuban dropped a hand
on O'Reilly's bowed head-"I am sorry
that had to bring yoif sr,ch evil