Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-11-11

sternness. the exalted detachment. Of
the eagle. and O'Reilly gained a hint Of
the personality behind 1t. Maxine
Gomez WAS counted one of the worlds
abiest guerrilla leaders; and indeed
II had required the quenchless enthu-
siasm OF real military genius TO fuse
into a homogeneous fighting force the
iN-assorted rabble of nondescripts
whom Gomez Led. TO school them to
priyation and to render them sufficient
" 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
ii he had won the admiration Of mill
tary students.
With a 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 so west, eh?"
Yes sir. l want TO find Colone!
Lopez"
Lopez? Miguel lopez? the gen
eral inquired quickly. ''well, you won
have to look far for him." Gencro
Gomez leathery countenance lightene
into a smile. "He happens to be rigf
here In Cubitas" Calling Judson ~
him, he said: Amigo, take Mr.. O'Reilly
to Colonel Lopez; you will find him
somewhere about. am sorry we arc
not to have this Young fellow for
soldier; he looks like a real man and
quite equal to FIVE Guintos, eh?"
1t was the habit of the Cubans to
refer to their enemies as quintos--
the fifth part of 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 a moment later his SMILE
gave way to a frown and his brow
darkened.
$50! You ere that O'Reilly from
Matanzas," said be. q know YOU now.
butt never expected we would meet
"Estehan yarona 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 horne, you know. I've been PEI
iectly crazy. + You" O'Reilly
swallowed hard. "You know where
Esteban is? Tell me"
'IIave you heard nothing?"
"Nothing whatever That is, moth
ing since Rosa, his sister You un.
dcrstand, she and l are-engaGed-''
eyes, yes; Esteban told me all about
you
Something in the Cuban's gravity of
manner gave O'Reilly warning. A sud
den fear assailed him. His voice shook
rs he asked:
"What is it? Not bad qews?"
There was no need for the officer
to- answer. In his ayerted gaze
O'Reilly read confirmation of his sick
est apprehensions.
"Tcll 4Ael Which one?" he whls-
pered
Both ~
O'Reilly recoiled; a spasm distorted
bis 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 ne. "Sit here
while I try to tell YOU what little /
know. Or would it not be better to
wait awhile, until you are calmerY
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 I know-which
isn't much. Esteban Varona came to
me soon after he and his sister had
fled from their home; he wanted to
join my forces, but we were harassep
on every side, and I didn't dare take
the girl--no woman could have en-
dured the hArdships we suffered. So
] convinced him chat his first duty was,
to her, rather than to his country, and
he agreed. He was a fine boy! He
nad spirit. He bought some stolen /.
rifles and armed q band of his own
which wasn't bad idea. l used to
hear about him. Nobody cared to
modest him. ! can tell you, until finally
ho 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
"Yes."
swell, 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 mistake of some sort. 1t
seems that a body of Cobo's volun-
tecrs We're 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
were human-they could not defeat q