Lincoln County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1911-1919, 1919-01-16


had selected promising point. Be
yond that the old man would say moth
ing
Supper, a simple meal. was quickly
disposed Of. Then followed a long.
dispiriting wait. for a gibbous moon
rode high in the sky and the guides
refused TO stir so long as II remained
there. II was a still night; in the
jungle no air was stirring, and dark
ness brought forth a torment of mos
quitoes. AS day died the woods awOke
to sounds of bird and insect life
strange, raucous calls pealed forth.
some familiar, others strange and I'M
accustomed. Sitting there In the dark
bedeviled by a pest OF insects, Knocked
at by these mysterious voices, and
looking forward to hazardous enter
prise. O'Reilly began to curse his vivid
imagination and to envy the impas-
siveneSS of his companions. Even
Jacket, he noted, endured the strain
better; the boy was cheerful. philo-
sophical. quite unimpressed by his
surroundings. When the mosquitoes
became unbearable he put on his trou-
sers, with some reluctance and much
ceremony.
Midnight brought a moist, warm
breeze and a few formless clouds
which served at times to dimly OBJ
scure the moon. Watching the clouds,
OReilly hoped that they might prove
to be the heralds of a storm. None
came. When the moon had finally
crept down into the treetops old Hi
lario stepped upon his cigarette, then
began silently to saddle up. The 9TH
ers followed with alacrity, and fell in
behind him as he led the way into the
forest.
When they had covered a couple of
miles Hilario refined In and the others
crowded close. Ahead, dimly discern
ible against the night sky, there ap-
peared to be thinning of the woods.
After listening for a moment or two.
Hilario dismounted and slipped away;
the three riders sat their saddles with
ears strained
Hilario returned with word that all
was we'll, and each man dismounted to
muffie the feet of his horse with rags
and strips Of gunnysack provided for
the purpose. Then, one by one, they
moved forward to the edge Of the
clearing. The trocha lay before them.
O'Reilly felt pair of reins thrust
into his hand and found Hilario exam
lining a large pair of timers shears.
DO you wish me to go with your
he inquired of the guide.
The latter shook his head. Antonio
no nj toI, r
clear a path. If anything goes wrong,
wait here. Don't ride away until we
have time"
"Never fear. I won't desert you"
the American treasured him.
The two whitehead figures slipped
away, became indistinct. and then dis
appeared. The night was hot. the mos
quitoes hummed dismally and settled
in clouds upon the waiting pair, mad
dening them with their poison. A half
hour passed, then the two ghostly fig
ures materialized once more.
'Diosl" grumbled Hilario. "There
are many strings to this Spanish gui-
tar. What row when they discover
that 1 have played q Cuban damon
upon It," The old man seemed less
surly than before
us the way clearT O'Reilly in
quired.
"As far as the railroad. yes. We
heard voices there, and came back.
We will have to cut our way forward
after we cross the track. Now. then.
follow me without sound"
Leading his horse by the bit ring.
Hilario moved out into the clearing.
followed once more by his three COM
panions. In spite Of all precautions
the animals made tremendous racket.
or 80 1t seemed, and, despite Hilario's
twisting and turnings, 1t was impos-
sible to avoid an occasional loop of
barbed wire, therefore flesh and cloth
ing suffered grievously. But at length
the party brought up under the railroad
embankment and paused. AS carefully
as might be the four men assembled the
| slope, crossed the rails and descended
into the ditch on the other side. An
other moment and they encountered a
taut strand Of barbed wire. The metal
lie snip of Hilario's shears sounded
ike pistol shot to O'Reilly. Into the
maze OF strands they penetrated. yard
by yard, clipping and carefully laying
back the wire as they went. -Proqress
was slow; they had to feel their wav i.
the sharp barbs brought blood and
muttered profanity at. every step.
none OF the four ever knew what
gave the alarm. Their first intImation
Oh discovery came with a startling
vuien viver hurled at them from
somewhere at their backs.
AN instant and the challenge was
followed by a Mauser shot. Other 70.
ports rang out as the sentry emptied
us rine In their direction.
ooi. tney are shocking batsI" HI
larto grunted
antonio swung about and cooked his
Remington. but the other smoke sbo, no