The Washington herald., 1920-07-04
By O. HENRY.

then men began to skim along ths
the edge of the plaza, dodsinr n
among the orange trees and
houses We certainly had thinrs
surreo up In Salvador We felt
proud OF the occasion and gratefui
TO Zen. Dingo. Sterrett was about
70 take a bite on a juicy piece 81
I'D when a bullet took il away
from his mouth.
somebody's celebratins wits
pan cartridges. says he, reachtns
or another piece. Little over
isn't itr pA'o.
Don't mind it, says TO him
twas an accident The- Lan,,-r
you know. en- the Fourth. After
one reading Of the. Declaration az
Independence In New York rvs
khown the s. r. o. sign 70 hs
nung out at all the hospitals ana
police stations. u
But then Jerry gives a how,
ana jumps up with one bana
capped to the back of his -
where another bullet has .ctsS
oVer-zealous. And then comes
quantity Of yells, and round
corner and across the pIaza 80
TOPS Gen. Mary Esperanza Dinra
embracing the neck of his 49,
win MS men running behind h,r@
mostly dropping their own $3.50
cy way of discharginR baiIs.e
ana chasing 'em all Is a coynn
i Ieverish little warriors V.ar
ing blue trousers and caos
Assistance, amigos the
shouts, trying. to sion hi.
morse. Assistance, in the name -
That's the Compania Am, g..
rresioent's bodyguard,' saws Jona.
"hat a shame! They've iumaes
on poor old Mary just because =.
was helping US to celebrate G..
on boys. it's our Fourth-do a,s
tet that little squad of A n IT,
break 1t upr IL
vote No. says Ma,t,, MI
iaro' gathering his Winch.stn-
IT'S the privilege of an Americe.
ciuzen to drink, drill dress ~
ana De dreadful on the Fourth =,
1uiy no matter whose copntrn
Fellow citizens" saw, ,,s
man B1llfnger. In the ds,.n.
hour or Freedoms birth -
our brave forefathers nror',i
gated the principles of nndviaa
noerty' they never expected th.,
punch Of blue Jaws like thst
snould be allowed to bust mn
anniversary. Let us preserve 80
project the Constitution
we made IL unanimou. -
enen we gathered our run. 80
assaulted the blue troons = m
Iorce. We fired over their ho.6s
ano then charged 'em with a wi,
ana they broke and ran. We
were irritated at having our ha,s
oecue disturbed, and we cbas.r
EN- quarter of a mile. Soma
OF em we caught and kicked
hard. The General rallied his
troops and Joined in the chs..
FINALLY they scattered in a thick
banana grove. and we couIdn't
hush a single one. So we "a,
down and rested.
III l were to be put, seyere
through the third degresS
wouldn't be able to tell much
about the rest of the day. mind
that We pervaded the town con-
SIDERABLE, calling upon the peo-
PIE to bring out more armies for
us to destroy. remember see-
ing a crowd somewhere. and .
tall man that Wasn't BflIfnrer
making a Fourth of July speech
from a balcony. And that was
about all
Somebody must have hauled
the old ice factory UP to where
was, and put il around me, for
there's where l was when woke
up next morning. AS soon as
could recollect my name and ad-
dress I got up and held an IN
quest. Ny last cent was gone. I
was all in.
And then a neat black car
riage drives to the door, and out
steps General Dingo and a bay
man in silk hat and tan shoes.
Yes says 1 to myself. I see
II all now. You're the Chief de-,
Policeos and High Lord Cham
berlain of the Calaboosum; and
you want Billy Casparis for ex-
cess of patriotism and assault
with intent. All right. Might as
well be in Jail. anyhow
But IL seems that General Ma
ry is smiling, and the bay man
shakes my hand. and speaks in
the American dialect.
Gen. Dingo has informed me.
Senor Casparis, of your gallant
service in our cause. I desire to
thank you with my person. The
bravery of you and the other
senores Americanos turned the
struggle for liberty in our favor.
Our party triumphed. The terri
BILE battle will live forever in
history
Battle? says I; what battle!'
and / ran my mind back along
history, trying to think.
Senior Casparis is modest
says Gen. Dingo. He led his
brave compadres into the thick
est of the fearful conflict. Yes.
Without their aid the revolution
would have failed
why, now says I, don't tell
me there was a revolution yes
terday. That was only a Fourth
Of
But right there I abbreviated.
1t seemed to me 1t might be best.
"'After the terrible struggle
says the bay man, President Boz
lano was forced to fly. Today
Caballo is president by proclama-
tion. All, yes. Beneath the new
administration / am the head of
the department of mercantile
concessions. On my file find one
report, Senior Casparis, that you
have not made ice in accord with
your contract And here the bay
man smiles at me, cute.
oh, well,' says ], I guess the
reports straight. know they
caught me. That's all there is
to it,
DO not say So says the bay
man. He pulls OF a glove and
goes over and lays his hand on
that chunk of glass.