The Washington herald., 1920-05-30
By Q. Henry.

the tropics with q pick and
shovel. But tits not so much a
question of insurrectIons now.
me little man. as tits Of the hir.,
ed-man problem. 'Tis anxiou,
! am 10 resign a situation Of re-
sponsibility and trust with the
white wings department of your
great and degraded country. Row
me in your little boat out 70
that steamer. and ri give ye
hve doliars-sinker pacers-sink-
er pacers,' says ]. and reducin'
the offer TO the language and de-
nomination of the tropic dialects.
"Cinco pesos repeats the lit
tie man. Five dollee. you give7'
Twas not such a bad little
man. He had hestitations at
FIRST. sayin' that passengers Ieav-
in the country had to have
papers and passports. but at last
he took me out alongside the
steamer.
Day was just breakin' as we
struck her, and there wasn't a
soul TO be seen on board. The
water was very still, and tho
nigger-man gave me a lift from
the boat. and l climbed onto the
steamer where her side was sIic-
ed to the deck for Ioadin' fruH.
The matches was open, and
looked down and saw the cargo
of bananas that filled the hold
to within six feet of the top. 1
thinks to myself, Clancy, you
better go as a stowaway. It's
safer. The steamer men might
hand you back to the employ
ment bureau. The tropicII get
you, Clancy. IL you don't watch
out
so / jumps down easy among
the bananas, and digs out a hoIt
to hide I'm among the buncheI.
In an hour or so l could hear
the engines goin'. and feel the
steamer rOckin'. and | knew we
were of to sea. They left the
matches open for ventilation. and
pretty soon it was light enough
in the hold to see fairly we'll
] got to feelin' a bit hungry. and
thought I'D have a light fruit
lunch. by way of refreshment. /
creeped out of the hole Id made
and stood up straight. Just
then ] saw another man crawl
up about ten feet away and
reach out and skin a banana and
stun il into his mouth. Twas a
dirty man, black-faced and rag
ged and disgraceful of aspect
Yes. the man was a ringer for
the pictures of the fat Weary
Willie in the funny papers. 1
looked again. and saw it was
my general man-De Vega the
great revolutionist. mule-rider
and piCkaxe importer. When he
saw me the general hesitated
with his mouth filled with ba-
mana and his eyes the size Of
cocoanuts
Hist" l says. Not a word.
or they'll put US off and make
us walk. "Veev la Liberty."' l
adds. copperin' the sentiment by
shown a banana into the source
of it, / was certain the general
wouldn't recognize me. The ne
farious work of the tropics had
left me lookin' different. There
was half an inch of roam whisk-
ers coverin' me face. and me
costume was a pair of blue over
alls and a red shirt
How you come in the ship.
senor?' asked the general as soon
as he could speak.
BY the back door-whist"
says /: Twas a glorious blow
for liberty We struck l contin-
ues; but we was overpowered
by numbers. Let us accept our
defeat like brave men and cat
another banana
Were you in the cause OF
liberty hghtin'. senor:' SAYS the
general. sheddin' tears on the
cargo.
ITO the last says !. Twas
I led the last desperate charge
against the minions of the ty-
rant. But it made them mad.
and We was forced to retreat.
Twas I. general. procured thc
mule upon which you escaped.
Could you. give that ripe bunch
a little boost this way. general?
It's a bit out of my reach
Thanks
Say you so. brave patriot
said the general. again wcepin'.
All, Dios, And have not the
means to reward your devotion.
Barely did ! my life bring away.
Carrambos, what a DEVILS ami
NAL was that mule. senior. Like
ships in one storm was dash
ed about. The skin on myself
was ripped away with the thorns
and vines. Upon the bark of a
hundred trees did that beast OF
the internal bump, and cause
outrage to the legs of mine. In
the night to Port Barrios I came.
dispOssCss myself of that noun
tain mule and hasten along the
water shore. ! find a little boat
TO be tied. ! launch myself and
row TO the steamer. | cannot
SC" any mans on board. so l
one rope which hang at
tho side. I then myself hide in
the bananas. Surely. say. il
the ship captains view me. they
shah throw me again to those
Guatemala. Those things are not
good. Guatemala will shoot
General De Vega. Therefore.
am hide and remain silent Life
itself is glorious. Liberty. it is
pretty good: but so good as life
l do not think
Three days, as ] said was the
trip to New Orleans. The gem
eral man and me got to be
cronies of the deepest style. Ba-
nanas we ate until they were
distasteful to the sight and an
eyesore to the palate. but to
bananas alone was the bill of
fare reduced. At night crawls
put. careful. on the deck. and