Evening star., 1921-12-11

leather depths.
Once" he said. II was man of
war; but there weren't enough men
Of war on our side. .Avicado. the
capital of the little republic, was so
hemmed in by the rebels that it be-
came necessary to transfer the seat
Of government and the state archives
to the summer capital-a town Of in
finitesimal size, but formidable
strengthen the mountains. AS aide
de-camp. 1 accompanied the presi-
dent in his-we call it change Of
base-the enemy called It retreat.
After three days in which we had
] very little to eat and nothing to keep
us going but the presidents gifts as
a joker and story-teller. we were
captured while trying to cross a swol-
len river. Our captors didn't know
who We were. for we were not in uni
form and II we could get rid OF certain
| incrlminating papers which had been
divided among US, there was a chance
Of prolonging our lives until our party
should be in the ascendant.
1--WE were not searched immediate
| ly. The president rode off between
two men--talking gayly and making
them laugh. The rest of us followed
each between two Of our captors
with drawn swords. In crossing a
stream. the presidents sword and
scabbard, Of which he had not been
deprived, came loose and fell into the
water. Some attempt was made to
recover them, but the mud was deep.
The little mamie made you think Of
a quadrumane-made a great fuss
over his loss. could hardly keep
from laughing aloud, for knew that
the blade Of his sword was but six
inches long, and that the space thus
left empty In the scabbard was stuffed
with incriminating papers.
But presently, though he had other
papers scattered about his person, he
was laughing again and joking and
telling stories.
''That night about the camp fire.
captor and captives, we listened for
hours to stories that the little presi-
,, dent told. Oh, the true romance sat
on that mans shoulders! Stories
tragic and gay, dramatic wholesome
ly indecent. pathetic and comic, fell
from his lips in a steady stream Of
| bright coloring and miraculously
chosen words. He held us fascinated,
spellbound. in the ring of light.
Cigars and cigarettes kept going
out, which, perhaps, among Spaniards.
Is greater tribute to an artist than
hand-clapping and bravos. In par
ticular, the presidents cigar kept
going out I can see him now-talk-
ing all the while-looking here and there
for something with which to light 1t.
J Finally he begins to feel at random
in his pockets. comes out presently
with piece Of paper. lights it at the
fire, lights his cigar-and sees the
remainder of the piece of paper b.rn
to ashes
| one by one, piece by piece, talking
all the time. he, destroyed all the
tangible evidence against him that
was In his pockets. And. under cover
OF his talk. the rest of US followed
suit. II our lives hadn't seemed To
hang upon the destruction, it would
have been comic. Our captors were
; 1arm boys-yolsels-not STUPID. bu,
easily taken in. 1 remember had
one paper"
Here charnock reached into his
pocket and pulled out his uncle,s will
as big as this. / had rid nv
self Of everything else"
HE sat Well forward on TIE edge of
| his deep chair. and. his hands
close TO the first, began nonchaIanf,v
10 roll the document between hi.
thumb and foreflnger. beginning at
one corner. into sort of long lighter
don't know why, but my nerves
| began to go to pieces couldn't stick
the thing into the flames. It seemed
10 me as II had to wait until some
thing happened that would draw all
eyes in another direction
What was that
of the five. Charnock alone did not
show any concern. He leaned still
! farther forward, and thrust the will
into the flames. where it was almost
/ instantly consumed.
+, Bob had risen to his feet.
1T sounded like pistol shot," he
said. What the deuce
! Hope" drawled Evelyn, father
!. knew it was loaded. Better 60 see If
| it's anythfng-somebody"
! But there was no need. Cover. his
! face at once evil and sheepish. thrust
open door and came in. He carried
Charnock's pistol In one hand.
, Did You hear a shot?" he said.
Damned newfangled weapons. I
might have hurt myself"
What happened, father?
oh, almost had an accident"
His eyes, very watchful for him,
were on Charnock. This one rose
lazily. his back to the fire. his hands
thrust into the pockets Of his ready
made coat
Il almost had an accident, too" he
said. smiling. Il was telling these
! young people a story. And in my ex-
citment almost burned valuable
paper"
"Almost?" Covers voice tremb,ed
! little.
yes" said Charnock slowly. .The
paper I actually burned was a fac
| simile."
! A kind Of black rage rose in Cow
er's face. He had put his cousin down
Tor a simpleton; he had thought, bv
hring a shot, to accomplish the de-
struction Of the will. He lurched fo-