Vernon Parish Democrat., 1921-05-19

grace until II disappeared In the low
lands.
A half hour passed; then to the
south of the city a rocket flared sky
ward; almost instantly another fIared
from the west, followed presently by
murmur. scarcely audible, as Of a
muffled snare drum, punctuated pres
emily by louder, sharper, insistent
puck-puek-puck that, had Webster but
known 1t, was the bark of a Maxim
Vickers rapid-fire gun throwing a
stream of shells into the cantonments
of the government troops on the fringe
of the city.
Webster's pulse quiekened. ''There
goes the 'tillery to the south, sor,"
Don Juan called, and even as he
spoke, a shell burst gloriously over
the government palace, the white
walls Of which were already looming
over the remainder of the city, now
family. visible in the approaching
dawn.
"That was to awaken our friend,
Sarros," Webster cried. "Tll bet a
buffalo nickel that woke the old horse
thief up. There's apother-and an
other."
The uproar swelled, the noise grad
ually drifting around the city from
west to south, forming, seemingly, a
semicircle of sound. 'The govern
ment troops are up and doing now,'
Webster observed, and speeded up his
motor. II think it high time we played
the part Of frightened refugees. Mau-
ser bullets kill at three miles. Some
strays may drop out here in the bay"
He speeded the launch toward La
Estrellita, and as the craft scraped
In alongside the great steamers COM
paniOn landing, her skipper ran down
the ladder to greet them and inquire
eagerly of the trend of events ashore.
eve left IN a hurry the instant it
started" Webster explained. "As
Americans, we didn't figure we had
any interest in that scrap, either
way" He handed Dolores out on the
landing stage, tossed their. baggage
after her aud followed; Don Juan
took the wheel, and the launch slid
| out ana leIC Cnem Cneres
At the head of the companion ladder
Webster paused and turned for another
look at Buenaventura. To the west
three great fires now threw lurid
light skyward, mocklng an equally
lurid light to the east that marked the
approach of daylight. He smiled.
''Those are the cantonment barracks
burning" he whispered to Dolores.
RICARDO is keeping his word. Hes
driving the rats back into their own
holes"
The weeks of clean living, Of alb
stention from his wonted daily alco-
holic ration, had inspired in Don Juan
Cafetero a. revival of his all but de-
funct interest in life; conversely, in
these stirring times, he was sensible
of an equally acute interest in So
brantean politics, for he was Irish /;
and flabby indeed is that son Of the
Green Little Isle who, wherever he
may be, declines to take hand in
any public argument. For the love of
politics, like the love Of home, is new
er dead in the Irish.
It is instinct with them-the
heritage, perhaps, Of centuries of op-
preston and suppression, which nur-
lures rather than stiles the yearning
for place aud power. Now as Don
Juan turned Leber's launch shOreward
and kicked the motor wide open, he,
too, deserted against the dawn the
glare of the burning cantonments west
Of the city, and at the sight his pulse
beat high with the lust of battle, the
longing to be In at the death in this
struggle, where the hopes and aspi-
rations Of those he loved were at stake
Two months previously a revolution
would have been a matter of extreme
Indifference to Don Juan; he would
have reflected that 1t was merely the
outs trying to get in, and that If they
succeeded, the sole benefit to the gen
eral public would be the privilege Of
paying the bill. Today, however, in the
knowledge that he had an opportuni-
ty to fight beside white men and per-
chance even up some old scores with
the Guardia Civil, 1t occurred sudden
ly to Don Juan that it would be a
brave and virtuous act to cast his
lot with the Ruey forces. He was a
being reorganized and rebuilt, and It
behooved him to do something to dem
onstrate his manhood.
Don Juan knew, of course, that
should the rebels lose and he be cap
tured, he would be executed; yet this
contingency seemed a far-fetched one,
in view of the fact that he had John
Stuart Webster at his back, ready to
finance his escape from the city. Also
Don Juan had had an opportunity, in
the hills above San Miguel de Padua,
for a critical study Of Ricardo Ruey
and had come to the conclusion that
at last real man had come to lib
crate Sobrante; further. Don Juan
had had ocular evidence that John
Stuart Webster was connected with
the revolution, for had he not SNUG
gled Ruey into the country? 1t was