Evening star., 1921-06-12
ro b. born a gentleman is one

thing. To remain one Is an
other. Darlington. of Gamma
rillo's Revolutionary forces.
might be said to have fallen from
grace. You can guess how far ne hlo
fallen when you know that the DARK
skinned, straw-hatted little men cal-
ed him the ragazza. by whicn .hey
meant that he was SIX 1eet ioui
Of concentrated fefocity. There was
nothing girlish about Darlington e4'
cept his nickname.
Mounted on a skinny American
horse he loped along the seaooaro
trail with the Liberator's swearing
army. An expert might have deteceeo
Yankee outlines beneath the greasy
roy trousers tucked into high ooo.s.
To the average eye the ragazza was
as racially nondescript as ms coinpan
ions. who were one-fourth ltanan'
one-fourth Spanish. one-fourtn iapa-
das and the rest nameless.
The horse belonged to that greae
composite relative. Uncle Sam. car
rington had first flung his long legs
across the sorrefs back IN McAileh'
Texas He was a cavalryman. loose
mouthed, gum-chewing. arrogant son
Of Satan even then. Born sentie-
man, his earliest ambition was 70 pc
a renegade. He achieved TINS simpie
desire during border raid NOT IA.
from the Rio Grande. little oano
OF Mexicans rushed settement'
shooting and killing where they coulo.
and while Carrington's crowd was
cleaning up one end OF the village
he galloped to the other and escapen t,
across the plain. riding neck to neck
with those red-handed. long g-waisted
little heather whose way OF life ap-
pealed to him.
WITHIN a year the line of his jaw
w had grown longer and leaner.
His lips were fuller beneath lit
tie back mustache. He wore silver
spurs, a silver cord around the crown
of his hat. and forgot to wash. Only
his eyes were unchanged~ice,.
eyes set too close together. No Mexi-
can could match Carrington.s eyes:
they marked him grfngo and shut GER
tain doors In his face. He might Jug.
gle with the unspeakable patofs OF
the arid lands. but he did not know
the open sesame to a Mexican's heart.
Presently he felt himself baff1ed. sore.
alone. SO he wandered farther south.
since old Mother. Rio Grande sat
across the sin Of home.
There are men who endure danger.
disappointment, heat. cold, disease
and despair for the sake of some
duty, sustained by honor and faithful
to an ideal The ragazza had courage
but he knew nothing of fidelity. His
reasons for living were raw and ugly;
1t was only natural that he should
drift into the ways Of those little
dark men who fight for loot and Tor
the love Of fighting. Darlington and
his sorrel by devious ways got to
endured heat and cold. hunger. dis
comfort, disease and despair on soil
which was not their own. for causes
never destined to be theirs.
litical intrigue. A war was to him
pieador. he risked his neck for so
much and SO much. He pinned any
old flag to his breast-be 1t the green
and gold Of corderilla. the scarlet and
orange Of Minorca Grande. He car
ried a pocketful Of queer. foreign
medals and used them for bribes as
1sssne sesrs And a nad
he might meet the men he left be
hind when he galfoped toward the
Rio Grande, neck TO neck with his
chosen brothers CarrinEfon vas ga
whenever he thought Of that possible
encounter. He was an outcast and
knew it. Some day he was going back
to take his medicine. and he knew
that. too.
In the meantime he had sold his
allegiance to the ,Liberator Of Ma
CELIA. For 50 much and SO much he
had agreed to fight Cammarillo's bat
ties. obey Cammari1lo's orders and. II
necessary. die for cammarillo beneath
the red-ho sun and the blazing skies
1T Is easy pickings." cammarillo
said to him IN the vefnacular. Prac-
tically. the thing is done: Disgo,s
push to send it sprawling face-down
~ the dust. His army Is gorged with
good food. dizzy with sleep and TAT
with pleasure. They have taken 1t to
7 ask you. ragazZa mia can you ma
neuver a stuffed capon?"
The ragazza spat through the open
window Of the Liberator's headquar-
ters and shook his head Are you
country" he asked, fixing cammarillo
with his ice-biue eyes
yes. And no: I do not know
whether I am right in supposing that
you too despise issaS the bis s5olaers
have no family history" he said, "and
"Bene. Bueno. Very good. Then
you are spared the sort Of hatred
love Magella. but I hate the Ameri-
cans more. They have let their greedy
eyes fall on this rich land. A whole
continent was not enough; they must
send their longfaced chewers of gum
to take what does not belong to them.
First the mines of the Santa Chris
tina; then the Marias. AS If that were
not enough, they buy Diego's cabinet
and finance the royalist party"
CAMMARILLO'S eyes glittered. He
~ wiped his mouth with the back
Of his hand and Darlington saw the
telltale conformation of his palm.
stamped with the Tapadas breadth
and tinted cinnamon in contrast to
the dark brown of wrist and forearm.
And now the railroad, What next!
They have built a bridge over the
canon. God in heaven! I will destroy
it."
will stili have to deal with the United
States"
'For a handful of dead men? They
will send a gunboat and I will prove
to them that all Is we'll. Street riots.
a change of government few
Americans foolish enough to expose
1nsmselSef notbins of diplemacy pnaes ma you N'"
Darlington laughed and rose to his
feet. jerking at his trousers with the
characteristic gesture of his kind:
You are a great little man." he said
in English. but you will dangle at
added: Diplomacy, get you. But
mind that you don't tantalize 'em
with too much of it. Diplomacy kicks
like mule. amigo"
when the Liberia had sailed. the
rest Of Cammarillo's army took the