Evening star., 1921-11-27

and stood at attention..
The brisand chief looked his 1ol-
lower up and down with a perhaps
less chilly eye than usual, for between
Robledo and his master existeo ues
of tie strongest loyalty.
"well?' questioned Don O. at last.
my ord, Isabelilla Is here; she has
news and would make her report.
Don Q. nodded.
Bring her to me-" he said.
A moment later she came into the
cave. a flashing, dark beauty, full Oh
the vitality which women seem only
to attain under the southern sun
She wore a coarse yellow cap upon
her blue-black hair, and only ne.
extreme fear Of Don Ga year no.
unallied to affection whicn Wa wa
shared by all the peas peasan ,ooyntain
resions-kept her from breaking at
once into her tale. , r;r,
Don q. surveyed her with sri"
smile. +o .s, mep
said he at last. TELL IL as
My lord. Grulla the Crane has been
captured" ;r. $ace
upon her:
.Three nights ago, but only heard
il Yesterday, and they are senains
him to the convict prison in Africa.
ITO Melilla q" demanded Don =;
THAT is the name OF the place.
master" o.. h. c.n-
He was in Castelleno. in the house
af the Sonora Barcla-it is for lnez
that he goes there-and some one
courses rest upon his soulo inIoIheo
the civil guard. Four OF mem .me ~gme
10 the house, and when they came
away again-I heard 1t from Tomas
Obercitto - Grullo marched IN tns
middle of them and one OF tne qua Us
was bleeding from Grulla's knife.
And what next?"
..rHEY took him to prison. and the
L next day to the railway station.
There we're civil guards with him anu
they went away upon the train sa"
rbs train start myself, and Grulla looked
a, me. and his face" became happier. Tor
he knew that l would take the news to
my lord
Don @. threw his cigarette into the
fire with a gesture OF anger.
"Grulla is three times a FOOL SAID ne.
They call him the Crane. but the crane
ia the wariest of birds. whereas Srulta
permits himself to be captured: but II
is strange" he continued. that tney
should take him to Africa oeiore MS
trial.
Isabelilla flashed into a smile =.
.In Castelleno they do not think II
strange" said she. They say there
that every one is a spy OF my lord ana
that II he were put into the prisoh a.
rescue
as YOU rescued my husband Rooteoe
from, the prison at Seville
Don @. shook his head.
"Why should l rescue him. he said
"He is ugly and .ofends my eye. ana
now he has proved himsen incompetent
which is yet worse
master" said Isabelilla- ..they say
he fought bravely with the civil guards,
for beside the one he stabbed IN the
arm. he threw another down upon tne
never more will he return TO- the noun
.:Who saws that he will not return to
the mountains?" demanded Don Q.
"They say it in Castelleno.
..And what else do they say?
.Thev say that the arm of my lord is
long but that it cannot reach across the
sea-"
.'They take too much upon them
selves. these people who talk SO iouo'S
A Silence fell and then Don Q. looked
.;You have done we'll. tsabelilla. to
bring me this news. but tell me, why Is
it that you wish sGruila should be res
II do not like him, but he is one Of
Don q. stared at the beautiful face
OF the peasant woman -,
my men and he must have his punish.
ment because he is a fool. He must
have it either here or there. Now co.
Now il the truth, be told. as the
days passed the, words OF 1saoehlla
and Of the gossip in Castensno
rankled in the heart rn.d, o, D1n IN ,Sim fS .Se
cared not little. Through his own
stupidity the man had been taken,
and besides the fact that Don z.
had never liked him in even the
modified fashion in WHICH i,, ne occss a.
never pardoned Incompetence, and he
considered it highly incompetent OF
,irulla to have permitted himself to
be captured. -,
Had the matter ended there. all
might have been we'll. but it led much
farther. 1t was quite true what !sa,
belilla had said. No man of his had
ever been captured but he had been
rescued. and as the days passed q
resolve began to harden in the mind
of the brisand s to the ss,,snt erect crnl1s .ha,
from his prison In Africa.
Now exactly what Don Q. would
have done had not certain incident
occurred cannot be told with Ger
tainty, but it is probable that he
was actually making up his MIND 70
90 across to Melilla in Africa. when
that event occurred which changed
the whole nature of his plans.
One morning, some fortnight after
the capture Of Gru1la, he CHANGED to
be standing outside his cave smoking
shine, when suddenly below him the
brigands around the fires manifested
the strongest excitement. and began
pointing up at the sky. There
against the blue heaven and at no
great height, sailed a large aero
plane. -.
ever seen, for the science of aero
nautics made but, slow progress in
Spain.
ested, but as the aeroplane circled
grew upon his brow and his hands
clenched. For the airman up above
was obviously looking down upon and
taking stock of the brigands' camp.
and Don @. had read enough Of mod
ern aeroplanes to be able to recognize
machine which was probably taking
photographs.
Very rarely in his life, had Don @.
received such a shock. Had he pos
sessed the nerve of fear, 1t may be
that he would have been afraid, but
as it was, anger mastered him.
THIS man in the air, realized with