The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1932-01-01
CHAPTER TX
The Spirit of the Dead


lies between the Valencia range and
the sea: blocked on the north by the
sea itself, Oh the south by an army
parrolling the road that followed the
crest II the range. and menaced in
the rear by an ever approaching body
of well-accoutered and well-fed Span
fish troops. AdOlfo de Fuentes him.
self led them. and II must have af-
forded him a deal of joy.
"If We had Bolivar" Monahan
ventured.
Doctor Lindsay laughed "Does our
Irish Venezuelan patriot, who comes
from Killarney, and who. therefore.
must believe in fairies, imagine that
General Bolivar might free US from
this impasse?"
Sure" said the Irishman: at
word from Simon Bolivar men viii
spring. fuIl-armed. like spirits out of
the earth. But we haven't the spirit
have a spineless jellyfish who sits and
broOds sve- his blunders. knowing that
we face starvation or capture by the
Puerto CabeIlo garrison when the
army behind Us shall have pushed Us
westward TO the mouth of this funnel
of jungle that holds US helpless"
Ten days before his a vastly SUI
perior force had pushed US out OF
Maracay. Fighting every foot Of the
way we had been beaten back, ever
back Eastward and northward we
had gone cOntending desperately.
hOpelessly. yet never giving up; each
night finding US farther into the Span
fish area. weaker, less able TO endure,
with a morale that gave way with
the slow passage of time.
Between Colonel PM and myself an
armed truce existed Whether, by
some miraculous turn OF good fortune,
we won free, or whether the malevo-
lent Jungle or the Standards claimed
US. the result to Ia" would be the
same; for the friendship of a few
trusted aides of Bolivar might never
save he in a court, because / was
guilty and could not offer a defense
Yet no apprehension of what PM
might do TO me could prevail against
my happiness, because had seen the
Senorita again. had caught the tender
cadences of her voice, had won for
giveness-
As the days went by the shoulders
of our soldiers dropped, the light went
out of their eyes, and the flesh went
of their bodies, for food we had al
most none; and the desperate heat Of
the overwhelming Jungle sickened
them, and the gloom and silence Of
this dread desolation entered their
souls. yet that vital spark still burned
within them
We camt. one day, TO a great rent
in the clOse-packed trees and the in
terlacing vines OF our forest prison.
II was such a path as some monster
dragon OF the deep, emerging from the
sea. might have made in its passage
through the jungle; yet we knew that
no dragon of the deep existed, knew
that no animal might have laid these
mighty trees fat and pushed others
out of its path.
recalled the day Of the storm, and
the wreck of the Santa Lucrecia, and
the dark bulk that had pass,f in the
gloom as | fought for my life with
the waves
I remembered that the tremendous
thrust of the wind had lifted the ocean
into the maze Of woods, and had de-
posted me in a tree. The Santa Luz
crecia. then, had freed herself from
the clutches of the reef and, riding
the elevated waters of the tidal wave.
lad driven over the fiat floor of The
jungle-which lay only a few feet
above the level of the sea-and had
found at last a grave in the forest
whence il had come And the Santa
Lacrecia. | remembered, had a cargo
of arms and ammunition and food
Colonel PM" said |. in the long
silence that had held Us, may not
this small army of ours-given food
and arms and powder and baldwin
through the lines of Spaini If | ill
them with food, and put weapons and
ammunition into their hands,"
Are you mad?'' he cried.
IF | do these things, my colonel.
NAV | ask thar this court will be for
got. that my wounded arm and the
broken door at Maracay-and the
Senorita-?
Lindsay and Captain Monahan may
witness" said PM, and he smiled. my
promise to forget Maracay if you OBJ
tain the mama for these starving SOL
diers"
Il will tell you. then my colonel,
that this path marks the first and last
land massage OF the Santa Lucrecia.
and If we only follow il we will come
upon a store sufficient for an army"
For three days we ate and rested
and caroused unmindful OF the forces
of Spain, for we could have held this
ship against an army. And the lean
Indians filed out like dogs at a feast,
and eyes frightened, and shoulders
squared, and patriotism famed again.
and strength came back to us
strength of body and mind and spirit
and the viii to win was ours. and
desire to pit against the enemy this
renewed vigor that belonged to US.
We put away one more gargantuan
neal-a breakfast-and took, each,
two pistols and a musket and sufi-
cien1 ammunition to carry Us through
q score of skirmishes, and then we
SET the torch to the good ship Santa
IEcrecia in a dozen different places
We turned our faces southwark
toward the barrier range. where an
enemy awaited US and with songs