The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922, June 25, 1918, Image 2

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    THE 8EMI.WEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
'777POY TJ2AL " 77ftiPatLERS fAQrCFmEm&rK
CDPyWOIIT, BY ItABPCR.
O'REILLY'S HOPES OF FINDING AND RESCUING ROSA RE
CEIVE A CRUSHING BLOW
Synopsis. Don Estcbun Vnrona, rich Cuban plnntcr, tildes his
money nnd jewels and the Hccrct of the hiding place Is lost when he
and tho only other person who knows It are killed. Donna. Isabel, step
mother of the Vnrona twins Esteban und Rosa searches vainly for
years for the hidden treasure. Johnny O'llcllly, an American, loves
nnd Is lovod by Rosa. Donna Isabel falls to her death In an old well
while walking In her sleep. Estcban's connection with the Cuban
Insurrcctos Is discovered and he and Ilosa are forced to llec. O'llcllly,
in New York on business, gets a letter from Itosa telling of. her peril
and he starts for Cuba. Pancho Cueto, faithless manager of the Vuronu
estates, betrays Estcban and Rosa, leading Colonel Cobo, notorious
Spanish guerrilla, to their hiding plnce. Esteban, who Is absent,
returns Just In time U rescno Itosa.
CHAPTER X Continued.
"Senor, ym nro In danger. Tonight,
at midnight, you will be arrested. I
beg of yon to see that there Is nothing
Incriminating in your possession."
O'Reilly's face betrayed his amaze
ment, "Arrested? What for? On
wsat charge "
Tho stranger shrugged. "I don't
know. That newspaper muti will be
Arrested at tho samo moment, so you
had better warn him. Rut bo careful
where and how you do so, for all his
movements are watched, all his words
are overheard." ,
"Why do you tell mo this you? In
tt some scheme to to incriralnnto
me?" O'Reilly Inquired.
Mauls was leaning over the counter,
his face drawn with anxiety, his Hps
framing the same question.
"No!" The lieutenant shook his
head. "I am a friend a Cuban, in
spite of this uniform. If you repeat
my words I shall bo shot within the
hour. I Imploro you" his voice be
came more urgent "to heed my warn
ing,. Remember mldnlgHtl" lie
bowed, turned to the door, and was
gone.
On the stroke of midnight O'Reilly
was arrested. After a thorough search
of his person and his premises he was
escorted to gqvernment headquarters,
where ho found Leslie Branch.
Tho invalid looked taller, thinner,
more bloodless than ever, and his air
of settled gloom admirably became tho
situation.
"Hollo. What luck?" Johnnie Hashed
at him.
"Goodl"
An ofllccr sharply commanded Ulm
to bo silent.
Tho prisoners were ordered to Btnnd
ildo by sldo, facing their accusers.
Then each in turn was subjected to a
rigorous examination. Owing to his
"Tonight, at Midnight, You Will Be Ar.
rcBted."
acquaintance with Spanish, O'Reilly
was able to defend himself without tho
aid of an Interpreter.
It wns evident from the first that
Branch's case was hopeless. Ho read
ily acknowledged himself to be a news
paper writer, and admitted having sent
articles for publication through tho
malls. This wus quite enough; from
the attitude of the military men It
promised to go hard with him. Judg
went for the moment was suspeuded
u4 the two prisoners were led away
At last O'Reilly was recalled; but
when ho re-entered tho big room ho
found General Antuna awaiting htm
alone.
The general spoko with force and
ffratltr: "M. O'RclU?, .1 bUve you
AJID BROTHEHa .
to be n far greater menace to the In
terests of my country than we!!, than
score of dynamite experts. I believe
you are a writer.'1
Tho American smiled. "Are writers
such dangerous people?"
"That altogether depends upon clr-
cumstnnccs. The United States Is In
clined to recognize tho belligerency of
theso Cuban rebels, ami her relations
with Spain are becoming dnlly more
strained ; Ill-feeling grows, nnd all be
cause of tho exaggerations, tho men
dacities, that have gone forth from
here to your newspapers. We aro de
termined to put down this uprising
In our own wny; wo will tolerate no
foreign Interference. War Is never a
pleasant thing, but you journalists
have magnified its horrors and mis-
rcpresenteu uie causo or spam until
you threaten to bring on another and
more horrlblo combat. Now, then,
you understand what I mean when I
say that you aro raoro dangerdua than
powder expert; that your pen can
do more Injury, can causo tho death
ui inuru optimal! troops man couia a
regiment of Americans with dynamite.
Your English friend makes no secret
of his business, so we shall escort him
to Ncuvltas and sco him safely out of
the country, onco for all."
"And yet you permit me to remain?"
Johnnie was surprised.
"For tho presetft. yes I That Is my
official irfessago to you. Privately,
howover" tho speaker eyed O'Reilly
with a disconcerting expression "I
would llko to warn you. You ore a
bright fellow, and you have a way with
you there's no denying It. Under
other conditions It would bo a pleas
uro to know you better. It grieves mo,
therefore, to warn you that your fur
ther stay In Cuba will not bo pleas
ant. I almost regret that there Is no
conclusive evidence against you; It
would so simplify matters. Come, now,
hadn't you better acknowledge Uiat I
mvo guessed your secret?"
O'Reilly's perplexity was changing
to dismay, for It seemed to him he
was being played with; nevertheless,
ho shook his head. "I would only be
deceiving you, slr, ho said.
General Antuna sighed. "Then
sco embarrassments nhcad for both of
us."
"More arrests?"
"Not necessarily. Understand mo, I
speak as ono gentleman to another,
but you must havo noticed that Amer
icans are unpopular with our troops.
Eh? They nro impulsive, theso troop
crs; accidents cannot be prevented.
Supposo something should happen to
you? .Thero la the trouble. You came
to Cuba to enjoy ltscllmatc; you can
not be expected to remain indoors. Of
courso not. Weill Among our sol
dlers aro many new recruits, patriotic,
enthusiastic young fellows, but care
less. They are wretchedly unproficlent
marksmen, and they haven't learned
the danger of promiscuous rlllo Ore,
They aro forovcr shooting at things
merely to scoro a hit. Would you be
lieve It? Oh, I hnvo to discipline them
frequently. To think of you being
abroad through the streets, therefore,
worries me Intensely. Supposo you
should bo found dead somo day, Iin
nglne my feelings." Tho speaker's
tone nnd expression wero eloquent of
concern, -now couiu I tlx tho rcspon
sibimyr
"By having mo followed, as usual
I dnro say," O'Reilly said bitterly.
"Oil, you will of courso bo shadowed
day und night; , In fact, to be qulto sure
of your er Bafoty, I shall ask you to
permit ono of my men to accompany
you everywhere and oven to sharo your
room. Wo Bhull-try never to lose sight
of you, depend upon It. I wish you
could And another cllmato equally ben
eflclul to your rheumatism, It would
lift a great load from my mind." Tho
speaker paused hopefully; that samo
sardonic flicker was on his lips.
Johnnie could not summon an an
swering snille, for hla heart was like
lead. He realized now tho utter futil
ity of resistance; he knew that to
remain In Puerto Prlnclpo after this
thinly veiled warning would be to
court destruction and destruction of
a shocking character against which It
would b impossible to guard. After
a moment of thought ho said gravely:
"I appreciate the delicacy of your
consideration, sir, nnd I shall go."
General Antunn leaped to his feet,
his grim face alight; striding to
O'llcllly, he pressed his hands he
seemed upon the point of embracing
him. "I thank you!" ho cried. "You
render me a supreme service. See; I'
breathe easy. Permit mo to offer you
refreshment ono of our famous Span
ish wines. No? Then the best cigar
In all Cuba!"
O'Reilly was escorted to the rullway
station nt daylight. lie and Branch
took their seats and their guards filed
In behind them. lie cursed savagely;
the memory of theso wasted weeks,
the narrow margin of his failure, filled
him with a sick feeling of dismay and
impotence.
In marked contrast to the difficulties
of entering Cuba was the ease of leav
ing it. A ship was sailing from Neuvl-
tas on tho very afternoon when the J
two Americans arrived, and they were
hurried aboard. Not until the anchor
was up did their military escort de
part from them.
With angry, brooding eyes O'Reilly
watched tho white houses along the
water front dwindle away, the man
grove swamps slip past, nnd the hills
rise out of their purple haze. When
"Hla Name Is Weyler."
tho salt breath of the trades came to
his nostrils ho turned Into his state
room, and, taking the crate of coco
nuts with which General Antuna had
thoughtfully- provided him, ho boro It
to the rail and dropped it overboard.
"Rheumatism was a fool disease,
anyhow," he muttered.
"Great news!" Esteban Varoua an
nounced one day as ho dismounted
after a foraging trip into the Yumuri.
"Wo met somo of Lacrct's men and
they told us that Spain has recalled
Captain General Campos. What do
you say to that?"
"Docs that mean the end of tho
war?" Rosa eagerly Inquired.
"Oh, no. They havo sent a new man
ho's In Havana now a dark little
old fellow who never smiles. He has a
long nose and a big chin; ho dresses
all In black a very 'Jew-bird' In ap
pearance, from what I hear. His name
is Weyler Valerlano Weyler, marquis
of Tenerlffc."
Estcbnn covertly appraised his sis
ter's charms, but respecting her terror
of Cobo he did not speak his thoughts.
Uq was certain, however, that Ilosa
knew, ns well ns he, what motive lay
behind tho fellow's tireless persecu
tions of tho vnlley dwellers; for, In
splto of their isolation, stories of Cobo
had reached tho refugees stories that
had rendered both the boy and tho girl
sick' with apprehension. Tho colonel,
It seemed, had nearly died of his
machete wound, nnd on recovering ho
had sworn to exterminate tho wasps
that had stung him. no had sworn
other oaths, too, oaths that robbed Es
teban of his Bleep.
Esteban Idolized his sister; her loy
alty to him wus the most precious thing
of his life. Therefore, tho thought of
that swarthy rulllan hunting her down
as a hound hangs to tho trail of a doo
awoke In him a terrible anger. Sec
ond only to his hatred for the guerrilla
chief was his bitterness against the
traitor, Pancho Cucto, who had capped
his villainy by setting tills new peril
upon them; and since Rosa's safety
and his own honor called for tho, death
of both men, he had sworn that some
how he would effect It. It was, of
course, a dlfllcult matter to get at the
colonel of volunteers, but Cueto still
lived In the midst of his blackened
fields, nnd It was against him that the
boy was now planning to launch his
first blow.
Tho thought of tho hated Cobo had
momentarily distracted Estcban's
thoughts. Now he collected them and
said :
"Walt I I am forgetting something
bco wuac i.acrct'8 men liauued me;
they aro posted from one end of the
Island to tho other." no displayed n
printed bando, or proclamation, signed
by the now captain general, and read
as follows: .
"All Inhabitants of tho country dis
tricts, or thoso who reside outido the
lines of fortifications of tin- towns,
shall, within a period of eight days, en
ter the towns which are occupied by
the troops. Any Individual found out
side the lines In the country at tho ex
plratlon of this period shall be consid
ered a rebel and shall be dealt with as
luck."
It was that Inhuman order o con
centration, tho result of which proved
to bo without parallel in military his
tory an order which gave Its savngo
author tho name of being tho arch
fiend of a nation reputed peculiarly
cruel. Four hundred thousand Cubans
driven from their homes Into shelter
less prison cflmp.s; more than two hun
dred thousand dead from hunger and
disease ; a fruitful land laid buro of all
that could serve as food, and changed
to an ash-gray-desolation ; gaunt fam
ine from Orlchto to Plnnr del Rio
tlint was the sequel to those printed
words of "Weyler the Butcher" which.
Esteban read,
"Eight days I When Is tho time up7"
Rosa inquired.
"Bless you, this Is already two weeks
old 1" her brother told her.
"Why, then, It means that we'll be
shot if we're caught."
"Exactly I But we sha'n't be caught,
eh? Let the timid ones tnke fright at
the squeaks of this old blackbird. Let
them go Into the cities: we sbnll havo
the more to eat I" Estcban crumpled
the paper In his hnnd and dropped it.
"Meanwhile I shall proceed toward my
settlement with Puncho Cueto." His
very careless confidence gave Rosa
courage.
CHAPTER XI.
When the World Ran Backward.
Esteban Went about his plan of de
stroying Pancho Cueto with youthful
energy nnd zest. First he Becircd, nt
some pnn n half-stick of dynamite, a
cap and, fuse, nnd a gnllqn m- more of
kerosene; then he assembled his fol
lowers and led them once again Into
the San Juan.
La .Toya was still tenanted when
early In the evening Its rightful owner
arrived ; the house and some of its out
buildings showed lights. Estcban con
cealed his men. While the horses
cropped and the negroes rested he fit
ted fuse nnd cap to his precious piece
of dynamite.
Now while Estcbnn was thus busied,
Pancho'Cueto wns entertaining an un
welcome guest. In the Into afternoon
ho had been surprised by the visit of a
dozen or more volunteers, nnd Inas
much as his relations with their colo
nel had been none of the friendliest
since that ill-starred expedition into
the Yumuri, he had felt a chill of ap
prehension on seeing the redoubtable
Cobo himself at their head.
The colonel had explained that ho
was returning from n trip up the San
Juan, taken for the purpose of round
ing up those inhabitants who had been
dilatory In obeying the new orders
from Havana. That smoke to the south
ward was from fires of his kindling:
he, had burned a good many crops and
houses and punished a good many peo
ple, and since this was exactly the sort
of task he liked he was In no unpleas
ant mood. He had demanded of Cueto
lodging for himself and his troop, an
nouncing that a part of his command
was somewhere behind and would re
join him later in the night
Cueto had welcomed his visitor In
nil humility ; ho put up the soldiers In
the bnto of the sugar mill, and then
Installed Cobo In his best room, after
which ho ransacked tho house for food
and drink and tobacco.
When Cobo finally took himself oft
to bed Cueto followed In better spirits
than he had enjoyed for some time.
For ono thing, it was ngreeable to look
forward to a night of undisturbed re
pose. Pancho's apprehensions had fat
tcned upon themselves, nnd he had
been living of Into In a nightmare of
terror.
But it seemed to' him that ho had
barely closed his eyes when he was
awakened by a tremendous vibration
nnd found himself In the center of the
floor, undecided whether ho had been
hurled from his bed or whether hp had
leaped thither. Still In n daze, he heard
a shout from the direction of Cobo's
room, then a" din of other voices, fol
lowed by n rush of feet; the next In
stnnt his door was flung back and he
snw, by tho light of high-held torches,
Esteban Vnrona and n ragged rabble
of black men. Cueto knew that he
faced death, ne dodged a blow from
Esteban's clubbed rifle, only to behold
tho flash of a machete. Crying out
again, ho tried to guard himself from
the descending blade, but too late; the
sound of his, hoarse terror died in his
throat, half born.
"Quick! Soak tho bed with oil and
fire It," Esteban directed ; then he ran
out Into the hall to investigate that
other shouting. Ho found the chamber
whence It Issued nnd tried to smash
tho door; but nt the second blow he
heard u gunshot from within and the
wood splintered outward almost Into
his face. Simultaneously, from some
whore outside the house, arose tho
notes of a Spanish bugle-call.
Young Varona waited to hear no
mpro. Nor did his men; realizing the
peril Into which they had been led
they bolted from tho house as fast as
they could go. There was no need for
questions; from tho direction of the
sugnr mill enmo bellowed orders and
the sound of men shouting to their
horses. Evidently those were troops
and trained troops, too, for they took
no tlmo to saddle; they wero up and
mounted almost before the marauders
had gained the backs of their own aul
amis.
Instantly there began n blind hattlo
In desperately cramped quarters,
Riders fought stirrup .to stirrup with
clubbed rifles and machetes; saddles
were emptied and tho terrified horses
bolted. Somo of them lunged up the
banks, only to tumble down again
their threshing limbs and sharp-shod
hoofs working more havoc thun blow:
from old-time battle-hammers.
Of course, after the first moment of
conflict, Esteban had not been able to
oxcrt tho leust control over his men
In fact, he could not make himself
bwrd. Nor could he spare toe nrcuiu
to shout; ho was too desperately en
gaged. His rifle was empty, he had its
hot barrel In his hands; ho dimly dis
tinguished Ascnslo wielding his mach
ete. Then he found himself down J
nnd half stunned. Something smoto
him heavily, at last whether a hoof
or a gun-stock ho could not tell--nnd
next he wns on nil-fours, trying to drag
himself out of this rat-ptt. But his
limbs were quecrly rebellious, und he
was sick; he had never experienced
anything quite llko this nnd he thought
ho must be wounded. It greatly sur
prised him to find that he could strug
gle upward through the brnmbles, even
though It wns hnrd work. Men were
fighting nil around nnd below him,
meanwhile, nnd ho wondered vaguely
what made them kill one another when
he and his negroes were all dead or
dying. It seemed very strange of a
piece with tho general unreality of
things and It troubled htm not n lit
tle. One of his arms wus useless, he
discovered, and he realized with n curi
ous shock that it was broken. He was
bleeding, too, from more than one
wound, but he could- walk, after a
fashion.
Ho was inclined to stay and finish
the fight,-but he recollected that Rosa
would bo waiting for him and that he
must go to her, and so he set out
across the fields, staggering through
tho charred cane stubble. The night
was not so black as It had been, and
this puzzled him until he saw that the
plantation house was ablaze. Flames
wero belching from Its windows, oust
ing abroad a lurid radiance; and re
membering Pancho Cueto, Esteban
laughed.
By and by, nfter he was well away,
his numbness passed nnd ho begnn to
suffer excruciating pnln. Tho pain had
been there all the time, so It seemed;
he was simply gaining the capacity to
feel It Ho was ready to die now, he
was bo 111; moreover, his left arm
dangled and got In his way. Only that
subconscious realization of the neces
sity to keep going for Rosa's sake sus
tained him.
Daylight came at last to show him
his way. More than once he paused,
alarmed, at voices In tho woods, only
to find that the sounds Issued from his
own throat.
It had grown very hot now, so hot
that heat-waves obscured his vision
and caused the most absurd forms to
taEe shape. He began to hunt aimless
ly for water, but there was none. Evi
dently this heat had parched the land,
dried up the streams, and set the
stones afire. It was Incredible, but
truo. '
Esteban reasoned that he must be
near homo by this time, for he had
been traveling for days for years. The
country, Indeed, was altogether unfa
miliar ; ho could not recall ever having
seen tho path he trod, but for that mat
ter everything wns strange. In the
first place ho knew that he was going
west, and yet the morning sun persisted
in beating hotly into his facet That
alono convinced hlra that things had
gone awry with the world. He could
remember a great convulsion of some
sort, but just what it was he had no
clear ideal Evidently, though, It had
been sufficient to change the rotation
of the earth. Yes, that was it; tho
earth was running backward upon its
nxis ; he could actually feel It whirling
under his feet. No wonder his Journey
seemed so long. Ho was laboring over
a gigantic treadmill, balancing like an
equilibrist upon a revolving sphere,
Well, It was a simple matter to stop
walking, sit down, and allow himself
They Bolted From the House aa Fast
as They Could Go.
to be spun backwurd around to the
place where Rosa was waiting. He
pondered this idea for some time, un
til Us absurdity became apparent. Un
doubtedly lie must be going out of his
head ; he saw that it was necessary to
keep walking until the back-spin of
that treadmill brought Rosa to him.
Rota and her faithful com
panions, facing starvation, obey
the Spanish concentration order.
Ignorant of the greater priva
tions that await them In the ter
rible refugee camp. Don't mlw
the next Installment.
ITO BE roNTINUKD.)
HOW MRS. BOYD
AVOIDED AN '
OPERATION
Canton, Ohio. "I suffered from
female trouble which caused mo much
suuoring, ana two
doctors docided
that I would have
to go through aa
operation before X
could get well.
"My mother, who
had been helped by
LydiaE.Finkham'a
Vegetable Com
pound, advised mm.
to try itbefore sub
mitting to an opera
tlon. It relieved me
from xnv troubles
so I can do mv house work without anv
difficulty. I advise any woman who la
afflicted with lemaie trouoiea to give
Lydia E. PInkham's Vegetable Com
pound a trial and it will do as much for
them." Mrs. MARIS BOYD, 1421 Gtk
St, N. R, Canton, Ohio, t
sometimes mere are serious condi
tions where a hospital operation is tha
only alternative, but on the other band
so many women have been cored by this
famous root and herb remedy, Lydia E.
Pinkham'a Vegetable Compound, after
doctors have said that an operation was
necessary every woman who wants
to avoid an operation .anouia givs it
fair trial before submitting to such ft
trying ordeaL
uf complications exist, write to Lydia
B. PinkhamMedicino Co., Lynn, Mass.,
for advice. The result of many years
experience ia at your service.
RelyOnCuticiira
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FIRST TO USE "CAMOUFLAGE"
American Indians Early Recognized
the Value of Simple Devices
for Misleading an Enemy.
That the art of camouflage as now,
practiced in Europe is an Americas,
institution nnd originated by tho Amer
ican Indians, was recently proved to
tho driver of a touting car which
crossed tho country.
A squaw, reported to bo over a
hundred years old and to havo lived
in the days when tho white man waa
a common enemy, through an Indian
Interpreter explained how tho Indian
children wero taught to place flowers
In their hair as well as twigs, leaves
and other bits of foliage, and were
nblo to move along the ground In
such a stealthy manner that they were
not dlsccrnlblo to tho rest of tho tribe.
Bcforo a young buck could become
qualified os a warrior ho, had to make
his approach to the Indian camp al
most In the midst of tho assembled
warriors without being detected. Tha
real origin of paint on their faces, as
well as on their wigwams and horses,
aa claimed by authority, was for the
purposo of making them blend In with
rocks, trees and dirt, so that they could'
approach their prey or remain hidden
without detection.
Where the Trouble Was.
Jones Are you good at mental
arithmetic, Brown)
Brown Pretty fair.
Jones Well, listen to this: A train
starts on a Journey with 70 passengers
on board. At tho first stop It drops
ten nnd picks up 15. Have you got
that?
Brown (calculating) Yes, 7B.
Jones At the next stop It drops 28,
and picks up 11. Shortly after It
stops again and picks up 17 passengers
nnd drops nine. Got that?
Brown Yes; well?
Jones (making for the door) What
was the name of the engineer? Path
finder. Rating Necessary.
Physician's Secretary That new pa
tlent telephoned and asked if she must
avoid rich foods:
Doctor Look her up In Bradstreot'a
and see
When vou -think rf
Wheat-Savinjfoods,
Post thmkof
TOASTIES
-SUPERlOft
-s&ys
yt w-u-w a?
JSSSSBW I 1IHJ VaadBaBBSBSBBBEr