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Show I in timimw mi iiwh nmiiiiiro mm' - ' " WEBSTER-MAN'S MAN " H I Author of "Cappy Rick.' "The Valley of the Giants," Etc; Hit '' Copyright tT Peter D. Kyne ll . CHAPTER XIV Cont At 10 o'clock Webster w -ipanled RS Mother Jcnks homo in tho carriage, S which ho dismissed at El Uuen Amlgo IK with Instructions to return to tho 9B hotel while ho continued nfoot down mm. tho Cnllo Son Itosnrlo to tho bay', ffiltE where Leber's hugo corrugated Iron If Hj wnrehouso loomed darkly nbovo high water mark. Ho slipped along In tho gjflp deep shadow of tho wnrohouso wall nnd out on tho end of tho llttlo dock, 1W whero ho satisfied himself that Lc-J Lc-J ''of launch wns at Its moorings; Ifff . then ho went back to tho warehouse I If nnd whistled softly, whereupon a man IH crawled out from under tho structure IH nnd approached hlm. it was Don lift Juan Cnfetero. Ml "They're all Insldo," ho whispered H nnd laid Anger on Up. "They got In alf nnflaour' ago, an' dtvll a sowl H tho wlscrWo mcself." IB "Thnnk. you, John. Now that I M know tho coast Is clear and tho launch Nj "We'll Just 'Cruise Slowly Around and Listen." f ready, I'll go back tf tho hotel for Bj Miss Iluey." BB "Very well, sor," Don Juan replied. nnd crawled back under tho ware- house. BJj HIf nn liour later tho sound or B Hoof beats warned him of tho ap- B preach of Webster atid Dolores In n B carriage, nud ho camo forth, loaded In the lauticli ouch baggago as they hnd been enabled tp bring, and hold tho BB gunwale of tho boat wlillo uls passcn- Igers stepped aboard. About n half n mllo off shore Weln mmM 8tcr throttled down tho motor until B tho launch burely inado stecrago way. B "It would nover do to go aboard tho B -steamer before tho fracas started ashore," he explained to Dolores. H "That would Indlcato a guilty knowl- BB , odgo of coming ovents, and In tho B event of disaster to tiio rebel arms It B Is Just possible Senor Snrros might B have pull enough, If ho hears of our BB (light sis hours In advance of hoitll- 71 Itles, to take us off tho steamer nnd U ask us to explain. So we'll Just cruise B slowly nround nnd listen; the attack will como Just before dawn; then BX , shortly thereafter wo can scurry out BE to the steamer nnd bo welcomed BX aboard for the sake of tho iiowh wo BJ bring," B Sho did ,not answer, and Webster HI know her thoughts were out Avhoru the BI : ore lights on tho outskirts of lluona- Bf ,' ventura mot tho open country out Hi , where tho brother bIiu could scarcely Bjlj j remember nnd whom, until a mbuth Bui : provloua, sho had believed dead, would Mat shortly muster his not too numerous BjDK followers Bill Jn tho darkness Webster could hear Bjf fj tho click of her beads ns sho prayed; If on ino turtle, deck forward Don Juan l( Cnfetero sprawled, thinking perchance BJI' 1 ot Mla ""lovely past nnd wondering jl, 1 what effect tho events shortly to trun- If I 6plronBhoro would hno on his future. Bit I Uo w'8uwl Webster would relent and Bf' I offor hlm tt dr,nk somo "mo within tho JLl next twenty-four hours. In times of excitement llko tho present n man i, needs a drop to brnco hlm up. B v Flvo tlme tc launch slipped lnl- I ly down tho harbor along tho strag- li '" gllng two uillo wnter front ; live, times 1)1 it loafed back. Tho moon, which was )m in tho 'first quarter, sank. Then to J. Webstor'H alert ear tlicro Hooted ncross the still waters tho sound of a ff senile purring tho music of an auto- jm truck. He set tho launch In toward Leber's llttlo dock, nnd presently they J .' inw the door of Ircbor'a wnrehouso W ' open, ilea with lanterns streamed ft ' forth, lighting the way for olhers who MY lorc between thoin heavy burdens. 1 "They're emplnclng tho nmrblnc BJI guns, In the piotor-trucl;." ho wills- u red to Dillon-- "Wo will not have illfc to mhI' Jo 2 now It a n. -iriv -j SBf' -iiwu " Elt Mmi'ii '"'. Hdi'il out JntcMhf ln.v ' "'' - "' II i'i-i I Ilk I j sleeping city to the hills beyond In tho west. Presently along tho side of those hills the headlight of a locomotive locomo-tive crept, dropping swiftly down grndo until It disappeared In tho low-lands. low-lands. A half hour passed; then to the south of tho city a rocket flared skyward; sky-ward; almost Instantly another flared from tho west, followed presently by a murmur, scarcely audlblo, as of a muffled snare drum, punctuated presently pres-ently by a louder, sharper, Insistent puck-puck-puck that, had Webster but known It, was tho bark of a Maxim-Vlckcrs Maxim-Vlckcrs rapld-flro gun throwing n stream of shells Into tho cantonments of tho government troops on tho frlngo of tho city. Webster's pulso quickened. "There goes tho 'tlllery to tho south, sor," Don Juan called, nnd even ns he spoke, a shell burst gloriously over tho government palace, tho white walls of which were already looming over tho remainder of tho city, now faintly visible In tho approaching dawn. "That was to nwaken our friend, Snrros," Webster cried. "I'll bet a buffalo nickel that woko tho old horso thief up, There's another nnd nn-other." nn-other." Tho uproar swelled, tho nolso gradually grad-ually drifting nround tho city from west to south, forming, seemingly, n scmlclrclo of sound. "Tho government govern-ment troops nro Up nnd doing now,", Webster observed, nnd speeded up his' motor. "I think It high tlmo wo plnyed the part of frightened refugees. Mauser Mau-ser bullets kill at three miles. Somo strays mny drop out hero In tho bay." Ho speeded Iho launch toward La Kstrcllltn, and ns the cruft scraped In nlongsldo the grcnt steamer's companion com-panion landing, her skipper ran down tho ladder to greet tllOin nnd Inquire eagerly of tho trend of events nsliore. flWe left In n hurry tho Instant It started," Webster explained. "As Americans, wo didn't figure wo hod any Interest In that scrap, either way." Ho handed Dolores out on tho landing stage, tossed their baggago after her and followed; Don Juan took the wheel, nnd tho launch slid out nnd left them there. At tho bend of tho companion ladder Webster paused nnd turned for nnother iuuk in jjuenavonturn. to tiio west thrco grent fires now throw n lurid, light skyward, mocking an equally lurid light to tho cast, that marked tho opprooch of doyllght. Ho smiled. "Thoso nro tho cantonment barracks huml.K," ho whispered to Dolores. "Itlcnrdo Is keeping his word. Uo's driving tho rnts back Into their own holes." Tho weeks of clean living, of abstention ab-stention from his wonted dally nlco-hollc nlco-hollc rntlon, had Inspired In Don Juan Cafetcro n revival of his all but defunct de-funct Interest In llfo; conversely, In theso stirring times, ho was sensible of nn equally scute Interest In So-brnntenn So-brnntenn politics, for ho was Irish; nnd flabby Indeed Is thnt son of tho Green Llttlo Islo who, wherever ho mny be, declines to tnko a hand In any public argument. Tor tho lovo of poliycs, like tho lovfl of homo, Is never nev-er dead In tho Irish. It Is Instinct with them tho hcrltnge, perhaps, of centuries of oppression op-pression nnd suppression, which nurtures nur-tures rather than stifles tho ycnrnlpg for, place and power. Now ns Don Juan turned Leber's Inunch shoreward and kicked tho motor wide open, ho, too, descried against tho dawn tho glare of thcbburnlng cantonments west of tho city, nnd at tho sight his pulso bcot high with tho lust of battle, tho longing to bo In nt tho death In this struggle, where tho hopes and nspl-rntlons nspl-rntlons of thoso ho loved were nt stake. Two months previously it revolution would havo been n matter of extremo ludlrferenco to Don Juan; he would havo reflected that It was merely tho outs trying to get In, nnd thnt If they succeeded, tlu sole benefit to the general gen-eral public would bo tho privilege of paying tho bill. Today, however, In tho knowledge thnt ho hml nn mmni-timi. ty to light beside white men nnd perchance per-chance even up somo old scores with tho Guardla Civil, It occurred suddenly sudden-ly to Don Junn that It would bo a bravo and Virtuous net to cr.st his lot with the Iluey forces. IIo was a being reorganized nnd rebuilt, nnd It behooved hlai to do something to demonstrate dem-onstrate his manhood. Don Junn knew, of course, that bhould tho rebels loso nnd ho bo enp-tured, enp-tured, bo would he executed ;'yet this contingency teemed n far-fetched ono, In view of the fact that ho had John Stuart Webster nt his back, ready to finance his escapo from tho city. Also Don Junn had bad an opportunity Iq the hills above Snji Miguel de Pnduo. for n critical study of Itlcnrdo Ituev nnd had como to the conclusion that nt last a real man had como to lib-ernto lib-ernto Sobrantc; further, Don Junn hnd had ocular evidence that John Stuart Wehsior was connected with tho revolution, for had ho not smug-gjwl smug-gjwl Iluey Into the country? It ivns sompihlng to be tlw rlght-linnd won of the prMhltut of n rich llttlo cotm- , try like S brume; it u.is um nome- , thing I" be ii dune to th.ir Hulir Imml ' Ujuii us I mil liioii was io In-, iuut,nr , ''BB Webster; consequently self-interest nnd his sporting codo whispered to Don Juan that It behooved him to demonstrate his loyalty with every means nt his command, oven unto his heart's blood. "Who Jtnows," ho cogitated as tho launch boro him swiftly shoreward, "but what I'll acquit meself with honor hon-or nnd get n rino Job undhcr tho new administration? 'Tis tho mnsther's tight, I'm thlnkln'; Uicn, be tho snmo token, 'tis John Joseph Cnfferty's, win, loso or draw, an' may tho devil damn melf I fall him nfther what he's dono for mo. Sure, If Qlnornl Iluey wins, n crook nv tho mnsther's finger will make mo Jcre p'olltlco. An' If ho docs hoo-rool Hoo-rayi" With his Imagination still running riot, Don Junn made the launch fast to tho llttlo dock, down which ho rnrustrnlght for tho warehouse, where tlurltuey mercenaries were still con-gregnted, con-gregnted, busily -wiping tho factory grcaSO from tho wonnnnn u-lilrh hnd Just been distributed to them from tho packing cases. A sharp volco halted him, bo paused, panting, to And himself him-self looking down the long blue bar-re! bar-re! of n service pistol. "Who nro you, nnd what nro you doing here?" tho man behind the wenpftn demanded brusquely. "I'm I'rlvato John J. Caffcrty, the latest recruit to tho Iluey nrmy," Don Juan answered composedly. "Who did yo think I wns? l'rlvnto sccrcth'ry to that dlvll Snrros? Man, dear, lower that gun av yours, for God knows I'm nervous enough ns It Is. nnvo yo something' yo could glvo mo to light wit.' nvlc?" Tho man who hnd challenged him a Innk, swarthy Individual from the Maclean border looked him" over 'with twinkling eyes. "You'll do, Cnf-forty, Cnf-forty, old timer," ho drawled, "nnd If you don't, you'll wish you hnd. There's o man for every rlflo Just now, but I wouldn't bo surprised If there'd bo a right smart moro rifles than men before be-fore n grent while. Help yourself to tho gun o' the first mnn thnt goes down,; In tho meantime, hop Into thnt there truck nnd' keep tho cartridge belt for the machine guns full vup. You're Just In tittle." Without further ndo Don' Junn ciiuiijcii into mo trucK. A little clt-ndcl clt-ndcl of sheet steel hnd been built nround tho driver's sent, with n narrow nar-row silt In front through which tho latter peered out. Tho body of the truck had been boxed In with tho snmo material nnd housed two mnchlno guns, cmpluced, nnd n crow of hnlf n dozen men crouched on tho floor engaged in londlng tho belts. Four motor bicycles, with sturdy, specially-built sldo cars attnehed, and n mncblno gun In each sldo enr, were waiting nenr by, together togeth-er with n hnlf-dbzcn country carts loaded with ammunition cases nnd drawn by horses. "How soon do we stnrt?" Don Junn demanded anxiously, ns ho crowded In bcsldo ono of his now-found com-rndes. com-rndes. "I believe," this Individual replied In tho unmlstnkablo nccents of an Oxford Ox-ford man. "that tho plan is to wait until five o'clock ; by that tlmo nil tho government troops that can bo Bpnred from the arsennl nnd pnlaco will have been dispatched to tho fighting now taking plnco west of tho city. Naturally, Natu-rally, tho government forces aren't "'Enery, They're ComlnV nntltlnntfn n ... i . . "" - minis irotn tne rear tmd so they will, in all probnulllty' woaken ttiolr bnso. I bollovo that cases our task; certainly It will Knv us many muti. Don Juan aoddod his entire anprorti to this shrewd plan of enuimjiui, , fell to'.sutinng cnrtrldw Tn ti? " ! heltlng. the whllo'ho wiiuii,.,i sfriv ! Hii'inwiciniy. and with purling i,N.:; I. -uncNbitww.nhl8stiMs.-l. .,.;,, ,,, ' - iliruiitfiin -c'iiMciiiiii in ,, " fi.li'.o) ,aiue out -I it,. , j'lv houso nnd gave tho order to proceed. They marched along the water front for four blocks nnd then turned up n side street, which happened to bo the Callo do Concordia, thus enabling Mother Jcnks, who wns peering from the doorway of El Bucn Amlgo, to see them coming. "Hnht" she muttered. '"Knery they're comln'. Tho worm Is turnln, 'Enery; N years you've wyted for vengeance, my love, but tod'y you'll get It." She waddled out Into the street nnd held up her hand In a gesture as authoritative au-thoritative and Imperious ns that cf a trafllc officer. "Botter-r-ry 'alt I" sho croaked. She had heard tho lato 'En-cry 'En-cry glvo that command often enough to hnvo acquired tho exact Inflection noccssnry to make an Impression upon men accustomed to obeying such n coimnnnd whenever given. Instinctively Instinc-tively tho column slowed up ; somo of tho Foreign Legion, old coast artillerists, artil-lerists, no doubt, camo to n halt with promptness nnd precision: all stared at Mother Jcnks. "'Ow about 'nrf a dozen cases o good brandy for the wounded?" Moth' cr Jenks suggested. "An' 'ow nbout r, bally old woman for a Itcd Cross nurse?" "You're on, mn'am," the foreign leader replied promptly, and translated translat-ed tho old lady's suggestion to Dr. Pncheco, who accepted gracefully and thnnked Mother Jenks In purest Cas-tlllnn. Cas-tlllnn. So n detail of six men was told off to carry tho six coses of brandy out of El Iluen Amlgo and load them on tho ammunition carts; then Mother Jenks crawled up Into the armored truck with the mncblno gun crew, nnd the column onco moro took up Its line of rnpld march. Tho objective of this unsuspected forco within the city was, as Itlcnrdo Iluey shrewdly suspected it might be. poorly garrisoned. Usually a force of fully 000 men wns stntloned at the nntlonni nrsennl, but the sharp, savage sav-age attack from tho west, so sudden and unexpected, hnd thrown Snrros Into n pnnlc nnd left hlm no tlmo to plan his defense carefully. His flVst thought had beqn to send nil his available forces to support the troops bearing tho brunt of tho rebel nttnek, nnd It wns tremendously important i.A ,,., .1. . i., ,... ., tnai tins snouiti bo dono very prompt- ly, In view of the lack of Information , concerning tho numerical forco of the , enemy; consequently he hnd reduced ! the arsenal forco to 100 men nnd retained re-tained only his favorlto troops of the guards and one company of tho Fifteenth Fif-teenth Infantry to protect tho palace. Acting under hastily given tele-phon.c tele-phon.c orders, tho commanding olll-cer olll-cer nt tho cantonment bnrrncks had detailed n few hundred men to light n renr-gunrd action wlillo tho main army fell back In good order behind arall-way arall-way embankment which swept In n wldo nrc nround tho city and offered an excellent substitute for breastworks. breast-works. This position hod scarcely been attained before tho furious nil-vnnco nil-vnnco of tho rebels drovo In the renr guard, and pending tho capture of tho arsenal, Ulcardo realized his operations opera-tions were nt an Impasse. Promptly ho dug himself In, nnd tho battle developed de-veloped Into n brisk nffalr of give and take, Involving-meager losses to both factions, but on appalling wastago of nmmunttlnn. Tho nrsennl, n Inrgo, modern concrete con-crete building with tremendously thick walls reinforced by steel, would hnvo offered fairly good resistance to tho average fleld battery. Surrounding Surround-ing It On nil four nicies ivnn n roln. forced concrete wall ,'10 feet high with machine gun bastions nt cacli corner and a platform nloug the wall insldo nnd, 25 feet from the ground which nfforded foot room for Infnntrj which could use the top flvo feet ol tho wall for protection while nrliit over- It. There was but ono entrance n heavy, barred steel gato which was always kept locked when It wns nol necessnry to have It opened for In-gross In-gross or egress. Given warning ot an nttnek and with sufficient time to pre-pnro pre-pnro for It. 100 of the rljht sort of lighting men could withstand nn In-dellnlto In-dellnlto slego by n forco not provided provid-ed with nrtlllery benvler than an ordinary or-dinary Held gun. 'With n full realization realiza-tion of this, therefore, Itlcnrdo and his confreres had designed to accomplish accom-plish by strategy thnt which could not bo dono by tiio limited forces ut their command. As the column approached tho neighborhood of tho nrsennl. three cle- tllclimi'lltH hl-nkn nirai- ....... ,. .. -- -.,..j uill mi- until body nnd disappeared down side streets, to turn nt right angles Intel nnd inntvh parallel with tho main command. Each of these delnchmenls was accompanied by one unit of the motorcycle mounted machine gun tint. try with Its white ftow; two blocks beyond the nrsennl square each detachment de-tachment leader so disposed his men nn to oiler spirited roslhtnnco to any sortie thnt might bo mndo by tho trooiw from the pnlaco In the hope or driving off the attackers of the nr- SPflHl Having thus provided for protection uring Its operations, the main bodv omlimllv uii.ler Dr. IMcheco but In roi III ."nrainiiiiMV,! bv the chief nf rln- 1 '" -""l """I'.mv pro c.,,., , ""i . Wnii the utuii-fct umaucej , In the world the armored truck rolled down tho street to tho nrsennl entrance, en-trance, Bwung In nnd pointed Its Impudent Im-pudent nose straight at tiio Iron bars while the hidden chauffeur called loudly nnd profnnely In Spanish upon the sentry to open tho Knte ond let him in thnt there was necessity for grcnt hurry, slnco ho had been sent down from the pnlace by tho president presi-dent himself, for mncblno guns to equip this nrmored motorenr. The sentry sen-try Immediately called the officer of the gunrd, who peered out, observed nothing but tho motortruck, which seemed far from dangerous, and without with-out further ndo Inserted a huge key In tho lock and turned tho bolt. The sentry swung tho double gntcs njar, and with a prolonged nnd raucous toot of Its horn tho big car loafed In. The sentry closed tho gnto again, wlillo the officer stepped up to turn tho key In tho lock. Instend, ho died with half a dozen pistol bullots through his body, and tho sentry sprawled bcsldo him. Tho prolonged toot of the motor-horn motor-horn hnd been tho slgnnl agreed upon to apprise tho detachment watting In n secluded bncjc street that the truck was Inside tho nrsennl wall. With n yell they swept out of tho sldo street nnd down on tho gnte, through which they poured Into the nrsennl grounds. At sound of tho first shot nt the gnte, tho commandnnto of the garrison, which had been drawn up In u double rank for reveille roll call, realized he was nttneked, nnd thnt swift mensurcs were necessnry. Fortunately Fortu-nately for him, his men were standing nt attention nt the time, preparatory to receiving from him ono of those nnte-bnttlo exhortntlons so clear to the Latin soul. A sharp command, and the little gnr-rl8on gnr-rl8on hnd llxed bayonets; nnother com-mnnd, com-mnnd, nnd they were In lino of squnds; before the autotruck could be swung sldewnys to permit n mncblno gun to play on tho Sobrontenns In close formation, the latter bad thrown out n skirmish lino nnd were charging; wlillo from tho gunrdhouso w Inflow, Just Insldo the gate, a volley, poured Into the unprotected renr of tho truck following its pnssngo through tho gnte, did dendly execution. The driver, a bullet through his buck, sagged for- tlfltil llttn I. In i . . . iu niiu ins sieci-ciaci citauei; both mnchlno gun operators were wounded, nnd tho truck wns stalled. Tho situation sit-uation was desperate. "I'm n gone goose." mourned Don Junn Cnfetero. nnd be lenped from tho slmmblos to the ground, with some linzy notion of making his escnpe through the gate. He was too late. Two men, riding tandem on a motor-rjelo motor-rjelo with a machlno gnu In the specially spe-cially const! uctod slilc-nr, nppenred In the entrance and lenped off; almost before Don Junn hnd time to dodge behind tho motortruck to escape possible pos-sible wild bullets, tbo'miichrno gun wns sweeping the oncoming skirmish line. Don Junn cheered ns mnn nfter man of the garrison pitched on his fnce. for tho odds were rapidly being evened now, greatly to tho pleneure of the men charging through tho gnte to support tho machine gun. Out Into the arsenal yard they swept, forcing tho machine gun crow to cease firing because of the'donger of killing their own men; with u shock bayonet met I bayonet In tho center of tho ynrd. nnd tho Issue was up for prompt and tlnnlj decision. (TO DE CONTINUED.) |