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Show U By Fred McLatighliiv Ju.thor o' cJKe TMade o" "Picardy WhJ.U. Copy'ivt hv Boiis -Merrill Co. S fZlf CL I lie showed white teeth In a smile of welcome, then he put one arm across ray shoulders. "And you have striven greatly, major; I think Venezuela shall not forget." ''You are kind, a; general." He spoke to my father: "This young giant has helped us win an empire. He is an omen of good fortune, for, since his arrival, success has come to us." "I fear," said my father soberly, "he will never lay down the sword." "A pity when he does," Dolivar said, "because he is a born soldier. With three hundred native troops he held firm against the entire right wing of the Spanish army." "I am forgiven, then?" I asked. Bolivar laughed. "When you permitted per-mitted the Spanish lieutenant to escape es-cape you committed a crime against us." "I knew It very well, my general." "But almost within this hour," the Liberator continued, "the wise Francisco Fran-cisco has brought to me the Senorita Lamartina, who seems to think you are a greater lover than a soldier. From her I have learned many things concerning Colonel Pini, who has paid sadly for his misdemeanors." "Aye, my general." "And your father, Garde, is not to be denied. He takes what he wants. He Is the incarnation of that spirit of progress and determination that shall surely make your country great. No man may prevail against him, therefore there-fore you are free. But the ladies await you and one may not keep a lady waiting." Ladies? Then there was more than one.. I wondered yet I might have known that he would bring ray mother. I faced her with mixed emotions of joy and contrition that my rashness had hurt her. I got her in my arms, and held her close, and kissed her. Yet her lips were trembling, and her eyes were filled with tears. "Ah, my sweet and wonderful mother, moth-er, I have offended thee !" "Ah Senor." "lias the sun, Pablo " "It has just come up, Sonor, and a sergeant and a file of soldiers, await your pleasure." "My pleasure, Pablocito ; did the sergeant ser-geant say my pleasure? My pleasure, then, shall tax his patience, for, first, I shall eat, then, with the aid of soap and water and a razor that you may bring, I shall make myself as presentable present-able as possible. May one do less at such a time?" "I do not know, Senor," he said in a daze; "is life so droll a thing that you should laugh it away?" "Life is a glorious thing, my little Pablo, and I hope you shall have as much of it as you desire; I hope you may view this beautiful world until your eyes are dim with the years, that you may listen to the sweet sounds of nature and to the sweeter sounds of the voices of those who love you until your ears " "Gracias, Senor I will hasten." He brushed my clothes and polished my boots while I ate the breakfast of baked chlva and tortilla and coffee CHAPTER XIII Continued 19 I'abioeito cried out In surprise. "But he told me, Senor, that he was, and he" Lopez swore softly. "What trick Is this, Senor; if the prisoner Is not the Lieutenant Polito, who Is he?" "Lieutenant Lamartina Is safe In Puerto Cabello ere this; his sister, the Senorita Dulce, stands before you." "Ah, Loren, Loren, I would have saved thee !" "But not thyself." Lopez took olT his cap. "What motive, mo-tive, Senorita, would you have thus to masquerade as your brother?" "Ah, my captain," I laughed, "may one question the motive of a lady whose heart Is full of dreams, one who has looked, perchance, upon the moon ?" The captain bowed to the Senorita. "My task is not so simple, neither are my duties to my liking; yet my orders or-ders " "Are to be obeyed," I said. "May I request, my captain, that you offer escort es-cort to the Senorita so she may return In safety to the home of Senora fltflw ' Ybarra? This will be my only request." re-quest." "Assuredly." "No, Loren, no ! I would not leave thee" "Ah, Dulce mia!" "Yes, Loren, I am trying. Can you not see me smile? I am smiling smiling bravely as you would have me do. I want you to know that I am brave; you will remember me so will you not, Loren that I am b-brave?" "Aye, my own." "Then kiss me and hold me to your heart again and I will go. Adios, my my moon-wraith. I I have never believed that you are real . . . Just something fine and noble that was in my dreams." CHAPTER XIV Dawn Ah, the melancholy silence of my prison, the horror of the dragging hours, the deep darkness, for the Senorita, having left, had taken with her all the light of the world . . . had taken my soul, my love, my life, and there was left to me only an empty husk. This I cast upon the rude couch and tried vainly to speed the measured meas-ured minutes, courting sleep unavail-ingly. unavail-ingly. I had given to the cause of Liberty and Venezuela all I had, had striven as desperately in her behalf as the most earnest patriot had striven, had been so I believed a potent force in the winning of freedom for her, and I had come to this. The dead hand of Colonel Pini could hold in check nny one of my friends who might have offered assistance to me. Dead, he stood between me and liberty which would have meant also love and happiness hap-piness and the shadow of his spirit dimmed my little world. In my despair the face of Dulce came to me again. I heard in fancy the music of her voice, and my prison was filled with the glory of her presence, pres-ence, for at last I slept. And, sleeping, sleep-ing, I saw the straight sturdy figure of my father with his fair hair and his clear resolute eyes ; I saw the gracious gra-cious lady who was my mother, and the slim, swaying figure of that exquisite ex-quisite little sister of mine, who, at fifteen, had given promise of great beauty. They would miss me, for they loved me, and they had given me very much indeed. Three years had- passed since I had seen them, three years that I had spent in Europe while the study of the rise and fall of races had held me, for it had been my desire to become a writer of history. I would write no history now, yet I had lived it. I had She shook her head to free her eyes of the tears. "It is not that you have offended me, my son, for you have never done that ; you have terrified me." "Never again, my mother." "You are half our world, Loren, and Felice is the other half. One could not be happy in half a world." "Unless my country calls me, my mother, never again !" "Then I am glad, Loren. There there is Felice, my boy." Felice indeed yet I would hardly have known her. She had reached the fullness of the beauty that fifteen had promised. "My little sister," I cried, "how lovely' you have grown to be! A woman already . . . Let me see eighteen, is it not? It is a golden age !" I lifted her off the floor and held her against my heart. "My little sister !" "You would see some one no?" "I would and If I don't see her very soon I shall die." "She is In your eyes, Loren ; they are full of love for her." "And my heart, and my soul as well." She sighed. "If I find a man who shall love me like that " "Never fear," I said, "never fear; there will be too many." Holding my arm she turned me around until the Senorita Lamartina a vision in purple and lace stood before me. "Dulce mia," I gasped, "ah, Senorita!" "Have you no kisses left for me, Loren?" I took her in my arms. "A heart full . . . and one's heart may hold a deal." "May we go back to your beautiful land, Loren?" "Aye." "And will there not be some peaceful peace-ful pursuit for thee?" "Yes; I shall not take up the sword again." "Now I am happy, dear ... I have lost you so many times. You are not a dream, Loren, are you ; this is not just something in my mind?" "No, my angel." There was a gentle tugging at my sleeve, and the voice of Felice came from a misty distance: "Awaken, you two. The whole crowd is watching you. Come over and talk to us. Yonder Yon-der is the tall Francisco, who resembles resem-bles a bird of prey and who fashions his conversation like a Chesterfield; there is Manuel, whose unlovely visage belies the golden heart , within him, and yonder the gay and grizzled Captain Cap-tain Monahan." "My sister, go and talk to them yourself ... we have affairs of greater import.'1 THE END. "Then Kiss Me and Hold Me to Your Heart Again, and I Will Go." and papaya that he prepared ; then 1 bathed, dressed, shaved, combed my hair and placed my cap upon my head with the greatest care. Ready at last I walked with him along the narrow darkened hallway and out into the bright sunlight to a wide iron gate that swung open at our approach, where a sergeant and a squad of a dozen soldiers took me in charge. I searched my pockets and poured into Pablocito's cupped hands all the silver that I found there and, with a word of thanks for his attentions, atten-tions, marched away beside the sergeant, ser-geant, with six soldiers flanking us right and left. It was a beautiful morning, with air so clear that trees upon the crest of distant mountain ranges stood out with cameo distinctness. A breeze from the lake tempered what might have been a hot day. "Do you usually take a morning constitutional before an execution?" I questioned the sergeant, after we had traversed a full third of the city. "I am directed to bring you here," said he, as we turned into an arched gateway and bent our steps toward the massive mansion that has been the home of many governors. A guard at the great wooden door with its exquisite ex-quisite carving stood aside, and four abreast, we marched through it fnto a spacious chamber, which, at first, because be-cause of the brilliant sunlight that had filled our eyes, seemed a place of shadows. The sergeant voiced a sharp command, the soldiers about faced and went out, leaving me standing in the middle of the room. taken part in wiiat would doubtless prove to be the last battle between my own people and their Anglo-Saxon brothers across the sea, and I had also taken part in that battle which had broken for ever the hold of Spain upon the western hemisphere. Aye, in a few short years I had lived a deal of history. So, with the face of Dulce, smiling bravely, coming to me out of the gloom, and fading again, and the vivid pictures of my youth and my young manhood passing before me in swift panorama, I spent the night in fitful slumber ; to awaken at last to the familiar tapping of I'abioeito upon the door of my cell. "You sleep, Senor," he said, ''as one sleeps whose conscience is as clear " "Why not, my little Pablo?" I said, with forced gaiety. "Sleep has never been a problem to me." "I cannot understand, Senor; I fear that my last night and my last hour might be filled with lamentations. Perhaps you would even care to eat no?" "Of course; should one miss a breakfast?" In front of me stood the straight stalwart figure of a man with fair hair and the clear blue of northern skies in his eyes. A wild surge of Joy went over me. I reached out my hands to him. "Father!" I cried. "Oh, my father!" "Loren," he said gently, "you scamp !" I felt his strong arms around me, I felt his muscular body shake with silent laughter, and hot tears of happiness happi-ness blinded me, for I knew that 1 was saved, because my father never failed. "When your letter came, Loren, we knew that you were again in search of trouble, for Venezuela " I laughed through my tears. "And found it; more of it, my father, than I have dreamed might come to one man . . . and happiness, too." Now another figure appeared the slim tiny figure of a man in brilliant uniform, with piercing black eyes, busliy brows, and a high forehead curiously seamed. Whereupon I fashioned fash-ioned a stiff salute, for this was South America's greatest. "I have erred grievously, my general." |