Show TOE NltT BEfORE EL CANEY I An Incident of he War I I BY FRANCIS KIMBALL CopyrIght iSIS by S S McClure Co Coprrigt I When be colonel of theth cavalry sumoned Captain Burden to regimental I regi-mental headquarters some one at the officers mess asked who he was anyway I I I any-way that the old nina had picked him frO among l dozen old cam I paigers for a consultation Nephew or something to a son ator growled a grizzled lieutenant who had seen 20 yea of service and was Jealous of the ths reputation Fresh from a desk In the war depart I mont but altred anxious to smell powder Ought to joined the rough rider added another theyl be in the fight tomorrow the this too full lready an heres the old man asking him to I supper before hes seen a week of service serv-ice I I TU Interposed the regimental surgeon sur-geon Burden not a greenhorn and the colonel knows I Reckon you dont know what sent him out of Washington Washing-ton Into this feerstricken climate do you think a doughboy d join the fight lag th Come said the adjutant locking arms wih the surgeon for he sw the later had something on his minJ and he too was curious about Captain Burden Lets gO outside and leave the fellows to their growling then when they had passed beyond the confines con-fines of the mess tentVhat was I Johnson The chaps no coward and he interests me Well said the surgeon soberly It isnt my business but I dont mind tching you Ive l cousin in the war department 3ou partment a chum of Burdens and he wrote me to keep an eye on him It was hard luck drove him out of WashIngton Wash-Ington Humph growled the adjutant sarcastically sar-castically small pay and > No broke In the surgeon Burden has an income and Then nhat the duece Why dldnt he stay In Washington and leave us peor devils to do the fighting I youd been In Washington it wouldnt take much guessing replied the surgeon for if youd ben there youd have known Miss R and how she played Burden to throw him over for a doughboy so all Washington was Ion I-on to it and felt jSor for the captain and dldnt wonder when he threw up a fat position In the department and petitioned pe-titioned the secretary for active see ice iceAnd the doughboy grunted the adjutant enlisted for all time in the new captains behalf Stayed In Wash lngtonivlth the reserves and Not much and thats what puzzle the wiseheads up there He enlisted In the regulars and lit out for Santiago along with Burden though I reckon they didnt come together Yhats his name asked the adjutant adju-tant The surgeon fumble for the letter Tle glancing over It by the light of a neighboring lantern Harey said he short ne < and bJ thunder hes in the th What If he and Bur < en come together to-gether In the meantime Captain Burden unconscious un-conscious of the fect the summons I from the colonel had upon his brother j officers stood before he commander of the regiment at headquarters I Captain Burden sad the later noting ih a practiced eye the lender figure of the young officer you come to the th hlh1 recommended for coolness and courage Tomorrow we attack El Cane have been ordered to cal for volunt ers to do a little scouting Will you lead the part scoutng Thanlcyou said Burden simply Thanlcyou sad itwl be an honor 1 I The colonel renl3ived his eyeglasses rer the Young man sad he seriously bush Isfull of Spaniards you imiy be killed or serousb wounded every caution cau-tion will be required ton will do my b st sir replied Captain Cap-tain Burden Is the start to be made at once The colonel wheeled about on his camp stool Orderly said he sharply b tell Captain Clark that I frish a volunteer or two of good men from his company to undertake a dangerous errand er-rand near the enemys line They are to report to me a once Your duty will be he continued turning to Captain Burden to reconnoiter I recon-noiter as near as possible to the one mys lines You will skirt the base of El Caney making a detour to the I north It Is unnecessary to say the volunteers will be under orders from I I you and are to be governed b your judgment Five minute later the tramp of approaching ap-proaching men was heard and two cavalrymen entere the commanders I presence Captain Burden noting them critically started The sharp tones of the colonel rang In his ears Corporal Joyce and Private Hardey you are under order to proceed according ac-cording to Captain Burdens direction reconnoissance into the cn a reonnolssance enems lines That will do Burden returned the mels salute mechanically The presence of John I Hardey filled him with conflicting emo tons He had led from Washington hoping to down In the excitement of an aggressive campaign the sorrow I which this man had brought upon him Had it not been for HaMeyhe clenched his hands until the nails bit into the flesh Whltt now an en spirit whispered He is in your power pow-er you may order him whither you will even to death by Spanish bullets None will know of It for the CUban bush tells no tales The colonel wondered at the paleness upon the face of the young officer as he passed from the tent Into the darkness beyond Could he be afraid He die missed the thought with a laugh Cap 1111 Burden had come to the th with thehighest recommendations from the secretary of war I Out beyond tll shelter of the camp Burden led his men straight Into the thick prickly brush At tImeshe could almost feel Iardc < s breath upon his face and heal the voice whisperIng in his car To the left to the left we will reach the Spaniards sooner there Far up the bight a dozen tiny lights glimmered in the darmessthe SpanIsh Span-Ish torches about the blockhouse of EI I Caney 10 the left the faint ring of sttel told the three Americans that Ike enemys sentinels were wIde awake ready tojlre blindly In the darlu1s Captain Burden paused Private HardeJ sad he sO huslcily he scarce recognized his own voice move cautiously to the left keeping well in the shado of the brush the corporal and I wIll detour to the right approachng tte slope further on Hardeys hand came to a quick salute Very good sir replied he steadily though he must have known he ran against the very muzzles of SpanIsh rifles Then wheelIng about he disappeared disap-peared In the tangled thicket Captain Burden paused irresolutely white to the very lipS Come said he sharply to the right corporal A myriad of Insects buzzed about their faces the pests of the Cuban chapparl The corporal cured and brushed them off but his compaion I scarce notced them his ears wee strained to catch the shots from the slope ofEl Cney the fusillade which would stnd him back to Washington A minute passedfIveten i seem vasse ed as many hour The heat and blackness black-ness of the brush stifled the Americans Ameri-cans the sharp thorns tore their clothes and lacerated their bodies Corporal Cor-poral Joyce swore and cursed the fate whIdh had sent him to Cuba Captain Burden moved forward as one bereft of feelnq He hd become a machine a thing devoid of sense and feeling a human sounding board waiting to catch a rifle crack from El Caney Suddenly the buzz of Insects the crunching of the dry leaves and twigs under thefeet ot the moving men the noise made bythe passage of their bodIes bod-Ies through thebush were drowned by the echoing report of a Mauser rife then another a third a fourth and fifth Corporal Joyce unconscious clutched hIs officers arm God he whispered theve riddle him an a braver fellow never wore a sabre Captain Burden staggered a though the bullets from the Iauser had pierced his body A cry sounded In the stillness foliowlng the echo of tao shots an appeal for help and the voie was Hardeys For an Instant Burden wavered then before the corporal could restrain him dashed through the matte chapparal to the slope o E CaneJ upon whose summit danced a hundred Spanish I torches awakened Into lfo by the fire of the sentinels With Joyce panting at his heels he pushed forward drwlng his revolver I as he ran and shouting aloud to Hare to answer hIm that he might gin the privates sIde in the darkness j Braking through the bush he came upon an open space unsheltered from the Spanish guns above to stumble over Hardey who resting on cne elbow el-bow was keeping oft five white lothed figures with his revolver Perhaps the Spaniards feared an attack at-tack from the entire American army I At slht of Burden and the corporal they wavered forgetting the Ia ser In their hands that they were five to three with one of the later sorely crIppled Corporal said Burden sharplY noting with quick perception the coq fusion of the Spaniards to the rear with Private Hare I will cover you A flash of admiration filled the corporals cor-porals eyes Good God sir he muttered mut-tered theyll shoot you like a dog To the rear sir shouted Captain Burden hes light and Then as the bulky corporal lifted the wounded cavalryman slinging him I across his shoulder like a bag of meal Burden face the astonished Span lards lardsXo I Xo cried Harde struggling In the arms which would ber him Into safe t stop for Gods sake corporal Then In an appeal of agony Save yourself Burden she will not mar me its you The sharp crack of the captains revolver re-volver cut short the sentence Run he shouted Ill hold them off Four times the revolver cracked ere the Spaniards realizing twas but one man Who confronted them raised their rites Corporal Joyce tearing through the chapparal heard the whiplke crack of the dreaded I1auser then once more the sharp report of the captains revolver volver Afterward came silence save for the groaning of Private Hardey and the rustling of the paring branches I On the morning of July 3 after the I charge upon El Cane an orderly hte before the quarter of the fightIng fight-ing thou tho-u A letter for Captain Burden replied re-plied he to the sentrys query franked at the war department an from I lady I reckon he wont want to walt for It The colonel pushed aside his tent flap Surgeon said he turning to the officer who followed him tel that frl low Captain Burdens dead killed In an ambuscade And surgeon youd better take the letter and forward it to Washington |