| OCR Text |
Show The cfficer scowled. "I would condemn con-demn him to perpetual banishment from us," he answered harshly. "And ym, Bourmont," to the oHcef who had confessed he was hungry. "De Guise is too mild, too mild," this officer said, scowling also. "I. would add that in addition to his sentence sen-tence the condemned be made to carry away a sack of Hour as large as himself him-self as large as a man can lift." "And you," "and you," to the other officers. - - J- "I consider the sentence Just, and recommend it," said one. "And I," "and I," said others. "With perhaps a little more added to the burden," finished the last judiciously. Filibusters. BY FRANK H. SWEET. (Copyright, 1502. by Daily Story Pub-Co. A group of Spanish, officers were standing in front of the mess quarters at Bahia Honda. The;' had just come in from Havana and on the morrow were to start across the mountains toward Cristobal on special service. It had been a long, hard march, and they were hugry and tired. In spite of all that was be! ind and of what might be ahead, their one thought was of the meal whose savory odors were issuing from the hastily improvised mess quarters. The sun was not yet down, but the shadows of the date palms lay thick about their feet. They watched them listlessly, waiting for the mess call, and then ready to seek the low thatched building where they were to sleep. From the shadows shad-ows of the same date palms a group of ragged, emaciated boys watched them keenly. They, too, were mindful of the odors that came from the mess quarters, for they sniffed eagerly, and from time to time they whispered to one another and pointed toward the building or the officers. Prtsently a boy of nine or ten, with keen, snapping snap-ping black eyes, stale to a palm tree that was but a few yards from where the officers r'ood. In the shadow of this he waited until his companions had circled round to the shelter of a clump of bamboos on the other side, and very Dear to the entrance of the mess quarters. There they paused, as though for a signal. And it was not long coming. With a sudden wild whoop the boy with the snapping eyes sprang forward into the very midst of the officers, swing-tz swing-tz his firms and danc.ine about as' for the first time that their mess cook and his boy assistant were snuffing about wringing their hands. "What are you doing here, Garcia?" one of the officers demanded impatiently. impa-tiently. "Go back and hurry up supper." sup-per." But Garcia continued to wring his hand?. "There is none," he walled. "No meats, no breads, no fruits. Oh, senorr?' oh, scnors! What shall we do? Me arft my boy Jose were finishing a beautifil supper oh, so beautiful! and a norde of wild creatures rushed in and threw flour into my face and tripped Jose, and when we recovered there v (.'re no meats, no breads, no fruits. Oh, senors! oh, senors!" Two or three of the officers rushed Into the mess room. When they returned re-turned their faces were blank. "Garda's right," they said, "the place is "tripped as clean as though visited b;. locusts." Then Uey stopped abruptly, as though mazing a discovery, and glanced at tL captive. "You are responsible re-sponsible for this," one of them declared. de-clared. The boy grinned. "Si, senor," he said composedly, ''why not?" They stared at him and at each other. Was the boy mad? If so, it was a madness that must be punished. "Shooting is too easy for a thing like that," scowled the one who had lost his sword. "It's a case for hanging." hang-ing." "No; hanging's too easy," declared another, gloomily. "You don't know how hungry I am. But there goes the pursuit," as they saw soldiers scattering scat-tering among the palms. "Perhaps the supper will be recaptured." The boy sniffed. "Five minutes' start," he grinned significantly. "A though he were mad. In an instant almost, al-most, and before they had recovered from the surprise of the unexpected onslaught he had snatched a sword from one of the scabbards and bounded bound-ed away. At the same moment a cry of consternation came from the mess Quarters. But the officers did not notice that. "Let this be a lesson." "A prisoner of this kind should bo crushed." "Very well, gentlemen," said the officer of-ficer in command, "you will see that the sentence is carried out to the letter. let-ter. And you," turning severely to the wondering boy, "let this be a lesson. les-son. Never do a thing unless you are ready to do it with your whole heart. If you had shown a white spot, I would have had you shot." thousand men couldn't find the boys now. They kDow hiding places your soldiers never dreamed of." The officer in command looked at him curiously. "There is something behind this," he said thoughtfully. "You are old enough to understand the consequences conse-quences of such an act, and too wise to throw away your life for a little meat and a few loaves of bread." The boy's eyes began to flash and for the first time his face lost its grinning derision. "I have risked my life for a little meat and a few loaves of bread," he declared quickly, "and I do understand just what the consequences are. But what is life when my mother is sick and starving, and when my sisters and grandfather and grandmother are all starving. I would risk it, and lose it, too, a hundred times. The boys have food enough now to last them a month," his voice ringing with exultation. exulta-tion. "You may kill me if you want to. But you haven't soldiers enough to get the food back. And it wasn't stolen, either. You have destroyed our crops and taken our cattle and fruits, and they w'ould pay for this a thousand times over." He threw his head back and looked squarely into their eyes. "There is another thing I don't mind telling you," he went on sturdily; "my father's away fighting, and I would be away fighting too, if I were old enough. As it is, we boys look after the family." Here the grinning derision deri-sion returned to his face. "The horde of 'wild creatures' your cook tells about were just my three brothers and two of my cousins, the oldest only thirteen. They'll look after the family fam-ily now, and when this food Is gone, they'll find some way to get more. Now kill me if you want to. I'm not afraid." A curious expression had been cora-ing cora-ing into their eyes. Above all things a soldier respects bravery. "Come, gentlemen," said the officer in command gruffly, "we must settle this at once. Camp will be broken early, and there will he no tim-3 then. The case is a flagrant one, and calls for severe punishment. But I wil'. leave the sentence to you. De Guise," to the officer whose sword had bea taken; "as the most aggrieved of us; the first vote belongs to you. What punishment is idequate to the offense?" Snatched a sword from one of the scabbards and bounded away. They were too amazed, too angry at the audacity of this ragamuffin, who had stopped a few yards away and was now brandishing the sword defiantly in their very faces. With exclamations exclama-tions of anger they sprang forward to a man, and the ragamuffin, instead of trying to escape, dodged this way and that, under the outstretched arms of one, behind another and almost between be-tween the legs of a third, all the time taunting them and daring them on. He was like an eel that squirmed out of their hands even after they caught him; or a flea that was anywhere except ex-cept where they thought it. Five minutes passed in exasperating dodging dodg-ing and doubling before they succeeded succeed-ed in dragging him back, struggling and grinning to the mess quarters. And it was not until afterward that it occurred to them that he Bad made no real effort to escape. As the excitement of the chase and capture began to subside they noticed |
