| Show Z ITON A STORY OF tufit r CUBA pa ly awrence lang es anchor f or elc corm tolk ac IN SYNOPSIS lieutenant holton la Is detached from his command Orn mand in the navy at the outset of the spanish american war and assigned to important secret service duty while dining at a lV washington ashington hotel he detects a waiter in the act ot 0 robbing a beautiful youna lady she thanks him for or his service and rives gives her name as was miss la tossa toasa IL a cub cuban patriot I 1 ot later he meets her at a ball A secret service man warns holton that tho girt airl Is a spy senor benor la toe tossa a chides ills his daughter for her failure to secure important information fro from holton she leaves for her home in cuba holton Is ordered to follow her they meet on tile the tampa train miss la tossa tells I 1 holton olton she alas Is a cuban apy y an and d expresses doubt regarding the F ce rity of the united states holton Is ordered to remain at tampa to guard the triou broo transports ile ha rec receives etves orders to land miss la tossa tonsa who Is considered a dangerous spy on cubia soil at sea he a to is overtaken by another warship which takes wigs IA tossa aboard and holton Is ordered to return to ta tampa m lie he saves t the he transports from destruction es tru e t fa at the hands of dynamiters dyna miters and reports to admiral sampson tor for further duty holton Is sent to general garcias command in the kulse guise of a newspaper correspondent to investigate cuban plots against the american troops and to learn the he plans of the spanish navy lie he detects a trusted cuban leader in the work of fomenting trouble among the cubans in the interests of tho spaniards holton Is seized by friends of the adv ind and later Is ordered executed as a spy ile he escapes CHAPTER VIII continued the shouts had grown more distant ind find holton knew that no one else had stumbled upon the trail or at least that was waa his belief until lie he heard behind him the pound of footsteps pattering down the clearing he paused curious to see it if it were a ere not one of mie khe scouts who had located his hidden Illey alleyway way and found his suspicions irue rue As thebie negro dashed to the end and of the lane holton worked his way to the opening through which he had just come and waited tense tense for the encounter the man located the bent branches branch P s and with a little grunt started afresh on nolton 8 tra trail 1 1 it was the last sound he made for some lome time for as ho he burst through the americans fist launched with bone shattering force landed just two inches above his chin and down he went like a stricken animal holton with a prayer of thanksgiving leaned oyer oserthe the huddled figure and was rejoiced to find that the fellow had a revolver and a belt filled with will bullets in addition to a hunting knife all AJI these things holton appropriated and then leaving the negro where he lay pursued his way into the forest ile he had marked his direction before si darting artIng upon his flight his intention being to make the hills over santiago say my ascertain the location of cerveris veras geet beet watch for any signs that might give hint as to the intentions of the spanish admiral and then make for a where he might signal samp sons flagship ile ho had no thought of getting clear iway until he had bad made a strong effort to perform the mission upon which tie he had been dispatched after walking all day with inere luent halts in the torrid heat matting making perhaps ton ten or twelve miles lie he came fear sunset to a tall grove of palms one of these he climbed and at length able to locate his position in a general way it may have been fever working in als ais blood although he be felt well but 1 4 v pa re 7 V s 1 1 v W I 1 r pr W v fi vil he went down like a stricken animal through hla bla mind ran something not act a voice more an Im impulse which kept suggesting sug gesting to him to turn to the left finally staggering and stumbling half asleep he obeyed the inward uon and in this way proceeded until DA a last he fell into a heap dead asleep when he awolt he was shivering ire ife realized his weak weakness fiess but could not understand it being usually a man of undeviating health until it occurred to bim that he had bad not eaten anything tor for nearly twenty tour four hours dut but he had nothing with him to eat ancho and he did not dare discharge hla his pistil at the ile birds hying flying all about forbear tor for fear ear f calling attention lea to hla his position in the jungle so he ha arose tightened hla belt as he had read indians indiana u used to do ahn pressed by hunger and worked hla his way on still holding to the left alun suddenly gldnn a clearing which apparently ft a large number of soldiers had left not many hours before there were remains of a fire and better still scattered upon the ground were bits of bard hardtack tack a whole pineapple and an abandoned kettle with some boiled rice remaining la in it despite the suggestions of the imley of the spaniards holton sat down and ate the most moat satisfactory in meal eat of his life raving having eaten he retired a little distance and lay back in the shadows the sun aim warmed him and the caused by the damp of the night left him it if as he had feared fever had been in his blood it had bad gone now and this inspired him wonderfully ile he was about to descend when the flash of something below caught his eye almost beneath his feet ile he looked closely and caught the flash again followed by another hash flash then by several beveral A flash in this jungle meant polished metal of somo some sort and metal of any sort here meant only one thing soldiers ile he strained his eyes do downward wilward and then caught glimpses of a trail partially hidden from his view by bushes on the side of the trail nearest to the eastward the land tell fell sharply away into a wide valley the opposite sides aides of which were bush and tree covered hills just as on ills his side and now as he looked the situation dawned clear upon him for he could see men moving falling back along the trail and eventually debouching debou ching into bushes on either side holtons heart beat quickly lie he remembered what the spaniards had said of americans marching from the direction of siboney boney Sl and he be knew that right before his eyes the spaniards were arranging an ambush tor for them but what could he do almost any moment a detachment of spanish soldiers might come upon him ills slightest movement would tend to attract the attention of some of them what was happening suddenly from the distance there came what sounded to holton like the clatter of steel on a teel ile ho at once recognized it as tile the sound a scabbard makes when it strikes against a spur Ilas hastily tily lie he looked down at the spanish position but not a sign of a soldier could ho he see the trail was deserted the surroundings were as quiet as peaceful as the heart of a jungle it was too quiet holton thought suddenly the situation dawned clear hla his country countrymen mea were walking into a deadly arapi trapi and he was powerless to help them then as though a voice had whispered in his ear he started up was he helpless yes it he was considering himself it if fear of consequences to him personally were to be weighed he be was perfectly helpless dut but not otherwise providence could not have smiled more benignly upon the americans than in placing him just where ho he was provided lie he justified the providential processes with the nerve of a hero ile he rolled halt on his side loosened his revolver in its ito holster and then drew it out no more sounds come from the trail and yet somehow there was the impression of movement down here a subconscious feeling of the approach of men holton his eyes strained ahead his ears alert for the slightest sound started convulsively as a campaign hat bat appeared for an instant through a rift in the high grasses on the valley side of the trail then flattening himself rigidly upon tho the ground he pointed his pistol in the direction of the spaniards beneath him and pulled the trigger the sharp report of the forty tour four tore through the dead stillness with nerve racking violence it clattered across the valley in a hundred echoes and then AS though both nature and man had been shocked into inanition there followed a few seconds seconda of puls elese silence again holiona Hol tona pistol rang out this hf time from the direction of the hidden advancing forces there came sev eral short sharp commands As holton lay hidden thankful that the spaniards had evidently attributed the shots tt to some ome overanxious soldier on their own side ide he saw two cubans steal along the trail and behind them a gigantic young sergeant in the tha uniform of at a hough rider close behind him were four faur men they were picking their way stealthily there was no question that hoi 1101 tons shots had the desired effect then as he looked several long lancel lka lines of flame darted out ot of the bushes in which the spaniards lay the valley re sounded with a racket racketing lag uproar ile he saw aebig be big rough hough rider elder sergeant stop atop short with a look of surprise upon his face saw his jaws set net grimly saw him advance a step and then heave forward on his face blocking the tha trail with hla his body the bushes beneath holton berj now darting sheets of flame ands and the gases from the smokeless powder drifted upward and into his from tho the americal America 1 he heard a na as the tha main rushed up into action or dr deployed sato lalo the he grass crass to the eastward of the trail and then suddenly out of the thicket came the roar of the brags holton thrilled with arido as he noticed that the alm aim ot of the americans americana was low aiom and that the shooting hooting discipline was waa excellent the tha firing WB was incessant and holton whose choso activities with hla his revolver had bad brought a vol volley leyor or two in his direction now ceased firing and began to work hta his way into tho the valley toward the american position lie ile had not gone tar far when the advancing lines swept upon him hello tello I dud bud cried a tall Bw swarthy arthy faced serge sergeant ant from a new mexican ranch you doln way out here holton smiled and was about to reply when a red light suddenly flashed before his eyes and he clapped his hand to his bis forehead tor for it seemed as though a red I 1 hot ot brand had suddenly been clamped upon it then mercifully came darkness and as aa lie he lay thus in the tall grass his eyes closed blood streaming down I 1 X 1 A red light suddenly flashed before his eyes his cheeks and coagulating in the hot sun the tha rough riders met the regulars from flora across the valley while tour four companies revolved around the left end ot of the hidden enemy and then as thi the San spaniards lards later put it they started to catch us with their hands for a mile and a halt half these men who had marched into what approximated a deadly surprise chased the spaniards Span lards sent them flying hastily from three successive barricades until finally in utter route they abandoned all thought of further interference with the american movement and fell back on the trenches before santiago kut but holton did not witness this triumph ot of Gu guasimas asimas long aft after erthe the thin blue line had swept on up the valley he be I 1 sy lay as lie ho had fallen alien vultures flying over him and terrible land crabs rattling about seeking for that food which death alone makes palatable to them CHAPTER IX before san juan ages agea seem seemed ed to have passed when holton was aroused by a pleasant voice and the sensation that some ro re verifying vivifying vivify ing fluid had been forced down his throat somo some very sympathetic hand band was touching his head bead and a genial voice was addressing him come old man youre all right the bullet just clipped your very thick head bead and glanced off holton opened his bis eyes and saw a tall broad shouldered burgeon stir geon bending over him how do you feel now he asked bully smiled holton 1 I think ril ill get up it if I 1 may oh ob you can get up just as soon boon as a you think you teel feel sufficiently trong replied the surgeon ile he looked at holton closely youre not of our outfit correspondent arent you holton smiled and shook lite his head no my name Is in holton a lieutenant in the navy tho the naval gadt you must have been spoiling for a landlubbers land lubbers scrap then 1 I came in from behind santiago volunteered holton and ran into this fight by accident I 1 have important information fr cpr r Adin admiral fral sampson it you think I 1 can get to the coast 11 you certainly can I 1 am sending a couple of wounded men down to sibo ney now on hores back I 1 havo have another pony which you may borrow remember borrow laughed the surgeon be careful to keep that first ald aid bandage on your head and by tonight bo be all right not oven a headache thanks II olton aided by the surgeon got upon hla his feet swayed weakly a moment with the others arm around him and then getting III hla 8 swimming head to rights he be walked slowly toward tho the trail A hospital attendant stood there holding two horses and ono one of these tho the surgeon took and assisted holton bolton into the saddle you can leavo leave the nag at our camp in siboney and ill get him he be said bald hy by the way my name Is IB church bob church of princeton exclaimed holton recalling now that he had seen that broad shouldered young doctor on many a hard fought gridiron tile the same was tho the smiling reply 1 well dob bob church I 1 owe you one rejoined rotten holton 1 I used to try to emulate your deeds on the eleven at annapolis na polls but I 1 dont think I 1 ever sue 2 1 oh yes you didt exclaimed the surgeon I Holton folton Holton tommy nolton holton I 1 place you no now w I 1 think they put something cometh ng like all america end after your name a degree they never conferred upon me holton blushed and then thanking his benefactor one once more mora he be passed on down the trail in company with two privates wounded in tho the legs As holton wandered down a line of tents lie he ran into aldridge buxton and fisher all of the flagship new york ile he fairly flung himself into their arms and overjoyed at seeing them for themselves not only but because of tho the opportunity it gave him of getting tho the information he ha had obtained bained through to admiral sampson after lunching with his bis friends as guests of the junior officers of the third cavalry holton made hla his way to general Sh shatters headquarters the general was sleeping and could not be awakened but holton retailed ills his information concerning the spy to lieutenant miley who received it with great politeness and apparent gratitude but obviously with little faith either in tho the fealty or the et ef finacy of the cubans a state of mind that holton found prevalent among most of the officers of the army the army had been ordered to move to el paso or rather inobe ln the dl direction of 10 el 1 paso and there was much to engage li holtons olton 11 interest the trail leading into the jungle was congested with light artillery ambulance wagons and marching men TO BE CONTINUED CONTINUE DJ 11 4 V 4 vil 4 4 4 4 V 4 jf EK |
