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Show THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, SUNDAY MORNING,. MARCH 20, 1921., The GENERALS AUTOMOBILE & generals wild. But, In addition, Jtsr social position wee what Influenced their passion most. In spite of all the epeechee the generals made against class distinctions, they liked Olga because she was a born aristocrat. It flattered their vanity Immensely to think of themselves si friends, protectors of a girl from one of the best families In the republic A few years before, you see, they had been peons on estates in ths country or vagrants wandering from town to town. "The most expensive gifts began to pour I in on Olga from the various generals comThe conhand and her favor. for peting querors showed the generosity that bandits always have when it 'comes to spending the booty they have amassed without much ef-- ' fort. At times Olga would go to the trouble ol remodeling the precious ornaments. Then again she would wear bracelets, combs,' or necklaces juat as they had been given to har; and people would point to her diamonds, her emeralds, or her pearls, and whisper the names of thetr real owners, ladles high up ' In the society of the old government that ( had been overthrown, and who were, then in exile abroad. " It happened that in this spendthrift com-petition for Olgas favor, my general, thanks to a specially roman tie strain in hit character, had won out. For that matter, hie gifts to the young lady had. been astounding. On entering Mexico City at the head of the Army of the West he had transferred all he was no the booty In hla possesslon-an- d mean collector when It came to plundering a town directly to the beautys house. With The Story of One 'Night in Mexico A Chronicle of Romance and Scarlet Adventure . and caO me Maltranlta.' with an affectionshall not ba olBf back to Mr-to- o. ate diminutive on my name. X became enWhatever happen to General tirely solid In hie favor, though, by my book Castillejo, that la not Just tba plaoa tor me. That affair of th ogenerala autocalled the 'History of the Army of the West. That was the division which Cav mobile baa spoiled everythin, ao tor aa X tiUejo had- commanded In the war against fm. ooncerneif Villa. X dont remember that that particular Isidro Maltrana bad been premising' tba corps ever did any fighting but In my book story of 'tba general automobile during all I showed clearly that the triumph of Carthat evening, seated with a group of ranza had been due exclusively to that dilab friends In a email reataurant off lower vision. Of course, I also had written a Broadway la New fork. The party bad laatad for aeverml bbura already, and tba 'History of the Army of the East, and ethers for the armies of the North and ream waa heavy with dgaret smoko and South, showing the same about each of tba naan of unwashed dishes from tba j them. Was X ever caught? Of course not kitchen. To begin with, no such armies ever existed. Kaltrana bad been telling the story of his came out under the names of Ufa fa an adventurer and wandering Jour.But th various generals, who were very careful nalist in the various republics of South and never to let on that X had done the work. Central America, chapters In a Comedia " That was the way with Castillejo. When which and had be that actually lived, all the newspapers referred to The History bad been famous In Europe and Spanish-Americ- a of the Army of the West as the greatest from the many novels his roving career bad Inspired. piece of military erudition eince Caesars "The most celebrated conoQIo la Mar Commentaries, and the best piece of writing Arid," be bad atyiad himself once. In summarising his character as a wtelder of a mercenary pen, letting bis genius out for hire to the highest bidder, fighting duels for causes bo did not belicvo In, heaping abuse upon man and thing vgbich, underneath, he respected, all In consequence of that struggle with poverty and oppression which had been portrayed in a novel called " The Horde." Eleven years before he'had landed on the American continent at Buenos Aires. Essentially a bohemian, never satisfied with what he had, be was always moving on In search of something better, passing meanwhile, from failure to failure. In speaking of this part of his lifes history Maltrana had compared himself, with some pride, to the old Conqulstadores such as Captain Orellana, who one day set out from Peru, coursed down one stream Into a larger one, and finally reached the Atlantic at tfie mouth of the Amazon. In Argentina he had tried fanning, gone bankrupt, and returned to Journalism to make a living, going from republic to republic, but always northward. ' A t 'fc. "I was the friend of several presidents," Maltrana had confided. " Some used me for a buffoon to amuse them; others treated me as a secret councillor of state. I did publicity work for' Uto I" list ladies of the Lands, de- their new dresses. Imported from Paris, and their dinners and balls. Just as I wrote speeches, constitutional amendments, and proclamations for their husbands to present to Tarllament or to the public. From seme of these men I ran away for fear of being shot Z knew too much, you sea Other times, they would be assassinated, and ' ' I would lose my Job. " "Finally," Maltrana had been saying, 1 reached Mexico and there I seemed to be making good. I had become a sort of secretary and general publicity agent for the generals leading the revolution against Porflrlo Dias. No one was my equal in drawing up proclamations to the People of Mexico, addressee of The Commander In Chief to bis Troops, strategical analyses of great victories of the insurrectionists over federal, with com( parisons with ths battles of Napoleon. Caesince Cervantes, the General couldn't consar, and the great captains of history. ms for one tain himself for pride. You would have my lyric style praised Every and my enormous erudition. My, how much thought the style belonged to him. But, How much that that Maltrana knows! anyhow, he was immensely pleased with me, and attached me more closely than ever to Maltrana must bars read! " "I passed the rtgimes of Madero and Jils person. " Well, I was getting along finely, for once Huerta with Increasing reputation. Under In my life, when' the campaign for the presiCarransa J had gotten to be the most Intidential elections came on last year. The mate confidant of General CaetlUeJo, who Government which had Issued from the Revhad promised to make me hie general purolution was anxions to do two things have chasing agent In the United States on a ten per cen commission the moment ha became . elections that would seem to bo quite legal, and, at the same time, be sure that Its own president of Mexico four years hence. And I really believe that everything would have candidate would com out victorious. Meanwhile a number of generals Icame forward 'turned out well had it not been for the for the office, threatening to start a revolurecent, revolution, which puts an entirely tion unless they were elected. new aepeot on that episode of the generals They all automobile." spoke of legality and respect for the laws. At the same time they kept feeling of their "Tall us about that," his friends now Inw sisted. " Ton started to several times." belts to be sure their revolvers were ready. The publio, as a whole, weery of ten years "Wen," said Maltrana, "as I was saying, of revolution, was hoping that the generals Caatfilejo was an Interesting chap. He was when X first met him, hut would kill each other off before eleotion, ee only twenty-tw- e that It could vote la peace either for the he was already one of the most Intimate and Influential friends of Chrranaa. That existing Government er for the general who would overthrow that' Government. The was the wmy with all Ceiranrak chief assistants. When the old man got hie cabinet only way to be sure of your skin, in Mexico, is to side with the hose of the moment and leading advisers together for a conference be looked like a school master getting "As I said, my general, Castillejo, waa a confidant ef the preaidant and. accordingly. reedy to examine a a less. In favor of the candidate the president had "General CaetUlejo was a short, lean little man, as spry a a squirrel and with lota of . put forward. Binoe the other aspirants to muscle for a man of hie tixa The most the place all belonged to the army, the Govfaoe ernment oandldate made striking feature fef hie was his eyes, sharp, sparkling, domineering, the Issue. Caetlllejo, and other generals on whan you looked squarely Into them. That the president's side, whs, In their time, bed wan not so easy to do, however, for there shot hundreds of people, and burned dozens was always a mobile, fugitive leer on hie , of towns and villages, qnd were still living In time of pesos with all the violence of war eeuntenanoe, ee If he were trying to hide some fvll thought. His slanting eyes and itself, began to make speeches everywhere dark skin were scarcely iA harmony, though, I wrote most of them myself singing the with his trank, keen, almost European probliss of a country governed by eivUlana end the need of doing away with militarism oaoe file He was, on the whole eae of those and for aXL types quit common la our Spanish A mar-oa hybrid of two, If not three ranee Xm "Those were busy days for me. At the orders of Castillejo X wrote articles, speeches, Alan, Hispanic, and African." " Did he own the automobile! " asked one and proclamations by the volume. Of 'courts of Maltrana friends impatiently. It waa caster for mo to writ tike that In Mexlod than It would have been anywhere I am coming to that," the Journalist reelse. AH yon have to do Is to work variaplied. " Ton must know that after X heoame tions m a single them1 American Interhis secretary, for having described one ef bis vention.' To get aa editorial In defense ef bloodless victories to the disadvantage ef the government yon describe the opposition Wellington at Waterloo-- ! dont defend my-eel-f, as a bunch of 'traitors bent on producing, understand; X wee simply playing the game CaetUleje took quite a shine to me. anarchy and provoking an American to restore order. In foot. In hie very eocastonal moments of XI you're writing against the government SWd humor, he weald slap me ea the bets , O. X Hu-mai- 3 f a b milk-chocola- a, Inter-ventio- n & United States, and used to point to It as evidence that he was a man of progressive Ideas. He admired ths United States for two things: Its firearms and its automobiles. That may not ssem much, but It is something. A Mexican general doesnt have to know anything about Emerson, or Poe, or Did you ever notice, he would say to me. what dinky little cars those gringos turn out? "And his. In truth, was a beauty light, with stylish lines and an engine that waa a devil for speed the .biggest, most expensive, most fashionably machine t,h Americans make. I confess that X admired It as much as my genera! ' " Many nights, as I would be leaving ths office of Castillejo'e paper, he would comi and get me and take me for a drive about the principal streets .of Mexico or, to be exact, along the only avenue, which, under different names, and with different breadths, stretches several' miles in length from the National Palace to the Park of Chapultepeo, " You all know, of course, that the streets of Mexico are the best lighted of any city in the world, though all that Illumination does few people any good, because theres rarely anybody on the streets at night. As you rid along you think you are in one of those en- chanted cities of Thousand and Ons Nights' where everybody has been put to sleep and the place Is rsally dead. In early revolutionary days things were a bit more . lively. Then you could tee officers speeding along occasionally In taxis and shooting re- volvers from ths windows at passing car- rlagesjjust for fun. But during the election season everything was quiet People kept Indoors, feeling a revolution in the air, "However, on our drives, the general would take me from Chapultepeo to the Flasa del Goblerno and then back from the Plaza del Goblerno to Chapultepeo. The way we , made time, you would have thought we were ' , on Important business and that the general , had to get somewhere, 'There goes -- ts '' the result that at the time I am speaking of he could justly consider himself the proprietor of the vgry desirable creature. However, the romantic Olga eventually, through one of those caprices In her variable temperament, got tired somehow of conquerors, and began to show marked preferVaence for the poor and tha persecuted riety' after ail. Is Just as necessary to life as The military men were magnificence. a chance passerby would remark wealthy, braggarts,, far below with veneration and with fear. 'Wonder the intellectual leval of Olga del Monto; not where hes going now. Sometimes insults her style at all, either, in matters of cultivawould be shouted at us; but they were always tion. For a person who had enjoyed untold for me, the pochupla Maltrana who was splendor, a than without money, without always in the seat of honor in the generals boastfulness or pretensions, might easily acautomobile. quire a charm of romance, as you can see. Castillejo Invariably sat In front with the " At any rate, Olga tired of Castillejo and chauffeur, leaving me on tha back aeat took up with Taboada, the engineer. He Sometimes he would tsice the wheel himself. was a frail, delicate individual, but the chauffeur did most of the driving. gentle of disposition, hostile to the And the way he could make that engine generals, and devoted to the regenersUon SLtwgt-yx- n hav thought the automobile advenV of the poorer hi ountry-by-The" dated from the time of Montezuma. classes to power. The generals, moreover, "My faith In presentiments date from had not bean alow in letting Olga know that on evening when I declined th general's the attentions she wee receiving from the Invitation to go to drive, on th pretext that young scientist were highly displeasing to I had work to do. I felt something was them. They talked of wringing that bangoing to happen, somehow. Th truth was, tams neck If he didn't let her alone. Could Castillejo seemed to be In a terrible mood anything make a man more Interesting than when lie cam Into th office. X had not to be In Immediate danger of hla life, all the recognized him at first He had goggles en, time, and for her sake? Taboada satisfied an and an automobile cap was pulled down over senIdealistic impulse in Olgas naturer-he- r his ears. Then he was wearing a big overtimental love for ths downtrodden and the coat tbat reached to bis heels and completely unfortunate. hid hla uniform. There was a fierce glow in "Well, Castillejo did everything he could hla eyes and an expression of determination to ret Olga out of the engineer's reach. H on his faca On thing that Impressed mo got the President to promise her a lucrative particularly was th small of aloohol on hi position In New York, and then in Parle. breath; for tha general waa a sober man,' She was to go abroad with a magnificent "My excuse, nevertheless, did not work. outfit of Mexican hats and costumes, and Castillejo oat down, and said bo would wait give recitals of Mexican songs and d&noes, till X had finished my article. Ao a matter at a salary of fifty thousand dollars year, of fact 1 bad finished it long before. Final8he would be classed as an agent of the ly, seeing there was no belp for R, Z told him doing Mexican propaganda abroad. X was ready. History, doubtless, would com to refer to her ' When w reached th sidewalk, th gem a a great benefactor of the country. eral said: 'Get In, la th back seat For Sh preQlga always declined. all th world hie ton of vole was th one ferred her engineer, and refused to sccept he gave commands la to th famous 'Army other appointments no less honorable and of th West' When X was In my plant, remunerative. Castillejo took hla usual seat In front beside "The advisers of Castillejo would occath chauffeur. sionally come back to their original point: " I feet some pride, to toll you tbs truth, One word from you, general, and well aras X think of how accurately X foresaw what range , , , But Castillejo always repelled was going to happen. As X lay back there such suggestion with a goodness of heart th euahlon X kept asking mytalf what en that made you shiver. When my general In th devil the general was up to; and sudbrought his uprightness and rectitude Into denly I thought of th engineer, and than I play, I always felt my hair begin to stand thought of Olga. And th shivers began to on end. Let no one lay a finger on that run up and down my back. ' XI' gotn out boy. Any barm done to him would be laid to shoot that man' X thought. 'But why at the feet of the government I declare the doss ho take me along? X might squeal on mans person esc red. I remember that at hlmr And then th goo pimples an my X the time when heard him say that I said to an Inch or two higher. Of course, got body ever declared If bo that mysolf my person X with my hair on end. 'Of concluded, aacrtd In that ten of volo X would take oourse. He'll say X did It,' I began te wish . the next train tor leredo, If X could mako X had never met my protecting general, that it , , I bad never seen Mexico: and X began to wan"As the election oampalga dragged on, der how long It would take mo to get to th the general teemed to forget all about Olga. American border. If anything did happen. At But bo couldnt forget the engineer. That th same tlm X kept noting; with prido la deluded followed dosen a Idealist poor or by my own cleverness, ths accuracy with whloh mors Innocents, as unconscious of ths danger X had been predicting th general's move they were In as be was, want .around making ments to myself. speeches against ths government and defend"Just as X had foreseen, the automobile ing Taboada candidacy against the asperturned off th main arena at tha street sions of ths general. He, said they, was ths leading toward Olga del Montos resldeaos, only civilian candidate able to sot up a truly and w drove along, for some time, between democratic rfglm. Of course,' nobody over rows of newly built houses, where there were went to hear him speak. If hs did get a no signs of a light or of pooplo about He crowd aometimta. It was a crowd at Mg sombreros, who would Interrupt what h was stopped at a oornsr. Just beyond which th ladys mansion was located. Her th street saying to call hla 'Yank, gringo,' ' traitor,' and other compliments of lamps were far apart, and soma beautiful tall ' and thickly grown tree shaded ths broad ths kind. ws abso"And now, my friends. If you listen, you'll sidewalks. In fact, of tbs genlute except In three strips of faint twilight, begin soon to hear tbs toof-too- f In dpwn th middle of th street, where the erals automobile. " CastHleJos auto was at a famous Amertrees did not quite com together; and th ican make tbo auto, X mead, that Im going other two along th houses on either side to to talk about As a matter of fact be bad which th branches did not quit reach. " As th auto stopped, th chauffeur turned any number of cars, a garage full. There Isnt a Mexican central who hasnt quit aa ut the lights. It ws Ilk a ship coming not counting the parlor car they to anchor and darkening its lanterns la order each own for their tripe by rail, hiring the not to be seen. revolution, all you had to do to get a oar was "Two man. In big straw bats, stepped up to be a general, and then go Into a garage to U out of th darkness. They wers tough with your revolver and take your pick. looking individuals, whom I had nevsr seen " But Castillejo didnt want anybody te before. But I guessed their identity pretty mists): hie automobile for that of an ordiContinued a following pagnj nary general, lie had on' Imported from the Cat-tiUej- d -o- Olga tirad of Caotitlfa and taak up with Tabaada, tha engineer. Ha oatioXad har looa for tha downtraddat .m t, you may say that the graft and cruelties practiced by the regime In power make in- terventlon from the United States inevitable unless the people make a change, long overdue. In their rulers. Without ths phantom of American intervention there would be no literature In Mexico. Of course, if you get actually tired of that theme you can accuse your antagonists of having sold out to filthy American gold. 'According to the papers, somebody sella out to the United States every day In Mexico. Add up all the money that !s dally spent by the Americana In buying up writers In Mexico and you get a pile that would run Unale Sam clean broke." " But when are you going to teU us about ths automobile? " Maltrana 8 companions again. Interrupted. " Fm nearer to that than you think," the exile replied. " I must tell you that, as the campaign went on, my general got gloomier and gloomier every day. And the surprising thing was that be didn't seem to be worrying at all about the army men whs were threatening revolution. He vu giving hie entire attention to something quite different There was a young fellow of about the general's sgs who was an sngineer eduoated In some technical school of the United States. Hie name was TsboaAa. "Now this Taboada waa always harping on the question of American democracy. that the American democ ratio system, with political contests carried on under law and respect for conflicting opinions, should he Introduced Into Mexico. Not merely this. Taboada, who waa an agreeable and a clever chap, at the Ins tan oe of some friends of hie, had even come forward as a oandldate Jtor the presidency, Insisting, moreover, that he was the only truly civilian oandldate In the field. When the general told me that the engineer was running X rubbed my eyes hi astonishment. In the fellow orany? X naked. 'He will do well If be gets hie own vote. However,' X went on, 'If you are worried about what be Is doing and saying, why, of course. 111 demolish him with an article. Its easy, you sea Well simply say that he has sold eat to the United States and that's why he wants to Introduce the American method ef holding eleetlone. ni assert point-blanthat he got two million straight Iron) Washington to make hi campaign with, "if you think two mini ns too lew, m make it k five. The amount wont, matter so much, because, of course, I'U say I saw him get the gnoney with my own eyes.' To toll the truth, my pride as a writer was at stake in telling a good lie. More than once X had found myself outstripped by the writers of the other side, who had a perfectly discouraging facility for making slanders up out of whole cloth. "Now, dont get nervous. , . . I'm coming to ths automobile, , , . Some of the colleagues of my general, Castillejo, went much farther than I would ever have gone. See here, general,' they would say, If that fool engineer la too much on your mind you Just say the word. Nothing simpler. Idiots! As though my general didnt know that already! As though he hadn't thought of It a hundred times himself. And, In fact, he replied to all such propositions: 'Nonsense! The other aids would put Taboada' murder up to tbs Government, make a martyr of him, and got ns In a hola No, let's not bother with the follow at afil "But I knew the general had something else In view, though X oouldnt understand quite why he worried so over that poor Insignificant engineer, who didnt have the ghost of a show to get anywhere la the elec- ... tions. . , " But one ef hie Intimate friends let me In en the secret one night when X was out en a 1 tlm with him. "What's worrying the general ao?' X asked. Doesn't seem to he himself. "The friend smiled knowingly: 'Oh, tbs general. Huh, huh! He's Jealous, that's a!L He's tearing around as If b had ths tooth-ach- . That girl of his. Olga del Monts, seem to be In lov with ths sngineer Taboada. "Tou probably dont know that Olga del Mont was the Aspasla ef the Mexican revolution. The daughter of a good family In Mexico City, her Imaginative and notorious escapades had quite disgraced bar very respectable relativoaT She 'bad dyed bar hair blonde In a oountry where moat of ths natives er very dark brunettes. She bed lived a while In Faria and the cultivation and charm sh had taken on In that period of her education bad aa irresistible fascination for the young centaurs of the revolution 'the bad never been outside of Mexico, She could play the piano and the harp very wen. She had a fair voioa as a singer, and was quit nifty ta composing muslo and writing poetry. AH that was enough to drive these young Unfor-tunatel- ' r |