Show arri if e ah FRED mclaughlin author of 1 the blado of 0 y copyright by br merrelt co service 1 THE STORY rn th tha city of 0 new orleans ln in hii loren garde recently an 1121 I 1 under general jackson Is cincer surprised by vy the appearance of bree tires in ancient spanish two men len and a woma i costume beauty 0 en ri chanta chants him h m ite I 1 e whose bose binting the arrogance ot of the eld of atie tile two men garde aughta I 1 duel dual with him with swords and nd wo wounds U ads him ile he learns his opponent n Is adolfo de fuentes yu entes 0 kolonel in the spanish army in venezuela garda aarde overhears over hearg a plot blat to overthrow spanish rule discovered lie he in in venezuela debts but la Is overpowered garde finds and 0 himself a prisoner on tho tha san anta t lucrecia Luc arhip hearing bearing arms and ammunition for the lie venezuelans Venezuela ns on board are the conspirators th the a lady of his love her ber brother po poetto aitto and do de fu entes entea from the girl garde learns learn her name names is dulce dulca lamartina ile ha loves liar her but does not aval his love the vessel Is 13 wrecked and garde reaches the venezuelan shore alone ila he en cou counters n tars it a stranger and sees eo dulc dul es with de puentes fuentes and po 1110 1110 lea learning aning his history the stringer ranger tt w who la in captain mona ban ot of th the a british lexion under 13 bolhar olivar urges garde to join the venezuelans Venezuela ns but ills his mind li in set on again seeing dulce monahan directs him to friends in caracas there garde supplied by mona hn ban with the secret sign ot of the patriots Is a welcomed at tile the revolutionary headquarters CHAPTER IV continued 7 i clever rogue I 1 lie ile knew that the I 1 encircling loiterers loiter ers most of whom were wen doubtless spanish must inest be appeased so he had md ered the task of lying dying over to me now pedro carrizal Carrl zal broke in again qed yes senor frenchman Fren climan tell us ua where you saw our amiable manuel and tell lia why be dislikes the flayer flavor of your crt assuredly sald said I 1 mixing men lehy kiclty and truth we had some words atla at la gualia guaira and manuels manuela knife by chance was slower than my therefore my lungs aro are still intact while his teeth as you might see are ara hardly company front thi the swarthy sailor offered a sour smile at this and the crowd laughing went back to card games and drinks again manuel turned to carrizal Carrl zal and bestowed bellowed another wink 1 I would with this fellow sailor privately pedro whereupon the bartender ushered us through tigh a massive door and closed it after us ua and manuel standing with his back against it drew a gleaming knife from hla his belt how come you here senor I 1 saw aw you tall fall into the sea the sea was kind to me manuel as a well as the wind and vint that knife you hold might still be slower than my flat fist your tour life to Is forfeit in caracas senor garde aarde when that dye has been removed the colonel fuentes will be pleased to see you for he loves you not at all neither will the cause of revolution suffer in your passing and when I 1 tell him of my ma masquerade as san isidro in new orleans and what I 1 saw and heard beard manuel swore had and then laughed your four inte interest rest I 1 think Is not with venezuela nor with spain never spain manuel for I 1 have looked upon the dead city of tuca auca yan ile he replaced his fits knife la in the scabbard b ard at his belt 1 I have heard of what morales Jo rales did to bucayan Tu cayan it ii Is merely one of tile many payments that we will have to make to purchase freedom bedoni ee doni but freedom at any price is 1 cheap my aly heart suddenly warmed to this earne earnest t patriot 1 I met an irish solder dier on the road I 1 said captain monahan on ahan one of the british legion who offered me his trust he helped nie e chango change the complexion of my iny face a hair and lie referred me to tomas carrasco and the cantina If merlda erlda 11 and the sign of the dad paerl balco ile he gave me that as well your our life in this city senor will allot ot be worth a silver real whon when fuents res finds you outs out ile he has little cause to love iove one who in theada the space e rt of an hour oar vanquishes him with the sword w steals mats the heart hen rt of his lady now cannou can ou know that manuel 1 1 cried led hopefully A mere ere matter ot of logic a simple th ing indeed new orleans was cited de brilliant moon moonlit i allt night with elih tiie fie hue oe and cry of the chase and the quarry was a tall li atless fair haired an who had stabbed the noble col onel lei fuentos fuentes during the course counse of a anel dalel in it the ri place ace darmes we found S in tile the apse reserved for san aldro idro such a man who afterward re cosed sed to leave the santa lucrecia Kuc Luc at the e safe port of bedes ides the lady came to see him in ills his prison and sought him out again in the e fury of th the e storm the lady jour leys ays eys to cara caracas cas and the viking dyes his s hair and beard and face and fol lows ws her only to put ills his foolish head bead into ato lt noose until the noose tightens then anuel i said bald my foolish head field Is 18 safe aai it is a long way from spain to 10 the cathedral and I 1 intend the e sailor bailor gave himself over to boisterous crous la laughter but the cathe dral ar has ben reached senor the barney ended foe the senorita dulce martana mart lna will be marril married d today at thigh eh A noon which Is within the hour to colonel adolfo d Fuell tes military aide of latorre name of cd C d ji v tile the truth salt gali daniiel Mani iel it catches you no nor lie ile grIn grinned tied low ilow will your fists take situation care of suet such a will you ou p push over er the big cathedral or r we can at least weddin 11 manuel go 80 to th e madness duess senor surely you would not do so wild it a tiling thing why not ot Is ia not dot tile aeu a 9 public affair I 1 hio have taken cure ot of myself for many years Nl manucl anuel a and ad expect to do so many more if I 1 you ou hesitate to accompany me or fear that evil might befall 11 X not L ot nt at all he cried in ili high good humor now 1 I WOUl dt alsi it for tile finest clift in the indies 1 As wo we entered tile soft gloom of if tile the cathedral my illy heair was heo boating a swift tattoo against my ribs illy breathing was mas tile labored breath of the spent runner and my illy body shook tn in the palsy of arrant fear I 1 lad begun to cherish a faint llope hope tillit that a portion of tile alie Seno senoritas ritas love loe had been bestowed upon me ire she had come to my illy prison had tried to save me she fuld sought me out in tile the fury of tho the storm and tile the ll 11 light ailt in ill tier ayos when she had found tile me tilt all I 1 but who lio was adolfo what lint had lie done to win tier her 1 chy iby should silo she marry tills drunken Span lard ird whose loves were legion when I 1 had saved he her r arid and brought her to those in ili the lifeboat adolfo had tried to kill me A wild rage do fuentes would boult 1 never neer tier her I 1 would throw myself lii self upon him at the altar I 1 would put my lingers fingers around his throat and hold them there until ho he tiled died and till nil the powers in the great cathedral would riot not stop me I 1 would tear A quieting hand was laid lahl upon my arm aria and manuels Manuel 3 warning whisper J 1 I X senor aloon wealth came to me do you shake tho the root from the building tool fool one oae Is watched here As we moved slowly down the wide aisle I 1 could see that the spacious chamber was filled an usher seated us less than twenty feet from the altar we thanked him and settled at last listened to the suppressed murmur that went up from the waiting crowd yonder said manuel pointing a prudent thumb la Is morales who acts tor for la torre I 1 studied the cold dignified man who bore with evident pride the gaudy trappings of his rank had I 1 never seen the city of bucayan I 1 should have disliked this cynical spaniard whose face was set in a mask of cruelty and whose eyes were yelled veiled by heavy lids half closed as though to conceal hla his crafty thoughts this man then with the power of spain at hla his call had laid ills his hand upon a city and had destroyed all the life it held it been a gesture of war I 1 remembered for n not ot a man in bucayan was armed A deed of senseless brutality no less this do destruction st of a helpless town and the slaughter of its people it if morales represented spanish methods in venezuela the cause of bolivar I 1 reasoned was just hot anger burned within me tile the racing blood pounded at my temples and falling to trembling again I 1 gripped my fingers and ground my irly teeth in a fury of impotence the lie glorious lamartina Lamart lna was marrying the nitle aide of this monster and the colonel colonels coio nels s emulation of 0 the butcher had earned for win him already a reputation as infamous as that of his chief now munuel touched my arm careful my friend ho be whispered suet such malignant looks ill become a W wedding edding if i aou on would conserve your life you must control your face I 1 had como come to realize nt at last that behind the tin favored face of tho the swarthy arill and clever manuel lay thoughts most beautiful and profound and I 1 wondered vaguely what manner of man mail might be this bolivar the fattier father of tho the revolution wherein lay BY ill la hold upon ills hla people francisco had said to rue if venezuela had a thousand men like you senor she would win her independence ence out of hand well why not could tills this same game ve e call life otter offer to ae me any more fascinating sport and it bolivar were halt the man that his amazing power over the people of venezuela seemed to indicate then sen service ice under him would be a glorious thin tiling tile the swelling murmur of the ahr throng 0 n was stilled with startling suddenness 1 and a sliver thread of music tilled filled tho air ir it deepened into the tha slow harmony of a march and in time with it came it a muffled sound of footfalls I 1 bowed my head for I 1 dared not look they were coming down the aisle beside us after nn an interminable wait tile tho i priests deep voice filled the cathedral with ft ath toneless sound I 1 heard nothing of what lie he said I 1 could not even raise my eyes she was marrying him marrying that craven spaniard wherein lind had I 1 failed had I 1 followed tier her for tills this to sit idly while she gave herself in marriage to adolfo to walt wait in ili muted impotence Impo tenca while another man I 1 lifted my head at last and looked at them they stood before tho the tall serene black robed priest adolfo in tho brilliant uniform of ills rank with ills his arm free now and she in white ns as fair and na as pale as a illy polito garbed as a lieutenant in the service of lili ills majesty ferdinand VIL VII stood beside tier her his head swathed in a bandage and other around his 1119 throat threat my mad worship drew my eyes to tier her downcast face and held them there I 1 saw again tho the tender curve of her check and the sweetly pointing chin which trembled else my eyes were playing me falso tiny black curls touched an ear and caressed her neck and her bosom rose and fell in an emotion beyond tier her control the incongruous thought came to me that she seemed just like a little girl about to cry I 1 looked and looked oiling my soul with her beauty I 1 gripped the carved bench in front of mo me and held myself rigid concentrating every faculty into the intensity of my regard polito offered something to the tha colonel a ring I 1 supposed the calm rather father spoke to the senorita and she extended one slender hand it raised slowly as though it were lifting tho the weight of the world and her eyes came up with it I 1 searched her face eagerly now drinking in her loveliness I 1 would live this loveon love of mine during the minute or two that she might still remain the senorita lamartina Lamart lna and then free of caracas I 1 would seek forget ulness alness in arms under the banner of bolivar for I 1 could never go back again to the peace and quiet of the great plantations dlos dios said manuel in an anxious whisper sho she lias has seen thee theal 1 now I 1 realized that the senorita Seo orita dulce had found my eyes she was looking past the colo colonels neld shoulder her lips were parted her eyes wide color came and went in her face and a deep sigh escaped her with outstretched hand pointing in my direction she pushed past the prospective bridegroom and started down the carpeted aisle toward me sho she seemed afire one who moves in a trance her eyes unseeing her arms extended as though in supplication I 1 before sho she had bad taken two steps I 1 was on my feet and in three strides stood before her catching the swaying figure as it tell fell with a childlike sigh she snuggled into the protection of ray my arms senor moon wealth she ehe whispered in a tiny voice that was drowned in the swelling lamentations that billed allied the cathedral she raised ii a tand hand wonderingly and touched my darkened hair Is it the senor I 1 would none other what have I 1 done senorita Il hasten asten said a rasping voice at my elbow you roust must escape save thyself manuel good friend I 1 said nothing they may do to me now the crowd was upon us ua in an overwhelming flood polito ills his face as black as a thundercloud thunder cloud tore the precious burden from my arms sol ducra barked balked orders women screamed and children en cried shrilly thrusting bodies propelled me swiftly toward the wide doorway out of winch which we tumbled in a scrambling heap TO RE CONTINUED |