Show a A ahe vale asle of AD Aj arcag cag M 0 n by F fred 0 ed mc author ax 0 oke blade of sf W NV b hi bolt co S H 2 V CIE CHAPTER XIII continued 19 rab locito cried out in surprise but he told me senor that he was and he lopez swore softly what trick Is this senor if the prisoner Is not the lieutenant polito who Is he lieutenant La martica martiDa is safe in puei buei to cabello ere th s his sister the senorita duice dulce stands before you ah ali loren loren I 1 would have saved but not thyself lopez took off his cap what mi hat mo tive senorita would you have thus to masquerade as lour our broller brol lei eil ah my captain I 1 latah d may one question quest ioa the motive oo 00 0 a lady whose heart Is full of creams one who has looked perchance ul uon on the moon the captain bowed to the senorita my aly task Is not so simple neither are my duties to my liking yet my or ders are to be obeyed I 1 said may I 1 request my captain that you offer es cort to the senorita so she may return in safety to the home of senora ybarra this will be my only request assuredly no loren nol I 1 would not leave thee ah duice dulee mia mial I 1 tes yes loren I 1 am trying can you not see me smile I 1 am smil ng smiling bravely as you would have hale me do I 1 want you to know that I 1 am brave you will remember me so will you not loren that I 1 am b brave aye my own then kiss me and hold me to your heart again and I 1 will go ad os rny my my moon wraith I 1 I 1 have never believed that you are real just something fine and noble that was in my dreams CHAPTER XIV dawn ah ali the melancholy silence of my prison the horror of the dragging hours the deep darkness for the senorita having left had taken with her all the light of the world had taken my soul my love my life and there was left to me only an empty husk this I 1 cast upon the rude couch and tried vainly to speed the meas tired minutes courting sleep angly I 1 had given to the cause of liberty and venezuela Vene vuela all I 1 had had striven as its desperately in her behalf as the most earnest patriot had striven had been so I 1 bel eved a potent force in the winning of freedom for her and I 1 had come to this the dead hand of colonel pint could hold in check any one of my friends who might hive offered assistance to me dead he stood between me and liberty which would have meant also love and I 1 ap and the shadow of his spirit dimmed my little world in my despair the face of duice dulce came to me again I 1 heard in fancy the music of her voice and my prison was filled with the glory of her pres ence for at last I 1 slept and sleep ing I 1 siw the straight sturdy figure of my w th his fair hair and his clear resolute eyes I 1 saw the gra clous lady who was my moti er and tl e slim swaying figure of that ex little sister of mine who at fifteen had given promise of great beauty they would miss me for they loved me and they had given glien me very much indeed three years had passed since I 1 had seen them three years that I 1 had spent in europe while the study tudy of the rise and fall of races had I 1 eld me for it had been my desire to become a writer of history I 1 would write no history now yet I 1 had lived it I 1 had taken pirt in what would doubtless prove to be the last battle between my own people and their anglo sason saxon brothers across the sea and I 1 had also taken part in that battle which had broken for ever the hold of spain upon the western hemisphere aye in a few short years I 1 had lived a deal of history so with tl e face of duice dulce smiling bravely coming to me out of the gloom and fading again an 1 the vivid pictures of my youth and my young VF manlio od passing before me in swift i afa orama I 1 spent the n in fitful slumber to awaken at last to the familiar tapping of I 1 ab locito upon the door loor of my cell you sleep senor he said as one sleeps whose conscience Is as clear why at biot my little pablo I 1 said with farced galeta sleep has never been a problem to me I 1 cannot understand under benor tenor I 1 fear that my last t and my last hour might be filled with lamentations l perhaps aou ou would even care to eat no 7 of course should one miss a break fast ki 4 ah senor has the sun pablo it t as just come up senor and a sergeant and a flie file of sold ers await your pleasure my pleasure Pablo elto d d the ser geant say my pleasure my pleasure then shall tax his patience for first I 1 shall eat then with the aid of soap and water and a razor that you may bring I 1 shall make myself as present able as poss ble may one do less at such a time I 1 do not know senor he said sald in a daze Is life so droll a thing that 3 ou should laugh it away awall life Is a glorious thin thing my little pablo and I 1 hope you shall have as much of it as 5 sou ou des re I 1 hope 3 ou on maa ma view this beautiful wort 1 until dour eyes are dim with the years that jou may listen to the sweet sounds of nature and to the sweeter of the voices of those N who nho ho love tole aou ou until your ears gracias senor 1 I will hasten he brushed my clothes and polished my boots while I 1 ate the breakfast of baked chiva and tortilla and coffee A 41 IN r I 1 V S then kiss me and hold me to your heart again and I 1 will go and papaya that he prepared then I 1 bathed dressed shaved combed my hair and placed nay my cap upon my head with the greatest care beady at last I 1 walked walled with him along the narrow darkened hallway and out into the bright suni sunlight to a wide iron gate that swung open at our approach where a sergeant and a squad of a dozen soldiers took me in charge I 1 searched my pockets and poured into locito s cupped hands all the silver that I 1 found here there and with a word of thanks for his atten eions marched away beside the ser geant with six soldiers flanking u us right and left it was a beautiful morning with air so clear that trees upon the crest of d stant mountain ranges stood out with cameo d A breece from the lake tempered wl at might have been a hot day do aou riu usually take a morning constitutional before an execution I 1 questioned the sergeant after we had traversed sed a full third of the city I 1 am directed to bring aou ou here said he as we turned into an arched gateway and bent our steps toward the massive massine mansion that has been the home of many governors A guard at the great wooden door with its et ex quaite qu site carving stood aade as de and four abreast we marched through nh b it into a spacious chamier chami er wh ch at first be cause of the brill ant t that had filled our eves ekes seemed a place of shadows tt TI e sergeant voiced a sharp command the sold ers about faced and went out leaving me standing in the middle of the room in front of me stood the straight st stalwart alvart figure of a man min with ilith fa r I 1 lair air and the cleir clear blue of n i thern skies in his es eves eq A wild sure of joy went over me I 1 reached out my hands to him fati er I 1 I 1 cried oh my father loren he be said gently you scamp I 1 felt h s strong arms around me I 1 I 1 felt its t Is muscular body slake sl ake with silent laughter and hot tears of happi ness bl nde I 1 me for I 1 knew that I 1 was saved because my father never failed wl WI en your letter came I 1 oren we knew that you were again in search of trouble for venezuela I 1 laughed through my teats and found it more of it my father than I 1 have hale dreamed might acme to one man and happiness too now another figure apt ap leared eared tie tl e slim tiny figure of a man min in brilliant uniform with piercing black eyes bushy busby brows and a h gh forehead curiously seamed whereupon reulon I 1 fash boned a stiff salute for th s was S st uth america s greatest I 1 have erred grievously my general lie he showed white teeth in a smile of welcome then he put gnp on arm across my shoulders and you have striven greatly major I 1 think venezuela sl all not forget you are kind icy my general he ile spoke to my father tl TI Is young giant has helped us win an empire 11 he e is an omen of good fortune for since his arrival success has come to us I 1 fear said my father soberly he will never lay down the sword A pity when he does bolivar said because he Is a born soldier with three hundred native troops he held U against the entire ight wing of the spanish army I 1 am forgiven then I 1 asked bolivar laughed when you per bitted the spanish lieutenant to es cape you committed a crime against us I 1 knew iliew it very well my general I 1 but almost within this hour the liberator continued the wise fran cisco has brought to me the senorita lamartina who seems to think sou are a greater lover ioner than a solder sold er from her I 1 have learned many things concern ng colonel rini who has paid sadly for his misdemeanors aye my general and your fati er garde Is not to be denied he takes what he wants he Is the incarnation of that spirit of progress and determination that shall surely make your country great no man may prevail against him there tore fore you are free but the ladies await you and one may not keep a lady waiting walting lad es tien TI en there was vl as more than one I 1 wondered yet I 1 might have known that he would bling my mother I 1 faced her with mixed emotions of joy and contrition that cay my rashness had hurt her I 1 got her in my arms ind held her close and kissed her yet her lips 11 were trembling and her eyes were filled with tears ah ali my sweet and wonderful moth er I 1 have offended thee I 1 she shook her head to free her eyes of the tears it Is not that you have offended me my son for you have never done that you have terrified me never again my mother you are half our world loren and felice is the other half one could not be happy in half a world unless my country calls me my mother never again 1 then I 1 am glad loren there there Is felice my boy felice indeed yet I 1 would hardly have known her she had reached the fullness of the beauty that fifteen had promised my little sister I 1 cried how lovely you have grown to bel be 1 acoman A woman already let me see eighteen Is it not it Is a golden agel I 1 lifted her off the floor and held her against my heart my little sister I 1 you would see some one no I 1 would and if I 1 don dont t see her very soon I 1 shall die she Is in your eyes loren they are full of love for her and my heart and my soul as well we 11 she s ched if I 1 find a man who shall love me I 1 ke that never eve fear I 1 said never neier fear there will be too many holding my arm she turned me around until the senorita lamartina a vision in purple and lace stood before me duice dulce mia I 1 gasped ah all senorita Sen onta I 1 have you no kisses left for me loren I 1 took her in my arms A heart full and one ones s heart may hold a deal may alay we go back to your beautiful land loren ave ale and nd will there not be some peaceful kursu t for thee les I 1 shall not take up the sword again now I 1 am happy dear I 1 have lot loft you so many times you are not a dream loren are you this Is not just something in my mind no my angel there was a gentle tugging at my sleeve and the voice of felice came from a n sty d stance awaken you two I 1 he whole crowd is watching ou come over and talk tall to us yon der Is the tall francisco who lesem bles a bird of prey and who fashions his conversation I 1 ke a chesterfield there Is manuel whose unlovely visage beles bel es tl tie e golden heart within him and yonder the gay and grizzled cap tain monahan mv my sister go and talk to them yourself we have affairs of greater import END I 1 |