Show 07 t ahe vale baie of A 10 a aj 01 by fred mr 9 ohe blade gr ds W HA at I 1 bu av deli M prill CP co f CHAPTER XIII continued 19 1 locito cried out in surprise but lie he told me senor that he was and he be lopez swore softly what trick N a this senor it if the prisoner Is not the lieutenant polito who la is he be lieutenant lamartina Lamart lna Is safe in pu puerto arto cabello ere this his sister the senorita dulce stands before you all ah loren loren I 1 would have saved caved thee I 1 but not thyself 11 lopez took off his cap c ap what motive senorita would you have thus thu s to io masquerade as your brother ah my cip captain tain I 1 V laughed may one question the motive of a lady whose heart Is full of dreams one who has looked perchance upon the moon the captain bowed to the senorita my dotso not so simple neither are my duties to my liking yet my orders are to be obeyed I 1 said ma may y I 1 request my captain that you offer escort to the senorita so she may return in safety to the home of senora ybarra this will be my only r request it assuredly no loren no I 1 I 1 would not leave thee P ah dulce mia ill yes loren I 1 am trying cannou can you not seame see me smile I 1 am it smiling fillIng smiling bravely as you would have me do I 1 want you to know that 4 I 1 ambrove am brave you will t remember me so will you not loren that I 1 am b brave aye my own then kiss me anthold and hold me to your heart again and I 1 will go adios my my moon wraith 1 I 1 have never believed that you are real just something fine fine and noble that was in my dreams 7 I 1 CHAPTER XIV dawn ah the melancholy silence of my I 1 prison the horror of the dragging hours the deep darkness tor for the senorita having left had taken with her all the light of the world had taken my soul my love ove 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 measured minutes courting sleep unavale angly I 1 had given to the cause of liberty and venezuela all I 1 had had striven striven as desperately in her behalf as the most earnest patriot bad striven had been so I 1 believed a potent force in the winning of freedom for her andi and I 1 had bad come to this the dead band of colonel could hold in checkary check chec kany any one of my friends who might have offered assistance to me dead he stood between me and liberty which w would dhave have meant also love and happiness and the shadow of his spirit dimmed my little world in my despair the face of dulce came to me again I 1 he heard ardIn in fancy them the music of her voice and my prison was filled with the glory of her presence for atlant at last I 1 slept and sleeping I 1 saw the straight sturdy figure of my father with his fair hair and hla his clear resolute eyes 1 I saw the gracious lady who was my mother and the slim swaying figure of that exquisite 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 me very much indeed three years had passed since I 1 had seen them three years that I 1 had spent in europe while ohp study of the rise and fall of races had held ali me for it hd 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 part in what would doubtless prove probe to be the last battle between my own people and their anglo saxon brothers across the sea and I 1 had also taken part in that battle which had broken for ever the hold bold of spain upon ulion the western hemisphere aye in a few short years 1 I 1 had lived a deal of history so 1 with the face of dulce smiling bravely bravel y coming to me out of the gloom and fading again and the vivid pictures ures of my youth and my young man manhood hood passing before me in swift pnra panorama ma I 1 spent the night in slumber to awaken at last to the famIl familiar lai tapping or Pub locito upon the door of mycell yelL you sleep senor he be said as one sleeps bleeps whose conscience Is as clear why not my little pablo I 1 said with forced galet gaiety y sleep has never been il a problem to me 1 I cannot funder understand stand senor I 1 fear that mif my last night and my last hour boar might be filled with lamentations perhaps you would evens even care to eat no nor of course should should oner one hilss a break butr tir ah senor has tho the sun pablo 1 it has baa just come up senor and a sergeant and a ole ille of soldiers await your pleasure my pleasure locito did the sergeant say my pleasure 7 my pleasure then shall tax his patience for first I 1 shall eat then with the aid of of soap and water and a razor that noumay you may bring I 1 shall make myself as presentable as possible may alay ono one do less at such a time 1 I do not know senor hes he said aidin in a daze Is life fe so droll a thing that you I 1 should laugh litaway it away life Is a glorious thing my little pablo and I 1 hope you shall have as much ofinas of it ahyou you desire I 1 ho may view this beautiful world until your eyes are dim with the years that you way listen to th the sweet soun sounds di of nature and to the sweeter sounds of the voices of those who love you until your ears gracyas Gra clas senor I 1 will hasten he brush brushed edmy my clothes and polished my boots while vate I 1 ate the breakfast of baked chiva and tortilla and coffee R 1 1 1 Q vi lo 10 va then kiss me and hold me to your heart again and I 1 will go and papaya that he prep prepared then I 1 bathed dressed shaved combed my hair and placed my cap upon my head head with the greatest care ready at last I 1 walked with him along the narrow darkened hallway and ou out tinto into the bright sunlight to a wide wid elron iron gate that swung open at ours our app approach roach where a sergeant and a squid squad of a dozen soldiers took me in charge I 1 searched my pockets and poured into cupped hands all the silver that I 1 found ifould there and with abord a word of thanks for his attentions marched away beside the sergeant with six soldiers flanking us right and left it was a beautiful morning with air so clear clar that I 1 trees upon the ere crest s t of distant mountain ranges stood out with cameo distinctness A breeze from th the elake lake tempered what might have been a hot day do you usually take a morning constitutional before an execution I 1 questioned the sergeant after we had traversed a full third of the city 1 I am directed to bring you here said he as we turned into an arched gateway and bent our steps toward the massive mansion that has been the home of many governors A guard at the great wooden door with its exquisite qui slite carving stood aside and four abreast we marched through it into a spacious chamber which at first because of the brilliant sunlight that had hadI filled our eyes seemed a place of shadows the sergeant voiced a sharp command the soldiers about faced and went out leaving me standing in them the middle of the room in front froni of me stood the straight stalwart figure of a man with fair hair and the clear blue of northern akles in ids his eyes A wild s urge surge of joy went over me I 1 reached out my hands to him father I 1 I 1 cried oh my fa father therl 1 loren he said gently you scamp ill 1 I 1 felt his strong arms around me 1 I felt his bli muscular body shake with silent laughter and hot tears of happiness blinded me for I 1 knew that I 1 was saved because my father never tailed when your letter came loren we knew that you were again in search of trouble for venezuela il laughed through my tears and found it more of it my father than I 1 have drea nod awad might come to one man and ki iduss ess too now another figure appeared the SUM eum tiny figure of a man in brilliant uniform with piercing black eyes bushy brows and a nigh high forehead curiously seamed whereupon ivash I 1 fashioned a stiff salute tor for this was south Ameri americua greatest 41 1 I have erred myge general he showed white teeth in a smile of welcome then he put one arm across my shoulders dem and you yon have striven greatly major I 1 think venezuela shall not forget you are kind my general he spoke to my father this young giant gl anthas has helped us win an empire he Is an omen osgood of good fortune tor for since hla his arrival success has haa come tous to us 1 I fear said my father soberly he will never lay down the sword amity A pity when he does bolivar said because ho Is a born soldier with three hundred native troops he held firm against the entire right I 1 wing of the spanish ihrma army 11 1 I 1 am forgiven then I 1 asked bolivar laughed when you permitted the spanish lieutenant to escape 1 you committed a crime against us 1 1 I knew it very well my general but almost within this hour the liberator continued the wise francisco has brought to me methe the senorita lamartina Lamart lna who seems to ao think you are a greater lover than a soldier prom from her I 1 have learned many things i con concerning berning colonel pini who has paid sadly for hla his misdemeanors aye my mi general gene and your father garde Is not to be denied he takes what he wants he Is the of that spirit of progress and nd determination that shall surely make your dour country great no man may prevail against him therefore you are free but the ladies await yau you and one onema may not keep a lady waiting 11 ladles ladies then afien there ther ewas was more than one I 1 wondered yet I 1 might have known that he would bring my mother I 1 faced her with mixed emotions of joy and contrition that my rashness had hurt her ller I 1 got her in my arms and held her close and kissed her yet her ber lips were trembling and her eyes were filled with tears ah my sweetland sweet swee tand and wonderful mother I 1 have offended thee I 1 she shoo shook her beadth 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 halt 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 bardl hardly y have known her she had reached the fullness of the beauty that fifteen had promised my little sister I 1 cried how chow lovely you have grown to be I 1 A woman already let me see eighteen Ight een is it not it to Is a golden age aget I 1 lifted her off the floor and held her against my heart my little sister 1 ill you would see some one no 1 I would and it if I 1 dont see her very soon I 1 shall dle die she Is in your eyes loren they are full of love tor for her and my heart and my soul as well she sighed if I 1 find a man r who ho shall love me like that P never fear I 1 said never fear there will be too many holding my arm she turned me round around a until the senorita lamartina Lamart lna a vision in purple and lace stood before me 1 dulce mia I 1 gasped ah senorita I 1 have you no kisses left for me loren I 1 took her in my arms A heart full and ones heart may hold a deal may M ay we go back to your beautiful land loren aye and will there not be some peaceful f III pursuit tor for thee yes I 1 shall not take up the sword again now I 1 am happy dear I 1 have lost you so many times you are not a dream loren are you this Is not just jus t something in my mind no my angel there was a gentle tugging at my sleeve and the voice of felice came from a misty distance awaken you yoa two the whole crowd to la watching you come over and talk to us yonder Is the tall francisco who resembles a bird of prey and who fashions fart ilona his conversation like a chesterfield there Is manuel whose unlovely visage belles the golden heart within him and yonder the gay and grizzled captain monahan my sister go and talk to them yourself we have affairs of greater import THE END |