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Show m msmmjmm gfW- Collins WeJslv, SkfiWlh COPYRIGHT BY ROCiYAY CO- rlUiSr YPES are modified by iJfMffjl j their environment, and "kPiW I to suit the times. But -j. (CmSki7&Wl i they are eternal, and f) "VC &s4' I ' tfrrrw&s.Y sp lrveby that perpetual fgf "2 hirers," we immediately think of WfwlMMkA JSv Ws&M ' Raleigh and Morgan and Ponce de Leon, and such gentlemen of the old i:! . school, but they have their successors fMW 3Wf?W? ' today, and will have till the love of Xm nlWw3' adventure Is dead in the human heart- c-y 1 1 lM I have met several of these adven- V- ?!2BrJ Wl I Ss' atrers in the course of my personal (1 jp- wanderings. Here is one of them. "T'yC ' 0 After many days of traveling on f 2r:'ef&' cr muleback, through jungles and over r Wi,i t Y'PES are modified by I their environment, and I to suit the times. But I they are eternal, and -jfflrK live by that perpetual adaptation t0 environ-. environ-. GkF li ment which Mr. Spen- $L M cer tells us is the law fevjo f lie- wbeD we say "gentlemanly adventurers," adven-turers," we immediately think of Raleigh and Morgan and Ponce de Leon, and such gentlemen of the old Bchool, but they have their successors today, and wili have till the love of adventure ts dead in the human heart- I have met several of these adventurers adven-turers in the course of my personal wanderings. Here is one of them. After many days of traveling on muleback, through jungles and over lUUUJJUIIUO, 1L1 tJjaillDll iA v.... ... , found myself at a little inn in Santa Barbara, a town situated in the interior. inter-ior. Here, one evening, I was indulging indulg-ing a cigarette and after-dinner coffee with my landlord and his lady, when in upon this peaceful scene walked John Drummond. I had heard of him, and he was good enough to say that he had heard of me, and that he had come into Santa Barbara to take me out on his 'ranch. If I would accompany him. I was obliged to- refuse his invitation, invita-tion, but we remained together for that night and part of the next day, ; at Santa Barbara. I Aside from displaying himself in ! the altogether and showing me a body fairly perforated with bullet-holes, the visible reminiscences of many battles, he was reticent concerning his life and adventures, as such men usually are. What I record about him I have learn-mainly learn-mainly through a friend of mine who has been much in Central America and who knows John Drummond well. John Drummond, I have learned, was horn in Mobile, Ala., but just when I do not know, nor can I tell anything of his early days, and it suffices to say that he really became interesting when the spirit of adventure led him Into the unsettled country of Honduras. Hon-duras. Here be became a soldier of fortune, and rose to the "position of commander-in-chief of the army of Honduras under the former President Vasquez, whom he helped into power; for the presidency of Honduras is won not by votes but by bullets. Vasquez remarked to my friend that John Drummond was always absolutely absolute-ly loyal to whatever cause he happened happen-ed to be enlisted in. At the end of his enlistment he would fight just as well and loyally under the flag iof a former opponent Well, Vasquez had gone out of power pow-er and was anxious for another term. In Honduras this is a matter not of conventions and elections, but of uprisings. up-risings. So Vasquez rose, and engaged-Drummond engaged-Drummond to help him. Drummond was first sent to capture a quartelle, or small fort. He stole upon It during the night and darkness. He armed his men only with daggers, and made them strip off every( article of clothing. Nude, they stole into the Cruartelle, and immediately im-mediately extinguished all lights. In the confusion and darkness, Drum-mond's Drum-mond's men knew each other by the feel of the bare skin in the hand-to-hand combat that ensued, and In this way the garrison was quickly exterminated. ex-terminated. Drummond, with a small body of troops, then mcde a rapid march to the Atlantic coast and captured the principal port, Puerto Cortez. His force consisted of eight Texans and a few hundred native soldiers. An army of government troops were stationed at San Pedro, a town at the end of a line or 40 mites of railroad which starts at Puerto Cortez and represents rep-resents the entire railway system of Ilondiras. Ono day it was reported to Brum'-mond Brum'-mond that the government troops were on their way from San Pedro on a banana train. He immediately took possession of an engine and tender, placing the latter in front of the engine. en-gine. Then he barricaded It. mounted a small pieca of ordnance and his eight luBty Texans upon It, and so went serenely forth to meet the enemy. en-emy. As soon as the banana train hove in sight, he let fly at It with artillery and rifles, and stampeded the invading ,rmy. who took to the woods in terror. ter-ror. Drummond and his men returned In triumph to Puerto Cortez. Then an alleged gunboat nothing but a con- verted tug was sent to attack Drummond Drum-mond by sea. Sunk partly in some ancient earthworks commanding the harbor was a very ancient piece of Spanish artillery, quite a large smoothbore smooth-bore brass cannon, artistically orn-mented orn-mented after the old Spanish fashion. The ancient piece could not be swiv-eled swiv-eled because of the embrace of Mother Moth-er Earth, but Drnmmond waited until the diminutive man-of-war was on a line with his piece of ordnance, then he bade his gunner to fire. As nothing happened, Drummond, who was smoking, smok-ing, leaned over and placed the lighted light-ed end of his cigar to the touch-hole. The cannon belched forth Its missile, but it also rose Ta the air, struck Drummond In the face and knocked him BenBeless. He has been minus an eye since this exploit. He was taken in a stretcher to the home of the British consul, where he lay for some- days, "lost to life and use and name and fame." Meantime, the invading government forces entered the town. The eight Texans discreetly vanished, and Drummond's small army took to the tall timbers. The commanding general demanded Drummond from the British consul, who parleyed, having cabled to Ja-rnaica Ja-rnaica for a British man-of-war. So, while the parleying was going on, the Britisher appeared hot-footed from Kingstson, the largest and most awe-inspiring awe-inspiring Instrument of naval warfare that had ever been seen in those waters. wa-ters. It fired a saluting broadside, Just to proclaim its deep-toned bass, and the general of the government troops was invited on board. After the usual exchange ex-change of courtesies, the British captain cap-tain told the general that if anything happened to Drummond he would blow Puetro Cortez to an aven hotter climate cli-mate than it at present enjoys. This casual remark, emphasized by a stern array of 12-inch guns, produced pro-duced a salient effect, and Drummond, who had partly recovered, was allowed allow-ed to depart in peace, while the cruiser cruis-er sailed off to its own waters. But Drummond was captured as be was malting his way to safety, and was incarcerated in a dismal prison cell in San Pedro. It was the Intention to give him a trial for the sake of appearance, ap-pearance, and then to shoot him. As a solace due to his rank and station, he was allowed a bottle of claret each night for his dinner. One evening he sat in his dim and lonely cell awaiting his dinner, and perhaps also looking forward with anticipation an-ticipation to his bottle of claret. One of the jailors entered bearing the bottle. "Have a drink with me, senor," suggested sug-gested Drummond. "With pleasure, senor," responded the jailer. There was but one glass, po Drum mond took the bottle m his hand and filled the glass. Then he handed It to the jailer, who bowed and placed the glass to his lips. As he did so, Drum- j mond hit him a fearful blow on the head with the almost full bottle, crushing crush-ing In his skull. Seizing the soldier's musket, Drummond rushed forth and shot his other jailer dead. - By good fortune, a mule, saddled and bridled, was tethered to a near-by tree. Mounting the mule. Drummond rode off Into the darkness, and, you may be sure, kept the mule going at Its highest mule-power. With the animal dead-beat, he crept into a village at daybreak, woke the alcalde from his slumbers and told him in excellent Spanish that the rascally Drummond had escaped, that he was In hot pursuit pur-suit and that he wished a fresh mule at once, in the name of the presldente The mule was furnished, and again Drummond rode off at top speed. But his adventires were not yet over. He was captured by a squad of govern- . meut soldiers near the borderland of Guatemala, the haven of safety he was seeking. After a brief court-martial, Drummond Drum-mond was sentenced to be shot at sunset. sun-set. He was backed up close to a low wall, beyond which were Jungle and thick woodland. Ranking as a general in the insurgent insur-gent forces, Drummond asked permission permis-sion that he be allowed to give the word of comnrand to the soldiers to j fire. i J The soldiers stood ready with guns leveled at the doomed man. "Ready Are!" called Drummond, and fell just before the flash. The volley passed over him, and the boI-diers boI-diers behald the amazing specticle of a man whom they thought shot to death suddenly arising and Jumping over the low wall. Once In the Jungle and protected by darkness, Drummond made his way over the borderland and found safety in Guatemala. And as the wheel of fortune and revolution has turned since this episode, epi-sode, he is now a respected citizen o( Honduras, and has various mining interests in-terests to keep his fertile mind from stagnating. 1 |