Show t JITA 3 lie 0 f PAL to ca 0 1 by fred ift Sd athor 0 aka blade af 3 Ju wal W A IZ h iii co 5 Z V C P CHAPTER ill continued he pulled at hla his pipe his broad shoulders shaking with laughter 1 I am monahan he said at length captain in the british legion under gen simon bolivar the liberator will be deeply interested when I 1 tell him about the american senor garde who loves the tha intended of colonel d de P fuentes and who rides the wings of the storm alone when his ship comes v to grief bolivar can use such men my friend there was a frank friendliness about this transplanted patriot something that called tor for confidence so I 1 began with the cabildo and completed my account with bucayan Tu cayan skipping only those portions which dealt with the senorita lamartina Lamart lna and falling failing utterly in my deletions for when I 1 had done he said so the blond loren will hie himself to caracas whither the lark dark beauty his ladylove Is bound and he will find there all the power of spain in venezuela against him it Is worth a try at least I 1 said of course but you go not to a love tryst but to fight a battle with death 1 I hive fought such battles before e as you have also no doubt I 1 have been too close to death in the past to fear it now ne ile chuckled that yellow thatch of yours will sink you for it v ries cries your identity to all and sundry 11 I 1 touched my chin which bore about a weeks growth of corn colored whisker 1 I fear you are right it if you might suggest T lie picked up a stone and hurled it into the foliage of a nearby near by tree and half a dozen objects resembling our hugq huge green walnuts thudded to the ground ile he crushed one under unde r the heavy sole of a grenadier boot the juice of tills this pulp Is an excellent dye he explained it will make your hair and beard a very dark brown and it will give to your too fair skin the deep bronze of a nan man who has spent his life with ships As the pigment will last some weeks you need have no fear of it it failing fading before the spaniards are prepared to hang you so using a broad flat rock as a mortar we crushed from the thick pulpy covering g of a number of the half ripe nuts a quantity of pale liquid which on drying left my skin a reddish brown and my hair and beard nearly black you have funds lie he questioned none the leathern wallet containing a small quantity of money and a few papers of purely personal value was taken from the pocket of my jacket while I 1 lay unconscious on board the santa lucrecia Luc the good francisco probably did it then said monahan laughing as it a friend of francisco I 1 would proffer such financial aid as aa you may require lie ile placed ten silver pieces the size of our american dollar into my hand this will blip you a hat and clothes that shall be less identifying and pay for food and quarters in caracas for at least a fortnight lie he sighed 1 I think your need of food and quarters will hardly last so BO long 19 then abruptly b 1 I 1 I cannot dissuade you from this mad mission I 1 shook roy my head and he went on ill U caracas Is your goal I 1 in might n tell you that in the humble bumble home of senor tomas carrasco abich lies less than two hundred meters south bouth of san jacinto plaza you will find safe lodgment and in the cantina merlda merida pre bided aided over by the faithful carrizal a few patriots sometimes gather I 1 am sure that when you have had further opportunity to study the methods of spain in venezuela you will come to us though you sou will need a vast amount of luck to get into caracas and safely out again and these few patriots who sometimes gather in the menage of carrizal how shall I 1 know them he extended his right hand third finger folded into the palm that in shaking hands floods Is the sign used by members of the dad an organization founded by simon bolivar and miranda nearly ten years ago lie ile pressed my hand in a warm firm grip 1 I think I 1 shall not see you again too many forces are against you but he erred tor for I 1 was destined to fight side by side with captain monohan monahan through a bitter campaign against the spanish I 1 was yet to meet the moving spirits of that famous and mi british legion which did so much to win from ferdinand VII independence for venezuela and half of south america as well hardy souls veterans most of them of the napoleonic wars who after the fall all of the corsican could not go back to the peaceful pursuits of man but chained to the charlot chariot of mars must needs follow the lure of the sword CHAPTER IV A wedding Mar disarranged ranged As I 1 set out that morning on the road to caracas and on the road to adventures beyond my wildest dreams the cool blue dome of the sky was unmarked by a cloud the sun swung overhead and went swiftly down the western path as aa I 1 trod the smooth stones that formed the road the it ITT R mi 11 r ill take some cumana camana rum I 1 said to carrizal Carrl zal 8 short hort twilight came and went v t and a ell golden moon pushed above the timbered range that lay beyond caracas in the moonlight I 1 bent my steps toward the city where I 1 hoped to find the lady in white the gr gracious nelous lady who had come into my arms to find protection from the storm the city of caracas stronghold of spain in venezuela and the key bey to its control lies in a vast fertile basin ca called lied the vale of aragon the north rim of which forms forma a barrier between the city and the sea As I 1 came in r sight ight of the city a morning sun emerging from the mists of the east cast touched the red tiled roofs with gold it was a c ity city of beauty a city of dreams it held for me the present as well as 1 the future my mad worship would not permit me to consider the dangers that might beset me I 1 saw raw only the face of her whoso choso life I 1 hoped was to be bound up with mine for ever I 1 had reached a tiny roadside store on the outskirts of the city before I 1 reali realized zeI that no plan had been made no thought of what I 1 might do after I 1 had entered this the headquarters of the spanish forces in venezuela uela I 1 went into the tha store traded five silver pie pieces lees for clothes and the privacy of a room where I 1 might change chance and came out again garbed in the coarse brown two piece suit and the blue turban like cap affected by many of the french sailors of the islands the road I 1 had taken led to the tha plaza san jacinto Jacl nto where I 1 turned south and asked my way to the home of tomas carrasco which proved to be a red and brown rock and adobe structure of considerable size tomas was noncommittal non committal his dark eyes surveyed me with grave concern and ad after assuring himself of my strangeness he announced sorrowfully but with unmistakable firmness that he had no quarters that might be offered to travelers expressing my disappointment in halting spanish I 1 offered my bandin hand ln parting salute As he grasped it vastly relieved I 1 folded my third finger into linto the palm he gasped hla his swarthy face went on an ashen groy gray and hla his sharp eyes searched my face he turned my hand and studied it ft there Is a comfortable room for or you senor and food A calra lately baked frijoles golden brown tort 11 fall the sauce of papaya fruit luscious peaches from my own garden oranges and melons from coro wine from madeira and rum from cumana camana and a house of safety senor if there Is anything you might require you yon are very kind tomas I 1 said A dozen listless loiterers loiter ers eat bat ni at tables or leaned against the bar as sall I 1 entered and made my way toward car rizal who stood behind the bar ho he considered me with the calculating eye of a man who anticipates a sale I 1 gave the subject of my order careful thought I 1 did not dare dara to ask for american whisky and wine was still considered a european drink while I 1 pondered thus a familiar volca voice came to me there Is no ru rum m in a all 11 tho the world senor like ilka rum from cumana camana 11 ill take somo some cumana camana rum I 1 said to carrizal Carrl zal as another voice agre agreed e d with the connoisseur of rum the T he connoisseur whose back was turned to me turned at the sound of my voice turned swiftly the mug of rum poised between the bar and his face lie he opened a wide mouth that still showed traces of the braises brailes from my fist alst and let lei out a great laugh that fairly rattled the windows senor loco he cried the sea has given up its dead deada I 1 I 1 stared aghast for manuel stood before me manuel who twice had stopped my fist with parts of hla face and who could therefore have hava had no love for me my thoughts were racing wildly manuel belonged to Boll bolivar var yet the spanish captain alvarez according to the senorita dulce had called him a good sailor and dulce had said he was waa staple stupid name of 0 dl and her hero was manuel in caracas drinking and V visiting boldly in a saloon less than a square from the plaza free in the city as unconcerned as though gewere he wera strolling along the levee I 1 in n the safo safe city of new orleans are you not mistaken senor I 1 ventured Is there anything about me that should make you call me ma crazy now he went oil off into another convulsion of merriment did the sea water dye thy whiskers he roared and that yellow thatch of thine speak up senor loco and tell us how you came hero here and why I 1 had made an unpropitious entry into the stronghold of spain I 1 had bad failed ere I 1 had begun and I 1 had failed by a grotesque twist of fate because of the misplaced enmity of those who should have been my friends all ah well I 1 could nt at least show them the american indifference toward death it Is manuel I 1 said no manuel the sailor who does docs not like tha flavor of my fist I 1 smiled extends extending g my hand ile he too found my third finger folded into the palm ills mug of rum ruia clattered to the floor the grin feared from his face and the evil light that had been in ills his eyes faded he drew in a harsh hissing breath and spat out a spanish oath i manuel I 1 cried has this fine alna 1 cumana camana rum touched your brain or do you merely jest with a poor french sailor stranded at la gualia guaira and seeking employment in caracas manuels left eyelid dropped and raised quickly again and his face was wag blank 1 I think I 1 should offer apology to you senor I 1 must have been la in error for you cannot be the senor loco whom I 1 saw fall from the deck of the santa salta lucrecia Luc no man could have lived in that raging sea yet I 1 have seen you somewhere or berha perhaps 1 the rum has put a fancy in my head b e a T TO BB CONTINUED |