The Argosy, August 1905 — page 17: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

oe aa ; eit deeper terror and despair. The ELEV. Hy tis kely and as you are going do not mind telling you, though you doubtless know it already. The paper which has been taken gave the strength and future movements _of the army of the republie—each com- pany, each regiment, each battalion. “ What is more, if the Americans ob- tain © they will know of the expedition sent into the hills which was to fall upon them unawares. Oh, Santa Anna will be pleased to learn what has been lost— if he is not attacked and cut in pieces before the news reaches him! Did he not caution us to die rather than let that paper leave our possession? Were we not honored above all men in the army that he sent us to the capital with so important a message? ” The soldier struck his hands together in despair and rage, but the last of the sentence was lost upon the terror- stricken innkeeper. “In the name of God, senors, of all this I know nothing; even of Sefor Urrea “You are either a fool or worse, and in either case to kill you will benefit the republic,” retorted one of the cavalry- men savagely. “If you took the paper yourself or permitted another to rob Mexican officers in your house, it is all the same.” Perote began to beg piteously. Sud- denly one of the cavalrymen struck the table a blow with his fist. “ There is one thing can be done, and every moment is precious. It is clear the paper is gone, but if word can be got to Santa Anna before the Americans make use of the knowledge it gives them, something may be saved. Watch this fellow. I will saddle my horse and ride north like the devil. To reach headquarters by daybreak is no great matter.” “ And what will you tell Santa Anna? That we have permitted the paper to be stolen while we slept? ” asked the other dryly. “| have not thought what T shall tell him, but he must know what has fallen into the enemy’s hands.” He rushed from the room. Perote began to pine up hope, but the sudden return of the cavalryman threw him at the unfortunate innkeeper. rom us | .*) a a ~ ae face ”“ the Mexican was white with rage and for a moment he could only glare “What is it?” asked his companion in quick alarm. “One of the horses is gone, and the other * The .cavalryman was almost choking with rage. has been hamstrung and is utterly use- less,” he concluded. To a Mexican a good horse is one of the first things in the world, and this one had found his mount cruelly slashed with a knife. He turned upon the quaking landlord and asked in a terrible voice: “And was it this Sefor Urrea who did that? I will answer ‘ yes,’ for you and Urrea are one and the same. You shall give us the paper and afterward you shall suffer for what I saw out there.” “But one of the horses is gone. It was Senor Urrea who A violent blow on the aentk checked the words. The next moment he was lying on his back with one of the caval- rymen kneeling on his chest. “Go to the stable and fetch a rope,” said the latter to his companion. “ We will see whether this fellow will remem- ber where he has hidden the paper.” ~ When the rope was brought Perote was bound so securely that he could move only his head and the ends of his fingers. “Where is the paper?” the elder of his captors. The unfortunate landlord, almost un- conscious from terror, uttered an in- articulate reply. “As I passed the door of the kitchen I saw a brazier of burning charcoal; get it,” said the officer who had found his horse hamstrung. His companion left the room to re- turn with the glowing brazier, which he set upon the floor within plain sight of the hapless innkeeper. Perote watched the burning charcoal as though the red glow fascinated him, and he could not close his eyes. He saw one of the cavalrymen thrust the end of the short ramrod of his pistol into the center of the glowing mass. Several minutes passed in silence; the end aoe ramrod armies a rosy s color. demanded “The other - comicbooks.com