16 THE ST. PAUL GLOBE. SUNDAY. APRIL 30, 1905

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\ «^~ YANKEE DRUMMER IN THE ANDES ~»n> ITHE

sun was setting as I turnedmy weary mule into the coveredbridge that spans the rushing \u25a0

!V- quebrada at the foot of the steephill on whose summit Manizales stands.

It had been a six day journey from3tfet!ellin, through Jthe heart of the Cen- :tiajl Cordillera, a journey replete with

,ste^ep climbs and precipitous descents,in;the course of which I had experi-enced all kinds and shades of climate,from the stifling heat of the canons toth*~cool and bracing air of the moun-tain tops, where one sleeps under dou- -ble'Jblankets at night; and I looked for-ward thankfully to a week's rest in thelittle town I was now approaching,\u25a0where, at least, Ishould enjoy the com-forts of a decent hotel—for Colombia—preparatory to continuing my march toHonda, Bogota and the north.

Fifty yards in my-rear clattered mycargo mules, in charge of the peon\u25a0whose services I had enlisted in Medel-"lini for the entire trip of 1.200 miles. -Eduardq was his name, a typical An-tioquian, shrewd, intelligent- and as fullof wittysayings as Sancho Panza him- 'self!

45s I emerged from . the bridge \u25a0 andbegan the climb three peons passed me.afoot, talking earnestly .together in thesing song Antioquian patois. I wasresTlng my mule after the first steepascent, when, with, a scramble andgrunt, the cargo mules caught up withme*, urged on by Eduardo, w"ho apepeared to be laboring under some ex-citaineat.

He approached me hurriedly, leavinghid charges to look after themselves forth£*moment —whereupon La Rusia im-mediately lay down, La Pardu begannibbling at some succulent grass by theroadside, and only La Colorado, steadygoing, even tempered old beast that shewas, continued the ascent.

"Don Arturo," panted Edouard,"those arrieros who just passed tell methat we had better not take the mulesintq Manizales. There is a battalionthere from the Cauca on its way to Bo-gt>*«. ; They are taking mules andhorses right and left, and they willsurely seize ours, as they did those ofmyVpaisanos there!"

These tidings disturbed me not a lit-tie. for well, I knew the high handedmethods of the Colombian military,and as martial law still ruled thecountry, though the revolution hadbeen suppressed six months before.-I*realized that I could expect little ifanyprotection from the civil authorities.My*mules were picked animals and hadcost me in the Colombian currency$45*600—in appearance a tremendous .sum, but really equivalent-to only $500American gold.

B,ut I made up my mind quickly thatthere was nothing. to do but chance it, .Riiid.l said to Edouard, with a great as-'.,

'sumption of indifference: .VThat news doesn't affect me. "-' As a

foreigner my property is. exempt fromconfiscation." " -':i^.' ; \u25a0"' .- -r

Ejluardo shrugged. his shoulders.Zlffuy bien, patron!" was all he said,

end? shrieking at the : lagging beasts,he had them scrambling up the hill ina Jtfty' after La Colorada; who -had bythis time disappeared around- a turn.

The approach to Manizales. :\u25a0 thoughste£p, is not very long, and I easilygaioed the summit in half an hour anilshortly afterward ambled into townove* streets of •\u25a0• uneven cobblestones.Vfliftismooth and shiny by the |passage S.of the barefooted pueblo.- A few turns |ancr I crossed the deserted market >squire, surrounded on three sides bythei,Vonventional two story, houses con-taining the principal stores; the iglesia%vit*i;its twin 1wooden towers 7 ocupy- '-\u25a0

most of the other..:-^~: . -A, block • further- down, and with •a"sign of relief, I palled up at the doorof^he grand - Hotel! Sevilla, Ia hostelrycombining the local club, the theaterfen* superior accommodations— for. Co-Jombla, as I before remarked. My: ar-

ri\^n caused no tend of scurry and ex-«it£ment, for I- was ' the - first . foreigner ,.to arrive since the beginning of,the t

revolution nearly four ]years before. -' '

Mine host - eagerly;"assisted :- two orthree servants.. to ;unasddle -my., mule.'%vhfte another-mozo escorted me •to .the*;da,"U'BWe f contentedly into a

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comfortable chair and called for beer.In a.moment it was forthcoming—goodGerman beer cooled by the breeze fromthe snowcapped Ruiz, who rears hishoary head only four leagues away;and as I downed the first glass with-out stopping to breathe, Manizalessemed to me a most desirable sub-stitute for paradise.

Bearing in mind the information ofthe arrieros, my next move was to as-certain of Don Basillo, the hotelero,just what the mule situation was.

"It is true." he said, "that the sol-diers are confiscating all the animalsthey can find, since they must start forBogota in a day or two and they havenot enough for their baggage. Quequirere yd? But you, of course, as anIngles"—all foreigners in Antioquia areIngleses—"need have no fear, for yourproperty is exempt."

"Humph!" I said to myself, "quitetrue: but this is Colombia—nnder mar-tial law!"

Don Basilo further volunteered theInformation that there was a stable closeat hand where my property could besafely lodged until after the departureof the battalion, and with this I wasforced to be content.

Next morning I paid an early visit tomy agents, to whom I confided myfears for my live stock, and asked that

THE true cavalryman and the rawrecruit who has just been thrownover the head of his horse are

agreed on one point in the theory ofmounted warfare. They would be will-ing to swear roundly and strike handsuj)on it that the horse is more than abeast of burden, that it is, in fact, aweapon of warfare. The day of themailed knight has long passed, and thevalue of the cavalryman, his successor,has somewhat decreased in recent yearsbecause of the changed conditions ofwarfare. In the theory of warfare thehorse of the cavalryman was more thana beast of burden. It was a weapon.The cavalryman was expected to usehis horse where the infantryman usedhis gun. Armed with sabers or spears,a body of horse in the old days wouldcharge down upon the men on foot andfrequently carry the day. That waswhren a gun once discharged could notbe loaded again within a period of sev-eral minutes. The cavalryman in thesedays of magazine rifles 1s too good atarget. Against organized infantry hehas little chance. Even more than Inthe days of "The Light Brigade" woulda charge upon the enemy's line be aride

Into the jaws of death.Into the mouth of hell.

In accounts of the Japanese-Russianwar one does not read of the famedCossack charges that are a part of themilitary history of Russia, for theyhave not been made. Japan practicallyhas no cavalry at all. It is only whentroops have been scattered and are tobe pursued; when a baggage train hasbeen left with an insufficient guard:when a body of the enemy's cavalry -isto be met or when scout duty is calledfor that the mounted soldier has anopportunity to accomplish anything inthese days.

The sign of the disappearance ofthe old theory of cavalry is its use ofthe carbine. In the warfare with thewilyredflkin, which has been the chiefoccupation of United States cavalry,outside of its part In the civil war,there were no compact bodies of mento be carved with the saber in bloodyhand to hand conflict. It was a car-bine that was needed to. pick, them offas they galloped over the prairie. Soa carbine was given to the cavalry.They were called upon to use theweapon of the infantry, the gun. ii,-stead of the old weapon of the cavalry-man, the lance and the saber. In

they immediately interviey the alcaldeto see if official protection could not beaccorded me.

"The alcalde is in jaij!" they said."Ah! and what for?" I inquired, hav-

ing long since given over being sur-prised at anything in those interestingcountries.

"Why. he didn't furnish the armywith all the mules they needed, so theylocked him,up in the cuartel. The pre-fect is the only civil officer in author-ity now, but we'll see him and it willbe all right."

"Well. If you say so." I returned, du-biously. '"Oh. yes! Don't worry!" And wechanged the topic.

The day passed quietly. I found theoutlook for business good and devotedmyself to paving the way gently fororders by discussing with thte pros-pective customers every other imag-inable subject—the weather, crops,lK.litlcs—but chiefly the canal situation.

By the following morning my appre-hensions had begun to wear away, and1 was peacefully sipping my chocolatewhen a small boy entered the hotel onthe run and panting shouted for theSenor Ingles. I divined his missionbefore he spoke, and had alreadyseized my hat when he gulped out theinformation that the soldiers had just

broken into the stable and appropri-ated my mules.

As I was hastening down the streetto my agent's, my animals passed meat a gallop, led by two soldiers, whogrinned cheerfully at me as they wentby. At the office I fo.und only a clerk,a vacant looking person, but ratherthan lose valuable time waiting for theprincipals I explained the trouble tohim and asked him to go with me atonce to the prefecture.

Here, after a few minutes' delay, wewere ushered Into the august presenceof the prefect—a little, dumpy, fussyperson, with puffy cheeks and hugeblack mustache, and imbued with atremendous sense of his importance.I hurriedly stated my case, whereuponhe waved a fat hand.

"Very easily arranged." he said;"very easily! Just go down to thebarracks and explain matters to theJefe, who will, of course, immediatelyrestore your animals!"

I felt more than doubtful of so sim-ple a solution, but there was nothingto do save try it. so off we went, theclerk and I. on a trot to the barracks,two squares away. iThe large buildingwas all bustle and noise: on one side,completely filling the street, were th*scores of captured bestias, which thesoldiers were energetically loading

European armies the carbine also hasbeen adopted as one of the cavalry-man's weapons. They still, however,redeem themselves from the charge ofbeing mounted infantry by carryingspears or sabers.

While the horse's position in themounted arm has changed, the caval-r>man continues to practice the pic-turesque and more or less difficultfeats of horsemanship, tent pegging,head cutting, etc. These feats are fre-quently displayed at military shows.Their chief objects* are to give thecavalryman confidence In himself andhis steed and skill in the managementof the saber and the horse. There areft-w opportunities for their use in war-fare, but they help the riding fighterto get into sympathy with the plung-ing creature beneath~him.

Tent pegging in Europe ia done fre-quently with a spear. In, this countrythe cavalryman having no spear, helearns to do It with a saber. A whitepine peg from 6 to 10 inches long and8 to 3 inches square is driven into theground. The.rider, with saber in hand,gallops dcrwti upon it, dropping thejointof his saber until it is aimed di-rectly at the peg. The horse mustbe guided truly or the trick will fail.Ifhe should chance to swerve a hair'sbreadth the point of the saber willflash past the peg. As the horse ap-proaches the peg the rider bends over

A TOUCH OF NATURE

Upon a sandy, .stone-strewn beachThat opened on a little bay.Whose outer- points the sea made gray,I found an aped fisherman.

He sat and took. .1 across the reachOf gently heaving, sunlit sea.Nor slightest notice took of me

Until T ventured'to beseechThe shortest'way to gain the town;He looked me »almly up and down.And nis Blow smile was good to we;"The town? What's in the town?" said

he.

I chose a boulder and sat down;A subtle sense of comraderyBorn, like the mints, of sun and sea.Came over us, though neither spoke.

The sands were gold, the stones werebrown.

The sea was green and blue and grayAnd crystal clear, and far away

The mists showed purple o'er the town;Yip looted on sands and stones and

Btwd,We feH the sunshine in our blood;And neither having aught to say.We sat and looked and looked away.

—Allan I'pdngmff in The Reader Maga-zine for May.

his neck and holds the saber In an al-most horizontal position. He dependsupon the momentum of the horse lodraw the stick from the ground. Sud-denly he straightens up and the whitestick rises Into the air on the point ofhis shining blade. Complacently herides down to the end of the lists,where he takes it from his saber point,and, turning, swings back past thehole from which he lifted it- Leaningover as he returns he drops it as nearto the empty hole as he can.

Head cutting is not the horriblesport that the ii»me suggests, althoughIn real warfare it might become a verypractical exercise. The "head" maybe a canvas or leather bag filled withhay. It Is set upon a post between fiveand six feet high. There are a num-ber of different rtrokes by which thegalloping trooper may cut at the headwith his saber. There may be morethan one head. Then the trooper firesa blank cartridge as he passes it. andreturning the pistol to its holster hedraws his saber, ready to cut down thesecond. Thhv one may be beside ahurdle. As the horses rises to take thehurdle the saber sweeps through theair and descends upon the unfortunatehead. Sometimes the blow Is so greatthat the head is cut off the post. Ina melee with a mounted enemy thisexercise has a practical value that Isunpleasant to think of. Those who at-

THE AUTO AND THE IDIOT

The Auto and the IdiotCame mot ing on the scene:

The air was full of violetsAnd odors fresh and clean—

And that was odd, because, you see,Their fuel was gasoline.

"O glory!" cried the Idiot."We're forging right ahead.

If I had wheels upon my feet,I'd also run." he said.

The Auto moaned. "It is a shameTour wheels are in your head!"

Tbe Auto and the IdiotRan bang into a fence.

"To steering." said the Idiot."I'm giving thought intense."

And that was odd. because, you know.He hadn't any sense.

Adown a pleasant country larteThey Journeyed fast and furUntil they spied a gentleman

A-smoking his cigar."I'll hit him hard." the Auto cried,

"And minimize the jar."Across the quiet gentleman

Right merrily they sped."Pedestrians should look alive."

The busy Auto said —And this remark was odd. because

The gen tit-man was dead.

with all aorta and descriptions oftiurks. sacks, wooden boxes and raw-hide petacas. two of which latter I be-held already secured to the back ofmy fine saddle mule, which had costme $150 in good American gold.

A series of inquiries for the Jefeelicited the fact that he was not pres-ent, so I hunted for the second 4n com-mand, a colonel, whom I soon discov-ered. He was a thin, wiry man. witha sallow countenance disfigured by ahuge scar across one cheek, and at-tired in a khaki riding suit and aSuaza hat, with the brim turned downand a feather stuck In the band.

To this villaiiUMM looking pirate Iexplained the situation with all thepoliteness I could muster. He was alsopolite, but frigid; and with a shrug,said:

"I regret that 1 cannot oblige you:we must leave In an hour and yourmules are necessary for the transportof our baggage!"

"But." I urged, beginning to lose mypoliteness, "you have no right whateverto my property! I am an American andI demand the return of those mules!"

"Senor," he said, "the only way foryou to get them back is to get the pre-fect to gjve us four others in theirplace. Good morning, sir!" and hewalked away.

SOME FEATS OF FOREIGN CAVALRYMENtend military games in which cavalrytake part have seen "fake" melees.Two troops of horsemen wearing pad-ded leather helmets and pads over allthe parts of their bodies which arelikely to be struck by the enemy's sa-ber take part. Streamers of coloredpaper float backward from the crownsof the helmets as the horsemen prickback and forth across the lists. Thestreamers are of two colors, the fight-ers on the two sides being distinguish-ed by the colors in their helmets. Themelee Is on. With sabers drawn thetwo companies ride toward each other.They intermingle, and it looks verymuch like a football scrimmage withthe players on horses. The sabersflash in the air as the wielders en-deavor to cut off the streaming papercolors of their opponents. Many askull receives a whack that must havewrought it damage had it been unpro-tected. Soon the conflicting partiesdisengage, and it is found that theheads of one side have been shorn oftheir gay plumage. This group ofhorsemen is then declaied to have beendefeated.

In Europe, where the saber has per-haps a more Important place than inthis country, some of the cavalrymenbecome so expert with their swordsthat they perform a feat which in onerespect resembles that described inthe legend of William Tell. A trusting

SPRING SONG

Spring came dancing down the glades.Her arms with violets laden;And Spring met Love, and Love was sad.Love vowed he"d never more be glad.Spring .sighed—the tender maiden.

Spring scattered violets through the gladesAnd hid tnem in the blowing grass;And Love bent down and plucked a flowerAnd hasted to his Lady's bower.Spring sang—the happy maiden.

Spring whispered to the waiting birdsTo trill a roundelay:Along came Love, and Love was glad.He vowed he never could be sad.Spring laughed—the witching maid.—Rtta Scherman in The Reader Magazine

for May.

Underdone RealismNaggsby—l notice that Bleauhard failed

in his theatrical adventure. Must haveoverdone that realism that was- alwayshis hobby.

Waggsby—On the contrary, he underdidit. Didn't make realism extend to thebox office receipts.—Baltimore American.

I was pretty angry by this time andhustled back to the prefect's office, fol-lowed by the faithful, but dumb, clerk.I again put the case before that corpu-lent official, and Insisted that he takeimmediate action. A bright thoughtseemed to strike him.

"I'll telegraph to Bogota," he said,beaming, "and have the minister ofwar order the mules returned!"

"Sir," I said, "truly a splendidscheme. The reply to the telegram maypossibly arrive within a month; thearmy leaves in an hour. Better thinkagain!"

He grew indignant, purple."What do you expect me to do?" he

bellowed. "Throw myself on 500 bayo-nets for your miserable mules? Bah!"And he cast his arms toward the ceil-ing in righteous wrath at the impossi-ble pretensions of this wanderingAmericano.

Just then a Colombian, almost acounterpart of the prefect himself,broke excitedly into the room andpoured into the affronted one's ears atale of woe similar to my own—butwith what different effect! The prefectgrabbed his hat with one hand and thenewcomer's arm with the other, and,paying no further attention to me, re-joined:

"Mi querido, I myself will interview

jcfe in your behalf and uphold therights granted by -ur sacred constitu-tion!" And they walked out.

Curious to see the result, I trailedalong quietly a few yards in the rear,still followed l>y my candidate for adeaf mute's home. On arrival at thebarracks I found half Manizales as-sembled to witness the departure a in:a line of soldiers with fixed bayonetsdrawn up on the near side of the streetto keep the populace back.

On the opposite sidewalk I spied theJefe silently obs'-rvinfc' the progress ofthe preparations. He was a little man.attired, like his second, in khaki, butpossessed of a lather good humoredcountenance, and noting this my hopesrose a trifle.

The prefect started to cross thestreet, but a small soldier, who couldnot have been over l~>, carrying aMauser twice as big as himself, steppedin the way.

•<'Mn't pass here!" he said briefly."What!" snorted the majestic on«,

puffing with Importance. "Do youknow who I am? The prefect of th«province! Out of my way!" And h«stepped forward.

But alas for the dignity of the con-stitution! The youthful soldier re-versed arms and the butt of his rifl«came thump! against the prefect'sbreakfast Tin- assaulted one bowed.involuntarily, and backed to the side-walk, whence he shouted to the generalt.i observe tin- iniquitous proceeding ».<his hireling.

The general paid no more attentionto him than he did to the cool morningbreeze, while the soldiers leaning outof the barracks windows Jeered uponthe citizens grinned. The outraged offi-cial made a tew remarks in a loudvoice anent the "tramping down of ourliberties by these satraps of Bogota,"but receiving scant appreciation fromth>- crowd and more howls from thesoldi.ih, he disappeared, doubtless Insearch of ;>. trago of anteado to repairthe damage to his internal economy.

The battalion was now almost readyto leave and, growing desperate, I re-solved to make one last attempt to re-cover my sequestrated property. As Istarted across the street the same tinysoldier tried to obstruct my passage,but I swore at him in English, and erehe recovered from his surprise I hadgained the side of the Jefe. I salutedhim with all the courtesy I had leftand. realizing the value of time, saidbriefly:

"General. I am an American. Thismorning your men broke open the sta-ble in which my four mules were hous-ed and seized them. These mul- -my personal property. I have alreadydemanded their return of your second,the colonel, but was refused. I nowwish to say that, if they are not handedover to me at once, I shall telegraphfull particulars to our minister in Bo-gota, and somebody will pay heavily!"

The general replied, quietly:"There is no need to threaten; you

may have your mules!"

person takes a lemon and holds it Inhis outstretched hand. With a sharpweapon these experts in the use of the>-saber cut through the lemon withoutinjuring the hand.

Perhaps the most difficult feat ofall Is that performed by expert ca\ -alrymen in India. It is the "prince'sstw ep cutting." so called because thebody of a sheep is used, and the onewho can perform it is reckoned amongthe princes of swordsmanship.

Skill in swordsmanship and the pos-session of a Damascus blade of finetemper make a Sikh or lfahratta aperson of distinction among his fel-lows. That there are many of these"persons of distinction" the Englishfound, to their sorrow, when they look-

Ned over their battlefields, in order'toseparate the wounded and the dead.It is said that not infrequently thebody of some unwary combatant wouldbe found hewn right down throughhead and shoulders to the waist, orsliced in half as cleanly as a joint ofbeef. In part this oleancut carvingwas due to the splendid temper oftheir swords aiffl the razorlik." edgekept upon them. The owners, of theseswords, in order to protect the edgefrom such damage as might be causedby contact with the scabbard evenwhen not in use. would carry theweapon wrapped in bandages of silkand cotton. The sinews of these na-tive wielders of Damascus blades werekf-pt in condition by practice on inan-imate objects. One such was and stillis the test of sheep cutting.

A dressed sheep is suspended fromthe end of a pole. The pole rests in acrotch made 'by the crossing of twosticks near their tops,. The aspirantfor honor rides at a full gallop towardthe animal's <body swaying in thebreeze, leaning backward and side-ways from it, the rMer extends hisarm and~ sword to their full length.When almost upon the swinging sheepone seems to feel the tightening of themuscles of the forearm as the sword'sMash indicates that the rider is makingthe dextrous turn of the wrist whK-his essential. The blade gleams throughthe air In a circle,,and without appar-ent difficulty carves its way throughthe wool, fat, lean, and backbone, andthe head and foreshoulders of the an-imal drop to the ground. • Even withsuch a blade as would delight the heartof a Rajput, the amateur would findthe feat one almost impossible of ac-complishment. The English officershave emulated the natives in the per-formance of this feat.

At such a totally unexpected an-swer I could only gasp for a moment:then the colonel, who had overheardthe conversation, rushed up and cried:

"General, if those mules are returnedwe canuot leave today!"

"No matter." returned his chief,sharply. "You had no right to holdthem and you know it! Sergeant,have this gentleman point out hismules and deliver them to him!" Arilhe walked off, while I smiled cordiallyat the colonel, who did not respond;in fact, he scowled. I called In Kd-uai,do, who had been hanging on theoutskirts of the crowd, watching withanxious eyes the progress of negotia-tions, and together we picked out ouranimals one by one.

Th-- Midlers seemed to think the af-fair a good joke on the colonel, andlaughed with us as they took off theheavy cargoes and placed tiie haltersin our hands. As we passed out thecrowd, which iu<*4uded several of myfriends, cheered us wildly,and we helda triumphant procession all the wayback to the hotel.

The battalion must have scooped insome other poor chap's mules, tor theyleft that afternoon.

Thus peacefully closed anotherthreatening international episode.

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