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Then, afterward, there was a surprise--a genuine surprise--in the for mess shelter, with an orchestra concealed behind a screen of fresh-cut palm-leaves stuck into the soft earth This was the men's part of the celebration, the official couest It was a poorly furnished banquet, with a service of tin and granite ware and chipped china, and there was little to eat, but the true spirit of festivity was present The Lone Star emblem of the new Republic was draped with the Stars and Stripes, and there wereEsteban went unheeded, and Leslie Branch escorted her in place of the bridegroo in his hammock Her amazement passed all bounds when, from the hidden recess behind the paluitars, but the strains of a balanced orchestra under the leadership of Cuba's most eminent bandmaster Whence the players had come, where they had found their instruments, was a mystery, but they played well, divinely, so it seery diners Such a banquet as that was! Some one had contributed a demijohn of wine, and there was coffee, too, at the last, le plant The chef, once fae for this final triumph

Rosa, very dainty in her borrowed nurse's uniform, was round-eyed, timid; she evoked much admiration, but when she was addressed as Senora O'Reilly she blushed to the roots of her hair and shrank close to her husband's side To feel herself secure, to see on all sides friendly faces, to know that these fine ood Cuban matrons present--were her own people andbeen hidden, she had so long feared every stranger's glance, it was not strange that she felt ill at ease, and that the banquet was a grave ordeal for her

Branch proved to be a happy choice as Esteban's proxy, for he relieved Norine's anxiety and smothered her apprehensions When called upon to speak hethe further hazards of this war Prompted by some freakish perversity, and perhaps unduly stimulated by the wine he had drunk, hecowardice

O'Reilly interpreted for hihter El Demonio's heroic reputation had preceded hi effort to ridicule hily funny phase of his eccentricity Encountering this blank wall of disbelief, Branch waxed ; in ing fear of pain, his abhorrence of blood and steel His elongated face was genuinely solerew da his conscience once for all But he succeeded only in convulsing his hearers Woled, men wiped tears from their eyes and declared he was a consummate actor and the rarest, the most fantastic humorist they had ever listened to They swore that Cuba had lost, in him, a peerless champion When he had finished they cheered hi military march