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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77081 ***
+
+
+[Illustration: “YOU MUST BE MORE CAREFUL IN THE FUTURE,” SAID COMMODORE
+DEWEY. “WE CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE ANY MEN JUST NOW.”]
+
+
+
+
+  A SAILOR BOY
+  WITH DEWEY
+
+  OR
+
+  _AFLOAT IN THE PHILIPPINES_
+
+  BY
+  CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL
+
+  AUTHOR OF “WHEN SANTIAGO FELL,” “OFF FOR HAWAII,”
+  “GUN AND SLED,” “RIVAL BICYCLISTS,” “YOUNG
+  OARSMEN OF LAKEVIEW,” “LEO, THE
+  CIRCUS BOY,” ETC.
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  CHATTERTON-PECK COMPANY
+  NEW YORK, N. Y.
+
+
+
+
+BY THE SAME AUTHOR
+
+
+  WITH CUSTER IN THE BLACK HILLS;
+    Or, A Young Scout among the Indians.
+
+  BOYS OF THE FORT;
+    Or, A Young Captain’s Pluck.
+
+  THE YOUNG BANDMASTER;
+    Or, Concert Stage and Battlefield.
+
+  WHEN SANTIAGO FELL;
+    Or, The War Adventures of Two Chums.
+
+  A SAILOR BOY WITH DEWEY;
+    Or, Afloat in the Philippines.
+
+  OFF FOR HAWAII;
+    Or, The Mystery of a Great Volcano.
+
+
+  _12mo, finely illustrated and bound in cloth. Price, per volume, 60
+  cents._
+
+  NEW YORK
+  CHATTERTON-PECK COMPANY
+  1905
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY
+  THE MERSHON COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+“A Sailor Boy with Dewey,” while a complete story in itself, forms the
+second volume of a line of works issued under the general title of the
+“Flag of Freedom Series.”
+
+In writing this tale of adventure I had in mind to acquaint our boys
+with something of the strange sights and scenes which come to light
+daily in Uncle Sam’s new possessions in the far East, or far West, as
+you will. The Philippines are but little understood by the average
+reader, and if I have served to make the picture of them a little
+clearer my object will have been accomplished.
+
+Some may argue that the adventures introduced in the volume are
+overdrawn, but I can assure all that the incidents are underdrawn
+rather than otherwise. Many savage and barbarous natives still inhabit
+the Philippines, and to bring these people to genuine civilization will
+take many years of patient labor and encouragement. In the past Spain
+had accomplished something, but not much; what our own nation will do
+remains still to be seen. Let us hope for the best.
+
+Again thanking my young friends for the kindness with which they have
+perused my stories in the past, I place this book in their hands with
+my best wishes for their future welfare.
+
+                                                 CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL.
+
+  _April 15, 1899._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                           PAGE
+
+       I. OFF FOR MANILA BAY,                          1
+
+      II. THE COLLISION IN THE HURRICANE,             10
+
+     III. IN WHICH DAN AND I BECOME SEPARATED,        19
+
+      IV. THE RESCUE OF THE UNWORTHY ONE,             27
+
+       V. CAST ASHORE ON LUZON,                       34
+
+      VI. ADVENTURES IN THE FOREST,                   43
+
+     VII. THE WRECK ON THE SHORE,                     52
+
+    VIII. ATTACKED BY THE TAGALS,                     59
+
+      IX. THE FLIGHT FROM BUMWOGA,                    67
+
+       X. THE BATTLE AT A DISTANCE,                   74
+
+      XI. OFF FOR SUBIG BAY,                          82
+
+     XII. ATTACKED IN THE CANYON,                     91
+
+    XIII. MY FIRST ADVENTURE IN MANILA,               99
+
+     XIV. THE ESCAPE FROM THE PRISON,                107
+
+      XV. BACK TO HONG KONG,                         115
+
+     XVI. THE OPENING OF THE WAR,                    123
+
+    XVII. I MEET COMMODORE DEWEY,                    130
+
+   XVIII. THE FIGHTING ENGINEER,                     139
+
+     XIX. “FIRE!”                                    147
+
+      XX. IN WHICH ONE SPANISH SHIP IS SUNK,         155
+
+     XXI. A NEVER-TO-BE-FORGOTTEN CONTEST,           162
+
+    XXII. BETWEEN TWO FIRES,                         169
+
+   XXIII. THE ESCAPE FROM THE INN,                   177
+
+    XXIV. ONE WAY OF ENTERING A FORTIFIED CITY,      184
+
+     XXV. FOUR WOULD-BE PLUNDERERS,                  192
+
+    XXVI. THE FIGHT IN THE OFFICES,                  200
+
+   XXVII. A LETTER OF GREAT IMPORTANCE,              208
+
+  XXVIII. TREED BY BUFFALO BULLS,                    215
+
+    XXIX. CAPTAIN KENNY AGAIN,                       223
+
+     XXX. A FIGHT AT LONG RANGE,                     230
+
+    XXXI. THE WRECKING OF THE HOWITZER,              237
+
+   XXXII. GOOD-BY TO THE PHILIPPINES,                245
+
+
+
+
+A SAILOR BOY WITH DEWEY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+OFF FOR MANILA BAY.
+
+
+“What do you think of this storm, Oliver?”
+
+“I think it is going to be a heavy one, Dan,” I answered. “Just look at
+those black clouds rolling up from the southeast. We’ll catch it before
+midnight.”
+
+“Just what I think,” answered my chum, Dan Holbrook. “Where is Captain
+Kenny?”
+
+“Where he always is, in his cabin, more than half intoxicated. I tell
+you, Dan, I would never have taken passage on the _Dart_ had I known
+what sort of a man Captain Kenny was. Why, our lives are not safe in
+his hands.”
+
+“Humph! I don’t know as they are safe out of his hands, Oliver,”
+returned Dan, with a toss of his handsome head. “Since we left China
+we’ve struck two heavy hurricanes,--perhaps that coming on will finish
+us.”
+
+“Gracious! don’t say that!” I cried, with a shiver. “We don’t want to
+be finished--at least, I don’t.”
+
+“Neither do I. But when a storm comes, it comes, that is all there is
+to it.”
+
+“True, but we might do something toward meeting it,” I went on,
+with a grave shake of my head, for I did not altogether like Dan’s
+light-hearted way of looking at things. “In my opinion Captain Kenny
+ought to be on deck this instant, watching this storm.”
+
+“Supposing you tell him that?”
+
+“I’ve a good mind to.”
+
+“You’ll get a belaying pin over your head, as Dawson, the mate, got.
+Captain Kenny is not a man to be talked to. He is bad enough when he is
+sober, and when he isn’t he is simply terrible.”
+
+“But he has no right to imperil the lives of twenty or more people by
+his drunkenness,” I rejoined warmly. “If I had my way, I’d put the
+captain in irons and place Dawson in command of the _Dart_. He knows
+enough to keep sober, and----”
+
+“Ye would do thet, would ye?” roared a hoarse voice at my shoulder, and
+turning swiftly I found myself confronted by Captain Kenny. “I’ll teach
+ye how to talk ag’in the master o’ this vessel, an’ don’t ye forgit
+it!” And he grabbed me by the arm.
+
+Captain Kenny’s face was as red as a beet. Usually it was far from
+being handsome, now it was positively hideous. His breath was heavily
+laden with the odor of rum, showing that he had been imbibing more than
+usual.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I was a boy of sixteen, tall and strong for my age. I was not a poor,
+down-trodden lad, knocking about from pillar to post, trying to earn
+my living. My father, Samuel Raymond, was a rich merchant of San
+Francisco, owning interests in several lines of trade, with offices at
+San Francisco, Hong Kong, Manila in the Philippine Islands, and several
+other points.
+
+Just six months before I had graduated at a business college in
+California. As I was to follow my father into trade, it was not thought
+worth while to give me a term at the University, or any similar
+institute of learning. Instead, my father called me into his library
+and said to me:
+
+“Oliver, I believe you understand that you are to go into business with
+me.”
+
+“I do, sir,” had been my reply. “I wish for nothing better.”
+
+“Usually I do not believe in letting boys remain idle after their
+school days are over, but in this case I think an exception should be
+made. You have worked hard, and come out at the top of your class. You
+deserve a good, long holiday. How will you take it?”
+
+To answer this question puzzled me at first, for I knew I had the whole
+world before me. I had been as far east as New York and as far south as
+St. Louis, and had even taken a trip on Lake Michigan. I concluded that
+I had gone eastward far enough.
+
+“If it’s all the same, I’ll go to Hong Kong and get acquainted with
+our branch out there,” was my answer, and the use of the words, “our
+branch,” made my father laugh.
+
+“That will suit me exactly,” was his return. “You shall go from San
+Francisco direct to Hong Kong, and you can return by way of the
+Philippines and see how our place of business is doing at Manila. The
+place at Manila is running down--the Spaniards are doing their best
+to drive us out altogether, and if you can see any way of improving
+conditions, now or later on, so much the better.”
+
+In less than two weeks I was ready to start, but I did not leave home
+even then as quickly as did my father, who received word which took him
+to the east and then to Cuba. What happened to my parent in Cuba has
+been excellently told by my friend, Mark Carter, in his story which
+has been printed under the title of “When Santiago Fell.” At that
+time I did not know Mark at all, but since then we have become very
+intimately acquainted, as my readers will soon learn.
+
+The voyage from the Golden Gate to Hong Kong was made without anything
+unusual happening. On landing at the Chinese-English port I was
+immediately met by Dan Holbrook, whose father was one of my parent’s
+partners. Dan had put in two years at Hong Kong and the vicinity, and
+he took me around, and talked Chinese for me whenever it was required.
+
+At last came the time when I thought I ought to think of returning
+to San Francisco by way of Manila, or at least to run over to the
+Philippines and back and then start for home. “If only you could go
+to Manila with me!” had been my words to Dan, to whom I was warmly
+attached.
+
+“I will go,” had been the ready answer, which surprised me not a
+little. Soon I learned that Dan had been talking the matter over with
+his father and mother. Mr. Holbrook was as anxious as my father to have
+the business connection at Manila improved, and he thought that both of
+us ought to be able to do something, even though I was but a boy and
+Dan was scarcely a young man.
+
+Manila, the principal city of the Philippines, is located but four
+or five days’ sail from Hong Kong and there is a regular service of
+steamers between the two ports. But both Dan and I had seen a good deal
+of ocean travel on steamers, and we decided to make the trip to Manila
+Bay in a sailing craft, and, accordingly, took passage on the _Dart_,
+a three-masted schooner, carrying a miscellaneous cargo for Manila,
+Iloilo, and other points.
+
+When we secured our berths we did not see Captain Kenny, only the
+first and second mates of the vessel. Had we seen the captain with his
+tough-looking and bloated face, it is quite likely that we would have
+endeavored to secure passage to the Philippines elsewhere.
+
+Yet for several days all went well. The weather was not all that it
+should have been, for we were sailing in a portion of our globe where
+hurricanes and earthquakes are of frequent occurrence. Our course had
+been set directly for Corregidor Island at the entrance to Manila
+Bay, but it had begun to blow harder and harder, we drove up in the
+direction of Subig Bay.
+
+The weather kept growing fouler and fouler, and with this Captain Kenny
+gave himself over to liquor until he was totally unfit to command the
+_Dart_. He was a man to allow sails to be set when they should have
+been furled, and already had he lost one sheet through his foolishness.
+
+The mate, Tom Dawson, was a first-rate fellow, as kind and considerate
+as the captain was rough and brutal. How he had shipped with such a
+beast was a mystery, but it did not concern me and I did not bother my
+head about it. On three occasions I had seen the captain attack Dawson,
+but each time the mate had escaped and refused to take up the quarrel.
+In the meantime the second mate and the men grumbled a good deal, but
+so far no open rupture had occurred among the forecastle hands.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+“You let go of that arm,” I said, as I found Captain Kenny’s harsh face
+poked out close to my cheek.
+
+“I’ll let go when I’m done with you, not afore!” he went on, with
+increasing wrath. “Call me a drunkard, will ye!” And he gave the arm a
+savage twist that hurt not a little. “On board o’ my own ship, too!”
+
+“If I did I only spoke the truth,” I said steadily. “You drink
+altogether too much for the good of those on board. We are going to
+have a big storm soon, and you ought to have your wits about you, if
+you want to save the _Dart_ from going down.”
+
+“I know my business, boy--ye can’t teach it me nohow! Take thet fer
+talkin’ to me in this fashion!”
+
+Releasing my arm, he aimed a heavy blow at my head. But I was on the
+alert and dodged, and the blow nearly carried the irate skipper off his
+feet. Then, as he came on again, I shoved him backward, and down he
+went in a heap on the deck.
+
+“By Jove, now you’ve done it!” whispered Dan.
+
+“I don’t care, it serves him right,” I answered. “He had no right to
+touch me.”
+
+“That’s true. But you must remember that a captain is king on his own
+deck, on the high seas.”
+
+“A brute can never be a king--and make me submit, Dan.”
+
+By this time Captain Kenny was scrambling up, his face full of rage.
+Instantly he made for me again.
+
+“I’ll teach ye!” he screamed. “You good-fer-nuthin landlubber! I’ve had
+it in fer ye ever since ye took passage. Maybe my ship aint good enough
+fer ye! If thet’s so, I’ll pitch ye overboard!” And he tried to grab me
+once more.
+
+But now Dan stepped between us. “Captain Kenny, you let Raymond alone,”
+he ordered sternly.
+
+“I won’t--he’s called me a drunkard, and--”
+
+“He told the truth. You attend to your business and we’ll attend to
+ours.”
+
+“I’ll--I’ll put him in irons. He shan’t talk so afore my crew!” fumed
+the captain.
+
+“You shan’t touch him.”
+
+“Shan’t I?” The half-drunken man glared at both of us. Then he backed
+away, shaking his fist. “Just wait a minute and I’ll show you a trick
+or two--just wait!” And still shaking his fist, he reeled off to the
+companion way, almost fell down the stairs, and disappeared into the
+cabin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE COLLISION IN THE HURRICANE.
+
+
+“Now, what is he going to do?” I murmured, turning to my companion.
+
+“Something out of the ordinary, that’s certain,” answered Dan. “He has
+just enough in him to be thoroughly ugly.”
+
+“I don’t believe he’ll let this matter drop, storm or no storm.”
+
+“Not he, Oliver. I’m afraid we have got ourselves into a scrape. I wish
+we were in sight of Manila.”
+
+“So do I. But I haven’t done anything wrong. Somebody ought to tell the
+man that he is drinking too much, Dan.”
+
+At that instant Dawson, the mate, came up. He had been standing behind
+the mainmast and had heard every word uttered. His face showed plainly
+that he was greatly troubled.
+
+“This is too bad,” he observed. “The cap’n bad enough, but you have
+made him wuss, ten times over, lads.”
+
+“He hasn’t any right to drink, Dawson.”
+
+“We won’t talk about thet--seein’ as how he’s in command and I’m only
+the fust mate. I’m sorry you quarreled, with the end o’ the voyage
+almost in sight.”
+
+“What will he do?” put in Dan.
+
+“I dunno. Drink more, I reckon, an’ then come up twict as ugly.”
+
+“What about this storm that is coming up?” I questioned.
+
+“I notified him of that half an hour ago.”
+
+“And he didn’t pay any attention? It’s a shame! I don’t want to go to
+the bottom of the China Sea, whether the captain drinks or not.”
+
+“None o’ us want to go to the bottom, lad. But then----” Tom Dawson
+ended with a shrug of his shoulders. He realized more than I did what a
+responsibility would rest upon him did he dare to issue orders contrary
+to Captain Kenny’s wishes.
+
+It was about three o’clock in the afternoon, and the day had been
+unusually oppressive, even for this latitude, which, as most of my
+readers must know, never boasts of cold weather, but can easily break
+the record for scorchers. During the morning, when the sun had shone,
+the seams of the deck had run with tar, and no one had exposed himself
+more than was absolutely necessary. But now the sun was hidden by
+clouds that kept growing darker and darker, and the wind was so strong
+it could not be otherwise than refreshing.
+
+Captain Kenny had left positive orders that the main and mizzen courses
+be left as they were, fully set, and both sheets were straining and
+tugging as though ready to lift the two masts out of their resting
+places. The forecourse had been taken in, also the jib, but so far this
+had had no effect on the riding of the _Dart_, and she dipped her nose
+into every fourth or fifth wave that came along.
+
+“If I was you I’d take in more sail,” remarked Dan, after a pause.
+“Even if you don’t lose a mast, you’re running the risk of opening more
+than one seam. If we founder----”
+
+He did not finish, for at that moment Captain Kenny’s head reappeared
+above the combing of the companion way. He came staggering toward us
+with his right hand in his jacket pocket and a sickly grin on his
+unshaven face.
+
+“Now we’ll come to terms,” he began, with a hiccough.
+
+“Captain Kenny, how about that mainsail?” interrupted the mate. “The
+wind is freshening rapidly, sir.”
+
+“I’ll take care o’ the--hic--mainsail, when I’ll through which
+these--hic--young rascals,” was the answer. “Yarson! Carden!” he bawled
+out. “Come here, you’re wanted.”
+
+At once two of the sailors, a Swede and an American, came aft and
+touched their forelocks.
+
+“Do you know what I’m--hic--going to do?” went on the captain, closing
+one eye suggestively. “I’m going to place both of you under arrest
+until we arrive at Manila.”
+
+“Arrest!” cried Dan and I simultaneously.
+
+“You shall not arrest me,” I added, and my companion said something
+very similar.
+
+“I said--hic--arrest, and I mean it. Throw up your hands, both of you.”
+
+“I refuse to obey the order.”
+
+“Do you know that I am the--hic--commander of this ship?”
+
+“You are when you are sober,” returned Dan.
+
+“I am sober now--I never get--hic--drunk. I place you under arrest.
+Yarson, Carden, conduct the two passengers to the--hic--brig and lock
+’em in.”
+
+“Keep your hands off!” I exclaimed. “Don’t you dare to touch me!”
+
+“And don’t you dare to touch me,” added Dan.
+
+We had scarcely spoken than Captain Kenny withdrew his right hand from
+his pocket and showed us the muzzle of a revolver.
+
+“You’ll--hic--obey or take the consequences,” he hiccoughed. “I’m a
+peaceful man until I’m aroused, and then----” Another hiccough ended
+the sentence.
+
+I must say that I was both alarmed and disgusted, but my disgust was
+greater than my alarm, for I knew I had right on my side and was
+willing to wager that in his present condition Captain Kenny could not
+hit the broadside of a barn, excepting by accident.
+
+The two sailors advanced, but they came on slowly, evidently having no
+relish for the job at hand. When the Swede attempted to take hold of me
+I flung him off.
+
+“Stand back!” I said, and at the same time Dan motioned Carden to keep
+his distance.
+
+“Are you going to do as I ordered?” fumed the captain.
+
+“I vos reatty to opey orders, captain,” said Yarson.
+
+“So am I, cap’n, if you say it’s all right,” added Carden.
+
+“It is all--hic--right. Arrest ’em--arrest ’em on the spot!”
+vociferated the skipper of the _Dart_.
+
+“You keep your distance,” I ordered. “If you don’t it will be the worse
+for you.”
+
+“The first man who touches me will get knocked down,” said Dan, and
+caught up a marline spike which hung by the mast.
+
+“Captain, I think we really ought to look to those sails,” pleaded
+Dawson, taking hold of his chief’s arm. “It won’t do to lose ’em, you
+know.”
+
+“Didn’t I say I’d take care of ’em when I’m--hic--through with these
+fellows?” was the surly return. “Stand back, Dawson!” and now the
+captain rushed forward and leveled his pistol at my head. “You march to
+the brig, and be quick about it, or I’ll----”
+
+What Captain Kenny would have done, had I refused to march as ordered,
+I never learned, for while he was speaking Dan made a rush forward and
+caught the pistol from his hand and sent him flat on his back, in the
+bargain. Then my companion stepped to my side, and both of us backed up
+toward the companion way.
+
+For fully a minute Captain Kenny lay where he had fallen, nobody caring
+to go to his assistance. Then he cried loudly to the sailors to help
+him get up, and they did so. In the meantime Tom Dawson stood by,
+scratching his head in perplexity.
+
+“Captain, we must attend to the sails,” he began, when there came a
+sudden puff of air, and the _Dart_ seemed to fairly stand up on ends. I
+had to catch hold of the companion-way rail to keep from falling, and
+Dan held on, too. Captain Kenny collapsed and went sliding into the
+mainmast, and then toward the lee rail.
+
+“Save me!” he yelled, when he felt that he could not help himself.
+“Save me!” And Dawson and the American sailor immediately ran to his
+assistance.
+
+It was all I could do now to save myself from being thrown down the
+companion way, and for the time being I lost interest in Captain Kenny.
+“This is awful!” I said to Dan. “I believe we are in for another
+hurricane.”
+
+“The fools ought to take in every rag of canvas,” was the reply. “Tom
+Dawson hasn’t any backbone, or he’d take matters in his own hands.”
+
+“Let us go below,” I went on, as a wave swept the deck, drenching us
+both. “There is no use of remaining here.”
+
+Dan tumbled down the companion way and into the cabin, and I came after
+him, stumbling over an empty rum bottle which was rolling over the
+floor. From the cabin we went to our stateroom, to see that the port
+was tightly closed.
+
+“I think I’ll keep this pistol until we reach Manila,” observed my
+companion. “You know I haven’t any weapon of my own. I wish I had some
+extra cartridges.”
+
+“Perhaps the caliber of my pistol is the same as Captain Kenny’s
+weapon,” I suggested, and produced my little six-shooter. Both pistols
+used the same size of cartridge, and I divided a box of those articles
+between us, and shoved my share and my revolver in my pocket.
+
+We now heard a hurried tramping on deck, and soon the creaking of
+blocks as the main and mizzen courses came down on the run. Soon every
+rag of canvas was furled, this being done by Dawson’s directions, as I
+afterward learned, Captain Kenny having been knocked partly unconscious
+by his tumble upon the lee rail.
+
+A half hour went by, a time that to Dan and I seemed an age. The _Dart_
+tumbled and tossed, and it was all we could do to keep from having our
+brains dashed out against the stateroom walls.
+
+“We would have done much better had we taken a steamer to Manila,” I
+remarked, when the hurricane seemed to be at its height. “If we get out
+of this storm we have still our row with the captain to be settled up.”
+
+“Never mind, Oliver, we ought to reach Manila in a couple of days. If
+the captain attempts to arrest us again, I’ll give him warning that
+I’ll have him up before the court at the first landing we make.”
+
+“He ought to have his vessel taken away from him. Do you suppose the
+owners would keep him in command if they knew of his habits?”
+
+“As it happens he owns a one-fourth interest in the _Dart_, and his
+contract says he shall be skipper, so Dawson told me,” answered Dan.
+“I’ll wager Dawson will have a story to tell when he comes below. My,
+what a sea must be running!” And my companion swung forward and back
+with the motion of the schooner. “And see how dark it is getting!”
+
+It was so gloomy we could scarcely see each other. It had now begun to
+lighten and thunder, while the rain came down in perfect sheets. We
+huddled together, as if feeling instinctively that something out of the
+ordinary was about to occur.
+
+And it did occur a moment later. A clap of thunder had just rolled away
+when there came a cry from the deck, so appalling that it could be
+distinctly heard above the fury of the elements.
+
+“Ship, ahoy! Don’t run us down!”
+
+The cry was followed by a tearing, grinding, sickening crash that I
+shall never forget. The crash threw me headlong and I lay at Dan’s feet
+for several seconds, completely dazed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+IN WHICH DAN AND I BECOME SEPARATED.
+
+
+“We are struck, Oliver, get up!”
+
+“Oh, my head!” I groaned, for I had struck the stateroom wall a blow by
+no means gentle.
+
+“We must get on deck!” urged my companion. “We have run into another
+ship and may be sinking!”
+
+Collecting my scattered senses as best I could, I arose and caught Dan
+by the arm. Soon we were mounting the companion-way stairs, two steps
+at a time. As we emerged into the open the downpour of rain and flying
+spray nearly drowned us.
+
+A vivid flash of lightning lit up the scene, and looking to port we
+saw a big Chinese vessel bearing away, with a broken bowsprit and a
+big hole in her side, well forward. We also saw that our own deck was
+filled with fallen rigging and wooden splinters.
+
+“Sound the pumps!” was the cry, coming from Tom Dawson. “Quigley, see
+if you can make out the damage”--the last words to the ship’s carpenter.
+
+“We got it pretty heavily,” gasped Dan, who was about as much winded as
+myself. “Pray heaven we may outride the shock and the storm.”
+
+Several sailors had sprung to the pumps and were pumping up sea water
+in great quantities. “A foot and four inches,” cried one. “And gaining
+rapidly!” he announced, a minute later.
+
+Those last words caused every cheek to blanch. For the time there was
+almost a panic. But now Tom Dawson showed what was really in him.
+
+“Keep your wits about you, men!” he called out. “We may yet be able
+to stop the leak and pump her out. Keep to the work for all you are
+worth!” And the men at the pumps obeyed, while the mate hurried forward
+to obtain the carpenter’s report.
+
+It was soon forthcoming. The blow had been so severe that a gaping
+hole, four feet in diameter, had been stove in the _Dart’s_ bow. It was
+partly above and partly below the water line, but in such a sea the
+water was coming in by the hundreds of gallons at every lurch of the
+schooner.
+
+“I’ll try to stop it up,” said Quigley, but shook his head as he spoke.
+“You had better order the small boats out, and stock ’em with water and
+grub,” and he ran off.
+
+By this time Captain Kenny was up once more, but in his condition could
+do little but find fault and use language not fit to transcribe to
+these pages. Once he tried to take the command from Tom Dawson, but the
+mate would not listen.
+
+“We’re sinking, Captain Kenny,” said Dawson. “I must do what I can for
+the men and myself.”
+
+“Sinking!” gasped the unreasonable one. “Sinking!”
+
+“Yes, sinking. Keep your wits about you or you’ll go to Davy Jones’
+locker,” concluded Tom Dawson. His remarks so frightened the captain
+that he ran to the cabin, there to plunder his trunks and lockers in a
+drunken and vain effort to stow what he owned of value about his person.
+
+The carpenter was as good as his word, but although he labored manfully
+and had all the aid that could be used, the water could not be stopped
+from coming in. The shock had opened up half a dozen seams and the
+water in the hold had reached four feet and a half.
+
+“She can’t stand that!” cried Dan, as he heard the announcement.
+“She’ll go to the bottom inside of a quarter of an hour. Oliver, we are
+lost, unless we get into one of the small boats.”
+
+“The life-preservers!” I ejaculated. “Let us each get one of those on,
+if nothing else!” and I led the way to where the articles were stored.
+While we were adjusting them, the mate passed us.
+
+“That’s right,” he cried. “You two shall go in our boat. We’ll leave
+in about five minutes, if we can catch the sea right.” And then he
+disappeared from sight once more.
+
+I must confess that my heart was in my throat, and Dan has since told
+me that he felt just as awed. “Come down and get what we must have,” he
+whispered hoarsely, and once again we tumbled below to our stateroom,
+passing Captain Kenny as he tore around his cabin like a man bereft of
+his reason.
+
+“You are responsible for this!” he growled. “If it hadn’t been for you
+no accident would have happened.” For a wonder, his fright had quite
+sobered him, even though he was half crazy as before mentioned.
+
+There was not much to get, for we knew that trunks or even traveling
+bags would not be taken into the small boats. I donned a little extra
+clothing and was about to get out my money belt, containing some gold
+and silver and a draft on a Manila banking institution, when a call
+from above reached us.
+
+“To the boats! To the boats!” came the cry from the deck, and a scurry
+of footsteps followed. Grabbing each other by the hand we leaped for
+the companion way, to find our passage blocked by Captain Kenny.
+
+“Let us up!” cried Dan, and tried to get past the man, but the captain
+merely shoved him back.
+
+“I’m the one to go--you can stay here, hang ye!” he hissed.
+
+“Stay here? Not much!” I burst out, and catching him by the legs, I
+shot him up on deck as if he had been fired from a spring gun. He tried
+to turn and strike me, but I avoided the blow with ease.
+
+The _Dart_ had now settled so much that every wave washed her deck from
+stem to stern. “Look out, or you’ll go down!” roared Dan in my ear, but
+the caution was not needed, for I was already exercising all the care
+possible in making my way to the boat Tom Dawson was to command.
+
+There were four small craft and twenty of us all told. This gave
+five persons to a boat, the first being in command of Captain Kenny,
+the second in command of Tom Dawson, while the second mate and the
+boatswain had the others under their care.
+
+“I reckon you two want to keep together,” said Dawson, as we reached
+his side. “I can’t blame you, but----”
+
+“Don’t put those two landlubbers in one boat!” roared Captain Kenny.
+“It’s bad enough to have ’em at all. Put one in your boat and one in
+Brown’s,” indicating the second mate.
+
+“Oh, can’t we go together?” I whispered to Dawson.
+
+“We ought to have at least four experienced sailors in each boat,” was
+the mate’s reply. “Do as the captain commanded, and we’ll see if we
+can’t keep the small boats together.”
+
+And with this he shoved Dan into his own boat and turned me back to
+join the party under Watt Brown, the second mate.
+
+My heart now beat more painfully than ever. “Good-by, Dan, if we don’t
+meet again!” I said huskily.
+
+“Good-by, Oliver,” he answered. “Oh, if only we could go together!” And
+then we parted in the darkness, and I scuttled for the boat that was
+already awaiting me.
+
+How we ever got over the _Dart’s_ side and away from the settling
+schooner I cannot describe to this day. Amid the roar of thunder and
+the flashing of lightning, the small boat was swung out. Three sailors
+were at the oars, while the mate stood ready with a hatchet to cut the
+davit ropes. Down we went, to strike the rolling sea with a resounding
+smack that almost pitched me overboard. “Steady now! Pull! pull!” came
+the command, and away the sailors pulled, while a bit of rope snapped
+down and hit me across the cheek, nearly blinding me. For the next few
+minutes I felt as if I was roller-coasting up one mountain side and
+down another.
+
+When I was able to look around me another flash of lightning lit up
+the scene. Behind us rested the _Dart_, well over on her port side, as
+though getting ready to take her final plunge beneath the waves of the
+sea. To the left of us was one small boat and to the right the others.
+
+“Are we away all right?” I asked of the second mate.
+
+“Can’t say--yet,” was his laconic answer, and I felt that he did not
+wish to be questioned further. I wanted to aid in handling the boat,
+but was not allowed to do anything. “Just wait, lad, your time may
+come,” said one of the sailors grimly, and I shuddered, for I knew what
+he meant--that it might be many a weary day before we would sight land,
+if land were sighted at all. Perhaps that very sea upon which we were
+riding would prove our open grave.
+
+Five minutes passed in painful suspense and then the lightning lit
+up the firmament again. “Look! look!” yelled Watt Brown, and at the
+sound of the second mate’s voice all in the boat turned, to see one of
+the craft to our starboard founder beneath a curling wave that looked
+higher than a six-story office building.
+
+“What boat is that?” I cried.
+
+“Don’t know exactly, but it looked like Tom Dawson’s,” was the answer,
+which almost prostrated me. Was it possible that Dan had been lost thus
+quickly?
+
+“Won’t you try to pick them up?” I went on, when I could speak. “Surely
+you won’t forsake them!”
+
+“We’ll try it,--but it’s wuss nor looking for a pin in a haystack,”
+was the second mate’s reply. “To starboard, boys, but don’t get caught
+under a capper, or it will be all up with us.” And then our own craft
+veered around and moved slowly and painfully over the billows to the
+spot where the other small boat had gone down.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE RESCUE OF THE UNWORTHY ONE.
+
+
+I was in a tremble of excitement, and for the moment forgot all about
+my own peril. Since coming to the far East, or West, as you will, I
+had become greatly attached to Dan Holbrook; indeed he seemed like
+a brother to me. If he was lost, what would I do, even if we were
+fortunate to reach some part of the Island of Luzon, upon which the
+city of Manila is located?
+
+But a treacherous wave, mountain-high, brought me to a sudden
+realization of my own condition. “Hold hard!” I heard Watt Brown yell,
+and I held to the seat with all of my might, and this was all that
+prevented me from being swept overboard.
+
+We had shipped a good deal of water, and I was ordered to bail out the
+small craft, while the sailors continued at the oars, assisted by the
+second mate. There was a big dipper handy and I think I can truthfully
+say that I never worked harder in my life than I did then, meanwhile
+continuing to hold on with one hand.
+
+It was fully ten minutes ere we reached the locality where the small
+boat had foundered. In the meanwhile flash after flash of lightning
+had lit up the scene, showing the _Dart_ far to the northward, driving
+rapidly before the fury of the storm. But at last distance and the
+steady downpour of rain hid the vessel from view, and we could not tell
+if she sunk or not.
+
+“A man!” It was the second mate who uttered the words, and a head
+bobbed up just alongside of our bow. At once the mate dropped his oar
+and seized the individual by his hair. Then he caught hold of an arm
+and in a trice the fellow was on board, where he fell in a heap at the
+bottom of our craft. It was Captain Kenny.
+
+“The captain’s boat,” observed Watt Brown, and I breathed a long sigh
+of relief, thinking that Dan might yet be safe. “I wonder if Yarson,
+Betts, Camar, and Dilwoddy are floating around?”
+
+He referred to the four sailors that had accompanied the captain in the
+first boat. Standing up as best he could, he waited for another flash
+of lightning and gazed around hurriedly. Not another soul was in sight.
+
+“They are gone, I am afraid,” he murmured. “Keep her head up, lads, and
+I’ll take another look.”
+
+“Never mind the others,” growled Captain Kenny, struggling to a seat.
+“We must save ourselves. Pull on, or we’ll be swamped.”
+
+“You wretch!” I cried indignantly. “Supposing we had left you to shift
+for yourself?”
+
+“Shut up, boy, or----”
+
+“The lad is right, captain,” interrupted Watt Brown. “It was no more
+to us to save you than it is to save Betts and the rest. Remember, the
+_Dart_ has been abandoned and now one man is as good as another.”
+
+“Do you mean to say I am not still in command?” roared Captain Kenny in
+a fury that was positively silly.
+
+“No, you’re not!” spoke up one of the men at the oars. “Sit still,
+or I’ll be in for heaving you overboard again,” and this was said so
+harshly that the captain sunk back without another word.
+
+The long hours of the night which followed were filled with an anxiety
+which words cannot describe. The sailors at the oars could do nothing
+but keep the small boat head up to the waves and at times they became
+so exhausted, as the sea ran stronger and stronger, that more than one
+was ready to drop in a faint. I took an oar for two hours and then had
+to relinquish the blade, for fear it would be torn from my grasp and
+lost.
+
+It was about five o’clock in the morning when the hurricane abated.
+As is usual in this locality, the storm let up as quickly as it had
+gathered. The rain stopped and the wind dropped all in a few minutes,
+and in less than an hour the sun was shining down upon us from a
+cloudless sky. The sea, however, still ran dangerously high.
+
+“Do you see anything?” I asked of the second mate, as he balanced
+himself on one of the middle seats and took a careful look about the
+horizon.
+
+“Nothing,” was his disheartening answer. “Not a sail or a small boat in
+sight.”
+
+“Then the other boats must be lost,” and my heart sank again.
+
+“Perhaps not. The wind during the night may have carried us miles
+apart.”
+
+We knew we must be a good distance from land, but we also knew that
+we were somewhere to the westward of Luzon, so the only thing to do
+was to steer a course due east and trust to sight the shore before our
+provisions gave out.
+
+We had on board but two articles, a keg of ship’s biscuits and a keg
+of water. Several other things had been put into the small craft, but
+these had either been washed overboard or ruined by the salt water
+which I had bailed out.
+
+“By close economy we can make the biscuits last three days, and the
+water about as long,” announced the second mate. “We ought to make
+shore long before that time expires.” And he proceeded to deal out a
+breakfast of two biscuits and one cup of water to each person.
+
+“I want more than two biscuits and I am bound to have them!” cried
+Captain Kenny and leaped for the biscuit keg. But instantly Watt Brown
+and two of the sailors confronted him, one with an upraised oar, and
+again he subsided. After that all of the others watched him carefully.
+
+As I have said, the sea still ran high, and we soon learned that to
+steer in a due east course was impossible. We had to head to the
+northeast and at times almost due north.
+
+“This will take us a good many miles to the north of Manila Bay, even
+if we strike shore,” observed Watt Brown to me. “I calkerlate we are
+already some miles north of Subig Bay.”
+
+“Well, I hardly care where we land, if only we escape the sea,” I
+returned. “I have no desire to fill a watery grave, as Betts and the
+others have done.”
+
+“I think we are safe on making shore--providing we don’t strike another
+hurricane, Raymond.” Then the second mate leaned close to me. “Watch
+out for the captain, he has it in for you,” he whispered. “He’s a bad
+man when he’s got a spell on.”
+
+“I’ll be on my guard,” I replied. I almost wished we had saved
+somebody else in place of the unreasonable skipper of the _Dart_.
+
+The morning passed away slowly. By eleven o’clock the sun was almost
+directly overhead and it was so hot that all craved a shelter that
+could not be had. The cup of water dealt out at noon seemed pitiably
+small, but nobody but the captain complained, understanding only too
+well what the horrors of thirst would be should our supply give out.
+
+Toward night another storm came up, principally of wind. Again the
+waves increased in height, sending us up to a very mountain top one
+moment and then letting us down into a gigantic hollow which looked
+ready to engulf us forever. We still drove northward at a rate of ten
+to twelve miles an hour.
+
+Having had no sleep for forty-eight hours I was utterly worn out, and
+when the storm let up a bit, sometime after midnight, I sank in a bunch
+on my seat and closed my eyes. “It’s all right, catch a nap if you
+can,” said the second mate. Soon I was sleeping as soundly as if in my
+bed at home, although disturbed by the wildest of dreams.
+
+I awoke with a start, to find a firm hand on my shoulder and Captain
+Kenny glaring into my face. “You’re to be number two, lad!” he hissed.
+“We’ll save the water and biscuits for a better mouth!” And then he
+lifted me up and attempted to hurl me into the sea!
+
+For the fraction of a second my tongue was too paralyzed to utter a
+sound; then I let out an ear-splitting yell that brought Watt Brown and
+one of the sailors to my immediate aid. “Let go of me!” I cried. “He
+wants to heave me overboard!”
+
+“Let him alone!” commanded Brown, and hauled Captain Kenny backward.
+The sailor hit him a heavy crack on the head, and down went the captain
+on the boat’s bottom unconscious.
+
+“I told ye to be watchful of him,” said the second mate, when it was
+all over. “If Captain Kenny is your enemy onct he’s your enemy allers,
+don’t forgit that.”
+
+“He said something to me about being number two,” I said. “What did
+he--a man is gone!”
+
+I had glanced around hastily, to discover that one of the oar hands was
+missing. Watt Brown followed my gaze.
+
+“Garwell!” murmured the second mate. His face grew dark, and in
+justifiable indignation he leaped to where Captain Kenny lay and shook
+the unconscious man vigorously. “Where is Garwell!” he cried out. “Tell
+me, captain, or I’ll pitch ye overboard! Where is Garwell?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+CAST ASHORE ON LUZON.
+
+
+To Watt Brown’s vigorous questioning Captain Kenny returned not a word.
+Either he was still unconscious or he had recovered and come to the
+conclusion that he had best remain quiet and answer nothing. The mate
+had caught the captain up, now he flung him down on the hard bottom
+of the boat as one unworthy of being touched. “I’ll settle with him
+later,” he muttered and shut his teeth hard, for the missing man had
+been one of his best friends.
+
+“Hadn’t we better stay around here until daylight and look for
+Garwell?” asked Sandram, the sailor who had used his fist so
+effectually upon Captain Kenny’s skull.
+
+“Yes,” said the second mate. “Poor Garwell! He was a fine fellow.”
+
+“None better, Brown,” put in Vincent, the second sailor. “Captain Kenny
+will have a score to settle when this ill-fated cruise comes to an end.”
+
+Slowly the remainder of the night dragged by. With the coming of
+daylight we gazed around eagerly for the body of Garwell and for the
+other small boats. Nothing came to light but the bluish-green and
+never-quiet sea, which rose and fell to the edge of the horizon.
+
+“I want water,” was Captain Kenny’s demand, as he roused up while the
+scanty breakfast was being dealt out.
+
+“Not a drop until you account for Garwell,” returned Watt Brown.
+
+“Account for Garwell? What do you mean?”
+
+“You know well enough. You heaved the poor man overboard.”
+
+“I did not,” roared the captain, but his telltale face belied his
+words. “This is a put-up job against me. Give me the water.”
+
+A wordy war followed. Captain Kenny would confess nothing, but that
+he was guilty there could be no doubt. All that the second mate would
+allow him was one biscuit and half a cupful of the water, now so warm
+it was scarcely palatable. The captain continued to grumble, but
+it availed him nothing, and at last he had to stop, for all of us
+threatened to send him forth as food for the fishes.
+
+The second day was coming to an end when far to the eastward we heard a
+curious booming sound, not unlike a cannonading at a distance.
+
+“What is that?” I questioned.
+
+“It’s the surf, lad!” cried the second mate. “It’s rolling up on a
+shore or over a hidden reef.”
+
+“I hope it’s ashore. Any kind of land in preference to this
+never-ending sea,” I said. “Can you see anything?”
+
+I asked the latter question, for Watt Brown was already on his feet.
+Now Vincent followed, and both gazed eastward a long time.
+
+“I think I see something,” announced the second mate. “But it looks
+like smoke more than anything.”
+
+“It is smoke, blowing from off shore,” put in Vincent. “We must be
+about ten miles from land.”
+
+This announcement filled us with hope, and all, even Captain Kenny,
+took their turns at the oars with renewed vigor. Inside of an hour the
+booming of the surf could be heard quite distinctly, while some of the
+smoke the others had noticed floated almost overhead.
+
+“I see land!” was the second mate’s welcome cry presently. “There is a
+long, low-lying shore and a mountain behind it. We must be at least a
+hundred miles north of Subig Bay.”
+
+We continued to pull until the land could be seen with ease. There was
+a wide stretch of sandy beach, backed up by tall rocks and a heavy
+tropical growth. In the distance the mountain loomed up, surrounded by
+a veil-like mist.
+
+“To port!” cried Watt Brown. “The breakers are too heavy here!” And
+we moved up the coast for a quarter of a mile further. Here there was
+something of a bay and the breakers came to an end. Nearer and nearer
+we crept to land until the first row of stately palms could be seen
+with ease. The mate was on the watch, and finally ordered us to port
+again, and five minutes later, we shot past a tiny coral reef and into
+the bay mentioned. Here the boat ran up upon the sands, and, throwing
+down our oars, we all leaped out and hauled her up still further.
+
+“Thank God we’re safe!” murmured Watt Brown, and took off his cap
+reverently. I did the same, and offered up a silent prayer for my safe
+deliverance from the perils of the deep.
+
+The bay we had entered was pear-shaped and probably five hundred feet
+deep by a hundred and fifty feet wide. The sandy beach at either side
+was many yards wide, but at the inner end the rocks and trees overhung
+the water. From a tropical standpoint it was an ideal spot for a
+painter, and I could not help but take in its beauty, even at such a
+trying time as this. Captain Kenny, however, “stuck up his nose” at it.
+
+“A regular jungle,” he snorted. “We can’t live here.”
+
+“Then you had better take to the water again,” returned Watt Brown
+sharply. “You haven’t got to stay with us, you know.” And this again
+silenced the unreasonable man for the time being.
+
+It was decided that Vincent should walk up the shore on the lookout for
+the other boats, while Sandram was to skirt the bay and try his luck
+in the opposite direction. In the meantime the captain, second mate,
+and myself were to do what we could toward building a fire and finding
+something to eat beside ship’s biscuits.
+
+“You go find something to eat,” grumbled Captain Kenny to Watt Brown
+and me, and threw himself under the nearest tree to rest.
+
+“All right, we’ll go,” answered the second mate. “But remember, Kenny,
+if you haven’t got a good fire started for us when we come back, so we
+can cook whatever we find, you’ll not partake of our supper.” And with
+this pointed remark Brown withdrew and I followed.
+
+“He’s a beast,” I said, when we were out of hearing. “I would rather
+have Ah Sid in the crowd.”
+
+Ah Sid had been the _Dart’s_ cook, a little dried-up Chinaman, but a
+fellow who had always tried to make himself agreeable.
+
+“If he doesn’t behave himself I’ll bounce him out of camp,” was the
+second mate’s answer. “Remember, he is absolutely nothing to us, now
+we are on land.”
+
+“Where do you suppose we are?”
+
+“Somewhere north of Subig Bay, or Port Subig, as the English call it.
+We were making for Point Capones when that dirty hurricane struck our
+ship and sent us into that Chinese junk. I think we must be somewhere
+in the neighborhood of Iba, a settlement something like a hundred miles
+northwest of Manila. But we may be still further away.”
+
+“And what of the natives around here?”
+
+“They are treacherous people, so I’ve been told. The majority of them
+are Tagals, or _Tagaloes_, as the Spanish call ’em. You know all of
+these islands belong to Spain.”
+
+“Yes, I know that only too well, for the Spaniards at Manila have
+caused our business firm no end of trouble. They want to drive the
+Americans out, if they can.”
+
+“They would like to drive all foreigners out, so that they can have the
+wealth of the Philippines to themselves,” went on the second mate, who
+was, as I soon discovered, a well-read man. “You see the islands pay an
+immense sum of money into Spain’s treasury every year.”
+
+“But what of this rebellion here, that I heard of at Hong Kong?”
+
+“Oh, the natives are continually fighting among themselves and against
+the Spanish tax-gatherers, who have their offices located everywhere.
+You see there is a terribly mixed population, of Tagals, Malays,
+Papuan negroes, Chinese, Japanese, and Caucasians, with half- and
+quarter-breeds without number. I understand the Spaniards can count
+over a hundred different kinds of natives alone, and in the islands
+over a hundred and fifty different languages and dialects are spoken.
+It’s a great country. But, come, we must rouse up something to eat.”
+
+“I have my pistol and some cartridges,” I said, and showed my weapon.
+
+“Keep your ammunition until you actually need it, lad. We can knock
+over something alive, as the natives do, with clubs.”
+
+In such a tropical forest clubs were soon found, and, holding these
+ready for use, we tramped on, through thick, dank moss and under masses
+of trailing vines.
+
+“There they go!” shouted Watt Brown suddenly, as a whir sounded out
+ahead. A dozen or more good-sized birds had arisen and his club brought
+down two. Then came another whir to our right, and I let fly and
+brought down a beautiful white pigeon that weighed all of two pounds.
+Another pigeon was wounded and I managed to catch it alive and wring
+its neck. With this haul we returned to the beach.
+
+The second mate’s warning had had its effect upon Captain Kenny, and
+a roaring blaze greeted us, which, in the gathering twilight looked
+quite homelike. The captain had also kicked up about a bucketful of
+shell-fish in the shallow water of the cove.
+
+By the time the fish and other things were cooked, Vincent and Sandram
+came back, each having traveled a good mile out and return. Both
+brought back with them some nearly ripe plantains, commonly called
+bananas in America. All were hungry, and never did a meal taste better
+than did that to me, although I have dined at some of our leading
+hotels.
+
+“I saw nothing but some driftwood,” reported Sandram. “The wood looked
+as if it might have belonged to the _Dart_, but I couldn’t get close
+enough to make sure, as it was out on a reef, among the breakers.”
+
+Vincent had seen nothing of boats or crews, but had made a most
+grewsome discovery.
+
+“I thought at a distance they might be big cocoanuts, lying upon the
+sand,” he said. “But when I came closer I discovered that they were the
+heads of seven negroes, all of whom had been buried in a circle in the
+sand up to their necks.”
+
+“Negroes’ heads!” I ejaculated. “And were the poor fellows dead?”
+
+“Yes, and had been for some time, for the birds had pecked out their
+eyes and carried off parts of their flesh.”
+
+“This is awful, Brown,” I said. “Persons who would do that cannot be
+short of--of----”
+
+“Cannibals, eh, lad?” returned the mate. “Well, some savages
+around here are cannibals yet, Spanish reports to the contrary
+notwithstanding. But I don’t like that ring of heads. It is an old sign
+among the Malays, and signifies that one tribe of people have made war
+on another tribe.”
+
+“If that’s the case, I hope they don’t make war on us,” put in Sandram.
+
+“So do I,” I added; and there the talk dropped, for at that moment a
+sight far out on the ocean thrilled us to the core.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+ADVENTURES IN THE FOREST.
+
+
+The sight that met our gaze was a small boat dancing far out beyond the
+breakers. It contained three men, and as it came in closer, through the
+opening by which we had entered, we made out Tom Dawson, Ah Sid, the
+Chinese cook, and Matt Gory, an Irish sailor.
+
+“It is Dawson’s craft,” murmured Watt Brown. “But it’s only got three
+men aboard instead of five.”
+
+“Dan Holbrook is missing!” I gasped, and once again my heart sank like
+a lump of lead within my bosom.
+
+“Boat ahoy!” yelled Vincent and the others, and the cry was speedily
+returned. Then Tom Dawson noted where we had run in, and ten minutes
+later beached his craft beside our own.
+
+“Glad to see ye!” he cried, as he caught one after another by the hand.
+“I was afraid all of the other boats had gone to the bottom.”
+
+“The captain’s boat went down,” answered Watt Brown soberly. “We saved
+Captain Kenny, but could see nothing of the rest.”
+
+“And where is Dan Holbrook?” I put in impatiently.
+
+“It’s a sorry tale to tell, lad,” answered the first mate of the
+ill-fated _Dart_.
+
+“He was--was drowned?” I could scarcely speak the words.
+
+“He was. You see it was this way. We were running along during the
+night and all hands were utterly worn out and half asleep. Suddenly a
+wave as big as a church bore down on us and nearly swamped our craft. I
+went overboard and so did Dan Holbrook and Casey. All of us went under,
+and when I came up and clambered aboard again, Holbrook and Casey were
+missing.”
+
+“Yis, poor Casey was missin’, God rist his sowl!” murmured Matt Gory,
+who was the missing man’s cousin. He turned to me. “Was you an’ Mister
+Holbrook related, me b’y?” he questioned tenderly.
+
+“No, but--but Dan was almost like a brother,” I answered, in a voice
+that choked me, and then I had to turn away to hide the tears that
+would come.
+
+The only man who seemed to enjoy my sorrow was Captain Kenny, who
+leered at me in a manner that made me feel like leaping upon him and
+hurling him under my feet to be trampled upon. He was my enemy now,
+and I felt he would be my enemy as long as both of us lived.
+
+The only grain of comfort that I could give myself was the fact that
+Tom Dawson’s craft had struck the big wave not far from the coast line.
+It was barely possible that Dan had kept himself afloat until cast up
+on the beach, although, to be sure, this was far from likely.
+
+The night was spent under the palm trees which lined the beach. As
+Vincent had made such a ghastly discovery, it was decided that all
+hands should take an hour at watching. I was awake from one o’clock to
+two on my own watch and also from five to six, when Captain Kenny stood
+guard, but nothing happened to disturb the improvised camp.
+
+It was easy to obtain birds, and shell and other fish, and by eight
+o’clock an appetizing breakfast was in preparation. While eating we
+discussed our situation and decided to remain where we were for one
+day more, hoping to learn what had become of the fourth small boat and
+those who were still missing.
+
+As I had had such luck in knocking over the two pigeons I was delegated
+to go out again to replenish our larder and was accompanied this time
+by Tom Dawson and Gory, the Irish sailor, who had visited the island
+of Luzon twice before. In the meantime the others made an even longer
+tour than before, up and down the shore.
+
+“It’s a great counthry, so it is,” observed Matt Gory, as the three of
+us strode into the forest. “They have a mixed-up population, as you was
+sayin’, and the foightin’ is worse tin toimes over nor a Donnybrook
+Fair. Thim Spaniards be afther thinkin’ they kin control the nagers
+an’ other haythins, but they can’t. They are a thavin’, lyin’ set, an’
+would be afther stabbin’ yez in the back fer a tin-cint piece.”
+
+“But the Spaniards control Manila and the other large cities.”
+
+“So they do, me b’y. But that’s not a drop in the bucket, so to spake,
+wid millions o’ haythins living on a thousand or more islands, some of
+which have niver yit been visited by white men. It will take two or
+three cinturies to make these nagers half dasent, so it will!” And Matt
+Gory shook his head to show that he meant all that he said.
+
+Our talking, and the fire on the beach, had evidently caused an alarm
+among the feathered denizens of the forest, for we had to walk a
+considerable distance before we roused up any game worth bringing down.
+All of us had provided ourselves with clubs and in about an hour we had
+secured eight birds and a small squirrel, which I had dislodged from a
+hollow tree quite by accident.
+
+“There’s a foin birrud!” cried Gory presently. “Hould back, both of
+yez, an’ Oi’ll bring him down!” And he crept off to our left.
+
+He was gone fully three minutes, when we heard the crash of his club
+among some tree branches, followed by a yell of wonder and then a
+scream of fright. “He has stirred up the wrong hornet!” ejaculated Tom
+Dawson. “Come on!” And away he bounded, with I following.
+
+When we reached the Irish sailor he was leaning against a tree, trying
+to knock from his shoulder a bat that we afterward found measured three
+feet from one wing tip to the other. The bat had clutched him firmly
+and was dealing blow after blow, first with one wing and then the other.
+
+“Save me! Hilp! Save me!” gasped Gory, whose wind was almost gone, and
+now a blow on his forehead sent him to the foot of the tree.
+
+Tom Dawson threw his club, but missed his mark. While he was running
+to secure his weapon once more, I leaped forward and hit the bat over
+the head. Instantly he came for me, and I received a crack on the
+cheek that left its mark for several hours. But now another blow from
+my club finished him, and away he sailed with a half-broken wing.
+I was afraid he would return, but he passed out of sight among the
+overhanging vines, not to come back.
+
+“Be jabers, that was a birrud I didn’t calculate on!” gasped Matt Gory
+when he could speak. “Phat was it--a floyin’ windmill?”
+
+“It was a bat, Gory,” I answered. “A tropical bat--and a whopper.”
+
+“I want no more such birruds,” was the Irishman’s response. “Oi reckon
+Oi’ll be more careful of phat Oi tackle in the future,” and he was.
+
+We walked on for half a mile further, for it was a clear day and we
+were not likely to miss our way. The undergrowth was thick and we moved
+with caution, not caring to rouse up some deadly reptile. On all sides
+were stately palm, mahogany, ebony, and other trees of a tropical
+nature, and everywhere hung the ponderous vines, some of them hundreds
+of feet long and as thick as a man’s wrist.
+
+“A snake!” yelled Tom Dawson, of a sudden, and we all fell back,
+while I drew my pistol, not satisfied to trust to a club in such an
+emergency. Matt Gory, who had no use for snakes, took to his heels, and
+that was the last we saw of him for fully a quarter of an hour.
+
+Our alarm proved of short duration, for I soon saw what the supposed
+snake was: the bat we had previously wounded. It was more than half
+dead, and a single blow from Dawson’s stick finished it, and then we
+yelled for Gory to return.
+
+“The Philippine bats knock ours all to pieces,” observed the first
+mate. “We had best take him along.”
+
+“For eating?” I queried.
+
+“Perhaps----” Dawson paused. “You don’t like the idea? Very well, let
+him go then,” and he threw the creature into the brush. I have since
+heard that among certain of the natives these bats are considered a
+great delicacy.
+
+We had begun to ascend a small hill located about a quarter of a mile
+in advance of the mountain I have mentioned several times. I now
+suggested that we push on to the top.
+
+“We can get a good look around from there,” I continued. “And it may be
+that we will see more than the parties that went up and down the shore.”
+
+“Sure an that’s a good idee,” said Matt Gory. “Let us go to the top by
+all means.”
+
+The first mate was willing. “If you don’t find it a tougher climb than
+ye calculate on,” he cautioned.
+
+The first part of the journey was comparatively easy, but the nearer we
+got to the top of the hill the steeper became the side, until we could
+only progress by pulling ourselves up on one vine after another. “Sure
+an if a feller had to do it, he could be afther makin’ step-ladders of
+the voines,” grinned Gory.
+
+Noon found us at the topmost point, at a spot where a bit of table
+land was surrounded by a score of stately palms many yards in height.
+“We can’t see much after all, not unless we climb a tree,” I observed
+disappointedly. “And how we are going to get to the top of one of those
+palms is a conundrum to me.”
+
+“I’ll show you a native trick,” answered Tom Dawson, and cast around
+for a suitable vine. Soon one was found, and he cut off a piece several
+yards long. Throwing this around a tree trunk, he twisted the ends
+about his hands and then began to ascend by bracing his feet against
+the trunk one after another, at the same time leaning his weight back
+so that it was held by the vine, which was slipped up in company with
+each footstep.
+
+“Yez ought to introduce that sthoyle in Americky, among the telephone
+linemen,” observed Gory, with a twinkle in his eye. “Oi only trust the
+vine proves sthrong enough to hold yez until yez reach the top.”
+
+Gory’s hope was fulfilled; indeed the bit of green would have held the
+weight of a dozen men, and once the branches of the palm were gained,
+the first mate of the _Dart_ found it an easy matter to reach the crown
+of the tree. From this point a wide expanse of land and sea came into
+view, and he scrutinized every point of the compass with care.
+
+“There is a native village to the northeast of here,” he announced. “I
+can see forty or fifty bamboo huts and the smoke from several fires.
+There is a road running from the village to a river which winds in
+behind the mountain back of us.”
+
+“And what can you see down to the beach?” I called up.
+
+“Nothing to the south of us.” Tom Dawson turned to look up the coast.
+“By ginger!” we heard him exclaim, in a low voice.
+
+“Phat now?” queried Matt Gory.
+
+“I see--yes, it is--the wreck of the _Dart_, cast up high and dry on
+the shore!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE WRECK ON THE SHORE.
+
+
+Tom Dawson’s discovery filled us with amazement and satisfaction:
+amazement because all of us had thought that the schooner lay at the
+bottom of the China Sea and satisfaction for the reason that all
+thought we might now have a chance to obtain such of our belongings as
+still remained on board of the vessel.
+
+“You are sure it is the _Dart_?” I queried, as the first mate took
+another long look.
+
+“Sure, my lad; I know that craft among a thousand,” was the answer.
+
+“It’s great news,” put in Matt Gory. “Oi haven’t much on board, but
+phat Oi have Oi want, especially that ould dudeen of mine which same
+Oi have smoked these fifteen years.” Since landing he had bewailed the
+loss of his pipe a dozen times.
+
+“If the _Dart_ is up to the north of here, the party that went that way
+must have discovered her too,” I said, as Tom Dawson descended the tree.
+
+“That’s likely, lad. Still, now we have located her, there is no use in
+staying here. We want our things, and I reckon the boat will furnish
+us with all we will need to eat until we get back to civilized parts
+again.”
+
+“We don’t want to lose a minit,” burst out Gory. “If we do, thim
+haythins livin’ in these parts will be afther claimin’ the wreck, an’
+thin they won’t lit us touch a thing.”
+
+“Can they do that?” I asked of the first mate.
+
+“They can if they have the power,” was Dawson’s answer. “In this part
+of our globe, might is right in nine cases out of ten. We’ll hurry all
+we can, and move directly for the wreck instead of going down to the
+old camp.”
+
+Apparently this was good advice, but in the end it proved to be just
+the opposite. We found that getting down the hill was more difficult
+than getting up, and once I took a tumble that landed me directly in
+the midst of a clump of nasty thorns. Matt Gory came after me, and both
+of us were stuck and scratched in more places than I care to mention.
+
+“Oi’m stabbed!” he moaned. “Hilp me out av here! Ouch, be the powers,
+did anywan iver see such a hole as this fer darnin’ nadles, now?”
+
+The first mate helped us both, and after that we proceeded with more
+caution. Halfway down the hill we came upon a beautiful spring of water
+which was almost as cold as ice, and here drank our fill.
+
+I must confess that I was very anxious to get back to the _Dart_, for,
+as will be remembered, I had left my money belt with its precious
+contents behind. This belt I had secreted in a hollow between my
+stateroom and that next to it, and I felt it would be safe so long as
+the elements did not utterly destroy the ship. Besides the belt with my
+gold, silver, and the Manila draft, I had left behind a large packet of
+business papers of great value to our house. If these were lost, I felt
+our firm would have more trouble than ever in the Philippines.
+
+“It’s queer the _Dart_ didn’t sink in the middle of the sea,” I
+observed, as we hurried on through the forest skirting the shore. “How
+do you account for it?”
+
+“Well, we had a light cargo, for one thing, and it was packed pretty
+tightly forward. Maybe some the boxes got jammed in the hole that was
+stove in her,” answered Tom Dawson, and later on, this proved to be
+correct.
+
+The sun was beating down fiercely and the moment we left the shade of
+the trees we felt its full force. But we had now but a short distance
+further to go, so we did not slacken our pace.
+
+“Stop!” cried Tom Dawson suddenly, and held me back, while he motioned
+to Matt Gory to halt.
+
+“What’s up?” I whispered.
+
+“A dozen natives are in possession of the _Dart_. I can see them
+running all over her!”
+
+“That’s too bad, so it is!” groaned the Irish sailor. “To think sech a
+noble vessel should become the prize av sech haythins!”
+
+“Will she really be their prize?” I asked.
+
+For reply the first mate shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know what the
+law is down here,” he ventured.
+
+“Perhaps you can buy them off for a trifle.”
+
+“Not much! There was a time when natives like these could be bought off
+for a string of beads, a roll of calico or a six-inch looking glass,
+but that time is past. They know the value of gold and silver, even if
+paper money is beyond them.”
+
+“What do you propose to do?”
+
+“Oh, we’ll go ahead and claim the ship. But I want to give you a bit of
+advice. Don’t be rash, or it may cost you your life.”
+
+“Thrue fer you,” put in Gory. “Them nagers aint to be thrusted, as I
+said before. Go slow, and be on your guard.”
+
+“I will be cautious,” I answered, and as the memory of the circle
+of heads on the beach flashed across my mind I shuddered. Certainly
+these people, even if they did live but a few miles from the Spanish
+settlements, were far from civilized.
+
+Looking to it that my pistol was ready for use, I followed Dawson out
+on the wide stretch of beach which separated us from the ill-fated
+vessel which we had left but a few days before. The _Dart_ lay high
+out of the water, and a brief glance showed that she had lost none of
+her masts and but little of her rigging. “I’ll wager that five hundred
+dollars will put her into as good a condition as ever,” remarked Tom
+Dawson, and Matt Gory agreed with him.
+
+As the first mate had said, there were a number of natives on the
+craft’s deck, and now we noted another batch of the negroes on the
+shore.
+
+“They are a hard looking-crowd,” I whispered, as I gazed at them. They
+were all men, tall, slim, and wearing little but shirts and loin-cloths
+and head-coverings made of Manila straw. The crowd on the beach was
+chattering away at a lively rate, in a language none of us could
+understand, although I soon became convinced that it was not Spanish.
+
+We had covered half the distance to the _Dart_, when one of the natives
+discovered us and pointed us out to his companions. At once the whole
+party ran forward and surrounded us, asking a dozen questions at once.
+
+[Illustration: “AT ONCE THE WHOLE PARTY RAN FORWARD AND SURROUNDED US,
+ASKING A DOZEN QUESTIONS AT ONCE.”]
+
+“Don’t understand you,” shouted Tom Dawson. “Don’t you speak United
+States?”
+
+“Don’t you speak English?” I added.
+
+The crowd stared at us and all shook their heads. It is doubtful if
+any of them had ever heard the English tongue before, for the majority
+of foreigners in the Philippines take up Spanish as the language of
+commerce when dealing with the natives.
+
+“Here’s a rum go!” whispered Dawson. Then a happy idea struck him and
+he pointed at Gory, me and himself, and then at the _Dart_.
+
+Instead of nodding to show that they understood, the natives scowled
+at us. Then, while the others continued to surround us, one ran off to
+summon those on the ship’s deck. Soon he returned with a fellow who was
+several inches taller than his companions and who showed by his bearing
+that he was some sort of a chief.
+
+Again Dawson went through the pantomime previously described, and again
+the crowd scowled, the chief harder than any of his followers. At once,
+a light burst in upon me.
+
+“I’ll tell you what they are mad about,” I explained to my companions.
+“They think we want to take possession of the _Dart_.”
+
+“Well, that’s jest wot we do want,” growled the first mate.
+
+“Let us try to push our way to the ship,” I went on, and endeavored to
+break away from the Tagals, for such the natives were.
+
+What followed surprised me beyond measure. The chief rushed up, put out
+his foot, gave me a shove, and hurled me flat on the sand. Before I
+could arise he had motioned to another native, and this fellow promptly
+came and sat on my back, thus holding me down!
+
+I might have stood such treatment, rather than risk bloodshed, but the
+attack was more than Matt Gory could stand. His hot Irish blood boiled
+instantly, and raising his club he hit the fellow on top of me a blow
+that all but knocked him senseless.
+
+“Yez will sit on him, will yez?” he cried. “Take that, an’ look out
+that yez don’t git another that’s worse, bedad!” and he stepped back
+and stood at bay.
+
+A fierce, blood-curdling yell went up, and almost a score of war clubs
+and spears were brandished in the air.
+
+“Now you’ve put your foot into it!” ejaculated Tom Dawson. “Come, let
+us retreat, before it is too late!”
+
+By pure good luck, we tore ourselves free from the natives who sought
+to hold us back. Dawson was already running for the forest. Gory now
+followed, and I came behind. With another yell, twice as loud as
+before, the Tagals came after us, launching several spears as they did
+so.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ATTACKED BY THE TAGALS.
+
+
+“_Woora camba, woora!_”
+
+Such was the war cry which was raised,--or, at least, that is how it
+sounded to me. Then came the spears, and Gory gave a yell.
+
+“Oi’m kilt!” he gasped. “Oi’m a dead mon!”
+
+“No, you’re not!” I answered. “That spear only nipped your ear. Hurry
+up, or you will be killed, for certain!” and I grabbed him by the arm.
+
+We had a lead of fifty feet and the Tagals were lessening this
+steadily, when, to frighten them, Tom Dawson turned and fired a pistol
+shot over their heads.
+
+The effect was instantaneous. All of the natives came to a standstill
+and several began to retreat.
+
+“I thought that would fetch ’em,” puffed the first mate. “I reckon they
+don’t know much about firearms.”
+
+But Dawson was mistaken, as we found out later. During the past the
+natives had known but little of pistols and guns, but now for several
+years they had seen them in the hands of both the Spanish soldiers
+and those who were in rebellion against the Spanish crown, and had
+even stood up in battle, on the side of those who wanted to make the
+Philippines free and independent of the rest of the world, be that
+movement, under General Aguinaldo, for good or for evil.
+
+The natives had halted and some had sought safety in flight, but
+now the chief issued several orders, and they came on again, more
+determined than ever. Soon they divided, and entered the forest to the
+north and south of us.
+
+The division gave the first mate a good deal of concern. “It’s a
+splendid move--for them,” he muttered. “I reckon they know the woods
+like a book, too.”
+
+“Can they have made prisoners of the party who came up here this
+morning?” I ventured.
+
+“Sure an’ that’s more than loikely,” put in Matt Gory. “If they catch
+us I’m afther thinkin’ we’ll be ristin’ in a circle in the sand, too.
+Come on.” And he tried to increase his speed.
+
+But our previous climb had made us tired and soon I became so exhausted
+I felt ready to drop. Tom Dawson was puffing painfully, his face the
+color of a beet.
+
+“I--I can’t keep it up--no use of tryin’!” he gasped.
+
+“Neither can I,” I returned. “But if we are caught----”
+
+“I don’t believe they will dare do much to us.”
+
+“We must go on!” urged Gory. “Thim haythins--listen to that!”
+
+The Irish sailor broke off short, as a cry from the beach reached our
+ears. A yell followed, and then came several pistol shots.
+
+“The other party has arrived, or is trying to break away,” I burst out.
+“Maybe we had better go back.”
+
+“I think so myself,” answered the first mate. “We count three and if
+there are three more that will give us six, and six white men ought to
+be able to subdue four times that number of such wretches.”
+
+We turned on our tracks, just as a crashing in the brush to our left
+came to our ears. Soon we were making for the beach with all of the
+strength left to us.
+
+When we came out into the open we found Watt Brown, Vincent, and
+Sandram in a hand-to-hand fight with four natives that had been left
+to watch the wreck. So far the contest had been an even one, but more
+natives were hurrying in the direction, and soon the second mate and
+his men found themselves surrounded. As I came closer I saw Sandram go
+down, a spear through his left shoulder.
+
+“Messmates ahoy!” shouted Matt Gory. “Hould th’ fort until we git
+there!” and coming closer, he let fly his club, taking one native in
+the head and landing him on the sand with a cracked skull.
+
+In another moment we were all mixed up, and each one fighting along as
+he saw best. I was struck twice, once on the head, and this blow dazed
+me and made me stagger to the edge of the woods and sink down on a
+rock. I tried to get up, but found myself too weak to do so and had to
+content myself with taking shots at long range with my revolver, until
+a Tagal came up and kicked the weapon from my hand and made me a close
+prisoner by binding my arms behind me with twisted vines.
+
+In less than a quarter of an hour the fight was over, and two natives
+and poor Sandram lay dead on the beach, while several on both sides
+were walking around trying to deaden the pain of wounds which were more
+or less serious. An ear-splitting whistle from the chief of the Tagals
+had brought twenty or thirty others to the scene, and now our party of
+five were all made prisoners, Sandram being cast out into the waves
+which lapped the _Dart’s_ sides.
+
+“Here’s a pickle, truly!” growled Tom Dawson. “I wonder what they
+intend to do with us?”
+
+“Mebbe they’ll eat us, hang ’em!” answered Watt Brown.
+
+“No, they are no longer cannibals,” put in Vincent. “But you can make
+up your minds that we won’t sleep on a bed of roses to-night.”
+
+“They have no right to make us prisoners,” went on the first mate. “I
+wonder if there is any Spanish officer near here. I know there is one
+at Iba.”
+
+“We could find out if only some of them understood English,” said I.
+“Let me see. The Spanish name for a Spaniard is _Un Español_. I’ll try
+them on that.”
+
+Walking up to the chief, I repeated the words, “_Un Español_,” several
+times. At this he gave a sickly grin, then shook his head decidedly.
+
+“If he knows any Spaniard in authority here he is not going to take us
+to him,” was Tom Dawson’s comment. “My private opinion is that they
+know perfectly well that this ship belongs to us, but they mean to keep
+the prize for themselves, and rather than have any trouble with the
+Spanish authorities about her, they’ll put us all out of the way.”
+
+“That’s not unlikely,” added Watt Brown. “You must remember that all
+of the people in this part of the world used to be nateral-born
+pirates--those with Malay blood especially.”
+
+“I don’t believe in giving up the ship, not if it can be helped,” said
+I.
+
+“Neither do I!” answered Tom Dawson, and the others nodded in agreement.
+
+“The only question is,” continued Watt Brown, “now that we abandoned
+the _Dart_, doesn’t she belong to whoever finds her?”
+
+“What can these nagers do wid a ship like her?” burst out Matt Gory.
+“Sure an’ they wouldn’t know how to manage her, even if they sthopped
+up the lake in her bow!”
+
+At this point the chief of the natives came forward and motioned for
+us to be silent, and when Gory attempted to go on, slapped the Irish
+sailor on the cheek. Gory was “boiling mad,” as the saying goes,
+but could do nothing with his hands bound behind him; and so the
+conversation had to be dropped.
+
+The _Dart_ had stranded at the mouth of a fair-sized stream flowing
+into the ocean, or to be more correct, the China Sea, and lay secure
+from any ordinary storm which might come up. I wondered how she had
+gotten in past the breakers so well, and so did Tom Dawson, as he told
+me later. It was easily explained when we learned the truth, which now
+was not long in being revealed.
+
+We had been joined in pairs and were now made to march away from the
+seacoast and toward the native village of Bumwoga, a collection of
+ramshackle bamboo huts, the same we had seen from the top of the hill
+at the time the _Dart_ was located. We were in the custody of one-half
+of the chief’s guard, the other natives moving off for the vessel, to
+loot her of whatever came handy.
+
+At the village we met the first Tagal women, creatures by no means
+bad-looking. They were almost as simply dressed as their husbands and
+brothers. There were also a great number of little children, who stared
+at us with eyes as big as moons and then dove into the huts out of
+sight, fearful that the _nooga-nu_, or bogie-men, had come to carry
+them away.
+
+The sun still beat down fiercely, and by the time the center of the
+village was gained I was ready to drop from exhaustion. Indeed, I did
+stagger. Seeing this, Tom Dawson, who had been bound to me, braced me
+up, and then we sank on a grassy mound close to a tall mahogany tree.
+As we remained quiet, no one, for the time being, disturbed us.
+
+The village of Bumwoga was certainly a curious-looking place, and under
+other circumstances I would have viewed all that it contained with
+much interest. But just now my interest was centered in myself and my
+companions, and I constantly speculated upon the fate which awaited us.
+
+We had been in the village about an hour, and the chief was in earnest
+conversation with his followers, when there came several pistol shots
+from the direction of the seacoast. “Captain Kenny and the others have
+come up,” murmured Tom Dawson. “I hope the natives get the worst of
+it.” He was right, the captain had come up, but the natives overcame
+him by sheer force of numbers, and he and his men, including the
+Chinese cook, were bound and placed on the _Dart_. What this turn of
+affairs led to we will see in the later chapters of my tale.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE FLIGHT FROM BUMWOGA.
+
+
+“This is slow, lad.”
+
+“It is trying, Dawson. I wonder how long they expect to keep us here?”
+
+“I’m sure I can’t guess, lad,--perhaps until we die of old age.”
+
+“And what do you suppose they have done with the others?”
+
+“Can’t say as to that either--maybe killed ’em all off and stewed ’em
+in the pot,” and with a voluminous sigh the first mate of the _Dart_
+turned over and fell into a light doze.
+
+Dawson and I had been confined in one of the bamboo huts. We were tied
+fast to a thin palm tree, the top of which waved far above the hut
+roof. The place was about twelve feet square and was open at two sides.
+The floor was covered with broken palm leaves and refuse of all sorts,
+and the whole place was vile-smelling and alive with vermin.
+
+We had been prisoners in the village for three days, and the time
+seemed like so many years. Twice a day an ugly old negro woman came in
+to give us meals of rice cakes, fish, and native fruits, and to leave
+us an earthen jug full of brackish water.
+
+“This is a good place to catch a fever,” I had said to Dawson, the day
+before, and since that time he had declared that the fever was slowly
+but surely getting into his system.
+
+I had tried to talk to the old woman and to several of the natives that
+had dropped in upon us out of curiosity, but nobody understood me and
+none were able or willing to give us aid.
+
+The night to follow brought on a heavy storm, almost as severe as that
+which had caused us to abandon our ship. About half the men of Bumwoga
+were away and the remainder, with the women and children, huddled in
+the huts to escape the fury of the elements. The rain came down “by the
+bucketful,” and soon the single street of the village was six inches
+deep with water, which flowed around the spot where Tom Dawson and I
+were held close prisoners.
+
+“If this keeps on, we’ll be drowned,” I remarked dismally. “One thing
+is certain, if we want to catch any sleep to-night we’ll have to do it
+standing up.”
+
+“Who could sleep with such a racket!” growled Dawson. “Why, just listen
+to that!”
+
+“That” was a fearful crack of thunder, which rolled and roared among
+the hills and mountains to the east and north of the village. The
+thunder was followed by another downpour, and outside all remained
+pitch-black.
+
+“I’ll tell you what, Dawson!” I cried, after a pause, for the crash had
+taken away my breath. “If we want to get away, to-night is the time to
+do it!”
+
+“That’s true, Oliver. But how are we to manage the trick? I’ve turned
+and twisted until my wrists are so sore they are ready to run blood.
+This vine-rope is as tough as a steel cable.”
+
+“I think I see a way,” I answered. “I was afraid somebody would spot
+us if I mentioned it before. When the old woman brought us in that
+shell-fish this afternoon, I managed to save a bit of shell and hide it
+in my pocket. The edge is sharp, and by sawing on the vines I think I
+can cut them. The question is, can we escape even after the vines are
+cut? I rather think we’ll run the risk of our lives.”
+
+“Let us try it anyway, lad; anything is better than staying here,” said
+Dawson.
+
+I immediately produced the bit of shell and set to work. I could not
+reach my own bonds very well, but I could reach those of my companion,
+and after fifteen minutes of hard labor, the first mate was liberated.
+Then he took the shell and began upon my wrists.
+
+The storm kept up, and of a sudden came a blinding flash of lightning
+and an electrical shock that pitched Dawson headlong. The top of the
+palm tree had been hit and knocked off, leaving the stump above the hut
+burning like a gigantic torch.
+
+I was too dazed for several minutes to speak or move, and my companion
+was scarcely less affected. Then, however, Dawson leaped up to finish
+his work.
+
+“Free!” I cried, as the vines snapped asunder, and hand in hand we ran
+for one of the hut openings. A dozen feet away lay the top of the palm
+tree, blazing furiously and spluttering in the never-ending downpour.
+By this uncertain light we saw that the village street was deserted.
+
+Where to go? was now the burning question. I looked at the first mate
+and he looked at me. Both of us realized only too well what a false
+move might mean.
+
+“That’s south--the way we want to go,” he said, throwing out his hand.
+“Come on,” and off we set, among the huts and across a patch of low
+brush. We were less than a hundred yards off when a savage yell told us
+that our escape had been discovered.
+
+“We’ve got to leg it now, my boy!” ejaculated Tom Dawson. “Oh, if only
+I had that pistol of mine!”
+
+“And if I only had mine too,” I added. All of our belongings,
+excepting our clothing, had been confiscated.
+
+At the further side of the brush we came to a small stream, which we
+plunged into ere we had time to draw back.
+
+“Look out, it may be over your head!” shouted Dawson; but the warning
+was not needed, as the watercourse proved to be less than a yard deep
+at any point. The bottom was of sand and small stones, and both sides
+were overhung with brush, moss, and the ever-present vines.
+
+“Hold on,” whispered my companion, as I was about to step out of the
+stream. “It may be safer here than anywhere, for water leaves no trail.
+Let us keep to the middle of the stream and see where it brings us.”
+
+I thought this was good advice, and we hurried on in silence, but both
+on guard for fear of plunging into some deep hole. A hundred feet were
+covered and we heard the shout again, but this time closer, showing
+that the Tagals were indeed on the trail.
+
+“If it comes to the worst we can sit down in the water and only keep
+our mouths and noses out,” remarked Dawson. “I’m not going to be
+captured again if I can prevent it--no, sirree!”
+
+We moved along with added caution, for we could now hear the natives
+shouting one to another from several different points. The storm still
+continued, and both of us were wet to the skin, so a slip to the bottom
+of the shallow river would have proved no hardship.
+
+“Stop!” The command came in a soft whisper, and instantly I halted.
+Both of us listened intently, and I heard what had caused Dawson to
+stop me--a splashing of water ahead.
+
+“Somebody is moving around ahead of us!” he whispered into my ear.
+“Those Tagals are regular imps for following a fellow!”
+
+“Their one study is bush and forest life,” I answered. “But what shall
+we do--leave the stream?”
+
+“Let us wait a moment and listen.”
+
+We did so, and the splashing came nearer. But now it did not sound
+altogether like footsteps, and I told the first mate so.
+
+“I agree with you,” he said. “But it’s something, that’s certain, a
+wild beast, or--Great Scott! lad, make for the bank--quick!”
+
+Tom Dawson caught me by the arm and made a furious leap, and I
+followed. Both of us floundered down, but were up in a trice, and none
+too soon, for even in the gloom we presently beheld the ugly head of a
+cayman stuck up close to the river bank.
+
+“An alligator!” I screamed, and ran still further away. Dawson did not
+hesitate to follow me, and at the same time screamed as loudly as I
+did. Then of a sudden he paused, screamed again and gave a sudden loud
+moan and shriek as if in mortal agony.
+
+“Now, don’t make a sound,” he whispered, as the shriek came to an end.
+“Ten to one those natives will think the alligators have eaten us.”
+
+“I hope they do,” I answered, understanding his ruse and delighted with
+it. “But which way now?”
+
+“We seem to be moving up a hill. Let us keep on until the top is
+gained. I am sure that will take us away from the village, and that is
+what we want.”
+
+On and on we went, the wet brush slashing in our faces. Often we sank
+into muddy holes up to our knees, but each time one would help the
+other out. Whenever a flash of lightning lit up the firmament we tried
+to look about us, but the forest cut off the view.
+
+“I can’t go much further,” I gasped, at last, when Dawson announced
+a big cliff ahead. “We ought to find some sort of shelter there,” he
+said, and he was not mistaken. Under a portion of the cliff was a
+cave-like opening several yards in depth, and into this we crowded, out
+of the fury of the storm. We listened intently, but for the balance of
+that night saw or heard no more of the Tagals.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE BATTLE AT A DISTANCE.
+
+
+Morning dawned as mornings do in the tropics. There is no gradual
+coming on of daylight. The sun came up in all of its fiery splendor,
+and day was at hand, hot, oppressive, and enervating. To look around
+one would have thought that it had not rained for a week, yet there was
+a steam in the air--a steam that by noon gave place to a peculiar vapor
+laden with that smell which, once experienced, is not easily forgotten,
+the smell of rank vegetation mingled with the delicious odor of spices.
+
+“And how do you feel, Oliver?” asked the first mate, as I sat up and
+rubbed my eyes. “Perhaps you forget where you are?”
+
+“No, I don’t forget, but I am tremendously sleepy yet,” I answered, as
+I stretched myself. “What time is it, do you think?”
+
+“Not seven yet.”
+
+“Then I haven’t slept very long, after all. I thought by the light it
+must be close upon noon.” I paused. “I wish I had something to eat.”
+
+“So do I, lad; but we’ll have to stay our stomachs until we are further
+away from those Tagals, I’m thinking. I’ve been looking around and I
+don’t think the top of this hill is far off. Let us get to there and
+take in the lay of the land.”
+
+As there seemed nothing better to do, I agreed, and we began the
+ascent of the cliff, which was composed of lava principally, for the
+Philippine Islands are largely of volcanic origin, and have numerous
+volcanoes which are in constant operation. The cliff passed, we began
+another trudge through the woods.
+
+I had noticed butterflies, small and big, before, but now these
+beautiful creatures became more plentiful than ever, until at one point
+our way was almost blinded by them.
+
+“It’s like a snow-storm of ’em, aint it?” remarked Dawson, and his
+picture was about correct, excepting that, while a portion of them were
+milky white, the others were of every shade imaginable.
+
+We had hoped to gain the top of the hill by ten o’clock, but it was
+afternoon before we came out on the stretch of tableland that was its
+highest point. As before, the tableland was surrounded by palms, so
+both Dawson and I had to climb into the trees to get a look around.
+
+We first turned our eyes toward the China Sea, which rolled and
+glistened like molten gold in the bright sunlight. Far away two sails
+were visible, mere specks upon the horizon. At the beach the breakers
+rolled and broke, sending the white spume almost up to the roots of the
+palms that fringed the sand. From the point we occupied the mouth of
+the river where the _Dart_ lay was concealed from view.
+
+“Nothing of interest in that direction,” observed Dawson, and turned
+carefully to take a look inland. Soon he uttered a cry of astonishment.
+
+“What do you see?” I queried.
+
+“What do I see?” he repeated. “Hang me if I don’t see about the biggest
+battle on record!”
+
+“A battle?” I cried, and turned among the branches to get a view myself.
+
+“Yes, a battle. Don’t you hear the guns?”
+
+I listened, and sure enough from a great distance I heard the crack and
+roll of musketry. At first I could not locate the sounds, but presently
+saw the thin white smoke ascending from a valley far to our east, a
+valley hedged in between two tall mountains.
+
+“Can you make out who is fighting?” I asked, straining my eyes to the
+utmost.
+
+“It looks to me like soldiers on one side and natives on the other,”
+answered the first mate. “The soldiers are driving the other fellows
+up the valley. There must be about five hundred men fighting on each
+side.”
+
+“Can the Tagals be waging war on the Spaniards?”
+
+“I reckon they are rebels under General Aguinaldo, who has been their
+acknowledged leader for over a year.”
+
+“And do they expect to win their freedom?”
+
+“I suppose so, although, even if they do throw off the yoke of Spain, I
+don’t believe they are capable of governing themselves.”
+
+“They certainly are not, if they are all like the fellows who made us
+prisoners.”
+
+“Oh, the better class of Tagals are not like these, lad. Why, I’ve been
+told that, in Manila, some of them are quite ladies and gentlemen. They
+can read and write, and affect the Spanish fashions.”
+
+The tide of battle had now swept up the valley, and we heard and saw
+nothing more of the contest. We gave the surroundings another good
+look, and then descended to mother earth.
+
+“I’ve got an idea,” said Dawson. “If we can find one of the small
+boats, why not stock her up with provisions and water and then sail
+down the coast to the nearest seaport settlement to Manila--say Port
+Subig? That will save us a tedious and perhaps dangerous trip overland.”
+
+“That’s a good idea, especially as we don’t want to get mixed up in
+this fight between the insurgents and the Spanish. But what of the
+_Dart_ and our things on board of her?”
+
+“Ten to one the natives have already looted the ship, Oliver. As it is,
+we can do nothing but notify those in Manila who were interested in her
+cargo. Perhaps they’ll help us in the matter, for their own sakes.”
+
+“And what of the others who were made prisoners?”
+
+“Alone and without weapons what can we do for them? If we can organize
+a party in Manila to come here and straighten out matters we’ll be
+doing well.”
+
+Both of us were tremendously hungry, and now we cast about for
+something to eat. But little could be found on the hill outside of a
+few cocoanuts, and soon we were on our way to the seacoast, taking care
+to give the Tagal settlement a wide berth.
+
+We had just stepped out upon the sand when we saw a figure clad in a
+flowing frock coming toward us at top speed.
+
+“Ah Sid, as I’m a sinner!” burst out Tom Dawson, as he recognized the
+Chinese cook of the _Dart_. “Hi! hi! where are you running to?” he
+called out.
+
+At the sound of the first mate’s voice the little Chinaman came to a
+dead halt. “Who callee?” he yelled. “Who callee Ah Sid?”
+
+“I called you, you monkey. Come here,” answered Dawson, and now Ah Sid
+saw us and reached our side on the double-quick.
+
+“Me gittee away flom bad man,” he puffed. “Hide in tree woods, or him
+cochee all flee--lun! lun!” And he lost no time in diving into the
+forest, and we came after him.
+
+We had scarcely concealed ourselves when two Tagals burst into view,
+skipping along the sands with long spears in their hands, ready to be
+launched forth at the first sight of the terror-stricken Celestial.
+Ah Sid’s footprints were plainly visible, so they lost no time in
+following him into the forest.
+
+“We must down them!” whispered Dawson excitedly, and as one of the
+Tagals passed him he leaped out, caught hold of the man’s spear,
+and threw him headlong. Seeing this, I threw myself on the second
+copper-colored rascal, and a fierce, all-around struggle ensued.
+
+It was little Ah Sid who turned the tide of battle in our favor.
+Paralyzed at first with fear, he quickly recovered, and picking up a
+big stone, approached and struck first one enemy and then the other on
+the head. The blows were well directed and heavy, and each Tagal went
+down insensible.
+
+“Good for you, Ah Sid!” cried Tom Dawson. “You can fight, even if you
+are a heathen.”
+
+“Shall me finish um?” asked the cook, as he still held the stone which
+had done such good work.
+
+“No, no, that would be murder!” I ejaculated in horror. “They are both
+pretty badly done for and won’t get over this for an hour or more. Come
+on, unless there are more coming.”
+
+“Only dese two, Mlister Raymond. Where you goee?”
+
+“We thought we might find one of the small boats,” answered the mate.
+
+“Little boatee dlis way.” Ah Sid pointed down the beach. “Hurry if
+wantee him, or bad man git um.”
+
+Away we went, the Chinaman leading the party. As he ran he managed to
+tell us that he had escaped from the Tagals two days before, but had
+been unable to get away from the territory. “Watt Brown, Matt Gory, and
+um captain gittee away, too,” he concluded. “No knowee where them goee
+dough.”
+
+It did not take long to reach the small boat, which lay in the cove
+where we had originally landed. The second small boat was gone, the
+natives having carried it off.
+
+“Now for a stock of provisions,” I said. “We will have to thresh
+around the woods at a lively rate, if we want to get away before night.”
+
+“We won’t hunt for any more than we actually need,” answered Tom
+Dawson. “And Ah Sid will help us, I know,” and he explained to the cook
+what we proposed to do.
+
+“Me catchee blirds very soon,” answered Ah Sid, and procured a long,
+thin switch. With this he entered the forest, and soon brought down
+several birds, including three pigeons. He would stir them up from the
+grass, and a lightning-like crack of the switch would finish them.
+
+“Hold hard!” cried Tom Dawson, while we were in the midst of our
+labors. “Hold hard, somebody is coming!”
+
+We instantly became silent and listened. The first mate was right,
+three persons were coming through the forest, and they were heading
+directly for the spot where the boat lay.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+OFF FOR SUBIG BAY.
+
+
+Slowly the footsteps came closer, as though the three persons were
+approaching with extreme caution.
+
+“Perhaps they heard us,” I whispered to Tom Dawson, and he nodded. “If
+they are natives what shall we do?”
+
+“We’ll have to trust to luck, lad. I would rather fight to the end than
+become a prisoner again.”
+
+“So will I fight.”
+
+I had a club which I had been using in knocking over game, and this I
+held ready for any emergency which might present itself. Slowly the
+three newcomers came closer, then stopped short, and we heard not
+another sound.
+
+I must confess that my heart leaped into my throat, as I had a mental
+vision of a tall Tagal sneaking up behind me and running me through
+with his cruel spear. Were the newcomers trying to surround us?
+
+Five minutes passed,--it was more than an age to me,--and still the
+silence continued, broken only by the birds as they fluttered from
+tree to brush. From a distance came the incessant hum of millions of
+tropical insects, but to this sound I had long since become accustomed.
+
+“Begorra, Oi don’t see nothin at all, at all!” came in a rich Irish
+voice not a dozen yards away from me. “If they be haythins, where are
+they?”
+
+“Matt Gory!” I burst out. “Matt Gory, is that you?”
+
+“The saints be praised, it’s Oliver Raymond!” came from the delighted
+Irishman, and now he rushed forward and literally embraced me. “I was
+afther thinkin’ ye was one av thim villainous Tagals!”
+
+Gory was followed by Watt Brown and Captain Kenny. The second mate was
+also delighted to see me. Captain Kenny, however, merely scowled, and
+then turned to Dawson and Ah Sid.
+
+Our various stories were soon told, and we learned that the newcomers
+had also intended to hunt up a small boat. “I intended to cut down a
+sapling and hoist some kind of a sail,” said Watt Brown. “Sailing down
+to Subig Bay will be far better than to make the journey overland,
+especially during these trying times.”
+
+Watt Brown had had one advantage over us. He had met a Spaniard who
+could speak a little English, and from this man had learned a good
+deal that was decidedly interesting.
+
+“The natives have made war on the Spaniards tooth and nail,” he said.
+“Not only the neighborhood around Manila, but the whole of the island
+of Luzon is up in arms. General Aguinaldo had under him something like
+forty to fifty thousand Tagals, Philippine Spaniards, and others,
+and they have declared for independence. They swear they will pay no
+further taxes to the Spanish.”
+
+“But all people have to pay taxes,” I ventured.
+
+“Yes, but not as the Filipinos do, my boy. They are taxed for about
+everything they eat and everything they drink, and they pay a tax for
+doing business. They can’t cut down a tree, or shear a sheep, or pull
+down cocoanuts without paying a tax to the government. Besides this,
+they have also to pay large sums of money to the Church, and so they
+are kept poverty-stricken from year to year. I don’t blame ’em for
+revolting, as it is called.”
+
+“Spain is having her hands full just now,” remarked Tom Dawson. “The
+war in Cuba is ten times worse than the war here, I’m thinking.”
+
+“That Spaniard I met was very angry against us Americans,” resumed Watt
+Brown. “He said Americans are aiding the Cubans, and if we didn’t look
+out Spain would punish us for it.”
+
+This caused Dawson to laugh. “Ha! ha! The idea of Spain doing anything
+to Uncle Sam,” he said. “I reckon we can take care of ourselves, every
+trip.”
+
+How right he was later events proved.
+
+As there were now six of us, we worked with more confidence. Each of us
+had a good club, and we provided ourselves with stones that were jagged
+of edge, to use in case of sudden attack. Ah Sid also made himself a
+sling shot out of a pliable tree branch and showed us what he could do
+with this weapon by bringing down a pigeon with a stone at a distance
+of fifty yards.
+
+It was nearly nightfall by the time we had brought in our birds,
+pigeons, and fish and cooked them. In the meantime Watt Brown had been
+as good as his word and had rigged up a small mast and a sail on the
+_Mollie_, as he had dubbed the craft. The sky was clear and it promised
+to be moonlight, and we decided to leave the coast as soon as we had
+eaten supper, which would be our last meal on shore for probably three
+or four days, if not a week.
+
+“We must keep our eyes peeled for those Tagals,” remarked Tom Dawson,
+as we squatted around the camp-fire. “If we don’t they may surprise us,
+and then our cake will be dough.”
+
+The _Mollie_ lay ready for shoving off, so we could leave at the first
+sign of danger. As we ate we discussed the situation and what the
+future was likely to bring forth.
+
+“I shall demand that the Spanish government give me protection to take
+the _Dart_ into a proper harbor,” said Captain Kenny, who was now,
+perforce, perfectly sober. “Those Tagals have no legal claim to the
+wreck.”
+
+“But they must have some claim,” I answered.
+
+“No claim whatever--and I can prove it,” returned the captain, as he
+glared at me.
+
+“How can you prove that, captain?” asked Tom Dawson. “Every man of us
+left her--there is no gainsaying that.”
+
+“Never mind; I can prove they have no claim upon her,” was the
+captain’s answer, but further than that he would not say.
+
+Our supper was scarcely concluded when the moon came up over the rim of
+the sea, as white as new silver. We began our preparations to embark
+without further delay. As we worked I saw Captain Kenny eye me in a
+strange manner that gave me a cold chill, and I resolved to be more
+than ever on my guard against him.
+
+Our provisions and ourselves made as much of a load as the _Mollie_
+could safely carry, and at the last moment some cocoanuts had to be
+left behind. Water was stored away in the bucket which had been used
+for bailing out the craft and in hollow stalks of bamboo, the latter
+making first-class receptacles. The cooked things were wrapped in palm
+leaves and covered with damp seaweed.
+
+The captain, the two mates, and Matt Gory took the oars, and a few
+well-directed strokes took the _Mollie_ out of the cove and well on
+toward the opening in the line of breakers. “We’ll have to row and
+watch out, too, since the boy can’t do anything,” grumbled Captain
+Kenny. I firmly believe, had he had his way, he would have left me
+behind.
+
+“Watch for the opening, Oliver,” said Tom Dawson. “You can do that as
+well as anyone.” I did as directed, and before long the dangerous line
+of coral was passed and we were riding the long stretches of the China
+Sea as safely as though crossing the Bay of San Francisco.
+
+Fortunately, not only Captain Kenny, but also Dawson and Brown, could
+read the stars with ease, so but little trouble was experienced in
+holding to a course which was certain to bring us down to Subig Bay
+sooner or later. The wind was favorable, and the sail being hoisted the
+oars were shipped, and we took it easy under the pale gleaming of the
+Southern Cross.
+
+“We may as well divide up into watches,” suggested Tom Dawson, and
+after some talk it was decided that he, Matt Gory, and myself should
+stand the first watch of four hours, while the captain, Watt Brown, and
+Ah Sid took the second watch of equal length.
+
+In this manner the night passed without incident, for when I slept I
+did so between my two friends, so I was safe from any evil designs that
+Captain Kenny might have upon me, even had he dared to carry them out
+while the second mate was on watch with him.
+
+Sunrise found us still in sight of land, at a point where the mountains
+of Luzon ran directly down into the sea. The air was filled with a
+bluish mist, and by ten o’clock was oppressive to the last degree.
+
+“It’s a good thing we have the sail,” I remarked. “Nobody could
+possibly row in this awful heat.”
+
+“The sail may not do us any good presently,” answered Watt Brown.
+
+“Why not?”
+
+“Don’t you see how the wind is dying down?”
+
+The second mate was right, and presently the sail flapped idly against
+the stumpy mast. Tom Dawson looked at the oars, picked up one of the
+blades, let it fall again, and shook his head. “Too blasted hot, no use
+of talking.”
+
+“I think I would rather lay under the shadow of yonder mountain than
+out here all day,” said Brown. “What do you say, boys; shall we pull
+for the shore?”
+
+A vote was taken, and it was found that even Captain Kenny preferred
+land to that boiling and sizzling sea. But he declined to row. “Let the
+boy take a hand,” he said.
+
+I was willing, and I think I can safely say that I made fairly good
+progress. “I can run an engine or a steam launch, but I never had much
+of a chance at a row- or sail-boat,” I explained.
+
+“By the way, what is taking you to Manila, if I may ask?” questioned
+the second mate curiously.
+
+“It’s partly business and partly pleasure. You know my father is a
+member of the firm of Raymond, Holbrook & Smith, manufacturers of
+engines and sugar-making machinery. I wanted a vacation and was sent to
+Hong Kong and Manila, to get the fresh air and learn the business at
+the same time.”
+
+“You say you can run an engine?”
+
+“Oh, yes, I can run almost anything that goes by steam,” I laughed. “I
+take to it naturally, although I don’t intend to become an engineer.
+Now if the _Dart_ had only carried a steam or naphtha launch, we would
+have been all right,” and here this talk came to an end.
+
+Finding a landing at the mountain side was not easy, for the waves ran
+up strongly against those rocks, which, in some places, were a hundred
+feet in height. But we discovered a small canyon, or split, and ran
+into this, a delightful locality, as shady as it was cool and inviting.
+Again the boat was beached, and we hopped ashore, I, however, never
+dreaming that that was to be my last trip in the little craft.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+ATTACKED IN THE CANYON.
+
+
+A good sleep during the night had rested me thoroughly; so, while the
+others sat around, talking or smoking “home-made” cigars, made out of
+some native tobacco which Matt Gory had secured during his wanderings,
+I started up the canyon on a short tour of exploration.
+
+“I’ve heard that there is gold on this island,” I laughed, when Tom
+Dawson asked me where I was bound. “I’m going to strike a bonanza.”
+
+“Look out that you don’t stir up some wild animal big enough to chew
+you up,” he yelled after me.
+
+The canyon was filled with brushwood and vines, with here and there
+heavy clusters of tropical flowers, so odoriferous that they were
+positively sickening. Some of these flowers, I afterward learned, can
+readily put one to sleep if you sit by them long enough.
+
+I found an easy path to the top of the canyon, at a point where the
+walls were fifty to sixty feet high and three times as far apart. At
+the top was a patch of smooth ground, back of which began the upward
+slope of the mountain.
+
+I kept my eyes open for wild animals, but nothing of size presented
+itself, although I detected something moving near the mountain top,
+probably some Philippine goats. There were countless birds, and in a
+dark corner of the canyon I roused up half a dozen bats, none of which,
+however, offered to molest me.
+
+Coming to a truly beautiful spot, where a tiny mountain stream formed
+a waterfall that leaped and danced in the sunshine striking through
+some flowered brushwood, I threw myself down and gave myself up to
+reflection.
+
+What a variety of adventures had I passed through since leaving home!
+In Hong Kong the days had not passed without incident, and now here I
+was, cast away on the island of Luzon, minus my money and the documents
+I had been intrusted to deliver, and in a land that was practically in
+a state of war.
+
+And yet I knew absolutely nothing of the important events which were
+transpiring in what might be called the outer world. I did not know
+that the war between Spain and the inhabitants of Cuba had reached
+its height and that the relations between Spain and the United States
+had culminated in the total destruction of the battleship _Maine_ in
+Havana harbor, and that we were on the verge of war with the Spaniards
+in consequence. Nor did I know how my father was suffering in Cuban
+wilds, as related in “When Santiago Fell.” Perhaps it is a good thing
+that I did not know about my parent’s condition, for I would have
+worried a good deal, and worrying would have done no good.
+
+From day-dreaming over the present I began to speculate on the past,
+on my schoolboy days, and on the great interest I had taken for
+several years in steam engines, machinery of all sorts, and in big
+guns. Guns, such as were used in the forts on our Pacific seacoast,
+had particularly interested me, and I had studied them in all of their
+details, never once dreaming how useful this knowledge was to be to me.
+
+From day-dreaming I fell into a light doze, from which I awoke with a
+start to find the form of a man leaning over me. The man had clutched
+my arm and this had aroused me. One glance showed that the man was
+Captain Kenny.
+
+“Now I’ve got the chance I’ll serve you as I served Holbrook!” he
+hissed into my ear, and hurled me over the edge of the canyon down to
+where the mountain torrent struck the rocks far below.
+
+“Don’t!” I managed to gasp; but that was all. I felt myself dropping
+through space, made a vain clutch at some brush which scraped my
+cheek, and then struck heavily on the rocks--and knew no more. When I
+recovered my senses it was pitch-dark around me and a light rain was
+falling. At first I could not collect myself and did not attempt to
+stir. Where was I, and what had happened?
+
+The flowing of water over one arm aroused me, and, making examination,
+I found that I was lying half in and half out of the mountain torrent.
+Had I fallen into a little different position I must surely have
+drowned. As a matter of fact my hair showed that I had fallen head
+first into the water, but had by some unconscious movement saved myself
+from a watery grave.
+
+It was fully a quarter of an hour before I felt able to sit up, much
+less stand on my feet. I ached in every joint, and my head was in such
+a whirl that I could scarcely see.
+
+“Oh, what a villain Captain Kenny is!” were the first words that
+crossed my lips. “I’ll get square with him as soon as I can join the
+others again!” Alas! little did I then realize that my companions had
+hunted for me in vain, and that a band of Tagals had made it necessary
+for them to set off in their boat without me, taking with them the
+guilty captain, who had never opened his lips concerning his perfidy.
+
+By the darkness I knew it was night, but what part of the night I could
+not determine. Yet I thought it could not be late, and that I must try
+to get back to the shore, no matter how much pain it cost me.
+
+I arose to my feet to make a disheartening discovery. My left ankle
+was badly wrenched and much swollen, and to walk on it was out of the
+question. Here was a new difficulty, and I must confess that I could
+scarcely hold back the tears as I felt my helplessness. Perhaps this
+may seem childish to some of my readers, but they must remember that it
+is no fun to be cast away in a savage land, away from your friends, and
+in the condition in which I found myself.
+
+Not without considerable pain and exertion, I dragged myself to a place
+of shelter beneath the overhanging rocks of the canyon. Here it was
+dry, and the winds had swept in a quantity of dried leaves which made
+a fairly comfortable couch. The exertion necessary to reach this place
+caused me to swoon.
+
+When I was again myself, it was daylight, but still raining--a fine
+drizzle that was little more than a mist. Looking at my ankle I saw
+that the swelling had gone down a bit, and I presently found that I
+could stand upon it, although the operation was far from a pleasure.
+The rain had collected in a hollow close at hand, and here I got a
+drink and bathed my bruised head and lower extremity. I might have
+eaten some light food, but nothing was at hand, excepting some berries
+which were strange to me, and which I did not dare to touch for fear
+they might prove poisonous.
+
+Slowly the hours came and went and still I remained under the cliff, a
+prey to many disturbing thoughts. What were my companions doing? Would
+they come up the canyon in search of me, or would they sail off and
+leave me to my fate?
+
+Toward nightfall several shots in the distance disturbed me. They
+did not come from the shore, but from still further up the canyon. I
+listened intently, but nothing but silence succeeded the discharge of
+firearms.
+
+The night which followed proved a long one. For several hours I could
+not get to sleep for thinking of my position, but finally I fell into a
+deep slumber that lasted far into the next day.
+
+The sun was now shining brightly and the birds and insects had again
+taken up their songs and hummings. I arose and stretched myself, and
+was pleased to note that I could walk fairly well and that my brain was
+clear, even though my head still felt sore.
+
+I directed my footsteps down the canyon to the seashore, coming out
+at the spot where I had left Dawson and the others encamped. Nothing
+remained but the charred embers of a camp-fire, which had been built to
+cook some fish.
+
+I say nothing remained. There was something else there that filled me
+with horror. It was a long Tagal spear, and its barb was covered with
+blood. The sands were filled with countless tracks of bare feet.
+
+“There has been a fight here,” I murmured, and ran to the water’s edge.
+The _Mollie_ was gone, but whether taken by friends or the enemy there
+was no telling.
+
+For a long while I stood on the sands speculating upon the new turn of
+affairs. I was now left utterly alone, that was clear. What should I do?
+
+Without a boat a journey by water was out of the question. If I tried
+to gain Manila by a trip overland I felt that I would either become
+lost in the mountains or else fall into the hands of the warlike Tagals.
+
+“I’ll follow the shore to Subig Bay,” I concluded, and in an hour was
+on my slow and painful way, after a morning meal of half-ripe plantains
+which were far from palatable.
+
+By noon I concluded that I had covered four or five miles, having had
+considerable difficulty in getting past the mountain which cut off the
+beach for the space of two or three furlongs. It was now growing so hot
+I was compelled to seek shelter in the forest, and here put in the time
+by bringing down half a dozen birds, which afforded me nearly as many
+meals.
+
+The next four days were very much alike. I continued on my way, past
+Iba and several other settlements. At the place named, I almost ran
+into the lines of the native rebels and saw a pitched battle from afar,
+in which, as I afterward ascertained, ten insurgents and six Spaniards
+were killed and twice that many were wounded.
+
+The end of the fourth day found me at the entrance to Subig Bay, and
+here I rested for several hours. Lying on the north shore I saw half a
+dozen ships at anchor, one of which, a two-masted schooner, flew the
+Stars and Stripes.
+
+“If I can get to that craft I’ll be safe,” I said to myself. “I’ll
+watch her and see if anybody comes ashore.”
+
+On the following morning I saw the schooner move slowly for the
+entrance to Subig Bay. Running with all speed for the point of land
+between the bay and the China Sea, I waved my hands frantically and
+was at last gratified to see that somebody on board had noticed me.
+Presently the schooner came to anchor again, and a small boat put out
+for the beach.
+
+As the boat came closer I uttered a cry of amazement and delight, for
+at one of the oars sat a person I had not expected to see for many days
+to come. It was Tom Dawson.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+MY FIRST ADVENTURE IN MANILA.
+
+
+“Oliver Raymond, is it possible!” exclaimed the first mate of the
+_Dart_, as he leaped ashore and almost embraced me.
+
+“Tom Dawson!” I ejaculated, and wrung his hand over and over again.
+“And how did you get on that craft out there?”
+
+“It’s a long story, lad. But where have you been these five or six
+days? You don’t mean to say you left our party on purpose? Or did those
+rascally natives capture you?”
+
+“Neither, Tom. After I left you I walked up the canyon to where there
+was a high cliff, and there Captain Kenny tried to do me to death.” I
+gave him a few of the particulars. “Where is the captain now? If he’s
+on that vessel I’ll soon have him up before the court at the first
+civilized seaport comes to hand.”
+
+“I reckon Captain Kenny has got his deserts, Oliver. After you left us
+the Tagals made an unexpected attack, and Captain Kenny, Watt Brown,
+and Ah Sid were captured, while I and Matt Gory escaped to the boat. We
+didn’t make any more landings until we reached this port and rowed to
+the _Starlight_.”
+
+“Was Watt Brown killed or injured?”
+
+“He was wounded, but how badly I can’t say. Captain Kenny gave himself
+up instead of fighting, and so did that Chinaman.”
+
+“I wish it had been Captain Kenny who had been wounded,” I said bluntly.
+
+“So does somebody else,” went on Dawson, and a smile flitted over his
+face. “Come on board, and you’ll find a surprise awaiting you.”
+
+I gladly accepted the offer to come on board of the _Starlight_, which
+was seconded by Captain Mason, who was in charge of the jolly-boat. The
+row was a short one, and I was just mounting the rope ladder to the
+deck when a voice as from the grave hailed me.
+
+“Is it possible that it is you, Oliver?”
+
+“Dan!” I gasped, and stumbled over the rail. “I--I thought you were
+dead--drowned!”
+
+The next moment I was in Dan Holbrook’s arms and we were hugging each
+other like a couple of schoolgirls, while Tom Dawson and Matt Gory
+looked on, well pleased. The Irishman soon after shook hands.
+
+“But, Dan, how came you here?” I questioned, when I could recover from
+my amazement. “Weren’t you lost overboard from that small boat?”
+
+“To be sure I was, and I came pretty close to drowning, too,” answered
+Dan. “But I floated around and a high wave landed me right back on
+board of the _Dart_ and there I remained, satisfied that it was as good
+a place as any so long as the schooner floated.”
+
+“And were you on her when the _Dart_ was carried ashore?”
+
+“I was, and what is more I did what I could toward steering her into
+the river mouth, where she now lies. The steering gear was all right,
+and I thought I might be able to save her from becoming a total wreck.”
+
+“But--but, didn’t Captain Kenny attack you?”
+
+“Did he? Indeed he did and tried to kill me by throwing me into the
+sea. But a Tagal saved me and made me a prisoner. I was kept in custody
+two days, when the Tagals had a fight with some Spanish soldiers,
+and I escaped in the confusion and struck out for Manila. I thought
+I was completely lost, when I ran across a scouting party from the
+_Starlight_ and was taken on board by them. I had some little tropical
+fever, and I’m not very well yet.”
+
+This was the outline of Dan’s story, which he later on told in all of
+its details. The story proved two things: that Captain Kenny was even a
+worse villain than I had supposed him to be, and that affairs in the
+Philippines were more than interesting.
+
+“The excitement at Manila is growing every day,” said the captain of
+the _Starlight_. “I feel certain there will be a bloody war there
+before many months are over. I don’t see how you can do any business
+there at present.”
+
+“I must look to some matters,” I answered, and Dan said the same.
+
+The _Starlight_ was bound for Manila with a mixed cargo consigned to
+a Spanish firm, so Captain Mason considered himself fairly safe for
+the time being, as the Spaniards were strong in the town and had thus
+far kept the insurgents at bay. He readily agreed to take us with him,
+knowing the firm to which my father belonged very well.
+
+We soon learned that both Tom Dawson and Matt Gory had shipped
+temporarily on the schooner, the captain being somewhat short of hands,
+several being sick with scurvy. An hour after I was on board the
+_Starlight_ was moving down the coast to Manila Bay, and I was taking
+it easy in a hammock, satisfied that, for a few days, at least, my
+troubles were at an end.
+
+The run to Manila proved without incident worthy of mention. The
+weather was ideal and two days after leaving Subig Bay we sailed past
+the grim fortress on Corregidor Island, through the narrow channel
+up to the strip of land upon which is built Fort Cavité, and dropped
+anchor before Manila proper.
+
+We had hardly taken our place in the shipping before a Spanish revenue
+cutter came dashing up, and a dark-skinned Castilian came aboard and
+examined our papers and made a tour of inspection about the schooner.
+Then we received passes to visit the city.
+
+“Not much of a town,” remarked Dan to me, as he surveyed the long line
+of tumble-down wharves which met our eyes, but as we got closer we
+beheld a good-sized city back of the wharves.
+
+We had anchored near the mouth of the Pasig River, which divides Manila
+into two parts. To the south side of the river is the old town, now
+almost abandoned, saving for some Spanish government buildings and the
+like.
+
+To the north side of the river are two districts called Binondo and
+Tondo, and here is where the business is done and where all of the best
+homes and clubs are located.
+
+My father’s firm had its offices on Escolta Street, one of the main
+thoroughfares of Manila, and to this we now directed our footsteps.
+
+Our walk took us past many quaint shops, not unlike those I had seen
+in Hong Kong and in the Chinatown districts of San Francisco, some
+of which were so small that the trading had to be done out on the
+sidewalk. Many of the shopkeepers were Spanish, but there were a fair
+sprinkling of Germans and Englishmen, intermixed with a large number of
+Chinese and Japanese and native Filipinos. At this time the city had a
+population of something less than a hundred thousand, and of these less
+than five thousand were Europeans and less than five hundred Americans.
+
+The streets were filled with Spanish soldiers who eyed us sharply as we
+passed them.
+
+“It doesn’t look peaceful-like, does it?” remarked Dan, as we hurried
+along.
+
+“Not much!” I returned. “It looks as if everybody was waiting for
+somebody else to knock the chip off of his shoulder, so to speak.”
+
+“If the natives were thoroughly organized in this rebellion they could
+wipe the Spaniards out in no time, to my way of thinking,” I said. “I
+reckon they don’t know their power.”
+
+“You are right, Oliver, the Tagals can whip the Spaniards, I am sure of
+that. And I think they ought to be free.”
+
+“So do I. The islands belong to them.”
+
+“Yes, and----” Dan broke off short. “Hurry up, it looks as if it was
+going to rain,” and he caught me by the arm.
+
+I understood perfectly well why he had so quickly changed the
+subject. Both of us had noted that a villainous-looking Spaniard was
+following us and drinking in every word we said. His face showed that
+he understood English and now he clung to us closer than ever, as
+we turned a corner and came to the long, low building in which were
+situated the offices of Raymond, Holbrook & Smith.
+
+“Dan Holbrook, how do you do!” cried a tall young man as he rushed
+forward and caught my companion by the hand. “Why, I thought you had
+gone down with the wreck of the _Dart_.”
+
+The clerk of our firm, for such he proved to be, was named Harry
+Longley, and I was speedily introduced to him, and both Dan and I
+told our stories. Longley had heard of the wrecking of the _Dart_
+twenty-four hours before.
+
+“It’s too bad you lost your money and those documents,” he said to
+me. “We ought to have those papers, they will settle a case over some
+land which has been in litigation here for two years. You see, these
+Spaniards are trying to squeeze us out if they possibly can.”
+
+“But what of this rebellion here?” I questioned.
+
+“We haven’t felt much of it so far, but I expect we will before
+long. All of our time has been taken up in our difficulties with the
+Spaniards, who are trying to force us out of business. They are taxing
+us in a way that is outrageous.”
+
+“But where is Mr. Cass?” asked Dan, referring to the manager at Manila.
+
+“He has gone to one of the other islands on business.”
+
+Our talk on business and other matters lasted for fully an hour. My
+main concern was for the papers and money left on board of the _Dart_,
+but Harry Longley could give me no advice as to how I might get them
+back.
+
+“The Spaniards cannot control the natives up the coast,” he said. “And
+the only thing I can see is for Captain Kenny to organize a large body
+of men and take the vessel away by force.”
+
+At that instant the door to the office opened, and the Spaniard who had
+followed us up from the wharf came in, followed by four soldiers.
+
+“There they are,” he said in Spanish, pointing to Dan and me. “Arrest
+them as rebel sympathizers!”
+
+And then the four soldiers advanced upon my companion and me to make us
+prisoners.
+
+[Illustration: “THERE THEY ARE,” HE SAID IN SPANISH, POINTING TO DAN
+AND ME, “ARREST THEM AS REBEL SYMPATHIZERS.”]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE ESCAPE FROM THE PRISON.
+
+
+“What does this mean?” demanded Dan, who understood what was said, even
+though I did not.
+
+“What is up, Dan?” I queried.
+
+“They want to arrest us as rebel sympathizers.”
+
+“Great Caesar’s ghost! Why, we----”
+
+“We talked too much on the street. Don’t you remember?”
+
+By this time the four soldiers had advanced upon us until we were
+penned in one corner of the office.
+
+In vain Harry Longley expostulated. The Spanish spy who had followed us
+would not listen and demanded our immediate arrest.
+
+I must confess that the sudden turn of affairs confused me. I had yet
+to learn the real blessings of “free speech,” as we understand it in
+the United States.
+
+“You are in a pickle, truly,” said the clerk. “I hope they can’t prove
+anything against you.”
+
+“I suppose we did talk a little too much,” I answered bitterly. “What
+will they do with us?”
+
+“They’ll do what they please, from fining you a dollar or two to
+shooting you over in the Lunetta,” answered Longley. The Lunetta is a
+public park, and here more than one rebel had already been executed.
+
+“Supposing I decline to be arrested?” I went on.
+
+“You’ll run the risk of being shot on the spot.”
+
+By this time two of the soldiers had caught me by the arms. The other
+two made Dan their prisoner.
+
+We tried to argue, but all to no purpose, the Spaniard who had made the
+charge stating that we could do our talking when brought up before the
+court.
+
+“We may as well march along,” said Dan helplessly. “These fellows
+evidently mean business.”
+
+“I’m not going to prison if I can help it,” I answered desperately.
+
+“We will see about zat!” cried the Spanish spy. “March, or I order ze
+men to shoot!”
+
+“I shall escape the first chance I get,” I whispered to Dan.
+
+“So will I,” answered my companion, and a look passed between us which
+each understood thoroughly.
+
+“I’ll help you if I can,” whispered Harry Longley.
+
+He was permitted to say no more, indeed, it was hardly safe to say
+anything, the Spanish spy being half of a mind to arrest the clerk, too.
+
+We were marched from the office by a back way and across a narrow
+street lined with warehouses. Here we came in contact with a number of
+native and Chinese laborers, who eyed us curiously, but said nothing.
+As a matter of fact, arrests of foreigners were becoming frequent in
+Manila.
+
+Ten minutes of walking brought us to a fine building--at least fine in
+comparison to those which surrounded it. This was the jail in which we
+were to be confined until brought up for a hearing.
+
+We entered the jail yard through a gate to a tall iron fence. Beyond
+was a wide, gloomy corridor, the lower floor of the jail being on a
+level with the street. A guard passed us after hearing what the spy had
+to say, and we were conducted to a room in the rear.
+
+“What a horrible place,” were my first words to Dan, as I gazed
+around at our surroundings. The room was filled with the smoke of
+the ever-present cigarette, for it must be remembered that in the
+Philippines women as well as men smoke. To this smell of tobacco was
+added that of cooking with garlic, for garlic is the one vegetable that
+is never missing from the pot.
+
+A dozen prisoners stood and sat around, some in deep anger and others
+in sullen silence. One, an Englishman, was nearly crazy.
+
+“Hi’ll show them who Hi am!” he bawled. “Hi’ll sue them for a ’undred
+thousand punds damages, so Hi will!”
+
+“What did they arrest you for?” I asked.
+
+“What for? Nothing, young man, absolutely nothing. Hi said it was a
+beastly country, not fit for a ’og to live in, and then they collared
+me. But Hi’ll show them, blast me hif Hi don’t!” and he began to
+pace the floor at a ten-mile-an-hour gait. Soon a guard came in and
+threatened him with a club, and he collapsed in a corner.
+
+There were no seats vacant, and Dan and I took up our places near
+a window, which was barred with half a dozen rusty-looking iron
+sticks set in mortar which was decidedly crumbly. As we stood there I
+tried one of the bars and found I could wrench it loose with ease. I
+mentioned the fact to Dan.
+
+“Look out of the window and tell me what you see,” he returned, and I
+looked.
+
+“I see a guard at the corner of the jail and another near the fence.”
+
+“Exactly, and both armed with Mauser rifles, eh?”
+
+“They are certainly armed.”
+
+“Then what chance would we stand to escape, even if we pulled those
+bars from the window?”
+
+“A good chance--at night, when they couldn’t see us.”
+
+“By Jove, Oliver, that’s an idea worth remembering. But we must be
+careful, or----”
+
+Dan did not finish, for he had noticed that a fellow prisoner was
+listening intently to all which was said.
+
+“He may not be a prisoner at all,” he said later on. “He may be another
+Spanish spy. My idea is that the woods are full of them.”
+
+“I’ve no doubt but that you are right,” I returned.
+
+The day passed slowly and so did that which followed. We had expected
+an immediate hearing, but it did not come.
+
+“I don’t like this,” growled my companion. “Every prisoner is entitled
+to appear before the court. I shall demand a hearing at once, or appeal
+to the American consul for aid.”
+
+Accordingly he notified the jailer that we wanted to see somebody in
+authority without delay.
+
+For reply the Spaniard grinned meaningly and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“Señor must wait,” he said, in broken English. “All de court verra
+busy; no can hear you till next week.”
+
+“But I demand a hearing,” insisted Dan. “If I don’t get it I shall
+write to our American consul about it.”
+
+“Write to consul, eh? Who carry de lettair, señor? Not me surely,” and
+with another grin the jailer walked away and left us to ourselves. We
+now realized how it was--we were in the hands of enemies who would do
+with us just as they saw fit.
+
+The next day it began to rain and by nightfall it was pouring down
+steadily. There was neither thunder nor lightning and the firmament
+was, to use an old simile, as black as ink. Supper was served to us at
+seven o’clock, a beef, rice, and garlic stew that neither of us could
+touch. “I’ll rather starve,” was Dan’s comment.
+
+By ten o’clock the majority of the prisoners were sound asleep, the
+Englishman snoring loudly and several others keeping in chorus with
+him. “Let them snore,” said I, “it will help drown any noise we may
+make.”
+
+Dan and I had secured our places directly beneath the window previously
+mentioned, and now, standing on tiptoes, we worked at the bars with an
+old fork and a rusty spoon we had managed to secrete from our jailer.
+
+Ten minutes of twisting and turning and I had one iron bar loose, and
+using this as a pry we soon forced three others, and then the opening
+thus afforded was large enough to admit the passage of a man’s body.
+
+“Now out we go!” I whispered. “I’ll drop first and, if the coast is
+clear, I’ll whisper to you and you come, but wake the others first, so
+that they can have a chance to escape. The more get away the better it
+will be for us to escape recapture.”
+
+I leaped to the window sill, turned and dropped outside. All was
+deserted around the window and I gave a soft whistle. Instantly Dan
+followed me, after kicking half a dozen in their sides to wake them up.
+“Out of the window, all of you!” I heard him cry, and then he landed
+beside me, and both of us ran for the high iron fence I have previously
+described.
+
+“_Halte!_” came the sudden command, in Spanish, and from out of the
+gloom emerged a guard, with pointed gun. He must have seen Dan, for he
+ran full tilt at my companion.
+
+Seeing this I made a circle and came up in his rear. With a quick
+leap I was on him, placed my hands over his mouth and bore him to the
+ground. Then Dan leaped in and we tore his gun from his grasp.
+
+“Silence, on your life!” said Dan, and the fellow must have understood,
+for he did not utter a sound. Then we continued to the fence, and, not
+without some trouble, leaped over.
+
+By this time the alarm had broken out in the jail and several lights
+flared up. The other prisoners must have tried to escape, for we heard
+a wild yelling and half a dozen shots. The latter aroused the entire
+neighborhood, and citizens and soldiers came running in from all
+directions.
+
+“We’ve got to leg it now!” I cried. “Come, on, Dan.”
+
+“But in what direction?” he gasped, for climbing the tall fence had
+deprived him of his wind.
+
+“Any direction is better than staying here. Come,” and I caught him by
+the hand. By this time we heard several soldiers making after us, and
+away we went at the best speed at our command.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+BACK TO HONG KONG.
+
+
+The main streets of Manila are but few in number. There are two
+devoted largely to business, and three or four that have some handsome
+residences and public buildings upon them. But all of the other
+highways, so-styled, are simply what in a United States city would be
+styled alleyways, the sidewalks being but two or three feet wide and
+the wagon way just about broad enough for two hand carts to pass each
+other. On each side, the ramshackle dwellings project over the walks,
+cutting off light and air that are absolutely essential to health and
+cleanliness.
+
+Dan and I had to cross one of the main streets, but this passed, we
+lost no time in diving into an alleyway that was as dark as Erebus. On
+and on we went until we brought up plump against the broadside of a
+warehouse.
+
+“We can’t go any further,” I exclaimed.
+
+“Can it be possible that we’ve got into a blind pocket?” queried Dan.
+“Come over here.”
+
+I did as requested, and soon learned that we had indeed entered what
+the French call a _cul-de-sac_. On all sides were warehouses, and the
+only opening to the narrow highway was that by which we had entered.
+
+“The soldiers are coming!” I whispered, after listening. “Can’t you
+hear their footsteps?”
+
+“I can, Oliver. Hang me if I know what to do. I wish I had that gun,”
+Dan went on, for he had thrown the Mauser rifle away.
+
+I ran up to the warehouse and felt of the boards. Soon I came to the
+casement of an upper doorway, an opening used for hoisting goods in and
+out of the warehouse. I snatched at the lower edge, pulled myself up,
+and soon stood in the frame, which was five or six inches deep.
+
+“Come up here,” I whispered to Dan, and helped him to a position beside
+me. Once we were in the doorway, we pressed as far back as possible and
+waited.
+
+Soon three soldiers came up, one carrying a lantern and all armed with
+rifles. All talked excitedly in Spanish, but it was in a Luzon dialect
+and even Dan could not understand them.
+
+The soldiers searched around the alleyway for fully ten minutes, and
+once almost flashed the lantern rays up into our faces. But we remained
+undiscovered, and presently they ran out of the _cul-de-sac_, thinking
+they had not tracked us aright.
+
+“Gosh, that was a narrow escape!” I murmured, when they had departed.
+
+“Don’t crow, Oliver; we are not yet out of the woods. Those fellows may
+be waiting for us up there,” and Dan pointed to the alley’s entrance.
+
+“I wonder what sort of a building this is,” I went on, and turning
+around began an examination of the door. Presently my hand touched
+a rude wooden latch and the door fell back, sending us flying onto
+a floor white with flour and dirty with a dozen other kinds of
+merchandise.
+
+Shutting the door behind us, we pushed our way among numerous boxes and
+barrels until we came to the front of the warehouse. Here there was a
+long, low shed, extending to a dock fronting the Pasig River. The shed
+was also filled with merchandise, and at the end of the dock lay half
+a dozen lighters such as the Filipinos use in carrying goods from the
+river docks to the large vessels lying in Manila harbor.
+
+“We are on the Pasig,” announced Dan. He read the inscriptions on
+several of the boxes. “This warehouse belongs to an English firm named
+Carley & Stewart, and these goods are consigned by them to Hong Kong,
+per steamer _Cardigan_.”
+
+“The _Cardigan_!” I exclaimed. “Why, she sails to-morrow. I saw the
+announcement on a card down at the office.”
+
+“If that’s the case it will be a good chance to get back to Hong Kong,
+Oliver.”
+
+“I don’t want to go to Hong Kong yet, Dan. I want to get my rights.”
+
+“So do I, but----”
+
+“But what?”
+
+“You know how we fared at the prison. Supposing we are caught again?
+That spy will swear we are rebel sympathizers, and then it will go hard
+with us, you may be certain of that.”
+
+We talked the matter over for fully an hour, sitting on a couple of
+boxes in the long shed. Then both of us grew sleepy and resolved to
+remain where we were and let the morrow take care of itself.
+
+At daylight several workmen put in appearance, among them an Englishman
+who looked as if he would prove friendly. Watching our opportunity we
+called him to one side, and made a clean breast of the situation.
+
+“My advice is to get on board of the _Cardigan_ by all means,” he said.
+“Don’t you know that you Americans are going to have a lot of trouble
+with these Spaniards now the _Maine_ has been blown up?”
+
+This was the first we had heard of the destruction of the _Maine_, and
+we asked him for particulars. The Englishman knew but little, yet he
+said that the Americans held to it that the Spaniards had done the
+dastardly deed.
+
+“And I shouldn’t wonder but that may mean war for your country,” he
+added.
+
+“If war come, Spain will get whipped badly,” returned Dan.
+
+The young Englishman brought us some breakfast, and we at last decided
+to go on board of the _Cardigan_. “But don’t tell the captain you
+escaped from prison,” he said. “If you do, he won’t dare take you off.
+Secure your passages and then turn up missing when the revenue officers
+come on board.”
+
+This we considered excellent advice and followed it out. A lighter,
+loaded with hemp bales, took us to the steamer, an ocean “tramp” of
+2000 tons’ burden, and we lost no time in presenting ourselves to
+Captain Montgomery.
+
+“Want passage to Hong Kong, eh?” he said. “Why don’t you go on the
+regular mail steamers?”
+
+“We have some private reasons,” answered Dan. “What will the passage
+money be?”
+
+Captain Montgomery studied our faces for a moment.
+
+“Aren’t criminals, are you?” he said sharply.
+
+“Do we look like criminals?” I demanded.
+
+“Can’t go by looks nowaday, lad. Last year I had a man beat me out of
+twenty pounds and he looked like a parson, he did indeed.”
+
+“We are not criminals,” answered Dan. “We want to get out of Manila for
+political reasons, if you must know.”
+
+“Americans, eh?”
+
+“Yes, sir--and not ashamed to own it.”
+
+Captain Montgomery held out his hands.
+
+“I’ll see you through, boys. I’ve got a bit of American blood in me,
+too, on my mother’s side. Twelve pounds apiece takes you straight to
+our dock in Hong Kong,--and no more questions asked.”
+
+As we were out of funds we had to consider what would be best to
+do about paying the twenty-four pounds. I solved the difficulty by
+addressing a note to Harry Longley asking an advance of thirty pounds,
+to be put in Captain Montgomery’s care. This would leave Dan and me
+three pounds each--about fifteen dollars--until we were safe in Hong
+Kong once more. The message was carried by an under-officer of the
+_Cardigan_, and the money was obtained from our Manila representative
+without trouble, Longley being glad to learn of our escape.
+
+The _Cardigan_ was to leave her anchorage in front of Manila at four
+o’clock in the afternoon, and an hour before that time hatches were
+closed and the Spanish revenue officers came on board for a look
+around. There was an Englishman, his wife, and three children on the
+deck.
+
+“Who are those?” asked the leading revenue officer.
+
+“They are to be passengers,” answered Captain Montgomery. “Unless you
+say they can’t go.”
+
+“Who are they?”
+
+The officer was told and the Englishman was brought up for inspection.
+Apparently it was all right, and after a tour of the steamer, the
+Spaniards left.
+
+Dan and I had meanwhile waited in the cabin in much anxiety. We
+remained below for the balance of the day, and when we came up late in
+the evening, the lights of Corregidor Island shone far behind and we
+were standing out boldly into the China Sea.
+
+“Good-by to Luzon!” I cried. “My stay on that island was short and
+bitter.”
+
+“I wonder if we will ever see the Philippines again?” mused Dan.
+
+“Perhaps so, Dan. I don’t much care. But I would like to get my things
+from the _Dart_.”
+
+“So would I, Oliver. But even such a loss is preferable to a long term
+spent in a Spanish prison.”
+
+“True, but----” I drew a long breath. “I want to get square with those
+Dons, as they call them, and with Captain Kenny.”
+
+The weather was of the finest, and day after day passed quickly, as the
+_Cardigan_ skimmed over the sea on her northwest course. As we sat on
+the deck in our camp-chairs I wondered what would happen when we got
+to Hong Kong, and if trouble would really come between Spain and the
+United States because of the destruction of the _Maine_ and the war in
+Cuba. Little did I dream of all the fierce fighting that was so close
+at hand, and of the parts Dan and I were to play in the coming contest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE OPENING OF THE WAR.
+
+
+“Here we are at last, Oliver! I declare the place looks like home to
+me, after being away so long!”
+
+It was Dan who spoke, as the _Cardigan_ steamed up to her wharf at
+the Chinese-English port for which she had been bound. The voyage had
+proved without incident, and we stepped from the ship feeling in the
+best of health, despite the many adventures through which we had passed.
+
+“It certainly looks more friendly than Manila did,” I returned, as I
+gazed at the long line of shipping. “I wonder what your folks will say
+when they hear our story.”
+
+“Perhaps Harry Longley has succeeded in getting a cablegram through,”
+was the answer. “The Spaniards are cute, but, you know, we have a
+secret code.”
+
+Leaving the _Cardigan_, we walked up the broad wharf and on the street.
+Not far away was a booth at which foreign periodicals were sold.
+Around this booth a number of men were congregated, talking excitedly.
+
+“War has been declared between the United States and Spain!” were the
+first words which reached my ears.
+
+“Can that be true?” I burst out.
+
+Dan did not answer, but pushed his way to the stand, and bought a copy
+of the latest paper to be had.
+
+“Yes, the war is practically on,” he said, scanning the sheet. “Here is
+a dispatch from Washington. Havana, Cuba, is about to be blockaded.”
+
+“And the army is to be called out,” I said, looking over his shoulder.
+“Oh, Dan, what about Manila now,--and our business?”
+
+“Let us hurry to my father’s office,” answered my chum, and thrusting
+the paper in his pocket he stalked down the street and I after him.
+
+The office of Raymond, Holbrook & Smith was a pretentious one of stone,
+located on a main corner of Hong Kong. Entering, we found Mr. Holbrook
+deep in some accounts.
+
+“Dan!” he cried, and caught his son by both hands. “I was afraid you
+were dead,--that you had gone down with the _Dart_.”
+
+“Then you have heard of the foundering, father?”
+
+“Yes, a cablegram came in a few days ago. And you, Oliver, too! I am
+thankful to Heaven that you both are safe!” and he shook hands.
+
+“We had a good many adventures,” said the son, as we seated ourselves.
+
+“No doubt. Tell me your story.”
+
+What we had to say occupied the best part of an hour, and then it was
+lunch time and the three of us went to eat. Mr. Holbrook was very much
+perplexed.
+
+“This war will upset everything,” he said. “We are already cut off from
+Manila.”
+
+“By cablegram?” I queried.
+
+“Yes, and by mail, too. A message I offered yesterday was refused, and
+I was given to understand that no letter to an American firm would be
+delivered.”
+
+“Is the war to be carried on away out here?” I cried, struck with a
+sudden idea.
+
+“It will be carried on wherever the armies and navies of Spain and
+America may meet,” was the serious reply. “This war is to be no child’s
+play.”
+
+“Well, we can’t do much out here,” said Dan. “We have no soldiers
+closer than those at San Francisco.”
+
+“We have a number of warships in these waters, my son--I looked into
+that matter last night.”
+
+“American men-o’-war?” I put in, with interest.
+
+“Yes, five or six of them, commanded by Commodore Dewey.”
+
+“Where are the ships?”
+
+“Here at Hong Kong, presumably awaiting orders from Washington.”
+
+“And have the Spaniards any war vessels about the Philippines?” asked
+Dan.
+
+“Yes, they have a fleet under the command of a certain Admiral Montojo.”
+
+“And what if these two fleets meet?”
+
+“There will be a big fight, my boy, and who will come off victorious
+there is no telling.”
+
+“We’ll win!” I cried. “I don’t believe those Spaniards can whip us.”
+
+“We mustn’t be over-confident, Oliver, even if we hope for the best.
+But this war is a bad thing for our house, and the loss of those
+documents you were carrying makes matters still worse.” Mr. Holbrook
+scratched his head in perplexity. “I am afraid our Manila connection
+will become a total loss to us.”
+
+“Have we much money invested there?”
+
+“Something like forty or forty-five thousand dollars. The Spanish sugar
+planters who have bought machinery of us won’t pay a dollar now.”
+
+“Unless we come out ahead in this war--and we will come out ahead,”
+put in Dan. “Hang it all, but I feel like fighting myself!”
+
+“So do I!” I cried. “I wish we had some soldiers out here, I would join
+them, and sail for Manila and demand our rights.”
+
+At this outburst Mr. Holbrook smiled. “You are very enthusiastic.
+Soldiering is not such a holiday-making as you may imagine.”
+
+“We couldn’t have any worse experience than we have had among those
+dirty Tagals,” I answered. “I want to get back there, and get square
+with those Spaniards, and with that villainous Captain Kenny.”
+
+The conversation continued for the best part of the afternoon, but
+without definite results. As it drew toward evening, Dan and I
+accompanied Mr. Holbrook to the latter’s home, where we were warmly
+received by Mrs. Holbrook and the other members of the family.
+
+Mr. Holbrook had expected to go out in the evening, on a matter of
+business, but was not feeling well, and presently asked Dan if he would
+like to carry a note to a friend’s house for him.
+
+“Why, certainly I’ll go,” answered the son, and I said I would
+accompany him.
+
+The letter was soon written and handed over, and we started out, down
+the broad street and then through half a dozen narrow and crooked
+thoroughfares belonging to the ancient portion of Hong Kong. The
+friend lived the best part of a mile away, and we did not reach his
+residence until after nine o’clock.
+
+The message delivered, we started on our return. It had been dark and
+threatening a storm, but instead of rain a heavy mist crept up from the
+China Sea, through which the scattered street lights shone like tiny
+yellow candles.
+
+“It’s beastly,” remarked Dan, as he buttoned up his coat around his
+neck. “I shall be glad when we are safe home and in bed. My, how good
+it will feel to get back into my own bed again!”
+
+“It will beat sleeping in a dirty Tagal hut, won’t it?” I laughed.
+
+“Indeed it will, Oliver. That experience was--” Dan broke off short.
+“What’s that?”
+
+A loud cry came from behind, a man’s voice.
+
+“Help, help! Murder! help!”
+
+“Somebody is in trouble!” I ejaculated.
+
+“What had we best do?”
+
+The question remained unanswered in words, but both of us broke into a
+run, heading as closely as we could for the spot from whence the cry
+came.
+
+The mist confused us not a little, and as the cries ceased we paused in
+perplexity.
+
+“Where are you?” I yelled.
+
+“What’s up?” added Dan.
+
+“This way! Help!” came more feebly. “The heathens are trying to murder
+me!”
+
+The words came from the entrance to a narrow alleyway, along which were
+situated several Chinese gambling houses. As we sped along, I caught
+up a stone that lay handy, and Dan pulled out a pistol he had procured
+before starting out, for in Hong Kong it is a common thing to go armed.
+
+We were but a few feet from the scene of the encounter when a Chinaman
+plumped into me, sending me headlong. But as I went down I caught the
+Celestial by the foot, and he fell.
+
+The shock dazed me for an instant, and before I could recover the
+Chinaman had me by the throat.
+
+“Let--let up!” I gasped, and as he did not I grabbed him by the ear, at
+which he let out a scream of pain. Then, in a twinkling, a dagger was
+flashed before my eyes, and I felt as if my last moment on earth had
+come.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+I MEET COMMODORE DEWEY.
+
+
+“Help!”
+
+That was but the single word I uttered as the sharp blade dangled
+before my eyes and burnt itself on my brain. I felt that I was about to
+die--that an unknown Chinese assassin was about to slay me.
+
+But in a twinkling the scene changed. Dan heard me go down, stopped,
+and turned back.
+
+“Let him alone or I will shoot!” he cried, in Chinese, for he had
+picked up a good deal of the language while living in Hong Kong. His
+pistol came out, and the muzzle was thrust upon the Celestial’s yellow
+neck.
+
+The touch of the cold barrel of steel seemed to paralyze the Chinaman,
+and he fell back. “No shoot!” he mumbled. “No shoot!” And picking
+himself up, he sped away in the gloom as if a demon was after him.
+
+“The cowardly sneak!” cried my chum. “If he--come!”
+
+Another cry ahead had rung out, and away he went, with me behind him.
+My heart was in a flutter, not knowing what was coming next.
+
+But soon the whole cause of the trouble was revealed. An American
+naval officer had been waylaid by three Chinese footpads. One had run
+away--the fellow I had encountered--but the others remained, and they
+had the officer on his back and were going through his pockets.
+
+“Let up, or I will shoot!” said Dan, and flourished his pistol. At the
+same moment I stumbled over the officer’s sword and picked it up.
+
+“Shoot them! the villains!” moaned the officer. He had received a heavy
+cut over the temple from which the blood flowed profusely.
+
+“Stop, I say,” commanded Dan, and now the two Celestials turned. One
+aimed a blow at Dan, but I cut him short with the sword. Then my chum
+fired, and the rascal dropped his club, and of a sudden both took to
+their heels and disappeared in the darkness and mist.
+
+We followed the Chinamen for a distance of fifty feet, then returned to
+the officer, to find that he had sunk down beside a wall in a heap. His
+eyes were closed and he did not move.
+
+“He looks as if he was dead,” said Dan soberly. “He’s got an awful cut
+over the eye.”
+
+“Perhaps he has only fainted,” I returned. “Let us bind his head up
+without delay.”
+
+We took our handkerchiefs and strips from the linings of our coats and
+set to work instantly, meanwhile laying the officer down on a patch of
+soft dirt close to the wall. We had just finished binding up the wound,
+when the sufferer stirred.
+
+“Help!” he murmured. “Oh, my poor head!”
+
+“You are safe, sir,” I said. “The Chinamen have fled.”
+
+“Is that true? Thank God! They wanted to kill me for the few pounds I
+have in my pocket.”
+
+“Are you wounded otherwise than in the head?” asked Dan.
+
+“I--yes--one of them hit me in the leg, the left one,--it pains a good
+deal. Oh, my head!” And the officer fell back once more.
+
+I proceeded to make him as comfortable as possible, while Dan scurried
+around for some water. In the meantime the houses and shops in the
+neighborhood remained closed, having been shut up at the first signs
+of an encounter. In Hong Kong, if anything goes wrong, the native
+inhabitants always pretend to know nothing about it.
+
+When the officer felt strong enough to talk connectedly he told us that
+he was Clare Todd, belonging to the cruiser _Olympia_, of Commodore
+Dewey’s squadron.
+
+“I am a lieutenant of marines,” he explained. “I am on shore leave,
+stopping with my aunt, Mrs. Nelson, on Queen Street. Why these footpads
+attacked me I do not know.”
+
+“One of us had best call a carriage,” said Dan. “You can’t walk to your
+aunt’s home.”
+
+“I do not wish to go back to my aunt’s. I must report for duty on the
+flagship without delay, for our squadron has orders to leave Hong Kong
+as soon as possible, on account of the war, and this being a neutral
+port.”
+
+“More of the war,” smiled Dan grimly. “Well, supposing we have you
+taken to the dock?”
+
+“That will suit very well. But who are you who have done me such a
+great service?”
+
+“My friend can tell you that, while I hunt up the carriage,” said Dan.
+“Look out for more footpads,” he added, and hurried away.
+
+I soon introduced myself and told Lieutenant Todd about Dan. He had
+often heard of the firm of Raymond, Holbrook & Smith, and had met Mr.
+Holbrook once, in San Francisco.
+
+“I shall always remember you for what you have done for me,” he said
+warmly. “It was brave.”
+
+Soon Dan came with the carriage, a curious turnout, which, however,
+need not be described here. As the lieutenant was in no condition to
+travel alone, we agreed to accompany him to the dock at which he said
+one of the small boats belonging to the _Olympia_ was in waiting, not
+only for him, but for half a dozen others.
+
+The drive was a short one through the dark and almost deserted streets.
+When the dock was gained, we found that a steam launch was there, in
+command of an under-officer and three men.
+
+“Well, well, Todd, you’ve had quite an adventure!” exclaimed the
+officer of the launch, who seemed to be a personal friend of the
+marine. “It’s a lucky thing these Yankee lads came to the rescue.”
+
+“That is true, Porter. They are as brave as lions.”
+
+“Then they had better enlist with us,” was the laughing reply. “We need
+that sort of backbone, now.”
+
+“I’d like to enlist with you first-rate!” I burst out. “Especially if
+you sail for Manila to wake the Spaniards up there.”
+
+“I reckon we’ll hunt up old Montojo, wherever he is, young man. As soon
+as he gets sailing orders, Commodore Dewey won’t give him one bit of
+rest.”
+
+So the talk ran on for several minutes, and then several other officers
+arrived, among them Commodore Dewey himself, a well-built gentleman of
+about sixty, of fine naval bearing. He looked greatly surprised to see
+Clare Todd with his head tied up.
+
+“You want to be careful in the future,” he said, when the lieutenant of
+marines had told his story. “We can’t afford to lose any men just now.
+So these lads assisted you?”
+
+“They did, Commodore, and they are as plucky lads as I ever met.”
+
+“Oh, our American lads are always plucky!” smiled the commodore, who,
+as I afterward learned, was one of the most warm-hearted of commanders.
+
+“Commodore Dewey, I hope you are going to Manila to settle the
+Spaniards there!” I burst out impulsively.
+
+“Are you particularly interested in having me go to Manila?” was the
+somewhat quick question put in return.
+
+“I am, sir,” and in a few words I explained why.
+
+“Well, there is no telling where we may get before this war is over,
+Raymond,” he said, when I had finished. “I shall certainly do all in
+my power to protect American interests, wherever they may be. But we
+must be off now.” He turned to the under-officer in charge of the steam
+launch. “Cast off from shore!”
+
+“Good-by!” shouted Clare Todd, and we said good-by in return, and
+leaped to the wharf. There we stood still to watch the departure of the
+launch, but the craft did not budge.
+
+“What’s the matter?” demanded the commodore, as he saw the engineer
+working over the miniature engine.
+
+“The valve is out of order, sir,” was the answer. “We ought to have a
+new one.”
+
+“Can’t you run the launch back to the ship?”
+
+“I’ll try my best, sir.”
+
+I listened to this bit of conversation with interest, for, as I
+mentioned before, I was deeply interested in engines. As the engineer
+continued to work over the parts I came closer.
+
+“Excuse me, but won’t you let me take a look at that engine?” I said.
+“I know how these things are built.”
+
+“Certainly you can look at it,” answered the commodore, and once more I
+leaped on board.
+
+“Can’t do anything with a split part,” growled the engineer, a fellow
+named Graves. “A boy like you----” He did not finish, but looked a good
+deal disgusted.
+
+I took the lantern and got down on my knees. The cap over the valve
+was split, as he had said, and something had shifted below. It was
+certainly a “teasing” breakdown, but, luckily, I had seen such a
+fracture remedied before.
+
+“A clamp over the plate will do the business,” I said.
+
+“Yes, but there is no clamp on board,” was the answer.
+
+“Have you a couple of wrenches?”
+
+“We have one wrench.”
+
+“And a coil of wire?”
+
+“Yes, there is wire.”
+
+“Then that will do. Here, we will clamp up this end first, and bind it
+with wire. Then we’ll clamp this end up, and leave the wrench on, and
+I’ll wager you can carry a half pressure of steam easily.”
+
+“I don’t think,” began Graves, when the commodore silenced him.
+
+“Try the boy’s scheme,” he said, for he had studied a little of steam
+engineering himself, at Annapolis, years before.
+
+It did not take long to put my plan into operation, I looking to it
+that the wire was wound just as I wanted it, and the wrench set in
+exactly the right place. Steam was all ready, and when I had concluded,
+the engine carried a few pounds over half pressure without a sign of
+giving way.
+
+“She’s all right now,” I said. “Only watch that wrench and see that it
+doesn’t slip.”
+
+“I declare, you’re quite a genius!” laughed the commodore. “I think I
+had better take you with me.”
+
+“All right; I’ll go!” I answered, half in jest and half in earnest. “I
+know something about guns as well as about engines.”
+
+“You are certainly the kind we want,” was the pleasant response.
+“Good-night, and good-by until we meet again!” And as the steam launch
+moved away, the commodore waved his hand pleasantly, and Dan and I
+took off our hats to him in return. Soon the darkness swallowed up the
+little craft.
+
+“Dan, I wish I was going with him!” I burst out impulsively. “A cruise
+on a man-o’-war, especially in war times, would just suit me.”
+
+“So say I, Oliver,” answered my chum. “Hurrah for the American Navy!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE FIGHTING ENGINEER.
+
+
+That night I slept but little. Strange as it may seem, I could not get
+Commodore Dewey’s face out of my mind. I thought of him continually,
+with his trim naval uniform and well-polished sword and scabbard. He
+was certainly a splendid specimen of an American naval gentleman.
+
+“Why don’t you go to sleep,” asked Dan, who roomed with me at his home.
+“You’ve been tumbling and tossing for a couple of hours. Was that
+encounter with the Chinamen too much for you.”
+
+“No, I was thinking of Commodore Dewey, Dan.”
+
+“What! Why, I was thinking of him myself. Say, do you know, Oliver,
+that his flagship, the _Olympia_, is one of the finest cruisers in our
+navy?”
+
+“I have never seen her.”
+
+“I saw her once, a few months ago. She is immense; and so are the other
+ships under his command, especially the _Boston_.”
+
+“That’s only an aggravation--if a fellow can’t board her.”
+
+“Do you really and truly want to enlist?”
+
+“If we are going to have war I would like to see some of it. My
+grandfather fought in the Mexican War and my uncle was killed at
+Lookout Mountain, in our Civil War. So, you see, I’ve got fighting
+blood in me. Besides, if Commodore Dewey goes to the Philippines----”
+
+“We may get a chance to retrieve our fallen fortunes?”
+
+“Exactly, Dan. I wouldn’t like any better fun than to give those Manila
+Spaniards what they deserve for placing us under arrest.”
+
+“I am with you there, Oliver. But”--Dan gave a deep yawn--“let’s go to
+sleep now,” and in a minute more he was in the land of dreams, while I
+was dreaming in another way, of a proud-looking warship, with myself
+behind a long gun, in a cloud of smoke, fighting as I had never fought
+before, for the honor of the glorious Stars and Stripes.
+
+The next day was a busy one for Dan and an idle one for myself. In the
+afternoon I met several American sailors from the _Boston_, another of
+Commodore Dewey’s squadron, and being in a talkative mood they filled
+me up with tales of gallantry on shipboard, and sent me back to Mr.
+Holbrook’s place more determined than ever to enlist on the _Olympia_
+or the _Boston_.
+
+That evening Mr. Holbrook, Dan, and I held a long talk, lasting until
+midnight. It was on the subject of our being able to join those on
+board of the American squadron, provided that squadron sailed for
+the Philippines. Mr. Holbrook did not care greatly to let us go, but
+thought that perhaps it would do no harm to let each get a taste of
+life in the navy.
+
+“I will take you out to the squadron myself and see if I can gain a
+personal interview with either the commodore or the captain,” he said,
+and so it was decided.
+
+My heart bounded wildly over the prospect. Somehow I felt it “in my
+bones” that I would join the navy, and so it turned out, to cut a long
+story short. We went over in a small boat which Mr. Holbrook hired,
+and were accorded a long interview by both the commodore and the
+kind-hearted Captain Wildes of the _Boston_.
+
+As Lieutenant Todd had said, the Asiatic Squadron had orders to leave
+Hong Kong, and was bound for Mirs Bay; so, if we were to go along, no
+time was to be lost in preparing for our departure. We accordingly
+hurried back to Dan’s house with all speed, packed our valises, and
+came back by nightfall.
+
+I had been on a warship before, but the _Boston_, on which we were
+placed, with her steel decks, heavy military masts, and long guns
+interested me greatly. We soon made ourselves at home, and before we
+left Mirs Bay, on that never-to-be-forgotten trip to Manila Bay, both
+of us knew the craft from stem to stern.
+
+We found the crew truly American--“to the backbone”--as Dan expressed
+it. One old gunner, named Roundstock, took a great interest in us, and
+told us a great deal about the squadron.
+
+“We’ve got four cruisers and three gunboats,” he said. “They are as
+fine as you’ll find ’em anywhere, although, to be sure, we are turning
+out ships better and better every day. If we meet those Spaniards we’ll
+give ’em a tough tussle, and don’t you forget it!” And he shook his
+head to show that he meant what he said.
+
+As we were not exactly enlisted for the cruise, we had not to attend
+the numerous drills on board, although we trained at the guns and with
+small-arms, and I took many a trip below to the engine rooms. In the
+engine rooms I met Bill Graves again, he having been transferred from
+the flagship. He scowled at me silently, and when I attempted to talk
+to him, turned his back and walked away.
+
+“That fellow has no use for you,” observed Dan, when I told him about
+Graves.
+
+“I believe you there. But it is silly for him to get mad simply
+because I showed him how to fix up the launch engine.”
+
+“He is jealous of you, especially as Commodore Dewey complimented you
+on your work, Oliver.”
+
+The second night on board of the man-o’-war proved a nasty one, and
+it looked as if we would have to pull up anchors and move out of the
+bay, for fear of having a sudden wind send us ashore. Yet Commodore
+Dewey hated to get too far from shore, for he was awaiting final orders
+before sailing in quest of the Spanish fleet.
+
+“This is enough to make one sick,” I observed to Dan. “I would rather
+sleep on shore to-night.”
+
+Bill Graves was passing us at the time, and a sneer showed itself on
+his lip.
+
+“You’re a fine landlubber to be on one of Uncle Sam’s men-o’-war,” he
+sniffed.
+
+The remark nettled me, and I swung around quickly and caught him by the
+shoulder.
+
+“See here, Graves,” I said. “I have no quarrel with you, but if you
+want to act nasty let me tell you that you had better take care.”
+
+“Humph! Do you think I am afraid of you?” he blustered.
+
+“I’ll let you know that you can’t bully me, that’s all. I want you to
+keep your remarks to yourself.”
+
+“I’ll say what I please.”
+
+“Not about me.”
+
+“Won’t I? Who will stop me?”
+
+“I will.”
+
+“Go and blab, I suppose?”
+
+“No; I’m not of the blabbing kind.”
+
+“Do you mean to say you’ll fight?”
+
+“Perhaps I will.”
+
+“You whipper-snapper!” he cried in a rage. “Take that for a lesson!”
+
+He struck out heavily, and had I not been on the alert I would have
+caught his fist on my nose and gone down. But I leaped to one side and
+his hand merely grazed my shoulder.
+
+By this time my blood was up, and, leaping in, I landed one blow
+on his chest and another on his mouth, which latter drew blood and
+loosened two of his teeth. I had taken several lessons in the art of
+self-defense and these now stood me in good stead. My blows sent him
+staggering up against a gun, where he stood gazing at me in bewildered
+astonishment.
+
+“Wha--what did you do that for?” he spluttered, spitting out some blood.
+
+“I warned you to take care,” I answered coolly.
+
+“A mill! A mill!” cried half a dozen jack tars standing by, while Dan
+came running up to learn what the row was about.
+
+“Don’t fight, Oliver,” said my chum, in a low voice. “They’ll lock you
+up in the brig, if you do.”
+
+“He began it, Dan. I only defended myself. If he----”
+
+I had no time to say more, for, watching his chance, Bill Graves leaped
+in again, this time hitting me on the cheek, a blow that almost floored
+me.
+
+“Take that!” he hissed. “I’ll teach you!”
+
+“A man against a boy! That aint fair!” was the cry from several sailors
+and gunners. “Let up, Graves.”
+
+“I won’t let up. He’s too fresh, and I’m going to teach him his place.”
+
+By this time I had recovered and was standing my ground once more.
+Again the engineer came on, but as he struck out I parried the blow and
+let drive first with my right fist and then my left. Both blows landed
+on his chin, and over he went like a ten-pin struck down on an alley.
+
+“Graves is down!”
+
+“Those were two neat blows, eh?”
+
+“That boy knows how to take care of himself, I take it.”
+
+Such were some of the remarks which passed around. Half stunned, Bill
+Graves arose slowly to his feet and looked around sheepishly. Without
+giving him time to get his second wind I confronted him.
+
+“Have you had enough, or do you want more?” I demanded.
+
+“I--I--don’t you hit me again,” he stammered.
+
+“Have you had enough?”
+
+“I don’t want to fight--it’s against the rules of the ship.”
+
+“Then what did you want to start it for?”
+
+“I didn’t start it; you started it yourself,” he muttered, and before
+I could say more hurried away and out of sight in the direction of the
+engine rooms.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+“FIRE!”
+
+
+“Oliver, you went at him in great style,” observed Dan, when the
+excitement was over and we found ourselves alone. “After this you’ll be
+the cock of the walk.”
+
+“I don’t want to be cock of the walk, Dan. I simply want to be left
+alone.”
+
+“But you pitched into him like a prizefighter. It was--well, simply
+immense, it was indeed.”
+
+“I am glad I can use my fists when it becomes necessary. I hope he’ll
+let me alone in the future.”
+
+“Let you alone? I’ll wager he won’t come within a hundred feet of you
+unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
+
+“He’s a fool to be angry with me. If he had taken things in good part
+at first there would have been no trouble.”
+
+“Oh, there are lots of pig-headed men just like him, Oliver. But I
+reckon you’ll have no further trouble with him.”
+
+There was no room for us at the guns, so both Dan and I were placed,
+for convenience’ sake, among the sailors. But on such a steam vessel
+as the _Boston_ there is little or nothing for sailors to do, and our
+time was, as before, our own.
+
+We lay in Mirs Bay for several days longer. But early one day some
+special dispatches were received, and half an hour later the _Olympia_
+flew the signal: “Up anchors and follow the flagship,” and all hands
+knew we were off at last.
+
+The three cruisers, _Olympia_, _Baltimore_, and _Boston_, were the
+first to steam away, and they were shortly followed by the gunboats
+_Concord_, _Petrel_, and _McCulloch_, and two colliers, the latter
+loaded to the rail with coal for the six warships.
+
+“What a splendid sight!” I said to Dan, as we stood on deck watching
+the column of vessels sweeping out swiftly to sea. “If we meet those
+Dons there will be fun.”
+
+“Pretty serious fun, Oliver, to my way of thinking. Killing
+fellow-beings isn’t much play.”
+
+“That’s right, Dan; but if we have got to have war I hope we come out
+on top.”
+
+“Oh, so do I!”
+
+The day was an ideal one, and we remained on deck until the intense
+heat drove us below. Here we found a great state of confusion, for
+orders had been passed around to “clear ship for action,” and all hands
+were tearing down unnecessary woodwork, preparatory to heaving it
+overboard.
+
+“It won’t do to have splinters around, you see,” explained Bob
+Roundstock, the gunner. “We want everything clear for action, just as
+the order says.”
+
+The woodwork disposed of, ammunition was passed around and fire tubs
+were filled with water. Then the great guns, fore and aft, were loaded,
+and kept in readiness for instant use.
+
+Several days passed without anything unusual happening. The weather
+remained fair, although the wind blew so strongly that the colliers
+were in danger of being swamped, so heavily were they loaded. We might
+have run at a greater rate of speed, but the colliers and the _Petrel_
+could not keep up, and Commodore Dewey thought it advisable, now we
+were in the enemy’s waters, to keep his squadron and supply boats
+together.
+
+“I wonder where we will find this Admiral Montojo?” I said one evening,
+as Dan and I lounged on deck. “Was he at Manila when we were there?”
+
+“I don’t know, I’m sure. He must be somewhere among the Philippine
+Islands.”
+
+“That’s saying a good deal, when the islands number over a thousand.”
+
+“Oh, he must be near one or another of the principal cities, Oliver. At
+a second-rate place he would have nothing to protect but a collection
+of bamboo huts.”
+
+“Has he much of a fleet?”
+
+“Supposed to have eight or nine vessels, so Roundstock told me. He is
+one of Spain’s best admirals, too, I was told.”
+
+“Then we won’t have a walk-over. If we--hark!”
+
+A sudden cry from below reached our ears. Both of us listened intently,
+but could make out only a confusion of voices.
+
+“Something is wrong,” cried Dan. “Let us see what it is,” and he ran
+for the stairs.
+
+We met half a dozen gunners coming up. “Fire! fire!” yelled one of the
+number. “There is a fire between decks!”
+
+“A fire!” The cry was instantly taken up on all sides. “Whereabouts?”
+
+“Near Jackson’s gun. It caught from some straw that was in a crockery
+barrel Gumpers was emptying. It’s close to a lot of ammunition!”
+
+“Man the fire hose!” put in an officer. “Lively, boys, or we’ll have an
+explosion!”
+
+The cry of fire had by this time aroused the entire ship, and men came
+hurrying to the scene from all directions.
+
+At first all was confusion, but soon discipline reigned supreme, and
+the fire drill was put into execution.
+
+Would they subdue the flames before it reached the loose ammunition
+which had just been sent up from below?
+
+This was the all-important question that I asked myself as I stood by,
+watching what was going on.
+
+I wanted to help and so did Dan, but we could do nothing.
+
+Presently a dull explosion was heard, followed by another.
+
+“The ammunition is going up!”
+
+“Are the steel covers to the magazines closed?”
+
+Several other cries rang out. In the meantime the firemen continued to
+pour two heavy streams of sea water on the flames.
+
+Thick volumes of smoke rolled up the companion ways, and I felt that
+those below were in danger of being choked to death.
+
+“This is awful!” murmured Dan. “I hope we don’t blow up, as did the
+_Maine_.”
+
+“We won’t, for she blew up from the outside, not the inside,” I
+answered grimly.
+
+“Well, one way would be just as bad as the other, Oliver.”
+
+“I suppose that is so, as far as we are concerned.”
+
+The work continued and all watched the labor nervously.
+
+At last the fire captain came up, blinking his eyes and shaking the
+water from his clothing. He looked as black as a negro.
+
+“It’s out, sir,” he reported, saluting the officer of the deck.
+
+“All out?”
+
+“Yes, sir, although we had better watch for sparks when the half-burned
+stuff is removed.”
+
+“Yes, be very careful. We’ll pitch it overboard at once.”
+
+Extra men were sent below, and they soon came up, carrying the burned
+and wet straw in their arms. In ten minutes all was cleared away, and
+then followed such a scrubbing and cleaning up as I had never seen
+before.
+
+“The carpenter will have a day’s work here,” observed Dan, as we
+surveyed the scene of the fire. “But we can thank God that it was no
+worse.”
+
+“So say I,” was my answer. “I don’t want any more sunken ships in mine.
+The _Dart_ was sufficient.”
+
+The day to follow was uneventful. It was clear and hot, so hot in fact
+that, during the noon-day hours, nobody could remain on deck. In the
+turrets and conning tower it was suffocating.
+
+“I feel as if I was half baked,” said Dan, as we lay in a shady corner
+on the third day out. “I wonder how far we are from Luzon?”
+
+“I heard an officer say that we would sight land to-morrow or the day
+after.”
+
+“Did he say where?”
+
+“He said we were steering for Subig Bay. They think Admiral Montojo may
+be found there with his fleet.”
+
+“I hope they do find him, and give him a good thrashing.”
+
+“You say they, Dan. Don’t you expect to take a hand in fighting?”
+
+“To be sure. But then we are not regular sailors you know.”
+
+“Well, I consider myself a sailor boy,” I answered warmly.
+
+“Do you? All right, then. Here’s to the sailor boy under Dewey!” cried
+my chum, and drank my health in what was left of a glass of lemonade he
+had brought up with him. Lemons were plentiful, and in those hot days
+everybody spent a good deal of time in making something palatable to
+drink.
+
+In the afternoon, when the sun was low, the squadron was called
+together and was put through a number of naval maneuvers by the
+commodore. This was both an interesting and instructive sight, and I
+watched it from start to finish.
+
+I had just retired for the night when I heard the sounds of numerous
+footsteps on the gun deck. I aroused myself and sat up in my hammock.
+
+“What’s up?” I asked of Dan.
+
+“I don’t know,” was his answer. “But something is the matter, that’s
+certain.”
+
+“Let us go and see,” I went on, and hopped to the floor. We soon had
+our clothing on, and then we hurried to where Bob Roundstock was
+getting his gun crew into order to man the eight-inch monster under his
+command.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+IN WHICH ONE SPANISH SHIP IS SUNK.
+
+
+“What is it, Roundstock?”
+
+“What is it?” repeated the old gunner. “We’ve sighted a Spanish
+man-o’-war, that’s what it is!”
+
+“A man-o’-war!” cried Dan. “Where is she?”
+
+“Dead ahead, and running away as fast as her steam can carry her.”
+
+“Can we catch her?”
+
+“Can’t say as to that, lad. We hope to do it.”
+
+Dan and I waited to hear no more, but, rushing to the stairs, made our
+way to the spar deck.
+
+It was a cloudy moonlight night and just now too dark to see anything
+with the naked eye.
+
+But presently the moon came out brightly, and then, far ahead, we made
+out a dim form, moving along over the ocean like a phantom.
+
+“Is that the Spanish ship?” I asked of a sailor standing near.
+
+“So the officers think, lad.”
+
+“Why don’t they give her a shot to make her heave to?” asked Dan.
+
+He had scarcely spoken when one of the guns from the _Olympia_ boomed
+threateningly, sending a shot to the starboard of the flying craft.
+
+All expected to see her heave to, but she kept on, and now a dense mass
+of clouds covered the moon and all became dark once more.
+
+The clouds were as long as they were heavy, and it took them all of
+twenty minutes to drift over the face of the moon and let that orb
+shine out again. How impatiently officers and men waited, my readers
+can well imagine.
+
+“She’s gone!” Such was the cry which rang from a hundred throats, and
+it was true. The strange vessel had disappeared from view.
+
+In a few minutes more the moon was again hidden, and further pursuit of
+the flying one was out of the question.
+
+Everybody was disappointed, and none more so than Bob Roundstock.
+
+“I’m just achin’ to get a shot at ’em,” he observed. “Oh, if only that
+ship had turned to engage us!”
+
+“I reckon those on board saw we were six to one and didn’t dare to risk
+it,” said Dan. “Now if we had been one to one----”
+
+“Those Dons would have run anyway!” finished Roundstock. He was a
+thorough Yankee tar and felt certain that nothing could stand up
+against our ships and guns. And he was more than half right, as later
+events proved.
+
+The following day brought us in sight of Subig Bay, and, while we lay
+at a distance, several of the smaller war vessels went inside to survey
+the situation.
+
+“I wish we were going in,” observed Dan. “There must be lots of Spanish
+vessels there.”
+
+“We are not making war on the merchantmen, Dan,” I answered. “We are
+after warships.”
+
+“That’s true, but we ought to take some prizes, just for the prize
+money.”
+
+“I only want what is coming to me,--my money and those documents left
+on board of the _Dart_,--and I want to bring Captain Kenny to justice.”
+
+“And give a helping hand to Tom Dawson and the others, if we can,” he
+finished, and I nodded.
+
+Soon the small ships which had been sent into the harbor returned, and
+then some of the captains went over to the _Olympia_ to confer with the
+commodore.
+
+“Something is up now, you can bet on that,” said Dan, as the squadron
+set sail once more.
+
+“We are bound southward,” I replied. “That means Manila Bay, I presume.”
+
+Orders came around to “clear ship for action,” and a busy half hour
+followed.
+
+“Commodore Dewey knows we are getting close to the enemy,” said
+Roundstock. “Orders are to keep at the guns.”
+
+“There isn’t a sail in sight.”
+
+“No; but how long would it take a heavy steam vessel, under a full head
+of steam, to come out from one of yonder headlands and open fire, lad?
+Not more than ten or fifteen minutes, if as long.”
+
+“How far will our heavy guns carry?”
+
+“Six to eight miles--and more, on a pinch.”
+
+“A good deal further than a fellow can see, even with an ordinary
+glass,” put in Dan.
+
+“Our telescopes are the finest in the world.”
+
+The loss of sleep the night before had tired me out, and I soon
+retired, and Dan followed.
+
+But I was not to sleep long, as I soon discovered.
+
+As I had supposed, the squadron was running for Manila Bay. Commodore
+Dewey wanted to get past Corregidor Island unnoticed, if such a thing
+was possible.
+
+But it was not to be, and presently we received half a dozen heavy
+shots from the land batteries, one or two of which struck the ships
+behind the _Olympia_ and _Boston_.
+
+Then rockets flared up in the air, and a small-sized engagement was on.
+
+“This is war and no mistake!” I cried to Roundstock, but he merely
+tossed his head.
+
+“Only children’s play, lad,” he replied. “See, we are already safely
+past.”
+
+The engagement lasted ten minutes, and then the batteries were passed
+and we hauled out into Manila Bay proper.
+
+It was almost full moon, but the clouds made it dark. Far away could be
+seen the twinkling lights of Manila city and other places.
+
+A strange silence prevailed throughout the ships. It was the calm
+before the storm.
+
+The night seemed long, but for all on board sleep was out of the
+question.
+
+The men lay at their guns or on the deck, while the officers paced
+about or held long whispering conversations.
+
+“I’ll wager we have a fight to-morrow,” I said to Dan. “Even if the
+Spanish ships are not here I think Commodore Dewey will capture the
+city, so as to have a new base of supplies.”
+
+“If he does that a good deal of our troubles will be over, Oliver.”
+
+“He won’t touch anything until he has ferreted out old
+Monto-what’s-his-name,” broke in Roundstock.
+
+“Montojo,” corrected Dan. “Well, we’ll have to take what comes, that’s
+all.”
+
+“Correct, lad.”
+
+At early dawn our squadron crept closer to Manila city. We could now
+see the numerous ships in front of the river mouth, but no warships
+were among them.
+
+Below Manila is situated a long peninsula, upon which was located Fort
+Cavité, the principal Spanish arsenal along the bay.
+
+Back of the arsenal was a town of some four thousand inhabitants, and
+to one side of the fort was a long, low-lying land battery.
+
+As the sun came up six warships, flying the Spanish flag, were
+discovered lying between Manila and Cavité. Several other warships were
+to the rear, half hidden by the arsenal just mentioned.
+
+“There they are!” was the cry which swept from ship to ship. “Now for a
+fight to the death!”
+
+The words had scarcely been uttered when the flagship opened fire. A
+second later the _Boston_ belched forth with her forward guns.
+
+The shock nearly threw me off my feet, and the noise fairly deafened me.
+
+“My gracious, Dan, what a racket!”
+
+“This is war, Oliver!”
+
+“It sounds more like a hundred thunderstorms rolled into one.”
+
+All of the warships had now trained their guns on the enemy, and round
+after round of gigantic steel projectiles was hurled forth, to deal
+death and destruction.
+
+Soon both sides were enveloped in smoke and but little could be seen,
+excepting at close range.
+
+The _Boston_ was hit several times, but the shots merely passed through
+our upper works, doing but little damage.
+
+For half an hour the battle kept on, and during that time both Dan and
+myself helped where we could, resolved to do our duty as Americans even
+though we were not duly enlisted.
+
+“She’s on fire!” came presently. The cry referred to one of the leading
+Spanish ships, and proved correct. One of our shells had burst into
+a magazine, and a dull explosion was followed by a wild scattering
+of burning embers. Soon the ship began to sink, and there followed a
+frantic struggle on the part of the Spanish sailors to save their lives.
+
+“Poor wretches!” I said. “I can’t help but pity them.”
+
+“War is war, lad,” said Roundstock, who was working like a beaver over
+his gun, which was red-hot. “If we didn’t sink them they would sink
+us; and since one of us must go down, I’d rather it would be the other
+fellow.”
+
+And I could not help but agree with him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+A NEVER-TO-BE-FORGOTTEN CONTEST.
+
+
+In this tale of adventures in and around the Island of Luzon it is not
+my intention to play the part of a historian and go into all of the
+details of the battle of Manila Bay, or, more properly, the battle off
+Cavité.
+
+To be really truthful, but little of the whole battle could be seen
+by any one spectator, for the ships were several miles apart, and the
+heavy smoke hung everywhere over the bay like a murky pall. Near Cavité
+the fire burst up through the smoke at half a dozen points, and these
+marked the spots where the enemy’s ships were slowly but surely going
+to pieces.
+
+For the victory was Commodore Dewey’s from the start, and a few hours
+sufficed to teach Spain a lesson which she is not likely to forget for
+years to come.
+
+Our gallant commodore had come to Manila with six fighting ships,
+including one which was very small, and but indifferently armed. Off
+Cavité he engaged eight Spanish warships, and these had the strong
+support of the fort and the land battery.
+
+And yet, when it was all over, what was the result? The Spanish ships
+lay along the shore, riddled with shot and shell and burning fiercely.
+Hundreds of Spanish sailors had been either shot or drowned, and those
+who had escaped to land were hurrying, panic-stricken, toward Manila
+and the mountains. More than this, Cavité itself had surrendered, and
+the arms and ammunition at the arsenal were our own.
+
+We had pulled out once from the fight, to learn how matters were faring
+with the other ships. Commodore Dewey was afraid that one or another
+had been lost, and his delight was without measure when he found that
+not a single ship had sustained any serious injury. “Good, boys!” he
+said. “Go in and finish them up!” And they went in, with the vigor that
+only the Anglo-Saxon race knows.
+
+Dan had been hurt by a splinter flying from some of the rigging, and I
+carried him into the wardroom, where the surgeons waited in readiness
+for any demand that might be made upon them.
+
+He was unconscious, and I looked on anxiously as a surgeon made an
+examination.
+
+“Is it serious?” I asked.
+
+“Not very; but he must remain quiet for a while,” was the answer. “I
+will plaster up the wound and bind it.”
+
+The battle had started early in the morning. By the middle of the
+afternoon it was over and a regular jubilee among the jack tars
+followed. They yelled, cheered, sang, and danced, while eating and
+drinking went on until nightfall.
+
+Some of the ships had been sent to other places, but we lay close to
+Cavité. We could have taken a great number of prisoners, but Commodore
+Dewey had no place to put them.
+
+“Let them go, poor fellows; they have suffered enough,” said more than
+one officer, and in my mind I agreed with them.
+
+“Didn’t I tell you!” cried Roundstock, coming up. “Nothing can stand up
+against the Stars and Stripes, our glorious flag of freedom.”
+
+“What’s to do, now, Roundstock?” I questioned.
+
+“That’s for the commodore and our captain to say. As for myself, I feel
+as if I could sleep for a week.”
+
+“Won’t we go in and take Manila?”
+
+“I suppose we will--later on.”
+
+“I would like to go in right away. I want to learn how my friends there
+are faring.”
+
+“You’ll have to be patient.”
+
+Roundstock strode off, and I turned again to Dan, who was moaning. I
+found his face very hot, as if he was in a fever.
+
+The hours of the night passed slowly, and in the morning I was much
+gratified to learn that my chum was better. We now received definite
+word from the other warships. All were in good condition and not a
+single man had been killed. Some were to move in close to Cavité, while
+others were to go down and take possession of Corregidor Island, at the
+bay’s entrance.
+
+By good fortune I managed to get permission to go ashore at the
+arsenal, and Dan insisted upon going along. Just before we left the
+_Boston_ we had a parting word with the captain.
+
+“Be careful, boys,” he said. “Those Spaniards will shoot you down if
+you give them the least chance.”
+
+I started to say something about getting into Manila again, but
+thought better of it and remained silent. Perhaps it might have been
+much better had I spoken and had the kind-hearted commander prevented
+the movement. But we do not know things beforehand as we know them
+afterward.
+
+It had been supposed by the Spaniards that Commodore Dewey would demand
+the immediate surrender of the capital, but no demand came, for the
+reason that the commodore was awaiting instructions from Washington,
+and because he had no armed force sufficiently large to hold Manila
+against our enemies, and against the insurgents, who were gathering
+about, ready to rush in and plunder at the first opportunity.
+
+We went ashore in one of the small boats, manned by eight jack tars,
+and landing close to the arsenal, made our way to a deserted church,
+which the sailors on shore had turned into a temporary barracks.
+
+On every hand were the signs of the fierce conflict which had raged but
+a few short hours. The bay about Cavité was dotted with the half-burned
+wrecks of the Spanish warships, and fort and batteries were torn up as
+only a hail of shot and shell can do the work.
+
+“This is awful,” remarked Dan, as he walked around. “How these poor
+wretches must have suffered during the fight!”
+
+“I reckon they were glad enough to run for it, Dan,” I answered
+soberly. “But see, there are some Spanish soldiers approaching!”
+
+The men referred to were a score in number. They were without arms,
+almost without shoes, and their clothing was torn in countless places
+by their wild rushes through the brush and cane fields. They came up to
+a body of volunteers encamped near the church.
+
+“They have surrendered and want protection from the insurgents,” said
+Dan, after listening to what was said by the Spanish leader. “He states
+that the rebels here are worse than wild beasts, and he would rather
+go to an American prison than fall into their hands.”
+
+“I believe him--after my own experience, Dan.”
+
+“So do I. I’ll tell you, Oliver, the fighting here isn’t half over.
+Dewey may try to make friends of the insurgents; but, if so, he will be
+sorry for it.”
+
+We watched the Spaniards and saw that they were starving by the manner
+in which they disposed of the food furnished to them by our own
+volunteers. I really believe that some of them would have jumped at the
+chance of joining our troops had they had the chance. None of them had
+received a dollar of pay from Spain for months, and one told Dan that
+even their own officers treated them like dogs. “If only I was back in
+beautiful Spain again!” he sighed. “Or with my uncle at his tobacco
+works in Key West, Florida, in your own nice country!” He was sick of
+war.
+
+As I have said, Cavité lay about eight miles south of Manila. Between
+the two places was a low, sandy beach, back of which was a rude
+highway, low-lying hills, covered with rice and other plantations, and
+thick forests. There were several settlements, but none of especial
+importance.
+
+By careful inquiry we learned that the country between us and Manila
+had been almost deserted, but was now filling up with insurgents, who
+were awaiting the arrival of their principal leader, General Aguinaldo,
+who had gone to Hong Kong on business. If we wanted to get into the
+capital, therefore, we must first pass the insurgents’ camps and then
+the Spanish pickets at the city walls.
+
+“It’s a risky thing to do, Oliver,” said Dan. “We don’t want to get
+shot.”
+
+“That is true. But I want to know how Longley is faring and how the
+business is faring.”
+
+“Yes, that is true. And I would like to know if Captain Kenny has shown
+up at Manila, too. But still----”
+
+“You haven’t got to go if you don’t want to, Dan. But I’m going.”
+
+“Then I’ll go, and that settles it.”
+
+And it did settle it. But neither of us dreamed of the many dangers in
+store for us.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+BETWEEN TWO FIRES.
+
+
+“I don’t know much about this part of the country,” said Dan, as we
+drew away from the American camp with great caution. “I wish we could
+pick up a native guide. He might save us from a lot of trouble.”
+
+“There are natives enough around, if only they can be trusted. Let us
+strike the first man we meet and see what he has to say.”
+
+Leaving camp was an easy matter, for as yet military rule was rather
+lax. We took a small side trail, that presently brought us in sight of
+a collection of rude bamboo huts, one burning and all deserted. Back of
+the huts we found a tall negro sitting on a tree stump, his lean chin
+resting in the palm of an equally lean hand.
+
+Dan called to him in Spanish, but the man did not stir until my chum
+walked up and shook him by the shoulder. Then he stared at us from eyes
+buried deeply in their sockets.
+
+His tale was soon told. His wife had been shot down in a skirmish
+around the bamboo huts on the day that the Spanish soldiers had
+retreated from Cavité to Manila, and his only child had been trampled
+under the feet of a runaway buffalo cow, a beast quite common in
+certain parts of the Philippines. His home was that now being reduced
+to ashes.
+
+“Your lot is certainly a hard one, my man,” said Dan to him soothingly.
+“But it will do you no good to sit here and mourn. What is your name?”
+
+“Wamba, señor.”
+
+“Would you like to become our guide, Wamba? We will pay you well?”
+
+At this the eyes of the native brightened somewhat, for he was of the
+poorest class.
+
+“You will pay me well?” he asked slowly.
+
+“We will.”
+
+“You will not pay me in _chit_?” went on Wamba. In Manila many large
+bills are paid in _chit_, instead of coin, a _chit_ being merely a
+personal note. These _chits_ are issued by nearly everyone, and float
+around from person to person before being presented to the issuer for
+redemption.
+
+“No, you shall have coin--gold and silver,” and Dan showed the contents
+of his purse, which contained several Mexican silver dollars, and some
+Spanish gold and copper coins.
+
+“And where shall I guide you?”
+
+“We want to go into Manila secretly.”
+
+“You are soldier spies?”
+
+“No, we are private citizens and want to learn something of business
+matters. Our fathers belong to the firm of Raymond, Holbrook & Smith,
+of Manila, Hong Kong, San Francisco, and other cities.”
+
+“I know the name, señor,” and Wamba nodded. “But the business must be
+ruined now,” and he gave a deep sigh.
+
+“That is what we want to see. Will you undertake to get us into Manila?
+Remember, I will pay you well.”
+
+“I will do what I can, but it will be a dangerous undertaking.”
+
+The talk between the native and Dan continued for some time, and then
+we hurried on, leaving the trail and passing over the wet ground of a
+rice field recently flooded.
+
+It was again hot, and after half an hour of traveling I was glad enough
+to cast myself in a shady spot to rest. While Dan did the same Wamba
+went off in search of cool water from a nearby spring.
+
+“I suppose things in Manila are in a state of high excitement,”
+observed my chum, as he lay back against a tree. “The Spaniards are in
+a box--with the American fleet in front and the rebels behind.”
+
+“I think they would rather surrender to us than to the rebels, Dan.”
+
+“I’ve no doubt they would. But they’ll surrender to nobody until forced
+to do it. They are as high-minded as ever, if I know anything about it.”
+
+“Business must be at a complete standstill. Perhaps the Spanish
+authorities have confiscated everything at the offices.”
+
+“I wonder what has become of Tom Dawson, Matt Gory, and the
+_Starlight_? I didn’t see anything of the craft while on the _Boston_,
+did you?”
+
+“No. She probably lost no time in slipping past Corregidor Island when
+it was known that a fight was in prospect.”
+
+“And what do you suppose has become of Captain Kenny, Watt Brown, and
+Ah Sid, who were captured?”
+
+“That is for time to tell, if we are ever to know at all.”
+
+Wamba came back with the water, into which we stirred some sugar-cane
+ends to make it more palatable, and we arose to continue our journey.
+
+“What’s that?” cried Dan, as the crack of a rifle broke the
+semitropical stillness. “Some sort of a battle is on, that’s certain!”
+
+The single report was followed by several others, and then came two
+heavy volleys in rapid succession.
+
+“I’ll wager it is a fight between the insurgents and the Spanish
+outposts!” I cried. “Hark, they seem to be coming this way. Wamba,
+what had we best do?”
+
+The native looked at me in perplexity, and Dan repeated the question in
+Spanish. Then Wamba pointed off to the woods back of us. “We hide in
+hollow,” he said, in his native tongue.
+
+We lost no time in following him, for the sound of firearms came
+closer, and soon a bullet clipped through the leaves over our heads. As
+we descended into the hollow to which the guide led us we heard a wild
+shouting, and at a distance a hundred or more Tagals burst into sight.
+
+The natives were armed with rifles secured at Cavité and in Manila,
+and were endeavoring to turn the right flank of a company of Spanish
+soldiers, who soon came into view on the opposite side of the hollow.
+The firing was now incessant, and all three of our party were glad
+enough to drop down out of sight in the dense bushes.
+
+“We are caught between two fires!” announced Dan grimly. “Here’s a
+state of things, to say the least. Oliver, how do you like it?”
+
+“We had better remain quiet, Dan. I have no desire to get a Mauser
+bullet through my head.”
+
+“Nor I. I only hope both sides move off to some other locality.”
+
+The hollow was of indefinite length and about a hundred feet wide and
+ten to twenty feet deep. The Tagals were close to the south bank, while
+the Spaniards held a position a hundred and fifty to two hundred yards
+away. In fifteen minutes the volley firing ceased, but a steady pop-pop
+from one direction or another took its place.
+
+“Each side is throwing out skirmishers,” said Dan. “If any of them come
+down here I don’t know what we had best do!”
+
+“If it comes to the worst we’ll have to throw our fortunes in with the
+rebels,” I answered. “But I have no liking for either side.”
+
+We were armed with pistols, fine six-shooters, and we held these in
+readiness for use, should occasion require. Wamba acted as if he wanted
+to leave us, but doubtless the hope of getting money out of us made him
+remain.
+
+As I have said, the natives were closer than the Spanish, and
+presently a dozen of them slipped down into the hollow. They were
+determined-looking fellows, much superior to the Tagals I had met up at
+the locality where the _Dart_ lay stranded.
+
+“They are coming this way!” whispered Dan. “I’m afraid, if they spot
+us, they will fire before we can explain who we are.”
+
+“We had better--” I began, when pop! went a rifle, and a bullet grazed
+my temple, causing me to tumble over my chum and go crashing in the
+brush back of him.
+
+“Oliver! you are hit!” he gasped. “Oh, this is too bad!” and he caught
+me up in his arms.
+
+“I--I guess it’s not much,” I faltered, putting my hand up and
+withdrawing it covered with blood. Getting out a large linen
+handkerchief, I bound it over the wound, which was but a scratch, even
+though fully as deep as was desirable.
+
+The crash in the brush had attracted the attention of the Spanish
+soldiers, and now they saw the Tagals and heavy firing recommenced. We
+were in the very midst of this, and several bullets sang alarmingly
+close to our ears. We wished that a better shelter than the brush was
+at hand, but nothing was in sight and we had to make the best of it.
+
+Inside of a quarter of an hour it looked as if the rebels would get the
+best of the fight, but suddenly some Spanish re-enforcements came up,
+and in a twinkling the Tagals were sent flying toward the hills to the
+eastward, leaving a score of dead and wounded behind them.
+
+“They are leaving us!” muttered Dan, when without warning several
+Spanish soldiers appeared, running directly toward us. Each had his gun
+up ready to shoot, so resistance would have been foolhardy.
+
+“_Halte!_” came the useless command, since we were not moving. “Throw
+down your arms or we will fire,” followed, also in Spanish.
+
+Dan looked at me and I at him, and then both of us dropped our pistols.
+Seeing this, Wamba uttered a grunt of dissatisfaction, turned, and
+crawled like a snake out of sight into the bushes. In a moment more the
+Spanish soldiers had surrounded us.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE ESCAPE FROM THE INN.
+
+
+The soldiers who had made us prisoners were dark, determined-looking
+fellows belonging to the Manila Home Guard, a body distinct from the
+troops sent to the islands from Spain.
+
+They were seven in number, including a lieutenant, who, as I afterward
+learned, rejoiced in the unique name of Carlos Remondenanez.
+
+“_Americanos!_” muttered the lieutenant, as he surveyed us. “Where you
+come from?” he demanded, in by no means bad English.
+
+“We came from Cavité,” I answered, glad to know that he would
+understand me.
+
+“Sailors from the American warships?”
+
+“We are private citizens, on our way to Ma----” Dan checked himself.
+
+“Ha! private citizens! Bah! You _Americanos_ are all out for a fight,
+like a wild bull! But we will show you, here in Luzon and at Cuba, too!
+When it is over the pigs will be sorry they took up arms against the
+sons of my country,” and he slapped his chest.
+
+Had the situation been less serious I would have been tempted to laugh
+at his pomposity. But as that might have brought on my sudden death, I
+resisted the temptation even to smile.
+
+“Yes, it is too bad to have war with anybody,” I said calmly. “Do you
+consider us your prisoners?”
+
+“And why not, boy, why not? To be sure you are not old enough to be a
+regular soldier, but your finger on the trigger of a gun may do as much
+damage as the finger of a man of forty. Search them, men!” he added, to
+his command, in Spanish.
+
+Two of the party immediately advanced, and relieved us of the pistols
+we had thrown down and also two daggers Dan had brought along from
+Hong Kong. I think Lieutenant Remondenanez was strongly tempted to
+confiscate our purses also, but did not dare on account of one of the
+soldiers, who watched him closely. This man was a new recruit, so
+Dan found out later, and was too high-minded to countenance such a
+proceeding, even on the part of his officer, without reporting it at
+headquarters.
+
+Having been searched, we were marched out of the hollow to the trail
+running down to the highway. Here we were placed in charge of three
+soldiers, one of whom marched at either side of us and the other to the
+rear.
+
+Our course was along a series of dense palm trees which sheltered us
+somewhat from the sun. Yet the walk was a hot one, and soon the wound I
+had received gave me a violent headache.
+
+“I must rest,” I said to Dan, and sank down almost exhausted.
+
+“No rest for you!” shouted the corporal in charge of the detail, and
+poked me with his bayonet, and sick as I was I had to get up and go on
+my way.
+
+But soon luck stood me in good stead. We arrived at a sort of wayside
+inn, where there were two companies of Spanish soldiers, and here we
+halted for further orders.
+
+It was decided to keep us at the place over night, and we were
+conducted to a rude stable in the rear, built of bamboo and palm leaves.
+
+Inside were half a dozen small native ponies, belonging to as many
+Spanish officers. It was a foul-smelling resort, and it made me feel
+more sick than ever.
+
+The place was already being used as a prison and outside four guards,
+with ready guns, patrolled the sides of the stable at a distance of ten
+paces.
+
+“What a hole!” cried Dan, as we were shoved through the doorway and the
+guard left us. “I’ll wager the stable is full of vermin!”
+
+“Who is that as spakes!” came from the semi-darkness. “Sure an’ th’
+voice sounds remarkably loik that of a friend, so it does!”
+
+“Matt Gory!” burst out Dan and I simultaneously.
+
+“An’ it’s Oliver an’ Dan, so it is!” ejaculated the Irish sailor,
+rushing to us and catching our hands warmly. “Sure an’ it’s a sorry
+place for a mating, aint it now?”
+
+“How did you get here, Gory?” I asked. “I thought you were on the
+_Starlight_?”
+
+“Sure an thim haythins o’ Spaniards confiscated the ship, so they did.
+Oi an’ Tom Dawson thried to escape, an’ here Oi am, as ye can behold if
+yez have sharp eyes.”
+
+“And what of Dawson?” asked Dan.
+
+“Oi don’t know where he is. He started to join Commodore Dewey’s
+marines at Cavité.”
+
+“When did all this happen?”
+
+“We lift the _Starlight_ a week ago, but Oi was captured yesterday. Phy
+have yez yer head toied up?” he went on, to me.
+
+I told him of our adventures in the hollow, and Dan related what had
+occurred since we had left the _Starlight_. Matt Gory had arranged a
+resting place of the cleanest straw to be found, in a corner, and here
+I dropped, completely fagged out.
+
+All told, the stable contained nine prisoners; the others being
+Spaniards who sympathized with the insurgents. They were a motley
+collection, and filled the already foul air with the noxious fumes of
+their ever-present cigarettes.
+
+While I rested, Dan spoke to one and another of them, and learned
+considerable concerning the present situation in Manila. As we had
+surmised, all business was at a standstill, the shops were closed, and
+the streets were guarded by Spanish soldiers, the native policemen
+not being trusted to do the duty. All was in a state of suppressed
+excitement, and it was expected that Dewey would shell the city at
+his pleasure. Provisions were scarce and there was much suffering,
+especially among the poorer classes.
+
+Strange as it may seem I rested well that night, and Dan also slept
+soundly. We were stirring at sunrise, and with us Matt Gory, who had
+suffered no injury and was willing at any moment to fight for his
+liberty.
+
+“Oi’ll not go to any dirthy Spanish prison if Oi can hilp it,--an’ Oi
+think I can,” were his words.
+
+“I am with you,” I answered. “But I don’t want to bite my nose off to
+spite my face.”
+
+At seven o’clock we were ordered out into the open air, and we were not
+sorry, for the smell in the stable during the night had grown worse
+instead of better. All were formed into single file and told to march
+to the rear door of the inn and our breakfast would be dealt out to us.
+
+“Like a lot of tramps getting a hand-out,” laughed Dan, when a Spanish
+officer struck him with his sword and ordered him to keep silent.
+
+Breakfast consisted of some stale bread, a chunk of meat that had been
+stewed in rice, and water. We had to eat and drink standing up or let
+it alone, and I hardly touched a mouthful.
+
+The breakfast over, we were about to leave the inn, when without
+warning a volley of shots came from a woods behind the hostelry and a
+Spanish officer and two privates dropped dead within a dozen feet of
+us. Before the Spaniards could recover from their astonishment a second
+volley was delivered, and four others went down, including one of the
+prisoners, who was struck by accident in the leg. Then came a wild yell
+and about fifty Spanish rebels from Manila burst into view.
+
+The scene that followed beggars my pen to describe. For some minutes
+pandemonium reigned supreme, and Spanish officers and privates alike
+knew not what to do. Some rushed into the inn and some out, and a
+number took to their heels with all the speed of which their legs were
+capable. Then a _capitan_ called them to order, and they formed into a
+hollow square on the defensive.
+
+“This is our chance!” yelled Matt Gory, as he seized Dan and me by the
+arms. “Come on!”
+
+“I am with you!” I answered.
+
+“Let us make for the stable,” said Dan.
+
+“Aint the woods betther?” queried the Irishman.
+
+“The ponies!” I interrupted, understanding what my chum meant. “Just
+the thing!”
+
+And away we went for the stable. A Spanish guard tried to block our
+way, but we tripped him over and tore his gun from him.
+
+Dan was the first inside of the structure and he speedily untied three
+of the small, but strong, animals and led them to a rear door. Then up
+we leaped into the high, uncomfortable Spanish saddles (for the poor
+beasts stood there with all their trappings) and off we sped down the
+highway, leaving Spaniards, rebels, and the other prisoners to take
+care of themselves.
+
+Of course we did not escape unnoticed, and Spaniards and rebels both
+fired on us. But their aim was poor, and the leaden messengers flew
+wide of the mark. Soon we were out of sight around a bend, and then
+we speedily took to a side trail that looked as if it might afford at
+least temporary security.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+ONE WAY OF ENTERING A FORTIFIED CITY.
+
+
+“Now where?” asked Dan, after we had halted and listened with all our
+ears to learn if we were being followed.
+
+“To Manila, as was our original idea,” I answered. “But you may not
+want to go that way,” I added, to Matt Gory.
+
+“Sure an’ Oi’ll go wid youse b’ys,” answered the son of Erin, with a
+grin. “Oi’m afther makin’ a soldier of forchune av meself,” and he made
+a mocking bow at which both Dan and I laughed.
+
+“We may be very useful to Longley in Manila,” I continued. “He may be
+having more than his hands full to protect the firm’s interests. He
+said he had about six thousand dollars in the big safe that he did not
+care to place in the Spanish bank, and----”
+
+“You are right, Oliver, we must get into Manila somehow, to help
+Longley, if for no other purpose. The thing of it is, which is the best
+way to do it?”
+
+“Let us get as close to the city walls as we can first and then
+arrange our plans,” I suggested, and this was speedily agreed to, for
+there was no telling what might happen before we came in sight of the
+capital city of Luzon.
+
+From a distance came a constant firing, which told us that the rebels
+and the Spaniards were having a full-fledged fight. But presently, as
+we moved along, this died away in the distance.
+
+Pony riding just suited Dan and me, but it went hard with Matt Gory,
+who had never ridden before. “Sure, an’ the hard saddle will be afther
+cuttin’ me in two,” he groaned. “An’ the baste prances so he’ll have me
+insoides turned out before we come to a halt this avenin’!”
+
+“Move with the pony,” I suggested, and gave him a practical
+illustration, but he was not cut out for saddle riding and made a sorry
+figure even when doing his best.
+
+It had threatened a shower and soon it was raining in torrents. We kept
+to the road for half an hour longer, when it grew so deep with water
+and mud that we had to draw off to one side.
+
+“I see a shelter beyond,” said Dan, pointing it out. “And not a soul is
+in sight. Come on,” and he led the way.
+
+It was an open shelter, built of long poles thatched with palm. There
+had been a house close by, but this was tumbled down into decay. We
+rode our ponies under the shelter and, dismounting, tethered them to
+some trees which acted as corner posts.
+
+The rain continued throughout the noon hour and for some time after,
+and it was not until nightfall that we continued our journey. In the
+meantime we had refreshed ourselves with some plantains found in the
+vicinity, and allowed the ponies to feed upon whatever was to be found
+in the neighborhood.
+
+Nightfall found us close to the Spanish lines, and we resolved to
+abandon our steeds, so turned them loose, feeling that they would soon
+find new masters.
+
+We were moving along in the gathering darkness when we heard the
+creaking of a water buffalo cart, heavy, awkward-looking things common
+to all parts of the Philippines. Soon the cart came in sight, drawn
+by two buffalo cows, hitched up tandem. On the seat of the turnout
+sat a sleepy-looking native, wearing only a shirt, trousers, and
+broad-brimmed straw hat. The cart was partly filled with straw, and on
+top rested a pile of yams and other vegetables, and a bag of cocoanuts.
+
+“I’ll wager he’s bound for Manila!” whispered Dan. “I wonder if he
+can’t smuggle us in!”
+
+“Let us stop him and see,” I returned. “I believe all of these natives
+are against the Spaniards, even though they may not like the idea of
+American rule.”
+
+We leaped forward, and while Matt Gory held the leading cow, Dan and
+I hurried to the seat of the cart. Roused up, the native was taken
+completely by surprise and stared at us in open-mouthed wonder.
+
+Dan quickly asked him if he was bound for the market place in Manila
+and he answered in the affirmative. Then my chum told him of what we
+wished to do, at which the native grinned.
+
+“Get into the cart if you will, and hide,” he said, in Spanish. “But
+remember, if Spanish officers find you, I know not that you were there.”
+
+“We agree,” answered Dan, and the straw was lifted up and all three of
+us made places for ourselves. Of course the hiding place was a damp and
+by no means pleasant one, but this could not be helped, and as it was
+our own choice nobody grumbled.
+
+The progress of the cart had been slow before, but with the added
+weight it crawled along at a snail’s pace. As long as the darkness
+served to hide us, we held up our heads for air, but with the first
+appearance of the electric lights of Manila, we dove out of sight.
+
+“We are entering the town,” whispered Dan, as the clumsy cart creaked
+over a bridge. “I think we’ll be safe in ten minutes more.”
+
+He had scarcely finished when there came a loud command to halt, and
+the native brought his cart to a standstill. A brief parley followed,
+and a couple of Spanish guards came up to the cart and calmly
+confiscated several cocoanuts from the bag. Then the turnout was
+allowed to proceed in the direction of the market place.
+
+“Now is your time,” whispered the driver to Dan, as we passed through a
+rather dark portion of a thoroughfare. “Drop out and you will be safe.”
+
+“Here is something for your aid,” whispered my chum in return, and
+handed him a Mexican silver dollar, much to the native’s delight, for
+such a piece, even though worth but fifty cents, is a good round sum in
+the Philippines.
+
+Dan then dropped from the tail-end of the cart and Matt Gory and I
+followed. An alleyway was close at hand and we darted into this, to
+plan out our next movement.
+
+“We are a good half mile from the offices,” said Dan. “And I must
+confess I don’t know the way.”
+
+“Sure an’ mebbe youse would have done better to have stayed in th’
+cart,” said the Irish sailor. “Howsomeever, lead on an’ Oi’ll be afther
+followin’ ye!”
+
+“Let us move on along the streets until we see some signboard,” I
+suggested. “We know what street the offices are on, and the number.”
+
+“That is so, Oliver. All right, come ahead;” and again Dan led the way.
+
+“It’s a regular Donnybrook Fair town,” said Matt Gory. “Oi’m afther
+gittin’ me a club!” and he picked up a stick lying in a gutter. Before
+long Dan and I armed ourselves in a similar manner.
+
+As I have mentioned, Manila was now under military rule, and at every
+other street corner we came in sight of a soldier, walking slowly back
+and forth or lounging idly against a door-post smoking a cigarette on
+the sly and talking to some pretty native damsel. To pass these guards
+unobserved was by no means easy.
+
+“Here is the right street!” exclaimed Dan, after a quarter of an hour
+had passed. “The numbers show that we cannot be more than four or five
+squares away from the offices.”
+
+“Does that clerk live be thim offices?” queried Matt Gory.
+
+“Yes, he has two rooms upstairs,” I answered. “If that money is still
+in the safe he must certainly be staying there to guard it.”
+
+Another block was passed, when Dan clutched me by the shoulder, and
+likewise pulled the Irish sailor back. “Look!” he whispered.
+
+We gazed in the direction he pointed, and saw four men huddled together
+in a corner of a rambling business building, not half a block away from
+the offices of Raymond, Holbrook & Smith. They were talking earnestly.
+Each wore a light, night cloak over his shoulders, and as one of them
+raised this covering, we caught the gleam of a dagger handle sticking
+from his breast.
+
+“By Jove! they are up to something; that’s as sure as you are born!”
+ejaculated Dan.
+
+“They be Spanish assassins!” muttered Matt Gory. “Sure an’ they look
+loik thim villains we used to see in the ould picture books!”
+
+“See, they are moving over this way,” I said, a second later. “We must
+get out of sight, or we’ll be discovered, and they may hand us over to
+the guard.”
+
+I looked around, and saw a narrow opening between two business
+buildings. Into this we crowded, behind a pile of half-broken hogsheads
+and other rubbish. Hardly had we settled ourselves than the four
+evil-looking fellows took another stand not ten feet away from us.
+
+An animated conversation ensued, of which I understood only a few
+words. But Dan caught the drift of the talk, and grabbed my arm so
+tightly that I knew at once that something out of the ordinary was on
+the way. Five minutes later, the strangers moved off once more.
+
+“The villains!” gasped my chum, as soon as he felt safe to speak. “Do
+you know what they are planning to do? They are going to break into our
+offices, kill Harry Longley if necessary, and then loot the safe!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+FOUR WOULD-BE PLUNDERERS.
+
+
+“To break into the offices!” burst from my lips.
+
+“Th’ haythins!” muttered Matt Gory. “Just let me be afther gittin’
+a-hould of thim! Oi’ll spile their looks so their own mothers won’t
+know thim!” and he shook his club determinedly.
+
+“You are certain there is no mistake, Dan?”
+
+“Positive, Oliver. It seems one of the rascals once worked for the firm
+and he knows all about the affairs. He is certain Longley is sleeping
+in an upper front room, and he has a false key to one of the back
+doors.”
+
+“They cannot be doing this by authority, Dan. Hadn’t we better notify
+the guard?”
+
+“And get arrested for our pains? No, let us beat them at their own
+game. We are three to four, and Longley will make the count on both
+sides even. I am not afraid of them, even if they do carry daggers.
+Such cutthroats are generally cowards when cornered.”
+
+By this time we were out on the street and stalking after the rascally
+quartette, who moved on close to the low, overhanging buildings.
+
+There was an electric light on the corner, but instead of burning
+brightly it fizzed and spluttered as such lights often do. The
+authorities had great trouble in keeping them lit at all, as many
+reckless men tried to turn the whole of Manila in darkness, that they
+might plunder the houses and stores with impunity.
+
+“There are our offices!” whispered Dan, pointing to them. “See, the
+four men are moving through the alleyway.”
+
+“Let us kape ’em out of the buildin’!” whispered Matt Gory. “Come on,
+we’ll knock ’em out at the first round, so we will!”
+
+He started on a run, and before either Dan or I could stop him, had
+tackled the first of the would-be plunderers. Crash! down came the
+heavy club, and the Spaniard sank down, almost overcome.
+
+The others turned in surprise and set up a low shout. Then, with
+several vile exclamations, they hurled themselves on Matt Gory and bore
+him to earth.
+
+This was more than Dan or I could stand, and we leaped in, and blows
+from our sticks rained down thickly. I hit one Spaniard over the head
+and another on the shoulder, and then slipped down in a pool of water
+which the darkness had hidden from view.
+
+By this time, however, Matt Gory had again arisen and as one of the
+rascals made for me, the Irishman threw him backward with such a shock
+that his dagger flew some distance from his hand. In a twinkle Gory had
+secured the weapon.
+
+“Now thin, run, ye haythins, or Oi’ll be afther carvin’ yez into bits!”
+he bawled, and made such a determined lunge at one of the Spaniards
+that he did run for his very life, leaving his tattered shawl behind
+him.
+
+The racket in the alleyway had aroused Harry Longley, as well as
+several others residing in the neighborhood. An upper window was
+blocked up, and Longley inquired, in Spanish, as to what was the row.
+
+“Help us, Longley!” cried Dan. “It is Oliver Raymond, Dan Holbrook, and
+an Irish friend. We have been attacked by thieves!”
+
+“You!” burst out the clerk. “Come to the door and I’ll let you in.”
+
+The clerk disappeared and we heard him run downstairs, and there
+followed the scraping of a key in a lock. As the door fell back Longley
+appeared, pistol in hand.
+
+“Begone, or I’ll fill you full of holes!” he shouted, in Spanish.
+
+“_Caramba!_ The game is up!” came from one of the Spaniards, and
+making final and ineffectual passes at us with their daggers, they ran
+out of the alleyway and down the street.
+
+“Come in! come in before it is too late!” went on the clerk, and we
+leaped into the back office. He immediately closed the door and locked
+it. All was pitch-dark and we had to feel our way around.
+
+In a few brief words we explained the situation, to which he listened
+impatiently, his ear meanwhile inclined toward a heavily barred window,
+which, as is usual in this country, had no glass.
+
+“Yes, I have the money here still,” he said. “But it is not in the
+safe. It is where they cannot find it, even if they search for hours.”
+
+“You have buried it?” whispered Dan.
+
+“Yes, and cemented the flooring over it. I was bound to protect our
+firm’s interests, no matter what happened.”
+
+“You shall lose nothing by your actions,” I returned warmly. “Father
+and the other partners shall know of your bravery.”
+
+“It has been a constant excitement ever since Commodore Dewey brought
+on that battle,” went on Harry Longley. “It’s a pity he lost so many
+men.”
+
+“Why, he didn’t lose a single man,” said Dan.
+
+“He didn’t! Why, they have it reported in Manila that he lost two
+ships and four hundred sailors.”
+
+“You ought to know better. Couldn’t you see the battle?”
+
+“No, the Spanish soldiers drove everybody indoors on penalty of death.
+It is also reported that another Spanish fleet will soon come here to
+wipe Dewey out.”
+
+“I don’t know anything about that,” I said. “But if the fleet comes I
+reckon our commodore can take care of himself.”
+
+“So he can, every thrip!” put in Matt Gory. “Oi’ll foight wid him
+meself, next toime, so Oi will!”
+
+“Plundering is becoming a common thing here,” resumed Harry Longley,
+as he led the way to his apartments above. “Last night four offices
+and six stores were looted. The Spanish authorities try to catch the
+offenders when the places belong to the English, French, or Germans,
+but if an American is robbed they merely wink the other eye, as the
+saying goes.”
+
+“Do they offer you any protection at all, if you promise to keep out of
+the fight?”
+
+“They do, in words, but that is as far as it goes. An American is not
+safe here, no matter if he gives up all his arms and swears to remain
+neutral. The Dons hate the very sight of us. They never wanted us here
+in the first place and now they are bound to drive us out--if they
+can.”
+
+“But they can’t,” finished Dan. “I’ll tell you all, Uncle Sam is bound
+to stay here. Mark my words and see if I am not right.”
+
+Since we had left him, Longley had had natives working at the offices,
+and each window was barred more heavily than ever, while some of those
+on the lower floor had been covered entirely.
+
+“You see, I am bound to hold the fort,” he smiled grimly. “I don’t want
+to leave this ground. It is in dispute, as you know, and the Spaniards
+would like nothing better than to take possession. This is the ground
+mentioned in those documents lost on the _Dart_.”
+
+“I wish I could find the _Dart_ and get the documents and the money
+back,” I answered, somewhat bitterly.
+
+We were a good deal exhausted and partook eagerly of the hot coffee,
+rice cakes, and other things which Longley set before us. He had
+stocked up with sufficient provisions to last for a month, and among
+his stores were two barrels of water.
+
+“You see, the rebels may cut off the water supply from the reservoir,”
+he explained. “If they do, people in Manila will be in a bad shape all
+around.”
+
+“Cannot the Spanish soldiers protect the water works?”
+
+“I don’t know. They used to have their hands full with the rebels
+alone. Now they have us Americans to fight in addition.”
+
+Longley had but a single cot at hand, and as all could not sleep on
+that, we told him to keep his resting place and proceeded to make
+ourselves comfortable on the floor.
+
+It would have been well had one or another remained on the watch, but
+Dan, Gory, and I were thoroughly fagged out, and Longley had been on
+guard the night before.
+
+“We’ll risk it,” said the clerk, as he passed around such blankets as
+he possessed, not for coverings, as it was too warm for that, but to be
+made up into such couches as our ingenuity could devise.
+
+We turned in about eleven o’clock and I slept soundly until a little
+after three in the morning. I awoke with a start and knew at once that
+some noise had aroused me. I listened, but all was as silent as the
+grave, excepting for the snoring that came from Matt Gory’s corner.
+
+“Something is wrong,” I thought, and turned over in the direction of
+the barred window, close to Longley’s couch. There was a faint light,
+and the sight that I saw filled me with horror.
+
+A man hung to the bars from the outside. In one hand he held a sharp
+dagger tied to a stout stick. The dagger had been passed into the room
+and the man was on the point of sticking the dangerous-looking blade
+into Longley’s breast!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE FIGHT IN THE OFFICES.
+
+
+“Longley, look out!”
+
+Such was the cry which broke from my lips, as I leaped to my feet.
+
+At the same moment, I picked up a chair standing near and hurled it at
+the arm thrust through the window bars with all my might.
+
+By pure good luck my aim was true, and the seat of the chair struck the
+Spaniard’s hand such a smart blow that he gave a howl of pain, dropped
+stick and dagger, and fell back out of sight.
+
+“What is the matter?” came from Longley, as he scrambled up from under
+the articles just mentioned. At the same time Dan and Matt Gory also
+arose.
+
+“The window--a Spaniard wanted to knife you,” I answered, and turned up
+the light.
+
+“This is the worst yet,” said the clerk, as he picked up the stick and
+examined the weapon fastened to it. “By thunder! Ramon Delveraz!”
+
+“Ramon Delveraz! What do you mean by that?” queried Dan.
+
+“Here is the name on the dagger handle. Ramon Delveraz is one of the
+Spaniards who are trying to drive us into quitting these offices, so
+that their land company can take possession of this whole block.”
+
+“The man was a short, stout fellow with a heavy beard.”
+
+“It must have been he! The scoundrel! Where is he now?”
+
+Longley rushed to the window and looked out. Nobody was to be seen.
+Then he ran to the front of the room.
+
+“There he goes!” he cried, pointing to a retreating figure. “Oh, but I
+will pay him back for this when the excitement is over.”
+
+The incident had banished sleep for the balance of the night, and we
+talked over the situation until daylight.
+
+The sun came up clear and hot, but the streets remained deserted,
+excepting for the soldiers on guard. One of these came up to the doors
+below and tried them to see if they were locked. Longley spoke to him
+out of the window, but he did not answer.
+
+“They are ugly and there is no telling what they will do next,” said
+the clerk. “It’s lucky they do not know that you are here.”
+
+“Won’t those would-be plunderers tell them of our arrival?”
+
+“They do not know but what you belong here.”
+
+Slowly the day wore along, growing hotter and hotter, until at two
+o’clock the rooms were like a bake oven.
+
+“This is nothing,” said Longley, after hearing me complain of the heat.
+“It is only ninety-six degrees to-day. Sometimes it is a hundred and
+ten in the shade.”
+
+“I wouldn’t want to live here very long,” I answered. “It would take
+all the starch out of a fellow. I don’t wonder that the natives are
+lazy.”
+
+“Oh, some of them are no good anyhow,” said he. “They won’t work, but
+spend their time in sleeping, smoking, and in attending cockfights and
+bullfights. Cockfighting, you know, is the national sport.”
+
+“And it is a wicked, cruel thing, Longley. I don’t see how a man can
+call himself a man and put in his time looking at one rooster trying to
+tear another to death with steel spurs.”
+
+“It is all that you say of it, and so is bullfighting.”
+
+“I’m glad we haven’t any such national sports,” I went on. “Baseball
+and football are good enough for me.”
+
+“They laugh at baseball and call it baby’s play.”
+
+“Never mind, it isn’t inhuman, and their fights are.”
+
+“Fortunes are won and lost on bull- and cockfights. I have heard
+of thousands of _pesetas_ changing hands as the result of a single
+contest.”
+
+“That makes it all the worse. I don’t want to see or hear of such
+fights,” I concluded, and I meant what I said. I think these contests
+an everlasting disgrace to Spain and every other nation that permits
+them.
+
+To fill in our time we helped Longley prepare the mid-day meal and
+enjoyed the best the stock of provisions on hand afforded. Our coffee
+was native grown, and, seasoned with condensed milk, made as good a
+drink as the best of Java.
+
+“This island could have a splendid coffee trade if it would only wake
+up,” said Longley. “Just see what the Dutch have done for Java. The
+Spaniards are away behind the times.”
+
+“Spain is a nation of the past,” said Dan. “I have heard father say
+that she will never regain the valuable prestige which she has lost.
+Her possessions are dropping away one by one, and in time she won’t be
+able to hold even the mother country together.”
+
+“It’s because she don’t trate the people roight,” broke in Matt Gory.
+“She takes ivery cent fer taxes an’ church purposes, and they be
+strapped, an’ git nothin’ fer it. A mon as has a constant drain on his
+pocketbook wid no recompense, is apt to git mad sooner or later and
+rise up an’ swat somebody.”
+
+We all roared at these quaint remarks, yet recognized their truth.
+
+“Spain will wake up when it is too late,” said Longley. “The people----”
+
+He stopped off short as a loud knocking below reached our ears. Going
+to the window he reported three Spanish soldiers below.
+
+“Hide, all of you!” he continued, and rushed to a side wall. Opening a
+door, he showed us a secret closet and we entered.
+
+Slowly the minutes passed as we heard him go below and hold a short and
+spirited conversation. Then came a struggle and the report of a pistol.
+
+“Here, I can’t stand this!” cried Dan. “He is in trouble and----”
+
+“We must help him,” I finished, and leaped out into the room. Longley
+had armed us with pistols, and we descended the stairs on the
+double-quick with the weapons in our hands, and Gory tumbling after us.
+
+Longley stood leaning against a counter in the rear office, the blood
+flowing from a wound in his side. Near him stood the three Spaniards,
+one with a pistol which still smoked from the discharge.
+
+Without hesitation we opened fire and as the three pistols rang out
+two of the Spaniards went down, one shot in the side and the other in
+the breast. At once the office began to fill with smoke.
+
+“Down with all--of--them!” gasped poor Longley.
+“Don’t--let--them--get--away or you are--lost!” and then he fainted
+from loss of blood.
+
+We had seen the two soldiers fall and now all three of us rushed
+through the smoke at the third fellow. Again a pistol shot rang out,
+and a bullet touched Matt Gory on the arm. But that was the last time
+that that Don ever pulled a trigger, for the Irishman fired in return
+and he fell headlong, shot through the heart.
+
+“Lock the door!” I cried, to Dan, and he leaped to do as bidden. Then,
+seeing that the two Spaniards on the floor were incapable of doing
+further harm, I turned my attention to poor Longley and carried him to
+a rattan lounge which stood in a corner.
+
+It was no easy task to bind up the clerk’s wound. By the time it was
+accomplished the two Spaniards who had been knocked over were coming
+around. Soon one of them began to yell feebly for assistance.
+
+“This will never do!” whispered Dan. “We’ll have the guards down on us
+in short order. Gag them.”
+
+“I know a better trick,” I answered, and stepped over both men with my
+pistol. “Silence!” I commanded, and pointed the weapon at first one and
+then the other.
+
+My meaning was clear even if my word of command was not, and with a
+shiver of terror the fellow who had been calling out relapsed into
+silence.
+
+“Help me!” came faintly from Longley, and he sat up and stared about
+him. “Wha--what has occurred? I--I thought I was shot down!”
+
+“You were,” answered Dan.
+
+“And those three villains?”
+
+“Two are wounded and lie yonder and the third is dead.”
+
+“Thank heaven for that!” And then unable to hold himself up longer, the
+clerk sank back again.
+
+Soon we heard the tramp of a dozen feet outside and there followed a
+loud knocking on the door. We became as quiet as death.
+
+“Open the door!” came the order, in Spanish, but nobody moved, while
+Dan and I and even Matt Gory, wounded as he was, kept our pistols ready
+for use.
+
+“Open the door!” came the order a second time. Then a brief discussion
+followed. “The shooting must have come from elsewhere,” said a Spanish
+officer; and the patrol outside marched on.
+
+As I could not understand the talk, Dan translated it. “If we keep
+quiet for awhile I think we’ll be all right,” he said.
+
+And we did keep quiet, for an hour or more. But nobody came near the
+offices during that time, and at last we considered ourselves, for the
+time being, safe.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+A LETTER OF GREAT IMPORTANCE.
+
+
+During the time which passed Dan and I attended to both Longley and
+Matt Gory’s wounds, and also did what we could for the two Spaniards.
+The dead man was placed in the cellar.
+
+As I have mentioned, the Irish sailor’s wound was not a serious affair,
+and he soon insisted that he was as ready for fighting as ever.
+Longley, however, was in bad shape, and I felt he ought to have a
+doctor’s attention.
+
+“Tell me where I can find a doctor and I’ll go for him,” I said, and he
+gave me the necessary directions, and I slipped off by a back alleyway.
+
+Luckily I found the medical man at home. He was an Englishman and
+readily consented to come over to the offices and do what he could for
+Longley.
+
+“They should not harm him, since he is not in this fight,” said the
+doctor. “Do you imagine they mistreat Spaniards in San Francisco and
+New York so? It is against international rules of war and Spain will
+gain nothing by such a course.”
+
+“They are bound to drive our firm from Manila, if they can. This is
+more of a personal than a national difficulty.”
+
+“Still, they should treat you fairly.”
+
+An examination proved that Longley needed rest and quietness if he was
+to recover. The physician said if the clerk was removed to his home he
+would take care of him. We debated the matter, and resolved to remove
+Longley at nightfall.
+
+“And as soon as he is gone you had better turn those two wounded
+Spaniards over to their own people,” went on the medical man. “I’ll
+make sure that they don’t unearth Longley, even if they hunt for him,
+which will be doubtful.”
+
+The removal was made without trouble, the Spaniards having their hands
+full at the front, watching Commodore Dewey’s ships and his marines and
+the rebel troops, which were pressing closer and closer to Manila.
+
+As soon as Longley was safe we did as Dr. Harkness advised, turned
+the Spaniards out, laying them on a side street, where they were soon
+picked up by a guard. The offices were then locked up, and the doctor
+said he would place them under the British flag for protection.
+
+At midnight Dan, Matt Gory, and myself were once again on the streets
+of the city, not knowing which way to turn or what to do.
+
+“Shall we go back to the ship?” queried Dan.
+
+“Perhaps it might be as well,” I said. “But we may be captured at the
+city wall.”
+
+However, we determined to try our luck, and set off in the midst of
+a rising storm. As we moved onward, we heard a number of shots from
+a distance, and presently found ourselves in the midst of a mass of
+natives who were running for their lives.
+
+“There has been an uprising!” cried Dan, after questioning a native.
+“Let us go along. We can escape better in the crowd than if we keep
+alone.”
+
+We rushed along the street, and presently found ourselves among at
+least two hundred Filipinos of all sorts and conditions. Some were
+armed with rifles, but the majority carried nothing but clubs, spears,
+and long knives, such as were used on the plantations.
+
+Coming to the river, a rush was made over the bridge, and then began a
+flight to the north, up a road that was six inches deep with mud.
+
+“Now let us get out of this!” whispered Dan, and we gradually drew to
+one side, like tame horses withdrawing from a wild herd.
+
+The rain had now stopped, but it was still pitch-dark, and soon we had
+left the natives fleeing to the north of us, while we turned eastward.
+
+“Listen!” exclaimed Dan, as a strange sound reached our ears, above the
+rising wind. “What is that?”
+
+“It must be a cry for help!” I answered.
+
+“Let us be afther investigatin’,” put in Matt Gory. “We may be able to
+do some feller-critter a big turn.”
+
+The cries seemed to come from a hillside ahead, and we mounted this
+through dense brush that dripped with water.
+
+“There is a hut ahead,” said Dan. “The cries come from there.”
+
+“It must be a native in distress,” I returned, and moved on in advance.
+
+“Help! help!” came suddenly, in an English voice, and we quickened our
+pace, feeling that one of our own soldier or sailor boys might be in
+distress.
+
+When we reached the bamboo hut a strange sight met our gaze. On his
+back lay a white man of at least seventy years of age. Kneeling on his
+breast was a Tagal with drawn knife, while another Tagal knelt at the
+old man’s side, trying to pull a money bag from his grasp.
+
+“Hi! stop that!” I called out, and, rushing in, kicked one of the
+Tagals so heavily in his side that he rolled over and over on the
+earthen floor.
+
+At this the second native leaped up and rushed at me with his knife.
+But, before the blade could descend, Dan fired at him, and his arm fell
+helpless at his side.
+
+“Help me; they have--have murdered me!” gasped the old man, and
+turned over on his side in pain, showing an ugly cut on his neck.
+With a fierce mutter the Tagal I had kicked got up and rushed at Dan,
+clutching him by the throat and running him up against the wall of the
+hut. But now Matt Gory leaped in, and a blow from his pistol stretched
+the rascal senseless. Seeing this, the native who had been shot took to
+his heels and disappeared into the darkness outside.
+
+There was a dim lantern burning beneath the roof of the hut, and
+this light was now turned up, that we might see more of this strange
+situation.
+
+“I am--am done for,” gasped the old man. “That villain has torn my neck
+to pieces!”
+
+“Let us bind the wound up,” I answered tenderly. “Have you any rags
+handy?”
+
+“Never mind--I know I cannot live. I--I--can I trust you?”
+
+“You can,” answered Dan. “Have you a message to leave?”
+
+“I have. You are Americans?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“So am I. My name is Gaston Brown. I have a son, a sailor, Watterson
+Brown, who----”
+
+“I know him--Watt Brown. He was second mate of the _Dart_,” I
+ejaculated.
+
+“So you know Watt?” The old man’s eyes brightened for an instant. “So
+much the better. I have something for my son. If I die will you deliver
+it?”
+
+“I will--if I can.”
+
+“We will do our best,” added Dan, and Matt Gory nodded.
+
+“Sure, an’ we were all on the _Dart_ wid yer son,” added the Irishman.
+
+“I cannot leave Watt much money; but I have a precious letter for him.
+That letter must not be lost. Will you defend it while it is in your
+keeping?”
+
+“Yes,” I answered. “But hadn’t you better acquaint me with its
+contents, in case it is lost?”
+
+“It must not be lost. It is--is in the tin box buried in yonder corner.
+Give it to Watt with my blessing. Tell him--tell him--water!”
+
+“He is dying!” whispered Dan, and ran for water, while I raised the
+elderly individual up. I wanted to tell him how Watt was situated, but
+it was too late. A strange rattle sounded in his throat, and before my
+chum could place the cup of water to his lips, his soul had fled.
+
+“Sure an’ he is gone!” whispered Matt Gory, the first to break the
+silence. “God rist him!”
+
+“This was a strange way to live,” I began, when Dan cut me short.
+
+“We must not lose time here, Oliver. Let us get that letter and be
+going.”
+
+We hunted in a corner of the hut and began to dig down at a spot where
+it looked as if the soil had been recently disturbed.
+
+“That’s the box,” said Matt Gory, as we heard a metallic click, and
+soon the box was brought to light--a square affair, painted black.
+
+It was unlocked, and, opening it, we found that it contained nothing
+but a long, thick envelope, tightly sealed, and addressed to Watterson
+Brown, mate, on board the schooner _Dart_. Below were added the words:
+
+“From his father, with the hope that the fortune may prove a blessing.”
+
+“A fortune for Watt Brown,” mused Dan. “Well, he deserves it, for he’s
+a good fellow.”
+
+“If only he isn’t dead. In that case I won’t know what to do with the
+letter,” I answered, as I tucked the precious document away in my
+pocket. Little did I dream of all of the adventures into which that
+letter was to one day lead me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+TREED BY BUFFALO BULLS.
+
+
+“This silent inaction is growing monotonous.”
+
+It was Dan who spoke, and he addressed me, while both of us and Matt
+Gory took it easy in front of a deserted house we had chanced upon on a
+side road some miles away from Manila.
+
+After burying Gaston Brown our flight had taken us to the north, and we
+had rested at the house for two days, undecided what to do next.
+
+“If we try to move past Manila and toward Cavité, we’ll run into both
+rebels and Spaniards, and I don’t want to do that,” I said. “I am
+rather sick of this fighting.”
+
+“So am I, Oliver. But we must do something. We can’t sit here and suck
+our thumbs.”
+
+“Let us try to make our way up past Subig Bay to the coast and find out
+what has become of the _Dart_.”
+
+“Sure, an’ that same suits me,” put in Matt Gory. “Oi wants that dudeen
+of mine th’ worst way, so Oi do. Bad cess to any haythin’ as has
+stholen th’ same!” He spoke of his old pipe constantly, for it had
+been his friend for many years.
+
+“Your dudeen ought to be strong enough to walk to where you are, Matt,”
+laughed Dan. Then his face grew thoughtful. “It would be a long trip to
+the _Dart_, and we may fall in with lots of Tagals.”
+
+“Perhaps not, Dan. I have an idea that all of the natives are now
+gathering around Manila, and we will find the coast almost clear.”
+
+“There is something in that. Well, I’m willing. Anything is better than
+staying here with hardly anything to eat but cocoanuts and plantains.”
+
+Nevertheless, we did not move away until twenty-four hours later. Our
+rest at the house had done us good, and at the place we had picked up
+a new pair of boots for Matt, a coat for Dan, and a new straw hat for
+myself, besides some canned goods, which, however, we had not opened,
+determined to keep them until we could find nothing else.
+
+The day we set off it was cooler than it had been for some time, and as
+the road was comparatively level, we made good time, and by nightfall
+had covered fifteen miles.
+
+We had met only a few natives, and these of the mild sort, who merely
+stared at us in open-mouthed wonder.
+
+“There is one thing certain,” I said, as we went into camp that night.
+“Not all of these people want to fight.”
+
+“That is true, Oliver. I believe, if they were left alone, a good
+portion of the Filipinos would prove absolutely harmless. But the
+warlike class keep the others in a constant state of excitement.”
+
+Several days passed, including a Sunday, when we let up on our travels
+and rested. We had now entered the hills, and traveling became more
+difficult. We might have lost our way; but from the wreck of the
+schooner Matt Gory had saved both a chart and a compass, and these now
+stood us in good stead.
+
+The weather remained clear, but knowing that storms are frequent, we
+made the most of our time while it did not rain. We had now struck the
+seacoast north of Subig Bay, and we calculated that a week’s added
+traveling would see us at the spot where the _Dart_ lay and where we
+had had so many adventures on first landing.
+
+Two days later we came on a plateau overlooking the sea. It was still
+clear, and we had hardly reached the place when Matt Gory pointed out a
+sail on the horizon.
+
+“Some ship sailing around, even if there is a war on,” said Dan. “I
+wonder what sort of a craft she is?”
+
+“A Chinese junk,” answered the Irish sailor, “Oi kin tell ’em as far as
+Oi kin see ’em.”
+
+“Well, we don’t want anything to do with their junks,” I answered. “It
+was a Chinese craft that knocked that hole in the _Dart_.”
+
+Soon the sail disappeared from view on its way up the coast, and we
+started to continue our journey. We had gone on less than a mile when a
+strange tramping behind us brought us to a halt.
+
+“What is that?” I questioned, as I drew my pistol.
+
+“Horsemen approaching, I reckon,” murmured Dan. “We had better hide.”
+
+But hiding was not so easy, as only some tall trees were around, the
+ground being too stony for small brush of any thickness.
+
+“They be comin’ closer!” cried Matt Gory. “Sure an’ we had betther take
+to the trees, me b’ys!”
+
+“We’ll have to help one another up,” I said. “Come on.”
+
+We chose some mahogany trees, two growing close together. By boosting
+and hauling we managed with much difficulty to gain the lower limbs
+just as the newcomers came into view around a turn of a hillside.
+
+“Gracious! Buffalo bulls!” cried Dan.
+
+“Sure an’ they are no inimies!” cried Matt Gory, and without
+thinking twice, dropped to the ground again.
+
+“Come up here!” roared Dan. “Do you want to be horned to pieces?”
+
+“Will they horn one?” I queried.
+
+“Yes, as quickly as a mad bull at home.”
+
+“Then, Matt, get up, and be quick about it.”
+
+There was no need to tell the Irish sailor twice. A buffalo bull had
+spotted him, and with a wild snort, was coming for him, horns down.
+
+“Be the powers!” gasped Gory. “Save me! hilp!” and he made a wild dash
+for the tree, but slipped and fell.
+
+[Illustration: “BEFORE THE BUFFALO BULL COULD REACH HIM, DAN’S PISTOL
+RANG OUT.”]
+
+I fully expected to see him gored to death, but, before the buffalo
+bull could reach him, Dan’s pistol rang out, and the beast staggered
+and dropped back, with an ugly wound just below his left eye.
+
+“Come, Matt, get up!” I yelled, and as the sailor made for the tree, I
+leaned far down and caught his hand. Just as I hauled him up the bull
+made another charge, striking the tree trunk with a shock that shook
+the tree from end to end.
+
+In a minute more we found the two mahogany trees surrounded by exactly
+eleven bulls, for these curious creatures sometimes congregate in this
+fashion, although not always. They were wild-looking beasts, and from
+their breathing we felt certain that they had come a long distance.
+
+“They have been pursued,” said Dan. “Usually they are fairly tame,
+although not to be trifled with.”
+
+“Sure and Oi’ve had a narrow escape!” panted Matt Gory. “See! see!
+phwat is up now?”
+
+He pointed to the wounded bull, that had circled around and, without
+warning, charged one of his mates. Instantly there was a counter
+charge, and the crashing together of two skulls could be distinctly
+heard. Then the wounded bull went down on his knees and several of his
+mates fell upon him and tore him into shreds.
+
+It was a disgusting sight, and I had to turn away, for fear of getting
+sick and tumbling from the branch upon which I rested. “Now we have a
+sample of bullfighting, I suppose,” I said.
+
+“Yes, and it’s simply horrible!” murmured Dan. Matt Gory, however,
+seemed to enjoy the contest, and let out a hurrah as the bull fell over
+dead.
+
+“It serves the baste roight fer attackin’ me,” he said. “Bad luck to
+the rascal!”
+
+After the killing of the bull, his mates withdrew to a distance of
+twenty or thirty yards, in the meantime tossing their heads at us and
+giving occasional snorts of anger.
+
+“They are aching to get at us,” was Dan’s comment. “And just for the
+fun of killing us, too, since they won’t touch meat.”
+
+“We’re in a serious dilemma, Dan,” I answered. “We can’t stay here
+forever.”
+
+“Neither can the bulls.”
+
+“But some of them may keep coming and going, and thus starve us out.”
+
+“No; I think if they once make a move to leave, they’ll go in a bunch.”
+
+After this several hours went by, and still the bulls stayed where they
+were. Then came a sudden clatter of ponies’ hoofs on the road and the
+yells of half a dozen natives.
+
+“The Tagals are coming now, beyond a doubt,” I said.
+
+“And the bulls are running for it,” answered Dan, and he was right; at
+the first cries from the natives the buffalo bulls scampered off like
+frightened deer, and that was the last we saw of them.
+
+We had scarcely time to draw up into the topmost branches of the
+mahoganies when the pony riders put in an appearance. Six short,
+wicked-looking Tagals rode the animals.
+
+A shout went up when the carcass of the dead bull was discovered. A
+jabbering in a native dialect followed, and two Tagals left, presumably
+to find out what had become of the rest of the herd. While this hunt
+was made, two other natives cut off a number of juicy buffalo steaks
+and placed them in leaves bound with vines.
+
+“I hope they don’t go into camp here,” murmured Dan to me.
+
+“Or that they don’t discover some trace of us,” I returned.
+
+“We had better hold ourselves in readiness for an attack,” put in Matt
+Gory, and we thought this good advice and followed it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+CAPTAIN KENNY AGAIN.
+
+
+We were compelled to pass the night in the trees, the Tagals encamping
+less than a hundred feet away, and the night proving so light that
+escape was out of the question.
+
+But at dawn our enemies departed, and then we lost no time in dropping
+to the ground and moving on, first, however, helping ourselves to all
+of the steaks we could conveniently carry.
+
+Our course lay along the hills, and soon we crossed the canyon where
+Captain Kenny had played me such a dastardly trick. Here we paused for
+a dinner of the steaks, and I think I can truthfully say that never did
+a repast taste sweeter.
+
+“I only hope I can square accounts with Captain Kenny some time,” I
+said. “I shall never feel satisfied until I know he has received his
+deserts.”
+
+“Villains are not always brought to justice, Oliver,” answered Dan.
+“But I haven’t any doubt but that we will meet Captain Kenny some time
+or another, and if we do----” Dan finished by a determined shake of his
+head that meant a good deal.
+
+We were now approaching those mountains which I mentioned in the
+earlier chapters of my tale, and, consequently, our progress was much
+slower.
+
+“It’s a good thing that it remains dry,” said Dan, as we toiled up one
+hill and down another. “I don’t want any thunderstorms.”
+
+“No, especially if the lightning is going to strike close by,” I added.
+“I wish we were in sight of the sea.”
+
+“I think we’ll reach it by to-morrow.”
+
+My chum’s surmise was correct, for about noon of the day following we
+came out upon the shore of the China Sea, close to the point where I
+had been cast up in company with Watt Brown and several others.
+
+“This looks a bit familiar,” I cried, as I ran out on the sand.
+
+“Hi! be careful,” shouted Dan. “Do you want those Tagals to spot you?”
+
+“Not much!” I returned, and scampered for shelter with equal alacrity.
+After that I proceeded with more caution.
+
+It was determined to push on without delay to where the _Dart_ had come
+ashore. This would bring us in the vicinity of the stranded craft about
+nightfall and enable us to take in the situation under cover of the
+darkness.
+
+It was about four o’clock, and we reckoned that we must soon come in
+sight of the _Dart_, when Matt Gory suddenly pulled my arm.
+
+“The Chinese junk!” he ejaculated. “She is heading in shore!”
+
+“By Jove, Matt is right!” answered Dan. “What can this mean?”
+
+“It means that they have spotted the _Dart_ and are coming ashore to
+investigate,” I replied. “I suppose they think they have discovered a
+rich haul.”
+
+“In that case we must get to the wreck first!” said Dan. “Come, let us
+leg it!”
+
+And run we did, at the best speed at our command, and forgetting all
+about the possible proximity of the Tagals. Soon the _Dart_ came
+into view, lying exactly as she had before, but now totally deserted
+excepting for a single figure that stood on the deck, armed with a gun
+and two pistols.
+
+“Watt Brown!” I yelled, and Dan and Matt Gory also cried out.
+
+At the sounds of our voices the second mate turned swiftly and fell
+back in amazement.
+
+“Well! well!” he ejaculated, when he could speak. “I thought you
+fellows were all dead. Come on board and help me hold the fort.”
+
+“Hold the fort?” I asked. “Against whom?”
+
+“Yonder Chinamen, Raymond. I’ve been watching ’em through a glass, and
+they are pirates, I’m dead sure on it!”
+
+“We can’t hold th’ fort agin’ a shipload of ’em,” grumbled Matt Gory.
+
+“I have a small cannon waiting for them,” answered Watt Brown. “I am
+bound to hold the fort until the _Concord_ comes back.”
+
+“The _Concord_!” I burst out. “Do you mean the gunboat of Dewey’s
+fleet?”
+
+“I do.”
+
+“And has she been here?” put in Dan, with equal interest.
+
+“Yes, and she picked up nearly all of our old crew that were alive
+excepting Captain Kenny and Ah Sid, the cook. Tom Dawson was on her.”
+
+“Good fer Tom, I knew he would do somethin’!” cried the Irish sailor.
+“But how is it you are keeping the fort, as you call it?”
+
+“I escaped from the Tagals and fell in with some of the owners of the
+_Dart_ at Manila. They are down on Captain Kenny, and they were on the
+point of having him arrested for fraud when he got to Manila. They
+asked me to come back and claim the property, and the schooner is to
+be floated and turned over to the United States Government for coast
+service during this war. Now will all of you help me, or won’t you?”
+
+“Certainly we will!” cried Dan, and Matt Gory and I said the same.
+
+There was no time to talk further, and we hastened to look about the
+_Dart_ to learn how we were to defend the schooner from attack. The
+howitzer Watt Brown had mentioned was already loaded, and the second
+mate said he would attend to the piece himself if only we would
+look after the small-arms; said small-arms being eight muskets, all
+loaded, lying in a row by the rail, alongside of a biscuit box full of
+cartridges!
+
+“Sure an ye are afther bein’ a whole company of marines in wan!”
+observed Matt Gory, as he surveyed the preparations. “It puts me in
+mind o’ the man as used to go around Irish fairs playing a dhrum,
+a fife, and fiddle, an’ a hurdy-gurdy all in wan, wid the sweetest
+music----”
+
+“They are coming, and we haven’t a minute to lose,” interrupted Dan,
+and took up two of the guns. “Keep out of sight, boys, or they may pick
+us off at long range!”
+
+“I would like to have a look through your glasses,” I said, and he
+readily handed them over. My eyes are good, and as I gazed at the junk
+I saw she had lowered all of her sails and was dropping a small boat
+into the sea.
+
+“They are coming over here, for sure,” I said.
+
+“Let me take a look,” said Dan, and took the glasses from my hands.
+“By Jove!” he gasped, a minute later.
+
+“What is it, Dan?”
+
+“There is a white man in that boat!”
+
+“A white man, eh?” broke in Watt Brown. “Who can he be?”
+
+“I can’t make out yet.”
+
+“And how many yellow fellers?” asked Matt Gory.
+
+“Six sailors and an officer.”
+
+“Eight, all told,” mused the second mate. “Well, we ought to prove a
+match for ’em.”
+
+“We ought not to shed blood if it can be avoided,” I said.
+
+“True for you, Raymond; but you must remember that pirates are pirates
+the world over.”
+
+Slowly the small boat came closer. Watt Brown continued to watch it
+through the glass. Then of a sudden he gave a gasp.
+
+“Captain Kenny!”
+
+“What?” we ejaculated in chorus.
+
+“The white man is Captain Kenny--and one of the men at the oars is Ah
+Sid!”
+
+“What in the world are they doing among those pirates?” I asked.
+
+“That remains to be seen. More than likely Captain Kenny has heard what
+the other owners of the _Dart_ want to do, and he is going to turn the
+craft over to those Chinamen,” answered the second mate.
+
+“Has he a right to do that?”
+
+“I don’t think he has--and whether he has or not, I’m not going to let
+him do it,” and Watt Brown shook his head determinedly. “He’s a bad
+egg.”
+
+“He is that,” I went on. “I want to bring him to justice myself. Why,
+he tried to take my life!”
+
+“We’ll hold the fort, as Brown says,” put in Dan. “The question is, how
+are we going to do it?”
+
+“I’ll show you!” cried the second mate, and snatching up one of the
+muskets he shot it off in the air.
+
+As the report rolled out to sea the rowers in the small boat dropped
+their blades, while Captain Kenny leaped to his feet. The former
+commander waved his hand, as Watt Brown came into view.
+
+“Ahoy, there!” he cried, at the top of his lungs.
+
+For reply the second mate seized a speaking trumpet with which he had
+supplied himself. “Keep off!” he yelled. “Keep off, or we’ll blow you
+and your boat to kingdom come!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+A FIGHT AT LONG RANGE.
+
+
+There is no doubt but that Captain Kenny was taken completely by
+surprise. As a matter of fact he had expected to find nobody on board
+or near the _Dart_, knowing that all of the Tagals of that territory
+had moved away to join the insurgent forces operating around Manila.
+
+For a minute after Watt Brown had delivered his warning there was a
+silence, broken only by the soft lapping of the waves as they broke
+against the _Dart’s_ sides.
+
+“What is that you say?” demanded the captain at length.
+
+“I warn you to keep off,” shouted Watt Brown. “Come closer at your
+peril!”
+
+“What right have you to talk to me in this fashion, Brown?”
+
+“A good deal of right, Captain Kenny. I have found you out, and so have
+others; and you are a thorough villain.”
+
+“What have you found out?”
+
+“Found out that you were trying to defraud the other owners, for one
+thing.”
+
+“It aint so!” stormed the former skipper of the schooner.
+
+“It is so.”
+
+“And you tried to take my life!” I called out, as I showed myself for
+the first time.
+
+“Raymond!” he ejaculated, and for the instant he could say no more.
+
+“I have a good body of men with me,” continued Watt Brown, “and I warn
+you to keep off.”
+
+“The ship is mine, and I intend to have her,” was the reckless return.
+
+Captain Kenny turned to Ah Sid and spoke to the Chinaman. In return the
+former cook of the _Dart_ interpreted his remarks for his countrymen.
+
+A short discussion took place, and then Captain Kenny called out once
+more.
+
+“We are coming on board, Brown, and the best thing you can do is to
+make a peaceful surrender.”
+
+“We won’t surrender, and if you come ten feet nearer we’ll open fire on
+you.”
+
+“You won’t dare!”
+
+“We will dare. Do you know who this boat belongs to?”
+
+“She belongs to me.”
+
+“She belongs to the United States Government--or will belong to the
+government very soon.”
+
+“On the contrary, she belongs to the captain of yonder Chinese junk.”
+
+“Not much! Now keep off! I have warned you for the last time. If you
+don’t--”
+
+Watt Brown got no further. While he had been speaking Captain Kenny had
+drawn his pistol, and now, taking sudden aim, he let drive, the bullet
+clipping the second mate’s forelock.
+
+“The rascal!” I burst out, and was on the point of firing when the
+howitzer roared out, sending a shot cutting over the small boat’s bow.
+A splinter planted itself in Ah Sid’s shoulder and we were glad to see
+that unworthy Celestial squirm with pain.
+
+The discharge of the ship’s cannon alarmed the Chinamen more than all
+threats would have done, and catching up their oars, they turned the
+battered small boat about and made for the junk.
+
+“That scared them,” cried Dan.
+
+“Can’t Oi have a shot at ’em?” queried Matt Gory disappointedly.
+
+“You may get more shots than you want before we have done with ’em,”
+smiled Watt Brown grimly.
+
+“You think they will come back?” said Dan.
+
+“Most certainly Captain Kenny will be back. He’s not the fellow to give
+up so readily.”
+
+We watched the small boat until it was out of range, then dropped our
+weapons and sought shelter from the fierce rays of the setting sun.
+During the excitement I had forgotten about Watt Brown’s packet, but
+now I brought it forth and handed it to him, and in as gentle a way as
+I could, told him of his parent’s death.
+
+“Poor father!” he murmured, and tears stood on his rough cheeks. “He
+was a good man, even if he was queer. I wish I could have been with him
+when he died.”
+
+He then proceeded to tell us something of his parent’s history, how he
+had been first a sailor, then a doctor, and then a rover of the earth
+in search of adventure.
+
+“He has been to nearly every country on the globe,” he continued. “He
+was always wanting to see the unknown and the strange. He did not
+travel so much when my mother was living, but after she died he could
+not content himself in one place for more than six months or a year at
+the most. He came to Manila with me on my last trip and intended to
+look for a Kanaka whom he had once met in the Hawaiian Islands.”
+
+“He said the document was of great value,” I answered. “I hope it
+proves so.”
+
+“I’ll look it over the first chance I get. Now is no time to think of
+anything like that, since those heathens are coming our way a second
+time,” concluded Watt Brown.
+
+He was right about the Chinamen. The small boat had left the junk
+and was moving up the shore as swiftly as the oarsmen could drive it
+through the surf. Captain Kenny was again on board, but Ah Sid was
+missing.
+
+“They are going to make for the beach and attack us from land,”
+exclaimed Dan.
+
+“Can’t we hit him with the howitzer?” asked Matt Gory. “You are afther
+bein’ a foine shot, Brown.”
+
+“I’ll try it,” answered the mate, and once again the cannon was loaded.
+To sight the piece was difficult, as the small boat danced up and down
+on the waves incessantly.
+
+When the howitzer was touched off it was seen that the shot had passed
+over the small boat. That it had come close, however, was proven by the
+consternation on board, several of the Celestials having dropped their
+oars in terror.
+
+“Missed!” muttered Watt Brown. “Try the muskets.”
+
+We at once complied, the mate firing with us. But the distance was too
+great for those who were not sharpshooters, and none of the bullets
+took effect, excepting upon the small boat.
+
+Before the howitzer could be loaded again the party landed and, hauling
+the rowboat up on the sands, they ran for the shelter of the trees and
+rocks.
+
+“Take the small-arms over to port,” ordered Watt Brown. “They’ll be
+coming out through the woods in less than ten minutes.”
+
+“Another boat is putting off from the junk!” exclaimed Dan, who had
+picked up the glasses.
+
+“Six, seven, eight, nine men are coming over in her! And they have a
+small gun on board!”
+
+“Seven and nine make sixteen,” I said. “Sixteen to four are pretty big
+odds.”
+
+“Yis, but we are afther havin’ the advantage of position,” returned
+Matt Gory. “Brown, can’t ye be afther blowin’ that second boat
+sky-hoigh wid th’ howitzer?”
+
+“I can try,” answered the second mate.
+
+He had already reloaded the piece, and as the second small boat came
+closer he began to sight the gun.
+
+“There is a flag of truce!” cried Dan, as an officer in the boat held
+up a white handkerchief by two of the corners.
+
+“We don’t recognize any flag of truce!” cried Watt Brown. “I’ll show
+’em that none o’ their dirty Chinese tricks will work on me!”
+
+And rushing around he found a big red blanket and swung it defiantly to
+the breeze. For several seconds the Chinamen refused to recognize the
+return signal, but then the white handkerchief dropped and the second
+small boat came to a lazy roll on the long waves.
+
+“Watch the woods!” sang out Watt Brown. “I’ll keep these fellows at
+bay, never fear.”
+
+“I see some forms behind yonder trees,” said Dan, a second later. “They
+are coming on as fast as they can, and each man has a pistol and a
+rifle! They mean fight!”
+
+“Take that, ye villain!” came from Matt Gory, and taking a quick aim,
+he fired, and the foremost of the Celestials went down, hit in the side.
+
+This serious shot brought the crowd under Captain Kenny to a halt, and
+in a twinkle all disappeared again from view.
+
+“They are gone,” said the Irish sailor.
+
+“They’ll be coming on again, soon,” said the second mate. And his words
+proved only too true.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE WRECKING OF THE HOWITZER.
+
+
+For fully five minutes the situation remained unchanged, and during
+that time we took the opportunity to reload the empty weapons and bring
+out several others that had been hidden in a secret closet of the cabin.
+
+It must not be supposed that I had forgotten my money belt and the
+documents belonging to our firm. I had thought of them several times,
+but, as yet, had not dared to go below to see if they were safe.
+
+Now, however, both Dan and I hurried to the stateroom which we had
+occupied. The door was closed, but not locked, and we entered, to find
+all pitch-dark, the port-hole having become covered with mud.
+
+Striking a match, we lit a lantern and proceeded to make an
+investigation. Trunks and lockers had been broken open, and clothing
+and other things lay around in confusion.
+
+“Not a money belt in sight!” I groaned, after a search. “And the
+documents are gone, too!”
+
+“We haven’t looked everywhere, yet,” answered Dan. “Turn over the bed
+mattresses.”
+
+“How could they get into the beds?” I asked. “If those rascally
+Tagals----”
+
+A shout from the deck interrupted me, and dropping everything I flew
+through the cabin and up the companion-way stairs, with Dan behind me.
+
+“The second boat is coming on again!” announced Watt Brown. “Watch the
+woods, for there may be some understanding between the two attacking
+parties.”
+
+“Sure an’ thim rascals are coming on, too!” burst in Matt Gory. “Down,
+all of yez!” and he dropped flat on the deck.
+
+We did the same, and just then a volley of rifle shots rang out, and
+one of the bullets tore its way through the top of Dan’s straw hat,
+while all came alarmingly close.
+
+“On and at them!” shouted Captain Kenny, forgetful, no doubt, that the
+Celestials could not understand a word. And he led the way in a rush
+for the ship.
+
+By this time the second small boat was less than two hundred feet
+off and coming forward with all the speed that the eight sturdy
+oarsmen could command. The officer in the bow was at the small cannon
+mentioned, and at what he deemed a favorable moment touched off the
+piece.
+
+His aim was certainly a good one, for the ball hit the howitzer and
+sent it flying from its carriage and rolling over the deck to port. A
+portion of the block was splintered, and a bit of woodwork flew up and
+hit Watt Brown in the breast, inflicting an ugly and dangerous wound.
+
+“Brown is killed!” burst out Dan in horror, and knelt down at his side.
+
+“Never mind--m--e,” came in a gasp from the second mate. “Repel
+boarders, or w--we are--lo--lost!” and then he fainted dead away.
+
+He spoke the truth, for now the second boat was almost alongside, while
+Captain Kenny and his command were less than fifty feet away.
+
+“Gory, cover the boat!” I yelled. “Dan, fire with me at the captain’s
+crowd!” and I blazed away, and had the satisfaction of seeing another
+Celestial go down.
+
+Dan followed my command and succeeded in hitting Captain Kenny in the
+leg. It was not a serious wound, but it made the rascal drop on his
+breast, uttering loud cries of pain and terror. “Don’t hit me again!
+Don’t!” he screamed, and crawled over the sands to where there was a
+rock, behind which he hid himself, muttering bitter imprecations at
+what he termed his hard luck.
+
+The fall of their leader disconcerted the Chinamen, and again they
+halted. In the meantime Matt Gory had picked out the officer in the
+second boat and laid him low with a bullet through the chest.
+
+“Hurrah fer Uncle Sam!” roared the Irish sailor enthusiastically.
+“Hurrah fer another Dewey victory!” and he discharged an additional
+musket and a second Celestial fell over among his companions.
+
+But now the fighting became general and to go into all of the details
+would be impossible. I fired three shots and then saw three Chinamen
+coming up over the stern of the _Dart_, where those from shore and
+those from the second small boat had joined forces.
+
+“They are coming aboard!” cried Dan. “Fire at them! Give it to them
+hot!” and he blazed away, and one of the Celestials fell back among his
+friends.
+
+But now five of the enemy came up, firing several rounds as they
+advanced, and the deck became filled with smoke. Soon it was a
+hand-to-hand encounter, and we found ourselves gradually forced back to
+the companion way.
+
+“We can’t stand up against ’em!” panted Matt Gory, as he shouldered
+up to me with the blood streaming from a cut in his cheek. “They are
+afther bein’ too many for us, bad cess to ’em!”
+
+“Let us take a final stand in the cabin,” I answered. “Remember,
+possession is nine points of the law.”
+
+Matt Gory was willing and tumbled down the companion way, followed by
+Dan and myself. As we burst into the cabin we shut the door behind us
+and locked it.
+
+The Celestials were now baffled for the moment and we heard them
+running around the deck, speculating upon what they had best do next.
+We used this time to barricade the door and to reload our pistols, our
+guns having been left behind us.
+
+Soon came a hammering and a demand in Chinese, probably to open the
+door. For an answer, Matt Gory stepped close, and before we could stop
+him, fired a shot through a panel. A yell of pain followed, and we
+heard the staggering footsteps of the wounded man as he hurried on deck
+again.
+
+“That was a bad move, Matt,” I said. “They’ll do something awful in
+revenge; you see if they don’t!”
+
+“I couldn’t hilp it, the ould Nick take ’em!” was the reply. “If thim
+haythins oncet gain--hark, phat’s that!”
+
+A loud booming of a big cannon over the waters had reached all of our
+ears. We listened intently and presently another report followed.
+
+“It is a shot from a man-o’-war!” I burst out.
+
+“If it’s an American ship we are saved!”
+
+“Perhaps it is the _Concord_!” came from Dan. “Don’t you remember what
+Watt Brown said?”
+
+“Yes; but could she come in here?”
+
+“There would be no need. She has that Chinese junk at her mercy.”
+
+“Sure an’ if it’s wan of our warships we must be afther flyin’ a signal
+of distress!” exclaimed Matt Gory.
+
+“That is true, Matt; but how can we do it?”
+
+“Here is a flag,” answered Dan, hauling it from the case in the closet.
+“If we can get that up----”
+
+“Oi’ll put it up!” cried the Irishman, who was too excited to even
+think of the danger. “Here goes!” and he hurried to a passageway
+leading through to the forecastle.
+
+I could not resist the temptation to follow him, and Dan did the
+same. We entered the forecastle to find it as much disordered as our
+stateroom had been, for the Tagals had used it as a shelter during
+their brief stay on the _Dart_.
+
+“Now to get up the mast unobserved!” whispered the Irish sailor, and
+moving cautiously out upon the forward deck, he started to carry out
+his design, the flag under his arm.
+
+He had taken less than a dozen steps when there came a Chinese yell and
+the crack of a rifle, and poor Gory pitched headlong. A rush to the
+forecastle followed.
+
+“Back, Dan, it’s our only chance,” I cried. “They won’t grant us any
+mercy if they catch us!” and we flew back into the passageway and to
+the cabin, locking the second door and barricading it like the first.
+
+The Chinamen followed us along the passage and we heard them pounding
+on the doors for several seconds. But then came a call from the deck
+and the dull booming of the cannon we had before heard.
+
+“That shooting means something,” said Dan. “Oh if only the _Concord_
+has arrived!”
+
+“With Tom Dawson and the rest of our friends on board!” I added.
+
+The rush of footsteps on the deck continued, and we heard several
+Celestials in earnest consultation.
+
+“They are up to something,” whispered Dan. “Poor Brown! I wonder if he
+and Matt Gory are dead?”
+
+“Captain Kenny will have much to answer for,” I answered. “He is
+responsible for the whole muss.”
+
+We waited for a few minutes more. Then came another rush of footsteps
+and we heard the Chinamen leaving the _Dart_ by the side nearest to
+shore.
+
+“They are going to take to the woods!” yelled Dan. “Hurrah! the battle
+is ours!” And he started to unlock the cabin door leading to the
+companion way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+GOOD-BY TO THE PHILIPPINES.
+
+
+“We must be careful,” I said to my chum, as he began to mount the
+steps. “Remember poor Gory’s rashness.”
+
+“I’ll be careful enough,” he replied, and peered over the combing to
+see if the coast was clear.
+
+To his gratification every Celestial had fled, taking the wounded along.
+
+“They are gone, Oliver!”
+
+“I’m glad of it,” I said, and scrambled out on the deck with him. “What
+of the junk?”
+
+“She is making up the coast with all speed. And there is a warship,
+true enough!”
+
+“We can fly that flag of distress now,” I continued, and ran back
+for the article. Soon I was on my way to the top, where I placed the
+glorious Stars and Stripes with the Stars downward.
+
+A shot from the warship told us that our signal was seen, and through
+the glasses we saw a boat put off in command of one of the officers.
+Feeling that we were now safe I turned my attention to Watt Brown,
+while Dan went to look after Matt Gory.
+
+I found the second mate lying close to where he had fallen. He was now
+conscious, but it was easy to see that death was hovering close to
+his soul. He tried to smile as I took his hand, but the effort was a
+failure.
+
+“We whipped ’em,” he gasped. “I’m glad--of--it.”
+
+“You had better not talk, Brown,” I returned. “You are too weak. Let me
+bind up your wounds and give you a drink of something.”
+
+“It aint no use, Raymond, I’m knocked out and I know it. But we whipped
+’em,” and he tried to smile again. A second later he fainted once more.
+
+I bound up his wound and tried to force some liquor down his throat. I
+was in the midst of these labors when the small boat from the warship
+came alongside and the officer and several others hurried to the deck.
+
+“Tom Dawson!” I cried joyfully, and caught the first mate by the hand.
+
+“Poor Brown!” were his first words. “Is it serious?” and as I nodded in
+the affirmative he looked very sober.
+
+It took some little time to explain the situation and hear what
+the officer from the _Concord_ and Tom Dawson had to say, and in
+the meantime Watt Brown and Matt Gory were taken below and made as
+comfortable as circumstances permitted. There was hope for the Irish
+sailor, but none for poor Watt Brown, much to the sorrow of all of us,
+for everyone loved the open-hearted second mate.
+
+Soon a second boatload of sailors came to the _Dart_ and I was asked to
+go ashore with them, to point out the direction the fleeing Celestials
+had taken. I went, and at the rock came upon Captain Kenny’s body,
+terribly mutilated by knife-cuts. The Chinamen had fallen upon him, and
+in their rage over the failure of the expedition had literally hacked
+him to death. We buried him where he had fallen.
+
+The search for the fleeing pirates, for I can call them nothing less,
+lasted far into the night, but availed nothing. At last I returned to
+the _Dart_, utterly fagged out. A surgeon had been sent for and he was
+attending the wounded ones, and I asked him about both.
+
+“The Irish sailor will live,” was the answer, “but Brown is mortally
+wounded.”
+
+On the _Concord_ were the two men who had owned the _Dart_ in company
+with Captain Kenny. Their stock in the craft was in the majority, and
+they turned her over to the government, Uncle Sam to keep the money
+which was coming to the late captain’s heirs, until it was properly
+claimed.
+
+Our tales were listened to with keen interest the next day by the
+warm-hearted commander of the _Concord_.
+
+“We will do our best for you,” he said to Dan and me. “I imagine you
+have nothing to fear so long as you are on board with me.”
+
+Watt Brown’s death occurred the following afternoon and was a most
+affecting scene. He and I had got to know each other pretty well since
+we had been cast ashore, and he called me to him before he breathed his
+last.
+
+“Good-by to you, Raymond,” he whispered. “I am alone in the world,
+and that being so I leave my father’s legacy to you. It relates to a
+treasure said to be buried somewhere on the Hawaiian Islands. I hope
+you find it. Good-by,” and he died in my arms as peacefully as a child.
+They buried him on the shore, and I nailed together a rude cross for a
+headstone.
+
+During the day following I made another search of the stateroom and the
+cabin in quest of my missing money belt and the documents belonging to
+Raymond, Holbrook & Smith. For a long while I discovered nothing, but
+at last I turned over some clothing lying in an out-of-the-way corner,
+and there the articles lay revealed, along with Dan’s pocketbook and
+belt and a number of other things of lesser importance.
+
+“They are found at last!” I cried, and a great weight was lifted from
+my shoulders. “Now let those Spaniards confiscate that land in Manila
+if they dare!”
+
+“It was worth coming to the _Dart_ after all,” smiled Dan. “Our mission
+is now ended.”
+
+And he spoke the truth.
+
+Here I think I can properly bring to a close my tale of adventures
+while serving in the navy and battling for my rights in the Philippines.
+
+The _Dart_ was turned over to the government as before mentioned, and
+the proper parties raised and repaired her and gave her an equipment
+for coast service.
+
+How Manila fell into the hands of Uncle Sam at last is a matter of
+history. Dan, I, and several of our old friends were present when this
+event occurred, and at the first opportunity my chum and I went ashore
+to learn how Harry Longley was faring.
+
+We found him sitting up and glad to learn that everything had turned
+out so well. With the United States authorities in the city to protect
+him, Longley unearthed the money belonging to our firm and placed it
+in the safe, along with the documents I had rescued. To-day business
+is booming with Raymond, Holbrook & Smith, and no more is heard of
+disputing our claim to the land upon which our offices in Manila stand.
+
+As soon as we could do so, we sent a cablegram to Mr. Holbrook, telling
+him of what had occurred. Later on we took passage back to Hong Kong on
+the _Starlight_, in company with Tom Dawson and several other of our
+friends, including Matt Gory, who was now almost well.
+
+Both Dan and I had seen enough of war, and instead of thinking about
+going back to the Philippines, I took passage on a steamer for San
+Francisco, and Dan accompanied me.
+
+When I reached the Golden Gate I found that my father was still in
+Cuba, and with the war going on, I grew very anxious concerning him.
+But, as my friends who have read “When Santiago Fell” know, he escaped
+from grave perils without injury, and he soon came on to the West,
+followed, a month later, by Mark Carter, a first-rate young fellow who
+had shared his adventures. Mark, Dan, and I soon became warm friends,
+and it was while making a tour of California that we concocted a plan
+for going to the Hawaiian Islands, so recently annexed to the United
+States, in quest of the treasure mentioned in the strange document left
+by Watt Brown’s father. What our future adventures were Mark will tell,
+in another volume, to be called “Off for Hawaii; Or, The Mystery of a
+Great Volcano.”
+
+And now let me say good-by, kind reader, with the hope that if you ever
+have such stirring adventures as have fallen to my lot, they will end
+in equal good fortune.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
+
+
+  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
+
+  Perceived typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
+
+  Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.
+
+  Some illustrations have been moved to be near the text to which they
+    refer.
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77081 ***