by Alfred Elwes
CHAPTER XV.
ARCHIE STARTS OUT ON AN EXPLORING TOUR AND HAS SOME STRANGE ADVENTURES AMONG THE NATIVES--SEIZED BY THE REBELS.
THE days passed very quickly in Manila, the regiment was quartered inan old palace which had once been used as a residence by the Spanishgovernors of the islands, and Archie remained in the palace with them.There was very little to do while they were there. Each morning therewere anxious inquiries for news from the front, but there was always thesame discouraging reply that no trace had yet been found of the fleeingAguinaldo. The men were gradually becoming disheartened at the longwait, and there were frequent statements by the officers thatAguinaldo would soon be caught if they were sent out after him. Thedissatisfaction with the general in command grew stronger every day, andat last things reached a point where there was very little loyalty andpatriotism displayed among the troops.
The drilling was continued, however, by order of the colonel, and everymorning the troops marched out to a public square near the palace, andwent through the same old manoeuvres which they had practised for monthspast. And it was harder for them to drill each week. At first they werewilling enough to work, for there was then some prospect of their beingable to use their knowledge in a fight, but now it was beginning toseem that they would simply remain in this old palace for a few monthslonger, and then go back again to San Francisco. With this opinion intheir hearts, it is not to be wondered at that most of the men becameslouchy and careless in their manners and dress, or that even theofficers themselves became disgusted at the long wait for marchingorders.
Things had been going on in this way for a long time, when Archie madeup his mind that it was time he was hustling about and finding somethingto write about which would be interesting to readers of the Enterprise.He had sent two articles describing his life with the soldiers in theold palace, but he knew that he ought to find something more exciting,and more like his first articles. So, after much thought, he decidedthat a good plan would be for him to take a little trip into theinterior of the island, to see whether he could find any traces of theinsurgents. The colonel had held all along for a month, now, that theFilipinos were probably all about Manila, and still he couldn't getthe permission of the general in command to go out and investigatethe matter. The colonel figured that it would be an easy thing for theinsurgents to come as near to the city as they cared to now, for Lawtonand Wheeler were far away in the interior after Aguinaldo, and thetroops in Manila were quietly drilling, and eating, and sleeping, withno thought of doing anything else. This line of argument seemed veryreasonable to Archie, and he volunteered to go out and see if he couldmake any discoveries. The colonel assured him that he would be in nodanger, even if he were caught by the rebels, for they would neversuspect a boy of Archie's age and size of being a spy. So the lad feltno fear at all, and made what few preparations there were to be madebefore starting. He secured a knapsack from the commissary officer,and in this he placed what few belongings he wanted to take with him,together with his note-books and some provisions for the trip. Then hesecured a small pistol, which he carried in his hip pocket, and he wasdisappointed because the colonel would not allow him to carry a rifle.And when he had everything ready he said good-bye to his friends in theregiment, and departed from the palace amid a multitude of cheers. Atthe last moment the colonel tried to dissuade him from starting, forfear he might meet with some accident, but Archie was determined to makethe attempt.
It was his plan not to go farther than fifty miles in the interior, forhe thought that if he found no traces of the rebels in that distancethere would be little use in going farther into the forest, for, itwould be almost impossible to find them there. So he set out gaily uponhis trip of exploration, and Archie couldn't remember when he had beenso happy before, save on that day when he first visited the office ofthe Enterprise. This adventure was exciting enough to please the wildestboy in America, and Archie could imagine how envious the other boyswould be if they could but know the trip he was having. It had anofficial air to it, too, for had not the colonel been most anxious,in the beginning, that he should go, and did he not say that he wouldreward him handsomely if he were successful in locating any of theinsurgents, or in proving that he had been right when he said they werenear Manila? It was all as perfect an adventure as Archie could haveimagined. He could not have planned a better one if he had been able toselect any trip he could think of.
He planned that it would take him at least three days to walk fiftymiles, and perhaps longer, for the roads were not very good in someplaces. He knew that he would find many villages and towns along theway, too, for the island was thinly settled in this neighbourhood. So ifhe were obliged to rest, he would never be at a loss for a place toget a bed. Archie couldn't help thinking, as he walked along the roadoutside Manila, this first morning, that he might find a body of theinsurgents in possession of one of these towns. They were very bold,he had heard, and they probably knew that there were no American troopsanywhere in the neighbourhood, outside the city of Manila itself. And,knowing this, he knew they wouldn't hesitate to camp at the very gatesof the city, for they were marvellously successful in getting away intothe interior whenever an American force made its appearance.
As he thought of this possibility, Archie couldn't help being a littlefearful of what might happen to him should he fall into the hands ofthe insurgents, and he began to wonder if he had not been a littlefoolhardy, after all, in starting off on such a wild-goose chase. "ButI will have something new to send Mr. Van Bunting about the interiortowns," he said to himself, "and if I am captured, why, I will have agreat deal to write about when I am released." This thought made the ladhappy again, and he trudged along the road with as much vim and energyas he had displayed during those weary days when he was walking to NewYork to make his fortune. And it was a much more interesting country inwhich to walk than the New York State counties had been. The vegetationwas rich and luxuriant everywhere, palm-trees, vines, and flowersgrowing in profusion all along the road. In every dooryard, in front ofevery hut, there grew what seemed to Archie a veritable fairy bower ofthe most richly coloured flowers in existence. And they were growing,apparently, without cultivation. He had seen nothing like them before,even in California, and he longed to pluck some of them to send home, ifthey had only been wax instead of nature's blossoms. As it was, he kepthis arms filled with them for awhile, but after a time he grew tiredcarrying them, and was obliged to drop them by the roadside.
The country looked as if it might have been very prosperous at onetime. There were plantations laid out in excellent fashion, and the soilseemed rich and fertile. But instead of growing crops, and storehousesfilled with spices and coffee, there was desolation everywhere, and itwas easy to see that the Spaniards had determined to leave but littlebehind them for the Yankees. Every other farmhouse and wayside hut wasdeserted, their occupants having gone, apparently, to join Aguinaldo,and the whole country, outside the towns, seemed to be wholly desertedand left to grow up in weeds and tangled vines.
The sun was warm, the sky was a perfect blue, and it seemed a delightfulday in every way. But it made Archie sad to walk through a districtwhich had been made so desolate, and he hadn't walked many hours beforehe wished that he might soon reach a town, where he could find somelife, and where he could remain overnight. For by the middle of theafternoon he was tired walking, and made up his mind that fifteen mileswas enough for any one to do in one day. But he was obliged to keep onwalking for two hours longer before he reached a village, and the greatsun was just sinking behind the blue hills in the distance when heentered the one main village street, which was long and narrow, windingin and out among the cabins and huts, as if it had been laid out afterthe houses were built, for the convenience of the people. It was a poorexcuse for a public thoroughfare. There had probably been a pavement ofsome sort at one time, but now the street was a mass of rubbish of everysort, straw, dust, old bricks, and bits of stone being thrown togetherin every rut, so that it was exceedingly diff
icult to walk along withany comfort.
There was no life visible in the settlement. Almost every hut had itsshades drawn at the windows, and there was absolutely no one to be seenin the street. As he passed down the road, Archie could catch occasionalglimpses of black eyes staring at him through a lattice, or he couldhear some muttered word as he walked close to a window. From these signshe knew that he was observed, and he felt very much embarrassed as hecontinued his walk down this deserted lane, for he felt instinctivelynow that hundreds of eyes were watching his every movement.
Finally, he came to the public square, and he sat down here to lookabout him. From general appearances, he judged this to be a town ofsome two thousand inhabitants, for there was a very respectableadministration building, and a good-sized church. There were but twostreets of any consequence, the one by which he had entered the town,and another running at right angles in the opposite direction. In thislatter street, as he stood in the square, he noticed a three-storystructure with a sign outside, and he decided to go there and makeinquiries as to where he might be able to secure a lodging for thenight. It looked as if it might be an inn of some sort, or at least astore, so he walked rapidly up to the entrance and knocked twice uponthe door. This place, in spite of its sign, looked more deserted andshut-up than any other building he had yet seen in the town, and hewondered whether he would receive any answer to his knocks. It wasindeed a long time before he heard a sound within, but at last there wassome muttering inside, the door flew open, and Archie found himself inthe arms of three Filipinos, who threw him upon the floor and bound him,hands and feet. It was all so sudden that he had no time to cry out, andbefore he could say anything at all he was thrown into a dark room, andthe door shut behind him.