The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-10


a capital description OF the General with the
informa alton that he was a bachelor. yet the
hrsttlme Lawton reconnoitered that ridge
chip OF the old block. q gallant little FELLOW IN
his early teens followed his fathers move
ments on a Filipino pony and took his baptism
Of Are from the insurgent Mausers far more
coolly. l dare say. than did the devoted vile
and mother three miles away In Manila the
news that her boy had more than ono close
shave that afternoon. 1t was Gods mercy that
spared them both. for the underbrush down
the westward slopc was full OF lurking TaGa's'
and Lawton had only o squad OF troopers to
escort him.
day or two after no rode the old line with
me to get acquainted" as no said. with the
officers OF the First Brigade. and after we had
reached Haystack Knoll and the earthworks In
advance Of Cemetery Height. what did he do
but dsnount. straddle the trenches and go
talking out over the rico fields straight to-
wards little height that had never been with
out its Filipino sharpshooters until our
fellows got their Krags. and might still
harbor a batch OF them He got over
ground like stag hound. with long, springy
strides. and. ordering a dozen Californinns to
follow and to cover" the front az quickly as
possible. chased after him. He reached tho
top without turning a hair and proceeded to
climb and stand erect on big rock at the sum
mit-a mark that could be seen for miles
around. got there blown" and rebukeful.
After five minutes survey no slid down and
again strobe away toward the ridge that
spanned the horizon to the south. Only our
scouting parties had crawled thither before
Our Californians looked concerned at his
utter neglect OF all precautions. as 1 pushed
them ahead on the run. but the trail was mar
row and crooked. the underbrush thick. and
49, = 4 "a 4, N.lI
even on unobstructed ground. Just as luck
would have It, not a Filipino happened to be
lurking along there that atternoon-yet every
second I expected to hear the crack OF Mauser
or the sudden rush from their lair OF an
armed party bent on our capture. Once at
the top we could see clear over to Cavite.
across the bay. and the country towards
ParanaQue lay unfolded before our eyes.
Even as We stood there the mellow notes
OF q Filipino bugle came floating on the breeze
from a clump OF bamboo perhaps two thou
sand yards away. and there lay the insurgent
outposts and there we could begin to trace a
long line OF Entertainments, stretching away to
the southwest across Ovenshine's front. Far to
the west we could see the stout little earth
work built by Hawthornes gunners around a
beautiful grove on the extreme right OF my
line. with the trenches stretching away to both
hanks-Ovenshine's brigade manning those to
his rieht-mine to HE left-and then the Cali
fornians came bursting their way through the
underbrush. hot. sweating and saying swear
words soto voce over the unwonted speed and
difficulty Of their push through the Jungle
Lawton smiled grimly but said nothing as We
studied the ground through our field glasses.
Then the horses were brought up by be-
lated orderly. and. mounting. we rode out east.
ward toward the bluffs overlooking the Delta
OF the Pasig and the picturesque towns on the
islands below. The Caifornians were far from
their base and couldn't keep up with I.awton's
huge black horse. My pony had to trot or LOPEZ
and before long we were far from any sup
ports. with only one orderly and two revolvers.
'Yonder's where they nearly shot my boy"
said Lawton. placidly. after we had gone a
mile. and that had happened when the slopes
toward the river were dotted with the skirm-
ishers OF the Fourth Cavalry.
All the line to the Pasig bluffs and back the
way we came. not Filipino rifle cracked. but
the North Dakotas had caught sight OF US from
their bivouac close to the river. and had sent
out skirm ish line to see what was M. Law
ton commended their watchfulness. designated
points for their pickets to occupy on the ridge
that night. and sent them back to the Pasig
to get their blankets and supper.
Twenty minutes later. all on a sudden. and
the south. up popped skirmsh line OF at least
forty FIllpinos. deployed facing US. They had
been Watching us evidently for some time.
and. seeing that the Dakotas had disappeared.
they boldly stood up In plain view. The imme-
diate question was. will they attack? Ofcourse
We knew that only a short distance behind
them lay the insurgent camps In the shelter OF
the bamboos. and furthermore. that they could
speedily summon hundred to our one. The
little squad OF Californians we're still with US,
crouching or sprawled along the crest. but
Lawton stood erect, his long legs straddled
wide. and calmly surveyed them through his
glass. II only forty advanced we could prob
ably stand them of with our bakers dozen
the sergeant and his twelve meanwhile Mills.
our brave orderly. ealoped to the Dakotas for
aid. but they didn't advance. they didn't even
open IRE, They merely wished us to under
stand. apparently. that we had better not
come their way. and Lawton began to twitch
In his eagerness for fight.
One thing our corps commander especially
had forbidden. and that was that we should
bring on battle while our force on the south
EAST line was 30 small. The regulars had all
gone to the north to reinforce Macarthur Just
then. and only thin line OF volunteers inter-
posed between Noriel's swarming camps and
The walls Of Manila.
Good Lord!" said Lawton. what a pity we
lot those Dakotas go! Ifthey were here now
We could 60 down and clean those fellows out
IN five minutes. Do you think" and here
he turned to me and then eyed the little squad
81 San Francscans.
He was moro than half disposed to forget
his major generalship. imagine himself a
again. and lead our little dozen
down to the attack. For n moment I thought
the temptation might be too much for him as
our eyes met and a grin expanded his sun
tanned face. but the veteran Indian lighters
= horse sense" presently rose superior to the
troopers lust for fight. and with a sigh and
more than one regretful back ward glance. he
and we rode away.
And Johnny Filipino never seemed to know
how easily he could have bagged n brace Of
silver stars that hot March day. and was very
glad he didn't.
CITT IN THE SEA.