The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-13

| his ammunition wagons anu uourneu' An
| engineer officer on the staff was sent for.
He came up. looked over the situation. and
| sent back for a portable bridge, which he
| had had loaded on wagon before starting
| out from the pumping station Then we
| all sat down again and did some more
| waiting 1t occurred. In the meantime, to
one Of the cavalry officers that there was
a lot OF useless delay, and on his own hook
| he ordered some OF the men OF his troop
to get in and help build the bridge. He
Just called out indefinitely for somebody
to come and help. Thereupon, corporal
stood UP and shouted:
"I, Troop. even number, turn your horses
over to the odd numbers and 60 down and
| help"
Nothing happened for several minutes.
| then one man gave his pony to one OF his
mates, and sauntered down into the ditch
| Presently, the sergeant In charge OF the
| work in the ditch began to get angry, and
| make remarks that are not In the drill
books The corporal responded with new
| order.
"All you men," he shouted. turn over
YOUR horses to the horse holders. and get
| down into that ditch
| THE MARCH RESUMED.
| A much more general movement was the
| response to this command, and we began to
pluck UP heart OF hope The Sergeant in
charge spied a stack Of straw over across
the ditch and sent squad after some OF II.
Some OF these fellows saw npa hut and
back they came, some with their arms full
| of straw and some Juggling the major part
Of the house. The sides of the house served
| as Orders. stringers, and floor, and the plies
| of straw kept the ponies and mules from see
| ing what sort OF Contrivance they were ac-
cepting for bridge. At last 1t was done,
and the column began filing across. The po-
MES went with little trouble for the average
| Filipino pony has had experience with all
sorts OF shaky concerns that pass for bridges
and has none Of the elephant-lik fear OF
such things that characterizes our big mules
When the four mule wagon came along, there
was circus With a whoop and hurrah,
and all hands pulling and yelling, the thing
was finally showed, hauled yanked and pull
ed across, and the brigade off again for
the hills, over which the scared friends of
Pho del Pillar had been running for dear
life for the last three hours or more. 1t
was nearly ten O'Clock. and the day was de-
veopng into one OF the worst OF the hot
test season.
Hawthorne had got his guns over the
bridge well up toward the head OF the COL
umn. and promptly had been ordered to wait
and fall in behind the Oregons. who had been
delayed by their long hike out Of the way
earlier in the morning The Oregons as has
been said. will hike in column Of files, and 1t
takes some time for so long line to get out
OF the way. Also they cover considerable
ground. The head Of the Oregon line had
just got fairly Strengthened out on the level
valley ahead of us and the rear was nicely
over the ditch when there came another
halt. We sat on our ponies in the broiling
sun for few minutes. expecting every in
slant to hear the bugles ordering the column
to go ahead, but no bugles sounded Final
ly we dismounted at the imminent risk of
having our saddles burned up by the terri
BILE sun. Fifteen minutes passed and no.
thing happened. There was no indication
from the front that anything was likely to
occur very soon, so we started forward to see
what the trouble was. Half mile ahead OF
the head Of the Oregon line stood two or
three cavalrymen looking down disconsolate-
ly at their feet. To them we rode, and there
was the explanation OF the halt. 1t was a
ditch, not very much of a ditch at that
but enough to give the line another extended
rest. From hither side to yon 1t was per-
haps twelve feet but the banks were steep
and the water at the bottom was Of uncertain
depth.
| ANOTHER WAIT.
The cavalry officer In command waited for
orders for n while at the place where the
road crossed the ditch. and then came over
and lay down with the rest OF US In the
shade OF a cnaguela bush that grew be-
side the ditch. BY and by an aide came
along and wanted to know what was the
, trouble. The cavalry officer told him. and
they talked 1t over for few minutes Then
the aide bestraddled his little pony again
and ambled OF to report to the general
After another wait an orderly came along
with message from the general that no
living man could understand. The cavalry
officer lay In the shade and listened to tho
orderly's version OF the message two or
three times, and then sent the man back
to get the order put into Ineligible talk
More waiting. In the course OF the next
quarter Of an hour came the engineer Of
fcer and said that the portable bridge had
been ordered up. and would be along by
and by. Then he lay down with the rest Of
us In the shade OF the cinaguela bush. It
was a nice place in which to wait There
was soft grassy bank on which to lie, with
good grazing for the ponies. The sky was
clear, and the light was fine for making
pictures. The pictures were duly made. as
was a fine collection OF portraits OF dis
tingulshed special commissioners in the
field Then lay down again on the soft
turf and took a nap. That lasted until
after eleven 1t was interrupted by a drawl-
ing inquiry from the celebrated war artIst
who took 1000 photographs in Cuba and
1900 In Porto Rico before his cameras
broke.
II say" he said, rs this delay thick
enough to photograph"
The special war correspondent at the
front who writes and draws for the delecta-
ton Of the Windy City hordes raised his
weary head from its pillow on the edge OF