The Delta independent., 1899-12-22
AN ACCIDENT
TO FONsONBY
A Story Of
A War Correspondents.

IL WAS hot. villainOusiy not. so was
the firing. so were transport mules.
Chinese srretcher coolies. advancing
troops and the poor bleeding wretches
who were being put into the am
balances. SO was all the available wa
ter. So were the little knot Of cOrre-
spondents vino drummed their heels
OH the sides Of stack Of biscuit boxes
on the side Of the railway emiMnkment
and mathematical the war. editors In
general and the press censor In partic-
ulnr. But the very hottest thing of all
was Ponsonby. And Ponsonby. the
usually calm and urbane fOusOnby.
the well tried representative OF The
Daily Gladly. was now swearing like
u trooper. or. for the matter OF that.
like a thousand troopers. Had lie not
lost his pony and smashed his camera!
Had not stan officer ordered him.
Fifteen PAGES behind the xtafY " you
please. gputlemen!" And had he not
fallen hcadlong into buffalo wallow.
thereby befouling his usually neat At
tire and twisting his nnklef
Around us was nothing but smoke
and dust through which the midday
sun glOwed In d crimson ball. \ few
hundred yards to the uorthward on ei-
th.r side Of the line Of railroad lay .
long line Of blue and brown clad hu-
manity. from which came q rnttiing
sound as though millions Of crackers
were being ignited In one coutinuOus
stream. Then. cutting the dust Dadco
air with their sobbing screanis. the bol
let's Of the foe came dying Overlea4
occasionally alighting Oh the brown
sun baked ground with slull thuds -
changing Ioudiy ON the Iron rOof u tbe
station In whose r~ar w~ were. duB
ls.grimed aud smoke staiD~si. takioB
shelter. A queer looking trio we. boeer
ed and slpurrtsi. l,eltetl and Trvo1vese0.'
And the worst of IL Was we had none
Of us broken our fast that day. M
Agtien Of the San FranctscO Bcreanier
remarked. while we urc waiting here
we might rs well investigate the hard
tack anyhow"
To this proposition ! assented. A
big stone and n jackknife noon had .
case Opened and our teeth busy. and
when I uncartheti q tin Of sartiines
from my hip pocket even Ponsonby
forgot to swear further. While thus
engaged the firing ceased. there were
couple Of bugIe cails. series Of
wells from the American troops as
they rose from their rice ridge shelters
and dashed forward In pursuit Of the
fleeing Zoe. Speedily We were follow
Ing in their wnke. pausing only now
or then to look ut q wounded man be-
in- borne rearwnri on u s;refcher. The
advance line is soon overtaken. They
l,r ve lost all sight Of the fleet footed
Filipinos and are now resting and
awaiting well earned meal. Our
notes are soon jotted down. and we
proceed to investigate n neighboring
hamlet which. nftrr firing. The insur-
gents have vacated.
Looks like hot work here" saId
Agd.n. pointing to the church. from
which . she'll had gently removed .
corner.
We acguIcscc and proc~~si to inverti-
gnte the Interior. After leaving the
church we enter the ndjacrni priests
quarters and. finding them comfOrta-
ble. proved TO camp there for the
night. Your humble servant II install
led as chef. while Ag,len and I'onsonby
sally forth to annex = chicken or any
thing edible which comes handy. BY
this time q number OF the victorious
troops have entered the village and
are looking about the place. taking
sections Of nipa with which to make
camping "shacks. collecting fircwood.
seeking water. eggs. etc. Time PASSES.
Ag,len returns. hut no I'on-onby. II
gets dark. but the villa ~ is ablaze with
the light Of QUE or two blazing build
ings. We rainbIc about. iooking here.
making Inquiries there. Stili no sign
Of our friend. Anyhow. Il is m use
seeking him further tonight. lie is
sure 10 turn MP all right. 10 after o
PLEASANT little meal We turn in"
must have iscn asleep somc hours
when something di-turi~d me- What
% earth IL that? Tbrrv. standing at
the foot Of my t~-l. IL a young native
woman. Naturally spring 20 my
feet. awakiug AgfIrn rs . do -. The
mysterious slanrseI says -om~slfiur In
SIslnish. What " means nriiher Az
den nor my~-If san svsuywwl,~trl. hut
how On earth did she get tIs~r~. Th~
lusurgruts have ~arrf~-i o4Y all their
wous~p with tls~su. aD~I how our prps-
~ns visitor can have r~msia-vi i~hiOd
b = myrsrry. sb~ Is ~vtd~nsIy ssxtses
About swm~shins. Tor ~~ how sh< y
bsckuoiaR-
Afssr . hrs-s eoesujoasbsa - 70 Wsne
- ~ ~ soeoow The an1y skrcus1 ~
1oss esd tUse ~ ehsrch. ~ sSsus
oosag - oosr - os>s rsgAs ~ - IT,
opsss. opssss0 ss0e dssppsy q ne ~
- - rps~svps H. There ssgAs n spp
thtre 0e0 e IT, eAHrcA . 9 AspHNa4