The professional world. (Columbia, Mo.) 1901-192?, 1902-05-16
The Message From Manila.
BY F. II.

Copyright, 1901, by Authors s~yndicate.)
n FEW days after Gen. Funston had
distinguished himself and before
Aguinaldo had taken the oath a
thoughtful student of human ma
ture would, among the many strolling
couples on the old wall at Manila, have
noticed particularly two subalterns, evil
IDENTIFY on furlough. That one was
bored and the other bothered the stu
dent would have readily understood,
Tor while the fair man smoked with a
sullen Indifference his companion puff
ed on impatiently for a few moments,
only to forget his cigar entirely while
he again pondered over that trouble
some passage in his sweetheart's letter:
IF you can get him to do something
desperate and daring for her sake and
then write home about 1t you will win
my eternal gratitude, as you have al
ready won my love. For now that
these rumors of oil being struck on this
barren land have begun to circulate
around here, l honestly believe she Is
Just crank enough to throw him over as
soon as he comes home. Her idea is
that he ought to be free to do better-as
though he could! You know what a.
combination of fire and tow he is. In
fact, dear boy, unless you and | a do
something quick there will be two lives
turned down"
Deuce take it," he groaned inward
ly. "What desperate thing for a wo-
mans sake can a man do in this sleepy
place."
His companion stopped listlessly, and
Ford turned to look at him.
What's up Cranmere?"
We are going east in three weeks"
yes; l know"
Poorer than we came out"
Serving your country isn't a big
paying business"
Dash the country! I came out here
in hopes Of finding an opening. The
Philippines offer such splendid oppor-
tunities-to a man with money. NY
word for IT. Ford, I've a good mind to
desert and turn gold prospector."
"A fellow was talking to me about
gold the other day." Ford replied, alb
sently.
Who was it?" Cranmere asked,
quickly.
"a fellow with a history" Ford re-
turned, slowly. "A hundred and some
odd years ago, before Vargo made to-
DuNNo 6ONtl IliitnI DlOIlODOly, Ills
mans grandfather was one of the rich
men of Luzon. 1t seems he lived In
n of the districts that had to go on
growing to1arco whether it paid or not.
1t didn't pay. The family got poorer
and poorer until when Mantal inherited
the fragment of the fortune he moved
north to Botanes in despair-went to
raising horses. That didn't pay,e either:
then he tried pearl fishing. Now he
has come back to Luzon with an allur-
ing gold story"
That's what / want to hear about. I
believe there is gold in Luzon."
Il don't Not in paying quantities.
II there had been, Spain would have
found 1t out a hundred years ago."
What is this mans yarn?" Gran
mere persisted.
You see that?" Ford asked pointing
to a haze of smoke to the southwark of
the men.
Eyes; some volcano"
ut is the volcano Taal, only $50 feet
high, and it stands on an island In the
Lake Bombon. 1t is about this lake
that my friend Mantal spins his yarn.
The lake he claims was once the site of
an immense volcano that was blown
out bodily in an eruption"
"Ive heard that story often" Gran
mere commented, impatiently.
$50 have I. And that its waters used
to be salt?"
Yes. Where does the gold come
in?"
This is Mantal's idea: Bombon has
an outlet; therefore it must have sub
%terranean sources, and he holds that 1t
is fed by an underground river that
flows from the heart of the island. He
believes that he could enter this river
by diving, and by its means go straight
to the mountains, where he will find
gold. The whole foundation for his
theory is a blind fish found in Bombon."
"A blind fish! That means a good
deal. Does he expect to try his exper-
iments alone?"
mo; he is looking for some Ameri-
can fool enough to go with him. He
is afraid to trust the natives"
Pm his mani"
81 believe there is something In It,"
Death, most likely"
you will send that fellow Mantal to
ME tonight"
See here, Cranmere, this is the crazi-
est scheme ever started. That lake Is
a hundred fathoms deep and covers a
hundred square miles"