The National tribune., 1902-03-06

upon being called to and assured of safety
by his companion he came in. They were
both little fellows. thin and Eaunt, but
overjOyed to escape from their captivity
of nearly q year.
1t seems that the Filipinos were at
breakfast when we made our unexpected
appearance, their scouts apparently hav-
ing studied their own safety in their re-
| treat from the river instead of warning
their companions. Breakfast was hastily
abandoned, and after firing few shots
at our advancing line the whole crowd
took TO their heels. As proof of this
| story the prisoners pointed out the places
where they had been cooking and the
| hastily abandoned food, while one of them
picked mp n hat which he said had fallen
| from his head when he took to the grass
| to hide. They accompanied us back to
| Manila, sticking to us like fleas. for fear
| of being captured again, and helping our
cooks for their rations
The enemy having fled in the general di-
rcctiOn Of Mount Arayat to the SOUTH our
commander thought that on his return to-
ward the river he would sweep as large
circle as possible. with the hope of strik-
| ing them again, and so he began a large
| turning movement of the battalion to-
ward the left. Now, | have the greatest
vencratiOn for the military genius who in
vented the turning movement. but he
never completed his invention. He failed
| to perfect it by providing a pivot that
| would go slow enough for the flank. /
| never saw such pivot even when | hap
pencd to be it. In this case, however, my
company was on the extreme right of the
| line. and as it circled to the left, the en-
tire line being fully half a mile long, it
covered a good deal of ground at almost
racehOrse speed. Finally, | had to send
word TO the Major that the men were ex-
| hauSted, and we could make no further
effort to keep up. Our only satisfaction
was that for n minute we caught Il glimpse
Of a few skurrying natives and peppered
away at them; but they We're as wild as
hares and gave us little chance to hit any
of them, our fear that they might be our
own scouts preventing us from firing when
they were first discovered. At this point
our scouts joined us, having arrived too
late to make the flank attack planned. ow-
ing TO the prompt retreat of the enemy
and TO some unavoidable delay themselves
in meeting unexpected obstacles. The
turning movement was then abandoned,
and we formed column and proceeded in
the direction of the river, which we again
fOrded, and just at dusk we marched into
CabiaO, to find the remainder of the regi-
ment quartered in native huts and enjoy
ing a life Of elegant leisure.
The next morning we resumed our
Arayat. the town at the crossing just at
the base Of ''HoOdoo Mountain" my com
pany, having been in the advance the day
before, bringing up the rear and furnish
ing the rear guard. Just as our bull train
reached the bank of the river about a mile
from the ford leading across TO the town
where we were to spend the night, it and
the rear guard were fired upon from
across the river by insurgents concealed |
in the chaparfal along the base of the |
mountain. As quickly as possible / de- |
plOyed the rear guard along the bank Of |
the stream, and in 10 minutes not hos
tile rifle shot was to be heard. 1t was
too close work for them to stand the dis
tance not being more than 100 yards and
they sneaked away into the brush The
two Spaniards had told us we should be
attacked near the. bend in the river by
the ford. They said Spanish column
never Travelled that rOad that it was not
fired upon from across the river by insur-
gents or ladrOncS who made the mountain
their retreat.
The 22d Inf. had preceded us to the
ford and had been crossing with their
carts since early morning. also the two
guns Of the 9Th Art, that were with the
and it was dark before my own
brought up the rear of the bri-
gade at the margin of the river 1t is no
small matter TO take wagon train across
a stream 30 yards wide and six to eight
feet deep, without any appliances what
ever. and yet that was what we were
called upon to do frequently.
We had about 20 oX-carts each Of
which was loaded with nearly a ton of
stuff. TO get these across without wet
ting the load was the problem. 1t was
solved in an ingenious manner. A long
dugout canoe was found about 30 feet
long, and this was run with its prov into
a canal dug in the sand on the shore un-
I'll n loaded cart could be pushed out so
that it rested evenly upon the gunwaes
Of the canoe. Then the canoe was showed
off, the cart sinking it down into the
water TO within n couple Of inches of the
top. Half dozen men swan on each
side to steady the cart and keep il from
fitting and swamping the canoe, and in
this way it was gradually worked across
the stream and drawn up the opposite
bank by long rope and about 30 soldiers
to pull il. In this way the entire train
was taken over without an accident. the
men all swimming and their clothing and
being taken over dry in ca
noes. What the Government failed to pro-
vide i'll the way Of campaign outfit the in
genuity of the men supplied.
That night we slept among the bamboo
thornS in the little town of Arayat. and
early i'll the morning resumed the march
toward Cdndaba. the large town on the Rio
Grande which had been selected as n base
Of supplies. because il was possible to send
launches and cascoes up the stream that
far from Manila, and thus the railroad
would not have 10 be depended upon.
We turned our back upon the ''Hoodoo
Mountain and | heard one Of the men
rejoicing that at last we were going away
from it. Half an hour later this same
man almost fell down in fit. because he
looked up suddenly and saw the mountain
in front of him. the wndings
of the road in following the river having
brought us facing to the north again. 1t
was then he declared9it was on wheels +
and we should never get away from it,
That afternoon We reached Candaba.
and that night il rained. The rainy sea
son was just beginning, and this initial
shower was meant ASA specimen of the i
best old Pluvns could do. There was no
shelter for the menr of cur regiment ex- +
cept an old sugar warehouse. we having no
tents with us, and into this the men were
crowded like ants in a heap and there
was no lack Of ppnujra a;-b.r /