The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1902-10-17
THE WOODEN
LADY'S LOVERS
A Story of the Philippines.
BY w. o. McGEEHAN.

II HE Fifteenth CaZadOres turned in
their arms and quartered them
selves in the Church of San Fernando
in the walled city. They accepted the
capture of Manila philosophically. Of
course, the stone floor of the church
was less comfortable than the cane
beds in their cool barracks, then occu-
pied by noisy regiment of American
volunteers, but it was certainly more
comfortable than the muddy trench
near Malate. Moreover, they were be-
ing fed at the expense of the United
States government OF savory stews
made of corned beef and hard tack, a
better ration than they had received
for some time
The Philippines are plentifully sup
piled with churches; and, in time of
war, these houses of worship are APP
propriated for various unseemly pur-
poses. The host is removed, and the
little red light that indicates it's pres
ence is extinguished. Then the church
becomes a barracks, a prison, or
fortress, as the occasion requires.
Sargento Pedro Flores, of the First
Spanish battalion, selected a little side
altar for his private apartment. Be
cause of his rank and a reputation for
remarkable dizziness with the knife,
his title to the place was not disputed.
Above the altar stood a life-sized cary
ing of female saint, done hundrsds of
years previously by some Filipino mas
ter of the craft. The figure was tinted
in colors, at one period no doubt glar
ing, but subdued by time into a con-
summately natural, pale ivory. The
hair on its head was human hair, and
fell about the shoulders in soft dark
masses. The face was rather pretty
than beautiful, thus serving to further
the illusion of naturalness. Pedro had
never heard of Galatea, but, looking
at that figure in the dim light that
struggled through the dirty, colored
windows, he at times almost expected
to see the half-shut eyes open, to see
the girl brush the dust of two centuries
from the faded pima cloth dress with
her little hands, and request him to
assist her from the pedestal. But the
wooden lady remained motionless,
smiling pensively the same smile her
long-forgOtten creator had given her
Close to the altar rail was a little
wooden box into which piOus Filipinos
were wont to drop offerings Of cop
per coins and small silver. When Pc
dro first settled in the little altar he
discovered that there was a tidy little
sum in this box. Of course he realized
that it was a crime unspeakable to rob
the church, but Pedro had not a cen
timo, and he was not altogether con-
tented with the American stew and
hard tack doled out each day. So in a
moment of temptation he thrust in
his hand and extracted a large portion
of its contents. He looked up with
a guilty cOuntenance at the wooden
lady, half afraid that there would be
a look of angry disapproval on her
face. But the wooden lady continued
to smile pensively.
"Gracias, dona," he whispered, and
started for a wine shop.
Every day numbers of worshipers,
mestizos and Filipinos, visited the
shrine of the wooden lady, leaving of
ferings, and Pedro continued to levy
tribute so Systematically that the pa
Dire who collected the money in the
evening noticed no decrease in the rev.
enue. Her Spanish admirer no longer
said "Gracias, dona," but "Gracias.
querido," which means Thanks, dar-
ling" and is decidedly familiar, not
to say sacrilegious, in view of the fact
that the wooden lady was a saint. But
that was partly the fault of the wooden
carver who had made the figure so
human.
Now and then a stalwart American
soldier visiting the church, would ap-
proach and pass a friendly greeting
in his broken Spanish. Pedro would
reply courteously and proffer cigar
cites, although he secretly resented
their intrusion, especially when one Of
these visitors removed his hat to the
wooden lady with mock politeness, and
another addressed her jocularly in his
own tongue. 1t was not seemly, he
thought, that these heretics and out