The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1903-10-02
THE MAINGERER.
ny BERNARD HARRY.

hcfn Hftu-n nlpn' ~ Saiu-"i
most accidentally. and all through
the night Of February 1, 1899. the
land side Of Manila was II semi
circle of crashing Springfelds
and suffering Krag.Jorgcnsons.
Outside that semicirclc the Fill
ipinos were rapidly losing self.
confidence and gaining respect for
the Americans. Within ii the
United States troops of the re-
serve checked an attempt ut an
uprising, and waited impaticntly
for orders To the front. But that
semicirclc remained unbroken
through the night.
In the cool Of the morning the
''iiying battalion" of the First Cal
ifornia regiment hurried along the
road To III Paco 10 join III" First
brigade. Al intervals. u brown
face would peep through the door
of II of the nipn hnts M the
troops passed, only TO bc with
drawn quickly. There Vas II ron
%iinuous conglomcration of sound
very similar Ia the disturbance
4. created by any large city an indie
Vpndcncc day. II increased in vol
umc as the soldiers moved. The
men should have been IN u sober
frame Of mind. but they seemed To
hr thrilled with uuholy joy. for
they whistlcd Ia the effect that
there would bc II hot time present
~. and prufanc witticisms were
shouted from one end oi the line
Ia the other. There was an impa'
iicnt accclcralion Of step. hut the
rhythmic swing of The blue sleeves
aud the lcggincd limbs would
have passed muster at dress pa
radc.
They found the brigadicrand his
stan ON u little billock outside of
III paco. The order their colonel
received was whispered through
the ranks: Two companies Ia
the block house on the double,
Report Ia col. Whallcy"' The
commanding officer swung his
horse about aud met the pleading
eyes Of four captains. All of them
wanted the chance: but there WAS
M lime Ia weigh their claims.
~ and W." h. said. quickly. \
sharp command. emphasized 10y an
oath. aud. with II stifrd cheer,
two companies rushed around q
bend in the road into the zone al
stray bullets. just rs two crashing
reports That seemed Ia minimize
The inccssant rattle Of the rifles
announced that an American field
battery had begun Ia clcartl wa,
for an advance. Tie ecu OF III,
MauScr bullets overhead VAS III,
signal for somc instructive duck
ing. and II repetition of the jest
ing. forced and otherwise. First
Scrgt. Joyce. of 4, was one Of lh'
humOrists. IF We were ~ fee
high II lot OF us would he hit in III,
head" he remarked,
The two companies trottcd NJ
slight incline in the road Ia !
noisy little block house that al
most hid itself in the smoke of ~
Springiclds. In the shelter of thu
block house II surgeon and tive
hospital stewards were working
over some casualties There
we're white faces and bloody liner
bandagos. and fnrlhcro On some mu
tiOnlcss forms with campaign
hats covering their glazed eye
and set features. but even wlcr'
the knife gliitcrcd there was mt
sound of complaint.
To the right of the block hous
vas an irregular line of gru,
smokcpuTs where II battalion o
Washington volunteers va
sprawled behind dixie mthc re
fields. One of them. II few yard
from the road, rose suddenly an
fell forward on his face. Two u
Ii. r.II.n., Eft.I HIN, Anl.l.I, an,