Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-05-25

with his knee. Then he knew that he
had been shot.
And then the Filipinos were on him.
with cries in mingled Tagalog and Span
ish. He was the only live man they
could find. and him they took.
Bring him here the leader said, lead
ing the way outside the path to a place
where the suns rays were shaded by the
underbrush. Two of the men to whom
he spoke seized the prisoner by the arms
and dragged him over the ground behind
them. .
Now" said the leader to a Filipino
who spoke English, TASK him where the
money is" "
Where is the money which you
brought with you from cu--r!" ~. 49,
No answer. ....
"Where is the money!
Still no answer; for Private Peters
was not thinking or the questions being
asked him then, but of something and
somebody very far away. lFlrr -
The leader shrugged his shoulders.
I'm make him tell; hold him down."
he said.
Two Tagalogs knelt upon the wounded
soldier. Their captain, pulling his cam
plan from it's belt. thrust its raZor-sharp
point into the flesh Of the helpless mans
bare arm. -
Now ask him where the money is"
the interpreter was told. 80. ..~'a
No answer. r.. Isl 1Es-. %.
The. complain was twisted back and
forth in the wound which it had made,
and then, when the soldier was still 81
lent, the long, slim sword gashed n deep
red cross upon his cheek. I
That was the end. The soldiers eyes
shut and his head dropped Imply to n
side.
Hes dead" the native said.
And then, because lead men can tell
no tales, the leader called his men to-
gether and led them back to the hiding
place from whence they had come.
1t was an hour before Private Peters
ewes opened, and consciousness returned,
a consciousness in which pain was at
first the only factor. 1t took him a long
time to remember everything which had
happened. From where he lay he could
see some of the dead men,, out there in
the road. The money was safe in the
underbrush. over beyond them. He
thought the men Of his company, when
they came to look for the squad, as he
was sure they would come, would find
the bodies Of the men out there, but per-
haps they would miss his, back there
where he was, in the brush. Worse still,
they, might never find the paymaster's
leather bag; and then it all would have
been for nothing, what he had tried to
do. .....gt- ~ s.
That would be too bad. Could he not
| do something? Perhaps he might. He.
| tried to stand. 1t was no use. His knee
was bad. Then he tried dragging himself
by his hands. 1t wasn't easy, for that
Tagalog sword had bur- wed deep, but
L., ,,~,. -np NOT hppl-ny
He could go. "
His Journey across a continent and an
ocean had been nothing in comparison
with this journey across a road, a road
blocked by the bodies of dead men, and
blazing under q cruel sun.
A few hours later a body of American
soldiers came cautiously up the road.
There was no one there to modest them,
though, the Tagalogs being miles away
by that time.
Slowly and tenderly they gathered the
bodies of their comrades upon litters to
carry them to burial.
The last face had been covered, the
last hand laid straight, and the officer in
command had turned to say Forward,
march, when his men saw him sudden
ly. lift his broad hat and stride with
barred head into the underbrush beyond
the road.
He stopped beside a bush to which a
little old silk handkerchief, fashioned af-
ter an American flag, was tied. Stoop-
ing, h laid his hand reverently upon
the body Of a man lying concealed be-
meath the bush. 49, . r
Afterward the army surgeons said that
not one man in ten thousand would have
lived through such an experience. Wheth-
er it was the surgeons who pulled him
through, or whether it was his good con-
stitution, Private Peters never cared.
He didn't even care-that is, not so
very much-that he must always have
a deep-red criss-cross scar upon his
cheek. The only thing he thought that
he should ever care for was the fact
that he was going home, and that 1t
was not as 'Lige Peters he was going
back, or even private, but as Lieutenant
Peters.
Best Of all, he thought, the colonel Of
the regiment had written n letter and
sent it to him, in which he said it gave
him great pleasure" and so forth, and
so on.
The lieutenant meant to show the let
ter to his mother and his sisters; that
was oil.
You see he had forgotten about the
papers, or else he didn't realize that
news could come all the way from Asia
to America. That was why he was so
surprised, when he reached home, to find
that he was famous.
He bad thought that when he gave TIE
coloneI's letter TO his mother to read that
would be the best OF all, but there was
going to be something even better than
the letter.
That was when Memorial Day came
again, and he was asked to ride in the
carriage with the G.. A. r. commander,
because his knee was not yet strong
enough to march, they said. On the plat