The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1906-07-05
Gugus were keeping some prisoners

khaki-clad figures spring into view.
His eyes bulged from his head, and
he stood motionless with amazement.
Suddenly, with shout Of viva los
Americanos! Viva Libertad!" he
dashed forward open-armed. A burly
sergeant met him with knockout
blow on the chin. and the Spaniard
staggered back, rubbing his face
without resentment. He understood
that silence was demanded.
cover the hill" he cried, dancing
about with pain and excitement.
They've just left here with three
Americana prisoners Hurry and
you will catch them! Hurry. hurry.
but take me with you"
Once more they dashed into the
forest. The subaltern, running be-
side the rescued man, noticed that
his shirt was stained with blood, and
the fiuttering rags gave glimpses OF
the raw, f1ayed skin beneath.
what does that mean?" he
asked in his schoolboy Spanish.
The man smiled Past sorrows
were nothing TO MIN now.
II have been two years a priso-
ner," he said. Zone receives many
beatings."
"Have you never tried to escape?"
What was the use? My friend
tried, but they caught him and cut
off his head-after roasting his
legs"
Wilcox said nothing, but there
was strained look about his eyes.
To him the last twenty-four hours
had been horribly unreal. Stopping
only for food and drink, the troop
had followed the track of the insur-
rectos deeper and deeper into the
hills. He had seen his men surprise
and shoot down a native in sight of
his wife, and as excuse the captain
had said that the man was war
traitor, leader of insurgents, and a
prosecutor Of Americanistas. But
Wilcox felt sickened. The captain
and the men became repulsive to
him. They were like lower order of
of being to which he refused to be
degraded The army was his only
outlook. but could he ever be in SYM
pathy with such things as he was
experiencing every day?
Suddenly man in the ranks cried
out, and the column came to jolt
ing halt. The subaltern looked, and
turned pale. BY the trunk of a moss
grown tree, his arms bound above
his head, rope about his half-na-
ked body, stood an American SOL
der. Across his mouth from corner
to corner bolo had slashed, and the
bleeding flesh hung loosely over the
jaw. His head was sunk forward,
but he was not dead, as his captors
had intended he should be after a
few days lingering.
His "bunkie" who had first seen
the pitiful figure, cut the heavy
hemp with his bayonet, but the col
umn waited only a moment hos
pital corps man was left behind with
the detail, and the troop took up it's
march the more cautiously for know
ing that it was hot on the trail
The subaltern felt that his nerves
Through the throbbing whirl of his
brain came a sickening thought If
the natives were capable of such a
deed as this, how would they treat
the other two prisoners? Surely
they would not dare to harm an
American officer. His mind refused
to comprehend the thought of Ell
lard cold and lifeless. The image Of
his classmate and chum was too
fresh, too vidivly active to be rem
dered null. No, the natives could
not be so cruel. they would not be so
inhuman. And yet that bound figure
by the tree. How slowly the men
moved! Why did they inger when
every minute might mean life or
death to the prisoners?
The men passed over another
spur, and dropped into the valley
below. With every step they moved
more cautiously. Tense and alert,
the subaltern crept onward, braced
for he knew not what He saw the
captain crawling on all tours, be-
come entagled in trailing vine, and
felt an uncomfortable desire to
laugh. 1t was broad day now, and
the heat grew sitting in the breath
less woods
A shout and distant laughter
echoed across the valley, and the
captain halted abruptly. After a mo-
ments consultation, the troop divi-
ded, and at the head of his creeping
file, the subaltern turned to the
right. Nearer and nearer sounded the
native voices, and the men knew that
they were close to the insurgent
camp. For ten heartbreaking min
utes they wormed their way over the
damp, brown loan, now and again
catching glimpse of the little clear.
ing, until they had made a complete
half circle.
Slowly they drew near the edge of
the trees, and the subaltern heard
the sound of hasty digging. A
strange look appeared on the set
faces of tho mon I1t y6Ti1oov I;J