The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1908-07-20

head Of each The doctor and two menoi
the hospital CORPS were there, each win
his field pouch Of medicines and dress.
ings and In five minutes we started
Every soldier had 100 rounds Of Krag
cartridges in his belt, while from tho
breast pockets Of the blue shirts could
be seen two boxes Of 20 cartridges
each, taken along, as the quartermas-
tersergeant expressed ii. I'm case Of
tie, sir"
Bayonets were left behind. as they
made too much noise swinging in the
scabbards, and were of little use
among the Tagalos, who seldom fought
at close quarters, as did the Moros or
Visayans Of Mind9nao and Samar
noticed a feeling OF uneasiness
among the men just before we started,
and was told that Jones had another
message from his brother that Lieut..
HaTgood was wounded and three men
killed confess j was nervous my
self, but walked up and down the
long column Of twos, the only practi-
cal formation on the narrow trail, to
try to quiet the men It was Of no
use They were apprehensiye and
nervous after the weird and uncanny
events Of the hour before, and NC
Cures declaration that the Jones
brothers was wrong somehow" was
having its effect
few miles out, one Of lie three
men in advance on the point fred at
shadow through nervousness. increas-
ing the intense mental strain we Ia.
bored under When we halted at
the end Of the first hour no
ticed few Of the then sat down to rest,
most Of them remaining In little
groups earnestly whispering Sudden
" one called me, and found William
Jones, surrounded by little group,
fiat on his back, writing with his fore
finger In the air. BY this time my
skepticism had disappeared, and
knew felt as much fear OF Jones and
his wonderful powers as any one In
the company
What do you know, Jones? answer
me" ! commanded
Two more dead ana two hit, sir"
he replied.
We started forward, and 80 through
out the night the uneanny news came
to us, sometimes at the halt, and
sometimes while marching. AT day
light we had reached the river, 400
yards beyond which the Labauo
church, a gloomy pile Of stone. ap-
peared through the early light. Leav-
ing the doctor with 20 men and the
pack train behind a hin to the rear,
formed a line Of skirmishers, the
men stripped to rife, belt and canteen,
preparatory to fording the river. Not
I shot had we heard, which increased
our feeling OF awe. Had we come on
a wild goose chase, misled by the fool.
ish antics Of a possibly crazy man
Or, on the other hand, were our men
dead in the church. their bodies Bu-
tilated as only Filipino can dishonoT
the dead? ! almost prayed for some-
thing to happen to relieve the tension.
Just as we reached the middle OF the
shallow river 1t came.
!, A volley from many loud-monthed
Remingtons on the opposite bank and
{ a man near me yelled:
Struck something, by God"
! turned to see man fall into the
4 water, and heard a squad leader call:
bill Jones gone. Cot It in the
{ head
AS usual, the Filipino volley was
: high, and after a return fire from Us
Il standing 10 our waists in the water, ;
8 line Of small men Ia blue cOttoI
= shirts and trousers broke from tn,
: bamboo at the waters edge and scam
y pered over the hill, few Of then
II dropping from our FIRE We pushed OF
with yell such as none but American
Y soldiers can give, only to be stopped a
D the top Of the bank by volley from
d line of hemp bales, improyised init
. a barrlcade, across the end Of TIL
ID street, at the head OF which the sid
r of the church faced. A few ROUNDS
c and that line broke and ran, pursue
g, by two CT our sections, while with tn
other two | double-timed to surroun
is the church, fearing a trap. On tn
iir belfry, however, appeared the rotun
tn face Of Patsy Rourke, a tough hi
ne bugler:
p. Got any SOW belly? We heerd theI
q, Krag yolleys | knowed dat Dago'e
do somethin' wit his writn' In the air
ne seen him do it on the ship"
as Shut up, sternly replied the FIR,
sergeant; how do you get in?s
ag There was no need for reply. Tn
de church door opened, disclosing a ba
cs ricade Of floor tiles behind it, and I
IN drawn-faced men, each with thre
Mt cartridges In his hand, who droppe
he over and asleep on the floor as 500
ut as we entered.
lis In the rear, back Of the altar,
ht found the wounded lieutenant and j
ng of his men, Thomas Jones, who ha
been shot through the lungs, anon
be- them, feebly writing with his hand
We lie air Just as | reached him b
.er whispered:
Ii, bill is dead can't hear him, bl