The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-04-01

relief he went on without giving me
time to reply.
Your grace has heard Of the mu
tiny of the native troops IN Cavite
many years ago2"
nodded, for had not only heard
of II, but had had nightmares after.
wards, based upon the recital.
Long before that was soldier In
the infantry, and was in the regi'
ment which was sent south to Min
danao to suppress the Moro uprising,
| did good service, for ] was the
strongest man in the regiment, and /
had a beautiful 'bolo' with a blade IA
inches long and as broad as your
grace's hand; and on the back Of the
blade filed a notch for every Moro
| killed with It. II was a beautiful
bolo, and the Spanish officers offered
me many pesos for IL, but would not
sell IL, for It had belonged to my
father, and he had carved the hilt as
none but he could carve hilts of bolos.
When we returned TO Manila there
were nine notches in the back OF the
1
not suit Fllipinos to fight as the Span
iards fight, by shooting at great dis
tances, and we used to leave the white
soldiers far behind and wait for them
to come up after the fighting was over
For good conduct was transferred
into the Guardla Civil Of Manila, and
as a guardia | served many years. ]
had been married, and we had one
son. and he was more than the idol
and Joy Of his mothers heart,-for my
wife is a Visayan, and the love of a
Visayan woman for her frstborn Is
beyond the knowledge Of a man. He
grew TO be like me in strength and
stature, a marvel among men, and
was proud of him, and prouder yet tc
see how my mujer gloried In and loved
him for his strength and size, for II
made him like meme, a member OF
| the ever-to.be-trusted Guardla Civil,
with my Mindanao medal to wear at
| the fiestas.
And at last he our Jose, was en-.
listed in the infantry as | had been
and my muier wept as she stood be
side me and saw him march in the
ranks, from pride that her 'muchacho
was the tallest man in the line, and
his shoulders were those of man and
a half,--and Visayan woman seldom
weeps But !, who had been sol
der, did not weep, though l felt sad
and doubtful for l knew that the
Spanish officers were not as they had
been in my day, and that there was
discomfort among the lines. But
gave him my bolo to wear and use,--
the one with the nine notches in the
back of the blade, senor, with the hilt
which had been carved by my father
1--WE saw him but seldom after that
and knew not where he was stationed
for the infantry soldier in the service
of Spain has little time but to serve
and sometimes his mother would
grieve because he was not there WITH
her, and then rejoice because another
day had gone and the end of his serv
ice was nearer.
Then came the mutiny. Your grace
knows, sin dudo how 1t was arranged
that the regiments in Cavlte should
kill their officers and the white resi-
dents, and then send up a rocket as
signal to the troops in Manila to dc
the same and capture the city. Bu
your grace, perhaps, does not know
that II was through the Guardia Civi
that word OF the uprising was sent tC
the commandante in Manila; for the
Guardia Civil,-of which / was one
senor,-whateve its sympathies are
is true to the cause to which IL !!
sworn--as true as the steel of the
belo-and some loco among the mu
tineers had told a friend who was {
guardia. And when the rocket wen
up from Cavite, the troops in Manili
had been disarmed, and we. with thu
white troops, were on our way to Ca
vite.
When we lauded the mutineeri
had fed and we're hiding, but they haC
done their work, and when ! saw IT.
nh, senior, the poor white senoras anC
little children!-m blood became like
the hot yellow wine which the Inglese'
drink with soda-water, and cared no
that the mutineers were my country
men or that the bodies were those o
Spanish. Our hearts cried out fo
vengeance, and we obeyed the orders
TO enter every nipa-hut In Cavite an'
drive our bayonets through the floor
for II was under them that the mu
tineers were hiding-and the scars o
our bayonets are there in the huts o
Cayite to-day. | entered two huts ant
thrust my bayonet through the foo
of each until the screams below hat
ceased Then entered third, ant
thrust, and there were no screams
but a hand with a bolo came nj
through the floor and gashed my leg
as your grace sees. | put my foot OF
the bolo and thrust again with all m!
great strength, and then the hand re
laxed and the fingers opened and shu
and tore at the bamboo strips on th'
floor like cats claws-and saw tina
the bolo had nine notches in the bacl
of the blade and that the handle ha'
been carved by my father,
"Our son, the pride and JOY OF hi
nnothar'q haart.o UiaaVan Wonnafl'