The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1909-04-01

/ lnlS was straight from the shoulder,
certainly. and my grace" felt consid-
erably abashed for a moment under
his steady gaze. Then, rather to my
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 ago."
nodded, for l had not only heard
of it. but had had nightmares after
wards, based upon the recital
Long before that was a 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 I
had beautiful 'bolo' with a blade IA
inches long and as broad as your
grace's hand; and on the back of the
blade l filed a notch for every Moro
| killed with it. 1t was beautiful
bolo, and the Spanish officers offered
me many pesos for it, but would not
sell it, 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
blade, and I was corporal, for it does
not suit Filipinos 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 l was transferred
into the Guardia Civil of Manila, and,
as 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 first-born is
beyond the knowledge of man. He
grew to be like me in strength and
stature, marvel among men, and
was proud of him, and prouder yet to
see how my mujer gloried in and loved
him for his strength and size, for it
made him like meme, member of
the ever-to-be-trusted Guardia Civil,
with my Mindanao medal to wear at
the fiestas.
"And at last he, our Jose, was en-.
listed in the infantry as I had been,
and my mujer 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
half, and a Visayan woman seldom
weeps. But l, who had been a 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 I
gave him my bolo to wear and USE
the one with the nine notches in the
back of the blade. senior, with the hilt
which had been carved by my father.
I'VE 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 dude, how it was arranged
that the regiments in Cavite should
kill their officers and the white resi-.
dents, and then send up rocket as a
signal to the troops in Manila to do
the same and capture the city. But
your grace, perhaps, does not know
that it was through the Guardia Civil
that word of the uprising was sent to
the commandante in Manila; for the
Guardia Civil,-of which was one,
senor,-whatever its sympathies are,
is true to the cause to which it is
sworn-as true as the steel of the
bolo-and some loco among the mu-
tineers had told friend who was
guardia. And when the rocket went
up from Cavite, the troops in Manila
had been disarmed, and we, with the
white troops, were on our way to Ca.
vite.
"When we landed, the mutineers
hc1O lieu anu WClC ululu6, UuL lucy lldU
done their work, and when l saw it
ah, senior, the poor white senoras and
little children!-my blood became like
the hot yellow wine which the Ingleses
drink with soda-water, and l cared not
that the mutineers were my country
men or that the bodies were those of
Spanish. Our hearts cried out for
vengeance, and we obeyed the orders
to enter every nipa-hut in Cavite and
drive our bayonets through the floor
for it was under them that the mu-
tineers were hiding-and the scars of
our bayonets are there in the huts of
Cavite to-day. l entered two huts and
thrust my bayonet through the floor
of each until the screams below had
ceased. Then I entered a third, and
thrust, and there were no screams,
but hand with a bolo came up
through the floor and gashed my leg,
as your grace sees. I put my foot on
the bolo and thrust again with all my
great strength: and then the hand re.
Taxed and the fingers opened and shut
and tore at the bamboo strips on the
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