CHAPTER V
AN ENCOUNTER AT THE RIVER
To say that both Larry and his old friend were surprised at the suddendemand which had been made upon them would be to put the truth verymildly. They had been of the firm belief that the insurgents hadretreated, and to find themselves in a "reg'lar hornet's nest," asLuke afterward expressed it, dumfounded them.
"Do you surrender, or not?" came the words, after an awkward pause.
It was dark about the huts, yet not so dim but that they could see thebarrels of several Mauser rifles thrust toward them. The sight madeLarry shiver, for he had never before met the rebel soldiers at suchclose quarters.
"We're in a box," muttered Luke. "Somethin' wrong somewhar--oursoldiers didn't come this way, ye kin reckon on thet."
"I move we run for it," whispered Larry. "If they take us prisoners--"He did not finish, but his silence was more impressive than mere wordswould have been. He had heard many stories of terrible crueltypractised by the insurgents on their prisoners, and whether thesetales were true or not, they had had their full effect on both himand his shipmates.
"Where are ye goin' to run to, lad? We don't want to run an' be shotdown in cold blood."
"Get in front of me and take to the woods opposite, Luke," was thehurried reply. "Here goes! I don't think they'll fire now!"
As Larry concluded, he sprang to the side of one of the native womenstanding nearest to him. Before the woman could resist, he had her inhis arms behind him and was running off as speedily as the weight ofhis living load permitted. Seeing this, Luke scuttled off before, andaway they went for the woods, not twenty yards distant.
A howl arose on the night air, and one gun went off, but the bulletdid no damage. Then the leader of the rebels was heard, calling to hismen not to fire, for fear of killing the woman, who chanced, by goodluck, to be a close relative; for the soldiers behind the bamboo fencewere part of a home guard brought out that very afternoon to defendthe road and Santa Cruz.
The woman on Larry's back shrieked in terror and clawed at his neckand hair, causing him considerable pain. But he held his burden tightuntil the shelter of the trees was gained, when he let her slip to theground and darted after Luke, who was running with all the speed ofhis lanky limbs.
It was pitch dark in the jungle, and the pair had not advanced morethan a hundred yards when they found themselves going down into ahollow which both felt must lead to a dangerous swamp, or morass, forthe island of Luzon is full of such fever-breeding places.
"Go slow, lad," whispered Luke, as he caught Larry by the hand. "Wedon't want to land out o' the fryin'-pan into the fire."
They both became silent and listened attentively. At a distance theyheard the insurgents coming on slowly and cautiously, spreading out asthey advanced. Probably they knew the topography of the country andmeant to surround the hollow completely.
"They are coming, that's sure," whispered Larry, and clutched hispistol. "I wonder if we can't get away from them by climbing a tree."
"We can--if they ain't a-followin' the trail putty close," answeredhis companion.
They began to search around for a tree, and in doing so came toseveral large rocks, much over-grown with trailing vines. There was anopening between two of the rocks, and Luke slipped into this, haulingLarry after him.
"Jest as good as a tree, an' mebbe better," he whispered, as herearranged the vines over the opening.
The hiding-place was not a large one, and Larry felt very much like asardine in a box as he crouched close to his Yankee friend. The vinescovered the opening completely, yet they remained on guard, each withhis finger on the trigger of his weapon, resolved, if the worst cameto the worst, to fight the best they knew how before surrendering.
The Filipinos were evidently puzzled, for they had come to a halt andmade not the slightest noise. Possibly they were listening for somesound from those they were pursuing, but if so, none came, for Lukeclapped his hand warningly over Larry's mouth, and the youthunderstood and remained as motionless as a statue.
Five minutes went by--to the boy they seemed an age--and then therebels came on again, halting every few steps to make sure of theirground. Three passed close to the rocks, so close in fact that Larryand Luke could have shot them down without trouble. But this wouldhave given the alarm to the entire party, and neither the boy nor theman wanted to shed blood unless it became absolutely necessary.
At last the Filipinos had left the rocks behind and were circlingaround the swamp at the bottom of the hollow. "Now is the time to give'em the slip," whispered Luke, and crawled once more into the open.Larry followed, and both hurried away from the vicinity with allpossible speed. It was the last seen or heard of the party who had sounexpectedly blockaded their progress on the highway.
The jungle at the top of the hill was as dense as that below, and thepair had not proceeded far before they found themselves in a veritabletangle of bushes and vines. The bushes were of the thorny kindpeculiar to this locality, and more than once Larry found himselfcaught and held as if in a vice.
"My clothing will be in tatters if this keeps on," he panted, as hecut himself loose with difficulty. "Did you ever see such a thicket!"
"We missed it when we started out to-night," returned Luke, gravely."We've gone astray o' the firm' line and everything else, to my way o'lookin' at it."
Bad as was their situation, they felt it would be worse with thecoming of daylight. "We must get out of the enemy's territory beforethe sun rises," said Larry. "If we don't, we'll have no show at all."
But getting out was not easy; indeed, the farther they advanced, themore difficult did it seem to become, until both came to theconclusion that they had missed their bearings entirely, and werelost. "And can't even see the stars to read 'em," groaned Luke."Larry, we might as well make the best of it, and wait for daylight."
But the youth demurred and insisted on going ahead. "We're bound tostrike something soon," he said, and did, immediately afterward. Itwas a log lying on the edge of an incline, and down he pitched, andlog and lad rolled over and over, with Luke following, to bring upwith a loud splash in the river below.
The force of their fall took them under the surface of the stream, andin the struggle to save themselves both lost their cutlasses. But, asold readers know, each could swim well, and they speedily came up andstruck out for the most available landing-place, which was on theopposite bank.
"_Alto!_" came the sudden cry, in Spanish. "Halt!" And now a sentryappeared from behind a pile of cord-wood lying but a short distanceaway.
"Alto!" came the sudden cry.--_Page 47._]
"Discovered again," muttered Luke, and felt for his pistol. "Soaked!"he muttered, in disgust.
The cry of the rebel on guard had given the alarm to several others,and in a twinkling Larry and the old Yankee tar found themselvesconfronted by an even more determined crowd than that encountered onthe road. With the water behind them, escape was out of the question,for a jump back into the river would have courted a fire which musthave resulted in death.
"_Americanos!_" muttered one of the rebels, drawing closer. "Andsailors, not soldiers," he added, in his native tongue. "Where did youcome from?"
Larry and Luke shook their heads. "Talk United States and we'll speakto you," said the old sailor.
"You gif up?" demanded an under officer, as he pushed his way forward,with his pistol covering Larry's heart.
"Ain't nuthin' else to do, I reckon," replied Luke, before Larry couldanswer. He was afraid the boy might be rash and try running awayagain.
"Throw down de pistoles, den," muttered the Tagal, with an uglyfrown.
Down went the weapons on the ground, and then two of the rebelsadvanced to search them. They found nothing of special value exceptingthe pair's jack-knives, and these were confiscated and turned over tothe officer in command.
The prisoners were then told to march up the river shore to a roadleading into Santa Cruz. With their hands bound tightly behind them,they were placed in cha
rge of a detail of four Filipinos, who wereinstructed to take them without delay before the general in charge ofthe city's defences.
"They may hold information of importance," said the under officer."Do not delay a minute;" and off went the crowd, the soldiers proddingthe prisoners with their bayonets whenever Larry and Luke did not walkfast enough to suit them.
The course taken was through a narrow and exceedingly dirty street. Itwas after midnight, yet the expected attack of the Americans had keptall the inhabitants awake. The prisoners were jeered at repeatedly,and at one point were covered with a shower of mud and stalevegetables. The onslaught might have been more serious had not thesoldiers interfered.
"Get back, you dogs," shouted the leader, a little Tagal scarcely fivefeet in height, but with an air of magnificent importance. "These menare to go before the general, and at once!" And much abashed thenatives fell back, and the prisoners were molested no further.
It would naturally be supposed that the general in command would befound at the front at such a time, when an attack on the city was buta matter of a few hours. Instead, however, General Bamodo was found atone of the government buildings, calmly smoking a cigar, andconversing with several native business men.
"Spies, eh?" he queried, when the guard had told him about theprisoners. "Bring them in immediately."
Larry and Luke were told to enter the room, and did so, their stillwet clothing forming little puddles at their feet. The guards stoodbeside and behind them. General Bamodo eyed them critically. He spokeno English, and so called in an interpreter.
"Where are you from?" demanded the interpreter, presently, after a fewwords with his superior.
"We are from the warship _Olympia_," answered Luke, briefly.
"You were sent here by General Otis as spies, not so?"
"No, sir, we are jest plain, everyday sailors."
"Then what brought you here?" demanded the interpreter, aftertranslating their words to General Bamodo.
"We missed our way on the road," put in Larry, before Luke couldanswer. He thought it best not to say anything about accompanyingGeneral Lawton's expedition.
"You must have missed it very much, General Bamodo says," growled theinterpreter, after another consultation with his superior. "SantaCruz is a good many miles from Manila harbor."
To this Larry remained silent, and another talk in Spanish followed.Then a sudden shot from a distance caused General Bamodo to leap tohis feet and dash down his cigar.
"Take them to the prison--I will examine them later on," he said, inSpanish, and hurried away.
A few minutes later Larry and his Yankee friend were marched off, thistime to a stone building several squares away. Here they were takeninside, thrust into a cell, the iron-barred door was locked upon them,and they were left to their fate.