CONTINUING THE CRUISE--ANOTHER VILLAGE CAPTURED--THE ADMIRAL ARCHIE’S
FRIEND--A GREAT BATTLE AND AN UNEXPECTED VICTORY--LONGING TO BE HOME
AGAIN.
IT may go without saying that the sixty men from the cruiser had a very
interesting time before the night was over. The entire village was in a
constant uproar; the poor natives, horrified by what they had witnessed
during the afternoon, ran hither and thither, some even leaving the
place entirely and starting for the interior with their goods and
families. The rebel soldiers had evidently gone for good, and a small
party sent out to look for traces of them returned without learning
anything of their whereabouts. The bombardment of the village had
certainly had great effect.
It was only a tiny place, with possibly not more than a thousand
inhabitants, but there were evidences that it had been formerly a
flourishing town. There were fine residences in some of the streets,
which were now quite deserted, and there were some very respectable
business houses in the village square. All these had once been occupied
by Spanish traders, who had been driven away when the rebels came, and
if the insurgents had never come the town might now have been a booming
place. But the rebels were lazy, as usual, and did no work, so that now
the fine residences were vacant, and the business blocks stood empty.
Some of the sailors looked about for a casino, where they might be able
to find entertainment of some kind for the evening, but every place
of amusement was closed, and the streets were deserted. Since the
occurrences of the afternoon all the people had locked themselves into
their houses, to await the departure of the Americans. But, even though
the casino was closed, the Yankees managed to have a good time. They
sang and danced and played the banjo until an early hour in the morning,
when they finally went to sleep, leaving only two for a night watch,
for there was no danger that the insurgents would return, after their
engagement, in which they had lost six men.
When morning came, some officers landed from the cruiser, and all
the villagers were summoned to the public square and made to swear
allegiance to the American flag.
In the afternoon the cruiser steamed away again on her errand of
forcible pacification, and more days of quiet watchfulness followed, as
the vessel steamed along near the shore. There were many small
villages along this coast, but all of them seemed peaceful and free
of insurgents. The captain even said that some of the people in them
probably didn’t know that there had ever been a war between Spain and
the United States. Archie, who had enjoyed his experiences during the
occupation of the last village, now began to be impatient again at
the long quiet. The day when the cruiser bombarded the administration
building would be a memorable one to him, and the succeeding events were
just such as he had been longing to see for months. And then to think
that he had taken part in the occupation of the village. It was all very
wonderful, but very real, too, and for several days he took much pains
in writing an article for the paper describing the events leading up
to and including the capture of the village. And in the narration Bill
Hickson was an important character. He had again proved himself a hero
of the first water by insisting that the boat proceed when the first
attempt was made to land, and by being the first man ashore when a
landing was finally effected. He was a leader in everything that was
done. He marched at the head of the squad when they marched through the
streets of the village, calling all the people to assemble in the public
square, and he stood beside the officers with his rifle handy when the
ceremony of swearing allegiance was gone through with. When it was
all over he was called to the admiral’s cabin aboard the cruiser and
congratulated for being so brave and so ever-ready to lead in any
dangerous undertaking; but Bill Hickson simply blushed and said
he hadn’t done “anything worth mentionin’.” The men aboard thought
differently, however, and he was even a greater hero after this
adventure than he had been before.
Archie, too, received the congratulations of the admiral. “You have been
a brave boy,” he said, “and deserve much credit for showing so little
fear in the face of danger. I hope you will be rewarded upon your return
to New York for your bravery while with us here.” Archie, too, blushed,
and said that he had no doubt that Mr. Van Bunting would treat him
fairly when he reached New York again.
And Archie was now beginning to wish that the time for his return would
soon arrive. It was the month of February, and he had been away from
America an age, it seemed to him. He felt that he had seen most of what
there was to be seen in the Philippines, and when this naval tour was
over with, the active campaigning would no doubt cease until the rainy
season was over. So for many reasons the boy wished he might be able to
start home soon, and as the days passed he became more and more anxious
to receive word from the Enterprise that he might return. He had sent
many interesting articles to the paper, and would be able to write many
more just as interesting upon his return, so he felt that the editors
wouldn’t object to his early return.
For an entire week the cruiser found no signs of the rebels, but at last
there came a day when they were steaming slowly along near the shore,
and saw, back among the trees, some specks of white resembling tents
in shape. Immediately the whole vessel was excited, and there was much
gossip and wonder as to what the tents could be doing there. The admiral
at last decided to send two boats ashore to investigate, and gave strict
orders that the men should be cautious and not allow themselves to be
ambushed or caught in a trap of any kind. Of course Archie and Bill
Hickson were among the crew of the first boat, and each was as fully
armed as any of the sailors.
The two boats pulled quietly for the shore, keeping close together, and
they were beached at the same time. The natives, or whoever occupied the
tents, had evidently not yet discovered them, and the men halted upon
landing to decide what they had better do. The tents could be plainly
seen through the trees, and there was smoke rising from a fire somewhere
in the neighbourhood, but there were no noises which could be heard
so far away. It was decided to march up to the tents and find out who
occupied them, and the column kept close together as they advanced, for
things were so quiet it was feared the rebels, if such they were, might
be in ambush.
The men got within a hundred feet of the camp, when they heard several
terrible yells in succession, and several natives ran out from behind
one of the tents, screaming at the top of their voices, and not pausing
to look around at all. The officer in command of the company of men was
much disturbed by this demonstration, and, without pausing a moment,
gave the order to fire. Five of the natives fell immediately, but the
other six kept running, and soon disappeared among the trees on the
other side of the clearing. The men stood still awaiting developments,
but though they waited several minutes nothing more was heard, and it
was decided that the camp must be deserted. So they marched up to the
tents, and then the officer almost fainted, for inside the first one
he entered was standing an American flag, and scattered about were the
accoutrements and camp equipment belonging to an American force in the
field. There was now no doubt but what the tents belonged to an
American regiment, and that the fleeing natives were either servants or
prisoners, more likely the former. The men were all much excited at this
discovery, and the officer ordered the natives to be looked after at
once. It was found, however, that all but one were dead, and he expired
within an hour, so that the men felt that they had killed five innocent
men, a thought which made some of them weep, hardened though they were.
It was now decided to await the return of the regiment, which was out,
the officer thought, on a practice march, and could not possibly be
gone much longer. So the men lounged about on the grass for more than an
hour. Then, about three in the afternoon, a rifle-shot was heard in the
near distance, and instantly every man was on his feet, rifle in hand.
“They must have found the rebels,” said the officer; “so be ready,
men, to help them out, should they be retreating to the camp.” This
supposition turned out to be correct, for a few minutes later some
members of the regiment came running into camp and announced that a
large body of insurgents was after them. Later the remainder of the
regiment followed, and the joy of the colonel when he found these
unexpected reinforcements was very great. “There must be more than
fifteen hundred rebels,” he said, “and they will all be on us here in
less than an hour, for their sharpshooters have been following us up for
a long time. I was beginning to think that we would be unable to fight
them, for they seem to be well equipped, but with the cruiser to kelp
us we can whip them at once. The thing to do will be to let them come
on without suspecting that we have received any help, and then, when the
fight is getting a little warm, or they are about to charge us, let the
cruiser fire a few shells into the air, and it will all be over. Most of
them are country troops, and have never seen a cruiser, so they will be
too much frightened to speak when they hear the thunder of the guns, and
see the shells explode in the air. And then they have a village about
three miles back from the coast, and if you can send a few shells into
that village it will simply ruin the insurgents.
“I had no idea of meeting these rebels,” the colonel then explained. “I
took the men out for a little practice marching, but before we had gone
far we encountered these sharpshooters, and later discovered that they
had all these men about a mile and a half away. Then we decided to
return to camp as quickly as possible, to get more ammunition, and we
felt, too, that we would stand a better chance of resisting them here
among the trees. But now we will soon finish them up, if you will just
send a man out to tell the admiral of our plans.” Archie immediately
volunteered to carry the information, and as he could be spared better
than one of the soldiers or sailors, he was permitted to undertake the
mission. So he started out, and was on board the cruiser in a very short
time. The admiral was dumbfounded to learn that American troops were
encamped on the shore, and in imminent danger of being defeated, and he
at once set about giving orders with great vigour. “We will show them
how they can attack a small regiment of Americans with their ridiculous
army,” he declared, and at once gave orders for the vessel to move
inshore. “But wait,” he cried, a minute later, “I see by my chart
that there is a deep stream about a mile up the coast, and if I am
not mistaken we can enter this stream and perhaps get very near the
advancing rebels. We may even be able to destroy them before they have
a chance at our soldiers,” and the old admiral almost danced in the
enthusiasm of this idea. So the cruiser steamed rapidly up the coast,
and was soon at the mouth of the stream, which seemed to be the estuary
of some great river. Then she steamed up-stream, and, sure enough, the
admiral soon discovered the rebels marching rapidly along the road,
about half a mile away. They had evidently not perceived the cruiser, on
account of the high reeds growing along the banks, and the admiral gave
orders to begin firing.
The first shell rose high in the air and exploded with a deafening
thunder, and when the smoke cleared away it was seen that the insurgents
were almost paralysed with fright, and had just discovered the cruiser
in the river. But this first shell had not hurt any one, and another
was immediately ignited. This one exploded over the very heads of the
troops, and many of them must have been killed. Those who were not
either killed or wounded turned about and began to run, and their
leaders were powerless to make them stand their ground. One shell
followed another from the cruiser, and hundreds must have been killed
outright among the insurgents. Finally they were all running, and it was
soon perceived that the Americans had advanced, and were now pursuing
them with great energy. So the cruiser could fire no more shells, and
the admiral ordered her about and back to the anchorage onshore.
It would take many pages to describe in detail the events of the
remainder of that afternoon, as Archie witnessed them from the deck of
the cruiser, and learned of them later from Bill Hickson. The insurgents
were nearly all killed or taken prisoners, and it was found that they
numbered nearly two thousand. So it was a great achievement to have
vanquished them all. The affair turned out to have been the greatest
victory of the war, so far.