RETURN TO HEADQUARTERS--A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR, WITH PERMISSION TO
RETURN TO NEW YORK--BILL HICKSON GOES, TOO.
ARCHIE left the cruiser when she was once more at anchor, and, going
ashore to the American camp, he found things in a very lively condition
at the close of the afternoon’s battle. Every man was very jubilant over
the retreat which had been turned into a great victory, and Archie was
congratulated on having been the lucky man to carry the news of the
coming of the rebels to the admiral. The officers were all in the best
of humour, except the colonel, who felt somewhat sad on account of the
death of his five faithful servants, as the men first shot turned out to
have been.
“There were never any better men than they,” said the colonel, “and I
would almost as soon my own men had been shot.” But he bore the ship’s
company no malice for their mistake, which he said was a very natural
one.
After the capture of so many rebels, and the killing of so many others,
it was felt that the rebel army in this part of the island was pretty
well disbanded, and that it would soon disappear altogether. It had been
known, from the very beginning of hostilities, that there was a large
force of insurgents somewhere in this neighbourhood, but not until
to-day had the colonel seen anything of them. But it was impossible, all
the officers said, that there could be any more troops about, for these
two thousand represented a very considerable portion of the entire rebel
army. And now that these were done away with, the colonel said there
was no need of his remaining any longer in this place, and that he would
like to get back to Manila as quickly as possible. Hearing this, the
admiral said he thought room could be made for all the men aboard the
cruiser, and that they could all return at once if they so desired. This
generous offer was at once accepted by the colonel, and the next day the
work of embarkation began. By night every man was aboard, and a place
of some kind had been found where he could sleep, but of course, every
portion of the vessel was much overcrowded. This only made things all
the more lively, however, and Archie, as well as all the others, thought
he had never enjoyed any trip so much as these three days spent in
getting back again to Manila. There was always fun of some sort going
on. If some one wasn’t dancing, there was sure to be singing. And then
there were several ingenious games which were invented for the occasion,
so that time never passed slowly. Indeed, there were many who were sorry
when the capital was finally reached, but Archie was not among these,
for he expected some mail to be awaiting him from the editor of the
Enterprise. And he hoped that in this mail he would find permission to
return to New York.
All officials were very much surprised when the cruiser anchored off
Cavité, but the admiral explained that he thought it no use to spend
more time in touring the island, even though the month which it was
supposed to take him had not yet expired. He said that he felt sure
there were no more insurgent villages along the coast, because it was
perfectly evident, from all signs, that the rebels were all in one
division. And this division, of course, had been vanquished four days
previously.
When the report of the engagement went the rounds there was much
enthusiasm, for it was felt that at last some progress was being made
against the insurgents. The admiral was a popular hero at once, and
Archie, with Bill Hickson, was again the centre of admiration and
interest in the old palace, where they both returned.
Archie was surprised to find no mail awaiting him, but he was not
discouraged, and wrote two long articles to send to the Enterprise. One
described the great engagement, and the other was descriptive of the
daily life aboard ship upon the return to Manila. These articles, with
the others he had written during the latter part of the cruise, were
sent off at once, and Archie felt confident that they would be read
with great interest by Mr. Van Bunting. And now the days passed very
pleasantly in Manila. He had a great deal to tell his comrades in the
old regiment, for none of them had been out of Manila since he left,
and were very anxious indeed to hear about the events of the
round-the-island tour. And Archie was very willing to tell them all he
could, for he had been much interested in the entire voyage, and never
tired of talking about it.
Still, while things were very pleasant, and he was having a good time in
many ways, Archie was very anxious to see New York again and to get back
to America. And then, what was even more important with him, was the
knowledge that he would certainly be allowed to visit his mother upon
his return. Therefore he was a very happy boy when he one day received
two letters from the Enterprise office, one from Mr. Van Bunting,
and one from Mr. Jennings. They were both very encouraging and very
friendly. Mr. Van Bunting wrote to tell Archie how delighted they all
had been with his success in finding interesting things to write about,
and he enclosed a check for three hundred dollars, which he thought
“would come in handy now.” The letter from Mr. Jennings was of later
date, and stated that he had prevailed upon Mr. Van Bunting to allow
Archie to return to New York, to work upon the Evening Enterprise. It
was a very delightful letter, Archie thought. “We believe,” wrote Mr.
Jennings, “that we can use you here to very good advantage, and we will
be glad to have you return as soon as possible. I enclose two hundred
dollars to pay your expenses home again.”
So now it was all settled that Archie was to leave Manila for New York,
and, now that it was sure he was going, he felt somewhat reluctant to
leave the soldiers with whom he had become friendly, and to get away
from all this life of adventure which had been so interesting and so
delightful in many ways. It was hard, too, to leave the dear old palace
in Manila, through which he had wandered so often, and every room
of which had for him some story of a Spanish prince or a great
governor-general, wealthy and wise. There would be none of all this at
home or in New York, but then there would be something better; there
would be mother, and the old grape arbour, and the Hut Club.
On investigation, Archie found that the quickest way to get home would
be to travel by way of Hong Kong and Yokohama, taking the steamer from
there to San Francisco. It would take him more than a month to make
the trip, and, as it was now the second week in March, he could hardly
expect to reach New York before the first of May. He at once cabled
Mr. Jennings that he would leave at once for Hong Kong, and received
an answer telling him to do so by all means, and to continue to write
letters describing his trip. Archie knew that these letters would
probably not reach New York any sooner than he would, but he did write
them, anyhow, and he did see some of them appear in the paper after his
arrival.
Archie was overjoyed to learn one day that Bill Hickson had received
permission from the commanding general to return to the United States,
and he at once hunted up the bashful hero, and insisted that he leave at
once, and make the trip with him. This was finally agreed to, and when
it was settled that the two old chums were to travel homeward together
the whole camp in Manila was interested in the news. They were both
very popular, and almost every night before their departure there was a
pleasure party of some kind arranged for them. One night they would give
a regular “stag,” as they called them, and then again they would arrange
a sort of musicale, at which there would be clog-dancing, banjo music,
and various games to increase the fun.
The four days passed very quickly indeed, and at last the day for
sailing arrived. There was a great throng at the pier to see them off,
and there was no end of good wishes and stories of the good times now
gone by. When the steamer finally moved out into the open, there were
three cheers each for Archie and “brave Bill Hickson,” in which every
man appeared to join with all his heart and voice. And there were tears
in Archie’s eyes at having to part from such true friends. It was hard
to tell, too, when he would ever see any of them again. He realised
that hereafter his path and theirs would probably lie in different
directions. He was going to New York to work as a reporter, and they, if
they were not killed in battle, would be scattered in all parts of the
great United States, at the mustering out of the troops. It was all very
sad, and even Bill Hickson seemed to feel the solemnity of the occasion,
for he had nothing to say for many hours after the vessel had started on
its journey.
Archie, too, felt homesick at having to leave, and they went to bed very
early, apparently feeling that the best thing under such circumstances
was to be asleep. And when morning came they both felt somewhat better,
for Archie arose filled with hope for the future, and more anxious than
ever to reach home. Bill Hickson, too, was not loath to return to the
United States, even though he had no relatives waiting there to
welcome him. The poor fellow had been through a great deal while in the
Philippines, and his constitution was almost wrecked by the constant
strain to which he was subjected. He had never fully recovered from his
accident of several weeks before, and he felt that he needed a rest from
the constant excitement and worry of life in the army. He was tired,
too, of being a spy. He had never relished the work, but he had realised
how necessary it was for the Americans to have some one to follow up
Aguinaldo and let the general know of his movements. “They’ll be a long
time catching him now,” he said, time and again, to Archie. “He’s a much
shrewder man than they think, and he knows his Philippine Islands like
a book. He can go from one place to another without the Americans ever
knowing where he disappeared to, and without some one to follow him they
will never be able to learn anything of his movements.”
Bill had received nearly two hundred dollars in back pay, so he felt
quite rich, and Archie told him that if he should happen to run out, and
need more money, he would be very glad to furnish it to him, For Archie
was now determined to take Bill Hickson to New York, and introduce him
to Mr. Van Bunting, feeling sure that the wise editor would thank him
for bringing to his attention a man at once so interesting and so worthy
as this hero of the war had proved himself to be. But for the present
Bill would discuss nothing of the kind. He was thoroughly content to
sit beside Archie on the warm steamer deck, and watch the ever varied
surface of the Indian Ocean.