It was late when Saguanaldo awakened the following morning. He had no
more than opened the casement blinds and stepped out on the veranda
than he saw that the city was unusually stirred. He went into the
streets to make inquiry.
"The American army has arrived and is disembarking," was the word
he received.
He walked into the heart of the city, and saw regiments of soldiers
wearing the new khaki uniform, marching through the streets. His
heart sank within him at the sight, and the warning Mrs. Rizal had
given him recurred to his mind. Against these soldiers he knew he
could do nothing, and if he should seek to maintain the Filipino
independence that had been proclaimed the day previous, with hostile
Spaniards on the one side and hostile Americans on the other, he saw
at once that the case was hopeless. Yet, to give up his ambition, to
forego independence for the Filipinos, to abandon the hope of making
Ambrosia Lonzello his wife and the first lady of Luzon, to yield
his new title and new honors without at least a show of resistance,
was more than he felt like doing. He was perturbed, his mind flying
from one resolve to another and his heart filled with one emotion
after another. "And while he mused the fire burned."
"Camillo, the people are depending on their president to do something
for them in this crisis. Do you feel you can gather your troops
together and successfully resist the Americans?"
It was Mrs. Rizal speaking. She was standing by his side. There
was no trace of exultation in her voice, but she spoke in deeply
sympathetic tones.
"What would you advise?" asked the insurgent general, meekly.
"Go as the accredited leader of the Filipino people and welcome at
the landing the general who comes from America. It will put America
on your side, and that means against the Spaniards."
Saguanaldo considered. "I will do it," he said.
Indecision had left him. A few moments afterward, accompanied by his
staff, and wearing his smartest uniform and accoutrement, he was
driven to the pier, where he asked to be conveyed to the American
general. His rank was at once recognized and he was taken to the
commander in charge, being received by him with marked civility,
and consulted relative to the placing of the American troops. Cordial
relations seemed to be established between the two leaders at once;
and Saguanaldo was very much gratified, after the noon hour, to receive
from Judge Benjamin Daft, the man who had been sent from America to
serve as civil governor of the Philippines, an invitation to visit
him on shipboard.
Judge Daft was found to be a large man with a happy smile, who was
very cordial in his manner. Within a very few minutes after they met
Saguanaldo was smoking with him and felt at perfect ease.
"I understand," said Judge Daft, "that it is somewhat embarrassing for
you, as well as for me, that I come with orders to supercede you as
governor of the Philippines. But you understand that the war is not
yet over, and the final termination of things is not yet determined
on. I want to assure you, however, that the United States desires
only the welfare of the Filipinos. I believe it would be better for
us to co-operate and make sure of victory than to quarrel and possibly
defeat the good that both desire."
"Vd. disponza! All I want," said Saguanaldo meekly, "is not to be
humiliated."
"I feel that as a representative of the American republic I can
guarantee you that. You can be of invaluable service in the field in
quelling disorder and bringing opportunity to your people."
"I am not insensible to the fact that you, as representative of a great
republic with standing already before the world, can command greater
respect than I could do as president of the untried Filipino republic."
"A very sensible view to take of it. I am very much pleased to find
so liberal and disinterested a man as you at the head of affairs. It
speaks well both for the Filipino people and for the cause you
represent. The American republic will remember such unselfish
sentiments, and I am sure you will not lose by it."
General Saguanaldo was flattered by these remarks. They made him
desire to appear oven more disinterested. He began:
"My chief concern is for the Filipinos. You can scarcely be ignorant
of the injustice we have borne for centuries. We want freedom and
opportunity. I ask these things for the Filipinos."
"The request does you honor, and it will do America honor to grant
them. Between us all we shall be invincible. With the prestige of
the American republic behind us we can command the good will of the
nations. Rainey's fleet will be able to keep Cavite in subjection. The
American general is an old campaigner who has with him a seasoned army
and the best of equipment, so that he will be able to stand before any
army that Spain can muster against him. Lastly, and most important of
all, you, General, are familiar with the islands of the Philippines,
and can render service as a guide and leader such as no other man on
the earth can give; and in serving us you will be serving yourself and
the cause of Filipino liberty. I have heard much of the Fox of Luzon,
and have felt that if I could formulate a plan that would enable us all
to work together harmoniously, it would be a victory second only to the
great victory that Admiral Rainey won in this beautiful bay of yours."
"I will do all I can, Judge Daft. As you have said, together we shall
be invincible."
"In that case I shall feel no hesitancy about landing. I did think
that perhaps it was not a courteous thing to do, to come from
across the great ocean to your shores and then ask you to take
me in as something more than guest. But in war we can not stand on
ceremony. Your disinterestedness and your courtesy have been so great
that you have made it much easier for me to do my duty."
The two men wandered over the ship, Judge Daft showing Saguanaldo all
the wonders of the modern man of war. They discussed various matters
apart from the questions most in their minds, and always Judge Daft was
courteous and apparently keenly appreciative of Saguanaldo. Following
the visit of Saguanaldo to the battleship, Judge Daft visited him
in the public building of Manila, and, with his permission, the
American flag was run up over the town in place of the flag of the new
republic. Within two days Saguanaldo went into the interior as the
guide rather than the commander of an expedition which the American
general sent against some Spanish troops that had, under the direction
of Bishop Lonzello, been preparing to attack Saguanaldo in Manila,
but that, after the Americans landed, had retired into the interior.
It was only after they had gotten into the interior that Saguanaldo
began to realize his position. It came to him that, though he had
been hailed as president of the Filipino republic, another occupied
his capital, and the Filipino republic was at an end; though he had
been the leader of an insurrection, the insurrection was inoperative;
and he was fighting under another power; though he had celebrated the
independence of the Filipinos, Filipino independence was gone, and
he was seeking to subject the people to another foreign nation. While
he was under the spell of Judge Daft's influence, he had not noticed
it, but now it came to him with all its meaning and bearing all
its bitterness. He felt that he had lost. He felt that he was not
only unable to cope against the arms and warships of this strange
republic from across the seas, but he was also unable to meet their
wiles--diplomacy, they called it. He had heard the word used and now
he was beginning to understand what it really meant.
"I am a fool," he said to himself. "Ambrosia knows it, and so she
despises me. But if I must be beaten I will show her that at least
I am no coward." It was heroism surviving folly.
So ever it is the one who influences human actions, whether they be
good or bad, public or private, in nature.