THE ADVANCE INTO THE JUNGLE
Santa Cruz had been taken, but there was still much to do around the
shores of the Laguna de Bay to make it safe territory for the
Americans to hold. From the city the rebels were pursued eastward, and
a number of cascos and larger boats were captured. Inside of a few
days Paete, Longos, Lumban, and several other villages, were visited
by detachments of General Lawton's command, and the insurgents fled in
each instance, leaving all behind them. Nearly a hundred who stopped
to fight were either killed or wounded, and victory was entirely upon
the side of the Americans.
But now it was learned that the forces under General Aguinaldo and
General Luna were concentrating once more to the north and east of
Malolos, and much as he regretted the necessity, General Otis was
compelled to order General Lawton and his command back to the
territory above Manila. No garrisons could be spared for Santa
Cruz, or the other places captured, so these settlements were
allowed to fall once more into the hands of the enemy, after all the
fortifications had been destroyed and the arms and munitions of war
confiscated. It seemed a pity to leave these towns and villages after
having once taken them, but to garrison them properly would, according
to General Lawton's estimate, have taken thousands of soldiers.
With the taking of Santa Cruz, the Americans marched through all the
streets and by-ways, looking for lurking rebels and hidden arms, and
in this search a squad of infantry came upon Luke Striker, who had
propped himself up on the sacking in the warehouse and was making
himself as comfortable as possible.
"Hullo, sailor," cried the sergeant in charge of the squad. "Where did
you come from?"
[Illustration: "Hullo, sailor, where did you come from?"--_Page 82._]
Luke's story was quickly told, and he begged the soldier to look for
Larry, fearing that serious harm had befallen the lad. At once two
soldiers were detailed to care for the old Yankee, while the rest went
on a hunt which lasted far into the night.
As we know, nothing was seen of Larry; but from a wounded and dying
Filipino, the soldiers learned that the boy had been taken a prisoner,
and must now be many miles away from the city. News of this reached
Luke while he was in the temporary hospital opened up after the first
fight, and the information made the old fellow feel as bad as did his
wound.
"If they've captured him, he's a goner, I'm afraid," he said to Jack
Biddle, who had come in to help look after his messmate. "Poor Larry!
What will his brother Ben say, when he hears of it?"
"Better not tell him right away," suggested Biddle. "Give him a chance
to get strong fust. Besides, Larry may give 'em the slip. He's putty
cute, ye know."
The news soon spread that Larry and several others were missing, and a
description of the absent ones was given out. The next day one of the
missing soldiers was found dead in the jungle, but nothing was learned
of the others.
"It serves the young sailor right," growled Lieutenant Horitz. "He
knew too much for his own good." He had not forgotten the disaster on
the river, and secretly he wished Larry all manner of ill-luck.
During the rush through the woods the Lieutenant had tumbled and
struck his nose on a stone. That member was much swollen and cut in
consequence, and this put him in a worse humor than ever before.
By the time the expedition was to return to Manila, Luke was able to
walk around again, and he was put on one of the larger boats and Jack
Biddle was detailed to look after him. The return to Manila was made
without special incident, and two days later found Luke on board the
_Olympia_ among all his old friends.
But the Yankee tar was thoroughly out of sorts. "I wouldn't care for
the wound at all, if only I knew Larry was safe," he was wont to say a
dozen times a day. Barrow, Castleton, and all the boy's old friends
were likewise troubled because of his strange disappearance.
It was Jack Biddle who got shore leave and travelled up to Malolos to
break the news to Ben. He found the acting captain of Company D just
preparing to take his place in the command once more.
"I'm glad to see you lookin' well, leftenant," he said, after shaking
hands warmly. "Ye look almost as healthy as ye did on the voyage from
Brooklyn to Manila."
"And I feel almost as well," replied Ben. "The rest has done me a
world of good. But what brought you up, Jack? Did Larry come with
you?"
"No, Larry didn't come," stammered the old tar, and looked down at the
floor. "Fact is, leftenant, Larry--he--he couldn't come."
"Couldn't come? Why, what's the matter?" cried Ben, quickly. "Is he
sick?"
"I reckon not--leas'wise, I don't know. Fact is, leftenant, none on us
know. Ye see, he went upon thet Santa Cruz expedition--"
"Yes, yes, I know that. And what of it? Was he--was he--" Ben could
not utter the words which came to his mind.
"No, he wasn't shot, thet is, so far as we know. But he's--well, he's
missin', an' we can't find hide nor hair o' him anywhere. I might ez
well tell ye fust ez last, though it cuts my heart to do it,
leftenant." And Jack Biddle shook his head dubiously.
It was a great shock to Ben, yet he stood it better than the old tar
had expected. He asked immediately for details, and though he drank in
every word his manner showed that his thoughts were far away.
"I wish I had been along," he said bitterly. "If he wasn't killed, the
Filipinos must have carried him off a pretty good distance. I wonder
if General Lawton tried to find out anything under a flag of truce."
"Everything that could be done was done--I have Captain Gaston's word
on that," answered Jack Biddle. Captain Gaston and Ben were well known
to each other.
Ben sank down on a bench, and for several minutes said not a word, but
the tears stood in his eyes, tears which he hastily dried that nobody
might see them. Then Gilbert Pennington came in, to tell him that the
regiment was ordered to move within the hour.
"It's too bad!" declared the young Southerner. "But brace up, Ben,
'While there is life there is hope,' and it's a pretty sure thing that
he wasn't killed." And with this ray of comfort Ben had to be
content.
During the days that General Lawton had been in the vicinity of the
Laguna de Bay, the regiment to which Ben and Gilbert belonged had not
been idle. With a number of other troops they started for the town of
Santa Maria, where they came upon the enemy and dislodged them with
shells. The town, already in flames, was allowed to burn, and the
Americans pursued the rebels quite a distance into the mountains, but
failed to catch them.
In the meantime the camp of the Third Artillery, situated some
distance to the west of Malolos, was attacked. A fierce engagement in
the swamps took place, and in the end the rebels were driven northward
and began then to concentrate at Tarlac, which soon became one of
their new capitals--they shifting the seat of government as often as
it suited their convenience.
It was now felt by General Otis and others in command that no time
should be lost in an endeavor to round up the insurgents to the north
of Malolos, who were the main support of the rebellion, although
scattering bands were still operating to the south and southeast. The
rainy season was but a few weeks off, and once this set in military
operations would be much retarded, if not stopped altogether, for,
taken as a whole, the roads throughout the Island of Luzon are bad,
and heavy rains render them well-nigh impassable.
In order to make the campaign against the rebels as effective as
possible, General Otis decided to send out two columns, one under
General MacArthur to strike out for Calumpit, and the second, under
General Lawton, to take a route to the eastward, along the base of the
hills leading to San Isidro. By this it was hoped, if the rebels at
Calumpit were defeated and tried to take to the mountains, they would
fall directly into Lawton's hands, and not only have to surrender but
also give up all their war supplies.
It was in the furtherance of this plan that General Lawton left Manila
with his brigade and struck out for Novaliches which was gained after
a small skirmish at Tuliahan River. From here the column moved to
Norzagaray to await reenforcements which were coming in from Malolos
and vicinity. To these reenforcements belonged the command to which
Ben and Gilbert were attached.
It had begun to rain, and those who understood tropical weather
predicted that the wet season was at hand. Yet it was very hot, and
the water which fell arose in clouds of steam on the road, rendering
marching anything but comfortable.
"Sure, an' it makes a man feel as if he was takin' a stame bath, so it
does," remarked Dan Casey, as he swung along on the route step. "I
don't know as I iver see it rain hot wather before, bedad," he added,
as he wiped the perspiration from his sadly freckled face.
During the day's march, which was trying to everybody, Ben was silent,
wondering what had become of Larry and if he would ever again see his
younger brother. When the command went into camp under the shelter of
a grove of tall trees, both Gilbert and Major Morris visited his tent
to comfort him.
"He is not the only one who is missing," remarked the major of the
first battalion. "So far I understand the warships have lost about a
dozen men who went ashore and failed to return. And you know there are
six men missing from our own regiment."
"That is true, major," was the acting captain's answer. "But it's only
when it's a close relative that the blow really comes home to one, you
know."
"I suppose that is true, captain. But don't be disheartened. It may
be that your brother is already back at Manila."
"I can't see what the rebels would do with him as a prisoner," said
Gilbert. "They have to move around so lively that I can't see what
they want with prisoners anyway."
And so the talk ran on until it came time to retire. That night Ben
slept but little, and it was not the rain or the aching of his wound
that kept him awake either. He was bound to think of Larry constantly
until something was heard of the missing lad.