SOMETHING ABOUT A POISONED WELL
After the rest at Angat, the taking of San Rafael by General Lawton's
troops was an easy matter, and on May 1--the anniversary of Admiral
Dewey's great victory in Manila Bay--the soldiers set out for the town
of Baliuag, five miles to the northward.
In spite of the recent rain, the road was hard and even dusty in
spots. The heat was still as great as ever, and Ben was glad to take
the benefit of any shade that afforded itself as he marched along at
the head of his command. The date made him think of the battle just
mentioned, and this brought him around to Larry once more, and he
began to wonder if his brother would ever turn up again.
"I suppose I'll have to write to Walter and to Uncle Job about this,"
he muttered dismally. "But I hate to do it, especially if Larry does
turn up, for I know it will worry both of them greatly."
The road was thick with palms and plantains and trailing plants, the
latter of gorgeous colorings. Nipa huts and bamboo cottages were
numerous, but the inmates kept themselves well hidden as the little
army passed by. In the distance were paddy-fields and cane-brakes, and
along the road were numerous mud-holes, some of which had to be
bridged over before the artillery could pass in safety. More than once
horses and cannon got stuck, and many a shoulder had to be put to the
pieces to budge them.
"If there was no war, this would be a delightful spot in which to
spend a vacation," remarked Gilbert, who had come up for a little
talk, as was his habit when they were pushing ahead in irregular
formation. "I reckon the natives take solid comfort in their homes."
"I suppose it puts you in mind of the South at home," returned Ben,
with a smile, "It is nice, certainly. But I fancy this continual heat
would make one mighty lazy in time."
"Well, the natives are lazy, you can easily see that," laughed the
young Southerner. "I wish I could get a good drink of water," he
added, a minute later.
They soon came to a pretty dwelling, set in a perfect wilderness of
flowers and shrubs. Toward the side they made out a well, and ran
forward to fill their canteens.
The pair were at the well when a shrill cry from one of the side rooms
of the house attracted their attention. Looking up, they saw a native
girl waving her hand frantically at them. The girl was nicely dressed
and evidently belonged to the better classes.
"We only want a drink!" shouted Ben, thinking that the maiden might
imagine they had come into the garden to steal.
But the girl shouted more loudly than ever, and waved them away from
the well. "Bad! bad!" she cried.
"Oh, no, we are not so bad as you think," Gilbert shouted back; and
was about to take a drink from a cocoanut-shell dipper which hung
handy, when the girl came out of the cottage on a run and dashed the
dipper to the ground. At the same time an evil-looking Filipino
appeared at the doorway, shook his fist at the girl, and then suddenly
ran for the barns behind the dwelling and disappeared.
"I want a drink and I'm going to have it," began Gilbert, sternly, for
he did not like the manner in which the water had been spilt over his
clothing. "If you--"
"The well is poisoned; don't drink, it will kill you!" gasped the
girl, in Spanish.
[Illustration: "The well is poisoned! don't drink! it will kill
you!"--_Page 115._]
As old readers know, Gilbert understood a little of the language,
having picked it up while on a trip to Cuba, and also while serving as
a Rough Rider in that island. He started back and caught the maiden by
the arm.
"Poisoned! you are certain?" he cried.
"Yes, senor; my uncle put the poison in only yesterday. He lost much
at Angat, and he is very angry at the _Americanos_ in consequence. He
knew the soldiers were coming this way, and he wanted to poison as
many as he could. He put a water-barrel down on the road full of the
poisoned water, too."
"Who is your uncle, the man who just ran off?"
"Yes, senor. But, oh, do not go after him, I pray you!" cried the
girl, in high alarm. "I would not have spoken, but I could not see you
poisoned before my very eyes; no, not that!"
As quickly as he could, Gilbert translated her words to Ben, who
listened in amazement.
"The villain!" ejaculated the young captain. "I've heard of this sort
of thing being done before. I wonder where that barrel is that she
spoke about? We must find it and empty it of its contents."
Gilbert put the question to the girl, who announced that the barrel
was on another road back of the plantation. Whether any of the
soldiers had reached it or not was a question.
As quickly as he could Ben reported the situation to his superior, and
received orders to divide his company, leaving a part to guard the
poisoned well so that no Americans might drink from it, while the rest
should go and hunt up the water-barrel. Gilbert was detailed to
accompany Ben, and the girl was given to understand that she must take
the soldiers to where the barrel had been set up.
At first the maiden demurred; but there was no help for it, and the
kind smiles which Gilbert and Ben gave her were an assurance that no
harm was about to befall her. Yet she was afraid that when the
reckoning came her uncle would deal harshly with her, and trembled
violently as she moved through the rice-fields with the two young
officers beside her.
The little command had nearly reached the back road when the report of
a gun rang out, coming from the direction of a wood behind the
rice-fields. The bullet sped past Ben's shoulder, to bury itself in
the fleshy part of one of his private's arms.
"'Tis my uncle!" cried the girl. "Oh, he will kill us all, I am sure
of it!" And she became so agitated that she sank down and could not go
another step.
Without hesitation, Ben ordered his men forward on the run, and away
went the detachment for the spot from whence the unexpected shot had
come. As the soldiers neared the wood they beheld a Filipino in the
act of running across a small opening.
"That's him, the rascal!" roared Dan Casey, and taking a hasty aim he
fired, and the rebel was seen to plunge forward on his face. When the
party came up they found that the man had been hit in the hip, and
that the wound, while not necessarily dangerous, was serious, and
would put the fellow out of the contest for several months.
"It serves him right," said Ben. "Poisoning drinking water is not fair
fighting."
The girl soon came up, crying bitterly. She wished to remain by her
uncle, but Ben made her understand that she must point out the
water-barrel first, and after that he would have two soldiers remove
the wounded man to the cottage.
Ten minutes later the rear road was gained, and here the water-barrel
was found, set up on end, with the top knocked out. It was
three-quarters full of water, and a dozen or more soldiers were
drinking and filling their canteens.
"Stop drinking!" ordered Ben, when still at a distance. "That water
has been doctored and will make you sick." He refrained from saying
the water was poisoned for fear of creating a panic.
The water was at once poured out on the ground and the barrel smashed
up. Then a surgeon was found, to whom Ben related the facts of the
case. A canteen of the water was examined, and the surgeon decided to
give the man who had drunk the stuff an emetic. A few of the soldiers
were taken with cramps inside of an hour afterward, and two of them
were seriously sick for a week; but no lives were lost. But if the
soldiers could have got at the Filipino who had poisoned the water,
they would have shot him on the spot.
As soon as the danger was over, Ben returned to the wood, and had two
men carry the wounded man back to the cottage, where he was left in
charge of his wife and his niece. Through Gilbert it was learned that
the wife had also remonstrated against using the poison, so it was
fair to suppose that the aunt would protect her niece to a certain
degree. "But she'll have a hard time of it for doing us a service,
I'm afraid," said the young Southerner, as he and Ben resumed the
march.
The scouts, under Chief Young, were in advance, and now a steady
firing from the front told that another battle was at hand. Soon
General Lawton came dashing through the crowd on the road, followed by
his staff.
"Forward, boys!" was the cry, and then Ben's command left the road and
took to the rice-fields on the outskirts of Baliuag. The line was a
long one, with the Oregon and Minnesota soldiers forming the
skirmishing end, and Scott's battery in a paddy-field on the extreme
right. So far the insurgents had kept well hidden; but as the
Americans drew closer to the town they could be seen running in half a
dozen directions, as if undecided whether to fight or to flee.
The townspeople themselves were in a panic, and down the streets ran
Filipinos and Chinese, some with their household effects piled high on
their backs. They had heard of the coming of the _Americanos_, but had
hoped almost against hope that their beloved town would be passed by
unmolested.
Ben's regiment was moving along rapidly when they came to a ditch
which seemed to divide the rice-field in half. A short pause followed,
when along came the cry of "Down!" and every man dropped, and none too
soon, for the insurgents had opened up unexpectedly from a cane-brake
behind the rice-field.
"We must take that cane-brake," came the order from the colonel, and
the word was passed along quickly, and away went the companies with a
ringing cheer, firing as they ran, and reloading with all possible
speed.
Ben was now truly in his element, and, waving his sword, he urged
Company D well to the front, so that the cane was soon reached. But
the rebels were not game for a hand-to-hand encounter and fled once
more, through the cane and over a field of heavy grass leading to the
very outskirts of the town beyond.
"They are running away!" was the cry. "On we go, boys, and the town
will be ours in less than half an hour."
But now a halt was ordered, on the edge of the cane-brake. From the
outskirts of the town appeared a Filipino waving a white rag over his
head.
"Flag of truce!" cried the American general. "Cease firing!" And the
order was instantly obeyed. "Major Morris, you can select a detail of
three men and find out what they want."
"I will, general," answered the major of the first battalion, and
saluted. He had soon chosen his men, one of whom was Gilbert
Pennington, and, waving a white flag before them, the party of four
advanced into the open field.