Part 7 (1/2)
Anised immediately as one of his captors of two days previous, and while he was looking over the bodies for the otherface doard in the road He alht be dead, and when one of the men hurried up to him he told him who the man was The colonel was soon on hand, and it was found that the brave spy was not seriously wounded, and would recover soon under proper treatent wounded were cared for, it was discovered that the two companies sent out to reconnoitre had also suffered losses, and when theythe line of their retreat no less than five dead and about twenty wounded were found This sad news threw a glooiment, and when they started back to Manila theyover their victory, which had proved so costly
Poor Archie, when they started to ust, that he was so weak he couldn't walk far, and he thought this ry with hieon examined him and announced that he had a bullet in his ar sensation at one ti of it Now his disgust was turned to great delight, for the idea of being wounded in battle was glorious to his ent,” he told the surgeon, ”for I discharged every barrel of my revolver” The wound was not at all serious, but he was told to be quiet for a few days He was given one of the rebel horses to ride back to Manila, and he felt like a real hero in many ways
CHAPTER XIX
RETURN TO MANILA--IN THE HOSPITAL--CONGRATULATED BY ALL--WRITING TO THE PAPER OF HIS EXPERIENCES
IT took the regier to march back to Manila than it had taken it to follow the rebels, for the wounded of both sides had to be carried, and the arrange them were very imperfect
Fortunately, most of them were able to ride horses, and the officers were successful in securing wagons enough to carry most of the others, but there were about a dozen who could neither ride horses or lie in wagons, but had to be carried on stretchers all the tilad enough when they reached the toith the three-story building Here they found things very much as they had left them, two days before, save that the inhabitants were more abject than ever to them, now that they had captured most of the rebel force
It wasn't an easy matter to find quarters for so ed to caht, while the wounded and ill were given beds in the various houses of the town
The inhabitants were required to furnish food, too, for the A They still had some hardtack, but of meat and coffee there was none The people of the town pretended to be very glad to serve their ”masters,” but every one knew that the natives would be only too glad of a chance to cut the throat of every Yankee soldier
The officers again occupied the old building which they had used during their former stay, and Archie was invited to share it with them, for they expected to rest in this town over the next day, before proceeding to Manila Theand repairing, and the colonel was anxious for them all to appear as well as possible when they returned victorious to the island capital So the next day was spent in cleaning and washi+ng, and by evening most of the soldiers looked as if they had never left Manila Then caiment of ireat cheer when they learned that ht was spent in a celebration of the great event A band was scraped up in the town, the great hall of the ad andAll the belles of the town turned out to welcome the soldiers, hypocrites that they were, and they danced with their enemies as readily as they would waltz with their own dear Filipinos Every one seeood tiet three hours' sleep before starting for Manila in the iments, with the prisoners,They ht equipht, and then abonds, but the soldiers didn't mind their curses They were all very happy at the prospect of getting back to Manila again, and no one was lad than Archie He had somewhat recovered from his wound now, and rode in his old place at the head of the column, where he was the centre of interest to every one Theproved such an excellent hed and talked with them until he was tired
The outskirts of the city were reached about five in the afternoon, and as they h the streets to headquarters a band ofpopular and patriotic airs The sidewalks were croith people, and Archie felt happier than for a long time, because every one was curious to knoho that boy could be riding at the head of the troops, alongside the colonel He was known to most of the other troops in Manila, and received , and when they finally reached the general's headquarters, he was honoured with a handshake and the congratulations of the commander himself This was the climax to a very happy day, and Archie went to bed in his little old bunk feeling that he was a very lucky boy for having been wounded in battle
Of course the next few days were very busy ones for all the ed to tell, over and over, the story of his experiences, and how he had ed to escape from the rebels when they had hihter, and increased their already strong contempt for the Filipino arentle of visitors, who shook his hand and told him how proud they were of what he had accomplished And all the poor hero could do was to smile feebly, for he was still too ill to talk much
Archie felt that he had almost volumes to write about his experiences in battle, and he did send a very long account of this encounter to Mr Van Bunting It ritten in his boyish way, but one of the officers who read it said that it was the best thing of its kind he had ever read, so he wasn't at all backward aboutit All the other newspaper correspondents in Manila ishi+ng they had gone with the regiment and witnessed the battle, but they had stayed in Manila, thinking that this would be like the other expeditions of the kind, aat all They were all very anxious to get the details of the affair fro of value And the other correspondent of the Enterprise in Manila insisted that Archie should send a cablethe affair, as well as a written account, and this he finally consented to do The correspondent added a long account of Archie's personal bravery, how he had been wounded, and how he had ridden back to Manila at the head of the column Archie would have been very much embarrassed had he known this, for he was stillhe knew of it was fro, congratulating hi hi since more than earned his six hundred dollars But for weeks he was ignorant that any one in New York knew of his being wounded
The days now began to pass as before in the ca slowly, but he was hardly able to use that member for a month or six weeks Bill Hickson did not fare so well He lay for weeks on his cot in the hospital building, and was hardly strong enough, for awhile, to talk He was iht be two months before he was able to walk about and take his forents This enforced quiet was very trying to the braveof various things he had learned at school and elsewhere This constant cothen their already close friendshi+p, and it was soon known a all the troops that Bill Hickson and the boy reporter were inseparable And every one who knew the story of their experiences looked upon them as the two chief heroes of the war so far, because as yet there had been few feats of bravery in the desultory caainst the rebels
General Funston had swum the river, of course, but many held that not even that feat co as a spy under Aguinaldo's very nose The more people heard about his experiences, the ht him to be, until at last he was by far the most popularletters to Mr Van Bunting, telling of the adventures of the brave spy, and one day he received a cablegra him to send at least one of these letters by every stea about him So for some time Archie wrote about Bill Hickson rather than about hilad of the opportunity to do so He knew that if a letter were published every week or two in the Enterprise Bill Hickson would soon be fa he was very anxious to accoreat for such a eneral decided, about this tients It was now theof the new year he wanted to inaugurate a series of attacks against the to feel the criticisms of the papers at home, and of the newspapermust be done i Every one, as soon as this announcement was made, wondered what plan would be pursued to worry the rebels into subreed that the Americans would hardly be able to capture the whole rebel army It was too evident that they were fa-places in the islands The only thing to do see supplies, and to drive the that they would becoed in the end and sub had consisted chiefly of such expeditions as that accompanied by Archie, andeven seen a rebel soldier It was not surprising, then, that the general was becoed, and that he was anxious to try a new policy
No one knehat the new plan would be until one day several cruisers and gunboats made their appearance in the harbour There had been no war-shi+ps at Manila for several weeks, and every one was surprised that so many should arrive at once There were ru that japan had decided to interfere, but all these were set at naught when the general announced that the war-shi+ps were to be sent around the islands to boes, and to drive the rebel troops to the interior of the islands, where it would be hard for them to receive supplies
This news made Archie very happy, and a plan at once occurred to him
Why shouldn't he and Bill Hickson be allowed aboard a cruiser? It would be the best thing possible for their health, and he set about getting the necessary permit from the admiral
Bill Hickson was able to be about now, and he was overjoyed when Archie said he thought they could arrange to go ”I'd like nothing better than a voyage in the good salt air I believe it will do ood than aletter fro-shi+p in the harbour He had no difficulty in seeing the admiral, and found him to be a very pleasant man to talk with He read the letter carefully, and then shook Archie cordially by the hand ”Yes,” he said, ”I've heard of you, and of your friend, too Every one in Hong Kong kno you two together bearded old Aguinaldo in his den, and robbed hiood to read about it in the New York papers, too, and to know that you are both getting your just measure of credit for the achievement”
Archie blushed, and assured the ad to Bill Hickson's bravery ”Oh, yes, I know,”
laughed the adive you the credit I've seen your kind before But I like you all the better for your modesty, lad Of course you and your friend can have a berth aboard shi+p, and aboard the flag-shi+p, too, where I can see you both very often You can co as you like”
Archie could hardly thank the good officer for his kindness, and hurried back to Manila He found Bill Hickson waiting for hiood news