these people had formerly lived, and, consequently, but slow progress was made.
The navy, meanwhile, was not altogether idle. Rear-Admiral Watson was now in command, and his ships did what they could toward keeping the Filipinos along shore in submission. Occasionally a gunboat would steam up a river or along one of the lakes and aid the army in its movements. The ships were also sent to the other islands, and this gave Larry and Si a chance to visit Mindanao, the next largest island to Luzon, and also Panay, one of the smaller of the group.
During the time spent by Ben at Tarlac a number of the volunteers were mustered out of the service. Among this number were Gilbert Pennington and Major Morris and the two old soldier chums, Carl Stummer and Dan Casey. Gilbert and the major at once reënlisted in the regular army service, and not long after Stummer and Casey followed. On the day that Gilbert and the major signed the muster-roll a recommendation for advancement was sent in by their superior, and not long after this the major was appointed acting commander of the first battalion of the regiment he had joined, with a commission as captain. Gilbert
