CHAPTER XXVI
CHASING AGUINALDO INTO THE MOUNTAINS
The friar was a short, stocky man, with a rough, ruddy face and a pair of fishy blue eyes. He was attired in the regular garb of the order, but his clothes were of a much finer cloth than those worn by the fellow caught in the old church at Magalang.
On seeing himself thus suddenly confronted by the young captain, he started back, and his face changed color. He had heard of Ben before, and knew he was the party who had assisted Inez Garabella and helped to make Barnabas Moval a prisoner.
"Ah—you—" he stammered in Spanish.
"You are Friar Ponprè, I believe," said Ben, in English.
"Yees," was the uncomfortable answer.
"I wish to talk to you, sir. "Will you kindly step out here?"
"What ees eet dat you wanta of me?" said the friar, as he came out on the veranda.
"You come from a town called Biloguana, I believe."
The friar nodded.
"You were well acquainted with a rich man named Garabella."
Again the friar nodded.
"You plotted with a man named Moval to have this Garabella kidnapped and sent to Borneo."
"No! no! dat ees nota so, capitan. Moval plot—I do noddings!"
"But Inez Garabella says you were in the plot."
"She ees—a—mistaken."
"And Moval has admitted that he had dealings with you," went on the young captain.
The shot told, and the face of the friar grew dark and full of passion.
"Ha! he has told somet'ings, eh? He ees a snake in de grass, Moval! Bah! I was a fool—" He broke off short. "I know noddings, capitan." And he crossed himself.
"You do know something, Alfredo Ponprè; you know everything. You have that will—"
"No! no!" And now the friar made a sudden clutch for his breast, which movement did not escape Ben or the major. "Dare ees some mistake—"
"Make him a prisoner, captain," broke in Major Morris. "I'm dead sure we have the right man, and sure he has that will in his breast pocket."
At this the friar turned from red to white and staggered back. Stepping to Señor Rousana, he began to speak rapidly in Spanish, but the Americans cut him short.
"You must submit," said the major, and tapped his pistol significantly. "Captain Russell, you may search him."
At once the friar began to expostulate, and his friend, Señor Rousana, took an active part. But the major soon made the rich Filipino become silent, by threatening to arrest him also. Then Ponprè was searched, and from a breast pocket was taken a packet of legal-looking documents, which included one in an envelope bearing the inscription in Spanish: "Last Will and Testament of Andres Enrique Garabella."
"This is the document which was stolen," said Ben. He faced the friar sternly. "You have gotten yourself in much trouble, and will have to come with me."
"Where to?"
"I shall send you to Manila—to keep company with Barnabas Moval."
"And da will?"
"Shall be sent to whom it belongs, Inez Garabella."
Here Senor Rousana tried to interfere again, and it looked as if there would be a long, wordy war, when Major Morris cut the matter short by asking the Filipino to go along with them.
"I shall not stir," growled Señor Rousana, and ran into the house before either the major or the captain could stop him.
"He's scared," laughed Ben.
"Do you want him particularly?"
"No."
"Then let us go."
The friar hated to stir, but one look into the determined faces of the Americans told him how useless resistance would be, and muttering under his breath, he walked with them, out of the grounds and to where the battalion was resting.
As Desdenas had offered no resistance, and as no Filipino soldiers were in sight, the battalion marched back to the main body of MacArthur's column, and here the friar was turned over to the guard. Ben went to report to the general, who listened with interest to what the young officer had to say.
"I will have the prisoner sent to Manila," said General MacArthur.
"And what shall I do with the will?" asked Ben.
"You cannot return it to this Inez Garabella at present, for all communications with the rebels have been broken off. If you wish, I will send it to General Otis for safe keeping." And this was, later on, done.
The next two weeks brought hard and continuous work to Ben and the others attached to General MacArthur's column. It was decided by all the military leaders not only to get General Aguinaldo and his followers on the run, but to keep them running until practically exhausted, and consequently our soldiers were more or less on the go all the time. Following the taking of Malabacat by MacArthur, came a movement by Lawton in the direction of the Agno River, his cavalry taking the towns of Bongabong and Aliaga on the way. Lawton now commanded many of the mountain passes, and when MacArthur's column entered the Filipino capital at Tarlac, only to find it abandoned, Lawton captured a large number of bolomen, who were carrying Aguinaldo's baggage over the mountains, and also made prisoners of the Filipino President's private secretary and several of the staff officers. But what had become of Aguinaldo himself nobody could, or would, tell.
"He isn't going to allow himself to be captured," said Ben, after a hard day's fighting beyond Tarlac. "He's the slickest fellow to get away I ever heard of."
From Tarlac, the main body of MacArthur's column advanced along the railroad to Capas, only to find the rebels fleeing before them in all directions. The soldiers were allowed but little rest, and a few days later passed on through Gerona to Dagupan, the end of the railroad line. The railroad from end to end was now in the hands of the Americans, and transportation went on without further molestation.
In the meantime General Wheaton's expedition to Lingayen Gulf had been highly successful. His sailing from Manila had been kept a secret from all Filipino spies, who thought his soldiers were going to some of the other islands. The landing at San Fabian beach was accomplished without mishap, and the handful of insurgents near by quickly ran for shelter. The town was a mile off, and the march was through a swamp and over a rickety bridge, where the Americans received a first real volley from the enemy. But the insurgents would not stand for a battle at close range, and that night our troops occupied San Fabian without further resistance.
As but little was known of this section of Luzon, the command under General Wheaton had, necessarily, to move with caution, and on the second and third days after landing, scouting parties were sent forth in various directions. One of these parties moved toward San Jacinto, and had hardly gotten fairly started on the road when the Filipinos opened fire, killing six men in the front rank. A terrific battle, lasting well into the night, followed, the Filipino sharpshooters doing frightful execution, and bringing down, among numerous others, Major John A. Logan, one of the best beloved of the officers of the 33d United States Volunteer Infantry.
It was now learned that Aguinaldo was just beyond San Jacinto with the remnant of his army, and General Wheaton's column tried to push on faster than ever, toward the mountains on the north. But the passes were held by the very best of the Tagalog sharpshooters, and it is said that they had orders never to give up. San Jacinto was taken by the Americans, and then it was rumored that the town was to be surrounded, and General Wheaton prepared for an attack on a large scale. But this never materialized, and the flight of the Filipino President—he now proclaimed himself Dictator—continued. On the 20th of November some of Wheaton's soldiers reached Dagupan, where they were joined by General MacArthur's column. Three days later MacArthur returned to Tarlac, where his command went into temporary camp.
It was not known till some days later how near the American troops had been to capturing Aguinaldo and his body-guard, nearly two thousand strong. Aguinaldo was making his way close to Lingayen Gulf when Wheaton landed there, and in his flight he came near falling into the hands of two of General Lawton's detachments—Swiger's and Young's cavalry. But he took directly to the mountains, throwing away all his superfluous baggage, and burying an amount of cash said to have been equal to seventy-five thousand dollars of our money. The darkness of night favored him, and for two days afterward it rained heavily, so that pursuit was much retarded. On several occasions his rear-guard was brought into action, and some of his carts and his native carriers were captured. One of the cart-drivers thus taken revealed the fact that the treasure had been buried and located the spot. In this mad flight, Aguinaldo's aged mother and one of his children became separated from the balance of the party, and the child, aged four, was found and cared for by Wheaton's troops. Later on, the mother was also found, and placed in a convent for safe keeping until she could be taken to friends in Manila. In the meantime the youngest of Aguinaldo's children had died during the excitement and was hastily buried at Bayambang. Even though an enemy, General Aguinaldo, in his personal loss, received the warm sympathy of all the Americans.
In a work of this sort, written mainly to depict the life and adventures of our soldiers and sailors in the Philippines, it is manifestly impossible to go into the details of all the movements made to subdue the insurgents and to capture Aguinaldo and the other leaders. During the days to follow the occupation of Dagupan and other points in the north, in December, numerous expeditions were sent out to round up the badly scattered bands of the enemy. Some of these expeditions were highly successful, and many prisoners were taken and thousands of rounds of ammunition, stores, baggage, and artillery confiscated. From one point the Filipino leader fled to another, each time losing a portion of his following. Many of the private records of the enemy's organization fell into the hands of the Americans, but some of these were afterward stolen, it was said by Tagalog spies. Not alone was the country searched for miles, and put under submission, but Subig Bay and other portions of the coast were garrisoned and the natives given to understand that they must offer no shelter or assistance to the rebels. Even the town of Laoag, in the extreme northwest, was visited by some American troops under Young, and here, after a short fight, the rebels were put to flight, and nearly two thousand Spanish prisoners—who had been held there ever since the war between the Spaniards and the Tagals—were released. These prisoners had, of course, heard all about the war between Spain and the United States, yet they readily hailed Uncle Sam's soldiers as their deliverers.