CHAPTER XXX
LAST BATTLE WITH THE INSURGENTS—CONCLUSION
"We must find and rescue Walter, no matter at what cost."
Such were Ben Russell's words to his brother Larry, when the battalion set out from Manila, after only a two hours' rest at the capital. The young major had lost not a minute in bringing his men down from Tarlac, and he had made an address to them which had aroused them as never before.
"We'll follow you anywhere, Major Russell," said one of the oldest privates. "Just you show us what you want, that's all."
Larry had obtained permission to accompany his brother, and the two pushed on side by side. With the battalion went four native carts, piled high with stores, for there was no telling how long the command would be away from a base of supplies. General MacArthur had considered the enterprise somewhat foolhardy, and had warned Ben of the risk to be run.
"Be careful," had been his parting words, "Remember, we cannot afford to lose too many officers and men. You have a good record to your credit—do not spoil it;" and Ben had promised to advance with all caution. Yet he was ready to "stick his head into the lion's mouth," as the saying is, if only Walter could be rescued by the movement.
During the first two days on the road but little out of the ordinary happened. They passed through a dozen villages, some deserted and some occupied by American troops and friendly natives. The weather was hot and muggy and the greatest suffering was on account of the atmospheric conditions.
At their last stopping place, Vobaña, they heard that the regulars two miles to the westward had had a brush with the rebels two days before, in which half a dozen on each side were wounded. It was reported that the Filipinos had fled southward.
"We'll soon catch up to them," said the young major, and he was right. They came upon the rear guard of the Filipinos the next morning at ten o'clock, and a short engagement ensued during which three Tagals were wounded and one killed. The rest of the band left the highway and took to the mountains, and the major did not undertake to follow them.
Late that afternoon the battalion reached Neritas, to find part of the village in flames. The rebels had left the place two hours before, after a bitter quarrel with some of the inhabitants, who were inclined to accept American rule. The principal dwellings of the town had been ransacked and everything of value carted off. In justice to Aguinaldo it must be said that the Filipino Dictator, later on, disclaimed all knowledge of this looting, and insisted that it had been done by guerillas without authority from any one. The flames could not be extinguished easily, and one-third of Neritas was consumed before the fire died out.
The chief man in the town was a highly educated Tagal who had but recently been to Manila for instructions in civic government—according to American ideas. He greeted Ben warmly and said he would give the troops all the assistance in his power.
"The rebels were under the leadership of Captain Relosus, of the sharpshooters—" he began.
"Captain Relosus—my old enemy—the rascal who once tried to burn Manila!" burst out the young major. "I owe him a good deal."
"Yes, it was this same Relosus who aided in the Manila conspiracy. He is a very bad man—he robbed my house of a good deal."
"And who else were in the party?"
"A Spaniard named José Lupez, who came up from the lake to meet his brother, a fugitive from the capital."
"And did he meet his brother?"
"I believe he did. At least, I saw him with another Spaniard, and the two looked somewhat alike."
"It was undoubtedly Benedicto Lupez. Did the rebels have a prisoner with them, a young American sailor?"
"I saw no prisoners. We had a great dispute, which ended in a fight. Then our homes were robbed and set on fire, and the rascals departed in all haste on the road to Batangas."
"How many were there in the party?"
"About a hundred came first. Just before the others left, over a hundred more came up."
"And they marched on the highway?"
"Yes."
Ben said no more, but with all speed gathered his battalion together, and in a few minutes more the soldiers were on the highway in pursuit of the guerillas, for such these rebels must properly be called. The men were tired out, but Ben urged them on, and they were willing to do almost anything for him.
It was a clear starlit night, and the highway was a fairly good one, although here and there were marshy places. Ben kept at the head of his command, with Larry beside him, and scarcely a word was spoken. All felt that a time of importance was not far off.
The time came shortly after midnight. A turn of the road had brought them in sight of a guerilla camp, and scarcely was the place discovered when several rifle shots rang out, and two of the Americans fell back wounded.
"We are on them, boys!" shouted the young major. "Give it to them now! Make every shot tell!"
It is doubtful if his command was heard, for the Americans were already firing, pouring volley after volley into the guerillas, who had been taken by surprise. The enemy, however, occupied ground which was a trifle higher than the roadway, and this was to their advantage.
Ben and Larry were to the front in the attack, and both fired their weapons as often as did anybody. The light was uncertain, and it was largely a go-as-you-please encounter. The cracking of rifles was incessant, and presently hand-to-hand encounters became numerous.
Ben's eyes were wide open for a sight of José Lupez, and before long he saw both José and Benedicto sneaking behind some trees, in an endeavor to get out of the encounter entirely.
"See, there they go!" cried the young major. "They are trying to escape. Come, Larry!" And away he sped, with Larry at his side and a dozen from the ranks following. A number of shots whistled around the Americans, and Ben was grazed in the side. Then our friends let drive several times in rapid succession, and Benedicto Lupez was seen to pitch over on his side. He had been struck in the heart and was dead before the others reached him.
But José Lupez kept on, and now he was joined by several others, including Captain Relosus. The Filipino sharpshooter was aware that the fight was going against his side, and was willing to do anything to save himself from being shot down or captured.
"They are going to get away if they can!" exclaimed Larry, as the fleeing party turned toward a jungle, up a hillside. "We can never stir them out of that in this darkness."
"They must not escape, Larry," came from Ben. And he added in a whisper, "Remember poor Walter."
On they went with renewed energy, and now Captain Relosus came again into view. Turning, he fired point blank at Larry, and the young sailor received a bad nip in the forearm. Crack! went Ben's pistol, and the sharpshooter staggered but did not fall. He cried to his men to aid him, but nobody paid any attention. Several of the American soldiers ran to him, but he tried to wave them away.
"Mercy!" he screamed. "Mercy! I surrender!" Scarcely had the words passed his lips than a shot came from the jungle, striking directly through his neck. The bullet was fired by one of the captain's own followers, and was meant for an American soldier standing behind the rebel. The noted guerilla did not die on the spot, but breathed his last on the evening of the next day.
Finding they could not hide in the jungle, José Lupez, with only a handful of followers, took a semicircular course behind some rocks, re-crossed the road, and began to wade a deep stream running to the eastward. But the watercourse was a treacherous one, and in the very centre the Spaniard got stuck, and found it impossible to budge himself.
"Hi! help me!" he roared in Spanish, but nobody paid attention to him, and his voice soon guided Ben, Larry, and several privates to the spot. In the meantime, the other rebels continued to run and were soon out of hearing.
"Surrender!" cried Ben, as soon as he saw José Lupez. "Surrender, or we will kill you."
"I surrendor! I surrendor!" wailed the badly frightened Spaniard, and shaking in every limb he threw his pistols to the shore. He was told to follow, but soon convinced Ben that he was indeed stuck. Then a rope was procured, and he was hauled out of the river bed more dead than alive.
By this time the attack on the camp had come to an end, the rebels flying in all directions. All their stores and the things which they had stolen were left behind, and Ben's command took charge of everything. It was the last seen of the insurgents in that neighborhood for a long while to come.
When first questioned about Walter, José Lupez refused to say a word. But Ben was now in no humor for trifling, and he sternly told the Spaniard he must confess or it would be the worse for him, and at the same time drew his pistol. The sight of the weapon had the desired effect, and Lupez fell upon his knees, begging for mercy. "No shoot!" he cried in Spanish. "I will confess. I have not harmed your brother. He is at Canas, at the house of one Pedro Borillo. Go there, and you will find him safe."
"And where is the money you stole?"
"At Canas, too, in a tin box I left with Pedro Borillo."
This ended the talk, and early in the morning Ben and Larry, with a picked guard of thirty soldiers, hurried to the town of Canas, three miles distant. They found the place in a flutter, for the inhabitants had heard of the encounter on the road, and white flags were everywhere in evidence.
"I wish to visit the house of Pedro Borillo," said Ben, to the first natives he met, and they readily showed him to the place, a pretty cottage set in a wilderness of tropical flowers. Their coming filled a very old Filipino woman with great alarm. She could not speak English, nor even straight Spanish, and so they pushed their way into the cottage without stopping to talk to her. Inside, they saw an old man, doubled up with rheumatism, sitting on a bed in a corner. This was Pedro Borillo, and he was even more alarmed than the old woman had been.
"Yes! yes! José Lupez brought the young sailor here," he said in Spanish. "I know not why he did it. But he told me it was all right. I trust I have not done wrong. He said—"
A stamping on the floor overhead interrupted the man's speech, and seeing a ladder in the corner of the room, Ben ran for it. But Larry was ahead of him, and both scrambled up like mad.
"Walter!"
"Ben and Larry! I thought I recognized your voices. Thank God you have come!" And then Walter, thin, pale, and scarcely strong enough to stand upright, threw himself first into Ben's arms and then into Larry's. It was a moment of supreme joy and one long to be remembered.
"I was afraid I should never be rescued," said Walter, when he felt like talking. "And I was so miserable that more than once I almost wished I was dead. I have been in José Lupez's clutches ever since I was caught in the mountains by him and his guard. I tried to escape a dozen times, but they watched me too closely."
Walter's hands were tied behind him, and he was also tied to a ring in the floor by a rope passed around his left ankle. He said, however, that the Borillos had treated him quite fairly, much better than had the soldiers under Lupez.
Taking their brother below, Ben and Larry saw to it that he was given every attention which he needed, and then the young major asked about the tin box Lupez had mentioned. Not daring to keep it, Pedro Borillo brought it up from a hole under the cottage floor, and it was found to contain thirty-five thousand dollars in American and Spanish money, besides a number of private papers belonging to José Lupez.
"For once the rascal spoke the truth," said Larry.
"Because I scared it out of him," answered Ben, with a short laugh. He was more light-hearted than he had been since coming to the Philippines.
The soldiers rested at Canas for twenty-four hours and then marched to join the rest of the battalion. A native cart was called into service for Walter, and in this he was taken to Negritas, where the battalion rested for a week. When the command got back to Manila, Walter was taken to the hospital for rest, while José Lupez and several other prisoners were put where they deserved to be—behind the bars. The money which had been recovered was placed in the hands of the authorities, for safe keeping until called for by the officers of the Hearthstone Saving Institution of Buffalo.
It was a happy little gathering at the hospital on the following Sunday evening,—Walter in an easychair, with Ben on one side of him and Larry on the other, and each holding a hand of the invalid.
"I can tell you, it's mighty good to be together once more," said Larry. "I must say, I trust we are never to be separated again."
At this Walter smiled faintly. "You forget, I haven't done anything out here yet for Uncle Sam."
"And I don't think you'll be called on to do anything," put in Ben. "This war is practically over, and unless something new turns up, I'm going home when my time runs out."
"And I'm going home, too," added Larry. And then, giving Walter's hand a tight squeeze, he added: "You must go with us, Walter. For the present I think the Russell brothers have done enough for the honor of Old Glory."
A few words more, and we shall bring to a close this tale of war adventure in the Philippines.
As Ben said, the war was now practically over. According to General MacArthur's report, the insurgents were badly scattered in all directions, while the larger portion of their leaders were either under arrest or had become friendly to the United States. At Manila and other large cities business was picking up rapidly, and the American authorities were doing all in their power to restore order, open up the courts and schools, and bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion. The fighting still in progress belonged merely to a sort of guerilla warfare which was likely to continue, especially in mountainous territories, for years.
Ben's successful expedition to Negritas and Canas won for him additional praise from his superiors, and it was whispered about that he would soon be listed for a colonelcy. But this was a distinction he did not desire, and he frankly said so. "I am done with the army—at least for the present," he told his friends. "All I wish is my honorable discharge when my time is up." And this he obtained without trouble, although everybody, from the general down, was sorry to have him leave.
"We'll never fill your place, Major Russell," said Colonel Darcy. "And if you ever think of coming back, remember we'll welcome you with open arms."
Larry had still some months to serve in the navy, the most of which time he put in on the Charleston, in company with Si Doring, Luke Striker, and several of his other friends. Larry and Si had already become great chums, and when Walter joined them, the three, along with faithful old Luke, became all but inseparable.
The two final months of Ben's term in the army were spent in and around Manila, and during that time several things of more or less importance happened. José Lupez was tried by the local authorities and sentenced to several years in prison on various charges. Barnabas Moval was also tried for his misdeeds, but while awaiting sentence he endeavored to escape from jail and was mortally shot by a guard. The friar, Ponprè, was held for many months. He had influential friends, especially in the Philippine church, and through them obtained his release, under promise to leave Luzon forever.
The trial of Barnabas Moval brought Inez Garabella to Manila. She was still very grateful to Ben for what the young major had done for her, and said her care of Walter during the young sailor's sickness did not repay her debt to him. Before she went away she presented the young major with an elegant diamond scarfpin, which Ben wears to this day and of which he is properly proud. She said that as soon as the war was at an end she intended to open up the mines left by her father, forming a stock company, after American ideas. "And I shall present all of you Russells with shares," she concluded.
Although kept fairly busy, Ben did not forget poor Lieutenant Gilmore, and frequently visited the officer, who was in a hospital at Corregidor Island—a place set apart especially for convalescents. Gilmore was doing as well as could be expected, and he went back to the regiment on the day that the young major left the service. He is now captain of Company D, and with him are several others of our old friends, who had been wounded but who recovered sooner or later.
During those days spent in the capital of Luzon, Ben received letters from Gilbert and Major Morris, which pleased him greatly. The American troops had joined what was called the International Army, or Allies, and after many fights with the Boxers and rebellious Chinese government soldiers, had forced their way to Pekin, rescued the Americans and others who were in peril there, and brought the Chinese to treat for peace. "I don't know how long we are to remain here," wrote Gilbert. "But as long as we do stay you can rest assured we'll see to it that Old Glory is properly respected." He added that his own personal affairs were going along swimmingly, and that he was tremendously glad to hear that Walter had been rescued.
It was not long after this that a letter came from Job Dowling, who had read in the newspapers of the rescue of Walter and the capture of José Lupez. The old man was overjoyed to think his nephew safe and equally joyful that the most of the bank money had been recovered. "When I read the news I thought I was dreaming," so his communication ran. "I bought four papers to get the news straight. It seems most too good to be true. The bank folks say they can now get together and pay all depositors in full, so you boys are sure of close on to twenty thousand dollars, besides the thousand Ben gets for capturing Braxton Bogg. All the town is talking about your doings, and you'll get a right royal sendoff when you return—and I'm a-going to be at the head of the procession, too, and give you such a welcome as you never dreamed on. You are a credit to your country, and your uncle is proud of you."
"Hurrah for Uncle Job!" cried Larry, when he read the letter. "He isn't the crabbed old stick he used to be, but just the dearest old fellow ever was!" And Walter and Ben agreed with him. After such a letter their united home-going was something to look forward to with fresh pleasure.
And here let us shake each of the Russell boys by the hand and bid them all good-by. It may be that the future still holds additional adventures for them, yet it is doubtful if any will be more thrilling than those which they experienced, both in Cuba and in the Philippines, while fighting for the honor of Old Glory.