Under MacArthur in Luzon - Stratemeyer Edward

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did they do to my brothers in arms? Sixteen were made prisoners, while forty-six wounded Tagals were shot or stabbed in the back. Ha! do not deny it, for it is true, true! And when Angat was taken, during the march on San Isidro, what happened then? Six innocent natives were slain, including a mother and her child. Your soldiers said it was an accident. Bah! Perhaps it will be an accident if you are some day shot in the back while you are a prisoner among us. You say we are butchers—that the Spaniards were butchers here and in Cuba! Your soldiers are just as bad, and some of your wild men from your Western states are worse! No, no, do not deny it, for I have seen these things with my own eyes." The Filipino shook his fists in Ben's face. "Perhaps you are not like some of them, but oh, when I remember what I have seen it makes my blood boil, and I would go out and kill, kill, kill, every Americano!"

      The passionate outburst lasted for several minutes, ​and toward the end Captain Relosus spoke so rapidly, and in Spanish, that Ben understood only a small portion of what was said. At last the rebel turned on him sharply. "You will not speak? Very well, but the consequences will be on your own head. Do not forget that I gave you fair warning." With this he turned to the door and went out.

      It must be confessed that the young captain was greatly downcast, nor did his spirits improve when two Filipinos came in with a rope and bound his hands behind him. Then he was forced into a sitting position on the wet flooring of the hut and tied fast to one of the corner posts. This work was just completed when several shots were heard, coming from a distance, and the rebels ran outside to learn what they meant.

      Left to himself, Ben wondered what would happen next. He knew that the American forces at the waterworks intended to move before nightfall, but would they come in that direction, or strike out to the southeastward? The shots worried him also, for he could not help but connect them with the possible fate of poor Gilmore.

      An hour went by, and the rain came down more furiously than ever, causing a pool of water to collect ​near the door of the nipa hut, the flooring of which was nothing but smooth mud. Nobody came near him, and he was half inclined to believe that something unusual had turned up and caused the rebels to retreat, leaving him deserted.

      At last there was the sound of a caribao cart approaching, the caribaos splashing dismally through the mud and water of the trail. The cart halted close beside the nipa hut, and from under a rubber covering crawled a tall Spaniard wearing the uniform of a Filipino general. The Spaniard was followed by a short and exceedingly stout Tagal boy, carrying some luggage and a brace of old-fashioned army pistols.

      "This is the spot, Carlos?" demanded the Spanish officer, of the cart driver.

      "The same, general."

      "But I see nobody around."

      "They were all here last night, general. I saw them with my own eyes."

      "Then I will go in and wait. If you see Captain Relosus or any of the others, send them to me at once."

      "I will, general."

      "Tell them I bring news of great importance," concluded the Spaniard, and then he stepped into the ​hut, shaking the water from his feathered hat as he did so.

      The gloom outside made the interior of the hut, which boasted of but one window, quite dark, and for several minutes the Spaniard did not discover Ben's presence. He stood near the doorway and ordered the Tagal boy to bring in his luggage and pistols, and told the youth to hunt up something to eat if he could.

      "I will do my best, General Lupez," answered the boy, and ran away to one of the sheds close to which a camp-fire had been burning.

      At the mention of the name Ben's heart gave a bound of curiosity. General Lupez! Could this be the man, José Lupez, who had run away with the fifty thousand dollars, obtained from Benedicto Lupez, which belonged to the Hearthstone Saving Institution?

      ​

      CHAPTER V

      THE TAKING OF CAINTA AND TAYTAY

       Table of Contents

       "Ha, a prisoner! Why did you not speak, man?"

      "I didn't know that it was my place to speak," answered Ben, coldly. "I hadn't anything to say."

      "You are an Americano capitan? A good haul, truly."

      "And you are a Filipino general? "

      "Yes."

      "Am I addressing General José Lupez? " went on the young captain, curiously.

      "You are." The Spaniard stared at Ben. "Where have we met before? I remember it not."

      "I don't believe we ever met, General Lupez. But I have often heard of you, and I have seen your photograph."

      "I see. And what is your name?"

      The young captain hesitated. Should he reveal himself? Probably it would do no harm, unless ​General Lupez should hold him responsible for Benedicto's capture. But would it do any good?

      "I prefer to keep my name to myself, sir."

      The Spaniard drew up his shoulders. "As you will. Perhaps you are somebody of importance."

      "No, I am only an ordinary soldier. I was a lieutenant, but our captain was shot, and—"

      "I see—they made you capitan; very good—if you are worth the position. But you are not much of a capitan now, ha! ha! Who caught you? some of Capitan Relosus's men?"

      "Yes, general."

      "They are a shrewd set—some of our best. Well, if you are a spy, your days are numbered; probably you already know that." The general paused. "You have been in Manila lately? Did you ever hear of my brother, Benedicto Lupez? "

      "Quite often. He is in prison."

      "As a rebel?"

      "Both as a rebel and on a charge of robbery. It is said he stole some money brought to Luzon by an American."

      "'Tis not true!" exclaimed José Lupez, growing red in the face. "I know the whole story, and my brother came by the money honestly. The charge is ​one gotten up by you Americanos merely to create a sensation."

      "But I was told Señor Benedicto Lupez had confessed and had surrendered part of the money."

      "Indeed!" General Lupez gazed at Ben curiously. "And what do they say he did with the balance of the money?"

      "They say he gave it to his brother."

      "To me? How absurd! The invention truly of pigs, vile Americano pigs! " The general began to pace the floor nervously. "Why should I take his money, since I have always had more than enough of my own? 'Tis truly the invention of Americano pigs! They are willing to say everything that is bad of a Spaniard or a Tagal."

      "They say that you took five thousand dollars of the money and bought your title in the army with it," went on Ben, anxious, if possible, to draw the Spaniard out.

      "Again I say absurd. The appointment came to me direct from General Aguinaldo, who is our President also, and it came without solicitation on my part, although I will admit some of my friends insisted on my appointment, knowing my military ability. I have no money but my own, and I want ​none. The Americanos—" General Lupez broke off short. "Ah, Capitan Relosus, here at last. I was wanting to see you."

      "There is no time now!" burst out the captain of the sharpshooters, speaking in the Tagalog dialect. "The Americanos are in the jungle below, and pressing forward with all speed. We must retreat!"

      "The enemy! A large number?"

      "My men counted a regiment at least, and more to the southward. We cannot hold this ground; it is too open. We must retreat to Cainta, and possibly to Taytay."

      The

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