Berkeley High School - Olla Podrida Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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I want someone of that kind to undertake a commission of mine, the General continued. I want a spy. Jack ' s heart leaped. Here was a chance to cover himself with glory. Visions of all the spies in all the wars he had ever heard of rose up in his mind. I need more particulars about the intentions of Aguinaldo, the General went on. I have heard from a fairly good source that he is to be near Ilo at a confer- ence. Go to that neighborhood, find out what you can, and return to me as soon as possible. Making the needful preparations. Jack started bravely forth. It was about three miles to the little group of thatched roofs which the inhabitants called Ilo, and the land between the camp and Ilo was taken up with rice-fields covered with water about a foot deep. Consequently, Jack was forced to wade through this water nearly up to his knees. It was not pleasant walking, nor did it admit of a rapid pace, but our spy had nearly reached the village before he thought how he was going to act when there. He stopped near a clump of bamboos to consider. If Aguinaldo were there, the Filipinos would surely have guards somewhere around ( spies always had to overcome these obstacles — • at least all those he had ever heard of). He could see none, but they must be there, and how or when he was to over- come them he did not know. As these thoughts revolved in his mind, he noticed four men approaching. Three of them had the white uniforms of the Filipino insurgents. One of them had a darker suit, he was unable to tell what it was. They came near to Jack and he slipped into the midst of the clump of bamboos. Thanks to the similarity of hues of his brown canvas uniform and the bamboos, he was so well hidden that none of the four noticed him, though they heard the rustling of the leaves. The man in the dark suit was talking in very eloquent Filipino with one of the others. His black eyes were snapping, and his arms were waving frantically to emphasize his words. Luck was with our spy at first. The men sat down near by, as it was much cooler outside under the trees than in the house at this time of day. Jack listened closely. Yes, it was as he thought, the man in the dark suit was Aguinaldo, the others, some of his officers probably. Our spy could not understand every- thing they said, but he got the drift of the conversation enough to know that they contemplated a secret attack. How, when or where, he did not know, but expected to find out. Then the gods went over to the side of the plotters, for the sun, when it was nearly down, suddenly went under a cloud and torrents of rain followed. The four little Filipinos rushed to the nearest house. Two of them went in, the other two remained outside to guard the house. The two latter retired under the low eaves of the house to get some shelter from the rain, and, amidst the thud of the rain on the thatched roof, the blinding of the storm, and the dimness consequent on ap- proaching darkness, they did not notice a man in a brown uniform slip around to the back of the house. For when our spy saw his informers fleeing, he determined to follow. He must hear the rest; the fate of the army might depend on it. When he saw the guards settled under the eaves, he slipped around to the side of the house. He heard the voices of men in excited conversation inside but could not understand what they 17

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What do you suppose i want with that little scrap of yellow calico ? said one, The captain might think 1 was a deserter, wearing the Spanish colors. Let ' s see what ' s inside of it though, said another. Might be a letter from the girl he left behind him. Ho, ho, here ' s a thimble. Why, Smith, I couldn ' t get that on my little finger. Too bad you didn ' t have these before you left San Francisco, Jack. I got ten cents apiece for mine at the pawnshop, said a third. In spite of it all, Jack did not cast the bags overboard, but kept them in his pocket, as it seemed a pity, since they were so well intended, that they should be thrown away ; and then, too, they brought to his mind the scenes he had left behind him : the groups of gay chattering girls, the bright bits of calico, the lively steel needles as they passed in and out of the cloth, plied by industrious ink-stained fingers, hi this vision he always saw a particular pair of blue eyes, a particular needle, and a particular hand which would always loom up on the top of each wave or in each secret hiding place when the ridicule had been almost too much for Jack. The transport arrived at Cavite on the afternoon of July twenty-fifth. Ha ing spent the night in an old Spanish guard-house, the troops marched the next day to the spot selected for their camp and set up their rubber tents with bamboo floors and chairs. At this time the attack on Manila was being prepared for. The Filipinos wanted to capture it themselves, but having failed, they delivered up the trenches to the Americans. Our boys took possession and remained in them for two days, purely on the defensive, under a storm of the enemy ' s fire but not allowed to shoot a gun themselves. It rained by fits and starts and soaked the ground so that they were continually in the water. During the two days, arrangements were made with Commodore Dewey to make the attack. It is well known how Manila was taken and how the Spanish were forced to surrender. After the city was taken, it took little more fighting to force Spain to seek an armistice, and peace was declared between the two countries. During these few months, while bartering with the nati ' es for native delicacies and fuel, Jack managed to learn enough Filipino to understand, in a way, what they said. He also found out from them and from other sources as much as he could about the countr It was due to these attainments that he became known in the next conflict; for peace had no sooner been declared than an insurrection of the natives broke out, and our boys found themselves face to face with their former allies, who were as determined, as savage, and as reckless as ever. They knew the country from shore to shore — its hiding places, its pitfalls and its retreats, and they greatly outnumbered the Americans ; but our boys knew how to fight, had un- bounded courage, and superior arms. This struggle with the Filipinos themselves had been going on for about a month, when, late one afternoon. Gener al Otis came to Jack ' s tent with an important re- quest. Jack was elated at this honor, for it was unusual for the General to visit the tent of a private. When the General approached, Jack saluted and placed a bamboo stool for him. The General sat down and proceeded directly with the matter in hand. Smith, he said, I understand from your captain that you have a steady head and understand Filipino a little. Yes sir, a little, Jack replied. i6

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said through the thick outside wall. The partition inside will be thinner, he thought to himself. If I could only get into the hut. The only thing to do was to act promptly, so he went bravely around to the back, not knowing what might be there to defeat all his plans. The door was partly open, and inside he could see a Filipino girl smoking a cigarette and sewing on some white cloth. It came to him in a flash that he would go in there and how he would go. He knew that the Filipino women were very ignorant and hardly knew what was going on around them. Surely this ignorant- looking girl would not think what he was there for. He must lose no time, for they were proceeding with the conversation inside, so he quietly entered the house. The girl started, and looked as if about to cry aloud. Jack spoke in a low tone in broken Filipino: Don ' t be frightened ; let me wait here until the shower is over. It rains very hard. The girl looked uncertain. Indeed, she had reason to feel frightened at the sudden appearance of a dripping man dressed in foreign clothes, who could hardly speak so as to be understood. Probably the suddenness of it all, possibly the novelty and excitement, prevented her from crying aloud. Jack himself was surprised at her calmness, but saw that she must be amused, so he said: I see you sew differently from me ; here is what I sew with. As he spoke, he took out a comfort-bag and emptied the contents on the floor. This is what I cut with, he continued, taking out a pair of bright steel scissors and cutting some cloth with them. This attracted her, as she had only had crude knives to cut with before. No longer fearing him, she knelt down beside him, took up the scissors and began to slash away at everything capable of being cut. All this time the spy had kept one ear for what was going on on the other side of the partition. While the girl was occupied. Jack listened more closely and found out nearly all that was necessary, namely, that the Filipinos contemplated a general massacre, and, advancing by an unfrequented road, were going to attack the Americans at night. He was just listening to a fmai injunction by Aguinaldo, when the girl suddenly exclaimed: What is this little thing for, as she picked up the thimble. Jack had for- gotten that she had been cutting for -a long time and might have become tired. At the noise, someone in the next room jumped up. Immediately, Jack was out of the house before the astonished girl could scream or the plotters open the partition door. He sped into the rice-fields as he had never run for the glory of the B. H. S., for he was far out in their midst before he heard the Zip, Zip of a Mauser bullet, as the ball sped across the seemingly boundless waste of rice. We know not yet whether he became captain, lieutenant, or even sergeant for his deed . It simply came out in the papers far across the sea : Plan for a terrible massacre of Americans intercepted by General Otis. And not a word was said about that comfort-bag. Wayman Atterbury, ' oo. i8