Uncle Sam"s Boys in the Philippines.
by H. Irving Hanc.o.c.k.
CHAPTER I
THE FILIPINO DANDY
"We"ve solved one problem at last, Noll," declared Sergeant Hal Overton seriously.
"Only one?" demanded young Sergeant Terry quizzically.
But Hal, becoming only the more serious, went on earnestly:
"At last we begin to understand just what the "lure of the Orient"
means! For years I"ve been reading about the Orient, and the way that this part of the world charms men and holds them. Now, that we are here on the spot, I begin to understand it all. Noll, my boy, the East is a great and wonderful place! I wonder if I shall ever tire of it?"
"I believe I could tire of it in time," remarked Sergeant Terry, of the Thirty-fourth United States Infantry.
"But you haven"t yet," insisted Sergeant Hal.
"What, when we"ve been here only three days? Naturally I haven"t. And, besides, all we"ve seen is Manila, and certainly Manila can"t be more than one little jumping-off corner of the Orient that you"re so enthusiastic about."
"You"re wild about the Far East, too--even the one little corner of it that we"ve seen," retorted Sergeant Hal. "Don"t be a grouch or a knocker, Noll. Own up that you wouldn"t start for the United States to-morrow if you were offered double pay back in the home country."
"No; I wouldn"t," confessed Sergeant Terry. "I want to see a lot more of these Philippine Islands before I go back to our own land."
"Just halt where you are and look about you," went on enthusiastic Sergeant Hal. "Try to picture this scene as Broadway, in New York."
"Or Main Street in our own little home city," laughed Sergeant Terry quietly.
Certainly the scene was entirely different from anything that the two young Army boys had ever seen before.
They stood on the Escolta, which is the main business thoroughfare of New Manila, as that portion of the Philippine capital north of the little river is called. South of the river is Old Manila, the walled city of the old days of the Spanish conquerors. South of the walled city lie two rather fashionable residence suburbs, Ermita and Malate.
But the Thirty-fourth was temporarily stationed in big nipa barracks at Malate. It was in the newer Manila that the two boyish young sergeants found their greatest interest.
It was a busy, bustling scene. There is nothing exactly like the Escolta in any other part of the world. The whole of this crooked, winding thoroughfare seemed alive with horses and people--with the horses in more than goodly proportion.
Along the Escolta are the princ.i.p.al wholesale and retail houses of the city. Here is the post office, there the "Botanica" or princ.i.p.al drug store, operating under English capital and a Spanish name; down near the water front is the Hotel de Paris, a place famous for the good dinners of the East. Further up the Escolta, just around a slight bend, is the Oriente Hotel, the stopping place of Army officers and their families, of pa.s.sing travelers and of civil employees of the government.
At this point along the Escolta are the busiest marts of local trade.
The sidewalks are crowded with hurrying throngs; the streets jammed with traffic, for in Manila few of the whites or the wealthier natives ever think of walking more than a block or two. The _quilez_, the little two-wheeled car drawn by a six-hundred-pound pony, is the common means of getting about. A dollar in American money will charter one of these _quilez_ for hours, and the heat renders it an advisable investment for one who has far to go.
Automobiles were scarce, though they had penetrated even this congested Escolta. Here and there an Army officer or orderly appeared on horseback in the crush of the street. If he attempted to ride at a canter the horseman seemed to be taking his life in his own hands, with the chances all against him.
Save for the lazy calls of drivers--_cocheros_--to their horses, the hum of human voices was subdued. In the heat of the Escolta the people of all colors seem to have reached a tacit understanding that it requires less exertion to talk in low tones.
White people of both s.e.xes appeared, clad usually in the white attire so customary in the tropics. Filipino dandies affected the same garbing, with the exception of here and there a natty, nervous, little brown man who appeared in the more formal black frock coat. But few, even of these, had the courage to come out in sun-up hours wearing the silk hat that is the usual accompaniment of the long-tailed frock coat.
Despite the heat, the faces of most of the people in the crowded streets appeared cheerful, even happy. Life is not taken too seriously in the Orient. The natives always find plenty of time for laughter; the stranger soon acquires the trick.
Banks, stores, restaurants, mineral water kiosks--all the places of resort along the Escolta--were abundantly patronized, yet none save the _cocheros_ perched up on the little seats of the _quilez_ appeared to be at all in a hurry.
Yet one man in particular appeared to be devoid of hurry. In fact, he paused or halted whenever the two boyish young sergeants did. He invariably kept about a hundred feet behind them in this queerly bustling yet ever leisurely crowd that thronged the sidewalks of the Escolta.
While Hal and Noll were curiously noting the fact--that the Escolta seems always so busy, but the individuals who make up the life there seem never in a hurry--the man who was plainly following them never glanced at them directly, yet never once lost sight of them.
Neither Hal nor Noll had yet noted the man, about whom there were some points that would have been amusing to the American youngsters.
This man was a Filipino. At first glance one would have believed him to be a Tagalo, or member of the most warlike and ambitious of all the eighty-odd tribes that make up the peoples of these islands. The Tagalos are the tribe most frequently found in and around Manila, and in the provinces nearest to that city. In apearance the Tagalos look a good deal like underfed j.a.panese. It was to the Tagalos that the _insurrecto_ leader, Aguinaldo, belonged.
These Tagalos, however, consider themselves in every way the equals and match for any white man. The Tagalos have absorbed much of the Spanish civilization. Many of them are wealthy and the sons of such families generally hold degrees from Philippine colleges. Well-to-do Tagalos, despite their undersized stature and dark-brown skins, affect all the culture--and the vices--of well-to-do white people. They conduct banks, engage in commerce, mingle with white society, and consider themselves as bright lights of civilization. Above all, every Tagalo takes keen interest in politics. Yet these Tagalos, up to date, are only veneered Malays.
This Filipino who was so patiently following Sergeants Hal and Noll appeared to belong to the well-to-do cla.s.s. Certainly he was an immaculate dandy. He was about five feet two inches in height, and wore neat-fitting, well-tailored white duck garments. The blouse was b.u.t.toned down in front, a military, braided white collar standing up stiffly, rendering the wearing of a shirt unnecessary. On his feet were highly polished tan shoes of American make. On his head he wore a jaunty, straight-brimmed straw hat of the best native manufacture. In his right hand this irreproachable Filipino dandy lightly swung a feather-weight bamboo cane.
His eyes were dark, gleaming, intense--fitted either to reflect laughter or sharp anger. But what rendered this man, who appeared to be close to thirty-five years of age, ridiculous to American eyes was his mustache. This was blue-black in color, waxed to two fine, bristling, upturned points--a fashion that this dandy had undoubtedly caught from some former Spanish military officer.
"They are boys--they will suit my purpose excellently," murmured the Filipino to himself, as he halted before a window where tropical outfittings for men were attractively displayed. Yet, though he gazed in at the window, he saw Sergeants Hal and Noll out of the corners of his eyes. "They are young, ambitious; they are enlisted men, therefore poor.
Even in this short time these boys must have learned the craving for the things that money alone will buy. No man, in the Orient, can escape that knowledge and that longing for money. That is why it is so easy to buy men"s souls here in the East. Shall I go up and speak to them? But no!
There they go into a curio store where they will find much that they may wish to buy. I will follow my young _sergentes_ inside in five minutes--or ten. _Then_ they will be ripe for the man who talks money."
Hal and Noll had entered one of the most attractive little shops to be found anywhere along the Escolta. This store is kept by a Chinaman, who sells the more costly curios of the Far East. China"s choicest silks are here displayed; also her finest teakwoods and curious boxes and cabinets of sandal and other valued woods, inlaid with pearl, or studded with rare jades. Here are wonderful creations carved out of ivory, idols of all kinds and sizes, of the highest grades of artistic workmanship. Here are wonderful beaded portieres and the most costly of curious Chinese garments for women. In a word, the bazaars of China are n.o.bly represented on the Escolta. But there is much more besides. The most attractive curios from India, from Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula and of native Filipino workmanship are all to be found here. It is not the place to enter when one has not much money.
No wonder Sergeant Overton and Sergeant Terry moved from counter to counter, pricing and sighing. Each young Army boy wanted to send home something worth while to his mother. Yet how small a sergeant"s pay seems in such a bazaar!
Hal Overton and Noll Terry need no introduction to the reader of the earlier volumes in this series. "$1," as our readers are aware, details how Hal and Noll, reared in love of the Flag and respect for the military, determined, at the age of eighteen, to enlist in the Regular Army. Our readers followed the new recruits to the recruit rendezvous, where the young men received their first drillings in the art of being a soldier. From there they followed Hal and Noll westward, to Fort Clowdry, in the Colorado mountains, where the young soldiers went through their first thrilling experiences of the strenuous side of Army life, proving themselves, whether in barracks, on drill ground or under fire on a lonely sentry post, to be the sort of American youths of whom the best soldiers are made.
Readers of "$1" already know how Hal and Noll went several steps further in learning the work of the soldier; of their surprisingly good and highly adventurous work in practical problems of field life. In this volume was described field life and outpost duty, and scouting duty as well, as they are actually taught in the Army. In this volume is told also how Hal and Noll while out with a scouting party supplied their company with unexpected bear meat. Our readers, too, will remember the thrilling work of Hal and Noll, under Lieutenant Prescott, in capturing a desperate character badly wanted by the state authorities. These young soldiers were heroes of other absorbing adventures; their fine work eventually leading to their appointments as corporals.
In "UNCLE SAM"S BOYS AS SERGEANTS" our readers will recall a host of happenings that belong to military life, among them the stirring military tournament in which a battalion of "Ours" took part at Denver, and the all but tragic results of that tournament; the soldier hunting-party up in the Rockies, in which Hal and Noll thoroughly distinguished themselves both as hunters and as soldiers and commanders.
And now we find the entire Thirty-fourth Infantry in Manila, stationed there briefly pending details at other points in the islands.
As we look in upon Sergeants Overton and Terry to-day we find them two years older than when they first enlisted--but many years older in all the fine qualities that go to make up the best manhood.
Either young sergeant"s word was as good as his bond in the Thirty-fourth. Truthful, ambitious, manly, thoroughly trained and capable of commanding; in a word, _men_ in character and abilities, while yet boys in years.
This much had two years of life in the United States Army done for Hal Overton and Noll Terry. Could other training have done more?
And these were the young Americans whom the alert-eyed, trailing Filipino dandy had already singled out and had planned to corrupt to his own purposes.
Yet the astute man of the world knows more than one way of ruining and disgracing simple-hearted, true-souled young fellows. Not even Satan is credited with appearing often in evil guise at first.
Perhaps this Filipino, a wicked fellow of long training, knew how to go about his work.
"Going to buy anything, Noll?" asked Hal at last, after the two young sergeants had made the round of the bewildering, attractive store.