ened fire upon Bantugan, and for three days the
earth was so covered with smoke from the battle that neither could
see his enemy. Then the Spanish general said:

"I cannot see Bantugan or the fleet anywhere, so let us go and claim
the Princess."

But the Sultan said: "We must wait until the smoke rises to make sure
that Bantugan is gone."

When the smoke rose, the ships of Bantugan were apparently unharmed
and the Sultan said:

"Bantugan has surely won, for his fleet is uninjured while yours is
badly damaged. You have lost."

"No," said the General, "we will fight it out on dry land."

So they both landed their troops and their cannon, and a great fight
took place, and soon the ground was covered with dead bodies. And the
Sultan commanded them to stop, as the women and children in the city
were being killed by the cannon-balls, but the General said:

"If you give your daughter to Bantugan we shall fight forever or
until we die."

Then the Sultan sent for Bantugan and said:

"We must deceive the Spaniard in order to get him to go away. Let us
tell him that neither of you will marry my daughter, and then after
he has gone, we shall have the wedding."

Bantugan agreed to this, and word was sent to the Spaniards that the
fighting must cease since many women and children were being killed. So
it was agreed between the Spaniard and Bantugan that neither of them
should marry the Princess. Then they both sailed away to their homes.

Bantugan soon returned, however, and married the Princess, and
on the way back to his home they found his son and took him with
them. For about a week the Spanish general sailed toward his home
and then he, too, turned about to go back, planning to take the
Princess by force. When he found that she had already been carried
away by Bantugan, his wrath knew no bounds. He destroyed the Sultan,
his city, and all its people. And then he sailed away to prepare a
great expedition with which he should utterly destroy Bantugan and
his country as well.

One morning Bantugan looked out and saw at the mouth of the Rio Grande
the enormous fleet of the Spaniards whose numbers were so great that
in no direction could the horizon be seen. His heart sank within him,
for he knew that he and his country were doomed.

Though he could not hope to win in a fight against such great numbers,
he called his headmen together and said:

"My Brothers, the Christian dogs have come to destroy the land. We
canno