e will go," he added to his brother, in their native language.

His brother was already at the doorway. The shouting and firing
outside was increasing. Leaping forward, Larry caught Benedicto Lupez
by the arm.

"You'll stay here," he began, when the Spaniard let out a heavy blow
which hurled the young sailor flat.

"I will not be held by a boy!" cried the man. "Let go, do you hear?"
For Larry had caught him by the foot. The boy's hold was good, and in
a trice Benedicto Lupez lay flat on his back. Then he rolled over and
over and a fierce tussle ensued, which came to a sudden end when Jose
Lupez leaped forward and kicked Larry in the head, rendering him
partly unconscious.

What followed was more like a dream than reality to the bruised youth.
He heard a confused murmur of voices and a dozen or more shots, and
then, as Benedicto Lupez and his brother ran off, several rebels
swarmed into the hut, one stumbling over the lad's form and pitching
headlong. This insurgent was about to knife Larry when he saw that the
young sailor's eyes were closed, and that he was bleeding about the
head.

"_Un Americano_, and wounded," he said, speaking in the Tagalog
dialect. "If he lives, he may make us a useful prisoner;" and a few
minutes later Larry felt himself picked up and borne away, first in a
man's arms and then on horseback. He tried to "locate" himself, but
when he opened his eyes all went swimming before them, and he was glad
enough to sink back once more and shut out the swirling sight.

On and on, and still on went the rebels, some on foot and a few on
their steeds. In front were a few wagons and caribao carts piled high
with camping outfits, and also one or two light guns--all that had
been saved from the garrison. General Lawton's attack had been a
brilliant success, and Santa Cruz itself had surrendered with hardly
the loss of a man to the Americans. The troops coming in did their
best to round up the insurgents, but they had scattered in all
directions and only a few were caught, and these swore that they were
_amigos_, or friends, and had to be given their liberty. This
pretending to be friends after they were routed was a great trick with
thousands of the natives. They would come into the American camp under
the pretext that they had just escaped from the insurgents who had
threatened to kill them if they would not join Aguinaldo's forces.
What to do with such people was one of the most difficult problems of
the