r.

Ben sank down on a bench, and for several minutes said not a word, but
the tears stood in his eyes, tears which he hastily dried that nobody
might see them. Then Gilbert Pennington came in, to tell him that the
regiment was ordered to move within the hour.

"It's too bad!" declared the young Southerner. "But brace up, Ben,
'While there is life there is hope,' and it's a pretty sure thing that
he wasn't killed." And with this ray of comfort Ben had to be
content.

During the days that General Lawton had been in the vicinity of the
Laguna de Bay, the regiment to which Ben and Gilbert belonged had not
been idle. With a number of other troops they started for the town of
Santa Maria, where they came upon the enemy and dislodged them with
shells. The town, already in flames, was allowed to burn, and the
Americans pursued the rebels quite a distance into the mountains, but
failed to catch them.

In the meantime the camp of the Third Artillery, situated some
distance to the west of Malolos, was attacked. A fierce engagement in
the swamps took place, and in the end the rebels were driven northward
and began then to concentrate at Tarlac, which soon became one of
their new capitals--they shifting the seat of government as often as
it suited their convenience.

It was now felt by General Otis and others in command that no time
should be lost in an endeavor to round up the insurgents to the north
of Malolos, who were the main support of the rebellion, although
scattering bands were still operating to the south and southeast. The
rainy season was but a few weeks off, and once this set in military
operations would be much retarded, if not stopped altogether, for,
taken as a whole, the roads throughout the Island of Luzon are bad,
and heavy rains render them well-nigh impassable.

In order to make the campaign against the rebels as effective as
possible, General Otis decided to send out two columns, one under
General MacArthur to strike out for Calumpit, and the second, under
General Lawton, to take a route to the eastward, along the base of the
hills leading to San Isidro. By this it was hoped, if the rebels at
Calumpit were defeated and tried to take to the mountains, they would
fall directly into Lawton's hands, and not only have to surrender but
also give up all their war supplies.

It was in the furtherance of this plan that General Lawton left Manila
with his brigade and struck out for Novaliches which was gained a