ld
get out of the passive and inexplicable natives.

Of course, there were drills and everybody liked them, as they produced
such an excellent opportunity for one to give vent to his feelings after
the drills were over with. Those were happy hours which the men spent in
sweltering under the genial warmth of the southern sun, and learning
with a bitter vengeance the tactics of "dismounted drill." And "double
time," too, was always a pleasant innovation as it generated a bodily
heat to correspond with mental feelings and external influences. Then
there was always an appreciative audience of gaping nut-brown maids and
matrons who took delight in watching the "soldado" go through his
ever-changing evolutions. Yes, those were days which the veteran will
always look back upon with rapture.

At first some trouble was occasioned over the inadequate food supply;
but that difficulty was soon obliterated. The then acting commissary
sergeant was removed and A.L. Williams, familiarly known among his
admirers in the battalion by the euphonious prefixes of "Dad" and
"Judge," was elevated to this position. Under the judicious management
of the Judge a revolution was made in the department and the men waxed
fat from the overflowing cornucopia of the commissary.

In those murky days of Manila were other things which served to offset
the oppressive blazonry of the tropic sun. In order to make the attire
of the soldiers harmonize as much as possible with the requirements of
the climate, light shirts and trousers were provided by the
quartermaster's department. Every week occurred a general inspection, to
which the men were expected to appear housed in this startling white
with polished shoes and flaming brass buckles. A very imposing
appearance they made when lined up on these occasions.

The advent of the soldier vastly accelerated the trade of the native
fruit venders in the vicinity of the Cuartel, and as time wore on this
peculiar product of the Orient increased his sales by the addition of
the deadly "vino," sometimes with rather disastrous results to the
imbiber. That wondrous monument of human ingenuity commonly known as
"army hardtack" formed the standard medium of exchange between the
industrious fruit dealer and his overworked customer. The barred windows
of the Cuartel became the market ground for all the products of Luzon,
and through them many a luscious mango was exchanged for an adamantine
biscuit upon which the soldier