these reports; and while they do have considerable responsibility,
still they are not in the actual fight. As for Dewey, nobody has
ever heard of him. He is not a recognized naval commander. Besides,
the old fellow, according to reports, is slow and easy going. If he
should come to make us an unfriendly call tonight, mark my word, Marie,
there will not be a sliver of his entire fleet left floating above the
water yonder inside of thirty minutes after the first shot is fired."

He had scarcely concluded speaking when the Officer of the Guard,
Lieutenant Orlando, called out, "Sergeant of the Guard! Fall in the
First Relief!" The Sergeant threw his arm over Marie's shoulder in an
affectionate manner, smacked a hurried caress against her olive cheek,
jumped up from the little bamboo bench on which they were sitting,
rushed up to the guard house and cried out, "First Relief! Fall in!"

Marie hastened after him. As the relief was forming in line, she seized
a Mauser rifle that stood leaning against a huge rock, grabbed up a
cartridge belt well filled with Mauser ammunition that was lying on
the ground near by, hastily adjusted it to fit her waist measure,
buckled it on and fell into the rear rank.

"Count fours!" ordered the Sergeant. As is usual in military affairs,
the front and rear rank men count in unison; that is, number one in
the front rank and number one in the rear rank both count "one" at the
same time; second file counts "two," etc. When it came to Marie she
piped out simultaneously with the corporal who stood in front of her,
"quatro." (four).

As the guard was marched along the stony pathways on Corregidor Island
and the various sentinels were relieved, Marie soon saw that there was
not going to be a place for her. She tip-toed up to the corporal who
was posting the relief and asked him where he was going to station her.

"Never mind," said the corporal, "we have a place for you." And sure
enough, they had.

Every soldier or civilian who has ever been on this island will readily
recall the rough, hard-beaten, winding path that led from the summit of
the hill, in a south-westerly direction, down over precipices, around
clumps of bamboo, to a beautiful fresh water spring which bubbled
out of the coral rocks at a point just high enough to prevent it from
being inundated or even infiltrated during the season of high tides.

A few feet from this spring and elevated but slightly above it, is a
massive, flat r