ck in
the mud. There was nothing to do but to fight. In a moment Morrisy
fell dead, having been shot through the head; Dillon followed;
then McDonald, then Nygard;--Marie was doing deadly work with her
Mauser rifle.

The Americans returned the fire as best they could; but what was
the use. They could see nothing to fire at, so perfectly had the
Filipinos screened their trenches; besides, the Filipinos were using
smokeless powder.

Four of Gilmore's men were already dead, two were mortally wounded
and begging their comrades to shoot them before they fell into the
hands of the Filipinos, and two more were slightly wounded. Most
of the oars had been badly shattered by the enemy's rifle balls. In
this moment of desperation, Ellsworth, Woodbury and Edwards jumped
overboard and tried to push the boat out to mid-stream. It was no use;
the tide was coming in and the current was so strong that they could
not compete against it.

Lieutenant Gilmore was firing his revolver. He decided to change and
use one of the dead men's rifles. As he picked it up he noticed the
lock had been struck by a Remington ball and the clip had been jammed
in. He handed it to an apprentice lad, named Venville, to be fixed.

The boy had scarcely begun to examine the gun, when a bullet struck
him in the fleshy part of the neck. He had never been under fire
before. Looking up calmly, he said, "Mr. Gilmore, I'm hit."

In a moment another bullet struck him in the chest and came out of
his arm pit. With his attention riveted on his task, he remarked,
"I'm hit again, Mr. Gilmore."

Only a moment later another ball grazed the side of his head and cut
a painful wound in his scalp. "Mr. Gilmore, they've hit me again,"
he muttered, while he kept on working at the gun, with blood running
down all over him.

In a few minutes a fourth ball passed through the lad's ankle, one of
the most painful parts of the body in which to get shot. This time,
with a slight tremble in his voice, he said, "Mr. Gilmore, I'm hit
once more; but I've fixed your gun, Sir."

Just at this moment the Filipinos saw that the Americans' fire had
practically ceased. Throwing back from off their trench the limbs and
underbrush that had concealed them, the Filipinos, armed with guns,
spears, bolos and clubs, made a bold dash for the boat and captured
the entire crew.

CHAPTER IX.

THE AMERICAN PRISONERS

Those of the Americans who were alive and able to help themselves
w