ble minerals! Magellan, the
Spaniard, first discovered the Philippine Islands while he was on a
search for gold, though I think a rubber tree, or a bamboo, is more
valuable than gold," said the wise Padre.

"We get gold in two ways," explained Fil. "We wash it from scooped-up
gravel, and we break it out of rock with a hammer."

"And how do you melt your iron and copper?" I inquired.

"We dig coal, and use bamboo pipes and a bellows to make the draft. We
put the ore into a clay kettle, and melt the rock out of it. Then,
when the iron is pure, we heat it again until it is red, and beat it
with hammers into shapes. Thus we make it into wheels, spears, axes,
and so on," explained Fil, who had watched the workmen at their labors.

"I know little about practical, mechanical affairs; tell me more,"
urged Filippa.

"We have petroleum oil, just as America has; also, lead and paint
ores. We have burnt-out volcano hills, composed of sulphur down into
their deep hearts."

"That is like a very bad place, way down below, that I have read
about," interrupted Moro; and Fil's mother and the Padre shook their
fingers at him for joking.

Fil continued: "We have beautiful marble quarries, out of which we can
carve statues and table tops, and tops for seats. Our marble is full
of colored veins just like jewels. Then we also have gypsum mines,
which furnish both fertilizer for land, to make crops grow high,
and plaster of Paris, out of which we make pretty white statues."

"Wonderful!" I said, "I never thought of all this, when at home I
bought the lovely white statues of lions and birds, from the vendor
man with the basketful, on our street corner."

CHAPTER XI

WATER BUFFALO

We were all so tired when we came out of the wood to the canal, that
Fil's father told us to wait until a buffalo cart came down the white
shell road.

"A buffalo cart!" I exclaimed. "I'm afraid to ride in that. We used
to shoot buffaloes in our country, and the few now remaining we guard
behind iron fences in zoo gardens."

"Here he comes!" exclaimed Fil and Moro together.

"Boys, boys, be careful!" I cried.

"Let us frighten our guest," whispered Moro.

The buffalo sniffed at me, a stranger, and would have charged with his
head down; but the man who had a rope tied to a ring in the buffalo's
soft nose, pulled the animal back.

"Get down, you foolish boy!" I exclaimed.

But before I could stop him, brave little Moro had climbed up betw