sociation, a clubhouse, and a _presidente_. The troops
then stationed in the town added a certain tone of liveliness.

It was a week of carol-singing in the streets, of comedies performed
by strolling bands of children, masses, and concerts in the _plaza_. On
Christmas afternoon we went out to the track to see the bicycle races,
which at that time were a fad among the Filipinos. The little band
played in the grand-stand, and the people cheered the racers as
they came laboriously around the turn. The meet was engineered by
some American, but, from a standpoint of close finishes, left much
to be desired. The market-place on Christmas eve was lighted by a
thousand lanterns, and the little people wandered among the booths,
smoking their cigarettes and eating peanuts. Until early morning
the incessant shuffling in the streets kept up, for every one had
gone to midnight mass. Throughout the town the strumming of guitars,
the voices of children, and the blare of the brass band was heard,
and the next morning Jack-pudding danced on the corner to the infinite
amusement of the crowd. As for our own celebration, that was held in
the back room of a local restaurant, the Christmas dinner consisting
of canned turkey and canned cranberry-sauce, canned vegetables,
and ice-cream made of condensed milk.

Chapter V.

On Summer Seas.

The foolish little steamer _Romulus_ never exactly knew when she was
going, whither away, or where. The cargo being under hatches, all
regardless of the advertised time of departure, whether the passengers
were notified or not, she would stand clumsily down stream and out
to sea. The captain, looking like a pirate in his Tam o'Shanter cap,
or the pink little mate with the suggestion of a mustache on his
upper lip, if they had been informed about sailing hour, were never
willing to divulge the secret. If you tried to argue the matter with
them or impress them with a sense of their responsibility; if you
attempted to explain the obvious advantages of starting within, say,
twenty-four hours of the stated time, they would turn wearily away,
irreprehensible, with a protesting gesture.

Not even excepting the Inland Sea, that dreamy waterway among the
grottoes, pines, and _torii_ of picturesque Japan, there is no sea
so beautiful as that around the Southern Philippines. The stately
mountains, that go sweeping by in changing shades of green or blue,
appeal directly to the imagination. Unpopulated isl