en, of course,
Bo Peep was not responsible for young lieutenants' hearts. If he had
been a captain--well, that is another thing. There was the English
sugar-planter from the Tawi-Tawi group, who never lost sight of the
ranking officer, who dressed in flannels, changed his clothes three
times a day, and who expressed his only ideas to me by virtue of a
confidential wink.

For three whole days we were a part of the fresh winds, the tossing
waves, the moon and stars. And as the ship plowed through the sea at
night, the phosphorescent surge retreated like a line of silver fire.

Chapter VI.

Among the Pagan Tribes.

With Padre Cipriano I had started out on horseback from the little
trading station on Davao Bay. We were to strike along the east
coast, in the territory of the fierce Mandayas, and to penetrate some
distance into the interior in order to convert the pagans with the long
eyelashes who inhabited this unknown region. It was a clear day when
we set out on our missionary enterprise, and we could see the black
peak of Mount Apo, which, according to the legends of the wild Bagobos,
is the throne of the great King of Devils, and the gate to hell.

We struck a faint trail leading to the foot-hills where the barren
ridges overlooked the sparkling sea--a vast cerulian expanse without a
single fleck of a white sail. The trail led through the great fields
of buffalo-grass, out of which gigantic solitary trees shot up a
hundred feet into the air. There were no signs of life, only the
vultures in the topmost branches of the trees. Wild horses, taking
flight at our approach, stampeded for the forest. Nothing could
be seen in the tall grass. Even in our saddles it was higher than
our heads. The trail became more rugged as we entered the big belt
of forest on the foot-hills. A wild hog bolted for the jungle with
distressed grunts. It was a world of white vines falling from the lofty
branches of the trees. The animal life in some of the great trees was
wonderful. The branches were divided into zones, wherein each class
of bird or reptile had its habitat. Around the base were galleries of
white ants. Flying lizards from the gnarled trunk skated through the
air. Green reptiles crawled along the horizontal branches. Parrakeets,
a colony of saucy green and red balls, screamed and protested from the
lower zones. An agile monkey swung from one of the long sweeping vines,
and scolded at us from another tree. Bats, owls,