ning there
were anxious inquiries for news from the front, but there was always the
same discouraging reply that no trace had yet been found of the fleeing
Aguinaldo. The men were gradually becoming disheartened at the long
wait, and there were frequent statements by the officers that
Aguinaldo would soon be caught if they were sent out after him. The
dissatisfaction with the general in command grew stronger every day, and
at last things reached a point where there was very little loyalty and
patriotism displayed among the troops.

The drilling was continued, however, by order of the colonel, and every
morning the troops marched out to a public square near the palace, and
went through the same old manoeuvres which they had practised for months
past. And it was harder for them to drill each week. At first they were
willing enough to work, for there was then some prospect of their being
able to use their knowledge in a fight, but now it was beginning to
seem that they would simply remain in this old palace for a few months
longer, and then go back again to San Francisco. With this opinion in
their hearts, it is not to be wondered at that most of the men became
slouchy and careless in their manners and dress, or that even the
officers themselves became disgusted at the long wait for marching
orders.

Things had been going on in this way for a long time, when Archie made
up his mind that it was time he was hustling about and finding something
to write about which would be interesting to readers of the Enterprise.
He had sent two articles describing his life with the soldiers in the
old palace, but he knew that he ought to find something more exciting,
and more like his first articles. So, after much thought, he decided
that a good plan would be for him to take a little trip into the
interior of the island, to see whether he could find any traces of the
insurgents. The colonel had held all along for a month, now, that the
Filipinos were probably all about Manila, and still he couldn't get
the permission of the general in command to go out and investigate
the matter. The colonel figured that it would be an easy thing for the
insurgents to come as near to the city as they cared to now, for Lawton
and Wheeler were far away in the interior after Aguinaldo, and the
troops in Manila were quietly drilling, and eating, and sleeping, with
no thought of doing anything else. This line of argument seemed very
reasonable to Archie, and