p to the entrance and knocked twice upon
the door. This place, in spite of its sign, looked more deserted and
shut-up than any other building he had yet seen in the town, and he
wondered whether he would receive any answer to his knocks. It was
indeed a long time before he heard a sound within, but at last there was
some muttering inside, the door flew open, and Archie found himself in
the arms of three Filipinos, who threw him upon the floor and bound him,
hands and feet. It was all so sudden that he had no time to cry out, and
before he could say anything at all he was thrown into a dark room, and
the door shut behind him.

CHAPTER XVI.

A PLEASANT CAPTOR--BRAVE BILL HICKSON ALLOWS ARCHIE TO ESCAPE--FIRST
GLIMPSE OF AGUINALDO.

FOR a long time Archie lay still upon the floor, being unable to move a
muscle from the shock of his encounter with the men, and because he was
tightly bound with ropes. And then he at last went off to sleep, feeling
frightened because he was in the hands of strange men, and a little
satisfied, too, because he was the victim of some adventure which might
turn out in a very interesting way.

When he awoke, it was morning, and the light came into the room through
two small square windows, set high up in the wall. Archie looked about
the room with great curiosity, but found little there to interest him.
There was nothing to be seen but an old bed without spring or mattress,
and a rickety chair with but three legs, which stood in one corner.
The walls, he was surprised to observe, were handsomely decorated with
tapestries, and Archie at once made up his mind that this had at one
time been a private dwelling-house, and had probably been owned by some
rich Spaniard who kept a store on the ground floor, and lived in these
rooms. The insurgents had probably driven the family out of the country
and had taken possession of the house, which they had stripped of
everything useful, leaving the tapestries and works of art behind them.

These suppositions were cut short by the entrance of a man who appeared
to be a half-breed, and who immediately began to speak to Archie in
broken English. The fellow had a pleasant face, and presented a fairly
good appearance, and Archie wondered how he could have come to this
place. "I suppose you have been wondering," said the man, "why you have
been thrown into this room, and it won't take me long to explain things.
You see this town belongs to us just now,