hich every
man appeared to join with all his heart and voice. And there were tears
in Archie's eyes at having to part from such true friends. It was hard
to tell, too, when he would ever see any of them again. He realised
that hereafter his path and theirs would probably lie in different
directions. He was going to New York to work as a reporter, and they, if
they were not killed in battle, would be scattered in all parts of the
great United States, at the mustering out of the troops. It was all very
sad, and even Bill Hickson seemed to feel the solemnity of the occasion,
for he had nothing to say for many hours after the vessel had started on
its journey.

Archie, too, felt homesick at having to leave, and they went to bed very
early, apparently feeling that the best thing under such circumstances
was to be asleep. And when morning came they both felt somewhat better,
for Archie arose filled with hope for the future, and more anxious than
ever to reach home. Bill Hickson, too, was not loath to return to the
United States, even though he had no relatives waiting there to
welcome him. The poor fellow had been through a great deal while in the
Philippines, and his constitution was almost wrecked by the constant
strain to which he was subjected. He had never fully recovered from his
accident of several weeks before, and he felt that he needed a rest from
the constant excitement and worry of life in the army. He was tired,
too, of being a spy. He had never relished the work, but he had realised
how necessary it was for the Americans to have some one to follow up
Aguinaldo and let the general know of his movements. "They'll be a long
time catching him now," he said, time and again, to Archie. "He's a much
shrewder man than they think, and he knows his Philippine Islands like
a book. He can go from one place to another without the Americans ever
knowing where he disappeared to, and without some one to follow him they
will never be able to learn anything of his movements."

Bill had received nearly two hundred dollars in back pay, so he felt
quite rich, and Archie told him that if he should happen to run out, and
need more money, he would be very glad to furnish it to him, For Archie
was now determined to take Bill Hickson to New York, and introduce him
to Mr. Van Bunting, feeling sure that the wise editor would thank him
for bringing to his attention a man at once so interesting and so worthy
as this hero of the war had prov