The day following the Americans undertook by daylight the thing which they had before tried at night. But they began in a little different way. They were seen to dump some rafts into the river over a high bank, and then two men, stripped to the skin, dived into the stream and began to swim across. The insurgents peppered at them, while the Americans from the other shore shot at every head among the Filipinos that showed itself. Bullets splashed on all sides of the swimmers, but none took effect. As they drew to shore they were protected by the bank, the Filipinos being unable to fire at them because of thus exposing themselves. Then it was seen that they had borne a cable across the stream. It became apparent that the intention was to hitch it so some object on the Filipino side of the river and thus form a means of propelling the rafts across the stream. But the two naked, unarmed white men, alone on the Filipino side of the Rio Grande, were unable to find a place to which to hitch. Daubed with dirt and glistening with the water, they raced back and forth under protection of the bank, looking for stump or tree, but in vain.
“There is a stump in the rifle pit, up there,” remarked one.
“We must hitch to that,” said the other. “Make you some mud balls.”
They scooped up mud from the river and hugged to their breasts the balls of filth as they started to climb the banks directly ahead of them. Meantime the American soldiers fired over their heads. As they arose over the bank and stood erect looking into the rifle pits, they began throwing the mud balls. The first one struck Agonoy full in the face, and the young commander, with eyes and mouth full of dirt, began clawing at the mud and retreating. The natives, seeing this, and not knowing the nature of the new weapon, broke into a run and retreated.
Meantime a raft had started across the stream, with two men and the clothing and guns of the men who were now tying the cable to the stump. When midstream the rope slipped and the raft upset, precipitating all in the water. The two men reached shore, but the clothing of the men who had swum the river was lost. Other rafts were on the way. Before Agonoy could rally the natives, a small force of Americans had crossed over.
Then began an opera bouffe charge; naked and begrimed Americans and men in khaki against naked and half-clothed representatives of a half a dozen races! And as the Americans came on a run they broke into a college yell:
Rock chalk,
Jay hawk,
Chicken hawk,
Tommy hawk,