Of course, there were drills and everybody liked them, as they produced such an excellent opportunity for one to give vent to his feelings after the drills were over with. Those were happy hours which the men spent in sweltering under the genial warmth of the southern sun, and learning with a bitter vengeance the tactics of "dismounted drill." And "double time," too, was always a pleasant innovation as it generated a bodily heat to correspond with mental feelings and external influences. Then there was always an appreciative audience of gaping nut-brown maids and matrons who took delight in watching the "soldado" go through his ever-changing evolutions. Yes, those were days which the veteran will always look back upon with rapture.
At first some trouble was occasioned over the inadequate food supply; but that difficulty was soon obliterated. The then acting commissary sergeant was removed and A.L. Williams, familiarly known among his admirers in the battalion by the euphonious prefixes of "Dad" and "Judge," was elevated to this position. Under the judicious management of the Judge a revolution was made in the department and the men waxed fat from the overflowing cornucopia of the commissary.
In those murky days of Manila were other things which served to offset the oppressive blazonry of the tropic sun. In order to make the attire of the soldiers harmonize as much as possible with the requirements of the climate, light shirts and trousers were provided by the quartermaster's department. Every week occurred a general inspection, to which the men were expected to appear housed in this startling white with polished shoes and flaming brass buckles. A very imposing appearance they made when lined up on these occasions.
The advent of the soldier vastly accelerated the trade of the native fruit venders in the vicinity of the Cuartel, and as time wore on this peculiar product of the Orient increased his sales by the addition of the deadly "vino," sometimes with rather disastrous results to the imbiber. That wondrous monument of human ingenuity commonly known as "army hardtack" formed the standard medium of exchange between the industrious fruit dealer and his overworked customer. The barred windows of the Cuartel became the market ground for all the products of Luzon, and through them many a luscious mango was exchanged for an adamantine biscuit upon which the soldier had vainly expended all his dental energy. The natives had full access to the barracks at this time, and the native washerwoman made the blanco trousers shine iridescently for inspection by beating them against the sunny side of a boulder and afterwards pressing them with a fearfully and wonderfully made flatiron.
Hard by the Cuartel were a number of "tiendas," widely known among the soldiers as "vino stands." The presiding spirit over one of these establishments was generally a pretty "mestiza," who, in addition to her natural charms, was blessed with a high-sounding Castilian name. There were four shops run on the plan, which held pre-eminence both for the character of the "vino" which they supplied and the bewitching charms of their owners. The returned volunteer will remember with keen enjoyment "Juanita," "Juaquina," "Victoriana," and above all "Isabella," the saintly and virtuous, who was equally as skillful in obtaining the nimble sixpence as in raising a brood of mestiza children. There was also "Madre," withered and antiquated, but a born dictator, and through her superior management she came to be known as the top-sergeant. Finally there was Ysabel, with a gentle smile upon her pleasant brunette face, and Estepania, brown-eyed and plump, most beautiful among all the mestiza belles. Isabella's casa was the place to which the eyes of the weary soldier turned after a long and fatiguing drill; afterwards it was the point to which his footsteps inevitably led when he was able to rush in for a few days from the firing line. The house was large and spacious, with polished ebony floors and wide windows through which the balmy zephyrs blew and kissed the heated brow of the tired fighter. Beautiful creepers twisted their way up the wall and stole in at the extensive balcony to catch a taste of the pleasures within; the broadleafed banana palm surrounded the casa and broke the power of the blazing tropic sun. It was, indeed, the one spot in all the East which made the home-loving Utahns feel at home. When away all his secret longings were centered upon that place and its attractions, and his mouth yearned for a renewed acquaintance with the delicate omelets fashioned by the dainty fingers of Pania and the crab brought from the bay by the ubiquitous Peek-a-boo. His mind reverted with gratitude to the anxious solicitations of "Madre" when she learned that he was suffering from a headache and he acutely remembered the healing balm which she applied to his fevered brow. He knew, too, that should he be struck down in death by the bullet of the enemy, what tears of sympathy would be shed at the news of his misfortune.
A FAMILIAR SCENE.
The one source of worriment about the Isabella mansion was the fact that the thirsty soldiers were frequently given an over supply of the deadly vino. Such an occurrence was attended with dire results; but as the motherly "Madre" was blessed with an abundant store of remedies, under her care the victim was soon restored to his mental equilibrium. All soldiers seem gifted with special powers to spend money and as a consequence few of them could command the attention of a penny bootblack twenty-four hours after being paid, but this weakness had no weight with the kindly old dame who carried a large credit roll and could refuse nothing to a Utah soldado. So Isabella's mansion forms a part of the war history of the Utah batteries; and it must be remembered with other and more stirring scenes; for when the thoughts of the Utah soldier stray to the domicile of the Isabella family they are mingled with happy reminiscences and strange memories and tragic sights.