“‘To All Local Officers:
“‘You will not permit any maps to be made or notes to be taken of strategic points by Americans or foreigners; nor will you allow them to become acquainted with the points of defence; you will endeavour to report immediately to this Government any suspicious persons; you will make your investigations secretly, accompanying suspected persons and feigning that their investigations are approved, and finally when it shall seem to you that such suspected persons have finished their work, you will advise without loss of time, in order that their notes may be seized.’
“Despite this order the Americans were able to inform themselves very thoroughly of the forces in the Valley and its state of defence, and Filipinos were not lacking who for a few pesos would put them abreast of all information regarding the plans and projects of Aguinaldo’s government.”
Relative to this Wilcox-Sargent trip Taylor says:—
“In October and November, 1898, Paymaster W. B. Wilcox, U.S.N., and Naval Cadet L. R. Sargent, U.S.N., travelled through Northern Luzon from which they returned with a favourable impression of the government which had been set up by Aguinaldo’s agents.
“It was realized by the subtle men whom they met that it was highly expedient that they should make a favourable report and accordingly they were well received, and although constant obstacles were thrown in the way of their seeing what it was not considered well for them to see yet the real reasons for the delays in their journey were carefully kept from them. At least some of their letters to the fleet were taken, translated, and sent to Aguinaldo, who kept them, and constant reports upon them and their movements were made.”
Blount refers to the fact that Mr. Sargent tells a characteristic story of Villa,[19] whose vengeful feeling toward the Spaniards showed on all occasions.
It would doubtless have interested the travellers to know that the “robbery” consisted in taking the funds out of the province to save them from falling into Villa’s hands, and in paying them to soldiers in Nueva Vizcaya to whom money was due. It would further have interested them to know that this unfortunate Spaniard had been twice tortured within an inch of his life by Villa.
But let us continue our interrupted narrative:—
“The presence of the Americans in Ilagan soon freed us from certain forms of savagery and barbarous intentions on the part of Villa. There can be no doubt that the tyrant was constantly cudgelling his brains to invent new methods of showing his contempt for the friars; at the unlucky time we write of he conceived the infamous plan of ordering a circular enclosure of cane to be made, put a pig into it—we trust the reader will pardon the details—with a bell hung to his neck, blindfolded the priests and compelled them to enter the enclosure with sticks in their hands, and in this ridiculous attitude, obliged them to strike about when the sound of the bell appraised them of the animal’s proximity; it is obvious that the principal purpose of the fiendish Villa was to have the priests lay about them in such a way as to deal each other the blows instead of the pig. The tyrant also had the idea of making us and the other priests in Ilagan parade the streets of that town dancing and playing the band. The wish to consummate his plan was not lacking but he was deterred by the presence of the Americans and the arguments of Sr. Sabas Orros to whom we also owed the signal favour that Villa did not take us to our prisons at Tumauini and Gamut on foot and with our clothing in a bundle at our backs.”