After avenging her lover’s death, Marie returned again to Manila where she remained at home until the Filipino uprising against the American troops in the spring of 1899. During this interval of nine months, she daily frequented the places of rendezvous of the American troops stationed in and around Manila. She also went to the officers’ homes in the city where their wives and children were stopping. She did their washing, and cared for the children. Her congeniality made her a favorite. Some of the American ladies offered to bring her back to America with them for a house-hold servant.
From them she learned to speak the English language nearly as fluently as Spanish. The American soldiers were kind and polite to her. She made considerable money by doing washing for them. It was noticeable that she was gradually improving the old bamboo home in Manila. In a few months she had come into possession of more money than she thought there was in the entire world. Most of it was American gold—largely in five dollar denominations. (This is what the United States used in paying the soldiers.) These she took to the Spanish bank in Manila and exchanged them for Mexican silver, which, until the United States began to issue special coins for the Philippine islands, was the standard medium of exchange in the archipelago.
Marie began to dress better. Her penia cloth gave way to Chinese silks; her wooden hair combs to expensive ones inlaid with gold, bought at the Spanish bazar down town. Many little comforts were bought for her home. Still the washings kept growing larger. She and her mother could be seen back of their shack, in the shade, pounding American soldiers’ white uniforms on large boulders from early morning till night.
Aguinaldo, who had previously sold out his country and gone to Singapore, after commissioning Dimiguez, upon hearing that war was about to begin between the United States and Spain, made his way northward to Hongkong. After the battle of Manila Bay, Dewey despatched the revenue cutter, “McCulloch,” to Hongkong to cable home the news of his splendid victory. On her return to Manila, she permitted Aguinaldo to come along.
Aguinaldo
After a brief conversation with Admiral Dewey on board the “Olympia,” he went ashore at Cavite, his boyhood home, began to organize the Filipinos into a powerful army, captured 1500 Spanish soldiers who were holding out-lying posts, and hemmed in the city of Manila.
On August 13, following, Dewey and General Merritt, by a union of their forces, captured the city of Manila which offered but slight resistance. Aguinaldo’s native troops rushed forward with the Americans in the charge that was made by the land forces and they insisted on looting the city. General Merritt refused this and ordered them to withdraw beyond the city limits. This they did after considerable wrangling. Then the Americans established out-posts on every road and pathway leading to and from the city, completely around the town; and they were given instructions by the commanding officer not to allow any Filipino troops to enter the city.
Aguinaldo discarded his uniform one evening, completely disguised himself as a Filipino fruit-vender, and made his way into Manila. Naturally, he slipped around to the home of his old friends, the Sampalits. He sat in a semi-darkened room, with all the hinged-windows to the shack tightly closed and stroked Marie’s soft black hair with his left hand. As he engaged her and her mother in conversation in subdued tones, he little thought that in so short a time Marie would be associated with him in a series of bloody tragedies that would revolutionize the government of the islands forever.