back to town; at the same time the rain ceased, the clouds rolled away, and glorious sunshine covered the land, symbolic of the beauty of life beyond the grave.
Samar is one of the large islands of the Philippines group, lying west of the archipelago between Mindanao and Luzon. Catabalogan, on the western slope, is the chief town and capital. Along the coast there is considerable cultivation, but the balance of the island is mountainous, rugged, and sharp, with high precipitous declivities, rocky defiles, and deep gullies, surrounding and entangling which are dense jungles almost impenetrable; such were the haunts of the savage bolo-men, who, like the “Fuzzy Wuzzy” of Kipling, were sociable but full of fight.
An order issued by General Smith read as follows: “All soldiers on the islands of Samar and Leyte must be armed at all times, arise an hour before daybreak and stand under arms till breakfast; any officer whose men shall be surprised through disobedience of these orders will be punished as a court-martial may direct. Scouting parties
must be kept up incessantly, crops destroyed, villages burned, and smugglers killed; the enemy must be made to feel, as General Sherman said, that ‘War is hell.’”
A paragraph from the general’s congratulations on the success of the expedition read: “Success by barefooted Americans began at Valley Forge, and I am proud to know that the same indomitable spirit which won in spite of obstacles, over one hundred years ago, has shown itself in Samar.”
A fleet of small gun-boats captured from the Spanish had been doing yeoman service around Samar, in cutting off supplies to Lukban’s forces from the other islands. They had destroyed hundreds of barotes and burned numerous villages. In fact the Island of Samar was completely blockaded, with the exception of the narrow strip of the Gandarra Straits separating the island from Leyte. A spy in the habit of a friar arrived on the vessel in the darkness of the night, with the information that banco after banco loaded with rice was being smuggled across the straits. Volunteers were called for, to ascend this small channel in a steam-launch.
Having volunteered for this special duty, we set to work at once, our complement consisting of four midshipmen, four marines, and four sailors. Stripping the canopy off the steam-launch, two one-pounders were mounted fore and aft, while a Colt automatic resting on a tripod occupied the centre of the boat. Each man carried, besides his rifle and revolver, a belt containing three hundred rounds of ammunition and an extra bandoleer.
About midnight, with fires secured, we shoved off under cover of darkness for the entrance to the channel. On reaching it we could see, in the distance along its shores, a fire dimly burning; steaming quietly through the stream, closely hugging the shore, about two miles had been covered from the ship, when a cumbersome object was seen drifting across the straits. “Ah! a banco,” was whispered, as if uttered by the voice of a buccaneer. The midshipman in command immediately trained the forward one-pounder as near the water line of the “smuggler” as could be discerned through the gloom. As the coxswain swung
the launch to a port side position in a shallow eddy, the aft one-pounder and Colt automatic were trained for operation.
Each man crouched close to the gunwale as the order to halt was given by the “middy” at the forward gun. This command was replied to by a shot, momentarily followed by a whizzing fusillade of steel-jackets in dangerous proximity, several penetrating the smoke-funnel. As the low bang of the one-pounders rang through the midnight, the sweeping rattle of the Colt automatic played its deadly missiles like rain-drops on a tin roof. Unearthly yells arose from the surface of the straits, as the banco was seen to sink. At this juncture a volley rang out from the opposite shore; turning the Colt in the direction where the flash of the guns could be seen, the beach was swept and jungle riddled, silencing the guns of the enemy. While rescuing a native who in the agony of fear and bewilderment was drowning near the launch, several shots were fired from the jungle on our side of the stream. It being impossible to train the Colt from the position we held, we waded