CHAPTER IV
THE GAP IN THE FIRING LINE
"Hullo, Lieutenant Horitz has fallen overboard!"
"Pull him out of the mud, before he smothers or drowns!"
Such were some of the cries which arose among the soldiers that filledthe casco. Then Larry was shoved back, and two of them caught hold ofthe legs of the man who had disappeared, as for an instant they showedthemselves. There was a "long pull, a strong pull, and a pullaltogether," and up came the lieutenant, minus his hat and with hisface and neck well plastered with the black ooze of the river bottom.
For a moment after he sank on the seat that was vacated to receive him,he could not speak. One of the soldiers handed him a handkerchief, andwith this he proceeded to clear his eyes and ears, at the same timepuffing vainly to get back his breath. At last he cleared his throatand glared angrily at Larry.
"You--you young whelp!" he fumed. "You--you knocked me over onpurpose!"
"No, sir, I did not," answered the young tar, promptly. "One of thesoldiers shoved me up against you."
"I don't believe you," roared the unreasonable one, as he continued toclean himself off. "You shall pay dearly for this assault, mark me!"
"Didn't you shove me?" asked Larry, appealing to one of the soldiers.
"I shoved you off of my neck, yes," answered the enlisted man. "But Ididn't throw you into Lieutenant Horitz. You did that yourself."
"Of course he did it himself," said another soldier, who did not wishto see his tent-mate get into trouble. "You had it in for thelieutenant ever since he first spoke to you."
"I shall report you the first chance I get," growled LieutenantHoritz. "I reckon you'll find that General Lawton won't allow any suchdisgraceful conduct while he is in command."
"What's the row back there?" came out of the darkness. "Hurry up andget afloat, or we'll cut the rope and leave you to shift foryourselves."
"Our officer was just shoved overboard," answered Snapper, thesoldier who had given Larry the unlucky push. "And we've lost ouroar."
"No, I have the oar," put in Larry, making a clutch into the water forthe article just as it was about to float out of reach. He leaped intothe bow once more, and began to work vigorously, and in a few secondsthey were again afloat.
Fortunately for the lieutenant the night was warm, so he suffered noinconvenience so far as his wet clothing was concerned. But it was nomean task to clean both himself and his uniform, and what to do foranother hat he did not know. He would have taken Larry's headgear hadthat article been anyway suitable, but it was not.
It must be confessed that Larry felt thoroughly ill at ease. Thatthere was trouble ahead went without saying, and he half wishedhimself safe back on the _Olympia_. "He'll make out the worst case hecan against me," he thought. "And his men will back him up in all hesays." Yet he felt that he was guilty of no intentional wrong-doing,and resolved to stand up for himself to the best of his ability.
The lieutenant had learned one lesson--that he knew no more abouthandling the casco than did Larry, if as much, and, consequently, heoffered no more suggestions as to how to run the craft. But he keptmuttering under his breath at the youth, and Larry felt that he wasaching to "get square."
It was early dawn when the casco turned into the lake proper. As thesun came up it shed its light on one of the prettiest sheets of waterLarry had ever beheld. The lake was as smooth as a millpond, andsurrounded with long stretches of marshland and heavy thickets oftropical growth. Fish were plentiful, as could be seen by gazing intothe clear depths below, and overhead circled innumerable birds.Villages dotted the lake shore at various points, but these theexpedition gave a wide berth, setting out directly for Santa Cruz,still several miles distant, behind the hill previously mentioned.
If it had been General Lawton's intention to attack the town from infront in the dark, that plan had now to be changed, and the expeditionturned toward shore at a point at least three miles from the townproper.
But even here the rebels could be seen to be on the alert, and arapid-firing gun was put into action and directed along the lakefront. The gun was manned by some men from the _Napadan_, and did suchwonderful execution that soon the insurgent sentries were seen to befleeing toward the town at utmost speed. Then a small detachment fromsome brush also retreated, and the coast was clear.
It was no easy matter to land, as the water here was shallow and thecascos had to be poled along over the soft mud. The sharpshooters werethe first ashore, and they soon cleared a spot for the others. But afew of the rebels were "game," and as a result one man was wounded,although not seriously. The cavalry remained on the boats, to landcloser to the hill later on.
The landing had consumed much valuable time, and it was now afternoon. A hasty meal was had, and then the column moved off, spreadingout in fan shape as it advanced, the sharpshooters to the front andthe rear, and a number of special scouts on the alert to give thefirst warning of danger. Soon the scouts in front came back with thenews that the insurgents were forming in front of our troops and thatSanta Cruz and its garrison seemed thoroughly aroused to the dangerwhich threatened.
"Forward, boys!" was the cry. "The more time we give them, the betterthey will be prepared to meet us. Forward without delay!" And the"boys" went forward with a wild hurrah, for everything promised well,and they were much pleased to have General Lawton lead them, eventhough they had no fault to find with their other commanders.
The first skirmish began on the extreme right. Some rebels had foundtheir way to a hill behind the town, and they began the attack from apatch of wild plantains, thickly interlaced with tropical vines. Upthe hill after them dashed the right wing, and the sharp rattle ofmusketry resounded upon both sides for the best part of half an hour.Then the rebels broke and ran, and in their eagerness our troopsfollowed them until a point less than two miles from Santa Cruz wasgained. Here the insurgents scattered, and could not be rounded up,and the right wing fell back, to unite with the main body of theexpedition. But the woods were thick, the ground new to the Americans,and in the gathering darkness it was several hours before the firingline was compact once more. Then the expedition rested for the night.
Larry had landed with the soldiers, and, as the other cascos came up,he was speedily joined by Luke Striker and Jack Biddle.
"I wonder what part we air to take in this comin' mix-up?" queriedLuke.
"Like as not they will leave us here to mind the boats," repliedLarry. "I can tell you that I am rather sorry I came along," he addedsoberly.
"Sorry!" ejaculated Jack Biddle. "Surely, Larry, ye ain't afraid--"
"No, I'm not afraid," interrupted the youth. And then he told of thescene in the casco, and of what Lieutenant Horitz had said. When hehad finished, Jack cut a wry face and Luke uttered a low whistle.
"You've run up agin a rock fer sartin, Larry," remarked Luke. "Ireckon he can make things look putty bad for ye if he's of a mind todo it."
"Keep quiet an' say nuthin', an' he may forgit all about it," was JackBiddle's advice.
The boats having been cared for, the sailors followed the soldiersthrough the field and into the woods. All told there were twenty-fivejackies, and by common consent they formed themselves into a companyof their own, with a petty officer named Gordell at their head.Gordell went to General Lawton for directions, and was told to followthe volunteers until given further orders. Each sailor was armed witha pistol and a ship's cutlass.
The march was a hot one, but Larry was now getting accustomed to thetropics and hardly minded this. The little company advanced withcaution, nobody desiring to run into an ambush. Soon the firing on theright reached their ears, and they knew that some sort of anengagement was on. Then came a halt, and presently the darkness ofnight fell over them; and they went into camp beside a tinywatercourse flowing into a good-sized stream which separated theexpedition from the outskirts of Santa Cruz.
Supper disposed of, Larry and Luke Striker took a stroll forward, tofind out what the firing line was really doing
and if the insurgentswere in front in force. "We may have a bigger fight on hand nor any ofus expect," suggested the old Yankee gunner.
"You can trust General Lawton not to run his head into the lion'smouth," returned Larry. "A soldier who has whipped the Apache Indiansisn't going to suffer any surprise at the hands of these Tagals, nomatter how wily they are."
"Don't be too sure o' thet, Larry. The best on us make mistakessometimes," answered the Yankee, with a grave shake of his head. ButGeneral Lawton made no mistake, as we shall speedily see.
As has been said, the right wing had become detached from the mainbody of the expedition during the fight on the hill back of SantaCruz. The firing line of this wing had not yet united with the centre,consequently there was a gap of over a quarter of a mile in the front.Had the Tagalogs known of this they might have divided the expeditionand surrounded the right wing completely, but they did not know, sothe temporary separation did no damage to the soldiers. But that gapbrought a good bit of trouble to Larry and his friend.
On and on went the pair, down a narrow road lined on either side withpalms and plantains and sweet-smelling shrubs. From the hollows thefrogs croaked dismally, and here and there a night bird uttered itslonely cry, but otherwise all was silent.
"Humph, they've pushed the firing line ahead further than I thought,"remarked Luke, after half a mile had been covered. "Here's a smallriver. Do ye reckon as how they went over thet, lad?"
"It must be so," answered the boy. "Certainly, we haven't beenchallenged."
Crossing the rude bridge, they found that the road made a sharp turnto the southward. Beyond was a nipa hut, back of which burnt a smallcamp-fire. Both hut and fire seemed deserted.
"They have cleaned the rebels out from there," said Larry. "Comeahead," and they continued on their way, little dreaming of the trapinto which they were walking.
The nipa hut passed, they came to a tall fence built of bamboo stalks,sharpened at the tops and bound with native rope-vine. Farther onstill were a dozen shelters, and here could be seen several women andchildren sitting in the doorways.
"Perhaps they can give us some information," said Larry, as theyapproached the natives. As soon as they saw the Americans the childrenshrieked dismally and rushed out of sight. But the women held theirground, feeling that they would not be molested.
"See anything of our soldiers?" demanded Luke of the women, but oneand all shook their heads. "No Englees talk," mumbled one, meaningthey did not understand or speak our tongue.
The natives' manner made Larry suspicious, and he glanced aroundhurriedly. As he did so there was a click of a trigger from behindthe bamboo fence.
"_Americanos_ surrender," came in bad English from back of the fence."Surrender quick, or we shoot both dead on the spot!"