CHAPTER XXII.
RETURN TO HEADQUARTERS--A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR, WITH PERMISSION TO RETURN TO NEW YORK--BILL HICKSON GOES, TOO.
ARCHIE left the cruiser when she was once more at anchor, and, goingashore to the American camp, he found things in a very lively conditionat the close of the afternoon's battle. Every man was very jubilant overthe retreat which had been turned into a great victory, and Archie wascongratulated on having been the lucky man to carry the news of thecoming of the rebels to the admiral. The officers were all in the bestof humour, except the colonel, who felt somewhat sad on account of thedeath of his five faithful servants, as the men first shot turned out tohave been.
"There were never any better men than they," said the colonel, "and Iwould almost as soon my own men had been shot." But he bore the ship'scompany no malice for their mistake, which he said was a very naturalone.
After the capture of so many rebels, and the killing of so many others,it was felt that the rebel army in this part of the island was prettywell disbanded, and that it would soon disappear altogether. It had beenknown, from the very beginning of hostilities, that there was a largeforce of insurgents somewhere in this neighbourhood, but not untilto-day had the colonel seen anything of them. But it was impossible, allthe officers said, that there could be any more troops about, for thesetwo thousand represented a very considerable portion of the entire rebelarmy. And now that these were done away with, the colonel said therewas no need of his remaining any longer in this place, and that he wouldlike to get back to Manila as quickly as possible. Hearing this, theadmiral said he thought room could be made for all the men aboard thecruiser, and that they could all return at once if they so desired. Thisgenerous offer was at once accepted by the colonel, and the next day thework of embarkation began. By night every man was aboard, and a placeof some kind had been found where he could sleep, but of course, everyportion of the vessel was much overcrowded. This only made things allthe more lively, however, and Archie, as well as all the others, thoughthe had never enjoyed any trip so much as these three days spent ingetting back again to Manila. There was always fun of some sort goingon. If some one wasn't dancing, there was sure to be singing. And thenthere were several ingenious games which were invented for the occasion,so that time never passed slowly. Indeed, there were many who were sorrywhen the capital was finally reached, but Archie was not among these,for he expected some mail to be awaiting him from the editor of theEnterprise. And he hoped that in this mail he would find permission toreturn to New York.
All officials were very much surprised when the cruiser anchored offCavite, but the admiral explained that he thought it no use to spendmore time in touring the island, even though the month which it wassupposed to take him had not yet expired. He said that he felt surethere were no more insurgent villages along the coast, because it wasperfectly evident, from all signs, that the rebels were all in onedivision. And this division, of course, had been vanquished four dayspreviously.
When the report of the engagement went the rounds there was muchenthusiasm, for it was felt that at last some progress was being madeagainst the insurgents. The admiral was a popular hero at once, andArchie, with Bill Hickson, was again the centre of admiration andinterest in the old palace, where they both returned.
Archie was surprised to find no mail awaiting him, but he was notdiscouraged, and wrote two long articles to send to the Enterprise. Onedescribed the great engagement, and the other was descriptive of thedaily life aboard ship upon the return to Manila. These articles, withthe others he had written during the latter part of the cruise, weresent off at once, and Archie felt confident that they would be readwith great interest by Mr. Van Bunting. And now the days passed verypleasantly in Manila. He had a great deal to tell his comrades in theold regiment, for none of them had been out of Manila since he left,and were very anxious indeed to hear about the events of theround-the-island tour. And Archie was very willing to tell them all hecould, for he had been much interested in the entire voyage, and nevertired of talking about it.
Still, while things were very pleasant, and he was having a good time inmany ways, Archie was very anxious to see New York again and to get backto America. And then, what was even more important with him, was theknowledge that he would certainly be allowed to visit his mother uponhis return. Therefore he was a very happy boy when he one day receivedtwo letters from the Enterprise office, one from Mr. Van Bunting,and one from Mr. Jennings. They were both very encouraging and veryfriendly. Mr. Van Bunting wrote to tell Archie how delighted they allhad been with his success in finding interesting things to write about,and he enclosed a check for three hundred dollars, which he thought"would come in handy now." The letter from Mr. Jennings was of laterdate, and stated that he had prevailed upon Mr. Van Bunting to allowArchie to return to New York, to work upon the Evening Enterprise. Itwas a very delightful letter, Archie thought. "We believe," wrote Mr.Jennings, "that we can use you here to very good advantage, and we willbe glad to have you return as soon as possible. I enclose two hundreddollars to pay your expenses home again."
So now it was all settled that Archie was to leave Manila for New York,and, now that it was sure he was going, he felt somewhat reluctant toleave the soldiers with whom he had become friendly, and to get awayfrom all this life of adventure which had been so interesting and sodelightful in many ways. It was hard, too, to leave the dear old palacein Manila, through which he had wandered so often, and every roomof which had for him some story of a Spanish prince or a greatgovernor-general, wealthy and wise. There would be none of all this athome or in New York, but then there would be something better; therewould be mother, and the old grape arbour, and the Hut Club.
On investigation, Archie found that the quickest way to get home wouldbe to travel by way of Hong Kong and Yokohama, taking the steamer fromthere to San Francisco. It would take him more than a month to makethe trip, and, as it was now the second week in March, he could hardlyexpect to reach New York before the first of May. He at once cabledMr. Jennings that he would leave at once for Hong Kong, and receivedan answer telling him to do so by all means, and to continue to writeletters describing his trip. Archie knew that these letters wouldprobably not reach New York any sooner than he would, but he did writethem, anyhow, and he did see some of them appear in the paper after hisarrival.
Archie was overjoyed to learn one day that Bill Hickson had receivedpermission from the commanding general to return to the United States,and he at once hunted up the bashful hero, and insisted that he leave atonce, and make the trip with him. This was finally agreed to, and whenit was settled that the two old chums were to travel homeward togetherthe whole camp in Manila was interested in the news. They were bothvery popular, and almost every night before their departure there was apleasure party of some kind arranged for them. One night they would givea regular "stag," as they called them, and then again they would arrangea sort of musicale, at which there would be clog-dancing, banjo music,and various games to increase the fun.
The four days passed very quickly indeed, and at last the day forsailing arrived. There was a great throng at the pier to see them off,and there was no end of good wishes and stories of the good times nowgone by. When the steamer finally moved out into the open, there werethree cheers each for Archie and "brave Bill Hickson," in which everyman appeared to join with all his heart and voice. And there were tearsin Archie's eyes at having to part from such true friends. It was hardto tell, too, when he would ever see any of them again. He realisedthat hereafter his path and theirs would probably lie in differentdirections. He was going to New York to work as a reporter, and they, ifthey were not killed in battle, would be scattered in all parts of thegreat United States, at the mustering out of the troops. It was all verysad, and even Bill Hickson seemed to feel the solemnity of the occasion,for he had nothing to say for many hours after the vessel had started onits journey.
Archie, too, felt homesick at having to leave, and they went to bed veryearly, apparently
feeling that the best thing under such circumstanceswas to be asleep. And when morning came they both felt somewhat better,for Archie arose filled with hope for the future, and more anxious thanever to reach home. Bill Hickson, too, was not loath to return to theUnited States, even though he had no relatives waiting there towelcome him. The poor fellow had been through a great deal while in thePhilippines, and his constitution was almost wrecked by the constantstrain to which he was subjected. He had never fully recovered from hisaccident of several weeks before, and he felt that he needed a rest fromthe constant excitement and worry of life in the army. He was tired,too, of being a spy. He had never relished the work, but he had realisedhow necessary it was for the Americans to have some one to follow upAguinaldo and let the general know of his movements. "They'll be a longtime catching him now," he said, time and again, to Archie. "He's a muchshrewder man than they think, and he knows his Philippine Islands likea book. He can go from one place to another without the Americans everknowing where he disappeared to, and without some one to follow him theywill never be able to learn anything of his movements."
Bill had received nearly two hundred dollars in back pay, so he feltquite rich, and Archie told him that if he should happen to run out, andneed more money, he would be very glad to furnish it to him, For Archiewas now determined to take Bill Hickson to New York, and introduce himto Mr. Van Bunting, feeling sure that the wise editor would thank himfor bringing to his attention a man at once so interesting and so worthyas this hero of the war had proved himself to be. But for the presentBill would discuss nothing of the kind. He was thoroughly content tosit beside Archie on the warm steamer deck, and watch the ever variedsurface of the Indian Ocean.