CHAPTER XVI
DATTO HAKKUT MAKES A NEW MOVE
To the civilian mind, being sent forward purposely to draw the enemy'sfire, looks like "ticklish" business.
Yet it is better to risk a few men rather than sacrifice many. It is onthe same principle that a "point" of several men is always sent inadvance of the larger body when moving supposedly in the face of theenemy. The "point" often draws disastrous fire upon itself, but thelarger body of troops is saved from catastrophe.
The soldier accepts calmly this work of going out ahead to draw apossible enemy's fire. It's "all in the game," as he understands it.
Of course, when troops are sent out only for the purpose of drawingfire, these troops withdraw, if necessary, as soon as they attract theenemy's fire to themselves, and thus locate the enemy.
Sergeant Hal Overton kept at the right of his thin, sparse line of menas they moved forward.
Every man had his eyes ahead; each was watching for the first sign oftrouble.
When the line had reached a plane within a hundred yards of the edge ofthe woods the soldiers expected, momentarily, to hear the signal shot,then the first scattering shots, followed by the heavy, crashingvolleys.
Yet they passed this point safely and went on. The edge of the woods wasgained, still without provoking hostile shots. It would have looked toone untrained in the art of war as though there were no enemy there. Butthis handful of soldiers knew better than to jump at any suchconclusion. The Moros, like the Tagalos and Pampangos, are fond ofgetting an enemy at close quarters, and then leaping on him with coldsteel. The Tagalo or Pampango fights with the bolo, the Moro often withthe creese, and with all these brown-skinned men the game is thesame--to leap up unexpectedly, from the tall grass, before the soldierhas had time to throw himself on his guard.
A swift, short-armed cutting movement--a mere slash, delivered withmuscular effort, and the soldier is gashed across the abdomen. Afterthis cutting has been effectively delivered the white fighting manusually sinks down in a pool of his own blood, and his fighting days arelikely to be over.
Small wonder that Uncle Sam's infantrymen prefer facing native bulletsto native steel! The bolo man, or the sword man, is the soldier'sgreatest aversion. It is like fighting rattlesnakes!
Glancing down the line, Sergeant Hal saw one or two of the newer menflinch slightly.
"Steady, there!" Hal called, in an easy but business-like tone. "If westrike the rascals an unbroken line is the one hope for us all."
They had now reached the woods, but no halt was made. The boyishsergeant, who knew his business, marched his little command about sixhundred yards under the trees.
Still no Moros were encountered.
Then Hal turned his line to the left, marching on through the woods. Inthis manner, in less than an hour, he had thoroughly explored theterritory near the Seaforth plantation, and had returned to the pointwhere his command had first entered the forest.
"Halt!" ordered the young sergeant. "Fall out, but don't scatter."
Then Overton stepped to the edge of the woods, waving his hat. In thedistance Lieutenant Prescott, with his own hat, returned the signal.Then Hal, using one arm in place of a signal flag, wig-wagged theinformation:
"We have thoroughly scouted all about your position, and find no sign ofan enemy."
From the lieutenant came the answer, wig-wagged by arm:
"Good! March your men in."
"I have allowed men to fall out and rest," Hal answered. "They are tiredafter their hike."
"Rest your men five minutes, then march them in," replied LieutenantPrescott.
"Very good, sir," Hal signaled.
Exactly five minutes later, Overton commanded:
"Fall in! By twos right, march!"
Within the hour several of the former Moro laborers on the plantationreturned. They reported that the Datto Hakkut and some three hundred menwere on the march, miles away and evidently headed for the mountains.
"These men are honest and loyal, Lieutenant," explained Mr. Seaforth."They are my regular laborers. Of course, when the attack came those whocould not reach the house took to their heels. But these natives, likemany Moros, are dependable. They are not to be classed with the idle,vicious cut-throats that follow the datto."
"Hm!" replied Lieutenant Prescott, politely, but he scanned all of thesereturned natives, keenly. None of them, however, showed any wounds, orbore any other signs of having seen recent military service with thedatto.
"Mr. Seaforth," said the young officer, presently, "I am going to followthe course laid down by Captain Cortland, and return to Bantoc with thegreater part of my command. I shall, however, leave Sergeant Dinsmoreand a dozen men here. I urge that all the white people of the plantationreturn with me to town."
"You can take the women with you, Lieutenant, if you will," replied theplanter, "but we men feel that we should stay here and make every effortto go on running the plantation."
"If you do not think it too dangerous, Mr. Seaforth."
"No; I can trust my laborers, and they tell me that Hakkut and hisrascals appear really bent on reaching the mountains."
"But if they go to the mountains, you know, they go only that they maybe more secure until they have recruited other brown rebels. If Hakkutcan get enough men together, he will attempt to carry fire and bloodshedeven into Bantoc."
"Let the women go with you, and we men will stay here," was theplanter's decision.
Half an hour later the column, minus Sergeant Dinsmore and his squad,swung off on the return march. A wagon had been provided for conveyingthe dead soldiers, another for the wounded, and a third vehicle for thewomen.
Four hours later the column was at barracks, from which the women wereescorted into Bantoc, where there was a military guard, and where theycould stop with friends.
Just before dark an escort of twenty men, guarding two wagons, marchedinto Bantoc. Sergeant Hal had asked and secured permission to head theescort, for he wanted to see his chum, Sergeant Noll Terry.
"Well, so you've been doing some real fighting," demanded Noll in a toneof friendly envy.
"Yes," assented Hal.
"The Moros are not such very classy fighters, are they?"
"They're good enough for me," Hal Overton answered. "I don't mind theirrifle fire, but I can do very well with the least possible number ofbrushes against their cold steel."
"But our fellows have their bayonets."
"Yes; but wait until you have to face a rush against those murderouscreeses. I can't tell you much about it. It sounds tame in the telling,Noll, but you'll know all about it when you have to go up against it.How have things been here in Bantoc?"
"Bad," Noll replied, with a shake of his head.
"Any serious trouble?"
"No; no fighting. For that matter, I think most of the Moros here inBantoc like us well enough, and are disposed to be orderly," repliedTerry thoughtfully. "Of course they're the more peaceable part of thepopulation, anyway. On the other hand, there are plenty of Moros here inBantoc who don't hesitate to let us see how sullen and restless theyare. Only a spark is needed, or maybe only a secret word from the datto,and two or three hundred ugly fellows here in Bantoc will try to get theupper hand, or else take to the brush with Hakkut."
"We're going to have a warm time here before we're through, I think,"replied Sergeant Hal, with a shake of his head.
"What puzzles me," muttered Noll, "is why the government doesn't sendtroops enough here to wind up the thing in short order. The whole ofour first battalion of the Thirty-fourth, for instance, ought to takethe field at once, backed by a platoon of light artillery. We ought tobe sent to chase Hakkut clean across the island and into the ocean onthe other side of Mindanao."
"It's not for me to criticize the government, or to say what it ought todo," Hal rejoined.
"Yet I can understand, lads, that you're puzzled," broke in the quietvoice of Lieutenant Holmes behind them. "You wonder, both of you, whythe government doesn't u
se more force. Have you any idea of the greatnumber of troops we already have here in the islands? As it is, it takesan Army corps to keep the natives in anything resembling order. Yet, ofcourse, the government, in this especial case, could exert itself andsend an expedition of a regiment of infantry, a squadron of cavalry andtwo batteries of light artillery, say, against Datto Hakkut."
"That would be enough to wind these rebels up in short order, sir,"murmured Hal.
"No; it would do nothing of the sort," smiled Lieutenant Holmes. "Hakkutand his crew would laugh at us. What would happen? The rebels woulddisperse, and soon show up at their homes, all through this island. Asfor Hakkut, he would go into hiding. He always is in hiding when heisn't in the field defying us. I don't know whether you sergeants knowit, but it's a fact that no American Army officer has ever seen Hakkut.He never shows himself, and his hiding place is a good one, for noAmerican knows where it is. So our big expedition that might go outagainst Hakkut would find none of these rebels to fight. After thetroops of the big expedition had been withdrawn, however, then Hakkutand his land pirates would come out again at their own convenience."
"Wouldn't it break up Hakkut's game altogether, sir, if the governmentkept enough troops here to be able to send a crushing force against himwhenever he raised his hand?"
"Possibly it might," nodded Lieutenant Holmes; "but to police all of thePhilippine Islands in that fashion we'd have to make the United StatesArmy three times as large as it is to-day--and then station the wholeArmy in these islands. On the other hand, our present plan of keepingsmall forces at different points, and sending out small expeditions atneed, shows the natives that we don't take them very seriously. We alsoshow them that a hundred of Uncle Sam's regulars is a pretty large forcefor them to attempt to fight. By attacking the Moros with smallexpeditions we keep alive and always before them the fact that we knowone of our regulars to be equal to several of their pirates."
Both sergeants saluted as Holmes moved on.
"Maybe the lieutenant is right," muttered Noll thoughtfully. "But thepresent way of fighting these wretches is pretty expensive in the matterof soldiers' lives."