actually made, but it is doubtful if the Filipinos would have been base enough to carry it out.
“We came in here not to make trouble,” went on the second Spaniard. “We came to learn what the firing means. Are the Americanos coming here in force?”
“They are.”
“Then Santa Cruz is doomed,” groaned the Spaniard. He dropped his hands and began to pace the warehouse floor. “I shall lose much if the city falls. The rebels will burn all my property, for they hate me.”
“I trust not,” answered Larry, his fear of the pair gradually leaving him. “Hark to that!” he added, as the rattle of guns was again heard. “Our men must be coming in fast, and orders are to save everything that can be saved. If the rebels – ”
He broke off short as a cry from Luke reached him. Running to the Yankee sailor he found Luke kicking out vigorously with his foot.
“I couldn’t keep still no longer, nohow!” burst out the old tar. “A plagued rat came right up and wanted to nibble my leg, hang him. Who’s them air fellows out thar?”
But the Spaniards had already followed Larry, and were now gazing at Luke in wonder. “Wounded, not so?” said one. “You were in the fight, then.”
“No, we escaped from the prison,” answered Larry, simply. “We were captured during last night. I wish I was sure we’d be safe here until our soldiers come along.” He turned to the old sailor again. “How do you feel now?”
“Better, Larry, a heap better. But I ain’t ready fer no more foot races jest yet.”
“Then we’ll have to remain here. Or perhaps you had better remain here while I go scouting around and see if I can find some of our soldiers, or the ambulance corps.”
“An’ what o’ these gentlemen?”
“We shall go, too,” said one of the Spaniards. “Your friend will be safe here – if he keeps hidden under the sacks,” he added.
Waiting for the strangers to move first, Larry came behind them, still holding the gun as though the weapon were ready for use. The men had spoken fairly enough, yet there was that about them which did not please Larry in the least. “They are regular rascals, or else I miss my guess,” thought the youth.
The roadway still seemed deserted. But far off they could see the natives flying in several directions. Then from a distance came a cheer which Larry knew could only come from American throats.
“Our soldiers must be over there,” he said to the Spaniards. “Will you come with me?”
The men hesitated, and consulted together in their native tongue. “I do not know what to say,” said one, slowly, and began to follow Larry along the highway. Seeing this, the other came, too.
Suddenly a loud shout came to them from a thicket back of some nipa huts, and instantly a band of insurgents burst into view, armed with guns and bolos. They were firing as they retreated, and made a stand on the opposite side of the road.
“José Lupez!” cried one of the officers of the rebels, addressing one of the two Spaniards. “What do you here?”
“And have I no right here?” asked the Spaniard, sharply.
“Who is that with you?”
“My brother, Benedicto, from Manila, who was visiting me.”
“He has betrayed us into the hands of the Americanos! If he – ”
The rest of the sentence was drown out in a volley of musketry, and two rebels were seen to fall. Some started to run, but others held their ground.
Larry listened in amazement. He had heard the names José Lupez and Benedicto, and knew that the two Spaniards were brothers. Could this Spaniard, Benedicto Lupez, be the man who had made off with the money Braxton Bogg had stolen from the Hearthstone Saving Institution?
CHAPTER VIII
A PRISONER OF THE FILIPINOS
Larry had retreated to a small nipa hut standing close to the roadway, feeling that if the Americans were coming in that direction, they would soon be at hand to give Luke and himself aid.
While the insurgents and the Spaniards were conversing, the latter had approached the hut, and now both followed the young sailor inside.
“Is your name Benedicto Lupez?” demanded Larry, approaching the taller of the pair.
“Yes,” was the short response.
“Then you are from Manila – you ran away from there about two weeks ago?”
“Ha! what do you know of that?” demanded the Spaniard, eying Larry darkly.
“I know a good deal about you,” answered the youth, boldly. “After Braxton Bogg was arrested you made off with the money he had left at your residence.”
“’Tis false!” roared the Spaniard, but his face blanched even as he spoke. “I know nothing of that man or his money. I – I was deceived in him.”
“If that is so, why did you leave Manila in such a hurry?”
“I – I wanted to help my brother, who was in trouble. I have not seen a dollar of Bogg’s money. ’Tis he who still owes me for his board, black wretch that he was!” roared Benedicto Lupez, savagely.
At these words Larry was startled. Was Lupez really telling the truth, and if so, where was the money that had wrecked the saving institution?
“He didn’t even pay his board?”
“Not one piaster, boy, – nothing. And I thought him honest, or I would not have taken him in.”
“But his valise is gone, and the bands around the money – ”
“Were as he left them. I can swear I touched absolutely nothing,” answered Benedicto Lupez, earnestly.
Larry was nonplussed. Had the Spaniard looked less of a villain, the young sailor would have been inclined to believe him. But that face was so crafty and calculating that he still hesitated.
“Well, if you are innocent, you will not object to helping me rejoin our soldiers,” he ventured.
“I want nothing to do with the Americanos, – they mean to get me into trouble, even though I am innocent,” growled Benedicto Lupez. “Come, José, we will go,” he added to his brother, in their native language.
His brother was already at the doorway. The shouting and firing outside was increasing. Leaping forward, Larry caught Benedicto Lupez by the arm.
“You’ll stay here,” he began, when the Spaniard let out a heavy blow which hurled the young sailor flat.
“I will not be held by a boy!” cried the man. “Let go, do you hear?” For Larry had caught him by the foot. The boy’s hold was good, and in a trice Benedicto Lupez lay flat on his back. Then he rolled over and over and a fierce tussle ensued, which came to a sudden end when José Lupez leaped forward and kicked Larry in the head, rendering him partly unconscious.
What
