With this opinion in their hearts, it is not to be wondered
at that most of the men became slouchy and careless in their manners
and dress, or that even the officers themselves became disgusted at
the long wait for marching orders.
Things had been going on in this way for a long time, when Archie made
up his mind that it was time he was hustling about and finding
something to write about which would be interesting to readers of the
Enterprise. He had sent two articles describing his life with the
soldiers in the old palace, but he knew that he ought to find
something more exciting, and more like his first articles. So, after
much thought, he decided that a good plan would be for him to take a
little trip into the interior of the island, to see whether he could
find any traces of the insurgents. The colonel had held all along for
a month, now, that the Filipinos were probably all about Manila, and
still he couldn't get the permission of the general in command to go
out and investigate the matter. The colonel figured that it would be
an easy thing for the insurgents to come as near to the city as they
cared to now, for Lawton and Wheeler were far away in the interior
after Aguinaldo, and the troops in Manila were quietly drilling, and
eating, and sleeping, with no thought of doing anything else. This
line of argument seemed very reasonable to Archie, and he volunteered
to go out and see if he could make any discoveries.
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