It was plain to see
that the followers of the rebel leader were "in it for what it was
worth." They had no difficulty, any of them, in getting enough to eat,
and often they had opportunities to enjoy themselves in great fashion
by taking possession of some Filipino village and ejecting the inmates
of some particularly fine house, with a well-stocked wine-cellar.
In looking out of the window Archie perceived that the town looked
very different this morning than when he saw it the evening before.
Instead of drawn blinds and shuttered windows, there was everywhere an
evident attempt at decoration in honour of the coming army. The
streets were crowded with a throng in holiday garb, and some of the
soldiers of the rebel army had already arrived, as they could be
easily distinguished by their ragged dress and ridiculous airs,
walking up and down the street. It was all such a scene as Archie had
never seen before, and would have made a great success as the scenario
for a comic opera. But as a welcome to an army, supposedly victorious,
it was a dismal failure, and Archie wondered what General Aguinaldo
would think when he entered the town and saw such shoddy patriotism
everywhere. He hadn't long to wait, however, before seeing the famous
rebel and the effect upon him of the celebration in his honour. It was
about ten o'clock in the morning when he rode into the public square,
followed by about two hundred ragged Filipinos, armed with all sorts
of guns and pistols.
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