"I'll be mighty well satisfied if we can catch a few of his ragged
men," continued the colonel. "That will be something to have
accomplished, anyhow, and more than some other regiments have done,
when they were sent after him. He's the cutest feller I've heard of in
a long while. If it wasn't for Bill Hickson we'd never hear tell of
him, even. He could enter Manila, I believe, and go out again without
us ever knowin' it at all."
Archie was now called on to tell something of the rebel leader's
appearance, and how he had acted while in the town.
"I didn't see very much of him," said Archie, "because he spent most
of the morning with the big-bugs of the town, over in the
administration building. But when he rode into town on his horse he
looked mighty dignified, though he fell some in my estimation when I
saw him standing up. He looked rather dumpy then. He carried himself
with a lot of dignity, a little more than was becoming, I thought, and
he received the cheers of the people as a matter of course, and hardly
took the trouble to acknowledge them, even by a bow. The officers of
the town treated him with great deference, and I guess there's no
doubt but what the Filipinos look upon him as their leader."
"Oh, there's no doubt of that," said the colonel. "We've learned that
long ago. They stand up for him whenever he needs them, and they give
him all they've got to help carry on the war.
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