He ate carefully, however, and was careful not to waste
anything, for he realised that he might be called upon to aid some of
the soldiers before long,
Dinner over, the regiment marched on again, for the officers now began
to think that they had made a mistake in not pursuing the fleeing
rebels the night before. They met several Spaniards, who told them
that Aguinaldo had marched all night long without stopping, so that he
was now at least thirty-six hours ahead of them, and some of the men
began to be discouraged, saying that it was no use following him up
with such a small force. "Other regiments have tried to find him in
this way, and none of them have succeeded," said one of the privates
to Archie. "They keep us marching for three or four days, and finally
they decide to return to Manila, without having found any trace of the
rascal beyond hearing that he had passed this way or that."
The officers couldn't depend upon what the natives told them of
Aguinaldo's movements, for, almost without exception, they were in his
favour, and always lied to the Americans to try to throw them off the
track. It was due to this that they proceeded very cautiously, and
still, notwithstanding their extreme care, they found themselves, when
night came on this first day, in a small village where no one had seen
anything of the rebel army. There was no denying the fact that they
were off the trail, and the colonel stormed about in a terrible way
when he learned of their mistake.
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