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270 "I don't know what I am going to do. I feel awfully lonely, now Walter is gone."

"Perhaps you had better apply for a position on the ship with Larry," answered Ben; and this Si did, when he was strong enough for active service. Larry hailed him as a brother, and soon made him feel perfectly at home.

Biloguana was forty-five miles away from the nearest American garrison, but determined to find out what had become of Walter at any cost, the young captain applied for permission to visit the town, taking with him his own company and a detachment under Gilbert Pennington. The proceedings were somewhat irregular, but Ben's record was first class, and General MacArthur gave the necessary consent.

General Lawton's command had been withdrawn to the vicinity of Manila, and the gallant commander himself had met death on the battlefield at San Mateo, on December 19, in the midst of a violent storm, and when the Filipino sharpshooters were out in force. Our troops were now scattered, holding many garrisons in Luzon and also isolated points in various other islands. Where Aguinaldo was nobody knew, but it was a fact that the death of his little child had been followed by the surrender of his beloved wife,