Page:Under MacArthur in Luzon.djvu/326

294 say anything of my brother, Walter Russell, who was once the captive of José Lupez?"

"Yes, yes! He had a letter from José and in that José said the sailor boy was still in his power. He told Benedicto that he would keep the sailor boy a prisoner, and if Benedicto got into a bad corner, to call upon you, and get you to help him—or else the sailor boy would be tortured and killed."

"The wretch!" burst out the young major, and could not help but shiver; "I see through his plot. Perhaps he thought that at some time he could bribe me, through Walter, to aid Benedicto to escape from the American authorities."

"That is the point, Señor Russell; he is a deep one, trust my word for it."

A look of bitterness crossed Ben's face. "If this is true, it will go hard with my brother, now Benedicto Lupez is free. I should not be surprised if my brother was killed when the two Lupezes get together—they are so down on all of us." He paused for a moment. "How far is Neritas from here?"

This question Marbon could not answer, but the young major learned from others that the village was thirty miles to the southeast of Manila. For two-thirds of this distance the country was clear of