Page:Under MacArthur in Luzon.djvu/37

Rh "As you will," grumbled he called Bambo. "But take heed that the unclean ones do not shoot you in the back."

The talking came to an end, and presently Ben saw the native named Riva letting himself down to the ground by means of the rope-like vines. He had a rifle slung over his shoulder and looked exactly what he was, a Filipino sharpshooter.

The young captain during his campaigns in Luzon had picked up a smattering of the Tagalog tongue, and while he did not comprehend all that was said, he understood enough to realize that the pair in the tree had been on guard and that they had seen both himself and Gilmore. Neither could be the man who had fired at them from the brush, and why they had not tried to bring down the Americans on sight was a mystery.

"They must be wanting to capture us alive," thought the young captain. "Perhaps their general is hungry for military {SIC|imformation|information}}. Well, they shan't get anything out of me, dead or alive."

It would have been an easy matter for the young officer to have killed the Tagal on the spot, but Ben was averse to taking the life of even an enemy in cold blood; and besides, he was afraid that a shot