Page:Under MacArthur in Luzon.djvu/72

52 caught sight of a woman, clad in native attire and carrying a little girl in her arms.

"Alto! (Stop!)" he called, in Spanish, and added hastily, "Are you alone?"

At the question the woman gave a slight scream. "I beg of you, Americano, no shoot!" she wailed, in the Tagalog dialect. "No shoot! I have harmed nobody!"

"Are you alone?" repeated the young captain, and took a step closer, at which the little girl began to cry violently.

"Yes, I am alone," answered the woman. "Oh, good señor, you will not harm little Muro and myself?"

"No, I will not harm you, my good woman. But where did you come from?"

"From Taytay."

"And what are you doing here?"

"The soldiers are at Taytay—they are fierce—they shoot and kill—I thought we would not be safe, so I took Muro and ran into the jungle."

"The American soldiers are at Taytay? How far is that from here?"

"Not a very long walk, señor. Oh, the war is dreadful—we are very much afraid!" And the