Suddenly Sydney’s ears caught a dull sound which seemed to come from the direction of the land. He listened intently, his breath held tight. The dawn wind brought to his nostrils the sweet damp smell of earth mingled with the pungent odor of smoke from the early morning fires of the villagers. All lights were extinguished on the “Mindinao” and the midshipman knew that the vessel was, even at a short distance, invisible. Now the sound came distinctly to his ears. It was the steady dip of oars and their rattle in the locks. He could hear the low muffled swish as the blades shook themselves clear of the water. Several of the lookouts reported in whispers the presence of the strange craft. Gradually the sound approached, the boat invisible, while slowly the gray streak of dawn spread in the east. The sound was now located ahead and the boat appeared to be traveling fast, doubtless propelled by both oars and sail. Was it only a fisherman going out early to spread his nets? Or was it the outlaw Espinosa attempting escape, and carrying off Rodriguez’s gold and the more precious treasures, Maria and Juan? Sydney sent one of the men to call Phil to the bridge immediately. CHAPTER XXIII COLONEL MARTINEZ Maria watched with a heavy heart her young friend Phil Perry go cheerfully away to put himself in the hands of the cruel native leader in his endeavor to save the life of a brother officer. “I never expect to see him alive again,” she whispered sorrowfully to her small brother as he stood with big round eyes of wonder gazing at the military preparations for the attack on the insurgent stronghold. The next day she and Juan gazed wistfully after the long column of khaki-clad American soldiers as they filed silently past the ranch house, taking the trail over which she and her American friends had ridden so merrily but a few days before. The guard left at the ranch, consisting of two companies of soldiers, quietly stationed its sentries and took up the monotonous routine of guarding the many supplies which were arriving by boats from Palilo. For several long hours the girl brooded over the situation, wondering how she could aid the friends for whom she had learned to hold a high regard. Bemoaning the fate that had made her a helpless woman, she took Juan by the hand and strolled away up the wooded slope toward the family burying grounds where the body of her father peacefully rested. Reaching the newly made mound she placed upon his grave the handful of flowers which she had gathered. In her heart was a great bitterness. Juan, too young to appreciate the magnitude of his loss, chased gleefully the monkeys which chattered in the trees about him, leaping almost into his arms as they eluded his embrace. Following her brother Maria listlessly strolled farther into the gloom of the forest.