Exploits and adventures of a soldier ashore and afloatAdams, William Llewellyn
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Exploits and adventures of a soldier ashore and afloat
Adams, William Llewellyn
Adams, William Llewellyn; Americans -- Foreign countries; United States. Army -- Military life
As I hiked along the lonely trail, my thoughts were centred on my
friend Jim Iddles. I could imagine his lifeless form lying cold in
abhorrent demise, and conjectured how if alive we were to escape the
punishment of a general court-martial. After many miles of tiresome
travel, I was hailed from a branch trail by a friendly Moro, a dwarf
of the mountains, whose abode was in the village of Panay and who
frequently visited the outpost, selling produce and game. This
diminutive spirit of the forest, who reminded me of the elves in
Irving’s Rip Van Winkle, aimed straight for me, cutting his way
through the jungle with his kreese. He greeted me with the customary
“Amigo Americano,” and informed me that he had been sent out in search
of me by the commanding officer of marines at Polloc. Leading the way,
I followed him in single file along the trail through banana groves
and jungle where parrots and monkeys were numerous. After a weary
hike, I spied “Old Glory” waving in the breeze from the old Spanish
blockhouse at the outpost; as we drew near, I could see the soldiers
gazing intently in my direction; the sentry had spied us and aroused
the camp. After a cheer and a hearty handshake from the boys, my
mental agitation was relieved when informed that Iddles had been found
in Amadao about midnight, by a detachment that had been sent out from
the garrison.
Iddles was found asleep in a Moro shack, in front of which patrolled a
Moro sentry carrying Jim’s rifle, belt, and six-shooter.
After relating part of my adventure to the boys, the garrison was
informed of my safety, and in a few hours the commandant and captain
of marines were on the scene to ascertain the facts connected with our
absence. Meanwhile both Jim and myself, looking the worse for wear,
policed ourselves to a high degree of soldierly immaculateness, and
after a confab it was decided that I should act as spokesman on the
arrival of the officers.
The story we framed was this: that, having followed the bark of a deer
for a considerable distance in the jungle, we lost our bearings (“lost
our bearings” was good!), and, differing in opinion as to the
direction of the camp, we were each directed by the influence of our
respective opinions, resulting in both getting lost. The circumstances
in connection with the finding of James had been withheld from the
officers; while my experience had been only partly related to the men,
they having heard that I departed from the valley mounted on a caribou
driven by a Filipino.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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