The house no longer seemed deserted with this company, and as they had brought supplies for two months--which included bread!--we made an early attack upon these commissaries. Since the troops had left I had been existing on canned salmon and sardines. Now there were cheese, guava, artichokes, mushrooms, ham, bacon, blackberry-jam, and fruits. The captain, natural detective that he was, caught one of the _muchachos_ stealing a bottle of cherries, which he had thrown out the window during the unpacking, with the purpose of securing it next day. On being accused, he made a vigorous protest of his innocence, but after a few minutes he returned triumphantly with the intelligence that he had "found" that which was lost. A heavy rain and the tail-end of a monsoon kept my two guests prisoners for a week. The _presidente_ of the town had issued a _bandilla_ that all able-bodied men were wanted to enlist in the constabulary. Accordingly came awkward natives to the house, where the interpreter examined them; for all the Spanish that the genial captain knew--and he had lived already two years in the Philippines--was "bueno," "malo," "saca este," and "sabe that?" The candidates were measured, and, if not found wanting, were turned over to the native tailor to be fitted with new uniforms. Some of the applicants confessed that they had once been Insurrectos; but so much the better,--they knew how to fight. They said that they were not afraid of Moros--though I think that they would rather have encountered tigers--and when finally dressed, a few days later, they appeared upon the streets self-conscious, objects of adoration in the eyes of all the local belles. The time came when the mists dissolved upon the mountains, and the little clouds scudded along overhead as though to get in from the rain. The sun had struggled out for a few minutes, and the wind abated. But the sea had not forgotten recent injuries, and all night we could hear the booming of the surf. The launch, drowned in a nebula of spray, dashed by, and sought an anchorage in safer waters. So it was decided that we go to Cagayan in a big _banca_. But it was a most unwieldly craft to launch. We got the arms and ammunition safe aboard, and then, assisted by the sturdy corporals and miscellaneous natives, we pushed out. A rushing comber swept the boat and nearly swamped it. But we bore up till about a hundred yards from shore, when a gigantic breaker bearing down upon the _banca_--which had been deflected so as to present a broadside--filled her completely, and she went down in the swirling spume. Up to our necks in surf, we labored for an hour, together with the population of the fishing village, finally to save the wretched boat and most of the constabulary ordnance.