A Question Of Time
: Anting-anting Stories"The native pilot who is to take the gunboat Utica around from Ilo Ilo
to Capiz is a traitor. I have just discovered indisputable proofs of
that fact. He has agreed to run the gunboat aground on a ledge near
one of the Gigantes Islands, on which a force of insurgents is to
be hidden, large enough to overpower the men on the gunboat in her
disabled condition. Do not let her leave Ilo Ilo until you have a
new pilot, and
"Demauny."
Captain James Demauny, of the American army in the Philippine Islands,
folded the dispatch which he had just written, and sealed it. Then,
calling an orderly to him he said, "Send Sergeant Johnson to me."
Captain Demauny's company was then at Pasi, a small inland town in
the island of Panay. He had been dispatched by the American general
commanding at Ilo Ilo, the chief seaport of Panay, to march to
Capiz, a seaport town on the opposite side of the island, to assist
from the land side a small force of Americans besieged there by the
natives, while the gunboat Utica was to steam around the northeastern
promontory of the island and cooperate from the water side of the town,
in its relief.
The distance across the island was about fifty miles, while that
by water, by the route which the Utica must traverse, was about two
hundred miles. Captain Demauny, starting first, had covered half the
march laid out for him, without incident, until, halting at Pasi,
half way across the island and well up in the mountains, he had been
so fortunate as to obtain the information which he was about to send
back to the commander at Ilo Ilo. Panay had been, up to this time, one
of the most quiet islands in the group. He had met with no opposition
in his march, so far, and it was believed that the only natives on
the island who were under arms were those living in the northeastern
part of the territory. It was a force of these that had invested Capiz.
"Sergeant Johnson, sir," the orderly reported.
"Very well. Send him in."
A young man, wearing a faded brown duck uniform, tightly buttoned
leggings, and a wide-rimmed gray hat, entered the tent.
"I have sent for you, sergeant," said Captain Demauny, "for two
reasons. One is that I want a man who is brave, and one whom I
can trust."
The sergeant bent his head slightly, in acknowledgement of the implied
compliment, his cheeks looking a trifle darker shade of brown, where
the blood had flushed the skin beneath its double deep coat of tan.
"The other reason," the officer went on, "is that I want a man of
whose muscle and endurance as a runner, and whose skill as a boatman,
I have had some proof."
In spite of the difference in rank, and the seriousness of the
situation, which the officer knew and the man guessed, the two men
looked at each other and smiled. For one was a Harvard man, and the
other had come from Yale.
"The gunboat Utica is to leave Ilo Ilo at midnight, tonight. It is
of the very greatest importance that this dispatch," handing him
the letter, "be delivered to the American general at Ilo Ilo before
the vessel gets under way. I entrust it to you, to see that it is
delivered.
"You ought to have no trouble in getting there in ample season," the
captain continued, spreading out a map so that the other man could see
it. "I cannot spare any men for an escort for you, because my force
is already far too small for what we have to do. Instead of following
back the road we took in coming here--which would be impassable for
any one but a man on foot, even if I had a horse for you, which I
have not--I think you can make better time by another route.
"Six miles from here," pointing to the map, "you will reach the same
river which we crossed at a point farther up the stream. Get a boat
there and go down the river some fifteen or twenty miles, until you
come to a native village built at the head of steep falls in the
stream. I am told that until you reach there the river is navigable,
and that the current is so swift much of the way that you can make
rapid progress. At that village you will have to leave your boat,
but from that place you will find a clearly marked path to Ilo Ilo.
"The quicker you start, the better; and, as I have told you, I trust
it to you to see that the general has the dispatch before the Utica
leaves port."
It was ten o'clock in the forenoon when the sergeant had been sent
for to come to headquarters. Half an hour later he had started, the
letter tightly wrapped in a bit of rubber blanket before he had placed
it inside his jacket, for he had already had enough experience with
the native boats to know how unstable they would be in the current
of a rapid river.
The five miles from Pasi to the river were easily made, in spite of
the fact that it was midday, for there was a good path, which, for
nearly all the distance, was shaded by lofty trees. When he reached
the river the sergeant bought from a man whom he found there a native
"banca," for three dollars, a sum of money which would make a native
rich. In this boat he started on his voyage down the river.
A native "banca" is a "dug-out," a canoe hollowed out from the trunk
of a tree. It is propelled and guided by a short, broad-bladed paddle,
and is as unstable as the lightest racing shell, although not any
where nearly so easy to send through the water.
It was unfortunate for the sergeant that he did not know--what
he could not, since the map did not show it--that the place where
the path touched the river first was on the upper side of a huge
"ox-bow" bend. If he had kept on by land, a third of a mile's walk
farther through the swamp would have brought him to the river again,
at a point to reach which by water, following the river's windings,
he would have to paddle three or four miles.
Another thing which was unfortunate; that he could not know the
nature of the man from whom he bought the "banca," any better than
he could know the nature of the river, and so did not suspect that he
was dealing with a "tulisane," to whom the little bag of money which
the officer had shown when he had paid for the boat had looked like
boundless wealth, to see which was to plan to possess.
A "tulisane" is to the Philippine Islands what a brigand is to Italy,
a bandit to Spain, a highwayman to England, and a train-robber to
America; a man who lives by his wits, and stops at no means to gain
his object. The "banca," by the way, was stolen property.
This man would have stabbed the American soldier when he stooped to
step cautiously into the slippery boat, and taken the purse from his
dead body, had he not been far-sighted enough to see that the purse
might be had, and much more money beside.
The "tulisane" knew that the American soldiers were at Pasi. Although
he did not find it best to come to town himself, in general, he never
had any trouble finding men to go there for him, and bring him news,
or carry messages. No bandit leader who promptly carves an ear off the
man who does his errands grudgingly is half so feared as a Filipino
"tulisane" whom his fellows know to be the possessor of a powerful
"anting-anting." And this man's "anting-anting" was famous for the
wonders which it had done.
The "tulisane" knew that the American soldiers were at Pasi; and that
the man who led them lived in one of the white tents they had set
up there. This man in the brown clothes, which looked so tight that
it made the Filipino tired just to look at them, could be no common
soldier, else he would not be paying three big silver dollars for a
"banca." If anything was to happen to this man--that is if he was to
disappear, and still not be dead, and the officer in the white tent
should know of it--the leader of the white soldiers would no doubt
pay much money to have his man brought safely back. Consequently the
man in the brown clothes, with the fat money purse, should be made
to disappear.
That was the way the "tulisane" reasoned. It was the three dollars,
the rest of the money in the purse, and the ransom which the leader
of the white men would pay, which influenced the Filipino. It was
not that the Asiatic highwayman cared a leaf of a forest tree for
patriotism. So long as he got the money, white men and brown men were
all alike to him, American soldiers and Filipino insurgents.
So the native, going into the forest, a little way back from the river,
looked until he found a tree the roots of which growing out from well
up the trunk had made a sort of great wooden drum. Taking a stout
stick of hard wood which had been leaned against the tree,--he had been
there before,--he struck the hollow tree three heavy blows, the sound
of which went echoing off through the forest. Then the man listened.
Not long; for from far, very far away, there came an answer, one blow,
and then, after a moment's pause, two more. The drum beats which
followed, and the pauses for the faint replies, were like listening
to a giant's telegraph.
The soldier, paddling steadily out around the river's winding course,
heard the noise and wondered curiously what it was. The natives who
heard it said, "The trees are talking," meaning that some one was
making them talk. To the "tulisane" the sounds meant that he was
bringing his partner to help him, just as at night the far-off,
long-drawn cry of a panther calls the creature's mate to share
the prey.
Sergeant Johnson, still paddling, after he would have said that with
the help of the current he had put four good miles of the river behind
him, saw a tiny ripple in the water ahead of the boat, but in a stream
so rapid thought nothing of it.
An instant later a cocoanut fibre rope, stretched taut across the
river and just below the surface of the water, had turned his skittish
boat bottom upward. The "tulisane," you see, had seen the sergeant's
revolver, and thought wisest to attack him wet.
Drenched, blowing for breath, before he knew what had happened, the
soldier found himself dragged to the bank, disarmed, robbed, his hands
bound behind him, and his feet hobbled. He could speak Spanish and
so could the "tulisanes." Words told him that his captors, only two
in number, meant him to march, hobbled as he was, along a path which
they pointed out; but it took several sharp pricks from a "campilan"
which one of them carried, to make him start. For the path led away
from the river, away from Pasi, from Ilo Ilo and the Utica, which he
would have given his life itself rather than fail to reach in time.
Only a little way back from the river the path began to leave the low
land, mounting up to the hills among which the "tulisanes" had their
camp. Sometimes one of the brigands led the way, with the prisoner
between them, sometimes both drove him before them, secure in the
knowledge that in his helpless condition he could not escape. The
captain's message, in its rubber case, still lay undisturbed and dry
within the messenger's jacket. For that he was glad, although his heart
sank as every step carried him farther away from the destination of
the dispatch, and from the chance of its being delivered in season.
The means which providence uses to accomplish the ends which it desires
are marvellous, and those of us who do not believe in providence say,
"a strange coincidence."
The day before, back among the mountains of Panay, a little old Montese
woman, who had never heard of God, or of America, and whose only dress
had been thirty yards of fine bamboo plaiting coiled round and round
her body, had died.
When the dead body had been set properly upright beneath the tiny hut
which had been the woman's home, and food and drink placed beside
it for the long journey which the spirit was to take, the hut was
abandoned, as is the custom of the tribe, and the men of the family,
the woman's sons and nephews, started out with freshly sharpened
lances and "mechetes."
For this is the only religion of the Monteses; that no one must be left
to go alone upon the long journey. And so, when one of a family dies,
the men relatives do not stay their hands until some one,--the first
person met,--is slain by them to go on the journey as an escort. Only
if they seek three days through the wood, and find no human being,
then, after the third day, a beast may be slain, and the law of blood
still be satisfied.
The sons and nephews of the Montese woman had marched for thirty-six
hours, and the steel of their weapons had not been dimmed by any
moisture other than the dew, when, suddenly rounding a turn in the
mountain path, they met three men.
The first of the three at that moment was the "tulisane" leader,
and him, in thirty seconds, they had driven six lances through. His
partner, with a scream of terror, dashed into the trackless forest and
disappeared. He need not. The demand for a sacrifice was appeased,
and the men who had killed the "tulisane" cared as little for his
companion as they did for the white man who had been his prisoner. All
they wanted, now, was to get back to the Montese country, and to
the new huts which their women would have been building in their
absence. The white man's words they could not understand, but his
gestures were intelligible, and before they parted, he to hurry back
towards the river and they towards the Montese country, they had
cut the cords which bound the soldier's hands and hobbled his feet,
and thus had left him free to make such haste as he could.
Even then the afternoon was well nigh gone when the messenger
reached the river at the place where he had been dragged from it;
and practically all his journey was yet before him, wearied as he was.
For once, though, fortune favored him. His dug-out had grounded on a
sandy island hardly a dozen rods below where it had been overturned,
and swimming out to it, he soon had righted it and was on his way
again.
At first the forest on each side was a tropic swamp. Then the river
grew more swift, with here and there rapids in which it took all his
skill with his clumsy paddle to keep his boat from being upset. The
ground had begun to grow higher here, and back from the banks there
were rank growths of hemp and palm trees.
A few miles farther, and he was in the mountains, the river
winding about like a lane of water between walls which were almost
perpendicular, and covered with the densest, bright green foliage,
in which parrots croaked hoarsely and monkeys chattered sleepily as
they settled themselves for the night. The walls of the living canon
grew narrower and steeper. The river here was as still as a lake, and
the current so sluggish that only his labour with the paddle sent the
"banca" forward. It grew dark quickly and fast, down in the bottom
of this mountain gorge, and by and by the twilight glow on the tops
of the banks, when he would peer up at them, grew fainter.
The soldier strained his eyes to look ahead. Would the living green
canons of that river never end? It was dark now, except that the stars
in the narrow line of sky above the gorge sent down light enough to
make the surface of the water gleam faintly and mark out his course.
He drew his paddle from the water, and holding it so that the drops
which trickled from it would make no noise, listened breathlessly for
the sound of the falls which marked the site of the village he was
to find, and at it leave his boat for the land again. A night bird
screamed in the forest, and then there was utter silence, until a
soft splash in the water beside him revealed the ugly head of a huge
black crocodile following the dug-out.
By and by the stars in the lane of sky above grew dim, and a stronger
light, which faintly illuminated the river gorge, told him that
the full moon had risen, although not yet high enough to light his
course directly. After a time the gorge grew wider and its sides less
steep and high; and then, at last, he heard the roar of the falls,
and found the village, and had landed.
What time it might be now the sergeant did not dare to guess. A sleepy
native pointed out to him the path, stared, when the stranger said
he must hurry on to Ilo Ilo that night, and flatly refusing to be
his guide, went back to bed.
The forest path was rankly wet with night dew, and dimly lighted
by the moon. The soldier hurried forward, only to find that in his
haste he had missed the main path. Slowly and anxiously he retraced
his way until he found the right road again, and then went forward
slowly enough now to go with care.
And so, at last, he saw before him the city of Ilo Ilo, only to learn,
when he was challenged by a picket, that it was one o'clock and that
the Utica had steamed out of the harbour an hour before.
Useless as he feared the dispatch might be now, Sergeant Johnson
insisted that it be delivered at once, and that he be given an
opportunity to ask to be allowed to tell the general why he was so
late. When that officer, roused from sleep, had read the dispatch and
heard the story briefly, for there were other things to be thought of
then, he told the young man, "You have done well," for he knew the
ways of Filipino "tulisanes," "and after all perhaps you may not be
too late."
But before he explained what he meant by the last part of his sentence,
the general called for one of his aids, and as soon as the man could
be brought, hastily gave him certain orders with instructions that
they were to be communicated to the officers whom they concerned,
as quickly as was possible, regardless of how sound asleep those
gentlemen might be.
Then, because he was at heart a kindly man, and because he felt that
the water-soaked, thorn-torn soldier before him, pale with weariness
and anxiety, had done his best, the general told him what was the
nature of the dispatch, and why, even then, he might yet be in time.
For by another of the fortunate dispensations of providence, or if
you please, by a strange coincidence, that very afternoon another
American gunboat had unexpectedly steamed into the harbour of Ilo
Ilo and dropped anchor.
The general had sent messages to the commander of the Ogdensburgh,
explaining the situation to him, and as soon as that officer understood
the matter he replied, "You did just right."
"We will start in pursuit of the Utica as soon as we can get up steam,
and do our best to overtake her."
Could they overtake her? That was the question. She had a good three
hours start, for daylight was breaking before the Ogdensburgh could be
got under way, and the registered speed of the boats was about equal.
At any rate there was doubt enough as to what the result would be
so that when the Ogdensburgh reached the town of Concepcion, fifty
miles up the coast from Ilo Ilo, and the Utica was seen to be lying
at anchor in the harbour there, the commander of the Ogdensburgh said
words which were as thankful as they were emphatic. For just beyond
Concepcion harbour began the narrow channels of the Gigantes Islands,
in some of which he had feared to find the gunboat wrecked.
When the captain of the Utica came to know why he was pursued, and what
he had escaped, he was as grateful for the faulty cylinder head which
had delayed him as, the night before, he had been exasperated by it.
The pilot, charged with his treachery, proved at once that the charge
was true, by turning traitor again and offering to buy the safety
of his own neck by guiding the boats to where they could shell the
woods in which the natives were hidden.
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The cawing of a solitary crow on a tree near a house indicates a death in that house. ... A Spanish Holofernes
While it has been the fate of women in the Spanish islands to suffer even more than their husbands and brothers from severity and injustice, instances are not lacking in which they have shown an equal spirit with the men. In the insurrections a fe... A Spirit In Llangerniew Church_ _denbighshire
There was a tradition in this parish that on All-Hallows' Eve a Spirit announced from the altar the names of those who were doomed to die in the coming year. The Spirit was locally called Angelystor. Those who were anxious to know whether they o... A Spirit Leaving And Re-entering The Body
A man was in love with two young girls, and they were both in love with him, and they knew that he flirted with them both. It is but natural to suppose that these young ladies did not, being rivals, love each other. It can well be believed that t... A Spiritualistic Story From Wales
In an article relating to spiritualism in the February number of the Fortnightly Review, a story was told which is here shortened. The anecdote is given on the authority of a Welsh gentleman named Roberts, who resided at Cheetham, near Manchester... A Story On Caste
There was once a village inhabited only by Musahars. Among them was one girl who was so beautiful that she seemed more than human. Her father and mother were so proud of her looks that they determined not to marry her to a man of their own caste. Th... A Story Told By A Hindu
Once upon a time there was a Raja who had two sons and after their father's death they divided the kingdom between them. The two brothers were inveterate gamblers and spent their time playing cards with each other; for a long time fortune was equal,... A Succinct Account
Sir,--I heard very much, but believed very little of the second sight; yet its being assumed by several of great veracity, I was induced to make inquiry after it in the year 1652, being then confined in the north of Scotland by the English usurp... A Swarm Entering A House
Should a swarm enter a house, it was considered unlucky, and usually it was a sign of death to someone living in that house. The culture of bees was once more common than it is, and therefore they were much observed, and consequently they figure... A Thief And A Tiger
In a certain country there lived a very wealthy man whose cattle grazed on a wide plain. One day a tiger noticed them, and so did three thieves. At night the tiger came to where they were lying, and so did the three thieves, but the tiger arrived ... A Third Version Of The Same Fable
The Moon, on one occasion, sent the Hare to the earth to inform Men that as she (the Moon) died away and rose again, so mankind should die and rise again. Instead, however, of delivering this message as given, the Hare, either out of forgetfulness... A Three Hours Fairy Dance Seeming As A Few Minutes
The Rev. R. Jones's mother, when a young unmarried woman, started one evening from a house called Tyddyn Heilyn, Penrhyndeudraeth, to her home, Penrhyn isaf, accompanied by their servant man, David Williams, called on account of his great strength... A Trapper's Ghastly Vengeance
About a mile back from the Hudson, at Coxsackie, stood the cabin of Nick Wolsey, who, in the last century, was known to the river settlements as a hunter and trapper of correct aim, shrewdness, endurance, and taciturn habit. For many years he lived ... A Variant The Wandering Raja
Once there was a Raja who was very prosperous; but his wife found their life of wealth and ease monotonous, and she continually urged him to travel into other countries and to see whether other modes of life were pleasant or distressful; she pestere... A Villain's Cremation
Bramley's Mountain, near the present village of Bloomfield, New York, on the edge of the Catskill group, was the home of a young couple that had married with rejoicing and had taken up the duties and pleasures of housekeeping with enthusiasm. To be ... A Visit Of Pele
While a great storm was raging over Hawaii a boy was born to a woman chief in the camp of King Alapai. At once the soothsayers proclaimed him as the man of prophecy who should conquer the eight islands and end their strifes. It seemed as if for on... A White Cock
A white cock was looked upon as an unlucky bird, thus:-- Na chadw byth yn nghylch dy dy, Na cheiliog gwyn, na chath ddu. Never keep about thy house, A white cock, nor black cat. ... A Wise Philosopher
As a rich trader journeyed to another province, he rested by the road under a tree, and, as he sat there, a poor young man approached and asked that he might accompany him. "Come," said the trader, and, as they journeyed, they came to a place whe... A Witch In The Form Of A Hare Hunted By A Black Greyhound
The writer has heard variants of the following tale in several parts of Wales:-- An old woman, credited to be a witch, lived on the confines of the hills in a small hut in south Carnarvonshire. Her grandson, a sharp intelligent lad, lived with... A Witch In The Form Of A Hare In A Churn
In the Spectator, No. 117, are these words:-- If the dairy-maid does not make her butter come so soon as she would have it, Moll White (a supposed witch) is at the bottom of the churn. Until very lately I had thought that the milk... A Witch Shot When In The Form Of A Hare
The following tale was told me by the Rev. R. Jones, Rector of Llanycil:-- An old woman was evicted from a small farm, which she and her family had held for many years. She was naturally greatly annoyed at such conduct on the part of the landl... A Witch Transformed Into A Hare Injured By One Whom She Tormented
An old woman, thought to be a witch, was said by a neighbour to be in the habit of visiting her nightly in the shape of a hare, and that in consequence she was deprived of her rest. The witch came to her bed, as a hare, and crossed it, and the to... A Witch Who Turned A Blue Dye Into A Red Dye
An old hag went to a small farmhouse in Clocaenog parish, and found the farmer's wife occupied in dyeing wool blue. She begged for a little wool and blue dye. She was informed by Mrs. --- that she was really very sorry that she could not part wi... A Witch Who Was Refused A Goose And Her Revenge
A witch called at a farm when they were feathering geese for sale, and she begged much for one. She was refused, but it would have been better, according to the tale, had her request been granted, for they could not afterwards rear geese on that ... A Wonderful Journey
One day Wesakchak decided to go on a long journey. He knew that somewhere, many miles away, there was a village where people lived, and he made up his mind to go and see them. The birds all loved Wesakchak, so a great many of them had given him ... A Yellowstone Tragedy
Although the Indians feared the geyser basins of the upper Yellowstone country, believing the hissing and thundering to be voices of evil spirits, they regarded the mountains at the head of the river as the crest of the world, and whoso gained their... A Young Man Marries A Fairy Lady In Fairy Land And Brings Her To Live With Him Among His Own People
Once on a time a shepherd boy had gone up the mountain. That day, like many a day before and after, was exceedingly misty. Now, though he was well acquainted with the place, he lost his way, and walked backwards and forwards for many a long hour... A Zulu Version Of The Legend Of The Origin Of Death
God (Unknlunkuln) arose from beneath (the seat of the spiritual world, according to the Zulu idea), and created in the beginning men, animals, and all things. He then sent for the Chameleon, and said, "Go, Chameleon, and tell Men that they shall n... Addik Kum Maig Or The Origin Of The White Fish
A long time ago, there lived a famous hunter in a remote part of the north. He had a handsome wife and two sons, who were left in the lodge every day, while he went out in quest of the animals, upon whose flesh they subsisted. Game was very abunda... Aegir's Feast
I. Aegir was the ruler of the ocean, and his home was deep down below the tossing waves, where the water is calm and still. There was his beautiful palace, in the wonderful coral caves; its walls all hung with bright-colored seaweeds, and the f... After Death
When grown-up people die they become ancestral bongas and sacrifices are offered to them at the Flower and Sohrai festivals; and when children die they become bhuts. When a pregnant woman dies, they drive long thorns into the soles of the feet befor...