THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Paul Scharreriberg 
 

 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 A Story of Friendship for the 
 Filipinos 
 
 RAYMOND L. BRIDGMAN 
 
 Author of "Ten Years of Massachusetts," "Biennial Elections," 
 "The Master Idea," etc. 
 
 " Fear not them that kill the body and after 
 that have no more that they can do." 
 
 BOSTON 
 JAMES H. WEST COMPANY 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1903 
 By James H. West Company 
 
 LOAN STACK 
 GIFT 
 
Farewell, adored fatherland ! Our Eden lost, farewell ! 
 
 Farewell, O sun's loved region, pearl of the Eastern sea ! 
 Gladly I die for thy dear sake : yea, thou knowest well 
 Were my sad life more radiant far than mortal tongue could tell, 
 
 Yet would I give it gladly, joyously for thee. 
 
 On bloodstained fields of battle, fast-locked in madd'ning strife, 
 Thy sons have dying blest thee, untouched by doubt or fear. 
 No matter wreaths of laurel ; no jnatter where our life 
 Ebbs out, on scaffold, or in combat, or under torturer's knife, 
 We welcome Death, if for our hearths, or for our country 
 dear. 
 
 DR. Jos RIZAL 
 ( Written just before he was execiited.) 
 
 (3) 
 
 118 
 
" I cannot get over the idea that others shall 
 legislate for me and my people, and in so doing 
 govern us. It is better to die in exile than to 
 prostitute my conscience, for at best I have but a 
 
 few years to live." 
 
 APOLINARIO MABINI 
 
 (Formerly President of the Council of the Philippine Re- 
 public : on being exiled to Guam for refusal to lake the 
 oath of allegiance to the United States). 
 
 (4) 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 George Brown Abandons a Military Career 9 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 The Philippine War Divides Friends 17 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 Faith Fessenden Makes a Discovery 27 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 Col. Philip Hotspur Takes a Lesson in the Code 
 
 of Honor 34 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 Rev. Ansel Robinson Raises a Parish Storm ... 42 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 Pastor Robinson's Parishioners Strike a Return 
 
 Blow 54 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 How a Lay Brother Could not Get out of the 
 
 Church 60 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Alfred Wheelwright Has an Opinion about His 
 
 Native Land and the Boers 69 
 
6 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER IX PAGE 
 
 Professor John Harvard Holbein Discusses Evo- 
 lution with Rev. Thomas Swift Gunn . . 80 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 Washington Douglass Has a Vision of Duty. . 95 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 Brown, Douglass, and Wheelwright Enter the 
 
 Filipino Service 100 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 In which American Sacrifice Strives to Promote 
 
 Filipino Nationality 117 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 The Filipinos Learn a Trick or Two 126 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 The Morals of an American Deserter 132 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 Faith Fessenden Reads the Newspapers 145 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 A Letter and a Proclamation 150 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 An American Detachment Meets an Obstacle . . 155 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 Loyal to Two Countries and to Principle Above 
 
 All 160 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 Another Letter and Its Reply 167 
 
CONTENTS 7 
 
 CHAPTER XX PAGE 
 
 The Filipino Fastness again Attacked. The 
 
 Death of Douglass 172 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 George Brown is Suspected of Treachery 1 84 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 Alfred Wheelwright Joins Washington Douglass 192 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 Faith Fessenden Keeps an Important Appoint- 
 ment 207 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 Never Surrender 213 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 Women and Children Patriots 224 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 American Methods of Persuasion 238 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 A Little Wit Changes Tragedy into Comedy. . 250 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 Preparing for the Day of Judgment 266 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 Macaria Henderson Pleads in Vain 279 
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 An Oath which Cannot Bind 292 
 
The safety of the weak nations in the presence of 
 the strong is the best test of international morality. 
 
 -W. E. H. LECKY. 
 
 Our fathers to their graves have gone : 
 Their strife is past, their triumph won ; 
 But sterner trials wait the race 
 Which rises in their honored place, 
 A moral warfare with the crime 
 And folly of an evil time. 
 
 So let it be. In God's own might 
 
 We gird us for the coming fight ; 
 
 And, strong in Him whose cause is ours, 
 
 In conflict with unholy powers 
 
 We grasp the weapon He has given, 
 
 The light and truth and love of heaven. 
 
 JOHN G. WHITTIER. 
 (8) 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 GEORGE BROWN ABANDONS A MILITARY CAREER 
 
 ONE of the first nominations to West Point made 
 by John F. Andrew after his election to the 
 National House of Representatives from the 
 Beacon Hill and Back Bay district of Boston was that 
 of George Brown. Young Brown was son of a lawyer 
 having an office in the Equitable Building. Brown 
 senior was well acquainted with Andrew, and it 
 required no hard work to secure the nomination. The 
 abilities of Brown junior were of a high order and he 
 had not the slightest difficulty in passing the examina- 
 tion. Physically, mentally, and morally he was abun- 
 dantly qualified, and his own confidence in his ability 
 to pass was fully justified by the ease with which the 
 entrance barrier to the military academy was sur- 
 mounted. 
 
 Brown had, at first, a young man's exalted ideas of 
 
io LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 West Point and of the glories of a military career ; 
 but a year's life at the academy, with a practical 
 acquaintance with the barbarities which have given a 
 scandalous name to the institution, opened his eyes to 
 the real situation and he determined to throw aside 
 his appointment. No longer did he think that a 
 military training would develop the manly and honor- 
 able side of a cadet, and a letter to his old school-girl 
 friend, Faith Fessenden, told of his change of view : 
 
 " I don't believe any longer that a man's highest 
 service to his country is in war. I notice that our 
 West Point graduates are never men who want to 
 settle difficulties by the right and wrong of the case. 
 They want to fight. They stand up for their own 
 side, ho matter whether they are right or not. They 
 would never think of disobeying the orders of their 
 superiors, no matter if they believed those orders to 
 be grossly unjust. Now, I am not built on that 
 pattern. I want to do the right thing, no matter 
 whether my superior officer thinks as I do or not. I 
 do not like to think of being tied up all my life to do 
 as some other man orders me, if the orders go against 
 my conscience. Besides that, the army is the last 
 place in the world for a man to grow in and to make 
 the most of himself. Look at our army officers, tied 
 up to a routine of duty, and jealous of each other lest 
 some one gets a grain of credit more than he deserves ! 
 Look at their wives, how jealous they are of each 
 other ! what sorts of petty gossip they retail ! how 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS n 
 
 narrow their lives are ! It is a miserable outlook and 
 I don't like it." 
 
 One day an acquaintance who sang in a burlesque 
 opera company needed a cadet uniform, and Brown 
 gave him his. That was the turning-point. He 
 talked the matter over with his father, then chose 
 the law for his profession, and in time made a name 
 for himself in Boston politics. He was sent in turn 
 to the Common Council, to the Board of Aldermen, 
 and to the Legislature, where exposure to corrupt 
 influences developed the unusual conscience and will 
 power of the man until, before he realized it, he had 
 in him all the stuff for a hero. Thus, when the war 
 with Spain was declared, his equipment included some 
 military knowledge, civil experience, legal training, a 
 keen conscience, and strong determination. 
 
 He believed that the war was necessary as a 
 demand of humanity for Cuba. He was a Republican 
 in politics and he heartily approved the policy of the 
 Administration. 
 
 Brown's nearest masculine friend at this time was 
 Alfred Wheelwright, an Englishman by birth and an 
 American by naturalization, who served with honor in 
 Cuba. Of the other sex, Faith Fessenden was his 
 ideal. The youngest daughter of a well-to-do-family 
 neither noted nor notorious, Faith was an active, as- 
 piring, well-balanced young woman. Brown had no 
 fear that in her his ideal would ever be shattered. She 
 was not ambitious so as to seek self-preferment, in any 
 
12 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 line of thought or action, but by nature she was 
 noble, and should circumstances ever call her to evince 
 strength she would not be found wanting. Of such 
 is the kingdom of good sense and nobility, and there 
 are many like her. 
 
 Faith's superior judgment of social forces and 
 tendencies impressed itself upon George Brown in 
 the anxious days of the Spanish War. The reader who 
 cares to know somewhat more of the young woman, 
 and of her thoughtful mode of considering passing 
 events, will perhaps find in the following conversation 
 which she held with the young lawyer a suggestion 
 of her womanly earnestness on matters of public 
 import. 
 
 " George," she said to him, one evening when he was 
 at her home and the latest news by the afternoon 
 paper had been mentioned, "consequences which 
 the people do not foresee will grow out of this war." 
 
 "Are you going to play the role of Cassandra?" 
 asked Brown, noting the anxious look on Faith's 
 countenance. 
 
 "I will make my forecast. You can name me 
 afterward." 
 
 "Proceed, then, prophetess. And remember that 
 it was Cassandra's fate to have her prophecies always 
 disbelieved." 
 
 "Our people will get a taste for blood and for 
 military excitement, by this war," declared Faith, 
 with a pained expression. " There will be a growing 
 indifference to cruelties of all kinds. We are now in 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 13 
 
 the midst of our broil with Spain. Fired with our 
 victories, the next thing will be oppression of some of 
 the weak peoples of Asia. The nation is learning 
 its military and naval possibilities, and business and 
 missions will be seeking with louder voice than ever 
 their long-wished < open door ' to the East, at whatever 
 cost/' 
 
 " I doubt it. Our religious training is too general. 
 All the pulpits would preach against it." 
 
 "On the contrary," replied Faith, "all our pulpits 
 will be for it, as a rule. George, a woman sees some 
 things a man doesn't." 
 
 "One of which is ?" 
 
 " That the tone of society to-day in our country is 
 changing. The change will affect business, pulpit, 
 press, and National Administration." 
 
 " How changing ? " 
 
 " For instance, money and display during the past 
 decade or more have had a very marked effect on the 
 morals of influential people. The next time you go 
 to the opera or to the horse-show I want you to notice 
 the faces of a certain elderly type of women the 
 most conspicuous there. Study their bearing. See 
 if it would require much of an effort to imagine them 
 in the front row at a Roman amphitheater, crying, 
 ' Thumbs down ! ' ' 
 
 "You are very severe." 
 
 "Perhaps so. But, just the same, make your 
 observations. See if their faces are not selfish, 
 arrogant, and cruel. They lack wholly the beautiful 
 
14 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 tenderness which was in my grandmother's face when 
 she was their age." 
 
 "And which has been transmitted to her grand- 
 daughter. " 
 
 " Don't be silly, George." 
 
 " Truth is not silly." 
 
 " Don't flatter, then." 
 
 " Truth never flatters." 
 
 "You have interrupted what I was saying." 
 
 " I promise not to offend again." 
 
 " Women have a great political influence, even if it 
 is indirect. You know how it is at Washington, 
 how social ambitions affect Congressional action. 
 Women's ideas count for much. Look also at what 
 our women read." 
 
 "How can you get any idea of what they read, as a 
 class?" asked Brown, his barrister's love of fresh, 
 well-expressed thought making it frequently his favor- 
 ite employment, when with Faith, to draw her out, 
 though before they were through he never failed to 
 take a positive part himself. 
 
 " Look in the book-shop windows. Note what are 
 the most popular books. See what a rage there now 
 is for historical ' novels. Enlarged drawings of the 
 pictures are put in the windows ; what do they set 
 forth ? Violence, shootings, rapier-thrusts, fires, 
 runaway horses, shipwrecks, assassinations, anything 
 sensational in a grossly material way." 
 
 "But are not those things features of American 
 life ? You must not be too critical." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 15 
 
 "Women are the greatest readers, and the nation 
 which has taste for such matters will in time show its 
 character in its actions." 
 
 " Hence you expect further scenes of violence, as a 
 result of the present war ? " 
 
 " I can't foresee otherwise. George, what are our 
 nation's enthusiasms ? Speculative enterprise, inven- 
 tion, expansion, wealth, display, mastery of material 
 things. Greece had its enthusiasm for philosophy, 
 poetry, the drama, sculpture, and architecture, and 
 she has ever since been a prodigious force for civiliza- 
 tion. Even Ireland, many hundred years ago, had 
 thousands of students in its great universities." 
 
 " So has the United States to-day." 
 
 "Yes, but see what is going on in many of our 
 colleges ! It is recognized by the faculties that the 
 multiplying sports of the students, with their frequent 
 horrid brutalities, are a serious and increasing detri- 
 ment to the study side of their work. Again, during 
 some years past, the growing sentiment and determi- 
 nation of a few leading instructors and other earnest 
 people have caused some of the barbarous excesses of 
 ' hazing ' to diminish. Already the severer forms are 
 renewing. It is evident, to one who ponders, that if 
 the United States should rise no higher than to-day 
 we shall leave to after generations precious little of 
 all that our people make most of. Our religion is 
 losing its hold on the masses. Our one great contri- 
 bution to the world is a political principle, and our 
 present Administration and many people are to-day 
 
16 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 false to that. If that is betrayed, we are a national 
 failure and the nation will perish." 
 
 George Brown did not contradict Faith's earnest, 
 forelooking words. They agreed too nearly with his 
 own forebodings. They fell upon a soil already fruit- 
 ful and influenced his course later. For the present 
 he said only : 
 
 " Faith, you are no Cassandra, though a prophetess. 
 I believe you are right. The nation must suffer 
 before it is in the right path again. " 
 
 When the visit ended, both were in stronger agree- 
 ment than ever on principles which shaped their after 
 lives. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 17 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE WAR DIVIDES FRIENDS 
 
 
 VERY early in the war between the United States 
 and Spain it became clear that two contending 
 forces were trying to shape the course of the 
 nation in its foreign policy. Those forces have since 
 come to be known under the names of imperialist and 
 anti-imperialist. The tendencies toward imperialism 
 were so threatening that, as early as June 15, 1898, a 
 meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, Boston, to protest 
 against certain acts of the Administration and to fore- 
 warn the people of the danger. 
 
 As the negotiations in Paris proceeded between the 
 treaty commissioners of the United States and Spain, 
 it became more and more evident that the Adminis- 
 tration would not stop short of taking the entire 
 Philippine archipelago. As a local counteracting 
 force, Brown and a few friends formed a patriotic 
 League. Their only motive was to prevent the 
 success of a movement which they believed to be 
 fatal to the principles of American liberty and to the 
 liberty of all men. 
 
 One of the original members of the League, a man 
 active in work and ready with ideas at the meeting 
 when the formal organization was made, was Rev. 
 
i8 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Ansel Robinson, pastor of a Congregational church 
 in the suburbs. Already his preaching on public 
 questions had caused a soreness among the regular 
 Republicans who composed a large majority of the 
 voters in his congregation. He could count upon 
 only four men whom he knew positively to sympathize 
 with him in his opposition to the Administration, 
 though he and they in 1896 had voted the straight 
 Republican ticket. He could not keep silent, as he 
 understood his duty, and his worthy people objected 
 seriously to hearing preached what they believed came 
 very near to treason. Believers in a growing kingdom 
 of God on earth, they upheld the imperialist method 
 as the true way of spreading Christianity. They were 
 unquestioning readers of their religious weeklies, and 
 they held reverently the doctrine that in civilizing the 
 dark places of the earth Christian missions are a 
 feeble force compared with military enterprise. 
 
 George Brown, holding steadfastly to the path 
 illumined by his conscience, was an ardent anti- 
 imperialist ; but almost every one of his friends was 
 against him. Occasionally a prominent Republican 
 came out openly on the anti-imperialist side, and 
 from his conversation with many of his party Brown 
 was well satisfied that, if the issue had been put 
 before their judgment and conscience wholly apart 
 from political and religious influences, they would have 
 insisted, as he did, that the inborn rights of the 
 Filipinos were superior to any claims of sovereignty 
 on the part of the United States. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 19 
 
 The Fessenden family was divided. The married 
 daughter and her husband, moving in circles where 
 prominent Worcester manufacturers and capitalists 
 predominated, could say nothing too strong in favor 
 of the Administration. Their letters home, and their 
 visits, helped to persuade the mother and the second 
 daughter especially considering the social position 
 of their imperialist acquaintances that it was the 
 loyal and proper thing to be on the side of the wealth 
 and education and higher social classes of the city. 
 Faith was sure that George Brown was on the right 
 side, and the senior Fessenden, standing on his youth- 
 ful ideas of liberty and equality and constitutional 
 government, said to her : " My law and your intuition, 
 Faith, come to the same conclusion, and we'll stick 
 together on the anti-imperialist side/' The family 
 division became so serious that conversation on the 
 great issue of the day was scant, and neither side 
 could be moved a hair by the argument of the 
 other. 
 
 The breach between friends was in many instances 
 deep, according to the patriotism of the persons con- 
 cerned and according to their sense of the magnitude 
 of the forces at work. Long-time associates were 
 separated and could get along only by not speaking on 
 the one subject on which they most wanted to speak. 
 Brown's most serious difference was with his friend 
 Dexter, a West Pointer, a captain who had served in 
 Cuba and who was now waiting to be ordered to the 
 Philippines. 
 
20 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 "Dexter/ 1 said Brown, "the old question comes up 
 again which was one influence compelling me to leave 
 West Point. You take your orders from the govern- 
 ment and from your military superiors. You don't 
 have any opinion of your own when it comes to a 
 matter of action. But it is really as much on your 
 conscience as it is on mine to take your stand on this 
 question where conscience says you must stand. I 
 believe that the Filipinos are right in fighting for their 
 independence, and if I were in your place, feeling as 
 I do, I should resign my commission sooner than do 
 one solitary act against a people fighting for their 
 independence." 
 
 " But/' responded Dexter, " I am not responsible 
 for my acts when I am under orders. I have taken 
 an oath to support the Constitution of the United 
 States. I am in military service. I am bound to 
 obey the orders of my superiors. Conscience never 
 had and never can have any place in military service 
 as against a soldier's oath to obey. Conscience com- 
 mands him to keep that oath. The soldier must obey 
 his general. That is the supreme act of conscience 
 for him, and that is the end of all argument." 
 
 " It is not the end of it," contended Brown. " Do 
 you suppose that God will hold you any the less to 
 account because some other man tells you to do a 
 certain thing? You can't swear away your own 
 responsibility." 
 
 " I don't swear it away," argued Dexter. " I swear 
 to obey my superior. My responsibility and my duty 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 21 
 
 are to obey. My oath requires me to do that. If I 
 failed to obey, I should break my oath. That would 
 be proving false, and I am bound to be an honest 
 man/' 
 
 " But if your general commands you to do what you 
 know to be a wrong thing, would you do it just the 
 same ? " 
 
 " Of course. My oath requires me to obey my 
 superiors, and I am bound by my oath. If the act 
 commanded is wrong, I am not responsible. The 
 responsibility rests on the man who gives the order. 
 I am simply his subordinate. I am not responsible 
 and no guilt rests on me." 
 
 " No, Dexter, that is not so. You're wrong. You 
 can't swear away your responsibility. Do you sup- 
 pose that God abdicates his sovereignty over any man 
 for any cause whatever? Do you suppose he lets 
 some man come between him and any of his creatures, 
 and permits that man to be greater that he himself is 
 in regard to personal obligation? That is contra- 
 dictory to the very nature of the Supreme Person. If 
 God were to do that, he would not be supreme, and 
 the bottom would fall out of everything. Your first 
 responsibility is to God, no matter about your oath to 
 obey your general. It is absurd to think of forswear- 
 ing your accountability directly to God." 
 
 " But see how ridiculous you are, Brown. If you 
 are right, and if, on the ground of conscience, every 
 soldier must judge for himself whether or not he will 
 obey orders, don't you see that there is at once an end 
 
22 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 of all discipline ? The best army in the world would 
 go to pieces in two days under such destructive 
 ideas/' 
 
 " Dexter, see here. If the best army in the world 
 were doing right, then its soldiers, fighting conscien- 
 tiously, would be all the more enthusiastic and effective 
 for the right. If the army were in the wrong, then it 
 ought to be beaten, no matter what consequences 
 would follow. The triumph of righteousness and 
 justice would then be sure and the wrong could never 
 triumph. But the right and the wrong of acts are not 
 to be judged at all by their consequences in human 
 affairs, never. If all discipline were destroyed, 
 that in itself would not be worth consideration. Far 
 higher than any other concern stands right and justice. 
 They must be upheld, no matter what the consequences 
 may be to armies or to countries. If you or your 
 general or your country are wrong, you deserve to be 
 beaten ; and in the long run you will be beaten, for 
 God sits eternal in the heavens and bides his time. 
 If your conscience tells you that your general is 
 wrong, then, by the very fact that you owe allegiance 
 first to God, your duty is to disobey your general or to 
 get out of the service." 
 
 "H'm!" snorted Dexter. "To disobey and be 
 shot, under military discipline, if worst came to 
 worst ! " 
 
 " If you value your life more than your honor or 
 your duty to God/* said Brown, "that may seem a 
 good argument. But, if you put conscience and duty 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 23 
 
 first, the question of being shot will be altogether a 
 secondary matter." 
 
 "Brown, you are getting too fine spun in your 
 theories. Such talk is not for this practical world. 
 I am a military man. I am under orders. I am 
 bound to obey. When I am ordered to do a thing, 
 I am going to do it ; my first duty is to keep my oath 
 to obey my general and my country. Further than 
 that I don't go, because that gets to the bottom of my 
 philosophy. You can't convince me, and I don't 
 suppose that I can convince you, for ever since we 
 were two feet high together you have been a queer 
 child about your conscience ' and so on." 
 
 So Brown argued no more, and each stuck to his 
 own ideas about duty and conscience. 
 
 The next day Brown had an encounter with an 
 altogether different specimen of an imperialist. He 
 was an old high-school friend who lived in the 
 same ward with Brown, and who had always kept up 
 an acquaintance with him. Willing to turn a little 
 business into his schoolmate's law-office, as well as to 
 have a correct bit of work done for himself, Mr. 
 Morgan Rich walked into Brown's place and asked him 
 to draw up the papers for a steamer which he had just 
 bought for the Philippine trade. 
 
 " What line of business are you going to take up, 
 Rich ? " asked Brown. 
 
 " I expect to send out whiskey, beer, and that sort 
 of goods, and bring back hemp and other Philippine 
 products. I believe there is a mint of money in it for 
 
24 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 the man who jumps in first. I tell you, McKinley is 
 a great President. We Americans have got to expand. 
 We have got to have bigger foreign markets ; and if 
 there is anything contemptible it is these little Amer- 
 icans who are talking about the rights of those niggers 
 out there. We have bought them and paid for them. 
 Now we will make money out of them/' 
 
 "The fact is, Rich, I am just one of those little 
 Americans, if a great continent like ours, half- 
 unexplored as yet, is little, and I believe the 
 Filipinos are right. They have got the spirit of 
 Patrick Henry, and they deserve to win." 
 
 " I don't remember just who he is. I don't recollect 
 seeing his name lately on the list of Dun & Co.'s 
 agency. What is his rating ? " 
 
 " His rating is A i, but it is not on Dun's list. He is 
 the man who said, ' Give me liberty or give me death.' " 
 
 "And a mighty queer draft it was, too. Did he 
 say whether it was spot cash or thirty days? He 
 couldn't have had it sent C.O.D., I suppose." 
 
 " He would have taken death on the spot before he 
 would have gone into the liquor business with people 
 whom we are cheating out of their rights and their 
 liberty.' 1 
 
 " Oh, fudge ! As soon as those Filipinos see what 
 we do for them they will submit. We are a regular 
 silver spoon in their mouth, if they only knew it." 
 
 "Abraham Lincoln said that no man is good 
 enough to govern another man without that other 
 man's consent." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 25 
 
 " It's some years since I have had time to look up 
 Lincoln. I've been too busy. We used to hear more 
 or less about him, but I haven't heard his name men- 
 tioned for a good while. I guess he don't count for 
 much now." 
 
 " You are right there, he doesn't count for much, 
 these days. But I suppose you remember that Grant 
 was very strong for the rights of men ? " 
 
 " Yes, I remember Grant. He was the great adver- 
 tising agent who made a trip around the world, 
 advertising American goods. Our foreign markets 
 were a good deal better because he made that trip 
 and showed off such a line of samples. But it seems 
 to me he failed in business, didn't he? Didn't his 
 notes go to protest ? " 
 
 " I always understood that he was one of the great 
 Americans." 
 
 " Well, perhaps he was unfortunate. Most of us 
 make mistakes sometime. I won't lay it up against 
 him. But I mean to keep a sharp lookout ahead." 
 
 " Now look here, Rich, you ought to be ashamed of 
 yourself to be so wrapped up in business that you 
 don't keep the run of your own national affairs." 
 
 "Oh, bosh! I let those run to politics who want 
 office. They want office, I want money. We both 
 get what we want, and I don't complain." 
 
 "What good will this money do you which you 
 make out of these oppressed Filipinos ? " 
 
 "Well, after I have salted down all I care to, I 
 might have a memorial window put into Trinity church 
 
26 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 ' to the memory of Morgan Rich, the eminent philan- 
 thropist : he never let his left hand know what his 
 right hand did/ or some other such suitable sen- 
 timent. " 
 
 " No, it ought to be this : He turned the blood of 
 brave men into money and bought this window with 
 the price of souls/ " 
 
 " Come, Brown, now you are getting personal." 
 
 "I can't help it, Rich. I wouldn't draw up the 
 papers for your business if you would give me the 
 steamer outright." 
 
 " What a ridiculous fool you are ! Say, you don't 
 mean that you are serious ! Plenty of lawyers 
 would like the job." 
 
 " I suppose so ; but I won't take it, nor will I 
 ever at any time touch a dollar made out of the 
 Filipinos/' 
 
 " Well, it's fortunate that precious few men are like 
 you. I mean to make an honest dollar where I can. 
 Good day ! " 
 
 " Good day ! Be sure that they really are ' honest ' 
 dollars ! " 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 27 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 FAITH FESSENDEN MAKES A DISCOVERY 
 
 IN the shorter days of December, 1898, events in 
 two widely different spheres of action were hasten- 
 ing to a crisis. In each case, in the very nature of 
 the elements involved, the culmination could not long 
 be delayed. 
 
 Friction between the Americans and the Filipinos 
 was increasing. Weeks before the treaty of Paris 
 had been signed, and while it was yet wholly uncertain 
 whether the United States 'Senate would ratify the 
 treaty ; while the Filipinos occupied toward us the 
 attitude of allies who had assisted us by their army in 
 effecting the conquest of Spain, the Administration, 
 regardless of the rights of the case, without proven 
 necessity and without any authority from Congress, 
 proceeded to make war upon the Philippine people. 
 It issued the historic Proclamation of December 21, 
 1898, directing the military occupation of the Phil- 
 ippine Islands, a proceeding wholly without excuse in 
 law or morals ; and this Proclamation was followed 
 by the naval expedition against Iloilo, under General 
 Miller, thus beginning the open hostilities against the 
 Filipinos long in advance of the outbreak of February 
 4 at Manila. 
 
28 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 That was one of the two incidents referred to, the 
 consequences of which will have their due attention. 
 The other affair was in connection with George Brown 
 and Faith Fessenden. 
 
 Brown was becoming morbid. He loved Faith, but 
 she herself made no sign. He saw her frequently, 
 but she was not partial enough to him to satisfy his 
 prejudiced mind. He would have liked wholly to 
 absorb her. She, on the other hand, allowed herself 
 other male acquaintances. Her young woman friends, 
 of whom she had plenty and with whom she was 
 popular and charming, had plenty of others, also, and 
 she and they were frequently meeting. She did not 
 lack for escorts abroad nor for company at home. 
 
 The weeks went on, and more and more he wished 
 to assert an exclusive claim ; but he saw no practical 
 way of doing it. The only comfort which he extracted 
 from the situation was that no other, more than him- 
 self, seemed to be the favorite. He was at least on 
 equal ground with all others, though he did not know 
 whether to call them rivals or not. He fancied any 
 number of unreasonable and improbable situations; 
 but his fancies were so inconsistent with each other 
 that he scored himself mentally every day or two for 
 being such a fool, and then went on and made just the 
 same fool of himself over again as if he had not trav- 
 ersed the same ground a hundred times before. 
 
 But Brown had the advantage, though he did not 
 know it, and though Faith did not realize it. In all 
 matters of interest he was so absolutely frank in his 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 29 
 
 way of talking with her ; moreover, he was so inter- 
 ested in his public duties when he was in public life ; 
 again, he was so direct in going to the vital moral 
 point of that one great issue of the day in which he 
 was so ardently bound up, and so positive in his judg- 
 ment of right and wrong in the case, that she felt the 
 imperative respect which one feels in the presence of 
 a mind clear and strong upon vital themes. Besides, 
 he was and she knew that he was really more 
 considerate and thoughtful of her than was any other 
 young man of her acquaintance. True, the others 
 were as polite as the most Chesterfieldian manual 
 would have required ; but Brown went beyond Chester- 
 field, and had built for himself, in her habitual attitude 
 toward him, a standing which neither of them appre- 
 ciated or even suspected. 
 
 At that point, however, singularly or naturally, their 
 nearness to each other paused, and to Brown the 
 situation had reached a stage where it must have some 
 outcome. Waters cannot pile up against a dam con- 
 tinually without breaking over. 
 
 The breaking over came after Brown had lost a 
 case in court. Through some psychological impulsion 
 he felt as if, in another case, he must also know the 
 worst. Faith had again been at some entertainment 
 with a masculine acquaintance, and Brown was in- 
 wardly unreasonable and hasty on account of the 
 incident. 
 
 " It is time to find out about this," he said. " If I 
 live to be seventy-five years old, things may go on like 
 
30 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 this, unless I do something. She gives me no clue 
 whatever as to how I stand. I'll ask her, and face 
 the worst." 
 
 He called. Had he been more practised in the arts 
 of pleasing, and not so mathematically rectilinear in 
 his approach, he might have applied a bit of flattery 
 no, with Faith Fessenden flattery would have failed 
 at the outset ; but of persuasiveness : whereupon he 
 might have found that the drawbridge was not up all 
 the way around the castle which he ardently wished to 
 enter. Or had not Faith, in her personal failings, 
 been so much like himself, matters might have been 
 different. But he was as Nature made him, and so 
 was she, and that caused the misunderstanding at this 
 very critical moment. 
 
 Resolving, as he said, to "face the worst," he of 
 course went at it in the very worst way, and got the 
 worst out, of it, as the laws of soul-contact would have 
 prophesied for him. There are laws of mind as truly 
 as laws of body, and they work on just as mathematical 
 principles of cause and effect, though we have not yet 
 reduced their workings to science in our books, not- 
 withstanding that the laws are working in every day 
 practice just as truly as gravitation and the multiplica- 
 tion-table. Brown put himself in the way of the law 
 and the law wreaked its penalty upon him. It was a 
 practical way of learning mental and emotional science ; 
 but if people will not learn in any other way, experience 
 must be their school. 
 
 He was at his worst and bluntest, and she, under 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 31 
 
 the touch of some home unpleasantness, catching his 
 mood, was certainly not in her best or most favorable 
 mood, though usual satisfaction in his presence, and 
 her trust in his absolute honesty and frankness, made 
 it always a pleasure to meet him. 
 
 " Faith,'* he began abruptly, the moment he en- 
 tered her presence, seizing her hand as they sat near 
 each other, "we can't go on like this forever. 
 I come here and go away again. I come and go, 
 come and go, and we get along nicely together. And 
 then I come and go, come and go some more, and we 
 are just at the same place that we were before. I 
 can't endure it, Faith. I can't live like this forever. 
 I love you, Faith. I have loved you with all my heart 
 a long, long time. Will you be my wife ? " 
 
 Faith looked him straight in the eyes, though she 
 drew her hand away. 
 
 "George," she said, "you know I like you. I like 
 you very much. It is good to be with you. But 
 I never thought of our acquaintance coming to this. 
 I perhaps it is my fault. Perhaps I ought to have 
 seen this before. But I did not. I did not see that 
 it meant all this to you. You must not think too 
 hardly of me if I have done you wrong. I have been 
 frank and friendly with you, but I never thought of 
 anything further." 
 
 She never had. But George did not take this into 
 account. Nor did he pause an instant. 
 
 " Then it's ' No '," he cried. " Faith, you are an 
 honest girl. I must accept my fate. I shall always 
 
32 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 love you, whether I am here or far away. You have 
 my heart and always will have it. I cannot help that, 
 for you have won it ; it is not mine any longer. You 
 can't prevent it now, and you can't give it back to me. 
 Don't say anything more. I will accept your decision 
 and not visit you any more." 
 
 Faith could not help looking at him with a sort of 
 surprised curiosity. But in her response she was very 
 tender of his sensitiveness. 
 
 "If you cannot come to see me and be happy, 
 George, then certainly I must not ask you to come. 
 But need you bring our friendship to an end ? You 
 are my honest and frank friend, just the same as ever. 
 We have had these years together, and, if you can 
 forgive me for my blindness, I would not have them 
 come to an end now." 
 
 " But they must, Faith ; I can't live so." 
 
 He paused a moment, and the maiden waited. 
 
 "And yet, Faith," he went on an instant later, his 
 mind flashing forward into the future as that future 
 would be without her, " I can't live without you ! 
 Yet you say I must, and I will accept your decision ! " 
 
 " I do not see that it is necessary for you to say 
 good-bye," she replied. " You will feel differently by 
 and by. You will see that I am your true friend, and 
 you will forget this day and what has been said." 
 
 " No, Faith, I shall not forget or change. But, if 
 you desire it, I will not say good-bye. Perhaps it is 
 better so. Possibly the future will not be so dark 
 that way." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 33 
 
 So he left her, and set his face as to a lonely future, 
 while she let her thoughts run back over the past. 
 She saw now many things in a light she had never 
 suspected at the time, things which she had accepted 
 as matters of courtesy and common politeness. They 
 took on a new meaning. 
 
 As she recalled incident after incident of this sort 
 she said : " George has been very good to me." 
 
34 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 COL. PHILIP HOTSPUR TAKES A LESSON IN THE 
 CODE OF HONOR 
 
 "~T-HE truth about this Philippine War," wrote 
 Alfred Wheelwright to George Brown, " is that 
 half of our people do not approve it if they are 
 left to their sober judgment and to their sense of right 
 and wrong. In my new position on this Boston and 
 Savannah steamship I have an opportunity to hear a 
 great many people say what they think. Most of 
 them say that we are now so far in the scrape that we 
 must carry it through. Others stand by their party, 
 right or wrong. Still others are indifferent. But 
 there are a good many in all, Republicans, too, who 
 wish we were out of the whole business. They put 
 no trust in this talk about duty and destiny, and 
 believe that the attempted conquest of the islands is 
 all a matter of dollars. If it were not for the hot 
 military spirit of the army, the ambition of men to do 
 something for their own glory, the blind zeal of some 
 religious people, and the cursed love of the almighty 
 dollar on the part of our business men, we should 
 never have been in this disgraceful war, with all its 
 unspeakable horrors for the Filipino people, its suffer- 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 35 
 
 ing to our own men, and its dangers to our very 
 government/' 
 
 Brown soon had a realizing sense of the effect of 
 the " military spirit," as mentioned by Wheelwright, in 
 shaping our national history. He was dining one day 
 with Dexter and another friend at the Union Club, of 
 which he was a member, when he chanced to sit near 
 Colonel Philip Hotspur, one of the officers just home 
 from Cuba with new honors. 
 
 The colonel was a striking military figure. With 
 protuberant chest, elevated shoulders, and stiff spinal 
 column he would have attracted attention anywhere. 
 But above his physique was his evident mental attitude. 
 He was an American all over. He was proud of 
 American prowess. He gloried in America's power. 
 American imperialism rang through the vibrant chords 
 of his voice whenever he spoke, especially to the 
 " nigger " waiters. American spirit flamed from his 
 eyes whenever he turned them upon a subordinate. 
 American scorn revealed itself in the curve of his 
 nostril and the inclination of his lip. American 
 stalwartness asserted itself in his ground-devouring 
 stride. American glory he was such an overflowing 
 embodiment of it streamed from the ends of his 
 Kaiser William mustache like electricity from the tip 
 of a lightning-rod in a thunder-storm. 
 
 The colonel and some friends were so near George 
 Brown and his companions that they could not but 
 hear the conversation. Brown's mind was full of the 
 
36 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 wrong which was being perpetrated in the name of 
 his country upon the victims of commercialism, 
 militarism, and clericalism, and he discharged some 
 of his contempt for the cause of the evils, not hesitat- 
 ing to challenge Dexter to another encounter in the 
 arena of reason and justice. 
 
 " Now, Dexter," said Brown, " you know that the 
 army officers are ambitious for glory and are pro- 
 digiously jealous of each other. You know that many 
 of them would not hesitate to sacrifice the Filipinos 
 if thereby their own promotion might be assured. It 
 is an unspeakable outrage on humanity that such 
 influences are so strong right at the very top of the 
 Administration." 
 
 " What are you going to do about it ? " asked Dexter. 
 " It is true of some officers, though it is false of a 
 great many others. It has always been so in military 
 circles, and it always will be. It was so in the 
 Northern army in the Civil War. Not every officer 
 who was shot in battle was killed by confederate 
 bullets. You can't make over human nature." 
 
 " That is one thing which convinces me more and 
 more that an army is about the worst asset any nation 
 can have if it expects to deal fairly with everybody," 
 responded Brown. " You get a large standing army, 
 I do not mean a little one for police purposes, 
 and the officers are hungry for a fight. It is their 
 business to fight. You remember General Frothing- 
 ham's speech we heard the other day : < If we are 
 pugnacious, it is natural. The ram is a very pretty 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 37 
 
 little animal, but the farmers say that if you put one 
 in the field where there is nothing else for him to 
 butt, he will butt a stump, because it is his nature 
 to. Now, it is as natural for an American boy to 
 butt a stump as it is for a ram. The way we are 
 educated, you must not be surprised if we occasionally 
 look for stumps.' That is the truth of the matter. 
 Our military men are looking for stumps. They are 
 glad to pick a war, reckless of other people's rights, 
 provided they can make something for Number One. 
 And you yourself, Dexter, will defy your real con- 
 science and obey these blood-thirsty egotists when 
 they tell you to fight for their shoulder-straps." 
 
 It happened that no one in Brown's party had been 
 observing the other group of diners. Had they done 
 so, they would have caught a vision of the officer's 
 angry face and glaring eyes. 
 
 " Traitor ! " shouted Colonel Hotspur, who had 
 heard with rising wrath Brown's denunciation of the 
 military character. 
 
 Both groups of men jumped to their feet as the 
 enraged ideal American, defending his profession, and 
 himself by inference, advanced upon his calumniator 
 with clenched fist and shook it in his face. 
 
 " You lie ! It's an infamous lie, and you know it. 
 You lie in your black heart. You lie in your brain. 
 You lie from head to foot. I defy you to make your 
 words good. I here and now challenge you to meet 
 me on the field of honor. Your blood or mine must 
 flow for this infernal outrage upon brave men." 
 
38 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 George Brown, the instant the first furious words 
 belched from the mouth of the colonel, put the strong- 
 est restraint upon himself. Before the last fling of 
 fury had escaped he was looking straight into the eyes 
 of the colonel with a cool smile, ready in resource, 
 and with his line of action perfectly clear before 
 him. 
 
 "Please put your communication in writing," he 
 replied. "It shall receive my prompt attention. 
 Meanwhile, as we are through with our repast, permit 
 me to wish you good day and a quiet meditation in 
 this matter." 
 
 He turned away at once, bowing low to his adver- 
 sary, and was followed out by Dexter and their other 
 friend. The colonel was left to comply at his dis- 
 cretion with Brown's request. 
 
 For Colonel Hotspur there was no alternative after 
 such a beginning. He knew Dexter, and he felt that 
 Brown must be at least a man who was serious when 
 he invited him to put his communication in writing. 
 So he wrote without delay the formal challenge, nam- 
 ing his second, and asking Brown to carry on further 
 negotiations through him. 
 
 Brown still saw the line of duty and of action as 
 clearly as it had flashed upon him when the colonel 
 denounced him as a traitor for reflecting upon the char- 
 acter of army officers. First of all, reason and truth 
 were to be defended. The matter of fighting with an 
 angry officer was more remote. So he replied to the 
 letter : 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 39 
 
 " COLONEL PHILIP HOTSPUR : 
 
 "Sir: This is a very serious matter, and shall 
 receive my prompt attention, as I promised you. You 
 have challenged me to mortal combat. Thereby you 
 offer yourself as the best possible illustration of the 
 truth whose utterance provoked your wrath and leads 
 you to take my life. If what I said is worthy of the 
 attention which you have given to it, then the first 
 thing is to establish the truth or falsity of my charge. 
 Whether I live or die will have no effect upon the 
 main question. You have evaded the issue. If you 
 believed that I spoke falsely, why did you not prove 
 the falsehood ? Why should you try to kill me and 
 thereby make it impossible for me to support my 
 case ? If I spoke the truth, and I affirm that I did, 
 then I shall most surely not put myself in a position 
 where I cannot defend it against your attack. If you 
 had the truth on your side, you would have confuted 
 me with it. But as you did not, therefore your act is 
 a confession that the officers of the army are open to 
 the charge I made against them. Furthermore, your 
 own haste makes it probable that you yourself fell 
 under condemnation. 
 
 " The first matter to be settled is whether or not 
 my charge is true. All plans for a hostile meeting 
 must be postponed until the main issue is settled. 
 After that has been disposed of, it will be for you to 
 say whether it will promote the cause of truth for you 
 to murder me. You are doubtless a better shot than 
 I am. If, after the more important matter has been 
 
40 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 disposed of, you suppose that the reputation of army 
 officers will be enhanced by making a corpse of me, 
 you are welcome to try your hand. I shall not attempt 
 any return shot. I do not believe in murder. I do 
 not believe in force as the right way of settling a dis- 
 pute. I believe that all differences between men 
 should be settled by justice and reason. Thus, if you 
 can prove me to be in the wrong, I will apologize and 
 retract. But until then, I repeat my charge with all 
 its original force, insisting that it is true and that army 
 officers are so prone to fight for the sake of fighting 
 and for the sake of their own advancement as to affect 
 seriously for evil the history of our country. I have 
 facts wherewith to sustain my charge. 
 
 " I therefore await your settlement of this first 
 matter, after which negotiations for the second part 
 of the program will be in order. Captain Dexter is 
 my representative. 
 
 " With all due respect, 
 
 " GEORGE BROWN." 
 
 Though Dexter disagreed with the vehemence of 
 Brown's charge, yet, from his own army experience, 
 he was well aware that facts enough existed to make 
 a plausible foundation for it. His friendship for Brown 
 was strong enough to hold him fast to him in this 
 matter, in spite of the reflection on his own profession, 
 and he consented to act as his second. He indorsed 
 Brown's course, sharing his contempt for the folly and 
 wickedness of dueling. So he delivered the reply 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 41 
 
 from Brown to the colonel's second and awaited the 
 result. 
 
 Colonel Hotspur read Brown's answer with an 
 abundant outflow of unscriptural language. He was 
 not as fertile in intellect as he was ready in wrath, and 
 he could not see a satisfactory way out of the matter. 
 Brown had promised to meet him after the most 
 important matter was settled, therefore the challenge 
 had not been declined. But Brown had challenged 
 him to prove his charge false. Now, there are a great 
 many army officers, and it would be impossible to 
 prove a general negative. Besides, however it might 
 be with powder and ball, Brown had some ammunition 
 to fire in the first duel with intangible bullets. In 
 this primary conflict might not he himself be hurt 
 worse by standing up than if he should not expose 
 himself ? To his prudent mind that seemed to be the 
 safer course. In some way he must save his dignity. 
 So, by consultation with his second, the following was 
 prepared : 
 
 " MR. GEORGE BROWN : 
 
 "Sir: Since you fail to meet my challenge directly, 
 and propose an evasive course which does not satisfy 
 my standard of military honor, a course to pursue 
 which would lead to no valuable result, I desire to 
 have no further communication with you. 
 
 "PHILIP HOTSPUR, Colonel" 
 
 With which reply the incident was closed. 
 
42 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 REV. ANSEL ROBINSON RAISES A PARISH STORM 
 
 said Rev * Ansel Robinson to his 
 
 friend at one of the meetings of their League, 
 " I expect to say something about national 
 issues in my sermon the Sunday before the Fourth, 
 and I should like to have you there. I can't hold in 
 any longer. Ever since we began the war on the 
 Filipinos last winter I have been boiling to think of 
 our duplicity, our cruelty, our inhumanity, our utter 
 disregard of our own political principles, and our con- 
 tempt for the very essence of the Christianity we 
 profess. Here are our worthy people acting as if we 
 were doing the Lord's work, when I am sure that 
 it is inspired directly by the very devil himself. I 
 must speak, even if they throw me out of the church 
 for it. No man who is worthy to stand in a Christian 
 pulpit will let any consideration of personal conse- 
 quences to himself hinder him in preaching the truth 
 to his people." 
 
 " I shall be glad to come, Mr. Robinson ; and you 
 may be sure that I shall stand by you if anything 
 happens because you tell your people the truth about 
 this inexpressible Philippine wickedness." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 43 
 
 In another place in Boston there were minds 
 running in the same channel. 
 
 "Faith," said Mr. Fessenden to the one daughter 
 who sympathized with him on the great topic of the 
 times, " I hear that Pastor Robinson is a very strong 
 anti-imperialist. It would be just like him to preach 
 on imperialism on the Fourth of July Sunday. If you 
 would like, we will go out to hear him." 
 
 "I shall be delighted to go, father; and I hope he 
 will make it so warm for the other side or, at least, 
 so clear to them that they will be ashamed of them- 
 selves and turn about." 
 
 George Brown asked his father to go with him. 
 The Fessendens took a couple of sympathizing neigh- 
 bors. None of them were disappointed in Pastor 
 Robinson. His soul was aflame with the indignation 
 he felt at the utter denial of the principles of Chris- 
 tianity in those who supported the conquest of the 
 Philippines for the spread of the gospel and of civil- 
 ization, and he was never in his life more vehe- 
 ment than he was when laying open, to the view of 
 every one who chose to see, the utter inconsistency 
 between the love of Christ and the conquest of a 
 weaker people in order that the gospel might be given 
 to them. 
 
 But the congregation, except in a few instances, 
 was not sympathetic or responsive. One of the 
 prominent Republican politicians of the suburb walked 
 stiffly out of the church to express his displeasure. 
 At the close of the service some came up to expostu- 
 
44 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 late, and to remonstrate against using the pulpit for 
 such purposes. The few who indorsed the sermon 
 remained to say how much they were delighted with 
 it. Thus there gathered quite a storm right about the 
 sacred desk, such as is inevitable when conflicting 
 forces come in contact. The Fessenden party had 
 been given seats near the front, and they remained 
 unnoticed in the pew while the discussion raged over 
 the pastor and his provoking sermon. 
 
 Just four of the men members of the church stood 
 by Pastor Robinson, Henry Trueblood, a carpenter ; 
 Frank Ledger, a cashier; Paul Nutting, a farmer; 
 and William DeNim, a salesman. Every deacon, the 
 Sunday-school superintendent, and all who were of 
 importance in shaping the course of the church, except 
 these four, were stanch supporters of the policy of 
 conversion by force which the pastor so strongly con- 
 demned, and they warmed to the attack as they saw 
 their relative numerical strength. The Brown party 
 took a hand in the debate, and there was no tenderness 
 of each other's feelings in the give-and-take which 
 followed. 
 
 " I do not see how any Christian man can uphold 
 the policy of the Administration," said Pastor Robin- 
 son, replying to the sharp question of Deacon Harrow 
 as to why he had given his people such a sermon. " I 
 believe that we are in the most critical period our 
 nation has seen since the Civil War, and it would be 
 as wrong for me to keep still now as it would have 
 been wrong to have said nothing against slavery then. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 45 
 
 Do you say that a minister ought not to preach against 
 great national sins ? " 
 
 " This isn't a sin. We are doing right. We want 
 to convert and civilize those savages. We want to 
 give them the gospel. It will all come out best in the 
 end. It is for their good/* said the deacon. 
 
 " But it is never right," replied the pastor, " to 
 spread Christianity by force. What a spectacle we 
 make of ourselves, killing men in order that we may 
 preach the gospel to the survivors ! We only make 
 them hate us. If your ideas are right, then Mohammed, 
 with fire and sword, was i;ight." 
 
 " There is a difference," argued the deacon," between 
 blind fanaticism and reason enlightened by the Chris- 
 tian religion. This nation is following the pointing of 
 the finger of God. It is perfectly clear to the reverent 
 mind that God is in these events." 
 
 " God never tells men to steal and murder," pro- 
 tested the minister. 
 
 " We are doing neither. We are simply and regret- 
 fully applying force temporarily, to make these people 
 better." 
 
 "We have no right to apply force. The people 
 own themselves ; and the land they live in is theirs, 
 as truly as the land we live in is ours." 
 
 " Spain held the title to the Philippines before she 
 transferred it to us," argued the deacon. 
 
 " Which means," responded the minister, " that if a 
 thief keeps stolen goods long enough he has a moral 
 right to them." 
 
46 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 "But the possession by Spain was recognized by 
 international law, by the civilized world," the deacon 
 asserted. 
 
 "Which means," retorted the minister with calm 
 indignation, " that if everybody steals, then stealing is 
 right, and therefore the thief in our country to-day 
 who steals all he can and tries to make the practice 
 general is a moral reformer for the benefit of man- 
 kind and ought to be encouraged in his missionary 
 effort." 
 
 " It seems to me," hotly replied the deacon, who in 
 the figures of his speech betrayed the symbols of his 
 daily occupation, " that your mind is badly warped to 
 talk such nonsense as that ! The T-square of your 
 candor is twisted out of shape. The plumb line of 
 your judgment is blown one side by the blast of your 
 prejudice. Nobody can argue with such a man." 
 
 " I am glad," said Brown quietly, " that you make 
 such an admission." 
 
 Deacon Elderkin, a young man who had just been 
 elected to the office on the principle that the available 
 material of the church ought to be brought into 
 action, joined in the attack with the warmth of a 
 young Republican, loyal to the President. 
 
 " I hold," said he, " that a man ought to be loyal to 
 his country. Love of country is the highest duty we 
 owe. We are bound to stand by the superiors whom 
 God has placed over us. I say that William McKinley 
 is President by the providence of God, and I believe 
 that he has been led by God in trying to conquer the 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 47 
 
 Philippines in order to establish American sovereignty 
 and give them the blessings of civilization.'* 
 
 " Led by God ? " cried out George Brown. " What 
 right have you to say that he has been led by God any 
 more than any man has been led by God who acts 
 contrary to the principles of the gospel and of his 
 own country ? I charge the Administration at Wash- 
 ington with defying the principles of Christianity and 
 the fundamental ideas of the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence. God is no respecter of persons, and he created 
 all men equal before him. No nation has a right to 
 conquer another under pretense of spreading the 
 gospel or of raising them in the comforts of life. God 
 is in every event of history, good or bad, and it is no 
 more to be presumed that he approves the slaughter 
 of the Filipinos by the Americans than that he 
 approves the slaughter of the Armenians by the Turks. 
 It is as easy to prove the special interposition of God 
 in the one case as it is in the other. If William 
 McKinley should be assassinated you would have to 
 argue that the crime was a part of the purpose and 
 wisdom of God ; that the assassin did right, and there- 
 fore that he ought to be commended." 
 
 " Such talk is nothing less than blasphemy," replied 
 the young deacon. " The hand of God is as plain in 
 this case as if he had spoken from heaven. Besides 
 that, can't you trust the President ? He is as patriotic 
 as you are, and he has inside information which you 
 don't have. Can't you trust him ? " 
 
 " I cannot trust," answered Brown reverently, " that 
 
48 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 any man is moved by the hand of God when the 
 action is contrary to wisdom, love, and justice. " 
 
 The discussion here branched out into dialogues 
 between several groups, who could not hold themselves 
 in, such was their heat and abounding conviction that 
 they were right in their respective views, till the 
 deacons, with Trueblood, DeNim, Nutting, and 
 Ledger, these four being on the side of the pastor, 
 and about every one else in the group, had taken 
 a voice. Pastor Robinson stood in the midst of the 
 storm, answering questions and defending himself 
 bravely, but making little headway against the set 
 opinions of those who differed from him radically and 
 who made their politics a part of their religion. They 
 were getting to no conclusion whatever, and the 
 pastor, seeing how hopeless the case was, and filled 
 with the gathering force of the righteousness of his 
 position, launched out, with a vibrant voice which 
 silenced all the wordy tumult about him, into a defense 
 of his course and an attack upon the attitude of relig- 
 ious people in general who favored the Philippine 
 war. 
 
 " We ought not to be surprised," he said, " that the 
 large number of religious people favor the use of 
 force in extending the gospel and are opposed to the 
 true method of peaceful means. It has been the 
 history of the world from the beginning of recorded 
 times that religious people, especially the organized 
 representatives of religion, have employed the most 
 cruel and inhuman means of sustaining themselves and 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 49 
 
 of spreading their power. Religion has two faces : 
 hand in hand with its immeasurable good it has always 
 been a cloak for the worst intolerance, the most out- 
 rageous inhumanity, the blindest conservatism, and 
 the deadliest opposition to the rights and the progress 
 of man that the world has ever seen. The religious 
 mind in man in religion's organized form, when it 
 has seized power or got the upper hands, as it has in 
 the United States to-day has always been the 
 center of the most anti-Christian conduct and has 
 held the most reactionary principles. Tear anywhere 
 out of the great book of history a page, and it dis- 
 closes the tyranny, bigotry, and bitterness of perverted 
 religious feeling. It exhibits the tendency to padlock 
 the human intellect, to coerce and control opinion, to 
 gag the mouth of confession, to terrorize the con- 
 sciences and convictions of men ; and it also reveals 
 the utter and hopeless futility of all such proceedings. 
 True progress in human liberty never comes from the 
 organized religious forces. You have got to go out- 
 side of the church, to the few men who see the vital 
 essence of truth, not the mere husk of its forms and 
 ceremonies and nominal principles, if you would find 
 the soul of truth and progress. If men of this sort 
 are found inside the church, then they are in a weak 
 minority, as they are to-day. " 
 
 The pastor looked around him sorrowfully, and 
 went on : 
 
 " Look at history from the very beginning and see 
 what religious men have done. It was religious men 
 
50 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 who opposed our Savior and put him to death. They 
 represented the highest religious thought and activity 
 of the times. It was religious men who shaped the 
 policy of the Roman Empire and put to death hun- 
 dreds of thousands of men and women for professing 
 the new Christian religion. After this new religion 
 had conquered the Roman Empire and had got control 
 of the government, then it, in turn, became oppressive 
 and opposed to all progress. It was the religion of 
 the world, yes, the Christian religion as it was professed 
 by the body of organized Christianity, which caused 
 the Dark Ages to shut down over the world, which 
 kept the light of the gospel from the mass of the 
 people, which retained the Word of God in Latin and 
 gave the people only what the priests and pope were 
 disposed to impart. When a few brave souls, like 
 John Huss and Martin Luther and their followers, 
 braved death for truth's sake, then it was the religious 
 people who put many to death amid inconceivable 
 tortures. In England, Catholics burned Protestants 
 and Protestants burned Catholics. In this country, it 
 was the organized religious people of the times who 
 opposed free thought, who hanged Quakers on Boston 
 Common, who hanged the Salem witches and made 
 the State a Theocracy. It is the religious people who 
 stand in the way of modern thought. They have 
 opposed the advance of science. They have misinter- 
 preted the scriptures until science has smashed down 
 the barrier of their opposition and let the light of truth 
 shine. In former days it was Catholics and pagan 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 51 
 
 priests and Established Churchmen who committed 
 all sorts of crime against human life, liberty, and con- 
 science, in the name of religion. The religious mind 
 in possession of temporal power is just the same to-day 
 that it has been for two thousand years, yes, ever 
 since the time of the priests of the Egyptian mysteries 
 and their control over the nation. It is the Greek 
 Church priests in Russia who preserve their despotic 
 form of government, who deny religious liberty, who 
 kill patriots in Siberia. It is religious people, in con- 
 trol of the government in this self-governing country 
 of ours, our Congregationalists, Methodists, Baptists, 
 Presbyterians, and so on, who to-day believe that it is 
 right to kill men in order to spread the gospel ; who 
 pretend that the gospel of love is to be spread by force. 
 These men have no more conception of the true spirit 
 of the gospel of love than the old people of the Spanish 
 inquisition had. We are getting new light on those 
 old days. Our pretended enlightened people in our 
 most advanced churches to-day stand in exactly the 
 same category as the men who put the martyrs to death 
 for the sake of principle. We do not doubt that there 
 were a great many honest persecutors in the Catholic 
 Church who put men to death for the good of their 
 souls. But the fact that they were honest does not 
 make us shudder any the less when we read of their 
 terrible cruelities. The same fate will happen to our 
 imperialist clergymen of to-day. They will be judged 
 by a future generation, and they will be *put in the 
 same list as those who sawed righteous men asunder 
 
52 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 and boiled them in oil. I am an optimist. Times will 
 become better. Higher standards will prevail. Other- 
 wise there would be no reforming or converting power 
 in Christianity. Brotherhood is our true motto, not 
 expansion, for expansion is nothing but selfishness. 
 Expansion is always selfish looking out for its own 
 good. Every man who upholds our infamous war 
 upon the Filipinos, our neglect of our vital political 
 principles, and our hardness toward our fellow-men, 
 will be judged by a standard as much higher than ours 
 of to-day as ours is higher than that of the saints 
 who killed their fellow-Christians for the glory of God, 
 no matter how many virtues they have by our 
 present standard. This is inevitable, and all we may 
 say now will not change their future condemnation 
 one iota. Time will bring terrible retribution for all 
 offenders against the fundamental laws of love and 
 liberty. Force is not right, and the law of love will 
 prevail. But we must bide our time. You don't agree 
 with me now. I can't convince you now ; but I stand 
 my ground and appeal to the future." 
 
 The good pastor was profoundly excited and spoke 
 with terrible earnestness. No one cared to answer 
 him and the party broke up. 
 
 Faith Fessenden had seen George Brown and had 
 heard his defense of truth and liberty. In the excite- 
 ment he had not noticed her presence, or that of her 
 companions, and she thought best not to put herself 
 in sight. But she felt sure that there was a man who 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 53 
 
 knew his mind, and who would not only stick to it, 
 but sacrifice himself for his convictions if necessary, 
 in order to maintain them. 
 
 The visitors returned to Boston and Pastor Robin- 
 son went home to prepare for the storm which he 
 foresaw would break out against him. 
 
54 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 PASTOR ROBINSON'S PARISHIONERS STRIKE A 
 RETURN BLOW 
 
 "I IE has no right to preach politics in the pulpit," 
 exclaimed Deacon Harrow excitedly, to a little 
 group who gathered after the next mid-week 
 prayer-meeting to give vent to their indignation against 
 Pastor Robinson. " He has no right to take advan- 
 tage of the place we put him into, and vilify our good 
 President and condemn his Christian policy. I believe 
 he had better go." 
 
 " But, Brother Harrow," answered Henry True- 
 blood, "if he thinks that the nation is doing a wicked 
 thing, surely he ought to preach against it ; and if he 
 finds that the Administration is responsible for the wick- 
 edness, he is justified in pointing the finger at it/' 
 
 " But he has no business to preach politics. We 
 hired him to preach the gospel, not to tell us what we 
 ought to do in politics. I guess we know as much 
 about politics as he does." 
 
 " Politics is very often a matter of right and wrong 
 for the nation," broke in Frank Ledger. " It is a 
 minister's duty to preach against sin, and if he finds 
 that the nation is committing a hideous sin it is his 
 duty to preach against it, no matter if it is politics 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 55 
 
 and no matter whose corns he treads on. I believe 
 he did just the right thing. And he did a very brave 
 thing, for he knew that you would all raise a howl 
 against him. He is right and I stand by him." 
 
 " It's a minister's business to preach the gospel, and 
 to let his people make the practical application for 
 themselves/' said young Deacon Elderkin. " He ought 
 to use more common sense. He can't expect the big 
 majority of this congregation, twenty to one against 
 him, to submit to be talked to as if they were a lot of 
 cut-throats. If he can't be broader-minded, he might 
 as well stop preaching. He is so sore over this Philip- 
 pine business that he thinks of that more than he 
 does of his duties, and I believe that his usefulness 
 here is at an end." 
 
 " You can't show that he is wrong ; he has you on 
 the hip when it comes to an argument," put in William 
 DeNim. " You shut your eyes and go it blind. You 
 stick to your ' party,' while he gets down to bed-rock 
 in the Bible and the Declaration of Independence. 
 You had better let him alone and prove him wrong 
 before you go any further." 
 
 "The majority of this church are satisfied already 
 that he is wrong," Deacon Harrow retorted. "We 
 want the gospel preached to us ; but when it comes 
 to politics, we think he is out of his sphere, and if he 
 can't let politics alone, and he can't, then it is 
 time for us to part company." 
 
 The division came upon the lines already laid down. 
 Few outside of the four anti-imperialists who supported 
 
56 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 the pastor had any defense to make for his course. It 
 was decided that his resignation should be asked for. 
 As soon as the proper forms of church business could 
 be observed, a meeting was called and the motion of 
 Deacon Harrow that Pastor Robinson be requested to 
 send in his resignation was carried by show of hands, 
 women also voting, by vote of seventy-three to six. 
 
 The motion was not debated. They had talked 
 themselves out in private beforehand until they were 
 weary and knew that further talk would be utterly use- 
 less and merely aggravate the feelings of both sides. 
 
 One request of Mr. Trueblood was granted without 
 objection. He asked that the names of the minority 
 be recorded, and that it be added to the record that 
 the resignation was requested because of the pastor's 
 preaching upon imperialism. To one who asked him 
 after the meeting why he had done this, he said : 
 "Because there will be a hereafter to this matter. 
 Pastor Robinson will be vindicated, and I want it put 
 on record beyond dispute just why he has been turned 
 out, and who stood by him." 
 
 Ansel Robinson was ready for the communication 
 which was sent to him. He foresaw that he must 
 either resign or keep silent upon as great a national 
 sin as had ever been committed by any nation under 
 pretense of doing right, or without pretense of right- 
 eousness at all ; for he recognized fully the commercial 
 spirit which was at the bottom of the imperialist 
 propaganda, as well as the religious blindness which 
 took advantage of it. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 57 
 
 "It is as much my duty to preach against this 
 national sin," he soliloquized, " as it was for the 
 Hebrew prophets to preach against the national sins 
 of their time. They meddled with politics. It was 
 politics mainly which disturbed them. It was the 
 national unrighteousness which they condemned. It 
 was impossible to draw a line between politics and 
 religion. If religion is good for anything, it is good 
 for national sins, being the only thorough remedy to 
 be found. Therefore, if the nation sins, it is the duty 
 of the faithful minister to preach politics, even if he 
 knows that he must suffer martyrdom for it. I am 
 not sorry for what I have done. I am ready to stand 
 alone, but I am ashamed of my profession that so few 
 ministers have the insight to realize the underlying 
 truths in this crisis or the courage to stand up and 
 oppose the corrupting influence of wealth which is 
 poisoning the morals of the people. But I must bide 
 my time. * Truth crushed to earth will rise again.' 
 I shall be fully vindicated. Meanwhile, I have no 
 other course but to yield to the storm. It would be 
 folly to insist upon my legal rights and compel the 
 church to pay my salary as long as I choose to 
 stay." 
 
 So he wrote a letter : 
 
 " To THE CLERK OF THE COTTON MATHER MEMORIAL 
 
 CHURCH : 
 
 " Dear Brother v In compliance with the wishes 
 of a large majority, as made known by the vote of the 
 
58 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 meeting which has been transmitted to me, I hereby 
 resign my pastorate, the resignation to take effect as 
 soon as the dismissing council can be held. I have 
 no regret or apology for the course which has proved 
 so offensive to most of my people, and I confidently 
 look forward to the time when you, in the brighter 
 light of truth and history, will see as I see and will do 
 your part to atone for our great national sin. 
 "Wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, I am 
 " Very affectionately yours, 
 
 ROBINSON." 
 
 The council was called promptly, but Pastor Robin- 
 son held that it was his right and opportunity, before 
 walking down from the pulpit for the last time, to set 
 before his flock once more the broad reasons for his 
 course. 
 
 Since they had got the better of him, and had forced 
 him out, the sense of fair play returned, and Deacons 
 Harrow and Elderkin and most of the others who 
 supported the Administration policy from motives of 
 religion and party politics listened with more of a 
 disposition than before to hear what the condemned 
 clergyman had to say. He could not hurt them 
 now, let him fire away. 
 
 The farewell sermon went straight to the equality 
 of all men before God, to their brotherhood, to the 
 great principle of love in the government of the 
 world, to the truth that the best way to make men of 
 persons is to treat them .like men, and that the best 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 59 
 
 way to promote self-government is to permit nations 
 to exercise it. He showed how the policy of conquest 
 was markedly in contrast to these truths. He showed 
 in strong colors the awful inhumanity of slaughtering 
 thousands and thousands of fellow-men simply because 
 they fought to be free, exercising their inherent rights. 
 He appealed to the very principles upon which the 
 American government was founded, and pictured the 
 great Republic of Mankind which is yet to be realized, 
 when the nations small and great will be in one federa- 
 tion, the great not conquering the small by slaughter 
 and cruelty, but recognizing their equality in essence, 
 if not in numbers, when true Christianity shall have 
 come into full possession of the world's politics. 
 
 It was a noble deliverance. It shook the sternness 
 of some. Others were bored. Others "wished he 
 would not press them so hard. Others mentally 
 clung to their rock of loyalty to party and the gospel 
 of force, though Pastor Robinson's truths nearly 
 swept them from their feet. 
 
 After that came the council, the dismissal, and the 
 removal of the pastor and his beloved family from 
 town. Imperialism had scored another triumph and 
 the Angel of Justice had another account to settle. 
 Among the many letters of approval which the 
 defeated pastor received was one signed by Mr. 
 Fessenden and Faith. George Brown had a long 
 talk with him and, by writing to friends, found 
 occasionally an open pulpit where he could preach 
 for a Sunday or two at a time. 
 
60 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 HOW A LAY BROTHER COULD NOT GET OUT OF THE 
 CHURCH 
 
 BUT the disturbed waters of the Cotton Mather 
 Memorial Church were not to resume at once 
 their wonted placid condition. The conse- 
 quences of the conflict over Pastor Robinson could 
 not be disposed of instantly. Henry Trueblood, 
 stirred to the depths of his heart by the unholy course 
 of the nation, and by the attitude of nearly all of the 
 members of his church, came to be in such a state of 
 mind that he could no longer contain himself. 
 
 " Come over and see me to-night, " he said to Frank 
 Ledger one morning soon after the pastor's dismissal, 
 "and bring Nutting and DeNim with you. I want to 
 talk over a plan I have in mind. I want to get out 
 of the church. I can't stand it to be identified any 
 longer with such a set of Christians." 
 
 " I'll come, Henry ; but don't get worked up too 
 much over the situation. There are two sides to think 
 of and you want to do what will count for most in the 
 long run." 
 
 " I know it ; but there is a limit to endurance, and 
 it may be reached sooner than you think for." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 61 
 
 So, that evening, Ledger, Nutting, and DeNim met 
 at Trueblood's house. 
 
 "I want to talk over with you," he said, "a plan 
 I have for getting out of the church. It grows out 
 of the way they have abused Pastor Robinson, and 
 out of their general indifference to the horrible things 
 we are doing in the name of patriotism and religion. 
 I can't endure it any longer, and must do some- 
 thing." 
 
 " What is your idea, neighbor ? " asked the farmer. 
 " You don't mean to do anything rash, I hope. You 
 can't make the world over in a day." 
 
 "Just look at it," said Trueblood. "Here are the 
 members of our church, men and women, the biggest 
 part of them doing what I can't endure. They have 
 sworn to be true to the light. They profess to illus- 
 trate the gospel in their daily living. Yet they pray 
 for the success of the government in its foreign policy. 
 They support the Administration in its infamous 
 course toward the Filipinos. They seem to have no 
 moral sense. I am coming to the conclusion that 
 people may be very religious and very immoral at the 
 same time. They may be like the Greek pirates who 
 held religious services and asked God's blessing upon 
 their scheme of plunder and murder. There is more 
 truth than sarcasm in the story about the chicken- 
 stealer who said to his friend in reply to the ques- 
 tion whether they were not doing wrong : < That is 
 a great moral question ; hand down another chicken/ 
 I find that there is a vast difference between religion 
 
62 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 and morals. It is wicked to dance and to play cards 
 and to go to the theater, but it is all right to take 
 your gun and go out and shoot down your innocent 
 fellow-man whose only offense is that he wants to 
 govern himself according to his own ideas, and who 
 believes that he has a right to his own native land. 
 A man who is so refined that he would not wear even 
 a necktie that was off -color has no scruples against 
 shooting down his fellow-man who is struggling only 
 for his common human rights. Our people say that 
 it is all for the best ; that we are doing it for their 
 good, and that if they will only submit and do as we 
 want them to do they will be a great deal better off 
 than if we leave them to themselves. So they keep 
 on killing them in the name of religion." 
 
 "But what can you do about it, neighbor ?". con- 
 tinued Nutting. " You can't argue with them. They 
 fall right back upon their good intentions and upon 
 the superiority of Anglo-Saxon civilization, and 
 there you are." 
 
 " I know it, and that is what provokes me. They 
 are so thick-skinned that they can't be persuaded of 
 anything which goes against their own general good- 
 ness and their loyalty to their particular political 
 party." 
 
 "You said, " put in Ledger, "that you have a plan 
 for getting out of the church." 
 
 " I have, and that is what I wanted to talk with you 
 about. Here I am, a member of the same church 
 with men and women whose hands are all besmeared 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 63 
 
 with the blood of their fellow-men. Deacon Harrow 
 and Deacon Elderkin and all the rest are really just 
 as guilty of the murder of these Filipinos as if they 
 shot them with the rifle in their own hands. They 
 believe it is right. They approve the killing. They 
 have no word of pity for the Filipinos until they 
 surrender their birthright. ' Let them surrender first 
 and then we will consider their case afterward/ they 
 say. They approve the government's policy of uncon- 
 ditional surrender as a condition of saying the first 
 kind word to them. They will not give the slightest 
 assurance that the Filipinos will ever be an independ- 
 ent nation. They act in the most despotic way and 
 call it God's plan of spreading Christianity and civil- 
 ization. I call it utter barbarism, and I can't take 
 the hands of such people with any sense of sympathy. 
 I am ashamed to belong to the same church with them. 
 I do not think they are true Christians. I don't see 
 how they can have the true love of God in their hearts 
 and be so totally hardened to sympathy with their 
 fellow-men and so blind to common natural rights. 
 The time has come for me to make a break from them. 
 It is as much as I can do to live in the same town 
 with them. Sometimes I feel as if I must get out of 
 the country if I could find any place on earth where 
 men were less hypocritical and had more regard for 
 the rights of men. I can't bear the sight of the 
 United States flag. It is a floating lie. It stands for 
 deceit, for hypocrisy, for trampling on the rights of 
 man, for robbery, murder, and oppression in the name 
 
64 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 of liberty. I am going to get out of the church. I 
 would rather be counted with the wicked, outside, than 
 with such hypocrites on the inside. It is too much 
 for any honest man to endure/' 
 
 "Now, brother," soothingly replied the salesman, 
 "just go slow for a few minutes. I sympathize with 
 you on the main question. You know that. I con- 
 demn the Administration and the whole imperialist 
 crowd as much as you do. But there are other things 
 to consider. Which is worse, for the church to 
 consist wholly of men who believe in killing their 
 fellow-men in order to civilize them, or for it to have 
 even a small minority who stand up for the right? 
 Is it not better, taken wholly from the religious point 
 of view, for you to stay in the church and help to save 
 its reputation, than it is for you to pull out and let 
 those on the other side have their own way to the 
 full?" 
 
 "Then there is another fact that you need to 
 remember/ 1 said Nutting, "and that is that these 
 people, after all, are very good in the eyes of the 
 community and especially in their own opinion. They 
 pray to God conscientiously. They sincerely ask to 
 be led into the light, even if you may say that they 
 follow the leading of the devil rather than of the 
 Lord. Now, if you believe in the light's being its 
 own revealer, as I have heard, you say, then you must 
 believe that sooner or later the light will shine in their 
 darkened minds, getting the better of their partianship 
 and fanaticism and making them think as we do. It 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 65 
 
 seems to me that you had better keep still, associate 
 with them just as usual, keep on their humane side, 
 put in your work as you have opportunity, and trust 
 to the future to bring things around all right." 
 
 " That sounds all right," said Trueblood, "and you 
 can live on that plan, for you are not as sensitive as I 
 am. To tell the truth, I am just horrified to think 
 how these men and women must be made up inside, 
 with all this blood on their souls. I can't bear to 
 shake hands with them. I am not angry with them, 
 but this indignation at wrong is in my nature. I could 
 not be friendly and cool with a Turk after he had 
 been slaughtering a lot of Armenians, and I can't be 
 civil to these people when they pray for the spread of 
 the gospel and then get their guns and go out and 
 shoot Filipinos. You may stay in the church, but I 
 shall get out." 
 
 Trueblood's friends could not persuade him to 
 change his plan. He became highly wrought up the 
 more he considered the matter, his very nature, as he 
 had asserted in the conversation with his friends, 
 revolting against contact with neighbors who were 
 guilty of what seemed to him unspeakable offenses 
 against both the Christ they professed to serve and 
 the principles of liberty and equality to which they 
 professed to be so loyal. So he sent the following 
 letter to the clerk of the church : 
 
 " I desire to have my name dropped from the list of 
 members in our church. I sympathize fully with the 
 
66 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 views of our late pastor. I believe that we are com- 
 mitting a gross national sin in our foreign policy, and 
 I find myself so completely out of sympathy with 
 the large majority upon this matter that my present 
 church relations have become intolerable. Will you 
 therefore bring this letter before the church at the 
 next meeting and ask for a vote dropping my name 
 from the list of members ? " 
 
 Accordingly the clerk of the church, at the next 
 meeting, which was held within a few days, read the 
 letter of Brother Trueblood and moved that his name 
 be dropped from the list. The members, however, 
 now that they had removed their offending pastor and 
 had had time to see more clearly his reasons, as 
 pastor, for denouncing what he believed to be a 
 national sin, were getting their sober second thought. 
 But Deacons Harrow and Elderkin still stuck to their 
 original position. " If Trueblood wants to get out of 
 the church," said the former, " I shall not hinder him. 
 If he don't want to associate with me, I don't care to 
 mix up with him. If he can't shake hands without 
 feeling as if he were getting all bloody, he had better 
 not touch me. I am not worrying about what he 
 thinks. I hope that the motion will be passed." 
 
 Brother Aretas Friend, a benevolent member whose 
 words, reinforced by a halo of white hair and beard, 
 usually carried weight and calmness, gave his views. 
 
 " It seems to me that Brother Trueblood is a little 
 hasty. We have known him for a good many years. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 67 
 
 We all think highly of him, and we all know that he 
 is a valuable member of the church. We can't spare 
 him, and it would be a pity if he were to leave us in 
 such a frame of mind as this. I believe he will see 
 things differently if we only give him time." 
 
 " There is another thing which ought to settle the 
 case," said Deacon Little, the member of the church 
 committee who always kept in the background until 
 there was a conclusive point to make. " This motion 
 is out of order. We have our rules specifying on 
 what grounds a member's name can be dropped from 
 the list. There is honorable dismission to another 
 church. A member can be dropped because of 
 change in religious belief. We can drop a member 
 for neglect of public worship and for failure to help 
 support the church. We can terminate the member- 
 ship of a man because of immoral and un-Christian 
 conduct. But there is no way under our rules for a 
 man to withdraw or get his name off the list for 
 any reason like this. Then, too, I think there is 
 sense in what Brother Friend says. Therefore I move 
 that Brother Trueblood's letter be placed on file, and 
 that the clerk be instructed to write to him that under 
 our rules it is impossible to grant his request ; and, 
 further, that the church hopes that he will exercise 
 full Christian charity toward his fellow members, such 
 as we feel toward him, and that he will reconsider his 
 determination and resume his usual activity among 
 us." 
 
 The moderator thereupon ruled that the clerk's 
 
68 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 motion to drop Trueblood was out of order because 
 it proposed something contrary to the rules of the 
 church. Deacon Little's motion was passed unan- 
 imously, without debate ; and the next day Henry 
 Trueblood found that he could not get out of the 
 church on anti-imperialist grounds, and that he was 
 still a member in good and regular standing with 
 Christian neighbors to whom he was expected to show 
 Christian charity. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 69 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ALFRED WHEELWRIGHT HAS AN OPINION ABOUT HIS 
 NATIVE LAND AND THE BOERS 
 
 ALFRED WHEELWRIGHT'S friendship with 
 George Brown, as it advanced in length, grew in 
 strength. On every trip of his boat to Boston he 
 managed to see Brown and to reach a broader under- 
 standing with him of the issues of human rights and 
 human government which were involved in the great 
 question before the American people, a question 
 full of grave consequences to their national existence. 
 Brown was the leader, but Wheelwright was a strong 
 second, and he frequently supplied, to the judicial 
 temper which characterized Brown, the temper which 
 seeks opportunity for action. Both were in complete 
 accord upon the wrongfulness of the government's 
 foreign policy, upon its infringement of undeniable 
 Filipino rights, and upon the fundamental principles 
 of the American government. Both were opposed 
 to the current theory of expansion, and neither of 
 them sympathized with the idea that only as a man 
 owns the face of the earth can he enjoy the beauties 
 of Nature. 
 
 One of the acquaintances made by Wheelwright on 
 
yo LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 the boat was Washington Douglass, a full-blooded 
 Negro in the service of the company. His manly 
 bearing, genial disposition, and evident strength of 
 character made him an exceptional figure, and a warm 
 friendship grew up between the two kindred natures, 
 which afterward bore abundant fruit. 
 
 In October, 1899, came the outbreak of the war 
 by Great Britain upon the South African Republic 
 and the Orange Free State. On the boat from 
 Savannah to Boston, directly after the outbreak of 
 hostilities, were two Englishmen on their way to 
 England to enlist in the British army. Of course 
 they were enthusiastic for their country and had no 
 question that she was right or that she would win a 
 complete victory in a few weeks. Wheelwright made 
 their acquaintance and felt the bond of common 
 national origin. But he could not indorse their ideas 
 of England's rightfulness in the Boer War. He had 
 too much sense of right in his own nature, and he had 
 talked too much with George Brown, clearing up many 
 hazy points, to leave any doubt in his mind as to the 
 only just course for England to pursue. 
 
 " Mr. Pemberton," he said, as they neared Boston, 
 when the three were together, "I should be very 
 sorry to have anything happen to you in the Boer War, 
 but I hope that you will not succeed." 
 
 " That is not a very stimulating farewell message, 
 Mr. Wheelwright." 
 
 " I know it ; but I can't possibly see how England 
 can be justified. If she has a good cause against the 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 71 
 
 Boers, why does she not submit it to arbitration ? It 
 is beyond question that the South African Republic 
 is a sovereign nation, except that England has the 
 right to supervise any treaty with any foreign nation, 
 while the Orange Free State is a full sovereign nation, 
 just as England herself is. The relative size of two 
 countries makes no difference with their rights. The 
 Free State has treaties with other nations, with the 
 United States, for instance, just as England has." 
 
 " But the Boers," asserted Pemberton, "have treated 
 our people shamefully in the Transvaal. They put 
 heavy taxes upon them. They refuse to give them a 
 fair share in political affairs. They make conditions 
 as hard as possible for the outlanders." 
 
 "There are two sides to that story," replied Wheel- 
 wright, "and the Boers have a pretty strong case 
 against the Englishmen. But my point is here : that 
 the Boer republics are sovereign nations, and, in the 
 eyes of international law, are entitled to just as con- 
 siderate treatment at the hands of England as any one 
 of the Great Powers is. If there are international 
 differences, they should be settled by right and reason, 
 not by force. Submit your case to arbitration. Force 
 is not the right recourse of a Christian people. Right 
 must prevail in the long run. In the court of the 
 nations the great nation ought not to be too proud to 
 stand on the same level as the small one. Rights are 
 just as tall on one side as on the other, and before that 
 court all nations are of the same size." 
 
 " That sounds very well, but there are certain things 
 
72 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 which no self-respecting Englishman will submit to. 
 We ought not to run any chance of England's being 
 the loser in this affair, for the progress of Christianity 
 and civilization in South Africa depend upon our 
 having full control from the Cape to Cairo." 
 
 "And what's more, Mr. Wheelwright," spoke up 
 the other, a Mr. DeLancey, " I don't propose to see 
 any dirty Boers stand in the way of British progress. 
 They are an ignorant, bigoted, unprogressive lot of 
 country farmers who know little and care less for 
 what is going on in the world." 
 
 " I resent your slur upon the Boers," replied 
 Wheelwright, " but your argument amounts to nothing 
 more than this : that when a less dirty man meets a 
 more dirty man, then the less dirty man, by the fact 
 of being less dirty, and solely because of that fact, 
 has a right to command the more dirty man to wash 
 himself, and to kill him, if he refuses, even if the 
 more dirty one be otherwise the superior man." 
 
 "But it is not decent that a lot of ignorant and 
 dirty Boers should tell Englishmen what they must 
 do." 
 
 "I don't see how either their ignorance or their 
 dirt affects the right and wrong of the case," replied 
 Wheelwright. " We can't run government on such 
 lines. Besides, if reports are true, there is a progres- 
 sive party among the Boers which had actually got 
 into control in their Volksraad, and they would soon 
 have put an entirely new face upon the situation if it 
 had not been for the infamous Jameson raid. That 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 73 
 
 outrage drove the liberals into their holes and made 
 the Boers intensely suspicious of the British. I 
 sympathize with them." 
 
 " Jameson was right," ejaculated DeLancey. " The 
 Boers have no right to camp down upon a great 
 chest of gold and sit on it, not developing it them- 
 selves or letting other people do it. Such people 
 ought not to be allowed to cumber the face of the 
 ground. I wish Doctor Jameson had cleared out the 
 entire crowd." 
 
 " You may believe that you are right," said Wheel- 
 wright, "but the Boers have a right to their own 
 country, just as much as the Englishmen have a right 
 to theirs, and they are right in defending it. They 
 have a perfect right, too, ,to make such laws about 
 naturalization of foreigners as they please, and they 
 have a right to impose such conditions as they see fit 
 upon foreigners who do business in their country. 
 What would we in the United States think if a foreign 
 nation should undertake to dictate to us on what terms 
 its citizens should do business here or how long a term 
 we should require for naturalization ? We would not 
 stand it for an instant." 
 
 "The Boers began hostilities, too," said Pemberton. 
 " You must remember that. England could in honor 
 do nothing else but take up the challenge which the 
 Boers threw down." 
 
 " But the Boers knew from bitter experience what 
 England's practice had been, and they knew, what you 
 know and what everybody knows, that England was 
 
74 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 massing troops on the borders of the Boer territory 
 for the very purpose of making an attack in force. 
 The Boers are peaceable people. They do not wish 
 to fight. They will endure much before they will 
 fight. Just see what a hopeless prospect it is to 
 challenge the great military power of England ! I 
 tell you, men, that the Boers have shown a magnificent 
 physical and moral courage in throwing down the 
 gauntlet to England, such as nothing in the glories of 
 English history surpasses. Among modern nations 
 there is not one which stands higher to-day, in all that 
 makes men and soldiers, than these same Boers whom 
 you call ignorant and bigoted and wish to wipe off 
 from the face of the earth.'' 
 
 "One thing, Wheelwright," said Pemberton, "you 
 don't seem to recognize, and that is that it will be the 
 best thing for the Boers themselves, as well as for all 
 of South Africa and for the world at large, if they are 
 conquered. They will be made a part of the British 
 Empire. After they are conquered we shall treat 
 them well. They will really be better off than they 
 will under their own government with its backward- 
 ness and intolerance and lack of touch with the 
 outside world. New capital will flow into their 
 country. It will be developed and improved wonder- 
 fully. Modern ideas will find entrance, and the 
 country will grow more in one year under British 
 rule than it would in ten under the Boers." 
 
 "Just there is where you fail to grasp the vital 
 element in the case," argued Wheelwright. "What 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 75 
 
 has the rate of material progress to do with the rights 
 of the Boers ? If they own the property and the 
 country, you have no right to rob them of that prop- 
 erty and that country, no matter whether you can 
 make them advance ten times as fast or not. If they 
 prefer to run their government their own way, it is 
 their privilege and their right, and you can have no 
 possible excuse for interference unless you have a 
 justifiable cause of war. Such a cause you cannot 
 have in any of the regulations which they impose 
 upon foreigners and foreign trade. But there is 
 another point I want to make, and that is that this 
 affair ought to be settled by arbitration. You pretend 
 to be a Christian nation ; that you have high regard 
 for the rights of weaker people. Those are your 
 principles, whatever your practice is. Now carry out 
 your principles. Submit your case to arbitration. 
 Recognize the independent existence of these two 
 nations. Don't you see that is the best way to 
 promote the development of Christianity and the arts 
 of peace and progress in South Africa? You can 
 have no excuse for making war on any people, no 
 matter how small and weak, or how aggravated may 
 be their offense against supposed rights of the British 
 people, unless such people are on so low a plane that 
 they are the common enemies of mankind. Pirates 
 and slave-dealers are regarded as common enemies. 
 The Turks, in their slaughter of the Armenians, might 
 be regarded as so low in the scale of humanity as to 
 have forfeited the right to national existence and to 
 
76 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 deserve being wiped off from the map of the nations. 
 But no such charge can possibly be brought against 
 the Boers. Morally they are on a higher plane than 
 England herself. Compare the morals of the Boer 
 people, even in their worst districts, with the heathen- 
 ism which prevails in London. Contrast the horrible 
 vice and crime in the great English cities with the 
 morals of the Boers ; see how much the former have 
 to do with making the public sentiment which is so 
 strong against the Boers, and then ask if for a moment 
 any candid man can pretend that the British are 
 morally so superior to the Boers that they are justified 
 in slaughtering them in order to promote the cause 
 of civilization and Christianity. The British claim is 
 ridiculous nonsense, and the world sees through it 
 all." 
 
 "Well, Mr. Wheelwright," rejoined DeLancey, "we 
 must agree to differ. We both are Englishmen, but 
 we see things in a very different light. I believe that 
 we ought to wipe the Boers off from the map." 
 
 " And I believe that England ought to be wiped off 
 herself if she tries to commit this infamous crime 
 against the nations." 
 
 " And I expect to win." 
 
 " And I hope, and more than half believe, that you 
 will be defeated. The Boers are terrible fighters. 
 There is no more patriotic people on the face of the 
 earth. But if England wins, that will never give her 
 the slightest right either to the territory of the Boers 
 or to their allegiance. No matter how long a robber 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 77 
 
 remains in possession of property gained by force or 
 fraud, he gets thereby no title to it either in law or 
 morals. An oath of allegiance by the Boers would 
 never condone the offense of England. On the other 
 hand, such an oath could not be given rightfully by 
 them, for they cannot abdicate their responsibility and 
 existence as an independent people any more than a 
 man can abdicate his own status as a morally respon- 
 sible person. An oath compelled by force has no 
 moral quality, and so England can never claim right- 
 fully any validity for an oath of allegiance to her given 
 under stress of arms." 
 
 "Perhaps you think that such argument as that 
 would be accepted in court, but you ought to know 
 that it would not stand two seconds/* 
 
 " So much the worse for the court if it refuses 
 to recognize the moral status of a man as directly 
 accountable to God rather than to his fellow-man. 
 But there is a further truth along the same line which 
 I affirm, in spite of your theory of courts. If any 
 British subject takes up arms in behalf of the Boers, 
 he commits no wrong. It is his privilege and his 
 right to oppose his country when he believes his 
 country is wrong. No matter whether he be Cape 
 Colony Boer or Irishman or Briton or Scot or 
 Canadian or Australian, the British subject who 
 believes England's course toward the Transvaal 
 Republic and the Orange Free State to be wrong 
 and who takes up arms with the Boers to oppose that 
 wrong is not only not under any obligation of loyalty 
 
78 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 to support his government, but he is worthy of excep- 
 tional honor as a man who faces death on the field, 
 and contempt and misrepresentation at home, in order 
 that his life may promote the cause of right and 
 liberty." 
 
 "If any British subject practises that system of 
 morals, he will find himself on the gallows if he lives 
 through the war ! " 
 
 " Very likely. It is the way of the world to hang 
 its best men. But those who come after, less brave 
 than they, enjoy the rights which the martyrs died 
 to maintain." 
 
 " There is a difference between martyrs and crim- 
 inals, between patriots and traitors." 
 
 " Men who die for the rights of man will never be 
 regarded as traitors." 
 
 " It is useless, Wheelwright, to talk further with a 
 man who holds such impractical views as you do! 
 We will send you a letter from Pretoria within six 
 weeks, and the Boers will be a submissive part of the 
 British Empire before New Year's." 
 
 "As God is my judge, I believe that England is 
 committing an abominable sin against humanity ! " 
 exclaimed Wheelwright. " She will pay dearly for it 
 in men and money. She will win the contempt of 
 the world. She will disgrace herself in the eyes of 
 mankind. England and the United States are com- 
 mitting the greatest sins of the century. Both ought 
 to be ground to powder under the mill-stones of 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 79 
 
 Providence, and I believe that both will have to 
 retrace their steps at infinite cost and in unspeakable 
 shame." 
 
 "All right, if you think so. We will run our 
 chances of it and will stand by our flag. We don't 
 propose to desert that, as you are doing." 
 
 " I put humanity and justice higher than any flag. 
 We will see who is right." 
 
8o LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 PROFESSOR JOHN HARVARD HOLBEIN DISCUSSES EVOLU- 
 TION WITH REV. THOMAS SWIFT GUNN 
 
 PROFESSOR JOHN HARVARD HOLBEIN 
 of Cambridge, one of the founders of the 
 League to which Brown and Robinson belonged, 
 was one of the most modern of scientific men. His 
 mother, from one of the best-known families living 
 on Dana Street in Cambridge, had met her fate while 
 traveling in Germany, and had married Professor 
 Wilhelm Holbein of the University of Heidelberg. 
 Their son, John Harvard, was born there. The son 
 was early trained in the specialties of his distinguished 
 father, the Hegelian and Kantian philosophies, and 
 just after his father's death, in the year following his 
 graduation, he had come to Cambridge with his mother, 
 who returned to her girlhood's home to live, and 
 finished his education by specializing himself in psy- 
 chology and philosophy. It was not long before his 
 remarkable attainments secured for him a position on 
 the faculty of Harvard College. By nature and educa- 
 tion he was eager for the truth, even at the bottom of 
 a well, and he had an instinctive love of liberty, joined 
 with passionate devotion to human rights and to justice 
 to the weaker classes and nations. It was as inevitable 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 81 
 
 that he should be in the League as it was that 
 Abraham Lincoln should desire the emancipation of 
 the slaves. 
 
 Deacon Harrow was an acquaintance of his, and 
 after Holbein heard of the action of the Cotton 
 Mather Memorial Church in requesting the resignation 
 of the Rev. Ansel Robinson, he could not restrain his 
 strong desire to visit his old friend and protest against 
 his conduct. 
 
 On making the call he was introduced to one of the 
 deacon's friends and fellow-imperialists, Rev. Thomas 
 Swift Gunn. The professor soon realized that he was 
 in the ratio of one to two on the matter nearest his 
 heart, but he had always believed that " one with God 
 is a majority " and he did not hesitate to carry out his 
 purpose of telling Deacon Harrow what he thought of 
 the action of the church. 
 
 The deacon was very sore on the subject. 
 
 " It seems to me," he said, "that the outside public 
 is meddling where it is not concerned. Here is a 
 letter from a woman, she signs her name * Faith 
 Fessenden,' calling me to account. What right has 
 she to interfere ? " 
 
 " The right of every honest person to protest against 
 a wrong," answered the professor. " This Philippine 
 business has been a mistake and a shame from the 
 beginning." 
 
 This brought Mr. Gunn into prompt action, and 
 each spared not the other in advancing his views of 
 the foreign policy of the Administration. 
 
82 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 "I believe that President McKinley is specially 
 guided by Providence/ 1 said Mr. Gunn. " It is as 
 plain as daylight that the hand of God has been in 
 this affair from the very beginning." 
 
 " I grant that the hand of God is in everything on 
 earth and under the earth/* replied Professor Holbein. 
 " I accept that as fully as any minister can preach it. 
 Science can stop short of nothing else. But that does 
 not justify us in violating the rights of the weak, in 
 trampling down men who are our equals as men, 
 whatever may be their stage of civilization. Besides, 
 it is a question how much higher we are in civilization. 
 We are not far above cannibals. Killing innocent and 
 brave patriots is the main fact. Whether we eat them 
 after they are dead is a mere matter of taste." 
 
 " My argument," said Mr. Gunn, " is just this : that 
 the present order of things is the special order of 
 Providence ; that He has carried on the evolution of 
 the world in this way from the beginning ; and there- 
 fore it is right, absolutely and undeniably right. And 
 it is not for man to question the wisdom and justice 
 and love of God as they are revealed in the course of 
 history." 
 
 " Do you believe that God has been the cause of 
 all the wars in the history of man, and that it has been 
 right that such wars should have occurred ? " asked 
 Holbein. 
 
 "I believe that God has overruled all of these 
 events for the good of man and for the glory of His 
 name. There are mysteries about some of these 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 83 
 
 things which we cannot understand. But the fact is 
 that there have been wars, and that through them and 
 through many sufferings and apparent injustice and 
 wrong to man the human race has made progress. 
 It is all part of the divine plan. God is working out 
 the redemption of the race through suffering and 
 purification, and there is no possible doubt that the 
 world is steadily growing better by these means of 
 progress/ 1 
 
 " Then you must argue that whatever wrong has 
 been done by man against his fellow-man is a part of 
 the divine plan, and that therefore it was part of the 
 plan that the strong should do wrong to the weak and 
 that thus the world is to become better." 
 
 " I believe that it must needs be that offenses come, 
 though it may be woe unto that man by whom the 
 offense comet h." 
 
 " Then, if your argument is true, it was right for 
 Judas to betray his Lord ; jjt was right for Nero to 
 massacre the Christians ; it was right that there should 
 be a slaughter of Saint Bartholomew, and it was right 
 that the Sultan of Turkey should murder thousands 
 of innocent Armenians. It is right for the United 
 States to shoot thousands of Filipinos in order that 
 civilization may be spread and that the survivors may 
 thereby advance in Christian living more rapidly." 
 
 " My position is just this," contended the reverend 
 gentleman : " that evolution is the order of the 
 world's progress. That is evident to none more 
 clearly than to yourself as a scientific man. You will 
 
84 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 not pretend to deny it. You know just as well as I 
 do that every forward step has been at the expense of 
 suffering and death to many human beings. Some 
 must die in order that others may live. Except the 
 seed be cast into the ground and die there can be no 
 life from it. Death as the basis of life is the law of 
 Nature. That is God's plan and nobody can dispute 
 it. It is evident, according to this law, that force is 
 the ultimate arbiter in human affairs. The weak must 
 serve the strong. I believe that it is the duty of the 
 strong to do what they can to make the weak better. 
 They have the responsibility for the government of 
 the earth. If there is weakness and wickedness on 
 the earth, it is their duty to check it or remove it, if 
 possible. It is their duty to God and to man. Look 
 at the history of England and see what an immense 
 amount of good she has done for the spread of Chris- 
 tianity and civilization. See her course in India and 
 Egypt. Can anything fye clearer than that she has 
 served the cause of civilization ? " 
 
 "Yes, look at England in India! See the land 
 drained of its resources to the amount of hundreds of 
 millions of dollars in order to enrich the capitalists of 
 England ! See the land bled white, and see the 
 millions of corpses from famine, chargeable to Eng- 
 land, and then talk to me about the benefit of the 
 gospel of force ! See the general distrust of England 
 in India, and remember that the day of reckoning has 
 not yet come." 
 
 "But look at what England has done in Africa. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 85 
 
 See how the light has been shed in the dark conti- 
 nent. Missions are feeble in comparison with Eng- 
 land's power. All that missions have done in the 
 dark continent is but as the light of a glow-worm 
 in a dark meadow toward accomplishing full enlight- 
 enment ! " 
 
 " And after all that, it remains as certain as can be 
 that the gospel of love is more powerful than the 
 gospel of force. But you defend the policy of con- 
 quest in the name of science, and because it is accord- 
 ing to the laws of evolution/ 'the scientist led on. 
 
 " I say," the clergyman responded, " that history 
 shows that all progress has been made under the con- 
 ditions of the survival of the fittest, and that force is 
 the ultimate criterion in the world, no matter what may 
 be said on the other side. We, being Anglo-Saxons, 
 go straight to the mark, making the end justify the 
 means." 
 
 "Very well," responded Holbein. " Now the point 
 I want to make is this, and I make it as a scientific 
 man. It is that the gospel of love is just as much a 
 part of the evolutionary forces of the world as the 
 gospel of force. It is as unscientific to argue that we 
 must conquer the world before we Christianize it as it 
 is to argue that the world is flat. You ministers, all 
 through this infernal imperialist policy, have been 
 preaching the policy of conquest in order that we may 
 carry the blessings of our civilization to the Filipinos. 
 I tell you that you are just as unscientific as you were 
 when you said that the world is flat, that it does not 
 
86 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 move, and that the world was created in six days 
 because the Bible says so. You are as antiquated 
 now in your philosophy as your predecessors were 
 when they took these positions which you admit to-day 
 are ridiculous." 
 
 "Isn't it true/' asked the clergyman, "that the 
 nations have always been under the law of force, and 
 that all our progress has been made under these con- 
 ditions ? You can't deny that." 
 
 " I do not deny it, but I do affirm that our progress 
 is not in consequence of the operation of the law of 
 force expressing itself in injustice and war, but that it 
 is in spite of it, and that the world is sure to advance 
 faster by the gospel of love than by the law of force. 
 The mathematics of morals is as exact as the math- 
 ematics of physics. Law, which is the will of God, 
 rules in morals everywhere, and the sequence of cause 
 and effect is as inevitable and as inexorable in morals 
 as it is in physics. Holding as fully as you do that 
 God is behind every act in history from the beginning 
 of time till now, I nevertheless, as a scientific man, 
 hold that immeasurable wrong has been done to the 
 defenseless and the patriotic, and that much of our 
 present earth-power ought to be overthrown." 
 
 "But the powers that be are ordained of God," 
 urged the minister. 
 
 " The wrong is never ordained of God. I take my 
 stand on the scientific ground that, if you are to be 
 scientific, you must take account of all the forces in 
 the world. There is an unselfishness, a regard for the 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 87 
 
 rights of fellow-men, a sympathy, a love of justice, 
 which exists as truly as selfishness and injustice. The 
 rights of men are not any the less because they are 
 embodied in men who have not the physical force to 
 defend them against stronger neighbors. Your entire 
 theory of evolution is wrong because you see only a 
 half-truth. The church is as bigoted as it was in the 
 days of the Inquisition. Every man of you who 
 believes in the progress of civilization and Christianity 
 by force is a bad scientist and a worse Christian. He 
 is a bad scientist because he omits the greater truth 
 of love in affirming the lesser truth of force, and he is 
 a worse Christian because the part which he omits is 
 the very part which, as a Christian, he is bound to 
 affirm. To use some of your own scripture, you are 
 blind guides leading the blind. You pretend to be 
 spiritual and you are absorbed by the material. You 
 see only the side of force, when, if you had the 
 true Christian sense, you would also see that love is 
 greater than force and that love is in the world as 
 truly as force, and that you are unscientific in not 
 affirming it." 
 
 The clergyman sat grim. 
 
 "You can't go back of the common consciousness 
 of the times," said he; "and the general sense of the 
 Christian Church of the United States to-day approves 
 the policy of conquering the Filipinos, with the expec- 
 tation and desire of doing them good and only good, 
 and of raising them up to the the same plane as our- 
 selves." 
 
88 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 "I know/* said Holbein sadly, "that the sense of 
 the Church justifies your position, and this is one 
 ground of my contempt for the Church of to-day/' 
 
 "And more than that," went on the clergyman. 
 " The Christian Church is the only earthly embodiment 
 of the Spirit of God. The Church is the Temple of 
 the Holy Spirit. It was the Christian sense of the 
 Church which passed upon the inspiration of the 
 scriptures, which decided the canon of sacred writings, 
 and which is the supreme guide of the world to-day. 
 It is higher than the conscience or the judgment of 
 any one man." 
 
 " So you say," retorted Holbein ; " and by that very 
 argument the Christian Church was right when it 
 persecuted the martyrs of the Middle Ages. Luther 
 and Huss were wrong and the Church was right. 
 You prove too much." 
 
 " There is no higher guide. I stand on the most 
 solid rock that is under the feet of any man. The 
 Christian people of the United States approve what 
 President McKinley is doing, and there is not the 
 slightest doubt that the world will be a great deal 
 better for what we are doing in the Philippines." 
 
 "The question is not whether the world will be 
 better, it is whether we are doing right. I affirm that 
 we are not doing right ; that the law of evolution does 
 not justify our course ; that the law of love and justice 
 squarely condemns it, and that there is a much shorter 
 and better way of securing the same result, without 
 slaughtering a single man or spending a single dollar 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 89 
 
 for the army or navy. The true doctrine of evolution 
 and a fair recognition of the forces which have been 
 actively at work in the world surely ever since the 
 beginning of the Christian era demand that we 
 abandon our present policy, and that we turn right 
 about and do justice to the Filipinos, recognizing their 
 essential equality with us in all that goes to make up 
 men.'' 
 
 "You have nothing but your mere assertion to 
 support your position," said the reverend teacher ; " I 
 have the authority of the Christian Church, as you 
 yourself admit, to support me ; and that authority is 
 the highest guide for man, for it is the spirit of God 
 himself. " 
 
 " If you are right/* still contended the professor, 
 " there is no such thing as progress whatever. Men 
 must always go by majorities. Christ was wrong. 
 Paul was wrong. Luther was wrong. John Robinson 
 was wrong. Abraham Lincoln was wrong. There is 
 nothing but majority rule, with death and destruction 
 for all who are not strong enough to cope with the 
 strongest." 
 
 The Reverend Mr. Gunn moved uneasily in his 
 chair. It was evidently necessary that he should 
 make a bold stroke. 
 
 "I see that you admit your defeat," he claimed, 
 " and it is not likely that further conversation would 
 be profitable between us." 
 
 " Evidently not," agreed Holbein, " for you are a 
 typical clergyman of the times." 
 
90 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 With this parting shot the professor bade good- 
 night to Deacon Harrow and his strenuous imperialist 
 friend. 
 
 After Holbein's departure the clergyman also was 
 about to go, when the deacon asked : 
 
 " Did you notice that murder sensation in The 
 Morning Gazette ? Horrible affair ! " 
 
 " The Gazette is always spreading out some horrible 
 sensation. That is what it lives on, and I am getting 
 disgusted with it. Who has been killed now ? " in- 
 quired Mr. Gunn. 
 
 " Nobody, lately. It is a singular story. It seems 
 that some bodies had to be moved from a South End 
 cemetery to make room for improvements, and a skull 
 was found with a large fracture on the back, as if it 
 had been crushed in by a heavy blow. Investigation 
 showed that it was the skull of the first wife of old 
 Peter Withington, and the discovery revived the ugly 
 rumors current at the time of her death. The police 
 were put on the case; they found one clue after 
 another, and, to make a long story short, they obtained 
 evidence sufficient to warrant them in arresting him 
 for murder/* 
 
 " The next thing will be to prove it," the minister 
 asserted. 
 
 " No. He admits it. What is worse, he justifies it. 
 He tells a very queer story, and says that the crime 
 was committed so long ago some fifteen years now 
 that it ought to be overlooked ; tha,t is, it ought to 
 be outlawed, as he puts it." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 91 
 
 " The wretch ! How does he justify murder of his 
 wife?" 
 
 The deacon reached out his hand and took the news- 
 paper from the table near which he was sitting. 
 
 " The Gazette has a long story about it, publish- 
 ing what it calls his confession, but which I call his 
 conscience-seared justification. Let me read an ex- 
 tract :- 
 
 " ' I always had a good opinion of Sarah Jane, and 
 can say so even now, after I have been married almost 
 fifteen years to Consuelo. But she never was very 
 strong. She wasn't a very good manager. Her tastes 
 were wasteful and we didn't get ahead very fast. But 
 more than that, she had never had but one child, 
 a puny girl who died young, and she was getting a 
 little bit on the downgrade in the incline of life. I 
 knew it would be a great deal better for me, for the 
 community, yes, I may say, for the State, in view of 
 the sinful decline in Anglo-Saxon population, if I were 
 to have a considerable property where otherwise I 
 could have but little, and should gather around me a 
 blooming family under my own vine and fig-tree. It 
 was a very clear case of the greatest good to the 
 greatest number. I told Sarah Jane what my views 
 were and that I thought Consuelo would make a good 
 wife for me, and tried to persuade her that it was her 
 duty to take herself out of the way. She angrily 
 refused to be convinced, although I made it perfectly 
 plain to her. I told her she could go away, or she 
 might stay at home and use laudanum, or some other 
 
92 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 peaceful means, and I would give her a respectable 
 Christian burial. But she wouldn't hear to it. Then 
 I told her she was standing in the way of God's 
 providence and the good of the State, which was 
 higher than any personal consideration, and that it 
 was my duty to be God's servant in carrying out his 
 evident purpose for the public prosperity. So I took 
 a pillow and smothered her. She struggled so hard 
 that I was regretfully obliged to put a hammer to 
 her head to quiet her, but I used no unnecessary 
 violence/ " 
 
 " You say he thinks his crime, with all its horrid 
 deliberation, ought to be outlawed ? " asked the clergy- 
 man with severe indignation. 
 
 " That is what he pleads. Here is what he says 
 further : * Consuelo and I were married soon after. 
 We have been prospered and God's blessing has 
 plainly been with us. We have a good stock of this 
 world's goods. We have six children, four boys 
 and two girls, all smart and obedient. The oldest 
 two boys and the oldest girl belong to the church, and 
 the whole family is a blessing to the community. All 
 these interests, vested interests, I might say, per- 
 sonal interests, with many innocent children concerned, 
 have grown up since the death of Sarah Jane ; and 
 no good purpose would be served by going back to 
 that forgotten matter. I claim that I ought to be 
 released and restored to my family.' " 
 
 Mr. Gunn sat silent for several minutes, looking 
 very thoughtful. Then he ejaculated : 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 93 
 
 " I say, deacon, that is a most remarkable case." 
 Here he relapsed into reflection again, but after a 
 
 moment or two he repeated, as if he had not used the 
 
 expression before : 
 
 " I say, deacon, that is a most remarkable case/' 
 Both men were silent for a moment, and finally Mr. 
 
 Gunn observed : 
 
 " Dear brother, let us ever remember that 
 
 ' God moves in a mysterious way 
 His wonders to perform.' ' 
 
 Conversation drooped from that point, though as 
 the minister was being ushered out he reverted to the 
 talk with Holbein long enough to say, 
 
 "Deacon, in this Philippine matter let us try to 
 impress upon all whom we meet the fact that, no 
 matter what features of apparent cruelty and inhuman- 
 ity the case may now seem to present, we must be 
 patient and give time for results. Think of that great 
 archipelago with its vast forests of beautiful and valu- 
 able timber, its unworked mines, its fertile, unculti- 
 vated fields, and its unsaved souls ! How wasteful the 
 natives are of their opportunities ! Why, the Philip- 
 pines now have no literature ! The day will come 
 when, as the emancipated South has its new birth of 
 literature, so, too, the Philippines will have their lit- 
 erature ; when commerce, the great missionary, will 
 have put them in still closer relations with us. I 
 think we shall do better in the Philippines than our 
 fathers did here, who not only subdued the savage, 
 
94 *L O Y A L TRAITORS 
 
 but dispossessed and exterminated him. In a few 
 years those islands will so blossom like the rose under 
 American capital and American church missions that 
 the saddest and most shameful barbarities now per- 
 petrated will seem in retrospect as nothing in view of 
 the prosperous business and inspiring religious oppor- 
 tunities that will have come to pass there." 
 
 " That is an excellent point," said the deacon. " I 
 will bear it in mind." 
 
 Then they said good-night. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 95 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 WASHINGTON DOUGLASS HAS A VISION OF DUTY 
 
 ONE evening, just after the boat on which 
 Wheelwright and Douglass were employed had 
 left Savannah for Boston, a quarrel broke out 
 among some of the deck-hands who had been on shore 
 too long for the health of their temperance principles. 
 They were ugly, and were coming to blows, when 
 Wheelwright saw the trouble and stepped into the 
 middle of the angry group to separate the men. 
 
 " What business is this of yours, John Bull ? " 
 demanded one of the half-intoxicated men. 
 
 " If you don't mind your business and let us alone, 
 I'll let daylight through you," yelled another. 
 
 " Stand off and behave yourselves," replied Wheel- 
 wright. "There shall be no drunken rows on this 
 boat if I can prevent it." 
 
 " You had better look out for yourself, if you value 
 that precious skin of yours," came from the furious 
 lips of a third man, as he drew a knife and made as if 
 he would attack the would-be peacemaker. 
 
 Washington Douglass had heard the high words, 
 and came to the place just in time to see the danger 
 which threatened Wheelwright. Instantly he plunged 
 into the thick of the brawl, drew Wheelwright to one 
 
96 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 side and was shielding him with his own body when, 
 with the cry of " You infernal black nigger, I'll kill 
 you," the man with the knife made a vicious stab at 
 him. Douglass raised his left arm to parry the thrust, 
 but exposed his side, and received the blade below the 
 ribs, suffering a severe wound. 
 
 Wheelwright instantly wrested the knife from the 
 half-drunken man, threw him to the floor, and led 
 Douglass away, while the brawlers, seeing that some- 
 thing serious had happened, and partly sobered, did 
 not molest them further. 
 
 Douglass was put to bed with such attention as 
 was possible under the circumstances, and for several 
 days it was a question whether he would live. But 
 good care and attention to his wound and his diet 
 made him able to sit up and talk before the boat 
 reached Boston. 
 
 Not long before the time for landing he asked to 
 have Wheelwright visit him, and when he came said 
 that he wished to have a talk with him. 
 
 "What is it about, Douglass?" asked Wheel- 
 wright ; " the topic we have discussed before ? " 
 
 "Yes, but in a more practical way. Since I've 
 been lying here I've been thinking a great deal 
 about what I ought to do for the Filipinos. I 
 know how you feel about what we are doing to 
 them. Now, I have just been pretty near death, Mr. 
 Wheelwright, and things seem different to me from 
 what they ever did before. It seems to me as if 
 it does not make so much difference how soon I 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 97 
 
 die, provided I do some good in the world. Suppose 
 I stay here on this boat and work as long as I 
 live, or do something else of the same sort ? What 
 does it amount to ? My mother was a slave, and I 
 know something of the wrongs of our race. I know 
 that her body was all covered with scars from the 
 terrible bites of the bloodhounds which pursued her 
 when she tried to run away to freedom. I know 
 what the Emancipation Proclamation meant to the 
 Negro race. I believe that I have some idea of what 
 freedom and liberty and duty mean. Now we are 
 trying to conquer the Filipinos. As nearly as I can 
 understand it, they have just as much right to their 
 freedom as we have to ours. If the black people 
 have a right to their liberty, if there is such a thing 
 as human rights anyway, I don't see why the Fili- 
 pinos have not a right to themselves. We can't get 
 any right to them by buying them or by conquering 
 them. But I am ashamed to say that there are two 
 regiments of Negroes in the United States army who 
 have gone over to help the white men conquer these 
 brown men, killing them because they are fighting 
 for their liberty and independence. Perhaps I may 
 be wrong, but I believe I am right, and it seems to 
 me that my duty calls me to go over and fight with 
 the Filipinos and help them to get their independ- 
 ence." 
 
 Wheelwright had sat in silence during this rather 
 long speech of his companion, but in his heart, with 
 every word, there had been growing a great, burning 
 
98 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 admiration for the black man lying before him. 
 Douglass was one of the most intelligent Negroes 
 Wheelwright had ever met, and by patient study had 
 freed himself from many of the crudenesses of his 
 race and was in fact a student and thinker of no 
 mean proportions. 
 
 " You know how I feel about the policy of our 
 government, Douglass," said Wheelwright, after a 
 moment. " You know that I believe practically as 
 you do in the matter. But what makes you think 
 that it would be right for you to go over there and 
 fight against our own soldiers ? " 
 
 " Mr. Wheelwright, we are doing wrong to them, 
 and somebody must pay the penalty of it. The Fil- 
 ipinos are right, and no man can make it right for 
 us to kill them for defending their native land. I be- 
 lieve I can help them. It would encourage them if 
 only one American, and he even a black man, came 
 out to help them. I could stand the climate. I 
 could learn their language. I could help them in 
 a great many ways. I am going to get well from 
 this hurt, and it seems to me as if my life could not 
 be spent better than in helping these much abused 
 people to their liberty and their rights. I am ready 
 to die for them, if necessary. My life could not be 
 spent better/' 
 
 "Now, Douglass," said Whelwright, "let me tell 
 you that this idea of yours is one not wholly foreign 
 to myself. The same question has come up in my 
 mind : if I believe that the Filipinos are right, why 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 99 
 
 should I not help them ? If our government is strik- 
 ing down the rights of men, why should not I, as a 
 free man and bound to do my duty to uphold the 
 cause of freedom, oppose my country by every means 
 in my power ? That is the question which comes up 
 to me frequently. I much more than half believe 
 that you are right in your wish in your purpose to 
 go to them/' 
 
 " Think it over more, Mr. Wheelwright. Perhaps 
 you will come to think altogether as I do, and we 
 will go out together." 
 
 " Certainly I will think it over ; and I want you to 
 see my friend George Brown, one of the very best 
 men there are in Boston, and talk over your plan with 
 him. Perhaps he will approve it. Or, perhaps he 
 will convince you that it is your duty to stay here 
 and do what you can to get your fellow black men 
 to stand up for the cause of th^ Filipinos in this 
 country, and so help to change the purpose of the 
 Republican party and of the Administration. If you 
 are to go, he will be able to help you on your way to 
 the Philippines. At any rate, I want you to meet 
 him, for what he says will be well worth hearing." 
 
 As soon as possible after the boat reached Boston, 
 Wheelwright arranged a meeting for Brown, Doug- 
 lass, and himself ; a meeting which was of the high- 
 est personal consequences to each of them and which 
 might prove to have national significance. 
 
ioo LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 BROWN, DOUGLASS, AND WHEELWRIGHT ENTER THE 
 FILIPINO SERVICE 
 
 THE meeting was in Brown's office, one evening, 
 when they would be in no danger of callers. 
 Thus they could discuss the great question of 
 patriotic duty without interruption. 
 
 " What better place in Boston could there be for a 
 talk on justice and international loyalty ?" remarked 
 Douglass, with the quick sentiment of his race. " As 
 I turned in from the street I noticed that this is the 
 Equitable Building ! " 
 
 " Yes," said Brown, "these offices were my father's 
 before me. It was the name of the building that 
 drew him to it. And in fact, the word well character- 
 izes his life, his idea in the practice of his profession, 
 and his highest ambition for his son. May his son 
 never disappoint him ! " 
 
 Wheelwright had already told Brown about Doug- 
 lass's purpose, and had added that he himself was so 
 deeply impressed by the soundness and unselfishness 
 of Douglass's views that the question had been forced 
 upon him whether he ought not to accompany the 
 black man into the service of the Filipino Republic. 
 
 At Brown's request Douglass again went over the 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 101 
 
 principal reasons by which he had come to his con- 
 clusion. He stated again his belief that his life 
 ought to be spent in positive service to the cause of 
 human liberty as a personal and race tribute and 
 requital to the memory of Abraham Lincoln, whose 
 Proclamation freed his mother, and to the spirit of 
 human liberty which makes all men free under gov- 
 ernment of the people, by the people, and for the 
 people ; a government which cannot tolerate colonies, 
 and in which there must be the harmonious assimila- 
 tion of all the people who share the government. He 
 set forth his conviction that duty to country may in- 
 volve a higher standard than support of any Adminis- 
 tration ; that it may at times demand armed resistance 
 to an Administration, in 'order to preserve the true 
 spirit and forms of liberty ; the danger to the United 
 States if it should permanently adopt the policy of 
 conquest ; his positive belief that the Filipinos were 
 thoroughly right in their moral and political position, 
 and that the United States was without legal or moral 
 justification for its war against them. These and 
 other arguments involving his personal duty to help 
 the weaker party fighting for its rights against the 
 nation of which he was a part, and to whose unjust 
 course he seemed to become a party unless he made 
 this personal protest, he set forth intelligently and 
 with enthusiasm. 
 
 The disclosures made a deep impression upon the 
 mind of George Brown. Sympathizing as he did, 
 completely, in Douglass's opposition to the Philippine 
 
102 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 policy of the Administration, and sharing his horror 
 of the awful and inhuman means by which the United 
 States sought to crush the brave patriots into subjec- 
 tion, demanding unconditional surrender on penalty of 
 death before any assurance whatever would be given 
 regarding their status under the government of the 
 United States, Brown nevertheless had not yet thought 
 of carrying his opposition to the point of personally 
 helping the Filipinos in arms against the United States 
 forces. But the more he thought about it, the more 
 he realized the strength of Douglass's position, and 
 he knew enough of human nature and of the ter- 
 rible course of human history to realize that some- 
 times only the utmost personal sacrifice is equal to an 
 emergency. 
 
 Brown had no doubt of the moral soundness of 
 Douglass's argument. He recognized that there is a 
 higher allegiance than to the government or to the 
 nation of which one is a citizen. First of all he put 
 personal loyalty to his Maker, with all the right and 
 justice which are inherent in infinite perfection, and 
 saw through the fallacy of those who say that it is 
 treason to oppose "the Administration/' But he 
 wanted further time in which to consider the matter ; 
 and so, after an hour's further conversation, they post- 
 poned any conclusion until the following evening. 
 
 " Brown," said Wheelwright, twenty-four hours 
 later, when they resumed their discussion of the 
 pressing personal question; "the more I think of 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 103 
 
 this matter, the clearer I am about it. I believe that 
 Douglass is right and that I shall go out with him." 
 
 " Don't let us influence you against your judgment 
 and conscience, Mr. Brown," said Douglass. "But 
 I don't see how we can do differently. I have 
 made up my mind, and I am ready to be sacrificed 
 for liberty and for the Republic of the United 
 States, if necessary, even if I am found fighting 
 against its present mistaken and ruinous policy." 
 
 " My good friend," replied Brown, " I shall try to 
 follow my conscience and my judgment at all times. 
 I only want to be sure that I am right ; to be certain 
 that I can stand before the bar of God and say that 
 I have done the best I could, no matter what my 
 fellow-men may think of me and no matter what the 
 consequences may be to myself. If duty demands 
 that I fight against the Administration, I shall not 
 hesitate." 
 
 "How can you come to any other conclusion than 
 ours ? " asked Wheelwright, with sudden friendly 
 vehemence. 
 
 " I cannot ! " replied Brown. " I cannot, as I see 
 the facts and my duty ! We three men are without 
 ties which hold us here by any plausible pretense of 
 duty stronger than the call of duty to go to the aid of 
 the Filipinos. I have come to the conclusion that I 
 ought to go with you." 
 
 " Thank the Lord ! " ejaculated Douglass. 
 
 "God bless you," said Wheelwright. 
 
 "And after all, it is no sudden fancy," replied 
 
104 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Brown, "nor any spasm of conscience. Since you 
 were here last night, I have gone over this matter 
 most carefully ; but you know that I have been in 
 full accord with you on the main question all the 
 time, and for a long period. We have no moral 
 right to the Philippine Islands, and, ultimately, moral 
 rights must decide this contest. It makes no dif- 
 ference whatever as to the standing of the case in 
 international law. We must do right to the Fili- 
 pinos as men equal with us in the human race. Inter- 
 national law is only the recognition by the Great 
 Powers of accomplished facts, as far as national 
 existence is concerned. Because Spain was recog- 
 nized as the owner of the Philippines, that gave her 
 no moral right over the people there. And even if 
 she once had a right, the Filipinos had thrown off 
 their yoke. The accident that international law, 
 moving at a snail's pace, had not kept up with the 
 accomplished facts does not alter the facts. The 
 United States could not buy a title from Spain, be- 
 cause Spain did not own the islands. She had been 
 ousted by the Filipinos, by force, from every place 
 but Manila, and a Filipino Republic had been estab- 
 lished with working Constitution and full authority 
 of law." 
 
 "The Administration might argue that the United 
 States owns the Philippines by conquest/' interposed 
 Wheelwright. 
 
 " The United States cannot claim the Philippines 
 by conquest," replied the lawyer, " because a war of 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 105 
 
 conquest has no possible moral ground to rest on. 
 We cannot justify our course 'because it will be 
 for the good of mankind/ for there is no possible 
 moral ground for conquering people, slaughtering 
 them incidentally by tens of thousands, in order to 
 spread civilization. We cannot justify our course on 
 the ground that our motives are good, for the rights 
 of the Filipinos to self-government, so long as they 
 are not the enemies of mankind, are not in the slight- 
 est degree dependent upon our intentions toward 
 them. I may have good intentions toward a beggar 
 in the street, but that does not justify me in killing 
 him if he does not like to submit to my intentions/* 
 
 " But the beggar in this case is unable to resist. 
 There is where the Administration has the advan- 
 tage." 
 
 "The Administration does not dare, and never 
 will dare, to give the beggar a chance to be heard. 
 It dare not appeal to reason or to justice. Fur- 
 thermore, the policy is totally wrong and dangerous 
 from the point of view of the peace and pros- 
 perity of the United States. If we keep the Philip- 
 pines, we must admit them to a share in our 
 government, or hold them as a colony forever. We 
 cannot do the latter, for our government is not 
 adapted to it, and we have no right to hold them in 
 subjection. Assimilation on an equality, or complete 
 national independence, are the only alternatives. But 
 if we admit Filipinos to our Senate and House of 
 Representatives on equal terms with the members 
 
106 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 from the present States, then we are no longer gov- 
 erned by ourselves ; we are governed to some extent 
 by the Filipinos. They would vote upon questions 
 affecting our entire policy regarding our present ter- 
 ritory. In close questions, matters which concern 
 the States would often be settled, very likely, by the 
 Filipino contingent ; and close votes are usual in 
 progressive policies when new ideas are making their 
 way against natural conservatism. The United 
 States would thus be in part governed, I say, by the 
 Filipinos, and the Philippine Islands would be in part 
 governed by the Congress of the present States of 
 the Union. Such an arrangement would bring end- 
 less wrongs and injustice. Each people ought to be 
 independent of the other, and their right relation will 
 be found only under a body of international law 
 which recognizes the rights of the small and large 
 nations equally." 
 
 "However you have reached your decision," said 
 Wheelwright, " I am mightily glad you believe it is 
 your duty to go." 
 
 "As to my duty," replied Brown, "it is clear that 
 our government is totally wrong, on moral grounds 
 and on grounds of policy. We ought to change our 
 course. We are carrying out our mistaken policy 
 through the blood of a people weaker than ourselves 
 who are absolutely right by any standard of morals 
 and human rights which is recognized in this Repub- 
 lic. That we may be true to the spirit of the United 
 States, then, the question is what we ought to do. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 107 
 
 Our government at the present hour is hostile to the 
 basic principles on which it stands. Our duty is first 
 to God and his truth before it can be to any interpre- 
 tation of men, no matter how largely they are in a 
 majority and no matter how sincere may be their 
 benevolent intentions." 
 
 " Then we must ? " 
 
 The interrogation was begun, but in the intensity of 
 his emotion Wheelwright was unable to finish. 
 
 " Yes," assented Brown, deliberately but with a 
 painful tension of voice that spoke the secret hurt in 
 his soul that such a course seemed necessary that 
 such a course seemed the only way open to a man who 
 saw things as he saw them ; " yes, we must oppose 
 the government." 
 
 For fully a minute the three men sat in silence, 
 looking at each other. Not one of them stirred. A 
 mail-wagon rattled out from the driveway under the 
 post-office opposite ; the clock in the high tower in the 
 neighboring Square struck ten ; even the sputtering 
 of the electric light on the corner near-by was plainly 
 audible. 
 
 Then Brown went on. 
 
 " We must oppose the government. Now, how can 
 we best do this ? Most of our fellow-citizens who sym- 
 pathize with us at all in this matter believe that they 
 ought to work to change public opinion. That is 
 vitally important and I will not criticise them. But it 
 is also possible that we may do more by strengthening 
 the Filipinos to hold out for their rights. If they 
 
io8 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 can keep the field indefinitely, as the Boers promise to 
 do, resisting by arms our effort to conquer them, it 
 may help to bring our people to see their side of the 
 case. They are now suffering and enduring death as 
 bravely as did our Revolutionary forefathers. They 
 have the right stuff in them for a nation. If they 
 can hold on till a change in the Administration, our 
 people may get over their land-hunger a trifle ; they 
 may see that the trade of China is not worth the blood 
 of these men and the tears of these widows and 
 orphans. Therefore, we are doing right to help the 
 Filipinos prolong the contest." 
 
 "But many people might say," suggested Wheel- 
 wright, "that it would be wrong to help perpetuate 
 needless slaughter." 
 
 " There is not a particle of force in any such argu- 
 ment as that," rejoined Brown. "These people have 
 the right to determine in what manner they will fight 
 for their liberties. If they believe that it is better to 
 submit, and to agitate by peaceful means, then that is 
 their privilege, though it can never make it right for 
 us to force them to submit. But if they choose to 
 die for their independence, that, too, is not only their 
 privilege, but their right, and we cannot condemn 
 them if they prefer death to loss of national independ- 
 ence. ' Liberty or death ' is a true American motto, 
 and no man who has a spark of sense or of apprecia- 
 tion of what true Americanism is, or of what true 
 liberty is, can criticise a man for dying for his nation's 
 cause, even if it seems absolutely hopeless. If they 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 109 
 
 want to die rather than live, they have the right to 
 make the choice, and, in dying, to inflict as much 
 injury as possible upon their oppressors." 
 
 No one favored enough to see this group of three 
 men and overhear their talk would have held for a 
 moment that it was any light conversation in which 
 they were engaged. They sat in painful earnestness, 
 close to each other in their tremendous absorption in 
 the great theme, drops of sweat on their faces. On 
 the black skin of Douglass the perspiration, gleaming 
 in the office lights, shone red. 
 
 " Now," added Brown, with intense force, " I believe 
 that our duty to our country requires us to face death 
 for the cause of the Filipinos, just as much as it 
 required our fathers to face death for the Union in 
 the Civil War. I have made up my mind ! I am 
 ready to go ! I will go with you, and we will give 
 our lives to the cause of human liberty and to main- 
 taining the principles of the Republic of the United 
 States, to which I shall always be loyal, whether or 
 not I fight under the national flag." 
 
 Thus the three patriots reached their decision. 
 
 As they rose from their seats, still gazing into each 
 other's faces in the intensity of their holy purpose, 
 the eyes of Brown and Wheelwright met in awe as 
 they saw on the dark forehead of Douglass the per- 
 spiration shining in the reflected incandescent elec- 
 tric lights like a red dew of prophecy. Instinctively 
 they felt that it was prophecy, and in the hearts of 
 both there was a weight of woe for their comrade 
 
no LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 which mingled with the joy of their divine hope, yet 
 which could not quench it. 
 
 And for themselves as well as for Douglass ! 
 Were the chances not equal for all three ? 
 
 As they were going down the stairs, Wheelwright, 
 walking one step behind, laid his hand on Brown's 
 shoulder. When he reached the foot he said : 
 
 " You spoke last night of your father, George. Of 
 course you have thought of the stigma there will be 
 upon your name, a stigma in which he must share. 
 In the eyes of the multitude our course is nothing 
 less than that of is nothing less than enduring 
 shame. I was going to say 'of traitors/ but the 
 word traitor sticks in my throat." 
 
 They stepped into Milk Street, and Brown waved 
 his hand upward across the front of the building they 
 had just left. 
 
 " You see this massive granite pile," he said. " In 
 stateliness and strength my father's character is like 
 unto it. He knows all I have told him ; and while 
 he would prefer that I should remain in Boston for 
 he is old now, and if I go away we may never see 
 each other again he yet says I must be my own 
 judge of duty. That the probable stigma will not 
 cause him to blanch you will be confident when I tell 
 you that, although he some time ago ceased to come 
 to the office, he will in my absence return to these 
 chambers and endeavor to hold my business together. 
 How is that for a young old man of eighty ? But 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS in 
 
 what of yourself and the ' stigma/ and what of 
 Douglass ? " 
 
 " Bless your brotherly heart ! " cried Douglass. 
 "For me and for all my race what stigma can be 
 added to the one condemning fact that we are black ! 
 In this great free land what have I to-day, and what 
 have the seven millions of people like unto me ? In 
 the South, after nearly forty years of emancipation, 
 we have still the Jim Crow car, the torch at our hearth- 
 stone if we are prosperous, the quick execution without 
 trial if we err ; and in the North we have any position 
 we can secure if it be menial enough : the place of 
 a deck-hand, of a janitor or bell-boy, of a coachman or 
 waiter. Is there any stigma to be added ? But with 
 you the case is different, and you should consider the 
 matter fully. In the eyes of your fellows and in the 
 eyes of the law you will indeed be traitors, and no 
 sticking of the word in Wheelwright's throat may 
 prevent a noose from encircling it." 
 
 " I myself much prefer the word * loyalist ' to the 
 word 'traitor,'" remarked Brown smiling. "And in 
 truth to-day in this land only those like unto us are 
 loyalists, for we are loyal to the principles on which 
 the nation was founded, while the majority have 
 forsaken those principles." 
 
 " Yes," said Wheelwright, " we are the loyalists ! 
 Yet, even if no physical harm come to us, will it be 
 otherwise than with a sneer that the majority will 
 affirm of us, < Three " loyalists " against eighty millions 
 of destructionists ! ' " 
 
ii2 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Brown answered simply : 
 
 " It must needs be that the sneer cometh, but woe 
 is unto him from whom it comes the woe of a pitiful 
 ignorance of right, an ignorance none the less piti- 
 ful if unconscious, and doubly, nay, a hundred fold 
 pitiful if it be perverse." 
 
 Walking up Milk Street arm in arm, the three men 
 paused for a moment in front of the birthplace of 
 Franklin, the ambassador of freedom. In the flicker 
 of the street lights the gilt bust of the great states- 
 man and deprecator of war seemed to smile down 
 upon them from its elevated niche. Reaching Wash- 
 ington Street, the walls and steeple of the Old South 
 meeting-house echoed to their midnight tread as it 
 had echoed to the tread of freedom-lovers in '76. 
 
 Their decision reached, the next course of the trio 
 was to carry that decision, without delay, into action. 
 No one of them required a long time for prepara- 
 tion. It was easy for Douglass and Wheelwright to 
 sever their connection with the steamship company. 
 Brown's legal business was to be in the hands of his 
 father. 
 
 There was one most important matter for Brown, 
 however, before he sailed for London. His love for 
 Faith Fessenden still burned as brightly as it did when 
 he had faced his fate before and made the worst of it ; 
 and he could not leave the country, perhaps never to 
 return, without telling her why he went, doing what 
 he could to justify his course to her, and, if possible, 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 113 
 
 laying for himself some foundation for at least a bit 
 of hope for the indefinite future. She had continued 
 friendly and frank. They had occasionally talked 
 over the Philippine question, for Brown was so intensely 
 interested that he could not refrain from it, and he 
 had always found in her a most willing listener. 
 
 " Do you really think that you ought to risk your 
 life for the Filipinos," she now asked him, when he 
 called to tell her of his purpose. 
 
 " It is not only for the Filipinos, but for my own 
 country also," he answered. " Both causes focus in 
 the same point, and patriotism compels me to go, just 
 as much as does my sense of duty to the people whom 
 our government is treating so unjustly. Americans 
 must atone for the wrongs done by Americans, and 
 those who are willing must suffer for those who are 
 unwilling to go to that extreme." 
 
 " But why can you not work here to change public 
 sentiment, and accomplish your purpose in that 
 way?" 
 
 " Because that is not enough. Without help the 
 poor Filipinos are likely to be crowded to the wall 
 and lose all power of resistance. It is of the utmost 
 consequence for them to preserve a form of govern- 
 ment and the semblance of an army, no matter if the 
 government must frequently change its seat in order 
 to escape capture, nor if the army must run more than 
 it fights. They must keep their boat's head to the 
 wind." 
 
 " Well, George, I believe that men should do their 
 
ii4 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 duty to their country and to mankind. Our mothers 
 in the Revolution and in the Civil War suffered 
 much that the men might fight for country. But, 
 George, I shall be very, very sorry to have you go." 
 
 " Why shall you be sorry, and not rather pleased, 
 that one of your friends gives himself to his country 
 and to mankind ? " 
 
 " Because I can't help it ! " 
 
 "I shall be sorrier than I can say, Faith, to go 
 where I cannot see you or hear of you, and possibly 
 you might not be sorry to hear about me ! I hope 
 that sometime I shall come home leaving a Filipino 
 Republic behind me ! " 
 
 "I also hope so, George; and be sure that while 
 you are there I shall do what I can here to promote 
 the Filipino cause and the cause of true American 
 principles, for I too believe that they are one ! " 
 
 " I admire this spirit in you, Faith. I did not ex- 
 pect you to go quite so far. More than ever I must 
 ask you to let me tell you that I still feel toward you 
 just as I have felt all the time ! I can't go away 
 without saying so. Don't blame me ! " 
 
 " Oh, George, I am very sorry for you ! Why 
 don't you give me up ? " 
 
 "Because I can't. You are my life. But I will 
 not pain you. You are very good to think as you do 
 about my going, and I am glad you approve my pur- 
 pose. Good-bye." 
 
 He took both her hands in his, and this time she 
 did not withdraw them. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 115 
 
 " Good-bye, George. I hope you will succeed, and 
 surely I hope that you will come home safe and 
 sound. I shall want very, very much to see you." 
 
 " Good-bye again." 
 
 " Good-bye/' 
 
 The trip to London was without marked incident. 
 Thence the three volunteers for the Filipino service 
 went to Paris and made the acquaintance of Agon- 
 Sillo, the Filipino representative there. They told 
 him of their journey and convinced him of their 
 sincerity and reliability. By Brown's suggestion, 
 Agongillo sent word at once to the Filipino Junta in 
 Hong Kong, telling them of the little band. He also 
 gave Brown and his friends information about the 
 Filipinos in Hong Kong, where to find them, and how 
 to get in communication with Manila. 
 
 In the outward passage ,by steam across the Indian 
 Ocean and around to Hong Kong, the earnest trio 
 were necessarily exposed to the perils of wind and 
 wave ; but on the whole it may be said that they 
 experienced only the familiar and commonplace inci- 
 dents of an easy voyage. During the trip Wheel- 
 wright utilized his Spanish to the best possible de- 
 gree in instructing Brown and Douglass in the lan- 
 guage which they must use in order to make their 
 services effective in the Philippines. 
 
 On reaching Hong Kong they had no difficulty in 
 finding the Junta. By general consent they remained 
 there several weeks, perfecting their Spanish and 
 
ti6 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 acquiring especially the vocabulary most in use 
 among the Filipinos, and developing their plans of 
 assistance. 
 
 Brown's prominent contention was that, somehow 
 or other, there must be kept up at least a nucleus of 
 a Filipino government, with a military organization, 
 about which the people might rally, to which they 
 would be glad to contribute, and which as representa- 
 tive of the Filipino people could communicate with 
 American officers, demanding recognition even if the 
 Americans refused the recognition desired. Such 
 a representative of national honor in arms and in 
 government was needed as should be able to show 
 that, even after years of trial, it had never been 
 crushed out of existence. 
 
 So they learned and studied and planned. They 
 ascertained also who would meet them in Manila, and 
 whom they could depend upon in helping to raise 
 the government to the highest possible activity and 
 strength. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 117 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 IN WHICH AMERICAN SACRIFICE STRIVES TO PROMOTE 
 FILIPINO NATIONALITY 
 
 IT was about New Year's, 1900, that the three 
 companions set foot on the Philippine islands at 
 Manila. Their unselfish purpose had decreased no 
 w hit indeed, it had grown to more and more as 
 they came nearer and nearer to the land where 
 purpose was to be transformed into action. Their 
 plans had now taken a somewhat definite shape, 
 conditioned upon the co-operation of the Filipino 
 leaders. Fully convinced that some form of Filipino 
 government must be maintained, and finding these 
 views shared by the Junta at Hong Kong, a path of 
 immediate procedure was mapped out. A member of 
 the Junta had gone over on a preceding vessel to 
 prepare the Filipino leaders for their new American 
 supporters, and to give a general idea of what plans 
 they might present, though these involved no material 
 departure from the ideas already held by the most 
 far-seeing patriots at Manila and elsewhere on the 
 islands. 
 
 Manila was reached without incident and no time 
 was lost in making the needless acquaintance of 
 Americans there, either in civil or military life. 
 
n8 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Whatever information about the military situation was 
 necessary could easily be obtained from the Filipinos 
 in Manila and other parts of the islands. The trio 
 found that they had convinced the Hong Kong Junta 
 of their sincerity, for they were admitted fully into 
 the secrets of the Filipino leaders and were informed 
 of their plans of operations. By this time the United 
 States troops had made material advances toward the 
 conquest of Luzon, for the railroad to Dagupan, run- 
 ning north from Manila, had been captured throughout 
 its entire length, after a heroic resistance by the 
 native troops, and thousands of brave men had died 
 in defense of their homes, trying desperately, though 
 in vain, to save them from the invaders. Though the 
 entire population was bitterly hostile to the United 
 States, and though every forward step of conquest 
 was resisted as stoutly as was possible for a people 
 inferior in arms to the United States troops, yet the 
 Filipino line of battle had been constantly driven back, 
 and the railroad the line of communication which 
 had been so valuable was wrested completely from 
 the hands of its rightful owners. 
 
 Aguinaldo had been put to flight and was in hiding 
 in the mountains, pursued closely at times by the 
 American troops. Frequently he was in desperate 
 straits, but was never captured and never betrayed by 
 any native. He was still the ruling spirit of the 
 resistance to the unrighteous conquest, and com- 
 munications from him were received not infrequently 
 in Manila, telling of his whereabouts, urging the local 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 119 
 
 leaders never to relax their resistance, and command- 
 ing movements of Filipino troops wherever he thought 
 they could act with success to cut off an American 
 detachment or to drive back an exposed outpost. 
 
 The Filipino leader with whom Brown, Wheelwright, 
 and Douglass were brought most in contact in Manila 
 was nominally in civil life. He was in command of a 
 force of men who never were suspected by the United 
 States troops to be organized or under the command 
 of any one, yet who were under strict military dis- 
 cipline in the service of the Filipino Republic, pay- 
 ments for the support of which were made frequently, 
 regularly, and willingly by the natives, under the very 
 eyes of the American authorities. This officer sent 
 out his runners to Aguinaldo regularly with informa- 
 tion of the movements of the American troops to 
 date. He received information from all parts of the, 
 archipelago by messengers, acting under his command. 
 He was in communication with Generals Tinio, 
 Alejandrino, Cailles, Malvar, and a score of others 
 in different parts of Luzon, besides those in Panay, 
 Samar, Leyte, Mindoro, and other islands. 
 
 To the mind of Brown, remembering his training 
 at West Point, the most efficient service he could 
 render was to drill the Filipino troops so that they 
 would be better able to stand up against the Amer- 
 icans, and be better marksmen. He proposed to 
 place himself at the service of his friends in this 
 particular, offering to labor merely for the necessaries 
 of life, which he was to have like a common soldier, 
 
120 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 drilling the Filipino troops in different parts of the 
 island as occasion might offer. Meanwhile, in season 
 and out of season, he persisted in urging the leaders 
 to maintain their form of government at all hazards, 
 a program which they were already struggling to 
 follow, recognizing, as clearly as he did, the necessity 
 of having something which could properly be called 
 the organ of the Filipino people in their communica- 
 tions with the United States. 
 
 Brown had had a better military training than was 
 at the command of the Filipinos for drilling their 
 troops, and his offer was received gladly. He insisted 
 that .the real command of the troops should not be 
 changed, but that it should remain with the native 
 officers as theretofore. He had not come to assume 
 authority, but to be a servant among them, to share 
 their hardships and to give his life for their cause if 
 necessary. So he was sent to as convenient a place 
 as possible in the mountains of Luzon, as near to the 
 inhabited portion as was considered safe, yet far 
 enough away to avoid suspicion, and there he began 
 a work which extended over months, drilling detach- 
 ments of a few hundred troops at a time, as best he 
 could, and being assisted by faithful subordinates with 
 whom he studied by night as well as by day, inducting 
 them into the mysteries of drill and evolution and 
 developing in them some better ideals of marksman- 
 ship and of soldierly service. 
 
 On every hand he found the utmost enthusiasm for 
 the Filipino cause. They were ready to suffer the 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 121 
 
 loss of everything, even of life, for their country, and 
 they bore without complaint the hard service into 
 which Brown pressed them. At first Douglass and 
 Wheelwright were with him, and they worked under 
 his direction to enlarge the Filipino stores of supplies, 
 to lay up arms and ammunition, to make roads and 
 bridges, to dig trenches, to throw up breastworks, and 
 to do the many other things which came into play as 
 a part of the scheme of defense. They formed a wide 
 acquaintance with the country. They made many 
 friends among the people. Their presence became 
 known to practically all of the leading Filipinos in 
 all parts of the islands, and they thus laid for their 
 future service the foundation which was so essential 
 in the progress of the war. 
 
 But the American troops, as Brown had foreseen, 
 proved too strong in the field for open resistance on 
 the part of the Filipinos., He foresaw that there 
 would be for a time an apparent triumph of the 
 American forces, that the patriotic Filipinos must 
 pass through a period of great discouragement and of 
 seeming defeat, when their situation would resemble 
 that of the American soldiers of the Revolution in 
 their struggle for independence from the tyranny and 
 outrage of Great Britain. It was for him, as far as 
 possible, to prepare the Filipinos for this prolonged 
 period of depression ; to encourage them to a per- 
 sistence in armed resistance and to a continuance of 
 the spirit of sacrifice, in order that the blood of the 
 thirty thousand patriots already martyred might not 
 
122 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 have flowed in vain, in order that there might be 
 fruit from their endurance of terrible punishment and 
 vengeance at the hands of the United States troops, 
 in order that they might develop their national traits 
 of patience and of steady resistance to wrong, and 
 in order that they might be in condition still to assert 
 to the world, whenever the opportune moment might 
 arrive, their determination to gain their independence. 
 He would have them able to show that they had 
 never ceased to fight ; that they had always kept up a 
 military administration ; that they had the real sup- 
 port of practically all of the Filipino people, no mat- 
 ter how much they might have been forced to bend 
 before the superior military strength of the Ameri- 
 cans, and that the Filipinos were capable of defending 
 their own country, their right to which they had 
 established in the blood of their bravest sons and 
 brothers. He consulted with their leaders, in Manila, 
 in Dagupan, in Benguet, in Aparri, and with others 
 elsewhere in Luzon. He made a trip to the Visayan 
 Islands and saw the generals in Samar, in Leyte, in 
 Cebu, in Negros, and at Iloilo. He pressed upon 
 them the imperative need of establishing some center 
 which should be known to the people generally and 
 which would receive their contributions for a long 
 time. 
 
 It was Brown's idea that, though Aguinaldo might 
 remain in command in Luzon, and though the leaders 
 in the other islands were under his orders, yet the 
 harassing pursuits to which Aguinaldo had been su.b- 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 123 
 
 ject, and which would doubtless continue, made it neces- 
 sary to have a more stable seat of government, leav- 
 ing the military authority with Aguinaldo in the field. 
 
 He advised that a mountain retreat, not far from 
 Manila, unsuspected and almost inaccessible, be selected 
 as a permanent headquarters for the government's 
 central meeting-place, where the leaders could confer 
 without danger of capture, whence information could 
 be sent out all over the archipelago, and whence 
 directions could be easily issued for the conduct of 
 operations, in case the hot pursuit of Aguinaldo 
 should make it advisable for him to retreat there. 
 
 This idea was approved, and in the rough solitudes 
 of Mount Maquiling, in sight from Manila, a place 
 was found which could be transformed by labor and 
 ingenuity into the desired headquarters for the Fili- 
 pino Republic. An eminence was fortified so as to 
 be capable of resistance against a strong force, and 
 the safety of the departments of the government was 
 provided for by the construction of underground pas- 
 sages and defenses. They were so arranged that a 
 small amount of light and a sufficient amount of air 
 were available for the defenders, while they them- 
 selves were absolutely concealed. At every entrance 
 to the underground passages were strong stone posts. 
 Iron framework and bars guarded the entrance, mak- 
 ing it impracticable for ordinary infantry to force 
 a passage. Everything artificial about the entrance 
 was painted green, to avoid observation. Vines were 
 trailed over the place. Back of the outer bars was 
 
i2 4 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 a solid iron door, also painted, made with the strong- 
 est bars behind it, so that nothing but cannon could 
 break it down. Occasional shafts were made through 
 to the upper air, acting like chimneys to give ventila- 
 tion to the long underground passages. These open- 
 ings were also covered by natural growth, so that 
 their existence would never have been suspected by 
 any one three feet from them. 
 
 Side passages led off from the main one, cham- 
 bers in which the important records of the govern- 
 ment might be kept, each chamber having its door 
 made so ingeniously that, even if the main passage 
 were discovered and forced, the invaders would never 
 suspect the existence of the others. Various open- 
 ings were made so that it was impossible for the 
 defenders to be shut in and captured, if discovered, 
 so long as one exit remained free. Then a system 
 of communication by messengers was arranged care- 
 fully, so that the headquarters was safe and yet 
 close to the center of information, the leaders being 
 able to direct operations whenever necessary. 
 
 This was the work to which Brown addressed him- 
 self in the outlining of it, committing its execution 
 to Wheelwright and Douglass while he continued his 
 drilling of Filipino troops. For, notwithstanding the 
 building of the stronghold, there was to be no abandon- 
 ment of the field in Luzon and the larger islands so 
 long as an inch of ground could be held. 
 
 The invader was to be resisted at every point, and 
 Brown not only had the direction of drill, but he also 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 125 
 
 went into action, though never in command of even 
 the smallest detachment, for he insisted that the 
 Filipino officers alone should give orders to their own 
 men, and that no one should ever be able to say that 
 he was ambitious of place or power other than as the 
 best means of setting the Filipinos on their feet as 
 a nation. Thus he shared the hardships of the camp 
 and of the field with the soldiers. He studied their 
 work under fire. He checked the haste of their 
 retreats. He encouraged them to greater steadiness 
 under the exposure of their lives. He did a thousand 
 things to raise the quality of Filipino soldiership. 
 
 And he had an encouraging measure of success, so 
 that the people of the central region of Luzon came 
 to know him as the American who loved the Fili- 
 pinos. 
 
126 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE FILIPINOS LEARN A TRICK OR TWO 
 
 IT was not only in military matters that George 
 Brown served and taught the Filipinos. Supreme 
 
 over the military he knew must eventually be the 
 civil authority. Though the Filipinos had learned 
 much while under Spanish rule, yet there was much 
 more for them to learn in civil matters, especially in 
 the best forms of self-government and in the principles 
 which should govern their civil procedure. 
 
 Here is where his legal training and his experience 
 in the Massachusetts House of Representatives came 
 into practical service. Naturally a man of action, and 
 of great executive capacity, he organized, at the 
 same time with his military drill, experimental sets of 
 officials for practice in civil government among the 
 soldiers. He also had these organizations formed all 
 over the islands, right under the American guns, and 
 where it would have been easy for the conquerors to 
 have prevented the meetings had they suspected what 
 was in progress. But the Filipinos were faithful. 
 They did not betray the work. They had an aptitude 
 for it. They abundantly justified the opinion afterward 
 expressed by General MacArthur that " the Filipinos 
 
L'OYAL TRAITORS 127 
 
 alone in the far East have somehow been imbued with 
 the nineteenth-century spirit." 
 
 They were ambitious and quick to learn. They 
 came to revere the names of the great patriots and 
 statesmen of the United States, with whom Brown 
 made them familiar, and they discriminated sharply 
 between the principles of these and the principles of 
 the Administration which was trying to subjugate 
 them in violation of the truths upon which the United 
 States democracy was founded. They had an exalted 
 idea of liberty, of the equality of all men, and of the 
 duty of true patriots to die for their country, if need 
 be. The terrible experience of their native land, the 
 familiar fact that the theoretical student of one night 
 was the practical martyr of the next day, gave a tre- 
 mendous force to their appreciation of human liberty 
 and drove the truth into their hearts with a force which 
 will remain in the memory.of the Filipino Republic of 
 the future as long as its citizens are true to the mem- 
 ory of Jos6 Rizal and its other great founders. 
 
 But, after all, for the time being, civil government 
 was not the first and greatest duty. It was war that 
 demanded the instant thought of the people ; and for 
 war, long continued, if need be, they made their prep- 
 arations. "Armed resistance to the United States 
 must never end," Brown kept repeating as he labored 
 among them both in his military and civil leadership. 
 " Independence is worthy of any sacrifice you may 
 be called upon to make for it. No nation has yet 
 achieved independence which was not ready to fight 
 
128 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 for it. Better die fighting for it than live without it. 
 That was the spirit which inflamed Patrick Henry and 
 the heroes of the American Revolution, who laid the 
 foundations of the great Republic. That is the spirit 
 in which you must fight, and in which it is better for 
 you to die than to live in submission to an alien 
 people/' 
 
 His words fell on fruitful soil, and the enthusiastic 
 Filipinos drilled by day, studied by night, then fought 
 and died, sealing with their blood their vows of loyalty 
 to their native land and their determination never to 
 yield to the invader. 
 
 But they were physically inferior to their conquer- 
 ors, though the holy flame of love for liberty which 
 filled their hearts as they went bravely and knowingly 
 to their deaths was far superior to any emotion which 
 could have filled the breasts of those who shot them 
 down, whose conduct will always be an eternal stigma 
 upon American arms. The Filipinos could not succeed 
 in the open field against superior might. They were 
 forced to frequent flight, in order to escape annihila- 
 tion. Yet the stubbornnesss with which they held 
 their ground against overwhelming odds, together with 
 the unprecedented policy in American warfare which 
 was followed by the American soldiers in disposing of 
 the Filipino wounded, is nowhere more eloquently set 
 forth than in the accusing figures which are found in 
 the official reports of the commanding officers of the 
 Americans. General MacArthur's official report of 
 the Filipino casualties between May 5, 1900, and June 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 129 
 
 i 
 
 30, 1901, included the terrible list of 3854 killed and 
 1193 wounded, while of the Americans 345 were 
 killed and 490 wounded. His report for the period 
 between November i, 1899, and September I, 1900, 
 was that 3227 Filipinos were killed and 694 wounded. 
 During the same time there were 268 Americans 
 killed and 750 wounded. General Wheaton gave the 
 casualties for northern Luzon for April, May, June, 
 and July as 1014 Filipinos killed and 95 wounded, 
 while the Americans had 36 killed and 63 wounded. 
 For the last four months of 1899 the Americans had 
 69 killed and 302 wounded in the Luzon campaign. 
 In the first four months of 1900 they had 130 killed 
 and 325 wounded. The Filipino casualties for May, 
 June, July, and August of the same year, in the same 
 campaign, were 1513 killed and 222 wounded. John 
 T. McCutcheon, who is quoted as a reliable witness, 
 wrote under date of Manila, April 20, 1899 : 
 
 " There has now begun a time of terrific slaughter ; 
 for, since the insurgents have adopted their guerrilla 
 methods of attacking weak parties of Americans and 
 boloing men who get outside of our lines, a feeling of 
 intense bitterness has sprung up among our soldiers. 
 It is the old cry ' the only good Indian is a dead 
 one ' repeated with a deep thirst for revenge behind 
 it to strengthen it. It is the spirit of ' take no pris- 
 oners ' and s kill everything in sight ' that has accounted 
 for some of the terrific slaughters that have occurred 
 during the last two months." 
 
130 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Such was the system of warfare which the Filipinos 
 had to meet in the field. Against such methods did 
 they stand up bravely until their death-roll numbered, 
 as is believed, over 30,000 heroes. Civilized warfare 
 nowhere shows such a ghastly disproportion of killed 
 to wounded as in the Philippine War, and those figures 
 have gone into history, never to be erased, forever to 
 stand to the eternal shame of the professedly Chris- 
 tian Republic, but especially of the Administration 
 which approved such methods, of the soldiers who 
 practised them, and of the generals under whose com- 
 mand they flourished. 
 
 The odds were too great. The Filipinos could die, 
 but their lives were not profitably spent. They must 
 strive further, and in other ways, to see if they could 
 possibly gain independence, before they accepted death 
 as the alternative preferable to American sovereignty. 
 Like Cardinal Richelieu, they found they must eke 
 out the lion's skin with the fox's. They must avoid 
 such terrible sacrifice of life. They must resort to 
 stratagems and surprises. 
 
 At this time in the war the patriots had not lost all 
 of their offensive arms. One of their latest acquisi- 
 tions was a machine gun which had been secured in 
 Hong Kong by the Junta and sent over in pieces in 
 small craft so as to escape capture. This gun was 
 put together near Vigan on the west coast of Luzon, 
 and was carried into the mountain region in the prov- 
 ince of Bontoc, where the defense was comparatively 
 easy, and where a few Filipinos, with such a gun as this, 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 131 
 
 could, if they were properly handled, stand strongly 
 against a superior American force. By this means 
 they now hoped in part to avenge the deaths of so 
 many of their comrades, and to hold the Americans 
 in check for a time, thus permitting other Filipinos, in 
 other parts of the island, to push offensive operations 
 as near to the large towns as practicable. 
 
 Brown gave his presence and advice in the con- 
 struction of the intrenchment behind which the 
 Filipinos hoped to make an effective stand, placing 
 the gun so that it should be perfectly concealed, yet 
 in position to deliver a resistless point-blank fire upon 
 any approaching foe. This fortification was one of 
 the strong points of the Filipino resistance. 
 
 But near to Dagupan and Tarlac and Bacolor, on 
 the line of the railroad from Manila to the former 
 place, they also constructed their intrenchment s and 
 perfected their plans of , ambush so that they might 
 make it as dangerous as possible for the Americans 
 to use the road or to venture at a distance from their 
 garrisoned places. 
 
 They toiled ceaselessly and without complaint, and 
 foremost among them always, helping by counsel and 
 sharing the work of their hands, were the three 
 American lovers of the Filipinos, Brown, Douglass, 
 and Wheelwright. 
 
132 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE MORALS OF AN AMERICAN DESERTER 
 
 IT was near the end of a stubborn fight by the 
 Filipinos against an American detachment, not far 
 from Malolos, that Brown first met John Nelson, 
 an American deserter who was hastening forward at 
 the head of a company of Filipinos to support the 
 company in which Brown was fighting, just when he 
 was trying to check their retreat, to rally them in some 
 sort of shape before the onset of the Americans, and 
 to save them from the demoralization of total rout. 
 
 The Filipinos never fought better. Brown's instruc- 
 tions had not been lost upon them. They held their 
 positions, though their men dropped fast here and 
 there under the superior American fire, and though 
 they made but small impression upon their foes in 
 return. They held to the cover of trees and rocks as 
 much as possible. They took advantage of the irreg- 
 ularities in the ground, and many a shot, sent with a 
 heart braver than the aim was direct, was fired into 
 the American ranks. 
 
 It was when the Filipinos were being driven back, 
 and seemed at the end of their formal resistance, that 
 firing was heard in the woods upon the left flank of 
 the Americans. This forced the advancing American 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 133 
 
 troops to abandon what they had just expected to 
 make a hot and murderous pursuit, and compelled 
 them to turn in the other direction, to meet the new 
 attack. The Filipinos with Brown were thus given an 
 opportunity to press forward again, and, between the 
 two fires, the American detachment was forced to 
 withdraw, doing so in good order, but leaving a few 
 dead and twice as many wounded upon the field. 
 
 Almost the first one whom Brown saw at the head 
 of the advancing company of Filipinos was a white 
 man, evidently in command of the relieving party. 
 Brown had not heard of this acquisition and was 
 intensely surprised to see a man who was apparently 
 one of his own countrymen, though dressed in the 
 civilian costume of a native Filipino. 
 
 Brown saluted him : 
 
 "We have you to thank, captain, for coming just 
 in the nick of time. Who are you, and how did you 
 happen to reach us just when you did ? " 
 
 Nelson gave his name, and grasped Brown by the 
 hand, saying : 
 
 " It was truly a good turn I did you. You would 
 not have got out of here alive, for another company 
 of United States troops has been sent to reinforce 
 these men whom we have beaten back as I have 
 just learned." 
 
 There was no time just then for further conversa- 
 tion. Both men were in demand in various quarters. 
 But later, when there was opportunity, the conversa- 
 tion was resumed : 
 
134 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 "Captain Nelson," said Brown, "how is it that I 
 have not heard of you sooner if you have been in the 
 Filipino service ? We ought to have met long ago/' 
 
 " That was not possible, for I have not been fight- 
 ing on this side very long. The truth is, Captain 
 Brown, I am a deserter from the United States 
 troops." And he mentioned his regiment and com- 
 pany. 
 
 " Then you must believe about as I do regarding 
 this Philippine business," said Brown. "I hold that 
 the Filipinos are absolutely right ; that the United 
 States is equally wrong ; and that the only course for 
 an honest man, to say nothing of a brave one, is to 
 fight as he believes." 
 
 " I have not been out here very long, captain, and I 
 didn't realize what it means to our country and to 
 these poor Filipinos here. I never really thought 
 about it, as I do now, for we had never seen war, and 
 the fellows were all hot to come, and things didn't 
 look as they do now." 
 
 "How long since your regiment came?" asked 
 Brown. 
 
 " We have been here about six months, but we were 
 at Manila for a while. I didn't realize what this 
 business means until we were sent to the front, and 
 then, I tell you, my eyes were opened pretty quickly. 
 I have been doing some of my best thinking since, 
 and have wound up by finding myself in the Filipino 
 service." 
 
 "You are right, captain," declared Brown, "you 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 135 
 
 are absolutely right, no matter how you came to think 
 as you do. I came out here from the United States 
 with two as brave comrades as you ever saw, just to 
 fight for these noble Filipinos." 
 
 " Who are the other two," eagerly inquired Nelson, 
 "and where are they ? " 
 
 " One is Alfred Wheelwright, a born Englishman. 
 The other is Washington Douglass, as black as they 
 grow, born of a slave mother. They are now helping 
 the natives to build fortifications back in the moun- 
 tains. Are you the only white man in your com- 
 pany ? " 
 
 Nelson's lip quivered as he said : " Yes, I am the 
 only one now, though there were two of us. We 
 were in a fight further down the road two days ago, 
 and Charlie Sumner, who deserted with me, was 
 killed. He was as brave a soldier as ever fought for 
 liberty under any flag, and he died like a hero. We 
 buried him with his Filipino comrades, and the 
 regiment which attacked us never knew that there 
 were two Americans fighting on the side of the 
 Filipinos. He lived quite a little time after he was 
 shot." 
 
 " Did he hold out brave to the last ? " 
 
 " If ever there was a born hero, Charlie Sumner 
 was the man. He faced what few United States sol- 
 diers ever dared to face. You see, after we had been 
 over here a while and had been at the front, and 
 knew more what war means and what sort of people 
 the Filipinos are, he began to talk to me about it. 
 
136 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 He did not believe we are doing right, and he made 
 me see it as plainly as he saw it. He used to talk 
 about the rights of the Filipinos, and how they are 
 as good as we are ; how they ought to be helped to 
 set up for themselves ; how we ought to promise 
 them that we would help them to their independence, 
 instead of killing them for fighting for their liberty. 
 He stood it as long as he could. He came to know 
 my feelings pretty well, and finally he said to me : 
 
 " ' Nelson, I can't endure this any longer. I feel 
 like a cut-throat fighting these brave men who are 
 doing just what we would do if we were in their 
 places. I am sure that we are wrong. I have made 
 up my mind that I am going to fight on their side, 
 and not against them any longer. I would like to 
 have you go with me, if you feel like it. That is for 
 you to settle. My conscience is clear." 
 
 " I asked him what made him think he ought to 
 fight for them, and not simply run off ; how he could 
 raise a hand against our own troops." 
 
 " ' Well/ said he, ' we are doing a terrible wrong. 
 Somebody must pay the penalty. That is the way 
 in the world. You can't do wrong unless somebody 
 suffers the consequences. Our government is com- 
 mitting the greatest sin it ever committed in all its 
 history, and the American people do not rise up and 
 prevent it. But it will not be many years before the 
 blackest stain on the name of an American soldier 
 will be that he served in the Philippines. I pre- 
 fer to fight on the side of right. I took my life in 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 137 
 
 my hand when I came out here and I am ready to 
 stand the risk now. These Filipinos are right and 
 our country is wrong, and I am going to fight on the 
 right side/ 
 
 " So I agreed to join him. We did not speak to 
 any other comrades about it, though I know that a 
 great many of them believe that the war is wrong, for 
 they have said so and have told me about their writ- 
 ing home to their families that they feel so. One 
 night, when Sumner and I were on picket duty, we 
 deserted and came over to the Filipinos." 
 
 " When Sumner was dying," asked Brown, " did 
 he say anything to show that he was sorry for desert- 
 ing?" 
 
 " Captain, that boy was just as clear that he was 
 right as if it had been revealed to him by a special 
 message from Almighty God. After he was shot, 
 when he was looking death straight in the face, he 
 told me, if ever I went back, to give his good-bye to 
 his friends at home. 
 
 " ' Perhaps/ he said, and it took him long to say 
 it, he was so weak; in fact, he did not say it all 
 at one time, ' they will be ashamed of me. It is a 
 terrible disgrace for a man to die as a deserter from 
 his regiment and to be in arms against his own coun- 
 try. But I had to do it. There was no other honora- 
 ble way. Our government is surely wrong, and I say 
 it knowing that I shall stand before my God this day. 
 But, Nelson, just see how we are fixed. We profess 
 that United States soldiers are brave. We know 
 
138 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 that some of them believe as we do that the govern- 
 ment is wrong. But when it comes to the question 
 of killing Filipinos or being shot for disobedience to 
 orders, then not a man of all those we have left but 
 prefers shooting innocent men to being shot him- 
 self. They are not brave enough to stand up and do 
 what they know is right. As for the men who 
 believe that the government is right and that it is 
 right to shoot the Filipinos, I pity their heads as 
 well as their hearts. They do not know what the 
 true American spirit means, and they give their judg- 
 ment into the hands of their superior officers. No 
 true American can ever do that, and no Christian can 
 ever take the command of his colonel in the place of 
 the command of his God for that is what con- 
 science is. So I am ready to die, even though 
 branded as a deserter. It comes harder than it would 
 to stand up and be shot fighting for the right on the 
 side of my country. I hate to be in arms against my 
 own regiment. I hate to fight against the Stars and 
 Stripes, but when the Stars and Stripes are on the 
 wrong side, then I have no choice. And in truth, I 
 am really fighting for my country when I am fighting 
 against this Administration, and I go to meet my God 
 with a clear conscience ! ' 
 
 " So he died, and we buried him ; and I tell you, 
 Captain Brown, there was never a whiter soul or a 
 braver man than Charlie Sumner." 
 
 " Nelson, " exclaimed Brown, " you are worthy to 
 stand in his company, for you ran the same risk and 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 139 
 
 took the same ground. I hope that his death and 
 your sacrifice, and my own risk here, will do some- 
 thing in the long run to help the Filipinos to their 
 independence and to bring our beloved country back to 
 its true place on the side of the weak and oppressed." 
 
 " But there's more yet, Captain Brown, about our 
 fighting these Filipinos and being on the wrong side." 
 
 " More ? " 
 
 " Yes. Since I have been in the army, I have 
 come to the positive conclusion that the entire mili- 
 tary profession is degrading. All the glory and 
 honor and courage that are talked about in connec- 
 tion with war are mere shams. I have come to the 
 point where I attack the entire military profession as 
 a profession.' 1 
 
 For the time, Brown sank the expression of his 
 own largely similar belief, in order that he might bring 
 out the thought of the other man. 
 
 " There have been a great many brave and patri- 
 otic soldiers," he said. 
 
 " I am not now criticising any man whatever," re- 
 sponded Nelson. " I denounce the entire profession 
 as degrading and destructive to honor in any man." 
 
 " How do you figure it out ? " 
 
 " In the first place, the very requirements of the 
 profession that a man shall obey orders unques- 
 tioningly compel him to deny his best nature. He 
 abjures his relation to God, or believes he does, 
 and acts as if he had, though he never can do 
 anything of the sort. The first essential in a sol- 
 
140 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 dier is obedience. He must have no judgment or 
 conscience of his own. 'Obey,' 'Obey,' that is the 
 first thing ; and he swears to do it. No matter how 
 wrong he or his commander may be, he must obey. 
 The ultimate necessity of the soldier's profession is 
 killing men, no matter whether they are right or 
 wrong. If no killing were required, then an unarmed 
 police force would be sufficient. The first essential 
 of every soldier, then, from the private up to the gen- 
 eral, is that he be ready to kill any and every innocent 
 person, upon command, without question or mercy. 
 The very essence of a soldier's calling is that he strip 
 himself of common humanity, that he become deaf to 
 all appeals of mercy, and that he degrade himself to 
 the level of a brute. That is the first thing that a 
 soldier must be in himself, if he is an ideal soldier." 
 
 "I have condemned many things about the army," 
 said Brown, "but I never looked at the matter in just 
 this light before." 
 
 " This is not a particle of exaggeration," continued 
 Nelson, "but the cold and impartial truth. Every 
 man who enters the military profession, unless he 
 reserves to himself his obedience to God, makes of 
 himself a Godless brute at the outset." 
 
 " You are pretty plain-spoken. Don't you believe 
 that our soldiers in the Civil War were brave and 
 humane men ? " asked Brown. 
 
 " Yes, but that is a totally different case. Citizen 
 soldiers, whose occupation is not war, but who enter 
 it of necessity, are on a very different footing from 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 141 
 
 professional soldiers. Your professional soldier not 
 only throws conscience, honor, self-respect, and God 
 himself to the winds, but he takes the position of a 
 reasonless animal also. That is, in the settlement of 
 disputes, he says deliberately that reason and common 
 sense shall not be the final standard. He throws 
 reason to the winds along with God and conscience, 
 and with what he holds to be other rubbish of that 
 sort, and says that the dispute shall be settled by 
 brute force. These are not mere incidents of the 
 military profession, they are essentials. They lie at 
 the foundation of the profession. Just as a lawyer or 
 doctor cannot enter his profession until he has been 
 examined and shows that he has certain qualifications, 
 so the soldier is not permitted to enter upon his 
 profession until he has shown himself possessed of the 
 qualifications of absolute brute indifference to right 
 and mercy, of lack of conscience, and utter barrenness 
 of reason. No man who realizes the worth of con- 
 science or the dignity of reason would ever consent to 
 take such a terribly humiliating position." 
 
 " You would not say that the great soldiers of the 
 past were men of that sort ? " 
 
 " I have said that I criticise no man. Generals and 
 privates fighting for their country and the right, men 
 who would fight equally against their country if it 
 were in the wrong, do not come under the charge." 
 
 " Where can you draw the line ? " 
 
 " The soldier who takes his training for the purpose 
 of defending his country, at the same time determined 
 
142 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 to die rather than obey his superior if he is ordered 
 to do wrong, takes a position at the outset in violation 
 of the fundamental position of military morals as they 
 are now accepted. Such a position can be justified, 
 but the few instances in which men have disobeyed 
 orders for conscience' sake, fighting against their 
 country because they thought the other side was 
 right, prove what the military profession really 
 amounts to and what it rests upon. The world seems 
 to think that there are two standards of right, one for 
 peace and one for war. But God's truth is always the 
 same. Right is not a creature of circumstances. 
 Because war lets loose the passions of the infernal, it 
 does not follow that the horrible license of war is 
 right. Outrage, injustice, and killing are as wicked 
 in war as in peace.'' 
 
 " But you admit that war is necessary sometimes ? " 
 argued Brown. 
 
 " Yes, when an aggressive nation encroaches un- 
 justly upon a peaceful one. But my point is against 
 the military idea altogether, as it is commonly accepted. 
 Our Civil War illustrates it. Though our citizens 
 became soldiers for justifiable reasons, yet they suf- 
 fered from the brutalizing consequences of war just 
 the same as if they had been professional soldiers. 
 Their moral tone was horribly degraded. Army 
 morals break down the sense of right and wrong. If 
 there were one soldier who disobeyed his general for 
 conscience' sake, the general would order his comrades 
 to shoot him for disobedience of orders, and those 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 143 
 
 comrades would obey, though they knew that the dis- 
 obedient soldier was the bravest and most honorable 
 of men. Your professional soldier is a professional 
 butcher of humanity, of men, women, and children, 
 it makes no difference which. The profession, when 
 you come to see it in its true light, is itself the most 
 degraded that the human mind can conceive. It is 
 without palliation or justification, for the soldier 
 who reserves conscience to himself fails in the first 
 requisite of an ideal soldier. By so much as he insists 
 upon his manhood and admits his obligation to God, 
 by so much does he diverge from the standard of the 
 true soldierly type. Such men can never become real 
 soldiers. Your ideal soldier is unthinking, regardless 
 of honor, truth, mercy, property, life, and God him- 
 self, for he ignores all of these at the word of his 
 commander/' 
 
 Brown was silent. 
 
 "And there is another thing," Nelson went on, 
 "which I affirm as a conclusion from my experience 
 out here. That is, that a great republic can never be 
 a great military power. The essential ideas of the 
 two conflict. In a republic, with a democratic form 
 of government, you must have deliberation. The 
 representatives of the people must have time to act. 
 The will of the people must control the military arm 
 of the body politic. But a military power must act 
 promptly. Its councils must be secret. Its blows 
 must be unannounced. Its policy must be shaped by 
 a few. If a democracy wishes to become a military 
 
H4 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 power, it must abandon its democratic form of govern- 
 ment and become a monarchy/' 
 
 " I must believe you are right, Nelson ; and I tell 
 you that this Filipino War and the Boer War will work 
 wonders in stamping the truth into the minds of 
 the alleged Christian nations. Your brave comrade 
 Sumner was one of the glorious martyrs in the grow- 
 ing cause of justice and humanity." 
 
 A call for Brown, from some of the Filipinos, here 
 interrupted this exchange of views. Work was to be 
 done. The wounded must be cared for ; the dead 
 must be buried. But the death of Charles Sumner 
 was fruitful in helping forward the righteous cause of 
 the Filipinos ; nor will it be without influence later, 
 aiding in the restoration of a right mind in the Amer- 
 ican people when the story of his brave and complete 
 self-sacrifice to death and disgrace is known. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 145 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 FAITH FESSENDEN READS THE NEWSPAPERS 
 
 EH.AITH FESSENDEN' S mother made the re- 
 mark one day, to her husband : 
 
 " William, it seems to me that Faith is alto- 
 gether too much interested in this Philippine War. 
 She always turns to that part of the morning paper 
 first, and she spends more time on it than on all the 
 remainder of the paper put together.' 1 
 
 " Perhaps she is interested in the study of geog- 
 raphy," remarked Mr. Fessenden. "You remember, 
 she was always curious in, school to know all about 
 the distant parts of the earth." 
 
 " Nonsense, William ; you don't believe, yourself, 
 that that is her object. I'm afraid she is going to be 
 one of those strong-minded women, with her head 
 filled with public matters and without a care for home 
 life." 
 
 " Is that your idea of strong-minded women ? But 
 I have no fear that Faith will not care for home life 
 enough, if she ever has a home of her own. She is 
 that kind." 
 
 " I used to feel so ; but she thinks more of the 
 Anti-Imperialist League these days than she does of 
 
146 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 her literary class or of her friends all put together. 
 She talks too much about it. I wish you would see if 
 you can't turn her mind to something else." 
 
 "What does she say about the anti-imperialists, 
 Clara?" 
 
 " Oh, she doesn't say so very much, in' the way of 
 talking about them, but she is working for them, ask- 
 ing her friends to contribute money for the cause, 
 telling them that they ought to distribute literature 
 for them, sending in addresses, and that sort of 
 thing." 
 
 " Why don't you try your hand first, and see if 
 you can't persuade her ? " 
 
 " She seems to think that she understands this 
 case better than I do, and, really, I haven't read 
 much about it. I believe our minister is right when 
 he supports the Administration. What are ministers 
 for if we can't trust them to study public questions 
 for us and preach to us about them and tell us which 
 side is right ? All the respectable people, all of our 
 set, anyway, support the Administration." 
 
 " Well, I have heard of such a thing as a minister 
 being on the wrong side, Clara. Faith has a pretty 
 clear head, you know." 
 
 " But she need not make herself different from all 
 her friends and all the family." 
 
 " Except me." 
 
 " Well, you are a man, and you don't care half as 
 much for the opinions of your friends as you ought to. 
 You set up your opinion against the world, and then 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 147 
 
 stick to it, just as if you knew better than everybody 
 else." 
 
 " Faith is pretty good company. However, I'll 
 find out whether she is overdoing the business. " 
 
 Mr. Fessenden had had his eyes open. He had 
 been young himself once. He understood his daugh- 
 ter better than, with her absorption in social and 
 club duties, the mother had any idea he did. Faith 
 herself helped to throw light on the situation. 
 
 " Father," she said, very soon after the above con- 
 versation, " it seems to me that we ought to have a 
 later atlas in the house. The papers have lots of 
 news about the Boer War and the Philippine War. 
 A good many places are mentioned in the dispatches 
 which we know nothing about. Won't you get one ? " 
 
 " You are very much interested in the Philippine 
 news, aren't you, Faith." 
 
 "Why, of course I want to keep posted on the 
 events of the times, father." 
 
 " So I see. Yes, I'll get you a recent atlas, and 
 you may study up all the little places you please. 
 I'll wager that you know to-day all about Manila and 
 its suburbs, and Malolos, and Dagupan, and Iloilo, 
 and what not. Don't you ? " 
 
 " Why, of course, father, those are all well-known 
 places. If those were the only ones I shouldn't 
 want a new atlas." 
 
 " Well-known to you, of course ; but you want to 
 learn about the smaller places ? Well, chick, you 
 shall have your atlas." 
 
148 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 When Mr. Fessenden brought the atlas home and 
 found Faith alone, he could not resist the temptation 
 and the opportunity to fire a shot at the bull's eye. 
 
 " Here, Faith, here's your atlas, but they didn't 
 put George Brown on it." 
 
 "Oh, father!" 
 
 " Little girl," said Mr. Fessenden slowly and sympa- 
 thetically (though she was no longer little, but of 
 royal stature now) : " I am very sorry for you. 
 You have a hard sorrow to carry. I have suspected 
 for a good while that your great interest in the Fili- 
 pino cause has a personal element in it. I know 
 about George Brown's going and taking his two 
 friends with him. And you know that I believe that 
 George is on the right side. If he sees his duty to 
 lie in that direction, I do not say that he has done 
 wrong even to take up arms against his country. 
 But he took his life in his hands, and I am very 
 sorry for you. I wish I could help you carry your 
 burden, but * every heart best knows its own sor- 
 row/ Faith." 
 
 "Father, George is a brave man, and he has sacri- 
 ficed himself for what he believes is right. He be- 
 lieves he is fighting for the true cause of human 
 liberty, just as much as your grandfather fought for 
 it at Concord Bridge. I love him. I can't help it. 
 But he does not know it. I didn't know it myself till 
 after he went away." 
 
 " Little girl, I will keep your secret. I believe 
 George is a true patriot and one of the bravest men 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 149 
 
 Massachusetts ever sent out to fight for liberty. 
 May he be preserved to come back in safety ! " 
 
 " I believe he will be, father. Somehow I feel 
 that I shall see him again. I work for his cause. I 
 am thinking all the time what I can do to help make 
 people think the right way about this Philippine 
 business. I have done ever so much for the Anti- 
 Imperialist League. I shall keep at work. I should 
 die if I could not help along in this cause." 
 
 " Faith, your love for him is as sacred as if it were 
 openly acknowledged and protected in union under 
 the law. I will cheer you up as long as there is any- 
 thing to hope for. And the outlook is not all dark, 
 by any means." 
 
 "You are very, very good to me, father. " 
 
 And father and daughter were closer than ever 
 before. 
 
150 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 A LETTER AND A PROCLAMATION 
 *+* 
 
 MARCONI'S wireless telegraphy might give a 
 hint of the explanation. Or possibly telepathy 
 was the real cause. But whether or not there 
 was any etheric disturbance extending from Boston 
 to Luzon, and whether or not immaterial psychical 
 pulsations traversed the space around the globe or 
 took a short cut through it, escaping combustion on 
 the way, certain it is that George Brown's mind came 
 to a certain important decision at just about the hour 
 that Faith Fessenden made to her father, in confidence, 
 the recorded remark of much personal interest to the 
 distant patriot. 
 
 "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," and 
 Faith's virtues and attractions did not suffer in the 
 heart of the fondly imaginative lover by reason of 
 rolling seas between, nor from months of unbroken 
 silence regarding her, nor by the possible unlikelihood 
 that he would ever win his suit. She simply grew in 
 the strength of her hold upon his heart and upon his 
 imagination until she was as truly his life-companion, 
 in the sense that she was always with him in heart, as 
 if she had gone through the forms of law and religion 
 making them legally and psychically one. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 151 
 
 But to a man who had strong practical sense, as 
 well as an ardent imagination and a changeless quality 
 which made his heart as true to its pole as if his love 
 were returned, there must be some further action 
 when the time was ripe. And time was ripening in 
 him. It all came out clear to him one night as he lay 
 sleepless, his thoughts in their familiar place and his 
 imagination raising still a little higher the throne upon 
 which he had placed her. 
 
 " I will write to her," he said. 
 
 It then only remained to put his thought into 
 action. 
 
 It was not difficult, by means of the frequent com- 
 munication with friends in Manila, to procure the 
 conveniences of letter writing and the stamps where- 
 with to prepay the postage. Like the straightforward 
 man he had always been, he was true to himself now. 
 This was the letter : 
 
 " FAITH : 
 
 " Is it Yes or No ? 
 
 " GEORGE/' 
 
 It was inclosed with two envelopes for her use. 
 One of the envelopes was directed to a friend in 
 Manila, a Filipino not suspected by the American 
 officers, and whose mail was not cut open and read by 
 the United States censor. That was to inclose the 
 other, which was directed to himself in the inland 
 town where he was most likely to be found and to 
 
152 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 which he arranged that his Manila friend should send 
 the reply, provided one ever came. 
 
 Having done all that was necessary to make sure 
 that Faith might reply if she wished, he gave the life- 
 shaping letter to a trusty messenger to mail at Manila, 
 and then turned back to his duties of war and civil 
 government with a new hope in his heart and a limit 
 of time fixed in his mind before which, he said to 
 himself, he ought to receive a reply if ever any earthly 
 happiness was to be his. 
 
 In the affairs of the Filipinos, duties of a civil 
 nature were declining in importance. Brown had 
 never ceased to urge upon his Filipino friends that 
 the civil authority, or government by the people, 
 though for a time held in abeyance by the bitter 
 necessity of fighting, must supersede the military as 
 soon as possible, that they might be judged by their 
 ability to maintain civil administration. He asserted 
 that they must put the islands under civil rule, inch 
 by inch, as fast as possible, wherever they could find 
 a town free from American domination. For the 
 present, however, the military must still be supreme. 
 
 At his suggestion a meeting of the leaders in the 
 different islands was called at their new government 
 headquarters in the secret fortification on Mount 
 Maquiling. Aguinaldo was present, though he main- 
 tained his camp in the north as more convenient for 
 operations in that part of the island. 
 
 At this meeting, Brown urged upon the leaders the 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 153 
 
 advisability of making as strong a showing as possible 
 of the fact of their opposition to the Americans, so 
 that the invaders would realize that the entire popula- 
 tion was practically a unit in demanding independence 
 and in their determination never to cease to agitate 
 for a nominal equality with the other republics of the 
 earth. He was careful not to be offensive with his 
 views, but to show their reasonableness; above all, 
 not in the slightest way to seem anxious for any credit 
 to himself for ideas or personal prowess. He had 
 sacrificed himself for the cause and was content to be 
 obscure in it, provided only that he was serviceable. 
 
 Aguinaldo was persuaded. Other leaders fell in 
 with them. It was agreed that a Proclamation should 
 be issued to the Filipino people, saying that the 
 Filipino government would adopt a system of currency, 
 promising to pay, one year after the independence of 
 the Filipino Republic was acknowledged by the United 
 States, the face of its several printed obligations given 
 to the people in exchange for supplies. These gov- 
 ernment notes would be given to all people furnishing 
 supplies, at the current market rate in coin under the 
 American rule. 
 
 It was also agreed to proclaim that, wherever 
 possible, the local authorities must open schools and 
 undertake the construction of good roads. This was 
 in order to prepare the way for self-government, and 
 to prove to the world that the Filipinos were establish- 
 ing a nationality for themselves as rapidly as possible 
 after the success of their rebellion against Spain. 
 
154 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 This Proclamation was sent to Manila to be printed. 
 It was done by a secret press, which was at the 
 service of the patriots. Then the Proclamation was 
 posted all over Manila and the islands generally, as 
 Brown suggested. During the darkess of night, when 
 sentries were looking the other way, or by the con- 
 nivance of friendly police, many dead walls were 
 liberally pasted over. Copies were stuck upon the 
 sidewalks, right under foot. When the servant of 
 General Otis went to curry his horse in the morning, 
 there was a copy of the Proclamation daubed with 
 tar upon each flank of the animal. The door of the 
 general's headquarters bore, when daylight came, a 
 copy of the Proclamation. Everywhere, right under 
 the noses of the Americans, were the offensive doc- 
 uments. The Filipino people felt a return of their 
 aggressive spirit, and had renewed confidence in their 
 leaders and fresh devotion to their country. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 155 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 AN AMERICAN DETACHMENT MEETS AN OBSTACLE 
 
 HAVING used his influence for this move toward 
 self-reliance on the part of the Filipinos, George 
 Brown returned to his military stronghold in 
 the province of Bontoc. It had been selected as a 
 place where the Filipinos could rally for offensive 
 operations upon either coast, according as they found 
 the invaders threatening their country. He continued 
 his work on both military and civil lines, using his 
 utmost endeavors to strengthen the military capacity 
 of the natives, but neglecting no open door whereby 
 he could promote their familiarity with civil affairs, 
 which was already considerable. 
 
 But the strength of the Filipinos in that province, 
 and their constant activity, proved to the Americans 
 that in Bontoc there must be some center of more 
 than usual importance, and an expedition was sent out 
 from Manila for the purpose of dispersing whatever 
 armed resistance might be encountered there. 
 
 Filipino spies sent word promptly to the forces 
 which were under Aguinaldo's direct command, telling 
 the number of Americans, the direction in which they 
 were marching, and their probable object. 
 
 To meet the attack, it was Aguinaldo's purpose 
 
156 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 and Brown warmly supported his judgment to make 
 a firm stand with the forces then at hand, giving a 
 good account of themselves with their present strong 
 means of defense. But the defenses were further 
 improved. The machine gun was ambushed where it 
 commanded for a considerable distance the trail along 
 which the aggressors must advance. Rifle-pits were 
 dug on each side of the approach, so that the enemy 
 could be attacked on the flank while he was being 
 resisted in front. The intrenchments were extended 
 and enlarged. Every possible preparation was made 
 for a vigorous resistance. When preparations were 
 completed, the brave defenders awaited the approach 
 of the Americans. 
 
 What Aguinaldo especially feared was that the 
 advancing skirmishers would discover the strength of 
 the position, and then lead on to an attempt to capt- 
 ure it by moves against the flanks or rear. It was 
 imperative, therefore, to have the entire body of the 
 Americans come on at about the same time as the 
 skirmish line. Accordingly he sent a score of men 
 forward to meet the advancing troops, to fire as rap- 
 idly as possible at first, then to retreat and draw the 
 entire body forward in pursuit, as if all the Filipinos 
 had given way and it only remained to follow them 
 quickly up and then make another " official return" 
 of twenty Filipinos killed to five wounded. 
 
 The men sent for this purpose were the best that 
 Brown could select as the result of their training 
 under him. They were made acquainted with their 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 157 
 
 commander's purpose, so that they might understand 
 and co-operate as promptly and intelligently as possi- 
 ble. They were eager to show their courage and 
 skill. 
 
 Along the wooded trail came the Americans, their 
 skirmishers thrown out, watchful for foes in every 
 thicket and ready to pursue anything which looked 
 like a Filipino. As they came almost to the foremost 
 patriots, the latter opened fire upon them from 
 ambush, and were actually so close at hand that two 
 Americans were killed and half a dozen wounded 
 before the foes were aware of their presence. And 
 still the Filipinos blazed away. 
 
 The skirmishers held their ground until the main 
 body of the detachment hurried up to their support. 
 Then the Filipinos as quickly fell back, and the 
 Americans rushed forward in hot and angry pursuit, 
 eager to avenge the deaths of their comrades and to 
 inflict punishment upon the " niggers,'* for whom 
 they had supreme contempt. 
 
 The flying Filipinos drew together, in order to con- 
 centrate the American pursuit, thereby exposing 
 themselves to fire, and several of them fell, wounded, 
 outside of the breastworks to which they were hur- 
 rying. 
 
 On came the unsuspecting American pursuers. 
 Over the breastworks and down behind them leaped 
 the flying patriots, leaving the Americans a fair and 
 close target for the ambushed machine gun. Then 
 it opened fire. 
 
158 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 A stream of bullets was poured into the very faces 
 of the oncoming white troops. It was too much for 
 human flesh to stand. Over a score were killed out- 
 right at the first discharge, and many more, wounded, 
 were strewn thickly upon the ground. 
 
 The column was staggered. It did not break, nor 
 did it fly. Quickly the men sought cover. But then 
 the Filipinos upon each flank opened upon them from 
 the protection of their rifle-pits. The machine gun 
 continued to pour its deadly fire into the place where 
 the Americans were trying to escape. They could 
 not go forward, for it was clear that it meant sure 
 death. The Filipino position was too strong. The 
 flanks of the Americans were harassed by a well 
 protected foe. 
 
 For once the wisest course was to retreat, and 
 reluctantly the American commander gave the order, 
 promising himself vengeance at no distant day. 
 
 As they withdrew, the Filipinos pressed upon their 
 steps, picking off a man here and there, just as the 
 farmers of Concord and Lexington did with the 
 British soldiers on the memorable April day in 1775. 
 This was continued until the Americans reached com- 
 paratively open country, when the pursuit was aban- 
 doned. 
 
 Aguinaldo then sent out a white flag, with the offer 
 to the Americans to come and take care of their 
 wounded and to bury their dead. This offer was ac- 
 cepted, and the unfortunate victims to the imperialist 
 policy of the American Administration were interred 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 159 
 
 upon the field where they fell, while the wounded 
 were removed to a safe place for treatment, and for 
 removal to a hospital as soon as they could bear it. 
 
 At once after the conflict, and while the wounded 
 awaited the return of their comrades for their ex- 
 pected removal according to the truce, Brown went 
 over the bloody field. Among those who were help- 
 less there he discovered his old friend Dexter. 
 
 By Brown's direction Dexter was carried from the 
 field back into the territory held by the Filipinos, and 
 was given the best possible treatment. Brown made 
 himself known to him, and Dexter was able to recog- 
 nize him, but neither said anything further at the 
 time. 
 
 The battle was over. The Filipinos had won a 
 decided victory and the Americans had a new idea 
 of the fighting ability of the little brown men, though 
 they had many times already had sufficient demonstra- 
 tion of their capacity to die for liberty and their 
 native land. 
 
160 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 LOYAL TO TWO COUNTRIES AND TO PRINCIPLE 
 ABOVE ALL 
 
 THOUGH the Filipinos deserved large credit for 
 their heroism and success in their repulse of the 
 Americans, yet the generous and grateful men 
 knew that Brown had been no inconsiderable factor in 
 the result, and they began to say among themselves 
 that he ought to be as fully identified with them 
 formally as he was by his patriotism and self-sacrifice. 
 Some of the officers mentioned the matter to Agui- 
 naldo, and he cordially favored the idea. By his com- 
 mand a delegation of five officers highest in rank at 
 the place, headed by Aguinaldo himself, went to 
 Brown the day after the engagement and formally and 
 effusively invited him to become a full citizen of 
 the Filipino Republic. Aguinaldo was their spokes- 
 man : 
 
 " Captain Brown, " he said, standing at the front of 
 the little group and taking the hand of his devoted 
 friend, " the Filipinos recognize the large value of your 
 distinguished services. They have a vivid appreciation 
 of your assistance in enabling them to secure so 
 brilliant a success as they achieved yesterday. They 
 look upon you as a brother iri arms, and if all the 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 161 
 
 American people were as friendly and helpful, then 
 there would be the strongest bonds of undying grat- 
 itude and brotherly affection between the citizens of 
 the two republics. We look forward to the time when 
 your example and the personal assurances which you 
 can give to your countrymen will hasten the establish- 
 ment of this brotherly relation. But you are now one 
 of us. You have given your life to the Filipino cause. 
 You have risked death for our sakes. We desire that 
 you become permanently identified with us, and we 
 therefore most warmly invite you to take the oath of 
 allegiance to our cause and to become a full citizen of 
 the Filipino Republic/' 
 
 Brown was taken completely by surprise. But his 
 clear grasp of the situation, and his unswerving loyalty 
 to his native land, made his course plain to him at 
 once. 
 
 " My brothers in arms, Aguinaldo, and my associates 
 in the Filipino service, your words of friendship and 
 appreciation touch me more than I can tell. You 
 know that I have devoted my life to the Filipino cause. 
 You know that I serve with you because I believe 
 that the government of my country has done you 
 an unspeakable wrong, and because I sympathize 
 fully with your determination to die or be independent. 
 But the United States of America is my native land. 
 Its principles are true to human liberty, however they 
 may be forgotten or distorted by men at the head of 
 affairs or by the mistaken zeal of the people. The 
 principles of my republic are the same as the principles 
 
162 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 underlying your Constitution. The United States is 
 the greatest republic on earth. It is, to my mind, the 
 best country on earth. I love my country. I would 
 die for it. I am loyal to it, though its very foundation 
 principles drive me to fight against the policy of the 
 men who are temporarily at its head. It will change 
 its course in time. It must do so or cease to be a 
 republic. It is my native land and I love it as you 
 love yours. I hope that my work and perhaps my 
 death here may help to a better understanding which 
 shall secure to you complete independence and turn 
 my beloved native land again to the path of peace and 
 honor. You see how it is. I am devoted to your 
 cause. I expect to remain with you as long as I live, 
 or until you receive justice. But I am a loyal citizen 
 of the United States, and I am held to my allegiance 
 by the very forces which compel me to serve you. I 
 thank you with all my heart for your honor and your 
 friendship, and we will work and fight on until the 
 Filipino Republic stands acknowledged among the 
 republics of the earth, one nation with the others 
 under the bonds of international law, and recognizing 
 no superior." 
 
 Aguinaldo at first was disappointed and would have 
 urged Brown further, but a few words more made it 
 clear to him that the Filipino cause itself would gain 
 more if Brown remained an American citizen, even if 
 the laws of his country regarded him as a traitor and 
 worthy of death, than if he renounced his citizenship 
 and became a Filipino citizen. Besides, he knew that 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 163 
 
 every word of devotion to the Filipino cause which 
 Brown uttered came straight from his heart, and so 
 he was glad at last to have the matter remain as it 
 was, feeling sure that, practically, Brown would be as 
 great a pillar to his cause as though he had followed 
 out their wishes. 
 
 Brown resumed his labors with the Filipinos more 
 actively than before, strong in the support they gave 
 him, and hoping that some turn in affairs would give 
 them opportunity to prove their capacity for national 
 self-government, so that they could show to the world 
 their fitness for nationality. 
 
 Meanwhile, Wheelwright and Douglass had been in 
 Laguna province, helping to drill and fortify. They 
 were there at the time of the American repulse and 
 the capture of Captain Dexter as recorded in the last 
 chapter. Brown now recalled them for the time to 
 the stronghold in Bontoc, for the movements of the 
 Americans on both the west and east coasts of Luzon 
 made it probable that hard fighting was ahead. 
 
 We have now to report the renewed acquaintance 
 between Brown and Captain Dexter. 
 
 Brown had seen that his old friend was attended 
 faithfully, after he was wounded, and as soon as he 
 himself was through with his interview with Aguinaldo 
 and his companions, concerning the invitation to him 
 to assume Filipino citizenship, he went quickly to his 
 old comrade. 
 
 "Well, Brown," said the captive, "it was a little 
 shock at first, but I can't say that I am surprised to 
 
1 64 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 see you here. And you have taken good care of 
 me, I acknowledge that in the first place." 
 
 "Of course I have, Dexter," responded Brown. 
 "I am your friend just as much as I ever was. 
 Because we think differently on some things is no 
 reason why we should not be friends. I even believe 
 I should do as well by Colonel Hotspur if he were in 
 your place." 
 
 " Did you know, Brown, that he is out here ? " 
 
 " No, I haven't heard of it." 
 
 "What is more, he is in command of my regiment." 
 
 " Where is he now ? " 
 
 " In hospital in Manila. The climate has been 
 pretty hard on him and he could not stand the hard 
 work at the front." 
 
 " I don't wish him any harm, but I should like to 
 get hold of him as I have of you, just to prove that 
 all the spirit of fighting is not wrapped up in the army 
 of the United States." 
 
 " Brown, how on earth did you manage to get so 
 much fighting out of your Filipinos yesterday ? 
 American soldiers haven't any more pluck, even if 
 the little fellows can't whip us." 
 
 " I didn't get it out of them, Dexter. It is born in 
 them with their spirit of liberty. They have the true 
 stuff in them, just as much as the men at Concord 
 Bridge had, or those on Bunker Hill, or in Valley 
 Forge. The true spirit of liberty makes brothers and 
 heroes of all true men." 
 
 " I more than half believe you, Brown ; and I have 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 165 
 
 a great deal more respect for these Filipinos than I 
 had when I used to argue with you in Boston about 
 this miserable muddle. I am more than half disposed 
 to believe that you are right. At the same time I 
 can't accept with equanimity the fact that you are 
 fighting against the Stars and Stripes. If I should 
 do as you do, I should have to break my oath. You 
 remember, that is the rock on which we split before." 
 
 " I remember, Dexter ; and I am as clear as ever 
 that no oath to support one's country is superior to 
 the obligation upon every man to follow his conscience 
 and do right/ 1 
 
 " Perhaps you are right, Brown, but I can't break 
 my oath. I can't, somehow, see things as you do ; 
 but I am satisfied that these Filipinos ought to be 
 independent and I don't mean to fight them any more. 
 I am so badly shot up that I can't serve any more in 
 this war anyway, and I am not sorry." 
 
 " It has been my plan, Dexter, to have Aguinaldo 
 send you back to your friends, where you can be 
 treated with more skill than we have here. I will 
 arrange for this to-day, and it need not be long, if you 
 can endure to be moved, before you will be among 
 friends again, and very likely they will send you back 
 to the United States." 
 
 " I am sure this campaigning is not to my mind or 
 conscience, and has not been for weeks, since I have 
 seen more of the inside of the matter. Have you 
 any word to send home?" 
 
 " Nothing but this : that I have given my life for 
 
166 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 liberty and for my native land, and that I am fighting 
 for the good of the United States to-day, yes, for 
 her honor, too, as truly as if I were in the ranks 
 under the Stars and Stripes.'* 
 
 They won't believe that, but I'll tell them." 
 
 " And I will wait for time to vindicate both my 
 motives and my judgment. Do you think you can be 
 moved soon ? " 
 
 " Yes. I believe I can stand it to-morrow, if you 
 have an easy litter for me." 
 
 So, when the morrow came, after Brown had put 
 the case before Aguinaldo, Captain Dexter, under es- 
 cort of Filipinos who were both tender and courteous, 
 was sent back to the American lines, where he could 
 be transported to Manila. 
 
 It was a friendly act by the Filipinos, and a deed 
 of warm affection on the part of Brown, but it was 
 the beginning of trouble for the latter. Subsequent 
 events made some suspicious Filipinos see something 
 untrustworthy in him for insisting upon retaining his 
 American citizenship and showing such consideration 
 to an American officer, and the loss of many Filipino 
 lives gave color to their suspicion. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 167 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 ANOTHER LETTER AND ITS REPLY 
 
 rAITH FESSENDEN carried the atlas to her 
 chamber. Her mother and sister had no use for 
 it. The geography of the Philippine Islands, 
 where American troops were slaughtering Filipino 
 patriots and destroying their homes, and the localities 
 in South Africa where the British were burning the 
 homes of the Boers and huddling their women and 
 children to death as an illustration of modern methods 
 of British warfare, were equally uninteresting to them. 
 Mr. Fessenden contented himself with relying upon 
 his general ideas of the several localities and was 
 too busy to study the maps. So, every night, when 
 she retired to her room, Faith took the evening's 
 Transcript and the atlas and sat down under the light 
 to study the progress of the fighting in Luzon, Panay, 
 Samar, and the other islands. 
 
 She followed with particular anxiety every mention 
 of white men associated with the Filipinos. Occasion- 
 ally the dispatches would tell of some deserter being 
 heard of, fighting on the side of the Filipinos, or that 
 the brown men were under the command of a white 
 man. But she never read the name she was most 
 
168 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 anxious to find, and she could see only that the 
 Americans were gradually reaping the fruit of their 
 greater strength and better equipment for their 
 bloody work. 
 
 Her trust in the safety of George Brown, however, 
 never failed her, and she continued her work for the 
 cause as if she were sure of success in the near 
 future. She continued to send to the Anti-Imperialist 
 League the names of those she heard of who might 
 be influenced by an appeal to reason and to humanity. 
 She talked with her friends, and sometimes was 
 successful in persuading them to send in money. 
 She formed a little circle of young women who 
 made systematic work of their devotion to the anti- 
 imperialist cause. 
 
 When George Brown's letter came to the end of its 
 long journey, she herself was the one to meet the 
 postman and take it from his hands. The postmark 
 of Manila startled her, but in an instant she guessed 
 who had sent to her, and she more than suspected 
 what the message must be. She was happy before 
 she opened the envelope, and her reply was ready to 
 give as soon as her eye had glanced at the few words. 
 That reply had been for some time prepared and 
 laid up in a corner of her heart, tucked away in a very 
 neat little package, ready to be produced at a moment's 
 notice. No excuse for delay now existed, and she was 
 not looking for excuses. She took down the very 
 neat little package, and put its contents into visible 
 form, thus : 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 169 
 
 " GEORGE : 
 
 It is Yes. 
 
 " FAITH/' 
 
 It was not long before the letter was on its way. 
 Then she told her father of the question and the 
 reply, and the father told the others of the family. 
 He was not surprised or displeased. He had grown 
 into a strong admiration for Brown, and his only 
 question was how the young man's present enterprise 
 would result, and what would be the effect upon the 
 happiness of his daughter. 
 
 The mother and sister were disgusted, and said so. 
 But it did not matter much what they thought, for 
 their opinion had no practical consequences other than 
 to make more friction in the life of the young woman 
 who was happy enough to endure it without sensi- 
 ble annoyance. Father and daughter sympathized, 
 and so they worked and waited for the next develop- 
 ment. 
 
 War and civil government did not occupy all of 
 George Brown's thoughts after he sent his question to 
 Faith. He must prepare for her answer, if one came. 
 He must work and fight without it, if she never re- 
 plied. If she did reply, two alternatives must be 
 faced. The one would require practically the same 
 devotion to his present service as the other. 
 
 But what if she should raise him to the seventh 
 heaven by the answer he prayed for and which he 
 
iyo LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 believed might possibly come ? What then ? He 
 must not abandon duty by deserting the Filipino 
 cause. Did not the brave patriots of the Civil War 
 leave home and family to suffer and die for liberty 
 and fellow-men ? Should he be less noble than they ? 
 Was it not possible for her to live in a perfectly safe 
 place nearer to him than Boston ? That question he 
 turned over and over in his mind until he had it 
 figured out that, if her reply was " Yes," he should , 
 send for her to come to the Islands. He would get 
 leave of absence long enough to meet her in Paris, 
 be married there, and then return to carry on the 
 work for liberty and justice. It would be perfectly 
 safe for her to live in the place where the govern- 
 ment headquarters had been established. She would 
 be near enough to help in the Filipino cause, and she 
 would be in no more danger than in Boston. The 
 Filipino women were friendly and would be agreeable 
 companions. 
 
 The more he thought of the plan, the more reason- 
 able it seemed to him, and it was clear in his mind 
 before he had occasion to act upon it. So, having 
 come to his conclusion what his course would be, 
 whether the reply was one way or the other, and 
 whether none came at all, he waited hungrily yet 
 patiently for the movements of the mails. 
 
 Neptune was propitious. Trains were not materi- 
 ally out of their running time in their part of the 
 postal route. In due time the envelope reached its 
 destination at Manila and the outer wrapper was 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 171 
 
 opened by hands friendly to the Filipino cause. 
 Without delay, after the inclosure was seen to be for 
 George Brown, a trusty messenger was on his way to 
 deliver it. In a few hours Brown read his fate. 
 
 Had he not thought out his course so thoroughly 
 before, he would have been for some hours too ex- 
 alted to come down to earth. But he was all ready 
 for the next step. In a short time his reply was 
 written. It was much longer than the first letter, and 
 he said a great many things with which we have no 
 right to be concerned, still less to know just what they 
 were. He was human, and was writing to another 
 of the human species, and that is sufficient for our 
 purposes. Our only interest is in the fact that, among 
 many other things he said, he arranged for her to 
 come to Paris to be married there. He mentioned 
 the place where she was to remain in case she reached 
 the city before he did, though he planned to arrive 
 there first. He told her of his plans for their life in 
 the Philippines, and of his perfect assurance that her 
 surroundings would be such as to make her far hap- 
 pier there, near him, than she could possibly be if 
 she remained at home. 
 
 This plan was set forth with all needed detail of 
 specification, with a suggestion that her baggage be 
 not over voluminous, and then the letter was sent by 
 the same hands as before to the waiting correspond- 
 ent in Boston. 
 
172 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE FILIPINO FASTNESS AGAIN ATTACKED. THE 
 
 DEATH OF DOUGLASS 
 
 REPORTS of American advances on the east 
 coast of Luzon led Aguinaldo to go there now 
 at once, taking with him some of the best 
 troops he had, including the command under John 
 Nelson, the American deserter. Meanwhile, American 
 pride and daring would not permit to go unavenged 
 the defeat in front of the machine gun. The invaders 
 determined to capture the position, though they had 
 no mind for another assault in front. 
 
 Spies told them that the Filipinos had not fortified 
 themselves in the rear, trusting to the natural strength 
 of their situation and supposing that the Americans 
 would not attempt to advance otherwise than by the 
 only road. So the Americans planned for an attack 
 in the rear, if some passage through the natural 
 obstructions of the neighborhood could be found, and 
 their column was on the way at the time that George 
 Brown sent his second letter to Faith Fessenden. 
 
 One of the first thoughts occurring to Brown and 
 the Filipino officers after their recent victory was that 
 speedy revenge would be sought by the American 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 173 
 
 forces. The emergency on the east coast of the 
 island, however, as stated, made the presence there of 
 Aguinaldo and his best officers, with their men, seem 
 more important for the time than the defense of the 
 fastness in Bontoc province. If worst came to worst, 
 moreover, and in their absence a second attack was 
 made on the fortification, Brown and the depleted 
 garrison, after making the best defense they could, 
 might abandon the fortress, if this proved necessary, 
 and allow it to be captured, themselves retreating 
 further into the mountains. In the choice of evils 
 this seemed the least ; while, assisted by Wheelwright 
 and Douglass, who by this time had arrived in answer 
 to the summons, Brown and the officers remaining 
 might at least make a sturdy if brief fight. 
 
 On the morning of the day after sending his letter, 
 Brown was more buoyant than Wheelwright had ever 
 seen him. While about the camp, he sang to himself 
 and whistled snatches of familiar airs, such as Wheel- 
 wright said carried him over six thousand miles of land 
 and sea, and acted generally like a man who has turned 
 some critical point in life. 
 
 " Brown, what's got into you ? Are you crazy ? I 
 never saw you act so before. If there were any women 
 here but Filipinas, I should think that some young 
 woman had accepted you." 
 
 " My dear bosom friend, joy of my labors and com- 
 fort of my loneliness, that is just what has happened." 
 
 " Honest Indian ? " 
 
 " Yes, honest Indian." 
 
174 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 " But there are no young women around, such as 
 you want." 
 
 " I know how to write." 
 
 " Boston ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Well, old boy, I congratulate you." 
 
 " I accept your congratulations, realizing profoundly, 
 in the depths of my inner soul, if that is the correct 
 way of putting it, old boy, and if it isn't, you can fix 
 it up to suit yourself, that I am a highly suitable 
 subject for congratulation, and that you cannot realize, 
 yourself, how far your words fail to rise to the heights 
 of this occasion. As Emerson said, you have builded 
 better than you knew." 
 
 " I guess it is true, for you act like a tee-total fool. 
 If signs count for anything, you must be in good 
 luck." 
 
 " Luck isn't any name for it, Wheelwright. It's 
 eternal blessedness." 
 
 " I always had a pretty good idea of your judgment, 
 Brown. I believe that no ordinary creature would 
 fool you. She is something royal, or sublime, or some- 
 thing of that sort, of course." 
 
 " Of course. Of course she is. You might know 
 that by looking at me." 
 
 Sap-head ! " 
 
 "Of course you can't sympathize with me, or 
 appreciate the situation. But you will, better, after 
 you see her. I have sent for her to come over 
 here." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 175 
 
 " What is her name ? " 
 
 Faith." 
 
 "No surname, I suppose/' 
 
 "That doesn't matter. It will be Brown in due 
 time," 
 
 " I shall be prodigiously glad to see her, and, if she 
 wouldn't say that I was telling her what she knew 
 before, I would tell her that she had got the best man 
 in all the world/' 
 
 " She knows that already, or else she wouldn't have 
 said Yes/ 1 
 
 " Conceited idiot ! Well, Brown, I am glad for you 
 from the bottom of my heart/' 
 
 " So am I." 
 
 " I say, Brown, I wonder that you ever had the 
 hardihood to think of marrying any woman/' 
 
 " Why, thou croaking Cassandra in pantaloons ? " 
 
 " Why ? Because, though the most obstinate animal 
 is a mule, yet every woman is mutter" 
 
 " And therefore to be drawn by the ties of gentle 
 affection, like a horse by an ear of corn, and not 
 driven by force/' 
 
 "Then you don't believe that a woman is an 
 argumentum ad hominem ? " 
 
 " Never. She is the trolley of his car. She is his 
 lemon ice in summer and his open fire in winter, only 
 she never makes it too hot for him. She is his com- 
 fort in his bread-winning, the open -sesame of his 
 purse, the fairy of his hearthstone, and the sunshine 
 in his soul." 
 
176 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 " And a great befuddler of his wits, judging by the 
 awful example before me." 
 
 "Which remark would not have been made by 
 any one but a man too ignorant of the truth to be 
 capable even of envy. I have been thinking, Wheel- 
 wright, of applying for a situation when I return to 
 the States." 
 
 " What ? Train-bearer to Faith Nosurname ? " 
 
 " No. She isn't that kind of a trainer. I believe I 
 shall ask for a situation as post-mortem step-son of 
 General Grant." 
 
 " What credentials can you present for the situa- 
 tion ? " 
 
 " Well, when I was walking behind him, years ago, 
 I noticed that he trod his heels over just as I do mine. 
 Therefore I could just fill his shoes. Things which 
 are equal to the same thing are equal to each other. 
 Since he is dead I am just equal to the place, though 
 my demonstration proves that I am not a ' biger man 
 than old Grant/ " 
 
 " If your post-mortem step-father were alive he 
 would disown you, not for running over the heels, 
 but for running too much at the mouth, chatterer." 
 
 " I am merely trying to strike a fair average between 
 him and me. I must talk as much as he kept still, to 
 make a fair family record." 
 
 Just then came the sharp report of a rifle in the 
 forest, at a little distance in the rear of the fortifi- 
 cations. In an instant others and still others fol- 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 177 
 
 lowed. Then came the running forms of Filipinos 
 who had been furthest from the camp in that direc- 
 tion. 
 
 " Wheelwright, we are attacked/' said Brown. 
 "Get your men in shape instantly." 
 
 Wheelwright stepped forward quickly toward the 
 running men and soon had them facing the attack, 
 sheltering themselves behind trees and making some 
 show of returning the American fire. Brown ran 
 toward the main body of Filipinos, shouted to the 
 commanding officer that the Americans were on 
 them, and ran back to the scene of action. Douglass 
 had been not far from Brown and Wheelwright when 
 the firing began and he hurried forward to give his 
 support. 
 
 The Filipino officer ordered his men promptly into 
 action, and under cover of the trees they resisted the 
 onset of the Americans for a few minutes. Brown 
 made his way near to Wheelwright, and steadied him 
 as he rallied the brave Filipinos against the impetuous 
 onset of the Americans, who showed equal gallantry 
 in action. 
 
 As they were blazing away from behind trees, 
 making a heroic resistance to the attack, Wheelwright 
 noticed that Brown was not as effective as usual, and 
 chaffed him about it. 
 
 " Brown, what is the matter with you ? You don't 
 seem to be doing much but standing around." 
 
 " To tell the truth, Wheelwright, I don't feel like 
 killing anybody this morning." 
 
178 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 " And you are not doing it. I suppose it is that 
 girl in your head." 
 
 " In my heart, you mean." 
 
 " In your eyes, I believe, so you can't see the 
 sights of your rifle." 
 
 " I'll see them when the fighting gets hotter, if it 
 does. I don't call this much of a skirmish." 
 
 The firing became hotter, but Brown seemed to 
 mind it very little, though he was on the alert and 
 ready for any emergency. Right in the midst of a 
 patter of bullets he called to his friend : 
 
 "Wheelwright." 
 
 " Well, crazy loon, what is it ? " 
 
 "This is heaven." 
 
 " You'll be in heaven in good earnest, in the 
 spirit, and your body on the ground with a hole in it, 
 if you are not more careful ; and the rest of us will 
 be there, too, if we don't drive back these fellows. 
 Fire away, Brown." 
 
 " Anything you say to help you, but there is 
 no need of being worried. Take it easy and 
 shoot straight. The little brown men are doing 
 bravely." 
 
 " So they are, and you ought to give them a hand." 
 
 " All right, here goes." 
 
 And Brown blazed away toward the steadily ad- 
 vancing Americans. 
 
 " My God, captain, this is hell ! " cried out a little 
 Filipino, running back from his too close encounter 
 with American rifles, where he had seen comrades 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 179 
 
 falling around him and had got a puff or two close to 
 his head. 
 
 " Little man, come here," said Brown firmly. " Step 
 behind this tree. Load your rifle again. Steady, 
 little fellow. We will give them a good turn yet." 
 
 The Filipino rallied, and was immediately facing 
 toward the enemy, as brave as any on the other side. 
 
 But the American advance was too strong. They 
 drove forward with force. Brown was crowded back 
 toward the fortification. Wheelwright was shot 
 through the knee and put out of the fighting. Doug- 
 lass and some of his Filipino supporters were sepa- 
 rated from the main body. Soon the Americans 
 caught sight of the machine gun which the Filipinos 
 had not yet had opportunity to bring into action. 
 Rushing forward, the attacking troops shot down the 
 men who were trying to bring it to bear in the 
 needed quarter, captured it/ and scattered the nucleus 
 of Filipinos who were vainly trying to protect this 
 most important part of their fortification. 
 
 With this, the direct onslaught of the battle was 
 over. The surprise by the Americans had been suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 Douglass and the men with him were pursued and 
 nearly surrounded. The American troops came near 
 enough to distinguish, between the trees, that a 
 Negro was leading the Filipinos, and cries of " Kill 
 the black nigger ! " rang through the forest. 
 
 Douglass fought coolly and determinedly he was 
 not fighting for himself, but for a great cause, and 
 
i8o LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 he needed and could afford calmness. The Filipinos 
 kept close to him, sheltering themselves by the trees 
 and firing with no bad skill upon their foes, while still 
 the cry, "Kill the black nigger ! " sprang with in- 
 creasing menace from the lips of men infuriated as 
 they saw their comrades now and then falling around 
 them from the shots of the despised Filipinos who 
 were Douglass's companions. 
 
 In the forest the retreating men had an advantage, 
 and it seemed as if Douglass and the Filipinos with 
 him were to escape from the American fire without 
 further loss. Suddenly, however, they were obliged 
 to cross an open space entirely void of cover. Im- 
 mediately, they were exposed to their pursuers, and 
 with a shout of triumph fire was again opened upon 
 them. 
 
 Two Filipinos fell dead. Several of the party, 
 Douglass himself among them, turning to face their 
 foes, were wounded and dropped helpless to the 
 ground. Devotion to the foreigner in their service 
 instantly inspired some of Douglass's comrades, at 
 the risk of their lives, to try to help the wounded 
 man to cover, with the hope that he might be concealed 
 in the undergrowth and escape with his life. This 
 devotion meant death to several of the would-be 
 rescuers. American fire quickly stretched upon the 
 ground all but two of the little handful of self- 
 sacrificing brown men, and these two then ran for 
 the woods. 
 
 Hot with the combat and pursuit, the Ameri- 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 181 
 
 cans rushed forward into the space where lay the 
 wounded. 
 
 " Ho ! ho ! Here's that infernal nigger ! " shouted 
 one, as he came upon Douglass. 
 
 " Good enough for him, damn him ! Can't we start 
 a fire ? Let's roast him ! " exclaimed the next man 
 who rushed up. 
 
 " Look here, you black devil," demanded a third, as 
 a group wearing the uniform of the United States 
 army now gathered around the prostrate man. " Who 
 are you ? " 
 
 " I am an American citizen " was Douglass's firm 
 reply. 
 
 " That's all right ! And you're a dirty nigger ! 
 You know what the white folks would do with you if 
 they had you at home, and I guess nigger-ashes are 
 just as good fertilizer in Luzon as they are in 
 Mississippi. Come on, boys, rush him over to the 
 bushes. Let's have some fun roasting the damned 
 traitor." 
 
 " No ! I say No ! We won't be so low down as 
 that," spoke up one who seemed to be looked up to 
 by the others of the group. "Just finish him with 
 your pig-stickers, or with a bullet, along with his 
 Filipino * friends ' here. I won't consent to any 
 roasting." 
 
 "Well, all right, old boy, if you say so. Bullet 
 it is." 
 
 Then, turning to Douglass while his companions 
 inhumanly dispatched the wounded Filipinos, the 
 
182 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 soldier cried out : " Come, coon 1 Short prayers ! 
 Your time's come ! American niggers who fight for 
 yellow Filipinos and against white American soldiers 
 get no mercy here." 
 
 " My prayers were all said long ago," replied Doug- 
 lass stoutly, without flinching, though with growing 
 weakness from the wounds which had first brought 
 him down. Then suddenly his face was transfigured 
 before them as by a great inspiration and victory 
 by an exalted sense of triumph and the coming of 
 eternal peace. " I never expected to see this glorious 
 hour," he said. " My life goes for the same cause as 
 Abraham Lincoln's ! " 
 
 " Hang Abe Lincoln ! " was the soldier's reply, and 
 a bullet from his rifle through the heart of Douglass 
 sealed the martyrdom of the American patriot to the 
 cause of human liberty. 
 
 Just as Douglass's slayer lowered his rifle, " Crack," 
 came a report from the edge of the woods to which the 
 two escaped Filipinos had fled, and the murderer fell 
 dead in his tracks. The friends of Douglass were 
 still trying to be true to him ! 
 
 Once more the Americans took up the pursuit, 
 while the nimble, fertile-minded, and faithful Filipinos 
 made a circuit back to the field, recovered the mar- 
 tyred Negro's body, and bore it away to be specially 
 honored by decent burial. 
 
 Such was the end of Washington Douglass, the 
 child of a slave mother in a free land, a patriot who 
 died to save the children of another free land from 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 183 
 
 oppression. And died not in vain. There are those 
 yet alive in the island of Luzon who never hear his 
 name without a deep throb of gratitude, who tell 
 his deeds to their children, and who while they live 
 will never forget the zeal of his martyrdom for their 
 cause. 
 
 On the main field of battle the wounded Wheel- 
 wright had been left in the hands of the Americans. 
 Brown, with the surviving Filipinos, retreated further 
 into the forest until the Americans ceased to follow. 
 It was an unfortunate day for the patriots, and the 
 loss of their stronghold was a disaster to their prestige. 
 The consequences, moreover, to both of the white 
 Americans who were fighting on the side of the 
 Filipinos were little short of being as serious as to 
 Douglass and the others who had fallen under the 
 American fire, and who went to make up the total, as 
 stated in the official report, of 1 18 Filipinos killed and 
 eleven wounded. 
 
1 84 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 GEORGE BROWN IS SUSPECTED OF TREACHERY 
 
 SOME of the Filipinos had never been so sure of 
 George Brown as to regard him absolutely with- 
 out suspicion, although they were disposed to 
 accept him at his face value. The day after their bad 
 defeat at the hands of the Americans, two of these 
 suspicious ones were talking about him. 
 
 " He sent away a letter by special messenger some 
 months ago/' said one of the men. " I don't believe 
 he is true to us. Why should he be holding com- 
 munication with white people if he has come over to 
 our side and means to fight and die with us ? " 
 
 " He was great friends with the American officer 
 we captured when they tried to rush our machine gun 
 a while ago," said the other. " He took good care of 
 him and had him sent back to the American lines. 
 Why should he do that?" 
 
 " But I have not told you all about the letter," said 
 the first speaker. "The day before the Americans 
 drove us out of our works, a messenger brought him 
 a letter, and, after waiting a little while, he carried a 
 letter back. Then the next day, the Americans 
 surprise us. What is the meaning of that ? " 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 185 
 
 " And another thing which does not look right in 
 him," said the second man, "is that when we wanted 
 him to take the oath of allegiance to the Filipino 
 Republic he refused to do so, and said that he should 
 always be an American, Perhaps he thought that if 
 he were an American he would not be subject to our 
 discipline if he fought with us, but would be free to 
 come and go as he pleases. He assumes to be more 
 than a private, and he is not an officer. Possibly he 
 thought that, if he were caught working against us, 
 he could claim that we had no right to deal with 
 him." 
 
 " At any rate," said the first speaker, " he has done 
 what looks as if he did not fight fairly. I believe we 
 had better tell our colonel. Come with me." 
 
 The two men went to their colonel, who was com- 
 manding their detachment in the absence of Aguinaldo. 
 He questioned them closely about Brown's doings, not 
 being disposed to believe that he had done anything 
 unfriendly to the Filipinos ; but they stuck to their 
 story persistently, and he became convinced that they 
 told the truth, especially as others who were called 
 upon to corroborate, if they could, testified to the 
 well-known facts about the treatment of Captain 
 Dexter and the refusal to take the oath of allegiance, 
 as well as to the arrival and departure of the messen- 
 ger with the letters. 
 
 But the colonel would not act without consultation 
 with other officers, holding something like a little 
 council of war over the disposal of Brown. It was 
 
186 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 decided that he should be arrested at once. Brown 
 was innocently mingling with his comrades in arms 
 when the soldiers from the colonel took him in 
 charge. 
 
 "What does this mean?" he asked in great sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " We are instructed to arrest you, Captain Brown, 
 on charge of treachery to the Filipino cause, and to 
 make sure that you do not escape." 
 
 " I am your faithful friend," was Brown's reply. 
 
 "We are instructed to arrest you, captain. We 
 are very sorry, but we must obey orders." 
 
 " Take me to your colonel at once, and I will sat- 
 isfy him that I am as true to the Filipino cause as he 
 is," replied Brown, submitting to the soldiers and 
 permitting them to confine his arms so that he could 
 not easily escape. 
 
 But they had no opportunity then to conduct their 
 prisoner to headquarters. An alarm was given that 
 the American troops were again on their tracks and 
 that they must run to escape. Brown was hustled 
 along with them, and there was no thought of any- 
 thing then but to get out of the path of the pursuers. 
 Brown's guard treated him kindly, and he felt sure 
 that he had at least some friends among the Filipinos 
 in the detachment. 
 
 This was one of the times when the Americans 
 believed that they were on the track of Aguinaldo. 
 They had been informed that he was in command of 
 the detachment in person, and they gave no leisure 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 187 
 
 for the Filipinos to rest long at any point. The 
 Americans were trying to surround the Filipinos, and 
 were divided into several columns, each one being 
 too strong for the Filipinos to engage. So the pur- 
 suit was hot. It was not always by the same com- 
 pany, but when they went far from one column they 
 were in danger from another. 
 
 Time passed. Night marches, and scouting by day, 
 were necessary, and their knowledge of the mountain 
 fastnesses and of the trails whereby they could fly 
 unseen were the only means by which they were able 
 to baffle their pursuers. But it was a long and weari- 
 some hunt. 
 
 Brown was kept under guard all of the time. It 
 was the purpose of the Filipinos to have a consultation 
 over him, and at least to reach a plausible decision 
 whether he should have a trial or be disposed of with- 
 out one ; but in the heat of the pursuit they had no 
 time for more than their fighting and running. 
 
 For over five weeks this harrying continued. The 
 Americans were led on by favorable reports from time 
 to time, and the statement that the Filipinos had with 
 them a white prisoner who was kept bound was an 
 inducement to push on and to rescue their supposed 
 comrade, if possible. But the chase was too long and 
 the Filipinos were too wary and too familiar with the 
 country. After a time, the circle of pursuers was 
 completely evaded. They converged upon the central 
 district only to find that their trap was empty and 
 that the game had successfully eluded the pursuit. 
 
i88 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 There was nothing to be done then but to wait for a 
 more favorable time. 
 
 As soon as the pursuit slackened, the Filipino 
 leaders resumed their consideration of Brown's case. 
 Aguinaldo was still absent and the officer in charge 
 assumed the authority of commander. But Brown 
 had been a prodigious help in some matters ; and it 
 was not clear that he was treacherous. Perhaps he 
 could explain matters. 
 
 The council of officers was divided. Some were for 
 his summary execution without any trial. He was 
 not a subject, they argued ; he could claim no standing 
 before Filipino law. At any rate, military authority 
 was supreme and it had the right to order summary 
 execution if the necessities of the case demanded. 
 The officers who urged that Brown ought at least to 
 be given a fair trial, even if he were not innocent, but 
 who really believed that he was as true to Filipino 
 independence as they themselves were, were over- 
 ruled, though they were nearly as numerous as the 
 other side. The colonel, reluctant to believe any 
 charge against their ally, yet had such a sense of the 
 unwisdom of showing favors to white men that he 
 leaned backward in his integrity and, for the sake of 
 discipline and of his reputation as a strict and efficient 
 commander, took his stand with the hostile party and 
 agreed to the proposition that there should be no trial 
 of the accused, but that military tyranny, in its most 
 absolute form, the mere will of the commander, should 
 be carried out upon the suspected man. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 189 
 
 Brown had had plenty of time to think over many 
 things during his confinement and while he was being 
 hurried from place to place by night and by day. He 
 recalled many points wherein the Filipinos were very 
 suspicious. They had good cause to be so. He 
 realized that he belonged to the nation which was 
 trying to conquer them. He remembered that his 
 countrymen had slaughtered many thousands of Fili- 
 pinos, and that it would be very natural for them to 
 suspect him, unless he could prove by the very strong- 
 est proofs that he was with them heart and soul. He 
 was not greatly surprised, then, to hear the result of 
 the council. He was told that he had been condemned 
 to death and that the sentence would be carried into 
 execution the next day. 
 
 " Very well," he replied to the regretful soldier who 
 brought him the sentence. " I took my life in my 
 hand, and I am not surprised at this turn. But I had 
 hoped that I should live to celebrate the national 
 independence of the Filipinos.'* 
 
 In the dread hour when his life seemed to be about 
 to end in mystery and failure, Brown felt no fear of 
 death. He was strong in the confidence that under- 
 neath him were the Everlasting Arms. Conscience 
 gave only her approval. He knew that there was a 
 terrible mistake somewhere, but he was given no 
 opportunity to set himself right and the morrow would 
 see the end of his patriotic effort. 
 
 And Faith ? He took her letter from his pocket 
 and, utilizing the little freedom of movement which 
 
190 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 his guard gave him, wrote upon it his good-bye to her, 
 saying that he knew not how he had incurred the 
 suspicion of his friends. 
 
 The sleepless night was followed by an exhausted 
 morning. He called for the colonel, having decided 
 that he was the best man with whom to intrust his 
 farewell message. 
 
 " Colonel," he said, " I am to die this morning. 
 Before you take me out, I wish to leave a message 
 with you. I knew when I came here that you would 
 be suspicious of white men. I knew that I was per- 
 sonally liable to suspicion. I realized the risk. But 
 I took that risk for love of the Filipino cause. I have 
 always been faithful to that cause. I die your firm 
 friend. Now, I have a message to give you. In 
 America lives she whom I hoped to bring here as my 
 wife. She is promised mine. I have written her to 
 come. It is time, very soon, for her to be on her way. 
 It was a letter from her which I received the day 
 before we were attacked. I sent her my reply by the 
 same messenger. She will come across the Atlantic. 
 She was to meet me in Paris and we were to have 
 been married there. I now charge you to give her 
 this, my farewell message. Send it to Agongillo at 
 Paris. Tell him to take it to the American consulate 
 and to deliver it to Faith Fessenden. May God spare 
 her when she knows the truth. That is all, colonel. 
 I die faithful to you and your cause." 
 
 But the colonel had understood even faster than 
 Brown had talked. He saw now the meaning of the 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 191 
 
 suspicious letters. He ordered the guard to retain 
 Brown until further orders, and then he called the 
 council as soon as possible. 
 
 " Gentlemen/' he exclaimed, when all were be- 
 fore 'him, " I understand the mystery about Captain 
 Brown. He is our true friend, faithful even unto 
 death. We have misjudged him. In the face of 
 death, believing that he was to die at once, he gave 
 me his farewell message, and he is as brave and 
 true a man as we ever counted among our Filipino 
 people." 
 
 Then the colonel told of Brown's last message. 
 The effect was as prompt upon other minds as it had 
 been upon his own. Brown's friends shouted for joy. 
 His critics were not sorry. The change of feeling 
 was complete. The colonel, seeing that all was well, 
 went personally to the guard, ordered the instant 
 release of Brown, and embraced him like a brother. 
 
 Explanations and apologies followed, sincere and 
 extreme, and Brown was restored to full favor. He 
 was held by a closer tie than ever, for he had stood 
 the test of death and had proved true to the Filipino 
 cause. They loved him and he was theirs more truly 
 than ever before. But for a week he was prostrate, 
 from the reaction following the terrible strain of the 
 ordeal. 
 
192 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 ALFRED WHEELWRIGHT JOINS WASHINGTON DOUGLASS 
 
 ALFRED WHEELWRIGHT, after his capture 
 by the Americans, was treated with all needful 
 surgical skill, and was carried to Manila as soon 
 as he was able to endure the journey. He was placed 
 in prison, with due regard to his wound in the treat- 
 ment accorded to him, and there awaited the course 
 of American military law. He was charged with 
 treason to the government of the United States, being 
 by his own admission an American citizen, and having 
 been captured in arms against his country. 
 
 General Maximus organized a court-martial to try 
 the accused. Wheelwright was brought in strongly 
 guarded. He was compelled to use crutches, for his 
 wound was far from healed and the shattered knee 
 could bear no weight. 
 
 The formality of the trial was short. There was 
 no question regarding the facts. Wheelwright said 
 that he was a citizen of the United States, and stated 
 that he was fighting on the side of the Filipinos 
 because he believed they were right and that the 
 Americans were wrong. It needed but a few minutes 
 to bring out these facts. No defense or excuse was 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 193 
 
 offered and there remained for the court only the 
 question of passing sentence. 
 
 Arbitrary power rested in the hands of the com- 
 mander-in-chief in the islands, but General Maximus 
 hesitated before passing the extreme sentence upon 
 the prisoner. Up to that time no man had been shot 
 or hanged for treason. Many soldiers had deserted, 
 but they had not been recaptured fighting for the 
 Filipinos. No person had hitherto presented so clear 
 a case as Wheelwright. Under the laws of war and 
 of his country there was but one punishment which 
 fittingly could be inflicted, yet the general hesitated 
 before giving the sentence. 
 
 The judgment of the court was that the prisoner 
 was worthy of death. The opinion of the officers who 
 sat in judgment was unanimous, and there was not a 
 word of sympathy for the prisoner. He did not expect 
 any. He bore the ordeal of the trial like a man who 
 already looks into the future life and sees there nothing 
 to dread; while he had the absolute approval of his 
 conscience for every deed he had done which drew 
 upon him the condemnation of the court. The atti- 
 tude of each side toward the other was inflexible. 
 Each side had a mental bearing as exact as mathemat- 
 ics. Wheelwright wavered not a hair. He concealed 
 nothing, palliated nothing, asked for nothing. He 
 knew that, on the face of the circumstances, under 
 the laws of the United States, he was worthy of 
 death. 
 
 On the other side, the officers felt little or no pity, 
 
194 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 and some of them only satisfaction in the swift prog- 
 ress of the trial and in the hopeless prospect before 
 the prisoner. They were officers of the army : was 
 not their duty, then, imposed upon them ? Moreover, 
 the position taken by the prisoner implied a direct 
 rebuke to every one of them. If he was in the right, 
 they were in the wrong. There was but one view to 
 take : he was in arms against his country and theirs ; 
 he admitted the facts ; let him suffer the consequences. 
 They had only to act according to the proven facts ; 
 there was no doubt regarding the course to pursue. 
 
 But the responsibility was on General Maximus, 
 and not upon them. The general therefore had more 
 of a sense of prudence and of regard for the future 
 than they, especially when he recalled the fact that 
 not a man who had fought against his country in the 
 Civil War had been put to death for treason. Even 
 the head of the confederacy had been spared. Would 
 the people of the United States approve the death of 
 the prisoner, even if there were no doubt regarding 
 his guilt ? " Better lean to the side of mercy, and 
 let there be no sores to heal when the fighting is 
 over," he reasoned. Therefore he decided to open 
 for Wheelwright a door of escape, if he would take it. 
 
 He wrote this note and sent it to the prisoner 
 before he passed sentence upon him : 
 
 " MR. ALFRED WHEELWRIGHT : 
 
 " Sir: The military court before which you have 
 been tried has unanimously found that you are guilty 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 195 
 
 of treason, and under the law you are therefore 
 worthy of the extreme punishment. Before passing 
 sentence, I inform you that the officer in command 
 does not wish to proceed to the extreme measure 
 without first offering you an opportunity to make 
 amends and to guarantee that hereafter you will be 
 loyal to your country, in case your life is spared. 
 Upon consideration of your expressing proper contri- 
 tion for your treasonable offense, of taking the oath 
 of allegiance to the United States, and of returning 
 to your country as early as possible, the judgment of 
 the court will not be carried into execution. 
 
 " MAXIMUS, General Commanding'' 
 
 But Wheelwright had not taken up the cause of 
 the Filipinos in any doubt as to the right fulness of 
 their claims, or of his own position. He had long 
 before made the sacrifice of his life. What remained 
 after that was merely the opportunity of completing 
 the act he had begun. He knew that it would be as 
 false in him to accept pardon on the ground of ab- 
 staining from further service to the Filipinos as it 
 would be to join with their oppressors and invaders. 
 There was, in honor, no possible ground upon which 
 he could avail himself of the general's proposition and 
 save his life. The issue was perfectly clear. He 
 must go forward and carry into execution his purpose 
 of giving his life to the righteous cause of Filipino 
 independence. He therefore sent a reply to the 
 general, as follows : 
 
196 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 " To MAXIMUS, General in the Philippines : 
 
 " Sir: Your proposition to spare my life on con- 
 dition that I abandon the Filipino cause has been 
 given due consideration. I entered the Filipino serv- 
 ice as a loyal citizen of the United States, deter- 
 mined to serve my adopted country to the extent of 
 my life, fully believing that the government is wholly 
 wrong in its course, false to the principles upon which 
 our institutions of liberty are founded, and blindly 
 mistaken in its policy. I believe that it is the duty 
 of every American patriot, for the sake of his coun- 
 try, to oppose the Administration to the extent of his 
 ability, in order to save the country from the terrible 
 consequences of this powerful attack upon its princi- 
 ples and its form of government. I therefore, as a 
 loyal citizen of the United States, have taken up arms 
 against an Administration which I believe to be dis- 
 loyal to it. As an American patriot I am ready to 
 die with the patriots who have given their lives for 
 their country and for human liberty on a scale far 
 broader than our national boundaries, and I ask for 
 no pardon at the hands of a man who is in arms 
 against true Americanism. 
 
 " Furthermore, by as much as the American Admin- 
 istration is wrong, the Filipinos are right in their strug- 
 gle for national independence. As a true American, 
 therefore, and no American is worthy of his coun- 
 try and of the truth upon which it is founded whose 
 sympathy does not overflow the boundaries of his 
 country, who is not as ready to fight for other people 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 197 
 
 struggling for liberty as quickly as for his own, and 
 who would not fight against his own people if they 
 were on the wrong side, I take my stand in arms 
 with the Filipinos, especially since it is my own mis- 
 guided country which has destroyed their brave men 
 by thousands, burned their homes, broken up their 
 families, and brought upon a patriotic and innocent 
 people all the horrors of war. It is my duty to fight 
 for them and thus help to atone for the crime of the 
 present National Administration. Better is it to die 
 for liberty here than to live safely at home false to 
 principles I profess and which I know are the only 
 salvation of our beloved republic. 
 
 " I must refuse your offer, and I go to my fate 
 willingly. I have but one life to give and it can 
 never be spent better than for human liberty and the 
 righting of the wrongs done to this innocent people 
 by the country of which I am a citizen. 
 
 "ALFRED WHEELWRIGHT." 
 
 General Maximus resented the reproof of Wheel- 
 wright and rejected his statement that the Adminis- 
 tration was wrong. But he knew the policy of Presi- 
 dent McKinley not to take human life if it were to 
 be avoided, when soldiers were guilty of offenses, and 
 he questioned whether it ought not to be extended to 
 such a case as this. No occasion for haste existed. 
 He would think the matter over further. So he 
 commanded that extra precautions be taken with 
 Wheelwright and gave himself time for consideration. 
 
198 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Perhaps it would serve as well if the prisoner were 
 incarcerated for life. 
 
 But the primary verdict of the court-martial became 
 public. Every one in Manila knew, or might have 
 known, that an American citizen was under conviction 
 of treason for fighting on the side of the Filipinos. 
 Both the army and the Filipinos expected hourly to 
 hear that the sentence of death had been promul- 
 gated. 
 
 On the part of the Filipinos there developed a 
 determination to rescue Wheelwright, if possible. 
 This determination also became known, and the 
 guards in charge of the prisoner grew from hour to 
 hour more and more nervous and anxious. The 
 prison was not as strong as was desired by the 
 soldiers. They feared an attack at any moment by 
 Filipinos, and asked that their prisoner be transferred 
 to Bilibid prison, the place of confinement most capable 
 of resisting any assault by a mob. 
 
 General Maximus complied with the request for a 
 change, and appointed a guard sufficiently strong, in 
 his estimation, to conduct Wheelwright through the 
 streets to the new place of detention. 
 
 The hour just before dawn was selected as the time 
 least likely to witness a tumult. Wheelwright was 
 unable to walk the distance, and an ambulance was 
 brought. 
 
 But the Americans did not realize the watchfulness 
 of the Filipinos for their champion. The stir about 
 the prison was quickly noticed. Brown men, hardly 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 199 
 
 visible in the dusk, increased in numbers. By the 
 time the ambulance was ready to start, it was evident 
 that it would be a dangerous effort, and more soldiers 
 were summoned, whereupon the order was given to 
 advance. 
 
 The crowd increased as the ambulance drove on. 
 The Americans had difficulty in forcing their way and 
 in keeping the crowd back from the wheels. 
 
 Suddenly a rush was made by the Filipinos upon 
 the soldiers. Some of them jumped for the head 
 of the ambulance-horse, their purpose clearly being 
 to seize the conveyance and drive away with Wheel- 
 wright, while the sheer physical weight of the mob 
 would prevent the guard from interfering with the 
 escape. 
 
 Without hesitation the soldiers opened fire upon 
 the rescuers. The men at the horse's head, and those 
 trying to get to the driver's seat, tumbled dead to the 
 ground. 
 
 A charge was made by the soldiers into the thick 
 of the Filipino mass, and its force was broken. * 
 Rapid firing prostrated still others. Then came a 
 break, and a flight. 
 
 The attempt at rescue was a failure, at the cost of 
 a dozen Filipino lives. 
 
 What happened next was never very clearly reported 
 or explained. For many days after, there were con- 
 flicting stories through the city. At any rate, the 
 horrors of that early dawn were by no means at an 
 end when the surviving Filipinos were in large part 
 
200 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 dispersed and the dead ones left in the street where 
 they fell as the ambulance moved on. 
 
 The march toward Bilibid prison was scarcely 
 resumed, the escort now being nerved to the highest 
 pitch by the daring attempt at rescue which had been 
 made, and by the firing and slaughter which had 
 ensued, when the little procession a growing throng 
 at its heels, natives, Spanish, Chinese, Americans 
 was met by a mob of nearly a score of sailors, of 
 different nationalities, from vessels in the harbor, 
 accompanied by a few soldiers off duty, all of whom 
 had been spending the night together in a grand 
 carouse. 
 
 A frequent topic of blatant converse during their 
 night's drinking and quarreling among themselves had 
 been the case of Wheelwright. Every man of them 
 had condemned him, and all had expressed the gen- 
 erous wish that they might be present at and assist in 
 his hanging. 
 
 " He's nothing but a low-lived, rotten traitor, any- 
 way," one of them had fulminated, toward daylight, 
 as he set down an empty glass from which he had 
 just swallowed a gill or more of raw whiskey as a 
 good-bye to the saloon for that time. From his 
 appearance the speaker might have been a slovenly 
 pirate, but doubtless he was only a patriotic sailor of 
 unspecified nationality, and pretty drunk, drunker 
 than any pirate in good and regular standing cares 
 to be if he is to preserve his self-respect and retain 
 coolness of intellect enough to slung-shot a man 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS aoi 
 
 or to scuttle a ship in the average practice of his 
 profession. 
 
 "Tell you what, Bill," the man concluded, to a com- 
 panion, as the company staggered out into the street 
 to seek their ships or their barracks for early roll-call, 
 " I doubt if that Wheelwright or Wheelwrong, or 
 What-you-call-him would come here and drink a 
 glass of rum with you and I, like an honest, civilized 
 man, and help make these half-breed Tagalogs howl 
 and dance for us as we punch them ! but he can set 
 up for a lover of ' true liberty ' and tell Maximus to 
 his face that he's a bigger and better man than him 
 or any of us ! I'd like to smash him ! " 
 
 " Good for you, Dan ! " his companion responded. 
 " Now mind your eye down that step ! But what in 
 thunder's that racket up the road ? There must be 
 others besides we having a hot time ! " 
 
 The men had now fairly reached the sidewalk, striv- 
 ing to stand and walk unitedly for safety's sake and 
 equilibrium's, when some of the flying folk who had 
 been dispersed by the firing near the ambulance rushed 
 past, informing the carousers as to the meaning of the 
 shots and of the loud cries up the street. 
 
 Partly sobered by the sudden excitement, but ugly 
 and brutal from their eight or ten hours' spree, the 
 men rushed towards the approaching ambulance still 
 guarded by its soldiers. 
 
 " Look here, captain ! " bellowed the man who had 
 been called Dan, close - pressed by his friend Bill. 
 " Let us get at that traitor there, and we'll fix him 
 
202 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 so that he won't fight any more against American 
 sojers ! " 
 
 " Stand back ! " shouted the captain. " This pris- 
 oner is in my charge, and I propose to see that he is 
 delivered where I am ordered to deliver him/' 
 
 " Oh, go 'way with yer bluff ! " replied the sailor. 
 " You're all right, boss, for a sojer-boy, you know, but 
 we can teach you how to do business up in shape. 
 Let us get at him, I say ! " 
 
 The sailors hustled around the army captain. Half 
 of the guard had no mind to mix up in another fight 
 that morning for a man they all now heartily wished 
 dead. 
 
 Suddenly the big sailor threw his great arms around 
 the neck of the captain, from behind, pinioned his 
 wrists with one hand, knocking his sword from his 
 grasp, and pulled him over to the ground. Two more 
 sailors jumped on the prostrate man and helped to 
 hold him down. Some of the mob Filipinos among 
 them again took a hand in the disturbance, the 
 Filipinos freshly hoping for a rescue. 
 
 The guard, not a quarter part as numerous now as 
 their assailants, some of them willingly and others 
 by force, abandoned their defense of their prisoner 
 and the captain, and Wheelwright was at the mercy 
 of the furious and still half-drunken sailors. The 
 latter seized and drove the ambulance out of the 
 midst of the melee, and then tumbled the unarmed 
 Wheelwright out upon the ground. 
 
 The victim had heard all, and he realized the extrem- 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 203 
 
 ity he was in. But his courage never failed, nor his 
 resolution to suffer death rather than yield. 
 
 The sailors stood him up with his back against a 
 wall, and pointed a pistol at his head. 
 
 " Now, you double-dyed traitor," cried the leader, 
 " give three cheers for the Stars and Stripes ! " 
 
 Wheelwright's rough fall from the ambulance 
 had sadly crippled him, in connection with his 
 shattered knee ; but he knew no fear and forgot 
 his pain. 
 
 " When the Stars and Stripes stand for what they 
 did when I swore allegiance to them, I will cheer for 
 them," he replied, pale and resolute. 
 
 " Hold up yer hand NOW, this minute, I say, and 
 swear allegiance to the United States ! " was the rough 
 rejoinder, accompanied by the thrusting of the pistol 
 close to Wheelwright's head. 
 
 " I am already bearing true faith and allegiance to 
 the United States," he replied. " It is the army 
 which is not." 
 
 " We don't want no preaching, blast you ! Quit your 
 nonsense ! " yelled the big brute. " Now, this is the 
 last time ! Say you're sorry you fought for the 
 Filipinos ! " 
 
 " No, I am glad I fought for them, and I am glad 
 to die for them," was the answer. 
 
 The hero realized that the end had come. 
 
 " Look out ! Will you retract ? " 
 
 " Never ! " was the decisive answer, and without 
 hesitation. 
 
204 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 " Then go to Sheol ! " retorted the willful execu- 
 tioner. And he fired the revolver's contents point- 
 blank into Wheelwright's brain. 
 
 All was over. The sailors lifted and brought 
 the captain of the guard up to the dead body, and 
 said : 
 
 "Here's your prisoner, cap! Now 'deliver him 
 where you was ordered to deliver him/ " 
 
 The Filipinos had been kept at a distance, powerless 
 to effect a rescue. Those who knew their purpose 
 had forcibly restrained them. 
 
 The murder was accomplished. The sacrifice for 
 Filipino liberty had been made. The incident, tem- 
 porarily, was closed. The sailors slunk away. The 
 captain took charge of the body and, returning to 
 headquarters, informed the superior authority of the 
 action of "the mob." 
 
 One of the stories reported in the city was that, in 
 a rush made on the ambulance by the Filipinos, one 
 of the Filipinos themselves had by accident fired the 
 fatal shot. Few, however, believed this, though there 
 were some soldiers who asserted it. 
 
 On the other hand, a Spanish shopkeeper claimed 
 to have overheard enough, while behind his counter, 
 to make him believe that the whole murder was a 
 plot ; that the supposed sailors were not sailors, nor 
 drunk, but disguised soldiers who had fought in the 
 recent repulse in Bontoc province, and who hated 
 Wheelwright for his connection with those engaged 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 205 
 
 in it. Fearing that General Maximus would commute 
 the victim's punishment to life-imprisonment, of which 
 there was a rumor, they had planned to gain consent 
 to the removal to Bilibid, learned the hour for the 
 march, won over to their scheme the captain and men 
 who were to form the escort, so that they would offer 
 only a show of resistance, and then carried out their 
 revenge in the manner resulting. Among the nine- 
 teen hundred or two thousand liquor saloons, evil 
 houses, and opium dens established in Manila as a 
 result of the American occupation, the house from 
 which the carousers made their exit at daylight, suc- 
 cessfully to consummate their purpose, was long an 
 object of curiosity both to residents and visitors. 
 
 During the day of the murder, it leaked out and 
 was learned by many that when the ambulance stood 
 again before headquarters one of the officers noticed 
 a bit of card which had been affixed to the vehicle by 
 an unknown hand "the work of some of those 
 Tagalog niggers ; no one else would have done it," 
 the officer said. 
 
 The card bore the sublime and prophetic lines of 
 the American poet Lowell : 
 
 " Truth forever on the scaffold, 
 Wrong forever on the throne ; 
 
 Yet that scaffold sways the future, 
 And behind the dim unknown 
 
 Standeth God within the shadow, 
 Keeping watch above his own." 
 
206 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 The officer swore, and tore down the card, vowing 
 that no such " treasonable stuff " as that should stay 
 where any loyal American soldier could read it. 
 
 At nine o'clock that evening many in the city were 
 startled. The church bells all over Manila began 
 tolling. By preconcerted plan the Filipinos had gained 
 access to the belfries, and by the solemn clangor ex- 
 pressed publicly the genuine sorrow of their nation over 
 the death of the white friend of the patriots. The sol- 
 diers doing police duty tried to prevent the tolling, but 
 the doors were locked from within and many brave men 
 were ready to resist their entrance. For several hours 
 the bells continued their story of sorrow, but one by 
 one they were silenced as the soldiers forced the doors 
 open and arrested the offenders. Gradually the tolling 
 ceased, as bell after bell joined the silent number ; but 
 the sorrow of which the tolling was the audible 
 expression was deep in the hearts of the people, and 
 it formed a factor in the stubborn resistance to Amer- 
 ican supremacy which continued to break out at widely 
 separated places long after the passing of the patriotic 
 white man who died for the rights of the Filipinos. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 207 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 FAITH FESSENDEN KEEPS AN IMPORTANT 
 APPOINTMENT 
 
 IMMEDIATELY after Faith Fessenden had sent 
 her reply to George Brown she told her father all 
 
 about it. He realized better than any other mem- 
 ber of the family the strength of Brown's character, 
 the purity of his motives, and the permanent quality 
 of his combative patriotism. And he had such a high 
 ideal of the nearness of the two whom God has made 
 one that he would suffer no earthly obstacle to keep 
 them apart. He was compelled, therefore, by his own 
 heart and his own judgment, to approve what Faith 
 had done, though he could not but regret deeply the 
 hard road over which her love was taking her. 
 
 But when he told his wife the news, she bore it in 
 an altogether different spirit. Not realizing the great- 
 ness of the occasion which made George Brown find 
 the course of duty in arms against his own country ; 
 believing that the whole war was a needless affair over 
 a few "niggers" who would be much better off if 
 they came peacefully under the American flag, and 
 having no sympathy with the struggle of a brave but 
 weaker people for independence, she thought that 
 Faith had made a great mistake. It was very plain 
 
208 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Saxon of one syllable with which she expressed her 
 opinion of her prospective son-in-law, and she coupled 
 her daughter with him in her objurgation. 
 
 Faith's home sister shared this feeling, and when 
 the married sister came down from Worcester to con- 
 dole upon their common misfortune she added her 
 contribution to the flame of indignation. But their 
 opposition made no difference, of course, with the 
 determination of Faith, and, as opposition had been 
 anticipated by her, it hardly made a cloud upon her 
 supreme joy. 
 
 " Faith, you are the greatest fool I ever saw," said 
 Edith, her home sister. " Do you expect to marry a 
 man who is on the other side of the world, fighting 
 our own soldiers ? " 
 
 " My dear, that is just what I expect to do. It is 
 the only right thing. If George is fighting against 
 the United States, it is because he is right and the 
 United States is wrong/' 
 
 "You were well named, even before they knew 
 what your character would be ; for you believe that 
 your man is right, even if all the world should say he 
 is wrong." 
 
 " If George says that a thing is so, then it is so." 
 
 " So you believe, you ninny." 
 
 "He would not think it was so unless he was right. 
 That is what makes me trust him." 
 
 " There are none so blind as those who won't see." 
 
 " And those who have eyes can see things which 
 the blind don't know anything about. I can see that 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 209 
 
 George Brown is just to all men, even the weak ; that 
 he loves his country, but that there are things above 
 country. He has given his life for humanity. What 
 is more, I love him." 
 
 " And want to leave your home and go around the 
 world so that you can be with him ? " 
 
 " Yes. I do, and I am going. My place is with 
 him, and, if you call it a sacrifice, then I must sacri- 
 fice myself, as he has done, to be worthy of him." 
 
 Mrs. Fessenden was disposed to rely upon her 
 authority as a parent. She used her utmost to have 
 her husband lay his command upon Faith that she 
 should not go, but he was immovable. 
 
 "Faith loves George Brown," he said. " He loves 
 her, and is worthy of her. He wants her to go to 
 him. She is ready to go. It would be a wrong to 
 him and to her to prevent them. It is just as true 
 before the civil ceremony as after that what God 
 has joined together no man must put asunder." 
 
 "But just think of it, William. Are we going to 
 let her go off there by herself ? What will our neigh- 
 bors say ? How will it look ? It will be an everlast- 
 ing scandal." 
 
 " Clara, I have determined what I shall do, and I 
 invite you to go with me. We will go with Faith as 
 far as Paris. We will see her married, and will wish 
 her a safe journey and a happy return whenever she 
 is disposed to come back to her native land." 
 
 " William, you are crazy. Do you want Faith to 
 die out there ? " 
 
210 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 " No, Clara ; and I beheve she will come back in 
 safety. But we may well remember this : that in 
 about fifty years at the most we shall all be reunited 
 on the eternal shore. What difference will it make 
 then whether you and I shall have come by way of 
 Boston, and George and Faith by way of the Philip- 
 pine Islands ? " 
 
 Mr. Fessenden held to his point, and the family 
 breeze ended in the formation of a plan whereby the 
 entire Fessenden family should go to Paris. When 
 they came home without Faith, then the public might 
 say what it pleased. 
 
 So the dove of peace settled down. The objectors 
 realized for once that scolding and sputtering and 
 hindering were out of place. They could not but 
 feel the strength of Faith's love and the force of her 
 character, even if they condemned her purpose. 
 They were forced to respect her more then ever, 
 while the certainty of losing her made them improve 
 the time that she remained with them. 
 
 It was in these days of final preparation that the 
 news came of disastrous Filipino reverses. A few days 
 later was held that great and enthusiastic meeting in 
 the Cradle of Liberty, in Boston, in behalf of " Free 
 America, free Cuba, free Philippines." Faith was 
 determined to go. Her father would not have missed 
 it. For once, out of respect for Faith, the other 
 women of the family went with them. Mr. Fessen- 
 den and Faith, fully in sympathy with the purpose of 
 the meeting, drank in the inspiring words of the 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 211 
 
 speakers, while even the disbelieving members of the 
 household could not but be stirred. They even felt 
 ashamed of their past ignorance and indifference, as 
 they listened to the fiery words of Colonel Charles 
 R. Codman, to the merciless exposure by ex-Governor 
 George S. Boutwell, the warning against imperialism 
 by George G. Mercer, of Philadelphia, and the scath- 
 ing words of Robert M. Morse. 
 
 But the greatest demonstration was over Sixto 
 Lopez, the talented, patient, and wise Filipino philos- 
 opher and patriot, who spoke briefly in broken Eng- 
 lish and then had his speech read for him by his 
 secretary, Thomas T. Patterson. Loud was the ap- 
 plause, and Faith's heart was stirred as she realized 
 that here was one of the very men among whom 
 George was working and fighting for the broad cause 
 of human liberty, both in America and in the Phil- 
 ippines. She was foremost among those who crowded 
 to the edge of the platform to shake hands with Lopez 
 as he pleasantly leaned down to take their out- 
 stretched hands and to thank them for their interest 
 in the Filipino cause. From that hour the Fessenden 
 family was united upon the Filipino question, and 
 there was more regret and sober joy mingled together 
 as they hurried Faith's preparations. 
 
 In due time the compact trousseau, such as was 
 suitable for a long journey and for a life away from 
 the centers of society, was made ready. The work 
 was pressed as rapidly as possible, and in due time 
 the voyage was begun. 
 
212 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 George Brown's instructions to Faith were to make 
 herself known at the American consulate, so that any 
 communication might reach her in case she should 
 arrive before he did, and then to make her head- 
 quarters at a certain hotel in the vicinity. 
 
 The Atlantic voyage was duly accomplished. The 
 trip to Paris was made. But there was no word of 
 George Brown at the consulate. His coming was all 
 a blank, and no one knew about him. So the party 
 Faith having no shadow of doubt that all would 
 yet be well found the hotel which he had suggested 
 and established themselves to wait for word from the 
 absentee. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 213 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 NEVER SURRENDER 
 
 AT once upon George Brown's restoration to the 
 full favor and confidence of his Filipino friends, 
 he went to the vicinity of Manila in order to 
 direct more efficiently the work of organization and 
 instruction in the contest which he foresaw must be 
 very long. 
 
 He was within easy communication with the city, 
 and knew all that transpired there of interest to the 
 cause of independence. He knew that in consequence 
 of many defeats some were becoming discouraged. 
 He was familiar also with the character and determi- 
 nation of the men who were nominally submissive to 
 the American yoke. It seemed to them all that it 
 would be best to hold a council at which the lead- 
 ing generals should be present and reach a common 
 understanding regarding the course to pursue. Mes- 
 sengers were therefore sent, bearing the common 
 opinion of the patriots in Manila, inviting the generals 
 to attend. 
 
 About a week afterward, the gathering was held. 
 It was not far from Manila, and if the American com- 
 mander had known what a prize awaited his enterprise 
 
2i 4 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 he would have followed up other successes by the 
 capture of a dozen leading spirits. Among those in 
 attendance were Aguinaldo, Tinio, Alejandrino, Cailles, 
 Malvar, and others. Certain prominent civilians of 
 Manila were also present, men who were nominally 
 favorable to the American occupation but who were 
 still trusted by the generals, and they were listened to 
 in turn with as much attention as were the officers. 
 
 The meeting soon developed one common pur- 
 pose, continued determined resistance to American 
 sovereignty and a belief that the Filipinos would gain 
 their complete independence by force of their own 
 arms. They believed that they could make occupation 
 of the islands so costly and perilous to the Americans 
 that the sober judgment of the United States would 
 see that it was a losing enterprise, as well as grossly 
 unjust and contrary to American principles. A way 
 would thus be arranged whereby independence would 
 be conceded. 
 
 But there was a difference of opinion among the 
 leaders. Brown was given his full share in the delib- 
 erations, and his counsel was to continue their armed 
 resistance. The civilians from Manila were disposed 
 to favor nominal submission, and the use of peaceful 
 agitation, to the end that life might be spared and the 
 true heart of the Americans perhaps be reached as 
 quickly and with as large results. 
 
 Important consideration was given to the matter of 
 taking the oath of allegiance to the United States. 
 It was argued that such oath would be taken under 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 215 
 
 compulsion, and therefore would have no moral force 
 whatever. It was mentioned that even in the United 
 States it was law that contracts and agreements made 
 by force, as when one might be compelled to give a 
 writing at the muzzle of a pistol, had no binding force, 
 and that such nullity was recognized by the courts. 
 Therefore, by the moral standard of the American 
 people themselves, an oath of allegiance would be 
 mere idle breath and would restrain no Filipino from 
 subsequent hostility against the Americans, no matter 
 how many times the oath might be repeated. 
 
 Aguinaldo, Malvar, Cailles, and others stood stoutly 
 on the same position as did Brown. They insisted that 
 the only right course was to keep up the fighting ; that 
 they were right, that it would be surrendering their case 
 if they yielded, that the great Filipino people looked to 
 them to continue the holy war for independence, that 
 they were sure of winning if they persevered, that 
 temporary losses and defeats were not fatal to final 
 military success, and that the conditions of the 
 country were such that the Americans could never 
 conquer them. 
 
 Finally, the two wings could only agree that they 
 would persist in the conflict for independence, but 
 that each should keep up the fight in its own way. 
 The fighting generals returned to their commands to 
 hold them together, to resist and attack whenever 
 possible, to keep alive the fighting spirit in the hearts 
 of all the Filipinos. 
 
 As soon as the conference was ended, Brown went 
 
2i6. LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 into Manila. He went to the printing establishment 
 which preserved the Filipinos' trust, drew up a pro- 
 nunciamento in favor of continuing military operations, 
 and had hundreds of copies printed that night. By 
 morning, messengers were carrying them to all parts 
 of the islands, while they even appeared here and 
 there on the walls in Manila, telling the Americans 
 that the war would still go on and that their hopes of 
 quenching the Filipino fire of liberty were vain. 
 
 Then, from public duties, Brown turned to personal 
 matters. The delay had made it impossible for him 
 to be in Paris by the time that Faith would probably 
 reach the city. But he now made ready for his trip 
 at once, and took passage on one of the vessels used 
 by the Filipinos for communication with Hong Kong. 
 
 As soon as he reached that port, he sent a dispatch 
 to Faith at the American consulate in Paris : " I leave 
 here to-day." That would reassure her that he was 
 coming as speedily as possible. All explanations must 
 be reserved for word of mouth. 
 
 The journey westward was as uneventful and as 
 uniformly upon schedule time as had been his jour- 
 ney eastward. In due time Paris was reached, and 
 also the hotel where the Fessenden family were anx- 
 iously awaiting his coming. 
 
 His reception, his welcome by the entire family, 
 the preparations that followed, all these matters 
 were of vital interest to the participants, but the pub- 
 lic has no right inside of their privacy and only a 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 217 
 
 sympathetic interest in the heartfelt joy of the chief 
 actors. 
 
 In conformity to French law the marriage was cel- 
 ebrated for the Americans. It was a private wed- 
 ding, and there was no disposition to invite any of the 
 American colony in Paris to attend upon the happy 
 occasion. The participants were enough for them- 
 selves, and the family were numerous enough for wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 No occasion existed for delay, and on the day after 
 the wedding George and Faith began their strange 
 wedding-journey, having devoted their lives to the 
 cause of Filipino independence and to the equality of 
 mankind in civil liberty. 
 
 One of their fellow-passengers was an American 
 investor, going to Manila to establish a wholesale 
 house for general trade in Philippine products, which 
 he expected would have a ready sale in the United 
 States. He was impatient with the Filipinos for 
 their continued resistance. Speaking with Brown, 
 he said : 
 
 " What infernal fools these brown fellows are. If 
 they only knew what is good for themselves they 
 would submit and stop their fighting. We could 
 do an immense amount of trade in the islands. 
 They could sell their products and make their ever- 
 lasting fortunes. They might be well-dressed nig- 
 gers above ground instead of a heap of rotting bones 
 below/' 
 
 " They are just the same sort of infernal fools that 
 
2i8 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 our Revolutionary fathers were/' retorted Brown, his 
 eyes beginning to blaze at the thought of the money 
 price which this specimen of the American business 
 man would put upon manhood itself. " Nathan Hale 
 was that sort of a fool, and he stands in New York 
 city, even to-day, with a rope around his neck, when 
 he might be sleeping peacefully underground in a rich 
 man's coffin, favored and praised by the British and 
 approved by the average American, who would say 
 that he did the right thing to save his neck and not 
 sacrifice himself for such an old-fashioned notion as 
 liberty." 
 
 "Those times were different," said the trader, 
 staring at Brown's vehemence. " And the men were 
 different. You can't judge everything by the stand- 
 ard of our Revolutionary fathers." 
 
 " But liberty is just as dear to a brown man or a 
 black man as it is to a white man. Liberty is the 
 only school in which any man can develop his man- 
 hood. If the Americans believed half what they 
 profess about the rights of man, they would promise 
 these Filipinos their independence, stop the war, 
 help them to set up their civil government as soon 
 as they could hold their elections under their Con- 
 stitution, and bid them Godspeed in their self-govern- 
 ment." 
 
 "Bosh ! We shall never do anything of the sort. 
 We are in the islands to stay, and they might as well 
 accept the fact. We will do the right thing by them 
 if they submit, but, if they won't submit, we shall have 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 219 
 
 to compel them. We won't stand any nonsense from 
 these niggers. We bought their country and paid for 
 it, and it is ours.' 1 
 
 " Perhaps that is so if the one you bought it of can 
 give you a clear title, or if you can take possession 'of 
 the goods. Remember what the scripture says : 
 * Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay 
 field to field, till there be no place, that they may be 
 placed alone in the midst of the earth.' My opinion 
 is that it will trouble you a great while to take posses- 
 sion." 
 
 " Hang your scripture. It wouldn't trouble us if 
 it weren't for those lying anti-imperialists in Boston. 
 They keep stirring up the Filipinos with nonsense 
 about independence." 
 
 " Doubtless the Filipinos are grateful for sympathy 
 wherever they can find it ; but I know something of 
 them, and they are going to fight for their independ- 
 ence as long as any of them are left alive, even if 
 the Boston anti-imperialists turn around and join the 
 jingoes. These men are made of the stuff which 
 never surrenders, but always fights, one way or an- 
 other. They never forget that they are men, as much 
 entitled to independence as the people of the United 
 States themselves are." 
 
 " They will soon find their mistake, and it is an 
 outrage for any man to hold out any hopes that they 
 will win, or to help them." 
 
 " The first question to settle is what is right. It is 
 not whether it would be better for them to submit and 
 
220 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 find out afterward whether they are right or not. 
 Any man who says that they ought to yield now and 
 trust to peaceful means to gain their independence 
 does not realize what the true American spirit means. 
 As an American, then, I say that it is for the Amer- 
 icans to make sure, first of all, that they are right. 
 They cannot afford to talk about putting down the 
 'rebellion,' as they call it, and settling the moral 
 question afterward. I hope the Filipinos will fight on 
 until they win their independence. They will get it 
 some day." 
 
 " Well, sir," ejaculated the trader, " you and I might 
 talk all day and never get any nearer together. The 
 government and all the military power of the United 
 States are on my side, and I am going to win. So I 
 wish you much joy in your discomfiture." 
 
 " Don't be too sure. The Filipinos, I tell you, will 
 fight on and will win. 
 
 ' For He that ruleth high and wise, 
 
 Nor pauseth in His plan, 
 Will take the sun out of the skies 
 Ere freedom out of man.' 
 
 You have got to reckon with the Almighty, and the 
 mills of the gods grind to powder." 
 
 "I'll run my chances on that with the army of 
 the United States behind my investment. Good-day, 
 sir." 
 
 " Good-day," answered Brown, "and remember what 
 I tell you." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 221 
 
 On their journey George and Faith busied them- 
 selves in studying Spanish and in discussing their 
 plans for the future. He had it all arranged that 
 she should make her first home in the mountain 
 retreat where the headquarters of the Filipino gov- 
 ernment had been established, where she would be 
 absolutely safe, where he could see her occasionally, 
 and where she might be of service if occasion de- 
 manded it. 
 
 But he did not realize the scope of her plans for 
 him and herself. He had been telling her of his pur- 
 pose to do everything in his power to keep up the 
 form of military resistance ; how he would promote 
 formal recognition of the republic on the part of the 
 people in every corner where they were not under the 
 compulsion of the American troops ; how they must 
 live by the arts of peace wherever these could be 
 established, where there was no danger that ruthless 
 and cruel American soldiers would destroy their 
 schools and public offices ; how the Filipino people 
 were to be constantly permeated with workers for the 
 patriotic cause ; how even the walls and pavements 
 of Manila, under the eyes of the American general, 
 would be alive with appeals for support of the patriots, 
 and how there was to be no end of the contest till it 
 ended in victory. 
 
 She heard him with enthusiasm and with a spirit 
 of complete co-operation. She questioned here and 
 there, grasping his plans, and showing a ready com- 
 prehension of them. Then she said : 
 
222 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 " George, you expect to see a great deal more fight 
 ing, don't you ? " 
 
 " Yes, Faith, though I am sorry to say it. I don't 
 see how these brave men can win their independence 
 until more of them have been sacrificed. It is their 
 fate." 
 
 " You have heard, haven't you, that some of the 
 Boer women fight in the field, and that they are 
 brave soldiers in arms, just as brave as the men, 
 and bear hardship as well ? " 
 
 " Yes, I have heard of it, and one cannot help ad- 
 miring them for it, too. That is one of the things 
 which makes me so sure that the Boers will win in 
 their patriotic war." 
 
 " You are very likely to be in peril of your life your- 
 self, perhaps many times ? " 
 
 " It must be so. I would be a coward not to 
 share the full risks of the Filipinos in their fight for 
 liberty. Perhaps, too, it is time for another American 
 to die on the side of the right." 
 
 " One other thing, George," said Faith. " You 
 expect me to stand by you in this struggle for free- 
 dom. You know that I came out here determined to 
 do my part." 
 
 " Of course, I understand that ; but what are you 
 coming to, Faith ? " 
 
 "Just this, George, that there are two things in 
 particular that I must learn to do as soon as I can." 
 
 " What are they ? " 
 
 "To wear man's clothes, and to shoot." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 223 
 
 " You are supremely loyal, my brave comrade in 
 arms ! but I hope it will never come to that for 
 you." 
 
 " Whether it does or not, and I am ready for it, 
 if need be, we will work and sacrifice in the sacred 
 cause of the national independence of the Filipinos 
 until we win, or until death doth us part." 
 
224 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 WOMEN AND CHILDREN PATRIOTS 
 
 GEORGE BROWN and his wife accomplished 
 their landing at Manila in safety, in spite of the 
 vigilance of the secret service of the United 
 States in trying to detain every suspicious person. 
 Nor was it long before Brown was once more in the 
 thick of the struggle to make headway against the 
 superior forces of the American invaders. 
 
 Faith was left in Manila, concealed among trusted 
 friends in a part of the city but little frequented by 
 white people, feeling perfectly safe there and not 
 yet believing that it was necessary for her to take 
 advantage of the secret retreat provided for her. To 
 a large number of Filipinos her sympathy and her rela- 
 tion to Brown were known, and she was as safe from 
 betrayal as if she had been a Filipino woman. Friendly 
 secret service was always at her command, and there 
 was no lack of communication with her husband. 
 Letters were carried by messengers whose pay was 
 her love for their cause and her husband's service for 
 Filipino nationality. 
 
 Longer acquaintance opened to her the doors of 
 homes of all classes, and she was admitted to an active 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 225 
 
 share in the struggles of the native women for their 
 country's independence. 
 
 " Senora Brown," one day said to her Senora 
 Adriano, the wife of one of the most influential 
 Filipinos, at whose house was being held a gathering 
 of women to prepare military hospital supplies for the 
 troops in the field, "we are indebted to your capable 
 hands more than we can express. Our men in the 
 swamps and mountains will enjoy heartfelt relief 
 because of your kindness." 
 
 The room was scattered profusely with supplies 
 which would be valuable in sudden emergencies such 
 as are inevitable in battle. Cloths for bandages, lint 
 for wounds, splints for broken bones, and other 
 necessaries were strewn thickly over tables and floor. 
 Mingled with these were articles of camp comfort, 
 and health-preservatives, such in general purpose as 
 were familiar to the women of Massachusetts at the 
 Commonwealth Building in Boston in the days of the 
 war with Spain. Amid these surroundings the women 
 talked and labored. 
 
 "I am glad to work for them," replied Faith to 
 the appreciative words of Senora Adriano, " because 
 it is my own countrymen who are so cruelly put- 
 ting them to all this terrible exposure, suffering, and 
 death." 
 
 "Truly it is terrible," spoke up Senora Alvarez, 
 " and you would realize it more if you knew how many 
 wives have been made widows, how many maidens 
 have lost their lovers, and how many children have 
 
226 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 been made orphans. Oh, it is too terrible to think 
 of!" 
 
 "She is almost broken by her sorrow," said Senora 
 Adriano under her breath, to Faith. " Husband and 
 sons are all gone, killed with great and needless cruelty 
 by the Americans. Her beautiful home, which stood 
 on the road to Caloocan, was burned over her head, 
 and she is reduced to poverty. You can see the 
 ruins standing there now, and they haunt her like a 
 ghost." 
 
 " I am very, very sorry for you, Senora Alvarez/' 
 said Faith tenderly, addressing the lady directly. 
 " Love for your country has cost you dear. I wonder 
 you hold out so well." 
 
 " Hold out ? What else can we do ? " And the 
 dark eyes of Senora Alvarez flashed forth her strong 
 patriotic spirit. " Do the treacherous Americans think 
 we are afraid to suffer and toil and weep and die for 
 our beloved country ? " 
 
 " You have done your full share," said Faith, work- 
 ing away steadily at the hospital package in her 
 hands. 
 
 " No one has done more," interposed Senora Mateo, 
 another of the patriotic company. 
 
 "Full share?" repeated the much-bereaved lady. 
 "My full share is done only when my strength is gone, 
 my heart's love to my country burned out in its 
 service, and my body in its grave with my husband." 
 
 The energy of the patriot woman's hands illustrated 
 the force of her spirit. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 227 
 
 " How brave and loyal the Filipino women are ! " 
 exclaimed Faith ardently. "The Spartans were no 
 braver." 
 
 " Some of them are silly fools," ejaculated Senorita 
 Adriano, daughter of the hostess, as she busily gath- 
 ered up a pile of the hospital supplies. " Some are 
 fools enough to lose their heads over American 
 soldiers. They pretend they have lost their hearts, 
 but I doubt it. It is their heads only." 
 
 " Do you know any such ? " questioned Faith. 
 
 " Yes," was the reply. " Many of the soldiers have 
 made matches with Filipino girls. I tell the young 
 women to look out ! Some of them are legally married, 
 to be sure, but what will they do when the soldiers' 
 periods of service are up and the men wish to return 
 to America ? Do the poor fools think these American 
 scamps will take Filipino women to the United States 
 as their brides? Now, -there is Macaria Lingat, 
 daughter of an old friend of my mother ! She has 
 taken a fancy to one of your countrymen. She says 
 he is noble, handsome, and well-disposed to the 
 Filipinos." 
 
 "Then," sharply flashed out a question from Senora 
 Alvarez, "why does he not fight on our side, like the 
 gallant husband of Senora Brown ? " 
 
 "Put the question to her yourself," replied the 
 senorita. " She will say he is too good to be shot for 
 the sake of Filipinos." 
 
 " Is any American soldier better than thousands and 
 thousands of brave Filipino boys whom they have shot 
 
228 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 in cold blood?" fiercely demanded Senora Alvarez. 
 " She is unworthy of her country, and he is unworthy 
 of any true Filipino woman." 
 
 Senora Mateo interrupted to ask the senorita to 
 bring more cords for the bundles they were preparing, 
 and the conversation turned further to the terrible 
 sufferings and losses of the native women. 
 
 While the workers were still busy, conversation 
 flagging in order that hands might fly faster and the 
 men in the field be better helped, Senorita Macaria 
 Lingat entered. She was one of the many attractive 
 Filipinas who caught the fancy of the American 
 soldiers who were free from the restraints of home. 
 Her impulsive nature did not realize the change in the 
 situation for the young Americans, and she foolishly 
 accepted a fanciful compliment as an expression of 
 true sentiment. She had a magnificent crown of 
 black hair, such as Filipinas not infrequently boast, 
 and her black eyes and lively features made her 
 attractive in any company. Though captured by the 
 American lieutenant, Charles Henderson, she believed 
 her heart was still true to her native land. 
 
 " Now, Senora Alvarez," spoke up Senorita Adriano, 
 " here is our beautiful sister, the American's captive. 
 Ask her your question." 
 
 " Macaria," curtly said Senora Alvarez. 
 
 " What is it, Senora ? " inquired Macaria. 
 
 "They say you love an American soldier ! " 
 
 "Yes, I do. And we are to be married next 
 week, really married, by the priest, too." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 229 
 
 " You think he will therefore treat you better than 
 many American soldiers are treating other Filipinas ? 
 You think yourself fortunate because he does not 
 refuse marriage and treat you like a plaything. Wait 
 and see what happens," and the widow whose own 
 sons had been slain cast a look of scorn upon her 
 infatuated young countrywoman. 
 
 "He is a very handsome and noble man, and he is 
 very fond of me," came the answer triumphantly, as if 
 she were more fortunate than her sisters perhaps 
 because of her good looks. 
 
 "Why does he not fight for us, like Sefior 
 Brown?" 
 
 " He is a true American," he says. " He cannot 
 be a traitor." 
 
 " Then can you be a traitor to your country, and so 
 be unworthy of him ? " 
 
 The girl hesitated. 
 
 " I had not thought of it that way," was her reply. 
 For a moment she was downcast. 
 
 " You ought to think of it that way," came the 
 severe response. 
 
 " Perhaps I can persuade him to become one of us, 
 if he really cares anything for me," hopefully said 
 Macaria. 
 
 " Poor fool ! " said Senorita Adriano, aside. " She 
 refuses to take warning by hundreds of cases right 
 before her eyes. Her lieutenant will throw her aside 
 when he has no use for her." 
 
 The peaceful session of the workers was here inter- 
 
2 3 o LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 rupted by the hurried entrance of another daughter of 
 Senora Adriano. 
 
 " Quick ! " she panted. " Put all these things out 
 of sight ! Then scatter ! The secret-service men are 
 coming ! " 
 
 Two secret-service men, having gained a suspicion 
 that help to Filipinos in the field was sent from 
 Senora Adriano' s house in Manila, and not realizing 
 that their character and activities were known to the 
 Filipinos much better than they dreamed, were coming 
 down the street to investigate. 
 
 Swiftly the many arms gathered up the supplies and 
 rushed them out of the house. A perfect hegira of 
 women from the rear door, into neighboring houses, 
 could have been seen, each woman well-laden, their 
 exit and passage screened by trees and vines. Obedient 
 to her hostess's judgment, Faith went with them, 
 knowing that it would be ill for her to become known 
 to the American detectives. 
 
 The senora was left alone. 
 
 Without pausing to observe the forms of politeness, 
 the two men walked roughly into the house. 
 
 " What are you doing here ? " demanded one of 
 them. " What means all this litter over the floor ? " 
 
 " Sewing, most esteemed sirs," was the gracious 
 and tactful reply of Senora Adriano. 
 
 " Let me see what you are sewing," was the rude 
 demand. 
 
 " Perhaps you would prefer to search for yourselves," 
 was the placid response. " Then you will be satisfied. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 231 
 
 You would not take the word of a Filipino woman and 
 would have to search anyway." 
 
 "All right! Tom, let's be about it," said the 
 detective. 
 
 Furniture was ransacked and upset. Curtains were 
 torn aside, mats were pulled up. Nooks and corners 
 were searched. 
 
 Some family sewing was found, but nothing more. 
 
 " Look here ! " finally exclaimed the spokesman. 
 " We believe you're crooked in here. You may be 
 too smart for us now, but if we ever catch you helping 
 your infernal niggers in the field we'll burn your house 
 over your head. Do you understand ? " 
 
 " The excellent gentleman has made it very clear in 
 his most courteous speech" was the unmoved reply 
 of the sefiora, who concealed her outraged feelings. 
 "We shall be most happy at any time to enjoy the 
 pleasure of another visit from such refined and 
 thoughtful company." 
 
 Finding nothing, the detectives moved further up 
 the street to repeat their tactics at another suspected 
 house, where they had the same lack of success. 
 
 As soon as the coast was clear and a return of the 
 women seemed to be safe, Sefiora Adriano called to 
 her daughter : 
 
 " Isabela, run and bring Senora Brown and Sefiora 
 Alvarez here again. The others had better not return 
 to-day." 
 
 In a few moments all three were together. At the 
 request of Faith the Filipino widow told more of her 
 
232 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 story, of the ruthless burning of her home, of the 
 loss of her husband and sons while fighting bravely 
 for national independence, and of the terrible destruc- 
 tion of life and property wrought by the American 
 troops, whose progress across the country could be 
 traced by the clouds of smoke from the burning homes 
 of the Filipinos, and in whose path were left thousands 
 of Filipino dead who had dared to resist that merciless 
 advance. 
 
 " Oh ! the slaughter was dreadful/' exclaimed the 
 bereaved woman. " They had no mercy. They killed 
 almost every one they could reach. Would that I 
 were alone in my loss, but hundreds thousands 
 of our women have lost their all. And our men were 
 fighting only for their rights! Moreover, the same 
 deeds are going on still. Every day sees them. What 
 I have read that your great President, Mr. McKinley, 
 said of the acts of the Spanish in Cuba, that same 
 thing the future historian will say of this American 
 /aggression in these fair islands of ours ! In a message 
 to Congress your Mr. McKinley said : ' It was not civil- 
 ized warfare ; it was extermination ; the only peace it 
 could beget was that of the wilderness and the grave/ 
 Yes, and by and by, Senora Brown, your America will 
 call our desolation Peace! There will be no more 
 Filipinos to kill ! Do you really suppose the just God 
 in heaven, whom we pray to, will permit all this Amer- 
 ican wickedness to triumph ? " 
 
 "Brave and Christian people have been conquered 
 and destroyed before now, by others pretending to be 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 233 
 
 Christians. We cannot fathom human inconsistency 
 and willfulness and selfishness," said Faith. "But 
 pray let us turn from these thoughts to practical work 
 for your cause ! Are your women working all over 
 Luzon?" 
 
 Senora Adriano poured out all the information she 
 could, and it showed a lack of organization among the 
 Filipino women, though there was plenty of patriotic 
 work. 
 
 " Why can you not bring all the women workers in 
 touch with each other, all through the islands, not in 
 Luzon alone ? " asked Faith. 
 
 "It would be a great task," replied Senora 
 Adriano. 
 
 " But we could do it," cried Senora Alvarez, quickly 
 embracing Faith's comprehensive idea. "We could 
 do it." 
 
 Then eagerly they sat and planned. They saw how, 
 by means of women and men acquaintances, they could 
 proceed, and how organizers could be sent out, not 
 only to all the centers of population in Luzon, but to 
 the Visayan Islands also, to Samar, to Masbate, 
 to Panay, to Negros, to Cebu, to Leyte, and to Bohol. 
 In all of these places the women might be organized 
 into hospital and relief corps to sustain the men in 
 arms. 
 
 A meeting of many friends was arranged for the 
 next day, and the whole matter was gone over. When 
 their council of war was ended the brave workers felt 
 that they had accomplished much. 
 
234 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 "Now, Senora Brown," said the hostess, after the 
 meeting had come to its decision, "you have worked 
 hard with us these two days, as you have done fre- 
 quently before. Take a rest for an hour or two. Go 
 with us to the children's festival at the church this 
 afternoon. Hundreds of women and children will be 
 there. Dressed in our costume and surrounded by 
 our people you will be safe. Perhaps you could darken 
 your face a little with some cosmetic." 
 
 " It will be a great pleasure to go," was Faith's 
 reply. 
 
 The latter part of the day was accordingly devoted 
 to the festival. Faith noted many things with her keen, 
 observing eyes. She saw the sadness of mothers 
 temporarily cheered by the laughter of the children. 
 She noted the neatness and courtesy of the juvenile 
 Filipinos. She realized that there was a genuine sense 
 of delicacy and refinement, a spirit of peace and good 
 will, among the people ; and she thought : 
 
 " If we cannot all be Anglo-Saxons and do things 
 in the big, strong, coarse, selfish Anglo-Saxon way, yet 
 some of us, children of the heavenly Father just the 
 same, can be unselfish, courteous, helpful, and as 
 Christlike in our own way as the best Americans can 
 be in theirs. These people here could keep the peace 
 among themselves and grow in their own way in 
 civilization and Christianity, even if they did not do 
 it in the white man's way. It does not follow that 
 other ways are bad because they are not American 
 ways." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 235 
 
 But her thoughts were interrupted by an invitation 
 from Senora Adriano : 
 
 " Come, Senora Brown ; let us pass farther up and 
 hear the children sing one of their new patriotic 
 songs." 
 
 Faith followed. The little children, with shrill 
 voices, but strongly and expressively, had just begun 
 to sing the patriotic words of which the following may 
 pass for a translation : 
 
 " We love our fair mountains and rivers ; 
 We love our bright isles of the sea ; 
 We love our dear blood- bought Republic, 
 The home of the brave and the free ! 
 
 ff We sing of our fathers and brothers 
 Our heroes who died for our sake ; 
 We sing of our suffering mothers, 
 
 Whose heart-strings are ready to break. 
 
 " When foemen oppress and despoil us 
 
 We hear what our great martyr saith : 
 To die for our flag and our country ; 
 Give liberty to us or death ! 
 
 " Then rouse ye, all true Filipinos ! 
 
 Make tyrants acknowledge your worth. 
 Stand firm for complete independence 
 A nation 'mid nations of earth." 
 
 " Just the same as children in the United States ! " 
 exclaimed Faith, seriously enthusiastic, as the song 
 was ended. " How I have heard them sing ' America ' 
 
236 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 there, with just the same pride of country as these 
 children ! " 
 
 " You saw that it was real patriotic feeling," said 
 Senora Adriano. "Do you believe that a just God 
 would grant it to American children to sing their 
 patriotism, and deny it to Filipino children ? Is the 
 sentiment, so inspiring and praiseworthy in American 
 children, worthy of death in Filipino children ? Yet 
 your Philippine Commission makes it treason to sing 
 these words, and every child who sang is worthy of 
 death, by the American standard.' 1 
 
 "The American position is horrible, utterly hor- 
 rible ! " exclaimed Faith. " It is utterly indefensible 
 before God or man. I have heard enough. Let me 
 go back to your home and help you work all the more 
 earnestly for Filipino rights.'* 
 
 " Wait yet a moment, Senora Brown, and listen ! " 
 said Senora Adriano. "The children are about to 
 sing again." 
 
 The voices rose in a sweet, exultant cadence, and 
 Faith, at once catching the words, exclaimed : " Why ! 
 it is one of Faber's famous hymns. Who can have 
 translated for these Filipino children the words which 
 have inspired so many English hearts ? I think,'* she 
 whispered, a moment later, as the lines rang out with 
 a wierd, fiery pathos that was thrilling in its incisive- 
 ness, the refrain rising and falling like a nation's great, 
 bitter wail struck through with hope and never-failing 
 courage, " I think the children as they sing must 
 have their own slain earthly fathers and brothers in 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 237 
 
 mind more than the fathers of their religious faith ! 
 Just hear the pathetic and terrible earnestness of their 
 young voices ! " 
 
 The words which the children sang were these : 
 
 " Faith of our fathers, living still 
 In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword ; 
 Oh, how our hearts beat high with joy 
 Whene'er we hear that glorious word ! 
 Faith of our fathers, holy faith ! 
 We will be true to thee till death. 
 
 " Our fathers, slaughtered in their prime, 
 Were still in heart and conscience free ; 
 How sweet would be their children's fate 
 If they, like them, could die for thee ! 
 Faith of our fathers, holy faith ! 
 We will be true to thee till death. 
 
 < Faith of our fathers ! we will love 
 Both friend and foe in all our strife ; 
 And preach thee too, as love knows how, 
 By kindly words and virtuous life. 
 Faith of our fathers, holy faith ! 
 We will be true to thee till death." 
 
 Sefiora Adrian o sat like a statue, her face stern, 
 immobile ; but Faith was touched to tears. She could 
 not speak for weeping. Touching the arm of her 
 companion, she drew her out and they left the festival ; 
 but the object-lesson was one which was a memory 
 and an inspiration to Faith for many weeks. 
 
23 8 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 AMERICAN METHODS OF PERSUASION 
 
 rOR months after the incidents last recorded, the 
 women in Manila, faithful to the Filipino cause, 
 and still making the house of Senora Adriano 
 their meeting-place, continued their patriotic labors. 
 The proposed organization through the islands had 
 been made effective to some extent, and it was one of 
 the many strong influences which were surmounting 
 all divisions of provinces and dialects and fusing Bicol, 
 Ilocano, Tagalog, Visayan, and every other distinction, 
 with the exception of the few Macabebes who adhered 
 to the Americans, into one solid Filipino nationality. 
 
 Senorita Macaria Lingat, long since legally wedded 
 to her American lieutenant, was viewed with distrust 
 by Senora Adriano, who recognized in her a possible 
 source of danger. At the same time, she realized 
 that any evil consequences which might arise would 
 come rather from the girl's weakness than from any 
 intentional hostility on her part. 
 
 At length a suspicious incident one day led Senora 
 Adriano to take immediate action to learn if Faith's 
 presence had been communicated to the Americans. 
 And she was none too soon. Her husband and 
 older son being on the field of war, she had only 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 239 
 
 her younger boys to rely upon. Accordingly they 
 were now pressed into service. 
 
 " To-night, my little men," she said to Victor and 
 Bernardino, who were not yet old enough to bear 
 arms, " I want you to go out and watch the American 
 detectives, and see where they go. Listen, if you 
 can, to what they have to say. And keep an eye out 
 for any squads of soldiers. Get other boys to help 
 you, if you need them. You, Victor, may go over to 
 the south side of the Pasig River, around the old 
 government building. Go by the American head- 
 quarters, watch the gates in the old walls, and return 
 along the river-front. You, Bernardino, go through 
 the Escolta, keeping sharp watch ; look in at the 
 theaters, the Zorilla and the Libertad ; then hang 
 about the Hotel d'Oriente. Pick up all the American 
 talk you can, but note particularly if you hear a 
 word about Senora Brown, for I have learned that 
 that foolish Senora Henderson has not kept her own 
 counsel ! " 
 
 " Why, this will be great fun ! " cried Victor. 
 "We shall be the Filipino secret-service men, and 
 watch the watchers." 
 
 " But you must make it very serious fun," said the 
 mother, "for the safety of our good friend Senora 
 Brown may depend on your faithfulness and success.*' 
 
 " I'll be back before midnight," said Victor. 
 
 " I'll be back when I have something to tell," was 
 the response of the more practical and thorough- 
 going Bernardino. 
 
2 4 o LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 They had been gone, however, only a few minutes 
 when a young Filipino announced himself at the door 
 of Senora Adriano. 
 
 " Say that it is Pedro Nigdan," he said, " with a 
 very important message for Senora Adriano, which I 
 must deliver in person/' 
 
 He was admitted, and Senora Adriano was called. 
 As soon as they were alone, he said : 
 
 " I am sent by Tomaso Reyes, the servant of 
 the American colonel who has headquarters in the 
 cathedral three streets away. My friend has over- 
 heard important information. The colonel has been 
 told, by Lieutenant Charles Henderson of his regiment, 
 that an American woman, one Senora Brown, is work- 
 ing with the Filipino women, and that they are accus- 
 tomed to meet in your house.'* 
 
 " How did Lieutenant Henderson know that ! " 
 was the anxious exclamation of the suspected woman, 
 though she already guessed the answer. 
 
 " He was told by Senora Henderson, his Filipino 
 wife, who says she has often met Senora Brown at 
 the house of Senora Adriano." 
 
 The self-reliant woman assumed composure as she 
 rejoined: "That is no more than I expected from 
 this foolish creature." 
 
 Pedro Nigdan added : " The colonel said that 
 Senora Brown must be arrested. So it is for you to 
 help her to escape." 
 
 " I thank you and Senor Tomaso Reyes sincerely 
 for this service to Senora Brown and to myself," 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 241 
 
 was the warm reply, " and we will profit by it at once. 
 Wait here a moment.'* 
 
 She stepped to the door of an inner room and 
 called : " Isabela, we need you here." 
 
 Immediately the daughter came running in, and 
 her mother said to her : 
 
 " Senora Brown is in imminent danger of arrest. 
 Do you and our good friend Nigdan here escort her 
 for to-night to the house of Senora Mateo, and early 
 to-morrow we will provide for her further. Prepare." 
 
 Then the energetic senora ran to the room of her 
 American guest, and told her of the bad news, giving 
 her plan for the escape from the threatened arrest. 
 Faith naturally realized that instant removal from 
 her present quarters was the first necessity. 
 
 " I will be ready at once," she said. 
 
 Leaving much of her clothing, and all of her work 
 and hospital materials, she presented herself speedily 
 to the others. The trio at once went out quietly 
 by the rear door. Through the darkened and 
 deserted streets they hastened to the house of Senora 
 Mateo, in the Santa Cruz district of the city. 
 
 A warm welcome was given to Faith and her 
 escort, made all the warmer when the cause of her 
 sudden coming became known. Then Isabela Adri- 
 ano and Pedro Nigdan departed to return to the 
 Adriano home. 
 
 Bernardino Adriano had looked in at the theaters, 
 recognizing occasionally a masculine friend in the 
 
242 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 corridors, or bowing to some young Filipina, half- 
 concealed under the broad brim of her over-shadowing 
 hat, but had espied nothing to reward his suspicions. 
 Afterward he went to the Hotel d'Oriente, and there, 
 as he was lounging, with senses alert, in the shad- 
 ows, he overheard a few words from two Americans 
 very near him, who were conversing in low tones 
 and who did not suspect that they were not entirely 
 alone. 
 
 "We will start in ten minutes," said one. "We 
 have the wristlets, and we will soon see if this woman 
 traitor will escape us." 
 
 That was enough for Bernardino. The words he 
 had heard could refer to no other woman than Senora 
 Brown. Off he ran to .inform his mother and to help 
 save their guest. 
 
 Panting for breath, he told his story. 
 
 " We know about it already ! " his mother replied, 
 " but I did not think they would be on us quite so 
 soon. You had better run off now. I will stay and 
 meet them." 
 
 Bernardino disappeared. His discovery proved en- 
 tirely correct, for a few minutes later the door of the 
 Adriano home was thrown open unannounced, and the 
 two detectives of the previous experience in the same 
 house entered. 
 
 " You invited us to come again," was the sarcastic 
 remark of the leader, " and we have accepted your 
 invitation. Now bring out your American woman, 
 your ' Senora Brown.' We want her." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 243 
 
 "Seiiors," was the placid reply, "you seem to 
 remember a part of what I said to you before. Please 
 remember some more. Please remember that I 
 observed then that you would not take the word of a 
 Filipina, and that you must search the house your- 
 selves. You must do the same now; but let me 
 inform you that, unless you show more regard for this 
 property than you did before, I shall not be able to 
 regard you as perfect gentlemen." 
 
 "We are greatly flattered/' replied the detective, 
 reciprocating her sarcasm, " to be placed so high in the 
 Beau Brummel stage of progress, and we will show 
 this old rubbish of yours the most courteous and dis- 
 tinguished consideration. Tom, we'll make a thor- 
 ough job of it. You keep watch of the staircase and 
 the door, so that our bird can't fly away." 
 
 A thorough search it was, and the furniture fared 
 badly. But the bird was not found. 
 
 "If the gentlemen had asked me," said Senora 
 Adriano, as the baffled detectives stood in their impa- 
 tient wrath ready to go, " I could have told them that 
 no white woman is in my house." 
 
 " We'll have something out of you yet," was the 
 savage reply. 
 
 Just then Isabela Adriano and Pedro Nigdan came 
 in. 
 
 " Here, you nigger ! " cried the spokesman of the 
 detectives, with his professional shrewdness jumping to 
 a conclusion. " Have you run off Senora Brown ? " 
 
 The quick look which the poor fellow cast toward 
 
244 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Senora Adriano was not lost on the detective. He 
 felt sure he was on the right track. 
 
 " Tom, put the wristlets on him/' he said, " and I'll 
 take the girl along. We'll get the truth out of them 
 if it takes all the water there is in the Pasig River and 
 in the lake besides ! " 
 
 The two victims were hurried away, and distress 
 settled upon the Adriano house. Victor returned 
 late, with observations upon American carousals, but 
 nothing of larger importance. Both the brothers 
 were dispatched to patrol the American quarters all 
 night, and to learn, if possible, where the prisoners 
 were confined and whether any word could be had 
 with them. 
 
 Following the mother's sleepless night came the 
 dreaded morning. By persistent watch and search, 
 and the following of certain small clues, the boys had 
 discovered the buildings to which the detectives had 
 carried Isabela and Nigdan. Senora Adriano went 
 to attempt to see her daughter, but was refused ad- 
 mission. 
 
 The two prisoners were confronted at an early hour 
 by the detectives and an American officer, and were 
 commanded to tell what they had done with the white 
 woman who had been at the house of Senora Adriano. 
 Both stubbornly refused to tell. 
 
 " I see that we shall have to try some gentle per- 
 suasion," remarked the officer, and he ordered that 
 some soldiers should be summoned. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 245 
 
 Under his direction a most horrible deed was then 
 committed upon the helpless Isabela. The woman 
 who reads these pages if she has still a belief in 
 the gallantry of all soldiers and in the humanity of all 
 men, and if she has still a modest and humane corner 
 in her heart would perhaps best skip a few leaves at 
 this point. The main incident related here is fact, 
 and must go on record though it be written with shame 
 that it is truth. 
 
 On the premises where the victims had been con- 
 fined over night was an abandoned well, used before 
 the city water-supply was put in, and not yet filled up. 
 Tearing the girl's garments ruthlessly from her body 
 till she stood trembling in entire nakedness before their 
 pitiless gaze, the American soldiers threw the unhappy 
 girl to the ground, tied her ankles together, attached 
 a long rope to the thongs, and then raised her to the 
 brink to lower her, head downward, into the well. 
 
 Unstrung by the terror of the long, lonely night 
 which she had passed in darkness, and frightened 
 beyond expression by the present brutality, she 
 screamed and exerted her utmost strength to save 
 herself from what she expected to be immediate death. 
 But she was powerless. Down, down, into the dark, 
 ill-smelling well she was lowered, head-first, till she 
 was just above the water. 
 
 " Will you tell us ? " demanded the soldiers from 
 above. 
 
 But she had ceased to scream or to struggle. 
 
 " Draw up the nigger-wench ! " was the harsh order. 
 
246 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Up she was slowly drawn, conscious, but in great 
 distress. 
 
 "Tell us what you did with the white woman. 
 Where is she ? " 
 
 But Isabela Adriano, worthy of her brave mother 
 at home and of her patriotic father and brother on the 
 field of war, still refused to answer. 
 
 " Let her down again ! " was the angry command. 
 
 Down again she went, head-first as before, the rope 
 cutting into her tender ankles and the blood rushing 
 to her head until it seemed as if the arteries would 
 burst. But she did not speak. 
 
 " Let her hang there a while ! " was the heartless 
 command of the chief inquisitor. 
 
 For ten minutes she did hang there, the tension 
 upon her endurance becoming extreme, the pain from 
 the ropes becoming intolerable, the soldiers above 
 standing grim and determined, " obeying orders/' Not 
 one of them made any open sign of dissent : she was 
 only a "nigger." 
 
 Then came the command once more : " Pull her up 
 again." 
 
 When she lay on the ground, rapidly weakening in 
 physical strength, the question was once more put : 
 
 " Where did you take the white woman ? " 
 
 And still she did not answer. 
 
 " Put her down again, and this time her head goes 
 under water, not to come up again for an hour ! Now, 
 blast you, tell us ! " 
 
 The exhausted and broken girl could endure no 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 247 
 
 more. Torture had broken her will, and she replied 
 faintly : 
 
 "To Senora Mateo's." 
 
 The men threw her clothing at her. Hurriedly, 
 with what strength remained, she dragged the gar- 
 ments over her. 
 
 " I'll bet she lies ! " cried one of the soldiers. 
 
 " Bring on the other nigger," was the command. 
 "If he tells the same, it's the truth. If he don't, 
 we'll find out from them somehow." 
 
 Held by two strong soldiers Pedro Nigdan was 
 brought up. 
 
 " Where did you put the white woman ? " was the 
 fierce demand." 
 
 No answer. 
 
 "Throw him down," came the sharp order. 
 
 Down he went. 
 
 " Bring a bucket of water. Hold his arms and legs 
 down. Now pry his jaws open. That's it ! Keep 
 the stick in and hold his mouth open. Pour in the 
 water." 
 
 At once a soldier turned water from the bucket into 
 the open mouth of the helpless Filipino. Compelled 
 to swallow to prevent himself from strangling, he swal- 
 lowed only to make space for more and still more 
 water, with the bucket still tilted at his lips and con- 
 tinuing to pour until his stomach became frightfully 
 distended, his head-passages filled, and his body could 
 be made to hold no more. 
 
 " Stand on him ! " 
 
248 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 A soldier stepped with his full weight upon the 
 prostrate form, making the water gush from the 
 victim's nose and mouth, and evidently causing him 
 the most intense distress. 
 
 But the Filipino made no sign of yielding, nor 
 indicated any disposition to plead for mercy. 
 
 " Lift him up and drain him out ! " was the brutal 
 order. 
 
 The man's feet were lifted so that his head hung 
 down, the position facilitating the outflow of the water. 
 When they dropped him, and Nigdan lay faint and 
 trembling on the ground, the question once more 
 came: 
 
 " Where did you put the white woman ? " 
 
 Still no answer. The man would not open his 
 mouth. 
 
 The soldiers looked at the well, but concluded to 
 try the bucket again. 
 
 "Give him another drink/' was the jovial com- 
 mand, " and put salt in the water ! " 
 
 Once more the wretched man was put to the 
 torture. The salt, irritating the inner passages of 
 head and throat and the inner surface of the stomach, 
 caused excruciating pain in addition to the distension 
 by the water. He bore it heroically ; but finally 
 the question being again and again repeated during 
 the lengthy continuance of the torture, whether he 
 would tell where he had taken the white woman he 
 indicated that he would. Flesh and blood could not 
 stand forever. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 249 
 
 He was released, and roughly restored, as far as 
 possible. Then the question was repeated with a 
 threat : 
 
 " If you give us a crooked steer, we'll make it worse 
 for you yet ; and we won't let you go until we find 
 out. Where did you take her ? " 
 
 "To Senora Mateo's," was the almost voiceless 
 reply. 
 
 " Fixed 'em both that time, didn't we ! " exclaimed 
 one of the detectives. " Now let's see if this Ameri- 
 can woman traitor will slip out of our hands again ! " 
 
 The soldiers reconfined their two Filipino victims, 
 and the detectives arranged for their visit to Senora 
 Mateo's house, the arrest to be made at such hour as 
 they should deem best suited to secrecy, inasmuch as 
 they wished no mob around. 
 
 Meanwhile, with no suspicion of these events, 
 George Brown had been planning for a few days' 
 furlough from the Filipino camp. His furlough hap- 
 pened at this particular juncture, and at the very hour 
 when Faith fled from Senora Adriano's to Senora 
 Mateo's he was already nearing Manila. 
 
250 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 A LITTLE WIT CHANGES TRAGEDY INTO COMEDY 
 
 " \ W 7E will be in Manila by midnight," said 
 
 V\/ George Brown to the trusty Filipino who, 
 in connection with his other duties in helping 
 maintain communication between the patriots in the 
 city and those in the field, had served him for months 
 in carrying messages to Faith and in bringing them 
 from her. Brown had thought the Filipino cause 
 would permit a few days' rest and change on his part, 
 and he was humanly anxious to see Faith and learn 
 how she continued to enjoy her residence among the 
 Filipino women. 
 
 Entering the city protected by the darkness, Brown 
 was escorted by his friend to the Adriano residence, 
 reaching it soon after the distressing arrest of Isabela 
 and Nigdan. 
 
 Senora Adriano received him with all the friendli- 
 ness she felt, but her welcome was overshadowed by 
 her own suffering mental condition. Hastily she told 
 Brown of the arrest of Isabela and Pedro Nigdan, 
 and of the absence of her little sons in order to be of 
 any possible service to them, and to bring word of 
 them to the mother. 
 
 "You can do nothing to help/' she said positively 
 
LOYAL, TRAITORS 251 
 
 to him, as he seemed to be balancing in his mind 
 whether any interference by himself was in any way 
 practicable. " You must look out for yourself and 
 Senora Brown. That is the most you can do. And 
 we must look out for ourselves." 
 
 Unwillingly, Brown saw that she was right. Faith 
 might be exposed at any moment was perhaps even 
 then exposed in consequence of pressure by the 
 Americans upon their two prisoners. Her danger 
 was great, and he must go to her. 
 
 Bidding good-night to Senora Adrian o, he and his 
 escort took their way to the house of Senora Mateo 
 in the Santa Cruz district. 
 
 Faith naturally was glad beyond words to see him. 
 Her trust in an escape from the great peril grew now 
 into complete confidence, and they planned together 
 what would be best to do. 
 
 "No one will be here now before morning," said 
 Senora Mateo, as they were all holding a council over 
 their course for the next few hours. " It would be 
 too late for questioning and for further work to-night, 
 by the time the detectives reached their quarters with 
 the prisoners." 
 
 " I will watch all night, in any event," said Brown. 
 " You and Faith must get your rest, for you will need 
 all your strength to-morrow." 
 
 Soon, therefore, the two women retired, while Brown 
 kept his vigil, sleeping on a sofa for an hour toward 
 morning, when the lapse of time without incident 
 proved that Senora Mateo's judgment had been correct 
 
252 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 regarding the course of procedure by the Ameri- 
 cans. 
 
 After the torture described in the preceding chap- 
 ter, the question had been raised by the detectives and 
 soldiers whether they ought not to proceed at once to 
 the house of Senora Mateo, to arrest Faith. 
 
 "No," said the officer in charge. "If you go by 
 daylight, you will have half the city at your heels. 
 Better take her when few or none will know of it. 
 Let the first news of the arrest be that we have 
 got her safe and sure. That's the way to do the 
 business." 
 
 There was some grumbling that she might during 
 the day escape. 
 
 " We will stop that. Set a watch on all sides of 
 the block," was his direction to the chief of the 
 detectives. 
 
 The watch was accordingly placed, which fact 
 Senora Mateo soon discovered. 
 
 "The house is under surveillance," said the hostess 
 to her American guests, about the middle of the 
 forenoon. She had recognized the well-known fig- 
 ures of the detectives, accompanied by two soldiers, 
 one couple being on each side of the block. " They 
 evidently do not intend to search the house directly." 
 
 " They are waiting till night, so that they will not 
 raise a riot," conjectured Brown. 
 
 "Ought not Senora Brown to try to get out of 
 this trap in some way ? " anxiously inquired Senora 
 Mateo. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 253 
 
 " If she tries to cross the street, on either side," 
 replied Brown, " she is liable to discovery, even if she 
 should attempt a disguise, for her stature, in contrast 
 to Filipino women, would betray her in broad daylight. 
 Besides, she would be away from me. I feel that she 
 will be safer under my protection. I believe we can 
 do something for ourselves." 
 
 " I shall stay with you," said Faith firmly. " If our 
 evil time has come now, we ought to be together." 
 
 Brown set his wits to work, and forecast the prob- 
 able course of events as best he could. He did not 
 explain his plans, but he gave some directions which 
 were rather puzzling to his worthy hostess, though she 
 followed his suggestions exactly. 
 
 " Sefiora Mateo," he said, " I wish you would go out 
 and see some of our friends. You can get out, and 
 they can get in. So long as it is only Filipinos who 
 are stirring there will be no interference. It is the 
 white woman who is wanted. Do not have the 
 friends come directly to your door. Tell them to 
 enter at the further end of the block, passing through 
 the intervening premises until they can come in here 
 unperceived. We must try to have a dozen men here 
 by nightfall." 
 
 During the day, while they waited, conversation 
 turned on many topics of interest to Filipino welfare. 
 One of the things which Faith said to her husband 
 was this : 
 
 "What puzzles and grieves me much is that the 
 
254 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 people of the United States, as a whole, are so utterly 
 indifferent to the grievous wrongs and outrages being 
 committed here month after month by their represent- 
 atives. The American people are a Christian nation. 
 It cannot be that they are wholly heartless, yet their 
 continued complete indifference seems to imply that 
 they are. One would suppose that in every city, 
 town, and village in the States indignation meetings 
 would be held and the demand made that the Admin- 
 istration change its attitude. The American national 
 torpor in this matter is an unsolvable mystery to 
 me." 
 
 " Do the people as a whole know much of the real 
 state of things here ? " suggested Brown. 
 
 " I am sure they know a great deal," said Faith. 
 "At any rate, they know more than they act upon. 
 Are there not the newspapers? And not only are 
 there many press correspondents in Manila, but every 
 expedition by the troops is accompanied by some of 
 them every attack and slaughter and torture is wit- 
 nessed by them. Do they not write up these things ? " 
 
 " Yes, they write them up," said Brown, "and they 
 try to forward them to their newspapers ; but the 
 saddest features of all this barbarous aggression have 
 never reached the American public. The system of 
 censorship conducted here in Manila, in accordance 
 with the dictates of the Administration at Washington 
 to the commanding officers, effectually bars the pub- 
 lication of the horrors." 
 
 " But," replied Faith, " there was sufficient known, 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 255 
 
 even long before I left Boston, to warn America of its 
 mammoth sin, though truly not a hundredth part was 
 told of the worst, such as I have learned with my own 
 ears and seen with my own eyes since I arrived here. 
 But if they are hampered in sending their reports, why 
 do not the press correspondents protest ? " 
 
 "They have done so," answered Brown, "and 
 restraints on their messages have in consequence been 
 lessened to some extent, though not materially." 
 
 Referring to a memorandum-book which he took 
 from his pocket, Brown continued : 
 
 "On the 1 7th of July, 1899, ^ e sta ff correspond- 
 ents of American newspapers stationed in Manila 
 stated unitedly in public protest : ' The censorship has 
 compelled us to participate in this misrepresentation 
 by excising or altering uncontroverted statements of 
 fact, on the plea, as General Otis stated, that "they 
 would alarm the people at home," or "have the people 
 of the United States by the ears." ' " 
 
 " I am relieved, to some extent, by the fact of that 
 protest," said Faith. " It accounts for much of the 
 prevalent American ignorance of the wrongs here. 
 At the same time it shows all the more the wickedness 
 and falsity of those in authority! They go utterly 
 beyond their prerogatives in a republic. If the people 
 are kept in ignorance of the doings of their elected 
 servants, the servants and not the people are the 
 sovereigns. There are hosts of people in the United 
 States, especially in the dominant political party, who 
 are misled by their leaders into the belief that there 
 
256 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 is no real war here at all only a civilizing and 
 ameliorating influence." 
 
 "Well/' replied Brown with a pained smile, and 
 referring again to his memorandum-book, "that there 
 is no war here is the claim also of the American army 
 officers right here in Manila. I have received, in a 
 letter from my father, this clipping from The Chicago 
 Record of August 10, 1900, a statement made by 
 its correspondent in Manila under date of April 20. 
 My father asks me if such a statement can really be a 
 statement of fact." 
 
 " Please read it," said Faith. 
 
 What Brown read was this : 
 
 " In the last week a correspondent took a dispatch 
 to the censor for approval. The first sentence stated 
 that the preceding week had been the bloodiest since 
 the war began. 
 
 "The censor mildly objected to the word 'war/ 
 'There's no war out here,' he said. 
 
 " ' Well, what do you call it when 300 natives are 
 killed in three engagements, which is what happened 
 this last week ? ' asked the correspondent. 
 
 " < That's not war.' 
 
 " Well, what is it, then ? ' persisted the corre- 
 spondent. 
 
 " 'That's only murder.' " 
 
 Neither Faith nor Brown added any word when the 
 reading ceased, but in the eyes of Faith there was a 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 257 
 
 betraying moisture which showed the depth of her 
 grieved indignation that men could speak apparently 
 so lightly of hellish acts, and add to their iniquity by 
 concealing it. 
 
 "Like the Filipinos, dear," Brown said after a 
 moment's admiring observation, lover-like, of her deep 
 longing for a world's righteousness, " like the Fili- 
 pinos themselves, all really loyal Americans must be 
 strong to bear this injustice for the time being, though 
 at the same time we must prove ourselves heroic to 
 resist." Then passing to their own current dangerous 
 position, he added cheerfully : " And if we ourselves 
 are to get out of Manila to-night without experiencing 
 either ' war ' or ' murder/ we shall have to be wary and 
 inventive ! " 
 
 Later in the day, when one of the men who had 
 been invited had come in to see what was wanted, 
 Brown said to him : 
 
 "Sefior Ortiz, I wish you would engage, for the 
 latter part of the evening, at least four good horses 
 and carts, to be ready for you when you ask for 
 them/ 1 
 
 " Horses and carts ? " was the astonished reply. 
 
 " Yes, horses and carts. That is all you need say 
 at present." 
 
 To Senora Mateo, who had been quite successful 
 in securing the proffer of service from the men on 
 whom she had called at Brown's request, he said : 
 
 " It would be well to have plenty of cords ready, 
 
258 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 say about a foot and a half or two feet long ; a good 
 pile of them." 
 
 This preparation was also made, without the asking 
 of questions. 
 
 Slowly the afternoon wore away for the besieged 
 occupants of Senora Mateo's beautiful home. The 
 senora had brought word home with her of the 
 horrors of the morning's torture to which Isabela 
 Adriano and Pedro Nigdan had been put, and the 
 story did not tend to decrease Faith's indignation at 
 the entire war nor Brown's determination to carry out 
 his present plans for Faith's escape. 
 
 In the latter part of the day the men who had been 
 invited dropped in at intervals, contriving to enter the 
 block without arousing the suspicion of the watchers. 
 
 About dusk Brown indicated something of his 
 plans : 
 
 " They will not be likely to send more than a dozen 
 men. In fact, I believe they will not send half that 
 number, for they have no reason to believe that they 
 have anything more to do than take a woman through 
 the streets after dark. But we can make a good fight 
 if they bring a dozen. Faith, you once said something 
 about learning to shoot. Perhaps to-night you will 
 have a chance to begin to practice, though I don't 
 intend that you shall." 
 
 When forms and outlines began to appear shadowy 
 in the streets, and artificial light took the place of 
 daylight, the watchers within noted the next movement 
 on the part of the watchers without. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 259 
 
 "It is better than I feared," exclaimed Brown, who 
 had been observing them. " There are still but the 
 four of them. See, they have been conferring, and 
 now they are dividing again to prevent your escape. 
 Two are coming to the front door, and two are going 
 around to the rear in order to cut off any retreat that 
 way. This is going to be so easy there will be no fun 
 in it. If they had brought a dozen I would not have 
 let them in more than two at a time without a contest ; 
 but we can manage these four all right. Let them 
 come on." 
 
 No lights had been lit inside the house, and only 
 as the street lamps sent a dim glimmer was any- 
 thing to be seen. With their usual brusqueness the 
 Americans, each detective having a soldier with him, 
 opened the doors and entered, those at the front 
 door being a moment or two in advance of those at 
 the rear. 
 
 " Light up, old woman ! " was the polite demand. 
 " We want your white woman. Bring her out. We 
 know she is here." 
 
 " Yes, she is here," answered Brown, very quietly. 
 " Now, sefiors, do as I instructed you." 
 
 Instantly half a dozen Filipinos were at the backs 
 and sides of the two men who were already in. 
 
 " If you say a word, I'll blow your brains out," 
 remarked Brown, putting his revolver close to the 
 head of the soldier. 
 
 Discretion was the better part of valor for the 
 would-be captors. They saw that, for the present, 
 
260 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 they must yield, and they retained their tongues and 
 therefore their brains. They were quickly bound hand 
 and foot by the cords which had been prepared, and 
 lay helpless on the floor. 
 
 The two entering at the rear of the house forced 
 their way to the front, amid the gloom. They could 
 not see what had been done, and had heard nothing. 
 They were surrounded before they could get their 
 bearings or even hail their comrades, and the same 
 persuasion and treatment that had been applied to the 
 first two laid them at once in a like condition on the 
 floor. 
 
 "Gentlemen," said Brown, " permit me to introduce 
 myself as the husband of Mrs. Brown. The next 
 time you undertake to seize a supposedly unprotected 
 woman, be sure that she really has no protection, or 
 else bring more soldiers with you. Lie where you are 
 and keep still till we get ready to move you." 
 
 Turning to the Filipino who had been instructed 
 to arrange for the horses and carts, Brown said with a 
 laugh : 
 
 " Now, Senor Ortiz, can you guess what I wanted 
 the carts for ? Bring them here, and help load these 
 fellows in as soon as we can. Two carts will be 
 enough." 
 
 The company of Filipinos caught the infection of 
 humor in the turn of the situation, and laughed with 
 him, while the bound captives on the floor, fearing 
 some kind of torture, squirmed and fretted. 
 
 " Keep still, and no harm will happen to you," said 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 261 
 
 Brown, " but if you make a noise, you will be made 
 quiet." 
 
 Sefior Ortiz returned shortly with the two carts, 
 drawn by horses equal to a moderate load. 
 
 " Lift the men in quietly,'' said Brown, " and be 
 ready to get away at once." 
 
 Turning to the prisoners, he added : <V\Ve are going 
 to give you a ride to-night. If you agree to keep still, 
 you may go without being gagged. But a man will 
 ride over you with a revolver, and will shoot the first 
 one who makes a cry. If you won't promise, you will 
 be gagged at the start/' 
 
 The men quickly promised, and they were lifted in. 
 An armed Filipino mounted guard over each pair of 
 prisoners in the carts. 
 
 Brown had previously told Faith of his plan, saying, 
 " Faith, dear, even if these men are taken away, you 
 ought not to remain hefe, or to be in the city for 
 months. Be ready, and go with me on one of the 
 carts, out to the camp for a while." So she was now 
 waiting, in readiness for the start. 
 
 All the instructions were followed as quickly as 
 possible, and Brown, in order to screen Senora Mateo 
 from the annoyance of a search and of the upsetting 
 of her house, sent the following note which he had 
 prepared, instructing a Filipino to deliver it to General 
 Maximus within the next hour, or to get it in some 
 way to headquarters, so that the failure of the 
 detectives to return with their prisoner might not 
 cause the arrest of Senora Mateo herself : 
 
262 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 "GENERAL MAXIMUS: 
 
 " Dear Sir: The four men who were sent to arrest 
 Mrs. Brown are safe in my keeping. They will return 
 to their post in due time unharmed, if you do as I 
 wish. You cannot find them for the present, and it 
 will not avail you to attempt to find them. I request 
 that you ord^r the release of the two prisoners who, 
 doubtless without your knowledge or consent, were 
 put to torture this morning. My prisoners will be 
 held as hostages for the safe treatment of the young 
 woman and the man who have been so atrociously 
 outraged. 
 
 " Permit me to sign myself the husband of the 
 white woman whose capture was sought, and to warn 
 all interested that further efforts to secure her will 
 be equally futile with the present attempt, she being 
 well defended. 
 
 " With all due respect, 
 
 ^GEORGE BROWN." 
 
 Off into the night then set the carts and their loads. 
 The city was speedily left behind, and the country 
 roads entered, the route northward by the Calle de 
 Cervantes being taken as the best way of reaching the 
 rural districts and friendly people. 
 
 Silent and steady was the advance. The captives 
 grunted at times, and muttered under their breath, 
 but a reminder by the muzzle of the pistol was suffi- 
 cient to keep them quiet. With only an occasional 
 word by the others of the party, the carts drove on. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 263 
 
 About two hours before daybreak they came to a 
 village far enough out to be safe from capture or dis- 
 covery. Brown and his assistant knew some of the 
 residents. Friends were awakened, the story was 
 told, and the carts were unloaded of their stiffened 
 and hungry freight and were started upon their 
 return to the city. 
 
 "If any one says that your horse looks tired," 
 Brown said to one of the drivers, " tell him that he 
 ate too much mince-pie for supper and did not sleep 
 well." 
 
 "And saw his grandmother, too, I suppose," said 
 the Filipino, with a laugh. 
 
 " Yes, and grandfather," rejoined Brown jokingly. 
 
 Brown's plan was to remain in the village during 
 the day, the little party to continue its way on foot, at 
 night, in company with the four prisoners, toward 
 the Filipino camp. They were now within easy dis- 
 tance, and as everybody was friendly the attempt 
 would be perfectly safe. 
 
 The plan was carried out, and Brown and his wife, 
 with their prisoners, were, a day or two after, safely 
 established in friendly surroundings, secure from 
 capture. 
 
 Brown kept himself informed of the situation in 
 Manila, soon learning that Isabela Adriano and Pedro 
 Nigdan had been released the day after their torture, 
 and that Senora Mateo's house had not been ran- 
 sacked. 
 
 A month after the above occurrences, he sent the 
 
264 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 captive detectives and soldiers back to Manila, giving 
 one of them a sealed letter to General Maxim us. 
 They were escorted by Filipinos until near the city, 
 and were then told that they were free to go. 
 The inclosure to the general was as follows : 
 
 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
 To THE FILIPINO REPUBLIC, Dr. 
 For cartage of four men 15 miles, at 2$c 
 
 (Mex.) each per mile $15.00 
 
 Duplicate charge for same (night work, 
 
 by labor-rules of the U. S.) 15.00 
 
 For board of two detectives and two sol- 
 diers, 30 days, at 75c each per day 90.00 
 For guarding said prisoners, 30 days . . . 45.00 
 
 $165.00 
 Cr. 
 
 By 22 days' work on roads by four men, 
 
 at 25c (Mex.) each per day $22.00 
 
 Balance due $143.00 
 
 Please make payment to Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo. 
 
 This note was also sent : 
 
 " To GENERAL MAXIMUS : 
 
 " I regret that I cannot give a certificate for good 
 workmanship to your men. They are the very poor- 
 est laborers on roads that we ever set to work. This 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 265 
 
 will account for the low wages with which we have 
 credited them, the same being all they have earned. 
 We cannot afford to keep them at work any longer, 
 and accordingly they are returned. 
 " Very truly yours, 
 
 " GEORGE BROWN." 
 
 Thus Brown had his fun out of the adventure, sat- 
 isfied to have Faith safe in his keeping, and not bear- 
 ing any ill will toward those who had tried to secure 
 possession of her. He decided, however, that he 
 ought not to consent to her return to Manila until 
 the Americans had become satisfied that she was 
 probably out of the city permanently. 
 
266 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 PREPARING FOR THE DAY OF JUDGMENT 
 
 rife 
 
 THE current of war ran strongly against the 
 Filipino patriots. By an extreme of deception 
 and perfidy, boasted of by the American general 
 who made the capture, and rewarded by his promotion 
 to the rank of brigadier-general, Aguinaldo had been 
 made prisoner. Surrender in succession followed on 
 the part of Tinio, Alejandrino, and Cailles, leaving as 
 the principal generals in the field only Malvar in 
 Luzon and Lukban in Samar, the latter striving to 
 make headway against the American " Hell Roaring 
 Jake/' after the issue of that general's infamous order 
 to kill everybody over the age of ten and to burn 
 promiscuously. Malvar was one of the most stout- 
 hearted leaders on the Filipino side, while Lukban, 
 resolute and determined, was sustained by an almost 
 superstitious belief that destiny had in store some 
 great service for country by him, a belief he had 
 cherished ever since the cruel and memorable night in 
 his rebellion against the rule of Spain, when, after 
 being strung up and flogged so severely that three 
 ribs were broken, he had been thrown to die on the 
 floor of his cell, but had survived. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 267 
 
 George Brown was with Malvar's force, and Faith 
 had not yet returned to Manila. 
 
 One day the messenger who ran between the little 
 army and the friends in Manila said to Brown : 
 
 " Captain, you remember that prisoner, your friend, 
 whom you took care of in Bontoc province and sent 
 back to the Americans ? " 
 
 " Captain Dexter ? " questioned Brown. " Of course 
 I do ! I shall never forget him." 
 
 " He was sent home, you know, to the United 
 States. But he is back here again. I saw him in 
 Manila two days ago. He is out of the army, and 
 seems to have some employment in a business house 
 on the Escolta." 
 
 "When you go down next time, take a greeting 
 from me to him, tell him where I am, and say that I 
 should be glad to see him." 
 
 Within a few days Captain Dexter the Filipino 
 being correct in his identification was accosted by 
 the messenger, and the greeting from Brown was 
 delivered quietly, in a way not to attract the attention 
 of others in the establishment where Dexter was 
 engaged. 
 
 "Tell Captain Brown," was the reply of Dexter, 
 "that I will meet him in Malolos at nine o'clock in 
 the evening three days from now. I have messages 
 for him from America, and have been hoping to learn 
 how to deliver them." 
 
 He designated a house a certain distance from the 
 railroad station, where the meeting might be held. 
 
268 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Promptly at the appointed time both the old friends 
 were at the rendezvous. A warm hand-shake, with a 
 long, firm grip, told how much they still were to each 
 other and how glad they were to meet once more. 
 
 "How is it, Dexter," said Brown, "that you are 
 over here again ? I never supposed you would come 
 a second time." 
 
 " It happened this way," replied Dexter. " The 
 shattered leg did not heal, and they had to take it off 
 at the knee. Then the first two fingers of my left 
 hand were so badly mashed that Nature could not fix 
 them up, and they had to come off, too. I walk fairly 
 well now with my artificial limb and a cane, but I shall 
 never skip like a lamb again. While I was lying 
 around, healing up and doing more meditating than 
 working, I thought over a good many things you had 
 said and, Brown, old comrade ! I have come pretty 
 much to your way of thinking." 
 
 "Just as every honest man must do, Dexter, when 
 the scales drop from his eyes," replied Brown. " I 
 am heartily glad to hear you say so." 
 
 "But I can't do much," continued Dexter. "If 
 there is any quiet way in which my influence can be 
 used to get justice for these outraged natives, I want 
 to be called on. That's why I'm back here. I have 
 secured employment in a commission house, where I 
 can do book-keeping and attend to correspondence for 
 the firm. I can't take the field, but I may help some 
 of my mistaken countrymen to see things more nearly 
 in the right way." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 269 
 
 "The path will open for you, Dexter. And you 
 cannot do a better thing with the remainder of your 
 life than work for right and justice. How are things 
 at home? " 
 
 " I saw your father. He is proud of you, and he 
 believes that you will return vindicated." 
 
 "And I am always proud of him," was the quick, 
 filial response of Brown. " He was the making of 
 me. Few boys ever had such a father." 
 
 " I saw the Fessenden family, too. Of course their 
 whole circle know all about Faith's coming out here. 
 The family are still prosperous, and are united at last 
 in their political ideas, not caring much whether their 
 neighbors approve or not at least not caring if they 
 disapprove. I told them, and told your father, that I 
 should try somehow to hunt up you and Faith, if you 
 were still in the land of the living when I arrived 
 here, and they all charged me to give you their full 
 encouragement." 
 
 "I am afraid they also are traitors!" responded 
 Brown, with a smile. 
 
 "The fact is," Dexter went on, "there are a great 
 many of that sort, and right among those, too, who 
 uphold the Administration when they get to the polls ! 
 So cowardly or so inconsistent are they ! What 
 I mean is this : that lots of Republicans do not 
 believe in this Philippine policy. I have talked with 
 them. It is exceedingly unfortunate that widely 
 differing interests are incorporated in the same polit- 
 ical platform. They could not support Bryan and the 
 
2 7 o LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 silver ticket ; therefore they put the prosperity of the 
 States at home above justice to the Filipinos and 
 above human life on the other side of the world. But 
 they are heartily sick of this entire business and wish 
 we were out of it. They say that the only thing to 
 do now is to put it through, but they want to keep it 
 out of sight as far as possible. It is a skeleton in the 
 closet for them. They want to forget about it, and 
 want the whole country to forget. They are begin- 
 ning to claim that neither of the great political parties 
 takes it up prominently any longer ; that it is* a dead 
 issue ; and that sort of falsehood." 
 
 " When God forgets, when He ceases to be a God 
 of justice and the avenger of oppression,'* said Brown 
 seriously, " then, and not till then, will the Philippine 
 question be a dead issue/' 
 
 " But where is your wife, Brown ? How have you 
 managed to care for her during all this time, in the 
 midst of the war ? " 
 
 " At present she is very near here, in one of the 
 villages. She was almost captured a while ago in 
 Manila, but that affair is settled, and we think it is 
 safe now for her to return and carry on her work 
 there, provided she keeps in a secluded place and 
 that the American detectives do not strike the scent 
 again." 
 
 "You had two companions, Brown/' said Dexter, 
 " what has become of them ? " 
 
 For a moment, Brown did not reply. Then he 
 seemed to be trying to speak ; seemed to be trying to 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 271 
 
 shape his words to fit his evident emotion. He put 
 his hand on his friend's shoulder, and said, slowly and 
 tenderly : 
 
 " Dexter, they both now are citizens of the eternal 
 country. The supreme test of loyalty to that country 
 was applied to them, and they endured it to the 
 full. They were true to its principles. They shrank 
 not from the sacrifice it commanded. They swore 
 allegiance to its God and to the universal brotherhood 
 of man, and they kept their solemn oath kept it in 
 their life-blood. Forces hostile to the Eternal Repub- 
 lic of the Free attacked its spirit of truth, attacked 
 its spirit of brotherly love for all mankind. In this 
 extremity they entered into the breach ; and in the 
 terrible collision of contending arms it happened, as 
 it has frequently happened before, that the front rank 
 of the defense went down went down gallantly to 
 death." 
 
 Awed by the sublime sentiment of the bereaved 
 patriot, Dexter sat silent, though sympathetic. 
 
 Then Brown, looking upward as if he again saw his 
 lost friends by mortal eye, stretched out his hands 
 toward the vision, and cried : 
 
 " O Wheelwright ! O Douglass ! I pray God to 
 give me strength and courage to hold out till the end, 
 that I may be worthy to stand in your company 
 again ! " 
 
 Here once more, for a moment, he paused, but, 
 commanding his emotion, said quietly : 
 
 " Dexter, I alone of us three am left alive on 
 
272 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 earth. Both of those men, for their greatness, I 
 loved as my own soul. Braver men never fought 
 and died for the rights of man and the Republic of 
 Mankind. While I remember Douglass and Wheel- 
 wright, so long must I stand true to the cause for 
 which they died. Death alone will justify me in 
 ceasing the contest/' 
 
 " You are equally the hero, Brown," replied Dexter 
 heartily. " The fortunes of war have ended their work 
 and crowned it ; yours is every whit as glorious and 
 effective. They have not died to no purpose, and your 
 work will bear abundant fruit. I feel this to be as 
 sure as I believe that the American people have a 
 conscience which, sooner or later, will lash them as by 
 a scourge of scorpions and never cease to reproach 
 them till fhey not only turn about, but also make 
 reparation for their offense against the laws of God 
 and the rights of man." 
 
 " I trust you are a true prophet, Dexter. But the 
 waiting seems long." 
 
 " My faith is strong," replied Dexter, " and I believe 
 we yet shall see it true of the Americans as Jehovah 
 said to the Hebrews by the prophet Ezekiel : 'Then 
 shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings 
 that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your 
 own sight, for your iniquities and for your abomina- 
 tions/ " 
 
 "I hope the time may come speedily/' exclaimed 
 Brown, "but we have much to do here first/' 
 
 Before the end of the interview Dexter arranged 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 273 
 
 with Brown to have frequent communication with him, 
 and then returned to the city. 
 
 Shortly after this he sought the colonel of his old 
 regiment, Harvey Allen, who for faithful service had 
 recently been appointed to his present rank, having 
 been first lieutenant under Dexter when Dexter was 
 captain. 
 
 " Colonel Allen," said Dexter, after greetings had 
 been exchanged and they turned to consider current 
 events in the islands, " I don't mind telling you that 
 my opinion of this Philippine conquest has changed 
 absolutely. I have come to believe that the army is 
 in very bad business." 
 
 " I hope you are not going to attack the army, 
 Dexter. There seems to be a growing tendency to 
 do that. You must stand by your old friends ! " 
 
 " It is not the army as the army that I am attack- 
 ing, colonel. What I attack is downright stupidity and 
 wickedness, wherever it exists. I say this : that what 
 is wrong for a private citizen to do is wrong for a 
 soldier to do. You can't have two sets of morals, one 
 for war and one for peace. Do you suppose God, 
 when he charges up sin to men, makes a difference 
 whether there are a lot of them together killing and 
 lying, or only one of them alone ? " 
 
 " It seems to me, Dexter, that you suddenly take 
 a strange position. All civilized people hold that 
 things are done in war that we must shut our 
 eyes to. Everybody knows that horrible things 
 are always done just as there have been done 
 
274 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 out here; things that won't stand exposure. But 
 such is war." 
 
 " That is just where the common opinion of civil- 
 ized nations is wofully backward," was the earnest 
 reply. 
 
 " But why do you attack us especially in this Philip- 
 pine broil ? " asked Colonel Allen. " Our army has 
 done horrible things before ; the people do not seem 
 to mind that. I have recently been recalling some of 
 those things. You know that General Grant, who 
 took part in the Mexican War, said of it that it was 
 'one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger 
 against a weaker nation.' You know, too, that Guizot, 
 the French historian, said of the same war : * Never 
 was a nation treated with such injustice, such insolence, 
 such perfidy, such cruelty, as Mexico was by the 
 United States/ Again, everybody knows that the 
 government has been murdering and cheating the 
 American Indians for a hundred years. Why should 
 we out here be picked upon just now as if we were 
 doing something new ? We are not so horribly differ- 
 ent from folks who lived before us/ 1 
 
 "That may be true. I know our people are kept 
 in ignorance of many disgraceful things in our history. 
 Our historians and writers of school-books do not dare 
 to tell the truth. They praise the United States to 
 the skies and mislead our children into thinking that 
 we are absolutely perfect. Such a course is all 
 wrong." 
 
 The colonel brushed a speck of dust from the sleeve 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 275 
 
 of his new uniform, and said, " I guess the army is 
 about as good as an army can be, Dexter. Do you like 
 book-keeping better than drill ? " 
 
 But Dexter was in too serious a mood to be willing 
 to permit complacency or to accept quiet sarcasm. 
 
 " Another point just now, colonel/* he went on, "is 
 that this army out here, or a proportion of it at any 
 rate, seems to be a very tough lot. We know how 
 it left its stragglers in the vile dens of Boston when 
 it went through. We hear how soldiers conducted 
 themselves with San Francisco maidens of good fam- 
 ilies while they were waiting to embark. We know 
 the moral rottenness of large numbers of the soldiers 
 here, as shown in the daily courtmartials and in 
 the official reports of the medical officers. I happen 
 to have here the last report of the Judge-Advocate 
 General of the army, showing a horribly immoral 
 record. It seems as if many of our soldiers must have 
 been the very scum and refuse of the worst cities in 
 the country/ 1 
 
 " Heavens, Dexter ! don't, don't ! Why rake all 
 this over ! What good will it do ? Do remember, 
 man, that these men are not under the restraint of 
 civilization here, as they were, partially at least, at 
 home. They must not be held to strict account ! " 
 
 "Not held to strict account? Why not? It is 
 advertised by our loving friends that our army is the 
 pick of American youth and courage and chivalry ! 
 Let us find * where we are at/ I say. To be sure, I 
 know that a large number of our men out here are 
 
276 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 exemplary in life and lofty in ideal. They come of 
 fine families, and were blessed by their parents when 
 they started from home, under the mistaken idea that 
 they were coming in Freedom's name to fight for the 
 enslaved. They'll never go back, however, as they 
 came out ! And what of these others these scamps, 
 these ruffians, these filthy libertines ? Just look at 
 this list! more than 2600 dishonorable discharges 
 in one year! That comes near to being two full 
 regiments. Are our men such criminals as that ? 
 And glance over the list of crimes. From murder 
 down or up what crime in the United States puts 
 men in prison for life that is not represented here ? 
 Again, the nastiness of some of it ! horrible, foul, 
 beastly crimes some of them are. The list is too 
 long and too filthy to read. Don't blame me for call- 
 ing attention to it : why was it ever printed ? Who 
 gets it up? Who sends it out? It comes from 
 Washington ! And these men are the representatives 
 of the United States in the eyes of the world ! Do 
 you wonder that nobody, except a few jingoes, praises 
 the army ? that a growing number are beginning 
 even to criticise the army ? " 
 
 "I shut my ears to everything you say, Dexter. 
 The men fight well and march well and endure suffer- 
 ings bravely." 
 
 "Brave fighting nay, more than that, patriotic 
 self-sacrifice and heroism in battle covers the pages 
 of history. Every nation, England, Scotland, Ireland, 
 France, Germany, Russia, Japan, and all around the 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 277 
 
 world, can point to brave deeds of arms. The United 
 States has no monopoly in that respect. Even the 
 black savages of Africa are on record as doing deeds 
 every whit as brave as any soldier of the United 
 States ever did. We must accept the proved facts of 
 history, even if they do puncture our little bubble of 
 vanity. Bravery alone is not to avail in this new 
 twentieth century. There must be justice and there 
 must be morality." 
 
 " Well, other nations have their disgraceful deeds 
 as well as ours, if you are going to argue like this. 
 Look at England dashing out the brains of Irish 
 children and tossing their bodies on their bayonets. 
 See Russia driving the Chinese into the Amoor River 
 and forcing them to drown. The pages of history 
 are just as full of such things as of brave deeds in 
 battle." 
 
 " I accept all established facts," replied Dexter, 
 " and putting them all together I still maintain that 
 this present war is a horrible disgrace to the fame of 
 the United States, and that no heroism or suffering of 
 individual soldiers will make any difference in the 
 future history of it/' 
 
 " The American people seem to stand well by the 
 Administration ! We have their approval. If there 
 is any guilt on anybody, they are as guilty as we 
 are." 
 
 " Right you are, there, colonel. And " 
 
 " I say, Dexter, it's a deuced hot day, isn't it ! Or 
 else it's your confoundedly painful talk. At any 
 
278 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 rate, I feel sort of faint. Excuse me a moment, 
 won't you, while I order some sort of soft drink ! 
 Perhaps then I can stand anything more you may 
 have in reserve." 
 
 The colonel, out of deference to his visitor, ordered 
 some simple lemonade, asking in a deprecating sort of 
 way if his guest would have even sugar in it, and then 
 settled down to a continuation of the judgment day 
 which he felt had opened for him and for all things 
 else. 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 279 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 MACARIA HENDERSON PLEADS IN VAIN 
 
 " \ /OU were saying," remarked Dexter, " that the 
 
 y American people as a whole, who support the 
 present Administration in its Philippine policy, 
 are just as guilty as the army is. The American 
 people are sufficiently selfish, we must admit, to look 
 out for their own prosperity before they care for the 
 Filipinos. Their eyes are blinded by the almighty 
 dollar. The United States is mightily prosperous just 
 now. Her treasury is overflowing. But let financial 
 reverses come, let the enormous expense, in addition 
 to the wrong and disgrace, of this Philippine conquest 
 come home to them, and they will take a different 
 tone. And such reverses are not impossible." 
 
 " I think, Dexter, they ought *at least to give the 
 army credit for merely carrying out their will." 
 
 " But they won't do anything of the sort, colonel. 
 There is where you are mistaken, if you expect in 
 that way to get out of this war with credit. Wait. 
 The American people will yet charge off all this infamy 
 upon the army, and say that they knew nothing of it 
 at home. And they really do not by any means know 
 one tenth part of it." 
 
 " Then they ought to put the blame on the officers 
 
280 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 who are responsible for the censorship," expostulated 
 Allen. 
 
 " They will, in part, when they are stirred up enough 
 over the outrages. Give them credit for that much. 
 But the sober fact, colonel, is just this : that not one 
 solitary man of all the Americans, from the humblest 
 private in the ranks to the highest man at the top who 
 has had a share in this Philippine disgrace, is going to 
 get the slightest credit for anything that has been done 
 since the fighting against the Filipinos began. Every 
 man of you all is now on the defensive at the bar of 
 history. Your friends and the country have to apolo- 
 gize for you. Not one deed of heroism or self-sacrifice 
 has been done out here to bring one atom of glory to 
 the American army.'* 
 
 "God knows, Dexter, our soldiers have suffered 
 enough to win glory ! think of the deaths, think of 
 the fevers, think of the shiploads of insane bundled 
 back home to the States, think of that list you have 
 put back in your pocket, think of the maimed bodies 
 and shattered lives, and of the mothers' broken 
 hearts ! " 
 
 "But, colonel, suffering on the wrong side never 
 counts for an ounce in weight ! Did you ever hear a 
 burglar praised, or any one say that he ought to be 
 let off because he did some very risky and hard 
 things ? " 
 
 " We are not burglars, Dexter/' 
 
 " Are we not ? I was using only an illustration, 
 but, if it comes to that, is not the United States act- 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 281 
 
 ually burglarizing the Philippines ? At any rate, we 
 are doing wrong, just as burglars do, and that is what 
 is going to damn your memory as an army forever. 
 Nobody from now to the end of time will ever have a 
 good word for the American army in the Philippines, 
 or for any soldier who belonged to it." 
 
 "You go to an extreme, Dexter," the colonel 
 answered. "We have lots of friends at home who 
 believe we are right and who will stand by us." 
 
 To which Dexter replied : 
 
 " Truth lives longer than the friends of any indi- 
 vidual man. Long after this generation is in its 
 grave, when nobody with personal motives will sur- 
 vive to defend your tarnished memory, the facts 
 will remain on record your horrible slaughters of 
 wounded, your plundering of the dead, your treach- 
 ery, your deceit of trusting friends, your trampling 
 on your own nation's principles and on the rights of 
 the weak whom you ought to have protected, and who, 
 at first, trusted that you would protect them." 
 
 "People will forget by that time." 
 
 "Not as long as the human mind recoils from 
 atrocities 1 Is the massacre of Saint Bartholomew 
 forgotten ? Your own official reports show that in a 
 little more than one year 2854 Filipinos were killed to 
 1 193 wounded ! And some of the battles make a far 
 worse showing than this against American mercy." 
 
 "Dexter, you must make allowance for the pas- 
 sions of war." 
 
 "There are such passions, I know. War is war. 
 
282 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 But all these wounded who were afterwards slain were 
 not slain in passion. It was pure malice. The edict, 
 'All over ten years of age/ was not promulgated in 
 passion. And robbery of the dead is not passion. In 
 fact, I do not know what it is ! Was the dead body 
 of General Gregorio del Filar stripped in passion ? 
 Was it not in sheer brutality ? in moral deadness ? 
 Colonel, you know the whole story of del Filar and the 
 rifling of his corpse, but I doubt if you have read this 
 particular account which I have here of those occur- 
 rences at Tilad Pass on the Cordilleras that December 
 day in 1 899, when fifty-three out of the sixty Filipino 
 body-guard of Aguinaldo were killed. I tell you that 
 such resistance as that makes a man thrill with 
 enthusiasm. It was Thermopylae over again. There 
 is something which makes us praise a thing like that, 
 and not one solitary deed has been done by any Amer- 
 ican in the Philippines which begins to stir us like it. 
 Let me read you what Richard Henry Little, war 
 correspondent of The Chicago Tribune, wrote of the 
 death of del Filar. I have kept the clipping out 
 of pure love for the heroism it recounts. As for 
 the crime which followed, the story of it will 
 forever plague the Americans. This is what Little 
 wrote : 
 
 " It was a great fight that was fought away up on 
 the trail of lonely Tilad Pass on that Saturday morn- 
 ing of December 2. It brought glory to Major 
 Marsh's battalion of the Thirty-third Volunteer In- 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 283 
 
 fantry, who were the victors. It brought no discredit 
 to the little band of Filipinos who fought and died 
 there. Sixty was the number that at Aguinaldo's 
 orders had come down in the pass that morning to 
 arrest the onward march of the Americans. Seven 
 were all that went back over the pass that night to 
 tell Aguinaldo that they had tried and failed. Fifty- 
 three of them were either killed or wounded. And 
 among them, last to retreat, we found the body of 
 young General Gregorio del Pilar. We had seen him 
 cheering his men in the fight. One of our companies, 
 crouched up close under the side of the cliff where he 
 had built his first intrenchment, heard his voice con- 
 tinually during the fight urging his men to greater 
 effort, scolding them, praising them, cursing them, 
 appealing one moment to their love of their native 
 land and the next instant threatening to kill them 
 himself if they did not stand firm. Driven from the 
 first intrenchment, he fell slowly back to the second 
 in full sight of our sharpshooters and under a heavy 
 fire. Not until every man around him in the second 
 intrenchment was down, did he turn his white horse 
 and ride slowly up the winding trail. Then we who 
 were below saw an American squirm his way out to 
 the top of a high flat rock and take deliberate aim at 
 the figure on the white horse. We held our breath, 
 not knowing whether to pray that the sharpshooter 
 would shoot straight or miss. Then came the spiteful 
 crack of the Krag rifle, and the man on horseback 
 rolled to the ground, and when the boys charging up 
 
284 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 the mountain-side reached him, the boy-general of the 
 Filipinos was dead. 
 
 "We went on up the mountain-side. After H 
 company had driven the insurgents out of their second 
 position and killed Pilar, the other companies had 
 rushed straight up the trail and never stopped until 
 they were far up above the clouds and there was no 
 longer an insurgent in sight. As we went up the 
 trail we passed dead Filipino soldiers. We counted 
 ten in all. Some had been shot several times. We 
 found bloody trails that led to places on the edge of 
 the cliffs, where wounded men had either jumped or 
 fallen off. We passed the second intrenchment high 
 up on the trail. It was built of heavy rocks, well 
 banked with earth. Just past this a few hundred 
 yards we saw a solitary body lying in the road. The 
 body was almost stripped of clothing, and there were 
 no marks of rank left on the blood-soaked coat. But 
 the face of the dead man had a look I had never 
 noticed on the face of other dead men I had found in 
 insurgent uniform on the field of battle, in the wake 
 of an American firing-line. The features were clear- 
 cut and the forehead high and shapely. I decided the 
 man must have been an insurgent officer. A soldier 
 came running down the trail. 
 
 "' That's old Pilar/ he said. 'We got the old 
 rascal. I guess he's sorry he ever went up against 
 the Thirty-third. 
 
 " ' There ain't no doubt about its being Pilar,' rattled 
 on the young soldier. 'We got his diary, and his 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 285 
 
 letters, and all his papers, and Sullivan of our com- 
 pany's got his pants, and Snider's got his shoes, but 
 he can't wear them because they're too small, and a 
 sergeant in G company got one of his silver spurs, 
 and a lieutenant got the other, and somebody swiped 
 the cuff-buttons before I got here or I would have 
 swiped them, and all I got was a stud-button and his 
 collar with blood on it.' 
 
 " So this was the end of Gregorio del Pilar. Only 
 twenty-two years old, he managed to make himself a 
 leader of men when he was hardly more than a boy, 
 and at last had laid down his life for his convictions. 
 Major Marsh had the diary. In it del Pilar had 
 written under the date of December 2, the day he was 
 killed : 
 
 " * The general has given me the pick of all the men 
 that can be spared and ordered me to defend the pass. 
 I realize what a terrible task is given me. And yet I 
 feel that this is the most glorious moment of my life. 
 What I do is done for my beloved country. No sac- 
 rifice can be too great ! ' 
 
 " A private, sitting by the camp fire, was exhibiting 
 a handkerchief. ' It's old Pilar's. It's got " Dolores 
 Hosea " [Jose] on the corner. I guess that was his 
 girl. Well, it's all over with Gregorio/ 
 
 " ' Anyhow,' said Private Sullivan, < I got his pants. 
 He won't need 'em any more.' 
 
 " The man who had the general's shoes strode 
 proudly past, refusing with scorn a Mexican dollar and 
 a pair of shoes taken from one of the private insurgent 
 
286 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 soldiers. A private sitting on a rock was examining 
 a curl of a woman's hair. ' Got the locket off his 
 neck/ said the soldier. . . . 
 
 " As the main column started on its march for the 
 summit of the mountain a turn in the trail brought us 
 again in sight of the insurgent general far down below 
 us. There had been no time to bury him. Not even 
 a blanket or poncho had been thrown over him. 
 
 "A crow sat on the dead man's feet. Another 
 perched on his head. The fog settled down upon us. 
 We could see the body no longer. 
 
 " ' We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone, 
 But we left him alone in his glory.' 
 
 " And when Private Sullivan went by in his trousers, 
 and Snider with his shoes, and the other man who 
 had the cuff-buttons, and the sergeant who had the 
 spur, and the man that had the handkerchief, and 
 another man that had his shoulder-straps, it suddenly 
 occurred to me that his glory was about all we had 
 left him.' 1 
 
 " It was a great pity to treat him that way," said 
 Colonel Allen, " but some of our dead men left sweet- 
 hearts at home, too." 
 
 " But our men are not fighting in defense of their 
 rights and of their native land," rejoined Captain 
 Dexter forcibly. " It has happened that here in 
 Manila I have made the acquaintance of this Dolores 
 Jos6. Poor creature ! she is completely broken. She 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 287 
 
 makes great friends with Senora Alvarez, who has 
 suffered the loss of all she has in this world and is 
 reduced to the extremity of poverty. It is wonderful 
 how these women encourage each other still and hope 
 for their country's freedom." 
 
 "Well, captain," said the colonel, "when all's said, 
 I'm glad our regiment is about through. We have 
 been ordered home. Our time has expired, and I am 
 not one to go farther in this business." 
 
 " Just a bit more about Senorita Jose, said Dexter. 
 " On my way out I happened to meet the soldier who 
 had the handkerchief which she had given to del Pilar, 
 and which was robbed from his dead body. That 
 gave me a personal interest in the matter. It was 
 one of the most beautiful works of the needle I ever 
 saw. It had the very finest birds and flowers and 
 other ornaments worked upon it, and so exquisitely 
 that I am sure no American' woman could ever hope 
 to equal the beauty of the art. Yet the worker is set 
 down by most Americans as equal only to an Apache 
 Indian." 
 
 "It's wretched business, Dexter! I confess it to 
 you. And now that we are going home, there are 
 some other puzzling questions to settle about our 
 soldiers. You know what the worst have done, and 
 you know that not all even of the best of the men 
 have been what they ought to be out here. Some of 
 them, however, are lawfully married to Filipino wives. 
 Come around to-morrow and see how I shall have to 
 settle some of these cases. I have used all my influ- 
 
288 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 ence to have the married ones remain here like decent 
 men, to take care of their families ; but they are 
 kicking, and I expect trouble." 
 
 Captain Dexter promised to come, and went away 
 encouraged to think that perhaps he had made an 
 impression upon the mind of one American colonel 
 who might have some influence with the higher 
 powers. 
 
 The next day, when Captain Dexter, getting time 
 off from his bookkeeping, called on Colonel Allen, he 
 found him in the midst of a singular group. American 
 soldiers, officers, and Filipino women with babies in 
 their arms combined to make up the gathering. 
 
 " Now, madam/' the colonel was saying just as 
 Captain Dexter entered the room, " what is your 
 name, and what do you want to say to me?" 
 
 The person addressed was the tallest and most 
 superior looking among the Filipino women there. 
 
 "I am Senora Patrick O'Flaherty, most excellent 
 colonel," replied the woman proudly, "and I ask you 
 to give an honorable discharge to my husband, as you 
 said you would do to any soldier who would stay here 
 with his family." 
 
 " Yes, I did say so, and I expect to carry out my 
 promise. Come here, O'Flaherty." 
 
 A ruddy-faced Irishman stepped up and saluted. 
 
 " You remember what I said, that every soldier who 
 remains with his family here shall have an honorable 
 discharge." 
 
 Yis, sorr." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 289 
 
 " Are you ready to promise to stay and take care of 
 your wife and child ? " 
 
 "And did any one t'ink I wud be after marrying a 
 swate gir-rl and living wid her, and then run away from 
 her and the babby ? Give me an honorable dischar-rge, 
 sorr, and I'll stay, thank ye." 
 
 "All right; I'm glad of it. You shall have the 
 papers. Senora, here's your husband, and I wish you 
 much happiness." 
 
 " Many thanks, most excellent colonel," exclaimed 
 the grateful wife. Then, turning to her cheerful 
 husband, she added : " Come home with me, Patrick, 
 and I'll make a good Filipino of you." 
 
 "Yis, begorra," said Patrick, his countenance all 
 one broad grin, "and I'll spake Spanish to bate the 
 band, me gir-rl ! " 
 
 This however, was the only instance in that com- 
 pany in which any American soldier would remain and 
 care for the woman he had married. 
 
 During the time that another couple were before 
 the colonel, and while he was trying in vain to influ- 
 ence the man to do his duty by his wife, Captain 
 Dexter witnessed with pain a side incident. There 
 was a soldier whom he had heard addressed as 
 Lieutenant Henderson, who called his wife by her 
 first name of Macaria. She had a young baby on her 
 arm, and she was pleading with the man not to desert 
 her. He was rough and repelling. 
 
 " Remember the baby, Charles," she pleaded, "even 
 if you care nothing for me. He is yours. Remember 
 
290 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 that we were lawfully married by the priest and that 
 I was not like a great many other women." 
 
 " Oh, fudge ! " was his rough answer. " You better 
 go home and mind your baby if you think so much of 
 him. He will grow up just like any of the rest of 
 your niggers. You'll get along all right, somehow or 
 other. I don't propose to stay in this infernal country, 
 and I don't propose to take you to the States. You 
 have made your bed and you have got to lie in it." 
 
 "But you promised me, Charles, that you would 
 not treat me as other men treated their wives. You 
 promised me you would never go away." 
 
 " That was a good while ago. I have changed my 
 mind." 
 
 " But the baby, Charles ! the baby ! You can't go 
 away and leave him." 
 
 " Ain't he your baby ? Ain't you his mother, and 
 ain't you goin' to take care of him ? I guess you'll 
 find out that he is yours as much as he's mine, and 
 that you have got to take care of him or let him 
 starve." 
 
 " Oh, Charles ! " exclaimed the distressed mother. 
 " Take us both to your country with you ! " 
 
 " Not by a long shot ! I have had all I want of 
 you and of your infernal country ; so now you clear 
 out and go off. I am through talking with you." 
 
 Brutally he turned his back upon her, and Senora 
 Charles Henderson, once Senorita Macaria Lingat, 
 took up her baby, her shame, and her widowhood, and 
 went sadly back to her father's house. As she was 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 291 
 
 going slowly out, Captain Dexter's ear caught the 
 words : 
 
 " When baby is big enough, he will fight the Amer- 
 icans ! " 
 
 This scene witnessed by Dexter was typical of 
 others. Colonel Allen's persuasion was ineffective, 
 and the regiment went home with another heavy 
 charge in the long score which the future has laid up 
 against the American people for their treatment of 
 peoples weaker than themselves, struggling for their 
 independence. 
 
292 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 AN OATH WHICH CANNOT BIND 
 
 CAPTAIN DEXTER maintained frequent com- 
 munication with Brown. Under his protection 
 Faith returned to the city, and her work was 
 resumed, but with greater caution against capture. 
 She found a haven of refuge in the poor apartments 
 of Senora Alvarez, and she formed a warm friendship 
 for the bereaved Dolores Jos6, whose sad situation, as 
 well as noble character, appealed strongly to her sym- 
 pathy, to her sense of justice, and to her patriotism. 
 
 Brown, in the field, worked incessantly, to the limit 
 of his strength, to rally the declining military fortunes 
 of the Filipinos. Up to his physical and mental 
 capacity he toiled on, being in the very innermost 
 councils of the patriots, bringing to their service all 
 the military ability he could command and all the civil 
 judgment and foresight he could extract from his 
 Massachusetts experience, joined to his insight into 
 Filipino character. Wherever civil administration was 
 possible, there his advice to establish it was taken. 
 Wherever a difficult military question was raised, he 
 was among the leaders, sure to be consulted before 
 the policy was finally settled. 
 
 After the capture of Aguinaldo, the Filipino patriots 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 293 
 
 closed up their ranks for further service. Brown 
 insisted that the fighting should never end. He knew 
 that tame submission by the Filipinos, like that of the 
 Porto Ricans, would seal the fate of the country. 
 Only as the Americans realized that they had a bad 
 bargain would they ever consider the question of 
 Filipino nationality. Submission, he foresaw, would 
 leave the matter of independence a mere academic 
 question, a topic to be discussed in the abstract 
 by American philanthropists and defeated politicians, 
 who might lament the wrong and point out what might 
 have been, but who would have no perceptible effect 
 upon the land-hungry adventurers who wanted the 
 Philippine islands only to despoil them, and who 
 regarded the bodies of the Filipinos they had merci- 
 lessly and treacherously killed as merely so much 
 fertilizer to increase the value of the land for agricult- 
 ural purposes. He knew the type of politician who 
 controlled the Philippine policy, even as the beet-sugar 
 men forced upon the President and the nation an 
 infamous policy toward Cuba ; and he realized in his 
 inmost soul that the only salvation for the Filipinos 
 was in making the islands so hot to hold that the 
 hungry, reckless politicians would find it unprofitable 
 to persist in their course, even though it was other 
 men's sons whom they were sending out from America 
 to moral rottenness and physical death in the Philip- 
 pines, and other people's money which was paying the 
 war expenses, in order that they themselves might 
 wax fat from Philippine mines and forests. 
 
294 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 So Brown opposed to the utmost the Filipinos who 
 argued for peace. He knew his countrymen better 
 than they did. He believed that it was absolutely 
 right to fight to the bitter end, even until the Filipino 
 people were utterly wiped from the face of the earth. 
 Any other course he regarded as of doubtful morality, 
 as well as of doubtful expediency. 
 
 He held many Filipinos to this view, and they 
 struggled persistently on. General Malvar was his 
 chief reliance, and for months the unequal contest 
 with the American troops was followed by retreat, 
 rally, and another stand. Ammunition was husbanded. 
 Supplies of every kind were served out sparingly. 
 People of the localities in which they were operating 
 gave of their means as liberally as they could, and the 
 war dragged on. 
 
 But the power of the Filipinos to resist was grad- 
 ually overcome. United States troops devastated the 
 country, destroying the supplies, and carrying off the 
 people under penalty of death into the concentration 
 camps. Absolute inability to fight further was a con- 
 dition becoming more and more wide-spread. Leader 
 after leader surrendered his command, and the pile of 
 rifles, some of which had been supplied by Admiral 
 Dewey to the Filipinos under Aguinaldo, now thrown 
 upon the ground in the hopelessness of despair, 
 grew larger and larger. 
 
 But Malvar still held out, strong of heart in himself 
 and encouraged by Brown's persistent heroism. One 
 of the notable incidents of Malvar's leadership, show- 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 295 
 
 ing the true greatness of the patriot, was his issue of 
 a proclamation instructing his followers to exercise 
 clemency to all American soldiers whom they might 
 capture, especially to those who were intoxicated, 
 because they were then in a condition not to be 
 responsible for their actions. This spirit may well be 
 contrasted to that shown in General Bell's report as 
 quoted a few paragraphs further on. 
 
 Months passed, and the ebb tide of Filipino fortune 
 continued to run out. Malvar could keep the field 
 with so large a force no longer. He came to terms 
 and laid down his arms. But a small company of his 
 command, to which Brown was attached, refused to 
 join in the surrender. 
 
 No better description of the pursuit whereby the 
 patriots were harried as by bloodhounds can be found 
 than in the official report of Brigadier-General J. 
 Franklin Bell to Major-General Lloyd Wheat on. 
 And the method described in that report was said 
 by General Wheaton to be a model of the way in 
 which to suppress insurrections in like circum- 
 stances. 
 
 A portion of what General Bell said is this : 
 
 " The policy of concentration no sooner went into 
 effect than the insurgents became thoroughly alarmed 
 and aroused, and the result was felt by increased 
 activity on their part, inspired by resentment. As a 
 consequence, during the month of December we had 
 many sharp engagements and numbers of unimportant 
 
296 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 skirmishes, but this activity on their part resulted in 
 such vigorous and relentless pursuit from our troops 
 that they became thoroughly demoralized, and since 
 January 10 there has been no armed encounter worthy 
 of record here. We have pursued them ever since 
 with relentless persistence. Not waiting for them to 
 come out of hiding, we have penetrated into the heart 
 of every mountain-range, searching every ravine and 
 mountain-top. We have found their barracks and 
 hidden supplies in the most unexpected and remote 
 hiding-places. We have burned hundreds of barracks 
 and destroyed their stores, and have pursued them so 
 persistently by night and day for the last two months 
 that they ceased to stay more than twenty-four hours in 
 any one place. We have kept our troops supplied in 
 mountains where no roads existed. These troops 
 camped by companies at strategic points on trails, each 
 company sending three or four detachments to bivouac 
 at points radiating several miles from the base of the 
 company. With five or six days' rations left in charge 
 of a man or two, those detachments started out from 
 their bivouacs and searched the mountains by night 
 and day. In this way it was rendered unsafe for 
 insurgents to travel at any time, and, having no longer 
 anywhere to hide themselves, they became so scattered 
 and demoralized that they have continued to surrender 
 and be captured in shoals. 
 
 " Upon the surrender of Malvar we one and all had 
 the satisfaction of realizing that the most determined, 
 ignorant, and persistent enemy of good order had been 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 297 
 
 literally and unequivocally thrashed into unconditional 
 submission to properly constituted authority, after he 
 had scorned many opportunities to submit without 
 inflicting hardship on his people. We have succeeded 
 in entirely turning the people against their leader, 
 and toward the end of operations many thousands of 
 Batangas natives joined us in our determined hunt for 
 their fugitive leader. Realization of the fact that the 
 people had finally turned against him greatly aided in 
 bringing Malvar to his knees. We have captured and 
 forced to surrender eight thousand or ten thousand 
 persons actively engaged in one capacity or another 
 in the insurrection. We have secured about 3300 
 rifles and 625 revolvers, with many thousand bolos, 
 rounds of ammunition, etc. The people have now all 
 returned to their homes, where they can live free from 
 molestation or apprehension, and with a feeling of 
 security for lives and property, which they have been 
 unable to enjoy for years. They appear to be relieved 
 from a heavy burden, and glad that the delusion has 
 run its course." * 
 
 * Reports of the horrors of General Weyler's reconcentration 
 policy in Cuba were the exciting cause of the interference by the 
 United States to secure the independence of Cuba. Therefore, the 
 United States government having enforced a censorship of the press 
 so that its own deeds in the Philippines should not become known 
 to the people at home, the following description now that the censor- 
 ship has been removed is of large interest. Writing of General 
 Bell's doings in Batangas province, a correspondent whose letter is 
 dated October 12, 1902, and which was printed in the newspaper, 
 La Renacimiento, of Manila, October 1 7, says : 
 
 "Although reconcentration is a thing of the past, yet its sad and 
 
298 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 A few weeks later was promulgated the Am- 
 nesty Proclamation of President Roosevelt, July 4, 
 1902. 
 
 " A full and complete pardon and amnesty ... for 
 the offenses of treason or sedition " was proclaimed, 
 with the proviso that the persons who sought the 
 benefit of it should take oath that they accepted the 
 sovereignty of the United States and would maintain 
 
 tragic effects are still felt in this district, and still the people lie 
 crushed beneath hunger and wretchedness. No work is done and 
 nothing is harvested from the fields. 
 
 " As a result of such great poverty, assaults and robberies occur 
 with increasing frequency, notwithstanding the efforts of the armed 
 police, who work night and day to put an end to freebooting. This 
 freebooting originated as the indirect result of reconcentration, which 
 placed many where they were obliged to have recourse to robbery to 
 preserve their life. If, instead of bullets, there should be sent rice 
 and salt, I believe that these brigands would again become law- 
 abiding. 
 
 " In order that every one may convince himself of the awful con- 
 sequences of the reconcentration ordered by Bell, I give the follow- 
 ing statistics, which are of an official character and cover the period 
 from January I to June 30 of this year [showing the enormous 
 excess of deaths over births] : January, 1 3 births, no marriages, 1 79 
 deaths ; February, 328 births, one marriage, 222 deaths ; March, 331 
 births, no marriages, 429 deaths ; April, 248 births, 50 marriages, 752 
 deaths; May, 229 births, 90 marriages, 763 deaths; June, 148 births, 
 36 marriages, 1435 deaths. Total births, 1297 ; total marriages, 177 ; 
 total deaths, 3780 ! Cold horror strikes the heart at such figures, 
 and the hair stands on end. 
 
 "We people of Batangas most anxiously await the coming of 
 General Miles. When he comes, he shall hear from us the bloody 
 history of the reconcentration. After having laid before him a 
 thousand facts, we shall simply ask to know whether all of this is in 
 conformity with the laws of war, as has been asserted by General 
 Bell in a town in this province," 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 299 
 
 true faith and allegiance thereto, and that they imposed 
 upon themselves " this obligation voluntarily, without 
 mental reservation or purpose of evasion." 
 
 Information concerning the proclamation and the 
 conditions attached to it were taken to Brown and his 
 company, which was still under Filipino command, by 
 one of their late comrades in arms, who went out from 
 Manila with instructions from the Americans to per- 
 suade them to surrender, if possible. 
 
 Faith Brown, with two women companions, went 
 with him to the camp, ready to use her influence to 
 encourage her husband to persevere in his apparently 
 hopeless cause. 
 
 In the seclusion of the forest stronghold where the 
 meeting occurred, the surrendered Filipino justified 
 his course, and tried to persuade Brown, by means of 
 the Amnesty Proclamation, that he and his friends 
 ought to follow his example/ 
 
 " We cannot fight any longer," he said. " Our 
 ammunition is gone ; our supplies are cut off. We 
 can promote our cause better by giving up the fight 
 and appealing to the reason and justice of the Amer- 
 icans." 
 
 " Every man must determine for himself what he 
 will do in this crisis," replied Brown. "You have 
 chosen your course, and I will choose mine. But 
 which ever course we take, we must agree upon one 
 thing, that the struggle for Filipino nationality shall 
 never be given up." 
 
 " I shall never give it up," was the reply which came 
 
300 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 with equal vigor from the quick lip and flashing eye 
 of Malvar's man. " Everybody knows that the oath 
 of allegiance amounts to nothing. President Roosevelt 
 says I must swear that I take the oath voluntarily. 
 Of course I take it voluntarily." 
 
 " Nothing of the sort," interjected Brown. 
 
 "He says to me," went on the Filipino, "'You 
 must eat a toad.' And he holds a pistol to my 
 head and tells me that he will shoot me if I do 
 not eat it. Of course I eat it. Then he says : * You 
 say it is a sweet toad and you like it, or I will 
 blow your brains out.' And Secretary Root holds 
 another pistol into my other ear and cries out : ' Say 
 you like to eat them and always will like to eat 
 them.' So of course I like them. What else can I 
 do? Of course I take the oath voluntarily. Pres- 
 ident Roosevelt knows that I take it voluntarily, just 
 as he knows that I eat toads because I like them. 
 You had better surrender and eat yours. They will 
 kill you if you refuse." 
 
 " The oath is a farce," broke out the Filipino cap- 
 tain of Brown's company. " Every American knows 
 that not one solitary Filipino takes that oath volun- 
 tarily, and that they force a lie from every Filipino 
 who takes it." 
 
 " What do they care if it is a lie ? Are men who 
 torture and kill Filipinos only because they are fight- 
 ing for their rights going to stop at a lie ? " replied 
 the messenger. 
 
 " The oath is worthless unless it is given by a free 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 301 
 
 act/' said Brown. "They know that, and so they put 
 in the little trick of making the Filipinos say that they 
 impose it upon themselves voluntarily. I am not free 
 unless I can choose.'' 
 
 "They don't care for your technicalities," said the 
 messenger. 
 
 "But I care for justice and for my rights," ex- 
 claimed the Filipino captain. " Let them give me a 
 genuine free choice. Let them give me back my 
 country which they have ravaged, my people whom 
 they have slaughtered, my church which they have 
 burned, my liberty which they have changed into 
 exile, my two sons whom they tortured and shot, my 
 wife who has died from grief and suffering. Give me 
 back all these. Then offer me a free choice between 
 allegiance to the United States and the Filipino 
 Republic. If I then swear loyalty to the United 
 States, it is my free act and I am bound. But not a sol- 
 itary Filipino can voluntarily take an oath of allegiance 
 to the United States under present conditions." 
 
 All listened in silence to the tremendous outburst 
 of the Filipino hero and patriot. Faith clapped her 
 hands and exclaimed warmly : " Every one here knows 
 you speak the truth." 
 
 Then, half in scorn, he went on : 
 
 " Are we to be sure that the Americans have so 
 much regard for the sacredness of their word them- 
 selves? Men who would use us as military allies, 
 supplying us with arms to help conquer their foes, and 
 then conquer us in turn, have small moral sense. 
 
302 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 Wait and see how they keep the treaty they have 
 made with the Sultan of the Sulus. I believe they 
 will tear it to tatters just as soon as they think it will 
 serve their selfish purpose. What regard have they 
 for oaths or treaties or national honor, or for anything 
 else that stands in the way of power and money ? 
 Wait a few months ! Just as soon as they find the 
 treaty irksome, or think they can better themselves, 
 they will say it ought to be abrogated! I predict 
 that. You cannot trust the Americans." 
 
 His denunciation was vehement. His eyes fairly 
 flamed with honest wrath. And his mental storm, 
 an outburst of righteous indignation and sense of 
 wrong, broke out again : 
 
 "The American Administration is hypocritical. 
 What do oaths signify to them? They pretend to 
 love freedom and all people aspiring to be free. We 
 were free. We had absolutely conquered our in- 
 dependence from Spain and set up our own republic, 
 whose laws were respected, which protected life and 
 property, and which preserved the peace. President 
 Roosevelt ought to recognize the facts. It is unworthy 
 of a mighty and generous nation, itself the greatest 
 and most successful republic in history, to refuse to 
 stretch out a helping hand to a young and weak sister 
 republic just entering upon its career of independence. 
 But he proposes never to grant us our rights, or to 
 permit one solitary ray of light in our depth of dark- 
 ness and despair to bid us hope that we may ever be 
 an independent nation." 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 303 
 
 Then turning to Brown as if, though recognized as 
 a loyal friend, he represented the hostile or indifferent 
 part of the American people, the Filipino captain 
 again challenged fiercely the validity of the proposed 
 oath of allegiance : 
 
 " Why do you white people think us such fools ? 
 Why do they fool themselves so much? President 
 Roosevelt knows all these things. The Commission 
 knows them. General Chaff ee knows them. Every 
 official knows that this oath is a mere sham, a humbug, 
 a disgrace to the official who administers it, a bit of 
 worthless breath to the man who takes it, and the 
 scorn of the God who hears it." 
 
 " You are right about that ! " broke in George 
 Brown. "This is a sample of the folly and blindness 
 of the army at every point. The American Admin- 
 istration is just torpid and savage enough in its con- 
 science to believe that the form of an oath will sanc- 
 tify a lie and will condone murder." 
 
 Faith and the captain and the Filipinos in the com- 
 pany joined in a murmur of approval, while Malvar's 
 man added : 
 
 " That is what we all believe, and so it does not hurt 
 us to take the oath." 
 
 Brown became more intensely indignant, and as- 
 serted : 
 
 " If the man who takes the oath is bound by it ; if 
 it is wrong to break it ; if it is a moral transaction all 
 around, then it is right that the oath be imposed ; 
 then the conquerors have right, on their side. But if 
 
304 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 that is good morals, then an unjust conqueror has only 
 to impose an oath of allegiance, taken * voluntarily/ in 
 order to get a good moral standing in his wickedness. 
 But a man cannot, under pressure like that, renounce 
 his rationality, any more than he can be bound by an 
 enforced oath to commit crime. Can God be circum- 
 vented by man in that way ? Can President Roose- 
 velt, by an enforced oath of allegiance, outwit God and 
 say to him : ' Thus far shalt thou come, and no far- 
 ther, with thy moral law and the rights of man, because 
 I propose to settle this matter myself ' ? " 
 
 "George," exclaimed Faith, "you never said a truer 
 word than that in your life. I know you will never 
 surrender and that you will never take this silly oath 
 of allegiance." 
 
 "But the Americans care nothing for what you 
 say/' cried Malvar's man. " If you fight, they will 
 kill you. If you surrender, you must impose the oath 
 upon yourself voluntarily." 
 
 " That is their soldier-argument," rejoined Brown. 
 " A soldier has no use for conscience or reason. His 
 major premise is a gun ; his minor premise is a bullet ; 
 his conclusion is a dead man. That is the sum of his 
 logical powers. He argues nothing, except by brute 
 force. His brains are in his fists and he has no con- 
 ception of any higher reason." 
 
 "Do just as you please, Captain Brown," was the 
 surrendered man's reply. "Fight on, if you can get 
 any ammunition to fight with and any men to keep 
 you company. But I believe it is time for us to rest 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 305 
 
 and try if our wits will not serve us better than our 
 rifles. Oaths which we know do not bind us, and 
 which we know President Roosevelt knows do not bind 
 us, are no trouble to us. We are just as loyal to the 
 Filipinos as ever, and we hate the Americans as much 
 as ever, except such men as you who recognize our 
 rights." 
 
 " But, my friend," answered Brown, " I cannot agree 
 that it is right to surrender and take the oath volun- 
 tarily, even if we recognize that the oath amounts to 
 nothing. I cannot find any common standard for 
 measuring the value of truth and the value of a man's 
 life. I believe that it is wrong ever to surrender. 
 We ought not to consent to a wrong in order to save 
 our lives. If we do, and justify it as right, then we 
 say that our lives are worth more than the truth is. 
 Perhaps most men would lie to save their lives ; yet 
 how highly we honor the man who scorns to lie to 
 save his life ! " 
 
 " If you keep up the fighting when you are so few, 
 you make yourselves mere guerillas, outlaws, out- 
 side of the rights of war/* 
 
 " Who makes the few survivors in a great struggle 
 guerillas and outlaws ? It is the international laws 
 which are fixed by the Great Powers. They rest on 
 might and not on right. When a man is set upon 
 by murderers, must he cease to struggle because his 
 strength is almost gone ? What is the meaning of 
 ' liberty or death ' ? I know it is a terrible proposi- 
 tion, but if it had not been that war-cry put in practice 
 
3 o6 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 by generations of brave men, this world would be a 
 world of slaves to-day. If men ought to surrender 
 in order to save their lives when their cause seems 
 hopeless and death seems certain if they persist, then 
 all who have died for liberty ought to have saved their 
 lives by not fighting. Jesus Christ himself ought to 
 have surrendered his principles, pleased his enemies, 
 and avoided crucifixion." 
 
 " You may argue, and argue, and the United States 
 will shoot you ! That is the practical bearing of the 
 case." 
 
 "The United States may shoot I cannot prevent 
 that. But I know that a patriot is not an outlaw be- 
 cause he prefers to die rather than surrender. He is 
 not wrong, and never can be wrong, if he fights the 
 conqueror to the last. Your guerilla argument has no 
 moral ground to rest upon, but only the recognition 
 of force." 
 
 " Why cannot you see that there is more hope for 
 independence by peaceful agitation than by force of 
 arms ? " 
 
 " Because the United States will never permit civil 
 agitation. This Administration, backed by the same 
 influences that are strangling Cuba and that are plun- 
 dering the masses of the people of the United States 
 through trust privileges, has got its grip on the Phil- 
 ippines and never intends to let go." 
 
 " It has been officially proclaimed that the ' insur- 
 rection* no longer exists." 
 
 " That makes no difference. It is a mere politician's 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 307 
 
 trick. The infamous sedition law, enacted by five 
 Americans sitting in Manila, selected by the Adminis- 
 tration, is still in force, in spite of all pretended limita- 
 tion. I know what I say, for I have a copy of it in 
 my pocket. It is still law, and will be law as long as 
 the Americans remain, that any one who does any acts 
 ' which tend to stir up the people against the lawful 
 authorities or to disturb the peace of the community, 
 the safety and order of the government, or who shall 
 knowingly conceal such evil practices/ shall be pun- 
 ished severely. They can do anything they please 
 under that law. They are their own judges of it. 
 We are helpless. You are altogether wrong in trust- 
 ing the benevolence of the Administration." 
 
 Here Faith, brave and loyal, came to the support of 
 her husband : 
 
 " It is a contest for the women/' she said, " as well 
 as for the men. We will help to keep the spirit of 
 resistance alive. We will find supplies for this com- 
 pany in the field. We will work in Manila, right under 
 the eyes of the United States spies who are always 
 watching the Filipinos. We will continue our women's 
 organizations in every province. Mothers will teach 
 their sons to fight for independence and wives will 
 encourage their husbands in the field. The United 
 States is fighting a united nation, and the struggle will 
 never end short of victory or annihilation." 
 
 Brown added one further point against surrender : 
 
 " Our great War President, in dedicating the cem- 
 etery on a great battle-field where thousands of patriot 
 
3 o8 LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 heroes died for their country, said we can never 
 forget the words : ' It is rather for us to be here 
 dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that 
 from these honored dead we take increased devotion 
 to that cause for which they gave the last full measure 
 of devotion ; that we may highly resolve that these 
 dead shall not have died in vain/ I have learned that, 
 in one way or another, more than five hundred thousand 
 Filipinos have lost their lives in consequence of this 
 iniquitous warfare by the Americans. It is for us to 
 see that those lives have not been spent in vain." 
 
 Further efforts at persuasion were abandoned. 
 Malvar's man pressed his message no more. 
 
 A little council of war was held. The weakness of 
 the patriot force was recognized. They were not fight- 
 ing for the sake of martyrdom, but for success in their 
 holy cause. Time must be invoked by them in which 
 to allow events to develop and the facts in the Philip- 
 pines to become known to the American people. To 
 the little band Brown said : 
 
 " If we can only hold out till the mass of American 
 voters realize what has been done out here, and what 
 conquest means, what it costs, who pays for it, and 
 who enjoys the results, we shall yet win. But it will 
 be a long and weary struggle against terrible odds. 
 Many of us will not see the end of it. The American 
 generals will hunt us as if we were criminals. They 
 will say we are only robbers. They will try to deceive 
 the people at home, even though they know we are 
 soldiers and that robbers never move in force as 
 
LOYAL TRAITORS 309 
 
 strong as we can muster. Having thus characterized 
 us, they will add that highway robbery shall be pun- 
 ished by death and that no proof of the offense will 
 be needed other than the fact that men are found 
 banded and under arms. They will make it treason, 
 under their pretended civil administration, to talk of 
 Filipino independence. They will do all that tyrants 
 need to do to hold an unwilling, alien people in sub- 
 jection. But the whole Filipino people will agitate, 
 both by reason and by arms, until they win. The 
 American Administration is not divine or infallible. 
 Its policy will surely be repudiated. The American 
 masses are generous. Give them the facts. Show 
 them the cost and the wrong, and they will be with 
 us. But it will take years, and we must prepare 
 to fight a long time." 
 
 "Why need it take so long? Your people are 
 intelligent. They have many papers. They read 
 much/' 
 
 " Yes, but they are political partisans, too. They 
 have strong party spirit. This must be overcome. 
 They are ruled by a few capitalists, and their press 
 is largely controlled by capital. The cause of the 
 common people, even in their own land, never has a 
 fair chance. It will take a long time to overcome 
 these tremendous odds." 
 
 The meager band agreed to avoid decisive engage- 
 ments, to spare their strength in every possible way, 
 to secure support in as many parts of the islands as 
 possible, and to keep the Americans constantly on 
 
3 io LOYAL TRAITORS 
 
 the move pursuing them but never finding them, if 
 wit could avail. They knew that the Filipino people 
 would be at heart always their friends, and that sup- 
 plies could be had if caution were used in not exposing 
 their benefactors to punishment. 
 
 When the council was ended, the officers, with 
 Brown among them and his wife standing by approv- 
 ing his course, raised their hands to heaven and 
 pledged their sacred honor never to abandon their 
 cause until Filipino independence had been secured. 
 
 The ambassador then returned to Manila, Faith 
 and the companions who had come with her accom- 
 panying him to begin a new life of activity for Filipino 
 independence in the way of aid and comfort to the 
 men in arms, while the Filipino company, with 
 Brown, resumed its arms to keep alive the fire of 
 patriotism and the form of resistance. 
 
 So another chapter in the history of the war was 
 'begun. 
 

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