Page:Under MacArthur in Luzon.djvu/281

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A FRIAR TELLS HIS STORY
251

was told that this Ponprè and a man named Moval tried to have Señor Garabella kidnapped and taken to Borneo."

"Yees?" The friar said no more, but his face was suggestive of a good deal.

"You know about this?"

"I heara eet, yees, but perhap it no true—de peoples say so much; not so?"

"Is Ponprè still at Desdenas?"

"Yees—dat is, he was dare t'ree day ago, capitan."

"Where was he stopping?"

"At de house of da rich man, Rousana."

The friar could not, or would not, tell more, and soon after left the camp, stating he was going to work his way to Malolos. It was the first and last time the young captain saw him. But the conversation between the pair was destined to become an important one.

After the taking of Magalang, the regiment to which Ben was attached rested for a day and then moved back toward the line of the railroad. On every hand the native huts and houses were found deserted and empty of all which was valuable. At one point a large rice-house was found, with