and after this he set to work to liberate his left wrist from the rope which still encircled it. There was no comfort in standing in water up to his knees, for the bottom of the jungle was little better than a marsh, and reaching for some vines clinging to a tree, he pulled himself up to the lower branches. Here he sat awaiting developments.
In the meantime the American column was swinging forward rapidly. The troops, which were under the immediate command of General Hall, consisted of some Oregon, Colorado, and Wyoming volunteers, and portions of the Fourth and Ninth Infantry, and Fourth Cavalry, as well as the battalion of Colonel Darcy's regiment to which Ben belonged. They had with them four mounted guns, which, however, were moved along the muddy roads only with the greatest of difficulty.
It was General Lawton's plan to have General Hall's column close in on the rebels on the north, and drive them down the shore of the Laguna de Bay (now commonly called by the Americans "Bay Lake") to Pasig, where the American troops stationed at that point were to unite with the others in hemming in the insurgents.
The plan was an excellent one, but the nature of
