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Chapter I

The United States was being torn apart by a four-candidate Presidential campaign in the summer of 1860.  The Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, who was the eldest son of "Queen Vic", paid a visit to Canada and accompanied by his royal entourage which included in its ranks two young men from Tonbridge, Stephen and James King, Controllers of the Prince's Transport.

Little did Stephen twenty years of age, and James twenty-two, realize when they joined the working force of the Prince of Wales in 1858, that two years later they would be crossing the great ocean to the colony of Canada in charge of arranging proper transportation for the royal Prince. They were unprepared for the enthusiastic welcome afforded them at every stop, and the rugged wilderness of the countryside stirred their adventurous spirits.  

When President Buchanan invited the Prince to visit the United States after his tour of Canada, an unexpected boon came to them.  Since an official United States delegation would meet the Prince at the United States-Canadian border Stephen and James were told that they could remain in Canada until the Royal Visit to America was concluded, a space of a month or so.

The first few days the boys were on their own in Canada were spent just gazing about them at the towering evergreen forests, the rugged mountains and the crystal clear, ice cold lakes and streams which seemed to flow everywhere about them.  Taking stock of their carefully saved capital, they discovered enough cash to take them by boat up the St. Lawrence to Quebec where they disembarked in August 1860.  

The Fortress City both captivated and confused them as they wandered up its steep  streets going from one level to another of this tiered town.  Neither of them knew how to parlez-francais, so the many signs were a complete confusion to them.  But they enjoyed wandering about the ancient buildings, being imbued with reverential awe and an intense interest in anything "old" as most Englishmen are.  After several days in Quebec, they departed for Trois-Rivieres to explore for a while a region only partially tamed after over two centuries of the white man's dominion.  

Both young men reveled in the open freedom of the Canadian forests, though neither had been reared in the countryside back in England.   Perhaps it was the memory of factory smoke, gray skies and the massed humanity of the English industrial towns that made the vast forests and wildness of Canada exert such a "Call of the Wild" to their young and eager spirits.

So it was that despite the well-intentioned warnings of a friendly fellow Englishman at Trois-Rivieres, that many had been lost in the surrounding forests who knew their way, they set out in mid-August heavily laden with supplies (much too heavily laden as they were soon to realize) for their journey into what was for them an unknown world.  

By the end of their first day of trekking in the wilds, they realized that they had grossly overestimated the amount they could carry on a hike over such rough terrain as this was.  They spent the early part of their first evening deciding what to discard and what to keep.  After a single day's journey they realized that the forests abounded in game of every kind, so they proceeded to discard much of the food they had brought along, preferring to keep intact their firearms, cooking equipment, and sleeping supplies.  At length, shortly after dark, they settled down to an exhausted slumber from which they were soon awakened.

     "Steve!  Steve!  Wake up man!  Did you hear that?"

     "Huh--eh--what do you want Jamie?  Hear what?"

     "Listen!"

Chapter V

In March 1905, the Eighth Infantry returned to the Philippine Islands, this time to Fort San Pedro on the island of Panay.  They were there for a few days when ordered to Mayorga on the island of Leyte to scout for insurgents....

On the island of Leyte the insurgents were a band of natives called the Pulajanes whose leader was Faustino Ablen....

....In 1885 he first organized his fanatical religious movement known as the Dios-Dios or God-God movement.  He declared to his ignorant followers that he was possessed with supernatural powers and would absent himself from time to time, saying upon his return that he had been on a visit to heaven!....

In the spring of 1903 while Frank was stationed in the States, Alben's movement became violent....Three constabulary officers were killed and five rifles lost.  It was about this time also, that the name of the movement changed to Pulajan signifying Reds or red organization--Pula being the visays for red, jan for organization....

In early April 1905, Company G, Eighth Infantry joined in the expedition to capture Ablen but it was unsuccessful.

May 1, 1905

Been scouting this wild island for over a month now looking for Ablen. We get reports from our scouts that he is here or there.  But no matter how fast we hurry he is always gone, swallowed up in the tall grass before we get there.

Living in the open like this is rough!   There are bloodsuckers everywhere.  They get into your shoes and lodge between the toes.  Some days my socks are wet with blood!  The only way the buggers will come off is to burn them with the end of a lighted cigarette.

          One thing I've learned is never to make your cook fire under a tree unless you want insect soup.  As soon as the smoke rises in the branches bugs of all descriptions drop into your grub.  I still get the creeps some nights from the weird cries that ceaselessly pierce the blackness.  Sometimes we're not at all sure that the Pulajans are not calling to each other planning an attack because one of our boys on sentry duty was found headless after a night of unusually weird cries, and he hadn't a chance to utter a sound!