their baptism of fire and proved themselves soldiers. All the terrible passion of war had supplanted the first feelings of timidity, and they manipulated their guns with as much composure as they would have handled the pigskins on the gridiron. But the ammunition was running short. Fifty-seven shrapnel had been discharged and the battle was still on. The Pennsylvania men had fired away nearly all their ammunition, and affairs began to look serious, when a body of men from Camp Dewey hauling a limber chest after them dashed from out the gloom. Once more across the intervening space the shells shrieked and broke the Spanish lines, causing havoc and terror. The attempt of the "Dons" had proved futile, and after having fought for two and a half hours they withdrew.

Although other commands had lost men the Utah boys were fortunate in this that not one of their number was killed and only one slightly wounded in this engagement.

For several days but little was done by the Utah troops. The men constructed emplacements for the guns, cut down timber which might have interfered with good work and awaited orders. In the meantime the Lieutenants of the batteries were relieving each other from day to day. The fire from the Spanish lines was kept up in a desultory manner and was replied to by the infantry in the American lines.

The final engagement on the 13th was short, but the guns of the Utah men did wonderful execution. In conjunction with Dewey's fleet they tore holes in the Spanish fort at Malate and helped in forcing the enemy out of his position on the extreme left.

CHAPTER II.

BARRACK LIFE.

Like all the other organizations which had taken part in the capturing of Manila, the Utah batteries were without a home when they first entered the city. Battery A found temporary quarters in a spacious nipa hut in the Malate district, while Battery B went into barracks in the Odministracion de Hacienda. Several days later Major Young secured the Cuartel de Meisic, formerly occupied by a Spanish engineer regiment, and Battery A was stationed there August 18th. Some days following Battery B moved into the same building. The Third Artillery occupied the south half of the Cuartel, and the batteries were domiciled in the east and west wings of the north half. The Cuartel was a large and stalwart structure located in the most picturesque part of Manila. South of it lay the business portion of Manila, with its Escolta, its Plaza de Cervantes, and its Hotel de Oriente; to the west was the Marcadero teeming with rustic Filipino maids and redolent with its Oriental odors; stretching away to the north were the broad rice fields and forests of bamboo, with the mountains in the distance forming a background. It was a pleasant home and one which the men appreciated.

During the first few weeks of barrack life the men settled down serene in the thought that they would soon be speeding homeward. Their duty had been done and they felt that they were now entitled to the happier pleasures of Utah. But days passed, and were lengthened into weeks, weeks passed and were lengthened into months, and still they remained in the tropics with less hope of returning home than they had at first entertained. The novelty of their surroundings began to wear off and everything which the Philippines could afford became decidedly commonplace. Unable, therefore, to find other entertainments when off duty, as a pastime the men exchanged reminiscent fairy tales about their late combat. Wearying of these occupations they often sauntered out of the Cuartel in bodies in quest of what little mirth they could get out of the passive and inexplicable natives.

Of course, there were drills and everybody liked them, as they produced such an excellent opportunity for one to give vent to his feelings after the drills were over with. Those were happy hours which the men spent in sweltering under the genial warmth of the southern sun, and learning with a bitter vengeance the tactics of "dismounted drill." And "double time," too, was always a pleasant innovation as it generated a bodily heat to correspond with mental feelings and external influences. Then there was always an appreciative audience of gaping nut-brown maids and matrons who took delight in watching the "soldado" go through his ever-changing evolutions. Yes, those were days which the veteran will always look back upon with rapture.

At first some trouble was occasioned over the inadequate food supply; but that difficulty was soon obliterated. The then acting commissary sergeant was removed and A.L. Williams, familiarly known among his admirers in the battalion by the euphonious prefixes of "Dad" and "Judge," was elevated to this position. Under the judicious management of the Judge a revolution was made in the department and the men waxed fat from the overflowing cornucopia of the commissary.

In those murky days of Manila were other things which served to offset the oppressive blazonry of the tropic sun. In order to make the attire of the soldiers harmonize as much as possible with the requirements of the climate, light shirts and trousers were provided by the quartermaster's department. Every week occurred a general inspection, to which the men were expected to appear housed in this startling white with polished shoes and flaming brass buckles. A very imposing appearance they made when lined up on these occasions.

The advent of the soldier vastly accelerated the trade of the native fruit venders in the vicinity of the Cuartel, and as time wore on this peculiar product of the Orient increased his sales by the addition of the deadly "vino," sometimes with rather disastrous results to the imbiber. That wondrous monument of human ingenuity commonly known as "army hardtack" formed the standard medium of exchange between the industrious fruit dealer and his overworked customer. The barred windows of the Cuartel became the market ground for all the products of Luzon, and through them many a luscious mango was exchanged for an adamantine biscuit upon which the soldier had vainly expended all his dental energy. The natives had full access to the barracks at this time, and the native washerwoman made the blanco trousers shine iridescently for inspection by beating them against the sunny side of a boulder and afterwards pressing them with a fearfully and wonderfully made flatiron.

Hard by the Cuartel were a number of "tiendas," widely known among the soldiers as "vino stands." The presiding spirit over one of these establishments was generally a pretty "mestiza," who, in addition to her natural charms, was blessed with a high-sounding Castilian name. There were four shops run on the plan, which held pre-eminence both for the character of the "vino" which they supplied and the bewitching charms of their owners. The returned volunteer will remember with keen enjoyment "Juanita," "Juaquina," "Victoriana," and above all "Isabella," the saintly and virtuous, who was equally as skillful in obtaining the nimble sixpence as in raising a brood of mestiza children. There was also "Madre," withered and antiquated, but a born dictator, and through her superior management she came to be known as the top-sergeant. Finally there was Ysabel, with a gentle smile upon her pleasant brunette face, and Estepania, brown-eyed and plump, most beautiful among all the mestiza belles. Isabella's casa was the place to which the eyes of the weary soldier turned after a long and fatiguing drill; afterwards it was the point to which his footsteps inevitably led when he was able to rush in for a few days from the firing line. The house was large and spacious, with polished ebony floors and wide windows through which the balmy zephyrs blew and kissed the heated brow of the tired fighter.