h fastened the bag, and took from it a
little leather-bound book not more than two inches square. The officer
looked at the book curiously. It was very thin, and upon the tiny
pages, yellow with age, there was writing, still legible, although
the years which had stained the paper yellow had faded the ink. He
spelled out a few words, but they were in a language which he did not
know. "Take the man to the prison," he said. "I will keep the book."

Later in the day the officer called an orderly. "Send Lieutenant
Smith to me," he said.

By one of the odd chances of a war where, like that in the Philippines,
the forces at first must be hastily raised, Captain Von Tollig and the
subordinate officer for whom he had sent, had been citizens of the same
town. The captain had been a business man, shrewd and keen,--too keen
some of his neighbors sometimes said of him. Lieutenant Smith was a
college man, a law student. It had been said of them in their native
town that both had paid court to the same young woman, and that the
younger man had won in the race. If this were so, there had been no
evidence on the part of either in the service to show that they were
conscious of the fact. There had been little communication between
them, it is true, but when there had been the subordinate officer
never overlooked the deference due his superior.

"I wish you would take this book," said Captain Von Tollig, after
he had told briefly how the volume happened to be in his possession,
"and see if you can translate it. I suspect it must be something of
value, from the risk this man took to get it; possibly dispatches from
one native leader to another, the nature of which we ought to know."

The young man took the queer little book and turned the pages
curiously. "I hardly think what is written here can be dispatches,"
he said, "The paper and the ink both look too old for that. The
words seem to be Latin; bad Latin, too, I should say. I think it is
what the natives call an 'anting-anting;' that is a charm of some
kind. Evidently this one did not save the life of the man who wore
it. Probably it is a very famous talisman, else they would not have
run such a risk to try to get it back."

"Can you read it?"

"Not off hand. With your permission I will take it to my tent, and
I think I can study it out there."

"Do so. When you make English of it I'd like to know what it says. I
am getting interested in it"

The lieutenant bowed, and went awa