s cowardly and despicable.

I do not for a moment believe that Blount speaks the truth, but if
he does, then his failure to attempt to bring to justice the human
fiends concerned brands him!

It has been the fashion in certain quarters to make vile allegations
of this sort against officers of the United States army, couching them
in discreetly general terms. This is a contemptible procedure, for
it frees those who make reckless charges from danger of the criminal
proceedings which would otherwise doubtless be brought against them.

On arrival at Ilagan, the town where Piera was tortured to death,
Blount says [287] that Messrs. Wilcox and Sargent were

"given a grand _baile_ [ball] and _fiesta_ [feast], a kind of
dinner-dance, we would call it.... From Ilagan they proceeded to
Aparri, cordially received everywhere, and finding the country in
fact, as Aguinaldo always claimed in his proclamations of that period,
seeking recognition of his government by the Powers, in a state of
profound peace and tranquillity--free from brigandage and the like."

Within sight of the banquet hall, within hearing of the music, lay
a lighter on which were huddled eighty-four priests of the Catholic
Church, many of them gray-haired old men, innocent of any evil conduct,
who for weeks had suffered, mentally and physically, the tortures of
the damned.

Of the events of this evening and the following day Father Malumbres
says:--

"From the river the _convento_ could be seen profusely illuminated and
the strains of music could be heard, an evident sign that they were
engaged in revelry. This gave us a bad start, as we came to fear that
Villa had returned from the expedition undertaken to come up with two
Americans who had crossed the Caraballo range and were thinking of
coming down as far as Aparri. It was late to announce to Villa our
arrival at Ilagan, so that we were obliged to pass the night on the
lighter. In the morning our boat was anchored in front of the pueblo of
Ilagan, where we were credibly informed that Villa had returned. This
accursed news made us begin to fear some disagreeable incident.

"Our Matias went ashore and delivered the official communication
regarding our transfer to Villa, while we waited impatiently for
his decision. Sergeant Matias at length returned with orders for
our disembarkation; we put on the best clothes we had and the rowers
placed a broad plank between the lighter and the arsenal and we left
our