r we were out of sight, we could hear their
high young voices studying aloud, each for himself, and apparently
undisturbed by the scholastic outburst of his neighbour.

Half a mile outside the walled garrison of Sulu, to the west, is a
strong outpost built of stone, and still farther out yet another. These
outposts are always occupied by American soldiers, not originally
because of any expected trouble with the Moros, but because if our
men did not occupy them the Moros would, thus giving them an almost
invincible stronghold against us in case of some sudden fanatical
uprising. Among the Moros, as in Granada, "Love laughs with a grip
on the knife," and preparedness is as essential as good government.

Near these outposts may be seen some very fine kitchen gardens,
kept by the frugal Celestial, the Chinaman of Sulu being much more
energetic commercially than the Moro. It is from the "Chino" the
American housewife buys her fresh fruits and vegetables, while the
Moros bring in fish and the Filipinos chicken and game, thus ensuring
a well-stocked larder independent of the supply-ships from Manila. In
fact, so delightful a place is Sulu, that if fever were not prevalent
there at some seasons of the year, it would be a veritable Paradise;
but even the sanitary measures taken by the great Spanish General
Arolas have not quite stamped out that scourge to white men, which
long made Sulu the most undesirable military station in the islands.

Everybody in the Philippines knows the story of General Arolas, and
of how, at the close of a brief republican administration in Spain, he
was practically banished to Sulu, there to die by fever or be killed by
the Moros. But Arolas, instead of settling down into an inactive life
awaiting what seemed the inevitable, occupied himself in building up
the town, fortifying it strongly, and at the same time making it more
beautiful by laying it out in broad streets and avenues, interspersed
at regular intervals with flowering squares and plazas. By draining
these streets well, building water-works, and establishing a fine new
market, he changed its reputation as a fever hole and made Sulu one of
the most desirable stations in the south. By his relentless attitude
he gained the respect and fear of the Moros, and only once during his
administration did a fanatical _Juramentado_ gain access to the town.

But Arolas was probably less popular with the Mohammedans than was
the American officer in comm