a Principal in Mayaguez, looking toward the Church.]

The engagement at Las Marias, while not particularly momentous in itself,
was note-worthy as being the last between our forces and those of Spain
during the recent war. I do not believe that the knowledge of this
fact--even had we possessed it at the time--would have materially consoled
us for the disappointment we felt in being obliged to stop shooting just
when we had learned to do it so beautifully; but, still, it is something to
have been in at the finish.

CHAPTER IX

The Territory Won

_General Schwan returns to Mayaguez_--_Business and pleasure_--_A custom
we abolished_--_Extent of the district captured by our brigade_
--_Aguadllla_--_Facilities for transportation_--_Labor and
the laborer_--_The cost of living_--_Rents and real estate_--_Skilled
workmen_--_A word about investments_.

On August 16, in obedience to orders from Army Headquarters, General Schwan
left the bulk of his troops in the positions they had respectively occupied
at the time of the receipt of the truce, and, accompanied by the artillery,
returned to Mayaguez. The people of this city had not yet recovered from
the ferment into which they had been thrown by our advent, and went about
in a state of tremulous titillation, expecting I know not what. At any
rate, it did not seem to arrive; and after a day or two had passed without
any sign of fell intent upon our part the merchants allowed themselves to
be coaxed back into their places of business. The cafes were once more
thronged. Semi-weekly concerts were given in the Plaza Principal by the
band of the Eleventh Infantry and the Banda del Bomberos, in alternation.
Balls, dinner-parties, and flirtations resumed their interrupted course,
gathering new zest and brilliancy from the foreign element within the
gates. All the Americans began to study Spanish, and all the Puerto Ricans
to study English, without particularly gratifying results on either side.
Cocking-mains, local games of chance, and more hectic immoralities were set
forth for the delectation of the private soldiers; while I have personal
knowledge of at least one quasi-clandestine bullfight, that may be best
described as a furtive fizzle.

Strict measures were taken by the brigade commander to prevent
anything resembling disorderly conduct among his men, and though these
laurel-crowned heroes, under the influence of a wonderfully cheap rum, were
seized at odd moments with a