THE LONG TRAIL 



manner belied his i earless and intrepid 

 disposition. A member of the expedition 

 once came into camp with an account of 

 the doctor, whom he had just run across 

 looking too benevolent for this world, 

 engaged in what our companion described 

 as " slaughtering humming-birds, pursu- 

 ing them from bush to bush." One of his 

 Philippine adventures filled us with a de- 

 lighted interest for which I don't believe 

 he fully appreciated the reason. He told 

 us how, with a small force, he had been 

 hemmed in by a large number of Moros. 

 The Americans took refuge in a stockade 

 on a hilltop. The Moros advanced time 

 and again with the greatest gallantry, and 

 Mearns explained how sorry he felt for 

 them as they fell some under the very 

 walls of the stockade. In a musing tone 

 at the end he added: "I slipped out of the 

 stockade that night and collected a most 

 44 



