BACK TO CIVILIZATION 
379 
day that I had been there. The waters were glassy 
and smooth, just as the bay used to be every morn¬ 
ing of the long blockade, when the air was still and 
the broad glistening water was tranquil and at rest. 
The surprises came in Manila. Great changes had 
taken place in the harbor, new breakwaters were 
where there had been none before, new buildings 
were up, and still more were building. Big electric 
cars rushed along where formerly the snail-like 
horse cars crept painfully by. The city was unbe¬ 
lievably clean and the main streets were full of 
busy life. 
I visited the old houses where we had once lived 
in economical splendor, with servants and carriages 
and expenses that were microscopic as compared to 
those of the present day. Upon all sides were the 
visible evidences that some day Manila will be the 
finest city of the Orient if the time ever comes when 
capital may feel assured that our occupation has 
some prospect of permanence. 
In my old days I used to know a beautiful Mes- 
tiza girl in Manila. She was very pretty and very 
nice. I used to draw pictures of her and struggle 
bravely with the Spanish language. And she was 
kind and patient with my efforts to learn. Her 
name was Victoria and she kept a little shop where 
she and her ancestors for generations before had 
sold silk jusi and pina cloth. I visited her often 
there and sometimes went out to her home, a beauti¬ 
ful big Spanish house in Calle Zarigoza. 
I determined to find her and went over to her 
