Unofficial letters of an official's wife [by] Edith Moses.

AN OFFICIAL'S WIFE

with the most nondescript collection of household
goods. Some sat on chairs or stools clasping a
bundle of rags in their arms. One woman had saved
a spoon and a broken rice bowl. The little earthen
stoves in which the coals are placed to cook their
simple meals were clasped in the arms of half-clad
girls and boys. Every man had his precious fighting cock under one arm, and not a few held a guitar under the other. There was no complaining
or lamenting. The round-eyed babies sat gazing
quietly at the flames, while their mothers and
fathers squatted on the ground, and watched their
household goods disappear in smoke with an apathy
that was surprising. Fortunately, it was not raining, and the night was warm, so before we retired
from the scene half-a-dozen families were preparing
to go to sleep in an angle of our wall under a cocoanut tree. Auria enjoyed the fire immensely. She
showed great presence of mind, too, when we all
half believed the insurrectos were attacking the
town. She kept assuring me that there was no danger, for our guard had his gun.
This has been a busy week. I cannot see that the
Filipinos or the Europeans keep Lent with any
strictness. Cards are the excuse for any number of
gay affairs, and dinners and luncheons are as
numerous as ever.
I am planning to take Auria and Friulein to
Japan during the hot weather, while the schools are
217