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

UNOFFICIAL LETTERS OF

the natural fortress on which the Aliens had built
the nipa shack, and pitched the tents they call home.
Mrs. Allen had been watching us for an hour as
we appeared first on one point and then on another
of the narrow trail leading down the mountain. Before her eyes had discerned the line of moving figures, the little Igorrote who guards her and her
home had spied us far away against the skyline as
we crossed a barren ridge, and had run excitedly
to her, calling: " Seiora, Seiora, Americanos,
Americanos! " After a final climb that was almost
a scramble up the steep narrow path to the top of
the cliff, we came out on to a smooth green meadow
shaded by the famous old mango grove, the only
one growing at this elevation for miles around. The
situation of the Allen camp is unique. It would
serve as a fortress in time of war, and yet once under the mango trees, surrounded by the green
meadows, looking off toward the quiet mountains,
it has a homelike air. After unsaddling and turning
our horses out to grass, we unpacked our provisions
despite the protests of our hostess, and volunteered
to help get supper. Then the doctor's wife came to
the front. She at once decided to make soda biscuit
and tongue hash. This rather staggered the rest
of us, and, being unable to compete with such delicacies, Mrs. Wilson and I meekly volunteered to
set the table in Mrs. Allen's little dining room. The
bamboo house has three rooms, and they are home284