they do not already possess. There is no praise too high for these guerrillas. At the risk of their lives they have remained loyal to President Quezon and the cause of Philippine freedom, and they are willing to help Americans at every opportunity. Their hospitality is unbounded; and as an instance of just what this means--and also illustrating the local importance of some of the guerrilla leaders--we were entertained at a luncheon which was enlivened by an eleven-piece orchestra! In spite of such sumptuous entertainment, we were as yet by no means free of the Japs, and there was still a lot of hard- ship ahead. On the third day out, Mellnik cut his left hand quite badly with a bolo as we were clearing a way through the jungle. It gave him trouble over most of the 40-odd days we were traveling, but he never let us slow up on our journey, and we never once heard him speak of his pain. On another occasion Lt. Dobervich became quite ill and was able to retain no food. We thought he had a recurring attack of malaria, although his symptoms were slightly atypical. After several days on quinine, during which he showed no change for the better, I switched him to aspirins, of which we had hoarded a small store from our Red Cross boxes. He was soon better. At one time we were traveling by banca, a native boat which is pushed, pulled or poled by Filipino cargadores, when we passed through a part of the country inhabited by Atas, a tribe - 86 - |