By and by the stars in the lane of sky above grew dim， anda stronger light， which faintly illuminated the river gorge， toldhim that the full moon had risen， although not yet high enoughto light his course directly. After a time the gorge grew widerand its sides less steep and high； and then， at last， he heard theroar of the falls， and found the village， and had landed.
What time it might be now the sergeant did not dare toguess. A sleepy native pointed out to him the path， stared，when the stranger said he must hurry on to Ilo Ilo that night，and flatly refusing to be his guide， went back to bed.
The forest path was rankly wet with night dew， and dimlylighted by the moon. The soldier hurried forward， only tofind that in his haste he had missed the main path. Slowly andanxiously he retraced his way until he found the right roadagain， and then went forward slowly enough now to go withcare.
And so， at last， he saw before him the city of Ilo Ilo， onlyto learn， when he was challenged by a picket， that it was oneo’clock and that the Utica had steamed out of the harbour anhour before.
Useless as he feared the dispatch might be now， SergeantJohnson insisted that it be delivered at once， and that he begiven an opportunity to ask to be allowed to tell the generalwhy he was so late. When that officer， roused from sleep， hadread the dispatch and heard the story briefly， for there wereother things to be thought of then， he told the young man， “Youhave done well，” for he knew the ways of Filipino “tulisanes，”
“and after all perhaps you may not be too late.”
But before he explained what he meant by the last part of hissentence， the general called for one of his aids， and as soon asthe man could be brought， hastily gave him certain orders withinstructions that they were to be communicated to the officerswhom they concerned， as quickly as was possible， regardlessof how sound asleep those gentlemen might be.
Then， because he was at heart a kindly man， and because hefelt that the water-soaked， thorn-torn soldier before him， palewith weariness and anxiety， had done his best， the general toldhim what was the nature of the dispatch， and why， even then，he might yet be in time.
For by another of the fortunate dispensations of providence，or if you please， by a strange coincidence， that very afternoonanother American gunboat had unexpectedly steamed into theharbour of Ilo Ilo and dropped anchor.
The general had sent messages to the commander of theOgdensburgh， explaining the situation to him， and as soon asthat officer understood the matter he replied， “You did justright.”
“We will start in pursuit of the Utica as soon as we can getup steam， and do our best to overtake her.”
Could they overtake her？ That was the question. She had agood three hours start， for daylight was breaking before theOgdensburgh could be got under way， and the registered speedof the boats was about equal.
At any rate there was doubt enough as to what the resultwould be so that when the Ogdensburgh reached the townof Concepcion， fifty miles up the coast from Ilo Ilo， and theUtica was seen to be lying at anchor in the harbour there， thecommander of the Ogdensburgh said words which were asthankful as they were emphatic. For just beyond Concepcionharbour began the narrow channels of the Gigantes Islands， insome of which he had feared to find the gunboat wrecked.
When the captain of the Utica came to know why he waspursued， and what he had escaped， he was as grateful forthe faulty cylinder head which had delayed him as， the nightbefore， he had been exasperated by it.
The pilot， charged with his treachery， proved at once that thecharge was true， by turning traitor again and offering to buythe safety of his own neck by guiding the boats to where theycould shell the woods in which the natives were hidden.
