Anting-Anting Stories

on. No less wonderful and variedare the inhabitants and the phenomena of the Philippines, and a newauthor, showing rare knowledge of the country and its strange peoples,now gives us a collection of simple yet powerful stories which bringthem before us with dramatic vividness.Pirates, half naked natives, pearls, man-apes, towering volcanoesabout whose summits clouds and unearthly traditions float together,strange animals and birds, and stranger men, pythons, bejuco ropesstained with human blood, feathering palm trees now fanned by softbreezes and now crushed to the ground by tornadoes;--on no mimicstage was ever a more wonderful scene set for such a company ofactors. That the truly remarkable stories written by Sargent Kaymedo not exaggerate the realities of this strange life can be easilyseen by any one who has read the letters from press correspondents,our soldiers, or the more formal books of travel.Strangest, perhaps, of all these possibilities for fiction is theanting-anting, at once a mysterious power to protect its possessorand the outward symbol of the protection. No more curious fetichcan be found in the history of folk-lore. A button, a coin, a bit ofpaper with unintelligible words scribbled upon it, a bone, a stone,a garment, anything, almost--often a thing of no intrinsic value--itsowner has been known to walk up to the muzzle of a loaded musket orrush upon the point of a bayonet with a confidence so sublime as tosilence ridicule and to command admiration if not respect. The Editor.CONTENTS The Anting-Anting of Captain Von Tollig 1 The Cave in the Side of Coron 21 The Conjure Man of Siargao 41 Mrs. Hannah Smith, Nurse 65 The Fifteenth Wife 93 "Our Lady of Pilar" 113 A Question of Time 131 The Spirit of Mount Apo 153 With What Measure Ye Mete 179 Told at the Club 195 Pearls of Sulu 211