IV
I jumped toward the street at the double, and the men followed mecrowded in a bunch. I shouted back at them to spread out, and they fellapart. As I turned into the street I heard a shout from the plaza end ofit and found a dozen soldiers running forward to meet us. When they sawthe troops swing around the corner, they halted and some took cover inthe doorways, and others dropped on one knee in the open street, andfired carefully. I heard soft, whispering sounds stealing by my headwith incredible slowness, and I knew that at last I was under fire. I nolonger felt like a boy robbing an orchard, nor a burglar. I was insteadgrandly excited and happy, and yet I was quite calm too. I am sureof this, for I remember I calculated the distance between us and thewarehouse, and compared it with the two hundred and twenty-yard stretchin an athletic park at home. As I ran I noted also everything on eitherside of me: two girls standing behind the iron bars of a window withtheir hands pressed to their cheeks, and a negro with a broom in hishand crouching in a doorway. Some of the men stopped running and haltedto fire, but I shouted to them to come on. I was sure if we continuedto charge we could frighten off the men at the end of the street, and Iguessed rightly, for as we kept on they scattered and ran. I could hearshouts and screams rising from many different houses, and men and womenscuttled from one side of the street to the other like frightened hens.
As we passed an open shop some men inside opened a fusillade on me, andover my shoulder I just caught a glimpse of one of them as he droppedback behind the counter. I shouted to Von Ritter, who was racing withme, to look after them, and saw him and a half-dozen others swervesuddenly and sweep into the shop. Porter's men were just behind mineand the noise our boots made pounding on the cobblestones sounded like astampede of cattle.
The plaza was an unshaded square of dusty grass. In the centre was acircular fountain, choked with dirt and dead leaves, and down the pathswhich led to it were solid stone benches. I told the men to take coverinside the fountain, and about a dozen of them dropped behind the rim ofit, facing toward the barracks. I heard Porter give a loud "hurrah!" atfinding the doors of the warehouse open, and it seemed almost instantlythat the men of his troop began to fire over our heads from its roof.At the first glance it was difficult to tell from where the enemy's firecame, but I soon saw smoke floating from the cupola of the church onthe corner and drifting through the barred windows of the barracks. Ishouted at the men behind the benches to aim at the cupola, and directedthose with me around the fountain to let loose at the barrack windows.As they rose to fire and exposed themselves above the rim of thefountain three of them were hit, and fell back swearing. The men behindthe benches shouted at me to take cover, and one of the wounded men inthe fountain reached up and pulled at my tunic, telling me to lie down.The men of B and C Troops were rolling casks out of the warehouse andbuilding a barricade, and I saw that we were drawing all of the firefrom them. We were now in a cross-fire between the church and thebarracks, and were getting very much the worst of the fight. The men inthe barracks were only seventy yards away. They seemed to be the oneschiefly responsible. They had piled canvas cots against the bars of thewindows, and though these afforded them no protection, they preventedour seeing anything at which to shoot.
One of my men gave a grunt, and whirled over, holding his hand to hisshoulder. "I've got it, Captain," he said. I heard another man shriekfrom behind one of the benches. Our position was becoming impossible. Itwas true we were drawing the fire from the men who were working onthe barricade, which was what we had been sent out to do, but in threeminutes I had lost five men.
I remembered a professor at the Point telling us the proportion ofbullets that went home was one to every three hundred, and I wished Ihad him behind that fountain. Miller was lying at my feet pumpingaway with a Winchester. As he was reloading it he looked up at me, andshouted, "And they say these Central Americans can't shoot!" I saw whitefigures appearing and disappearing at the windows of almost every houseon the plaza. The entire population seemed to have taken up arms againstus. The bullets splashed on the combing of the fountain and tore up thegrass at our feet, and whistled and whispered about our ears. It seemedutter idiocy to remain, but I could not bring myself to run back to thebarricade.
In the confusion which had ensued in the barracks when Garcia opened theattack the men who ran out to meet him had left the gates of the barrackyard open, and as I stood, uncertain what to do, I saw a soldier pushingthem together. He had just closed one when I caught sight of him. Ifired with my revolver, and shouted to the men. "We must get insidethose gates," I cried. "We can't stay here. Charge those gates!" Ipointed, and they all jumped from every part of the plaza, and we racedfor the barrack wall, each of us yelling as we ran. A half dozen of usreached there in time to throw ourselves against the gate that was justclosing, and the next instant I fell sprawling inside the barrack yard.
{Illustration: And the next instant I fell sprawling inside the barrackyard}
We ran straight for the long room which faced the street, and as we camein at one end of it the men behind the cots fired a frightened volley atus and fled out at the other. In less than two minutes the barracks wereempty, and we had changed our base from that cock-pit of a fountain to aregular fortress with walls two feet thick, with rifles stacked in everycorner, and, what at that moment seemed of greatest importance, with abreakfast for two hundred men bubbling and boiling in great iron pots inthe kitchen. I had never felt such elation and relief as I did over thatbloodless victory. It had come when things looked so bad; it had comeso suddenly and easily that while some of the men cheered, others onlylaughed, shaking each other's hands or slapping each other on the back,and some danced about like children. We tore the cots away from thewindows and waved at the men behind the barricade, and they stood up andcheered us, and the men on the roof, looking very tall against the bluesky, stood up and waved their hats and cheered too. They had silencedthe men in the cupola, and a sudden hush fell upon the plaza. It waseasy to see that many sympathizers with the government had been shootingat us from the private houses. When they saw us take the barracksthey had probably decided that the time had come to wipe off thepowder-stains, and reappear as friends of the revolution. The onlyfiring now was from where Garcia was engaged. Judging from the loudnessof these volleys he had reached the outskirts of the town. I set halfof my force to work piling up bags of meal behind the iron bars, and,in the event of fire, filling pails with water, and breaking what littleglass still remained in the windows. Others I sent to bring in thewounded, and still others to serving out the coffee and soup we hadfound in the kitchen. After giving these orders I ran to the barricadeto report. When I reached it the men behind it began to rap on thestones with the butts of their rifles as people pound with theirbilliard-cues when someone has made a difficult shot, and those on theroof leaned over and clapped their hands. It was most unmilitary, butI must say I was pleased by it, though I pretended I did not know whatthey meant.
Laguerre came to the door of the warehouse, and smiled at me.
"I'm glad you're still alive, sir," he said. "After this, when you getwithin seventy yards of the enemy, I hope you will be able to see himwithout standing up."
The men above us laughed, and I felt rather foolish, and mutteredsomething about "setting an example."
"If you get yourself shot," he said, "you will be setting a very badexample, indeed. We can't spare anybody, Captain, and certainly notyou." I tried to look as modest as possible, but I could not refrainfrom glancing around to see if the men had heard him, and I observedwith satisfaction that they had.
Laguerre asked me if I could hold the barracks, and I told him that Ithought I could. He then ordered me to remain there.
"Would you like a cup of coffee, General?" I asked. The General'sexpression changed swiftly. It became that of a very human and a veryhungry man.
"Have you got any?" he demanded anxiously.
"If you can lend me some men," I said, "I can send you back eightgallons." At this the men behind
the barricades gave a great cheer ofdelight, and the General smiled and patted me on the shoulder.
"That is right," he said. "The best kind of courage often comes from afull stomach. Run along now," he added, as though he were talking to achild, "run along, and don't fire until we do, and send us that coffeebefore we get to work again."
I called in all of my men from the side streets, and led them acrossto the barracks. I placed some of them on the roof and some of them ontables set against the inside of the wall in the yard.
As I did so, I saw Porter run across the plaza with about fifty ofhis men, and almost immediately after they had disappeared we heardcheering, and he returned with Captain Heinze. They both ran towardGeneral Laguerre, and Porter then came across to me, and told me thatthe government troops were in full flight, and escaping down the sidestreets into the jungle. They were panic-stricken and were scattering inevery direction, each man looking after his own safety. For the next twohours I chased terrified little soldiers all over the side of thetown which had been assigned me, either losing them at the edge of thejungle, or dragging them out of shops and private houses. No one washurt. It was only necessary to fire a shot after them to see them throwup their hands. By nine o'clock I had cleaned up my side of the town,and returned to the plaza. It was now so choked with men and mules thatI was five minutes in forcing my way across. Garcia's troops had marchedin, and were raising a great hullabaloo, cheering and shouting, andembracing the townspeople, whom they had known during their formeroccupation, and many of whom were the same people who had been firingat us. I found Laguerre in counsel with Garcia, who was in high spirits,and feeling exceedingly pleased with himself. He entirely ignoredour part in taking the town, and talked as though he had captured itsingle-handed. The fact that the government troops had held him backuntil we threatened them in the rear he did not consider as important. Iresented his swagger and the way he patronized Laguerre, but the Generaldid not seem to notice it, or was too well satisfied with the day's workto care. While I was at head-quarters our scouts came in to report thatthe enemy was escaping along the trail to Comyagua, and that two oftheir guns had stalled in the mud, not one mile out from Santa Barbara.This was great news, and to my delight I was among those who hurried outto the place where the guns were supposed to be. We found them abandonedand stuck in the mud, and captured them without firing a shot. A halfhour later we paraded our prizes in a triumphal procession through thestreets of Santa Barbara, and were given a grand welcome by the alliesand the townspeople. I had never witnessed such enthusiasm, but it wasnot long before I found out the cause of it. In our absence everybodyhad been celebrating the victory with aguardiente, and half of Garcia'swarriors had become so hopelessly drunk that they were lying all overthe plaza, and their comrades were dancing and tramping upon them.
I found that this orgy had put Laguerre in a fine rage, and I heard himsend out the provost guard with orders to throw all the drunken men intothe public corral for lost mules.
When he learned of this Garcia was equally indignant. The matter endedwith Laguerre's locking up Garcia's soldiers with our prisoners-of-warin the yard barracks, where they sang and shouted and fought until theywere exhausted and went to sleep.
There was still much drink left on requisition, but the conqueringheroes had taken everything there was to eat, and for some time Iwandered around seeking for food before I finally discovered Miller,Von Ritter, and Aiken in the garden of a private house enjoying a mostmagnificent luncheon. I begged a share on the ground that I had justovercome two helpless brass cannon, and they gave me a noisy welcome,and made a place for me. I was just as happy as I was hungry, and I wasdelighted to find someone with whom I could discuss the fight. For anhour we sat laughing and drinking, and each talking at the top of hisvoice and all at the same time. We were as elated as though we hadcaptured the city of London.
Of course Aiken had taken no part in the fight, and of course he madelight of it, which was just the sort of thing he would do, and heespecially poked fun at me and at my charge on the barracks. He calledit a "grand-stand play," and said I was a "gallery fighter." He said thereason I ran out into the centre of the plaza was because I knew therewas a number of women looking out of the windows, and he pretended tobelieve that when we entered the barracks they were empty, and that Iknew they were when I ordered the charge.
"It was the coffee they were after," he declared. "As soon as Macklinsmelt the coffee he drew his big gilt sword and cried, 'Up, my men,inside yon fortress a free breakfast awaits us. Follow your gallantleader!' and they never stopped following until they reached thekitchen. They're going to make Macklin a bugler," he said, "so thatafter this he can blow his own trumpet without anyone being allowed tointerrupt him."
I was glad to find that I could take what Aiken said of me as lightly asdid the others. Since the fight his power to annoy me had passed. I knewbetter than anyone else that at one time during the morning I had beenin a very tight place, but I had stuck to it and won out. The knowledgethat I had done so gave me confidence in myself--not that I have evergreatly lacked it, but it was a new kind of confidence. It made mefeel older, and less inclined to boast. In this it also helped out myfavorite theory that it must be easy for the man who has done somethingto be modest. After he has proved himself capable in the eyes of hiscomrades he doesn't have to go about telling them how good he is. It isa saying that heroes are always modest, but they are not really modest.They just keep quiet, because they know their deeds are better talkersthan they are.
Miller and I had despatched an orderly to inform Laguerre of ourwhereabouts, and at three o'clock in the afternoon the man returned totell us that we were to join the General in the plaza. On arriving therewe found the column already drawn up in the order of march, and an hourlater we filed out of the town down the same street by which we hadentered it that morning, and were cheered by the same people who eighthours before had been firing upon us. We left five hundred of Garcia'smen to garrison the place and prevent the townspeople from againchanging their sympathies, and continued on toward Tegucigalpa withGarcia and the remainder of his force as our main body, and with theLegion in the van. We were a week in reaching Comyagua, which was theonly place that we expected would offer any resistance until we arrivedoutside of the capital. During that week our march was exactly similarto the one we had made from the camp to Santa Barbara. There was thesame rough trail, the jungle crowding close on either flank, the samedusty villages, the same fierce heat. At the villages of Tabla Ve andat Seguatepec our scouts surprised the rear guard of the enemy andstampeded it without much difficulty, and with only twenty men wounded.As usual we had no one to thank for our success in these skirmishes butourselves, as Garcia's men never appeared until just as the fight wasover, when they would come running up in great excitement. Laguerreremarked that they needed a better knowledge of the bugle calls, as theyevidently mistook our "Cease firing" for "Advance."
The best part of that week's march lay in the many opportunities it gaveme to become acquainted with my General. The more I was permitted tobe with him the longer I wanted to be always with him, and with no oneelse. After listening to Laguerre you felt that a talk with the othermen was a waste of time. There was nothing apparently that he did notknow of men and events, and his knowledge did not come from books, butat first hand, from contact with the men, and from having taken part inthe events.
After we had pitched camp for the night the others would elect me to goto his tent, and ask if we could come over and pay our respects. Theyalways selected me for this errand, because they said it was easy to seethat I was his favorite.
When we were seated about him on the rocks, or on ammunition boxes,or on the ground, I would say, "Please, General, we want to hear somestories," and he would smile and ask, "What sort of stories?" and eachof us would ask for something different. Some would want to hear aboutthe Franco-Prussian war, and others of the Fall of Plevna or Don Carlosor Garibaldi, or of the Confederate generals with whom Laguerre hadfo
ught in Egypt.
When the others had said good-night he would sometimes call me back onthe pretence of giving me instructions for the morrow, and then wouldcome the really wonderful stories--the stories that no historian hasever told. His talk was more educational than a library of histories,and it filled me with a desire to mix with great people--to be theircompanion as he had been, to have kings and pretenders for my intimates.When one listened it sounded easy of accomplishment. It never seemedstrange to him that great rulers should have made a friend of a straysoldier of fortune, an Irish adventurer--for Laguerre's mother wasIrish; his father had been Colonel Laguerre, and once Military Governorof Algiers--and given him their confidence. And yet I could see why theyshould do so, for just the very reason that he took their confidenceas a matter of course, knowing that his loyalty would always be abovesuspicion. He had a great capacity for loyalty. There was no taint in itof self-interest, nor of snobbishness. He believed, for instance, in thedivine right of kings; and from what he let fall we could see that hehad given the most remarkable devotion not only to every cause for whichhe had fought, but to the individual who represented it. That in timeeach of these individuals had disappointed him had in no way shakenhis faith in the one to whom he next offered his sword. His was a mostbeautiful example of modesty and of faith in one's fellowman. It wasduring this week, and because of these midnight talks with him aroundthe campfire, that I came to look up to him, and love him like a son.
But during that same week I was annoyed to find that many of our menbelieved the version which Aiken had given of my conduct at SantaBarbara. There were all sorts of stories circulating through theLegion about me. They made me out a braggart, a bully, and a conceitedass--indeed, almost everything unpleasant was said of me except thatI was a coward. Aiken, of course, kindly retold these stories to me,either with the preface that he thought I ought to know what was beingsaid of me, or that he thought the stories would amuse me. I thanked himand pretended to laugh, but I felt more like punching his head. Peoplewho say that women are gossips, and that they delight in tearing eachother to pieces, ought to hear the talk of big, broad-shouldered menaround camp-fires. If you believe what they say, you would think thatevery officer had either bungled or had funked the fight. And when aman really has performed some act which cannot be denied they call him a"swipe," and say he did it to gain promotion, or to curry favor withthe General. Of course, it may be different in armies officered bygentlemen; but men are pretty much alike all the world over, and I knowthat those in our Legion were as given to gossip and slander as theinmates of any Old Woman's Home. I used to say to myself that so long asI had the approval of Laguerre and of my own men and of my conscience Icould afford not to mind what the little souls said; but as a matter offact I did mind it, and it angered me exceedingly. Just as it hurt me atthe Point to see that I was not popular, it distressed me to find thatthe same unpopularity had followed me into the Legion. The truth is thatthe officers were jealous of me. They envied me my place as Adjutant,and they were angry because Laguerre assigned one so much younger thanthemselves to all the most important duties. They said that by showingfavoritism he was weakening his influence with the men and that he madea "pet" of me. If he did I know that he also worked me five times ashard as anyone else, and that he sent me into places where no one buthimself would go. The other officers had really no reason to object tome personally. I gave them very little of my company, and though I spokepleasantly when we met I did not associate with them. Miller and VonRitter were always abusing me for not trying to make friends; but I toldthem that, since the other officers spoke of me behind my back as a cad,braggart, and snob, the least I could do was to keep out of their way.
I was even more unpopular with the men, but there was a reason for that;for I was rather severe with them, and imposed as strict a discipline onthem as that to which I had been accustomed at West Point. The greaterpart of them were ne'er-do-wells and adventurers picked up off the beachat Greytown, and they were a thoroughly independent lot, reckless andcourageous; but I doubt if they had ever known authority or restraint,unless it was the restraint of a jail. With the men of my own troop Igot on well enough, for they saw I understood how to take care of them,and that things went on more smoothly when they were carried out as Ihad directed, so they obeyed me without sulking. But with the men of thetroops not directly under my command I frequently met with trouble;and on several occasions different men refused to obey my orders asAdjutant, and swore and even struck at me, so that I had to knock themdown. I regretted this exceedingly, but I was forced to support myauthority in some way. After learning the circumstances Laguerreexonerated me, and punished the men. Naturally, this did not help mewith the volunteers, and for the first ten days after I had joined theLegion I was the most generally disliked man in it. This lasted until wereached Comyagua, when something happened which brought the men over tomy side. Indeed, I believe I became a sort of a hero with them, and wasnearly as popular as Laguerre himself. So in the end it came out allright, but it was near to being the death of me; and, next to hanging,the meanest kind of a death a man could suffer.
When this incident occurred, which came so near to ending tragicallyfor me, we had been trying to drive the government troops out of thecathedral of Comyagua. It was really a church and not a cathedral, butit was so much larger than any other building we had seen in Hondurasthat the men called it "The Cathedral." It occupied one whole side ofthe plaza. There were four open towers at each corner, and the frontentrance was as large as a barn. Their cannon, behind a barricade ofpaving stones, were on the steps which led to this door.
I carried a message from Laguerre along the end of the plaza oppositethe cathedral, and as I was returning, the fire grew so hot that Idropped on my face. There was a wooden watering-trough at the edge ofthe sidewalk, and I crawled over and lay behind it. Directly back of mewas a restaurant into which a lot of Heinze's men had broken theirway from the rear. They were firing up at the men in the towers of thecathedral. My position was not a pleasant one, for every time I raisedmy head the soldiers in the belfry would cut loose at me; and, thoughthey failed to hit me, I did not dare to get up and run. Already thetrough was leaking like a sieve. There was no officer with the men inthe cafe, so they were taking the word from one of their own number, andwere firing regularly in volleys. They fired three times after I tookshelter. They were so near me that at each volley I could hear the sweepof the bullets passing about two yards above my head.
But at the fourth volley a bullet just grazed my cheek and drove itselfinto the wood of the trough. It was so near that the splinters flewin my eyes. I looked back over my shoulder and shouted, "Look out! Younearly hit me then. Fire higher."
One of the men in the cafe called back, "We can't hear you," and Irepeated, "Fire higher! You nearly hit me," and pointed with my fingerto where the big 44-calibre ball had left a black hole in the greenpaint of the trough. When they saw this there were excited exclamationsfrom the men, and I heard the one who was giving the orders repeating mywarning. And then came the shock of another volley. Simultaneously withthe shock a bullet cut through the wide brim of my sombrero and passedinto the box about two inches below my chin.
It was only then that I understood that this was no accident, but thatsomeone in the restaurant was trying to murder me. The thought washideous and sickening. I could bear the fire of the enemy from thebelfry--that was part of the day's work; the danger of it only excitedme; but the idea that one of my own side was lying within twenty feetof me, deliberately aiming with intent to kill, was outrageous andrevolting.
I scrambled to my feet and faced the open front of the restaurant, andas I stood up there was, on the instant, a sharp fusillade from thebelfry tower. But I was now far too angry to consider that. The men werekneeling just inside the restaurant, and as I halted a few feet fromthem I stuck my finger through the bullet hole and held up my hat forthem to see.
"Look!" I shouted at them. "You did that, you cowards. You want tomurder me
, do you?" I straightened myself and threw out my arms, "Well,here's your chance," I cried. "Don't shoot me in the back. Shoot menow."
The men gaped at me in utter amazement. Their lips hung apart. Theirfaces were drawn in lines of anger, confusion, and dislike.
"Go on!" I shouted. "Fire a volley at that belfry, and let the man whowants me have another chance at me. I'll give the word. Make ready!" Icommanded.
There was a pause and a chorus of protests, and then mechanically eachman jerked out the empty shell and drove the next cartridge in place."Aim!" I shouted. They hesitated and then raised their pieces in awavering line, and I looked into the muzzles of a dozen rifles.
"Now then--damn you," I cried. "Fire!"
They fired, and my eyes and nostrils were filled with burning smoke, butnot a bullet had passed near me.
"Again!" I shouted, stamping my foot. I was so angry that I suppose Iwas really hardly accountable for what I did.
"I told you you were cowards," I cried. "You can only shoot men in theback. You don't like me, don't you?" I cried, taunting them. "I'm abraggart, am I? Yes. I'm a bully, am I? Well, here's your chance. Getrid of me! Once again now. Make ready," I commanded. "Aim! Fire!"
Again the smoke swept up, and again I had escaped. I remember thatI laughed at them and that the sound was crazy and hysterical, andI remember that as I laughed I shook out my arms to show them I wasunhurt. And as I did that someone in the cafe cried, "Thank God!" Andanother shouted, "That's enough of this damn nonsense," and a big manwith a bushy red beard sprang up and pulled off his hat.
"Now then," he cried. "All together, boys. Three cheers for the littleone!" and they all jumped and shouted like mad people.
They cheered me again and again, although all the time the bullets fromthe belfry were striking about them, ringing on the iron tables and onthe sidewalk, and tearing great gashes in the awnings overhead.
And then it seemed as though the sunlight on the yellow buildings and onthe yellow earth of the plaza had been suddenly shut off, and I droppedinto a well of blackness and sank deeper and deeper.
When I looked up the big man was sitting on the floor holding me ascomfortably as though I were a baby, and my face was resting againsthis red beard, and my clothes and everything about me smelt terribly ofbrandy.
But the most curious thing about it was that though they told everyonein the Legion that I had stood up and made them shoot at me, they neverlet anyone find out that I had been so weak as to faint.
I do not know whether it was the brandy they gave me that later led meto charge those guns, but I appreciate now that my conduct was certainlysilly and mad enough to be excused only in that way. According to thedoctrine of chances I should have lost nine lives, and according tothe rules governing an army in the field I should have beencourt-martialled. Instead of which, the men caught me up on theirshoulders and carried me around the plaza, and Laguerre and Garcialooked on from the steps of the Cathedral and laughed and waved to us.
For five hours we had been lying in the blazing sun on the flathouse-tops, or hidden in the shops around the plaza, and the governmenttroops were still holding us off with one hand and spanking us with theother. Their guns were so good that, when Heinze attempted to take up aposition against them with his old-style Gatlings, they swept him outof the street, as a fire-hose flushes a gutter. For five hours they hadkept the plaza empty, and peppered the three sides of it so warmly thatno one of us should have shown his head.
But at every shot from the Cathedral our men grew more unmanageable,and the longer the enemy held us back the more arrogant and defiant theybecame. Ostensibly to obtain a better shot, but in reality from puredeviltry, they would make individual sallies into the plaza, and, facingthe embrasure, would empty their Winchesters at one of its openings ascoolly as though they were firing at a painted bull's-eye. The man whofirst did this, the moment his rifle was empty, ran for cover and wastumultuously cheered by his hidden audience. But in order to surpasshim, the next man, after he had emptied his gun, walked back verydeliberately, and the third man remained to refill his magazine. Andso a spirit of the most senseless rivalry sprang up, and one man afteranother darted out into the plaza to cap the recklessness of those whohad gone before him.
It was not until five men were shot dead and lay sprawling and uncoveredin the sun that the madness seemed to pass. But my charging theembrasure was always supposed to be a part of it, and to havebeen inspired entirely by vanity and a desire to do something moreextravagantly reckless than any of the others. As a matter of fact Iacted on what has always seemed to me excellent reasoning, and if I wentalone, it was only because, having started, it seemed safer to go aheadthan to run all the way back again. I never blamed the men for runningback, and so I cannot see why they should blame me for having goneahead.
The enemy had ceased firing shrapnel and were using solid shot. Whentheir Gatlings also ceased, I guessed that it might be that the gunswere jammed. If I were right and if one avoided the solid shot byapproaching the barricade obliquely, there was no danger in charging thebarricade. I told my troop that I thought the guns were out of order,and that if we rushed the barricade we could take it. When I asked forvolunteers, ten men came forward and at once, without asking permission,which I knew I could not get, we charged across the plaza.
Both sides saw us at the same instant, and the firing was so fierce thatthe men with me thought the Gatlings had reopened on us, and ran forcover.
That left me about fifty feet from the barricade, and as it seemed atoss-up whichever way I went I kept going forward. I caught the combingof the embrasure with my hands, stuck my toes between the stones, andscrambled to the top. The scene inside was horrible. The place lookedlike a slaughter-yard. Only three men were still on their legs; therest were heaped around the guns. I threatened the three men with myrevolver, but they shrieked for mercy and I did not fire. The men in thebelfries, however, were showing no mercy to me, so I dropped inside thewall and crawled for shelter beneath a caisson. But, I recognized on theinstant that I could not remain there. It was the fear of the Gatlingsonly which was holding back our men, and I felt that before I was shotthey must know that the guns were jammed. So I again scrambled up tothe barricade, and waved my hat to them to come on. At the same momenta bullet passed through my shoulder, and another burned my neck, andone of the men who had begged for mercy beat me over the head with hissword. I went down like a bag of flour, but before my eyes closed I sawour fellows pouring out of the houses and sweeping toward me.
About an hour later, when Von Ritter had cleaned the hole in my shoulderand plastered my skull, I sallied out again, and at sight of me the mengave a shout, and picked me up, and, cheering, bore me around the plaza.From that day we were the best of friends, and I think in time they grewto like me.
Two days later we pitched camp outside of Tegucigalpa, the promisedcity, the capital of the Republic.
Our points of attack were two: a stone bridge which joins the cityproper with the suburbs, and a great hill of rock called El Pecachua.This hill either guards or betrays the capital. The houses reach almostto its base and from its crest one can drop a shell through the roof ofany one of them. Consequently, when we arrived, we found its approachesstrongly entrenched and the hill occupied in force by the governmentartillery. There is a saying in Honduras, which has been justified bycountless revolutions, and which dates back to the days of Morazan theLiberator, that "He who takes Pecachua sleeps in the Palace."
Garcia's plan was for two days to bombard the city, and if, in thattime, Alvarez had not surrendered, to attack El Pecachua by night. Asusual, the work was so divided that the more dangerous and difficultpart of it fell to the Foreign Legion, for in his plan Garcia so orderedit that Laguerre should storm Pecachua, while he advanced from the plainand attacked the city at the stone bridge.
But this plan was never carried out, and after our first day in frontof the Capital, General Garcia never again gave an order to GeneralLaguerre.
After
midnight on the evening of that first day Aiken came to the hutwhere we had made our head-quarters and demanded to see the General ona matter of life and death. With him, looking very uncertain as to thepropriety of the visit, were all the officers of the Legion.
The General was somewhat surprised and somewhat amused, but he invitedus to enter. When the officers had lined up against the walls he said,"As a rule, I call my own councils of war, but no doubt Mr. Aiken hassome very good reason for affording me the pleasure of your company.What is it, Mr. Aiken?"
Instead of answering him, Aiken said, with as much manner as that ofGeneral Garcia himself, "I want a guard put outside this house, and Iwant the men placed far enough from it to prevent their hearing whatI say." The General nodded at me, and I ordered the sentries tomove farther from the hut. I still remember the tableau I saw when Ire-entered it, the row of officers leaning against the mud walls, thecandles stuck in their own grease on the table, the maps spread overit, and the General and Aiken facing each other from its either end. Itlooked like a drumhead court-martial.
When I had shut the door of the hut Aiken spoke. His tone was one ofcalm unconcern.
"I have just come from the Palace," he said, "where I have been having atalk with President Alvarez."
No one made a sound, nor no one spoke, but like one man everyone in theroom reached for his revolver. It was a most enlightening revelation ofour confidence in Aiken. Laguerre did not move. He was looking steadilyat Aiken and his eyes were shining like two arc lamps.
"By whose authority?" he asked.
We, who knew every tone of his voice, almost felt sorry for Aiken.
"By whose authority," Laguerre repeated, "did you communicate with theenemy?"
"It was an idea of my own," Aiken answered simply. "I was afraid ifI told you you would interfere. Oh! I'm no soldier," he said. He wasreplying to the look in Laguerre's face. "And I can tell you that thereare other ways of doing things than 'according to Hardie.' Alvarez'sofficers came to me after the battle of Comyagua. They expected to beatyou there, and when you chased them out of the city and started forthe Capital they thought it was all up with them, and decided to maketerms."
"With you?" said Laguerre.
Aiken laughed without the least trace of resentment, and nodded.
"Well, you give a dog a bad name," he said, "and it sticks to him. So,they came to me. I'm no grand-stand fighter; I'm not a fighter at all.I think fighting is silly. You've got all the young men you want to stopbullets for you, without me. They like it. They like to catch 'em intheir teeth. I don't. But that's not saying that I'm no good. You knowthe old gag of the lion and the little mousie, and how the mouse camealong and chewed the lion out of the net. Well, that's me. I'm no liongoing 'round seeking whom I may devour.' I'm just a sewer rat. But I cantell you all," he cried, slapping the table with his hand, "that, if ithadn't been for little mousie, every one of you lions would have beenshot against a stone wall. And if I can't prove it, you can take a shotat me. I've been the traitor. I've been the go-between from the first. Iarranged the whole thing. The Alvarez crowd told me to tell Garcia thateven if he did succeed in getting into the Palace the Isthmian Linewould drive him out of it in a week. But that if he'd go away from thecountry, they'd pay him fifty thousand pesos and a pension. He's got theIsthmian Line's promise in writing.
"This joint attack he's planned for Wednesday night is a fake. Hedoesn't mean to fight. Nobody means to fight except against you. Everysoldier and every gun in the city is to be sent out to Pecachua to trapyou into an ambush. Natives who pretend to have deserted from Alvarezare to lead you into it. That was an idea of mine. They thought it wasvery clever. Garcia is to make a pretence of attacking the bridge anda pretence of being driven back. Then messengers are to bring word thatthe Foreign Legion has been cut to pieces at Pecachua, and he is todisband his army, and tell every man to look out for himself.
"If you want proofs of this, I'll furnish them to any man here thatyou'll pick out. I told Alvarez that one of your officers was workingagainst you with me, and that at the proper time I'd produce him. Now,you choose which officer that shall be. He can learn for himself thatall I'm telling you is true. But that will take time!" Aiken cried, asLaguerre made a movement to interrupt him. "And if you want to get outof this fix alive, you'd better believe me, and start for the coast atonce--now--to-night!"
Laguerre laughed and sprang to his feet. His eyes were shining and thecolor had rushed to his cheeks. He looked like a young man masqueradingin a white wig. He waved his hand at Aiken with a gesture that was partbenediction and part salute.
"I do believe you," he cried, "and thank you, sir." He glanced sharplyat the officers around him as though he were weighing the value of each.
"Gentlemen," he cried, "often in my life I have been prejudiced, andoften I have been deceived, and I think that it is time now that Iacted for myself. From the first, the burden of this expedition has beencarried by the Foreign Legion. I know that; you, who fought the battles,certainly know it. We invaded Honduras with a purpose. We came to obtainfor the peons the debt that is due them and to give them liberty andfree government. And whether our allies run away or betray us, thatpurpose is still the same."
He paused as though for the first time it had occurred to him that themotives of the others might not be as his own.
"Am I right?" he asked, eagerly. "Are you willing to carry out thatpurpose?" he demanded. "Are you ready to follow me now, to-night--not tothe coast"--he shouted--"but to the Capital--to the top of Pecachua?"
Old man Webster jumped in front of us, and shot his arm into the air asthough it held a standard.
"We'll follow you to hell and back again," he cried.
I would not have believed that so few men could have made so much noise.We yelled and cheered so wildly that we woke the camp. We could hear themen running down the road, and the sentries calling upon them to halt.The whole Legion was awake and wondering. Webster beat us into silenceby pounding the table with his fist.
"I have lived in this country for forty years," he cried, with his eyesfixed upon Laguerre, "and you are the first white man I have known whohas not come into it, either flying from the law, or to rob and despoilit. I know this country. I know all of Central America, and it is awonderful country. There is not a fruit nor a grain nor a plant that youcannot dig out of it with your bare fingers. It has great forests, greatpasture-lands, and buried treasures of silver and iron and gold. But itis cursed with the laziest of God's creatures, and the men who rulethem are the most corrupt and the most vicious. They are the dogs inthe manger among rulers. They will do nothing to help their own country;they will not permit others to help it. They are a menace and an insultto civilization, and it is time that they stepped down and out, and madeway for their betters, or that they were kicked out. One strong man,if he is an honest man, can conquer and hold Central America. WilliamWalker was such a man. I was with him when he ruled the best part ofthis country for two years. He governed all Nicaragua with two hundredwhite men, and never before or since have the pueblo known such peaceand justice and prosperity as Walker gave them."
Webster threw himself across the table and pointed his hand at Laguerre.
"And you, General Laguerre!" he cried, "and you? Do you see your duty?You say it calls you to-night to El Pecachua. Then if it does, it callsyou farther--to the Capital! There can be no stopping half-way now, noturning back. If we follow you to-night to Pecachua, we follow you tothe Palace."
Webster's voice rose until it seemed to shake the palm-leaf roof. Hewas like a man possessed. He sprang up on the table, and from the heightabove us hurled his words at Laguerre.
"We are not fighting for any half-breed now," he cried; "we are fightingfor you. We know you. We believe in you. We mean to make you President,and we will not stop there. Our motto shall be Walker's motto, 'Fiveor none,' and when we have taken this Republic we shall take theother four, and you will be President of the United States of CentralAmerica."
&nb
sp; We had been standing open-eyed, open-mouthed, every nerve trembling, andat these words we shrieked and cheered, but Webster waved at us with anangry gesture and leaned toward Laguerre.
"You will open this land," he cried, "with roads and railways. You willfeed the world with its coffee. You will cut the Nicaragua Canal. Andyou will found an empire--not the empire of slaves that Walker planned,but an empire of freed men, freed by you from their tyrants and fromthemselves. They tell me, General," he cried, "that you have foughtunder thirteen flags. To-night, sir, you shall fight under your own!"
We all cheered and cheered again, the oldest as well as myself, and Icheered louder than any, until I looked at Laguerre. Then I felt howterribly real it was to him. Until I looked at him it had seemed quitesane and feasible. But when I saw how deeply he was moved, and thathis eyes were brimming with pride and resolve, I felt that it was a maddream, and that we were wicked not to wake him. For I, who loved himlike a son, understood what it meant to him. In his talk along the trailand by the camp-fire he had always dreamed of an impossible republic,an Utopia ruled by love and justice, and I now saw he believed that thedreams had at last come true. I knew that the offer these men had madeto follow him, filled him with a great happiness and gratitude. And thathe, who all his life had striven so earnestly and so loyally for others,would give his very soul for men who fought for him. I was not glad thatthey had offered to make him their leader. I could only look ahead withmiserable forebodings and feel bitterly sorry that one so fine and goodwas again to be disillusioned and disappointed and cast down.
But there was no time that night to look ahead. The men were outside thehut, a black, growling mob crying for revenge upon Garcia. Had we notat once surrounded them they would have broken for his camp and murderedhim in his hammock, and with him his ignorant, deceived followers.
But when Webster spoke to them as he had spoken to us, and told themwhat we planned to do, and Laguerre stepped out into the moon-light,they forgot their anger in their pride for him, and at his first wordthey fell into the ranks as obediently as so many fond and devotedchildren.
In Honduras a night attack is a discredited manoeuvre. It is consideredan affront to the Blessed Virgin, who first invented sleep. And thoseofficers who that night guarded Pecachua being acquainted with Garcia'splot, were not expecting us until two nights later, when we were to walkinto their parlor, and be torn to pieces. Consequently, when Miller,who knew Pecachua well, having served without political prejudice insix revolutions, led us up a by-path to its top, we found the governmenttroops sleeping sweetly. Before their only sentry had discovered thatsomeone was kneeling on his chest, our men were in possession of theirbatteries.
That morning when the sun rose gloriously, as from a bath, all pink andshining and dripping with radiance, and the church bells began to clangfor early mass, and the bugles at the barracks sounded the jaunty callof the reveille, two puffs of white smoke rose from thecrest of ElPecachua and drifted lazily away. At the same instant a shell sang overthe roofs of Tegucigalpa, howling jeeringly, and smashed into the potsand pans of the President's kitchen; another, falling two miles fartherto the right, burst through the white tent of General Garcia, and thepeople in the streets, as they crossed themselves in fear, knew that ElPecachua had again been taken, and that that night a new President wouldsleep in the Palace.
All through the hot hours of the morning the captured guns roared andechoed, until at last we saw Garcia's force crawling away in a crowdof dust toward the hills, and an hour later Alvarez, with the householdtroops, abandoning the Capital and hastening after him.
We were too few to follow, but we whipped them forward with our shells.
A half-hour later a timid group of merchants and foreign consuls, led bythe Bishop and bearing a great white flag, rode out to the foot of therock and surrendered the city.
I am sure no government was ever established more quickly than ours.We held our first cabinet meeting twenty minutes after we entered thecapital, and ten minutes later Webster, from the balcony of the Palace,proclaimed Laguerre President and Military Dictator of Honduras.Laguerre in turn nominated Webster, on account of his knowledge ofthe country, Minister of the Interior, and made me Vice-President andMinister of War. No one knew what were the duties of a Vice-President,so I asked if I might not also be Provost-Marshal of the city, and I wasaccordingly appointed to that position and sent out into the street tokeep order.
Aiken, as a reward for his late services, was made head of the detectivedepartment and Chief of Police. His first official act was to promotetwo bare-footed policemen who on his last visit to the Capital had puthim under arrest.
The General, or the President, as we now called him, at once issued aringing proclamation in which he promised every liberty that the peopleof a free republic should enjoy, and announced that in three months hewould call a general election, when the people could either reelecthim, or a candidate of their own choice. He announced also that he wouldforce the Isthmian Line to pay the people the half million of dollars itowed them, and he suggested that this money be placed to the credit ofthe people, and that they should pay no taxes until the sum was consumedin public improvements. Up to that time every new President had imposednew taxes; none had ever suggested remitting them altogether, and thisoffer made a tremendous sensation in our favor.
There were other departures from the usual procedure of victoriouspresidents which helped much to make us popular. One was the fact thatLaguerre did not shoot anybody against the barrack wall, nor levyforced "loans" upon the foreign merchants. Indeed, the only persons whosuffered on the day he came into power were two of our own men, whom Icaught looting. I put them to sweeping the streets, each with a ball andchain to his ankle, as an example of the sort of order we meant to keepamong ourselves.
Before mid-day Aiken sent a list, which his spies had compiled, ofsympathizers with Alvarez. He guaranteed to have them all in jail beforenight. But Laguerre sent for them and promised them, if they remainedneutral, they should not be molested. Personally, I have always been ofthe opinion that most of the persons on Aiken's list of suspects weremost worthy merchants, to whom he owed money.
Laguerre gave a long audience to the cashier of the Manchester andCentral American Bank, Limited, which finances Honduras, and assured himthat the new administration would not force the bank to accept the papermoney issued by Alvarez, but would accept the paper money issued by thebank, which was based on gold. As a result, the cashier came down thestair-case of the Palace three steps at a time, and later our censorread his cable to the Home Bank in England, in which he said thatHonduras at last had an honest man for President. What was more to thepurpose, he reopened his bank at three o'clock, and quoted Honduranianmoney on his blackboard at a rise of three per cent. over that of theday before. This was a great compliment to our government, and it musthave impressed the other business men, for by six o'clock that night adelegation of American, German, and English shopkeepers called on thePresident and offered him a vote of confidence. They volunteered also toform a home-guard for the defence of the city, and to help keep him inoffice.
So, by dinner-time, we had won over the foreign element entirely, andthe consuls had cabled their several ministers, advising them to advisetheir governments to recognize ours.
It was a great triumph for fair promises backed by fair dealing.
Although I was a cabinet minister and had a right to have my say I didnot concern myself much with these graver problems of the Palace.
Instead, my first act was to cable to Beatrice that we were safe inthe Capital and that I was second in command. I did not tell her I wasVice-President of a country of 300,000 people, because at Dobbs Ferrysuch a fact would seem hardly probable. After that I spent the day veryhappily galloping around the town with the Provost Guard at my heels,making friends with the inhabitants, and arranging for their defence. Iposted a gun at the entrance to each of the three principal streets, andordered mounted scouts to patrol the plains outside the Capi
tal. I alsoremembered Heinze and the artillerymen who were protecting us on theheights of Pecachua, and sent them a moderate amount of rum, and animmoderate amount of canned goods and cigars. I also found time todesign a wonderful uniform for the officers of our Legion--a dark-greenblouse with silver facings and scarlet riding breeches--and on theplea of military necessity I ordered six tailors to sit up all night tofinish them.
Uniforms for the men I requisitioned from the stores of the Government,and ordered the red facings changed to yellow.
The next day when we paraded in full dress the President noticed this,and remarked, "No one but Macklin could have converted a battery ofartillery, without the loss of a single gun or the addition of a singlehorse, into a battalion of cavalry."
We had escorted the President back to the Palace, and I was returningto the barracks at the head of the Legion, with the local band playinggrandly before me, and the people bowing from the sidewalks, when a girlon a gray pony turned into the plaza and rode toward us.
She was followed by a group of white men, but I saw only the girl. WhenI recognized even at a distance that she was a girl from the States mysatisfaction was unbounded. It had needed only the presence of such anaudience to give the final touch of pleasure to my triumphant progress.My new uniform had been finished only just in time.
When I first saw the girl I was startled merely because any white womanin Honduras is an unusual spectacle, but as she rode nearer I knew that,had I seen this girl at home among a thousand women, I would have lookedonly at her.
She wore a white riding-habit, and a high-peaked Mexican sombrero, andwhen her pony shied at the sound of the music she raised her head, andthe sun struck on the burnished braid around the brim, and framed herface with a rim of silver. I had never seen such a face. It was sobeautiful that I drew a great breath of wonder, and my throat tightenedwith the deep delight that rose in me.
I stared at her as she rode forward, because I could not help myself. Ifan earthquake had opened a crevasse at my feet I would not have loweredmy eyes. I had time to guess who she was, for I knew there could beno other woman so beautiful in Honduras, except the daughter of JosephFiske. Had not Aiken said of her, "When she passes, the native womenkneel by the trail and cross themselves?"
I rode toward her fearfully, conscious only of a sudden deep flood ofgratitude for anything so nobly beautiful. I was as humbly thankful asthe crusader who is rewarded by his first sight of the Holy City, and Iwas glad, too, that I came into her presence worthily, riding in advanceof a regiment. I was proud of our triumphant music, of our capturedflags and guns, and the men behind me, who had taken them.
I still watched her as our column drew nearer, and she pulled her ponyto one side to let it pass. I felt as though I were marching in reviewbefore an empress, and I all but lifted my sword-blade in salute.
But as we passed I saw that the look on her face was that of a superiorand critical adversary. It was a glance of amused disdain, softened onlyby a smile of contempt. As it fell upon me I blushed to the rim of mysombrero. I felt as meanly as though I had been caught in a lie.With her eyes, I saw the bare feet of our negro band, our ill-fittinguniforms with their flannel facings, the swagger of our officers,glancing pompously from their half-starved, unkempt ponies upon thenative Indians, who fawned at us from the sidewalks.
I saw that to her we were so many red-shirted firemen, dragging a woodenhose-cart; a company of burnt-cork minstrels, kicking up the dust ofa village street; that we were ridiculous, lawless, absurd, and it waslike a blow over my heart that one so noble-looking should be so blindand so unjust. I was swept with bitter indignation. I wanted to turn inmy saddle and cry to her that beneath the flannel facings at which shelaughed these men wore deep, uncared-for, festering wounds; that tomarch thus through the streets of this tiny Capital they had wadedwaist-high through rivers, had starved in fever camps, and at any hourwhen I had called on them had run forward to throw cold hands withdeath.
The group of gentlemen who were riding with the girl had halted theirponies by the sidewalk, and as I drew near I noted that one of them worethe uniform of an ensign in our navy. This puzzled me for an instant,until I remembered I had heard that the cruiser Raleigh was lying atAmapala. I was just passing the group when one of them, with the evidentintent that I should hear him, raised his voice.
"Well, here's the army," he said, "but where's Falstaff? I don't seeLaguerre."
My face was still burning with the blush the girl had brought to it, andthe moment was not the one that any man should have chosen to ridiculemy general. Because the girl had laughed at us I felt indignant withher, but for the same offence I was grateful to the man, for the reasonthat he was a man, and could be punished. I whirled my pony around androde it close against his.
"You must apologize for that," I said, speaking in a low voice, "or I'llthrash you with this riding-whip."
He was a young man, exceedingly well-looking, slim and tall, and witha fine air of good breeding. He looked straight into my eyes withoutmoving. His hands remained closed upon the pommel of his saddle.
"If you raise that whip," he said, "I'll take your tin sword away fromyou, and spank you with it."
Never in my life had anyone hurt me so terribly. And the insult had comebefore my men and his friends and the people in the street. It turnedme perfectly cold, and all the blood seemed to run to my eyes, so thatI saw everything in a red haze. When I answered him my voice soundedhoarse and shaky.
"Get down," I said. "Get down, or I'll pull you down. I'm going tothrash you until you can't stand or see."
He struck at me with his riding-crop, but I caught him by the collar andwith an old trick of the West Point riding-hall threw him off into thestreet, and landed on my feet above him. At the same moment Miller andVon Ritter drove their ponies in between us, and three of the man'sfriends pushed in from the other side. But in spite of them we reachedeach other, and I struck up under his guard and beat him savagely on theface and head, until I found his chin, and he went down. There was anawful row. The whole street was in an uproar, women screamed, the ponieswere rearing and kicking, the natives jabbering, and my own men swearingand struggling in a ring around us.
"My God, Macklin!" I heard Von Ritter cry, "stop it! Behave yourself!"
He rode at our men with his sword and drove them back into ranks. Iheard him shout, "Fall in there. Forward. March!"
"This is your idea of keeping order, is it?" Miller shouted at me.
"He insulted Laguerre," I shouted back, and scrambled into the saddle.But I was far from satisfied. I, Vice-President, Minister of War,Provost-Marshal of the city, had been fighting with my fists in the openstreet before half the population. I knew what Laguerre would say, and Iwondered hotly if the girl had seen me, and I swore at myself for havingjustified her contempt for us. Then I swore at myself again for givinga moment's consideration to what she thought. I was recalled to thepresent by the apparition of my adversary riding his pony toward me,partly supported and partly restrained by two of his friends. He wastrembling with anger and pain and mortification.
"You shall fight me for this," he cried.
I was about to retort that he looked as though I had been fighting him,but it is not easy to laugh at a man when he is covered with dust andblood, and this one was so sorry a spectacle that I felt ashamed forhim, and said nothing.
"I am not a street fighter," he raged. "I wasn't taught to fight ina lot. But I'll fight you like a gentleman, just as though you were agentleman. You needn't think you've heard the last of me. My friendswill act for me, and, unless you're a coward, you will name yourseconds."
Before I could answer, Von Ritter had removed his hat and was bowingviolently from his saddle.
"I am Baron Herbert Von Ritter," he said "late Aide-de-Camp to hisMajesty, the King of Bavaria. If you are not satisfied, Captain Millerand myself will do ourselves the honor of calling on your friends."
His manner was so grand that it quite calmed me to hear him.
One of the men who was supporting my adversary, a big, sun-burned man,in a pith helmet, shook his head violently.
"Here, none of that, Miller," he said; "drop it. Can't you see the boyisn't himself? This isn't the time to take advantage of him."
"We are only trying to oblige the gentleman," said Miller. "The duel isthe only means of defence we've left you people. But I tell you, ifany of you insult our government again, we won't even give you thatsatisfaction--we'll ride you out of town."
The man in the pith helmet listened to Miller without any trace ofemotion. When Miller had finished he laughed.
"We've every means of defence that an American citizen needs when heruns up against a crowd like yours," he said. He picked up his reins andturned his horse's head down the street. "You will find us at the HotelContinental," he added. "And as for running us out of town," he shoutedover his shoulder, "there's an American man-of-war at Amapala that isgoing to chase you people out of it as soon as we give the word."
When I saw that Miller and Von Ritter were arranging a duel, I felt nofurther interest in what the man said, until he threatened us with thewarship. At that I turned toward the naval ensign to see how he receivedit.
He was a young man, some years older than myself, with a smooth face andfair, yellow hair and blue eyes. I found that the blue eyes were fixedupon me steadily and kindly. When he saw that I had caught him watchingme he raised his hand smartly to the visor.
I do not know why, but it made the tears come to my eyes. It was sodifferent from the salute of our own men; it was like being back againunder the flag at the Point. It was the recognition of the "regular"that touched me, of a bona-fide, commissioned officer.
But I returned his salute just as stiffly as though I were acommissioned officer myself. And then a strange thing happened. Thesailor-boy jerked his head toward the retreating form of my lateadversary, and slowly stuck his tongue into his cheek, and winked.Before I could recover myself, he had caught up my hand and given it asharp shake, and galloped after his friends.
Miller and I fell in at the rear of the column.
"Who were those men?" I asked.
"The Isthmian Line people, of course," he answered, shortly. "The manin the helmet is Graham, the manager of the Copan Silver Mines. They'vejust unloaded them on Fiske. That's why they're so thick with him."
"And who was the chap who insulted Laguerre?" I asked. "The one whoseface I slapped?"
"Face you slapped? Ha!" Miller snorted. "I hope you'll never slap myface. Why, don't you know who he is?" he exclaimed, with a grin. "Ithought, of course, you did. I thought that's why you hit him. He'syoung Fiske, the old man's son. That was his sister riding ahead ofthem. Didn't you see that girl?"