Captain Macklin

tion nor relief. I was, instead, disenchanted, discouraged, bitterly depressed. It was so unutterably and miserably u

gaudy uniforms, fluttering guidons, blue ammunition-boxes in orderly array, smart sentries

ng challenge of the sentry, and what I had found was this camp of gypsies, this nest of tramps, without authority, discipline, or self-respect. It was not ev

d the level ground, the occupant of the tent stepped from it. He was a stout, heavy man, with a long, twisted mustache, at which he was tugging fier

" he said. "I'm Major Reeder, in temporar

ightened. His eyes were shifting and blinking, and he wet his lips with his tongue. All his self-assurance had deserted him. The officer who had led us to the ca

ort to General Laguerre

absent-reconnoitering. I represent him. I know all about Mr. Quay's mis

at him helplessly, and t

o, but when I went to unload the guns Captain Leeds told me they had be

the officer interrupte

cried. "It's true, and-an

d and for a moment l

s there to tell you? I've travelled two days to let you know. I ca

n Aiken's face. "You can't help it, can't you?" he cried. "You're sorry, are you? You won't be sorr

ioned the officer back. "Silence

front of us, forming a big half-circle. Each of them apparently was on a footing with his officers of perfect comradeship, and listened openly to what was going forward as though it were a personal concern of his

allowed where they were in any formation, but tha

"Now, Mr. Aiken, I am wait

l I could. I told you as soon as I could get here." Major Reede

al Laguerre, myself, and you. Some one of us must have sold out the others; no one else could have done it. I

rit that I wondered at him. It was the same sort of spirit which mak

as the guns reached New Orleans. I suspected him when he cabled me he wasn't c

er. "Mr. Quay is my friend," he cried. "I trust him. I trust

on, but his show of anger encouraged Capta

off the beach

, to bite the hand that fed you. When have you ever stuck to any

lt in some way horribly responsible, as though they had dragged me into it-as though the flying handfuls of mud had splattered me. And yet the thing which inflamed me the most against them was their unfairness to Aiken. They would not let him speak, and they woul

arer, and shoved his fis

ou're the American Consul. You lied to us about that, and you've lied to us a

shoot the beggar!" and others began to push forward

I came here of my own will. Is it likely

made me sick to see him do it. I had such a contempt for the men against him that I hated his not standing up to them. It was to hide the fact that he had ste

the men behind him, as though he

he halted in surprise, glaring at me. I don't know what made me do it, except that I had heard enough of their

ing at Heinze, "who calls himself an officer, is the cheapest bully of the lot." I jerked open the buckle which held my belt and revolver, and flung them on the ground. Then I slipped off my coat, and shoved it back of me to Aiken, for I wanted to keep him out of it. It was the luck of Royal Macklin himself that led me to take off my coat instead of drawing my revolver. At the Point I had been accustomed to settle things with my fists, and it had been only since I started from the coast that I had ca

rman and tapped him lightly on t

"I call you a coward to your face.

ther at Heinze nor at me, but at someone behind me. Heinze, too, halted as suddenly as though he had been pulled back by a curbed bit, and, bringing his heels together, stood stiffly at salute. I turned and saw that everyone was falling out of the way of a tall man who came striding toward us, and I knew on the instant that he was General Laguerre. At the first glance

irl's, and although he must then have been about fifty years of age he stood

high-bred features, the same wistful eyes, and hewore his beard and mustache in what was

confronted us, with the delicate features stiffened in anger, and the eyes set and burning. Since then I have seen both the wistful look and

ds were addre

s?" he added, pointing at me. I became suddenly conscious of the fact that I was without my hat or coat, and that my sleeves were pulled up to the

e lowered his voice to an eager whi

eral Laguerre than in his officers, for at t

guns were seized at New Orleans. Someone inf

re. "By whom? Do you m

ed his eyes

re demanded, eagerly. "You ar

officers," A

told me he saw the guns tak

back again. Then he gave an upward toss of his head as though he had accepted his sentence. "The fortunes of war," he kept

and tried to smile. But the bad news had cut deeply. During the few minutes since he had come pushing his way through the

n," he said. "I believe I had bette

he pointed at Aiken and myself. "And w

repeated. "Why, what did

"If you had not arrived when you did, Gene

leaned heavily against the pole. He raised his eyes

ked. "Why were you

eve this man sold our secret to the Isthmian Line. No one knew of the guns but our three selves

d even less for himself, and because he was inn

g-irons. As he fixed them on Aiken's fa

e me a hearing, sir. Why should I come to your camp if I had sold you out

t, and shrugged his shoulders. He sank ba

ken, "but it would be better for you if I listened to you later. Bring him to me to-morrow morning after roll-call. And the

rposed hims

he Isthmian people, or," he urged, "why did he come here? He cam

, raising his head and

py, General. A Government spy, and he has fou

d on him wi

a volunteer. He wanted to fight with

Heinze, indignantly. "As soon as he got i

of impatience, and rose uns

ese men a hearing after roll-call. In the meantime if they are spies, they have

t laugh and t

ligent military order I

e-leaf under a dozen mattresses, I can feel it in my bones when I am in the presence of a real soldier. My spinal column stiffens, and my fingers twitch to be at my visor. In spite

o my trouser seam, and I stood at attention. It was as instinctive as though I were back

, sir," he demanded, in a low voice, "th

he last three years I have been at West Poi

wly, looking at me in surprise and with evi

ered. At this, he looke

re preparing for the army at West Point,

only place where there was any fighting, so I came here. I read that you h

e amazement. In his interest in the suppose

y, "all the way to Honduras-to join me!" He turned to

ruthfully as well, for they had not

ntials, passports,

one to search my trunk for evidence that I was a spy, and had I suspected this I would

I got from the commandante

ther move the wrong piece on the chess-board. But when I stared at him inquiringl

riumphantly, "he has a pe

it," said

hair from the tent, and, seating himself

mmercial traveller; that you are going to the capital on

Aiken, I had known nothing of the passport, but I considered

et into the interior. I could not tell them that I was not a

a man who is himself under suspicion, and the only credentials you can show are from the enem

g my word doubted, so I bow

neral commanded, "w

ng but my word

ve he was really interested in helping me to clear mys

ve something to ide

came here. If you think I am a spy, you can go ahead and shoot m

l smiled i

e satisfaction in that for

ne. If you serve every gentleman who volunteers to join you in the way I have been se

with such a savage expression that during the

offer that you are a gentleman," he said, "perhaps you are wise

d me deeply, chiefly becau

a non-commissione

ou have been dismissed. You told me so yourself

had expected. He looked both mortified and puzzled, and glanced at

issal?" he asked. He now spoke in a much lower t

s of the Academy without a permit," I answer

l?" he deman

him on to asking me the reason for my dismissal, in order that I could make so satisfactory an answer. As he sat regarding me, Heinze bent over him and said something to h

r he is telling the truth about his having been at West Point. If his sto

with some questions," the General said, doubtfully;

were frightened, and said, cautiously, "I will try, sir." I saw that the proposition to put me thr

ed about him as thou

inspect this camp. It is one that I myself selected; as adjutant it is under my dir

l that was necessary of that camp. But I first asked, timidly: "Is this camp a tem

ere for two wee

on?" I asked, politely; "I mean, a

red Heinze. "Certa

I should recommend that the officer who se

red at me as though he thought I had flown suddenly mad,

said, grimly; "I trust y

which we stood, to the thi

e of an attack, he has given the advantage of position to the enemy. Fifty men could conceal themselves on those ridges and fire upon you as effectively as though they had you at the bottom of a wel

lent gun-rack, but there is none of any sort. As for the sanitary arrangements of the camp, they are nil. The refuse from the troop kitchen is scattered all over the place, and so are the branches on which the men have been lying. There is no way for them to cross that stream without their getting their feet wet; and every officer knows that wet feet are worse than wet powder. The place does not look as though it had been policed since you came here. It's a fever swamp. If you have been here two weeks, it's a wonder your whole force isn't as rotten as sheep. And there!" I cried, po

Now, don't you agree with me that you should be cour

are insulting our good General. For me, I do not care. But y

time sat with his elbow on his knee and with his chin resting in the palm of his hand, staring at the camp. There was a long, and, f

anxious to hear him pass sentence upon me. Seeing this he raised his voice and repe

and, as he continued speaking with his face aver

a man excusing himself to himself. "The old standards, the old models, pass away and-and failures, failur

r speech of mine. They had attacked me, and I had only defended myself. I was not repentant for anything I had said; my sorrow was for what I read in the General's eyes as he sat staring out into the val

garded me curiously, and then, as though I had tried to fo

Major Reeder. He came bustling past me, carrying as I saw, to my great indignation, the sword which had been presen

unk! How dare you pry into my affairs? General

eral demanded, sharply,

al," said Reeder. "You asked for his

k," said the General. "You have exceeded your authority

y magnificent to attract the attention of anyone, certainly of any soldier. The scabbard was of steel, wonderfully engraved, the

" he said, and hesitated, courteously, "-I b

d placed upon it, and which bore the inscription: "To Royal Macklin, on his appointment to

aid. The General bowed and bent his head over the inscription and then read the one beside it. This stated that the sword had been presented by the citizens of

ed. "General John Hamilton! Is

eneral stared at me as tho

he went on, excitedly, "that your grandfather was a brave and courteous gentleman, a true friend and-and a great soldier, sir, a great

of injury with which Heinze obeyed this request. But I did, and I enjoyed the spectacle, an

inches from its scabbard and shoving it

one might caress a child, glancing up at me from time to time with a smile. It seemed to have carried him back again into days and scenes to which we all were strangers, and we

with Aiken between them. He raised his eyebrows and tapped himself on the chest. I understood that he meant by this that I was

you are doing here, and why you ran away from home. Trust

ire, in spite of my first failure, to still make myself a soldier. And then I told him of how I had been disappointed and disillusioned, and how it had hurt me to find that this fight seemed so sordid and the motives of all engaged only mercenary and selfish. But once did he interrupt me, and then by an exclamation which I mistook for an exclamation of disbelief, and w

r, you have taken the wrong road. You will be a rolling-stone among milestones, and the way is all down hill. I began to fight when I was even younger than you. I fought for whichever party seemed to me to have the right on its side. Sometimes I have fought for rebels and patriots, sometimes for kings, sometimes for pretenders. I was out with Garibaldi, because I believed he would give a republic to Italy; but I fought against the republic of Mexico, because its people were rotten and corrupt, and I believed that the emperor would rule them honestly and well. I have always chosen my own side, the one which seemed to me promised the most good; and yet, after thirty years, I am where you see me to-night. I am an old man without a count

k questions, and yet fearful of interrupting him. He told of great battles which had changed the history of Europe, of secret expeditions which had never been recorded even in his own diary, of revolutions which after months of preparation had burst forth and had been crushed between sunset and sunrise; of emperors

on rose over the camp

the ponies grazing at the picket-line. All the odors of a camp, which to me are more grateful than those of a garden, were borne to us on the damp night-air; the clean pungent smell of burning wood, the scent of running water, the smell of many

et about proving it in the worst possible way. At that moment I saw no career so worthy to be imitated as his own, no success to be so envied as his failures. And in the glow and inspiration of his talk, and with the courage of a boy, I told him so. I think he was not ill pleased at what I said

hen I have talked so much," he laughed, "nor," he added, with grave

n holding my sword, and as he ent

said. "Here is yo

d him, and I was left outside of

n myself, and I pus

rdon, General,

f upon his cot, but he rose

it?" he

I gasped, "but what did

ou 'captain.' You are a captain. I w

nt and stood looking up at the stars, with my grandfather's sword clasped close in my hands.

rom queens, presidents, and sultans. I shall have a trunk filled, like that of General Laguerre's, with commissions, brevets, and patents of nobility, picked up in many queer courts, in many queer corners of the globe. But to myself I shall always

. . .

s a patchwork of sword-cuts which he had received in the students' duels. No one knew why he had left the German army. He had been in command of the troop

to me, as we left the General.

bster, an old man, who as a boy had invaded Central America with William Walker's expedition, and who ever since had lived in Honduras; Major Reeder and five captains, Miller, who was in charge of a dozen native Indians and who acted as a scout; Captain Heinze,

d and I cannot wait for them any longer. The battalion will start at once for Santa Barbara, where I expect to g

the swamp, interrupted him with an enthusiastic ch

ed as in any army in Europe. Since last night we have received an addition to our force in the person of Captain Macklin, who has volunteered his services. Captain Macklin comes of a distinguished family of soldiers, and he has hims

tent, and whatever few private effects the officers possessed over and above the clothes they stood in. I brought up the rear with D Troop. We moved at a walk in single file and without flankers, as the jungle on either side of the trail was impenetrable. Our departure from camp had been so prompt that I had been given no time to become acquainted with my men, but as we tramped forward I rode along with them or drew to one side to watch them pass and took a good look at them. Carrying their rifles, and with their blanket-rolls and

ceive my first bar, but a full-fledged captain, with fifty men under him to care for and discipline and lead into battle. There was not a man in my troop who was not at least a few years older than myself, and as I rode in advance of them and heard the creak of the saddles and the jingle of the picket-pins and water-bottles, or turned and saw the long

glancing lef

at the trees and into the jungle. It w

abitants for the use of their clay ovens. In the other troops each man, or each group of men, were building separate fires and eating alone or in messes of five or six but by detailing four of my men to act a

ee hundred cigars. I told Von Ritter to serve out six of them to each of the men of D Troop. It did me good to see how much they enjoyed them. For the next five minutes every man I met had a big cigar in his mouth, which he would remove with a grin, and say, "Thank you, C

p, looks to his men and his horses, who distributes the unpleasant duties of the camp evenly, and who knows what he want

de. They had learned news of the greatest moment. Two nights previous, General Garcia had been attacked in force at Santa Barbara, and had abandoned the town withou

anta Barbara was a serious calamity. It was the town third in importance in Honduras, and it had been the stronghold of the revolutionists. The moral effect of the fact that Garcia held it, had bee

dvance unless in single file. And yet this was the highway of Honduras from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and the only road to Tegucigalpa, the objective point of our expedition. The capital lay only one hundred miles from Porto Cortez, but owing to the nature of this trail it cou

, they gave a most war-like impression. Miller, who had reconnoitered the village before we entered it, stood watching us as we came in. He said that we reminded him of troops of United States cavalry as he had seen them on the alkali plains of New Mexico and Arizona. It was ag

two of the Americans, Miller and old man Webster. Their talk was about Aiken, who so far had accompanied us as an untried prisoner. From what he had said to me on

. Now that the Isthmian Line knew that he had tried to assist Laguerre, his usefulness at the coast was at an end. He added frankly that his only other reason for staying with us was because he thought we were going to win. General Laguerre gave him charge of our transport and commissary, that is of our twelve pack-mules and of the disposition of the coffee, flour, and beans

s. They stretched out before us against the blazing sky, like a succession of fantastic telegraph-poles. We were marching over what had once been the bed of a great lake. Layers of tiny round pebbles rolled under our feet, and the rocks which rose out of the sand had been worn and polished by the water until they were as smooth as the s

when the trail again led us into the protecting shade of the jungle. T

ode out of the jungle among the revolutionists; and, considering the fact that we had come to fight for them, I thought the little beggars might have given us a cheer, but they only stared at us, and nodded stupidly. They were a mixed assortment, all of them under-size and either broad or swarthy, with the straight hair and wide cheek-bones of the Carib Indian, or slight and nerv

t by bounds and barks. They brought us out a great many bottles of rum and limes, and we all had a long, deep drink. After the fatigue and dust of the day, it was the best I ever tasted. Garcia's officers seemed just as much excited over nothing as he was, but were exceedingly friendly, treating us with an exaggerated "comrades-in-arms" and "brother-officers" sort of manner. The young man who entertained me was quite a swell, with a tortoise-shell visor to his cap and a Malacca sword-cane

long time and then shook hands warmly, a

erre seated himself under a tree

shall be this warehouse. It has two stories, and men on its roof will have a great advantage over those in the barracks and in the streets. He believes that when he begins his attack from this side, the Government troops will rush from the barracks and hasten toward the sound of the firing. At the same signal we are to hurry in from the opposite side of the town, seize the warehouse, and throw up barricades across the plaza. Should this plan succeed, the Government troops w

ities of doing something distinguished and of making myself conspicuous. I laughed when I thought of my classmates at the Point with their eyes bent on a book of tactics, while here was I, within three hours of a real battle, of the most exciting of all engagements, an attack upon a city. A full year, perhaps many years, would pass before they would get the chance to hear a hostile shot, the shot fired in anger, which every soldier must first hear before he can en

over which we stumbled were slippery with moss. Every minute a man was thrown by a trailing vine or would plunge over a fallen tree-trunk, and there would be a yell of disgust and an oath and a

the native scouts to buskey about and find out where we were, and almost immediately we heard the welcome barking of a dog, and one of the men returned to report that we had walked right into the

h as we approached turned into the thatched huts of the villagers. Until we found the main trail into the town we kept close to the bamb

s of oil-lamps were sputtering and flickering, and as they went out, filling the clean, morning air with the fumes of the dying wicks. It had been only two weeks since I had seen paved streets, and shops, and lamp-posts, but I had been sleeping long enough in the open to make the little town of Santa Barbara appear to me like a modern and well-appointed

red with s

e burglary, but I nodded in assent, and we ran back through the outskirts to where Laguerre was awaiting us. We reported that there w

to do. He ordered that when we reached the warehouse I was to spread out my men over the plaza and along the two streets on which the warehouse stood. Po

ourselves, for those of the natives who came to their doors, yawning and shivering in the cool morning air, shrank back at the sight of us, and held up their hands. I suppose, as we crept out of the mist, we were a somewhat terrifying spectacle, but I know that I personally felt none of the pride of a conquering hero. The glimpse I had caught of the sleeping

ondered what we would do if the worthy citizen who owned the garden wall, against which we lay huddled, should open the gate and ask us what we wanted. Could we reply that we, a hundred and fifty men, proposed to seize and occupy his city? I felt sure he would tell us to go away at once or he would call the police. I looked at the men near me, and saw that each was as disturbed as myself. A full quarter of an hour had passed since the time set for the attack, and still there was no signal from Garcia. The strain was becoming intolerable

ringing notes of the reveille. I jumped to my feet and r

w?" I begged. "You said D

impatiently. "List

were not certain. Then as we crouched listening, each reading the face of the others and no one venturing to breathe, there came the sharp, broken roll of musketry. It

ged the pickets

hers, and volleys, more uneven,

im as though he were describing something which he actually saw. Suddenly from the

head, like a horse that h

said. He pulled out his watch and

said. "Then we will start for the warehouse. When they

ng. They tightened their cartridge-belts nervously, and opened and shot back the breech-bolts of their rifles. I took out my revolver, and spun the cylinder to reassure myself for the hundredth time that it was ready. But Laguerre stood quite motionless, with his eyes fixed impassively upon h

closed the lid of his watch with a click and nodded gravely at me. "You can go ahead no