"It"s a little like branding a mule," said Cleary.
"Yes," said Sam; "the brand shows who owns the mule, and the tattooing shows a man belongs to his country."
"And if he"s shipwrecked and hasn"t any picture-books or newspapers with him, he can find all he wants on his own skin," said Cleary.
"Joke as you please, I think it"s a patriotic custom."
"Why don"t you get tattooed then?" asked Cleary.
"Do you think there"s anybody on board can do it?" cried Sam enthusiastically.
"Of course. Any of those blue-jackets can tell you whom to go to."
Sam was off before Cleary had finished his sentence. Sure enough, he found a boatswain who was renowned as an artist, and without further parley he delivered himself into his hands. Cleary was consulted on the choice of designs, and the result was p.r.o.nounced by all the connoisseurs on board--and there were many--to be a masterpiece. On his chest was a huge spread-eagle with a bunch of arrows, bayonets, and lightning-flashes in his claws. Cannon belched forth on each side, and the whole was flanked by a sailor on one side and a soldier on the other. His arms were tattooed with various small designs of crossed swords, flags, mottoes, the t.i.tle of his regiment, and other such devices. The boatswain now thought that his task was complete, but Sam insisted on having his back decorated as well, altho this was rather unusual. The general stock of subjects had been exhausted, and Cleary suggested that a representation of Sam himself, striking off the fetters of a Cubapino, would be most appropriate. After discussing a number of other suggestions offered by various friends, this one was finally adopted and successfully carried out. The operation was not altogether painless and produced a good deal of irritation of the skin, but it served to pa.s.s Sam"s time and allay his impatience to be in the field, and Cleary became so much interested that he consented to allow the artist to tattoo a few modest designs of cannon and crossed bayonets on his own arms. Sam"s comparatively high rank among officers who were, many of them, his juniors in rank but his seniors in years, might have made his position at first a difficult one had it not been for his entire single-mindedness and loyalty to his country. If the powers that be had made him a captain, it was right that he should be a captain. He obeyed implicitly in taking his seat near the head of the table, as he would have obeyed if he had been ordered to the foot, and he expected others to accept what came from above as he did.
One afternoon a report sprang up that land was in sight, and soon every eye was strained in one direction. Sam"s eyesight was particularly good, and he was one of the first to detect the white gleam of a lighthouse. Soon the coast-line was distinct, and it was learned that they would arrive on the next day. By daybreak Sam was on deck, studying as well as he could this new land of heroism and adventure.
Cleary joined him later, and the two friends watched the strange tropical sh.o.r.e with its palm-groves and occasional villages, and a range of mountains beyond. A bay opened before them, and the ship turned in, pa.s.sing near an old fortification.
"This is just where our fleet went in," said Cleary, examining a folding map which he held in his hand. "They pa.s.sed along there single file," and he pointed out the pa.s.sage.
"Wasn"t it glorious! Just think of sailing straight on, no matter how many torpedoes there were!" exclaimed Sam.
"They knew blamed well there weren"t any torpedoes," answered Cleary.
"How could they have known? They hadn"t ever been here before? There might perfectly well have been a lot of them directly under them."
"Yes," said Cleary, "they might have grown up from the bottom of the sea. All sorts of queer things grow here. There might have been a sort of coral torpedoes."
"Cleary, you"re getting more and more cynical every day. I wish you"d be more reasonable. What"s the matter with you?"
"It must be the newspaper business. And then you see I don"t wear a uniform either. That makes a lot of difference."
In another hour they pa.s.sed the scene of the great naval battle. They could just distinguish the hulks of the wrecks well in sh.o.r.e.
"And there"s Havilla!" cried Cleary.
And Havilla it was. They entered the great Oriental port with its crowded shipping. Small native boats were darting about between merchantmen and men-of-war. The low native houses, the fine buildings of the Castalian city, the palms, the Eastern costumes--all made a scene not to be forgotten. An officer of the 200th Volunteer Infantry came on board before the steamer had come to her moorings, with orders for Captain Jinks to report at once at their headquarters in one of the public buildings of the city. A lieutenant was left in charge of the 200th"s detail, and Sam hastened ash.o.r.e in a native boat and Cleary went with him. They had no difficulty in finding their way, and Sam was soon reporting to his chief, Colonel Booth, an elderly captain of the regular army, who had been placed at the head of this volunteer regiment. The colonel received him rather gruffly, and turned him over to one of his captains, telling him they would be quartered together.
The colonel was inclined to pay no attention to Cleary, but when the latter mentioned the Benevolent a.s.similation Company, Limited, he suddenly changed his tone and expressed great delight at meeting him.
Sam and Cleary went off together with the captain, whose name was Foster, to visit the lodgings a.s.signed by the colonel. They were in a building near by, which had been used as barracks by the Castalian army. A number of rooms had been fitted up for the use of officers, and Sam and Foster were to occupy one of these, an arrangement which promised to be most comfortable. Five companies of their regiment were quartered in the same building.
Cleary asked Foster"s advice as to lodgings for himself, and Foster took him off with him to find a place, while Sam was left to unpack his luggage which had just arrived from the ship. They agreed to meet again in the same room at nine o"clock in the evening.
It was somewhat after the hour fixed that the three men came together.
Foster brought out a bottle of whisky from a cupboard and put it on the table by the water-jug, and then offered cigars. Sam had never smoked before, but he felt that a soldier ought to smoke, and he accepted the weed, and soon they were all seated, smoking and drinking, and engaged in a lively conversation. Foster had been in the Cubapines since the arrival of the first troops, and it was a treat for both of his interlocutors to hear all the news at first hand from a partic.i.p.ant in the events.
"How were things when you got here?" asked Cleary.
"Well, it was like this," answered Foster. "Nothing had happened then except the destruction of the fleet. Our fleet commanded the water of course, and the n.i.g.g.e.rs had closed up round the city on land. The Castalians didn"t have anything but the city, and when we came we wanted to take the city."
"Was Gomaldo in command of the Cubapino army then?" asked Sam.
"Yes, he has been from the beginning. He"s a bad lot."
"How is that?" asked Cleary.
"Why, he has interfered with us all along as much as he could, just as if we didn"t own the place."
"That"s just what I thought," said Cleary. "The copperheads at home say we treated him as an ally, but of course that"s rubbish."
"Of course," said Foster, "we never treated him as an ally. We only brought him here and made use of him, supplying him with some arms and letting him take charge of some of our prisoners. We couldn"t tell him that we intended to keep the islands, because we were using him and couldn"t get on without him. He"s an ignorant fellow and hasn"t the first idea of the behavior of an officer and a gentleman."
"Well, how did you take Havilla?" asked Sam.
"Oh, it was this way. The Castalians couldn"t hold out because these monkeys had the place so tight that they couldn"t get any provisions in. So they sent secret word to us that they would let us in on a certain day if we would keep the natives out. We agreed to this, of course. Then the Castalian general said that we must have some kind of a battle or he would be afraid to go home, and we cooked up a nice little battle. When the men got into it, however, it turned out to be quite a skirmish, and a number were killed on both sides. Then they surrendered and we went in and put a guard at the gates, and wouldn"t let the n.i.g.g.e.rs in. You wouldn"t believe it, but they actually kicked at it. They"re an unreasonable, sulky lot of beggars."
"Then what happened after that?" asked Sam.
"Oh, after that we sent the Castalians home and the Cubapinos moved back their lines a little, and we agreed to a sort of neutral zone and a line beyond which we weren"t to go."
"What was it that started the fighting between us and them?" said Sam.
"It"s a little mixed up. I was at the theater that night, and in the middle of the play we heard firing, and all of us rushed off and found everything in motion, and it grew into a regular fight. We made them move back, and before long the firing ceased. I tried to find out the next day how it began. The fact is, the day before, General Notice had ordered the 68th to move forward about half a mile, and they did so.
The Cubapinos objected and insisted on crossing the new picket-line.
That evening an officer of theirs walked across it and was shot by the sentinel. That started it."
"Was the regiment moved across the line fixed on their side of the neutral zone?" said Cleary.
"Oh, yes. But that was all right. Don"t we own the whole place? And the regiment was only obeying orders."
"I wonder why the general gave the orders?" asked Cleary, musing as he looked into the smoke which he was puffing forth.
"They say it was because he had what he called "overmastering political reasons." That is, there was the army bill up in Congress and it had to go through, and he was given the tip that some fighting would help it, and he took the hint. It was good statesmanship and generalship, too.
All subordinate things must bend to the great general interests of the country. It was a good move, for it settled the business. Gomaldo sent in the next day and tried to patch up a truce, but Notice wouldn"t see his messengers. He told them they must surrender unconditionally. It was fine, soldierly conduct. He"s a brick."
"What has he gone home for?" asked Sam.
"Why, he"d conquered them. Why shouldn"t he go home? They"re giving him a grand reception at home, and I"m glad to see it."
"But he says that he has pacified the islands and brought the war to a close!"
"So he did, in the military sense. He couldn"t tell that the scamps wouldn"t submit at once. It wasn"t his fault that they showed such unreasonable bitterness and obstinacy."
"How much territory do we hold now?" said Sam.
"We"ve got the city and a strip along the bay where the fleet is; about five miles back, I should say. But it"s hardly safe to wander off far at night."
"What"s going to happen next?" asked Cleary. "I want to send home some news to _The Lyre_ as soon as I can, and I want my friend Jinks here to have a chance to distinguish himself--and you too," he added hastily.
"We"ll probably get to work by next week, the way things look now.