“A series of ditches,” replied the other.
“Colonel Saint-Prosper is right,” exclaimed the commanding general. “I had already made up my mind. Let it be the western gate, then.”
And thus was brought to a close one of the most memorable councils of war, for it determined the fate of the City of Mexico.
Saint-Prosper looked older than when seen in New Orleans, as though he had endured much in that brief but hard campaign. His wound had incapacitated him for only a few months, and in spite of the climate and a woful lack of medical attendance and nourishing supplies, his hardy constitution stood him in such stead he was on his feet and in the saddle, while his comrades languished and died in the fierce heat of the temporary hospitals. His fellow-officers knew him as a fearless soldier, but a man reticent about himself, who made a confidant of no one. Liked for his ready, broad military qualities, it was a matter of comment, nevertheless, that no one knew anything about him except that he had served in the French army and was highly esteemed by General Scott as a daring and proficient engineer.
One evening shortly before the skirmish of Antigua, a small Mexican town had been ransacked, where were found cattle, bales of tobacco, pulque and 439 wine. At the rare feast which followed a veteran drank to his wife; a young man toasted his sweetheart, and a third, with moist eyes, sang the praises of his mother. In the heart of the enemy’s land, amid the uncertainties of war, remembrance carried them back to their native soil, rugged New England, the hills of Vermont, the prairies of Illinois, the blue grass of Kentucky.
“Saint-Prosper!” they cried, calling on him, when the festivities were at their height.
“To you, gentlemen,” he replied, rising, glass in hand. “I drink to your loved ones!”
“To your own!” cried a young man, flushed with the wine.
Saint-Prosper gazed around that rough company, brave hearts softened to tenderness, and, lifting his canteen, said, after a moment’s hesitation:
“To a princess on a tattered throne!”