"What is it, Guardie? I thought you were supremely happy this morning over the news that Dewey has smashed the Spanish fleet?"
"And so I am, little girl," was the gentle reply, "or was until my eye fell on this call of the Socialists for a meeting to-night to denounce the war—denounce the men who are dying for the flag. Read their summons."
He opened the crumpled sheet and pointed to its head lines:
"Down with the Stars and Stripes—up with the Red Flag of Revolution—the symbol of universal human brotherhood! Come and bring your friends. A big surprise for all!" The Colonel's jaws snapped suddenly.
"I'd like to give them the surprise they need to-night."
"What?" Elena asked.
"A serenade."
"A serenade?"
"Yes, with Mauser rifles and Gatling guns. I'd mow them down as I would a herd of wild beasts loose in the streets of San Francisco."
"Merely for a difference of opinion, Governor?" lazily broke in a voice from the depths of a heavy armchair.