“No, I don’t remember you,” he said. “But I’ll remember you next time. Are you standing guard now, or just doing a little highway robbery on your own account?”
“Oh, I’m standing guard for keeps,” said the sentry, earnestly. “Our camp’s only two hundred yards back of me. And our Captain told me to let all parties pass except the enemy, but I thought I’d have to jump you just for fun. I’m an American myself, you see, from Kansas. An’ being an American I had to give the American Consul a scare. But say,” he exclaimed, advancing enthusiastically on Aiken, with his hand outstretched, “you didn’t scare for a cent.” He shook hands violently with each of us in turn. “My name’s Pete MacGraw,” he added, expectantly.
“Well, now, Mr. MacGraw,” said Aiken, “if you’ll kindly guide us to General Laguerre we’ll use our influence to have you promoted. You need more room. I imagine a soldier with your original ideas must find sentry duty go very dull.”
MacGraw grinned appreciatively and winked.
“If I take you to my General alive, do I get that two hundred dollars?” he asked. He rounded off his question with another yell of laughter.
He was such a harmless idiot that we laughed with him. But we were silenced at once by a shout from above us, and a command to “Stop that noise.” I looked up and saw a man in semi-uniform and wearing an officer’s sash and sword stepping from one rock to another and breaking his way through the laurel. He greeted Aiken with a curt wave of the hand. “Glad to see you, Consul,” he called. “You will dismount, please, and lead your horses this way.” He looked at me suspiciously and then turned and disappeared into the undergrowth.
“The General is expecting you, Aiken,” his voice called back to us. “I hope everything is all right?”
Aiken and I had started to draw the mules up the hill. Already both the officer and the trail had been completely hidden by the laurel.
“No, nothing is all right,” Aiken growled.
There was the sound of an oath, the laurels parted, and the officer’s face reappeared, glaring at us angrily.