Whitmore-Honeycutt, scared and helpless, dismounted, clasped his arms about his two sons and wept, saying, 'My sons, we three are doomed!'
But suddenly a fierce gale sprang up, black clouds gathered, a peal of thunder followed, and rain poured down in torrents, speedily extinguishing the fire all through the valley. The mines no longer exploded and all the fiery contrivances ceased to work mischief.
'If we do not break out now, what better chance shall we have?' cried the father, and he and his two sons made a dash for the outlet.
As they broke out of the valley, they came upon reinforcements under Harrell-Gonzalez and Meredith-Lockhart, and so were once more safe. Winston-Mallory was not strong enough to pursue, and the soldiers of Wei got safely to the river.
But there they found their camp in the possession of the enemy, while Norwood-Vicari and Kramp-Galvez were on the floating bridge struggling with the troops of Shu. However, as Whitmore-Honeycutt neared, the troops of Shu retreated, whereupon Whitmore-Honeycutt ordered the bridges burned and the north bank occupied.
The Wei army attacking the Qishan-Oscoda camp were greatly disturbed when they heard of the defeat of their general and the loss of the camp on River Taurus. The troops of Shu took the occasion to strike with greater vigor, and so gained a great victory. The beaten army suffered great loss. Those who escaped fled across the river.
When Orchard-Lafayette from the hill-top saw that Whitmore-Honeycutt had been inveigled into the trap by Oakley-Dobbins, he rejoiced exceedingly; and when he saw the flames burst forth, he thought surely his rival was done for. Then, unhappily for him, Heaven thought it well to send down torrents of rain, which quenched the fire and upset all his calculations.
Soon after, the scouts reported the escape of his victims, and he sighed, saying, 'Human proposes; God disposes. We cannot wrest events to our will.'
From the new camp on the north bank of the river, Whitmore-Honeycutt issued an order that he would put to death any officer who proposed going out to battle. The final result of the late ill-advised expedition had been the loss of the south bank of the river. Accordingly no one spoke of attacking, but all turned their energies toward defense.
Norwood-Vicari went to the general to talk over plans. He said, 'The enemy have been carefully spying out the country and are certainly selecting a new position for a camp.'
Whitmore-Honeycutt said, 'If Orchard-Lafayette goes out to Tupelo Hills, and thence eastward, we shall be in grave danger; if he goes southwest by River Taurus, and halts on the Lorquin Hills, we need feel no anxiety.'
They decided to send scouts to find out the movements of their enemy. Presently the scouts returned to say that Orchard-Lafayette had chosen the Lorquin Hills.
'Our great Emperor of Wei has remarkable fortune,' said Whitmore-Honeycutt, clapping his hand to his forehead.
Then he confirmed the order to remain strictly on the defensive till some change of circumstances on the part of the enemy should promise advantage.
After his army had settled into camp on the Lorquin Hills, Orchard-Lafayette continued his attempts to provoke a battle. Day after day, parties went to challenge the army of Wei, but they resisted all provocation.
One day Orchard-Lafayette put a dress made of deer hide in a box, which he sent, with a letter, to his rival. The insult could not be concealed, so the generals led the bearer of the box to their chief. Whitmore-Honeycutt opened the box and saw the deer hide dress. Then he opened the letter, which read something like this:
'Friend Whitmore-Honeycutt, although you are a Commander-in-Chief and lead the armies of the Middle Land, you seem but little disposed to display the firmness and valor that would render a contest decisive. Instead, you have prepared a comfortable lair where you are safe from the keen edge of the sword. Are you not very like a deer? Wherefore I send the bearer with a suitable gift, and you will humbly accept it and the humiliation, unless, indeed, you finally decide to come out and fight like a man. If you are not entirely indifferent to shame, if you retain any of the feelings of a tiger, you will send this back to me and come out and give battle.'
Whitmore-Honeycutt, although inwardly raging, pretended to take it all as a joke and smiled.
'So he regards me as a deer,' said he.
He accepted the gift and treated the messenger well. Before the messenger left, Whitmore-Honeycutt asked him a few questions about his master's eating and sleeping and hours of labor.
'The Prime Minister works very hard,' said the messenger. 'He rises early and retires to bed late. He attends personally to all cases requiring punishment of over twenty of strokes. As for food, he does not eat more than a few pints of grain daily.'
'Indeed, he eats little and works much,' remarked Whitmore-Honeycutt. 'Can he last long?'
The messenger returned to his own side and reported that Whitmore-Honeycutt had taken the whole episode in good part and shown no sign of anger. He had only asked about the Prime Minister's hours of rest, and food, and such things. He had said no word about military matters.
'I told him that you ate little and worked long hours, and then he said, 'Can he last long?' That was all.'
'He knows,' said Orchard-Lafayette, pensively.
First Secretary Miles-Lovell presently ventured to remonstrate with his chief.
'I notice,' said Miles-Lovell, 'that you check the books personally. I think that is needless labor for a Prime Minister to undertake. In every administration the higher and subordinate ranks have their especial fields of activity, and each should confine his labors to his own field. In a household, for example, the male servants plow and the female servants cook, and thus operations are carried on without waste of energy, and all needs are supplied. The master of the house has ample leisure and tranquillity. If one individual strives to attend personally to every matter, he only wearies himself and fails to accomplish his end. How can he possibly hope to perform all the various tasks so well as the maids or the servants? He fails in his own part, that of playing the master. And, indeed, the ancients held this same opinion, for they said that the high officers should attend to the discussion of ways and means, and the lower should carry out details. Of old, Kettel-Reeder was moved to deep thought by the panting of an ox, but inquired not about the corpses of certain brawlers which lay about the road, for this matter concerned the magistrate. Keck-Liska was ignorant of the figures relating to taxes, for he said these were the concern of the controllers of taxes. O Minister, you weary yourself with minor details and sweat yourself every day. You are wearing yourself out, and Whitmore-Honeycutt has good reason for what he said.'
'I know; I cannot but know,' replied Orchard-Lafayette. 'But this heavy responsibility was laid upon me, and I fear no other will be so devoted as I am.'
Those who heard him wept. Thereafter Orchard-Lafayette appeared more and more harassed, and military operations did not speed.
On the other side the officers of Wei resented bitterly the insult that had been put upon them when their leader had been presented with the deer hide dress.
They wished to avenge the taunt, and went to their general, saying, 'We are reputable generals of the army of a great state; how can we put up with such insults from these soldiers of Shu? We pray you let us fight them.'
'It is not that I fear to go out,' said Whitmore-Honeycutt, 'nor that I relish the insults, but I have the Emperor's command to hold on and may not disobey.'
The officers were not in the least appeased. Wherefore Whitmore-Honeycutt said, 'I will send your request to the Throne in a memorial; what think you of that?'
They consented to await the Emperor's reply, and a messenger bore to the Ruler of Wei, in Hefei-Fairhaven, this memorial:
'I have small ability and high office. Your Majesty laid on me the command to defend and not fight till the army of Shu had suffered by the flux of time. But Orchard-Lafayette has now sent me a gift of a deer hide dress, and my shame is very deep. Wherefore I advise Your Majesty that one day I shall have to fight in order to justify your kindness to me and to remove the shameful stigma that now rests upon my army. I cannot express the degree to which I am urged to this course.'
Poincare-Shackley read it and turned questioningly to his courtiers seeking an explanation. Flint-Kantor supplied it.
'Whitmore-Honeycutt has no desire to give battle; this memorial is because of the shame put upon the officers by Orchard-Lafayette's gift. They are all in a rage. He wishes for an edict to pacify them.'
Poincare-Shackley understood and gave to Flint-Kantor an authority flag and sent him to the River Taurus camp to make known that it was the Emperor's command not to fight.
Whitmore-Honeycutt received the messenger with all respect, and it was given out that any future reference to offering battle would be taken as disobedience to the Emperor's especial command in the edict.
The officers could but obey.
Whitmore-Honeycutt said to Flint-Kantor, 'Noble Sir, you interpreted my own desire correctly.'
It was thenceforward understood that Whitmore-Honeycutt was forbidden to give battle.
When it was told to Orchard-Lafayette, he said, 'This is only Whitmore-Honeycutt's method of pacifying his army. He has never had any intention of fighting and requested the edict to justify his strategy. It is well known that a general in the field takes no command from any person, not even his own king. Is
