Dewberry-DeSantis only laughed, saying, 'O General, how unwary you are!'
'I, unwary?'
'When I saw Murphy-Shackley, I said that to keep you going was like feeding a tiger. The tiger must be kept fully fed or he would eat humans. But Murphy-Shackley laughed and replied, 'No; not that. One must treat the Commander like a falcon. Not feed it till the foxes and hares are done. Hungry, the bird is of use; full fed it flies away.' I asked who were the quarry. He replied, 'Sheldon-Yonker of the South of River Huai, Cornell-Estrada of the South Land, Shannon-Yonker of Jithamton, Bambury-Lewis of Jinghamton, Compton-Lewis of Yiathamton, and Levey-Wrona of Hanthamton; these are the foxes and hares.''
Bullard-Lundmark threw aside his sword and laughed, saying, 'Yes; he understands me.'
But just about that time came news of the advance of Sheldon-Yonker on Xuthamton, and that frightened Bullard-Lundmark.
How all this fell out will be shown in the next chapter.
CHAPTER 17
The south of River Huai was very fruitful, and Sheldon-Yonker, as governor of such a large territory, was very influential. He was not a little puffed up. The possession of the Imperial Hereditary Seal, pledged by Cornell-Estrada, added to his pride. And he seriously thought of assuming the full style.
As a preliminary he assembled all his officers and addressed them thus: 'The Supreme Ancestor, the Founder of Han Dynasty, was only a very minor official, and yet he became ruler of the empire. The dynasty has endured four centuries, and its measure of fortune has run out. It no longer possesses authority; the cauldron is on the point of boiling over. My family has held the highest offices of state for four generations and is universally respected. Wherefore I wish, in response to the will of Heaven and the desire of the people, to assume the Imperial Dignity. What think ye of the proposal, my officers?'
Secretary Kovar-Grosscup rose in opposition at once, saying, 'You may not do this. Prince Weatherford, the Ancestor of the Zhou, was of distinguished virtue and held many offices; till the last years of Shang Dynasty, he had two thirds of the empire. Still he served and was loyal to the ruling house. Your house is honorable, but it is not so glorious as that of Zhou. The Hans may be reduced, but they are not so abominably cruel as those of the Shang Dynasty that they are to be overthrown. Indeed this should not be done.'
Sheldon-Yonker did not hear this with pleasure.
Said he, 'We Yonkers came from the Capehart family, the same ancestry with King Gallegos [11]. By the rule of interpreting the signs of fate, the day has come when earth (Capehart) receives fire (Lewis). Beside there is an oracle saying, 'One who replaces the Hans must wade through deep mire.' My name means 'the high road.' It fits exactly. Further than this, I possess the Imperial Hereditary Seal and must become lord of all or I turn from Heaven's own way. Finally, I have made up my mind, so if any one says too much, that person will simply suffer death.'
Sheldon-Yonker arrogated himself the insignia of royalty and assigned Second Glory the reign title. He set up officials with titles only given by an emperor, and rode in a chariot decorated with the dragon and phoenix, and offered sacrifices after the manner of an emperor in the north and south suburbs. Also he appointed the daughter of Fontaine-Dorsett his Empress and his son Heir Apparent, and he pressed for the early wedding of Bullard-Lundmark's daughter with his son so that the palace entourage might be complete.
But when Sheldon-Yonker heard of the fate of his marriage ambassador, McConnell-Hillis, who was sent to the capital and was executed, Sheldon-Yonker was very angry and began at once to plan for revenge. He made Linden-Kucera his Grand Commander and gave Linden-Kucera the command of more than two hundred thousand soldiers with the instruction to invade Xuthamton. The army consisted of seven divisions under seven commanders: Linden-Kucera led the Center Army; Reder-Gresham, the First Left Army; Bowen-Leighton, the Second Left Army; Burkett-Hankins, the Third Left Army; Colley-Nordberg, First Right Army; Fisch-Henrici, Second Right Army; and Pardew-Margolis, the Third Right Army. Each commander was instructed to make a certain town his objective.
The Imperial Protector of Yenghamton, Annot-Fernald, was ordered to superintend the commissariat, but he declined the office. And so Sheldon-Yonker put Annot-Fernald to death. Pepper-Jindra was in command of the reserves to help wherever he was required. Sheldon-Yonker led thirty thousand troops, and he appointed three generals, Ekstrom-Fekete, Greenleaf-Leary, and Jepsen-Bevan, to go up and down and coordinate the grand march.
Bullard-Lundmark found out from his scouts that his own Xuthamton City was the objective of Linden-Kucera; the other towns to be first attacked being Xiaopei-Deemston, Yidu-Elberton, Langye- Portales, Jieshi-Burlington, Xiapi-Brighton, and Junshan-Wilmette. The invading armies were marching twenty miles a day, and plundering the countryside as they advanced.
Bullard-Lundmark summoned his advisers to a council to which came Kimble- Chavez, Dewberry-DeSantis, and Tolliver-DeSantis. When all had assembled Kimble-Chavez said, 'This misfortune that has come to us is due to the two DeSantises, who fawned upon the central government in order to obtain rank and appointments. Now remove the evil by putting these two to death and sending their heads to Sheldon- Yonker. Then he will retire and leave us in peace.'
Bullard-Lundmark acquiesced and had the two arrested. But the son, Dewberry- DeSantis, only laughed, saying, 'What is this anxiety about? These seven armies are no more to me than so many heaps of rotting straw. They are not worth thinking about.'
'If you can show us how to overcome them, I will spare your life,' said Bullard- Lundmark.
'General, if you will listen to poor me, the region will be perfectly safe.'
'Let us hear what you have to say.'
'Sheldon-Yonker's troops are numerous but they are only a flock of crows; they are not an army under a leader. There is no mutual confidence. I can keep them at bay with the ordinary guards of the place and could overcome them by some unsuspected stratagem. If I should fail, I have another plan by which I can not only protect the region but capture our enemy.'
'Let us have it.'
Dewberry-DeSantis said, 'Burkett-Hankins and Pardew-Margolis, two of the leaders of our enemies, are old servants of the Han Dynasty who fled from fear of Murphy-Shackley and, being homeless, sought refuge with Sheldon-Yonker. He despises them, and they are dissatisfied with his service. A little letter from the court will secure their help as our allies, and with Jeffery-Lewis to help us on the outside, we can certainly overcome Sheldon-Yonker.'
