Captain Jinks, Hero Ernest Howard Crosby (best management books of all time TXT) đ
- Author: Ernest Howard Crosby
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âââGive me a taste of that,â says he, and one of them runs off and gets a ladle and gives him a taste. He spits it out and makes a face and shouts:
âââGood heavens! man, you donât call that stuff soup, do you?â
âââNo, sir,â says the man. âItâs dishwater that we was a-hemptyinâ.â Thatâs the soldier all over again. He âadnât sense enough to tell him beforehand.â
âI donât see, sergeant, what that has to do with me,â said Sam curtly.
âWell, sir, perhaps it hasnât. But I only wanted to say that I ainât that kind of a man. I sees and thinks for myself. Now I âear that theyâve got a letter captured from Gomaldo askinâ General Baluna for reinforcements, and that theyâve got some letters from Baluna too, and know his handwritinâ. I only wanted to say that I used to be a writinâ-master and that I can copy any writinâ goinâ or any signature either, so you canât tell them apart. Now why couldnât we forge an answer from Baluna to Gomaldo and send the first reinforcements ourselves? He wants a âundred men at a time. And then we could capture Gomaldo as easy as can be. We could find him in the mountains. I know a lot of these natives âere who would go with us if we paid them well.â
âWe should have to dress them up in the native uniform,â said Sam. âI donât know whether that would be quite honorable.â
The sergeant smiled knowingly, but said nothing.
âDo you think we could get native officers to do such a thing?â Sam asked.
âOh, yes! Plenty of them. I know one or two. At first they wouldnât like it. But give them money enough and commissions in our army, and theyâd do it.â
âHow different they are from us!â mused Sam. âNobody in our army, officer or man, could ever be approached in that way.â
âIt seems to me Iâve read somewhere of one of our principal generalsâ âMaledict Donald, wasnât it?â
Sam thought best not to hear this.
âBut we would have to send some of our own officers on such an expedition,â he said. âWe couldnât disguise them as natives.â
âThat wouldnât be necessary. They can go as if they were prisonersâ âyou and two or three others you could pick out. Iâd like to go too. And then Iâd expect good pay if the thing went through, and a commission as lieutenant.â
âThereâd be no trouble about that,â answered Sam. âIâll think it over, and perhaps consult the general about it and let you know by tomorrow.â
âVery good, sir. Iâm Sergeant Keene of the 5th Company, 39th Infantry.â
As the sergeant went out Cleary came in, and Sam laid the matter before him.
âI know that fellow by sight,â said Cleary. âThey say heâs served several terms for forgery and counterfeiting. I donât like his looks. Thatâs a great scheme though, if it does seem a little like bunco-steering. Itâs all right in war perhaps.â
âYes,â said Sam. âWe have a higher standard of honor than civilians. Iâll go and see the general about it now.â
After some consultation the general approved the plan and authorized Sam to carry it out. The latter set Keene to work at once at forging a letter from Baluna acknowledging receipt of the orders for reinforcements and informing Gomaldo that he was sending him the first company of one hundred troops. Meanwhile he selected three officers of the Regular Army to accompany him besides Keene, and through the latter approached three native officers who had been captured at San Diego. One of these was a close confidential friend of Gomaldoâs, but Keene succeeded after much persuasion in winning them all over. It was an easier task to make up a company of native privates, who readily followed their officers when a small payment on account had been given to each man.
âI donât quite like the job,â Sam confessed to Cleary, âbut the general says itâs all right and so it must be.â
At last the expedition started out. All the natives were dressed in the native uniform, and the five white men were clad as privates in the invading army and held as prisoners. After passing the outposts near San Diego they turned toward the south in the direction of the mountains where Gomaldoâs captured letter had been dated. They were received with rejoicings in each native village as soon as they showed the forged letter of Baluna and exhibited their white prisoners. The villagers showed much interest in the latter, but treated them kindly, expressing their pity for them and offering them food. They had no difficulty in obtaining exact directions as to Gomaldoâs situation, but found that it lay in the midst of an uninhabited district where it was impossible to obtain supplies, the village where he had established his headquarters being the only one within many miles. They scraped together what food they could in the shape of rice, Indian corn, and dried beef, and set out on the last stage of their journey. There had been heavy rains recently, and the mountain paths were almost impassable. There were swift rivers to cross, precipices to climb, and jungles to penetrate. The heat was intense, and the men began to suffer from it. The advance was very slow, and soon the provisions gave out. It began to seem probable that the whole expedition would perish in the mountains. Sam called a council of war, and, at Keeneâs
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