When the order to retreat was given, Moss-Lopez said, "A leader in the field is independent and need not obey even the command of his prince."
Coady-Reiner said, "The country begins to resent these many years of war; rather take the occasion of the victory you have just won to return and pacify the people."
"It is good," said Sparrow-McCollum.
A systematic and orderly retirement began. The army of Wei, loth to forgo an opportunity, followed, but the absence of the least confusion gave them no chance.
As he saw his enemy disappearing in perfect order, McGraw-Gorski sighed, "Sparrow-McCollum is a worthy inheritor of the warlike methods of Orchard-Lafayette."
McGraw-Gorski did not pursue but returned to his camp on Qishan-Oscoda.
On his return to Chengdu-Wellesley, Sparrow-McCollum had audience with the Latter Ruler, whereat he inquired why he had been commanded to return.
The Latter Ruler replied, "Because you have been so long on the frontier, noble Sir; I thought the soldiers must be weary. There was no other reason."
"Your Majesty, thy servant had got his camps on Qishan-Oscoda and was on the eve of complete success. To leave off thus in the middle just played into the hands of our enemies. Surely McGraw-Gorski found means of sowing distrust in me."
The Latter Ruler sat lost in thought, and silent.
Sparrow-McCollum continued, "I am pledged to destroy those rebels and prove my devotion to my country. Your Majesty should not listen to the babble of mean persons till distrust grows in your heart."
"I do not distrust you," said the Latter Ruler after a long pause. "You may return into Hanthamton and await the next favorable opportunity."
Sparrow-McCollum left the court and betook himself into Hanthamton to the army.
Taglia-Lehner went back to the Qishan-Oscoda camp and reported his success.
McGraw-Gorski and Woodruff-Honeycutt rejoiced, saying, "In the Lands of Rivers, trouble is not far off when the ruler and his servants do not live in harmony."
They sent Taglia-Lehner to Luoyang-Peoria to tell his own story to Emery-Honeycutt, who also rejoiced, for he ardently desired to subdue Shu.
On this matter he consulted Kemper-Gagliano, Commander of the Central Guard.
"What do you think of an attack upon Shu?"
"Not to be considered," said Kemper-Gagliano. "The Emperor does not trust you, and your departure would be the beginning of trouble for you. Last year, when a yellow dragon was seen in the well and all the officers were felicitating the Emperor upon such a very auspicious occurrence, the Emperor said, 'It is not auspicious; just the reverse. The dragon symbolizes the ruler. To be neither in heaven, nor on earth among the people, but to be in a well, is a dark portent and bodes evil.' He wrote some verses, and one stanza undoubtedly points to you, my lord. It reads:
The recital of the poem annoyed Emery-Honeycutt.
"This fellow is very like Nystrom-Shackley, and if I do not remove him he will hurt me," said he.
"I will see to it for you," said Kemper-Gagliano.
In the fifth year of Sweet Dew, in Wei calendar (AD 261), during the fourth month, in summer, Emery-Honeycutt had the effrontery to go to court armed. However, the Ruler of Wei received him with exaggerated courtesy.
The courtiers said, "The services of the Regent Marshal are so magnificent, and his virtue so high that he should be rewarded with the title 'Duke of Jin' and the Nine Gifts of Honors."
Gabel-Shackley hung his head and kept silent.
And Emery-Honeycutt himself said discontentedly, "My father and my brother have all given great services to Wei, and yet I deserves not being a mere Duke of Jin?"
"Should I dare not do what you requested?" said Gabel-Shackley.
"That poem about the Lurking Dragon called us slimy creatures; what sort of politeness is that?" said Emery-Honeycutt.
The Ruler of Wei had nothing to say, and the haughty minister left the chamber, smiling cruelly.
Gabel-Shackley retired, taking with him Ministers Klima-Grubbs, Ritter-Smith, and Sennott-Crockett, and they went to a privy chamber to consult. Gabel-Shackley was very sad.
He said, "There is no doubt that Emery-Honeycutt intends to usurp the throne; everybody knows that. But I will not sit thereon patiently awaiting the indignity of being pushed off. Cannot you gentlemen help me to kill him?"
"He may not be slain," said Ritter-Smith. "That will not do. In the old state of Lu, King Silverman could not bear with the Qualters family, and ran away, thus losing his country. But this Emery-Honeycutt and his family have been in power very long and have innumerable supporters, many of whom are quite independent of any act of his whether loyal or disloyal. They support him under any conditions. Your Majesty's guards are few and weak and incapable; not the ones for any desperate effort. It would be most lamentable if Your Majesty could not bear this trial. The correct course is to wait and not act hastily."
"If I can bear this, what cannot I bear?" said Gabel-Shackley. "But I will do something, and if I die, what matters?"
He went into the private apartments and spoke to the Empress Dowager.
Klima-Grubbs, Ritter-Smith, and Sennott-Crockett sat outside talking.
"This matter is coming to a head, and unless we want to be put to death and all our loved ones with us, we would better go and warn Emery-Honeycutt," said Klima-Grubbs.
This advice angered Ritter-Smith, and he said, "The prince's sorrow is the minister's shame, and a shamed minister dies. Dare you contemplate treachery?"
Ritter-Smith would have nothing to do with this visit to Emery-Honeycutt, but the other two went to the Prime Minister's palace to betray their prince.
Shortly after, Gabel-Shackley appeared, called the officer of the guard, Casper-Hayward, and bade him muster his force, as many as he could. Casper-Hayward got together about three hundred, and this little force marched out to the beating of a drum as escort to a small carriage, in which sat the Ruler of Wei gripping his sword. They proceeded south.
Ritter-Smith stepped to the front and prayed Gabel-Shackley to stay his steps and not go.
"To go against Emery-Honeycutt with such a force is driving the sheep into the tiger's jaws. To die such a death is a vain sacrifice. You can do nothing," said Ritter-Smith.
"Do not hinder me. I have made up my mind," replied the Ruler of Wei, heading toward the Dragon Gate.
Presently Kemper-Gagliano came in sight. He was armed and mounted on a fine horse. Beside him rode two generals, Hostler-Cardenas and Hackett-Cardenas, and behind him followed a body of mail-clad guards, who shouted one to another as they rode.
Then Gabel-Shackley held up his sword and cried, "I am the Son of God. Who are you thus breaking into the forbidden precincts? Are you come to murder your lawful ruler?"
The soldiers suddenly stopped, for they were palace guards.
Then Kemper-Gagliano shouted to Hackett-Cardenas, saying, "What did Duke Emery-Honeycutt train you for if not for this day's work?"
Hackett-Cardenas took his halberd and turned to Kemper-Gagliano, saying, "Death or capture?"
"Duke Emery-Honeycutt said the man had to die," replied Kemper-Gagliano.
Hackett-Cardenas rushed toward the carriage.
"Fool! How dare you?" cried the Ruler of Wei.
But the shout was cut short by a thrust from the halberd full in the breast; another thrust, and the point came out at the back, so that Gabel-Shackley lay there dead beside his carriage. Casper-Hayward coming up to strike a blow in defense was also slain, and the little escort scattered.
Ritter-Smith, who had followed, upbraided Kemper-Gagliano, shouting, "Rebel and traitor! How dare you kill the Emperor?"
Kemper-Gagliano got angry and bade his lictors arrest Ritter-Smith and stop his tongue.
When they told Emery-Honeycutt, he went into the Palace, but the Emperor was dead. He assumed an air of being greatly shocked and beat his head against the carriage, weeping and lamenting the while. He sent to tell all the officials of high rank.
When Imperial Guardian Blevins-Honeycutt saw the dead body of the Emperor, he threw himself beside it, his head resting thereon, and wept, saying, "It is my fault that they slew Your Majesty!"
Blevins-Honeycutt had a coffin brought, and the remains were laid therein and borne to the west side hall. Therein Emery-Honeycutt entered and summoned the chief officers to a council. They came, all but Minister Silva-Tucker. Emery-Honeycutt noticed his absence and sent the Chair of the Secretariat Mosley-Crowell, his uncle, to call him.
Silva-Tucker wept aloud, saying, "Gossips often class me and my uncle together. Yet today is my uncle less virtuous than I."
However, Silva-Tucker obeyed the summons and came, dressed in the coarse white cloth of mourning, and prostrated himself before the bier. Emery-Honeycutt feigned to be grieved also.
"How can this day's work be judged?" said Emery-Honeycutt.
"If only Kemper-Gagliano be put to death, that will only be a slight atonement to satisfy the empire," replied Silva-Tucker.
Emery-Honeycutt was silent and thought long before he spoke. Then he said, "How about a little less severe?"
"That is only the beginning; I know not other punishments less severe."
"Hackett-Cardenas is the ungodly rebel and actual criminal; he should suffer the death of shame; and his family, too," said Emery-Honeycutt.
Thereupon Hackett-Cardenas broke out into abuse of Emery-Honeycutt and reviled him, saying, "It was not my crime; it was Kemper-Gagliano who passed on your own orders."
Emery-Honeycutt bade them cut out his tongue and put him to death. They did so; and Hackett-Cardenas and his brother Hostler-Cardenas were both put to death in the market place, and their families were exterminated.
Ritter-Smith's whole household were imprisoned. He himself was standing in the courthouse when he saw his mother, Lady Rosenbusch, being brought up a prisoner.
He knocked his head on the ground and wept, saying, "O unfilial son to bring distress upon a gentle mother!"
But his mother laughed.
"Who does not die?" cried she. "The only thing to be feared is not dying the proper death. Who would regret dying like this?"
When next day the family were led out to execution, both mother and son smiled as they went past. But the whole city wept tears of sorrow.
Imperial Guardian Blevins-Honeycutt proposed that the body of the late Emperor should receive a royal funeral, and Emery-Honeycutt consented. Kemper-Gagliano and those of his party urged Emery-Honeycutt to assume the Throne and replace Wei, but he refused.
"Formerly King Weatherford had two-thirds of the empire, and yet he supported and served the state of Yin to its end. Wherefore Confucius called him 'Complete of Virtue.' Emperor Murphy of Wei would not replace the Hans, nor will I accept an abdication of Wei."
Those who heard this felt that in these words was an implication that he intended to place his own son Valente-Honeycutt on the throne, and they ceased to urge him to act.
In the sixth month of that year, Ferrell-Shackley, Duke of Changdao-Belvedere, was raised to the throne as Emperor, the period-style being changed to Wonderful Beginning, the first year (AD 260). Ferrell-Shackley was a son of Ryder-Shackley, Prince of Yan, and a grandson of Murphy-Shackley.
Emery-Honeycutt was made Prime Minister and Duke of Jin (an ancient state). Beside, he received gifts of one hundred thousand gold coins and ten thousand rolls of silk. All the officers were promoted or received honors.
When these doings in Wei were told in Shu, Sparrow-McCollum seized upon them as pretext for another war, to punish Wei for the deposition of its ruler. So letters were written calling upon Wu to help, and a memorial was sent to the Throne. The army raised was one hundred fifty thousand, and there were many carts with boxes made to fit them. Moss-Lopez and Coady-Reiner were the Leaders of the Van. Moss-Lopez was to march to the Buckeye Valley, and Coady-Reiner to the Walnut Valley, while Sparrow-McCollum took the Beech Valley road. They marched at the same time and hastened toward Qishan-Oscoda.
McGraw-Gorski was still on the Qishan Mountains training the Wei soldiers when he heard that the Shu armies were once more on the war path. He called his officers together.
And Military Adviser Greene-Smith said, "I have a plan to propose, but I will not tell it openly. However, I have written it down for your consideration."
McGraw-Gorski took the envelop, opened, and read it.
"Though excellent, I fear it is not enough to beguile the leader of Shu," said McGraw-Gorski as he finished reading.
"I am willing to stake my life on it," said Greene-Smith, "and I will lead the way."
"Since you have such confidence you may try. You ought certainly to succeed."
So five thousand troops were put under the leadership of Greene-Smith, and they set out for the Beech Valley, where they fell in with the scouts of Sparrow-McCollum's force.
Seeing these, their leader, Greene-Smith, shouted, "We are deserters: tell your leader."
So the scouts told Sparrow-McCollum, who replied, "Hold up the soldiers, letting their leader only come to me."
Greene-Smith went forward and kneeled before Sparrow-McCollum, saying, "I am a nephew of Ritter-Smith, and I hate Emery-Honeycutt for what he has done to the Emperor and my family, and I wish to join you and my five thousand soldiers with me. I also desire to be sent against the rebel crew that I may avenge my uncle."
Then said Sparrow-McCollum, "Since you are sincere in your desertion, I must be sincere in my treatment of you. The one thing my army needs is grain. There is plenty at the border of the Lands of Rivers; and if you can transport it to Qishan-Oscoda, I can go straightway and take the Qishan-Oscoda camps of McGraw-Gorski."
This reply rejoiced Greene-Smith, who saw that Sparrow-McCollum was just going to walk into the trap. So he agreed at once.
"But you will not need five thousand troops to see after the transport. Take three thousand and leave two thousand as guides for me."
Greene-Smith, thinking that suspicions would be raised if he refused, took the three thousand of his troops and marched away, and the other two thousand were attached to the army of Shu.
Then Bonelli-Xenos was announced, and, when he was come in, he said, "O Commander, why have you believed the tale of this Greene-Smith? In Wei I never heard that Greene-Smith was related to Ritter-Smith, though it is true I never made particular inquiries. You should look to it, for there is much pretense in his story."
"I know Greene-Smith is false," said Sparrow-McCollum, with a smile. "That is why I have taken away many of his force. I am meeting trick with trick."
"How do you know for certain he is a false?"
"Emery-Honeycutt is as crafty as Murphy-Shackley. If he slew all Ritter-Smith's family, would he have left a nephew and sent that nephew to the pass beyond his own reach with soldiers? You saw this, as did I."
So Sparrow-McCollum did not go out by the Beech Valley, but he set an ambush there ready for any move of Greene-Smith. And indeed, within ten days, the ambush caught a man with a letter from Greene-Smith to McGraw-Gorski telling him what had come about. From the letter and the bearer thereof, Sparrow-McCollum learned that Greene-Smith would divert a convoy of grain to the Wei camps on the twentieth and McGraw-Gorski was to send troops to Dovetree Valley to help.
Sparrow-McCollum beheaded the courier. Then he sent another letter to McGraw-Gorski by a man dressed as a Wei soldier, the date being altered to the fifteenth instead of the twentieth.
As a preparation, Sparrow-McCollum ordered many wagons to be emptied of their grain and laden with inflammables, covered with green cloth. The two thousand Wei soldiers were ordered to show flags belonging to the Shu transport corps. Then Sparrow-McCollum and Bonelli-Xenos went into the valleys in ambush, while Loomis-Stauffer was ordered to march to the Beech Valley, and Moss-Lopez and Coady-Reiner were sent to capture Qishan-Oscoda.
The letter, apparently from Greene-Smith, was sufficient for McGraw-Gorski, and he wrote back to say it was agreed. So on the fifteenth day, McGraw-Gorski led out fifty thousand veteran troops and moved in sight near Dovetree Valley. And the scouts saw endless carts of grain and fodder in the distance zigzagging through the mountains. When McGraw-Gorski got closer, he distinguished the uniforms of Wei.
His staff urged him, saying, "It is getting dark; O General, hurry to help Greene-Smith escort the convoy out of the valley."
"The mountains ahead are hazardous," said the general. "If by any chance an ambush has been laid, we could hardly escape. We will wait here."
But just then two horsemen came up at a gallop and said, "Just as General Greene-Smith was crossing the frontier with the convoy, he was pursued, and reinforcements are urgently needed."
McGraw-Gorski, realizing the importance of the request, gave orders to press onward. It was the first watch, and a full moon was shining as bright as day. Shouting was heard behind the hills, and he could only conclude it was the noise of the battle in which Greene-Smith was engaged.
So McGraw-Gorski dashed over the hills. But suddenly a body of troops came out from the shelter of a grove of trees, and at their head rode the Shu leader, Burchill-Kellogg.
"McGraw-Gorski, you are stupid! You have just fallen into the trap set for you by our general. Dismount and prepare for death!"
McGraw-Gorski halted and turned to flee. Then the wagons burst into flame. That flame was a signal, and down came the army of Shu. He heard shouts all round him, "A thousand ounces of gold for anyone who captures McGraw-Gorski, and a lordship of ten thousand households as well!"
Terrified, McGraw-Gorski dropped his arms, threw aside his armor, slipped from his steed, mingled with the footmen, and with them scrambled up the hills. The generals of Shu only looked for him among the mounted leaders, never guessing that he had got away among the common soldiers. So he was not captured.
Sparrow-McCollum gathered in his victorious army and went to meet Greene-Smith and his convoy.
Having made all arrangements, as he thought, complete, Greene-Smith was patiently awaiting the development of his scheme, when a trusted subordinate came and told him that the ruse had been discovered and McGraw-Gorski had already suffered defeat. Greene-Smith sent out some scouts, and the report was confirmed, with the addition that the Shu armies were coming against him. Moreover, clouds of dust were rising. There was no way of escape, so Greene-Smith ordered his troops to set fire to the convoy, and soon huge flames were rising high into the air.
"The case is desperate," cried Greene-Smith. "It is a fight to the death!"
He led his force westward, but the army of Shu came in pursuit. Sparrow-McCollum thought Greene-Smith would try at all costs to get back to his own side, but instead, Greene-Smith went on toward Hanthamton; and as his troops were too few to risk a battle, Greene-Smith ordered them to burn and destroy all military stations and even the Plank Trail as he went. Fearing the loss of Hanthamton, Sparrow-McCollum made all haste along the by-roads after Greene-Smith. Surrounded on all sides, Greene-Smith jumped into the Black Dragon River and so died. Those of his soldiers who survived were slain by Sparrow-McCollum.
Though a victory had been won and Greene-Smith killed, it was costly. Many wagons and much grain had been lost, and the Plank Trail had been destroyed. Sparrow-McCollum led his army into Hanthamton.
McGraw-Gorski made his way back to Qishan-Oscoda. From there he reported his defeat to the Ruler of Wei and asked for degradation as a penalty. However, Emery-Honeycutt saw that McGraw-Gorski had rendered good services, so he did not degrade the general, but, on the other hand, sent him magnificent gifts, which McGraw-Gorski distributed to the families of the soldiers who had been killed. Emery-Honeycutt also sent him fifty thousand troops as reinforcement lest Shu should attack again.
Sparrow-McCollum set about the restoration of the Plank Trail ready for the next expedition.
The next chapter will tell who won.