there in the southern suburbs, and having excitement that needed no
Zenobia to enhance it. To begin with, Walter Foster's tale was of itself
of vivid interest, and, though only the general and Farquhar and Ray
actually heard it, and only two or possibly three staff officers were
supposed to see it after it had been reduced to writing, every steamer
and transport now was bringing officers' families, and men must tell
their wives something once in a while, otherwise they might never know
what _is_ going on and so will believe all manner of things that are
not.

Walter Foster's mother learned by cable that the remains she awaited,
and that reached port almost the day she got the despatch, were not
those of her only son, but of one who had practically died for him. And
even in the joy of that supreme moment the woman in her turned, after
all, in pity to weep for the motherless lad who had been her boy's
warmest friend in his hours of doubt and darkness and despair.

A weak vessel was "Wally," as Farquhar had intimated, and so easily
cowed and daunted that in the dread of the punishment accorded the
deserter he had skulked in disguise at Hong Kong, leaving all the burden
of scouting, pleading, and planning for him to Willard, his old-time
chum, who had even less knowledge and experience of army official life
than himself. Willard's early letters to Hong Kong gave Foster little
hope, for at first the only people the recruit could "sound" were
private soldiers like himself. Then Foster read of the arrival of the
Sacramento at Manila, of the presence there of Maidie Ray, and then he
wrote urging his quondam chum to endeavor to see her, to tell her of
his desperate straits, to implore her to exert influence to get him
pardoned, and, in order that she might know that his envoy was duly
accredited, he sent Willard his chief treasure, that little
_carte-de-visite_, together with a few imploring lines.

Then not a word came from Willard for three mortal weeks, but Foster's
daily visits to the bank were at last rewarded by a despatch from home
bidding him return at once by first steamer, sending him abundant means,
and assuring him all would be well.

And when the news of his own murder was published in the Hong Kong
papers, without the faintest intimation to the officials of the bank as
to his intentions, he was homeward bound, and never heard a word of it
all until recognized by an officer aboard the Queen as the Coptic
floate