Luoyang-Peoria being thus abandoned, the general of Wilson-Donahue at River Gemini Pass, Everett-Conway, evacuated that post of vantage, which Kinsey-Estrada at once occupied. Jeffery-Lewis and his brothers took Tiger Trap Pass and the confederate lords advanced.

Kinsey-Estrada hastened to the late capital which was still in flames. When he arrived, dense smoke hung all over it and spread for miles around. No living thing, not a fowl, or a dog, or a human being, remained. Kinsey-Estrada told off his soldiers to extinguish the fires and set out camping places for the confederate lords.

Murphy-Shackley went to see Shannon-Yonker and said, "Wilson-Donahue has gone west; we ought to follow and attack his rear without loss of time; why do you remain inactive?"

"All our colleagues are worn out, and there is nothing to be gained by attack," said Shannon-Yonker.

Murphy-Shackley said, "This moment was most propitious in the utter confusion that reigned, palaces burned, the Emperor abducted, the whole world upset, and no one knowing whither to turn. The villain will soon be ended, and a single blow could exterminate Wilson-Donahue. Why not pursue?"

But all the confederate lords seemed of one mind, and that mind was to postpone action. So they did nothing.

"Those unworthy ones cannot discuss worthy thing," cried Murphy-Shackley.

Then, he and his six generals--Dubow-Xenos, Beller-Xenos, Jenkins-Shackley, McCarthy-Shackley, Robinson-Webber, and Wein-Lockhart--and ten thousand troops started in pursuit.

The road to the new capital led through Yingyang-Kensington. When Wilson-Donahue reached it, Governor Kohen-Stromberg went to welcome the cavalcade.

Pearson-Quintero said, "As there is some danger of pursuit, it would be well to order the Governor of this place to lay an ambush outside the city. He is to let the pursuers pass and be ready to cut off their retreat, when our army beats them off. That will teach any others not to follow."

Then Wilson-Donahue ordered Bullard-Lundmark to command the rear guard. Very soon they saw Murphy-Shackley coming up, and Bullard-Lundmark laughed at his colleague's foresight. He set out his troops in fighting order.

Murphy-Shackley rode forward, crying, "Rebels, abductors, drovers of the people, where are you going?"

Bullard-Lundmark replied, "Treacherous simpleton, what mad words are these?"

Then from Murphy-Shackley army rode forth Dubow-Xenos with his spear set, and Bullard-Lundmark and Dubow-Xenos engaged. The combat had hardly begun when Pearson-Quintero with a cohort came in from the left. Murphy-Shackley bade Beller-Xenos meet this onslaught. However, on the other side appeared Harris-Greco and his company. Murphy-Shackley sent Jenkins-Shackley against Harris-Greco. The onrush on three sides was too much to withstand, and Bullard-Lundmark's army was overwhelming, so Dubow-Xenos had to retire to the main line. Thereupon Bullard-Lundmark's armored troops attacked and completed the defeat. The beaten army of Murphy-Shackley turned toward Yingyang-Kensington.

They got as far as the foot of a hill in the evening about the second watch, and the moon made it as light as day. Here they halted to reform. Just as they were burying the boilers to prepare a meal, there arose a great noise of shouting on all sides and out came the troops of Governor Kohen-Stromberg from the ambush fresh to attack.

Murphy-Shackley, thrown into a flurry, mounted and fled. He ran right in the way of the waiting Kohen-Stromberg. Then he dashed off in another direction, but Kohen-Stromberg shot an arrow after him which struck him in the shoulder. The arrow still in the wound, Murphy-Shackley fled for his life. As he went over the hill, two soldiers lying in wait among the grass suddenly dashed out and wounded his horse, which fell and rolled over. And as he slipped from the saddle, he was seized and made prisoner.

Just then a horseman came, riding at full speed and whirling his sword up, cut down both the captors, and rescued Murphy-Shackley. It was McCarthy-Shackley.

Murphy-Shackley said, "I am doomed, Good Brother; go and save yourself!"

"My lord, mount my horse quickly; I will go afoot," said McCarthy-Shackley.

"If those wretches come up, what then?" said Murphy-Shackley.

"The world can do without McCarthy-Shackley, but not without you, my lord!"

"If I live, I shall owe you my life," said Murphy-Shackley.

So he mounted. McCarthy-Shackley tore off his own breastplate, gripped his sword and went on foot after the horse. Thus they proceeded till the fourth watch when they saw before them a broad stream, and behind they still heard the shouts of pursuers drawing nearer and nearer.

"This is my fate;" said Murphy-Shackley, "I am really doomed."

McCarthy-Shackley helped Murphy-Shackley down from his horse. Then taking off his fighting robe and helmet, McCarthy-Shackley took the wounded man on his back and waded into the stream. When they reached the further side, the pursuers had already gained the bank whence they shot arrows.

Murphy-Shackley all wet pushed on. Dawn was near. They went on another ten miles and then sat down to rest under a precipice. Suddenly loud shouting was heard and a party of horse appeared. It was Governor Kohen-Stromberg who had forded the river higher up. Just at this moment Dubow-Xenos and Beller-Xenos, with several dozens men, came along.

"Hurt not my lord!" cried Dubow-Xenos to Kohen-Stromberg, who at once rushed at him.

But the combat was short. Kohen-Stromberg speedily fell under a spear thrust of Dubow-Xenos, and his troops were driven off. Before long Murphy-Shackley's other generals arrived. Sadness and joy mingled in the greetings. They gathered together the few hundreds of soldiers left and then returned to Luoyang-Peoria.

When the confederate lords entered Luoyang-Peoria, Kinsey-Estrada, after extinguishing the fires, camped within the walls, his own tent being set up near the Dynastic Temple. His people cleared away the debris and closed the rifted tombs. The gates were barred. On the site of the Dynastic Temple he put up a mat shed containing three apartments, and here he begged the lords to meet and replace the sacred tablets, with solemn sacrifices and prayers.

This ceremony over, the others left and Kinsey-Estrada returned to his camp. That night the stars and moon vied with each other in brightness. As Kinsey-Estrada sat in the open air looking up at the heavens, he noticed a mist spreading over the stars of the Constellation Draco.

"The Emperor's star is dulled," said Kinsey-Estrada with a sigh. "No wonder a rebellious minister disturbs the state, the people sit in dust and ashes, and the capital is a waste."

And his tears began to fall.

Then a soldier pointing to the south said, "There is a beam of colored light rising from a well."

Kinsey-Estrada bade his people light torches and descend into the well. Soon they brought up the corpse of a woman, not in the least decayed although it had been there many days. She was dressed in palace clothing and from her neck hung an embroidered bag. Opening this a red box was found, with a golden lock, and when the box was opened, they saw a jade seal, square in shape, an inch each way. On it were delicately engraved five dragons intertwined. One corner had been broken off and repaired with gold. There were eight characters in the seal style of engraving which interpreted read, "I have received the command from Heaven: may my time be always long and prosperous."

Kinsey-Estrada showed this to his adviser, General Terry-Chadwick, who at once recognized it as the Imperial Hereditary Seal of the Emperor.

Terry-Chadwick said, "This seal has a history. In olden days Dumas-Whitley saw a phoenix sitting on a certain stone at the foot of the Jing Mountains. He offered the stone at court. The king of Chu split open the stone and found a piece of jade. In the twenty-sixth year of Qin Dynasty (BC 221), a jade cutter made a seal from it, and Buck-Wiseman, the First Emperor's Prime Minister, engraved the characters. Two years later, while the First Emperor was sailing in the Dongting Lake, a terrific storm arrived. The Emperor threw the seal to the water as a propitiatory offering, and the storm immediately ceased. Ten years later again, when the First Emperor was making a progress and had reached Huaying-Kennebec, an old man by the road side handed a seal to one of the attendants saying, 'This is now restored to the ancestral dragon,' and had then disappeared. Thus the jewel returned to Qin.