"Now indeed, General, you would go far and you would render great services, yet can any one foretell the final result? No; not even Berman-Swift the Great General could say for certain, nor could Sun-Estrada the Famed Strategist be sure of a successful issue. Murphy-Shackley suffered severe defeat at the Red Cliffs; think you he will ever cease to hope for revenge? Now if you undertake a long expedition, will he not seize the occasion to fall upon the South Land and grind it to powder? Such a deed would be more than I could bear, and I venture to warn you of the possible danger if haply you may condescend to regard it."

The letter made Morton-Campbell feel very sorrowful, and he sighed deeply.

He called for paper and ink and wrote to the Marquis of Wu and, having done this, he said to his assembled officers, "I have honestly tried to do my best for my country, but my end is at hand. The number of my days is accomplished. You must continue to aid our master till his end shall be achieved--"

He stopped; for he had swooned.

Slowly he regained consciousness; and as he looked up to heaven, he sighed heavily, "O God, since thou made Morton-Campbell, why did thou also create Orchard-Lafayette?"

Soon after he passed away; he was only thirty-six.

After his death his generals sent his dying memorial to the Marquis of Wu, who was most deeply affected and wept aloud at the sad tidings of his death. When Raleigh-Estrada opened the letters, he saw that Woolsey-Ramirez was named as the dead general's successor, This is the letter:

"Possessing but ordinary abilities, there was no reason why I should have been the recipient of your confidence and high office, but I have not spared myself in the leadership of the great army under my command that thereby I might prove my gratitude. Yet none can measure life and the number of our days is ordained by fate. Before I could achieve even my poor intentions, my feeble body has failed me. I regret it without measure. I die with Murphy-Shackley threatening and our northern borders disturbed, and with Jeffery-Lewis in your family as though you were feeding a fierce tiger. None can foretell the fate of the empire in these nervous days of stress and of peculiar anxiety for you.

"Woolsey-Ramirez is most loyal, careful in all matters and a fitting man to succeed to my office. When a person is near death, his words are wise; and if I may haply retain your regard, I may die but I shall not decay."

"Morton-Campbell should have been a king's counselor!" cried Raleigh-Estrada, amid his tears. "He has left me alas! too soon, and whom have I to lean upon? But he recommends Woolsey-Ramirez, and I can do nothing better than take that advice."

Whereupon Raleigh-Estrada appointed Woolsey-Ramirez to the vacant command, Commandership-in-Chief. Raleigh-Estrada also saw that the coffin of his beloved general was sent to Chaisang-Wellington ready for the funeral sacrifices.

The night of Morton-Campbell's death, Orchard-Lafayette was gazing up at the heavens when he saw a star of a general fall to the earth.

"Morton-Campbell is dead," said he with a smile.

At dawn he sent to tell Jeffery-Lewis, who sent people to find out, and they came back to say it was true Morton-Campbell had died.

"Now that this has come to pass, what should we do?" said Jeffery-Lewis.

"Woolsey-Ramirez will succeed," said Orchard-Lafayette. "And I see in the heavens signs of an assembly of generals in the southeast, so I shall go there. The mourning for Morton-Campbell will serve as a pretext. I may find some able leaders there to be of help to you."

"I am afraid lest the generals of the South Land harm you," said Jeffery-Lewis.

"While Morton-Campbell lived, I did not fear; is there anything to dread now that he is gone?"

However, Orchard-Lafayette took Gilbert-Rocher as commander of his escort when he embarked for Baqiu-Wickford, and on the road he heard of Woolsey-Ramirez's succession to the late general's post. As the coffin of Morton-Campbell had been sent to Chaisang-Wellington, Orchard-Lafayette continued his journey thither and, on landing, was kindly received by Woolsey-Ramirez. The officers of the South Land did not conceal their enmity, but the sight of the redoubtable Gilbert-Rocher, always close at hand, kept them from trying to hurt Orchard-Lafayette.

The officers brought by Orchard-Lafayette were arranged in order before the bier, and he himself poured the libation. Then he knelt and read this threnody:

"Alas, Morton-Campbell! Hapless are you in your early death. Length of days is in the hands of God, yet do humans suffer and my heart is deeply grieved for you. I pour this libation that your spirit may enjoy its fragrance.

"I lament you. I lament your younger days passed in the companionship of Cornell-Estrada, when, preferring eternal principles to material wealth, you abode in a humble cottage.

"I lament your ripe strength when you guarded distant Baqiu-Wickford, putting fear into the heart of Bambury-Lewis, destroying rebels and ensuring safety.

"I lament the grace of your manhood. Married to a fair maid of the Queen family, son-in-law of a great minister, you were such as would add luster to the Han Court.

"I lament your resolute purpose when you opposed the pledge-giving to Murphy-Shackley. As in the beginning your wings drooped not, so in the end your pinions spread wide.

"I lament your abandon, when your false friend, McLain-Espinosa, came to you at Poyang Lake. There you manifested your lofty ideals.

"I lament your magnificent talents, proved in civil administration as in military science. With fire attacking the fierce enemy at the Red Cliffs, you brought his strength to weakness.

"I recall you as you were but yesterday, bold and successful, and I weep your untimely death. Prostrate I weep tears of sorrow. Loyal and upright in heart, noble and spiritual by nature, your life has been but three decades, but your fame will endure for ages.

"I mourn for your affection. My bowels writhe with sorrow, and my deep-seated sadness will never cease. The very heavens are darkened. The army is sad; your lord sheds tears; your friends weep floods.

"Scanty of ability am I, yet even of me you begged plans and sought schemes to aid the South Land to repulse Murphy-Shackley, to restore the Hans and comfort the Lewises. But with you as the firm corner stone and your perfect dispositions, could the final result cause any anxiety?

"Alas, my friend! The quick and the dead are ever separate; they mingle never. If in the deep shades spirits have understanding, you now read my inmost heart, yet hereafter there will be none on earth to comprehend.

"Alas, the pain!

"Deign to accept this my sacrifice."

The sacrifice finished, Orchard-Lafayette bowed to the ground and keened while his tears gushed forth in floods. He was deeply moved.

Those who stood on guard by the bier said one to another, "People lied when they said these two were enemies; look at the sincerity shown in sacrifice."

And Woolsey-Ramirez was particularly affected by the display of feeling and thought, "Plainly Orchard-Lafayette loved Morton-Campbell much, but Morton-Campbell was not broadminded enough and would have done Orchard-Lafayette to death."