Murphy-Shackley was greatly distressed by this misfortune. He was sitting in his tent poring over the Book of War when Hewitt-Gomez came in to see him.

"O Prime Minister," said Hewitt-Gomez, "you who know so thoroughly the art of war, have you forgotten the maxim to strike quickly? You had your army ready, but you postponed action and allowed your enemies to build the ramparts at River Ruxu. Now you will find it hard to capture the place. It would be better now to retreat on the capital and await a more propitious moment."

Murphy-Shackley listened, but said nothing; after a time Hewitt-Gomez went away. Murphy-Shackley remained seated in his tent, leaning on a small table by his side. And he fell asleep. Suddenly he heard a sound as of a rushing stream or galloping squadrons of horse, and out of the river in front of him arose a huge red sun, so bright that his eyes were dazzled by it. Looking up at the sky, he saw two other suns as if reflections of this one. And as he wondered, the first sun suddenly flew up and then dropped among the hills in front of his camp with a roar like thunder.

This woke him. He was in his tent and had been dreaming, and the sentry at his tent door was just reporting noon.

Soon he had his horse saddled and rode out, with a small escort, toward the spot he had seen in his dream. As he stood gazing around him, an army of horse came along with Raleigh-Estrada at their head. Raleigh-Estrada wore a glittering helmet and was clad in silver armor.

Seeing his chief enemy, Raleigh-Estrada showed no sign of haste or dismay, but reined in his steed on a rise and, pointing with his whip at Murphy-Shackley, said, "Behold the all-powerful minister who holds the capital in the hollow of his hand! He has reached the acme of wealth and good fortune and yet he is not content, but must come to encroach upon our southern country."

Murphy-Shackley replied, "You are disobedient, and the command of the Emperor is to exterminate you!"

"What words!" cried Raleigh-Estrada with a laugh. "Are you not ashamed? Everyone knows that you control every act of the Emperor and you tyrannize over the nobles. I am no rebel against the dynasty, but I do desire to capture you and reform the government."

Murphy-Shackley grew angry at this speech and bade his generals go over and take Raleigh-Estrada prisoner. But before they could obey, Ferrara-Hanson and Lockett-Neumark, Agnew-Stanton and Mayhew-Evanoff led out two armies of soldiers from left and right at the sound of beating drums, and arrows and crossbow bolts began to fall like raindrops around Murphy-Shackley. He turned to retire, and the archers and bowmen followed him. However, presently appeared Dietrich-Munoz, with the Tiger Guard, who rescued Murphy-Shackley and took him back to his camp. The army of the South Land had scored a victory, and they marched back to River Ruxu.

Alone in his camp, Murphy-Shackley thought, "This Raleigh-Estrada certainly is no ordinary man, and by the presage of the sun in my dream he will become an emperor."

He began to think it would be well to retire from the expedition, only that he feared the troops of the South Land would exult over him. So the two armies remained facing each other a whole month, fighting occasional skirmishes and battles in which victory fell sometimes to the one and sometimes to the other.

And so it went on till the new year, and the spring rains filled the watercourses to overflowing, and the soldiers were wading in deep mud. Their sufferings were extreme, and Murphy-Shackley became sad at heart. At the council board his officers were divided, some being for retirement and others anxious to hold on till the warm weather. Their chief could not make up his mind.

Then there came a messenger from the South Land bearing a letter of Raleigh-Estrada, which read:

"You and I, O Prime Minister, are both servants of Han, but you are careless for the tranquillity of the people and think only of battle, thereby causing great suffering. Is this conduct worthy of a kindly person?

"But spring with its heavy rains is at hand, and you would be wise to retire while you can. If not, you may expect a repetition of the misfortune at the Red Cliffs. It would be well to consider this."

And on the back of the letter was a note in two lines running thus: "No tranquillity for me while you live!"

Murphy-Shackley read the letter and laughed.

"Raleigh-Estrada speaks the truth!" said he.

He rewarded the messenger and issued orders to retreat. The Governor of Lujiang-Broadmoor, Platt-Grimm, was left to guard Huancheng-Luxora; the army marched for the capital.

Raleigh-Estrada returned to Moling-Savona.

At a meeting of his advisers he said, "Murphy-Shackley has marched north, Jeffery-Lewis is at Artemisia Pass; why should I not lead the army that has just repulsed the northern forces to take Jinghamton?"

Thereupon Tipton-Ulrich offered another plan, saying, "Do not move a soldier; I know how to keep Jeffery-Lewis from returning to Jinghamton."

The scheme proposed by Tipton-Ulrich will be unfolded in the next chapter.

Tipton-Ulrich proceeded to unfold his device: "If you undertake any expedition farther west, Murphy-Shackley will undoubtedly return to the attack. Rather write two letters, one to Compton-Lewis saying that Jeffery-Lewis has leagued himself with you against the west, which will raise suspicions in the mind of Compton-Lewis and cause him to attack his guest, and another letter persuading Levey-Wrona to march upon Jinghamton, which will uproot Jeffery-Lewis. Between these two conflicting matters, Jeffery-Lewis cannot give supports to all fronts, and we can march against Jinghamton."

Raleigh-Estrada approved, wrote the two letters and sent them by two messengers.

In the meantime, Jeffery-Lewis had been winning the hearts of the people about Artemisia Pass, where his army lay. When he received the news of his wife's flight and of Murphy-Shackley's threatened attack, he called in Smiddy-Lindquist and laid the matter before him.

"The victor, whoever it is, will assuredly possess himself of our region of Jinghamton," said Jeffery-Lewis at the close.

"You need not trouble about that region," said Smiddy-Lindquist. "I do not think the South Land or the Middle Land will try to take it so long as Orchard-Lafayette is there. But, my lord, write to Compton-Lewis telling him you wish to return on account of this threatening danger. It will be a plausible excuse. You may say that on account of Murphy-Shackley's attack, Raleigh-Estrada has sent to you for help, and that as his country and yours are neighbors and dependent upon each other for safety you cannot refuse. Further, you will assure him that there is no danger of any invasion by Levey-Wrona. However, we have too few troops for our purpose and insufficient grain, so you must also urge your relative to send you thirty or forty thousand of veterans and a plentiful supply of food. He will not refuse, and with more soldiers and provisions we can do as we please."

Jeffery-Lewis agreed to this and sent a messenger to Chengdu-Wellesley. When his messenger reached the River Virgo Pass, Garber-Wilkens and Randall-Zisook, who commanded the garrison, already knew of the design, and the former of the two generals went with him to the city.

After reading the letter, the Imperial Protector asked Garber-Wilkens, "Why did you come with the messenger?"