rtered in the same building.

Cleary asked Foster's advice as to lodgings for himself, and Foster
took him off with him to find a place, while Sam was left to unpack his
luggage which had just arrived from the ship. They agreed to meet again
in the same room at nine o'clock in the evening.

It was somewhat after the hour fixed that the three men came together.
Foster brought out a bottle of whisky from a cupboard and put it on
the table by the water-jug, and then offered cigars. Sam had never
smoked before, but he felt that a soldier ought to smoke, and he
accepted the weed, and soon they were all seated, smoking and drinking,
and engaged in a lively conversation. Foster had been in the Cubapines
since the arrival of the first troops, and it was a treat for both of
his interlocutors to hear all the news at first hand from a participant
in the events.

"How were things when you got here?" asked Cleary.

"Well, it was like this," answered Foster. "Nothing had happened then
except the destruction of the fleet. Our fleet commanded the water of
course, and the niggers had closed up round the city on land. The
Castalians didn't have anything but the city, and when we came we
wanted to take the city."

"Was Gomaldo in command of the Cubapino army then?" asked Sam.

"Yes, he has been from the beginning. He's a bad lot."

"How is that?" asked Cleary.

"Why, he has interfered with us all along as much as he could, just as
if we didn't own the place."

"That's just what I thought," said Cleary. "The copperheads at home say
we treated him as an ally, but of course that's rubbish."

"Of course," said Foster, "we never treated him as an ally. We only
brought him here and made use of him, supplying him with some arms and
letting him take charge of some of our prisoners. We couldn't tell him
that we intended to keep the islands, because we were using him and
couldn't get on without him. He's an ignorant fellow and hasn't the
first idea of the behavior of an officer and a gentleman."

"Well, how did you take Havilla?" asked Sam.

"Oh, it was this way. The Castalians couldn't hold out because these
monkeys had the place so tight that they couldn't get any provisions
in. So they sent secret word to us that they would let us in on a
certain day if we would keep the natives out. We agreed to this, of
course. Then the Castalian general said that we must have some kind of
a battle or he wou