were way off on the
left, and I haven't heard anything about them."

"They did very decently," said Cleary, "considering they were never
under fire before. They kept up pretty well with the regulars, and
fortunately they had a regular regiment on each side. They really
did well."

"Did they make any fine cavalry charges?" inquired Sam.

"Cavalry charges! Bless your heart, they didn't have any horses, and
it's lucky they didn't. They had their hands full without having to
manage any horses!"

CHAPTER VIII

Among the Moritos

[Illustration]

On the following day headquarters were moved into San Diego. Sam was
lodged in the town hall with the general, and Cleary got rooms close
by. There were rumors of renewed activity on the part of the Cubapinos,
but it was thought that their resistance for the future would be of a
guerrilla nature. There was, however, one savage tribe to the north
which had terrorized a large district of country, and the general
decided that it must be subdued. Sam heard of this plan, but did not
know whether he would be sent on the expedition or not, and urged
Cleary to use his influence so that he might be one of the party.

"I'll manage it for you, old man," said Cleary, two or three days after
the battle. "I've got the general in a tight place, and all I've got to
do is to let him know it and he'll do whatever I want."

"What do you mean?"

"Why, he had about as much to do with the San Diego fight as the man in
the moon."

"What?"

"Well, I'll tell you the story. I've run down every clue and here it
is. You see somehow Colonel Burton got the orders mixed up that morning
and addressed every one of them to the wrong general."

"Is it possible?" exclaimed Sam. "That explains why they couldn't
understand the orders there in the Third Brigade, and why I took all
day to find San Diego. I wonder if it's true. Why on earth didn't
Gomaldo win then? It must have been a close call."

"It's plain enough why he didn't win," said Cleary. "That chap Garcia
was one of his spies, and a clever one too. He got all he could out of
you and me, but that wasn't much. Then he had the native servant of the
general in his pay. As soon as you left on the night before the battle
he cleared out too, and he got a statement from the native servant of
all the general intended to do. He got the news to Gomaldo by midnight,
and before sunrise the Cubapino forces w