se troops could ill be spared from the Cubapines, as the country
was still in the hands of the natives with the exception of here and
there a strip of the seacoast, and there was much illness among the
troops, many being down with fever and worse diseases. But it was
necessary for the Government to make as good a showing in Porsslania as
the other Powers, and the reenforcements had to go.

It was on a hot summer day that Sam and Cleary looked over the rail of
the transport as they watched the troops come on board. It was a
remarkable scene, for a crowd of native women were on the shore,
weeping and arguing with the men and preventing them from getting into
the boats.

"Who on earth are they?" asked Sam.

"It's a pretty mean practical joke," said Cleary. "That regiment has
been up in the interior, and they've all had wives up there. They buy
them for five dollars apiece. And the Governor of the province there, a
friendly native, has sent more than a hundred of the women down here,
to get rid of them, I suppose, and now the poor things want to come
along with their young men. Some of them have got babies, do you see?"

After a long and noisy delay the captain of the transport, assisted by
the officers of the regiment in question, persuaded the women to stay
behind, giving a few coppers to each and making the most reckless and
unabashed promises of return. The steamer then weighed anchor and was
soon passing the sunken Castalian fleet.

"The Court at Whoppington has just allowed prize-money to the officers
and men for sinking those ships," said Cleary. "They didn't get as much
as they wanted, but it's a good round sum."

"I'm glad they will get some remuneration for their hard work,"
said Sam.

"Do you see that native sloop over there?" said Cleary. "She's a pirate
boat we caught down in the archipelago. She had sunk a merchant vessel
loaded with opium or something of the kind, very valuable. They'd got
her in shallow water and had killed some of the crew, and the rest
swam ashore, and they were dividing up the swag when they were caught.
They would have had I don't know how many dollars apiece. They were
all hanged."

"Serves them right," said Sam. "We must put down piracy. Good-by,
Havilla," he added, waving his hat toward the capital. "It makes me
feel happy to think that I have actually ended the war by capturing
Gomaldo."

"Not much!" cried Cleary. "Didn't you hear the