"At midnight I was standing outside my tent inhaling the fresh cold air.The stars were shining bright in the cloudless sky, giving the heavens their proper aspect of illimitable depth and distance when viewed from the vague darkness of the blotted earth.Almost at its zenith was the planet Saturn; and with a half-smile I observed the sinister red sparkle of his malignant attendant--the demon star of Kearny's ill luck.And then my thoughts strayed across the hills to the scene of our coming triumph where the heroic and noble Don Rafael awaited our coming to set a new and shining star in the firmament of nations.
"I heard a slight rustling in the deep grass to my right.I turned and saw Kearny coming toward me.He was ragged and dew-drenched and limping.His hat and one boot were gone.About one foot he had tied some makeshift of cloth and grass.But his manner as he approached was that of a man who knows his own virtues well enough to be superior to rebuffs.
"'Well, sir,' I said, staring at him coldly, 'if there is anything in persistence, I see no reason why you should not succeed in wrecking and ruining us yet.'
"'I kept half a day's journey behind,' said Kearny, fishing out a stone from the covering of his lame foot, 'so the bad luck wouldn't touch you.I couldn't help it, Captain; I wanted to be in on this game.It was a pretty tough trip, especially in the department of the commissary.In the low grounds there were always bananas and oranges.
Higher up it was worse; but your men left a good deal of goat meat hanging on the bushes in the camps.Here's your hundred dollars.
You're nearly there now, captain.Let me in on the scrapping to-morrow.'
"'Not for a hundred times a hundred would I have the tiniest thing go wrong with my plans now,' I said, "whether caused by evil planets or the blunders of mere man.But yonder is Aguas Frias, five miles away, and a clear road.I am of the mind to defy Saturn and all his satellites to spoil our success now.At any rate, I will not turn away to-night as weary a traveller and as good a soldier as you are, Lieutenant Kearny.Manuel Ortiz's tent is there by the brightest fire.
Rout him out and tell him to supply you with food and blankets and clothes.We march again at daybreak.'
"Kearny thanked me briefly but feelingly and moved away.
"He had gone scarcely a dozen steps when a sudden flash of bright light illumined the surrounding hills; a sinister, growing, hissing sound like escaping steam filled my ears.Then followed a roar as of distant thunder, which grew louder every instant.This terrifying noise culminated in a tremendous explosion, which seemed to rock the hills as an earthquake would; the illumination waxed to a glare so fierce that I clapped my hands over my eyes to save them.I thought the end of the world had come.I could think of no natural phenomenon that would explain it.My wits were staggering.The deafening explosion trailed off into the rumbling roar that had preceded it; and through this I heard the frightened shouts of my troops as they stumbled from their resting-places and rushed wildly about.Also I heard the harsh tones of Kearny's voice crying: 'They'll blame it on me, of course, and what the devil it is, it's not Francis Kearny that can give you an answer.'
"'I opened my eyes.The hills were still there, dark and solid.It had not been, then, a volcano or an earthquake.I looked up at the sky and saw a comet-like trail crossing the zenith and extending westward--a fiery trail waning fainter and narrower each moment.
"'A meteor!' I called aloud.'A meteor has fallen.There is no danger.'
"And then all other sounds were drowned by a great shout from Kearny's throat.He had raised both hands above his head and was standing tiptoe.
"'PHOEBE'S GONE!' he cried, with all his lungs.'She's busted and gone to hell.Look, Captain, the little red-headed hoodoo has blown herself to smithereens.She found Kearny too tough to handle, and she puffed up with spite and meanness till her boiler blew up.It's be Bad-Luck Kearny no more.Oh, let us be joyful!
"'Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;
Humpty busted, and that'll be all!'
"I looked up, wondering, and picked out Saturn in his place.But the small red twinkling luminary in his vicinity, which Kearny had pointed out to me as his evil star, had vanished.I had seen it there but half an hour before; there was no doubt that one of those awful and mysterious spasms of nature had hurled it from the heavens.
"I clapped Kearny on the shoulder.
"'Little man,' said I, 'let this clear the way for you.It appears that astrology has failed to subdue you.Your horoscope must be cast anew with pluck and loyalty for controlling stars.I play you to win.
Now, get to your tent, and sleep.Daybreak is the word.'
