But his women, bless my soul, they filled their pockets with jade and
ivory
and what-not. There were some foreign looters in there at the same time,
great swells too, and they just smashed the plate-glass over the
cabinets and filled their pockets and their arms too. One old
Porsslanese
official was standing there, a high mandarin of some sort, and he had an
emerald necklace around his neck. Some diplomat or other walked
up to him and quietly took it off, and the old man didn't stir, but the
tears were rolling down his cheeks." "He had no right to complain," said
Sam. "We clearly have the right to the contents of
a conquered
city by the rules of war." "Perhaps. But there
are some curious war
rules. Some of the armies shoot all natives in soldiers'
uniforms because they are soldiers, and
then they shoot all natives who resist them in civil dress, because they
are not soldiers and have no right to fight. I suppose they ought to
go about naked. They used to kill their prisoners with the butt-end of
their rifles, but
that breaks the rifles, and now they generally
use the bayonet." "Here are some newspapers," said he on another
occasion. "You've been made a brigadier for
capturing
Gomaldo. Isn't that
great? But they _will_ call you 'Captain Jinks' at home, no matter what
your
rank is. The papers say so. The song has made it stick." "I'm sorry for
that," said Sam. "It would be pleasanter to be called 'General.'" "It's
all the same," said Cleary. "Wasn't Napoleon called the Little Corporal?
It's really more distinguished." "Perhaps it is," said Sam contentedly.
"Some of the papers criticize us a little too," added Cleary. "They say
we are acting brutally here and in the Cubapines. Of course
only a few say it, but their number is increasing." "They make
themselves ridiculous," said Sam. "They
don't see how ludicrous their suggestions are that we should actually
retire and let these countries relapse into
barbarism. As that
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