"An' naow, gentlemen, I'm a general of brigade in the service of His Imperial Majesty of China, gettin' 's much dust in a month 's I could in a year of minin'. An' thet's why I am fur the time bein' a dewtiful subject of His Imperial Bigness.
"Mebbe yew'll b'lieve me, I hev seen sum fightin'. An' I ain't partiklar ef I see sum more. An' I hev idears whar t' plant an army, an' haow t' plan a defence or lay a trap. But this bizness of drillin' Chinks so's they'll walk t'gether, an' shoot t'gether, and dew what they're told without all talkin' at once like the sisters at a meetin'-house sewin'-bee, an' all gettin' tied up into a gol-durned tarnation tangle, thet's what knocks the spots off yewrs trewly.
"Naow, gentlemen, my proposition is thet the sergeant here jest step over with me to General Liew, an' take service with him till the end of the war. The general was mighty pleased with thet ar ambulance corpse of yourn. He'd make you a kurnel, second in command of a brigade. An' the spondoolix! Lots of it! Got it to burn! More'n a candidate for congress at election time! Money don't count with him no haow. Ef yew lick these ar Chinks into fightin' shape, I'll plan the campaign an' we'll whale those _parley-voos_ into the sea in no time. Then we'll get a concession an' the gold mine. Naow, what dew yew think of thet?"
"That sounds pretty good, sergeant," said Sinclair. "It looks like a chance for you.
"Thet's what I call a putty payin' proposition. Will yew take it?"
Leatherbottom opened his small, light-blue eyes as wide as the cavernous depths of their sockets would allow, removed the pipe from his mouth, and spat far out into the river:
"Naow will yew tell me haow it is thet yew will not take on a payin' proposition like thet? Dew yew forget the spondoolix?"
"I have fought for twenty-four years under one flag. There is only one other that I would fight under."
"I presyewme thet is the stars and stripes, the flag of the Yew.S.A.?"
"Then, will yew tell me what flag it is?" asked the general in evident surprise.
"The green flag with the golden harp, the flag of a self-governing Ireland!"
"But there ain't no army 'lowed to carry sech a flag."
"Then, till there is, I'll still fight under the old flag and the old queen I have served more than half my life."