Page:Boissonnas, Un Vaincu, English, 1875.djvu/33

 reached, what bad luck.” And the troops marched on.

Meanwhile, the victim had regained consciousness, but not the strength to make the slightest movement. He could hear vaguely those reflections, and remained apparently paralyzed. General Scott and his staff were last to march by. “Ah, my dear comrade -- my brave Lee,” he exclaimed, “what a tragic event. Gentlemen, you behold there, lost for our fatherland, the greatest military genius of America.” And the General, hat in hand, bowed with deep emotion. At that very moment, the Captain was regaining consciousness and was able to reassure his Chief. A few days after, he was resuming his service.

The U. S. Army was obliged to occupy Mexico until the peace treaty was ratified. The hostility of the inhabitants made the sojourn in town very dangerous for the Americans, who where not numerous enough to maintain order in all the parts of the city at the same time. Several soldiers on guard were stabbed, and several officers, scouring the town, were hit or abducted, without any of the culprits being discovered.

One day, Captain Lee was going through a narrow street in a secluded section of the town. He was riding, as usual, Creole, and his orderly, Jim, was following him, when suddenly a shot was fired and a bullet grazed his hair. He stopped short, looked around quickly. A slight wisp of smoke showed him from which window the shot had been fired. Pulling out his watch, he handed it to Jim and ordered him to wait on the