Page:On to Pekin.djvu/31

Rh The light rain soon gave way to a steady downpour, which threatened to become a deluge before nightfall; and in many spots the soldiers had to leave the road and take to the paddy fields, the thin crust of ground and growth of the one beiag preferable to the oozy, sticky mud of the other. The caribao carts, piled high with the camping outfit, lumbered along with difficulty; and at every quarter of a mile one or another got stuck, and had to be helped out of its difficulty.

"This is hardly a march to victory, lieutenant," observed Captain Banner, as he ranged alongside of his second in command.

"I don't believe any of us will want a bath for a month after this rain stops," returned Gilbert grimly, "at least, not from the knees up."

"It is well you qualified your first remark," said the captain, who was a West Point graduate, a well-read officer, and a first-rate fellow. "From my knees down I feel as if I had been wandering around in an ocean of filthy pitch. It seems to me the natives ought to be able to make bricks of this sticky mud without half trying."

"We are going to have some fun when we reach