"The trumpeter called to the next man, 'Trooper Henry Buckingham!'
and the next man answered, 'Here!'

"'Trooper Henry Buckingham, how is it with you?'

"'How should it be with me? I was a drunkard, and I stole, and in
Lugo, in a wine-shop, I knifed a man. But I died as a man should.
God save the King!'

"So the trumpeter went down the line; and when he had finished, the
drummer took it up, hailing the dead Marines in their order.
Each man answered to his name, and each man ended with 'God save the
King!' When all were hailed, the drummer stepped back to his mound,
and called:

"'It is well. You are content, and we are content to join you.
Wait yet a little while.'

"With this he turned and ordered my father to pick up the lantern,
and lead the way back. As my father picked it up, he heard the ranks
of dead men cheer and call, 'God save the King!' all together, and
saw them waver and fade back into the dark, like a breath fading off
a pane.

"But when they came back here to the kitchen, and my father set the
lantern down, it seemed they'd both forgot about him. For the
drummer turned in the lantern-light--and my father could see the
blood still welling out of the hole in his breast--and took the
trumpet-sling from around the other's neck, and locked drum and