Webster's voice rose until it seemed to shake the palm-leaf roof. He
was like a man possessed. He sprang up on the table, and from the
height above us hurled his words at Laguerre.

"We are not fighting for any half-breed now," he cried; "we are
fighting for you. We know you. We believe in you. We mean to make you
President, and we will not stop there. Our motto shall be Walker's
motto, 'Five or none,' and when we have taken this Republic we shall
take the other four, and you will be President of the United States of
Central America."

We had been standing open-eyed, open-mouthed, every nerve trembling,
and at these words we shrieked and cheered, but Webster waved at us
with an angry gesture and leaned toward Laguerre.

"You will open this land," he cried, "with roads and railways. You
will feed the world with its coffee. You will cut the Nicaragua Canal.
And you will found an empire--not the empire of slaves that Walker
planned, but an empire of freed men, freed by you from their tyrants
and from themselves. They tell me, General," he cried, "that you have
fought under thirteen flags. To-night, sir, you shall fight under your
own!"

We all cheered and cheered again, the oldest as well as myself, and I
cheered louder than any, until I looked at Laguerre. Then I felt how
terribly real it was to him. Until I looked at him it had seemed quite
sane and feasible. But when I saw how deeply he was moved, and that
his eyes were brimming with pride and resolve, I felt that it was a
mad dream, and that we were wicked not to wake him. For I, who loved
him like a son, understood what it meant to him. In his talk along the