Barbarians

So this is what happened to the dozen-odd malcontents who could no longer stand the dirtybusiness in Europe and the dirtier politicians at home.There was treachery in the Senate, treason in the House. A plague of liars infested the Republic; theland was rotting with plots.But if the authorities at Washington remained incredulous, stunned into impotency, while the din ofmurder filled the world, a few mere men, fed up on the mess, sickened while awaiting executivegalvanization, and started east to purge their souls.They came from the four quarters of the continent, drawn to the decks of the mule transport by acommon sickness and a common necessity. Only two among them had ever before[pg 2] met. Theyrepresented all sorts, classes, degrees of education and of ignorance, drawn to a commonrendezvous by coincidental nausea incident to the temporary stupidity and poltroonery of thosesupposed to represent them in the Congress of the Great Republic.The rendezvous was a mule transport reeking with its cargo, still tied up to the sun-scorched wharfwhere scores of loungers loafed and gazed up at the rail and exchanged badinage with thesupercargo.The supercargo consisted of this dozen-odd fed-up ones-eight Americans, three Frenchmen andone Belgian.There was a young soldier of fortune named Carfax, recently discharged from the Pennsylvania StateConstabulary, who seemed to feel rather sure of a commission in the British service.Beside him, leaning on the blistering rail, stood a self-possessed young man named Harry Stent. Hehad been educated abroad; his means were ample; his time his own. He had shot all kinds of biggame except a Hun, he told another young fellow-a civil engineer-who[pg 3] stood at his left andwhose name was Jim Brown.