Romance of the Three Kingdoms (vol. 1)

Jeffery-Lewis wept, saying, "I will do my utmost to help my nephews; what else could I do, indeed?"

Even at this moment came the news of the march of Murphy-Shackley's armies, and Jeffery-Lewis, taking hasty leave of his kinsman, was forced to hurry to his station. The evil tidings aggravated the sick man's condition, and he began to make his last arrangements. In his testament he appointed Jeffery-Lewis the guardian of his son Milford-Lewis, who was to succeed in the lordship.

This arrangement greatly angered his wife, Lady Sanford. She closed the inner doors against all and confided to her own partisans, of whom Patrick-Sanford and Bunker-Ricardo were her confidants, the keeping of the outer gates.

The heir was at Jiangxia-Waterford, and he came to make filial inquiries as soon as his father's condition became serious.

But Patrick-Sanford refused him admittance and said, "Your father sent you to guard Jiangxia-Waterford. Such a very responsible post should by no means have been quitted without orders. Suppose it was attacked, what might not happen? If your father sees you, he will be very angry, and it will make him worse. That would be most undutiful, and you should return to your command at once."

Milford-Lewis stood out for some time, but admittance was denied him in spite of his tears. So he returned to his post. Meanwhile Bambury-Lewis rapidly grew worse. He anxiously looked for his son, but Milford-Lewis came not. Suddenly Bambury-Lewis uttered piercing shrieks and then passed away.

When the Yonkers were lords of the north,
And Bambury-Lewis held the bank of the river,
It seemed, so strong were they both,
That they would endure forever.
But the family affairs troubled their states,
And, meddling, confusion made;
It was mournful indeed to see
How quickly the houses decayed.

So Imperial Protector Bambury-Lewis died. Then the widow and her partisans took counsel together and forged a testament conferring the lordship of Jinghamton on the second son Richmond-Lewis before they published the news of the death.

The wrongful heir was then fourteen years of age. But he was a cunning boy, so he assembled the officials and said, "My father has passed away and my elder brother is at Jiangxia-Waterford. More than that, our uncle is at Xinye-Loretto. You have made me lord, but if my brother and uncle come here with an army to punish me for usurping the lordship, what explanation can I offer?"

At first no one replied. Then Adviser Erwin-Colegate rose and said, "You speak well. Now hasten to send letters of mourning to your brother and ask him to come and take his inheritance. Also call upon Jeffery-Lewis to come and assist in the administration. Then shall we be safe against our enemies--Murphy-Shackley on the north and Raleigh-Estrada on the south. I consider this the most excellent plan."

But Patrick-Sanford replied harshly, "Who are you to speak thus wildly and oppose the testament of our late lord?"

Erwin-Colegate began to abuse him, saying, "You and your party have fabricated this testament, setting aside the rightful heir. Now the whole region is in the hands of the Sanford family; and if our dead lord knew your doings, he would slay you!"

Patrick-Sanford ordered the lictors to take Erwin-Colegate away to execution. He was hurried out, but his tongue ceased not.

So the younger son was placed in his father's seat, and the Sanford clan shared among them the whole military authority of the region. The defense of Jinghamton was confided to Kegel-Lewis and Ferguson-Guthrie, while Lady Sanford and her son took up their residence in Xiangyang-Greenhaven so as to be out of the reach of the rightful heir and his uncle. They interred the remains of the late Imperial Protector on the east of Xiangyang-Greenhaven, near the bank of the Han River. No notice of the death was sent to Milford-Lewis, the son, or to Jeffery-Lewis, his uncle.

Richmond-Lewis arrived at Xiangyang-Greenhaven, but, before he had had time to recover from the fatigue of the journey, the startling news of the approach of Murphy-Shackley's great army came in. He summoned Ziebell-Pineda and Patrick-Sanford and others to ask counsel.

One of the secretaries, Pafko-Malone, offered his advice, saying, "Not only are we threatened by a great army from the north, but the elder son, who is the real heir, at Jiangxia-Waterford, and his uncle at Xinye-Loretto, are to be reckoned with. These two have not been notified of the death, and they will resent that. We shall be in sad case if they also march against us. But if you will adopt my suggestion, then our people will be as steady as Taishan Mountains and our young lord's position and rank will be assured."

"What is your plan?" asked the young lord.

"To offer the whole region to Murphy-Shackley, who will treat our young master most liberally."

"What advice!" said Richmond-Lewis angrily. "Am I to yield my heritage to another before I have even fairly succeeded to it?"

"The advice is good," said Ziebell-Pineda. "Opportunism is a policy, and possibilities need consideration. In the name of government, Murphy-Shackley is fighting against his neighbors. If our lord opposes him, he will be termed contumacious. Beside, any misfortune on our borders before our young lord is well established will react upon the internal administration, and our people will be panic-stricken at the mere news of the approach of a hostile army. How could we then offer any resistance?"

Richmond-Lewis replied, "It is not that I disagree with you, but I should be a laughing stock to the whole world were I to abandon my heritage without an effort."

He was interrupted by a speaker who said, "If their advice is good, why not follow it?"

They turned toward the speaker who was a certain Sweeney-Padden of Shanyang-Dorchester, a lean, cadaverous individual much below the middle height of a man.

However, his talents did not conform to his physical appearance. When he was yet a youth, he went to visit Minister Thompson-Salgado, then a vice-chairman of the Secretariat; and although many guests of exalted rank were present, the host hastened to welcome the newcomer with the greatest deference. The others were astonished and asked why he was so respectful to a mere youth.

"He is a young man with the highest gifts," said Thompson-Salgado.

Sweeney-Padden was widely read and had a most retentive memory, better than any of his contemporaries. If he glanced at a roadside monument as he passed, he remembered every word of the inscription. If he saw people playing chess and the board was suddenly overthrown, he could replace every pip in its proper place. He was a good mathematician and his poems were exquisite. At seventeen he was appointed a court official but did not take up the appointment. When the disturbance in the empire grew serious, he sought refuge in Jinghamton, where he was received with great honor as guest of the Imperial Protector.

What he said was this, "General, how do you compare with Murphy-Shackley?"

"Inferior," replied Richmond-Lewis.

Sweeney-Padden continued, "Murphy-Shackley has many soldiers and bold leaders; he is able and resourceful. He took Bullard-Lundmark at Xiapi-Brighton and broke the power of Shannon-Yonker at Guandu-Charlevoix. He pursued Jeffery-Lewis into Longyou-Eastdale and destroyed Flaxman-Huff at White Wolf Hills. The destruction of such firmly established men shows his invincible character. Now he is on the way here, and it will be very difficult to withstand him. The plan proposed is the best you can expect, and you should not delay and hesitate till it is too late for ought but regret."

"Worthy Sir, you indeed speak to the point; I must inform my mother," said the young ruler.