Sam ascribed this
feebleness to the fact that he had been originally appointed to the
army from civil life, and that he had not enjoyed the benefits of an
East Point education.
As soon as Sam was installed in his new quarters, in the colonel's
tent of his regiment, he started out with Cleary to see the great city
and examine the scene of the late siege. They found the Jap quarter the
most populous. The inhabitants who had fled had returned, and the
streets were taking on their normal aspect. Near the boundary of this
district they saw a house with a placard in the Jap language, and asked
an Anglian soldier who was passing what it meant.
"That's one of the Jap placards to show that the natives who live there
are good people who have given no offense," said he.
"Let's go in and pay them a call," said Cleary.
They entered, and passing into a back room found a woman nursing a man
who had evidently been recently shot in the side. She shrank from them
with terror as they entered, and made no answer to their request for
information. As they passed out they met a young native coming in, and
they asked him what it meant.
"Some Frank soldiers shot him because he could not give them money. It
had all been stolen already," said the lad in pigeon English.
"But the placard says they are loyal people," said Cleary.
"What difference does that make to them?" was the reply.
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