 necessarily there must have been some wounded in
the rear ranks, who were carried off the field under cover of the wall of smoke;
there would be sickness among the others - there always is, after an episode
like that. But there would be no reinforcements; this was the last stand of the
chivalry of England; it was all that was left of the order, after the recent
annihilating wars. So I felt quite safe in believing that the utmost force that
could for the future be brought against us would be but small; that is, of
knights. I therefore issued a congratulatory proclamation to my army, in these
words:
 
        »Soldiers, Champions of Human Liberty and Equality: Your General
        congratulates you! In the pride of his strength and the vanity of his
        renown, an arrogant enemy came against you. You were ready. The conflict
        was brief; on your side, glorious. This mighty victory having been
        achieved utterly without loss, stands without example in history. So
        long as the planets shall continue to move in their orbits, THE BATTLE
        OF THE SAND-BELT will not perish out of the memories of men.
                                                                      THE BOSS.«
 
I read it well, and the applause I got was very gratifying to me. I then wound
up with these remarks:
    »The war with the English nation as a nation, is at an end. The nation has
retired from the field and the war. Before it can be persuaded to return, war
will have ceased. This campaign is the only one that is going to be fought. It
will be brief - the briefest in history. Also the most destructive to life,
considered from the stand-point of proportion of casualties to numbers engaged.
We are done with the nation; henceforth we deal only with the knights. English
knights can be killed, but they cannot be conquered. We know what is before us.
While one of these men remains alive, our task is not finished, the war is not
ended. We will kill them all.« [Loud and long continued applause.]
    I picketed the great embankments thrown up around our lines by the dynamite
explosion - merely a lookout of a couple of boys to announce the enemy when he
should appear again.
    Next, I sent an engineer and forty men to a point just beyond our lines on
the south, to turn a mountain brook that was there, and bring it within our
lines and under our command, arranging it in such a way that I could make
instant use of it in an emergency. The forty men were divided into two shifts of
twenty
