THE BATTALION
23
honor on the field of battle? Win. S. Walker, an American
like himself, was once president of the republic of Nicaragua,
and if he had acted with more discretion, what might have
been his possibilities? All these things passed rapidly
through the mind of Jean. Visions came to him of a great
and prosperous country, of which posterity would speak of
him as father; an age of prosperity beside which ‘‘The golden
days of Elizabeth” paled into insignificance, and a grateful
people proclaiming that Jean Sans-delai caused it all.
Well, the sum and substance of it all, a few daj's found
him in Galveston, ready to take passage with a fillibustering
schooner at the first favorable moment. The expected time
soon came, but, cruel fate! The schooner had hardly cleared
the harbor when she was overtaken by the revenue cutter
and escorted back to the wharf. Well, the case was not prose
cuted closely but the ship was placed under surveillance and
not allowed to leave port. Jean soon became disgusted, his
air castles tumbled as suddenly as those of Alnaschar, he
soon ran out of money and accepted a situation as street car
conductor; but his insatiate longings, his dissatisfaction with
everything grew until he would not work at anything, ex
cept with the intention of quitting it at the first opportunity.
For many years he shifted around from place to place, from
one kind of work to another, until he had been almost over
the whole world, had worked at almost all known employ
ments, yet he was never happy, and returned to his native
village almost a pauper.
Now a very old man, he worked around for the farmers in
the neighborhood, but never staying long at one place, always
shifting around, yet he made a good hand, everjbody liked
him and he made the round of the same places many times.
He had made a failure in life. Our success in life is measured
by the good that we accomplish; in this, as a whole, Jean had
hardly risen above the beast of burden and his death ere long
was hardly more noticed.
He had failed in not starting out with a fixed, definite
purpose, by not adopting a single line or profession to which
everything else must be subordinate. xjr e was brilliant and