Pike proved to be another proposition for his captor. He became so peevish and sullen that his taskmaster went out of his way to make his life unendurable. The bow-legged Commander not only continually repeated Pike’s former expressions on the dangers of being armed and the wickedness of being prepared for defense in the presence of the preacher while he danced attendance as a waiter at his headquarters, but he added insult to injury at last by forcing the advocate of peace to become an expert shot by daily target practice. When Waldron ordered the doughty cavalry leader to St. Louis, he dragged Pike with him to continue his systematic torture. He piled the last straw on the little man’s back the day after their arrival in the new quarters by ordering him to don the uniform of the Emperor, join a firing squad and shoot a deserter. The preacher refused point blank. To have his fun the General ordered two guardsmen to bring the rebel to his room and force him into the uniform--his horse was standing at the door saddled and ready to gallop to the field and watch Pike faint at the ordeal. The General roared with laughter when he finally stood forth arrayed in the brown uniform of the army. The guardsmen in their shirtsleeves were laughing too. He had struggled manfully to prevent the outrage and they had only drawn the clothes on him by main force. It took the hostler at the door finally to win the contest. “Cheer up, Cuthbert, you’ll soon be dead!” the officer cried. The boys roared. With a sudden panther leap Pike was on the General, snatched his automatic from his belt, shot him dead and killed the three men before they recovered from the shock. With a second leap he was on the waiting horse and calmly galloped through the camp before the guards discovered the incident. He found his way to General Hood’s headquarters in the Sierra Nevadas and reported for duty. “Keep your uniform!” Hood laughed. “We’ll need it for scout work.” “Sure I’ll keep it,” the preacher snapped--“and use it myself, sir! I’ll show them that my name’s Pike--not Piker!” The General despatched him to the Coast on an important and dangerous mission. CHAPTER XLI Virginia Holland’s conversion to the open advocacy of the principles of monarchy and aristocracy was Waldron’s first sensation in the campaign in which he began to destroy the American conception of liberty. Her confession of faith was a liberal outline of the ideals which the Governor-General had proclaimed in his library. Waldron was elated at his complete triumph. Her brief statement and appeal to the women of America to support her movement of loyalty he ordered printed in every newspaper in the country. It duly appeared on the front pages, accompanied by a portrait of the distinguished young convert. Her first year’s engagements in organizing the Woman’s Imperial Legion of Honor covered the principal cities of every state.