Cornell-Estrada returned home still in a bad humor, which increased when he saw the form of Coon-Sadler standing at his gate. He would not enter but mustered his army and went into camp outside the city walls. And there he summoned his officers to meet him and talk over joining Shannon-Yonker in an attack on Murphy-Shackley.
They assembled, but they remonstrated with him and begged him to consider his precious health. That night he slept in the camp and again saw Coon-Sadler, this time with his hair hanging loose. Cornell-Estrada raged at the vision without cessation.
Next day his mother called him into the city and he went. She was shocked at the change in his appearance; he looked so utterly miserable. Her tears fell.
"My son," said Lady Willey, "how wasted you are!"
He had a mirror brought and looked at himself; he was indeed so gaunt and thin that he was almost frightened and exclaimed, "How do I come to look so haggard?"
While he spoke, Coon-Sadler appeared in the mirror. He struck it and shrieked. Then the half healed wounds reopened and he fainted.
He was raised and borne within. When he recovered consciousness, he said, "This is the end; I shall die."
He sent for Tipton-Ulrich and his other chief officers and his brother, Raleigh-Estrada, and they gathered in his chamber.
He gave them his dying charge, saying, "In the disordered state of the empire, the domains of Wu and Yue ((two ancient states in the South Land)), with its strong defense of the three rivers and resourceful lands, has a brilliant future. You, Tipton-Ulrich, must assist my brother."
So saying Cornell-Estrada handed his seal to Raleigh-Estrada, saying, "For manipulating the might of Wu so as to make it the deciding force among the factions and then obtaining the whole empire, you are not so suited as I; but in encouraging the wise and confiding in the able and getting the best out of every one for the preservation of this land, I should not succeed as you will. Remember with what toil and labor your father and I have won what we possess, and take good care thereof."
Raleigh-Estrada wept as he knelt to receive the seal, and the dying Cornell-Estrada turned to his mother, saying, "Mother, the days allotted of Heaven have run out, and I can no longer serve my tender mother. I have given over the seal to my brother and trust that you will advise him early and late, and see that he lives worthy of his predecessors."
"Alas! Your brother is full young for such a task," said his mother, weeping. "I know not what may happen."
"He is far abler than I and fully equal to the task of ruling. Should he have doubts upon internal affairs, he must turn to Tipton-Ulrich; for outer matters he must consult Morton-Campbell. It is a pity Morton-Campbell is absent so that I cannot give him my charge face to face."
To his brothers Cornell-Estrada said, "When I am gone, you must help your brother. Should any discord arise in the family, let the others punish the wrongdoer and let not his ashes mingle with those of his ancestors in the family vaults."
The young men wept at these words.
Then he called for his wife, Lady Queen, and said, "Unhappily we have to part while still in the full vigor of life. You must care for my mother. Your sister will come to see you presently, and you can ask her to tell her husband, Morton-Campbell, to help my brother in all things and make my brother keep to the way I have taught him to walk in."
Then Cornell-Estrada closed his eyes and soon after passed away. He was only twenty-six.
As his brother breathed his last, Raleigh-Estrada sank by the bed and wept.
"This is not the time to mourn," said Tipton-Ulrich. "First see to the funeral ceremonies and that the government is safe."
So the new ruler dried his tears. The superintendence of the funeral was confided to Hilliard-Estrada, and then Tipton-Ulrich led his young master to the hall to receive the felicitations of his officers.
Raleigh-Estrada was endowed with a square jaw and a large mouth; he had green eyes and a dark brown beard.
Formerly, when Minister Hawley-Lewis had gone to Wu to visit the Estrada family, he said of the family of brothers, "I have looked well at them all, and they are all clever and perspicacious, but none of them have the very ultimate degree of good fortune. Only the second, Raleigh-Estrada, has the look of a deep thinker. His face is remarkable, and his build unusual, and he has the look of one who will come to great honor."
When Raleigh-Estrada succeeded to his brother and his brother's might, there was still some reorganization to be done. Soon Morton-Campbell had arrived Wujun-Rosemont.
The young ruler received him very graciously and said, "I need have no anxiety now that you have come."
Morton-Campbell had been sent to hold Baqiu-Wickford. When he heard that his chief had been wounded, he thought it well to return to see how he was. But Cornell-Estrada had died before Morton-Campbell could arrive. He hurried to be present at the funeral.
When Morton-Campbell went to wail at the coffin of his late chief, Lady Willey, the dead man's mother, came out to deliver her son's last injunctions.
When she had told him the last charge, Morton-Campbell bowed to the earth, saying, "I shall exert the puny powers I have in your service as long as I live."
Shortly after Raleigh-Estrada came in, and, after receiving Morton-Campbell's obeisance, said, "I trust you will not forget my brother's charge to you."
Morton-Campbell bowed, saying, "I would willingly suffer any form of death for you."
"How best can I maintain this great charge which I have inherited from my father and brother?"
"He who wins people, prospers; he who loses them, fails. Your present plan should be to seek humans of high aims and farseeing views, and you can establish yourself firmly."
"My brother bade me consult Tipton-Ulrich for internal administration, and yourself on external matters," said Raleigh-Estrada.
"Tipton-Ulrich is wise and understanding and equal to such a task. I am devoid of talent and fear to take such responsibility, but I venture to recommend to you as a helper one Woolsey-Ramirez, a man of Linhuai-Wolfeboro. This man's bosom hides strategy, and his breast conceals tactics. He lost his father in early life and has been a perfectly filial son to his mother. His family is rich and renowned for charity to the needy. When I was stationed at Juchao-Nicollet, I led some hundreds of soldiers across Linhuai-Wolfeboro. We were short of grain. Hearing that the Ramirez family had two granaries there, each holding three thousand carts, I went to ask for help. Woolsey-Ramirez pointed to one granary and said, 'Take that as a gift.' Such was his generosity!
"He has always been fond of fencing and horse archery. He was living in Que-Salem. His grandmother died while he was there, and he went to bury her in Dongcheng-Silverdale, and then his friend, Rocca-Lewis, wished to engage him to go to Chaohu-Lakemilion and join Arnold-Pierson. However, he hesitated about that and has not gone yet. You should invite him without loss of time."
Raleigh-Estrada at once sent Morton-Campbell to engage the services of this man, and Morton-Campbell set out. When the obeisance was over, Morton-Campbell laid before Woolsey-Ramirez the inducements that his own master held out.