SCENE III

_Banquet Hall of the Palace, City of Mexico, after its conquest by the American forces. Officers sitting around the table._

Characters

General Scott General Wilcox General Twiggs General Magruder Thirty other officers

WILCOX--Well, I must say I'm thankful it's all over and I do hope it isn't long before we can get back to God's own country. Furthermore, I for one am thankful enough to be sitting here enjoying myself.

SCOTT--I am inclined to believe that if it had not been for one Captain Robert E. Lee, you and I would still be fighting those slippery Mexicans.

PIERCE--Yes, I have the utmost confidence in the skill and judgment of Captain Lee.

TWIGGS--His gallantry and good conduct deserve the highest praise.

WILCOX--(_Rising and raising his glass._) Gentlemen, I wish to propose a toast that I know you will all drink heartily. I propose the health of the Captain of Engineers who found a way for our army into the city. Gentlemen, (_Raising his glass again_) the health of Captain Robert E. Lee!

(_All the officers rise at once and lift their glasses. Then look around for LEE._)

WILCOX--Why he isn't here. What can be the matter.

MAGRUDER--I'll go and fetch him.

SCOTT--You might know Lee would be first in the battle and last at a banquet.

TWIGGS--I thought all of the crowd were here.

SCOTT--They are all here but Lee. Evidently we were all too much interested in our food to notice anything else. Let's sing a song to welcome him. (_They sing two stanzas of "Yankee Doodle."_)

TWIGGS--Here comes Magruder alone. (_MAGRUDER enters._) Why, what's the matter? Couldn't you find him?

MAGRUDER--Oh, I found him all right, but that was all the good it did me.

SCOTT--Is he ill?

MAGRUDER--If he is, I wish I had the same thing the matter with me. He's suffering from a sense of duty.

TWIGGS--You don't have to worry then.

WILCOX--Tell us all about it.

MAGRUDER--You might as well sit down first because he isn't coming. (_They all sit down but MAGRUDER._) You see I found him in a little room in a corner of the palace hard at work on a map. I asked him why he wasn't at the banquet and he said he was too busy. I told him it was just drudgery and to let some one else do it, but he looked up at me with that mild, calm gaze we all know so well and said, "No, I'm just doing my duty."