diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/11719-h/11719-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/11719-h/11719-h.htm | 14371 |
1 files changed, 14371 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/11719-h/11719-h.htm b/old/11719-h/11719-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..93626c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11719-h/11719-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14371 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kincaid's Battery, by George W. Cable</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + hr.full { width: 100%; + size: 5; } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%;} + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; right: 100%; font-size: 8pt; justify: right;} /* page numbers */ + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size:10pt;} + // --> + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Kincaid's Battery, by George W. Cable, +Illustrated by Alonzo Kimball</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Kincaid's Battery</p> +<p>Author: George W. Cable</p> +<p>Release Date: March 25, 2004 [eBook #11719]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: iso-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KINCAID'S BATTERY***</p> +<br> +<br> +<center><b>E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Loriba Barber,<br> + and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders</b></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> + <a name="Any_one_alive_illustration"></a> + + <center> + <img src="images/frontis.jpg" + alt="If anyone alive..." + height="1061" + width="700"> + </center><a name="KINCAID'S_BATTERY"></a> + + <h1>KINCAID'S BATTERY</h1> + + <h3>BY</h3> + + <h2>GEORGE W. CABLE</h2> + + <h4>1908</h4> + + <h4>ILLUSTRATED BY</h4> + + <h4>ALONZO KIMBALL</h4> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="To"></a> + + <h3>To</h3> + + <h3>E.C.S.C.</h3> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <h3><a name="CONTENTS"></a></h3> + + <h2>CONTENTS</h2> + <!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --><b><a href="#ILLUSTRATIONS"> + ILLUSTRATIONS</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#I">I Carrolton Gardens</a></b> + <br> + <b><a href="#II">II Carriage Company</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#III">III The General's Choice</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#IV">IV Manoeuvres</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#V">V Hilary?--Yes, Uncle?</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#VI">VI Messrs. Smellemout and Kethem</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#VII">VII By Starlight</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#VIII">VIII One Killed</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#IX">IX Her Harpoon Strikes</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#X">X Sylvia Sighs</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XI">XI In Column of Platoons</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XII">XII Mandeville Bleeds</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XIII">XIII Things Anna Could Not Write</a></b> + <br> + <b><a href="#XIV">XIV Flora Taps Grandma's Cheek</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XV">XV The Long Month of March</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XVI">XVI ConstanceTries to Help</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XVII">XVII "Oh, Connie, Dear--Nothing--Go + On"</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XVIII">XVIII Flora Tells the Truth!</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XIX">XIX Flora Romances</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XX">XX The Fight for the Standard</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXI">XXI Constance Cross-Examines</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXII">XXII Same Story Slightly Warped</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXIII">XXIII "Soldiers!"</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXIV">XXIV A Parked Battery Can Raise a + Dust</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXV">XXV "He Must Wait," Says Anna</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXVI">XXVI Swift Going, Down Stream</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXVII">XXVII Hard Going, Up Stream</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXVIII">XXVIII The Cup of Tantalus</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXIX">XXIX A Castaway Rose</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXX">XXX Good-by, Kincaid's Battery</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXXI">XXXI Virginia Girls and Louisiana + Boys</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXXII">XXXII Manassas</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXXIII">XXXIII Letters</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXXIV">XXXIV A Free-Gift Bazaar</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXXV">XXXV The "Sisters of Kincaid's + Battery"</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXXVI">XXXVI Thunder-Cloud and Sunburst</a></b> + <br> + <b><a href="#XXXVII">XXXVII "Till He Said, 'I'm Come Hame, My + Love'"</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXXVIII">XXXVIII Anna's Old Jewels</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XXXIX">XXXIX Tight Pinch</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XL">XL The License, The Dagger</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XLI">XLI For an Emergency</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XLII">XLII "Victory! I Heard it as PI'--"</a></b> + <br> + <b><a href="#XLIII">XLIII That Sabbath at Shiloh</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XLIV">XLIV "They Were all Four Together"</a></b> + <br> + <b><a href="#XLV">XLV Steve--Maxime--Charlie--</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XLVI">XLVI The School of Suspense</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XLVII">XLVII From the Burial Squad</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XLVIII">XLVIII Farragut</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#XLIX">XLIX A City in Terror</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#L">L Anna Amazes Herself</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LI">LI The Callender Horses Enlist</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LII">LII Here They Come</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LIII">LIII Ships, Shells, and Letters</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LIV">LIV Same April Day Twice</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LV">LV In Darkest Dixie and Out</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LVI">LVI Between the Millstones</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LVII">LVII Gates of Hell and Glory</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LVIII">LVIII Arachne</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LIX">LIX In a Labyrinth</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LX">LX Hilary's Ghost</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LXI">LXI The Flag-of-Truce Boat</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LXII">LXII Farewell, Jane!</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LXIII">LXIII The Iron-clad Oath</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LXIV">LXIV "Now, Mr. Brick-Mason--"</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LXV">LXV Flora's Last Throw</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LXVI">LXVI "When I Hands in My Checks"</a></b> + <br> + <b><a href="#LXVII">LXVII Mobile</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LXVIII">LXVIII By the Dawn's Early Light</a></b> + <br> + <b><a href="#LXIX">LXIX Southern Cross and Northern + Star</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LXX">LXX Gains and Losses</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#LXXI">LXXI Soldiers of Peace</a></b> <br> + <b><a href="#OTHER_BOOKS_BY_MR_CABLE">OTHER BOOKS BY MR. + CABLE</a></b> <br> + <!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + <br> + + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a> + + <h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2><a href="#Any_one_alive_illustration">"If + any one alive," he cried, "knows any cause why this thing + should not be"</a> + + <p><a href="#Anna_illustration">Anna</a></p> + + <p><a href="#Good-by_illustration">"'Tis good-by, Kincaid's + Battery"</a></p> + + <p><a href="#In_his_arms_illustration">And the next instant she + was in his arms</a></p> + + <p><a href="#This_roof_illustration">"No! not under this + roof--nor in sight of <i>these things</i>."</a></p> + + <p><a href="#No_right_illustration">"You 'ave no ri-ight to + leave me! <i>Ah, you shall not</i>!"</a></p> + + <p><a href="#One_demented_illustration">She dropped into a + seat, staring like one demented.</a></p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="Kincaid's_Battery"></a> + + <h2><b>Kincaid's Battery</b></h2> <br> + + + +<a name="I"></a> + <h2>I</h2> + + <h3>CARROLLTON GARDENS</h3>For the scene of this narrative + please take into mind a wide quarter-circle of country, such as + any of the pretty women we are to know in it might have covered + on the map with her half-opened fan. + + <p>Let its northernmost corner be Vicksburg, the famous, on the + Mississippi. Let the easternmost be Mobile, and let the most + southerly and by far the most important, that pivotal corner of + the fan from which all its folds radiate and where the whole + pictured thing opens and shuts, be New Orleans. Then let the + grave moment that gently ushers us in be a long-ago afternoon + in the Louisiana Delta.</p> + + <p>Throughout that land of water and sky the willow clumps + dotting the bosom of every sea-marsh and fringing every + rush-rimmed lake were yellow and green in the full flush of a + new year, the war year, 'Sixty-one.</p> + + <p>Though rife with warm sunlight, the moist air gave distance + and poetic charm to the nearest and humblest things. At the + edges of the great timbered swamps thickets of young + winter-bare cypresses were budding yet more vividly than the + willows, while in the depths of those overflowed forests, near + and far down their lofty gray colonnades, the dwarfed + swamp-maple drooped the winged fruit of its limp bush in pink + and flame-yellow and rose-red masses until it touched its own + image in the still flood.</p> + + <p>That which is now only the "sixth district" of greater New + Orleans was then the small separate town of Carrollton. There + the vast Mississippi, leaving the sugar and rice fields of St. + Charles and St. John Baptist parishes and still seeking the + Gulf of Mexico, turns from east to south before it sweeps + northward and southeast again to give to the Creole capital its + graceful surname of the "Crescent City." Mile-wide, brimful, + head-on and boiling and writhing twenty fathoms deep, you could + easily have seen, that afternoon, why its turfed levee had to + be eighteen feet high and broad in proportion. So swollen was + the flood that from any deck of a steamboat touching there one + might have looked down upon the whole fair still suburb.</p> + + <p>Widely it hovered in its nest of rose gardens, orange + groves, avenues of water-oaks, and towering moss-draped pecans. + A few hundred yards from the levee a slender railway, coming + from the city, with a highway on either side, led into its + station-house; but mainly the eye would have dwelt on that + which filled the interval between the nearer high road and the + levee--the "Carrollton Gardens."</p> + + <p>At a corner of these grounds closest to the railway station + stood a quiet hotel from whose eastern veranda it was but a + step to the centre of a sunny shell-paved court where two + fountains danced and tinkled to each other. Along its farther + bound ran a vine-clad fence where a row of small tables dumbly + invited the flushed visitor to be inwardly cooled. By a narrow + gate in this fence, near its townward end, a shelled walk lured + on into a musky air of verdurous alleys that led and misled, + crossed, doubled, and mazed among flowering shrubs from bower + to bower. Out of sight in there the loiterer came at startling + moments face to face with banks of splendid bloom in ravishing + negligee--Diana disrobed, as it were, while that untiring + sensation-hunter, the mocking-bird, leaped and sang and clapped + his wings in a riot of scandalous mirth.</p> + + <p>In the ground-floor dining-room of that unanimated hotel sat + an old gentleman named Brodnax, once of the regular army, a + retired veteran of the Mexican war, and very consciously + possessed of large means. He sat quite alone, in fine dress + thirty years out of fashion, finishing a late lunch and reading + a newspaper; a trim, hale man not to be called old in his own + hearing. He had read everything intended for news or + entertainment and was now wandering in the desert of the + advertising columns, with his mind nine miles away, at the + other end of New Orleans.</p> + + <p>Although not that person whom numerous men of his + acquaintance had begun affectionately to handicap with the + perilous nickname of "the ladies' man," he was thinking of no + less than five ladies; two of one name and three of another. + Flora Valcour and her French grandmother (as well as her + brother of nineteen, already agog to be off in the war) had but + lately come to New Orleans, from Mobile. On a hilly border of + that smaller Creole city stood the home they had left, too + isolated, with war threatening, for women to occupy alone. Mrs. + Callender was the young widow of this old bachelor's life-long + friend, the noted judge of that name, then some two years + deceased. Constance and Anna were her step-daughters, the + latter (if you would believe him) a counterpart of her + long-lost, beautiful mother, whose rejection of the soldier's + suit, when he was a mere lieutenant, was the well-known cause + of his singleness. These Callender ladies, prompted by him and + with a sweet modesty of quietness, had just armed a new field + battery with its six splendid brass guns, and it was around + these three Callenders that his ponderings now hung; especially + around Anna and in reference to his much overprized property + and two nephews: Adolphe Irby, for whom he had obtained the + command of this battery, which he was to see him drill this + afternoon, and Hilary Kincaid, who had himself cast the guns + and who was to help the senior cousin conduct these + evolutions.</p> + + <p>The lone reader's glance loitered down a long row of slim + paragraphs, each beginning with the same wee picture of a + steamboat whether it proclaimed the <i>Grand Duke</i> or the + <i>Louis d'Or</i>, the <i>Ingomar</i> bound for the "Lower + Coast," or the <i>Natchez</i> for "Vicksburg and the Bends." + Shifting the page, he read of the Swiss Bell-Ringers as back + again "after a six years' absence," and at the next item really + knew what he read. It was of John Owens' appearance, every + night, as <i>Caleb Plummer</i> in "Dot," "performance to begin + at seven o'clock." Was it there Adolphe would this evening take + his party, of which the dazzling Flora would be one and Anna, + he hoped, another? He had proposed this party to Adolphe, + agreeing to bear its whole cost if the nephew would manage to + include in it Anna and Hilary. And Irby had duly reported + complete success and drawn on him, but the old soldier still + told his doubts to the newspaper.</p> + + <p>"Adolphe has habits," he meditated, "but success is not one + of them."</p> + + <p>Up and down a perpendicular procession on the page he every + now and then mentally returned the salute of the one little + musketeer of the same height as the steamboat's chimneys, + whether the Attention he challenged was that of the + Continentals, the Louisiana Grays, Orleans Cadets, Crescent + Blues or some other body of blithe invincibles. Yet his thought + was still of Anna. When Adolphe, last year, had courted her, + and the hopeful uncle had tried non-intervention, she had + declined him--"and oh, how wisely!" For then back to his native + city came Kincaid after years away at a Northern military + school and one year across the ocean, and the moment the uncle + saw him he was glad Adolphe had failed. But now if she was + going to find Hilary as light-headed and cloying as Adolphe was + thick-headed and sour, or if she must see Hilary go soft on the + slim Mobile girl--whom Adolphe was already so torpidly enamored + of--"H-m-m-m!"</p> + + <p>Two young men who had tied their horses behind the hotel + crossed the white court toward the garden. They also were in + civil dress, yet wore an air that goes only with military + training. The taller was Hilary Kincaid, the other his + old-time, Northern-born-and-bred school chum, Fred Greenleaf. + Kincaid, coming home, had found him in New Orleans, on duty at + Jackson Barracks, and for some weeks they had enjoyed cronying. + Now they had been a day or two apart and had chanced to meet + again at this spot. Kincaid, it seems, had been looking at a + point hard by with a view to its fortification. Their manner + was frankly masterful though they spoke in guarded tones.</p> + + <p>"No," said Kincaid, "you come with me to this drill. + Nobody'll take offence."</p> + + <p>"Nor will you ever teach your cousin to handle a battery," + replied Greenleaf, with a sedate smile.</p> + + <p>"Well, he knows things we'll never learn. Come with me, + Fred, else I can't see you till theatre's out--if I go there + with her--and you say--"</p> + + <p>"Yes, I want you to go with her," murmured Greenleaf, so + solemnly that Kincaid laughed outright.</p> + + <p>"But, after the show, of course," said the laugher, "you and + I'll ride, eh?" and then warily, "You've taken your initials + off all your stuff?... Yes, and Jerry's got your ticket. He'll + go down with your things, check them all and start off on the + ticket himself. Then, as soon as you--"</p> + + <p>"But will they allow a slave to do so?"</p> + + <p>"With my pass, yes; 'Let my black man, Jerry--'"</p> + + <p>The garden took the pair into its depths a moment too soon + for the old soldier to see them as he came out upon the side + veranda with a cloud on his brow that showed he had heard his + nephew's laugh.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="II"></a> + + <h2>II</h2> + + <h3>CARRIAGE COMPANY</h3>Bareheaded the uncle crossed the + fountained court, sat down at a table and read again. In the + veranda a negro, his own slave, hired to this hotel, held up an + elegant military cap, struck an inquiring attitude, and called + softly, "Gen'al?" + + <p>"Bring it with the coffee."</p> + + <p>But the negro instantly brought it without the coffee and + placed it on the table with a delicate flourish, shuffled a + step back and bowed low:</p> + + <p>"Coffee black, Gen'al, o' co'se?"</p> + + <p>"Black as your grandmother."</p> + + <p>The servant tittered: "Yas, suh, so whah it flop up-siden de + cup it leave a lemon-yalleh sta-ain."</p> + + <p>He capered away, leaving the General to the little + steamboats and to a blessed ignorance of times to be when at + "Vicksburg and the Bends" this same waiter would bring his + coffee made of corn-meal bran and muddy water, with which to + wash down scant snacks of mule meat. The listless eye still + roamed the arid page as the slave returned with the fragrant + pot and cup, but now the sitter laid it by, lighted a cigar and + mused:--</p> + + <p>In this impending war the South would win, of course--oh, + God is just! But this muser could only expect to fall at the + front. Then his large estate, all lands and slaves, five + hundred souls--who would inherit that and hold it together? + Held together it must be! Any partition of it would break no + end of sacredly humble household and family ties and work + spiritual havoc incalculable. There must be but one heir. Who? + Hilary's mother had been in heaven these many years, the mother + of Adolphe eighteen months; months quite enough to show the + lone brother how vast a loss is the absence of the right + mistress from such very human interests as those of a great + plantation. Not only must there be but one heir, but he <i>must + have the right wife</i>.</p> + + <p>The schemer sipped. So it was Anna for Hilary if he could + bring it about. So, too, it must be Hilary for his + adjutant-general, to keep him near enough to teach him the + management of the fortune coming to him if he, Hilary, would + only treat his kind uncle's wishes--reasonably. With the cup + half lifted he harkened. From a hidden walk and bower close on + the garden side of this vine-mantled fence sounded footsteps + and voices:</p> + + <p>"But, Fred! where on earth did she get--let's sit in + here--get that rich, belated, gradual smile?"</p> + + <p>A memory thrilled the listening General. "From her mother," + thought he, and listened on.</p> + + <p>"It's like," continued his nephew--"I'll tell you what it's + like. It's like--Now, let me alone! You see, one has to + <i>learn</i> her beauty--by degrees. You know, there <i>is</i> + a sort of beauty that flashes on you at first sight, like--like + the blaze of a ball-room. I was just now thinking of a striking + instance--"</p> + + <p>"From Mobile? You always are."</p> + + <p>"No such thing! Say, Fred, I'll tell you what Miss Anna's + smile is like. It's as if you were trying--say in a + telescope--for a focus, and at last all at once it comes + and--there's your star!"</p> + + <p>The Northerner softly assented.</p> + + <p>"Fred! Fancy Flora Valcour with that smile!"</p> + + <p>"No! Hilary Kincaid, I think you were born to believe in + every feminine creature God ever made. No wonder they nickname + you as they do. Now, some girls are quite too feminine for + me."</p> + + <p>In his own smoke the General's eyes opened aggressively. But + hark! His nephew spoke again:</p> + + <p>"Fred, if you knew all that girl has done for that boy and + that grandmother--It may sound like an overstatement, but you + must have observed--"</p> + + <p>"That she's a sort of overstatement herself?"</p> + + <p>"Go to grass! <i>Your</i> young lady's not even an + understatement; she's only a profound pause. See here! what + time is it? I prom--"</p> + + <p>On the uncle's side of the fence a quick step brought a + newcomer, a Creole of maybe twenty-nine years, member of his + new staff, in bright uniform:</p> + + <p>"Ah, Général, yo' moze ob-edient! Never less + al-lone then when al-lone? 'T is the way with myseff--"</p> + + <p>He seemed not unrefined, though of almost too mettlesome an + eye; in length of leg showing just the lack, in girth of waist + just the excess, to imply a better dignity on horseback and to + allow a proud tailor to prove how much art can overcome. Out on + the road a liveried black coachman had halted an open carriage, + in which this soldier had arrived with two ladies. Now these + bowed delightedly from it to the General, while Kincaid and his + friend stood close hid and listened agape, equally amused and + dismayed.</p> + + <p>"How are you, Mandeville?" said the General. "I am not + nearly as much alone as I seem, sir!"</p> + + <p>A voice just beyond the green-veiled fence cast a light on + this reply and brought a flush to the Creole's very brows. + "Alas! Greenleaf," it cried, "we search in vain! He is not + here! We are even more alone than we seem! Ah! where is that + peerless chevalier, my beloved, accomplished, blameless, + sagacious, just, valiant and amiable uncle? Come let us press + on. Let not the fair sex find him first and snatch him from us + forever!"</p> + + <p>The General's scorn showed only in his eyes as they met the + blaze of Mandeville's. "You were about to remark--?" he began, + but rose and started toward the carriage.</p> + + <p>There not many minutes later you might have seen the four + men amicably gathered and vying in clever speeches to pretty + Mrs. Callender and her yet fairer though less scintillant + step-daughter Anna.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="III"></a> + + <h2>III</h2> + + <h3>THE GENERAL'S CHOICE</h3>Anna Callender. In the midst of + the gay skirmish and while she yielded Greenleaf her chief + attention, Hilary observed her anew. + + <p>What he thought he saw was a golden-brown profusion of hair + with a peculiar richness in its platted coils, an unconsciously + faultless poise of head, and, equally unconscious, a dreamy + softness of sweeping lashes. As she laughed with the General + her student noted further what seemed to him a rare silkiness + in the tresses, a vapory lightness in the short strands that + played over the outlines of temple and forehead, and the + unstudied daintiness with which they gathered into the merest + mist of a short curl before her exquisite ear.<br> + <a name="Anna_illustration"></a></p> + + <center> + <img src="images/illp010.jpg" + alt="Anna" + height="1092" + width="700"> + </center> + + <p>But when now she spoke with him these charms became + forgettable as he discovered, or fancied he did, in her + self-oblivious eyes, a depth of thought and feeling not in the + orbs alone but also in the brows and lids, and between upper + and under lashes as he glimpsed them in profile while she + turned to Mandeville. And now, unless his own insight misled + him, he observed how unlike those eyes, and yet how subtly + mated with them, was her mouth; the delicate rising curve of + the upper lip, and the floral tenderness with which it so + faintly overhung the nether, wherefrom it seemed ever about to + part yet parted only when she spoke or smiled.</p> + + <p>"A child's mouth and a woman's eyes," he mused.</p> + + <p>When her smiles came the mouth remained as young as before, + yet suddenly, as truly as the eyes, showed--showed him at + least--steadfastness of purpose, while the eyes, where fully + half the smile was, still unwittingly revealed their depths of + truth.</p> + + <p>"Poor Fred!" he pondered as the General and Mandeville + entered the carriage and it turned away.</p> + + <p>A mile or two from Carrollton down the river and toward the + city lay the old unfenced fields where Hilary had agreed with + Irby to help him manoeuvre his very new command. Along the + inland edge of this plain the railway and the common road still + ran side by side, but the river veered a mile off. So + Mandeville pointed out to the two ladies as they, he, and the + General drove up to the spot with Kincaid and Greenleaf as + outriders. The chosen ground was a level stretch of wild turf + maybe a thousand yards in breadth, sparsely dotted with + shoulder-high acacias. No military body was yet here, and the + carriage halted at the first good view point.</p> + + <p>Mrs. Callender, the only member of her family who was of + Northern birth and rearing, was a small slim woman whose smile + came whenever she spoke and whose dainty nose went all to merry + wrinkles whenever she smiled. It did so now, in the shelter of + her diminutive sunshade opened flat against its jointed handle + to fend off the strong afternoon beams, while she explained to + Greenleaf--dismounted beside the wheels with Mandeville--that + Constance, Anna's elder sister, would arrive by and by with + Flora Valcour. "Connie", she said, had been left behind in the + clutches of the dressmaker!</p> + + <p>"Flora," she continued, crinkling her nose ever so + kind-heartedly at Greenleaf, "is Lieutenant Mandeville's + cousin, you know. Didn't he tell you something back yonder in + Carrollton?"</p> + + <p>Greenleaf smiled an admission and her happy eyes closed to + mere chinks. What had been told was that Constance had + yesterday accepted Mandeville.</p> + + <p>"Yes," jovially put in the lucky man, "I have divulge' him + that, and he seem' almoze as glad as the young lady + herseff!"</p> + + <p>Even to this the sweet widow's misplaced wrinkles faintly + replied, while Greenleaf asked, "Does the Lieutenant's good + fortune account for the--'clutches of the dressmaker'?"</p> + + <p>It did. The Lieutenant hourly expecting to be ordered to the + front, this wedding, like so many others, would be at the + earliest day possible. "A great concession," the lady said, + turning her piquant wrinkles this time upon Mandeville. But + just here the General engrossed attention. His voice had warmed + sentimentally and his kindled eye was passing back and forth + between Anna seated by him and Hilary close at hand in the + saddle. He waved wide:</p> + + <p>"This all-pervading haze and perfume, dew and dream," he was + saying, "is what makes this the Lalla Rookh's land it is!" He + smiled at himself and confessed that Carrollton Gardens always + went to his head. "Anna, did you ever hear your mother + sing--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"'There's a bower of + roses--'?"</span></p> + + <p>She lighted up to say yes, but the light was all he needed + to be lured on through a whole stanza, and a tender + sight--Ocean silvering to brown-haired Cynthia--were the two, + as he so innocently strove to recreate out of his own lost + youth, for her and his nephew, this atmosphere of poetry.</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"'To sit in the roses and + hear the bird's song!'"</span></p> + + <p>he suavely ended--"I used to make Hilary sing that for me + when he was a boy."</p> + + <p>"Doesn't he sing it yet?" asked Mrs. Callender.</p> + + <p>"My God, madame, since I found him addicted to comic songs + I've never asked him!"</p> + + <p>Kincaid led the laugh and the talk became lively. Anna was + merrily accused by Miranda (Mrs. Callender) of sharing the + General's abhorrence of facetious song. First she pleaded + guilty and then reversed her plea with an absurd tangle of + laughing provisos delightful even to herself. At the same time + the General withdrew from his nephew all imputation of a + frivolous mind, though the nephew avowed himself nonsensical + from birth and destined to die so. It was a merry moment, so + merry that Kincaid's bare mention of Mandeville as Mandy made + even the General smile and every one else laugh. The Creole, to + whom any mention of himself, (whether it called for gratitude + or for pistols and coffee,) was always welcome, laughed + longest. If he was Mandy, he hurried to rejoin, the absent + Constance "muz be Candy--ha, ha, ha!" And when Anna said + Miranda should always thenceforth be Randy, and Mrs. Callender + said Anna ought to be Andy, and the very General was seduced + into suggesting that then Hilary would be Handy, and when every + one read in every one's eye, the old man's included, that + Brodnax would naturally be Brandy, the Creole bent and wept + with mirth, counting all that fine wit exclusively his.</p> + + <p>"But, no!" he suddenly said, "Hilary he would be Dandy, + bic-ause he's call' the ladies' man!"</p> + + <p>"No, sir!" cried the General. "Hil--" He turned upon his + nephew, but finding him engaged with Anna, faced round to his + chum: "For Heaven's sake, Greenleaf, does he allow--?"</p> + + <p>"He can't help it now," laughed his friend, "he's tagged it + on himself by one of his songs."</p> + + <p>"Oh, by Jove, Hilary, it serves you right for singing + them!"</p> + + <p>Hilary laughed to the skies, the rest echoing.</p> + + <p>"A ladies' man!" the uncle scoffed on. "Of all things on + God's earth!" But there he broke into lordly mirth: "Don't you + believe <i>that</i> of him, ladies, at any rate. If only for my + sake, Anna, don't you <i>ever</i> believe a breath of it!"</p> + + <p>The ladies laughed again, but now Kincaid found them a + distraction. Following his glance cityward they espied a broad + dust-cloud floating off toward the river. He turned to Anna and + softly cried, "Here come your guns, trying to beat the + train!"</p> + + <p>The ladies stood up to see. An unseen locomotive whistled + for a brief stop. The dust-cloud drew nearer. The engine + whistled to start again, and they could hear its bell and + quickening puff. But the dust-cloud came on and on, and all at + once the whole six-gun battery--six horses to each piece and + six to each caisson--captain, buglers, guidon, lieutenants, + sergeants and drivers in the saddle, cannoneers on the + chests--swept at full trot, thumping, swaying, and rebounding, + up the highway and off it, and, forming sections, swung out + upon the field in double column, while the roaring train rolled + by it and slowed up to the little frame box of Buerthe's + Station with passengers cheering from every window.</p> + + <p>The Callenders' carriage horses were greatly taxed in their + nerves, yet they kept their discretion. Kept it even when now + the battery flashed from column into line and bore down upon + them, the train meanwhile whooping on toward Carrollton. And + what an elated flock of brightly dressed citizens and + citizenesses had alighted from the cars--many of them on the + moment's impulse--to see these dear lads, with their + romantically acquired battery, train for the holiday task of + scaring the dastard foe back to their frozen homes! How we + loved the moment's impulse those days!</p> + + <p>What a gay show! And among the very prettiest and most + fetchingly arrayed newcomers you would quickly have noticed + three with whom this carriage group exchanged signals. Kincaid + spurred off to meet them while Greenleaf and Mandeville helped + Anna and Miranda to the ground. "There's Constance," said the + General.</p> + + <p>"Yes," Mrs. Callender replied, "and Flora and Charlie + Valcour!" as if that were the gleefulest good luck of all.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="IV"></a> + + <h2>IV</h2> + + <h3>MANOEUVRES</h3>Captain Irby, strong, shapely, well clad, + auburn-haired, left his halted command and came into the + carriage group, while from the train approached his cousin and + the lithe and picturesque Miss Valcour. + + <p>The tallish girl always looked her best beside some manly + form of unusual stature, and because that form now was Hilary's + Irby was aggrieved. All their days his cousin had been getting + into his light, and this realization still shaded his brow as + Kincaid yielded Flora to him and returned to Anna to talk of + things too light for record.</p> + + <p>Not so light were the thoughts Anna kept unuttered. Here + again, she reflected, was he who (according to Greenleaf) had + declined to command her guns in order to let Irby have them. + Why? In kindness to his cousin, or in mild dislike of a woman's + battery? If intuition was worth while, this man was soon to be + a captain somewhere. Here was that rare find for which even + maidens' eyes were alert those days--a born leader. No ladies' + man this--"of all things on God's earth!" A men's man! And + yet--nay, <i>therefore--</i>a man for some unparagoned woman + some day to yield her heart and life to, and to have for her + very own, herself his consummate adornment. She cast a glance + at Flora.</p> + + <p>But her next was to him as they talked on. How nearly black + was the waving abundance of his hair. How placid his brow, + above eyes whose long lashes would have made them meltingly + tender had they not been so large with mirth: "A boy's eyes," + thought she while he remembered what he had just called hers. + She noted his mouth, how gently firm: "A man's mouth!"</p> + + <p>Charlie Valcour broke in between them: "Is there not going + to be any drill, after all?"</p> + + <p>"Tell Captain Irby you can't wait any longer," replied + Kincaid with a mock frown and gave Anna yet gayer attention a + minute more. Then he walked beside his cousin toward the + command, his horse close at his back. The group, by pairs, + chose view points. Only Miss Valcour stayed in the carriage + with the General, bent on effecting a change in his mind. In + Mobile Flora had been easily first in any social set to which + she condescended. In New Orleans, brought into the Callenders' + circles by her cousin Mandeville, she had found herself quietly + ranked second to Anna, and Anna now yet more pointedly + outshining her through the brazen splendor of this patriotic + gift of guns. For this reason and others yet to appear she had + planned a strategy and begun a campaign, one of whose earliest + manoeuvres must be to get Irby, not Kincaid, made their uncle's + adjutant-general, and therefore to persuade the uncle that to + give Kincaid the battery would endear him to Anna and so crown + with victory the old man's perfectly obvious plan.</p> + + <p>Greenleaf left his horse tied and walked apart with Anna. + This, he murmured, was the last time they would be together for + years.</p> + + <p>"Yes," she replied with a disheartening composure, although + from under the parasol with which he shaded her she met his + eyes so kindly that his heart beat quicker. But before he could + speak on she looked away to his fretting horse and then across + to the battery, where a growing laugh was running through the + whole undisciplined command. "What is it about?" she playfully + inquired, but then saw. In response to the neigh of Greenleaf's + steed Hilary's had paused an instant and turned his head, but + now followed on again, while the laughter ended in the clapping + of a hundred hands; for Kincaid's horse had the bridle free on + his neck and was following his master as a dog follows. Irby + scowled, the General set his jaws, and Hilary took his horse's + bridle and led him on.</p> + + <p>"That's what <i>I</i> want to do every time I look at him!" + called Charlie to his sister.</p> + + <p>"Then look the other way!" carolled back the slender beauty. + To whom Anna smiled across in her belated way, and wondered if + the impulse to follow Hilary Kincaid ever came to women.</p> + + <p>But now out yonder the two cousins were in the saddle, + Irby's sabre was out, and soon the manoeuvres were fully under + way. Flora, at the General's side, missed nothing of them, yet + her nimble eye kept her well aware that across here in this + open seclusion the desperate Greenleaf's words to Anna were + rarely explanatory of the drill.</p> + + <p>"And now," proclaimed Mandeville, "you'll see them form into + line fazed to the rear!" And Flora, seeing and applauding, saw + also Anna turn to her suitor a glance, half pity for him, half + pleading for his pity.</p> + + <p>"I say unless--" Greenleaf persisted--</p> + + <p>"There is no 'unless.' There can't ever be any."</p> + + <p>"But may I not at least say--?"</p> + + <p>"I'd so much rather you would not," she begged.</p> + + <p>"At present, you mean?"</p> + + <p>"Or in the future," said Anna, and, having done perfectly + thus far, spoiled all by declaring she would "never marry!" Her + gaze rested far across the field on the quietly clad figure of + Kincaid riding to and fro and pointing hither and yon to his + gold-laced cousin. Off here on the left she heard Mandeville + announcing:</p> + + <p>"Now they'll form batt'rie to the front by throwing caisson' + to the rear--look--look!... Ah, ha! was not that a + prettie?"</p> + + <p>Pretty it was declared to be on all sides. Flora called it + "a beautiful." Part of her charm was a Creole accent much too + dainty for print. Anna and Greenleaf and the other couples + regathered about the carriage, and Miss Valcour from her high + seat smiled her enthusiasm down among them, exalting theirs. + And now as a new movement of the battery followed, and now + another, her glow heightened, and she called musically to + Constance, Mrs. Callender and Anna, by turns, to behold and + admire. For one telling moment she was, and felt herself, the + focus of her group, the centre of its living picture. Out + afield yet another manoeuvre was on, and while Anna and her + suitor stood close below her helplessly becalmed each by each, + Flora rose to her feet and caught a great breath of delight. + Her gaze was on the glittering mass of men, horses, and brazen + guns that came thundering across the plain in double + column--Irby at its head, Kincaid alone on the flank--and + sweeping right and left deployed into battery to the front with + cannoneers springing to their posts for action.</p> + + <p>"Pretties' of all!" she cried, and stood, a gentle air + stirring her light draperies, until the boys at the empty guns + were red-browed and short of breath in their fierce pretence of + loading and firing. Suddenly the guns were limbered up and went + bounding over the field, caissons in front. And now pieces + passed their caissons, and now they were in line, then in + double column, and presently were gleaming in battery again, + faced to the rear. And now at command the tired lads dropped to + the ground to rest, or sauntered from one lounging squad to + another, to chat and chaff and puff cigarettes. Kincaid and + Irby lent their horses to Mandeville and Charlie, who rode to + the battery while the lenders joined the ladies.</p> + + <p>Once more Hilary yielded Flora and sought Anna; but with + kinder thought for Flora Anna pressed herself upon Irby, to the + open chagrin of his uncle. So Kincaid cheerfully paired with + Flora. But thus both he and Anna unwittingly put the finishing + touch upon that change of heart in the General which Flora, by + every subtlety of indirection, this hour and more in the + carriage, had been bringing about.</p> + + <p>A query: With Kincaid and Irby the chief figures in their + social arena and Hilary so palpably his cousin's better in + looks, in bearing, talents, and character, is it not strange + that Flora, having conquest for her ruling passion, should + strive so to relate Anna to Hilary as to give her, Anna, every + advantage for the higher prize? Maybe it is, but she liked + strangeness--and a stiff game.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="V"></a> + + <h2>V</h2> + + <h3>HILARY?--YES, UNCLE?</h3>Second half as well as first, the + drill was ended. The low acacias and great live-oaks were + casting their longest shadows. The great plain rested from the + trample and whirl of hoofs, guns, and simulated battle. A whiff + of dust showed where the battery ambled townward among roadside + gardens, the Callender carriage spinning by it to hurry its + three ladies and Mandeville far away to the city's lower end. + At the column's head rode Irby in good spirits, having got + large solace of Flora's society since we last saw her paired + with Kincaid. Now beside the tiny railway station Hilary was + with her once more as she and Charlie awaited the train from + town. Out afield were left only General Brodnax and Greenleaf, + dismounted between the Northerner's horse and Hilary's. Now + Kincaid came across the turf. + + <p>"Greenleaf," said the old soldier, "why does Hilary forever + walk as though he were bringing the best joke of the season? + Can't you make him quit it?"</p> + + <p>The nephew joined them: "Uncle, if you'd like to borrow my + horse I can go by train."</p> + + <p>That <i>was</i> a joke. "H-m-m! I see! No, Greenleaf's going + by train. Would you like to ride with me?"</p> + + <p>"Well, eh--ha! Why, uncle, I--why, of course, if Fred + really--" They mounted and went.</p> + + <p>"Hilary?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, uncle?"</p> + + <p>"How is it now? Like my girl any better?"</p> + + <p>"Why--yes! Oh, she's fine! And yet I--"</p> + + <p>"You must say? What must you say?"</p> + + <p>"Nothing much; only that she's not the kind to seem like the + owner of a field battery. My goodness! uncle, if she had half + Miss Flora's tang--"</p> + + <p>"She hasn't the least need of it! She's the quiet kind, sir, + that fools who love 'tang' overlook!"</p> + + <p>"Yes," laughed Hilary, "she's quiet; quiet as a + fortification by moonlight! Poor Fred! I wish--"</p> + + <p>"Well, thank God you wish in vain! That's just been settled. + I asked him--oh, don't look surprised at <i>me</i>. Good Lord! + hadn't I the right to know?"</p> + + <p>The two rode some way in silence. "I wish," mused the nephew + aloud, "it could be as he wants it."</p> + + <p>The uncle's smile was satirical: "Did you ever, my boy, wish + anything could be as <i>I</i> want it?"</p> + + <p>"Now, uncle, there's a big difference--"</p> + + <p>"DAMN THE DIFFERENCE! I'm going to try you. I'm going to + make Adolphe my adjutant-general. Then if you hanker for this + battery as it hankers for you--"</p> + + <p>"Mary, Queen of Scots!" rejoiced Hilary. "That'll suit us + both to the bone! And if it suits you too--"</p> + + <p>"Well it doesn't! You know I've never wanted Adolphe about + me. But you've got me all snarled up, the whole kit of you. + What's more, I don't want him for my heir nor any girl with + 'tang' for mistress of my lands and people. Hilary, I swear! if + you've got the sand to want Anna and she's got the grace to + take you, then, adjutant-general or not, I'll leave you my + whole fortune! Well, what amuses you now?"</p> + + <p>"Why, uncle, all the cotton in New Orleans couldn't tempt me + to marry the girl I wouldn't take dry so without a continental + cent."</p> + + <p>"But your own present poverty might hold you back even from + the girl you wanted, mightn't it?"</p> + + <p>"No!" laughed the nephew, "nothing would!"</p> + + <p>"Good God! Well, if you'll want Anna I'll make it easy for + you to ask for her. If not, I'll make it as hard as I can for + you to get any one else."</p> + + <p>Still Hilary laughed: "H-oh, uncle, if I loved any girl, I'd + rather have her without your estate than with it." Suddenly he + sobered and glowed: "I wish you'd leave it to Adolphe! He's a + heap-sight better business man than I. Besides, being older, he + feels he has the better right to it. You know you always + counted on leaving it to him."</p> + + <p>The General looked black: "You actually decline the + gift?"</p> + + <p>"No. No, I don't. I want to please you. But of my own free + choice I wouldn't have it. I'm no abolitionist, but I don't + want that kind of property. I don't want the life that has to + go with it. I know other sorts that are so much better. I'm not + thinking only of the moral responsibility--"</p> + + <p>"By--! sir, I am!"</p> + + <p>"I know you are, and I honor you for it."</p> + + <p>"Bah!... Hilary, I--I'm much obliged to you for your + company, but--"</p> + + <p>"You've had enough," laughed the good-natured young man. + "Good-evening, sir." He took a cross-street.</p> + + <p>"Good-evening, my boy." The tone was so kind that Hilary + cast a look back. But the General's eyes were straight before + him.</p> + + <p>Greenleaf accompanied the Valcours to their door. Charlie, + who disliked him, and whose admiration for his own sister was + privately cynical, had left them to themselves in the train. + There, wholly undetected by the very man who had said some + women were too feminine and she was one, she had played her sex + against his with an energy veiled only by its intellectual + nimbleness and its utterly dispassionate design. Charlie + detected achievement in her voice as she twittered good-by to + the departing soldier from their street door.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="VI"></a> + + <h2>VI</h2> + + <h3>MESSRS. SMELLEMOUT AND KETCHEM</h3>Night came, all stars. + The old St. Charles Theatre filled to overflowing with the + city's best, the hours melted away while Maggie Mitchell played + <i>Fanchon</i>, and now, in the bright gas-light of the narrow + thoroughfare, here were Adolphe and Hilary helping their three + ladies into a carriage. All about them the feasted audience was + pouring forth into the mild February night. + + <p>The smallest of the three women was aged. That the other two + were young and beautiful we know already. At eighteen the old + lady, the Bohemian-glass one, had been one of those royalist + refugees of the French Revolution whose butterfly endeavors to + colonize in Alabama and become bees make so pathetic a chapter + in history. When one knew that, he could hardly resent her + being heavily enamelled. Irby pressed into the coach after the + three and shut the door, Kincaid uncovered, and the carriage + sped off.</p> + + <p>Hilary turned, glanced easily over the heads of the throng, + and espied Greenleaf beckoning with a slender cane. Together + they crossed the way and entered the office of a public + stable.</p> + + <p>"Our nags again," said Kincaid to one of a seated group, and + passed into a room beyond. Thence he re-issued with his dress + modified for the saddle, and the two friends awaited their + mounts under an arch. "Dost perceive, Frederic," said the + facetious Hilary, "yon modestly arrayed pair of palpable gents + hieing hitherward yet pretending not to descry us? They be + detectives. Oh--eh--gentlemen!"</p> + + <p>The strangers halted inquiringly and then came forward. The + hair of one was black, of the other gray. Hilary brightened + upon them: "I was just telling my friend who you are. You know + me, don't you?" A challenging glint came into his eye.</p> + + <p>But the gray man showed a twinkle to match it: "Why--by + sight--yes--what there is of you."</p> + + <p>Hilary smiled again: "I saw you this morning in the office + of the Committee of Public Safety, where I was giving my word + that this friend of mine should leave the city within + twenty-four hours." He introduced him: "Lieutenant Greenleaf, + gentleman, United States Army. Fred, these are Messrs. + Smellemout and Ketchem, a leading firm in the bottling + business."</p> + + <p>Greenleaf and the firm expressed their pleasure. "We hang + out at the corner of Poet and Good-Children Streets," said the + black-haired man, but made his eyes big to imply that this was + romance.</p> + + <p>Greenleaf lifted his brows: "Streets named for yourselves, I + judge."</p> + + <p>"Aye. Poet for each, Good-Children for both."</p> + + <p>Kincaid laughed out. "The Lieutenant and I," he said as he + moved toward their approaching horses, "live on Love street + exactly half-way between Piety and Desire." His eyes widened, + too. Suddenly he stepped between Greenleaf and the others: "See + here, let's begin to tell the truth! You know Kincaid's + Foundry? It was my father's--"</p> + + <p>"And his father's before him," said the gray man.</p> + + <p>"And I've come home to go into this war," Hilary went + on.</p> + + <p>"And just at present," said Gray, "you're casting shot and + shell and now and then a cannon; good for you! You want to give + us your guarantee--?"</p> + + <p>"That my friend and I will be together every moment till he + leaves to-morrow morning on the Jackson Railroad, bound for the + North without a stop."</p> + + <p>"To go into this war on the other side!"</p> + + <p>"Why, of course!" said the smiling Kincaid. "Now, that's + all, isn't it? I fear we're keeping you."</p> + + <p>"Oh, no." The gray man's crow's-feet deepened playfully. "If + you think you need us we'll stick by you all night."</p> + + <p>"No," laughed Kincaid, "there's no call for you to be so + sticky as all that." The horsemen mounted.</p> + + <p>"Better us than the Patriots' League," said the younger + detective to Hilary as Greenleaf moved off. "They've got your + friend down in their Send-'em-to-hell book and are after him + now. That's how come we to be--"</p> + + <p>"I perceive," replied Hilary, and smiled in meditation. + "Why--thank you, both!"</p> + + <p>"Oh, you go right along, Mr. Kincaid. We'll be at the depot + to-morrow ourselves, and to-night we'll see that they don't + touch neither one of you."</p> + + <p>Hilary's smile grew: "Why--thank you again! That will make + it more comfortable for them. Good-night."</p> + + <p>The two friends rode to a corner, turned into Poydras + Street, crossed Magazine and Tchoupitoulas and presently, out + from among the echoing fronts of unlighted warehouses, issued + upon the wide, white Levee.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="VII"></a> + + <h2>VII</h2> + + <h3>BY STARLIGHT</h3>"Wait," murmured Greenleaf, as they halted + to view the scene. From their far right came the vast, brimming + river, turbid, swift, silent, its billows every now and then + rising and looking back as if they fled from implacable + pursuers; sweeping by long, slumbering ranks of ships and + steamboats; swinging in majestic breadth around the bend a mile + or more below; and at the city's end, still beyond, gliding + into mystic oblivion. Overhead swarmed the stars and across the + flood came faintly the breath of orange-groves, sea-marshes and + prairies. + + <p>Greenleaf faced across the wide bend at his left. In that + quarter, quite hidden in live-oaks and magnolias, as both well + knew, were the low, red towers of Jackson Barracks. But it was + not for them the evicted young soldier claimed this last gaze. + It was for a large dwelling hard by them, a fine old plantation + house with wide verandas, though it also was shut from view, in + its ancient grove.</p> + + <p>"Fred," said Hilary, "didn't she tell you why?"</p> + + <p>"No," replied the lover when they had turned away and were + moving up the harbor front, "except that it isn't because I'm + for the Union."</p> + + <p>Hilary's eyes went wide: "That's wonderful, old man! But I + don't believe she likes a soldier of any sort. If I were a + woman I'd be doggoned if I'd ever marry a soldier!"</p> + + <p>"Yet the man who gets her," said Greenleaf, "ought to be a + soldier in every drop of his blood. You don't know her yet; but + you soon will, and I'm glad."</p> + + <p>"Now, why so? I can't ever please her enough to be pleased + with her. I'm too confounded frivolous! I love nonsense, doggon + it, for its own sake! I love to get out under a sky like this + and just reel and whoop in the pure joy of standing on a world + that's whirling round!"</p> + + <p>"But you do please her. She's told me so."</p> + + <p>"Don't you believe her! I don't. I can't. I tell you, Fred, + I could never trust a girl that forever looks so trustworthy! + S'pose I should fall in love with her! Would you--begrudge her + to me?"</p> + + <p>"I bequeath her to you."</p> + + <p>"Ah! you know I haven't the ghost of a chance! She's not for + po' little Hil'ry. I never did like small women, anyhow!"</p> + + <p>"My boy! If ever you like this one she'll no more seem small + than the open sea."</p> + + <p>"I suppose," mused Hilary, "that's what makes it all the + harder to let go. If a girl has a soul so petty that she can + sit and hear you through to the last word your heart can bleed, + you can turn away from her with some comfort of resentment, as + if you still had a remnant of your own stature."</p> + + <p>"Precisely!" said the lover. "But when she's too + large-hearted to let you speak, and yet answers your unspoken + word, once for all, with a compassion so modest that it seems + as if it were you having compassion on her, she's harder to + give up than--"</p> + + <p>"Doggon her, Fred, I wouldn't give her up!"</p> + + <p>"Ah, this war, Hilary! I may never see her again. There's + just one man in this world whom--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, get out!"</p> + + <p>"I mean what I say. To you I leave her."</p> + + <p>"Ha, ha! No, you don't! It's only to her you leave me. Old + boy, promise me! If you ever come back and she's still in the + ring, you'll go for her again no matter who else is bidding, + your humble servant not excepted."</p> + + <p>"Why--yes--I--I promise that. Now, will you promise me?"</p> + + <p>"What! let myself--?"</p> + + <p>"Yes."</p> + + <p>"Ho-o, not by a jug-full! If ever I feel her harpoon in me + I'll fight like a whale! But I promise you this, and warn you, + too: That when it comes to that, a whole platoon of Fred + Greenleafs between her and me won't make a pinch of + difference."</p> + + <p>To that Greenleaf agreed, and the subject was changed. With + shipping ever on their left and cotton-yards and warehouses for + tobacco and for salt on their right their horses' feet clinked + leisurely over the cobble pavements, between thousands of + cotton-bales headed upon the unsheltered wharves and only fewer + thousands on the narrow sidewalks.</p> + + <p>So passed the better part of an hour before they were made + aware, by unmistakable odors, that they were nearing the + Stock-Landing. There, while they were yet just a trifle too far + away to catch its echoes, had occurred an incident--a fracas, + in fact--some of whose results belong with this narrative to + its end. While they amble toward the spot let us reconnoitre + it. Happily it has long been wiped out, this blot on the city's + scutcheon. Its half-dozen streets were unspeakable mud, its air + was stenches, its buildings were incredibly foul + slaughter-houses and shedded pens of swine, sheep, beeves, + cows, calves, and mustang ponies. The plank footways were + enclosed by stout rails to guard against the chargings of + long-horned cattle chased through the thoroughfares by + lasso-whirling "bull-drivers" as wild as they. In the middle of + the river-front was a ferry, whence Louisiana Avenue, broad, + treeless, grassy, and thinly lined with slaughter-houses, led + across the plain. Down this untidy plaisance a grimy little + street-car, every half-hour, jogged out to the Carrollton + railway and returned. This street and the water-front were + lighted--twilighted--with lard-oil lamps; the rest of the place + was dark. At each of the two corners facing the ferry was a + "coffee-house"--dram-shop, that is to say.</p> + + <p>Messrs. Sam Gibbs and Maxime Lafontaine were president and + vice-president of that Patriots' League against whose + machinations our two young men had been warned by the + detectives in St. Charles Street. They had just now arrived at + the Stock-Landing. Naturally, on so important an occasion they + were far from sober; yet on reaching the spot they had lost no + time in levying on a Gascon butcher for a bucket of tar and a + pillow of feathers, on an Italian luggerman for a hurried + supper of raw oysters, and on the keeper of one of the + "coffee-houses" for drinks for the four.</p> + + <p>"Us four and no more!" sang the gleeful Gibbs; right number + to manage a delicate case. The four glasses emptied, he had + explained that all charges must be collected, of course, from + the alien gentleman for whom the plumage and fixative were + destined. Hence a loud war of words, which the barkeeper had + almost smoothed out when the light-hearted Gibbs suddenly + decreed that the four should sing, march, pat and "cut the + pigeon-wing" to the new song (given nightly by Christy's + Minstrels) entitled "Dixie's Land."</p> + + <p>Hot threats recurring, Gascony had turned to go, Maxime had + headed him off, Italy's hand had started into his flannel + shirt, and "bing! bang! pop!" rang Gibbs's repeater and one of + Maxime's little derringers--shot off from inside his sack-coat + pocket. A whirlwind of epithets filled the place. Out into the + stinking dark leaped Naples and Gascony, and after them darted + their whooping assailants. The shutters of both barrooms + clapped to, over the way a pair of bull-drivers rushed to their + mustangs, there was a patter of hoofs there and of boots here + and all inner lights vanished. A watchman's rattle buzzed + remotely. Then silence reigned.</p> + + <p>Now Sam and Maxime, deeming the incident closed, were + walking up the levee road beyond the stock-pens, in the new and + more sympathetic company of the two mounted bull-drivers, to + whose love of patriotic adventure they had appealed + successfully. A few yards beyond a roadside pool backed by + willow bushes they set down tar-bucket and pillow, and under a + low, vast live-oak bough turned and waited. A gibbous moon had + set, and presently a fog rolled down the river, blotting out + landscape and stars and making even these willows dim and + unreal. Ideal conditions! Now if their guest of honor, with or + without his friend, would but stop at this pool to wash the + Stock-Landing muck from his horse's shins--but even luck has + its limits.</p> + + <p>Nevertheless, that is what occurred. A hum of voices--a + tread of hoofs--and the very man hoped for--he and Hilary + Kincaid--recognized by their voices--d at the pool's margin. + Sam and Maxime stole forward.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="VIII"></a> + + <h2>VIII</h2> + + <h3>ONE KILLED</h3>The newcomers' talk, as they crouched busily + over their horses' feet, was on random themes: Dan Rice, John + Owens, Adelina and Carlotta Patti, the comparative merits of + Victor's and Moreau's restaur'--hah! Greenleaf snatched up his + light cane, sprang erect, and gazed close into the mild eyes of + Maxime. Gibbs's more wanton regard had no such encounter; + Hilary gave him a mere upward glance while his hands continued + their task. + + <p>"Good-evening," remarked Gibbs.</p> + + <p>"Good-morning," chirped Hilary, and scrubbed on. "Do you + happen to be Mr. Samuel Gibbs?--Don't stop, Fred, Maxime won't + object to your working on."</p> + + <p>"Yes, he will!" swore Gibbs, "and so will I!"</p> + + <p>Still Hilary scrubbed: "Why so, Mr. Gibbs?"</p> + + <p>"Bic-ause," put in Maxime, "he's got to go back through the + same mud he came!"</p> + + <p>"Why, then," laughed Hilary, "I may as well knock off, too," + and began to wash his hands.</p> + + <p>"No," growled Gibbs, "you'll ride on; we're not here for + you."</p> + + <p>"You can't have either of us without the other, Mr. Gibbs," + playfully remarked Kincaid. The bull-drivers loomed out of the + fog. Hilary leisurely rose and moved to draw a + handkerchief.</p> + + <p>"None o' that!" cried Gibbs, whipping his repeater into + Kincaid's face. Yet the handkerchief came forth, its owner + smiling playfully and drying his fingers while Mr. Gibbs went + on blasphemously to declare himself "no chicken."</p> + + <p>"Oh, no," laughed Hilary, "none of us is quite that. But did + you ever really study--<i>boxing?</i>" At the last word Gibbs + reeled under a blow in the face; his revolver, going off + harmlessly, was snatched from him, Maxime's derringer missed + also, and Gibbs swayed, bleeding and sightless, from Hilary's + blows with the butt of the revolver. Presently down he lurched + insensible, Hilary going half-way with him but recovering and + turning to the aid of his friend. Maxime tore loose from his + opponent, beseeching the bull-drivers to attack, but beseeching + in vain. Squawking and chattering like parrot and monkey, they + spurred forward, whirled back, gathered lassos, cursed + frantically as Sam fell, sped off into the fog, spurred back + again, and now reined their ponies to their haunches, while + Kincaid halted Maxime with Gibbs's revolver, and Greenleaf + sprang to the bits of his own and Hilary's terrified horses. + For two other men, the Gascon and the Italian, had glided into + the scene from the willows, and the Gascon was showing + Greenleaf two big knives, one of which he fiercely begged him + to accept.</p> + + <p>"Take it, Fred!" cried Hilary while he advanced on the + defiantly retreating Maxime; but as he spoke a new cry of the + drovers turned his glance another way. Gibbs had risen to his + knees unaware that the Italian, with yet another knife, was + close behind him. At a bound Hilary arrested the lifted blade + and hurled its wielder aside, who in the next breath seemed to + spring past him head first, fell prone across the prostrate + Gibbs, turned face upward, and slid on and away--lassoed. Both + bull-drivers clattered off up the road.</p> + + <p>"Hang to the nags, Fred!" cried Hilary, and let Maxime leap + to Gibbs's side, but seized the Gascon as with murderous intent + he sprang after him. It took Kincaid's strength to hold him, + and Gibbs and his partner would have edged away, but--"Stand!" + called Hilary, and they stood, Gibbs weak and dazed, yet still + spouting curses. The Gascon begged in vain to be allowed to + follow the bull-drivers.</p> + + <p>"Stay here!" said Hilary in French, and the butcher tarried. + Hilary passed the revolver to his friend, mounted and dashed up + the highway.</p> + + <p>The Gascon stayed with a lively purpose which the enfeebled + Gibbs was the first to see. "Stand back, you hell-hound!" cried + the latter, and with fresh oaths bade Greenleaf "keep him + off!"</p> + + <p>Maxime put Gibbs on Greenleaf's horse (as bidden), and was + about to lead him, when Kincaid galloped back.</p> + + <p>"Fred," exclaimed Hilary, "they've killed the poor chap." He + wheeled. "Come, all hands," he continued, and to Greenleaf + added as they went, "He's lying up here in the road with--"</p> + + <p>Greenleaf picked up something. "Humph!" said Hilary, + receiving it, "knives by the great gross. He must have used + this trying to cut the lasso; the one he had back yonder flew + into the pond." He reined in: "Here's where they--Why, + Fred--why, I'll swear! They've come back and--Stop! there was a + skiff"--he moved to the levee and peered over--"It's gone!"</p> + + <p>The case was plain, and while from Greenleaf's saddle Gibbs + broke into frantic revilings of the fugitives for deserting him + and Maxime to sink their dead in the mid-current of the + fog-bound river, Kincaid and his friend held soft counsel. + Evidently the drovers had turned their horses loose, knowing + they would go to their stable. No despatch to stop Greenleaf + could be sent by anyone up the railroad till the Committee of + Public Safety had authorized it, so Hilary would drop them a + line out of his pocket note-book, and by daybreak these + prisoners could go free.</p> + + <p>"Mr. Gibbs"--he said as he wrote--"I have the sprout of a + notion that you and Mr. Lafontaine would be an ornament to a + field-battery I'm about to take command of. I'd like to talk + with you about that presently." He tore out the page he had + written and beckoned the Gascon aside:</p> + + <p>"<i>Mon ami</i>"--he showed a roll of "city money" and + continued in French--"do you want to make a hundred + dollars--fifty now and fifty when you bring me an answer to + this?"</p> + + <p>The man nodded and took the missive.</p> + + <p>The old "Jackson Railroad" avoided Carrollton and touched + the river for a moment only, a short way beyond, at a small + bunch of flimsy clapboard houses called Kennerville. Here was + the first stop of its early morning outbound train, and here a + dozen or so passengers always poked their heads out of the + windows. This morning they saw an oldish black man step off, + doff his hat delightedly to two young men waiting at the + platform's edge, pass them a ticket, and move across to a pair + of saddled horses. The smaller of the pair stepped upon the + last coach, but kept his companion's hand till the train had + again started.</p> + + <p>"Good-by, Tony," cried the one left behind.</p> + + <p>"Good-by, Jake," called the other, and waved. His friend + watched the train vanish into the forest. Then, as his horse + was brought, he mounted and moved back toward the city.</p> + + <p>Presently the negro, on the other horse, came up almost + abreast of him. "Mahs' Hil'ry?" he ventured.</p> + + <p>"Well, uncle Jerry?"</p> + + <p>"Dat's a pow'ful good-lookin' suit o' clo'es what L'tenant + Greenfeel got awn."</p> + + <p>"Jerry! you cut me to the heart!"</p> + + <p>The negro tittered: "Oh, as to dat, I don't 'spute but yone + is betteh."</p> + + <p>The master heaved a comforted sigh. The servant tittered + again, but suddenly again was grave. "I on'y wish to Gawd," he + slowly said, "dat de next time you an' him meet--"</p> + + <p>"Well--next time we meet--what then?"</p> + + <p>"Dat you bofe be in de same sawt o' clo'es like you got on + now."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="IX"></a> + + <h2>IX</h2> + + <h3>HER HARPOON STRIKES</h3>The home of the Callenders was an + old Creole colonial plantation-house, large, square, strong, of + two stories over a stoutly piered basement, and surrounded by + two broad verandas, one at each story, beneath a great hip roof + gracefully upheld on Doric columns. It bore that air of + uncostly refinement which is one of the most pleasing outward + features of the aloof civilization to which it, though not the + Callenders, belonged. + + <p>Inside, its aspect was exceptional. There the inornate + beauty of its finish, the quiet abundance of its delicate + woodwork, and the high spaciousness and continuity of its rooms + for entertainment won admiration and fame. A worthy setting, it + was called, for the gentle manners with which the Callenders + made it alluring.</p> + + <p>They, of course, had not built it. The late Judge had + acquired it from the descendants of a planter of indigo and + coffee who in the oldest Creole days had here made his home and + lived his life as thoroughly in the ancient baronial spirit as + if the Mississippi had been the mediaeval Rhine. Only its + perfect repair was the Judge's touch, a touch so modestly true + as to give it a charm of age and story which the youth and + beauty of the Callender ladies only enhanced, enhancing it the + more through their lack of a male protector--because of which + they were always going to move into town, but never moved.</p> + + <p>Here, some nine or ten days after Greenleaf's flight, Hilary + Kincaid, in uniform at last, was one of two evening visitors, + the other being Mandeville. In the meantime our lover of + nonsense had received a "hard jolt." So he admitted in a letter + to his friend, boasting, however, that it was unattended by any + "internal injury." In the circuit of a single week, happening + to be thrown daily and busily into "her" society, "the harpoon + had struck."</p> + + <p>He chose the phrase as an honest yet delicate reminder of + the compact made when last the two chums had ridden + together.</p> + + <p>All three of the Callenders were in the evening group, and + the five talked about an illumination of the city, set for the + following night. In the business centre the front of every + building was already being hung with fittings from sidewalk to + cornice. So was to be celebrated the glorious fact (Constance + and Mandeville's adjective) that in the previous month + Louisiana had seized all the forts and lighthouses in her + borders and withdrawn from the federal union by a solemn + ordinance signed in tears. This great lighting up, said Hilary, + was to be the smile of fortitude after the tears. Over the city + hall now floated daily the new flag of the state, with the + colors of its stripes--</p> + + <p>"Reverted to those of old Spain," murmured Anna, mainly to + herself yet somewhat to Hilary. Judge Callender had died a + Whig, and politics interested the merest girls those days.</p> + + <p>Even at the piano, where Anna played and Hilary hovered, in + pauses between this of Mozart and that of Mendelssohn, there + was much for her to ask and him to tell about; for instance, + the new "Confederate States," a bare fortnight old! Would + Virginia come into them? Eventually, yes.</p> + + <p>"Oh, yes, yes, yes!" cried Constance, overhearing. (Whatever + did not begin with oh, those times, began with ah.)</p> + + <p>"And <i>must</i> war follow?" The question was Anna's again, + and Hilary sat down closer to answer confidentially:</p> + + <p>"Yes, the war was already a fact."</p> + + <p>"And might not the Abolitionists send their ships and + soldiers against New Orleans?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, the case was supposable."</p> + + <p>"And might not Jackson's battlefield of 1815, in close view + from these windows, become a new one?"</p> + + <p>To avoid confessing that old battlefields have that tendency + the Captain rose and took up a guitar; but when he would have + laid it on her knee she pushed it away and asked the song of + him; asked with something intimate in her smiling undertone + that thrilled him, yet on the next instant seemed pure dream + stuff. The others broke in and Constance begged a song of the + new patriotism; but Miranda, the pretty stepmother, spoke + rather for something a thousand miles and months away from the + troubles and heroics of the hour; and when Anna seconded this + motion by one fugitive glance worth all their beseechings + Hilary, as he stood, gayly threw open his smart jacket lest his + brass buttons mar the instrument, and sang with a sudden fervor + that startled and delighted all the group:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Drink to me only with thine + eyes."</span></p> + + <p>In the midst of which Constance lifted a knowing look across + to Miranda, and Miranda sent it back.</p> + + <p>There was never an evening that did not have to end, and at + last the gentlemen began to make a show of leaving. But then + came a lively chat, all standing in a bunch. To-morrow's + procession, the visitors said, would form in Canal Street, move + up St. Charles, return down Camp Street into Canal, pass + through it into Rampart, take the Bayou Road and march to a + grand review away out in the new camp of instruction at the + Creole Race-Course. Intermediately, from a certain Canal Street + balcony, Flora would present the flag! the gorgeous golden, + silken, satin battle standard which the Callenders and others + had helped her to make. So--good-night--good-night.</p> + + <p>The last parting was with Mandeville, at the levee-road + gate, just below which he lived in what, during the + indigo-planter's life, had been the overseer's cottage. At a + fine stride our artillerist started townward, his horse being + stabled near by in that direction. But presently he halted, + harkened after the Creole's receding step, thought long, softly + called himself names, and then did a small thing which, + although it resulted in nothing tragic at the time, marked a + turning point in his life. He leapt the grove fence, returned + to the shadows of the garden, and silently made his way to its + eastern, down-river side. Already the dwelling's lower lights + were going out while none yet shone above, and he paused in + deep shade far enough away to see, over its upper veranda's + edge, the tops of its chamber windows.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="X"></a> + + <h2>X</h2> + + <h3>SYLVIA SIGHS</h3>The house was of brick. So being, in a + land where most dwellings are of wood, it had gathered beauty + from time and dignity from tried strength, and with satisfying + grace joined itself to its grounds, whose abundance and variety + of flowering, broad-leaved evergreens lent, in turn, a poetic + authenticity to its Greek columns and to the Roman arches of + its doors and windows. Especially in these mild, fragrant, blue + nights was this charm potent, and the fair home seemed to its + hidden beholder forever set apart from the discords and + distresses of a turbulent world. And now an upper window + brightened, its sash went up, and at the veranda's balustrade + Anna stood outlined against the inner glow. + + <p>She may have intended but one look at the stars, but they + and the spiced air were enchanting, and in confidence that no + earthly eye was on her she tarried, gazing out to the farthest + gleam of the river where it swung southward round the English + Turn.</p> + + <p>Down in the garden a mirthful ecstasy ran through all the + blood of her culprit observer and he drank to her only with his + eyes. Against the window's brightness her dark outline showed + true, and every smallest strand of her hair that played along + the contours of brow and head changed his merriment to + reverence and bade his heart recognize how infinitely distant + from his was her thought. Hilary Kincaid! can you read no + better than that?</p> + + <p>Her thought was of him. Her mind's eye saw him on his + homeward ride. It marked the erectness of his frame, the gayety + of his mien, the dance of his locks. By her inner ear she heard + his horse's tread passing up the narrow round-stone pavements + of the Creole Quarter, presently to echo in old St. Peter + Street under the windows of Pontalba Row--one of which was + Flora's. Would it ring straight on, or would it pause between + that window and the orange and myrtle shades of Jackson Square? + Constance had said that day to Miranda--for this star-gazer to + overhear--that she did not believe Kincaid loved Flora, and the + hearer had longed to ask her why, but knew she could not tell. + Why is a man's word. "They're as helpless without it," the + muser recalled having very lately written on a secret page, "as + women are before it. And yet a girl can be very hungry, at + times, for a why. They say he's as brave as a lion--why is he + never brave to me?"</p> + + <p>So futilely ended the strain on the remembered page, but + while his unsuspected gaze abode on her lifted eyes her thought + prolonged the note: "If he meant love to-night, why did he not + stand to his meaning when I laughed it away? Was that for his + friend's sake, or is he only not brave enough to make one wild + guess at me? Ah, I bless Heaven he's the kind that cannot! And + still--oh, Hilary Kincaid, if you were the girl and I the man! + I shouldn't be on my way home; I'd be down in this garden--." + She slowly withdrew.</p> + + <p>Hilary, stepping back to keep her in sight, was suddenly + aware of the family coachman close at his side. Together they + moved warily a few steps farther.</p> + + <p>"You mus' escuse me, Cap'n," the negro amiably whispered. + "You all right, o' co'se! Yit dese days, wid no white gen'leman + apputtainin' onto de place--"</p> + + <p>"Old man!" panted Hilary, "you've saved my life!"</p> + + <p>"Oh, my Lawd, no! Cap'n, I--"</p> + + <p>"Yes, you have! I was just going into fits! Now step in and + fetch me out here--" He shaped his arms fantastically and + twiddled his fingers.</p> + + <p>Bending with noiseless laughter the negro nodded and + went.</p> + + <p>Just within her window, Anna, still in reverie, sat down at + a slender desk, unlocked a drawer, then a second one inside it, + and drew forth--no mere secret page but--a whole diary! "To + Anna, from Miranda, Christmas, 1860." Slowly she took up a pen, + as gradually laid it by again, and opposite various dates let + her eyes rest on--not this, though it was still true:</p> + + <p>"The more we see of Flora, the more we like her."</p> + + <p>Nor this: "Heard a great, but awful, sermon on the duty of + resisting Northern oppression."</p> + + <p>But this: "Connie thinks he 'inclines' to me. Ho! all he's + ever said has been for his far-away friend. I wish he would + incline, or else go ten times as far away! Only not to the + war--God forbid! Ah, me, how I long for his inclining! And + while I long he laughs, and the more he laughs the more I long, + for I never, never so doted on any one's laugh. Oh, shame! to + love before--"</p> + + <p>What sound was that below? No mocking-bird note, no south + wind in the foliage, but the kiss of fingers on strings! Warily + it stole in at the window, while softly as an acacia the diary + closed its leaves. The bent head stirred not, but a thrill + answered through the hearer's frame as a second cadence + ventured up and in and a voice followed it in song. Tremblingly + the book slid into the drawer, inner and outer lock clicked + whisperingly, and gliding to a door she harkened for any step + of the household, while she drank the strains, her bosom + heaving with equal alarm and rapture.</p> + + <p>If any song is good which serves a lover's ends we need + claim no more for the one that rose to Anna on the odors of the + garden and drove her about the room, darting, clinging, + fluttering, returning, like her own terrified bird above her in + its cage.</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 3em;">When Sylvia sighs</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">And veils the worshipped + wonder</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of her blue eyes</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their sacred curtains + under,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Naught can so nigh please me as + my tender anguish.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Only grief can ease me while + those lashes languish.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Woe best beguiles;</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mirth, wait thou other + whiles;</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thou shalt borrow all my + sorrow</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">When Sylvia smiles.</span></p> + + <p>But what a strange effect! Could this be that Anna. + Callender who "would no more ever again seem small, than the + ocean?" Is this that maiden of the "belated, gradual smile" + whom the singer himself so lately named "a profound pause?" + Your eyes, fair girl, could hardly be more dilated if they saw + riot, fire, or shipwreck. Nor now could your brow show more + exaltation responsive to angels singing in the sun; nor now + your frame show more affright though soldiers were breaking in + your door. Anna, Anna! your fingers are clenched in your palms, + and in your heart one frenzy implores the singer to forbear, + while another bids him sing on though the heavens fall. Anna + Callender! do you not know this? You have dropped into a chair, + you grip the corners of your desk. Now you are up again, + trembling and putting out your lights. And now you seek to + relight them, but cannot remember the place or direction of + anything, and when you have found out what you were looking + for, do not know how much time has flown, except that the song + is still in its first stanza. Are you aware that your groping + hand has seized and rumpled into its palm a long strand of + slender ribbon lately unwound from your throat?</p> + + <p>A coy tap sounds on her door and she glides to it. + "Who--who?" But in spite of her it opens to the bearer of a + lamp, her sister Constance.</p> + + <p>"Who--who--?" she mocks in soft glee. "That's the question! + 'Who is Sylvia?'"</p> + + <p>"Don't try to come in! I--I--the floor is all strewn with + matches!"</p> + + <p>The sister's mirth vanishes: "Why, Nan! what is the + matter?"</p> + + <p>"Do-on't whisper so loud! He's right out there!"</p> + + <p>"But, dearie! it's nothing but a serenade."</p> + + <p>"It's an outrage, Con! How did he ever know--how did he dare + to know--this was my window? Oh, put out that lamp or he'll + think I lighted it--No! no! don't put it out, he'll think I did + that, too!"</p> + + <p>"Why, Nan! you never in your life--"</p> + + <p>"Now, Connie, that isn't fair! I won't stay with you!" The + speaker fled. Constance put out the light.</p> + + <p>A few steps down and across a hall a soft sound broke, and + Anna stood in Miranda's doorway wearing her most self-contained + smile: "Dearie!" she quietly said, "isn't it <i>too</i> + ridiculous!"</p> + + <p>Miranda crinkled a smile so rife with love and insight that + Anna's eyes suddenly ran full and she glided to her knees by + the seated one and into her arms, murmuring, "You ought both of + you to be ashamed of yourselves! You're totally mistaken!"</p> + + <p>Presently, back in the dusk of her own room, an audible + breathing betrayed her return, and Constance endeavoured to + slip out, but Anna clung: "You sha'n't go! You sha'--" Yet the + fugitive easily got away.</p> + + <p>Down among the roses a stanza had just ended. Anna tiptoed + out half across the dim veranda, tossed her crumpled ribbon + over the rail, flitted back, bent an ear, and knew by a brief + hush of the strings that the token had drifted home.</p> + + <p>The die was cast. From brow and heart fled all perturbation + and once more into her eyes came their wonted serenity--with a + tinge of exultation--while the strings sounded again, and again + rose the song:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 3em;">When Sylvia + smiles</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Her eyes to mine + inclining,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Like azure isles</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">In seas of lovelight + shining,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">With a merry madness find I + endless pleasure--</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Till she sighs--then sadness is + my only treasure.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Woe best beguiles;</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mirth, wait thou other + whiles,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thou shalt borrow all my + sorrow</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">When Sylvia smiles.</span></p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XI"></a> + + <h2>XI</h2> + + <h3>IN COLUMN OF PLATOONS</h3>Love's war was declared. From + hour to hour of that night and the next morning, in bed, at + board, dressing for the thronged city, spinning with Constance + and Miranda up Love Street across Piety and Desire and on into + the town's centre, Anna, outwardly all peace, planned that + war's defensive strategy. Splendidly maidenly it should be, + harrowingly arduous to the proud invader, and long drawn out. + Constance should see what a man can be put through. But oh, but + oh, if, after all, the invasion should not come! + + <p>In those days New Orleans paved her favorite streets, when + she paved them at all, with big blocks of granite two feet by + one. They came from the North as ballast in those innumerable + wide-armed ships whose cloud of masts and cordage inspiringly + darkened the sky of that far-winding river-front where we + lately saw Hilary Kincaid and Fred Greenleaf ride. Beginning at + the great steamboat landing, half a mile of Canal Street had + such a pavement on either side of its broad grassy "neutral + ground." So had the main streets that led from it at right + angles. Long afterward, even as late as when the Nineteenth + Century died, some of those streets were at the funeral, clad + in those same old pavements, worn as smooth and ragged as a + gentleman-beggar's coat. St. Charles Street was one. Another + was the old Rue Royale, its squat ground-floor domiciles + drooping their mossy eaves half across the pinched sidewalks + and confusedly trying to alternate and align themselves with + tall brick houses and shops whose ample two-and three-story + balconies were upheld, balustraded, and overhung by slender + garlandries of iron openwork as graceful and feminine as a lace + mantilla. With here and there the flag of a foreign consul + hanging out and down, such is the attire the old street was + vain of in that golden time when a large square sign on every + telegraph pole bade you get your shirts at S.N. Moody's, corner + of Canal and Royal Streets.</p> + + <p>At this corner, on the day after the serenade, there was a + dense, waiting crowd. On the other corner of Royal, where the + show-windows of Hyde & Goodrich blazed with diamonds, and + their loftily nested gold pelican forever fed her young from + her bleeding breast, stood an equal throng. Across Canal + Street, where St. Charles opens narrowly southward, were + similar masses, and midway between the four corners the rising + circles of stone steps about the high bronze figure of Henry + Clay were hidden by men and boys packed as close as they could + sit or stand. A great procession had gone up-town and would by + and by return. Near and far banners and pennons rose and fell + on the luxurious air, and the ranks and ranks of broad and + narrow balconies were so many gardens of dames and girls, + parasols, and diaphanous gowns. Near the front of the lowest + Hyde & Goodrich balcony, close by the gilded pelican, sat + the Callenders, all gladness, holding mute dialogues with Flora + and Madame Valcour here on the balcony of Moody's corner. It + was the birthday of Washington.</p> + + <p>Not of him, however, did Flora and her grandmother softly + converse in Spanish amid the surrounding babel of English and + French. Their theme was our battery drill of some ten days + before, a subject urged upon Flora by the mosquito-like + probings of Madame's musically whined queries. Better to be + bled of almost any information by the antique little dame than + to have her light on it some other way, as she had an amazing + knack of doing. Her <i>acted</i> part of things Flora kept + untold; but grandma's spirit of divination could unfailingly + supply that, and her pencilled brows, stiff as they were, could + tell the narrator she had done so.</p> + + <p>Thus now, Flora gave no hint of the beautiful skill and + quick success with which, on her homeward railway trip with + Greenleaf that evening, she had bettered his impressions of + her. By no more than a gentle play of light and shade in her + smile and an undulating melody of voice--without a word that + touched the wound itself, but with a timid glow of + compassionate admiration--she had soothed the torture of a + heart whose last hope Anna had that same hour put to death.</p> + + <p>"But before he took the train with you," murmured the + mosquito to the butterfly, "when he said the General was going + to take Irby upon his staff and give the battery to Kincaid, + what did you talk of?"</p> + + <p>"Talk of? Charlie. He said I ought to make Charlie join the + battery."</p> + + <p>"Ah? For what? To secure Kincaid's protection of your dear + little brother's health--character--morals--eh?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, 'twas so he put it," replied Flora, while the old + lady's eyebrows visibly cried:</p> + + <p>"You sly bird! will you impute <i>all</i> your own words to + that Yankee, and his to yourself?"</p> + + <p>Which is just what Flora continued to do as the grandma + tinkled: "And you said--what?"</p> + + <p>"I said if I couldn't keep him at home I ought to get him + into the cavalry. You know, dear, in the infantry the marches + are so cruel, the camps so--"</p> + + <p>"But in the artillery," piped the small dame, "they ride, + eh?" (It was a trap she was setting, but in vain was the net + spread.)</p> + + <p>"No," said the serene girl, "they, too, go afoot. Often they + must help the horses drag the guns through the mire. Only on + parade they ride, or when rushing to and fro in battle, whips + cracking, horses plunging, the hills smoking and shaking!" The + rare creature sparkled frankly, seeing the battery whirling + into action with its standard on the wind--this very flag she + expected presently to bestow.</p> + + <p>"And with Kincaid at the head!" softly cried the + antique.</p> + + <p>The girl put on a fondness which suddenly became a withering + droop of the eyes: "Don't mince your smile so, grannie dear, I + can hear the paint crack."</p> + + <p>The wee relic flashed, yet instantly was bland again: "You + were about to say, however, that in the artillery--?"</p> + + <p>"The risks are the deadliest of all."</p> + + <p>"Ah, yes!" sang the mosquito, "and for a sister to push her + boy brother into a battery under such a commander would be too + much like murder!"</p> + + <p>The maiden felt the same start as when Greenleaf had + ventured almost those words. "Yes," she beamingly rejoined, + "that's what I told the Lieutenant."</p> + + <p>"With a blush?"</p> + + <p>"No," carelessly said the slender beauty, and exchanged + happy signals with the Callenders.</p> + + <p>"You tricksy wretch!" muttered the grandmother to herself. + For though Charlie was in the battery by his own choice, Hilary + would have kept him out had not the sister begged to have him + let in.</p> + + <p>Suddenly there was a glad stoppage of all by-play in the + swarming streets. Down St. Charles from LaFayette Square came + the shock of saluting artillery, and up Royal from Jackson + Square rolled back antiphonal thunders.</p> + + <p>"Grandma!" softly cried Flora, as if sharing the general + elation, but had begun again to tell of Greenleaf, when from + far over in Camp Street her subtle ear caught a faint stray + sigh of saxhorns.</p> + + <p>"Well? well? about the Yankee--?" urged Madame.</p> + + <p>"Oh, a trifle! He was to go that night, and thinking he + might some day return in very different fashion and we be glad + to make use of him, I--" The speaker's lithe form straightened + and her gaze went off to the left. "Here they come!" she said, + and out where Camp Street emerges, a glint of steel, a gleam of + brass, a swarming of the people that way, and again a shimmer + of brass and steel, affirmed her word that the long, plumed, + bristling column had got back to the arms of its darling Canal + Street.</p> + + <p>"Yes," cried many, "they're turning this way!"</p> + + <p>"Well?--Well?" insisted the old lady amid the rising din. + "And so you--you?"</p> + + <p>"Be more careful," murmured the girl. "I told him that our + convictions--about this war--yours and mine--not + Charlie's--<i>are the same as his</i>."</p> + + <p>A charming sight she was, even in that moment of public + enthusiasm and spectacle, holding the wondering stare of her + companion with a gayety that seemed ready to break into + laughter. The dainty Madame went limp, and in words as slow and + soft as her smile, sighed, "You are a genius!"</p> + + <p>"No, only the last thing you would suspect--a good + housekeeper. I have put him up in sugar."</p> + + <p>The distant martial strains became more coherent. In remote + balconies handkerchiefs fluttered wildly, and under nearer and + nearer ones the people began to pack closer and choose their + footing along the curb. Presently from the approaching column + came who but Hilary Kincaid, galloping easily over the slippery + pavements. Anna saw his eyes sweep the bank of human flowers + (with its occasional male caterpillar) on Moody's balcony and + light upon Flora. He lifted his képi and halted. One + could read his soft questions.</p> + + <p>"All right? All ready? Where are the others?--Ah!" He sent + an eager salutation to the Callenders, and two joyfully bowed, + but Anna gave no sign. With great dignity her gaze was bent + beyond him on the nearing host, and when Constance plucked her + arm she tardily looked three wrong ways.</p> + + <p>The rider could not wait. The police were pressing back the + jubilant masses, swarms of ladies on the rear forms were + standing up, and Flora, still seated, had leaned down beamingly + and was using every resource of voice and fan to send him some + word through the tumult of plaudits and drums. He spurred + close. In a favoring hush--drum-corps inviting the band--she + bent low and with an arch air of bafflement tried once more, + but an outburst of brazen harmonies tore her speech to threads. + Suddenly--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Ever of thee I'm fondly + dreaming--"</span></p> + + <p>pealed the cornets, pumped the trombones, whipping it out, + cracking it off, with a rigor of rhythm to shame all peace-time + languishments--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Thy gentle voice my spirit + can cheer.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Thou art the star--"</span></p> + + <p>What could the balconies do but wave more joyously than + ever? The streets hurrahed! The head of the procession was + here! The lone horseman reined back, wheeled, cast another vain + glance toward Anna, and with an alarming rataplan of slipping + and recovering hoofs sped down the column.</p> + + <p>But what new rapture was this? Some glorious luck had + altered the route, and the whole business swung right into this + old rue Royale! Now, now the merry clamor and rush of the crowd + righting itself! And behold! this blazing staff and its + commanding general--general of division! He first, and then all + they, bowed to Flora and her grandmother, bowed to the + Callenders, and were bowed to in return. A mounted escort + followed. And now--yea, verily! General Brodnax and his staff + of brigade! Wave, Valcours, wave Callenders! Irby's bow to + Flora was majestic, and hers to him as gracious as the smell of + flowers in the air. And here was Mandeville, most glittering in + all the glitter. Flora beamed on him as well, Anna bowed with a + gay fondness, Miranda's dainty nose crimped itself, and + Constance, with a blitheness even more vivid, wished all these + balconies could know that Captain--he <i>was</i> Lieutenant, + but that was away back last week--Captain Etienne Aristide + Rofignac de Mandeville was <i>hers</i>, whom, after their + marriage, now <i>so</i> near at hand, she was going always to + call Steve!</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XII"></a> + + <h2>XII</h2> + + <h3>MANDEVILLE BLEEDS</h3>Two overflowing brigades! In the van + came red-capped artillery. Not the new battery, though happily + known to Flora and the Callenders; the Washington Artillery. + Illustrious command! platoons and platoons of the flower of the + Crescent City's youth and worth! They, too, that day received + their battle-flag. They have the shot-torn rags of it yet. + + <p>Ah, the clanging horns again, and oh, the thundering drums! + Another uniform, on a mass of infantry, another band at its + head braying another lover's song reduced to a military tramp, + swing, and clangor--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I'd offer thee this hand of + mine</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">If I could love thee + less--"</span></p> + + <p>Every soldier seemed to have become a swain. Hilary and Anna + had lately sung this wail together, but not to its end, she had + called it "so ungenuine." How rakishly now it came ripping out. + "My fortune is too hard for thee," it declared, "'twould chill + thy dearest joy. I'd rather weep to see thee free," and ended + with "destroy"; but it had the swagger of a bowling-alley.</p> + + <p>All the old organizations, some dating back to '12-'15, had + lately grown to amazing numbers, while many new ones had been + so perfectly uniformed, armed, accoutred and drilled six nights + a week that the ladies, in their unmilitary innocence, could + not tell the new from the old. Except in two cases: Even Anna + was aware that the "Continentals," in tasseled top-boots, were + of earlier times, although they had changed their buff + knee-breeches and three-cornered hats for a smart uniform of + blue and gray; while these red-and-blue-flannel Zouaves, + drawing swarms of boys as dray-loads of sugar-hogsheads drew + flies, were as modern as 1861 itself. But oh, ah, one + <i>knew</i> so many young men! It was wave, bow, smile and bow, + smile and wave, till the whole frame was gloriously weary.</p> + + <p>Near Anna prattled a Creole girl of sixteen with whom she + now and then enjoyed a word or so: Victorine Lafontaine, + daughter of our friend Maxime.</p> + + <p>"Louisiana Foot-Rifles--ah! but their true name," she + protested, "are the Chasseurs-à-Pied! 'Twas to them my + papa billong' biffo' he join' hisseff on the batt'rie of + Captain Kincaid, and there he's now a corporeal!"</p> + + <p>What jaunty fellows they were! and as their faultless ranks + came close, their glad, buskined feet beating as perfect music + for the roaring drums as the drums beat for them, Anna, in fond + ardor, bent low over the rail and waved, exhorting Miranda and + Constance to wave with her. So marched the chasseurs by, but + the wide applause persisted as yet other hosts, with deafening + music and perfect step and with bayonets back-slanted like the + porcupine's, came on and on, and passed and passed, ignoring in + grand self-restraint their very loves who leaned from the + banquettes' edges and from balustraded heights and laughed and + boasted and worshipped.</p> + + <p>Finally artillery again! every man in it loved by some + one--or dozen--in these glad throngs. Clap! call! wave! Oh, + gallant sight! These do not enter Royal Street. They keep + Canal, obliquing to that side of the way farthest from the + balconies--</p> + + <p>"To make room," cries Victorine, "to form line pritty soon + off horses, in front those cannon'."</p> + + <p>At the head rides Kincaid. Then, each in his place, + lieutenants, sergeants, drivers, the six-horse teams leaning on + the firm traces, the big wheels clucking, the long Napoleons + shining like gold, and the cannoneers--oh, God bless the + lads!--planted on limbers and caissons, with arms tight folded + and backs as plumb as the meridian. Now three of the pieces, + half the battery, have gone by and--</p> + + <p>"Well, well, if there isn't Sam Gibbs, sergeant of a gun! It + is, I tell you, it is! Sam Gibbs, made over new, as sure as a + certain monosyllable! and what could be surer, for Sam + Gibbs?"</p> + + <p>So laugh the sidewalks; but society, overhead, cares not for + a made-over Gibbs while round about him are sixty or seventy + young heroes who need no making over. Anna, Anna! what a brave + and happy half-and-half of Creoles and "Americans" do your + moist eyes beam down upon: here a Canonge and there an Ogden--a + Zacherie--a Fontennette--Willie Geddes--Tom Norton--a Fusilier! + Nat Frellsen--a Tramontana--a Grandissime!--and a Grandissime + again! Percy Chilton--a Dudley--Arthur Puig y Puig--a De + Armas--MacKnight--Violett--Avendano--Rob Rareshide--Guy + Palfrey--a Morse, a Bien, a Fuentes--a Grandissme once more! + Aleck Moise--Ralph Fenner--Ned Ferry!--and lo! a Raoul + Innerarity, image of his grandfather's portrait--and a Jules + St. Ange! a Converse--Jack Eustis--two Frowenfelds! a Mossy! a + Hennen--Bartie Sloo--McVey, McStea, a De Lavillebuevre--a + Thorndyke-Smith and a Grandissime again!</p> + + <p>And ah! see yonder young cannoneer half-way between these + two balconies and the statue beyond; that foppish boy with his + hair in a hundred curls and his eyes wild with wayward ardor! + "Ah, Charlie Valcour!" thinks Anna; "oh, your poor sister!" + while the eyes of Victorine take him in secretly and her voice + is still for a whole minute. Hark! From the head of the column + is wafted back a bugle-note, and everything stands.</p> + + <p>Now the trim lads relax, the balcony dames in the rear rows + sit down, there are nods and becks and wafted whispers to a + Calder and an Avery, to tall Numa, Dolhonde and short Eugene + Chopin, to George Wood and Dick Penn and Fenner and Bouligny + and Pilcher and L'Hommedieu; and Charlie sends up bows and + smiles, and wipes the beautiful brow he so openly and wilfully + loves best on earth. Anna smiles back, but Constance bids her + look at Maxime, Victorine's father, whom neither his long white + moustaches nor weight of years nor the lawless past revealed in + his daring eyes can rob of his youth. So Anna looks, and when + she turns again to Charlie she finds him sending a glance rife + with conquest--not his first--up to Victorine, who, without + meeting it, replies--as she has done to each one before + it--with a dreamy smile into vacancy, and a faint narrowing of + her almond eyes.</p> + + <p>Captain Kincaid comes ambling back, and right here in the + throat of Royal Street faces the command. The matter is + explained to Madame Valcour by a stranger:</p> + + <p>"Now at the captain's word all the cannoneers will spring + down, leaving only guns, teams and drivers at their back, and + line up facing us. The captain will dismount and ascend to the + balcony, and there he and the young lady, whoever she is--" He + waits, hoping Madame will say who the young lady is, but Madame + only smiles for him to proceed--"The captain and she will + confront each other, she will present the colors, he, replying, + will receive them, and--ah, after all!" The thing had been done + without their seeing it, and there stood the whole magnificent + double line. Captain Kincaid dismounted and had just turned + from his horse when there galloped up Royal Street from the + vanished procession--Mandeville. Slipping and clattering, he + reined up and saluted: "How soon can Kincaid's Battery be + completely ready to go into camp?"</p> + + <p>"Now, if necessary."</p> + + <p>"It will receive orders to move at seven to-morrow morning!" + The Creole's fervor amuses the rabble, and when Hilary smiles + his earnestness waxes to a frown. Kincaid replies lightly and + the rider bends the rein to wheel away, but the slippery stones + have their victim at last. The horse's feet spread and + scrabble, his haunches go low. Constance snatches both Anna's + hands. Ah! by good luck the beast is up again! Yet again the + hoofs slip, the rider reels, and Charlie and a comrade dart out + to catch him, but he recovers. Then the horse makes another + plunge and goes clear down with a slam and a slide that hurl + his master to the very sidewalk and make a hundred pale women + cry out.</p> + + <p>Constance and her two companions bend wildly from the + balustrade, a sight for a painter. Across the way Flora, + holding back her grandmother, silently leans out, another + picture. In the ranks near Charlie a disarray continues even + after Kincaid has got the battered Mandeville again into the + saddle, and while Mandeville is rejecting sympathy with a + begrimed yet haughty smile.</p> + + <p>"Keep back, ladies!" pleads Madame's late informant, holding + off two or three bodily. "Ladies, sit down! Will you please to + keep back!" Flora still leans out. Some one is melodiously + calling:</p> + + <p>"Captain Kincaid!" It is Mrs. Callender. "Captain!" she + repeats.</p> + + <p>He smiles up and at last meets Anna's eyes. Flora sees their + glances--angels ascending and descending--and a wee loop of + ribbon that peeps from his tightly buttoned breast. Otherwise + another sight, elsewhere, could not have escaped her, though it + still escapes many.</p> + + <p>"Poor boy!" it causes two women behind her to exclaim, "poor + boy!" but Flora pays no heed, for Hilary is speaking to the + Callenders.</p> + + <p>"Nothing broken but his watch," he gayly comforts them as to + Mandeville.</p> + + <p>"He's bleeding!" moans Constance, very white. But Kincaid + softly explains in his hollowed hands:</p> + + <p>"Only his nose!"</p> + + <p>The nose's owner casts no upward look. Not his to accept + pity, even from a fiancée. His handkerchief dampened "to + wibe the faze," two bits of wet paper "to plug the + noztril',"--he could allow no more!</p> + + <p>"First blood of the war!" said Hilary.</p> + + <p>"Yez! But"--the flashing warrior tapped his sword--"nod the + last!" and was off at a gallop, while Kincaid turned hurriedly + to find that Charlie, struck by the floundering horse, had + twice fainted away.</p> + + <p>In the balconies the press grew dangerous. An urchin + intercepted Kincaid to show him the Callenders, who, with + distressed eyes, pointed him to their carriage hurrying across + Canal Street.</p> + + <p>"For Charlie and Flora!" called Anna. They could not stir + "themselves" for the crush; but yonder, on Moody's side, the + same kind citizen noticed before had taken matters in hand:</p> + + <p>"Keep back, ladies! Make room! Let these two ladies out!" He + squeezed through the pack, holding aloft the furled colors, + which all this time had been lying at Flora's feet. Her anxious + eyes were on them at every second step as she pressed after him + with the grandmother dangling from her elbow.</p> + + <p>The open carriage spun round the battery's right and up its + front to where a knot of comrades hid the prostrate Charlie; + the surgeon, Kincaid, and Flora crouching at his side, the + citizen from the balcony still protecting grandmamma, and the + gilded eagle of the unpresented standard hovering over all. + With tender ease Hilary lifted the sufferer and laid him on the + carriage's front seat, the surgeon passed Madame in and sat + next to her, but to Kincaid Flora exclaimed with a glow of + heroic distress:</p> + + <p>"Let me go later--with Anna!" Her eyes overflowed--she bit + her lip--"I must present the flag!"</p> + + <p>A note of applause started, a protest hushed it, and the + overbending Callenders and the distracted Victorine heard + Hilary admiringly say:</p> + + <p>"Come! Go! You belong with your brother!"</p> + + <p>He pressed her in. For an instant she stood while the + carriage turned, a hand outstretched toward the standard, + saying to Hilary something that was drowned by huzzas; then + despairingly she sank into her seat and was gone down Royal + Street.</p> + + <p>"Attention!" called a lieutenant, and the ranks were in + order. To the holder of the flag Hilary pointed out Anna, + lingered for a word with his subaltern, and then followed the + standard to the Callenders' balcony.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XIII"></a> + + <h2>XIII</h2> + + <h3>THINGS ANNA COULD NOT WRITE</h3>"Charlie has two ribs + broken, but is doing well," ran a page of the diary; "so well + that Flora and Madame--who bears fatigue wonderfully--let + Captain Irby take them, in the evening, to see the + illumination. For the thunderstorm, which sent us whirling home + at midday, was followed by a clear evening sky and an air just + not too cool to be fragrant. + + <p>"I cannot write. My thoughts jostle one another out of all + shape, like the women in that last crush after the + flag-presentation. I begged not to have to take Flora's place + from her. It was like snatching jewels off her. I felt like a + robber! But in truth until I had the flag actually in my hand I + thought we were only being asked to take care of it for a later + day. The storm had begun to threaten. Some one was trying to + say to me--'off to camp and then to the front,' and--'must have + the flag now,' and still I said, 'No, oh, no!' But before I + could get any one to add a syllable there was the Captain + himself with the three men of the color guard behind him, the + middle one Victorine's father. I don't know how I began, but + only that I went on and on in some wild way till I heard the + applause all about and beneath me, and he took the colors from + me, and the first gust of the storm puffed them half + open--gorgeously--and the battery hurrahed. And then came his + part. He--I cannot write it."</p> + + <p>Why not, the diary never explained, but what occurred was + this:</p> + + <p>"Ladies and gentlemen and comrades in arms!" began Hilary + and threw a superb look all round, but the instant he brought + it back to Anna, it quailed, and he caught his breath. Then he + nerved up again. To help his courage and her own she forced + herself to gaze straight into his eyes, but reading the + affright in hers he stood dumb and turned red.</p> + + <p>He began again: "Ladies and gentlemen and comrades in arms!" + and pulled his moustache, and smote and rubbed his brow, and + suddenly drove his hand into an inside pocket and snatched out + a slip of paper. But what should come trailing out with it but + a long loop of ribbon! As he pushed it back he dropped the + paper, which another whiff of wind flirted straight over his + head, sent it circling and soaring clear above Moody's store + and dropped it down upon the roof. And there gazed Anna and all + that multitude, utterly blank, until the martyr himself burst + into a laugh. Then a thousand laughs pealed as one, and he + stood smiling and stroking back his hair, till his men began to + cry, "song! song!"</p> + + <p>Upon that he raised the flag high in one hand, let it + balloon to the wind, made a sign of refusal, and all at once + poured out a flood of speech--pledges to Anna and her + fellow-needlewomen--charges to his men--hopes for the cherished + cause--words so natural and unadorned, so practical and + soldier-like, and yet so swift, that not a breath was drawn + till he had ended. But then what a shout!</p> + + <p>It was over in a moment. The great black cloud that had been + swelling up from the south gave its first flash and crash, and + everybody started pell-mell for home. The speaker stood just + long enough for a last bow to Anna while the guard went before + him with the colors. Then he hurried below and had the whole + battery trotting down Canal Street and rounding back on its + farther side, with the beautiful standard fluttering to the + storm, before the Callenders could leave the balcony.</p> + + <p>Canal Street that evening was a veritable fairyland. When, + growing tired of their carriage, the Callenders and Mandeville + walked, and Kincaid unexpectedly joined them, fairyland was the + only name he could find for it, and Anna, in response, could + find none at all. Mallard's, Zimmerman's, Clark's, Levois's, + Laroussini's, Moody's, Hyde & Goodrich's, and even old + Piffet's were all aglow. One cannot recount half. Every hotel, + every club-house, all the theatres, all the consul's offices in + Royal and Carondelet streets, the banks everywhere, Odd + Fellows' Hall--with the Continentals giving their annual ball + in it--and so forth and so on! How the heart was exalted!</p> + + <p>But when the heart is that way it is easy to say things + prematurely, and right there in Canal Street Hilary spoke of + love. Not personally, only at large; although when Anna + restively said no woman should ever give her heart where she + could not give a boundless and unshakable trust, his eyes + showed a noble misery while he exclaimed:</p> + + <p>"Oh, but there are women of whom no man can ever deserve + that!" There his manner was all at once so personal that she + dared not be silent, but fell to generalizing, with many a + stammer, that a woman ought to be very slow to give her trust + if, once giving it, she would not rather die than doubt.</p> + + <p>"Do you believe there are such women?" he asked.</p> + + <p>"I know there are," she said, her eyes lifted to his, but + the next instant was so panic-smitten and shamed that she ran + into a lamp post. And when he called that his fault her denial + was affirmative in its feebleness, and with the others she + presently resumed the carriage and said good-night.</p> + + <p>"Flippantly!" thought the one left alone on the crowded + sidewalk.</p> + + <p>Yet--"It is I who am going to have the hardest of it," said + the diary a short hour after. "I've always thought that when + the right one came I'd never give in the faintest bit till I + had put him to every test and task and delay I could invent. + And now I can't invent one! His face <i>quenches</i> doubt, and + if he keeps on this way--Ah, Flora! <i>is</i> he anything to + you? Every time he speaks my heart sees you. I see you now! And + somehow--since Charlie's mishap--more yours than his if--"</p> + + <p>For a full minute the pen hovered over the waiting page, + then gradually left it and sank to rest on its silver rack.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XIV"></a> + + <h2>XIV</h2> + + <h3>FLORA TAPS GRANDMA'S CHEEK</h3>Meanwhile, from a cluster of + society folk sipping ices at "Vincent's" balcony tables, corner + of Carondelet Street (where men made the most money), and Canal + (where women spent the most), Flora and her grandmother, in + Irby's care, made their way down to the street. + + <p>Kincaid, once more on horseback with General Brodnax, saw + them emerge beside his cousin's hired carriage, and would have + hurried to them, if only to inquire after the injured boy; but + the General gave what he was saying a detaining energy. It was + of erecting certain defences behind Mobile; of the scarcity of + military engineers; and of his having, to higher authority, + named Hilary for the task. The Captain could easily leave the + battery in camp for a day or two, take the Mobile boat--He + ceased an instant and scowled, as Hilary bowed across the + way.</p> + + <p>There was a tender raillery in the beam with which Flora + held the young man's eye a second, and as she turned away there + was accusation in the faint toss and flicker of the deep lace + that curtained her hat. Both her companions saw it, but Irby + she filled with an instant inebriation by one look, the kindest + she had ever given him.</p> + + <p>"Both barrels!" said the old lady to herself.</p> + + <p>As Irby reached the carriage door Flora's touch arrested + him. It was as light as a leaf, but it thrilled him like + wine--whose thrill he well knew.</p> + + <p>"I've lost one of my gloves," she said.</p> + + <p>He looked about her feet.</p> + + <p>"You mus' have drop' it on the stair," said grandmamma, + discerning the stratagem, and glad to aid it.</p> + + <p>Problem in tactics: To hunt the glove all the way up to the + balcony and return before Hilary, if he was coming, could reach + Flora's side. Irby set his teeth--he loathed problems--and + sprang up the steps.</p> + + <p>"No use," chanted Madame with enjoyment; "the other one is + not coming."</p> + + <p>But Flora remained benign while the old lady drew a little + mocking sigh. "Ah," said the latter, "if the General would only + stop changing his mind about his two nephews, what a lot of + hard work that would save you!"</p> + + <p>"It isn't hard!" cried Flora; so radiantly that passing + strangers brightened back, "I love it!"</p> + + <p>"It!" mocked the grandmother as the girl passed her into the + carriage. "It!"</p> + + <p>"You poor tired old thing!" sighed the compassionate beauty. + "Never mind, dear; how the General may choose no longer gives + me any anxiety."</p> + + <p>"Oh, you lie!"</p> + + <p>"No," softly laughed the girl, "not exactly. Don't collapse, + love, you'll get your share of the loot yet. My choice shall + fit the General's as this glove (drawing on the one Irby was + still away in search of) fits this hand."</p> + + <p>Madame smiled her contempt: "Nevertheless you will risk all + just to show Anna--"</p> + + <p>Flora made a gesture of delight but harkened on--</p> + + <p>"That she cannot have her Captain till--"</p> + + <p>"Till I'm sure I don't want him!" sang the girl.</p> + + <p>"Which will never be!" came the quiet response.</p> + + <p>The maiden flushed: "On the contrary, my dear, I was just + going to say, you will please begin <i>at once</i> to be more + civil to <i>our</i> Captain--Irby."</p> + + <p>Madame gazed: "My God!"</p> + + <p>"Ho!" said Flora, "I'd rather somebody else's." She cheerily + smoothed the bonnet-bows under the old lady's chin: "Now, + <i>chère</i>, you know the assets are all you care + for--even if with them you have to take a nincompoop for a + grandson."</p> + + <p>She was laughing merrily when Irby reappeared in the crowd, + motioning that he had found nothing. Her gloved hands raised in + fond apology, and Hilary's absence, appeased him, and he + entered the vehicle.</p> + + <p>So to Jackson Square, where it was good-by to Irby and the + carriage, and Age and Beauty climbed their staircase together. + "To-morrow's Saturday," gayly sighed the girl. "I've a good + mind to lie abed till noon, counting up the week's + successes."</p> + + <p>"Especially to-day's," smirked weary Age.</p> + + <p>"Ho-o-oh!" laughed the maiden, "you and to-day be--" The + rest was whispered close, with a one-fingered tap on the + painted cheek. In the gloom of the upper landing she paused to + murmur, "hear this: Two things I have achieved this week worth + all to-day's bad luck ten times over--you don't believe + me?"</p> + + <p>"No, you pretty creature; you would have told me sooner, if + only for vanity."</p> + + <p>"I swear to you it is true!" whispered the lithe boaster, + with a gleeful quiver from head to foot. "Listen! + First--purely, of course, for love of Anna--I have conspired + with the General to marry her to Kincaid. And, second, also + purely for love of her, I have conspired with Irby to keep her + and Kincaid forever and a day apart!"</p> + + <p>She tapped both the aged cheeks at once: "I hate to share + anything so delicious with you, but I must, because--"</p> + + <p>"Ah-h! because, as usual--"</p> + + <p>"Yes! Yes, you sweet old pelican! Because you are to turn + the crank! But it's all for love of Anna. Ah, there's no + inspiration like exasperation!"</p> + + <p>"Except destitution!" said the grandmother.</p> + + <p>They came before Charlie with arms about each other and + openly enjoyed his only comment--a scornful rounding of his + eyes.</p> + + <p>In the Callender house, as the stair clock sounded the + smallest hour of the night, Miranda, seeing the chink under + Anna's door to be still luminous, stole to the spot, gently + rapped, and winning no response warily let herself in.</p> + + <p>From the diary on her desk Anna lifted her cheek, looked up, + reclosed her lids, smiled and reopened them. Miranda took the + blushing face between her palms, and with quizzing eyes--and + nose--inquired:</p> + + <p>"Is there any reason under heaven why Anna Callender + shouldn't go to bed and have glad dreams?"</p> + + <p>"None that I know of," said Anna.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XV"></a> + + <h2>XV</h2> + + <h3>THE LONG MONTH OF MARCH</h3><span style= + "margin-left: 1em;">Ole mahs' love' wine, ole mis' love' + silk,</span> <br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">De piggies, dey loves + buttehmilk,</span> <br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">An' eveh sence dis worl' + began,</span> <br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">De ladies loves de ladies' + man.</span> <br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I loves to sing a song to de + ladies!</span> <br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I loves to dance along o' de + ladies!</span> <br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Whilse eveh I can breave aw see + aw stan'</span> <br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">I's bound to be a ladies' + man.</span> + + <p>So sang Captain Hilary Kincaid at the Mandeville-Callender + wedding feast, where his uncle Brodnax, with nearly everyone we + know, was present. Hilary had just been second groomsman, with + Flora for his "file leader," as he said, meaning second + bridesmaid. He sat next her at table, with Anna farthest + away.</p> + + <p>Hardly fortunate was some one who, conversing with the new + Miss Callender, said the charm of Kincaid's singing was that + the song came from "the entire man." She replied that just now + it really seemed so! In a sense both comments were true, and + yet never in the singer's life had so much of "the entire man" + refused to sing. All that night of the illumination he had not + closed his eyes, except in anguish for having tried to make + love on the same day when--and to the same Anna Callender + before whom--he had drawn upon himself the roaring laugh of the + crowded street; or in a sort of remorse for letting himself + become the rival of a banished friend who, though warned that a + whole platoon of him would make no difference, suddenly seemed + to plead a prohibitory difference to one's inmost sense of + honor.</p> + + <p>At dawn he had risen resolved to make good his boast and + "fight like a whale." Under orders of his own seeking he had + left the battery the moment its tents were up and had taken + boat for Mobile. Whence he had returned only just in time to + stand beside Flora Valcour, preceded by a relative of the + bridegroom paired with Anna.</p> + + <p>Yet here at the feast none was merrier than Kincaid, who, + charmingly egged on by Flora, kept those about him in gales of + mirth, and even let himself be "cajoled" (to use his own term) + into singing this song whose title had become his nickname. + Through it all Anna smiled and laughed with the rest and + clapped for each begged-for stanza. Yet all the time she said + in her heart, "He is singing it at me!"</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">De squir'l he love' de + hick'ry tree,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">De clover love' de + bummle-bee,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">De flies, dey loves mullasses, + an'--</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">De ladies loves de ladies' + man.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I loves to be de beau o' de + ladies!</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I loves to shake a toe wid de + ladies!</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Whilse eveh I'm alive, on wateh + aw Ian',</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">I's bound to be a ladies' + man.</span></p> + + <p>The General, seeing no reason why Hilary should not pay Anna + at least the attentions he very properly paid his "file + leader," endured the song with a smile, but took revenge when + he toasted the bride:</p> + + <p>"In your prayers to-night, my dear Constance, just thank God + your husband is, at any rate, without the sense of humor--Stop, + my friends! Let me finish!"</p> + + <p>A storm of laughter was falling upon Mandeville, but the + stubborn General succeeded after all in diverting it to Hilary, + to whom in solemn mirth he pointed as--"<i>that</i> flirtatious + devotee of giddiness, without a fault big enough to make him + interesting!" ["Hoh!"--"Hoh!"--from men and maidens who could + easily have named huge ones.] Silent Anna knew at least two or + three; was it not a fault a hundred times too grave to be + uninteresting, for a big artillerist to take a little + frightened lassie as cruelly at her word as he was doing right + here and now?</p> + + <p>Interesting to her it was that his levity still remained + unsubmerged, failing him only in a final instant: Their hands + had clasped in leave-taking and her eyes were lifted to his, + when some plea with which "the entire man" seemed overcharged + to the very lips was suddenly, subtly, and not this time by + disconcertion, but by self-mastery, withheld. Irby put in a + stiff good-by, and as he withdrew, Hilary echoed only the same + threadbare word more brightly, and was gone; saying to himself + as he looked back from the garden's outmost bound:</p> + + <p>"She's <i>cold;</i> that's what's the matter with Anna; cold + and cruel!"</p> + + <p>Tedious was the month of March. Mandeville devise' himself a + splandid joke on that, to the effect that soon enough there + would be months of tedieuse marches--ha, ha, ha!--and + contribute' it to the news-pape'. Yet the tedium persisted. + Always something about to occur, nothing ever occurring. + Another vast parade, it is true, some two days after the + marriage, to welcome from Texas that aged general (friend of + the Callenders) who after long suspense to both sides had at + last joined the South, and was to take command at New Orleans. + Also, consequent upon the bursting of a gun that day in + Kincaid's Battery, the funeral procession of poor, handsome, + devil-may-care Felix de Gruy; saxhorns moaning and wailing, + drums muttering from their muffled heads, Anna's ensign furled + in black, captain and lieutenants on foot, brows inclined, + sabres reversed, and the "Stars and Bars," new flag of the + Confederacy, draping the slow caisson that bore him past the + Callenders' gates in majesty so strange for the gay boy.</p> + + <p>Such happenings, of course; but nothing that ever brought + those things for which one, wakening in the night, lay and + prayed while forced by the songster's rapture to "listen to the + mocking-bird."</p> + + <p>While the Judge lived the Callenders had been used to the + company of men by the weight of whose energies and counsel the + clock of public affairs ran and kept time; senators, bishops, + bank presidents, great lawyers, leading physicians; a Dr. + Sevier, for one. Some of these still enjoyed their hospitality, + and of late in the old house life had recovered much of its + high charm and breadth of outlook. Yet March was tedious.</p> + + <p>For in March nearly all notables felt bound to be up at + Montgomery helping to rock the Confederacy's cradle. Whence + came back sad stories of the incapacity, negligence, and + bickerings of misplaced men. It was "almost as bad as at + Washington." Friends still in the city were tremendously busy; + yet real business--Commerce--with scarce a moan of complaint, + lay heaving out her dying breath. Busy at everything but + business, these friends, with others daily arriving in command + of rustic volunteers, kept society tremendously gay, by + gas-light; and courage and fortitude and love of country and + trust in God and scorn of the foe went clad in rainbow colors; + but at the height of all manner of revels some pessimist was + sure to explain to Anna why the war must be long, of awful + cost, and with a just fighting chance to win.</p> + + <p>"Then why do we not turn about right here?"</p> + + <p>"Too late now."</p> + + <p>Such reply gave an inward start, it seemed so fitted to her + own irrevealable case. But it was made to many besides her, and + women came home from dinings or from operas and balls for the + aid of this or that new distress of military need, and went up + into the dark and knelt in all their jewels and wept long. In + March the poor, everywhere, began to be out of work, and + recruiting to be lively among them too, because for thousands + of them it was soldier's pay or no bread. Among the troops from + the country death had begun to reap great harvests ere a gun + was fired, and in all the camps lovers nightly sang their + lugubrious "Lorena," feeling that "a hundred months had passed" + before they had really dragged through one. March was so + tedious, and lovers are such poor arithmeticians. Wherever + Hilary Kincaid went, showing these how to cast cannon (that + would not burst), those where to build fortifications, and some + how to make unsickly camps, that song was begged of him in the + last hour before sleep; last song but one, the very last being + always--that least liked by Anna.</p> + + <p>Tedious to Kincaid's Battery were his absences on so many + errands. Behind a big earthwork of their own construction down + on the river's edge of the old battle ground, close beyond the + Callenders', they lay camped in pretty white tents that seemed + to Anna, at her window, no bigger than visiting-cards. Rarely + did she look that way but the fellows were drilling, their + brass pieces and their officers' drawn sabres glinting back the + sun, horses and men as furiously diligent as big and little + ants, and sometimes, of an afternoon, their red and yellow silk + and satin standard unfurled--theirs and hers. Of evenings small + bunches of the boys would call to chat and be sung to; to + threaten to desert if not soon sent to the front; and to blame + all delays on colonels and brigadiers "known" by them to be + officially jealous of--They gave only the tedious nickname.</p> + + <p>"Why belittle him with that?" queried Miranda, winning + Anna's silent gratitude.</p> + + <p>"It doesn't belittle <i>him</i>," cried Charlie. "That's the + joke. It makes <i>him</i> loom larger!"</p> + + <p>Others had other explanations: Their guns were "ladies' + guns!" Were the guns the foremost cause? Some qualified: + "Foremost, yes; fundamental, no." Rather the fact that never + was a woman cited in male gossip but instantly he was her + champion; or that no woman ever brought a grievance to any camp + where he might be but she wanted to appeal it to him.</p> + + <p>Anna "thought the name was all from the song."</p> + + <p>"Oh, fully as much from his hundred and one other songs! Had + he never sung to her--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"'I'd offer thee this hand of + mine--'?"</span></p> + + <p>Frankly, it was agreed, he did most laughably love ladies' + company; that he could always find it, as a horse can find + water; that although no evening in their society could be so + gay or so long that he would not be certain to work harder next + day than any one else, no day could be so cruelly toilsome that + he could not spend half the next night dancing with the girls; + and lastly, that with perfect evenness and a boyish modesty he + treated them all alike.</p> + + <p>Anna laughed with the rest, but remembered three separate + balls to which, though counted on, he had not come, she + uninformed that military exigencies had at the last moment + curtly waved him off, and he unaware that these exigencies had + been created by Irby under inspiration from the daintiest and + least self-assertive tactician in or about New Orleans.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XVI"></a> + + <h2>XVI</h2> + + <h3>CONSTANCE TRIES TO HELP</h3>One day, in Canal Street, + Kincaid met "Smellemout and Ketchem." It was pleasant to talk + with men of such tranquil speech. He proposed a glass of wine, + but just then they were "strictly temperance." They alluded + familiarly to his and Greenleaf's midnight adventure. The two + bull-drivers, they said, were still unapprehended. + + <p>Dropping to trifles they mentioned a knife, a rather + glittering gewgaw, which, as evidence, ought--</p> + + <p>"Oh, that one!" said Hilary. "Yes, I have it, mud, glass + jewels and all. No," he laughed, "I can keep it quite as safely + as you can."</p> + + <p>So they passed to a larger matter. "For, really, as to Gibbs + and Lafontaine--"</p> + + <p>"You can't have them either," interrupted their Captain, + setting the words to a tune. Then only less melodiously--"No, + sir-ee! Why, gentlemen, they weren't trying to kill the poor + devil, he was trying to kill them, tell your Committee of + Public Safety. And tell them times are changed. You can + <i>take</i> Sam and Maxime, of course, <i>if</i> you can take + the whole battery; we're not doing a retail business. By the + by--did you know?--'twas Sam's gun broke the city's record, + last week, for rapid firing! Funny, isn't it!--Excuse me, I + must speak to those ladies."</p> + + <p>The ladies, never prettier, were Mrs. Callender and + Constance. They were just reentering, from a shop, their open + carriage. In amiable reproach they called him a stranger, yet + with bewitching resignation accepted and helped out his lame + explanations.</p> + + <p>"You look--" began Constance--but "careworn" was a risky + term and she stopped. He suggested "weather-beaten," and the + ladies laughed.</p> + + <p>"Yes," they said, "even they were overtasked with patriotic + activities, and Anna had almost made herself ill. Nevertheless + if he would call he should see her too. Oh, no, not to-day; no, + not to-morrow; but--well-- the day after." (Miss Valcour passed + so close as to hear the appointment, but her greeting smile + failed to draw their attention.) "And oh, then you must tell us + all about that fearful adventure in which you saved Lieutenant + Greenleaf's life! Ah, we've heard, just heard, <i>in a + letter</i>." The horses danced with impatience. "We shall + expect you!"</p> + + <p>As they drove into Royal Street with Constance rapturously + pressing Miranda's hand the latter tried vainly to exchange + bows with a third beauty and a second captain, but these were + busy meeting each other in bright surprise and espied the + carriage only when it had passed.</p> + + <p>Might the two not walk together a step or so? With pleasure. + They were Flora and Irby. Presently--</p> + + <p>"Do you know," she asked, "where your cousin proposes to be + day after to-morrow evening--in case you should want to + communicate with him?"</p> + + <p>He did not. She told him.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XVII"></a> + + <h2>XVII</h2> + + <h3>"OH, CONNIE, DEAR--NOTHING--GO ON"</h3>The third evening + came. On all the borders of dear Dixie more tents than ever + whitened sea-shores and mountain valleys, more sentinels paced + to and fro in starlight or rain, more fifers and trumpeters + woke the echoes with strains to enliven fortitude, more great + guns frowned silently at each other over more parapets, and + more thousands of lovers reclined about camp fires with their + hearts and fancies at home, where mothers and maidens prayed in + every waking moment for God's mercy to keep the brave truants; + and with remembrance of these things Anna strove to belittle + her own distress while about the library lamp she and Miranda + seemed each to be reading a book, and Constance the newspaper + sent from Charleston by Mandeville. + + <p>Out in the mellow night a bird sang from the tip-top of a + late-blooming orange tree, and inside, away inside, inside and + through and through the poor girl's heart, the "years"--which + really were nothing but the mantel clock's + quarter-hours--"crept slowly by."</p> + + <p>At length she laid her book aside, softly kissed each seated + companion, and ascended to her room and window. There she stood + long without sound or motion, her eyes beyond the stars, her + head pressed wearily against the window frame. Then the lids + closed while her lips formed soft words:</p> + + <p>"Oh, God, he is not coming!" Stillness again. And then--"Oh, + let me believe yet that only Thy hand keeps him away! Is it to + save him for some one fairer and better? God, I ask but to + know! I'm a rebel, but not against Thee, dear Lord. I know it's + a sin for me to suffer this way; Thou dost not <i>owe</i> me + happiness; I owe it Thee. Oh, God, am I clamoring for my week's + wages before I've earned an hour's pay? Yet oh! yet oh!"--the + head rocked heavily on its support--"if only--if only--"</p> + + <p>She started--listened! A gate opened--shut. She sprang to + her glass and then from it. In soft haste she needlessly closed + the window and drew its shade and curtains. She bathed her + eyelids and delicately dried them. At the mirror again she laid + deft touches on brow and crown, harkening between for any + messenger's step, and presently, without reason, began to set + the room more exquisitely to rights. Now she faced the door and + stood attentive, and now she took up a small volume and sat + down by her lamp.</p> + + <p>A tap: Constance entered, beaming only too tenderly. "It was + better, wasn't it," she asked, hovering, "to come than to + send?"</p> + + <p>"Why, of course, dear; it always is."</p> + + <p>A meditative silence followed. Then Anna languidly inquired, + "Who is it?"</p> + + <p>"Nobody but Charlie."</p> + + <p>The inquirer brightened: "And why isn't Charlie as good as + any one?"</p> + + <p>"He is, to-night," replied the elder beauty, "except--the + one exception."</p> + + <p>"Oh, Connie"--a slight flush came as the seated girl + smilingly drew her sister's hands down to her bosom--"there + isn't any one exception, and there's not going to be any. Now, + that smile is downright mean of you!"</p> + + <p>The offender atoned with a kiss on the brow.</p> + + <p>"Why do you say," asked its recipient, "'as good as any one, + <i>to-night</i>'?"</p> + + <p>"Because," was the soft reply, "to-night he comes from--the + other--to explain why the other couldn't come."</p> + + <p>"Why!"--the flush came back stronger--"why, Connie! why, + that's positively silly--ha, ha, ha!"</p> + + <p>"I don't see how, Nan."</p> + + <p>"My dear Con! Isn't his absence equally and perfectly + innocent whether he couldn't come or wouldn't come? But an + explanation sent!--by courier!--to--to shorten--ah, ha, ha!--to + shorten our agony! Why, Con, wouldn't you have thought better + of him than that? H-oh, me! What a man's 'bound to be' I + suppose he's bound to be. What is the precious + explanation?"</p> + + <p>With melting eyes Constance shook her head. "You don't + deserve to hear it," she replied. Her tears came: "My little + sister, I'm on the man's side in this affair!"</p> + + <p>"That's not good of you," murmured Anna.</p> + + <p>"I don't claim to be good. But there's one thing, Nan + Callender, I never did; I never chained up my lover to see if + he'd stay chained. When Steve--"</p> + + <p>"Oh-h! Oh-h!" panted Anna, "you're too cruel! Hilary Kincaid + wears no chain of mine!"</p> + + <p>"Oh, yes, he does! He's broken away, but he's broken away, + chain and all, to starve and perish, as one look into his face + would show you!"</p> + + <p>"He doesn't show his face. He sends--"</p> + + <p>"An explanation. Yes. Which first you scorn and then consent + to hear."</p> + + <p>"Don't scorn <i>me</i>, Connie. What's the explanation?"</p> + + <p>"It's this: he's been sent back to those Mobile + fortifications--received the order barely in time to catch the + boat by going instantly. Nan, the Valcours' house is found to + stand right on their proposed line, and he's gone to decide + whether the line may be changed or the house must be + demolished."</p> + + <p>Anna rose, twined an arm in her sister's and with her paced + the chamber. "How perfectly terrible!" she murmured, their + steps ceasing and her eyes remote in meditation. "Poor Flora! + Oh, the poor old lady! And oh, oh, poor Flora!--But, Con! The + line will be changed! He--you know what the boys call him!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, but there's the trouble. He's no one lady's man. Like + Steve, he's so absolutely fair--"</p> + + <p>"Connie, I tell you it's a strange line he won't change for + Flora Valcour!"</p> + + <p>"Now, Nan Callender! The line will go where it ought to go. + By the by, Charlie says neither Flora nor her grandmother knows + the house is in danger. Of course, if it is harmed, the harm + will be paid for."</p> + + <p>"Oh, paid for!"</p> + + <p>"Why, Nan, I'm as sorry for them as you. But <i>I</i> don't + forget to be sorry for Hilary Kincaid too."</p> + + <p>"Connie"--walk resumed, speaker's eyes on the floor--"if + you'd only see that to me he's merely very + interesting--entertaining--nothing more whatever--I'd like to + say just a word about him."</p> + + <p>"Say on, precious."</p> + + <p>"Well--did you ever see a man so fond of men?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, of course he is, or men wouldn't be so fond of + him."</p> + + <p>"<i>I</i> think he's fonder of men than of women!"</p> + + <p>Constance smiled: "Do you?"</p> + + <p>"And I think," persisted Anna, "the reason some women find + him so agreeable is that our collective society is all he asks + of us, or ever will ask."</p> + + <p>"Nan Callender, look me in the eye! You can't! My little + sister, you've got a lot more sense than I have, and you know + it, but I can tell you one thing. When Steve and I--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, Connie, dear--nothing--go on."</p> + + <p>"I won't! Except to say some lovers take love easy and + some--can't. I must go back to Charlie. I know, Nan, it's those + who love hardest that take love hardest, and I suppose it's + born in Hilary Kincaid, and it's born in you, to fight it as + you'd fight fire. But, oh, in these strange times, don't do it! + Don't do it. You're going to have trouble a-plenty + without."</p> + + <p>The pair, moving to the door with hands on each other's + shoulders, exchanged a melting gaze. "Trouble a-plenty," softly + asked Anna, "why do you--?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, why, why, why!" cried the other, with a sudden gleam of + tears. "I wish you and Miranda had never learned that + word."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XVIII"></a> + + <h2>XVIII</h2> + + <h3>FLORA TELLS THE TRUTH!</h3>You ask how the Valcour ladies, + living outwardly so like the most of us who are neither scamps + nor saints, could live by moral standards so different from + those we have always thought essential to serenity of brow, + sweetness of bloom or blitheness of companionship, and yet + could live so prettily--remain so winsome and unscarred. + + <p>Well, neither of them had ever morally <i>fallen</i> enough + even to fret the brow. It is the fall that disfigures. They had + lived up to inherited principles (such as they were), and one + of the minor of these was, to adapt their contours to whatever + they impinged upon.</p> + + <p>We covet solidity of character, but Flora and Madame were + essentially fluid. They never let themselves clash with any + one, and their private rufflings of each other had only a happy + effect of aerating their depths, and left them as mirror-smooth + and thoroughly one as the bosom of a garden lake after the + ripples have died behind two jostling swans. To the Callenders + society was a delightful and sufficient end. To the Valcours it + was a means to all kinds of ends, as truly as commerce or the + industries, and yet they were so fragrantly likable that to + call them accomplices seems outrageous--clogs the pen. Yes, + they were actors, but you never saw that. They never stepped + out of their parts, and they had this virtue, if it is one: + that behind all their rôles they were staunchly for each + other in every pinch. When Kincaid had been away a few days + this second time, these two called at the Callender house.</p> + + <p>To none was this house more interesting than to Flora. In + her adroit mind she accused it of harboring ancient secrets in + its architecture, shrewd hiding-places in its walls. Now as she + stood in the panelled drawing-rooms awaiting its inmates, she + pointed out to her seated companion that this was what her + long-dead grandsire might have made their own home, behind + Mobile, had he spent half on its walls what he had spent in + them on wine, cards, and--</p> + + <p>"Ah!" chanted the old lady, with a fierce glint and a + mock-persuasive smile, "add the crowning word, the capsheaf. + You have the stamina to do it."</p> + + <p>"Women," said the girl of stamina beamingly, and went + floating about, peering and tapping for hollow places. At one + tap her eye, all to itself, danced; but on the instant Anna, + uninformed of their presence, and entering with a vase of fresh + roses, stood elated. Praise of the flowers hid all confusion, + and Flora, with laughing caresses and a droll hardihood which + Anna always enjoyed, declared she would gladly steal roses, + garden, house and all. Anna withdrew, promising instant + return.</p> + + <p>"Flora dear!" queried the grandmother in French, "why did + you tell her the truth? For once you must have been + disconcerted!"</p> + + <p>The sparkling girl laughed: "Why, isn't that--with due + modifications--just what we're here for?"</p> + + <p>Madame suddenly looked older, but quickly brightened again + as Flora spoke on: "Don't you believe the truth is, now and + then, the most effective lie? I've sometimes inferred you + did."</p> + + <p>The old lady rather enjoyed the gibe: "My dear, I can trust + you never to give any one an overdose of it. Yet take care, you + gave it a bit too pure just now. Don't ever risk it so on that + fool Constance, she has the intuitive insight of a small + child--the kind you lost so early."</p> + + <p>The two exchanged a brief admiring glance. "Oh, I'm all + right with Constance," was the reply. "I'm cousin to + 'Steve'!"</p> + + <p>There the girl's gayety waned. The pair were at this moment + in desperate need of money. Mandeville was one of the old + coffee-planter's descendants. Had fate been less vile, thought + Flora, this house might have been his, and so hers in the happy + event of his demise. But now, in such case, to Constance, as + his widow, would be left even the leavings, the overseer's + cottage; which was one more convenient reason for + detesting--not him, nor Constance--that would be to waste good + ammunition; but--</p> + + <p>"Still thinking of dear Anna?" asked the dame.</p> + + <p>The maiden nodded: "Grandma"--a meditative pause--"I love + Anna. Anna's the only being on earth I can perfectly + trust."</p> + + <p>"Ahem!" was the soft rejoinder, and the two smilingly held + each other's gaze for the larger part of a minute. Then one by + one came in the ladies of the house, and it was kiss and + chirrup and kiss again.</p> + + <p>"<i>Cousin</i> Constance--ah, ha, ha!--<i>cousin</i> + Flora!"</p> + + <p>The five talked of the wedding. Just to think! 'Twas barely + a month ago, they said.</p> + + <p>Yet how much had occurred, pursued Miranda, and how many + things hoped and longed for had not occurred, and how time had + dragged! At those words Flora saw Anna's glance steal over to + Miranda. But Miranda did not observe, and the five chatted on. + How terrifying, at still noon of the last Sabbath--everybody in + church--had been that explosion of the powder-mill across the + river. The whole business blown to dust. Nothing but the bare + ground left. Happily no workmen there. No, not even a watchman, + though the city was well known to be full of the enemy's + "minions" (Flora's term). Amazing negligence, all agreed. Yet + only of a piece--said Constance--etc.</p> + + <p>And how sad to find there was a victim, after all, when + poor, threadbare old Doctor Visionary, inventor of the + machine-gun and a new kind of powder, began to be missed by his + landlady, there being, in Captain Kincaid's absence, no one + else to miss him. Yes, it was the Captain who had got him a + corner to work in at the powder-mill. So much the worse for + both. Now plans, models, formulae, and inventor were gone in + that one flash and roar that shook the whole city and stopped + all talk of Captain Kincaid's promotion as an earthquake stops + a clock.</p> + + <p>"Well," cried Constance to Flora, who had grown silent, "the + battery will love him all the more!"</p> + + <p>"And so will we all!" said Madame, also to Flora; and Flora, + throwing off a look of pain, explained to Anna, "He is so good + to my brother!"</p> + + <p>"Naturally," quizzed Miranda, with her merriest wrinkles. + Flora sparkled, made a pretty face at her and forced a change + of theme; gave Anna's roses new praise, and said she had been + telling grandma of the swarms of them in the rear garden. So + the old lady, whom she had told no such thing, let Constance + and Miranda conduct her there. But Flora softly detained Anna, + and the moment they were alone seized both her hands. Whereat + through all Anna's frame ran despair, crying, "He has asked + her! He has asked her!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XIX"></a> + + <h2>XIX</h2> + + <h3>FLORA ROMANCES</h3>"Dearest," warily exclaimed the Creole + beauty, with a sudden excess of her pretty accent, "I am in a + situation perfectly dreadful!" + + <p>Anna drew her to a sofa, seeing pictures of her and Hilary + together, and tortured with a belief in their exquisite fitness + to be so. "Can I help you, dear?" she asked, though the + question echoed mockingly within her.</p> + + <p>"Ah, no, except with advice," said Flora, "only with + advice!"</p> + + <p>"Ho-o-oh! if I were worthy to advise you it wouldn't flatter + me so to be asked."</p> + + <p>"But I muz' ask. 'Tis only with you that I know my secret + will be--to everybody--and forever--at the bed of the ocean. + You can anyhow promise me that."</p> + + <p>"Yes, I can anyhow promise you that."</p> + + <p>"Then," said Flora, "let me speak whiles--" She dropped her + face into her hands, lifted it again and stared into her + listener's eyes so piteously that through Anna ran another + cry--"He has not asked! No girl alive could look so if he had + asked her!"</p> + + <p>Flora seemed to nerve herself: "Anna, every dollar we had, + every picayune we could raise, grandma and I, even on our + Mobile house and our few best jewels, is--is--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, what--what? Not lost? Not--not stolen?"</p> + + <p>"Blown up! Blown up with that poor old man in the + powder-mill!"</p> + + <p>"Flora, Flora!" was all Anna, in the shame of her rebuked + conjectures, could cry, and all she might have cried had she + known the very truth: That every dollar, picayune, and other + resource had disappeared <i>gradually</i> in the grist-mill of + daily need and indulgence, and never one of them been near the + powder-mill, the poor old man or any of his devices.</p> + + <p>"His theories were so convincing," sighed Flora.</p> + + <p>"And you felt so pitiful for him," prompted Anna.</p> + + <p>"Grandma did; and I was so ambitious to do some great + patriotic service--like yours, you Callenders, in giving those + cannon--and--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, but you went too far!"</p> + + <p>"Ah, if we had only gone no farther!"</p> + + <p>"You went farther? How could you?"</p> + + <p>"Grandma did. You know, dear, how suddenly Captain Kincaid + had to leave for Mobile--by night?"</p> + + <p>"Yes," murmured Anna, with great emphasis in her private + mind.</p> + + <p>"Well, jus' at the las' he gave Charlie a small bag of gold, + hundreds of dollars, for--for--<i>me to keep for him till his + return</i>. Anna! I was offended."</p> + + <p>"Oh, but surely he meant no--"</p> + + <p>"Ah, my dear, did I ever give him the very least right to + pick me out in that manner? No. Except in that one pretty way + he has with all of us--and which you know so well--"</p> + + <p>An uncourageous faint smile seemed the safest response.</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Flora, "you know it. And I had never allowed + myself--"</p> + + <p>With eyes down the two girls sat silent. Then the further + word came absently, "I refused to touch his money," and there + was another stillness.</p> + + <p>"Dear," slowly said Anna, "I don't believe it was his. It + would not have been in gold. Some men of the battery were here + last evening--You know the Abolition schoolmistress who was + sent North that day?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, I know, 'twas hers."</p> + + <p>"Well, dear, if she could entrust it to him--"</p> + + <p>"Ah! <i>she</i> had a sort of right, being, as the whole + battery knows, in love with him"--the beauty swept a finger + across her perfect brows--"up to there! For that I don't know + is he to blame. If a girl has no more sense--"</p> + + <p>"No," murmured Anna as the cruel shaft went through her. + "What did Charlie do with the money?"</p> + + <p>Flora tossed a despairing hand: "Gave it to grandma! And + poor innocent grandma lent it to the old gentleman! 'Twas to do + wonders for the powder and gun, and be return' in three days. + But the next--"</p> + + <p>"I see," sighed Anna, "I see!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, next day 'twas Sunday, and whiles I was <i>kneeling in + the church</i> the powder, the gun, the old man and the + money--Oh, Anna, what shall I do?"</p> + + <p>"My dear, I will tell you," began Anna, but the seeker of + advice was not quite ready for it.</p> + + <p>"We have a few paltry things, of course," she spoke on, "but + barely would they pay half. They would neither save our honor, + neither leave us anything for rent or bread! Our house, to be + sure, is worth more than we have borrowed on it, but in the + meantime--"</p> + + <p>"In the meantime, dear, you shall--" But still Flora + persisted:</p> + + <p>"Any day, any hour, Captain Kincaid may return. Oh, if + 'twere anybody in this worl' but him! For, Anna, I must take + all the blame--all!" The face went again into the hands.</p> + + <p>"My dear, you shall take none. You shall hand him every + dollar, every picayune, on sight."</p> + + <p>"Ah, how is that possible? Oh, no, no, no. Use your money? + Never, never, never!"</p> + + <p>"It isn't money, Flora. And no one shall ever know. I've got + some old family jewellery--"</p> + + <p>"Family--Oh, sweet, for shame!"</p> + + <p>"No shame whatever. There's a great lot of it--kinds that + will never be worn again. Let me--" The speaker rose.</p> + + <p>"No, no, no! No, Anna, no! For Heaven's sake--"</p> + + <p>"Just a piece or two," insisted Anna. "Barely enough to + borrow the amount." She backed away, Flora clinging to her + fingers and faltering: "No, blessed angel, you must not! No, I + will not wait. I'll--I'll--"</p> + + <p>But Anna kissed the clinging hands and vanished.</p> + + <p>A high elation bore her quite to her room and remained with + her until she had unlocked the mass of old jewels and knelt + before them. But then all at once it left her. She laid her + folded hands upon them, bent her brow to the hands, then lifted + brow and weeping eyes and whispered to Heaven for mercy.</p> + + <p>"Oh"--a name she could not speak even there went through her + heart in two big throbs--"if only we had never met! I never set + so much as a smile to snare you, you who have snared me. Can + Connie be right? Have you felt my thraldom, and are you trying + to throw me off? Then I must help you do it. Though I covet + your love more than life I will not tether it. Oh, it's because + I so covet that I will not tether it! With the last gem from my + own throat will I rather help you go free if you want to go. + God of mercy, what else can I do!"</p> + + <p>In grave exultancy Flora moved up and down the drawing-room + enjoying her tread on its rich carpet. She would have liked to + flit back to the side of yonder great chimney breast, the spot + where she had been surprised while sounding the panel work, but + this was no time for postponable risks. She halted to regale + her critical eye on the goodly needlework of a folding-screen + whose joints, she noticed, could not be peered through, and in + a pretty, bird-like way stole a glance behind it. Nothing + there. She stepped to a front window and stood toying with the + perfect round of her silken belt. How slimly neat it was. Yet + beneath the draperies it so trimly confined lay hid, in a few + notes of "city money," the proceeds of the gold she had just + reported blown into thin air with the old inventor--who had + never seen a glimmer of it. Not quite the full amount was + there; it had been sadly nibbled. But now by dear Anna's + goodness (ahem!) the shortage could be restored, the entire + hundreds handed back to Captain Kincaid, and a snug sum be + retained "for rent and bread." Yet after all--as long as good + stories came easy--why hand anything back--to anybody--even + to--him?</p> + + <p>He! In her heart desire and odium beat strangely together. + Fine as martial music he was, yet gallingly out of her rhythm, + above her key. Liked her much, too. Yes, for charms she had; + any fool could be liked that way. What she craved was to be + liked for charms she had not, graces she scorned; and because + she could not be sure how much of that sort she was winning she + tingled with heat against him--and against Anna--Anna giver of + guns--who <i>had the money</i> to give guns--till her bosom + rose and fell. But suddenly her musing ceased, her eyes + shone.</p> + + <p>A mounted officer galloped into the driveway, a private + soldier followed, and the private was her brother. Now they + came close. The leader dismounted, passed his rein to Charlie + and sprang up the veranda steps. Flora shrank softly from the + window and at the same moment Anna reëntered gayly, + showing a glitter of values twice all expectation:</p> + + <p>"If these are not enough--" She halted with lips apart. + Flora had made sign toward the front door, and now with a moan + of fond protest covered the gem-laden hand in both her palms + and pushed it from her.</p> + + <p>"Take them back," she whispered, yet held it fast, "'tis too + late! There--the door-bell! 'Tis Hilary Kincaid! All is too + late, take them back!"</p> + + <p>"Take them, you!" as vehemently whispered Anna. "You must + take them! You must, you shall!"</p> + + <p>Flora had half started to fly, but while she hung upon + Anna's words she let her palms slip under the bestowing hand + and the treasure slide into her own fingers.</p> + + <p>"Too late, too late! And oh, I can never, never use them + any'ow!" She sprang noiselessly aside. To a maid who came down + the hall Anna quietly motioned to show the newcomer into an + opposite room, but Flora saw that the sign was misinterpreted: + "She didn't understan'! Anna, she's going to bring him!" Before + the words were done the speaker's lithe form was gliding down + the room toward the door by which the other ladies had gone + out, but as she reached it she turned with a hand-toss as of + some despairing afterthought and flitted back.</p> + + <p>Out in the hall the front door opened and closed and a sabre + clinked: "Is Miss Callender at home?"</p> + + <p>Before the question was half put its unsuspected hearers had + recovered a faultless poise. Beside a table that bore her roses + she whom the inquirer sought stood retouching them and + reflecting a faint excess of their tint, while Flora, in a + grave joy of the theatrical, equal to her companion's distress + of it, floated from view behind the silken screen.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XX"></a> + + <h2>XX</h2> + + <h3>THE FIGHT FOR THE STANDARD</h3>His red képi in hand + and with all the stalwart briskness of the flag-presentation's + day and hour Hilary Kincaid stepped into the room and halted, + as large-eyed as on that earlier occasion, and even more + startled, before the small figure of Anna. + + <p>Yet not the very same Hilary Kincaid. So said her heart the + instant glance met glance. The tarnish of hard use was on all + his trappings; like sea-marshes on fire he was reddened and + browned; about him hung palpably the sunshine and air of sands + and waves, and all the stress and swing of wide designs; and on + brow and cheek were new lines that looked old. From every point + of his aspect the truth rushed home to her livelier, deadlier + than ever hitherto, that there was War, and that he and she + were already parts of it.</p> + + <p>But the change was more than this. A second and quieter + look, the hand-grasp lingering, showed something deeper; + something that wove and tangled itself through and about all + designs, toils, and vigils, and suddenly looking out of his + eyes like a starved captive, cried, "you--you--" and prophesied + that, whether they would or not, this war was to be his and + hers together. A responding thrill must have run from her + fingers into his and belied the unaccountable restraint of her + welcome, for a joy shone from him which it took her ignoring + smile and her hand's withdrawal to quench.</p> + + <p>"Miss Anna--"</p> + + <p>They sat down. His earlier boyishness came again somewhat, + but only somewhat, as he dropped his elbows to his knees, + looking now into his cap and now into her face. A glance behind + her had assured Anna that there was no shadow on the screen, + behind which sat Flora on the carpet, at graceful ease + listening while she eagerly appraised the jewels in her hands + and lap.</p> + + <p>"Miss Anna," said the soldier again, "I've come--I've come + to tell you something. It's mighty hard to tell. It's harder + than I thought it would be. For, honestly, Miss Anna, you--from + the first time I ever saw you, you--you--Were you going to + speak?"</p> + + <p>Behind the screen Flora smiled malignly while Anna said, + "No, I--I was only--no, not at all; go on."</p> + + <p>"Yes, Miss Anna, from the first time I--"</p> + + <p>"When did you get back from Mobile?" asked Anna seeing he + must be headed off.</p> + + <p>"From Mobile? Just now, almost. You don't sup--"</p> + + <p>"Oh! I hope"--she must head him off again--"I hope you bring + good news?" There was risk in the question, but where was there + safety? At her back the concealed listener waited keenly for + the reply.</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Hilary, "news the very best and hardly an hour + old. Didn't you hear the battery cheering? That's what I've + come to tell you. Though it's hard to tell, for I--"</p> + + <p>"It's from Mobile, you say?"</p> + + <p>"No, I can tell you the Mobile news first, but it's bad. + Miss Flora's home--"</p> + + <p>Anna gave a start and with a hand half upthrown said + quietly, "Don't tell me. No, please, don't, I don't want to + hear it. I can't explain, but I--I--" Tears wet her lashes, and + her hands strove with each other. "I don't like bad news. You + should have taken it straight to Flora. Oh, I wish you'd do + that now, won't you--please?"</p> + + <p>Behind the screen the hidden one stiffened where she + crouched with fierce brow and fixed eyes.</p> + + <p>Kincaid spoke: "Would you have me pass you by with my good + news to go first to her with the bad?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, Captain Kincaid, yes, yes! Do it yet. Go, do it now. + And tell her the good news too!"</p> + + <p>"Tell her the good first and then stab her with the + bad?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, tell her the bad first. Do her that honor. She has + earned it. She'll bear the worst like the heroine she is--the + heroine and patriot. She's bearing it so now!"</p> + + <p>"What! she knows already?"</p> + + <p>In her hiding Flora's intent face faintly smiled a + malevolence that would have startled even the grandam who still + killed time out among the roses with her juniors.</p> + + <p>"Yes," replied Anna, "she knows already."</p> + + <p>"Knows! Miss Anna--that her home is in ashes?"</p> + + <p>Anna gave a wilder start: "Oh, no-o-oh! Oh, yes--oh, no--oh, + yes, yes! Oh, Captain Kincaid, how could you? Oh, monstrous, + monstrous!" She made all possible commotion to hide any sound + that might betray Flora, who had sprung to her feet, + panting.</p> + + <p>"But, but, Miss Anna!" protested Hilary. "Why, Miss + Anna--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, Captain Kincaid, how could you?"</p> + + <p>"Why, you don't for a moment imagine--?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, it's done, it's done! Go, tell her. Go at once, Captain + Kincaid. Please go at once, won't you?... Please!"</p> + + <p>He had risen amazed. Whence such sudden horror, in this fair + girl, of a thing known by her already before he came? And what + was this beside? Horror in the voice yet love beaming from the + eyes? He was torn with perplexity. "I'll go, of course," he + said as if in a dream. "Of course I'll go at once, but--why--if + Miss Flora already--?" Then suddenly he recovered himself in + the way Anna knew so well. "Miss Anna"--he gestured with his + cap, his eyes kindling with a strange mixture of worship and + drollery though his brow grew darker--"I'm gone now!"</p> + + <p>"In mercy, please go!"</p> + + <p>"I'm gone, Miss Anna, I'm truly gone. I always am when I'm + with you. Fred said it would be so. You scare the nonsense out + of me, and when that goes I go--the bubble bursts! Miss + Anna--oh, hear me--it's my last chance--I'll vanish in a + moment. The fellows tell me I always know just what to say to + any lady or to anything a lady says; but, on my soul, I don't + think I've ever once known what to say to you or to anything + you've ever said to me, and I don't know now, except that I + must and will tell you--"</p> + + <p>"That you did not order the torch set! Oh, say that!"</p> + + <p>"No one ordered it. It was a senseless mistake. Some private + soldiers who knew that my lines of survey passed through the + house--"</p> + + <p>"Ah-h! ah-h!"</p> + + <p>"Miss Anna, what would you have? Such is war! Many's the + Southern home must go down under the fire of--of Kincaid's + Battery, Miss Anna, before this war is over, else we might as + well bring you back your flag and guns. Shall we? We can't now, + they're ordered to the front. There! I've got it out! That's my + good news. Bad enough for mothers and sisters. Bad for the + sister of Charlie Valcour. Good for you. So good and bad in one + for me, and so hard to tell and say no more! Don't you know + why?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I've no right to know--and you've no right--oh, indeed, + you mustn't. It would be so unfair--to you. I can't tell you + why, but it--it would be!"</p> + + <p>"And it wouldn't be of--?"</p> + + <p>"Any use? No, no!"</p> + + <p>Torturing mystery! that with such words of doom she should + yet blush piteously, beam passionately.</p> + + <p>"Good-by, then. I go. But I go--under your flag, don't I? + Under your flag! captain of your guns!"</p> + + <p>"Ah--one word--wait! Oh, Captain Kincaid, right is right! + Not half those guns are mine. That flag is not mine."</p> + + <p>There was no quick reply. From her concealment Flora, + sinking noiselessly again to the carpet, harkened without + avail. The soldier--so newly and poignantly hurt that twice + when he took breath he failed to speak--gazed on the + disclaiming girl until for; very distress she broke the + silence: "I--you--every flag of our cause--wherever our brave + soldiers--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, but Kincaid's Battery!--and <i>that</i> flag, Anna + Callender! The flag you gave us! That sacred banner starts for + Virginia to-morrow--goes into the war, it and your guns, with + only this poor beggar and his boys to win it honor and glory. + Will you deny us--who had it from your hands--your leave to + call it yours? Oh, no, no! To me--to me you will not!"</p> + + <p>For reply there came a light in Anna's face that shone into + his heart and was meant so to shine, yet her dissent was + prompt: "I must. I must. Oh, Capt--Captain Kincaid, I love that + flag too well to let it go misnamed. It's the flag of all of us + who made it, us hundred girls--"</p> + + <p>"Hundred--yes, yes, true. But how? This very morning I + chanced upon your secret--through little Victorine--that every + stitch in all that flag's embroideries is yours."</p> + + <p>"Yet, Captain Kincaid, it is the flag of all those hundred + girls; and if to any one marching under it it is to be the flag + of any one of us singly, that one can only be--you know!"</p> + + <p>Majestically in her hiding-place the one implied lowered and + lifted her head in frigid scorn and awaited the commander's + answer.</p> + + <p>"True again," he said, "true. Let the flag of my hundred + boys be to all and each the flag of a hundred girls. Yet will + it be also the flag of his heart's one choice--sister, wife, or + sweetheart--to every man marching, fighting, or dying under + it--and more are going to die under it than are ever coming + back. To me, oh, to me, let it be yours. My tasks have spared + me no time to earn of you what would be dearer than life, and + all one with duty and honor. May I touch your hand? Oh, just to + say good-by. But if ever I return--no, have no fear, I'll not + say it now. Only--only--" he lifted the hand to his + lips--"good-by. God's smile be on you in all that is to + come."</p> + + <p>"Good-by," came her answering murmur.</p> + + <p>"And the flag?" he exclaimed. "The flag?" By the clink of + his sabre Flora knew he was backing away. "Tell me--me + alone--the word to perish with me if I perish--that to me as if + alone"--the clinking came nearer again--"to me and for me and + with your blessing"--again the sound drew away--"the flag--the + flag I must court death under--is yours."</p> + + <p>Silence. From out in the hall the lover sent back a last + beseeching look, but no sound reached the hiding of the tense + listener whose own heart's beating threatened to reveal her; no + sound to say that now Anna had distressfully shaken her head, + or that now her tears ran down, or that now in a mingled pain + and rapture of confession she nodded--nodded! and yet + imploringly waved him away.</p> + + <p>It was easy to hear the door open and close. Faintly on this + other hand the voices of the ladies returning from the garden + foreran them. The soldier's tread was on the outer stair. Now + theirs was in the rear veranda. With it tinkled their laughter. + Out yonder hoofs galloped.</p> + + <p>The hidden one stole forth. A book on a table was totally + engaging the eyes of her hostess and at the instant grandma + reëntered laden with roses. Now all five were in, and + Anna, pouring out words with every motion, and curiously eyed + by Constance, took the flowers to give them a handier form, + while Flora rallied her kinswoman on wasting their friends' + morning these busy times, and no one inquired, and no one told, + who had been here that now had vanished.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXI"></a> + + <h2>XXI</h2> + + <h3>CONSTANCE CROSS-EXAMINES</h3>It was like turning to the + light the several facets of one of those old-fashioned jewels + Flora was privately bearing away, to see the five beauties part + company: "Good-by, good-by," kiss, kiss--ah, the sad waste of + it!--kiss left, kiss right, "good-by." + + <p>As the Callenders came in again from the veranda, their + theme was Flora. "Yet who," asked Constance, "ever heard her + utter a moral sentiment?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, her beauty does that," rejoined the kindly Miranda. "As + Captain Kincaid said that evening he--"</p> + + <p>"Yes, I know. He said he would pass her into heaven on her + face, and I think it was a very strange thing for him to + say!"</p> + + <p>"Why?" daringly asked Miranda--and ran from the room.</p> + + <p>The hater of whys turned upon her sister: "Nan, what's the + matter?... Oh, now, yes, there is. What made you start when + Miranda mentioned--Yes, you did. You're excited, you know you + are. When we came in from the garden you and Flora were + both--"</p> + + <p>"Now, Connie--"</p> + + <p>"Pshaw, Nan, I know he's been here, it's in your face. Who + was with him; Charlie?"</p> + + <p>"Yes. They just dropped in to say good-by. The battery's + ordered to Virginia. Virginia hasn't seceded yet, but he feels + sure she will before they can get there, and so do I. Don't + you? If Kentucky and Maryland would only--"</p> + + <p>"Now, Nan, just hush. When does he go?"</p> + + <p>"To-morrow. But as to us"--the girl shrugged prettily while + caressing her roses--"he's gone now."</p> + + <p>"How did he talk?"</p> + + <p>"Oh--quite as usual." The head bent low into the flowers. + "In the one pretty way he has with all of us, you know."</p> + + <p>Constance would not speak until their eyes met again. Then + she asked, "Did Charlie and Flora give him any chance--to + express himself?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, Con, don't be foolish. He didn't want any. He as much + as said so!"</p> + + <p>"Ye-es," drawled the bride incredulously, "but--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, he really did not, Con. He talked of nothing but the + battery flag and how, because I'd presented it, they would + forever and ever and ever and ever--" She waved her hands + sarcastically.</p> + + <p>"Nan, behave. Come here." The pair took the sofa. "How did + he look and act when he first came in? Before you froze him + stiff?"</p> + + <p>"I didn't freeze him." The quiet, hurt denial was tremulous. + "Wood doesn't freeze." The mouth drooped satirically: "You know + well enough that the man who says his tasks have spared him no + time to--to--"</p> + + <p>"Nan, honest! Did <i>you</i> give him a fair chance--the + kind I gave Steve?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, Con! He had all the chance any man ever got, or will + get, from me."</p> + + <p>The sister sighed: "Nan Callender, you are the + <i>poorest</i> fisherman--"</p> + + <p>"I'm not! I'm none! And if I were one"--the disclaimant + glistened with mirth--"I couldn't be as poor a one as he is; + he's afraid of his own bait." She began to laugh but had to + force back her tears: "I didn't mean that! He's never had any + bait--for me, nor wanted any. Neither he nor I ever--Really, + Con, you are the only one who's made any mistake as to either + of us! You seem to think--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, dearie, I don't think at all, I just know. I know he's + furiously in love with you--Yes, furiously; but that he's + determined to be fair to Fred Greenleaf--"</p> + + <p>"Oh!"--a yet wickeder smile.</p> + + <p>"Yes, and that he feels poor. You know that if the + General--"</p> + + <p>The hearer lifted and dropped both arms: "Oh!--to be + continued!"</p> + + <p>"Well, I know, too, that he doesn't believe, anyhow, in + soldiers marrying. I've never told you, sweet, but--if I hadn't + cried so hard--Steve would have challenged Hilary Kincaid for + what he said on that subject the night we were married!"</p> + + <p>Anna straightened, flashed, and then dropped again as she + asked, "Is that all you know?"</p> + + <p>"No, I know what counts for more than all the rest; I know + you're a terror to him."</p> + + <p>Remotely in the terror's sad eyes glimmered a smile that was + more than half satisfaction. "You might as well call him a + coward," she murmured.</p> + + <p>"Not at all. <i>You</i> know you've been a terror to every + suitor you've ever had--except Fred Greenleaf; he's the only + one you couldn't keep frightened out of his wits. Now this time + I know it's only because you're--you're bothered! You don't + know how you're going to feel--"</p> + + <p>"Now, Con--"</p> + + <p>"And you <i>don't</i> want to mislead him, and you're just + bothered to death! It was the same way with me."</p> + + <p>"It wasn't!" silently said Anna's lips, her face averted. + Suddenly she turned and clutched her sister's hands: "Oh, Con, + while we talk trifles Flora's home lies in ashes!... Yes, he + told me so just now."</p> + + <p>"Didn't he tell her too?"</p> + + <p>"Why, no, Connie, he--he couldn't very well. It--it would + have been almost indelicate, wouldn't it? But he's gone now to + tell her."</p> + + <p>"He needn't," said Constance. "She knows it now. The moment + I came in here I saw, through all her lightness, she'd got some + heavy news. She must have overheard him, Nan."</p> + + <p>"Connie, I--I believe she did!"</p> + + <p>"Well, that's all right. What are you blushing for?"</p> + + <p>"Blushing! Every time I get a little warm--" The speaker + rose to go, but the sister kept her hand:</p> + + <p>"Keep fresh for this evening, honey. He'll be back."</p> + + <p>"No, he won't. He doesn't propose to if he could and he + couldn't if he did. To get the battery off to-morrow--"</p> + + <p>"It won't get off to-morrow, nor the next day, nor the next. + You know how it always is. When Steve--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I don't know anything," said Anna, pulling free and + moving off. "But you, oh, you know it all, you and Steve!"</p> + + <p>But the elder beauty was right. The battery did not go for + more than a fortnight, and Hilary came again that evening. + Sitting together alone, he and Anna talked about their inner + selves--that good old sign! and when she gave him a chance he + told her what Greenleaf had said about her and the ocean. Also + he confided to her his envy of small-statured people, and told + how it hurt him to go about showing the bigness of his body and + hiding the pettiness of his soul. And he came the next evening + and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXII"></a> + + <h2>XXII</h2> + + <h3>SAME STORY SLIGHTLY WARPED</h3>Not literally. That evening, + yes, an end of it, but not the very next four, did Kincaid + spend with Anna. It merely looked so to Flora Valcour. + + <p>Even on that first day, after his too prompt forenoon gallop + from Callender House to the Valcour apartment had, of course, + only insured his finding Flora not at home, all its evening + except the very end was passed with her, Flora, in her open + balcony overlooking the old Place d'Armes. His head ringing + with a swarm of things still to be done and ordered done, he + had purposed to remain only long enough to tell his dire news + manfully, accept without insistent debate whatever odium it + might entail, and decently leave its gentle recipients to their + grief and dismay. What steps they should take to secure + compensation it were far better they should discuss with + Adolphe, who would be here to aid them when he, Kincaid, would + be in far Virginia. The only other imperative matter was that + of the young schoolma'am's gold, which must be left in bank. + Awkward business, to have to ask for it in scrambling haste at + such a moment.</p> + + <p>But on a starlit balcony with two such ladies as the + Valcours, to do one's errands, such errands, in scrambling + haste proved not even a military possibility. Their greeting + inquiries had to be answered:</p> + + <p>"Yes, Charlie was well. He would be along soon, with fresh + messages from division headquarters. The battery was at + last--Pardon?... Yes, the Callenders were well--he supposed! He + had seen only Miss Anna, and her only for so brief an + instant--"</p> + + <p>No, Madame Valcour had merely cleared her throat. "That + climate is hard on those throat'."</p> + + <p>He had seen Miss Anna, he resumed, "for so brief an + instant--on an errand--that he had not made civil inquiry after + the others, but had left good-by for them about as a + news-carrier wads and throws in the morning paper!"</p> + + <p>It was so pretty, the silvery way the questioning pair + laughed to each other--at his simile, if that was the genuine + source of their amusement--that he let himself laugh with + them.</p> + + <p>"But how?" they further asked. "He had left good-by? + Good-day, yes! But for what good-by when juz' returning?"</p> + + <p>"Ah, because here to them, also, it must be good-by, and be + as brief as there! The battery--he had sent word to them at + sunrise, but had just learned that his messenger had missed + them--the battery was at last ordered"--etc.</p> + + <p>"<i>Mon Dieu!</i>" gasped the old lady as if this was too + cruelly sudden, and, "Oh, my brother! Oh, Captain Kincaid!" + beautifully sighed Flora, from whom the grandmother had heard + the news hours before.</p> + + <p>Yet, "Of course <i>any</i> time 'twould have to be sudden," + they had presently so recovered as to say, and Flora, for both, + spoke on in accents of loveliest renunciation. She easily got + the promise she craved, that no ill should come to Charlie + which a commander's care could avert.</p> + + <p>The loss of their Mobile home, which also Madame had + perfectly known since morning, was broken to them with less + infelicity, though they would talk cheerily of the house as + something which no evil ever would or could befall, until + suddenly the girl said, "Grandma, dearest, that night air is + not so pretty good for your rheum; we better pass inside," and + the old lady, insistently unselfish, moved a step within, + leaving the other two on the balcony. There, when the blow came + at last, Flora's melodious grievings were soon over, and her + sweet reasonableness, her tender exculpation not alone of this + dear friend but even of the silly fellows who had done the + deed, and her queenly, patriotic self-obliteration, were more + admirable than can be described. Were, as one may say, good + literature. The grateful soldier felt shamed to find, most + unaccountably, that Anna's positively cruel reception of the + same news somehow suited him better. It was nearer his own + size, he said to himself. At any rate the foremost need now, on + every account, was to be gone. But as he rose Flora reminded + him of "those few hundred gold?" Goodness! he had clean + forgotten the thing. He apologized for the liberty taken in + leaving it with her, but--"Oh!" she prettily interrupted, "when + I was made so proud!"</p> + + <p>Well, now he would relieve her and take it at once to a bank + cashier who had consented to receive it at his house this very + night. She assured him its custody had given her no anxiety, + for she had promptly passed it over to another! He was + privately amazed:</p> + + <p>"Oh--o-oh--oh, yes, certainly. That was right! To whom had + she--?"</p> + + <p>She did not say. "Yes," she continued, "she had at once + thought it ought to be with some one who could easily replace + it if, by any strange mishap--flood, fire, robbery--it should + get lost. To do which would to her be impossible if at Mobile + her house--" she tossed out her hands and dropped them + pathetically. "But I little thought, Captain Kincaid--" she + began a heart-broken gesture--</p> + + <p>"Now, Miss Flora!" the soldier laughingly broke out, "if + it's lost it's lost and no one but me shall lose a cent for + it!"</p> + + <p>"Ah, that," cried the girl, with tears in her voice, "'tis + impossible! 'Twould kill her, that mortification, as well as + me, for you to be the loser!"</p> + + <p>"Loser! mortification!" laughed Hilary. "And what should I + do with <i>my</i> mortification if I should let you, or her, be + the loser? Who is she, Miss Flora? If I minded the thing, you + understand, I shouldn't ask."</p> + + <p>Flora shrank as with pain: "Ah, you must not! And you must + not guess, for you will surely guess wrong!" Nevertheless she + saw with joy that he had guessed Anna, yet she suffered chagrin + to see also that the guess made him glad. "And this you must + make me the promise; that you never, never will let anybody + know you have discover' that, eh?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I promise."</p> + + <p>"And you must let her pay it me back--that money--and me pay + it you. 'Twill be easy, only she mus' have time to get the + money, and without needing to tell anybody for why, and for why + in gold. Alas! I could have kept that a secret had it not have + been you are to go to-morrow morning"</p> + + <p>"Oh, rest easy," said the cheerful soldier, "mum's the word. + But, Miss Flora, tell me this: How on earth did she lose + it?"</p> + + <p>"Captain Kincaid, by the goodness of the heart!"</p> + + <p>"But how did it go; was it--?"</p> + + <p>"Blown up! Blown up with that poor old man in the + powder-mill! Ah, what do we know about money, Captain Kincaid, + we silly women? That poor, innocent child, she lent it to the + old gentleman. His theories, they were so convincing, and she, + she was so ambitious to do a great patriotic service. 'Twas to + make wonders for the powder and gun, and to be return' in three + days. But that next day 'twas Sunday, and whiles I was + <i>kneeling in the church</i> the powder, the gun, the old man + and the money--"</p> + + <p>Hilary gestured facetiously for the narrator: "That's how + millions have got to go in this business, and this + driblet--why, I might have lent it, myself, if I'd been here! + No, I'm the only loser, and--"</p> + + <p>"Ah, Captain Kincaid, no, no! I implore you, no!--and for + her sake! Oh, what are those few hundred for her to lose, if so + she can only wipe that mistake? No, they shall be in the charge + of that cashier before you're at Virginia, and that shall be my + first news written to my brother--though he'll not comprehend + except that he is to tell it you."</p> + + <p>So it was arranged and agreed. As again he moved to go she + won a new pledge of unending secrecy, and Charlie came with a + document. Beside the parlor lamp, where, with one tiny foot + covertly unslippered for the easement of angry corns, Madame + sat embroidering, Kincaid broke the seal and read. He forced a + scowl, but through it glimmered a joy in which Flora discerned + again the thought of Anna. "Charlie," he said as a smile broke + through, "prepare yourself."</p> + + <p>"Now, Captain, if those old imbeciles--"</p> + + <p>The commander's smile broadened: "Our battery, ladies and + gentlemen, can't go for a week."</p> + + <p>All laughed but Charlie. He swore at the top of his voice + and threw himself from the room.</p> + + <p>When his Captain had followed, Flora, standing and smiling, + drew from her bosom a small, well-filled jewel-bag, balanced it + on her uplifted palm and, rising to her toes, sang, "At last, + at last, <i>grâce au ciel</i>, money is easy!"</p> + + <p>"Yet at the same time my gifted granddaughter," remarked the + old lady, in her native tongue and intent on her embroidery, + "is uneasy, eh?"</p> + + <p>Flora ignored the comment. She laid a second palm, on the + upraised booty, made one whole revolution, her soft crinoline + ballooning and subsiding with a seductive swish as she paused: + "And you shall share these blessings, grannie, love, although + of the assets themselves"--she returned the bag to its + sanctuary and smoothed the waist where the paper proceeds of + the schoolmistress's gold still hid--"you shall never handle a + dime." She sparkled airily.</p> + + <p>"No?" said Madame, still moving the needle and still in + French. "Nevertheless, morning and evening together, our + winnings are--how much?"</p> + + <p>"Ours?" melodiously asked the smiling girl, "they are not + ours, they are mine. And they are--at the least"--she dropped + to her senior's footstool and spoke caressingly low--"a clean + thousand! Is not that sweet enough music to the ear of a + venerable"--she whispered--"cormorant?" She sparkled anew.</p> + + <p>"I am sorry," came the mild reply, "you are in such torture + you have to call me names. But it is, of course, entirely + concerning--the house--ahem!"</p> + + <p>Flora rose, walked to a window, and, as she gazed out across + the old plaza, said measuredly in a hard voice: "Never mind! + Never mind her--or him either. I will take care of the two of + them!"</p> + + <p>A low laugh tinkled from the ancestress: "Ha, ha! you + thought the fool would be scandalized, and instead he is only + the more enamored."</p> + + <p>The girl flinched but kept her face to the window: + "<i>He</i> is not the fool."</p> + + <p>"No? We can hardly tell, when we are--in love."</p> + + <p>Flora wheeled and flared, but caught herself, musingly + crossed the room, returned half-way, and with frank design + resumed the stool warily vacated by the unslippered foot; whose + owner was mincing on, just enough fluttered to play defiance + while shifting her attack--</p> + + <p>"Home, sweet home! For our ravished one you will, I suppose, + permit his beloved country to pay--in its new paper money at + 'most any discount--and call it square, eh?" Half the + bitterness of her tone was in its sweetness.</p> + + <p>In a sudden white heat the granddaughter clutched one aged + knee with both hands: "Wait! If I don't get seven times all it + was ever worth, the Yankees shall!" Then with an odd gladness + in her eyes she added, "And <i>she</i> shall pay her + share!"</p> + + <p>"You mean--his?" asked the absorbed embroiderer. But on her + last word she stiffened upward with a low cry of agony, shut + her eyes and swung her head as if about to faint. Flora had + risen.</p> + + <p>"Oh-h-h!" the girl softly laughed, "was that your foot?"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXIII"></a> + + <h2>XXIII</h2> + + <h3>"SOLDIERS!"</h3>With what innocent openness did we do + everything in '61! "Children and fools" could not tell the + truth any faster or farther than did our + newspapers--<i>Picayune, Delta, True Delta, Crescent, + L'Abeille, and L'Estafette du Sud.</i> After every military + review the exact number in line and the name of every command + and commander were hurried into print. When at last we began to + cast siege guns, the very first one was defiantly proclaimed to + all the Confederacy's enemies: an eight-inch Dahlgren, we would + have them to know. Kincaid and his foundry were given full + credit, and the defence named where the "iron monster" was to + go, if not the very embrasure designated into which you must + fire to dismount it. + + <p>The ladies, God bless them, were always free to pass the + guard on the city side of that small camp and earthwork, where + with the ladies' guns "the ladies' man" had worn the grass off + all the plain and the zest of novelty out of all his + nicknamers, daily hammering--he and his only less merciful + lieutenants--at their everlasting drill.</p> + + <p>Such ladies! Why shouldn't they pass? Was it not safe for + the cause and just as safe for them? Was not every maid and + matron of them in the "Ladies' Society of the Confederate + Army"--whereof Miss Callender was a secretary and Miss Valcour + one of the treasurers? And had not the fellows there, owing to + an influence or two in the camp itself and another or two just + outside it, all become, in a strong, fine sense and high + degree, ladies' men? It was good for them spiritually, and good + for their field artillery evolutions, to be watched by maidenly + and matronly eyes. Quite as good was it, too, for their + occasional heavy-gun practice with two or three huge, new-cast, + big-breeched "hell-hounds," as Charlie and others called them, + whose tapering black snouts lay out on the parapet's superior + slope, fondled by the soft Gulf winds that came up the river, + and snuffing them for the taint of the enemy.</p> + + <p>One afternoon when field-gun manoeuvres were at a close, + Kincaid spoke from the saddle. Facing him stood his entire + command, "in order in the line," their six shining pieces and + dark caissons and their twice six six-horse teams stretching + back in six statuesque rows; each of the three + lieutenants--Bartleson, Villeneuve, Tracy--in the front line, + midway between his two guns, the artificers just six yards out + on the left, and guidon and buglers just six on the right. At + the commander's back was the levee. Only now it had been empty + of spectators, and he was seizing this advantage.</p> + + <p>"Soldiers!" It was his first attempt since the flag + presentation, and it looked as though he would falter, but he + hardened his brow: "Some days ago you were told not to expect + marching orders for a week. Well the week's up and we're told + to wait another. Now that makes me every bit as mad as it makes + you! I feel as restless as any man in this battery, and I told + the commanding general to-day that you're the worst + discontented lot I've yet seen, and that I was proud of you for + it. That's all I said to him. But! if there's a man here who + doesn't yet know the difference between a soldierly discontent + and unsoldierly <i>grumbling</i> I want him to GO! Kincaid's + Battery is not for him. Let him transfer to infantry or + cavalry. Oh, I know it's only that you want to be in the very + first fight, and that's all right! But what we can't get we + don't <i>grumble for</i> in Kincaid's Battery!"</p> + + <p>He paused. With his inspired eyes on the splendid array, + visions of its awful destiny only exalted him. Yet signs which + he dared not heed lest he be confounded told him that every eye + so fixed on his was aware of some droll distraction. He must + speak on.</p> + + <p>"My boys! as sure as this war begins it's going to last. + There'll be lots of killing and dying, and I warn you now, your + share'll be a double one. So, then, no indecent haste. + Artillery can't fight every day. Cavalry can--in its small way, + but you may have to wait months and months to get into a + regular hell on earth. All the same you'll get there!--soon + enough--times enough. Don't you know why, when we have to be + recruited--to fill up the shot holes--they'll go by the cavalry + to the infantry, and pick the best men there, and + <i>promote</i> them to your ranks? It's because of how you've + got to fight when your turn comes; like devils, to hold up, for + all you may know, the butt end of the whole day's bloody + business. That's why--and because of how you may have to wait, + <i>un-com-plain-ing</i>, in rotting idleness for the next tea + party."</p> + + <p>Again he ceased. What <i>was</i> the matter? There sat his + matchless hundred, still and straight as stone Egyptians, + welcoming his every word; yet some influence not his was having + effect and, strangest of all, was enhancing his.</p> + + <p>"One more word," he said. "You're sick of the drill-ground. + Well, the man that's spoiling for a fight and yet has no belly + for drill--he--oh, he belongs to the cavalry by birth! We + <i>love</i> these guns. We're mighty dogg--we're extremely + proud of them. Through thick and thin, through fire and carnage + and agony, remembering where we got them, we propose to + <i>keep</i> them; and some proud day, when the trouble's all + over, say two years hence, and those of us who are spared come + home, we propose to come with these same guns unstained by the + touch of a foe's hand, a virgin battery still. Well, only two + things can win that: infernal fighting and perpetual toil. So, + as you love honor and your country's cause, wait. Wait in + self-respectful patience. Wait and work, and you shall be at + the front--the foremost front!--the very first day and hour my + best licks can get you there. That's all."</p> + + <p>Bartleson advanced from the line: "By section!" he called, + "right wheel--"</p> + + <p>"Section," repeated each chief of section, "right + wheel--"</p> + + <p>"March!" commanded Bartleson.</p> + + <p>"March," echoed the chiefs, and the battery broke into + column. "Forward! Guide right!" chanted Bartleson, and all + moved off save Kincaid.</p> + + <p>He turned his horse, and lo! on the grassy crest of the + earthwork, pictured out against the eastern pink and blue, + their summer gauzes filled with the light of the declining sun, + were half a dozen smiling ladies attended by two or three + officers of cavalry, and among them Flora, Constance, and + Miranda.</p> + + <p>Anna? Only when he had dismounted did his eager eye find + her, where she had climbed and seated herself on a siege gun + and was letting a cavalier show her how hard it would be for a + hostile ship, even a swift steamer, to pass, up-stream, this + crater of destruction, and <i>ergo</i> how impossible for a + fleet--every ship a terror to its fellows the moment it was + hurt--to run the gauntlet of Forts Jackson and St. Philip on a + far worse stretch of raging current some eighty miles farther + down the river.</p> + + <p>Not for disbelief of the demonstration, but because of a + general laugh around a tilt of words between Kincaid and the + cavalry fellows, Anna lighted down and faced about, to find + him, for the third time in five days, at close range. With much + form he drew nearer, a bright assurance in his eyes, a sort of + boyish yes, for a moment, but the next moment gone as it met in + hers a womanly no.</p> + + <p>"You little artist," thought Flora.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXIV"></a> + + <h2>XXIV</h2> + + <h3>A PARKED BATTERY CAN RAISE A DUST</h3>Down in the camp the + battery was forming into park; a pretty movement. The ladies + watched it, the cavalrymen explaining. Now it was done. The + command broke ranks, and now its lieutenants joined the fair + company and drank its eulogies--grimly, as one takes a dram. + + <p>Back among the tents and mess fires--</p> + + <p>"Fellows!" said the boys, in knots, "yonder's how he puts in + his 'best licks' for us!" But their wanton gaze was also fond + as it followed the procession of parasols and sword-belts, + muslins and gold lace that sauntered down along the levee's + crest in couples, Hilary and Anna leading.</p> + + <p>Flora, as they went, felt a most unusual helplessness to + avert a course of things running counter to her designs. It is + true that, having pledged herself to the old General to seek a + certain issue and to Irby to prevent it, she might, whichever + way the matter drifted, gather some advantage if she could + contrive to claim credit for the trend; an <i>if</i> which she + felt amply able to take care of. To keep two men fooled was no + great feat, nor even to beguile her grandmother, whose gadfly + insistence centred ever on the Brodnax fortune as their only + true objective; but so to control things as not to fool herself + at last--that was the pinch. It pinched more than it would + could she have heard how poorly at this moment the lover and + lass were getting on--as such. Her subtle interferences--a mere + word yesterday, another the day before--were having more + success than she imagined, not realizing how much they were + aided by that frantic untamableness to love's yoke, which, in + Hilary only less than in Anna, qualified every word and + motion.</p> + + <p>Early in the talk of these two Hilary had mentioned his + speech just made, presently asking with bright abruptness how + Anna liked it and, while Anna was getting her smile ready for a + safe reply, had added that he never could have made it at all + had he dreamed she was looking on. "Now if she asks why," he + thought to himself in alarm, "I've got to blurt it out!"</p> + + <p>But she failed to ask; only confessed herself unfit to judge + anybody's English.</p> + + <p>"English! oh, pass the English!" he said, he "knew how bad + that was." What he wanted her criticism on was--"its + matter--its spirit--whichever it was, matter or spirit!" How + comical that sounded! They took pains that their laugh should + be noticed behind them. Flora observed both the laugh and the + painstaking.</p> + + <p>"Matter or spirit," said Anna more gravely, "I can't + criticise it. I can't even praise it--oh! but that's only + be--because I haven't--the courage!"</p> + + <p>The lover's reply was low and full of meaning: "Would you + praise it if you had the courage?"</p> + + <p>She could have answered trivially, but something within bade + her not. "Yes," she murmured, "I would." It was an awful + venture, made unpreparedly, and her eyes, trying to withstand + his, dropped. Yet they rallied splendidly--"They've got to!" + said something within her--and, "I could," she blushingly + qualified, "but--I could criticise it too!"</p> + + <p>His heart warmed at her defiant smile. "I'd rather have that + honor than a bag of gold!" he said, and saw his slip too late. + Gold! Into Anna's remembrance flashed the infatuation of the + poor little schoolmistress, loomed Flora's loss and distress + and rolled a smoke of less definite things for which this man + was going unpunished while she, herself, stood in deadly peril + of losing her heart to him.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Captain Kincaid!" Like artillery wheeling into action + came her inconsequent criticism, her eyes braving him at last, + as bright as his guns, though flashing only tears. "It was + right enough for you to extol those young soldiers' willingness + to serve their country <i>when called</i>. But, oh, how + <i>could</i> you commend their <i>chafing</i> for battle and + slaughter?"</p> + + <p>"Ah, Miss Anna, you--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, when you know that the sooner they go the sooner comes + the heartache and heartbreak for the hundreds of women they so + light-heartedly leave behind them! I looked from Charlie to + Flora--"</p> + + <p>"You should have looked to Victorine. She wants the boy to + go and her dad to go with him."</p> + + <p>"Poor thoughtless child!"</p> + + <p>"Why, Miss Anna, if I were a woman, and any man--with war + coming on--could <i>endure</i> to hang back at home for love of + me, I should feel--"</p> + + <p>"Captain Kincaid! What we womenkind may feel is not to the + point. It's how the men themselves feel toward the women who + love them."</p> + + <p>"They ought," replied the soldier, and his low voice + thrilled like a sounding-board, "to love the women--out of + every fibre of their being."</p> + + <p>"Ah!" murmured the critic, as who should say, + "checkmate!"</p> + + <p>"And yet--" persisted this self-sung "ladies' man"--</p> + + <p>"Yet what?" she softly challenged. (Would he stand by his + speech, or his song?)</p> + + <p>"Why, honestly, Miss Anna, I think a man can love a + woman--even his heart's perfect choice--too much. I know he + can!"</p> + + <p>The small lady gave the blunderer a grave, brief, + now-you-<i>have</i>-done-it glance and looked down. "Well, I + know," she measuredly said, "that a man who can <i>tell</i> a + woman that, isn't capable of loving her half enough." She + turned to go back, with a quickness which, I avow, was + beautifully and tenderly different from irritation, yet which + caused her petticoat's frail embroidery to catch on one of his + spurs and cling till the whole laughing bevy had gathered round + to jest over Flora's disentanglement of it.</p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p>"But really, Nan, you know," said Constance that evening in + their home, "you used to believe that yourself! The day Steve + left you said almost exact--"</p> + + <p>"Con--? Ah, Con! I think the <i>sister</i> who could remind + a <i>sister</i> of that--!" The sufferer went slowly up to her + room, where half an hour later she was found by Miranda drying + her bathed eyes at a mirror and instantly pretending that her + care was for any other part of her face instead.</p> + + <p>"Singular," she remarked, "what a dust that battery can + raise!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXV"></a> + + <h2>XXV</h2> + + <h3>"HE MUST WAIT," SAYS ANNA</h3>About the middle of the first + week in April--when the men left in the stores of Common, + Gravier, Poydras, or Tchoupitoulas street could do nothing but + buy the same goods back and forth in speculation; loathed by + all who did not do it, or whittle their chairs on the shedded + sidewalks and swap and swallow flaming rumors and imprecate the + universal inaction and mis-management--there embarked for + Pensacola-- + + <p>"What? Kincaid's Bat--?"</p> + + <p>"No-o, the Zouaves! Infantry! when the one only sane thing + to do," cried every cannoneer of Camp Callender--in its white + lanes or on three-hours' leave at home on Bayou Road or + Coliseum Square or Elysian Fields or Prytania street--"the one + sane thing to do," insisted the growingly profane lads to their + elders, and assented the secretly pained elders to them, "the + one thing that, if only for shame's sake, ought to have been + done long ago, was to <i>knock</i> Fort Pickens to HELL with + SHELL!" Sadly often they added the tritest three-monosyllabled + expletive known to red-hot English.</p> + + <p>Charlie--mm-mm! how he could rip it out! Sam Gibbs, our + veritable Sam, sergeant of the boy's gun, "Roaring Betsy," + privately remarked to the Captain what a blank-blank shame it + was, not for its trivial self, of course, but in view of the + corruptions to which it opened the way. And the blithe + commander, in the seclusion of his tent, standing over the lad + and holding him tenderly by both pretty ears, preached to him + of his sister and grandmother until with mute rage the + youngster burned as red as his jacket facings; and then of the + Callenders--"who gave us our guns, and one of whom is the + godmother of our flag, Charlie"--until the tears filled + Charlie's eyes, and he said:</p> + + <p>"I'll try, Captain, but it's--oh, it's no use! If anything + could make me swear <i>worse</i>"--he smiled despairingly--"it + would be the hope of being hauled up again for another talk + like this!"</p> + + <p>One Sunday, three days after the going of the Zouaves, while + out in Jackson Square "Roaring Betsy" sang a solo of harrowing + thunder-claps, the Callenders and Valcours, under the + cathedral's roof, saw consecrated in its sacred nave the + splendid standard of the Chasseurs-à-Pied.</p> + + <p>Armed guards, keeping the rabble out, passed the ladies in + before the procession had appeared in the old Rue Condé. + But now here it came, its music swelling, the crowd--shabbier + than last month and more vacant of face--parting before it. + Carrying their sabres, but on foot and without their pieces, + heading the column as escort of honor, lo, Kincaid's Battery; + rearmost the Chasseurs, masses and masses of them; and in + between, a silver crucifix lifted high above a body of acolytes + in white lace over purple, ranks of black-gowned priests, a + succession of cloth-of-gold ecclesiastics, and in their midst + the mitred archbishop.</p> + + <p>But the battery! What a change since last February! Every + man as spruce as ever, but with an added air of tested + capability that inspired all beholders. Only their German + musicians still seemed fresh from the mint, and oh! in what + unlucky taste, considering the ecclesiastics, the song they + brayed forth in jaunty staccato.</p> + + <p>"They're offering us that hand of theirs again," murmured + Anna to Constance, standing in a side pew; but suddenly the + strain ceased, she heard Hilary's voice of command turning the + column, and presently, through a lane made by his men, the + Chasseurs marched in to the nave, packed densely and halted. + Then in close order the battery itself followed and stood. Now + the loud commands were in here. Strange it was to hear them + ring through the holy place (French to the Chasseurs, English + to the battery), and the crashing musket-butts smite the paved + floor as one weapon, to the flash of a hundred sabres.</p> + + <p>So said to itself the diary on the afternoon of the next + day, and there hurriedly left off. Not because of a dull rumble + reaching the writer's ear from the Lake, where Kincaid and his + lieutenants were testing new-siege-guns, for that was what she + was at this desk and window to hear; but because of the + L.S.C.A., about to meet in the drawing-room below and be met by + a friend of the family, a famed pulpit orator and greater + potentate, in many eyes, than even the Catholic archbishop.</p> + + <p>He came, and later, in the battery camp with the Callenders, + Valcours, and Victorine, the soldiers clamoring for a speech, + ran them wild reminding them with what unique honor and + peculiar responsibility they were the champions of their six + splendid guns. In a jostling crowd, yet with a fine decorum, + they brought out their standard and--not to be outdone by any + Chasseurs under the sky--obliged Anna to stand beside its + sergeant, Maxime, and with him hold it while the man of God + invoked Heaven to bless it and bless all who should follow it + afield or pray for it at home. So dazed was she that only at + the "amen" did she perceive how perfectly the tables had been + turned on her. For only then did she discover that Hilary + Kincaid had joined the throng exactly in time to see the whole + tableau.</p> + + <p>Every officer of the camp called that evening, to say + graceful things, Kincaid last. As he was leaving he wanted to + come to the same old point, but she would not let him. Oh! how + could she, a scant six hours after such a <i>bid</i> from + herself? He ought to have seen she couldn't--and wouldn't! But + he never saw anything--of that sort. Ladies' man indeed! He + couldn't read a girl's mind even when she wanted it read. He + went away looking so haggard--and yet so tender--and still so + determined--she could not sleep for hours. Nevertheless--</p> + + <p>"I can't help his looks, Con, he's got to wait! I owe that + to all womanhood! He's got to practise to me what he preaches + to his men. Why, Connie, if <i>I'm</i> willing to wait, why + shouldn't he be? Why--?"</p> + + <p>Constance fled.</p> + + <p>Next day, dining with Doctor Sevier, said the Doctor, "That + chap's working himself to death, Anna," and gave his fair guest + such a stern white look that she had to answer flippantly.</p> + + <p>She and Hilary were paired at table and talked of Flora, he + telling how good a friend to her Flora was. The topic was + easier, between them, than at any other time since the loss of + the gold. Always before, she had felt him thinking of that loss + and trying to guess something about her; but now she did not, + for on Sunday, in the cathedral, Flora had told her at last, + ever so gratefully and circumstantially, that she had repaid + the Captain everything! yes, the same day on which she had + first told Anna of the loss; and there was nothing now left to + do but for her to reimburse Anna the moment she could.</p> + + <p>Hilary spoke of Adolphe's devotion to Flora--hoped he would + win. Told with great amusement how really well his cousin had + done with her government claim--sold it to his Uncle Brodnax! + And Flora--how picturesque everything she did!--had put--? yes, + they both knew the secret--had put the proceeds into one of + those beautiful towboats that were being fitted up as + privateers! Hilary laughed with delight. Yes, it was for that + sort of thing the boys were so fond of her. But when Anna + avowed a frank envy he laughed with a peculiar tenderness that + thrilled both him and her, and murmured:</p> + + <p>"The dove might as well envy the mocking-bird."</p> + + <p>"If I were a dove I certainly should," she said.</p> + + <p>"Well, you are, and you shouldn't!" said he.</p> + + <p>All of which Flora caught; if not the words, so truly the + spirit that the words were no matter.</p> + + <p>"Just as we were starting home," soliloquized, that night, + our diary, "the newsboys came crying all around, that General + Beauregard had opened fire on Fort Sumter, and the war has + begun. Poor Constance! it's little she'll sleep to-night."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXVI"></a> + + <h2>XXVI</h2> + + <h3>SWIFT GOING, DOWN STREAM</h3>Strangely slow travelled news + in '61. After thirty hours' bombardment Fort Sumter had fallen + before any person in New Orleans was sure the attack had been + made. When five days later a yet more stupendous though quieter + thing occurred, the tidings reached Kincaid's Battery only on + the afternoon of the next one in fair time to be read at the + close of dress parade. But then what shoutings! The wondering + Callenders were just starting for a drive up-town. At the grove + gate their horses were frightened out of all propriety by an + opening peal, down in the camp, from "Roaring Betsy." And + listen! + + <p>The black driver drew in. From Jackson Square came distant + thunders and across the great bend of the river they could see + the white puff of each discharge. What <i>could</i> it + mean?</p> + + <p>"Oh, Nan, the Abolitionists must have sued for peace!" + exclaimed the sister.</p> + + <p>"No-no!" cried Miranda. "Hark!"</p> + + <p>Behind them the battery band had begun--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"O, carry me back to old + Vir--"</span></p> + + <p>"Virginia!" sang the three. "Virginia is out! Oh, Virginia + is out!" They clapped their mitted hands and squeezed each + other's and laughed with tears and told the coachman and said + it over and over.</p> + + <p>In Canal Street lo! it was true. Across the Neutral Ground + they saw a strange sight; General Brodnax bareheaded! + bareheaded yet in splendid uniform, riding quietly through the + crowd in a brilliantly mounted group that included Irby and + Kincaid, while everybody told everybody, with admiring + laughter, how the old Virginian, dining at the St. Charles + Hotel, had sallied into the street cheering, whooping, and + weeping, thrown his beautiful cap into the air, jumped on it as + it fell, and kicked it before him up to one corner and down + again to the other. Now he and his cavalcade came round the + Clay statue and passed the carriage saluting. What glory was in + their eyes! How could our trio help but wave or the crowd hold + back its cheers!</p> + + <p>Up at Odd Fellows' Hall a large company was organizing a + great military fair. There the Callenders were awaited by Flora + and Madame, thither they came, and there reappeared the General + and his train. There, too, things had been so admirably cut and + dried that in a few minutes the workers were sorted and busy + all over the hall like classes in a Sunday-school.</p> + + <p>The Callenders, Valcours, and Victorine were a committee by + themselves and could meet at Callender House. So when Kincaid + and Irby introduced a naval lieutenant whose amazingly swift + despatch-boat was bound on a short errand a bend or so below + English Turn, it was agreed with him in a twinkling--a few + twinklings, mainly Miranda's--to dismiss horses, take the trip, + and on the return be set ashore at Camp Callender by early + moonlight.</p> + + <p>They went aboard at the head of Canal Street. The river was + at a fair stage, yet how few craft were at either long landing, + "upper" or "lower," where so lately there had been scant room + for their crowding prows. How few drays and floats came and + went on the white, shell-paved levees! How little freight was + to be seen except what lay vainly begging for export--sugar, + molasses, rice; not even much cotton; it had gone to the yards + and presses. That natty regiment, the Orleans Guards, was + drilling (in French, superbly) on the smooth, empty ground + where both to Anna's and to Flora's silent notice all the + up-river foodstuffs--corn, bacon, pork, meal, flour--were so + staringly absent, while down in yonder streets their lack was + beginning to be felt by a hundred and twenty-five thousand + consumers.</p> + + <p>Backing out into mid-stream brought them near an anchored + steamer lately razeed and now being fitted for a cloud of + canvas on three lofty masts instead of the two small sticks she + had been content with while she brought plantains, guava jelly, + coffee, and cigars from Havana. The <i>Sumter</i> she was to + be, and was designed to deliver some of the many agile + counter-thrusts we should have to make against that "blockade" + for which the Yankee frigates were already hovering off Ship + Island. So said the Lieutenant, but Constance explained to him + (Captain Mandeville having explained to her) what a farce that + blockade was going to be.</p> + + <p>How good were these long breaths of air off the sea marshes, + enlivened by the speed of the craft! But how unpopulous the + harbor! What a crowd of steamboats were laid up along the + "Algiers" shore, and of Morgan's Texas steamers, that huddled, + with boilers cold, under Slaughter-House Point, while all the + dry-docks stood empty. How bare the ship wharves; hardly a + score of vessels along the miles of city front. About as many + more, the lieutenant said, were at the river's mouth waiting to + put to sea, but the towboats were all up here being turned into + gunboats or awaiting letters of marque and reprisal in order to + nab those very ships the moment they should reach good salt + water. Constance and Miranda tingled to tell him of their brave + Flora's investment, but dared not, it was such a secret!</p> + + <p>On a quarter of the deck where they stood alone, what a + striking pair were Flora and Irby as side by side they faced + the ruffling air, softly discussing matters alien to the + gliding scene and giving it only a dissimulative show of + attention. Now with her parasol he pointed to the sunlight in + the tree tops of a river grove where it gilded the windows of + the Ursulines' Convent.</p> + + <p>"Hum!" playfully murmured Kincaid to Anna, "he motions as + naturally as if that was what they were talking about."</p> + + <p>"It's a lovely picture," argued Anna.</p> + + <p>"Miss Anna, when a fellow's trying to read the book of his + fate he doesn't care for the pictures."</p> + + <p>"How do you know that's what he's doing?"</p> + + <p>"He's always doing it!" laughed Hilary.</p> + + <p>The word was truer than he meant. The Irby-value of things + was all that ever seriously engaged the ever serious cousin. + Just now his eyes had left the shore, where Flora's lingered, + and he was speaking of Kincaid. "I see," he said, "what you + think: that although no one of these things--uncle Brodnax's + nonsense, Greenleaf's claims, Hilary's own preaching + against--against, eh--"</p> + + <p>"Making brides to-day and widows to-morrow?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, that while none of these is large enough in his view + to stop him by itself, yet combined they--"</p> + + <p>"All working together they do it," said the girl. Really she + had no such belief, but Irby's poor wits were so nearly useless + to her that she found amusement in misleading them.</p> + + <p>"Hilary tells me they do," he replied, "but the more he says + it the less I believe him. Miss Flora, the fate of all my uncle + holds dear is hanging by a thread, a spider's web, a young + girl's freak! If ever she gives him a certain turn of the hand, + the right glance of her eye, he'll be at her feet and every + hope I cherish--"</p> + + <p>"Captain Irby," Flora softly asked with her tinge of accent, + "is not this the third time?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, if you mean again that--"</p> + + <p>"That Anna, she is my dear, dear frien'! The fate of + nothing, of nobody, not even of me--or of--you--" she let that + pronoun catch in her throat--"can make me to do anything--oh! + or even to wish anything--not the very, very best for her!"</p> + + <p>"Yet I thought it was our understanding--"</p> + + <p>"Captain: There is bitwin us no understanding excep'"--the + voice grew tender--"that there is no understanding bitwin us." + But she let her eyes so meltingly avow the very partnership her + words denied, that Irby felt himself the richest, in + understandings, of all men alive.</p> + + <p>"What is that they are looking?" asked his idol, watching + Anna and Hilary. The old battle ground had been passed. Anna, + gazing back toward its townward edge, was shading her eyes from + the burnished water, and Hilary was helping her make out the + earthwork from behind which peered the tents of Kincaid's + Battery while beyond both crouched low against the bright west + the trees and roof of Callender House--as straight in line from + here, Flora took note, as any shot or shell might ever fly.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXVII"></a> + + <h2>XXVII</h2> + + <h3>HARD GOING, UP STREAM</h3>Very pleasant it was to stand + thus on the tremulous deck of the swiftest craft in the whole + Confederate service. Pleasant to see on either hand the flat + landscape with all its signs of safety and plenty; its orange + groves, its greening fields of young sugar-cane, its pillared + and magnolia-shaded plantation houses, its white lines of slave + cabins in rows of banana trees, and its wide wet plains + swarming with wild birds; pleasant to see it swing slowly, + majestically back and melt into a skyline as low and level as + the ocean's. + + <p>Anna and Kincaid went inside to see the upper and more + shining portions of the boat's beautiful machinery. No one had + yet made rods, cranks, and gauge-dials sing anthems; but she + knew it was Hilary and an artisan or two in his foundry whose + audacity in the remaking of these gliding, plunging, turning, + vanishing, and returning members had given them their fine new + speed-making power, and as he stood at her side and pointed + from part to part they took on a living charm that was + reflected into him. Pleasant it was, also, to hear two or three + droll tales about his battery boys; the personal traits, + propensities, and soldierly value of many named by name, and + the composite character and temper that distinguished the + battery as a command; this specific quality of each particular + organic unit, fighting body, among their troops being as + needful for commanders to know as what to count on in the + individual man. So explained the artillerist while the pair + idled back to the open deck. With hidden vividness Anna liked + the topic. Had not she a right, the right of a silent partner? + A secret joy of the bond settled on her like dew on the + marshes, as she stood at his side.</p> + + <p>Hilary loved the theme. The lives of those boys were in his + hands; at times to be hoarded, at times to be spent, in sudden + awful junctures to be furiously squandered. He did not say + this, but the thought was in both of them and drew them closer, + though neither moved. The boat rounded to, her engines stopped, + an officer came aboard from a skiff, and now she was under way + again and speeding up stream on her return, but Hilary and Anna + barely knew it. He began to talk of the boys' sweethearts. Of + many of their tender affairs he was confidentially informed. + Yes, to be frank, he confessed he had prompted some fellows to + let their hearts lead them, and to pitch in and win while--</p> + + <p>"Oh! certainly!" murmured Anna in compassion, "some of + them."</p> + + <p>"Yes," said their captain, "but they are chaps--like + Charlie--whose hearts won't keep unless they're salted down and + barrelled, and I give the advice not in the sweethearts' + interest but--"</p> + + <p>"Why not? Why shouldn't a--" The word hung back.</p> + + <p>"A lover?"</p> + + <p>"Yes. Why shouldn't he confess himself in <i>her</i> + interest? That needn't pledge her."</p> + + <p>"Oh! do you think that would be fair?"</p> + + <p>"Perfectly!"</p> + + <p>"Well, now--take an actual case. Do you think the mere fact + that Adolphe truly and stick-to-it-ively loves Miss Flora gives + her a right to know it?"</p> + + <p>"I do, and to know it a long, long time before he can have + any right to know whether--"</p> + + <p>"Hum! while he goes where glory waits him--?"</p> + + <p>"Yes."</p> + + <p>"And lets time--?"</p> + + <p>"Yes."</p> + + <p>"And absence and distance and rumor try his unsupported + constancy?"</p> + + <p>"Yes."</p> + + <p>With tight lips the soldier drew breath. "You know my uncle + expects now to be sent to Virginia at once?"</p> + + <p>"Yes."</p> + + <p>"Adolphe, of course, goes with him."</p> + + <p>"Yes."</p> + + <p>"Yet you think--the great principle of so-much-for-so-much + to the contrary notwithstanding--he really owes it to her + to--"</p> + + <p>Anna moved a step forward. She was thinking what a sweet + babe she was, thus to accept the surface of things. How did she + know that this laughing, light-spoken gallant, seemingly so + open and artless--oh! more infantile than her very self!--was + not deep and complex? Or that it was not <i>he</i> and Flora on + whose case she was being lured to speculate? The boat, of whose + large breathings and pulsings she became growingly aware, + offered no reply. Presently from the right shore, off before + them, came a strain of band music out of Camp Callender.</p> + + <p>"Anna."</p> + + <p>"What hosts of stars!" said she. "How hoveringly they follow + us."</p> + + <p>The lover waited. The ship seemed to breathe deeper--to + glide faster. He spoke again: "May I tell you a secret?"</p> + + <p>"Doesn't the boat appear to you to tremble more than ever?" + was the sole response.</p> + + <p>"Yes, she's running up-stream. So am I. Anna, we're off this + time--sure shot--with the General--to Virginia. The boys don't + know it yet, but--listen."</p> + + <p>Over in the unseen camp the strain was once more--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I'd offer thee this hand of + mine--"</span></p> + + <p>"We're turning in to be landed, are we not?" asked Anna as + the stars began to wheel.</p> + + <p>"Yes. Do you really believe, Anna, that that song is not the + true word for a true lover and true soldier, like Adolphe, for + instance--to say to himself, of course, not to <i>her</i>?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, Captain Kincaid, what does it matter?"</p> + + <p>"Worlds to me. Anna, if I should turn that song into a + solemn avowal--to you--"</p> + + <p>"Please don't!--Oh, I mean--I don't mean--I--I mean--"</p> + + <p>"Ah, I know your meaning. But if I love you, profoundly, + abidingly, consumingly--as I do, Anna Callender, as I do!--and + am glad to pledge my soul to you knowing perfectly that you + have nothing to confess to me--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't, Captain Kincaid, don't! You are not fair to me. + You make me appear--oh--we were speaking only of your cousin's + special case. I don't want your confession. I'm not ready + for--for anybody's! You mustn't make it! You--you--"</p> + + <p>"It's made, Anna Callender, and it makes me fair to you at + last."</p> + + <p>"Oh-h-h!"</p> + + <p>"I know that matters little to you--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, but you're farther from fair than ever, Captain + Kincaid; you got my word for one thing and have used it for + another!" She turned and they tardily followed their friends, + bound for the gangway. A torch-basket of pine-knots blazing + under the bow covered flood and land with crimson light and + inky shadows. The engines had stopped. The boat swept the + shore. A single stage-plank lay thrust half out from her + forward quarter. A sailor stood on its free end with a coil of + small line. The crouching earthwork and its fierce guns glided + toward them. Knots of idle cannoneers stood along its crest. A + few came down to the water's edge, to whom Anna and Hilary, + still paired alone, were a compelling sight. They lifted their + smart red caps. Charlie ventured a query: "It's true, Captain, + isn't it, that Virginia's out?"</p> + + <p>"I've not seen her," was the solemn reply, and his comrades + tittered.</p> + + <p>"Yes!" called Constance and Miranda, "she's out!"</p> + + <p>"Miss Anna," murmured Hilary with a meekness it would have + avenged Charlie to hear, "I've only given you the right you + claim for every woman."</p> + + <p>"Oh, Captain Kincaid, I didn't say every woman! I took + particular--I--I mean I--"</p> + + <p>"If it's any one's right it's yours."</p> + + <p>"I don't want it!--I mean--I mean--"</p> + + <p>"You mean, do you not? that I've no right to say what can + only distress you."</p> + + <p>"Do <i>you</i> think you have?--Oh, Lieutenant, it's been a + perfectly lovely trip! I don't know when the stars have seemed + so bright!"</p> + + <p>"They're not like us dull men, Miss Callender," was the + sailor's unlucky reply, "they can rise to any occasion a lady + can make."</p> + + <p>"Ladies don't <i>make</i> occasions, Lieutenant."</p> + + <p>"Oh, don't they!" laughed the sea-dog to Hilary. But duty + called. "No, no, Miss Val--! Don't try that plank alone! + Captain Kincaid, will you give--? That's right, sir.... Now, + Captain Irby, you and Miss Callender--steady!"</p> + + <p>Seventh and last went the frail old lady, led by Kincaid. + She would have none other. She kept his arm with definite + design while all seven waved the departing vessel good-by. Then + for the walk to the house she shared Irby with Anna and gave + Flora to Hilary, with Miranda and Constance in front + outmanoeuvred by a sleight of hand so fleeting and affable that + even you or I would not have seen it.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXVIII"></a> + + <h2>XXVIII</h2> + + <h3>THE CUP OF TANTALUS</h3>Queer world. Can you be sure the + next pair you meet walking together of a summer eve are as + starry as they look? Lo, Constance and Miranda. Did the bride + herself realize what a hunger of loneliness was hers? Or Anna + and Irby, with Madame between them. Could you, maybe, have + guessed the veritable tempest beneath the maiden's serenity, or + his inward gnashings against whatever it was that had blighted + his hour with the elusive Flora? + + <p>Or can any one say, in these lives of a thousand + concealments and restraints, <i>when</i> things <i>are</i> + happening and when not, within us or without, or how near we + are <i>now</i> to the unexpected--to fate? See, Flora and + Hilary. He gave no outward show that he was burning to flee the + spot and swing his fists and howl and tear the ground.</p> + + <p>Yet Flora knew; knew by herself; by a cold rage in her own + fair bosom, where every faculty stood gayly alert for each + least turn of incident, to foil or use it, while they talked + lightly of Virginia's great step, or of the night's loveliness, + counting the stars. "How small they look," she said, "how calm + how still."</p> + + <p>"Yes, and then to think what they really are! so fearfully + far from small--or cold--or still!"</p> + + <p>"Like ourselves," she prompted.</p> + + <p>"Yes!" cried the transparent soldier. "At our smallest the + smallest thing in us is that we should feel small. And how deep + down are we calm or cold? Miss Flora, I once knew a girl--fine + outside, inside. Lovers -she had to keep a turnstile. I knew a + pair of them. To hear those two fellows separately tell what + she was like, you couldn't have believed them speaking of the + same person. The second one thought the first had--sort + o'--charted her harbor for him; but when he came to sail in, + 'pon my soul, if every shoal on the chart wasn't deep water, + and every deep water a fortified shore--ha, ha, ha!"</p> + + <p>Flora's smile was lambent. "Yes," she said, "that sweet Anna + she's very intric-ate." Hilary flamed and caught his breath, + but she met his eyes with the placidity of the sky above + them.</p> + + <p>Suddenly he laughed: "Now I know what I am! Miss Flora, I--I + wish you'd be my pilot."</p> + + <p>She gave one resenting sparkle, but then shook her averted + head tenderly, murmured "Impossible," and smiled.</p> + + <p>"You think there's no harbor there?"</p> + + <p>"Listen," she said.</p> + + <p>"Yes, I hear it, a horse."</p> + + <p>"Captain Kincaid?"</p> + + <p>"Miss Flora?"</p> + + <p>"For dear Anna's sake <i>and</i> yours, shall I be that + little bit your pilot, to say--?"</p> + + <p>"What! to say. Don't see her to-night?"</p> + + <p>Flora's brow sank.</p> + + <p>"May I go with you, then, and learn why?" The words were + hurried, for a horseman was in front and the others had so + slackened pace that all were again in group. Anna caught + Flora's reply:</p> + + <p>"No, your cousin will be there. But to-morrow evening, + bif-ore--"</p> + + <p>"Yes," he echoed, "before anything else. I'll come. Why!"--a + whinny of recognition came from the road--"why, that's my + horse!"</p> + + <p>The horseman dragged in his rein. Constance gasped and + Kincaid exclaimed, "Well! since when and from where, Steve + Mandeville?"</p> + + <p>The rider sprang clanking to the ground and whipped out a + document. All pressed round him. He gave his bride two furious + kisses, held her in one arm and handed the missive to + Kincaid:</p> + + <p>"With the compliment of Général Brodnax!"</p> + + <p>Irby edged toward Flora, drawn by a look.</p> + + <p>Hilary spoke: "Miss Anna, please hold this paper open for me + while I--Thank you." He struck a match. The horse's neck was + some shelter and the two pressed close to make more, yet the + match flared. The others listened to Mandeville:</p> + + <p>"And 'twas me dizcover' that tranzportation, juz' chanzing + to arrive by the railroad--"</p> + + <p>"Any one got a newspaper?" called Hilary. "Steve--yes, let's + have a wisp o' that."</p> + + <p>The paper burned and Hilary read. "Always the man of the + moment, me!" said Mandeville. "And also 't is thangs to me you + are the firs' inform', and if you are likewise the firs' to + ripport--"</p> + + <p>"Thank you!" cried Kincaid, letting out a stirrup leather. + "Adolphe, will you take that despatch on to Bartleson?" He + hurried to the other stirrup.</p> + + <p>"<i>Tell him no!</i>" whispered Flora, but in vain, so + quickly had Anna handed Irby the order.</p> + + <p>"Good-night, all!" cried Hilary, mounting. He wheeled, swung + his cap and galloped.</p> + + <p>"Hear him!" laughed Miranda to Flora, and from up the dim + way his song came back:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"'I can't stand the + wilderness</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">But a few days, a few + days.'"</span></p> + + <p>Still swinging his cap he groaned to himself and dropped his + head, then lifted it high, shook his locks like a swimmer, and + with a soft word to his horse sped faster.</p> + + <p>"Yo' pardon, sir," said Mandeville to Irby, declining the + despatch, "I wou'n't touch it. For why he di'n' h-ask me? But + my stable is juz yondeh. Go, borrow you a horse--all night 'f + you like."</p> + + <p>Thence Irby galloped to Bartleson's tent, returned to + Callender House, dismounted and came up the steps. There stood + Anna, flushed and eager, twining arms with the placid Flora. + "Ah," said the latter, as he offered her his escort home, "but + grandma and me, we--"</p> + + <p>Anna broke in: "They're going to stay here all night so that + you may ride at once to General Brodnax. Even we girls, Captain + Irby, must do all we can to help your cousin get away with the + battery, the one wish of his heart!" She listened, untwined and + glided into the house.</p> + + <p>Instantly Flora spoke: "Go, Adolphe Irby, go! Ah, + <i>snatch</i> your luck, you lucky--man! Get him away to-night, + cost what cost!" Her fingers pushed him. He kissed them. She + murmured approvingly, but tore them away: "Go, go, go-o!"</p> + + <p>Anna, pacing her chamber, with every gesture of + self-arraignment and distress, heard him gallop. Then standing + in her opened window she looked off across the veranda's + balustrade and down into the camp, where at lines of mess-fires + like strings of burning beads the boys were cooking three days' + rations. A tap came on her door. She snatched up a toilet + brush: "Come in?"</p> + + <p>She was glad it was only Flora. "Chérie," tinkled the + visitor, "they have permit' me!"</p> + + <p>Anna beamed. "I was coming down," she recklessly replied, + touching her temples at the mirror.</p> + + <p>"Yes," said the messenger, "'cause Mandeville he was + biggening to tell about Fort Sumter, and I asked them to + wait--ah"--she took Anna's late pose in the window--"how plain + the camp!"</p> + + <p>"Yes," responded Anna with studied abstraction, "when the + window happens to be up. It's so warm to-night, I--"</p> + + <p>"Ah, Anna!"</p> + + <p>"What, dear?" In secret panic Anna came and looked out at + Flora's side caressingly.</p> + + <p>"At last," playfully sighed the Creole, "'tis good-by, + Kincaid's Battery. Good-by, you hun'red good fellows, with yo' + hun'red horses and yo' hun'red wheels and yo' hun'red + hurras."</p> + + <p>"And hundred brave, true hearts!" said Anna.</p> + + <p>"Yes, and good-by, Bartleson, good-by, Tracy, good-by + ladies' man!--my dear, tell me once more! For him why always + that name?" Both laughed.</p> + + <p>"I don't know, unless it's because--well--isn't it--because + every lady has a piece of his heart and--no one wants all of + it?"</p> + + <p>"Ah! no one?--when so many?--"</p> + + <p>"Now, Flora, suppose some one did! What of it, if he can't, + himself, get his whole heart together to give it to any one?" + The arguer offered to laugh again, but Flora was sad:</p> + + <p>"You bil-ieve he's that way--Hilary Kincaid?"</p> + + <p>"There are men that way, Flora. It's hard for us women to + realize, but it's true!"</p> + + <p>"Ah, but for him! For him that's a dreadful!"</p> + + <p>"Why, no, dear, I fancy he's happiest that way."</p> + + <p>"But not best, no! And there's another thing--his uncle! You + know ab-out that, I su'pose?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, but he--come, they'll be sending--"</p> + + <p>"No,--no! a moment! Anna! Ah, Anna, you are too wise for me! + Anna, do you think"--the pair stood in the room with the + inquirer's eyes on the floor--"you think his cousin is like + that?"</p> + + <p>Anna kissed her temples, one in pity, the other in joy: "No, + dear, he's not--Adolphe Irby is not."</p> + + <p>On the way downstairs Flora seized her hands: "Oh, Anna, + like always--this is just bit-win us? Ah, yes. And, oh, I wish + you'd try not to bil-ieve that way--ab-out <i>his</i> cousin! + Me, I hope no! And yet--"</p> + + <p>"Yet what, love?" (Another panic.)</p> + + <p>"Nothing, but--ah, he's so ki-ind to my brother! And his + cousin Adolphe," she whispered as they moved on down, "I don't + know, but I fear perchanze he don't like his cousin + Adolphe--his cousin Adolphe--on the outside, same as the + General, rough--'t is a wondrous how his cousin Adolphe is fond + of him!"</p> + + <p>Poor Anna. She led the way into the family group actually + wheedled into the belief that however she had blundered with + her lover, with Flora she had been clever. And now they heard + the only true account of how Captain Beauregard and General + Steve had taken Fort Sumter. At the same time every hearer kept + one ear alert toward the great open windows. Yet nothing came + to explain that Kincaid's detention up-town was his fond + cousin's contriving, and Sumter's story was at its end when all + started at once and then subsided with relief as first the + drums and then the bugles sounded--no alarm, but only, + drowsily, "taps," as if to say to Callender House as well as to + the camp, "Go to slee-eep ... Go to slee-eep ... Go to bed, go + to bed, go to slee-eep ... Go to slee-eep, go to slee-eep ... + Go to slee-ee-eep."</p> + + <p><a name="Good-by_illustration"></a></p> + + <center> + <img src="images/illp142.jpg" + alt="'Tis good-by, Kincaid's Battery" + height="1186" + width="695"> + </center> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXIX"></a> + + <h2>XXIX</h2> + + <h3>A CASTAWAY ROSE</h3>Gone to sleep the camp except its + sentinels, and all Callender House save one soul. Not Miranda, + not the Mandevilles, nor Madame Valcour, nor any domestic. + Flora knew, though it was not Flora. In her slumbers she knew. + + <p>Two of the morning. Had the leader, the idol of Kincaid's + Battery, failed in his endeavor? Anna, on her bed, half + disrobed, but sleepless yet, still prayed he might not succeed. + Just this one time, oh, Lord! this one time! With Thee are not + all things possible? Canst Thou not so order all things that a + day or two's delay of Kincaid's Battery need work no evil to + the Cause nor any such rending to any heart as must be hers if + Kincaid's Battery should go to-night? Softly the stair clock + boomed three. She lifted her head and for a full three minutes + harkened toward the camp. Still no sound there, thank God! She + turned upon her pillow.</p> + + <p>But--what! Could that be the clock again, and had she + slumbered? "Three, four," murmured the clock. She slipped from + her bed and stole to the window. Just above the low, dim + parapet, without a twinkle, the morning star shone large, its + slender, mile-long radiance shimmering on the gliding river. In + all the scented landscape was yet no first stir of dawn, but + only clearness enough to show the outlines of the camp ground. + She stared. She stared again! Not a tent was standing. Oh! and + oh! through what bugling, what rolling of drums and noise of + hoofs, wheels, and riders had she lain oblivious at last? None, + really; by order of the commanding general--on a private + suggestion of Irby's, please notice, that the practice would be + of value--camp had been struck in silence. But to her the sole + fact in reach was that all its life was gone!</p> + + <p>Sole fact? Gone? All gone? What was this long band of + darkness where the gray road should be, in the dull shadow of + the levee? Oh, God of mercy, it was the column! the whole of + Kincaid's Battery, in the saddle and on the chests, waiting for + the word to march! Ah, thou ladies' man! Thus to steal away! Is + this your profound--abiding--consuming love? The whisper was + only in her heart, but it had almost reached her lips, when she + caught her breath, her whole form in a tremor. She clenched the + window-frame, she clasped her heaving side.</p> + + <p>For as though in reply, approaching from behind the house as + if already the producer had nearly made its circuit, there + sounded close under the balustrade the walking of a horse. God + grant no other ear had noted it! Now just beneath the window it + ceased. Hilary Kincaid! She could not see, but as sure as sight + she knew. Her warrior, her knight, her emperor now at last, + utterly and forever, she his, he hers, yet the last moment of + opportunity flitting by and she here helpless to speak the one + word of surrender and possession. Again she shrank and + trembled. Something had dropped in at the window. There it lay, + small and dark, on the floor. She snatched it up. Its scant tie + of ribbon, her touch told her, was a bit of the one she had + that other time thrown down to him, and the thing it tied and + that looked so black in the dusk was a red, red rose.</p> + + <p>She pressed it to her lips. With quaking fingers that only + tangled the true-love knot and bled on the thorns, she stripped + the ribbon off and lifted a hand high to cast it forth, but + smote the sash and dropped the emblem at her own feet. In pain + and fear she caught it up, straightened, and glanced to her + door, the knot in one hand, the rose in the other, and her lips + apart. For at some unknown moment the door had opened, and in + it stood Flora Valcour.</p> + + <p>Furtively into a corner fluttered rose and ribbon while the + emptied hands extended a counterfeit welcome and beckoned the + visitor's aid to close the window. As the broad sash came down, + Anna's heart, in final despair, sunk like lead, or like the + despairing heart of her disowned lover in the garden, Flora's + heart the meantime rising like a recovered kite. They moved + from the window with their four hands joined, the dejected girl + dissembling elation, the elated one dejection.</p> + + <p>"I don't see," twittered Anna, "how I should have closed it! + How chilly it gets toward--"</p> + + <p>"Ah!" tremulously assented the subtler one. "And such a + dream! I was oblige' to escape to you!"</p> + + <p>"And did just right!" whispered and beamed poor Anna. "What + did you dream, dear?"</p> + + <p>"I dremp the battery was going! and going to a battle! and + with the res' my brother! And now--"</p> + + <p>"Now it's but a dream!" said her comforter.</p> + + <p>"Anna!" the dreamer flashed a joy that seemed almost fierce. + She fondly pressed the hands she held and drew their owner + toward the ill-used rose. "Dearest, behold me! a thief, yet + innocent!"</p> + + <p>Anna smiled fondly, but her heart had stopped, her feet + moved haltingly. A mask of self-censure poorly veiled Flora's + joy, yet such as it was it was needed. Up from the garden, + barely audible to ears straining for it, yet surging through + those two minds like a stifling smoke, sounded the tread of the + departing horseman.</p> + + <p>"Yes," murmured Anna, hoping to drown the footfall, and with + a double meaning though with sincere tenderness, "you are + stealing now, not meaning to."</p> + + <p>"Now?" whispered the other, "how can that be?" though she + knew. "Ah, if I could steal now your heart al-<i>so</i>! But + I've stolen, I fear, only--your--confidenze!" Between the words + she loosed one hand, stooped and lifted the flower. Each tried + to press it to the other's bosom, but it was Anna who + yielded.</p> + + <p>"I'd make you take it," she protested as Flora pinned it on, + "if I hadn't thrown it away."</p> + + <p>"Dearest," cooed the other, "that would make me a thief + ag-ain, and this time guilty."</p> + + <p>"Can't I give a castaway rose to whom I please?"</p> + + <p>"Not this one. Ah, sweet, a thousand thousand pardon!"--the + speaker bent to her hearer's ear--"I saw you when you kiss' + it--and before."</p> + + <p>Anna's face went into her hands, and face and hands to + Flora's shoulder; but in the next breath she clutched the + shoulder and threw up her head, while the far strain of a bugle + faintly called, "Head of column to the right."</p> + + <p>The cadence died. "Flora! your dream is true and that's the + battery! It's going, Flora. It's gone! Your brother's gone! + Your brother, Flora, your brother! Charlie! he's <i>gone</i>." + So crying Anna sprang to the window and with unconscious ease + threw it up.</p> + + <p>The pair stood in it. With a bound like the girl's own, + clear day had come. Palely the river purpled and silvered. No + sound was anywhere, no human sign on vacant camp ground, levee, + or highroad. "Ah!"--Flora made a well pretended gesture of + discovery and distress--"'tis true! That bugl' muz' have meant + us good-by."</p> + + <p>"Oh, then it was cruel!" exclaimed Anna. "To you, dear, + cruel to you to steal off in that way. Run! dress for the + carriage!"</p> + + <p>Flora played at hesitation: "Ah, love, if perchanze that + bugl' was to call you?"</p> + + <p>"My dear! how could even <i>he</i>--the 'ladies' man,' ha, + ha!--<i>imagine</i> any true woman would come to the call of a + bugle? Go! while I order the carriage."</p> + + <p>They had left the window. The hostess lifted her hand toward + a bell-cord but the visitor stayed it, absently staring while + letting herself be pressed toward the door, thrilled with a + longing as wild as Anna's and for the same sight, yet cunningly + pondering. Nay, waiting, rather, on instinct, which the next + instant told her that Anna would inevitably go herself, no + matter who stayed.</p> + + <p>"You'll come al-long too?" she pleadingly asked.</p> + + <p>"No, dear, I cannot! Your grandmother will, of course, and + Miranda." The bell-cord was pulled.</p> + + <p>"Anna, you <i>must</i> go, else me, I will not!"</p> + + <p>"Ah, how can I? Dear, dear, you're wasting such + <i>golden</i> moments! Well, I'll go with you! Only <i>make</i> + haste while I call the others--stop!" Their arms fell lightly + about each other's neck. "You'll never tell on me?... Not even + to Miranda?... Nor h-his--his uncle?... Nor"--the petitioner + pressed closer with brightening eyes--"nor his--cousin?"</p> + + <p>Softly Flora's face went into her hands, and face and hands + to Anna's shoulder, as neat a reduplication as ever was. But + suddenly there were hoof-beats again. Yes, coming at an easy + gallop. Now they trotted through the front gate. The eyes of + the two stared. "A courier," whispered Anna, "to Captain + Mandeville!" though all her soul hoped differently.</p> + + <p>Only a courier it was. So said the maid who came in reply to + the late ring, but received no command. The two girls, shut in + together, Anna losing moments more golden than ever, heard the + rider at the veranda steps accost the old coachman and so soon + after greet Mandeville that it was plain the captain had + already been up and dressing.</p> + + <p>"It's Charlie!" breathed Anna, and Flora nodded.</p> + + <p>Now Charlie trotted off again, and now galloped beyond + hearing, while Mandeville's booted tread reascended to his + wife's room. And now came Constance: "Nan, where on earth is + Fl--? Oh, of course! News, Nan! Good news, Flora! The battery, + you know--?"</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Anna, with her dryest smile, "it's sneaked off + in the dark."</p> + + <p>"Nan, you're mean! It's marching up-town now, Flora. At + least the guns and caissons are, so as to be got onto the train + at once. And oh, girls, those poor, dear boys! the train--from + end to end it's to be nothing but a freight train!"</p> + + <p>"Hoh!" laughed the heartless Anna, "that's better than + staying here."</p> + + <p>The sister put out her chin and turned again to Flora. "But + just now," she said, "the main command are to wait and rest in + Congo Square, and about ten o'clock they're to be joined by all + the companies of the Chasseurs that haven't gone to Pensacola + and by the whole regiment of the Orleans Guards, as an escort + of honor, and march in that way to the depot, led by General + Brodnax and his staff--and Steve! And every one who wants to + bid them good-by must do it there. Of course there'll be a + perfect jam, and so Miranda's ordering breakfast at seven and + the carriage at eight, and Steve--he didn't tell even me last + night because--" Her words stuck in her throat, her tears + glistened, she gnawed her lips. Anna laid tender hands on + her.</p> + + <p>"Why, what, Connie, dear?"</p> + + <p>"St--Ste--Steve--"</p> + + <p>"Is Steve going with them to Virginia?"</p> + + <p>The face of Constance went into her hands, and face and + hands to Anna's shoulder. Meditatively smiling, Flora slipped + away to dress.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXX"></a> + + <h2>XXX</h2> + + <h3>GOOD-BY, KINCAID'S BATTERY</h3>At one end of a St. Charles + Hotel parlor a group of natty officers stood lightly chatting + while they covertly listened. At the other end, with Irby and + Mandeville at his two elbows, General Brodnax conversed with + Kincaid and Bartleson, the weather-faded red and gray of whose + uniforms showed in odd contrast to the smartness all about + them. + + <p>Now he gave their words a frowning attention, and now + answered abruptly: "Humph! That looks tremendously modest in + you, gentlemen,--what?... Well, then, in your whole command if + it's their notion. But it's vanity at last, sirs, pure vanity. + Kincaid's Battery 'doesn't want to parade its dinginess till + it's done something'--pure vanity! 'Shortest way'--nonsense! + The shortest way to the train isn't the point! The point is to + make so inspiring a show of you as to shame the damned + stay-at-homes!"</p> + + <p>"You'll par-ade," broke in the flaming Mandeville. "worse' + dress than presently, when you rit-urn conqueror'!" But that + wearied the General more.</p> + + <p>"Oh, hell," he mumbled. "Captain Kincaid, eh--" He led that + officer alone to a window and spoke low: "About my girl, + Hilary,--and me. I'd like to decide that matter before you show + your heels. You, eh,--default, I suppose?"</p> + + <p>"No, uncle, she does that. I do only the hopeless + loving."</p> + + <p>"The wha-at? Great Lord! You don't tell me you--?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, I caved in last night; told her I loved her. Oh, I + didn't do it just in this ashes-of-roses tone of voice, + but"--the nephew smiled--the General scowled--"you should have + seen me, uncle. You'd have thought it was Mandeville. I made a + gorgeous botch of it."</p> + + <p>"You don't mean she--?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, sir, adjourned me <i>sine die</i>. Oh, it's no use to + look at me." He laughed. "The calf's run over me. My fat's in + the fire."</p> + + <p>The General softly swore and continued his gaze. "I + believe," he slowly said, "that's why you wanted to slink out + of town the back way."</p> + + <p>"Oh, no, it's not. Or at least--well, anyhow, uncle, now you + can decide in favor of Adolphe."</p> + + <p>The uncle swore so audibly that the staff heard and + exchanged smiles: "I neither can nor will decide--for either of + you--yet! You understand? I <i>don't do it</i>. Go, bring your + battery."</p> + + <p>The city was taken by surprise. Congo Square was void of + soldiers before half Canal street's new red-white-and-red + bunting could be thrown to the air. In column of fours--escort + leading and the giant in the bearskin hat leading it--they came + up Rampart street. On their right hardly did time suffice for + boys to climb the trees that in four rows shaded its noisome + canal; on their left not a second too many was there for the + people to crowd the doorsteps, fill windows and garden gates, + line the banquettes and silently gather breath and ardor while + the escort moved by, before the moment was come in which to + cheer and cheer and cheer, as with a hundred flashing sabres at + shoulder the dismounted, heavy-knapsacked, camp-worn battery, + Kincaid's Battery--you could read the name on the + flag--Kincaid's Battery! came and came and passed. In Canal + street and in St. Charles there showed a fierceness of pain in + the cheers, and the march was by platoons. At the hotel General + Brodnax and staff joined and led it--up St. Charles, around + Tivoli Circle, and so at last into Calliope street.</p> + + <p>Meantime far away and sadly belated, with the Valcours + cunningly to blame and their confiding hostesses generously + making light of it, up Love street hurried the Callenders' + carriage. Up the way of Love and athwart the oddest tangle of + streets in New Orleans,--Frenchmen and Casacalvo, Greatmen, + History, Victory, Peace, Arts, Poet, Music, Bagatelle, Craps, + and Mysterious--across Elysian Fields not too Elysian, past the + green, high-fenced gardens of Esplanade and Rampart flecked + red-white-and-red with the oleander, the magnolia, and the + rose, spun the wheels, spanked the high-trotters. The sun was + high and hot, shadows were scant and sharp, here a fence and + there a wall were as blinding white as the towering + fair-weather clouds, gowns were gauze and the parasols were + six, for up beside the old coachman sat Victorine. She it was + who first saw that Congo Square was empty and then that the + crowds were gone from Canal street. It was she who first + suggested Dryads street for a short cut and at Triton Walk was + first to hear, on before, the music,--ah, those horn-bursting + Dutchmen! could they never, never hit it right?--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"When other lips and other + hearts</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their tale of love shall + tell--"</span></p> + + <p>and it was she who, as they crossed Calliope street, first + espied the rear of the procession, in column of fours again, it + was she who flashed tears of joy as they whirled into Erato + street to overtake the van and she was first to alight at the + station.</p> + + <p>The General and his staff were just reaching it. Far down + behind them shone the armed host. The march ceased, the + music--"then you'll rememb'"--broke off short. The column + rested. "Mon Dieu!" said even the Orleans Guards, "quel + chaleur! Is it not a terrib', thad sun!" Hundreds of their blue + képis, hundreds of gray shakos in the Confederate + Guards, were lifted to wipe streaming necks and throats, while + away down beyond our ladies' ken all the drummers of the double + escort, forty by count, silently came back and moved in between + the battery and its band to make the last music the very + bravest. Was that Kincaid, the crowd asked, one of another; he + of the thick black locks, tired cheek and brow, and eyes that + danced now as he smiled and talked? "Phew! me, I shou'n' love + to be tall like that, going to be shot at, no! ha, ha! But + thad's no wonder they are call' the ladies' man batt'rie!"</p> + + <p>"Hah! they are not call' so because him, but because + themse'v's! Every one he is that, and they didn' got the name + in Circus street neither, ha, ha!--although--Hello, Chahlie + Valcour. Good-by, Chahlie. Don't ged shoot in the back--ha, + ha!--"</p> + + <p>A command! How eternally different from the voice of + prattle. The crowd huddled back to either sidewalk, forced by + the opening lines of the escort backed against it, till the + long, shelled wagon-way gleamed white and bare. Oh, Heaven! oh, + home! oh, love! oh, war! For hundreds, hundreds--beat Anna's + heart--the awful hour had come, had come! She and her five + companions could see clear down both bayonet-crested living + walls--blue half the sun-tortured way, gray the other half--to + where in red képis and with shimmering sabres, behind + their tall captain, stretched the dense platoons and came and + came, to the crash of horns, the boys, the boys, the dear, dear + boys who with him, with him must go, must go!</p> + + <p>"Don't cry, Connie dear," she whispered, though stubborn + drops were salting her own lips, "it will make it harder for + Steve."</p> + + <p>"Harder!" moaned the doting bride, "you don't know him!"</p> + + <p>"Oh, let any woman cry who can," laughed Flora, "I wish I + could!" and verily spoke the truth. Anna meltingly pressed her + hand but gave her no glance. All eyes, dry or wet, were fixed + on the nearing mass, all ears drank the rising peal and roar of + its horns and drums. How superbly rigorous its single, + two-hundred-footed step. With what splendid rigidity the + escorts' burnished lines walled in its oncome.</p> + + <p>But suddenly there was a change. Whether it began in the + music, which turned into a tune every Tom, Dick, and Harry now + had by heart, or whether a moment before among the blue-caps or + gray-shakos, neither Anna nor the crowd could tell. Some father + in those side ranks lawlessly cried out to his red-capped boy + as the passing lad brushed close against him, "Good-by, my + son!" and as the son gave him only a sidelong glance he seized + and shook the sabre arm, and all that long, bristling lane of + bayonets went out of plumb, out of shape and order, and a + thousand brass-buttoned throats shouted good-by and hurrah. + Shakos waved, shoulders were snatched and hugged, blue + képis and red were knocked awry, beards were kissed and + mad tears let flow. And still, with a rigor the superbest yet + because the new tune was so perfect to march by, fell the + unshaken tread of the cannoneers, and every onlooker laughed + and wept and cheered as the brass rent out to the deafening + drums, and the drums roared back to the piercing brass,--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">De black-snake love' de + blackbird' nes',</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">De baby love' his mamy's + bres',</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">An' raggy-tag, aw + spick-an'-span,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">De ladies loves de ladies' + man.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I loves to roll my eyes to de + ladies!</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I loves to sympathize wid de + ladies!</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">As long as eveh I knows sugah + f'om san'</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">I's bound to be a ladies' + man.</span></p> + + <p>So the black-hatted giant with the silver staff strode into + the wide shed, the puffy-cheeked band reading their music and + feeling for foothold as they followed, and just yonder behind + them, in the middle of the white way, untouched by all those + fathers, unhailed by any brother of his own, came Hilary + Kincaid with all the battery at his neat heels, its files + tightly serried but its platoons in open order, each flashing + its sabres to a "present" on nearing the General and back to a + "carry" when he was passed, and then lengthening into column of + files to enter the blessed shade of the station.</p> + + <p>In beside them surged a privileged throng of near kin, every + one calling over every one's head, "Good-by!" "Good-by!" + "Here's your mother, Johnnie!" and, "Here's your wife, + Achille!" Midmost went the Callenders, the Valcours, and + Victorine, willy-nilly, topsy-turvy, swept away, smothering, + twisting, laughing, stumbling, staggering, yet saved alive by + that man of the moment Mandeville, until half-way down the shed + and the long box-car train they brought up on a pile of + ordnance stores and clung like drift in a flood. And at every + twist and stagger Anna said in her heart a speech she had been + saying over and over ever since the start from Callender House; + a poor commonplace speech that must be spoken though she + perished for shame of it; that must be darted out just at the + right last instant if such an instant Heaven would only send: + "I take back what I said last night and I'm glad you spoke as + you did!"</p> + + <p>Here now the moment seemed at hand. For here was the + officers' box-car and here with sword in sheath Kincaid also + had stopped, in conference with the conductor, while his + lieutenants marched the column on, now halted it along the + train's full length, now faced it against the open cars and now + gave final command to break ranks. In comic confusion the + fellows clambered aboard stormed by their friends' fond + laughter at the awkwardness of loaded knapsacks, and their + retorting mirth drowned in a new flood of good-bys and adieus, + fresh waving of hats and handkerchiefs, and made-over smiles + from eyes that had wept themselves dry. The tear-dimmed + Victorine called gay injunctions to her father, the undimmed + Flora to her brother, and Anna laughed and laughed and waved hi + all directions save one. There Mandeville had joined Kincaid + and the conductor and amid the wide downpour and swirl of words + and cries was debating with them whether it were safer to leave + the shed slowly or swiftly; and there every now and then Anna's + glance flitted near enough for Hilary to have caught it as + easily as did Bartleson, Tracy, every lieutenant and sergeant + of the command, busy as they were warning the throng back from + the cars; yet by him it was never caught.</p> + + <p>The debate had ended. He gave the conductor a dismissing nod + that sent him, with a signalling hand thrown high, smartly away + toward the locomotive. The universal clatter and flutter + redoubled. The bell was sounding and Mandeville was hotly + shaking hands with Flora, Miranda, all. The train stirred, + groaned, crept, faltered, crept on--on--one's brain tingled to + the cheers, and women were crying again.</p> + + <p>Kincaid's eyes ran far and near in final summing up. The + reluctant train gave a dogged joggle and jerk, hung back, + dragged on, moved a trifle quicker; and still the only proof + that he knew she was here--here within three steps of him--was + the careful failure of those eyes ever to light on her. Oh, + heart, heart, heart! would it be so to the very end and + vanishment of all?</p> + + <p>"I take back--I take--" was there going to be no chance to + begin it? Was he grief blind? or was he scorn blind? No matter! + what she had sown she would reap if she had to do it under the + very thundercloud of his frown. All or any, the blame of + estrangement should be his, not hers! Oh, Connie, Connie! + Mandeville had clutched Constance and was kissing her on lips + and head and cheeks. He wheeled, caught a hand from the nearest + car, and sprang in. Kincaid stood alone. The conductor made him + an eager sign. The wheels of the train clicked briskly. He + glanced up and down it, then sprang to Miranda, seized her + hand, cried "Good-by!" snatched Madame's, Flora's, Victorine's, + Connie's,--"Good-by--Good-by!"--and came to Anna.</p> + + <p>And did she instantly begin, "I take--?" Not at all! She + gave her hand, both hands, but her lips stood helplessly apart. + Flora, Madame, Victorine, Constance, Miranda, Charlie from a + car's top, the three lieutenants, the battery's whole hundred, + saw Hilary's gaze pour into hers, hers into his. Only the eyes + of the tumultuous crowd still followed the train and its living + freight. A woman darted to a car's open door and gleaned one + last wild kiss. Two, ten, twenty others, while the conductor + ran waving, ordering, thrusting them away, repeated the + splendid theft, and who last of all and with a double booty but + Constance! Anna beheld the action, though with eyes still + captive. With captive eyes, and with lips now shut and now + apart again as she vainly strove for speech, she saw still + plainer his speech fail also. His hands tightened on hers, hers + in his.</p> + + <p>"Good-by!" they cried together and were dumb again; but in + their mutual gaze--more vehement than their voices + joined--louder than all the din about them--confession so + answered worship that he snatched her to his breast; yet when + he dared bend to lay a kiss upon her brow he failed once more, + for she leaped and caught it on her lips.</p> + + <p>Dishevelled, liberated, and burning with blushes, she + watched the end of the train shrink away. On its last iron + ladder the conductor swung aside to make room for Kincaid's + stalwart spring. So! It gained one handhold, one foothold. But + the foot slipped, the soldier's cap tumbled to the ground, and + every onlooker drew a gasp. No, the conductor held him, and + erect and secure, with bare locks ruffling in the wind of the + train, he looked back, waved, and so passed from sight.</p> + + <p>Archly, in fond Spanish, "How do you feel now?" asked Madame + of her scintillant granddaughter as with their friends and the + dissolving throng they moved to the carriage; and in the same + tongue Flora, with a caressing smile, rejoined, "I feel like + swinging you round by the hair."</p> + + <p>Anna, inwardly frantic, chattered and laughed. "I don't know + what possessed me!" she cried.</p> + + <p>But Constance was all earnestness: "Nan, you did it for the + Cause--the flag--the battery--anything but him personally. + <i>He</i> knows it. Everybody saw that. Its very + publicity--"</p> + + <p>"Yes?" soothingly interposed Madame, "'t was a so verrie + pewblic that--"</p> + + <p>"Why, Flora," continued the well-meaning sister, "Steve says + when he came back into Charleston from Fort Sumter the + ladies--"</p> + + <p>"Of course!" said Flora, sparkling afresh. "Even Steve + understands that, grandma." Her foot was on a step of the + carriage. A child plucked her flowing sleeve:</p> + + <p>"Misses! Mom-a say'"--he pressed into her grasp something + made of broadcloth, very red and golden--"here yo' husband's + cap."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXXI"></a> + + <h2>XXXI</h2> + + <h3>VIRGINIA GIRLS AND LOUISIANA BOYS</h3>Thanks are due to Mr. + Richard Thorndyke Smith for the loan of his copy of a slender + and now extremely rare work which at this moment lies before + me. "A History of Kincaid's Battery," it is called, "From Its + Origin to the Present Day," although it runs only to February, + '62, and was printed (so well printed, on such flimsy, coarse + paper) just before the dreadful days of Shiloh and the fall of + New Orleans. + + <p>Let us never paint war too fair; but this small volume tells + of little beyond the gold-laced year of 'Sixty-one, nor of much + beyond Virginia, even over whose later war-years the color + effects of reminiscence show blue and green and sun-lit despite + all the scarlet of carnage, the black and crimson of burning, + and the grim hues of sickness, squalor, and semi-starvation; + show green and blue in the sunlight of victory, contrasted with + those of the states west and south of her.</p> + + <p>It tells--this book compiled largely from correspondence of + persons well known to you and me--of the first "eight-days' + crawl" that conveyed the chaffing, chafing command up through + Mississippi, across East Tennessee into southeast Virginia and + so on through Lynchburg to lovely Richmond; tells how never a + house was passed in town or country but handkerchiefs, + neckerchiefs, snatched-off sunbonnets, and Confederate flags + wafted them on. It tells of the uncounted railway stations + where swarmed the girls in white muslin aprons and + red-white-and-red bows, who waved them, in as they came, and + unconsciously squinted and made faces at them in the intense + sunlight. It tells how the maidens gave them dainties and sweet + glances, and boutonnières of tuberoses and violets, and + bloodthirsty adjurations, and blarney for blarney; gave them + seven wild well-believed rumors for as many impromptu canards, + and in their soft plantation drawl asked which was the one + paramount "ladies' man," and were assured by every lad of the + hundred that it was himself. It tells how, having heard in + advance that the more authentic one was black-haired, handsome, + and overtowering, they singled out the drum-major, were set + right only by the roaring laughter, and huddled backward like + caged quails from Kincaid's brazen smile, yet waved again as + the train finally jogged on with the band playing from the roof + of the rear car,--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I'd offer thee this hand of + mine</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">If I could love thee + less!"</span></p> + + <p>To Anna that part seemed not so killingly funny or so very + interesting, but she was not one of the book's editors.</p> + + <p>Two or three pages told of a week in camp just outside the + Virginian capital, where by day, by night, on its rocky bed + sang James river; of the business quarter, noisy with army + wagons--"rattling o'er the stony street," says the page; of + colonels, generals, and statesmen by name--Hampton, Wigfall, + the fiery Toombs, the knightly Lee, the wise Lamar; of such and + such headquarters, of sentinelled warehouses, glowing + ironworks, galloping aides-de-camp and couriers and arriving + and departing columns, some as trig (almost) as Kincaid's + Battery, with their black servants following in grotesque herds + along the sidewalks; and some rudely accoutred, shaggy, + staring, dust-begrimed, in baggy butternut jeans, bearing + flint-lock muskets and trudging round-shouldered after fifes + and drums that squealed and boomed out the strains of their + forgotten ancestors: "The Campbells are coming," "Johnnie was a + piper's son," or--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"My heart is ever turning + back</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the girl I left behind + me."</span></p> + + <p>"You should have seen the girls," laughs the book.</p> + + <p>But there were girls not of the mountains or sand-hills, + whom also you should have seen, at battery manoeuvres or in the + tulip-tree and maple shade of proud Franklin street, or in its + rose-embowered homes by night; girls whom few could dance with, + or even sit long beside in the honeysuckle vines of their + porticos, without risk of acute heart trouble, testifies the + callow volume. They treated every lad in the battery like a + lieutenant, and the "ladies' man" like a king. You should have + seen him waltz them or in quadrille or cotillon swing, balance, + and change them, their eyes brightening and feet quickening + whenever the tune became--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Ole mahs' love' wine, ole + mis' love' silk,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">De piggies, dey loves + buttehmilk."</span></p> + + <p>Great week! tarheel camp-sentries and sand-hill + street-patrols mistaking the boys for officers, saluting as + they passed and always getting an officer's salute in return! + Hilary seen every day with men high and mighty, who were as + quick as the girls to make merry with him, yet always in their + merriment seeming, he and they alike, exceptionally upright, + downright, heartright, and busy. It kept the boys straight and + strong.</p> + + <p>Close after came a month or so on the Yorktown peninsula + with that master of strategic ruse, Magruder, but solely in the + dreariest hardships of war, minus all the grander sorts that + yield glory; rains, bad food, ill-chosen camps, freshets, + terrible roads, horses sick and raw-boned, chills, jaundice, + emaciation, barely an occasional bang at the enemy on + reconnoissances and picketings, and marches and countermarches + through blistering noons and skyless nights, with men, teams, + and guns trying to see which could stagger the worst, along + with columns of infantry mutinously weary of forever fortifying + and never fighting. Which things the book bravely makes light + of, Hilary maintaining that the battery boys had a spirit to + bear them better than most commands did, and the boys + reporting--not to boast the special kindness everywhere of + ladies for ladies' men--that Hilary himself, oftenest by sunny, + but sometimes by cyclonic, treatment of commissaries, + quartermasters, surgeons, and citizens, made their burdens + trivial.</p> + + <p>So we, too, lightly pass them. After all, the things most + important here are matters not military of which the book does + not tell. Of such Victorine, assistant editor to Miranda, + learned richly from Anna--who merely lent letters--without Anna + knowing it. Yet Flora drew little from Victorine, who was as + Latin as Flora, truly loved Anna, and through Charlie was a + better reader of Flora's Latin than he or Flora or any one + suspected.</p> + + <p>For a moment more, however, let us stay with the chronicle. + At last, when all was suffered, the infuriated boys missed Ben + Butler and Big Bethel! One day soon after that engagement, + returning through Richmond in new uniforms--of a sort--with + scoured faces, undusty locks, full ranks, fresh horses, new + harness and shining pieces, and with every gun-carriage, + limber, and caisson freshly painted, they told their wrath to + Franklin street girls while drinking their dippers of water. + Also--"Good-by!--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"'I'd offer thee this hand of + mine--'"</span></p> + + <p>They were bound northward to join their own Creole + Beauregard at a railway junction called--.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXXII"></a> + + <h2>XXXII</h2> + + <h3>MANASSAS</h3>Femininely enough, our little borrowed book, + Miranda's and Victorine's compilation of letters from the + front, gives no more than a few lines to the first great battle + of the war. + + <p>Fred Greenleaf was one of its wounded prisoners. Hilary + cared for him and sought his exchange; but owing to some + invisible wire-pulling by Flora Valcour, done while with equal + privacy she showed the captive much graciousness, he was still + in the Parish Prison, New Orleans, in February, '62, when the + book was about to be made, though recovered of wounds and + prison ills and twice or thrice out on his parole, after dusk + and in civilian's dress, at Callender House.</p> + + <p>The Callenders had heard the combat's proud story often, of + course, not only from battery lads bringing home dead comrades, + or coming to get well of their own hurts, or never to get well + of them, but also from gold-sleeved, gray-breasted new suitors + of Anna (over-staying their furloughs), whom she kept from + tenderer themes by sprightly queries that never tired and + constantly brought forth what seemed totally unsought mentions + of the battery. And she had gathered the tale from Greenleaf as + well. Constance, to scandalized intimates, marvelled at her + sister's tolerance of his outrageous version; but Miranda + remembered how easy it is to bear with patience (on any matter + but one) a rejected lover who has remained faithful, and Flora, + to grandma, smiled contentedly.</p> + + <p>Anna's own private version (sum of all), though never + written even in her diary, was illustrated, mind-pictured. Into + her reveries had gradually come a tableau of the great field. + Inaccurate it may have been, incomplete, even grotesquely + unfair; but to her it was at least clear. Here--through the + middle of her blue-skied, pensive contemplation, so to + speak--flowed Bull Run. High above it, circling in eagle + majesty under still, white clouds, the hungry buzzard, vainly + as yet, scanned the green acres of meadow and wood merry with + the lark, the thrush, the cardinal. Here she discerned the + untried gray brigades--atom-small on nature's face, but with + Ewell, Early, Longstreet, and other such to lead them--holding + the frequent fords, from Union Mills up to Lewis's. Here near + Mitchell's, on a lonesome roadside, stood Kincaid's Battery, + fated there to stay for hours yet, in hateful idleness and a + fierce July sun, watching white smoke-lines of crackling + infantry multiply in the landscape or bursting shells make + white smoke-rings in the bright air, and to listen helplessly + to the boom, hurtle and boom of other artilleries and the far + away cheering and counter-cheering of friend and foe. Yonder in + the far east glimmered Centerville, its hitherward roads, + already in the sabbath sunrise, full of brave bluecoats choking + with Virginia dust and throwing away their hot blankets as they + came. Here she made out Stone Bridge, guarded by a brigade + called Jackson's; here, crossing it east and west, the + Warrenton turnpike, and yonder north of them that rise of dust + above the trees which meant a flanking Federal column and crept + westward as Evans watched it, toward Sudley Springs, ford, + mill, and church, where already much blue infantry had stolen + round by night from Centerville. Here, leading south from + these, she descried the sunken Sudley road, that with a dip and + a rise crossed the turnpike and Young's Branch. There eastward + of it the branch turned north-east and then southeast between + those sloping fields beyond which Evans and Wheat were + presently fighting Burnside; through which Bee, among bursting + shells, pressed to their aid against such as Keyes and Sherman, + and back over which, after a long, hot struggle, she could + see--could hear--the aiders and the aided swept in one torn, + depleted tumult, shattered, confounded, and made the more + impotent by their own clamor. Here was the many-ravined, + tree-dotted, southward rise by which, in concave line, the + Northern brigades and batteries, pressing across the bends of + the branch, advanced to the famed Henry house plateau--that key + of victory where by midday fell all the horrid weight of the + battle; where the guns of Ricketts and Griffen for the North + and of Walton and Imboden for the South crashed and mowed, and + across and across which the opposing infantries volleyed and + bled, screamed, groaned, swayed, and drove each other, + staggered, panted, rallied, cheered, and fell or fought on + among the fallen. Here cried Bee to the dazed crowd, "Look at + Jackson's brigade standing like a stone wall." Here Beauregard + and Johnson formed their new front of half a dozen states on + Alabama's colours, and here a bit later the Creole general's + horse was shot under him. Northward here, down the slope and + over the branch, rolled the conflict, and there on the opposite + rise, among his routed blues, was Greenleaf disabled and + taken.</p> + + <p>All these, I say, were in Anna's changing picture. Here from + the left, out of the sunken road, came Howard, Heintzelman, and + their like, and here in the oak wood that lay across it the + blue and gray lines spent long terms of agony mangling each + other. Here early in that part of the struggle--sent for at + last by Beauregard himself, they say--came Kincaid's Battery, + whirling, shouting, whip-cracking, sweating, with Hilary well + ahead of them and Mandeville at his side, to the ground behind + the Henry house when it had been lost and retaken and all but + lost again. Here Hilary, spurring on away from his bounding + guns to choose them a vantage ground, broke into a horrid + mêlée alone and was for a moment made prisoner, + but in the next had handed his captors over to fresh graycoats + charging; and here, sweeping into action with all the grace and + precision of the drill-ground at Camp Callender, came his + battery, his and hers! Here rode Bartleson, here Villeneuve, + Maxime with the colors, Tracy, Sam Gibbs; and here from the + chests sprang Violett, Rareshide, Charlie and their scores of + fellows, unlimbered, sighted, blazed, sponged, reloaded, pealed + again, sent havoc into the enemy and got havoc from them. Here + one and another groaned, and another and another dumbly fell. + Here McStea, and St. Ange, Converse, Fusilier, Avendano, Ned + Ferry and others limbered up for closer work, galloped, raced, + plunged, reared, and stumbled, gained the new ground and made + it a worse slaughter-pen than the first, yet held on and + blazed, pealed, and smoked on, begrimed and gory. Here was + Tracy borne away to field hospital leaving Avendano and McStea + groveling in anguish under the wheels, and brave Converse and + young Willie Calder, hot-headed Fusilier and dear madcap Jules + St. Ange lying near them out of pain forever. Yet here their + fellows blazed on and on, black, shattered, decimated, short of + horses, one caisson blown up, and finally dragged away to + bivouac, proud holders of all their six Callender guns, their + silken flag shot-torn but unsoiled and furled only when shells + could no longer reach the flying foe.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXXIII"></a> + + <h2>XXXIII</h2> + + <h3>LETTERS</h3>Hardly any part of this picture had come to + Anna from Hilary himself. + + <p>Yes, they were in correspondence--after a fashion. That + signified nothing, she would have had you understand; so were + Charlie and Victorine, so were--oh!--every girl wrote to + somebody at the front; one could not do less and be a patriot. + Some girl patriots had a dozen on their list. Some lads had a + dozen on theirs.</p> + + <p>Ah, me! those swan-white, sky-blue, rose-pink maidens who in + every town and on every plantation from Memphis to Charleston, + from Richmond to New Orleans, despatched their billets by the + forlornly precarious post only when they could not send them by + the "urbanity" of such or such a one! Could you have contrasted + with them the homeless, shelterless, pencil-borrowing, + elbow-scratching, musty, fusty tatterdemalions who stretched + out on the turfless ground beside their mess fires to extort or + answer those cautious or incautious missives, or who for the + fortieth time drew them from hiding to reread into their + guarded or unguarded lines meanings never dreamed by their + writers, you could not have laughed without a feeling of tears, + or felt the tears without smiling. Many a chap's epistle was + scrawled, many a one even rhymed, in a rifle-pit with the + enemy's shells bursting over. Many a one was feebly dictated to + some blessed, unskilled volunteer nurse in a barn or + smoke-house or in some cannon-shattered church. From the like + of that who with a woman's heart could withhold reply? Yes, + Anna and Hilary were in correspondence.</p> + + <p>So were Flora and Irby. So were Hilary and Flora. Was not + Flora Anna's particular friend and Hilary's "pilot"? She had + accepted the office on condition that, in his own heart's + interest, their dear Anna should not know of it.</p> + + <p>"The better part of life"--she wrote--"is it not made up of + such loving concealments?"</p> + + <p>And as he read the words in his tent he smilingly thought, + "That looks true even if it isn't!"</p> + + <p>Her letters were much more frequent than Anna's and always + told of Anna fondly, often with sweet praises--not so sweet to + him--of her impartial graciousness to her semicircle of + brass-buttoned worshippers. Lately Flora had mentioned + Greenleaf in a modified way especially disturbing.</p> + + <p>If Anna could have made any one a full confidante such might + have been Flora, but to do so was not in her nature. She could + trust without stint. Distrust, as we know, was intolerable to + her. She could not doubt her friends, but neither could she + unveil her soul. Nevertheless, more than once, as the two + exchanged--in a purely academical way--their criticisms of + life, some query raised by Anna showed just what had been + passing between her and Hilary and enabled Flora to keep them + steered apart.</p> + + <p>No hard task, the times being so highly calculated to make + the course of true love a "hard road to travel," as the singing + soldier boys called "Jordan." Letters, at any time, are + sufficiently promotive of misunderstandings, but in the + Confederacy they drifted from camp to camp, from pocket to + pocket, like letters in bottles committed to the sea. The times + being such, I say, and Hilary and Anna as they were: he a + winner of men, yes! but by nature, not art; to men and women + equally, a grown up, barely grown up, boy. That is why women + could afford to like him so frankly. The art of courtship--of + men or women--was not in him. Otherwise the battery--every gun + of which, they say, counted for two as long as he was by--must + have lost him through promotion before that first year was half + out. The moment he became a conscious suitor, to man or woman, + even by proxy, his power went from him; from pen, from tongue, + from countenance. And Anna--I may have shown the fact + awkwardly, but certainly you see--Anna was incurably + difficult.</p> + + <p>Too much else awaits our telling to allow here a recital of + their hearts' war while love--and love's foes--hid in winter + quarters, as it were. That is to say, from the season of that + mad kiss which she had never forgiven herself (much less + repented), to the day of Beauregard's appeal, early in '62, to + all the plantations and churches in Dixie's Land to give him + their bells, bells, bells--every bit of bronze or brass they + could rake up or break off--to be cast into cannon; and to his + own Louisiana in particular to send him, hot speed, five + thousand more men to help him and Albert Sidney Johnston drive + Buel and Grant out of Tennessee.</p> + + <p>Before the battery had got half way to Virginia Hilary had + written back to Anna his inevitable rhapsody over that amazing + performance of hers, taking it as patent and seal of her final, + utter, absolute self-bestowal. And indeed this it might have + turned out to be had he but approached it by a discreet circuit + through the simplest feminine essentials of negative + make-believe. But to spring out upon it in that straightforward + manner--! From May to February her answer to this was the only + prompt reply he ever received from her. It crowds our story + backward for a moment, for it came on one of those early + Peninsula days previous to Manassas, happening, oddly, to reach + him--by the hand of Villeneuve--as he stood, mounted, behind + the battery, under a smart skirmish fire. With a heart leaping + in joyous assurance he opened the small missive and bent his + eyes upon its first lines.</p> + + <p>As he did so a hostile shell, first that had ever come so + near, burst just in front of his guns. A big lump of metal + struck one of them on the chase, glanced, clipped off half the + low top of his forage-cap and struck in the trunk of an oak + behind him, and as his good horse flinched and quivered he + looked unwillingly from the page toward a puff of white smoke + on a distant hill, and with a broad smile said--a mere nonsense + word; but the humor of such things has an absurd valuation and + persistency in camps, and for months afterward, + "Ah-r?--indeed!" was the battery's gay response to every + startling sound. He had luck in catchwords, this Hilary. He + fought the scrimmage through with those unread pages folded + slim between a thumb and forefinger, often using them to point + out things, and when after it he had reopened them and read + them through--and through again--to their dizzying close, the + battery surgeon came murmuring privately--</p> + + <p>"Cap, what's wrong; bad news?"</p> + + <p>"Oh!" said Hilary, looking up from a third reading, "what, + this? No-o! nothing wrong in this. I was wrong. I'm all right + now."</p> + + <p>"No, you're not, Captain. You come along now and lie down. + The windage of that chunk of iron has--"</p> + + <p>"Why, Doc, I shouldn't wonder! If you'll just keep everybody + away from me awhile, yourself included, I will lie down," said + the unnerved commander, and presently, alone and supine, softly + asked himself with grim humor, "Which chunk of iron?"</p> + + <p>The actual text of Anna's chunk was never divulged, even to + Flora. We do not need it. Neither did Flora. One of its later + effects was to give the slender correspondence which crawled + after it much more historical value to the battery and the + battery's beloved home city than otherwise it might have had. + From Virginia it told spiritedly of men, policies, and + movements; sketched cabinet officers, the president, and the + great leaders and subleaders in the field--Stuart, Gordon, + Fitzhugh Lee. It gave droll, picturesque accounts of the + artillerist's daily life; of the hard, scant fare and the lucky + feast now and then on a rabbit or a squirrel, turtles' eggs, or + wild strawberries. It depicted moonlight rides to dance with + Shenandoah girls; the playing of camp charades; and the singing + of war, home, and love songs around the late camp fire, timed + to the antic banjo or the sentimental guitar. Drolly, yet with + tenderness for others, it portrayed mountain storm, valley + freshet, and heart-breaking night marches beside tottering guns + in the straining, sucking, leaden-heavy, red clay, and then, + raptly, the glories of sunrise and sunset over the contours of + the Blue Ridge. And it explained the countless things which + happily enable a commander to keep himself as busy as a + mud-dauber, however idle the camp or however torn his own + heart.</p> + + <p>From Anna's side came such stories as that of a flag + presentation to the <i>Sumter</i>, wherein she had taken some + minor part; of seeing that slim terror glide down by Callender + House for a safe escape through the blockading fleet to the + high seas and a world-wide fame; of Flora's towboat privateer + sending in one large but empty prize whose sale did not pay + expenses, and then being itself captured by the blockaders; of + "Hamlet" given by amateurs at the St. Charles Theatre; of great + distress among the poor, all sorts of gayeties for their + benefit, bad money, bad management, a grand concert for the + army in Arkansas, women in mourning as numerous as men in + uniform, and both men and women breaking down in body and mind + under the universal strain.</p> + + <p>Historically valuable, you see. Yet through all this + impersonal interchange love shone out to love like lamplight + through the blinds of two opposite closed windows, and every + heart-hiding letter bore enough interlinear revealment of mind + and character to keep mutual admiration glowing and growing. We + might very justly fancy either correspondent saying at any time + in those ten months to impatient or compassionate Cupid what + Hilary is reported to have said on one of the greatest days + between Manassas and Shiloh, in the midst of a two-sided + carnage: "Yes, General, hard hit, but please don't put us out + of action."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXXIV"></a> + + <h2>XXXIV</h2> + + <h3>A FREE-GIFT BAZAAR</h3>Again it was February. The flag of + Louisiana whose lone star and red and yellow stripes still + hovered benignly over the Ionic marble porch of the city hall, + was a year old. A new general, young and active, was in command + of all the city's forces, which again on the great + Twenty-second paraded. Feebly, however; see letters to Irby and + Mandeville under Brodnax in Tennessee, or to Kincaid's Battery + and its commander in Virginia. For a third time the regimental + standards were of a new sort. They were the battle-flag now. + Its need had been learned at Manassas; eleven stars on St. + Andrew's Cross, a field blood red, and the cross spanning all + the field! + + <p>Again marched Continentals, Chasseurs, and so on. Yet not as + before; all their ranks were of new men; the too old, the too + frail, the too young, they of helpless families, and the + "British subjects." Natives of France made a whole separate + "French Legion," in red képis, blue frocks, and trousers + shaped like inverted tenpins, as though New Orleans were Paris + itself. The whole aspect of things was alert, anxious, + spent.</p> + + <p>But it was only now this spent look had come. Until lately + you might have seen entire brigades of stout-hearted men in + camps near by: Camps Benjamin, Walker, Pulaski and, up in the + low pine hills of Tangipahoa, Camp Moore. From Camp Lewis + alone, in November, on that plain where Kincaid's Battery had + drilled before it was Kincaid's, the Bienville, Crescent City + and many similar "Guards," Miles' Artillery, the Orleans Light + Horse, the Orleans Howitzers, the Orleans Guards, the + Tirailleurs d'Orléans, etc., had passed in front of + Governor Moore and half a dozen generals, twenty-four thousand + strong.</p> + + <p>Now these were mostly gone--to Bragg--to Price--to Lee and + Joe Johnston, or to Albert Sidney Johnston and Beauregard. For + the foe swarmed there, refusing to stay "hurled back." True he + was here also, and not merely by scores as battle captives, but + alarmingly near, in arms and by thousands. Terrible Ship + Island, occupied by the boys in gray and fortified, + anathematized for its horrid isolation and torrid sands, had at + length been evacuated, and on New Year's Day twenty-four of the + enemy's ships were there disembarking bluecoats on its gleaming + white dunes. Fair Carrollton was fortified (on those lines laid + out by Hilary), and down at Camp Callender the siege-guns were + manned by new cannoneers; persistently and indolently new and + without field-pieces or brass music or carriage company.</p> + + <p>The spent look was still gallant, but under it was a feeling + of having awfully miscalculated: flour twelve dollars a barrel + and soon to be twenty. With news in abundance the papers had + ceased their evening issues, so scarce was paper, and morning + editions told of Atlantic seaports lost, of Johnston's retreat + from Kentucky, the fall of Fort Donelson with its fifteen + thousand men, the evacuation of Columbus (one of the + Mississippi River's "Gibraltars") and of Nashville, which had + come so near being Dixie's capital. And yet the + newspapers--</p> + + <p>"'We see no cause for despondency,'" read Constance at the + late breakfast table--"oh, Miranda, don't you see that with + that spirit we can never be subjugated?" She flourished the + brave pages, for which Anna vainly reached.</p> + + <p>"Yes!" said Anna, "but find the report of the + Bazaar!"--while Constance read on: "'Reverses, instead of + disheartening, have aroused our people to the highest pitch of + animation, and their resolution to conquer is invincible.'"</p> + + <p>"Oh, how true! and ah, dearie!"--she pressed her sister's + hand amid the silver and porcelain on the old mahogany--"that + news (some item read earlier, about the battery), why, Miranda, + just that is a sign of impending victory! Straws tell! and + Kincaid's Battery is the--"</p> + + <p>"Biggest straw in Dixie!" jeered Anna, grasping the paper, + which Constance half yielded with her eye still skimming its + columns.</p> + + <p>"Here it is!" cried both, and rose together.</p> + + <p>'"Final Figures of the St. Louis Hotel Free-Gift Lottery and + Bazaar'!" called Constance, while Anna's eyes flew over the + lines.</p> + + <p>"What are they?" exclaimed Miranda.</p> + + <p>"Oh, come and see! Just think, Nan: last May, in + Odd-Fellows' Hall, how proud we were of barely thirteen + thousand, and here are sixty-eight thousand dollars!"</p> + + <p>Anna pointed Miranda to a line, and Miranda, with their + cheeks together, read out: "'Is there no end to the liberality + of the Crescent City?'"</p> + + <p>"No-o!" cried gesturing Constance, "not while one house + stands on another! Why, 'Randa, though every hall and hotel + from here to Carrollton--"</p> + + <p>Anna beamingly laid her fingers on the lips of the + enthusiast: "Con!--Miranda!--<i>we</i> can have a bazaar right + in this house! Every friend we've got, and every friend of the + bat'--Oh, come in, Flora Valcour! you're just in the nick o' + time--a second Kirby Smith at Manassas!"</p> + + <p>Thus came the free-gift lottery and bazaar of Callender + House. For her own worth as well as to enlist certain valuable + folk from Mobile, Flora was, there and then--in caucus, as it + were--nominated chairman of everything. "Oh, no, no, no!"--"Oh, + yes, yes, yes!"--she "yielded at last to overpowering + numbers."</p> + + <p>But between this first rapturous inception and an + all-forenoon argumentation on its when, who, how, what, and for + what, other matters claimed notice. "Further news from Charlie! + How was his wound? What! a letter from his own hand--with full + account of--what was this one? not a pitched battle, + but--?"</p> + + <p>"Anyhow a victory!" cried Constance.</p> + + <p>"You know, Flora, don't you," asked Miranda, "that the + battery's ordered away across to Tennessee?"</p> + + <p>Flora was genuinely surprised.</p> + + <p>"Yes," put in Constance, "to rejoin Beauregard--and + Brodnax!"</p> + + <p>Flora turned to Anna: "You have that by letter?"</p> + + <p>"No!" was the too eager reply, "It's here in the morning + paper." They read the item. The visitor flashed as she dropped + the sheet.</p> + + <p>"Now I see!" she sorely cried, and tapped Charlie's folded + letter. "My God! Anna, wounded like that, Hilary Kincaid is + letting my brother go with them!"</p> + + <p>"Oh-h-h!" exclaimed the other two, "but--my dear! if he's so + much better that he can be allowed--"</p> + + <p>"Allowed!--and in those box-car'!--and with that + snow--rain--gangrene--lockjaw--my God! And when 'twas already + <i>arrange</i>' to bring him home!"</p> + + <p>Slow Callenders! not to notice the word "bring" in place of + "send": "Ah, good, Flora! ah, fine! You'll see! The dear boy's + coming that far with the battery only on his way home to + us!"</p> + + <p>"H-m-m!" Flora nodded in sore irony, but then smiled with + recovered poise: "From Tennessee who will bring him--before + they have firs' fight another battle?--and he--my + brother?"--her smile grew droll.</p> + + <p>"Your brother sure to be in it!" gasped Anna. The Callenders + looked heart-wrung, but Flora smiled on as she thought what + comfort it would be to give each of them some life-long + disfigurement.</p> + + <p>Suddenly Constance cheered up: "Flora, I've guessed + something! Yes, I've guessed who was intending--and, maybe, + still intends--to bring him!"</p> + + <p>Flora turned prettily to Anna: "Have you?"</p> + + <p>Quite as prettily Anna laughed. "Connie does the guessing + for the family," she said.</p> + + <p>Flora sparkled: "But don't you <i>know</i>--perchanze?"</p> + + <p>Anna laughed again and blushed to the throat as she + retorted, "What has that to do with our bazaar?"</p> + + <p>It had much to do with it.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXXV"></a> + + <h2>XXXV</h2> + + <h3>THE "SISTERS OF KINCAID'S BATTERY"</h3>A week or two ran + by, and now again it was March. Never an earlier twelvemonth + had the women of New Orleans--nor of any town or time--the + gentlewomen--spent in more unselfish or arduous toil. + + <p>At any rate so were flutteringly construed the crisp + declarations of our pale friend of old, Doctor Sevier, as in + Callender House he stood (with Anna seated half behind him as + near as flounced crinoline would allow) beside a small table + whose fragile beauty shared with hers the enthralled + contemplation of every member of a numerous flock that + nevertheless hung upon the Doctor's words; such a knack have + women of giving their undivided attention to several things at + once. Flora was getting her share.</p> + + <p>This, he said, was a women's--a gentlewomen's--war.</p> + + <p>"Ah!" A stir of assent ran through all the gathering. The + long married, the newly wed, the affianced, the suspected, the + débutantes, the post-marriageable, every one approved. + Yes, a gentlewomen's war--for the salvation of society!</p> + + <p>Hardly had this utterance thrilled round, however, when the + speaker fell into an error which compelled Anna softly to + interrupt, her amazed eyes and protesting smile causing a + general hum of amusement and quickening of fans. "No-o!" she + whispered to him, "she was not chairman of the L.S.C.A., but + only one small secretary of that vast body, and chairman pro + tem.--nothing more!--of this mere contingent of it, these + 'Sisters of Kincaid's Battery.'"</p> + + <p>Pro tem., nothing more! But that is how--silly little + Victorine leading the hue and cry which suddenly overwhelmed + all counter-suggestion as a levee crevasse sweeps away + sand-bags--that is how the permanent and combined chairmanship + of Sisters and Bazaar came to be forcibly thrust upon Anna + instead of Flora.</p> + + <p>Experienced after Odd-Fellows' Hall and St. Louis Hotel, the + ladies were able to take up this affair as experts. Especially + they had learned how to use men; to make them as handy as--"as + hairpins," prompted Miranda, to whom Anna had whispered it; and + of men they needed all they could rally, to catch the first + impact of the vast and chaotic miscellany of things which would + be poured into their laps, so to speak, and upon their heads: + bronzes, cutlery, blankets, watches, thousands of brick (orders + on the brick-yards for them, that is), engravings, pianos, + paintings, books, cosmetics, marbles, building lots (their + titles), laces, porcelain, glass, alabaster, bales of cotton, + big bank checks, hair flowers, barouches, bonds, shawls, + carvings, shell-work boxes, jewellery, silks, ancestral relics, + curios from half round the world, wax fruits, tapestries, and + loose sapphires, diamonds, rubies, and pearls. The Callenders + and Valcours could see, in fancy, all the first chaos of it and + all the fair creation that was to arise from it.</p> + + <p>What joy of planning! The grove should be ruddy with + pine-knot flares perched high, and be full of luminous tents + stocked with stuffs for sale at the most patriotic prices by + Zingaras, Fatimas, and Scheherazades. All the walks of the + garden would be canopied with bunting and gemmed with candles + blinking like the fireflies round that bower of roses by + Bendermere's stream. The verandas would be enclosed in canvas + and be rich in wares, textiles, and works of art. Armed + sentries from that splendid command, the Crescent Regiment, + would be everywhere in the paved and latticed basement (gorged + with wealth), and throughout the first and second floors. The + centrepiece in the arrangement of the double drawing-rooms + would be a great field-piece, one of Hilary's casting, on its + carriage, bright as gold, and flanked with stacks of muskets. + The leading item in the hall would be an allegorical + painting--by a famous Creole artist of nearly sixty years + earlier--Louisiana Refusing to Enter the Union. Glass cases + borrowed of merchants, milliners and apothecaries would receive + the carefully classified smaller gifts of rare value, and a + committee of goldsmiths, art critics, and auctioneers, would + set their prices. If one of those torrential + hurricanes--however, there came none.</p> + + <p>How much, now, could they hope to clear? Well, the women of + Alabama, to build a gun-boat, had raised two hundred thousand + dollars, and--</p> + + <p>"They will 'ave to raise mo'," twittered Madame Valcour, "if + New Orleans fall'."</p> + + <p>"She will not fall," remarked Anna from the chair, and there + was great applause, as great as lace mitts could make.</p> + + <p>Speaking of that smaller stronghold, Flora had a capital + suggestion: Let this enterprise be named "for the common + defence." Then, in the barely conceivable event of the city's + fall, should the proceeds still be in women's hands--and it + might be best to keep them so--let them go to the defence of + Mobile!</p> + + <p>Another idea--Miranda's and Victorine's--quite as gladly + accepted, and they two elected to carry it out--was, to + compile, from everybody's letters, a history of the battery, to + be sold at the bazaar. The large price per copy which that work + commanded was small compared with what it would bring now.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXXVI"></a> + + <h2>XXXVI</h2> + + <h3>THUNDER-CLOUD AND SUNBURST</h3>Could they have known half + the toil, care, and trial the preparation of this Bazaar was to + cost their friends, apologized the Callenders as it neared + completion, they would never have dared propose it. + + <p>But the smiling reply was Spartan: "Oh! what are such + trifles when we think how our own fathers, husbands, and + brothers have suffered--even in victory!" The "Sisters" were + still living on last summer's glory, and only by such + indirections alluded to defeats.</p> + + <p>Anna smiled as brightly as any, while through her mind + flitted spectral visions of the secondary and so needless + carnage in those awful field-hospitals behind the battles, and + of the storms so likely to follow the fights, when the midnight + rain came down in sheets on the wounded still lying among the + dead. On all the teeming, bleeding front no father, husband, or + brother was hers, but amid the multitudinous exploits and + agonies her thoughts were ever on him who, by no tie but the + heart's, had in the past year grown to be father, mother, + sister, and brother to the superb hundred whom she so tenderly + knew, who so worshipingly knew her, and still whose lives, at + every chance, he was hurling at the foe as stones from a + sling.</p> + + <p>"After all, in these terrible time'," remarked Miss Valcour + in committee of the whole--last session before the public + opening--"any toil, even look' at selfishly, is better than to + be idle."</p> + + <p>"As if you ever looked at anything selfishly!" said a + matron, and there was a patter of hands.</p> + + <p>"Or as if she were ever in danger of being idle!" fondly put + in a young battery sister.</p> + + <p>As these two rattled and crashed homeward in a deafening + omnibus they shouted further comments to each other on this + same subject. It was strange, they agreed, to see Miss Valcour, + right through the midst of these terrible times, grow daily + handsomer. Concerning Anna, they were of two opinions. The + matron thought that at moments Anna seemed to have aged three + years in one, while, to the girl it appeared that her + beauty--Anna's--had actually increased; taken a deeper tone, + "or something." This huge bazaar business, they screamed, was + something a girl like Anna should never have been allowed to + undertake.</p> + + <p>"And yet," said the matron on second thought, "it may really + have helped her to bear up."</p> + + <p>"Against what?"</p> + + <p>"Oh,--all our general disturbance and distress, but the + battery's in particular. You know its very guns are, as we may + say, hers, and everything that happens around them, or to any + one who belongs to them in field, camp, or hospital, happens, + in her feeling, to her."</p> + + <p>The girl interrupted with a knowing touch: "You realize + there's something else, don't you?"</p> + + <p>Her companion showed pain: "Yes, but--I hoped you hadn't + heard of it. I can't bear to talk about it. I know how common + it is for men and girls to trifle with each other, but for such + as he--who had the faith of all of us, yes, and of all his men, + that he wasn't as other men are--for Hilary Kincaid to dawdle + with Anna--with Anna Callender--"</p> + + <p>"Oh!" broke in the girl, a hot blush betraying her own + heart, "I don't think you've got the thing right at all. Why, + it's Anna who's making the trouble! The dawdling is all hers! + Oh, I have it from the best authority, though I'm not at + liberty--"</p> + + <p>"My dear girl, you've been misled. The fault is all his. I + know it from one who can't be mistaken."</p> + + <p>The damsel blushed worse. "Well, at any rate," she said, + "the case doesn't in any slightest way involve Miss + Valcour."</p> + + <p>"Oh, I know that!" was the cocksure reply as they alighted + in Canal Street to take an up-town mule-car.</p> + + <p>Could Madame and Flora have overheard, how they would have + smiled to each other.</p> + + <p>With now a wary forward step and now a long pause, and now + another short step and another pause, Hilary, in his letters to + Anna, despite Flora's often successful contrivings, had + ventured back toward that understanding for which the souls of + both were starving, until at length he had sent one which + seemed, itself, to kneel, for him, at her feet--would have + seemed, had it not miscarried. But, by no one's craft, merely + through the "terribleness" of the times, it had gone forever + astray. When, not knowing this, he despatched another, this + latter had promptly arrived, but its unintelligible allusions + to lines in the lost forerunner were unpardonable for lack of + that forerunner's light, and it contained especially one + remark--trivial enough--which, because written in the + irrepressible facetiousness so inborn in him, but taken, alas! + in the ineradicable earnest so natural to her, had compelled + her to reply in words which made her as they went, and him as + they smote him, seem truly to have "aged three years in one." + Yet hardly had they left her before you would have said she had + recovered the whole three years and a fraction over, on finding + a postscript, till then most unaccountably overlooked, which + said that its writer had at that moment been ordered (as soon + as he could accomplish this and that and so and so) to hasten + home to recruit the battery with men of his own choice, and + incidentally to bring the wounded Charlie with him. Such + godsends raise the spring-tides of praise and human kindness in + us, and it was on the very next morning, after finding that + postscript, that there had come to Anna her splendid first + thought of the Bazaar.</p> + + <p>And now behold it, a visible reality! Unlighted as yet, + unpeopled, but gorgeous, multiform, sentinelled, and ready, it + needed but the touch of the taper to set forth all the glories + of art and wealth tenfolded by self-sacrifice for a hallowed + cause. Here was the Bazaar, and yonder, far away on the + southern border of Tennessee, its wasted ranks still spruce in + their tatters, the battery; iron-hearted Bartleson in command; + its six yellow daughters of destruction a trifle black in the + lips, but bright on the cheeks and virgins all; Charlie on the + roster though not in sight, the silken-satin standard well in + view, rent and pierced, but showing seven red days of valor + legended on its folds, and with that white-moustached old + centaur, Maxime, still upholding it in action and review.</p> + + <p>Intermediate, there, yonder, and here, from the farthest + Mississippi State line clear down to New Orleans, were the + camps of instruction, emptying themselves northward, pouring + forth infantry, cavalry, artillery by every train that could be + put upon the worn-out rails and by every main-travelled wagon + road. But homeward-bound Charlie and his captain, where were + they? Irby knew.</p> + + <p>Flora, we have seen, had been willing, eager, for them to + come--to arrive; not because Charlie, but because his captain, + was one of the two. But Irby, never sure of her, and forever + jealous of the ladies' man, had contrived, in a dull way, to + detain the home-comers in mid-journey, with telegraphic orders + to see here a commandant and there a factory of arms and hurry + men and munitions to the front. So he killed time and tortured + hope for several hearts, and that was a comfort in itself.</p> + + <p>However, here was the Bazaar. After all, its sentinels were + not of the Crescent Regiment, for the same grave reason which + postponed the opening until to-morrow; the fact that to-day + that last flower of the city's young high-life was leaving for + the fields of war, as Kincaid's Battery had left in the + previous spring. Yet, oh, how differently! Again up St. Charles + Street and down Calliope the bands played, the fifes squealed; + once more the old men marched ahead, opened ranks, let the + serried youngsters through and waved and hurrahed and kissed + and wept; but all in a new manner, far more poignant than the + earlier. God only knew what was to happen now, to those who + went or to those who stayed, or where or how any two of them + should ever meet again. The Callenders, as before, were there. + Anna had come definitely resolved to give one particular + beardless Dick Smith a rousing kiss, purely to nullify that + guilty one of last year. But when the time came she could not, + the older one had made it impossible; and when the returning + bands broke out--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Charlie is my darling! my + darling! my darling!"</span></p> + + <p>and the tears came dripping from under Connie's veil and + Victorine's and Miranda's and presently her own, she was glad + of the failure.</p> + + <p>As they were driving homeward across Canal Street, she + noted, out beyond the Free Market, a steamboat softly picking + its way in to the levee. Some coal-barges were there, she + remembered, lading with pitch-pine and destined as fire-ships, + by that naval lieutenant of the despatch-boat whom we know, + against the Federal fleet lying at the head of the passes.</p> + + <p>The coachman named the steamer to Constance: "Yass, 'm, de + ole <i>Genl al Quitman</i>; dass her."</p> + + <p>"From Vicksburg and the Bends!" cried the inquirer. "Why, + who knows but Charlie Val--?"</p> + + <p>With both hands she clutched Miranda and Victorine, and + brightened upon Anna.</p> + + <p>"And Flora not with us!" was the common lament.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXXVII"></a> + + <h2>XXXVII</h2> + + <h3>"TILL HE SAID, 'I'M COME HAME, MY LOVE'"</h3>How absurdly + poor the chance! Yet they bade the old coachman turn that way, + and indeed the facts were better than the hope of any one of + them. Charlie, very gaunt and battered, but all the more + enamored of himself therefor and for the new chevrons of a gun + corporal on his dingy sleeve, was actually aboard that boat. In + one of the small knots of passengers on her boiler deck he was + modestly companioning with a captain of infantry and two of + staff, while they now exchanged merry anecdotes of the awful + retreat out of Tennessee into Mississippi, now grimly damned + this or that bad strategy, futile destruction, or horrible + suffering, now re-discussed the comical chances of a bet of + General Brodnax's, still pending, and now, with the crowd, + moved downstairs to the freight deck as the boat began to nose + the wharf. + + <p>Meanwhile the Callenders' carriage had made easy speed. + Emerging by the Free Market, it met an open hack carrying six + men. At the moment every one was cringing in a squall of dust, + but as well as could be seen these six were the driver, a + colored servant at his side, an artillery corporal, and three + officers. Some army wagons hauling pine-knots to the fire-fleet + compelled both carriages to check up. Thereupon, the gust + passing and Victorine getting a better glance at the men, she + tossed both hands, gave a stifled cry and began to laugh + aloud.</p> + + <p>"Charlie!" cried Anna. "Steve!" cried Constance.</p> + + <p>"And Captain Irby!" remarked Miranda.</p> + + <p>The infantry captain, a transient steamboat acquaintance, + used often afterward to say that he never saw anything prettier + than those four wildly gladdened ladies unveiling in the shade + of their parasols. I doubt if he ever did. He talked with Anna, + who gave him so sweet an attention that he never suspected she + was ravenously taking in every word the others dropped behind + her.</p> + + <p>"But where he is, that Captain Kincaid?" asked Victorine of + Charlie a second time.</p> + + <p>"Well, really," stammered the boy at last, "we--we can't + say, just now, where he is."</p> + + <p>("He's taken prisoner!" wailed Anna's heart while she let + the infantry captain tell her that hacks, in Nashville on the + Sunday after Donelson, were twenty-five dollars an hour.)</p> + + <p>"He means," she heard Mandeville put in, "he + means--Charlie--only that we <i>muz</i> not tell. 'Tis a + sicret."</p> + + <p>"You've sent him into the enemy's lines!" cried Constance to + Irby in one of her intuitions.</p> + + <p>"We?" responded the grave Irby, "No, not we."</p> + + <p>"Captain Mandeville," exclaimed Victorine, "us, you don't + need to tell us some white lies."</p> + + <p>The Creole shrugged: "We are telling you only the whitess we + can!"</p> + + <p>("Yes," the infantry captain said, "with Memphis we should + lose the largest factory of cartridges in the + Confederacy.")</p> + + <p>But this was no place for parleying. So while the man next + the hack-driver, ordered by Mandeville and laden with + travelling-bags, climbed to a seat by the Callenders' coachman + the aide-de-camp crowded in between Constance and Victorine, + the equipage turned from the remaining soldiers, and off the + ladies spun for home, Anna and Miranda riding backward to have + the returned warrior next his doting wife. Victorine was + dropped on the way at the gate of her cottage. When the others + reached the wide outer stair of their own veranda, and the + coachman's companion had sprung down and opened the carriage, + Mandeville was still telling of Mandeville, and no gentle + hearer had found any chance to ask further about that missing + one of whom the silentest was famishing to know whatever--good + or evil--there was to tell. Was Steve avoiding their inquiries? + wondered Anna.</p> + + <p>Up the steps went first the married pair, the wife lost in + the hero, the hero in himself. Was he, truly? thought Anna, or + was he only trying, kindly, to appear so? The ever-smiling + Miranda followed. A step within the house Mandeville, with eyes + absurdly aflame, startled first his wife by clutching her arm, + and then Miranda by beckoning them into a door at their right, + past unheeded treasures of the Bazaar, and to a front window. + Yet through its blinds they could discover only what they had + just left; the carriage, with Anna still in it, the garden, the + grove, an armed soldier on guard at the river gate, another at + the foot of the steps, a third here at the top.</p> + + <p>It was good to Anna to rest her head an instant on the + cushioning behind it and close her eyes. With his rag of a hat + on the ground and his head tightly wrapped in the familiar + Madras kerchief of the slave deck-hand, the attendant at the + carriage side reverently awaited the relifting of her lids. The + old coachman glanced back on her.</p> + + <p>"Missy?" he tenderly ventured. But the lids still drooped, + though she rose.</p> + + <p>"Watch out fo' de step," said the nearer man. His tone was + even more musically gentle than the other's, yet her eyes + instantly opened into his and she started so visibly that her + foot half missed and she had to catch his saving hand.</p> + + <p>"Stiddy! stiddy!" He slowly let the cold, slim fingers out + of his as she started on, but she swayed again and he sprang + and retook them. For half a breath she stared at him like a + wild bird shot, glanced at the sentinels, below, above, and + then pressed up the stair.</p> + + <p>Constance, behind the shutters, wept. "Go away," she pleaded + to her husband, "oh, go away!" but pushed him without effect + and peered down again. "He's won!" she exclaimed in soft + ecstasy, "he's won at last!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, he's win!" hoarsely whispered the aide-de-camp. "He's + win the bet!"</p> + + <p>Constance flashed indignantly: "What has he bet?"</p> + + <p>"Bet. 'He has bet three-ee général' he'll pazz + down Canal Street and through the middl' of the city, + unreco'nize! And now he's done it, they'll let him do the + rest!" From his Creole eyes the enthusiast blazed a complete + argument, that an educated commander, so disguised and + traversing an enemy's camp, can be worth a hundred of the + common run who go by the hard name of spy, and may decide the + fortunes of a whole campaign: "They'll let him! and he'll get + the prom-otion!"</p> + + <p>"Ho-oh!" breathed the two women, "he's getting all the + promotion <i>he</i> wants, right now!" The three heard Anna + pass into the front drawing-room across the hall, the carriage + move off and the disguised man enter the hall and set down the + travelling-bags. They stole away through the library and up a + rear stair.</p> + + <p>It was not yet late enough to set guards within the house. + No soul was in the drawing-rooms. In the front one, on its big + wheels between two stacks of bayoneted rifles, beneath a + splendor of flags and surrounded by innumerable costly + offerings, rested as mutely as a seated idol that superior + engine of death and woe, the great brass gun. Anna stole to it, + sunk on her knees, crossed her trembling arms about its neck + and rested her brow on its face.</p> + + <p>She heard the tread in the hall, quaked to rise and flee, + and yet could not move. It came upon the threshold and paused. + "Anna," said the voice that had set her heart on fire across + the carriage step. She sprang up, faced round, clutched the + great gun, and stood staring. Her follower was still in slave + garb, but now for the first time he revealed his full stature. + His black locks were free and the "Madras" dropped from his + fingers to the floor. He advanced a pace or two.</p> + + <p>"Anna," he said again, "Anna Callender,"--he came another + step--"I've come back, Anna, to--to--" he drew a little nearer. + She gripped the gun.</p> + + <p>He lighted up drolly: "Don't you know what I've come for? I + didn't know, myself, till just now, or I shouldn't have come in + this rig, though many a better man's in worse these days. I + didn't know--because--I couldn't hope. I've come--" he stole + close--his arms began to lift--she straightened to her full + height, but helplessly relaxed as he smiled down upon it.</p> + + <p>"I've come not just to get your promise, Anna Callender, but + to muster you in; to <i>marry</i> you."</p> + + <p>She flinched behind the gun's muzzle in resentful affright. + He lowered his palms in appeal to her wisdom. "It's the right + thing, Anna, the only safe way! I've known it was, ever since + Steve Mandeville's wedding. Oh! it takes a colossal assurance + to talk to you so, Anna Callender, but I've got the <i>colossal + assurance</i>. I've got that, beloved, and you've got all the + rest--my heart--my soul--my life. Give me yours."</p> + + <p>Anna had shrunk in against the farther wheel, but now + rallied and moved a step forward. "Let me pass," she begged. + "Give me a few moments to myself. You can wait here. I'll come + back."</p> + + <p>He made room. She moved by. But hardly had she passed when a + soft word stopped her. She turned inquiringly and the next + instant--Heaven only knows if first on his impulse or on + hers--she was in his arms, half stifled on his breast, and + hanging madly from his neck while his kisses fell upon her + brow--temples--eyes--and rested on her lips.</p> + + <p>Flora sat reading a note just come from that same "A.C." Her + brother had gone to call on Victorine. Irby had just bade the + reader good-by, to return soon and go with her to Callender + House to see the Bazaar. Madame Valcour turned from a window + with a tart inquiry:<br> + <a name="In_his_arms_illustration"></a></p> + + <center> + <img src="images/illp194.jpg" + alt="And the next instant she was in his arms" + height="1138" + width="700"> + </center>"And all you had to do was to say yes to him?" + + <p>"That would have been much," absently replied the reader, + turning a page.</p> + + <p>"'Twould have been little!--to make him rich!--and us + also!"</p> + + <p>"Not us," said the abstracted girl; "me." Something in the + missive caused her brows to knit.</p> + + <p>"And still you trifle!" nagged the grandam, "while I starve! + And while at any instant may arrive--humph--that other + fool."</p> + + <p>Even this did not draw the reader's glance. "No." she + responded. "He cannot. Irby and Charlie lied to us. He is + already here." She was re-reading.</p> + + <p>The grandmother stared, tossed a hand and moved across the + floor. As she passed near the girl's slippered foot it darted + out, tripped her and would have sent her headlong, but she + caught by the lamp table. Flora smiled with a strange whiteness + round the lips. Madame righted the shaken lamp, quietly asking, + "Did you do that--h-m-m--for hate of the lady, or, eh, the + ladies' man?"</p> + + <p>"The latter," said the reabsorbed girl.</p> + + <p>"Strange," sighed the other, "how we can have--at the same + time--for the same one--both feelings."</p> + + <p>But Flora's ears were closed. "Well," she audibly mused, + "he'll get a recall."</p> + + <p>"Even if it must be forged?" twittered the dame.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXXVIII"></a> + + <h2>XXXVIII</h2> + + <h3>ANNA'S OLD JEWELS</h3>A Reporters' heaven, the Bazaar. So + on its opening night Hilary named it to Flora. + + <p>"A faerye realm," the scribes themselves itemed it; "myriad + lights--broad staircases gracef'y asc'd'g--ravish'g + perfumes--met our gaze--garlandries of laurel and + magn'a--prom'd'g from room to room--met our gaze--directed by + masters of cerem'y in Conf'te G'd's unif'm--here turn'g to the + right--fair women and brave men--carried thither by the dense + throng--music with its volup's swell--met our gaze--again + descend'g--arriv'g at din'g-hall--new scene of ench't + bursts--refr't tables--enarched with ev'gr's and decked with + labarums and burgees--thence your way lies through--costly + volumes and shimm'g bijoutries--met our gaze!"</p> + + <p>It was Kincaid who saw their laborious office in this + flippant light, and so presented it to Anna that she laughed + till she wept; laughing was now so easy. But when they saw one + of the pencillers writing awkwardly with his left hand, aided + by half a right arm in a pinned-up sleeve, her mirth had a + sudden check. Yet presently it became a proud thrill, as the + poor boy glowed with delight while Hilary stood and talked with + him of the fearful Virginia day on which that ruin had befallen + him at Hilary's own side in Kincaid's Battery, and then brought + him to converse with her. This incident may account for the + fervor with which a next morning's report extolled the wonders + of the "fair chairman's" administrative skill and the matchless + and most opportune executive supervision of Captain Hilary + Kincaid. Flora read it with interest.</p> + + <p>With interest of a different kind she read in a later issue + another passage, handed her by the grandmother with the remark, + "to warn you, my dear." The matter was a frothy bit of tragical + romancing, purporting to have been gathered from two detectives + out of their own experience of a year or so before, about a + gift made to the Bazaar by Captain Kincaid, which had--"met our + gaze jealously guarded under glass amid a brilliant collection + of reliques, jewels, and bric-à-brac; a large, + evil-looking knife still caked with the mud of the deadly + affray, but bearing legibly in Italian on its blade the + inscription, 'He who gets me in his body never need take a + medicine,' and with a hilt and scabbard encrusted with + gems."</p> + + <p>Now, one of the things that made Madame Valcour good company + among gentlewomen was her authoritative knowledge of precious + stones. So when Flora finished reading and looked up, and the + grandmother faintly smiled and shook her head, both + understood.</p> + + <p>"Paste?"</p> + + <p>"Mostly."</p> + + <p>"And the rest--not worth--?"</p> + + <p>"Your stealing," simpered the connoisseur, and, reading, + herself, added meditatively, "I should hate anyhow, for you to + have that thing. The devil would be always at your ear."</p> + + <p>"Whispering--what?"</p> + + <p>The grandmother shrugged: "That depends. I look to see you + rise, yet, to some crime of dignity; something really tragic + and Italian. Whereas at present--" she pursed her lips and + shrugged again.</p> + + <p>The girl blandly laughed: "You venerable ingrate!"</p> + + <p>At the Bazaar that evening, when Charlie and grandma and the + crowd were gone, Flora handled the unlovely curiosity. She and + Irby had seen Hilary and Anna and the Hyde & Goodrich man + on guard just there draw near the glass case where it lay "like + a snake on a log," as Charlie had said, take it in their hands + and talk of it. The jeweller was expressing confidentially a + belief that it had once been set with real stones, and Hilary + was privately having a sudden happy thought, when Flora and + Adolphe came up only in time to hear the goldsmith's statement + of its present poor value.</p> + + <p>"But surely," said Kincaid, "this old jewellery lying all + about it here--."</p> + + <p>"That? that's the costliest gift in the Bazaar!"</p> + + <p>Irby inquired whose it was, Anna called it anonymous, and + Flora, divining that the giver was Anna, felt herself + outrageously robbed. As the knife was being laid back in place + she recalled, with odd interest, her grandmother's mention of + the devil, and remembered a time or two when for a moment she + had keenly longed for some such bit of steel; something much + more slender, maybe, and better fitting a dainty hand, but + quite as long and sharp. A wave from this thought may have + prompted Anna's request that the thing be brought forth again + and Flora allowed to finger it; but while this was being done + Flora's main concern was to note how the jeweller worked the + hidden spring by which he opened the glass case. As she finally + gave up the weapon: "Thank you," she sweetly said to both Anna + and Hilary, but with a meaning reserved to herself.</p> + + <p>You may remember how once she had gone feeling and prying + along the fair woodwork of these rooms for any secret of + construction it might hold. Lately, when the house began to + fill with secretable things of large money value, she had done + this again, and this time, in one side of a deep + chimney-breast, had actually found a most innocent-looking + panel which she fancied to be kept from sliding only by its + paint. Now while she said her sweet thanks to Anna and Hilary + she could almost believe in fairies, the panel was so near the + store of old jewels. With the knife she might free the panel, + and behind the panel hide the jewels till their scent grew + cold, to make them her bank account when all the banks should + be broken, let the city fall or stand. No one need ever notice, + so many were parting with their gems perforce, so many buying + them as a form of asset convenient for flight. So good-night, + old dagger and jewels; see you again, but don't overdo your + limited importance. Of the weapon Flora had further learned + that it was given not to the Bazaar but to Anna, and of the + jewels that they were not in that lottery of everything, with + which the affair was to end and the proceeds of whose tickets + were pouring in upon Anna, acting treasurer, the treasurer + being ill.</p> + + <p>Tormentingly in Hilary's way was this Lottery and Bazaar. + Even from Anna, sometimes especially from Anna, he could not + understand why certain things must not be told or certain + things could not be done until this Bazaar--etc. Why, at any + hour he might be recalled! Yes, Anna saw that--through very + moist eyes. True, also, she admitted, Beauregard and Johnston + <i>might</i> fail to hold off Buell and Grant; and true, as + well, New Orleans <i>could</i> fall, and might be sacked. It + was while confessing this that with eyes down and bosom heaving + she accepted the old Italian knife. Certainly unless the + pooh-poohing Mandeville was wrong, who declared the forts down + the river impregnable and Beauregard, on the Tennessee, + invincible, flight (into the Confederacy) was safest--but--the + Bazaar first, flight afterward. "We women," she said, rising + close before him with both hands in his, "must stand by + <i>our</i> guns. We've no more right"--it was difficult to talk + while he kissed her fingers and pressed her palms to his gray + breast--"no more right--to be cowards--than you men."</p> + + <p>Her touch brought back his lighter mood and he told the + happy thought--project--which had come to him while they talked + with the jeweller. He could himself "do the job," he said, + "roughly but well enough." Anna smiled at the fanciful scheme. + Yet--yes, its oddity was in its favor. So many such devices + were succeeding, some of them to the vast advantage of the + Southern cause.</p> + + <p>When Flora the next evening stole a passing glance at the + ugly trinket in its place she was pleased to note how well it + retained its soilure of clay. For she had that day used it to + free the panel, behind which she had found a small recess so + fitted to her want that she had only to replace panel and tool + and await some chance in the closing hours of the show. Pleased + she was, too, to observe that the old jewels lay in a careless + heap. Now to conceal all interest and to divert all eyes, even + grandmama's! Thus, however, night after night an odd fact + eluded her: That Anna and her hero, always singly, and + themselves careful to lure others away, glimpsed that + disordered look of the gems and unmolested air of the knife + with a content as purposeful as her own. Which fact meant, when + came the final evening, that at last every sham jewel in the + knife's sheath had exchanged places with a real one from the + loose heap, while, nestling between two layers of the sheath's + material, reposed, payable to bearer, a check on London for + thousands of pounds sterling. Very proud was Anna of her + lover's tremendous versatility and craftsmanship.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XXXIX"></a> + + <h2>XXXIX</h2> + + <h3>TIGHT PINCH</h3>From Camp Villeré, close below small + Camp Callender, one more last regiment--Creoles--was to have + gone that afternoon to the Jackson Railroad Station and take + train to join their Creole Beauregard for the defence of their + own New Orleans. + + <p>More than a day's and a night's journey away was "Corinth," + the village around which he had gathered his forces, but every + New Orleans man and boy among them knew, and every mother and + sister here in New Orleans knew, that as much with those men + and boys as with any one anywhere, lay the defence and + deliverance of this dear Crescent City. With Grant swept back + from the Tennessee, and the gunboats that threatened Island Ten + and Memphis sunk, blown up; or driven back into the Ohio, New + Orleans, they believed, could jeer at Farragut down at the + Passes and at Butler out on horrid Ship Island. "And so can + Mobile," said the Callenders to the Valcours.</p> + + <p>"The fortunes of our two cities are one!" cried Constance, + and the smiling Valcours were inwardly glad to assent, + believing New Orleans doomed, and remembering their Mobile home + burned for the defence of the two cities of one fortune.</p> + + <p>However, the Camp Villeré regiment had not got off, + but would move at midnight. On the train with them Hilary was + sending recruits to the battery, younger brothers of those who + had gone the year before. He had expected to conduct, not send, + them, but important work justified--as Anna told Flora--his + lingering until his uncle should bid him come. Which bidding + Irby might easily have incited, by telegraph, had Flora let + him. But Flora's heart was too hopelessly entangled to release + Hilary even for the gain of separating him from Anna; and + because it was so entangled (and with her power to plot caught + in the tangle), she was learning to hate with a distemper of + passion that awed even herself.</p> + + <p>"But I must clear out mighty soon," said Hilary that evening + to Greenleaf, whose exchange he had procured at last and, + rather rashly, was taking him to Callender House to say + good-by. They talked of Anna. Greenleaf knew the paramount + secret; had bravely given his friend a hand on it the day he + was told. Now Hilary said he had been begging her again for + practical steps, and the manly loser commended.</p> + + <p>"But think of that from me, Fred! who one year ago--you know + how I talked--about Steve, for instance. Shame!--how reckless + war's made us. Here we are, by millions, in a perpetual crash + of victory and calamity, and yet--take me for an example--in + spite of me my one devouring anxiety--that wakes me up in the + night and gives me dreams in the day--is how to get her before + this next battle get's me. Yes, the instant I'm ordered I go, + and if I'm not ordered soon I go anyhow. I wouldn't have my + boys"--etc.</p> + + <p>And still the prison-blanched Greenleaf approved. But the + next revelation reddened his brow: Anna, Hilary said, had at + last "come round--knuckled down! Yes, sir-ee, cav-ed in!" and + this evening, after the Bazaar, to a few younger sisters of the + battery whom she would ask to linger for a last waltz with + their young heroes, she would announce her engagement and her + purpose to be wed in a thrillingly short time.</p> + + <p>The two men found the Bazaar so amusingly collapsed that, as + Hilary said, you could spell it with a small b. A stream of + vehicles coming and going had about emptied the house and + grounds. No sentries saluted, no music chimed. In the + drawing-rooms the brass gun valiantly held its ground, but one + or two domestics clearing litter from the floors seemed quite + alone there, and some gay visitors who still tarried in the + library across the hall were hardly enough to crowd it. "Good," + said Hilary beside the field-piece. "You wait here and I'll + bring the Callenders as they can come."</p> + + <p>But while he went for them whom should Greenleaf light upon + around a corner of the panelled chimney-breast but that secret + lover of the Union and all its defenders, Mademoiselle Valcour. + Her furtive cordiality was charming as she hurriedly gave and + withdrew a hand in joy for his liberation.</p> + + <p>"Taking breath out of the social rapids?" he softly + inquired.</p> + + <p>"Ah, more! 'Tis from that deluge of--"</p> + + <p>He understood her emotional gesture. It meant that deluge of + disloyalty--rebellion--there across the hall, and all through + this turbulent city and land. But it meant, too, that they must + not be seen to parley alone, and he had turned away, when + Miranda, to Flora's disgust, tripped in upon them with her nose + in full wrinkle, archly surprised to see Flora here, and + proposing to hale both into the general throng to applaud + Anna's forthcoming "proclamation!"</p> + + <p>Greenleaf de trop? Ah, nay! not if he could keep the old + Greenleaf poise! and without words her merry nose added that + his presence would only give happier point to what every one + regarded as a great Confederate victory. At a subtle sign from + Flora the hostess and he went, expecting her to follow.</p> + + <p>But Flora was in a perilous strait. Surprised by Hilary's + voice, with the panel open and the knife laid momentarily in + the recess that both hands might bring the jewels from the + case, she had just closed the opening with the dagger inside + when Greenleaf confronted her. Now, in this last instant of + opportunity at his and Miranda's back, should she only replace + the weapon or still dare the theft? At any rate the panel must + be reopened. But when she would have slid it her dainty fingers + failed, failed, failed until a cold damp came to her brow and + she trembled. Yet saunteringly she stepped to the show-case, + glancing airily about. The servants had gone. She glided back, + but turned to meet another footfall, possibly Kincaid's, and + felt her anger rise against her will as she confronted only the + inadequate Irby. A sudden purpose filled her, and before he + could speak:</p> + + <p>"Go!" she said, "telegraph your uncle! instantly!"</p> + + <p>"I've done so."</p> + + <p>Her anger mutinied again: "Without consult'--! And since + when?"</p> + + <p>"This morning."</p> + + <p>She winced yet smiled: "And still--your cousin--he's + receive' no order?" Her fingers tingled to maim some one--this + dolt--anybody! Her eyes sweetened.</p> + + <p>Irby spoke: "The order has come, but--"</p> + + <p>"What! you have not given it?"</p> + + <p>"Flora, it includes me! Ah, for one more evening with you I + am risking--"</p> + + <p>Her look grew fond though she made a gesture of despair: + "Oh, short-sighted! Go, give it him! Go!"</p> + + <p>Across the hall a prolonged carol of acclamation, + confabulation, laughter, and cries of "Ah-r, indeed!" told that + Anna's word was out. "What difference," Irby lingered to ask, + "can an hour or two between trains--?"</p> + + <p>But the throng was upon them. "We don't know!" cried Flora. + "Give it him! We don't know!" and barely had time herself to + force a light laugh when here were Charlie and Victorine, + Hilary, Anna, Miranda, Madame, Constance, Mandeville, and + twenty others.</p> + + <p>"Fred!" called Hilary. His roaming look found the gray + detective: "Where's Captain Greenleaf?"</p> + + <p>"Gone."</p> + + <p>"With never a word of good-by? Oh, bless my soul, he + <i>did</i> say good-by!" There was a general laugh. "But this + won't do. It's not safe for him--"</p> + + <p>The gray man gently explained that his younger associate was + with Greenleaf as bodyguard. The music of harp and violins + broke out and dancers swept round the brass gun and up and down + the floors.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XL"></a> + + <h2>XL</h2> + + <h3>THE LICENSE, THE DAGGER</h3>Hilary had bent an arm around + Anna when Flora called his name. Irby handed him the order. A + glance made it clear. Its reader cast a wide look over the + heads of the dancers and lifting the missive high beckoned with + it to Mandeville. Then he looked for some one else: "Charlie!" + + <p>"Out on the veranda," said a passing dancer.</p> + + <p>"Send him here!" The commander's eye came back to Irby: "Old + man, how long have you had this?"</p> + + <p>"About an hour."</p> + + <p>"Oh, my stars, Adolphe, you should have told me!"</p> + + <p>It was a fair sight, though maddening to Flora yonder by the + glass case, to see the two cousins standing eye to eye, + Hilary's brow dark with splendid concern while without a glance + at Anna he passed her the despatch and she read it.</p> + + <p>"Steve," he said, as the Mandeville pair pressed up, "look + at that! boots-and-saddles! now! to-night! for you and Adolphe + and me! Yes, Charlie, and you; go, get your things and put + Jerry on the train with mine."</p> + + <p>The boy's partner was Victorine. Before she could gasp he + had kissed her. Amid a laugh that stopped half the dance he + waved one farewell to sister, grandmother and all and sprang + away. "Dance on, fellows," called Hilary, "this means only that + I'm going with you." The lads cheered and the dance + revived.</p> + + <p>Their captain turned: "Miss Flora, I promised your brother + he should go whenever--"</p> + + <p>"But me al-<i>so</i> you promised!" she interrupted, and a + fair sight also, grievous to Irby, startling to Anna, were this + pair, standing eye to eye.</p> + + <p>"Yes," replied Kincaid, "and I'll keep my word. In any + extremity you shall come to him."</p> + + <p>"As likewise my wive to me!" said the swelling Mandeville, + openly caressing the tearful Constance. "Wive to 'usband," he + declaimed, "sizter to brother--" But his audience was lost. + Hilary was speaking softly to Anna. She was very pale. The + throng drew away. You could see that he was asking if she only + could in no extremity come to him. His words were inaudible, + but any one who had ever loved could read them. And now + evidently he proposed something. There was ardor in his + eye--ardor and enterprise. She murmured a response. He snatched + out his watch.</p> + + <p>"<i>Just</i> time," he was heard to say, "time enough by + soldier's measure!" His speech grew plainer: "The law's right + for me to call and for you to come, that's all we want. What + frightens you?"</p> + + <p>"Nothing," she said, and smiled. "I only feared there wasn't + time."</p> + + <p>The lover faced his cousin so abruptly that all started and + laughed, while Anna turned to her kindred, as red as a rose. + "Adolphe," cried he, "I'm going for my marriage license. While + I'm getting it, will you--?"</p> + + <p>Irby went redder than Anna. "You can't get it at this hour!" + he said. His eyes sought Flora, but she was hurriedly + conferring with her grandmother.</p> + + <p>Hilary laughed: "You'll see. I fixed all that a week ago. + Will you get the minister?"</p> + + <p>"Why, Hilary, this is--"</p> + + <p>"Yass!" piped Madame, "he'll obtain him!"</p> + + <p>The plaudits of the dancers, who once more had stopped, were + loud. Flora's glance went over to Irby, and he said, "Why, yes, + Hilary, if you--why, of course I will." There was more + applause.</p> + + <p>"Steve," said Hilary, "some one must go with me to the + clerk's office to--"</p> + + <p>"To vouch you!" broke in the aide-de-camp. "That will be + Steve Mandeville!" Constance sublimely approved. As the three + Callenders moved to leave the room one way and the three + captains another, Anna seized the hands of Flora and her + grandmother.</p> + + <p>"You'll keep the dance going?" she solicited, and they said + they would. Flora gave her a glowing embrace, and as Irby + strode by murmured to him.</p> + + <p>"Put your watch back half an hour."</p> + + <p>In such disordered days social liberty was large. When the + detective, after the Callenders were gone up-stairs and the + captains had galloped away, truthfully told Miss Valcour that + his only object in tarrying here was to see the love-knot tied, + she heard him affably, though inwardly in flames of yearning to + see him depart. She burned to see him go because she believed + him, and also because there in the show-case still lay the + loosely heaped counterfeit of the booty whose reality she had + already ignorantly taken and stowed away.</p> + + <p>What should she do? Here was grandma, better aid than forty + Irbys; but with both phases of her problem to deal with at + once--how to trip headlong this wild matrimonial leap and how + to seize this treasure by whose means she might leave Anna in a + fallen city and follow Hilary to the war--she was at the end of + her daintiest wits. She talked on with the gray man, for that + kept him from the show-case. In an air full of harmonies and + prattle, of fluttering draperies, gliding feet, undulating + shoulders, twinkling lights, gallantry, fans, and perfume, she + dazzled him with her approval when he enlarged on the merits of + Kincaid and when he pledged all his powers of invention to + speed the bridal. Frantic to think what better to do, she + waltzed with him, while he described the colonel of the + departing regiment as such a martinet that to ask him to delay + his going would only hasten it; waltzed on when she saw her + grandmother discover the knife's absence and telegraph her a + look of contemptuous wonder. But ah, how time was flying! Even + now Kincaid must be returning hitherward, licensed!</p> + + <p>The rapturous music somewhat soothed her frenzy, even helped + her thought, and in a thirst for all it could give she had her + partner swing her into the wide hall whence it came and where + also Hilary must first reappear. Twice through its length they + had swept, when Anna, in altered dress, came swiftly down the + stair with Constance protestingly at her side. The two were + speaking anxiously together as if a choice of nuptial + adornments (for Constance bore a box that might have held the + old jewels) had suddenly brought to mind a forgotten + responsibility. As they pressed into the drawing-rooms the two + dancers floated after them by another door.</p> + + <p>When presently Flora halted beside the gun and fanned while + the dance throbbed on, the two sisters stood a few steps away + behind the opened show-case, talking with her grandmother and + furtively eyed by a few bystanders. They had missed the dagger. + Strangely disregarded by Anna, but to Flora's secret dismay and + rage, Constance, as she talked, was dropping from her doubled + hands into the casket the last of the gems. Now she shut the + box and laid it in Anna's careless arms.</p> + + <p>Leaving the gray man by the gun, Flora sprang near. Anna was + enduring, with distracted smiles, the eager reasonings of + Madame and Constance that the vanished trinket was but + borrowed; a thief would have taken the <i>jewels</i>, they + argued; but as Flora would have joined in, every line of Anna's + face suddenly confided to her a consternation whose cause the + silenced Flora instantly mistook. "Ah, if you knew--!" Anna + began, but ceased as if the lost relic stood for something + incommunicable even to nearest and dearest.</p> + + <p>"They've sworn their love on it!" was the thought of Flora + and the detective in the same instant. It filled her veins with + fury, yet her response was gentle and meditative. "To me," she + said, "it seemed such a good-for-nothing that even if I saw it + is gone, me, I think I wouldn' have take' notice." All at once + she brightened: "Anna! without a doubt! without a doubt Captain + Kincaid he has it!" About to add a caress, she was startled + from it by a masculine voice that gayly echoed out in the + hall:</p> + + <p>"Without a doubt!"</p> + + <p>The dance ceased and first the short, round body of + Mandeville and then the tall form of Hilary Kincaid pushed into + the room. "Without a doubt!" repeated Hilary, while Mandeville + asked right, asked left, for Adolphe. "Without a doubt," + persisted the lover, "Captain Kincaid he has it!" and proffered + Anna the law's warrant for their marriage.</p> + + <p>She pushed it away. Her words were so low that but few could + hear. "The dagger!" she said. "Haven't you got the dagger? You + haven't got it?"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XLI"></a> + + <h2>XLI</h2> + + <h3>FOR AN EMERGENCY</h3>Hilary stared, reddened as she paled, + and with a slow smile shook his head. She murmured again: + + <p>"It's lost! the dagger! with all--"</p> + + <p>"Why,--why, Miss Anna,"--his smile grew playful, but his + thought ran back to the exploded powder-mill, to the old + inventor, to Flora in those days, the deported schoolmistress's + gold still unpaid to him, the jeweller and the exchanged gems, + the Sterling bill--"Why, Miss Anna! how do you mean, lost?"</p> + + <p>"Taken! gone! and by my fault! I--<i>I forgot all about + it</i>."</p> + + <p>He laughed aloud and around: "Pshaw! Now, ladies and + gentlemen, this is some joke you're"--he glanced toward the + show-case--</p> + + <p>"No," insisted Anna, "it's taken! Here are the other + things." She displayed the box.</p> + + <p>Madame, very angry, smiled from it to Flora: "Oh, thou + love's fool! not to steal <i>that</i> and leave the knife, with + which, luckily! now that you have it, you dare not strike!"</p> + + <p>All this the subtle girl read in the ancient lady's one + small "ahem!" and for reply, in some even more unvoiced way, + warned her against the eye of the gray man near the gun. To + avoid whose scrutiny herself she returned sociably to his + side.</p> + + <p>"The other things!" scoffed meantime the gay Hilary, + catching up Anna's word. "No! if you please, <i>here</i> is the + only other thing!" and boyishly flaunted the license at + Mandeville and all the Callenders, the throng merrily + approving. His eye, falling upon the detective, kindled + joyfully: "Oh, you godsend! <i>You</i> hunt up the lost + frog-sticker, will you--while we--?" He flourished the document + again and the gray man replied with a cordial nod. Kincaid + waved thanks and glanced round. "Adolphe!" he called. "Steve, + where in the dickens--?"</p> + + <p>Whether he so designed it or not, the contrast between his + levity and Anna's agitation convinced Flora, Madame, all, that + the weapon's only value to the lovers was sentimental. "Or + religious," thought the detective, whose adjectives could be as + inaccurate as his divinations. While he conjectured, Anna spoke + once more to Hilary. Her vehement words were too soft for any + ear save his, but their tenor was so visible, her distress so + passionate and her firmness of resolve so evident that every + mere beholder fell back, letting the Callender-Valcour group, + with Steve and the gentle detective, press closer. With none of + them, nor yet with Hilary, was there anything to argue; their + plight seemed to her hopeless. For them to marry, for her to + default, and for him to fly, all in one mad hour--one whirlwind + of incident--"It cannot be!" was all she could say, to sister, + to stepmother, to Flora, to Hilary again: "We cannot do it! I + will not!--till that lost thing is found!"</p> + + <p>With keen sympathy the detective, in the pack, enjoyed the + play of Hilary's face, where martial animation strove + inspiringly against a torture of dashed hopes. Glancing aside + to Flora's as she turned from Anna, he caught there no sign of + the storm of joy which had suddenly burst in her bosom; but for + fear he might, and to break across his insight and reckoning, + she addressed him.</p> + + <p>"Anna she don't give any <i>reason</i>" she exclaimed. "Ask + her, you, the reason!"</p> + + <p>"'Tain't reason at all," he softly responded, "it's + superstition. But hold on. Watch me." He gestured for the + lover's attention and their eyes met. It made a number laugh, + to see Hilary's stare gradually go senseless and then blaze + with intelligence. Suddenly, joyfully, with every eye following + his finger, he pointed into the gray man's face:</p> + + <p>"Smellemout, you've got it!"</p> + + <p>The man shook his head for denial, and his kindly twinkle + commanded the belief of all. Not a glint in it showed that his + next response, however well-meant, was to be a lie.</p> + + <p>"Then Ketchem has it!" cried Kincaid.</p> + + <p>The silent man let his smile mean yes, and the alert company + applauded. "Go h-on with the weddingg!" ordered the superior + Mandeville.</p> + + <p>"Where's Adolphe?" cried Kincaid, and "On with the wedding!" + clamored the lads of the battery, while Anna stood gazing on + the gray man and wondering why she had not guessed this very + thing.</p> + + <p>"Yes," he quietly said to her, "it's all right. You'll have + it back to-morrow. 'Twon't cut love if you don't."</p> + + <p>At that the gay din redoubled, but Flora, with the little + grandmother vainly gripping her arms, flashed between the + two.</p> + + <p>"Anna!" she cried, "I don't bil-ieve!"</p> + + <p>Whether it was true or false Mandeville cared nothing, + but--"Yes, 'tis true!" he cried in Flora's face, and then to + the detective--"Doubtlezz to phot-ograph it that's all you + want!"</p> + + <p>The detective said little, but Anna assured Flora that was + all. "He wants to show it at the trial!"</p> + + <p>"Listen!" said Flora.</p> + + <p>"Here's Captain Irby!" cried Mrs. Callender--Constance--half + a dozen, but--</p> + + <p>"Listen!" repeated Flora, and across the curtained veranda + and in at the open windows, under the general clamor, came a + soft palpitating rumble. Did Hilary hear it, too? He was + calling:</p> + + <p>"Adolphe, where's your man--the minister? Where in + the--three parishes--?" and others were echoing, "The minister! + where's the minister?"</p> + + <p>Had they also caught the sound?</p> + + <p>"Isn't he here?" asked Irby. He drew his watch.</p> + + <p>"Half-hour slow!" cried Mandeville, reading it.</p> + + <p>"But have you heard noth--?"</p> + + <p>"Nothingg!" roared Mandeville.</p> + + <p>"Where'd you leave him?" sharply asked Kincaid.</p> + + <p>His cousin put on great dignity: "At his door, my dear sir, + waiting for the cab I sent him."</p> + + <p>"Oh, sent!" cried half the group. "Steve," called Kincaid, + "your horse is fresh--"</p> + + <p>"But, alas, without wings!" wailed the Creole, caught + Hilary's shoulder and struck a harkening pose.</p> + + <p>"Too late!" moaned Flora to the detective, Madame to + Constance and Miranda, and the battery lads to their girls, + from whose hands they began to wring wild good-byes as a peal + of fifes and drums heralded the oncome of the departing + regiment.</p> + + <p>Thus Charlie Valcour found the company as suddenly he + reappeared in it, pushing in to the main group where his leader + stood eagerly engaged with Anna.</p> + + <p>"All right, Captain!" He saluted: "All done!" But a fierce + anxiety was on his brow and he gave no heed to Hilary's + dismissing thanks: "Captain, what's 'too late'?" He turned, + scowling, to his sister: "What are we too late for, Flo? Good + God! not the wedding? Not your wedding, Miss Anna? It's + <i>not</i> too late. By Jove, it sha'n't be too late."</p> + + <p>All the boyish lawlessness of his nature rose into his eyes, + and a boy's tears with it. "The minister!" he retorted to + Constance and his grandmother, "the minister be--Oh, Captain, + don't wait for him! Have the thing without a minister!"</p> + + <p>The whole room was laughing, Hilary loudest, but the youth's + voice prevailed. "It'll hold good!" He turned upon the + detective: "Won't it?"</p> + + <p>A merry nod was the reply, with cries of "Yes," "Yes," from + the battery boys, and he clamored on:</p> + + <p>"Why, there's a kind of people--"</p> + + <p>"Quakers!" sang out some one.</p> + + <p>"Yes, the Quakers! Don't they do it all the time! Of course + they do!" With a smile in his wet eyes the lad wheeled upon + Victorine: "Oh, by S'n' Peter! if that was the only--"</p> + + <p>But the small, compelling hand of the detective faced him + round again and with a sudden swell of the general laugh he + laughed too. "He's trying to behave like Captain Kincaid," one + battery sister tried to tell another, whose attention was on a + more interesting matter.</p> + + <p>"Here!" the gray man was amiably saying to Charlie. "It's + your advice that's too late. Look."</p> + + <p>Before he had half spoken a hush so complete had fallen on + the company that while every eye sought Hilary and Anna every + ear was aware that out on the levee road the passing drums had + ceased and the brass--as if purposely to taunt the theatrical + spirit of Flora--had struck up The Ladies' Man. With military + curtness Kincaid was addressing the score or so of new + cannoneers:</p> + + <p>"Corporal Valcour, this squad--no, keep your partners, but + others please stand to the right and left--these men are under + your command. When I presently send you from here you'll take + them at a double-quick and close up with that regiment. I'll be + at the train when you reach it. Captain Mandeville,"--he turned + to the married pair, who were hurriedly scanning the license + Miranda had just handed them,--"I adjure you as a true and + faithful citizen and soldier, and you, madam, as well, to + testify to us, all, whether that is or is not the license of + court for the marriage of Anna Callender to Hilary + Kincaid."</p> + + <p>"It is!" eagerly proclaimed the pair.</p> + + <p>"Hand it, please, to Charlie. Corporal, you and your men + look it over."</p> + + <p>"And now--" His eyes swept the throng. Anna's hand, + trembling but ready, rose shoulder-high in his. He noted the + varied expressions of face among the family servants hurriedly + gathering in the doors, and the beautiful amaze of Flora, so + genuine yet so well acted. Radiantly he met the flushed gaze of + his speechless cousin. "If any one alive," he cried, "knows any + cause why this thing should not be, let him now speak or + forever hereafter hold his peace." He paused. Constance handed + something to her husband.</p> + + <p>"Oh, go on," murmured Charlie, and many smiled.</p> + + <p>"Soldiers!" resumed the lover, "this fair godmother of your + flag agrees that for all we two want just now Kincaid's Battery + is minister enough. For all we want is--" Cheers stopped + him.</p> + + <p>"The prayer-book!" put in Mandeville, pushing it at him. The + boys harkened again.</p> + + <p>"No," said Kincaid, "time's too short. All we want is to + bind ourselves, before Heaven and all mankind, in holy wedlock, + for better, or worse, till death us do part. And this we here + do in sight of you all, and in the name and sight and fear of + God." He dropped his glance to Anna's: "Say Amen."</p> + + <p>"Amen," said Anna. At the same moment in one of the doors + stood a courier.</p> + + <p>"All right!" called Hilary to him. "Tell your colonel we're + coming! Just a second more, Captain Irby, if you please. + Soldiers!--I, Hilary, take thee, Anna, to be my lawful wedded + wife. And you--"</p> + + <p>"I, Anna," she softly broke in, "take thee, Hilary, to be + my--" She spoke the matter through, but he had not waited.</p> + + <p>"Therefore!" he cried, "you men of Kincaid's Battery--and + you, sir,--and you,"--nodding right and left to Mandeville and + the detective,--"on this our solemn pledge to supply as soon as + ever we can all form of law and social usage here omitted which + can more fully solemnize this union--do now--"</p> + + <p>Up went the detective's hand and then Mandeville's and all + the boys', and all together said:</p> + + <p>"Pronounce you man and wife."</p> + + <p>"Go!" instantly rang Kincaid to Charlie, and in a sudden + flutter of gauzes and clink of trappings, with wringing of soft + fingers by hard ones, and in a tender clamor of bass and treble + voices, away sprang every cannoneer to knapsacks and sabres in + the hall, and down the outer stair into ranks and off under the + stars at double-quick. Sisters of the battery, gliding out to + the veranda rail, faintly saw and heard them a precious moment + longer as they sped up the dusty road. Then Irby stepped + quickly out, ran down the steps, mounted and galloped. A far + rumble of wheels told the coming of two omnibuses chartered to + bear the dancers all, with the Valcours and the detective, to + their homes. Now out to the steps came Mandeville. His wife was + with him and the maidens kindly went in. There the detective + joined them. At a hall door Hilary was parting with Madame, + Flora, Miranda. Anna was near him with Flora's arm about her in + melting fondness. Now Constance rejoined the five, and now + Hilary and Anna left the other four and passed slowly out to + the garden stair alone.</p> + + <p>Beneath them there, with welcoming notes, his lone horse + trampled about the hitching-rail. Dropping his cap the master + folded the bride's hands in his and pressed on them a long + kiss. The pair looked deeply into each other's eyes. Her brow + drooped and he laid a kiss on it also. "Now you must go," she + murmured.</p> + + <p>"My own beloved!" was his response. "My soul's mate!" He + tried to draw her, but she held back.</p> + + <p>"You must go," she repeated.</p> + + <p>"Yes! kiss me and I fly." He tried once more to draw her + close, but still in vain.</p> + + <p>"No, dearest," she whispered, and trembled. Yet she clutched + his imprisoning fingers and kissed them. He hugged her hands to + his breast.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Hilary," she added, "I wish I could! But--don't you + know why I can't? Don't you see?"</p> + + <p>"No, my treasure, not any more. Why, Anna, you're Anna + Kincaid now. You're my wed'--"</p> + + <p>Her start of distress stopped him short. "Don't call me + that,--my--my own," she faltered.</p> + + <p>"But if you are that--?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, I am! thank God, I am! But don't name the name. It's + too fearfully holy. We're married for an emergency, love, an + awful crisis! which hasn't come to you yet, and may not come at + all. When it does, so will I! in that name! and you shall call + me by it!"</p> + + <p>"Ah, if then you can come! But what do we know?"</p> + + <p>"We know in whom we trust, Hilary; must, must, must trust, + as we trust and must trust each other."</p> + + <p>Still hanging to his hands she pushed them off at + arm's-length: "Oh, my Hilary, my hero, my love, my life, my + commander, go!" And yet she clung. She drew his fingers close + down again and covered them with kisses, while twice, thrice, + in solemn adoration, he laid his lips upon her heavy hair. + Suddenly the two looked up. The omnibuses were here in the + grove.</p> + + <p>Here too was the old coachman, with the soldier's horse. The + vehicles jogged near and halted. A troop of girls, with Flora, + tripped out. And still, in their full view, with Flora closest, + the bride's hands held the bridegroom's fast. He had neither + the strength to pull free nor the wit to understand.</p> + + <p>"What is it?" he softly asked, as the staring men waited and + the girls about Flora hung back.</p> + + <p>"Don't you know?" murmured Anna. "Don't you see--the--the + difference?"</p> + + <p>All at once he saw! Throwing away her hands he caught her + head between his big palms. Her arms flew round his neck, her + lips went to his, and for three heart-throbs they clung like + bee and flower. Then he sprang down the stair, swung into the + saddle, and fled after his men.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XLII"></a> + + <h2>XLII</h2> + + <h3>"VICTORY! I HEARD IT AS PL'--"</h3>The last few days of + March and first three or four of April, since the battery boys + and the three captains had gone, were as full of frightened and + angry questions as the air is of bees around a shaken hive. + + <p>So Anna had foreboded, yet it was not so for the causes she + had in mind; not one fierce hum asked another where the + bazaar's money was. That earlier bazaar, in the St. Louis + Hotel, had taken six weeks to report its results, and now, with + everybody distracted by a swarm and buzz of far larger, + livelier, hotter queries, the bazaar's sponsors might report or + not, as they chose. Meanwhile, was the city really in dire and + shameful jeopardy, or was it as safe as the giddiest boasted? + Looking farther away, over across Georgia to Fort Pulaski, so + tremendously walled and armed, was the "invader" merely wasting + lives, trying to take it? On North Carolina's coast, where our + priceless blockade-runners plied, had Newbern, as so stubbornly + rumored, and had Beaufort, already fallen, or had they really + not? Had the <i>Virginia</i> not sunk the <i>Monitor</i> and + scattered the Northern fleets? Was it <i>not</i> by France, + after all (asked the Creoles), but only by Paraguay that the + Confederacy had been "reco'nize'"? Was there <i>no</i> truth in + the joyous report that McClellan had vanished from Yorktown + peninsula? <i>Was</i> the loss of Cumberland Gap a trivial + matter, and did it in fact not cut in two our great strategic + front? Up yonder at Corinth, our "new and far better" base, was + Sidney Johnston an "imbecile," a "coward," a "traitor"? or was + he not rather an unparagoned strategist who, having at last + "lured the presumptuous foe" into his toils, was now, with + Beauregard, notwithstanding Beauregard's protracted illness, + about to make the "one fell swoop" of our complete deliverance? + And after the swoop and its joy and its glory, when Johnnie + should come marching home, whose Johnnies, and how many, would + never return? As to your past-and-gone bazaar, law, + honey--!</p> + + <p>So, as to that item, in all the wild-eyed city shaking with + its ague of anxieties only Anna was troubled when day after day + no detective came back with the old mud-caked dagger and now + both were away on some quite alien matter, no one could say + where. She alone was troubled, for she alone knew it was the + bazaar's proceeds which had disappeared. Of what avail to tell + even Miranda, Connie, or Flora if they must not tell others? It + would only bind three more souls on the rack. "Vanished with + the dagger!" That would be all they could gasp, first amazed, + then scandalized, at a scheme of safe-keeping so fantastically + reckless; reckless and fantastical as her so-called marriage. + Yes, they would be as scandalized as they would have been + charmed had the scheme prospered. And then they would blame not + her but Hilary. Blame him in idle fear of a calamity that was + not going to befall!</p> + + <p>She might have told that sternest, kindest, wisest of + friends, Doctor Sevier. As the family's trustee he might yet + have to be told. But on that night of fantastical recklessness + he had been away, himself at Corinth to show them there how to + have vastly better hospitals, and to prescribe for his old + friend Beauregard. He had got back but yesterday. Or she might + have told the gray detective, just to make him more careful, as + Hilary, by letter, suggested. In part she had told him, through + Flora; told him that to save that old curio she would risk her + life. Surely, knowing that, he would safeguard it, in whatever + hands, and return it the moment he could. Who ever heard of a + detective not returning a thing the moment he could? Not Flora, + <i>not</i> yet Madame, they said. To be sure, thought Anna, + those professional masters of delay, the photographers, might + be more jewel-wise than trustworthy, but what photographer + could ever be so insane as to rob a detective? So, rather + ashamed of one small solicitude in this day of great ones, she + urged her committees for final reports--which never came--and + felt very wisely in writing her hero for his consent to things, + and to assure him that at the worst her own part of the family + estate would make everything good, the only harrowing question + being how to keep Miranda and Connie from sharing the loss.</p> + + <p>On the first Sunday evening in April Doctor Sevier took tea + with the Callenders, self-invited, alone and firmly oblivious + of his own tardy wedding-gift to Anna as it gleamed at him on + the board. To any of a hundred hostesses he would have been a + joy, to share with as many friends as he would consent to meet; + for in the last week he had eaten "hog and hominy," and sipped + corn-meal coffee, in lofty colloquy with Sidney Johnston and + his "big generals"; had talked confidentially with Polk, so + lately his own bishop; had ridden through the miry streets of + Corinth with all the New Orleans commanders of division or + brigade--Gibson, Trudeau, Ruggles, Brodnax; out on the + parapets, between the guns, had chatted with Hilary and his + loved lieutenants; down among the tents and mess-fires had + given his pale hand, with Spartan injunctions and all the home + news, to George Gregory, Ned Ferry, Dick Smith, and others of + Harper's cavalry, and--circled round by Charlie Valcour, Sam + Gibbs, Maxime, and scores of their comrades in Kincaid's + Battery--had seen once more their silken flag, so faded! and + touched its sacred stains and tatters. Now at the tea table + something led him to remark that here at home the stubborn + illness of this battery sister for whom Anna was acting as + treasurer had compelled him to send her away.</p> + + <p>Timely topic: How to go into the country, and whither. The + Callenders were as eager for all the facts and counsel he could + give on it as if they were the "big generals" and his facts and + counsel were as to the creeks, swamps, ridges, tangled ravines, + few small clearings, and many roads and by-roads in the vast, + thinly settled, small-farmed, rain-drenched forests between + Corinth and the clay bluffs of the Tennessee. For now the + Callenders also were to leave the city, as soon as they could + be ready.</p> + + <p>"Don't wait till then," crisply said the Doctor.</p> + + <p>"We must wait till Nan winds up the bazaar."</p> + + <p>He thought not. In what bank had she its money?</p> + + <p>When she said not in any he frowned. Whereupon she smilingly + stammered that she was told the banks themselves were sending + their treasure into the country, and that even ten days + earlier, when some one wanted to turn a fund into its safest + portable form, three banks had declined to give foreign + exchange for it at any price.</p> + + <p>"Hmm!" he mused. "Was that your, eh,--?"</p> + + <p>"My husband, yes," said Anna, so quietly that the sister and + stepmother exulted in her. As quietly her eyes held the + doctor's, and his hers, while the colour mounted to her brow. + He spoke:</p> + + <p>"Still he got it into some good shape for you, the fund, did + he not?" Then suddenly he clapped a hand to a breast pocket and + stared: "He gave me a letter for you. Did I--? Ah, yes, I have + your written thanks. Anna, I thoroughly approve what you and he + have done."</p> + + <p>Constance and Miranda were overjoyed. He turned to them: "I + told Hilary so up in camp. I told Steve. Yes, Anna, you were + wise. You are wise. I've no doubt you're doing wisely about + that fund."</p> + + <p>It was hard for the wise one not to look guilty.</p> + + <p>"Have you told anybody," he continued, "in what form you + have it, or where?"</p> + + <p>"No!" put in the aggrieved Constance, "not even her blood + kin!"</p> + + <p>"Wise again. Best for all of you. Now just hang to the + lucre. It comes too late to be of use here; this brave town + will have to stand or fall without it. But it's still good for + Mobile, and Mobile saved may be New Orleans recovered."</p> + + <p>On a hint from the other women, and urged by their visitor, + Anna brought the letter and read him several closely written + pages on the strategic meaning of things. The zest with which + he discussed the lines made her newly proud of their + source.</p> + + <p>"They're so like his very word o' mouth," said he, "they + bring him right back here among us. Yes, and the whole theatre + of action with him. They draw it about us so closely and relate + it all to us so vitally that it--"</p> + + <p>"Seems," broke in the delighted Constance, "as if we saw it + all from the top of this house!"</p> + + <p>The Doctor's jaw set. Who likes phrases stuffed into his + mouth? Yet presently he allowed himself to resume. It + confirmed, he said, Beauregard's word in his call for + volunteers, that there, before Corinth, was the place to defend + Louisiana. Soon he had regained his hueless ardor, and laid out + the whole matter on the table for the inspiration of his three + confiding auditors. Here at Chattanooga, so impregnably ours, + issued Tennessee river and the Memphis and Charleston railroad + from the mountain gateway between our eastern and western seats + of war. Here they swept down into Alabama, passed from the + state's north-east to its north-west corner and parted company. + Here the railway continued westward, here it crossed the Mobile + and Ohio railroad at Corinth, here the Mississippi Central at + Grand Junction, and pressed on to Memphis, our back-gate key of + the Mississippi.</p> + + <p>"In war," said the Doctor, "rivers and railro'--"</p> + + <p>"Are the veins and arteries of--oh, pardon!" The crime was + Anna's this time.</p> + + <p>"Are the lines fought for," resumed the speaker, "and + wherever two or three of them join or cross you may look for a + battle." His long finger dropped again to the table. Back here + in Alabama the Tennessee turned north to seek the Ohio, and + here, just over the Mississippi state line, in Tennessee, some + twenty miles north of Corinth, it became navigable for the + Ohio's steamboats--gunboats--transports--at a place called in + the letter "Pittsburg Landing."</p> + + <p>Yes, now, between Hilary's pages and the Doctor's logic, + with Hilary almost as actually present as the physician, the + ladies saw why this great Memphis-Chattanooga fighting line + was, not alone pictorially, but practically, right at hand! + barely beyond sight and hearing or the feel of its tremor; a + veritable back garden wall to them and their beloved city; as + close as forts Jackson and St. Philip, her front gate. Yes, + and--Anna ventured to point out and the Doctor grudgingly + admitted--if the brave gray hosts along that back wall should + ever--could ever--be borne back so far southward, westward, the + last line would have to run from one to another of the Crescent + City's back doorsteps and doors; from Vicksburg, that is, + eastward through Jackson, Mississippi's capital, cross the + state's two north-and-south railways, and swing down through + Alabama to Mobile on the Gulf. This, she silently perceived, + was why the letter and the Doctor quite agreed that Connie, + Miranda, and she ought to find their haven somewhere within the + dim region between New Orleans and those three small satellite + cities; not near any two railways, yet close enough to a single + one for them to get news, public or personal, in time to act on + it.</p> + + <p>At leave-taking came the guest's general summing up of fears + and faiths. All his hope for New Orleans, he said, was in the + forts down at the Passes. Should they fall the city could not + stand. But amid their illimitable sea marshes and their + impenetrable swamp forests, chin-deep in the floods of broken + levees, he truly believed, they would hold out. Let them do so + only till the first hot breath of real Delta summer should + bring typhoid, breakbone, yellow, and swamp fevers, the last by + all odds the worst, and Butler's unacclimated troops would have + to reëmbark for home pell-mell or die on Ship Island like + poisoned fish. So much for the front gate. For the back gate, + Corinth, which just now seemed--the speaker harkened.</p> + + <p>"Seemed," he resumed, "so much more like the front--listen!" + There came a far, childish call.</p> + + <p>"An extra," laughed Constance. "Steve says we issue one + every time he brushes his uniform."</p> + + <p>"But, Con," argued Anna, "an extra on Sunday evening, + brought away down here--" The call piped nearer.</p> + + <p>"Victory!" echoed Constance. "I heard it as pl'--"</p> + + <p>"Beauregard! Tennessee!" exclaimed both sisters. They flew + to the veranda, the other two following. Down in the gate could + be seen the old coachman, already waiting to buy the paper. + Constance called to him their warm approval. "I thought," + murmured Miranda, "that Beauregard was in Miss'--"</p> + + <p>Anna touched her, and the cry came again: "Great victory--!" + Yes, yes, but by whom, and where? Johnston? Corinth? "Great + victory at--!" Where? Where, did he say? The word came again, + and now again, but still it was tauntingly vague. Anna's ear + seemed best, yet even she could say only, "I never heard of + such a place--out of the bible. It sounds like--Shiloh."</p> + + <p>Shiloh it was. At a table lamp indoors the Doctor bent over + the fresh print. "It's true," he affirmed. "It's Beauregard's + own despatch. 'A complete victory,' he says. 'Driving the + enemy'--" The reader ceased and stared at the page. "Why, good + God!" Slowly he lifted his eyes upon those three sweet women + until theirs ran full. And then he stared once more into the + page: "Oh, good God! Albert Sidney Johnston is dead."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XLIII"></a> + + <h2>XLIII</h2> + + <h3>THAT SABBATH AT SHILOH</h3>"Whole theatre of action." + + <p>The figure had sounded apt to Anna on that Sunday evening + when the Doctor employed it; apt enough--until the outburst of + that great and dreadful news whose inseparable implications and + forebodings robbed her of all sleep that night and made her the + first one astir at daybreak. But thenceforward, and now for + half a week or more, the aptness seemed quite to have passed. + Strange was the theatre whose play was all and only a frightful + reality; whose swarming, thundering, smoking stage had its + audience, its New Orleans audience, wholly behind it, and whose + curtain of distance, however thin, mocked every bodily sense + and compelled all to be seen and heard by the soul's eye and + ear, with all the joy and woe of its actuality and all its + suspense, terror, triumph, heartbreak, and despair.</p> + + <p>Yet here was that theatre, and the Doctor's metaphor was + still good enough for the unexacting taste of the two Valcour + ladies, to whom Anna had quoted it. And here, sprinkled through + the vast audience of that theatre, with as keen a greed for its + play as any, were all the various non-combatants with whom we + are here concerned, though not easily to be singled out, such + mere units were they of the impassioned multitude every mere + unit of which, to loved and loving ones, counted for more than + we can tell.</p> + + <p>However, our favourites might be glimpsed now and then. On a + certain midday of that awful half-week the Callenders, driving, + took up Victorine at her gate and Flora at her door and sped + up-town to the newspaper offices in Camp street to rein in + against a countless surge of old men in fine dress, their + precious dignity thrown to the dogs, each now but one of the + common herd, and each against all, shouldering, sweating, and + brandishing wide hands to be the first purchaser and reader of + the list, the long, ever-lengthening list of the killed and + wounded. Much had been learned of the great two-days' battle, + and many an infantry sister, and many a battery sister besides + Anna, was second-sighted enough to see, night and day, night + and day, the muddy labyrinth of roads and by-roads that braided + and traversed the wide, unbroken reaches of dense timber--with + their deep ravines, their long ridges, and their creek-bottom + marshes and sloughs--in the day's journey from Corinth to the + bluffs of the Tennessee. They saw them, not empty, nor + fearlessly crossed by the quail, the wild turkey, the fox, or + the unhunted deer, nor travelled alone by the homespun + "citizen" or by scouts or foragers, but slowly overflowed by a + great gray, silent, tangled, armed host--cavalry, infantry, + ordnance trains, batteries, battery wagons and ambulances: Saw + Hilary Kincaid and all his heroes and their guns, and all the + "big generals" and their smart escorts and busy staffs: Saw the + various columns impeding each other, taking wrong ways and + losing priceless hours while thousands of inexperienced boys, + footsore, drenched and shivering yet keen for the fight, ate + their five-days' food in one, or threw it away to lighten the + march, and toiled on in hunger, mud, cold and rain, without the + note of a horn or drum or the distant eye of one blue scout to + tell of their oncoming.</p> + + <p>They saw, did Anna and those sisters (and many and many a + wife and mother from Callender House to Carrollton), the vast, + stealthy, fireless bivouac at fall of night, in ear-shot of the + enemy's tattoo, unsheltered from the midnight storm save by + raked-up leaves: Saw, just in the bivouac's tortuous front, + softly reddening the low wet sky, that huge, rude semicircle of + camps in the dark ridged and gullied forests about Shiloh's log + meeting-house, where the victorious Grant's ten-thousands--from + Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, + Michigan, as new to arms as their foe, yet a band of lions in + lair--lay dry-tented, full fed and fast asleep, safely flanked + by swollen streams, their gunboats behind them and Buell + coming, but without one mounted outpost, a scratch of + entrenchment or a whisper of warning.</p> + + <p>Amid the eager carriage talk, in which Anna kept her part, + her mind's eye still saw the farther scene as it changed again + and the gray dawn and gray host furtively rose together and + together silently spread through the deep woods. She watched + the day increase and noon soar up and sink away while the + legions of Hardee, Bragg, Polk and Breckinridge slowly writhed + out of their perplexed folds and set themselves, still + undetected in their three successive lines of battle. She + beheld the sun set calm and clear, the two hosts lie down once + more, one in its tents, the other on its arms, the leafy night + hang over them resplendent with stars, its watches near by, the + Southern lines reawaken in recovered strength, spring up and + press forward exultantly to the awful issue, and the Sabbath + dawn brighten into a faultless day with the boom of the opening + gun.</p> + + <p>As the ladies drew up behind the throng and across the + throat of Commercial Alley the dire List began to flutter from + the Picayune office in greedy palms and over and among + dishevelled heads like a feeding swarm of white pigeons. News + there was as well as names, but every eye devoured the names + first and then--unless some name struck lightning in the heart, + as Anna saw it do every here and there and for that poor old + man over yonder--after the names the news.</p> + + <p>"Nan, we needn't stay if you--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, Miranda, isn't all this ours?"</p> + + <p>The bulletin boards were already telling in outline, ahead + of the list, thrilling things about the Orleans Guards, the + whirlwind onset of whose maiden bayonets had captured double + its share of the first camp taken from the amazed, + unbreakfasted enemy, and who again and again, hour by hour, by + the half-mile and mile, had splendidly helped to drive + him--while he hammered back with a deadly stubbornness all but + a match for their fury. Through forests, across clearings, over + streams and bogs and into and out of ravines and thickets they + had swept, seizing transiently a whole field battery, + permanently hundreds of prisoners, and covering the strife's + broad wake with even more appalling numbers of their own dead + and wounded than of the foe's: wailing wounded, ghastly, grimy + dead, who but yesterday were brothers, cousins and playmates of + these very men snatching and searching the list. They told, + those boards, of the Washington Artillery (fifth company, never + before under fire) being thanked on the field by one of the + "big generals," their chests and wheels shot half to splinters + but no gun lost. They told of all those Louisiana commands + whose indomitable lines charged and melted, charged and + withered, over and over the torn and bloody ground in that + long, horrible struggle that finally smoked out the "Hornets' + Nest." They told of the Crescent Regiment, known and loved on + all these sidewalks and away up to and beyond their + Bishop-General Polk's Trinity Church, whose desperate gallantry + had saved that same Washington Artillery three of its pieces, + and to whose thinned and bleeding ranks swarms of the huddled + Western farm boys, as shattered and gory as their captors and + as glorious, had at last laid down their arms. And they told of + Kincaid's Battery, Captain Kincaid commanding; how, having + early lost in the dense oak woods and hickory brush the + brigade--Brodnax's--whose way they had shelled open for a + victorious charge, they had followed their galloping leader, + the boys running beside the wheels, from position to position, + from ridge to ridge, in rampant obedience of an order to "go in + wherever they heard the hottest firing", how for a time they + had fought hub to hub beside the Washington Artillery; how two + of their guns, detached for a special hazard and sweeping into + fresh action on a flank of the "Hornets' Nest," had lost every + horse at a single volley of the ambushed foe, yet had instantly + replied with slaughterous vengeance; and how, for an hour + thereafter, so wrapped in their own smoke that they could be + pointed only by the wheel-ruts of their recoil, they had been + worked by their depleted gunners on hands and knees with + Kincaid and Villeneuve themselves at the trails and with fuses + cut to one second. So, in scant outline said the boards, or + more in detail read one man aloud to another as they hurried by + the carriage.</p> + + <p>"But," said Anna, while Flora enjoyed her pallor, "all that + is about the first day's fight!"</p> + + <p>"No," cried Constance, "it's the second day's, that + Beauregard calls 'a great and glorious victory!'"</p> + + <p>"Yes," interposed Flora, "but writing from behind his + fortification' at Corinth, yes!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XLIV"></a> + + <h2>XLIV</h2> + + <h3>"THEY WERE ALL FOUR TOGETHER"</h3>Both Constance and + Victorine flashed to retort, but saw the smiling critic as pale + as Anna and recalled the moment's truer business, the list + still darting innumerably around them always out of reach. The + carriage had to push into the very surge, and Victorine to + stand up and call down to this man and that, a fourth and + fifth, before one could be made to hear and asked to buy for + the helpless ladies. Yet in this gentlewomen's war every + gentlewoman's wish was a military command, and when at length + one man did hear, to hear was to vanish in the turmoil on their + errand. Now he was back again, with the list, three copies! Oh, + thank you, thank you and thank you! + + <p>Away trotted the handsome span while five pairs of beautiful + eyes searched the three printed sheets, that bore--oh, + marvellous fortune!--not one of the four names writ largest in + those five hearts. Let joy be--ah, let joy be very meek while + to so many there is unutterable loss. Yet let it meekly abound + for the great loved cause so splendidly advanced. Miranda + pointed Anna to a bit of editorial:</p> + + <p>"Monday was a more glorious day than Sunday. We can scarcely + forbear to speculate upon the great results that are to flow + from this decisive victory. An instant pursuit of the flying + enemy should--"</p> + + <p>Why did the carriage halt at a Gravier Street crossing + obliquely opposite the upper front corner of the St. Charles + Hotel? Why did all the hotel's gold-braided guests and loungers + so quietly press out against its upper balustrades? Why, under + its arches, and between balcony posts along the curbstones + clear down to Canal Street, was the pathetically idle crowd + lining up so silently? From that point why, now, did the faint + breeze begin to waft a low roar of drums of such grave + unmartial sort? And why, gradually up the sidewalks' edges in + the hot sun, did every one so solemnly uncover? Small Victorine + stood up to see.</p> + + <p>At first she made out only that most commonplace spectacle, + home guards. They came marching in platoons, a mere company or + two. In the red and blue of their dress was all the smartness + yet of last year, but in their tread was none of it and even + the bristle of their steel had vanished. Behind majestic + brasses and muffled drums grieving out the funeral march, they + stepped with slow precision and with arms reversed. But now in + abrupt contrast there appeared, moving as slowly and precisely + after them, widely apart on either side of the stony way, two + single attenuated files of but four bronzed and shabby + gray-jackets each, with four others in one thin, open rank from + file to file in their rear, and in the midst a hearse and its + palled burden. Rise, Anna, Constance, Miranda--all. Ah, Albert + Sidney Johnston! Weep, daughters of a lion-hearted cause. The + eyes of its sons are wet. Yet in your gentle bosoms keep great + joy for whoever of your very own and nearest the awful carnage + has spared; but hither comes, here passes slowly, and yonder + fades at length from view, to lie a day in state and so move on + to burial, a larger hope of final triumph than ever again you + may fix on one mortal man.</p> + + <p>Hats on again, softly. Drift apart, aimless crowd. Cross the + two streets at once, diagonally, you, young man from the St. + Charles Hotel with purpose in your rapid step, pencil + unconsciously in hand and trouble on your brow. Regather your + reins, old coachman--nay, one moment! The heavy-hearted youth + passed so close under the horses' front that only after he had + gained the banquette abreast the carriage did he notice its + occupants and Anna's eager bow. It was the one-armed Kincaid's + Battery boy reporter. With a sudden pitying gloom he returned + the greeting, faltered as if to speak, caught a breath and then + hurried on and away. What did that mean; more news; news bad + for these five in particular? Silently in each of them, without + a glance from one to another, the question asked itself.</p> + + <p>"The True Delta," remarked Anna to Miranda, "is right down + here on the next square," and of his own motion the driver + turned that way.</p> + + <p>"Bitwin Common Strit and Can-al," added Victorine, needless + words being just then the most needed.</p> + + <p>Midway in front of the hotel Anna softly laid a hand on + Flora, who respondingly murmured. For the reporter was back, + moving their way along the sidewalk almost at a run. Now + Constance was aware of him.</p> + + <p>"When we cross Common Street," she observed to Miranda, + "he'll want to stop us."</p> + + <p>In fact, as soon as their intent to cross was plain, he sped + out beside them and stood, his empty sleeve pinned up, his full + one raised and grief evident in his courteous smile. Some fifty + yards ahead, by the True Delta office, men were huddling around + a fresh bulletin. Baring his brow to the sun, the young man + came close to the wheels.</p> + + <p>"Wouldn't you-all as soon--?" he began, but Constance + interrupted:</p> + + <p>"The news is as good as ever, isn't it?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, but wouldn't you-all as soon drive round by Carondelet + Street?" A gesture with his hat showed a piece of manifold + writing in his fingers.</p> + + <p>He looked to Miranda, but she faltered. Flora, in her own + way, felt all the moment's rack and stress, but some natures + are built for floods and rise on them like a boat. So thought + she of herself and had parted her lips to speak for all, when, + to her vexed surprise, Anna lifted a hand and in a clear, firm + tone inquired, "Is there any bad news for us five?" The youth's + tongue failed; he nodded.</p> + + <p>"Brodnax's brigade?" she asked. "Our battery?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, Monday, just at the last," he murmured.</p> + + <p>"Not <i>taken?</i>"</p> + + <p>"Not a gun!" replied the boy, with a flash. Anna reflected + it, but her tone did not change:</p> + + <p>"There are four men, you know, whom we five--"</p> + + <p>"Yes."</p> + + <p>"Which of them is the bad news about?"</p> + + <p>"All four," murmured the youth. His eyes swam. His hat went + under the stump of his lost arm and he proffered the bit of + writing. Idlers were staring. "Take that with you," he said. + "They were all four together and they're only--"</p> + + <p>The carriage was turning, but the fair cluster bent keenly + toward him. "Only what?" they cried.</p> + + <p>"Missing."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XLV"></a> + + <h2>XLV</h2> + + <h3>STEVE--MAXIME--CHARLIE--</h3>There was no real choice. + Nothing seemed quite rational but the heaviest task of all--to + wait, and to wait right here at home. + + <p>To this queenly city must come first and fullest all news of + her own sons, and here the "five" would not themselves be + "missing" should better tidings--or worse--come seeking them + over the wires.</p> + + <p>"At the front?" replied Doctor Sevier to Anna, "why, at the + front you'll be kept in the rear, lost in a storm of false + rumors."</p> + + <p>General Brodnax, in a letter rife with fatherly romantic + tenderness and with splendid praise of Hilary as foremost in + the glorious feat which had saved old "Roaring Betsy" but lost + (or mislaid) him and his three comrades, also bade her wait. + Everything, he assured her, that human sympathy or the art of + war--or Beauregard's special orders--could effect was being + done to find the priceless heroes. In the retreat of a great + host--ah, me! retreat was his very word and the host was + Dixie's--retreating after its first battle, and that an awful + one, in deluging rains over frightful roads and brimming + streams, unsheltered, ill fed, with sick and wounded men and + reeling vehicles hourly breaking down, a hovering foe to be + fended off, and every dwelling in the land a hospitable refuge, + even captains of artillery or staff might be most honorably and + alarmingly missing yet reappear safe and sound. So, for a week + and more it was sit and wait, pace the floor and wait, wake in + the night and wait; so for Flora as well as for Anna (with a + difference), both of them anxious for Charlie--and Steve--and + Maxime, but in anguish for another.</p> + + <p>Then tidings, sure enough! glad tidings! Mandeville and + Maxime safe in camp again and back to duty, whole, hale and in + the saddle. Their letters came by the wasted yellow hands of + two or three of the home-coming wounded, scores of whom were + arriving by every south-bound train. From the aide-de-camp and + the color-bearer came the first whole story of how Kincaid, + with his picked volunteers, barely a gun detachment, and with + Mandeville, who had brought the General's consent, had stolen + noiselessly over the water-soaked leaves of a thickety oak wood + in the earliest glimmer of a rainy dawn and drawn off the + abandoned gun by hand to its waiting horses; also how, when + threatened by a hostile patrol, Hilary, Mandeville, Maxime and + Charlie had hurried back on foot into the wood and hotly + checked the pursuit long enough for their fellows to mount the + team, lay a shoulder to every miry wheel and flounder away with + the prize. But beyond that keen moment when the four, after + their one volley from ambush, had sprung this way and that + shouting absurd orders to make-believe men, cheering and firing + from behind trees, and (cut off from their horses) had made for + a gully and swamp, the two returned ones could tell nothing of + the two unreturned except that neither of them, dead or alive, + was anywhere on the ground of the fight or flight as they knew + it. For days, inside the enemy's advancing lines, they had + prowled in ravines and lain in blackberry patches and sassafras + fence-rows, fed and helped on of nights by the beggared yet + still warm-hearted farm people and getting through at last, but + with never a trace of Kincaid or Charlie, though after their + own perilous search they had inquired, inquired, inquired.</p> + + <p>So, wait, said every one and every dumb condition, even the + miseries of the great gray army, of which Anna had mind + pictures again, as it toiled through mire and lightning, rain, + sleet and hail, and as its thousands of sick and shattered lay + in Corinth dying fifty a day. And Flora and Anna waited, though + with minds placid only to each other and the outer world.</p> + + <p>"Yes," moaned Anna to Constance, when found at dead of night + staring Corinthward from a chamber window. "Yes, friends + advise! All our friends advise! What daring thing did any one + ever do who waited for friends to advise it? Does your Steve + wait for friends to advise?... Patience? Ah, lend me yours! You + don't need it now.... Fortitude? Oh, I never had any!... What? + command the courage to do nothing when nothing is the only hard + thing to do? Who, I? Connie! I don't even want it. I'm a + craven; I want the easy thing! I want to go nurse the + box-carloads and mule-wagonloads of wounded at Corinth, at + Okolona and strewed all the way down to Mobile--that's full of + them. Hilary may be somewhere among them--unidentified! They + say he wore no badge of rank that morning, you know, and + carried the carbine of a wounded cavalryman to whom he had + given his coat. Oh, he's mine, Con, and I'm his. We're not + engaged, we're <i>married,</i> and I <i>must</i> go. It's only + a step--except in miles--and I'm going! I'm going for your sake + and Miranda's. You know you're staying on my account, not for + me to settle this bazaar business but to wait for news that's + never coming till I go and bring it!"</p> + + <p>This tiny, puny, paltry business of the bazaar--the + whereabouts of the dagger and its wealth, or of the detectives, + gone for good into military secret service at the front--she + drearily smiled away the whole trivial riddle as she lay of + nights contriving new searches for that inestimable, living + treasure, whose perpetual "missing," right yonder "almost in + sight from the housetop," was a dagger in her heart.</p> + + <p>And the Valcours? Yes, they, too, had their frantic impulses + to rise and fly. For Madame, though her lean bosom bled for the + lost boy, the fiercest pain of waiting was that its iron + coercion lay in their penury. For Flora its sharpest pangs were + in her own rage; a rage not of the earlier, cold sort against + Anna and whoever belonged to Anna--that transport had always + been more than half a joy--but a new, hot rage against herself + and the finical cheapness of her scheming, a rage that stabbed + her fair complacency with the revelation that she had a heart, + and a heart that could ache after another. The knife of that + rage turned in her breast every time she cried to the grandam, + "We must go!" and that rapacious torment simpered, "No funds," + adding sidewise hints toward Anna's jewels, still diligently + manoeuvred for, but still somewhere up-stairs in Callender + House, sure to go with Anna should Anna go while the + manoeuvrers were away.</p> + + <p>A long lane to any one, was such waiting, lighted, for Anna, + only by a faint reflection of that luster of big generals' + strategy and that invincibility of the Southern heart which, to + all New Orleans and even to nations beyond seas, clad Dixie's + every gain in light and hid her gravest disasters in beguiling + shadow. But suddenly one day the long lane turned. The secret + had just leaked out that the forts down the river were + furiously engaged with the enemy's mortar-boats a few miles + below them and that in the past forty-eight hours one huge bomb + every minute, three thousand in all, had dropped into those + forts or burst over them, yet the forts were "proving + themselves impregnable." The lane turned and there stood + Charlie.</p> + + <p>There he stood, in the stairway door of the front room + overlooking Jackson Square. The grandmother and sister had been + keenly debating the news and what to do about it, the elder + bird fierce to stay, the younger bent on flight, and had just + separated to different windows, when they heard, turned and + beheld him there, a stranger in tattered gray and railway dirt, + yet their own coxcomb boy from his curls to his ill-shod feet. + Flora had hardly caught her breath or believed her eyes before + the grandmother was on his neck patting and petting his cheeks + and head and plying questions in three languages: When, where, + how, why, how, where and when?</p> + + <p>Dimly he reflected their fond demonstrations. No gladness + was in his face. His speech, as hurried as theirs, answered no + queries. He asked loftily for air, soap, water and the privacy + of his own room, and when they had followed him there and seen + him scour face, arms, neck, and head, rub dry and resume his + jacket and belt, he had grown only more careworn and had not + yet let his sister's eyes rest on his.</p> + + <p>He had but a few hours to spend in the city, he said; had + brought despatches and must carry others back by the next + train. His story, he insisted, was too long to tell before he + had delivered certain battery letters; one to Victorine, two to + Constance Mandeville, and so on. Here was one to Flora, from + Captain Irby; perhaps the story was in it. At any rate, its + bearer must rush along now. He toppled his "grannie" into a + rocking-chair and started away. He "would be back as soon as + ever he--"</p> + + <p>But Flora filled the doorway. He had to harden his glance to + hers at last. In her breast were acutest emotions widely at + war, yet in her eyes he saw only an unfeeling light, and it was + the old woman behind him who alone noted how painfully the + girl's fingers were pinched upon Irby's unopened letter. The + boy's stare betrayed no less anger than suffering and as Flora + spoke he flushed.</p> + + <p>"Charlie," she melodiously began, but his outcry silenced + her:</p> + + <p>"Now, by the eternal great God Almighty, Flora Valcour, if + you dare to ask me that--" He turned to the grandmother, + dropped to his knees, buried his face in her lap and + sobbed.</p> + + <p>With genuine tenderness she stroked his locks. Yet while she + did so she lifted to the sister a face lighted up with a mirth + of deliverance. To nod, toss, and nod again, was poor show for + her glee; she smirked and writhed to the disdaining girl like a + child at a mirror, and, though sitting thus confined, gave all + the effects of jigging over the floor. Hilary out of the way! + Kincaid eliminated, and the whole question free of him, this + inheritance question so small and mean to all but her and Irby, + but to him and her so large, so paramount! Silently, but + plainly to the girl, her mouth widely motioned, "Il est mort! + grâce"--one hand stopped stroking long enough to make + merrily the sign of cross--"grâce au ciel, il est + mort!"</p> + + <p>No moment of equal bitterness had Flora Valcour ever known. + To tell half her distresses would lose us in their tangle, + midmost in which was a choking fury against the man whom + unwillingly she loved, for escaping her, even by a glorious + death. One thought alone--that Anna, as truly as if stricken + blind, would sit in darkness the rest of her days--lightened + her torture, and with that thought she smiled a stony loathing + on the mincing grandam and the boy's unlifted head. Suddenly, + purpose gleamed from her. She could not break forth herself, + but to escape suffocation she must and would procure an + outburst somewhere. Measuredly, but with every nerve and tendon + overstrung, she began to pace the room.</p> + + <p>"Don't cry, Charlie," she smoothly said in a voice as cold + as the crawl of a snake. The brother knew the tone, had known + it from childhood, and the girl, glancing back on him, was + pleased to see him stiffen. A few steps on she added pensively, + "For a soldier to cry--and befo' ladies--a ladies' man--of that + batt'rie--tha's hardly fair--to the ladies, eh, grandmama?"</p> + + <p>But the boy only pressed his forehead harder down and + clutched the aged knees under it till their owner put on, to + the scintillant beauty, a look of alarm and warning. The girl, + musingly retracing her calculated steps to where the kneeler + seemed to clinch himself to his posture, halted, stroked with + her slippered toe a sole of his rude shoes and spoke once more: + "Do they oft-ten boohoo like that, grandma, those + artillerie?"</p> + + <p>The boy whirled up with the old woman clinging. A stream of + oaths and curses appallingly original poured from him, not as + through the lips alone but from his very eyes and nostrils. + That the girl was first of all a fool and damned was but a + trivial part of the cry--of the explosion of his whole year's + mistaken or half-mistaken inferences and smothered indignation. + With equal flatness and blindness he accused her of rejoicing + in the death of Kincaid: the noblest captain (he ramped on) + that ever led a battery; kindest friend that ever ruled a camp; + gayest, hottest, daringest fighter of Shiloh's field; fiercest + for man's purity that ever loved the touch of women's fingers; + sternest that ever wept on the field of death with the dying in + his arms; and the scornfullest of promotion that ever was + cheated of it at headquarters.</p> + + <p>All these extravagances he cursed out, too witless to see + that this same hero of his was the one human being, himself + barely excepted, for whose life his sister cared. He charged + her of never having forgiven Hilary for making Anna godmother + of their flag, and of being in some dark league against + him--"hell only knew what"--along with that snail of a cousin + whom everybody but Kincaid himself and the silly old uncle knew + to be the fallen man's most venomous foe. Throughout the storm + the grandmother's fingers pattered soothing caresses, while + Flora stood as unruffled by his true surmises as by any, a look + of cold interest in her narrowed eyes, and her whole bodily and + spiritual frame drinking relief from his transport. Now, while + he still raged, she tenderly smiled on their trembling + ancestress.</p> + + <p>"Really, <i>you</i> know grandmama, sometimes me also I feel + like that, when to smazh the furniture 't would be a + delightful--or to wring somebody the neck, yes. But for us, and + to-day, even to get a li'l' mad, how is that a possibl'?" She + turned again, archly, to the brother, but flashed in alarm and + sprang toward him.</p> + + <p>His arm stiffly held her off. With failing eyes bent on the + whimpering grandmother he sighed a disheartened oath and + threshed into a chair gasping--</p> + + <p>"My wound--opened again."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XLVI"></a> + + <h2>XLVI</h2> + + <h3>THE SCHOOL OF SUSPENSE</h3>Thus it fell to Flora to be + letter-bearer and news-bearer in her brother's stead. Yet he + had first to be cared for by her and the grandmother in a day + long before "first aid" had become common knowledge. The + surgeon they had hailed in had taken liberal time to show them + how, night and morning, to unbandage, cleanse and rebind, and + to tell them (smiling into the lad's mutinous eyes) that the + only other imperative need was to keep him flat on his back for + ten days. Those same weeks of downpour which had given the + Shiloh campaign two-thirds of its horrors had so overfed the + monstrous Mississippi that it was running four miles an hour, + overlapping its levees and heaving up through the wharves all + along the city's front, until down about the Convent and + Barracks and Camp Callender there were streets as miry as + Corinth. And because each and all of these hindrances were + welcome to Flora as giving leisure to read and reread Irby's + long letter about his cousin and uncle, and to plan what to say + and do in order to reap all the fell moment's advantages, the + shadows were long in the Callender's grove when she finally + ascended their veranda steps. + + <p>She had come round by way of Victorine's small, tight-fenced + garden of crape-myrtles, oleanders and pomegranates--where also + the water was in the streets, backwater from the overflowed + swamp-forests between city and lake--and had sent her to + Charlie's bedside. Pleasant it would be for us to turn back + with the damsel and see her, with heart as open as her arms, + kiss the painted grandam, and at once proceed to make herself + practically invaluable; or to observe her every now and then + dazzle her adored patient with a tear-gem of joy or pity, or of + gratitude that she lived in a time when heroic things could + happen right at home and to the lowliest, even to her; sweet + woes like this, that let down, for virtuous love, the barriers + of humdrum convention. But Flora draws us on, she and Anna. As + she touched the bell-knob Constance sprang out to welcome her, + though not to ask her in--till she could have a word with her + alone, the young wife explained.</p> + + <p>"I saw you coming," she said, drawing her out to the + balustrade. "You didn't get Anna's note of last night--too bad! + I've just found out--her maid forgot it! What do you reckon + we've been doing all day long? Packing! We're going we don't + know where! Vicksburg, Jackson, Meridian, Mobile, wherever Anna + can best hunt Hilary from--and Charlie too, of course."</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Flora, one way to the speaker and quite another + way to herself.</p> + + <p>"Yes, she wants to do it, and Doctor Sevier says it's the + only thing for her. Ah, Flora, how well <i>you</i> can + understand that!"</p> + + <p>"Indeed, yes," sighed the listener, both ways again.</p> + + <p>"We know how absolutely you believe the city's our best + base, else we'd have asked you to go with us." The ever genuine + Constance felt a mortifying speciousness in her words and so + piled them on. "<i>We</i> know the city is best--unless it + should fall, and it won't--oh, it won't, God's not going to let + so many prayers go unanswered, Flora! But we've tossed reason + aside and are going by instinct, the way I always feel safest + in, dear. Ah, poor Anna! Oh, Flora, she's so sweet about + it!"</p> + + <p>"Yes? Ab-out what?"</p> + + <p>"You, dear, and whoever is suffering the same--"</p> + + <p>Flora softly winced and Constance blamed herself so to have + pained another sister's love. "And she's so quiet," added the + speaker, "but, oh, so pale--and so hard either to comfort or + encourage, or even to discourage. There's nothing you can say + that she isn't already heart-sick of saying herself, <i>to</i> + herself, and I beg you, dear, in your longing to comfort her, + please don't bring up a single maybe-this or maybe-that; any + hope, I mean, founded on a mere doubt."</p> + + <p>"Ah, but sometime' the doubt--it is the hope!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, sometimes; but not to her, any more. Oh, Flora, if + it's just as true of you, you won't be--begrudge my saying it + of my sister--that no saint ever went to her matyrdom better + prepared than she is, right now, for the very worst that can be + told. There's only one thing to which she never can and never + will resign herself, and that is doubt. She can't breathe its + air, Flora. As she says herself, she isn't so built; she hasn't + that gift."</p> + + <p>The musing Flora nodded compassionately, but inwardly she + said that, gift or no gift, Anna should serve her time in + Doubting Castle, with her, Flora, for turnkey. Suddenly she put + away her abstraction and with a summarizing gesture and + chastened twinkle spoke out: "In short, you want to know for + w'at am I come."</p> + + <p>"Flora!"</p> + + <p>"Ah, but, my dear, you are ri-ight. That is 'all correct,' + as they say, and one thing I'm come for--'t is--" She handed + out Mandeville's two letters.</p> + + <p>The wife caught them to her bosom, sprang to her tiptoes, + beamed on the packet a second time and read aloud, "Urbanity of + Corporal Valcour!" She heaved an ecstatic breath to speak on, + but failed. Anna and Miranda had joined them and Flora had + risen from her seat on the balustrade, aware at once that the + rôle she had counted on was not to be hers, the + rôle of comforter to an undone rival.</p> + + <p>Pale indeed was the rival, pale as rivalry could wish. Yet + instantly Flora saw, with a fiery inward sting, how beautiful + pallor may be. And more she saw: with the chagrin then growing + so common on every armed front--the chagrin of finding one's + foe entrenched--she saw how utterly despair had failed to crush + a gentle soul. Under cover of affliction's night and storm + Anna, this whole Anna Callender, had been reinforced, had + fortified and was a new problem.</p> + + <p>She greeted Flora with a welcoming beam, but before speaking + she caught her sister's arm and glanced herself, at the + superscription.</p> + + <p>"Flora!" she softly cried, "oh, Flora Valcour! has your + brother--your Charlie!--come home alive and well?--What; + no?--No, he has not?"</p> + + <p>The visitor was shaking her head: "No. Ah, no! home, yes, + and al-I've; but--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, Flora, Flora! alive and at home! home and alive!" While + the words came their speaker slowly folded her arms about the + bearer of tidings, and with a wholly unwonted strength pressed + her again to the rail and drew bosom to bosom, still + exclaiming, "Alive! alive! Oh, whatever his plight, be + thankful, Flora, for so much! Alive enough to <i>come</i> + home!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XLVII"></a> + + <h2>XLVII</h2> + + <h3>FROM THE BURIAL SQUAD</h3>The pinioned girl tried to throw + back her head and bring their eyes together, but Anna, through + some unconscious advantage, held it to her shoulder, her own + face looking out over the garden. + + <p>"Ah, let me be glad for you, Flora, let me be glad for you! + Oh, think of it! You <i>have</i> him! have him at home, to look + upon, to touch, to call by name! and to be looked upon by + <i>him</i> and touched and called by name! Oh, God in heaven! + God in heaven!"</p> + + <p>Miranda's fond protests were too timorous to check her, and + Flora's ceased in the delight of hearing that last wail confess + the thought of Hilary. Constance strove with tender energy for + place and voice: "Nan, dearie, Nan! But listen to Flora, Nan. + See, Nan, I haven't opened Steve's letter yet. Wounded and + what, Flora, something worse? Ah, if worse you couldn't have + left him."</p> + + <p>"I know," sighed Anna, relaxing her arms to a caress and + turning her gaze to Flora. "I see. Your brother, our dear + Charlie, has come back to life, but wounded and alone. Alone. + Hilary is still missing. Isn't that it? That's all, isn't + it?"</p> + + <p>Constance, in a sudden thought of what her letters might + tell, began to open one, though with her eyes at every + alternate moment on Flora as eagerly as Miranda's or Anna's. + Flora stood hiddenly revelling in that complexity of her own + spirit which enabled her to pour upon her questioner a look, + even a real sentiment, of ravishing pity, while nevertheless in + the depths of her being she thrilled and burned and danced and + sang with joy for the very misery she thus compassionated. By a + designed motion she showed her grandmother's reticule on her + arm. But only Anna saw it; Constance, with her gaze in the + letter, was drawing Miranda aside while both bent their heads + over a clause in it which had got blurred, and looked at each + other aghast as they made it out to read, "'--from the burial + squad.'" The grandmother's silken bag saved them from Anna's + notice.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Flora!" said Anna again, "is there really something + worse?" Abruptly, she spread a hand under the bag and with her + eyes still in the eyes of its possessor slid it gently from the + yielding wrist. Dropping her fingers into it she brought forth + a tobacco-pouch, of her own embroidering, and from it, while + the reticule fell unheeded to the floor, drew two or three + small things which she laid on it in her doubled hands and + regarded with a smile. Vacantly the smile increased as she + raised it to Flora, then waned while she looked once more on + the relics, and grew again as she began to handle them. Her + slow voice took the tone of a child alone at play.</p> + + <p>"Why, that's <i>my</i> photograph," she said. "And + this--this is his watch--watch and chain." She dangled them. A + light frown came and went between her smiles.</p> + + <p>With soft eagerness Flora called Constance, and the sister + and Miranda stood dumb.</p> + + <p>"See, Connie," the words went on, "see, 'Randa, this is my + own photograph, and this is his own watch and chain. I must go + and put them away--with my old gems." Constance would have + followed her as she moved but she waved a limp forbiddal, + prattling on: "This doesn't mean he's dead, you know. Oh, not + at all! It means just the contrary! Why, I saw him alive last + night, in a dream, and I can't believe anything else, and I + won't! No, no, not yet!" At that word she made a misstep and as + she started sharply to recover it the things she carried fell + breaking and jingling at her feet.</p> + + <p>"Oh-h!" she sighed in childish surprise and feebly dropped + to her knees. Flora, closest by, sprang crouching to the + rescue, but recoiled as the kneeling girl leaned hoveringly + over the mementos and with distended eyes and an arm thrust + forward cried aloud, "No! No! No-o!"</p> + + <p>At once, however, her voice was tender again. "Mustn't + anybody touch them but me, ever any more," she said, + regathering the stuff, regained her feet and moved on. Close + after her wavering steps anxiously pressed the others, yet not + close enough. At the open door, smiling back in rejection of + their aid, she tripped, and before they could save her, tumbled + headlong within. From up-stairs, from downstairs came servants + running, and by the front door entered a stranger, a private + soldier in swamp boots and bespattered with the mire of the + river road from his spurs to his ragged hat.</p> + + <p>"No, bring her out," he said to a slave woman who bore Anna + in her arms, "out to the air!" But the burden slipped free and + with a cleared mind stood facing him.</p> + + <p>"Ladies," he exclaimed, his look wandering, his uncovered + hair matted, "if a half-starved soldier can have a morsel of + food just to take in his hands and ride on with--" and before + he could finish servants had sprung to supply him.</p> + + <p>"Are you from down the river?" asked Anna, quietly putting + away her sister's pleading touch and Flora's offer of + support.</p> + + <p>"I am!" spouted the renegade, for renegade he was, "I'm from + the very thick of the massacre! from day turned into night, + night into day, and heaven and earth into--into--"</p> + + <p>"Hell," placidly prompted Flora.</p> + + <p>"Yes! nothing short of it! Our defenses become death-traps + and slaughter-pens--oh, how foully, foully has Richmond + betrayed her sister city!"</p> + + <p>Flora felt a new tumult of joy. "That Yankee fleet--it has + pazz' those fort'?" she cried.</p> + + <p>"My dear young lady! By this time there ain't no forts for + it to pass! When I left Fort St. Philip there wa'n't a spot + over in Fort Jackson as wide as my blanket where a bumbshell + hadn't buried itself and blown up, and every minute we were + lookin' for the magazine to go! Those <i>awful</i> shells! + they'd torn both levees, the forts were flooded, men who'd lost + their grit were weeping like children--"</p> + + <p>"Oh!" interrupted Constance, "why not leave the forts? We + don't need them now; those old wooden ships can never withstand + our terrible ironclads!"<br> + <a name="This_roof_illustration"></a></p> + + <center> + <img src="images/illp254.jpg" + alt= + "No! not under this roof--nor in sight of these things" + height="636" + width="800"> + </center>"Well, they're mighty soon going to try it! Last + night, right in the blaze of all our batteries, they cut the + huge chain we had stretched across the river--" + + <p>"Ah, but when they see--oh, they'll never dare face even the + <i>Manassas</i>--the 'little turtle,' ha-ha!--much less the + great <i>Louisiana!</i>"</p> + + <p>"Alas! madam, the <i>Louisiana</i> ain't ready for 'em. + There she lies tied to the levee, with engines that can't turn + a wheel, a mere floating battery, while our gunboats--" Eagerly + the speaker broke off to receive upon one hand and arm the + bounty of the larder and with a pomp of gratitude to extend his + other hand to Anna; but she sadly shook her head and showed on + her palms Hilary's shattered tokens:</p> + + <p>"These poor things belong to one, sir, who, like you, is + among the missing. But, oh, thank God! <i>he</i> is missing at + the front, <i>in</i> the front."</p> + + <p>The abashed craven turned his hand to Flora, but with a + gentle promptness Anna stepped between: "No, Flora dear, see; + he hasn't a red scratch on him. Oh, sir, go--eat! If hunger + stifles courage, eat! But eat as you ride, and ride like mad + back to duty and honor! No! not under this roof--nor in sight + of <i>these things</i>--can any man be a ladies' man, who is + missing <i>from</i> the front, at the rear."</p> + + <p>He wheeled and vanished. Anna turned: "Connie, what do your + letters say?"</p> + + <p>The sister's eyes told enough. The inquirer gazed a moment, + then murmured to herself, "I--don't--believe it--yet," grew + very white, swayed, and sank with a long sigh into out-thrown + arms.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XLVIII"></a> + + <h2>XLVIII</h2> + + <h3>FARRAGUT</h3>The cathedral clock struck ten of the night. + Yonder its dial shone, just across that quarter of Jackson + Square nearest the Valcours' windows, getting no response this + time except the watchman's three taps of his iron-shod club on + corner curbstones. + + <p>An hour earlier its toll had been answered from near and + far, up and down the long, low-roofed, curving and recurving + city--"seven, eight, nine"--"eight, nine"--the law's warning to + all slaves to be indoors or go to jail. Not Flora nor Anna nor + Victorine nor Doctor Sevier nor Dick Smith's lone mother nor + any one else among all those thousands of masters, mistresses + and man-and maid-servants, or these thousands of home-guards at + home under their mosquito-bars, with uniforms on bedside chairs + and with muskets and cartridge-belts close by--not one of all + these was aware, I say, that however else this awful war might + pay its cost, it was the knell of slavery they heard, and which + they, themselves, in effect, were sounding.</p> + + <p>Lacking wilder excitement Madame sat by a lamp knitting a + nubia. Victorine had flown home at sundown. Charlie lay + sleeping as a soldier lad can. His sister had not yet returned + from Callender House, but had been fully accounted for some + time before by messenger. Now the knitter heard horses and + wheels. Why should they come at a walk? It was like stealth. + They halted under the balcony. She slipped out and peered down. + Yes, there was Flora. Constance was with her. Also two trim + fellows whom she rightly guessed to be Camp Callender lads, and + a piece of luggage--was it not?--which, as they lifted it down, + revealed a size and weight hard even for those siege-gunners to + handle with care. Unseen, silently, they came in and up with + it, led by Flora. (Camp Callender was now only a small hither + end of the "Chalmette Batteries," which on both sides of the + river mounted a whole score of big black guns. No wonder the + Callenders were leaving.)</p> + + <p>Presently here were the merry burden-bearers behind their + radiant guide, whispered ah's and oh's and wary laughter + abounding.</p> + + <p>"'Such a getting up-stairs I never did see!'"</p> + + <p>A thousand thanks to the boys as they set down their load; + their thanks back for seats declined; no time even to stand; a + moment, only, for new vows of secrecy. "Oui!--Ah, + non!--Assurément!" (They were Creoles.) "Yes, mum 't is + the word! And such a so-quiet getting down-stair'!"--to Mrs. + Mandeville again--and trundling away!</p> + + <p>When the church clock gently mentioned the half-hour the + newly gleeful grandam and hiddenly tortured girl had been long + enough together and alone for the elder to have nothing more to + ask as to this chest of plate which the Callenders had fondly + accepted Flora's offer to keep for them while they should be + away. Not for weeks and weeks had the old lady felt such ease + of mind on the money--and bread--question. Now the two set + about to get the booty well hid before Charlie should awake. + This required the box to be emptied, set in place and reladen, + during which process Flora spoke only when stung.</p> + + <p>"Ah!" thinly piped she of the mosquito voice, "what a fine + day tha's been, to-day!" but won no reply. Soon she cheerily + whined again:</p> + + <p>"All day nothing but good luck, and at the end--this!" (the + treasure chest).</p> + + <p>But Flora kept silence.</p> + + <p>"So, now," said the aged one, "they will not make such a + differenze, those old jewel'."</p> + + <p>"I will get them yet," murmured the girl.</p> + + <p>"You think? Me, I think no, you will never."</p> + + <p>No response.</p> + + <p>The tease pricked once more: "Ah! all that day I am thinking + of that Irbee. I am glad for Irbee. He is 'the man that waits,' + that Irbee!"</p> + + <p>The silent one winced; fiercely a piece of the shining ware + was lifted high, but it sank again. The painted elder cringed. + There may have been genuine peril, but the one hot sport in her + fag end of a life was to play with this beautiful fire. She + held the girl's eye with a look of frightened admiration, + murmuring, "You are a <i>merveilleuse!</i>"</p> + + <p>"Possible?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, to feel that way and same time to be ab'e to smile + like that!"</p> + + <p>"Ah? how is that I'm feeling?"</p> + + <p>"You are filling that all this, and all those jewel' of + Anna, and the life of me, and of that boy in yond', you would + give them all, juz' to be ab'e to bil-ieve that foolishness of + Anna--that he's yet al-live, that Kin--"</p> + + <p>The piece of plate half rose again, but--in part because the + fair threatener could not help enjoying the subtlety of the + case--the smile persisted as she rejoined, "Ah! when juz' for + the fun, all I can get the chance, I'm making her to bil-ieve + that way!"</p> + + <p>"Yes," laughed the old woman, "but why? Only biccause that + way you, you cannot bil-ieve."</p> + + <p>The lithe maiden arose to resume their task, the heavy + silver still in her hand. The next moment the kneeling grandam + crouched and the glittering metal swept around just high enough + to miss her head. A tinkle of mirth came from its wielder as + she moved on with it, sighing, "Ah! ho! what a pity--that so + seldom the aged commit suicide."</p> + + <p>"Yes," came the soft retort, "but for yo' young grandmama + tha'z not yet the time, she is still a so indispensib'."</p> + + <p>"Very true, ma chère," sang Flora, "and in heaven you + would be so uzeless."</p> + + <p>Out in the hazy, dark, heavily becalmed night the clock + tolled eleven. Eleven--one--three--and all the hours, halves + and quarters between and beyond, it tolled; and Flora, near, + and Anna, far, sometimes each by her own open window, heard and + counted. A thin old moon was dimly rising down the river when + each began to think she caught another and very different sound + that seemed to arrive faint from a long journey out of the + southeast, if really from anywhere, and to pulse in dim + persistency as soft as breathing, but as constant. Likely + enough it was only the rumble of a remote storm and might have + seemed to come out of the north or west had their windows + looked that way, for still the tempestuous rains were frequent + and everywhere, and it was easy and common for man to mistake + God's thunderings for his own.</p> + + <p>Yet, whether those two wakeful maidens truly heard or merely + fancied, in fact just then some seventy miles straight away + under that gaunt old moon, there was rising to heaven the most + terrific uproar this delta land had ever heard since man first + moved upon its shores and waters. Six to the minute bellowed + and soared Porter's awful bombs and arched and howled and fell + and scattered death and conflagration. While they roared, three + hundred and forty great guns beside, on river and land, flashed + and crashed, the breezeless night by turns went groping-black + and clear-as-day red with smoke and flame of vomiting funnels, + of burning boats and fire-rafts, of belching cannon, of + screaming grape and canister and of exploding magazines. And + through the middle of it all, in single file--their topmasts, + yards, and cordage showing above the murk as pale and dumb as + skeletons at every flare of the havoc, a white light twinkling + at each masthead, a red light at the peak and the stars and + stripes there with it--Farragut and his wooden ships came by + the forts.</p> + + <p>"Boys, our cake's all dough!" said a commander in one of the + forts.</p> + + <p>When day returned and Anna and Flora slept, the murmur they + had heard may after all have been only God's thunder and really + not from the southeast; but just down there under the + landscape's flat rim both forts, though with colors still + gallantly flying, were smoking ruins, all Dixie's brave + gunboats and rams lay along the river's two shores, sunken or + burned, and the whole victorious Northern fleet, save one boat + rammed and gone to the bottom, was on its cautious, unpiloted + way, snail-slow but fate-sure, up the tawny four-mile current + and round the gentle green bends of the Mississippi with New + Orleans for its goal and prey.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="XLIX"></a> + + <h2>XLIX</h2> + + <h3>A CITY IN TERROR</h3>Before the smart-stepping lamplighters + were half done turning off the street lights, before the noisy + market-houses all over the town, from Camp Callender to + Carrollton, with their basket-bearing thousands of jesting and + dickering customers, had quenched their gaslights and candles + to dicker and jest by day, or the devotees of early mass had + emerged from the churches, Rumor was on the run. With a sort of + muffled speed and whisper she came and went, crossed her course + and reaffirmed herself, returned to her starting-point and + stole forth again, bearing ever the same horrid burden, brief, + persistent, unexaggerated: The Foe! The Foe! In five great + ships and twice as many lesser ones--counted at Quarantine + Station just before the wires were cut--the Foe was hardly + twenty leagues away, while barely that many guns of ours + crouched between his eight times twenty and our hundred + thousand women and children. + + <p>Yet, for a brief spell, so deep are the ruts of habit, the + city kept to its daily routine, limp and unmeaning though much + of it had come to be. The milkman, of course, held to his + furious round in his comical two-wheeled cart, whirling up to + alley gates, shouting and ringing his big hand-bell. In all his + tracks followed the hooded bread-cart, with its light-weight + loaves for worthless money and with only the staggering news + for lagnappe. Families ate breakfast, one hour and another, + wherever there was food. Day cabmen and draymen trotted off to + their curbstones; women turned to the dish-pan, the dust-pan, + the beds, the broom; porters, clerks and merchants--the + war-mill's wasteful refuse and residuum, some as good as the + gray army's best, some poor enough--went to their idle + counters, desks and sidewalks; the children to the public + schools, the beggar to the church doorstep, physicians to their + sick, the barkeeper to his mirrors and mint, and the pot-fisher + to his catfish lines in the swollen, sweeping, empty + harbor.</p> + + <p>But besides the momentum of habit there was the official + pledge to the people--Mayor Monroe's and Commanding-General + Lovell's--that if they would but keep up this tread-mill gait, + the moment the city was really in danger the wires of the new + fire-alarm should strike the tidings from all her steeples. So + the school teachers read Scripture and prayers and the children + sang the "Bonnie Blue Flag," while outside the omnibuses + trundled, the one-mule street-cars tinkled and jogged and the + bells hung mute.</p> + + <p>Nevertheless a change was coming. Invisibly it worked in the + general mind as that mind gradually took in the meanings of the + case; but visibly it showed as, from some outpost down the + river, General Lovell, (a sight to behold for the mud on him), + came spurring at full speed by Callender House, up through the + Creole Quarter and across wide Canal Street to the St. Charles. + Now even more visibly it betrayed itself, where all through the + heart of the town began aides, couriers and frowning adjutants + to gallop from one significant point to another. Before long + not a cab anywhere waited at its stand. Every one held an + officer or two, if only an un-uniformed bank-officer or captain + of police, and rattled up or down this street and that, taking + corners at breakneck risks. That later the drays began to move + was not so noticeable, for a dray was but a dray and they went + off empty except for their drivers and sometimes a soldier with + a musket and did not return. Moreover, as they went there began + to be seen from the middle of almost any cross-street, in the + sky out over the river front, here one, there another, yonder a + third and fourth, upheaval of dense, unusual smoke, first on + the hither side of the harbor, then on the far side, yet no + fire-engines, hand or steam, rushed that way, nor any alarm + sounded.</p> + + <p>From the Valcours' balcony Madame, gasping for good air + after she and Flora had dressed Charlie's wound, was startled + to see one of those black columns soar aloft. But it was across + the river, and she had barely turned within to mention it, when + up the stair and in upon the three rushed Victorine, all tears, + saying it was from the great dry-dock at Slaughter-House Point, + which our own authorities had set afire.</p> + + <p>The enfeebled Charlie half started from his rocking-chair + laughing angrily. "Incredible!" he cried, but sat mute as the + girl's swift tongue told the half-dozen other dreadful things + she had just beheld on either side the water. The sister and + grandmother sprang into the balcony and stood astounded. Out of + the narrow streets beneath them--Chartres, Condé, St. + Peter, St. Ann, Cathedral Alley--scores and scores of rapidly + walking men and women and scampering boys and girls streamed + round and through the old Square by every practicable way and + out upon the levee.</p> + + <p>"Incredib'!" retorted meanwhile the pouting daughter of + Maxime, pressing into the balcony after Flora. "Hah! and look + yondah another incredib'!" She pointed riverward across the + Square.</p> + + <p>"Charlie, you must not!" cried Flora, returning half into + the room.</p> + + <p>"Bah!" retorted the staggering boy, pushed out among them + and with profane mutterings stood agaze.</p> + + <p>Out across the Square and the ever-multiplying flow of + people through and about it, and over the roof of the French + Market close beyond, the rigging of a moored ship stood + pencilled on the sky. It had long been a daily exasperation to + his grandmother's vision, being (unknown to Charlie or + Victorine), the solitary winnings of Flora's privateering + venture, early sold, you will remember, but, by default of a + buyer, still in some share unnegotiably hers and--in her own + and the grandmother's hungry faith--sure to command triple its + present value the moment the fall of the city should open the + port. Suddenly the old lady wheeled upon Flora with a frantic + look, but was checked by the granddaughter's gleaming eyes and + one inaudible, visible word: "Hush!"</p> + + <p>The gazing boy saw only the ship. "Oh, great Lord!" he + loathingly drawled, "is it Damned Fools' Day again?" Her web of + cordage began to grow dim in a rising smoke, and presently a + gold beading of fire ran up and along every rope and spar and + clung quivering. Soon the masts commenced, it seemed, to steal + nearer to each other, and the vessel swung out from her berth + and started down the wide, swift river, a mass of flames.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Mother of God," cried Victorine with a new gush of + tears! "'ave mercy upon uz women!" and in the midst of her + appeal the promised alarum began to toll--here, yonder, and far + away--here, yonder, and far away--and did not stop until right + in the middle of the morning it had struck twelve.</p> + + <p>"Good-by! poor betrayed New Orleans!" exclaimed Charlie, + turning back into the room. "Good-by, sweetheart, I'm off! + Good-by, grannie--Flo'!"</p> + + <p>The three followed in with cries of amazement, distress, + indignation, command, reproach, entreaty, all alike vain. As if + the long-roll of his own brigade were roaring to him, he strode + about the apartment preparing to fly.</p> + + <p>His sister tried to lay preventing hands on him, saying, + "Your life! your life! you are throwing it away!"</p> + + <p>"Well, what am I in Kincaid's Battery for?" he retorted, + with a sweep of his arm that sent her staggering. He caught the + younger girl by the shoulders: "Jularkie, if you want to go, + too, with or without grannie and Flo', by Jove, come along! + I'll take care of you!"</p> + + <p>The girl's eyes melted with yearning, but the response was + Flora's: "Simpleton! When you haven' the sense enough to take + care of yourself!"</p> + + <p>"Ah, shame!" ventured the sweetheart. "He's the lover of his + blidding country, going ag-ain to fighd for her--and uz--whiles + he can!--to-day!--al-lone!--now!" Her fingers clutched his + wrists, that still held her shoulders, and all her veins surged + in the rapture of his grasp.</p> + + <p>But Charlie stared at his sister. It could not enter his + mind that her desires were with the foe, yet his voice went + deep in scorn: "And have you too turned coward?"</p> + + <p>The taunt stung. Its victim flashed, but in the next breath + her smile was clemency itself as she drew Victorine from him + and shot her neat reply, well knowing he would never guess the + motives behind it--the bow whence flew the shaft: the revenge + she owed the cause that had burned their home; her malice + against Anna; the agony of losing him they now called dead and + buried; the new, acute loathing that issued from that agony + upon the dismal Irby; her baffled hunger for the jewels; her + plans for the chest of plate; hopes vanishing in smoke with + yonder burning ship; thought of Greenleaf's probable return + with the blue army, of the riddles that return might make, and + of the ruin, the burning and sinking riot and ruin, these + things were making in her own soul as if it, too, were a city + lost.</p> + + <p>"Charlie," she said, "you 'ave yo' fight. Me, I 'ave mine. + Here is grandma. Ask her--if my fight--of every day--for you + and her--and not yet finish'--would not eat the last red speck + of courage out of yo' blood."</p> + + <p>She turned to Victorine: "Oh, he's brave! He 'as all that + courage to go, in that condition! Well, we three women, we 'ave + the courage to let him go and ourselve' to stay. But--Charlie! + take with you the Callender'! Yes! You, you can protec' them, + same time they can take care of you. Stop!--Grandma!--yo' + bonnet and gaiter'! All three, Victorine, we will help them, + all four, get away!"</p> + + <p>On the road to Callender House, while Charlie and Victorine + palavered together--"I cannot quite make out," minced the + French-speaking grandmother to Flora, "the real reason why you + are doing this."</p> + + <p>"'T is with me the same!" eagerly responded the beauty, in + the English she preferred. "I thing maybe 't is juz + inspiration. What you thing?"</p> + + <p>"I? I am afraid it is only your great love for Anna--making + you a trifle blind."</p> + + <p>The eyes of each rested in the other's after the manner we + know and the thought passed between them, that if further news + was yet to come of the lost artillerist, any soul-reviving + news, it would almost certainly come first to New Orleans and + from the men in blue.</p> + + <p>"No," chanted the granddaughter, "I can't tell what is + making me do that unlezz my guardian angel!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="L"></a> + + <h2>L</h2> + + <h3>ANNA AMAZES HERSELF</h3>Once more the Carrollton Gardens. + + <p>Again the afternoon hour, the white shell-paved court, its + two playing fountains, the roses, lilies, jasmines and violets, + their perfume spicing all the air, and the oriole and + mocking-bird enrapturing it with their songs, although it was + that same dire twenty-fourth of April of which we have been + telling. Townward across the wide plain the distant smoke of + suicidal conflagration studded the whole great double crescent + of the harbor. Again the slim railway, its frequent small + trains from the city clanging round the flowery miles of its + half-circle, again the highway on either side the track, and + again on the highway, just reaching the gardens, whose dashing + coach and span, but the Callenders'?</p> + + <p>Dashing was the look of it, not its speed. Sedately it came. + Behind it followed a team of four giant mules, a joy to any + quartermaster's vision, drawing a plantation wagon filled with + luggage. On the old coachman's box sat beside him a slave maid, + and in the carriage the three Callenders and Charlie. Anna and + Miranda were on the rear seat and for the wounded boy's better + ease his six-shooter lay in Anna's lap. A brave animation in + the ladies was only the more prettily set off by a pinkness of + earlier dejection about their eyes. Abreast the gate they + halted to ask an armed sentry whether the open way up the river + coast was through the gardens or--</p> + + <p>He said there was no longer any open way without a pass from + General Lovell, and when they affably commended the precaution + and showed a pass he handed it to an officer, a heated, + bustling, road-soiled young Creole, who had ridden up at the + head of a mounted detail. This youth, as he read it, shrugged. + "Under those present condition'," he said, with a wide gesture + toward the remote miles of blazing harbor, "he could not honor + a pazz two weeks ole. They would 'ave to rit-urn and get it + renew'."</p> + + <p>"Oh! how? How hope to do so in all yonder chaos? And how! + oh, how! could an army--in full retreat--leaving women and + wounded soldiers to the mercy of a ravening foe--compel them to + remain in the city it was itself evacuating?" A sweet and + melodious dignity was in all the questions, but eyes shone, + brows arched, lips hung apart and bonnet-feathers and + hat-feathers, capes and flounces, seemed to ruffle wider, with + consternation and hurt esteem.</p> + + <p>The officer could not explain a single how. He could do no + more than stubbornly regret that the questioners must even + return by train, the dread exigencies of the hour compelling + him to impress these horses for one of his guns and those mules + for his battery-wagon.</p> + + <p>Anna's three companions would have sprung to their feet but + in some way her extended hand stayed them. A year earlier + Charlie would have made sad mistakes here, but now he knew the + private soldier's helplessness before the gold bars of + commission, and his rage was white and dumb, as, with bursting + eyes, he watched the officer pencil a blank.</p> + + <p>"Don't write that, sir," said a clear voice, and the writer, + glancing up, saw Anna standing among the seated three. Her face + was drawn with distress and as pale as Charlie's, but Charlie's + revolver was in her hand, close to her shoulder, pointed + straight upward at full cock, and the hand was steady. "Those + mules first," she spoke on, "and then we, sir, are going to + turn round and go home. Whatever our country needs of us we + will give, not sell; but we will not, in her name, be robbed on + the highway, sir, and I will put a ball through the head of the + first horse or mule you lay a hand on. Isaac, turn your + team."</p> + + <p>Unhindered, the teamster, and then the coachman, turned and + drove. Back toward, and by and by, into the vast woe-stricken + town they returned in the scented airs and athwart the long + shadows of that same declining sun which fourteen years + before--or was it actually but fourteen months?--had first + gilded the splendid maneuverings of Kincaid's Battery. The + tragi-comic rencounter just ended had left the three ladies + limp, gay, and tremulous, with Anna aghast at herself and + really wondering between spells of shame and fits of laughter + what had happened to her reason.</p> + + <p>With his pistol buckled on again, Charlie had only a wordy + wrath for the vanished officer, and grim worship of Anna, while + Constance and Miranda, behind a veil of mirthful + recapitulations, tenderly rejoiced in the relief of mind and + heart which the moment had brought to her who had made it + amazing. And now the conditions around them in streets, homes, + and marts awoke sympathies in all the four, which further eased + their own distresses.</p> + + <p>The universal delirium of fright and horror had passed. + Through all the city's fevered length and breadth, in the + belief that the victorious ships, repairing the lacerations of + battle as they came, were coming so slowly that they could not + arrive for a day or two, and that they were bringing no land + forces with them, thousands had become rationally, desperately + busy for flight. Everywhere hacks, private carriages, cabs, + wagons, light and heavy, and carts, frail or strong, carts for + bread or meat, for bricks or milk, were bearing fugitives--old + men, young mothers, grandmothers, maidens and children--with + their trunks, bales, bundles, slaves and provisions--toward the + Jackson Railroad to board the first non-military train they + could squeeze into, and toward the New and Old Basins to sleep + on schooner decks under the open stars in the all-night din of + building deckhouses. Many of them were familiar acquaintances + and chirruped good-by to the Callenders. Passes? No trouble + whatever! Charlie need only do this and that and so and so, and + there you were!</p> + + <p>But Charlie was by this time so nervously spent and in such + pain that the first thing must be to get him into bed again--at + Callender House, since nothing could induce him to let sister, + sweetheart or grandmother know he had not got away. To hurt his + pride the more, in every direction military squads with + bayonets fixed were smartly fussing from one small domicile to + another, hustling out the laggards and marching them to + encampments on the public squares. Other squads--of the Foreign + Legion, appointed to remain behind in "armed + neutrality"--patroled the sidewalks strenuously, preserving + order with a high hand. Down this street drums roared, fifes + squealed and here passed yet another stately regiment on toward + and now into and down, Calliope Street, silent as the rabble it + marched through, to take train for Camp Moore in the + Mississippi hills.</p> + + <p>"Good Lord!" gasped Charlie, "if that isn't the Confederate + Guards! Oh, what good under heaven can those old chaps do at + the front?"--the very thing the old chaps were asking + themselves.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LI"></a> + + <h2>LI</h2> + + <h3>THE CALLENDER HORSES ENLIST</h3>Mere mind should ever be a + most reverent servant to the soul. But in fact, and + particularly in hours stately with momentous things, what a + sacrilegious trick it has of nagging its holy mistress with + triflet light as air--small as gnats yet as pertinacious. + + <p>To this effect, though written with a daintier pen, were + certain lines but a few hours old, that twenty-fourth of April, + in a diary which through many months had received many entries + since the one that has already told us of its writer paired at + Doctor Sevier's dinner-party with a guest now missing, and of + her hearing, in the starlight with that guest, the newsboys' + cry that his and her own city's own Beauregard had opened fire + on Fort Sumter and begun this war--which now behold!</p> + + <p>Of this droll impishness of the mind, even in this carriage + to-day, with these animated companions, and in all this + tribulation, ruin, and flight, here was a harrying instance: + that every minute or two, whatever the soul's outer + preoccupation or inner anguish, there would, would, would + return, return and return the doggerel words and swaggering old + tune of that song abhorred by the gruff General, but which had + first awakened the love of so many hundreds of brave men for + its brave, gay singer now counted forever lost:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Ole mahs' love' wine, ole + mis' love' silk--"</span></p> + + <p>Generally she could stop it there, but at times it contrived + to steal unobserved through the second line and then no power + could keep it from marching on to the citadel, the end of the + refrain. Base, antic awakener of her heart's dumb cry of + infinite loss! For every time the tormenting inanity won its + way, that other note, that unvoiced agony, hurled itself + against the bars of its throbbing prison.</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Ole mahs' love' wine, ole + mis' love'--"</span></p> + + <p>"Oh, Hilary, my Hilary!"</p> + + <p>From the Creole Quarter both carriage and wagon turned to + the water front. Charlie's warning that even more trying scenes + would be found there was in vain. Anna insisted, the fevered + youth's own evident wish was to see the worst, and Constance + and Miranda, dutifully mirthful, reminded him that through Anna + they also had now tasted blood. As the equipage came out upon + the Levee and paused to choose a way, the sisters sprang up and + gazed abroad, sustaining each other by their twined arms.</p> + + <p>To right, to left, near and far--only not just here where + the Coast steamboats landed--the panorama was appalling. All + day Anna had hungered for some incident or spectacle whose + majesty or terror would suffice to distract her from her own + desolation; but here it was made plain to her that a distress + before which hand and speech are helpless only drives the soul + in upon its own supreme devotion and woe. One wide look over + those far flat expanses of smoke and flame answered the wonder + of many hours, as to where all the drays and floats of the town + had gone and what they could be doing. Along the entire sinuous + riverside the whole great blockaded seaport's choked-in stores + of tobacco and cotton, thousands of hogsheads, ten thousands of + bales--lest they enrich the enemy--were being hauled to the + wharves and landings and were just now beginning to receive the + torch, the wharves also burning, and boats and ships on either + side of the river being fired and turned adrift.</p> + + <p>Yet all the more because of the scene, a scene that quelled + even the haunting strain of song, that other note, that wail + which, the long day through, had writhed unreleased in her + bosom, rose, silent still, yet only the stronger and more + importunate--</p> + + <p>"Oh, Hilary, my soldier, my flag's, my country's defender, + come back to me--here!--now!--my yet living hero, my Hilary + Kincaid!"</p> + + <p>Reluctantly, she let Constance draw her down, and presently, + in a voice rich with loyal pride, as the carriage moved on, + bade Charlie and Miranda observe that only things made + contraband by the Richmond Congress were burning, while all the + Coast Landing's wealth of Louisiana foodstuffs, in barrels and + hogsheads, bags and tierces, lay unharmed. Yet not long could + their course hold that way, and--it was Anna who first proposed + retreat. The very havoc was fascinating and the courage of + Constance and Miranda, though stripped of its mirth, remained + undaunted; but the eye-torture of the cotton smoke was enough + alone to drive them back to the inner streets.<br> + <img src="images/music274.png" + alt="Music: Ole mahs' love'..." + height="133" + width="700"></p> + + <p>Here the direction of their caravan, away from all avenues + of escape, no less than their fair faces, drew the notice of + every one, while to the four themselves every busy + vehicle--where none was idle,--every sound remote or near, + every dog in search of his master, and every man--how few the + men had become!--every man, woman or child, alone or + companioned, overladen or empty-handed, hurrying out of gates + or into doors, standing to stare or pressing intently or + distractedly on, calling, jesting, scolding or weeping--and how + many wept!--bore a new, strange interest of fellowship. So + Callender House came again to view, oh, how freshly, dearly, + appealingly beautiful! As the Callender train drew into its + gate and grove, the carriage was surrounded, before it could + reach the veranda steps, by a full dozen of household slaves, + male and female, grown, half-grown, clad and half-clad, some + grinning, some tittering, all overjoyed, yet some in tears. + There had been no such gathering at the departure. To spare the + feelings of the mistresses the dominating "mammy" of the + kitchen had forbidden it. But now that they were back, Glory! + Hallelujah!</p> + + <p>"And had it really," the three home-returning fair ones + asked, "seemed so desolate and deadly perilous just for want of + them? What!--had seemed so even to stalwart Tom?--and + Scipio?--and Habakkuk? And were Hettie and Dilsie actually so + in terror of the Yankees?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, if we'd known that we'd never have started!" exclaimed + Constance, with tears, which she stoutly quenched, while from + all around came sighs and moans of love and gratitude.</p> + + <p>And were the three verily back to stay?</p> + + <p>Ah! that was the question. While Charlie, well attended, + went on up and in they paused on the wide stair and in mingled + distress and drollery asked each other, "<i>Are</i> we back to + stay, or not?"</p> + + <p>A new stir among the domestics turned their eyes down into + the garden. Beyond the lingering vehicles a lieutenant from + Camp Callender rode up the drive. Two or three private soldiers + hung back at the gate.</p> + + <p>"It's horses and mules again, Nan," gravely remarked + Constance, and the three, facing toward him, with Miranda + foremost, held soft debate. Whether the decision they reached + was to submit or resist, the wide ears of the servants could + not be sure, but by the time the soldier was dismounting the + ladies had summoned the nerve to jest.</p> + + <p>"Be a man, Miranda!" murmured Constance.</p> + + <p>"But not the kind I was!" prompted Anna.</p> + + <p>"No," said her sister, "for this one coming is already + scared to death."</p> + + <p>"So's Miranda," breathed Anna as he came up the steps + uncovering and plainly uncomfortable. A pang lanced through her + as she caught herself senselessly recalling the flag + presentation. And then--</p> + + <center> + <img src="images/music276.png" + alt="Music: --oh! oh!" + height="121" + width="700"> + </center> + + <p>"--oh! <i>oh!</i>"</p> + + <p>"Mrs. Callender?" asked the stranger.</p> + + <p>"Yes, sir," said that lady.</p> + + <p>"My business"--he glanced back in nervous protest as the + drivers beneath gathered their reins--"will you kindly + detain--?"</p> + + <p>"If you wish, sir," she replied, visibly trembling. + "Isaac--"</p> + + <p>From the rear of the group came the voice of Anna: "Miranda, + dear, I wouldn't stop them." The men regathered the lines. She + moved half a step down and stayed herself on her sister's + shoulder. Miranda wrinkled back at her in an ecstasy of + relief:</p> + + <p>"Oh, Anna, do speak for all of us!"</p> + + <p>The teams started away. A distress came into the soldier's + face, but Anna met it with a sober smile: "Don't be troubled, + sir, you shall have them. Drive round into the basement, Ben, + and unload." The drivers went. "You shall have them, sir, on + your simple word of honor as--"</p> + + <p>"Of course you will be reimbursed. I pledge--"</p> + + <p>"No, sir," tearfully put in Constance, "we've given our men, + we can't sell our beasts."</p> + + <p>"They are not ours to sell," said Anna.</p> + + <p>"Why, Nan!"</p> + + <p>"They belong to Kincaid's Battery," said Anna, and + Constance, Miranda, and the servants smiled a proud approval. + Even the officer flushed with a fine ardor:</p> + + <p>"You have with you a member of that command?"</p> + + <p>"We have."</p> + + <p>"Then, on my honor as a Southern soldier, if he will stay by + them and us as far as Camp Moore, to Kincaid's Battery they + shall go. But, ladies--"</p> + + <p>"Yes," knowingly spoke Miranda. "Hettie, Scipio, Dilsie, + you-all can go 'long back to your work now." She wrinkled + confidentially to the officer.</p> + + <p>"Yes," he replied, "we shall certainly engage the enemy's + ships to-morrow, and you ladies must--"</p> + + <p>"Must not desert our home, sir," said Anna.</p> + + <p>"Nor our faithful servants," added the other two.</p> + + <p>"Ah, ladies, but if we should have to make this house a + field hospital, with all the dreadful--"</p> + + <p>"Oh, that settles it," cried the three, "we stay!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LII"></a> + + <h2>LII</h2> + + <h3>HERE THEY COME!</h3>What a night! Yet the great city slept. + Like its soldiers at their bivouac fires it lay and slumbered + beside its burning harbor. Sleep was duty. + + <p>Callender House kept no vigil. Lighted by the far + devastation, its roof shone gray, its cornice white, its + tree-tops green above the darkness of grove and garden. From + its upper windows you might have seen the townward bends of the + river gleam red, yellow, and bronze, or the luminous smoke of + destruction (slantingly over its flood and farther shore) roll, + thin out, and vanish in a moonless sky. But from those windows + no one looked forth. After the long, strenuous, open-air day, + sleep, even to Anna, had come swiftly.</p> + + <p>Waking late and springing to her elbow she presently knew + that every one else was up and about. Her maid came and she + hastened to dress. Were the hostile ships in sight? Not yet. + Was the city still undestroyed? Yes, though the cotton brought + out to the harbor-side was now fifteen thousand bales and with + its blazing made a show as if all the town were afire. She was + furiously hungry; was not breakfast ready? Yes, Constance and + Miranda--"done had breakfuss and gone oveh to de cottage fo' to + fix it up fo' de surgeon ... No, 'm, not dis house; he done + change' his mine." Carriage horses--mules? "Yass, 'm, done + gone. Mahs' Chahlie gone wid 'm. He gone to be boss o' de big + gun what show' f'om dese windehs." Oh, but that was an awful + risk, wounded as he was! "Yass, 'm, but he make his promise to + Miss Flo'a he won't tech de gun hisseff." What! Miss Flora--? + "Oh, she be'n, but she gone ag'in. Law'! she a brave un! It + e'en a'most make me brave, dess to see de high sperits she in!" + The narrator departed.</p> + + <p>How incredible was the hour. Looking out on the soft gray + sky and river and down into the camp, that still kept such + quiet show of routine, or passing down the broad hall stair, + through the library and into the flowery breakfast room, how + keenly real everything that met the eye, how unreal whatever + was beyond sight. How vividly actual this lovely home in the + sweet ease and kind grace of its lines and adornments. How hard + to move with reference to things unseen, when heart and mind + and all power of realizing unseen things were far away in the + ravaged fields, mangled roads and haunted woods and ravines + between Corinth and Shiloh.</p> + + <p>But out in the garden, so fair and odorous as one glided + through it to the Mandeville cottage, things boldly in view + made sight itself hard to believe. Was that bespattered gray + horseman no phantom, who came galloping up the river road and + called to a servant at the gate that the enemy's fleet was in + sight from English Turn? Was that truly New Orleans, back + yonder, wrapped in smoke, like fallen Carthage or Jerusalem? Or + here! this black-and-crimson thing drifting round the bend in + mid-current and without a sign of life aboard or about it, was + this not a toy or sham, but one more veritable ship in + veritable flames? And beyond and following it, helpless as a + drift-log, was that lifeless white-and-crimson thing a burning + passenger steamer--and that behind it another? Here in the + cottage, plainly these were Constance and Miranda, and, on + second view, verily here were a surgeon and his attendants. But + were these startling preparations neither child's play nor + dream?</p> + + <p>Child's play persistently seemed, at any rate, the small bit + of yellow stuff produced as a hospital flag. Oh, surely! would + not a much larger be far safer? It would. Well, at the house + there was some yellow curtaining packed in one of the boxes, + Isaac could tell which--</p> + + <p>"I think I know right where it is!" said Anna, and hurried + away to find and send it. The others, widow and wife, would + stay where they were and Anna would take command at the big + house, where the domestics would soon need to be emboldened, + cheered, calmed, controlled. Time flies when opening boxes that + have been stoutly nailed and hooped over the nails. When the + goods proved not to be in the one where Anna "knew" they were + she remembered better, of course, and in the second they were + found. Just as the stuff had been drawn forth and was being + hurried away by the hand of Dilsie, a sergeant and private from + the camp, one with a field glass, the other with a signal flag, + came asking leave to use them from the belvedere on the roof. + Anna led them up to it.</p> + + <p>How suddenly authentic became everything, up here. Flat as a + map lay river, city, and plain. Almost under them and amusingly + clear in detail, they looked down into Camp Callender and the + Chalmette fortifications. When they wigwagged, "Nothing in + sight," to what seemed a very real toy soldier with a very real + toy flag, on a green toy mound in the midst of the work (the + magazine), he wigwagged in reply, and across the river a mere + speck of real humanity did the same from a barely definable + parapet.</p> + + <p>With her maid beside her Anna lingered a bit. She loved to + be as near any of the dear South's defenders as modesty would + allow, but these two had once been in Kincaid's Battery, her + Hilary's own boys. As lookouts they were not yet skilled. In + this familiar scene she knew things by the eye alone, which the + sergeant, unused even to his glass, could hardly be sure of + through it.</p> + + <p>Her maid looked up and around. "Gwine to rain ag'in," she + murmured, and the mistress assented with her gaze in the + southeast. In this humid air and level country a waterside row + of live-oaks hardly four miles off seemed at the world's edge + and hid all the river beyond it.</p> + + <p>"There's where the tips of masts always show first," she + ventured to the sergeant. "We can't expect any but the one kind + now, can we?"</p> + + <p>"'Fraid not, moving up-stream."</p> + + <p>"Then yonder they come. See? two or three tiny, + needle-like--h-m-m!--just over that farth'--?"</p> + + <p>He lowered the glass and saw better without it.</p> + + <p>The maid burst out: "Oh, Lawd, <i>I</i> does! Oh, good Gawd + A'mighty!" She sprang to descend, but with a show of wonder + Anna spoke and she halted.</p> + + <p>"If you want to leave me," continued the mistress, "you need + only ask."</p> + + <p>"Law, Miss Nannie! Me leave you? I--"</p> + + <p>"If you do--now--to-day--for one minute, I'll never take you + back. I'll have Hettie or Dilsie."</p> + + <p>"Missie,"--tears shone--"d' ain't nothin' in Gawd's worl' + kin eveh make me a runaway niggeh f'om you! But ef you tell me + now fo' to go fetch ev'y dahky we owns up to you--"</p> + + <p>"Yes! on the upper front veranda! Go, do it!"</p> + + <p>"Yass, 'm! 'caze ef us kin keep 'em anywahs it'll be in de + bes' place fo' to see de mos' sights!" She vanished and Anna + turned to the soldiers. Their flagging had paused while they + watched the far-away top-gallants grow in height and numbers. + Down in the works the long-roll was sounding and from every + direction men were answering it at a run. Across the river came + bugle notes. Sighingly the sergeant lowered his glass:</p> + + <p>"Lordy, it's the whole kit and b'ilin'! Wag, John. When they + swing up round this end of the trees I'll count 'em. Here they + come! One, ... two, ... why, what small--oh, see this big + fellow! Look at the width of those yards! And look at all their + hulls, painted the color of the river! And see that pink + flutter--look!" he said to Anna, "do you get it? high up among + the black ropes? that pink--"</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Anna solemnly, "I see it--"</p> + + <p>"That's the old--"</p> + + <p>"Yes. Must we fire on that? and fire first?"</p> + + <p>"We'd better!" laughed the soldier, "if we fire at all. + Those chaps have got their answer ready and there won't be much + to say after it." The three hurried down, the men to camp, Anna + to the upper front veranda. There, save two or three with + Constance and Miranda, came all the servants, shepherded by + Isaac and Ben with vigilant eyes and smothered vows to "kill de + fuss he aw she niggeh dat try to skedaddle"; came and stood to + gaze with her over and between the grove trees. Down in the + fortification every man seemed to have sprung to his post. On + its outer crest, with his adjutant, stood the gilded commander + peering through his glass.</p> + + <p>"Missie," sighed Anna's maid, "see Mahs' Chahlie dah? + stan'in' on de woodworks o' dat big gun?"</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Anna carelessly, but mutely praying that some + one would make him get down. Her brain teemed with + speculations: Where, how occupied and in what state of things, + what frame of mind, was Victorine, were Flora and Madame? Here + at Steve's cottage with what details were 'Randa and Connie + busy? But except when she smiled round on the slaves, her gaze, + like theirs, abode on the river and the shore defenses, from + whose high staffs floated brightly the Confederate flag. How + many a time in this last fearful year had her own Hilary, her + somewhere still living, laughing, loving Hilary, stood like yon + commander, about to deal havoc from, and to draw it upon, + Kincaid's Battery. Who would say that even now he might not be + so standing, with her in every throb of his invincible + heart?</p> + + <p>Something out in the view disturbed the servants.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Lawd 'a' massy!" moaned a woman.</p> + + <p>"Trus' Him, Aun' Jinnie!" prompted Anna's maid. "Y' always + is trus' Him!"</p> + + <p>"Whoeveh don't trus' Him, I'll bus' him!" confidentially + growled Isaac to those around him.</p> + + <p>"We all of us must and will!" said Anna elatedly, though + with shameful inward sinkings and with no sustaining word from + any of the flock, while out under the far gray sky, emerging + from a slight angle of the shore well down the water's long + reach the battle line began to issue, each ship in its turn + debouching into full relief from main-truck to water-line.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LIII"></a> + + <h2>LIII</h2> + + <h3>SHIPS, SHELLS, AND LETTERS</h3>Strange! how little sense of + calamity came with them--at first. So graceful they were. So + fitted--like waterfowl--to every mood of air and tide; their + wings all furled, their neat bodies breasting the angry flood + by the quiet power of their own steam and silent submerged + wheels. So like to the numberless crafts which in kinder days, + under friendly tow, had come up this same green and tawny reach + and passed on to the queenly city, laden with gifts, on the + peaceful embassies of the world. + + <p>But, ah! how swiftly, threateningly they grew: the smaller, + two-masted fore-and-afts, each seemingly unarmed but for one + monster gun pivoted amidships, and the towering, wide-armed + three-masters, the low and the tall consorting like dog and + hunter. Now, as they came on, a nice eye could make out, down + on their hulls, light patches of new repair where our sunken + fleet had so lately shot and rammed them, and, hanging over the + middle of each ship's side in a broad, dark square to protect + her vitals, a mass of anchor chains. Their boarding-netting, + too, one saw, drawn high round all their sides, and now more + guns--and more!--and more! the huger frowning over the + bulwarks, the lesser in unbroken rows, scowling each from its + own port-hole, while every masthead revealed itself a little + fort bristling with arms and men. Yes, and there, high in the + clouds of rigging, no longer a vague pink flutter now, but + brightly red-white-and-blue and smilingly angry--what a strange + home-coming for it! ah, what a strange home-coming after a + scant year-and-a-half of banishment!--the flag of the Union, + rippling from every peak.</p> + + <p>"Ain' dey neveh gwine shoot?" asked a negro lad.</p> + + <p>"Not till they're out of line with us," said Anna so + confidently as to draw a skeptical grunt from his mother, and + for better heart let a tune float silently in and out on her + breath:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I loves to be a beau to de + ladies.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I loves to shake a toe wid de + ladies--"</span></p> + + <p>She felt her maid's touch. Charlie was aiming his great gun, + and on either side of her Isaac and Ben were repeating their + injunctions. She spoke out:</p> + + <p>"If they all shoot true we're safe enough now."</p> + + <p>"An' ef de ships don't," put in Isaac, "dey'll mighty + soon--"</p> + + <p>The prophecy was lost. All the shore guns blazed and + crashed. The white smoke belched and spread. Broken + window-panes jingled. Wails and moans from the slave women were + silenced by imperious outcries from Isaac and Ben. There + followed a mid-air scream and roar as of fifty railway trains + passing each other on fifty bridges, and the next instant a + storm of the enemy's shells burst over and in the batteries. + But the house stood fast and half a dozen misquotations of + David and Paul were spouted from the braver ones of Anna's + flock. In a moment a veil of smoke hid ships and shore, yet + fearfully true persisted the enemy's aim. To home-guards, + rightly hopeless of their case and never before in action, + every hostile shot was like a volcano's eruption, and their own + fire rapidly fell off. But on the veranda, amid a weeping, + prattling, squealing and gesturing of women and children, Anna + could not distinguish the bursting of the foe's shells from the + answering thunder of Confederate guns, and when in a bare ten + minutes unarmed soldiers began to come out of the smoke and to + hurry through the grove, while riders of harnessed horses and + mules--harnessed to nothing--lashed up the levee road at full + run, and Isaac and Ben proudly cried that one was Mahs' Chahlie + and that the animals were theirs of Callender House, she still + asked over the balustrade how the fight had gone.</p> + + <p>For reply despairing hands pointed her back toward the + river, and there, as she and her groaning servants gazed, the + great black masts and yards, with headway resumed and every + ensign floating, loomed silently forth and began to pass the + veranda. Down in the intervening garden, brightly + self-contained among the pale stragglers there, appeared the + one-armed reporter, with a younger brother in the weather-worn + gray and red of Kincaid's Battery. They waved a pocket-soiled + letter and asked how to get in and up to her; but before she + could do more than toss them a key there came, not from the + ships but from close overhead under a blackening sky, one last, + hideous roar and ear-splitting howl. The beautiful + treasure-laden home heaved, quivered, lurched and settled + again, the women shrieked and crouched or fell prone with + covered heads, and a huge shell, sent by some pain-crazed + fugitive from a gun across the river, and which had entered at + the roof, exploded in the basement with a harrowing peal and + filled every corner of the dwelling with blinding smoke and + stifling dust.</p> + + <p>Constance and Miranda met Anna groping and staggering out of + the chaos. Unharmed, herself, and no one badly hurt? Ah, hear + the sudden wail of that battery boy as he finds his one-armed + brother! Anna kneels with him over the writhing form while + women fly for the surgeon, and men, at her cry, hasten to + improvise a litter. No idle song haunts her now, yet a + clamoring whisper times itself with every pulsation of her + bosom: "The letter? the letter?"</p> + + <p>Pity kept it from her lips, even from her weeping eyes; yet + somehow the fallen boy heard, but when he tried to answer she + hushed him. "Oh, never mind that," she said, wiping away the + sweat of his agony, "it isn't important at all."</p> + + <p>"Dropped it," he gasped, and had dropped it where the shell + had buried it forever.</p> + + <p>Each for the other's sake the lads rejected the hospital, + with its risk of capture. The younger had the stricken one + hurried off toward the railway and a refugee mother in the + hills, Constance tenderly protesting until the surgeon murmured + the truth:</p> + + <p>"It'll be all one to him by to-morrow."</p> + + <p>As the rearmost ship was passing the house Anna, her + comeliness restored, half rose from her bed, where Miranda + stood trying to keep her. From all the far side of the house + remotely sounded the smart tramp and shuffle of servants + clearing away wreckage, and the din of their makeshift repairs. + She was "all right again," she said as she sat, but the + abstraction of her eyes and the harkening droop of her head + showed that inwardly she still saw and heard the death-struck + boy.</p> + + <p>Suddenly she stood. "Dear, brave Connie!" she exclaimed, "we + must go help her, 'Randa." And as they went she added, pausing + at the head of a stair, "Ah, dear! if we, poor sinners all, + could in our dull minds only multiply the awful numbers of + war's victims by the woes that gather round any one of them, + don't you think, 'Randa--?"</p> + + <p>Yes, Miranda agreed, certainly if man--yes, and woman--had + that gift wars would soon be no more.</p> + + <p>On a high roof above their apartment stood our Valcour + ladies. About them babbling feminine groups looked down upon + the harbor landings black with male vagabonds and witlings + smashing the precious food freight (so sacred yesterday), while + women and girls scooped the spoils from mire and gutter into + buckets, aprons or baskets, and ran home with it through + Jackson Square and scurried back again with grain-sacks and + pillow-slips, and while the cotton burned on and the ships, so + broadly dark aloft, so pale in their war paint below and so + alive with silent, motionless men, came through the smoking + havoc.</p> + + <p>"No uze to hope," cooed the grandmother to Flora, whose gaze + clung to the tree-veiled top of Callender House. "It riffuse' + to burn. 'Tis not a so inflammab' like that rope and tar." The + rope and tar meant their own burnt ship.</p> + + <p>"Ah, well," was the light reply, "all shall be for the bes'! + Those who watch the game close and play it with courage--"</p> + + <p>"And cheat with prudenze--?"</p> + + <p>"Yes! to them God is good. How well you know that! And Anna, + too, she's learning it--or she shall--dear Anna! Same time me, + I am well content."</p> + + <p>"Oh, you are joyful! But not because God is good, neither + juz' biccause those Yankee' they arrive. Ah, that muz' bring + some splandid news, that lett'r of Irbee, what you riscieve + to-day and think I don't know it. 'T is maybe ab-out Kincaid's + Batt'rie, eh?" At Flora's touch the speaker flinched back from + the roof's edge, the maiden aiding the recoil.</p> + + <p>"Don't stand so near, like that," she said. "It temp' me to + shove you over."</p> + + <p>They looked once more to the fleet. Slowly it came on. Near + its line's center the flag-ship hovered just opposite Canal + Street. The rear was far down by the Mint. Up in the van the + leading vessel was halting abreast St. Mary's Market, a few + hundred yards behind which, under black clouds and on an east + wind, the lone-star flag of seceded Louisiana floated in + helpless defiance from the city hall. All at once heaven's own + thunders pealed. From a warning sprinkle the women near about + fled down a roofed hatchway. One led Madame. But on such a + scene Flora craved a better curtain-fall and she lingered + alone.</p> + + <p>It came. As if all its millions of big drops raced for one + prize the deluge fell on city, harbor, and fleet and on the + woe-smitten land from horizon to horizon, while in the same + moment the line of battle dropped anchor in mid-stream. With a + swirling mist wetting her fair head she waved in dainty welcome + Irby's letter and then pressed it to her lips; not for his + sake--hah!--but for his rueful word, that once more his loathed + cousin, Anna's Hilary! was riding at the head of Kincaid's + Battery.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LIV"></a> + + <h2>LIV</h2> + + <h3>SAME APRIL DAY TWICE</h3>Black was that Friday for the + daughters of Dixie. Farragut demanded surrender, Lovell + declined. The mayor, the council, the Committee of Public + Safety declined. + + <p>On Saturday the two sides parleyed while Lovell withdrew his + forces. On Sunday the Foreign Legion preserved order of a sort + highly displeasing to "a plain sailor," as Farragut, on the + Hartford, called himself, and to all the plain sailors of his + fleet--who by that time may have been hard to please. On Monday + the "plain sailor" bade the mayor, who had once been a plain + stevedore, remove the city's women and children within + forty-eight hours. But on Tuesday, in wiser mood, he sent his + own blue-jackets, cutlasses, muskets and hand-dragged + howitzers, lowered the red-and-yellow-striped flag of one star + and on mint and custom-house ran up the stars and stripes. + Constance and Miranda, from their distant roof, saw the emblem + soar to the breeze, and persuaded Anna to an act which cost her + as many hours as it need have taken minutes--the destruction of + the diary. That was on the twenty-ninth of April.</p> + + <p>Let us not get dates confused. "On the twenty-ninth of + April," says Grant, "the troops were at Hard Times (Arkansas), + and the fleet (another fleet), under Admiral Porter, made an + attack upon Grand Gulf (Mississippi), while I reconnoitered." + But that twenty-ninth was a year later, when New Orleans for + three hundred and sixty-five separate soul-torturing days had + been sitting in the twilight of her captivity, often writhing + and raving in it, starved to madness for news of Lee's and + Stonewall's victories and of her boys, her ragged, gaunt, + superb, bleeding, dying, on-pressing boys, and getting only + such dubious crumbs of rumor as could be smuggled in, or such + tainted bad news as her captors delighted to offer her through + the bars of a confiscated press. No? did the treatment she was + getting merely--as Irby, with much truth, on that twenty-ninth + remarked in a group about a headquarters camp-fire near Grand + Gulf--did it merely seem so bad to poor New Orleans?</p> + + <p>Oh, but!--as the dingy, lean-faced Hilary cried, springing + from the ground where he lay and jerking his pipe from his + teeth--was it not enough for a world's pity that to her it + seemed so? How it seemed to the Callenders in particular was a + point no one dared raise where he was. To them had come + conditions so peculiarly distressing and isolating that they + were not sharers of the common lot around them, but of one + strangely, incalculably worse. Rarely and only in guarded tones + were they spoken of now in Kincaid's Battery, lately arrived + here, covered with the glory of their part in Bragg's autumn + and winter campaign through Tennessee and Kentucky, and with + Perryville, Murfreesboro' and Stone River added to the long + list on their standard. Lately arrived, yes; but bringing with + them as well as meeting here a word apparently so authentic and + certainly so crushing, (as to those sweet Callenders), that no + one ever let himself hint toward it in the hearing even of + Charlie Valcour, much less of their battle-scarred, + prison-wasted, march-worn, grief-torn, yet still bright-eyed, + brave-stepping, brave-riding Major. Major of Kincaid's + Battalion he was now, whose whole twelve brass pieces had that + morning helped the big iron batteries fight Porter's + gunboats.</p> + + <p>"Finding Grand Gulf too strong," says Grant, "I moved the + army below, running the batteries there as we had done at + Vicksburg. Learning here that there was a good road from + Bruinsburg up to Port Gibson" (both in Mississippi), "I + determined to cross--"</p> + + <p>How pleasantly familiar were those names in New Orleans. + Alike commercially and socially they meant parterres, walks, + bowers in her great back-garden. From the homes of the rich + planters around the towns and landings so entitled, and from + others all up and down the river from Natchez to Vicksburg and + the Bends, hailed many a Carondelet Street nabob and came + yearly those towering steamboat-loads--those floating + cliffs--of cotton-bales that filled presses, ships and + bank-boxes and bought her imports--plows, shoes, bagging, + spices, silks and wines: came also their dashing sons and + daughters, to share and heighten the splendors of her carnivals + and lure away her beaux and belles to summer outings and their + logical results. In all the region there was hardly a family + with which some half-dozen of the battery were not acquainted, + or even related.</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Home again, home again from + a foreign shore,"</span></p> + + <p>sang the whole eighty-odd, every ladies' man of them, around + out-of-tune pianos with girls whose brothers were all away in + Georgia and Virginia, some forever at rest, some about to fight + Chancellorsville. Such a chorus was singing that night within + ear-shot of the headquarters group when Ned Ferry, once of the + battery, but transferred to Harper's cavalry, rode up and was + led by Hilary to the commanding general to say that Grant had + crossed the river. Piano and song hushed as the bugles rang, + and by daybreak all camps had vanished and the gray columns + were hurrying, horse, foot, and wheels, down every southerly + road to crush the invader.</p> + + <p>At the head of one rode General Brodnax. Hearing Hilary + among his staff he sent for him and began to speak of + Mandeville, long gone to Richmond on some official matter and + daily expected back; and then he mentioned "this fellow Grant," + saying he had known him in Mexico. "And now," he concluded, + "he's the toughest old he one they've got."</p> + + <p>On the face of either kinsman there came a fine smile that + really made them look alike. "We'll try our jaw-teeth on him + to-morrow," laughed the nephew.</p> + + <p>"Hilary, you weren't one of those singers last evening, were + you?"</p> + + <p>"Why, no, uncle, for once you'll be pleased--"</p> + + <p>"Not by a dam-site!" The smile was gone. "You know, my boy, + that in such a time as this if a leader--and above all such a + capering, high-kicking colt as you--begins to mope and droop + like a cab-horse in the rain, his men will soon not be worth + a--what?... Oh, blast the others, when <i>you</i> do so you're + moping, and whether your men can stand it or not, I + can't!--what?... Well, then, for God's sake don't! For there's + another point, Hilary: as long as you were every night a + 'ladies' man' and every day a laugher at death you could take + those boys through hell-fire at any call; but if they once get + the notion--which you came mighty near giving them + yesterday--that you hold their lives cheap merely because + you're tired of your own, they'll soon make you wish you'd + never set eyes on a certain friend of ours, worse than you or + they or I have ever wished it yet."</p> + + <p>"I've never wished it yet, uncle. I can't. I've never + believed one breath of all we've heard. It's not true. It can't + be, simply because it can't be."</p> + + <p>"Then why do you behave as if it were?" "I won't, uncle. + Honor bright! You watch me." And next day, in front of Port + Gibson, through all the patter, smoke, and crash, through all + the charging, cheering and volleying, while the ever-thinning, + shortening gray lines were being crowded back from rise to + rise--back, back through field, grove, hedge, worm-fence and + farmyard, clear back to Grindstone Ford, Bayou Pierre, and with + the cavalry, Harper's, cut off and driven up eastward through + the town--the enraged old brigadier watched and saw. He saw + far, saw close, with blasphemous exultation, how Hilary and his + guns, called here, sent there, flashed, thundered, galloped, + blazed, howled and held on with furious valor and bleeding + tenacity yet always with a quick-sightedness which just avoided + folly and ruin, and at length stood rock fast, honor bright, at + North Fork and held it till, except the cavalry, the last gray + column was over and the bridges safely burning.</p> + + <p>That night Ned Ferry--of the cavalry withdrawn to the + eastward uplands to protect that great source of supplies and + its New Orleans and Jackson Railroad--was made a lieutenant, + and a certain brave Charlotte, whom later he loved and won, + bringing New Orleans letters to camp, brought also such news of + the foe that before dawn, led by her, Ferry's Scouts rode their + first ride. All day they rode, while the main armies lay with + North Fork between them, the grays entrenching, the blues + rebridging. When at sundown she and Ned Ferry parted, and at + night he bivouacked his men for a brief rest in a black + solitude from which the camp-fires of both hosts were in full + sight and the enemy's bridge-building easily heard, he sought, + uncompanioned, Kincaid's Battery and found Hilary Kincaid. War + is what Sherman called it, who two or three days later, at + Grand Gulf (evacuated), crossed into this very strife. Yet + peace (so-called) and riches rarely bind men in such loving + pairs as do cruel toil, deadly perils, common griefs, exile + from woman and daily experience of one another's sweetness, + valor, and strength, and it was for such things that this pair, + loving so many besides, particularly loved each other.</p> + + <p>With glad eyes Kincaid rose from a log.</p> + + <p>"Major," began the handsome scout, dapper from képi + to spurs in contrast to the worn visage and dress of his + senior, but Hilary was already speaking.</p> + + <p>"My gentle Ned!" he cried. "<i>Lieutenant</i>--Ferry!"</p> + + <p>Amid kind greetings from Captain Bartleson and others the + eyes of the two--Hilary's so mettlesome, Ferry's so + placid--exchanged meanings, and the pair went and sat alone on + the trail of a gun; on Roaring Betsy's knee, as it were. There + Hilary heard of the strange fair guide and of news told by her + which brought him to his feet with a cry of joy that drew the + glad eyes of half the battery.</p> + + <p>"The little mother saint of your flag, boys!" he explained + to a knot of them later, "the little godmother of your guns!" + The Callenders were out of New Orleans, banished as "registered + enemies."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LV"></a> + + <h2>LV</h2> + + <h3>IN DARKEST DIXIE AND OUT</h3>Unhappy Callender House! + Whether "oppressors" or "oppressed" had earliest or oftenest in + that first year of the captivity lifted against it the accusing + finger it would be hard to tell. + + <p>When the Ship Island transports bore their blue thousands up + the river, and the streets roared a new drum-thunder, before + the dark columns had settled down in the cotton-yards, public + squares, Carrollton suburb and Jackson Barracks, Callender + House--you may guess by whose indirection--had come to the + notice of a once criminal lawyer, now the plumed and emblazoned + general-in-chief, to whom, said his victims (possibly biased), + no offense or offender was too small for his hectoring or + chastisement.</p> + + <p>The women in that house, that nest of sedition, he had been + told, at second-hand, had in the very dawn of secession + completely armed the famous "Kincaid's Battery" which had early + made it hot for him about Yorktown. Later in that house they + had raised a large war-fund--still somewhere hidden. The day + the fleet came up they had sent their carriage-horses to + Beauregard, helped signal the Chalmette fortifications, locked + ten slaves in the dwelling under shell fire and threatened + death to any who should stir to escape. So for these twelve + months, with only Isaac, Ben, and their wives as protectors and + the splendid freedom to lock themselves in, they had suffered + the duress of a guard camped in the grove, their every townward + step openly watched and their front door draped with the stars + and stripes, under which no feminine acquaintance could be + enticed except the dear, faithful Valcours.</p> + + <p>But where were old friends and battery sisters? All + estranged. Could not the Callenders go to them and explain? + Explain! A certain man of not one-fifth their public + significance or "secesh" record, being lightly asked on the + street if he had not yet "taken the oath" and as lightly + explaining that he "wasn't going to," had, fame said, for that + alone, been sent to Ship Island--where Anna "already belonged," + as the commanding general told the three gentle refusers of the + oath, while in black letters on the whited wall above his + judgment seat in the custom-house they read, "No distinction + made here between he and she adders."</p> + + <p>But could not the Valcours, those strangely immune, yet + unquestioned true-lovers of poor Dixie, whose marvelous tact + won priceless favors for so many distressed Dixie-ites, have + explained for the Callenders? Flora had explained!--to both + sides, in opposite ways, eagerly, tenderly, over and over, with + moist eyes, yet ever with a cunning lameness that kept + convincement misled and without foothold. Had the Callenders + dwelt up-town the truth might have won out; but where they + were, as they were, they might as well have been in unspeakable + Boston. And so by her own sweet excusings she kept alive + against them beliefs or phantoms of beliefs, which would not + have lived a day in saner times.</p> + + <p>Calumny had taken two forms: the monstrous black smoke of a + vulgar version and the superior divinings of the socially + elect; a fine, hidden flame fed from the smoke. According to + the vulgate the three ladies, incensed at a perfectly lawful + effort to use their horses for the Confederate evacuation and + actually defying it with cocked revolver, had openly abjured + Dixie, renounced all purpose to fly to it and, denying shelter + to their own wounded, had with signal flags themselves guided + the conquering fleet past the town's inmost defenses until + compelled to desist by a Confederate shell in their roof. + Unable to face an odium so well earned they had clung to their + hiding, glad of the blue camp in their grove, living fatly on + the bazaar's proceeds, and having high times with such noted + staff-officers as Major Greenleaf, their kindness to whom in + the days of his modest lieutenancy and first flight and of his + later parole and exchange, was not so hard now to see + through.</p> + + <p>Greenleaf had come back with General Banks when Banks had + succeeded Butler. Oppressed with military cares, he had barely + time to be, without scrutiny, a full believer in the Valcours' + loyalty to the Union. Had they not avowed it to him when to + breathe it was peril, on that early day when Irby's command + became Kincaid's Battery, and in his days of Parish Prison and + bazaar? How well those words fitly spoken had turned out! "Like + apples of gold," sang Flora to the timorous grandmother, "in + wrappers of greenbacks."</p> + + <p>All the more a believer was he because while other faithfuls + were making their loyalty earn big money off the government + this genteel pair reminding him, that they might yet have to + risk themselves inside the gray lines again to extricate + Charlie, had kept their loyalty as gracefully hidden as of old + except from a general or two. Preoccupied Greenleaf, amiable + generals, not to see that a loyalist in New Orleans stood + socially at absolute zero, whereas to stand at the social + ebullition point was more to the Valcours than fifty Unions, a + hundred Dixies and heaven beside. It was that fact, more than + any other, save one, which lent intrepidity to Flora's + perpetual, ever quickening dance on the tight-rope of intrigue; + a performance in which her bonny face had begun to betray her + discovery that she could neither slow down nor dance backward. + However, every face had come to betray some cruel strain; + Constance's, Anna's, even Victorine's almond eyes and Miranda's + baby wrinkles. Yes, the Valcours, too, had, nevertheless, their + monetary gains, but these were quiet and exclusively from their + ever dear, however guilty, "rebel" friends, who could not help + making presents to Madame when brave Flora, spurning all + rewards but their love, got for them, by some spell they could + not work, Federal indulgences; got them through those one or + two generals, who--odd coincidence!--always knew the "rebel" + city's latest "rebel" news and often made stern use of it.</p> + + <p>Full believer likewise, and true sorrower, was Greenleaf, in + Hilary's death, having its seeming proof from Constance and + Miranda as well as from Flora. For in all that twelvemonth the + Callenders had got no glad tidings, even from Mandeville. + Battle, march and devastation, march, battle and devastation + had made letters as scarce as good dreams, in brightest Dixie. + But darkest Dixie was New Orleans. There no three "damned + secesh" might stop on a corner in broadest sunlight and pass + the time of day. There the "rebel" printing-presses stood cold + in dust and rust. There churches were shut and bayonet-guarded + because their ministers would not read the prayers ordered by + the "oppressor," and there, for being on the street after nine + at night, ladies of society, diners-out, had been taken to the + lock-up and the police-court. In New Orleans all news but bad + news was contraband to any "he or she adder," but four-fold + contraband to the Callenders, the fairest member of whose trio, + every time a blue-and-gold cavalier forced her conversation, + stung him to silence with some word as mild as a Cordelia's. + And yet,(you demur,) in the course of a whole year, by some + kind luck, surely the blessed truth--Ah, the damsel on the + tight-rope took care against that! It was part of her dance to + drop from that perch as daintily as a bee-martin way-laying a + hive, devour each home-coming word as he devours bees, and flit + back and twitter and flutter as a part of all nature's harmony, + though in chills of dismay at her peril and yet burning to go + to Hilary, from whom this task alone forever held her away.</p> + + <p>So throughout that year Anna had been to Greenleaf the + veiled widow of his lost friend, not often or long, and never + blithely met; loved more ardently than ever, more reverently; + his devotion holding itself in a fancied concealment + transparent to all; he defending and befriending her, yet only + as he could without her knowledge, and incurring-a certain + stigma from his associates and superiors, if not an actual + distrust. A whole history of itself would be the daily, + nightly, monthly war of passions between him, her, Flora, and + those around them, but time flies.</p> + + <p>One day Greenleaf, returning from a week-long circuit of + outposts, found awaiting him a letter bearing Northern imprints + of mailing and forwarding, from Hilary Kincaid, written long + before in prison and telling another whole history, of a kind + so common in war that we have already gone by it; a story of + being left for dead in the long stupor of a brain hurt; of a + hairbreadth escape from living burial; of weeks in hospital + unidentified, all sense of identity lost; and of a daring feat + of surgery, with swift mental, not so swift bodily, recovery. + Inside the letter was one to Anna. But Anna was gone. Two days + earlier, without warning, the Callenders--as much to Flora's + affright as to their relief, and "as much for Fred's good as + for anything," said his obdurate general when Flora in feigned + pity pleaded for their stay--had been deported into the + Confederacy.</p> + + <p>"Let me carry it to her," cried Flora to Greenleaf, + rapturously clasping the letter and smiling heroically. "We can + overtague them, me and my gran'mama! And then, thanks be to + God! my brother we can bring him back! Maybe also--ah! maybee! + I can obtain yo' generals some uzeful news!"</p> + + <p>After some delay the pair were allowed to go. At the nearest + gray outpost, in a sudden shower of the first true news for a + week--the Mississippi crossed, Grant victorious at Port Gibson + and joined by Sherman at Grand Gulf--Flora learned, to her + further joy, that the Callenders, misled by report that + Brodnax's brigade was at Mobile, had gone eastward, as straight + away from Brodnax and the battery as Gulf-shore roads could + take them, across a hundred-mile stretch of townless + pine-barrens with neither railway nor telegraph.</p> + + <p>Northward, therefore, with Madame on her arm, sprang Flora, + staggeringly, by the decrepit Jackson Railroad, along the quiet + eastern bound of a region out of which, at every halt, came + gloomy mention of Tallahala River and the Big Black; of Big + Sandy, Five Mile and Fourteen Mile creeks; of Logan, Sherman + and Grant; of Bowen, Gregg, Brodnax and Harper, and of daily + battle rolling northward barely three hours' canter away. So + they reached Jackson, capital of the state and base of General + Joe Johnston's army. They found it in high ferment and full of + stragglers from a battle lost that day at Raymond scarcely + twenty miles down the Port Gibson road, and on the day + following chanced upon Mandeville returning at last from + Richmond. With him they turned west, again by rail, and about + sundown, at Big Black Bridge, ten miles east of Vicksburg, + found themselves clasping hands in open air with General + Brodnax, Irby and Kincaid, close before the torn brigade and + the wasted, cheering battery. Angels dropped down they seemed, + tenderly begging off from all talk of the Callenders, who, + Flora distressfully said, had been "grozzly exaggerated," + while, nevertheless, she declared herself, with starting tears, + utterly unable to explain why on earth they had gone to + Mobile--"unlezz the bazaar." No doubt, however, they would soon + telegraph by way of Jackson. But next day, while she, as + mistress of a field hospital, was winning adoration on every + side, Jackson, only thirty miles off but with every wire cut, + fell, clad in the flames of its military factories, mills, + foundries and supplies and of its eastern, Pearl River, + bridge.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LVI"></a> + + <h2>LVI</h2> + + <h3>BETWEEN THE MILLSTONES</h3>Telegraph! They had been + telegraphing for days, but their telegrams have not yet been + delivered. + + <p>On the evening when the camps of Johnston and Grant with + burning Jackson between them put out half the stars a covered + carriage, under the unsolicited escort of three or four + gray-jacketed cavalrymen and driven by an infantry lad seeking + his command after an illness at home, crossed Pearl River in a + scow at Ratcliff's ferry just above the day's battlefield.</p> + + <p>"When things are this bad," said the boy to the person + seated beside him and to two others at their back, his allusion + being to their self-appointed guard, "any man you find + straggling to the <i>front</i> is the kind a lady can + trust."</p> + + <p>This equipage had come a three hours' drive, from the pretty + town of Brandon, nearest point to which a railway train from + the East would venture, and a glimpse into the vehicle would + have shown you, behind Constance and beside Miranda, Anna, + pale, ill, yet meeting every inquiry with a smiling request to + push on. They were attempting a circuit of both armies to reach + a third, Pemberton's, on the Big Black and in and around + Vicksburg.</p> + + <p>Thus incited they drove on in the starlight over the gentle + hills of Madison county and did not accept repose until they + had put Grant ten miles behind and crossed to the south side of + the Vicksburg and Jackson Railroad at Clinton village with only + twenty miles more between them and Big Black Bridge. The + springs of Anna's illness were more in spirit than body. Else + she need not have lain sleepless that night at Clinton's many + cross-roads, still confronting a dilemma she had encountered in + Mobile.</p> + + <p>In Mobile the exiles had learned the true whereabouts of the + brigade, and of a battery then called Bartleson's as often as + Kincaid's by a public which had half forgotten the seemingly + well-established fact of Hilary's death. Therein was no new + shock. The new shock had come when, as the three waited for + telegrams, they stood before a vast ironclad still on the ways + but offering splendid protection from Farragut's wooden terrors + if only it could be completed, yet on which work had ceased for + lack of funds though a greater part of the needed amount, + already put up, lay idle solely because it could not be dragged + up to a total that would justify its outlay.</p> + + <p>"How much does it fall short?" asked Anna with a heart at + full stop, and the pounding shock came when the shortage proved + less than the missing proceeds of the bazaar. For there heaved + up the problem, whether to pass on in the blind hope of finding + her heart's own, or to turn instead and seek the two detectives + and the salvation of a city. This was the dilemma which in the + last few days had torn half the life out of her and, more + gravely than she knew, was threatening the remnant.</p> + + <p>Constance and Miranda yearned, yet did not dare, to urge the + latter choice. They talked it over covertly on the back seat of + the carriage, Anna sitting bravely in front with the young + "web-foot," as their wheels next day plodded dustily westward + out of Clinton. Hilary would never be found, of course; and + <i>if</i> found how would he explain why he, coming through + whatever vicissitudes, he the ever ready, resourceful and + daring, he the men's and ladies' man in one, whom to look upon + drew into his service whoever looked, had for twelve months + failed to get so much as one spoken or written word to Anna + Callender; to their heart-broken Nan, the daily sight of whose + sufferings had sharpened their wits and strung their hearts to + blame whoever, on any theory, could be blamed. Undoubtedly he + might have some dazzling explanation ready, but that + explanation they two must first get of him before she should + know that her dead was risen.</p> + + <p>Our travellers were minus their outriders now. At dawn the + squad, leaving tender apologies in the night's stopping-place, + had left the ladies also, not foreseeing that demoralized + servants would keep them there with torturing delays long into + the forenoon. When at length the three followed they found + highways in ruin, hoof-deep in dust and no longer safe from + blue scouts, while their infantry boy proved as innocent of + road wisdom as they, and on lonely by-ways led them astray for + hours. We may picture their bodily and mental distress to hear, + at a plantation house whose hospitality they craved when the + day was near its end, that they were still but nine miles from + Clinton with eleven yet between them and Big Black Bridge.</p> + + <p>Yet they could have wept for thanks as readily as for + chagrin or fatigue, so kindly were they taken in, so stirring + was the next word of news.</p> + + <p>"Why, you po' city child'en!" laughed two sweet unprotected + women. "Let these girls bresh you off. You sho'ly got the hafe + o' Hinds County on you ... Pemberton's men? Law, no; they + <i>wuz</i> on Big Black but they right out here, now, on + Champion's Hill, in sight f'om our gin-house ... Brodnax' + bri'--now, how funny! We jess heard o' them about a' hour ago, + f'om a bran' new critter company name' Ferry's Scouts. Why, + Ferry's f'om yo' city! Wish you could 'a' seen him--oh, all of + 'em, they was that slick! But, oh, slick aw shabby, when our + men ah fine they ah fine, now, ain't they! There was a man + ridin' with him--dressed diff'ent--he <i>wuz</i> the + batteredest-lookin', gayest, grandest--he might 'a' been a + gen'al! when in fact he was only a majo', an' it was him we + heard say that Brodnax was some'uz on the south side o' the + railroad and couldn't come up befo' night ... What, us? no, we + on the nawth side. You didn't notice when you recrossed the + track back yondeh? Well, you <i>must</i> 'a' been ti-ud!"</p> + + <p>Anna dropped a fervid word to Miranda that set their + hostesses agape. "Now, good Lawd, child, ain't you in hahdship + and dangeh enough? Not one o' you ain't goin' one step fu'ther + this day. Do you want to git shot? Grant's men are a-marchin' + into Bolton's Depot right now. Why, honey, you might as well go + huntin' a needle in a haystack as to go lookin' fo' Brodnax's + brigade to-night. Gen'al Pemberton himself--why, he'd jest send + you to his rear, and that's Vicksburg, where they a-bein' + shelled by the boats day and night, and the women and child'en + a-livin' in caves. You don't want to go there?"</p> + + <p>"We don't know," drolly replied Anna.</p> + + <p>"Well, you stay hyuh. That's what that majo' told us. Says + 'e, 'Ladies, we got to fight a battle here to-morrow, but + yo'-all's quickest way out of it'll be to stay right hyuh. + There'll be no place like home to-morrow, not even this place,' + says 'e, with a sort o' twinkle that made us laugh without + seein' anything to laugh at!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LVII"></a> + + <h2>LVII</h2> + + <h3>GATES OF HELL AND GLORY</h3>The next sun rose fair over the + green, rolling, open land, rich in half-grown crops of cotton + and corn between fence-rows of persimmon and sassafras. Before + it was high the eager Callenders were out on a main road. Their + Mobile boy had left them and given the reins to an old man, a + disabled and paroled soldier bound homeward into Vicksburg. + Delays plagued them on every turn. At a cross-road they were + compelled to wait for a large body of infantry, followed by its + ordnance wagons, to sweep across their path with the long, + swift stride of men who had marched for two years and which + changed to a double-quick as they went over a hill-top. Or next + they had to draw wildly aside into the zigzags of a worm-fence + for a column of galloping cavalry and shroud their heads from + its stifling dust while their driver hung to his mules' heads + by the bits. More than once they caught from some gentle rise a + backward glimpse of long thin lines puffing and crackling at + each other; oftener and more and more they heard the far + resound of artillery, the shuffling, clattering flight of + shell, and their final peal as they reported back to the guns + that had sent them; and once, when the ladies asked if a + certain human note, rarefied by distance, was not the hurrahing + of boys on a school-ground, the old man said no, it was "the + Yanks charging." But never, moving or standing from aides or + couriers spurring to front or flank, or from hobbling wounded + men or unhurt stragglers footing to the rear, could they gather + a word as to Brodnax's brigade or Kincaid's Battery. + + <p>"Kincaid's Battery hell! You get those ladies out o' this as + fast as them mules can skedaddle."</p> + + <p>By and by ambulances and then open wagons began to jolt and + tilt past them full of ragged, grimy, bloody men wailing and + groaning, no one heeding the entreaties of the three ladies to + be taken in as nurses. Near a cross-road before them they saw + on a fair farmhouse the yellow flag, and a vehicle or two at + its door, yet no load of wounded turned that way. Out of it, + instead, excited men were hurrying, some lamely, feebly, afoot, + others at better speed on rude litters, but all rearward across + the plowed land. Two women stepped out into a light trap and + vanished behind a lane hedge before Constance could call the + attention of her companions.</p> + + <p>"Why, Nan, if we didn't <i>know</i> she was in New Orleans + I'd stand the world down that that was Flora!"</p> + + <p>There was no time for debate. All at once, in plain sight, + right at hand, along a mask of young willows in the near left + angle of the two roads, from a double line of gray infantry + whose sudden apparition had startled Anna and Miranda, rang a + long volley. From a fringe of woods on the far opposite border + the foe's artillery pealed, and while the Callenders' mules + went into agonies of fright the Federal shells began to stream + and scream across the space and to burst before and over the + gray line lying flat in the furrows and darting back fire and + death. With their quaking equipage hugging the farther side of + the way the veiled ladies leaned out to see, but drew in as a + six-mule wagon coming from the front at wild speed jounced and + tottered by them. It had nearly passed when with just a touch + of hubs it tossed them clear off the road, smashing one of + their wheels for good and all. Some one sprang and held their + terrified mules and they alighted on a roadside bank counting + themselves already captured.</p> + + <p>"Look out, everybody," cried a voice, "here come our own + guns, six of 'em, like hell to split!" and in a moment the way + was cleared.</p> + + <p>A minute before this, down the cross-road, southward a + quarter of a mile or so, barely out of sight behind fence-rows, + the half of a battalion of artillery had halted in column, + awaiting orders. With two or three lesser officers a general, + galloping by it from behind, had drawn up on a slight rise at + the southwest corner of the fire-swept field, taken one glance + across it and said, "Hilary, can your ladies' men waltz into + action in the face of those guns?"</p> + + <p>"They can dance the figure, General."</p> + + <p>"Take them in."</p> + + <p>Bartleson, watching, had mounted drivers and cannoneers + before Kincaid could spur near enough to call, "Column, + forward!" and turn again toward the General and the uproar + beyond. The column had barely stretched out when, looking back + on it as he quickened pace, Hilary's cry was, "Battery, trot, + march!" So the six guns had come by the general: first Hilary, + sword out, pistols in belt; then his adjutant; then bugler and + guidon, and then Bartleson and the boys; horses striding + out--ah, there were the Callenders' own span!--whips cracking, + carriages thumping and rumbling, guns powder-blackened and + brown, their wheels, trails, and limbers chipped and bitten, + and their own bronze pock-pitted by the flying iron and lead of + other fights, and the heroes in saddle and on chests--with + faces as war-worn as the wood and metal and brute life under + them--cheering as they passed. Six clouds of dust in one was + all the limping straggler had seen when he called his glad + warning, for a tall hedge lined half the cross-road up which + the whirlwind came; but a hundred yards or so short of the main + way the whole battery, still shunning the field because of + spongy ground, swept into full view at a furious gallop. Yet + only as a single mass was it observed, and despite all its + thunder of wheels was seen only, not heard. Around the + Callenders was a blindfold of dust and vehicles, of shouting + and smoke, and out in the field the roar of musketry and + howling and bursting of shell. Even Flora, in her ambulance + close beyond both roads, watching for the return of a galloping + messenger and seeing Hilary swing round into the highway, low + bent over his charger at full run, knew him only as he vanished + down it hidden by the tempest of hoofs, wheels, and bronze that + whirled after him.</p> + + <p>At Anna's side among the rearing, trembling teams a mounted + officer, a surgeon, Flora's messenger, was commanding and + imploring her to follow Constance and Miranda into the wagon + which had wrecked their conveyance. And so, alas! all but + trampling her down, yet unseeing and unseen though with her in + every leap of his heart, he who despite her own prayers was + more to her than a country's cause or a city's deliverance + flashed by, while in the dust and thunder of the human + avalanche that followed she stood asking whose battery was this + and with drowned voice crying, as she stared spell-bound, "Oh, + God! is it only Bartleson's? Oh, God of mercy! where is Hilary + Kincaid?" A storm of shell burst directly overhead. Men and + beasts in the whirling battery, and men and beasts close about + her wailed, groaned, fell. Anna was tossed into the wagon, the + plunging guns, dragging their stricken horses, swept out across + the field, the riot of teams, many with traces cut, whipped + madly away, and still, thrown about furiously in the flying + wagon, she gazed from her knees and mutely prayed, but saw no + Hilary because while she looked for a rider his horse lay + fallen.</p> + + <p>Never again came there to that band of New Orleans boys such + an hour of glory as this at Champion's Hill. For two years + more, by the waning light of a doomed cause, they fought on, + won fame and honor; but for blazing splendor--of daring, skill, + fortitude, loss and achievement which this purblind world still + sees plainest in fraternal slaughter--that was the mightiest + hour, the mightiest ten minutes, ever spent, from 'Sixty-one to + 'Sixty-five, by Kincaid's Battery.</p> + + <p>Right into the face of death's hurricane sprang the ladies' + man, swept the ladies' men. "Battery, trot, walk. Forward into + battery! Action front!" It was at that word that Kincaid's + horse went down; but while the pieces trotted round and + unlimbered and the Federal guns vomited their fire point-blank + and blue skirmishers crackled and the gray line crackled back, + and while lead and iron whined and whistled, and chips, sand + and splinters flew, and a dozen boys dropped, the steady voice + of Bartleson gave directions to each piece by number, for + "solid shot," or "case" or "double canister." Only one great + blast the foe's artillery got in while their opponents loaded, + and then, with roar and smoke as if the earth had burst, + Kincaid's Battery answered like the sweep of a scythe. Ah, what + a harvest! Instantly the guns were wrapped in their own white + cloud, but, as at Shiloh, they were pointed again, again and + again by the ruts of their recoil, Kincaid and Bartleson each + pointing one as its nine men dwindled to five and to four, and + in ten minutes nothing more was to be done but let the gray + line through with fixed bayonets while Charlie, using one of + Hilary's worn-out quips, stood on Roaring Betsy's + trunnion-plates and cursed out to the shattered foe, "Bricks, + lime and sand always on hand!--,--,--!"</p> + + <p>Yet this was but a small part of the day's fight, and + Champion's Hill was a lost battle. Next day the carnage was on + Baker's Creek and at Big Black Bridge, and on the next + Vicksburg was invested.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LVIII"></a> + + <h2>LVIII</h2> + + <h3>ARACHNE</h3>Behold, "Vicksburg and the Bends." + + <p>In one of those damp June-hot caves galleried into the sheer + yellow-clay sides of her deep-sunken streets, desolate streets + where Porter's great soaring, howling, burrowing "lamp-posts" + blew up like steamboats and flew forty ways in search of women + and children, dwelt the Callenders. Out among Pemberton's + trenches and redans, where the woods were dense on the crowns + and faces of the landside bluffs, and the undergrowth was thick + in the dark ravines, the minie-ball forever buzzed and + pattered, and every now and then dabbed mortally into some head + or breast. There ever closer and closer the blue boys dug and + crept while they and the gray tossed back and forth the hellish + hand-grenade, the heavenly hard-tack and tobacco, gay jokes and + lighted bombs. There, mining and countermining, they blew one + another to atoms, or under shrieking shells that tore limbs + from the trees and made missiles of them hurled themselves to + the assault and were hurled back. There, in a ruined villa + whose shrubberies Kincaid named "Carrollton Gardens," quartered + old Brodnax, dining on the fare we promised him from the first, + and there the nephew sang an ancient song from which, to please + his listeners, he had dropped "old Ireland" and made it + run:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"O, my heart's in New + Orleans wherever I go--"</span></p> + + <p>meaning, for himself, that wherever roamed a certain maiden + whose whereabouts in Dixie he could only conjecture, there was + the New Orleans of his heart.</p> + + <p>One day in the last week of the siege a young mother in the + Callenders' cave darted out into the sunshine to rescue her + straying babe and was killed by a lump of iron. Bombardments + rarely pause for slips like that, yet the Callenders ventured + to her burial in a graveyard not far from "Carrollton Gardens." + As sympathy yet takes chances with contagions it took them then + with shells.</p> + + <p>Flora Valcour daily took both risks--with contagions in a + field hospital hard by the cemetery, and with shells and stray + balls when she fled at moments from the stinking wards to find + good air and to commune with her heart's desires and designs. + There was one hazard beside which foul air and stray shots were + negligible, a siege within this siege. To be insured against + the mere mathematical risk that those designs, thus far so + fortunate, might by any least mishap, in the snap of a finger, + come to naught she would have taken chances with the hugest + shell Grant or Porter could send. For six weeks Anna and + Hilary--Anna not knowing if he was alive, he thinking her fifty + leagues away--had been right here, hardly an hour's walk + asunder. With what tempest of heart did the severed pair rise + at each dawn, lie down each night; but Flora suffered no less. + Let either of the two get but one glimpse, hear but one word, + of the other, and--better a shell, slay whom it might.</p> + + <p>On her granddaughter's brow Madame Valcour saw the murk of + the storm. "The lightning must strike some time, you are + thinking, eh?" she simpered.</p> + + <p>"No, not necessarily--thanks to your aid!"</p> + + <p>Thanks far more to Flora's subtlety and diligence. It + refreshed Madame to see how well the fair strategist kept her + purposes hid. Not even Irby called them--those he + discerned--hers. In any case, at any time, any possessive but + my or mine, or my or mine on any lip but his, angered him. Wise + Flora, whenever she alluded to their holding of the plighted + ones apart, named the scheme his till that cloyed, and then + "ours" in a way that made it more richly his, even + when--clearly to Madame, dimly to him, exasperatingly to + both--her wiles for its success--woven around his + cousin--became purely feminine blandishments for purely + feminine ends. In her own mind she accorded Irby only the same + partnership of aims which she contemptuously shared with the + grandam, who, like Irby, still harped on assets, on that estate + over in Louisiana which every one else, save his uncle, had all + but forgotten. The plantation and its slaves were still Irby's + objective, and though Flora was no less so, any chance that for + jealousy of her and Hilary he might throw Anna into Hilary's + arms, was offset by his evident conviction that the estate + would in that moment be lost to him and that no estate meant no + Flora. Madame kept that before him and he thanked and loathed + her accordingly.</p> + + <p>Flora's subtlety and diligence, yes, indeed. By skill in + phrases and silences, by truth misshapen, by flatteries + daintily fitted, artfully distributed, never overdone; by a + certain slow, basal co-operation from Irby (his getting + Mandeville sent out by Pemberton with secret despatches to + Johnston, for example), by a deft touch now and then from + Madame, by this fine pertinacity of luck, and by a sweet new + charity of speech and her kindness of ministration on every + side, the pretty schemer had everybody blundering into her + hand, even to the extent of keeping the three Callenders + convinced that Kincaid's Battery had been cut off at Big Black + Bridge and had gone, after all, to Mobile. No wonder she + inwardly trembled.</p> + + <p>And there was yet another reason: since coming into + Vicksburg, all unaware yet why Anna so inordinately prized the + old dagger, she had told her where it still lay hid in + Callender House. To a battery lad who had been there on the + night of the weapon's disappearance and who had died in her + arms at Champion's Hill, she had imputed a confession that, + having found the moving panel, a soldier boy's pure wantonness + had prompted him to the act which, in fact, only she had + committed. So she had set Anna's whole soul upon getting back + to New Orleans to regain the trinket-treasure and somehow get + out with it to Mobile, imperiled Mobile, where now, if on earth + anywhere, her hope was to find Hilary Kincaid.</p> + + <p>Does it not tax all patience, that no better intuition of + heart, no frenzy of true love in either Hilary or + Anna--suffering the frenzies they did--should have taught them + to rend the poor web that held them separate almost within the + sound of each other's cry? No, not when we consider other + sounds, surrounding conditions: miles and miles of riflemen and + gunners in so constant a whirlwind of destruction and anguish + that men like Maxime Lafontaine and Sam Gibbs went into open + hysterics at their guns, and even while sleeping on their arms, + under humming bullets and crashing shells and over mines ready + to be sprung, sobbed and shivered like babes, aware in their + slumbers that they might "die before they waked." In the town + unearthly bowlings and volcanic thunders, close overhead, cried + havoc in every street, at every cave door. There Anna, in low + daily fevers, with her "heart in New Orleans," had to be "kept + quiet" by Miranda and Constance, the latter as widowed as Anna, + wondering whether "Steve was alive or not."</p> + + <p>This is a history of hearts. Yet, time flying as it does, + the wild fightings even in those hearts, the famishing, + down-breaking sieges in them, must largely be left + untold--Hilary's, Anna's, Flora's, all. Kincaid was in greater + temptation than he knew. Many a battery boy, sick, sound or + wounded--Charlie for one--saw it more plainly than he. Anna, + supposed to be far away and away by choice, was still under the + whole command's impeachment, while Flora, amid conditions that + gave every week the passional value of a peacetime year, was + here at hand, an ever-ministering angel to them and to their + hero; yet they never included him and Flora in one thought + together but to banish it, though with tender reverence. Behind + a labored disguise of inattention they jealously watched lest + the faintest blight or languor should mar, in him, the perfect + bloom of that invincible faith to, and faith in, the faithless + Anna, which alone could satisfy their worship of him. Care for + these watchers brought the two much together, and in every + private moment they talked of the third one; Flora still fine + in the role of Anna's devotee and Hilary's "pilot," rich in + long-thought-out fabrications, but giving forth only what was + wrung from her and parting with each word as if it cost her a + pang. Starving and sickening, fighting and falling, the haggard + boys watched; yet so faultless was the maiden's art that when + in a fury of affright at the risks of time she one day forced + their commander to see her heart's starvation for him the + battery saw nothing, and even to him she yet appeared faultless + in modesty and utterly, marvelously, splendidly ignorant of + what she had done.</p> + + <p>"Guide right!" he mused alone. "At last, H.K., your + nickname's got a meaning worth living up to!"</p> + + <p>While he mused, Flora, enraged both for him and against him, + and with the rage burning in her eye and on her brow, stood + before her seated grandmother, mutely giving gaze for gaze + until the elder knew.</p> + + <p>The old woman resumed her needle. "And all you have for it," + was the first word, "is his pity, eh?"</p> + + <p>"Wait!" murmured the girl. "I will win yet, if I have to + lose--"</p> + + <p>"Yes?" skeptically simpered the grandam, "--have to lose + yourself to do it?"</p> + + <p>The two gazed again until the maiden quietly nodded and her + senior sprang half up:</p> + + <p>"No, no! ah, no-no-no! There's a crime awaiting you, but not + that! Oh, no, you are no such fool!"</p> + + <p>"No?" The girl came near, bent low and with dancing eyes + said, "I'll be fool enough to lead him on till his sense of + honor--"</p> + + <p>"Sense of--oh, ho, ho!"</p> + + <p>"Sense of his honor and <i>mine</i>--will make him my + prisoner. Or else--!" The speaker's eyes burned. Her bosom rose + and fell.</p> + + <p>"Yes," said the seated one--to her needle--"or else his + sense that Charlie--My God! don't pinch my ear off!"</p> + + <p>"Happy thought," laughed Flora, letting go, "but a very poor + guess."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LIX"></a> + + <h2>LIX</h2> + + <h3>IN A LABYRINTH</h3>For ladies' funerals, we say, mortars + and siege-guns, as a rule, do not pause. But here at Vicksburg + there was an hour near the end of each day when the foe, for + some mercy to themselves, ceased to bombard, and in one of + these respites that procession ventured forth in which rode the + fevered Anna: a farm wagon, a battered family coach, a carryall + or two. + + <p>Yet in the midst of the graveyard rites there broke out on + the unseen lines near by, northward, an uproar of attack, and + one or two shells burst in plain view, frightening the teams. + The company leaped into the vehicles any way they could and + started townward over a miserable road with the contest + resounding on their right. As they jostled along the edge of a + wood that lay between them and the firing some mishap to the + front team caused all to alight, whereupon a shell, faultily + timed, came tearing through the tree-tops and exploded in the + remains of a fence close beyond them. Amid thunder, smoke, and + brute and human terror the remounting groups whirled away and + had entirely left the scene before that was asked which none + could tell: Where was Anna?</p> + + <p>Anna herself did not know, could not inquire of her own + mind. With a consciousness wholly disembodied she was mainly + aware of a great pain that seemed to fill all the region and + atmosphere, an atmosphere charged with mysterious dim green + light and full of great boomings amid a crackle of smaller + ones; of shouts and cheers and of a placid quaking of myriad + leaves; all of which things might be things or only divers + manifestations of her undefinable self.</p> + + <p>By and by through the pain came a dream of some one like her + living in a certain heaven of comfort and beauty, peace, joy, + and love named "Callender House"; but the pain persisted and + the dream passed into a horrible daytime darkness that brought + a sense of vast changes near and far; a sense of many having + gone from that house, and of many having most forbiddenly come + to it; a sense of herself spending years and years, and passing + from world to world, in quest of one Hilary, Hilary Kincaid, + whom all others believed to be dead or false, or both, but who + would and should and must be found, and when found would be + alive and hale and true; a sense of having, with companions, + been all at once frightfully close to a rending of the sky, and + of having tripped as she fled, of having fallen and lain in a + thunderous storm of invisible hail, and of having after a time + risen again and staggered on, an incalculable distance, among + countless growing things, fleeing down-hill, too weak to turn + up-hill, till suddenly the whole world seemed to strike hard + against something that sent it reeling backward.</p> + + <p>And now her senses began feebly to regather within truer + limits and to tell her she was lying on the rooty ground of a + thicket. Dimly she thought to be up and gone once more, but + could get no farther than the thought although behind her + closed lids glimmered a memory of deadly combat. Its din had + passed, but there still sounded, just beyond this covert, + fierce commands of new preparation, and hurried movements in + response--a sending and bringing, dismissing, and summoning of + men and things to rear or front, left or right, in a fury of + supply and demand.</p> + + <p>Ah, what! water? in her face? Her eyes opened wildly. A man + was kneeling beside her. He held a canteen; an armed officer in + the foe's blue. With lips parting to cry out she strove to rise + and fly, but his silent beseechings showed him too badly hurt + below the knees to offer aid or hindrance, and as she gained + her feet she let him plead with stifled eagerness for her + succor from risks of a captivity which, in starving Vicksburg + and in such plight, would be death.</p> + + <p>He was a stranger and an enemy, whose hurried speech was + stealthy and whose eyes went spying here and there, but so + might it be just then somewhere with him for whom she yet clung + to life. For that one's sake, and more than half in dream, she + gave the sufferer her support, and with a brow knit in anguish, + but with the fire of battle still in his wasting blood, he + rose, fitfully explaining the conditions of the place and hour. + To cover a withdrawal of artillery from an outer to an inner + work a gray line had unexpectedly charged, and as it fell back + with its guns, hotly pressed, a part of the fight had swung + down into and half across this ravine, for which another + struggle was furiously preparing on both sides, but which, for + him, in the interval, was an open way of deliverance if she + would be his crutch.</p> + + <p>In equal bewilderment of thought and of outer sense, + pleadingly assured that she would at once be sent back under + flag of truce, with compassion deepening to compulsion and with + a vague inkling that, failing the white flag, this might be + heaven's leading back to Callender House and the jewel + treasure, to Mobile and to Hilary, she gave her aid. Beyond the + thicket the way continued tangled, rough and dim. Twice and + again the stricken man paused for breath and ease from torture, + though the sounds of array, now on two sides, threatened at + every step to become the cry of onset. Presently he stopped + once more, heaved, swayed and, despite her clutch, sank heavily + to the ground.</p> + + <p>"Water!" he gasped, but before she could touch the canteen + to his lips he had fainted. She sprinkled his face, but he did + not stir. She gazed, striving for clear thought, and then + sprang up and called. What word? Ah, what in all speech should + she call but a name, the name of him whose warrant of marriage + lay at that moment in her bosom, the name of him who before God + and the world had sworn her his mated, life-long + protection?</p> + + <p>"Hilary!" she wailed, and as the echoes of the green wood + died, "Hilary!" again. On one side there was more light in the + verdure than elsewhere and that way she called. That way she + moved stumblingly and near the edge of a small clear space + cried once more, "Hilary!... Hilary!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LX"></a> + + <h2>LX</h2> + + <h3>HILARY'S GHOST</h3>Faintly the bearer of that name heard + the call; heard it rise from a quarter fearfully nearer the + foe's line than to his; caught it with his trained ear as, just + beyond sight of Irby, Miranda, and others, he stood in amazed + converse with Flora Valcour. Fortune, smiling on Flora yet, had + brought first to her the terrified funeral group and so had + enabled her to bear to Hilary the news of the strange estrayal, + skilfully blended with that revelation of Anna's Vicksburg + sojourn which she, Flora, had kept from him so cleverly and so + long. + + <p>With mingled rapture and distress, with a heart standing as + still as his feet, as still as his lifted head and shining + eyes, he listened and heard again. Swiftly, though not with the + speed he would have chosen, he sprang toward the call; sped + softly through the brush, softly and without voice, lest he + draw the enemy's fire; softly and mutely, with futile backward + wavings and frowning and imploring whispers to Flora as in a + dishevelled glow that doubled her beauty she glided after + him.</p> + + <p>Strangely, amid a swarm of keen perceptions that plagued him + like a cloud of arrows as he ran, that beauty smote his + conscience; her beauty and the worship and protection it + deserved from all manhood and most of all from him, whose + unhappy, unwitting fortune it was to have ensnared her young + heart and brought it to the desperation of an unnatural + self-revealment; her uncoveted beauty, uncourted love, + unwelcome presence, and hideous peril! Was he not to all these + in simplest honor peculiarly accountable? They lanced him + through with arraignment as, still waving her beseechingly, + commandingly back, with weapons undrawn the more swiftly to + part the way before him, his frenzy for Anna drew him on, as + full of introspection as a drowning man, thinking a year's + thoughts at every step. Oh, mad joy in pitiful employment! Here + while the millions of a continent waged heroic war for great + wrongs and rights, here on the fighting-line of a beleaguered + and starving city, here when at any instant the peal of his own + guns might sound a fresh onset, behold him in a lover's part, + loving "not honor more," setting the seal upon his painful + alias, filching time out of the jaws of death to pursue one + maiden while clung to by another. Oh, Anna! Anna Callender! my + life for my country, but this moment for thy life and thee! God + stay the onslaught this one moment!</p> + + <p>As he reached the edge of that narrow opening from whose + farther side Anna had called he halted, glanced furtively + about, and harkened forward, backward, through leafy distances + grown ominously still. Oh, why did the call not come again? + Hardly in a burning house could time be half so priceless. Not + a breath could promise that in the next the lightnings, + thunders, and long human yell of assault would not rend the + air. Flora's soft tread ceased at his side.</p> + + <p>"Stay back!" he fiercely breathed, and pointed just ahead: + "The enemy's skirmishers!"</p> + + <p>"Come away!" she piteously whispered, trembling with terror. + For, by a glimpse as brief as the catch of her breath, yonder a + mere rod or so within the farther foliage, down a vista hardly + wider than a man's shoulders, an armed man's blue shoulders she + had seen, under his black hat and peering countenance. Joy + filled the depth of her heart in the belief that a thin line of + such black hats had already put Anna behind them, yet she + quaked in terror, terror of death, of instant, shot-torn death + that might leave Hilary Kincaid alive.</p> + + <p>With smiting pity he saw her affright. "Go back!" he once + more gasped: "In God's name, go back!" while recklessly he + stepped forward out of cover. But in splendid desperation, with + all her soul's battle in her eyes--horror, love, defiance, and + rending chagrin striving and smiting, she sprang after him into + the open, and clutched and twined his arms. The blue + skirmish-line, without hearing, saw him; saw, and withheld + their fire, fiercely glad that tactics and mercy should for + once agree. And Anna saw.</p> + + <p>"Come with me back!" whispered Flora, dragging on him with + bending knees. "She's lost! She's gone back to those Yankee, + and to Fred Greenleaf! And you"--the whisper rose to a murmur + whose pathos grew with her Creole accent--"you, another step + and you are a deserter! Yes! to your country--to Kincaid' + Batt'ree--to me-me-me!" The soft torrent of speech grew audible + beyond them: "Oh, my God! Hilary Kincaid, listen-to-me-listen! + You 'ave no right; no ri-ight to leave me! <i>Ah, you shall + not!</i> No right--ri-ight to leave yo' Flora--sinze she's tol' + you--sinze she's tol' you--w'at she's tol' you!"</p> + + <p>In this long history of a moment the blue skirmishers had + not yet found Anna, but it was their advance, their soft stir + at her back as they came upon their fallen leader, that had + hushed her cries. At the rift in the wood she had leaned on a + huge oak and as body and mind again failed had sunk to its base + in leafy hiding. Vaguely thence she presently perceived, lit + from behind her by sunset beams, the farther edge of the green + opening, and on that border, while she feebly looked, came + suddenly a ghost!<br> + <a name="No_right_illustration"></a></p> + + <center> + <img src="images/illp326.jpg" + alt= + "You 'ave no ri-ight to leave me! Ah, you shall not!" + height="1104" + width="700"> + </center>Ah, Heaven! the ghost of Hilary Kincaid! It looked + about for her! It listened for her call! By the tree's rough + bark she drew up half her height, clung and, with reeling + brain, gazed. How tall! how gaunt! how dingy gray! How unlike + her whilom "ladies' man," whom, doubtless truly, they now + called dead and buried. But what--what--was troubling the poor + ghost? What did it so wildly avoid? what wave away with such + loving, tender pain? Flora Valcour! Oh, see, see! Ah, death in + life! what does she see? As by the glare of a bursting midnight + shell all the empty gossip of two years justified--made + real--in one flash of staring view. With a long moan the + beholder cast her arms aloft and sank in a heap, not knowing + that the act had caught Hilary's eye, but willingly aware that + her voice had perished in a roar of artillery from the farther + brink of the ravine, in a crackle and fall of tree-tops, and in + the "rebel yell" and charge. + + <p>Next morning, in a fog, the blue holders of a new line of + rifle-pits close under the top of a bluff talked up to the + grays in a trench on its crest. Gross was the banter, but at + mention of "ladies" it purified.</p> + + <p>"Johnnie!" cried "Yank," "who is she, the one we've got?" + and when told to ask her, said she was too ill to ask. By and + by to "Johnnie's" inquiries the blues replied:</p> + + <p>"He? the giant? Hurt? No-o, not half bad enough, when we + count what he cost us. If we'd known he was only stunned + we"--and so on, not very interestingly, while back in the rear + of the gray line tearful Constance praised, to her face, the + haggard Flora and, in his absence, the wounded Irby, Flora's + splendid rescuer in the evening onslaught.</p> + + <p>"A lifetime debt," Miranda thought Flora owed him, and + Flora's meditative yes, as she lifted her eyes to her + grandmother's, was--peculiar.</p> + + <p>A few days later Anna, waking in the bliss of a restored + mind, and feeling beneath her a tremor of paddlewheels, gazed + on the nurse at her side.</p> + + <p>"Am I a--prisoner?" she asked.</p> + + <p>The woman bent kindly without reply.</p> + + <p>"Anyhow," said Anna, with a one-sided smile, "they can't + call me a spy." Her words quickened: "I'm a rebel, but I'm no + spy. I was lost. And he's no spy. He was in uniform. Is he--on + this boat?"</p> + + <p>Yes, she was told, he was, with a few others like him, taken + too soon for the general parole of the surrender. Parole? she + pondered. Surrender? What surrender? "Where are we going?" she + softly inquired; "not to New Orleans?"</p> + + <p>The nurse nodded brightly.</p> + + <p>"But how can we get--by?"</p> + + <p>"By Vicksburg? We're already by there."</p> + + <p>"Has Vicks--?... Has Vicksburg--fallen?"</p> + + <p>The confirming nod was tender. Anna turned away. + Presently--"But not Mobile? Mobile hasn't--?"</p> + + <p>"No, not yet. But it must, don't you think?"</p> + + <p>"No!" cried Anna. "It must not! Oh, it must not! I--if + I--Oh, if I--"</p> + + <p>The nurse soothed her smilingly: "My poor child," she said, + "<i>you</i> can't save Mobile."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXI"></a> + + <h2>LXI</h2> + + <h3>THE FLAG-OF-TRUCE BOAT</h3>September was in its first week. + The news of Vicksburg--and Port Hudson--ah, yes, and + Gettysburg!--was sixty days old. + + <p>From Southern Mississippi and East Louisiana all the grays + who marched under the slanting bayonet or beside the cannon's + wheel were gone. Left were only the "citizen" with his family + and slaves, the post quartermaster and commissary, the + conscript-officer, the trading Jew, the tax-in-kind collector, + the hiding deserter, the jayhawker, a few wounded boys on + furlough, and Harper's cavalry. Throughout the Delta and widely + about its grief-broken, discrowned, beggared, shame-crazed, + brow-beaten Crescent City the giddying heat quaked visibly over + the high corn, cotton, and cane, up and down the broken levees + and ruined highways, empty by-ways, and grass-grown railways, + on charred bridges, felled groves, and long burnt fence lines. + The deep, moss-draped, vine-tangled swamps were dry.</p> + + <p>So quivered the same heat in the city's empty thoroughfares. + Flowers rioted in the unkept gardens. The cicada's frying note + fried hotter than ever. Dazzling thunder-heads towered in the + upper blue and stood like snow mountains of a vaster world. The + very snake coiled in the shade. The spiced air gathered no + freshness from the furious, infrequent showers, the pavements + burned the feet, and the blue "Yank" (whom there no one dared + call so by word or look), so stoutly clad, so uncouthly + misfitted, slept at noon face downward in the high grass under + the trees of the public squares preempted by his tents, or with + piece loaded and bayonet fixed slowly paced to and fro in the + scant shade of some confiscated office-building, from whose + upper windows gray captives looked down, one of them being "the + ladies' man."</p> + + <p>Not known of his keepers by that name, though as the famous + Major Kincaid of Kincaid's Battery (the latter at Mobile with + new guns), all July and August he had been of those who looked + down from such windows; looked down often and long, yet never + descried one rippling fold of one gossamer flounce of a single + specimen of those far-compassionated "ladies of New Orleans," + one of whom, all that same time, was Anna Callender. No proved + spy, she, no incarcerated prisoner, yet the most gravely + warned, though gentlest, suspect in all the recalcitrant + city.</p> + + <p>Neither in those sixty days had Anna seen him. The blue + sentries let no one pass in sight of that sort of windows. + "Permit?" She had not sought it, Some one in gold lace called + her "blamed lucky" to enjoy the ordinary permissions accorded + Tom, Dick, and Harry. Indeed Tom, Dick, and Harry were freer + than she. By reason of hints caught from her in wanderings of + her mind on the boat, in dreams of a great service to be done + for Dixie, the one spot where she most yearned to go and to be + was forbidden her, and not yet had she been allowed to rest her + hungry eyes on Callender House. Worse than idle, therefore, + perilous for both of them and for any dream of great service, + would it have been even to name the name of Hilary Kincaid.</p> + + <p>What torture the double ban, the two interlocked privations! + Yonder a city, little sister of New Orleans, still mutely + hoping to be saved, here Hilary alive again, though Anna still + unwitting whether she should love and live or doubt and die. + Yet what would they say when they should meet? How could either + explain? Surely, we think, love would have found a way; but + while beyond each other's sight and hearing, no way could + Hilary, at least, descry.</p> + + <p>To him it seemed impossible to speak to her--even to Fred + Greenleaf had Fred been there!--without betraying another + maiden, one who had sealed his lips forever by confessing a + heart which had as much--had more right to love than he to + live. True, Anna, above all, had right to live, to love, to + know; but in simplest honor to commonest manhood, in simplest + manhood's honor to all womankind, to Flora, to Anna herself, + this knowledge should come from any other human tongue rather + than from his. From Anna he needed no explanation. That most + mysteriously she should twice have defaulted as keeper of + sacred treasure; that she stood long accused, by those who + would most gladly have scouted the charge, of leanings to + another suitor, a suitor in the blue, and of sympathies, nay, + services, treasonous to the ragged standards of the gray; that + he had himself found her in the enemy's lines, carried there by + her own steps, and accepting captivity without a murmur, ah, + what were such light-as-air trials of true love's faith while + she was still Anna Callender, that Anna from whom one breath + saying, "I am true," would outweigh all a world could show or + surmise in accusation?</p> + + <p>And Anna: What could she say after what she had seen? Could + she tell him--with Flora, as it were, still in his arms--could + she explain that she had been seeking him to cast herself + there? Or if she stood mute until he should speak, what could + he say to count one heart-throb against what she had seen? Oh, + before God! before God! it was not <i>jealousy</i> that could + make her dumb or deaf to either of them. She confessed its + pangs. Yes! yes! against both of them, when she remembered + certain things or forgot this and that, it raged in her heart, + tingled in the farthest reach of her starved and fever-dried + veins. Yet to God himself, to whom alone she told it, to God + himself she protested on her knees it did not, should not, + could not rule her. What right had she to give it room? Had she + not discerned from the beginning that those two were each + other's by natural destiny? Was it not well, was it not + God-sent to all three, that in due time, before too late, he + and she--that other, resplendent she--should be tried upon each + other alone--together? Always hitherto she, Anna, had in some + way, some degree, intervened, by some chance been thrust and + held between them; but at length nature, destiny, had all but + prevailed, when once more she--stubbornly astray from that far + mission of a city's rescue so plainly hers--had crashed in + between to the shame and woe of all, to the gain of no cause, + no soul, no sweet influence in all love's universe. Now, + meeting Hilary, what might she do or say?</p> + + <p>One thing! Bid him, on exchange or escape--if Heaven should + grant the latter--find again Flora, and in her companionship, + at last unhindered, choose! Yes, that would be justice and + wisdom, mercy and true love, all in one. But could she do it, + say it? She sprang up in bed to answer, "No-o-o!" no, she was + no bloodless fool, she was a woman! Oh, God of mercy and true + love, no! For reasons invincible, no! but most of all for one + reason, one doubt, vile jealousy's cure and despair's antidote, + slow to take form but growing as her strength revived, clear at + last and all-sufficing; a doubt infinitely easier, simpler, + kinder, and more blessed than to doubt true love. Nay, no + doubt, but a belief! the rational, life-restoring belief, that + in that awful hour of twilight between the hosts, of twilight + and delirium, what she had seemed to see she had but seemed to + see. Not all, ah, no, not all! Hilary alive again and grappling + with death to come at her call had been real, proved real; the + rest a spectre of her fevered brain! Meeting him now--and, oh, + to meet him now!--there should be no questionings or + explainings, but while he poured forth a love unsullied and + unshaken she, scarce harkening, would with battle haste tell + him, her life's commander, the one thing of value, outvaluing + all mere lovers' love: The fact that behind a chimney-panel of + Callender House, in its old trivial disguise, lay yet that + long-lost fund pledged to Mobile's defense--by themselves as + lovers, by poor war-wasted Kincaid's Battery, and by all its + scattered sisters; the fund which must, as nearly on the + instant as his and her daring could contrive, be recovered and + borne thither for the unlocking of larger, fate-compelling + resources of deliverance.</p> + + <p>One day Victorine came to Anna with ecstasy in her almond + eyes and much news on her lips. "To bigin small," she said, + Flora and her grandmother had "arrive' back ag-ain" at dawn + that morning! Oddly, while Anna forced a smile, her visitor's + eyes narrowed and her lips tightened. So they sat, Anna's smile + fading out while her soul's troubles inwardly burned afresh, + Victorine's look growing into clearer English than her Creole + tongue could have spoken. "I trust her no more," it said. "Long + have I doubted her, and should have told you sooner but + for--Charlie; but now, dead in love as you know me still to be, + you have my conviction. That is all for the present. There is + better news."</p> + + <p>The ecstasy gleamed again and she gave her second item. + These weeks she had been seeking, for herself and a guardian + aunt, a passport into the Confederacy and lo! here it lay in + her pretty hand.</p> + + <p>"Deztitution!" she joyfully confessed to be the plea on + which it had been procured--by Doctor Sevier through + Colonel--guess!--"Grinleaf!--juz' riturn'" from service in the + field.</p> + + <p>And how were the destitute pair to go?</p> + + <p>Ah! did Anna "rim-emb'r" a despatch-boat of unrivalled speed + whose engines Hilary Kin--?</p> + + <p>Yes, ah, yes!</p> + + <p>On which she and others had once--?</p> + + <p>Yes, yes!</p> + + <p>And which had been captured when the city fell? That boat + was now lying off Callender House! Did Anna <i>not</i> know + that her shattered home, so long merely the headquarters of a + blue brigade, had lately become of large, though very quiet, + importance as a rendezvous of big generals who by starlight + paced its overgrown garden alleys debating and planning + something of great moment? Doctor Sevier had found that out and + had charged Victorine to tell it with all secrecy to the + biggest general in Mobile the instant she should reach there. + For she was to go by that despatch-boat.</p> + + <p>"Aw-dinner-illy," she said, a flag-of-truce craft might be + any old tub and would go the short way, from behind the city + and across the lakes, not all round by the river and the + Chandeleur Islands. But this time--that very morning--a score + or so of Confederate prisoners (officers, for exchange) had + been put aboard that boat, bound for Mobile. Plainly the whole + affair was but a mask for reconnaissance, the boat, swiftest in + all the Gulf, to report back at top speed by way of the lakes. + But!--the aunt would not go at all! Never having been a mile + from her door, she was begging off in a palsy of fright, and + here was the niece with a deep plot--ample source of her + ecstasy--a plot for Anna, duly disguised, to go in the aunt's + place, back to freedom, Dixie, and the arms of Constance and + Miranda.</p> + + <p>Anna trembled. She could lovingly call the fond schemer, + over and over, a brave, rash, generous little heroine and lay + caresses on her twice and again, but to know whether this was + Heaven's leading was beyond her. She paced the room. She + clasped her brow. A full half of her own great purpose (great + to her at least) seemed all at once as good as achieved, yet it + was but the second half, as useless without the first as half a + bridge on the far side of the flood. "I cannot go!" she moaned. + For the first half was Hilary, and he--she saw it without + asking--was on this cartel of exchange.</p> + + <p>Gently she came and took her rescuer's hands: "Dear child! + If--if while there was yet time--I had only got a certain word + to--<i>him</i>--you know? But, ah, me! I keep it idle yet; a + secret, Victorine, a secret worth our three lives! oh, three + times three hundred lives! Even now--"</p> + + <p>"Give it me, Anna! Give it! Give it me, that sick-rate! I'll + take it him!"</p> + + <p>Anna shook her head: "Ah, if you could--in time! Or + even--even without him, letting him go, if just you and + I--Come!" They walked to and fro in embrace: "Dear, our front + drawing-room, so ruined, you know, by that shell, last + year--"</p> + + <p>"Ah, the front? no! The behine, yes, with those two hole' of + the shell and with thad <i>beegue</i> hole in the floor where + it cadge fiah."</p> + + <p>"Victorine, I could go--with you--in that boat, if only I + could be for one minute in that old empty front room + alone."</p> + + <p>Victorine halted and sadly tossed a hand: "Ah! h-amptee, + yes, both the front and the back--till yes-the-day! This + morning, the front, no! Juz' sinze laz' week they 'ave brick' + up bitwin them cloze by that burned hole, to make of the front + an office, and now the front 't is o'cupy!"</p> + + <p>"Oh, not as an office, I hope?"</p> + + <p>"Worse! The worse that can be! They 'ave stop' five + prisoner' from the boat and put them yondeh. Since an hour + Col-on-el Grinleaf he tol' me that--and she's ad the bottom, + that Flora! Bicause--" The speaker gazed. Anna was all joy.</p> + + <p>"Because what?" demanded Anna, "because Hil--?"</p> + + <p>"Yaas! bicause he's one of them! Ringgleadeh! I dunno, me, + what is that, but tha'z what he's accuse'--ringg-leadingg!"</p> + + <p>Still the oblivious Anna was glad. "It is Flora's doing," + she gratefully cried. "She's done it! done it for us and our + cause!"</p> + + <p>"Ah-h! not if she know herseff!"</p> + + <p>Anna laughed the discussion down: "Come, dear, come! the + whole thing opens to me clear and wide!"</p> + + <p>Not so clear or wide as she thought. True, the suffering + Flora was doing this, in desperate haste; but not for Anna, if + she knew herself. Yet when Anna, in equal haste, made a certain + minute, lengthy writing and, assisted by that unshaken devotee, + her maid, and by Victorine, baked five small cakes most + laughably alike (with the writing in ore) and laid them beside + some plainer food in a pretty basket, the way still seemed wide + enough for patriotism.</p> + + <p>Now if some one would but grant Victorine leave to bestow + this basket! As she left Anna she gave her pledge to seek this + favor of any one else rather than of Greenleaf; which pledge + she promptly broke, with a success that fully reassured her + cheerful conscience.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXII"></a> + + <h2>LXII</h2> + + <h3>FAREWELL, JANE!</h3>"Happiest man in New Orleans!" + + <p>So called himself, to Colonel Greenleaf, the large, + dingy-gray, lively-eyed Major Kincaid, at the sentinelled door + of the room where he and his four wan fellows, snatched back + from liberty on the eve of release, were prisoners in plain + view of the vessel on which they were to have gone free.</p> + + <p>With kind dignity Greenleaf predicted their undoubted return + to the craft next morning. Strange was the difference between + this scene and the one in which, eighteen months before, these + two had last been together in this room. The sentry there knew + the story and enjoyed it. In fact, most of the blue occupants + of the despoiled place had a romantic feeling, however + restrained, for each actor in that earlier episode. Yet there + was resentment, too, against Greenleaf's clemencies.</p> + + <p>"Wants?" said the bedless captive to his old chum, "no, + thank you, not a want!" implying, with his eyes, that the cloud + overhanging Greenleaf for favors shown to--hmm!--certain others + was already dark enough, "We've <i>parlor</i> furniture + galore," he laughed, pointing out a number of discolored and + broken articles that had been beautiful. One was the screen + behind which the crouching Flora had heard him tell the ruin of + her Mobile home and had sworn revenge on this home and on its + fairest inmate.</p> + + <p>During the evening the prisoners grew a bit noisy, in song; + yet even when their ditties were helped out by a rhythmic + clatter of boot-heels and chair-legs the too indulgent + Greenleaf did not stop them. The voices were good and the lines + amusing not merely to the guards here and there but to most of + their epauleted superiors who, with lights out for coolness, + sat in tilted chairs on a far corner of the front veranda to + catch the river breeze. One lay was so antique as to be as good + as new:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Our duck swallowed a + snail,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">And her eyes stood out with + wonder.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Our duck swallowed a + snail,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">And her eyes stood out with + wonder</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Till the horns grew out of her + tail, tail, tail,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 6em;">Tail, + Tail,</span><br> + <span style= + "margin-left: 5em;">Tail, + Tail,</span><br> + <span style= + "margin-left: 4em;">Tail, + Tail,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">And tore it All + asunder.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 6em;">Farewell, Jane!</span><br> + <br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Our old horse fell into the + well</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Around behind the + stable.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our old horse fell into the + well</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 3em;">Around behind the + stable.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">He couldn't fall all the way + but he fell,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 6em;">Fell,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 6em;">Fell,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 6em;">Fell,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 6em;">Fell,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 6em;">Fell,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 6em;">Fell,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 4em;">As far as he was + able.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 5em;">Farewell, Jane!"</span></p> + + <p>It is here we may safest be brief. The literature of prison + escapes is already full enough. Working in the soft mortar of + so new a wall and worked by one with a foundryman's knowledge + of bricklaying, the murdered Italian's stout old knife made + effective speed as it kept neat time with the racket maintained + for it. When the happiest man in New Orleans warily put head + and shoulders through the low gap he had opened, withdrew them + again and reported to his fellows, the droll excess of their + good fortune moved the five to livelier song, and as one by one + the other four heads went in to view the glad sight the five + gave a yet more tragic stanza from the farewell to Jane. The + source of their delight was not the great ragged hole just over + the intruding heads, in the ceiling's lath and plaster, nor was + it a whole corner torn off the grand-piano by the somersaulting + shell as it leaped from the rent above to the cleaner one it + had left at the baseboard in the room's farther end. It was + that third hole, burned in the floor; for there it opened, + shoulder wide, almost under their startled faces, free to the + basement's floor and actually with the rough ladder yet + standing in it which had been used in putting out the fire. + That such luck could last a night was too much to hope.</p> + + <p>Yet it lasted. The songs were hushed. The room whence they + had come was without an audible stir. Sleep stole through all + the house, through the small camp of the guard in the darkened + grove, the farther tents of the brigade, the anchored ships, + the wide city, the starlit landscape. Out in that rear + garden-path where Madame Valcour had once been taken to see the + head-high wealth of roses two generals, who had been there + through all the singing, still paced to and fro and talked, + like old Brodnax at Carrollton in that brighter time, "not + nearly as much alone as they seemed." One by one five men in + gray, each, for all his crouching and gliding, as true and + gallant a gentleman as either of those commanders, stole from + the house's basement and slipped in and out among the roses. + Along a back fence a guard walked up and down. Two by two, when + his back was turned, went four of the gliding men, as still as + bats, over the fence into a city of ten thousand welcome + hiding-places. The fifth, their "ringg-leadeh," for whom they + must wait concealed until he should rejoin them, lingered in + the roses; hovered so close to the path that he might have + touched its occupants as they moved back and forth; almost--to + quote his uncle--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Sat in the roses and heard + the birds sing"--</span></p> + + <p>heard blue birds, in soft notes not twittered, muttered as + by owls, revealing things priceless for Mobile to know.</p> + + <p>Bragg's gray army, he heard, was in far Chattanooga facing + Rosecrans, and all the slim remnants of Johnston's were + hurrying to its reinforcement. Mobile was merely garrisoned. + Little was there save artillery. Here in New Orleans lay + thousands of veterans flushed with their up-river victories, + whose best and quickest aid to Rosecrans would be so to move as + to turn Bragg's reinforcements back southward. A cavalry dash + across the pine-barrens of East Louisiana to cut the railroad + along the Mississippi-Alabama line, a quick joint movement of + land and naval forces by way of the lakes, sound, and gulf, and + Mobile would fall. These things and others, smaller yet more + startling, the listener learned of, not as pastime talk, but as + a vivid scheme already laid, a mine ready to be sprung if its + secret could be kept three days longer; and now he hurried + after his four compatriots, his own brain teeming with a + counter-plot to convey this secret through the dried-up swamps + to the nearest Confederate telegraph station while Anna should + bear it (and the recovered treasure) by boat to Mobile, two + messengers being so many times surer than one.</p> + + <p>Early next morning Madame Valcour, entering an outer room + from an inner one, found Flora writing a note. The girl kept + on, conscious that her irksome critic was taking keen note of a + subtle, cruel decay of her beauty, a spiritual corrosion that, + without other fault to the eye, had at last reached the surface + in a faint hardening of lines and staleness of bloom. Now she + rose, went out, dispatched her note and returned. Her manner, + as the two sat down to bread and coffee, was bright though + tense.</p> + + <p>"From Greenleaf?" inquired her senior, "and to the + same?"</p> + + <p>The girl shook her fair head and named one of his + fellow-officers at Callender House: "No, Colonel Greenleaf is + much too busy. Hilary Kincaid has--"</p> + + <p>"Esca-aped?" cried the aged one, flashed hotly, laughed, + flashed again and smiled. "That Victorine kitten--with her + cakes! And you--and Greenleaf--hah! you three cats paws--of one + little--Anna!"</p> + + <p>Flora jauntily wagged a hand, then suddenly rose and pointed + with a big bread knife: "Go, dress! We'll save the kitten--if + only for Charlie! Go! <i>she must leave town at once</i>. Go! + But, ah, grannie dear,"--she turned to a window--"for Anna, + spite of all we can do, I am af-raid--Ship Island! Poor + <i>Anna!</i>" At the name her beautiful arm, in one swift + motion, soared, swung, drove the bright steel deep into the + window-frame and left it quivering.</p> + + <p>"Really," said a courteous staff-officer as he and Doctor + Sevier alighted at the garden stair of Callender House and + helped Anna and her maid from a public carriage, "only two or + three of us will know you're"--His smile was awkward. The pale + doctor set his jaw. Anna musingly supplied the term:</p> + + <p>"A prisoner." She looked fondly over the house's hard-used + front as they mounted the steps. "If they'd keep me here, + Doctor," she said at the top, "I'd be almost happy. But"--she + faced the aide-de-camp--"they won't, you know. By this time + to-morrow I shall be"--she waved playfully--"far away."</p> + + <p>"Mainland, or island?" grimly asked the Doctor.</p> + + <p>She did not know. "But I know, now, how a rabbit feels with + the hounds after her. Honestly," she said again to the officer, + "I wish I might have her cunning." And the soldier murmured, + "Amen."</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXIII"></a> + + <h2>LXIII</h2> + + <h3>THE IRON-CLAD OATH</h3>Under Anna's passive air lay a vivid + alertness to every fact in range of eye or ear. + + <p>Any least thing now might tip the scale for life or death, + and while at the head of the veranda steps she spoke of + happiness her distressed thought was of Hilary's madcap + audacity, how near at hand he might be even then, under what + fearful risk of recognition and capture. She was keenly glad to + hear two men complain that the guard about the house and + grounds was to-day a new one awkward to the task. Of less + weight now it seemed that out on the river the despatch-boat + had shifted her berth down-stream and with steam up lay where + the first few wheel turns would put her out of sight. Indoors, + where there was much official activity, it relieved her to see + that neither Hilary's absence nor her coming counted large in + the common regard. The brace of big generals were in the + library across the hall, busy on some affair much larger than + this of "ourn."</p> + + <p>The word was the old coachman Israel's. What a tender joy it + was to find him in the wretched drawing-room trying to make it + decent for her and dropping his tears as openly as the maid. + With what a grace, yet how boldly, he shut the door between + them and blue authority. While the girl arranged on a table, + for Anna's use, a basket of needlework brought with them he + honestly confessed his Union loyalty, yet hurriedly, under his + breath, bade Anna not despair, and avowed a devotion to the + safety and comfort of "ole mahs's and mis's sweet baby" as then + and forever his higher law. He was still autocrat of the + basement, dropsied with the favor of colonels and generals, + deferential to "folks," but a past-master in taking liberties + with things. As he talked he so corrected the maid's + arrangement of the screen that the ugly hole in the wall was + shut from the view of visitors, though left in range of Anna's + work-table, and as Anna rose at a tap on the door, with the + gentle ceremony of the old home he let in Doctor Sevier and + Colonel Greenleaf and shut himself out.</p> + + <p>"Anna," began the Doctor, "There's very little belief here + that you're involved in this thing."</p> + + <p>"Why, then," archly said Anna, "who is?"</p> + + <p>"Ah, that's the riddle. But they say if you'll just take the + oath of allegiance--"</p> + + <p>Anna started so abruptly as to imperil her table. Her color + came and her voice dropped to its lowest note as she said + between long breaths: "No!--no!--no!"</p> + + <p>But the Doctor spoke on:</p> + + <p>"They believe that if you take it you'll keep it, and they + say that the moment you take it you may go free, here or + anywhere--to Mobile if you wish."</p> + + <p>Again Anna flinched: "Mobile!" she murmured, and then + lifting her eyes to Greenleaf's, repeated, "No! No, not for my + life. Better Ship Island."</p> + + <p>Greenleaf reddened. "Anna," put in the Doctor, but she + lifted a hand:--</p> + + <p>"They've never offered it to you, Doctor? H-oh! They'd as + soon think of asking one of our generals. They'd <i>almost</i> + as soon"--the corners of her lips hinted a smile--"ask Hilary + Kincaid."</p> + + <p>"I've never advised any one against it, Anna."</p> + + <p>"Well, I do!--every God-fearing Southern man and woman. A + woman is all I am and I may be short-sighted, narrow, and + foolish, but--Oh, Colonel Greenleaf, you shouldn't have let + Doctor Sevier take this burden for you. It's hard enough--"</p> + + <p>The Doctor intervened: "Anna, dear, this old friend of + yours"--laying a finger on Greenleaf--"is in a tight place. + Both you and Hilary--"</p> + + <p>"Yes, I know, and I know it's not fair to him. + Lieutenant--Colonel, I mean, pardon me!--you sha'n't be under + odium for my sake or his. As far as I stand accused I must + stand alone. The one who must go free is that mere child + Victorine, on her pass, to-day, this morning. When I hear the + parting gun of that boat down yonder I want to know by it that + Victorine is safely on her way to Mobile, as she would be had + she not been my messenger yesterday."</p> + + <p>"She carried nothing but a message?"</p> + + <p>"Nothing but a piece of writing--mine! Colonel, I tell you + faithfully, whatever Major Kincaid broke prison with was not + brought here yesterday by any one and was never in Victorine's + hands."</p> + + <p>"Nor in yours, either?" kindly asked Greenleaf.</p> + + <p>Anna caught her breath and went redder than ever. Doctor + Sevier stirred to speak, but Anna's maid gave her a soft + thrust, pointed behind the screen, and covered a bashful smile + with her apron. Anna's blush became one of mirth. Her eyes went + now to the Doctor and again to the broken wall.</p> + + <p>"Israel!" she laughed, "why do you enter--?"</p> + + <p>"On'y fitten' way, missie. House so full o' comin' and + goin', and me havin' dis cullud man wid me."</p> + + <p>Out on the basement ladder, at the ragged gap of Israel's + "on'y fittin' way," was visible, to prove his word, another + man's head, white-turbaned like his own, and two dark limy + hands passing in a pail of mortar. Welcome distraction. True, + Greenleaf's luckless question still stood unanswered, but just + then an orderly summoned him to the busy generals and spoke + aside to Doctor Sevier.</p> + + <p>"Miss Valcour," explained the Doctor to Anna.</p> + + <p>"Oh, Doctor," she pleaded, "I want to see her! Beg them, + won't you, to let her in?"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXIV"></a> + + <h2>LXIV</h2> + + <h3>"NOW, MR. BRICK-MASON,--"</h3>Amid the much coming and + going that troubled Israel--tramp of spurred boots, clank of + sabres, seeking, meeting and parting of couriers and + aides--Madame Valcour, outwardly placid, inwardly terrified, + found opportunity to warn her granddaughter, softly, that + unless she, the granddaughter, could get that look of done-for + agony out of her eyes, the sooner and farther they fled this + whole issue, this fearful entanglement, the better for them. + + <p>But brave Flora, knowing the look was no longer in the eyes + alone but had for days eaten into her visage as age had for + decades into the grandam's, made no vain effort to paint it out + with smiles but accepted and wore it in show of a desperate + solicitude for Anna. Yet this, too, was futile, and before + Doctor Sevier had exchanged five words with her she saw that to + him the make-up was palpable and would be so to Greenleaf. Poor + Flora! She had wrestled her victims to the edge of a precipice, + yet it was she who at this moment, this dazzling September + morning, seemed doomed to go first over the brink. Had not both + Hilary and Anna met again this Greenleaf and through him found + answer for all their burning questions? She could not doubt her + web of deceptions had been torn to shreds, cast to the winds. + Not one of the three could she now hope to confront + successfully, much less any two of them together. To name no + earlier reason--having reached town just as Kincaid was being + sent out of it, she had got him detained on a charge so + frivolous that how to sustain it now before Greenleaf and his + generals she was tortured to contrive.</p> + + <p>Yet something must be done. The fugitive must be retaken and + retained, the rival deported, and, oh, Hilary Kincaid! as she + recalled her last moment with you on that firing-line behind + Vicksburg, shame and rage outgrew despair, and her heart beat + hot in a passion of chagrin and then hotter, heart and brain, + in a frenzy of ownership, as if by spending herself she had + bought you, soul and body, and if only for self-vindication + would have you from all the universe.</p> + + <p>"The last wager and the last card," she smilingly remarked + to her kinswoman, "they sometimes win out," and as the smile + passed added, "I wish I had that bread-knife."</p> + + <p>To Doctor Sevier her cry was, "Oh, yes, yes! Dear Anna! Poor + Anna! Yes, before I have to see any one else, even Colonel + Greenleave! Ah, please, Doctor, beg him he'll do me that + prizelezz favor, and that for the good God's sake he'll keep + uz, poor Anna and me, not long waiting!"</p> + + <p>Yet long were the Valcours kept. It was the common fate + those days. But Flora felt no title to the common fate, and + while the bustle of the place went on about them she hiddenly + suffered and, mainly for the torment it would give her + avaricious companion, told a new reason for the look in her + eyes. Only a few nights before she had started wildly out of + sleep to find that she had <i>dreamed</i> the cause of Anna's + irreconcilable distress for the loss of the old dagger. The + dream was true on its face, a belated perception awakened by + bitterness of soul, and Madame, as she sat dumbly marvelling at + its tardiness, chafed the more against each minute's present + delay, seeing that now to know if Kincaid, or if Anna, held the + treasure was her liveliest hankering.</p> + + <p>Meantime the captive Anna was less debarred than they. As + Greenleaf and the Doctor, withdrawing, shut her door, and until + their steps died away, she had stood by her table, her wide + thought burning to know the whereabouts, doings, and plight of + him, once more missing, with whom a scant year-and-a-half + earlier--if any war-time can be called scant--she had stood on + that very spot and sworn the vows of marriage: to know his + hazards now, right now! with man; police, informer, patrol, + picket, scout; and with nature; the deadly reptiles, insects, + and maladies of thicketed swamp and sun-beaten, tide-swept + marsh; and how far he had got on the splendid mission which her + note, with its words of love and faith and of patriotic + abnegation, had laid upon him.</p> + + <p>Now eagerly she took her first quick survey of the room she + knew so well. Her preoccupied maid was childishly questioning + the busy Israel as he and the man out on the basement ladder + removed bricks from the edges of the ragged opening between + them.</p> + + <p>"Can't build solid ef you don't staht solid," she heard the + old coachman say. She glided to the chimney-breast, searching + it swiftly with her eyes and now with her hands. Soilure and + scars had kept the secret of the hidden niche all these months, + and neither stain, scar, nor any sign left by Hilary or Flora + betrayed it now. Surely <i>this</i> was the very panel Flora + had named. Yet dumbly, rigidly it denied the truth, for Hilary, + having reaped its spoil, had, to baffle his jailors, cunningly + made it fast. And time was flying! Tremblingly the searcher + glanced again to the door, to the screen, to the veranda + windows--though these Israel had rudely curtained--and then + tried another square, keenly harkening the while to all sounds + and especially to the old negro's incessant speech:</p> + + <p>"Now, Mr. Brick-mason, ef you'll climb in hyuh I'll step out + whah you is and fetch a bucket o' warteh. Gal, move one side a + step, will you?"</p> + + <p>While several feet stirred lightly Anna persisted in her + trembling quest--not to find the treasure, dear Heaven, but + only to find it gone. Would that little be denied? So ardent + was the mute question that she seemed to have spoken it aloud, + and in alarm looked once more at the windows, the door, the + screen--the screen! A silence had settled there and as her eye + fell on it the stooping mason came from behind it, glancing as + furtively as she at windows and door and then exaltedly to her. + She stiffened for outcry and flight, but in the same instant he + straightened up and she knew him; knew him as right here she + had known him once before in that same disguise, which the sad + fortunes of their cause had prevented his further use of till + now. He started forward, but with beseeching signs and + whispers, blind to everything between them but love and faith, + she ran to him. He caught her to his heart and drew her behind + the screen under the enraptured eyes of her paralyzed maid. For + one long breath of ecstasy the rest of the universe was + nothing. But then--</p> + + <p>"The treasure?" she gasped. "The dagger?"</p> + + <p>He showed the weapon in its precious scabbard and sought to + lay it in her hands, but--"Oh, why! why!" she demanded, though + with a gaze that ravished his,--. "Why are you not on your + way--?"</p> + + <p>"Am!" he softly laughed. "Here, leave me the dirk, but take + the sheath. Everything's there that we put there long ago, + beloved, and also a cypher report of what I heard last night in + the garden--never mind what!--<i>take it</i>, you will save + Mobile! Now both of you slip through this hole and down the + ladder and quietly skedaddle--quick--come!"</p> + + <p>"But the guards?"</p> + + <p>"Just brass it out and walk by them. Victorine's waiting out + behind with all her aunt's things at a house that old Israel + will tell you of--listen!" From just outside the basement, near + the cisterns, a single line of song rose drowsily and + ceased:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Heap mo' dan worteh-million + juice--"</span></p> + + <p>"That's he. It means come on. Go!" He gathered a brick and + trowel and rang them together as if at work. The song + answered:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Aw 'possum pie aw roasted + goose--"</span></p> + + <p>The trowel rang on. Without command from her mistress the + maid was crouching into the hole. In the noise Anna was trying + to press an anxious query upon Hilary, but he dropped brick and + tool and snatched her again into his embrace.</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Aw soppin's o' de gravy + pan--"</span></p> + + <p>called the song. The maid was through!</p> + + <p>"But you, Hilary, my life?" gasped Anna as he forced her to + the opening.</p> + + <p>"The swamp for me!" he said, again sounding the trowel. "I + take this"--the trowel--"and walk out through the hall. Go, my + soul's treasure, go!"</p> + + <p>Anna, with that art of the day which remains a wonder yet, + gathered her crinoline about her feet and twisted through and + out upon the ladder. Hilary seized a vanishing hand, kissed it + madly, and would have loosed it, but it clung till his limy + knuckles went out and down and her lips sealed on them the + distant song's fourth line as just then it came:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"De ladies loves de ladies' + man!"</span></p> + + <p>As mistress and maid passed in sight of the dark singer he + hurried to them, wearing the bucket of water on his turban as + lightly as a hat. "Is you got to go so soon?" he asked, and + walked beside them. Swiftly, under his voice, he directed them + to Victorine and then spoke out again in hearing of two or + three blue troopers. "You mus' come ag'in, whensomeveh you + like."</p> + + <p>They drew near a guard: "Dese is ole folks o' mine, Mr. + Gyuard, ef you please, suh, dess a-lookin' at de ole home, + suh."</p> + + <p>"We were admitted by Colonel Greenleaf," said Anna, with a + soft brightness that meant more than the soldier guessed, and + he let them out, feeling as sweet, himself, as he tried to look + sour.</p> + + <p>"Well, good-by, Miss Nannie," said the old man, "I mus' + recapitulate back to de house; dey needs me pow'ful all de + time. Good luck to you! Gawd bless you!... Dass ow ba-aby, Mr. + Gyuard--Oh, Lawd, Lawd, de days I's held dat chile out on one + o' dese ole han's!" He had Flora's feeling for stage + effects.</p> + + <p>Toiling or resting, the Southern slaves were singers. With + the pail on his head and with every wearer of shoulder-straps + busy giving or obeying some order, it was as normal as + cock-crowing that he should raise yet another line of his song + and that from the house the diligent bricklayer should + reply.</p> + + <p>Sang the water-carrier:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I's natch-i-ully gallant + wid de ladies,--"</span></p> + + <p>and along with the trowel's tinkle came softly back,</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I uz bawn wid a talent fo' + de ladies."</span></p> + + <p>For a signal the indoor singer need not have gone beyond + that line, but the spirit that always grew merry as the peril + grew, the spirit which had made Kincaid's Battery the + fearfulest its enemies ever faced, insisted:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"You fine it on de map o' de + contrac' plan,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I's boun' to be a ladies' + man!"</span></p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXV"></a> + + <h2>LXV</h2> + + <h3>FLORA'S LAST THROW</h3>Normal as cock-crowing seemed the + antiphony to the common ear, which scarcely noticed the + rareness of the indoor voice. But Greenleaf's was not the + common ear, nor was Flora Valcour's. + + <p>To her that closing strain made the torture of inaction + finally unbearable. Had Anna heard? Leaving Madame she moved to + a hall door of the room where they sat. Was Anna's blood + surging like her own? It could not! Under what a tempest of + conjectures she looked down and across the great hall to the + closed and sentinelled door of that front drawing-room so rife + with poignant recollections. There, she thought, was Anna. From + within it, more faintly now, came those sounds of a mason at + work which had seemed to ring with the song. But the song had + ceased. About the hall highly gilded officers conferred alertly + in pairs or threes, more or less in the way of younger ones who + smartly crossed from room to room. Here came Greenleaf! Seeking + her? No, he would have passed unaware, but her lips ventured + his name.</p> + + <p>Never had she seen such a look in his face as that with + which he confronted her. Grief, consternation, discovery and + wrath were all as one save that only the discovery and wrath + meant her. She saw how for two days and nights he had been + putting this and that and this and that and this and that + together until he had guessed her out. Sternly in his eyes she + perceived contumely withholding itself, yet even while she felt + the done-for cry heave through her bosom, and the floor fail + like a sinking deck, she clung to her stage part, babbled + impromptu lines.</p> + + <p>"Doctor Sevier--?" she began--</p> + + <p>"He had to go."</p> + + <p>Again she read the soldier's eyes. God! he was comparing her + changed countenance--a fool could see he was!--with Anna's! + both smitten with affliction, but the abiding peace of truth in + one, the abiding war of falsehood in the other. So would + Kincaid do if he were here! But the stage waited: "Ah, Colonel, + Anna! poor Anna!" Might not the compassion-wilted supplicant + see the dear, dear prisoner? She rallied all her war-worn + fairness with all her feminine art, and to her amazement, with + a gleam of purpose yet without the softening of a lineament, he + said yes, waved permission across to the guard and left + her.</p> + + <p>She passed the guard and knocked. Quietly in the room + clinked the brick-mason's work. He strongly hummed his tune. + Now he spoke, as if to his helper, who seemed to be leaving + him. Again she knocked, and bent her ear. The mason sang + aloud:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Some day dis worl' come to + an en',</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">I don't know how, I don't know + when--"</span></p> + + <p>She turned the door-knob and murmured, "Anna!"</p> + + <p>The bricklaying clinked, tapped and scraped on. The workman + hummed again his last two lines.</p> + + <p>"Who is it?" asked a feigned voice which she knew so + instantly to be Kincaid's that every beat of her heart jarred + her frame.</p> + + <p>"'Tis I, Anna, dear. 'Tis Flora." She was mindful of the + sentry, but all his attention was in the busy hall.</p> + + <p>There came a touch on the inner door-knob. "Go away!" + murmured the manly voice, no longer disguised. "In God's name! + for your own sake as well as hers, go instantly!"</p> + + <p>"No," melodiously replied Flora, in full voice for the + sentry's ear, but with resolute pressure on the door, "no, not + at all.... No, I muz' not, cannot."</p> + + <p>"Then wait one moment till you hear me at work!"</p> + + <p>She waited. Presently the trowel sounded again and its + wielder, in a lowered tone, sang with it:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Dat neveh trouble Dandy + Dan</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whilst de ladies loves de + ladies' man."</span></p> + + <p>At the first note she entered with some idle speech, closed + the door, darted her glance around, saw no one, heard only the + work and the song and sprang to the chimney-breast. She tried + the panel--it would not yield! Yet there, as if the mason's + powerful hands had within that minute reopened and reclosed it, + were the wet marks of his fingers. A flash of her instinct for + concealment bade her wipe them off and she had barely done so + when he stepped from the screen, fresh from Israel's + water-bucket, drying his face on his hands, his hands on his + face and un-turbaned locks, prison-worn from top to toe, but in + Dixie's full gray and luminous with the unsmiling joy of + danger.</p> + + <p>"It's not there," he loudly whispered, showing the bare + dagger. "Here it is. She has the rest, scabbard and all."</p> + + <p>Flora clasped her hands as in ecstasy: "And is free? surely + free?"</p> + + <p>"Almost! Surely when that despatch-boat fires!" In a few + rapid words Hilary told the scheme of Anna's flight, at the + same time setting the screen aside so as to show the hole in + the wall nearly closed, humming his tune and ringing the trowel + on the brickwork.</p> + + <p>Flora made new show of rapture. Nor was it all mere show. + Anna escaping, the treasure would escape with her, and Flora be + thrown into the dungeon of penury. Yet let them both go, both + rival and treasure! Love's ransom! All speed to them since they + left her Hilary Kincaid and left him at her mercy. But the + plight was complex and suddenly her exultation changed to + affright. "My God! Hilary Kincaid," she panted, "you 'ave save' + her to deztroy yo'seff! You are--"</p> + + <p>Proudly, gaily he shook his head: "No! No! against her will + I've sent her, to save--" He hushed. He had begun to say a + city, Flora's city. Once more a captive, he would gladly send + by Flora also, could she contrive to carry it, the priceless + knowledge which Anna, after all, might fail to convey. But + something--it may have been that same outdone and done-for look + which Greenleaf had just noted--silenced him, and the maiden + resumed where she had broken off:</p> + + <p>"My God, Hilary Kincaid, you are in denger to be hanged a + spy! Thiz minute you 'ave hide yo' dizguise in that panel!"</p> + + <p>"You would come in," said Hilary, with a playful wave of the + trowel, and turned to his work, singing:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"When I hands in my + checks--"</span></p> + + <p>Flora ran and clung tenderly to his arm, but with a + distressed smile he clasped her wrists in one hand and gently + forced her back again while she asked in burning undertone, + "And you 'ave run that h-awful risk for me? for me? But, why? + why? why?"</p> + + <p>"Oh!" he laughingly said, and at the wall once more waved + the ringing trowel, "instinct, I reckon; ordinary manhood--to + womanhood. If you had recognized me in that rig--"</p> + + <p>"And I would! In any rigue thiz heart would reco'nize + you!"</p> + + <p>"Then you would have had to betray me or else go, yourself, + to Ship Island"</p> + + <p>"H-o-oh! I would have gone!"</p> + + <p>"That's what I feared," said Hilary, though while he spoke + she fiercely felt that she certainly would have betrayed him; + not for horror of Ship Island but because now, <i>after + this</i>, no Anna Callender nor all the world conspired should + have him from her alive.</p> + + <p>He lifted his tool for silence, and fresh anger wrung her + soul to see joy mount in his eyes as from somewhere below the + old coachman sang:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"When I hands in my checks, + O, my ladies!"</span></p> + + <p>Yet she showed elation: "That means Anna and Victorine they + have pazz' to the boat?"</p> + + <p>With merry nods and airy wavings of affirmation he sang + back, rang back:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Mighty little I espec's, O, + my ladies!</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">But whaheveh--"</span></p> + + <p>Suddenly he darkened imperiously and motioned Flora away. + "Now! now's your time! go! now! this instant go!" he exclaimed, + and sang on:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"--I is sent--"</span></p> + + <p>"Ah!" she cried, "they'll h-ask me about her!"</p> + + <p>"I don't believe it!" cried he, and sang again:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"--dey mus' + un-deh-stan'--"</span></p> + + <p>"Yes," she insisted, "--muz' undehstan', and they will + surely h-ask me!"</p> + + <p>"Well, let them ask their heads off! Go! at once! before + you're further implicated!"</p> + + <p>"And leave you to--?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, doggon <i>me</i>. The moment that boat's gun sounds--if + only you're out o' the way--I'll make a try. Go! for Heaven's + sake, go!"</p> + + <p>Instead, with an agony of fondness, she glided to him. + Distress held him as fast and mute as at the flag presentation. + But when she would have knelt he caught her elbows and held her + up by force.</p> + + <p>"No," he moaned, "you shan't do that."</p> + + <p>She crimsoned and dropped her face between their contending + arms while for pure anguish he impetuously added, "Maybe in + God's eyes a woman has this right, I'm not big enough to know; + but as <i>I'm made</i> it can't be done. I'm a man, no more, no + less!"</p> + + <p>Her eyes flashed into his: "You are Hilary Kincaid. I will + stan'!"</p> + + <p>"No,"--he loosed his hold,--"I'm <i>only</i> Hilary Kincaid + and you'll go--in mercy to both of us--in simple good faith to + every one we love--Oh, leave me!" He swung his head in torture: + "I'd sooner be shot for a spy or a coward than be the imbecile + this makes me." Then all at once he was fierce: "Go!"</p> + + <p>Almost below her breath she instantly replied, "I will not!" + She stood at her full, beautiful height. "Together we go or + together stay. List-en!--no-no, not for <i>that</i>." (Meaning + the gun.) In open anger she crimsoned again: "'Twill shoot, all + right, and Anna, <i>she'll</i> go. Yes, she will <i>leave</i> + you. She can do that. And you, you can sen' her away!"</p> + + <p>He broke in with a laugh of superior knowledge and began to + draw back, but she caught his jacket in both hands, still + pouring forth,--"She <i>has</i> leave you--to me! me to you! My + God! Hilary Kincaid, could she do that if she love' you? She + don't! She knows not how--and neither you! But you, ah, you + shall learn. She, she never can!" Through his jacket her + knuckles felt the bare knife. Her heart leapt.</p> + + <p>"Let go," he growled, backing away and vainly disengaging + now one of her hands and now the other. "My trowel's too + silent."</p> + + <p>But she clung and dragged, speaking on wildly: "You know, + Hilary, you know? <i>You love me</i>. Oh, no-no-no, don' look + like that, I'm not crazee." Her deft hands had got the knife, + but she tossed it into the work-basket: "Ah, Hilary Kincaid, + oft-en we love where we thing we do not, and oft-en thing we + love where we do not--"</p> + + <p>He would not hear: "Oh, Flora Valcour! You smother me in my + own loathing--oh, God send that gun!" The four hands still + strove.</p> + + <p>"Hilary, list-en me yet a moment. See me. Flora Valcour. + Could Flora Valcour do like this--<i>ag-ains' the whole nature + of a woman</i>--if she--?"</p> + + <p>"Stop! stop! you shall not--"</p> + + <p>"If she di'n' know, di'n' feel, di'n' see, thad you are + loving her?"</p> + + <p>"Yet God knows I've never given cause, except as--"</p> + + <p>"A ladies' man?" prompted the girl and laughed.</p> + + <p>The blood surged to his brow. A wilder agony was on hers as + he held her from him, rigid; "Enough!" he cried; "We're caged + and doomed. Yet you still have this one moment to save us, + <i>all of us</i>, from life-long shame and sorrow."</p> + + <p>She shook her head.</p> + + <p>"Yes, yes," he cried. "You can. I cannot. I'm helpless now + and forever. What man or woman, if I could ever be so vile as + to tell it, could believe the truth of this from me? In God's + name, then, go!" He tenderly thrust her off: "Go, live to + honor, happiness and true love, and let me--"</p> + + <p>"Ezcape, perchanze, to Anna?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, if I--" He ceased in fresh surprise. Not because she + toyed with the dagger lying on Anna's needlework, for she + seemed not to know she did it; but because of a strange + brightness of assent as she nodded twice and again.</p> + + <p>"I will go," she said. Behind the brightness was the + done-for look, plainer than ever, and with it yet another, a + look of keen purpose, which the grandam would have understood. + He saw her take the dirk, so grasping it as to hide it behind + wrist and sleeve; but he said only, beseechingly, "Go!"</p> + + <p>"Stay," said another voice, and at the small opening still + left in the wall, lo! the face of Greenleaf and the upper line + of his blue and gilt shoulders. His gaze was on Flora. She + could do nothing but gaze again. "I know, now," he continued, + "your whole two-years' business. Stay just as you are till I + can come round and in. Every guard is doubled and has special + orders."</p> + + <p>She dropped into a seat, staring like one demented, now at + door and windows, now from one man to the other, now to the + floor, while Kincaid sternly said, "Colonel Greenleaf, the + reverence due from any soldier to any lady--" and Greenleaf + interrupted--</p> + + <p>"The lady may be sure of."</p> + + <p>"And about this, Fred, you'll be--dumb?"</p> + + <p>"Save only to one, Hilary."</p> + + <p>"Where is she, Fred?"</p> + + <p>"On that boat, fancying herself disguised. Having you, we're + only too glad not to have her."</p> + + <p>The retaken prisoner shone with elation: "And those fellows + of last night?--got them back?"</p> + + <p>Greenleaf darkened, and shook his head.</p> + + <p>"Hurrah," quietly remarked the smiling Hilary.</p> + + <p>"Wait a moment," said the blue commander, and vanished.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXVI"></a> + + <h2>LXVI</h2> + + <h3>"WHEN I HANDS IN MY CHECKS"</h3>Kincaid glanced joyfully to + Flora, but her horrified gaze held him speechless. + + <p>"Now," she softly asked, "who is the helplezz--the + cage'--the doom'? You 'ave kill' me."</p> + + <p>"I'll save you! There's good fighting yet, if--"</p> + + <p>"H-oh! already, egcep' inside me, I'm dead."</p> + + <p>"Not by half! There's time for a last shot and I've seen it + win!" He caught up the trowel, turned to his work and began to + sing once more:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"When I hands in my checks, + O, my ladies,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 2em;">Mighty little I espec's, O, my + ladies--"</span></p> + + <p><a name="One_demented_illustration"></a></p> + + <center> + <img src="images/illp362.jpg" + alt= + "She dropped into a seat, staring like one demented" + height="1100" + width="700"> + </center>He ceased and listened. Certainly, somewhere, some one + had moaned. Sounds throughout the house were growing, as if + final orders had set many in motion at once. For some cause + unrelated to him or to Anna, to Flora or the silent boat, + bugles and drums were assembling the encamped brigade. + Suddenly, not knowing why, he flashed round. Flora was within + half a step of him with her right arm upthrown. He seized it, + but vain was the sparring skill that had won at the willow + pond. Her brow was on his breast, the knife was in her left + hand, she struck with thrice her natural power, an evil chance + favored her, and, hot as lightning, deep, deep, the steel + plunged in. He gulped a great breath, his eyes flamed, but no + cry came from him or her. With his big right hand crushing her + slim fingers as they clung to the hilt, he dragged the weapon + forth and hurled her off. + + <p>Before he could find speech she had regained her balance and + amazed him yet again with a smile. The next instant she had + lifted the dagger against herself, but he sprang and snatched + it, exclaiming as he drew back:--</p> + + <p>"No, you sha'n't do that, either."</p> + + <p>She strove after it. He held her off by an arm, but already + his strength was failing. "My God!" he groaned, "it's you, + Flora Valcour, who've killed me. Oh, how did--how did you--was + it accid'--wasn't it accident? Fly!" He flung her loose. "For + your life, fly! Oh, that gun! Oh, God send it! Fly! Oh, Anna, + Anna Callender! Oh, your city, Flora Valcour, your own city! + Fly, poor child! I'll keep up the sham for you!"</p> + + <p>Starting now here, now there, Flora wavered as he reeled to + the broken wall and seized the trowel. The knife dropped to the + floor but he set foot on it, brandished the tool and began to + sing:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"When I hands in my checks, + O, my ladies--"</span></p> + + <p>A cry for help rang from Flora. She darted for the door but + was met by Greenleaf. "Stay!" he repeated, and tone, hand, eye + told her she was a prisoner. He halted aghast at the crimson on + her hands and brow, on Hilary's, on Hilary's lips and on the + floor, and himself called, "Help here! a surgeon! help!" while + Kincaid faced him gaily, still singing:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Mighty little I espec's, O, + my ladies--"</span></p> + + <p>Stooping to re-exchange the tool for the weapon, the singer + went limp, swayed, and as Greenleaf sprang to him, toppled + over, lengthened out and relaxed on the arm of his foe and + friend. Wild-eyed, Flora swept to her knees beside him, her + face and form all horror and affright, crying in a voice fervid + and genuine as only truth can make it in the common run of us, + "He di'n' mean! Oh, he di'n' mean! 'Twas all accident! He di'n' + mean!"</p> + + <p>"Yes, Fred," said Hilary. "She--she--mere accident, old man. + Keep it mum." He turned a suffering brow to Flora: "You'll + explain for me--when"--he gathered his strength--"when + the--boat's gone."</p> + + <p>The room had filled with officers asking "who, how, what?" + "Did it himself, to cheat the gallows," Madame heard one answer + another as by some fortune she was let in. She found Greenleaf + chief in a group busy over the fallen man, who lay in Flora's + arms, deadly pale, yet with a strong man's will in every + lineament.</p> + + <p>"Listen, Fred," he was gasping. "It'll sound. It's got to! + Oh, it will! One minute, Doctor, please. My love and a + city--Fred, can't some one look and see if--?"</p> + + <p>From a lifted window curtain the young aide who had brought + Anna to the house said, "Boat's off."</p> + + <p>"Thank God!" panted Hilary. "Oh, Fred, Fred, my girl and + <i>all</i>! Just a minute, Doctor,--<i>there</i>!"</p> + + <p>A soft, heavy boom had rolled over the land. The pain-racked + listener flamed for joy and half left the arms that held him: + "Oh, Fred, wasn't that heaven's own music?" He tried to finish + his song:</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"But whaheveh I is sent, dey + mus' undehstan'--"</span></p> + + <p>and swooned.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXVII"></a> + + <h2>LXVII</h2> + + <h3>MOBILE</h3>About a green spot crowning one of the low + fortified hills on a northern edge of Mobile sat Bartleson, + Mandeville, Irby, Villeneuve and two or three lieutenants, on + ammunition-boxes, fire-logs and the sod, giving their whole + minds to the retention of Anna and Miranda Callender, who sat + on camp-stools. The absent Constance was down in the town, just + then bestowing favors not possible for any one else to offer so + acceptably to a certain duplicate and very self-centered Steve + aged eighty days--sh-sh-sh! + + <p>The camp group's soft discourse was on the character of one + whom this earliest afternoon in August they had followed behind + muffled drums to his final rest. Beginning at Carrollton + Gardens, they said, then in the flowery precincts of Callender + House, later in that death-swept garden on Vicksburg's inland + bluffs, and now in this one, of Flora's, a garden yet, peaceful + and fragrant, though no part of its burnt house save the + chimneys had stood in air these three years and a half, the old + hero--</p> + + <p>"Yes," chimed Miranda to whoever was saying it--</p> + + <p>The old hero, despite the swarm of mortal perils and woes he + and his brigade and its battery had come through in that + period, had with a pleasing frequency--to use the worn-out line + just this time more--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Sat in the roses and heard + the birds' song."</span></p> + + <p>The old soldier, they all agreed, had had a feeling for + roses and song, which had gilded the edges and angles of his + austere spirit and betrayed a tenderness too deep hid for + casual discovery, yet so vital a part of him that but for its + lacerations--with every new public disaster--he never need have + sunk under these year-old Vicksburg wounds which had dragged + him down at last.</p> + + <p>Miranda retold the splendid antic he had cut in St. Charles + Street the day Virginia seceded. Steve recounted how the aged + warrior had regained strength from Chickamauga's triumph and + lost it again after Chattanooga. Two or three recalled how he + had suffered when Banks' Red River Expedition desolated his + fair estate and "forever lured away" his half-a-thousand + "deluded people." He must have succumbed then, they said, had + not the whole "invasion" come to grief and been driven back + into New Orleans. New Orleans! younger sister of little Mobile, + yet toward which Mobile now looked in a daily torture of + apprehension. And then Hilary's beloved Bartleson put in what + Anna sat wishing some one would say.</p> + + <p>"With what a passion of disowned anxiety," he remarked, "had + the General, to the last, watched every step, slip and turn in + what Steve had once called 'the multifurieuse carreer' of + Hilary Kincaid."</p> + + <p>So turned the talk upon the long-time absentee, and + instances were cited of those outbreaks of utter nonsense which + were wont to come from him in awful moments: gibes with which + no one reporting them to the uncle could ever make the "old + man" smile. The youngest lieutenant (a gun-corporal that day + the Battery left New Orleans) told how once amid a fearful + havoc, when his piece was so short of men that Kincaid was + himself down on the ground sighting and firing it, and an + aide-de-camp galloped up asking hotly, "Who's in command here!" + the powder-blackened Hilary had risen his tallest and + replied,--</p> + + <p>"I!... b, e, x, bex, Ibex!"</p> + + <p>A gentle speculation followed as to which of all Hilary's + utterances had taken finest effect on the boys, and it was + agreed that most potent for good was the brief talk away back + at Camp Callender, in which he had told them that, being + artillery, they must know how to wait unmurmuring through + months of "rotting idleness" from one deadly "tea-party" to + another. For a year, now, they had done that, and done it the + better because he had all that same time been forced to do + likewise in New Orleans, a prisoner in hospital, long at + death's door, and only now getting well.</p> + + <p>Anna remained silent. While there was praise of him what + more could she want for sweet calm?</p> + + <p>"True," said somebody, "in these forty-odd months between + March, 'Sixty-one, and August, 'Sixty-four, all hands had got + their fill of war; laurels gained were softer to rest on than + laurels unsprouted, and it ought to be as easy as rolling off a + log for him to lie on his prison-hospital cot in 'rotting + idleness,' lulled in the proud assurance that he had saved + Mobile, or at least postponed for a year--"</p> + + <p>"Hilary?" frowningly asked Adolphe.</p> + + <p>"Yes," with a firm quietness said Anna.</p> + + <p>Villeneuve gallantly amended that somebody else owned an + undivided half in the glory of that salvation and would own + more as soon as the Union fleet (daily growing in numbers) + should try to enter the bay: a hint at Anna, of course, and at + the great ram <i>Tennessee</i>, which the Confederate admiral, + Buchanan, had made his flag-ship, and whose completion, while + nothing else was ready but three small wooden gunboats, was + due--they had made even Anna believe--to the safe delivery of + the Bazaar fund.</p> + + <p>So then she, forced to talk, presently found herself + explaining how such full news of Hilary had so often come in + these awful months; to wit, by the long, kind letters of a + Federal nurse--and Federal officer's wife--but for whose + special devotion the captive must have perished, and who, Anna + revealed, was the schoolmistress banished North in 'Sixty-one. + What she kept untold was that, by favor of Greenleaf, Hilary + had been enabled to auction off the poor remains of his home + belongings and thus to restore the returned exile her gold. The + speaker let her eyes wander to an approaching orderly, and a + lieutenant took the chance to mention that early drill near + Carrollton, which the General had viewed from the Callenders' + equipage. Their two horses, surviving the shells and famine of + Vicksburg, had been among the mere half-dozen of good beasts + retained at the surrender by some ruse, and--</p> + + <p>The orderly brought Bartleson a document and Mandeville a + newspaper--</p> + + <p>And it was touching, to-day, the lieutenant persisted, to + see that once so beautiful span, handsome yet, leading in the + team of six that drew the draped caisson which--</p> + + <p>"Ah, yes!" assented all.</p> + + <p>Mandeville hurried to read out the news from Virginia, which + could still reach them through besieged Atlanta. It was of the + Petersburg mine and its slaughter, and thrilled every one. Yet + Anna watched Bartleson open his yellow official envelope.</p> + + <p>"Marching orders?" asked Miranda, and while his affirming + smile startled every one, Steve, for some reason in the + newspaper itself, put it up.</p> + + <p>"Are the enemy's ships--?" began Anna--</p> + + <p>"We're ordered down the bay," replied Bartleson.</p> + + <p>"Then so are we," she dryly responded, at which all laughed, + though the two women had spent much time of late on a small + boat which daily made the round of the bay's defenses. In a + dingy borrowed rig they hastened away toward their + lodgings.</p> + + <p>As they drove, Anna pressed Miranda's hand and murmured, + "Oh, for Hilary Kincaid!"</p> + + <p>"Ah, dear! not to be in this--'tea-party'?"</p> + + <p>"Yes! Yes! His boys were in so many without him, from Shiloh + to Port Gibson, and now, with all their first guns lost + forever--theirs and ours--lost <i>for</i> them, not by + them--and after all this year of idleness, and the whole + battery hanging to his name as it does--oh, 'Randy, it would do + more to cure his hurts than ten hospitals, there or here."</p> + + <p>"But the new risks, Nan, as he takes them!"</p> + + <p>"He'll take them wherever he is. I can't rest a moment for + fear he's trying once more to escape."</p> + + <p>(In fact, that is what, unknown to her, he had just been + doing.)</p> + + <p>"But, 'Randa?"</p> + + <p>"Yes, dear?"</p> + + <p>"Whether he's here or there, Kincaid's Battery, his other + self, will be in whatever goes on, and so, of course, will the + <i>Tennessee</i>."</p> + + <p>"Yes," said Miranda, at their door.</p> + + <p>"Yes, and it's not just all our bazaar money that's in her, + nor all our toil--"</p> + + <p>"Nor all your sufferings," interrupted Miranda, as Constance + wonderingly let them in.</p> + + <p>"Oh, nor yours! nor Connie's! nor all--his; nor our whole + past of the last two interminable years; but this whole poor + terrified city's fate, and, for all we know, the war's final + issue! And so I--Here, Con," (handing a newspaper), "from + Steve, husband."</p> + + <p>(Behind the speaker Miranda, to Constance, made eager hand + and lip motions not to open it there.)</p> + + <p>"And so, 'Ran, I wish we could go ashore to-morrow, as far + down the bay as we can make our usefulness an excuse, and + stay!--day and night!--till--!" She waved both hands.</p> + + <p>Constance stared: "Why, Nan Callender!"</p> + + <p>"Now, Con, hush. You and Steve Second are non-combatants! + Oh, 'Randa, let's do it! For if those ships--some of them the + same we knew so well and so terribly at home--if they come + I--whatever happens--I want to see it!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXVIII"></a> + + <h2>LXVIII</h2> + + <h3>BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT</h3>Luck loves to go in mask. It + turned out quite as well, after all, that for two days, by kind + conspiracy of Constance and Miranda, the boat trip was delayed. + In that time no fleet came. + + <p>Here at the head of her lovely bay tremblingly waited + Mobile, never before so empty of men, so full of women and + children. Southward, from two to four leagues apart, ran the + sun-beaten, breezy margins of snow-white sand-hills evergreen + with weird starveling pines, dotted with pretty summer homes + and light steamer-piers. Here on the Eastern Shore were the + hotels: "Howard's," "Short's," "Montrose," "Battle's Wharf" and + Point Clear, where summer society had been wont to resort all + the way from beloved New Orleans. Here, from Point Clear, the + bay, broadening south-westward, doubled its width, and here, by + and by, this eastern shore-line suddenly became its southern by + returning straight westward in a long slim stretch of dazzling + green-and-white dunes, and shut its waters from the Gulf of + Mexico except for a short "pass" of a few hundred yards width + and for some three miles of shoal water between the pass and + Dauphin Island; and there on that wild sea-wall's end--Mobile + Point--a dozen leagues due south from the town--sat Fort + Morgan, keeping this gate, the port's main ship-channel. Here, + north-west from Morgan, beyond this main entrance and the + league of impassable shoals, Fort Gaines guarded Pelican + Channel, while a mile further townward Fort Powell held Grant's + Pass into and out of Mississippi Sound, and here along the west + side, out from Mobile, down the magnolia-shaded Bay Shell Road + and the bark road below it, Kincaid's Battery and the last + thousand "reserves" the town's fighting blood could drip--whole + platoons of them mere boys--had marched, these two days, to + Forts Powell and Gaines.</p> + + <p>All this the Callenders took in with the mind's eye as they + bent over a candle-lighted map, while aware by telegraph that + behind Gaines, westward on Dauphin Island, blue troops from New + Orleans had landed and were then night-marching upon the fort + in a black rainstorm. Furthest down yonder, under Morgan's + hundred and fifteen great guns, as Anna pointed out, in a + hidden east-and-west double row athwart the main channel, + leaving room only for blockade-runners, were the torpedoes, + nearly seventy of them. And, lastly, just under Morgan's north + side, close on the channel's eastern edge, rode, with her three + small gunboats, the <i>Tennessee</i>, ugly to look at but worse + to meet, waiting, watching, as up here in Fort Powell, smiling + at the scurviness of their assignment, watched and waited + Kincaid's Battery.</p> + + <p>Upstairs the new Steve gently wailed.</p> + + <p>"Let me!" cried Anna, and ran.</p> + + <p>Constance drew out Mandeville's newspaper. Miranda smiled + despairingly.</p> + + <p>"I wish, now," sighed the sister, "we'd shown it when we got + it. I've had enough of keeping things from Nan Callender. Of + course, even among our heroes in prison, there still may be a + 'Harry Rénard'; but it's far more likely that someone's + telegraphed or printed 'Hilary Kinkaid' that way; for there + <i>was</i> a Herry Rénard, Steve says, a captain, in + Harper's calvary, who months ago quietly died in one of our + <i>own hospitals</i>--at Lauderdale. Now, at headquarters, + Steve says, they're all agreed that the name isn't a mite more + suggestive than the pure daring of the deed, and that if they + had to guess who did it they'd every one guess Hilary + Kincaid."</p> + + <p>She spread the story out on her knee: Exchange of prisoners + having virtually ceased, a number of captive Confederate + officers had been started up the Mississippi from New Orleans, + <i>under</i> a heavy <i>but unwary</i> guard, on a "tin-clad" + steamer, to wear out the rest of the war in a Northern prison. + Forbidden to gather even in pairs, they had yet moved freely + about, often passing each other closely enough to exchange + piecemeal counsels unnoticed, and all at once, at a tap of the + boat's bell had sprung, man for man, upon their keepers and + instantly were masters of them, of them, of their arms stacked + on the boiler-deck and of the steamboat, which they had + promptly run ashore on the East Louisiana side and burned. So + ran the tale, and so broke off. Ought Anna to be told it, or + not?</p> + + <p>"No," said the sister. "After all, why should we put her + again through all those sufferings that so nearly killed her + after Shiloh?"</p> + + <p>"If he would only--"</p> + + <p>"Telegraph? How do we know he hasn't?"</p> + + <p>Next morning the two unencumbered Callenders went down the + bay. But they found no need to leave the boat. A series of + mishaps delayed her, the tide hindered, rain fell, and at + length she was told to wait for orders and so lay all night at + anchor just off Fort Gaines, but out of the prospective line of + fire from the foe newly entrenched behind it. The rain ceased + and, as one of Hilary's songs ran--</p> + + <p><span style="margin-left: 1em;">"The stars shed forth their + light serene."</span></p> + + <p>The ladies had the captain's room, under the pilot-house. + Once Anna woke, and from the small windows that opened to every + quarter except up the bay townward looked forth across the + still waters and low shores. Right at hand loomed Fort Gaines. + A league away north-west rose small Fort Powell, just enough + from the water to show dimly its unfinished parapets. In her + heart's vision she saw within it her own Kincaid's Battery, his + and hers. South-eastward, an opposite league away, she could + make out Fort Morgan, but not the Tennessee. The cool, briny + air hung still, the wide waters barely lifted and fell. She + returned and slept again until some one ran along the narrow + deck under her reclosed windows, and a male voice said--</p> + + <p>"The Yankee fleet! It's coming in!"</p> + + <p>Miranda was dressing. Out on the small deck voices were + quietly audible and the clink of a ratchet told that the boat + was weighing anchor. She rang three-bells. The captain's small + clock showed half-past five. Now the swiftly dressed pair + opened their windows. The rising sun made a golden path across + the tranquil bay and lighted up the three forts and the starry + battlecross softly stirring over each. Dauphin Island and + Mobile Point were moss-green and pearly white. The long, low, + velvety pulsations of the bay were blue, lilac, pink, green, + bronze. But angry smoke poured from the funnels of the + Tennessee and her three dwarf consorts, they four also showing + the battle-flag, and some seven miles away, out in the Gulf, + just beyond the gleaming eastern point of Sand Island, was one + other sign of unrest.</p> + + <p>"You see they're under way?" asked Anna.</p> + + <p>Yes, Miranda saw, and sighed with the questioner. For there, + once more--low crouched, war-painted and gliding like the red + savages so many of them were named for, the tall ones stripped + of all their upper spars, but with the pink spot of wrath + flickering at every masthead--came the ships of Farragut.</p> + + <p>The two women could not count them, so straight on were they + headed, but a man near the window said there were seven large + and seven less, lashed small to large in pairs. Yet other + counting they did, for now out of Sand Island Channel, just + west of the ships, came a shorter line--one, two, three, four + strange barely discernible things, submerged like crocodiles, a + hump on each of the first two, two humps on each of the others, + crossed the fleet's course and led the van on the sunward side + to bring themselves first and nearest to Morgan, its + water-battery, and the <i>Tennessee</i>.</p> + + <p>Anna sighed while to Miranda the man overflowed with + information. Ah, ah! in Hampton Roads the <i>Virginia</i> had + barely coped with one of those horrors, of one hump, two guns; + while here came four, whose humps were six and their giant + rifles twelve.</p> + + <p>"Twenty-two guns in our whole flotilla," the man was saying + to Miranda, "and they've got nearly two hundred." The anchor + was up. Gently the boat's engines held her against the + flood-tide. The man had turned to add some word, when from the + land side of Gaines a single columbiad roared and a huge shell + screamed off into the investing entrenchments. Then some + lighter guns, thirty-twos, twenty-fours, cracked and rang, and + the foe replied. His shells burst over and in the fort, and a + cloud of white and brown smoke rolled eastward, veiling both + this scene and the remoter, seaward, silent, but far more + momentous one of Fort Morgan, the fleet, and the + <i>Tennessee</i>.</p> + + <p>The boat crept southward into the cloud, where only Gaines + was dimly visible, flashing and howling landward. Irby was in + that flashing. Steve was back yonder in Powell with Kincaid's + Battery. Through Steve, present at the reading of a will made + at Vicksburg the day after Hilary's capture there, Irby had + just notified Anna, for Hilary, that their uncle had left + everything to him, Adolphe. She hoped it was true, but for once + in her life had doubts without discomfort. How idly the mind + can drift in fateful moments. The bell tapped for six. As it + did so the two watchers descried through a rift in the smoke + the Tennessee signaling her grim litter, and the four crawling + forward to meet the ships. Again the smoke closed in, but the + small boat stole through it and hovered at its edge while the + minutes passed and the foe came on. How plain to be seen was + each pair, how familiar some of those taller shapes!</p> + + <p>"The <i>Brooklyn</i>, 'Randa, right in front. And there + again is the admiral's flag, on the <i>Hartford</i>. And there, + with her topmasts down, is the <i>Richmond</i>--oh, 'Ran', it's + the same bad dream once more!"</p> + + <p>Not quite. There were ships new to them, great and less, + whose savage names, told by the man near the window, chilled + the blood with reminder of old wars and massacres: the + <i>Winnebago, Chickasaw, Octorora, Ossipee, Metacomet, + Séminale</i>. "Look!" said the man, pointing, "the + <i>Tecumseh</i>--"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXIX"></a> + + <h2>LXIX</h2> + + <h3>SOUTHERN CROSS AND NORTHERN STAR</h3>A red streak and white + sun-lit puff sprang from the leading monitor's turret, and the + jarring boom of a vast gun came over the water, wholly unlike + the ringing peals of Gaines's lighter armament. Now its + opposite cranny puffed and thundered. The man smiled an + instant. "Spitting on her hands," he said, but then murmured to + himself, "Lord! look at that wind!" + + <p>"Is it bad?" asked Anna.</p> + + <p>"It'll blow every bit of smoke into our men's eyes," he + sighed.</p> + + <p>The two white puffs melted into the perfect blue of sea and + sky unanswered. Fort Gaines and its besiegers even ceased to + fire. Their fate was not in their own guns. More and more weird + waxed the grisly dumbness of five-sided Morgan and the spectral + silence of the oncoming league-long fleet. The light wind + freshened. By the bell's six taps it was seven o'clock. The + boat drifting in on the tide made Fort Gaines seem to move + seaward. Miranda looked back to Fort Powell and then out to sea + again.</p> + + <p>"The worst," said Anna, reading her thought, "will be down + there with the <i>Tennessee</i>."</p> + + <p>Miranda answered low: "Suppose, Nan, that, after all, he + should--?"</p> + + <p>Anna turned sharply: "Get here? I expect it! Oh, you may + gaze! I don't forget how often I've flouted Con's intuitions. + But I've got one now, a big one!"</p> + + <p>"That he's coming?"</p> + + <p>"Been coming these two days--pure presentiment!"</p> + + <p>"Nan, whether he is or not, if you'll tell us what Colonel + Greenleaf wrote you I'll tell you--"</p> + + <p>For a second Anna stared, Miranda wrinkling; but then, with + her eyes on the fleet, she shook her head: "You're mighty good, + 'Randa, you and Con, never to have asked me in all these + months; but neither he nor Hilary nor I will ever tell that. I + wish none of us knew it. For one thing, we don't, any of us, + know clearly enough what really happened. Dear Fred + Greenleaf!--if he <i>does</i> wear the blue, and <i>is</i> + right now over there behind Fort Gaines!"</p> + + <p>She stood a moment pondering a fact not in the Union + soldier's letter at all; that only through his masterful, + self-sacrificing intercession in military court had Hilary + escaped the death of a spy. But then her thought came back to + Miranda's request: "I can't tell you, for I can't tell Con. + Flora's her cousin, through Steve, and if she ever marries + Captain Irby she'll be Hilary's cousin, and--"</p> + + <p>There, suddenly and once for all, the theme was dropped. + Some man's quick word broke in. Fort Morgan had veiled itself + in the smoke of its own broadside. Now came its thunder and the + answering flame and roar of the <i>Brooklyn's</i> bow-chaser. + The battle had begun. The ship, still half a mile from its + mark, was coming on as straight as her gun could blaze, her + redskin ally at her side, and all the others, large and less, + bounding after by twos. And now in lurid flash and steady roar + the lightning and thunder darted and rolled from Morgan, its + water-battery, and the Mobile squadron, and from the bow guns + of the <i>Brooklyn</i> and <i>Hartford</i>.</p> + + <p>How marvelously fire, din and smoke shriveled up the time, + which the captain's small clock so mincingly ticked off. A + cabin-boy brought a fragrant tray of breakfast, but the + grateful ladies could only laugh at it. There was no moment to + observe even the few pretty sail-boats which the fearful import + and majesty of the strife lured down about them on the light + side-wind.</p> + + <p>"Has the <i>Tennessee</i> not fired yet?" anxiously asked + Anna, but no one was sure. Across the breeze, that kept the + near side of the picture uncurtained, she perfectly saw the + <i>Tecumseh</i> close abreast of the flashing, smoke-shrouded + fort, the <i>Brooklyn</i> to windward abreast of both, and the + Hartford at the Brooklyn's heels with her signal fluttering to + all behind, "Close order."</p> + + <p>"Why don't the ships--?" Anna had it on her lips to cry, + when the whole sunward side of the <i>Brooklyn,</i> and then of + the <i>Hartford,</i> vomited fire, iron and blinding, + strangling smoke into the water-battery and the fort, where the + light air held it. God's mercy! you could see the cheering of + the fleet's crews, which the ear could barely gather out of the + far uproar, and just as it floated to the gazers they beheld + the <i>Tecumseh</i> turn square toward them and head straight + across the double line of torpedoes for the + <i>Tennessee.</i></p> + + <p>We never catch all of "whatever happens," and neither + Callender saw the brave men in gray who for one moment of + horror fled from their own guns in water-battery and fort; but + all at once they beheld the <i>Tecumseh</i> heave, stagger, and + lurch like a drunkard, men spring from her turret into the sea, + the <i>Brooklyn</i> falter, slacken fire and draw back, the + Hartford and the whole huddled fleet come to a stand, and the + rallied fort cheer and belch havoc into the ships while the + <i>Tecumseh</i> sunk her head, lifted her screw into air and + vanished beneath the wave. They saw Mobile Point a semicircle + of darting fire, and the <i>Brooklyn</i> "athwart the + <i>Hartford's</i> hawse"; but they did not see, atom-small, + perched high in the rigging of the flag-ship and demanding from + the decks below, "why this?" and "why that?" a certain "plain + sailor" well known to New Orleans and the wide world; did not + see the torpedoes lying in watery ambush for him, nor hear the + dread tale of them called to him from the <i>Brooklyn</i> while + his ship passed astern of her, nor him command "full speed + ahead" as he retorted, "Damn the torpedoes!"</p> + + <p>They saw his ship and her small consort sweep undestroyed + over the dead-line, the <i>Brooklyn</i> follow with hers, the + Mobile gunboats rake the four with a fire they could not + return, and behind them Fort Morgan and the other ships rend + and shatter each other, shroud the air with smoke and thresh + the waters white with shot and shell, shrapnel, canister and + grape. And then they saw their own <i>Tennessee</i> ignore the + monitors and charge the <i>Hartford</i>. But they beheld, too, + the <i>Hartford's</i> better speed avoid the fearful blow and + press on up the channel and the bay, though torn and bleeding + from her foe's broadside, while her own futilely glanced or + rebounded from his impenetrable mail.</p> + + <p>Wisely, rightly their boat turned and slowly drew away + toward Fort Powell and Cedar Point. Yet as from her after deck + they saw the same exploit, at the same murderous cost, repeated + by the <i>Brooklyn</i> and another and another great ship and + their consorts, while not a torpedo did its work, they + tearfully called the hour "glorious" and "victorious" for the + <i>Tennessee</i> and her weak squadron, that still fought on. + So it seemed to them even when more dimly, as distance and + confusion grew and rain-clouds gathered, they saw a wooden ship + ram the <i>Tennessee</i>, but glance off, and the slow + <i>Tennessee</i> drop astern, allow a sixth tall ship and small + consort to pass, but turn in the wake of the seventh and all + but disembowel her with the fire of her great bow gun.</p> + + <p>Ah, Anna! Even so, the shattered, steam-scalded thing came + on and the last of the fleet was in. Yonder, a mere league + eastward, it moved up the bay. Yet proudly hope throbbed on + while still Mobile, behind other defenses, lay thirty miles + away, while her gunboats still raked the ships, while on + Powell, Gaines and Morgan still floated the Southern cross, and + while, down in the pass, still unharmed, paused only for breath + the <i>Tennessee</i>.</p> + + <p>"Prisoners! they are all our prisoners!" tearfully exulted + the fond Callenders. But on the word they saw the scene + dissolve into a new one. Through a squall of wind and rain, out + from the line of ships, four of their consorts glided away + eastward, flashing and howling, in chase of the overmatched + gunboats, that flashed and howled in retort as they fled. On + the west a Federal flotilla in Mississippi Sound, steaming up + athwart Grant's Pass, opened on Fort Powell and awoke its + thunders. Ah, ah! Kincaid's Battery at last! Red, white and red + they sent buffet for buffet, and Anna's heart was longing anew + for their tall hero and hers, when a voice hard by said, "She's + coming back, sir, the <i>Tennessee</i>."</p> + + <p>Out in the bay the fleet, about to anchor, turned and + awaited the new onset. By the time it was at hand the Mobile + gunboats, one burning, one fled, one captured, counted for + nothing, yet on crept the <i>Tennessee</i>, still singling out + the <i>Hartford</i>, and here the two Callenders, their boat + hovering as near Powell and Gaines as it dared, looked on the + titanic mêlée that fell round her. Like hounds and + hunters on a bear robbed of her whelps, seventeen to one, they + set upon her so thickly that their trouble was not to destroy + one another. Near the beginning one cut her own flag-ship + almost to the water-line. The first that smote the quarry--at + ten knots speed--glanced and her broadside rolled harmless into + the bay, while two guns of her monster adversary let daylight + through and through the wooden ship. From the turret of a + close-creeping monitor came the four-hundred-and-forty-pound + bolt of her fifteen-inch gun, crushing the lone foe terribly + yet not quite piercing through. Another wooden ship charged, + hit squarely a tearing blow, yet slid off, lay for a moment + touching sides with the ironclad, while they lacerated each + other like lion and tiger, and then dropped away. The hunted + <i>Hartford</i> gave a staggering thrust and futile + broadside.</p> + + <p>So for an hour went the fight; ships charging, the + <i>Tennessee</i> crawling ever after her one picked antagonist, + the monitors' awful guns forever pounding her iron back and + sides. But at length her mail began to yield, her best guns + went silent, her smokestack was down, her steering-chains were + gone, Buchanan lay heavily wounded. Of Farragut's twenty-seven + hundred men more than a seventh had fallen, victims mainly of + the bear and her cubs, yet there she weltered, helpless. From + her grim disjointed casemate her valorous captain let down the + Southern cross, the white flag rose, and instantly, everywhere, + God's thunder and man's alike ceased, and the merciful heavens + smiled white and blue again. But their smile was on the flag of + the Union, and mutely standing in each other's embrace, with + hearts as nearly right as they could know, Anna and Miranda + gazed on the victorious stars-and-stripes and wept.</p> + + <p>What caused Anna to start and glance behind she did not + know; but doing so she stared an instant breathless and then, + as she clutched Miranda for support, moaned to the tall, + wasted, sadly smiling, crutched figure that moved closer--</p> + + <p>"Oh, Hilary! Are you Hilary Kincaid?"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXX"></a> + + <h2>LXX</h2> + + <h3>GAINS AND LOSSES</h3>They kissed. + + <p>It looks strange written and printed, but she did not see + how to hold off when he made it so tenderly manful a matter of + course after his frank hand-shake with Miranda, and when there + seemed so little time for words.</p> + + <p>An ambulance drawn by the Callenders' horses had brought him + and two or three others down the West Side. A sail-boat had + conveyed them from the nearest beach. Here it was, now, in tow + beside the steamboat as she gathered headway toward Fort + Powell. He was not so weak or broken but he could point rapidly + about with his crutches, the old light of command in his eyes, + while with recognized authority he spoke to the boat's master + and these companions.</p> + + <p>He said things freely. There was not much down here to be + secret about. Mobile had not fallen. She would yet be fought + for on land, furiously. But the day was lost; as, incidentally, + might be, at any moment, if not shrewdly handled, this lonesome + little boat.</p> + + <p>Her captain moved to the pilot-house. Miranda and the junior + officers left Hilary with Anna. "Did you say 'the day,'" she + softly asked, "or 'the bay'?"</p> + + <p>"Both," he murmured, and with his two crutches in one hand + directed her eyes: to the fleet anchored midway off Morgan, + Gaines, and Powell; to the half-dozen gunboats on Mississippi + Sound; to others still out in the Gulf, behind Morgan, off + Mobile Point; to the blue land force entrenched behind Gaines, + and to the dunes east of Morgan, where similar besiegers would + undoubtedly soon be landed.</p> + + <p>"Yes ... Yes," she said to his few explanations. It was all + so sadly clear.</p> + + <p>"A grand fort yet," he musingly called Morgan, "but it ought + to be left and blown to fare-you-well to-night before it's + surroun--I wish my cousin were there instead of in Gaines. + 'Dolphe fights well, but he knows when not to fight and that + we've come, now, to where every man we've got, and every gun, + counts bigger than to knock out any two of the enemy's. You + know Fred's over yonder, don't you? and that Kincaid's Battery, + without their field-pieces, are just here in Powell behind her + heavy guns?... Yes, Victorine said you did; I saw her this + morning, with Constance." He paused, and then spoke lower:</p> + + <p>"Beloved?"</p> + + <p>She smiled up to him.</p> + + <p>"Our love's not through all the fire, yet," he said, but her + smile only showed more glow.</p> + + <p>"My soul's-mate, war-mate soldier-girl," he murmured on.</p> + + <p>"Well?"</p> + + <p>"If you stand true in what's before us now, before just you + and me, now and for weeks to come, I want your word for it + right here that your standing true shall not be for the sake of + any vow you've ever made to me, or for me, or with me, in the + past, the blessed, blessed past. You promise?"</p> + + <p>"I promise," she breathed. "What is it?"</p> + + <p>"A thing that takes more courage than I've got."</p> + + <p>"Then how will you do it?" she lightly asked.</p> + + <p>"By borrowing all yours. May I?"</p> + + <p>"You may. Is it to save--our battery?"</p> + + <p>"Our battery, yes, against their will, with others, if I can + persuade the fort's commander. At low tide to-night when the + shoals can be forded to Cedar Point, I shall be"--his words + grew hurried--the steamer was touching the fort's pier--the + sail-boat, which was to take Anna and Miranda to where the + ambulance and their own horses awaited them had cast off her + painter--"I shall be the last man out of Powell and shall blow + it up. Come, it may be we sha'n't meet again until I've"--he + smiled--"been court-martialed and degraded. If I am, we--"</p> + + <p>"If you are," she murmured, "you may take me to the nearest + church--or the biggest--that day."</p> + + <p>"No, no!" he called as she moved away, and again, with a + darkening brow, "no, no!"</p> + + <p>But, "Yes, yes," she brightly insisted as she rejoined + Miranda. "Yes!"</p> + + <p>For the horses' sake the ladies went that afternoon only to + "Frascati," lower limit of the Shell Road, where, in a small + hour of the night Anna heard the sudden boom and long rumble + that told the end of Fort Powell and salvation of its + garrison.</p> + + <p>That Gaines held out a few days, Morgan a few weeks, are + heroic facts of history, which, with a much too academic shrug, + it calls "magnifique, mais--!" Their splendid armament and all + their priceless men fell into their besiegers' hands. Irby, + haughtily declining the strictly formal courtesies of Fred + Greenleaf, went to prison in New Orleans. What a New Orleans! + The mailed clutch on her throat (to speak as she felt) had + grown less ferocious, but everywhere the Unionist civilian--the + once brow-beaten and still loathed "Northern sympathizer," with + grudges to pay and losses to recoup and re-recoup--was in petty + authority. Confiscation was swallowing up not industrial and + commercial properties merely, but private homes; espionage + peeped round every street corner and into every back window, + and "A. Ward's" ante-bellum jest, that "a white man was as good + as a nigger as long as he behaved himself," was a jest no more. + Miss Flora Valcour, that ever faithful and daring Southerner, + was believed by all the city's socially best to be + living--barely living--under "the infamous Greenleaf's" + year-long threat of Ship Island for having helped Anna + Callender to escape to Mobile. Hence her haunted look and + pathetic loss of bloom. Now, however, with him away and with + General Canby ruling in place of Banks, she and her dear + fragile old grandmother could breathe a little.</p> + + <p>They breathed much. We need not repeat that the younger was + a gifted borrower. She did other things equally well; resumed a + sagacious activity, a two-sided tact, and got Irby paroled. On + the anniversary of the day Hilary had played brick-mason a city + paper (Unionist) joyfully proclaimed the long-delayed + confiscation of Kincaid's Foundry and of Callender House, and + announced that "the infamous Kincaid" himself had been stripped + of his commission by a "rebel" court-martial. Irby promptly + brought the sheet to the Valcours' lodgings, but Flora was out. + When she came in, before she could lay off her pretty + hat:--</p> + + <p>"You've heard it!" cried the excited grandam. "But why so + dead-alive? Once more the luck is yours! Play your knave! play + Irby! He's just been here! He will return! He will propose this + evening if you allow him! Let him do it! Let him! Mobile may + fall any day! If you dilly-dally till those accursed Callenders + get back, asking, for instance, for their--ha, ha!--their + totally evaporated chest of plate--gr-r-r! Take him! He has + just shown me his uncle's will--as he calls it: a staring + forgery, but you, h-you won't mind <i>that</i>, and the + 'ladies' man'--ah, the 'ladies' man,' once you are his cousin, + he'll never let on. Take Irby! he is, as you say, a + nincompoop"--she had dropped into English--"and seldom sober, + <i>mais</i> take him! 't is the las' call of the auctioneer, + yo' fav-oreet auctioneer--with the pointed ears and the forked + black tail."</p> + + <p>Flora replied from a mirror with her back turned: "I'll + thing ab-out it. And maybee--yes! Ezpecially if you would do uz + that one favor, lazd thing when you are going to bed the night + we are married. Yez, if you would--ahem!--juz' blow yo' gas + without turning it?"</p> + + <p>That evening, when the accepted Irby, more nearly happy than + ever before in his life, said good-night to his love they did + not kiss. At the first stir of proffer Flora drew back with a + shudder that reddened his brow. But when he demanded, "Why + not?" her radiant shake of the head was purely bewitching as + she replied, "No, I haven' fall' that low yet."</p> + + <p>When after a day or so he pressed for immediate marriage and + was coyly referred to Madame, the old lady + affectionately--though reluctantly--consented. With a + condition: If the North should win the war his inheritance + would be "confiz-<i>cate</i>'" and there would be nothing to + begin life on but the poor child's burned down home behind + Mobile, unless, for mutual protection, nothing else,--except + "one dollar and other valuable considerations,"--he should + preconvey the Brodnax estate to the poor child, who, at least, + had never been "foun' out" to have done anything to subject + property of hers to confiscation.</p> + + <p>This transfer Irby, with silent reservations, quietly + executed, and the day, hour and place, the cathedral, were + named. A keen social flutter ensued and presently the wedding + came off--stop! That is not all. Instantly upon the close of + the ceremony the bride had to be more lifted than led to her + carriage and so to her room and couch, whence she sent loving + messages to the bridegroom that she would surely be well enough + to see him next day. But he had no such fortune, and here + claims record a fact even more wonderful than Anna's + presentiment as to Hilary that morning in Mobile Bay. The day + after his wedding Irby found his parole revoked and himself, + with others, back in prison and invited to take the oath and go + free--stand up in the war-worn gray and forswear it--or stay + where they were to the war's end. Every man of them took + it--when the war was over; but until then? not one. Not even + the bridegroom robbed of his bride. Every week or so she came + and saw him, among his fellows, and bade him hold out! stand + fast! It roused their great admiration, but not their wonder. + The wonder was in a fact of which they knew nothing: That the + night before her marriage Flora had specifically, minutely + prophesied this whole matter to her grandmother, whose only + response was that same marveling note of nearly four years + earlier--</p> + + <p>"You are a genius!"</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="LXXI"></a> + + <h2>LXXI</h2> + + <h3>SOLDIERS OF PEACE</h3>In March, 'Sixty-five, the + Confederacy lay dying. While yet in Virginia and the Carolinas, + at Mobile and elsewhere her armies daily, nightly strove on, + bled on, a stricken quiet and great languor had come over her, + a quiet with which the quiet ending of this tale is only in + reverent keeping. + + <p>On Mobile's eastern side Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, her + last defenses, were fighting forty thousand besiegers. + Kincaid's Battery was there, and there was heavy artillery, of + course, but this time the "ladies' men"--still so called--had + field-guns, though but three. They could barely man that + number. One was a unit of the original six lost "for them, not + by them," at Vicksburg, and lately recovered.</p> + + <p>Would there were time for its story! The boys had been sent + up the state to reinforce Forrest. Having one evening silenced + an opposing battery, and stealing over in the night and + bringing off its best gun, they had slept about "her" till + dawn, but then had laughed, hurrahed, danced, and wept round + her and fallen upon her black neck and kissed her big lips on + finding her no other than their own old "Roaring Betsy." She + might have had a gentler welcome had not her lads just learned + that while they slept <i>the</i> "ladies' man" had arrived from + Mobile with a bit of news glorious alike for him and them.</p> + + <p>The same word reached New Orleans about the same date. + Flora, returning from a call on Irby, brought it to her + grandmother. In the middle of their sitting-room, with the + worst done-for look yet, standing behind a frail chair whose + back she gripped with both hands, she meditatively said--</p> + + <p>"All privieuse statement' ab-out that court-martial on the + 'vacuation of Ford Powell are prim-ature. It has, with highez' + approval, <i>acquit</i>' every one concern' in it." She raised + the light chair to the limit of her reach and brought it down + on another with a force that shivered both. Madame rushed for a + door, but--"Stay!" amiably said the maiden. "Pick up the + pieces--for me--eh? I'll have to pick up the pieces of you some + day--soon--I hope--mm?"</p> + + <p>She took a book to a window seat, adding as she went, + "Victorine. You've not heard ab-out that, neither? She's + biccome an orphan. Hmm! Also--the little + beggar!--she's--married. Yes. To Charles Valcour. My God! I + wish I was a man."</p> + + <center> + <img src="images/music391.png" + alt="Music: Um, hmm,..." + height="154" + width="700"> + </center> + + <p>"<i>Leave the room!</i>"</p> + + <p>But these were closed incidents when those befell which two + or three final pages linger to recount. The siege of Spanish + Fort was the war's last great battle. From March twenty-sixth + to April the eighth it was deadly, implacable; the defense hot, + defiant, audacious. On the night of the eighth the fort's few + hundred cannoneers spiked their heavy guns and, taking their + light ones along, left it. They had fought fully aware that + Richmond was already lost, and on the next day, a Sabbath, as + Kincaid's Battery trundled through the town while forty + thousand women and children--with the Callenders and little + Steve--wept, its boys knew their own going meant Mobile had + fallen, though they knew not that in that very hour the obscure + name of Appomattox was being made forever great in history.</p> + + <p>"I reached Meridian," writes their general, "refitted the + ...field batteries and made ready to march across (country) and + join General Joseph E. Johnston in Carolina. The tidings of + Lee's surrender soon came.... But ...the little army of Mobile + remained steadfastly together, and in perfect order and + discipline awaited the final issue of events."</p> + + <p>It was while they so waited that Kincaid's Battery learned + of the destruction, by fire, of Callender House, but took + comfort in agreeing that now, at last, come or fail what might, + the three sweetest women that ever lived would live + up-town.</p> + + <p>One lovely May morning a Federal despatch-boat--yes, the one + we know--sped down Mobile Bay with many gray-uniformed men + aboard, mostly of the ranks and unaccoutred, but some of them + officers still belted for their unsurrendered swords. Many lads + showed the red artillery trim and wore jauntily on their + battered caps K.B. separated by crossed cannon. "Roaring Betsy" + had howled her last forever. Her sergeant, Valcour, was there, + with his small fond bride, both equally unruffled by any + misgiving that they would not pull through this still inviting + world happily.</p> + + <p>Mandeville was present, his gilt braid a trifle more gilt + than any one else's. Constance and little Steve--who later + became president of the Cotton Exchange--were with him. Also + Miranda. Out forward yonder on the upper deck, beside tall + Hilary Kincaid, stood Anna. Greenleaf eyed them from the + pilot-house, where he had retired to withhold the awkward + reminder inseparable from his blue livery. In Hilary's fingers + was a writing which he and Anna had just read together. In + reference to it he was saying that while the South had fallen + to the bottom depths of poverty the North had been growing + rich, and that New Orleans, for instance, was chock full of + Yankees--oh, yes, I'm afraid that's what he called + them--Yankees, with greenbacks in every pocket, eager to set up + any gray soldier who knew how to make, be or do anything + mutually profitable. Moved by Fred Greenleaf, who could furnish + funds but preferred, himself, never to be anything but a + soldier, the enterprising husband of the once deported but now + ever so happily married schoolmistress who--</p> + + <p>"Yes, I know," said Anna--</p> + + <p>Well, for a trifle, at its confiscation sale, this man had + bought Kincaid's Foundry, which now stood waiting for Hilary to + manage, control and in the end recover to his exclusive + ownership on the way to larger things. What gave the subject an + intense tenderness of unsordid interest was that it meant for + the pair--what so many thousands of paroled heroes and the + women they loved and who loved them were hourly finding + out--that they were not such beggars, after all, but they might + even there and then name their wedding day, which then and + there they named.</p> + + <p>"Let Adolphe and Flora keep the old estate and be as happy + on it, and in it, as Heaven will let them; they've got each + other to be happy with. The world still wants cotton, and if + they'll stand for the old South's cotton we'll stand for a new + South and iron; iron and a new South, Nan, my Nannie; a new and + better South and even a new and better New Orl--see where we + are! Right yonder the <i>Tennessee</i>--"</p> + + <p>"Yes," interrupted Anna, "let's put that behind + us--henceforth, as the boat is doing now."</p> + + <p>The steamer turned westward into Grant's Pass. To southward + lay Morgan and Gaines, floating the ensign of a saved Union. + Close here on the right lay the ruins of Fort Powell. From the + lower deck the boys, pressing to the starboard guards to see, + singly or in pairs smiled up to Hilary's smile. Among them was + Sam Gibbs, secretly bearing home the battery's colors wrapped + round him next his scarred and cross-scarred body. And so, + farewell Mobile. Hour by hour through the beautiful blue day, + island after island, darkling green or glistering white, rose + into view, drifted by between the steamer and the blue Gulf and + sunk into the deep; Petit Bois, Horn Island, Ship Island, Cat + Island. Now past Round Island, up Lake Borgne and through the + Rigolets they swept into Pontchartrain, and near the day's + close saw the tide-low, sombre but blessed shore beyond which a + scant half-hour's railway ride lay the city they called + home.</p> + + <p>Across the waters westward, where the lake's margin, + black-rimmed with cypresses, lapsed into a watery horizon, and + the sun was going down in melancholy splendor, ran unseen that + northbound railway by which four years earlier they had set off + for the war with ranks full and stately, with music in the air + and with thousands waving them on. Now not a note, not a + drum-tap, not a boast nor a jest illumined their return. In the + last quarter-hour aboard, when every one was on the lower deck + about the forward gangway, Hilary and Anna, having chanced to + step up upon a coil of rope, found it easier, in the + unconscious press, to stay there than to move on, and in + keeping with his long habit as a leader he fell into a lively + talk with those nearest him,--Sam and Charlie close in front, + Bartleson and Mandeville just at his back,--to lighten the + general heaviness. At every word his listeners multiplied, and + presently, in a quiet but insistent tone, came calls for a + "speech" and the "ladies' man."</p> + + <p>"No," he gaily replied, "oh, no, boys!" But his words went + on and became something much like what they craved. As he + ceased came the silent, ungreeted landing. Promptly followed + the dingy train's short run up the shore of the New Canal, and + then its stop athwart St. Charles Street, under no roof, amid + no throng, without one huzza or cry of welcome, and the prompt + dispersal of the outwardly burdenless wanderers, in small knots + afoot, up-town, down-town, many of them trying to say over + again those last words from the chief hero of their four years' + trial by fire. The effort was but effort, no full text has come + down; but their drift seems to have been that, though disarmed, + unliveried, and disbanded, they could remain true soldiers: + That the perfect soldier loves peace, loathes war: That no man + can be such who cannot, whether alone or among thousands of his + fellows, strive, suffer and wait with magnanimous patience, + stake life and fortune, and, in extremity, fight like a + whirlwind, for the victories of peace: That every setting sun + will rise again <i>if it is a true sun:</i> That good-night was + not good-by: and that, as for their old nickname, no one can + ever be a whole true ladies' man whose <i>aim</i> is not at + some title far above and beyond it--which last he said not of + himself, but in behalf and by request of the mother of the guns + they had gone out with and of the furled but unsullied banner + they had brought home.</p> + + <p>THE END.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + <a name="OTHER_BOOKS_BY_MR_CABLE"></a> + + <h2>OTHER BOOKS BY MR. CABLE</h2> <br> + + + <p><b>THE CAVALIER</b></p> + + <p>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY HOWARD CHANDLER CHRISTY</p> + + <p><b>12mo, $1.50</b></p> + + <p>"The scene of the American War of North and South is + different ground from the old Creole life that Mr. Cable has + painted so deliciously, but the touch of the true artist is + equally manifest in the careful selection of material, and in + the due subordination of the events of that terrible struggle + to the progress of a love-story that is altogether + delightful."--<i>The London Literary World.</i></p> + + <p>"In all the stories of war there have been few descriptions + of its dangers and destruction, its contrasted demoralizing and + inspiring influences equal to these."--<i>San Francisco + Argonaut.</i></p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p><b>BYLOW HILL</b></p> + + <p>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY F.C. YOHN</p> + + <p><b>12mo, $1.25</b></p> + + <p>"I know of no one fitter to stand in the place next + Hawthorne's."--<i>The Atlantic Monthly.</i></p> + + <p>"An atmosphere that only a great artist can + produce."--<i>Literature (London).</i></p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p><b>JOHN MARCH SOUTHERNER</b></p> + + <p><b>12mo, $1.50</b></p> + + <p>"The most careful and thorough going study of the + reconstruction period in the South which has yet been offered + in the world of fiction."--<i>The Outlook.</i></p> + + <p>"In many respects Mr. Cable's finest work."--<i>Boston + Advertiser.</i></p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <p><b>THE GRANDISSIMES</b></p> + + <p>A STORY OF CREOLE LIFE</p> + + <p><b>12mo, $1.50</b></p> + + <p>"Such a book goes far towards establishing an epoch in + fiction, and it places it beyond a doubt that we have in Mr. + Cable a novelist of positive originality, and of the very first + quality."--<i>The Boston Journal.</i></p> + + <p><b>The Grandissimes.</b> <i>With 12 full-page illustrations + and 8 head and tail pieces by Albert Herter, all reproduced in + photogravure, and with an original cover design by the same + artist.</i></p> + + <p><b>8vo, $2.50</b></p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p><b>OLD CREOLE DAYS</b></p> + + <p><b>12mo. $1.50</b></p> + + <p>Cameo Edition with an etching by Percy Moran, $1.25</p> + + <p>"These charming stories attract attention and commendation + by their quaint delicacy of style, their faithful delineation + of Creole character, and a marked originality."--<i>The New + Orleans Picayune.</i></p> + + <p><b>Old Creole Days.</b> <i>With 8 full-page illustrations + and 14 head and tail pieces by Albert Herter, all reproduced in + photogravure, and with an original cover design by the same + artist.</i></p> + + <p><b>8vo, $2.50</b></p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p><b>STRONG HEARTS</b></p> + + <p><b>12mo, $1.25</b></p> + + <p>"There is so much delicacy, such a fine touch, that one is + wholly captivated by the handiwork until it is realized how + much this is part and parcel of this picture."</p> + + <p>--<i>Brooklyn Eagle.</i></p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <p><b>BONAVENTURE</b></p> + + <p><b>A PROSE PASTORAL OF ACADIAN LOUISIANA</b></p> + + <p><b>12mo, $1.50</b></p> + + <p>"A noble, tender, beautiful tale."--Mrs. L.C. Moulton in + <i>Boston Herald.</i></p> + + <p>"Mr. Cable has never produced anything so delightful and so + artistic as <i>'Bonaventure.'</i> The charm of the pastoral + life of these unlearned, unsuspicious people in rude homes far + away from the stir of modern life is as novel as it is + indescribable"--<i>North American Review.</i></p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p><b>DR. SEVIER</b></p> + + <p><b>12mo, $1.50</b></p> + + <p>"The story contains a most attractive blending of vivid + descriptions of local scenery, with admirable delineations of + personal character."--<i>The Congregationalist.</i></p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p><b>STRANGE TRUE STORIES OF LOUISIANA</b></p> + + <p><b>Illustrated. 12mo, $2.00</b></p> + + <p>"What a field of romance, of color, of incident, of delicate + feeling, and unique social conditions these stories + show!"--<i>Hartford Courant.</i></p> + + <p>"They are tales whose interest and variety seem + inexhaustible.--Mr. Cable has done lasting service to + literature in giving us this remarkable and delightful + collection. In themselves they are memorably + charming."--<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p> + <hr style="width: 65%;"> + + <p><b>MADAME DELPHINE</b></p> + + <p><b>16mo, 75 cents</b></p> + + <p>"This is one of the gems of a collection of exquisite + stories of the old Creole days in Louisiana."--<i>Boston + Advertiser.</i></p> + + <p>Ivory series edition, 16mo, 75c.</p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p><b>THE CREOLES OF LOUISIANA</b></p> + + <p>ILLUSTRATED FROM DRAWINGS BY PENNEL</p> + + <p><b>Square 12mo, $2.50</b></p> + + <p>"As a history of the Louisiana Creoles, it occupies a field + in which it will not find a competitor. Mr. Cable has given us + an exceedingly attractive piece of work."--<i>The + Nation.</i></p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p><b>THE SILENT SOUTH</b></p> + + <p>Together with the Freedman's Case in Equity and the Convict + Lease System. <i>Revised and Enlarged Edition.</i> With + portrait.</p> + + <p><b>12mo, $1.00</b></p> + + <p>"Whatever other literature on these themes may arise Mr. + Cable's book must be a permanent influence impossible for + writers on either side to ignore."--<i>The Critic.</i></p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p><b>THE NEGRO QUESTION</b></p> + + <p><b>12mo, 75c</b></p> + + <p>"Mr. Cable has the Puritan conscience, the agitator's + courage, and the Anglo-Saxon's fearless adhesion to what he + deems right."--<i>The Churchman.</i></p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p><b>THE CABLE STORY BOOK</b></p> + + <p>Selections for School Reading. Edited by MARY E. BURT and + LUCY L. CABLE. [<i>The Scribner Series of School Reading</i>]. + Illustrated. 12mo, <i>net</i> 60c.</p> + <hr style="width: 45%;"> + + <p>CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, <i>Publishers</i> 153-157 FIFTH + AVENUE, NEW YORK</p> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KINCAID'S BATTERY***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 11719-h.txt or 11719-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/7/1/11719">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/7/1/11719</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="https://gutenberg.org/license">https://gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">https://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06">http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL">https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> |