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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Dream of Empire, by William Henry Venable
+
+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
+
+
+Title: A Dream of Empire
+       Or, The House of Blennerhassett
+
+Author: William Henry Venable
+
+Release Date: July 16, 2006 [EBook #18840]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DREAM OF EMPIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Roger Frank, Carolyn Bottomley and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+A DREAM OF EMPIRE
+
+_Or_
+THE HOUSE OF
+BLENNERHASSETT
+
+_By_
+WILLIAM HENRY VENABLE
+
+AUTHOR OF "A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES,"
+"JOHN HANCOCK, EDUCATOR," &c.
+
+_New York_
+DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
+_MDCCCCI_
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Copyright, 1901,
+By Dodd, Mead and Company.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+TO
+EMERSON VENABLE
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Contents
+
+I.      AN ECCENTRIC VISITOR.                             1
+II.     A NOTED CHARACTER ARRIVES IN PITTSBURG.          16
+III.    PILLARS OF SMOKE.                                28
+IV.     PLUTARCH BYLE MAKES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE.          39
+V.      IN THE LADIES' BOWER.                            45
+VI.     DOCTOR DEVILLE AND HIS LUCRECE.                  62
+VII.    CONSPIRACY.                                      71
+VIII.   DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND.                             82
+IX.     DON'T FORGET THE BITTERS.                        97
+X.      "NOW TO MY CHARMS AND TO MY WILY TRAINS."       118
+XI.     PALAFOX GROWS INSOLENT.                         127
+XII.    SNARING A PHILOSOPHER.                          137
+XIII.   THE ENCHANTED GROUND.                           150
+XIV.    A LARGESS OF CORONETS.                          169
+XV.     THERE BE LAND RATS AND WATER RATS.              181
+XVI.    A PATRIOT NOT TO BE TAMPERED WITH.              193
+XVII.   THE BUSY NOTE OF PREPARATION.                   205
+XVIII.  THE VOYAGE OF THE BUCKEYE.                      218
+XIX.    ARLINGTON'S RIDE.                               234
+XX.     MOSTLY LOVE MATTERS.                            247
+XXI.    PRO AND CON.                                    262
+XXII.   NOT A TRUE BILL.                                269
+XXIII.  THE FATAL CIPHER.                               278
+XXIV.   THE MIDNIGHT DEPARTURE.                         286
+XXV.    HEROINE AND HERO.                               297
+XXVI.   OUT OF THE NET INTO THE TRAP.                   312
+XXVII.  FLIGHT AND SURRENDER.                           326
+XXVIII. WHAT BECAME OF THEM.                            333
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+
+A DREAM OF EMPIRE.
+
+I. AN ECCENTRIC VISITOR.
+
+
+It was the first of May, and the sun had passed the noon line in a
+bright sky, causing the shadow of Peter Taylor to fall east of north
+and infusing his substance with the delightful languor called Spring
+Fever. Leaning upon an idle spade, Peter watched the lazy motions of a
+negro slave whom he had directed to trim a level lawn ornamented with
+flowerbeds. The English origin of the overseer was revealed by his
+looks and in his speech.
+
+"Scipio, 'ave you 'oed the corn?"
+
+"No, boss, but I's jes' gwine to ten' to it right away."
+
+"Well, make 'aste. Daniel and Ransom can 'elp you, and tell Honest
+Moses to get the south patch ready for the watermelon seed."
+
+Scipio received his orders submissively, and, shouldering a hoe,
+sauntered toward the cornfield, and was soon hidden by a clump of
+young weeping-willows, the sunny green branches of which trailed to
+the darker verdure of the sward. Screened by the drooping foliage, the
+shirking menial cast his body on the grass to store up energy for
+anticipated toil.
+
+Meanwhile, the taskmaster, having issued commands to his black
+subordinates, felt justified in neglecting his own duties, in a
+dignified way, by seeking a shady retreat in which he lingered
+contemplating the charms of Nature and the pleasing results of his own
+skill as a landscape-gardener. The prevailing aspect of the
+surroundings was wild, though several acres of cultivated land,
+including a fine lawn with gravelled walks and drives, attested that
+much labor had been expended in reclaiming a portion of savage Nature
+from its primeval condition. The plantation occupied the upper end of
+Blennerhassett Island. Standing on a knoll, with his back to the
+"improved" grounds, Peter took in at a sweeping glance a reach of
+gleaming water which flowed between woody hills overhung by a serene
+sky. He saw the silver flood of the Ohio River which, coursing
+southward, broke against the island, dividing its broad current into
+two nearly equal streams. He admired the meadow slopes of Belpre, on
+the Ohio side, and the more dimly seen bluffs of Wood County, on the
+Virginia border. The tourist of to-day, standing where the gardener
+stood on Blennerhassett Island a hundred years ago, sees in the
+northern distance the iron framework of the Parkersburg bridge
+spanning the river, so far away as to show like a fairy web in the
+air. Beyond, as if issuing from the heart of the hills, the river
+blends with the purple mist.
+
+Having "bent the quiet of a loving eye" upon the river and its
+delightful valley, the Englishman turned his ruddy face toward the
+chief building on the island, a frame structure of odd appearance,
+painted in dazzling white save the window shutters, which were vivid
+green. The mansion consisted of a main edifice fifty feet square and
+two stories high, with a peculiar portico in front, projected not in
+straight lines, but forming a semicircle, embracing within the
+curvature of its outstretching arms a favored area of dooryard. The
+proprietor of the estate had chosen the site and designed the plan of
+this his residence with the double purpose of indulging a fancy for
+architectural novelty and of providing against disaster by lightning
+and earthquake. Never did it occur to him that fire and flood were the
+elements he had most reason to fear: each of these ruinous agents was
+destined, in turn, to devastate the island.
+
+In the rear of the fantastic dwelling, and not far from it, stood a
+row of log cabins for the negroes who served on the place, and a
+cluster of barns and stables abundantly stocked. All the houses were
+new, and the adjacent cultivated land showed many signs that it had
+not long been tilled, or even cleared. The rank soil retained its
+quick fertility, as could be seen in the thrifty growth of peas,
+beets, radishes, and early potatoes, flourishing in the "truck-patch."
+The plum and the peach trees had cast their bloom; the cherry blossoms
+were falling like snow; the flowers of the apple loaded the air with
+fragrance; the red-buds were beginning to fade; the maples and oaks,
+just starting into leaf, hung full of light green tassels.
+
+The vegetable close had irresistible attractions for the gardener, and
+this drew his laggard steps from their idle excursion, back to the
+freshly spaded spot enriched by leaf mould, and carefully picketed
+against the incursions of scratching hens. Here he busied himself in
+planting lettuce seed, forgetful of Scipio, who lolled sleepily in the
+shadow of the willows.
+
+The drowsy bondman was just sinking into slumber, when his attention
+was aroused by a plashing noise followed by the sound of whistling.
+Glancing in the direction of the disturbance, his eyes fell upon the
+ungainly figure of a man who was stooping at the water's edge. The
+negro got upon his feet, and approached the stranger, who at first
+took no notice of him, being absorbed in puzzled observation. A cut of
+lean meat, encircled by a row of stones, lay immersed in a pool caused
+by an eddy in the river.
+
+"Danged if I can make out what this hunk of raw beef is put here for,"
+soliloquized the visitor. "The minnies are nibblin' it away. I wonder
+if this here Mr. Bladderhatchet means to feed all the fish in the Ohio
+on beefsteak. Hello, Cuffey, what do _you_ want?"
+
+"I's not Cuffey, sah; I's Scipio."
+
+"Well, I's Byle, Plutarch Byle," said the stranger, raising his gaunt,
+gawky figure to a posture which, though far from erect, revealed a
+stature so much above the average height that the negro stepped back a
+few paces and stared with astonishment. Plutarch Byle's feet, hands
+and head seemed somewhat too large for his trunk and limbs, but were
+quite in harmony with the big joints of his knees, elbows and wrists.
+His attitudes were grotesque and his gestures awkward. Light, curly
+hair covered his head; his nose was long and inquisitive; his eyes,
+big, blue and good-humored; his mouth, incredibly wide, with shrewd,
+mobile lips, which habitually smiled. A tuft of yellow beard on the
+end of his sharp chin, gave his face a comical expression resembling
+that which caricature bestows on Uncle Sam. His voice was pitched in a
+high key, and was modified by that nasal twang supposed to indicate
+Yankee origin; but a habit of giving his declarative sentences an
+interrogative finish, might denote that he came from the mountain
+regions of Pennsylvania or Virginia. A pair of linsey pantaloons, a
+blue hunting shirt with a fringe of red and yellow, moccasins of
+tanned leather and a woollen hat were his chief visible articles of
+dress.
+
+Scrutinizing Scipio's features as he might inspect a wonder in a
+museum, Byle interrogated him:
+
+"Potterin' about for greens, I reckon? Do you belong here, Africanus?"
+
+The only information drawn from the slave was that the proprietor of
+the island had bought him in Virginia.
+
+"Bought? Consarn my bones! How much did he give for you? Look here,
+Sambo, if I was a Roman general, like you, and in your fix," said
+Byle, pointing with his left thumb over his right shoulder and
+winking, "I'd skite over to the Buckeye-side of the water and forget
+to pay for myself. Don't you know what the Ordinance of '87 says? 'No
+involuntary servitude in said territory.' I agree with John Woolman,
+that niggers are our feller-creatures."
+
+Turning abruptly, the tall man moved with long, slow strides in the
+direction of the white house with green shutters, talking continually,
+more to himself than to the perplexed negro who followed at his heels.
+
+"Wonder how things are growing in the front yard? By gum! that's a
+fine Italian poplar! Guess the old Coot's at home. Maybe that
+youngster is one of the little Bladderhatchets! Say, sonny, come this
+way."
+
+The sentence was addressed to a lad, who, bounding from the portico,
+ran nimbly toward the intruder. The boy was prettily attired in a
+military costume, and wore a toy sword at his side and a gay feather
+in his cap. He was followed by a brother smaller and much less jaunty.
+
+"What might your name be, now, bub? By crackey, you've come out in
+full blossom, haven't you, like a red-bud bush? What do you say your
+name is?"
+
+"Dominick."
+
+"Dominick, hey? I've seen many a young dominick rooster, but I never
+saw one with finer feathers than yours. Suppose you flap your wings,
+and crow for us, like a fighting cockerel."
+
+"I'll not crow; I'll stick my sword through you!"
+
+"Jerusalem artichokes! He wants to kill me with his tin sword!
+Dominick, I give in. If your pappy is about the house, tell him to
+come out; a gentleman wants to ask him something."
+
+Before a summons could be served on Mr. Harman Blennerhassett, that
+person appeared emerging from a wing of the long porch. Being
+extremely near-sighted, he could not distinctly see the man who
+awaited him until the distance between the two was diminished to a few
+steps. The uninvited guest without ceremony opened conversation.
+
+"How d'ye do? I am Mr. Byle--B-y-l-e--Plutarch Byle. Of course
+everybody knows you by reputation, Mr. Bladderhatchet--"
+
+"Blennerhassett."
+
+"It's a prodigious long name, ain't it? Too long, in my opinion. You
+can have it shortened by law. I'm told you're from Ireland. You don't
+look much Irish, nor you haven't a bad brogue. I s'pose you've got
+your naturalization papers all right. This administration is rather
+easy on foreigners, especially French, for Jefferson has Frenchy
+notions. President Adams was rough on emigrants--maybe too rough; he
+wanted to sock it to them hard by acts of Congress. What is your
+opinion of the Alien and Sedition laws? I favor them; I'm a Federalist
+to the marrow-bones. I don't reckon you're a United Irishman, Mr.
+Blanner--"
+
+"Blenner, if you please--Blennerhassett. I belong to the order of
+United Irishmen, but I presume your errand here is not to discuss
+politics. Your looks denote that you affiliate with--shall I say, the
+common people, the humbler class? What is your business here, my good
+man?"
+
+"Rattlesnakes and brimstone! _Me_ your good man! _Me_ of the humbler
+class! Why, Squire B., we have no humbler class on our side of the
+Ohio. But you needn't apologize; I'm not huffy. You're new to the
+country and your blunders are excusable. I happened along this way--"
+
+"My time is valuable, I must ask you to be brief. What do you want?"
+
+"You're a bigger man than I calculated to see; you're a large-sized
+citizen, full six foot, I should guess, and you stoop consider'bl in
+the shoulders, like myself. The Byles are all built that way. But your
+feet are smaller than mine, and I should think you'd feel awk'ard in
+such toggery as them red breeches and shoe buckles."
+
+"You are impertinent," snapped Blennerhassett, turning from his rude
+critic. "If you have nothing to tell or to ask that is of any
+importance, make off, for I can be detained no longer."
+
+"Hold on, neighbor; I've heaps yet to tell, and lots more to ask. The
+first thing I noticed particularly when I landed was that puddle up
+there, with the hunk of raw meat soaking, and I would like dangnation
+well to know why you put that meat in that puddle?"
+
+Annoyed beyond endurance, the lord of the island would have hurried
+away, but he was diverted from his intention by the unexpected conduct
+of his guest, who, suddenly dropping on all fours, fell to examining
+with the liveliest interest a wild plant which had forced its stem up
+through the sod.
+
+"Do you know what that is?" asked Plutarch of the two boys who stood
+near their father, perplexed by the dialogue to which they had
+listened. They shook their heads, when, glancing up at Scipio, the
+questioner repeated, "Do you know?" and not waiting for a reply,
+"That's snakeroot; smell it!" He plucked a portion of the herb, rubbed
+it between his thumb and forefinger and thrust the bruised substance
+first under his own nose and then beneath the reluctant nostrils of
+the disdainful Master Dominick.
+
+Mr. Blennerhassett was himself a botanist, or desired to be considered
+one, and his eagerness to become familiar with the flora of his
+vicinity so far overcame offended formality, that he also got down on
+his knees and directed his imperfect vision to the pungent specimen.
+The two men, each an oddity, presented a ludicrous picture as they
+knelt on the grass, their heads almost in contact, and their long
+noses only a few inches above the object of their scrutiny.
+
+"Yes, Virginia snakeroot, and I couldn't expect it to sprout up in
+this open place. This is a different thing from the Seneca
+rattlesnake-root; there's more cure in an ounce of this than in a
+pound of that. I'll wager five shillings to a sixpence that I can name
+you nine out of ten of the medicines and dyestuffs growing on this
+island."
+
+"If that is the case," said the Irish recluse, scrambling to his feet,
+"I shall be glad to avail myself of your knowledge. There are many
+vines, shrubs, and trees flourishing here, the names and qualities of
+which I greatly desire to learn and many herbs which perhaps--"
+
+"I'm your man, neighbor; I'm your man. There are three things which I
+calculate I do know by experience: the first is fish, the second is
+game, and the third is yarbs."
+
+"What is the third?"
+
+"Yarbs. Anything that grows wild. I'm acquainted with pretty much
+every critter that has seed, flower, leaf, bark or root. I fish a good
+bit, and I doctor a good bit."
+
+"You doctor, fish and hunt," repeated Blennerhassett, his attention
+now completely captured; "I myself prescribe simple remedies and I am
+fond of the sports you mention, though a defect of vision interferes
+with my shooting."
+
+"If you like," proposed Byle, "we will prowl around this very
+afternoon and study physic together. I call the wild woods God's
+apothecary shop."
+
+Blennerhassett was convoyed to the depths of the island forest, where
+the strangely assorted pair conversed intimately on the virtues of
+pleurisy-root, Indian physic and columbo. Byle discoursed on the high
+price of ginseng, and the new method of preparing that specific for
+the Chinese market; recommended the prompt use of succory to cure a
+snake bite, and the liberal application of green stramonium leaves to
+heal sores on the back of a horse. He advised Blennerhassett to
+acquire an appetite for custard apples, which, he said, regulated the
+bowels.
+
+On returning from the excursion, Blennerhassett hurried into his
+library, lugging a basket filled with botanical specimens; and Byle
+prepared to leave the premises. Before starting, he beckoned the
+gardener, who sulkily responded to the sign. The pertinacious visitor
+was proof against repulse. No social coolness could chill his
+confiding ardor. He took Peter's arm, and with a backward jerk of the
+head declared interrogatively:
+
+"The Mogul is sort of queer, isn't he? A screw loose somewhere, eh?"
+
+"Well," responded Peter cautiously, "yes and no; he is queer and he
+isn't queer. He has plenty of book learning and plenty of money, and a
+fool can't get much of either. Folks say he has every kind of sense
+but common sense."
+
+"At first he didn't want to be sociable. I asked him a civil question
+about a public matter, and he shut up like a clam. Now can _you_ tell
+me, as man to man, why the deuce that hunk of beef is put to soak in
+that puddle, up at the head of the island?"
+
+Peter chuckled in the contemptuous manner of a practical man, without
+sympathy for speculative genius.
+
+"That's one of his chemical experiments. The man is always up to
+something of the kind. The carcass of a dead 'og was dug up on the
+place, and his Honor noticed that it had turned into something like
+tallow, and he takes the notion that the water here has power to
+change flesh into solid fat--_hadipocere_, he calls it--which he
+thinks may be used to make candles."
+
+Byle listened to the solution of the lean-meat mystery with waning
+attention, for before the explanation was concluded his roving eye
+caught glimpses of an apparition more interesting than the gardener's
+dry sarcasm. He discerned, through openings in the boscage fringing
+the river bank on the Ohio shore, an object like a scarlet flag flying
+rapidly along.
+
+"Greased lightning! What strange bird is that coming down the river
+road? A woman on horseback, sure as Easter flowers! Two of 'em, one in
+red and one in black. Don't they make them animals cut dirt? I
+wouldn't miss this sight for a hogshead of tree-honey. Why, it beats a
+Pittsburg horse-race on the Fourth of July!"
+
+"Oh, it's mamma! It's mamma and Miss Evaleen coming back from
+Marietta," shouted Dominick.
+
+A gang of colored men, led by Honest Moses, poled an unwieldy scow to
+the Ohio shore, took the dashing equestriennes on board and ferried
+back to the island.
+
+The announcement that their mistress was approaching caused a general
+flurry among the servants, male and female, and several of them,
+headed by the boys, hastened down to the landing to receive the
+ladies. Byle was not the man to let slip such an opportunity of taking
+a look at the paragon, whose charms of person and brilliancy of mind
+he had heard many tongues extol; and he did not hesitate to join the
+family group on the river bank. His curiosity was amply rewarded by
+the vision of fair women which he beheld.
+
+Madam Blennerhassett stepped from the ferryboat, beaming smiles of
+motherly fondness upon her children. She wore a riding-habit of
+scarlet cloth embroidered with thread of gold, and a snow-white hat,
+adorned with long plumes of ostrich feather. The rich attire did not
+blind Plutarch to the natural beauty of "the woman herself." She was
+of regal stature, graceful bearing and animated face. Her buoyant
+step, her rising bosom, her clear, rich voice evidenced the vital glow
+of maturity in a woman still young--a June rose blooming in May.
+
+Byle, pressing nearer, noted that the madam's hair was brown; her
+eyelashes long; nose, Grecian; lips, ripe red. When he had fixed her
+image on his mind, and was meditating the propriety of making friendly
+inquiries concerning the purpose and results of her excursion to
+Marietta, her large, calm eyes searched his countenance with a look of
+offended dignity, which caused his tongue to cleave to the roof of his
+mouth. Speechless for the moment, but not blinded, Plutarch withdrew
+his optics from the imperious dame, and took an instantaneous
+brain-picture of her companion, a light-footed, quick-glancing girl
+about eighteen years of age, whose arrival put little Harman into an
+ecstasy, and gave manifest delight to the servants. Her blithe manner
+and cheerful voice won Byle's complete approbation, and led him to
+describe her as one who "'peared not to know there was a valley of the
+shadder of trouble here below."
+
+Madam Blennerhassett instructed Moses to take care of the horses, and
+side by side with the winsome maiden walked from the landing to the
+house, followed by a retinue of servants.
+
+Thus abandoned, Plutarch Byle plodded his way to his skiff, pushed the
+light craft from the sandy beach, ensconced his gaunt person on the
+rowing bench, seized the oars, and pulled up stream, saying to
+himself:
+
+"She's the compound extract of Queen 'Liz'beth and Cleopatry; but why
+didn't she take a fancy to a good-looking Federalist like me, instead
+of throwing herself away on a near-sighted United Irishman with silver
+shoe-buckles?"
+
+
+
+
+II. A NOTED CHARACTER ARRIVES IN PITTSBURG.
+
+
+On the last day of April, 1805, more than the usual number of guests
+crowded the bar-room or lounged about the open door of the Green Tree,
+a popular tavern on the bank of the Monongahela, in Pittsburg. The
+proprietor had found difficulty in providing refreshment for the swarm
+of hungry mechanics, farmers and boatmen who elbowed their way to a
+seat at his famed dining-table. To the clatter of dishes was added the
+clamor of voices making demands upon the decanters, which yielded an
+inexhaustible supply of rum, whiskey and peach brandy.
+
+In the throng of bar-room loafers was a swarthy boatman, wearing a
+leathern waistcoat, who, on being jostled by a stalwart roysterer
+carrying a long rifle, poured out curses and slang epithets, swearing
+he could whip any man in the tavern or in the town. The challenge was
+no sooner uttered than the offender for whom it was meant called out
+to the landlord:
+
+"Here, Billy, hold my shooter a minute until I pitch this Louisiana
+rat into the river."
+
+"Don't mind him, Mike; he's drunk."
+
+"Drunk or sober," blustered the quarrelsome boatman, "I swear I can
+whip the best man in Pittsburg or in Pennsylvania."
+
+This sweeping defiance elicited laughter and derision.
+
+"Give him the heft of your fist, Mike!" cried one.
+
+"Bruise the snout of the Mississippi alligator!"
+
+Thus incited, Mike Fink, the recognized champion of Pittsburg,
+disposed of his rifle, doubled up his fists, and stood ready for
+assault or defence.
+
+"Fair fight or rough and tumble?" said he, appealing to the crowd.
+
+"Fair fight," growled the boatman and tossed a fiery dram down his
+gullet. But fair fight in the accepted sense of the phrase was
+farthest from his intention. Quick as a flash, he drew from his belt a
+dirk, and would have stabbed his antagonist, had not a bystander
+seized his uplifted arm, while another wrenched the weapon from his
+grasp. The ruffian's comrades hurried their dangerous leader from the
+inn, and guided his steps to the river and aboard a large new flatboat
+recently launched.
+
+A flourish of bugle notes and the noise of wheels announced the
+arrival of the mail-coach from the East. Everybody went out to hail
+the lumbering vehicle, which, drawn by four horses, came bowling down
+the road in a dust-cloud of glory. The driver cracked his whip with a
+bang like a pistol-shot, and firmly holding in his left hand the four
+long lines, brought his team to a sudden halt in front of the tavern.
+
+Only two passengers alighted from the stage, clambering out at the
+front, a mode of egress requiring agility to avoid awkward slips and
+tumbles. The first to step down was a handsome young man, who held his
+head proudly and looked about him with easy self-possession. A
+fashionable suit of clothes and a hat in the latest Philadelphia style
+proclaimed him a man of "quality." But aristocratic as were the mien
+and attire of this fine gentleman, he ceased to be the chief object of
+attention when his fellow-traveller emerged from the pent darkness of
+the coach and sprang to the pavement.
+
+Every eye fastened on the second stranger. His was an individuality
+sure to command deference. Though of slight figure, he bore himself
+with a lofty air, which lifted his stature and magnified its
+proportions. Not one of those tarrying to behold the man could resist
+the feeling that his was a dominating spirit, a will and personality
+not to be ignored or slighted. A careful scanning of his externals
+discovered that his form was symmetrical, though the head seemed
+disproportionately large; the brow was high and sloping; the nose,
+rather sharp; every curve of the mouth, clear cut and delicate; the
+eyes, black, bright and piercing. Such was the man who, attired in a
+suit of black broadcloth, with buff vest, ruffled shirt, and white
+stock, and with hair tied in a modish queue, revealed himself to the
+gaze of the throng in front of the Green Tree.
+
+The spectators observed as he descended from the coach that his feet
+were small, and were fitted to a nicety with polished boots of the
+finest leather. No amount of gaping, gazing and inquisitive side
+remark embarrassed the newcomer. Perhaps his dark eyes emitted a
+sparkle of gratified vanity as he glanced about him, distributing a
+gracious bow among his unknown fellow-citizens. Addressing the
+innkeeper, he asked:
+
+"Can you inform us whether Judge Brackenridge is in town?"
+
+"Yes, sir; we are going that way," politely replied a stripling, who
+stepped forward, followed by another youth with a law book under his
+arm. "This is Harry Brackenridge, the judge's son."
+
+"Surely? and your name is--?"
+
+"Morgan Neville."
+
+"Son of Colonel Presley Neville?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Indeed! The particular friend of Lafayette." Young Neville blushed
+with proud pleasure.
+
+"Yes; father was his aide-de-camp."
+
+"I know," said the stranger, smiling, as he turned to ask young
+Brackenridge, "Is the judge at home?"
+
+"We expect him home to-morrow from a trip to Washington College."
+
+"Your new Western college, eh? Judge Brackenridge is a promoter of
+learning and literature. Allow me to make you acquainted with Mr.
+Arlington, of Virginia." The Southerner saluted the students and,
+inclining his head deferentially toward his travelling companion,
+said:
+
+"I have the honor of introducing you to Colonel Aaron Burr."
+
+Diverse were the effects produced on the listening spectators by
+Arlington's words. At the sound of the notorious name some shrank as
+from the hiss of a coiled serpent. Others drew near, as if eager to
+manifest partisan sympathy for the renowned leader, whose pistol had
+ended the life of Alexander Hamilton ten months prior to the time of
+this visit to Pittsburg. The unfledged lawyers whom his favor had
+distinguished were of his faction. They manifested their fealty and
+gladness with boyish exuberance, by delighted looks and words
+expressive of esteem and reverence. Burr was importuned to dine at
+their houses, but he excused himself on account of business affairs
+which required prompt attention. However, he accepted an invitation to
+visit Colonel Neville on the following day.
+
+Dinner over, the newly arrived guests sought the general supply agent,
+with whom Burr had contracted by letter for a boat, intending a voyage
+down the Ohio. The vessel was ready and that very morning had been
+brought from the shipyard to the landing.
+
+"You will find her a first-class flatboat, Mr. Burr--strong and
+tight--sixty foot long by fourteen wide--four first-rate rooms, and
+as pretty a roof as you ever set foot on anywheres. There's a fellow
+here from down Mississippi I've spoke to--a number one pole and a
+letter A oar--Captain Burke Pierce by name--and he'll manage her for
+you, Mr. Burr, and provide his own crew."
+
+"Where can I find this Captain Pierce?"
+
+"I'll take you to him right away. He's down on the boat now. A mighty
+good hand is Burke, tough as a bull, swims like a muskrat, but he has
+one failing--only one so far as I know--he will drink, and when he's
+drunk he's vicious. But they all take their whiskey, these boatmen,
+and so does almost every landsman, for that matter--and Pierce is no
+worse than the rest. But here's the point: cap had a row at the
+tavern, and his crew took him down to your boat to sober off."
+
+"Why there?"
+
+"Well, I thought you'd ask that. I gave them leave to go to your boat
+out of regard to you. I told him if he'd whistle together five or six
+experienced poles and a good cook, like as not you'd hire him to take
+charge of her for you and steer her down the river; see to the
+kitchen, beds and everything."
+
+Inwardly remarking that the agent had presumed beyond his commission,
+Burr was conducted to the boat, within which he found half a dozen
+rough rivermen seated around a table, playing poker. Their redoubtable
+chief rose with a civil salutation not to be expected from one of his
+station. He was a stalwart fellow, of swarthy complexion and strongly
+marked features. A broad yellow belt confining a leather doublet was
+buckled around his waist; the legs of his coarse blue woollen trousers
+were stuffed into the wide tops of heavy Suarrow boots, and his head
+was covered by a broad hat, such as were worn by Spanish traders on
+the lower Mississippi.
+
+"That's your man; that's Burke; born and raised on a broad-horns.
+Speak for yourself, cap; this is Mr. Burr, which I told you about."
+
+The boatman spoke for himself in surprisingly good language, with an
+air combining the bold and the obsequious. For a fixed sum, payable in
+weekly instalments, he proposed to give his own services and to hire
+the additional help necessary to navigate the boat, under the general
+control of the owner. To this arrangement Burr finally agreed,
+notwithstanding an instinctive repugnance which he had felt on first
+seeing the letter A oar, who was tough as a bull and who had but one
+failing. As the captain received in his palm an advance payment, he
+called upon his men to witness the contract and to vouch for his
+character, and pledged word and honor that, by six o'clock on the
+evening of the following day, the boat would be in readiness for the
+voyage.
+
+Relieved of present care, Burr returned to the tavern, where many
+citizens, incited by various motives, waited to pay him their
+respects. The rumor of his arrival had spread over town, and
+speculation was rife concerning his movements. What could be the noted
+politician's object in coming to the West? Was he flying from
+persecution? Could he be suffering remorse? Or was he merely making a
+tour of observation for commercial reasons?
+
+Burr's reticence gave little satisfaction to the busybodies who sought
+by direct question to verify their several conjectures. All comers
+were received with a hearty handshake and were entertained with urbane
+speeches. Not the humblest caller was slighted. It was late in the
+evening when, having affably gotten rid of his last visitor, Burr
+proposed that he and Arlington should retire. They were well content
+to make the best of the scanty accommodations of the one sleeping-room
+to which they were both assigned.
+
+After a disturbed night's rest Burr awoke early and called his
+drowsing companion.
+
+"Rouse up, Mr. Arlington. Shake off this downy sleep."
+
+"Downy sleep!" answered the Virginian, yawning and stretching; "the
+only down of this couch is shucks and corn-cobs."
+
+The two men had scarcely finished breakfasting when a committee of
+local officials called to invite them to see the sights of growing
+Pittsburg.
+
+The "Emporium," as the _Gazette_ called the town, had a population of
+about two thousand. Most of the buildings were of logs; a few of stone
+or brick.
+
+Burr listened with every appearance of intense interest to animated
+accounts of the academy, the old Dutch church, the ferries, the
+shipping-yard, Suke's Run, and Smoky Island. The party sauntered along
+muddy thoroughfares--Southfield Street and Chancery Lane. They
+strolled through Strawberry Avenue and Virgin Alley. They viewed the
+ruins of Fort Pitt, stood on the site of historic Du Quesne, and
+paused to gaze up at the garrisoned post of La Fayette, over which
+floated the flag of the Old Thirteen. During the tour Burr kept up a
+sprightly conversation. His guides took pains, at his request, to
+introduce to him the young men of Pittsburg, and those who had the
+favor of being presented felt themselves enrolled among his devoted
+adherents. He carried their hearts, not by storm, but by irresistible
+sunshine.
+
+At the appointed time the visitors were warmly welcomed at Colonel
+Neville's, where they were gratified to meet Judge Brackenridge. The
+four gentlemen spent an hour in lively political and military talk,
+over a decanter of Madeira. Under the mellowing influence of wine and
+good company, the judge, with Scotch curiosity, made bold to sound
+Burr in regard to the purpose of his Western trip.
+
+"We are going out West to witness the 'Rising Glory of America,'" was
+the evasive answer. "I am eager to explore that domain of which the
+author of 'Bunker Hill,' has sung so sublimely:
+
+                             'Hail, happy land,
+    The seat of empire, the abode of kings,
+    The final stage, where time shall introduce
+    Renowned characters and glorious works.'"
+
+Flattered to hear his own verse recited by the ex-Vice-president, the
+judge returned a quick response:
+
+"It is seldom that a poet lives to hear his own prophecies fulfilled.
+The 'renowned characters' are entering upon the stage; I dare say the
+'glorious works' will be accomplished according to prophecy."
+
+The conversation returned to general themes: prospects of trade,
+routes of migration, growth of western towns, literature, and
+education. A passing comment on the recent purchase and organization
+of Louisiana led Colonel Neville to ask:
+
+"When did you last see your former comrade-in-arms, General
+Wilkinson?"
+
+"Not lately. I thought I might meet him here in Pittsburg. Is he not
+due here?"
+
+"Yes, he is on the way from Philadelphia, but he travels with his
+family, and is liable to many detentions. His barge lies at the wharf,
+to convey him to Fort Massac."
+
+"So I learn," said Burr. "I fear I shall miss him. He is a jovial
+companion."
+
+"A bon-vivant," ejaculated the Judge. "Few men enjoy a convivial
+occasion with his gusto, or have the constitution to indulge as he
+does. Gossip charges him with living beyond his purse. Some
+ill-natured rumors assert that he allows the rites of Bacchus to
+interfere with the duties of Mars."
+
+"Bacchus is a gross and vicious god. But your gossips traduce
+Wilkinson. He is a brave man and a fine officer," said Burr with an
+emphasis of finality.
+
+"O undoubtedly! Apropos of the wine-god, Colonel Burr, do not fail to
+tie up your boat at Bacchus Island, you and Mr. Arlington, and call on
+my friends the Blennerhassetts. Harman Blennerhassett is an agreeable
+man, though peculiar, and his wife is charming."
+
+"A fine woman, is she?" responded Burr.
+
+"Both beautiful and opulent. A sultana, sir!"
+
+"Then, gentlemen," said Burr, rising with glass in hand, "let us do
+ourselves the honor of drinking the health of Madam Blennerhassett."
+
+When, at six o'clock in the evening, the travellers went down to the
+boat, not a soul did they find on board. Seven o'clock came, but no
+Captain Pierce, no minion of his. Burr made inquiry of the agent, the
+tavern-keeper and others, without obtaining information concerning any
+of the missing men.
+
+Much incensed, he and Arlington were compelled to lodge another night
+in the best bedchamber of the Green Tree.
+
+
+
+
+III. PILLARS OF SMOKE.
+
+
+On the morning after their provoking delay, when the travellers again
+appeared at the boat landing, impatient to resume their voyage, Aaron
+Burr was in a mood not to be trifled with. It scarcely mollified his
+anger to discover on the deck of the boat the slippery crew that had
+disappointed him.
+
+"Here we are, sharp on time," bawled Captain Pierce audaciously. "How
+soon do you want to start?"
+
+Burr, stepping aboard the vessel, confronted his plausible employee,
+and said in a tone of stern reprimand:
+
+"You will be of no use to me unless you obey orders to the letter. You
+make a bad beginning. Why were you not here twelve hours ago?"
+
+"I didn't agree to shove off before this morning. We were to come at
+six--"
+
+"At six last evening. You broke your word."
+
+"What was the use of lying?" said Arlington contemptuously.
+
+The boatman lowered upon the Virginian, and muttered to Burr: "Then I
+must have heard wrong. I thought you said six o'clock this morning.
+I'll take my oath on a pile of Bibles."
+
+"Produce the Bibles," suggested Arlington.
+
+Burke ignored the sneering remark, and continued his protestations to
+Burr. "I mean to do the fair, square thing, as these men will tell
+you. Ask them. They know Burke Pierce keeps his promises."
+
+"Enough; I hope you do. Don't disappoint me again. Put the boat in
+motion."
+
+Under the captain's directions, all the hands but one bestirred
+themselves. The exception, a burly knot of muscles, with stubby beard
+and purple nose, instead of joining in the work, stood idle, chewing
+tobacco, ostentatiously. Without a word Burr stepped lightly in front
+of the impudent roustabout, and, delivering a blow, with the dexterity
+of an expert boxer, knocked him into the river, amid the jeers of his
+associates, and of the concourse assembled on the shore to see the
+boat off.
+
+This prompt stroke of executive policy had a salutary effect.
+Recalcitrant subjects had warning that the little man wearing the
+queue and the small, shiny boots, could not be bluffed.
+
+The boat, once in midstream, was easily managed by the use of long,
+spiked poles, and, now and then, of an oar. The captain kept his
+station at the stern of the uncouth craft, handling the steering-pole.
+The two travellers, standing upon the roof of the ark, admired their
+pilot's skill, and freely exchanged comments regarding him. To their
+murmured conversation, the steersman seemed dumb, deaf and
+indifferent; nevertheless, he gave the closest attention to every
+word, and his sense of hearing was as keen as that of a wildcat.
+
+The scenery along the upper Ohio River is pleasing in any season of
+the year; no wonder that, in early May, the travellers were enchanted
+by its picturesque beauty. To this day, in many places, the hills,
+vales, and woods on either bank, retain almost the original wildness
+of primeval Nature. The river winds among high limestone hills, which
+are carved in frequent deep ravines, by tumbling brooks, or trickling
+rills. Low, green islands rise magically upon the forward view of the
+voyager, then vanish in the receding distance, like fairy worlds
+withdrawn.
+
+The real and the imaginary became strangely blended in Arlington's
+mind. He could hardly distinguish the substantial from the visionary,
+while he gazed on cloudlike bluffs in Ohio and dim highlands in
+Virginia. The boat drifted on without sound or jar, and he easily
+fancied himself at rest on a surface of water, while the woody shore
+swam by in slow panorama.
+
+Chester Arlington was the son of a wealthy citizen of Richmond, and a
+graduate of the College of William and Mary. He had studied law, and
+was beginning life on his own account. Entrusted with a commission to
+collect some claims held by his father against a merchant in
+Cincinnati, he was on his way to that metropolis of the Miami country.
+His acquaintance with Burr dated from a day in the middle of April,
+when the two got into the same coach to journey from Philadelphia to
+Pittsburg. A difference of twenty-five years in their ages was
+cancelled by the art, which the elder possessed, of maintaining
+perpetual youth. And Burr's genial conversation won his companion's
+confidence and friendship before they had crossed the Alleghanies.
+Thus it came about, that the Virginian had been invited to share the
+conveniences of the flatboat, a courtesy which he had accepted, on
+condition that he might share the expenses.
+
+Toward the close of the fourth day of the voyage, as the two sat on
+the top of their drifting domicile, smoking cigars, they fell into a
+discussion concerning the Great West, and the prospects of new States
+and Territories.
+
+"To me," said the Virginian, in the slightly florid style habitual to
+him, "this wonderful new country into which we are sailing is
+attractive beyond my power to express. This river, the Oyo of the
+Indian, La Belle of the romantic La Salle, excites my imagination and
+recalls interesting legends and historic facts. How many keels have
+plowed these waters--the canoe of the Iroquois, the peroque of French
+explorers, the batteau of early English traders, the boats of the
+Spaniards coming up from the Gulf region."
+
+"The boat of the Spaniard has not yet abandoned our western waters,
+Mr. Arlington."
+
+"No, not yet. Twenty years have not elapsed since the first white
+settlement was made on the soil of Ohio, at Marietta, a town we are
+now approaching."
+
+The smokers lapsed into a silence of many minutes. Burr resumed
+conversation abruptly:
+
+"Arlington, you are not a Federalist?"
+
+"Could you imagine that a son of my father, Major Arlington, would
+hold the principles of Adams and Jay?"
+
+"You are not, you say, an admirer of Adams, the arch-Federalist. Do
+you worship his successor? Are you an unconditional Jeffersonian?"
+
+"No, I am not. It seems to me that Jefferson aids the cause of
+centralization, with the same motive that moved Adams, but with less
+boldness. What do you think, Colonel Burr, of the temporizing policy
+of the administration in regard to Spain?"
+
+"In regard to Spain?" echoed Burr, blowing a ring of smoke from his
+lips, "what do _you_ think, yourself?"
+
+"I think it infamous! It disgraces this nation to submit to exactions
+and insults from the Spaniards. Why don't the Government declare war,
+and conquer Mexico?"
+
+"Would you be in favor of that?" asked Burr, lightly touching the
+ashes of his cigar with the tip of his little finger--so lightly that
+the ashes did not fall.
+
+"Would I be in favor of it? I am in favor of it. Are not you, Colonel
+Burr?"
+
+The politician again barely grazed the cylinder of white ashes with
+his little finger.
+
+"We must not be rash."
+
+"I feel that I am rash to talk so positively, but how can there be a
+difference of opinion on a subject like this? Why don't Congress
+declare war?"
+
+"Is it your belief that, if war were declared, there would be
+difficulty in raising volunteers in Virginia?"
+
+"Not the least. Thousands would enlist."
+
+"Would you enlist, Mr. Arlington?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I would."
+
+Burr's little finger tapped the burnt out inch of his cigar, and the
+frail ash fell, crumbling to fine powder, which the breeze bore away.
+The touch recorded a point won.
+
+"Suppose that Congress and the President, disregarding the wishes of
+the people, and refusing to declare war, force the country to submit
+tamely to the insults of Spain, do you think it possible that
+independent men might take upon themselves the responsibility as a
+private business enterprise, and march against the Dons in Mexico?"
+
+After a thoughtful pause, the young man replied:
+
+"Yes, some would. Many would. The warfare might not be regular, but,
+in my view, the object would justify extraordinary means to a
+patriotic end. What is your own feeling on that phase of the subject,
+may I ask, colonel?"
+
+"I wish to learn the sense of my fellow-citizens. You may express
+yourself to me with perfect freedom."
+
+"Why not? We are discussing a public question."
+
+"Certainly. But your idea, that an expedition against Mexico,
+conducted as a private enterprise, might prove popular and--"
+
+"That is _your idea_, sir, not mine. However, I see no objection to
+adopting it, providing the Government is in the secret, and tacitly
+permits an expedition."
+
+"Oh, surely! That is understood," responded Burr, and fell pondering.
+
+With quick whiffs he revived the dying fire of his cigar, leaned back
+in his chair, and lost himself in reverie. What were his meditations?
+Perhaps he mused of the past, the half century of crowded events in
+which he had borne a conspicuous part. Did his memory fly back to the
+far off, sad days when, a lonesome orphan boy, in a Puritan school, he
+penned sympathetic letters to his sister? Or was recollection busy
+with the scenes of the Revolutionary War, in which he served his
+country nobly and won proud laurels? He recalled his part in the march
+to Canada and in the assault on Quebec, not forgetting his own heroic
+exploit of carrying from the fatal field the body of his slain
+general, Montgomery. He thought of the retreat from Long Island, and
+of the credit he gained as aide-de-camp to Putnam; he retraced each
+step in his military career, reflecting on his rise from the command
+of a regiment to that of a brigade, remembering how his distinction as
+a brave and able officer reached its culmination in the battle of
+Monmouth. Perhaps, through his mind ran the events of his political
+history, his transition from the field to the bar, thence to the State
+Assembly of New York, to the Senate of the United States, and finally
+to the Vice-Presidency.
+
+These memories and a myriad more came thronging to his quickened
+consciousness as he sat smoking. The retrospective visions rose before
+him, not as vague memories--they seemed living realities as they
+reproduced events more recent. At last one vivid picture--nay, was it
+not an actual scene?--one set of vital images, usurped his brain and
+would not vanish or fade. It showed a grassy ledge guarded by rocks
+and forest growths, in a secluded spot overlooking the Hudson. There
+stands himself confronting his political rival and partisan foe; the
+figures speak and move; a ghastly tragedy is imminent. Yes,
+imagination compels the repetition--the men are placed--Burr takes
+deliberate aim, touches the trigger, the fatal bullet pierces
+Hamilton's breast and the slain Federalist falls heavily, his face
+upon the sward. But before he falls, his pistol, which he had resolved
+not to fire, is accidentally discharged, sending its ball eight feet
+over the head of his antagonist and cutting off a leafy twig from an
+overhanging bough. Burr's attention is strangely affected by the fate
+of the green branch which he heard the bullet sever, and, as he sees
+it come wavering to the ground, he cannot resist the fancy that he
+beholds an emblem of his own ruin--a symbol of his future self--a
+living thing cut off from its nourishing stock as he was destined to
+be from a nation's sympathy and support.
+
+The gloomy retrospect, the dismal forecast, were too painful; by a
+strong effort of the will, Burr strove to expunge the past and
+illuminate the future. Rising, he took a brisk turn or two, pacing the
+deck. His cigar had gone out; casting it into the river, he lit a
+fresh one, and again sat down. The kindled roll diffused its searching
+perfume and wrought a soothing change of mood. By some subtle chain of
+new associations Burr was led to think of the words of Milton's hero
+in _Paradise Lost_:
+
+    "The mind is its own place, and in itself
+    Can make a heaven of hell."
+
+He puffed at the long cigar, and began to build a future out of
+rolling smoke. Toppled fortunes may be rebuilt; lost reputation may be
+retrieved. There are new worlds to discover, to conquer, and to
+possess. What may not be achieved by genius and courage? What to
+undertake, what to dare and do! Shall he span the Ohio with a bridge,
+and dig a canal around the falls? Would he find success by settling in
+some rising city of the West, and resuming the practice of law? Or
+might he not reasonably hope to be returned to Congress from one of
+the new States? Or to secure from the President an appointment as
+Minister to a foreign court, perhaps that of St. James? Better than
+these schemes and more independent, to embark in a stupendous land
+speculation in Louisiana, and open a splendid way to riches and power.
+
+The wavering blue nebulæ of intoxicating clouds rise and float, and
+fashion their fragrant columns into grander castles of smoke. The
+Mississippi Valley is spacious and fertile, Louisiana is a wide
+domain, but why limit the scope of enterprise to these? Why not
+conquer Mexico, make New Orleans the capital of a magnificent empire,
+and possibly annex the southwestern States of the severed Union.
+Myself the emperor of the richest realm on the globe, my daughter the
+crown princess and prospective queen Theodosia!
+
+Such was the gorgeous dream, the cloud-vision, the unuttered soliloquy
+of Aaron Burr, the political bankrupt, as he sat smoking on the deck
+of a flatboat, drifting down the devious current of the Ohio.
+
+
+
+
+IV. PLUTARCH BYLE MAKES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE.
+
+
+The boat had reached a point a few miles above Marietta, when an
+incident occurred to interrupt the resumed dialogue on the Spanish
+question. A skiff was seen to push off from the Ohio shore, and move
+rapidly in the direction of the flatboat, urged on by the long,
+powerful oar-strokes of a man who, even in distant perspective,
+appeared larger than life-size. Instead of hailing the crew of the
+passing vessel, as was customary, the man gave no sign that he was
+conscious of the existence of any other craft than his own
+fast-gliding skiff. However, he steered straight for the boat, hove
+alongside, sprang on board with surprising agility, and, having
+fastened his light boat by a chain to a timber of the flat, stalked
+deliberately to the stern where Captain Pierce was stationed with
+steering-oar.
+
+"I saw you coming down and I thought maybe you'd like to buy some
+fresh fish. I've got a thirty-pound cat in the boat; I caught one last
+week that weighed one hundred and three pound."
+
+"Don't want any fish. Wouldn't take 'um as a gift."
+
+"You're welcome not to, captain. I suppose a man has a right to hop on
+board and ask a civil question. Whose boat is this, anyhow, and where
+bound?"
+
+No attention being paid to the question, the nonchalant intruder went
+on: "What plunder are you loaded with? Salt or whiskey, or pork or
+butter, I reckon? Or maybe you carry passengers? Is it a family of
+emigrants? I see two chaps on the upper deck; who are they? What might
+your name be, captain?"
+
+The helmsman relieved his irritation by delivering a volley of oaths.
+
+"You 'pear to be out of sorts, captain. Sour stomach, likely. Better
+take a dose of saleratus."
+
+Hearing a strange voice, the cook, who was the captain's trusted
+confidant, came out. He was recognized by the ubiquitous Byle.
+
+"Abe Sheldrake! as sure as ham is hog's flesh! Abe, if there's an
+onrier man than you on earth, the bottomless pit is shaller."
+
+The cook stood speechless, and the tall man sauntered leisurely
+through the several apartments of the boat, calculating their
+dimensions and inspecting the furniture, and pausing occasionally to
+handle such articles as appealed to his curiosity. He passed through
+the kitchen into the dining-room, and thence through both the
+sleeping-chambers, finally emerging from a door at the bow of the
+boat, after which he ascended to the roof, where he accosted Burr and
+Arlington.
+
+"How d'ye do? My name is Byle; Plutarch Byle--B-y-l-e. I can't call
+your names, gents, but no matter. We all belong to the same human
+race. I thought you might be a little bored-like with your own
+talk--so long together you know--and I hopped on to cheer you up.
+George Washington used to say to his nephew, 'Be courteous to all, but
+intimate with few,' and George was half right. I admire a mannerly
+man. How goes it?"
+
+The familiarity of this overture puzzled, but did not offend the
+travellers, who conceived that chance had thrown into their presence
+an original whose company might afford them an hour's entertainment.
+Arlington politely offered the visitor a chair.
+
+"No, thank you, stranger. I've been setting in the skiff all day,
+fishing, and I'd rather stand up and stretch my bones."
+
+The gentlemen thought, when they saw Mr. Byle throw back his arms, and
+gradually straighten up his towering body, that the length and
+thickness of bone he had to stretch were extraordinary.
+
+"I've got a lot of mussel shells in my boat for Mr. Blennerhatchet.
+Would you like to see 'em? '_Union-idea_,' he says they are. He's a
+queer customer, that Blennerhatchet."
+
+"You know him then?" asked Burr.
+
+"Know him! I know him like a book. I know him better than I do you. He
+is not so good-looking as either of us, by ginger. I can't make out
+why the Rose of Sharon ever took to a near-sighted United Irishman."
+
+"The Rose of Sharon?"
+
+"I mean his old woman--Mrs. B. She's a perfect lady. Pretty! Pretty
+as a sassafras tree in October! I didn't just catch your names,
+gentlemen. I like to call a man by his Christian name. It seems more
+sociable. That's one thing I like about the French--sociability. They
+go in for liberty, equality and brotherhood. But I don't take any
+stock in their skeptical notions. I'd as soon eat poke-root and sleep
+on pizen-vine as read Voltaire and Rousseau. Tom Payne is no better.
+What's the latest news from Washington? Is Tom Jefferson going to make
+war on Spain? It ain't war we want; it ain't more territory we want;
+we need a closer union, and a strong tariff."
+
+"You appear to be a politician, Mr. Pyle."
+
+"Byle--B-y-l-e--Plutarch Byle, if you please. Yes, it's my notion
+that every citizen ought to be a politician. I'm a John Jay
+Federalist--a centralizer. Which side are you on?"
+
+"I'm not concerned in politics at present. We are lawyers, not
+politicians, Mr. Arlington and I."
+
+"Arlington? That's not a bad name. Where do you hail from, Arlington?"
+
+"From Richmond, Virginia," said the young man good humoredly. "This
+gentleman is a citizen of New York."
+
+"New York City? Porcupines and wildcats! You don't say! There's where
+Alexander Hamilton lived--the greatest man that ever lived in these
+United States, except Washington. I suppose there was a heap of
+excitement in New York when Alexander Hamilton was killed--murdered,
+I might say. Did you ever see Alexander Hamilton?"
+
+Burr looked steadily into the eyes of the Great Inquisitive. "Yes," he
+replied, "I was very well acquainted with Mr. Hamilton. He was a fine
+man."
+
+"You're right there, stranger! Give us your hand on that! I'm proud to
+shake with a man who has seen Alexander Hamilton."
+
+The enthusiastic Byle extended his prodigious palm and grasped the
+delicate hand politely proffered him. Arlington looked on in
+astonishment.
+
+Burr, wincing at the vice-like grip of his new acquaintance, placidly
+responded: "Yes, there are few men more worthy of esteem than was my
+admirable friend Mr. Hamilton--whom I shot."
+
+Byle was struck dumb. He could only open his cavernous mouth, and
+gasp. His heavy hand relaxed its hold, and dropped as if paralyzed.
+For a moment he stared at Arlington. Then he recovered his powers
+sufficiently to articulate.
+
+"You shot him? You--you aren't--?"
+
+"Yes, I am Aaron Burr."
+
+Plutarch Byle turned on his heel and with three strides carried his
+leaning tower of a body to the edge of the deck. Scrambling
+precipitately down the boat's side, he stumbled into his skiff, undid
+the chain, grabbed his oars and fairly shot away, as if pursued by
+flying pestilence. He directed his course northward and quickly ran
+the bow of his skiff against the river bank. Then plunging his right
+hand into the water, he rubbed and scrubbed it vigorously, using sand
+for soap.
+
+"Dog-fennel and skunk-cabbage! I don't believe there's water enough in
+the Ohio River to take out the wicked smell of that murderer's hand!"
+
+
+
+
+V. IN THE LADIES' BOWER.
+
+
+The Byle episode put Burr in a merry mood, quite diverting his
+thoughts from Mexico and the future to the happenings of the hour. A
+reckless spirit of frivolity took possession of him, and he astonished
+his fellow traveller by the ebullience of his humor and the play of
+his extravagant fancy. He mimicked the speech and grotesque gestures
+of Plutarch, and laughed over the ludicrous _finale_ of the encounter
+with that free-spoken genius.
+
+"Mr. B-y-l-e, Byle, is exquisite! It is worth coming a thousand miles
+by stage coach and flatboat, to meet so droll an adventure with such a
+nondescript amphibian. He has a prodigious gift of gab, plain and
+ornamental. Did you take note of his metaphors? 'Rose of Sharon' is
+good.--By the way, we can't be far from the Bower of Bliss. We must
+tie up our Argo there as Brackenridge recommended, and go in quest of
+those exotic and visionary Blennerhassetts."
+
+"What do you know of them, colonel, further than we learned in
+Pittsburg?"
+
+"But little. They stopped in New York for a few months, after arriving
+in this country, ten or twelve years ago. The man is a barrister,
+educated in Dublin. He claims to be a descendant of King John. The
+lady is a daughter of the governor of the Isle of Wight, and a
+granddaughter of the late Brigadier-General Agnew, who was killed in
+the battle of Germantown."
+
+"A British general, you say?"
+
+"Oh, certainly--a violent royalist."
+
+While the gentlemen were thus chatting, the boat drifted lazily on,
+following the windings of the current. The broad Ohio glowed like
+liquid gold, in the slant sunshine of mid-afternoon, and the interplay
+of shade and color, shifting from object to object along the shores,
+gave the varied scenery an ethereal beauty almost supernatural. The
+distant, forest-crowned uplands, seen dimly in the direction toward
+which the ark floated, looked as unsubstantial as clouds. A
+delightful, spicy fragrance exhaled from the blossomy thickets which
+fringed the river margin.
+
+Burr took a deep breath, and began to hum a half-remembered verse
+advising youth to "gather the rose whiles yet is prime."
+
+"Yonder is Bacchus Island," said Arlington, pointing down stream.
+
+"I suppose you are right. The _Western Navigator_ locates the spot
+somewhere about here. But beware of illusions, my friend. I begin to
+doubt the testimony of my senses. Perhaps yonder prospect is a mirage,
+and Byle was only a goblin of the mind. This interminable river is
+enchanted. I sympathize with La Salle's conviction that the Ohio runs
+to Cathay. Maybe we have sailed round the globe and are now in sight
+of the Indies. Or we have come to Arabia. Does not the vision resemble
+some Mohammedan Isle of the Blest--one of the happy seats reserved
+for blameless souls such as yours and mine? I shall expect to discover
+the rivers of clarified honey, the couches adorned with gold, and the
+damsels having complexions like rubies and pearls, as the Koran
+promises."
+
+Arlington laughingly replied in the same extravagant vein.
+
+"Colonel, you have eaten of the insane root. This island belongs to
+the Hesperides, not to the East. The best luck we can hope for is to
+steal one or two golden apples."
+
+"That may prove a risky adventure even for a bold Virginian. If there
+is a dragon to slay I leave the bloody business to you. I stick to my
+Oriental paradise."
+
+"Very well; golden apples for me and pearl-ruby damsels for you. But I
+am scandalized that a Puritan Senator permits himself to dream of
+Mohammed's heaven, and its honey and houri felicities."
+
+"Mr. Arlington, you are the first and only anchorite that Virginia has
+produced. You will grant that it is in character for a Senator to pay
+his _devoirs_ to a sultana. Something too much of this. See there over
+the willows; that must be the house."
+
+They both gazed forward, and caught glimpses of the secluded mansion,
+gleaming, snow-white, through forest vistas. Burke Pierce, who knew
+the private wharf, steered to the landing, and the boat was moored
+fast to a huge sycamore tree.
+
+The travellers disembarked, and following a path which wound among
+mazes of shrubbery and early blooming flowers, came to the
+semicircular plot of green sward fronting the piazza.
+
+"The place _is_ marvellously beautiful!" remarked Arlington.
+
+"A new Garden of Eden!" answered the other.
+
+On approaching the main entrance, they heard, within, the twangling
+music of a harp.
+
+The hall door was decorated with a large, bronze knocker of curious
+design. A tap of the falling hammer on its metallic plate, brought to
+the threshold a jet-black maid-servant wearing a gaudy turban. She
+ushered the visitors into a spacious drawing-room and took their cards
+and a note from Judge Brackenridge, to her mistress.
+
+The guests while waiting could not fail to be impressed by what they
+saw around them. Walls, ceilings and doors were unique in their
+decorative effects. The furnishings of the apartment were elegant and
+sumptuous. There were rich hangings at the windows and costly Persian
+rugs on the floor.
+
+Soon was heard a swish and rustle of brocade on the stairs, and, a
+moment later, the gentlemen rose to meet Madam Blennerhassett, who
+came in, smiling a cordial welcome. She was dignified, even stately,
+in her demeanor, and looked, not indeed the ideal sultana, but rather
+every inch an empress.
+
+Burr was at once upon his mettle. No levity, nothing of the jester, no
+trace of ennui lingered in his manner. The presence of the magnificent
+woman transfigured his body and called up all his social resources.
+His eye kindled its sparkling fires, his lip took a deeper glow of
+vital red. These manifestations were spontaneous, almost involuntary,
+though he was conscious of an obscure design.
+
+"Gentlemen, it hardly needed this note from Judge Brackenridge to
+insure you a welcome here; you do us a great honor by seeking out our
+lonely island home." These words, though addressed to both the
+visitors, were meant for the elder and more distinguished guest, who
+replied suavely:
+
+"Madam, we made bold to invade the privacy of these grounds in the
+hope of forming the acquaintance of a family well known by
+reputation."
+
+Returning a formal bow and a look of appreciation, the lady continued:
+
+"I regret that you do not find my husband at home; his affairs called
+him to Farmers' Castle, just across the river, but I am expecting him
+to return at any minute. You must not go without seeing him. Of
+course, you will take dinner with us."
+
+The wayfarers, having come ashore for idle adventure and recreation,
+were easily persuaded to linger. Burr tactfully advanced to the
+borders of familiarity by giving Madam Blennerhassett an embellished
+report of the encomiums which Brackenridge had bestowed upon her and
+her ancestors. He was lauding the name of Agnew, when a sound from the
+vestibule suspended his eloquence, and quickly thereafter the figure
+of a graceful girl appeared in the entrance to the drawing-room. The
+maiden paused a moment, a glowing picture in the deep doorway. She was
+a peerless blonde, blue of eye, scarlet of lip--and her fair head and
+face were so aureoled by locks of sunniest yellow, that she seemed to
+radiate light and warmth. Her exceeding loveliness smote through
+Arlington's nerves and set his southern blood tingling.
+
+"Ah, Evaleen, did you enjoy your ramble?" asked the hostess,
+affectionately, as she rose to receive the young lady. "Colonel Burr,
+this is my very dear friend, Miss Evaleen Hale."
+
+The American Chesterfield made a courtierly obeisance.
+
+"Permit me to introduce Mr. Arlington, of Richmond."
+
+"Miss Hale, gentlemen, like myself is a sojourner in a far country.
+She comes to us from Boston."
+
+Having complied gracefully with the demands of convention, the maiden,
+in wilful abstraction, busied herself with some wild flowers which she
+had just gathered in the woods.
+
+"Where did you leave the boys?" inquired madam, referring to the lads
+Dominick and Harman.
+
+"They are out of doors, making a cage for a young squirrel which I had
+the luck to catch. But the lively creature bit me; see here,
+Margaret!"
+
+Evaleen held up a dainty hand, on the whiteness of which the teeth of
+the captive had left a small purple wound. In her playful
+carelessness, she let fall a sprig of wind-flowers and two or three
+violets. Arlington gallantly picked up the flowers.
+
+"What peculiar violets," said he, as he offered to return them.
+
+"Yes, they are of a variety found only on this island, I am told. You
+may keep them if you like."
+
+"I presume, Mr. Arlington," said Burr, "that you understand the
+language of flowers. When I was of the sentimental age I knew the
+floral alphabet and could convey all manner of covert messages through
+the agency of pinks and pansies and rosebuds and all the sweet
+go-betweens of Cupid's court. The blue violet, I believe, signifies
+modesty, does it not?"
+
+The question was accompanied by a look at Miss Hale, who made no
+reply, not appearing to notice the appeal.
+
+"Our native Western plants," said the hostess, "have no poetical
+association. The Indians were devoid of sentiment. It is only in
+Persia and such romantic lands that they make roses and lilies talk.
+But this island is rich in its flora. Before you resume your voyage
+you should take time to visit a beautiful spot which Miss Evaleen
+calls her Violet Bank. It is on a bluff overlooking the river, only a
+short walk from here."
+
+At Burr's request, Mrs. Blennerhassett was induced to talk of her
+island home and of her husband's pursuits. It gave her evident relief
+of mind to narrate the story of her life's trials and vicissitudes
+since her marriage. She spoke with less reserve than was wise, and
+notwithstanding the reverence with which she alluded to him, the
+consort she unconsciously described seemed at best the prince of
+Utopians. That he was wealthy and lavish could not be doubted. The
+wife's unguarded revelations gave Burr food for speculation. Many
+pertinent questions by him elicited answers which he locked away in
+the safe of memory.
+
+The minutes flew rapidly--an hour went by, yet the master of the
+house came not, and at length Madam Blennerhassett renewed her
+suggestion that an excursion to the edge of the island might prove
+pleasant.
+
+"We shall see him return from the Ohio shore; at least, I hope so."
+
+She reminded her guests that she was an Englishwoman, accustomed to
+long walks, and, with the buoyant energy of an Artemis, led the way to
+the near green wood.
+
+"I will pilot ahead with Colonel Burr, and you, Mr. Arlington, shall
+be taken care of by Miss Hale, who is as familiar as a dryad with
+these glades. How romantic! Virginia and New England wander together
+on a solitary island in the Ohio."
+
+The elevated level of ground upon which the party halted lay open to
+the sunshine, and it was completely covered by a thick bed of wild
+pansies.
+
+The view from this fragrant knoll surpassed expectation. While the
+admiring spectators were gazing across the river, now on the village
+of Belpre, now on the farther off rude fortress aptly named Farmers'
+Castle, there came floating by a long, slender craft, rigged somewhat
+like a schooner, and displaying from its mast the flag of the United
+States. The music of a violin, faintly heard, was wafted across the
+water from the deck, upon which could be seen a bevy of ladies, a few
+dancing, others waving handkerchiefs to those watching from the
+island. By means of a field-glass which Mrs. Blennerhassett handed
+him, Burr could bring out plainly the forms and faces of the
+passengers. His attention was immediately fixed upon one striking
+figure--that of a woman in black, who stood apart from her
+fellow-voyagers in a pensive attitude, gazing into the sky. A cheer
+arose from the boat's crew, and the report of a small cannon boomed
+and echoed along the woody shores; yet Burr still held the magnifying
+lens before his eye, and a certain agitation was observable in his
+behavior.
+
+"That," said he, handing back the glass, "is General Wilkinson's
+barge. He is bound for St. Louis, to take possession of his domain as
+governor of Upper Louisiana and commander-in-chief of the Army of the
+West."
+
+For a time the four stood gazing in silence at the receding craft.
+Then Madam Blennerhassett, speaking aside to Miss Hale, asked:
+
+"How long does the captain intend to remain with you in Marietta? I
+understand he has orders to proceed to the general's headquarters for
+duty."
+
+The answer was spoken softly and with a rising blush, noticing which,
+Arlington was disquieted by a feeling much akin to jealousy.
+
+"We do hope he may stay with us at least another fortnight."
+
+"In that case we will expect him to spend a few days here. I wonder
+what detains Harman? He may have crossed over while we came through
+the grove. Perhaps we shall find him at home waiting for us."
+
+With sauntering steps the four returned through the twilight of the
+woods, breathing the scent of new leaves and now and then stopping to
+pick a stem of sweet dicentra or a white addertongue. Soon after they
+reached the house dinner was served in a style distinctively English.
+During this meal, and afterward, when the cheerful party repaired to
+the drawing-room, Burr, as was expected of him, assumed the leadership
+in conversation.
+
+The affluence and the brilliancy of his discourse seemed appropriate
+to the splendor of the surroundings. He did not monopolize the talk,
+and never failed to return an appreciative response to any remark or
+question. To the ladies he gave the most deferential attention.
+Arlington, a peer in the social realm, felt piqued to admit himself
+outrivalled by an undersized widower who was a grandfather.
+
+The conversation, in which Miss Hale now more freely participated,
+flowed afresh in livelier and more sparkling stream--ripples of wit
+and humor--foam-bells of nonsense. The Geneva clock in the room
+across the hall struck nine--struck ten--but its musical warning was
+not heard. Nor yet did the lord of the mansion make his appearance.
+Madam Blennerhassett concealed the secret uneasiness she felt, and did
+all she could to contribute to the pleasure of the occasion by every
+delicate art of hospitality. She sang a Scottish song, she spoke
+piquantly of the amusing phases of life in a new country, and of her
+husband's need of congenial literary associates.
+
+"He is compelled more and more to depend upon his books. Would you
+like, colonel, to look into the library for a moment?" Burr promptly
+rose and followed his queenly hostess into the adjoining apartment.
+
+The couple left together in the drawing-room verified the homely
+adage, "Two is company." Arlington might have said, "My blood speaks
+to you in my veins," but he could not consistently quote Bassanio's
+other words, "Madam, you have bereft me of all speech." From the
+presence of Evaleen he received access of eloquence; the two were
+conscious of a silent interchange of sentiments more meaningful than
+any spoken word. While Evaleen sat listening with responsive interest
+to some frank personal disclosures of the young man's hopes and
+ambitions, her attention was diverted by a slight sound on the porch.
+She glanced up, and saw, or thought she saw, an ugly face staring at
+her through a window-pane. Her sudden pallor and dilated eye were
+observed by Arlington, who asked in a tone of gentle solicitude:
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I saw a face at the window--a man staring in."
+
+Arlington immediately left the room and, softly opening the door,
+stepped out upon the piazza and looked searchingly in every direction.
+Not a sign could be discovered of the prowling eavesdropper whose
+shadowy features had frightened Miss Hale.
+
+"I may have been mistaken," she said, when Arlington came back, "but I
+am almost certain that I saw a hideous face at the window."
+
+The effect of the incident was to give the conversation of the two a
+somewhat more intimate character, and the gentleman's manner assumed
+an air of protective regard which the New England beauty did not
+repulse. Her resiliant spirit soon regained its wonted gaiety.
+
+Meanwhile, what had Aaron Burr found to interest him so long in the
+_sanctum sanctorum_ of the lord of the island?
+
+Blennerhassett's study was both library and laboratory, containing
+philosophical apparatus, musical instruments and books. The shelves
+were piled with scientific works and standard editions of the ancient
+classics. On the wall hung a large oil portrait of a man with an
+amiable, meditative face, not wanting in agreeable features, yet not
+indicative of force. Burr scanned the indecisive mouth, the handsome,
+trustful eyes, the low forehead, at the middle of which was parted the
+slightly curling mass of brown hair. While her visitor was studying
+the picture, the lady stood at his side, perusing him.
+
+"Well, what is your verdict?"
+
+"A noble face! A noble face!" he repeated, turning to her with an
+expression subtly suggestive that his interest was passing from the
+flat, dead canvas of the absent husband to the breathing, beautiful
+woman he was addressing. "A noble face; but one fact puzzles me.
+Madam, pardon my candor. I cannot understand how your husband contents
+himself to spend an obscure life in this out-of-the-way spot, when his
+education, talents and fortune qualify him for a career so much more
+ambitious and useful. I am at equal loss to conceive how a lady of
+your distinguished birth, breeding and accomplishments could consent
+to exchange the splendid opportunities of social life in lofty places
+for the domestic quietude of a rural home, however luxurious. Things
+cannot make us happy, human associations only can do that. Is it
+possible that you are satisfied with your present limited sphere?"
+
+"No," she replied, speaking low, "nor is he." She glanced at the
+portrait. "We have had quite enough of this self-banishment. We grow
+discontented and would gladly dispose of the estate."
+
+"Madam, you are not unacquainted with the world. You derive your blood
+from a noble source. The granddaughter of General Agnew inherits all
+advantages that women covet--rank, wealth, culture, beauty--and you
+have a husband who appreciates you." When in the enumeration of her
+endowments Burr pronounced the word beauty, the lady's eyelids drooped
+and a perceptible constraint came over both the woman and the man--he
+not feeling sure he had chosen a safe approach to her favor--she in
+doubt whether to invite or to repulse further personal compliment. It
+entered his consciousness that she might become part of his political
+plan--might somehow abet his magnificent purposes. In the pause which
+succeeded his appeal to her self-love and ambition she once more
+scanned the mild, meditative countenance beaming from the pictured
+canvas.
+
+A mesmeric influence drew her eyes from the portrait to encounter
+those of Aaron Burr, regarding her with a gentle look of wistful
+melancholy. The color deepened in her cheeks, and her bosom labored
+with an inaudible sigh.
+
+"Ah, madam, you should give your husband back to the world of great
+actions suited to one in whose veins runs the blood of a king. How I
+wish he were here that I might tell him so in your presence. Give him
+my profound regrets. We have tarried too long."
+
+Madam Blennerhassett never forgot this _tête-à-tête_ with Burr; but
+an inexplicable qualm kept her from mentioning it to her belated lord
+on his return from Farmers' Castle. It was nearly midnight when the
+two visitors reluctantly took leave of the ladies and stepped out into
+the diffused light of the May moon.
+
+"Pretty late," called out Burke Pierce familiarly from the stern of
+the boat where he stood, ready to resume his piloting.
+
+No tattling breeze carried to the ears of the ladies the comments
+spoken by Burr as he stood in the moonlight on the roof of the vessel,
+beside Arlington.
+
+"Exceedingly fine women, are they not?"
+
+The Virginian made no reply. He was pinning to the lapel of his coat a
+tiny bunch of violets, and his face was turned from his
+fellow-voyager.
+
+"Both are ladies of decided individuality. They are amazingly
+beautiful, too, and possess unusual force of character, especially the
+captain's lady."
+
+"Damn the captain."
+
+"So say I. You stole a march on him in the Hesperian Garden, and we
+both escaped the jaws of the absent Dragon."
+
+Soon after their guests left the house Madam Blennerhassett and
+Evaleen Hale, standing by an open window in a chamber upstairs, looked
+out toward the wharf. They heard the voices of the watermen and the
+noise made in shoving out from the gravel beach. Then came silence,
+and they knew the ark was adrift, bearing away two passengers whom
+they could not easily forget, but expected never to meet again.
+
+"How delightful he is!" mused the madam, speaking more to herself than
+to her friend.
+
+"Do you think so?" returned Evaleen abstractedly.
+
+"Perfectly captivating! A brilliant mind! I am charmed with him, are
+not you?"
+
+"He is pleasant enough, but too bold, too audacious, isn't he?"
+
+"Not, I think, Evaleen, for a person of his age. We expect more
+freedom in elderly men."
+
+"Elderly! Why, he can't be more than twenty-five!
+
+"Twenty-five! My dear child, he has a married daughter!"
+
+"Oh, you are speaking of Colonel Burr! I _hate_ him."
+
+
+
+
+VI. DOCTOR DEVILLE AND HIS LUCRECE.
+
+
+"Behold this Ohio city of the Gauls. Volney's ruins of modern
+date--new oldness--fresh decay--dilapidation to begin with! I am
+proud of this consummation of American enterprise!"
+
+This irony was uttered by Burr to Arlington as the two men stood
+taking a first look at Gallipolis, a poor village, consisting of a
+dozen miserable log houses patched with clay and occupied by a score
+of wretched French families. The travellers had walked up a steep bank
+to the natural terrace on which the forlorn dwellings stood.
+
+"Shall we go back to our boat? Have you seen enough of Palmyra? Here
+are the palaces, but where are the citizens? _Ecce Homo!_ One
+inhabitant turns out to receive us."
+
+The person to whom Arlington's attention was thus called was a small,
+nervous gentleman, about sixty years old, who came forth from a
+whitewashed cot, and, taking off a scarlet cap, saluted the strangers,
+whom he had eagerly watched from the moment of their landing.
+
+"Pardon, messieurs. Permit that I speak. May it be convenient should
+one passenger more be accommodated in your polite boat? I much wish to
+go to Cincinnati, for one of my business very special. I have courage
+to ask ze bold favor by my necessity professional to come to _mon
+frère_."
+
+"Ours is a private boat. Do you say it is to meet a brother that you
+wish to go to Cincinnati?"
+
+The old man's countenance fell. "Monsieur, accept my apology. Permit
+me to speak my explanation. _Pardieu_, I deceive not. When I speak I
+shall not indicate ze son of my mother, but I shall indicate ze
+brother in medicine, Monsieur Goforth, ze physician _celèbre_.
+Pardon. Pardon that I detain you so long."
+
+Disappointed, the old man turned toward his modest domicile, at the
+door of which stood a petite maiden awaiting the issue of the
+interview. Immediately descrying the damsel, Burr remarked aside to
+Arlington:
+
+"Another alluring petticoat. Tree nymphs or naiads haunt every island
+and green bank."
+
+"Père," asked the girl anxiously, in a gentle voice, so clear that
+every word she spoke reached the ear of Burr, "may you go with them?"
+
+The father shook his head.
+
+"_Non, chérie_."
+
+He went up to his daughter, who impulsively kissed him, as if to
+solace his disappointment. He seemed about to enter the cottage, when,
+like one suddenly recollecting a neglected duty, he wheeled round and
+again approached the strangers.
+
+"Do me ze honor, messieurs, before you depart to enter in my poor
+dwelling and drink with me one glass of wine."
+
+An invitation so naïvely extended could not be declined. Burr felt a
+kindly impulse toward the cordial sire and was not averse to wasting a
+few stray glances on mademoiselle.
+
+"It will give us great pleasure to accept your hospitality and also to
+have your company as our guest on the boat. There is room, and you
+shall be accommodated."
+
+The doctor's spirits rose. His face shone with gratification.
+
+"Your courtesy lift my heart. I shall never forsake to do you ze
+friendly service. Is it convenient now that we present us. I am your
+servant, Eloy Deville."
+
+Having imparted his own name, the flighty Frenchman waited not for the
+completion of the ceremony he had proposed, but, taking on trust the
+respectability of the strangers, he hastily led the way to his
+cottage. Burr noticed that he was attired in a tight-fitting suit of
+brown cloth, clean and well pressed but threadbare and redeemed from
+shabbiness only by the stitch in time. The feminine apparition
+vanished from the threshold as the travellers approached, but the
+father, ushering them in, placed chairs beside a small table, and
+called out cheerily: "_Lucrèce, ma chère enfant une bouteille de
+vin_." The girl promptly obeyed by carrying in a salver on which were
+a flask and three tiny wine-glasses. She glided to the table upon
+which she set her light burden, keeping her head demurely bowed and
+her eyes cast down bashfully.
+
+"Messieurs, permit that I you present my daughter, my _aide
+chirurgeon_." Thus introduced, Lucrèce, raising her head, bestowed a
+modest smile of welcome on her father's guests and divided between
+them a coy courtesy.
+
+She could not elude the pardonable glances cast upon her by the
+strangers--glances which left in their memories the form and face of
+a dainty brunette with large and very brilliant black eyes. Her waist
+was slender, her hands and feet were nimble and delicate, and her
+dress fitted her so neatly that she looked the personation of
+trimness.
+
+"This wine is not original of Ohio. No, no. Ze cask was from Bordeaux,
+very old, very old--he has fourteen years. Presented to me by my
+countryman, Comte Malartie. I speak ze truth. From this very cask I
+have ze honor to drink also ze health of ze General St. Clair, and at
+one time of Daniel Boone. _Eh bien!_ Long have I suffer in this
+wilderness; it is fifteen years that Eloy Deville was ze fool to leave
+France, to leave my native Lyons, and seek ze Terre promise--to find
+ze tree of natural sugar, ze plants also with wax candles for ze
+fruit, ze no work, no tax, no war, no king--ze paradise on ze ground!
+_Oui_, sold I not all my property--take ze ship, take ze wagon, ze
+flatboat--_en route pour Gallipolis!_ Ah! _mon dieu!_ ze damn fever
+kill _ma femme_; you see ze old Frenchman in ze poverty; _voilà sa
+richesse! une cabane, un verre de vin--et ma bien aimée--ma
+pauvre fille--ma Lucrèce!_"
+
+To justify his grievance, the excited man sprang up and ran to a
+drawer, from which he took an old French map of the Seven Ranges of
+the Ohio, representing as cleared and inhabited lands large tracts of
+unbroken wilderness. This chart had been used by speculators to induce
+French families to migrate to the Ohio Valley.
+
+"See!" continued Deville explosively; "ze scoundrel Barlow cheat my
+honest poor friends--he print here no veracity--he draw here only to
+deceive! Look on this place I put my finger"--he tapped the paper
+angrily--"you see ze Premiereville--ze Premiereville? Eh? I come to
+Premiereville--no street--no house, only ze forest tree! Messieurs,
+my little axe make ze first log in ze city, in Premiereville, where we
+drink now this wine."
+
+The doctor's preparations for the trip down the river were quickly
+made. Half the population of the village, led by Lucrèce, flocked to
+the boat-landing to see him safely off. After the passengers had gone
+on board, and while the damsel stood waiting their departure, Burke
+Pierce, leering in her direction, threw her a kiss and as the boat was
+pushed off began to sing a ribald song. Deville did not witness the
+insult, but Arlington, with quick anger kindling his chivalrous blood,
+strode up to Pierce.
+
+"You ought to be flogged, you filthy cur."
+
+The boatman scowled and clenched his fists, but did not attempt to
+strike the imperious Southerner.
+
+"Cur? I'll remember that!" he muttered, and swaggered away. "I'm a
+dog, a filthy cur! But I'll have my day!" he growled to Sheldrake.
+
+The loquacity of the French doctor seemed accelerated by the motion of
+the boat and the breezy freedom of its deck. Unlike most of his Gallic
+brethren who left their native land to come to America in 1790, he was
+in sympathy with the Revolution, and had rejoiced at the falling of
+the Bastile. By chance a copy of the Marseillaise Hymn had reached
+him, and snatches of this he would sing, keeping time to the music
+with his own springing steps as he marched up and down. The cry of
+"_Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité_," often broke from his lips. When
+Burr opened to him part of the plausible scheme against Mexico he
+eagerly volunteered to join any expedition gotten up in the name of
+freedom. He proffered his services as surgeon, and asked with amusing
+simplicity what would be the emoluments.
+
+"_Sacré!_" exclaimed he. "_Il faut vivre!_ Let us destroy ze
+Spaniard. _Vive l'amérique! Vive le Général Bur-r-r! Vive Eloy
+Deville!_"
+
+The tedious passage from Gallipolis to Cincinnati required almost a
+week's time. On the last day of the voyage, soon after breakfast,
+while Burr and Deville were enjoying the morning sunshine and
+discussing the French Revolution, Arlington heard a knock on the door
+of his room, in which he sat writing a letter.
+
+"Come in," he shouted, hurrying to pen down the sentence that was in
+his mind. The door opened, and Burke Pierce thrust his head and
+shoulders into the room. Arlington glanced up from his writing and saw
+a flushed face and a pair of bloodshot eyes.
+
+"You know what you called me up at Gallipolis?"
+
+"Yes--dog."
+
+"I'm a dog, eh? a filthy cur?"
+
+The Virginian made an impatient gesture and dipped his quill into the
+ink. The drunken boatman after a moment's pause said:
+
+"I want you out here in the kitchen."
+
+Arlington paid no attention to the insolent speech, but went on with
+his letter writing.
+
+Pierce, without closing the door, stepped back into the narrow
+quarters in which Sheldrake did the cooking, and a minute later
+reappeared with two long butcher knives, which he flung down on the
+table, in front of Arlington.
+
+"Take your choice."
+
+Arlington picked up both the ugly weapons, one in each hand, and
+stepping to a window, tossed them out into the river. The contemptuous
+act raised the fury of the captain to the point of frenzy; he seized a
+stick of firewood and rushed forward. Arlington parried the stroke,
+closed in, and grappled his assailant. The noise of the scuffle
+brought to the place Sheldrake and others of the crew. Summoning all
+his strength, Arlington hurled Pierce backward over a chair with such
+violence that the ruffian, falling on his head, was rendered
+senseless. The Southerner stood on the defensive, expecting to be
+attacked by the others, as he would have been, had not Burr strode
+into the room, followed by the French doctor. The colonel's sudden
+appearance on the scene prevented further turbulent demonstrations.
+The three passengers repaired to the deck, leaving the drunken captain
+to be revived by his faithful henchman, Sheldrake.
+
+Arlington in few words told how he had been challenged, not stating
+any cause for Burke Pierce's animosity.
+
+"Wanted to butcher you without provocation! Has the fellow gone mad?"
+
+"Mad from drink."
+
+"This fellow's bellicose propensity," said Burr, "must be punished. I
+shall have him arrested by the first magistrate I can find."
+
+"Not on my account, colonel. He'll sober off. Your unctuous agent in
+Pittsburg allowed that when cap is drunk he's vicious."
+
+"_Sacré!_" burst in the doctor, "not always a gentleman shall be able
+to observe formality in a quarrel with ze savage. I who tell it you
+was one time attack on this very river by three red devil in ze canoe.
+See here, ze scar on my head! Ze wild gentlemen make no ceremony--he
+yell, and he shall right away take ze scalp with his knife. _Pardieu!_
+By good chance I shoot ze one impolite Iroquoix--and ze two, his
+second, paddle away!"
+
+"We must beat our swords and pistols into scalping-knives and
+bludgeons," remarked Burr, banteringly. "The code of honor is not
+observed by Indians or Western boatmen. Mr. Arlington, you may be
+compelled to adapt yourself to the customs of the country."
+
+
+
+
+VII. CONSPIRACY.
+
+
+Near Yeatman's Cove, at the foot of Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, stood
+a commodious tavern, built with some reference to architectural
+effect. Being directed to this resort, the party from the boat climbed
+the slope of the levee, ascended a flight of wooden steps, and entered
+the vestibule of the inn, a long, narrow corridor which the landlord
+considered very imposing. The first objects to attract attention in
+this public haunt were life-size wax-figures of two men fighting a
+duel. One of the figures represented Burr with an aimed pistol in
+hand, the other Hamilton staggering forward mortally wounded. To
+Arlington Burr remarked as they passed by the waxen show:
+
+"The artist makes me a beauty, don't he? What boots! What eyes!"
+
+Seldom had genial Grif Yeatman welcomed guests more desirable and less
+like one another than were the strongly individualized men who came
+from the flatboat to his tavern to take temporary lodging before
+hunting up the several citizens they wished to meet.
+
+Burr's arrival in the embryo Queen City of the West was noised from
+house to house, and within an hour many citizens had called to shake
+hands. The suave New York politician had partisan adherents and
+personal friends in the Buckeye State. Among these was John Smith,
+whose acquaintance he had made in Washington--the Hon. John Smith,
+one of the first two senators representing Ohio in Congress.
+
+Burr procured a fine saddle-horse, and after bidding good-by to
+Arlington set out to visit the Senator who lived some twelve miles
+from town. The solitary horseman was not sorry to leave behind him the
+raw metropolis, the dirty streets of which were lined with log cabins
+and dingy white frame houses. Beyond Deer Creek the horseman spurred
+eastward along a black loamy wagon road, trotting through groves and
+half-cleared fields until he passed a small hamlet bearing the great
+name Columbia. Beyond this cluster of habitations lay Turkey Bottom,
+so named on account of the wild flocks which made it their resort.
+Burr selected the most distinctly marked of the several discernible
+trails and traces in the mazy wilderness before him. Uncertain wheel
+tracks indicated that the backwoods farmers, whose cabins were never
+less than a mile apart, took various routes, according to their fancy
+or the exigencies of the season. At one place a tree, recently blown
+down, lay across the bridle-path, and, while guiding his horse around
+this obstacle the rider saw a brown bear lurch off, swaying its head
+in sulky humor.
+
+The grandeur of the primeval solitude impressed Burr more profoundly
+than he had imagined possible. The solemn majesty of the brotherhood
+of lofty trees around and above him inspired awe. A sense of
+bewilderment stole upon him. "Am I lost in the woods?" he wondered,
+looking around for signs of human life. So strange did everything
+appear that he was in doubt whether the log house not a hundred feet
+ahead of him was an actual structure. The house was real, and in the
+dooryard he saw a human being busy about some task. He rode up and
+asked the way to Senator Smith's.
+
+"Smith? You mean Elder Smith?" gossipped a woman, pausing from her
+soap-making, near an ash-hopper. "Some do call him Senator, and some
+call him Preacher, but most call him Elder Smith or else plain John."
+
+"Does he preach?"
+
+"Yes; some Sundays; generally he only exhorts. Turn to your right
+after passing that wild-cherry, and you will see the Miami; follow
+along up stream, and you can't miss sight of the mill and the
+still-house. They belong to him, and so does the big store at
+Columbia. John Smith is the richest man in these parts, but he isn't
+proud and stuck up. When you come to the mill they'll show the way to
+the house. A mighty fine house it is."
+
+Burr thanked the woman and spurred on. "Smith is worth the trouble of
+coming out for to see. No broken reed, but a pillar of state and
+church is this same senator, elder, farmer, merchant, miller and
+distiller." Thus meditating, the fisher of men followed the road by
+the cherry tree and along the river, and soon reached Smith's lonely
+dwelling, a new farmhouse, constructed of hewn logs and having a huge
+stone chimney. Dismounting, Burr stepped upon the porch and knocked at
+the door. The summons was answered by Mrs. Smith, who, though a
+senator's wife, was country bred and untaught in artificial usages.
+She received the urbane stranger with a timidity amounting almost to
+trepidation.
+
+Her husband had gone to the woods to cut a wagon pole, and pending his
+return Burr waited in the front room of the log mansion, and made a
+heroic effort to melt the ice of reserve which seemed to congeal Mrs.
+Smith's flow of speech. Seldom had he failed in the winning art of
+conversation, especially with women. Ladies were his favorite pursuit,
+if not his prey. But Elder Smith's wife proved unapproachable by
+language of tongue or eye. Talking to her was like talking to a lay
+figure with vocal and locomotive organs.
+
+Luckily or otherwise, an unexpected diversion was in store for
+Burr--a rôle which he did not anticipate devolved upon him, and
+required him to play his part in a dramatic scene with a character
+much more sympathetical than Mrs. Smith. From the moment he crossed
+the threshold to enter the plain parlor he had been conscious of a
+fugitive fragrance, scarcely perceptible, which he recognized as the
+scent of Parisian musk, a perfume much in favor with the exquisite
+beaux and belles of that day. The telltale odor was reminiscent of
+past gallantries, and it served in a subtle way to herald the coming
+of a person whose appearance suggested knowledge of the gay world. Not
+uncurious to steal a glance at the strange visitor, a woman, tastefully
+arrayed in sable robes, entered unannounced from a cozy side-room. An
+unbidden blush betokened her surprise and emotion. Burr blenched
+slightly, but neither the red signal nor its effect was observed by
+Mrs. Smith, who, glad to shift the task of entertaining Colonel Burr,
+introduced him to Mrs. Rosemary.
+
+"You will please excuse me; I'll send a boy to the woods for Mr.
+Smith. Make yourselves at home; we housekeepers in the country have a
+good many chores."
+
+Like the practical Martha that she was, Dame Smith, cumbered with much
+prospective serving, hastened to the dining-room to set the table. On
+her exit from the parlor she closed the door behind her, not having
+the slightest suspicion that chance had made her house a place of
+clandestine meeting.
+
+"Salome! Can it be you?"
+
+"It can, if we are not both in a delirium. I did not expect ever to
+see _you_ again. Who could induce Aaron Burr to come to Ohio?"
+
+"Perhaps an irresistible attraction--some spell of bewitchment. You
+must inform me. What brings you to this wandering wood like a lost
+Una?"
+
+"Business. I came a passenger on General Wilkinson's barge. We had a
+delightful voyage, a May festival, gaiety, music, dancing."
+
+"Do you recollect passing Bacchus Island?"
+
+"Yes. Why do you ask? We floated by the interesting place one heavenly
+afternoon. We saw four persons looking at us from a high bank--two
+couples that seemed strolling lovers. I wondered if either of the
+women could be the beautiful Madam Blennerhassett. We were dancing on
+the deck--that is, the other ladies were; I do not now dance."
+
+"I grieve to see that you do not, Mrs. Rosemary. I did not even know
+that you had become his wife; these mournful robes tell me you are a
+widow."
+
+"You did not know? Do you care? You grieve to see me a widow? Ah, me!
+Men are consistent. Let me explain the cause of my coming West. I own
+ever so much land near Cincinnati and a whole block of town lots,
+bequeathed to me by my late husband. George was kinder to me than I
+deserved. When I read his will I cried. I went to my lawyer in
+Philadelphia and asked what I should do to realize most on this Ohio
+property. He advised me to come here, and have the title examined, and
+learn the real value of the land, and he gave me a letter to Senator
+Smith, who, he said, was a good man, one who knows about law and deeds
+and everything. So I am here. These pokey people are very obliging;
+they insisted I should lodge with them until my affairs were settled.
+Now you have my story--tell me yours. As for my bereavement--my
+heart history--why speak of that?" A film of tears dimmed her eyes as
+Burr made answer in soothing words.
+
+"I am to blame. Let us not pain ourselves by talking or thinking of
+death or mourning. I dreamt lately of you as you now appear. How
+beautiful and brilliant you look in black, Salome. Pardon me,
+Madam--, I knew you by that name in the past, and you must not be
+offended if I recall."
+
+"Ah! do not recall. I am willing for you to let bygones be
+bygones--if--you--desire. Do you like this black gown better than
+the blue brocaded one I wore that evening at Princeton?"
+
+"How can I decide? You always dress in perfect taste. Whatever you
+wear is pretty, and you, I am sure, are lovelier than ever."
+
+Smilingly the young widow sighed, then in a listening attitude, with
+finger on lip, whispered, "Sh! Our hostess!" and changing her voice
+continued in a tone of conventional languor: "Yes, the weather is very
+fine. We were remarking, Mrs. Smith, how sweet and pure the
+atmosphere."
+
+"Well, yes; the air seems fresh and healthy, but we have a touch of
+malaria now and then in this Miami Valley."
+
+Hon. John Smith, having chopped down a hickory sapling to make a
+coupling pole, put his axe-craft to further use by cutting off a
+forked bough, crooked by Nature, in the exact shape for a pack-saddle.
+Satisfied with these forest spoils, the rustic statesman returned to
+his house, where Burr met him with a cordial grasp and a ready tribute
+of adulation.
+
+"My dear Senator, this is like greeting Cincinnatus on the pastoral
+side of Tiber, where he dwelt in domestic peace with his wife
+Racilia."
+
+The salutation gratified the Member of Congress, for he was
+susceptible to flattery, and knew enough of Roman history to
+understand the allusion to Cincinnatus, though he had never before
+heard of Racilia. He valued the evidence of Burr's esteem, implied in
+the pilgrimage the latter had taken the trouble to make, and no effort
+was spared to load the colonel with proofs that his visit was
+appreciated.
+
+In Washington, Burr had known Smith only slightly and officially as
+one of the senators from Ohio. In the retirement of a lonely farm
+hourly companionship fostered intimacy. Conversation forgot
+constraint; the two freely unfolded to each other their thoughts,
+feelings and hopes, and a community of ideas was gradually established
+between them. Burr encouraged personal revelation and solicited
+confidential opinions. He affected warm interest in the details of
+Smith's affairs--farming operations, grinding of wheat and corn,
+profitable sales of whiskey, and growing trade at the Columbia store.
+Neither the piety of the preacher nor the patriotism of the senator
+could quell in Smith the cupidity of the fortune-builder. Adroitly did
+Burr shift the trend of discourse to suit his own ends, leading the
+elder by plausible arguments to accept as logical the sophistry of
+self-love and greed. The word business was stretched to cover a
+multitude of sins; the new dictionary of self-aggrandizement concealed
+a spurious gospel of intrigue and treason.
+
+Spoken words are but breath, and who can report all that passed
+between the tempter and the tempted? Or who can be sure that the
+craftiness of the guest was greater than the cunning of the host? The
+nebulous emanations of Burr's mind were rounding into a definite world
+of purpose. He invoked the aid of the Hon. John Smith to set the new
+planet revolving. Conspiracy was planned in the woods and fields of a
+quiet farm in the valley of the Little Miami.
+
+Burr, yielding to persuasion, protracted his stay almost a week, being
+feasted and lodged in the country house. Many were the spoken
+confidences and frequent the "fair, speechless messages" which passed
+between him and Mrs. Rosemary, as occasion offered, while they
+lingered at the home of their common friend and counsellor. On the day
+preceding that of Burr's departure, a bright Sunday, they accompanied
+the Smith family to a religious service held in a maple grove, near
+the Miami. The devout farmers, who, with their wives and children,
+came many miles to the place of worship, observed with solemn eyes of
+approbation that Burr studied his hymn-book and small gilded Bible,
+and that the demure lady by his side, dressed in mourning, looked the
+pattern of saintly piety. While going home from the camp meeting,
+supporting Mrs. Rosemary on his arm, Burr spoke feelingly of himself,
+his hopes, and secret plans. Then it was that he told his lovely
+partner about his contemplated Southern empire which, he declared,
+would be an elysium for women. Then it was that he gallantly offered
+to invest to her advantage any portion of the cash she might realize
+from the sale of her deceased husband's estate. She hung on his arm
+confidingly and promised to consider his words.
+
+Sitting on the porch in the Sabbath twilight beside Salome, Burr
+softly intoned his regret that in the morning he must part from her.
+Sportfully he drew from her finger a diamond ring. "Do you want it
+back after all these years?" she murmured. "No, dear, you shall have
+it again in a moment." He turned to a window, and with the sparkling
+stylus incised some delicate characters upon a pane of glass. Then he
+returned the ring to its owner, who, after perusing the inscription,
+looked round into his face, her own radiant with happiness.
+
+The window-pane remained unbroken for nearly a century, and the
+writing on it was always shown to strangers visiting the old historic
+homestead. The cutting diamond traced two names upon the glass--those
+of Senator Smith's transitory guests. Many a sentimental girl, pausing
+over the double inscription, and mildly condemning Burr, has wondered
+whatever became of Salome Rosemary.
+
+
+
+
+VIII. DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND.
+
+
+Bearing in mind his hours of cautious interview with the elder and
+minutes of furtive dalliance with the widow, Burr rode back to
+Cincinnati, and regretful that he had lost the companionship of
+Arlington, resumed his housekeeping and his journey on the flatboat,
+which he now christened Salome.
+
+Burke Pierce was retained as captain, notwithstanding his late
+atrocious conduct.
+
+"I didn't know what I was about," he assevered, in self-exculpation;
+"I was full of Monongahela, and there's a quarrel in every pint of
+that and manslaughter in every quart."
+
+Burr, whose prospective foray in Mexico would require the service of
+all the dare-devils who could be enlisted, did not scruple to
+conciliate this outlaw, nor to give him an inkling of warlike
+preparations against the Spaniard. Pierce, flattered by this
+confidence, readily volunteered to lend his aid at any time to
+whatever enterprise Burr might propose, and, like one of the tools of
+Brutus, he was ready to say, "Set on your foot; I follow you to do I
+know not what." Yet he knew more than might be supposed, of the
+history, official rank and designs of his employer. To the soothing
+counsel, "You must not bear malice toward that young Virginian;
+remember, he is one of us." Burke replied with a nod and a sinister
+laugh.
+
+The Salome was moored at the landing near Fort Massac. General
+Wilkinson, whose barge lay in port, was stopping temporarily at this
+station before proceeding to his headquarters in St. Louis. Burr must
+win Wilkinson, and to the winning of an ally so influential he must
+bring to bear all the arts of address and insinuation, for he had to
+deal with a wily character. Yet he did not doubt that, by discreet
+appeals to the vanity and cupidity of the general, he could induce
+that blandest of politicians to embark in an enterprise which promised
+evergreen laurels and rich returns of gold.
+
+Arrayed in his best cloth, with boots freshly polished and face
+smoothly shaven, with queue and ruffles in perfect condition, a Beau
+Brummel of exterior proprieties and a Machiavelli in _finesse_, Aaron
+Burr presented himself at the barracks, and was welcomed with effusive
+cordiality by his friend and comrade. The two shook hands with the
+hearty familiarity of veterans glad to renew old associations.
+
+"Colonel Burr, I am delighted to see you here. Your letter, written in
+Philadelphia, reached me at the capital. Pray, take this big chair; it
+is rather comfortable."
+
+"Very elegant, I should say, general, especially for a remote outpost
+like this. The Government, I imagine, does not furnish you with such
+costly articles."
+
+"Oh, no, no, certainly not; the chair is part of the furniture of my
+barge. I must provide myself with these necessaries from my private
+purse. Necessaries, I say; for use breeds wants; I was habituated from
+my birth to social refinements, ease and the luxuries of the
+table.--You must take a cup of kindness with me. What will you drink?
+I have here sherry, whiskey, peach-brandy and applejack."
+
+The general, as he enumerated the liquors, stepped to the sideboard,
+which, with its array of bottles, looked like a bar.
+
+Wilkinson was a handsome man, about forty-eight years old. Slightly
+under the average height, he was of symmetrical figure, and his
+countenance was agreeable, despite a deeply florid complexion. He held
+his head well, his walk was firm and dignified, and his bearing was
+graceful. The well-fitting suit of blue and yellow uniform which he
+wore with an air of pomp and authority was very becoming to his noble
+form.
+
+Burr, out of courtesy, drank a glass of light wine, but his
+entertainer, apologizing for his own robuster taste, poured out a
+stiff tumbler of brandy, which he swallowed with relish.
+
+"I congratulate you, general," began Burr, "on your appointment to the
+governorship. The President showed wisdom in his selection."
+
+"I appreciate your confidence, colonel. My good name is my pearl of
+price. In the many stations I have filled I have always tried to do my
+duty, and shall try in this. I owe it to you, my dear sir, to say so
+much, for I believe I am indebted to the late Vice-President for my
+new position. Mr. Jefferson is understood to have appointed Wilkinson
+as a mark of favor to Colonel Burr."
+
+"Possibly so; I claim no credit. But I am sincerely glad you are the
+man. The office is no sinecure. The state of feeling in regard to the
+Spanish boundary is ominous. Shall you be able to adjust the matter
+amicably or will the dispute result in war?"
+
+"That is a question events must answer. I am devoted to my country and
+her interests, and whether as a leader of her armies or as governor of
+part of her wide domain I shall proceed with an eye single to those
+interests."
+
+"I know, general, that whatever is right and just you will do, and I
+assume that when you speak of devotion to your country and her
+interests, you mean the _people_ and their interests. Under a properly
+constituted government there should be no conflict between the welfare
+of the nation and the welfare of the individuals comprising the
+nation. If the authority of an arbitrary government prove oppressive,
+or if the liberties of those dwelling in a section be disregarded, I
+hold to the good old democratic rule that the injured have a right to
+protest and to resist. The principles for which you and I fought were
+the principles of individual liberty and of State sovereignty. We were
+revolutionists."
+
+"Yes," said Wilkinson, playing with one of his brass buttons, "I fully
+agree with your fundamental propositions."
+
+"But you don't see how they are going to help you in adjusting the
+boundary line between our country and the Spanish possessions. I have
+a suggestion to make. There ought to be no boundary line at all
+between the two countries. This republic, or perhaps I should say, the
+Western people, should wash out that line with Spanish blood, and make
+Louisiana and Mexico one domain. I go in for war."
+
+"There is prospect of war, Colonel Burr, but Congress and the
+President seem timid about making an open declaration. In case
+hostilities should be precipitated by the Spaniards--"
+
+"What in that case?"
+
+"Why, then an invasion of Mexico might be a military necessity."
+
+"Invasion? Would not the conquest of Mexico be easy? A sufficient
+force can be raised."
+
+Wilkinson left off toying with his button and looked far away--far as
+Mexico, far as the Pacific Ocean.
+
+"You are aware, governor--no man living has ampler knowledge of the
+facts than you have--that only five or six years ago Washington and
+Hamilton planned and were about to execute a project to seize the
+Spanish provinces, with British aid. The pretext was war with France,
+the real object was to take New Orleans, probably Mexico. You were the
+person whom they wisely entrusted with the management of the
+business."
+
+"Yes, but not with the command of the troops."
+
+"No; you were to organize the Legion of the West, not to lead it to
+victory, as you surely would have done had opportunity offered.
+Hamilton secured the leadership as his perquisite and was careful to
+see that I was not advanced. He dissuaded Washington from choosing me
+quartermaster. But they could not obscure my name nor dim your
+reputation. The people know what is what and who is who. They know
+'little Burr' and they know the 'Washington of the West.'"
+
+Wilkinson sat up straighter in his chair.
+
+"The epoch in which it has been my lot to live has been eventful. I
+little dreamed, when a lad on a Maryland farm, what fortunes lay
+before me. Who could have prophesied, when you and I began our
+military career, that my humble services would ever be likened to
+those of the Father of our Country?"
+
+"You are a better general than ever George Washington was," declared
+Burr, employing a tone and look so candid and emphatic that his
+sincerity was not doubted. "What he and Hamilton failed to accomplish,
+owing to the action of Jefferson in purchasing Louisiana, and so
+ending the French quasi war, why may not you and I bring to a
+successful issue? If there was no irregularity in that, there can be
+none in a renewal of essentially the same plans. Let the Legion of the
+West be organized once more, and the Washington of the West direct it
+as he will."
+
+Wilkinson went to the sideboard and moistened his lips.
+
+"There is much that I might tell you, colonel, concerning that
+proposed expedition of Hamilton's. Men are but men, and the
+philanthropist weeps over their frailties. For myself, I am open and
+above board; I abhor deceit and intrigue; I am a man whose head may
+err, but whose heart cannot be misled. That all are not so I have
+learned to my cost. You have no idea, sir, what whisperings, what
+suppression of motives, what secret understandings, marked the
+proceedings of eminent persons whose public or private interests were
+involved in the scheme of 1799."
+
+"All men's consciences are not so sensitive as yours, general, nor do
+all men proceed so boldly. You have courage. But there is some excuse
+for the secret methods which your nature condemns. Prudence is a prime
+virtue. There are questions of method and of policy, which are best
+discussed confidentially, by sagacious men."
+
+"Oh, yes, yes, yes, of course."
+
+"For instance, we two, Wilkinson, here in private, may properly
+compare opinions on such subjects as this of the Spanish dispute. You
+and I are in substantial agreement on theories of government. I
+presume you have no more faith than I have in the permanency of the
+present Constitution. It is on its trial, and I am of the opinion that
+it cannot last long."
+
+"Colonel Burr, you are right. The Union is held together by a thread.
+Yet the salutary restraints of religion and morality are none the less
+binding. The hallowed bonds which connect the citizens and the State
+are not made of paper. There is a stronger law than the letter of the
+Constitution."
+
+"Law, as the world goes," said Burr, "is whatever is boldly asserted
+and plausibly maintained. But I wish to speak to you of the prospect
+opening before us in the Mississippi Valley. Here are you,
+commander-in-chief of the Western troops and governor of Upper
+Louisiana. Immense power rests in your hands. Now, if it be the will
+of the people of Kentucky and the Southern States that Mexico should
+become a part of our common country, or should the sovereign citizens
+of this section prefer that Mexico shall become part of an independent
+republic or empire, formed by uniting all the States and Territories
+of the Southwest, including Mexico--I say if 'we, the people,' demand
+this, and volunteer to devote lives and fortunes and sacred honor to
+establish such a new nationality, could not you, would not you, must
+you not, as a patriot, as a friend of liberty, as a servant of the
+people, seize an opportunity of making yourself greater than
+Washington, by fathering a richer, freer and more glorious country
+than that now held together by a Constitution which, as you truly say,
+is no stronger than a thread?"
+
+Is it possible that Burr when he uttered these words could have been
+aware that he was repeating arguments very similar to those which
+Baron Carondelet had addressed to Wilkinson nine years before, to
+induce him to deliver Kentucky to his Catholic Majesty, the King of
+Spain? Burr's proposal had so many points of coincidence with that
+made by the Spanish governor, that Wilkinson felt a momentary sense of
+being detected. There was also a confusion of impressions in his
+brain; the very service he had tendered to Spain, for gold and for
+glory, was now solicited against Spain for glory and for gold.
+
+Burr saw that his words were striking home and resumed
+interrogatively:
+
+"Were you not instrumental in the good work of separating Kentucky
+from Virginia? You made eloquent speeches, you managed everything."
+
+"Yes, I pleased everybody."
+
+"You will please more by abetting a grateful constituency in their
+efforts to form a better government than the East can pledge them. If
+it was a good thing to separate Kentucky from Virginia, how much
+better to sever the Southwest from--"
+
+"This much I will say," interrupted Wilkinson: "I am in favor of State
+sovereignty and the rights of secession. I am a consistent man. The
+principles I advocated in 1785 I still hold. My dear colonel," he
+continued, coming up to Burr and placing both hands on his shoulders,
+"I must reflect on all this; you broach momentous matter and you take
+me by surprise. No doubt you have considered the subject in all its
+phases. I have not. Tell me what you have learned, so far, in regard
+to the drift of popular feeling."
+
+"I have learned much and am learning more every day. I have conversed
+with men of every rank, in the East and in the South and in the West,
+and I am sure of the ground I walk on. These people of Kentucky and
+Tennessee are ripe for war with the abhorred Spaniard. They have a
+thousand grievances. They hate New England and mistrust the Federal
+Government. They are ready for any new combination which can be shown
+conducive to their prosperity locally. They only wait a leader or
+leaders. The destiny of the West is manifestly independence. What I
+intend is this: I shall go to New Orleans, the very heart of the
+disturbed region, and shall ascertain the wishes, temper and resources
+of the people upon whom we have to depend. On my return I will report
+to you the results of my inquiry and observation, and then, if you
+desire, we may hold further conference."
+
+"I must take time to reflect. Prudence, to recall your own words, is a
+prime virtue. I am a public servant, an officer of the Government,
+entrusted with sacred obligations. Your advice, however, cannot be
+other than wise and statesmanlike."
+
+"General Wilkinson, we are old friends--comrades in arms once; now
+associates in a magnificent enterprise, if you so will--an enterprise
+harmful to no American citizen, vastly beneficial to Louisiana,
+Mexico, and the West in general, and fraught with sure and superb
+fortunes for the men who have the ability, the courage and the
+fortitude to carry it to a successful issue."
+
+The general, again stepping to the sideboard and filling two glasses
+from the brandy bottle, passed one of them to his guest.
+
+"This to the memory of past successes and the hope of future
+prosperity for us both."
+
+"I drink to the hope more than to the memory, for the past is an empty
+chest, the future a full coffer," said Burr, and drained his glass.
+
+"You take your liquor like a hero!" joked Wilkinson. "It will do you
+good, colonel."
+
+The men shook hands and Burr departed, after promising to renew the
+conversation next day. Slowly he walked along the river bank, saying
+to himself, "If I could only rely on him. He is slippery as an eel,
+but a net of golden promise will hold him if anything will. I fancy I
+have caught James Wilkinson, and if so, half the battle is won."
+
+Wilkinson sat in his big easy-chair, pondering. "Aaron Burr is a
+shrewd manipulator of men. Naturally he is looking out for his own
+elevation. He is a falling angel. But his plans are good and hold out
+strong inducements to the course he proposes. If he will undertake to
+fit out an expedition and provide recruits, I see no reason why I
+should not avail myself of the results of his energy. I am in power
+already--I combine the authority of general and governor--and I
+cannot see how Burr's co-operation can lessen my dignity or prevent my
+aggrandizement. Precaution is the word. We shall see how events
+develop. Perhaps this scheme will open my way to attain the height of
+my ambition. So long as the signs are propitious I will be safe in
+trusting them; but should disaster threaten, I can at any time change
+my policy. Precaution! No precipitancy, no ill-considered pledges."
+
+Thus reflected General Wilkinson. Then, left alone, he gradually
+yielded to the sedative effect of dinner and drink and fell into a
+drowse. The dusk of evening had stolen over the river and darkened the
+woods around the fort. The sound of footsteps at the door startled the
+sleeper.
+
+"Who's that?"
+
+A swarthy boatman with a leathern coat slouched in.
+
+"Palafox. You back again?"
+
+"Don't call me Palafox, general. I've changed my name for reasons you
+might guess. Palafox ha'n't been a safe name to carry since that
+business at the mouth of the Ohio."
+
+"You need not worry yourself about that 'business,' as you call it, of
+ten or eleven years ago. I got you out of a bad scrape; your
+associates, who were arrested, and tried were discharged; the
+accusations are forgotten. What do you want, Palafox?"
+
+"I tell you I'm not Palafox--I'm Captain Burke Pierce--that's the
+name I've been going by at Pittsburg and all along the Ohio. I left
+the other name in New Orleans. Folks don't forget names or deeds so
+soon as I wish they would. I know the court cleared the men, but they
+don't forget the trick played on them. Pepillo, who was the helmsman
+of the piroque, isn't dead, and he would shoot or stab me on sight.
+Vexeranno is alive yet, too, and he is one of the three who planned to
+do it."
+
+"Speak no more of the horrible affair, my friend. We were none of us
+gainers by it. You know how much I lost. But I saved you from arrest,
+and you ought to be grateful. Why are you here?"
+
+"General Wilkinson, I don't know whether I am thankful or not. You
+call me your friend, and I have been your friend. It wasn't so much
+for my sake that you got me off as to keep evidence from leaking out
+that might have made somebody else uncomfortable. Yes, I've done
+things for you that you ought to be grateful for, governor! Why am I
+here? I'm here for back pay. You owe me six hundred dollars."
+
+"Man, you are mad. You presume on my generosity and my past indulgence
+toward you. I have already paid you more than I should have done, and
+you owe to me your life and your safety. You overestimate the value of
+your past services, and I am tired of your importunity. Remember that
+I am the commander-in-chief of the army and the governor of Louisiana.
+Do you think it safe to trifle with me? How did you get by the guard
+to-night?"
+
+"Walked; same as I got by Aaron Burr."
+
+Wilkinson looked up anxiously.
+
+"Palafox--I won't be harsh with you. Take a dram. You were faithful
+to me and to your duty in former years, and I hope to find profitable
+employment for you again. Here are five dollars; now leave the
+premises."
+
+Palafox took the money and disappeared in the gathering gloom. General
+Wilkinson closed the door and locked it. Then he sat back in his big
+chair, bowed his brow, and with arms folded sat meditating the past.
+At length he rose, shook his head, as if sadly answering in the
+negative some question of conscience, and--took another glass of
+brandy.
+
+
+
+
+IX. DON'T FORGET THE BITTERS.
+
+
+Monsieur Deville, having consulted Dr. Goforth, on vaccination,
+milk-sickness and miasma, took the mail-packet for Gallipolis.
+Arlington, after transacting the business which brought him to
+Cincinnati, started for his distant Virginia home, not by water nor by
+the direct route through Kentucky to the Old Wilderness Road, but
+across southern Ohio, over the highway which led to Marietta. The
+young man told landlord Yeatman that his object in choosing this
+roundabout course was to see the country; and he told the truth, but
+not the whole truth. Arlington cared not so much about going to
+Marietta as about getting there. He had not escaped the consequences
+of his recent perilous exposure to the rays of bewitching eyes. As he
+rode along through the woods he saw flocks of paroquets fluttering
+their emerald wings and making love as they flew. The red birds were
+singing bridal songs in the sugar-trees, and the shy hermit thrush
+betrayed his domestic secrets by husbandly notes piped from the
+spice-brush thicket. The wild flowers, too, anemone, puccoon and
+addertongue, nodding in the light breeze, seemed conscious of the joy
+of life in spring.
+
+The pilgrimage to the Muskingum was one long meditation on Evaleen
+Hale. Arlington was powerless to break the rosy mesh which entangled
+him. The bright image of the golden-haired New England girl waylaid
+him again and again. He reached Marietta on a fine, bright morning,
+and having consigned his horse to the care of the ostler of the
+Travellers' Rest, he presently started out in search of the
+dwelling-place of Evaleen, trusting, like Shelley's Indian lover, to
+the Spirit in his feet.
+
+It did not take long to make the rounds of the prim, Puritan village,
+and though he caught sight of more than one pretty maid peeping with
+coy curiosity from cottage window or garden plot, he saw no face
+comparable with that which he had cherished in memory since seeing the
+original in Blennerhassett's parlor. A lame soldier of the
+Revolutionary War pointed out to him the squares named Campus Martius
+and Capitolium, and directed him to follow the Sacra Via, through a
+covert way, to the wonderful ancient earthworks hard by--vast
+enclosures, terraces and tumuli, resembling natural hills, but, in
+fact, the piled-up monuments of the Mound Builders. The greatest and
+most impressive of these mysterious remains, a huge mound in the form
+of a sugar-loaf, appealed so strongly to Arlington's imagination,
+that, contemplating it, he for a time forgot everything else, losing
+himself in admiration and conjecture. Intending a closer inspection of
+the steep, artificial hill, he crossed a dry _fosse_ which ran around
+it in a perfect circle, and was clambering up the mound when a voice
+from above startled him.
+
+"Come up, come right up! There's a good path starts t'other side of
+that wild gooseberry bush."
+
+Looking aloft, Arlington beheld, seated on the summit of the mound,
+the grotesque figure of Plutarch Byle.
+
+"It blows a body, don't it?" said Byle, recognizing the Southerner
+with a familiar nod. "Give us your hand; I'll haul you safe to the
+peak of Aryrat. I'm right glad to see you, and I'm not sorry he isn't
+along with you. Have you got rid of him for good?"
+
+"Do you mean Colonel Burr?"
+
+"Exactly; he's a sort of burr I hope to God will never stick to me or
+to any friend of mine. I like you, Burlington, and I congratulate you,
+as the saying is, that you pulled him off. Folks oughtn't to be too
+familiar with strangers, ought they? You or I might be taken in by
+appearances. I confess I was deceived in--I won't say that man, but
+that hoop-snake. He was as fine looking a man as I am. But let's not
+mention him. Which way do you hail from now? When did you strike
+Marietta?"
+
+"To-day, Mr. Byle."
+
+"Call me Plutarch. I don't like European forms. How long do you
+calculate to stay, Burlingham?"
+
+"Not long. I am on my return to Virginia, and stop in Marietta to see
+these earthworks. You are acquainted here. Do you know--do you know
+of a family by the name of Hale?"
+
+"Well, yes; that is, I know old Squire George Hale by sight, and I met
+his daughter once in a sort of social way like, at Mrs.
+Blennerhassett's. The Hales is a fine family, regular high posts with
+a silk tester; they're upper-crust Boston quality. George hasn't lived
+here long, only about a year, and I've been away up on Yok River, at
+brother Virgil's, most of the time for the last five year. The Hales
+are blue blood, and no mistake. The young woman is a seek-no-farther.
+She is about to marry a feller from Massachusetts, who is here now
+a-sparking like fox-fire. I don't know the particulars, but I put this
+and that together, and I'm satisfied it's a match, and though I'm
+always danged sorry for any girl who gets married, I reckon this
+feller is about as decent as any of us. His names is Danvers--Captain
+Danvers; a right peert young chap, in the reg'lar army. I saw them
+yesterday, Evaleen and him--her name's Evaleen--walking,
+spooney-like, down by Muskingum, and I says to myself, 'By the holy
+artichokes, I'd like to be in the captain's military boots.'"
+
+"Are you sure they are engaged?" queried Arlington.
+
+"Yes, sure as coffin-nails; why? Do _you_ know the Spring Beauty?"
+
+"I have met her."
+
+"I'll bet you took a fancy to her the minute you sot eyes on her. So
+did I; but I nipped it in the bud. You look as if you might be hugely
+in love, Burlington. I know adzactly how you feel. Everything is
+prodigious out here in the West--big trees, big fish, big mammoth
+bones, and big hearts. I'll swan! the kind of love that you are liable
+to in these tremendous woods is like the rest of the works of Nature,
+immense. Howsomever, a man can stand a terrible sight of love and get
+over it. I know what I'm talking about. Love's a queer complaint! By
+ginger, I realize from experience how it takes hold of the system. You
+mightn't guess it, but I pulled through the toughest case of
+woman-stroke that ever a young feller was took with.
+
+    'Cheeks of my youth,
+    Bathed in tears have you been.'
+
+It's facts I'm stating. Still, a good constitution does mend fast when
+the flightiness and distress in the imagination leaves him and he
+cools down to his right mind. And there's medicine for every ailment,
+balm in Gilead, by gum, even for love sickness. The seed-pods of the
+cucumber tree soaked in raw whiskey makes a first-rate bitters for all
+such like fevers. I'm sorry for you, but--hold up, what did I tell
+you? Look yonder! Do you see that couple walking this way from Campus
+Martius? That's them!"
+
+Looking in the direction indicated by Plutarch's long forefinger,
+Arlington saw a man and a woman, side by side, slowly approaching the
+mound, so absorbed in each other's companionship that they seemed
+oblivious to the landscape and the sky. Neither glanced upward, though
+they came so near the base of the hill that the envious spy on the
+summit, peering down, identified the person and the voice of the lady
+as belonging unmistakably to Miss Hale. The pair paused under a
+dog-wood from which Captain Danvers plucked a flowery bough; then they
+resumed their stroll, walking toward the village, arm in arm.
+
+"Shall I holler to them?" asked Byle with the friendliest intentions.
+
+"By no means!" said Arlington hastily. "I have not the slightest
+interest in either of them. What have you here in your basket--botanical
+specimens?"
+
+The inquiry set Plutarch's tongue running on his favorite theme. "I'm
+a sort of self-made doctor, Mr. ---- won't you please write your name
+out just as you spell it yourself, and let me have it? I ain't sure of
+the accent. I've been digging roots and so on, for brother
+Blennerhassett. He's an odd fish--he fancies he knows yarbs. Well,
+now, he _does_; that is, he can learn and is learning faster than you
+would believe a near-sighted United Irishman could learn anything
+outside of books. He knows ginseng from pleuresy-root, anyhow. This
+plant--I'm taking the whole thing, root and stem, to show him how it
+grows--is the genuine Indian physic; I got it right by a big rotten
+log in Putnam's woods. What do you say to taking a tour to
+Blennerhassett's with me in my piroque? I've got as snug a piroque as
+ever oversot."
+
+There was no reason why Arlington should not seize this offered
+opportunity of once more visiting the island, and pay his respects to
+the proprietor, whom he had some curiosity to meet. Besides, might he
+not chance to learn the true condition of affairs regarding Evaleen
+Hale and the objectionable captain?
+
+Rocking on lazy eddies of a sheltered cove lay the piroque. It was a
+dugout or canoe, made by hollowing with axe and adz a section of a
+cucumber tree. One-fourth of its length was covered with canvas
+stretched on hoops, forming a canopy to shed rain and to screen the
+passenger from the sun's rays. The cosy shelter was made use of by
+Plutarch as a receptacle for "specimens" of all varieties, animal,
+vegetable and mineral. The boat was propelled by a paddle, and, as the
+owner had warned Arlington, was liable to be toppled over by any
+heedless movement of its occupants. In this craft, the distance from
+Marietta to the island was measured without accident. Landed on the
+gravelly beach, Plutarch bent his steps toward the dazzling white
+house, Arlington at his side. Peter Taylor, puttering in the front
+yard, greeted the visitors in his saturnine style.
+
+"Which way is the Highcockolorum?" inquired Plutarch, thrusting out
+his hand.
+
+The gardener was perplexed.
+
+"I mean your boss. Ah, there he is, with a gun! What's the fraction
+now? When I first came to this place his little boy offered to stick a
+tin sword through me, and I wonder now if pap means to shoot me!"
+
+"'E couldn't 'it you at ten paces," grumbled the Englishman,
+manifesting grim enjoyment. Byle winked in response. Blennerhassett,
+leading Dominick by the hand, came to meet them, and Arlington was
+courteously received.
+
+"I regret my absence at the time you did us the honor to call. I have
+since had a delightful letter from Colonel Burr, who promises to favor
+us again. Mrs. Blennerhassett told me every particular of your brief
+sojourn here. She was charmed with her guests. I am sorry she happens
+to be from home. She has gone to spend the day with friends in
+Marietta."
+
+"That's where she was, by gum, the first time I called here," broke in
+Byle, whose unconscious temerity Blennerhassett, not being able to
+rebuke, had concluded to tolerate. "I have fetched you a lot more
+plants and roots, and the spines of that big cat-fish I told you
+about. Here's another curiosity--the wing of a queer bird that I
+don't know--maybe you will--I shot the fowl flying. I see _you_ own
+a rifle!"
+
+"Yes," answered the recluse, placing the piece in Plutarch's hands.
+"You are familiar with American guns. What is your opinion of this
+one? It was recommended to me as an excellent article, and I bought it
+at an enormous price, so my neighbors tell me. But from my indifferent
+success in bringing down game with it, I am forced to the conclusion
+that the barrel must be defective. Peter thinks not, but he is more of
+an adept in horticulture than in shooting."
+
+The gardener was miffed by this left-handed compliment, but he did not
+venture to resent the impeachment. Plutarch handled the gun with the
+confident facility of an expert, poised it to ascertain the weight,
+noticed the calibre and the maker's name, admired the beauty of the
+stock, and tested the action of the trigger, lightly lifting the maple
+breech to his shoulder. The spectators marvelled at the delicate touch
+of his seemingly coarse fingers.
+
+"This is a good rifle," said he. "Do you see that red head on the top
+of that tree t'other side of the house?" No one did perceive the bird
+which the hunter professed to discover on the top of a tall sycamore
+distinctly visible at a distance of many rods beyond the roof. Byle
+drew up the rifle and fired.
+
+"Run, bub, and pick him up," said Plutarch, dropping the butt of the
+rifle and resting it carelessly on the toe of his shoe. Dominick
+hesitated, but the black man, Scipio, who had drawn near to witness
+the shooting, trudged away to the foot of the tree, where he found a
+dead woodpecker lying on the ground. He picked up the bird, still warm
+and bleeding, and brought it to Blennerhassett, who expressed
+enthusiastic admiration for the marksman's skill. Plutarch received
+the praise without showing the pleased vanity he inwardly felt, and
+having reloaded the gun with neat celerity, he passed it to the owner,
+saying in his unceremonious way, "Now, boss, it's your turn."
+
+Blennerhassett at first declined to make an exhibition of his skill,
+but on persuasion consented to fire at a mark under the direction of
+his faithful servant, Peter Taylor, who was accustomed to attend him
+on hunting excursions. Mr. Byle, with accommodating alacrity, offered
+his hat as a suitable target, having stuck a maple leaf on the centre
+of the crown to answer as the bull's eye. The party shifted ground to
+the rear premises, and the hat was fixed to the side of the barn.
+Blennerhassett took his place directly in front of the mark, at a
+distance from it of twenty steps deliberately paced off by Plutarch.
+When their chief cocked the rifle there was a general commotion among
+the servants, black and white, for by this time the whole retinue of
+the establishment, including ostler, footman, butler, field hands and
+housemaids, had collected to see the sport. The principal actor, being
+self-absorbed as well as near-sighted, was scarcely aware of the
+tittering assemblage. Abstracted from every other thought, he fixed
+his attention on the great business in hand, not without misgiving and
+nervous agitation. When he lifted the rifle to his shoulder, and,
+trembling with excitement, pointed it in the manner he conceived to be
+proper, Peter Taylor, stationed at his master's back as prompter and
+artillerist, gave directions: "Now, sir, cool and steady! 'Old her
+level! Not so 'igh, Mr. Blennerhassett. There! So! 'Old on! 'Old on! A
+leetle more up! Ready! Fire!"
+
+In agitation, the gentleman drew the trigger, and the next instant a
+pane of window-glass, fully six feet from the outmost rim of Mr.
+Byle's straw hat, was shivered to pieces, and the fragments were heard
+to tinkle as they fell within the barn. The chagrin of the mortified
+rifleman was cunningly abated by Peter's declaring that he himself was
+at fault in confining his master's attention to vertical rather than
+to horizontal considerations; but while he thus explained away the
+failure, he winked at the other servants and whispered aside to
+Plutarch that, though horticulture was his profession, he was a better
+shot than his distinguished employer.
+
+"That's claiming a good deal, isn't it?" replied Byle, following with
+his eye the humiliated subject of their comment, who, conscious that
+he had made himself ridiculous, withdrew from the scene and tried to
+recover lost dignity by retiring with his guest to the privacy of his
+library. There, rallying his spirits, he dilated upon law, science and
+_belles-lettres_, oblivious of the fact that his commonplace remarks
+were tedious to a lively mind. He was opinionated, though not
+egotistical; revered authority, took himself seriously, and was a hero
+worshipper lacking humor and imagination. Pedantically conscious of
+imparting his stored wisdom to the attentive listener, whom he desired
+to entertain, he glowed with ingenuous enthusiasm while he commented,
+in mildly magisterial fashion, on books and authors. He read aloud
+extracts from "Shaftsbury's Characteristics," nodding approval of the
+dullest sentences. Then he opened a large new folio, illustrated with
+allegorical plates and profusely annotated.
+
+"This is my latest literary treasure, Erasmus Darwin's wonderful poem,
+'The Temple of Nature,' recently published, and superior, I think, to
+the 'Botanic Garden.' Let me read from the first canto, on the
+Production of Life."
+
+Arlington in "wise passivity" submitted to the infliction, and with
+feigned pleasure followed the torturer's voice, delivering page after
+page of solemn science in polished heroic couplets. At length, in a
+lull between the lines on Imitation and those on Appetency, the young
+man mustered courage to broach the subject nearest his heart, by
+asking the irrelevant question, "You are acquainted, I dare say, with
+the prominent families of Marietta; do you happen to know a gentleman
+by the name of Hale? George Hale?"
+
+Blennerhassett, keeping one eye on the Temple of Nature, answered
+mechanically:
+
+"Yes; George Hale is one of our best citizens. He is held in high
+esteem, a man of some wealth and of great probity, but not college
+bred. I am sure, Mr. Arlington, you will discern high poetical
+qualities in this passage from the second canto, entitled Reproduction
+of Life. Shall I read it aloud?"
+
+"By all means, sir. I should be delighted to hear you read the entire
+volume, but I regret that I have engagements up the river."
+
+"I will detain you only a moment, Mr. Arlington. Perhaps you would
+like to carry the book with you to read on your way back. This is the
+passage I referred to:
+
+    'Now, young Desires, on purple pinions borne,
+    Mount the warm gale of Manhood's rising morn;
+    With softer fires through Virgin bosoms dart,
+    Flush the pale cheek, and goad the tender heart!'
+
+Those are well-constructed verses, my dear sir--equal to Dryden. 'On
+purple pinions borne,' sounds well. The alliteration is pleasing. Note
+the effect, also, in the phrase 'Manhood's morn,' and the last line is
+poetical,
+
+    'Flush the pale cheek, and goad the tender heart.'
+
+Or this, suggesting how love and sympathy causes affinities which--
+
+    'Melt into Lymph or kindle into gas.'
+
+There are those who contend that scientific truths cannot be stated
+poetically; but here, I am sure, science and sentiment are at one. Am
+I not right?"
+
+"Doubtless your judgment is correct," assented Chester, uncertain
+whether Blennerhassett was speaking in earnest or in irony. "I confess
+I am not a literary student. Pardon the interruption and my
+inquisitiveness, but am I correctly informed that the young lady to
+whom I was introduced, a few weeks ago, when I called here, is related
+to Mr. Hale of whom we were speaking?"
+
+"Quite right; she is his daughter, Miss Evaleen, an amiable girl.
+Margaret and the boys think the world of her."
+
+Arlington made another effort to satisfy his jealous curiosity. "I was
+told by a gentleman in Marietta that Miss Hale is about to be married.
+Am I correctly informed? The lucky man is to be envied."
+
+Blennerhassett, whose eyes were still picking poetic gems from Darwin,
+answered vaguely.
+
+"Oh, to be sure. A fortunate man. She will make an excellent wife. Did
+you hear such a report? Not surprising; I remember now that Margaret
+mentioned something of Evaleen's prospects in that way--to the
+effect, I believe, that she, that is, Miss Hale, had received gallant
+attentions from an eligible young man--a suitor. Women take more
+interest than we men do in affairs of this nature. I can give no
+particulars."
+
+"This Captain Danvers--?" faltered Chester.
+
+"Danvers? Danvers?" repeated the absent-minded philosopher amiably.
+"Ah, yes. Captain Danvers is at present stopping at the Hale
+residence. My wife tells me that Evaleen and he are exceedingly
+devoted to each other. Naturally. You would be welcome, I assure you,
+if you should call. They are very hospitable."
+
+Without further inquiries, Arlington presently took leave to join
+Byle, with whom he voyaged back to Marietta. Wrapped in meditation he
+sat, taciturn, ballasting the unstable piroque which his stalwart
+comrade propelled with astonishing speed against the current. Chester
+spoke not a dozen sentences during the tedious passage from the island
+to the village. Byle, strange to say, also held his tongue, but he
+watched his melancholy companion with varying facial expressions,
+eloquent of fellow-feeling. The piroque was brought to shore on the
+east bank of the Muskingum, a short distance above the mouth of the
+river.
+
+"You can tell your grandchildren that you sot your foot just where
+Rufus Putnam did when he jumped off the Mayflower in 1788. This is the
+spot where the first settlers of Ohio landed."
+
+"You make me feel quite like a historical character," said Arlington,
+and thanked his obliging guide.
+
+"I don't reckon history is all over yet, Arlington. Good-night, and
+take keer of yourself. I'm goshamighty sorry your goose is cooked in
+regards to Evaleen. Still, this Danvers is a perfect gentleman--you'd
+say so yourself if you knowed him as she does. By dad, we can't all
+have the same girl, or others would suffer. Don't forget the bitters.
+Speaking of bitters and how to cure trouble in this vale of tears, as
+the saying is, I reckon you have heard of a man by the name of
+Jonathan Edwards? He's dead now, but he made his living by preaching,
+and he wrote books. The only one of his works that I ever read was his
+_Rules_, and they are elegant. One of Jonathan's rules I learned by
+heart: 'When you feel pain, think of the pains of martyrdom and of
+hell.' You might try that. But whatever you try, _don't forget the
+bitters_--fruit of the cucumber tree in raw whiskey."
+
+"Don't forget the bitters." These words kept repeating themselves in
+Chester's mind long after he had gone to bed in the small room
+assigned to him by the host of the Travellers' Rest. He slept
+wretchedly, rose late the next morning, breakfasted, and after
+ordering his horse to be saddled at nine o'clock, walked to the wharf
+where lay the mail-boat ready to start down the Ohio. Among the few
+taking passage on the vessel was Captain Danvers, who had been ordered
+to report for service in St. Louis, and was on his way thither.
+Arlington observed the fine-looking young officer with the petulant
+dislike of foiled envy. So spiteful was his mood that he wished a
+pretext for saying or doing something offensive to his handsome rival.
+Such a pretext was afforded. A veteran major who had accompanied
+Danvers to the boat, to bid him good-bye, called out:
+
+"Captain, don't let the Indians scalp you or the Spaniards take you
+prisoner. If you had been three weeks sooner you might have had Aaron
+Burr for a fellow-traveller. He stopped here on his way down the
+river."
+
+"I would not travel on the same boat with Aaron Burr. I consider him
+guilty of murder."
+
+Arlington's wrath broke forth. "Any man who says that speaks calumny."
+
+"Do you mean to insult me, sir? I never saw you before, and did not
+address you."
+
+"I do not stand on ceremony with those who traduce my friends,"
+retorted the Southerner sneeringly. "Colonel Burr is my friend--you
+have maligned him."
+
+Danvers contemptuously replied: "You seem proud of your alleged
+intimacy with a notorious criminal. Perhaps you are the
+Vice-President's brother, or are you his man-servant?"
+
+The taunt raised a laugh at Arlington, who roared out:
+
+"Burr did right in calling Hamilton to the field; he vindicated his
+own honor."
+
+"Push off! Loosen that line!" shouted the captain from the deck.
+"Hurry up! blast you! we're a year behind time!"
+
+The boat-hands made a show of haste without making speed, reluctant to
+miss the chance of witnessing a fight.
+
+"Captain Danvers, perhaps, like other Yankees, you preach against
+duelling, but do not scruple to traduce men who are not present to
+resent your words."
+
+"You know my name!" cried Danvers, "but are wrong in supposing that I
+will stand an affront. If you are a gentleman--"
+
+"If? Couldn't you waive ifs and buts long enough to try the Weehauken
+experiment and then investigate my pedigree? The question is, are you
+a man or a dastard?"
+
+"Swaller your fire, young salamander," broke in the captain of the
+boat. "We hain't got no time to fuss nor fight duels. Push off, there,
+boys! Get your poles in hand and give her a reverend set! If the
+feller on shore is hankering for gore let him swim after us. Let go
+that cordelle, you cussed, lazy, flat-bellied, Hockhocking idiot!
+Can't you learn that a vessel won't navigate while she's tied to a
+tree and stuck fast in the mud?"
+
+Soon in midstream, the boat moved away rapidly, impelled by the triple
+force of current, wind and oars, and the Virginian was jeered at from
+deck and shore. It completed his mortification to observe Danvers
+waving him a disdainful farewell. He returned to the tavern, paid his
+reckoning, mounted his horse, and rode away dejected and miserable.
+Self-disgust wrought in him a revulsion against Ohio, Marietta and the
+Blennerhassetts, and caused him, for the moment, to wish he had never
+met Evaleen. He rode along the village street, his mind's ear ringing
+with Byle's parting advice: "Don't forget the bitters." While his
+horse was trotting past a house that stood back from the street, in
+the midst of shrubbery, he thought he heard his own name spoken. On
+turning his head, he saw two ladies observing him from a leaf-screened
+veranda. His impulse was to halt; he drew bridle, but, recalling the
+scene on the wharf, he spurred on.
+
+"My dear girl," exclaimed the elder of the two ladies, watching the
+unheeding horseman, "that gentleman is Mr. Arlington or Mr.
+Arlington's twin brother."
+
+Evaleen's lips trembled as she replied hesitatingly, "It cannot be he;
+he would have called. He knows we live in Marietta."
+
+"I am sure it is Mr. Arlington, and I cannot account for his failing
+to pay you his respects. He showed a decided interest in you that day
+on the island. To my eye it looked very like love at first sight; and
+I cannot help believing that his sole errand in Marietta is to see you
+again."
+
+Evaleen, reddening, plucked leaflets from the honeysuckle which
+covered the porch.
+
+"What am I to Mr. Arlington?"
+
+"Perhaps more than he is to you. I wish he could have met Captain
+Danvers."
+
+Evaleen's blush faded.
+
+"I may never see Warren again," she sighed; "he is reckless and will
+not shun Spanish bullets or yellow fever. I can't bear to think of
+what he must endure in the army."
+
+"Be proud that he has gone to the war as a brave man should. I admire
+men who are fearless."
+
+"Oh, Margaret, you don't know how dear he is to me!"
+
+"My darling, I understand. But Natchez is not out of the world, even
+if the soldiers should be sent there. After all, there may be no
+fighting. But I can't solve the mystery of our Virginia friend's
+ungallant conduct."
+
+Midday came and went, the afternoon wasted away, the sun set, but the
+disappointing cavalier came not back to the village. Madam
+Blennerhassett said no more about him, though she noticed that at
+intervals Evaleen furtively glanced through an open window eastward
+down the long perspective of the shaded road.
+
+
+
+
+X. "NOW TO MY CHARMS AND TO MY WILY TRAINS."
+
+
+Burr tarried at Massac, spinning subtle webs to entangle human flies.
+He "lived along the line" of correspondence, keeping in touch with
+former associates and recent acquaintances. In his ark, seated at a
+rough table, he wrote to those he hoped to gain or feared to lose. He
+did not neglect the Blennerhassetts, nor Arlington, nor the confiding
+young law-students of Pittsburg. A lengthy letter was penned to the
+Hon. John Smith, and, at the same sitting, a model _billet-doux_ to
+Mrs. Rosemary. Other business was combined with this epistolary
+industry, for, even before the stamp of the writer's seal was lifted
+from the soft, red wafer on the widow's letter, a backwoods settler
+came, by appointment, to close a bargain by which the flatboat
+"Salome" was sold.
+
+The somewhat damaged vessel was knocked to pieces by its new owner,
+who used the timber to construct a shanty, a stable, and a pig-pen,
+for his family and other live-stock. Before this degrading
+transmutation was begun, the original proprietor of the now abandoned
+craft removed to the commodious cabin of an elegant barge, provided by
+the courtesy of Wilkinson. In this convenient vessel, navigated by a
+select crew under command of a faithful sergeant, the sole passenger
+embarked for New Orleans. In frequent conference with Wilkinson he had
+amplified and enforced the arguments broached at the first interview.
+On the day set for the statesman's departure, the two men spoke
+together, very confidentially.
+
+"Good-bye, Aaron; I augur well of your undertaking. The auspices are
+favorable. We are engaged in a scheme full of danger, requiring
+enterprise; but, if successful, fraught with fortune and glory."
+
+"General, we are engaged, not in a scheme, but in a sublime exploit.
+We are to create an ideal commonwealth. The materials are ready. I go
+to take seizin of the grandest dominion on the curve of the globe.
+Military force will be requisite to sustain civil polity. The names
+Burr and Wilkinson are linked together in the chain of destiny.
+Farewell, and God bless you. When I return, I will hasten to join you
+at St. Louis, and give a full report of my stewardship."
+
+With rhetoric like this, the parting guest closed his valedictory. His
+barge was soon under way. Down the calm Ohio, down the solemn
+Mississippi fared Aaron Burr, bound for the prodigal South. Swept
+along by the urgent stream, his boat seemed the plaything of fate, and
+the unstable element upon which it rode and rocked and trembled, he
+likened to human life, fleeting, turbulent, treacherous, yet grandly
+beautiful. Yielding to that mood in which the judgment and the will
+are suspended, and the passive brain is played upon by every sight and
+sound, he sat in an easy chair smoking, lost in sensuous languor, like
+an Asian prince. He was, for the time, possessed by the sensation of
+being royal. He enjoyed by anticipation the prerogatives of
+sovereignty, the power, the luxury, the voluptuous pleasure. The
+objects of his ambition appeared then how easy of attainment! To
+accomplish seemed no more difficult than to desire. The stream was
+running his way, and the wind was blowing his way. As surely as the
+Mississippi goes to the Mexican Gulf, would destiny waft Burr to the
+ocean of his desire. Imaginations so extravagant, courted in solitude
+and fed by indolence, served to beguile the days of the long voyage
+from Fort Massac to New Orleans.
+
+At last the barge rounded into port, late in the afternoon of a
+perfect summer day. Aaron the First, standing upon deck, was coming
+unto his own; or rather, the city came floating out to meet her king.
+The bending shore which gives the name Crescent City to the emporium
+of the South, was lined with ships from every sea, and with
+innumerable river craft. New Orleans was one of the richest marts on
+the hemisphere. Burr stepped ashore and quickly ascended the levee.
+Hundreds of pleasure-seekers swarmed the footpaths or rested on the
+benches under the rows of orange trees which shaded the broad
+causeway.
+
+On turning his eyes towards the city, Burr experienced a thrill of
+surprise. The prospect surpassed his pre-conceptions. In the subdued
+glow of the setting sun, he saw all things touched with a visionary
+splendour. Streets, roofs, belfries, the cathedral spire, and the flag
+of the Union streaming far away above the fort, appeared objects in an
+enchanted scene. Were the seven cities of Cibola clustered in one
+golden capital?
+
+The spell was broken by the practical promptings of common sense. Not
+in possession, but only in pursuit of a treasury and a scepter, the
+would-be monarch addressed himself to the solution of his complicated
+problem. It was necessary to learn how the Louisianians regarded the
+Federal government, how much prejudice they felt against the Atlantic
+States, and whether they could be influenced to break away from the
+Union and to organize a separate autonomy. Burr wished further to know
+who and how many were disposed to wage war against the Spaniards with
+the ulterior design of conquering Mexico. In order to learn the inside
+facts he must gain the confidence of all, must make himself popular,
+must fathom hearts and steal away brains. The final success of his
+plans would depend on the good-will of the people. The good-will of
+the people must be won by address--by social tact. Social tact was
+Aaron Burr's art of arts. He deliberately set about the delicate
+business of captivating a city that he might eventually capture it.
+
+Wilkinson had pressed upon him letters of introduction to the magnates
+of the town. Neither letters nor formal receptions were needed to
+introduce Aaron Burr to society. His manner was passport, entitling
+him to cross all borders; his sympathy was cosmopolitan, his
+toleration unlimited, his pleasure, to please others, his study
+urbanity. Jews thought him a Hebrew, and Christians voted him
+orthodox. The amiable but capricious creoles, easy to take offense,
+yet blind in their devotion to those they confide in, swarmed to his
+standard. The Roman Catholic bishop countenanced him, endorsed his
+aims, and signalized an official friendliness by accompanying him on a
+visit to the Ursuline Convent, and there the son of a Protestant
+preacher chatted pleasantly with my lady prioress and her demure nuns.
+Burr went everywhere, and wherever he went, he made discreet use of
+his opportunity to inquire, to observe, to listen, to make friends and
+proselytes. He felt the pulse of public sentiment. Never to any person
+did he fully disclose his designs. Without argument or appeal, he
+convinced, persuaded, and inflamed the victims of his corrupting
+influence. To the avaricious his intimations promised riches; to the
+luxurious, pleasure; to those disaffected towards the East, revolt and
+secession.
+
+Affairs in the Southwest were unsettled. Only a year and a half had
+elapsed since Louisiana had passed into American hands. Jefferson's
+land purchase was a current topic of conversation. Opinions differed,
+and men hotly discussed the question whether, even if the President
+had a constitutional right, he had a moral warrant for saddling upon
+the young republic a wild domain, of doubtful value, sparsely
+inhabited by Indians and already dedicated, by tradition, to the rule
+of an alien, white population. The Spaniard and the Frenchman, sold
+and transferred, by one power to another, could not be expected to
+submit. The citizens had long yielded willing allegiance to his
+Spanish majesty, the emblem of whose sovereignty had been hauled down,
+to give place to the tri-color of France; and now that second banner
+had disappeared. Though an American governor ruled the district, there
+prevailed among the populace a hope and belief, that, after a brief
+meteoric display, the red, white and blue, emblazoned with stars,
+would fade and vanish from its proud height over the old fort, new
+garrisoned by American soldiers. Spanish officers in disguise lingered
+in the haunts of their former dignity and sway. They stirred up secret
+dissension. They deemed themselves not extinguished, though eclipsed.
+Discontent and resistance were in the air. War-clouds hung dark along
+the Mexican and Floridan border, rumbling with ominous thunder.
+
+Into this chaos of troubled politics, and conflicting interests, Aaron
+Burr came exploring, vigilant to note and sedulous to question. The
+sum of the impressions which he received confirmed him in the belief
+that the people of the West and Southwest were ready and anxious to
+separate their section from the Atlantic States; and he felt convinced
+that it would be no trouble "to enlist recruits and make arrangements
+for a private expedition against Mexico," especially in case of war
+with Spain.
+
+It was the middle of September when, true to his promise, Burr
+appeared at St. Louis, in Wilkinson's quarters, to unfold the tale of
+his triumph in New Orleans. In the course of his animated narrative,
+he said:
+
+"There is an infinite difference between floating down to New Orleans
+in your delightful barge, and jogging homeward a thousand miles on
+horseback. That interminable stretch of dreary wilderness from Natchez
+to Nashville, along the Indian trail, over sandy wastes, through pine
+woods, was intolerable. I was glad enough to reach Tennessee and old
+Kentucky. The people of Frankfort treated me very handsomely, as did
+those of Lexington. I paid my respects to the local idol, the young
+Virginia orator and rising lawyer, Henry Clay. That man is a
+prodigy--he will make his mark. I wish he were hand in hand with us,
+like Jackson, and ready to embark his fortune at our prompting."
+
+"So do I. Clay is a rising power, notwithstanding his conceit. He will
+make a stir in Congress some of these days."
+
+"That he will," said Burr, and proceeded with his story, at the close
+of which he exclaimed,
+
+"I wish you could attend one of the meetings of the Mexican Society in
+New Orleans. Its object is to discuss means of emancipating Mexico.
+You should hear, as I have heard, the outspoken discontents of the
+creole population. They adore the institution of African slavery. They
+hate New England. They will not buy even a Yankee clock if it is
+adorned with an image of the Yankee Goddess of Liberty. But they are
+_mine_, every mother's son of them, and what is more important, every
+father's daughter of them. I took the city by storm, and the outlying
+provinces belong to us. We have a people and, virtually, an army. The
+moral conquest is complete. When the hour strikes for extending the
+borders of our conceded realm, you are the chosen Cæsar."
+
+"Can we depend on David Clarke's co-operation?"
+
+"Why not? His interests are bound up in ours. We have a host of stanch
+adherents, in all parts of the country and on the high sea, and in
+Europe, soldiers, statesmen, capitalists. I need not name them to you.
+All these are to be kept in mind and treated with due consideration.
+Our enterprise is in its preliminary stage. The shrewd work of
+enlisting recruits must be intrusted to carefully selected captains. I
+have the ways and means clearly in my head. Every detail must be
+worked out in practice."
+
+"Burr, you are more circumspect than I gave you credit for being.
+There is always danger in the dark. Have you entertained the
+possibility of defection?"
+
+"I have measured my ground, and calculated the curve of my leap. I
+shall not fall into an abyss, or dash myself upon a rock. If we fail
+to sever the Union, and do not succeed in the conquest of Mexico, I
+have so masked our designs as to make them appear in the guise of
+innocent land-speculations on the Wachita river."
+
+
+
+
+XI. PALAFOX GROWS INSOLENT.
+
+
+Early in October Wilkinson's duties required him to visit the town of
+Genevive, some fifty miles south of St. Louis. The best cabin in a
+keelboat had been furnished in sumptuous style for the accommodation
+of the self-indulgent chief. Such was the attractiveness of this cosy
+retreat that the general preferred it to his official quarters on the
+shore and he occasionally spent a whole afternoon reading, writing or
+dozing there in undisturbed privacy.
+
+On the day before that fixed for his departure he prolonged his stay
+in the cabin to a late hour, for reasons partly physical, partly
+mental. His robust health and ebullient spirits were suffering an
+unwonted depression. Even his strong constitution could not withstand
+the "miasmatic" vapor of the lowlands near the Western watercourses.
+The malarial poison had entered his blood, causing low fever, dull
+headache and general hypochondria. Copious doses of Peruvian bark
+bitters aggravated the unpleasant symptoms. Moreover, the weather had
+turned unseasonably raw and gusty. The characteristic mildness of
+October gave way to gloomy inclemency. The month was not like its
+usual self, and Wilkinson partook of its exceptional harsh melancholy.
+Appropriate for a season so dreary was the sad name of Fall--Fall,
+the period of decline, decay and death. For the first time in his life
+Wilkinson "heard the voice which tells men they are old," though he
+was not old.
+
+The general sat holding in his hand a short letter, in cipher. The
+last sentence did not please him. "God bless you and grant you a safe
+deliverance from factions and factious men." These words Wilkinson
+read over and over. To him, in his dejected mood, with nerves unstrung
+and head swimming in quinine bitters, the blessing sounded ironical; a
+mocking face seemed concealed behind the mask of considerate
+friendliness. The tone of the communication struck him as patronizing,
+perhaps unconsciously made so, but the more offensive on that account.
+One suspicious fancy engenders another; it now occurred to the general
+that his former comrade and late guest, in more than one unguarded
+speech, had arrogated superiority, and that he had presumed, without
+sufficient warrant, on the subserviency of men greater than himself.
+
+"Does he think I am committed to him, body and soul? Does he take it
+for granted that I am a tool and a fool? Burr should consider his own
+position and mine. I have had too much experience in the world to be
+caught by this shrewd contriver, or by any man."
+
+Wilkinson put the letter away, and taking a book, threw himself on his
+bed. The volume he had chosen was a fine copy of the _Sentimental
+Journey_, his favorite reading. The italicised wit and glossy
+licentiousness of Yorick did not fix attention. Neither the "Dead
+Ass," nor the "Starling," nor the fair "Fille de chambre," had now a
+charm to steal the reader from his petty miseries of head and heart.
+Casting the book aside, he again arose, paced nervously up and down
+the cramped cabin, and once more sought comfort in the cushioned seat.
+Prudence bade him seek home before nightfall, but the inertia of
+despondency kept him from going. The gathering darkness, the whining
+wind, the sound of restless water lapping and sucking around the keel,
+suggested superstitious forebodings and called up dismal images. To
+every mood there is a season; this was Wilkinson's hour of
+self-examination. He looked backward on his deeds and inward on his
+motives. He mistrusted the future. If he were sure that Burr's rainbow
+dipped its gorgeous ends in gold, no accusing ghost of the past would
+deter him from chasing the yellow temptation over mountains or through
+bogs. He was not given to brooding over bygone failures, nor was he
+much afraid that his buried sins would arise to find him out. He began
+to think better of his friend's message. Burr was certainly a deep man
+and bold; he had genius; he had perseverance, enthusiasm, resource,
+resolution. Taking him all in all, he was a masterful spirit, a fit
+partner, nay, even a leader for James Wilkinson.
+
+To dispel mental gloom, the general summoned his familiar, the nimble
+spirit of alcohol. One dram proved so enlivening, by going "straight
+to the spot," that another was tossed off, from a sense of gratitude.
+Evidently the best ingredient in the bitters was the solvent, not the
+Peruvian bark. Wilkinson placed the bottle in a cupboard, and was
+preparing to leave the cabin, when the door opened and in walked
+Palafox. The commander-in-chief, whom fever and quinine had rendered
+hot-headed, stared angrily.
+
+"What does this mean? Didn't I warn you never again to come to me
+unless sent for? You sneak in without so much as knocking! Your
+effrontery deserves a horsewhip! Begone!"
+
+Instead of going, the intruding boatman pulled off his slouch hat and
+made a humble bow: "I beg your pardon, general, but I used to come and
+go, you recollect, by your order, informally, like a kind of private
+secretary, and I can't get rid of the familiar habit."
+
+"Familiar! I should say so! You are brazen! I doubt you are drunk or
+you would not have the audacity to invade my privacy and speak as you
+do."
+
+"Well, governor, what if I am drunk? You don't see anything
+disgraceful in that, do you?"
+
+The insolence of this personal thrust enraged Wilkinson beyond
+endurance. In his indignation he snatched a sheathed sword from the
+wall and struck Palafox a rash blow. The ruffian recoiled, staggering,
+and clutched at the hilt of a dirk in his belt.
+
+"Is that enough for you?" cried the furious general.
+
+The Spaniard, livid and trembling, checked the impulse to draw his
+dirk, and slowly raising his hand to the bleeding welt on his
+forehead, said with sullen irony:
+
+"It's now more'n three months since I invaded your privacy, as you
+call it. I came all the way from Natchez for money, not for abuse. You
+owe me, and if you are a man of your word you'll pay me. I want to
+leave this part of the country, and won't bother you any more after
+you've paid what's coming to me, unless you want to hear some facts
+concerning your own good that I've picked up for you."
+
+The unabashed, persistent importunity of Palafox, astounded Wilkinson.
+There was an accent of admiration in his exclamation, "You
+dare-devil!"
+
+"I'm not daring you, general, and if I was, you are not a devil, only
+a debtor."
+
+The dignity of Wilkinson could not suffer further saucy retort or
+question.
+
+"This farce must end. I cannot bandy words with such as you. Not
+another dollar shall you receive from me--not a penny. You had my
+final word at Massac, last Spring. Quit this boat instantly, and leave
+St. Louis. If I see you again, or hear of your hanging around the
+garrison, I'll settle your account in short order."
+
+"I don't belong to the army."
+
+"No!" answered the chief, sternly, "but I _do_; and I have civil
+authority also. If you had justice, Palafox, you would hang. I am
+ashamed of myself to speak to you further. Now, go."
+
+"Yes, I'll go; I'll go in a minute; but I've got a scrap of paper I
+want to read to you. Will you hear it?"
+
+Not unwilling to learn what might be the purport of the writing so
+dramatically introduced, and in order to get rid of Palafox without
+further violence, Wilkinson consented to listen.
+
+With his back to the door, the lowering Spaniard read the following:
+"It is not necessary to suggest to a gentleman of your experience and
+knowledge of the world, that man, throughout the world, is governed by
+private interest, however variously modified it may be. Some men are
+avaricious, some are vain, others are ambitious. To detect the
+prevailing passion, to lay hold of and to make most of it is the
+profoundest secret of political science."
+
+Pausing, he asked sarcastically:
+
+"Are those your sentiments? Folks say you wrote this to Gardoqui, in
+January, 1789. That was before your plot with the Spanish Minister,
+Carondelet. Liars say, and say in print, that you hatched up a plan to
+split the West from the East, and to put the West under Spanish
+control. They say, these malicious liars do, that Tom Power brought
+ten thousand dollars bribe money, packed in barrels of sugar and bags
+of coffee, from New Madrid to Louisville, and that Philip Nolan
+conveyed the sweetened lucre to Fort Washington."
+
+Wilkinson laughed. "You do not believe such absurdities, do you
+Palafox?"
+
+"Why should I disbelieve? Carondelet's plan seems excellent to me, a
+Spaniard. We have been talking about events that happened ten years
+since. I was in your service nearly twenty years ago; you sent
+correspondence down the river when I was a boy, but I was a good,
+careful boy, and always tried to act with intelligence. I've saved
+lots of nice letters. I'm fond of good reading."
+
+Whether it was owing to illness or quinine or conscience, a slight
+dizziness came over Wilkinson; his head swam; he leaned far back in
+his chair, and endeavored to steady his thoughts. Palafox cast on him
+a sidelong malicious glance and continued his monologue:
+
+"Yes, I've got lots of fine sentiments in my archives. Here's an
+original. It's tolerable old, you see, stained and worn." This he said
+displaying a soiled paper, which he drew carefully from a large
+leathern pocket-book. "Let's see. Yes, this is the original of a fine
+letter, a copy of which I delivered to Governor Miro."
+
+"Miro!" exclaimed Wilkinson.
+
+"Yes; Miro, that's the name--Don Estevan Miro, Spanish governor of
+Louisiana, before Carondelet's day."
+
+Wilkinson rose menacingly. Palafox did not flinch, but leering
+significantly, read these words:
+
+"My situation is mortally painful because, whilst I abhor all
+duplicity, I am obliged to dissemble. This makes me extremely desirous
+of resorting to some contrivance that will put me in a position in
+which I flatter myself to be able to profess myself publicly the
+vassal of his Catholic majesty, and, therefore, claim his protection,
+in whatever public or private measures I may devise to promote the
+interests of the crown."
+
+"There, general, I should say this might be valuable property for you
+to possess, and damaging to you if it falls under the eye of the
+public," remarked Palafox, thrusting the letters into his pocket. "It
+bears your signature. I deciphered every secret letter that touched my
+hand from you to Miro and Carondelet, and from them to you. Now,
+hadn't you better buy the whole damned correspondence?"
+
+"Buy?" sneered Wilkinson, trembling with passion. "So this is all the
+desperate attempt of a felon to levy blackmail upon his benefactor!"
+
+The boatman turned to lift the latch.
+
+"You won't buy, then?"
+
+No reply was vouchsafed the desperado.
+
+"I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll throw in a spice of Aaron Burr
+pepper that he happened to spill in my sight. You and Aaron appear to
+be thick. He and I are chums, too. He is one of us. The colonel is a
+lovely mole, very smooth and shiny, but he don't always tunnel deep
+enough to hide his track."
+
+"Begone!"
+
+"O, I'm going. If you won't buy, I'll keep. Good-bye, general."
+
+He deliberately put on his slouch hat and backed out through the
+narrow doorway. As a parting salute he touched with his finger the red
+contusion on his forehead. Wilkinson stood a few seconds, in rigid
+silence, then stepped to the open door and called aloud:
+
+"Palafox! Comeback!"
+
+No answer was returned to the cry, nor did the vanished figure
+reappear. Not even the sound of his retreating footfalls could be
+heard. A dense fog had risen, shrouding the river and crawling over
+cottage and chapel and fort. Alone, in the boat's cabin, by the dim
+light of a flickering lamp, the general waited and waited, anxious to
+soothe and conciliate the malignant underling, once his minion, now an
+unscrupulous enemy, too dangerous to be despised. The proud officer
+listened for a returning step or a relenting voice, but heard no other
+noise than that made by the whining winds, and by the waters of the
+Mississippi fretting and swirling around the keel of his solitary
+boat.
+
+
+
+
+XII. SNARING A PHILOSOPHER.
+
+
+After his tour in the West, Burr, homeward bound, pursued his way from
+St. Louis to Vincennes, thence to Cincinnati, and up the Ohio to the
+beautiful island he had visited in the month of May. Change of season
+had transformed a paradise of soft verdure and tender bloom into an
+Eden of gorgeous foliage and gaudy flowers. The house of
+Blennerhassett he saw embowered in trees magnificently colored by the
+wonder-working frosts of October. The place was Færie Land, but had
+not Gloriana been there, it may be doubted whether other attractions
+of the lovely isle would have detained the restless conspirer. Once
+more the American statesman stood in the presence of the fairest dame
+west of the Alleghanies, and she received him with cordial words and
+kind eyes.
+
+"We have been expecting this visit. Your letters to my husband kept us
+both in hope you would not fail to honor us before your return to
+Philadelphia."
+
+"The boat which brought me up-stream, madam, rounded into your wharf
+of its own motion, attracted by some lodestone or guiding star. I am
+here again, after many days."
+
+"You have wandered far since you happened to discover our hiding-place
+last May."
+
+"Wandered is the word. Like a pilgrim, I went in Spring to come back
+in Autumn."
+
+"Bringing the palm?"
+
+"Palm, olive, laurel, myrtle--the whole botany of lucky leaves. How
+are my boys, Dominick and--what's the younger one's name?--Yes,
+Harman, how are they? I am due in Philadelphia, but I delay business
+to indulge inclination."
+
+"You did not quite forget the lonely island and its solitary family?"
+
+"He would be an insane palmer who could forget the most attractive
+shrine in the round of his long pilgrimage--"
+
+As Burr was saying these words, a soft shuffling step was heard in the
+adjoining room, and a grave gentleman in spectacles made his
+appearance in the doorway.
+
+"Colonel Burr, my husband."
+
+"A happiness and an honor to meet you, Colonel Burr."
+
+Bow followed bow, urbane word echoed word, awkwardly protracting the
+salutatory ceremony until Burr felt like a Chinese mandarin at a court
+reception. According to his wife's judgment, Mr. Blennerhassett
+acquitted himself admirably; she felt that Burr must recognize
+sterling manhood and aristocratic breeding. This he did, and more, for
+at a glance he read the book and volume of her husband's character,
+interpreting more accurately than it was in her nature to do. The
+woman's partial eye discovered the sound qualities it wished to see,
+while the calculating insight of the man of the world detected the
+flaws he was too willing to find.
+
+The solemnities of introduction being safely over, Blennerhassett
+monopolized the guest, and led the way to his study, eager to set
+forth a feast of information. Among his books he could talk like a
+book; out of the library he lost energy. There was one source from
+which he took a current of mental force more vitalizing than any
+stream of ideas from books, and that source was the superior intellect
+of his wife. Hardly could he make up his mind on any practical matter,
+unassisted by her thinking and advice. Doubly dependent, he was not
+the man to cope with the daring, self-reliant, versatile Aaron Burr.
+But once in his stronghold, bulwarked by standard editions, and, as it
+were, in the arsenal of established science, the philosopher rose to
+his best. He fairly glowed with learning's soft fire, while exhibiting
+his telescope, microscope, electrical machine, _et cetera_, and
+stating to the last shilling what each piece of apparatus cost and how
+it was to be used. Burr, himself a victim of mild bibliomania, took
+most interest in the loaded shelves, along which his eyes travelled
+with rapid discrimination.
+
+"I see familiars here. Your Voltaire is a match for mine.
+Ah!--Rousseau, Bentley, Gibbon, Hume--I fancy myself in my study on
+Richmond Hill. You must be a free-thinker. Where is the Holy Bible? I
+hope you are not past that?"
+
+"The Sacred Scripture? I have two copies. I believe they are both in
+Margaret's room--I mean Mrs. Blennerhassett's. She reads the Bible
+frequently, especially the poetical parts. The Hebrew mind is
+poetical. I have searched the Scripture in vain for scientific data.
+There is little or no exact science in the work. Nothing on physic,
+though they claim that St. Luke was a doctor. Let me show you a
+remarkable volume--centuries old--this folio copy of Hippocrates,
+translated from the original Greek into Arabic and from Arabic into
+Latin. My favorite reading, however, is purely literary--the book of
+books--the incomparable Homer. Alexander the Great kept his Homer in
+a golden box; I keep mine in my head, sir, or perhaps I should say, in
+my heart. I have committed to memory the greater part of the epic."
+
+"Is it possible?"
+
+To Burr's consternation, the host seemed desirous of proving that it
+was possible, by reciting the _Iliad_.
+
+Blennerhassett kept hexameters flowing several minutes, marking
+quantity with tongue and moving finger.
+
+"What a pity we lack spondees, in English, colonel. Do you write
+verse, sir?"
+
+"Not I. I suppose you do?"
+
+"No; not since leaving college. I admire poetry, but I could never
+master the meters. It is different with Margaret--I mean my wife. She
+writes correctly. She is a born poet. You recall Horace, '_poeta
+nascitur_.' I confine my pen to the composition of music and political
+essays."
+
+"I have heard of your political writings, but not of your musical
+compositions," said Burr; the last half of the speech being true. "Nor
+have I had the good fortune to read the poems of Madam Blennerhassett.
+Are they in print?"
+
+"Some have been published, fugitively; the most of them remain in
+manuscript."
+
+"Sir, you could not give me a greater pleasure than the perusal of
+those poems would afford."
+
+The near-sighted sage unlocked a rosewood cabinet and took out three
+leaves of tinted paper which he gave to Burr. On the pages were
+written, in fine hand, several stanzas under the title, "Indian
+Summer."
+
+"Read this at your leisure and give me your opinion." Burr, bowing,
+took the manuscript, and the complaisant husband, pointing to a pile
+of sheet music, spoke on. "This is of my own composition. Do you play
+the violoncello?"
+
+Burr shook his head.
+
+"Perhaps you prefer the violin or the flute?"
+
+"No, I cannot play any instrument--not even a jewsharp."
+
+"Not even that?" murmured the other, with a sigh of infinite regret.
+"I am fond of the violincello, the viola da gamba of medieval times.
+Properly it is not a viol--not a base viol as some suppose, but a
+violin of extra large size. That is what it is."
+
+While imparting this knowledge, the speaker drew from a baize bag the
+instrument, and tuned it. He placed an open music book upon a rest,
+and proceeded to entertain his audience of one. He played and played
+and played. The best way to please such an artist is to humor the
+illusion that his exertions give pleasure. No human performance can
+last forever--not even a concert. A string broke, and the musician,
+putting his 'cello aside with a sigh, suffered the conversation to run
+in a new channel opened by Burr.
+
+"Bravo! You play delightfully. There is magic in your fingers. Beware
+of such skill; it may charm yourself to your injury. You have read
+everything; you remember Bunyan's episode of the Enchanted Ground.
+This island reminds me of that valley of rest. Is it possible you have
+forgotten the world since abandoning public affairs?"
+
+"No, sir; no. I sought retirement for many reasons, but I am a
+cosmopolitan. I care for the welfare of the race. I may describe
+myself as a philanthropist, a humanitarian. I know Europe, I am
+learning America. My local attachments are not strong, though my
+principles are like iron. I left my native country to seek a larger
+freedom in the United States."
+
+"Then why do you confine your liberty? This is a pent-up field for a
+man of broad views."
+
+"I beg your pardon. Solitude is the best school in which to study
+society. In this seclusion I read, and reading makes a full man.
+Though a newcomer, I try to keep myself informed concerning this
+country's history and institutions. I do not understand all the
+complications of your politics; I am no partisan. No one is better
+prepared than yourself to expound public matters. This dispute in
+regard to the boundary line between Louisiana and Mexico threatens
+war, does it not?"
+
+"I fear not," replied Burr, remarking an opportunity to inform and
+bias an unwary savant. The lump had invited the leaven.
+
+"I fear not."
+
+"Then you desire war?"
+
+"This Government should take care of its own, at all hazards. The
+Spaniards wish to provoke hostilities. My friend and fellow-officer,
+General Wilkinson, commander-in-chief of the Western troops, holds the
+army in readiness to advance into Mexico at a moment's warning."
+
+"At a moment's warning?" repeated Blennerhassett, dubiously. "General
+Wilkinson told you so? Is he--a reliable officer?"
+
+"He and I are most intimate friends. We consult on public and on
+private concerns. I have just returned from his headquarters in St.
+Louis, where we were considering a business enterprise--the purchase
+of a large tract on the Wachita river, between the Red and the
+Sabine."
+
+"Do you purpose returning South to remain?"
+
+"My intention is to buy those fertile lands, establish a colony, and
+develop the resources of the region, as a sure and easy means of
+making my own fortune, and the fortunes of my associates."
+
+"You are confident that the prospect of increasing your capital is
+good?"
+
+"I am absolutely certain. I speak positively, but not rashly."
+
+Blennerhassett nodded slowly, three or four times, and Burr spoke on.
+
+"That the investment will prove enormously profitable I have not the
+shadow of a shade of doubt. General Wilkinson knows the property, and
+so do I. There are more than a million acres to be had for fifty
+thousand dollars. The present value is ten times that amount."
+
+"If the inquiry is not impertinent, sir, have you organized a joint
+stock company? Have you completed your plans?"
+
+"Practically, everything is arranged. Negotiations are afoot. The
+necessary capital will be forthcoming. We take no risk. To you I will
+say, in confidence, that the number of shareholders will be severely
+limited. You know how desirable it is, in partnerships of this kind,
+to admit only men of unimpeachable honor."
+
+Again Blennerhassett nodded three or four times, like an automaton.
+Burr, affecting to dismiss the topic, turned again to the book-shelves
+and fell to reading the gilded titles. A copy of "The Prince" arrested
+his eye. Taking this down, he opened it at random, and read aloud:
+"Men will always prove bad, unless by necessity they are compelled to
+be good."
+
+"What do you think of that as an estimate of human nature?"
+
+"Abominable!"
+
+Burr fluttered the leaves of the famous treatise and came upon this
+sentence, marked by a pen: "It is of great consequence to disguise
+your inclination and to play the hypocrite well; and men are so simple
+in their temper and so submissive, that he that is neat and cleanly in
+his collusions shall never want people to practice upon."
+
+"Why did you mark that passage?"
+
+"To condemn the doctrine. The hypocrite can never thrive; the plain,
+honest man always sees through the disguise. Virtue is all-seeing, but
+fraud is blind."
+
+"You mint apothegms, sir. It is an intellectual feast to hear you
+talk."
+
+Burr replaced Machiavelli on its shelf, confronted his host, and, in a
+tone deferential and almost apologetic, said, "You must not accuse me
+of flattery, sir, when I bluntly charge you with defrauding the world
+and robbing that humanity which you profess to love."
+
+"I can't find any flattery in such accusation. Kindly explain what you
+mean. Whom do I defraud? and how is it flattery to charge a man with
+insincerity?"
+
+"Well, you seem to me to be evading your duty to the world, by hiding
+from its great public interests, enterprises and conflicts. You linger
+here, a magnificent hermit. If ever a philanthropist hid his light
+under a bushel, thou art the man. If ever brilliant talents rusted in
+a napkin, yours do. Your noble wife is cut off from the splendid
+career appropriate to her, and is compelled to devote her days to
+rural walks and the direction of a few negro slaves. Not to dwell on
+the sacrifice of mother and sons, your own learning, fortune, and
+extraordinary mental powers--your genius for dealing with men--are
+here employed, not in the service of mankind, but in--" Burr was
+tempted to say "fiddling," but he substituted the words--"gazing at
+the stars through a telescope. Pardon me for speaking strongly. It is
+only a few hours since we first met, but I am drawn to you. I admire
+and esteem you, and my motive in this perhaps impertinent appeal, is
+the wish to serve you."
+
+Blennerhassett felt much gratified by the insidious censure. His
+portrait, amiably regarding its original from the wall, listened
+approvingly to Burr, and smiled acquiescence. "Does the mild-eyed
+thing recollect me?" mused Burr. The picture betrayed no sign of
+recognition and the original spoke.
+
+"Such candor is rare, and I appreciate it. I am honored by the
+outspoken confidence of the man I know you to be, not only from what I
+have read of your political course, which I wholly approve, but from
+Mrs. Blennerhassett's reports of your conversation. Her judgment is
+unerring. I defer to it. You will confer a great favor on me by
+explaining, in detail, your Southern plans."
+
+Thus solicited, Burr adroitly availed himself of the opportunity to
+divulge, not only his project of settling the Bastrop lands, but such
+part of his other plans as he deemed it prudent to reveal at the time.
+He learned to his satisfaction that Blennerhassett had no repugnance
+to the idea of separating the Western States from the Eastern and of
+invading Mexico. Burr's angling had gone on for an hour, with lures so
+tempting that the gudgeon seemed about to swallow bait, hook and all,
+when the conversation was disturbed by an unusual clamor of excited
+voices coming from the negro quarters. Blennerhassett, in a flurry,
+excused himself, and hastened to inquire what was the matter. He found
+his servants, black and white, huddled together around Scipio, who had
+just told the grinning crowd that Honest Moses was missing from the
+plantation, having been enticed by an Ohio farmer to cross the river
+and run away to the free North.
+
+This was Scipio's story, but Peter Taylor, who stood smoking a small
+pipe, with looks of austere indifference to all human interests, had
+another theory to account for the leave-taking of Moses.
+
+"I've no hidea 'e ran away to Ohio. That lazy nigger 'ated work too
+much to run away to Ohio. I suspicion that the rascal drifted away on
+a flatboat."
+
+"What makes you think so, Peter?"
+
+"I can't say that I altogether think anything sure about the nigger.
+It isn't my business to think about other people's business. I only
+say I suspicion. If I knew what was hid in the future, I would have
+told. But it's my firm suspicion that a boatman by the name of
+Sheldrake lured Honest Moses away on a flatboat."
+
+"No; Mars Taylor," reiterated Scipio, "Moses done tole Ransom he was
+gwine to run off, up Muskingum."
+
+"When did he tell you?"
+
+"Las' Crismus."
+
+"For de Lawd sake!" cried out Juno, the kitchen maid, whose rolling
+eyes were the first to see the master approaching. "I never 'spected
+Honest Moses of sneaking fum his good home and kind Mars and Missus
+like a brack thief in de night. Whar's Daniel? I hy'ard him prayin'
+for Moses yesterday."
+
+"No prayin' is gwine to keep Honest Moses fum de debil. Dat nigger's
+not got no religion to his name--not a speck. Didn't I tell Missus
+when she thought she cotched me and Ransom sellin' watermillions and
+sweet 'tatoes to de boys from Marietta, dat it was Moses done it?"
+
+Exasperated, perplexed, not knowing how to act, Blennerhassett sought
+his wife, with whom he held a closet conference, lamenting his
+troubles and soliciting counsel. The lady advised him to summon Peter
+Taylor, and suggested that the two should go across the river to
+Belpre, there consult the squire, and set in motion every available
+agency to insure the recapture of the fugitive. The much-worried
+philosopher begged Burr to excuse him for a couple of hours, and
+hurriedly started on his vexatious quest, accompanied by the
+phlegmatic gardener. Complying good-naturedly with a proposal of
+Dominick and little Harman, and convoyed by those devoted children,
+Burr explored orchards, fields and stockyard, and won the extravagant
+praises of the black people by visiting their quarters and greeting
+every one, from Scipio to the youngest pickaninny, with a cheerful
+word and a smile. Every slave on the plantation was in voluntary bonds
+to "Mars Burr, de fine gen'leman wi' de coal brack eyes."
+
+
+
+
+XIII. THE ENCHANTED GROUND.
+
+
+While Blennerhassett tramped about Belpre, his wife assumed the
+government at home, and Burr studied fresh means of invading her
+heart. The lady neither saw nor wished any escape from the pleasant
+task of entertaining the affable "pilgrim." Considering how seldom a
+person of extraordinary mental gifts brought to her isolated home the
+sparkle of wit, the hostess made the most of a golden opportunity. She
+waited with eagerness for Burr's return from his ramble with the boys,
+whose adhesiveness she knew by experience might prove too constant,
+like the clinging of Sindbad's Old Man of the Sea.
+
+Burr, despite his professed fondness for the company of boys, longed
+to exchange the society of Dominick and Harman for that of their
+winsome mother. Therefore, he managed to engage the lads in the
+construction of a mimic fort in a cornfield. Promising to inspect the
+grand earthwork when it was completed, the colonel slipped away to
+reconnoiter another field.
+
+Retreating in good order, he arrived at the long portico, and, under
+its cover, passed to the hall, through which he reached the cosy room
+where he and Arlington had been entertained. The French sofa, the
+ebony stand, the clavier, looked familiar. The gilded harp stood
+invitingly in a place of honor. He drew near the instrument, and,
+smiling to himself, thrummed a few notes on the lower strings. As if
+summoned by the sound, from the routine of household tasks, the
+mistress of the mansion entered in her regal manner and begged pardon
+for having neglected her guest.
+
+Burr was in his element as the bird in air; his winged words now
+skimmed the surface of common levels, now soared, then circled round
+subjects grave or gay, often fluttering, but never failing. The range
+of discussion was wide and free. They talked society, arts, countries,
+travels, the pleasure of life and its pain. He told of his sojourn in
+New Orleans, describing a city not celestial, but abounding in the
+delights of this world. She gave reminiscences of her birthplace, the
+Isle of Wight, spoke of her marriage and subsequent journeyings in
+Europe and America.
+
+Burr recalled the incidents of his previous visit, and besought madam
+to sing again the songs which had delighted him that evening after the
+ramble in the woods. She cheerfully complied; for singing was her
+prime accomplishment. The lady felt keen enjoyment in the
+consciousness of being understood and sympathized with, by a man of
+brains and character.
+
+The hour for lunch having arrived, Burr was conducted to the
+dining-room, and the pair sat down to a dainty repast, served by a
+black damsel, who cast furtive glances upon the stranger, and observed
+that the "Missus" wore her finest jewels and seemed refreshed by the
+cares of hospitality. Never before had such enlivening gossip been
+heard by a servant in that sober house. The table-talk played
+familiarly with names and individuals.
+
+"What became of the handsome young Arlington?"
+
+"You think him handsome? He is in Virginia. I expect him to join me in
+a business enterprise. A fine fellow, thorough-bred. His name calls to
+mind your _protégée_, the golden-haired Yankee beauty. Arlington was
+smitten by her demure eyes--pierced to the heart. Those wild violets
+worked him woe."
+
+"Are you sure? Did he own it?"
+
+"He did not confess in words, but I divined the secret, which was no
+secret, for he revealed it by every sign known to the Court of Love.
+He was struck as by lightning--stunned by a love bolt."
+
+"The stroke was harmless. On his return from Cincinnati he passed
+through Marietta, where he knows Evaleen lives, and made no effort to
+meet her, but rode by her house; I was with her on the porch, and we
+both saw him trot past on a black horse. He stared our way and must
+have identified us, yet he turned his face forward and spurred on."
+
+"Incredible! Your eyes deceived you."
+
+"No; it was Mr. Arlington; he made a flying trip to the island in
+company with a peculiar person, one Plutarch Byle."
+
+"Byle? I shall never forget Plutarch!" interjected Burr, laughingly.
+"Dominick christened our fort, 'Fort Byle.'"
+
+"Have you seen our gaunt Hercules? Isn't he an odd Grecian? In his
+'piroque' he brought Mr. Arlington here. I was from home, as I said.
+My husband suggested to your Virginian friend that he ought to call on
+the Hales, but the faithless cavalier slighted us. I much doubt his
+interest in Evaleen."
+
+"I am certain he was smitten."
+
+"Then he is inconstant, or else belongs to the tribe of faint hearts.
+How ridiculous the idea of folks falling in love at first sight! Yet
+they often do. The girl was pleased with him, and she still likes
+him."
+
+"Likes him, does she?" drawled Burr, sarcastically, and lifted a
+gherkin to his teeth.
+
+"Yes, don't you like him?"
+
+"Very much."
+
+He bit the pickle quite savagely.
+
+"What do you think of _her_?"
+
+"It cannot be the fault of the male sex that she remains single."
+
+"Some women are not inclined to marry."
+
+"Is Miss Hale one of those foolish virgins?"
+
+"She is wise in taking time to select. She has many suitors."
+
+"And you think she likes Arlington?"
+
+"I know she does."
+
+"Humph! she might do better."
+
+"She might fare worse."
+
+"Does he write to her?"
+
+"No, not that I know of."
+
+"He is an idiot."
+
+"You show a jealous interest in the young man." Here madam halted
+abruptly. "Pardon me; I hear the boys; their father must have
+returned."
+
+She rose expecting to receive her husband at the dining-room door, but
+the footsteps she heard were not his. The vociferous boys came rushing
+in. "Fort Byle" was finished. Wouldn't "General" Burr come and see?
+
+"You should not storm in, rudely, children; you disturb us. Harman,
+you have ruined your clothes; you are covered from head to foot
+with--I don't know what!"
+
+"Spanish needles and sticktights; they won't hurt. Juno will scrape
+them off. We're hungry."
+
+"Won't he come to the fort after luncheon?" importuned Dominick.
+
+"Yes, I will come."
+
+"Listen," said the mother. "My son, you must first go with me to the
+ferry. I am uneasy about papa. He did not intend to be gone longer
+than a couple of hours. We must try to meet him. Perhaps the colonel
+will go along, down to the landing."
+
+"Certainly," replied the colonel, studying how to get rid of the
+"sticktights."
+
+After luncheon, all set out on the proposed walk to the river-side.
+The island and the vistas it commanded naturally drew folks out of
+doors. Finer weather could not be imagined. The distance from the lawn
+to the wharf, by way of the winding road, measured not less than a
+quarter of a mile. The boys raced ahead in the frolic fashion of human
+colts, yelling, leaping and throwing stones. Slowly the matron and her
+escort followed, far in the wake of the obstreperous juveniles.
+
+"They are growing up like savages," said the mother, deprecatingly.
+"What shall I do with them? To teach them properly seems impossible. I
+am the parent of a brace of barbarians. Yet they are dear sweet
+boys--loving and brave. They despise meanness and never tell lies."
+
+"Then you are the mother of nobles. They will be men--to-morrow.
+Plato truly says the boy is the most unmanageable of animals. Boys
+have an element of the cruel and ferocious. But we need not take this
+much to heart. They will outgrow the savage. We must not look for ripe
+fruit on green sprouts, nor for elaborate reason or virtue in
+children."
+
+"Yet I cannot bear to have them grow up in wild ignorance."
+
+"No; youth must be guided. No greater evil can befall a lad than to be
+left to do as he pleases. Yet in well-born children, such as yours,
+much may be trusted to nature. I rely on human essence. Freedom is the
+best school. I don't believe we are born with evil passions and base
+propensities. God made our faculties. The doctrine of total depravity
+slanders the Creator. The perfect man uses all, abuses none of his
+organs or energies. To educate a man is to give his hands, brain, and
+heart their maximum power. This can be done outside of academies. The
+free schooling out of school, which your sons now enjoy, is a
+discipline towards success in life. Those fellows will be of some
+account, depend upon it. The ancient Eastern wisdom said, 'Know
+thyself'; the new Western oracle says, 'Do something worth doing.'"
+
+"How true and how encouraging," exclaimed the enthusiast at his side.
+"I wish Mr. Blennerhassett could hear your broad views. But I am not
+sure you are right in relying entirely on weak human nature. I was
+taught to mistrust the natural man. Is not conversion necessary?"
+
+"In case the soul begins with a pure inheritance, I see no necessity
+for regeneration. We come into the world potentially complete. The
+thorough development of body and mind will furnish the world with a
+perfect man. The best education gives man's natural powers the right
+direction and the greatest efficiency. _We must trust_ in what we
+are,--in our own selfhood. Give man elbow room, give him breathing
+space, liberty to think, feel and do. This is true living."
+
+Mrs. Blennerhassett stooped to pick up a blood-red leaf. They were
+nearing the boat-landing. The way was overarched by spreading branches
+of gigantic maple-trees. The boys had wandered to the head of the
+island, two furlongs away.
+
+"What of woman's education? Should it differ from man's?"
+
+"No; I train my daughter as I might train a son."
+
+"Are her thoughts like yours?"
+
+"I put slight restraint on her thoughts or emotions. There is no sex
+in soul. Woman should be free as the free breeze singing in the leaves
+over our head, and ruffling the waves out yonder on the river."
+
+"You grow eloquent. Is it the singing breeze or the rippling water
+that causes you to put your principles in language so poetical?"
+
+"Do I speak poetically? That grand oak tree may shed Dodonian
+influence. It looks the king of trees--the emperor. These magnificent
+maples, robed and crowned in emerald, gold, and royal crimson, are the
+queens."
+
+"I am glad you love the forest, and are susceptible to nature's
+subtile appeals. I don't like people who have no feeling for scenery,
+and are not affected by the sublime and beautiful in nature. Mr.
+Blennerhassett does not agree with me in applying such a test to judge
+one's friends by. He thinks I might be deceived, and says that very
+wicked folks may delight in very lovely scenes. In my opinion the good
+and the beautiful are in harmony, and a wicked heart seldom goes with
+an æsthetic taste. I may be wrong, but I like to think that souls
+which are thrilled by the stars and the mountains and the sea, and by
+such forms and colors as we now contemplate, must be the nobler and
+purer for the experience."
+
+Burr listened attentively to this rhapsody. The melodious voice spoke
+on: "I never grow tired gazing on this landscape. Splendid!"
+
+"Splendid!" echoed Burr.
+
+A subdued rapture animated the lady's features and imparted fresh
+vitality of beauty to her breathing form. She advanced to the edge of
+the water, stepped upon the ferryboat, an uncouth scow, like a
+floating wharf, with stout railing upon the sides. From this platform
+she could take in a fuller prospect. The joy of admiration possessed
+her. She stood, self-forgetful, looking upon the gleaming river and
+the distant, gorgeous Ohio hills. Burr, lingering on the bank, a few
+yards behind, certainly took an intense human interest in the
+landscape, seeing in the foreground that symmetrical figure, with
+plump arm outstretched. To be the sole spectator of that unstudied
+pose was worth more than the Vatican and all the galleries in the
+world.
+
+"See the bright sunshine, the soft shadow, the dim gold of the water,
+and the misty blue of the sky! Those magnificent hills seem not solid
+substance but piled clouds, yellow, and green, and scarlet. Can any
+other valley in the world show a more satisfactory picture, outlines
+as lovely, tints so delicate!"
+
+"Nowhere else, in all my travels," murmured Burr, speaking from his
+point of view. "Nowhere have I seen so much beauty at a single glance.
+The picture is unrivalled."
+
+"Do you say this in earnest or only to please me?" queried the frank
+gentlewoman, turning her face shoreward in time to see a pair of dark
+eyes regarding her with unaccountable ardor. Burr courteously
+proffered his hand to assist her from the pedestal, the deck of the
+scow. She accepted his aid, and lightly sprang to the damp sand of the
+beach, into which her foot sank deep enough to print a pretty track.
+
+"Look out, you will soil your shoes; shall I remove the mud?" said
+Burr, taking out his handkerchief.
+
+"No, thanks; it is only clean sand." A tuft of soft green grass
+furnished a ready mat, on which she wiped her small foot, not
+invisible to Burr while he modestly inspected the mussel shells and
+polished pebbles washed ashore by the plashing ripples. From the beach
+he picked a bone-like fragment resembling milky quartz. This he
+brought to the lady, who had chosen a mossy seat on the trunk of a
+fallen sycamore.
+
+"It is a lucky-stone," she remarked. "It brings fortune."
+
+"I will send it to Theodosia," said the finder, pocketing the
+treasure.
+
+A pensive mood had succeeded the anxious wife's elation. She gazed
+across the river expectantly. Not a rowboat in sight, excepting a
+skiff lying alongside the scow.
+
+"I fear he is having needless bother. How miserable! Our slaves are a
+burden, not worth the trifles they pilfer. I wish they would all run
+away, then we might have an excuse for flying."
+
+"And could you leave your earthly paradise?"
+
+"Yes; though I am attached to the island. I should regret to lose the
+trees, the river, the sky."
+
+"Earth and sky stretch far. I sympathize with your feeling for the
+place. I told your husband it was like Bunyan's Enchanted Ground.
+Beulah, however, and the Delectable Mountains lie beyond the Enchanted
+Ground."
+
+"More poetry!"
+
+"Could I make verse, I would sing of October in the Ohio Valley, or of
+Indian Summer, which comes in November, don't it?"
+
+She glanced up inquiringly. He held some leaves of pink paper covered
+with writing, recognizing which, she flushed.
+
+"How did you come by that? Did he--?"
+
+She made a motion as if to take the paper. Burr, pretending not to see
+the gesture, began to read in a low voice, infusing into the verse
+more thought and sentiment than it contained. His perfect reading gave
+the commonplace stanzas æsthetic effect. The authoress confessed
+their merit to her secret soul.
+
+"I am vexed that Harman gave you that. It is silly stuff."
+
+"On the contrary, it is literature. You don't know, madam, how good it
+is. I have a favor to beg; allow this poem to be printed in the _Port
+Folio_. I know the editor, Jo Dennie, and shall call and give him this
+copy when I reach Philadelphia. You will not deny me this pleasure?"
+
+Confident that she would not take offense he slid the lines on Indian
+Summer into his breast pocket, to keep company with the lucky-stone.
+The situation had become riskily sentimental and intensely stimulating
+to Burr's disposition as a social trifler. He was reckless of
+consequences, vain of conquest over any woman, and scrupulous only to
+avoid failure in his amours. The more innocent and virtuous the
+victim, the keener and more careful was he in pursuit. To entrap
+unsuspecting game without exciting alarm he considered the most
+exquisite art of gallantry. What sport it was to entangle this superb
+creature in a web of invisible gossamer threads!
+
+"Tell me more about your Theodosia. Have you a picture of her?"
+
+The question and request smote the father's conscience with a
+momentary compunction.
+
+"I will tell you all about Theodosia. I like to think and speak of
+her. She is my life, my soul, my ambition, my joy. Theodosia has no
+fault that I can see, no trait which I do not admire and love. She
+is--"
+
+The sentence was stopped short by a startling cry--a scream. Madam
+Blennerhassett sprang to her feet, trembling, and saw Dominick running
+towards her. He fell at her feet exhausted, caught at her gown and
+gasped:
+
+"Harman! Harman will drown!"
+
+She took the boy's hand and made him stand up.
+
+"Be a man. Keep calm. Speak plain. What is the matter?"
+
+"O mother! He wouldn't mind me! He pushed a rotten, old leaky dugout
+from the sandbar and climbed in, with a piece of paddle, and got out
+so far that the current caught him."
+
+"What sandbar? Which channel?"
+
+"This side. The Ohio side."
+
+The mother suddenly grew faint. Speech forsook her tongue. The trees
+vanished and the air was a blur, through which she saw a moving shape
+that looked the shadow of a human figure. All this in an instant. The
+swoon passed, the trees reappeared, the shadow took the form of Aaron
+Burr, tugging at a chain which fastened a skiff to a timber of the
+scow. A violent jerk wrenched out the strong staple that held the
+chain padlocked to the ferryboat, and the mother saw the colonel leap
+into the skiff, seize the oars, and launch out into midstream. This
+natural act, heroic in her esteem, she saw and her heart grew big with
+gratitude. She beheld another sight which caused at once a shock of
+hope and a shudder of despair. She had hurried to the deck of the scow
+to get an unobstructed view of the river both up stream and down.
+Dominick at her side uttered a wild cry. "There he comes now!"
+
+"There he comes!" But where she could not at first make out. Dominick
+pointed to an object like a drifting log in the middle of the
+swift-flowing stream. The object--a wooden trough, not three yards
+long--carried one mariner, the venturesome baby, Harman. The tiny
+craft and its helpless passenger came into plain view nearly opposite
+the landing. Burr's boat was rapidly nearing the crazy dugout when the
+terror-stricken castaway, catching a glimpse of his mother, rashly
+stood up and called "Mamma! Mamma!"
+
+"Sit down! Sit down!" shouted Burr.
+
+"Keep still! Sit down!" screamed Dominick.
+
+The distracted mother, to enforce obedience, added gestures to cries.
+The scared child, further agitated by these demonstrations, entirely
+lost self-control. His posture caused the unstable trough to topple
+over and the lad was plunged into the flood. The frothing mouth of a
+wave swallowed him. No; his doom was not sealed; taught by instinct or
+by pluck, the little fellow had the presence of mind to save himself
+by clinging to the capsized canoe. He held on tenaciously, drifting
+like a part of the treacherous log. Burr's skiff was in full chase a
+few rods in the wake. The mother watched the race, breathless, numb,
+with all-seeing eye. Her hands gripped the oaken bar fastened across
+that end of the ferryboat which was farthest out in the river and she
+stretched forward head and body, heedless of the down-tumbling mass of
+her loosened hair, reckless of everything but the fate of her boy. Her
+strained gaze kept focussed on the precious drift. Dominick wept
+aloud.
+
+"What shall we do? What shall we do? Oh, if papa were only here!"
+
+"Hush! Don't cry. Don't speak. What could your father do? Pray with
+all your soul; pray to Heaven that Colonel Burr may save your
+brother."
+
+The aching eyes measured the diminishing distance between the two
+boats. It seemed to the mother possible, for nothing is impossible to
+faith, that by the sheer force of her projected will she might hold
+the child back from death. Even while she solaced her dread with this
+fancy the gliding log slipped free from the lad's tired fingers, and
+again the woman watching from the ferry gave up hope. She shuddered,
+closed her eyes, and pressed her forehead hard against the oak
+railing.
+
+"O my God, my God! our darling is gone!"
+
+At this crisis Dominick believed he saw what his mother, bowed and
+blinded, did not see--a miracle working. Pantingly he cried out
+"Mamma!" The only response to his call was a moan and the despairing
+words, "Drowned! My baby is drowned!"
+
+"No! No! Look, mother! See there! Colonel Burr won't let Harman sink!
+Look! He has him by the arm, he has pulled him into the skiff. It did
+good to pray."
+
+Burr, acting as any man would have done under the circumstances,
+having rescued the child without danger to himself and with little
+difficulty, was a demi-god in the estimation of the Blennerhassett
+family. Little Harman's misadventure, the enforced long swimming in
+rough water, the two duckings and their disagreeable effects on throat
+and lungs, left him in a wretched condition, but by no means in need
+of a coffin. His teeth chattered, his hands were blue, he whimpered,
+but when Burr landed him high, if not dry, on a bed of gravel at the
+river's margin, the drenched youngster mustered heroism enough to
+comfort his mother by piping out the assurance, "I'm all right."
+
+"Thank God you are, my sweet pet, and thank Colonel Burr for saving
+you," sobbed Madam Blennerhassett, while she gathered the shivering
+young one into her bosom, and almost extinguished the life that was
+left in him with tears and fondlings.
+
+Burr took off his coat, and wrapped it about the protesting infant,
+and carried him home, a feat as glorious, in the mother's mind, as his
+historic exploit of bearing Montgomery's body from the battlefield.
+Dry clothing, doses of cordial, vigorous chafing of body and limbs, by
+many loving hands, soon brought the patient "round." By the time his
+father came home, soon after the rescue, the urchin declared he was
+"well" and would rather upset again in the river than be rubbed and
+hugged any more.
+
+The endeavors of Blennerhassett to trace Honest Moses proved futile.
+That the slave had escaped by water, the balance of testimony rendered
+probable. Abe Sheldrake, in all likelihood, had coaxed the negro away.
+
+When night came, Blennerhassett, holding curtain council, as usual,
+with his wife, dutifully repeated to her what Burr had revealed of the
+Wachita speculation, and asked advice. She made up his mind promptly.
+"Share the enterprise, if you think he really wishes your
+co-operation. Do whatever he desires. We can never cancel our debt of
+obligation. We owe him everything. He saved your namesake's life."
+
+Convinced by this womanly reasoning, Harman, senior, could scarcely
+sleep nor wait till morning, so eager was he to lay his influence, his
+purse and his property at Burr's disposal. Before the clock struck
+five he was out of bed, and the quavering of his flute disturbed the
+colonel's slumber. No sooner was breakfast over than the conference on
+the land-purchase project was resumed, Madam Blennerhassett
+participating.
+
+"You propose," said Blennerhassett, "to buy forty thousand acres for
+forty thousand dollars, and you have the pledge of Mr. Clarke, of New
+Orleans, and of your son-in-law, Governor Alston, that they will stand
+surety for you. I will gladly make a third with these gentlemen."
+
+The offer was graciously accepted as a trust betokening future
+transactions of mutual profit. Further confidential discourse ensued,
+and it was agreed that Mr. Blennerhassett should assist the cause by
+writing, under a pseudonym, a series of essays for the Ohio _Gazette_,
+on the commercial interests of the West, indirectly favoring disunion.
+
+Burr congratulated himself on the successful issue of his second
+campaign in the Enchanted Ground. He had won the islanders. Promising
+to keep the Blennerhassetts apprised of the progress of his plans, he
+bade old and young good-bye, and departed for Philadelphia, the
+lucky-stone in his breast pocket.
+
+
+
+
+XIV. A LARGESS OF CORONETS.
+
+
+The story leaps over a period of nine months. The winter of 1805-6
+disrobed the trees on Blennerhassett's Island and spring again
+reclothed them. Wild violets once more sprinkled the glades and a new
+flowering of rosebushes in the garden fronting the house increased the
+fame and complacency of Peter Taylor. Another July plumed the maize,
+where the plough had obliterated Fort Byle. At last came imperial
+August, and with the glowing month returned Aaron Burr, his designs
+ripened, his enthusiasm culminant. The silent wheelwork of conspiracy
+had now been in operation for upward of a year. The arch complotter
+was of buoyant heart and happy tongue, for he came accompanied by
+Theodosia, the loved associate in whom he reposed absolute trust, the
+good familiar whom he invoked when all other spirits failed him.
+
+Theodosia made no enemies. Her beauty attracted and her amiability
+retained the devotion of men, the friendship of women. Nature had
+lavished upon her those rare, delicate, elusive qualities which go to
+make up that top flower of evolution, the woman of fascination, a
+creature indefinable, like poetry. In New York, city and State, she
+was a reigning belle, caressed by society; she had been named the
+social queen of South Carolina, under the title of la Sainte Madam
+Alston. To Theodosia, his only child, whose education he directed,
+whose opinions he had shaped, whose sympathies were always with him,
+right or wrong, who after her marriage scarce less than before, looked
+to him for guidance, as he to her for implicit approval--to her Burr
+confided every detail of his plan of conquest, every vaulting
+anticipation of sovereignty. "Be what my heart desires and it will
+console me for all the evils of life. With a little more determination
+you will obtain all that my ambition or vanity fondly imagines." In
+this strain was the father wont to appeal to the daughter, by letter.
+His thoughts, like carrier pigeons, were always homing to her. Hounded
+by obloquy, accused of murder, when he fled from Richmond Hill after
+the duel at Weehauken, he sought security and absolution in the
+sanctuary of la Sainte Alston's house in Charleston. "You and your boy
+will control my fate," he had exclaimed. And now, when the
+seek-no-further hung ruddy on the orchard bough, and the wild bigonia
+swang in air ten thousand trumpets of red gold, Burr reappeared at the
+White House of Blennerhassett, according to his promise, bringing with
+him Theodosia Alston and her little son.
+
+"Behold," said Burr to Madam Blennerhassett, in the ornate style he
+had learned to use when addressing her, "this is my Sheba, to whom I
+have not told the half of your bounty or the king's wisdom. She has
+not come to prove him with hard questions, but to repose under his
+almug trees. My daughter, Mrs. Alston."
+
+"She is no stranger to my thoughts," said the hostess, embracing and
+kissing Theodosia. "Our minds have met in our correspondence. How very
+young you look, and how like your father. And the baby resembles you
+both."
+
+"No baby," chimed in Burr, cheerily. "He has grown a big boy, have you
+not, Gamp? Harman must take charge of him and teach him to build
+forts, play Indian, and go buccaneering in a dugout."
+
+"What a funny name!" returned Harman, partly in self-defense.
+
+"Gamp is his short, everyday name," explained the colonel. "It means
+grandpa. But on great public occasions, when Gamp is on his dignity,
+we must address him by his full title, Don Gampillo."
+
+Theodosia valued the lightest foam-bell on the wayward surface of
+fashion, yet had escaped what Burr condemned as "the cursed effects of
+fashionable education," and it is needless to say that conventional
+ceremonies were waived between herself and the lady of the isle.
+
+"You came from Marietta; were you agreeably entertained there?"
+
+"They lionized father."
+
+"No; they 'snaked' me. I was dragged into service by main force."
+
+"Father means that they insisted on his drilling the militia. We
+arrived on a muster day, and nothing would do but he must prove the
+right to his rank by explaining the manual of arms. There are ever so
+many old soldiers in Marietta."
+
+"Yes, I drilled the men as soldiers, in the afternoon, and she drilled
+them as captives, in the evening, at the ball; a modified fan-drill
+made them march to her orders. Theodosia danced with at least a dozen
+distinguished citizens."
+
+"How many wives, widows, spinsters and school-girls did you lead up
+and down?" retorted Theodosia.
+
+"I don't know; I didn't count; I dance for politeness, not for
+victory. My daughter has a drop of coquette's blood in her veins;
+though where it came from I can't imagine. Do you recollect,
+Theodosia, the remark of the Mayor of New York, when he invited you to
+go on board a war vessel? 'Don't bring any of your sparks on board,
+for they have a magazine and we should all be blown up.'"
+
+To the ponderous mind of Mr. Blennerhassett, the feather-light
+badinage flying back and forth between Mrs. Alston and her sire,
+smacked of unbecoming levity. He had looked up a topic for weightier
+talk.
+
+"Did you name your daughter, may I ask, Colonel Burr, anticipating
+extraordinary rank for her? Had you in mind Theodosius the First,
+called the Great, or the second and more famous emperor of the name?
+Eudosia was a Roman empress, wife of the second Theodosius. She was a
+poetess."
+
+The man of facts glanced significantly toward his own wife, and
+resumed:
+
+"Perhaps you had the name Eudosia vaguely in your memory when you
+chose the name Theodosia. History informs us that Theodosius was
+controlled by his wife and by his sister Pulcheria."
+
+"My Theodosia was so christened," answered Burr, "because I like the
+name. It sounds well. I like it the better now that you tell us it
+suggests a possibility of imperial sway. Who knows what may come to
+pass?"
+
+In anticipation of the third advent of Burr to the island, many
+letters had been exchanged, and it was arranged that, for some months
+at least, "the close contriver" of the vast enterprise in hand should
+remain with Theodosia and Don Gampillo in the mansion, the island
+being an eligible point for headquarters. Around this nucleus the
+hitherto mobile elements of his design should crystallize into
+definite shape.
+
+What had Burr been doing in the three-quarters of a year which had
+elapsed since he bade good-bye to the Blennerhassetts in October? He
+had employed most of this time in Washington and Philadelphia, writing
+hundreds of letters, sounding the President, tampering with civil and
+military officials, intrigueing with the British Minister, in a word,
+organizing a conspiracy, which he believed would eventually give him a
+dictator's unlimited command over a magnificent realm. To Wilkinson he
+had written in cipher many letters, one of which ran thus: "The
+execution of our project is postponed until December; want of water in
+the Ohio rendered movement impracticable; other reasons rendered delay
+expedient. The association is enlarged and comprises all that
+Wilkinson could wish. Confidence limited to few. Though this delay was
+irksome, it will enable us to move with more certainty and dignity.
+Burr will be through the United States this summer. Administration
+damned, which Randolph aids. Nothing has been heard from the brigadier
+since October. Address Burr at Washington."
+
+The "brigadier" remained in St. Louis until late in August, when he
+was ordered to collect his force at Fort Adams, now Vicksburg, and in
+September he transferred the troops to Natchitoches on the Red River,
+to defend the western frontier against threatened invasion by
+Spaniards beyond the Sabine.
+
+Arlington, ignorant of the treasonable designs of Burr, but zealous
+against Spain and ambitious to share in the conquest of Mexico, had
+volunteered to make a tour through Kentucky and Tennessee, to Natchez
+and New Orleans, on business relating to the Wachita lands, which Burr
+had purchased. The Virginian started on his long journey early in
+autumn.
+
+To Blennerhassett, Burr dilated in confidential privacy:
+
+"All is planned and ready to be put into execution. The iron is red on
+the anvil. At least five hundred men are pledged to me, and I have on
+my memorandum books, the names of as many thousands who will join us
+when wanted. Every man is to receive one hundred acres of the Bastrop
+land, besides his regular pay. All are to present themselves armed and
+equipped, when boats are provided for their transportation and the
+signal is given. I have told none of the volunteers exactly what will
+be expected of them, but all are devoted to us. Of prominent persons
+now in our confidence and ready to act at a word from me, I could name
+scores, besides yourself and Governor Alston. Among our confederates
+are Commodore Truxton, the British Minister at Washington, and the
+Catholic Bishop of New Orleans."
+
+"Have you considered," asked Blennerhassett, "what might be the
+condition of our venture, in case General Wilkinson fails to second
+your designs against Mexico?"
+
+"Even that contingency, I have taken into account, though we do
+Wilkinson injustice to suppose it possible that he will fail us. Our
+plans are excellent. If the Mexican string should break--as it will
+not--the Wachita string, which you helped to twist, will send a sure
+arrow to the mark of our high calling. Failure, my dear sir, is not
+possible. The gods invite to glory and to fortune."
+
+In collocutions of this tenor, Burr, adapting himself to the moods of
+his sedate ally, unfolded his purposes. The philosopher heard,
+acquiesced, and accepted the part assigned to him in the execution of
+the great business. Blennerhassett's temperament, however, was such as
+to check, in some degree, the full flow of Burr's exuberant speech. It
+was always with constraint and reservation that the latter
+communicated himself to the head of the house. Not so when in familiar
+converse with Madam Blennerhassett and Theodosia; uninfluenced by the
+dampening presence of the husband, he poured out his innermost
+cogitations, assurances, optimistic surmises. The three were in
+perfect accord. One evening they were seated in the seclusion of the
+library. The children had gone to sleep, upstairs, Harman and Gampy
+under the same chintz canopy. Mr. Blennerhassett, detained in Marietta
+on an errand relating to the affairs of the Wachita company, probably
+would not reach home before morning. Theodosia asked for a sentimental
+ballad.
+
+"Not a love-song," said Burr, "but something heroic--a battle hymn or
+a stirring march."
+
+"Will you both agree to a compromise and accept some half-romantic,
+half-pious verses which I composed and set to music? The colonel will
+remember the incident which suggested the lines."
+
+The harp was brought in from the adjoining room and Mrs.
+Blennerhassett sang her original lay with the following chorus:
+
+    "No longer in Enchanted Ground
+      Thy lingering feet delay;
+    Beulah's borders lie beyond,
+      Rise, pilgrim, and away!"
+
+"Bravo! Well sung and well said!" Burr emphasized this verdict by
+clapping his hands, and Theodosia joined in the applause.
+
+"Your allegory is no enigma to me," said she. "There is this
+difference between us and Bunyan's pilgrim--he left the Enchanted
+Ground forever--you can return when you please, and as often as you
+please. Our promised land takes in and retains all the desirable
+property on the road to the Shining Gates, and we shall possess the
+Happy City without crossing that awful river."
+
+"Ah, yes," quoth Burr, in low, earnest tones, as if uttering the
+authentic revelations of an oracle. "This life we are sure of. The
+part of wisdom is to live as if to-day were our only day, and yet
+provide for an infinite series of to-morrows. _Dum vivimus vivamus_.
+When we are established in Eldorado, in my new Spain, my Mexican
+Cathay, in our Woman's Paradise, where the tree of knowledge is not
+forbidden--then will you think the Golden Age is come again. Ours
+will be no feeble Republic, no Union of States loosely tied together
+by a filament; we will have a firmer government, a strong, liberal,
+enlightened Empire. That grand old Roman word, _Imperium_, pleases my
+ear. I will extirpate the Spanish power from the continent, and
+establish a throne at the old capital of the Montezumas."
+
+"Father!" asked Theodosia, catching fresh enthusiasm. "The Western
+States will hasten to cast off their allegiance to the East, whose
+rulers have traduced and persecuted you, and they will claim the
+protection of your banner?"
+
+"That, my daughter, is for the future to decide. If the States west of
+the Alleghanies, exercising the sacred right to secede, renounce the
+Union, and seek to join our Empire, we shall welcome them."
+
+"New Orleans would be your capital city, at first, would it not?--and
+our home would be there and not in Mexico?"
+
+"As you choose, Theodosia," replied Burr, caressing his daughter's
+hand.
+
+"And you know, my dear Mrs. Blennerhassett," chimed the radiant
+favorite, "you will be a duchess and your husband Minister to the
+Court of St. James; Mr. Alston is Chief Grandee and Secretary of
+State."
+
+In such airy nothings did the credulous women put their trust,
+entranced by the voice of the sanguine charmer. Their faith in him was
+absolute. For was not this daring leader wise and powerful and
+popular? Had he not been Vice President and had he not come within one
+vote of being President of the United States? He was cheated out of
+that one vote. Why should he not establish an independent government
+in that great West, through which his tour had been as the triumphal
+progress of a beloved monarch?
+
+In the course of the talk, Madam Blennerhassett chanced to mention the
+name of Miss Hale.
+
+"Ah! Miss Hale!" said Burr, his eyes brightening, "I have often
+thought of that splendid woman in connection with our court. She must
+be approached on the subject, madam, and by you."
+
+Theodosia glanced at her beautiful friend with a look of jealous
+surprise.
+
+"There are difficulties in the way, Colonel Burr," answered the lady
+of the island, coloring deeply. "Her father, one of the most
+influential citizens of Marietta, entertains a violent prejudice
+against you."
+
+"We want nothing to do with him, then," said Theodosia, sharply.
+
+"Ah, my dear child, there are many good men who do not know Aaron Burr
+as you know him, and whose political antipathies we must tolerate. But
+his antagonism need not prevent his peerless daughter from accepting
+the coronet of a countess."
+
+"Countess!" exclaimed Theodosia. "Is this young woman a sorceress? Has
+she bewitched you?"
+
+Mrs. Blennerhassett glimpsed her own image in the mirror. "Perhaps
+Colonel Burr anticipates raising the countess to the throne of an
+empire."
+
+"I will have a voice in that, and so will Gampy," declared Theodosia,
+with a merry laugh. "The succession is fixed."
+
+"You should become acquainted with Miss Evaleen Hale, Mrs. Alston.
+Evaleen is my most intimate friend. She is now in much anxiety on
+account of an uncle in New Orleans, a wealthy merchant, who was
+stabbed in the back by a drunken Spaniard. The wound caused partial
+paralysis, and Richard Hale desires his niece, who has always been a
+favorite, to come and attend him in his helpless condition. Several
+urgent letters have decided her to make the tedious and not altogether
+safe journey down the river on a barge, which is to start from
+Marietta within six weeks."
+
+"Did I not say the gods are propitious?" broke in Burr; "Miss Hale is
+going our way at an opportune time. Her rich uncle will bequeath her
+his fortune and go to Heaven; she will take the money and go to
+Mexico."
+
+
+
+
+XV. THERE BE LAND RATS AND WATER RATS.
+
+
+At some distance north of Natchez, and below the third Chickasaw
+bluff, near the bank of one of the bayous, which seem to run from
+rather than toward the Mississippi, a band of desperadoes had
+established a temporary abode, sometime in the year 1805. They were an
+organized league of robbers, bandits of stream and shore, preying on
+the solitary traveller who rode through the pines on the way between
+Natchez and the North, and more frequently surprising the unwary
+farmer or trader, transporting goods to market by water. A number of
+flatboats laden with the plunder of the freebooters lay moored close
+to the north shore, under the shelter of the overhanging bushes, at
+the distance of a mile or two up this narrow but deep creek. Farther
+up the bayou, and a few rods from it, in an obscure hollow and almost
+hidden by cypress trees, from which depended curtains and streamers of
+gray Spanish moss, stood a log building, the rendezvous of the
+outlaws. The structure was low and long, consisting of three huts so
+joined as to look like one.
+
+If a wandering stranger chanced upon this out-of-the-way and
+forbidding lodge, he might read, painted on a board over the entrance
+of the cabin, the words, "Cacosotte's Tavern." Within the dingy front
+cell or bar-room of the prison-like shanty, one evening in the early
+part of September, five or six persons had assembled. They were rough
+characters, engaged in drinking and coarse talk. One of the company
+was a negro. The only woman there was a big-bosomed, brown-visaged,
+black-eyed, savage looking creature not destitute of wild charm. If
+long hair be a glory to woman, then was this dark female covered with
+glory--her glossy mane fell far down over her shoulders and back.
+Whether she was English, French, Spanish or Indian, or a mixture of
+these, neither her looks nor her speech determined. She spoke little,
+and took small interest in what others said, yet seemed to regard
+herself as the responsible mistress of the premises. She had charge of
+the housekeeping, such as it was, and dealt out tobacco and liquor. It
+appeared, however, that she was not the sole manager of Cacosotte's
+Tavern. Cacosotte himself claimed superior authority, as proprietor.
+
+Cacosotte was a most ill-favored knave, of a purplish yellow
+complexion and mumbling speech. His comrades called him "Sott" for
+brevity, or "Nine Eyes," not because he had nine eyes, as he had only
+one, but because he boasted he had "gouged" nine enemies--that is,
+dug out their organs of sight with thumb and fingers.
+
+Two of the select party were Burke Pierce and Abe Sheldrake. The least
+conspicuous individual in the room was a sullen, suspicious,
+cat-footed man, who kept his slouch hat pulled over his face, and sat
+apart, smoking a pipe. He was a fresh recruit, and had given his name
+as Turlipe. Only one day had he been sworn to the service of the
+brigands, promising to do the bidding of their chief, Burke Pierce.
+
+Expurgated of much grossness and profanity, the discursive talk, in
+this hiding place of criminals, may be partially reproduced as
+follows. The chief is first to speak:
+
+"There was a French hunter, who hid a lot of skins in a clearing close
+by Red River, at a place called 'Cache la Turlipe.' Are you akin to
+that Turlipe?"
+
+The sullen man shook his head.
+
+"Have you been in the business before this?"
+
+"More or less. I have run on the river all my life; was patron on a
+Kentucky boat."
+
+"'Tain't a business, it's a profession," put in Nine Eyes. "But the
+profits ain't wot they used to be, and the risks is greater. I mind
+the time, cap, when Cave in the Rock, up the Ohio, jest below Massac,
+was the headquarters of the biggest men in our line. Wilson's boys
+done their wreck'n along by Hurricane, and stored their stuff in the
+cave. They carried on the Last Night-Cap game when they could get hold
+of a good customer."
+
+"What's that?" asked Sheldrake. Cacosotte grinned and winked at
+Pierce.
+
+"Your pard's too green to plug, cap."
+
+"Don't you Pittsburgers drink a las' snort before goin' to bed? Well,
+can't you see the pint? They played the game this-a-way. Lodgers at
+the House of Natur often overslep themselves--couldn't wake up. There
+was a sign down on the river bank, jest under the cave--'Wilson's
+Liquor Vault and House for Entertainment.' The durn fool farmers
+comin' down the river with their produce had a cur'osity to see what
+the plague a _vault_ was like and how Wilson's liquor tasted. They
+clim up, got drunk, were put to bed, and--" Here Nine Eyes went
+through a pantomime suggestive of throat-cutting. The black man, who
+stuck close by Sheldrake's side, twisted in his seat, and showed the
+white of his eyes. Sott, delighted to note these signs of trepidation,
+went on with his reminiscences.
+
+"Cap'n, you ric'lect Colonel Plug, that carried on at Hurricane Island
+and the mouth of Cash, after Wilson was nabbed? Plug was a Yankee, and
+a hell of a smart un. He was from Pensylvany. His real name was
+Fluger, but we called him Plug and his woming Pluggie. I got into a
+misunderstanding with the colonel about that lady; colonel allowed her
+and me was too thick, so me and him, begad, had a rough-and-tumble,
+and that's how I come by this here." He pointed to his empty
+eye-socket. "Pluggie was one of your furriners--jest like Mex, but
+not so pooty."
+
+"If she was half as handsome as Mex," said Pierce, "I don't wonder
+that you gave your right eye for her."
+
+To this compliment Mex responded by resentfully casting the contents
+of a whiskey glass into Pierce's face and breast, whereupon the men
+all laughed loud.
+
+"You dasn't smoke the senorita, cap," mumbled Nine Eyes, aside to
+Pierce.
+
+"The purtiest wench I ever seen," babbled Sheldrake, "was the one me
+and you spied through the winder at Blennerhassett's, that night Aaron
+Burr and his pard from Virginy stopped over. I'll never forgit how we
+snuck up and seen them two sparkin' on the sofy."
+
+"Right you are, Abe; and I was a damned fool not to nab her that day,
+when she was pullin' posies in the woods--"
+
+"She'd of been a screechin' armful for you, Burke, with them shiny
+yaller curls of hern flyin' over your shoulder!"
+
+This side colloquy, Mex heard, and her countenance glowered.
+Noiselessly she came to the bench upon which Palafox sat, and pressed
+close to his side. The captain, without looking at her, mechanically
+stroked her long mane.
+
+"Fine wimming," remarked Sott, sagely, "is like pizen vine, pooty and
+clingin,' but pesky dangerous; I hadn't better teched Pluggie. A
+woming of your own is worse yet. She spiles on you, and you can't sell
+her as you do a hoss or a nigger."
+
+Pierce looked at the darky, who grinned self-consciously.
+
+"How many times over has Abe sold you since you ran away from the
+island?"
+
+"Seben times," answered Honest Moses, and chuckled. "Mistah Sheldrake
+done sell me fo' cash, plunk down; I fugitives back to him, and he
+done sell me agin fo' mo' cash. I gits mo' money out o' speculatin' in
+dis heah darky, dan Scipio and Dan'l can git ahookin' watermillions
+fo' a hundred yeahs."
+
+Nine Eyes took up his dropped theme.
+
+"The hoss trade," said he, "the hoss trade don't pay here as it did
+with Wilson's boys. There's more risk in gettin' rid of a hoss than in
+sellin' the same nigger ten times over. Say, cap, is your new man onto
+the pass words and signs?" The speaker flung out three fingers of his
+left hand, to which signal Pierce responded by an answering gesture.
+But the captain had grown tired of Cacosotte's conversation. He
+ordered Mex to bring him another drink. Then, turning to Sheldrake, he
+said in undertones:
+
+"Abe, you mind that trip from Pittsburg to Massac. Recollect what I
+told you that night? Before many weeks there's going to be a chance
+for men like us to make our fortunes as easy as floating down the
+Mississip."
+
+The jealous eye of Mex was constantly dartling, and her ear was alert
+to catch every syllable Pierce uttered. She paid no attention to
+Sheldrake, who responded guardedly to his chief's overtures.
+
+"Captain, if you know a safer way, I'd like to learn it. Now that the
+army is at Fort Adams, and soldiers is comin' and goin' from St. Louis
+to Orleans, we can't do nothin' widout bein' found out by Gen'l
+Wilkinson."
+
+"Wilkinson," growled Pierce, with an oath. "Do you suppose I am afraid
+of his big names, 'General' and 'Governor'? Jimmy Wilkinson owes me
+money, and he owes me an apology, and he's got to come down from his
+high horse, or I'm a liar. Eh? Sheldrake, did you ever hear anybody
+call me a liar? Did you, Mex? Did you, Sott? ever hear any one say
+Burke Pierce was a liar or a foot-licker?"
+
+"I'd hate to be in the place of the man that 'u'd dare," swore
+Cacosotte, hastily. He had noticed the excessive drinking, with dread
+of the probable consequence.
+
+"I guess you would hate to rile me up even if you was a great general,
+dressed in uniform, and with gold epaulettes and buttons all over. I
+want to say to you, Abe, and you, Sott, and _you_ over there smoking
+your pipe, you raw recruit--I've got in my pocket, what will bring
+the brigadier to terms. Bet your souls on it! Bet your black hair,
+Mex! Say, you raw recruit, where's your pal? Where's the feller you
+said wanted to join us? Open you jaws!"
+
+"He is down on the boat," said the sullen man, rising and emptying his
+pipe. "I'll go hunt him."
+
+"You'll be back and bunk here, or will you sleep on one of the boats?"
+asked Cacosotte.
+
+"If it's all the same to you, I'll come back and bunk here."
+
+The night was advancing, and the great white owls were beginning a
+dismal hooting in the cypress trees. Upon reaching the place where the
+boats were moored to the bushy shore of the bayou, Turlipe called:
+
+"Hello, are you there?"
+
+A man scrambled up the bank in response to the call. The two Spaniards
+sat upon the bank of the bayou, and held a long consultation in their
+native language. It was eleven o'clock when Pepillo, alias Turlipe,
+arose to go back to the tavern.
+
+"You needn't come along, Vexeranno; I can do the job without help.
+Only stay here and wait. Have the skiff ready to carry us down stream
+as fast as we can row. I may come back any time in the night."
+
+While Pepillo, squatting on the ground beside the sluggish estuary,
+imparted to his accomplice the details of a bloody design, Palafox in
+the tavern waxed more and more violent. He menaced an imaginary foe
+with clinched fist. Mex tried to soothe him. He sat for a while in
+sulky quiet. Rousing again, he ordered a candle, opened a leathern
+wallet, and took from it a number of soiled papers. His hand shook.
+
+"Look here, Abe, these old letters are worth more money than all our
+plunder will fetch."
+
+No response came from Sheldrake, who had prudently retired to the
+second compartment of the row of huts opening into one another. The
+whimsical Cacosotte had named the several rooms "Hell," "Purgatory,"
+and "Heaven." Sheldrake sought a sleeping couch in "Purgatory,"
+whither Honest Moses had preceded him to "flop" in a corner.
+
+Mex stood behind the captain while he sat fumbling over a timeworn
+manuscript, peering at its hieroglyphics in the dim light of the
+candle. Cacosotte, yawning, rubbed his one eye, and groped his way to
+a slumber-rug in "Heaven." Then Mex put her brown hand timidly on the
+shoulder of Palafox.
+
+"One in woods--not nab--no! no!" she said, shaking her head
+violently and frowning.
+
+"What you jabbering about now? Don't you see I'm busy?"
+
+"Woman through window--not big Mex--look so!"
+
+She wrinkled her features, and shrank down mimicking a dwarf. The
+robber now understanding her speech and pantomime, slapped his thigh,
+guffawed exasperatingly, and, roughly pushing the jealous barbarian
+aside, "No, Mex, she don't look like that. Tall, white as your teeth,
+smooth and purty as an antelope--"
+
+"Mex purtier. Mex not Choctaw--Castiliano. Look blood." She nipped
+her forearm with sharp teeth, and crimson drops oozed.
+
+Palafox laughed.
+
+The mane shook, and the wild eyes glared behind the half-drunken man,
+who continued to fumble his papers. Before long his hand fell heavily,
+his eyes closed, and he slept. Mex shook him by the shoulders.
+Partially aroused, he looked up, thrust the papers and the wallet deep
+within a breast pocket, quitted the bench, and lay down on a pallet in
+the corner of the room. Mechanically he deposited a primed pistol
+under his blanket, ready to hand. Soon he was snoring.
+
+An hour went by. The new recruit had not returned. Mex scarcely kept
+her eyes open where she crouched, Indian fashion, on a buffalo robe,
+behind the bar. Nine Eyes had bolted the outer door before retiring.
+Eleven o'clock; the white owls were at their boldest, hooting
+lugubrious serenades to the answering wolves. Pepillo was at the cabin
+door, trying the latch. Mex heard the sound, got up, and unfastened
+the bolts.
+
+"Sh!" said she, and giving him the candle, pointed to the back room;
+then drowsily resumed her nest on the buffalo robe. Pepillo took the
+feeble light; nodded, but did not immediately follow directions. He
+set the candle down upon the floor in front of the bar, so that its
+faint flicker, unobserved by the woman, made objects barely visible in
+the room. This done, he shuffled his feet slightly to apprise the
+half-conscious guardian of the ominous house that he was obeying her
+orders, and vanished in the rear darkness. The dead hush of sleep now
+reigned over the place. So it seemed, but the stealthy Pepillo was
+wide awake. He remained motionless, breathless, hidden in the gloom of
+the second cabin. At length he reappeared, took up the candle, stood
+awhile listening, then moved cautiously to the edge of the counter,
+behind which the woman slept in her lair. He peeped over to assure
+himself of her complete somnolence. Satisfied that Mex would not
+likely be roused by any slight disturbance, he stole to the front door
+and undid the fastenings so softly that not a creak of the bolt
+sliding from its staple was heard even by his own quick ear. But when
+he swung the door open, providing for his ready escape, the hinges
+gave out a complaining sigh. The sound was faint, but it startled Mex.
+She raised her drowsy head, and through the mass of sable hair
+tangling over her half-open eyes, peered out from behind the shelter
+of the bar. Pepillo had drawn a poignard and was tip-toeing toward the
+sleeping captain. Mex gave a catamount cry. Palafox started up, pistol
+in hand, none too soon to avoid the deadly blade of the assassin.
+"Palafox!" This one word was all Pepillo uttered. In the act of
+springing to stab, he leaped to his own death, shot through the head.
+As he fell, the poignard, escaping his relaxed grasp, rang on the
+floor. Mex, who tiger-like had sprung from her covert, snatched up the
+shiny weapon, and fiercely stabbed it into Pepillo's lifeless breast.
+
+Cacosotte and Sheldrake, roused by the report of a pistol, hurried in,
+staring amazedly at Palafox, Mex and the fallen Spaniard.
+
+"Carry that out," ordered Palafox, nodding toward the body. "Tie a
+stone to its neck and chuck it into the bayou." The two men obeyed.
+"Get something, Mex, and wipe up that puddle," pointing to the blood
+on the floor. "You must keep Hell clean."
+
+The wild creature, quivering with ferocious passions, put a fondling
+arm around the manslayer.
+
+"Mex wake captain. Help kill. Mex Castiliano. Nigger
+wench--no!--Injun squaw--no!--Your woman."
+
+
+
+
+XVI. A PATRIOT NOT TO BE TAMPERED WITH.
+
+
+Four men on horseback were nearing the country house of Colonel George
+Morgan, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, living near Cannonsburg,
+Pennsylvania. Two of the riders were Colonel Morgan's stalwart sons,
+and they were escorting Aaron Burr and Colonel Dupeister, one of
+Burr's confederates. The ex-Vice-President rode beside the elder
+brother, who was an officer of high rank in the militia.
+
+"Speaking of Washington County, General Morgan,--are the people of
+your neighborhood prosperous and contented?"
+
+"We are a community of farmers, very prosperous and hopeful. Our
+population is increasing rapidly. We have no cause for discontent."
+
+"What is the condition of the new college at the county seat? I am
+told there is an educational awakening among your young men."
+
+"Yes; we are proud of Jefferson College; the institution is now in its
+fourth year, and is flourishing beyond expectation."
+
+"You call it Jefferson College; it was named for Washington _and_
+Jefferson, was it not? The lesser star is in the ascendant, and
+twinkles amazingly now that the greater has set. Don't you think we
+are too much be-Jeffersoned?"
+
+"Thomas Jefferson is an able man," was the commonplace reply, spoken
+bluntly, and accompanied by a look of irritation at the sarcastic
+question. Burr, conscious of the disapproval implied in the officer's
+curt answer, managed to change partners so as to ride abreast of the
+younger brother, Thomas, while Dupeister spurred forward and engaged
+John in discourse on stock-raising and the prospect of crops. With
+Thomas, an aspiring soul, in the flush of those discursive hopes and
+speculations which make ambitious youth restless, Burr employed his
+usual suasive arts, hopeful of winning a recruit.
+
+"Your brother and I were speaking about the outlook here, for
+enterprising citizens. What are your pursuits? Are you a Knight of the
+Plow?"
+
+"No, sir; not permanently; I am trying to make a lawyer of myself."
+
+"That's good in a way, as a stepping-stone. The study of the law
+disciplines the mind, but is not profitable otherwise. The practice is
+a species of servitude, often a servitude to inferiors, for doubtful
+reward. Politics is better, but not the best."
+
+"What is the best?"
+
+"That depends upon the man. Some are easily contented. But I am not
+sure that contentment is a trait of a noble mind. I used to own negro
+slaves in New York. They were contented. To rest satisfied is the
+virtue of slaves."
+
+"Yes, the niggers are contented, generally speaking. You were about to
+say what you think the best profession."
+
+"The best for an ignorant African may be bondage to a good master; the
+best for you would be something more aspiring. I regard military
+life--the profession of arms, as the highest and most independent."
+
+"Not in times of peace."
+
+"This is not a time of peace, Mr. Morgan. We are on the eve of war and
+stupendous conquests. I speak advisedly. I am a soldier myself. You
+have heard rumors of war on the Sabine?"
+
+"Yes; rumors. The Morgans are a military family, also; and I feel
+fighting blood stir in me when I read about the Spaniards."
+
+"Does the red stuff boil? Your blood is right. You can't help it. If
+you, or your younger brother--I believe you have a brother besides
+the general?"
+
+"Yes, George. My name is Thomas. They call me Tom."
+
+"Tom, eh? Well, then, Tom, I was about to say if you and your brother
+George--"
+
+"Spur up, gentlemen, we are leaving you behind," shouted General
+Morgan, looking back. "We are within half a mile of father's
+residence."
+
+"More talk another time," said Burr, not finishing his sentence, and
+the pair, urging their horses to a faster gait came up with the
+others. Just then the party met a robust countryman who saluted the
+Morgans, as he trotted by on a skittish colt.
+
+"What a fine-looking fellow! I wish I had ten thousand just such
+vigorous young giants!"
+
+"What would you do with them?" the general asked. "Ten thousand would
+form a large colony. That is one of the farm hands. Those are our
+barns and the house is just beyond."
+
+On their arrival, Colonel George Morgan stood on the porch to receive
+his guests. A well-preserved old gentleman, he might have said:
+
+            "My age is as a lusty winter,
+    Frosty, but kindly."
+
+His career had been eventful, aggressive, venturesome, and romantic.
+At the close of the Revolutionary War he felt aggrieved because of the
+non-payment of claims he held against the Government. Odium attached
+to his name on account of his procuring from Spain a grant of lands
+west of the Mississippi, on which he founded the village of New
+Madrid. He had expressed sympathy for Aaron Burr, whom he regarded as
+a much-abused statesman. The prevailing sentiment among army men
+justified the duel with Hamilton.
+
+After dinner, the visitors repaired to the parlor, where was held a
+conversation in which Burr was the principal talker. More virulent and
+less discreet than usual, he indulged in witty flings at public men
+and roundly censured the administration, not aware that most of his
+auditors heard him with impatience. Colonel Morgan attempted to
+introduce another theme, by referring to the rapid spread of
+population westward.
+
+"When I first went out West on my New Madrid scheme, there was
+scarcely a family between the Alleghanies and the Ohio. Now we have
+three great States. We shall have to remove the National capital to
+Pittsburg."
+
+"No, never," said Burr, positively. "In less than five years you will
+be totally divided from the Eastern States."
+
+"God forbid! I hope no such disaster will come in my time."
+
+"Disaster or no disaster, the Union will split, or I am a false
+prophet. How can it be otherwise? What is to hold us together?
+Congress is a shadow, the executive a phantom too thin to cast a
+shadow. With two hundred armed men I could drive Congress, the
+President and Cabinet into the Potomac; with five hundred I could take
+New York City. Ask Colonel Dupeister!"
+
+Dupeister nodded an emphatic yes; but not so did bluff John Morgan.
+
+"By God, sir, you couldn't take our little village of Cannonsburg with
+five hundred men!"
+
+"That, then, is because _you_ are at the head of the militia. I should
+want your Cannonsburgers in my five hundred. But I talk too loud.
+Pardon; let us get out of doors; I would like to go the round of your
+plantation and look through the mill. Tom, won't you oblige us?"
+
+While Tom piloted the visitors about the place, the eldest son took
+occasion to speak a word of warning to the father. "You may depend
+upon it, Colonel Burr is here on a secret errand to you. He will open
+himself to you this night. He is engaged in some suspicious enterprise
+in which he wants Tom to join."
+
+"What foolishness you talk, my son; Aaron Burr is a soldier, a loyal
+man who fought for his country's flag; he would never do a
+dishonorable thing; certainly he would not approach _me_ with improper
+suggestions."
+
+"Then my precaution is needless. Yet have your mind prepared. Tom
+revealed to mother some of Burr's words, which, if seriously meant,
+are not such as you will approve."
+
+The subject was dropped, nor was any more said in the course of the
+afternoon on political topics. About nine o'clock the guests were
+shown to their bedrooms and the members of the family also retired,
+except Colonel and Mrs. Morgan. They were in the habit of sitting up
+late, the wife reading aloud to her husband in the quiet hours, after
+the rest of the family had retired. The book which engaged their
+attention was "Modern Chivalry," the first novel written and published
+west of the Alleghanies. They had reached that part of the story which
+describes how Teague O'Regan was treated to a coat of tar and
+feathers. The passage amused the grizzled colonel, and he listened
+eagerly to the words:
+
+"By this time they had sunk the butt end of the sapling in the hole
+dug for it, and it stood erect with a flag displayed in the air, and
+was called a liberty pole. The bed and pillow-cases had been cut open,
+and were brought forward. The committee seized Teague and conveyed him
+to a cart, in which the keg of tar had been placed."
+
+"That's correct," interrupted the veteran. "That's the way to do it.
+Read on."
+
+Mrs. Morgan proceeded: "They stripped him to the waist, and, pouring
+the tar upon his naked body, emptied at the same time a bed of
+feathers on his head, which, adhering to the viscous fluid, gave him
+the appearance of a wild fowl of the forest."
+
+"Ha! ha! I've seen that done more than once; the author describes it
+well. What next?"
+
+The tall Dutch clock in the next room, after a grumble and whirr,
+struck eleven, as if reproving the old couple for sitting up so late
+to read a novel. Before the ringing of the last stroke died away,
+footsteps were heard descending the stairs. Mrs. Morgan gave her
+husband a significant glance, saying in a low tone, "John was right;
+you have it now," and hurriedly left the parlor by a back door. She
+had scarcely made her exit when Burr entered, with a lighted candle in
+his hand.
+
+"What, Colonel Burr, are you still up?"
+
+"You yourself are not yet abed. Do I intrude?"
+
+"Oh, no, no, no! Take a chair. We have a practice of sitting up to
+read after the children have gone to bed. John, Tom, and George are
+the children. Mrs. Morgan has been reading aloud from 'Modern
+Chivalry.'"
+
+"A clever book," said Burr, "very lively and ingenious."
+
+"I agree with you. The story gives a true picture of scenes which the
+author must have witnessed in Pittsburg. We were laughing over the
+account of Teague's adventure with the tar-and-feather committee. Poor
+Teague! He should have been spared. His persecutors were guilty, and
+not he."
+
+"That's the way of the world, Colonel Morgan. Often the wrong man is
+blackened with the tar of calumny. You and I have not escaped. Pardon
+me for claiming a few moments' conference. You have had much
+experience, know many public men, and are a judge of human nature. I
+wish to ask your counsel."
+
+Morgan blinked hard at the candle, nodding his willingness to listen,
+and tapping nervously on the table with his middle finger. Burr drew
+from an inside pocket a long, narrow memorandum book, written full of
+names.
+
+"This is what I call my Roster of the Faithful," he said, and looked
+searchingly into the face of the patriarch, whose glum reticence
+puzzled him.
+
+"Umph! Faithful to what?"
+
+"To their principles and their friends. I assume that we know each
+other's history and political views. Colonel Morgan has not always had
+justice from those clothed in brief authority; you have freely
+exercised your individual right to better your worldly condition; you
+were not acting inconsistently as a citizen when you entered into
+perfectly proper contracts with a foreign 'power.'" The speaker
+paused, for he was aware of a bristling antagonism on Morgan's part.
+
+"Yes," grunted the old gentleman, "perfectly proper."
+
+Burr hesitated, more and more doubtful of his ground; but his was an
+audacious nature. Turning over the leaves of his memorandum book, he
+asked,
+
+"Do you know Mr. Vigo, at Fort Vincent, a Spaniard?"
+
+"I ought to know him! I have every reason to believe he was deeply
+involved in the British Conspiracy of '88, the object of which was to
+separate the States. The design which Vigo abetted was nefarious, yes,
+sir, nefarious! yes, damnable! The same disloyal and turbulent spirit
+caused the Whiskey Rebellion here in Pennsylvania, which General Dave
+Morgan, General Neville, and I crushed out. The diabolic sentiment of
+disunion survives yet; Pittsburg tolerates a set of seditious young
+men, a nest of vipers of the Vigo species."
+
+The general checked his tirade, noticing that Colonel Burr put the
+list of names into his pocket with an air of hurt dignity.
+
+"You must excuse me; I would not be rude, but soldiers use plain
+terms. You asked me about Vigo, and you have my opinion."
+
+"Your feeling in regard to Colonel Vigo certainly is not flattering to
+the gentleman. I regard him as a deserving patriot. May you not be in
+error? Give the devil his due. You must not tar-and-feather the wrong
+man."
+
+"Yes, yes, yes! I mean to be just. The devil should have his due. As
+for Vigo, I want no dealings with him, or with any of his stripe. I
+shouldn't hesitate to recommend a coat of tar-and-feathers and a ride
+upon a fence-rail for him. And if I should ever detect Tom, or any of
+my boys, even sympathizing in any attempt to dissolve the Union, I
+would warm the pitch for them myself, as sure as there is a God
+Almighty."
+
+"Good-night," said Burr, stiffly, and went upstairs to bed. The next
+morning he and Dupeister rose early, and were on the way to Pittsburg
+before their host was well awake. The sons arose betimes, however, and
+bade the parting guests good speed.
+
+After breakfast, Colonel Morgan summoned his family and told what had
+passed between himself and guest.
+
+"He has insulted us by assuming us to be traitors at heart. Aaron Burr
+is meditating dangerous designs. I will write to the President."
+
+Tom and George, impressed by their father's stern seriousness, and now
+realizing the presumably infamous nature of the service to which
+temptation might have lured them, hung their heads. The mother held
+hers high. Her jealous patriotism was alarmed and quickened. No taint
+of disloyalty should infect her sons, nor should word or look of hers
+hint weak misgiving of their rectitude. She assumed the Morgan stock
+incorruptible, and spoke proudly as befits an American matron. There
+was no tremor in her voice, no indecision in her steady eye, which
+flashed the sentiments uttered by the tongue.
+
+"The brightest name in the world's history is that of George
+Washington--the blackest that of--" She paused, and her youngest
+son pronounced the detested name, "Benedict Arnold."
+
+"Benedict Arnold--yes; his sword was recreant, his heart false. In
+all our annals only this one officer's record is polluted, God forbid
+the rise of a second traitor. But, my sons, if treason should again
+threaten liberty, I know on which side the Morgans will be found."
+
+So speaking, this true "Daughter of the Revolution" unlocked a
+colonial chest containing relics cherished as credentials of family
+honor, and took from it a banner, tattered and rent in battles of the
+Revolutionary War. Dark stains consecrated its stripes and stars.
+
+"This is my only brother's blood. My boys are patriots by inheritance
+from two lines of ancestors; you will always stand faithful to your
+Mother Land as to me, your mother."
+
+"Have no fear for us, mother," said Tom. "The Morgans and the American
+flag stand or fall together."
+
+"Amen!" added the deep voice of the husband and father.
+
+
+
+
+XVII. THE BUSY NOTE OF PREPARATION.
+
+
+"Peggin' away, all hands, eh? I never heard such a swishing of
+handsaws and banging of hammers; you make more noise than ten navy
+yards. How you getting along?"
+
+"Not so briskly as I could wish; we are under contract to finish
+fifteen of these large batteaux, besides a sixty-foot keelboat by
+December."
+
+"Sassyfax! Fifteen? What for?"
+
+"To carry colonists down the Mississippi to the Wachita lands. The big
+keelboat is to transport provisions."
+
+"You don't say! Now, how many men will them fifteen boats accommodate,
+when they're done? 'Bout thirty to a boat?"
+
+"Yes; thirty or forty; we calculate the whole fleet will carry five
+hundred men."
+
+"Five hundred! I'll swan! Do you think they'll ever drum up five
+hundred lunatics for such an expedition?"
+
+"You'll have to ask Mr. Blennerhassett about that. My business is to
+build the boats, not to man them."
+
+"Right you are, mister; every man ought to mind his own business, and
+I'll bet a pewter toothpick you understand flatboats, even if you
+don't know anything else. I will speak to my friend Mr. B. in regard
+to _his_ end of the business, for I see him coming. That's him walking
+this way along the shore; you can know Harman a mile off by his stoop.
+'Fore I go, I'll take a squint at the extra-fine ark they tell me you
+are fixing up for the family--I mean Blennerhassett's own folks.
+Blame my buttons, if I don't always hate to pronounce that larruping
+long name Blennerhassett! Byle is a heap shorter and better name. I
+s'pose you reco'nize me, don't you? I'm pretty well known in these
+parts. Plutarch is my Christian name. Did you ever read Plutarch's
+Lives? I didn't write 'em, but I'm living one of 'em. I ought to know
+you, you're dadblamed face is familiar, but bejiggered if I haven't
+let your last name slip my mind."
+
+The ship-carpenter, to whom these questions and comments were
+addressed, had resumed his work, not paying any attention to Mr. Byle,
+who, finding his words unheeded, gave no sign of discomfiture, and
+went on talking to himself in the friendliest manner.
+
+"Here we are, five miles above the mouth of Muskingum, making batteaux
+to go five million miles south of the jumping-off place of creation!
+Will I go with you, friends and fellow-citizens? No, not by a jugful.
+Do you think Byle is a plumb fool? I wouldn't mind going on a voyage
+with the madam and the young ones, but not with such an addle-pate as
+the near-sighted. Nor with Colonel Hoop Snake! No, there's no use
+arguing; I tell you once for all, I won't go. I'd no more trust in him
+than I'd trust _you_, old Muskingum, not to undermine your banks at
+Spring flood. A felon who would murder Alexander Hamilton--what crime
+wouldn't he commit? I'm consarned sorry for the family over on the
+island; ain't you, neighbor? Yes, you; I ask you, Mr. Jay Bird,
+singing and chattering to yourself on the willows. How are you?"
+
+"Pretty well, I thank you," replied a stoop-shouldered pedestrian,
+who, drawing near, had recognized the voice without distinctly seeing
+the person of Byle. "How are _you_?"
+
+"I was talking to that other jay, Mr. B. But I'd ruther talk to you.
+I'm hearty. How's all your kith an' kin? I thought of coming down to
+the island, to see you, but now you're here, I'll put off the trip a
+week or so. Jist say to the boys I'm making a crossgun for 'em. Give
+my regards to your better half, and I wish you'd tell Scipio that the
+melon he sent me was luscious. I'm here on a kind o' important
+business; came clear up from town to inquire about this expedition.
+You're managing the colony matters, and you're the codger to give me
+the real facts."
+
+Blennerhassett, who had undertaken to use every means in his power to
+induce men to join the proposed colony, suffered Byle's fraternal
+confidences with as good a grace as possible, hoping to enlist a
+useful factotum.
+
+"I will gladly give any information you desire in regard to the
+Wachita settlement, and our plans for the winter."
+
+"I knowed you would. I told what-ye-call-him--the boss carpenter so.
+He allowed I'd best ask you for the particulars, and it's fair to you
+that I should. You pay for all this lumber and hammering and sawing,
+out of your own pocket; you have a right to answer questions. How much
+is the whole caboodle going to cost you?"
+
+"Perhaps that question is not pertinent to our present interview. I
+presume you wish to learn the conditions of our agreement with
+volunteers?"
+
+"That's so; you don't presume a speck; I wish to learn all about
+everything. What are the conditions?"
+
+"We pledge ourselves to pay every man who goes with us fair wages, and
+to give every one a hundred acres of the Bastrop land. Each man is to
+provide himself with a blanket, a good rifle and a supply of
+ammunition."
+
+"What do you want with rifles? Do you expect to have to fight?"
+
+"Not necessarily; all pioneers need guns. Did not the forty men who
+settled Marietta bring rifles and ammunition?"
+
+"I swow you've got me, Mr. B. No man can keep house without a gun, I
+admit that. I'd as soon go without my head. I've got a gun, all right,
+and a blanket. What else?"
+
+"That is all. Be ready on the first of December with your blanket and
+rifle, and we'll provide for your other wants."
+
+"Well, that looks fair. But let me give you a bit of advice before you
+start. Don't you go at all. As sure as my name is Byle, you'll be
+sorry for yourself and Maggy, as you call her, if you do go. You
+mustn't git mad at me, Harman, for speaking out plain. I'm friendly to
+you and your folks; don't like to see you put upon; and I consider it
+my goshdurned duty to tell you that this here Colonel Beelzebub is
+making a cussed fool of you. I'd have no hobnobbing with a hoop snake.
+Don't trust ary shape of a sarpent in your apple-tree. You know your
+eyes are not as long-ranged as some. This is God's truth with the bark
+off. He don't talk to Adam in the Garden in our days, but I sh'd think
+you'd hear what mortal men are saying. You're a readin' man--haven't
+you come across what the press wrote about that scorpion in your
+bozom?
+
+    'Oh, Aaron Burr, what have you done?
+    You've shot our General Hamilton!
+    You stood behind a bunch of thistles,
+    And murdered him with two horse-pistols!'
+
+Excuse my interest in you; a full kittle will bile over. I've lots and
+slithers of United States information that ain't to be found in your
+green emerald Erin, no more than snakes is."
+
+Blennerhassett was in doubt whether to consider himself insulted or
+befriended. He had misgivings concerning Burr and the colony. Common
+sense told him that Byle might be more than half right.
+
+"Do you know anything of the far West?" he asked. "Report gives out
+that it is a marvellous region."
+
+Byle had a spice of mischief in his composition. He could not resist a
+humorous impulse to gull a credulous foreigner.
+
+"Maybe I can give you some curious facts not generally known. I'm a
+sort of bookworm myself. I've nosed the Coon Skin Library. Did anybody
+ever tell you of the Missouri salt mountain? a mountain of real salt
+one hundred and eighty miles long, and forty-five broad, white as
+snow, and glittering in the sun? No vegetation grows near it, but a
+river of brine runs from its base. I have a chunk of the salt."
+
+"Wonderful, wonderful!" ejaculated Blennerhassett.
+
+"Isn't it wonderful? But not so contrary to nature as the
+shoe-and-stocking trees that grow at the headwaters of this Muskingum
+River."
+
+"That seems impossible--shoe-and-stocking trees, did you say?"
+
+"It does sound improbable, I admit, but seeing is believing. I've
+pulled half-grown shoes off one of those trees with these hands. I
+don't expect you to take my word. I didn't believe the story myself at
+first, and can't bring my mind to believe what my own brother Virgil
+told me he had seen and tasted--the Whiskey Lake in Southern
+Kentucky."
+
+Gullible as he was, Blennerhassett looked incredulous. Byle's
+expression was serious to solemnity. His big blue eyes vouched for his
+perfect sanity.
+
+"Now, I _must_ go," said he, turning away; "I've a heap of things to
+do and folks to see before sunset. Good-bye."
+
+Genuine kindness had prompted Plutarch to blurt out unsought counsel,
+and he hurried away, congratulating himself on having discharged an
+obligation to his conscience. His long, swinging strides propelled him
+to Marietta in half an hour. Near the court-house he met a gentleman,
+whom he accosted, taking him cordially by the hand and inquiring,
+"Isn't this Squire George Hale?"
+
+"George Hale is my name," returned the gentleman, reservedly, and
+disengaging his fingers from the strong grip of the tall man.
+
+"Yes, you are the individual I took you to be, and no mistake. I
+seldom forget faces, though I get names crooked now and then. Your
+name and your corporosity go together; you look hale and hearty! I
+never was picked up but once, in shaking hands with a stranger, but
+that once was enough. Before I knew what I was about I shook hands,
+last May was a year ago, with--I vow I'm ashamed to tell you who
+with. Are you going home, Mr. Hale? Is Miss Evaleen in town now? The
+first time I met your daughter she was down at Blennerhassett's! The
+last time was here in Marietta, out by the big mound. Is she as well
+as usual?"
+
+Mr. Hale stared in blank bewilderment. He first surmised that an
+escaped lunatic was face to face with him. Yet there was coherence in
+the strange man's speech, and nothing wild in his looks. In fact, Mr.
+Hale had frequently seen the gaunt, gigantic figure of Plutarch
+dodging about the town, and had heard his name spoken as that of a
+very eccentric person. Like everybody else who was brought within
+speaking distance of the oddity, the sedate New Englander was at a
+loss how to behave toward him. Plutarch was never at a loss. Detecting
+a hair lodged on the squire's shoulder, he picked it off, and winked.
+
+"A pretty long hair, old man, to be found on your collar. I hope it
+came from one of your own women-folks. What's the last word from
+Captain Danvers? When is that knot to be tied, anyhow? If you'll give
+me an invite, I'll be there, sure. I told young Burlington--no, I
+mean Arlington--all the facts just as they are."
+
+"You did? What facts? Who is Arlington?"
+
+"Don't you know Arlington, Squire Hale? Is it possible? Well, well,
+well! Now that explains a good deal. These young folks are as sly as a
+gallinipper. You have to keep your eye skinned to see all that goes
+on, by land and river, and especially on islands. There's not a bit of
+criticism to be made on Evaleen's conduct, nor on Arlington's. He
+couldn't help himself, no more than a fly in a honey-pot. The minute
+he saw your gal, he fell slap dab in love with her. The poor feller
+was nigh about dead for love the day we sot on the summit."
+
+"What rigmarole is this? You sot on the summit? Arlington? My
+daughter? Tell me simply and briefly what you mean."
+
+"I mean briefly and simply, Mr. Chester Arlington, of Virginia, came
+here to spark Evaleen; he as good as told me so; that is, I am
+satisfied he did; it stands to reason and the nature of a gentleman!
+Secondly, I told him it was no go. I said to Chester, 'You must hunt
+up another sweetheart, for Leeny Hale is engaged. She is going to be
+married,' says I, 'to Captain Warren P. Danvers.'"
+
+"You told this Mr. Arlington that my daughter was engaged to marry
+Captain Danvers?"
+
+"Yes; that's what I told him. Isn't that so? Of course, she couldn't
+marry 'em both at once, and I wanted to put Chester out of misery.
+That's why I broke it to him. You may tell the betrothed, as you call
+it, I mean your daughter, as much or as little as you please; but if
+that young woman had saw how that young man looked when I told him he
+couldn't have her, I do believe she might have shook Danvers and took
+Arlington. That's what I had to say to you, Squire Hale, and now I've
+said it, I feel easier. I must be going. Mighty fine weather, this!
+Good-bye! Gals will fool their daddies."
+
+Away went Byle, about everybody's business, and home hastened George
+Hale, not so much to tell Evaleen what he had heard concerning
+herself, as to learn from her the solution of the mystery of
+Arlington, Danvers and "the summit."
+
+Day after day, and week after week, the shipwrights plied their tasks
+with saw and hammer, with adz and mallet, constructing the vessels to
+convey men and goods down the river in the Winter. A large purchase of
+provisions, ham, bacon, flour, whiskey, was made in advance, and
+various accoutrements were secretly collected in anticipation of
+Burr's enterprise.
+
+New gods had been set up in the sequestered home of the
+Blennerhassetts. The Lares and Penates there honored were not now the
+images of Emmett and Agnew, not the names of dead ancestors, but the
+living spirit and example of Napoleon and the magic word Empire. No
+longer could the harpsichord charm or the strings of the viol allure.
+The music-books gathered dust in the alcove, and the "Iliad" stood
+unopened on the shelf. Instead of rambling in the woods, or strolling
+on the banks of the Ohio, or galloping to Marietta clad in a crimson
+cloak, or giving banquets or balls to entertain the admiring gentry of
+Belpre, Madam Blennerhassett spent busy days and anxious nights
+working and planning for a potential greatness, a prospective high
+emprise. A change had come over the spirit of her dream. She had
+ceased to feel an interest in domestic duties and pleasures; she
+neglected the simple cares of the plantation, took no satisfaction in
+binding up the bruises of her slaves, or curing their ailments with
+medicine and kindness; the talk of Peter Taylor about flowers and
+fruit, or of Thomas Neal, concerning pet heifers, and new milk and
+butter and cheese, became tedious; the jokes and laughter of the
+farm-hands and dairymaids she heard with irritation; nor could the
+prattle and play of her romping boys divert her mind from the one
+absorbing theme--the descent of the Mississippi, the conquest of
+Mexico, the creation of a New World. In close daily communion with
+Theodosia, she dwelt not in a white frame house on a woody island of
+the Ohio River, not in the present; but in the future, and in a marble
+palace in the splendid domain of Aaron I. The two enthusiastic women,
+allied in a common cause, inspired alike by the experience of wifehood
+and maternity, similarly ambitious, passionate and imaginative,
+reciprocated each other's sentiments and strengthened each other's
+resolution.
+
+The summer flew away. In October, Governor Alston visited the island.
+Many consultations were held in the gilded parlor and in the hushed
+library; more plans were divulged, more pledges given--and Burr
+departed never again to cross the threshold of the house on the
+island. Theodosia and her husband and child went to Lexington,
+Kentucky, whither they were accompanied by Blennerhassett.
+
+Left alone in the great ghost-white house, its mistress wandered from
+room to room, restless and melancholy. The boys were at play on the
+lawn; she could hear their mirthful shouts. She felt a vague longing,
+like homesickness, and yet she was at home. Wearily she sat down in
+her husband's study chair in the quiet library. She glanced round at
+the books, the apparatus, the musical instruments. Everything
+presented an unnatural aspect. Startled by the snapping of a string on
+the untouched violincello, she uttered an involuntary exclamation,
+rose, and went up close to the portrait of her husband. But owing to
+the dimness of the light or the sadness of her mood, the features,
+instead of smiling, seemed to regard her with a mournful gaze. A sense
+of desolation overwhelmed her. Endeavoring once more to fly from
+herself, she called her children. They came, and she kissed them,
+putting an arm around each.
+
+"Dominick, do you want to go away, away to Mexico, and become rich and
+great?"
+
+"No, no, mamma; I want to live here forever with you and papa."
+
+"We both do," iterated Harman. "We both do."
+
+"Colonel Burr will be there to take care of us all. He saved your
+life, Harman, and he loves you, I am sure."
+
+"Mamma, he loves _you_, but he don't love papa."
+
+The mother blushed, and a big tear rolled down her cheek.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII. THE VOYAGE OF THE BUCKEYE.
+
+
+George Hale, yielding to the importuning letters of his brother
+Richard, consented that Evaleen should risk the peril of a voyage to
+New Orleans. Luckily the young lady was to have travelling companions.
+One of her uncle's letters contained this passage: "Ask your father to
+hunt up my old-time friend, Dr. Eloy Deville, to whose care and
+medical skill I owe my life. He still lives, I believe, in Gallipolis.
+Tell dear old Frenchy and little Lucrèce--I suppose she is now
+almost grown--that I have unearthed family facts much to their
+worldly advantage. They must come to this city, to the French quarter.
+My discoveries are astounding, but credible. Eloy may inherit a
+fortune. I will see that he loses nothing. My advice is, come at once.
+The doctor and his daughter will be good company for you on your
+voyage."
+
+Eloy was easily induced to do as his friend and former patient
+advised.
+
+"Oui, monsieur, certainment shall we depart most glad from ze log hut.
+Lucrèce, ma chère fille, dance for ze delight! We shall, on ze
+to-morrow, us depart, on ze joli bateau with ze mademoiselle; quick
+shall run ze stream, row ze oar, fly ze sail--we come right away to
+ze excellent long friend of your father. Ze honor and ze felicity
+shall be to me to serve mademoiselle for ze sake of her divine uncle,
+for ze own beautiful sake of ze fair angel."
+
+The Buckeye, on which Evaleen and her friends took passage, carried a
+cargo for the Southern market. The crew numbered eight picked men,
+commanded by Eli Winslow, a talkative Vermonter, with none too much
+experience on the Mississippi, but overstocked with self-confidence.
+
+Such clothing and household goods as he thought essential to take
+along for himself and daughter, Doctor Deville packed in old trunks,
+or tied up in bundles, all of which were deposited on the river bank,
+six hours ahead of time. The luggage included a basket of Bordeaux, a
+surgeon's case, a chest of medicine, and a violin in a green bag. At
+last the barge hove in sight, announced by the echoing of the boat
+horn. The fidgety Frenchman gave Lucrèce a kiss and almost dislocated
+her arm by pulling her after him to the landing. A long half hour he
+had yet to wait before The Buckeye was made fast to the posts on the
+bank and Eloy was helped on board, still holding fast to his _chère
+fille_. It would require a volume to report the conversation which
+enlivened the many days' journey down the Ohio and the Mississippi.
+The doctor chirruped constantly. He knew a little of everything, and
+talked much of nothing, very amusingly. Often he sang French songs,
+often played dance tunes on the violin, now and then took an
+enlivening taste of wine.
+
+Past Cincinnati, past Louisville and the Falls of the Ohio, past
+Shawnee Town, past Fort Massac, and Diamond Island and Battery Rock,
+the vessel moved slowly and steadily along. The voyagers were told
+that the lower river was infested still by wreckers, one scene of
+whose frequent depredations was Wolf Island. Captain Winslow
+discoursed much on the state of Western commerce, and the dangers
+which menaced travel.
+
+"A great part," said he, "of the Territory of Mississippi, stretching
+from Tennessee to Natchez, is unbroken forest, inhabited by Indians,
+and infested with wolves and panthers. We shall see no sign of
+civilization on the eastern shore until after we have skirted six
+hundred miles of waste, howling wilderness."
+
+At length they came to where the Ohio is merged and lost in the
+Mississippi. The turbid onhurrying volume of mighty waters heaved and
+foamed, as if troubled by furious, disturbing forces working below.
+The boat shuddered and its strong joints groaned in the strenuous hug
+of the river.
+
+"Hereafter we can proceed only by daylight," said Winslow. "We shall
+have many dangers to contend with--a succession of chutes, races,
+chains, and cypress bends. You will see no end of this gloomy forest.
+There are plenty of rattlesnakes, bears, and catamounts in those
+jungles, doctor."
+
+"Par bleu! Ze catamount shall stay in ze jungle and delight heself
+with her family amiable. We not shall invite heem to tea. Are no
+inhabitants in this wilderness?"
+
+"A few whites and some Indians. See those squaws digging wild potatoes
+for food."
+
+"Do many boats go to New Orleans?" asked Miss Hale.
+
+"Yes, ma'am; all sorts from a birch canoe to a full-rigged ship.
+Hundreds are lost. We are now coming to a wreck-heap."
+
+The passengers saw an immense huddle of drifted logs, and the broken
+timbers of shattered boats, and entire scows, rotting, half-submerged,
+or warping high and dry on top of the hill of confused ruin. The sight
+of these hulks, abandoned to the grinding eddies, added a sense of
+dread to the weary anxiety already felt by the girls. The progress
+down the Ohio had been tedious; how much more so the interminable
+windings on the Mississippi, and the long, lonesome nights, made
+sleepless by the cries of birds that flit in darkness, and by the
+howls of wild beasts. Evaleen's nocturnal fears, when the barge lay
+moored, were not so well founded as were the apprehensions which
+daylight renewed, of disaster on the treacherous flood. The more she
+learned of the river, the more she realized the risks of each day's
+navigation.
+
+"Young ladies, see! That is a sawyer; an ugly one, sticking its sharp
+horn up to hook us. I don't mind a danger which shows above water; but
+your sleeping sawyer is the mischief to be dreaded."
+
+"What's a sleeping sawyer?"
+
+"If I could point out the nasty thing, I wouldn't dread it; a sleeping
+sawyer does its sawing under the surface. We are liable to run on to
+the point of one any second."
+
+"Mercy! Do you think we are coming on a sleeping sawyer now?" asked
+Evaleen.
+
+The captain hoped not, and directed attention to another phenomenon
+not of a nature to induce feelings of security.
+
+"What do you see away down the river?"
+
+"Do you mean that low island?"
+
+"Yes, an island and not an island. Wait until we drift nearer. You
+will see river moss and rank water plants growing over the surface,
+but it is not part of the firm land; it is a wooden island."
+
+"How? A wooden island?"
+
+"Just so. We shall see many such. Logs and all kinds of drift lodge
+against the upper part of a stable island or peninsula, and the
+accumulated mass grows into a great raft matted together by roots and
+vines. The whole thing, driven by winds or currents, sometimes swings
+free from its anchorage and drifts away. Then it is called a floating,
+or wandering island."
+
+Lucrèce, who had been sweeping the circle of the horizon with the
+seaman's glass, caught far to the northward, the glimpse of a sail.
+
+"I see away up the river what looks like a leetle black house, with a
+white thing on the roof."
+
+"That boat," said Winslow, "is miles and miles behind us; it is above
+the second bend. Let me look.--She carries a square sail, amidships,
+as we do, but she is not a barge. Stop, I know what she is--there's a
+flag at the top of the mast--she must be a government transport,
+coming with troops for Fort Adams or the Natchitoches country."
+
+Lucrèce caught a quick breath and asked eagerly:
+
+"Troops from St. Louis, think you?"
+
+"Most likely, miss."
+
+Evaleen's interest was also excited, but she kept silent, and soon
+slipped away alone into her cabin. The French maiden remained on deck
+a long time, watching the transport, whenever she could bring it
+within the field of vision.
+
+"The soldiers, will they perhaps overtake us?" she inquired, turning
+her brilliant big eyes to Winslow.
+
+"Like enough; but you needn't be afraid of the reg'lars; they won't
+molest us."
+
+"I haf no fear; I haf curiositee."
+
+At last Lucrèce returned the glass to the captain, thanked him, and
+slowly sought her companion, keeping a small, brown hand just over her
+heart to make sure that a precious letter which she carried there was
+still safe and in its right place.
+
+Lucrèce and Evaleen had readily fallen into sympathetic relations.
+Days of chattering on deck, and nights of prattle before falling
+asleep on the same couch, left few girlish secrets unexchanged. The
+scant experience of Lucrèce's isolated life had brought her only a
+small stock of personal doings or feelings to disclose. Yet, up to the
+hour of her coming into the private cabin, after seeing the government
+transport, she had not told the very thing which she knew would most
+surely enlist the sympathy of Evaleen or of any other woman.
+
+Now, Lucrèce was moved to pour out her simple heart in maiden
+confidence to Miss Hale, her only female friend.
+
+"Ah, ma sweet Evaleen, I no more shall be able to hide my feeling--I
+tell you, right as it happen, the beginning and the end of my story,
+that no person shall know.
+
+"One day, at Gallipolis, a young soldier there stopped. He came in the
+mail-boat, and the reason he entered our cottage was one of the boatmen
+had been hurt by accident--his arm crushed, poor man--and as papa is
+known by all as a surgeon, the young officer--he was capitaine--he run
+up the hill to our log cabin. I tell him mon père, alas, was not at
+home--mon père had gone that day to Belpie. The very handsome face--how
+shall I say?--was upset by disappointment--teach me if I use the wrong
+word. I saw the sad regret and was grieved also. He looked in my eyes
+with a kind pity for the hurt boatman, and quickly I spoke. 'Monsieur,
+I, also, can use the instruments of mon père, and wrap the bandages.
+Always I assist. Mon père names me his aide. I will go and dress the
+hurt arm.' The young man did not say no, but his eyes were full of
+doubt, very much in doubt of me. I took the surgeon's case, and we made
+haste to the mail-boat. How they all did stare and stare! I had handled
+the sharp knives, and my father had taught me perfection. Instantly I
+did the operation nécessaire, the brave captain much helping. Then the
+gallant soldier brought me home, carrying the case, and, oh, my Evaleen,
+how shall I say, he kissed my lips, say 'Forgive,' and went away. I have
+see him no more."
+
+As Evaleen listened to these naive sentences, her expression grew more
+and more troubled.
+
+"Kissed you!"
+
+Lucrèce nodded.
+
+"At Gallipolis? A captain? Do you know his name?"
+
+"His name--oh, yes, I know his name--Warren Danvers."
+
+Evaleen's lip quivered. A shade of anxiety and pain saddened her
+countenance.
+
+"I should resent the insult," she said coldly. "Have you told me all?"
+
+"No, my sweetest sister; I confess to you now my great, precious
+secret. Alas, I give my heart that day. I love that only man."
+
+"You _love_ him? This is the silliest tale I ever heard. Let us go out
+and breathe the fresh air. Absurd! Do you fancy he loves you?"
+
+"He has written me one letter of love--here it is."
+
+Lucrèce drew a tiny note from her bosom and went with Evaleen near
+the prow of the barge to take the evening breeze. The first pale stars
+were barely visible in the clear sky.
+
+Lucrèce unfolded the missive, and held it up in the dim light, but
+she did not know that tears were blinding Evaleen's eyes.
+
+"Sometime, Lucrèce, but not now, I will tell you a story of foolish
+love to match your own. We are all alike, and we all hope against
+reason."
+
+"No; there is no reason, no wisdom, no prudence--only love. Yes, yes,
+something more, as I see the only star that shines there above the
+dark trees, and seems to die and live again while we look at it. I see
+the hope that my soldier loves me and will be faithful."
+
+On the sixth day after leaving the mouth of the Ohio, the boat had
+passed the third Chickasaw Bluff, and was within fifty miles of
+Natchez, when blue-black clouds suddenly overcast the sky, and a
+violent storm burst upon the river. Buffeted by opposing forces, the
+Mississippi soon began to fume and rage like a wrathful brute. The
+three passengers were on deck.
+
+"How wicked the river looks under this indigo sky!" said Evaleen. "I
+wish we were ashore. There must be extreme danger in such a high
+wind."
+
+"There is always danger on the Mississippi, but such gusts soon blow
+over. We are safer in midstream than near shore. I'll manage the boat,
+never fear. You and Miss Deville had best go into the cabin before the
+rain comes upon us."
+
+The girls had scarcely found shelter when a volley of big drops swept,
+rattling, over the deck. Soon the waves rose so high as to bury the
+running board of the barge. The cotton-wood trees along the shore were
+twisted and torn up; blinding spray and rain filled the dark air. The
+captain saw his vessel in danger of drifting upon a wooden island, and
+could not decide whether to steer to the right or to the left of the
+obstruction. Voices from the eastern bank of the river were heard,
+shouting through the storm.
+
+"Sheer clear of the island! This is the safe channel! Row in close to
+this side! There's a bayou here!"
+
+Winslow could not see the men who gave this warning, but he was
+relieved. The halloo and answering shouts were heard by Lucrèce and
+Evaleen. Regardless of advice, and wind, and rain, they returned to
+deck. The men, unable to steady the barge, lost presence of mind; the
+captain knew not what orders to give, but finally commanded,
+
+"Lower the yawl, we will try to make fast to a tree. Quick! Steady!
+Four of you jump in! John, take charge of the cordelle; can you row,
+doctor? We need help."
+
+"Certainment. Do not fear, my two brave daughters; this good shower
+shall refresh ze atmosphere."
+
+He sprang into the yawl with the others, and seized the oars. The
+barge was driven and sucked toward a revolving eddy. Evaleen,
+observing the consternation of the rivermen, felt a sudden shock of
+terror.
+
+"Lucrèce!" she cried, grasping the French girl by the wrist. "We are
+lost! We shall drown! The men can do nothing! How the boat creaks and
+trembles!"
+
+Lucrèce was preternaturally calm. She took Evaleen protectingly in
+her arms.
+
+"Have no fear, my sister. Mon père shall not let us perish--he has
+the strong rope. And see! see, is there not somebody who could come to
+our aid?"
+
+Evaleen gazed through the driving haze, and saw, tossing on the rough
+water, a skiff which seemed to be making toilsome progress toward the
+doomed craft. Farther up the stream she thought she could discern the
+party in the yawl, striving to reach shore with the cumbersome
+cordelle. Pole, nor oar, nor rudder could save the Buckeye from the
+fury of the eddy. The slender craft, sixty feet in length, was whirled
+round and round with dizzy rapidity. The violence of the down-pull at
+the vortex broke her in the middle. All on board fled aft, to the
+highest deck, an elevation peculiar to barges. There remained the
+forlorn hope that the men in the skiff might approach the sinking
+wreck. This they did. They pulled alongside the half-hull, and with
+great difficulty and risk succeeded in taking the girls aboard. Three
+of the four boat-hands on the barge at the time of the disaster
+perished in the funnel of the eddy. One swam ashore. Evaleen devoutly
+thanked the Divine Power for her deliverance. Lucrèce crossed
+herself. The French girl's anxiety was now all for her father. She did
+not see the yawl, though it had landed.
+
+"Mon père! O mon père--mon pauvre père!"
+
+"He'll turn up, mam'sel," said a voice she did not like. There were
+two men in the skiff. Lucrèce now observed their appearance closely.
+A look at the features of the man who had spoken confirmed a reviving
+impression that he and the ribald boatman who had insulted her from
+the deck of Burr's flatboat at Gallipolis were the same. He affected
+not to identify her, but kept gloating eyes on Evaleen.
+
+"You needn't feel a bit afraid, young ladies; you are in trusty hands.
+Our business is to save property and to rescue folks. We will row you
+to a safe place, and then come back and help the men pick up what they
+can of their wrecked goods."
+
+Evaleen saw floating barrels and boxes, part of the cargo of the
+Buckeye. She also noticed skiffs putting out from shore.
+
+"Them is some of our organization coming to save goods. This here eddy
+is a dangerous place for boats."
+
+"Why did you direct our captain to pass this way, if it is a dangerous
+place?" asked Lucrèce.
+
+"Oh, the island over yonder is a damned sight more dangerous, ain't
+it, Abe?"
+
+"You are not rowing direct for the shore. I shall be very grateful to
+you, gentlemen, if you land us at the nearest point and assist our
+friends who are out on the water in a yawl."
+
+"Be easy, miss; we'll look after your friends by and by. I reckon they
+can take care of themselves, though."
+
+"Ladies fust, and gents next," interjected Sheldrake, leering at
+Evaleen. "We know how to be perlite to women. Don't we, cap? Specially
+to purty women. The young lady is right when she calls me and you
+gents, eh, cap?"
+
+"Shut your gab, and mind your oar," answered the chief.
+
+What object had these unknown watermen in conveying their unwilling
+passengers away from communication with Captain Winslow and Doctor
+Deville? Evaleen could not hide her dismay. Lucrèce grew desperate.
+
+"Will you stop the boat, sir? I beg it as a favor. I must go back to
+mon père. He will think us drowned. I must find him."
+
+"Keep cool, miss. We will help you to a place where you will be taken
+good care of, by nice folks. You can stay there and rest yourselves,
+and get a bite to eat and a glass of cordial, while we go back to look
+after the salvage."
+
+Five minutes more and the skiff was brought to rest beside a scow
+loaded with damaged merchandise. The abducted women were hustled to
+the shore.
+
+"Come along, miss; this way."
+
+Thus speaking, Palafox, going ahead, almost dragged Evaleen by an
+obscure path to Cacosotte's Tavern. Lucrèce followed perforce,
+convoyed by Sheldrake. When they reached the threshold, the chief
+outlaw kicked the door, which was soon opened from within. The
+frowning face and bold bosom of Mex fronted the captives. With one
+hand she flung back the tangled hank of her long black hair, while the
+light of her black eyes shone full on Evaleen. The side glare cast on
+Lucrèce was less vicious.
+
+"Mex, here is two fine ladies that will stop in our house a while,"
+said Palafox. "Treat 'em to the best you've got. Take mighty good care
+of 'em till I come back, Blackie, or you'll hear from me. Put 'em in
+number three, there's most light there, and it's safer. Tell Sott,
+when he comes back, to keep his nine eyes on the front door, to see
+that nobody that oughtn't to gets in or out."
+
+"One apiece for us, eh, Mex?" added Sheldrake.
+
+The kidnappers departed, after fastening the outer bolt of the door.
+Mex, sole custodian of the unwilling guests, scowled upon them, in
+silence. Evaleen came to her with appealing looks.
+
+"Please unlock the door and let us go. Here, take my purse. I will
+give you more if you will set us free--all I have. You are a woman;
+have pity; let us go."
+
+Mex grasped the silken purse, keeping her eyes steadily on the
+beautiful pleader.
+
+"You window woman?"
+
+Evaleen, nonplussed, ventured to nod acquiescence with these
+unintelligible words.
+
+"White antelope?"
+
+The captive nodded again, in dumb perplexity, eager to encourage any
+sign of human kindness on the part of the wild being into whose power
+she had fallen.
+
+"White Mex teeth." She showed her sharp incisors, presenting an aspect
+of fierce scorn.
+
+"Castiliano. My home. Come."
+
+The laconic hostess accompanied these words with a gesture, beckoning
+the young ladies to follow her, and led the way through the second
+room, to the heavy wooden portal of the third.
+
+"Mex let lady out."
+
+With exulting hearts, the girls heard this promise. The dark woman
+opened the door and motioned them to enter, which they did. Mex then
+slammed the door, and bolted it upon her unlucky prisoners.
+
+
+
+
+XIX. ARLINGTON'S RIDE.
+
+
+Chester Arlington set out from his Virginia home for the Southwest,
+carrying in his brain many anticipations, memories, and dreams, having
+slight connection with his nominal duties as Burr's business agent. He
+hoped to swell his own fortune by speculation in Wachita land;
+certainly he was eager to be among the first to march into Mexico when
+the signal for invasion should be given, openly or secretly. Moreover,
+sheer restlessness and love of adventure prompted him to ride over the
+hills and far away.
+
+As he proceeded westward along the Old Wilderness Road, through
+Cumberland Gap, into the heart of Kentucky, he had plenty of time for
+meditation. The varied prospects continually appealing to his eye
+mixed their images with pictures in his memory, especially with
+recollections of his journey down the Ohio. The interesting route over
+which he was now passing had been marked out by Boone and the early
+pioneers. Of the eighty thousand or more inhabitants living in
+Kentucky at this time, nearly all had come West on horseback or on
+foot. The famed region--the hunting ground of the Indians before the
+"Long Knives" invaded it--retained the chief features of a primeval
+forest. The settlers' houses were cabins in the clearing.
+
+The Virginian's meditations were broken in upon by various diverting
+sights and sounds. His attention was attracted by some picturesque
+hunter, dressed in buckskin pantaloons, fringed jacket, broad yellow
+belt, and wolfskin cap, and carrying a long rifle; or, perchance, he
+exchanged good-humored remarks with a wayfaring rustic who proposed to
+swap horses. He wended his way through the Blue Grass region, through
+Lexington and Frankfort, and southward into Tennessee. Arlington found
+keen enjoyment in what he saw and heard, though never quite losing
+from consciousness a haunting memory of the Lady of the Violets. He
+read with curiosity the tavern signs, wondering what relation such
+names as "The General Washington," "The Sign of the Wagon," "The Seven
+Stars," "The Golden Bull," "The Red Lion" bore to the character of the
+entertainment advertised by the several symbols, for Chester never
+failed to revive at meal-times a hearty regard for victuals and drink.
+The table fare in Kentucky and Tennessee was much the same wherever
+the traveller stopped--consisting of bacon, eggs, and of corn bread
+in the form of dodgers, or of big loaves weighing eight or ten pounds,
+cooked in a portable iron Dutch oven. Coffee the landlord always
+served, tea never, and no meal was complete without toddy. Peaches
+abounded; and a drink called metheglin, made of their juice mixed with
+whiskey and sweetened water, the thirsty traveller thought a rival to
+mint julep.
+
+One night Arlington put up at a locally celebrated tavern on the
+border of Tennessee. He found the genial host--an honest gossip
+called Chin--enjoying a hospitable carouse with half a dozen boon
+companions soaked full of flip and peach brandy. The jolly topers
+welcomed the newcomer to share their cups. They imparted much old
+news, and volunteered many encomiums on the landlord and his inn. They
+took special pride in Chin's tavern, owing to the undoubted historical
+fact that the guest-room had been occupied by Louis Philippe one night
+in the year 1802. On requesting to be shown to bed, the Virginian was
+conducted by the landlord, candle in hand, to a bare loft, on the
+floor of which lay a straw tick covered by a blue blanket.
+
+"There's a bed a young gentleman ought to be proud to sleep on,"
+affirmed the host, waving the candle over the couch. "If it's good
+enough for the son of the Duke of Orleans, it's good enough for me or
+you, eh? Wouldn't you like an applejack or a stiff metheglin to make
+you sleep sound? The boys downstairs respect you, sir, for the way you
+liquored. A young man travellin' can't be too sociable or treat too
+often. Well, good-night; you're lucky to strike that bed; you don't
+lay every night under a kiver and onto a tick slep between by the son
+of the Duke of Orleans."
+
+Chester found the bed conducive to dreams, in which he was happy
+beyond the happiness of duke or king, dreams of Blennerhassett's
+island in May, and of wandering with a wingless Yankee angel in that
+earthly Paradise. Next morning, in payment for lodging and breakfast,
+he offered a silver dollar.
+
+"That's too much," said Chin. "Here, Joel, chop this coin. I must give
+you the change in sharp-shanks. Will you have it in quarters or
+eighths?"
+
+"In whatever form you please."
+
+"Then make it quarters, Joel," directed the landlord, tossing the
+dollar to a negro, who neatly cut the piece into four equal segments,
+one of which was handed back to the departing guest.
+
+Arlington proceeded southward toward Natchez, following the road over
+which Burr had travelled toilsomely nearly two years before. Though
+warned not to undertake the journey alone, our hero, like James Fitz
+James, chose to trace a dangerous path only because it was "dangerous
+known." Road, properly so called, none had yet been opened through the
+wilderness stretching from Tennessee to lower Louisiana, and spreading
+eastward from the Mississippi. The route led the traveller along an
+old trail, over sandy spaces shadowed by melancholy pines, beside
+stagnant lagoons, across sluggish streams, and into cypress swamps,
+the lurking-place of reptiles, the dreary haunt of bats and vultures.
+The road, at best, was an indifferent bridle path, and at worst, a
+blind labyrinth of seldom trodden ways in the woods. Arlington carried
+in his saddle-bags a supply of bread and cheese, and he kept ready
+primed, in holster at his pommel, a brace of big pistols.
+
+On the evening of the second day after entering the piny woods of
+Mississippi, he came upon a party of Creeks and Cherokees. They were
+friendly; their chief offered the hospitality of the camp, venison to
+eat and a buffalo hide to sleep on. These mild savages spoke a few
+English words, and they had partially adopted the customs of white
+people. The men wore an upper garment, like a shirt, and, about their
+loins a girdle of blue cloth a yard and a half long. Their legs were
+bare, their feet shod with moccasins of stag-skin. They were shorn of
+all hair except a grotesque tuft on top of the head. To enhance their
+masculine beauty, they sported nose-rings and painted their faces red,
+blue or black. The dress of the squaws consisted of a shirt, a short
+petticoat, and ornamental gaiters. Not one of them suffered a ring in
+her nose or paint on her cheeks, and all seemed proud of their hair. A
+dusky beauty, the chief's daughter, insisted on picketing and feeding
+Arlington's horse. On the next morning, before quitting the camp, the
+young man gallantly gave her a silk scarf, a present which all the
+other Indians, from the chief down, envied her.
+
+No adventure of an unpleasant kind befell Chester Arlington until
+after he had crossed Black River, well on the way to Natchez. One day,
+in the dusk of evening, he heard a voice from a distance shout after
+him, "Ho, there!" He looked in the direction from which the shout had
+been sent, and returned an answering "Hello!" but could see no person,
+nor could he elicit another cry from the solitude. This unaccountable
+voice, sounding in the wilderness, had a disagreeable effect on
+Arlington's nerves, though he was not in the least alarmed by it. His
+horse, however, tired as the brute was, pricked up its ears, gave a
+suspicious snort, and moved with quicker pace. Perhaps half an hour
+passed; the twilight deepened, and the weary traveller looked right
+and left for a suitable camping spot for the coming night. He checked
+the horse, rose in his stirrups, turning his head to prospect a green
+nook near the bridle path, when, crack! whiz! and a bullet grazed his
+left ear. This was more serious than a lone cry in the wilderness.
+Horse and rider instantly sought security in flight. The spurs were
+hardly needed to urge the black stallion forward. A brisk gallop along
+such ready avenues as Jetty could follow in the darkening woods,
+rapidly put a safe distance between the traveller and the random
+highwayman who had shot at him. At any rate, Arlington decided to
+dismount and take the chances. He tethered the animal, ate a dodger,
+and slept on his arms.
+
+On the following morning new cause for anxiety arose. The bridle path
+was not to be found. In galloping away to avoid bullets, Chester had
+swerved much to the westward, and far from the obscure and crooked
+"trace." For a whole day he wandered circuitously, in vain search for
+the beaten course. The more stubbornly he resolved to keep "calm,
+cool, and collected," the worse confused were his calculations. He
+experienced sensations unlike any he had ever before felt. It vexed
+him to confess to himself that his usually clear brain was a muddle.
+He seemed not only to have missed the way, but had also lost the
+faculty of self-direction.
+
+The night was again coming on. Now, Arlington regretted his obstinacy
+in refusing the service of a guide. Danger for danger's sake was
+playing ironically with him. He reflected that the wisest thing for
+him to do was to save his strength, recover his wandering wits, and
+start afresh the next morning. Luckily his saddle-bags were stored
+with a good stock of rations. He tied his jaded horse to a
+cypress-tree, and sat down on the ground to endure as patiently as he
+could the long dark hours. "A prince's bed in Chin's loft," thought
+he, "is luxury compared with this. All comfort is relative. I will
+sleep if I can. I shall need myself to-morrow."
+
+The croaking of frogs in the swamp and the shrill trumpeting of the
+mosquito army attacking his face and hands were not agreeable
+lullabies. As the darkness deepened, a medley of doleful noises
+pervaded the horrible wilderness. An unearthly gabble of strange
+water-fowl broke out suddenly, was kept up for a few seconds only, and
+then ceased. Only once in the night did Arlington hear that demoniac
+gabble; but he lay awake for hours expecting and dreading to hear it
+again. The owls were not so sparing of their vocal performances,
+scores of them joining in concert to serenade the lost man. Sometimes
+their prolonged notes sounded like the wail of a deserted babe,
+sometimes like mocking laughter, and again like a deep guttural snore.
+Nothing worse than mosquitos, dismal sounds, and the dank vapor of the
+swamp afflicted the weary man, who, falling asleep at midnight, slept
+so soundly that on waking late next morning he reproached himself for
+not having dreamed as usual of Evaleen Hale.
+
+"How do you feel this morning, Jetty?" he said, patting his black
+horse. "Are you well rested? I will get you the best breakfast to be
+had in this God-forsaken region, and we must trot on or stay here and
+perish. Never say die, Jetty."
+
+Real difficulties invigorate the brain of a brave man. Arlington awoke
+with a definite plan of procedure in his mind. After feeding Jetty and
+breakfasting with keen gusto, he renewed his search for the lost path,
+keeping the points of the compass ever in view. Natchez lay to the
+south and also to the west. By going due south one must certainly
+strike the road at some point.
+
+"Are you ready to start, my lad?" said the man to the horse. The horse
+whinnied an equine response, and was soon bearing his master southward
+through the underbrush. Many an hour was wasted; the sun climbed to
+the meridian, and no indication of the anxiously looked-for trail was
+seen. At length, just as Arlington's pioneering eye lit upon the
+shining surface of a lazy brook, a dozen yards away, Jetty suddenly
+halted, put nose to the ground and began to paw. The animal had found
+a path, scarcely discernible, yet a practicable road marked by
+hoof-tracks. The course of it was along the edge of the small stream
+flowing westerly. "Manifestly the rational thing to do now is to
+follow the new-found trail, which, in all probability, is the right
+road to Natchez, or if not, it may lead to the Mississippi, where a
+boat can be hailed."
+
+Progress was slow and painful. The oppressive afternoon was half spent
+when a breeze started up, the precursor of a thunder-gust. The breeze,
+strengthening to a brisk gale, made Arlington hold fast to his hat,
+and caused the long streamers of Spanish moss to wave like gray
+banners from the limbs of the cypress-trees. The air grew murky,
+clouds were flying in dark blotches. A hurricane was sweeping across
+the country; the loud rush of it came roaring up the stream; it lashed
+and twisted and tore trees; poured down torrents; thundered around and
+above Arlington and his terrified horse, without doing either man or
+beast the slightest hurt, save deluging them with rain, and pounding
+them as with mighty hammers of wind. The storm swept past, the rain
+ceased, the wind died away, and the traveller thanked his stars he had
+escaped death. On, on, farther and farther toiled the travellers, now
+both afoot, Arlington leading his panting beast. The water-way on
+their south, near the bank of which the road lay, widened abruptly,
+and became a broad, natural canal, with crumbling shores. Arlington
+paused to speculate on the strange aspect of things. Long had he
+journeyed among bushes and trees, over logs and across streams and
+oozy marshes; now he deemed he was nearing the Mississippi. "I am De
+Soto the Second; an explorer of new regions, a discoverer of strange
+watercourses. This Acheron at my left must flow into some larger body
+of water, if it flows at all. Courage, Jetty! We are on the way to the
+Father of Waters."
+
+Climbing once more into the saddle, Arlington resumed his ride,
+patting his horse on the neck, and encouraging him with words.
+
+"Patience, good boy; keep up a day or two more. Surely this widening
+stream on our left creeps to the big river. See! A boat! A vessel made
+by man's hands lies on the shore of this Dead Sea!"
+
+Joyfully Chester sprang to the ground, and leaving the animal to
+browse, ran down to the edge of the bluff to learn if any living
+creature were aboard. He discovered three or four large boats,
+freighted with barrels and boxes. He called, but no answer came back.
+Turning to look after his horse, he noticed a foot-path leading into a
+thicket, and having pushed his way amid the wet bushes, he came into a
+broader path, which brought him to a supposititious tavern, the
+headquarters of Palafox's gang.
+
+"A queer place for a public house," thought Arlington, reading the
+sign over the door. "Table set in the wilderness; I am out of danger
+of starvation, anyhow. Blessed be the name of Cacosotte."
+
+Thus communing with himself, the young man pounded vigorously on the
+puncheon door. No one came to open to him. Loudly he called in the
+hearty manner of the backwoodsman:
+
+"Hello the house!"
+
+Nobody answered the call, though Arlington could have sworn he heard
+suppressed voices within. It flashed upon him that the place might be
+a trap for travellers, and the sign-board a decoy. His two heavy
+pistols, each more than a foot long, hung strapped to his belt. The
+priming was fresh; the flints were accurately set.
+
+"Hello, there, within!"
+
+Still no answer, yet again the sound of voices--women's voices. The
+stranger left the front portal to investigate the rear end of the long
+cabin. Loopholes in the log walls permitted air and light to enter the
+rooms. Through one of these openings, an aperture which might very
+likely conceal the muzzle of an aimed rifle, Arlington heard--not the
+report of a gun, but what surprised him more--his own name shrieked
+by Evaleen Hale. The hurried, excited appeal of the captives made
+clear the prompt and only course for the man to take. He hastened to
+the front door again, and now saw a reason why the strong bolts on the
+outside had been fastened. These he drew, and almost heaving the door
+off its hinges, rushed into the den. Mex stood on guard in the first
+partition door, a butcher knife in her hand. Slight parley did the
+athletic, impetuous Virginian ranger hold with the dragon who
+interposed between him and his lady-love. "Drop the knife! Throw up
+your hands!" he demanded, with an emphasis of desperation, which left
+no doubt of his intentions. Mex knew the meaning of pistols; she was
+cowed; the knife fell and her hands went up. Secretly she was glad to
+be foiled. She wished to be rid of the woman Palafox admired, and she
+could think of but two modes of disposing of her--killing her or
+letting her escape. Slowly walking backward, menaced by a cocked
+pistol, Mex retreated to the door of the room in which the ladies were
+locked up. The bolts were unfastened by her, the door swung inward,
+and the prisoners sprang to freedom. Now again Mex showed fight. She
+flashed Pepillo's poignard from a hidden sheath and made at Arlington,
+who struck the weapon down, shoved the savage woman back into the
+room, and bolted the door.
+
+
+
+
+XX. MOSTLY LOVE MATTERS.
+
+
+Captain Winslow and those with him in the yawl at the time of the
+sinking of the barge, intent on their work of landing and of managing
+the cordelle, did not witness the rescue of Miss Hale and her
+companion. The place where the yawl came to shore, was overhung by
+bushes, and shut from view in the direction of the mouth of the bayou
+by trees and branches just blown down. Throughout the disastrous
+half-hour, only Dr. Deville thought less of self-preservation than of
+the safety of others. Constantly he tried not to lose sight of his
+daughter and of Evaleen, and he felt sure he had seen the girls going
+ashore in a skiff, rowed by two men. The boatman, who escaped by
+swimming when his fellows went down in the whirl of the eddy, could
+not believe but that the women were drowned.
+
+Winslow and his drenched crew followed Dr. Deville down to the angle
+formed by the river and the bayou, where stood those of the wreckers
+not employed with oar or boat-hook. And now the conclusion of the
+sailor who swam to shore was confirmed by other testimony. These
+fellows swore they had seen the lost women struggling in the water.
+Another declared he saw them sink while he was making a desperate
+effort, against wave and gale, to reach them in his boat.
+Notwithstanding the assertions of the watermen, Deville did not
+relinquish faith in his own eyes. He suspected foul play. So did
+Winslow, who began to discover the spurious quality of the pretended
+salvage corps. The vigilant exertions of these hookers-in of flotsam
+could be accounted for only on the supposition that here, at the
+outlet of Cypress Bayou, Captain Winslow had fallen into the hands of
+a gang such as he had described to his passengers.
+
+Palafox and his confederate made haste to return from their thieves'
+den to the scene of the wreck. Deville's pleading inquiry concerning
+the missing girls drew from the abductors feigned expressions of
+surprise and regret. Turning to Winslow, Palafox said:
+
+"I'm 'stonished, captain, that you risked takin' women on board a
+freight boat."
+
+"Yes," added Sheldrake. "You'll blame y'rself 's long 's you live.
+Them bodies will come up as floaters, down about Baton Rouge."
+
+Doctor Deville groaned.
+
+"No, no! Say not that. My dear daughter shall not be lost! Ah! Mon
+dieu!"
+
+"Daughter? Was one of 'em your daughter, grand-daddy?" exclaimed
+Sheldrake. "Think of that, Burke! His daughter drownded!"
+
+"_Je suis fachè de votre malheur, père_," said Palafox, in a tone of
+affected commiseration. Then turning to Sheldrake with a grin, "Better
+not devil the old man any more, Shel; he's gone crazy. Hello, there
+comes another boat!"
+
+The craft sighted was a transport, flying the Stripes and Stars, and
+bearing a detachment of soldiers from St. Louis to Natchez. On being
+vociferously hailed by Winslow and his men, the batteau headed for the
+shore. During the slow and laborious process of landing, the wreckers,
+observing uniformed soldiers, with guns, furtively slipped away, one
+by one, disappearing in the bush; all excepting Palafox, who, with
+brazen audacity, still held his ground, acting his part as succorer of
+the unfortunate.
+
+"I mean to join the army myself," said he to Winslow, as a lieutenant
+and several men came ashore. "I'd enlist now if it wasn't for my
+family at home--two sick babies."
+
+A yell of delight from Dr. Deville startled all on shore and on the
+boat. His vigilant eye, ever enfilading the tangled copse to the
+eastward, had caught through an opening in the bushes the flutter of a
+blue gown, which he recognized as the kirtle of his idolized Lucrèce.
+She presently emerged from the thicket, accompanied by Arlington and
+Evaleen. Palafox was much disconcerted. He forgot his role of public
+benefactor, and was casting about to slip away as his fellows had
+done, when Arlington, rushing forward, pistol in hand, savagely
+confronted him.
+
+"Stop!" thundered the Virginian, covering the desperado with his
+pistol, and glaring upon him with determined eye. Palafox, unable to
+escape, nonchalantly bit a chew of tobacco and nodded insolently.
+
+"Take this man prisoner!" demanded the Virginian, keeping his eye and
+his pistol on the boatman.
+
+"You've no warrant to take me," sneered Palafox.
+
+"No warrant is required. Seize him, soldiers--he is a robber, an
+outlaw!"
+
+To the accusation of Arlington, Miss Hale added her entreaties in
+terms so urgent that Palafox was arrested with little ceremony.
+
+While the soldiers were hustling the kidnapper aboard the boat, the
+officer in command, Captain Warren Danvers, hastened to the shore,
+having recognized the voice of Evaleen. Neither Lucrèce, who loved
+Danvers, nor Chester, who loved Evaleen, could hear what passed, in
+rapid speech, between the affectionate couple. The story of the
+voyage, the wreck, the abduction, Evaleen imparted in a breath. She
+told as briefly the circumstances of the rescue.
+
+"Oh, Warren, is it really you? A divine Providence guards us. Such a
+coincidence is not blind chance. Who could guess when we parted that
+we should come together under these circumstances. The hand of Heaven
+saved us."
+
+"My dear girl, will you give no credit to human saviors? It appears
+you owe special gratitude to a mortal. I can't claim any merit for
+saving you, but I am extremely happy that we are once more together.
+Who is your travelling companion? We must look after her."
+
+"Are you tired of me already," she playfully chided, "and curious to
+make a new friend? They are French people from Gallipolis."
+
+"French? Is she French?" asked Danvers, gazing toward Lucrèce.
+
+"French? Is she French?" tenderly mocked Evaleen. "I told you they
+were French. Now I _am_ jealous. Do you know any French girl in
+Gallipolis?"
+
+"Nonsense, Evaleen! I am not a woman's man. Pardon, I don't mean that
+I don't like _you_, of course--"
+
+"Like--don't you love me? I love you with all my heart, you dear
+fellow! But I love Lucrèce also, and maybe I'll let you love her just
+a little."
+
+Danvers seemed embarrassed. Evaleen went on:
+
+"We are forgetting our friends. Come, you must thank the man who saved
+us."
+
+The pair hurried to where Arlington stood.
+
+"Mr. Arlington, this is Captain Danvers."
+
+"I have met Captain Danvers."
+
+"How, what? Have you, Warren, formed the acquaintance of--?"
+
+"I have seen Mr. Arlington once before."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"In Marietta."
+
+"When?"
+
+"A good while ago. On the day I left for St. Louis."
+
+"You never told me." Danvers looked hard at Arlington, who felt called
+upon to explain.
+
+"Madam, I challenged Captain Danvers to fight."
+
+Evaleen's blue eyes opened wide.
+
+"Challenged Warren!"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you accepted the challenge?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Why, brother!"
+
+Arlington's heart leapt within him. "Brother?" he stammered. "Captain
+Danvers your brother?"
+
+"He is my half brother."
+
+Danvers laughed out. Putting his arm around Evaleen, he said, "Mr.
+Arlington, if you are still disposed to fight me, we may meet when you
+please. But I am of the opinion you will learn from Evaleen that you
+have more cause to cherish hard feelings against the man you champion
+than against me."
+
+"At any rate," said Arlington, as the two shook hands, "whatever you
+may think concerning Colonel Burr, this is not the place nor time for
+quarrelling. You have the Spaniards to fight--I must fight a rash
+temper."
+
+Lucrèce, pale and sad-eyed, was leaning upon her father's shoulder.
+Evaleen hastened to her, and the doctor went up to Arlington to pour
+out endless thanks.
+
+"Are you sick, Lucrèce? Shall we go to the boat?"
+
+"Sick, sick at heart."
+
+"There is a way to cure that."
+
+"No, my Evaleen, there is no cure. But you shall it all forgive. How
+could I know? You say you sometime tell me the story I read, alas, too
+late."
+
+"Story? What story?"
+
+"Ah, my sweet friend--pardon me--pity Lucrèce. _Mon soldat--mon
+capitaine_, you love heem--he love you--how shall we not hate us?"
+
+The captain made bold to approach the ladies. When his eyes met those
+of Lucrèce, Evaleen interpreted the silent language exchanged.
+
+"Lucrèce, your soldier is my brother, you jealous little tigress!
+But," she added in a whisper, "don't let him kiss you again."
+
+Danvers, without delay, gave directions for all to embark, and himself
+conducted Lucrèce and her jubilant father on board.
+
+Arlington, escorting the Lady of the Violets, asked her, in an
+undertone, "Did you get my last letter from Virginia?"
+
+"Yes," answered Evaleen. "Did you receive mine, in which I explained
+the mistakes of Byle?"
+
+"No; I did not get such a letter. Tell me all the contents."
+
+"That will require time."
+
+"Did you answer my--my question?"
+
+"Wait until you see the letter."
+
+"I don't think I can wait."
+
+"Then until we can talk on the boat."
+
+Danvers proposed to take the crew and passengers of the wrecked barge
+Buckeye aboard his transport and carry them as far south as Natchez,
+where a family boat could be procured for the continuance of their
+voyage to New Orleans. Arlington, of course, was accommodated; also
+his faithful horse, Jetty, which had followed him down the margin of
+the bayou. The understanding was that Winslow should conduct the
+doctor and the ladies from Natchez to New Orleans, leaving Danvers
+free to march his troops to Natchitoches, while Arlington remained in
+Natchez to transact the business intrusted to him by Burr.
+
+The transport was soon afloat. Monsieur Deville, quickly recovering
+his habitual gaiety, chirruped:
+
+"Have I not said, Mees Hale, to your father that hees gairl sall be
+safe as ze baby in ze cradle? Have I not keep my word? Ze leetle blow
+of ze wind, it is all ovair. What we care now for ze boat-wreckair, ze
+bad robbair? _Voila!_ have we not brush away ze mosquito? But say to
+me, my daughter's dear friend, am I myself Eloy Deville? Ze Captain
+Danvers, is he a lunatic?"
+
+"No, doctor, not a lunatic, but a lover. My brother and your daughter
+have been sweethearts for many moons."
+
+"Now I am sure you also, Mees Hale, have lost your head. You also are
+in ze delirium."
+
+Danvers, attempting to ingratiate himself with père Eloy, was called
+away by an occurrence which caused him chagrin. The sentinel to whom
+was assigned the duty of keeping watch over Palafox was not
+sufficiently vigilant to foil his cunning. The amphibious athlete
+managing deftly to loosen the cords which bound his wrists, slipped
+like an eel from the boat into the river, and, diving deep, swam
+awhile under water, then on the surface, and finally reached the
+eastern shore of the Mississippi, a few miles south of the point at
+which the boat had landed. Long, toilsome, exhausting, was his return
+tramp toward the sole haunt in which he could expect sympathy or
+command protection. He did not rely on honor among thieves, but he had
+confidence in Mex, who was bound to him, he believed, by two strong
+ties, love and fear.
+
+Night had fallen before Palafox reached the southern edge of the bayou
+at the point opposite his only house and home, and it was pitchy dark,
+when, having swam across the stagnant channel, he trudged, wet and
+weary, to the barred door of Cacosotte's Tavern, and knocked. Mex
+undid the bolts and let her master in, her sagacious eyes swiftly
+taking note of his bodily plight and desperate mood. To her
+demonstration of savage tenderness he returned a ferocious growl, and
+shoved her from him roughly.
+
+"Fetch me the brandy, quick! Don't you see I'm drowned?"
+
+He swallowed at a gulp the potation she poured out, and stepping into
+a dark recess christened "The Captain's Corner," where hung various
+stolen articles of men's apparel, he exchanged his soaked garments for
+dry ones.
+
+Meanwhile, Mex sullenly placed upon a table such food as her cupboard
+could supply. Palafox emerged, mollified in temper, but still
+irascible. In his hand he held the long leathern pocket-book
+containing the alleged evidence of Wilkinson's complicity with the
+Spanish government. It was creased and dripping, and before eating he
+opened it, carefully took out the papers, and spread them on the
+counter of the bar to dry.
+
+"You wouldn't guess there might be a fortune in these, would you,
+Blackey?"
+
+"_Not_ Blackey! No negar-wool!" She shook her long black hair, and her
+blacker eyes glittered. "No Mexicano, no red squaw--your woman."
+
+Palafox was wont to amuse himself by provoking the pride and jealousy
+of this caged creature of untamed affections.
+
+"Where is Sott? Did he come home? He ought to be burnt alive for
+letting my game escape. Where is he?"
+
+Mex, standing behind her lord and watching him as he ate and drank,
+explained that Nine Eyes had been badly hurt in a fight with one of
+the band; a bullet had shivered the bones of his arm; the sufferer had
+groaned and howled, but she soothed him, she said, by a charm, and he
+at last slept.
+
+Sott's nondescript nurse had in fact, administered an opiate. In
+addition to the arts of the hoodoo and medicine man, she possessed
+unusual knowledge of the virtue of wild plants, including those of
+dangerous quality. There was never race or tribe so primitive as to be
+ignorant of deadly herbs. This scarcely half-civilized daughter of
+miscegenation was a Hecate in the skilful decoction of potent leaves,
+roots and berries.
+
+"You _charmed_ him to sleep?" sneered Palafox, glancing back
+threateningly, and speaking in Spanish. "Be careful who you charm.
+Best not be coddling Nine Eyes, or any other man, while I'm livin'.
+Bring another bottle. You could have kept those girls here for me, if
+you'd tried. You allowed that strutting dandy to carry them off before
+your eyes. This makes the second time he got away from me. The third
+time is the charm. Not your kind of charm, Mex, but one that acts
+quicker."
+
+"What charm?" asked Mex, who had gone behind the bar, and was busy
+with bottles and cups. She decanted some drops into a flask.
+
+"What charm! Copper-cheeks! You don't recollect how I dosed Pepillo
+that night!"
+
+"Yes, that night me save your life. Me your wife then! Me kill dandy?"
+
+Palafox chuckled at the question.
+
+"No, señora, no. I'll do that part of the business, and you see after
+the charming. You might have captivated the dandy for all I care, and
+kept him to yourself. It isn't him I want. I want her. And I'll have
+her yet. I've set my heart on getting ahold of that woman."
+
+The hand of Mex could not have been steady; she let fall something
+that broke like glass.
+
+"What are you spilling, there? Don't break my bottles. Bring me more
+drink."
+
+Mex started up confusedly from behind the bar, brought a flagon, sat
+down on the bench beside Palafox, and looked into his face. A furious
+resentment was raging in her heart.
+
+Palafox enjoyed his temporary wife's manifestations of jealousy. He
+laughed, took a deep draught from the flagon, and said:
+
+"You are infernal particular, Mex. I never heard of another woman of
+your pedigree who was opposed to polygamy."
+
+She did not understand all the words he used, but gathered the chief
+import, and replied with impetuous wrath:
+
+"No Mex--not Choctaw--me Castiliano--me Señora Palafox." The
+desperado sat still several minutes, drank again from a bowl which Mex
+had mixed.
+
+"You're all right, señora--I couldn't keep house without you. Look
+ye here, bring all those papers and I'll put 'em safe back in the
+pocket book." The papers were folded up and enclosed carefully into
+the leathern wallet. Palafox, with trembling hand, thrust the package
+in his pocket, and then staggered to his feet.
+
+"There's a queer pain in the back of my neck and in my chest, Mex; I
+can't stand up--help me." He leaned on the bar, and the woman hastily
+drew to the middle of the floor the great buffalo robe which was her
+usual bed. She also brought a panther's hide rolled up to serve as a
+pillow. The horribly staring eyes of Palafox followed her motions.
+
+"There's something ails my heart, I tell you."
+
+He stumbled upon the bed of pelts and lay sprawling.
+
+"More drink! water! brandy! quick!"
+
+With difficulty Mex turned the man upon his back. A while he lay
+still. His breathing was labored and he twitched convulsively. The
+entire nervous system was suddenly depressed. Mex stood motionless
+beside the pallet, her eyes riveted upon him. Presently his livid lips
+opened, and he spoke gaspingly, "I'm done for."
+
+His hand fumbled about his heart. He was falling into syncope. He did
+not feel the sweep and tickle of downfalling hair which, for a moment,
+enmeshed and covered his face, when Mex knelt at his side and took
+from his bosom the pocket-book he had told her contained a fortune.
+
+Having secured this treasure, the slighted mistress of a dying robber
+slid noiseless as a shadow to her accustomed covert behind the bar.
+When she came thence her feet and ankles were encased in high buckskin
+moccasins adorned in bright colors. About her shoulders she drew an
+Indian blanket decorated in richest style of barbaric elegance. She
+paused to bestow a parting look on the distorted face of him she had
+loved and poisoned. A feeble moan came from his lips. She knew it
+meant death, for wolf's-bane was mixed with the last draughts he had
+taken.
+
+Like a shadow Mex passed from the cabin into the darkness of the
+woods. She had prevented the man from pursuing any other woman.
+
+The hours of night wore slowly away, and Cacosotte, returning to
+consciousness after his anæsthetic sleep, felt renewed pain in his
+disabled arm. As soon as he realized his condition, he sat up in bed
+and shouted for his nurse. "Mex!" No answer.
+
+"Mex, for God's sake come and fix my arm."
+
+No answer. No sound whatever was to be heard in the lonely cabin.
+
+"Mex, O Mex!"
+
+No response. Cacosotte waited half an hour and again called out.
+Finally he got up, and in the gray light of a cloudy November dawn
+made his way from his remote couch in "Heaven" to the glimmering
+twilight of "Hell." Mex was not in her lair, nor was the couch itself
+in the usual place.
+
+Cacosotte bent over Palafox and saw a corpse.
+
+
+
+
+XXI. PRO AND CON.
+
+
+"No, sir, no, sir! I deny the statement. Burr is not getting justice.
+Daviess is a persecutor, not a prosecutor. He hates Burr as he hates
+every Republican. He rakes up all the filthy lies of the past,
+concerning Burr and Wilkinson, and peddles them round in that
+dung-cart, _The Western World_, which his man Friday, John Wood,
+drives."
+
+"You'd best not talk too loud, Hadley; Wood is at the door."
+
+"Who wants John Wood?" bawled the bearer of that name. "Hadley, you?"
+
+"No; I avoid you and your paper. You ought to be sued for libel. I say
+to you as I just now said to Ogden, that Jo Hamilton Daviess is making
+this fuss, not for furtherance of law and justice, but to blacken the
+name of Burr."
+
+"Burr blackened it himself," retorted Wood, "with the blood of
+Hamilton."
+
+"Black blood it was, from a black heart. Don't say anything against
+that duel here in Kentucky!" said Hadley.
+
+The wrangle, of which the foregoing speeches were a part, took place
+in Frankfort, Kentucky, on the morning of December 2, 1806. The town
+was thronged with zealous partisans, Federalists and Republicans, from
+near and far. Scores of sturdy ploughmen and cavalcades of
+stock-raisers had ridden from their Blue Grass farms to the State
+capital, on horses of a breed and beauty unsurpassed in the world.
+Every tavern, blacksmith-shop, and grocery drew its crowd, for the
+weather was cold, and the country folks were glad of a chance to warm
+themselves while they boisterously discussed the latest phases of the
+legal proceeding then in progress, involving the reputation of Aaron
+Burr, and threatening his personal liberty.
+
+Daviess, a staunch Federalist, controlled a political newspaper, the
+avowed purpose of which was "to drag to light the men who had been
+concerned with Miro in the Spanish conspiracy of 1787." Daviess had
+written to Jefferson accusing General Wilkinson of having been in
+Spanish pay, and later had charged both Wilkinson and Burr with the
+grossest disloyalty. These two men were openly and repeatedly attacked
+in the paper, a copy of which Wood held in hand when he confronted
+Hadley.
+
+"You can't smutch the character of Daviess," said Wood. "His name is
+above suspicion. He performs his duty as United States District
+Attorney without fear or favor."
+
+"You are not competent to give an unbiased opinion; your
+bread-and-butter depends upon the man who set you up in business."
+
+The sneer drew applause from a majority of those in the store. Burr
+had won the heart of the populace. Wood returned a sharp rejoinder.
+
+"What a pity that some good man has not set Hadley up in a better
+business than pettifogging. Apply to your patron, Judge Innes. Lick
+his foot. There's an immaculate judge for you! Talk of corruption!
+I've been present at every session of the court whenever the case of
+Burr came up. Away back as early as the beginning of November Daviess
+moved for a process to compel the attendance of Burr in court to
+answer charges of treason. Daviess made affidavit that he had positive
+evidence of Burr's plotting to wage war against Spain, invade Mexico,
+and break up the Union. What was the action of Judge Hary Innes? He
+overruled the motion--denied the course of justice."
+
+"No," broke in the other, "he denied the motion because there were no
+grounds for the charge."
+
+"Hold on, Mr. Hadley, till I am through. I want these young men from
+the Blue Grass and from Lexington to know the truth, the whole truth,
+and nothing but the truth."
+
+"Fust time truth ever come from the editor of _The Western World_!"
+growled a backwoodsman in buckskin breeches. "I'll bet my money on
+Burr. Burr ought to be President 'stid of Jefferson. He was cheated
+out of the Presidency."
+
+"That's the talk!" put in a squeaky-voiced old man, wiping his lips
+with the back of his hand, after having taken a drink of cheap
+whiskey, for a dram went gratis with every purchase, and old Jim Sweet
+had bought a long woollen "comfort" for his scrawny neck. "That's the
+talk, gen'l'men. I say, hurrah for Wilkinson and Burr and Harry Clay!
+I wisht Clay had popped a hole in Daviess, jest like Burr did in
+Hamilton. Why didn't they fight? They say Daviess sent a challenge.
+Wonder why that dool 'tween Jo and Harry never come off?"
+
+Hadley shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"That gits me," continued Jim. "Reckon it were a case of one askeert
+and an' t'other da'sn't, eh, Hen?"
+
+"Skeert nothin'!" mumbled the backwoodsman. "Clay's a dead shot."
+
+The man of the newspaper here put in. "Daviess sent Clay a challenge;
+that's certain."
+
+"Yes! an' there's another fack what's durn certain, my friend, or I'm
+a liar!" The backwoodsman roused himself from his stooping posture and
+sat glaring at the editor. "Harry Clay done accepted Daviess's
+challenge; an' if matters was arranged satisfactory to both parties
+without no pluggin', I reckon there ain't no need of comments from
+outsiders."
+
+Editor Wood, aware that the public sentiment was against him,
+prudently withdrew, leaving the floor to Hadley, which zealous
+Democrat, addressing sympathetic auditors, voiced their feelings and
+his own.
+
+"I was in the court room, and I saw some of you there when first
+Daviess tried to calumniate Burr; and I was there when Innes overruled
+the motion. That was a great day. The judge had scarcely finished
+speaking when Burr himself, just from Lexington, entered the
+court-house. He made the neatest speech ever I heard--perfectly calm
+and dignified--and he asked for a full and free investigation--the
+sooner the better, he said--_now_, if possible. You heard that
+speech, Jim, didn't you?"
+
+Old Jim, who, with trembling hands, was in the act of adjusting his
+new comfort, swore he had heard all the great preachers and lawyers of
+his day, but Burr knocked the persimmons.
+
+"Do you recamember, Hen," said he, familiarly addressing Hadley. "Do
+you recamember how Daviess hopped up and snarled out, 'You shall have
+all the _investigation_ you want!' He said it in jest that tantulatin'
+style. 'All the in-ves-ti-gation you want.' _I_ was riled. I hissed."
+
+"Like an old snappin' turtle," said the backwoodsman.
+
+"I recollect," resumed Hadley, "the judge fixed the next Wednesday for
+the hearing, as Burr desired. Wednesday came, but Daviess wasn't
+ready. One of his witnesses absent. What could the judge do but
+discharge the jury? He did discharge the jury, and then, gentlemen, we
+had another surprise! No sooner had those jurymen left the box than in
+marched Burr once again, and said he regretted that the jury had been
+discharged, and asked the reason. Daviess buzzed up, like a mad
+hornet, and explained that one of his principal witnesses, Davis
+Floyd, was in Indiana attending a territorial legislature. Everybody
+burst out laughing, and the judge had to call the court to order. You
+ought to have seen Burr! Without cracking a smile, he desires that the
+cause of Floyd's absence be entered upon record. Then he makes another
+address, partly to the court and partly to the people, denying in toto
+the charges against him, and insisting on a fair investigation. There
+is not a franker, more open-and-above-board soul living than this same
+Aaron Burr of New York! They can't catch him by any tricks of law or
+lying. He won't be downed. To-day comes the last tug of war. I never
+saw such another crowd in this town as we have now to attend court.
+All Frankfort is here, all Lexington, and pretty much all Kentucky."
+
+"I'll be danged," piped old Jim, "if I don't start right away and try
+to git a bench. An ailin' man, like me, can't scrouge, as I used to
+could."
+
+"Go 'long wi' me; I'll jam you through the crowd, or mash you, Jim,"
+offered the backwoodsman. "Fetch out the jug, Sanders, it's my treat.
+Come up to the counter, neighbors, 'less you mean to insult me. Here,
+use this dipper, Jim. All must drink--yes, you too, Solly." These
+last words were addressed to a ghost-like man with a long white beard
+and insane eyes, who had glided into the store. He was recognized by
+all present under the name of "Solly," an abbreviation of Solitarius.
+The demented fanatic sadly shook his head.
+
+"Peace be with you all. Amen!"
+
+"Amen, Solly; how's the Halcyon Itinerary?" asked Hadley, in playful
+irony. "Where's your revelations?"
+
+"Awake from your dreams." This monition, uttered in a slow, solemn
+tone, was received by the loafers good-naturedly, being advice they
+had often heard from the same lips.
+
+"This whiskey'll wake 'em up, Solly, if anything this side of liquid
+fire can. Here's a tinful for you."
+
+The crazy prophet waved the offering away, raised his palms in silent
+benediction, and glided out as noiselessly as he had entered.
+
+"Badly cracked," said the grocery-keeper.
+
+"Religion done it," exclaimed Old Jim, between swallows.
+
+The drinks having been paid for, the entire company, led by the
+backwoodsman, left the store and hurried to the court-house.
+
+
+
+
+XXII. NOT A TRUE BILL.
+
+
+The oft-deferred and eagerly expected hour came, in which the charges
+brought against Aaron Burr by the United States District Attorney of
+Kentucky were to be investigated before a Grand Jury, Judge Hary Innes
+presiding. The court-room was crammed from wall to wall with a crowd
+of men impatiently awaiting the first move in the anticipated war of
+words between two famous lawyers, who were known to be not only
+political antagonists, but also personal enemies. The cause of the
+impending battle was worthy of the contestants. On the result of that
+day's testimony and debate hung the fortunes of the conspirator and
+his federaries. This Burr realized, though few of his devoted
+adherents in that crowded room had suspicion that the charges against
+him were true. In the minds of most of them he figured as a martyr, a
+patriotic citizen maligned and traduced. There were many in that
+assemblage who, had they believed his designs traitorous, would have
+greeted him not with applause, but with a volley of rotten eggs.
+
+When Judge Innes stepped behind the high desk of justice, and took his
+official seat, a buzz of expectation went round. The clerk of the
+court bustled in with an air of importance, and shook hands with the
+District Attorney, whose troubled, anxious eye shot piercing glances
+in every direction. Daviess appeared to be seeking for somebody he
+hardly hoped to find. Old Jim, standing in a corner, craned his neck
+to get a better view, wheezily murmuring in the ear of his friend, the
+backwoodsman, "Jo looks cross. I reckon he has lost somethin'."
+
+"'Spect he has lost his case," remarked Buckskin Breeches, stooping to
+spit tobacco juice on the floor. At this moment a cheer, seconded by
+general handclapping, announced the coming of Burr and his counsel,
+Clay and Allen. The judge did not check the demonstration; on the
+contrary, he smiled a beaming welcome and was unjudicial enough to nod
+familiarly from his high bench.
+
+The case was called with the usual forms of procedure, when, to the
+disgust of Old Jim and the auditors generally, Daviess asked a further
+postponement owing to the absence of an indispensable witness, John
+Adair. The judge hesitated, Burr had nothing to say, and the
+spectators manifested signs of democratic protest against being
+disappointed in their hopes of a forensic entertainment. Burr's
+lawyers were very willing to treat the populace to a taste of oratory,
+which, in the guise of legal discussion, might produce remote
+political effects, for office-seeking was a fine art in the good old
+days of Jackson and Clay. Colonel Allen arose to insist that the
+investigation go on or else be abandoned finally and entirely, and to
+this the judge seemed to assent. Daviess, fearful that the court and
+the balance of public opinion were against him, felt the difficulty of
+his position, but determined to summon all his power of argument and
+persuasion, hoping to turn the tide in his favor. A bold man, ready in
+debate, sharp at repartee, the leader of his party, the District
+Attorney was considered a match for any member of the Kentucky bar.
+The judge, the assembled lawyers, and the waiting audience perceived
+in the very attitude of Daviess, when he rose to plead for
+postponement, that he was loaded with a great speech. They were not
+mistaken. For more than an hour he held the absorbed attention of
+every listener. He set forth clearly and forcibly the fundamental
+reasons why the accusation of treason against a prominent citizen
+should be fully investigated.
+
+"Your Honor," said he, in conclusion, "I appear before you and before
+the people of this State and county, and before the throne of Almighty
+God; I come in the discharge of an imperative duty, as a servant of
+the United States, to which I am bound by a sacred oath; I come to lay
+before you damning evidence that the accused is guilty of treason to
+his country. Only give me time--grant me another day. I shall produce
+unwilling witnesses whose testimony will convince even the most
+prejudiced politician, will persuade even his own deluded followers
+that Aaron Burr is engaged in machinations to destroy this Federal
+Union which the men of Lexington and Bunker Hill fought and died to
+establish. Behold the Brutus who would stab, not a despotic Cæsar,
+but the nourishing bosom of his native country. We have here, in loyal
+Kentucky, a Lexington, our most populous city. Remember that it was
+named in commemoration of the first battle of the Revolution. Shall
+our Lexington be suffered to become a hot-bed of sedition? No, your
+Honor--a thousand times, no!"
+
+The effect of this peroration was for the moment overwhelming. A dead
+silence prevailed throughout the court-room. Garrulous Old Jim
+attempted no sarcastic criticism; he rolled his blear eyes in the
+direction of the backwoodsman and shook his head as if to say, "I give
+it up." The climax of the day's oratory, however, was yet to come.
+Daviess took his seat and Clay instantly sprang up to answer him.
+"Harry of the West," already a popular idol, was the most celebrated
+speaker in Kentucky. Not yet thirty years of age, he had just been
+chosen to represent his State in the Senate of the nation. Burr,
+soliciting his professional aid, had written a note denying either
+treasonable intentions or complicity with traitors. "You may be
+satisfied," wrote he, "that you have not espoused the cause of a man
+any way unfriendly to the laws, the government, or the interest of his
+country." Relying on this assurance, Clay gave his services without
+fee, perhaps in anticipation of the satisfaction he would enjoy in
+vanquishing with the tongue the man who had once challenged him to
+mortal combat with pistols. His resolute mien, tall, graceful figure,
+expressive gestures, flashing eye, and mellifluous voice captivated
+independently of the substance of his discourse. Clay was eloquent by
+nature. There was no resisting the flood of his impassioned speech.
+
+In the course of his address, which was meant as much for the public
+ear as for that of the judge, he said: "These paltry charges, may it
+please your Honor, these foul and slanderous charges, the filthy ooze
+of an irresponsible newspaper, are incredible, preposterous--nay,
+mendacious! They are not made in good faith. The purpose of those who
+are fomenting mischief, under the pretence of performing public duty,
+is not what it professes to be. The motives underlying this show of
+public virtue are sinister and selfish."
+
+"Do you mean to cast reflections on my character, sir?" demanded
+Daviess.
+
+"Not at all. You are brilliant enough to shine by your own light.
+Look, sir, a moment, at the history of this illustrious American
+citizen whom you are called upon to vex and vilify; remember his
+heroic conduct in war, his splendid services in peace; recall the
+story of his public sacrifices and his private misfortunes; who, I
+ask, is worthy of a generous people's gratitude and confidence if
+Aaron Burr be not worthy? Do you charge him with disloyalty? him the
+hero of Quebec, of Long Island, and of Monmouth? him the very sword
+hand of Washington?" This flourish of rhetoric added an extra inch to
+the length of Jim Sweet's craned neck.
+
+"Sock it to 'em!" he tried to shout, but his phthisicky effort ended
+in a spell of coughing.
+
+"Order in the court!" shouted the clerk, fixing the disturber with
+threatening eye.
+
+"They tell us Republics are ungrateful, and it seems that my learned
+friend, the district attorney, would have you believe that miserable
+maxim. Out upon such a sentiment! We boast, sir, of the hospitality of
+Old Kentucky, especially of the Blue Grass region, and well we may
+boast. Our people are magnanimous--their hearts are great. But what
+shall be said of the unspeakable meanness, baseness, perfidy, of that
+man or that community which would betray the stranger at the gates,
+that would traduce and malign a high-minded, unsuspecting guest? What,
+your Honor, is the hospitality of that section or city in this vast
+Republic, the function of whose tribunals is to protect the rights of
+the individual; what is the hospitality of a neighborhood which
+permits a citizen to lie in wait to assassinate a pilgrim of peace?
+That, your Honor, is what the prosecutor purposes. He would blacken
+the reputation of his brother who happens to be of a different
+political complexion. He would filch from the ex-Vice-President of the
+United States his good name."
+
+"He'd flitch his own mother," ventured Jim, on whose brain the
+dipperful of whiskey was producing mixed results.
+
+"Hold yer gab," said the backwoodsman, hoarsely. "Listen!"
+
+The orator turned full upon the district attorney and thundered: "Has
+it come to such a pass that a private citizen cannot make a tour of
+observation through this free country without being dragged before a
+court to answer trumped-up accusations as preposterous as they are
+malignant? What will become of your rights and mine? Will some
+prosecuting attorney arrest me on my way to Washington, because I have
+somewhere, at some time, expressed private opinions from which he
+dissents! I would like Mr. Daviess to tell us what the Constitution
+means? Does it not insure to us all the right of habeas corpus?"
+
+The outcome of the day's debate was a substantial victory for Burr,
+though a technical one for Daviess. The court adjourned to the
+following morning. Again the officers of the county, the jury, the
+lawyers, and the great concourse of citizens, assembled. The district
+attorney submitted his indictment and sent his evidence to the jury.
+The jury heard witnesses and returned the presentment, "Not a true
+bill."
+
+On hearing the foreman announce this decision, the partisans of Burr
+and his counsel broke out in tumultuous rejoicing. Hadley stood up on
+a bench and shouted:
+
+"Three cheers for Aaron Burr; Hip, hip, hurrah!"
+
+The judge could not or did not check the enthusiasm.
+
+"Three and a tiger for Clay!" squeaked Old Jim, and the cheers were
+repeated.
+
+Burr, escorted by his attorneys, made his way through the crowd,
+shaking hands right and left. On the sidewalk, near the court-house,
+the three gentlemen were accosted by the ghostly Solitarius.
+
+"Awake from your dreams!" said the mild lunatic, in his peculiar,
+hollow, monotonous voice--and he rolled his overlustrous eyes upon
+Burr.
+
+"Brethren, be not forgetful to entertain the stranger! I am that
+Solitarius, to whom this new gospel was revealed, by an angel of God,
+while I dwelt in a cell at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains, in the
+year of our Lord 1799."
+
+Clay drew his client forward by the arm, but not before "Solly" had
+thrust into Burr's hand a copy of the "Millennial Prophecy."
+
+"Awake from your dreams!" These repeated parting words of the crazy
+prophet stuck in Burr's memory.
+
+The ordeal of a legal investigation had been endured, apparently
+without scath to the accused. The grand jury, not satisfied with
+acquitting Burr, pressed upon him a written declaration, signed by
+every member, exonerating him completely. A public ball was given in
+his honor. Exulting in his triumph, he danced and made merry, admired
+by the chivalry and adored by the beauty of the choicest society in
+Frankfort and Lexington.
+
+On the very day in which Daviess moved for a process to compel Burr's
+appearance before the Frankfort court, a woman clothed in black and
+closely veiled was granted an interview with the President of the
+United States, in his private office at Washington City. She came from
+Philadelphia, and appeared to have no acquaintance in the new capital
+on the Potomac. She declined to unveil her face or to impart her name.
+
+"I am here to put into the hands of the President a written statement,
+accompanied by copies of letters and other documents, revealing the
+secret plans of a conspirator, who, if not quickly arrested in his
+career of treason, will disrupt this Union and establish a rival
+government in the Southwest."
+
+The President mechanically accepted the package handed him, and the
+mysterious woman left his apartment, re-entered her carriage, and
+ordered the driver to take the road back toward Philadelphia.
+
+
+
+
+XXIII. THE FATAL CIPHER.
+
+
+The disgruntled Spaniards continued to threaten war. Governor
+Claiborne ordered Casco Calvo and Intendant Morales to quit the
+territory of New Orleans. Soon after this a body of Spanish troops,
+supported by Indian allies, assembled on the Sabine to menace the
+American borders. In August a force actually crossed the Sabine and
+advanced to Bayou Pierre, near Natchitoches, a hundred and twenty
+miles west of Natchez.
+
+General Wilkinson came from St. Louis to Natchez, and presently
+advanced to Natchitoches at the head of a body of one hundred regulars
+and five hundred militia. Late one afternoon in October word was
+brought to Wilkinson in his tent that a young man of fine appearance
+had arrived in camp, desiring to enlist as a volunteer. The general
+gave orders to bring the man into his presence. The would-be soldier
+was conducted immediately to headquarters, and there he imparted his
+name and the real cause of his coming, his representation to the
+sentinel being a ruse.
+
+"Ah, you are Colonel Burr's confidential secretary; you have travelled
+far and must be exhausted. You bring documents for me?"
+
+"Yes, sir; my credentials are included with matters more important."
+
+"You know the contents of the enclosure?"
+
+"Only the general import. The sender of these missives has divulged
+much to me. You may trust me."
+
+"I trust you implicitly, Mr. Swartwout. The embassy on which you come
+is of a delicate character, requiring discretion--as secret service
+always does."
+
+The general opened the package, and found that it contained three
+separate papers. The first was a letter introducing Samuel Swartwout,
+and vouching for his prudence, courage and trustworthiness. The other
+two papers were in hieroglyphics. Wilkinson, smiling graciously,
+turned to the messenger.
+
+"Perhaps I had best be alone while I examine the other documents. I
+will see that you are made comfortable."
+
+An officer was summoned. "Captain Danvers, this gentleman is my guest.
+Please see that he is suitably quartered and provided with a seat at
+my table. He is the son of an old military acquaintance of mine."
+
+The cipher agreed upon by Wilkinson and Burr was a composite of
+arbitrary signs and of numerals representing letters of the alphabet.
+The first riddle read by Wilkinson was a private letter to Burr from
+General Dayton. Part of the contents ran thus: "Under the auspices of
+Burr and Wilkinson, I shall be happy to engage, and when the time
+arrives, you will find me near you. Write and inform me, by first
+mail, what may be expected from you and your associates.... Wealth and
+honor, courage and union, Burr and Wilkinson! Adieu."
+
+The other communication was from Burr himself.
+
+"Your letter, postmarked 13th May, is received. At length I have
+obtained funds and have actually commenced. The eastern detachments
+from different points, and under different pretences, will rendezvous
+on the Ohio, 1st of November. Everything internal and external favors
+our views. Naval protection of England is secured. Truxton is going to
+Jamaica, to arrange with the admiral on that station. It will meet us
+at the Mississippi. England, a navy of the United States, are ready to
+join, and final orders are given to my friends and followers. It will
+be a host of choice spirits. Wilkinson shall be second to Burr only,
+and Wilkinson shall dictate the rank and promotion of his officers.
+Burr will proceed westward 1st of August, never to return. With him go
+daughter and grandson. The husband will follow in October, with a
+corps of worthies. Send forwith an intelligent friend, with whom Burr
+may confer. He shall return immediately with further interesting
+details; this is essential to harmony and concert of movement. Send a
+list of all persons known to Wilkinson west of the Alleghany
+Mountains, who could be useful, with a note delineating their
+character. By your messenger send me four or five of the commissions
+of your officers, which you can borrow under any pretence you please.
+They shall be returned faithfully. Already are orders given to the
+contractor to forward six months' provisions to points Wilkinson may
+name; this shall not be used until the last moment, and then under
+proper injunctions. Our project, my dear friend, is brought to a point
+so long desired. Burr guarantees the result with his life and honor,
+with the lives and honor and the fortunes of hundreds, the best blood
+of our country. Burr's plan of operation is to move down rapidly, from
+the falls, on the 15th of November, with the first five hundred or
+thousand men, in light boats now constructing for that purpose, to be
+at Natchez between the 5th and 15th of December, there to meet you,
+there to determine whether it will be expedient in the first instance
+to seize on, or pass by, Baton Rouge ... on receipt of this send Burr
+an answer ... draw on Burr for all expenses, etc. The people of the
+country to which we are going are prepared to receive us; their
+agents, now with Burr, say that if we will protect their religion and
+will not subject them to a foreign power, that in three weeks all will
+be settled. The gods invite us to glory and fortune; it remains to be
+seen whether we deserve the boon. The bearer of this goes express to
+you; he will hand a formal letter of introduction to you, from Burr;
+he is a man of inviolable honor and perfect discretion, formed to
+execute rather than project, capable of relating facts with fidelity,
+and incapable of relating them otherwise. He is thoroughly informed of
+the plans and intentions of ----, and will disclose to you, as far
+as you inquire, and no further; he has imbibed a reverence for your
+character, and may be embarrassed in your presence; put him at ease,
+and he will satisfy you."
+
+The eastern sky was flushed faintly with morning red before the
+general finished deciphering this long message. Wilkinson saw that he
+could no longer maintain an equivocal attitude, but must either yield
+positively to Burr's proposals or denounce them. Early in the day he
+summoned the messenger to his tent for a private interview.
+
+"My dear sir," said the general, "you should be proud to be
+recommended by such a man, in such language. Burr has absolute
+confidence in your honor, fidelity, veracity and courage."
+
+Swartwout answered with feeling and dignity.
+
+"I hope I may prove myself worthy of his confidence and of yours. I
+would not hesitate to risk my life for Colonel Burr or for his best
+friend, General Wilkinson."
+
+"That is very noble of you. Tell me, now that you are rested and
+refreshed after your long journey, by what route did you come?"
+
+"I came straight from Pittsburg, thence westward through Ohio and
+Kentucky to Louisville, and from there on to St. Louis, expecting to
+find you at that post. Learning that you had gone down the Mississippi
+I followed in a skiff. I have been more than two months on the way
+from Philadelphia to Natchitoches and have travelled fully fifteen
+hundred miles."
+
+"The document in your custody justified the difficult journey, Mr.
+Swartwout. What information did you gather in the progress of your
+trip, concerning our preparations?"
+
+"I learned that, with the support of a powerful association extending
+from New York to New Orleans, Colonel Burr is levying an armed body of
+seven thousand men, with the view of carrying an expedition against
+the Mexican provinces. Five hundred men are to descend the Alleghany,
+for whose accommodation boats are ready."
+
+"What will be the course of action?"
+
+"This territory will be revolutionized. Some property will be seized
+in New Orleans, I suppose. Our boats will be ready to leave in
+February for Vera Cruz; the troops will march from there to the City
+of Mexico."
+
+"Does Colonel Burr know there are several millions of dollars in the
+Bank of New Orleans?"
+
+"We know that full well."
+
+"Is it the intention to seize upon the deposits of private
+individuals?"
+
+"We mean to borrow, not to violate private property. We must equip
+ourselves in New Orleans; we expect naval protection from Great
+Britain. Of course, general, everything depends upon your
+co-operation."
+
+"Mr. Swartwout, the plans set forth in Colonel Burr's schedule are
+admirable! You will readily perceive, however, that my part in
+carrying them into effect must be manipulated with caution. I am
+surrounded, as you see, by officers whom I must manage discreetly. It
+is impossible that I should ever dishonor my commission. If I cannot
+join in the expedition, the engagements which the Spaniards have
+prepared for me in my front might prevent my opposing your operations.
+Do you understand me?"
+
+Burr's agent understood. He interpreted Wilkinson's language to mean
+much more than it said, attributing to the commander a profound
+sagacity which imposed reticence for causes beyond an ordinary man's
+ken. His unsuspicious mind had been schooled by Burr to believe
+implicitly in Wilkinson.
+
+Swartwout was under engagement to join Burr at Nashville, and he
+pressed for a letter which he might deliver to his chief. This request
+Wilkinson evaded. Promising to return Burr a speedy answer, he
+detained the envoy under various pretexts, bestowing upon him every
+hospitable attention, and finally dismissed him with oral messages,
+after having consumed ten days of his time.
+
+Three days subsequent to the departure of Swartwout another messenger,
+as secret and more swift, was dispatched from Natchitoches, bearing to
+Washington City from the commander-in-chief, a full disclosure of the
+plans of conspiracy, and fastening the charge of treason on Aaron
+Burr. All the machinery of civil and military executive power was put
+in motion in the districts over which Wilkinson's authority extended.
+
+The information forwarded by Wilkinson's messenger reached Washington
+City November 25, 1806. It was by no means the only evidence the
+President had received, impeaching the loyalty of the eminent
+politician. Daviess had written, and Morgan had written, and the
+veiled witness in black had come in person with the facts reiterated
+in Wilkinson's letter of exposure.
+
+The President issued a proclamation, "warning and enjoining those who
+had been led to participate in the unlawful enterprise, to withdraw
+without delay, and requiring all officers, civil and military, of any
+one of the States or Territories, to be vigilant, each within his
+respective department, in searching out and bringing to punishment all
+persons engaged or concerned in the undertaking."
+
+
+
+
+XXIV. THE MIDNIGHT DEPARTURE.
+
+
+The first snowstorm of early winter was whirling its flaky showers
+over the frozen fields and through the naked woods of Bacchus Island.
+The short day was nearing a dismal close. Harman Blennerhassett paced
+uneasily to and fro within the narrow confines of his study. His face
+was haggard, his general aspect that of a man harassed and hopeless.
+Yet he seemed idle and without sense of responsibility for the future.
+His air indicated irresolution, ennui, mild disgust of the world and
+of himself. He took down Homer, brushed the dust from the covers, and
+then replaced the volume on its shelf. He gave the glass cylinder of
+his electrical machine a turn or two, and was for the moment gratified
+to elicit a faint spark, a feeble snap of blue fire, which clicked
+from the "receiver" to his knuckles. His eye dwelt fondly for a few
+seconds on the air-pump, but wandered from that to the telescope, and
+finally took cognizance of an apparatus for weighing heavy articles.
+This was provided with a small platform, upon which the recluse
+philosopher stepped, to determine his exact weight. He was busied in
+this personal experiment, when a visitor was announced and ushered
+into his _sanctum sanctorum_.
+
+"I beg pardon! Do I intrude?" said the caller, a man of official
+bearing, who gave the name of Graham.
+
+"Not in the least, Mr. Graham. I have been taking my weight, and I beg
+you to excuse me until I note the precise number of pounds and ounces.
+My memory is treacherous. I make it a rule to ascertain my weight and
+my height several times a year, but I can never remember either, an
+hour after. I actually forget the date of my own birthday and how old
+I am."
+
+"That is owing, doubtless, to the fact that your mind is absorbed in
+important things," said Graham, not very tactfully. "I make bold to
+come to your house, Mr. Blennerhassett, uninvited, but not without
+warrant. You are, I am informed, a partner of Aaron Burr in certain
+enterprises now much talked of. It is of this Wachita expedition that
+I wish to speak with you."
+
+"Speak freely, Mr. Graham. Colonel Burr intimated that you would
+probably join us. Here are letters giving recent information. Read for
+yourself."
+
+Graham glanced over a number of communications containing secrets that
+Blennerhassett, had he been a man of ordinary forethought, would not
+have trusted out of his own hands. Among the letters was one from
+Burr, giving a brief account of his troubles in Frankfort. "You
+perceive, my dear sir," so ran the lines, "that this step will
+embarrass me in my project of the Wachita settlement, and will deprive
+me of the pleasure of seeing you at your own house." Graham smiled
+gravely at the guileless simplicity of the man who had not hesitated
+to take a stranger into his confidence, unquestioned and unsuspected.
+
+"It is my duty, as a man of honor, to undeceive you, Mr.
+Blennerhassett. I have no intention of joining your expedition. The
+fact is, I am here, not to aid and abet you, but the reverse. I come
+commissioned, as the agent of the Federal Government, and my duty is
+to prevent the execution of Burr's designs. Do you not know that
+orders have been issued for the civil authorities to interfere with
+your plans?"
+
+Blennerhassett opened his eyes wide, with a stupefied stare.
+
+"Then you are not one of us? I was told that you were a leader in the
+New Orleans Association for the invasion of Mexico. The printer of the
+_Gazette d'Orleans_ informed me that three hundred men had joined the
+company."
+
+"There is not a word of truth in the report. I am an officer of the
+Government, but I have no desire to molest misguided people. My motive
+in coming through this snowstorm to you to-day is friendly. I want to
+save your family and you from disaster. I hope to dissuade you from
+your present purpose. You are misinformed--deluded."
+
+The lord of the isle plucked up spirit and replied haughtily:
+
+"I thank you for your good intentions toward me and my family, though
+your coming is inopportune, not to say impertinent. We know our own
+affairs. Colonel Burr and myself are, I conceive, sufficiently
+experienced in business, and well enough informed in law, to know what
+we are about. The interference of local officials I shall resent, and
+if necessary, prosecute. As for yourself, you have not shown your
+credentials. I trust you will have the honor not to magnify or distort
+any information I may have inadvertently exposed to your scrutiny. I
+wish you farewell. Shall I send one of my servants to conduct you to
+the wharf?"
+
+The official, who was really sincere in all that he had said, left the
+house and the premises in rather bad temper, yet he cherished no
+resentment on account of the rebuff.
+
+No sooner was Graham gone than Blennerhassett's courage collapsed. He
+flung himself into a big chair, and yielded to the pressure of
+despondency. His wife came into the study and discovered him with his
+head bowed upon his hands.
+
+"Husband, what ails you?"
+
+"Oh, Maggie, Maggie--we have been deceived. I fear Colonel Burr has
+not told me all he should have told. We must go no farther in this
+enterprise." He went on to tell what had passed between himself and
+Graham, and ended his lament by saying: "I am worried to death! Half
+my fortune is already squandered! We must think of the boys; we must
+stop further expenditure, before we have lost all."
+
+The wife stood erect, unshaken, firm almost to rigidity. A white heat
+of resolute energy burnt in every capillary of her nerved body.
+
+"Give up nothing! Carry out the original plans decided upon here in
+this library. We expected difficulties--we shall overcome them. All
+great enterprises are difficult. What do we care for the prattling of
+this Graham? Now is our time to act. We must do our own thinking. Burr
+is not here to direct, and if he were, I would not trouble him with
+details. Why play a secondary part? You are as wise a man as he is,
+and you are my husband. You have spent money--spend more! To abandon
+the enterprise is to throw away your chances, all your past
+expenditures, and all your labor."
+
+"But, my dear wife--"
+
+"Harman, this is not a time for ifs and buts. Hasten your
+preparations. Bring the boats down from Marietta. Keep every
+engagement with Burr, and join him at the mouth of the Cumberland at
+the appointed time. Whoever weakens, let not you and me do so.
+Remember the pledges made to and by us, and bear yourself as becomes
+the man chosen to be Minister to the Court of St. James."
+
+What spur more sharp than a beautiful woman's appeal to a proud man's
+vanity? Blennerhassett hastened every preparation for the forwarding
+of provisions, ammunition, arms, and men. Night and day the busy work
+went on. Skiffs flitted in and out of the secluded cove, fetching and
+carrying supplies or recruits. Skilful hands folded cartridges and
+manipulated the bullet-mould in the light and heat of the kitchen
+fire--even the slender fingers of the mistress shared in this
+significant task.
+
+The time came for bringing the fifteen batteaux from the shipyard on
+the Muskingum, where Byle had heard the clatter of saw and hammer. But
+when Blennerhassett's tardy employees made an attempt to get the
+boats, they were frustrated by the civil and military authorities of
+Marietta. Only a single batteau was brought down. Jefferson's
+proclamation was producing its intended effect. The country had
+awakened to a sense of public danger. The militia was called out in
+Ohio and a rumor came to Blennerhassett that Colonel Phelps, at the
+head of the militia of Wood County, Virginia, was about to cross over
+to the island, seize whatever supplies might be found there, and
+arrest the proprietor.
+
+The islanders were alarmed. There was no time to waste. Nevertheless,
+the head of the household hesitated--dawdled. The crisis paralyzed
+his energy. It was an imperative duty, now, for his wife to make up
+his mind and to make it up strong. Her will was adequate. She took
+command of the domestic ship, captain and crew. Peter Taylor hung
+around his master deprecatingly; she sent him to Belpre on an errand.
+Albright, the dairyman, spoke disparagingly; she ordered him to look
+after the cows. She put an arm round her wavering lord, and drew him
+into his favorite retreat, the library.
+
+"You must embark to-night or lose your liberty, possibly your life.
+The trunks are packed--everything is ready! We must be brave, as an
+example to the children." While she spoke Dominick knocked at the
+door. "May I come in, mamma? I want to go along with papa; I want to
+go along to Mexico!" The mother gently pushed him from the room. Tears
+were in the eyes of both parents.
+
+"Margaret, ought I leave them and you unprotected?" She kissed him on
+the forehead and pressed his tremulous hand.
+
+"Have no fear. I shall be safe. To-morrow we will follow you. Now make
+haste and complete your final preparations. Tell your men just what to
+do. We know not the instant that Colonel Phelps may come to arrest
+you." Blennerhassett assured his wife that everything had been
+attended to, and that he was ready, at a moment's warning, to start
+for his boat, which lay waiting by the shore. Night came on, however,
+and still the fond husband and father lingered. The snow was falling
+in the outer darkness, and the wind howled through the long avenue of
+the portico. No wonder the easy-going devotee of luxury shrank from
+stepping into the bleak night, to navigate a scow down the rough, icy
+current of the Ohio. Against his wife's protest he took up the
+violincello and began to tune up its three remaining strings. Touching
+the chords lightly with the bow, he attempted to play "Auld Lang
+Syne." A confused noise in the direction of the river stopped the
+plaintive music.
+
+"Now you _must_ start; I will go along to the river's edge, and see
+you safe aboard."
+
+Blennerhassett hurried to the bedroom of his boys. Little Harman was
+asleep. The father kissed the favorite child, and then embraced
+Dominick.
+
+"Be a good boy, Nicky. Mamma will soon bring you to me again."
+
+Voices were heard shouting, somewhere, in the distance. When Madam
+Blennerhassett opened the hall door to go forth with her husband, a
+dash of snow was driven into her face by the insolent wind. Arm in arm
+went the pair, through the drift which heaped the dooryard path and
+covered the flower beds. They saw a fire which a squad of the recruits
+had kindled near the river, to warm their numb hands. The flickering
+blaze made fantastic lights and shadows among the gaunt bare trees.
+Just beyond the limits of the snow could be seen the broad Ohio.
+
+"How sullen the black flood looks!" thought the woman.
+
+"Do you hear the water swash against the logs along the shore?" said
+Blennerhassett.
+
+The couple made straight for the camp-fire, breaking a track. The dry
+leaves under the snow, when trodden on, gave back a muffled rustle.
+Near the fire stood a group of a dozen men, with guns in their hands.
+
+"Who are these? Are they militiamen? Will they arrest you? O Harman,
+my dearest!"
+
+"They are my own people!" answered the husband.
+
+The words had scarcely passed his lips when a figure emerged from the
+hollow of a huge sycamore, and advanced to intercept the coming party.
+A powerful man clapped his hand on Blennerhassett's shoulder.
+
+"Harman Blennerhassett, I arrest you in the name and by the authority
+of the State of Ohio."
+
+"The hell you do!" a gruff voice responded from the group of armed
+men, who instantly levelled their guns at the intruder.
+
+"Take your hands off that man, and take yourself away, or we will blow
+your damned brains out!"
+
+"Don't shoot! don't shoot!" cried the foiled agent of the State of
+Ohio, taken by surprise. "You won't be rash enough to kill an old army
+officer, will you?"
+
+"We will be rash enough to shoot any man who interferes with our
+affairs. Who the devil are you?"
+
+"I am General Tupper."
+
+He came forward, into the light of the fire, and was recognized by
+several.
+
+"You say you represent the State of Ohio," Blennerhassett faltered.
+"This island belongs to the State of Virginia; you have no business
+here."
+
+"Blow his head off!" growled one of the guards, and again the recruits
+covered the spy with their muskets.
+
+"For God's sake, men, don't fire! Upon my word and honor, I came here
+with good intent. All Marietta is friendly to you, Mr. Blennerhassett.
+Can't you be persuaded to give up your rash design? You are rushing to
+your own ruin."
+
+"Put down your guns," commanded Blennerhassett.
+
+"Time is flying," whispered the wife, impatiently. "Let them scare him
+away."
+
+"If you delay us longer, General Tupper, I cannot be answerable for
+what my men may do."
+
+The cocking of a gun warned the well-intentioned officer to hurry
+away.
+
+"Farewell," he shouted back, "I wish you a safe escape down the river,
+and a fortunate adventure."
+
+The speech was answered by a yell of derision from the boatmen as they
+leapt on board the batteau, muskets in hand.
+
+"Good-bye, my love," whispered Blennerhassett, clasping his wife in a
+parting embrace.
+
+"Good-bye, dear!" she said, and kissed him. "Be strong! Be brave! All
+will end well. God bless you! Think of a glorious future!"
+
+She turned to go, looked back, turned again from the icy margin of the
+river, and started homeward; but, after taking a few steps, she again
+stopped and stood a minute, shivering, and weeping under the bare
+boughs of the great oak tree beneath which Burr had read aloud to her
+one of her own sentimental poems. Groaning in spirit, and heart-stung
+by pangs of self-reproach, she hurried up the slope of the carriage
+road alone.
+
+Through the drifting snow the brave woman returned to her house,
+which, seen dimly through a veil of falling flakes, had looked to her
+from a distance like an unsubstantial pile--a phantom habitation for
+spectres. As she entered its dark hall the Geneva clock struck twelve.
+
+
+
+
+XXV. HEROINE AND HERO.
+
+
+Blennerhassett was afloat to join Burr. The management of the affairs
+of the island devolved upon his wife. In the sole care of one woman
+were left houses and land, man and beast, domestic duties at home and
+business transactions abroad. Her children required constant
+attention, and the servants, bond and free, for the most part lazy,
+evasive, and insubordinate--spoilt by the inefficiency of a
+vacillating master--were hard to govern or to please. Peter Taylor
+was insidious, but plausible; Albright, obstinate; the negroes, with
+few exceptions, "something between a hindrance and a help."
+
+On returning to her house at midnight, having just seen her husband
+embark, the vigilant wife and mother did not bury her troubles in
+sleep. The urgent demands of a crisis not to be postponed forbade
+slumber. The words of General Tupper rang in her ears: "I arrest you
+by the authority of the State of Ohio." That her peace and liberty
+would soon be threatened, if not taken from her, by civil or by
+military force, she had much reason to fear; that her island retreat
+was already invaded by scouts from the Virginia militia she did not
+surmise. "How I wish I were a man," she said to herself, and sat down
+to think how a man in her situation would act. Whatever may have been
+the sex of her brain, her mind worked swiftly, both to decide and to
+will. "I shall go to Marietta," was her mental conclusion, "and make
+another effort to secure the family boat for my children and myself.
+It belongs to my husband; he paid for it from his own private purse; I
+will claim that boat."
+
+The tardy sun, peering through the dense fog of the following morning,
+caught a first glimpse of Madam Blennerhassett when she dismounted
+near Fort Harmar, and asked to be ferried across the Muskingum, to the
+boatyard on the eastern shore. The resolute lady sought the town
+authorities of Marietta--magistrates, lawyers, generals, merchants,
+common laborers--whom she importuned to intercede in her behalf. She
+argued, she coaxed, she threatened, she tried the persuasive influence
+of bribes, and as a last resort, she summoned tears to plead her
+cause--but of no avail--she failed to obtain the boat. Enraged,
+disappointed, filled with anxious forebodings, she recrossed the
+Muskingum, and started back over the road which leads to Belpre,
+following the windings of the Ohio.
+
+During her absence from home a very disagreeable surprise was
+preparing for her. The militia of Wood County, Virginia, crossed over
+to the island and camped on the most eligible grounds they could find,
+the premises nearest Blennerhassett's buildings. The commander of this
+reckless and undisciplined infantry, Colonel Hugh Phelps, did not
+appear at the place of rendezvous until late in the day, having gone
+on a reconnoitering errand, to the mouth of the Kanawha, hoping to
+intercept Blennerhassett. The soldiers, if a name so honorable can be
+applied to the raw levy, mustered on the spur of the moment, assumed
+all the boisterous swagger which, as they imagined, was the
+prerogative of the citizen dressed in uniform and armed with musket.
+It was their idea that a soldier's privilege is insolence, and the
+badge of his superiority, self-importance. The captain and lieutenants
+exercised slight control over the men in the ranks, who conceived that
+the offices had gone to the wrong men. The Wood County militia
+regarded itself as an "army of occupation," by law and precedent
+warranted in abusing a brief authority. Instead of guarding and
+protecting property not their own, the men showed their patriotic zeal
+by mutilating or demolishing the results of Blennerhassett's labor.
+They took malicious pleasure in wantonly defacing whatever was elegant
+or ornamental. They tore off the fence-palings to build their
+camp-fires; they broke down young fruit trees and pulled up evergreen
+shrubs; they ransacked barns and outhouses, stole hoarded apples,
+killed chickens, and frightened the negro slaves out of their small
+wits. Peter Taylor protested in vain; the roysterers threatened to put
+Peter in the guard-house and gag him, or even to "string him up," if
+he didn't hold his tongue.
+
+The butler was forced to produce the keys to the wine-cellar, and the
+consequences of his surrender were what might have been expected. The
+mischief already perpetrated in coarse fun--the horseplay of
+backwoods big boys cut loose from restraint, though rude and
+destructive, was harmless compared with the orgies to which it was a
+prelude. The rich and abundant liquors stored away to supply the
+family demand for twenty years were in a day poured down the throats
+of the pseudo-soldiers. Under the influence of drink many of the
+privates, and not a few officers, lost all sense of decency. Some of
+the bolder among them entered the house, roamed through kitchen,
+parlor, library, bedrooms. One drunken lout smashed the rare
+violincello, another brought the gilded harp out into the barnyard and
+used it as a gridiron on which to roast a confiscated pig. The oil
+portrait of Blennerhassett, set up as a target, was riddled with
+bullets.
+
+Dominick made a frantic effort to rescue his father's picture from so
+ignominious a fate, but, cuffed on the ear by a bully, the boy had no
+recourse except to hide away in his mother's room with Harman and the
+black housemaid, Juno.
+
+Such were the scenes enacting in and around her beautiful mansion,
+while the disappointed mistress was hurrying homeward. A heavy fog
+still hung over the valley and almost hid the sullen waters of the
+river from view. As Madam Blennerhassett urged her horse along the
+river road, her vigilant eye kept her aware of a small boat, which,
+soon after her starting back from Marietta, she had seen glide out of
+the mouth of the Muskingum and drift down the Ohio, hugging close to
+the north shore. Indistinctly, through the mist, she could make out
+the shape of a man rowing the boat. Whenever she quickened the pace of
+her horse, the man plied his oars rapidly; whenever she slackened
+reins, the man slowed up; he kept opposite her and was watching her.
+Madam Blennerhassett was a courageous woman; but she was a woman, and
+she began to be afraid. Why was that man furtively following her down
+the river? Why did he keep her constantly in sight? What might be his
+evil design? Her terror increased as she neared the ferry, where she
+had ordered Peter Taylor and Ransom, the negro, to await her return.
+Striking her steed smartly with the riding whip, she galloped fast.
+She reached the ferry landing, the boat was there, but Peter Taylor,
+in whose face she read distressful tidings, was reluctant to carry her
+over.
+
+"Maybe, mum, you'd best stay in Belpre; there's a rough set on the
+island."
+
+"The militia, I suppose," said she. "Make haste! Take me to my
+children."
+
+Hesitatingly, the rowers obeyed their mistress, whose eyes watchfully
+pierced the fog, in every direction, though nothing could she see of
+the sneaking river-spy or of his canoe. She drew a long breath of
+relief, and turned inquiringly to Peter Taylor.
+
+"Has anything gone wrong?"
+
+"Heverything 'as gone wrong!"
+
+He told her a dismal tale of the doings of the militia, dwelling on
+his own inglorious sufferings. A flush reddened his mistress's cheeks,
+her eyes flashed and her heart was on fire. "Go faster! Work with all
+your might!"
+
+The white man and his black helper bent hard to their poles, and
+brought the boat speedily to the landing. The horse was led ashore and
+its rider sprang into the saddle, and galloped to the door of her
+house. The soldiers, bivouacking in the front yard, stared in
+amazement as she rode past. In a minute, in a second, she alighted and
+swept into the parlor, where six or eight brawling intruders sat on
+mahogany chairs and upholstered sofas, drinking wine and singing
+filthy songs. One fellow, maudlin from liquor, rolled on the Smyrna
+rug. Another was in the act of firing a bullet at the frescoed
+ceiling.
+
+"Robbers! Cowards! Beasts! Begone! Where is your commanding officer?
+By whose permission are you here? Young man"--this to a
+captain--"you wear a sword--draw it and drive these ruffians out!
+This is my house. You have no warrant to break in, like a band of
+thieves."
+
+This speech and the imperious bearing of the offended woman checked,
+but did not stop the orgies of the irresponsible men. A few slunk from
+the room, ashamed and overawed. But the mob spirit was not to be
+quenched by an angry lady's lofty speech. The brutal element
+prevailed. What cared those intoxicated revellers for a scolding
+tongue? The young captain, his head swimming in the fumes of whiskey,
+impudently replied, "I'm in command here myself, my dear. When Phelps
+comes back, I'll interduce you to him." The soldiers yawped applause.
+In the midst of the uproar, Juno, the house servant, ventured to come
+in by way of the library, with Harman. The child ran to his mother
+where she stood in the centre of the room. A saucy corporal broke out
+with obscene speech and plucked at the dress of the negro girl,
+imitating the affrighted child.
+
+Again the mistress made a vain appeal:
+
+"Do American soldiers abuse women?"
+
+"A nigger's not a woman!" hiccoughed the corporal, and his words were
+applauded by a general guffaw.
+
+"Think of your own sisters and mothers and wives!"
+
+"Wives! That's good! How many wives do you s'pose I've got? I wish to
+hell I had a bloomin' wife like yerself. Yer man's run away, how will
+I do for a substitute?"
+
+"Shouldn't wonder," interrupted the captain, "if the damned Irish
+traitor was lynched by this time."
+
+Madam Blennerhassett looked around imploringly and supplicated:
+
+"I am alone here with my poor children. Will no one take our part? Is
+there not one man here who will defend me?"
+
+A drawling voice responded:
+
+"By ginger-root, there _is_ sich a man. Blast you, you forward skunks,
+git out of this! Say, you woods-colt with the humps on your shoulders
+and a stalk-knife by your side, help drive these hogs into the Ohio
+River. They've got more devils in 'em than what's-his-name, in the
+Holy Scripture, cast into all the swine of Jerusalem. Git out, I say,
+you knock-kneed jackasses!"
+
+Loquacity was Byle's riches, but he could transmute speech into
+action. Instead of wasting words, he began to deliver convincing
+blows. His first stroke sent the obscene corporal to the floor, minus
+front teeth and consciousness. The amazed captain labored to unsheath
+his sword, but Byle snatched the rusty weapon and thwacked the young
+scapegrace over the pate with it. A rash rustic drew up musket and
+fired; the ball grazed Plutarch's right thumb, bringing blood. This
+enraged the doughty champion to the highest pitch of his fighting
+compass. Rushing upon the dismayed private, he seized the offending
+musket with both hands, and snapped stock from barrel by suddenly
+pressing the piece against his bent knee. So impetuous and so violent
+and so general was the onslaught of Plutarch, that the untried
+militiamen, "flown with insolence and wine," were taken aback,
+surprised and confounded. Seeing his advantage, the gaunt giant
+resumed bellicose speech, like a Greek taunting the Trojans.
+
+"Bust my buttons, bimeby I'll get mad, and hurt some of you 'fore I
+know what I'm about! What the Holy Moses did you shoot my thumb for?
+durn you! Don't you guess I've any feelin', you onery idiot? Needn't
+be skeered, Margaret, I'll make ground mustard out of anybody that
+dares touch a hair of your head with his sass!"
+
+The rout, ignominiously driven from the parlor by the vigorous
+assaults of Byle, immediately rallied, in the yard, ashamed of their
+precipitate panic and retreat. The humiliated captain gave orders to a
+file of men to enter the house and take the champion, alive or dead.
+This command might have been executed had not Colonel Phelps come upon
+the scene unexpectedly. A rapid survey of the premises, a few
+inquiries, revealed to him the shameful misbehavior of his officers
+and men. Byle freely imparted his version of how matters stood.
+
+"Colonel, these scandalous boys of yourn are guilty of burglary in
+open daylight! yes, and of unprovoked 'sault and batter, prepense. The
+law is on our side, all round. The citizen has an inalienable right to
+defend his home and family, and we did, didn't we, Harman?"
+
+Phelps admitted the correctness of Plutarch's views. To the captain
+the colonel said sternly:
+
+"Consider yourself under arrest. You have disgraced your temporary
+commission." Addressing the derelict soldiery, he added:
+
+"You are not fit to carry muskets! Shame upon you, men, shame! You
+have soiled the name of Virginia, and stained the honor of your
+homes."
+
+"Say, cap'n," resumed Byle, staunching his bloody thumb with the
+fringe of his buckskin doublet, "you'd best trade your side arms for
+this young un's tin sword; git it for him, bub; and I'll make him a
+pop-gun of elder-wood. Colonel Hugh Phelps, of Parkurgberg, how are
+you? Excuse my not shaking hands sooner."
+
+Phelps assumed a haughty military attitude, which displayed to
+advantage his large and imposing form. "Who is this person?" he asked
+the captain.
+
+"Jersey cranberries! Don't you know me? I've heard of the Phelpses
+ever since I was knee-high to a duck. They are folks nobody need feel
+ticklish about shaking hands with. You're the only swelled up one of
+the stock. I never knowed but one wuthless Phelp, and he was a good
+enough fisher when he was sober. Colonel, were you ever picked up by
+puttin' out your paw to the wrong man? Want to see inside the
+'stablishment? Come right in, I'll introduce you to Mrs.
+Blennerhassett."
+
+The colonel pushed forward through the open door and accosted the
+dignified lady, who was taking an inventory of the ruined household
+effects. Byle stalked into the room at the officer's side.
+
+In the stately manner of the gentry of the period, Phelps made his
+compliments and solicited a brief interview. He apologized as well as
+he could for the outrageous behavior of the militia, and offered to do
+anything in his power to make amends. The only favor which the proud
+woman asked was the privilege of embarking as soon as practicable, on
+a down-river boat that would carry her and her children to the South.
+
+"Can you procure for me the family boat which my husband provided for
+us at Marietta?"
+
+The colonel feared not. Marietta was out of his jurisdiction.
+
+"Is there any boat that I can borrow here, or buy? I must join my
+husband; I promised him that I would not delay."
+
+"I'd lend you my big piroque, but you'll overset before you get as far
+as Farmer's Castle," said Byle.
+
+"Pardon me," responded Madam Blennerhassett, in tones of apology,
+bestowing looks of infinite gratitude on her zealous guardian; "I
+cannot put in words my sense of obligation to you, sir. Colonel
+Phelps, I owe to this gentleman more than money can repay! It was he
+who protected me and my servants from the drunken soldiers; he drove
+them out, risking his life; he was wounded defending us!"
+
+"You don't owe me a fip. It is no trouble at all to me to do a little
+chore for you. It was fool's luck, anyway. I saw you in town this
+morning, skiting about, from pillar to post, and says I to myself,
+'There's uneasiness under that fine bonnet!' I noticed you dodge in at
+the court-house and at Squire Hale's, and everywhere, and something
+told me to investigate. So I went in wherever I saw you come out, in
+reg'lar order, and larnt, I guess, just about as much as you did,
+about your disappointment and your worry. Then I thought, 'as like as
+not that woman is having more trouble down upon the island than I know
+anything about. So, true as calamus is sweet-flag, as soon as you was
+on your white horse, like the old lady of Banbury Cross, I was in my
+everyday skiff, and I didn't lose you out of my sight from the minute
+you started to the minute Peter and Ransom took you on the ferry--but
+I slid along where you couldn't spy me."
+
+"I did see you, sir, and I confess I imagined you might be some
+river-ruffian watching me with no good intention. I did you great
+injustice."
+
+"I looked like a river pirate, did I? No, ma'am, I was a privateer,
+but not a pirate. I was sailing under your colors, unbeknown to you.
+Is that correct military language, Phelps? To make a long story short,
+Scipio told me in his charcoal style what happened last night, and all
+about Harman's sudden going away. Well, sir--ma'am, I mean--it
+struck me of a heap. I never was worse doubled up by news in my life.
+I'm not a praying man, as a rule--I only remember praying out loud
+once--that was when brother Euc was near 'bout dead with cholera
+morbus--I began to pray, and he says, 'Don't be fooling with the Lord
+now, but give me some more camphire.' That speech of Euc's sort of
+cured me of praying out loud, though I'm orthodox. Let's see; where
+was I? Oh, yes, I felt so dangnation sorry for the family, that I
+says, in my mind, or I reckon it was in my soul, I says to God, 'Don't
+forget to keep your all-seeing eye on Margaret.' Well, Colonel Phelps;
+I leave you in charge of the widow and the fatherless. If you have any
+trouble with the militia, just send for Plutarch Byle. Good-bye, Mrs.
+B. I never seen you lookin' handsomer since the day I first met you
+and Evaleen, last May a year ago, when I was up here investigating
+that hunk of raw beef in the puddle."
+
+Notwithstanding his precipitate farewell, Plutarch lingered at the
+door, and kept nervously wiping the blood off his thumb upon the
+fringe of his doublet. Mrs. Blennerhassett, with gracious solicitude,
+insisted upon wrapping a small linen handkerchief about the wounded
+member. The gawky hero looked very sheepish while she tied the soft
+bandage fast.
+
+"Is this yourn?" he asked.
+
+"It was mine," she answered, smiling amusedly, "but it now belongs to
+the knight who came to fight my battle when I was in great distress."
+
+"By gum, I'm obliged to you."
+
+Uttering these elegant parting words, Byle bolted out of the room to
+the long porch. He stood a moment, then turned his face toward the
+door, where stood the lady, smiling her embarrassed thanks and adieux.
+Big tears were trickling down Plutarch's cheeks. The awkward giant
+gulped, wheeled round, and with long strides made a bee-line for his
+boat, followed as he left the yard by cheers from the Wood County
+militia.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Fortunately, a party of youths, including Morgan Neville, William
+Robinson, young Brackenridge, and a dozen others, who had attached
+themselves to Burr and Arlington in Pittsburg, came down the Ohio, in
+a flatboat belonging to one of their associates, Thomas Butler. These
+adventurous voyagers, suspected of complicity with Burr, were
+arraigned before three justices of the peace, of the Dogberry caliber,
+and after a ludicrous examination were acquitted. The best room of
+their boat was fitted up with carpets, hangings, and a suite of
+furniture taken from the chambers of the White House, soon to be
+deserted. The unplaned, unpainted cabin, perfumed by the sour odor of
+oaken planks and the scent of pine resin, was transformed into an
+Eastern boudoir--couches, divans, gorgeous colors and all, for the
+accommodation of Mrs. Blennerhassett.
+
+The ill-starred gentlewoman whose passion for the magnificent prompted
+her to adorn her floating bower thus luxuriously, and who, like
+Cleopatra, was attended on her barge by Ethiop slaves, had not
+relinquished her faith in Burr's dream of conquest and empire.
+
+"Where are we going," asked Harman, when the boat which was to convey
+the family to Bayou Pierre had been pushed off from their island, and
+the mother and her children realized that they were afloat upon the
+river.
+
+"We are going to meet your father in a splendid city far away in the
+South."
+
+"Will Colonel Burr be there?"
+
+"Yes, but we shall not then call him Colonel; he will be Emperor."
+
+"And what will you be, mamma?"
+
+"A duchess, my son."
+
+The weary mother sank back upon her oriental divan, which was piled
+with cushions, and closed her eyes in fragrant slumber, a luxury she
+had foregone for many days and nights.
+
+
+
+
+XXVI. OUT OF THE NET INTO THE TRAP.
+
+
+December was well-nigh spent when Blennerhassett's bateau reached the
+mouth of the Cumberland and joined Burr's flotilla of a dozen similar
+boats. The number of men ready to embark for the Wachita counted only
+three or four score. This informidable showing discouraged
+Blennerhassett, but the "general," for so Burr was now styled, saw
+fleet and men with the multiplying eye of faith, and he rejoiced to
+have actually begun the campaign. Followers yet unseen were surely on
+their way to join his resolute band. The miscarriage of plans at the
+island imposed only a temporary delay on the five hundred expected to
+descend from the Alleghany country. That recruits would flock the
+Mississippi shores to look for the coming of the leader, and to offer
+themselves--blanket, gun and soul--for the bold venture, was to be
+expected of men whose names were written in the "Roster of the
+Faithful."
+
+The motley forces drawn up on the bank of the Cumberland for review
+and instruction made up in fantastic variety for what they lacked in
+number. There was much of the grotesque and somewhat of the pitiful in
+the spectacle presented by the straggling ranks of boatmen and
+backwoods farmers. Many wore garments of butternut linsey; others had
+on buckskin breeches and coats of bear's pelts; some, in imitation of
+Boone and the pioneers, had donned moccasins and wolf's skin caps,
+ornamented with foxtails. Some of these picturesque resolutes leaned
+on their long rifles, displaying to advantage tomahawk and scalping
+knife.
+
+To this nucleus of an expected great army Burr made a brief speech:
+"There can be no failure in any enterprise backed up by patriots of
+such stock as I see before me. You have the muscle and the sinew, the
+blood and the brains, the heart and the soul, of Western heroes. Your
+officers, while expecting obedience, give in return their friendship
+and protection. We are to share common hardships and dangers, putting
+up with things as they are to-day, in certainty of reward to-morrow."
+
+The progress of the unwieldy batteaux was impeded by perils of winter
+navigation. Burr exercised his best generalship in directing his men
+how to overcome the difficulties they must encounter. He now thought
+he knew the river in its two siren moods, its summer singing hour and
+its winter rage of hunger for decoyed victims. His royal progress in
+Wilkinson's barge he recollected as an event so long ago as to seem an
+impression revived in the brain, of a voyage enjoyed in some previous
+state of existence.
+
+The flotilla had passed New Madrid, when, one afternoon, Burr standing
+near the stern of his boat--amused himself by contemplating a
+procession of flying clouds in distorted shapes of dragons,
+hippogrifs, witches, and ghosts. The boat was close to shore, skirting
+a low bluff, covered with shrubs and trees. A majestic poplar standing
+on the river's edge drew the colonel's attention by its noble aspect.
+At the very moment when the prow drove opposite the monarch tree, its
+lofty top trembled, the towering trunk reeled and fell into the river
+with a terrific plunge. The twenty-foot long steering pole, to which
+was attached a rudder like the blade of a huge oar, was struck and
+splintered by the falling trunk. The seemingly firm-rooted and defiant
+poplar had been undermined by the incessant erosion of the flood.
+
+"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Burr, involuntarily. "Am I the tree or the
+undercurrent?"
+
+That he had far less to dread from winds, waves, and falling trees
+than from ominous storm gatherings of human element, menacing the
+fleet from the shore, the adventurer discovered full soon. He was
+prepared to battle with the Mississippi, but had not anticipated
+collision with the territorial militia, for he was in ignorance of the
+fact that his plans had been exposed, and that a thunderbolt from the
+hand of national authority had been hurled. His flotilla, as it
+proceeded southward, instead of being hailed and boarded by eager
+recruits, was bayed by the watch-dogs of the law, civil and martial.
+Intrusive messengers from the courts and officious colonels of raw
+militia regiments pestered and threatened; those, with paper warrants
+from local magistrates, these, with flintlock muskets in reserve.
+
+Not until his boat arrived at Bayou Pierre, near Natchez, and landed
+in Petite Gulf, was Burr fully informed of the action taken by the
+National Government and the several States. The situation was
+disclosed to him by Major Flaharty of the Second Regiment, who, acting
+under the authority of the territorial governor of Mississippi,
+ordered Burr to appear at the village of Washington to undergo
+examination. The order was not promptly enforced, and the boats were
+permitted to cross the river to a point on the western shore, a few
+miles lower down.
+
+Before Burr's boat pushed out from Petite Gulf, Blennerhassett hurried
+to his superior, and with many apologies, handed him a letter,
+crumpled from having been carried long in the bearer's pocket.
+
+"This came by mail to the island, addressed, as you see, in my care.
+Margaret warned me to deliver it to you promptly; but the commission
+escaped my mind." The superscription on the letter, written in fine
+hand, ran thus: "To Colonel Aaron Burr, care of Mr. Harman
+Blennerhassett, Blennerhassett's Island, opposite Belpre, Ohio, U. S.
+A." Burr waited until the boat was in motion before entering his cabin
+to open and read the belated _billet-doux_, for such he judged the
+missive to be. The news he had just heard of Wilkinson's changed
+attitude, and the prospect of his own arrest, left him in a state of
+mind not favorable to playing the capricious game of flirtation, with
+pen or tongue. He cast the sealed epistle on the table provided for his
+use, and sat down on a wooden stool to ponder. The only illumination of
+his rude quarters came from a tallow candle stuck in a socket made by
+boring an auger-hole in a block of wood. Night had fallen, the wind blew
+in violent gusts and the timbers of the flatboat creaked and shuddered.
+Burr sat in meditation, his face buried in his hands, his elbows resting
+on the table, a foiled conspirator--frustrated, trapped, as he
+conjectured, by his suave confederate. He had drifted into the eelpot
+prepared for him. No mode of escape could he devise. He thought of Madam
+Blennerhassett, of Theodosia, of glorious visions seen and royal
+assurances given, in the secluded library of the White House on the
+lonely island in the Ohio. Vividly he remembered his first voyage down
+the beautiful river, the conversations with Arlington, the serio-comic
+encounter with Plutarch Byle, the reverie on deck of the ark, the
+evening in the ladies' bower. Slowly he raised his head from his hands,
+and moved by the automatism of habit drew a cigar from its case, lit the
+solacing weed at the blue-yellow cone of the candle flame, and smoked.
+He now felt not disinclined to take up the neglected _billet-doux_. He
+broke the seal and read.
+
+                                            PHILADELPHIA, NOV. 31, 1806.
+
+    "Forgive--forgive me, if you can--I am dying of remorse. You deceived
+    me, betrayed me, in my girlhood, but I pardoned that, for I loved
+    you more than any other woman ever loved a man. When we met in Ohio,
+    by strange accident, all was reconciled. How happy I was! But when I
+    learned of your perfidy; when I was forced to realize that I was not
+    only your jilted victim, but your hoodwinked dupe; that your object
+    in coaxing from me my fortune was wholly selfish; that you never
+    meant to restore either my property or my good name; while your
+    kisses were warm upon my lips your heart was planning proposals to
+    another woman to become your wife that I, your discarded tool, could
+    not claim even to be regarded as your mistress; when I felt sure of
+    all this, I was frantic with grief and rage. I went to Washington,
+    saw the President, gave him all the facts and papers you had
+    intrusted to me. I did this in hatred, for revenge. In my madness I
+    wanted to crush you, to blast your hopes, to kill you, if I could.
+    But anger gave way to remorse. I would undo what I have done, but it
+    is too late. I know you cannot love me--you cannot pity or forgive. I
+    never shall forgive myself. There is nothing for me to live for--I am
+    wretched, wretched, ruined--abandoned by you and despised by the
+    world. When this reaches you, if it ever reaches your dear hand, I
+    will be out of this awful misery and free from shame.
+
+    "I send enclosed the diamond ring you gave me in Princeton--the one
+    you took from my finger in that farmhouse on the Miami, to write
+    with it on the window-pane your name, dear Aaron, my first love, and
+    underneath it my own.
+
+                                                               "Salome."
+
+The unhappy trifler having reread the reproachful lines, took up the
+ring which had fallen upon the table when the letter was unfolded.
+There was a small window in the side of the cabin, opening on hinges.
+Burr rose, stepped to the rude casement, unfastened the bolt, thrust
+his arm out as far as he could reach, holding betwixt his thumb and
+finger the sparkling gem, and was about to cast it into the water; but
+he checked the impulse, drew back his hand and slipped the love-token
+on his little finger.
+
+"Poor Salome!" he murmured, closing the sash. "Foolish Salome! She
+thinks she is the cause of my ruin; but she is not. I wish to God I
+could say I am not the cause of hers."
+
+The fickle lover, rousing from his remorseful reverie, became the man
+of action. His boat was freighted, in part, with military stores,
+proof positive of warlike designs. This objective evidence must not
+come to the knowledge of judge or militia-man. Burr seized an axe, and
+calling one of the boatmen to his assistance, led the way to the main
+storage room, where guns and ammunition, packed in chests, lay piled.
+The place was closely boarded up, having no openings whatever in the
+sides.
+
+"Here, Gilpin, take the axe, while I hold the light. Cut a hole in the
+side of the boat, between these two upright braces. Hurry up! Make the
+space large enough to let these boxes pass through."
+
+The boatman chopped with lusty strokes and soon hewed an opening
+sufficiently long and wide through the plank siding.
+
+"Now, take hold; help lift this, and slide it overboard."
+
+Rapidly the two worked with might and main, casting chest after chest
+overboard to sink plumb to the muddy bottom of the Mississippi. By the
+time the steersman gave orders for landing on the Arkansas shore, the
+telltale cargo had all been unloaded. The innocent vessel was brought
+to harbor in a bend and made fast to some friendly trees.
+
+Military officers, acting for the governor of Mississippi Territory,
+lay in wait to seize Burr and Blennerhassett. To the governor's
+aide-de-camp the chief conspirator said with bitter resentment:
+
+"As to any projects or plans which may have been formed between
+General Wilkinson and myself, heretofore, they are now completely
+frustrated by the treacherous conduct of Wilkinson; and the world must
+pronounce him a perfidious villain. If I am sacrificed, my portfolio
+will prove him such."
+
+This petulant outburst was of no avail to stave off the minions of the
+law. Burr was again in the toils. He, the distinguished attorney who
+had won so many cases before the New York bench, and who had presided
+over the Senate of the United States, was summoned to a hearing before
+a grand jury in the obscure village of Washington. What a descent from
+Washington, the capital, to Washington, the frontier hamlet; from
+presidency of the Senate to a prisoner's box in a backwoods
+court-house!
+
+The good genius of Burr did not desert him at the hour of this, his
+second humiliating ordeal. Fortune, who had rescued him in Kentucky,
+again favored him in Mississippi. The grand jury, to the chagrin of
+judge and territorial governor, brought in the unexpected presentment
+that Aaron Burr was not guilty of any crime or misdemeanor. The jury
+was dismissed, but the prisoner was not discharged. Burr, who had many
+secret friends, was advised that the governor intended to seize on his
+person the moment the court should release him. The conspirator
+resolved to elude judiciary and executive by flight. Prudence and
+dignity, however, forbade precipitate action. Never was fugitive so
+intrepid, so calm. No valet had ever regarded him less than a hero.
+But how would Madam Blennerhassett judge him? She had arrived at Bayou
+Pierre--that Burr knew--and the first tidings she heard of her
+husband told her that he and Burr had been arrested. Burr sat down,
+and penned the following:
+
+                                     "WASHINGTON, MISS., Jan. 31, 1807.
+
+    "_Mrs. M. Blennerhassett._
+
+    "Dear Madam: Your good husband has informed you of the miscarriage
+    of our plans, and of our humiliating detention by Government
+    officials. This temporary delay on the road to Beulah is wholly
+    chargeable to the treachery of one individual in whom I placed
+    absolute trust. No fit abiding place is yet provided for you on the
+    Wachita acres. And Orleans is a port closed against us. How
+    mortifying! Let not these tidings distress you, but draw upon the
+    infinite resources of a determined will. I am not discouraged--only
+    pestered and stung by a swarm of mosquitoes in the shape of
+    magistrates, militia colonels, and false witnesses. Doubtless, Mr.
+    Blennerhassett will be restored to you soon; as for myself, I take
+    all the responsibility for his misfortunes upon my shoulders.
+    Circumstances compel me, for the present, to move with
+    circumspection, but you shall hear from me in good time.
+
+    "Last night, in my sleep, I had a delightful experience. I dreamed
+    we were all sailing the Mediterranean, in a silken-sailed barge,
+    bound for Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and every spicy, flowery land. I
+    awoke to the 'slumbery agitation' of today's evil chances. However,
+    'there's nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.' The
+    Kingdom is within us. You recollect old Shirley's solemn lines,
+
+        'The glories of our blood and state
+        Are shadows, not substantial things.'
+
+    The only substantial world is comprised within the two hemispheres
+    of the human heart.
+
+    "Dear madam, will you console Theodosia with one of your brave,
+    loving, womanly letters? She is the one who will suffer most from
+    the miserable collapse of our plans--she and poor little Gampy.
+
+    "I presume you will return to the Enchanted Ground! 'Tis a heavenly
+    retreat. I enclose a sprig of Spanish moss from a cypress-tree near
+    the village jail. Adieu,
+
+                                                                "A. B."
+
+The gallant traitor did not linger for the governor's catchpoll to
+seize him. French leave was better than a sheriff's hospitality. Three
+of Burr's faithful adherents agreed to convey him secretly, in a
+skiff, to a point twenty miles from Bayou Pierre, and there to provide
+him with a horse and a mounted guide, to facilitate his escape from
+the Territory. In pursuance of his project, he was about to leave
+Washington, on foot, to join his clandestine abettors, when he was
+curtly accosted by a young man whom he was startled to recognize at
+that time and place. Burr put out his hand, but the young man
+haughtily withheld his own. He spoke vehemently.
+
+"Colonel Burr, I challenged a brave man, a patriotic soldier, to fight
+a duel with me, because he spoke severe words about you. He wronged
+you a little, but you have wronged me much--my friends more. You
+called Hamilton to the field for traducing you; I demand satisfaction
+from you for treacherously involving me and my family name with your
+own, in charges of disloyalty to the Government. You lied to me!"
+
+Burr compressed his lips and filled his lungs with a quick-drawn
+breath. His cheeks purpled and his eyes shot dark fire.
+
+"Mr. Arlington, you go too far. I cannot brook insult."
+
+"Do not brook it. Resent it. You have smutched my honor. You have
+ruined the Blennerhassetts. You have betrayed a host of confiding
+people. You have endeavored to destroy the Union. I can right myself
+before the country and in my own estimation only by calling you to
+personal account. Will you meet me with pistol or with sword?"
+
+Burr quenched the resentful fires that burnt in his heart, and replied
+calmly:
+
+"My friend, I decline to meet you in any form of duel. You cannot
+provoke me to accept your challenge. I respect you too much to kill
+you. You demand satisfaction. Arlington, no satisfaction comes to
+either party in a fatal conflict. The dead man is indifferent to the
+boast of honor vindicated. I have fought my last duel. But don't
+imagine me afraid of threats, or bullets, or swords."
+
+The Virginian responded in milder tones.
+
+"Can you justify your deceptions, practised on me, or make amends for
+the injury done the Blennerhassetts?"
+
+"I justify nothing. I promise no reform. My plan failed. I did my
+best. I am no traitor. I meant to benefit everybody. I shall be
+vindicated. Good-bye. Go, Arlington, marry the belle of Marietta, and
+be a happy man."
+
+Arlington's nostrils quivered. A second surge of anger swept over him.
+Burr continued:
+
+"I advise seriously. Win Miss Hale. I know she likes you. She is the
+finest woman west of the Appalachians--or east of them. I had
+matrimonial inclinings toward the paragon myself."
+
+"That I know," said the young man, with crabbed acrimony.
+
+"Yes, you know that. That is an additional reason, you think, for
+wishing to meet me in dudgeon. A lover hates a rival, even an
+unsuccessful one, and cherishes hotter resentment against the man who
+steals a kiss from his lady love than against him who violates a dozen
+federal constitutions, and breaks all the apron strings of his mother
+country."
+
+The flippancy of this speech renewed Arlington's animosity.
+
+"You will not, then, permit me to right myself by the code of honor?"
+
+"No, Arlington, as I told you, I fought my last duel on the bank of
+the Hudson. Good-bye. I am not the bad man you believe me to be. But I
+am under a cloud. My hopes are darkened. I would like to keep your
+friendship, but cannot demand it. It was in our plans to make you a
+'belted knight, a marquis, duke, and a' that,' but the Creator
+anticipated me by making you a true gentleman, which is the highest
+title of nobility."
+
+Burr started on the path which led to the covert where his three
+faithful friends awaited his coming, to row him down the river.
+Halting for a minute, he looked back at Arlington wistfully, and said:
+
+"I am an outcast and an outlaw. Farewell."
+
+Burr followed the path which he hoped would extricate him from the
+labyrinth of his troubles, and Arlington left the village of
+Washington, and was soon on the way to New Orleans, where Evaleen Hale
+expected him at the house of her uncle.
+
+
+
+
+XXVII. FLIGHT AND SURRENDER.
+
+
+Disguised in the borrowed clothes of a boatman--pantaloons of coarse
+stuff, dyed in copperas, a drab-colored roundabout, a broad-brimmed
+slouch hat much the worse for hard usage in rain and sun--Aaron Burr
+fled. He deemed it impossible that any detective could recognize him.
+One precaution, however, he neglected to take; his genteel feet
+disdained the boatman's cowhide shoes, nor would he put on the pair of
+big Suarrow boots proffered by one of his followers. He insisted on
+wearing, as usual, his tight-fitting, neat, elegant city-boots of
+polished calfskin.
+
+Clad and accoutred for flight through a wild country, mounted upon a
+spirited horse provided by devoted accessories for the severe journey,
+and accompanied by a guide who knew the forest ways, he set out, a
+fugitive from justice. Both he and his pilot carried pistols in
+holster and provisions in saddle-bags. Their route lay through a
+desolate region sparsely settled by pioneers, and not yet relinquished
+by wandering aborigines, nor by the bear and the catamount. The month
+of February was spent before they reached the valley of the Tombigbee,
+a distance of two hundred miles from the Mississippi River.
+
+Late one evening the weary travellers drew rein at the door of a log
+tavern in Alabama. A bright fire was crackling within, and several
+guests sat conversing before the broad hearth.
+
+"Hello the house!" shouted Burr's attendant. Not hearing a prompt
+response to the call, the guide dismounted, rapped on the deal door,
+at the same time jerking a stout leathern bobbin which drew up the
+wooden latch inside. The door flew open, disclosing a puncheon floor,
+a bar with bulging decanters of whiskey, and the group of talkers
+sitting in the ruddy glow of the wide fireplace. The landlord came to
+the threshold.
+
+"Alight and come in, stranger. I have good beds."
+
+"We are obliged to you, landlord," said Burr from the saddle, "but we
+can't stop. We hailed the house only to inquire the way to Colonel
+Hinson's. How far is it?"
+
+"A long seven miles, and all that isn't stump is mud hole. Better put
+up here till morning. A bite of pork and pone, washed down with a cup
+of hot coffee, will make a new man of you."
+
+"Thank you, my friend, but we are in some hurry. What direction shall
+we take?" The tavern-keeper gave the desired information, with tedious
+minuteness. Meanwhile the party at the fireside took sharp notice of
+the man on horseback, whom they could plainly see in the outshining
+light of the fire. A tall gentleman, whom the host called "colonel,"
+inspected the strangers with comprehensive scrutiny.
+
+"Neighbors," said he, listening to the receding hoof-beats of the
+horses, "did you notice that man's face and his feet? He don't look
+like a common man. Our backwoodsmen don't wear shiny boots." Leaving
+his companions mystified by this speech, the colonel hurried from the
+inn, and bent his steps toward a cabin, from the single small window
+of which a lard-lamp levelled its faint ray. This was the lodge of the
+district sheriff. The tall colonel called the officer out and
+described the appearance and actions of the two travellers.
+
+"Brightwell, I have my suspicions. Hadn't we better go--you and
+I--to Hinson's, and learn who these parties are and what they want? I
+doubt if your cousin, Mrs. Hinson, knows that her husband sympathizes
+with a certain individual who falls under the charges of Jefferson's
+proclamation."
+
+Colonel Perkins easily persuaded the sheriff it was their duty to
+follow the suspected persons, and the self-constituted spies saddled
+horses and spurred through the woods, along a solitary road, to
+Hinson's lonely cottage. Perkins remained outside, holding the horses
+and shivering under the gusty pines. The sheriff knocked at the back
+door of the cabin; the mistress of the house received him kinswomanly
+in the kitchen. From this rear apartment Brightwell could peep into
+the front room, where sat the object of his curiosity. Having
+exchanged a few familiar remarks and inquiries with Mrs. Hinson, the
+sheriff asked, in a whisper:
+
+"Who is that man--the small man with black eyes and white hands?"
+
+"He calls himself Hodge--Jeremiah Hodge--and claims acquaintance
+with my husband. He says he came by request to have a talk with Hinson
+about raft-building on the Tombigbee."
+
+"Do you believe this?"
+
+"I don't know what to think. He is a civil man--very civil--as soft
+spoken as a girl, and he has the nicest table manners I ever seen in a
+_man_. I couldn't turn strangers away on such a raw night."
+
+"No," said the sheriff, "you could not; we must be neighborly; but I
+have my doubts of Jeremiah Hodge. Good-bye, Jane. Drop over and see
+Fanny and the new baby."
+
+The officer, highly satisfied with his cunning detective work, slipped
+out and joined his impatient companion, Perkins, who agreed to
+communicate straightway with Lieutenant Gaines, commandant at Fort
+Stoddart, a post on the Tombigbee. Having secured a canoe and a
+colored boy to paddle it, Colonel Perkins, on the following morning,
+descended the river, and told Gaines his story.
+
+While Perkins was floating down the Tombigbee, the polite boatman,
+Jeremiah Hodge, was writing letters, eating breakfast, and chatting
+most agreeably with his admiring hostess. At about nine-o'clock he
+requested his fellow-traveller to saddle the horses, and within the
+few minutes required for this to be done he surprised Mrs. Hinson by
+disclosing his real name.
+
+"Madam, if you should ever chance to meet a boatman by the name of
+Jeremiah Hodge, which is not probable, please make my apologies to him
+for borrowing his name, as I have borrowed also another man's clothes.
+I am Aaron Burr, of New York, a name pretty widely known and much
+bandied about in these scandalmongering days. I know your husband
+well; Colonel Hinson and myself are old friends; I saw him lately in
+Natchez, and he was kind enough to invite me to make his house my
+home, in case I had need of a comrade soldier's hospitality. Under the
+circumstances now existing I cannot remain longer."
+
+Mrs. Hinson looked incredulous and scared.
+
+"Mercy me!" was her suppressed interjection.
+
+"Pardon me for giving a false name, and not a pretty one, either. A
+reward of two thousand dollars is offered to any one who will give
+information leading to my arrest. Such a snug sum might serve you for
+pin-money." This was jocularly said and with a smile. Mrs. Hinson
+found a tongue to protest.
+
+"Don't fear I'll blab. I wish I could help you to get out of danger.
+Now I see why cousin Brightwell was Paul Prying here last night.
+There's your horse saddled and bridled. Take keer of yourself."
+
+"Good-bye, my dear madam. I cannot, of course, offer to pay you for
+your generous entertainment of me and my follower. But you must not
+deny me one small favor--take this ring as a keepsake from Jeremiah
+Hodge."
+
+He waited not for a reply, but gently raising her hand, which was a
+very pretty one, he placed on her finger Salome Rosemary's diamond
+ring! Bowing a graceful adieu, the versatile fugitive rode away at his
+faithful servant's side.
+
+The brace of horsemen had not trotted a mile before they were
+overtaken on the highway by a rider who accosted them very cordially.
+His sorrel steed kept even pace with the other two horses.
+
+"A nice frosty morning," chirpped the friendly bore. "I hope I don't
+intrude. I like company myself when I am on the road. Which way are
+you bound? Pensacola?"
+
+Burr made no reply, but his attaché answered freely:
+
+"Yes, Pensacola. Which is the best road from here to Carson's Ferry?"
+
+"The best road and the shortest is by way of the cut-off. I am going
+that way--I'll show you the road."
+
+All three cantered forward. In half an hour they came to a place where
+the road made an abrupt turn, and just at this bend a file of mounted
+and armed soldiers stopped their progress. Lieutenant Gaines and
+Colonel Perkins rode at the head of the troopers. The lieutenant waved
+a military salute and spoke.
+
+"Have I the honor of addressing Colonel Burr?"
+
+"You have that honor; I am Aaron Burr."
+
+"You are my prisoner."
+
+"By what authority do you detain me, a private citizen, attending
+peaceably to my own affairs, on a public thoroughfare?"
+
+"I arrest you, Aaron Burr, in the name and at the instance of the
+United States of America. I hold in my hand the proclamation of
+President Jefferson. I am a lieutenant in the United States Army. The
+gentleman at your side is Theodore Brightwell, a sheriff, and the
+officer accompanying me is Colonel Nicholas Perkins, who detected you
+last evening when you rode up to the Piny Woods Tavern."
+
+Burr surrendered. That night he slept, a prisoner, in Fort Stoddart.
+
+
+
+
+XXVIII. WHAT BECAME OF THEM.
+
+
+Almost eight years had elapsed since the date of Burr's arrest and
+imprisonment, when on the first day of May, 1815, two young families
+loitered away an afternoon in picnic outing on Blennerhassett Island.
+The party consisted of eight persons--Colonel Warren Danvers, his
+wife and a small daughter; and Mr. and Mrs. Arlington, their two
+pretty little girls and a boy-baby. The children, excepting the
+infant, were old enough to enjoy gathering wild-flowers. They kept
+within call of the parents, who, conversing on events familiar to them
+all, strolled over the deserted grounds of an estate rendered sadly
+famous by the misfortunes of its former possessors. Amid scenes
+associated with the disastrous failure of a treasonable conspiracy, it
+was natural to speak of Burr.
+
+"He is paying a bitter penalty for his crime," Danvers commented.
+"Though acquitted by the Federal Court at Richmond, in spite of Wirt's
+arraignment, the traitor will not recover the people's good-will. He
+lives in New York City, a man forbid. His four years' self-exile in
+Europe, I am told, was a humiliating banishment from the loyal and
+patriotic. No country can be a "Sweet Home" to the man who repudiates
+his own nation's flag. Burr declares himself severed from the human
+race, and so he is."
+
+"You are relentless, Warren," said his sister. "I feel much pity for
+the man, since his heart-breaking experience of two or three years
+ago."
+
+"Ah, yes; yes," Lucrèce impulsively said; "Theodosia was her father's
+incentive and his happiness. It was bad enough to lose the little
+grandson. Think how you would grieve if your dear little boy should
+die."
+
+"We don't ever think of dying, do we, Dicky?" Evaleen cooed, making
+mother eyes at her baby. "The world must have seemed a blank to Burr
+after Theodosia was drowned."
+
+"_Was_ she drowned?" questioned Arlington. "That was a mysterious
+affair--the disappearance of the schooner--what was the vessel's
+name, Danvers?"
+
+"The Patriot. She sailed from Charleston for New York in the winter of
+1812. I remember reading of the disaster just before marching with
+General Harrison to Fort Meigs."
+
+"The boat may have foundered or wrecked," said Arlington. "Some
+believe it was captured by pirates, who carried Theodosia away to a
+foreign port."
+
+"That's an absurd theory!" declared Danvers.
+
+"But not impossible, my dear," put in Lucrèce. "I hope the poor lady
+was not carried away; drowning is preferable," said Evaleen.
+
+"You two wouldn't drown when you had a chance at Cypress Bayou,"
+laughed the husband. "You chose to be carried away by one robber and
+brought back by another."
+
+Lucrèce snugged close to her soldier, and he gave her a playful kiss.
+
+"Spoony," sang Evaleen, whereupon her prim younger daughter, whose
+plump fist tightly held a bunch of spring-beauties, looked up in
+wonder and lisped:
+
+"Mamma, what is spoony?"
+
+The elder sister, some seven years old, came running to her mother's
+side.
+
+"There's a man by the well!"
+
+"I saw him first," chimed in the smaller child. "Didn't I see him
+first, Eva?"
+
+The rambling party had returned from the woodland to the cleared
+tract, in the midst of which the White House of Blennerhassett
+formerly stood. The mansion, never occupied after the ill-starred
+family left it, was destroyed by fire a few years before the time of
+the picnic excursion. Near the low foundation walls of blackened stone
+stood the wooden curb surrounding the mouth of a deep well. The old
+windlass, below which a leaky bucket still swung, was kept in repair
+by unknown hands. Upon looking for the man whom Eva had discovered,
+Mrs. Arlington saw leaning upon the curb, in a posture of meditation,
+a figure which both she and her husband recognized. There was no
+possibility of avoiding or of evading a meeting with the meddlesome
+babbler who had volunteered to prescribe "cowcumber bitters" as a sure
+cure for Chester's love. Within the ten years since the revelation on
+the summit of the mound, and the piroque tour to the island, Arlington
+had seen and heard a good deal of Plutarch Byle. Though it was always
+more or less of a social annoyance, and at times an intolerable bore,
+to encounter the gossipy humorist, his numberless acquaintances, far
+from wishing him ill, admired his honesty and lauded his goodness of
+heart.
+
+Byle heard the children's voices, and straightening up his awkward
+form, turned to observe the advancing group. His wide mouth opened
+with a grin of pleasure; he came forward with gangling strides.
+
+"By crackey, if it isn't the Arlingtons! Home from Virginia, Evaleen,
+to old Marietta, on a visit to the folks? You're looking peart. How do
+you all do?"
+
+Arlington, out of regard for his wife and kinsfolk, made some
+dignified efforts to stem the tide of Byle's familiarity, but his
+polite formality was not noticed by the associable democrat, who shook
+hands with every one, beginning with the baby.
+
+"So these is your offspring, as the preacher says, are they, Chester?
+I knowed you'd have a lot of 'em when I recommended the match. Here's
+the suckin' kid; let Uncle Byle heft him once. Gosh, baby, you want to
+grab uncle's nose, do you? Well, then, pull away till the cows come
+home. What's 'is name?"
+
+"Richard," answered the mother.
+
+"Why didn't you name him after me? P. B. Arlington would sound sort of
+uppercrusty, eh? 'Richard,' you say? Oh, I see. Named for your daddy's
+Orleens brother, the cripple! Yes! yes! Did Richard leave you as big a
+pile of money as folks say? It must have been a heavy slam on you,
+Evaleen, when he dropped off. Lucky, too, in another pint of view;
+he's better off, and so are you--lots better off."
+
+Danvers and Lucrèce, wishing to prevent posthumous comments on Uncle
+Richard, came to Evaleen's rescue.
+
+"You are a frequent comer to this island. You know its products and
+topography?"
+
+"Topography, yarbography, bugology and the dickens knows wot ology.
+The ground is jest kivered, in places with Injun arrers, and pipes and
+stone hatchets, and I've dug up some of the durndest queer-shaped
+arthen pots you ever sot eyes on. Yes, I reckon I know Bacchus Island,
+major."
+
+"Not major," interrupted Arlington. "He was promoted after the battle
+of New Orleans. He is now Colonel Danvers."
+
+"Jehoshaphat! Let's shake hands on that, Danvers. No resk this time,
+Arlington, _is_ there? You recollect, don't you? the day I first seed
+you and Hoopsnake on the roof of his flatboat? I read t'other day in
+the noospaper that Harry Clay met the aforesaid in the court-house in
+New York. The sarpent put out his hand, but Harry wouldn't tech it. By
+gum, Clay was smarter than me."
+
+Danvers and Lucrèce looked mystified. Byle winked at Arlington.
+
+"Don't tell 'em my disgrace. So cap's a colonel? This _is_ a surprise.
+I'm just back from a jant to Cinc'natti. Stayed there a coon's age
+with brother Virgil, who moved down from the Yok, last fall, and went
+into the pork trade. Virgil's married, same as you four, but I'll be
+dadbanged if he wasn't fooled in his woman. I tell _you_, Mrs.
+Danvers, matrimony ain't always sich honey in the comb as Warren is
+swallerin'. Virgil's wife looks nice, but Spanish flies! how he enjoys
+her going away from home. Well, that's _that_. I went down on the
+Enterprise. You've rid in a steamboat, I dare say, going to see your
+pa, in Orleens? How's he? I forgot to ask. They say the old man's got
+to be stylisher than ever. Jest run slap bang into rich relations. How
+much is the doctor wuth? He never met me, but they say Deville is a
+choice mackerel, for a Frenchman. I was about to say, I went down to
+Cinc'natti on the Enterprise last December. Best boat on the river,
+Captain Shreve says, and the fourth one built. I have saw the Orleens,
+the Comet and the Vesuvius, but the Enterprise knocks 'em all.
+Keelboats and barges is clean cut out."
+
+To check the deluge of Byle's conversation, the picnickers soon took
+occasion to shift their ground from the well to the beautiful green
+plot which had been the carefully kept lawn of the Blennerhassett
+premises.
+
+Raised flowerbeds, of various forms, circular, crescent, and diamond,
+could still be traced, though overgrown with grass and weeds. These
+abandoned garden beds furnished convenient seating space for the
+excursionists, while they ate lunch and drank water fetched from the
+old well by Plutarch. The conversation reverted to Burr and his
+alleged associates, involving the name of Wilkinson. Danvers defended
+the general from severe animadversions. Arlington had no patience with
+his brother-in-law's lenient judgment.
+
+"Why, Warren, you, a colonel in the regulars, must know Wilkinson to
+have been a failure every way. Wasn't he court-martialed last spring,
+after holding the command of the Northern army less than a year? He
+blundered in all he undertook. He was, in effect, discharged for want
+of generalship and for excess in wine."
+
+"I admit he lost laurels in the late war. So did many others. Jackson
+and Harrison are our heroes now. General Wilkinson was acquitted by
+the court-martial, as he was acquitted in 1811 of charges accusing him
+of complicity with Burr."
+
+"Acquitted! I know he was acquitted; so was Burr; but public opinion
+condemns the decision of the courts. Before the bar of history both
+stand accused and sentenced. They are guilty alike. Wilkinson seems to
+me no better than Burr. Perhaps he is worse, for he betrayed his
+comrade."
+
+"Did he betray Burr, or did he only find him out? I was in Wilkinson's
+tent when Burr's cipher letter was exposed. Wilkinson was outspoken in
+denouncing Burr."
+
+"Hold yer hosses. Let me put in a word edgeways, Captain
+Danvers--'scuse me, I mean colonel. You spoke of Andy Jackson. He's
+not my stripe--I'm a Federalist yist'day, to-day and forever--but
+Old Hickory is a truth teller. What did Jackson say? I give you his
+upside dixit, word for word, _ex litteratum_, as they say. Andrew
+Jackson says, says he, 'Whatever may have been the project of Burr,
+James Wilkinson has went hand in hand with him.'"
+
+Mrs. Arlington introduced a new topic of conversation by saying, "I'll
+not believe that Mr. Blennerhassett was consciously guilty."
+
+"No, my dear, he was deluded. Mr. Wirt is right in contending that
+Blennerhassett was comparatively innocent, 'a mere accessory.'"
+
+Here Mr. Byle stood up and began rummaging in his pockets. The mention
+of the name of Blennerhassett had altered his mood and changed his
+manner. A shade of seriousness bordering on melancholy came over his
+features. He slowly drew from the poke of his warmus a white cambric
+handkerchief, which he blinked at for a minute, and then replaced,
+venting an audible sigh. Long he listened in silence to remarks about
+the islanders and their untoward fate. At length he broke in with:
+
+"I told Harman before he sot out for Eternal Smash what he was comin'
+to. _He_ wouldn't take my advice. But, gentlemen and ladies, in my
+opinion, the near-sighted was about as much to blame for what
+happened, as a pewee is for being swallered by a black snake. Harman
+lost everything, as I told him he would. Fust in debt heels over
+head--then the house burns--then he sells the plantation. Now he's
+tryin' to run a cotton-gin down about Natchez. The boys are growin' up
+no account. And she--Jerusalem artichokes! What a shame it war for
+Margaret to throw herself away!"
+
+The amused expression of Arlington indicated his appreciation of
+Byle's sentiments, but Evaleen could not smile when the distress of
+her much-beloved friend was the theme of conversation. The rich,
+beautiful, commanding lady, who had presided like an Eastern princess,
+in her luxurious island palace, was now struggling with adverse fate,
+on a cotton plantation, near Port Gibson, Mississippi. Recollecting
+the downfall and humiliation of Madam Blennerhassett, Evaleen sighed
+and cast her gaze mournfully toward the spot upon which had stood the
+stately mansion, which had been to her a second home. But on that May
+day in 1815, could she have lifted the veil of the future, events far
+more depressing would have been disclosed. She would have beheld the
+former lord of the isle, landless, harassed by debts, now in Natchez,
+now in New York, and now in Canada, unsuccessfully attempting the
+practice of the law. He made a voyage to Ireland, returned to
+Montreal, and then again crossed the ocean to reside with his maiden
+sister, Avis, on the Isle of Jersey. His wife shared his
+disappointments and sorrows, and it was on her faithful bosom that he
+breathed his last at Port Prerie, Guernsey, in 1831. Ten years later,
+the widow, having returned to the United States destitute, forlorn,
+her health gone, her beauty faded, took up lodgings in a poor
+tenement-house in the city of New York--and it was here that she
+died, forsaken by fortune and by friends. Such were the crown of
+thorns and the crucifixion of Margaret Blennerhassett, who aspired to
+wear the coronet of a duchess in the court of Aaron the Emperor.
+
+The sons, Dominick and Harman, were reserved to fates not less
+abortive and wretched. The first entered the navy as surgeon-mate, but
+was discharged for drunkenness. He died in penury, an outcast. Harman
+became a portrait painter in New York, but he lost his strength of
+body and mind, and finally perished in an almshouse on Blackwell's
+Island. His body lies buried beside that of his mother, in the family
+vault of Emmet, the Irish patriot, in the "Marble Cemetery," New York.
+
+Well was it that the Book of Fate, in which was written the story of
+the House of Blennerhassett, was not opened to Evaleen, for had she
+read therein, the revelation would have turned the day's pensive
+melancholy into poignant grief.
+
+Moved by a common impulse of commiseration, and by reverential regard
+akin to such as one feels when standing beside the tomb of a dear
+friend, the married couples and the lank bachelor bent their steps
+from the lawn to the rubble-strown site of the burnt mansion-house.
+The foundation stones indicated the size and location of the several
+rooms formerly occupying the ground floor. Danvers and his wife sat
+down upon the sandstone steps leading, in bygone days, to the wide
+hall door. The three little girls were at play in the paths of the
+ruined shrubbery; Evaleen's baby boy lay asleep on the lap of
+Lucrèce.
+
+Arlington and Evaleen stepped across the crumbling foundation wall,
+and a few short paces brought them to the middle of the square area
+once covered by the floor of the reception room. A bunch of wild
+violets, in bloom, grew in the charred leaf mould at their feet. The
+wife plucked one of the flowers, and gave it into the hand of her
+constant lover.
+
+"Here is just where you stood when we met for the first time, love; do
+you remember? And look, Chester," she pointed upward to the empty
+space once enclosed in the walls of Lady Blennerhassett's bower,
+"right up there is the window through which we watched you go away in
+the moonlight."
+
+"Yes, darling; there you stood, caring very little whether or not we
+should ever meet again. It is exactly ten years since the day
+you--didn't kiss me. Do it now."
+
+"Hold on for about three shakes of a sheep's tail. Then fire away when
+I'm gone. I want to tell you, Chester, here is just the spot where I
+stood when I fit for her--"
+
+"Fought for my wife?"
+
+"No, for Harman's wife." Byle took out the handkerchief again, and
+Evaleen thought he intended to tell its history.
+
+"That is a fine piece of cambric. It looks like a lady's token."
+
+"This hankercher?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Plutarch gulped down a big emotion.
+
+"It's a thumb-stall."
+
+                               THE END.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+1. Punctuation has been normalized to contemporary standards,
+   including multi-paragraph quotations without open double-quote marks
+   at each break, retained as in original.
+
+2. Added table of contents not in original edition.
+
+3. Typographic errors corrected from original:
+   p. 53 fragrant for fragant ("fragrant knoll")
+   p. 75 tastefully for tastefuly ("tastefully arrayed")
+   p. 98 huge for hugh ("huge mound")
+   p. 182 creature for creatrue ("savage looking creature")
+
+4. Page 317: invalid date ("November 31, 1806") retained.
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