initial commit of ebook 2635HEADmain

11 files changed, 24760 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/2635-0.txt b/2635-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0255352
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2635-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5903 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Clarence, by Bret Harte
+
+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: Clarence
+
+Author: Bret Harte
+
+Release Date: May 21, 2006 [EBook #2635]
+Last Updated: March 4, 2018
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLARENCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson
+
+
+
+
+
+CLARENCE
+
+
+By Bret Harte
+
+
+
+
+PART I.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+
+As Clarence Brant, President of the Robles Land Company, and husband of
+the rich widow of John Peyton, of the Robles Ranche, mingled with the
+outgoing audience of the Cosmopolitan Theatre, at San Francisco, he
+elicited the usual smiling nods and recognition due to his good
+looks and good fortune. But as he hurriedly slipped through the still
+lingering winter's rain into the smart coupe that was awaiting him, and
+gave the order “Home,” the word struck him with a peculiarly ironical
+significance. His home was a handsome one, and lacked nothing in
+appointment and comfort, but he had gone to the theatre to evade its
+hollow loneliness. Nor was it because his wife was not there, for he had
+a miserable consciousness that her temporary absence had nothing to do
+with his homelessness. The distraction of the theatre over, that dull,
+vague, but aching sense of loneliness which was daily growing upon him
+returned with greater vigor.
+
+He leaned back in the coupe and gloomily reflected.
+
+He had been married scarcely a year, yet even in the illusions of
+the honeymoon the woman, older than himself, and the widow of his old
+patron, had half unconsciously reasserted herself, and slipped back
+into the domination of her old position. It was at first pleasant
+enough,--this half-maternal protectorate which is apt to mingle even
+with the affections of younger women,--and Clarence, in his easy,
+half-feminine intuition of the sex, yielded, as the strong are apt to
+yield, through the very consciousness of their own superiority. But this
+is a quality the weaker are not apt to recognize, and the woman who
+has once tasted equal power with her husband not only does not easily
+relegate it, but even makes its continuance a test of the affections.
+The usual triumphant feminine conclusion, “Then you no longer love me,”
+ had in Clarence's brief experience gone even further and reached its
+inscrutable climax, “Then I no longer love you,” although shown only in
+a momentary hardening of the eye and voice. And added to this was his
+sudden, but confused remembrance that he had seen that eye and heard
+that voice in marital altercation during Judge Peyton's life, and that
+he himself, her boy partisan, had sympathized with her. Yet, strange to
+say, this had given him more pain than her occasional other reversions
+to the past--to her old suspicious of him when he was a youthful protege
+of her husband and a presumed suitor of her adopted daughter Susy.
+High natures are more apt to forgive wrong done to themselves than any
+abstract injustice. And her capricious tyranny over her dependents and
+servants, or an unreasoning enmity to a neighbor or friend, outraged his
+finer sense more than her own misconception of himself. Nor did he dream
+that this was a thing most women seldom understand, or, understanding,
+ever forgive.
+
+The coupe rattled over the stones or swirled through the muddy pools
+of the main thoroughfares. Newspaper and telegraphic offices were still
+brilliantly lit, and crowds were gathered among the bulletin boards.
+He knew that news had arrived from Washington that evening of the first
+active outbreaks of secession, and that the city was breathless with
+excitement. Had he not just come from the theatre, where certain
+insignificant allusions in the play had been suddenly caught up
+and cheered or hissed by hitherto unknown partisans, to the dumb
+astonishment of a majority of the audience comfortably settled to
+money-getting and their own affairs alone? Had he not applauded, albeit
+half-scornfully, the pretty actress--his old playmate Susy--who had
+audaciously and all incongruously waved the American flag in their
+faces? Yes! he had known it; had lived for the last few weeks in an
+atmosphere electrically surcharged with it--and yet it had chiefly
+affected him in his personal homelessness. For his wife was a
+Southerner, a born slaveholder, and a secessionist, whose noted
+prejudices to the North had even outrun her late husband's politics. At
+first the piquancy and recklessness of her opinionative speech amused
+him as part of her characteristic flavor, or as a lingering youthfulness
+which the maturer intellect always pardons. He had never taken her
+politics seriously--why should he? With her head on his shoulder he had
+listened to her extravagant diatribes against the North. He had forgiven
+her outrageous indictment of his caste and his associates for the sake
+of the imperious but handsome lips that uttered it. But when he was
+compelled to listen to her words echoed and repeated by her friends and
+family; when he found that with the clannishness of her race she had
+drawn closer to them in this controversy,--that she depended upon them
+for her intelligence and information rather than upon him,--he had
+awakened to the reality of his situation. He had borne the allusions
+of her brother, whose old scorn for his dependent childhood had been
+embittered by his sister's marriage and was now scarcely concealed. Yet,
+while he had never altered his own political faith and social creed
+in this antagonistic atmosphere, he had often wondered, with his old
+conscientiousness and characteristic self-abnegation, whether his own
+political convictions were not merely a revulsion from his domestic
+tyranny and alien surroundings.
+
+In the midst of this gloomy retrospect the coupe stopped with a jerk
+before his own house. The door was quickly opened by a servant, who
+appeared to be awaiting him.
+
+“Some one to see you in the library, sir,” said the man, “and”--He
+hesitated and looked towards the coupe.
+
+“Well?” said Clarence impatiently.
+
+“He said, sir, as how you were not to send away the carriage.”
+
+“Indeed, and who is it?” demanded Clarence sharply.
+
+“Mr. Hooker. He said I was to say Jim Hooker.”
+
+The momentary annoyance in Clarence's face changed to a look of
+reflective curiosity.
+
+“He said he knew you were at the theatre, and he would wait until you
+came home,” continued the man, dubiously watching his master's face. “He
+don't know you've come in, sir, and--and I can easily get rid of him.”
+
+“No matter now. I'll see him, and,” added Clarence, with a faint smile,
+“let the carriage wait.”
+
+Yet, as he turned towards the library he was by no means certain that
+an interview with the old associate of his boyhood under Judge Peyton's
+guardianship would divert his mind. Yet he let no trace of his doubts
+nor of his past gloom show in his face as he entered the room.
+
+Mr. Hooker was apparently examining the elegant furniture and luxurious
+accommodation with his usual resentful enviousness. Clarence had got a
+“soft thing.” That it was more or less the result of his “artfulness,”
+ and that he was unduly “puffed up” by it, was, in Hooker's
+characteristic reasoning, equally clear. As his host smilingly advanced
+with outstretched hand, Mr. Hooker's efforts to assume a proper
+abstraction of manner and contemptuous indifference to Clarence's
+surroundings which should wound his vanity ended in his lolling back at
+full length in the chair with his eyes on the ceiling. But, remembering
+suddenly that he was really the bearer of a message to Clarence, it
+struck him that his supine position was, from a theatrical view-point,
+infelicitous. In his experiences of the stage he had never delivered a
+message in that way. He rose awkwardly to his feet.
+
+“It was so good of you to wait,” said Clarence courteously.
+
+“Saw you in the theatre,” said Hooker brusquely. “Third row in parquet.
+Susy said it was you, and had suthin' to say to you. Suthin' you ought
+to know,” he continued, with a slight return of his old mystery of
+manner which Clarence so well remembered. “You saw HER--she fetched the
+house with that flag business, eh? She knows which way the cat is
+going to jump, you bet. I tell you, for all the blowing of these
+secessionists, the Union's goin' to pay! Yes, sir!” He stopped, glanced
+round the handsome room, and added darkly, “Mebbee better than this.”
+
+With the memory of Hooker's characteristic fondness for mystery still in
+his mind, Clarence overlooked the innuendo, and said smilingly,--
+
+“Why didn't you bring Mrs. Hooker here? I should have been honored with
+her company.”
+
+Mr. Hooker frowned slightly at this seeming levity.
+
+“Never goes out after a performance. Nervous exhaustion. Left her at our
+rooms in Market Street. We can drive there in ten minutes. That's why I
+asked to have the carriage wait.”
+
+Clarence hesitated. Without caring in the least to renew the
+acquaintance of his old playmate and sweetheart, a meeting that night
+in some vague way suggested to him a providential diversion. Nor was he
+deceived by any gravity in the message. With his remembrance of Susy's
+theatrical tendencies, he was quite prepared for any capricious futile
+extravagance.
+
+“You are sure we will not disturb her?” he said politely.
+
+“No.”
+
+Clarence led the way to the carriage. If Mr. Hooker expected him during
+the journey to try to divine the purport of Susy's message he was
+disappointed. His companion did not allude to it. Possibly looking upon
+it as a combined theatrical performance, Clarence preferred to wait for
+Susy as the better actor. The carriage rolled rapidly through the now
+deserted streets, and at last, under the directions of Mr. Hooker,
+who was leaning half out of the window, it drew up at a middle-class
+restaurant, above whose still lit and steaming windows were some
+ostentatiously public apartments, accessible from a side entrance. As
+they ascended the staircase together, it became evident that Mr. Hooker
+was scarcely more at his ease in the character of host than he had been
+as guest. He stared gloomily at a descending visitor, grunted audibly
+at a waiter in the passage, and stopped before a door, where a recently
+deposited tray displayed the half-eaten carcase of a fowl, an empty
+champagne bottle, two half-filled glasses, and a faded bouquet. The
+whole passage was redolent with a singular blending of damp cooking,
+stale cigarette smoke, and patchouli.
+
+Putting the tray aside with his foot, Mr. Hooker opened the door
+hesitatingly and peered into the room, muttered a few indistinct words,
+which were followed by a rapid rustling of skirts, and then, with his
+hand still on the door-knob, turning to Clarence, who had discreetly
+halted on the threshold, flung the door open theatrically and bade him
+enter.
+
+“She is somewhere in the suite,” he added, with a large wave of the hand
+towards a door that was still oscillating. “Be here in a minit.”
+
+Clarence took in the apartment with a quiet glance. Its furniture had
+the frayed and discolored splendors of a public parlor which had
+been privately used and maltreated; there were stains in the large
+medallioned carpet; the gilded veneer had been chipped from a heavy
+centre table, showing the rough, white deal beneath, which gave it the
+appearance of a stage “property;” the walls, paneled with gilt-framed
+mirrors, reflected every domestic detail or private relaxation with
+shameless publicity. A damp waterproof, shawl, and open newspaper were
+lying across the once brilliant sofa; a powder-puff, a plate of fruit,
+and a play-book were on the centre table, and on the marble-topped
+sideboard was Mr. Hooker's second-best hat, with a soiled collar,
+evidently but lately exchanged for the one he had on, peeping over its
+brim. The whole apartment seemed to mingle the furtive disclosures of
+the dressing-room with the open ostentations of the stage, with even a
+slight suggestion of the auditorium in a few scattered programmes on the
+floor and chairs.
+
+The inner door opened again with a slight theatrical start, and Susy,
+in an elaborate dressing-gown, moved languidly into the room. She
+apparently had not had time to change her underskirt, for there was the
+dust of the stage on its delicate lace edging, as she threw herself into
+an armchair and crossed her pretty slippered feet before her. Her face
+was pale, its pallor incautiously increased by powder; and as Clarence
+looked at its still youthful, charming outline, he was not perhaps
+sorry that the exquisite pink and white skin beneath, which he had once
+kissed, was hidden from that awakened recollection. Yet there was little
+trace of the girlish Susy in the pretty, but prematurely jaded, actress
+before him, and he felt momentarily relieved. It was her youth and
+freshness appealing to his own youth and imagination that he had
+loved--not HER. Yet as she greeted him with a slight exaggeration of
+glance, voice, and manner, he remembered that even as a girl she was an
+actress.
+
+Nothing of this, however, was in his voice and manner as he gently
+thanked her for the opportunity of meeting her again. And he was frank,
+for the diversion he had expected he had found; he even was conscious of
+thinking more kindly of his wife who had supplanted her.
+
+“I told Jim he must fetch you if he had to carry you,” she said,
+striking the palm of her hand with her fan, and glancing at her husband.
+“I reckon he guessed WHY, though I didn't tell him--I don't tell Jim
+EVERYTHING.”
+
+Here Jim rose, and looking at his watch, “guessed he'd run over to the
+Lick House and get some cigars.” If he was acting upon some hint from
+his wife, his simulation was so badly done that Clarence felt his
+first sense of uneasiness. But as Hooker closed the door awkwardly and
+unostentatiously behind him, Clarence smilingly said he had waited to
+hear the message from her own lips.
+
+“Jim only knows what he's heard outside: the talk of men, you know,--and
+he hears a good deal of that--more, perhaps, than YOU do. It was that
+which put me up to finding out the truth. And I didn't rest till I did.
+I'm not to be fooled, Clarence,--you don't mind my calling you Clarence
+now we're both married and done for,--and I'm not the kind to be fooled
+by anybody from the Cow counties--and that's the Robles Ranche. I'm a
+Southern woman myself from Missouri, but I'm for the Union first, last,
+and all the time, and I call myself a match for any lazy, dawdling,
+lash-swinging slaveholder and slaveholderess--whether they're mixed
+blood, Heaven only knows, or what--or their friends or relations, or
+the dirty half-Spanish grandees and their mixed half-nigger peons who
+truckle to them. You bet!”
+
+His blood had stirred quickly at the mention of the Robles Ranche,
+but the rest of Susy's speech was too much in the vein of her old
+extravagance to touch him seriously. He found himself only considering
+how strange it was that the old petulance and impulsiveness of her
+girlhood were actually bringing back with them her pink cheeks and
+brilliant eyes.
+
+“You surely didn't ask Jim to bring me here,” he said smilingly, “to
+tell me that Mrs. Peyton”--he corrected himself hastily as a malicious
+sparkle came into Susy's blue eyes--“that my wife was a Southern woman,
+and probably sympathized with her class? Well, I don't know that I
+should blame her for that any more than she should blame me for being a
+Northern man and a Unionist.”
+
+“And she doesn't blame you?” asked Susy sneeringly.
+
+The color came slightly to Clarence's cheek, but before he could reply
+the actress added,--
+
+“No, she prefers to use you!”
+
+“I don't think I understand you,” said Clarence, rising coldly.
+
+“No, you don't understand HER!” retorted Susy sharply. “Look here,
+Clarence Brant, you're right; I didn't ask you here to tell you--what
+you and everybody knows--that your wife is a Southerner. I didn't ask
+you here to tell you what everybody suspects--that she turns you round
+her little finger. But I did ask you here to tell you what nobody,
+not even you, suspects--but what I know!--and that is that she's a
+TRAITOR--and more, a SPY!--and that I've only got to say the word,
+or send that man Jim to say the word, to have her dragged out of her
+Copperhead den at Robles Ranche and shut up in Fort Alcatraz this very
+night!”
+
+Still with the pink glowing in her rounding cheek, and eyes snapping
+like splintered sapphires, she rose to her feet, with her pretty
+shoulders lifted, her small hands and white teeth both tightly
+clenched, and took a step towards him. Even in her attitude there was a
+reminiscence of her willful childhood, although still blended with
+the provincial actress whom he had seen on the stage only an hour ago.
+Thoroughly alarmed at her threat, in his efforts to conceal his feelings
+he was not above a weak retaliation. Stepping back, he affected to
+regard her with a critical admiration that was only half simulated, and
+said with a smile,--
+
+“Very well done--but you have forgotten the flag.”
+
+She did not flinch. Rather accepting the sarcasm as a tribute to her
+art, she went on with increasing exaggeration: “No, it is YOU who
+have forgotten the flag--forgotten your country, your people, your
+manhood--everything for that high-toned, double-dyed old spy and
+traitress! For while you are standing here, your wife is gathering under
+her roof at Robles a gang of spies and traitors like herself--secession
+leaders and their bloated, drunken 'chivalry'! Yes, you may smile your
+superior smile, but I tell you, Clarence Brant, that with all your
+smartness and book learning you know no more of what goes on around you
+than a child. But others do! This conspiracy is known to the government,
+the Federal officers have been warned; General Sumner has been sent out
+here--and his first act was to change the command at Fort Alcatraz, and
+send your wife's Southern friend--Captain Pinckney--to the right about!
+Yes--everything is known but ONE thing, and that is WHERE and HOW this
+precious crew meet! That I alone know, and that I've told you!”
+
+“And I suppose,” said Clarence, with an unchanged smile, “that this
+valuable information came from your husband--my old friend, Jim Hooker?”
+
+“No,” she answered sharply, “it comes from Cencho--one of your own
+peons--who is more true to you and the old Rancho than YOU have ever
+been. He saw what was going on, and came to me, to warn you!”
+
+“But why not to me directly?” asked Clarence, with affected incredulity.
+
+“Ask him!” she said viciously. “Perhaps he didn't want to warn the
+master against the mistress. Perhaps he thought WE are still friends.
+Perhaps”--she hesitated with a lower voice and a forced smile--“perhaps
+he used to see us together in the old times.”
+
+“Very likely,” said Clarence quietly. “And for the sake of those old
+times, Susy,” he went on, with a singular gentleness that was quite
+distinct from his paling face and set eyes, “I am going to forget all
+that you have just said of me and mine, in all the old willfulness and
+impatience that I see you still keep--with all your old prettiness.” He
+took his hat from the table and gravely held out his hand.
+
+She was frightened for a moment with his impassive abstraction. In
+the old days she had known it--had believed it was his dogged
+“obstinacy”--but she knew the hopelessness of opposing it. Yet with
+feminine persistency she again threw herself against it, as against a
+wall.
+
+“You don't believe me! Well, go and see for yourself. They are at Robles
+NOW. If you catch the early morning stage at Santa Clara you will come
+upon them before they disperse. Dare you try it?”
+
+“Whatever I do,” he returned smilingly, “I shall always be grateful to
+you for giving me this opportunity of seeing you again AS YOU WERE. Make
+my excuses to your husband. Good-night.”
+
+“Clarence!”
+
+But he had already closed the door behind him. His face did not relax
+its expression nor change as he looked again at the tray with its broken
+viands before the door, the worn, stained hall carpet, or the waiter who
+shuffled past him. He was apparently as critically conscious of them and
+of the close odors of the hall, and the atmosphere of listless decay and
+faded extravagance around him, as before the interview. But if the woman
+he had just parted from had watched him she would have supposed he still
+utterly disbelieved her story. Yet he was conscious that all that he saw
+was a part of his degradation, for he had believed every word she had
+uttered. Through all her extravagance, envy, and revengefulness he saw
+the central truth--that he had been deceived--not by his wife, but by
+himself! He had suspected all this before. This was what had been really
+troubling him--this was what he had put aside, rather than his faith,
+not in her, but in his ideal. He remembered letters that had passed
+between her and Captain Pinckney--letters that she had openly sent to
+notorious Southern leaders; her nervous anxiety to remain at the Rancho;
+the innuendoes and significant glances of friends which he had put
+aside--as he had this woman's message! Susy had told him nothing new of
+his wife--but the truth of HIMSELF! And the revelation came from people
+who he was conscious were the inferiors of himself and his wife. To an
+independent, proud, and self-made man it was the culminating stroke.
+
+In the same abstracted voice he told the coachman to drive home. The
+return seemed interminable--though he never shifted his position. Yet
+when he drew up at his own door and looked at his watch he found he
+had been absent only half an hour. Only half an hour! As he entered the
+house he turned with the same abstraction towards a mirror in the hall,
+as if he expected to see some outward and visible change in himself
+in that time. Dismissing his servants to bed, he went into his
+dressing-room, completely changed his attire, put on a pair of long
+riding-boots, and throwing a serape over his shoulders, paused a moment,
+took a pair of small “Derringer” pistols from a box, put them in his
+pockets, and then slipped cautiously down the staircase. A lack of
+confidence in his own domestics had invaded him for the first time. The
+lights were out. He silently opened the door and was in the street.
+
+He walked hastily a few squares to a livery stable whose proprietor he
+knew. His first inquiry was for one “Redskin,” a particular horse; the
+second for its proprietor. Happily both were in. The proprietor asked no
+question of a customer of Clarence's condition. The horse, half Spanish,
+powerful and irascible, was quickly saddled. As Clarence mounted, the
+man in an impulse of sociability said,--
+
+“Saw you at the theatre to-night, sir.”
+
+“Ah,” returned Clarence, quietly gathering up the reins.
+
+“Rather a smart trick of that woman with the flag,” he went on
+tentatively. Then, with a possible doubt of his customer's politics, he
+added with a forced smile, “I reckon it's all party fuss, though; there
+ain't any real danger.”
+
+But fast as Clarence might ride the words lingered in his ears. He saw
+through the man's hesitation; he, too, had probably heard that Clarence
+Brant weakly sympathized with his wife's sentiments, and dared not speak
+fully. And he understood the cowardly suggestion that there was “no real
+danger.” It had been Clarence's one fallacy. He had believed the public
+excitement was only a temporary outbreak of partisan feeling, soon to
+subside. Even now he was conscious that he was less doubtful of the
+integrity of the Union than of his own household. It was not the
+devotion of the patriot, but the indignation of an outraged husband,
+that was spurring him on.
+
+He knew that if he reached Woodville by five o'clock he could get
+ferried across the bay at the Embarcadero, and catch the down coach to
+Fair Plains, whence he could ride to the Rancho. As the coach did not
+connect directly with San Francisco, the chance of his surprising them
+was greater. Once clear of the city outskirts, he bullied Redskin into
+irascible speed, and plunged into the rainy darkness of the highroad.
+The way was familiar. For a while he was content to feel the buffeting,
+caused by his rapid pace, of wind and rain against his depressed head
+and shoulders in a sheer brutal sense of opposition and power, or to
+relieve his pent-up excitement by dashing through overflowed gullies in
+the road or across the quaggy, sodden edges of meadowland, until he had
+controlled Redskin's rebellious extravagance into a long steady stride.
+Then he raised his head and straightened himself on the saddle, to
+think. But to no purpose. He had no plan; everything would depend
+upon the situation; the thought of forestalling any action of the
+conspirators, by warning or calling in the aid of the authorities, for
+an instant crossed his mind, but was as instantly dismissed. He had but
+an instinct--to see with his own eyes what his reason told him was true.
+Day was breaking through drifting scud and pewter-colored clouds as he
+reached Woodville ferry, checkered with splashes of the soil and the
+spume of his horse, from whose neck and flanks the sweat rolled like
+lather. Yet he was not conscious how intent had been his purpose until
+he felt a sudden instinctive shock on seeing that the ferryboat was
+gone. For an instant his wonderful self-possession abandoned him; he
+could only gaze vacantly at the leaden-colored bay, without a thought or
+expedient. But in another moment he saw that the boat was returning from
+the distance. Had he lost his only chance? He glanced hurriedly at his
+watch; he had come more quickly than he imagined; there would still
+be time. He beckoned impatiently to the ferryman; the boat--a ship's
+pinnace, with two men in it--crept in with exasperating slowness. At
+last the two rowers suddenly leaped ashore.
+
+“Ye might have come before, with the other passenger. We don't reckon to
+run lightnin' trips on this ferry.”
+
+But Clarence was himself again. “Twenty dollars for two more oars in
+that boat,” he said quietly, “and fifty if you get me over in time to
+catch the down stage.”
+
+The man glanced at Clarence's eyes. “Run up and rouse out Jake and
+Sam,” he said to the other boatman; then more leisurely, gazing at his
+customer's travel-stained equipment, he said, “There must have been a
+heap o' passengers got left by last night's boat. You're the second man
+that took this route in a hurry.”
+
+At any other time the coincidence might have struck Clarence. But he
+only answered curtly, “Unless we are under way in ten minutes you will
+find I am NOT the second man, and that our bargain's off.”
+
+But here two men emerged from the shanty beside the ferryhouse, and
+tumbled sleepily into the boat. Clarence seized an extra pair of sculls
+that were standing against the shed, and threw them into the stern. “I
+don't mind taking a hand myself for exercise,” he said quietly.
+
+The ferryman glanced again at Clarence's travel-worn figure and
+determined eyes with mingled approval and surprise. He lingered a moment
+with his oars lifted, looking at his passenger. “It ain't no business o'
+mine, young man,” he said deliberately, “but I reckon you understand me
+when I say that I've just taken another man over there.”
+
+“I do,” said Clarence impatiently.
+
+“And you still want to go?”
+
+“Certainly,” replied Clarence, with a cold stare, taking up his oars.
+
+The man shrugged his shoulders, bent himself for the stroke, and the
+boat sprung forward. The others rowed strongly and rapidly, the tough
+ashen blades springing like steel from the water, the heavy boat seeming
+to leap in successive bounds until they were fairly beyond the curving
+inshore current and clearing the placid, misty surface of the bay.
+Clarence did not speak, but bent abstractedly over his oar; the ferryman
+and his crew rowed in equal panting silence; a few startled ducks
+whirred before them, but dropped again to rest. In half an hour they
+were at the Embarcadero. The time was fairly up. Clarence's eyes were
+eagerly bent for the first appearance of the stage-coach around the
+little promontory; the ferryman was as eagerly scanning the bare, empty
+street of the still sleeping settlement.
+
+“I don't see him anywhere,” said the ferryman with a glance, half of
+astonishment and half of curiosity, at his solitary passenger.
+
+“See whom?” asked Clarence carelessly, as he handed the man his promised
+fee.
+
+“The other man I ferried over to catch the stage. He must have gone on
+without waiting. You're in luck, young fellow!”
+
+“I don't understand you,” said Clarence impatiently. “What has your
+previous passenger to do with me?”
+
+“Well, I reckon you know best. He's the kind of man, gin'rally speaking,
+that other men, in a pow'ful hurry, don't care to meet--and, az a rule,
+don't FOLLER arter. It's gin'rally the other way.”
+
+“What do you mean?” inquired Clarence sternly. “Of whom are you
+speaking?”
+
+“The Chief of Police of San Francisco!”
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The laugh that instinctively broke from Clarence's lips was so sincere
+and unaffected that the man was disconcerted, and at last joined in
+it, a little shamefacedly. The grotesque blunder of being taken as
+a fugitive from justice relieved Clarence's mind from its acute
+tension,--he was momentarily diverted,--and it was not until the
+boatman had departed, and he was again alone, that it seemed to have any
+collateral significance. Then an uneasy recollection of Susy's threat
+that she had the power to put his wife in Fort Alcatraz came across him.
+Could she have already warned the municipal authorities and this man?
+But he quickly remembered that any action from such a warning could
+only have been taken by the United States Marshal, and not by a civic
+official, and dismissed the idea.
+
+Nevertheless, when the stage with its half-spent lamps still burning
+dimly against the morning light swept round the curve and rolled heavily
+up to the rude shanty which served as coach-office, he became watchful.
+A single yawning individual in its doorway received a few letters and
+parcels, but Clarence was evidently the ONLY waiting passenger. Any hope
+that he might have entertained that his mysterious predecessor would
+emerge from some seclusion at that moment was disappointed. As he
+entered the coach he made a rapid survey of his fellow-travelers, but
+satisfied himself that the stranger was not among them. They were
+mainly small traders or farmers, a miner or two, and apparently
+a Spanish-American of better degree and personality. Possibly the
+circumstance that men of this class usually preferred to travel on
+horseback and were rarely seen in public conveyances attracted his
+attention, and their eyes met more than once in mutual curiosity.
+Presently Clarence addressed a remark to the stranger in Spanish; he
+replied fluently and courteously, but at the next stopping-place he
+asked a question of the expressman in an unmistakable Missouri accent.
+Clarence's curiosity was satisfied; he was evidently one of those early
+American settlers who had been so long domiciled in Southern California
+as to adopt the speech as well as the habiliments of the Spaniard.
+
+The conversation fell upon the political news of the previous night, or
+rather seemed to be lazily continued from some previous, more excited
+discussion, in which one of the contestants--a red-bearded miner--had
+subsided into an occasional growl of surly dissent. It struck Clarence
+that the Missourian had been an amused auditor and even, judging from a
+twinkle in his eye, a mischievous instigator of the controversy. He
+was not surprised, therefore, when the man turned to him with a certain
+courtesy and said,--
+
+“And what, sir, is the political feeling in YOUR district?”
+
+But Clarence was in no mood to be drawn out, and replied, almost curtly,
+that as he had come only from San Francisco, they were probably as well
+informed on that subject as himself. A quick and searching glance from
+the stranger's eye made him regret his answer, but in the silence that
+ensued the red-bearded miner, evidently still rankling at heart, saw
+his opportunity. Slapping his huge hands on his knees, and leaning far
+forward until he seemed to plunge his flaming beard, like a firebrand,
+into the controversy, he said grimly,--
+
+“Well, I kin tell you, gen'l'men, THIS. It ain't goin' to be no matter
+wot's the POLITICAL FEELING here or thar--it ain't goin' to be no matter
+wot's the State's rights and wot's Fed'ral rights--it ain't goin' to
+be no question whether the gov'ment's got the right to relieve its own
+soldiers that those Secesh is besieging in Fort Sumter or whether they
+haven't--but the first gun that's fired at the flag blows the chains
+off every d--n nigger south of Mason and Dixon's line! You hear me!
+I'm shoutin'! And whether you call yourselves 'Secesh' or 'Union' or
+'Copperhead' or 'Peace men,' you've got to face it!”
+
+There was an angry start in one or two of the seats; one man caught
+at the swinging side-strap and half rose, a husky voice began, “It's a
+d----d”--and then all as suddenly subsided. Every eye was turned to an
+insignificant figure in the back seat. It was a woman, holding a
+child on her lap, and gazing out of the window with her sex's profound
+unconcern in politics. Clarence understood the rude chivalry of the road
+well enough to comprehend that this unconscious but omnipotent figure
+had more than once that day controlled the passions of the disputants.
+They dropped back weakly to their seats, and their mutterings rolled off
+in the rattle of the wheels. Clarence glanced at the Missourian; he was
+regarding the red-bearded miner with a singular curiosity.
+
+The rain had ceased, but the afternoon shadows were deepening when they
+at last reached Fair Plains, where Clarence expected to take horse to
+the Rancho. He was astonished, however, to learn that all the horses in
+the stable were engaged, but remembering that some of his own stock were
+in pasturage with a tenant at Fair Plains, and that he should probably
+have a better selection, he turned his steps thither. Passing out of
+the stable-yard he recognized the Missourian's voice in whispered
+conversation with the proprietor, but the two men withdrew into the
+shadow as he approached. An ill-defined uneasiness came over him; he
+knew the proprietor, who also seemed to know the Missourian, and this
+evident avoidance of him was significant. Perhaps his reputation as a
+doubtful Unionist had preceded him, but this would not account for their
+conduct in a district so strongly Southern in sympathy as Fair Plains.
+More impressed by the occurrence than he cared to admit, when at last,
+after some delay, he had secured his horse, and was once more in the
+saddle, he kept a sharp lookout for his quondam companion. But here
+another circumstance added to his suspicions: there was a main road
+leading to Santa Inez, the next town, and the Rancho, and this Clarence
+had purposely taken in order to watch the Missourian; but there was
+also a cutoff directly to the Rancho, known only to the habitues of the
+Rancho. After a few moments' rapid riding on a mustang much superior to
+any in the hotel stables, he was satisfied that the stranger must
+have taken the cut-off. Putting spurs to his horse he trusted still to
+precede him to the Rancho--if that were his destination.
+
+As he dashed along the familiar road, by a strange perversity of fancy,
+instead of thinking of his purpose, he found himself recalling the first
+time he had ridden that way in the flush of his youth and hopefulness.
+The girl-sweetheart he was then going to rejoin was now the wife of
+another; the woman who had been her guardian was now his own wife. He
+had accepted without a pang the young girl's dereliction, but it was
+through her revelation that he was now about to confront the dereliction
+of his own wife. And this was the reward of his youthful trust and
+loyalty! A bitter laugh broke from his lips. It was part of his still
+youthful self-delusion that he believed himself wiser and stronger for
+it.
+
+It was quite dark when he reached the upper field or first terrace of
+the Rancho. He could see the white walls of the casa rising dimly out of
+the green sea of early wild grasses, like a phantom island. It was here
+that the cut-off joined the main road--now the only one that led to the
+casa. He was satisfied that no one could have preceded him from Fair
+Plains; but it was true that he must take precautions against his
+own discovery. Dismounting near a clump of willows, he unsaddled and
+unbridled his horse, and with a cut of the riata over its haunches
+sent it flying across the field in the direction of a band of feeding
+mustangs, which it presently joined. Then, keeping well in the shadow of
+a belt of shrub-oaks, he skirted the long lesser terraces of the casa,
+intending to approach the house by way of the old garden and corral.
+A drizzling rain, occasionally driven by the wind into long, misty,
+curtain-like waves, obscured the prospect and favored his design. He
+reached the low adobe wall of the corral in safety; looking over he
+could detect, in spite of the darkness, that a number of the horses
+were of alien brands, and even recognized one or two from the Santa Inez
+district. The vague outline of buggies and carryalls filled the long
+shed beside the stables. There WAS company at the casa--so far Susy was
+right!
+
+Nevertheless, lingering still by the wall of the old garden for the
+deepening of night, his nervous feverishness was again invaded and
+benumbed by sullen memories. There was the opening left by the old
+grille in the wall, behind which Mrs. Peyton stood on the morning when
+he thought he was leaving the ranch forever; where he had first clasped
+her in his arms, and stayed. A turn of the head, a moment's indecision,
+a single glance of a languorous eye, had brought this culmination. And
+now he stood again before that ruined grille, his house and lands, even
+his NAME, misused by a mad, scheming enthusiast, and himself a creeping
+spy of his own dishonor! He turned with a bitter smile again to the
+garden. A few dark red Castilian roses still leaned forward and swayed
+in the wind with dripping leaves. It was here that the first morning of
+his arrival he had kissed Susy; the perfume and color of her pink skin
+came back to him with a sudden shock as he stood there; he caught at a
+flower, drew it towards him, inhaled its odor in a long breath that left
+him faint and leaning against the wall. Then again he smiled, but this
+time more wickedly--in what he believed his cynicism had sprung up the
+first instinct of revenge!
+
+It was now dark enough for him to venture across the carriage road and
+make his way to the rear of the house. His first characteristic instinct
+had been to enter openly at his own front gate, but the terrible
+temptation to overhear and watch the conspiracy unobserved--that
+fascination common to deceived humanity to witness its own shame--had
+now grown upon him. He knew that a word or gesture of explanation,
+apology, appeal, or even terror from his wife would check his rage and
+weaken his purpose. His perfect knowledge of the house and the security
+of its inmates would enable him from some obscure landing or gallery
+to participate in any secret conclave they might hold in the patio--the
+only place suitable for so numerous a rendezvous. The absence of light
+in the few external windows pointed to this central gathering. And he
+had already conceived his plan of entrance.
+
+Gaining the rear wall of the casa he began cautiously to skirt its
+brambly base until he had reached a long, oven-like window half
+obliterated by a monstrous passion vine. It was the window of what had
+once been Mrs. Peyton's boudoir; the window by which he had once forced
+an entrance to the house when it was in the hands of squatters, the
+window from which Susy had signaled her Spanish lover, the window whose
+grating had broken the neck of Judge Peyton's presumed assassin. But
+these recollections no longer delayed him; the moment for action had
+arrived. He knew that since the tragedy the boudoir had been dismantled
+and shunned; the servants believed it to be haunted by the assassin's
+ghost. With the aid of the passion vine the ingress was easy; the
+interior window was open; the rustle of dead leaves on the bare floor as
+he entered, and the whir of a frightened bird by his ear, told the story
+of its desolation and the source of the strange noises that had been
+heard there. The door leading to the corridor was lightly bolted, merely
+to keep it from rattling in the wind. Slipping the bolt with the blade
+of his pocket-knife he peered into the dark passage. The light streaming
+under a door to the left, and the sound of voices, convinced him that
+his conjecture was right, and the meeting was gathered on the broad
+balconies around the patio. He knew that a narrow gallery, faced with
+Venetian blinds to exclude the sun, looked down upon them. He managed to
+gain it without discovery; luckily the blinds were still down; between
+their slats, himself invisible, he could hear and see everything that
+occurred.
+
+Yet even at this supreme moment the first thing that struck him was the
+almost ludicrous contrast between the appearance of the meeting and
+its tremendous object. Whether he was influenced by any previous boyish
+conception of a clouded and gloomy conspiracy he did not know, but
+he was for an instant almost disconcerted by the apparent levity and
+festivity of the conclave. Decanters and glasses stood on small tables
+before them; nearly all were drinking and smoking. They comprised
+fifteen or twenty men, some of whose faces were familiar to him
+elsewhere as Southern politicians; a few, he was shocked to see, were
+well-known Northern Democrats. Occupying a characteristically central
+position was the famous Colonel Starbottle, of Virginia. Jaunty and
+youthful-looking in his mask-like, beardless face, expansive and
+dignified in his middle-aged port and carriage, he alone retained some
+of the importance--albeit slightly theatrical and affected--of the
+occasion. Clarence in his first hurried glance had not observed his
+wife, and for a moment had felt relieved; but as Colonel Starbottle
+arose at that moment, and with a studiously chivalrous and courtly
+manner turned to his right, he saw that she was sitting at the further
+end of the balcony, and that a man whom he recognized as Captain
+Pinckney was standing beside her. The blood quickly tightened around his
+heart, but left him cold and observant.
+
+“It was seldom, indeed,” remarked Colonel Starbottle, placing his fat
+fingers in the frill of his shirt front, “that a movement like this
+was graced with the actual presence of a lofty, inspiring, yet delicate
+spirit--a Boadicea--indeed, he might say a Joan of Arc--in the person
+of their charming hostess, Mrs. Brant. Not only were they favored by her
+social and hospitable ministration, but by her active and enthusiastic
+cooperation in the glorious work they had in hand. It was through
+her correspondence and earnest advocacy that they were to be favored
+to-night with the aid and counsel of one of the most distinguished and
+powerful men in the Southern district of California, Judge Beeswinger,
+of Los Angeles. He had not the honor of that gentleman's personal
+acquaintance; he believed he was not far wrong in saying that this was
+also the misfortune of every gentleman present; but the name itself
+was a tower of strength. He would go further, and say that Mrs. Brant
+herself was personally unacquainted with him, but it was through the
+fervor, poetry, grace, and genius of her correspondence with that
+gentleman that they were to have the honor of his presence that very
+evening. It was understood that advices had been received of his
+departure, and that he might be expected at Robles at any moment.”
+
+“But what proof have we of Judge Beeswinger's soundness?” said a lazy
+Southern voice at the conclusion of Colonel Starbottle's periods.
+“Nobody here seems to know him by sight: is it not risky to admit a man
+to our meeting whom we are unable to identify?”
+
+“I reckon nobody but a fool or some prying mudsill of a Yankee would
+trust his skin here,” returned another; “and if he did we'd know what to
+do with him.”
+
+But Clarence's attention was riveted on his wife, and the significant
+speech passed him as unheeded as had the colonel's rhetoric. She was
+looking very handsome and slightly flushed, with a proud light in her
+eyes that he had never seen before. Absorbed in the discussion, she
+seemed to be paying little attention to Captain Pinckney as she rose
+suddenly to her feet.
+
+“Judge Beeswinger will be attended here by Mr. MacNiel, of the Fair
+Plains Hotel, who will vouch for him and introduce him,” she said in
+a clear voice, which rang with an imperiousness that Clarence well
+remembered. “The judge was to arrive by the coach from Martinez to Fair
+Plains, and is due now.”
+
+“Is there no GENTLEMAN to introduce him? Must we take him on the word
+of a common trader--by Jove! a whiskey-seller?” continued the previous
+voice sneeringly.
+
+“On the word of a lady, Mr. Brooks,” said Captain Pinckney, with a
+slight gesture towards Mrs. Brant--“who answers for both.”
+
+Clarence had started slightly at his wife's voice and the information
+it conveyed. His fellow-passenger, and the confidant of MacNiel, was
+the man they were expecting! If they had recognized him, Clarence, would
+they not warn the company of his proximity? He held his breath as the
+sound of voices came from the outer gate of the courtyard. Mrs. Brant
+rose; at the same moment the gate swung open, and a man entered. It WAS
+the Missourian.
+
+He turned with old-fashioned courtesy to the single woman standing on
+the balcony.
+
+“My fair correspondent, I believe! I am Judge Beeswinger. Your agent,
+MacNiel, passed me through your guards at the gate, but I did not deem
+it advisable to bring him into this assembly of gentlemen without your
+further consideration. I trust I was right.”
+
+The quiet dignity and self-possession, the quaint, old-fashioned
+colonial precision of speech, modified by a soft Virginian intonation,
+and, above all, some singular individuality of the man himself, produced
+a profound sensation, and seemed to suddenly give the gathering an
+impressiveness it had lacked before. For an instant Clarence forgot
+himself and his personal wrongs in the shock of indignation he felt at
+this potent addition to the ranks of his enemies. He saw his wife's eyes
+sparkle with pride over her acquisition, and noticed that Pinckney cast
+a disturbed glance at the newcomer.
+
+The stranger ascended the few steps to the balcony and took Mrs. Brant's
+hand with profound courtesy. “Introduce me to my colleagues--distinctly
+and separately. It behooves a man at such a moment to know to whom he
+entrusts his life and honor, and the life and honor of his cause.”
+
+It was evidently no mere formal courtesy to the stranger. As he stepped
+forward along the balcony, and under Mrs. Brant's graceful guidance was
+introduced to each of the members, he not only listened with scrupulous
+care and attention to the name and profession of each man, but bent
+upon him a clear, searching glance that seemed to photograph him in his
+memory. With two exceptions. He passed Colonel Starbottle's expanding
+shirt frill with a bow of elaborate precision, and said, “Colonel
+Starbottle's fame requires neither introduction nor explanation.” He
+stopped before Captain Pinckney and paused.
+
+“An officer of the United States army, I believe, sir?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Educated at West Point, I think, by the government, to whom you have
+taken the oath of allegiance?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Very good, sir,” said the stranger, turning away.
+
+“You have forgotten one other fact, sir,” said Pinckney, with a slightly
+supercilious air.
+
+“Indeed! What is it?”
+
+“I am, first of all, a native of the State of South Carolina!”
+
+A murmur of applause and approval ran round the balcony. Captain
+Pinckney smiled and exchanged glances with Mrs. Brant, but the stranger
+quietly returned to the central table beside Colonel Starbottle. “I am
+not only an unexpected delegate to this august assembly, gentlemen,” he
+began gravely, “but I am the bearer of perhaps equally unexpected news.
+By my position in the Southern district I am in possession of dispatches
+received only this morning by pony express. Fort Sumter has been
+besieged. The United States flag, carrying relief to the beleaguered
+garrison, has been fired upon by the State of South Carolina.”
+
+A burst of almost hysteric applause and enthusiasm broke from the
+assembly, and made the dim, vault-like passages and corridors of the
+casa ring. Cheer after cheer went up to the veiled gallery and the misty
+sky beyond. Men mounted on the tables and waved their hands frantically,
+and in the midst of this bewildering turbulence of sound and motion
+Clarence saw his wife mounted on a chair, with burning cheeks and
+flashing eyes, waving her handkerchief like an inspired priestess. Only
+the stranger, still standing beside Colonel Starbottle, remained unmoved
+and impassive. Then, with an imperative gesture, he demanded a sudden
+silence.
+
+“Convincing and unanimous as this demonstration is, gentlemen,” he began
+quietly, “it is my duty, nevertheless, to ask you if you have seriously
+considered the meaning of the news I have brought. It is my duty to
+tell you that it means civil war. It means the clash of arms between two
+sections of a mighty country; it means the disruption of friends, the
+breaking of family ties, the separation of fathers and sons, of brothers
+and sisters--even, perhaps, to the disseverment of husband and wife!”
+
+“It means the sovereignty of the South--and the breaking of a covenant
+with lowborn traders and abolitionists,” said Captain Pinckney.
+
+“If there are any gentlemen present,” continued the stranger, without
+heeding the interruption, “who have pledged this State to the support
+of the South in this emergency, or to the establishment of a Pacific
+republic in aid and sympathy with it, whose names are on this paper”--he
+lifted a sheet of paper lying before Colonel Starbottle--“but who now
+feel that the gravity of the news demands a more serious consideration
+of the purpose, they are at liberty to withdraw from the meeting, giving
+their honor, as Southern gentlemen, to keep the secret intact.”
+
+“Not if I know it,” interrupted a stalwart Kentuckian, as he rose to his
+feet and strode down the steps to the patio. “For,” he added, placing
+his back against the gateway, “I'll shoot the first coward that backs
+out now.”
+
+A roar of laughter and approval followed, but was silenced again by the
+quiet, unimpassioned voice of the stranger. “If, on the other hand,” he
+went on calmly, “you all feel that this news is the fitting culmination
+and consecration of the hopes, wishes, and plans of this meeting, you
+will assert it again, over your own signatures, to Colonel Starbottle at
+this table.”
+
+When the Kentuckian had risen, Clarence had started from his
+concealment; when he now saw the eager figures pressing forward to the
+table he hesitated no longer. Slipping along the passage, he reached
+the staircase which led to the corridor in the rear of the balcony.
+Descending this rapidly, he not only came upon the backs of the excited
+crowd around the table, but even elbowed one of the conspirators aside
+without being noticed. His wife, who had risen from her chair at the
+end of the balcony, was already moving towards the table. With a quick
+movement he seized her wrist, and threw her back in the chair again.
+A cry broke from her lips as she recognized him, but still holding her
+wrist, he stepped quickly between her and the astonished crowd. There
+was a moment of silence, then the cry of “Spy!” and “Seize him!” rose
+quickly, but above all the voice and figure of the Missourian was heard
+commanding them to stand back. Turning to Clarence, he said quietly,--
+
+“I should know your face, sir. Who are you?”
+
+“The husband of this woman and the master of this house,” said Clarence
+as quietly, but in a voice he hardly recognized as his own.
+
+“Stand aside from her, then--unless you are hoping that her danger may
+protect YOU!” said the Kentuckian, significantly drawing his revolver.
+
+But Mrs. Brant sprang suddenly to her feet beside Clarence.
+
+“We are neither of us cowards, Mr. Brooks--though he speaks the
+truth--and--more shame to me”--she added, with a look of savage scorn at
+Clarence--“IS MY HUSBAND!”
+
+“What is your purpose in coming here?” continued Judge Beeswinger, with
+his eyes fixed on Clarence.
+
+“I have given you all the information,” said Clarence quietly, “that
+is necessary to make you, as a gentleman, leave this house at once--and
+that is my purpose. It is all the information you will get from me
+as long as you and your friends insult my roof with your uninvited
+presence. What I may have to say to you and each of you hereafter--what
+I may choose to demand of you, according to your own code of honor,”--he
+fixed his eyes on Captain Pinckney's,--“is another question, and one not
+usually discussed before a lady.”
+
+“Pardon me. A moment--a single moment.”
+
+It was the voice of Colonel Starbottle; it was the frilled shirt front,
+the lightly buttoned blue coat with its expanding lapels, like bursting
+petals, and the smiling mask of that gentleman rising above the table
+and bowing to Clarence Brant and his wife with infinite courtesy.
+“The--er--humiliating situation in which we find ourselves,
+gentlemen,--the reluctant witnesses of--er--what we trust is only
+a temporary disagreement between our charming hostess and
+the--er--gentleman whom she recognized under the highest title to
+our consideration,--is distressing to us all, and would seem to amply
+justify that gentleman's claims to a personal satisfaction, which I
+know we would all delight to give. But that situation rests upon the
+supposition that our gathering here was of a purely social or festive
+nature! It may be,” continued the colonel with a blandly reflective
+air, “that the spectacle of these decanters and glasses, and the nectar
+furnished us by our Hebe-like hostess” (he lifted a glass of whiskey and
+water to his lips while he bowed to Mrs. Brant gracefully), “has led
+the gentleman to such a deduction. But when I suggest to him that our
+meeting was of a business, or private nature, it strikes me that the
+question of intrusion may be fairly divided between him and ourselves.
+We may be even justified, in view of that privacy, in asking him if
+his--er--entrance to this house was--er--coincident with his appearance
+among us.”
+
+“With my front door in possession of strangers,” said Clarence, more in
+reply to a sudden contemptuous glance from his wife than Starbottle's
+insinuation, “I entered the house through the window.”
+
+“Of my boudoir, where another intruder once broke his neck,” interrupted
+his wife with a mocking laugh.
+
+“Where I once helped this lady to regain possession of her house when
+it was held by another party of illegal trespassers, who, however, were
+content to call themselves 'jumpers,' and did not claim the privacy of
+gentlemen.”
+
+“Do you mean to imply, sir,” began Colonel Starbottle haughtily,
+“that”--
+
+“I mean to imply, sir,” said Clarence with quiet scorn, “that I have
+neither the wish to know nor the slightest concern in any purpose that
+brought you here, and that when you quit the house you take your secrets
+and your privacy with you intact, without let or hindrance from me.”
+
+“Do you mean to say, Mr. Brant,” said Judge Beeswinger, suppressing the
+angry interruption of his fellows with a dominant wave of his hand, as
+he fixed his eyes on Clarence keenly, “that you have no sympathy with
+your wife's political sentiments?”
+
+“I have already given you the information necessary to make you quit
+this house, and that is all you have a right to know,” returned Clarence
+with folded arms.
+
+“But I can answer for him,” said Mrs. Brant, rising, with a quivering
+voice and curling lip. “There IS no sympathy between us. We are as far
+apart as the poles. We have nothing in common but this house and his
+name.”
+
+“But you are husband and wife, bound together by a sacred compact.”
+
+“A compact!” echoed Mrs. Brant, with a bitter laugh. “Yes, the compact
+that binds South Carolina to the nigger-worshipping Massachusetts.
+The compact that links together white and black, the gentleman and the
+trader, the planter and the poor white--the compact of those UNITED
+States. Bah! THAT has been broken, and so can this.”
+
+Clarence's face paled. But before he could speak there was a rapid
+clattering at the gate and a dismounted vaquero entered excitedly.
+Turning to Mrs. Brant he said hurriedly, “Mother of God! the casa is
+surrounded by a rabble of mounted men, and there is one among them even
+now who demands admittance in the name of the Law.”
+
+“This is your work,” said Brooks, facing Clarence furiously. “You have
+brought them with you, but, by God, they shall not save you!” He
+would have clutched Clarence, but the powerful arm of Judge Beeswinger
+intervened. Nevertheless, he still struggled to reach Clarence,
+appealing to the others: “Are you fools to stand there and let him
+triumph! Don't you see the cowardly Yankee trick he's played upon us?”
+
+“He has not,” said Mrs. Brant haughtily. “I have no reason to love him
+or his friends; but I know he does not lie.”
+
+“Gentlemen!--gentlemen!” implored Colonel Starbottle with beaming and
+unctuous persuasion, “may I--er--remark--that all this is far from the
+question? Are we to be alarmed because an unknown rabble, no matter
+whence they come, demand entrance here in the name of the Law? I am not
+aware of any law of the State of California that we are infringing. By
+all means admit them.”
+
+The gate was thrown open. A single thick-set man, apparently unarmed
+and dressed like an ordinary traveler, followed by half a dozen other
+equally unpretentious-looking men, entered. The leader turned to the
+balcony.
+
+“I am the Chief of Police of San Francisco. I have warrants for the
+arrest of Colonel Culpepper Starbottle, Joshua Brooks, Captain Pinckney,
+Clarence Brant and Alice his wife, and others charged with inciting to
+riot and unlawful practice calculated to disturb the peace of the State
+of California and its relations with the Federal government,” said the
+leader, in a dry official voice.
+
+Clarence started. In spite of its monotonous utterance it was the voice
+of the red-bearded controversialist of the stage-coach. But where were
+his characteristic beard and hair? Involuntarily Clarence glanced at
+Judge Beeswinger; that gentleman was quietly regarding the stranger with
+an impassive face that betrayed no recognition whatever.
+
+“But the city of San Francisco has no jurisdiction here,” said Colonel
+Starbottle, turning a bland smile towards his fellow-members. “I
+am--er--sorry to inform you that you are simply trespassing, sir.”
+
+“I am here also as deputy sheriff,” returned the stranger coolly. “We
+were unable to locate the precise place of this meeting, although we
+knew of its existence. I was sworn in this morning at Santa Inez by the
+judge of this district, and these gentlemen with me are my posse.”
+
+There was a quick movement of resistance by the members, which was,
+however, again waived blandly aside by Colonel Starbottle. Leaning
+forward in a slightly forensic attitude, with his fingers on the table
+and a shirt frill that seemed to have become of itself erectile, he
+said, with pained but polite precision, “I grieve to have to state, sir,
+that even that position is utterly untenable here. I am a lawyer myself,
+as my friend here, Judge Beeswinger--eh? I beg your pardon!”
+
+The officer of the law had momentarily started, with his eyes fixed
+on Judge Beeswinger, who, however, seemed to be quietly writing at the
+table.
+
+“As Judge Beeswinger,” continued Colonel Starbottle, “will probably tell
+you and as a jurist himself, he will also probably agree with me when
+I also inform you that, as the United States government is an aggrieved
+party, it is a matter for the Federal courts to prosecute, and that
+the only officer we can recognize is the United States Marshal for the
+district. When I add that the marshal, Colonel Crackenthorpe, is one
+of my oldest friends, and an active sympathizer with the South in the
+present struggle, you will understand that any action from him in this
+matter is exceedingly improbable.”
+
+The general murmur of laughter, relief, and approval was broken by the
+quiet voice of Judge Beeswinger.
+
+“Let me see your warrant, Mr. Deputy Sheriff.”
+
+The officer approached him with a slightly perplexed and constrained
+air, and exhibited the paper. Judge Beeswinger handed it back to him.
+“Colonel Starbottle is quite right in his contention,” he said quietly;
+“the only officer that this assembly can recognize is the United States
+Marshal or his legal deputy. But Colonel Starbottle is wrong in his
+supposition that Colonel Crackenthorpe still retains the functions of
+that office. He was removed by the President of the United States, and
+his successor was appointed and sworn in by the Federal judge early
+this morning.” He paused, and folding up the paper on which he had been
+writing, placed it in the hands of the deputy. “And this,” he continued
+in the same even voice, “constitutes you his deputy, and will enable you
+to carry out your duty in coming here.”
+
+“What the devil does this mean, sir? Who are you?” gasped Colonel
+Starbottle, recoiling suddenly from the man at his side.
+
+“I am the new United States Marshal for the Southern District of
+California.”
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Unsuspected and astounding as the revelation was to Clarence, its
+strange reception by the conspirators seemed to him as astounding.
+He had started forward, half expecting that the complacent and
+self-confessed spy would be immolated by his infuriated dupes. But to
+his surprise the shock seemed to have changed their natures, and given
+them the dignity they had lacked. The excitability, irritation, and
+recklessness which had previously characterized them had disappeared.
+The deputy and his posse, who had advanced to the assistance of their
+revealed chief, met with no resistance. They had evidently, as if with
+one accord, drawn away from Judge Beeswinger, leaving a cleared space
+around him, and regarded their captors with sullen contemptuous silence.
+It was only broken by Colonel Starbottle:--
+
+“Your duty commands you, sir, to use all possible diligence in bringing
+us before the Federal judge of this district--unless your master in
+Washington has violated the Constitution so far as to remove him, too!”
+
+“I understand you perfectly,” returned Judge Beeswinger, with unchanged
+composure; “and as you know that Judge Wilson unfortunately cannot be
+removed except through a regular course of impeachment, I suppose you
+may still count upon his Southern sympathies to befriend you. With that
+I have nothing to do; my duty is complete when my deputy has brought you
+before him and I have stated the circumstances of the arrest.”
+
+“I congratulate you, sir,” said Captain Pinckney, with an ironical
+salute, “on your prompt reward for your treachery to the South, and your
+equally prompt adoption of the peculiar tactics of your friends in the
+way in which you have entered this house.”
+
+“I am sorry I cannot congratulate YOU, sir,” returned Judge Beeswinger
+gravely, “on breaking your oath to the government which has educated and
+supported you and given you the epaulettes you disgrace. Nor shall I
+discuss 'treachery' with the man who has not only violated the trust of
+his country, but even the integrity of his friend's household. It is for
+that reason that I withhold the action of this warrant in so far as
+it affects the persons of the master and mistress of this home. I am
+satisfied that Mr. Brant has been as ignorant of what has been done
+here as I am that his wife has been only the foolish dupe of a double
+traitor!”
+
+“Silence!”
+
+The words broke simultaneously from the lips of Clarence and Captain
+Pinckney. They stood staring at each other--the one pale, the other
+crimson--as Mrs. Brant, apparently oblivious of the significance of
+their united adjuration, turned to Judge Beeswinger in the fury of her
+still stifled rage and mortification.
+
+“Keep your mercy for your fellow-spy,” she said, with a contemptuous
+gesture towards her husband; “I go with these gentlemen!”
+
+“You will not,” said Clarence quietly, “until I have said a word to you
+alone.” He laid his hand firmly upon her wrist.
+
+The deputy and his prisoners filed slowly out of the courtyard together,
+the latter courteously saluting Mrs. Brant as they passed, but turning
+from Judge Beeswinger in contemptuous silence. The judge followed them
+to the gate, but there he paused. Turning to Mrs. Brant, who was still
+half struggling in the strong grip of her husband, he said,--
+
+“Any compunction I may have had in misleading you by accepting your
+invitation here I dismissed after I had entered this house. And I
+trust,” he added, turning to Clarence sternly, “I leave you the master
+of it!”
+
+As the gate closed behind him, Clarence locked it. When his wife turned
+upon him angrily, he said quietly,--
+
+“I have no intention of restraining your liberty a moment after our
+interview is over, but until then I do not intend to be disturbed.”
+
+She threw herself disdainfully back in her chair, her hands clasped in
+her lap in half-contemptuous resignation, with her eyes upon her long
+slim arched feet crossed before her. Even in her attitude there was
+something of her old fascination which, however, now seemed to sting
+Clarence to the quick.
+
+“I have nothing to say to you in regard to what has just passed in this
+house, except that as long as I remain even nominally its master it
+shall not be repeated. Although I shall no longer attempt to influence
+or control your political sympathies, I shall not allow you to indulge
+them where in any way they seem to imply my sanction. But so little do
+I oppose your liberty, that you are free to rejoin your political
+companions whenever you choose to do so on your own responsibility. But
+I must first know from your own lips whether your sympathies are purely
+political--or a name for something else?”
+
+She had alternately flushed and paled, although still keeping her
+scornful attitude as he went on, but there was no mistaking the
+genuineness of her vague wonderment at his concluding words.
+
+“I don't understand you,” she said, lifting her eyes to his in a moment
+of cold curiosity. “What do you mean?”
+
+“What do I mean? What did Judge Beeswinger mean when he called Captain
+Pinckney a double traitor?” he said roughly.
+
+She sprang to her feet with flashing eyes. “And you--YOU! dare to repeat
+the cowardly lie of a confessed spy. This, then, is what you wished to
+tell me--this the insult for which you have kept me here; because you
+are incapable of understanding unselfish patriotism or devotion--even
+to your own cause--you dare to judge me by your own base, Yankee-trading
+standards. Yes, it is worthy of you!” She walked rapidly up and down,
+and then suddenly faced him. “I understand it all; I appreciate your
+magnanimity now. You are willing I should join the company of these
+chivalrous gentlemen in order to give color to your calumnies! Say at
+once that it was you who put up this spy to correspond with me--to come
+here--in order to entrap me. Yes entrap me--I--who a moment ago stood up
+for you before these gentlemen, and said you could not lie. Bah!”
+
+Struck only by the wild extravagance of her speech and temper, Clarence
+did not know that when women are most illogical they are apt to be most
+sincere, and from a man's standpoint her unreasoning deductions appeared
+to him only as an affectation to gain time for thought, or a theatrical
+display, like Susy's. And he was turning half contemptuously away, when
+she again faced him with flashing eyes.
+
+“Well, hear me! I accept; I leave here at once, to join my own people,
+my own friends--those who understand me--put what construction on it
+that you choose. Do your worst; you cannot do more to separate us than
+you have done just now.”
+
+She left him, and ran up the steps with a singular return of her old
+occasional nymph-like nimbleness--the movement of a woman who had never
+borne children--and a swish of her long skirts that he remembered
+for many a day after, as she disappeared in the corridor. He remained
+looking after her--indignant, outraged, and unconvinced. There was a
+rattling at the gate.
+
+He remembered he had locked it. He opened it to the flushed pink cheeks
+and dancing eyes of Susy. The rain was still dripping from her wet cloak
+as she swung it from her shoulders.
+
+“I know it all!--all that's happened,” she burst out with half-girlish
+exuberance and half the actress's declamation. “We met them all in the
+road--posse and prisoners. Chief Thompson knew me and told me all. And
+so you've done it--and you're master in your old house again. Clarence,
+old boy! Jim said you wouldn't do it--said you'd weaken on account of
+her! But I said 'No.' I knew you better, old Clarence, and I saw it in
+your face, for all your stiffness! ha! But for all that I was mighty
+nervous and uneasy, and I just made Jim send an excuse to the theatre
+and we rushed it down here! Lordy! but it looks natural to see the old
+house again! And she--you packed her off with the others--didn't you?
+Tell me, Clarence,” in her old appealing voice, “you shook her, too!”
+
+Dazed and astounded, and yet experiencing a vague sense of relief with
+something like his old tenderness towards the willful woman before him,
+he had silently regarded her until her allusion to his wife recalled him
+to himself.
+
+“Hush!” he said quickly, with a glance towards the corridor.
+
+“Ah!” said Susy, with a malicious smile, “then that's why Captain
+Pinckney was lingering in the rear with the deputy.”
+
+“Silence!” repeated Clarence sternly. “Go in there,” pointing to the
+garden room below the balcony, “and wait there with your husband.”
+
+He half led, half pushed her into the room which had been his business
+office, and returned to the patio. A hesitating voice from the balcony
+said, “Clarence!”
+
+It was his wife's voice, but modified and gentler--more like her
+voice as he had first heard it, or as if it had been chastened by some
+reminiscence of those days. It was his wife's face, too, that looked
+down on his--paler than he had seen it since he entered the house. She
+was shawled and hooded, carrying a traveling-bag in her hand.
+
+“I am going, Clarence,” she said, pausing before him, with gentle
+gravity, “but not in anger. I even ask you to forgive me for the foolish
+words that I think your still more foolish accusation”--she smiled
+faintly--“dragged from me. I am going because I know that I have
+brought--and that while I am here I shall always be bringing--upon you
+the imputation and even the responsibility of my own faith! While I am
+proud to own it,--and if needs be suffer for it,--I have no right to
+ruin your prospects, or even make you the victim of the slurs that
+others may cast upon me. Let us part as friends--separated only by our
+different political faiths, but keeping all other faiths together--until
+God shall settle the right of this struggle. Perhaps it may be soon--I
+sometimes think it may be years of agony for all; but until then,
+good-by.”
+
+She had slowly descended the steps to the patio, looking handsomer than
+he had ever seen her, and as if sustained and upheld by the enthusiasm
+of her cause. Her hand was outstretched towards his--his heart beat
+violently--in another moment he might have forgotten all and clasped her
+to his breast. Suddenly she stopped, her outstretched arm stiffened, her
+finger pointed to the chair on which Susy's cloak was hanging.
+
+“What's that?” she said in a sharp, high, metallic voice. “Who is here?
+Speak!”
+
+“Susy,” said Clarence.
+
+She cast a scathing glance round the patio, and then settled her
+piercing eyes on Clarence with a bitter smile.
+
+“Already!”
+
+Clarence felt the blood rush to his face as he stammered, “She knew what
+was happening here, and came to give you warning.”
+
+“Liar!”
+
+“Stop!” said Clarence, with a white face. “She came to tell me that
+Captain Pinckney was still lingering for you in the road.”
+
+He threw open the gate to let her pass. As she swept out she lifted
+her hand. As he closed the gate there were the white marks of her four
+fingers on his cheek.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+For once Susy had not exaggerated. Captain Pinckney WAS lingering, with
+the deputy who had charge of him, on the trail near the casa. It had
+already been pretty well understood by both captives and captors that
+the arrest was simply a legal demonstration; that the sympathizing
+Federal judge would undoubtedly order the discharge of the prisoners on
+their own recognizances, and it was probable that the deputy saw no harm
+in granting Pinckney's request--which was virtually only a delay in
+his liberation. It was also possible that Pinckney had worked upon the
+chivalrous sympathies of the man by professing his disinclination
+to leave their devoted colleague, Mrs. Brant, at the mercy of her
+antagonistic and cold-blooded husband at such a crisis, and it is to be
+feared also that Clarence, as a reputed lukewarm partisan, excited no
+personal sympathy, even from his own party. Howbeit, the deputy agreed
+to delay Pinckney's journey for a parting interview with his fair
+hostess.
+
+How far this expressed the real sentiments of Captain Pinckney was never
+known. Whether his political association with Mrs. Brant had developed
+into a warmer solicitude, understood or ignored by her,--what were his
+hopes and aspirations regarding her future,--were by the course of fate
+never disclosed. A man of easy ethics, but rigid artificialities of
+honor, flattered and pampered by class prejudice, a so-called “man of
+the world,” with no experience beyond his own limited circle, yet brave
+and devoted to that, it were well perhaps to leave this last act of his
+inefficient life as it was accepted by the deputy.
+
+Dismounting he approached the house from the garden. He was already
+familiar with the low arched doorway which led to the business room, and
+from which he could gain admittance to the patio, but it so chanced that
+he entered the dark passage at the moment that Clarence had thrust Susy
+into the business room, and heard its door shut sharply. For an instant
+he believed that Mrs. Brant had taken refuge there, but as he cautiously
+moved forward he heard her voice in the patio beyond. Its accents
+struck him as pleading; an intense curiosity drew him further along the
+passage. Suddenly her voice seemed to change to angry denunciation,
+and the word “Liar” rang upon his ears. It was followed by his own name
+uttered sardonically by Clarence, the swift rustle of a skirt, the clash
+of the gate, and then--forgetting everything, he burst into the patio.
+
+Clarence was just turning from the gate with the marks of his wife's
+hand still red on his white cheek. He saw Captain Pinckney's eyes upon
+it, and the faint, half-malicious, half-hysteric smile upon his lips.
+But without a start or gesture of surprise he locked the gate, and
+turning to him, said with frigid significance,--
+
+“I thank you for returning so promptly, and for recognizing the only
+thing I now require at your hand.”
+
+But Captain Pinckney had recovered his supercilious ease with the
+significant demand.
+
+“You seem to have had something already from another's hand, sir, but I
+am at your service,” he said lightly.
+
+“You will consider that I have accepted it from you,” said Clarence,
+drawing closer to him with a rigid face. “I suppose it will not be
+necessary for me to return it--to make you understand me.”
+
+“Go on,” said Pinckney, flushing slightly. “Make your terms; I am
+ready.”
+
+“But I'm not,” said the unexpected voice of the deputy at the grille of
+the gateway. “Excuse my interfering, gentlemen, but this sort o' thing
+ain't down in my schedule. I've let this gentleman,” pointing to Captain
+Pinckney, “off for a minit to say 'good-by' to a lady, who I reckon has
+just ridden off in her buggy with her servant without saying by your
+leave, but I didn't calkelate to let him inter another business, which,
+like as not, may prevent me from delivering his body safe and sound into
+court. You hear me!” As Clarence opened the gate he added, “I don't want
+ter spoil sport between gents, but it's got to come in after I've done
+my duty.”
+
+“I'll meet you, sir, anywhere, and with what weapons you choose,” said
+Pinckney, turning angrily upon Clarence, “as soon as this farce--for
+which you and your friends are responsible--is over.” He was furious at
+the intimation that Mrs. Brant had escaped him.
+
+A different thought was in the husband's mind. “But what assurance
+have I that you are going on with the deputy?” he said with purposely
+insulting deliberation.
+
+“My word, sir,” said Captain Pinckney sharply.
+
+“And if that ain't enuff, there's mine!” said the deputy. “For if this
+gentleman swerves to the right or left betwixt this and Santa Inez, I'll
+blow a hole through him myself. And that,” he added deprecatingly, “is
+saying a good deal for a man who doesn't want to spoil sport, and for
+the matter of that is willing to stand by and see fair play done at
+Santa Inez any time to-morrow before breakfast.”
+
+“Then I can count on you,” said Clarence, with a sudden impulse
+extending his hand.
+
+The man hesitated a moment and then grasped it.
+
+“Well, I wasn't expecting that,” he said slowly; “but you look as if you
+meant business, and if you ain't got anybody else to see you through,
+I'm thar! I suppose this gentleman will have his friends.”
+
+“I shall be there at six with my seconds,” said Pinckney curtly. “Lead
+on.”
+
+The gate closed behind them. Clarence stood looking around the empty
+patio and the silent house, from which it was now plain that the
+servants had been withdrawn to insure the secrecy of the conspiracy.
+Cool and collected as he knew he was, he remained for a moment in
+hesitation. Then the sound of voices came to his ear from the garden
+room, the light frivolity of Susy's laugh and Hooker's huskier accents.
+He had forgotten they were there--he had forgotten their existence!
+
+Trusting still to his calmness, he called to Hooker in his usual
+voice. That gentleman appeared with a face which his attempts to make
+unconcerned and impassive had, however, only deepened into funereal
+gravity.
+
+“I have something to attend to,” said Clarence, with a faint smile, “and
+I must ask you and Susy to excuse me for a little while. She knows the
+house perfectly, and will call the servants from the annex to provide
+you both with refreshment until I join you a little later.” Satisfied
+from Hooker's manner that they knew nothing of his later interview with
+Pinckney, he turned away and ascended to his own room.
+
+There he threw himself into an armchair by the dim light of a single
+candle as if to reflect. But he was conscious, even then, of his own
+calmness and want of excitement, and that no reflection was necessary.
+What he had done and what he intended to do was quite clear, there was
+no alternative suggested or to be even sought after. He had that sense
+of relief which comes with the climax of all great struggles, even of
+defeat.
+
+He had never known before how hopeless and continuous had been that
+struggle until now it was over. He had no fear of tomorrow, he would
+meet it as he had to-day, with the same singular consciousness of being
+equal to the occasion. There was even no necessity of preparation for
+it; his will, leaving his fortune to his wife,--which seemed a slight
+thing now in this greater separation,--was already in his safe in San
+Francisco, his pistols were in the next room. He was even slightly
+disturbed by his own insensibility, and passed into his wife's bedroom
+partly in the hope of disturbing his serenity by some memento of their
+past. There was no disorder of flight--everything was in its place,
+except the drawer of her desk, which was still open, as if she had taken
+something from it as an afterthought. There were letters and papers
+there, some of his own and some in Captain Pinckney's handwriting. It
+did not occur to him to look at them--even to justify himself, or excuse
+her. He knew that his hatred of Captain Pinckney was not so much that he
+believed him her lover, as his sudden conviction that she was like him!
+He was the male of her species--a being antagonistic to himself, whom
+he could fight, and crush, and revenge himself upon. But most of all he
+loathed his past, not on account of her, but of his own weakness that
+had made him her dupe and a misunderstood man to his friends. He had
+been derelict of duty in his unselfish devotion to her; he had stifled
+his ambition, and underrated his own possibilities. No wonder that
+others had accepted him at his own valuation. Clarence Brant was a
+modest man, but the egotism of modesty is more fatal than that of
+pretension, for it has the haunting consciousness of superior virtue.
+
+He re-entered his own room and again threw himself into his chair. His
+calm was being succeeded by a physical weariness; he remembered he had
+not slept the night before, and he ought to take some rest to be
+fresh in the early morning. Yet he must also show himself before his
+self-invited guests,--Susy and her husband,--or their suspicions would
+be aroused. He would try to sleep for a little while in the chair before
+he went downstairs again. He closed his eyes oddly enough on a dim
+dreamy recollection of Susy in the old days, in the little madrono
+hollow where she had once given him a rendezvous. He forgot the maturer
+and critical uneasiness with which he had then received her coquettish
+and willful advances, which he now knew was the effect of the growing
+dominance of Mrs. Peyton over him, and remembered only her bright,
+youthful eyes, and the kisses he had pressed upon her soft fragrant
+cheek. The faintness he had felt when waiting in the old rose garden,
+a few hours ago, seemed to steal on him once more, and to lapse into a
+pleasant drowsiness. He even seemed again to inhale the perfume of the
+roses.
+
+“Clarence!”
+
+He started. He had been sleeping, but the voice sounded strangely real.
+
+A light, girlish laugh followed. He sprang to his feet. It was Susy
+standing beside him--and Susy even as she looked in the old days!
+
+For with a flash of her old audacity, aided by her familiar knowledge of
+the house and the bunch of household keys she had found, which dangled
+from her girdle, as in the old fashion, she had disinterred one of her
+old frocks from a closet, slipped it on, and unloosening her brown hair
+had let it fall in rippling waves down her back. It was Susy in her old
+girlishness, with the instinct of the grown actress in the arrangement
+of her short skirt over her pretty ankles and the half-conscious pose
+she had taken.
+
+“Poor dear old Clarence,” she said, with dancing eyes; “I might have
+won a dozen pairs of gloves from you while you slept there. But you're
+tired, dear old boy, and you've had a hard time of it. No matter; you've
+shown yourself a man at last, and I'm proud of you.”
+
+Half ashamed of the pleasure he felt even in his embarrassment, Clarence
+stammered, “But this change--this dress.”
+
+Susy clapped her hands like a child. “I knew it would surprise you! It's
+an old frock I wore the year I went away with auntie. I knew where it
+was hidden, and fished it out again with these keys, Clarence; it seemed
+so like old times. Lord! when I was with the old servants again, and
+you didn't come down, I just felt as if I'd never been away, and I just
+rampaged free. It seemed to me, don't you know, not as if I'd just come,
+but as if I'd always been right here, and it was you who'd just come.
+Don't you understand! Just as you came when me and Mary Rogers
+were here; don't you remember her, Clarence, and how she used to do
+'gooseberry' for us? Well, just like that. So I said to Jim, 'I don't
+know you any more--get!' and I just slipped on this frock and ordered
+Manuela around as I used to do--and she in fits of laughter; I reckon,
+Clarence, she hasn't laughed as much since I left. And then I thought of
+you--perhaps worried and flustered as yet over things, and the change,
+and I just slipped into the kitchen and I told old fat Conchita to make
+some of these tortillas you know,--with sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on
+top,--and I tied on an apron and brought 'em up to you on a tray with
+a glass of that old Catalan wine you used to like. Then I sorter felt
+frightened when I got here, and I didn't hear any noise, and I put the
+tray down in the hall and peeped in and found you asleep. Sit still,
+I'll fetch em.”
+
+She tripped out into the passage, returning with the tray, which she put
+on the table beside Clarence, and then standing back a little and with
+her hands tucked soubrette fashion in the tiny pockets of her apron,
+gazed at him with a mischievous smile.
+
+It was impossible not to smile back as he nibbled the crisp Mexican
+cake and drank the old mission wine. And Susy's tongue trilled an
+accompaniment to his thanks.
+
+“Lord! it seems so nice to be here--just you and me, Clarence--like in
+the old days--with nobody naggin' and swoopin' round after you. Don't
+be greedy, Clarence, but give me a cake.” She took one and finished the
+dregs of his glass.
+
+Then sitting on the arm of his chair, she darted a violet ray of half
+reproach and half mischievousness into his amused and retrospective
+eyes. “There used to be room for two in that chair, Klarns.”
+
+The use of the old childish diminutive for his name seemed to him
+natural as her familiarity, and he moved a little sideways to make
+room for her with an instinct of pleasure, but the same sense of
+irresponsibility that had characterized his reflections. Nevertheless,
+he looked critically into the mischievous eyes, and said quietly,--
+
+“Where is your husband?”
+
+There was no trace of embarrassment, apology, or even of consciousness
+in her pretty face as she replied, passing her hand lightly through his
+hair,--
+
+“Oh, Jim? I've packed him off!”
+
+“Packed him off!” echoed Clarence, slightly astonished.
+
+“Yes, to Fair Plains, full tilt after your wife's buggy. You see,
+Clarence, after the old cat--that's your wife, please--left, I wanted to
+make sure she had gone, and wasn't hangin' round to lead you off again
+with your leg tied to her apron string like a chicken's! No! I said to
+Jim, 'Just you ride after her until you see she's safe and sound in
+the down coach from Fair Plains without her knowin' it, and if she's
+inclined to hang back or wobble any, you post back here and let me
+know!' I told him I would stay and look after you to see you didn't bolt
+too!” She laughed, and then added, “But I didn't think I should
+fall into the old ways so soon, and have such a nice time. Did you,
+Clarence?”
+
+She looked so irresponsible, sitting there with her face near his,
+and so childishly, or perhaps thoughtlessly, happy, that he could only
+admire her levity, and even the slight shock that her flippant allusion
+to his wife had given him seemed to him only a weakness of his own.
+After all, was not hers the true philosophy? Why should not these bright
+eyes see things more clearly than his own? Nevertheless, with his eyes
+still fixed upon them, he continued,--
+
+“And Jim was willing to go?”
+
+She stopped, with her fingers still lifting a lock of his hair. “Why,
+yes, you silly--why shouldn't he? I'd like to see him refuse. Why, Lord!
+Jim will do anything I ask him.” She put down the lock of hair, and
+suddenly looking full into his eyes, said, “That's just the difference
+between him and me, and you and--that woman!”
+
+“Then you love him!”
+
+“About as much as you love her,” she said, with an unaffected laugh;
+“only he don't wind me around his finger.”
+
+No doubt she was right for all her thoughtlessness, and yet he was going
+to fight about that woman to-morrow! No--he forgot; he was going to
+fight Captain Pinckney because he was like her!
+
+Susy had put her finger on the crease between his brows which this
+supposition had made, and tried to rub it out.
+
+“You know it as well as I do, Clarence,” she said, with a pretty
+wrinkling of her own brows, which was her nearest approach to
+thoughtfulness. “You know you never really liked her, only you thought
+her ways were grander and more proper than mine, and you know you were
+always a little bit of a snob and a prig too--dear boy. And Mrs. Peyton
+was--bless my soul!--a Benham and a planter's daughter, and I--I was
+only a picked-up orphan! That's where Jim is better than you--now sit
+still, goosey!--even if I don't like him as much. Oh, I know what you're
+always thinking, you're thinking we're both exaggerated and theatrical,
+ain't you? But don't you think it's a heap better to be exaggerated and
+theatrical about things that are just sentimental and romantic than to
+be so awfully possessed and overcome about things that are only real?
+There, you needn't stare at me so! It's true. You've had your fill of
+grandeur and propriety, and--here you are. And,” she added with a little
+chuckle, as she tucked up her feet and leaned a little closer to him,
+“here's ME.”
+
+He did not speak, but his arm quite unconsciously passed round her small
+waist.
+
+“You see, Clarence,” she went on with equal unconsciousness of the act,
+“you ought never to have let me go--never! You ought to have kept me
+here--or run away with me. And you oughtn't to have tried to make me
+proper. And you oughtn't to have driven me to flirt with that horrid
+Spaniard, and you oughtn't to have been so horribly cold and severe when
+I did. And you oughtn't to have made me take up with Jim, who was the
+only one who thought me his equal. I might have been very silly and
+capricious; I might have been very vain, but my vanity isn't a bit worse
+than your pride; my love of praise and applause in the theatre isn't a
+bit more horrid than your fears of what people might think of you or me.
+That's gospel truth, isn't it, Clarence? Tell me! Don't look that way
+and this--look at ME! I ain't poisonous, Clarence. Why, one of your
+cheeks is redder than the other, Clarence; that's the one that's turned
+from me. Come,” she went on, taking the lapels of his coat between her
+hands and half shaking him, half drawing him nearer her bright face.
+“Tell me--isn't it true?”
+
+“I was thinking of you just now when I fell asleep, Susy,” he said. He
+did not know why he said it; he had not intended to tell her, he had
+only meant to avoid a direct answer to her question; yet even now he
+went on. “And I thought of you when I was out there in the rose garden
+waiting to come in here.”
+
+“You did?” she said, drawing in her breath. A wave of delicate pink
+color came up to her very eyes, it seemed to him as quickly and as
+innocently as when she was a girl. “And what DID you think, Klarns,” she
+half whispered--“tell me.”
+
+He did not speak, but answered her blue eyes and then her lips, as her
+arms slipped quite naturally around his neck.
+
+*****
+
+The dawn was breaking as Clarence and Jim Hooker emerged together from
+the gate of the casa. Mr. Hooker looked sleepy. He had found, after his
+return from Fair Plains, that his host had an early engagement at
+Santa Inez, and he had insisted upon rising to see him off. It was with
+difficulty, indeed, that Clarence could prevent his accompanying him.
+Clarence had not revealed to Susy the night before the real object of
+his journey, nor did Hooker evidently suspect it, yet when the former
+had mounted his horse, he hesitated for an instant, extending his hand.
+
+“If I should happen to be detained,” he began with a half smile.
+
+But Jim was struggling with a yawn. “That's all right--don't mind us,”
+ he said, stretching his arms. Clarence's hesitating hand dropped to his
+side, and with a light reckless laugh and a half sense of providential
+relief he galloped away.
+
+What happened immediately thereafter during his solitary ride to
+Santa Inez, looking back upon it in after years, seemed but a confused
+recollection, more like a dream. The long stretches of vague distance,
+gradually opening clearer with the rising sun in an unclouded sky;
+the meeting with a few early or belated travelers and his unconscious
+avoidance of them, as if they might know of his object; the black
+shadows of foreshortened cattle rising before him on the plain and
+arousing the same uneasy sensation of their being waylaying men; the
+wondering recognition of houses and landmarks he had long been familiar
+with; his purposeless attempts to recall the circumstances in which
+he had known them--all these were like a dream. So, too, were the
+recollections of the night before, the episode with Susy, already
+mingled and blended with the memory of their previous past; his futile
+attempts to look forward to the future, always, however, abandoned
+with relief at the thought that the next few hours might make them
+unnecessary. So also was the sudden realization that Santa Inez was
+before him, when he had thought he was not yet halfway there, and as
+he dismounted before the Court House his singular feeling--followed,
+however, by no fear or distress--was that he had come so early to the
+rendezvous that he was not yet quite prepared for it.
+
+This same sense of unreality pervaded his meeting with the deputy
+sheriff, at the news that the Federal judge had, as was expected,
+dismissed the prisoners on their own recognizances, and that Captain
+Pinckney was at the hotel at breakfast. In the like abstracted manner he
+replied to the one or two questions of the deputy, exhibited the pistols
+he had brought with him, and finally accompanied him to a little meadow
+hidden by trees, below the hotel, where the other principal and his
+seconds were awaiting them. And here he awoke--clear-eyed, keen,
+forceful, and intense!
+
+So stimulated were his faculties that his sense of hearing in its
+acuteness took in every word of the conversation between the seconds,
+a few paces distant. He heard his adversary's seconds say carelessly
+to the deputy sheriff, “I presume this is a case where there will be no
+apology or mediation,” and the deputy's reply, “I reckon my man means
+business, but he seems a little queer.” He heard the other second laugh,
+and say lightly, “They're apt to be so when it's their first time out,”
+ followed by the more anxious aside of the other second as the deputy
+turned away,--“Yes, but by G-d I don't like his looks!” His sense of
+sight was also so acute that having lost the choice of position, when
+the coin was tossed, and being turned with his face to the sun, even
+through the glare he saw, with unerring distinctness of outline, the
+black-coated figure of his opponent moved into range--saw the perfect
+outline of his features, and how the easy, supercilious smile, as he
+threw away his cigar, appeared to drop out of his face with a kind of
+vacant awe as he faced him. He felt his nerves become as steel as the
+counting began, and at the word “three,” knew he had fired by the recoil
+of the pistol in his leveled hand, simultaneously with its utterance.
+And at the same moment, still standing like a rock, he saw his
+adversary miserably collapse, his legs grotesquely curving inwards
+under him,--without even the dignity of death in his fall,--and so sink
+helplessly like a felled bull to the ground. Still erect, and lowering
+only the muzzle of his pistol, as a thin feather of smoke curled up its
+shining side, he saw the doctor and seconds run quickly to the heap, try
+to lift its limp impotence into shape, and let it drop again with the
+words, “Right through the forehead, by G-d!”
+
+“You've done for him,” said the deputy, turning to Clarence with a
+singular look of curiosity, “and I reckon you had better get out of this
+mighty quick. They didn't expect it; they're just ragin'; they may round
+on you--and”--he added, more slowly, “they seem to have just found out
+who you are.”
+
+Even while he was speaking, Clarence, with his quickened ear, heard the
+words, “One of Hamilton Brant's pups” “Just like his father,” from
+the group around the dead man. He did not hesitate, but walked coolly
+towards them. Yet a certain fierce pride--which he had never known
+before--stirred in his veins as their voices hushed and they half
+recoiled before him.
+
+“Am I to understand from my second, gentlemen,” he said, looking round
+the group, “that you are not satisfied?”
+
+“The fight was square enough,” said Pinckney's second in some
+embarrassment, “but I reckon that he,” pointing to the dead man, “did
+not know who you were.”
+
+“Do you mean that he did not know that I was the son of a man proficient
+in the use of arms?”
+
+“I reckon that's about it,” returned the second, glancing at the others.
+
+“I am glad to say, sir, that I have a better opinion of his courage,”
+ said Clarence, lifting his hat to the dead body as he turned away.
+
+Yet he was conscious of no remorse, concern, or even pity in his act.
+Perhaps this was visible in his face, for the group appeared awed by
+this perfection of the duelist's coolness, and even returned his formal
+parting salutation with a vague and timid respect. He thanked the
+deputy, regained the hotel, saddled his horse and galloped away.
+
+But not towards the Rancho. Now that he could think of his future, that
+had no place in his reflections; even the episode of Susy was forgotten
+in the new and strange conception of himself and his irresponsibility
+which had come upon him with the killing of Pinckney and the words
+of his second. It was his dead father who had stiffened his arm and
+directed the fatal shot! It was hereditary influences--which others
+had been so quick to recognize--that had brought about this completing
+climax of his trouble. How else could he account for it that he--a
+conscientious, peaceful, sensitive man, tender and forgiving as he had
+believed himself to be--could now feel so little sorrow or compunction
+for his culminating act? He had read of successful duelists who were
+haunted by remorse for their first victim; who retained a terrible
+consciousness of the appearance of the dead man; he had no such feeling;
+he had only a grim contentment in the wiped-out inefficient life,
+and contempt for the limp and helpless body. He suddenly recalled his
+callousness as a boy when face to face with the victims of the Indian
+massacre, his sense of fastidious superciliousness in the discovery of
+the body of Susy's mother!--surely it was the cold blood of his father
+influencing him ever thus. What had he to do with affection, with
+domestic happiness, with the ordinary ambitions of man's life--whose
+blood was frozen at its source! Yet even with this very thought came
+once more the old inconsistent tenderness he had as a boy lavished upon
+the almost unknown and fugitive father who had forsaken his childish
+companionship, and remembered him only by secret gifts. He remembered
+how he had worshiped him even while the pious padres at San Jose were
+endeavoring to eliminate this terrible poison from his blood and combat
+his hereditary instinct in his conflicts with his school-fellows. And it
+was a part of this inconsistency that, riding away from the scene of his
+first bloodshed, his eyes were dimmed with moisture, not for his victim,
+but for the one being who he believed had impelled him to the act.
+
+This and more was in his mind during his long ride to Fair Plains, his
+journey by coach to the Embarcadero, his midnight passage across the
+dark waters of the bay, and his re-entrance to San Francisco, but what
+should be his future was still unsettled.
+
+As he wound round the crest of Russian Hill and looked down again upon
+the awakened city, he was startled to see that it was fluttering and
+streaming with bunting. From every public building and hotel, from
+the roofs of private houses, and even the windows of lonely dwellings,
+flapped and waved the striped and starry banner. The steady breath of
+the sea carried it out from masts and yards of ships at their wharves,
+from the battlements of the forts Alcatraz and Yerba Bueno. He
+remembered that the ferryman had told him that the news from Fort Sumter
+had swept the city with a revulsion of patriotic sentiment, and that
+there was no doubt that the State was saved to the Union. He looked
+down upon it with haggard, bewildered eyes, and then a strange gasp
+and fullness of the throat! For afar a solitary bugle had blown the
+“reveille” at Fort Alcatraz.
+
+
+
+PART II.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+Night at last, and the stir and tumult of a great fight over. Even the
+excitement that had swept this portion of the battlefield--only a small
+section of a vaster area of struggle--into which a brigade had marched,
+held its own, been beaten back, recovered its ground, and pursuing,
+had passed out of it forever, leaving only its dead behind, and knowing
+nothing more of that struggle than its own impact and momentum--even
+this wild excitement had long since evaporated with the stinging smoke
+of gunpowder, the acrid smell of burning rags from the clothing of a
+dead soldier fired by a bursting shell, or the heated reek of sweat and
+leather. A cool breath that seemed to bring back once more the odor of
+the upturned earthworks along the now dumb line of battle began to move
+from the suggestive darkness beyond.
+
+But into that awful penetralia of death and silence there was no
+invasion--there had been no retreat. A few of the wounded had been
+brought out, under fire, but the others had been left with the dead for
+the morning light and succor. For it was known that in that horrible
+obscurity, riderless horses, frantic with the smell of blood, galloped
+wildly here and there, or, maddened by wounds, plunged furiously at
+the intruder; that the wounded soldier, still armed, could not always
+distinguish friend from foe or from the ghouls of camp followers who
+stripped the dead in the darkness and struggled with the dying. A shot
+or two heard somewhere in that obscurity counted as nothing with the
+long fusillade that had swept it in the daytime; the passing of a single
+life, more or less, amounted to little in the long roll-call of the
+day's slaughter.
+
+But with the first beams of the morning sun--and the slowly moving
+“relief detail” from the camp--came a weird half-resurrection of that
+ghastly field. Then it was that the long rays of sunlight, streaming
+away a mile beyond the battle line, pointed out the first harvest of
+the dead where the reserves had been posted. There they lay in heaps
+and piles, killed by solid shot or bursting shells that had leaped the
+battle line to plunge into the waiting ranks beyond. As the sun lifted
+higher its beams fell within the range of musketry fire, where the dead
+lay thicker,--even as they had fallen when killed outright,--with arms
+extended and feet at all angles to the field. As it touched these dead
+upturned faces, strangely enough it brought out no expression of pain or
+anguish--but rather as if death had arrested them only in surprise and
+awe. It revealed on the lips of those who had been mortally wounded
+and had turned upon their side the relief which death had brought their
+suffering, sometimes shown in a faint smile. Mounting higher, it glanced
+upon the actual battle line, curiously curving for the shelter of walls,
+fences, and breastworks, and here the dead lay, even as when they
+lay and fired, their faces prone in the grass but their muskets still
+resting across the breastworks. Exposed to grape and canister from the
+battery on the ridge, death had come to them mercifully also--through
+the head and throat. And now the whole field lay bare in the
+sunlight, broken with grotesque shadows cast from sitting, crouching,
+half-recumbent but always rigid figures, which might have been effigies
+on their own monuments. One half-kneeling soldier, with head bowed
+between his stiffened hands, might have stood for a carven figure of
+Grief at the feet of his dead comrade. A captain, shot through the brain
+in the act of mounting a wall, lay sideways half across it, his lips
+parted with a word of command; his sword still pointing over the barrier
+the way that they should go.
+
+But it was not until the sun had mounted higher that it struck the
+central horror of the field and seemed to linger there in dazzling
+persistence, now and then returning to it in startling flashes that it
+might be seen of men and those who brought succor. A tiny brook had run
+obliquely near the battle line. It was here that, the night before
+the battle, friend and foe had filled their canteens side by side with
+soldierly recklessness--or perhaps a higher instinct--purposely ignoring
+each other's presence; it was here that the wounded had afterwards
+crept, crawled, and dragged themselves, here they had pushed, wrangled,
+striven, and fought for a draught of that precious fluid which assuaged
+the thirst of their wounds--or happily put them out of their misery
+forever; here overborne, crushed, suffocated by numbers, pouring their
+own blood into the flood, and tumbling after it with their helpless
+bodies, they dammed the stream, until recoiling, red and angry, it had
+burst its banks and overflowed the cotton-field in a broad pool that now
+sparkled in the sunlight. But below this human dam--a mile away--where
+the brook still crept sluggishly, the ambulance horses sniffed and
+started from it.
+
+The detail moved on slowly, doing their work expeditiously, and
+apparently callously, but really only with that mechanical movement
+that saves emotion. Only once they were moved to an outbreak of
+indignation,--the discovery of the body of an officer whose pockets
+were turned inside out, but whose hand was still tightly grasped on his
+buttoned waistcoat, as if resisting the outrage that had been done
+while still in life. As the men disengaged the stiffened hand something
+slipped from the waistcoat to the ground. The corporal picked it up and
+handed it to his officer. It was a sealed packet. The officer received
+it with the carelessness which long experience of these pathetic
+missives from the dying to their living relations had induced, and
+dropped it in the pocket of his tunic, with the half-dozen others that
+he had picked up that morning, and moved on with the detail. A little
+further on they halted, in the attitude of attention, as a mounted
+officer appeared, riding slowly down the line.
+
+There was something more than the habitual respect of their superior in
+their faces as he came forward. For it was the general who had commanded
+the brigade the day before,--the man who had leaped with one bound into
+the foremost rank of military leaders. It was his invincible spirit
+that had led the advance, held back defeat against overwhelming numbers,
+sustained the rally, impressed his subordinate officers with his own
+undeviating purpose, and even infused them with an almost superstitious
+belief in his destiny of success. It was this man who had done what
+it was deemed impossible to do,--what even at the time it was thought
+unwise and unstrategic to do,--who had held a weak position, of
+apparently no importance, under the mandate of an incomprehensible order
+from his superior, which at best asked only for a sacrifice and was
+rewarded with a victory. He had decimated his brigade, but the wounded
+and dying had cheered him as he passed, and the survivors had pursued
+the enemy until the bugle called them back. For such a record he looked
+still too young and scholarly, albeit his handsome face was dark and
+energetic, and his manner taciturn.
+
+His quick eye had already caught sight of the rifled body of the
+officer, and contracted. As the captain of the detail saluted him he
+said curtly,--
+
+“I thought the orders were to fire upon any one desecrating the dead?”
+
+“They are, General; but the hyenas don't give us a chance. That's all
+yonder poor fellow saved from their claws,” replied the officer, as he
+held up the sealed packet. “It has no address.”
+
+The general took it, examined the envelope, thrust it into his belt, and
+said,--
+
+“I will take charge of it.”
+
+The sound of horses' hoofs came from the rocky roadside beyond the
+brook. Both men turned. A number of field officers were approaching.
+
+“The division staff,” said the captain, in a lower voice, falling back.
+
+They came slowly forward, a central figure on a gray horse leading
+here--as in history. A short, thick-set man with a grizzled beard
+closely cropped around an inscrutable mouth, and the serious formality
+of a respectable country deacon in his aspect, which even the
+major-generals blazon on the shoulder-strap of his loose tunic on his
+soldierly seat in the saddle could not entirely obliterate. He had
+evidently perceived the general of brigade, and quickened his horse as
+the latter drew up. The staff followed more leisurely, but still with
+some curiosity, to witness the meeting of the first general of the army
+with the youngest. The division general saluted, but almost instantly
+withdrew his leathern gauntlet, and offered his bared hand to the
+brigadier. The words of heroes are scant. The drawn-up detail, the
+waiting staff listened. This was all they heard:--
+
+“Halleck tells me you're from California?”
+
+“Yes, General.”
+
+“Ah! I lived there, too, in the early days.”
+
+“Wonderful country. Developed greatly since my time, I suppose?”
+
+“Yes, General.”
+
+“Great resources; finest wheat-growing country in the world, sir. You
+don't happen to know what the actual crop was this year?”
+
+“Hardly, General! but something enormous.”
+
+“Yes, I have always said it would be. Have a cigar?”
+
+He handed his cigar-case to the brigadier. Then he took one himself,
+lighted it at the smouldering end of the one he had taken from his
+mouth, was about to throw the stump carelessly down, but, suddenly
+recollecting himself, leaned over his horse, and dropped it carefully
+a few inches away from the face of a dead soldier. Then, straightening
+himself in the saddle, he shoved his horse against the brigadier, moving
+him a little further on, while a slight movement of his hand kept the
+staff from following.
+
+“A heavy loss here!”
+
+“I'm afraid so, General.”
+
+“It couldn't be helped. We had to rush in your brigade to gain time, and
+occupy the enemy, until we could change front.”
+
+The young general looked at the shrewd, cold eyes of his chief.
+
+“Change front?” he echoed.
+
+“Yes. Before a gun was fired, we discovered that the enemy was in
+complete possession of all our plans, and knew every detail of our
+forward movement. All had to be changed.”
+
+The younger man now instantly understood the incomprehensible order of
+the day before.
+
+The general of division continued, with his first touch of official
+formality,--
+
+“You understand, therefore, General Brant, that in the face of this
+extraordinary treachery, the utmost vigilance is required, and a
+complete surveillance of your camp followers and civilians, to detect
+the actual spy within our lines, or the traitor we are harboring,
+who has become possessed of this information. You will overhaul your
+brigade, and weed out all suspects, and in the position which you are
+to take to-morrow, and the plantation you will occupy, you will see that
+your private quarters, as well as your lines, are cleared of all but
+those you can vouch for.”
+
+He reined in his horse, again extended his hand, saluted, and rejoined
+his staff.
+
+Brigadier-General Clarence Brant remained for a moment with his head
+bent in thoughtful contemplation of the coolness of his veteran chief
+under this exciting disclosure, and the strategy with which he had
+frustrated the traitor's success. Then his eye caught the sealed packet
+in his belt. He mechanically drew it out, and broke the seal. The
+envelope was filled with papers and memorandums. But as he looked at
+them his face darkened and his brow knit. He glanced quickly around him.
+The staff had trotted away; the captain and his detail were continuing
+their work at a little distance. He took a long breath, for he was
+holding in his hand a tracing of their camp, even of the position he was
+to occupy tomorrow, and a detailed account of the movements, plans, and
+force of the whole division as had been arranged in council of war the
+day before the battle! But there was no indication of the writer or his
+intentions.
+
+He thrust the papers hurriedly back into the envelope, but placed it,
+this time, in his breast. He galloped towards the captain.
+
+“Let me see again the officer from whom you took that packet!”
+
+The captain led him to where the body lay, with others, extended more
+decently on the grass awaiting removal. General Brant with difficulty
+repressed an ejaculation.
+
+“Why, it's one of our own men,” he said quickly.
+
+“Yes, General. They say it's Lieutenant Wainwright, a regular, of the
+paymaster general's department.”
+
+“Then what was he doing here?” asked General Brant sternly.
+
+“I can't make out, sir, unless he went into the last advance as a
+volunteer. Wanted to see the fight, I suppose. He was a dashing fellow,
+a West Pointer,--and a Southerner, too,--a Virginian.”
+
+“A Southerner!” echoed Brant quickly.
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“Search him again,” said Brant quietly. He had recovered his usual
+coolness, and as the captain again examined the body, he took out his
+tablets and wrote a few lines. It was an order to search the quarters
+of Lieutenant Wainwright and bring all papers, letters, and documents to
+him. He then beckoned one of the detail towards him. “Take that to the
+provost marshal at once. Well, Captain,” he added calmly, as the officer
+again approached him, “what do you find?”
+
+“Only this, sir,” returned the captain, with a half smile, producing a
+small photograph. “I suppose it was overlooked, too.”
+
+He handed it to Brant.
+
+There was a sudden fixing of his commanding officer's eyes, but his face
+did not otherwise change.
+
+“It's the usual find, General. Always a photograph! But this time a
+handsome woman!”
+
+“Very,” said Clarence Brant quietly. It was the portrait of his own
+wife.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Nevertheless, so complete was his control of voice and manner that, as
+he rode on to his quarters, no one would have dreamed that General Brant
+had just looked upon the likeness of the wife from whom he had parted in
+anger four years ago. Still less would they have suspected the strange
+fear that came upon him that in some way she was connected with the
+treachery he had just discovered. He had heard from her only once, and
+then through her late husband's lawyer, in regard to her Californian
+property, and believed that she had gone to her relations in Alabama,
+where she had identified herself with the Southern cause, even to the
+sacrifice of her private fortune. He had heard her name mentioned in the
+Southern press as a fascinating society leader, and even coadjutrix
+of Southern politicians,--but he had no reason to believe that she had
+taken so active or so desperate a part in the struggle. He tried to
+think that his uneasiness sprang from his recollection of the previous
+treachery of Captain Pinckney, and the part that she had played in the
+Californian conspiracy, although he had long since acquitted her of the
+betrayal of any nearer trust. But there was a fateful similarity in
+the two cases. There was no doubt that this Lieutenant Wainwright was
+a traitor in the camp,--that he had succumbed to the usual sophistry of
+his class in regard to his superior allegiance to his native State. But
+was there the inducement of another emotion, or was the photograph only
+the souvenir of a fascinating priestess of rebellion, whom the dead
+man had met? There was perhaps less of feeling than scorn in the first
+suggestion, but he was nevertheless relieved when the provost marshal
+found no other incriminating papers in Wainwright's effects. Nor did
+he reveal to the division general the finding of the photograph. It was
+sufficient to disclose the work of the traitor without adding what might
+be a clue to his wife's participation in it, near or remote. There was
+risk enough in the former course,--which his duty made imperative. He
+hardly dared to think of the past day's slaughter, which--there was no
+doubt now--had been due to the previous work of the spy, and how his
+brigade had been selected--by the irony of Fate--to suffer for and yet
+retrieve it. If she had had a hand in this wicked plot, ought he to
+spare her? Or was his destiny and hers to be thus monstrously linked
+together?
+
+Luckily, however, the expiation of the chief offender and the timely
+discovery of his papers enabled the division commander to keep the
+affair discreetly silent, and to enjoin equal secrecy on the part of
+Brant. The latter, however, did not relax his vigilance, and after the
+advance the next day he made a minute inspection of the ground he was
+to occupy, its approaches and connections with the outlying country,
+and the rebel lines; increased the stringency of picket and sentry
+regulations, and exercised a rigid surveillance of non-combatants
+and civilians within the lines, even to the lowest canteener or camp
+follower. Then he turned his attention to the house he was to occupy as
+his headquarters.
+
+It was a fine specimen of the old colonial planter's house, with its
+broad veranda, its great detached offices and negro quarters, and had,
+thus far, escaped the ravages and billeting of the war. It had been
+occupied by its owner up to a few days before the engagement, and so
+great had been the confidence of the enemy in their success that it had
+been used as the Confederate headquarters on the morning of the decisive
+battle. Jasmine and rose, unstained by the sulphur of gunpowder,
+twined around its ruined columns and half hid the recessed windows;
+the careless flower garden was still in its unkempt and unplucked
+luxuriance; the courtyard before the stables alone showed marks of the
+late military occupancy, and was pulverized by the uneasy horse-hoofs of
+the waiting staff. But the mingled impress of barbaric prodigality with
+patriarchal simplicity was still there in the domestic arrangements of
+a race who lived on half equal familiarity with strangers and their own
+servants.
+
+The negro servants still remained, with a certain cat-like fidelity
+to the place, and adapted themselves to the Northern invaders with
+a childlike enjoyment of the novelty of change. Brant, nevertheless,
+looked them over with an experienced eye, and satisfied himself of their
+trustworthiness; there was the usual number of “boys,” gray-haired and
+grizzled in body service, and the “mammys” and “aunties” of the kitchen.
+There were two or three rooms in the wing which still contained private
+articles, pictures and souvenirs of the family, and a “young lady's”
+ boudoir, which Brant, with characteristic delicacy, kept carefully
+isolated and intact from his military household, and accessible only to
+the family servants. The room he had selected for himself was nearest
+it,--a small, plainly furnished apartment, with an almost conventual
+simplicity in its cold, white walls and draperies, and the narrow,
+nun-like bed. It struck him that it might have belonged to some prim
+elder daughter or maiden aunt, who had acted as housekeeper, as it
+commanded the wing and servants' offices, with easy access to the
+central hall.
+
+There followed a week of inactivity in which Brant felt a singular
+resemblance in this Southern mansion to the old casa at Robles. The
+afternoon shadows of the deep verandas recalled the old monastic gloom
+of the Spanish house, which even the presence of a lounging officer or
+waiting orderly could not entirely dissipate, and the scent of the rose
+and jasmine from his windows overcame him with sad memories. He began
+to chafe under this inaction, and long again for the excitement of the
+march and bivouac, in which, for the past four years, he had buried his
+past.
+
+He was sitting one afternoon alone before his reports and dispatches,
+when this influence seemed so strong that he half impulsively laid them
+aside to indulge in along reverie. He was recalling his last day
+at Robles, the early morning duel with Pinckney, the return to San
+Francisco, and the sudden resolution which sent him that day across the
+continent to offer his services to the Government. He remembered
+his delay in the Western town, where a volunteer regiment was being
+recruited, his entrance into it as a private, his rapid selection,
+through the force of his sheer devotion and intelligent concentration,
+to the captaincy of his company; his swift promotion on hard-fought
+fields to the head of the regiment, and the singular success that had
+followed his resistless energy, which left him no time to think of
+anything but his duty. The sudden intrusion of his wife upon his career
+now, even in this accidental and perhaps innocent way, had seriously
+unsettled him.
+
+The shadows were growing heavier and deeper, it lacked only a few
+moments of the sunset bugle, when he was recalled to himself by that
+singular instinctive consciousness, common to humanity, of being
+intently looked at. He turned quickly,--the door behind him closed
+softly. He rose and slipped into the hall. The tall figure of a woman
+was going down the passage. She was erect and graceful; but, as she
+turned towards the door leading to the offices, he distinctly saw the
+gaudily turbaned head and black silhouette of a negress. Nevertheless,
+he halted a moment at the door of the next room.
+
+“See who that woman is who has just passed, Mr. Martin. She doesn't seem
+to belong to the house.”
+
+The young officer rose, put on his cap, and departed. In a few moments
+he returned.
+
+“Was she tall, sir, of a good figure, and very straight?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“She is a servant of our neighbors, the Manlys, who occasionally visits
+the servants here. A mulatto, I think.”
+
+Brant reflected. Many of the mulattoes and negresses were of good
+figure, and the habit of carrying burdens on their heads gave them a
+singularly erect carriage.
+
+The lieutenant looked at his chief.
+
+“Have you any orders to give concerning her, General?”
+
+“No,” said Brant, after a moment's pause, and turned away.
+
+The officer smiled. It seemed a good story to tell at mess of this human
+weakness of his handsome, reserved, and ascetic-looking leader.
+
+A few mornings afterwards Brant was interrupted over his reports by the
+almost abrupt entrance of the officer of the day. His face was flushed,
+and it was evident that only the presence of his superior restrained his
+excitement. He held a paper in his hand.
+
+“A lady presents this order and pass from Washington, countersigned by
+the division general.”
+
+“A lady?”
+
+“Yes, sir, she is dressed as such. But she has not only declined the
+most ordinary civilities and courtesies we have offered her, but she
+has insulted Mr. Martin and myself grossly, and demands to be shown to
+you--alone.”
+
+Brant took the paper. It was a special order from the President, passing
+Miss Matilda Faulkner through the Federal lines to visit her uncle's
+home, known as “Gray Oaks,” now held and occupied as the headquarters of
+Brant's Brigade, in order to arrange for the preservation and disposal
+of certain family effects and private property that still remained
+there, or to take and carry away such property; and invoking all
+necessary aid and assistance from the United States forces in such
+occupancy. It was countersigned by the division commander. It was
+perfectly regular and of undoubted authenticity. He had heard of passes
+of this kind,--the terror of the army,--issued in Washington under some
+strange controlling influence and against military protest; but he did
+not let his subordinate see the uneasiness with which it filled him.
+
+“Show her in,” he said quietly.
+
+But she had already entered, brushing scornfully past the officer, and
+drawing her skirt aside, as if contaminated: a very pretty Southern
+girl, scornful and red-lipped, clad in a gray riding-habit, and still
+carrying her riding-whip clenched ominously in her slim, gauntleted
+hand!
+
+“You have my permit in your hand,” she said brusquely, hardly raising
+her eyes to Brant. “I suppose it's all straight enough,--and even if it
+isn't, I don't reckon to be kept waiting with those hirelings.”
+
+“Your 'permit' is 'straight' enough, Miss Faulkner,” said Brant, slowly
+reading her name from the document before him. “But, as it does not seem
+to include permission to insult my officers, you will perhaps allow them
+first to retire.”
+
+He made a sign to the officer, who passed out of the door.
+
+As it closed, he went on, in a gentle but coldly unimpassioned voice,--
+
+“I perceive you are a Southern lady, and therefore I need not remind you
+that it is not considered good form to treat even the slaves of those
+one does not like uncivilly, and I must, therefore, ask you to keep your
+active animosity for myself.”
+
+The young girl lifted her eyes. She had evidently not expected to meet
+a man so young, so handsome, so refined, and so coldly invincible in
+manner. Still less was she prepared for that kind of antagonism. In
+keeping up her preconcerted attitude towards the “Northern hireling,”
+ she had been met with official brusqueness, contemptuous silence, or
+aggrieved indignation,--but nothing so exasperating as this. She even
+fancied that this elegant but sardonic-looking soldier was mocking her.
+She bit her red lip, but, with a scornful gesture of her riding-whip,
+said,--
+
+“I reckon that your knowledge of Southern ladies is, for certain
+reasons, not very extensive.”
+
+“Pardon me; I have had the honor of marrying one.”
+
+Apparently more exasperated than before, she turned upon him abruptly.
+
+“You say my pass is all right. Then I presume I may attend to the
+business that brought me here.”
+
+“Certainly; but you will forgive me if I imagined that an expression of
+contempt for your hosts was a part of it.”
+
+He rang a bell on the table. It was responded to by an orderly.
+
+“Send all the household servants here.”
+
+The room was presently filled with the dusky faces of the negro
+retainers. Here and there was the gleaming of white teeth, but a
+majority of the assembly wore the true negro serious acceptance of the
+importance of “an occasion.” One or two even affected an official and
+soldierly bearing. And, as he fully expected, there were several glances
+of significant recognition of the stranger.
+
+“You will give,” said Brant sternly, “every aid and attention to the
+wants of this young lady, who is here to represent the interests of your
+old master. As she will be entirely dependent upon you in all things
+connected with her visit here, see to it that she does not have to
+complain to me of any inattention,--or be obliged to ask for other
+assistance.”
+
+As Miss Faulkner, albeit a trifle paler in the cheek, but as scornful as
+ever, was about to follow the servants from the room, Brant stopped her,
+with a coldly courteous gesture.
+
+“You will understand, therefore, Miss Faulkner, that you have your wish,
+and that you will not be exposed to any contact with the members of my
+military family, nor they with you.”
+
+“Am I then to be a prisoner in this house--and under a free pass of
+your--President?” she said indignantly.
+
+“By no means! You are free to come and go, and see whom you please. I
+have no power to control your actions. But I have the power to control
+theirs.”
+
+She swept furiously from the room.
+
+“That is quite enough to fill her with a desire to flirt with every man
+here,” said Brant to himself, with a faint smile; “but I fancy they have
+had a taste enough of her quality.”
+
+Nevertheless he sat down and wrote a few lines to the division
+commander, pointing out that he had already placed the owner's private
+property under strict surveillance, that it was cared for and perfectly
+preserved by the household servants, and that the pass was evidently
+obtained as a subterfuge.
+
+To this he received a formal reply, regretting that the authorities at
+Washington still found it necessary to put this kind of risk and burden
+on the army in the field, but that the order emanated from the highest
+authority, and must be strictly obeyed. At the bottom of the page was a
+characteristic line in pencil in the general's own hand--“Not the kind
+that is dangerous.”
+
+A flush mounted Brant's cheeks, as if it contained not only a hidden,
+but a personal significance. He had thought of his own wife!
+
+Singularly enough, a day or two later, at dinner, the conversation
+turned upon the intense sectional feeling of Southern women, probably
+induced by their late experiences. Brant, at the head of the table, in
+his habitual abstraction, was scarcely following the somewhat excited
+diction of Colonel Strangeways, one of his staff.
+
+“No, sir,” reiterated that indignant warrior, “take my word for it! A
+Southern woman isn't to be trusted on this point, whether as a sister,
+sweetheart, or wife. And when she is trusted, she's bound to get the
+better of the man in any of those relations!”
+
+The dead silence that followed, the ominous joggle of a glass at the
+speaker's elbow, the quick, sympathetic glance that Brant instinctively
+felt was directed at his own face, and the abrupt change of subject,
+could not but arrest his attention, even if he had overlooked the
+speech. His face, however, betrayed nothing. It had never, however,
+occurred to him before that his family affairs might be known--neither
+had he ever thought of keeping them a secret. It seemed so purely a
+personal and private misfortune, that he had never dreamed of its having
+any public interest. And even now he was a little ashamed of what he
+believed was his sensitiveness to mere conventional criticism, which,
+with the instinct of a proud man, he had despised.
+
+He was not far wrong in his sardonic intuition of the effect of his
+prohibition upon Miss Faulkner's feelings. Certainly that young lady,
+when not engaged in her mysterious occupation of arranging her uncle's
+effects, occasionally was seen in the garden, and in the woods beyond.
+Although her presence was the signal for the “oblique” of any lounging
+“shoulder strap,” or the vacant “front” of a posted sentry, she seemed
+to regard their occasional proximity with less active disfavor. Once,
+when she had mounted the wall to gather a magnolia blossom, the chair by
+which she had ascended rolled over, leaving her on the wall. At a
+signal from the guard-room, two sappers and miners appeared carrying
+a scaling-ladder, which they placed silently against the wall, and as
+silently withdrew. On another occasion, the same spirited young lady,
+whom Brant was satisfied would have probably imperiled her life under
+fire in devotion to her cause, was brought ignominiously to bay in the
+field by that most appalling of domestic animals, the wandering and
+untrammeled cow! Brant could not help smiling as he heard the quick,
+harsh call to “Turn out, guard,” saw the men march stolidly with fixed
+bayonets to the vicinity of the affrighted animal, who fled, leaving
+the fair stranger to walk shamefacedly to the house. He was surprised,
+however, that she should have halted before his door, and with tremulous
+indignation, said,--
+
+“I thank you, sir, for your chivalrousness in turning a defenseless
+woman into ridicule.”
+
+“I regret, Miss Faulkner,” began Brant gravely, “that you should believe
+that I am able to control the advances of farmyard cattle as easily
+as”--But he stopped, as he saw that the angry flash of her blue eyes,
+as she darted past him, was set in tears. A little remorseful on the
+following day, he added a word to his ordinary cap-lifting when she
+went by, but she retained a reproachful silence. Later in the day, he
+received from her servant a respectful request for an interview, and
+was relieved to find that she entered his presence with no trace of her
+former aggression, but rather with the resignation of a deeply injured,
+yet not entirely unforgiving, woman.
+
+“I thought,” she began coldly, “that I ought to inform you that I
+would probably be able to conclude my business here by the day after
+to-morrow, and that you would then be relieved of my presence. I am
+aware--indeed,” she added, bitterly, “I could scarcely help perceiving,
+that it has been an exceedingly irksome one.”
+
+“I trust,” began Brant coldly, “that no gentleman of my command has”--
+
+“No!”
+
+She interrupted him quickly, with a return of her former manner, and a
+passionate sweep of the hand.
+
+“Do you suppose for a moment that I am speaking--that I am even
+thinking--of them? What are they to me?”
+
+“Thank you. I am glad to know that they are nothing; and that I may
+now trust that you have consulted my wishes, and have reserved your
+animosity solely for me,” returned Brant quietly. “That being so, I see
+no reason for your hurrying your departure in the least.”
+
+She rose instantly.
+
+“I have,” she said slowly, controlling herself with a slight effort,
+“found some one who will take my duty off my hands. She is a servant of
+one of your neighbors,--who is an old friend of my uncle's. The woman is
+familiar with the house, and our private property. I will give her full
+instructions to act for me, and even an authorization in writing, if you
+prefer it. She is already in the habit of coming here; but her visits
+will give you very little trouble. And, as she is a slave, or, as you
+call it, I believe, a chattel, she will be already quite accustomed
+to the treatment which her class are in the habit of receiving from
+Northern hands.”
+
+Without waiting to perceive the effect of her Parthian shot, she swept
+proudly out of the room.
+
+“I wonder what she means,” mused Brant, as her quick step died away in
+the passage. “One thing is certain,--a woman like that is altogether too
+impulsive for a spy.”
+
+Later, in the twilight, he saw her walking in the garden. There was a
+figure at her side. A little curious, he examined it more closely from
+his window. It was already familiar to him,--the erect, shapely form
+of his neighbor's servant. A thoughtful look passed over his face as he
+muttered,--“So this is to be her deputy.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Called to a general council of officers at divisional headquarters the
+next day, Brant had little time for further speculation regarding
+his strange guest, but a remark from the division commander, that he
+preferred to commit the general plan of a movement then under discussion
+to their memories rather than to written orders in the ordinary routine,
+seemed to show that his chief still suspected the existence of a spy.
+He, therefore, told him of his late interview with Miss Faulkner, and
+her probable withdrawal in favor of a mulatto neighbor. The division
+commander received the information with indifference.
+
+“They're much too clever to employ a hussy like that, who shows her
+hand at every turn, either as a spy or a messenger of spies,--and the
+mulattoes are too stupid, to say nothing of their probable fidelity
+to us. No, General, if we are watched, it is by an eagle, and not a
+mocking-bird. Miss Faulkner has nothing worse about her than her tongue;
+and there isn't the nigger blood in the whole South that would risk a
+noose for her, or for any of their masters or mistresses!”
+
+It was, therefore, perhaps, with some mitigation of his usual critical
+severity that he saw her walking before him alone in the lane as he
+rode home to quarters. She was apparently lost in a half-impatient,
+half-moody reverie, which even the trotting hoof-beats of his own and
+his orderly's horse had not disturbed. From time to time she struck the
+myrtle hedge beside her with the head of a large flower which hung
+by its stalk from her listless hands, or held it to her face as if
+to inhale its perfume. Dismissing his orderly by a side path, he rode
+gently forward, but, to his surprise, without turning, or seeming to be
+aware of his presence, she quickened her pace, and even appeared to look
+from side to side for some avenue of escape. If only to mend matters, he
+was obliged to ride quickly forward to her side, where he threw himself
+from his horse, flung the reins on his arm, and began to walk beside
+her. She at first turned a slightly flushed cheek away from him, and
+then looked up with a purely simulated start of surprise.
+
+“I am afraid,” he said gently, “that I am the first to break my own
+orders in regard to any intrusion on your privacy. But I wanted to ask
+you if I could give you any aid whatever in the change you think of
+making.”
+
+He was quite sincere,--had been touched by her manifest disturbance,
+and, despite his masculine relentlessness of criticism, he had an
+intuition of feminine suffering that was in itself feminine.
+
+“Meaning, that you are in a hurry to get rid of me,” she said curtly,
+without raising her eyes.
+
+“Meaning that I only wish to expedite a business which I think is
+unpleasant to you, but which I believe you have undertaken from
+unselfish devotion.”
+
+The scant expression of a reserved nature is sometimes more attractive
+to women than the most fluent vivacity. Possibly there was also a
+melancholy grace in this sardonic soldier's manner that affected her,
+for she looked up, and said impulsively,--
+
+“You think so?”
+
+But he met her eager eyes with some surprise.
+
+“I certainly do,” he replied more coldly. “I can imagine your feelings
+on finding your uncle's home in the possession of your enemies, and your
+presence under the family roof only a sufferance. I can hardly believe
+it a pleasure to you, or a task you would have accepted for yourself
+alone.”
+
+“But,” she said, turning towards him wickedly, “what if I did it only to
+excite my revenge; what if I knew it would give me courage to incite my
+people to carry war into your own homes; to make you of the North feel
+as I feel, and taste our bitterness?”
+
+“I could easily understand that, too,” he returned, with listless
+coldness, “although I don't admit that revenge is an unmixed pleasure,
+even to a woman.”
+
+“A woman!” she repeated indignantly. “There is no sex in a war like
+this.”
+
+“You are spoiling your flower,” he said quietly. “It is very pretty, and
+a native one, too; not an invader, or even transplanted. May I look at
+it?”
+
+She hesitated, half recoiling for an instant, and her hand trembled.
+Then, suddenly and abruptly she said, with a hysteric little laugh,
+“Take it, then,” and almost thrust it in his hand.
+
+It certainly was a pretty flower, not unlike a lily in appearance, with
+a bell-like cup and long anthers covered with a fine pollen, like red
+dust. As he lifted it to his face, to inhale its perfume, she uttered a
+slight cry, and snatched it from his hand.
+
+“There!” she said, with the same nervous laugh. “I knew you would; I
+ought to have warned you. The pollen comes off so easily, and leaves a
+stain. And you've got some on your cheek. Look!” she continued, taking
+her handkerchief from her pocket and wiping his cheek; “see there!” The
+delicate cambric showed a blood-red streak.
+
+“It grows in a swamp,” she continued, in the same excited strain; “we
+call it dragon's teeth,--like the kind that was sown in the story, you
+know. We children used to find it, and then paint our faces and lips
+with it. We called it our rouge. I was almost tempted to try it again
+when I found it just now. It took me back so to the old times.”
+
+Following her odd manner rather than her words, as she turned her face
+towards him suddenly, Brant was inclined to think that she had tried it
+already, so scarlet was her cheek. But it presently paled again under
+his cold scrutiny.
+
+“You must miss the old times,” he said calmly. “I am afraid you found
+very little of them left, except in these flowers.”
+
+“And hardly these,” she said bitterly. “Your troops had found a way
+through the marsh, and had trampled down the bushes.”
+
+Brant's brow clouded. He remembered that the brook, which had run red
+during the fight, had lost itself in this marsh. It did not increase his
+liking for this beautiful but blindly vicious animal at his side, and
+even his momentary pity for her was fading fast. She was incorrigible.
+They walked on for a few moments in silence.
+
+“You said,” she began at last, in a gentler and even hesitating voice,
+“that your wife was a Southern woman.”
+
+He checked an irritated start with difficulty.
+
+“I believe I did,” he said coldly, as if he regretted it.
+
+“And of course you taught her YOUR gospel,--the gospel according to
+St. Lincoln. Oh, I know,” she went on hurriedly, as if conscious of his
+irritation and seeking to allay it. “She was a woman and loved you, and
+thought with your thoughts and saw only with your eyes. Yes, that's the
+way with us,--I suppose we all do it!” she added bitterly.
+
+“She had her own opinions,” said Brant briefly, as he recovered himself.
+
+Nevertheless, his manner so decidedly closed all further discussion that
+there was nothing left for the young girl but silence. But it was broken
+by her in a few moments in her old contemptuous voice and manner.
+
+“Pray don't trouble yourself to accompany me any further, General Brant.
+Unless, of course, you are afraid I may come across some of your--your
+soldiers. I promise you I won't eat them.”
+
+“I am afraid you must suffer my company a little longer, Miss Faulkner,
+on account of those same soldiers,” returned Brant gravely. “You may not
+know that this road, in which I find you, takes you through a cordon
+of pickets. If you were alone you would be stopped, questioned, and,
+failing to give the password, you would be detained, sent to the
+guard-house, and”--he stopped, and fixed his eyes on her keenly as he
+added, “and searched.”
+
+“You would not dare to search a woman!” she said indignantly, although
+her flush gave way to a slight pallor.
+
+“You said just now that there should be no sex in a war like this,”
+ returned Brant carelessly, but without abating his scrutinizing gaze.
+
+“Then it IS war?” she said quickly, with a white, significant face.
+
+His look of scrutiny turned to one of puzzled wonder. But at the same
+moment there was the flash of a bayonet in the hedge, a voice called
+“Halt!” and a soldier stepped into the road.
+
+General Brant advanced, met the salute of the picket with a few formal
+words, and then turned towards his fair companion, as another soldier
+and a sergeant joined the group.
+
+“Miss Faulkner is new to the camp, took the wrong turning, and was
+unwittingly leaving the lines when I joined her.” He fixed his eyes
+intently on her now colorless face, but she did not return his look.
+“You will show her the shortest way to quarters,” he continued, to the
+sergeant, “and should she at any time again lose her way, you will again
+conduct her home,--but without detaining or reporting her.”
+
+He lifted his cap, remounted his horse, and rode away, as the young
+girl, with a proud, indifferent step, moved down the road with the
+sergeant. A mounted officer passed him and saluted,--it was one of his
+own staff. From some strange instinct, he knew that he had witnessed the
+scene, and from some equally strange intuition he was annoyed by it. But
+he continued his way, visiting one or two outposts, and returned by a
+long detour to his quarters. As he stepped upon the veranda he saw Miss
+Faulkner at the bottom of the garden talking with some one across the
+hedge. By the aid of his glass he could recognize the shapely figure
+of the mulatto woman which he had seen before. But by its aid he also
+discovered that she was carrying a flower exactly like the one which
+Miss Faulkner still held in her hand. Had she been with Miss Faulkner in
+the lane, and if so, why had she disappeared when he came up? Impelled
+by something stronger than mere curiosity, he walked quickly down
+the garden, but she evidently had noticed him, for she as quickly
+disappeared. Not caring to meet Miss Faulkner again, he retraced his
+steps, resolving that he would, on the first opportunity, personally
+examine and interrogate this new visitor. For if she were to take Miss
+Faulkner's place in a subordinate capacity, this precaution was clearly
+within his rights.
+
+He re-entered his room and seated himself at his desk before the
+dispatches, orders, and reports awaiting him. He found himself, however,
+working half mechanically, and recurring to his late interview with Miss
+Faulkner in the lane. If she had any inclination to act the spy, or
+to use her position here as a means of communicating with the enemy's
+lines, he thought he had thoroughly frightened her. Nevertheless, now,
+for the first time, he was inclined to accept his chief's opinion of
+her. She was not only too clumsy and inexperienced, but she totally
+lacked the self-restraint of a spy. Her nervous agitation in the lane
+was due to something more disturbing than his mere possible intrusion
+upon her confidences with the mulatto. The significance of her question,
+“Then it IS war?” was at best a threat, and that implied hesitation. He
+recalled her strange allusion to his wife; was it merely the outcome
+of his own foolish confession on their first interview, or was it a
+concealed ironical taunt? Being satisfied, however, that she was not
+likely to imperil his public duty in any way, he was angry with himself
+for speculating further. But, although he still felt towards her the
+same antagonism she had at first provoked, he was conscious that she was
+beginning to exercise a strange fascination over him.
+
+Dismissing her at last with an effort, he finished his work and then
+rose, and unlocking a closet, took out a small dispatch-box, to which
+he intended to intrust a few more important orders and memoranda. As
+he opened it with a key on his watch-chain, he was struck with a faint
+perfume that seemed to come from it,--a perfume that he remembered. Was
+it the smell of the flower that Miss Faulkner carried, or the scent of
+the handkerchief with which she had wiped his cheek, or a mingling of
+both? Or was he under some spell to think of that wretched girl, and her
+witch-like flower? He leaned over the box and suddenly started. Upon
+the outer covering of a dispatch was a singular blood-red streak!
+He examined it closely,--it was the powdery stain of the lily
+pollen,--exactly as he had seen it on her handkerchief.
+
+There could be no mistake. He passed his finger over the stain; he could
+still feel the slippery, infinitesimal powder of the pollen. It was not
+there when he had closed the box that morning; it was impossible that
+it should be there unless the box had been opened in his absence. He
+re-examined the contents of the box; the papers were all there. More
+than that, they were papers of no importance except to him personally;
+contained no plans nor key to any military secret; he had been far too
+wise to intrust any to the accidents of this alien house. The prying
+intruder, whoever it was, had gained nothing! But there was unmistakably
+the attempt! And the existence of a would-be spy within the purlieus of
+the house was equally clear.
+
+He called an officer from the next room.
+
+“Has any one been here since my absence?”
+
+“No, General.”
+
+“Has any one passed through the hall?”
+
+He had fully anticipated the answer, as the subaltern replied, “Only the
+women servants.”
+
+He re-entered the room. Closing the door, he again carefully examined
+the box, his table, the papers upon it, the chair before it, and even
+the Chinese matting on the floor, for any further indication of the
+pollen. It hardly seemed possible that any one could have entered
+the room with the flower in their hand without scattering some of the
+tell-tale dust elsewhere; it was too large a flower to be worn on the
+breast or in the hair. Again, no one would have dared to linger there
+long enough to have made an examination of the box, with an officer in
+the next room, and the sergeant passing. The box had been removed, and
+the examination made elsewhere!
+
+An idea seized him. Miss Faulkner was still absent, the mulatto had
+apparently gone home. He quickly mounted the staircase, but instead of
+entering his room, turned suddenly aside into the wing which had been
+reserved. The first door yielded as he turned its knob gently and
+entered a room which he at once recognized as the “young lady's
+boudoir.” But the dusty and draped furniture had been rearranged and
+uncovered, and the apartment bore every sign of present use. Yet,
+although there was unmistakable evidence of its being used by a person
+of taste and refinement, he was surprised to see that the garments
+hanging in an open press were such as were used by negro servants, and
+that a gaudy handkerchief such as housemaids used for turbans was lying
+on the pretty silk coverlet. He did not linger over these details, but
+cast a rapid glance round the room. Then his eyes became fixed on a
+fanciful writing-desk, which stood by the window. For, in a handsome
+vase placed on its level top, and drooping on a portfolio below, hung a
+cluster of the very flowers that Miss Faulkner had carried!
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+It seemed plain to Brant that the dispatch-box had been conveyed here
+and opened for security on this desk, and in the hurry of examining
+the papers the flower had been jostled and the fallen grains of pollen
+overlooked by the spy. There were one or two freckles of red on the
+desk, which made this accident appear the more probable. But he was
+equally struck by another circumstance. The desk stood immediately
+before the window. As he glanced mechanically from it, he was surprised
+to see that it commanded an extensive view of the slope below the
+eminence on which the house stood, even beyond his furthest line of
+pickets. The vase of flowers, each of which was nearly as large as a
+magnolia blossom, and striking in color, occupied a central position
+before it, and no doubt could be quite distinctly seen from a distance.
+From this circumstance he could not resist the strong impression that
+this fateful and extraordinary blossom, carried by Miss Faulkner and the
+mulatto, and so strikingly “in evidence” at the window, was in some
+way a signal. Obeying an impulse which he was conscious had a half
+superstitious foundation, he carefully lifted the vase from its position
+before the window, and placed it on a side table. Then he cautiously
+slipped from the room.
+
+But he could not easily shake off the perplexity which the occurrence
+had caused, although he was satisfied that it was fraught with no
+military or strategic danger to his command, and that the unknown spy
+had obtained no information whatever. Yet he was forced to admit to
+himself that he was more concerned in his attempts to justify the
+conduct of Miss Faulkner with this later revelation. It was quite
+possible that the dispatch-box had been purloined by some one else
+during her absence from the house, as the presence of the mulatto
+servant in his room would have been less suspicious than hers. There
+was really little evidence to connect Miss Faulkner with the actual
+outrage,--rather might not the real spy have taken advantage of her
+visit here, to throw suspicion upon her? He remembered her singular
+manner,--the strange inconsistency with which she had forced this flower
+upon him. She would hardly have done so had she been conscious of its
+having so serious an import. Yet, what was the secret of her manifest
+agitation? A sudden inspiration flashed across his mind; a smile came
+upon his lips. She was in love! The enemy's line contained some sighing
+Strephon of a young subaltern with whom she was in communication, and
+for whom she had undertaken this quest. The flower was their language of
+correspondence, no doubt. It explained also the young girl's animosity
+against the younger officers,--his adversaries; against himself,--their
+commander. He had previously wondered why, if she were indeed a spy, she
+had not chosen, upon some equally specious order from Washington,
+the headquarters of the division commander, whose secrets were more
+valuable. This was explained by the fact that she was nearer the lines
+and her lover in her present abode. He had no idea that he was making
+excuses for her,--he believed himself only just. The recollection of
+what she had said of the power of love, albeit it had hurt him cruelly
+at the time, was now clearer to him, and even seemed to mitigate her
+offense. She would be here but a day or two longer; he could afford to
+wait without interrogating her.
+
+But as to the real intruder, spy or thief,--that was another affair, and
+quickly settled. He gave an order to the officer of the day peremptorily
+forbidding the entrance of alien servants or slaves within the precincts
+of the headquarters. Any one thus trespassing was to be brought before
+him. The officer looked surprised, he even fancied disappointed. The
+graces of the mulatto woman's figure had evidently not been thrown away
+upon his subalterns.
+
+An hour or two later, when he was mounting his horse for a round of
+inspection, he was surprised to see Miss Faulkner, accompanied by the
+mulatto woman, running hurriedly to the house. He had forgotten his late
+order until he saw the latter halted by the sentries, but the young girl
+came flying on, regardless of her companion. Her skirt was held in one
+hand, her straw hat had fallen back in her flight, and was caught only
+by a ribbon around her swelling throat, and her loosened hair lay in a
+black rippled loop on one shoulder. For an instant Brant thought that
+she was seeking him in indignation at his order, but a second look at
+her set face, eager eyes, and parted scarlet lips, showed him that she
+had not even noticed him in the concentration of her purpose. She swept
+by him into the hall, he heard the swish of her skirt and rapid feet on
+the stairs,--she was gone. What had happened, or was this another of her
+moods?
+
+But he was called to himself by the apparition of a corporal standing
+before him, with the mulatto woman,--the first capture under his order.
+She was tall, well-formed, but unmistakably showing the negro type, even
+in her small features. Her black eyes were excited, but unintelligent;
+her manner dogged, but with the obstinacy of half-conscious stupidity.
+Brant felt not only disappointed, but had a singular impression that she
+was not the same woman that he had first seen. Yet there was the tall,
+graceful figure, the dark profile, and the turbaned head that he had
+once followed down the passage by his room.
+
+Her story was as stupidly simple. She had known “Missy” from a chile!
+She had just traipsed over to see her that afternoon; they were walking
+together when the sojers stopped her. She had never been stopped before,
+even by “the patter rollers.” * Her old massa (Manly) had gib leaf to go
+see Miss Tilly, and hadn't said nuffin about no “orders.”
+
+     * i. e., patrols,--a civic home-guard in the South that kept
+     surveillance of slaves.
+
+More annoyed than he cared to confess, Brant briefly dismissed her with
+a warning. As he cantered down the slope the view of the distant pickets
+recalled the window in the wing, and he turned in his saddle to look at
+it. There it was--the largest and most dominant window in that part of
+the building--and within it, a distinct and vivid object almost filling
+the opening, was the vase of flowers, which he had a few hours ago
+removed, RESTORED TO ITS ORIGINAL POSITION! He smiled. The hurried
+entrance and consternation of Miss Faulkner were now fully explained.
+He had interrupted some impassioned message, perhaps even countermanded
+some affectionate rendezvous beyond the lines. And it seemed to settle
+the fact that it was she who had done the signaling! But would not this
+also make her cognizant of the taking of the dispatch-box? He reflected,
+however, that the room was apparently occupied by the mulatto woman--he
+remembered the calico dresses and turban on the bed--and it was possible
+that Miss Faulkner had only visited it for the purpose of signaling
+to her lover. Although this circumstance did not tend to make his mind
+easier, it was, however, presently diverted by a new arrival and a
+strange recognition.
+
+As he rode through the camp a group of officers congregated before a
+large mess tent appeared to be highly amused by the conversation--half
+monologue and half harangue of a singular-looking individual who stood
+in the centre. He wore a “slouch” hat, to the band of which he had
+imparted a military air by the addition of a gold cord, but the brim was
+caught up at the side in a peculiarly theatrical and highly artificial
+fashion. A heavy cavalry sabre depended from a broad-buckled belt under
+his black frock coat, with the addition of two revolvers--minus their
+holsters--stuck on either side of the buckle, after the style of a stage
+smuggler. A pair of long enameled leather riding boots, with the tops
+turned deeply over, as if they had once done duty for the representative
+of a cavalier, completed his extraordinary equipment. The group were so
+absorbed in him that they did not perceive the approach of their chief
+and his orderly; and Brant, with a sign to the latter, halted only a few
+paces from this central figure. His speech was a singular mingling
+of high-flown and exalted epithets, with inexact pronunciation and
+occasional lapses of Western slang.
+
+“Well, I ain't purtendin' to any stratutegical smartness, and I didn't
+gradooate at West Point as one of those Apocryphal Engineers; I don't
+do much talking about 'flank' movements or 'recognizances in force' or
+'Ekellon skirmishing,' but when it comes down to square Ingin fightin',
+I reckon I kin have my say. There are men who don't know the Army
+Contractor,” he added darkly, “who mebbe have heard of 'Red Jim.' I
+don't mention names, gentlemen, but only the other day a man that
+you all know says to me, 'If I only knew what you do about scoutin' I
+wouldn't be wanting for information as I do.' I ain't goin' to say who
+it was, or break any confidences between gentlemen by saying how many
+stars he had on his shoulder strap; but he was a man who knew what he
+was saying. And I say agin, gentlemen, that the curse of the Northern
+Army is the want of proper scoutin'. What was it caused Bull's
+Run?--Want o' scoutin'. What was it rolled up Pope?--Want o' scoutin'.
+What caused the slaughter at the Wilderness?--Want o' scoutin'--Ingin
+scoutin'! Why, only the other day, gentlemen, I was approached to know
+what I'd take to organize a scoutin' force. And what did I say?--'No,
+General; it ain't because I represent one of the largest Army Beef
+Contracts in this country,' says I. 'It ain't because I belong, so to
+speak, to the “Sinews of War;” but because I'd want about ten thousand
+trained Ingins from the Reservations!' And the regular West Point,
+high-toned, scientific inkybus that weighs so heavily on our army don't
+see it--and won't have it! Then Sherman, he sez to me”--
+
+But here a roar of laughter interrupted him, and in the cross fire of
+sarcastic interrogations that began Brant saw, with relief, a chance
+of escape. For in the voice, manner, and, above all, the characteristic
+temperament of the stranger, he had recognized his old playmate and the
+husband of Susy,--the redoubtable Jim Hooker! There was no mistaking
+that gloomy audacity; that mysterious significance; that magnificent
+lying. But even at that moment Clarence Brant's heart had gone out, with
+all his old loyalty of feeling, towards his old companion. He knew that
+a public recognition of him then and there would plunge Hooker into
+confusion; he felt keenly the ironical plaudits and laughter of his
+officers over the manifest weakness and vanity of the ex-teamster,
+ex-rancher, ex-actor, and husband of his old girl sweetheart, and would
+have spared him the knowledge that he had overheard it. Turning hastily
+to the orderly, he bade him bring the stranger to his headquarters, and
+rode away unperceived.
+
+He had heard enough, however, to account for his presence there, and the
+singular chance that had brought them again together. He was evidently
+one of those large civil contractors of supplies whom the Government was
+obliged to employ, who visited the camp half officially, and whom the
+army alternately depended upon and abused. Brant had dealt with his
+underlings in the Commissariat, and even now remembered that he had
+heard he was coming, but had overlooked the significance of his name.
+But how he came to leave his theatrical profession, how he had attained
+a position which implied a command of considerable capital--for many of
+the contractors had already amassed large fortunes--and what had become
+of Susy and her ambitions in this radical change of circumstances, were
+things still to be learned. In his own changed conditions he had seldom
+thought of her; it was with a strange feeling of irritation and half
+responsibility that he now recalled their last interview and the emotion
+to which he had yielded.
+
+He had not long to wait. He had scarcely regained the quarters at his
+own private office before he heard the step of the orderly upon the
+veranda and the trailing clank of Hooker's sabre. He did not know,
+however, that Hooker, without recognizing his name, had received the
+message as a personal tribute, and had left his sarcastic companions
+triumphantly, with the air of going to a confidential interview, to
+which his well-known military criticism had entitled him. It was with
+a bearing of gloomy importance and his characteristic, sullen, sidelong
+glance that he entered the apartment and did not look up until Brant had
+signaled the orderly to withdraw, and closed the door behind him. And
+then he recognized his old boyish companion--the preferred favorite of
+fortune!
+
+For a moment he gasped with astonishment. For a moment gloomy
+incredulity, suspicion, delight, pride, admiration, even affection,
+struggled for mastery in his sullen, staring eyes and open, twitching
+mouth. For here was Clarence Brant, handsomer than ever, more superior
+than ever, in the majesty of uniform and authority which fitted him--the
+younger man--by reason of his four years of active service, with the
+careless ease and bearing of the veteran! Here was the hero whose name
+was already so famous that the mere coincidence of it with that of the
+modest civilian he had known would have struck him as preposterous.
+Yet here he was--supreme, and dazzling--surrounded by the pomp and
+circumstance of war--into whose reserved presence he, Jim Hooker, had
+been ushered with the formality of challenge, saluting, and presented
+bayonets!
+
+Luckily, Brant had taken advantage of his first gratified ejaculation to
+shake him warmly by the hand, and then, with both hands laid familiarly
+on his shoulder, force him down into a chair. Luckily, for by that time
+Jim Hooker had, with characteristic gloominess, found time to taste the
+pangs of envy--an envy the more keen since, in spite of his success as a
+peaceful contractor, he had always secretly longed for military display
+and distinction. He looked at the man who had achieved it, as he firmly
+believed, by sheer luck and accident, and his eyes darkened. Then,
+with characteristic weakness and vanity, he began to resist his first
+impressions of Clarence's superiority, and to air his own importance.
+He leaned heavily back in the chair in which he had been thus genially
+forced, drew off his gauntlet and attempted to thrust it through his
+belt, as he had seen Brant do, but failed on account of his pistols
+already occupying that position, dropped it, got his sword between
+his legs in attempting to pick it up, and then leaned back again, with
+half-closed eyes serenely indifferent of his old companion's smiling
+face.
+
+“I reckon,” he began slowly, with a slightly patronizing air, “that we'd
+have met, sooner or later, at Washington, or at Grant's headquarters,
+for Hooker, Meacham & Co. go everywhere, and are about as well known as
+major-generals, to say nothin',” he went on, with a sidelong glance at
+Brant's shoulder-straps, “of brigadiers; and it's rather strange--only,
+of course, you're kind of fresh in the service--that you ain't heard of
+me afore.”
+
+“But I'm very glad to hear of you now, Jim,” said Brant, smiling,
+“and from your own lips--which I am also delighted to find,” he added
+mischievously, “are still as frankly communicative on that topic as of
+old. But I congratulate you, old fellow, on your good fortune. When did
+you leave the stage?”
+
+Mr. Hooker frowned slightly.
+
+“I never was really on the stage, you know,” he said, waving his hand
+with assumed negligence. “Only went on to please my wife. Mrs. Hooker
+wouldn't act with vulgar professionals, don't you see! I was really
+manager most of the time, and lessee of the theatre. Went East when
+the war broke out, to offer my sword and knowledge of Ingin fightin' to
+Uncle Sam! Drifted into a big pork contract at St. Louis, with Fremont.
+Been at it ever since. Offered a commission in the reg'lar service lots
+o' times. Refused.”
+
+“Why?” asked Brant demurely.
+
+“Too much West Point starch around to suit ME,” returned Hooker darkly.
+“And too many spies!”
+
+“Spies?” echoed Brant abstractedly, with a momentary reminiscence of
+Miss Faulkner.
+
+“Yes, spies,” continued Hooker, with dogged mystery. “One half of
+Washington is watching t'other half, and, from the President's wife
+down, most of the women are secesh!”
+
+Brant suddenly fixed his keen eyes on his guest. But the next moment he
+reflected that this was only Jim Hooker's usual speech, and possessed no
+ulterior significance. He smiled again, and said, more gently,--
+
+“And how is Mrs. Hooker?”
+
+Mr. Hooker fixed his eyes on the ceiling, rose, and pretended to look
+out of the window; then, taking his seat again by the table, as if
+fronting an imaginary audience, and pulling slowly at his gauntlets
+after the usual theatrical indication of perfect sangfroid, said,--
+
+“There ain't any!”
+
+“Good heavens!” said Brant, with genuine emotion. “I beg your pardon.
+Really, I”--
+
+“Mrs. Hooker and me are divorced,” continued Hooker, slightly changing
+his attitude, and leaning heavily on his sabre, with his eyes still on
+his fanciful audience. “There was, you understand”--lightly tossing his
+gauntlet aside--“incompatibility of temper--and--we--parted! Ha!”
+
+He uttered a low, bitter, scornful laugh, which, however, produced the
+distinct impression in Brant's mind that up to that moment he had never
+had the slightest feeling in the matter whatever.
+
+“You seemed to be on such good terms with each other!” murmured Brant
+vaguely.
+
+“Seemed!” said Hooker bitterly, glancing sardonically at an ideal second
+row in the pit before him, “yes--seemed! There were other differences,
+social and political. You understand that; you have suffered, too.” He
+reached out his hand and pressed Brant's, in heavy effusiveness. “But,”
+ he continued haughtily, lightly tossing his glove again, “we are also
+men of the world; we let that pass.”
+
+And it was possible that he found the strain of his present attitude too
+great, for he changed to an easier position.
+
+“But,” said Brant curiously, “I always thought that Mrs. Hooker was
+intensely Union and Northern?”
+
+“Put on!” said Hooker, in his natural voice.
+
+“But you remember the incident of the flag?” persisted Brant.
+
+“Mrs. Hooker was always an actress,” said Hooker significantly.
+“But,” he added cheerfully, “Mrs. Hooker is now the wife of Senator
+Boompointer, one of the wealthiest and most powerful Republicans in
+Washington--carries the patronage of the whole West in his vest pocket.”
+
+“Yet, if she is not a Republican, why did she”--began Brant.
+
+“For a purpose,” replied Hooker darkly. “But,” he added again, with
+greater cheerfulness, “she belongs to the very elite of Washington
+society. Goes to all the foreign ambassadors' balls, and is a power
+at the White House. Her picture is in all the first-class illustrated
+papers.”
+
+The singular but unmistakable pride of the man in the importance of the
+wife from whom he was divorced, and for whom he did not care, would have
+offended Brant's delicacy, or at least have excited his ridicule, but
+for the reason that he was more deeply stung by Hooker's allusion to his
+own wife and his degrading similitude of their two conditions. But he
+dismissed the former as part of Hooker's invincible and still boyish
+extravagance, and the latter as part of his equally characteristic
+assumption. Perhaps he was conscious, too, notwithstanding the lapse
+of years and the condonation of separation and forgetfulness, that he
+deserved little delicacy from the hands of Susy's husband. Nevertheless,
+he dreaded to hear him speak again of her; and the fear was realized in
+a question.
+
+“Does she know you are here?”
+
+“Who?” said Brant curtly.
+
+“Your wife. That is--I reckon she's your wife still, eh?”
+
+“Yes; but I do not know what she knows,” returned Brant quietly. He had
+regained his self-composure.
+
+“Susy,--Mrs. Senator Boompointer, that is,”--said Hooker, with an
+apparent dignity in his late wife's new title, “allowed that she'd gone
+abroad on a secret mission from the Southern Confederacy to them crowned
+heads over there. She was good at ropin' men in, you know. Anyhow, Susy,
+afore she was Mrs. Boompointer, was dead set on findin' out where she
+was, but never could. She seemed to drop out of sight a year ago. Some
+said one thing, and some said another. But you can bet your bottom
+dollar that Mrs. Senator Boompointer, who knows how to pull all the
+wires in Washington, will know, if any one does.”
+
+“But is Mrs. Boompointer really disaffected, and a Southern
+sympathizer?” said Brant, “or is it only caprice or fashion?”
+
+While speaking he had risen, with a half-abstracted face, and had gone
+to the window, where he stood in a listening attitude. Presently he
+opened the window, and stepped outside. Hooker wonderingly followed him.
+One or two officers had already stepped out of their rooms, and were
+standing upon the veranda; another had halted in the path. Then one
+quickly re-entered the house, reappeared with his cap and sword in his
+hand, and ran lightly toward the guard-house. A slight crackling noise
+seemed to come from beyond the garden wall.
+
+“What's up?” said Hooker, with staring eyes.
+
+“Picket firing!”
+
+The crackling suddenly became a long rattle. Brant re-entered the room,
+and picked up his hat.
+
+“You'll excuse me for a few moments.”
+
+A faint sound, soft yet full, and not unlike a bursting bubble, made the
+house appear to leap elastically, like the rebound of a rubber ball.
+
+“What's that?” gasped Hooker.
+
+“Cannon, out of range!”
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+In another instant bugles were ringing through the camp, with the
+hurrying hoofs of mounted officers and the trampling of forming men. The
+house itself was almost deserted. Although the single cannon-shot had
+been enough to show that it was no mere skirmishing of pickets, Brant
+still did not believe in any serious attack of the enemy. His position,
+as in the previous engagement, had no strategic importance to them; they
+were no doubt only making a feint against it to conceal some advance
+upon the centre of the army two miles away. Satisfied that he was in
+easy supporting distance of his division commander, he extended his line
+along the ridge, ready to fall back in that direction, while retarding
+their advance and masking the position of his own chief. He gave a few
+orders necessary to the probable abandonment of the house, and then
+returned to it. Shot and shell were already dropping in the field below.
+A thin ridge of blue haze showed the line of skirmish fire. A small
+conical, white cloud, like a bursting cotton-pod, revealed an open
+battery in the willow-fringed meadow. Yet the pastoral peacefulness
+of the house was unchanged. The afternoon sun lay softly on its deep
+verandas; the pot pourri incense of fallen rose-leaves haunted it still.
+
+He entered his room through the French window on the veranda, when the
+door leading from the passage was suddenly flung open, and Miss Faulkner
+swept quickly inside, closed the door behind her, and leaned back
+against it, panting and breathless.
+
+Clarence was startled, and for a moment ashamed. He had suddenly
+realized that in the excitement he had entirely forgotten her and
+the dangers to which she might be exposed. She had probably heard the
+firing, her womanly fears had been awakened; she had come to him for
+protection. But as he turned towards her with a reassuring smile, he
+was shocked to see that her agitation and pallor were far beyond any
+physical cause. She motioned him desperately to shut the window by which
+he had entered, and said, with white lips,--
+
+“I must speak with you alone!”
+
+“Certainly. But there is no immediate danger to you even here--and I can
+soon put you beyond the reach of any possible harm.”
+
+“Harm--to me! God! if it were only that!”
+
+He stared at her uneasily.
+
+“Listen,” she said gaspingly, “listen to me! Then hate, despise me--kill
+me if you will. For you are betrayed and ruined--cut off and surrounded!
+It has been helped on by me, but I swear to you the blow did not come
+from MY hand. I would have saved you. God only knows how it happened--it
+was Fate!”
+
+In an instant Brant saw the whole truth instinctively and clearly. But
+with the revelation came the usual calmness and perfect self-possession
+which never yet had failed him in any emergency. With the sound of the
+increasing cannonade and its shifting position made clearer to his ears,
+the view of his whole threatened position spread out like a map before
+his eyes, the swift calculation of the time his men could hold the ridge
+in his mind--even a hurried estimate of the precious moments he could
+give to the wretched woman before him--he even then, gravely and gently,
+led her to a chair and said in a calm voice,--
+
+“That is not enough! Speak slowly, plainly. I must know everything. How
+and in what way have you betrayed me?”
+
+She looked at him imploringly--reassured, yet awed by his gentleness.
+
+“You won't believe me; you cannot believe me! for I do not even know.
+I have taken and exchanged letters--whose contents I never saw--between
+the Confederates and a spy who comes to this house, but who is far
+away by this time. I did it because I thought you hated and despised me
+because I thought it was my duty to help my cause--because you said it
+was 'war' between us--but I never spied on you. I swear it.”
+
+“Then how do you know of this attack?” he said calmly.
+
+She brightened, half timidly, half hopefully.
+
+“There is a window in the wing of this house that overlooks the slope
+near the Confederate lines. There was a signal placed in it--not by
+me--but I know it meant that as long as it was there the plot, whatever
+it was, was not ripe, and that no attack would be made on you as long as
+it was visible. That much I know,--that much the spy had to tell me, for
+we both had to guard that room in turns. I wanted to keep this dreadful
+thing off--until”--her voice trembled, “until,” she added hurriedly,
+seeing his calm eyes were reading her very soul, “until I went away--and
+for that purpose I withheld some of the letters that were given me. But
+this morning, while I was away from the house, I looked back and saw
+that the signal was no longer there. Some one had changed it. I ran
+back, but I was too late--God help me!--as you see.”
+
+The truth flashed upon Brant. It was his own hand that had precipitated
+the attack. But a larger truth came to him now, like a dazzling
+inspiration. If he had thus precipitated the attack before they were
+ready, there was a chance that it was imperfect, and there was still
+hope. But there was no trace of this visible in his face as he fixed his
+eyes calmly on hers, although his pulses were halting in expectancy as
+he said--
+
+“Then the spy had suspected you, and changed it.”
+
+“Oh, no,” she said eagerly, “for the spy was with me and was frightened
+too. We both ran back together--you remember--she was stopped by the
+patrol!”
+
+She checked herself suddenly, but too late. Her cheeks blazed, her
+head sank, with the foolish identification of the spy into which her
+eagerness had betrayed her.
+
+But Brant appeared not to notice it. He was, in fact, puzzling his
+brain to conceive what information the stupid mulatto woman could
+have obtained here. His strength, his position was no secret to the
+enemy--there was nothing to gain from him. She must have been, like the
+trembling, eager woman before him, a mere tool of others.
+
+“Did this woman live here?” he said.
+
+“No,” she said. “She lived with the Manlys, but had friends whom she
+visited at your general's headquarters.”
+
+With difficulty Brant suppressed a start. It was clear to him now. The
+information had been obtained at the division headquarters, and passed
+through his camp as being nearest the Confederate lines. But what was
+the information--and what movement had he precipitated? It was clear
+that this woman did not know. He looked at her keenly. A sudden
+explosion shook the house,--a drift of smoke passed the window,--a shell
+had burst in the garden.
+
+She had been gazing at him despairingly, wistfully--but did not blanch
+or start.
+
+An idea took possession of him. He approached her, and took her cold
+hand. A half-smile parted her pale lips.
+
+“You have courage--you have devotion,” he said gravely. “I believe you
+regret the step you have taken. If you could undo what you have done,
+even at peril to yourself, dare you do it?”
+
+“Yes,” she said breathlessly.
+
+“You are known to the enemy. If I am surrounded, you could pass through
+their lines unquestioned?”
+
+“Yes,” she said eagerly.
+
+“A note from me would pass you again through the pickets of our
+headquarters. But you would bear a note to the general that no eyes but
+his must see. It would not implicate you or yours; would only be a word
+of warning.”
+
+“And you,” she said quickly, “would be saved! They would come to your
+assistance! You would not then be taken?”
+
+He smiled gently.
+
+“Perhaps--who knows!”
+
+He sat down and wrote hurriedly.
+
+“This,” he said, handing her a slip of paper, “is a pass. You will use
+it beyond your own lines. This note,” he continued, handing her a
+sealed envelope, “is for the general. No one else must see it or know of
+it--not even your lover, should you meet him!”
+
+“My lover!” she said indignantly, with a flash of her old savagery;
+“what do you mean? I have no lover!”
+
+Brant glanced at her flushed face.
+
+“I thought,” he said quietly, “that there was some one you cared for in
+yonder lines--some one you wrote to. It would have been an excuse”--
+
+He stopped, as her face paled again, and her hands dropped heavily at
+her side.
+
+“Good God!--you thought that, too! You thought that I would sacrifice
+you for another man!”
+
+“Pardon me,” said Brant quickly. “I was foolish. But whether your
+lover is a man or a cause, you have shown a woman's devotion. And, in
+repairing your fault, you are showing more than a woman's courage now.”
+
+To his surprise, the color had again mounted her pretty cheeks, and even
+a flash of mischief shone in her blue eyes.
+
+“It would have been an excuse,” she murmured, “yes--to save a man,
+surely!” Then she said quickly, “I will go. At once! I am ready!”
+
+“One moment,” he said gravely. “Although this pass and an escort insure
+your probable safe conduct, this is 'war' and danger! You are still a
+spy! Are you ready to go?”
+
+“I am,” she said proudly, tossing back a braid of her fallen hair. Yet
+a moment after she hesitated. Then she said, in a lower voice, “Are you
+ready to forgive?”
+
+“In either case,” he said, touched by her manner; “and God speed you!”
+
+He extended his hand, and left a slight pressure on her cold fingers.
+But they slipped quickly from his grasp, and she turned away with a
+heightened color.
+
+He stepped to the door. One or two aides-de-camp, withheld by his order
+against intrusion, were waiting eagerly with reports. The horse of a
+mounted field officer was pawing the garden turf. The officers stared at
+the young girl.
+
+“Take Miss Faulkner, with a flag, to some safe point of the enemy's
+line. She is a non-combatant of their own, and will receive their
+protection.”
+
+He had scarcely exchanged a dozen words with the aides-de-camp before
+the field officer hurriedly entered. Taking Brant aside, he said
+quickly,--
+
+“Pardon me, General; but there is a strong feeling among the men that
+this attack is the result of some information obtained by the enemy.
+You must know that the woman you have just given a safeguard to is
+suspected, and the men are indignant.”
+
+“The more reason why she should be conveyed beyond any consequences of
+their folly, Major,” said Brant frigidly, “and I look to you for her
+safe convoy. There is nothing in this attack to show that the enemy has
+received any information regarding us. But I would suggest that it would
+be better to see that my orders are carried out regarding the slaves and
+non-combatants who are passing our lines from divisional headquarters,
+where valuable information may be obtained, than in the surveillance of
+a testy and outspoken girl.”
+
+An angry flush crossed the major's cheek as he saluted and fell back,
+and Brant turned to the aide-de-camp. The news was grave. The column
+of the enemy was moving against the ridge--it was no longer possible
+to hold it--and the brigade was cut off from its communication with the
+divisional headquarters, although as yet no combined movement was made
+against it. Brant's secret fears that it was an intended impact against
+the centre were confirmed. Would his communication to the divisional
+commander pass through the attacking column in time?
+
+Yet one thing puzzled him. The enemy, after forcing his flank, had shown
+no disposition, even with their overwhelming force, to turn aside and
+crush him. He could easily have fallen back, when it was possible to
+hold the ridge no longer, without pursuit. His other flank and rear were
+not threatened, as they might have been, by the division of so large an
+attacking column, which was moving steadily on towards the ridge. It was
+this fact that seemed to show a failure or imperfection in the enemy's
+plan. It was possible that his precipitation of the attack by the
+changed signal had been the cause of it. Doubtless some provision had
+been made to attack him in flank and rear, but in the unexpected hurry
+of the onset it had to be abandoned. He could still save himself, as his
+officers knew; but his conviction that he might yet be able to support
+his divisional commander by holding his position doggedly, but coolly
+awaiting his opportunity, was strong. More than that, it was his
+temperament and instinct.
+
+Harrying them in flank and rear, contesting the ground inch by inch,
+and holding his own against the artillery sent to dislodge him, or the
+outriding cavalry that, circling round, swept through his open ranks, he
+saw his files melt away beside this steady current without flinching.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Yet all along the fateful ridge--now obscured and confused with
+thin crossing smoke-drifts from file-firing, like partly rubbed-out
+slate-pencil marks; or else, when cleared of those drifts, presenting
+only an indistinguishable map of zigzag lines of straggling wagons and
+horses, unintelligible to any eye but his--the singular magnetism of the
+chief was felt everywhere: whether it was shown in the quick closing
+in of resistance to some sharper onset of the enemy or the more dogged
+stand of inaction under fire, his power was always dominant. A word
+or two of comprehensive direction sent through an aide-de-camp, or the
+sudden relief of his dark, watchful, composed face uplifted above a
+line of bayonets, never failed in their magic. Like all born leaders,
+he seemed in these emergencies to hold a charmed life--infecting his
+followers with a like disbelief in death; men dropped to right and left
+of him with serene assurance in their ghastly faces or a cry of life and
+confidence in their last gasp. Stragglers fell in and closed up
+under his passing glance; a hopeless, inextricable wrangle around an
+overturned caisson, at a turn of the road, resolved itself into an
+orderly, quiet, deliberate clearing away of the impediment before the
+significant waiting of that dark, silent horseman.
+
+Yet under this imperturbable mask he was keenly conscious of everything;
+in that apparent concentration there was a sharpening of all his senses
+and his impressibility: he saw the first trace of doubt or alarm in the
+face of a subaltern to whom he was giving an order; the first touch of
+sluggishness in a re-forming line; the more significant clumsiness of
+a living evolution that he knew was clogged by the dead bodies of
+comrades; the ominous silence of a breastwork; the awful inertia of some
+rigidly kneeling files beyond, which still kept their form but never
+would move again; the melting away of skirmish points; the sudden gaps
+here and there; the sickening incurving of what a moment before had been
+a straight line--all these he saw in all their fatal significance. But
+even at this moment, coming upon a hasty barricade of overset commissary
+wagons, he stopped to glance at a familiar figure he had seen but
+an hour ago, who now seemed to be commanding a group of collected
+stragglers and camp followers. Mounted on a wheel, with a revolver in
+each hand and a bowie knife between his teeth--theatrical even in his
+paroxysm of undoubted courage--glared Jim Hooker. And Clarence Brant,
+with the whole responsibility of the field on his shoulders, even at
+that desperate moment, found himself recalling a vivid picture of the
+actor Hooker personating the character of “Red Dick” in “Rosalie, the
+Prairie Flower,” as he had seen him in a California theatre five years
+before.
+
+It wanted still an hour of the darkness that would probably close the
+fight of that day. Could he hold out, keeping his offensive position so
+long? A hasty council with his officers showed him that the weakness
+of their position had already infected them. They reminded him that
+his line of retreat was still open--that in the course of the night the
+enemy, although still pressing towards the division centre, might yet
+turn and outflank him--or that their strangely delayed supports might
+come up before morning. Brant's glass, however, remained fixed on the
+main column, still pursuing its way along the ridge. It struck him
+suddenly, however, that the steady current had stopped, spread out along
+the crest on both sides, and was now at right angles with its previous
+course. There had been a check! The next moment the thunder of guns
+along the whole horizon, and the rising cloud of smoke, revealed a
+line of battle. The division centre was engaged. The opportunity he had
+longed for had come--the desperate chance to throw himself on their rear
+and cut his way through to the division--but it had come too late! He
+looked at his shattered ranks--scarce a regiment remained. Even as
+a demonstration, the attack would fail against the enemy's superior
+numbers. Nothing clearly was left to him now but to remain where he
+was--within supporting distance, and await the issue of the fight
+beyond. He was putting up his glass, when the dull boom of cannon in
+the extreme western limit of the horizon attracted his attention. By the
+still gleaming sky he could see a long gray line stealing up from
+the valley from the distant rear of the headquarters to join the main
+column. They were the missing supports! His heart leaped. He held the
+key of the mystery now. The one imperfect detail of the enemy's plan was
+before him. The supports, coming later from the west, had only seen
+the second signal from the window--when Miss Faulkner had replaced
+the vase--and had avoided his position. It was impossible to limit the
+effect of this blunder. If the young girl who had thus saved him had
+reached the division commander with his message in time, he might
+be forewarned, and even profit by it. His own position would be less
+precarious, as the enemy, already engaged in front, would be unable to
+recover their position in the rear and correct the blunder. The bulk
+of their column had already streamed past him. If defeated, there
+was always the danger that it might be rolled back upon him--but he
+conjectured that the division commander would attempt to prevent the
+junction of the supports with the main column by breaking between them,
+crowding them from the ridge, and joining him. As the last stragglers
+of the rear guard swept by, Brant's bugles were already recalling the
+skirmishers. He redoubled his pickets, and resolved to wait and watch.
+
+And there was the more painful duty of looking after the wounded and the
+dead. The larger rooms of the headquarters had already been used as a
+hospital. Passing from cot to cot, recognizing in the faces now drawn
+with agony, or staring in vacant unconsciousness, the features that he
+had seen only a few hours before flushed with enthusiasm and excitement,
+something of his old doubting, questioning nature returned. Was there
+no way but this? How far was HE--moving among them unscathed and
+uninjured--responsible?
+
+And if not he--who then? His mind went back bitterly to the old days of
+the conspiracy--to the inception of that struggle which was bearing
+such ghastly fruit. He thought of his traitorous wife, until he felt
+his cheeks tingle, and he was fain to avert his eyes from those of his
+prostrate comrades, in a strange fear that, with the clairvoyance of
+dying men, they should read his secret.
+
+It was past midnight when, without undressing, he threw himself upon his
+bed in the little convent-like cell to snatch a few moments of sleep.
+Its spotless, peaceful walls and draperies affected him strangely, as if
+he had brought into its immaculate serenity the sanguine stain of war.
+He was awakened suddenly from a deep slumber by an indefinite sense
+of alarm. His first thought was that he had been summoned to repel
+an attack. He sat up and listened; everything was silent except the
+measured tread of the sentry on the gravel walk below. But the door was
+open. He sprang to his feet and slipped into the gallery in time to see
+the tall figure of a woman glide before the last moonlit window at its
+farthest end. He could not see her face--but the characteristic turbaned
+head of the negro race was plainly visible.
+
+He did not care to follow her or even to alarm the guard. If it were the
+spy or one of her emissaries, she was powerless now to do any harm, and
+under his late orders and the rigorous vigilance of his sentinels she
+could not leave the lines--or, indeed, the house. She probably knew
+this as well as he did; it was, therefore, no doubt only an accidental
+intrusion of one of the servants. He re-entered the room, and stood for
+a few moments by the window, looking over the moonlit ridge. The sounds
+of distant cannon had long since ceased. Wide awake, and refreshed by
+the keen morning air, which alone of all created things seemed to have
+shaken the burden of the dreadful yesterday from its dewy wings, he
+turned away and lit a candle on the table. As he was rebuckling his
+sword belt he saw a piece of paper lying on the foot of the bed from
+which he had just risen. Taking it to the candle, he read in a roughly
+scrawled hand:
+
+“You are asleep when you should be on the march. You have no time to
+lose. Before daybreak the supports of the column you have been foolishly
+resisting will be upon you.--From one who would save YOU, but hates your
+cause.”
+
+A smile of scorn passed his lips. The handwriting was unknown and
+evidently disguised. The purport of the message had not alarmed him; but
+suddenly a suspicion flashed upon him--that it came from Miss Faulkner!
+She had failed in her attempt to pass through the enemy's lines--or she
+had never tried to. She had deceived him--or had thought better of her
+chivalrous impulse, and now sought to mitigate her second treachery by
+this second warning. And he had let her messenger escape him!
+
+He hurriedly descended the stairs. The sound of voices was approaching
+him. He halted, and recognized the faces of the brigade surgeon and one
+of his aides-de-camp.
+
+“We were hesitating whether to disturb you, general, but it may be an
+affair of some importance. Under your orders a negro woman was just
+now challenged stealing out of the lines. Attempting to escape, she was
+chased, there was a struggle and scramble over the wall, and she fell,
+striking her head. She was brought into the guardhouse unconscious.”
+
+“Very good. I will see her,” said Brant, with a feeling of relief.
+
+“One moment, general. We thought you would perhaps prefer to see her
+alone,” said the surgeon, “for when I endeavored to bring her to, and
+was sponging her face and head to discover her injuries, her color came
+off! She was a white woman--stained and disguised as a mulatto.”
+
+For an instant Brant's heart sank. It was Miss Faulkner.
+
+“Did you recognize her?” he said, glancing from the one to the other.
+“Have you seen her here before?”
+
+“No, sir,” replied the aide-de-camp. “But she seemed to be quite a
+superior woman--a lady, I should say.”
+
+Brant breathed more freely.
+
+“Where is she now?” he asked.
+
+“In the guardhouse. We thought it better not to bring her into hospital,
+among the men, until we had your orders.”
+
+“You have done well,” returned Brant gravely. “And you will keep this to
+yourselves for the present; but see that she is brought here quietly and
+with as little publicity as possible. Put her in my room above, which I
+give up to her and any necessary attendant. But you will look carefully
+after her, doctor,”--he turned to the surgeon,--“and when she recovers
+consciousness let me know.”
+
+He moved away. Although attaching little importance to the mysterious
+message, whether sent by Miss Faulkner or emanating from the stranger
+herself, which, he reasoned, was based only upon a knowledge of the
+original plan of attack, he nevertheless quickly dispatched a small
+scouting party in the direction from which the attack might come, with
+orders to fall back and report at once. With a certain half irony of
+recollection he had selected Jim Hooker to accompany the party as a
+volunteer. This done, he returned to the gallery. The surgeon met him at
+the door.
+
+“The indications of concussion are passing away,” he said, “but she
+seems to be suffering from the exhaustion following some great nervous
+excitement. You may go in--she may rally from it at any moment.”
+
+With the artificial step and mysterious hush of the ordinary visitor to
+a sick bed, Brant entered the room. But some instinct greater than this
+common expression of humanity held him suddenly in awe. The room seemed
+no longer his--it had slipped back into that austere conventual privacy
+which had first impressed him. Yet he hesitated; another strange
+suggestion--it seemed almost a vague recollection--overcame him like
+some lingering perfume, far off and pathetic, in its dying familiarity.
+He turned his eyes almost timidly towards the bed. The coverlet was
+drawn up near the throat of the figure to replace the striped cotton
+gown stained with blood and dust, which had been hurriedly torn off
+and thrown on a chair. The pale face, cleansed of blood and disguising
+color, the long hair, still damp from the surgeon's sponge, lay rigidly
+back on the pillow. Suddenly this man of steady nerve uttered a faint
+cry, and, with a face as white as the upturned one before him, fell on
+his knees beside the bed. For the face that lay there was his wife's!
+
+Yes, hers! But the beautiful hair that she had gloried in--the hair that
+in his youth he had thought had once fallen like a benediction on his
+shoulder--was streaked with gray along the blue-veined hollows of the
+temples; the orbits of those clear eyes, beneath their delicately arched
+brows, were ringed with days of suffering; only the clear-cut profile,
+even to the delicate imperiousness of lips and nostril, was still there
+in all its beauty. The coverlet had slipped from her shoulder; its
+familiar cold contour startled him. He remembered how, in their early
+married days, he had felt the sanctity of that Diana-like revelation,
+and the still nymph-like austerity which clung to this strange,
+childless woman. He even fancied that he breathed again the subtle
+characteristic perfume of the laces, embroideries, and delicate
+enwrappings in her chamber at Robles. Perhaps it was the intensity of
+his gaze--perhaps it was the magnetism of his presence--but her lips
+parted with a half sigh, half moan. Her head, although her eyes were
+still closed, turned on the pillow instinctively towards him. He rose
+from his knees. Her eyes opened slowly. As the first glare of wonderment
+cleared from them, they met him--in the old antagonism of spirit. Yet
+her first gesture was a pathetic feminine movement with both hands to
+arrange her straggling hair. It brought her white fingers, cleaned
+of their disguising stains, as a sudden revelation to her of what had
+happened; she instantly slipped them back under the coverlet again.
+Brant did not speak, but with folded arms stood gazing upon her. And it
+was her voice that first broke the silence.
+
+“You have recognized me? Well, I suppose you know all,” she said, with a
+weak half-defiance.
+
+He bowed his head. He felt as yet he could not trust his voice, and
+envied her her own.
+
+“I may sit up, mayn't I?” She managed, by sheer force of will, to
+struggle to a sitting posture. Then, as the coverlet slipped from the
+bare shoulder, she said, as she drew it, with a shiver of disgust,
+around her again,--
+
+“I forgot that you strip women, you Northern soldiers! But I forgot,
+too,” she added, with a sarcastic smile, “that you are also my husband,
+and I am in your room.”
+
+The contemptuous significance of her speech dispelled the last lingering
+remnant of Brant's dream. In a voice as dry as her own, he said,--
+
+“I am afraid you will now have to remember only that I am a Northern
+general, and you a Southern spy.”
+
+“So be it,” she said gravely. Then impulsively, “But I have not spied on
+YOU.”
+
+Yet, the next moment, she bit her lips as if the expression had
+unwittingly escaped her; and with a reckless shrug of her shoulders she
+lay back on her pillow.
+
+“It matters not,” said Brant coldly. “You have used this house and those
+within it to forward your designs. It is not your fault that you found
+nothing in the dispatch-box you opened.”
+
+She stared at him quickly; then shrugged her shoulders again.
+
+“I might have known she was false to me,” she said bitterly, “and that
+you would wheedle her soul away as you have others. Well, she betrayed
+me! For what?”
+
+A flush passed over Brant's face. But with an effort he contained
+himself.
+
+“It was the flower that betrayed you! The flower whose red dust fell in
+the box when you opened it on the desk by the window in yonder room--the
+flower that stood in the window as a signal--the flower I myself
+removed, and so spoiled the miserable plot that your friends concocted.”
+
+A look of mingled terror and awe came into her face.
+
+“YOU changed the signal!” she repeated dazedly; then, in a lower
+voice, “that accounts for it all!” But the next moment she turned
+again fiercely upon him. “And you mean to tell me that she didn't help
+you--that she didn't sell me--your wife--to you for--for what was it? A
+look--a kiss!”
+
+“I mean to say that she did not know the signal was changed, and that
+she herself restored it to its place. It is no fault of hers nor yours
+that I am not here a prisoner.”
+
+She passed her thin hand dazedly across her forehead.
+
+“I see,” she muttered. Then again bursting out passionately, she
+said--“Fool! you never would have been touched! Do you think that Lee
+would have gone for you, with higher game in your division commander?
+No! Those supports were a feint to draw him to your assistance while our
+main column broke his centre. Yes, you may stare at me, Clarence Brant.
+You are a good lawyer--they say a dashing fighter, too. I never thought
+you a coward, even in your irresolution; but you are fighting with men
+drilled in the art of war and strategy when you were a boy outcast on
+the plains.” She stopped, closed her eyes, and then added, wearily--“But
+that was yesterday--to-day, who knows? All may be changed. The supports
+may still attack you. That was why I stopped to write you that note an
+hour ago, when I believed I should be leaving here for ever. Yes, I did
+it!” she went on, with half-wearied, half-dogged determination. “You may
+as well know all. I had arranged to fly. Your pickets were to be drawn
+by friends of mine, who were waiting for me beyond your lines. Well, I
+lingered here when I saw you arrive--lingered to write you that note.
+And--I was too late!”
+
+But Brant had been watching her varying expression, her kindling
+eye, her strange masculine grasp of military knowledge, her soldierly
+phraseology, all so new to her, that he scarcely heeded the feminine
+ending of her speech. It seemed to him no longer the Diana of his
+youthful fancy, but some Pallas Athene, who now looked up at him from
+the pillow. He had never before fully believed in her unselfish devotion
+to the cause until now, when it seemed to have almost unsexed her. In
+his wildest comprehension of her he had never dreamed her a Joan of Arc,
+and yet hers was the face which might have confronted him, exalted and
+inspired, on the battlefield itself. He recalled himself with an effort.
+
+“I thank you for your would-be warning,” he said more gently, if not
+so tenderly, “and God knows I wish your flight had been successful. But
+even your warning is unnecessary, for the supports had already come up;
+they had followed the second signal, and diverged to engage our division
+on the left, leaving me alone. And their ruse of drawing our commander
+to assist me would not have been successful, as I had suspected it, and
+sent a message to him that I wanted no help.”
+
+It was the truth; it was the sole purport of the note he had sent
+through Miss Faulkner. He would not have disclosed his sacrifice; but so
+great was the strange domination of this woman still over him, that he
+felt compelled to assert his superiority. She fixed her eyes upon him.
+
+“And Miss Faulkner took your message?” she said slowly. “Don't deny it!
+No one else could have passed through our lines; and you gave her a
+safe conduct through yours. Yes, I might have known it. And this was the
+creature they sent me for an ally and confidant!”
+
+For an instant Brant felt the sting of this enforced contrast between
+the two women. But he only said,--
+
+“You forget that I did not know you were the spy, nor do I believe that
+she suspected you were my wife.”
+
+“Why should she?” she said almost fiercely. “I am known among these
+people only by the name of Benham---my maiden name. Yes!--you can take
+me out, and shoot me under that name, without disgracing yours. Nobody
+will know that the Southern spy was the wife of the Northern general!
+You see, I have thought even of that!”
+
+“And thinking of that,” said Brant slowly, “you have put yourself--I
+will not say in my power, for you are in the power of any man in this
+camp who may know you, or even hear you speak. Well, let us understand
+each other plainly. I do not know how great a sacrifice your devotion to
+your cause demands of you; I do know what it seems to demand of me. Hear
+me, then! I will do my best to protect you, and get you safely away from
+here; but, failing that, I tell you plainly that I shall blow out your
+brains and my own together.”
+
+She knew that he would do it. Yet her eyes suddenly beamed with a
+new and awakening light; she put back her hair again, and half raised
+herself upon the pillow, to gaze at his dark, set face.
+
+“And as I shall let no other life but ours be periled in this affair,”
+ he went on quietly, “and will accompany you myself in some disguise
+beyond the lines, we will together take the risks--or the bullets of the
+sentries that may save us both all further trouble. An hour or two more
+will settle that. Until then your weak condition will excuse you from
+any disturbance or intrusion here. The mulatto woman you have sometimes
+personated may be still in this house; I will appoint her to attend
+you. I suppose you can trust her, for you must personate her again, and
+escape in her clothes, while she takes your place in this room as my
+prisoner.”
+
+“Clarence!”
+
+Her voice had changed suddenly; it was no longer bitter and stridulous,
+but low and thrilling as he had heard her call to him that night in the
+patio of Robles. He turned quickly. She was leaning from the bed--her
+thin, white hands stretched appealingly towards him.
+
+“Let us go together, Clarence,” she said eagerly. “Let us leave this
+horrible place--these wicked, cruel people--forever. Come with me! Come
+with me to my people--to my own faith--to my own house--which shall be
+yours! Come with me to defend it with your good sword, Clarence, against
+those vile invaders with whom you have nothing in common, and who are
+the dirt under your feet. Yes, yes! I know it!--I have done you wrong--I
+have lied to you when I spoke against your skill and power. You are a
+hero--a born leader of men! I know it! Have I not heard it from the men
+who have fought against you, and yet admired and understood you, ay,
+better than your own?--gallant men, Clarence, soldiers bred who did not
+know what you were to me nor how proud I was of you even while I hated
+you? Come with me! Think what we would do together--with one faith--one
+cause--one ambition! Think, Clarence, there is no limit you might
+not attain! We are no niggards of our rewards and honors--we have
+no hireling votes to truckle to--we know our friends! Even
+I--Clarence--I”--there was a strange pathos in the sudden humility that
+seemed to overcome her--“I have had my reward and known my power. I
+have been sent abroad, in the confidence of the highest--to the highest.
+Don't turn from me. I am offering you no bribe, Clarence, only your
+deserts. Come with me. Leave these curs behind, and live the hero that
+you are!”
+
+He turned his blazing eyes upon her.
+
+“If you were a man”--he began passionately, then stopped.
+
+“No! I am only a woman and must fight in a woman's way,” she interrupted
+bitterly. “Yes! I intreat, I implore, I wheedle, I flatter, I fawn, I
+lie! I creep where you stand upright, and pass through doors to which
+you would not bow. You wear your blazon of honor on your shoulder;
+I hide mine in a slave's gown. And yet I have worked and striven and
+suffered! Listen, Clarence,” her voice again sank to its appealing
+minor,--“I know what you men call 'honor,' that which makes you cling to
+a merely spoken word, or an empty oath. Well, let that pass! I am weary;
+I have done my share of this work, you have done yours. Let us both fly;
+let us leave the fight to those who shall come after us, and let us
+go together to some distant land where the sounds of these guns or the
+blood of our brothers no longer cry out to us for vengeance! There are
+those living here--I have met them, Clarence,” she went on hurriedly,
+“who think it wrong to lift up fratricidal hands in the struggle, yet
+who cannot live under the Northern yoke. They are,” her voice hesitated,
+“good men and women--they are respected--they are”--
+
+“Recreants and slaves, before whom you, spy as you are--stand a queen!”
+ broke in Brant, passionately. He stopped and turned towards the window.
+After a pause he came back again towards the bed--paused again and then
+said in a lower voice--“Four years ago, Alice, in the patio of our house
+at Robles, I might have listened to this proposal, and--I tremble to
+think--I might have accepted it! I loved you; I was as weak, as selfish,
+as unreflecting, my life was as purposeless--but for you--as the
+creatures you speak of. But give me now, at least, the credit of a
+devotion to my cause equal to your own--a credit which I have never
+denied you! For the night that you left me, I awoke to a sense of my own
+worthlessness and degradation--perhaps I have even to thank you for that
+awakening--and I realized the bitter truth. But that night I found my
+true vocation--my purpose, my manhood”--
+
+A bitter laugh came from the pillow on which she had languidly thrown
+herself.
+
+“I believe I left you with Mrs. Hooker--spare me the details.”
+
+The blood rushed to Brant's face and then receded as suddenly.
+
+“You left me with Captain Pinckney, who had tempted you, and whom I
+killed!” he said furiously.
+
+They were both staring savagely at each other. Suddenly he said, “Hush!”
+ and sprang towards the door, as the sound of hurried footsteps echoed
+along the passage. But he was too late; it was thrown open to the
+officer of the guard, who appeared, standing on the threshold.
+
+“Two Confederate officers arrested hovering around our pickets. They
+demand to see you.”
+
+Before Brant could interpose, two men in riding cloaks of Confederate
+gray stepped into the room with a jaunty and self-confident air.
+
+“Not DEMAND, general,” said the foremost, a tall, distinguished-looking
+man, lifting his hand with a graceful deprecating air. “In fact, too
+sorry to bother you with an affair of no importance except to ourselves.
+A bit of after-dinner bravado brought us in contact with your pickets,
+and, of course, we had to take the consequences. Served us right, and we
+were lucky not to have got a bullet through us. Gad! I'm afraid my
+men would have been less discreet! I am Colonel Lagrange, of the
+5th Tennessee; my young friend here is Captain Faulkner, of the 1st
+Kentucky. Some excuse for a youngster like him--none for me! I”--
+
+He stopped, for his eyes suddenly fell upon the bed and its occupant.
+Both he and his companion started. But to the natural, unaffected dismay
+of a gentleman who had unwittingly intruded upon a lady's bedchamber,
+Brant's quick eye saw a more disastrous concern superadded. Colonel
+Lagrange was quick to recover himself, as they both removed their caps.
+
+“A thousand pardons,” he said, hurriedly stepping backwards to the door.
+“But I hardly need say to a fellow-officer, general, that we had no idea
+of making so gross an intrusion! We heard some cock-and-bull story of
+your being occupied--cross-questioning an escaped or escaping nigger--or
+we should never have forced ourselves upon you.”
+
+Brant glanced quickly at his wife. Her face had apparently become rigid
+on the entrance of the two men; her eyes were coldly fixed upon the
+ceiling. He bowed formally, and, with a wave of his hand towards the
+door, said,--
+
+“I will hear your story below, gentleman.”
+
+He followed them from the room, stopped to quietly turn the key in the
+lock, and then motioned them to precede him down the staircase.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Not a word was exchanged till they had reached the lower landing and
+Brant's private room. Dismissing his subaltern and orderly with a
+sign, Brant turned towards his prisoners. The jaunty ease, but not the
+self-possession, had gone from Lagrange's face; the eyes of Captain
+Faulkner were fixed on his older companion with a half-humorous look of
+perplexity.
+
+“I am afraid I can only repeat, general, that our foolhardy freak has
+put us in collision with your sentries,” said Lagrange, with a slight
+hauteur, that replaced his former jauntiness; “and we were very properly
+made prisoners. If you will accept my parole, I have no doubt our
+commander will proceed to exchange a couple of gallant fellows of yours,
+whom I have had the honor of meeting within our own lines, and whom you
+must miss probably more than I fear our superiors miss us.”
+
+“Whatever brought you here, gentlemen,” said Brant drily, “I am
+glad, for your sakes, that you are in uniform, although it does not,
+unfortunately, relieve me of an unpleasant duty.”
+
+“I don't think I understand you,” returned Lagrange, coldly.
+
+“If you had not been in uniform, you would probably have been shot down
+as spies, without the trouble of capture,” said Brant quietly.
+
+“Do you mean to imply, sir”--began Lagrange sternly.
+
+“I mean to say that the existence of a Confederate spy between this
+camp and the division headquarters is sufficiently well known to us to
+justify the strongest action.”
+
+“And pray, how can that affect us?” said Lagrange haughtily.
+
+“I need not inform so old a soldier as Colonel Lagrange that the aiding,
+abetting, and even receiving information from a spy or traitor within
+one's lines is an equally dangerous service.”
+
+“Perhaps you would like to satisfy yourself, General,” said Colonel
+Lagrange, with an ironical laugh. “Pray do not hesitate on account of
+our uniform. Search us if you like.”
+
+“Not on entering my lines, Colonel,” replied Brant, with quiet
+significance.
+
+Lagrange's cheek flushed. But he recovered himself quickly, and with a
+formal bow said,--
+
+“You will, then, perhaps, let us know your pleasure?”
+
+“My DUTY, Colonel, is to keep you both close prisoners here until I have
+an opportunity to forward you to the division commander, with a report
+of the circumstances of your arrest. That I propose to do. How soon I
+may have that opportunity, or if I am ever to have it,” continued Brant,
+fixing his clear eyes significantly on Lagrange, “depends upon the
+chances of war, which you probably understand as well as I do.”
+
+“We should never think of making any calculation on the action of an
+officer of such infinite resources as General Brant,” said Lagrange
+ironically.
+
+“You will, no doubt, have an opportunity of stating your own case to the
+division commander,” continued Brant, with an unmoved face. “And,” he
+continued, turning for the first time to Captain Faulkner, “when you
+tell the commander what I believe to be the fact--from your name and
+resemblance--that you are a relation of the young lady who for the
+last three weeks has been an inmate of this house under a pass from
+Washington, you will, I have no doubt, favorably explain your own
+propinquity to my lines.”
+
+“My sister Tilly!” said the young officer impulsively. “But she is no
+longer here. She passed through the lines back to Washington yesterday.
+No,” he added, with a light laugh, “I'm afraid that excuse won't count
+for to-day.”
+
+A sudden frown upon the face of the elder officer, added to the perfect
+ingenuousness of Faulkner's speech, satisfied Brant that he had not only
+elicited the truth, but that Miss Faulkner had been successful. But he
+was sincere in his suggestion that her relationship to the young officer
+would incline the division commander to look leniently upon his fault,
+for he was conscious of a singular satisfaction in thus being able to
+serve her. Of the real object of the two men before him he had no doubt.
+They were “the friends” of his wife, who were waiting for her outside
+the lines! Chance alone had saved her from being arrested with them,
+with the consequent exposure of her treachery before his own men, who,
+as yet, had no proof of her guilt, nor any suspicion of her actual
+identity. Meanwhile his own chance of conveying her with safety beyond
+his lines was not affected by the incident; the prisoners dare not
+reveal what they knew of her, and it was with a grim triumph that he
+thought of compassing her escape without their aid. Nothing of this,
+however, was visible in his face, which the younger man watched with a
+kind of boyish curiosity, while Colonel Lagrange regarded the ceiling
+with a politely repressed yawn. “I regret,” concluded Brant, as he
+summoned the officer of the guard, “that I shall have to deprive you of
+each other's company during the time you are here; but I shall see that
+you, separately, want for nothing in your confinement.”
+
+“If this is with a view to separate interrogatory, general, I can retire
+now,” said Lagrange, rising, with ironical politeness.
+
+“I believe I have all the information I require,” returned Brant, with
+undisturbed composure. Giving the necessary orders to his subaltern, he
+acknowledged with equal calm the formal salutes of the two prisoners as
+they were led away, and returned quickly to his bedroom above. He paused
+instinctively for a moment before the closed door, and listened. There
+was no sound from within. He unlocked the door, and opened it.
+
+So quiet was the interior that for an instant, without glancing at
+the bed, he cast a quick look at the window, which, till then, he had
+forgotten, and which he remembered gave upon the veranda roof. But it
+was still closed, and as he approached the bed, he saw his wife still
+lying there, in the attitude in which he had left her. But her eyes were
+ringed, and slightly filmed, as if with recent tears.
+
+It was perhaps this circumstance that softened his voice, still harsh
+with command, as he said,--
+
+“I suppose you knew those two men?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“And that I have put it out of their power to help you?”
+
+“I do.”
+
+There was something so strangely submissive in her voice that he again
+looked suspiciously at her. But he was shocked to see that she was quite
+pale now, and that the fire had gone out of her dark eyes.
+
+“Then I may tell you what is my plan to save you. But, first, you must
+find this mulatto woman who has acted as your double.”
+
+“She is here.”
+
+“Here?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“How do you know it?” he asked, in quick suspicion.
+
+“She was not to leave this place until she knew I was safe within our
+lines. I have some friends who are faithful to me.” After a pause she
+added, “She has been here already.”
+
+He looked at her, startled. “Impossible--I”--
+
+“You locked the door. Yes! but she has a second key. And even if she had
+not, there is another entrance from that closet. You do not know this
+house: you have been here two weeks; I spent two years of my life, as a
+girl, in this room.”
+
+An indescribable sensation came over him; he remembered how he had felt
+when he first occupied it; this was followed by a keen sense of shame
+on reflecting that he had been, ever since, but a helpless puppet in the
+power of his enemies, and that she could have escaped if she would, even
+now.
+
+“Perhaps,” he said grimly, “you have already arranged your plans?”
+
+She looked at him with a singular reproachfulness even in her
+submission.
+
+“I have only told her to be ready to change clothes with me and help me
+color my face and hands at the time appointed. I have left the rest to
+you.”
+
+“Then this is my plan. I have changed only a detail. You and she must
+both leave this house at the same time, by different exits, but one of
+them must be private--and unknown to my men. Do you know of such a one?”
+
+“Yes,” she said, “in the rear of the negro quarters.”
+
+“Good,” he replied, “that will be your way out. She will leave here,
+publicly, through the parade, armed with a pass from me. She will be
+overhauled and challenged by the first sentry near the guardhouse, below
+the wall. She will be subjected to some delay and scrutiny, which she
+will, however, be able to pass better than you would. This will create
+the momentary diversion that we require. In the mean time, you will have
+left the house by the rear, and you will then keep in the shadow of the
+hedge until you can drop down along the Run, where it empties into the
+swamp. That,” he continued, fixing his keen eyes upon her, “is the one
+weak point in the position of this place that is neither overlooked nor
+defended. But perhaps,” he added again grimly, “you already know it.”
+
+“It is the marsh where the flowers grow, near the path where you met
+Miss Faulkner. I had crossed the marsh to give her a letter,” she said
+slowly.
+
+A bitter smile came over Brant's face, but passed as quickly.
+
+“Enough,” he said quietly, “I will meet you beside the Run, and cross
+the marsh with you until you are within hailing distance of your lines.
+I will be in plain clothes, Alice,” he went on slowly, “for it will not
+be the commander of this force who accompanies you, but your husband,
+and, without disgracing his uniform, he will drop to your level; for the
+instant he passes his own lines, in disguise, he will become, like you,
+a spy, and amenable to its penalties.”
+
+Her eyes seemed suddenly to leap up to his with that strange look of
+awakening and enthusiasm which he had noted before. And in its complete
+prepossession of all her instincts she rose from the bed, unheeding her
+bared arms and shoulders and loosened hair, and stood upright before
+him. For an instant husband and wife regarded each other as unreservedly
+as in their own chamber at Robles.
+
+“When shall I go?”
+
+He glanced through the window already growing lighter with the
+coming dawn. The relief would pass in a few moments; the time seemed
+propitious.
+
+“At once,” he said. “I will send Rose to you.”
+
+But his wife had already passed into the closet, and was tapping upon
+some inner door. He heard the sound of hinges turning and the rustling
+of garments. She reappeared, holding the curtains of the closet together
+with her hand, and said,--
+
+“Go! When she comes to your office for the pass, you will know that I
+have gone.”
+
+He turned away.
+
+“Stop!” she said faintly.
+
+He turned back. Her expression had again changed. Her face was deadly
+pale; a strange tremor seemed to have taken possession of her. Her hands
+dropped from the curtain. Her beautiful arms moved slightly forward;
+it seemed to him that she would in the next moment have extended them
+towards him. But even then she said hurriedly, “Go! Go!” and slipped
+again behind the curtains.
+
+He quickly descended the stairs as the sound of trampling feet on the
+road, and the hurried word of command, announced the return of the
+scouting party. The officer had little report to make beyond the fact
+that a morning mist, creeping along the valley, prevented any further
+observation, and bade fair to interrupt their own communications with
+the camp. Everything was quiet in the west, although the enemy's lines
+along the ridge seemed to have receded.
+
+Brant had listened impatiently, for a new idea had seized him. Hooker
+was of the party, and was the one man in whom he could partly confide,
+and obtain a disguise. He at once made his way to the commissary
+wagons--one of which he knew Hooker used as a tent. Hastily telling him
+that he wished to visit the pickets without recognition, he induced him
+to lend him his slouched hat and frock coat, leaving with him his own
+distinguishing tunic, hat, and sword. He resisted the belt and pistols
+which Hooker would have forced upon him. As he left the wagon he
+was amusedly conscious that his old companion was characteristically
+examining the garments he had left behind with mingled admiration and
+envy. But he did not know, as he slipped out of the camp, that Mr.
+Hooker was quietly trying them on, before a broken mirror in the
+wagon-head!
+
+The gray light of that summer morning was already so strong that, to
+avoid detection, he quickly dropped into the shadow of the gully that
+sloped towards the Run. The hot mist which the scouts had seen was now
+lying like a tranquil sea between him and the pickets of the enemy's
+rear-guard, which it seemed to submerge, and was clinging in moist
+tenuous swathes--like drawn-out cotton wool--along the ridge, half
+obliterating its face. From the valley in the rear it was already
+stealing in a thin white line up the slope like the advance of a ghostly
+column, with a stealthiness that, in spite of himself, touched him with
+superstitious significance. A warm perfume, languid and treacherous--as
+from the swamp magnolia--seemed to rise from the half-hidden marsh.
+An ominous silence, that appeared to be a part of this veiling of all
+things under the clear opal-tinted sky above, was so little like
+the hush of rest and peace, that he half-yearned for the outburst of
+musketry and tumult of attack that might dispel it. All that he had ever
+heard or dreamed of the insidious South, with its languid subtleties of
+climate and of race, seemed to encompass him here.
+
+But the next moment he saw the figure he was waiting for stealing
+towards him from the shadow of the gulley beneath the negro quarters.
+
+Even in that uncertain light there was no mistaking the tall figure,
+the gaudily striped clinging gown and turbaned head. And then a strange
+revulsion of feeling, quite characteristic of the emotional side of his
+singular temperament, overcame him. He was taking leave of his wife--the
+dream of his youth--perhaps forever! It should be no parting in anger as
+at Robles; it should be with a tenderness that would blot out their past
+in their separate memories--God knows! it might even be that a parting
+at that moment was a joining of them in eternity. In his momentary
+exaltation it even struck him that it was a duty, no less sacred, no
+less unselfish than the one to which he had devoted his life. The light
+was growing stronger; he could hear voices in the nearest picket line,
+and the sound of a cough in the invading mist. He made a hurried sign to
+the on-coming figure to follow him, ran ahead, and halted at last in
+the cover of a hackmatack bush. Still gazing forward over the marsh,
+he stealthily held out his hand behind him as the rustling skirt came
+nearer. At last his hand was touched--but even at that touch he started
+and turned quickly.
+
+It was not his wife, but Rose!--her mulatto double! Her face was rigid
+with fright, her beady eyes staring in their china sockets, her white
+teeth chattering. Yet she would have spoken.
+
+“Hush!” he said, clutching her hand, in a fierce whisper. “Not a word!”
+
+She was holding something white in her fingers; he snatched it quickly.
+It was a note from his wife--not in the disguised hand of her first
+warning, but in one that he remembered as if it were a voice from their
+past.
+
+“Forgive me for disobeying you to save you from capture, disgrace, or
+death--which would have come to you where you were going! I have taken
+Rose's pass. You need not fear that your honor will suffer by it, for if
+I am stopped I shall confess that I took it from her. Think no more of
+me, Clarence, but only of yourself. You are in danger.”
+
+He crushed the letter in his hand.
+
+“Tell me,” he said in a fierce whisper, seizing her arm, “and speak low.
+When did you leave her?”
+
+“Sho'ly just now!” gasped the frightened woman.
+
+He flung her aside. There might be still time to overtake and save her
+before she reached the picket lines. He ran up the gully, and out on to
+the slope towards the first guard-post. But a familiar challenge reached
+his ear, and his heart stopped beating.
+
+“Who goes there?”
+
+There was a pause, a rattle of arms voices--another pause--and Brant
+stood breathlessly listening. Then the voice rose again slowly and
+clearly: “Pass the mulatto woman!”
+
+Thank God! she was saved! But the thought had scarcely crossed his mind
+before it seemed to him that a blinding crackle of sparks burst out
+along the whole slope below the wall, a characteristic yell which he
+knew too well rang in his ears, and an undulating line of dusty figures
+came leaping like gray wolves out of the mist upon his pickets. He heard
+the shouts of his men falling back as they fired; the harsh commands
+of a few officers hurrying to their posts, and knew that he had been
+hopelessly surprised and surrounded!
+
+He ran forward among his disorganized men. To his consternation no one
+seemed to heed him! Then the remembrance of his disguise flashed upon
+him. But he had only time to throw away his hat and snatch a sword from
+a falling lieutenant, before a scorching flash seemed to pass before
+his eyes and burn through his hair, and he dropped like a log beside his
+subaltern.
+
+*****
+
+An aching under the bandage around his head where a spent bullet had
+grazed his scalp, and the sound of impossible voices in his ears were
+all he knew as he struggled slowly back to consciousness again. Even
+then it still seemed a delusion,--for he was lying on a cot in his own
+hospital, yet with officers of the division staff around him, and the
+division commander himself standing by his side, and regarding him
+with an air of grave but not unkindly concern. But the wounded man felt
+instinctively that it was not the effect of his physical condition, and
+a sense of shame came suddenly over him, which was not dissipated by
+his superior's words. For, motioning the others aside, the major-general
+leaned over his cot, and said,--
+
+“Until a few moments ago, the report was that you had been captured
+in the first rush of the rear-guard which we were rolling up for your
+attack, and when you were picked up, just now, in plain clothes on the
+slope, you were not recognized. The one thing seemed to be as improbable
+as the other,” he added significantly.
+
+The miserable truth flashed across Brant's mind. Hooker must have been
+captured in his clothes--perhaps in some extravagant sally--and had not
+been recognized in the confusion by his own officers. Nevertheless, he
+raised his eyes to his superior.
+
+“You got my note?”
+
+The general's brow darkened.
+
+“Yes,” he said slowly, “but finding you thus unprepared--I had been
+thinking just now that you had been deceived by that woman--or by
+others--and that it was a clumsy forgery.” He stopped, and seeing the
+hopeless bewilderment in the face of the wounded man, added more kindly:
+“But we will not talk of that in your present condition. The doctor says
+a few hours will put you straight again. Get strong, for I want you to
+lose no time--for your own sake--to report yourself at Washington.”
+
+“Report myself--at Washington!” repeated Brant slowly.
+
+“That was last night's order,” said the commander, with military
+curtness. Then he burst out: “I don't understand it, Brant! I believe
+you have been misunderstood, misrepresented, perhaps maligned and I
+shall make it MY business to see the thing through--but those are
+the Department orders. And for the present--I am sorry to say you are
+relieved of your command.”
+
+He turned away, and Brant closed his eyes. With them it seemed to
+him that he closed his career. No one would ever understand his
+explanation--even had he been tempted to give one, and he knew he never
+would. Everything was over now! Even this wretched bullet had not struck
+him fairly, and culminated his fate as it might! For an instant, he
+recalled his wife's last offer to fly with him beyond the seas--beyond
+this cruel injustice--but even as he recalled it, he knew that flight
+meant the worst of all--a half-confession! But she had escaped! Thank
+God for that! Again and again in his hopeless perplexity this comfort
+returned to him,--he had saved her; he had done his duty. And harping
+upon this in his strange fatalism, it at last seemed to him that this
+was for what he had lived--for what he had suffered--for what he had
+fitly ended his career. Perhaps it was left for him now to pass
+his remaining years in forgotten exile--even as his father had--his
+father!--his breath came quickly at the thought--God knows! perhaps as
+wrongfully accused! It may have been a Providence that she had borne him
+no child, to whom this dreadful heritage could be again transmitted.
+
+There was something of this strange and fateful resignation in his face,
+a few hours later, when he was able to be helped again into the saddle.
+But he could see in the eyes of the few comrades who commiseratingly
+took leave of him, a vague, half-repressed awe of some indefinite
+weakness in the man, that mingled with their heartfelt parting with a
+gallant soldier. Yet even this touched him no longer. He cast a glance
+at the house and the room where he had parted from her, at the slope
+from which she had passed--and rode away.
+
+And then, as his figure disappeared down the road, the restrained
+commentary of wonder, surmise, and criticism broke out:--
+
+“It must have been something mighty bad, for the old man, who swears
+by him, looked rather troubled. And it was deuced queer, you know, this
+changing clothes with somebody, just before this surprise!”
+
+“Nonsense! It's something away back of that! Didn't you hear the old man
+say that the orders for him to report himself came from Washington LAST
+NIGHT? No!”--the speaker lowered his voice--“Strangeways says that he
+had regularly sold himself out to one of them d----d secesh woman spies!
+It's the old Marc Antony business over again!”
+
+“Now I think of it,” said a younger subaltern, “he did seem mightily
+taken with one of those quadroons or mulattoes he issued orders against.
+I suppose that was a blind for us! I remember the first day he saw her;
+he was regularly keen to know all about her.”
+
+Major Curtis gave a short laugh.
+
+“That mulatto, Martin, was a white woman, burnt-corked! She was trying
+to get through the lines last night, and fell off a wall or got a knock
+on the head from a sentry's carbine. When she was brought in, Doctor
+Simmons set to washing the blood off her face; the cork came off and the
+whole thing came out. Brant hushed it up--and the woman, too--in his own
+quarters! It's supposed now that she got away somehow in the rush!”
+
+“It goes further back than that, gentlemen,” said the adjutant
+authoritatively. “They say his wife was a howling secessionist, four
+years ago, in California, was mixed up in a conspiracy, and he had to
+leave on account of it. Look how thick he and that Miss Faulkner became,
+before he helped HER off!”
+
+“That's your jealousy, Tommy; she knew he was, by all odds, the biggest
+man here, and a good deal more, too, and you had no show!”
+
+In the laugh that followed, it would seem that Brant's eulogy had been
+spoken and forgotten. But as Lieutenant Martin was turning away, a
+lingering corporal touched his cap.
+
+“You were speaking of those prowling mulattoes, sir. You know the
+general passed one out this morning.”
+
+“So I have heard.”
+
+“I reckon she didn't get very far. It was just at the time that we were
+driven in by their first fire, and I think she got her share of it, too.
+Do you mind walking this way, sir!”
+
+The lieutenant did not mind, although he rather languidly followed.
+When they had reached the top of the gully, the corporal pointed to
+what seemed to be a bit of striped calico hanging on a thorn bush in the
+ravine.
+
+“That's her,” said the corporal. “I know the dress; I was on guard when
+she was passed. The searchers, who were picking up our men, haven't got
+to her yet; but she ain't moved or stirred these two hours. Would you
+like to go down and see her?”
+
+The lieutenant hesitated. He was young, and slightly fastidious as
+to unnecessary unpleasantness. He believed he would wait until the
+searchers brought her up, when the corporal might call him.
+
+The mist came up gloriously from the swamp like a golden halo. And
+as Clarence Brant, already forgotten, rode moodily through it towards
+Washington, hugging to his heart the solitary comfort of his great
+sacrifice, his wife, Alice Brant, for whom he had made it, was lying
+in the ravine, dead and uncared for. Perhaps it was part of the
+inconsistency of her sex that she was pierced with the bullets of those
+she had loved, and was wearing the garments of the race that she had
+wronged.
+
+
+
+PART III.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It was sunset of a hot day at Washington. Even at that hour the broad
+avenues, which diverged from the Capitol like the rays of another sun,
+were fierce and glittering. The sterile distances between glowed
+more cruelly than ever, and pedestrians, keeping in the scant shade,
+hesitated on the curbstones before plunging into the Sahara-like
+waste of crossings. The city seemed deserted. Even that vast army of
+contractors, speculators, place-hunters, and lobbyists, which hung on
+the heels of the other army, and had turned this pacific camp of the
+nation into a battlefield of ignoble conflict and contention--more
+disastrous than the one to the South--had slunk into their holes in
+hotel back bedrooms, in shady barrooms, or in the negro quarters of
+Georgetown, as if the majestic, white-robed Goddess enthroned upon the
+dome of the Capitol had at last descended among them and was smiting to
+right and left with the flat and flash of her insufferable sword.
+
+Into this stifling atmosphere of greed and corruption Clarence Brant
+stepped from the shadow of the War Department. For the last three weeks
+he had haunted its ante-rooms and audience-chambers, in the vain hope
+of righting himself before his superiors, who were content, without
+formulating charges against him, to keep him in this disgrace of
+inaction and the anxiety of suspense. Unable to ascertain the details
+of the accusation, and conscious of his own secret, he was debarred
+the last resort of demanding a court-martial, which he knew could only
+exonerate him by the exposure of the guilt of his wife, whom he still
+hoped had safely escaped. His division commander, in active operations
+in the field, had no time to help him at Washington. Elbowed aside by
+greedy contractors, forestalled by selfish politicians, and disdaining
+the ordinary method of influence, he had no friend to turn to. In his
+few years of campaigning he had lost his instinct of diplomacy, without
+acquiring a soldier's bluntness.
+
+The nearly level rays of the sun forced him at last to turn aside into
+one of the openings of a large building--a famous caravansary of that
+hotel-haunted capital, and he presently found himself in the
+luxurious bar-room, fragrant with mint, and cool with ice-slabs piled
+symmetrically on its marble counters. A few groups of men were seeking
+coolness at small tables with glasses before them and palm-leaf fans in
+their hands, but a larger and noisier assemblage was collected before
+the bar, where a man, collarless and in his shirt-sleeves, with his
+back to the counter, was pretentiously addressing them. Brant, who had
+moodily dropped into a chair in the corner, after ordering a cooling
+drink as an excuse for his temporary refuge from the stifling street,
+half-regretted his enforced participation in their conviviality. But
+a sudden lowering of the speaker's voice into a note of gloomy
+significance seemed familiar to him. He glanced at him quickly, from the
+shadow of his corner. He was not mistaken--it was Jim Hooker!
+
+For the first time in his life, Brant wished to evade him. In the days
+of his own prosperity his heart had always gone out towards this old
+companion of his boyhood; in his present humiliation his presence jarred
+upon him. He would have slipped away, but to do so he would have had to
+pass before the counter again, and Hooker, with the self-consciousness
+of a story-teller, had an eye on his audience. Brant, with a palm-leaf
+fan before his face, was obliged to listen.
+
+“Yes, gentlemen,” said Hooker, examining his glass dramatically, “when
+a man's been cooped up in a Rebel prison, with a death line before him
+that he's obliged to cross every time he wants a square drink, it seems
+sort of like a dream of his boyhood to be standin' here comf'ble before
+his liquor, alongside o' white men once more. And when he knows he's bin
+put to all that trouble jest to save the reputation of another man, and
+the secrets of a few high and mighty ones, it's almost enough to make
+his liquor go agin him.” He stopped theatrically, seemed to choke
+emotionally over his brandy squash, but with a pause of dramatic
+determination finally dashed it down. “No, gentlemen,” he continued
+gloomily, “I don't say what I'm back in Washington FOR--I don't say what
+I've been sayin' to myself when I've bin picking the weevils outer my
+biscuits in Libby Prison--but ef you don't see some pretty big men in
+the War Department obliged to climb down in the next few days, my name
+ain't Jim Hooker, of Hooker, Meacham & Co., Army Beef Contractors, and
+the man who saved the fight at Gray Oaks!”
+
+The smile of satisfaction that went around his audience--an audience
+quick to seize the weakness of any performance--might have startled
+a vanity less oblivious than Hooker's; but it only aroused Brant's
+indignation and pity, and made his position still more intolerable. But
+Hooker, scornfully expectorating a thin stream of tobacco juice against
+the spittoon, remained for an instant gloomily silent.
+
+“Tell us about the fight again,” said a smiling auditor.
+
+Hooker looked around the room with a certain dark suspiciousness, and
+then, in an affected lower voice, which his theatrical experience made
+perfectly audible, went on:--
+
+“It ain't much to speak of, and if it wasn't for the principle of the
+thing, I wouldn't be talking. A man who's seen Injin fightin' don't go
+much on this here West Point fightin' by rule-of-three--but that ain't
+here or there! Well, I'd bin out a-scoutin'--just to help the boys
+along, and I was sittin' in my wagon about daybreak, when along comes a
+brigadier-general, and he looks into the wagon flap. I oughter to tell
+you first, gentlemen, that every minit he was expecting an attack--but
+he didn't let on a hint of it to me. 'How are you, Jim?' said he. 'How
+are you, general?' said I. 'Would you mind lendin' me your coat and
+hat?' says he. 'I've got a little game here with our pickets, and I
+don't want to be recognized.' 'Anything to oblige, general,' said I, and
+with that I strips off my coat and hat, and he peels and puts them on.
+'Nearly the same figure, Jim,' he says, lookin' at me, 'suppose you try
+on my things and see.' With that he hands me his coat--full uniform,
+by G-d!--with the little gold cords and laces and the epaulettes with a
+star, and I puts it on--quite innocent-like. And then he says, handin'
+me his sword and belt, 'Same inches round the waist, I reckon,' and I
+puts that on too. 'You may as well keep 'em on till I come back,' says
+he, 'for it's mighty damp and malarious at this time around the swamp.'
+And with that he lights out. Well, gentlemen, I hadn't sat there five
+minutes before Bang! bang! rattle! rattle! kershiz! and I hears a yell.
+I steps out of the wagon; everything's quite dark, but the rattle goes
+on. Then along trots an orderly, leadin' a horse. 'Mount, general,' he
+says, 'we're attacked--the rear-guard's on us!'”
+
+He paused, looked round his audience, and then in a lower voice, said
+darkly,--
+
+“I ain't a fool, an' in that minute a man's brain works at high
+pressure, and I saw it all! I saw the little game of the brigadier to
+skunk away in my clothes and leave me to be captured in his. But I ain't
+a dog neither, and I mounted that horse, gentlemen, and lit out to where
+the men were formin'! I didn't dare to speak, lest they should know me,
+but I waved my sword, and by G-d! they followed me! And the next minit
+we was in the thick of it. I had my hat as full of holes as that ice
+strainer; I had a dozen bullets through my coat, the fringe of my
+epaulettes was shot away, but I kept the boys at their work--and we
+stopped 'em! Stopped 'em, gentlemen, until we heard the bugles of the
+rest of our division, that all this time had been rolling that blasted
+rear-guard over on us! And it saved the fight; but the next minute the
+Johnny Rebs made a last dash and cut me off--and there I was--by G-d, a
+prisoner! Me that had saved the fight!”
+
+A ripple of ironical applause went round as Hooker gloomily drained his
+glass, and then held up his hand in scornful deprecation.
+
+“I said I was a prisoner, gentlemen,” he went on bitterly; “but that
+ain't all! I asked to see Johnston, told him what I had done, and
+demanded to be exchanged for a general officer. He said, 'You be
+d----d.' I then sent word to the division commander-in-chief, and told
+him how I had saved Gray Oaks when his brigadier ran away, and he said,
+'You be d----d.' I've bin 'You be d----d' from the lowest non-com.
+to the commander-in-chief, and when I was at last exchanged, I was
+exchanged, gentlemen, for two mules and a broken wagon. But I'm here,
+gentlemen--as I was thar!”
+
+“Why don't you see the President about it?” asked a bystander, in
+affected commiseration.
+
+Mr. Hooker stared contemptuously at the suggestion, and expectorated his
+scornful dissent.
+
+“Not much!” he said. “But I'm going to see the man that carries him and
+his Cabinet in his breeches-pocket--Senator Boompointer.”
+
+“Boompointer's a big man,” continued his auditor doubtfully. “Do you
+know him?”
+
+“Know him?” Mr. Hooker laughed a bitter, sardonic laugh. “Well,
+gentlemen, I ain't the kind o' man to go in for family influence; but,”
+ he added, with gloomy elevation, “considering he's an intimate relation
+of mine, BY MARRIAGE, I should say I did.”
+
+Brant heard no more; the facing around of his old companion towards the
+bar gave him that opportunity of escaping he had been waiting for. The
+defection of Hooker and his peculiar inventions were too characteristic
+of him to excite surprise, and, although they no longer awakened his
+good-humored tolerance, they were powerless to affect him in his greater
+trouble. Only one thing he learned--that Hooker knew nothing of his wife
+being in camp as a spy--the incident would have been too tempting to
+have escaped his dramatic embellishment. And the allusion to Senator
+Boompointer, monstrous as it seemed in Hooker's mouth, gave him a grim
+temptation. He had heard of Boompointer's wonderful power; he believed
+that Susy would and could help him--Clarence--whether she did or did not
+help Hooker. But the next moment he dismissed the idea, with a flushing
+cheek. How low had he already sunk, even to think of it!
+
+It had been once or twice in his mind to seek the President, and, under
+a promise of secrecy, reveal a part of his story. He had heard many
+anecdotes of his goodness of heart and generous tolerance of all things,
+but with this was joined--so said contemporaneous history--a flippancy
+of speech and a brutality of directness from which Clarence's
+sensibility shrank. Would he see anything in his wife but a common spy
+on his army; would he see anything in him but the weak victim, like many
+others, of a scheming woman? Stories current in camp and Congress of the
+way that this grim humorist had, with an apposite anecdote or a rugged
+illustration, brushed away the most delicate sentiment or the subtlest
+poetry, even as he had exposed the sham of Puritanic morality or of
+Epicurean ethics. Brant had even solicited an audience, but had retired
+awkwardly, and with his confidence unspoken, before the dark, humorous
+eyes, that seemed almost too tolerant of his grievance. He had been
+to levees, and his heart had sunk equally before the vulgar crowd, who
+seemed to regard this man as their own buffoon, and the pompousness of
+position, learning and dignity, which he seemed to delight to shake and
+disturb.
+
+One afternoon, a few days later, in sheer listlessness of purpose,
+he found himself again at the White House. The President was giving
+audience to a deputation of fanatics, who, with a pathetic simplicity
+almost equal to his own pathetic tolerance, were urging upon this ruler
+of millions the policy of an insignificant score, and Brant listened to
+his patient, practical response of facts and logic, clothed in
+simple but sinewy English, up to the inevitable climax of humorous
+illustration, which the young brigadier could now see was necessary to
+relieve the grimness of his refusal. For the first time Brant felt
+the courage to address him, and resolved to wait until the deputation
+retired. As they left the gallery he lingered in the ante-room for
+the President to appear. But, as he did not come, afraid of losing his
+chances, he returned to the gallery. Alone in his privacy and shadow,
+the man he had just left was standing by a column, in motionless
+abstraction, looking over the distant garden. But the kindly, humorous
+face was almost tragic with an intensity of weariness! Every line of
+those strong, rustic features was relaxed under a burden which even
+the long, lank, angular figure--overgrown and unfinished as his own
+West--seemed to be distorted in its efforts to adjust itself to; while
+the dark, deep-set eyes were abstracted with the vague prescience of the
+prophet and the martyr. Shocked at that sudden change, Brant felt his
+cheek burn with shame. And he was about to break upon that wearied man's
+unbending; he was about to add his petty burden to the shoulders of this
+Western Atlas. He drew back silently, and descended the stairs.
+
+But before he had left the house, while mingling with the crowd in one
+of the larger rooms, he saw the President reappear beside an important,
+prosperous-looking figure, on whom the kindly giant was now smiling with
+humorous toleration. He noticed the divided attention of the crowd; the
+name of Senator Boompointer was upon every lip; he was nearly face to
+face with that famous dispenser of place and preferment--this
+second husband of Susy! An indescribable feeling--half cynical, half
+fateful--came over him. He would not have been surprised to see Jim
+Hooker join the throng, which now seemed to him to even dwarf the lonely
+central figure that had so lately touched him! He wanted to escape it
+all!
+
+But his fate brought him to the entrance at the same moment that
+Boompointer was leaving it, and that distinguished man brushed hastily
+by him as a gorgeous carriage, drawn by two spirited horses, and driven
+by a resplendent negro coachman, dashed up. It was the Boompointer
+carriage.
+
+A fashionably-dressed, pretty woman, who, in style, bearing, opulent
+contentment, and ingenuous self-consciousness, was in perfect keeping
+with the slight ostentation of the equipage, was its only occupant. As
+Boompointer stepped into the vehicle, her blue eyes fell for an instant
+on Brant. A happy, childlike pink flush came into her cheeks, and a
+violet ray of recognition and mischief darted from her eyes to his. For
+it was Susy.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+When Brant returned to his hotel there was an augmented respect in the
+voice of the clerk as he handed him a note with the remark that it had
+been left by Senator Boompointer's coachman. He had no difficulty in
+recognizing Susy's peculiarly Brobdingnagian school-girl hand.
+
+“Kla'uns, I call it real mean! I believe you just HOPED I wouldn't know
+you. If you're a bit like your old self you'll come right off here--this
+very night! I've got a big party on--but we can talk somewhere between
+the acts! Haven't I growed? Tell me! And my! what a gloomy swell the
+young brigadier is! The carriage will come for you--so you have no
+excuse.”
+
+The effect of this childish note upon Brant was strangely out of
+proportion to its triviality. But then it was Susy's very triviality--so
+expressive of her characteristic irresponsibility--which had always
+affected him at such moments. Again, as at Robles, he felt it react
+against his own ethics. Was she not right in her delightful materialism?
+Was she not happier than if she had been consistently true to Mrs.
+Peyton, to the convent, to the episode of her theatrical career, to Jim
+Hooker--even to himself? And did he conscientiously believe that Hooker
+or himself had suffered from her inconsistency? No! From all that he
+had heard, she was a suitable helpmate to the senator, in her social
+attractiveness, her charming ostentations, her engaging vanity
+that disarmed suspicion, and her lack of responsibility even in her
+partisanship. Nobody ever dared to hold the senator responsible for her
+promises, even while enjoying the fellowship of both, and it is
+said that the worthy man singularly profited by it. Looking upon the
+invitation as a possible distraction to his gloomy thoughts, Brant
+resolved to go.
+
+The moon was high as the carriage whirled him out of the still stifling
+avenues towards the Soldiers' Home--a sylvan suburb frequented by
+cabinet ministers and the President--where the good Senator had
+“decreed,” like Kubla Khan, “a stately pleasure dome,” to entertain his
+friends and partisans. As they approached the house, the trembling light
+like fireflies through the leaves, the warm silence broken only by a
+military band playing a drowsy waltz on the veranda, and the heavy odors
+of jessamine in the air, thrilled Brant with a sense of shame as
+he thought of his old comrades in the field. But this was presently
+dissipated by the uniforms that met him in the hall, with the presence
+of some of his distinguished superiors. At the head of the stairs,
+with a circling background of the shining crosses and ribbons of the
+diplomatic corps, stood Susy--her bare arms and neck glittering with
+diamonds, her face radiant with childlike vivacity. A significant
+pressure of her little glove as he made his bow seemed to be his only
+welcome, but a moment later she caught his arm. “You've yet to
+know HIM,” she said in a half whisper; “he thinks a good deal of
+himself--just like Jim. But he makes others believe it, and that's where
+poor Jim slipped up.” She paused before the man thus characteristically
+disposed of, and presented Brant. It was the man he had seen
+before--material, capable, dogmatic. A glance from his shrewd
+eyes--accustomed to the weighing of men's weaknesses and ambitions--and
+a few hurried phrases, apparently satisfied him that Brant was not just
+then important or available to him, and the two men, a moment later,
+drifted easily apart. Brant sauntered listlessly through the crowded
+rooms, half remorsefully conscious that he had taken some irrevocable
+step, and none the less assured by the presence of two or three
+reporters and correspondents who were dogging his steps, or the glance
+of two or three pretty women whose curiosity had evidently been aroused
+by the singular abstraction of this handsome, distinguished, but
+sardonic-looking officer. But the next moment he was genuinely moved.
+
+A tall young woman had just glided into the centre of the room with an
+indolent yet supple gracefulness that seemed familiar to him. A change
+in her position suddenly revealed her face. It was Miss Faulkner.
+Previously he had known her only in the riding habit of Confederate gray
+which she had at first affected, or in the light muslin morning dress
+she had worn at Gray Oaks. It seemed to him, to-night, that the studied
+elegance of her full dress became her still more; that the pretty
+willfulness of her chin and shoulders was chastened and modified by the
+pearls round her fair throat. Suddenly their eyes met; her face paled
+visibly; he fancied that she almost leaned against her companion for
+support; then she met his glance again with a face into which the color
+had as suddenly rushed, but with eyes that seemed to be appealing to him
+even to the point of pain and fright. Brant was not conceited; he could
+see that the girl's agitation was not the effect of any mere personal
+influence in his recognition, but of something else. He turned hastily
+away; when he looked around again she was gone.
+
+Nevertheless he felt filled with a vague irritation. Did she think him
+such a fool as to imperil her safety by openly recognizing her without
+her consent? Did she think that he would dare to presume upon the
+service she had done him? Or, more outrageous thought, had she heard of
+his disgrace, known its cause, and feared that he would drag her into
+a disclosure to save himself? No, no; she could not think that! She had
+perhaps regretted what she had done in a freak of girlish chivalry; she
+had returned to her old feelings and partisanship; she was only startled
+at meeting the single witness of her folly. Well, she need not fear!
+He would as studiously avoid her hereafter, and she should know it. And
+yet--yes, there was a “yet.” For he could not forget--indeed, in the
+past three weeks it had been more often before him than he cared to
+think--that she was the one human being who had been capable of a great
+act of self-sacrifice for him--her enemy, her accuser, the man who had
+scarcely treated her civilly. He was ashamed to remember now that this
+thought had occurred to him at the bedside of his wife--at the hour of
+her escape--even on the fatal slope on which he had been struck down.
+And now this fond illusion must go with the rest--the girl who had
+served him so loyally was ashamed of it! A bitter smile crossed his
+face.
+
+“Well, I don't wonder! Here are all the women asking me who is that
+good-looking Mephistopheles, with the burning eyes, who is prowling
+around my rooms as if searching for a victim. Why, you're smiling for
+all the world like poor Jim when he used to do the Red Avenger.”
+
+Susy's voice--and illustration--recalled him to himself.
+
+“Furious I may be,” he said with a gentler smile, although his eyes
+still glittered, “furious that I have to wait until the one woman I came
+to see--the one woman I have not seen for so long, while these puppets
+have been nightly dancing before her--can give me a few moments from
+them, to talk of the old days.”
+
+In his reaction he was quite sincere, although he felt a slight sense
+of remorse as he saw the quick, faint color rise, as in those old days,
+even through the to-night's powder of her cheek.
+
+“That's like the old Kla'uns,” she said, with a slight pressure of his
+arm, “but we will not have a chance to speak until later. When they are
+nearly all gone, you'll take me to get a little refreshment, and we'll
+have a chat in the conservatory. But you must drop that awfully wicked
+look and make yourself generally agreeable to those women until then.”
+
+It was, perhaps, part of this reaction which enabled him to obey his
+hostess' commands with a certain recklessness that, however, seemed
+to be in keeping with the previous Satanic reputation he had all
+unconsciously achieved. The women listened to the cynical flippancy of
+this good-looking soldier with an undisguised admiration which in
+turn excited curiosity and envy from his own sex. He saw the whispered
+questioning, the lifted eyebrows, scornful shrugging of shoulders--and
+knew that the story of his disgrace was in the air. But I fear this
+only excited him to further recklessness and triumph. Once he thought he
+recognized Miss Faulkner's figure at a distance, and even fancied that
+she had been watching him; but he only redoubled his attentions to the
+fair woman beside him, and looked no more.
+
+Yet he was glad when the guests began to drop off, the great rooms
+thinned, and Susy, appearing on the arm of her husband, coquettishly
+reminded him of his promise.
+
+“For I want to talk to you of old times. General Brant,” she went on,
+turning explanatorily to Boompointer, “married my adopted mother in
+California--at Robles, a dear old place where I spent my earliest years.
+So, you see, we are sort of relations by marriage,” she added, with
+delightful naivete.
+
+Hooker's own vainglorious allusion to his relations to the man before
+him flashed across Brant's mind, but it left now only a smile on his
+lips. He felt he had already become a part of the irresponsible comedy
+played around him. Why should he resist, or examine its ethics too
+closely? He offered his arm to Susy as they descended the stairs, but,
+instead of pausing in the supper-room, she simply passed through it with
+a significant pressure on his arm, and, drawing aside a muslin curtain,
+stepped into the moonlit conservatory. Behind the curtain there was a
+small rustic settee; without releasing his arm she sat down, so that
+when he dropped beside her, their hands met, and mutually clasped.
+
+“Now, Kla'uns,” she said, with a slight, comfortable shiver as she
+nestled beside him, “it's a little like your chair down at old Robles,
+isn't it?--tell me! And to think it's five years ago! But, Kla'uns,
+what's the matter? You are changed,” she said, looking at his dark face
+in the moonlight, “or you have something to tell me.”
+
+“I have.”
+
+“And it's something dreadful, I know!” she said, wrinkling her brows
+with a pretty terror. “Couldn't you pretend you had told it to me, and
+let us go on just the same? Couldn't you, Kla'uns? Tell me!”
+
+“I am afraid I couldn't,” he said, with a sad smile.
+
+“Is it about yourself, Kla'uns? You know,” she went on with cheerful
+rapidity, “I know everything about you--I always did, you know--and I
+don't care, and never did care, and it don't, and never did, make the
+slightest difference to me. So don't tell it, and waste time, Kla'uns.”
+
+“It's not about me, but about my wife!” he said slowly.
+
+Her expression changed slightly
+
+“Oh, her!” she said after a pause. Then, half-resignedly, “Go on,
+Kla'uns.”
+
+He began. He had a dozen times rehearsed to himself his miserable story,
+always feeling it keenly, and even fearing that he might be carried away
+by emotion or morbid sentiment in telling it to another. But, to his
+astonishment, he found himself telling it practically, calmly, almost
+cynically, to his old playmate, repressing the half devotion and even
+tenderness that had governed him, from the time that his wife, disguised
+as the mulatto woman, had secretly watched him at his office, to the
+hour that he had passed through the lines. He withheld only the incident
+of Miss Faulkner's complicity and sacrifice.
+
+“And she got away, after having kicked you out of your place, Kla'uns?”
+ said Susy, when he had ended.
+
+Clarence stiffened beside her. But he felt he had gone too far to
+quarrel with his confidante.
+
+“She went away. I honestly believe we shall never meet again, or I
+should not be telling you this!”
+
+“Kla'uns,” she said lightly, taking his hand again, “don't you believe
+it! She won't let you go. You're one of those men that a woman, when
+she's once hooked on to, won't let go of, even when she believes she no
+longer loves him, or meets bigger and better men. I reckon it's because
+you're so different from other men; maybe there are so many different
+things about you to hook on to, and you don't slip off as easily as the
+others. Now, if you were like old Peyton, her first husband, or like
+poor Jim, or even my Boompointer, you'd be all right! No, my boy, all
+we can do is to try to keep her from getting at you here. I reckon she
+won't trust herself in Washington again in a hurry.”
+
+“But I cannot stay here; my career is in the field.”
+
+“Your career is alongside o' me, honey--and Boompointer. But nearer ME.
+We'll fix all that. I heard something about your being in disgrace, but
+the story was that you were sweet on some secesh girl down there, and
+neglected your business, Kla'uns. But, Lordy! to think it was only your
+own wife! Never mind; we'll straighten that out. We've had worse jobs
+than that on. Why, there was that commissary who was buying up dead
+horses at one end of the field, and selling them to the Government for
+mess beef at the other; and there was that general who wouldn't make
+an attack when it rained; and the other general--you know who I mean,
+Kla'uns--who wouldn't invade the State where his sister lived; but we
+straightened them out, somehow, and they were a heap worse than you.
+We'll get you a position in the war department here, one of the bureau
+offices, where you keep your rank and your uniform--you don't look bad
+in it, Kla'uns--on better pay. And you'll come and see me, and we'll
+talk over old times.”
+
+Brant felt his heart turn sick within him. But he was at her mercy now!
+He said, with an effort,--
+
+“But I've told you that my career--nay, my LIFE--now is in the field.”
+
+“Don't you be a fool, Kla'uns, and leave it there! You have done your
+work of fighting--mighty good fighting, too,--and everybody knows it.
+You've earned a change. Let others take your place.”
+
+He shuddered, as he remembered that his wife had made the same
+appeal. Was he a fool then, and these two women--so totally unlike in
+everything--right in this?
+
+“Come, Kla'uns,” said Susy, relapsing again against his shoulder.
+“Now talk to me! You don't say what you think of me, of my home, of my
+furniture, of my position--even of him! Tell me!”
+
+“I find you well, prosperous, and happy,” he said, with a faint smile.
+
+“Is that all? And how do I look?”
+
+She turned her still youthful, mischievous face towards him in the
+moonlight. The witchery of her blue eyes was still there as of old, the
+same frank irresponsibility beamed from them; her parted lips seemed to
+give him back the breath of his youth. He started, but she did not.
+
+“Susy, dear!”
+
+It was her husband's voice.
+
+“I quite forgot,” the Senator went on, as he drew the curtain aside,
+“that you are engaged with a friend; but Miss Faulkner is waiting to say
+good-night, and I volunteered to find you.”
+
+“Tell her to wait a moment,” said Susy, with an impatience that was as
+undisguised as it was without embarrassment or confusion.
+
+But Miss Faulkner, unconsciously following Mr. Boompointer, was already
+upon them. For a moment the whole four were silent, although perfectly
+composed. Senator Boompointer, unconscious of any infelicity in his
+interruption, was calmly waiting. Clarence, opposed suddenly to the
+young girl whom he believed was avoiding his recognition, rose, coldly
+imperturbable. Miss Faulkner, looking taller and more erect in the long
+folds of her satin cloak, neither paled nor blushed, as she regarded
+Susy and Brant with a smile of well-bred apology.
+
+“I expect to leave Washington to-morrow, and may not be able to call
+again,” she said, “or I would not have so particularly pressed a
+leave-taking upon you.”
+
+“I was talking with my old friend, General Brant,” said Susy, more by
+way of introduction than apology.
+
+Brant bowed. For an instant the clear eyes of Miss Faulkner slipped
+icily across his as she made him an old-fashioned Southern courtesy,
+and, taking Susy's arm, she left the room. Brant did not linger, but
+took leave of his host almost in the same breath. At the front door a
+well-appointed carriage of one of the Legations had just rolled into
+waiting. He looked back; he saw Miss Faulkner, erect and looking like a
+bride in her gauzy draperies, descending the stairs before the waiting
+servants. He felt his heart beat strangely. He hesitated, recalled
+himself with an effort, hurriedly stepped from the porch into the path,
+as he heard the carriage door close behind him in the distance, and then
+felt the dust from her horse's hoofs rise around him as she drove past
+him and away.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Although Brant was convinced as soon as he left the house that he
+could not accept anything from the Boompointer influence, and that his
+interview with Susy was fruitless, he knew that he must temporize. While
+he did not believe that his old playmate would willingly betray him, he
+was uneasy when he thought of the vanity and impulsiveness which might
+compromise him--or of a possible jealousy that might seek revenge. Yet
+he had no reason to believe that Susy's nature was jealous, or that she
+was likely to have any cause; but the fact remained that Miss Faulkner's
+innocent intrusion upon their tete-a-tete affected him more strongly
+than anything else in his interview with Susy. Once out of the
+atmosphere of that house, it struck him, too, that Miss Faulkner was
+almost as much of an alien in it as himself. He wondered what she
+had been doing there. Could it be possible that she was obtaining
+information for the South? But he rejected the idea as quickly as it
+had occurred to him. Perhaps there could be no stronger proof of the
+unconscious influence the young girl already had over him.
+
+He remembered the liveries of the diplomatic carriage that had borne her
+away, and ascertained without difficulty that her sister had married one
+of the foreign ministers, and that she was a guest in his house. But he
+was the more astonished to hear that she and her sister were considered
+to be Southern Unionists--and were greatly petted in governmental
+circles for their sacrificing fidelity to the flag. His informant, an
+official in the State Department, added that Miss Matilda might have
+been a good deal of a madcap at the outbreak of the war--for the sisters
+had a brother in the Confederate service--but that she had changed
+greatly, and, indeed, within a month. “For,” he added, “she was at the
+White House for the first time last week, and they say the President
+talked more to her than to any other woman.”
+
+The indescribable sensation with which this simple information filled
+Brant startled him more than the news itself. Hope, joy, fear, distrust,
+and despair, alternately distracted him. He recalled Miss Faulkner's
+almost agonizing glance of appeal to him in the drawing-room at Susy's,
+and it seemed to be equally consistent with the truth of what he had
+just heard--or some monstrous treachery and deceit of which she might be
+capable. Even now she might be a secret emissary of some spy within
+the President's family; she might have been in correspondence with some
+traitor in the Boompointer clique, and her imploring glance only the
+result of a fear of exposure. Or, again, she might have truly recanted
+after her escapade at Gray Oaks, and feared only his recollection of
+her as go-between of spies. And yet both of these presumptions were
+inconsistent with her conduct in the conservatory. It seemed impossible
+that this impulsive woman, capable of doing what he had himself known
+her to do, and equally sensitive to the shame or joy of such impulses,
+should be the same conventional woman of society who had so coldly
+recognized and parted from him.
+
+But this interval of doubt was transitory. The next day he received a
+dispatch from the War Department, ordering him to report himself for
+duty at once. With a beating heart he hurried to the Secretary. But
+that official had merely left a memorandum with his assistant directing
+General Brant to accompany some fresh levies to a camp of “organization”
+ near the front. Brant felt a chill of disappointment. Duties of this
+kind had been left to dubious regular army veterans, hurriedly
+displaced general officers, and favored detrimentals. But if it was not
+restoration, it was no longer inaction, and it was at least a release
+from Washington.
+
+It was also evidently the result of some influence--but hardly that
+of the Boompointers, for he knew that Susy wished to keep him at
+the Capital. Was there another power at work to send him away from
+Washington? His previous doubts returned. Nor were they dissipated when
+the chief of the bureau placed a letter before him with the remark that
+it had been entrusted to him by a lady with the request that it should
+be delivered only into his own hands.
+
+“She did not know your hotel address, but ascertained you were to call
+here. She said it was of some importance. There is no mystery about it,
+General,” continued the official with a mischievous glance at Brant's
+handsome, perplexed face, “although it's from a very pretty woman--whom
+we all know.”
+
+“Mrs. Boompointer?” suggested Brant, with affected lightness.
+
+It was a maladroit speech. The official's face darkened.
+
+“We have not yet become a Postal Department for the Boompointers,
+General,” he said dryly, “however great their influence elsewhere. It
+was from rather a different style of woman--Miss Faulkner. You will
+receive your papers later at your hotel, and leave to-night.”
+
+Brant's unlucky slip was still potent enough to divert the official
+attention, or he would have noticed the change in his visitor's face,
+and the abruptness of his departure.
+
+Once in the street, Brant tore off the envelope. But beneath it was
+another, on which was written in a delicate, refined hand: “Please do
+not open this until you reach your destination.”
+
+Then she knew he was going! And perhaps this was her influence? All his
+suspicions again returned. She knew he was going near the lines, and his
+very appointment, through her power, might be a plot to serve her and
+the enemy! Was this letter, which she was entrusting to him, the cover
+of some missive to her Southern friends which she expected him to
+carry--perhaps as a return for her own act of self-sacrifice? Was this
+the appeal she had been making to his chivalry, his gratitude, his
+honor? The perspiration stood in beads on his forehead. What defect lay
+hidden in his nature that seemed to make him an easy victim of these
+intriguing women? He had not even the excuse of gallantry; less
+susceptible to the potencies of the sex than most men, he was still
+compelled to bear that reputation. He remembered his coldness to Miss
+Faulkner in the first days of their meeting, and her effect upon his
+subalterns. Why had she selected him from among them--when she could
+have modeled the others like wax to her purposes? Why? And yet with the
+question came a possible answer that he hardly dared to think of--that
+in its very vagueness seemed to fill him with a stimulating thrill and
+hopefulness. He quickened his pace. He would take the letter, and yet be
+master of himself when the time came to open it.
+
+That time came three days later, in his tent at Three Pines Crossing. As
+he broke open the envelope, he was relieved to find that it contained
+no other inclosure, and seemed intended only for himself. It began
+abruptly:--
+
+“When you read this, you will understand why I did not speak to you
+when we met last night; why I even dreaded that you might speak to
+me, knowing, as I did, what I ought to tell you at that place and
+moment--something you could only know from me. I did not know you were
+in Washington, although I knew you were relieved; I had no way of seeing
+you or sending to you before, and I only came to Mrs. Boompointer's
+party in the hope of hearing news of you.
+
+“You know that my brother was captured by your pickets in company with
+another officer. He thinks you suspected the truth--that he and his
+friend were hovering near your lines to effect the escape of the spy.
+But he says that, although they failed to help her, she did escape, or
+was passed through the lines by your connivance. He says that you seemed
+to know her, that from what Rose--the mulatto woman--told him, you and
+she were evidently old friends. I would not speak of this, nor intrude
+upon your private affairs, only that I think you ought to know that I
+had no knowledge of it when I was in your house, but believed her to be
+a stranger to you. You gave me no intimation that you knew her, and I
+believed that you were frank with me. But I should not speak of this
+at all--for I believe that it would have made no difference to me in
+repairing the wrong that I thought I had done you--only that, as I am
+forced by circumstances to tell you the terrible ending of this story,
+you ought to know it all.
+
+“My brother wrote to me that the evening after you left, the burying
+party picked up the body of what they believed to be a mulatto woman
+lying on the slope. It was not Rose, but the body of the very woman--the
+real and only spy--whom you had passed through the lines. She was
+accidentally killed by the Confederates in the first attack upon you, at
+daybreak. But only my brother and his friend recognized her through her
+blackened face and disguise, and on the plea that she was a servant of
+one of their friends, they got permission from the division commander to
+take her away, and she was buried by her friends and among her people in
+the little cemetery of Three Pines Crossing, not far from where you have
+gone. My brother thought that I ought to tell you this: it seems that
+he and his friend had a strange sympathy for you in what they appear
+to know or guess of your relations with that woman, and I think he was
+touched by what he thought was your kindness and chivalry to him on
+account of his sister. But I do not think he ever knew, or will know,
+how great is the task that he has imposed upon me.
+
+“You know now, do you not, WHY I did not speak to you when we first met;
+it seemed so impossible to do it in an atmosphere and a festivity that
+was so incongruous with the dreadful message I was charged with. And
+when I had to meet you later--perhaps I may have wronged you--but it
+seemed to me that you were so preoccupied and interested with other
+things that I might perhaps only be wearying you with something you
+cared little for, or perhaps already knew and had quickly forgotten.
+
+“I had been wanting to say something else to you when I had got rid of
+my dreadful message. I do not know if you still care to hear it. But
+you were once generous enough to think that I had done you a service in
+bringing a letter to your commander. Although I know better than anybody
+else the genuine devotion to your duty that made you accept my poor
+service, from all that I can hear, you have never had the credit of it.
+Will you not try me again? I am more in favor here, and I might yet be
+more successful in showing your superiors how true you have been to your
+trust, even if you have little faith in your friend, Matilda Faulkner.”
+
+For a long time he remained motionless, with the letter in his hand.
+Then he arose, ordered his horse, and galloped away.
+
+There was little difficulty in finding the cemetery of Three Pines
+Crossing--a hillside slope, hearsed with pine and cypress, and starred
+with white crosses, that in the distance looked like flowers. Still
+less was there in finding the newer marble shaft among the older
+lichen-spotted slabs, which bore the simple words: “Alice Benham,
+Martyr.” A few Confederate soldiers, under still plainer and newer
+wooden headstones, carved only with initials, lay at her feet. Brant
+sank on his knees beside the grave, but he was shocked to see that the
+base of the marble was stained with the red pollen of the fateful lily,
+whose blossoms had been heaped upon her mound, but whose fallen petals
+lay dark and sodden in decay.
+
+How long he remained there he did not know. And then a solitary bugle
+from the camp seemed to summon him, as it had once before summoned him,
+and he went away--as he had gone before--to a separation that he now
+knew was for all time.
+
+Then followed a month of superintendence and drill, and the infusing
+into the little camp under his instruction the spirit which seemed to
+be passing out of his own life forever. Shut in by alien hills on the
+borderland of the great struggle, from time to time reports reached
+him of the bitter fighting, and almost disastrous successes of his old
+division commander. Orders came from Washington to hurry the preparation
+of his raw levies to the field, and a faint hope sprang up in his
+mind. But following it came another dispatch ordering his return to the
+Capital.
+
+He reached it with neither hope nor fear--so benumbed had become his
+spirit under this last trial, and what seemed to be now the mockery of
+this last sacrifice to his wife. Though it was no longer a question of
+her life and safety, he knew that he could still preserve her memory
+from stain by keeping her secret, even though its divulgings might clear
+his own. For that reason, he had even hesitated to inform Susy of
+her death, in the fear that, in her thoughtless irresponsibility and
+impulsiveness, she might be tempted to use it in his favor. He had made
+his late appointment a plea for her withholding any present efforts to
+assist him. He even avoided the Boompointers' house, in what he believed
+was partly a duty to the memory of his wife. But he saw no inconsistency
+in occasionally extending his lonely walks to the vicinity of a foreign
+Legation, or in being lifted with a certain expectation at the sight
+of its liveries on the Avenue. There was a craving for sympathy in his
+heart, which Miss Faulkner's letter had awakened.
+
+Meantime, he had reported himself for duty at the War Department--with
+little hope, however, in that formality. But he was surprised the next
+day when the chief of the bureau informed him that his claim was before
+the President.
+
+“I was not aware that I had presented any claim,” he said, a little
+haughtily.
+
+The bureau chief looked up with some surprise. This quiet, patient,
+reserved man had puzzled him once or twice before.
+
+“Perhaps I should say 'case,' General,” he said, drily. “But the
+personal interest of the highest executive in the land strikes me as
+being desirable in anything.”
+
+“I only mean that I have obeyed the orders of the department in
+reporting myself here, as I have done,” said Brant, with less feeling,
+but none the less firmness; “and I should imagine it was not the duty
+of a soldier to question them. Which I fancy a 'claim' or a 'case' would
+imply.”
+
+He had no idea of taking this attitude before, but the disappointments
+of the past month, added to this first official notice of his disgrace,
+had brought forward that dogged, reckless, yet half-scornful obstinacy
+that was part of his nature.
+
+The official smiled.
+
+“I suppose, then, you are waiting to hear from the President,” he said
+drily.
+
+“I am awaiting orders from the department,” returned Brant quietly,
+“but whether they originate in the President as commander-in-chief, or
+not--it is not for me to inquire.”
+
+Even when he reached his hotel this half-savage indifference which had
+taken the place of his former incertitude had not changed. It seemed to
+him that he had reached the crisis of his life where he was no longer a
+free agent, and could wait, superior alike to effort or expectation. And
+it was with a merely dispassionate curiosity that he found a note the
+next morning from the President's private secretary, informing him that
+the President would see him early that day.
+
+A few hours later he was ushered through the public rooms of the White
+House to a more secluded part of the household. The messenger stopped
+before a modest door and knocked. It was opened by a tall figure--the
+President himself. He reached out a long arm to Brant, who stood
+hesitatingly on the threshold, grasped his hand, and led him into the
+room. It had a single, large, elaborately draped window and a handsome
+medallioned carpet, which contrasted with the otherwise almost appalling
+simplicity of the furniture. A single plain angular desk, with a
+blotting pad and a few sheets of large foolscap upon it, a waste-paper
+basket and four plain armchairs, completed the interior with a contrast
+as simple and homely as its long-limbed, black-coated occupant.
+Releasing the hand of the general to shut a door which opened into
+another apartment, the President shoved an armchair towards him and sank
+somewhat wearily into another before the desk. But only for a moment;
+the long shambling limbs did not seem to adjust themselves easily to
+the chair; the high narrow shoulders drooped to find a more comfortable
+lounging attitude, shifted from side to side, and the long legs moved
+dispersedly. Yet the face that was turned towards Brant was humorous and
+tranquil.
+
+“I was told I should have to send for you if I wished to see you,” he
+said smilingly.
+
+Already mollified, and perhaps again falling under the previous
+influence of this singular man, Brant began somewhat hesitatingly to
+explain.
+
+But the President checked him gently,--
+
+“You don't understand. It was something new to my experience here to
+find an able-bodied American citizen with an honest genuine grievance
+who had to have it drawn from him like a decayed tooth. But you have
+been here before. I seem to remember your face.”
+
+Brant's reserve had gone. He admitted that he had twice sought an
+audience--but--
+
+“You dodged the dentist! That was wrong.” As Brant made a slight
+movement of deprecation the President continued: “I understand! Not from
+fear of giving pain to yourself but to others. I don't know that THAT
+is right, either. A certain amount of pain must be suffered in this
+world--even by one's enemies. Well, I have looked into your case,
+General Brant.” He took up a piece of paper from his desk, scrawled with
+two or three notes in pencil. “I think this is the way it stands. You
+were commanding a position at Gray Oaks when information was received
+by the department that, either through neglect or complicity, spies were
+passing through your lines. There was no attempt to prove your neglect;
+your orders, the facts of your personal care and precaution, were all
+before the department. But it was also shown that your wife, from whom
+you were only temporarily separated, was a notorious secessionist; that,
+before the war, you yourself were suspected, and that, therefore, you
+were quite capable of evading your own orders, which you may have
+only given as a blind. On this information you were relieved by the
+department of your command. Later on it was discovered that the spy was
+none other than your own wife, disguised as a mulatto; that, after her
+arrest by your own soldiers, you connived at her escape--and this was
+considered conclusive proof of--well, let us say--your treachery.”
+
+“But I did not know it was my wife until she was arrested,” said Brant
+impulsively.
+
+The President knitted his eyebrows humorously.
+
+“Don't let us travel out of the record, General. You're as bad as the
+department. The question was one of your personal treachery, but you
+need not accept the fact that you were justly removed because your wife
+was a spy. Now, General, I am an old lawyer, and I don't mind telling
+you that in Illinois we wouldn't hang a yellow dog on that evidence
+before the department. But when I was asked to look into the matter by
+your friends, I discovered something of more importance to you. I
+had been trying to find a scrap of evidence that would justify the
+presumption that you had sent information to the enemy. I found that it
+was based upon the fact of the enemy being in possession of knowledge at
+the first battle at Gray Oaks, which could only have been obtained
+from our side, and which led to a Federal disaster; that you, however,
+retrieved by your gallantry. I then asked the secretary if he was
+prepared to show that you had sent the information with that view, or
+that you had been overtaken by a tardy sense of repentance. He preferred
+to consider my suggestion as humorous. But the inquiry led to my further
+discovery that the only treasonable correspondence actually in evidence
+was found upon the body of a trusted Federal officer, and had been
+forwarded to the division commander. But there was no record of it in
+the case.”
+
+“Why, I forwarded it myself,” said Brant eagerly.
+
+“So the division commander writes,” said the President, smiling, “and he
+forwarded it to the department. But it was suppressed in some way. Have
+you any enemies, General Brant?”
+
+“Not that I know of.”
+
+“Then you probably have. You are young and successful. Think of the
+hundred other officers who naturally believe themselves better than you
+are, and haven't a traitorous wife. Still, the department may have made
+an example of you for the benefit of the only man who couldn't profit by
+it.”
+
+“Might it not have been, sir, that this suppression was for the good
+report of the service--as the chief offender was dead?”
+
+“I am glad to hear you say so, General, for it is the argument I have
+used successfully in behalf of your wife.”
+
+“Then you know it all, sir?” said Brant after a gloomy pause.
+
+“All, I think. Come, General, you seemed just now to be uncertain about
+your enemies. Let me assure you, you need not be so in regard to your
+friends.”
+
+“I dare to hope I have found one, sir,” said Brant with almost boyish
+timidity.
+
+“Oh, not me!” said the President, with a laugh of deprecation. “Some one
+much more potent.”
+
+“May I know his name, Mr. President?”
+
+“No, for it is a woman. You were nearly ruined by one, General. I
+suppose it's quite right that you should be saved by one. And, of
+course, irregularly.”
+
+“A woman!” echoed Brant.
+
+“Yes; one who was willing to confess herself a worse spy than your
+wife--a double traitor--to save you! Upon my word, General, I don't
+know if the department was far wrong; a man with such an alternately
+unsettling and convincing effect upon a woman's highest political
+convictions should be under some restraint. Luckily the department knows
+nothing of it.”
+
+“Nor would any one else have known from me,” said Brant eagerly. “I
+trust that she did not think--that you, sir, did not for an instant
+believe that I”--
+
+“Oh dear, no! Nobody would have believed you! It was her free confidence
+to me. That was what made the affair so difficult to handle. For even
+her bringing your dispatch to the division commander looked bad for you;
+and you know he even doubted its authenticity.”
+
+“Does she--does Miss Faulkner know the spy was my wife?” hesitated
+Brant.
+
+The President twisted himself in his chair, so as to regard Brant more
+gravely with his deep-set eyes, and then thoughtfully rubbed his leg.
+
+“Don't let us travel out of the record, General,” he said after a pause.
+But as the color surged into Brant's cheek he raised his eyes to the
+ceiling, and said, in half-humorous recollection,--
+
+“No, I think THAT fact was first gathered from your other friend--Mr.
+Hooker.”
+
+“Hooker!” said Brant, indignantly; “did he come here?”
+
+“Pray don't destroy my faith in Mr. Hooker, General,” said the
+President, in half-weary, half-humorous deprecation. “Don't tell me
+that any of his inventions are TRUE! Leave me at least that magnificent
+liar--the one perfectly intelligible witness you have. For from the
+time that he first appeared here with a grievance and a claim for
+a commission, he has been an unspeakable joy to me and a convincing
+testimony to you. Other witnesses have been partisans and prejudiced;
+Mr. Hooker was frankly true to himself. How else should I have known of
+the care you took to disguise yourself, save the honor of your uniform,
+and run the risk of being shot as an unknown spy at your wife's side,
+except from his magnificent version of HIS part in it? How else should
+I have known the story of your discovery of the Californian conspiracy,
+except from his supreme portrayal of it, with himself as the hero? No,
+you must not forget to thank Mr. Hooker when you meet him. Miss Faulkner
+is at present more accessible; she is calling on some members of my
+family in the next room. Shall I leave you with her?”
+
+Brant rose with a pale face and a quickly throbbing heart as the
+President, glancing at the clock, untwisted himself from the chair, and
+shook himself out full length, and rose gradually to his feet.
+
+“Your wish for active service is granted, General Brant,” he said
+slowly, “and you will at once rejoin your old division commander, who
+is now at the head of the Tenth Army Corps. But,” he said, after a
+deliberate pause, “there are certain rules and regulations of your
+service that even I cannot, with decent respect to your department,
+override. You will, therefore, understand that you cannot rejoin the
+army in your former position.”
+
+The slight flush that came to Brant's cheek quickly passed. And there
+was only the unmistakable sparkle of renewed youth in his frank eyes as
+he said--
+
+“Let me go to the front again, Mr. President, and I care not HOW.”
+
+The President smiled, and, laying his heavy hand on Brant's shoulder,
+pushed him gently towards the door of the inner room.
+
+“I was only about to say,” he added, as he opened the door, “that
+it would be necessary for you to rejoin your promoted commander as
+a major-general. And,” he continued, lifting his voice, as he gently
+pushed his guest into the room, “he hasn't even thanked me for it, Miss
+Faulkner!”
+
+The door closed behind him, and he stood for a moment dazed, and still
+hearing the distant voice of the President, in the room he had just
+quitted, now welcoming a new visitor. But the room before him, opening
+into a conservatory, was empty, save for a single figure that turned,
+half timidly, half mischievously, towards him. The same quick,
+sympathetic glance was in both their faces; the same timid, happy look
+in both their eyes. He moved quickly to her side.
+
+“Then you knew that--that--woman was my wife?” he said, hurriedly, as he
+grasped her hand.
+
+She cast a half-appealing look at his face--a half-frightened one around
+the room and at the open door beyond.
+
+“Let us,” she said faintly, “go into the conservatory.”
+
+*****
+
+It is but a few years ago that the veracious chronicler of these pages
+moved with a wondering crowd of sightseers in the gardens of the White
+House. The war cloud had long since lifted and vanished; the Potomac
+flowed peacefully by and on to where once lay the broad plantation of a
+great Confederate leader--now a national cemetery that had gathered the
+soldier dead of both sections side by side in equal rest and honor--and
+the great goddess once more looked down serenely from the dome of the
+white Capitol. The chronicler's attention was attracted by an erect,
+handsome soldierly-looking man, with a beard and moustache slightly
+streaked with gray, pointing out the various objects of interest to a
+boy of twelve or fourteen at his side.
+
+“Yes; although, as I told you, this house belongs only to the President
+of the United States and his family,” said the gentleman, smilingly, “in
+that little conservatory I proposed to your mother.”
+
+“Oh! Clarence, how can you!” said the lady, reprovingly, “you know it
+was LONG after that!”
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Clarence, by Bret Harte
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLARENCE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 2635-0.txt or 2635-0.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/3/2635/
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
+Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation”
+ or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project
+Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+“Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
+of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/2635-0.zip b/2635-0.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d4f6e8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2635-0.zip
diff --git a/2635-h.zip b/2635-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cfe9bfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2635-h.zip
diff --git a/2635-h/2635-h.htm b/2635-h/2635-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b5e959
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2635-h/2635-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,6848 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>
+      Clarence, by Bret Harte
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    .pagenum   {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal;
+               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
+               text-align: right;}
+    pre        { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Clarence, by Bret Harte
+
+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: Clarence
+
+Author: Bret Harte
+
+Release Date: May 21, 2006 [EBook #2635]
+Last Updated: March 4, 2018
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLARENCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      CLARENCE
+    </h1>
+    <h2>
+      By Bret Harte
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_PART1"> <big><b>PART I.</b></big> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_PART3"> <big><b>PART II.</b></big> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER I. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER II. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER III. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER IV. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER V. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER VI. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER VII. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2H_PART3"> <big><b>PART III.</b></big> </a>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br />
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER I. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER II. </a>
+      </p>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER III. </a>
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_PART1" id="link2H_PART1">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      PART I.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      As Clarence Brant, President of the Robles Land Company, and husband of
+      the rich widow of John Peyton, of the Robles Ranche, mingled with the
+      outgoing audience of the Cosmopolitan Theatre, at San Francisco, he
+      elicited the usual smiling nods and recognition due to his good looks and
+      good fortune. But as he hurriedly slipped through the still lingering
+      winter's rain into the smart coupe that was awaiting him, and gave the
+      order &ldquo;Home,&rdquo; the word struck him with a peculiarly ironical significance.
+      His home was a handsome one, and lacked nothing in appointment and
+      comfort, but he had gone to the theatre to evade its hollow loneliness.
+      Nor was it because his wife was not there, for he had a miserable
+      consciousness that her temporary absence had nothing to do with his
+      homelessness. The distraction of the theatre over, that dull, vague, but
+      aching sense of loneliness which was daily growing upon him returned with
+      greater vigor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He leaned back in the coupe and gloomily reflected.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had been married scarcely a year, yet even in the illusions of the
+      honeymoon the woman, older than himself, and the widow of his old patron,
+      had half unconsciously reasserted herself, and slipped back into the
+      domination of her old position. It was at first pleasant enough,&mdash;this
+      half-maternal protectorate which is apt to mingle even with the affections
+      of younger women,&mdash;and Clarence, in his easy, half-feminine intuition
+      of the sex, yielded, as the strong are apt to yield, through the very
+      consciousness of their own superiority. But this is a quality the weaker
+      are not apt to recognize, and the woman who has once tasted equal power
+      with her husband not only does not easily relegate it, but even makes its
+      continuance a test of the affections. The usual triumphant feminine
+      conclusion, &ldquo;Then you no longer love me,&rdquo; had in Clarence's brief
+      experience gone even further and reached its inscrutable climax, &ldquo;Then I
+      no longer love you,&rdquo; although shown only in a momentary hardening of the
+      eye and voice. And added to this was his sudden, but confused remembrance
+      that he had seen that eye and heard that voice in marital altercation
+      during Judge Peyton's life, and that he himself, her boy partisan, had
+      sympathized with her. Yet, strange to say, this had given him more pain
+      than her occasional other reversions to the past&mdash;to her old
+      suspicious of him when he was a youthful protege of her husband and a
+      presumed suitor of her adopted daughter Susy. High natures are more apt to
+      forgive wrong done to themselves than any abstract injustice. And her
+      capricious tyranny over her dependents and servants, or an unreasoning
+      enmity to a neighbor or friend, outraged his finer sense more than her own
+      misconception of himself. Nor did he dream that this was a thing most
+      women seldom understand, or, understanding, ever forgive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The coupe rattled over the stones or swirled through the muddy pools of
+      the main thoroughfares. Newspaper and telegraphic offices were still
+      brilliantly lit, and crowds were gathered among the bulletin boards. He
+      knew that news had arrived from Washington that evening of the first
+      active outbreaks of secession, and that the city was breathless with
+      excitement. Had he not just come from the theatre, where certain
+      insignificant allusions in the play had been suddenly caught up and
+      cheered or hissed by hitherto unknown partisans, to the dumb astonishment
+      of a majority of the audience comfortably settled to money-getting and
+      their own affairs alone? Had he not applauded, albeit half-scornfully, the
+      pretty actress&mdash;his old playmate Susy&mdash;who had audaciously and
+      all incongruously waved the American flag in their faces? Yes! he had
+      known it; had lived for the last few weeks in an atmosphere electrically
+      surcharged with it&mdash;and yet it had chiefly affected him in his
+      personal homelessness. For his wife was a Southerner, a born slaveholder,
+      and a secessionist, whose noted prejudices to the North had even outrun
+      her late husband's politics. At first the piquancy and recklessness of her
+      opinionative speech amused him as part of her characteristic flavor, or as
+      a lingering youthfulness which the maturer intellect always pardons. He
+      had never taken her politics seriously&mdash;why should he? With her head
+      on his shoulder he had listened to her extravagant diatribes against the
+      North. He had forgiven her outrageous indictment of his caste and his
+      associates for the sake of the imperious but handsome lips that uttered
+      it. But when he was compelled to listen to her words echoed and repeated
+      by her friends and family; when he found that with the clannishness of her
+      race she had drawn closer to them in this controversy,&mdash;that she
+      depended upon them for her intelligence and information rather than upon
+      him,&mdash;he had awakened to the reality of his situation. He had borne
+      the allusions of her brother, whose old scorn for his dependent childhood
+      had been embittered by his sister's marriage and was now scarcely
+      concealed. Yet, while he had never altered his own political faith and
+      social creed in this antagonistic atmosphere, he had often wondered, with
+      his old conscientiousness and characteristic self-abnegation, whether his
+      own political convictions were not merely a revulsion from his domestic
+      tyranny and alien surroundings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the midst of this gloomy retrospect the coupe stopped with a jerk
+      before his own house. The door was quickly opened by a servant, who
+      appeared to be awaiting him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some one to see you in the library, sir,&rdquo; said the man, &ldquo;and&rdquo;&mdash;He
+      hesitated and looked towards the coupe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well?&rdquo; said Clarence impatiently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He said, sir, as how you were not to send away the carriage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Indeed, and who is it?&rdquo; demanded Clarence sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Hooker. He said I was to say Jim Hooker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The momentary annoyance in Clarence's face changed to a look of reflective
+      curiosity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He said he knew you were at the theatre, and he would wait until you came
+      home,&rdquo; continued the man, dubiously watching his master's face. &ldquo;He don't
+      know you've come in, sir, and&mdash;and I can easily get rid of him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No matter now. I'll see him, and,&rdquo; added Clarence, with a faint smile,
+      &ldquo;let the carriage wait.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet, as he turned towards the library he was by no means certain that an
+      interview with the old associate of his boyhood under Judge Peyton's
+      guardianship would divert his mind. Yet he let no trace of his doubts nor
+      of his past gloom show in his face as he entered the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Hooker was apparently examining the elegant furniture and luxurious
+      accommodation with his usual resentful enviousness. Clarence had got a
+      &ldquo;soft thing.&rdquo; That it was more or less the result of his &ldquo;artfulness,&rdquo; and
+      that he was unduly &ldquo;puffed up&rdquo; by it, was, in Hooker's characteristic
+      reasoning, equally clear. As his host smilingly advanced with outstretched
+      hand, Mr. Hooker's efforts to assume a proper abstraction of manner and
+      contemptuous indifference to Clarence's surroundings which should wound
+      his vanity ended in his lolling back at full length in the chair with his
+      eyes on the ceiling. But, remembering suddenly that he was really the
+      bearer of a message to Clarence, it struck him that his supine position
+      was, from a theatrical view-point, infelicitous. In his experiences of the
+      stage he had never delivered a message in that way. He rose awkwardly to
+      his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was so good of you to wait,&rdquo; said Clarence courteously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Saw you in the theatre,&rdquo; said Hooker brusquely. &ldquo;Third row in parquet.
+      Susy said it was you, and had suthin' to say to you. Suthin' you ought to
+      know,&rdquo; he continued, with a slight return of his old mystery of manner
+      which Clarence so well remembered. &ldquo;You saw HER&mdash;she fetched the
+      house with that flag business, eh? She knows which way the cat is going to
+      jump, you bet. I tell you, for all the blowing of these secessionists, the
+      Union's goin' to pay! Yes, sir!&rdquo; He stopped, glanced round the handsome
+      room, and added darkly, &ldquo;Mebbee better than this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With the memory of Hooker's characteristic fondness for mystery still in
+      his mind, Clarence overlooked the innuendo, and said smilingly,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why didn't you bring Mrs. Hooker here? I should have been honored with
+      her company.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Hooker frowned slightly at this seeming levity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never goes out after a performance. Nervous exhaustion. Left her at our
+      rooms in Market Street. We can drive there in ten minutes. That's why I
+      asked to have the carriage wait.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Clarence hesitated. Without caring in the least to renew the acquaintance
+      of his old playmate and sweetheart, a meeting that night in some vague way
+      suggested to him a providential diversion. Nor was he deceived by any
+      gravity in the message. With his remembrance of Susy's theatrical
+      tendencies, he was quite prepared for any capricious futile extravagance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are sure we will not disturb her?&rdquo; he said politely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Clarence led the way to the carriage. If Mr. Hooker expected him during
+      the journey to try to divine the purport of Susy's message he was
+      disappointed. His companion did not allude to it. Possibly looking upon it
+      as a combined theatrical performance, Clarence preferred to wait for Susy
+      as the better actor. The carriage rolled rapidly through the now deserted
+      streets, and at last, under the directions of Mr. Hooker, who was leaning
+      half out of the window, it drew up at a middle-class restaurant, above
+      whose still lit and steaming windows were some ostentatiously public
+      apartments, accessible from a side entrance. As they ascended the
+      staircase together, it became evident that Mr. Hooker was scarcely more at
+      his ease in the character of host than he had been as guest. He stared
+      gloomily at a descending visitor, grunted audibly at a waiter in the
+      passage, and stopped before a door, where a recently deposited tray
+      displayed the half-eaten carcase of a fowl, an empty champagne bottle, two
+      half-filled glasses, and a faded bouquet. The whole passage was redolent
+      with a singular blending of damp cooking, stale cigarette smoke, and
+      patchouli.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Putting the tray aside with his foot, Mr. Hooker opened the door
+      hesitatingly and peered into the room, muttered a few indistinct words,
+      which were followed by a rapid rustling of skirts, and then, with his hand
+      still on the door-knob, turning to Clarence, who had discreetly halted on
+      the threshold, flung the door open theatrically and bade him enter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is somewhere in the suite,&rdquo; he added, with a large wave of the hand
+      towards a door that was still oscillating. &ldquo;Be here in a minit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Clarence took in the apartment with a quiet glance. Its furniture had the
+      frayed and discolored splendors of a public parlor which had been
+      privately used and maltreated; there were stains in the large medallioned
+      carpet; the gilded veneer had been chipped from a heavy centre table,
+      showing the rough, white deal beneath, which gave it the appearance of a
+      stage &ldquo;property;&rdquo; the walls, paneled with gilt-framed mirrors, reflected
+      every domestic detail or private relaxation with shameless publicity. A
+      damp waterproof, shawl, and open newspaper were lying across the once
+      brilliant sofa; a powder-puff, a plate of fruit, and a play-book were on
+      the centre table, and on the marble-topped sideboard was Mr. Hooker's
+      second-best hat, with a soiled collar, evidently but lately exchanged for
+      the one he had on, peeping over its brim. The whole apartment seemed to
+      mingle the furtive disclosures of the dressing-room with the open
+      ostentations of the stage, with even a slight suggestion of the auditorium
+      in a few scattered programmes on the floor and chairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The inner door opened again with a slight theatrical start, and Susy, in
+      an elaborate dressing-gown, moved languidly into the room. She apparently
+      had not had time to change her underskirt, for there was the dust of the
+      stage on its delicate lace edging, as she threw herself into an armchair
+      and crossed her pretty slippered feet before her. Her face was pale, its
+      pallor incautiously increased by powder; and as Clarence looked at its
+      still youthful, charming outline, he was not perhaps sorry that the
+      exquisite pink and white skin beneath, which he had once kissed, was
+      hidden from that awakened recollection. Yet there was little trace of the
+      girlish Susy in the pretty, but prematurely jaded, actress before him, and
+      he felt momentarily relieved. It was her youth and freshness appealing to
+      his own youth and imagination that he had loved&mdash;not HER. Yet as she
+      greeted him with a slight exaggeration of glance, voice, and manner, he
+      remembered that even as a girl she was an actress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nothing of this, however, was in his voice and manner as he gently thanked
+      her for the opportunity of meeting her again. And he was frank, for the
+      diversion he had expected he had found; he even was conscious of thinking
+      more kindly of his wife who had supplanted her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I told Jim he must fetch you if he had to carry you,&rdquo; she said, striking
+      the palm of her hand with her fan, and glancing at her husband. &ldquo;I reckon
+      he guessed WHY, though I didn't tell him&mdash;I don't tell Jim
+      EVERYTHING.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here Jim rose, and looking at his watch, &ldquo;guessed he'd run over to the
+      Lick House and get some cigars.&rdquo; If he was acting upon some hint from his
+      wife, his simulation was so badly done that Clarence felt his first sense
+      of uneasiness. But as Hooker closed the door awkwardly and
+      unostentatiously behind him, Clarence smilingly said he had waited to hear
+      the message from her own lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jim only knows what he's heard outside: the talk of men, you know,&mdash;and
+      he hears a good deal of that&mdash;more, perhaps, than YOU do. It was that
+      which put me up to finding out the truth. And I didn't rest till I did.
+      I'm not to be fooled, Clarence,&mdash;you don't mind my calling you
+      Clarence now we're both married and done for,&mdash;and I'm not the kind
+      to be fooled by anybody from the Cow counties&mdash;and that's the Robles
+      Ranche. I'm a Southern woman myself from Missouri, but I'm for the Union
+      first, last, and all the time, and I call myself a match for any lazy,
+      dawdling, lash-swinging slaveholder and slaveholderess&mdash;whether
+      they're mixed blood, Heaven only knows, or what&mdash;or their friends or
+      relations, or the dirty half-Spanish grandees and their mixed half-nigger
+      peons who truckle to them. You bet!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His blood had stirred quickly at the mention of the Robles Ranche, but the
+      rest of Susy's speech was too much in the vein of her old extravagance to
+      touch him seriously. He found himself only considering how strange it was
+      that the old petulance and impulsiveness of her girlhood were actually
+      bringing back with them her pink cheeks and brilliant eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You surely didn't ask Jim to bring me here,&rdquo; he said smilingly, &ldquo;to tell
+      me that Mrs. Peyton&rdquo;&mdash;he corrected himself hastily as a malicious
+      sparkle came into Susy's blue eyes&mdash;&ldquo;that my wife was a Southern
+      woman, and probably sympathized with her class? Well, I don't know that I
+      should blame her for that any more than she should blame me for being a
+      Northern man and a Unionist.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And she doesn't blame you?&rdquo; asked Susy sneeringly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The color came slightly to Clarence's cheek, but before he could reply the
+      actress added,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, she prefers to use you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't think I understand you,&rdquo; said Clarence, rising coldly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, you don't understand HER!&rdquo; retorted Susy sharply. &ldquo;Look here,
+      Clarence Brant, you're right; I didn't ask you here to tell you&mdash;what
+      you and everybody knows&mdash;that your wife is a Southerner. I didn't ask
+      you here to tell you what everybody suspects&mdash;that she turns you
+      round her little finger. But I did ask you here to tell you what nobody,
+      not even you, suspects&mdash;but what I know!&mdash;and that is that she's
+      a TRAITOR&mdash;and more, a SPY!&mdash;and that I've only got to say the
+      word, or send that man Jim to say the word, to have her dragged out of her
+      Copperhead den at Robles Ranche and shut up in Fort Alcatraz this very
+      night!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Still with the pink glowing in her rounding cheek, and eyes snapping like
+      splintered sapphires, she rose to her feet, with her pretty shoulders
+      lifted, her small hands and white teeth both tightly clenched, and took a
+      step towards him. Even in her attitude there was a reminiscence of her
+      willful childhood, although still blended with the provincial actress whom
+      he had seen on the stage only an hour ago. Thoroughly alarmed at her
+      threat, in his efforts to conceal his feelings he was not above a weak
+      retaliation. Stepping back, he affected to regard her with a critical
+      admiration that was only half simulated, and said with a smile,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very well done&mdash;but you have forgotten the flag.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not flinch. Rather accepting the sarcasm as a tribute to her art,
+      she went on with increasing exaggeration: &ldquo;No, it is YOU who have
+      forgotten the flag&mdash;forgotten your country, your people, your manhood&mdash;everything
+      for that high-toned, double-dyed old spy and traitress! For while you are
+      standing here, your wife is gathering under her roof at Robles a gang of
+      spies and traitors like herself&mdash;secession leaders and their bloated,
+      drunken 'chivalry'! Yes, you may smile your superior smile, but I tell
+      you, Clarence Brant, that with all your smartness and book learning you
+      know no more of what goes on around you than a child. But others do! This
+      conspiracy is known to the government, the Federal officers have been
+      warned; General Sumner has been sent out here&mdash;and his first act was
+      to change the command at Fort Alcatraz, and send your wife's Southern
+      friend&mdash;Captain Pinckney&mdash;to the right about! Yes&mdash;everything
+      is known but ONE thing, and that is WHERE and HOW this precious crew meet!
+      That I alone know, and that I've told you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I suppose,&rdquo; said Clarence, with an unchanged smile, &ldquo;that this
+      valuable information came from your husband&mdash;my old friend, Jim
+      Hooker?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; she answered sharply, &ldquo;it comes from Cencho&mdash;one of your own
+      peons&mdash;who is more true to you and the old Rancho than YOU have ever
+      been. He saw what was going on, and came to me, to warn you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But why not to me directly?&rdquo; asked Clarence, with affected incredulity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ask him!&rdquo; she said viciously. &ldquo;Perhaps he didn't want to warn the master
+      against the mistress. Perhaps he thought WE are still friends. Perhaps&rdquo;&mdash;she
+      hesitated with a lower voice and a forced smile&mdash;&ldquo;perhaps he used to
+      see us together in the old times.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very likely,&rdquo; said Clarence quietly. &ldquo;And for the sake of those old
+      times, Susy,&rdquo; he went on, with a singular gentleness that was quite
+      distinct from his paling face and set eyes, &ldquo;I am going to forget all that
+      you have just said of me and mine, in all the old willfulness and
+      impatience that I see you still keep&mdash;with all your old prettiness.&rdquo;
+       He took his hat from the table and gravely held out his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was frightened for a moment with his impassive abstraction. In the old
+      days she had known it&mdash;had believed it was his dogged &ldquo;obstinacy&rdquo;&mdash;but
+      she knew the hopelessness of opposing it. Yet with feminine persistency
+      she again threw herself against it, as against a wall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You don't believe me! Well, go and see for yourself. They are at Robles
+      NOW. If you catch the early morning stage at Santa Clara you will come
+      upon them before they disperse. Dare you try it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whatever I do,&rdquo; he returned smilingly, &ldquo;I shall always be grateful to you
+      for giving me this opportunity of seeing you again AS YOU WERE. Make my
+      excuses to your husband. Good-night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Clarence!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But he had already closed the door behind him. His face did not relax its
+      expression nor change as he looked again at the tray with its broken
+      viands before the door, the worn, stained hall carpet, or the waiter who
+      shuffled past him. He was apparently as critically conscious of them and
+      of the close odors of the hall, and the atmosphere of listless decay and
+      faded extravagance around him, as before the interview. But if the woman
+      he had just parted from had watched him she would have supposed he still
+      utterly disbelieved her story. Yet he was conscious that all that he saw
+      was a part of his degradation, for he had believed every word she had
+      uttered. Through all her extravagance, envy, and revengefulness he saw the
+      central truth&mdash;that he had been deceived&mdash;not by his wife, but
+      by himself! He had suspected all this before. This was what had been
+      really troubling him&mdash;this was what he had put aside, rather than his
+      faith, not in her, but in his ideal. He remembered letters that had passed
+      between her and Captain Pinckney&mdash;letters that she had openly sent to
+      notorious Southern leaders; her nervous anxiety to remain at the Rancho;
+      the innuendoes and significant glances of friends which he had put aside&mdash;as
+      he had this woman's message! Susy had told him nothing new of his wife&mdash;but
+      the truth of HIMSELF! And the revelation came from people who he was
+      conscious were the inferiors of himself and his wife. To an independent,
+      proud, and self-made man it was the culminating stroke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the same abstracted voice he told the coachman to drive home. The
+      return seemed interminable&mdash;though he never shifted his position. Yet
+      when he drew up at his own door and looked at his watch he found he had
+      been absent only half an hour. Only half an hour! As he entered the house
+      he turned with the same abstraction towards a mirror in the hall, as if he
+      expected to see some outward and visible change in himself in that time.
+      Dismissing his servants to bed, he went into his dressing-room, completely
+      changed his attire, put on a pair of long riding-boots, and throwing a
+      serape over his shoulders, paused a moment, took a pair of small
+      &ldquo;Derringer&rdquo; pistols from a box, put them in his pockets, and then slipped
+      cautiously down the staircase. A lack of confidence in his own domestics
+      had invaded him for the first time. The lights were out. He silently
+      opened the door and was in the street.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He walked hastily a few squares to a livery stable whose proprietor he
+      knew. His first inquiry was for one &ldquo;Redskin,&rdquo; a particular horse; the
+      second for its proprietor. Happily both were in. The proprietor asked no
+      question of a customer of Clarence's condition. The horse, half Spanish,
+      powerful and irascible, was quickly saddled. As Clarence mounted, the man
+      in an impulse of sociability said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Saw you at the theatre to-night, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah,&rdquo; returned Clarence, quietly gathering up the reins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rather a smart trick of that woman with the flag,&rdquo; he went on
+      tentatively. Then, with a possible doubt of his customer's politics, he
+      added with a forced smile, &ldquo;I reckon it's all party fuss, though; there
+      ain't any real danger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But fast as Clarence might ride the words lingered in his ears. He saw
+      through the man's hesitation; he, too, had probably heard that Clarence
+      Brant weakly sympathized with his wife's sentiments, and dared not speak
+      fully. And he understood the cowardly suggestion that there was &ldquo;no real
+      danger.&rdquo; It had been Clarence's one fallacy. He had believed the public
+      excitement was only a temporary outbreak of partisan feeling, soon to
+      subside. Even now he was conscious that he was less doubtful of the
+      integrity of the Union than of his own household. It was not the devotion
+      of the patriot, but the indignation of an outraged husband, that was
+      spurring him on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He knew that if he reached Woodville by five o'clock he could get ferried
+      across the bay at the Embarcadero, and catch the down coach to Fair
+      Plains, whence he could ride to the Rancho. As the coach did not connect
+      directly with San Francisco, the chance of his surprising them was
+      greater. Once clear of the city outskirts, he bullied Redskin into
+      irascible speed, and plunged into the rainy darkness of the highroad. The
+      way was familiar. For a while he was content to feel the buffeting, caused
+      by his rapid pace, of wind and rain against his depressed head and
+      shoulders in a sheer brutal sense of opposition and power, or to relieve
+      his pent-up excitement by dashing through overflowed gullies in the road
+      or across the quaggy, sodden edges of meadowland, until he had controlled
+      Redskin's rebellious extravagance into a long steady stride. Then he
+      raised his head and straightened himself on the saddle, to think. But to
+      no purpose. He had no plan; everything would depend upon the situation;
+      the thought of forestalling any action of the conspirators, by warning or
+      calling in the aid of the authorities, for an instant crossed his mind,
+      but was as instantly dismissed. He had but an instinct&mdash;to see with
+      his own eyes what his reason told him was true. Day was breaking through
+      drifting scud and pewter-colored clouds as he reached Woodville ferry,
+      checkered with splashes of the soil and the spume of his horse, from whose
+      neck and flanks the sweat rolled like lather. Yet he was not conscious how
+      intent had been his purpose until he felt a sudden instinctive shock on
+      seeing that the ferryboat was gone. For an instant his wonderful
+      self-possession abandoned him; he could only gaze vacantly at the
+      leaden-colored bay, without a thought or expedient. But in another moment
+      he saw that the boat was returning from the distance. Had he lost his only
+      chance? He glanced hurriedly at his watch; he had come more quickly than
+      he imagined; there would still be time. He beckoned impatiently to the
+      ferryman; the boat&mdash;a ship's pinnace, with two men in it&mdash;crept
+      in with exasperating slowness. At last the two rowers suddenly leaped
+      ashore.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ye might have come before, with the other passenger. We don't reckon to
+      run lightnin' trips on this ferry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Clarence was himself again. &ldquo;Twenty dollars for two more oars in that
+      boat,&rdquo; he said quietly, &ldquo;and fifty if you get me over in time to catch the
+      down stage.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The man glanced at Clarence's eyes. &ldquo;Run up and rouse out Jake and Sam,&rdquo;
+       he said to the other boatman; then more leisurely, gazing at his
+      customer's travel-stained equipment, he said, &ldquo;There must have been a heap
+      o' passengers got left by last night's boat. You're the second man that
+      took this route in a hurry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At any other time the coincidence might have struck Clarence. But he only
+      answered curtly, &ldquo;Unless we are under way in ten minutes you will find I
+      am NOT the second man, and that our bargain's off.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But here two men emerged from the shanty beside the ferryhouse, and
+      tumbled sleepily into the boat. Clarence seized an extra pair of sculls
+      that were standing against the shed, and threw them into the stern. &ldquo;I
+      don't mind taking a hand myself for exercise,&rdquo; he said quietly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ferryman glanced again at Clarence's travel-worn figure and determined
+      eyes with mingled approval and surprise. He lingered a moment with his
+      oars lifted, looking at his passenger. &ldquo;It ain't no business o' mine,
+      young man,&rdquo; he said deliberately, &ldquo;but I reckon you understand me when I
+      say that I've just taken another man over there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do,&rdquo; said Clarence impatiently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you still want to go?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly,&rdquo; replied Clarence, with a cold stare, taking up his oars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man shrugged his shoulders, bent himself for the stroke, and the boat
+      sprung forward. The others rowed strongly and rapidly, the tough ashen
+      blades springing like steel from the water, the heavy boat seeming to leap
+      in successive bounds until they were fairly beyond the curving inshore
+      current and clearing the placid, misty surface of the bay. Clarence did
+      not speak, but bent abstractedly over his oar; the ferryman and his crew
+      rowed in equal panting silence; a few startled ducks whirred before them,
+      but dropped again to rest. In half an hour they were at the Embarcadero.
+      The time was fairly up. Clarence's eyes were eagerly bent for the first
+      appearance of the stage-coach around the little promontory; the ferryman
+      was as eagerly scanning the bare, empty street of the still sleeping
+      settlement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't see him anywhere,&rdquo; said the ferryman with a glance, half of
+      astonishment and half of curiosity, at his solitary passenger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See whom?&rdquo; asked Clarence carelessly, as he handed the man his promised
+      fee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The other man I ferried over to catch the stage. He must have gone on
+      without waiting. You're in luck, young fellow!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't understand you,&rdquo; said Clarence impatiently. &ldquo;What has your
+      previous passenger to do with me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I reckon you know best. He's the kind of man, gin'rally speaking,
+      that other men, in a pow'ful hurry, don't care to meet&mdash;and, az a
+      rule, don't FOLLER arter. It's gin'rally the other way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo; inquired Clarence sternly. &ldquo;Of whom are you speaking?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The Chief of Police of San Francisco!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      The laugh that instinctively broke from Clarence's lips was so sincere and
+      unaffected that the man was disconcerted, and at last joined in it, a
+      little shamefacedly. The grotesque blunder of being taken as a fugitive
+      from justice relieved Clarence's mind from its acute tension,&mdash;he was
+      momentarily diverted,&mdash;and it was not until the boatman had departed,
+      and he was again alone, that it seemed to have any collateral
+      significance. Then an uneasy recollection of Susy's threat that she had
+      the power to put his wife in Fort Alcatraz came across him. Could she have
+      already warned the municipal authorities and this man? But he quickly
+      remembered that any action from such a warning could only have been taken
+      by the United States Marshal, and not by a civic official, and dismissed
+      the idea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nevertheless, when the stage with its half-spent lamps still burning dimly
+      against the morning light swept round the curve and rolled heavily up to
+      the rude shanty which served as coach-office, he became watchful. A single
+      yawning individual in its doorway received a few letters and parcels, but
+      Clarence was evidently the ONLY waiting passenger. Any hope that he might
+      have entertained that his mysterious predecessor would emerge from some
+      seclusion at that moment was disappointed. As he entered the coach he made
+      a rapid survey of his fellow-travelers, but satisfied himself that the
+      stranger was not among them. They were mainly small traders or farmers, a
+      miner or two, and apparently a Spanish-American of better degree and
+      personality. Possibly the circumstance that men of this class usually
+      preferred to travel on horseback and were rarely seen in public
+      conveyances attracted his attention, and their eyes met more than once in
+      mutual curiosity. Presently Clarence addressed a remark to the stranger in
+      Spanish; he replied fluently and courteously, but at the next
+      stopping-place he asked a question of the expressman in an unmistakable
+      Missouri accent. Clarence's curiosity was satisfied; he was evidently one
+      of those early American settlers who had been so long domiciled in
+      Southern California as to adopt the speech as well as the habiliments of
+      the Spaniard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The conversation fell upon the political news of the previous night, or
+      rather seemed to be lazily continued from some previous, more excited
+      discussion, in which one of the contestants&mdash;a red-bearded miner&mdash;had
+      subsided into an occasional growl of surly dissent. It struck Clarence
+      that the Missourian had been an amused auditor and even, judging from a
+      twinkle in his eye, a mischievous instigator of the controversy. He was
+      not surprised, therefore, when the man turned to him with a certain
+      courtesy and said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And what, sir, is the political feeling in YOUR district?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Clarence was in no mood to be drawn out, and replied, almost curtly,
+      that as he had come only from San Francisco, they were probably as well
+      informed on that subject as himself. A quick and searching glance from the
+      stranger's eye made him regret his answer, but in the silence that ensued
+      the red-bearded miner, evidently still rankling at heart, saw his
+      opportunity. Slapping his huge hands on his knees, and leaning far forward
+      until he seemed to plunge his flaming beard, like a firebrand, into the
+      controversy, he said grimly,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I kin tell you, gen'l'men, THIS. It ain't goin' to be no matter
+      wot's the POLITICAL FEELING here or thar&mdash;it ain't goin' to be no
+      matter wot's the State's rights and wot's Fed'ral rights&mdash;it ain't
+      goin' to be no question whether the gov'ment's got the right to relieve
+      its own soldiers that those Secesh is besieging in Fort Sumter or whether
+      they haven't&mdash;but the first gun that's fired at the flag blows the
+      chains off every d&mdash;n nigger south of Mason and Dixon's line! You
+      hear me! I'm shoutin'! And whether you call yourselves 'Secesh' or 'Union'
+      or 'Copperhead' or 'Peace men,' you've got to face it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was an angry start in one or two of the seats; one man caught at the
+      swinging side-strap and half rose, a husky voice began, &ldquo;It's a d&mdash;&mdash;d&rdquo;&mdash;and
+      then all as suddenly subsided. Every eye was turned to an insignificant
+      figure in the back seat. It was a woman, holding a child on her lap, and
+      gazing out of the window with her sex's profound unconcern in politics.
+      Clarence understood the rude chivalry of the road well enough to
+      comprehend that this unconscious but omnipotent figure had more than once
+      that day controlled the passions of the disputants. They dropped back
+      weakly to their seats, and their mutterings rolled off in the rattle of
+      the wheels. Clarence glanced at the Missourian; he was regarding the
+      red-bearded miner with a singular curiosity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The rain had ceased, but the afternoon shadows were deepening when they at
+      last reached Fair Plains, where Clarence expected to take horse to the
+      Rancho. He was astonished, however, to learn that all the horses in the
+      stable were engaged, but remembering that some of his own stock were in
+      pasturage with a tenant at Fair Plains, and that he should probably have a
+      better selection, he turned his steps thither. Passing out of the
+      stable-yard he recognized the Missourian's voice in whispered conversation
+      with the proprietor, but the two men withdrew into the shadow as he
+      approached. An ill-defined uneasiness came over him; he knew the
+      proprietor, who also seemed to know the Missourian, and this evident
+      avoidance of him was significant. Perhaps his reputation as a doubtful
+      Unionist had preceded him, but this would not account for their conduct in
+      a district so strongly Southern in sympathy as Fair Plains. More impressed
+      by the occurrence than he cared to admit, when at last, after some delay,
+      he had secured his horse, and was once more in the saddle, he kept a sharp
+      lookout for his quondam companion. But here another circumstance added to
+      his suspicions: there was a main road leading to Santa Inez, the next
+      town, and the Rancho, and this Clarence had purposely taken in order to
+      watch the Missourian; but there was also a cutoff directly to the Rancho,
+      known only to the habitues of the Rancho. After a few moments' rapid
+      riding on a mustang much superior to any in the hotel stables, he was
+      satisfied that the stranger must have taken the cut-off. Putting spurs to
+      his horse he trusted still to precede him to the Rancho&mdash;if that were
+      his destination.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he dashed along the familiar road, by a strange perversity of fancy,
+      instead of thinking of his purpose, he found himself recalling the first
+      time he had ridden that way in the flush of his youth and hopefulness. The
+      girl-sweetheart he was then going to rejoin was now the wife of another;
+      the woman who had been her guardian was now his own wife. He had accepted
+      without a pang the young girl's dereliction, but it was through her
+      revelation that he was now about to confront the dereliction of his own
+      wife. And this was the reward of his youthful trust and loyalty! A bitter
+      laugh broke from his lips. It was part of his still youthful self-delusion
+      that he believed himself wiser and stronger for it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was quite dark when he reached the upper field or first terrace of the
+      Rancho. He could see the white walls of the casa rising dimly out of the
+      green sea of early wild grasses, like a phantom island. It was here that
+      the cut-off joined the main road&mdash;now the only one that led to the
+      casa. He was satisfied that no one could have preceded him from Fair
+      Plains; but it was true that he must take precautions against his own
+      discovery. Dismounting near a clump of willows, he unsaddled and unbridled
+      his horse, and with a cut of the riata over its haunches sent it flying
+      across the field in the direction of a band of feeding mustangs, which it
+      presently joined. Then, keeping well in the shadow of a belt of
+      shrub-oaks, he skirted the long lesser terraces of the casa, intending to
+      approach the house by way of the old garden and corral. A drizzling rain,
+      occasionally driven by the wind into long, misty, curtain-like waves,
+      obscured the prospect and favored his design. He reached the low adobe
+      wall of the corral in safety; looking over he could detect, in spite of
+      the darkness, that a number of the horses were of alien brands, and even
+      recognized one or two from the Santa Inez district. The vague outline of
+      buggies and carryalls filled the long shed beside the stables. There WAS
+      company at the casa&mdash;so far Susy was right!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nevertheless, lingering still by the wall of the old garden for the
+      deepening of night, his nervous feverishness was again invaded and
+      benumbed by sullen memories. There was the opening left by the old grille
+      in the wall, behind which Mrs. Peyton stood on the morning when he thought
+      he was leaving the ranch forever; where he had first clasped her in his
+      arms, and stayed. A turn of the head, a moment's indecision, a single
+      glance of a languorous eye, had brought this culmination. And now he stood
+      again before that ruined grille, his house and lands, even his NAME,
+      misused by a mad, scheming enthusiast, and himself a creeping spy of his
+      own dishonor! He turned with a bitter smile again to the garden. A few
+      dark red Castilian roses still leaned forward and swayed in the wind with
+      dripping leaves. It was here that the first morning of his arrival he had
+      kissed Susy; the perfume and color of her pink skin came back to him with
+      a sudden shock as he stood there; he caught at a flower, drew it towards
+      him, inhaled its odor in a long breath that left him faint and leaning
+      against the wall. Then again he smiled, but this time more wickedly&mdash;in
+      what he believed his cynicism had sprung up the first instinct of revenge!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was now dark enough for him to venture across the carriage road and
+      make his way to the rear of the house. His first characteristic instinct
+      had been to enter openly at his own front gate, but the terrible
+      temptation to overhear and watch the conspiracy unobserved&mdash;that
+      fascination common to deceived humanity to witness its own shame&mdash;had
+      now grown upon him. He knew that a word or gesture of explanation,
+      apology, appeal, or even terror from his wife would check his rage and
+      weaken his purpose. His perfect knowledge of the house and the security of
+      its inmates would enable him from some obscure landing or gallery to
+      participate in any secret conclave they might hold in the patio&mdash;the
+      only place suitable for so numerous a rendezvous. The absence of light in
+      the few external windows pointed to this central gathering. And he had
+      already conceived his plan of entrance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Gaining the rear wall of the casa he began cautiously to skirt its brambly
+      base until he had reached a long, oven-like window half obliterated by a
+      monstrous passion vine. It was the window of what had once been Mrs.
+      Peyton's boudoir; the window by which he had once forced an entrance to
+      the house when it was in the hands of squatters, the window from which
+      Susy had signaled her Spanish lover, the window whose grating had broken
+      the neck of Judge Peyton's presumed assassin. But these recollections no
+      longer delayed him; the moment for action had arrived. He knew that since
+      the tragedy the boudoir had been dismantled and shunned; the servants
+      believed it to be haunted by the assassin's ghost. With the aid of the
+      passion vine the ingress was easy; the interior window was open; the
+      rustle of dead leaves on the bare floor as he entered, and the whir of a
+      frightened bird by his ear, told the story of its desolation and the
+      source of the strange noises that had been heard there. The door leading
+      to the corridor was lightly bolted, merely to keep it from rattling in the
+      wind. Slipping the bolt with the blade of his pocket-knife he peered into
+      the dark passage. The light streaming under a door to the left, and the
+      sound of voices, convinced him that his conjecture was right, and the
+      meeting was gathered on the broad balconies around the patio. He knew that
+      a narrow gallery, faced with Venetian blinds to exclude the sun, looked
+      down upon them. He managed to gain it without discovery; luckily the
+      blinds were still down; between their slats, himself invisible, he could
+      hear and see everything that occurred.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet even at this supreme moment the first thing that struck him was the
+      almost ludicrous contrast between the appearance of the meeting and its
+      tremendous object. Whether he was influenced by any previous boyish
+      conception of a clouded and gloomy conspiracy he did not know, but he was
+      for an instant almost disconcerted by the apparent levity and festivity of
+      the conclave. Decanters and glasses stood on small tables before them;
+      nearly all were drinking and smoking. They comprised fifteen or twenty
+      men, some of whose faces were familiar to him elsewhere as Southern
+      politicians; a few, he was shocked to see, were well-known Northern
+      Democrats. Occupying a characteristically central position was the famous
+      Colonel Starbottle, of Virginia. Jaunty and youthful-looking in his
+      mask-like, beardless face, expansive and dignified in his middle-aged port
+      and carriage, he alone retained some of the importance&mdash;albeit
+      slightly theatrical and affected&mdash;of the occasion. Clarence in his
+      first hurried glance had not observed his wife, and for a moment had felt
+      relieved; but as Colonel Starbottle arose at that moment, and with a
+      studiously chivalrous and courtly manner turned to his right, he saw that
+      she was sitting at the further end of the balcony, and that a man whom he
+      recognized as Captain Pinckney was standing beside her. The blood quickly
+      tightened around his heart, but left him cold and observant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was seldom, indeed,&rdquo; remarked Colonel Starbottle, placing his fat
+      fingers in the frill of his shirt front, &ldquo;that a movement like this was
+      graced with the actual presence of a lofty, inspiring, yet delicate spirit&mdash;a
+      Boadicea&mdash;indeed, he might say a Joan of Arc&mdash;in the person of
+      their charming hostess, Mrs. Brant. Not only were they favored by her
+      social and hospitable ministration, but by her active and enthusiastic
+      cooperation in the glorious work they had in hand. It was through her
+      correspondence and earnest advocacy that they were to be favored to-night
+      with the aid and counsel of one of the most distinguished and powerful men
+      in the Southern district of California, Judge Beeswinger, of Los Angeles.
+      He had not the honor of that gentleman's personal acquaintance; he
+      believed he was not far wrong in saying that this was also the misfortune
+      of every gentleman present; but the name itself was a tower of strength.
+      He would go further, and say that Mrs. Brant herself was personally
+      unacquainted with him, but it was through the fervor, poetry, grace, and
+      genius of her correspondence with that gentleman that they were to have
+      the honor of his presence that very evening. It was understood that
+      advices had been received of his departure, and that he might be expected
+      at Robles at any moment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what proof have we of Judge Beeswinger's soundness?&rdquo; said a lazy
+      Southern voice at the conclusion of Colonel Starbottle's periods. &ldquo;Nobody
+      here seems to know him by sight: is it not risky to admit a man to our
+      meeting whom we are unable to identify?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I reckon nobody but a fool or some prying mudsill of a Yankee would trust
+      his skin here,&rdquo; returned another; &ldquo;and if he did we'd know what to do with
+      him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Clarence's attention was riveted on his wife, and the significant
+      speech passed him as unheeded as had the colonel's rhetoric. She was
+      looking very handsome and slightly flushed, with a proud light in her eyes
+      that he had never seen before. Absorbed in the discussion, she seemed to
+      be paying little attention to Captain Pinckney as she rose suddenly to her
+      feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Judge Beeswinger will be attended here by Mr. MacNiel, of the Fair Plains
+      Hotel, who will vouch for him and introduce him,&rdquo; she said in a clear
+      voice, which rang with an imperiousness that Clarence well remembered.
+      &ldquo;The judge was to arrive by the coach from Martinez to Fair Plains, and is
+      due now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is there no GENTLEMAN to introduce him? Must we take him on the word of a
+      common trader&mdash;by Jove! a whiskey-seller?&rdquo; continued the previous
+      voice sneeringly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;On the word of a lady, Mr. Brooks,&rdquo; said Captain Pinckney, with a slight
+      gesture towards Mrs. Brant&mdash;&ldquo;who answers for both.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Clarence had started slightly at his wife's voice and the information it
+      conveyed. His fellow-passenger, and the confidant of MacNiel, was the man
+      they were expecting! If they had recognized him, Clarence, would they not
+      warn the company of his proximity? He held his breath as the sound of
+      voices came from the outer gate of the courtyard. Mrs. Brant rose; at the
+      same moment the gate swung open, and a man entered. It WAS the Missourian.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned with old-fashioned courtesy to the single woman standing on the
+      balcony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My fair correspondent, I believe! I am Judge Beeswinger. Your agent,
+      MacNiel, passed me through your guards at the gate, but I did not deem it
+      advisable to bring him into this assembly of gentlemen without your
+      further consideration. I trust I was right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The quiet dignity and self-possession, the quaint, old-fashioned colonial
+      precision of speech, modified by a soft Virginian intonation, and, above
+      all, some singular individuality of the man himself, produced a profound
+      sensation, and seemed to suddenly give the gathering an impressiveness it
+      had lacked before. For an instant Clarence forgot himself and his personal
+      wrongs in the shock of indignation he felt at this potent addition to the
+      ranks of his enemies. He saw his wife's eyes sparkle with pride over her
+      acquisition, and noticed that Pinckney cast a disturbed glance at the
+      newcomer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger ascended the few steps to the balcony and took Mrs. Brant's
+      hand with profound courtesy. &ldquo;Introduce me to my colleagues&mdash;distinctly
+      and separately. It behooves a man at such a moment to know to whom he
+      entrusts his life and honor, and the life and honor of his cause.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was evidently no mere formal courtesy to the stranger. As he stepped
+      forward along the balcony, and under Mrs. Brant's graceful guidance was
+      introduced to each of the members, he not only listened with scrupulous
+      care and attention to the name and profession of each man, but bent upon
+      him a clear, searching glance that seemed to photograph him in his memory.
+      With two exceptions. He passed Colonel Starbottle's expanding shirt frill
+      with a bow of elaborate precision, and said, &ldquo;Colonel Starbottle's fame
+      requires neither introduction nor explanation.&rdquo; He stopped before Captain
+      Pinckney and paused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;An officer of the United States army, I believe, sir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Educated at West Point, I think, by the government, to whom you have
+      taken the oath of allegiance?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very good, sir,&rdquo; said the stranger, turning away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have forgotten one other fact, sir,&rdquo; said Pinckney, with a slightly
+      supercilious air.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Indeed! What is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am, first of all, a native of the State of South Carolina!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A murmur of applause and approval ran round the balcony. Captain Pinckney
+      smiled and exchanged glances with Mrs. Brant, but the stranger quietly
+      returned to the central table beside Colonel Starbottle. &ldquo;I am not only an
+      unexpected delegate to this august assembly, gentlemen,&rdquo; he began gravely,
+      &ldquo;but I am the bearer of perhaps equally unexpected news. By my position in
+      the Southern district I am in possession of dispatches received only this
+      morning by pony express. Fort Sumter has been besieged. The United States
+      flag, carrying relief to the beleaguered garrison, has been fired upon by
+      the State of South Carolina.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A burst of almost hysteric applause and enthusiasm broke from the
+      assembly, and made the dim, vault-like passages and corridors of the casa
+      ring. Cheer after cheer went up to the veiled gallery and the misty sky
+      beyond. Men mounted on the tables and waved their hands frantically, and
+      in the midst of this bewildering turbulence of sound and motion Clarence
+      saw his wife mounted on a chair, with burning cheeks and flashing eyes,
+      waving her handkerchief like an inspired priestess. Only the stranger,
+      still standing beside Colonel Starbottle, remained unmoved and impassive.
+      Then, with an imperative gesture, he demanded a sudden silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Convincing and unanimous as this demonstration is, gentlemen,&rdquo; he began
+      quietly, &ldquo;it is my duty, nevertheless, to ask you if you have seriously
+      considered the meaning of the news I have brought. It is my duty to tell
+      you that it means civil war. It means the clash of arms between two
+      sections of a mighty country; it means the disruption of friends, the
+      breaking of family ties, the separation of fathers and sons, of brothers
+      and sisters&mdash;even, perhaps, to the disseverment of husband and wife!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It means the sovereignty of the South&mdash;and the breaking of a
+      covenant with lowborn traders and abolitionists,&rdquo; said Captain Pinckney.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If there are any gentlemen present,&rdquo; continued the stranger, without
+      heeding the interruption, &ldquo;who have pledged this State to the support of
+      the South in this emergency, or to the establishment of a Pacific republic
+      in aid and sympathy with it, whose names are on this paper&rdquo;&mdash;he
+      lifted a sheet of paper lying before Colonel Starbottle&mdash;&ldquo;but who now
+      feel that the gravity of the news demands a more serious consideration of
+      the purpose, they are at liberty to withdraw from the meeting, giving
+      their honor, as Southern gentlemen, to keep the secret intact.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not if I know it,&rdquo; interrupted a stalwart Kentuckian, as he rose to his
+      feet and strode down the steps to the patio. &ldquo;For,&rdquo; he added, placing his
+      back against the gateway, &ldquo;I'll shoot the first coward that backs out
+      now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A roar of laughter and approval followed, but was silenced again by the
+      quiet, unimpassioned voice of the stranger. &ldquo;If, on the other hand,&rdquo; he
+      went on calmly, &ldquo;you all feel that this news is the fitting culmination
+      and consecration of the hopes, wishes, and plans of this meeting, you will
+      assert it again, over your own signatures, to Colonel Starbottle at this
+      table.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When the Kentuckian had risen, Clarence had started from his concealment;
+      when he now saw the eager figures pressing forward to the table he
+      hesitated no longer. Slipping along the passage, he reached the staircase
+      which led to the corridor in the rear of the balcony. Descending this
+      rapidly, he not only came upon the backs of the excited crowd around the
+      table, but even elbowed one of the conspirators aside without being
+      noticed. His wife, who had risen from her chair at the end of the balcony,
+      was already moving towards the table. With a quick movement he seized her
+      wrist, and threw her back in the chair again. A cry broke from her lips as
+      she recognized him, but still holding her wrist, he stepped quickly
+      between her and the astonished crowd. There was a moment of silence, then
+      the cry of &ldquo;Spy!&rdquo; and &ldquo;Seize him!&rdquo; rose quickly, but above all the voice
+      and figure of the Missourian was heard commanding them to stand back.
+      Turning to Clarence, he said quietly,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should know your face, sir. Who are you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The husband of this woman and the master of this house,&rdquo; said Clarence as
+      quietly, but in a voice he hardly recognized as his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand aside from her, then&mdash;unless you are hoping that her danger
+      may protect YOU!&rdquo; said the Kentuckian, significantly drawing his revolver.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mrs. Brant sprang suddenly to her feet beside Clarence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We are neither of us cowards, Mr. Brooks&mdash;though he speaks the truth&mdash;and&mdash;more
+      shame to me&rdquo;&mdash;she added, with a look of savage scorn at Clarence&mdash;&ldquo;IS
+      MY HUSBAND!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is your purpose in coming here?&rdquo; continued Judge Beeswinger, with
+      his eyes fixed on Clarence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have given you all the information,&rdquo; said Clarence quietly, &ldquo;that is
+      necessary to make you, as a gentleman, leave this house at once&mdash;and
+      that is my purpose. It is all the information you will get from me as long
+      as you and your friends insult my roof with your uninvited presence. What
+      I may have to say to you and each of you hereafter&mdash;what I may choose
+      to demand of you, according to your own code of honor,&rdquo;&mdash;he fixed his
+      eyes on Captain Pinckney's,&mdash;&ldquo;is another question, and one not
+      usually discussed before a lady.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon me. A moment&mdash;a single moment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the voice of Colonel Starbottle; it was the frilled shirt front,
+      the lightly buttoned blue coat with its expanding lapels, like bursting
+      petals, and the smiling mask of that gentleman rising above the table and
+      bowing to Clarence Brant and his wife with infinite courtesy. &ldquo;The&mdash;er&mdash;humiliating
+      situation in which we find ourselves, gentlemen,&mdash;the reluctant
+      witnesses of&mdash;er&mdash;what we trust is only a temporary disagreement
+      between our charming hostess and the&mdash;er&mdash;gentleman whom she
+      recognized under the highest title to our consideration,&mdash;is
+      distressing to us all, and would seem to amply justify that gentleman's
+      claims to a personal satisfaction, which I know we would all delight to
+      give. But that situation rests upon the supposition that our gathering
+      here was of a purely social or festive nature! It may be,&rdquo; continued the
+      colonel with a blandly reflective air, &ldquo;that the spectacle of these
+      decanters and glasses, and the nectar furnished us by our Hebe-like
+      hostess&rdquo; (he lifted a glass of whiskey and water to his lips while he
+      bowed to Mrs. Brant gracefully), &ldquo;has led the gentleman to such a
+      deduction. But when I suggest to him that our meeting was of a business,
+      or private nature, it strikes me that the question of intrusion may be
+      fairly divided between him and ourselves. We may be even justified, in
+      view of that privacy, in asking him if his&mdash;er&mdash;entrance to this
+      house was&mdash;er&mdash;coincident with his appearance among us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With my front door in possession of strangers,&rdquo; said Clarence, more in
+      reply to a sudden contemptuous glance from his wife than Starbottle's
+      insinuation, &ldquo;I entered the house through the window.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of my boudoir, where another intruder once broke his neck,&rdquo; interrupted
+      his wife with a mocking laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where I once helped this lady to regain possession of her house when it
+      was held by another party of illegal trespassers, who, however, were
+      content to call themselves 'jumpers,' and did not claim the privacy of
+      gentlemen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you mean to imply, sir,&rdquo; began Colonel Starbottle haughtily, &ldquo;that&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean to imply, sir,&rdquo; said Clarence with quiet scorn, &ldquo;that I have
+      neither the wish to know nor the slightest concern in any purpose that
+      brought you here, and that when you quit the house you take your secrets
+      and your privacy with you intact, without let or hindrance from me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you mean to say, Mr. Brant,&rdquo; said Judge Beeswinger, suppressing the
+      angry interruption of his fellows with a dominant wave of his hand, as he
+      fixed his eyes on Clarence keenly, &ldquo;that you have no sympathy with your
+      wife's political sentiments?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have already given you the information necessary to make you quit this
+      house, and that is all you have a right to know,&rdquo; returned Clarence with
+      folded arms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I can answer for him,&rdquo; said Mrs. Brant, rising, with a quivering
+      voice and curling lip. &ldquo;There IS no sympathy between us. We are as far
+      apart as the poles. We have nothing in common but this house and his
+      name.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you are husband and wife, bound together by a sacred compact.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A compact!&rdquo; echoed Mrs. Brant, with a bitter laugh. &ldquo;Yes, the compact
+      that binds South Carolina to the nigger-worshipping Massachusetts. The
+      compact that links together white and black, the gentleman and the trader,
+      the planter and the poor white&mdash;the compact of those UNITED States.
+      Bah! THAT has been broken, and so can this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Clarence's face paled. But before he could speak there was a rapid
+      clattering at the gate and a dismounted vaquero entered excitedly. Turning
+      to Mrs. Brant he said hurriedly, &ldquo;Mother of God! the casa is surrounded by
+      a rabble of mounted men, and there is one among them even now who demands
+      admittance in the name of the Law.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is your work,&rdquo; said Brooks, facing Clarence furiously. &ldquo;You have
+      brought them with you, but, by God, they shall not save you!&rdquo; He would
+      have clutched Clarence, but the powerful arm of Judge Beeswinger
+      intervened. Nevertheless, he still struggled to reach Clarence, appealing
+      to the others: &ldquo;Are you fools to stand there and let him triumph! Don't
+      you see the cowardly Yankee trick he's played upon us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He has not,&rdquo; said Mrs. Brant haughtily. &ldquo;I have no reason to love him or
+      his friends; but I know he does not lie.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gentlemen!&mdash;gentlemen!&rdquo; implored Colonel Starbottle with beaming and
+      unctuous persuasion, &ldquo;may I&mdash;er&mdash;remark&mdash;that all this is
+      far from the question? Are we to be alarmed because an unknown rabble, no
+      matter whence they come, demand entrance here in the name of the Law? I am
+      not aware of any law of the State of California that we are infringing. By
+      all means admit them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gate was thrown open. A single thick-set man, apparently unarmed and
+      dressed like an ordinary traveler, followed by half a dozen other equally
+      unpretentious-looking men, entered. The leader turned to the balcony.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am the Chief of Police of San Francisco. I have warrants for the arrest
+      of Colonel Culpepper Starbottle, Joshua Brooks, Captain Pinckney, Clarence
+      Brant and Alice his wife, and others charged with inciting to riot and
+      unlawful practice calculated to disturb the peace of the State of
+      California and its relations with the Federal government,&rdquo; said the
+      leader, in a dry official voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clarence started. In spite of its monotonous utterance it was the voice of
+      the red-bearded controversialist of the stage-coach. But where were his
+      characteristic beard and hair? Involuntarily Clarence glanced at Judge
+      Beeswinger; that gentleman was quietly regarding the stranger with an
+      impassive face that betrayed no recognition whatever.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the city of San Francisco has no jurisdiction here,&rdquo; said Colonel
+      Starbottle, turning a bland smile towards his fellow-members. &ldquo;I am&mdash;er&mdash;sorry
+      to inform you that you are simply trespassing, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am here also as deputy sheriff,&rdquo; returned the stranger coolly. &ldquo;We were
+      unable to locate the precise place of this meeting, although we knew of
+      its existence. I was sworn in this morning at Santa Inez by the judge of
+      this district, and these gentlemen with me are my posse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a quick movement of resistance by the members, which was,
+      however, again waived blandly aside by Colonel Starbottle. Leaning forward
+      in a slightly forensic attitude, with his fingers on the table and a shirt
+      frill that seemed to have become of itself erectile, he said, with pained
+      but polite precision, &ldquo;I grieve to have to state, sir, that even that
+      position is utterly untenable here. I am a lawyer myself, as my friend
+      here, Judge Beeswinger&mdash;eh? I beg your pardon!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The officer of the law had momentarily started, with his eyes fixed on
+      Judge Beeswinger, who, however, seemed to be quietly writing at the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As Judge Beeswinger,&rdquo; continued Colonel Starbottle, &ldquo;will probably tell
+      you and as a jurist himself, he will also probably agree with me when I
+      also inform you that, as the United States government is an aggrieved
+      party, it is a matter for the Federal courts to prosecute, and that the
+      only officer we can recognize is the United States Marshal for the
+      district. When I add that the marshal, Colonel Crackenthorpe, is one of my
+      oldest friends, and an active sympathizer with the South in the present
+      struggle, you will understand that any action from him in this matter is
+      exceedingly improbable.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The general murmur of laughter, relief, and approval was broken by the
+      quiet voice of Judge Beeswinger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me see your warrant, Mr. Deputy Sheriff.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The officer approached him with a slightly perplexed and constrained air,
+      and exhibited the paper. Judge Beeswinger handed it back to him. &ldquo;Colonel
+      Starbottle is quite right in his contention,&rdquo; he said quietly; &ldquo;the only
+      officer that this assembly can recognize is the United States Marshal or
+      his legal deputy. But Colonel Starbottle is wrong in his supposition that
+      Colonel Crackenthorpe still retains the functions of that office. He was
+      removed by the President of the United States, and his successor was
+      appointed and sworn in by the Federal judge early this morning.&rdquo; He
+      paused, and folding up the paper on which he had been writing, placed it
+      in the hands of the deputy. &ldquo;And this,&rdquo; he continued in the same even
+      voice, &ldquo;constitutes you his deputy, and will enable you to carry out your
+      duty in coming here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What the devil does this mean, sir? Who are you?&rdquo; gasped Colonel
+      Starbottle, recoiling suddenly from the man at his side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am the new United States Marshal for the Southern District of
+      California.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Unsuspected and astounding as the revelation was to Clarence, its strange
+      reception by the conspirators seemed to him as astounding. He had started
+      forward, half expecting that the complacent and self-confessed spy would
+      be immolated by his infuriated dupes. But to his surprise the shock seemed
+      to have changed their natures, and given them the dignity they had lacked.
+      The excitability, irritation, and recklessness which had previously
+      characterized them had disappeared. The deputy and his posse, who had
+      advanced to the assistance of their revealed chief, met with no
+      resistance. They had evidently, as if with one accord, drawn away from
+      Judge Beeswinger, leaving a cleared space around him, and regarded their
+      captors with sullen contemptuous silence. It was only broken by Colonel
+      Starbottle:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your duty commands you, sir, to use all possible diligence in bringing us
+      before the Federal judge of this district&mdash;unless your master in
+      Washington has violated the Constitution so far as to remove him, too!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I understand you perfectly,&rdquo; returned Judge Beeswinger, with unchanged
+      composure; &ldquo;and as you know that Judge Wilson unfortunately cannot be
+      removed except through a regular course of impeachment, I suppose you may
+      still count upon his Southern sympathies to befriend you. With that I have
+      nothing to do; my duty is complete when my deputy has brought you before
+      him and I have stated the circumstances of the arrest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I congratulate you, sir,&rdquo; said Captain Pinckney, with an ironical salute,
+      &ldquo;on your prompt reward for your treachery to the South, and your equally
+      prompt adoption of the peculiar tactics of your friends in the way in
+      which you have entered this house.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am sorry I cannot congratulate YOU, sir,&rdquo; returned Judge Beeswinger
+      gravely, &ldquo;on breaking your oath to the government which has educated and
+      supported you and given you the epaulettes you disgrace. Nor shall I
+      discuss 'treachery' with the man who has not only violated the trust of
+      his country, but even the integrity of his friend's household. It is for
+      that reason that I withhold the action of this warrant in so far as it
+      affects the persons of the master and mistress of this home. I am
+      satisfied that Mr. Brant has been as ignorant of what has been done here
+      as I am that his wife has been only the foolish dupe of a double traitor!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Silence!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The words broke simultaneously from the lips of Clarence and Captain
+      Pinckney. They stood staring at each other&mdash;the one pale, the other
+      crimson&mdash;as Mrs. Brant, apparently oblivious of the significance of
+      their united adjuration, turned to Judge Beeswinger in the fury of her
+      still stifled rage and mortification.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep your mercy for your fellow-spy,&rdquo; she said, with a contemptuous
+      gesture towards her husband; &ldquo;I go with these gentlemen!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will not,&rdquo; said Clarence quietly, &ldquo;until I have said a word to you
+      alone.&rdquo; He laid his hand firmly upon her wrist.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The deputy and his prisoners filed slowly out of the courtyard together,
+      the latter courteously saluting Mrs. Brant as they passed, but turning
+      from Judge Beeswinger in contemptuous silence. The judge followed them to
+      the gate, but there he paused. Turning to Mrs. Brant, who was still half
+      struggling in the strong grip of her husband, he said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Any compunction I may have had in misleading you by accepting your
+      invitation here I dismissed after I had entered this house. And I trust,&rdquo;
+       he added, turning to Clarence sternly, &ldquo;I leave you the master of it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As the gate closed behind him, Clarence locked it. When his wife turned
+      upon him angrily, he said quietly,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have no intention of restraining your liberty a moment after our
+      interview is over, but until then I do not intend to be disturbed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She threw herself disdainfully back in her chair, her hands clasped in her
+      lap in half-contemptuous resignation, with her eyes upon her long slim
+      arched feet crossed before her. Even in her attitude there was something
+      of her old fascination which, however, now seemed to sting Clarence to the
+      quick.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have nothing to say to you in regard to what has just passed in this
+      house, except that as long as I remain even nominally its master it shall
+      not be repeated. Although I shall no longer attempt to influence or
+      control your political sympathies, I shall not allow you to indulge them
+      where in any way they seem to imply my sanction. But so little do I oppose
+      your liberty, that you are free to rejoin your political companions
+      whenever you choose to do so on your own responsibility. But I must first
+      know from your own lips whether your sympathies are purely political&mdash;or
+      a name for something else?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She had alternately flushed and paled, although still keeping her scornful
+      attitude as he went on, but there was no mistaking the genuineness of her
+      vague wonderment at his concluding words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't understand you,&rdquo; she said, lifting her eyes to his in a moment of
+      cold curiosity. &ldquo;What do you mean?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do I mean? What did Judge Beeswinger mean when he called Captain
+      Pinckney a double traitor?&rdquo; he said roughly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She sprang to her feet with flashing eyes. &ldquo;And you&mdash;YOU! dare to
+      repeat the cowardly lie of a confessed spy. This, then, is what you wished
+      to tell me&mdash;this the insult for which you have kept me here; because
+      you are incapable of understanding unselfish patriotism or devotion&mdash;even
+      to your own cause&mdash;you dare to judge me by your own base,
+      Yankee-trading standards. Yes, it is worthy of you!&rdquo; She walked rapidly up
+      and down, and then suddenly faced him. &ldquo;I understand it all; I appreciate
+      your magnanimity now. You are willing I should join the company of these
+      chivalrous gentlemen in order to give color to your calumnies! Say at once
+      that it was you who put up this spy to correspond with me&mdash;to come
+      here&mdash;in order to entrap me. Yes entrap me&mdash;I&mdash;who a moment
+      ago stood up for you before these gentlemen, and said you could not lie.
+      Bah!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Struck only by the wild extravagance of her speech and temper, Clarence
+      did not know that when women are most illogical they are apt to be most
+      sincere, and from a man's standpoint her unreasoning deductions appeared
+      to him only as an affectation to gain time for thought, or a theatrical
+      display, like Susy's. And he was turning half contemptuously away, when
+      she again faced him with flashing eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, hear me! I accept; I leave here at once, to join my own people, my
+      own friends&mdash;those who understand me&mdash;put what construction on
+      it that you choose. Do your worst; you cannot do more to separate us than
+      you have done just now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She left him, and ran up the steps with a singular return of her old
+      occasional nymph-like nimbleness&mdash;the movement of a woman who had
+      never borne children&mdash;and a swish of her long skirts that he
+      remembered for many a day after, as she disappeared in the corridor. He
+      remained looking after her&mdash;indignant, outraged, and unconvinced.
+      There was a rattling at the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He remembered he had locked it. He opened it to the flushed pink cheeks
+      and dancing eyes of Susy. The rain was still dripping from her wet cloak
+      as she swung it from her shoulders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know it all!&mdash;all that's happened,&rdquo; she burst out with
+      half-girlish exuberance and half the actress's declamation. &ldquo;We met them
+      all in the road&mdash;posse and prisoners. Chief Thompson knew me and told
+      me all. And so you've done it&mdash;and you're master in your old house
+      again. Clarence, old boy! Jim said you wouldn't do it&mdash;said you'd
+      weaken on account of her! But I said 'No.' I knew you better, old
+      Clarence, and I saw it in your face, for all your stiffness! ha! But for
+      all that I was mighty nervous and uneasy, and I just made Jim send an
+      excuse to the theatre and we rushed it down here! Lordy! but it looks
+      natural to see the old house again! And she&mdash;you packed her off with
+      the others&mdash;didn't you? Tell me, Clarence,&rdquo; in her old appealing
+      voice, &ldquo;you shook her, too!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Dazed and astounded, and yet experiencing a vague sense of relief with
+      something like his old tenderness towards the willful woman before him, he
+      had silently regarded her until her allusion to his wife recalled him to
+      himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; he said quickly, with a glance towards the corridor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; said Susy, with a malicious smile, &ldquo;then that's why Captain Pinckney
+      was lingering in the rear with the deputy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Silence!&rdquo; repeated Clarence sternly. &ldquo;Go in there,&rdquo; pointing to the
+      garden room below the balcony, &ldquo;and wait there with your husband.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He half led, half pushed her into the room which had been his business
+      office, and returned to the patio. A hesitating voice from the balcony
+      said, &ldquo;Clarence!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was his wife's voice, but modified and gentler&mdash;more like her
+      voice as he had first heard it, or as if it had been chastened by some
+      reminiscence of those days. It was his wife's face, too, that looked down
+      on his&mdash;paler than he had seen it since he entered the house. She was
+      shawled and hooded, carrying a traveling-bag in her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am going, Clarence,&rdquo; she said, pausing before him, with gentle gravity,
+      &ldquo;but not in anger. I even ask you to forgive me for the foolish words that
+      I think your still more foolish accusation&rdquo;&mdash;she smiled faintly&mdash;&ldquo;dragged
+      from me. I am going because I know that I have brought&mdash;and that
+      while I am here I shall always be bringing&mdash;upon you the imputation
+      and even the responsibility of my own faith! While I am proud to own it,&mdash;and
+      if needs be suffer for it,&mdash;I have no right to ruin your prospects,
+      or even make you the victim of the slurs that others may cast upon me. Let
+      us part as friends&mdash;separated only by our different political faiths,
+      but keeping all other faiths together&mdash;until God shall settle the
+      right of this struggle. Perhaps it may be soon&mdash;I sometimes think it
+      may be years of agony for all; but until then, good-by.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She had slowly descended the steps to the patio, looking handsomer than he
+      had ever seen her, and as if sustained and upheld by the enthusiasm of her
+      cause. Her hand was outstretched towards his&mdash;his heart beat
+      violently&mdash;in another moment he might have forgotten all and clasped
+      her to his breast. Suddenly she stopped, her outstretched arm stiffened,
+      her finger pointed to the chair on which Susy's cloak was hanging.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's that?&rdquo; she said in a sharp, high, metallic voice. &ldquo;Who is here?
+      Speak!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Susy,&rdquo; said Clarence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She cast a scathing glance round the patio, and then settled her piercing
+      eyes on Clarence with a bitter smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Already!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Clarence felt the blood rush to his face as he stammered, &ldquo;She knew what
+      was happening here, and came to give you warning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Liar!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stop!&rdquo; said Clarence, with a white face. &ldquo;She came to tell me that
+      Captain Pinckney was still lingering for you in the road.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He threw open the gate to let her pass. As she swept out she lifted her
+      hand. As he closed the gate there were the white marks of her four fingers
+      on his cheek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      For once Susy had not exaggerated. Captain Pinckney WAS lingering, with
+      the deputy who had charge of him, on the trail near the casa. It had
+      already been pretty well understood by both captives and captors that the
+      arrest was simply a legal demonstration; that the sympathizing Federal
+      judge would undoubtedly order the discharge of the prisoners on their own
+      recognizances, and it was probable that the deputy saw no harm in granting
+      Pinckney's request&mdash;which was virtually only a delay in his
+      liberation. It was also possible that Pinckney had worked upon the
+      chivalrous sympathies of the man by professing his disinclination to leave
+      their devoted colleague, Mrs. Brant, at the mercy of her antagonistic and
+      cold-blooded husband at such a crisis, and it is to be feared also that
+      Clarence, as a reputed lukewarm partisan, excited no personal sympathy,
+      even from his own party. Howbeit, the deputy agreed to delay Pinckney's
+      journey for a parting interview with his fair hostess.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How far this expressed the real sentiments of Captain Pinckney was never
+      known. Whether his political association with Mrs. Brant had developed
+      into a warmer solicitude, understood or ignored by her,&mdash;what were
+      his hopes and aspirations regarding her future,&mdash;were by the course
+      of fate never disclosed. A man of easy ethics, but rigid artificialities
+      of honor, flattered and pampered by class prejudice, a so-called &ldquo;man of
+      the world,&rdquo; with no experience beyond his own limited circle, yet brave
+      and devoted to that, it were well perhaps to leave this last act of his
+      inefficient life as it was accepted by the deputy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dismounting he approached the house from the garden. He was already
+      familiar with the low arched doorway which led to the business room, and
+      from which he could gain admittance to the patio, but it so chanced that
+      he entered the dark passage at the moment that Clarence had thrust Susy
+      into the business room, and heard its door shut sharply. For an instant he
+      believed that Mrs. Brant had taken refuge there, but as he cautiously
+      moved forward he heard her voice in the patio beyond. Its accents struck
+      him as pleading; an intense curiosity drew him further along the passage.
+      Suddenly her voice seemed to change to angry denunciation, and the word
+      &ldquo;Liar&rdquo; rang upon his ears. It was followed by his own name uttered
+      sardonically by Clarence, the swift rustle of a skirt, the clash of the
+      gate, and then&mdash;forgetting everything, he burst into the patio.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clarence was just turning from the gate with the marks of his wife's hand
+      still red on his white cheek. He saw Captain Pinckney's eyes upon it, and
+      the faint, half-malicious, half-hysteric smile upon his lips. But without
+      a start or gesture of surprise he locked the gate, and turning to him,
+      said with frigid significance,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank you for returning so promptly, and for recognizing the only thing
+      I now require at your hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Captain Pinckney had recovered his supercilious ease with the
+      significant demand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You seem to have had something already from another's hand, sir, but I am
+      at your service,&rdquo; he said lightly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will consider that I have accepted it from you,&rdquo; said Clarence,
+      drawing closer to him with a rigid face. &ldquo;I suppose it will not be
+      necessary for me to return it&mdash;to make you understand me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go on,&rdquo; said Pinckney, flushing slightly. &ldquo;Make your terms; I am ready.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I'm not,&rdquo; said the unexpected voice of the deputy at the grille of
+      the gateway. &ldquo;Excuse my interfering, gentlemen, but this sort o' thing
+      ain't down in my schedule. I've let this gentleman,&rdquo; pointing to Captain
+      Pinckney, &ldquo;off for a minit to say 'good-by' to a lady, who I reckon has
+      just ridden off in her buggy with her servant without saying by your
+      leave, but I didn't calkelate to let him inter another business, which,
+      like as not, may prevent me from delivering his body safe and sound into
+      court. You hear me!&rdquo; As Clarence opened the gate he added, &ldquo;I don't want
+      ter spoil sport between gents, but it's got to come in after I've done my
+      duty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'll meet you, sir, anywhere, and with what weapons you choose,&rdquo; said
+      Pinckney, turning angrily upon Clarence, &ldquo;as soon as this farce&mdash;for
+      which you and your friends are responsible&mdash;is over.&rdquo; He was furious
+      at the intimation that Mrs. Brant had escaped him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A different thought was in the husband's mind. &ldquo;But what assurance have I
+      that you are going on with the deputy?&rdquo; he said with purposely insulting
+      deliberation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My word, sir,&rdquo; said Captain Pinckney sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And if that ain't enuff, there's mine!&rdquo; said the deputy. &ldquo;For if this
+      gentleman swerves to the right or left betwixt this and Santa Inez, I'll
+      blow a hole through him myself. And that,&rdquo; he added deprecatingly, &ldquo;is
+      saying a good deal for a man who doesn't want to spoil sport, and for the
+      matter of that is willing to stand by and see fair play done at Santa Inez
+      any time to-morrow before breakfast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I can count on you,&rdquo; said Clarence, with a sudden impulse extending
+      his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man hesitated a moment and then grasped it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I wasn't expecting that,&rdquo; he said slowly; &ldquo;but you look as if you
+      meant business, and if you ain't got anybody else to see you through, I'm
+      thar! I suppose this gentleman will have his friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall be there at six with my seconds,&rdquo; said Pinckney curtly. &ldquo;Lead
+      on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gate closed behind them. Clarence stood looking around the empty patio
+      and the silent house, from which it was now plain that the servants had
+      been withdrawn to insure the secrecy of the conspiracy. Cool and collected
+      as he knew he was, he remained for a moment in hesitation. Then the sound
+      of voices came to his ear from the garden room, the light frivolity of
+      Susy's laugh and Hooker's huskier accents. He had forgotten they were
+      there&mdash;he had forgotten their existence!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Trusting still to his calmness, he called to Hooker in his usual voice.
+      That gentleman appeared with a face which his attempts to make unconcerned
+      and impassive had, however, only deepened into funereal gravity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have something to attend to,&rdquo; said Clarence, with a faint smile, &ldquo;and I
+      must ask you and Susy to excuse me for a little while. She knows the house
+      perfectly, and will call the servants from the annex to provide you both
+      with refreshment until I join you a little later.&rdquo; Satisfied from Hooker's
+      manner that they knew nothing of his later interview with Pinckney, he
+      turned away and ascended to his own room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There he threw himself into an armchair by the dim light of a single
+      candle as if to reflect. But he was conscious, even then, of his own
+      calmness and want of excitement, and that no reflection was necessary.
+      What he had done and what he intended to do was quite clear, there was no
+      alternative suggested or to be even sought after. He had that sense of
+      relief which comes with the climax of all great struggles, even of defeat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had never known before how hopeless and continuous had been that
+      struggle until now it was over. He had no fear of tomorrow, he would meet
+      it as he had to-day, with the same singular consciousness of being equal
+      to the occasion. There was even no necessity of preparation for it; his
+      will, leaving his fortune to his wife,&mdash;which seemed a slight thing
+      now in this greater separation,&mdash;was already in his safe in San
+      Francisco, his pistols were in the next room. He was even slightly
+      disturbed by his own insensibility, and passed into his wife's bedroom
+      partly in the hope of disturbing his serenity by some memento of their
+      past. There was no disorder of flight&mdash;everything was in its place,
+      except the drawer of her desk, which was still open, as if she had taken
+      something from it as an afterthought. There were letters and papers there,
+      some of his own and some in Captain Pinckney's handwriting. It did not
+      occur to him to look at them&mdash;even to justify himself, or excuse her.
+      He knew that his hatred of Captain Pinckney was not so much that he
+      believed him her lover, as his sudden conviction that she was like him! He
+      was the male of her species&mdash;a being antagonistic to himself, whom he
+      could fight, and crush, and revenge himself upon. But most of all he
+      loathed his past, not on account of her, but of his own weakness that had
+      made him her dupe and a misunderstood man to his friends. He had been
+      derelict of duty in his unselfish devotion to her; he had stifled his
+      ambition, and underrated his own possibilities. No wonder that others had
+      accepted him at his own valuation. Clarence Brant was a modest man, but
+      the egotism of modesty is more fatal than that of pretension, for it has
+      the haunting consciousness of superior virtue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He re-entered his own room and again threw himself into his chair. His
+      calm was being succeeded by a physical weariness; he remembered he had not
+      slept the night before, and he ought to take some rest to be fresh in the
+      early morning. Yet he must also show himself before his self-invited
+      guests,&mdash;Susy and her husband,&mdash;or their suspicions would be
+      aroused. He would try to sleep for a little while in the chair before he
+      went downstairs again. He closed his eyes oddly enough on a dim dreamy
+      recollection of Susy in the old days, in the little madrono hollow where
+      she had once given him a rendezvous. He forgot the maturer and critical
+      uneasiness with which he had then received her coquettish and willful
+      advances, which he now knew was the effect of the growing dominance of
+      Mrs. Peyton over him, and remembered only her bright, youthful eyes, and
+      the kisses he had pressed upon her soft fragrant cheek. The faintness he
+      had felt when waiting in the old rose garden, a few hours ago, seemed to
+      steal on him once more, and to lapse into a pleasant drowsiness. He even
+      seemed again to inhale the perfume of the roses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Clarence!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He started. He had been sleeping, but the voice sounded strangely real.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A light, girlish laugh followed. He sprang to his feet. It was Susy
+      standing beside him&mdash;and Susy even as she looked in the old days!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For with a flash of her old audacity, aided by her familiar knowledge of
+      the house and the bunch of household keys she had found, which dangled
+      from her girdle, as in the old fashion, she had disinterred one of her old
+      frocks from a closet, slipped it on, and unloosening her brown hair had
+      let it fall in rippling waves down her back. It was Susy in her old
+      girlishness, with the instinct of the grown actress in the arrangement of
+      her short skirt over her pretty ankles and the half-conscious pose she had
+      taken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Poor dear old Clarence,&rdquo; she said, with dancing eyes; &ldquo;I might have won a
+      dozen pairs of gloves from you while you slept there. But you're tired,
+      dear old boy, and you've had a hard time of it. No matter; you've shown
+      yourself a man at last, and I'm proud of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Half ashamed of the pleasure he felt even in his embarrassment, Clarence
+      stammered, &ldquo;But this change&mdash;this dress.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Susy clapped her hands like a child. &ldquo;I knew it would surprise you! It's
+      an old frock I wore the year I went away with auntie. I knew where it was
+      hidden, and fished it out again with these keys, Clarence; it seemed so
+      like old times. Lord! when I was with the old servants again, and you
+      didn't come down, I just felt as if I'd never been away, and I just
+      rampaged free. It seemed to me, don't you know, not as if I'd just come,
+      but as if I'd always been right here, and it was you who'd just come.
+      Don't you understand! Just as you came when me and Mary Rogers were here;
+      don't you remember her, Clarence, and how she used to do 'gooseberry' for
+      us? Well, just like that. So I said to Jim, 'I don't know you any more&mdash;get!'
+      and I just slipped on this frock and ordered Manuela around as I used to
+      do&mdash;and she in fits of laughter; I reckon, Clarence, she hasn't
+      laughed as much since I left. And then I thought of you&mdash;perhaps
+      worried and flustered as yet over things, and the change, and I just
+      slipped into the kitchen and I told old fat Conchita to make some of these
+      tortillas you know,&mdash;with sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top,&mdash;and
+      I tied on an apron and brought 'em up to you on a tray with a glass of
+      that old Catalan wine you used to like. Then I sorter felt frightened when
+      I got here, and I didn't hear any noise, and I put the tray down in the
+      hall and peeped in and found you asleep. Sit still, I'll fetch em.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She tripped out into the passage, returning with the tray, which she put
+      on the table beside Clarence, and then standing back a little and with her
+      hands tucked soubrette fashion in the tiny pockets of her apron, gazed at
+      him with a mischievous smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was impossible not to smile back as he nibbled the crisp Mexican cake
+      and drank the old mission wine. And Susy's tongue trilled an accompaniment
+      to his thanks.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lord! it seems so nice to be here&mdash;just you and me, Clarence&mdash;like
+      in the old days&mdash;with nobody naggin' and swoopin' round after you.
+      Don't be greedy, Clarence, but give me a cake.&rdquo; She took one and finished
+      the dregs of his glass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then sitting on the arm of his chair, she darted a violet ray of half
+      reproach and half mischievousness into his amused and retrospective eyes.
+      &ldquo;There used to be room for two in that chair, Klarns.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The use of the old childish diminutive for his name seemed to him natural
+      as her familiarity, and he moved a little sideways to make room for her
+      with an instinct of pleasure, but the same sense of irresponsibility that
+      had characterized his reflections. Nevertheless, he looked critically into
+      the mischievous eyes, and said quietly,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is your husband?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was no trace of embarrassment, apology, or even of consciousness in
+      her pretty face as she replied, passing her hand lightly through his hair,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, Jim? I've packed him off!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Packed him off!&rdquo; echoed Clarence, slightly astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, to Fair Plains, full tilt after your wife's buggy. You see,
+      Clarence, after the old cat&mdash;that's your wife, please&mdash;left, I
+      wanted to make sure she had gone, and wasn't hangin' round to lead you off
+      again with your leg tied to her apron string like a chicken's! No! I said
+      to Jim, 'Just you ride after her until you see she's safe and sound in the
+      down coach from Fair Plains without her knowin' it, and if she's inclined
+      to hang back or wobble any, you post back here and let me know!' I told
+      him I would stay and look after you to see you didn't bolt too!&rdquo; She
+      laughed, and then added, &ldquo;But I didn't think I should fall into the old
+      ways so soon, and have such a nice time. Did you, Clarence?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked so irresponsible, sitting there with her face near his, and so
+      childishly, or perhaps thoughtlessly, happy, that he could only admire her
+      levity, and even the slight shock that her flippant allusion to his wife
+      had given him seemed to him only a weakness of his own. After all, was not
+      hers the true philosophy? Why should not these bright eyes see things more
+      clearly than his own? Nevertheless, with his eyes still fixed upon them,
+      he continued,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And Jim was willing to go?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stopped, with her fingers still lifting a lock of his hair. &ldquo;Why, yes,
+      you silly&mdash;why shouldn't he? I'd like to see him refuse. Why, Lord!
+      Jim will do anything I ask him.&rdquo; She put down the lock of hair, and
+      suddenly looking full into his eyes, said, &ldquo;That's just the difference
+      between him and me, and you and&mdash;that woman!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you love him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;About as much as you love her,&rdquo; she said, with an unaffected laugh; &ldquo;only
+      he don't wind me around his finger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      No doubt she was right for all her thoughtlessness, and yet he was going
+      to fight about that woman to-morrow! No&mdash;he forgot; he was going to
+      fight Captain Pinckney because he was like her!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Susy had put her finger on the crease between his brows which this
+      supposition had made, and tried to rub it out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know it as well as I do, Clarence,&rdquo; she said, with a pretty wrinkling
+      of her own brows, which was her nearest approach to thoughtfulness. &ldquo;You
+      know you never really liked her, only you thought her ways were grander
+      and more proper than mine, and you know you were always a little bit of a
+      snob and a prig too&mdash;dear boy. And Mrs. Peyton was&mdash;bless my
+      soul!&mdash;a Benham and a planter's daughter, and I&mdash;I was only a
+      picked-up orphan! That's where Jim is better than you&mdash;now sit still,
+      goosey!&mdash;even if I don't like him as much. Oh, I know what you're
+      always thinking, you're thinking we're both exaggerated and theatrical,
+      ain't you? But don't you think it's a heap better to be exaggerated and
+      theatrical about things that are just sentimental and romantic than to be
+      so awfully possessed and overcome about things that are only real? There,
+      you needn't stare at me so! It's true. You've had your fill of grandeur
+      and propriety, and&mdash;here you are. And,&rdquo; she added with a little
+      chuckle, as she tucked up her feet and leaned a little closer to him,
+      &ldquo;here's ME.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He did not speak, but his arm quite unconsciously passed round her small
+      waist.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, Clarence,&rdquo; she went on with equal unconsciousness of the act,
+      &ldquo;you ought never to have let me go&mdash;never! You ought to have kept me
+      here&mdash;or run away with me. And you oughtn't to have tried to make me
+      proper. And you oughtn't to have driven me to flirt with that horrid
+      Spaniard, and you oughtn't to have been so horribly cold and severe when I
+      did. And you oughtn't to have made me take up with Jim, who was the only
+      one who thought me his equal. I might have been very silly and capricious;
+      I might have been very vain, but my vanity isn't a bit worse than your
+      pride; my love of praise and applause in the theatre isn't a bit more
+      horrid than your fears of what people might think of you or me. That's
+      gospel truth, isn't it, Clarence? Tell me! Don't look that way and this&mdash;look
+      at ME! I ain't poisonous, Clarence. Why, one of your cheeks is redder than
+      the other, Clarence; that's the one that's turned from me. Come,&rdquo; she went
+      on, taking the lapels of his coat between her hands and half shaking him,
+      half drawing him nearer her bright face. &ldquo;Tell me&mdash;isn't it true?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was thinking of you just now when I fell asleep, Susy,&rdquo; he said. He did
+      not know why he said it; he had not intended to tell her, he had only
+      meant to avoid a direct answer to her question; yet even now he went on.
+      &ldquo;And I thought of you when I was out there in the rose garden waiting to
+      come in here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You did?&rdquo; she said, drawing in her breath. A wave of delicate pink color
+      came up to her very eyes, it seemed to him as quickly and as innocently as
+      when she was a girl. &ldquo;And what DID you think, Klarns,&rdquo; she half whispered&mdash;&ldquo;tell
+      me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He did not speak, but answered her blue eyes and then her lips, as her
+      arms slipped quite naturally around his neck.
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      The dawn was breaking as Clarence and Jim Hooker emerged together from the
+      gate of the casa. Mr. Hooker looked sleepy. He had found, after his return
+      from Fair Plains, that his host had an early engagement at Santa Inez, and
+      he had insisted upon rising to see him off. It was with difficulty,
+      indeed, that Clarence could prevent his accompanying him. Clarence had not
+      revealed to Susy the night before the real object of his journey, nor did
+      Hooker evidently suspect it, yet when the former had mounted his horse, he
+      hesitated for an instant, extending his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I should happen to be detained,&rdquo; he began with a half smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Jim was struggling with a yawn. &ldquo;That's all right&mdash;don't mind
+      us,&rdquo; he said, stretching his arms. Clarence's hesitating hand dropped to
+      his side, and with a light reckless laugh and a half sense of providential
+      relief he galloped away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      What happened immediately thereafter during his solitary ride to Santa
+      Inez, looking back upon it in after years, seemed but a confused
+      recollection, more like a dream. The long stretches of vague distance,
+      gradually opening clearer with the rising sun in an unclouded sky; the
+      meeting with a few early or belated travelers and his unconscious
+      avoidance of them, as if they might know of his object; the black shadows
+      of foreshortened cattle rising before him on the plain and arousing the
+      same uneasy sensation of their being waylaying men; the wondering
+      recognition of houses and landmarks he had long been familiar with; his
+      purposeless attempts to recall the circumstances in which he had known
+      them&mdash;all these were like a dream. So, too, were the recollections of
+      the night before, the episode with Susy, already mingled and blended with
+      the memory of their previous past; his futile attempts to look forward to
+      the future, always, however, abandoned with relief at the thought that the
+      next few hours might make them unnecessary. So also was the sudden
+      realization that Santa Inez was before him, when he had thought he was not
+      yet halfway there, and as he dismounted before the Court House his
+      singular feeling&mdash;followed, however, by no fear or distress&mdash;was
+      that he had come so early to the rendezvous that he was not yet quite
+      prepared for it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This same sense of unreality pervaded his meeting with the deputy sheriff,
+      at the news that the Federal judge had, as was expected, dismissed the
+      prisoners on their own recognizances, and that Captain Pinckney was at the
+      hotel at breakfast. In the like abstracted manner he replied to the one or
+      two questions of the deputy, exhibited the pistols he had brought with
+      him, and finally accompanied him to a little meadow hidden by trees, below
+      the hotel, where the other principal and his seconds were awaiting them.
+      And here he awoke&mdash;clear-eyed, keen, forceful, and intense!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So stimulated were his faculties that his sense of hearing in its
+      acuteness took in every word of the conversation between the seconds, a
+      few paces distant. He heard his adversary's seconds say carelessly to the
+      deputy sheriff, &ldquo;I presume this is a case where there will be no apology
+      or mediation,&rdquo; and the deputy's reply, &ldquo;I reckon my man means business,
+      but he seems a little queer.&rdquo; He heard the other second laugh, and say
+      lightly, &ldquo;They're apt to be so when it's their first time out,&rdquo; followed
+      by the more anxious aside of the other second as the deputy turned away,&mdash;&ldquo;Yes,
+      but by G-d I don't like his looks!&rdquo; His sense of sight was also so acute
+      that having lost the choice of position, when the coin was tossed, and
+      being turned with his face to the sun, even through the glare he saw, with
+      unerring distinctness of outline, the black-coated figure of his opponent
+      moved into range&mdash;saw the perfect outline of his features, and how
+      the easy, supercilious smile, as he threw away his cigar, appeared to drop
+      out of his face with a kind of vacant awe as he faced him. He felt his
+      nerves become as steel as the counting began, and at the word &ldquo;three,&rdquo;
+       knew he had fired by the recoil of the pistol in his leveled hand,
+      simultaneously with its utterance. And at the same moment, still standing
+      like a rock, he saw his adversary miserably collapse, his legs grotesquely
+      curving inwards under him,&mdash;without even the dignity of death in his
+      fall,&mdash;and so sink helplessly like a felled bull to the ground. Still
+      erect, and lowering only the muzzle of his pistol, as a thin feather of
+      smoke curled up its shining side, he saw the doctor and seconds run
+      quickly to the heap, try to lift its limp impotence into shape, and let it
+      drop again with the words, &ldquo;Right through the forehead, by G-d!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You've done for him,&rdquo; said the deputy, turning to Clarence with a
+      singular look of curiosity, &ldquo;and I reckon you had better get out of this
+      mighty quick. They didn't expect it; they're just ragin'; they may round
+      on you&mdash;and&rdquo;&mdash;he added, more slowly, &ldquo;they seem to have just
+      found out who you are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Even while he was speaking, Clarence, with his quickened ear, heard the
+      words, &ldquo;One of Hamilton Brant's pups&rdquo; &ldquo;Just like his father,&rdquo; from the
+      group around the dead man. He did not hesitate, but walked coolly towards
+      them. Yet a certain fierce pride&mdash;which he had never known before&mdash;stirred
+      in his veins as their voices hushed and they half recoiled before him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Am I to understand from my second, gentlemen,&rdquo; he said, looking round the
+      group, &ldquo;that you are not satisfied?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The fight was square enough,&rdquo; said Pinckney's second in some
+      embarrassment, &ldquo;but I reckon that he,&rdquo; pointing to the dead man, &ldquo;did not
+      know who you were.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you mean that he did not know that I was the son of a man proficient
+      in the use of arms?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I reckon that's about it,&rdquo; returned the second, glancing at the others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am glad to say, sir, that I have a better opinion of his courage,&rdquo; said
+      Clarence, lifting his hat to the dead body as he turned away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet he was conscious of no remorse, concern, or even pity in his act.
+      Perhaps this was visible in his face, for the group appeared awed by this
+      perfection of the duelist's coolness, and even returned his formal parting
+      salutation with a vague and timid respect. He thanked the deputy, regained
+      the hotel, saddled his horse and galloped away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But not towards the Rancho. Now that he could think of his future, that
+      had no place in his reflections; even the episode of Susy was forgotten in
+      the new and strange conception of himself and his irresponsibility which
+      had come upon him with the killing of Pinckney and the words of his
+      second. It was his dead father who had stiffened his arm and directed the
+      fatal shot! It was hereditary influences&mdash;which others had been so
+      quick to recognize&mdash;that had brought about this completing climax of
+      his trouble. How else could he account for it that he&mdash;a
+      conscientious, peaceful, sensitive man, tender and forgiving as he had
+      believed himself to be&mdash;could now feel so little sorrow or
+      compunction for his culminating act? He had read of successful duelists
+      who were haunted by remorse for their first victim; who retained a
+      terrible consciousness of the appearance of the dead man; he had no such
+      feeling; he had only a grim contentment in the wiped-out inefficient life,
+      and contempt for the limp and helpless body. He suddenly recalled his
+      callousness as a boy when face to face with the victims of the Indian
+      massacre, his sense of fastidious superciliousness in the discovery of the
+      body of Susy's mother!&mdash;surely it was the cold blood of his father
+      influencing him ever thus. What had he to do with affection, with domestic
+      happiness, with the ordinary ambitions of man's life&mdash;whose blood was
+      frozen at its source! Yet even with this very thought came once more the
+      old inconsistent tenderness he had as a boy lavished upon the almost
+      unknown and fugitive father who had forsaken his childish companionship,
+      and remembered him only by secret gifts. He remembered how he had
+      worshiped him even while the pious padres at San Jose were endeavoring to
+      eliminate this terrible poison from his blood and combat his hereditary
+      instinct in his conflicts with his school-fellows. And it was a part of
+      this inconsistency that, riding away from the scene of his first
+      bloodshed, his eyes were dimmed with moisture, not for his victim, but for
+      the one being who he believed had impelled him to the act.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This and more was in his mind during his long ride to Fair Plains, his
+      journey by coach to the Embarcadero, his midnight passage across the dark
+      waters of the bay, and his re-entrance to San Francisco, but what should
+      be his future was still unsettled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he wound round the crest of Russian Hill and looked down again upon the
+      awakened city, he was startled to see that it was fluttering and streaming
+      with bunting. From every public building and hotel, from the roofs of
+      private houses, and even the windows of lonely dwellings, flapped and
+      waved the striped and starry banner. The steady breath of the sea carried
+      it out from masts and yards of ships at their wharves, from the
+      battlements of the forts Alcatraz and Yerba Bueno. He remembered that the
+      ferryman had told him that the news from Fort Sumter had swept the city
+      with a revulsion of patriotic sentiment, and that there was no doubt that
+      the State was saved to the Union. He looked down upon it with haggard,
+      bewildered eyes, and then a strange gasp and fullness of the throat! For
+      afar a solitary bugle had blown the &ldquo;reveille&rdquo; at Fort Alcatraz.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PART II.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Night at last, and the stir and tumult of a great fight over. Even the
+      excitement that had swept this portion of the battlefield&mdash;only a
+      small section of a vaster area of struggle&mdash;into which a brigade had
+      marched, held its own, been beaten back, recovered its ground, and
+      pursuing, had passed out of it forever, leaving only its dead behind, and
+      knowing nothing more of that struggle than its own impact and momentum&mdash;even
+      this wild excitement had long since evaporated with the stinging smoke of
+      gunpowder, the acrid smell of burning rags from the clothing of a dead
+      soldier fired by a bursting shell, or the heated reek of sweat and
+      leather. A cool breath that seemed to bring back once more the odor of the
+      upturned earthworks along the now dumb line of battle began to move from
+      the suggestive darkness beyond.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But into that awful penetralia of death and silence there was no invasion&mdash;there
+      had been no retreat. A few of the wounded had been brought out, under
+      fire, but the others had been left with the dead for the morning light and
+      succor. For it was known that in that horrible obscurity, riderless
+      horses, frantic with the smell of blood, galloped wildly here and there,
+      or, maddened by wounds, plunged furiously at the intruder; that the
+      wounded soldier, still armed, could not always distinguish friend from foe
+      or from the ghouls of camp followers who stripped the dead in the darkness
+      and struggled with the dying. A shot or two heard somewhere in that
+      obscurity counted as nothing with the long fusillade that had swept it in
+      the daytime; the passing of a single life, more or less, amounted to
+      little in the long roll-call of the day's slaughter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But with the first beams of the morning sun&mdash;and the slowly moving
+      &ldquo;relief detail&rdquo; from the camp&mdash;came a weird half-resurrection of that
+      ghastly field. Then it was that the long rays of sunlight, streaming away
+      a mile beyond the battle line, pointed out the first harvest of the dead
+      where the reserves had been posted. There they lay in heaps and piles,
+      killed by solid shot or bursting shells that had leaped the battle line to
+      plunge into the waiting ranks beyond. As the sun lifted higher its beams
+      fell within the range of musketry fire, where the dead lay thicker,&mdash;even
+      as they had fallen when killed outright,&mdash;with arms extended and feet
+      at all angles to the field. As it touched these dead upturned faces,
+      strangely enough it brought out no expression of pain or anguish&mdash;but
+      rather as if death had arrested them only in surprise and awe. It revealed
+      on the lips of those who had been mortally wounded and had turned upon
+      their side the relief which death had brought their suffering, sometimes
+      shown in a faint smile. Mounting higher, it glanced upon the actual battle
+      line, curiously curving for the shelter of walls, fences, and breastworks,
+      and here the dead lay, even as when they lay and fired, their faces prone
+      in the grass but their muskets still resting across the breastworks.
+      Exposed to grape and canister from the battery on the ridge, death had
+      come to them mercifully also&mdash;through the head and throat. And now
+      the whole field lay bare in the sunlight, broken with grotesque shadows
+      cast from sitting, crouching, half-recumbent but always rigid figures,
+      which might have been effigies on their own monuments. One half-kneeling
+      soldier, with head bowed between his stiffened hands, might have stood for
+      a carven figure of Grief at the feet of his dead comrade. A captain, shot
+      through the brain in the act of mounting a wall, lay sideways half across
+      it, his lips parted with a word of command; his sword still pointing over
+      the barrier the way that they should go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But it was not until the sun had mounted higher that it struck the central
+      horror of the field and seemed to linger there in dazzling persistence,
+      now and then returning to it in startling flashes that it might be seen of
+      men and those who brought succor. A tiny brook had run obliquely near the
+      battle line. It was here that, the night before the battle, friend and foe
+      had filled their canteens side by side with soldierly recklessness&mdash;or
+      perhaps a higher instinct&mdash;purposely ignoring each other's presence;
+      it was here that the wounded had afterwards crept, crawled, and dragged
+      themselves, here they had pushed, wrangled, striven, and fought for a
+      draught of that precious fluid which assuaged the thirst of their wounds&mdash;or
+      happily put them out of their misery forever; here overborne, crushed,
+      suffocated by numbers, pouring their own blood into the flood, and
+      tumbling after it with their helpless bodies, they dammed the stream,
+      until recoiling, red and angry, it had burst its banks and overflowed the
+      cotton-field in a broad pool that now sparkled in the sunlight. But below
+      this human dam&mdash;a mile away&mdash;where the brook still crept
+      sluggishly, the ambulance horses sniffed and started from it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The detail moved on slowly, doing their work expeditiously, and apparently
+      callously, but really only with that mechanical movement that saves
+      emotion. Only once they were moved to an outbreak of indignation,&mdash;the
+      discovery of the body of an officer whose pockets were turned inside out,
+      but whose hand was still tightly grasped on his buttoned waistcoat, as if
+      resisting the outrage that had been done while still in life. As the men
+      disengaged the stiffened hand something slipped from the waistcoat to the
+      ground. The corporal picked it up and handed it to his officer. It was a
+      sealed packet. The officer received it with the carelessness which long
+      experience of these pathetic missives from the dying to their living
+      relations had induced, and dropped it in the pocket of his tunic, with the
+      half-dozen others that he had picked up that morning, and moved on with
+      the detail. A little further on they halted, in the attitude of attention,
+      as a mounted officer appeared, riding slowly down the line.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was something more than the habitual respect of their superior in
+      their faces as he came forward. For it was the general who had commanded
+      the brigade the day before,&mdash;the man who had leaped with one bound
+      into the foremost rank of military leaders. It was his invincible spirit
+      that had led the advance, held back defeat against overwhelming numbers,
+      sustained the rally, impressed his subordinate officers with his own
+      undeviating purpose, and even infused them with an almost superstitious
+      belief in his destiny of success. It was this man who had done what it was
+      deemed impossible to do,&mdash;what even at the time it was thought unwise
+      and unstrategic to do,&mdash;who had held a weak position, of apparently
+      no importance, under the mandate of an incomprehensible order from his
+      superior, which at best asked only for a sacrifice and was rewarded with a
+      victory. He had decimated his brigade, but the wounded and dying had
+      cheered him as he passed, and the survivors had pursued the enemy until
+      the bugle called them back. For such a record he looked still too young
+      and scholarly, albeit his handsome face was dark and energetic, and his
+      manner taciturn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His quick eye had already caught sight of the rifled body of the officer,
+      and contracted. As the captain of the detail saluted him he said curtly,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought the orders were to fire upon any one desecrating the dead?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They are, General; but the hyenas don't give us a chance. That's all
+      yonder poor fellow saved from their claws,&rdquo; replied the officer, as he
+      held up the sealed packet. &ldquo;It has no address.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The general took it, examined the envelope, thrust it into his belt, and
+      said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will take charge of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The sound of horses' hoofs came from the rocky roadside beyond the brook.
+      Both men turned. A number of field officers were approaching.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The division staff,&rdquo; said the captain, in a lower voice, falling back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They came slowly forward, a central figure on a gray horse leading here&mdash;as
+      in history. A short, thick-set man with a grizzled beard closely cropped
+      around an inscrutable mouth, and the serious formality of a respectable
+      country deacon in his aspect, which even the major-generals blazon on the
+      shoulder-strap of his loose tunic on his soldierly seat in the saddle
+      could not entirely obliterate. He had evidently perceived the general of
+      brigade, and quickened his horse as the latter drew up. The staff followed
+      more leisurely, but still with some curiosity, to witness the meeting of
+      the first general of the army with the youngest. The division general
+      saluted, but almost instantly withdrew his leathern gauntlet, and offered
+      his bared hand to the brigadier. The words of heroes are scant. The
+      drawn-up detail, the waiting staff listened. This was all they heard:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Halleck tells me you're from California?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, General.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah! I lived there, too, in the early days.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wonderful country. Developed greatly since my time, I suppose?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, General.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Great resources; finest wheat-growing country in the world, sir. You
+      don't happen to know what the actual crop was this year?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hardly, General! but something enormous.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I have always said it would be. Have a cigar?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He handed his cigar-case to the brigadier. Then he took one himself,
+      lighted it at the smouldering end of the one he had taken from his mouth,
+      was about to throw the stump carelessly down, but, suddenly recollecting
+      himself, leaned over his horse, and dropped it carefully a few inches away
+      from the face of a dead soldier. Then, straightening himself in the
+      saddle, he shoved his horse against the brigadier, moving him a little
+      further on, while a slight movement of his hand kept the staff from
+      following.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A heavy loss here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm afraid so, General.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It couldn't be helped. We had to rush in your brigade to gain time, and
+      occupy the enemy, until we could change front.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The young general looked at the shrewd, cold eyes of his chief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Change front?&rdquo; he echoed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Before a gun was fired, we discovered that the enemy was in complete
+      possession of all our plans, and knew every detail of our forward
+      movement. All had to be changed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The younger man now instantly understood the incomprehensible order of the
+      day before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The general of division continued, with his first touch of official
+      formality,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You understand, therefore, General Brant, that in the face of this
+      extraordinary treachery, the utmost vigilance is required, and a complete
+      surveillance of your camp followers and civilians, to detect the actual
+      spy within our lines, or the traitor we are harboring, who has become
+      possessed of this information. You will overhaul your brigade, and weed
+      out all suspects, and in the position which you are to take to-morrow, and
+      the plantation you will occupy, you will see that your private quarters,
+      as well as your lines, are cleared of all but those you can vouch for.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He reined in his horse, again extended his hand, saluted, and rejoined his
+      staff.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Brigadier-General Clarence Brant remained for a moment with his head bent
+      in thoughtful contemplation of the coolness of his veteran chief under
+      this exciting disclosure, and the strategy with which he had frustrated
+      the traitor's success. Then his eye caught the sealed packet in his belt.
+      He mechanically drew it out, and broke the seal. The envelope was filled
+      with papers and memorandums. But as he looked at them his face darkened
+      and his brow knit. He glanced quickly around him. The staff had trotted
+      away; the captain and his detail were continuing their work at a little
+      distance. He took a long breath, for he was holding in his hand a tracing
+      of their camp, even of the position he was to occupy tomorrow, and a
+      detailed account of the movements, plans, and force of the whole division
+      as had been arranged in council of war the day before the battle! But
+      there was no indication of the writer or his intentions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He thrust the papers hurriedly back into the envelope, but placed it, this
+      time, in his breast. He galloped towards the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me see again the officer from whom you took that packet!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain led him to where the body lay, with others, extended more
+      decently on the grass awaiting removal. General Brant with difficulty
+      repressed an ejaculation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, it's one of our own men,&rdquo; he said quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, General. They say it's Lieutenant Wainwright, a regular, of the
+      paymaster general's department.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then what was he doing here?&rdquo; asked General Brant sternly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can't make out, sir, unless he went into the last advance as a
+      volunteer. Wanted to see the fight, I suppose. He was a dashing fellow, a
+      West Pointer,&mdash;and a Southerner, too,&mdash;a Virginian.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A Southerner!&rdquo; echoed Brant quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Search him again,&rdquo; said Brant quietly. He had recovered his usual
+      coolness, and as the captain again examined the body, he took out his
+      tablets and wrote a few lines. It was an order to search the quarters of
+      Lieutenant Wainwright and bring all papers, letters, and documents to him.
+      He then beckoned one of the detail towards him. &ldquo;Take that to the provost
+      marshal at once. Well, Captain,&rdquo; he added calmly, as the officer again
+      approached him, &ldquo;what do you find?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only this, sir,&rdquo; returned the captain, with a half smile, producing a
+      small photograph. &ldquo;I suppose it was overlooked, too.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He handed it to Brant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a sudden fixing of his commanding officer's eyes, but his face
+      did not otherwise change.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's the usual find, General. Always a photograph! But this time a
+      handsome woman!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very,&rdquo; said Clarence Brant quietly. It was the portrait of his own wife.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Nevertheless, so complete was his control of voice and manner that, as he
+      rode on to his quarters, no one would have dreamed that General Brant had
+      just looked upon the likeness of the wife from whom he had parted in anger
+      four years ago. Still less would they have suspected the strange fear that
+      came upon him that in some way she was connected with the treachery he had
+      just discovered. He had heard from her only once, and then through her
+      late husband's lawyer, in regard to her Californian property, and believed
+      that she had gone to her relations in Alabama, where she had identified
+      herself with the Southern cause, even to the sacrifice of her private
+      fortune. He had heard her name mentioned in the Southern press as a
+      fascinating society leader, and even coadjutrix of Southern politicians,&mdash;but
+      he had no reason to believe that she had taken so active or so desperate a
+      part in the struggle. He tried to think that his uneasiness sprang from
+      his recollection of the previous treachery of Captain Pinckney, and the
+      part that she had played in the Californian conspiracy, although he had
+      long since acquitted her of the betrayal of any nearer trust. But there
+      was a fateful similarity in the two cases. There was no doubt that this
+      Lieutenant Wainwright was a traitor in the camp,&mdash;that he had
+      succumbed to the usual sophistry of his class in regard to his superior
+      allegiance to his native State. But was there the inducement of another
+      emotion, or was the photograph only the souvenir of a fascinating
+      priestess of rebellion, whom the dead man had met? There was perhaps less
+      of feeling than scorn in the first suggestion, but he was nevertheless
+      relieved when the provost marshal found no other incriminating papers in
+      Wainwright's effects. Nor did he reveal to the division general the
+      finding of the photograph. It was sufficient to disclose the work of the
+      traitor without adding what might be a clue to his wife's participation in
+      it, near or remote. There was risk enough in the former course,&mdash;which
+      his duty made imperative. He hardly dared to think of the past day's
+      slaughter, which&mdash;there was no doubt now&mdash;had been due to the
+      previous work of the spy, and how his brigade had been selected&mdash;by
+      the irony of Fate&mdash;to suffer for and yet retrieve it. If she had had
+      a hand in this wicked plot, ought he to spare her? Or was his destiny and
+      hers to be thus monstrously linked together?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Luckily, however, the expiation of the chief offender and the timely
+      discovery of his papers enabled the division commander to keep the affair
+      discreetly silent, and to enjoin equal secrecy on the part of Brant. The
+      latter, however, did not relax his vigilance, and after the advance the
+      next day he made a minute inspection of the ground he was to occupy, its
+      approaches and connections with the outlying country, and the rebel lines;
+      increased the stringency of picket and sentry regulations, and exercised a
+      rigid surveillance of non-combatants and civilians within the lines, even
+      to the lowest canteener or camp follower. Then he turned his attention to
+      the house he was to occupy as his headquarters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a fine specimen of the old colonial planter's house, with its broad
+      veranda, its great detached offices and negro quarters, and had, thus far,
+      escaped the ravages and billeting of the war. It had been occupied by its
+      owner up to a few days before the engagement, and so great had been the
+      confidence of the enemy in their success that it had been used as the
+      Confederate headquarters on the morning of the decisive battle. Jasmine
+      and rose, unstained by the sulphur of gunpowder, twined around its ruined
+      columns and half hid the recessed windows; the careless flower garden was
+      still in its unkempt and unplucked luxuriance; the courtyard before the
+      stables alone showed marks of the late military occupancy, and was
+      pulverized by the uneasy horse-hoofs of the waiting staff. But the mingled
+      impress of barbaric prodigality with patriarchal simplicity was still
+      there in the domestic arrangements of a race who lived on half equal
+      familiarity with strangers and their own servants.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The negro servants still remained, with a certain cat-like fidelity to the
+      place, and adapted themselves to the Northern invaders with a childlike
+      enjoyment of the novelty of change. Brant, nevertheless, looked them over
+      with an experienced eye, and satisfied himself of their trustworthiness;
+      there was the usual number of &ldquo;boys,&rdquo; gray-haired and grizzled in body
+      service, and the &ldquo;mammys&rdquo; and &ldquo;aunties&rdquo; of the kitchen. There were two or
+      three rooms in the wing which still contained private articles, pictures
+      and souvenirs of the family, and a &ldquo;young lady's&rdquo; boudoir, which Brant,
+      with characteristic delicacy, kept carefully isolated and intact from his
+      military household, and accessible only to the family servants. The room
+      he had selected for himself was nearest it,&mdash;a small, plainly
+      furnished apartment, with an almost conventual simplicity in its cold,
+      white walls and draperies, and the narrow, nun-like bed. It struck him
+      that it might have belonged to some prim elder daughter or maiden aunt,
+      who had acted as housekeeper, as it commanded the wing and servants'
+      offices, with easy access to the central hall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There followed a week of inactivity in which Brant felt a singular
+      resemblance in this Southern mansion to the old casa at Robles. The
+      afternoon shadows of the deep verandas recalled the old monastic gloom of
+      the Spanish house, which even the presence of a lounging officer or
+      waiting orderly could not entirely dissipate, and the scent of the rose
+      and jasmine from his windows overcame him with sad memories. He began to
+      chafe under this inaction, and long again for the excitement of the march
+      and bivouac, in which, for the past four years, he had buried his past.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was sitting one afternoon alone before his reports and dispatches, when
+      this influence seemed so strong that he half impulsively laid them aside
+      to indulge in along reverie. He was recalling his last day at Robles, the
+      early morning duel with Pinckney, the return to San Francisco, and the
+      sudden resolution which sent him that day across the continent to offer
+      his services to the Government. He remembered his delay in the Western
+      town, where a volunteer regiment was being recruited, his entrance into it
+      as a private, his rapid selection, through the force of his sheer devotion
+      and intelligent concentration, to the captaincy of his company; his swift
+      promotion on hard-fought fields to the head of the regiment, and the
+      singular success that had followed his resistless energy, which left him
+      no time to think of anything but his duty. The sudden intrusion of his
+      wife upon his career now, even in this accidental and perhaps innocent
+      way, had seriously unsettled him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The shadows were growing heavier and deeper, it lacked only a few moments
+      of the sunset bugle, when he was recalled to himself by that singular
+      instinctive consciousness, common to humanity, of being intently looked
+      at. He turned quickly,&mdash;the door behind him closed softly. He rose
+      and slipped into the hall. The tall figure of a woman was going down the
+      passage. She was erect and graceful; but, as she turned towards the door
+      leading to the offices, he distinctly saw the gaudily turbaned head and
+      black silhouette of a negress. Nevertheless, he halted a moment at the
+      door of the next room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See who that woman is who has just passed, Mr. Martin. She doesn't seem
+      to belong to the house.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The young officer rose, put on his cap, and departed. In a few moments he
+      returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Was she tall, sir, of a good figure, and very straight?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is a servant of our neighbors, the Manlys, who occasionally visits
+      the servants here. A mulatto, I think.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant reflected. Many of the mulattoes and negresses were of good figure,
+      and the habit of carrying burdens on their heads gave them a singularly
+      erect carriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The lieutenant looked at his chief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you any orders to give concerning her, General?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Brant, after a moment's pause, and turned away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The officer smiled. It seemed a good story to tell at mess of this human
+      weakness of his handsome, reserved, and ascetic-looking leader.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few mornings afterwards Brant was interrupted over his reports by the
+      almost abrupt entrance of the officer of the day. His face was flushed,
+      and it was evident that only the presence of his superior restrained his
+      excitement. He held a paper in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A lady presents this order and pass from Washington, countersigned by the
+      division general.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A lady?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir, she is dressed as such. But she has not only declined the most
+      ordinary civilities and courtesies we have offered her, but she has
+      insulted Mr. Martin and myself grossly, and demands to be shown to you&mdash;alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant took the paper. It was a special order from the President, passing
+      Miss Matilda Faulkner through the Federal lines to visit her uncle's home,
+      known as &ldquo;Gray Oaks,&rdquo; now held and occupied as the headquarters of Brant's
+      Brigade, in order to arrange for the preservation and disposal of certain
+      family effects and private property that still remained there, or to take
+      and carry away such property; and invoking all necessary aid and
+      assistance from the United States forces in such occupancy. It was
+      countersigned by the division commander. It was perfectly regular and of
+      undoubted authenticity. He had heard of passes of this kind,&mdash;the
+      terror of the army,&mdash;issued in Washington under some strange
+      controlling influence and against military protest; but he did not let his
+      subordinate see the uneasiness with which it filled him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Show her in,&rdquo; he said quietly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But she had already entered, brushing scornfully past the officer, and
+      drawing her skirt aside, as if contaminated: a very pretty Southern girl,
+      scornful and red-lipped, clad in a gray riding-habit, and still carrying
+      her riding-whip clenched ominously in her slim, gauntleted hand!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have my permit in your hand,&rdquo; she said brusquely, hardly raising her
+      eyes to Brant. &ldquo;I suppose it's all straight enough,&mdash;and even if it
+      isn't, I don't reckon to be kept waiting with those hirelings.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your 'permit' is 'straight' enough, Miss Faulkner,&rdquo; said Brant, slowly
+      reading her name from the document before him. &ldquo;But, as it does not seem
+      to include permission to insult my officers, you will perhaps allow them
+      first to retire.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He made a sign to the officer, who passed out of the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As it closed, he went on, in a gentle but coldly unimpassioned voice,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I perceive you are a Southern lady, and therefore I need not remind you
+      that it is not considered good form to treat even the slaves of those one
+      does not like uncivilly, and I must, therefore, ask you to keep your
+      active animosity for myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The young girl lifted her eyes. She had evidently not expected to meet a
+      man so young, so handsome, so refined, and so coldly invincible in manner.
+      Still less was she prepared for that kind of antagonism. In keeping up her
+      preconcerted attitude towards the &ldquo;Northern hireling,&rdquo; she had been met
+      with official brusqueness, contemptuous silence, or aggrieved indignation,&mdash;but
+      nothing so exasperating as this. She even fancied that this elegant but
+      sardonic-looking soldier was mocking her. She bit her red lip, but, with a
+      scornful gesture of her riding-whip, said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I reckon that your knowledge of Southern ladies is, for certain reasons,
+      not very extensive.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon me; I have had the honor of marrying one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Apparently more exasperated than before, she turned upon him abruptly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You say my pass is all right. Then I presume I may attend to the business
+      that brought me here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly; but you will forgive me if I imagined that an expression of
+      contempt for your hosts was a part of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He rang a bell on the table. It was responded to by an orderly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Send all the household servants here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The room was presently filled with the dusky faces of the negro retainers.
+      Here and there was the gleaming of white teeth, but a majority of the
+      assembly wore the true negro serious acceptance of the importance of &ldquo;an
+      occasion.&rdquo; One or two even affected an official and soldierly bearing.
+      And, as he fully expected, there were several glances of significant
+      recognition of the stranger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will give,&rdquo; said Brant sternly, &ldquo;every aid and attention to the wants
+      of this young lady, who is here to represent the interests of your old
+      master. As she will be entirely dependent upon you in all things connected
+      with her visit here, see to it that she does not have to complain to me of
+      any inattention,&mdash;or be obliged to ask for other assistance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As Miss Faulkner, albeit a trifle paler in the cheek, but as scornful as
+      ever, was about to follow the servants from the room, Brant stopped her,
+      with a coldly courteous gesture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will understand, therefore, Miss Faulkner, that you have your wish,
+      and that you will not be exposed to any contact with the members of my
+      military family, nor they with you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Am I then to be a prisoner in this house&mdash;and under a free pass of
+      your&mdash;President?&rdquo; she said indignantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By no means! You are free to come and go, and see whom you please. I have
+      no power to control your actions. But I have the power to control theirs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She swept furiously from the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is quite enough to fill her with a desire to flirt with every man
+      here,&rdquo; said Brant to himself, with a faint smile; &ldquo;but I fancy they have
+      had a taste enough of her quality.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Nevertheless he sat down and wrote a few lines to the division commander,
+      pointing out that he had already placed the owner's private property under
+      strict surveillance, that it was cared for and perfectly preserved by the
+      household servants, and that the pass was evidently obtained as a
+      subterfuge.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To this he received a formal reply, regretting that the authorities at
+      Washington still found it necessary to put this kind of risk and burden on
+      the army in the field, but that the order emanated from the highest
+      authority, and must be strictly obeyed. At the bottom of the page was a
+      characteristic line in pencil in the general's own hand&mdash;&ldquo;Not the
+      kind that is dangerous.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A flush mounted Brant's cheeks, as if it contained not only a hidden, but
+      a personal significance. He had thought of his own wife!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Singularly enough, a day or two later, at dinner, the conversation turned
+      upon the intense sectional feeling of Southern women, probably induced by
+      their late experiences. Brant, at the head of the table, in his habitual
+      abstraction, was scarcely following the somewhat excited diction of
+      Colonel Strangeways, one of his staff.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir,&rdquo; reiterated that indignant warrior, &ldquo;take my word for it! A
+      Southern woman isn't to be trusted on this point, whether as a sister,
+      sweetheart, or wife. And when she is trusted, she's bound to get the
+      better of the man in any of those relations!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The dead silence that followed, the ominous joggle of a glass at the
+      speaker's elbow, the quick, sympathetic glance that Brant instinctively
+      felt was directed at his own face, and the abrupt change of subject, could
+      not but arrest his attention, even if he had overlooked the speech. His
+      face, however, betrayed nothing. It had never, however, occurred to him
+      before that his family affairs might be known&mdash;neither had he ever
+      thought of keeping them a secret. It seemed so purely a personal and
+      private misfortune, that he had never dreamed of its having any public
+      interest. And even now he was a little ashamed of what he believed was his
+      sensitiveness to mere conventional criticism, which, with the instinct of
+      a proud man, he had despised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was not far wrong in his sardonic intuition of the effect of his
+      prohibition upon Miss Faulkner's feelings. Certainly that young lady, when
+      not engaged in her mysterious occupation of arranging her uncle's effects,
+      occasionally was seen in the garden, and in the woods beyond. Although her
+      presence was the signal for the &ldquo;oblique&rdquo; of any lounging &ldquo;shoulder
+      strap,&rdquo; or the vacant &ldquo;front&rdquo; of a posted sentry, she seemed to regard
+      their occasional proximity with less active disfavor. Once, when she had
+      mounted the wall to gather a magnolia blossom, the chair by which she had
+      ascended rolled over, leaving her on the wall. At a signal from the
+      guard-room, two sappers and miners appeared carrying a scaling-ladder,
+      which they placed silently against the wall, and as silently withdrew. On
+      another occasion, the same spirited young lady, whom Brant was satisfied
+      would have probably imperiled her life under fire in devotion to her
+      cause, was brought ignominiously to bay in the field by that most
+      appalling of domestic animals, the wandering and untrammeled cow! Brant
+      could not help smiling as he heard the quick, harsh call to &ldquo;Turn out,
+      guard,&rdquo; saw the men march stolidly with fixed bayonets to the vicinity of
+      the affrighted animal, who fled, leaving the fair stranger to walk
+      shamefacedly to the house. He was surprised, however, that she should have
+      halted before his door, and with tremulous indignation, said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank you, sir, for your chivalrousness in turning a defenseless woman
+      into ridicule.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I regret, Miss Faulkner,&rdquo; began Brant gravely, &ldquo;that you should believe
+      that I am able to control the advances of farmyard cattle as easily as&rdquo;&mdash;But
+      he stopped, as he saw that the angry flash of her blue eyes, as she darted
+      past him, was set in tears. A little remorseful on the following day, he
+      added a word to his ordinary cap-lifting when she went by, but she
+      retained a reproachful silence. Later in the day, he received from her
+      servant a respectful request for an interview, and was relieved to find
+      that she entered his presence with no trace of her former aggression, but
+      rather with the resignation of a deeply injured, yet not entirely
+      unforgiving, woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought,&rdquo; she began coldly, &ldquo;that I ought to inform you that I would
+      probably be able to conclude my business here by the day after to-morrow,
+      and that you would then be relieved of my presence. I am aware&mdash;indeed,&rdquo;
+       she added, bitterly, &ldquo;I could scarcely help perceiving, that it has been
+      an exceedingly irksome one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I trust,&rdquo; began Brant coldly, &ldquo;that no gentleman of my command has&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She interrupted him quickly, with a return of her former manner, and a
+      passionate sweep of the hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you suppose for a moment that I am speaking&mdash;that I am even
+      thinking&mdash;of them? What are they to me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thank you. I am glad to know that they are nothing; and that I may now
+      trust that you have consulted my wishes, and have reserved your animosity
+      solely for me,&rdquo; returned Brant quietly. &ldquo;That being so, I see no reason
+      for your hurrying your departure in the least.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She rose instantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have,&rdquo; she said slowly, controlling herself with a slight effort,
+      &ldquo;found some one who will take my duty off my hands. She is a servant of
+      one of your neighbors,&mdash;who is an old friend of my uncle's. The woman
+      is familiar with the house, and our private property. I will give her full
+      instructions to act for me, and even an authorization in writing, if you
+      prefer it. She is already in the habit of coming here; but her visits will
+      give you very little trouble. And, as she is a slave, or, as you call it,
+      I believe, a chattel, she will be already quite accustomed to the
+      treatment which her class are in the habit of receiving from Northern
+      hands.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Without waiting to perceive the effect of her Parthian shot, she swept
+      proudly out of the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wonder what she means,&rdquo; mused Brant, as her quick step died away in the
+      passage. &ldquo;One thing is certain,&mdash;a woman like that is altogether too
+      impulsive for a spy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Later, in the twilight, he saw her walking in the garden. There was a
+      figure at her side. A little curious, he examined it more closely from his
+      window. It was already familiar to him,&mdash;the erect, shapely form of
+      his neighbor's servant. A thoughtful look passed over his face as he
+      muttered,&mdash;&ldquo;So this is to be her deputy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Called to a general council of officers at divisional headquarters the
+      next day, Brant had little time for further speculation regarding his
+      strange guest, but a remark from the division commander, that he preferred
+      to commit the general plan of a movement then under discussion to their
+      memories rather than to written orders in the ordinary routine, seemed to
+      show that his chief still suspected the existence of a spy. He, therefore,
+      told him of his late interview with Miss Faulkner, and her probable
+      withdrawal in favor of a mulatto neighbor. The division commander received
+      the information with indifference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They're much too clever to employ a hussy like that, who shows her hand
+      at every turn, either as a spy or a messenger of spies,&mdash;and the
+      mulattoes are too stupid, to say nothing of their probable fidelity to us.
+      No, General, if we are watched, it is by an eagle, and not a mocking-bird.
+      Miss Faulkner has nothing worse about her than her tongue; and there isn't
+      the nigger blood in the whole South that would risk a noose for her, or
+      for any of their masters or mistresses!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was, therefore, perhaps, with some mitigation of his usual critical
+      severity that he saw her walking before him alone in the lane as he rode
+      home to quarters. She was apparently lost in a half-impatient, half-moody
+      reverie, which even the trotting hoof-beats of his own and his orderly's
+      horse had not disturbed. From time to time she struck the myrtle hedge
+      beside her with the head of a large flower which hung by its stalk from
+      her listless hands, or held it to her face as if to inhale its perfume.
+      Dismissing his orderly by a side path, he rode gently forward, but, to his
+      surprise, without turning, or seeming to be aware of his presence, she
+      quickened her pace, and even appeared to look from side to side for some
+      avenue of escape. If only to mend matters, he was obliged to ride quickly
+      forward to her side, where he threw himself from his horse, flung the
+      reins on his arm, and began to walk beside her. She at first turned a
+      slightly flushed cheek away from him, and then looked up with a purely
+      simulated start of surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am afraid,&rdquo; he said gently, &ldquo;that I am the first to break my own orders
+      in regard to any intrusion on your privacy. But I wanted to ask you if I
+      could give you any aid whatever in the change you think of making.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He was quite sincere,&mdash;had been touched by her manifest disturbance,
+      and, despite his masculine relentlessness of criticism, he had an
+      intuition of feminine suffering that was in itself feminine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Meaning, that you are in a hurry to get rid of me,&rdquo; she said curtly,
+      without raising her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Meaning that I only wish to expedite a business which I think is
+      unpleasant to you, but which I believe you have undertaken from unselfish
+      devotion.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The scant expression of a reserved nature is sometimes more attractive to
+      women than the most fluent vivacity. Possibly there was also a melancholy
+      grace in this sardonic soldier's manner that affected her, for she looked
+      up, and said impulsively,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You think so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But he met her eager eyes with some surprise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I certainly do,&rdquo; he replied more coldly. &ldquo;I can imagine your feelings on
+      finding your uncle's home in the possession of your enemies, and your
+      presence under the family roof only a sufferance. I can hardly believe it
+      a pleasure to you, or a task you would have accepted for yourself alone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But,&rdquo; she said, turning towards him wickedly, &ldquo;what if I did it only to
+      excite my revenge; what if I knew it would give me courage to incite my
+      people to carry war into your own homes; to make you of the North feel as
+      I feel, and taste our bitterness?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I could easily understand that, too,&rdquo; he returned, with listless
+      coldness, &ldquo;although I don't admit that revenge is an unmixed pleasure,
+      even to a woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A woman!&rdquo; she repeated indignantly. &ldquo;There is no sex in a war like this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are spoiling your flower,&rdquo; he said quietly. &ldquo;It is very pretty, and a
+      native one, too; not an invader, or even transplanted. May I look at it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She hesitated, half recoiling for an instant, and her hand trembled. Then,
+      suddenly and abruptly she said, with a hysteric little laugh, &ldquo;Take it,
+      then,&rdquo; and almost thrust it in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It certainly was a pretty flower, not unlike a lily in appearance, with a
+      bell-like cup and long anthers covered with a fine pollen, like red dust.
+      As he lifted it to his face, to inhale its perfume, she uttered a slight
+      cry, and snatched it from his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There!&rdquo; she said, with the same nervous laugh. &ldquo;I knew you would; I ought
+      to have warned you. The pollen comes off so easily, and leaves a stain.
+      And you've got some on your cheek. Look!&rdquo; she continued, taking her
+      handkerchief from her pocket and wiping his cheek; &ldquo;see there!&rdquo; The
+      delicate cambric showed a blood-red streak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It grows in a swamp,&rdquo; she continued, in the same excited strain; &ldquo;we call
+      it dragon's teeth,&mdash;like the kind that was sown in the story, you
+      know. We children used to find it, and then paint our faces and lips with
+      it. We called it our rouge. I was almost tempted to try it again when I
+      found it just now. It took me back so to the old times.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Following her odd manner rather than her words, as she turned her face
+      towards him suddenly, Brant was inclined to think that she had tried it
+      already, so scarlet was her cheek. But it presently paled again under his
+      cold scrutiny.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You must miss the old times,&rdquo; he said calmly. &ldquo;I am afraid you found very
+      little of them left, except in these flowers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And hardly these,&rdquo; she said bitterly. &ldquo;Your troops had found a way
+      through the marsh, and had trampled down the bushes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant's brow clouded. He remembered that the brook, which had run red
+      during the fight, had lost itself in this marsh. It did not increase his
+      liking for this beautiful but blindly vicious animal at his side, and even
+      his momentary pity for her was fading fast. She was incorrigible. They
+      walked on for a few moments in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You said,&rdquo; she began at last, in a gentler and even hesitating voice,
+      &ldquo;that your wife was a Southern woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He checked an irritated start with difficulty.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe I did,&rdquo; he said coldly, as if he regretted it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And of course you taught her YOUR gospel,&mdash;the gospel according to
+      St. Lincoln. Oh, I know,&rdquo; she went on hurriedly, as if conscious of his
+      irritation and seeking to allay it. &ldquo;She was a woman and loved you, and
+      thought with your thoughts and saw only with your eyes. Yes, that's the
+      way with us,&mdash;I suppose we all do it!&rdquo; she added bitterly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She had her own opinions,&rdquo; said Brant briefly, as he recovered himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nevertheless, his manner so decidedly closed all further discussion that
+      there was nothing left for the young girl but silence. But it was broken
+      by her in a few moments in her old contemptuous voice and manner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pray don't trouble yourself to accompany me any further, General Brant.
+      Unless, of course, you are afraid I may come across some of your&mdash;your
+      soldiers. I promise you I won't eat them.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am afraid you must suffer my company a little longer, Miss Faulkner, on
+      account of those same soldiers,&rdquo; returned Brant gravely. &ldquo;You may not know
+      that this road, in which I find you, takes you through a cordon of
+      pickets. If you were alone you would be stopped, questioned, and, failing
+      to give the password, you would be detained, sent to the guard-house, and&rdquo;&mdash;he
+      stopped, and fixed his eyes on her keenly as he added, &ldquo;and searched.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You would not dare to search a woman!&rdquo; she said indignantly, although her
+      flush gave way to a slight pallor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You said just now that there should be no sex in a war like this,&rdquo;
+       returned Brant carelessly, but without abating his scrutinizing gaze.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then it IS war?&rdquo; she said quickly, with a white, significant face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His look of scrutiny turned to one of puzzled wonder. But at the same
+      moment there was the flash of a bayonet in the hedge, a voice called
+      &ldquo;Halt!&rdquo; and a soldier stepped into the road.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      General Brant advanced, met the salute of the picket with a few formal
+      words, and then turned towards his fair companion, as another soldier and
+      a sergeant joined the group.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Faulkner is new to the camp, took the wrong turning, and was
+      unwittingly leaving the lines when I joined her.&rdquo; He fixed his eyes
+      intently on her now colorless face, but she did not return his look. &ldquo;You
+      will show her the shortest way to quarters,&rdquo; he continued, to the
+      sergeant, &ldquo;and should she at any time again lose her way, you will again
+      conduct her home,&mdash;but without detaining or reporting her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He lifted his cap, remounted his horse, and rode away, as the young girl,
+      with a proud, indifferent step, moved down the road with the sergeant. A
+      mounted officer passed him and saluted,&mdash;it was one of his own staff.
+      From some strange instinct, he knew that he had witnessed the scene, and
+      from some equally strange intuition he was annoyed by it. But he continued
+      his way, visiting one or two outposts, and returned by a long detour to
+      his quarters. As he stepped upon the veranda he saw Miss Faulkner at the
+      bottom of the garden talking with some one across the hedge. By the aid of
+      his glass he could recognize the shapely figure of the mulatto woman which
+      he had seen before. But by its aid he also discovered that she was
+      carrying a flower exactly like the one which Miss Faulkner still held in
+      her hand. Had she been with Miss Faulkner in the lane, and if so, why had
+      she disappeared when he came up? Impelled by something stronger than mere
+      curiosity, he walked quickly down the garden, but she evidently had
+      noticed him, for she as quickly disappeared. Not caring to meet Miss
+      Faulkner again, he retraced his steps, resolving that he would, on the
+      first opportunity, personally examine and interrogate this new visitor.
+      For if she were to take Miss Faulkner's place in a subordinate capacity,
+      this precaution was clearly within his rights.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He re-entered his room and seated himself at his desk before the
+      dispatches, orders, and reports awaiting him. He found himself, however,
+      working half mechanically, and recurring to his late interview with Miss
+      Faulkner in the lane. If she had any inclination to act the spy, or to use
+      her position here as a means of communicating with the enemy's lines, he
+      thought he had thoroughly frightened her. Nevertheless, now, for the first
+      time, he was inclined to accept his chief's opinion of her. She was not
+      only too clumsy and inexperienced, but she totally lacked the
+      self-restraint of a spy. Her nervous agitation in the lane was due to
+      something more disturbing than his mere possible intrusion upon her
+      confidences with the mulatto. The significance of her question, &ldquo;Then it
+      IS war?&rdquo; was at best a threat, and that implied hesitation. He recalled
+      her strange allusion to his wife; was it merely the outcome of his own
+      foolish confession on their first interview, or was it a concealed
+      ironical taunt? Being satisfied, however, that she was not likely to
+      imperil his public duty in any way, he was angry with himself for
+      speculating further. But, although he still felt towards her the same
+      antagonism she had at first provoked, he was conscious that she was
+      beginning to exercise a strange fascination over him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dismissing her at last with an effort, he finished his work and then rose,
+      and unlocking a closet, took out a small dispatch-box, to which he
+      intended to intrust a few more important orders and memoranda. As he
+      opened it with a key on his watch-chain, he was struck with a faint
+      perfume that seemed to come from it,&mdash;a perfume that he remembered.
+      Was it the smell of the flower that Miss Faulkner carried, or the scent of
+      the handkerchief with which she had wiped his cheek, or a mingling of
+      both? Or was he under some spell to think of that wretched girl, and her
+      witch-like flower? He leaned over the box and suddenly started. Upon the
+      outer covering of a dispatch was a singular blood-red streak! He examined
+      it closely,&mdash;it was the powdery stain of the lily pollen,&mdash;exactly
+      as he had seen it on her handkerchief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There could be no mistake. He passed his finger over the stain; he could
+      still feel the slippery, infinitesimal powder of the pollen. It was not
+      there when he had closed the box that morning; it was impossible that it
+      should be there unless the box had been opened in his absence. He
+      re-examined the contents of the box; the papers were all there. More than
+      that, they were papers of no importance except to him personally;
+      contained no plans nor key to any military secret; he had been far too
+      wise to intrust any to the accidents of this alien house. The prying
+      intruder, whoever it was, had gained nothing! But there was unmistakably
+      the attempt! And the existence of a would-be spy within the purlieus of
+      the house was equally clear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He called an officer from the next room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Has any one been here since my absence?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, General.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Has any one passed through the hall?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had fully anticipated the answer, as the subaltern replied, &ldquo;Only the
+      women servants.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He re-entered the room. Closing the door, he again carefully examined the
+      box, his table, the papers upon it, the chair before it, and even the
+      Chinese matting on the floor, for any further indication of the pollen. It
+      hardly seemed possible that any one could have entered the room with the
+      flower in their hand without scattering some of the tell-tale dust
+      elsewhere; it was too large a flower to be worn on the breast or in the
+      hair. Again, no one would have dared to linger there long enough to have
+      made an examination of the box, with an officer in the next room, and the
+      sergeant passing. The box had been removed, and the examination made
+      elsewhere!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An idea seized him. Miss Faulkner was still absent, the mulatto had
+      apparently gone home. He quickly mounted the staircase, but instead of
+      entering his room, turned suddenly aside into the wing which had been
+      reserved. The first door yielded as he turned its knob gently and entered
+      a room which he at once recognized as the &ldquo;young lady's boudoir.&rdquo; But the
+      dusty and draped furniture had been rearranged and uncovered, and the
+      apartment bore every sign of present use. Yet, although there was
+      unmistakable evidence of its being used by a person of taste and
+      refinement, he was surprised to see that the garments hanging in an open
+      press were such as were used by negro servants, and that a gaudy
+      handkerchief such as housemaids used for turbans was lying on the pretty
+      silk coverlet. He did not linger over these details, but cast a rapid
+      glance round the room. Then his eyes became fixed on a fanciful
+      writing-desk, which stood by the window. For, in a handsome vase placed on
+      its level top, and drooping on a portfolio below, hung a cluster of the
+      very flowers that Miss Faulkner had carried!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It seemed plain to Brant that the dispatch-box had been conveyed here and
+      opened for security on this desk, and in the hurry of examining the papers
+      the flower had been jostled and the fallen grains of pollen overlooked by
+      the spy. There were one or two freckles of red on the desk, which made
+      this accident appear the more probable. But he was equally struck by
+      another circumstance. The desk stood immediately before the window. As he
+      glanced mechanically from it, he was surprised to see that it commanded an
+      extensive view of the slope below the eminence on which the house stood,
+      even beyond his furthest line of pickets. The vase of flowers, each of
+      which was nearly as large as a magnolia blossom, and striking in color,
+      occupied a central position before it, and no doubt could be quite
+      distinctly seen from a distance. From this circumstance he could not
+      resist the strong impression that this fateful and extraordinary blossom,
+      carried by Miss Faulkner and the mulatto, and so strikingly &ldquo;in evidence&rdquo;
+       at the window, was in some way a signal. Obeying an impulse which he was
+      conscious had a half superstitious foundation, he carefully lifted the
+      vase from its position before the window, and placed it on a side table.
+      Then he cautiously slipped from the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But he could not easily shake off the perplexity which the occurrence had
+      caused, although he was satisfied that it was fraught with no military or
+      strategic danger to his command, and that the unknown spy had obtained no
+      information whatever. Yet he was forced to admit to himself that he was
+      more concerned in his attempts to justify the conduct of Miss Faulkner
+      with this later revelation. It was quite possible that the dispatch-box
+      had been purloined by some one else during her absence from the house, as
+      the presence of the mulatto servant in his room would have been less
+      suspicious than hers. There was really little evidence to connect Miss
+      Faulkner with the actual outrage,&mdash;rather might not the real spy have
+      taken advantage of her visit here, to throw suspicion upon her? He
+      remembered her singular manner,&mdash;the strange inconsistency with which
+      she had forced this flower upon him. She would hardly have done so had she
+      been conscious of its having so serious an import. Yet, what was the
+      secret of her manifest agitation? A sudden inspiration flashed across his
+      mind; a smile came upon his lips. She was in love! The enemy's line
+      contained some sighing Strephon of a young subaltern with whom she was in
+      communication, and for whom she had undertaken this quest. The flower was
+      their language of correspondence, no doubt. It explained also the young
+      girl's animosity against the younger officers,&mdash;his adversaries;
+      against himself,&mdash;their commander. He had previously wondered why, if
+      she were indeed a spy, she had not chosen, upon some equally specious
+      order from Washington, the headquarters of the division commander, whose
+      secrets were more valuable. This was explained by the fact that she was
+      nearer the lines and her lover in her present abode. He had no idea that
+      he was making excuses for her,&mdash;he believed himself only just. The
+      recollection of what she had said of the power of love, albeit it had hurt
+      him cruelly at the time, was now clearer to him, and even seemed to
+      mitigate her offense. She would be here but a day or two longer; he could
+      afford to wait without interrogating her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But as to the real intruder, spy or thief,&mdash;that was another affair,
+      and quickly settled. He gave an order to the officer of the day
+      peremptorily forbidding the entrance of alien servants or slaves within
+      the precincts of the headquarters. Any one thus trespassing was to be
+      brought before him. The officer looked surprised, he even fancied
+      disappointed. The graces of the mulatto woman's figure had evidently not
+      been thrown away upon his subalterns.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An hour or two later, when he was mounting his horse for a round of
+      inspection, he was surprised to see Miss Faulkner, accompanied by the
+      mulatto woman, running hurriedly to the house. He had forgotten his late
+      order until he saw the latter halted by the sentries, but the young girl
+      came flying on, regardless of her companion. Her skirt was held in one
+      hand, her straw hat had fallen back in her flight, and was caught only by
+      a ribbon around her swelling throat, and her loosened hair lay in a black
+      rippled loop on one shoulder. For an instant Brant thought that she was
+      seeking him in indignation at his order, but a second look at her set
+      face, eager eyes, and parted scarlet lips, showed him that she had not
+      even noticed him in the concentration of her purpose. She swept by him
+      into the hall, he heard the swish of her skirt and rapid feet on the
+      stairs,&mdash;she was gone. What had happened, or was this another of her
+      moods?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But he was called to himself by the apparition of a corporal standing
+      before him, with the mulatto woman,&mdash;the first capture under his
+      order. She was tall, well-formed, but unmistakably showing the negro type,
+      even in her small features. Her black eyes were excited, but
+      unintelligent; her manner dogged, but with the obstinacy of half-conscious
+      stupidity. Brant felt not only disappointed, but had a singular impression
+      that she was not the same woman that he had first seen. Yet there was the
+      tall, graceful figure, the dark profile, and the turbaned head that he had
+      once followed down the passage by his room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her story was as stupidly simple. She had known &ldquo;Missy&rdquo; from a chile! She
+      had just traipsed over to see her that afternoon; they were walking
+      together when the sojers stopped her. She had never been stopped before,
+      even by &ldquo;the patter rollers.&rdquo; * Her old massa (Manly) had gib leaf to go
+      see Miss Tilly, and hadn't said nuffin about no &ldquo;orders.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     * i. e., patrols,&mdash;a civic home-guard in the South that kept
+     surveillance of slaves.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      More annoyed than he cared to confess, Brant briefly dismissed her with a
+      warning. As he cantered down the slope the view of the distant pickets
+      recalled the window in the wing, and he turned in his saddle to look at
+      it. There it was&mdash;the largest and most dominant window in that part
+      of the building&mdash;and within it, a distinct and vivid object almost
+      filling the opening, was the vase of flowers, which he had a few hours ago
+      removed, RESTORED TO ITS ORIGINAL POSITION! He smiled. The hurried
+      entrance and consternation of Miss Faulkner were now fully explained. He
+      had interrupted some impassioned message, perhaps even countermanded some
+      affectionate rendezvous beyond the lines. And it seemed to settle the fact
+      that it was she who had done the signaling! But would not this also make
+      her cognizant of the taking of the dispatch-box? He reflected, however,
+      that the room was apparently occupied by the mulatto woman&mdash;he
+      remembered the calico dresses and turban on the bed&mdash;and it was
+      possible that Miss Faulkner had only visited it for the purpose of
+      signaling to her lover. Although this circumstance did not tend to make
+      his mind easier, it was, however, presently diverted by a new arrival and
+      a strange recognition.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he rode through the camp a group of officers congregated before a large
+      mess tent appeared to be highly amused by the conversation&mdash;half
+      monologue and half harangue of a singular-looking individual who stood in
+      the centre. He wore a &ldquo;slouch&rdquo; hat, to the band of which he had imparted a
+      military air by the addition of a gold cord, but the brim was caught up at
+      the side in a peculiarly theatrical and highly artificial fashion. A heavy
+      cavalry sabre depended from a broad-buckled belt under his black frock
+      coat, with the addition of two revolvers&mdash;minus their holsters&mdash;stuck
+      on either side of the buckle, after the style of a stage smuggler. A pair
+      of long enameled leather riding boots, with the tops turned deeply over,
+      as if they had once done duty for the representative of a cavalier,
+      completed his extraordinary equipment. The group were so absorbed in him
+      that they did not perceive the approach of their chief and his orderly;
+      and Brant, with a sign to the latter, halted only a few paces from this
+      central figure. His speech was a singular mingling of high-flown and
+      exalted epithets, with inexact pronunciation and occasional lapses of
+      Western slang.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I ain't purtendin' to any stratutegical smartness, and I didn't
+      gradooate at West Point as one of those Apocryphal Engineers; I don't do
+      much talking about 'flank' movements or 'recognizances in force' or
+      'Ekellon skirmishing,' but when it comes down to square Ingin fightin', I
+      reckon I kin have my say. There are men who don't know the Army
+      Contractor,&rdquo; he added darkly, &ldquo;who mebbe have heard of 'Red Jim.' I don't
+      mention names, gentlemen, but only the other day a man that you all know
+      says to me, 'If I only knew what you do about scoutin' I wouldn't be
+      wanting for information as I do.' I ain't goin' to say who it was, or
+      break any confidences between gentlemen by saying how many stars he had on
+      his shoulder strap; but he was a man who knew what he was saying. And I
+      say agin, gentlemen, that the curse of the Northern Army is the want of
+      proper scoutin'. What was it caused Bull's Run?&mdash;Want o' scoutin'.
+      What was it rolled up Pope?&mdash;Want o' scoutin'. What caused the
+      slaughter at the Wilderness?&mdash;Want o' scoutin'&mdash;Ingin scoutin'!
+      Why, only the other day, gentlemen, I was approached to know what I'd take
+      to organize a scoutin' force. And what did I say?&mdash;'No, General; it
+      ain't because I represent one of the largest Army Beef Contracts in this
+      country,' says I. 'It ain't because I belong, so to speak, to the &ldquo;Sinews
+      of War;&rdquo; but because I'd want about ten thousand trained Ingins from the
+      Reservations!' And the regular West Point, high-toned, scientific inkybus
+      that weighs so heavily on our army don't see it&mdash;and won't have it!
+      Then Sherman, he sez to me&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But here a roar of laughter interrupted him, and in the cross fire of
+      sarcastic interrogations that began Brant saw, with relief, a chance of
+      escape. For in the voice, manner, and, above all, the characteristic
+      temperament of the stranger, he had recognized his old playmate and the
+      husband of Susy,&mdash;the redoubtable Jim Hooker! There was no mistaking
+      that gloomy audacity; that mysterious significance; that magnificent
+      lying. But even at that moment Clarence Brant's heart had gone out, with
+      all his old loyalty of feeling, towards his old companion. He knew that a
+      public recognition of him then and there would plunge Hooker into
+      confusion; he felt keenly the ironical plaudits and laughter of his
+      officers over the manifest weakness and vanity of the ex-teamster,
+      ex-rancher, ex-actor, and husband of his old girl sweetheart, and would
+      have spared him the knowledge that he had overheard it. Turning hastily to
+      the orderly, he bade him bring the stranger to his headquarters, and rode
+      away unperceived.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had heard enough, however, to account for his presence there, and the
+      singular chance that had brought them again together. He was evidently one
+      of those large civil contractors of supplies whom the Government was
+      obliged to employ, who visited the camp half officially, and whom the army
+      alternately depended upon and abused. Brant had dealt with his underlings
+      in the Commissariat, and even now remembered that he had heard he was
+      coming, but had overlooked the significance of his name. But how he came
+      to leave his theatrical profession, how he had attained a position which
+      implied a command of considerable capital&mdash;for many of the
+      contractors had already amassed large fortunes&mdash;and what had become
+      of Susy and her ambitions in this radical change of circumstances, were
+      things still to be learned. In his own changed conditions he had seldom
+      thought of her; it was with a strange feeling of irritation and half
+      responsibility that he now recalled their last interview and the emotion
+      to which he had yielded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had not long to wait. He had scarcely regained the quarters at his own
+      private office before he heard the step of the orderly upon the veranda
+      and the trailing clank of Hooker's sabre. He did not know, however, that
+      Hooker, without recognizing his name, had received the message as a
+      personal tribute, and had left his sarcastic companions triumphantly, with
+      the air of going to a confidential interview, to which his well-known
+      military criticism had entitled him. It was with a bearing of gloomy
+      importance and his characteristic, sullen, sidelong glance that he entered
+      the apartment and did not look up until Brant had signaled the orderly to
+      withdraw, and closed the door behind him. And then he recognized his old
+      boyish companion&mdash;the preferred favorite of fortune!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For a moment he gasped with astonishment. For a moment gloomy incredulity,
+      suspicion, delight, pride, admiration, even affection, struggled for
+      mastery in his sullen, staring eyes and open, twitching mouth. For here
+      was Clarence Brant, handsomer than ever, more superior than ever, in the
+      majesty of uniform and authority which fitted him&mdash;the younger man&mdash;by
+      reason of his four years of active service, with the careless ease and
+      bearing of the veteran! Here was the hero whose name was already so famous
+      that the mere coincidence of it with that of the modest civilian he had
+      known would have struck him as preposterous. Yet here he was&mdash;supreme,
+      and dazzling&mdash;surrounded by the pomp and circumstance of war&mdash;into
+      whose reserved presence he, Jim Hooker, had been ushered with the
+      formality of challenge, saluting, and presented bayonets!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Luckily, Brant had taken advantage of his first gratified ejaculation to
+      shake him warmly by the hand, and then, with both hands laid familiarly on
+      his shoulder, force him down into a chair. Luckily, for by that time Jim
+      Hooker had, with characteristic gloominess, found time to taste the pangs
+      of envy&mdash;an envy the more keen since, in spite of his success as a
+      peaceful contractor, he had always secretly longed for military display
+      and distinction. He looked at the man who had achieved it, as he firmly
+      believed, by sheer luck and accident, and his eyes darkened. Then, with
+      characteristic weakness and vanity, he began to resist his first
+      impressions of Clarence's superiority, and to air his own importance. He
+      leaned heavily back in the chair in which he had been thus genially
+      forced, drew off his gauntlet and attempted to thrust it through his belt,
+      as he had seen Brant do, but failed on account of his pistols already
+      occupying that position, dropped it, got his sword between his legs in
+      attempting to pick it up, and then leaned back again, with half-closed
+      eyes serenely indifferent of his old companion's smiling face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I reckon,&rdquo; he began slowly, with a slightly patronizing air, &ldquo;that we'd
+      have met, sooner or later, at Washington, or at Grant's headquarters, for
+      Hooker, Meacham &amp; Co. go everywhere, and are about as well known as
+      major-generals, to say nothin',&rdquo; he went on, with a sidelong glance at
+      Brant's shoulder-straps, &ldquo;of brigadiers; and it's rather strange&mdash;only,
+      of course, you're kind of fresh in the service&mdash;that you ain't heard
+      of me afore.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I'm very glad to hear of you now, Jim,&rdquo; said Brant, smiling, &ldquo;and
+      from your own lips&mdash;which I am also delighted to find,&rdquo; he added
+      mischievously, &ldquo;are still as frankly communicative on that topic as of
+      old. But I congratulate you, old fellow, on your good fortune. When did
+      you leave the stage?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Hooker frowned slightly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I never was really on the stage, you know,&rdquo; he said, waving his hand with
+      assumed negligence. &ldquo;Only went on to please my wife. Mrs. Hooker wouldn't
+      act with vulgar professionals, don't you see! I was really manager most of
+      the time, and lessee of the theatre. Went East when the war broke out, to
+      offer my sword and knowledge of Ingin fightin' to Uncle Sam! Drifted into
+      a big pork contract at St. Louis, with Fremont. Been at it ever since.
+      Offered a commission in the reg'lar service lots o' times. Refused.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; asked Brant demurely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Too much West Point starch around to suit ME,&rdquo; returned Hooker darkly.
+      &ldquo;And too many spies!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Spies?&rdquo; echoed Brant abstractedly, with a momentary reminiscence of Miss
+      Faulkner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, spies,&rdquo; continued Hooker, with dogged mystery. &ldquo;One half of
+      Washington is watching t'other half, and, from the President's wife down,
+      most of the women are secesh!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant suddenly fixed his keen eyes on his guest. But the next moment he
+      reflected that this was only Jim Hooker's usual speech, and possessed no
+      ulterior significance. He smiled again, and said, more gently,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And how is Mrs. Hooker?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Hooker fixed his eyes on the ceiling, rose, and pretended to look out
+      of the window; then, taking his seat again by the table, as if fronting an
+      imaginary audience, and pulling slowly at his gauntlets after the usual
+      theatrical indication of perfect sangfroid, said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There ain't any!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good heavens!&rdquo; said Brant, with genuine emotion. &ldquo;I beg your pardon.
+      Really, I&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mrs. Hooker and me are divorced,&rdquo; continued Hooker, slightly changing his
+      attitude, and leaning heavily on his sabre, with his eyes still on his
+      fanciful audience. &ldquo;There was, you understand&rdquo;&mdash;lightly tossing his
+      gauntlet aside&mdash;&ldquo;incompatibility of temper&mdash;and&mdash;we&mdash;parted!
+      Ha!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He uttered a low, bitter, scornful laugh, which, however, produced the
+      distinct impression in Brant's mind that up to that moment he had never
+      had the slightest feeling in the matter whatever.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You seemed to be on such good terms with each other!&rdquo; murmured Brant
+      vaguely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Seemed!&rdquo; said Hooker bitterly, glancing sardonically at an ideal second
+      row in the pit before him, &ldquo;yes&mdash;seemed! There were other
+      differences, social and political. You understand that; you have suffered,
+      too.&rdquo; He reached out his hand and pressed Brant's, in heavy effusiveness.
+      &ldquo;But,&rdquo; he continued haughtily, lightly tossing his glove again, &ldquo;we are
+      also men of the world; we let that pass.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And it was possible that he found the strain of his present attitude too
+      great, for he changed to an easier position.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But,&rdquo; said Brant curiously, &ldquo;I always thought that Mrs. Hooker was
+      intensely Union and Northern?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Put on!&rdquo; said Hooker, in his natural voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you remember the incident of the flag?&rdquo; persisted Brant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mrs. Hooker was always an actress,&rdquo; said Hooker significantly. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; he
+      added cheerfully, &ldquo;Mrs. Hooker is now the wife of Senator Boompointer, one
+      of the wealthiest and most powerful Republicans in Washington&mdash;carries
+      the patronage of the whole West in his vest pocket.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yet, if she is not a Republican, why did she&rdquo;&mdash;began Brant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For a purpose,&rdquo; replied Hooker darkly. &ldquo;But,&rdquo; he added again, with
+      greater cheerfulness, &ldquo;she belongs to the very elite of Washington
+      society. Goes to all the foreign ambassadors' balls, and is a power at the
+      White House. Her picture is in all the first-class illustrated papers.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The singular but unmistakable pride of the man in the importance of the
+      wife from whom he was divorced, and for whom he did not care, would have
+      offended Brant's delicacy, or at least have excited his ridicule, but for
+      the reason that he was more deeply stung by Hooker's allusion to his own
+      wife and his degrading similitude of their two conditions. But he
+      dismissed the former as part of Hooker's invincible and still boyish
+      extravagance, and the latter as part of his equally characteristic
+      assumption. Perhaps he was conscious, too, notwithstanding the lapse of
+      years and the condonation of separation and forgetfulness, that he
+      deserved little delicacy from the hands of Susy's husband. Nevertheless,
+      he dreaded to hear him speak again of her; and the fear was realized in a
+      question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does she know you are here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who?&rdquo; said Brant curtly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your wife. That is&mdash;I reckon she's your wife still, eh?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; but I do not know what she knows,&rdquo; returned Brant quietly. He had
+      regained his self-composure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Susy,&mdash;Mrs. Senator Boompointer, that is,&rdquo;&mdash;said Hooker, with
+      an apparent dignity in his late wife's new title, &ldquo;allowed that she'd gone
+      abroad on a secret mission from the Southern Confederacy to them crowned
+      heads over there. She was good at ropin' men in, you know. Anyhow, Susy,
+      afore she was Mrs. Boompointer, was dead set on findin' out where she was,
+      but never could. She seemed to drop out of sight a year ago. Some said one
+      thing, and some said another. But you can bet your bottom dollar that Mrs.
+      Senator Boompointer, who knows how to pull all the wires in Washington,
+      will know, if any one does.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But is Mrs. Boompointer really disaffected, and a Southern sympathizer?&rdquo;
+       said Brant, &ldquo;or is it only caprice or fashion?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      While speaking he had risen, with a half-abstracted face, and had gone to
+      the window, where he stood in a listening attitude. Presently he opened
+      the window, and stepped outside. Hooker wonderingly followed him. One or
+      two officers had already stepped out of their rooms, and were standing
+      upon the veranda; another had halted in the path. Then one quickly
+      re-entered the house, reappeared with his cap and sword in his hand, and
+      ran lightly toward the guard-house. A slight crackling noise seemed to
+      come from beyond the garden wall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's up?&rdquo; said Hooker, with staring eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Picket firing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The crackling suddenly became a long rattle. Brant re-entered the room,
+      and picked up his hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You'll excuse me for a few moments.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A faint sound, soft yet full, and not unlike a bursting bubble, made the
+      house appear to leap elastically, like the rebound of a rubber ball.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's that?&rdquo; gasped Hooker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cannon, out of range!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      In another instant bugles were ringing through the camp, with the hurrying
+      hoofs of mounted officers and the trampling of forming men. The house
+      itself was almost deserted. Although the single cannon-shot had been
+      enough to show that it was no mere skirmishing of pickets, Brant still did
+      not believe in any serious attack of the enemy. His position, as in the
+      previous engagement, had no strategic importance to them; they were no
+      doubt only making a feint against it to conceal some advance upon the
+      centre of the army two miles away. Satisfied that he was in easy
+      supporting distance of his division commander, he extended his line along
+      the ridge, ready to fall back in that direction, while retarding their
+      advance and masking the position of his own chief. He gave a few orders
+      necessary to the probable abandonment of the house, and then returned to
+      it. Shot and shell were already dropping in the field below. A thin ridge
+      of blue haze showed the line of skirmish fire. A small conical, white
+      cloud, like a bursting cotton-pod, revealed an open battery in the
+      willow-fringed meadow. Yet the pastoral peacefulness of the house was
+      unchanged. The afternoon sun lay softly on its deep verandas; the pot
+      pourri incense of fallen rose-leaves haunted it still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered his room through the French window on the veranda, when the
+      door leading from the passage was suddenly flung open, and Miss Faulkner
+      swept quickly inside, closed the door behind her, and leaned back against
+      it, panting and breathless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clarence was startled, and for a moment ashamed. He had suddenly realized
+      that in the excitement he had entirely forgotten her and the dangers to
+      which she might be exposed. She had probably heard the firing, her womanly
+      fears had been awakened; she had come to him for protection. But as he
+      turned towards her with a reassuring smile, he was shocked to see that her
+      agitation and pallor were far beyond any physical cause. She motioned him
+      desperately to shut the window by which he had entered, and said, with
+      white lips,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must speak with you alone!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly. But there is no immediate danger to you even here&mdash;and I
+      can soon put you beyond the reach of any possible harm.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Harm&mdash;to me! God! if it were only that!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He stared at her uneasily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Listen,&rdquo; she said gaspingly, &ldquo;listen to me! Then hate, despise me&mdash;kill
+      me if you will. For you are betrayed and ruined&mdash;cut off and
+      surrounded! It has been helped on by me, but I swear to you the blow did
+      not come from MY hand. I would have saved you. God only knows how it
+      happened&mdash;it was Fate!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In an instant Brant saw the whole truth instinctively and clearly. But
+      with the revelation came the usual calmness and perfect self-possession
+      which never yet had failed him in any emergency. With the sound of the
+      increasing cannonade and its shifting position made clearer to his ears,
+      the view of his whole threatened position spread out like a map before his
+      eyes, the swift calculation of the time his men could hold the ridge in
+      his mind&mdash;even a hurried estimate of the precious moments he could
+      give to the wretched woman before him&mdash;he even then, gravely and
+      gently, led her to a chair and said in a calm voice,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That is not enough! Speak slowly, plainly. I must know everything. How
+      and in what way have you betrayed me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked at him imploringly&mdash;reassured, yet awed by his gentleness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You won't believe me; you cannot believe me! for I do not even know. I
+      have taken and exchanged letters&mdash;whose contents I never saw&mdash;between
+      the Confederates and a spy who comes to this house, but who is far away by
+      this time. I did it because I thought you hated and despised me because I
+      thought it was my duty to help my cause&mdash;because you said it was
+      'war' between us&mdash;but I never spied on you. I swear it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then how do you know of this attack?&rdquo; he said calmly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She brightened, half timidly, half hopefully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There is a window in the wing of this house that overlooks the slope near
+      the Confederate lines. There was a signal placed in it&mdash;not by me&mdash;but
+      I know it meant that as long as it was there the plot, whatever it was,
+      was not ripe, and that no attack would be made on you as long as it was
+      visible. That much I know,&mdash;that much the spy had to tell me, for we
+      both had to guard that room in turns. I wanted to keep this dreadful thing
+      off&mdash;until&rdquo;&mdash;her voice trembled, &ldquo;until,&rdquo; she added hurriedly,
+      seeing his calm eyes were reading her very soul, &ldquo;until I went away&mdash;and
+      for that purpose I withheld some of the letters that were given me. But
+      this morning, while I was away from the house, I looked back and saw that
+      the signal was no longer there. Some one had changed it. I ran back, but I
+      was too late&mdash;God help me!&mdash;as you see.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The truth flashed upon Brant. It was his own hand that had precipitated
+      the attack. But a larger truth came to him now, like a dazzling
+      inspiration. If he had thus precipitated the attack before they were
+      ready, there was a chance that it was imperfect, and there was still hope.
+      But there was no trace of this visible in his face as he fixed his eyes
+      calmly on hers, although his pulses were halting in expectancy as he said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then the spy had suspected you, and changed it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, no,&rdquo; she said eagerly, &ldquo;for the spy was with me and was frightened
+      too. We both ran back together&mdash;you remember&mdash;she was stopped by
+      the patrol!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She checked herself suddenly, but too late. Her cheeks blazed, her head
+      sank, with the foolish identification of the spy into which her eagerness
+      had betrayed her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Brant appeared not to notice it. He was, in fact, puzzling his brain
+      to conceive what information the stupid mulatto woman could have obtained
+      here. His strength, his position was no secret to the enemy&mdash;there
+      was nothing to gain from him. She must have been, like the trembling,
+      eager woman before him, a mere tool of others.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did this woman live here?&rdquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;She lived with the Manlys, but had friends whom she
+      visited at your general's headquarters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With difficulty Brant suppressed a start. It was clear to him now. The
+      information had been obtained at the division headquarters, and passed
+      through his camp as being nearest the Confederate lines. But what was the
+      information&mdash;and what movement had he precipitated? It was clear that
+      this woman did not know. He looked at her keenly. A sudden explosion shook
+      the house,&mdash;a drift of smoke passed the window,&mdash;a shell had
+      burst in the garden.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She had been gazing at him despairingly, wistfully&mdash;but did not
+      blanch or start.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An idea took possession of him. He approached her, and took her cold hand.
+      A half-smile parted her pale lips.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have courage&mdash;you have devotion,&rdquo; he said gravely. &ldquo;I believe
+      you regret the step you have taken. If you could undo what you have done,
+      even at peril to yourself, dare you do it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she said breathlessly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are known to the enemy. If I am surrounded, you could pass through
+      their lines unquestioned?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she said eagerly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A note from me would pass you again through the pickets of our
+      headquarters. But you would bear a note to the general that no eyes but
+      his must see. It would not implicate you or yours; would only be a word of
+      warning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you,&rdquo; she said quickly, &ldquo;would be saved! They would come to your
+      assistance! You would not then be taken?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He smiled gently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps&mdash;who knows!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He sat down and wrote hurriedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This,&rdquo; he said, handing her a slip of paper, &ldquo;is a pass. You will use it
+      beyond your own lines. This note,&rdquo; he continued, handing her a sealed
+      envelope, &ldquo;is for the general. No one else must see it or know of it&mdash;not
+      even your lover, should you meet him!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My lover!&rdquo; she said indignantly, with a flash of her old savagery; &ldquo;what
+      do you mean? I have no lover!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant glanced at her flushed face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thought,&rdquo; he said quietly, &ldquo;that there was some one you cared for in
+      yonder lines&mdash;some one you wrote to. It would have been an excuse&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stopped, as her face paled again, and her hands dropped heavily at her
+      side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good God!&mdash;you thought that, too! You thought that I would sacrifice
+      you for another man!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon me,&rdquo; said Brant quickly. &ldquo;I was foolish. But whether your lover is
+      a man or a cause, you have shown a woman's devotion. And, in repairing
+      your fault, you are showing more than a woman's courage now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To his surprise, the color had again mounted her pretty cheeks, and even a
+      flash of mischief shone in her blue eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It would have been an excuse,&rdquo; she murmured, &ldquo;yes&mdash;to save a man,
+      surely!&rdquo; Then she said quickly, &ldquo;I will go. At once! I am ready!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One moment,&rdquo; he said gravely. &ldquo;Although this pass and an escort insure
+      your probable safe conduct, this is 'war' and danger! You are still a spy!
+      Are you ready to go?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am,&rdquo; she said proudly, tossing back a braid of her fallen hair. Yet a
+      moment after she hesitated. Then she said, in a lower voice, &ldquo;Are you
+      ready to forgive?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In either case,&rdquo; he said, touched by her manner; &ldquo;and God speed you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He extended his hand, and left a slight pressure on her cold fingers. But
+      they slipped quickly from his grasp, and she turned away with a heightened
+      color.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stepped to the door. One or two aides-de-camp, withheld by his order
+      against intrusion, were waiting eagerly with reports. The horse of a
+      mounted field officer was pawing the garden turf. The officers stared at
+      the young girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take Miss Faulkner, with a flag, to some safe point of the enemy's line.
+      She is a non-combatant of their own, and will receive their protection.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had scarcely exchanged a dozen words with the aides-de-camp before the
+      field officer hurriedly entered. Taking Brant aside, he said quickly,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon me, General; but there is a strong feeling among the men that this
+      attack is the result of some information obtained by the enemy. You must
+      know that the woman you have just given a safeguard to is suspected, and
+      the men are indignant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The more reason why she should be conveyed beyond any consequences of
+      their folly, Major,&rdquo; said Brant frigidly, &ldquo;and I look to you for her safe
+      convoy. There is nothing in this attack to show that the enemy has
+      received any information regarding us. But I would suggest that it would
+      be better to see that my orders are carried out regarding the slaves and
+      non-combatants who are passing our lines from divisional headquarters,
+      where valuable information may be obtained, than in the surveillance of a
+      testy and outspoken girl.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      An angry flush crossed the major's cheek as he saluted and fell back, and
+      Brant turned to the aide-de-camp. The news was grave. The column of the
+      enemy was moving against the ridge&mdash;it was no longer possible to hold
+      it&mdash;and the brigade was cut off from its communication with the
+      divisional headquarters, although as yet no combined movement was made
+      against it. Brant's secret fears that it was an intended impact against
+      the centre were confirmed. Would his communication to the divisional
+      commander pass through the attacking column in time?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet one thing puzzled him. The enemy, after forcing his flank, had shown
+      no disposition, even with their overwhelming force, to turn aside and
+      crush him. He could easily have fallen back, when it was possible to hold
+      the ridge no longer, without pursuit. His other flank and rear were not
+      threatened, as they might have been, by the division of so large an
+      attacking column, which was moving steadily on towards the ridge. It was
+      this fact that seemed to show a failure or imperfection in the enemy's
+      plan. It was possible that his precipitation of the attack by the changed
+      signal had been the cause of it. Doubtless some provision had been made to
+      attack him in flank and rear, but in the unexpected hurry of the onset it
+      had to be abandoned. He could still save himself, as his officers knew;
+      but his conviction that he might yet be able to support his divisional
+      commander by holding his position doggedly, but coolly awaiting his
+      opportunity, was strong. More than that, it was his temperament and
+      instinct.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Harrying them in flank and rear, contesting the ground inch by inch, and
+      holding his own against the artillery sent to dislodge him, or the
+      outriding cavalry that, circling round, swept through his open ranks, he
+      saw his files melt away beside this steady current without flinching.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Yet all along the fateful ridge&mdash;now obscured and confused with thin
+      crossing smoke-drifts from file-firing, like partly rubbed-out
+      slate-pencil marks; or else, when cleared of those drifts, presenting only
+      an indistinguishable map of zigzag lines of straggling wagons and horses,
+      unintelligible to any eye but his&mdash;the singular magnetism of the
+      chief was felt everywhere: whether it was shown in the quick closing in of
+      resistance to some sharper onset of the enemy or the more dogged stand of
+      inaction under fire, his power was always dominant. A word or two of
+      comprehensive direction sent through an aide-de-camp, or the sudden relief
+      of his dark, watchful, composed face uplifted above a line of bayonets,
+      never failed in their magic. Like all born leaders, he seemed in these
+      emergencies to hold a charmed life&mdash;infecting his followers with a
+      like disbelief in death; men dropped to right and left of him with serene
+      assurance in their ghastly faces or a cry of life and confidence in their
+      last gasp. Stragglers fell in and closed up under his passing glance; a
+      hopeless, inextricable wrangle around an overturned caisson, at a turn of
+      the road, resolved itself into an orderly, quiet, deliberate clearing away
+      of the impediment before the significant waiting of that dark, silent
+      horseman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet under this imperturbable mask he was keenly conscious of everything;
+      in that apparent concentration there was a sharpening of all his senses
+      and his impressibility: he saw the first trace of doubt or alarm in the
+      face of a subaltern to whom he was giving an order; the first touch of
+      sluggishness in a re-forming line; the more significant clumsiness of a
+      living evolution that he knew was clogged by the dead bodies of comrades;
+      the ominous silence of a breastwork; the awful inertia of some rigidly
+      kneeling files beyond, which still kept their form but never would move
+      again; the melting away of skirmish points; the sudden gaps here and
+      there; the sickening incurving of what a moment before had been a straight
+      line&mdash;all these he saw in all their fatal significance. But even at
+      this moment, coming upon a hasty barricade of overset commissary wagons,
+      he stopped to glance at a familiar figure he had seen but an hour ago, who
+      now seemed to be commanding a group of collected stragglers and camp
+      followers. Mounted on a wheel, with a revolver in each hand and a bowie
+      knife between his teeth&mdash;theatrical even in his paroxysm of undoubted
+      courage&mdash;glared Jim Hooker. And Clarence Brant, with the whole
+      responsibility of the field on his shoulders, even at that desperate
+      moment, found himself recalling a vivid picture of the actor Hooker
+      personating the character of &ldquo;Red Dick&rdquo; in &ldquo;Rosalie, the Prairie Flower,&rdquo;
+       as he had seen him in a California theatre five years before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It wanted still an hour of the darkness that would probably close the
+      fight of that day. Could he hold out, keeping his offensive position so
+      long? A hasty council with his officers showed him that the weakness of
+      their position had already infected them. They reminded him that his line
+      of retreat was still open&mdash;that in the course of the night the enemy,
+      although still pressing towards the division centre, might yet turn and
+      outflank him&mdash;or that their strangely delayed supports might come up
+      before morning. Brant's glass, however, remained fixed on the main column,
+      still pursuing its way along the ridge. It struck him suddenly, however,
+      that the steady current had stopped, spread out along the crest on both
+      sides, and was now at right angles with its previous course. There had
+      been a check! The next moment the thunder of guns along the whole horizon,
+      and the rising cloud of smoke, revealed a line of battle. The division
+      centre was engaged. The opportunity he had longed for had come&mdash;the
+      desperate chance to throw himself on their rear and cut his way through to
+      the division&mdash;but it had come too late! He looked at his shattered
+      ranks&mdash;scarce a regiment remained. Even as a demonstration, the
+      attack would fail against the enemy's superior numbers. Nothing clearly
+      was left to him now but to remain where he was&mdash;within supporting
+      distance, and await the issue of the fight beyond. He was putting up his
+      glass, when the dull boom of cannon in the extreme western limit of the
+      horizon attracted his attention. By the still gleaming sky he could see a
+      long gray line stealing up from the valley from the distant rear of the
+      headquarters to join the main column. They were the missing supports! His
+      heart leaped. He held the key of the mystery now. The one imperfect detail
+      of the enemy's plan was before him. The supports, coming later from the
+      west, had only seen the second signal from the window&mdash;when Miss
+      Faulkner had replaced the vase&mdash;and had avoided his position. It was
+      impossible to limit the effect of this blunder. If the young girl who had
+      thus saved him had reached the division commander with his message in
+      time, he might be forewarned, and even profit by it. His own position
+      would be less precarious, as the enemy, already engaged in front, would be
+      unable to recover their position in the rear and correct the blunder. The
+      bulk of their column had already streamed past him. If defeated, there was
+      always the danger that it might be rolled back upon him&mdash;but he
+      conjectured that the division commander would attempt to prevent the
+      junction of the supports with the main column by breaking between them,
+      crowding them from the ridge, and joining him. As the last stragglers of
+      the rear guard swept by, Brant's bugles were already recalling the
+      skirmishers. He redoubled his pickets, and resolved to wait and watch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And there was the more painful duty of looking after the wounded and the
+      dead. The larger rooms of the headquarters had already been used as a
+      hospital. Passing from cot to cot, recognizing in the faces now drawn with
+      agony, or staring in vacant unconsciousness, the features that he had seen
+      only a few hours before flushed with enthusiasm and excitement, something
+      of his old doubting, questioning nature returned. Was there no way but
+      this? How far was HE&mdash;moving among them unscathed and uninjured&mdash;responsible?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And if not he&mdash;who then? His mind went back bitterly to the old days
+      of the conspiracy&mdash;to the inception of that struggle which was
+      bearing such ghastly fruit. He thought of his traitorous wife, until he
+      felt his cheeks tingle, and he was fain to avert his eyes from those of
+      his prostrate comrades, in a strange fear that, with the clairvoyance of
+      dying men, they should read his secret.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was past midnight when, without undressing, he threw himself upon his
+      bed in the little convent-like cell to snatch a few moments of sleep. Its
+      spotless, peaceful walls and draperies affected him strangely, as if he
+      had brought into its immaculate serenity the sanguine stain of war. He was
+      awakened suddenly from a deep slumber by an indefinite sense of alarm. His
+      first thought was that he had been summoned to repel an attack. He sat up
+      and listened; everything was silent except the measured tread of the
+      sentry on the gravel walk below. But the door was open. He sprang to his
+      feet and slipped into the gallery in time to see the tall figure of a
+      woman glide before the last moonlit window at its farthest end. He could
+      not see her face&mdash;but the characteristic turbaned head of the negro
+      race was plainly visible.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He did not care to follow her or even to alarm the guard. If it were the
+      spy or one of her emissaries, she was powerless now to do any harm, and
+      under his late orders and the rigorous vigilance of his sentinels she
+      could not leave the lines&mdash;or, indeed, the house. She probably knew
+      this as well as he did; it was, therefore, no doubt only an accidental
+      intrusion of one of the servants. He re-entered the room, and stood for a
+      few moments by the window, looking over the moonlit ridge. The sounds of
+      distant cannon had long since ceased. Wide awake, and refreshed by the
+      keen morning air, which alone of all created things seemed to have shaken
+      the burden of the dreadful yesterday from its dewy wings, he turned away
+      and lit a candle on the table. As he was rebuckling his sword belt he saw
+      a piece of paper lying on the foot of the bed from which he had just
+      risen. Taking it to the candle, he read in a roughly scrawled hand:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You are asleep when you should be on the march. You have no time to lose.
+      Before daybreak the supports of the column you have been foolishly
+      resisting will be upon you.&mdash;From one who would save YOU, but hates
+      your cause.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A smile of scorn passed his lips. The handwriting was unknown and
+      evidently disguised. The purport of the message had not alarmed him; but
+      suddenly a suspicion flashed upon him&mdash;that it came from Miss
+      Faulkner! She had failed in her attempt to pass through the enemy's lines&mdash;or
+      she had never tried to. She had deceived him&mdash;or had thought better
+      of her chivalrous impulse, and now sought to mitigate her second treachery
+      by this second warning. And he had let her messenger escape him!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He hurriedly descended the stairs. The sound of voices was approaching
+      him. He halted, and recognized the faces of the brigade surgeon and one of
+      his aides-de-camp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We were hesitating whether to disturb you, general, but it may be an
+      affair of some importance. Under your orders a negro woman was just now
+      challenged stealing out of the lines. Attempting to escape, she was
+      chased, there was a struggle and scramble over the wall, and she fell,
+      striking her head. She was brought into the guardhouse unconscious.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Very good. I will see her,&rdquo; said Brant, with a feeling of relief.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One moment, general. We thought you would perhaps prefer to see her
+      alone,&rdquo; said the surgeon, &ldquo;for when I endeavored to bring her to, and was
+      sponging her face and head to discover her injuries, her color came off!
+      She was a white woman&mdash;stained and disguised as a mulatto.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For an instant Brant's heart sank. It was Miss Faulkner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you recognize her?&rdquo; he said, glancing from the one to the other.
+      &ldquo;Have you seen her here before?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir,&rdquo; replied the aide-de-camp. &ldquo;But she seemed to be quite a
+      superior woman&mdash;a lady, I should say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant breathed more freely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is she now?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In the guardhouse. We thought it better not to bring her into hospital,
+      among the men, until we had your orders.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have done well,&rdquo; returned Brant gravely. &ldquo;And you will keep this to
+      yourselves for the present; but see that she is brought here quietly and
+      with as little publicity as possible. Put her in my room above, which I
+      give up to her and any necessary attendant. But you will look carefully
+      after her, doctor,&rdquo;&mdash;he turned to the surgeon,&mdash;&ldquo;and when she
+      recovers consciousness let me know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He moved away. Although attaching little importance to the mysterious
+      message, whether sent by Miss Faulkner or emanating from the stranger
+      herself, which, he reasoned, was based only upon a knowledge of the
+      original plan of attack, he nevertheless quickly dispatched a small
+      scouting party in the direction from which the attack might come, with
+      orders to fall back and report at once. With a certain half irony of
+      recollection he had selected Jim Hooker to accompany the party as a
+      volunteer. This done, he returned to the gallery. The surgeon met him at
+      the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The indications of concussion are passing away,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but she seems
+      to be suffering from the exhaustion following some great nervous
+      excitement. You may go in&mdash;she may rally from it at any moment.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With the artificial step and mysterious hush of the ordinary visitor to a
+      sick bed, Brant entered the room. But some instinct greater than this
+      common expression of humanity held him suddenly in awe. The room seemed no
+      longer his&mdash;it had slipped back into that austere conventual privacy
+      which had first impressed him. Yet he hesitated; another strange
+      suggestion&mdash;it seemed almost a vague recollection&mdash;overcame him
+      like some lingering perfume, far off and pathetic, in its dying
+      familiarity. He turned his eyes almost timidly towards the bed. The
+      coverlet was drawn up near the throat of the figure to replace the striped
+      cotton gown stained with blood and dust, which had been hurriedly torn off
+      and thrown on a chair. The pale face, cleansed of blood and disguising
+      color, the long hair, still damp from the surgeon's sponge, lay rigidly
+      back on the pillow. Suddenly this man of steady nerve uttered a faint cry,
+      and, with a face as white as the upturned one before him, fell on his
+      knees beside the bed. For the face that lay there was his wife's!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yes, hers! But the beautiful hair that she had gloried in&mdash;the hair
+      that in his youth he had thought had once fallen like a benediction on his
+      shoulder&mdash;was streaked with gray along the blue-veined hollows of the
+      temples; the orbits of those clear eyes, beneath their delicately arched
+      brows, were ringed with days of suffering; only the clear-cut profile,
+      even to the delicate imperiousness of lips and nostril, was still there in
+      all its beauty. The coverlet had slipped from her shoulder; its familiar
+      cold contour startled him. He remembered how, in their early married days,
+      he had felt the sanctity of that Diana-like revelation, and the still
+      nymph-like austerity which clung to this strange, childless woman. He even
+      fancied that he breathed again the subtle characteristic perfume of the
+      laces, embroideries, and delicate enwrappings in her chamber at Robles.
+      Perhaps it was the intensity of his gaze&mdash;perhaps it was the
+      magnetism of his presence&mdash;but her lips parted with a half sigh, half
+      moan. Her head, although her eyes were still closed, turned on the pillow
+      instinctively towards him. He rose from his knees. Her eyes opened slowly.
+      As the first glare of wonderment cleared from them, they met him&mdash;in
+      the old antagonism of spirit. Yet her first gesture was a pathetic
+      feminine movement with both hands to arrange her straggling hair. It
+      brought her white fingers, cleaned of their disguising stains, as a sudden
+      revelation to her of what had happened; she instantly slipped them back
+      under the coverlet again. Brant did not speak, but with folded arms stood
+      gazing upon her. And it was her voice that first broke the silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You have recognized me? Well, I suppose you know all,&rdquo; she said, with a
+      weak half-defiance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He bowed his head. He felt as yet he could not trust his voice, and envied
+      her her own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I may sit up, mayn't I?&rdquo; She managed, by sheer force of will, to struggle
+      to a sitting posture. Then, as the coverlet slipped from the bare
+      shoulder, she said, as she drew it, with a shiver of disgust, around her
+      again,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I forgot that you strip women, you Northern soldiers! But I forgot, too,&rdquo;
+       she added, with a sarcastic smile, &ldquo;that you are also my husband, and I am
+      in your room.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The contemptuous significance of her speech dispelled the last lingering
+      remnant of Brant's dream. In a voice as dry as her own, he said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am afraid you will now have to remember only that I am a Northern
+      general, and you a Southern spy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So be it,&rdquo; she said gravely. Then impulsively, &ldquo;But I have not spied on
+      YOU.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet, the next moment, she bit her lips as if the expression had
+      unwittingly escaped her; and with a reckless shrug of her shoulders she
+      lay back on her pillow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It matters not,&rdquo; said Brant coldly. &ldquo;You have used this house and those
+      within it to forward your designs. It is not your fault that you found
+      nothing in the dispatch-box you opened.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stared at him quickly; then shrugged her shoulders again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I might have known she was false to me,&rdquo; she said bitterly, &ldquo;and that you
+      would wheedle her soul away as you have others. Well, she betrayed me! For
+      what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A flush passed over Brant's face. But with an effort he contained himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was the flower that betrayed you! The flower whose red dust fell in
+      the box when you opened it on the desk by the window in yonder room&mdash;the
+      flower that stood in the window as a signal&mdash;the flower I myself
+      removed, and so spoiled the miserable plot that your friends concocted.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A look of mingled terror and awe came into her face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;YOU changed the signal!&rdquo; she repeated dazedly; then, in a lower voice,
+      &ldquo;that accounts for it all!&rdquo; But the next moment she turned again fiercely
+      upon him. &ldquo;And you mean to tell me that she didn't help you&mdash;that she
+      didn't sell me&mdash;your wife&mdash;to you for&mdash;for what was it? A
+      look&mdash;a kiss!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean to say that she did not know the signal was changed, and that she
+      herself restored it to its place. It is no fault of hers nor yours that I
+      am not here a prisoner.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She passed her thin hand dazedly across her forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I see,&rdquo; she muttered. Then again bursting out passionately, she said&mdash;&ldquo;Fool!
+      you never would have been touched! Do you think that Lee would have gone
+      for you, with higher game in your division commander? No! Those supports
+      were a feint to draw him to your assistance while our main column broke
+      his centre. Yes, you may stare at me, Clarence Brant. You are a good
+      lawyer&mdash;they say a dashing fighter, too. I never thought you a
+      coward, even in your irresolution; but you are fighting with men drilled
+      in the art of war and strategy when you were a boy outcast on the plains.&rdquo;
+       She stopped, closed her eyes, and then added, wearily&mdash;&ldquo;But that was
+      yesterday&mdash;to-day, who knows? All may be changed. The supports may
+      still attack you. That was why I stopped to write you that note an hour
+      ago, when I believed I should be leaving here for ever. Yes, I did it!&rdquo;
+       she went on, with half-wearied, half-dogged determination. &ldquo;You may as
+      well know all. I had arranged to fly. Your pickets were to be drawn by
+      friends of mine, who were waiting for me beyond your lines. Well, I
+      lingered here when I saw you arrive&mdash;lingered to write you that note.
+      And&mdash;I was too late!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Brant had been watching her varying expression, her kindling eye, her
+      strange masculine grasp of military knowledge, her soldierly phraseology,
+      all so new to her, that he scarcely heeded the feminine ending of her
+      speech. It seemed to him no longer the Diana of his youthful fancy, but
+      some Pallas Athene, who now looked up at him from the pillow. He had never
+      before fully believed in her unselfish devotion to the cause until now,
+      when it seemed to have almost unsexed her. In his wildest comprehension of
+      her he had never dreamed her a Joan of Arc, and yet hers was the face
+      which might have confronted him, exalted and inspired, on the battlefield
+      itself. He recalled himself with an effort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I thank you for your would-be warning,&rdquo; he said more gently, if not so
+      tenderly, &ldquo;and God knows I wish your flight had been successful. But even
+      your warning is unnecessary, for the supports had already come up; they
+      had followed the second signal, and diverged to engage our division on the
+      left, leaving me alone. And their ruse of drawing our commander to assist
+      me would not have been successful, as I had suspected it, and sent a
+      message to him that I wanted no help.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was the truth; it was the sole purport of the note he had sent through
+      Miss Faulkner. He would not have disclosed his sacrifice; but so great was
+      the strange domination of this woman still over him, that he felt
+      compelled to assert his superiority. She fixed her eyes upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And Miss Faulkner took your message?&rdquo; she said slowly. &ldquo;Don't deny it! No
+      one else could have passed through our lines; and you gave her a safe
+      conduct through yours. Yes, I might have known it. And this was the
+      creature they sent me for an ally and confidant!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For an instant Brant felt the sting of this enforced contrast between the
+      two women. But he only said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You forget that I did not know you were the spy, nor do I believe that
+      she suspected you were my wife.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why should she?&rdquo; she said almost fiercely. &ldquo;I am known among these people
+      only by the name of Benham&mdash;-my maiden name. Yes!&mdash;you can take
+      me out, and shoot me under that name, without disgracing yours. Nobody
+      will know that the Southern spy was the wife of the Northern general! You
+      see, I have thought even of that!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And thinking of that,&rdquo; said Brant slowly, &ldquo;you have put yourself&mdash;I
+      will not say in my power, for you are in the power of any man in this camp
+      who may know you, or even hear you speak. Well, let us understand each
+      other plainly. I do not know how great a sacrifice your devotion to your
+      cause demands of you; I do know what it seems to demand of me. Hear me,
+      then! I will do my best to protect you, and get you safely away from here;
+      but, failing that, I tell you plainly that I shall blow out your brains
+      and my own together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She knew that he would do it. Yet her eyes suddenly beamed with a new and
+      awakening light; she put back her hair again, and half raised herself upon
+      the pillow, to gaze at his dark, set face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And as I shall let no other life but ours be periled in this affair,&rdquo; he
+      went on quietly, &ldquo;and will accompany you myself in some disguise beyond
+      the lines, we will together take the risks&mdash;or the bullets of the
+      sentries that may save us both all further trouble. An hour or two more
+      will settle that. Until then your weak condition will excuse you from any
+      disturbance or intrusion here. The mulatto woman you have sometimes
+      personated may be still in this house; I will appoint her to attend you. I
+      suppose you can trust her, for you must personate her again, and escape in
+      her clothes, while she takes your place in this room as my prisoner.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Clarence!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her voice had changed suddenly; it was no longer bitter and stridulous,
+      but low and thrilling as he had heard her call to him that night in the
+      patio of Robles. He turned quickly. She was leaning from the bed&mdash;her
+      thin, white hands stretched appealingly towards him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us go together, Clarence,&rdquo; she said eagerly. &ldquo;Let us leave this
+      horrible place&mdash;these wicked, cruel people&mdash;forever. Come with
+      me! Come with me to my people&mdash;to my own faith&mdash;to my own house&mdash;which
+      shall be yours! Come with me to defend it with your good sword, Clarence,
+      against those vile invaders with whom you have nothing in common, and who
+      are the dirt under your feet. Yes, yes! I know it!&mdash;I have done you
+      wrong&mdash;I have lied to you when I spoke against your skill and power.
+      You are a hero&mdash;a born leader of men! I know it! Have I not heard it
+      from the men who have fought against you, and yet admired and understood
+      you, ay, better than your own?&mdash;gallant men, Clarence, soldiers bred
+      who did not know what you were to me nor how proud I was of you even while
+      I hated you? Come with me! Think what we would do together&mdash;with one
+      faith&mdash;one cause&mdash;one ambition! Think, Clarence, there is no
+      limit you might not attain! We are no niggards of our rewards and honors&mdash;we
+      have no hireling votes to truckle to&mdash;we know our friends! Even I&mdash;Clarence&mdash;I&rdquo;&mdash;there
+      was a strange pathos in the sudden humility that seemed to overcome her&mdash;&ldquo;I
+      have had my reward and known my power. I have been sent abroad, in the
+      confidence of the highest&mdash;to the highest. Don't turn from me. I am
+      offering you no bribe, Clarence, only your deserts. Come with me. Leave
+      these curs behind, and live the hero that you are!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned his blazing eyes upon her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you were a man&rdquo;&mdash;he began passionately, then stopped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No! I am only a woman and must fight in a woman's way,&rdquo; she interrupted
+      bitterly. &ldquo;Yes! I intreat, I implore, I wheedle, I flatter, I fawn, I lie!
+      I creep where you stand upright, and pass through doors to which you would
+      not bow. You wear your blazon of honor on your shoulder; I hide mine in a
+      slave's gown. And yet I have worked and striven and suffered! Listen,
+      Clarence,&rdquo; her voice again sank to its appealing minor,&mdash;&ldquo;I know what
+      you men call 'honor,' that which makes you cling to a merely spoken word,
+      or an empty oath. Well, let that pass! I am weary; I have done my share of
+      this work, you have done yours. Let us both fly; let us leave the fight to
+      those who shall come after us, and let us go together to some distant land
+      where the sounds of these guns or the blood of our brothers no longer cry
+      out to us for vengeance! There are those living here&mdash;I have met
+      them, Clarence,&rdquo; she went on hurriedly, &ldquo;who think it wrong to lift up
+      fratricidal hands in the struggle, yet who cannot live under the Northern
+      yoke. They are,&rdquo; her voice hesitated, &ldquo;good men and women&mdash;they are
+      respected&mdash;they are&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Recreants and slaves, before whom you, spy as you are&mdash;stand a
+      queen!&rdquo; broke in Brant, passionately. He stopped and turned towards the
+      window. After a pause he came back again towards the bed&mdash;paused
+      again and then said in a lower voice&mdash;&ldquo;Four years ago, Alice, in the
+      patio of our house at Robles, I might have listened to this proposal, and&mdash;I
+      tremble to think&mdash;I might have accepted it! I loved you; I was as
+      weak, as selfish, as unreflecting, my life was as purposeless&mdash;but
+      for you&mdash;as the creatures you speak of. But give me now, at least,
+      the credit of a devotion to my cause equal to your own&mdash;a credit
+      which I have never denied you! For the night that you left me, I awoke to
+      a sense of my own worthlessness and degradation&mdash;perhaps I have even
+      to thank you for that awakening&mdash;and I realized the bitter truth. But
+      that night I found my true vocation&mdash;my purpose, my manhood&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A bitter laugh came from the pillow on which she had languidly thrown
+      herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe I left you with Mrs. Hooker&mdash;spare me the details.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The blood rushed to Brant's face and then receded as suddenly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You left me with Captain Pinckney, who had tempted you, and whom I
+      killed!&rdquo; he said furiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were both staring savagely at each other. Suddenly he said, &ldquo;Hush!&rdquo;
+       and sprang towards the door, as the sound of hurried footsteps echoed
+      along the passage. But he was too late; it was thrown open to the officer
+      of the guard, who appeared, standing on the threshold.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Two Confederate officers arrested hovering around our pickets. They
+      demand to see you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Before Brant could interpose, two men in riding cloaks of Confederate gray
+      stepped into the room with a jaunty and self-confident air.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not DEMAND, general,&rdquo; said the foremost, a tall, distinguished-looking
+      man, lifting his hand with a graceful deprecating air. &ldquo;In fact, too sorry
+      to bother you with an affair of no importance except to ourselves. A bit
+      of after-dinner bravado brought us in contact with your pickets, and, of
+      course, we had to take the consequences. Served us right, and we were
+      lucky not to have got a bullet through us. Gad! I'm afraid my men would
+      have been less discreet! I am Colonel Lagrange, of the 5th Tennessee; my
+      young friend here is Captain Faulkner, of the 1st Kentucky. Some excuse
+      for a youngster like him&mdash;none for me! I&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stopped, for his eyes suddenly fell upon the bed and its occupant. Both
+      he and his companion started. But to the natural, unaffected dismay of a
+      gentleman who had unwittingly intruded upon a lady's bedchamber, Brant's
+      quick eye saw a more disastrous concern superadded. Colonel Lagrange was
+      quick to recover himself, as they both removed their caps.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A thousand pardons,&rdquo; he said, hurriedly stepping backwards to the door.
+      &ldquo;But I hardly need say to a fellow-officer, general, that we had no idea
+      of making so gross an intrusion! We heard some cock-and-bull story of your
+      being occupied&mdash;cross-questioning an escaped or escaping nigger&mdash;or
+      we should never have forced ourselves upon you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant glanced quickly at his wife. Her face had apparently become rigid on
+      the entrance of the two men; her eyes were coldly fixed upon the ceiling.
+      He bowed formally, and, with a wave of his hand towards the door, said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will hear your story below, gentleman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He followed them from the room, stopped to quietly turn the key in the
+      lock, and then motioned them to precede him down the staircase.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Not a word was exchanged till they had reached the lower landing and
+      Brant's private room. Dismissing his subaltern and orderly with a sign,
+      Brant turned towards his prisoners. The jaunty ease, but not the
+      self-possession, had gone from Lagrange's face; the eyes of Captain
+      Faulkner were fixed on his older companion with a half-humorous look of
+      perplexity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am afraid I can only repeat, general, that our foolhardy freak has put
+      us in collision with your sentries,&rdquo; said Lagrange, with a slight hauteur,
+      that replaced his former jauntiness; &ldquo;and we were very properly made
+      prisoners. If you will accept my parole, I have no doubt our commander
+      will proceed to exchange a couple of gallant fellows of yours, whom I have
+      had the honor of meeting within our own lines, and whom you must miss
+      probably more than I fear our superiors miss us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whatever brought you here, gentlemen,&rdquo; said Brant drily, &ldquo;I am glad, for
+      your sakes, that you are in uniform, although it does not, unfortunately,
+      relieve me of an unpleasant duty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't think I understand you,&rdquo; returned Lagrange, coldly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you had not been in uniform, you would probably have been shot down as
+      spies, without the trouble of capture,&rdquo; said Brant quietly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you mean to imply, sir&rdquo;&mdash;began Lagrange sternly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean to say that the existence of a Confederate spy between this camp
+      and the division headquarters is sufficiently well known to us to justify
+      the strongest action.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And pray, how can that affect us?&rdquo; said Lagrange haughtily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I need not inform so old a soldier as Colonel Lagrange that the aiding,
+      abetting, and even receiving information from a spy or traitor within
+      one's lines is an equally dangerous service.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps you would like to satisfy yourself, General,&rdquo; said Colonel
+      Lagrange, with an ironical laugh. &ldquo;Pray do not hesitate on account of our
+      uniform. Search us if you like.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not on entering my lines, Colonel,&rdquo; replied Brant, with quiet
+      significance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Lagrange's cheek flushed. But he recovered himself quickly, and with a
+      formal bow said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will, then, perhaps, let us know your pleasure?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My DUTY, Colonel, is to keep you both close prisoners here until I have
+      an opportunity to forward you to the division commander, with a report of
+      the circumstances of your arrest. That I propose to do. How soon I may
+      have that opportunity, or if I am ever to have it,&rdquo; continued Brant,
+      fixing his clear eyes significantly on Lagrange, &ldquo;depends upon the chances
+      of war, which you probably understand as well as I do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We should never think of making any calculation on the action of an
+      officer of such infinite resources as General Brant,&rdquo; said Lagrange
+      ironically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will, no doubt, have an opportunity of stating your own case to the
+      division commander,&rdquo; continued Brant, with an unmoved face. &ldquo;And,&rdquo; he
+      continued, turning for the first time to Captain Faulkner, &ldquo;when you tell
+      the commander what I believe to be the fact&mdash;from your name and
+      resemblance&mdash;that you are a relation of the young lady who for the
+      last three weeks has been an inmate of this house under a pass from
+      Washington, you will, I have no doubt, favorably explain your own
+      propinquity to my lines.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My sister Tilly!&rdquo; said the young officer impulsively. &ldquo;But she is no
+      longer here. She passed through the lines back to Washington yesterday.
+      No,&rdquo; he added, with a light laugh, &ldquo;I'm afraid that excuse won't count for
+      to-day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A sudden frown upon the face of the elder officer, added to the perfect
+      ingenuousness of Faulkner's speech, satisfied Brant that he had not only
+      elicited the truth, but that Miss Faulkner had been successful. But he was
+      sincere in his suggestion that her relationship to the young officer would
+      incline the division commander to look leniently upon his fault, for he
+      was conscious of a singular satisfaction in thus being able to serve her.
+      Of the real object of the two men before him he had no doubt. They were
+      &ldquo;the friends&rdquo; of his wife, who were waiting for her outside the lines!
+      Chance alone had saved her from being arrested with them, with the
+      consequent exposure of her treachery before his own men, who, as yet, had
+      no proof of her guilt, nor any suspicion of her actual identity. Meanwhile
+      his own chance of conveying her with safety beyond his lines was not
+      affected by the incident; the prisoners dare not reveal what they knew of
+      her, and it was with a grim triumph that he thought of compassing her
+      escape without their aid. Nothing of this, however, was visible in his
+      face, which the younger man watched with a kind of boyish curiosity, while
+      Colonel Lagrange regarded the ceiling with a politely repressed yawn. &ldquo;I
+      regret,&rdquo; concluded Brant, as he summoned the officer of the guard, &ldquo;that I
+      shall have to deprive you of each other's company during the time you are
+      here; but I shall see that you, separately, want for nothing in your
+      confinement.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If this is with a view to separate interrogatory, general, I can retire
+      now,&rdquo; said Lagrange, rising, with ironical politeness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe I have all the information I require,&rdquo; returned Brant, with
+      undisturbed composure. Giving the necessary orders to his subaltern, he
+      acknowledged with equal calm the formal salutes of the two prisoners as
+      they were led away, and returned quickly to his bedroom above. He paused
+      instinctively for a moment before the closed door, and listened. There was
+      no sound from within. He unlocked the door, and opened it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So quiet was the interior that for an instant, without glancing at the
+      bed, he cast a quick look at the window, which, till then, he had
+      forgotten, and which he remembered gave upon the veranda roof. But it was
+      still closed, and as he approached the bed, he saw his wife still lying
+      there, in the attitude in which he had left her. But her eyes were ringed,
+      and slightly filmed, as if with recent tears.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was perhaps this circumstance that softened his voice, still harsh with
+      command, as he said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I suppose you knew those two men?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And that I have put it out of their power to help you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was something so strangely submissive in her voice that he again
+      looked suspiciously at her. But he was shocked to see that she was quite
+      pale now, and that the fire had gone out of her dark eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I may tell you what is my plan to save you. But, first, you must
+      find this mulatto woman who has acted as your double.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She is here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you know it?&rdquo; he asked, in quick suspicion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was not to leave this place until she knew I was safe within our
+      lines. I have some friends who are faithful to me.&rdquo; After a pause she
+      added, &ldquo;She has been here already.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked at her, startled. &ldquo;Impossible&mdash;I&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You locked the door. Yes! but she has a second key. And even if she had
+      not, there is another entrance from that closet. You do not know this
+      house: you have been here two weeks; I spent two years of my life, as a
+      girl, in this room.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      An indescribable sensation came over him; he remembered how he had felt
+      when he first occupied it; this was followed by a keen sense of shame on
+      reflecting that he had been, ever since, but a helpless puppet in the
+      power of his enemies, and that she could have escaped if she would, even
+      now.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps,&rdquo; he said grimly, &ldquo;you have already arranged your plans?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked at him with a singular reproachfulness even in her submission.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have only told her to be ready to change clothes with me and help me
+      color my face and hands at the time appointed. I have left the rest to
+      you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then this is my plan. I have changed only a detail. You and she must both
+      leave this house at the same time, by different exits, but one of them
+      must be private&mdash;and unknown to my men. Do you know of such a one?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;in the rear of the negro quarters.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;that will be your way out. She will leave here,
+      publicly, through the parade, armed with a pass from me. She will be
+      overhauled and challenged by the first sentry near the guardhouse, below
+      the wall. She will be subjected to some delay and scrutiny, which she
+      will, however, be able to pass better than you would. This will create the
+      momentary diversion that we require. In the mean time, you will have left
+      the house by the rear, and you will then keep in the shadow of the hedge
+      until you can drop down along the Run, where it empties into the swamp.
+      That,&rdquo; he continued, fixing his keen eyes upon her, &ldquo;is the one weak point
+      in the position of this place that is neither overlooked nor defended. But
+      perhaps,&rdquo; he added again grimly, &ldquo;you already know it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is the marsh where the flowers grow, near the path where you met Miss
+      Faulkner. I had crossed the marsh to give her a letter,&rdquo; she said slowly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A bitter smile came over Brant's face, but passed as quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Enough,&rdquo; he said quietly, &ldquo;I will meet you beside the Run, and cross the
+      marsh with you until you are within hailing distance of your lines. I will
+      be in plain clothes, Alice,&rdquo; he went on slowly, &ldquo;for it will not be the
+      commander of this force who accompanies you, but your husband, and,
+      without disgracing his uniform, he will drop to your level; for the
+      instant he passes his own lines, in disguise, he will become, like you, a
+      spy, and amenable to its penalties.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her eyes seemed suddenly to leap up to his with that strange look of
+      awakening and enthusiasm which he had noted before. And in its complete
+      prepossession of all her instincts she rose from the bed, unheeding her
+      bared arms and shoulders and loosened hair, and stood upright before him.
+      For an instant husband and wife regarded each other as unreservedly as in
+      their own chamber at Robles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When shall I go?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He glanced through the window already growing lighter with the coming
+      dawn. The relief would pass in a few moments; the time seemed propitious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;At once,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I will send Rose to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But his wife had already passed into the closet, and was tapping upon some
+      inner door. He heard the sound of hinges turning and the rustling of
+      garments. She reappeared, holding the curtains of the closet together with
+      her hand, and said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Go! When she comes to your office for the pass, you will know that I have
+      gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stop!&rdquo; she said faintly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned back. Her expression had again changed. Her face was deadly
+      pale; a strange tremor seemed to have taken possession of her. Her hands
+      dropped from the curtain. Her beautiful arms moved slightly forward; it
+      seemed to him that she would in the next moment have extended them towards
+      him. But even then she said hurriedly, &ldquo;Go! Go!&rdquo; and slipped again behind
+      the curtains.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He quickly descended the stairs as the sound of trampling feet on the
+      road, and the hurried word of command, announced the return of the
+      scouting party. The officer had little report to make beyond the fact that
+      a morning mist, creeping along the valley, prevented any further
+      observation, and bade fair to interrupt their own communications with the
+      camp. Everything was quiet in the west, although the enemy's lines along
+      the ridge seemed to have receded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant had listened impatiently, for a new idea had seized him. Hooker was
+      of the party, and was the one man in whom he could partly confide, and
+      obtain a disguise. He at once made his way to the commissary wagons&mdash;one
+      of which he knew Hooker used as a tent. Hastily telling him that he wished
+      to visit the pickets without recognition, he induced him to lend him his
+      slouched hat and frock coat, leaving with him his own distinguishing
+      tunic, hat, and sword. He resisted the belt and pistols which Hooker would
+      have forced upon him. As he left the wagon he was amusedly conscious that
+      his old companion was characteristically examining the garments he had
+      left behind with mingled admiration and envy. But he did not know, as he
+      slipped out of the camp, that Mr. Hooker was quietly trying them on,
+      before a broken mirror in the wagon-head!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The gray light of that summer morning was already so strong that, to avoid
+      detection, he quickly dropped into the shadow of the gully that sloped
+      towards the Run. The hot mist which the scouts had seen was now lying like
+      a tranquil sea between him and the pickets of the enemy's rear-guard,
+      which it seemed to submerge, and was clinging in moist tenuous swathes&mdash;like
+      drawn-out cotton wool&mdash;along the ridge, half obliterating its face.
+      From the valley in the rear it was already stealing in a thin white line
+      up the slope like the advance of a ghostly column, with a stealthiness
+      that, in spite of himself, touched him with superstitious significance. A
+      warm perfume, languid and treacherous&mdash;as from the swamp magnolia&mdash;seemed
+      to rise from the half-hidden marsh. An ominous silence, that appeared to
+      be a part of this veiling of all things under the clear opal-tinted sky
+      above, was so little like the hush of rest and peace, that he half-yearned
+      for the outburst of musketry and tumult of attack that might dispel it.
+      All that he had ever heard or dreamed of the insidious South, with its
+      languid subtleties of climate and of race, seemed to encompass him here.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the next moment he saw the figure he was waiting for stealing towards
+      him from the shadow of the gulley beneath the negro quarters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Even in that uncertain light there was no mistaking the tall figure, the
+      gaudily striped clinging gown and turbaned head. And then a strange
+      revulsion of feeling, quite characteristic of the emotional side of his
+      singular temperament, overcame him. He was taking leave of his wife&mdash;the
+      dream of his youth&mdash;perhaps forever! It should be no parting in anger
+      as at Robles; it should be with a tenderness that would blot out their
+      past in their separate memories&mdash;God knows! it might even be that a
+      parting at that moment was a joining of them in eternity. In his momentary
+      exaltation it even struck him that it was a duty, no less sacred, no less
+      unselfish than the one to which he had devoted his life. The light was
+      growing stronger; he could hear voices in the nearest picket line, and the
+      sound of a cough in the invading mist. He made a hurried sign to the
+      on-coming figure to follow him, ran ahead, and halted at last in the cover
+      of a hackmatack bush. Still gazing forward over the marsh, he stealthily
+      held out his hand behind him as the rustling skirt came nearer. At last
+      his hand was touched&mdash;but even at that touch he started and turned
+      quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was not his wife, but Rose!&mdash;her mulatto double! Her face was
+      rigid with fright, her beady eyes staring in their china sockets, her
+      white teeth chattering. Yet she would have spoken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; he said, clutching her hand, in a fierce whisper. &ldquo;Not a word!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She was holding something white in her fingers; he snatched it quickly. It
+      was a note from his wife&mdash;not in the disguised hand of her first
+      warning, but in one that he remembered as if it were a voice from their
+      past.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Forgive me for disobeying you to save you from capture, disgrace, or
+      death&mdash;which would have come to you where you were going! I have
+      taken Rose's pass. You need not fear that your honor will suffer by it,
+      for if I am stopped I shall confess that I took it from her. Think no more
+      of me, Clarence, but only of yourself. You are in danger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He crushed the letter in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell me,&rdquo; he said in a fierce whisper, seizing her arm, &ldquo;and speak low.
+      When did you leave her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho'ly just now!&rdquo; gasped the frightened woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He flung her aside. There might be still time to overtake and save her
+      before she reached the picket lines. He ran up the gully, and out on to
+      the slope towards the first guard-post. But a familiar challenge reached
+      his ear, and his heart stopped beating.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who goes there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a pause, a rattle of arms voices&mdash;another pause&mdash;and
+      Brant stood breathlessly listening. Then the voice rose again slowly and
+      clearly: &ldquo;Pass the mulatto woman!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Thank God! she was saved! But the thought had scarcely crossed his mind
+      before it seemed to him that a blinding crackle of sparks burst out along
+      the whole slope below the wall, a characteristic yell which he knew too
+      well rang in his ears, and an undulating line of dusty figures came
+      leaping like gray wolves out of the mist upon his pickets. He heard the
+      shouts of his men falling back as they fired; the harsh commands of a few
+      officers hurrying to their posts, and knew that he had been hopelessly
+      surprised and surrounded!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He ran forward among his disorganized men. To his consternation no one
+      seemed to heed him! Then the remembrance of his disguise flashed upon him.
+      But he had only time to throw away his hat and snatch a sword from a
+      falling lieutenant, before a scorching flash seemed to pass before his
+      eyes and burn through his hair, and he dropped like a log beside his
+      subaltern.
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      An aching under the bandage around his head where a spent bullet had
+      grazed his scalp, and the sound of impossible voices in his ears were all
+      he knew as he struggled slowly back to consciousness again. Even then it
+      still seemed a delusion,&mdash;for he was lying on a cot in his own
+      hospital, yet with officers of the division staff around him, and the
+      division commander himself standing by his side, and regarding him with an
+      air of grave but not unkindly concern. But the wounded man felt
+      instinctively that it was not the effect of his physical condition, and a
+      sense of shame came suddenly over him, which was not dissipated by his
+      superior's words. For, motioning the others aside, the major-general
+      leaned over his cot, and said,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Until a few moments ago, the report was that you had been captured in the
+      first rush of the rear-guard which we were rolling up for your attack, and
+      when you were picked up, just now, in plain clothes on the slope, you were
+      not recognized. The one thing seemed to be as improbable as the other,&rdquo; he
+      added significantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The miserable truth flashed across Brant's mind. Hooker must have been
+      captured in his clothes&mdash;perhaps in some extravagant sally&mdash;and
+      had not been recognized in the confusion by his own officers.
+      Nevertheless, he raised his eyes to his superior.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You got my note?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The general's brow darkened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he said slowly, &ldquo;but finding you thus unprepared&mdash;I had been
+      thinking just now that you had been deceived by that woman&mdash;or by
+      others&mdash;and that it was a clumsy forgery.&rdquo; He stopped, and seeing the
+      hopeless bewilderment in the face of the wounded man, added more kindly:
+      &ldquo;But we will not talk of that in your present condition. The doctor says a
+      few hours will put you straight again. Get strong, for I want you to lose
+      no time&mdash;for your own sake&mdash;to report yourself at Washington.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Report myself&mdash;at Washington!&rdquo; repeated Brant slowly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That was last night's order,&rdquo; said the commander, with military curtness.
+      Then he burst out: &ldquo;I don't understand it, Brant! I believe you have been
+      misunderstood, misrepresented, perhaps maligned and I shall make it MY
+      business to see the thing through&mdash;but those are the Department
+      orders. And for the present&mdash;I am sorry to say you are relieved of
+      your command.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He turned away, and Brant closed his eyes. With them it seemed to him that
+      he closed his career. No one would ever understand his explanation&mdash;even
+      had he been tempted to give one, and he knew he never would. Everything
+      was over now! Even this wretched bullet had not struck him fairly, and
+      culminated his fate as it might! For an instant, he recalled his wife's
+      last offer to fly with him beyond the seas&mdash;beyond this cruel
+      injustice&mdash;but even as he recalled it, he knew that flight meant the
+      worst of all&mdash;a half-confession! But she had escaped! Thank God for
+      that! Again and again in his hopeless perplexity this comfort returned to
+      him,&mdash;he had saved her; he had done his duty. And harping upon this
+      in his strange fatalism, it at last seemed to him that this was for what
+      he had lived&mdash;for what he had suffered&mdash;for what he had fitly
+      ended his career. Perhaps it was left for him now to pass his remaining
+      years in forgotten exile&mdash;even as his father had&mdash;his father!&mdash;his
+      breath came quickly at the thought&mdash;God knows! perhaps as wrongfully
+      accused! It may have been a Providence that she had borne him no child, to
+      whom this dreadful heritage could be again transmitted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was something of this strange and fateful resignation in his face, a
+      few hours later, when he was able to be helped again into the saddle. But
+      he could see in the eyes of the few comrades who commiseratingly took
+      leave of him, a vague, half-repressed awe of some indefinite weakness in
+      the man, that mingled with their heartfelt parting with a gallant soldier.
+      Yet even this touched him no longer. He cast a glance at the house and the
+      room where he had parted from her, at the slope from which she had passed&mdash;and
+      rode away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And then, as his figure disappeared down the road, the restrained
+      commentary of wonder, surmise, and criticism broke out:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It must have been something mighty bad, for the old man, who swears by
+      him, looked rather troubled. And it was deuced queer, you know, this
+      changing clothes with somebody, just before this surprise!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nonsense! It's something away back of that! Didn't you hear the old man
+      say that the orders for him to report himself came from Washington LAST
+      NIGHT? No!&rdquo;&mdash;the speaker lowered his voice&mdash;&ldquo;Strangeways says
+      that he had regularly sold himself out to one of them d&mdash;&mdash;d
+      secesh woman spies! It's the old Marc Antony business over again!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now I think of it,&rdquo; said a younger subaltern, &ldquo;he did seem mightily taken
+      with one of those quadroons or mulattoes he issued orders against. I
+      suppose that was a blind for us! I remember the first day he saw her; he
+      was regularly keen to know all about her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Major Curtis gave a short laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That mulatto, Martin, was a white woman, burnt-corked! She was trying to
+      get through the lines last night, and fell off a wall or got a knock on
+      the head from a sentry's carbine. When she was brought in, Doctor Simmons
+      set to washing the blood off her face; the cork came off and the whole
+      thing came out. Brant hushed it up&mdash;and the woman, too&mdash;in his
+      own quarters! It's supposed now that she got away somehow in the rush!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It goes further back than that, gentlemen,&rdquo; said the adjutant
+      authoritatively. &ldquo;They say his wife was a howling secessionist, four years
+      ago, in California, was mixed up in a conspiracy, and he had to leave on
+      account of it. Look how thick he and that Miss Faulkner became, before he
+      helped HER off!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's your jealousy, Tommy; she knew he was, by all odds, the biggest
+      man here, and a good deal more, too, and you had no show!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the laugh that followed, it would seem that Brant's eulogy had been
+      spoken and forgotten. But as Lieutenant Martin was turning away, a
+      lingering corporal touched his cap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You were speaking of those prowling mulattoes, sir. You know the general
+      passed one out this morning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So I have heard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I reckon she didn't get very far. It was just at the time that we were
+      driven in by their first fire, and I think she got her share of it, too.
+      Do you mind walking this way, sir!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lieutenant did not mind, although he rather languidly followed. When
+      they had reached the top of the gully, the corporal pointed to what seemed
+      to be a bit of striped calico hanging on a thorn bush in the ravine.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's her,&rdquo; said the corporal. &ldquo;I know the dress; I was on guard when
+      she was passed. The searchers, who were picking up our men, haven't got to
+      her yet; but she ain't moved or stirred these two hours. Would you like to
+      go down and see her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lieutenant hesitated. He was young, and slightly fastidious as to
+      unnecessary unpleasantness. He believed he would wait until the searchers
+      brought her up, when the corporal might call him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The mist came up gloriously from the swamp like a golden halo. And as
+      Clarence Brant, already forgotten, rode moodily through it towards
+      Washington, hugging to his heart the solitary comfort of his great
+      sacrifice, his wife, Alice Brant, for whom he had made it, was lying in
+      the ravine, dead and uncared for. Perhaps it was part of the inconsistency
+      of her sex that she was pierced with the bullets of those she had loved,
+      and was wearing the garments of the race that she had wronged.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_PART3" id="link2H_PART3">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      PART III.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      It was sunset of a hot day at Washington. Even at that hour the broad
+      avenues, which diverged from the Capitol like the rays of another sun,
+      were fierce and glittering. The sterile distances between glowed more
+      cruelly than ever, and pedestrians, keeping in the scant shade, hesitated
+      on the curbstones before plunging into the Sahara-like waste of crossings.
+      The city seemed deserted. Even that vast army of contractors, speculators,
+      place-hunters, and lobbyists, which hung on the heels of the other army,
+      and had turned this pacific camp of the nation into a battlefield of
+      ignoble conflict and contention&mdash;more disastrous than the one to the
+      South&mdash;had slunk into their holes in hotel back bedrooms, in shady
+      barrooms, or in the negro quarters of Georgetown, as if the majestic,
+      white-robed Goddess enthroned upon the dome of the Capitol had at last
+      descended among them and was smiting to right and left with the flat and
+      flash of her insufferable sword.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Into this stifling atmosphere of greed and corruption Clarence Brant
+      stepped from the shadow of the War Department. For the last three weeks he
+      had haunted its ante-rooms and audience-chambers, in the vain hope of
+      righting himself before his superiors, who were content, without
+      formulating charges against him, to keep him in this disgrace of inaction
+      and the anxiety of suspense. Unable to ascertain the details of the
+      accusation, and conscious of his own secret, he was debarred the last
+      resort of demanding a court-martial, which he knew could only exonerate
+      him by the exposure of the guilt of his wife, whom he still hoped had
+      safely escaped. His division commander, in active operations in the field,
+      had no time to help him at Washington. Elbowed aside by greedy
+      contractors, forestalled by selfish politicians, and disdaining the
+      ordinary method of influence, he had no friend to turn to. In his few
+      years of campaigning he had lost his instinct of diplomacy, without
+      acquiring a soldier's bluntness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The nearly level rays of the sun forced him at last to turn aside into one
+      of the openings of a large building&mdash;a famous caravansary of that
+      hotel-haunted capital, and he presently found himself in the luxurious
+      bar-room, fragrant with mint, and cool with ice-slabs piled symmetrically
+      on its marble counters. A few groups of men were seeking coolness at small
+      tables with glasses before them and palm-leaf fans in their hands, but a
+      larger and noisier assemblage was collected before the bar, where a man,
+      collarless and in his shirt-sleeves, with his back to the counter, was
+      pretentiously addressing them. Brant, who had moodily dropped into a chair
+      in the corner, after ordering a cooling drink as an excuse for his
+      temporary refuge from the stifling street, half-regretted his enforced
+      participation in their conviviality. But a sudden lowering of the
+      speaker's voice into a note of gloomy significance seemed familiar to him.
+      He glanced at him quickly, from the shadow of his corner. He was not
+      mistaken&mdash;it was Jim Hooker!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For the first time in his life, Brant wished to evade him. In the days of
+      his own prosperity his heart had always gone out towards this old
+      companion of his boyhood; in his present humiliation his presence jarred
+      upon him. He would have slipped away, but to do so he would have had to
+      pass before the counter again, and Hooker, with the self-consciousness of
+      a story-teller, had an eye on his audience. Brant, with a palm-leaf fan
+      before his face, was obliged to listen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, gentlemen,&rdquo; said Hooker, examining his glass dramatically, &ldquo;when a
+      man's been cooped up in a Rebel prison, with a death line before him that
+      he's obliged to cross every time he wants a square drink, it seems sort of
+      like a dream of his boyhood to be standin' here comf'ble before his
+      liquor, alongside o' white men once more. And when he knows he's bin put
+      to all that trouble jest to save the reputation of another man, and the
+      secrets of a few high and mighty ones, it's almost enough to make his
+      liquor go agin him.&rdquo; He stopped theatrically, seemed to choke emotionally
+      over his brandy squash, but with a pause of dramatic determination finally
+      dashed it down. &ldquo;No, gentlemen,&rdquo; he continued gloomily, &ldquo;I don't say what
+      I'm back in Washington FOR&mdash;I don't say what I've been sayin' to
+      myself when I've bin picking the weevils outer my biscuits in Libby Prison&mdash;but
+      ef you don't see some pretty big men in the War Department obliged to
+      climb down in the next few days, my name ain't Jim Hooker, of Hooker,
+      Meacham &amp; Co., Army Beef Contractors, and the man who saved the fight
+      at Gray Oaks!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The smile of satisfaction that went around his audience&mdash;an audience
+      quick to seize the weakness of any performance&mdash;might have startled a
+      vanity less oblivious than Hooker's; but it only aroused Brant's
+      indignation and pity, and made his position still more intolerable. But
+      Hooker, scornfully expectorating a thin stream of tobacco juice against
+      the spittoon, remained for an instant gloomily silent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell us about the fight again,&rdquo; said a smiling auditor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hooker looked around the room with a certain dark suspiciousness, and
+      then, in an affected lower voice, which his theatrical experience made
+      perfectly audible, went on:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It ain't much to speak of, and if it wasn't for the principle of the
+      thing, I wouldn't be talking. A man who's seen Injin fightin' don't go
+      much on this here West Point fightin' by rule-of-three&mdash;but that
+      ain't here or there! Well, I'd bin out a-scoutin'&mdash;just to help the
+      boys along, and I was sittin' in my wagon about daybreak, when along comes
+      a brigadier-general, and he looks into the wagon flap. I oughter to tell
+      you first, gentlemen, that every minit he was expecting an attack&mdash;but
+      he didn't let on a hint of it to me. 'How are you, Jim?' said he. 'How are
+      you, general?' said I. 'Would you mind lendin' me your coat and hat?' says
+      he. 'I've got a little game here with our pickets, and I don't want to be
+      recognized.' 'Anything to oblige, general,' said I, and with that I strips
+      off my coat and hat, and he peels and puts them on. 'Nearly the same
+      figure, Jim,' he says, lookin' at me, 'suppose you try on my things and
+      see.' With that he hands me his coat&mdash;full uniform, by G-d!&mdash;with
+      the little gold cords and laces and the epaulettes with a star, and I puts
+      it on&mdash;quite innocent-like. And then he says, handin' me his sword
+      and belt, 'Same inches round the waist, I reckon,' and I puts that on too.
+      'You may as well keep 'em on till I come back,' says he, 'for it's mighty
+      damp and malarious at this time around the swamp.' And with that he lights
+      out. Well, gentlemen, I hadn't sat there five minutes before Bang! bang!
+      rattle! rattle! kershiz! and I hears a yell. I steps out of the wagon;
+      everything's quite dark, but the rattle goes on. Then along trots an
+      orderly, leadin' a horse. 'Mount, general,' he says, 'we're attacked&mdash;the
+      rear-guard's on us!'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused, looked round his audience, and then in a lower voice, said
+      darkly,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't a fool, an' in that minute a man's brain works at high pressure,
+      and I saw it all! I saw the little game of the brigadier to skunk away in
+      my clothes and leave me to be captured in his. But I ain't a dog neither,
+      and I mounted that horse, gentlemen, and lit out to where the men were
+      formin'! I didn't dare to speak, lest they should know me, but I waved my
+      sword, and by G-d! they followed me! And the next minit we was in the
+      thick of it. I had my hat as full of holes as that ice strainer; I had a
+      dozen bullets through my coat, the fringe of my epaulettes was shot away,
+      but I kept the boys at their work&mdash;and we stopped 'em! Stopped 'em,
+      gentlemen, until we heard the bugles of the rest of our division, that all
+      this time had been rolling that blasted rear-guard over on us! And it
+      saved the fight; but the next minute the Johnny Rebs made a last dash and
+      cut me off&mdash;and there I was&mdash;by G-d, a prisoner! Me that had
+      saved the fight!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A ripple of ironical applause went round as Hooker gloomily drained his
+      glass, and then held up his hand in scornful deprecation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I said I was a prisoner, gentlemen,&rdquo; he went on bitterly; &ldquo;but that ain't
+      all! I asked to see Johnston, told him what I had done, and demanded to be
+      exchanged for a general officer. He said, 'You be d&mdash;&mdash;d.' I
+      then sent word to the division commander-in-chief, and told him how I had
+      saved Gray Oaks when his brigadier ran away, and he said, 'You be d&mdash;&mdash;d.'
+      I've bin 'You be d&mdash;&mdash;d' from the lowest non-com. to the
+      commander-in-chief, and when I was at last exchanged, I was exchanged,
+      gentlemen, for two mules and a broken wagon. But I'm here, gentlemen&mdash;as
+      I was thar!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why don't you see the President about it?&rdquo; asked a bystander, in affected
+      commiseration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Hooker stared contemptuously at the suggestion, and expectorated his
+      scornful dissent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not much!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I'm going to see the man that carries him and
+      his Cabinet in his breeches-pocket&mdash;Senator Boompointer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Boompointer's a big man,&rdquo; continued his auditor doubtfully. &ldquo;Do you know
+      him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Know him?&rdquo; Mr. Hooker laughed a bitter, sardonic laugh. &ldquo;Well, gentlemen,
+      I ain't the kind o' man to go in for family influence; but,&rdquo; he added,
+      with gloomy elevation, &ldquo;considering he's an intimate relation of mine, BY
+      MARRIAGE, I should say I did.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant heard no more; the facing around of his old companion towards the
+      bar gave him that opportunity of escaping he had been waiting for. The
+      defection of Hooker and his peculiar inventions were too characteristic of
+      him to excite surprise, and, although they no longer awakened his
+      good-humored tolerance, they were powerless to affect him in his greater
+      trouble. Only one thing he learned&mdash;that Hooker knew nothing of his
+      wife being in camp as a spy&mdash;the incident would have been too
+      tempting to have escaped his dramatic embellishment. And the allusion to
+      Senator Boompointer, monstrous as it seemed in Hooker's mouth, gave him a
+      grim temptation. He had heard of Boompointer's wonderful power; he
+      believed that Susy would and could help him&mdash;Clarence&mdash;whether
+      she did or did not help Hooker. But the next moment he dismissed the idea,
+      with a flushing cheek. How low had he already sunk, even to think of it!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It had been once or twice in his mind to seek the President, and, under a
+      promise of secrecy, reveal a part of his story. He had heard many
+      anecdotes of his goodness of heart and generous tolerance of all things,
+      but with this was joined&mdash;so said contemporaneous history&mdash;a
+      flippancy of speech and a brutality of directness from which Clarence's
+      sensibility shrank. Would he see anything in his wife but a common spy on
+      his army; would he see anything in him but the weak victim, like many
+      others, of a scheming woman? Stories current in camp and Congress of the
+      way that this grim humorist had, with an apposite anecdote or a rugged
+      illustration, brushed away the most delicate sentiment or the subtlest
+      poetry, even as he had exposed the sham of Puritanic morality or of
+      Epicurean ethics. Brant had even solicited an audience, but had retired
+      awkwardly, and with his confidence unspoken, before the dark, humorous
+      eyes, that seemed almost too tolerant of his grievance. He had been to
+      levees, and his heart had sunk equally before the vulgar crowd, who seemed
+      to regard this man as their own buffoon, and the pompousness of position,
+      learning and dignity, which he seemed to delight to shake and disturb.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One afternoon, a few days later, in sheer listlessness of purpose, he
+      found himself again at the White House. The President was giving audience
+      to a deputation of fanatics, who, with a pathetic simplicity almost equal
+      to his own pathetic tolerance, were urging upon this ruler of millions the
+      policy of an insignificant score, and Brant listened to his patient,
+      practical response of facts and logic, clothed in simple but sinewy
+      English, up to the inevitable climax of humorous illustration, which the
+      young brigadier could now see was necessary to relieve the grimness of his
+      refusal. For the first time Brant felt the courage to address him, and
+      resolved to wait until the deputation retired. As they left the gallery he
+      lingered in the ante-room for the President to appear. But, as he did not
+      come, afraid of losing his chances, he returned to the gallery. Alone in
+      his privacy and shadow, the man he had just left was standing by a column,
+      in motionless abstraction, looking over the distant garden. But the
+      kindly, humorous face was almost tragic with an intensity of weariness!
+      Every line of those strong, rustic features was relaxed under a burden
+      which even the long, lank, angular figure&mdash;overgrown and unfinished
+      as his own West&mdash;seemed to be distorted in its efforts to adjust
+      itself to; while the dark, deep-set eyes were abstracted with the vague
+      prescience of the prophet and the martyr. Shocked at that sudden change,
+      Brant felt his cheek burn with shame. And he was about to break upon that
+      wearied man's unbending; he was about to add his petty burden to the
+      shoulders of this Western Atlas. He drew back silently, and descended the
+      stairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But before he had left the house, while mingling with the crowd in one of
+      the larger rooms, he saw the President reappear beside an important,
+      prosperous-looking figure, on whom the kindly giant was now smiling with
+      humorous toleration. He noticed the divided attention of the crowd; the
+      name of Senator Boompointer was upon every lip; he was nearly face to face
+      with that famous dispenser of place and preferment&mdash;this second
+      husband of Susy! An indescribable feeling&mdash;half cynical, half fateful&mdash;came
+      over him. He would not have been surprised to see Jim Hooker join the
+      throng, which now seemed to him to even dwarf the lonely central figure
+      that had so lately touched him! He wanted to escape it all!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But his fate brought him to the entrance at the same moment that
+      Boompointer was leaving it, and that distinguished man brushed hastily by
+      him as a gorgeous carriage, drawn by two spirited horses, and driven by a
+      resplendent negro coachman, dashed up. It was the Boompointer carriage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A fashionably-dressed, pretty woman, who, in style, bearing, opulent
+      contentment, and ingenuous self-consciousness, was in perfect keeping with
+      the slight ostentation of the equipage, was its only occupant. As
+      Boompointer stepped into the vehicle, her blue eyes fell for an instant on
+      Brant. A happy, childlike pink flush came into her cheeks, and a violet
+      ray of recognition and mischief darted from her eyes to his. For it was
+      Susy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      When Brant returned to his hotel there was an augmented respect in the
+      voice of the clerk as he handed him a note with the remark that it had
+      been left by Senator Boompointer's coachman. He had no difficulty in
+      recognizing Susy's peculiarly Brobdingnagian school-girl hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Kla'uns, I call it real mean! I believe you just HOPED I wouldn't know
+      you. If you're a bit like your old self you'll come right off here&mdash;this
+      very night! I've got a big party on&mdash;but we can talk somewhere
+      between the acts! Haven't I growed? Tell me! And my! what a gloomy swell
+      the young brigadier is! The carriage will come for you&mdash;so you have
+      no excuse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The effect of this childish note upon Brant was strangely out of
+      proportion to its triviality. But then it was Susy's very triviality&mdash;so
+      expressive of her characteristic irresponsibility&mdash;which had always
+      affected him at such moments. Again, as at Robles, he felt it react
+      against his own ethics. Was she not right in her delightful materialism?
+      Was she not happier than if she had been consistently true to Mrs. Peyton,
+      to the convent, to the episode of her theatrical career, to Jim Hooker&mdash;even
+      to himself? And did he conscientiously believe that Hooker or himself had
+      suffered from her inconsistency? No! From all that he had heard, she was a
+      suitable helpmate to the senator, in her social attractiveness, her
+      charming ostentations, her engaging vanity that disarmed suspicion, and
+      her lack of responsibility even in her partisanship. Nobody ever dared to
+      hold the senator responsible for her promises, even while enjoying the
+      fellowship of both, and it is said that the worthy man singularly profited
+      by it. Looking upon the invitation as a possible distraction to his gloomy
+      thoughts, Brant resolved to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moon was high as the carriage whirled him out of the still stifling
+      avenues towards the Soldiers' Home&mdash;a sylvan suburb frequented by
+      cabinet ministers and the President&mdash;where the good Senator had
+      &ldquo;decreed,&rdquo; like Kubla Khan, &ldquo;a stately pleasure dome,&rdquo; to entertain his
+      friends and partisans. As they approached the house, the trembling light
+      like fireflies through the leaves, the warm silence broken only by a
+      military band playing a drowsy waltz on the veranda, and the heavy odors
+      of jessamine in the air, thrilled Brant with a sense of shame as he
+      thought of his old comrades in the field. But this was presently
+      dissipated by the uniforms that met him in the hall, with the presence of
+      some of his distinguished superiors. At the head of the stairs, with a
+      circling background of the shining crosses and ribbons of the diplomatic
+      corps, stood Susy&mdash;her bare arms and neck glittering with diamonds,
+      her face radiant with childlike vivacity. A significant pressure of her
+      little glove as he made his bow seemed to be his only welcome, but a
+      moment later she caught his arm. &ldquo;You've yet to know HIM,&rdquo; she said in a
+      half whisper; &ldquo;he thinks a good deal of himself&mdash;just like Jim. But
+      he makes others believe it, and that's where poor Jim slipped up.&rdquo; She
+      paused before the man thus characteristically disposed of, and presented
+      Brant. It was the man he had seen before&mdash;material, capable,
+      dogmatic. A glance from his shrewd eyes&mdash;accustomed to the weighing
+      of men's weaknesses and ambitions&mdash;and a few hurried phrases,
+      apparently satisfied him that Brant was not just then important or
+      available to him, and the two men, a moment later, drifted easily apart.
+      Brant sauntered listlessly through the crowded rooms, half remorsefully
+      conscious that he had taken some irrevocable step, and none the less
+      assured by the presence of two or three reporters and correspondents who
+      were dogging his steps, or the glance of two or three pretty women whose
+      curiosity had evidently been aroused by the singular abstraction of this
+      handsome, distinguished, but sardonic-looking officer. But the next moment
+      he was genuinely moved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A tall young woman had just glided into the centre of the room with an
+      indolent yet supple gracefulness that seemed familiar to him. A change in
+      her position suddenly revealed her face. It was Miss Faulkner. Previously
+      he had known her only in the riding habit of Confederate gray which she
+      had at first affected, or in the light muslin morning dress she had worn
+      at Gray Oaks. It seemed to him, to-night, that the studied elegance of her
+      full dress became her still more; that the pretty willfulness of her chin
+      and shoulders was chastened and modified by the pearls round her fair
+      throat. Suddenly their eyes met; her face paled visibly; he fancied that
+      she almost leaned against her companion for support; then she met his
+      glance again with a face into which the color had as suddenly rushed, but
+      with eyes that seemed to be appealing to him even to the point of pain and
+      fright. Brant was not conceited; he could see that the girl's agitation
+      was not the effect of any mere personal influence in his recognition, but
+      of something else. He turned hastily away; when he looked around again she
+      was gone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Nevertheless he felt filled with a vague irritation. Did she think him
+      such a fool as to imperil her safety by openly recognizing her without her
+      consent? Did she think that he would dare to presume upon the service she
+      had done him? Or, more outrageous thought, had she heard of his disgrace,
+      known its cause, and feared that he would drag her into a disclosure to
+      save himself? No, no; she could not think that! She had perhaps regretted
+      what she had done in a freak of girlish chivalry; she had returned to her
+      old feelings and partisanship; she was only startled at meeting the single
+      witness of her folly. Well, she need not fear! He would as studiously
+      avoid her hereafter, and she should know it. And yet&mdash;yes, there was
+      a &ldquo;yet.&rdquo; For he could not forget&mdash;indeed, in the past three weeks it
+      had been more often before him than he cared to think&mdash;that she was
+      the one human being who had been capable of a great act of self-sacrifice
+      for him&mdash;her enemy, her accuser, the man who had scarcely treated her
+      civilly. He was ashamed to remember now that this thought had occurred to
+      him at the bedside of his wife&mdash;at the hour of her escape&mdash;even
+      on the fatal slope on which he had been struck down. And now this fond
+      illusion must go with the rest&mdash;the girl who had served him so
+      loyally was ashamed of it! A bitter smile crossed his face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I don't wonder! Here are all the women asking me who is that
+      good-looking Mephistopheles, with the burning eyes, who is prowling around
+      my rooms as if searching for a victim. Why, you're smiling for all the
+      world like poor Jim when he used to do the Red Avenger.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Susy's voice&mdash;and illustration&mdash;recalled him to himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Furious I may be,&rdquo; he said with a gentler smile, although his eyes still
+      glittered, &ldquo;furious that I have to wait until the one woman I came to see&mdash;the
+      one woman I have not seen for so long, while these puppets have been
+      nightly dancing before her&mdash;can give me a few moments from them, to
+      talk of the old days.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In his reaction he was quite sincere, although he felt a slight sense of
+      remorse as he saw the quick, faint color rise, as in those old days, even
+      through the to-night's powder of her cheek.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's like the old Kla'uns,&rdquo; she said, with a slight pressure of his
+      arm, &ldquo;but we will not have a chance to speak until later. When they are
+      nearly all gone, you'll take me to get a little refreshment, and we'll
+      have a chat in the conservatory. But you must drop that awfully wicked
+      look and make yourself generally agreeable to those women until then.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was, perhaps, part of this reaction which enabled him to obey his
+      hostess' commands with a certain recklessness that, however, seemed to be
+      in keeping with the previous Satanic reputation he had all unconsciously
+      achieved. The women listened to the cynical flippancy of this good-looking
+      soldier with an undisguised admiration which in turn excited curiosity and
+      envy from his own sex. He saw the whispered questioning, the lifted
+      eyebrows, scornful shrugging of shoulders&mdash;and knew that the story of
+      his disgrace was in the air. But I fear this only excited him to further
+      recklessness and triumph. Once he thought he recognized Miss Faulkner's
+      figure at a distance, and even fancied that she had been watching him; but
+      he only redoubled his attentions to the fair woman beside him, and looked
+      no more.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yet he was glad when the guests began to drop off, the great rooms
+      thinned, and Susy, appearing on the arm of her husband, coquettishly
+      reminded him of his promise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For I want to talk to you of old times. General Brant,&rdquo; she went on,
+      turning explanatorily to Boompointer, &ldquo;married my adopted mother in
+      California&mdash;at Robles, a dear old place where I spent my earliest
+      years. So, you see, we are sort of relations by marriage,&rdquo; she added, with
+      delightful naivete.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hooker's own vainglorious allusion to his relations to the man before him
+      flashed across Brant's mind, but it left now only a smile on his lips. He
+      felt he had already become a part of the irresponsible comedy played
+      around him. Why should he resist, or examine its ethics too closely? He
+      offered his arm to Susy as they descended the stairs, but, instead of
+      pausing in the supper-room, she simply passed through it with a
+      significant pressure on his arm, and, drawing aside a muslin curtain,
+      stepped into the moonlit conservatory. Behind the curtain there was a
+      small rustic settee; without releasing his arm she sat down, so that when
+      he dropped beside her, their hands met, and mutually clasped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Kla'uns,&rdquo; she said, with a slight, comfortable shiver as she nestled
+      beside him, &ldquo;it's a little like your chair down at old Robles, isn't it?&mdash;tell
+      me! And to think it's five years ago! But, Kla'uns, what's the matter? You
+      are changed,&rdquo; she said, looking at his dark face in the moonlight, &ldquo;or you
+      have something to tell me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And it's something dreadful, I know!&rdquo; she said, wrinkling her brows with
+      a pretty terror. &ldquo;Couldn't you pretend you had told it to me, and let us
+      go on just the same? Couldn't you, Kla'uns? Tell me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am afraid I couldn't,&rdquo; he said, with a sad smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it about yourself, Kla'uns? You know,&rdquo; she went on with cheerful
+      rapidity, &ldquo;I know everything about you&mdash;I always did, you know&mdash;and
+      I don't care, and never did care, and it don't, and never did, make the
+      slightest difference to me. So don't tell it, and waste time, Kla'uns.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's not about me, but about my wife!&rdquo; he said slowly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Her expression changed slightly
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, her!&rdquo; she said after a pause. Then, half-resignedly, &ldquo;Go on,
+      Kla'uns.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He began. He had a dozen times rehearsed to himself his miserable story,
+      always feeling it keenly, and even fearing that he might be carried away
+      by emotion or morbid sentiment in telling it to another. But, to his
+      astonishment, he found himself telling it practically, calmly, almost
+      cynically, to his old playmate, repressing the half devotion and even
+      tenderness that had governed him, from the time that his wife, disguised
+      as the mulatto woman, had secretly watched him at his office, to the hour
+      that he had passed through the lines. He withheld only the incident of
+      Miss Faulkner's complicity and sacrifice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And she got away, after having kicked you out of your place, Kla'uns?&rdquo;
+       said Susy, when he had ended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Clarence stiffened beside her. But he felt he had gone too far to quarrel
+      with his confidante.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She went away. I honestly believe we shall never meet again, or I should
+      not be telling you this!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Kla'uns,&rdquo; she said lightly, taking his hand again, &ldquo;don't you believe it!
+      She won't let you go. You're one of those men that a woman, when she's
+      once hooked on to, won't let go of, even when she believes she no longer
+      loves him, or meets bigger and better men. I reckon it's because you're so
+      different from other men; maybe there are so many different things about
+      you to hook on to, and you don't slip off as easily as the others. Now, if
+      you were like old Peyton, her first husband, or like poor Jim, or even my
+      Boompointer, you'd be all right! No, my boy, all we can do is to try to
+      keep her from getting at you here. I reckon she won't trust herself in
+      Washington again in a hurry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I cannot stay here; my career is in the field.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your career is alongside o' me, honey&mdash;and Boompointer. But nearer
+      ME. We'll fix all that. I heard something about your being in disgrace,
+      but the story was that you were sweet on some secesh girl down there, and
+      neglected your business, Kla'uns. But, Lordy! to think it was only your
+      own wife! Never mind; we'll straighten that out. We've had worse jobs than
+      that on. Why, there was that commissary who was buying up dead horses at
+      one end of the field, and selling them to the Government for mess beef at
+      the other; and there was that general who wouldn't make an attack when it
+      rained; and the other general&mdash;you know who I mean, Kla'uns&mdash;who
+      wouldn't invade the State where his sister lived; but we straightened them
+      out, somehow, and they were a heap worse than you. We'll get you a
+      position in the war department here, one of the bureau offices, where you
+      keep your rank and your uniform&mdash;you don't look bad in it, Kla'uns&mdash;on
+      better pay. And you'll come and see me, and we'll talk over old times.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant felt his heart turn sick within him. But he was at her mercy now! He
+      said, with an effort,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I've told you that my career&mdash;nay, my LIFE&mdash;now is in the
+      field.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you be a fool, Kla'uns, and leave it there! You have done your work
+      of fighting&mdash;mighty good fighting, too,&mdash;and everybody knows it.
+      You've earned a change. Let others take your place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He shuddered, as he remembered that his wife had made the same appeal. Was
+      he a fool then, and these two women&mdash;so totally unlike in everything&mdash;right
+      in this?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come, Kla'uns,&rdquo; said Susy, relapsing again against his shoulder. &ldquo;Now
+      talk to me! You don't say what you think of me, of my home, of my
+      furniture, of my position&mdash;even of him! Tell me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I find you well, prosperous, and happy,&rdquo; he said, with a faint smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that all? And how do I look?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned her still youthful, mischievous face towards him in the
+      moonlight. The witchery of her blue eyes was still there as of old, the
+      same frank irresponsibility beamed from them; her parted lips seemed to
+      give him back the breath of his youth. He started, but she did not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Susy, dear!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was her husband's voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I quite forgot,&rdquo; the Senator went on, as he drew the curtain aside, &ldquo;that
+      you are engaged with a friend; but Miss Faulkner is waiting to say
+      good-night, and I volunteered to find you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell her to wait a moment,&rdquo; said Susy, with an impatience that was as
+      undisguised as it was without embarrassment or confusion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Miss Faulkner, unconsciously following Mr. Boompointer, was already
+      upon them. For a moment the whole four were silent, although perfectly
+      composed. Senator Boompointer, unconscious of any infelicity in his
+      interruption, was calmly waiting. Clarence, opposed suddenly to the young
+      girl whom he believed was avoiding his recognition, rose, coldly
+      imperturbable. Miss Faulkner, looking taller and more erect in the long
+      folds of her satin cloak, neither paled nor blushed, as she regarded Susy
+      and Brant with a smile of well-bred apology.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I expect to leave Washington to-morrow, and may not be able to call
+      again,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;or I would not have so particularly pressed a
+      leave-taking upon you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was talking with my old friend, General Brant,&rdquo; said Susy, more by way
+      of introduction than apology.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant bowed. For an instant the clear eyes of Miss Faulkner slipped icily
+      across his as she made him an old-fashioned Southern courtesy, and, taking
+      Susy's arm, she left the room. Brant did not linger, but took leave of his
+      host almost in the same breath. At the front door a well-appointed
+      carriage of one of the Legations had just rolled into waiting. He looked
+      back; he saw Miss Faulkner, erect and looking like a bride in her gauzy
+      draperies, descending the stairs before the waiting servants. He felt his
+      heart beat strangely. He hesitated, recalled himself with an effort,
+      hurriedly stepped from the porch into the path, as he heard the carriage
+      door close behind him in the distance, and then felt the dust from her
+      horse's hoofs rise around him as she drove past him and away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III.
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Although Brant was convinced as soon as he left the house that he could
+      not accept anything from the Boompointer influence, and that his interview
+      with Susy was fruitless, he knew that he must temporize. While he did not
+      believe that his old playmate would willingly betray him, he was uneasy
+      when he thought of the vanity and impulsiveness which might compromise him&mdash;or
+      of a possible jealousy that might seek revenge. Yet he had no reason to
+      believe that Susy's nature was jealous, or that she was likely to have any
+      cause; but the fact remained that Miss Faulkner's innocent intrusion upon
+      their tete-a-tete affected him more strongly than anything else in his
+      interview with Susy. Once out of the atmosphere of that house, it struck
+      him, too, that Miss Faulkner was almost as much of an alien in it as
+      himself. He wondered what she had been doing there. Could it be possible
+      that she was obtaining information for the South? But he rejected the idea
+      as quickly as it had occurred to him. Perhaps there could be no stronger
+      proof of the unconscious influence the young girl already had over him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He remembered the liveries of the diplomatic carriage that had borne her
+      away, and ascertained without difficulty that her sister had married one
+      of the foreign ministers, and that she was a guest in his house. But he
+      was the more astonished to hear that she and her sister were considered to
+      be Southern Unionists&mdash;and were greatly petted in governmental
+      circles for their sacrificing fidelity to the flag. His informant, an
+      official in the State Department, added that Miss Matilda might have been
+      a good deal of a madcap at the outbreak of the war&mdash;for the sisters
+      had a brother in the Confederate service&mdash;but that she had changed
+      greatly, and, indeed, within a month. &ldquo;For,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;she was at the
+      White House for the first time last week, and they say the President
+      talked more to her than to any other woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The indescribable sensation with which this simple information filled
+      Brant startled him more than the news itself. Hope, joy, fear, distrust,
+      and despair, alternately distracted him. He recalled Miss Faulkner's
+      almost agonizing glance of appeal to him in the drawing-room at Susy's,
+      and it seemed to be equally consistent with the truth of what he had just
+      heard&mdash;or some monstrous treachery and deceit of which she might be
+      capable. Even now she might be a secret emissary of some spy within the
+      President's family; she might have been in correspondence with some
+      traitor in the Boompointer clique, and her imploring glance only the
+      result of a fear of exposure. Or, again, she might have truly recanted
+      after her escapade at Gray Oaks, and feared only his recollection of her
+      as go-between of spies. And yet both of these presumptions were
+      inconsistent with her conduct in the conservatory. It seemed impossible
+      that this impulsive woman, capable of doing what he had himself known her
+      to do, and equally sensitive to the shame or joy of such impulses, should
+      be the same conventional woman of society who had so coldly recognized and
+      parted from him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But this interval of doubt was transitory. The next day he received a
+      dispatch from the War Department, ordering him to report himself for duty
+      at once. With a beating heart he hurried to the Secretary. But that
+      official had merely left a memorandum with his assistant directing General
+      Brant to accompany some fresh levies to a camp of &ldquo;organization&rdquo; near the
+      front. Brant felt a chill of disappointment. Duties of this kind had been
+      left to dubious regular army veterans, hurriedly displaced general
+      officers, and favored detrimentals. But if it was not restoration, it was
+      no longer inaction, and it was at least a release from Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was also evidently the result of some influence&mdash;but hardly that
+      of the Boompointers, for he knew that Susy wished to keep him at the
+      Capital. Was there another power at work to send him away from Washington?
+      His previous doubts returned. Nor were they dissipated when the chief of
+      the bureau placed a letter before him with the remark that it had been
+      entrusted to him by a lady with the request that it should be delivered
+      only into his own hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She did not know your hotel address, but ascertained you were to call
+      here. She said it was of some importance. There is no mystery about it,
+      General,&rdquo; continued the official with a mischievous glance at Brant's
+      handsome, perplexed face, &ldquo;although it's from a very pretty woman&mdash;whom
+      we all know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mrs. Boompointer?&rdquo; suggested Brant, with affected lightness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a maladroit speech. The official's face darkened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We have not yet become a Postal Department for the Boompointers,
+      General,&rdquo; he said dryly, &ldquo;however great their influence elsewhere. It was
+      from rather a different style of woman&mdash;Miss Faulkner. You will
+      receive your papers later at your hotel, and leave to-night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant's unlucky slip was still potent enough to divert the official
+      attention, or he would have noticed the change in his visitor's face, and
+      the abruptness of his departure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once in the street, Brant tore off the envelope. But beneath it was
+      another, on which was written in a delicate, refined hand: &ldquo;Please do not
+      open this until you reach your destination.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she knew he was going! And perhaps this was her influence? All his
+      suspicions again returned. She knew he was going near the lines, and his
+      very appointment, through her power, might be a plot to serve her and the
+      enemy! Was this letter, which she was entrusting to him, the cover of some
+      missive to her Southern friends which she expected him to carry&mdash;perhaps
+      as a return for her own act of self-sacrifice? Was this the appeal she had
+      been making to his chivalry, his gratitude, his honor? The perspiration
+      stood in beads on his forehead. What defect lay hidden in his nature that
+      seemed to make him an easy victim of these intriguing women? He had not
+      even the excuse of gallantry; less susceptible to the potencies of the sex
+      than most men, he was still compelled to bear that reputation. He
+      remembered his coldness to Miss Faulkner in the first days of their
+      meeting, and her effect upon his subalterns. Why had she selected him from
+      among them&mdash;when she could have modeled the others like wax to her
+      purposes? Why? And yet with the question came a possible answer that he
+      hardly dared to think of&mdash;that in its very vagueness seemed to fill
+      him with a stimulating thrill and hopefulness. He quickened his pace. He
+      would take the letter, and yet be master of himself when the time came to
+      open it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That time came three days later, in his tent at Three Pines Crossing. As
+      he broke open the envelope, he was relieved to find that it contained no
+      other inclosure, and seemed intended only for himself. It began abruptly:&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When you read this, you will understand why I did not speak to you when
+      we met last night; why I even dreaded that you might speak to me, knowing,
+      as I did, what I ought to tell you at that place and moment&mdash;something
+      you could only know from me. I did not know you were in Washington,
+      although I knew you were relieved; I had no way of seeing you or sending
+      to you before, and I only came to Mrs. Boompointer's party in the hope of
+      hearing news of you.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know that my brother was captured by your pickets in company with
+      another officer. He thinks you suspected the truth&mdash;that he and his
+      friend were hovering near your lines to effect the escape of the spy. But
+      he says that, although they failed to help her, she did escape, or was
+      passed through the lines by your connivance. He says that you seemed to
+      know her, that from what Rose&mdash;the mulatto woman&mdash;told him, you
+      and she were evidently old friends. I would not speak of this, nor intrude
+      upon your private affairs, only that I think you ought to know that I had
+      no knowledge of it when I was in your house, but believed her to be a
+      stranger to you. You gave me no intimation that you knew her, and I
+      believed that you were frank with me. But I should not speak of this at
+      all&mdash;for I believe that it would have made no difference to me in
+      repairing the wrong that I thought I had done you&mdash;only that, as I am
+      forced by circumstances to tell you the terrible ending of this story, you
+      ought to know it all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My brother wrote to me that the evening after you left, the burying party
+      picked up the body of what they believed to be a mulatto woman lying on
+      the slope. It was not Rose, but the body of the very woman&mdash;the real
+      and only spy&mdash;whom you had passed through the lines. She was
+      accidentally killed by the Confederates in the first attack upon you, at
+      daybreak. But only my brother and his friend recognized her through her
+      blackened face and disguise, and on the plea that she was a servant of one
+      of their friends, they got permission from the division commander to take
+      her away, and she was buried by her friends and among her people in the
+      little cemetery of Three Pines Crossing, not far from where you have gone.
+      My brother thought that I ought to tell you this: it seems that he and his
+      friend had a strange sympathy for you in what they appear to know or guess
+      of your relations with that woman, and I think he was touched by what he
+      thought was your kindness and chivalry to him on account of his sister.
+      But I do not think he ever knew, or will know, how great is the task that
+      he has imposed upon me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know now, do you not, WHY I did not speak to you when we first met;
+      it seemed so impossible to do it in an atmosphere and a festivity that was
+      so incongruous with the dreadful message I was charged with. And when I
+      had to meet you later&mdash;perhaps I may have wronged you&mdash;but it
+      seemed to me that you were so preoccupied and interested with other things
+      that I might perhaps only be wearying you with something you cared little
+      for, or perhaps already knew and had quickly forgotten.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had been wanting to say something else to you when I had got rid of my
+      dreadful message. I do not know if you still care to hear it. But you were
+      once generous enough to think that I had done you a service in bringing a
+      letter to your commander. Although I know better than anybody else the
+      genuine devotion to your duty that made you accept my poor service, from
+      all that I can hear, you have never had the credit of it. Will you not try
+      me again? I am more in favor here, and I might yet be more successful in
+      showing your superiors how true you have been to your trust, even if you
+      have little faith in your friend, Matilda Faulkner.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      For a long time he remained motionless, with the letter in his hand. Then
+      he arose, ordered his horse, and galloped away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      There was little difficulty in finding the cemetery of Three Pines
+      Crossing&mdash;a hillside slope, hearsed with pine and cypress, and
+      starred with white crosses, that in the distance looked like flowers.
+      Still less was there in finding the newer marble shaft among the older
+      lichen-spotted slabs, which bore the simple words: &ldquo;Alice Benham, Martyr.&rdquo;
+       A few Confederate soldiers, under still plainer and newer wooden
+      headstones, carved only with initials, lay at her feet. Brant sank on his
+      knees beside the grave, but he was shocked to see that the base of the
+      marble was stained with the red pollen of the fateful lily, whose blossoms
+      had been heaped upon her mound, but whose fallen petals lay dark and
+      sodden in decay.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      How long he remained there he did not know. And then a solitary bugle from
+      the camp seemed to summon him, as it had once before summoned him, and he
+      went away&mdash;as he had gone before&mdash;to a separation that he now
+      knew was for all time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then followed a month of superintendence and drill, and the infusing into
+      the little camp under his instruction the spirit which seemed to be
+      passing out of his own life forever. Shut in by alien hills on the
+      borderland of the great struggle, from time to time reports reached him of
+      the bitter fighting, and almost disastrous successes of his old division
+      commander. Orders came from Washington to hurry the preparation of his raw
+      levies to the field, and a faint hope sprang up in his mind. But following
+      it came another dispatch ordering his return to the Capital.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He reached it with neither hope nor fear&mdash;so benumbed had become his
+      spirit under this last trial, and what seemed to be now the mockery of
+      this last sacrifice to his wife. Though it was no longer a question of her
+      life and safety, he knew that he could still preserve her memory from
+      stain by keeping her secret, even though its divulgings might clear his
+      own. For that reason, he had even hesitated to inform Susy of her death,
+      in the fear that, in her thoughtless irresponsibility and impulsiveness,
+      she might be tempted to use it in his favor. He had made his late
+      appointment a plea for her withholding any present efforts to assist him.
+      He even avoided the Boompointers' house, in what he believed was partly a
+      duty to the memory of his wife. But he saw no inconsistency in
+      occasionally extending his lonely walks to the vicinity of a foreign
+      Legation, or in being lifted with a certain expectation at the sight of
+      its liveries on the Avenue. There was a craving for sympathy in his heart,
+      which Miss Faulkner's letter had awakened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meantime, he had reported himself for duty at the War Department&mdash;with
+      little hope, however, in that formality. But he was surprised the next day
+      when the chief of the bureau informed him that his claim was before the
+      President.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was not aware that I had presented any claim,&rdquo; he said, a little
+      haughtily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bureau chief looked up with some surprise. This quiet, patient,
+      reserved man had puzzled him once or twice before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps I should say 'case,' General,&rdquo; he said, drily. &ldquo;But the personal
+      interest of the highest executive in the land strikes me as being
+      desirable in anything.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I only mean that I have obeyed the orders of the department in reporting
+      myself here, as I have done,&rdquo; said Brant, with less feeling, but none the
+      less firmness; &ldquo;and I should imagine it was not the duty of a soldier to
+      question them. Which I fancy a 'claim' or a 'case' would imply.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had no idea of taking this attitude before, but the disappointments of
+      the past month, added to this first official notice of his disgrace, had
+      brought forward that dogged, reckless, yet half-scornful obstinacy that
+      was part of his nature.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The official smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I suppose, then, you are waiting to hear from the President,&rdquo; he said
+      drily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am awaiting orders from the department,&rdquo; returned Brant quietly, &ldquo;but
+      whether they originate in the President as commander-in-chief, or not&mdash;it
+      is not for me to inquire.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Even when he reached his hotel this half-savage indifference which had
+      taken the place of his former incertitude had not changed. It seemed to
+      him that he had reached the crisis of his life where he was no longer a
+      free agent, and could wait, superior alike to effort or expectation. And
+      it was with a merely dispassionate curiosity that he found a note the next
+      morning from the President's private secretary, informing him that the
+      President would see him early that day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A few hours later he was ushered through the public rooms of the White
+      House to a more secluded part of the household. The messenger stopped
+      before a modest door and knocked. It was opened by a tall figure&mdash;the
+      President himself. He reached out a long arm to Brant, who stood
+      hesitatingly on the threshold, grasped his hand, and led him into the
+      room. It had a single, large, elaborately draped window and a handsome
+      medallioned carpet, which contrasted with the otherwise almost appalling
+      simplicity of the furniture. A single plain angular desk, with a blotting
+      pad and a few sheets of large foolscap upon it, a waste-paper basket and
+      four plain armchairs, completed the interior with a contrast as simple and
+      homely as its long-limbed, black-coated occupant. Releasing the hand of
+      the general to shut a door which opened into another apartment, the
+      President shoved an armchair towards him and sank somewhat wearily into
+      another before the desk. But only for a moment; the long shambling limbs
+      did not seem to adjust themselves easily to the chair; the high narrow
+      shoulders drooped to find a more comfortable lounging attitude, shifted
+      from side to side, and the long legs moved dispersedly. Yet the face that
+      was turned towards Brant was humorous and tranquil.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was told I should have to send for you if I wished to see you,&rdquo; he said
+      smilingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Already mollified, and perhaps again falling under the previous influence
+      of this singular man, Brant began somewhat hesitatingly to explain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the President checked him gently,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You don't understand. It was something new to my experience here to find
+      an able-bodied American citizen with an honest genuine grievance who had
+      to have it drawn from him like a decayed tooth. But you have been here
+      before. I seem to remember your face.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant's reserve had gone. He admitted that he had twice sought an audience&mdash;but&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You dodged the dentist! That was wrong.&rdquo; As Brant made a slight movement
+      of deprecation the President continued: &ldquo;I understand! Not from fear of
+      giving pain to yourself but to others. I don't know that THAT is right,
+      either. A certain amount of pain must be suffered in this world&mdash;even
+      by one's enemies. Well, I have looked into your case, General Brant.&rdquo; He
+      took up a piece of paper from his desk, scrawled with two or three notes
+      in pencil. &ldquo;I think this is the way it stands. You were commanding a
+      position at Gray Oaks when information was received by the department
+      that, either through neglect or complicity, spies were passing through
+      your lines. There was no attempt to prove your neglect; your orders, the
+      facts of your personal care and precaution, were all before the
+      department. But it was also shown that your wife, from whom you were only
+      temporarily separated, was a notorious secessionist; that, before the war,
+      you yourself were suspected, and that, therefore, you were quite capable
+      of evading your own orders, which you may have only given as a blind. On
+      this information you were relieved by the department of your command.
+      Later on it was discovered that the spy was none other than your own wife,
+      disguised as a mulatto; that, after her arrest by your own soldiers, you
+      connived at her escape&mdash;and this was considered conclusive proof of&mdash;well,
+      let us say&mdash;your treachery.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I did not know it was my wife until she was arrested,&rdquo; said Brant
+      impulsively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President knitted his eyebrows humorously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't let us travel out of the record, General. You're as bad as the
+      department. The question was one of your personal treachery, but you need
+      not accept the fact that you were justly removed because your wife was a
+      spy. Now, General, I am an old lawyer, and I don't mind telling you that
+      in Illinois we wouldn't hang a yellow dog on that evidence before the
+      department. But when I was asked to look into the matter by your friends,
+      I discovered something of more importance to you. I had been trying to
+      find a scrap of evidence that would justify the presumption that you had
+      sent information to the enemy. I found that it was based upon the fact of
+      the enemy being in possession of knowledge at the first battle at Gray
+      Oaks, which could only have been obtained from our side, and which led to
+      a Federal disaster; that you, however, retrieved by your gallantry. I then
+      asked the secretary if he was prepared to show that you had sent the
+      information with that view, or that you had been overtaken by a tardy
+      sense of repentance. He preferred to consider my suggestion as humorous.
+      But the inquiry led to my further discovery that the only treasonable
+      correspondence actually in evidence was found upon the body of a trusted
+      Federal officer, and had been forwarded to the division commander. But
+      there was no record of it in the case.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, I forwarded it myself,&rdquo; said Brant eagerly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So the division commander writes,&rdquo; said the President, smiling, &ldquo;and he
+      forwarded it to the department. But it was suppressed in some way. Have
+      you any enemies, General Brant?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not that I know of.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you probably have. You are young and successful. Think of the
+      hundred other officers who naturally believe themselves better than you
+      are, and haven't a traitorous wife. Still, the department may have made an
+      example of you for the benefit of the only man who couldn't profit by it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Might it not have been, sir, that this suppression was for the good
+      report of the service&mdash;as the chief offender was dead?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am glad to hear you say so, General, for it is the argument I have used
+      successfully in behalf of your wife.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you know it all, sir?&rdquo; said Brant after a gloomy pause.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All, I think. Come, General, you seemed just now to be uncertain about
+      your enemies. Let me assure you, you need not be so in regard to your
+      friends.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I dare to hope I have found one, sir,&rdquo; said Brant with almost boyish
+      timidity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, not me!&rdquo; said the President, with a laugh of deprecation. &ldquo;Some one
+      much more potent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;May I know his name, Mr. President?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, for it is a woman. You were nearly ruined by one, General. I suppose
+      it's quite right that you should be saved by one. And, of course,
+      irregularly.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A woman!&rdquo; echoed Brant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; one who was willing to confess herself a worse spy than your wife&mdash;a
+      double traitor&mdash;to save you! Upon my word, General, I don't know if
+      the department was far wrong; a man with such an alternately unsettling
+      and convincing effect upon a woman's highest political convictions should
+      be under some restraint. Luckily the department knows nothing of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nor would any one else have known from me,&rdquo; said Brant eagerly. &ldquo;I trust
+      that she did not think&mdash;that you, sir, did not for an instant believe
+      that I&rdquo;&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh dear, no! Nobody would have believed you! It was her free confidence
+      to me. That was what made the affair so difficult to handle. For even her
+      bringing your dispatch to the division commander looked bad for you; and
+      you know he even doubted its authenticity.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Does she&mdash;does Miss Faulkner know the spy was my wife?&rdquo; hesitated
+      Brant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The President twisted himself in his chair, so as to regard Brant more
+      gravely with his deep-set eyes, and then thoughtfully rubbed his leg.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't let us travel out of the record, General,&rdquo; he said after a pause.
+      But as the color surged into Brant's cheek he raised his eyes to the
+      ceiling, and said, in half-humorous recollection,&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, I think THAT fact was first gathered from your other friend&mdash;Mr.
+      Hooker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hooker!&rdquo; said Brant, indignantly; &ldquo;did he come here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pray don't destroy my faith in Mr. Hooker, General,&rdquo; said the President,
+      in half-weary, half-humorous deprecation. &ldquo;Don't tell me that any of his
+      inventions are TRUE! Leave me at least that magnificent liar&mdash;the one
+      perfectly intelligible witness you have. For from the time that he first
+      appeared here with a grievance and a claim for a commission, he has been
+      an unspeakable joy to me and a convincing testimony to you. Other
+      witnesses have been partisans and prejudiced; Mr. Hooker was frankly true
+      to himself. How else should I have known of the care you took to disguise
+      yourself, save the honor of your uniform, and run the risk of being shot
+      as an unknown spy at your wife's side, except from his magnificent version
+      of HIS part in it? How else should I have known the story of your
+      discovery of the Californian conspiracy, except from his supreme portrayal
+      of it, with himself as the hero? No, you must not forget to thank Mr.
+      Hooker when you meet him. Miss Faulkner is at present more accessible; she
+      is calling on some members of my family in the next room. Shall I leave
+      you with her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Brant rose with a pale face and a quickly throbbing heart as the
+      President, glancing at the clock, untwisted himself from the chair, and
+      shook himself out full length, and rose gradually to his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your wish for active service is granted, General Brant,&rdquo; he said slowly,
+      &ldquo;and you will at once rejoin your old division commander, who is now at
+      the head of the Tenth Army Corps. But,&rdquo; he said, after a deliberate pause,
+      &ldquo;there are certain rules and regulations of your service that even I
+      cannot, with decent respect to your department, override. You will,
+      therefore, understand that you cannot rejoin the army in your former
+      position.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The slight flush that came to Brant's cheek quickly passed. And there was
+      only the unmistakable sparkle of renewed youth in his frank eyes as he
+      said&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let me go to the front again, Mr. President, and I care not HOW.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The President smiled, and, laying his heavy hand on Brant's shoulder,
+      pushed him gently towards the door of the inner room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was only about to say,&rdquo; he added, as he opened the door, &ldquo;that it would
+      be necessary for you to rejoin your promoted commander as a major-general.
+      And,&rdquo; he continued, lifting his voice, as he gently pushed his guest into
+      the room, &ldquo;he hasn't even thanked me for it, Miss Faulkner!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The door closed behind him, and he stood for a moment dazed, and still
+      hearing the distant voice of the President, in the room he had just
+      quitted, now welcoming a new visitor. But the room before him, opening
+      into a conservatory, was empty, save for a single figure that turned, half
+      timidly, half mischievously, towards him. The same quick, sympathetic
+      glance was in both their faces; the same timid, happy look in both their
+      eyes. He moved quickly to her side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then you knew that&mdash;that&mdash;woman was my wife?&rdquo; he said,
+      hurriedly, as he grasped her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She cast a half-appealing look at his face&mdash;a half-frightened one
+      around the room and at the open door beyond.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us,&rdquo; she said faintly, &ldquo;go into the conservatory.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      It is but a few years ago that the veracious chronicler of these pages
+      moved with a wondering crowd of sightseers in the gardens of the White
+      House. The war cloud had long since lifted and vanished; the Potomac
+      flowed peacefully by and on to where once lay the broad plantation of a
+      great Confederate leader&mdash;now a national cemetery that had gathered
+      the soldier dead of both sections side by side in equal rest and honor&mdash;and
+      the great goddess once more looked down serenely from the dome of the
+      white Capitol. The chronicler's attention was attracted by an erect,
+      handsome soldierly-looking man, with a beard and moustache slightly
+      streaked with gray, pointing out the various objects of interest to a boy
+      of twelve or fourteen at his side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; although, as I told you, this house belongs only to the President of
+      the United States and his family,&rdquo; said the gentleman, smilingly, &ldquo;in that
+      little conservatory I proposed to your mother.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Clarence, how can you!&rdquo; said the lady, reprovingly, &ldquo;you know it was
+      LONG after that!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Clarence, by Bret Harte
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLARENCE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 2635-h.htm or 2635-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/3/2635/
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase &ldquo;Project
+Gutenberg&rdquo;), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (&ldquo;the Foundation&rdquo;
+ or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; appears, or with which the phrase &ldquo;Project
+Gutenberg&rdquo; is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+&ldquo;Plain Vanilla ASCII&rdquo; or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original &ldquo;Plain Vanilla ASCII&rdquo; or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, &ldquo;Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.&rdquo;
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+&ldquo;Defects,&rdquo; such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the &ldquo;Right
+of Replacement or Refund&rdquo; described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/2635.txt b/2635.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0c1f336
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2635.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5902 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Clarence, by Bret Harte
+
+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: Clarence
+
+Author: Bret Harte
+
+Release Date: May 21, 2006 [EBook #2635]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLARENCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson
+
+
+
+
+
+CLARENCE
+
+
+By Bret Harte
+
+
+
+
+PART I.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+
+As Clarence Brant, President of the Robles Land Company, and husband of
+the rich widow of John Peyton, of the Robles Ranche, mingled with the
+outgoing audience of the Cosmopolitan Theatre, at San Francisco, he
+elicited the usual smiling nods and recognition due to his good
+looks and good fortune. But as he hurriedly slipped through the still
+lingering winter's rain into the smart coupe that was awaiting him, and
+gave the order "Home," the word struck him with a peculiarly ironical
+significance. His home was a handsome one, and lacked nothing in
+appointment and comfort, but he had gone to the theatre to evade its
+hollow loneliness. Nor was it because his wife was not there, for he had
+a miserable consciousness that her temporary absence had nothing to do
+with his homelessness. The distraction of the theatre over, that dull,
+vague, but aching sense of loneliness which was daily growing upon him
+returned with greater vigor.
+
+He leaned back in the coupe and gloomily reflected.
+
+He had been married scarcely a year, yet even in the illusions of
+the honeymoon the woman, older than himself, and the widow of his old
+patron, had half unconsciously reasserted herself, and slipped back
+into the domination of her old position. It was at first pleasant
+enough,--this half-maternal protectorate which is apt to mingle even
+with the affections of younger women,--and Clarence, in his easy,
+half-feminine intuition of the sex, yielded, as the strong are apt to
+yield, through the very consciousness of their own superiority. But this
+is a quality the weaker are not apt to recognize, and the woman who
+has once tasted equal power with her husband not only does not easily
+relegate it, but even makes its continuance a test of the affections.
+The usual triumphant feminine conclusion, "Then you no longer love me,"
+had in Clarence's brief experience gone even further and reached its
+inscrutable climax, "Then I no longer love you," although shown only in
+a momentary hardening of the eye and voice. And added to this was his
+sudden, but confused remembrance that he had seen that eye and heard
+that voice in marital altercation during Judge Peyton's life, and that
+he himself, her boy partisan, had sympathized with her. Yet, strange to
+say, this had given him more pain than her occasional other reversions
+to the past--to her old suspicious of him when he was a youthful protege
+of her husband and a presumed suitor of her adopted daughter Susy.
+High natures are more apt to forgive wrong done to themselves than any
+abstract injustice. And her capricious tyranny over her dependents and
+servants, or an unreasoning enmity to a neighbor or friend, outraged his
+finer sense more than her own misconception of himself. Nor did he dream
+that this was a thing most women seldom understand, or, understanding,
+ever forgive.
+
+The coupe rattled over the stones or swirled through the muddy pools
+of the main thoroughfares. Newspaper and telegraphic offices were still
+brilliantly lit, and crowds were gathered among the bulletin boards.
+He knew that news had arrived from Washington that evening of the first
+active outbreaks of secession, and that the city was breathless with
+excitement. Had he not just come from the theatre, where certain
+insignificant allusions in the play had been suddenly caught up
+and cheered or hissed by hitherto unknown partisans, to the dumb
+astonishment of a majority of the audience comfortably settled to
+money-getting and their own affairs alone? Had he not applauded, albeit
+half-scornfully, the pretty actress--his old playmate Susy--who had
+audaciously and all incongruously waved the American flag in their
+faces? Yes! he had known it; had lived for the last few weeks in an
+atmosphere electrically surcharged with it--and yet it had chiefly
+affected him in his personal homelessness. For his wife was a
+Southerner, a born slaveholder, and a secessionist, whose noted
+prejudices to the North had even outrun her late husband's politics. At
+first the piquancy and recklessness of her opinionative speech amused
+him as part of her characteristic flavor, or as a lingering youthfulness
+which the maturer intellect always pardons. He had never taken her
+politics seriously--why should he? With her head on his shoulder he had
+listened to her extravagant diatribes against the North. He had forgiven
+her outrageous indictment of his caste and his associates for the sake
+of the imperious but handsome lips that uttered it. But when he was
+compelled to listen to her words echoed and repeated by her friends and
+family; when he found that with the clannishness of her race she had
+drawn closer to them in this controversy,--that she depended upon them
+for her intelligence and information rather than upon him,--he had
+awakened to the reality of his situation. He had borne the allusions
+of her brother, whose old scorn for his dependent childhood had been
+embittered by his sister's marriage and was now scarcely concealed. Yet,
+while he had never altered his own political faith and social creed
+in this antagonistic atmosphere, he had often wondered, with his old
+conscientiousness and characteristic self-abnegation, whether his own
+political convictions were not merely a revulsion from his domestic
+tyranny and alien surroundings.
+
+In the midst of this gloomy retrospect the coupe stopped with a jerk
+before his own house. The door was quickly opened by a servant, who
+appeared to be awaiting him.
+
+"Some one to see you in the library, sir," said the man, "and"--He
+hesitated and looked towards the coupe.
+
+"Well?" said Clarence impatiently.
+
+"He said, sir, as how you were not to send away the carriage."
+
+"Indeed, and who is it?" demanded Clarence sharply.
+
+"Mr. Hooker. He said I was to say Jim Hooker."
+
+The momentary annoyance in Clarence's face changed to a look of
+reflective curiosity.
+
+"He said he knew you were at the theatre, and he would wait until you
+came home," continued the man, dubiously watching his master's face. "He
+don't know you've come in, sir, and--and I can easily get rid of him."
+
+"No matter now. I'll see him, and," added Clarence, with a faint smile,
+"let the carriage wait."
+
+Yet, as he turned towards the library he was by no means certain that
+an interview with the old associate of his boyhood under Judge Peyton's
+guardianship would divert his mind. Yet he let no trace of his doubts
+nor of his past gloom show in his face as he entered the room.
+
+Mr. Hooker was apparently examining the elegant furniture and luxurious
+accommodation with his usual resentful enviousness. Clarence had got a
+"soft thing." That it was more or less the result of his "artfulness,"
+and that he was unduly "puffed up" by it, was, in Hooker's
+characteristic reasoning, equally clear. As his host smilingly advanced
+with outstretched hand, Mr. Hooker's efforts to assume a proper
+abstraction of manner and contemptuous indifference to Clarence's
+surroundings which should wound his vanity ended in his lolling back at
+full length in the chair with his eyes on the ceiling. But, remembering
+suddenly that he was really the bearer of a message to Clarence, it
+struck him that his supine position was, from a theatrical view-point,
+infelicitous. In his experiences of the stage he had never delivered a
+message in that way. He rose awkwardly to his feet.
+
+"It was so good of you to wait," said Clarence courteously.
+
+"Saw you in the theatre," said Hooker brusquely. "Third row in parquet.
+Susy said it was you, and had suthin' to say to you. Suthin' you ought
+to know," he continued, with a slight return of his old mystery of
+manner which Clarence so well remembered. "You saw HER--she fetched the
+house with that flag business, eh? She knows which way the cat is
+going to jump, you bet. I tell you, for all the blowing of these
+secessionists, the Union's goin' to pay! Yes, sir!" He stopped, glanced
+round the handsome room, and added darkly, "Mebbee better than this."
+
+With the memory of Hooker's characteristic fondness for mystery still in
+his mind, Clarence overlooked the innuendo, and said smilingly,--
+
+"Why didn't you bring Mrs. Hooker here? I should have been honored with
+her company."
+
+Mr. Hooker frowned slightly at this seeming levity.
+
+"Never goes out after a performance. Nervous exhaustion. Left her at our
+rooms in Market Street. We can drive there in ten minutes. That's why I
+asked to have the carriage wait."
+
+Clarence hesitated. Without caring in the least to renew the
+acquaintance of his old playmate and sweetheart, a meeting that night
+in some vague way suggested to him a providential diversion. Nor was he
+deceived by any gravity in the message. With his remembrance of Susy's
+theatrical tendencies, he was quite prepared for any capricious futile
+extravagance.
+
+"You are sure we will not disturb her?" he said politely.
+
+"No."
+
+Clarence led the way to the carriage. If Mr. Hooker expected him during
+the journey to try to divine the purport of Susy's message he was
+disappointed. His companion did not allude to it. Possibly looking upon
+it as a combined theatrical performance, Clarence preferred to wait for
+Susy as the better actor. The carriage rolled rapidly through the now
+deserted streets, and at last, under the directions of Mr. Hooker,
+who was leaning half out of the window, it drew up at a middle-class
+restaurant, above whose still lit and steaming windows were some
+ostentatiously public apartments, accessible from a side entrance. As
+they ascended the staircase together, it became evident that Mr. Hooker
+was scarcely more at his ease in the character of host than he had been
+as guest. He stared gloomily at a descending visitor, grunted audibly
+at a waiter in the passage, and stopped before a door, where a recently
+deposited tray displayed the half-eaten carcase of a fowl, an empty
+champagne bottle, two half-filled glasses, and a faded bouquet. The
+whole passage was redolent with a singular blending of damp cooking,
+stale cigarette smoke, and patchouli.
+
+Putting the tray aside with his foot, Mr. Hooker opened the door
+hesitatingly and peered into the room, muttered a few indistinct words,
+which were followed by a rapid rustling of skirts, and then, with his
+hand still on the door-knob, turning to Clarence, who had discreetly
+halted on the threshold, flung the door open theatrically and bade him
+enter.
+
+"She is somewhere in the suite," he added, with a large wave of the hand
+towards a door that was still oscillating. "Be here in a minit."
+
+Clarence took in the apartment with a quiet glance. Its furniture had
+the frayed and discolored splendors of a public parlor which had
+been privately used and maltreated; there were stains in the large
+medallioned carpet; the gilded veneer had been chipped from a heavy
+centre table, showing the rough, white deal beneath, which gave it the
+appearance of a stage "property;" the walls, paneled with gilt-framed
+mirrors, reflected every domestic detail or private relaxation with
+shameless publicity. A damp waterproof, shawl, and open newspaper were
+lying across the once brilliant sofa; a powder-puff, a plate of fruit,
+and a play-book were on the centre table, and on the marble-topped
+sideboard was Mr. Hooker's second-best hat, with a soiled collar,
+evidently but lately exchanged for the one he had on, peeping over its
+brim. The whole apartment seemed to mingle the furtive disclosures of
+the dressing-room with the open ostentations of the stage, with even a
+slight suggestion of the auditorium in a few scattered programmes on the
+floor and chairs.
+
+The inner door opened again with a slight theatrical start, and Susy,
+in an elaborate dressing-gown, moved languidly into the room. She
+apparently had not had time to change her underskirt, for there was the
+dust of the stage on its delicate lace edging, as she threw herself into
+an armchair and crossed her pretty slippered feet before her. Her face
+was pale, its pallor incautiously increased by powder; and as Clarence
+looked at its still youthful, charming outline, he was not perhaps
+sorry that the exquisite pink and white skin beneath, which he had once
+kissed, was hidden from that awakened recollection. Yet there was little
+trace of the girlish Susy in the pretty, but prematurely jaded, actress
+before him, and he felt momentarily relieved. It was her youth and
+freshness appealing to his own youth and imagination that he had
+loved--not HER. Yet as she greeted him with a slight exaggeration of
+glance, voice, and manner, he remembered that even as a girl she was an
+actress.
+
+Nothing of this, however, was in his voice and manner as he gently
+thanked her for the opportunity of meeting her again. And he was frank,
+for the diversion he had expected he had found; he even was conscious of
+thinking more kindly of his wife who had supplanted her.
+
+"I told Jim he must fetch you if he had to carry you," she said,
+striking the palm of her hand with her fan, and glancing at her husband.
+"I reckon he guessed WHY, though I didn't tell him--I don't tell Jim
+EVERYTHING."
+
+Here Jim rose, and looking at his watch, "guessed he'd run over to the
+Lick House and get some cigars." If he was acting upon some hint from
+his wife, his simulation was so badly done that Clarence felt his
+first sense of uneasiness. But as Hooker closed the door awkwardly and
+unostentatiously behind him, Clarence smilingly said he had waited to
+hear the message from her own lips.
+
+"Jim only knows what he's heard outside: the talk of men, you know,--and
+he hears a good deal of that--more, perhaps, than YOU do. It was that
+which put me up to finding out the truth. And I didn't rest till I did.
+I'm not to be fooled, Clarence,--you don't mind my calling you Clarence
+now we're both married and done for,--and I'm not the kind to be fooled
+by anybody from the Cow counties--and that's the Robles Ranche. I'm a
+Southern woman myself from Missouri, but I'm for the Union first, last,
+and all the time, and I call myself a match for any lazy, dawdling,
+lash-swinging slaveholder and slaveholderess--whether they're mixed
+blood, Heaven only knows, or what--or their friends or relations, or
+the dirty half-Spanish grandees and their mixed half-nigger peons who
+truckle to them. You bet!"
+
+His blood had stirred quickly at the mention of the Robles Ranche,
+but the rest of Susy's speech was too much in the vein of her old
+extravagance to touch him seriously. He found himself only considering
+how strange it was that the old petulance and impulsiveness of her
+girlhood were actually bringing back with them her pink cheeks and
+brilliant eyes.
+
+"You surely didn't ask Jim to bring me here," he said smilingly, "to
+tell me that Mrs. Peyton"--he corrected himself hastily as a malicious
+sparkle came into Susy's blue eyes--"that my wife was a Southern woman,
+and probably sympathized with her class? Well, I don't know that I
+should blame her for that any more than she should blame me for being a
+Northern man and a Unionist."
+
+"And she doesn't blame you?" asked Susy sneeringly.
+
+The color came slightly to Clarence's cheek, but before he could reply
+the actress added,--
+
+"No, she prefers to use you!"
+
+"I don't think I understand you," said Clarence, rising coldly.
+
+"No, you don't understand HER!" retorted Susy sharply. "Look here,
+Clarence Brant, you're right; I didn't ask you here to tell you--what
+you and everybody knows--that your wife is a Southerner. I didn't ask
+you here to tell you what everybody suspects--that she turns you round
+her little finger. But I did ask you here to tell you what nobody,
+not even you, suspects--but what I know!--and that is that she's a
+TRAITOR--and more, a SPY!--and that I've only got to say the word,
+or send that man Jim to say the word, to have her dragged out of her
+Copperhead den at Robles Ranche and shut up in Fort Alcatraz this very
+night!"
+
+Still with the pink glowing in her rounding cheek, and eyes snapping
+like splintered sapphires, she rose to her feet, with her pretty
+shoulders lifted, her small hands and white teeth both tightly
+clenched, and took a step towards him. Even in her attitude there was a
+reminiscence of her willful childhood, although still blended with
+the provincial actress whom he had seen on the stage only an hour ago.
+Thoroughly alarmed at her threat, in his efforts to conceal his feelings
+he was not above a weak retaliation. Stepping back, he affected to
+regard her with a critical admiration that was only half simulated, and
+said with a smile,--
+
+"Very well done--but you have forgotten the flag."
+
+She did not flinch. Rather accepting the sarcasm as a tribute to her
+art, she went on with increasing exaggeration: "No, it is YOU who
+have forgotten the flag--forgotten your country, your people, your
+manhood--everything for that high-toned, double-dyed old spy and
+traitress! For while you are standing here, your wife is gathering under
+her roof at Robles a gang of spies and traitors like herself--secession
+leaders and their bloated, drunken 'chivalry'! Yes, you may smile your
+superior smile, but I tell you, Clarence Brant, that with all your
+smartness and book learning you know no more of what goes on around you
+than a child. But others do! This conspiracy is known to the government,
+the Federal officers have been warned; General Sumner has been sent out
+here--and his first act was to change the command at Fort Alcatraz, and
+send your wife's Southern friend--Captain Pinckney--to the right about!
+Yes--everything is known but ONE thing, and that is WHERE and HOW this
+precious crew meet! That I alone know, and that I've told you!"
+
+"And I suppose," said Clarence, with an unchanged smile, "that this
+valuable information came from your husband--my old friend, Jim Hooker?"
+
+"No," she answered sharply, "it comes from Cencho--one of your own
+peons--who is more true to you and the old Rancho than YOU have ever
+been. He saw what was going on, and came to me, to warn you!"
+
+"But why not to me directly?" asked Clarence, with affected incredulity.
+
+"Ask him!" she said viciously. "Perhaps he didn't want to warn the
+master against the mistress. Perhaps he thought WE are still friends.
+Perhaps"--she hesitated with a lower voice and a forced smile--"perhaps
+he used to see us together in the old times."
+
+"Very likely," said Clarence quietly. "And for the sake of those old
+times, Susy," he went on, with a singular gentleness that was quite
+distinct from his paling face and set eyes, "I am going to forget all
+that you have just said of me and mine, in all the old willfulness and
+impatience that I see you still keep--with all your old prettiness." He
+took his hat from the table and gravely held out his hand.
+
+She was frightened for a moment with his impassive abstraction. In
+the old days she had known it--had believed it was his dogged
+"obstinacy"--but she knew the hopelessness of opposing it. Yet with
+feminine persistency she again threw herself against it, as against a
+wall.
+
+"You don't believe me! Well, go and see for yourself. They are at Robles
+NOW. If you catch the early morning stage at Santa Clara you will come
+upon them before they disperse. Dare you try it?"
+
+"Whatever I do," he returned smilingly, "I shall always be grateful to
+you for giving me this opportunity of seeing you again AS YOU WERE. Make
+my excuses to your husband. Good-night."
+
+"Clarence!"
+
+But he had already closed the door behind him. His face did not relax
+its expression nor change as he looked again at the tray with its broken
+viands before the door, the worn, stained hall carpet, or the waiter who
+shuffled past him. He was apparently as critically conscious of them and
+of the close odors of the hall, and the atmosphere of listless decay and
+faded extravagance around him, as before the interview. But if the woman
+he had just parted from had watched him she would have supposed he still
+utterly disbelieved her story. Yet he was conscious that all that he saw
+was a part of his degradation, for he had believed every word she had
+uttered. Through all her extravagance, envy, and revengefulness he saw
+the central truth--that he had been deceived--not by his wife, but by
+himself! He had suspected all this before. This was what had been really
+troubling him--this was what he had put aside, rather than his faith,
+not in her, but in his ideal. He remembered letters that had passed
+between her and Captain Pinckney--letters that she had openly sent to
+notorious Southern leaders; her nervous anxiety to remain at the Rancho;
+the innuendoes and significant glances of friends which he had put
+aside--as he had this woman's message! Susy had told him nothing new of
+his wife--but the truth of HIMSELF! And the revelation came from people
+who he was conscious were the inferiors of himself and his wife. To an
+independent, proud, and self-made man it was the culminating stroke.
+
+In the same abstracted voice he told the coachman to drive home. The
+return seemed interminable--though he never shifted his position. Yet
+when he drew up at his own door and looked at his watch he found he
+had been absent only half an hour. Only half an hour! As he entered the
+house he turned with the same abstraction towards a mirror in the hall,
+as if he expected to see some outward and visible change in himself
+in that time. Dismissing his servants to bed, he went into his
+dressing-room, completely changed his attire, put on a pair of long
+riding-boots, and throwing a serape over his shoulders, paused a moment,
+took a pair of small "Derringer" pistols from a box, put them in his
+pockets, and then slipped cautiously down the staircase. A lack of
+confidence in his own domestics had invaded him for the first time. The
+lights were out. He silently opened the door and was in the street.
+
+He walked hastily a few squares to a livery stable whose proprietor he
+knew. His first inquiry was for one "Redskin," a particular horse; the
+second for its proprietor. Happily both were in. The proprietor asked no
+question of a customer of Clarence's condition. The horse, half Spanish,
+powerful and irascible, was quickly saddled. As Clarence mounted, the
+man in an impulse of sociability said,--
+
+"Saw you at the theatre to-night, sir."
+
+"Ah," returned Clarence, quietly gathering up the reins.
+
+"Rather a smart trick of that woman with the flag," he went on
+tentatively. Then, with a possible doubt of his customer's politics, he
+added with a forced smile, "I reckon it's all party fuss, though; there
+ain't any real danger."
+
+But fast as Clarence might ride the words lingered in his ears. He saw
+through the man's hesitation; he, too, had probably heard that Clarence
+Brant weakly sympathized with his wife's sentiments, and dared not speak
+fully. And he understood the cowardly suggestion that there was "no real
+danger." It had been Clarence's one fallacy. He had believed the public
+excitement was only a temporary outbreak of partisan feeling, soon to
+subside. Even now he was conscious that he was less doubtful of the
+integrity of the Union than of his own household. It was not the
+devotion of the patriot, but the indignation of an outraged husband,
+that was spurring him on.
+
+He knew that if he reached Woodville by five o'clock he could get
+ferried across the bay at the Embarcadero, and catch the down coach to
+Fair Plains, whence he could ride to the Rancho. As the coach did not
+connect directly with San Francisco, the chance of his surprising them
+was greater. Once clear of the city outskirts, he bullied Redskin into
+irascible speed, and plunged into the rainy darkness of the highroad.
+The way was familiar. For a while he was content to feel the buffeting,
+caused by his rapid pace, of wind and rain against his depressed head
+and shoulders in a sheer brutal sense of opposition and power, or to
+relieve his pent-up excitement by dashing through overflowed gullies in
+the road or across the quaggy, sodden edges of meadowland, until he had
+controlled Redskin's rebellious extravagance into a long steady stride.
+Then he raised his head and straightened himself on the saddle, to
+think. But to no purpose. He had no plan; everything would depend
+upon the situation; the thought of forestalling any action of the
+conspirators, by warning or calling in the aid of the authorities, for
+an instant crossed his mind, but was as instantly dismissed. He had but
+an instinct--to see with his own eyes what his reason told him was true.
+Day was breaking through drifting scud and pewter-colored clouds as he
+reached Woodville ferry, checkered with splashes of the soil and the
+spume of his horse, from whose neck and flanks the sweat rolled like
+lather. Yet he was not conscious how intent had been his purpose until
+he felt a sudden instinctive shock on seeing that the ferryboat was
+gone. For an instant his wonderful self-possession abandoned him; he
+could only gaze vacantly at the leaden-colored bay, without a thought or
+expedient. But in another moment he saw that the boat was returning from
+the distance. Had he lost his only chance? He glanced hurriedly at his
+watch; he had come more quickly than he imagined; there would still
+be time. He beckoned impatiently to the ferryman; the boat--a ship's
+pinnace, with two men in it--crept in with exasperating slowness. At
+last the two rowers suddenly leaped ashore.
+
+"Ye might have come before, with the other passenger. We don't reckon to
+run lightnin' trips on this ferry."
+
+But Clarence was himself again. "Twenty dollars for two more oars in
+that boat," he said quietly, "and fifty if you get me over in time to
+catch the down stage."
+
+The man glanced at Clarence's eyes. "Run up and rouse out Jake and
+Sam," he said to the other boatman; then more leisurely, gazing at his
+customer's travel-stained equipment, he said, "There must have been a
+heap o' passengers got left by last night's boat. You're the second man
+that took this route in a hurry."
+
+At any other time the coincidence might have struck Clarence. But he
+only answered curtly, "Unless we are under way in ten minutes you will
+find I am NOT the second man, and that our bargain's off."
+
+But here two men emerged from the shanty beside the ferryhouse, and
+tumbled sleepily into the boat. Clarence seized an extra pair of sculls
+that were standing against the shed, and threw them into the stern. "I
+don't mind taking a hand myself for exercise," he said quietly.
+
+The ferryman glanced again at Clarence's travel-worn figure and
+determined eyes with mingled approval and surprise. He lingered a moment
+with his oars lifted, looking at his passenger. "It ain't no business o'
+mine, young man," he said deliberately, "but I reckon you understand me
+when I say that I've just taken another man over there."
+
+"I do," said Clarence impatiently.
+
+"And you still want to go?"
+
+"Certainly," replied Clarence, with a cold stare, taking up his oars.
+
+The man shrugged his shoulders, bent himself for the stroke, and the
+boat sprung forward. The others rowed strongly and rapidly, the tough
+ashen blades springing like steel from the water, the heavy boat seeming
+to leap in successive bounds until they were fairly beyond the curving
+inshore current and clearing the placid, misty surface of the bay.
+Clarence did not speak, but bent abstractedly over his oar; the ferryman
+and his crew rowed in equal panting silence; a few startled ducks
+whirred before them, but dropped again to rest. In half an hour they
+were at the Embarcadero. The time was fairly up. Clarence's eyes were
+eagerly bent for the first appearance of the stage-coach around the
+little promontory; the ferryman was as eagerly scanning the bare, empty
+street of the still sleeping settlement.
+
+"I don't see him anywhere," said the ferryman with a glance, half of
+astonishment and half of curiosity, at his solitary passenger.
+
+"See whom?" asked Clarence carelessly, as he handed the man his promised
+fee.
+
+"The other man I ferried over to catch the stage. He must have gone on
+without waiting. You're in luck, young fellow!"
+
+"I don't understand you," said Clarence impatiently. "What has your
+previous passenger to do with me?"
+
+"Well, I reckon you know best. He's the kind of man, gin'rally speaking,
+that other men, in a pow'ful hurry, don't care to meet--and, az a rule,
+don't FOLLER arter. It's gin'rally the other way."
+
+"What do you mean?" inquired Clarence sternly. "Of whom are you
+speaking?"
+
+"The Chief of Police of San Francisco!"
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The laugh that instinctively broke from Clarence's lips was so sincere
+and unaffected that the man was disconcerted, and at last joined in
+it, a little shamefacedly. The grotesque blunder of being taken as
+a fugitive from justice relieved Clarence's mind from its acute
+tension,--he was momentarily diverted,--and it was not until the
+boatman had departed, and he was again alone, that it seemed to have any
+collateral significance. Then an uneasy recollection of Susy's threat
+that she had the power to put his wife in Fort Alcatraz came across him.
+Could she have already warned the municipal authorities and this man?
+But he quickly remembered that any action from such a warning could
+only have been taken by the United States Marshal, and not by a civic
+official, and dismissed the idea.
+
+Nevertheless, when the stage with its half-spent lamps still burning
+dimly against the morning light swept round the curve and rolled heavily
+up to the rude shanty which served as coach-office, he became watchful.
+A single yawning individual in its doorway received a few letters and
+parcels, but Clarence was evidently the ONLY waiting passenger. Any hope
+that he might have entertained that his mysterious predecessor would
+emerge from some seclusion at that moment was disappointed. As he
+entered the coach he made a rapid survey of his fellow-travelers, but
+satisfied himself that the stranger was not among them. They were
+mainly small traders or farmers, a miner or two, and apparently
+a Spanish-American of better degree and personality. Possibly the
+circumstance that men of this class usually preferred to travel on
+horseback and were rarely seen in public conveyances attracted his
+attention, and their eyes met more than once in mutual curiosity.
+Presently Clarence addressed a remark to the stranger in Spanish; he
+replied fluently and courteously, but at the next stopping-place he
+asked a question of the expressman in an unmistakable Missouri accent.
+Clarence's curiosity was satisfied; he was evidently one of those early
+American settlers who had been so long domiciled in Southern California
+as to adopt the speech as well as the habiliments of the Spaniard.
+
+The conversation fell upon the political news of the previous night, or
+rather seemed to be lazily continued from some previous, more excited
+discussion, in which one of the contestants--a red-bearded miner--had
+subsided into an occasional growl of surly dissent. It struck Clarence
+that the Missourian had been an amused auditor and even, judging from a
+twinkle in his eye, a mischievous instigator of the controversy. He
+was not surprised, therefore, when the man turned to him with a certain
+courtesy and said,--
+
+"And what, sir, is the political feeling in YOUR district?"
+
+But Clarence was in no mood to be drawn out, and replied, almost curtly,
+that as he had come only from San Francisco, they were probably as well
+informed on that subject as himself. A quick and searching glance from
+the stranger's eye made him regret his answer, but in the silence that
+ensued the red-bearded miner, evidently still rankling at heart, saw
+his opportunity. Slapping his huge hands on his knees, and leaning far
+forward until he seemed to plunge his flaming beard, like a firebrand,
+into the controversy, he said grimly,--
+
+"Well, I kin tell you, gen'l'men, THIS. It ain't goin' to be no matter
+wot's the POLITICAL FEELING here or thar--it ain't goin' to be no matter
+wot's the State's rights and wot's Fed'ral rights--it ain't goin' to
+be no question whether the gov'ment's got the right to relieve its own
+soldiers that those Secesh is besieging in Fort Sumter or whether they
+haven't--but the first gun that's fired at the flag blows the chains
+off every d--n nigger south of Mason and Dixon's line! You hear me!
+I'm shoutin'! And whether you call yourselves 'Secesh' or 'Union' or
+'Copperhead' or 'Peace men,' you've got to face it!"
+
+There was an angry start in one or two of the seats; one man caught
+at the swinging side-strap and half rose, a husky voice began, "It's a
+d----d"--and then all as suddenly subsided. Every eye was turned to an
+insignificant figure in the back seat. It was a woman, holding a
+child on her lap, and gazing out of the window with her sex's profound
+unconcern in politics. Clarence understood the rude chivalry of the road
+well enough to comprehend that this unconscious but omnipotent figure
+had more than once that day controlled the passions of the disputants.
+They dropped back weakly to their seats, and their mutterings rolled off
+in the rattle of the wheels. Clarence glanced at the Missourian; he was
+regarding the red-bearded miner with a singular curiosity.
+
+The rain had ceased, but the afternoon shadows were deepening when they
+at last reached Fair Plains, where Clarence expected to take horse to
+the Rancho. He was astonished, however, to learn that all the horses in
+the stable were engaged, but remembering that some of his own stock were
+in pasturage with a tenant at Fair Plains, and that he should probably
+have a better selection, he turned his steps thither. Passing out of
+the stable-yard he recognized the Missourian's voice in whispered
+conversation with the proprietor, but the two men withdrew into the
+shadow as he approached. An ill-defined uneasiness came over him; he
+knew the proprietor, who also seemed to know the Missourian, and this
+evident avoidance of him was significant. Perhaps his reputation as a
+doubtful Unionist had preceded him, but this would not account for their
+conduct in a district so strongly Southern in sympathy as Fair Plains.
+More impressed by the occurrence than he cared to admit, when at last,
+after some delay, he had secured his horse, and was once more in the
+saddle, he kept a sharp lookout for his quondam companion. But here
+another circumstance added to his suspicions: there was a main road
+leading to Santa Inez, the next town, and the Rancho, and this Clarence
+had purposely taken in order to watch the Missourian; but there was
+also a cutoff directly to the Rancho, known only to the habitues of the
+Rancho. After a few moments' rapid riding on a mustang much superior to
+any in the hotel stables, he was satisfied that the stranger must
+have taken the cut-off. Putting spurs to his horse he trusted still to
+precede him to the Rancho--if that were his destination.
+
+As he dashed along the familiar road, by a strange perversity of fancy,
+instead of thinking of his purpose, he found himself recalling the first
+time he had ridden that way in the flush of his youth and hopefulness.
+The girl-sweetheart he was then going to rejoin was now the wife of
+another; the woman who had been her guardian was now his own wife. He
+had accepted without a pang the young girl's dereliction, but it was
+through her revelation that he was now about to confront the dereliction
+of his own wife. And this was the reward of his youthful trust and
+loyalty! A bitter laugh broke from his lips. It was part of his still
+youthful self-delusion that he believed himself wiser and stronger for
+it.
+
+It was quite dark when he reached the upper field or first terrace of
+the Rancho. He could see the white walls of the casa rising dimly out of
+the green sea of early wild grasses, like a phantom island. It was here
+that the cut-off joined the main road--now the only one that led to the
+casa. He was satisfied that no one could have preceded him from Fair
+Plains; but it was true that he must take precautions against his
+own discovery. Dismounting near a clump of willows, he unsaddled and
+unbridled his horse, and with a cut of the riata over its haunches
+sent it flying across the field in the direction of a band of feeding
+mustangs, which it presently joined. Then, keeping well in the shadow of
+a belt of shrub-oaks, he skirted the long lesser terraces of the casa,
+intending to approach the house by way of the old garden and corral.
+A drizzling rain, occasionally driven by the wind into long, misty,
+curtain-like waves, obscured the prospect and favored his design. He
+reached the low adobe wall of the corral in safety; looking over he
+could detect, in spite of the darkness, that a number of the horses
+were of alien brands, and even recognized one or two from the Santa Inez
+district. The vague outline of buggies and carryalls filled the long
+shed beside the stables. There WAS company at the casa--so far Susy was
+right!
+
+Nevertheless, lingering still by the wall of the old garden for the
+deepening of night, his nervous feverishness was again invaded and
+benumbed by sullen memories. There was the opening left by the old
+grille in the wall, behind which Mrs. Peyton stood on the morning when
+he thought he was leaving the ranch forever; where he had first clasped
+her in his arms, and stayed. A turn of the head, a moment's indecision,
+a single glance of a languorous eye, had brought this culmination. And
+now he stood again before that ruined grille, his house and lands, even
+his NAME, misused by a mad, scheming enthusiast, and himself a creeping
+spy of his own dishonor! He turned with a bitter smile again to the
+garden. A few dark red Castilian roses still leaned forward and swayed
+in the wind with dripping leaves. It was here that the first morning of
+his arrival he had kissed Susy; the perfume and color of her pink skin
+came back to him with a sudden shock as he stood there; he caught at a
+flower, drew it towards him, inhaled its odor in a long breath that left
+him faint and leaning against the wall. Then again he smiled, but this
+time more wickedly--in what he believed his cynicism had sprung up the
+first instinct of revenge!
+
+It was now dark enough for him to venture across the carriage road and
+make his way to the rear of the house. His first characteristic instinct
+had been to enter openly at his own front gate, but the terrible
+temptation to overhear and watch the conspiracy unobserved--that
+fascination common to deceived humanity to witness its own shame--had
+now grown upon him. He knew that a word or gesture of explanation,
+apology, appeal, or even terror from his wife would check his rage and
+weaken his purpose. His perfect knowledge of the house and the security
+of its inmates would enable him from some obscure landing or gallery
+to participate in any secret conclave they might hold in the patio--the
+only place suitable for so numerous a rendezvous. The absence of light
+in the few external windows pointed to this central gathering. And he
+had already conceived his plan of entrance.
+
+Gaining the rear wall of the casa he began cautiously to skirt its
+brambly base until he had reached a long, oven-like window half
+obliterated by a monstrous passion vine. It was the window of what had
+once been Mrs. Peyton's boudoir; the window by which he had once forced
+an entrance to the house when it was in the hands of squatters, the
+window from which Susy had signaled her Spanish lover, the window whose
+grating had broken the neck of Judge Peyton's presumed assassin. But
+these recollections no longer delayed him; the moment for action had
+arrived. He knew that since the tragedy the boudoir had been dismantled
+and shunned; the servants believed it to be haunted by the assassin's
+ghost. With the aid of the passion vine the ingress was easy; the
+interior window was open; the rustle of dead leaves on the bare floor as
+he entered, and the whir of a frightened bird by his ear, told the story
+of its desolation and the source of the strange noises that had been
+heard there. The door leading to the corridor was lightly bolted, merely
+to keep it from rattling in the wind. Slipping the bolt with the blade
+of his pocket-knife he peered into the dark passage. The light streaming
+under a door to the left, and the sound of voices, convinced him that
+his conjecture was right, and the meeting was gathered on the broad
+balconies around the patio. He knew that a narrow gallery, faced with
+Venetian blinds to exclude the sun, looked down upon them. He managed to
+gain it without discovery; luckily the blinds were still down; between
+their slats, himself invisible, he could hear and see everything that
+occurred.
+
+Yet even at this supreme moment the first thing that struck him was the
+almost ludicrous contrast between the appearance of the meeting and
+its tremendous object. Whether he was influenced by any previous boyish
+conception of a clouded and gloomy conspiracy he did not know, but
+he was for an instant almost disconcerted by the apparent levity and
+festivity of the conclave. Decanters and glasses stood on small tables
+before them; nearly all were drinking and smoking. They comprised
+fifteen or twenty men, some of whose faces were familiar to him
+elsewhere as Southern politicians; a few, he was shocked to see, were
+well-known Northern Democrats. Occupying a characteristically central
+position was the famous Colonel Starbottle, of Virginia. Jaunty and
+youthful-looking in his mask-like, beardless face, expansive and
+dignified in his middle-aged port and carriage, he alone retained some
+of the importance--albeit slightly theatrical and affected--of the
+occasion. Clarence in his first hurried glance had not observed his
+wife, and for a moment had felt relieved; but as Colonel Starbottle
+arose at that moment, and with a studiously chivalrous and courtly
+manner turned to his right, he saw that she was sitting at the further
+end of the balcony, and that a man whom he recognized as Captain
+Pinckney was standing beside her. The blood quickly tightened around his
+heart, but left him cold and observant.
+
+"It was seldom, indeed," remarked Colonel Starbottle, placing his fat
+fingers in the frill of his shirt front, "that a movement like this
+was graced with the actual presence of a lofty, inspiring, yet delicate
+spirit--a Boadicea--indeed, he might say a Joan of Arc--in the person
+of their charming hostess, Mrs. Brant. Not only were they favored by her
+social and hospitable ministration, but by her active and enthusiastic
+cooperation in the glorious work they had in hand. It was through
+her correspondence and earnest advocacy that they were to be favored
+to-night with the aid and counsel of one of the most distinguished and
+powerful men in the Southern district of California, Judge Beeswinger,
+of Los Angeles. He had not the honor of that gentleman's personal
+acquaintance; he believed he was not far wrong in saying that this was
+also the misfortune of every gentleman present; but the name itself
+was a tower of strength. He would go further, and say that Mrs. Brant
+herself was personally unacquainted with him, but it was through the
+fervor, poetry, grace, and genius of her correspondence with that
+gentleman that they were to have the honor of his presence that very
+evening. It was understood that advices had been received of his
+departure, and that he might be expected at Robles at any moment."
+
+"But what proof have we of Judge Beeswinger's soundness?" said a lazy
+Southern voice at the conclusion of Colonel Starbottle's periods.
+"Nobody here seems to know him by sight: is it not risky to admit a man
+to our meeting whom we are unable to identify?"
+
+"I reckon nobody but a fool or some prying mudsill of a Yankee would
+trust his skin here," returned another; "and if he did we'd know what to
+do with him."
+
+But Clarence's attention was riveted on his wife, and the significant
+speech passed him as unheeded as had the colonel's rhetoric. She was
+looking very handsome and slightly flushed, with a proud light in her
+eyes that he had never seen before. Absorbed in the discussion, she
+seemed to be paying little attention to Captain Pinckney as she rose
+suddenly to her feet.
+
+"Judge Beeswinger will be attended here by Mr. MacNiel, of the Fair
+Plains Hotel, who will vouch for him and introduce him," she said in
+a clear voice, which rang with an imperiousness that Clarence well
+remembered. "The judge was to arrive by the coach from Martinez to Fair
+Plains, and is due now."
+
+"Is there no GENTLEMAN to introduce him? Must we take him on the word
+of a common trader--by Jove! a whiskey-seller?" continued the previous
+voice sneeringly.
+
+"On the word of a lady, Mr. Brooks," said Captain Pinckney, with a
+slight gesture towards Mrs. Brant--"who answers for both."
+
+Clarence had started slightly at his wife's voice and the information
+it conveyed. His fellow-passenger, and the confidant of MacNiel, was
+the man they were expecting! If they had recognized him, Clarence, would
+they not warn the company of his proximity? He held his breath as the
+sound of voices came from the outer gate of the courtyard. Mrs. Brant
+rose; at the same moment the gate swung open, and a man entered. It WAS
+the Missourian.
+
+He turned with old-fashioned courtesy to the single woman standing on
+the balcony.
+
+"My fair correspondent, I believe! I am Judge Beeswinger. Your agent,
+MacNiel, passed me through your guards at the gate, but I did not deem
+it advisable to bring him into this assembly of gentlemen without your
+further consideration. I trust I was right."
+
+The quiet dignity and self-possession, the quaint, old-fashioned
+colonial precision of speech, modified by a soft Virginian intonation,
+and, above all, some singular individuality of the man himself, produced
+a profound sensation, and seemed to suddenly give the gathering an
+impressiveness it had lacked before. For an instant Clarence forgot
+himself and his personal wrongs in the shock of indignation he felt at
+this potent addition to the ranks of his enemies. He saw his wife's eyes
+sparkle with pride over her acquisition, and noticed that Pinckney cast
+a disturbed glance at the newcomer.
+
+The stranger ascended the few steps to the balcony and took Mrs. Brant's
+hand with profound courtesy. "Introduce me to my colleagues--distinctly
+and separately. It behooves a man at such a moment to know to whom he
+entrusts his life and honor, and the life and honor of his cause."
+
+It was evidently no mere formal courtesy to the stranger. As he stepped
+forward along the balcony, and under Mrs. Brant's graceful guidance was
+introduced to each of the members, he not only listened with scrupulous
+care and attention to the name and profession of each man, but bent
+upon him a clear, searching glance that seemed to photograph him in his
+memory. With two exceptions. He passed Colonel Starbottle's expanding
+shirt frill with a bow of elaborate precision, and said, "Colonel
+Starbottle's fame requires neither introduction nor explanation." He
+stopped before Captain Pinckney and paused.
+
+"An officer of the United States army, I believe, sir?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Educated at West Point, I think, by the government, to whom you have
+taken the oath of allegiance?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Very good, sir," said the stranger, turning away.
+
+"You have forgotten one other fact, sir," said Pinckney, with a slightly
+supercilious air.
+
+"Indeed! What is it?"
+
+"I am, first of all, a native of the State of South Carolina!"
+
+A murmur of applause and approval ran round the balcony. Captain
+Pinckney smiled and exchanged glances with Mrs. Brant, but the stranger
+quietly returned to the central table beside Colonel Starbottle. "I am
+not only an unexpected delegate to this august assembly, gentlemen," he
+began gravely, "but I am the bearer of perhaps equally unexpected news.
+By my position in the Southern district I am in possession of dispatches
+received only this morning by pony express. Fort Sumter has been
+besieged. The United States flag, carrying relief to the beleaguered
+garrison, has been fired upon by the State of South Carolina."
+
+A burst of almost hysteric applause and enthusiasm broke from the
+assembly, and made the dim, vault-like passages and corridors of the
+casa ring. Cheer after cheer went up to the veiled gallery and the misty
+sky beyond. Men mounted on the tables and waved their hands frantically,
+and in the midst of this bewildering turbulence of sound and motion
+Clarence saw his wife mounted on a chair, with burning cheeks and
+flashing eyes, waving her handkerchief like an inspired priestess. Only
+the stranger, still standing beside Colonel Starbottle, remained unmoved
+and impassive. Then, with an imperative gesture, he demanded a sudden
+silence.
+
+"Convincing and unanimous as this demonstration is, gentlemen," he began
+quietly, "it is my duty, nevertheless, to ask you if you have seriously
+considered the meaning of the news I have brought. It is my duty to
+tell you that it means civil war. It means the clash of arms between two
+sections of a mighty country; it means the disruption of friends, the
+breaking of family ties, the separation of fathers and sons, of brothers
+and sisters--even, perhaps, to the disseverment of husband and wife!"
+
+"It means the sovereignty of the South--and the breaking of a covenant
+with lowborn traders and abolitionists," said Captain Pinckney.
+
+"If there are any gentlemen present," continued the stranger, without
+heeding the interruption, "who have pledged this State to the support
+of the South in this emergency, or to the establishment of a Pacific
+republic in aid and sympathy with it, whose names are on this paper"--he
+lifted a sheet of paper lying before Colonel Starbottle--"but who now
+feel that the gravity of the news demands a more serious consideration
+of the purpose, they are at liberty to withdraw from the meeting, giving
+their honor, as Southern gentlemen, to keep the secret intact."
+
+"Not if I know it," interrupted a stalwart Kentuckian, as he rose to his
+feet and strode down the steps to the patio. "For," he added, placing
+his back against the gateway, "I'll shoot the first coward that backs
+out now."
+
+A roar of laughter and approval followed, but was silenced again by the
+quiet, unimpassioned voice of the stranger. "If, on the other hand," he
+went on calmly, "you all feel that this news is the fitting culmination
+and consecration of the hopes, wishes, and plans of this meeting, you
+will assert it again, over your own signatures, to Colonel Starbottle at
+this table."
+
+When the Kentuckian had risen, Clarence had started from his
+concealment; when he now saw the eager figures pressing forward to the
+table he hesitated no longer. Slipping along the passage, he reached
+the staircase which led to the corridor in the rear of the balcony.
+Descending this rapidly, he not only came upon the backs of the excited
+crowd around the table, but even elbowed one of the conspirators aside
+without being noticed. His wife, who had risen from her chair at the
+end of the balcony, was already moving towards the table. With a quick
+movement he seized her wrist, and threw her back in the chair again.
+A cry broke from her lips as she recognized him, but still holding her
+wrist, he stepped quickly between her and the astonished crowd. There
+was a moment of silence, then the cry of "Spy!" and "Seize him!" rose
+quickly, but above all the voice and figure of the Missourian was heard
+commanding them to stand back. Turning to Clarence, he said quietly,--
+
+"I should know your face, sir. Who are you?"
+
+"The husband of this woman and the master of this house," said Clarence
+as quietly, but in a voice he hardly recognized as his own.
+
+"Stand aside from her, then--unless you are hoping that her danger may
+protect YOU!" said the Kentuckian, significantly drawing his revolver.
+
+But Mrs. Brant sprang suddenly to her feet beside Clarence.
+
+"We are neither of us cowards, Mr. Brooks--though he speaks the
+truth--and--more shame to me"--she added, with a look of savage scorn at
+Clarence--"IS MY HUSBAND!"
+
+"What is your purpose in coming here?" continued Judge Beeswinger, with
+his eyes fixed on Clarence.
+
+"I have given you all the information," said Clarence quietly, "that
+is necessary to make you, as a gentleman, leave this house at once--and
+that is my purpose. It is all the information you will get from me
+as long as you and your friends insult my roof with your uninvited
+presence. What I may have to say to you and each of you hereafter--what
+I may choose to demand of you, according to your own code of honor,"--he
+fixed his eyes on Captain Pinckney's,--"is another question, and one not
+usually discussed before a lady."
+
+"Pardon me. A moment--a single moment."
+
+It was the voice of Colonel Starbottle; it was the frilled shirt front,
+the lightly buttoned blue coat with its expanding lapels, like bursting
+petals, and the smiling mask of that gentleman rising above the table
+and bowing to Clarence Brant and his wife with infinite courtesy.
+"The--er--humiliating situation in which we find ourselves,
+gentlemen,--the reluctant witnesses of--er--what we trust is only
+a temporary disagreement between our charming hostess and
+the--er--gentleman whom she recognized under the highest title to
+our consideration,--is distressing to us all, and would seem to amply
+justify that gentleman's claims to a personal satisfaction, which I
+know we would all delight to give. But that situation rests upon the
+supposition that our gathering here was of a purely social or festive
+nature! It may be," continued the colonel with a blandly reflective
+air, "that the spectacle of these decanters and glasses, and the nectar
+furnished us by our Hebe-like hostess" (he lifted a glass of whiskey and
+water to his lips while he bowed to Mrs. Brant gracefully), "has led
+the gentleman to such a deduction. But when I suggest to him that our
+meeting was of a business, or private nature, it strikes me that the
+question of intrusion may be fairly divided between him and ourselves.
+We may be even justified, in view of that privacy, in asking him if
+his--er--entrance to this house was--er--coincident with his appearance
+among us."
+
+"With my front door in possession of strangers," said Clarence, more in
+reply to a sudden contemptuous glance from his wife than Starbottle's
+insinuation, "I entered the house through the window."
+
+"Of my boudoir, where another intruder once broke his neck," interrupted
+his wife with a mocking laugh.
+
+"Where I once helped this lady to regain possession of her house when
+it was held by another party of illegal trespassers, who, however, were
+content to call themselves 'jumpers,' and did not claim the privacy of
+gentlemen."
+
+"Do you mean to imply, sir," began Colonel Starbottle haughtily,
+"that"--
+
+"I mean to imply, sir," said Clarence with quiet scorn, "that I have
+neither the wish to know nor the slightest concern in any purpose that
+brought you here, and that when you quit the house you take your secrets
+and your privacy with you intact, without let or hindrance from me."
+
+"Do you mean to say, Mr. Brant," said Judge Beeswinger, suppressing the
+angry interruption of his fellows with a dominant wave of his hand, as
+he fixed his eyes on Clarence keenly, "that you have no sympathy with
+your wife's political sentiments?"
+
+"I have already given you the information necessary to make you quit
+this house, and that is all you have a right to know," returned Clarence
+with folded arms.
+
+"But I can answer for him," said Mrs. Brant, rising, with a quivering
+voice and curling lip. "There IS no sympathy between us. We are as far
+apart as the poles. We have nothing in common but this house and his
+name."
+
+"But you are husband and wife, bound together by a sacred compact."
+
+"A compact!" echoed Mrs. Brant, with a bitter laugh. "Yes, the compact
+that binds South Carolina to the nigger-worshipping Massachusetts.
+The compact that links together white and black, the gentleman and the
+trader, the planter and the poor white--the compact of those UNITED
+States. Bah! THAT has been broken, and so can this."
+
+Clarence's face paled. But before he could speak there was a rapid
+clattering at the gate and a dismounted vaquero entered excitedly.
+Turning to Mrs. Brant he said hurriedly, "Mother of God! the casa is
+surrounded by a rabble of mounted men, and there is one among them even
+now who demands admittance in the name of the Law."
+
+"This is your work," said Brooks, facing Clarence furiously. "You have
+brought them with you, but, by God, they shall not save you!" He
+would have clutched Clarence, but the powerful arm of Judge Beeswinger
+intervened. Nevertheless, he still struggled to reach Clarence,
+appealing to the others: "Are you fools to stand there and let him
+triumph! Don't you see the cowardly Yankee trick he's played upon us?"
+
+"He has not," said Mrs. Brant haughtily. "I have no reason to love him
+or his friends; but I know he does not lie."
+
+"Gentlemen!--gentlemen!" implored Colonel Starbottle with beaming and
+unctuous persuasion, "may I--er--remark--that all this is far from the
+question? Are we to be alarmed because an unknown rabble, no matter
+whence they come, demand entrance here in the name of the Law? I am not
+aware of any law of the State of California that we are infringing. By
+all means admit them."
+
+The gate was thrown open. A single thick-set man, apparently unarmed
+and dressed like an ordinary traveler, followed by half a dozen other
+equally unpretentious-looking men, entered. The leader turned to the
+balcony.
+
+"I am the Chief of Police of San Francisco. I have warrants for the
+arrest of Colonel Culpepper Starbottle, Joshua Brooks, Captain Pinckney,
+Clarence Brant and Alice his wife, and others charged with inciting to
+riot and unlawful practice calculated to disturb the peace of the State
+of California and its relations with the Federal government," said the
+leader, in a dry official voice.
+
+Clarence started. In spite of its monotonous utterance it was the voice
+of the red-bearded controversialist of the stage-coach. But where were
+his characteristic beard and hair? Involuntarily Clarence glanced at
+Judge Beeswinger; that gentleman was quietly regarding the stranger with
+an impassive face that betrayed no recognition whatever.
+
+"But the city of San Francisco has no jurisdiction here," said Colonel
+Starbottle, turning a bland smile towards his fellow-members. "I
+am--er--sorry to inform you that you are simply trespassing, sir."
+
+"I am here also as deputy sheriff," returned the stranger coolly. "We
+were unable to locate the precise place of this meeting, although we
+knew of its existence. I was sworn in this morning at Santa Inez by the
+judge of this district, and these gentlemen with me are my posse."
+
+There was a quick movement of resistance by the members, which was,
+however, again waived blandly aside by Colonel Starbottle. Leaning
+forward in a slightly forensic attitude, with his fingers on the table
+and a shirt frill that seemed to have become of itself erectile, he
+said, with pained but polite precision, "I grieve to have to state, sir,
+that even that position is utterly untenable here. I am a lawyer myself,
+as my friend here, Judge Beeswinger--eh? I beg your pardon!"
+
+The officer of the law had momentarily started, with his eyes fixed
+on Judge Beeswinger, who, however, seemed to be quietly writing at the
+table.
+
+"As Judge Beeswinger," continued Colonel Starbottle, "will probably tell
+you and as a jurist himself, he will also probably agree with me when
+I also inform you that, as the United States government is an aggrieved
+party, it is a matter for the Federal courts to prosecute, and that
+the only officer we can recognize is the United States Marshal for the
+district. When I add that the marshal, Colonel Crackenthorpe, is one
+of my oldest friends, and an active sympathizer with the South in the
+present struggle, you will understand that any action from him in this
+matter is exceedingly improbable."
+
+The general murmur of laughter, relief, and approval was broken by the
+quiet voice of Judge Beeswinger.
+
+"Let me see your warrant, Mr. Deputy Sheriff."
+
+The officer approached him with a slightly perplexed and constrained
+air, and exhibited the paper. Judge Beeswinger handed it back to him.
+"Colonel Starbottle is quite right in his contention," he said quietly;
+"the only officer that this assembly can recognize is the United States
+Marshal or his legal deputy. But Colonel Starbottle is wrong in his
+supposition that Colonel Crackenthorpe still retains the functions of
+that office. He was removed by the President of the United States, and
+his successor was appointed and sworn in by the Federal judge early
+this morning." He paused, and folding up the paper on which he had been
+writing, placed it in the hands of the deputy. "And this," he continued
+in the same even voice, "constitutes you his deputy, and will enable you
+to carry out your duty in coming here."
+
+"What the devil does this mean, sir? Who are you?" gasped Colonel
+Starbottle, recoiling suddenly from the man at his side.
+
+"I am the new United States Marshal for the Southern District of
+California."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Unsuspected and astounding as the revelation was to Clarence, its
+strange reception by the conspirators seemed to him as astounding.
+He had started forward, half expecting that the complacent and
+self-confessed spy would be immolated by his infuriated dupes. But to
+his surprise the shock seemed to have changed their natures, and given
+them the dignity they had lacked. The excitability, irritation, and
+recklessness which had previously characterized them had disappeared.
+The deputy and his posse, who had advanced to the assistance of their
+revealed chief, met with no resistance. They had evidently, as if with
+one accord, drawn away from Judge Beeswinger, leaving a cleared space
+around him, and regarded their captors with sullen contemptuous silence.
+It was only broken by Colonel Starbottle:--
+
+"Your duty commands you, sir, to use all possible diligence in bringing
+us before the Federal judge of this district--unless your master in
+Washington has violated the Constitution so far as to remove him, too!"
+
+"I understand you perfectly," returned Judge Beeswinger, with unchanged
+composure; "and as you know that Judge Wilson unfortunately cannot be
+removed except through a regular course of impeachment, I suppose you
+may still count upon his Southern sympathies to befriend you. With that
+I have nothing to do; my duty is complete when my deputy has brought you
+before him and I have stated the circumstances of the arrest."
+
+"I congratulate you, sir," said Captain Pinckney, with an ironical
+salute, "on your prompt reward for your treachery to the South, and your
+equally prompt adoption of the peculiar tactics of your friends in the
+way in which you have entered this house."
+
+"I am sorry I cannot congratulate YOU, sir," returned Judge Beeswinger
+gravely, "on breaking your oath to the government which has educated and
+supported you and given you the epaulettes you disgrace. Nor shall I
+discuss 'treachery' with the man who has not only violated the trust of
+his country, but even the integrity of his friend's household. It is for
+that reason that I withhold the action of this warrant in so far as
+it affects the persons of the master and mistress of this home. I am
+satisfied that Mr. Brant has been as ignorant of what has been done
+here as I am that his wife has been only the foolish dupe of a double
+traitor!"
+
+"Silence!"
+
+The words broke simultaneously from the lips of Clarence and Captain
+Pinckney. They stood staring at each other--the one pale, the other
+crimson--as Mrs. Brant, apparently oblivious of the significance of
+their united adjuration, turned to Judge Beeswinger in the fury of her
+still stifled rage and mortification.
+
+"Keep your mercy for your fellow-spy," she said, with a contemptuous
+gesture towards her husband; "I go with these gentlemen!"
+
+"You will not," said Clarence quietly, "until I have said a word to you
+alone." He laid his hand firmly upon her wrist.
+
+The deputy and his prisoners filed slowly out of the courtyard together,
+the latter courteously saluting Mrs. Brant as they passed, but turning
+from Judge Beeswinger in contemptuous silence. The judge followed them
+to the gate, but there he paused. Turning to Mrs. Brant, who was still
+half struggling in the strong grip of her husband, he said,--
+
+"Any compunction I may have had in misleading you by accepting your
+invitation here I dismissed after I had entered this house. And I
+trust," he added, turning to Clarence sternly, "I leave you the master
+of it!"
+
+As the gate closed behind him, Clarence locked it. When his wife turned
+upon him angrily, he said quietly,--
+
+"I have no intention of restraining your liberty a moment after our
+interview is over, but until then I do not intend to be disturbed."
+
+She threw herself disdainfully back in her chair, her hands clasped in
+her lap in half-contemptuous resignation, with her eyes upon her long
+slim arched feet crossed before her. Even in her attitude there was
+something of her old fascination which, however, now seemed to sting
+Clarence to the quick.
+
+"I have nothing to say to you in regard to what has just passed in this
+house, except that as long as I remain even nominally its master it
+shall not be repeated. Although I shall no longer attempt to influence
+or control your political sympathies, I shall not allow you to indulge
+them where in any way they seem to imply my sanction. But so little do
+I oppose your liberty, that you are free to rejoin your political
+companions whenever you choose to do so on your own responsibility. But
+I must first know from your own lips whether your sympathies are purely
+political--or a name for something else?"
+
+She had alternately flushed and paled, although still keeping her
+scornful attitude as he went on, but there was no mistaking the
+genuineness of her vague wonderment at his concluding words.
+
+"I don't understand you," she said, lifting her eyes to his in a moment
+of cold curiosity. "What do you mean?"
+
+"What do I mean? What did Judge Beeswinger mean when he called Captain
+Pinckney a double traitor?" he said roughly.
+
+She sprang to her feet with flashing eyes. "And you--YOU! dare to repeat
+the cowardly lie of a confessed spy. This, then, is what you wished to
+tell me--this the insult for which you have kept me here; because you
+are incapable of understanding unselfish patriotism or devotion--even
+to your own cause--you dare to judge me by your own base, Yankee-trading
+standards. Yes, it is worthy of you!" She walked rapidly up and down,
+and then suddenly faced him. "I understand it all; I appreciate your
+magnanimity now. You are willing I should join the company of these
+chivalrous gentlemen in order to give color to your calumnies! Say at
+once that it was you who put up this spy to correspond with me--to come
+here--in order to entrap me. Yes entrap me--I--who a moment ago stood up
+for you before these gentlemen, and said you could not lie. Bah!"
+
+Struck only by the wild extravagance of her speech and temper, Clarence
+did not know that when women are most illogical they are apt to be most
+sincere, and from a man's standpoint her unreasoning deductions appeared
+to him only as an affectation to gain time for thought, or a theatrical
+display, like Susy's. And he was turning half contemptuously away, when
+she again faced him with flashing eyes.
+
+"Well, hear me! I accept; I leave here at once, to join my own people,
+my own friends--those who understand me--put what construction on it
+that you choose. Do your worst; you cannot do more to separate us than
+you have done just now."
+
+She left him, and ran up the steps with a singular return of her old
+occasional nymph-like nimbleness--the movement of a woman who had never
+borne children--and a swish of her long skirts that he remembered
+for many a day after, as she disappeared in the corridor. He remained
+looking after her--indignant, outraged, and unconvinced. There was a
+rattling at the gate.
+
+He remembered he had locked it. He opened it to the flushed pink cheeks
+and dancing eyes of Susy. The rain was still dripping from her wet cloak
+as she swung it from her shoulders.
+
+"I know it all!--all that's happened," she burst out with half-girlish
+exuberance and half the actress's declamation. "We met them all in the
+road--posse and prisoners. Chief Thompson knew me and told me all. And
+so you've done it--and you're master in your old house again. Clarence,
+old boy! Jim said you wouldn't do it--said you'd weaken on account of
+her! But I said 'No.' I knew you better, old Clarence, and I saw it in
+your face, for all your stiffness! ha! But for all that I was mighty
+nervous and uneasy, and I just made Jim send an excuse to the theatre
+and we rushed it down here! Lordy! but it looks natural to see the old
+house again! And she--you packed her off with the others--didn't you?
+Tell me, Clarence," in her old appealing voice, "you shook her, too!"
+
+Dazed and astounded, and yet experiencing a vague sense of relief with
+something like his old tenderness towards the willful woman before him,
+he had silently regarded her until her allusion to his wife recalled him
+to himself.
+
+"Hush!" he said quickly, with a glance towards the corridor.
+
+"Ah!" said Susy, with a malicious smile, "then that's why Captain
+Pinckney was lingering in the rear with the deputy."
+
+"Silence!" repeated Clarence sternly. "Go in there," pointing to the
+garden room below the balcony, "and wait there with your husband."
+
+He half led, half pushed her into the room which had been his business
+office, and returned to the patio. A hesitating voice from the balcony
+said, "Clarence!"
+
+It was his wife's voice, but modified and gentler--more like her
+voice as he had first heard it, or as if it had been chastened by some
+reminiscence of those days. It was his wife's face, too, that looked
+down on his--paler than he had seen it since he entered the house. She
+was shawled and hooded, carrying a traveling-bag in her hand.
+
+"I am going, Clarence," she said, pausing before him, with gentle
+gravity, "but not in anger. I even ask you to forgive me for the foolish
+words that I think your still more foolish accusation"--she smiled
+faintly--"dragged from me. I am going because I know that I have
+brought--and that while I am here I shall always be bringing--upon you
+the imputation and even the responsibility of my own faith! While I am
+proud to own it,--and if needs be suffer for it,--I have no right to
+ruin your prospects, or even make you the victim of the slurs that
+others may cast upon me. Let us part as friends--separated only by our
+different political faiths, but keeping all other faiths together--until
+God shall settle the right of this struggle. Perhaps it may be soon--I
+sometimes think it may be years of agony for all; but until then,
+good-by."
+
+She had slowly descended the steps to the patio, looking handsomer than
+he had ever seen her, and as if sustained and upheld by the enthusiasm
+of her cause. Her hand was outstretched towards his--his heart beat
+violently--in another moment he might have forgotten all and clasped her
+to his breast. Suddenly she stopped, her outstretched arm stiffened, her
+finger pointed to the chair on which Susy's cloak was hanging.
+
+"What's that?" she said in a sharp, high, metallic voice. "Who is here?
+Speak!"
+
+"Susy," said Clarence.
+
+She cast a scathing glance round the patio, and then settled her
+piercing eyes on Clarence with a bitter smile.
+
+"Already!"
+
+Clarence felt the blood rush to his face as he stammered, "She knew what
+was happening here, and came to give you warning."
+
+"Liar!"
+
+"Stop!" said Clarence, with a white face. "She came to tell me that
+Captain Pinckney was still lingering for you in the road."
+
+He threw open the gate to let her pass. As she swept out she lifted
+her hand. As he closed the gate there were the white marks of her four
+fingers on his cheek.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+For once Susy had not exaggerated. Captain Pinckney WAS lingering, with
+the deputy who had charge of him, on the trail near the casa. It had
+already been pretty well understood by both captives and captors that
+the arrest was simply a legal demonstration; that the sympathizing
+Federal judge would undoubtedly order the discharge of the prisoners on
+their own recognizances, and it was probable that the deputy saw no harm
+in granting Pinckney's request--which was virtually only a delay in
+his liberation. It was also possible that Pinckney had worked upon the
+chivalrous sympathies of the man by professing his disinclination
+to leave their devoted colleague, Mrs. Brant, at the mercy of her
+antagonistic and cold-blooded husband at such a crisis, and it is to be
+feared also that Clarence, as a reputed lukewarm partisan, excited no
+personal sympathy, even from his own party. Howbeit, the deputy agreed
+to delay Pinckney's journey for a parting interview with his fair
+hostess.
+
+How far this expressed the real sentiments of Captain Pinckney was never
+known. Whether his political association with Mrs. Brant had developed
+into a warmer solicitude, understood or ignored by her,--what were his
+hopes and aspirations regarding her future,--were by the course of fate
+never disclosed. A man of easy ethics, but rigid artificialities of
+honor, flattered and pampered by class prejudice, a so-called "man of
+the world," with no experience beyond his own limited circle, yet brave
+and devoted to that, it were well perhaps to leave this last act of his
+inefficient life as it was accepted by the deputy.
+
+Dismounting he approached the house from the garden. He was already
+familiar with the low arched doorway which led to the business room, and
+from which he could gain admittance to the patio, but it so chanced that
+he entered the dark passage at the moment that Clarence had thrust Susy
+into the business room, and heard its door shut sharply. For an instant
+he believed that Mrs. Brant had taken refuge there, but as he cautiously
+moved forward he heard her voice in the patio beyond. Its accents
+struck him as pleading; an intense curiosity drew him further along the
+passage. Suddenly her voice seemed to change to angry denunciation,
+and the word "Liar" rang upon his ears. It was followed by his own name
+uttered sardonically by Clarence, the swift rustle of a skirt, the clash
+of the gate, and then--forgetting everything, he burst into the patio.
+
+Clarence was just turning from the gate with the marks of his wife's
+hand still red on his white cheek. He saw Captain Pinckney's eyes upon
+it, and the faint, half-malicious, half-hysteric smile upon his lips.
+But without a start or gesture of surprise he locked the gate, and
+turning to him, said with frigid significance,--
+
+"I thank you for returning so promptly, and for recognizing the only
+thing I now require at your hand."
+
+But Captain Pinckney had recovered his supercilious ease with the
+significant demand.
+
+"You seem to have had something already from another's hand, sir, but I
+am at your service," he said lightly.
+
+"You will consider that I have accepted it from you," said Clarence,
+drawing closer to him with a rigid face. "I suppose it will not be
+necessary for me to return it--to make you understand me."
+
+"Go on," said Pinckney, flushing slightly. "Make your terms; I am
+ready."
+
+"But I'm not," said the unexpected voice of the deputy at the grille of
+the gateway. "Excuse my interfering, gentlemen, but this sort o' thing
+ain't down in my schedule. I've let this gentleman," pointing to Captain
+Pinckney, "off for a minit to say 'good-by' to a lady, who I reckon has
+just ridden off in her buggy with her servant without saying by your
+leave, but I didn't calkelate to let him inter another business, which,
+like as not, may prevent me from delivering his body safe and sound into
+court. You hear me!" As Clarence opened the gate he added, "I don't want
+ter spoil sport between gents, but it's got to come in after I've done
+my duty."
+
+"I'll meet you, sir, anywhere, and with what weapons you choose," said
+Pinckney, turning angrily upon Clarence, "as soon as this farce--for
+which you and your friends are responsible--is over." He was furious at
+the intimation that Mrs. Brant had escaped him.
+
+A different thought was in the husband's mind. "But what assurance
+have I that you are going on with the deputy?" he said with purposely
+insulting deliberation.
+
+"My word, sir," said Captain Pinckney sharply.
+
+"And if that ain't enuff, there's mine!" said the deputy. "For if this
+gentleman swerves to the right or left betwixt this and Santa Inez, I'll
+blow a hole through him myself. And that," he added deprecatingly, "is
+saying a good deal for a man who doesn't want to spoil sport, and for
+the matter of that is willing to stand by and see fair play done at
+Santa Inez any time to-morrow before breakfast."
+
+"Then I can count on you," said Clarence, with a sudden impulse
+extending his hand.
+
+The man hesitated a moment and then grasped it.
+
+"Well, I wasn't expecting that," he said slowly; "but you look as if you
+meant business, and if you ain't got anybody else to see you through,
+I'm thar! I suppose this gentleman will have his friends."
+
+"I shall be there at six with my seconds," said Pinckney curtly. "Lead
+on."
+
+The gate closed behind them. Clarence stood looking around the empty
+patio and the silent house, from which it was now plain that the
+servants had been withdrawn to insure the secrecy of the conspiracy.
+Cool and collected as he knew he was, he remained for a moment in
+hesitation. Then the sound of voices came to his ear from the garden
+room, the light frivolity of Susy's laugh and Hooker's huskier accents.
+He had forgotten they were there--he had forgotten their existence!
+
+Trusting still to his calmness, he called to Hooker in his usual
+voice. That gentleman appeared with a face which his attempts to make
+unconcerned and impassive had, however, only deepened into funereal
+gravity.
+
+"I have something to attend to," said Clarence, with a faint smile, "and
+I must ask you and Susy to excuse me for a little while. She knows the
+house perfectly, and will call the servants from the annex to provide
+you both with refreshment until I join you a little later." Satisfied
+from Hooker's manner that they knew nothing of his later interview with
+Pinckney, he turned away and ascended to his own room.
+
+There he threw himself into an armchair by the dim light of a single
+candle as if to reflect. But he was conscious, even then, of his own
+calmness and want of excitement, and that no reflection was necessary.
+What he had done and what he intended to do was quite clear, there was
+no alternative suggested or to be even sought after. He had that sense
+of relief which comes with the climax of all great struggles, even of
+defeat.
+
+He had never known before how hopeless and continuous had been that
+struggle until now it was over. He had no fear of tomorrow, he would
+meet it as he had to-day, with the same singular consciousness of being
+equal to the occasion. There was even no necessity of preparation for
+it; his will, leaving his fortune to his wife,--which seemed a slight
+thing now in this greater separation,--was already in his safe in San
+Francisco, his pistols were in the next room. He was even slightly
+disturbed by his own insensibility, and passed into his wife's bedroom
+partly in the hope of disturbing his serenity by some memento of their
+past. There was no disorder of flight--everything was in its place,
+except the drawer of her desk, which was still open, as if she had taken
+something from it as an afterthought. There were letters and papers
+there, some of his own and some in Captain Pinckney's handwriting. It
+did not occur to him to look at them--even to justify himself, or excuse
+her. He knew that his hatred of Captain Pinckney was not so much that he
+believed him her lover, as his sudden conviction that she was like him!
+He was the male of her species--a being antagonistic to himself, whom
+he could fight, and crush, and revenge himself upon. But most of all he
+loathed his past, not on account of her, but of his own weakness that
+had made him her dupe and a misunderstood man to his friends. He had
+been derelict of duty in his unselfish devotion to her; he had stifled
+his ambition, and underrated his own possibilities. No wonder that
+others had accepted him at his own valuation. Clarence Brant was a
+modest man, but the egotism of modesty is more fatal than that of
+pretension, for it has the haunting consciousness of superior virtue.
+
+He re-entered his own room and again threw himself into his chair. His
+calm was being succeeded by a physical weariness; he remembered he had
+not slept the night before, and he ought to take some rest to be
+fresh in the early morning. Yet he must also show himself before his
+self-invited guests,--Susy and her husband,--or their suspicions would
+be aroused. He would try to sleep for a little while in the chair before
+he went downstairs again. He closed his eyes oddly enough on a dim
+dreamy recollection of Susy in the old days, in the little madrono
+hollow where she had once given him a rendezvous. He forgot the maturer
+and critical uneasiness with which he had then received her coquettish
+and willful advances, which he now knew was the effect of the growing
+dominance of Mrs. Peyton over him, and remembered only her bright,
+youthful eyes, and the kisses he had pressed upon her soft fragrant
+cheek. The faintness he had felt when waiting in the old rose garden,
+a few hours ago, seemed to steal on him once more, and to lapse into a
+pleasant drowsiness. He even seemed again to inhale the perfume of the
+roses.
+
+"Clarence!"
+
+He started. He had been sleeping, but the voice sounded strangely real.
+
+A light, girlish laugh followed. He sprang to his feet. It was Susy
+standing beside him--and Susy even as she looked in the old days!
+
+For with a flash of her old audacity, aided by her familiar knowledge of
+the house and the bunch of household keys she had found, which dangled
+from her girdle, as in the old fashion, she had disinterred one of her
+old frocks from a closet, slipped it on, and unloosening her brown hair
+had let it fall in rippling waves down her back. It was Susy in her old
+girlishness, with the instinct of the grown actress in the arrangement
+of her short skirt over her pretty ankles and the half-conscious pose
+she had taken.
+
+"Poor dear old Clarence," she said, with dancing eyes; "I might have
+won a dozen pairs of gloves from you while you slept there. But you're
+tired, dear old boy, and you've had a hard time of it. No matter; you've
+shown yourself a man at last, and I'm proud of you."
+
+Half ashamed of the pleasure he felt even in his embarrassment, Clarence
+stammered, "But this change--this dress."
+
+Susy clapped her hands like a child. "I knew it would surprise you! It's
+an old frock I wore the year I went away with auntie. I knew where it
+was hidden, and fished it out again with these keys, Clarence; it seemed
+so like old times. Lord! when I was with the old servants again, and
+you didn't come down, I just felt as if I'd never been away, and I just
+rampaged free. It seemed to me, don't you know, not as if I'd just come,
+but as if I'd always been right here, and it was you who'd just come.
+Don't you understand! Just as you came when me and Mary Rogers
+were here; don't you remember her, Clarence, and how she used to do
+'gooseberry' for us? Well, just like that. So I said to Jim, 'I don't
+know you any more--get!' and I just slipped on this frock and ordered
+Manuela around as I used to do--and she in fits of laughter; I reckon,
+Clarence, she hasn't laughed as much since I left. And then I thought of
+you--perhaps worried and flustered as yet over things, and the change,
+and I just slipped into the kitchen and I told old fat Conchita to make
+some of these tortillas you know,--with sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on
+top,--and I tied on an apron and brought 'em up to you on a tray with
+a glass of that old Catalan wine you used to like. Then I sorter felt
+frightened when I got here, and I didn't hear any noise, and I put the
+tray down in the hall and peeped in and found you asleep. Sit still,
+I'll fetch em."
+
+She tripped out into the passage, returning with the tray, which she put
+on the table beside Clarence, and then standing back a little and with
+her hands tucked soubrette fashion in the tiny pockets of her apron,
+gazed at him with a mischievous smile.
+
+It was impossible not to smile back as he nibbled the crisp Mexican
+cake and drank the old mission wine. And Susy's tongue trilled an
+accompaniment to his thanks.
+
+"Lord! it seems so nice to be here--just you and me, Clarence--like in
+the old days--with nobody naggin' and swoopin' round after you. Don't
+be greedy, Clarence, but give me a cake." She took one and finished the
+dregs of his glass.
+
+Then sitting on the arm of his chair, she darted a violet ray of half
+reproach and half mischievousness into his amused and retrospective
+eyes. "There used to be room for two in that chair, Klarns."
+
+The use of the old childish diminutive for his name seemed to him
+natural as her familiarity, and he moved a little sideways to make
+room for her with an instinct of pleasure, but the same sense of
+irresponsibility that had characterized his reflections. Nevertheless,
+he looked critically into the mischievous eyes, and said quietly,--
+
+"Where is your husband?"
+
+There was no trace of embarrassment, apology, or even of consciousness
+in her pretty face as she replied, passing her hand lightly through his
+hair,--
+
+"Oh, Jim? I've packed him off!"
+
+"Packed him off!" echoed Clarence, slightly astonished.
+
+"Yes, to Fair Plains, full tilt after your wife's buggy. You see,
+Clarence, after the old cat--that's your wife, please--left, I wanted to
+make sure she had gone, and wasn't hangin' round to lead you off again
+with your leg tied to her apron string like a chicken's! No! I said to
+Jim, 'Just you ride after her until you see she's safe and sound in
+the down coach from Fair Plains without her knowin' it, and if she's
+inclined to hang back or wobble any, you post back here and let me
+know!' I told him I would stay and look after you to see you didn't bolt
+too!" She laughed, and then added, "But I didn't think I should
+fall into the old ways so soon, and have such a nice time. Did you,
+Clarence?"
+
+She looked so irresponsible, sitting there with her face near his,
+and so childishly, or perhaps thoughtlessly, happy, that he could only
+admire her levity, and even the slight shock that her flippant allusion
+to his wife had given him seemed to him only a weakness of his own.
+After all, was not hers the true philosophy? Why should not these bright
+eyes see things more clearly than his own? Nevertheless, with his eyes
+still fixed upon them, he continued,--
+
+"And Jim was willing to go?"
+
+She stopped, with her fingers still lifting a lock of his hair. "Why,
+yes, you silly--why shouldn't he? I'd like to see him refuse. Why, Lord!
+Jim will do anything I ask him." She put down the lock of hair, and
+suddenly looking full into his eyes, said, "That's just the difference
+between him and me, and you and--that woman!"
+
+"Then you love him!"
+
+"About as much as you love her," she said, with an unaffected laugh;
+"only he don't wind me around his finger."
+
+No doubt she was right for all her thoughtlessness, and yet he was going
+to fight about that woman to-morrow! No--he forgot; he was going to
+fight Captain Pinckney because he was like her!
+
+Susy had put her finger on the crease between his brows which this
+supposition had made, and tried to rub it out.
+
+"You know it as well as I do, Clarence," she said, with a pretty
+wrinkling of her own brows, which was her nearest approach to
+thoughtfulness. "You know you never really liked her, only you thought
+her ways were grander and more proper than mine, and you know you were
+always a little bit of a snob and a prig too--dear boy. And Mrs. Peyton
+was--bless my soul!--a Benham and a planter's daughter, and I--I was
+only a picked-up orphan! That's where Jim is better than you--now sit
+still, goosey!--even if I don't like him as much. Oh, I know what you're
+always thinking, you're thinking we're both exaggerated and theatrical,
+ain't you? But don't you think it's a heap better to be exaggerated and
+theatrical about things that are just sentimental and romantic than to
+be so awfully possessed and overcome about things that are only real?
+There, you needn't stare at me so! It's true. You've had your fill of
+grandeur and propriety, and--here you are. And," she added with a little
+chuckle, as she tucked up her feet and leaned a little closer to him,
+"here's ME."
+
+He did not speak, but his arm quite unconsciously passed round her small
+waist.
+
+"You see, Clarence," she went on with equal unconsciousness of the act,
+"you ought never to have let me go--never! You ought to have kept me
+here--or run away with me. And you oughtn't to have tried to make me
+proper. And you oughtn't to have driven me to flirt with that horrid
+Spaniard, and you oughtn't to have been so horribly cold and severe when
+I did. And you oughtn't to have made me take up with Jim, who was the
+only one who thought me his equal. I might have been very silly and
+capricious; I might have been very vain, but my vanity isn't a bit worse
+than your pride; my love of praise and applause in the theatre isn't a
+bit more horrid than your fears of what people might think of you or me.
+That's gospel truth, isn't it, Clarence? Tell me! Don't look that way
+and this--look at ME! I ain't poisonous, Clarence. Why, one of your
+cheeks is redder than the other, Clarence; that's the one that's turned
+from me. Come," she went on, taking the lapels of his coat between her
+hands and half shaking him, half drawing him nearer her bright face.
+"Tell me--isn't it true?"
+
+"I was thinking of you just now when I fell asleep, Susy," he said. He
+did not know why he said it; he had not intended to tell her, he had
+only meant to avoid a direct answer to her question; yet even now he
+went on. "And I thought of you when I was out there in the rose garden
+waiting to come in here."
+
+"You did?" she said, drawing in her breath. A wave of delicate pink
+color came up to her very eyes, it seemed to him as quickly and as
+innocently as when she was a girl. "And what DID you think, Klarns," she
+half whispered--"tell me."
+
+He did not speak, but answered her blue eyes and then her lips, as her
+arms slipped quite naturally around his neck.
+
+*****
+
+The dawn was breaking as Clarence and Jim Hooker emerged together from
+the gate of the casa. Mr. Hooker looked sleepy. He had found, after his
+return from Fair Plains, that his host had an early engagement at
+Santa Inez, and he had insisted upon rising to see him off. It was with
+difficulty, indeed, that Clarence could prevent his accompanying him.
+Clarence had not revealed to Susy the night before the real object of
+his journey, nor did Hooker evidently suspect it, yet when the former
+had mounted his horse, he hesitated for an instant, extending his hand.
+
+"If I should happen to be detained," he began with a half smile.
+
+But Jim was struggling with a yawn. "That's all right--don't mind us,"
+he said, stretching his arms. Clarence's hesitating hand dropped to his
+side, and with a light reckless laugh and a half sense of providential
+relief he galloped away.
+
+What happened immediately thereafter during his solitary ride to
+Santa Inez, looking back upon it in after years, seemed but a confused
+recollection, more like a dream. The long stretches of vague distance,
+gradually opening clearer with the rising sun in an unclouded sky;
+the meeting with a few early or belated travelers and his unconscious
+avoidance of them, as if they might know of his object; the black
+shadows of foreshortened cattle rising before him on the plain and
+arousing the same uneasy sensation of their being waylaying men; the
+wondering recognition of houses and landmarks he had long been familiar
+with; his purposeless attempts to recall the circumstances in which
+he had known them--all these were like a dream. So, too, were the
+recollections of the night before, the episode with Susy, already
+mingled and blended with the memory of their previous past; his futile
+attempts to look forward to the future, always, however, abandoned
+with relief at the thought that the next few hours might make them
+unnecessary. So also was the sudden realization that Santa Inez was
+before him, when he had thought he was not yet halfway there, and as
+he dismounted before the Court House his singular feeling--followed,
+however, by no fear or distress--was that he had come so early to the
+rendezvous that he was not yet quite prepared for it.
+
+This same sense of unreality pervaded his meeting with the deputy
+sheriff, at the news that the Federal judge had, as was expected,
+dismissed the prisoners on their own recognizances, and that Captain
+Pinckney was at the hotel at breakfast. In the like abstracted manner he
+replied to the one or two questions of the deputy, exhibited the pistols
+he had brought with him, and finally accompanied him to a little meadow
+hidden by trees, below the hotel, where the other principal and his
+seconds were awaiting them. And here he awoke--clear-eyed, keen,
+forceful, and intense!
+
+So stimulated were his faculties that his sense of hearing in its
+acuteness took in every word of the conversation between the seconds,
+a few paces distant. He heard his adversary's seconds say carelessly
+to the deputy sheriff, "I presume this is a case where there will be no
+apology or mediation," and the deputy's reply, "I reckon my man means
+business, but he seems a little queer." He heard the other second laugh,
+and say lightly, "They're apt to be so when it's their first time out,"
+followed by the more anxious aside of the other second as the deputy
+turned away,--"Yes, but by G-d I don't like his looks!" His sense of
+sight was also so acute that having lost the choice of position, when
+the coin was tossed, and being turned with his face to the sun, even
+through the glare he saw, with unerring distinctness of outline, the
+black-coated figure of his opponent moved into range--saw the perfect
+outline of his features, and how the easy, supercilious smile, as he
+threw away his cigar, appeared to drop out of his face with a kind of
+vacant awe as he faced him. He felt his nerves become as steel as the
+counting began, and at the word "three," knew he had fired by the recoil
+of the pistol in his leveled hand, simultaneously with its utterance.
+And at the same moment, still standing like a rock, he saw his
+adversary miserably collapse, his legs grotesquely curving inwards
+under him,--without even the dignity of death in his fall,--and so sink
+helplessly like a felled bull to the ground. Still erect, and lowering
+only the muzzle of his pistol, as a thin feather of smoke curled up its
+shining side, he saw the doctor and seconds run quickly to the heap, try
+to lift its limp impotence into shape, and let it drop again with the
+words, "Right through the forehead, by G-d!"
+
+"You've done for him," said the deputy, turning to Clarence with a
+singular look of curiosity, "and I reckon you had better get out of this
+mighty quick. They didn't expect it; they're just ragin'; they may round
+on you--and"--he added, more slowly, "they seem to have just found out
+who you are."
+
+Even while he was speaking, Clarence, with his quickened ear, heard the
+words, "One of Hamilton Brant's pups" "Just like his father," from
+the group around the dead man. He did not hesitate, but walked coolly
+towards them. Yet a certain fierce pride--which he had never known
+before--stirred in his veins as their voices hushed and they half
+recoiled before him.
+
+"Am I to understand from my second, gentlemen," he said, looking round
+the group, "that you are not satisfied?"
+
+"The fight was square enough," said Pinckney's second in some
+embarrassment, "but I reckon that he," pointing to the dead man, "did
+not know who you were."
+
+"Do you mean that he did not know that I was the son of a man proficient
+in the use of arms?"
+
+"I reckon that's about it," returned the second, glancing at the others.
+
+"I am glad to say, sir, that I have a better opinion of his courage,"
+said Clarence, lifting his hat to the dead body as he turned away.
+
+Yet he was conscious of no remorse, concern, or even pity in his act.
+Perhaps this was visible in his face, for the group appeared awed by
+this perfection of the duelist's coolness, and even returned his formal
+parting salutation with a vague and timid respect. He thanked the
+deputy, regained the hotel, saddled his horse and galloped away.
+
+But not towards the Rancho. Now that he could think of his future, that
+had no place in his reflections; even the episode of Susy was forgotten
+in the new and strange conception of himself and his irresponsibility
+which had come upon him with the killing of Pinckney and the words
+of his second. It was his dead father who had stiffened his arm and
+directed the fatal shot! It was hereditary influences--which others
+had been so quick to recognize--that had brought about this completing
+climax of his trouble. How else could he account for it that he--a
+conscientious, peaceful, sensitive man, tender and forgiving as he had
+believed himself to be--could now feel so little sorrow or compunction
+for his culminating act? He had read of successful duelists who were
+haunted by remorse for their first victim; who retained a terrible
+consciousness of the appearance of the dead man; he had no such feeling;
+he had only a grim contentment in the wiped-out inefficient life,
+and contempt for the limp and helpless body. He suddenly recalled his
+callousness as a boy when face to face with the victims of the Indian
+massacre, his sense of fastidious superciliousness in the discovery of
+the body of Susy's mother!--surely it was the cold blood of his father
+influencing him ever thus. What had he to do with affection, with
+domestic happiness, with the ordinary ambitions of man's life--whose
+blood was frozen at its source! Yet even with this very thought came
+once more the old inconsistent tenderness he had as a boy lavished upon
+the almost unknown and fugitive father who had forsaken his childish
+companionship, and remembered him only by secret gifts. He remembered
+how he had worshiped him even while the pious padres at San Jose were
+endeavoring to eliminate this terrible poison from his blood and combat
+his hereditary instinct in his conflicts with his school-fellows. And it
+was a part of this inconsistency that, riding away from the scene of his
+first bloodshed, his eyes were dimmed with moisture, not for his victim,
+but for the one being who he believed had impelled him to the act.
+
+This and more was in his mind during his long ride to Fair Plains, his
+journey by coach to the Embarcadero, his midnight passage across the
+dark waters of the bay, and his re-entrance to San Francisco, but what
+should be his future was still unsettled.
+
+As he wound round the crest of Russian Hill and looked down again upon
+the awakened city, he was startled to see that it was fluttering and
+streaming with bunting. From every public building and hotel, from
+the roofs of private houses, and even the windows of lonely dwellings,
+flapped and waved the striped and starry banner. The steady breath of
+the sea carried it out from masts and yards of ships at their wharves,
+from the battlements of the forts Alcatraz and Yerba Bueno. He
+remembered that the ferryman had told him that the news from Fort Sumter
+had swept the city with a revulsion of patriotic sentiment, and that
+there was no doubt that the State was saved to the Union. He looked
+down upon it with haggard, bewildered eyes, and then a strange gasp
+and fullness of the throat! For afar a solitary bugle had blown the
+"reveille" at Fort Alcatraz.
+
+
+
+PART II.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+Night at last, and the stir and tumult of a great fight over. Even the
+excitement that had swept this portion of the battlefield--only a small
+section of a vaster area of struggle--into which a brigade had marched,
+held its own, been beaten back, recovered its ground, and pursuing,
+had passed out of it forever, leaving only its dead behind, and knowing
+nothing more of that struggle than its own impact and momentum--even
+this wild excitement had long since evaporated with the stinging smoke
+of gunpowder, the acrid smell of burning rags from the clothing of a
+dead soldier fired by a bursting shell, or the heated reek of sweat and
+leather. A cool breath that seemed to bring back once more the odor of
+the upturned earthworks along the now dumb line of battle began to move
+from the suggestive darkness beyond.
+
+But into that awful penetralia of death and silence there was no
+invasion--there had been no retreat. A few of the wounded had been
+brought out, under fire, but the others had been left with the dead for
+the morning light and succor. For it was known that in that horrible
+obscurity, riderless horses, frantic with the smell of blood, galloped
+wildly here and there, or, maddened by wounds, plunged furiously at
+the intruder; that the wounded soldier, still armed, could not always
+distinguish friend from foe or from the ghouls of camp followers who
+stripped the dead in the darkness and struggled with the dying. A shot
+or two heard somewhere in that obscurity counted as nothing with the
+long fusillade that had swept it in the daytime; the passing of a single
+life, more or less, amounted to little in the long roll-call of the
+day's slaughter.
+
+But with the first beams of the morning sun--and the slowly moving
+"relief detail" from the camp--came a weird half-resurrection of that
+ghastly field. Then it was that the long rays of sunlight, streaming
+away a mile beyond the battle line, pointed out the first harvest of
+the dead where the reserves had been posted. There they lay in heaps
+and piles, killed by solid shot or bursting shells that had leaped the
+battle line to plunge into the waiting ranks beyond. As the sun lifted
+higher its beams fell within the range of musketry fire, where the dead
+lay thicker,--even as they had fallen when killed outright,--with arms
+extended and feet at all angles to the field. As it touched these dead
+upturned faces, strangely enough it brought out no expression of pain or
+anguish--but rather as if death had arrested them only in surprise and
+awe. It revealed on the lips of those who had been mortally wounded
+and had turned upon their side the relief which death had brought their
+suffering, sometimes shown in a faint smile. Mounting higher, it glanced
+upon the actual battle line, curiously curving for the shelter of walls,
+fences, and breastworks, and here the dead lay, even as when they
+lay and fired, their faces prone in the grass but their muskets still
+resting across the breastworks. Exposed to grape and canister from the
+battery on the ridge, death had come to them mercifully also--through
+the head and throat. And now the whole field lay bare in the
+sunlight, broken with grotesque shadows cast from sitting, crouching,
+half-recumbent but always rigid figures, which might have been effigies
+on their own monuments. One half-kneeling soldier, with head bowed
+between his stiffened hands, might have stood for a carven figure of
+Grief at the feet of his dead comrade. A captain, shot through the brain
+in the act of mounting a wall, lay sideways half across it, his lips
+parted with a word of command; his sword still pointing over the barrier
+the way that they should go.
+
+But it was not until the sun had mounted higher that it struck the
+central horror of the field and seemed to linger there in dazzling
+persistence, now and then returning to it in startling flashes that it
+might be seen of men and those who brought succor. A tiny brook had run
+obliquely near the battle line. It was here that, the night before
+the battle, friend and foe had filled their canteens side by side with
+soldierly recklessness--or perhaps a higher instinct--purposely ignoring
+each other's presence; it was here that the wounded had afterwards
+crept, crawled, and dragged themselves, here they had pushed, wrangled,
+striven, and fought for a draught of that precious fluid which assuaged
+the thirst of their wounds--or happily put them out of their misery
+forever; here overborne, crushed, suffocated by numbers, pouring their
+own blood into the flood, and tumbling after it with their helpless
+bodies, they dammed the stream, until recoiling, red and angry, it had
+burst its banks and overflowed the cotton-field in a broad pool that now
+sparkled in the sunlight. But below this human dam--a mile away--where
+the brook still crept sluggishly, the ambulance horses sniffed and
+started from it.
+
+The detail moved on slowly, doing their work expeditiously, and
+apparently callously, but really only with that mechanical movement
+that saves emotion. Only once they were moved to an outbreak of
+indignation,--the discovery of the body of an officer whose pockets
+were turned inside out, but whose hand was still tightly grasped on his
+buttoned waistcoat, as if resisting the outrage that had been done
+while still in life. As the men disengaged the stiffened hand something
+slipped from the waistcoat to the ground. The corporal picked it up and
+handed it to his officer. It was a sealed packet. The officer received
+it with the carelessness which long experience of these pathetic
+missives from the dying to their living relations had induced, and
+dropped it in the pocket of his tunic, with the half-dozen others that
+he had picked up that morning, and moved on with the detail. A little
+further on they halted, in the attitude of attention, as a mounted
+officer appeared, riding slowly down the line.
+
+There was something more than the habitual respect of their superior in
+their faces as he came forward. For it was the general who had commanded
+the brigade the day before,--the man who had leaped with one bound into
+the foremost rank of military leaders. It was his invincible spirit
+that had led the advance, held back defeat against overwhelming numbers,
+sustained the rally, impressed his subordinate officers with his own
+undeviating purpose, and even infused them with an almost superstitious
+belief in his destiny of success. It was this man who had done what
+it was deemed impossible to do,--what even at the time it was thought
+unwise and unstrategic to do,--who had held a weak position, of
+apparently no importance, under the mandate of an incomprehensible order
+from his superior, which at best asked only for a sacrifice and was
+rewarded with a victory. He had decimated his brigade, but the wounded
+and dying had cheered him as he passed, and the survivors had pursued
+the enemy until the bugle called them back. For such a record he looked
+still too young and scholarly, albeit his handsome face was dark and
+energetic, and his manner taciturn.
+
+His quick eye had already caught sight of the rifled body of the
+officer, and contracted. As the captain of the detail saluted him he
+said curtly,--
+
+"I thought the orders were to fire upon any one desecrating the dead?"
+
+"They are, General; but the hyenas don't give us a chance. That's all
+yonder poor fellow saved from their claws," replied the officer, as he
+held up the sealed packet. "It has no address."
+
+The general took it, examined the envelope, thrust it into his belt, and
+said,--
+
+"I will take charge of it."
+
+The sound of horses' hoofs came from the rocky roadside beyond the
+brook. Both men turned. A number of field officers were approaching.
+
+"The division staff," said the captain, in a lower voice, falling back.
+
+They came slowly forward, a central figure on a gray horse leading
+here--as in history. A short, thick-set man with a grizzled beard
+closely cropped around an inscrutable mouth, and the serious formality
+of a respectable country deacon in his aspect, which even the
+major-generals blazon on the shoulder-strap of his loose tunic on his
+soldierly seat in the saddle could not entirely obliterate. He had
+evidently perceived the general of brigade, and quickened his horse as
+the latter drew up. The staff followed more leisurely, but still with
+some curiosity, to witness the meeting of the first general of the army
+with the youngest. The division general saluted, but almost instantly
+withdrew his leathern gauntlet, and offered his bared hand to the
+brigadier. The words of heroes are scant. The drawn-up detail, the
+waiting staff listened. This was all they heard:--
+
+"Halleck tells me you're from California?"
+
+"Yes, General."
+
+"Ah! I lived there, too, in the early days."
+
+"Wonderful country. Developed greatly since my time, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, General."
+
+"Great resources; finest wheat-growing country in the world, sir. You
+don't happen to know what the actual crop was this year?"
+
+"Hardly, General! but something enormous."
+
+"Yes, I have always said it would be. Have a cigar?"
+
+He handed his cigar-case to the brigadier. Then he took one himself,
+lighted it at the smouldering end of the one he had taken from his
+mouth, was about to throw the stump carelessly down, but, suddenly
+recollecting himself, leaned over his horse, and dropped it carefully
+a few inches away from the face of a dead soldier. Then, straightening
+himself in the saddle, he shoved his horse against the brigadier, moving
+him a little further on, while a slight movement of his hand kept the
+staff from following.
+
+"A heavy loss here!"
+
+"I'm afraid so, General."
+
+"It couldn't be helped. We had to rush in your brigade to gain time, and
+occupy the enemy, until we could change front."
+
+The young general looked at the shrewd, cold eyes of his chief.
+
+"Change front?" he echoed.
+
+"Yes. Before a gun was fired, we discovered that the enemy was in
+complete possession of all our plans, and knew every detail of our
+forward movement. All had to be changed."
+
+The younger man now instantly understood the incomprehensible order of
+the day before.
+
+The general of division continued, with his first touch of official
+formality,--
+
+"You understand, therefore, General Brant, that in the face of this
+extraordinary treachery, the utmost vigilance is required, and a
+complete surveillance of your camp followers and civilians, to detect
+the actual spy within our lines, or the traitor we are harboring,
+who has become possessed of this information. You will overhaul your
+brigade, and weed out all suspects, and in the position which you are
+to take to-morrow, and the plantation you will occupy, you will see that
+your private quarters, as well as your lines, are cleared of all but
+those you can vouch for."
+
+He reined in his horse, again extended his hand, saluted, and rejoined
+his staff.
+
+Brigadier-General Clarence Brant remained for a moment with his head
+bent in thoughtful contemplation of the coolness of his veteran chief
+under this exciting disclosure, and the strategy with which he had
+frustrated the traitor's success. Then his eye caught the sealed packet
+in his belt. He mechanically drew it out, and broke the seal. The
+envelope was filled with papers and memorandums. But as he looked at
+them his face darkened and his brow knit. He glanced quickly around him.
+The staff had trotted away; the captain and his detail were continuing
+their work at a little distance. He took a long breath, for he was
+holding in his hand a tracing of their camp, even of the position he was
+to occupy tomorrow, and a detailed account of the movements, plans, and
+force of the whole division as had been arranged in council of war the
+day before the battle! But there was no indication of the writer or his
+intentions.
+
+He thrust the papers hurriedly back into the envelope, but placed it,
+this time, in his breast. He galloped towards the captain.
+
+"Let me see again the officer from whom you took that packet!"
+
+The captain led him to where the body lay, with others, extended more
+decently on the grass awaiting removal. General Brant with difficulty
+repressed an ejaculation.
+
+"Why, it's one of our own men," he said quickly.
+
+"Yes, General. They say it's Lieutenant Wainwright, a regular, of the
+paymaster general's department."
+
+"Then what was he doing here?" asked General Brant sternly.
+
+"I can't make out, sir, unless he went into the last advance as a
+volunteer. Wanted to see the fight, I suppose. He was a dashing fellow,
+a West Pointer,--and a Southerner, too,--a Virginian."
+
+"A Southerner!" echoed Brant quickly.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Search him again," said Brant quietly. He had recovered his usual
+coolness, and as the captain again examined the body, he took out his
+tablets and wrote a few lines. It was an order to search the quarters
+of Lieutenant Wainwright and bring all papers, letters, and documents to
+him. He then beckoned one of the detail towards him. "Take that to the
+provost marshal at once. Well, Captain," he added calmly, as the officer
+again approached him, "what do you find?"
+
+"Only this, sir," returned the captain, with a half smile, producing a
+small photograph. "I suppose it was overlooked, too."
+
+He handed it to Brant.
+
+There was a sudden fixing of his commanding officer's eyes, but his face
+did not otherwise change.
+
+"It's the usual find, General. Always a photograph! But this time a
+handsome woman!"
+
+"Very," said Clarence Brant quietly. It was the portrait of his own
+wife.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Nevertheless, so complete was his control of voice and manner that, as
+he rode on to his quarters, no one would have dreamed that General Brant
+had just looked upon the likeness of the wife from whom he had parted in
+anger four years ago. Still less would they have suspected the strange
+fear that came upon him that in some way she was connected with the
+treachery he had just discovered. He had heard from her only once, and
+then through her late husband's lawyer, in regard to her Californian
+property, and believed that she had gone to her relations in Alabama,
+where she had identified herself with the Southern cause, even to the
+sacrifice of her private fortune. He had heard her name mentioned in the
+Southern press as a fascinating society leader, and even coadjutrix
+of Southern politicians,--but he had no reason to believe that she had
+taken so active or so desperate a part in the struggle. He tried to
+think that his uneasiness sprang from his recollection of the previous
+treachery of Captain Pinckney, and the part that she had played in the
+Californian conspiracy, although he had long since acquitted her of the
+betrayal of any nearer trust. But there was a fateful similarity in
+the two cases. There was no doubt that this Lieutenant Wainwright was
+a traitor in the camp,--that he had succumbed to the usual sophistry of
+his class in regard to his superior allegiance to his native State. But
+was there the inducement of another emotion, or was the photograph only
+the souvenir of a fascinating priestess of rebellion, whom the dead
+man had met? There was perhaps less of feeling than scorn in the first
+suggestion, but he was nevertheless relieved when the provost marshal
+found no other incriminating papers in Wainwright's effects. Nor did
+he reveal to the division general the finding of the photograph. It was
+sufficient to disclose the work of the traitor without adding what might
+be a clue to his wife's participation in it, near or remote. There was
+risk enough in the former course,--which his duty made imperative. He
+hardly dared to think of the past day's slaughter, which--there was no
+doubt now--had been due to the previous work of the spy, and how his
+brigade had been selected--by the irony of Fate--to suffer for and yet
+retrieve it. If she had had a hand in this wicked plot, ought he to
+spare her? Or was his destiny and hers to be thus monstrously linked
+together?
+
+Luckily, however, the expiation of the chief offender and the timely
+discovery of his papers enabled the division commander to keep the
+affair discreetly silent, and to enjoin equal secrecy on the part of
+Brant. The latter, however, did not relax his vigilance, and after the
+advance the next day he made a minute inspection of the ground he was
+to occupy, its approaches and connections with the outlying country,
+and the rebel lines; increased the stringency of picket and sentry
+regulations, and exercised a rigid surveillance of non-combatants
+and civilians within the lines, even to the lowest canteener or camp
+follower. Then he turned his attention to the house he was to occupy as
+his headquarters.
+
+It was a fine specimen of the old colonial planter's house, with its
+broad veranda, its great detached offices and negro quarters, and had,
+thus far, escaped the ravages and billeting of the war. It had been
+occupied by its owner up to a few days before the engagement, and so
+great had been the confidence of the enemy in their success that it had
+been used as the Confederate headquarters on the morning of the decisive
+battle. Jasmine and rose, unstained by the sulphur of gunpowder,
+twined around its ruined columns and half hid the recessed windows;
+the careless flower garden was still in its unkempt and unplucked
+luxuriance; the courtyard before the stables alone showed marks of the
+late military occupancy, and was pulverized by the uneasy horse-hoofs of
+the waiting staff. But the mingled impress of barbaric prodigality with
+patriarchal simplicity was still there in the domestic arrangements of
+a race who lived on half equal familiarity with strangers and their own
+servants.
+
+The negro servants still remained, with a certain cat-like fidelity
+to the place, and adapted themselves to the Northern invaders with
+a childlike enjoyment of the novelty of change. Brant, nevertheless,
+looked them over with an experienced eye, and satisfied himself of their
+trustworthiness; there was the usual number of "boys," gray-haired and
+grizzled in body service, and the "mammys" and "aunties" of the kitchen.
+There were two or three rooms in the wing which still contained private
+articles, pictures and souvenirs of the family, and a "young lady's"
+boudoir, which Brant, with characteristic delicacy, kept carefully
+isolated and intact from his military household, and accessible only to
+the family servants. The room he had selected for himself was nearest
+it,--a small, plainly furnished apartment, with an almost conventual
+simplicity in its cold, white walls and draperies, and the narrow,
+nun-like bed. It struck him that it might have belonged to some prim
+elder daughter or maiden aunt, who had acted as housekeeper, as it
+commanded the wing and servants' offices, with easy access to the
+central hall.
+
+There followed a week of inactivity in which Brant felt a singular
+resemblance in this Southern mansion to the old casa at Robles. The
+afternoon shadows of the deep verandas recalled the old monastic gloom
+of the Spanish house, which even the presence of a lounging officer or
+waiting orderly could not entirely dissipate, and the scent of the rose
+and jasmine from his windows overcame him with sad memories. He began
+to chafe under this inaction, and long again for the excitement of the
+march and bivouac, in which, for the past four years, he had buried his
+past.
+
+He was sitting one afternoon alone before his reports and dispatches,
+when this influence seemed so strong that he half impulsively laid them
+aside to indulge in along reverie. He was recalling his last day
+at Robles, the early morning duel with Pinckney, the return to San
+Francisco, and the sudden resolution which sent him that day across the
+continent to offer his services to the Government. He remembered
+his delay in the Western town, where a volunteer regiment was being
+recruited, his entrance into it as a private, his rapid selection,
+through the force of his sheer devotion and intelligent concentration,
+to the captaincy of his company; his swift promotion on hard-fought
+fields to the head of the regiment, and the singular success that had
+followed his resistless energy, which left him no time to think of
+anything but his duty. The sudden intrusion of his wife upon his career
+now, even in this accidental and perhaps innocent way, had seriously
+unsettled him.
+
+The shadows were growing heavier and deeper, it lacked only a few
+moments of the sunset bugle, when he was recalled to himself by that
+singular instinctive consciousness, common to humanity, of being
+intently looked at. He turned quickly,--the door behind him closed
+softly. He rose and slipped into the hall. The tall figure of a woman
+was going down the passage. She was erect and graceful; but, as she
+turned towards the door leading to the offices, he distinctly saw the
+gaudily turbaned head and black silhouette of a negress. Nevertheless,
+he halted a moment at the door of the next room.
+
+"See who that woman is who has just passed, Mr. Martin. She doesn't seem
+to belong to the house."
+
+The young officer rose, put on his cap, and departed. In a few moments
+he returned.
+
+"Was she tall, sir, of a good figure, and very straight?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"She is a servant of our neighbors, the Manlys, who occasionally visits
+the servants here. A mulatto, I think."
+
+Brant reflected. Many of the mulattoes and negresses were of good
+figure, and the habit of carrying burdens on their heads gave them a
+singularly erect carriage.
+
+The lieutenant looked at his chief.
+
+"Have you any orders to give concerning her, General?"
+
+"No," said Brant, after a moment's pause, and turned away.
+
+The officer smiled. It seemed a good story to tell at mess of this human
+weakness of his handsome, reserved, and ascetic-looking leader.
+
+A few mornings afterwards Brant was interrupted over his reports by the
+almost abrupt entrance of the officer of the day. His face was flushed,
+and it was evident that only the presence of his superior restrained his
+excitement. He held a paper in his hand.
+
+"A lady presents this order and pass from Washington, countersigned by
+the division general."
+
+"A lady?"
+
+"Yes, sir, she is dressed as such. But she has not only declined the
+most ordinary civilities and courtesies we have offered her, but she
+has insulted Mr. Martin and myself grossly, and demands to be shown to
+you--alone."
+
+Brant took the paper. It was a special order from the President, passing
+Miss Matilda Faulkner through the Federal lines to visit her uncle's
+home, known as "Gray Oaks," now held and occupied as the headquarters of
+Brant's Brigade, in order to arrange for the preservation and disposal
+of certain family effects and private property that still remained
+there, or to take and carry away such property; and invoking all
+necessary aid and assistance from the United States forces in such
+occupancy. It was countersigned by the division commander. It was
+perfectly regular and of undoubted authenticity. He had heard of passes
+of this kind,--the terror of the army,--issued in Washington under some
+strange controlling influence and against military protest; but he did
+not let his subordinate see the uneasiness with which it filled him.
+
+"Show her in," he said quietly.
+
+But she had already entered, brushing scornfully past the officer, and
+drawing her skirt aside, as if contaminated: a very pretty Southern
+girl, scornful and red-lipped, clad in a gray riding-habit, and still
+carrying her riding-whip clenched ominously in her slim, gauntleted
+hand!
+
+"You have my permit in your hand," she said brusquely, hardly raising
+her eyes to Brant. "I suppose it's all straight enough,--and even if it
+isn't, I don't reckon to be kept waiting with those hirelings."
+
+"Your 'permit' is 'straight' enough, Miss Faulkner," said Brant, slowly
+reading her name from the document before him. "But, as it does not seem
+to include permission to insult my officers, you will perhaps allow them
+first to retire."
+
+He made a sign to the officer, who passed out of the door.
+
+As it closed, he went on, in a gentle but coldly unimpassioned voice,--
+
+"I perceive you are a Southern lady, and therefore I need not remind you
+that it is not considered good form to treat even the slaves of those
+one does not like uncivilly, and I must, therefore, ask you to keep your
+active animosity for myself."
+
+The young girl lifted her eyes. She had evidently not expected to meet
+a man so young, so handsome, so refined, and so coldly invincible in
+manner. Still less was she prepared for that kind of antagonism. In
+keeping up her preconcerted attitude towards the "Northern hireling,"
+she had been met with official brusqueness, contemptuous silence, or
+aggrieved indignation,--but nothing so exasperating as this. She even
+fancied that this elegant but sardonic-looking soldier was mocking her.
+She bit her red lip, but, with a scornful gesture of her riding-whip,
+said,--
+
+"I reckon that your knowledge of Southern ladies is, for certain
+reasons, not very extensive."
+
+"Pardon me; I have had the honor of marrying one."
+
+Apparently more exasperated than before, she turned upon him abruptly.
+
+"You say my pass is all right. Then I presume I may attend to the
+business that brought me here."
+
+"Certainly; but you will forgive me if I imagined that an expression of
+contempt for your hosts was a part of it."
+
+He rang a bell on the table. It was responded to by an orderly.
+
+"Send all the household servants here."
+
+The room was presently filled with the dusky faces of the negro
+retainers. Here and there was the gleaming of white teeth, but a
+majority of the assembly wore the true negro serious acceptance of the
+importance of "an occasion." One or two even affected an official and
+soldierly bearing. And, as he fully expected, there were several glances
+of significant recognition of the stranger.
+
+"You will give," said Brant sternly, "every aid and attention to the
+wants of this young lady, who is here to represent the interests of your
+old master. As she will be entirely dependent upon you in all things
+connected with her visit here, see to it that she does not have to
+complain to me of any inattention,--or be obliged to ask for other
+assistance."
+
+As Miss Faulkner, albeit a trifle paler in the cheek, but as scornful as
+ever, was about to follow the servants from the room, Brant stopped her,
+with a coldly courteous gesture.
+
+"You will understand, therefore, Miss Faulkner, that you have your wish,
+and that you will not be exposed to any contact with the members of my
+military family, nor they with you."
+
+"Am I then to be a prisoner in this house--and under a free pass of
+your--President?" she said indignantly.
+
+"By no means! You are free to come and go, and see whom you please. I
+have no power to control your actions. But I have the power to control
+theirs."
+
+She swept furiously from the room.
+
+"That is quite enough to fill her with a desire to flirt with every man
+here," said Brant to himself, with a faint smile; "but I fancy they have
+had a taste enough of her quality."
+
+Nevertheless he sat down and wrote a few lines to the division
+commander, pointing out that he had already placed the owner's private
+property under strict surveillance, that it was cared for and perfectly
+preserved by the household servants, and that the pass was evidently
+obtained as a subterfuge.
+
+To this he received a formal reply, regretting that the authorities at
+Washington still found it necessary to put this kind of risk and burden
+on the army in the field, but that the order emanated from the highest
+authority, and must be strictly obeyed. At the bottom of the page was a
+characteristic line in pencil in the general's own hand--"Not the kind
+that is dangerous."
+
+A flush mounted Brant's cheeks, as if it contained not only a hidden,
+but a personal significance. He had thought of his own wife!
+
+Singularly enough, a day or two later, at dinner, the conversation
+turned upon the intense sectional feeling of Southern women, probably
+induced by their late experiences. Brant, at the head of the table, in
+his habitual abstraction, was scarcely following the somewhat excited
+diction of Colonel Strangeways, one of his staff.
+
+"No, sir," reiterated that indignant warrior, "take my word for it! A
+Southern woman isn't to be trusted on this point, whether as a sister,
+sweetheart, or wife. And when she is trusted, she's bound to get the
+better of the man in any of those relations!"
+
+The dead silence that followed, the ominous joggle of a glass at the
+speaker's elbow, the quick, sympathetic glance that Brant instinctively
+felt was directed at his own face, and the abrupt change of subject,
+could not but arrest his attention, even if he had overlooked the
+speech. His face, however, betrayed nothing. It had never, however,
+occurred to him before that his family affairs might be known--neither
+had he ever thought of keeping them a secret. It seemed so purely a
+personal and private misfortune, that he had never dreamed of its having
+any public interest. And even now he was a little ashamed of what he
+believed was his sensitiveness to mere conventional criticism, which,
+with the instinct of a proud man, he had despised.
+
+He was not far wrong in his sardonic intuition of the effect of his
+prohibition upon Miss Faulkner's feelings. Certainly that young lady,
+when not engaged in her mysterious occupation of arranging her uncle's
+effects, occasionally was seen in the garden, and in the woods beyond.
+Although her presence was the signal for the "oblique" of any lounging
+"shoulder strap," or the vacant "front" of a posted sentry, she seemed
+to regard their occasional proximity with less active disfavor. Once,
+when she had mounted the wall to gather a magnolia blossom, the chair by
+which she had ascended rolled over, leaving her on the wall. At a
+signal from the guard-room, two sappers and miners appeared carrying
+a scaling-ladder, which they placed silently against the wall, and as
+silently withdrew. On another occasion, the same spirited young lady,
+whom Brant was satisfied would have probably imperiled her life under
+fire in devotion to her cause, was brought ignominiously to bay in the
+field by that most appalling of domestic animals, the wandering and
+untrammeled cow! Brant could not help smiling as he heard the quick,
+harsh call to "Turn out, guard," saw the men march stolidly with fixed
+bayonets to the vicinity of the affrighted animal, who fled, leaving
+the fair stranger to walk shamefacedly to the house. He was surprised,
+however, that she should have halted before his door, and with tremulous
+indignation, said,--
+
+"I thank you, sir, for your chivalrousness in turning a defenseless
+woman into ridicule."
+
+"I regret, Miss Faulkner," began Brant gravely, "that you should believe
+that I am able to control the advances of farmyard cattle as easily
+as"--But he stopped, as he saw that the angry flash of her blue eyes,
+as she darted past him, was set in tears. A little remorseful on the
+following day, he added a word to his ordinary cap-lifting when she
+went by, but she retained a reproachful silence. Later in the day, he
+received from her servant a respectful request for an interview, and
+was relieved to find that she entered his presence with no trace of her
+former aggression, but rather with the resignation of a deeply injured,
+yet not entirely unforgiving, woman.
+
+"I thought," she began coldly, "that I ought to inform you that I
+would probably be able to conclude my business here by the day after
+to-morrow, and that you would then be relieved of my presence. I am
+aware--indeed," she added, bitterly, "I could scarcely help perceiving,
+that it has been an exceedingly irksome one."
+
+"I trust," began Brant coldly, "that no gentleman of my command has"--
+
+"No!"
+
+She interrupted him quickly, with a return of her former manner, and a
+passionate sweep of the hand.
+
+"Do you suppose for a moment that I am speaking--that I am even
+thinking--of them? What are they to me?"
+
+"Thank you. I am glad to know that they are nothing; and that I may
+now trust that you have consulted my wishes, and have reserved your
+animosity solely for me," returned Brant quietly. "That being so, I see
+no reason for your hurrying your departure in the least."
+
+She rose instantly.
+
+"I have," she said slowly, controlling herself with a slight effort,
+"found some one who will take my duty off my hands. She is a servant of
+one of your neighbors,--who is an old friend of my uncle's. The woman is
+familiar with the house, and our private property. I will give her full
+instructions to act for me, and even an authorization in writing, if you
+prefer it. She is already in the habit of coming here; but her visits
+will give you very little trouble. And, as she is a slave, or, as you
+call it, I believe, a chattel, she will be already quite accustomed
+to the treatment which her class are in the habit of receiving from
+Northern hands."
+
+Without waiting to perceive the effect of her Parthian shot, she swept
+proudly out of the room.
+
+"I wonder what she means," mused Brant, as her quick step died away in
+the passage. "One thing is certain,--a woman like that is altogether too
+impulsive for a spy."
+
+Later, in the twilight, he saw her walking in the garden. There was a
+figure at her side. A little curious, he examined it more closely from
+his window. It was already familiar to him,--the erect, shapely form
+of his neighbor's servant. A thoughtful look passed over his face as he
+muttered,--"So this is to be her deputy."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Called to a general council of officers at divisional headquarters the
+next day, Brant had little time for further speculation regarding
+his strange guest, but a remark from the division commander, that he
+preferred to commit the general plan of a movement then under discussion
+to their memories rather than to written orders in the ordinary routine,
+seemed to show that his chief still suspected the existence of a spy.
+He, therefore, told him of his late interview with Miss Faulkner, and
+her probable withdrawal in favor of a mulatto neighbor. The division
+commander received the information with indifference.
+
+"They're much too clever to employ a hussy like that, who shows her
+hand at every turn, either as a spy or a messenger of spies,--and the
+mulattoes are too stupid, to say nothing of their probable fidelity
+to us. No, General, if we are watched, it is by an eagle, and not a
+mocking-bird. Miss Faulkner has nothing worse about her than her tongue;
+and there isn't the nigger blood in the whole South that would risk a
+noose for her, or for any of their masters or mistresses!"
+
+It was, therefore, perhaps, with some mitigation of his usual critical
+severity that he saw her walking before him alone in the lane as he
+rode home to quarters. She was apparently lost in a half-impatient,
+half-moody reverie, which even the trotting hoof-beats of his own and
+his orderly's horse had not disturbed. From time to time she struck the
+myrtle hedge beside her with the head of a large flower which hung
+by its stalk from her listless hands, or held it to her face as if
+to inhale its perfume. Dismissing his orderly by a side path, he rode
+gently forward, but, to his surprise, without turning, or seeming to be
+aware of his presence, she quickened her pace, and even appeared to look
+from side to side for some avenue of escape. If only to mend matters, he
+was obliged to ride quickly forward to her side, where he threw himself
+from his horse, flung the reins on his arm, and began to walk beside
+her. She at first turned a slightly flushed cheek away from him, and
+then looked up with a purely simulated start of surprise.
+
+"I am afraid," he said gently, "that I am the first to break my own
+orders in regard to any intrusion on your privacy. But I wanted to ask
+you if I could give you any aid whatever in the change you think of
+making."
+
+He was quite sincere,--had been touched by her manifest disturbance,
+and, despite his masculine relentlessness of criticism, he had an
+intuition of feminine suffering that was in itself feminine.
+
+"Meaning, that you are in a hurry to get rid of me," she said curtly,
+without raising her eyes.
+
+"Meaning that I only wish to expedite a business which I think is
+unpleasant to you, but which I believe you have undertaken from
+unselfish devotion."
+
+The scant expression of a reserved nature is sometimes more attractive
+to women than the most fluent vivacity. Possibly there was also a
+melancholy grace in this sardonic soldier's manner that affected her,
+for she looked up, and said impulsively,--
+
+"You think so?"
+
+But he met her eager eyes with some surprise.
+
+"I certainly do," he replied more coldly. "I can imagine your feelings
+on finding your uncle's home in the possession of your enemies, and your
+presence under the family roof only a sufferance. I can hardly believe
+it a pleasure to you, or a task you would have accepted for yourself
+alone."
+
+"But," she said, turning towards him wickedly, "what if I did it only to
+excite my revenge; what if I knew it would give me courage to incite my
+people to carry war into your own homes; to make you of the North feel
+as I feel, and taste our bitterness?"
+
+"I could easily understand that, too," he returned, with listless
+coldness, "although I don't admit that revenge is an unmixed pleasure,
+even to a woman."
+
+"A woman!" she repeated indignantly. "There is no sex in a war like
+this."
+
+"You are spoiling your flower," he said quietly. "It is very pretty, and
+a native one, too; not an invader, or even transplanted. May I look at
+it?"
+
+She hesitated, half recoiling for an instant, and her hand trembled.
+Then, suddenly and abruptly she said, with a hysteric little laugh,
+"Take it, then," and almost thrust it in his hand.
+
+It certainly was a pretty flower, not unlike a lily in appearance, with
+a bell-like cup and long anthers covered with a fine pollen, like red
+dust. As he lifted it to his face, to inhale its perfume, she uttered a
+slight cry, and snatched it from his hand.
+
+"There!" she said, with the same nervous laugh. "I knew you would; I
+ought to have warned you. The pollen comes off so easily, and leaves a
+stain. And you've got some on your cheek. Look!" she continued, taking
+her handkerchief from her pocket and wiping his cheek; "see there!" The
+delicate cambric showed a blood-red streak.
+
+"It grows in a swamp," she continued, in the same excited strain; "we
+call it dragon's teeth,--like the kind that was sown in the story, you
+know. We children used to find it, and then paint our faces and lips
+with it. We called it our rouge. I was almost tempted to try it again
+when I found it just now. It took me back so to the old times."
+
+Following her odd manner rather than her words, as she turned her face
+towards him suddenly, Brant was inclined to think that she had tried it
+already, so scarlet was her cheek. But it presently paled again under
+his cold scrutiny.
+
+"You must miss the old times," he said calmly. "I am afraid you found
+very little of them left, except in these flowers."
+
+"And hardly these," she said bitterly. "Your troops had found a way
+through the marsh, and had trampled down the bushes."
+
+Brant's brow clouded. He remembered that the brook, which had run red
+during the fight, had lost itself in this marsh. It did not increase his
+liking for this beautiful but blindly vicious animal at his side, and
+even his momentary pity for her was fading fast. She was incorrigible.
+They walked on for a few moments in silence.
+
+"You said," she began at last, in a gentler and even hesitating voice,
+"that your wife was a Southern woman."
+
+He checked an irritated start with difficulty.
+
+"I believe I did," he said coldly, as if he regretted it.
+
+"And of course you taught her YOUR gospel,--the gospel according to
+St. Lincoln. Oh, I know," she went on hurriedly, as if conscious of his
+irritation and seeking to allay it. "She was a woman and loved you, and
+thought with your thoughts and saw only with your eyes. Yes, that's the
+way with us,--I suppose we all do it!" she added bitterly.
+
+"She had her own opinions," said Brant briefly, as he recovered himself.
+
+Nevertheless, his manner so decidedly closed all further discussion that
+there was nothing left for the young girl but silence. But it was broken
+by her in a few moments in her old contemptuous voice and manner.
+
+"Pray don't trouble yourself to accompany me any further, General Brant.
+Unless, of course, you are afraid I may come across some of your--your
+soldiers. I promise you I won't eat them."
+
+"I am afraid you must suffer my company a little longer, Miss Faulkner,
+on account of those same soldiers," returned Brant gravely. "You may not
+know that this road, in which I find you, takes you through a cordon
+of pickets. If you were alone you would be stopped, questioned, and,
+failing to give the password, you would be detained, sent to the
+guard-house, and"--he stopped, and fixed his eyes on her keenly as he
+added, "and searched."
+
+"You would not dare to search a woman!" she said indignantly, although
+her flush gave way to a slight pallor.
+
+"You said just now that there should be no sex in a war like this,"
+returned Brant carelessly, but without abating his scrutinizing gaze.
+
+"Then it IS war?" she said quickly, with a white, significant face.
+
+His look of scrutiny turned to one of puzzled wonder. But at the same
+moment there was the flash of a bayonet in the hedge, a voice called
+"Halt!" and a soldier stepped into the road.
+
+General Brant advanced, met the salute of the picket with a few formal
+words, and then turned towards his fair companion, as another soldier
+and a sergeant joined the group.
+
+"Miss Faulkner is new to the camp, took the wrong turning, and was
+unwittingly leaving the lines when I joined her." He fixed his eyes
+intently on her now colorless face, but she did not return his look.
+"You will show her the shortest way to quarters," he continued, to the
+sergeant, "and should she at any time again lose her way, you will again
+conduct her home,--but without detaining or reporting her."
+
+He lifted his cap, remounted his horse, and rode away, as the young
+girl, with a proud, indifferent step, moved down the road with the
+sergeant. A mounted officer passed him and saluted,--it was one of his
+own staff. From some strange instinct, he knew that he had witnessed the
+scene, and from some equally strange intuition he was annoyed by it. But
+he continued his way, visiting one or two outposts, and returned by a
+long detour to his quarters. As he stepped upon the veranda he saw Miss
+Faulkner at the bottom of the garden talking with some one across the
+hedge. By the aid of his glass he could recognize the shapely figure
+of the mulatto woman which he had seen before. But by its aid he also
+discovered that she was carrying a flower exactly like the one which
+Miss Faulkner still held in her hand. Had she been with Miss Faulkner in
+the lane, and if so, why had she disappeared when he came up? Impelled
+by something stronger than mere curiosity, he walked quickly down
+the garden, but she evidently had noticed him, for she as quickly
+disappeared. Not caring to meet Miss Faulkner again, he retraced his
+steps, resolving that he would, on the first opportunity, personally
+examine and interrogate this new visitor. For if she were to take Miss
+Faulkner's place in a subordinate capacity, this precaution was clearly
+within his rights.
+
+He re-entered his room and seated himself at his desk before the
+dispatches, orders, and reports awaiting him. He found himself, however,
+working half mechanically, and recurring to his late interview with Miss
+Faulkner in the lane. If she had any inclination to act the spy, or
+to use her position here as a means of communicating with the enemy's
+lines, he thought he had thoroughly frightened her. Nevertheless, now,
+for the first time, he was inclined to accept his chief's opinion of
+her. She was not only too clumsy and inexperienced, but she totally
+lacked the self-restraint of a spy. Her nervous agitation in the lane
+was due to something more disturbing than his mere possible intrusion
+upon her confidences with the mulatto. The significance of her question,
+"Then it IS war?" was at best a threat, and that implied hesitation. He
+recalled her strange allusion to his wife; was it merely the outcome
+of his own foolish confession on their first interview, or was it a
+concealed ironical taunt? Being satisfied, however, that she was not
+likely to imperil his public duty in any way, he was angry with himself
+for speculating further. But, although he still felt towards her the
+same antagonism she had at first provoked, he was conscious that she was
+beginning to exercise a strange fascination over him.
+
+Dismissing her at last with an effort, he finished his work and then
+rose, and unlocking a closet, took out a small dispatch-box, to which
+he intended to intrust a few more important orders and memoranda. As
+he opened it with a key on his watch-chain, he was struck with a faint
+perfume that seemed to come from it,--a perfume that he remembered. Was
+it the smell of the flower that Miss Faulkner carried, or the scent of
+the handkerchief with which she had wiped his cheek, or a mingling of
+both? Or was he under some spell to think of that wretched girl, and her
+witch-like flower? He leaned over the box and suddenly started. Upon
+the outer covering of a dispatch was a singular blood-red streak!
+He examined it closely,--it was the powdery stain of the lily
+pollen,--exactly as he had seen it on her handkerchief.
+
+There could be no mistake. He passed his finger over the stain; he could
+still feel the slippery, infinitesimal powder of the pollen. It was not
+there when he had closed the box that morning; it was impossible that
+it should be there unless the box had been opened in his absence. He
+re-examined the contents of the box; the papers were all there. More
+than that, they were papers of no importance except to him personally;
+contained no plans nor key to any military secret; he had been far too
+wise to intrust any to the accidents of this alien house. The prying
+intruder, whoever it was, had gained nothing! But there was unmistakably
+the attempt! And the existence of a would-be spy within the purlieus of
+the house was equally clear.
+
+He called an officer from the next room.
+
+"Has any one been here since my absence?"
+
+"No, General."
+
+"Has any one passed through the hall?"
+
+He had fully anticipated the answer, as the subaltern replied, "Only the
+women servants."
+
+He re-entered the room. Closing the door, he again carefully examined
+the box, his table, the papers upon it, the chair before it, and even
+the Chinese matting on the floor, for any further indication of the
+pollen. It hardly seemed possible that any one could have entered
+the room with the flower in their hand without scattering some of the
+tell-tale dust elsewhere; it was too large a flower to be worn on the
+breast or in the hair. Again, no one would have dared to linger there
+long enough to have made an examination of the box, with an officer in
+the next room, and the sergeant passing. The box had been removed, and
+the examination made elsewhere!
+
+An idea seized him. Miss Faulkner was still absent, the mulatto had
+apparently gone home. He quickly mounted the staircase, but instead of
+entering his room, turned suddenly aside into the wing which had been
+reserved. The first door yielded as he turned its knob gently and
+entered a room which he at once recognized as the "young lady's
+boudoir." But the dusty and draped furniture had been rearranged and
+uncovered, and the apartment bore every sign of present use. Yet,
+although there was unmistakable evidence of its being used by a person
+of taste and refinement, he was surprised to see that the garments
+hanging in an open press were such as were used by negro servants, and
+that a gaudy handkerchief such as housemaids used for turbans was lying
+on the pretty silk coverlet. He did not linger over these details, but
+cast a rapid glance round the room. Then his eyes became fixed on a
+fanciful writing-desk, which stood by the window. For, in a handsome
+vase placed on its level top, and drooping on a portfolio below, hung a
+cluster of the very flowers that Miss Faulkner had carried!
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+It seemed plain to Brant that the dispatch-box had been conveyed here
+and opened for security on this desk, and in the hurry of examining
+the papers the flower had been jostled and the fallen grains of pollen
+overlooked by the spy. There were one or two freckles of red on the
+desk, which made this accident appear the more probable. But he was
+equally struck by another circumstance. The desk stood immediately
+before the window. As he glanced mechanically from it, he was surprised
+to see that it commanded an extensive view of the slope below the
+eminence on which the house stood, even beyond his furthest line of
+pickets. The vase of flowers, each of which was nearly as large as a
+magnolia blossom, and striking in color, occupied a central position
+before it, and no doubt could be quite distinctly seen from a distance.
+From this circumstance he could not resist the strong impression that
+this fateful and extraordinary blossom, carried by Miss Faulkner and the
+mulatto, and so strikingly "in evidence" at the window, was in some
+way a signal. Obeying an impulse which he was conscious had a half
+superstitious foundation, he carefully lifted the vase from its position
+before the window, and placed it on a side table. Then he cautiously
+slipped from the room.
+
+But he could not easily shake off the perplexity which the occurrence
+had caused, although he was satisfied that it was fraught with no
+military or strategic danger to his command, and that the unknown spy
+had obtained no information whatever. Yet he was forced to admit to
+himself that he was more concerned in his attempts to justify the
+conduct of Miss Faulkner with this later revelation. It was quite
+possible that the dispatch-box had been purloined by some one else
+during her absence from the house, as the presence of the mulatto
+servant in his room would have been less suspicious than hers. There
+was really little evidence to connect Miss Faulkner with the actual
+outrage,--rather might not the real spy have taken advantage of her
+visit here, to throw suspicion upon her? He remembered her singular
+manner,--the strange inconsistency with which she had forced this flower
+upon him. She would hardly have done so had she been conscious of its
+having so serious an import. Yet, what was the secret of her manifest
+agitation? A sudden inspiration flashed across his mind; a smile came
+upon his lips. She was in love! The enemy's line contained some sighing
+Strephon of a young subaltern with whom she was in communication, and
+for whom she had undertaken this quest. The flower was their language of
+correspondence, no doubt. It explained also the young girl's animosity
+against the younger officers,--his adversaries; against himself,--their
+commander. He had previously wondered why, if she were indeed a spy, she
+had not chosen, upon some equally specious order from Washington,
+the headquarters of the division commander, whose secrets were more
+valuable. This was explained by the fact that she was nearer the lines
+and her lover in her present abode. He had no idea that he was making
+excuses for her,--he believed himself only just. The recollection of
+what she had said of the power of love, albeit it had hurt him cruelly
+at the time, was now clearer to him, and even seemed to mitigate her
+offense. She would be here but a day or two longer; he could afford to
+wait without interrogating her.
+
+But as to the real intruder, spy or thief,--that was another affair, and
+quickly settled. He gave an order to the officer of the day peremptorily
+forbidding the entrance of alien servants or slaves within the precincts
+of the headquarters. Any one thus trespassing was to be brought before
+him. The officer looked surprised, he even fancied disappointed. The
+graces of the mulatto woman's figure had evidently not been thrown away
+upon his subalterns.
+
+An hour or two later, when he was mounting his horse for a round of
+inspection, he was surprised to see Miss Faulkner, accompanied by the
+mulatto woman, running hurriedly to the house. He had forgotten his late
+order until he saw the latter halted by the sentries, but the young girl
+came flying on, regardless of her companion. Her skirt was held in one
+hand, her straw hat had fallen back in her flight, and was caught only
+by a ribbon around her swelling throat, and her loosened hair lay in a
+black rippled loop on one shoulder. For an instant Brant thought that
+she was seeking him in indignation at his order, but a second look at
+her set face, eager eyes, and parted scarlet lips, showed him that she
+had not even noticed him in the concentration of her purpose. She swept
+by him into the hall, he heard the swish of her skirt and rapid feet on
+the stairs,--she was gone. What had happened, or was this another of her
+moods?
+
+But he was called to himself by the apparition of a corporal standing
+before him, with the mulatto woman,--the first capture under his order.
+She was tall, well-formed, but unmistakably showing the negro type, even
+in her small features. Her black eyes were excited, but unintelligent;
+her manner dogged, but with the obstinacy of half-conscious stupidity.
+Brant felt not only disappointed, but had a singular impression that she
+was not the same woman that he had first seen. Yet there was the tall,
+graceful figure, the dark profile, and the turbaned head that he had
+once followed down the passage by his room.
+
+Her story was as stupidly simple. She had known "Missy" from a chile!
+She had just traipsed over to see her that afternoon; they were walking
+together when the sojers stopped her. She had never been stopped before,
+even by "the patter rollers."* Her old massa (Manly) had gib leaf to go
+see Miss Tilly, and hadn't said nuffin about no "orders."
+
+     * i. e., patrols,--a civic home-guard in the South that kept
+     surveillance of slaves.
+
+More annoyed than he cared to confess, Brant briefly dismissed her with
+a warning. As he cantered down the slope the view of the distant pickets
+recalled the window in the wing, and he turned in his saddle to look at
+it. There it was--the largest and most dominant window in that part of
+the building--and within it, a distinct and vivid object almost filling
+the opening, was the vase of flowers, which he had a few hours ago
+removed, RESTORED TO ITS ORIGINAL POSITION! He smiled. The hurried
+entrance and consternation of Miss Faulkner were now fully explained.
+He had interrupted some impassioned message, perhaps even countermanded
+some affectionate rendezvous beyond the lines. And it seemed to settle
+the fact that it was she who had done the signaling! But would not this
+also make her cognizant of the taking of the dispatch-box? He reflected,
+however, that the room was apparently occupied by the mulatto woman--he
+remembered the calico dresses and turban on the bed--and it was possible
+that Miss Faulkner had only visited it for the purpose of signaling
+to her lover. Although this circumstance did not tend to make his mind
+easier, it was, however, presently diverted by a new arrival and a
+strange recognition.
+
+As he rode through the camp a group of officers congregated before a
+large mess tent appeared to be highly amused by the conversation--half
+monologue and half harangue of a singular-looking individual who stood
+in the centre. He wore a "slouch" hat, to the band of which he had
+imparted a military air by the addition of a gold cord, but the brim was
+caught up at the side in a peculiarly theatrical and highly artificial
+fashion. A heavy cavalry sabre depended from a broad-buckled belt under
+his black frock coat, with the addition of two revolvers--minus their
+holsters--stuck on either side of the buckle, after the style of a stage
+smuggler. A pair of long enameled leather riding boots, with the tops
+turned deeply over, as if they had once done duty for the representative
+of a cavalier, completed his extraordinary equipment. The group were so
+absorbed in him that they did not perceive the approach of their chief
+and his orderly; and Brant, with a sign to the latter, halted only a few
+paces from this central figure. His speech was a singular mingling
+of high-flown and exalted epithets, with inexact pronunciation and
+occasional lapses of Western slang.
+
+"Well, I ain't purtendin' to any stratutegical smartness, and I didn't
+gradooate at West Point as one of those Apocryphal Engineers; I don't
+do much talking about 'flank' movements or 'recognizances in force' or
+'Ekellon skirmishing,' but when it comes down to square Ingin fightin',
+I reckon I kin have my say. There are men who don't know the Army
+Contractor," he added darkly, "who mebbe have heard of 'Red Jim.' I
+don't mention names, gentlemen, but only the other day a man that
+you all know says to me, 'If I only knew what you do about scoutin' I
+wouldn't be wanting for information as I do.' I ain't goin' to say who
+it was, or break any confidences between gentlemen by saying how many
+stars he had on his shoulder strap; but he was a man who knew what he
+was saying. And I say agin, gentlemen, that the curse of the Northern
+Army is the want of proper scoutin'. What was it caused Bull's
+Run?--Want o' scoutin'. What was it rolled up Pope?--Want o' scoutin'.
+What caused the slaughter at the Wilderness?--Want o' scoutin'--Ingin
+scoutin'! Why, only the other day, gentlemen, I was approached to know
+what I'd take to organize a scoutin' force. And what did I say?--'No,
+General; it ain't because I represent one of the largest Army Beef
+Contracts in this country,' says I. 'It ain't because I belong, so to
+speak, to the "Sinews of War;" but because I'd want about ten thousand
+trained Ingins from the Reservations!' And the regular West Point,
+high-toned, scientific inkybus that weighs so heavily on our army don't
+see it--and won't have it! Then Sherman, he sez to me"--
+
+But here a roar of laughter interrupted him, and in the cross fire of
+sarcastic interrogations that began Brant saw, with relief, a chance
+of escape. For in the voice, manner, and, above all, the characteristic
+temperament of the stranger, he had recognized his old playmate and the
+husband of Susy,--the redoubtable Jim Hooker! There was no mistaking
+that gloomy audacity; that mysterious significance; that magnificent
+lying. But even at that moment Clarence Brant's heart had gone out, with
+all his old loyalty of feeling, towards his old companion. He knew that
+a public recognition of him then and there would plunge Hooker into
+confusion; he felt keenly the ironical plaudits and laughter of his
+officers over the manifest weakness and vanity of the ex-teamster,
+ex-rancher, ex-actor, and husband of his old girl sweetheart, and would
+have spared him the knowledge that he had overheard it. Turning hastily
+to the orderly, he bade him bring the stranger to his headquarters, and
+rode away unperceived.
+
+He had heard enough, however, to account for his presence there, and the
+singular chance that had brought them again together. He was evidently
+one of those large civil contractors of supplies whom the Government was
+obliged to employ, who visited the camp half officially, and whom the
+army alternately depended upon and abused. Brant had dealt with his
+underlings in the Commissariat, and even now remembered that he had
+heard he was coming, but had overlooked the significance of his name.
+But how he came to leave his theatrical profession, how he had attained
+a position which implied a command of considerable capital--for many of
+the contractors had already amassed large fortunes--and what had become
+of Susy and her ambitions in this radical change of circumstances, were
+things still to be learned. In his own changed conditions he had seldom
+thought of her; it was with a strange feeling of irritation and half
+responsibility that he now recalled their last interview and the emotion
+to which he had yielded.
+
+He had not long to wait. He had scarcely regained the quarters at his
+own private office before he heard the step of the orderly upon the
+veranda and the trailing clank of Hooker's sabre. He did not know,
+however, that Hooker, without recognizing his name, had received the
+message as a personal tribute, and had left his sarcastic companions
+triumphantly, with the air of going to a confidential interview, to
+which his well-known military criticism had entitled him. It was with
+a bearing of gloomy importance and his characteristic, sullen, sidelong
+glance that he entered the apartment and did not look up until Brant had
+signaled the orderly to withdraw, and closed the door behind him. And
+then he recognized his old boyish companion--the preferred favorite of
+fortune!
+
+For a moment he gasped with astonishment. For a moment gloomy
+incredulity, suspicion, delight, pride, admiration, even affection,
+struggled for mastery in his sullen, staring eyes and open, twitching
+mouth. For here was Clarence Brant, handsomer than ever, more superior
+than ever, in the majesty of uniform and authority which fitted him--the
+younger man--by reason of his four years of active service, with the
+careless ease and bearing of the veteran! Here was the hero whose name
+was already so famous that the mere coincidence of it with that of the
+modest civilian he had known would have struck him as preposterous.
+Yet here he was--supreme, and dazzling--surrounded by the pomp and
+circumstance of war--into whose reserved presence he, Jim Hooker, had
+been ushered with the formality of challenge, saluting, and presented
+bayonets!
+
+Luckily, Brant had taken advantage of his first gratified ejaculation to
+shake him warmly by the hand, and then, with both hands laid familiarly
+on his shoulder, force him down into a chair. Luckily, for by that time
+Jim Hooker had, with characteristic gloominess, found time to taste the
+pangs of envy--an envy the more keen since, in spite of his success as a
+peaceful contractor, he had always secretly longed for military display
+and distinction. He looked at the man who had achieved it, as he firmly
+believed, by sheer luck and accident, and his eyes darkened. Then,
+with characteristic weakness and vanity, he began to resist his first
+impressions of Clarence's superiority, and to air his own importance.
+He leaned heavily back in the chair in which he had been thus genially
+forced, drew off his gauntlet and attempted to thrust it through his
+belt, as he had seen Brant do, but failed on account of his pistols
+already occupying that position, dropped it, got his sword between
+his legs in attempting to pick it up, and then leaned back again, with
+half-closed eyes serenely indifferent of his old companion's smiling
+face.
+
+"I reckon," he began slowly, with a slightly patronizing air, "that we'd
+have met, sooner or later, at Washington, or at Grant's headquarters,
+for Hooker, Meacham & Co. go everywhere, and are about as well known as
+major-generals, to say nothin'," he went on, with a sidelong glance at
+Brant's shoulder-straps, "of brigadiers; and it's rather strange--only,
+of course, you're kind of fresh in the service--that you ain't heard of
+me afore."
+
+"But I'm very glad to hear of you now, Jim," said Brant, smiling,
+"and from your own lips--which I am also delighted to find," he added
+mischievously, "are still as frankly communicative on that topic as of
+old. But I congratulate you, old fellow, on your good fortune. When did
+you leave the stage?"
+
+Mr. Hooker frowned slightly.
+
+"I never was really on the stage, you know," he said, waving his hand
+with assumed negligence. "Only went on to please my wife. Mrs. Hooker
+wouldn't act with vulgar professionals, don't you see! I was really
+manager most of the time, and lessee of the theatre. Went East when
+the war broke out, to offer my sword and knowledge of Ingin fightin' to
+Uncle Sam! Drifted into a big pork contract at St. Louis, with Fremont.
+Been at it ever since. Offered a commission in the reg'lar service lots
+o' times. Refused."
+
+"Why?" asked Brant demurely.
+
+"Too much West Point starch around to suit ME," returned Hooker darkly.
+"And too many spies!"
+
+"Spies?" echoed Brant abstractedly, with a momentary reminiscence of
+Miss Faulkner.
+
+"Yes, spies," continued Hooker, with dogged mystery. "One half of
+Washington is watching t'other half, and, from the President's wife
+down, most of the women are secesh!"
+
+Brant suddenly fixed his keen eyes on his guest. But the next moment he
+reflected that this was only Jim Hooker's usual speech, and possessed no
+ulterior significance. He smiled again, and said, more gently,--
+
+"And how is Mrs. Hooker?"
+
+Mr. Hooker fixed his eyes on the ceiling, rose, and pretended to look
+out of the window; then, taking his seat again by the table, as if
+fronting an imaginary audience, and pulling slowly at his gauntlets
+after the usual theatrical indication of perfect sangfroid, said,--
+
+"There ain't any!"
+
+"Good heavens!" said Brant, with genuine emotion. "I beg your pardon.
+Really, I"--
+
+"Mrs. Hooker and me are divorced," continued Hooker, slightly changing
+his attitude, and leaning heavily on his sabre, with his eyes still on
+his fanciful audience. "There was, you understand"--lightly tossing his
+gauntlet aside--"incompatibility of temper--and--we--parted! Ha!"
+
+He uttered a low, bitter, scornful laugh, which, however, produced the
+distinct impression in Brant's mind that up to that moment he had never
+had the slightest feeling in the matter whatever.
+
+"You seemed to be on such good terms with each other!" murmured Brant
+vaguely.
+
+"Seemed!" said Hooker bitterly, glancing sardonically at an ideal second
+row in the pit before him, "yes--seemed! There were other differences,
+social and political. You understand that; you have suffered, too." He
+reached out his hand and pressed Brant's, in heavy effusiveness. "But,"
+he continued haughtily, lightly tossing his glove again, "we are also
+men of the world; we let that pass."
+
+And it was possible that he found the strain of his present attitude too
+great, for he changed to an easier position.
+
+"But," said Brant curiously, "I always thought that Mrs. Hooker was
+intensely Union and Northern?"
+
+"Put on!" said Hooker, in his natural voice.
+
+"But you remember the incident of the flag?" persisted Brant.
+
+"Mrs. Hooker was always an actress," said Hooker significantly.
+"But," he added cheerfully, "Mrs. Hooker is now the wife of Senator
+Boompointer, one of the wealthiest and most powerful Republicans in
+Washington--carries the patronage of the whole West in his vest pocket."
+
+"Yet, if she is not a Republican, why did she"--began Brant.
+
+"For a purpose," replied Hooker darkly. "But," he added again, with
+greater cheerfulness, "she belongs to the very elite of Washington
+society. Goes to all the foreign ambassadors' balls, and is a power
+at the White House. Her picture is in all the first-class illustrated
+papers."
+
+The singular but unmistakable pride of the man in the importance of the
+wife from whom he was divorced, and for whom he did not care, would have
+offended Brant's delicacy, or at least have excited his ridicule, but
+for the reason that he was more deeply stung by Hooker's allusion to his
+own wife and his degrading similitude of their two conditions. But he
+dismissed the former as part of Hooker's invincible and still boyish
+extravagance, and the latter as part of his equally characteristic
+assumption. Perhaps he was conscious, too, notwithstanding the lapse
+of years and the condonation of separation and forgetfulness, that he
+deserved little delicacy from the hands of Susy's husband. Nevertheless,
+he dreaded to hear him speak again of her; and the fear was realized in
+a question.
+
+"Does she know you are here?"
+
+"Who?" said Brant curtly.
+
+"Your wife. That is--I reckon she's your wife still, eh?"
+
+"Yes; but I do not know what she knows," returned Brant quietly. He had
+regained his self-composure.
+
+"Susy,--Mrs. Senator Boompointer, that is,"--said Hooker, with an
+apparent dignity in his late wife's new title, "allowed that she'd gone
+abroad on a secret mission from the Southern Confederacy to them crowned
+heads over there. She was good at ropin' men in, you know. Anyhow, Susy,
+afore she was Mrs. Boompointer, was dead set on findin' out where she
+was, but never could. She seemed to drop out of sight a year ago. Some
+said one thing, and some said another. But you can bet your bottom
+dollar that Mrs. Senator Boompointer, who knows how to pull all the
+wires in Washington, will know, if any one does."
+
+"But is Mrs. Boompointer really disaffected, and a Southern
+sympathizer?" said Brant, "or is it only caprice or fashion?"
+
+While speaking he had risen, with a half-abstracted face, and had gone
+to the window, where he stood in a listening attitude. Presently he
+opened the window, and stepped outside. Hooker wonderingly followed him.
+One or two officers had already stepped out of their rooms, and were
+standing upon the veranda; another had halted in the path. Then one
+quickly re-entered the house, reappeared with his cap and sword in his
+hand, and ran lightly toward the guard-house. A slight crackling noise
+seemed to come from beyond the garden wall.
+
+"What's up?" said Hooker, with staring eyes.
+
+"Picket firing!"
+
+The crackling suddenly became a long rattle. Brant re-entered the room,
+and picked up his hat.
+
+"You'll excuse me for a few moments."
+
+A faint sound, soft yet full, and not unlike a bursting bubble, made the
+house appear to leap elastically, like the rebound of a rubber ball.
+
+"What's that?" gasped Hooker.
+
+"Cannon, out of range!"
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+In another instant bugles were ringing through the camp, with the
+hurrying hoofs of mounted officers and the trampling of forming men. The
+house itself was almost deserted. Although the single cannon-shot had
+been enough to show that it was no mere skirmishing of pickets, Brant
+still did not believe in any serious attack of the enemy. His position,
+as in the previous engagement, had no strategic importance to them; they
+were no doubt only making a feint against it to conceal some advance
+upon the centre of the army two miles away. Satisfied that he was in
+easy supporting distance of his division commander, he extended his line
+along the ridge, ready to fall back in that direction, while retarding
+their advance and masking the position of his own chief. He gave a few
+orders necessary to the probable abandonment of the house, and then
+returned to it. Shot and shell were already dropping in the field below.
+A thin ridge of blue haze showed the line of skirmish fire. A small
+conical, white cloud, like a bursting cotton-pod, revealed an open
+battery in the willow-fringed meadow. Yet the pastoral peacefulness
+of the house was unchanged. The afternoon sun lay softly on its deep
+verandas; the pot pourri incense of fallen rose-leaves haunted it still.
+
+He entered his room through the French window on the veranda, when the
+door leading from the passage was suddenly flung open, and Miss Faulkner
+swept quickly inside, closed the door behind her, and leaned back
+against it, panting and breathless.
+
+Clarence was startled, and for a moment ashamed. He had suddenly
+realized that in the excitement he had entirely forgotten her and
+the dangers to which she might be exposed. She had probably heard the
+firing, her womanly fears had been awakened; she had come to him for
+protection. But as he turned towards her with a reassuring smile, he
+was shocked to see that her agitation and pallor were far beyond any
+physical cause. She motioned him desperately to shut the window by which
+he had entered, and said, with white lips,--
+
+"I must speak with you alone!"
+
+"Certainly. But there is no immediate danger to you even here--and I can
+soon put you beyond the reach of any possible harm."
+
+"Harm--to me! God! if it were only that!"
+
+He stared at her uneasily.
+
+"Listen," she said gaspingly, "listen to me! Then hate, despise me--kill
+me if you will. For you are betrayed and ruined--cut off and surrounded!
+It has been helped on by me, but I swear to you the blow did not come
+from MY hand. I would have saved you. God only knows how it happened--it
+was Fate!"
+
+In an instant Brant saw the whole truth instinctively and clearly. But
+with the revelation came the usual calmness and perfect self-possession
+which never yet had failed him in any emergency. With the sound of the
+increasing cannonade and its shifting position made clearer to his ears,
+the view of his whole threatened position spread out like a map before
+his eyes, the swift calculation of the time his men could hold the ridge
+in his mind--even a hurried estimate of the precious moments he could
+give to the wretched woman before him--he even then, gravely and gently,
+led her to a chair and said in a calm voice,--
+
+"That is not enough! Speak slowly, plainly. I must know everything. How
+and in what way have you betrayed me?"
+
+She looked at him imploringly--reassured, yet awed by his gentleness.
+
+"You won't believe me; you cannot believe me! for I do not even know.
+I have taken and exchanged letters--whose contents I never saw--between
+the Confederates and a spy who comes to this house, but who is far
+away by this time. I did it because I thought you hated and despised me
+because I thought it was my duty to help my cause--because you said it
+was 'war' between us--but I never spied on you. I swear it."
+
+"Then how do you know of this attack?" he said calmly.
+
+She brightened, half timidly, half hopefully.
+
+"There is a window in the wing of this house that overlooks the slope
+near the Confederate lines. There was a signal placed in it--not by
+me--but I know it meant that as long as it was there the plot, whatever
+it was, was not ripe, and that no attack would be made on you as long as
+it was visible. That much I know,--that much the spy had to tell me, for
+we both had to guard that room in turns. I wanted to keep this dreadful
+thing off--until"--her voice trembled, "until," she added hurriedly,
+seeing his calm eyes were reading her very soul, "until I went away--and
+for that purpose I withheld some of the letters that were given me. But
+this morning, while I was away from the house, I looked back and saw
+that the signal was no longer there. Some one had changed it. I ran
+back, but I was too late--God help me!--as you see."
+
+The truth flashed upon Brant. It was his own hand that had precipitated
+the attack. But a larger truth came to him now, like a dazzling
+inspiration. If he had thus precipitated the attack before they were
+ready, there was a chance that it was imperfect, and there was still
+hope. But there was no trace of this visible in his face as he fixed his
+eyes calmly on hers, although his pulses were halting in expectancy as
+he said--
+
+"Then the spy had suspected you, and changed it."
+
+"Oh, no," she said eagerly, "for the spy was with me and was frightened
+too. We both ran back together--you remember--she was stopped by the
+patrol!"
+
+She checked herself suddenly, but too late. Her cheeks blazed, her
+head sank, with the foolish identification of the spy into which her
+eagerness had betrayed her.
+
+But Brant appeared not to notice it. He was, in fact, puzzling his
+brain to conceive what information the stupid mulatto woman could
+have obtained here. His strength, his position was no secret to the
+enemy--there was nothing to gain from him. She must have been, like the
+trembling, eager woman before him, a mere tool of others.
+
+"Did this woman live here?" he said.
+
+"No," she said. "She lived with the Manlys, but had friends whom she
+visited at your general's headquarters."
+
+With difficulty Brant suppressed a start. It was clear to him now. The
+information had been obtained at the division headquarters, and passed
+through his camp as being nearest the Confederate lines. But what was
+the information--and what movement had he precipitated? It was clear
+that this woman did not know. He looked at her keenly. A sudden
+explosion shook the house,--a drift of smoke passed the window,--a shell
+had burst in the garden.
+
+She had been gazing at him despairingly, wistfully--but did not blanch
+or start.
+
+An idea took possession of him. He approached her, and took her cold
+hand. A half-smile parted her pale lips.
+
+"You have courage--you have devotion," he said gravely. "I believe you
+regret the step you have taken. If you could undo what you have done,
+even at peril to yourself, dare you do it?"
+
+"Yes," she said breathlessly.
+
+"You are known to the enemy. If I am surrounded, you could pass through
+their lines unquestioned?"
+
+"Yes," she said eagerly.
+
+"A note from me would pass you again through the pickets of our
+headquarters. But you would bear a note to the general that no eyes but
+his must see. It would not implicate you or yours; would only be a word
+of warning."
+
+"And you," she said quickly, "would be saved! They would come to your
+assistance! You would not then be taken?"
+
+He smiled gently.
+
+"Perhaps--who knows!"
+
+He sat down and wrote hurriedly.
+
+"This," he said, handing her a slip of paper, "is a pass. You will use
+it beyond your own lines. This note," he continued, handing her a
+sealed envelope, "is for the general. No one else must see it or know of
+it--not even your lover, should you meet him!"
+
+"My lover!" she said indignantly, with a flash of her old savagery;
+"what do you mean? I have no lover!"
+
+Brant glanced at her flushed face.
+
+"I thought," he said quietly, "that there was some one you cared for in
+yonder lines--some one you wrote to. It would have been an excuse"--
+
+He stopped, as her face paled again, and her hands dropped heavily at
+her side.
+
+"Good God!--you thought that, too! You thought that I would sacrifice
+you for another man!"
+
+"Pardon me," said Brant quickly. "I was foolish. But whether your
+lover is a man or a cause, you have shown a woman's devotion. And, in
+repairing your fault, you are showing more than a woman's courage now."
+
+To his surprise, the color had again mounted her pretty cheeks, and even
+a flash of mischief shone in her blue eyes.
+
+"It would have been an excuse," she murmured, "yes--to save a man,
+surely!" Then she said quickly, "I will go. At once! I am ready!"
+
+"One moment," he said gravely. "Although this pass and an escort insure
+your probable safe conduct, this is 'war' and danger! You are still a
+spy! Are you ready to go?"
+
+"I am," she said proudly, tossing back a braid of her fallen hair. Yet
+a moment after she hesitated. Then she said, in a lower voice, "Are you
+ready to forgive?"
+
+"In either case," he said, touched by her manner; "and God speed you!"
+
+He extended his hand, and left a slight pressure on her cold fingers.
+But they slipped quickly from his grasp, and she turned away with a
+heightened color.
+
+He stepped to the door. One or two aides-de-camp, withheld by his order
+against intrusion, were waiting eagerly with reports. The horse of a
+mounted field officer was pawing the garden turf. The officers stared at
+the young girl.
+
+"Take Miss Faulkner, with a flag, to some safe point of the enemy's
+line. She is a non-combatant of their own, and will receive their
+protection."
+
+He had scarcely exchanged a dozen words with the aides-de-camp before
+the field officer hurriedly entered. Taking Brant aside, he said
+quickly,--
+
+"Pardon me, General; but there is a strong feeling among the men that
+this attack is the result of some information obtained by the enemy.
+You must know that the woman you have just given a safeguard to is
+suspected, and the men are indignant."
+
+"The more reason why she should be conveyed beyond any consequences of
+their folly, Major," said Brant frigidly, "and I look to you for her
+safe convoy. There is nothing in this attack to show that the enemy has
+received any information regarding us. But I would suggest that it would
+be better to see that my orders are carried out regarding the slaves and
+non-combatants who are passing our lines from divisional headquarters,
+where valuable information may be obtained, than in the surveillance of
+a testy and outspoken girl."
+
+An angry flush crossed the major's cheek as he saluted and fell back,
+and Brant turned to the aide-de-camp. The news was grave. The column
+of the enemy was moving against the ridge--it was no longer possible
+to hold it--and the brigade was cut off from its communication with the
+divisional headquarters, although as yet no combined movement was made
+against it. Brant's secret fears that it was an intended impact against
+the centre were confirmed. Would his communication to the divisional
+commander pass through the attacking column in time?
+
+Yet one thing puzzled him. The enemy, after forcing his flank, had shown
+no disposition, even with their overwhelming force, to turn aside and
+crush him. He could easily have fallen back, when it was possible to
+hold the ridge no longer, without pursuit. His other flank and rear were
+not threatened, as they might have been, by the division of so large an
+attacking column, which was moving steadily on towards the ridge. It was
+this fact that seemed to show a failure or imperfection in the enemy's
+plan. It was possible that his precipitation of the attack by the
+changed signal had been the cause of it. Doubtless some provision had
+been made to attack him in flank and rear, but in the unexpected hurry
+of the onset it had to be abandoned. He could still save himself, as his
+officers knew; but his conviction that he might yet be able to support
+his divisional commander by holding his position doggedly, but coolly
+awaiting his opportunity, was strong. More than that, it was his
+temperament and instinct.
+
+Harrying them in flank and rear, contesting the ground inch by inch,
+and holding his own against the artillery sent to dislodge him, or the
+outriding cavalry that, circling round, swept through his open ranks, he
+saw his files melt away beside this steady current without flinching.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Yet all along the fateful ridge--now obscured and confused with
+thin crossing smoke-drifts from file-firing, like partly rubbed-out
+slate-pencil marks; or else, when cleared of those drifts, presenting
+only an indistinguishable map of zigzag lines of straggling wagons and
+horses, unintelligible to any eye but his--the singular magnetism of the
+chief was felt everywhere: whether it was shown in the quick closing
+in of resistance to some sharper onset of the enemy or the more dogged
+stand of inaction under fire, his power was always dominant. A word
+or two of comprehensive direction sent through an aide-de-camp, or the
+sudden relief of his dark, watchful, composed face uplifted above a
+line of bayonets, never failed in their magic. Like all born leaders,
+he seemed in these emergencies to hold a charmed life--infecting his
+followers with a like disbelief in death; men dropped to right and left
+of him with serene assurance in their ghastly faces or a cry of life and
+confidence in their last gasp. Stragglers fell in and closed up
+under his passing glance; a hopeless, inextricable wrangle around an
+overturned caisson, at a turn of the road, resolved itself into an
+orderly, quiet, deliberate clearing away of the impediment before the
+significant waiting of that dark, silent horseman.
+
+Yet under this imperturbable mask he was keenly conscious of everything;
+in that apparent concentration there was a sharpening of all his senses
+and his impressibility: he saw the first trace of doubt or alarm in the
+face of a subaltern to whom he was giving an order; the first touch of
+sluggishness in a re-forming line; the more significant clumsiness of
+a living evolution that he knew was clogged by the dead bodies of
+comrades; the ominous silence of a breastwork; the awful inertia of some
+rigidly kneeling files beyond, which still kept their form but never
+would move again; the melting away of skirmish points; the sudden gaps
+here and there; the sickening incurving of what a moment before had been
+a straight line--all these he saw in all their fatal significance. But
+even at this moment, coming upon a hasty barricade of overset commissary
+wagons, he stopped to glance at a familiar figure he had seen but
+an hour ago, who now seemed to be commanding a group of collected
+stragglers and camp followers. Mounted on a wheel, with a revolver in
+each hand and a bowie knife between his teeth--theatrical even in his
+paroxysm of undoubted courage--glared Jim Hooker. And Clarence Brant,
+with the whole responsibility of the field on his shoulders, even at
+that desperate moment, found himself recalling a vivid picture of the
+actor Hooker personating the character of "Red Dick" in "Rosalie, the
+Prairie Flower," as he had seen him in a California theatre five years
+before.
+
+It wanted still an hour of the darkness that would probably close the
+fight of that day. Could he hold out, keeping his offensive position so
+long? A hasty council with his officers showed him that the weakness
+of their position had already infected them. They reminded him that
+his line of retreat was still open--that in the course of the night the
+enemy, although still pressing towards the division centre, might yet
+turn and outflank him--or that their strangely delayed supports might
+come up before morning. Brant's glass, however, remained fixed on the
+main column, still pursuing its way along the ridge. It struck him
+suddenly, however, that the steady current had stopped, spread out along
+the crest on both sides, and was now at right angles with its previous
+course. There had been a check! The next moment the thunder of guns
+along the whole horizon, and the rising cloud of smoke, revealed a
+line of battle. The division centre was engaged. The opportunity he had
+longed for had come--the desperate chance to throw himself on their rear
+and cut his way through to the division--but it had come too late! He
+looked at his shattered ranks--scarce a regiment remained. Even as
+a demonstration, the attack would fail against the enemy's superior
+numbers. Nothing clearly was left to him now but to remain where he
+was--within supporting distance, and await the issue of the fight
+beyond. He was putting up his glass, when the dull boom of cannon in
+the extreme western limit of the horizon attracted his attention. By the
+still gleaming sky he could see a long gray line stealing up from
+the valley from the distant rear of the headquarters to join the main
+column. They were the missing supports! His heart leaped. He held the
+key of the mystery now. The one imperfect detail of the enemy's plan was
+before him. The supports, coming later from the west, had only seen
+the second signal from the window--when Miss Faulkner had replaced
+the vase--and had avoided his position. It was impossible to limit the
+effect of this blunder. If the young girl who had thus saved him had
+reached the division commander with his message in time, he might
+be forewarned, and even profit by it. His own position would be less
+precarious, as the enemy, already engaged in front, would be unable to
+recover their position in the rear and correct the blunder. The bulk
+of their column had already streamed past him. If defeated, there
+was always the danger that it might be rolled back upon him--but he
+conjectured that the division commander would attempt to prevent the
+junction of the supports with the main column by breaking between them,
+crowding them from the ridge, and joining him. As the last stragglers
+of the rear guard swept by, Brant's bugles were already recalling the
+skirmishers. He redoubled his pickets, and resolved to wait and watch.
+
+And there was the more painful duty of looking after the wounded and the
+dead. The larger rooms of the headquarters had already been used as a
+hospital. Passing from cot to cot, recognizing in the faces now drawn
+with agony, or staring in vacant unconsciousness, the features that he
+had seen only a few hours before flushed with enthusiasm and excitement,
+something of his old doubting, questioning nature returned. Was there
+no way but this? How far was HE--moving among them unscathed and
+uninjured--responsible?
+
+And if not he--who then? His mind went back bitterly to the old days of
+the conspiracy--to the inception of that struggle which was bearing
+such ghastly fruit. He thought of his traitorous wife, until he felt
+his cheeks tingle, and he was fain to avert his eyes from those of his
+prostrate comrades, in a strange fear that, with the clairvoyance of
+dying men, they should read his secret.
+
+It was past midnight when, without undressing, he threw himself upon his
+bed in the little convent-like cell to snatch a few moments of sleep.
+Its spotless, peaceful walls and draperies affected him strangely, as if
+he had brought into its immaculate serenity the sanguine stain of war.
+He was awakened suddenly from a deep slumber by an indefinite sense
+of alarm. His first thought was that he had been summoned to repel
+an attack. He sat up and listened; everything was silent except the
+measured tread of the sentry on the gravel walk below. But the door was
+open. He sprang to his feet and slipped into the gallery in time to see
+the tall figure of a woman glide before the last moonlit window at its
+farthest end. He could not see her face--but the characteristic turbaned
+head of the negro race was plainly visible.
+
+He did not care to follow her or even to alarm the guard. If it were the
+spy or one of her emissaries, she was powerless now to do any harm, and
+under his late orders and the rigorous vigilance of his sentinels she
+could not leave the lines--or, indeed, the house. She probably knew
+this as well as he did; it was, therefore, no doubt only an accidental
+intrusion of one of the servants. He re-entered the room, and stood for
+a few moments by the window, looking over the moonlit ridge. The sounds
+of distant cannon had long since ceased. Wide awake, and refreshed by
+the keen morning air, which alone of all created things seemed to have
+shaken the burden of the dreadful yesterday from its dewy wings, he
+turned away and lit a candle on the table. As he was rebuckling his
+sword belt he saw a piece of paper lying on the foot of the bed from
+which he had just risen. Taking it to the candle, he read in a roughly
+scrawled hand:
+
+"You are asleep when you should be on the march. You have no time to
+lose. Before daybreak the supports of the column you have been foolishly
+resisting will be upon you.--From one who would save YOU, but hates your
+cause."
+
+A smile of scorn passed his lips. The handwriting was unknown and
+evidently disguised. The purport of the message had not alarmed him; but
+suddenly a suspicion flashed upon him--that it came from Miss Faulkner!
+She had failed in her attempt to pass through the enemy's lines--or she
+had never tried to. She had deceived him--or had thought better of her
+chivalrous impulse, and now sought to mitigate her second treachery by
+this second warning. And he had let her messenger escape him!
+
+He hurriedly descended the stairs. The sound of voices was approaching
+him. He halted, and recognized the faces of the brigade surgeon and one
+of his aides-de-camp.
+
+"We were hesitating whether to disturb you, general, but it may be an
+affair of some importance. Under your orders a negro woman was just
+now challenged stealing out of the lines. Attempting to escape, she was
+chased, there was a struggle and scramble over the wall, and she fell,
+striking her head. She was brought into the guardhouse unconscious."
+
+"Very good. I will see her," said Brant, with a feeling of relief.
+
+"One moment, general. We thought you would perhaps prefer to see her
+alone," said the surgeon, "for when I endeavored to bring her to, and
+was sponging her face and head to discover her injuries, her color came
+off! She was a white woman--stained and disguised as a mulatto."
+
+For an instant Brant's heart sank. It was Miss Faulkner.
+
+"Did you recognize her?" he said, glancing from the one to the other.
+"Have you seen her here before?"
+
+"No, sir," replied the aide-de-camp. "But she seemed to be quite a
+superior woman--a lady, I should say."
+
+Brant breathed more freely.
+
+"Where is she now?" he asked.
+
+"In the guardhouse. We thought it better not to bring her into hospital,
+among the men, until we had your orders."
+
+"You have done well," returned Brant gravely. "And you will keep this to
+yourselves for the present; but see that she is brought here quietly and
+with as little publicity as possible. Put her in my room above, which I
+give up to her and any necessary attendant. But you will look carefully
+after her, doctor,"--he turned to the surgeon,--"and when she recovers
+consciousness let me know."
+
+He moved away. Although attaching little importance to the mysterious
+message, whether sent by Miss Faulkner or emanating from the stranger
+herself, which, he reasoned, was based only upon a knowledge of the
+original plan of attack, he nevertheless quickly dispatched a small
+scouting party in the direction from which the attack might come, with
+orders to fall back and report at once. With a certain half irony of
+recollection he had selected Jim Hooker to accompany the party as a
+volunteer. This done, he returned to the gallery. The surgeon met him at
+the door.
+
+"The indications of concussion are passing away," he said, "but she
+seems to be suffering from the exhaustion following some great nervous
+excitement. You may go in--she may rally from it at any moment."
+
+With the artificial step and mysterious hush of the ordinary visitor to
+a sick bed, Brant entered the room. But some instinct greater than this
+common expression of humanity held him suddenly in awe. The room seemed
+no longer his--it had slipped back into that austere conventual privacy
+which had first impressed him. Yet he hesitated; another strange
+suggestion--it seemed almost a vague recollection--overcame him like
+some lingering perfume, far off and pathetic, in its dying familiarity.
+He turned his eyes almost timidly towards the bed. The coverlet was
+drawn up near the throat of the figure to replace the striped cotton
+gown stained with blood and dust, which had been hurriedly torn off
+and thrown on a chair. The pale face, cleansed of blood and disguising
+color, the long hair, still damp from the surgeon's sponge, lay rigidly
+back on the pillow. Suddenly this man of steady nerve uttered a faint
+cry, and, with a face as white as the upturned one before him, fell on
+his knees beside the bed. For the face that lay there was his wife's!
+
+Yes, hers! But the beautiful hair that she had gloried in--the hair that
+in his youth he had thought had once fallen like a benediction on his
+shoulder--was streaked with gray along the blue-veined hollows of the
+temples; the orbits of those clear eyes, beneath their delicately arched
+brows, were ringed with days of suffering; only the clear-cut profile,
+even to the delicate imperiousness of lips and nostril, was still there
+in all its beauty. The coverlet had slipped from her shoulder; its
+familiar cold contour startled him. He remembered how, in their early
+married days, he had felt the sanctity of that Diana-like revelation,
+and the still nymph-like austerity which clung to this strange,
+childless woman. He even fancied that he breathed again the subtle
+characteristic perfume of the laces, embroideries, and delicate
+enwrappings in her chamber at Robles. Perhaps it was the intensity of
+his gaze--perhaps it was the magnetism of his presence--but her lips
+parted with a half sigh, half moan. Her head, although her eyes were
+still closed, turned on the pillow instinctively towards him. He rose
+from his knees. Her eyes opened slowly. As the first glare of wonderment
+cleared from them, they met him--in the old antagonism of spirit. Yet
+her first gesture was a pathetic feminine movement with both hands to
+arrange her straggling hair. It brought her white fingers, cleaned
+of their disguising stains, as a sudden revelation to her of what had
+happened; she instantly slipped them back under the coverlet again.
+Brant did not speak, but with folded arms stood gazing upon her. And it
+was her voice that first broke the silence.
+
+"You have recognized me? Well, I suppose you know all," she said, with a
+weak half-defiance.
+
+He bowed his head. He felt as yet he could not trust his voice, and
+envied her her own.
+
+"I may sit up, mayn't I?" She managed, by sheer force of will, to
+struggle to a sitting posture. Then, as the coverlet slipped from the
+bare shoulder, she said, as she drew it, with a shiver of disgust,
+around her again,--
+
+"I forgot that you strip women, you Northern soldiers! But I forgot,
+too," she added, with a sarcastic smile, "that you are also my husband,
+and I am in your room."
+
+The contemptuous significance of her speech dispelled the last lingering
+remnant of Brant's dream. In a voice as dry as her own, he said,--
+
+"I am afraid you will now have to remember only that I am a Northern
+general, and you a Southern spy."
+
+"So be it," she said gravely. Then impulsively, "But I have not spied on
+YOU."
+
+Yet, the next moment, she bit her lips as if the expression had
+unwittingly escaped her; and with a reckless shrug of her shoulders she
+lay back on her pillow.
+
+"It matters not," said Brant coldly. "You have used this house and those
+within it to forward your designs. It is not your fault that you found
+nothing in the dispatch-box you opened."
+
+She stared at him quickly; then shrugged her shoulders again.
+
+"I might have known she was false to me," she said bitterly, "and that
+you would wheedle her soul away as you have others. Well, she betrayed
+me! For what?"
+
+A flush passed over Brant's face. But with an effort he contained
+himself.
+
+"It was the flower that betrayed you! The flower whose red dust fell in
+the box when you opened it on the desk by the window in yonder room--the
+flower that stood in the window as a signal--the flower I myself
+removed, and so spoiled the miserable plot that your friends concocted."
+
+A look of mingled terror and awe came into her face.
+
+"YOU changed the signal!" she repeated dazedly; then, in a lower
+voice, "that accounts for it all!" But the next moment she turned
+again fiercely upon him. "And you mean to tell me that she didn't help
+you--that she didn't sell me--your wife--to you for--for what was it? A
+look--a kiss!"
+
+"I mean to say that she did not know the signal was changed, and that
+she herself restored it to its place. It is no fault of hers nor yours
+that I am not here a prisoner."
+
+She passed her thin hand dazedly across her forehead.
+
+"I see," she muttered. Then again bursting out passionately, she
+said--"Fool! you never would have been touched! Do you think that Lee
+would have gone for you, with higher game in your division commander?
+No! Those supports were a feint to draw him to your assistance while our
+main column broke his centre. Yes, you may stare at me, Clarence Brant.
+You are a good lawyer--they say a dashing fighter, too. I never thought
+you a coward, even in your irresolution; but you are fighting with men
+drilled in the art of war and strategy when you were a boy outcast on
+the plains." She stopped, closed her eyes, and then added, wearily--"But
+that was yesterday--to-day, who knows? All may be changed. The supports
+may still attack you. That was why I stopped to write you that note an
+hour ago, when I believed I should be leaving here for ever. Yes, I did
+it!" she went on, with half-wearied, half-dogged determination. "You may
+as well know all. I had arranged to fly. Your pickets were to be drawn
+by friends of mine, who were waiting for me beyond your lines. Well, I
+lingered here when I saw you arrive--lingered to write you that note.
+And--I was too late!"
+
+But Brant had been watching her varying expression, her kindling
+eye, her strange masculine grasp of military knowledge, her soldierly
+phraseology, all so new to her, that he scarcely heeded the feminine
+ending of her speech. It seemed to him no longer the Diana of his
+youthful fancy, but some Pallas Athene, who now looked up at him from
+the pillow. He had never before fully believed in her unselfish devotion
+to the cause until now, when it seemed to have almost unsexed her. In
+his wildest comprehension of her he had never dreamed her a Joan of Arc,
+and yet hers was the face which might have confronted him, exalted and
+inspired, on the battlefield itself. He recalled himself with an effort.
+
+"I thank you for your would-be warning," he said more gently, if not
+so tenderly, "and God knows I wish your flight had been successful. But
+even your warning is unnecessary, for the supports had already come up;
+they had followed the second signal, and diverged to engage our division
+on the left, leaving me alone. And their ruse of drawing our commander
+to assist me would not have been successful, as I had suspected it, and
+sent a message to him that I wanted no help."
+
+It was the truth; it was the sole purport of the note he had sent
+through Miss Faulkner. He would not have disclosed his sacrifice; but so
+great was the strange domination of this woman still over him, that he
+felt compelled to assert his superiority. She fixed her eyes upon him.
+
+"And Miss Faulkner took your message?" she said slowly. "Don't deny it!
+No one else could have passed through our lines; and you gave her a
+safe conduct through yours. Yes, I might have known it. And this was the
+creature they sent me for an ally and confidant!"
+
+For an instant Brant felt the sting of this enforced contrast between
+the two women. But he only said,--
+
+"You forget that I did not know you were the spy, nor do I believe that
+she suspected you were my wife."
+
+"Why should she?" she said almost fiercely. "I am known among these
+people only by the name of Benham---my maiden name. Yes!--you can take
+me out, and shoot me under that name, without disgracing yours. Nobody
+will know that the Southern spy was the wife of the Northern general!
+You see, I have thought even of that!"
+
+"And thinking of that," said Brant slowly, "you have put yourself--I
+will not say in my power, for you are in the power of any man in this
+camp who may know you, or even hear you speak. Well, let us understand
+each other plainly. I do not know how great a sacrifice your devotion to
+your cause demands of you; I do know what it seems to demand of me. Hear
+me, then! I will do my best to protect you, and get you safely away from
+here; but, failing that, I tell you plainly that I shall blow out your
+brains and my own together."
+
+She knew that he would do it. Yet her eyes suddenly beamed with a
+new and awakening light; she put back her hair again, and half raised
+herself upon the pillow, to gaze at his dark, set face.
+
+"And as I shall let no other life but ours be periled in this affair,"
+he went on quietly, "and will accompany you myself in some disguise
+beyond the lines, we will together take the risks--or the bullets of the
+sentries that may save us both all further trouble. An hour or two more
+will settle that. Until then your weak condition will excuse you from
+any disturbance or intrusion here. The mulatto woman you have sometimes
+personated may be still in this house; I will appoint her to attend
+you. I suppose you can trust her, for you must personate her again, and
+escape in her clothes, while she takes your place in this room as my
+prisoner."
+
+"Clarence!"
+
+Her voice had changed suddenly; it was no longer bitter and stridulous,
+but low and thrilling as he had heard her call to him that night in the
+patio of Robles. He turned quickly. She was leaning from the bed--her
+thin, white hands stretched appealingly towards him.
+
+"Let us go together, Clarence," she said eagerly. "Let us leave this
+horrible place--these wicked, cruel people--forever. Come with me! Come
+with me to my people--to my own faith--to my own house--which shall be
+yours! Come with me to defend it with your good sword, Clarence, against
+those vile invaders with whom you have nothing in common, and who are
+the dirt under your feet. Yes, yes! I know it!--I have done you wrong--I
+have lied to you when I spoke against your skill and power. You are a
+hero--a born leader of men! I know it! Have I not heard it from the men
+who have fought against you, and yet admired and understood you, ay,
+better than your own?--gallant men, Clarence, soldiers bred who did not
+know what you were to me nor how proud I was of you even while I hated
+you? Come with me! Think what we would do together--with one faith--one
+cause--one ambition! Think, Clarence, there is no limit you might
+not attain! We are no niggards of our rewards and honors--we have
+no hireling votes to truckle to--we know our friends! Even
+I--Clarence--I"--there was a strange pathos in the sudden humility that
+seemed to overcome her--"I have had my reward and known my power. I
+have been sent abroad, in the confidence of the highest--to the highest.
+Don't turn from me. I am offering you no bribe, Clarence, only your
+deserts. Come with me. Leave these curs behind, and live the hero that
+you are!"
+
+He turned his blazing eyes upon her.
+
+"If you were a man"--he began passionately, then stopped.
+
+"No! I am only a woman and must fight in a woman's way," she interrupted
+bitterly. "Yes! I intreat, I implore, I wheedle, I flatter, I fawn, I
+lie! I creep where you stand upright, and pass through doors to which
+you would not bow. You wear your blazon of honor on your shoulder;
+I hide mine in a slave's gown. And yet I have worked and striven and
+suffered! Listen, Clarence," her voice again sank to its appealing
+minor,--"I know what you men call 'honor,' that which makes you cling to
+a merely spoken word, or an empty oath. Well, let that pass! I am weary;
+I have done my share of this work, you have done yours. Let us both fly;
+let us leave the fight to those who shall come after us, and let us
+go together to some distant land where the sounds of these guns or the
+blood of our brothers no longer cry out to us for vengeance! There are
+those living here--I have met them, Clarence," she went on hurriedly,
+"who think it wrong to lift up fratricidal hands in the struggle, yet
+who cannot live under the Northern yoke. They are," her voice hesitated,
+"good men and women--they are respected--they are"--
+
+"Recreants and slaves, before whom you, spy as you are--stand a queen!"
+broke in Brant, passionately. He stopped and turned towards the window.
+After a pause he came back again towards the bed--paused again and then
+said in a lower voice--"Four years ago, Alice, in the patio of our house
+at Robles, I might have listened to this proposal, and--I tremble to
+think--I might have accepted it! I loved you; I was as weak, as selfish,
+as unreflecting, my life was as purposeless--but for you--as the
+creatures you speak of. But give me now, at least, the credit of a
+devotion to my cause equal to your own--a credit which I have never
+denied you! For the night that you left me, I awoke to a sense of my own
+worthlessness and degradation--perhaps I have even to thank you for that
+awakening--and I realized the bitter truth. But that night I found my
+true vocation--my purpose, my manhood"--
+
+A bitter laugh came from the pillow on which she had languidly thrown
+herself.
+
+"I believe I left you with Mrs. Hooker--spare me the details."
+
+The blood rushed to Brant's face and then receded as suddenly.
+
+"You left me with Captain Pinckney, who had tempted you, and whom I
+killed!" he said furiously.
+
+They were both staring savagely at each other. Suddenly he said, "Hush!"
+and sprang towards the door, as the sound of hurried footsteps echoed
+along the passage. But he was too late; it was thrown open to the
+officer of the guard, who appeared, standing on the threshold.
+
+"Two Confederate officers arrested hovering around our pickets. They
+demand to see you."
+
+Before Brant could interpose, two men in riding cloaks of Confederate
+gray stepped into the room with a jaunty and self-confident air.
+
+"Not DEMAND, general," said the foremost, a tall, distinguished-looking
+man, lifting his hand with a graceful deprecating air. "In fact, too
+sorry to bother you with an affair of no importance except to ourselves.
+A bit of after-dinner bravado brought us in contact with your pickets,
+and, of course, we had to take the consequences. Served us right, and we
+were lucky not to have got a bullet through us. Gad! I'm afraid my
+men would have been less discreet! I am Colonel Lagrange, of the
+5th Tennessee; my young friend here is Captain Faulkner, of the 1st
+Kentucky. Some excuse for a youngster like him--none for me! I"--
+
+He stopped, for his eyes suddenly fell upon the bed and its occupant.
+Both he and his companion started. But to the natural, unaffected dismay
+of a gentleman who had unwittingly intruded upon a lady's bedchamber,
+Brant's quick eye saw a more disastrous concern superadded. Colonel
+Lagrange was quick to recover himself, as they both removed their caps.
+
+"A thousand pardons," he said, hurriedly stepping backwards to the door.
+"But I hardly need say to a fellow-officer, general, that we had no idea
+of making so gross an intrusion! We heard some cock-and-bull story of
+your being occupied--cross-questioning an escaped or escaping nigger--or
+we should never have forced ourselves upon you."
+
+Brant glanced quickly at his wife. Her face had apparently become rigid
+on the entrance of the two men; her eyes were coldly fixed upon the
+ceiling. He bowed formally, and, with a wave of his hand towards the
+door, said,--
+
+"I will hear your story below, gentleman."
+
+He followed them from the room, stopped to quietly turn the key in the
+lock, and then motioned them to precede him down the staircase.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Not a word was exchanged till they had reached the lower landing and
+Brant's private room. Dismissing his subaltern and orderly with a
+sign, Brant turned towards his prisoners. The jaunty ease, but not the
+self-possession, had gone from Lagrange's face; the eyes of Captain
+Faulkner were fixed on his older companion with a half-humorous look of
+perplexity.
+
+"I am afraid I can only repeat, general, that our foolhardy freak has
+put us in collision with your sentries," said Lagrange, with a slight
+hauteur, that replaced his former jauntiness; "and we were very properly
+made prisoners. If you will accept my parole, I have no doubt our
+commander will proceed to exchange a couple of gallant fellows of yours,
+whom I have had the honor of meeting within our own lines, and whom you
+must miss probably more than I fear our superiors miss us."
+
+"Whatever brought you here, gentlemen," said Brant drily, "I am
+glad, for your sakes, that you are in uniform, although it does not,
+unfortunately, relieve me of an unpleasant duty."
+
+"I don't think I understand you," returned Lagrange, coldly.
+
+"If you had not been in uniform, you would probably have been shot down
+as spies, without the trouble of capture," said Brant quietly.
+
+"Do you mean to imply, sir"--began Lagrange sternly.
+
+"I mean to say that the existence of a Confederate spy between this
+camp and the division headquarters is sufficiently well known to us to
+justify the strongest action."
+
+"And pray, how can that affect us?" said Lagrange haughtily.
+
+"I need not inform so old a soldier as Colonel Lagrange that the aiding,
+abetting, and even receiving information from a spy or traitor within
+one's lines is an equally dangerous service."
+
+"Perhaps you would like to satisfy yourself, General," said Colonel
+Lagrange, with an ironical laugh. "Pray do not hesitate on account of
+our uniform. Search us if you like."
+
+"Not on entering my lines, Colonel," replied Brant, with quiet
+significance.
+
+Lagrange's cheek flushed. But he recovered himself quickly, and with a
+formal bow said,--
+
+"You will, then, perhaps, let us know your pleasure?"
+
+"My DUTY, Colonel, is to keep you both close prisoners here until I have
+an opportunity to forward you to the division commander, with a report
+of the circumstances of your arrest. That I propose to do. How soon I
+may have that opportunity, or if I am ever to have it," continued Brant,
+fixing his clear eyes significantly on Lagrange, "depends upon the
+chances of war, which you probably understand as well as I do."
+
+"We should never think of making any calculation on the action of an
+officer of such infinite resources as General Brant," said Lagrange
+ironically.
+
+"You will, no doubt, have an opportunity of stating your own case to the
+division commander," continued Brant, with an unmoved face. "And," he
+continued, turning for the first time to Captain Faulkner, "when you
+tell the commander what I believe to be the fact--from your name and
+resemblance--that you are a relation of the young lady who for the
+last three weeks has been an inmate of this house under a pass from
+Washington, you will, I have no doubt, favorably explain your own
+propinquity to my lines."
+
+"My sister Tilly!" said the young officer impulsively. "But she is no
+longer here. She passed through the lines back to Washington yesterday.
+No," he added, with a light laugh, "I'm afraid that excuse won't count
+for to-day."
+
+A sudden frown upon the face of the elder officer, added to the perfect
+ingenuousness of Faulkner's speech, satisfied Brant that he had not only
+elicited the truth, but that Miss Faulkner had been successful. But he
+was sincere in his suggestion that her relationship to the young officer
+would incline the division commander to look leniently upon his fault,
+for he was conscious of a singular satisfaction in thus being able to
+serve her. Of the real object of the two men before him he had no doubt.
+They were "the friends" of his wife, who were waiting for her outside
+the lines! Chance alone had saved her from being arrested with them,
+with the consequent exposure of her treachery before his own men, who,
+as yet, had no proof of her guilt, nor any suspicion of her actual
+identity. Meanwhile his own chance of conveying her with safety beyond
+his lines was not affected by the incident; the prisoners dare not
+reveal what they knew of her, and it was with a grim triumph that he
+thought of compassing her escape without their aid. Nothing of this,
+however, was visible in his face, which the younger man watched with a
+kind of boyish curiosity, while Colonel Lagrange regarded the ceiling
+with a politely repressed yawn. "I regret," concluded Brant, as he
+summoned the officer of the guard, "that I shall have to deprive you of
+each other's company during the time you are here; but I shall see that
+you, separately, want for nothing in your confinement."
+
+"If this is with a view to separate interrogatory, general, I can retire
+now," said Lagrange, rising, with ironical politeness.
+
+"I believe I have all the information I require," returned Brant, with
+undisturbed composure. Giving the necessary orders to his subaltern, he
+acknowledged with equal calm the formal salutes of the two prisoners as
+they were led away, and returned quickly to his bedroom above. He paused
+instinctively for a moment before the closed door, and listened. There
+was no sound from within. He unlocked the door, and opened it.
+
+So quiet was the interior that for an instant, without glancing at
+the bed, he cast a quick look at the window, which, till then, he had
+forgotten, and which he remembered gave upon the veranda roof. But it
+was still closed, and as he approached the bed, he saw his wife still
+lying there, in the attitude in which he had left her. But her eyes were
+ringed, and slightly filmed, as if with recent tears.
+
+It was perhaps this circumstance that softened his voice, still harsh
+with command, as he said,--
+
+"I suppose you knew those two men?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And that I have put it out of their power to help you?"
+
+"I do."
+
+There was something so strangely submissive in her voice that he again
+looked suspiciously at her. But he was shocked to see that she was quite
+pale now, and that the fire had gone out of her dark eyes.
+
+"Then I may tell you what is my plan to save you. But, first, you must
+find this mulatto woman who has acted as your double."
+
+"She is here."
+
+"Here?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How do you know it?" he asked, in quick suspicion.
+
+"She was not to leave this place until she knew I was safe within our
+lines. I have some friends who are faithful to me." After a pause she
+added, "She has been here already."
+
+He looked at her, startled. "Impossible--I"--
+
+"You locked the door. Yes! but she has a second key. And even if she had
+not, there is another entrance from that closet. You do not know this
+house: you have been here two weeks; I spent two years of my life, as a
+girl, in this room."
+
+An indescribable sensation came over him; he remembered how he had felt
+when he first occupied it; this was followed by a keen sense of shame
+on reflecting that he had been, ever since, but a helpless puppet in the
+power of his enemies, and that she could have escaped if she would, even
+now.
+
+"Perhaps," he said grimly, "you have already arranged your plans?"
+
+She looked at him with a singular reproachfulness even in her
+submission.
+
+"I have only told her to be ready to change clothes with me and help me
+color my face and hands at the time appointed. I have left the rest to
+you."
+
+"Then this is my plan. I have changed only a detail. You and she must
+both leave this house at the same time, by different exits, but one of
+them must be private--and unknown to my men. Do you know of such a one?"
+
+"Yes," she said, "in the rear of the negro quarters."
+
+"Good," he replied, "that will be your way out. She will leave here,
+publicly, through the parade, armed with a pass from me. She will be
+overhauled and challenged by the first sentry near the guardhouse, below
+the wall. She will be subjected to some delay and scrutiny, which she
+will, however, be able to pass better than you would. This will create
+the momentary diversion that we require. In the mean time, you will have
+left the house by the rear, and you will then keep in the shadow of the
+hedge until you can drop down along the Run, where it empties into the
+swamp. That," he continued, fixing his keen eyes upon her, "is the one
+weak point in the position of this place that is neither overlooked nor
+defended. But perhaps," he added again grimly, "you already know it."
+
+"It is the marsh where the flowers grow, near the path where you met
+Miss Faulkner. I had crossed the marsh to give her a letter," she said
+slowly.
+
+A bitter smile came over Brant's face, but passed as quickly.
+
+"Enough," he said quietly, "I will meet you beside the Run, and cross
+the marsh with you until you are within hailing distance of your lines.
+I will be in plain clothes, Alice," he went on slowly, "for it will not
+be the commander of this force who accompanies you, but your husband,
+and, without disgracing his uniform, he will drop to your level; for the
+instant he passes his own lines, in disguise, he will become, like you,
+a spy, and amenable to its penalties."
+
+Her eyes seemed suddenly to leap up to his with that strange look of
+awakening and enthusiasm which he had noted before. And in its complete
+prepossession of all her instincts she rose from the bed, unheeding her
+bared arms and shoulders and loosened hair, and stood upright before
+him. For an instant husband and wife regarded each other as unreservedly
+as in their own chamber at Robles.
+
+"When shall I go?"
+
+He glanced through the window already growing lighter with the
+coming dawn. The relief would pass in a few moments; the time seemed
+propitious.
+
+"At once," he said. "I will send Rose to you."
+
+But his wife had already passed into the closet, and was tapping upon
+some inner door. He heard the sound of hinges turning and the rustling
+of garments. She reappeared, holding the curtains of the closet together
+with her hand, and said,--
+
+"Go! When she comes to your office for the pass, you will know that I
+have gone."
+
+He turned away.
+
+"Stop!" she said faintly.
+
+He turned back. Her expression had again changed. Her face was deadly
+pale; a strange tremor seemed to have taken possession of her. Her hands
+dropped from the curtain. Her beautiful arms moved slightly forward;
+it seemed to him that she would in the next moment have extended them
+towards him. But even then she said hurriedly, "Go! Go!" and slipped
+again behind the curtains.
+
+He quickly descended the stairs as the sound of trampling feet on the
+road, and the hurried word of command, announced the return of the
+scouting party. The officer had little report to make beyond the fact
+that a morning mist, creeping along the valley, prevented any further
+observation, and bade fair to interrupt their own communications with
+the camp. Everything was quiet in the west, although the enemy's lines
+along the ridge seemed to have receded.
+
+Brant had listened impatiently, for a new idea had seized him. Hooker
+was of the party, and was the one man in whom he could partly confide,
+and obtain a disguise. He at once made his way to the commissary
+wagons--one of which he knew Hooker used as a tent. Hastily telling him
+that he wished to visit the pickets without recognition, he induced him
+to lend him his slouched hat and frock coat, leaving with him his own
+distinguishing tunic, hat, and sword. He resisted the belt and pistols
+which Hooker would have forced upon him. As he left the wagon he
+was amusedly conscious that his old companion was characteristically
+examining the garments he had left behind with mingled admiration and
+envy. But he did not know, as he slipped out of the camp, that Mr.
+Hooker was quietly trying them on, before a broken mirror in the
+wagon-head!
+
+The gray light of that summer morning was already so strong that, to
+avoid detection, he quickly dropped into the shadow of the gully that
+sloped towards the Run. The hot mist which the scouts had seen was now
+lying like a tranquil sea between him and the pickets of the enemy's
+rear-guard, which it seemed to submerge, and was clinging in moist
+tenuous swathes--like drawn-out cotton wool--along the ridge, half
+obliterating its face. From the valley in the rear it was already
+stealing in a thin white line up the slope like the advance of a ghostly
+column, with a stealthiness that, in spite of himself, touched him with
+superstitious significance. A warm perfume, languid and treacherous--as
+from the swamp magnolia--seemed to rise from the half-hidden marsh.
+An ominous silence, that appeared to be a part of this veiling of all
+things under the clear opal-tinted sky above, was so little like
+the hush of rest and peace, that he half-yearned for the outburst of
+musketry and tumult of attack that might dispel it. All that he had ever
+heard or dreamed of the insidious South, with its languid subtleties of
+climate and of race, seemed to encompass him here.
+
+But the next moment he saw the figure he was waiting for stealing
+towards him from the shadow of the gulley beneath the negro quarters.
+
+Even in that uncertain light there was no mistaking the tall figure,
+the gaudily striped clinging gown and turbaned head. And then a strange
+revulsion of feeling, quite characteristic of the emotional side of his
+singular temperament, overcame him. He was taking leave of his wife--the
+dream of his youth--perhaps forever! It should be no parting in anger as
+at Robles; it should be with a tenderness that would blot out their past
+in their separate memories--God knows! it might even be that a parting
+at that moment was a joining of them in eternity. In his momentary
+exaltation it even struck him that it was a duty, no less sacred, no
+less unselfish than the one to which he had devoted his life. The light
+was growing stronger; he could hear voices in the nearest picket line,
+and the sound of a cough in the invading mist. He made a hurried sign to
+the on-coming figure to follow him, ran ahead, and halted at last in
+the cover of a hackmatack bush. Still gazing forward over the marsh,
+he stealthily held out his hand behind him as the rustling skirt came
+nearer. At last his hand was touched--but even at that touch he started
+and turned quickly.
+
+It was not his wife, but Rose!--her mulatto double! Her face was rigid
+with fright, her beady eyes staring in their china sockets, her white
+teeth chattering. Yet she would have spoken.
+
+"Hush!" he said, clutching her hand, in a fierce whisper. "Not a word!"
+
+She was holding something white in her fingers; he snatched it quickly.
+It was a note from his wife--not in the disguised hand of her first
+warning, but in one that he remembered as if it were a voice from their
+past.
+
+"Forgive me for disobeying you to save you from capture, disgrace, or
+death--which would have come to you where you were going! I have taken
+Rose's pass. You need not fear that your honor will suffer by it, for if
+I am stopped I shall confess that I took it from her. Think no more of
+me, Clarence, but only of yourself. You are in danger."
+
+He crushed the letter in his hand.
+
+"Tell me," he said in a fierce whisper, seizing her arm, "and speak low.
+When did you leave her?"
+
+"Sho'ly just now!" gasped the frightened woman.
+
+He flung her aside. There might be still time to overtake and save her
+before she reached the picket lines. He ran up the gully, and out on to
+the slope towards the first guard-post. But a familiar challenge reached
+his ear, and his heart stopped beating.
+
+"Who goes there?"
+
+There was a pause, a rattle of arms voices--another pause--and Brant
+stood breathlessly listening. Then the voice rose again slowly and
+clearly: "Pass the mulatto woman!"
+
+Thank God! she was saved! But the thought had scarcely crossed his mind
+before it seemed to him that a blinding crackle of sparks burst out
+along the whole slope below the wall, a characteristic yell which he
+knew too well rang in his ears, and an undulating line of dusty figures
+came leaping like gray wolves out of the mist upon his pickets. He heard
+the shouts of his men falling back as they fired; the harsh commands
+of a few officers hurrying to their posts, and knew that he had been
+hopelessly surprised and surrounded!
+
+He ran forward among his disorganized men. To his consternation no one
+seemed to heed him! Then the remembrance of his disguise flashed upon
+him. But he had only time to throw away his hat and snatch a sword from
+a falling lieutenant, before a scorching flash seemed to pass before
+his eyes and burn through his hair, and he dropped like a log beside his
+subaltern.
+
+*****
+
+An aching under the bandage around his head where a spent bullet had
+grazed his scalp, and the sound of impossible voices in his ears were
+all he knew as he struggled slowly back to consciousness again. Even
+then it still seemed a delusion,--for he was lying on a cot in his own
+hospital, yet with officers of the division staff around him, and the
+division commander himself standing by his side, and regarding him
+with an air of grave but not unkindly concern. But the wounded man felt
+instinctively that it was not the effect of his physical condition, and
+a sense of shame came suddenly over him, which was not dissipated by
+his superior's words. For, motioning the others aside, the major-general
+leaned over his cot, and said,--
+
+"Until a few moments ago, the report was that you had been captured
+in the first rush of the rear-guard which we were rolling up for your
+attack, and when you were picked up, just now, in plain clothes on the
+slope, you were not recognized. The one thing seemed to be as improbable
+as the other," he added significantly.
+
+The miserable truth flashed across Brant's mind. Hooker must have been
+captured in his clothes--perhaps in some extravagant sally--and had not
+been recognized in the confusion by his own officers. Nevertheless, he
+raised his eyes to his superior.
+
+"You got my note?"
+
+The general's brow darkened.
+
+"Yes," he said slowly, "but finding you thus unprepared--I had been
+thinking just now that you had been deceived by that woman--or by
+others--and that it was a clumsy forgery." He stopped, and seeing the
+hopeless bewilderment in the face of the wounded man, added more kindly:
+"But we will not talk of that in your present condition. The doctor says
+a few hours will put you straight again. Get strong, for I want you to
+lose no time--for your own sake--to report yourself at Washington."
+
+"Report myself--at Washington!" repeated Brant slowly.
+
+"That was last night's order," said the commander, with military
+curtness. Then he burst out: "I don't understand it, Brant! I believe
+you have been misunderstood, misrepresented, perhaps maligned and I
+shall make it MY business to see the thing through--but those are
+the Department orders. And for the present--I am sorry to say you are
+relieved of your command."
+
+He turned away, and Brant closed his eyes. With them it seemed to
+him that he closed his career. No one would ever understand his
+explanation--even had he been tempted to give one, and he knew he never
+would. Everything was over now! Even this wretched bullet had not struck
+him fairly, and culminated his fate as it might! For an instant, he
+recalled his wife's last offer to fly with him beyond the seas--beyond
+this cruel injustice--but even as he recalled it, he knew that flight
+meant the worst of all--a half-confession! But she had escaped! Thank
+God for that! Again and again in his hopeless perplexity this comfort
+returned to him,--he had saved her; he had done his duty. And harping
+upon this in his strange fatalism, it at last seemed to him that this
+was for what he had lived--for what he had suffered--for what he had
+fitly ended his career. Perhaps it was left for him now to pass
+his remaining years in forgotten exile--even as his father had--his
+father!--his breath came quickly at the thought--God knows! perhaps as
+wrongfully accused! It may have been a Providence that she had borne him
+no child, to whom this dreadful heritage could be again transmitted.
+
+There was something of this strange and fateful resignation in his face,
+a few hours later, when he was able to be helped again into the saddle.
+But he could see in the eyes of the few comrades who commiseratingly
+took leave of him, a vague, half-repressed awe of some indefinite
+weakness in the man, that mingled with their heartfelt parting with a
+gallant soldier. Yet even this touched him no longer. He cast a glance
+at the house and the room where he had parted from her, at the slope
+from which she had passed--and rode away.
+
+And then, as his figure disappeared down the road, the restrained
+commentary of wonder, surmise, and criticism broke out:--
+
+"It must have been something mighty bad, for the old man, who swears
+by him, looked rather troubled. And it was deuced queer, you know, this
+changing clothes with somebody, just before this surprise!"
+
+"Nonsense! It's something away back of that! Didn't you hear the old man
+say that the orders for him to report himself came from Washington LAST
+NIGHT? No!"--the speaker lowered his voice--"Strangeways says that he
+had regularly sold himself out to one of them d----d secesh woman spies!
+It's the old Marc Antony business over again!"
+
+"Now I think of it," said a younger subaltern, "he did seem mightily
+taken with one of those quadroons or mulattoes he issued orders against.
+I suppose that was a blind for us! I remember the first day he saw her;
+he was regularly keen to know all about her."
+
+Major Curtis gave a short laugh.
+
+"That mulatto, Martin, was a white woman, burnt-corked! She was trying
+to get through the lines last night, and fell off a wall or got a knock
+on the head from a sentry's carbine. When she was brought in, Doctor
+Simmons set to washing the blood off her face; the cork came off and the
+whole thing came out. Brant hushed it up--and the woman, too--in his own
+quarters! It's supposed now that she got away somehow in the rush!"
+
+"It goes further back than that, gentlemen," said the adjutant
+authoritatively. "They say his wife was a howling secessionist, four
+years ago, in California, was mixed up in a conspiracy, and he had to
+leave on account of it. Look how thick he and that Miss Faulkner became,
+before he helped HER off!"
+
+"That's your jealousy, Tommy; she knew he was, by all odds, the biggest
+man here, and a good deal more, too, and you had no show!"
+
+In the laugh that followed, it would seem that Brant's eulogy had been
+spoken and forgotten. But as Lieutenant Martin was turning away, a
+lingering corporal touched his cap.
+
+"You were speaking of those prowling mulattoes, sir. You know the
+general passed one out this morning."
+
+"So I have heard."
+
+"I reckon she didn't get very far. It was just at the time that we were
+driven in by their first fire, and I think she got her share of it, too.
+Do you mind walking this way, sir!"
+
+The lieutenant did not mind, although he rather languidly followed.
+When they had reached the top of the gully, the corporal pointed to
+what seemed to be a bit of striped calico hanging on a thorn bush in the
+ravine.
+
+"That's her," said the corporal. "I know the dress; I was on guard when
+she was passed. The searchers, who were picking up our men, haven't got
+to her yet; but she ain't moved or stirred these two hours. Would you
+like to go down and see her?"
+
+The lieutenant hesitated. He was young, and slightly fastidious as
+to unnecessary unpleasantness. He believed he would wait until the
+searchers brought her up, when the corporal might call him.
+
+The mist came up gloriously from the swamp like a golden halo. And
+as Clarence Brant, already forgotten, rode moodily through it towards
+Washington, hugging to his heart the solitary comfort of his great
+sacrifice, his wife, Alice Brant, for whom he had made it, was lying
+in the ravine, dead and uncared for. Perhaps it was part of the
+inconsistency of her sex that she was pierced with the bullets of those
+she had loved, and was wearing the garments of the race that she had
+wronged.
+
+
+
+PART III.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It was sunset of a hot day at Washington. Even at that hour the broad
+avenues, which diverged from the Capitol like the rays of another sun,
+were fierce and glittering. The sterile distances between glowed
+more cruelly than ever, and pedestrians, keeping in the scant shade,
+hesitated on the curbstones before plunging into the Sahara-like
+waste of crossings. The city seemed deserted. Even that vast army of
+contractors, speculators, place-hunters, and lobbyists, which hung on
+the heels of the other army, and had turned this pacific camp of the
+nation into a battlefield of ignoble conflict and contention--more
+disastrous than the one to the South--had slunk into their holes in
+hotel back bedrooms, in shady barrooms, or in the negro quarters of
+Georgetown, as if the majestic, white-robed Goddess enthroned upon the
+dome of the Capitol had at last descended among them and was smiting to
+right and left with the flat and flash of her insufferable sword.
+
+Into this stifling atmosphere of greed and corruption Clarence Brant
+stepped from the shadow of the War Department. For the last three weeks
+he had haunted its ante-rooms and audience-chambers, in the vain hope
+of righting himself before his superiors, who were content, without
+formulating charges against him, to keep him in this disgrace of
+inaction and the anxiety of suspense. Unable to ascertain the details
+of the accusation, and conscious of his own secret, he was debarred
+the last resort of demanding a court-martial, which he knew could only
+exonerate him by the exposure of the guilt of his wife, whom he still
+hoped had safely escaped. His division commander, in active operations
+in the field, had no time to help him at Washington. Elbowed aside by
+greedy contractors, forestalled by selfish politicians, and disdaining
+the ordinary method of influence, he had no friend to turn to. In his
+few years of campaigning he had lost his instinct of diplomacy, without
+acquiring a soldier's bluntness.
+
+The nearly level rays of the sun forced him at last to turn aside into
+one of the openings of a large building--a famous caravansary of that
+hotel-haunted capital, and he presently found himself in the
+luxurious bar-room, fragrant with mint, and cool with ice-slabs piled
+symmetrically on its marble counters. A few groups of men were seeking
+coolness at small tables with glasses before them and palm-leaf fans in
+their hands, but a larger and noisier assemblage was collected before
+the bar, where a man, collarless and in his shirt-sleeves, with his
+back to the counter, was pretentiously addressing them. Brant, who had
+moodily dropped into a chair in the corner, after ordering a cooling
+drink as an excuse for his temporary refuge from the stifling street,
+half-regretted his enforced participation in their conviviality. But
+a sudden lowering of the speaker's voice into a note of gloomy
+significance seemed familiar to him. He glanced at him quickly, from the
+shadow of his corner. He was not mistaken--it was Jim Hooker!
+
+For the first time in his life, Brant wished to evade him. In the days
+of his own prosperity his heart had always gone out towards this old
+companion of his boyhood; in his present humiliation his presence jarred
+upon him. He would have slipped away, but to do so he would have had to
+pass before the counter again, and Hooker, with the self-consciousness
+of a story-teller, had an eye on his audience. Brant, with a palm-leaf
+fan before his face, was obliged to listen.
+
+"Yes, gentlemen," said Hooker, examining his glass dramatically, "when
+a man's been cooped up in a Rebel prison, with a death line before him
+that he's obliged to cross every time he wants a square drink, it seems
+sort of like a dream of his boyhood to be standin' here comf'ble before
+his liquor, alongside o' white men once more. And when he knows he's bin
+put to all that trouble jest to save the reputation of another man, and
+the secrets of a few high and mighty ones, it's almost enough to make
+his liquor go agin him." He stopped theatrically, seemed to choke
+emotionally over his brandy squash, but with a pause of dramatic
+determination finally dashed it down. "No, gentlemen," he continued
+gloomily, "I don't say what I'm back in Washington FOR--I don't say what
+I've been sayin' to myself when I've bin picking the weevils outer my
+biscuits in Libby Prison--but ef you don't see some pretty big men in
+the War Department obliged to climb down in the next few days, my name
+ain't Jim Hooker, of Hooker, Meacham & Co., Army Beef Contractors, and
+the man who saved the fight at Gray Oaks!"
+
+The smile of satisfaction that went around his audience--an audience
+quick to seize the weakness of any performance--might have startled
+a vanity less oblivious than Hooker's; but it only aroused Brant's
+indignation and pity, and made his position still more intolerable. But
+Hooker, scornfully expectorating a thin stream of tobacco juice against
+the spittoon, remained for an instant gloomily silent.
+
+"Tell us about the fight again," said a smiling auditor.
+
+Hooker looked around the room with a certain dark suspiciousness, and
+then, in an affected lower voice, which his theatrical experience made
+perfectly audible, went on:--
+
+"It ain't much to speak of, and if it wasn't for the principle of the
+thing, I wouldn't be talking. A man who's seen Injin fightin' don't go
+much on this here West Point fightin' by rule-of-three--but that ain't
+here or there! Well, I'd bin out a-scoutin'--just to help the boys
+along, and I was sittin' in my wagon about daybreak, when along comes a
+brigadier-general, and he looks into the wagon flap. I oughter to tell
+you first, gentlemen, that every minit he was expecting an attack--but
+he didn't let on a hint of it to me. 'How are you, Jim?' said he. 'How
+are you, general?' said I. 'Would you mind lendin' me your coat and
+hat?' says he. 'I've got a little game here with our pickets, and I
+don't want to be recognized.' 'Anything to oblige, general,' said I, and
+with that I strips off my coat and hat, and he peels and puts them on.
+'Nearly the same figure, Jim,' he says, lookin' at me, 'suppose you try
+on my things and see.' With that he hands me his coat--full uniform,
+by G-d!--with the little gold cords and laces and the epaulettes with a
+star, and I puts it on--quite innocent-like. And then he says, handin'
+me his sword and belt, 'Same inches round the waist, I reckon,' and I
+puts that on too. 'You may as well keep 'em on till I come back,' says
+he, 'for it's mighty damp and malarious at this time around the swamp.'
+And with that he lights out. Well, gentlemen, I hadn't sat there five
+minutes before Bang! bang! rattle! rattle! kershiz! and I hears a yell.
+I steps out of the wagon; everything's quite dark, but the rattle goes
+on. Then along trots an orderly, leadin' a horse. 'Mount, general,' he
+says, 'we're attacked--the rear-guard's on us!'"
+
+He paused, looked round his audience, and then in a lower voice, said
+darkly,--
+
+"I ain't a fool, an' in that minute a man's brain works at high
+pressure, and I saw it all! I saw the little game of the brigadier to
+skunk away in my clothes and leave me to be captured in his. But I ain't
+a dog neither, and I mounted that horse, gentlemen, and lit out to where
+the men were formin'! I didn't dare to speak, lest they should know me,
+but I waved my sword, and by G-d! they followed me! And the next minit
+we was in the thick of it. I had my hat as full of holes as that ice
+strainer; I had a dozen bullets through my coat, the fringe of my
+epaulettes was shot away, but I kept the boys at their work--and we
+stopped 'em! Stopped 'em, gentlemen, until we heard the bugles of the
+rest of our division, that all this time had been rolling that blasted
+rear-guard over on us! And it saved the fight; but the next minute the
+Johnny Rebs made a last dash and cut me off--and there I was--by G-d, a
+prisoner! Me that had saved the fight!"
+
+A ripple of ironical applause went round as Hooker gloomily drained his
+glass, and then held up his hand in scornful deprecation.
+
+"I said I was a prisoner, gentlemen," he went on bitterly; "but that
+ain't all! I asked to see Johnston, told him what I had done, and
+demanded to be exchanged for a general officer. He said, 'You be
+d----d.' I then sent word to the division commander-in-chief, and told
+him how I had saved Gray Oaks when his brigadier ran away, and he said,
+'You be d----d.' I've bin 'You be d----d' from the lowest non-com.
+to the commander-in-chief, and when I was at last exchanged, I was
+exchanged, gentlemen, for two mules and a broken wagon. But I'm here,
+gentlemen--as I was thar!"
+
+"Why don't you see the President about it?" asked a bystander, in
+affected commiseration.
+
+Mr. Hooker stared contemptuously at the suggestion, and expectorated his
+scornful dissent.
+
+"Not much!" he said. "But I'm going to see the man that carries him and
+his Cabinet in his breeches-pocket--Senator Boompointer."
+
+"Boompointer's a big man," continued his auditor doubtfully. "Do you
+know him?"
+
+"Know him?" Mr. Hooker laughed a bitter, sardonic laugh. "Well,
+gentlemen, I ain't the kind o' man to go in for family influence; but,"
+he added, with gloomy elevation, "considering he's an intimate relation
+of mine, BY MARRIAGE, I should say I did."
+
+Brant heard no more; the facing around of his old companion towards the
+bar gave him that opportunity of escaping he had been waiting for. The
+defection of Hooker and his peculiar inventions were too characteristic
+of him to excite surprise, and, although they no longer awakened his
+good-humored tolerance, they were powerless to affect him in his greater
+trouble. Only one thing he learned--that Hooker knew nothing of his wife
+being in camp as a spy--the incident would have been too tempting to
+have escaped his dramatic embellishment. And the allusion to Senator
+Boompointer, monstrous as it seemed in Hooker's mouth, gave him a grim
+temptation. He had heard of Boompointer's wonderful power; he believed
+that Susy would and could help him--Clarence--whether she did or did not
+help Hooker. But the next moment he dismissed the idea, with a flushing
+cheek. How low had he already sunk, even to think of it!
+
+It had been once or twice in his mind to seek the President, and, under
+a promise of secrecy, reveal a part of his story. He had heard many
+anecdotes of his goodness of heart and generous tolerance of all things,
+but with this was joined--so said contemporaneous history--a flippancy
+of speech and a brutality of directness from which Clarence's
+sensibility shrank. Would he see anything in his wife but a common spy
+on his army; would he see anything in him but the weak victim, like many
+others, of a scheming woman? Stories current in camp and Congress of the
+way that this grim humorist had, with an apposite anecdote or a rugged
+illustration, brushed away the most delicate sentiment or the subtlest
+poetry, even as he had exposed the sham of Puritanic morality or of
+Epicurean ethics. Brant had even solicited an audience, but had retired
+awkwardly, and with his confidence unspoken, before the dark, humorous
+eyes, that seemed almost too tolerant of his grievance. He had been
+to levees, and his heart had sunk equally before the vulgar crowd, who
+seemed to regard this man as their own buffoon, and the pompousness of
+position, learning and dignity, which he seemed to delight to shake and
+disturb.
+
+One afternoon, a few days later, in sheer listlessness of purpose,
+he found himself again at the White House. The President was giving
+audience to a deputation of fanatics, who, with a pathetic simplicity
+almost equal to his own pathetic tolerance, were urging upon this ruler
+of millions the policy of an insignificant score, and Brant listened to
+his patient, practical response of facts and logic, clothed in
+simple but sinewy English, up to the inevitable climax of humorous
+illustration, which the young brigadier could now see was necessary to
+relieve the grimness of his refusal. For the first time Brant felt
+the courage to address him, and resolved to wait until the deputation
+retired. As they left the gallery he lingered in the ante-room for
+the President to appear. But, as he did not come, afraid of losing his
+chances, he returned to the gallery. Alone in his privacy and shadow,
+the man he had just left was standing by a column, in motionless
+abstraction, looking over the distant garden. But the kindly, humorous
+face was almost tragic with an intensity of weariness! Every line of
+those strong, rustic features was relaxed under a burden which even
+the long, lank, angular figure--overgrown and unfinished as his own
+West--seemed to be distorted in its efforts to adjust itself to; while
+the dark, deep-set eyes were abstracted with the vague prescience of the
+prophet and the martyr. Shocked at that sudden change, Brant felt his
+cheek burn with shame. And he was about to break upon that wearied man's
+unbending; he was about to add his petty burden to the shoulders of this
+Western Atlas. He drew back silently, and descended the stairs.
+
+But before he had left the house, while mingling with the crowd in one
+of the larger rooms, he saw the President reappear beside an important,
+prosperous-looking figure, on whom the kindly giant was now smiling with
+humorous toleration. He noticed the divided attention of the crowd; the
+name of Senator Boompointer was upon every lip; he was nearly face to
+face with that famous dispenser of place and preferment--this
+second husband of Susy! An indescribable feeling--half cynical, half
+fateful--came over him. He would not have been surprised to see Jim
+Hooker join the throng, which now seemed to him to even dwarf the lonely
+central figure that had so lately touched him! He wanted to escape it
+all!
+
+But his fate brought him to the entrance at the same moment that
+Boompointer was leaving it, and that distinguished man brushed hastily
+by him as a gorgeous carriage, drawn by two spirited horses, and driven
+by a resplendent negro coachman, dashed up. It was the Boompointer
+carriage.
+
+A fashionably-dressed, pretty woman, who, in style, bearing, opulent
+contentment, and ingenuous self-consciousness, was in perfect keeping
+with the slight ostentation of the equipage, was its only occupant. As
+Boompointer stepped into the vehicle, her blue eyes fell for an instant
+on Brant. A happy, childlike pink flush came into her cheeks, and a
+violet ray of recognition and mischief darted from her eyes to his. For
+it was Susy.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+When Brant returned to his hotel there was an augmented respect in the
+voice of the clerk as he handed him a note with the remark that it had
+been left by Senator Boompointer's coachman. He had no difficulty in
+recognizing Susy's peculiarly Brobdingnagian school-girl hand.
+
+"Kla'uns, I call it real mean! I believe you just HOPED I wouldn't know
+you. If you're a bit like your old self you'll come right off here--this
+very night! I've got a big party on--but we can talk somewhere between
+the acts! Haven't I growed? Tell me! And my! what a gloomy swell the
+young brigadier is! The carriage will come for you--so you have no
+excuse."
+
+The effect of this childish note upon Brant was strangely out of
+proportion to its triviality. But then it was Susy's very triviality--so
+expressive of her characteristic irresponsibility--which had always
+affected him at such moments. Again, as at Robles, he felt it react
+against his own ethics. Was she not right in her delightful materialism?
+Was she not happier than if she had been consistently true to Mrs.
+Peyton, to the convent, to the episode of her theatrical career, to Jim
+Hooker--even to himself? And did he conscientiously believe that Hooker
+or himself had suffered from her inconsistency? No! From all that he
+had heard, she was a suitable helpmate to the senator, in her social
+attractiveness, her charming ostentations, her engaging vanity
+that disarmed suspicion, and her lack of responsibility even in her
+partisanship. Nobody ever dared to hold the senator responsible for her
+promises, even while enjoying the fellowship of both, and it is
+said that the worthy man singularly profited by it. Looking upon the
+invitation as a possible distraction to his gloomy thoughts, Brant
+resolved to go.
+
+The moon was high as the carriage whirled him out of the still stifling
+avenues towards the Soldiers' Home--a sylvan suburb frequented by
+cabinet ministers and the President--where the good Senator had
+"decreed," like Kubla Khan, "a stately pleasure dome," to entertain his
+friends and partisans. As they approached the house, the trembling light
+like fireflies through the leaves, the warm silence broken only by a
+military band playing a drowsy waltz on the veranda, and the heavy odors
+of jessamine in the air, thrilled Brant with a sense of shame as
+he thought of his old comrades in the field. But this was presently
+dissipated by the uniforms that met him in the hall, with the presence
+of some of his distinguished superiors. At the head of the stairs,
+with a circling background of the shining crosses and ribbons of the
+diplomatic corps, stood Susy--her bare arms and neck glittering with
+diamonds, her face radiant with childlike vivacity. A significant
+pressure of her little glove as he made his bow seemed to be his only
+welcome, but a moment later she caught his arm. "You've yet to
+know HIM," she said in a half whisper; "he thinks a good deal of
+himself--just like Jim. But he makes others believe it, and that's where
+poor Jim slipped up." She paused before the man thus characteristically
+disposed of, and presented Brant. It was the man he had seen
+before--material, capable, dogmatic. A glance from his shrewd
+eyes--accustomed to the weighing of men's weaknesses and ambitions--and
+a few hurried phrases, apparently satisfied him that Brant was not just
+then important or available to him, and the two men, a moment later,
+drifted easily apart. Brant sauntered listlessly through the crowded
+rooms, half remorsefully conscious that he had taken some irrevocable
+step, and none the less assured by the presence of two or three
+reporters and correspondents who were dogging his steps, or the glance
+of two or three pretty women whose curiosity had evidently been aroused
+by the singular abstraction of this handsome, distinguished, but
+sardonic-looking officer. But the next moment he was genuinely moved.
+
+A tall young woman had just glided into the centre of the room with an
+indolent yet supple gracefulness that seemed familiar to him. A change
+in her position suddenly revealed her face. It was Miss Faulkner.
+Previously he had known her only in the riding habit of Confederate gray
+which she had at first affected, or in the light muslin morning dress
+she had worn at Gray Oaks. It seemed to him, to-night, that the studied
+elegance of her full dress became her still more; that the pretty
+willfulness of her chin and shoulders was chastened and modified by the
+pearls round her fair throat. Suddenly their eyes met; her face paled
+visibly; he fancied that she almost leaned against her companion for
+support; then she met his glance again with a face into which the color
+had as suddenly rushed, but with eyes that seemed to be appealing to him
+even to the point of pain and fright. Brant was not conceited; he could
+see that the girl's agitation was not the effect of any mere personal
+influence in his recognition, but of something else. He turned hastily
+away; when he looked around again she was gone.
+
+Nevertheless he felt filled with a vague irritation. Did she think him
+such a fool as to imperil her safety by openly recognizing her without
+her consent? Did she think that he would dare to presume upon the
+service she had done him? Or, more outrageous thought, had she heard of
+his disgrace, known its cause, and feared that he would drag her into
+a disclosure to save himself? No, no; she could not think that! She had
+perhaps regretted what she had done in a freak of girlish chivalry; she
+had returned to her old feelings and partisanship; she was only startled
+at meeting the single witness of her folly. Well, she need not fear!
+He would as studiously avoid her hereafter, and she should know it. And
+yet--yes, there was a "yet." For he could not forget--indeed, in the
+past three weeks it had been more often before him than he cared to
+think--that she was the one human being who had been capable of a great
+act of self-sacrifice for him--her enemy, her accuser, the man who had
+scarcely treated her civilly. He was ashamed to remember now that this
+thought had occurred to him at the bedside of his wife--at the hour of
+her escape--even on the fatal slope on which he had been struck down.
+And now this fond illusion must go with the rest--the girl who had
+served him so loyally was ashamed of it! A bitter smile crossed his
+face.
+
+"Well, I don't wonder! Here are all the women asking me who is that
+good-looking Mephistopheles, with the burning eyes, who is prowling
+around my rooms as if searching for a victim. Why, you're smiling for
+all the world like poor Jim when he used to do the Red Avenger."
+
+Susy's voice--and illustration--recalled him to himself.
+
+"Furious I may be," he said with a gentler smile, although his eyes
+still glittered, "furious that I have to wait until the one woman I came
+to see--the one woman I have not seen for so long, while these puppets
+have been nightly dancing before her--can give me a few moments from
+them, to talk of the old days."
+
+In his reaction he was quite sincere, although he felt a slight sense
+of remorse as he saw the quick, faint color rise, as in those old days,
+even through the to-night's powder of her cheek.
+
+"That's like the old Kla'uns," she said, with a slight pressure of his
+arm, "but we will not have a chance to speak until later. When they are
+nearly all gone, you'll take me to get a little refreshment, and we'll
+have a chat in the conservatory. But you must drop that awfully wicked
+look and make yourself generally agreeable to those women until then."
+
+It was, perhaps, part of this reaction which enabled him to obey his
+hostess' commands with a certain recklessness that, however, seemed
+to be in keeping with the previous Satanic reputation he had all
+unconsciously achieved. The women listened to the cynical flippancy of
+this good-looking soldier with an undisguised admiration which in
+turn excited curiosity and envy from his own sex. He saw the whispered
+questioning, the lifted eyebrows, scornful shrugging of shoulders--and
+knew that the story of his disgrace was in the air. But I fear this
+only excited him to further recklessness and triumph. Once he thought he
+recognized Miss Faulkner's figure at a distance, and even fancied that
+she had been watching him; but he only redoubled his attentions to the
+fair woman beside him, and looked no more.
+
+Yet he was glad when the guests began to drop off, the great rooms
+thinned, and Susy, appearing on the arm of her husband, coquettishly
+reminded him of his promise.
+
+"For I want to talk to you of old times. General Brant," she went on,
+turning explanatorily to Boompointer, "married my adopted mother in
+California--at Robles, a dear old place where I spent my earliest years.
+So, you see, we are sort of relations by marriage," she added, with
+delightful naivete.
+
+Hooker's own vainglorious allusion to his relations to the man before
+him flashed across Brant's mind, but it left now only a smile on his
+lips. He felt he had already become a part of the irresponsible comedy
+played around him. Why should he resist, or examine its ethics too
+closely? He offered his arm to Susy as they descended the stairs, but,
+instead of pausing in the supper-room, she simply passed through it with
+a significant pressure on his arm, and, drawing aside a muslin curtain,
+stepped into the moonlit conservatory. Behind the curtain there was a
+small rustic settee; without releasing his arm she sat down, so that
+when he dropped beside her, their hands met, and mutually clasped.
+
+"Now, Kla'uns," she said, with a slight, comfortable shiver as she
+nestled beside him, "it's a little like your chair down at old Robles,
+isn't it?--tell me! And to think it's five years ago! But, Kla'uns,
+what's the matter? You are changed," she said, looking at his dark face
+in the moonlight, "or you have something to tell me."
+
+"I have."
+
+"And it's something dreadful, I know!" she said, wrinkling her brows
+with a pretty terror. "Couldn't you pretend you had told it to me, and
+let us go on just the same? Couldn't you, Kla'uns? Tell me!"
+
+"I am afraid I couldn't," he said, with a sad smile.
+
+"Is it about yourself, Kla'uns? You know," she went on with cheerful
+rapidity, "I know everything about you--I always did, you know--and I
+don't care, and never did care, and it don't, and never did, make the
+slightest difference to me. So don't tell it, and waste time, Kla'uns."
+
+"It's not about me, but about my wife!" he said slowly.
+
+Her expression changed slightly
+
+"Oh, her!" she said after a pause. Then, half-resignedly, "Go on,
+Kla'uns."
+
+He began. He had a dozen times rehearsed to himself his miserable story,
+always feeling it keenly, and even fearing that he might be carried away
+by emotion or morbid sentiment in telling it to another. But, to his
+astonishment, he found himself telling it practically, calmly, almost
+cynically, to his old playmate, repressing the half devotion and even
+tenderness that had governed him, from the time that his wife, disguised
+as the mulatto woman, had secretly watched him at his office, to the
+hour that he had passed through the lines. He withheld only the incident
+of Miss Faulkner's complicity and sacrifice.
+
+"And she got away, after having kicked you out of your place, Kla'uns?"
+said Susy, when he had ended.
+
+Clarence stiffened beside her. But he felt he had gone too far to
+quarrel with his confidante.
+
+"She went away. I honestly believe we shall never meet again, or I
+should not be telling you this!"
+
+"Kla'uns," she said lightly, taking his hand again, "don't you believe
+it! She won't let you go. You're one of those men that a woman, when
+she's once hooked on to, won't let go of, even when she believes she no
+longer loves him, or meets bigger and better men. I reckon it's because
+you're so different from other men; maybe there are so many different
+things about you to hook on to, and you don't slip off as easily as the
+others. Now, if you were like old Peyton, her first husband, or like
+poor Jim, or even my Boompointer, you'd be all right! No, my boy, all
+we can do is to try to keep her from getting at you here. I reckon she
+won't trust herself in Washington again in a hurry."
+
+"But I cannot stay here; my career is in the field."
+
+"Your career is alongside o' me, honey--and Boompointer. But nearer ME.
+We'll fix all that. I heard something about your being in disgrace, but
+the story was that you were sweet on some secesh girl down there, and
+neglected your business, Kla'uns. But, Lordy! to think it was only your
+own wife! Never mind; we'll straighten that out. We've had worse jobs
+than that on. Why, there was that commissary who was buying up dead
+horses at one end of the field, and selling them to the Government for
+mess beef at the other; and there was that general who wouldn't make
+an attack when it rained; and the other general--you know who I mean,
+Kla'uns--who wouldn't invade the State where his sister lived; but we
+straightened them out, somehow, and they were a heap worse than you.
+We'll get you a position in the war department here, one of the bureau
+offices, where you keep your rank and your uniform--you don't look bad
+in it, Kla'uns--on better pay. And you'll come and see me, and we'll
+talk over old times."
+
+Brant felt his heart turn sick within him. But he was at her mercy now!
+He said, with an effort,--
+
+"But I've told you that my career--nay, my LIFE--now is in the field."
+
+"Don't you be a fool, Kla'uns, and leave it there! You have done your
+work of fighting--mighty good fighting, too,--and everybody knows it.
+You've earned a change. Let others take your place."
+
+He shuddered, as he remembered that his wife had made the same
+appeal. Was he a fool then, and these two women--so totally unlike in
+everything--right in this?
+
+"Come, Kla'uns," said Susy, relapsing again against his shoulder.
+"Now talk to me! You don't say what you think of me, of my home, of my
+furniture, of my position--even of him! Tell me!"
+
+"I find you well, prosperous, and happy," he said, with a faint smile.
+
+"Is that all? And how do I look?"
+
+She turned her still youthful, mischievous face towards him in the
+moonlight. The witchery of her blue eyes was still there as of old, the
+same frank irresponsibility beamed from them; her parted lips seemed to
+give him back the breath of his youth. He started, but she did not.
+
+"Susy, dear!"
+
+It was her husband's voice.
+
+"I quite forgot," the Senator went on, as he drew the curtain aside,
+"that you are engaged with a friend; but Miss Faulkner is waiting to say
+good-night, and I volunteered to find you."
+
+"Tell her to wait a moment," said Susy, with an impatience that was as
+undisguised as it was without embarrassment or confusion.
+
+But Miss Faulkner, unconsciously following Mr. Boompointer, was already
+upon them. For a moment the whole four were silent, although perfectly
+composed. Senator Boompointer, unconscious of any infelicity in his
+interruption, was calmly waiting. Clarence, opposed suddenly to the
+young girl whom he believed was avoiding his recognition, rose, coldly
+imperturbable. Miss Faulkner, looking taller and more erect in the long
+folds of her satin cloak, neither paled nor blushed, as she regarded
+Susy and Brant with a smile of well-bred apology.
+
+"I expect to leave Washington to-morrow, and may not be able to call
+again," she said, "or I would not have so particularly pressed a
+leave-taking upon you."
+
+"I was talking with my old friend, General Brant," said Susy, more by
+way of introduction than apology.
+
+Brant bowed. For an instant the clear eyes of Miss Faulkner slipped
+icily across his as she made him an old-fashioned Southern courtesy,
+and, taking Susy's arm, she left the room. Brant did not linger, but
+took leave of his host almost in the same breath. At the front door a
+well-appointed carriage of one of the Legations had just rolled into
+waiting. He looked back; he saw Miss Faulkner, erect and looking like a
+bride in her gauzy draperies, descending the stairs before the waiting
+servants. He felt his heart beat strangely. He hesitated, recalled
+himself with an effort, hurriedly stepped from the porch into the path,
+as he heard the carriage door close behind him in the distance, and then
+felt the dust from her horse's hoofs rise around him as she drove past
+him and away.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Although Brant was convinced as soon as he left the house that he
+could not accept anything from the Boompointer influence, and that his
+interview with Susy was fruitless, he knew that he must temporize. While
+he did not believe that his old playmate would willingly betray him, he
+was uneasy when he thought of the vanity and impulsiveness which might
+compromise him--or of a possible jealousy that might seek revenge. Yet
+he had no reason to believe that Susy's nature was jealous, or that she
+was likely to have any cause; but the fact remained that Miss Faulkner's
+innocent intrusion upon their tete-a-tete affected him more strongly
+than anything else in his interview with Susy. Once out of the
+atmosphere of that house, it struck him, too, that Miss Faulkner was
+almost as much of an alien in it as himself. He wondered what she
+had been doing there. Could it be possible that she was obtaining
+information for the South? But he rejected the idea as quickly as it
+had occurred to him. Perhaps there could be no stronger proof of the
+unconscious influence the young girl already had over him.
+
+He remembered the liveries of the diplomatic carriage that had borne her
+away, and ascertained without difficulty that her sister had married one
+of the foreign ministers, and that she was a guest in his house. But he
+was the more astonished to hear that she and her sister were considered
+to be Southern Unionists--and were greatly petted in governmental
+circles for their sacrificing fidelity to the flag. His informant, an
+official in the State Department, added that Miss Matilda might have
+been a good deal of a madcap at the outbreak of the war--for the sisters
+had a brother in the Confederate service--but that she had changed
+greatly, and, indeed, within a month. "For," he added, "she was at the
+White House for the first time last week, and they say the President
+talked more to her than to any other woman."
+
+The indescribable sensation with which this simple information filled
+Brant startled him more than the news itself. Hope, joy, fear, distrust,
+and despair, alternately distracted him. He recalled Miss Faulkner's
+almost agonizing glance of appeal to him in the drawing-room at Susy's,
+and it seemed to be equally consistent with the truth of what he had
+just heard--or some monstrous treachery and deceit of which she might be
+capable. Even now she might be a secret emissary of some spy within
+the President's family; she might have been in correspondence with some
+traitor in the Boompointer clique, and her imploring glance only the
+result of a fear of exposure. Or, again, she might have truly recanted
+after her escapade at Gray Oaks, and feared only his recollection of
+her as go-between of spies. And yet both of these presumptions were
+inconsistent with her conduct in the conservatory. It seemed impossible
+that this impulsive woman, capable of doing what he had himself known
+her to do, and equally sensitive to the shame or joy of such impulses,
+should be the same conventional woman of society who had so coldly
+recognized and parted from him.
+
+But this interval of doubt was transitory. The next day he received a
+dispatch from the War Department, ordering him to report himself for
+duty at once. With a beating heart he hurried to the Secretary. But
+that official had merely left a memorandum with his assistant directing
+General Brant to accompany some fresh levies to a camp of "organization"
+near the front. Brant felt a chill of disappointment. Duties of this
+kind had been left to dubious regular army veterans, hurriedly
+displaced general officers, and favored detrimentals. But if it was not
+restoration, it was no longer inaction, and it was at least a release
+from Washington.
+
+It was also evidently the result of some influence--but hardly that
+of the Boompointers, for he knew that Susy wished to keep him at
+the Capital. Was there another power at work to send him away from
+Washington? His previous doubts returned. Nor were they dissipated when
+the chief of the bureau placed a letter before him with the remark that
+it had been entrusted to him by a lady with the request that it should
+be delivered only into his own hands.
+
+"She did not know your hotel address, but ascertained you were to call
+here. She said it was of some importance. There is no mystery about it,
+General," continued the official with a mischievous glance at Brant's
+handsome, perplexed face, "although it's from a very pretty woman--whom
+we all know."
+
+"Mrs. Boompointer?" suggested Brant, with affected lightness.
+
+It was a maladroit speech. The official's face darkened.
+
+"We have not yet become a Postal Department for the Boompointers,
+General," he said dryly, "however great their influence elsewhere. It
+was from rather a different style of woman--Miss Faulkner. You will
+receive your papers later at your hotel, and leave to-night."
+
+Brant's unlucky slip was still potent enough to divert the official
+attention, or he would have noticed the change in his visitor's face,
+and the abruptness of his departure.
+
+Once in the street, Brant tore off the envelope. But beneath it was
+another, on which was written in a delicate, refined hand: "Please do
+not open this until you reach your destination."
+
+Then she knew he was going! And perhaps this was her influence? All his
+suspicions again returned. She knew he was going near the lines, and his
+very appointment, through her power, might be a plot to serve her and
+the enemy! Was this letter, which she was entrusting to him, the cover
+of some missive to her Southern friends which she expected him to
+carry--perhaps as a return for her own act of self-sacrifice? Was this
+the appeal she had been making to his chivalry, his gratitude, his
+honor? The perspiration stood in beads on his forehead. What defect lay
+hidden in his nature that seemed to make him an easy victim of these
+intriguing women? He had not even the excuse of gallantry; less
+susceptible to the potencies of the sex than most men, he was still
+compelled to bear that reputation. He remembered his coldness to Miss
+Faulkner in the first days of their meeting, and her effect upon his
+subalterns. Why had she selected him from among them--when she could
+have modeled the others like wax to her purposes? Why? And yet with the
+question came a possible answer that he hardly dared to think of--that
+in its very vagueness seemed to fill him with a stimulating thrill and
+hopefulness. He quickened his pace. He would take the letter, and yet be
+master of himself when the time came to open it.
+
+That time came three days later, in his tent at Three Pines Crossing. As
+he broke open the envelope, he was relieved to find that it contained
+no other inclosure, and seemed intended only for himself. It began
+abruptly:--
+
+"When you read this, you will understand why I did not speak to you
+when we met last night; why I even dreaded that you might speak to
+me, knowing, as I did, what I ought to tell you at that place and
+moment--something you could only know from me. I did not know you were
+in Washington, although I knew you were relieved; I had no way of seeing
+you or sending to you before, and I only came to Mrs. Boompointer's
+party in the hope of hearing news of you.
+
+"You know that my brother was captured by your pickets in company with
+another officer. He thinks you suspected the truth--that he and his
+friend were hovering near your lines to effect the escape of the spy.
+But he says that, although they failed to help her, she did escape, or
+was passed through the lines by your connivance. He says that you seemed
+to know her, that from what Rose--the mulatto woman--told him, you and
+she were evidently old friends. I would not speak of this, nor intrude
+upon your private affairs, only that I think you ought to know that I
+had no knowledge of it when I was in your house, but believed her to be
+a stranger to you. You gave me no intimation that you knew her, and I
+believed that you were frank with me. But I should not speak of this
+at all--for I believe that it would have made no difference to me in
+repairing the wrong that I thought I had done you--only that, as I am
+forced by circumstances to tell you the terrible ending of this story,
+you ought to know it all.
+
+"My brother wrote to me that the evening after you left, the burying
+party picked up the body of what they believed to be a mulatto woman
+lying on the slope. It was not Rose, but the body of the very woman--the
+real and only spy--whom you had passed through the lines. She was
+accidentally killed by the Confederates in the first attack upon you, at
+daybreak. But only my brother and his friend recognized her through her
+blackened face and disguise, and on the plea that she was a servant of
+one of their friends, they got permission from the division commander to
+take her away, and she was buried by her friends and among her people in
+the little cemetery of Three Pines Crossing, not far from where you have
+gone. My brother thought that I ought to tell you this: it seems that
+he and his friend had a strange sympathy for you in what they appear
+to know or guess of your relations with that woman, and I think he was
+touched by what he thought was your kindness and chivalry to him on
+account of his sister. But I do not think he ever knew, or will know,
+how great is the task that he has imposed upon me.
+
+"You know now, do you not, WHY I did not speak to you when we first met;
+it seemed so impossible to do it in an atmosphere and a festivity that
+was so incongruous with the dreadful message I was charged with. And
+when I had to meet you later--perhaps I may have wronged you--but it
+seemed to me that you were so preoccupied and interested with other
+things that I might perhaps only be wearying you with something you
+cared little for, or perhaps already knew and had quickly forgotten.
+
+"I had been wanting to say something else to you when I had got rid of
+my dreadful message. I do not know if you still care to hear it. But
+you were once generous enough to think that I had done you a service in
+bringing a letter to your commander. Although I know better than anybody
+else the genuine devotion to your duty that made you accept my poor
+service, from all that I can hear, you have never had the credit of it.
+Will you not try me again? I am more in favor here, and I might yet be
+more successful in showing your superiors how true you have been to your
+trust, even if you have little faith in your friend, Matilda Faulkner."
+
+For a long time he remained motionless, with the letter in his hand.
+Then he arose, ordered his horse, and galloped away.
+
+There was little difficulty in finding the cemetery of Three Pines
+Crossing--a hillside slope, hearsed with pine and cypress, and starred
+with white crosses, that in the distance looked like flowers. Still
+less was there in finding the newer marble shaft among the older
+lichen-spotted slabs, which bore the simple words: "Alice Benham,
+Martyr." A few Confederate soldiers, under still plainer and newer
+wooden headstones, carved only with initials, lay at her feet. Brant
+sank on his knees beside the grave, but he was shocked to see that the
+base of the marble was stained with the red pollen of the fateful lily,
+whose blossoms had been heaped upon her mound, but whose fallen petals
+lay dark and sodden in decay.
+
+How long he remained there he did not know. And then a solitary bugle
+from the camp seemed to summon him, as it had once before summoned him,
+and he went away--as he had gone before--to a separation that he now
+knew was for all time.
+
+Then followed a month of superintendence and drill, and the infusing
+into the little camp under his instruction the spirit which seemed to
+be passing out of his own life forever. Shut in by alien hills on the
+borderland of the great struggle, from time to time reports reached
+him of the bitter fighting, and almost disastrous successes of his old
+division commander. Orders came from Washington to hurry the preparation
+of his raw levies to the field, and a faint hope sprang up in his
+mind. But following it came another dispatch ordering his return to the
+Capital.
+
+He reached it with neither hope nor fear--so benumbed had become his
+spirit under this last trial, and what seemed to be now the mockery of
+this last sacrifice to his wife. Though it was no longer a question of
+her life and safety, he knew that he could still preserve her memory
+from stain by keeping her secret, even though its divulgings might clear
+his own. For that reason, he had even hesitated to inform Susy of
+her death, in the fear that, in her thoughtless irresponsibility and
+impulsiveness, she might be tempted to use it in his favor. He had made
+his late appointment a plea for her withholding any present efforts to
+assist him. He even avoided the Boompointers' house, in what he believed
+was partly a duty to the memory of his wife. But he saw no inconsistency
+in occasionally extending his lonely walks to the vicinity of a foreign
+Legation, or in being lifted with a certain expectation at the sight
+of its liveries on the Avenue. There was a craving for sympathy in his
+heart, which Miss Faulkner's letter had awakened.
+
+Meantime, he had reported himself for duty at the War Department--with
+little hope, however, in that formality. But he was surprised the next
+day when the chief of the bureau informed him that his claim was before
+the President.
+
+"I was not aware that I had presented any claim," he said, a little
+haughtily.
+
+The bureau chief looked up with some surprise. This quiet, patient,
+reserved man had puzzled him once or twice before.
+
+"Perhaps I should say 'case,' General," he said, drily. "But the
+personal interest of the highest executive in the land strikes me as
+being desirable in anything."
+
+"I only mean that I have obeyed the orders of the department in
+reporting myself here, as I have done," said Brant, with less feeling,
+but none the less firmness; "and I should imagine it was not the duty
+of a soldier to question them. Which I fancy a 'claim' or a 'case' would
+imply."
+
+He had no idea of taking this attitude before, but the disappointments
+of the past month, added to this first official notice of his disgrace,
+had brought forward that dogged, reckless, yet half-scornful obstinacy
+that was part of his nature.
+
+The official smiled.
+
+"I suppose, then, you are waiting to hear from the President," he said
+drily.
+
+"I am awaiting orders from the department," returned Brant quietly,
+"but whether they originate in the President as commander-in-chief, or
+not--it is not for me to inquire."
+
+Even when he reached his hotel this half-savage indifference which had
+taken the place of his former incertitude had not changed. It seemed to
+him that he had reached the crisis of his life where he was no longer a
+free agent, and could wait, superior alike to effort or expectation. And
+it was with a merely dispassionate curiosity that he found a note the
+next morning from the President's private secretary, informing him that
+the President would see him early that day.
+
+A few hours later he was ushered through the public rooms of the White
+House to a more secluded part of the household. The messenger stopped
+before a modest door and knocked. It was opened by a tall figure--the
+President himself. He reached out a long arm to Brant, who stood
+hesitatingly on the threshold, grasped his hand, and led him into the
+room. It had a single, large, elaborately draped window and a handsome
+medallioned carpet, which contrasted with the otherwise almost appalling
+simplicity of the furniture. A single plain angular desk, with a
+blotting pad and a few sheets of large foolscap upon it, a waste-paper
+basket and four plain armchairs, completed the interior with a contrast
+as simple and homely as its long-limbed, black-coated occupant.
+Releasing the hand of the general to shut a door which opened into
+another apartment, the President shoved an armchair towards him and sank
+somewhat wearily into another before the desk. But only for a moment;
+the long shambling limbs did not seem to adjust themselves easily to
+the chair; the high narrow shoulders drooped to find a more comfortable
+lounging attitude, shifted from side to side, and the long legs moved
+dispersedly. Yet the face that was turned towards Brant was humorous and
+tranquil.
+
+"I was told I should have to send for you if I wished to see you," he
+said smilingly.
+
+Already mollified, and perhaps again falling under the previous
+influence of this singular man, Brant began somewhat hesitatingly to
+explain.
+
+But the President checked him gently,--
+
+"You don't understand. It was something new to my experience here to
+find an able-bodied American citizen with an honest genuine grievance
+who had to have it drawn from him like a decayed tooth. But you have
+been here before. I seem to remember your face."
+
+Brant's reserve had gone. He admitted that he had twice sought an
+audience--but--
+
+"You dodged the dentist! That was wrong." As Brant made a slight
+movement of deprecation the President continued: "I understand! Not from
+fear of giving pain to yourself but to others. I don't know that THAT
+is right, either. A certain amount of pain must be suffered in this
+world--even by one's enemies. Well, I have looked into your case,
+General Brant." He took up a piece of paper from his desk, scrawled with
+two or three notes in pencil. "I think this is the way it stands. You
+were commanding a position at Gray Oaks when information was received
+by the department that, either through neglect or complicity, spies were
+passing through your lines. There was no attempt to prove your neglect;
+your orders, the facts of your personal care and precaution, were all
+before the department. But it was also shown that your wife, from whom
+you were only temporarily separated, was a notorious secessionist; that,
+before the war, you yourself were suspected, and that, therefore, you
+were quite capable of evading your own orders, which you may have
+only given as a blind. On this information you were relieved by the
+department of your command. Later on it was discovered that the spy was
+none other than your own wife, disguised as a mulatto; that, after her
+arrest by your own soldiers, you connived at her escape--and this was
+considered conclusive proof of--well, let us say--your treachery."
+
+"But I did not know it was my wife until she was arrested," said Brant
+impulsively.
+
+The President knitted his eyebrows humorously.
+
+"Don't let us travel out of the record, General. You're as bad as the
+department. The question was one of your personal treachery, but you
+need not accept the fact that you were justly removed because your wife
+was a spy. Now, General, I am an old lawyer, and I don't mind telling
+you that in Illinois we wouldn't hang a yellow dog on that evidence
+before the department. But when I was asked to look into the matter by
+your friends, I discovered something of more importance to you. I
+had been trying to find a scrap of evidence that would justify the
+presumption that you had sent information to the enemy. I found that it
+was based upon the fact of the enemy being in possession of knowledge at
+the first battle at Gray Oaks, which could only have been obtained
+from our side, and which led to a Federal disaster; that you, however,
+retrieved by your gallantry. I then asked the secretary if he was
+prepared to show that you had sent the information with that view, or
+that you had been overtaken by a tardy sense of repentance. He preferred
+to consider my suggestion as humorous. But the inquiry led to my further
+discovery that the only treasonable correspondence actually in evidence
+was found upon the body of a trusted Federal officer, and had been
+forwarded to the division commander. But there was no record of it in
+the case."
+
+"Why, I forwarded it myself," said Brant eagerly.
+
+"So the division commander writes," said the President, smiling, "and he
+forwarded it to the department. But it was suppressed in some way. Have
+you any enemies, General Brant?"
+
+"Not that I know of."
+
+"Then you probably have. You are young and successful. Think of the
+hundred other officers who naturally believe themselves better than you
+are, and haven't a traitorous wife. Still, the department may have made
+an example of you for the benefit of the only man who couldn't profit by
+it."
+
+"Might it not have been, sir, that this suppression was for the good
+report of the service--as the chief offender was dead?"
+
+"I am glad to hear you say so, General, for it is the argument I have
+used successfully in behalf of your wife."
+
+"Then you know it all, sir?" said Brant after a gloomy pause.
+
+"All, I think. Come, General, you seemed just now to be uncertain about
+your enemies. Let me assure you, you need not be so in regard to your
+friends."
+
+"I dare to hope I have found one, sir," said Brant with almost boyish
+timidity.
+
+"Oh, not me!" said the President, with a laugh of deprecation. "Some one
+much more potent."
+
+"May I know his name, Mr. President?"
+
+"No, for it is a woman. You were nearly ruined by one, General. I
+suppose it's quite right that you should be saved by one. And, of
+course, irregularly."
+
+"A woman!" echoed Brant.
+
+"Yes; one who was willing to confess herself a worse spy than your
+wife--a double traitor--to save you! Upon my word, General, I don't
+know if the department was far wrong; a man with such an alternately
+unsettling and convincing effect upon a woman's highest political
+convictions should be under some restraint. Luckily the department knows
+nothing of it."
+
+"Nor would any one else have known from me," said Brant eagerly. "I
+trust that she did not think--that you, sir, did not for an instant
+believe that I"--
+
+"Oh dear, no! Nobody would have believed you! It was her free confidence
+to me. That was what made the affair so difficult to handle. For even
+her bringing your dispatch to the division commander looked bad for you;
+and you know he even doubted its authenticity."
+
+"Does she--does Miss Faulkner know the spy was my wife?" hesitated
+Brant.
+
+The President twisted himself in his chair, so as to regard Brant more
+gravely with his deep-set eyes, and then thoughtfully rubbed his leg.
+
+"Don't let us travel out of the record, General," he said after a pause.
+But as the color surged into Brant's cheek he raised his eyes to the
+ceiling, and said, in half-humorous recollection,--
+
+"No, I think THAT fact was first gathered from your other friend--Mr.
+Hooker."
+
+"Hooker!" said Brant, indignantly; "did he come here?"
+
+"Pray don't destroy my faith in Mr. Hooker, General," said the
+President, in half-weary, half-humorous deprecation. "Don't tell me
+that any of his inventions are TRUE! Leave me at least that magnificent
+liar--the one perfectly intelligible witness you have. For from the
+time that he first appeared here with a grievance and a claim for
+a commission, he has been an unspeakable joy to me and a convincing
+testimony to you. Other witnesses have been partisans and prejudiced;
+Mr. Hooker was frankly true to himself. How else should I have known of
+the care you took to disguise yourself, save the honor of your uniform,
+and run the risk of being shot as an unknown spy at your wife's side,
+except from his magnificent version of HIS part in it? How else should
+I have known the story of your discovery of the Californian conspiracy,
+except from his supreme portrayal of it, with himself as the hero? No,
+you must not forget to thank Mr. Hooker when you meet him. Miss Faulkner
+is at present more accessible; she is calling on some members of my
+family in the next room. Shall I leave you with her?"
+
+Brant rose with a pale face and a quickly throbbing heart as the
+President, glancing at the clock, untwisted himself from the chair, and
+shook himself out full length, and rose gradually to his feet.
+
+"Your wish for active service is granted, General Brant," he said
+slowly, "and you will at once rejoin your old division commander, who
+is now at the head of the Tenth Army Corps. But," he said, after a
+deliberate pause, "there are certain rules and regulations of your
+service that even I cannot, with decent respect to your department,
+override. You will, therefore, understand that you cannot rejoin the
+army in your former position."
+
+The slight flush that came to Brant's cheek quickly passed. And there
+was only the unmistakable sparkle of renewed youth in his frank eyes as
+he said--
+
+"Let me go to the front again, Mr. President, and I care not HOW."
+
+The President smiled, and, laying his heavy hand on Brant's shoulder,
+pushed him gently towards the door of the inner room.
+
+"I was only about to say," he added, as he opened the door, "that
+it would be necessary for you to rejoin your promoted commander as
+a major-general. And," he continued, lifting his voice, as he gently
+pushed his guest into the room, "he hasn't even thanked me for it, Miss
+Faulkner!"
+
+The door closed behind him, and he stood for a moment dazed, and still
+hearing the distant voice of the President, in the room he had just
+quitted, now welcoming a new visitor. But the room before him, opening
+into a conservatory, was empty, save for a single figure that turned,
+half timidly, half mischievously, towards him. The same quick,
+sympathetic glance was in both their faces; the same timid, happy look
+in both their eyes. He moved quickly to her side.
+
+"Then you knew that--that--woman was my wife?" he said, hurriedly, as he
+grasped her hand.
+
+She cast a half-appealing look at his face--a half-frightened one around
+the room and at the open door beyond.
+
+"Let us," she said faintly, "go into the conservatory."
+
+*****
+
+It is but a few years ago that the veracious chronicler of these pages
+moved with a wondering crowd of sightseers in the gardens of the White
+House. The war cloud had long since lifted and vanished; the Potomac
+flowed peacefully by and on to where once lay the broad plantation of a
+great Confederate leader--now a national cemetery that had gathered the
+soldier dead of both sections side by side in equal rest and honor--and
+the great goddess once more looked down serenely from the dome of the
+white Capitol. The chronicler's attention was attracted by an erect,
+handsome soldierly-looking man, with a beard and moustache slightly
+streaked with gray, pointing out the various objects of interest to a
+boy of twelve or fourteen at his side.
+
+"Yes; although, as I told you, this house belongs only to the President
+of the United States and his family," said the gentleman, smilingly, "in
+that little conservatory I proposed to your mother."
+
+"Oh! Clarence, how can you!" said the lady, reprovingly, "you know it
+was LONG after that!"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Clarence, by Bret Harte
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLARENCE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 2635.txt or 2635.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/3/2635/
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/2635.zip b/2635.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..184bd8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/2635.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee52cee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #2635 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2635)
diff --git a/old/clrnc10.txt b/old/clrnc10.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f1a3361
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/clrnc10.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6091 @@
+****The Project Gutenberg Etext of Clarence, by Bret Harte****
+#32 in our series by Bret Harte
+
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check
+the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!!
+
+Please take a look at the important information in this header.
+We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an
+electronic path open for the next readers.  Do not remove this.
+
+*It must legally be the first thing seen when opening the book.*
+In fact, our legal advisors said we can't even change margins.
+
+**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
+
+**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations*
+
+Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and
+further information is included below.  We need your donations.
+
+
+Title:  Clarence
+
+Author:  Bret Harte
+
+May, 2001  [Etext #2635]
+
+
+****The Project Gutenberg Etext of Clarence, by Bret Harte****
+*****This file should be named clrnc10.txt or clrnc10.zip*****
+
+Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, clrnc11.txt
+VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, clrnc10a.txt
+
+
+This etext was prepared by Donald Lainson, charlie@idirect.com.
+
+Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions,
+all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a
+copyright notice is included.  Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any
+of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance
+of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
+
+Please note:  neither this list nor its contents are final till
+midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
+The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at
+Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
+preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
+and editing by those who wish to do so.  To be sure you have an
+up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes
+in the first week of the next month.  Since our ftp program has
+a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a
+look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a
+new copy has at least one byte more or less.
+
+
+Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)
+
+We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
+time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
+to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
+searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.  This
+projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If our value
+per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
+million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-six text
+files per month, or 432 more Etexts in 1999 for a total of 2000+
+If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the
+total should reach over 200 billion Etexts given away this year.
+
+The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext
+Files by December 31, 2001.  [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion]
+This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
+which is only ~5% of the present number of computer users.
+
+At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third
+of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we
+manage to get some real funding; currently our funding is mostly
+from Michael Hart's salary at Carnegie-Mellon University, and an
+assortment of sporadic gifts; this salary is only good for a few
+more years, so we are looking for something to replace it, as we
+don't want Project Gutenberg to be so dependent on one person.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+
+All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are
+tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.  (CMU = Carnegie-
+Mellon University).
+
+For these and other matters, please mail to:
+
+Project Gutenberg
+P. O. Box  2782
+Champaign, IL 61825
+
+When all other email fails. . .try our Executive Director:
+Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com>
+hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org
+if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if
+it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . .
+
+We would prefer to send you this information by email.
+
+******
+
+To access Project Gutenberg etexts, use any Web browser
+to view http://promo.net/pg.  This site lists Etexts by
+author and by title, and includes information about how
+to get involved with Project Gutenberg.  You could also
+download our past Newsletters, or subscribe here.  This
+is one of our major sites, please email hart@pobox.com,
+for a more complete list of our various sites.
+
+To go directly to the etext collections, use FTP or any
+Web browser to visit a Project Gutenberg mirror (mirror
+sites are available on 7 continents; mirrors are listed
+at http://promo.net/pg).
+
+Mac users, do NOT point and click, typing works better.
+
+Example FTP session:
+
+ftp metalab.unc.edu
+login: anonymous
+password: your@login
+cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg
+cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext01, etc.
+dir [to see files]
+get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files]
+GET GUTINDEX.??  [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99]
+GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books]
+
+***
+
+**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor**
+
+(Three Pages)
+
+
+***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START***
+Why is this "Small Print!" statement here?  You know: lawyers.
+They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
+your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from
+someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
+fault.  So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
+disclaims most of our liability to you.  It also tells you how
+you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to.
+
+*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT
+By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
+this "Small Print!" statement.  If you do not, you can receive
+a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by
+sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
+you got it from.  If you received this etext on a physical
+medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.
+
+ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS
+This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-
+tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor
+Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at
+Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project").  Among other
+things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
+on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
+distribute it in the United States without permission and
+without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules, set forth
+below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext
+under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.
+
+To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable
+efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
+works.  Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any
+medium they may be on may contain "Defects".  Among other
+things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
+disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer
+codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
+But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
+[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this
+etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
+legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
+UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
+INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
+OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
+POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of
+receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
+you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
+time to the person you received it from.  If you received it
+on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
+such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
+copy.  If you received it electronically, such person may
+choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
+receive it electronically.
+
+THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS".  NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
+TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
+the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
+above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
+may have other legal rights.
+
+INDEMNITY
+You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors,
+officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost
+and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or
+indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause:
+[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification,
+or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect.
+
+DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
+You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by
+disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
+"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
+or:
+
+[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
+     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
+     etext or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
+     if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable
+     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
+     including any form resulting from conversion by word pro-
+     cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as
+     *EITHER*:
+
+     [*]  The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
+          does *not* contain characters other than those
+          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
+          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
+          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
+          author, and additional characters may be used to
+          indicate hypertext links; OR
+
+     [*]  The etext may be readily converted by the reader at
+          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
+          form by the program that displays the etext (as is
+          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
+          OR
+
+     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
+          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
+          etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
+          or other equivalent proprietary form).
+
+[2]  Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this
+     "Small Print!" statement.
+
+[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the
+     net profits you derive calculated using the method you
+     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
+     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
+     payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon
+     University" within the 60 days following each
+     date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare)
+     your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return.
+
+WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
+The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time,
+scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty
+free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution
+you can think of.  Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg
+Association / Carnegie-Mellon University".
+
+We are planning on making some changes in our donation structure
+in 2000, so you might want to email me, hart@pobox.com beforehand.
+
+
+
+
+*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*
+
+
+
+
+
+This etext was prepared by Donald Lainson, charlie@idirect.com.
+
+
+
+
+
+CLARENCE
+
+by Bret Harte
+
+
+
+
+PART I.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+
+As Clarence Brant, President of the Robles Land Company, and
+husband of the rich widow of John Peyton, of the Robles Ranche,
+mingled with the outgoing audience of the Cosmopolitan Theatre, at
+San Francisco, he elicited the usual smiling nods and recognition
+due to his good looks and good fortune.  But as he hurriedly
+slipped through the still lingering winter's rain into the smart
+coupe that was awaiting him, and gave the order "Home," the word
+struck him with a peculiarly ironical significance.  His home was a
+handsome one, and lacked nothing in appointment and comfort, but he
+had gone to the theatre to evade its hollow loneliness.  Nor was it
+because his wife was not there, for he had a miserable consciousness
+that her temporary absence had nothing to do with his homelessness.
+The distraction of the theatre over, that dull, vague, but aching
+sense of loneliness which was daily growing upon him returned with
+greater vigor.
+
+He leaned back in the coupe and gloomily reflected.
+
+He had been married scarcely a year, yet even in the illusions of
+the honeymoon the woman, older than himself, and the widow of his
+old patron, had half unconsciously reasserted herself, and slipped
+back into the domination of her old position.  It was at first
+pleasant enough,--this half-maternal protectorate which is apt to
+mingle even with the affections of younger women,--and Clarence, in
+his easy, half-feminine intuition of the sex, yielded, as the strong
+are apt to yield, through the very consciousness of their own
+superiority.  But this is a quality the weaker are not apt to
+recognize, and the woman who has once tasted equal power with her
+husband not only does not easily relegate it, but even makes its
+continuance a test of the affections.  The usual triumphant feminine
+conclusion, "Then you no longer love me," had in Clarence�s brief
+experience gone even further and reached its inscrutable climax,
+"Then I no longer love you," although shown only in a momentary
+hardening of the eye and voice.  And added to this was his sudden,
+but confused remembrance that he had seen that eye and heard that
+voice in marital altercation during Judge Peyton�s life, and that he
+himself, her boy partisan, had sympathized with her.  Yet, strange
+to say, this had given him more pain than her occasional other
+reversions to the past--to her old suspicious of him when he was a
+youthful protege of her husband and a presumed suitor of her adopted
+daughter Susy.  High natures are more apt to forgive wrong done to
+themselves than any abstract injustice.  And her capricious tyranny
+over her dependents and servants, or an unreasoning enmity to a
+neighbor or friend, outraged his finer sense more than her own
+misconception of himself.  Nor did he dream that this was a thing
+most women seldom understand, or, understanding, ever forgive.
+
+The coupe rattled over the stones or swirled through the muddy
+pools of the main thoroughfares.  Newspaper and telegraphic offices
+were still brilliantly lit, and crowds were gathered among the
+bulletin boards.  He knew that news had arrived from Washington
+that evening of the first active outbreaks of secession, and that
+the city was breathless with excitement.  Had he not just come from
+the theatre, where certain insignificant allusions in the play had
+been suddenly caught up and cheered or hissed by hitherto unknown
+partisans, to the dumb astonishment of a majority of the audience
+comfortably settled to money-getting and their own affairs alone?
+Had he not applauded, albeit half-scornfully, the pretty actress--
+his old playmate Susy--who had audaciously and all incongruously
+waved the American flag in their faces?  Yes! he had known it; had
+lived for the last few weeks in an atmosphere electrically
+surcharged with it--and yet it had chiefly affected him in his
+personal homelessness.  For his wife was a Southerner, a born
+slaveholder, and a secessionist, whose noted prejudices to the
+North had even outrun her late husband's politics.  At first the
+piquancy and recklessness of her opinionative speech amused him as
+part of her characteristic flavor, or as a lingering youthfulness
+which the maturer intellect always pardons.  He had never taken her
+politics seriously--why should he?  With her head on his shoulder
+he had listened to her extravagant diatribes against the North.  He
+had forgiven her outrageous indictment of his caste and his
+associates for the sake of the imperious but handsome lips that
+uttered it.  But when he was compelled to listen to her words
+echoed and repeated by her friends and family; when he found that
+with the clannishness of her race she had drawn closer to them in
+this controversy,--that she depended upon them for her intelligence
+and information rather than upon him,--he had awakened to the
+reality of his situation.  He had borne the allusions of her
+brother, whose old scorn for his dependent childhood had been
+embittered by his sister's marriage and was now scarcely concealed.
+Yet, while he had never altered his own political faith and social
+creed in this antagonistic atmosphere, he had often wondered, with
+his old conscientiousness and characteristic self-abnegation,
+whether his own political convictions were not merely a revulsion
+from his domestic tyranny and alien surroundings.
+
+In the midst of this gloomy retrospect the coupe stopped with a
+jerk before his own house.  The door was quickly opened by a
+servant, who appeared to be awaiting him.
+
+"Some one to see you in the library, sir," said the man, "and"--
+He hesitated and looked towards the coupe.
+
+"Well?" said Clarence impatiently.
+
+"He said, sir, as how you were not to send away the carriage."
+
+"Indeed, and who is it?" demanded Clarence sharply.
+
+"Mr. Hooker.  He said I was to say Jim Hooker."
+
+The momentary annoyance in Clarence's face changed to a look of
+reflective curiosity.
+
+"He said he knew you were at the theatre, and he would wait until
+you came home," continued the man, dubiously watching his master's
+face.  "He don't know you've come in, sir, and--and I can easily
+get rid of him."
+
+"No matter now.  I'll see him, and," added Clarence, with a faint
+smile, "let the carriage wait."
+
+Yet, as he turned towards the library he was by no means certain
+that an interview with the old associate of his boyhood under Judge
+Peyton's guardianship would divert his mind.  Yet he let no trace
+of his doubts nor of his past gloom show in his face as he entered
+the room.
+
+Mr. Hooker was apparently examining the elegant furniture and
+luxurious accommodation with his usual resentful enviousness.
+Clarence had got a "soft thing."  That it was more or less the
+result of his "artfulness," and that he was unduly "puffed up" by
+it, was, in Hooker's characteristic reasoning, equally clear.  As
+his host smilingly advanced with outstretched hand, Mr. Hooker's
+efforts to assume a proper abstraction of manner and contemptuous
+indifference to Clarence's surroundings which should wound his
+vanity ended in his lolling back at full length in the chair with
+his eyes on the ceiling.  But, remembering suddenly that he was
+really the bearer of a message to Clarence, it struck him that his
+supine position was, from a theatrical view-point, infelicitous.
+In his experiences of the stage he had never delivered a message in
+that way.  He rose awkwardly to his feet.
+
+"It was so good of you to wait," said Clarence courteously.
+
+"Saw you in the theatre," said Hooker brusquely.  "Third row in
+parquet.  Susy said it was you, and had suthin' to say to you.
+Suthin' you ought to know," he continued, with a slight return of
+his old mystery of manner which Clarence so well remembered.  "You
+saw HER--she fetched the house with that flag business, eh?  She
+knows which way the cat is going to jump, you bet.  I tell you, for
+all the blowing of these secessionists, the Union's goin' to pay!
+Yes, sir!"  He stopped, glanced round the handsome room, and added
+darkly, "Mebbee better than this."
+
+With the memory of Hooker's characteristic fondness for mystery
+still in his mind, Clarence overlooked the innuendo, and said
+smilingly,--
+
+"Why didn't you bring Mrs. Hooker here?  I should have been honored
+with her company."
+
+Mr. Hooker frowned slightly at this seeming levity.
+
+"Never goes out after a performance.  Nervous exhaustion.  Left her
+at our rooms in Market Street.  We can drive there in ten minutes.
+That's why I asked to have the carriage wait."
+
+Clarence hesitated.  Without caring in the least to renew the
+acquaintance of his old playmate and sweetheart, a meeting that
+night in some vague way suggested to him a providential diversion.
+Nor was he deceived by any gravity in the message.  With his
+remembrance of Susy's theatrical tendencies, he was quite prepared
+for any capricious futile extravagance.
+
+"You are sure we will not disturb her?" he said politely.
+
+"No."
+
+Clarence led the way to the carriage.  If Mr. Hooker expected him
+during the journey to try to divine the purport of Susy's message
+he was disappointed.  His companion did not allude to it.  Possibly
+looking upon it as a combined theatrical performance, Clarence
+preferred to wait for Susy as the better actor.  The carriage
+rolled rapidly through the now deserted streets, and at last, under
+the directions of Mr. Hooker, who was leaning half out of the
+window, it drew up at a middle-class restaurant, above whose still
+lit and steaming windows were some ostentatiously public apartments,
+accessible from a side entrance.  As they ascended the staircase
+together, it became evident that Mr. Hooker was scarcely more at his
+ease in the character of host than he had been as guest.  He stared
+gloomily at a descending visitor, grunted audibly at a waiter in the
+passage, and stopped before a door, where a recently deposited tray
+displayed the half-eaten carcase of a fowl, an empty champagne
+bottle, two half-filled glasses, and a faded bouquet.  The whole
+passage was redolent with a singular blending of damp cooking, stale
+cigarette smoke, and patchouli.
+
+Putting the tray aside with his foot, Mr. Hooker opened the door
+hesitatingly and peered into the room, muttered a few indistinct
+words, which were followed by a rapid rustling of skirts, and then,
+with his hand still on the door-knob, turning to Clarence, who had
+discreetly halted on the threshold, flung the door open theatrically
+and bade him enter.
+
+"She is somewhere in the suite," he added, with a large wave of the
+hand towards a door that was still oscillating.  "Be here in a
+minit."
+
+Clarence took in the apartment with a quiet glance.  Its furniture
+had the frayed and discolored splendors of a public parlor which
+had been privately used and maltreated; there were stains in the
+large medallioned carpet; the gilded veneer had been chipped from a
+heavy centre table, showing the rough, white deal beneath, which
+gave it the appearance of a stage "property;" the walls, paneled
+with gilt-framed mirrors, reflected every domestic detail or
+private relaxation with shameless publicity.  A damp waterproof,
+shawl, and open newspaper were lying across the once brilliant
+sofa; a powder-puff, a plate of fruit, and a play-book were on the
+centre table, and on the marble-topped sideboard was Mr. Hooker's
+second-best hat, with a soiled collar, evidently but lately
+exchanged for the one he had on, peeping over its brim.  The whole
+apartment seemed to mingle the furtive disclosures of the dressing-
+room with the open ostentations of the stage, with even a slight
+suggestion of the auditorium in a few scattered programmes on the
+floor and chairs.
+
+The inner door opened again with a slight theatrical start, and
+Susy, in an elaborate dressing-gown, moved languidly into the room.
+She apparently had not had time to change her underskirt, for there
+was the dust of the stage on its delicate lace edging, as she threw
+herself into an armchair and crossed her pretty slippered feet
+before her.  Her face was pale, its pallor incautiously increased
+by powder; and as Clarence looked at its still youthful, charming
+outline, he was not perhaps sorry that the exquisite pink and white
+skin beneath, which he had once kissed, was hidden from that
+awakened recollection.  Yet there was little trace of the girlish
+Susy in the pretty, but prematurely jaded, actress before him, and
+he felt momentarily relieved.  It was her youth and freshness
+appealing to his own youth and imagination that he had loved--not
+HER.  Yet as she greeted him with a slight exaggeration of glance,
+voice, and manner, he remembered that even as a girl she was an
+actress.
+
+Nothing of this, however, was in his voice and manner as he gently
+thanked her for the opportunity of meeting her again.  And he was
+frank, for the diversion he had expected he had found; he even was
+conscious of thinking more kindly of his wife who had supplanted
+her.
+
+"I told Jim he must fetch you if he had to carry you," she said,
+striking the palm of her hand with her fan, and glancing at her
+husband.  "I reckon he guessed WHY, though I didn't tell him--I
+don't tell Jim EVERYTHING."
+
+Here Jim rose, and looking at his watch, "guessed he'd run over to
+the Lick House and get some cigars."  If he was acting upon some
+hint from his wife, his simulation was so badly done that Clarence
+felt his first sense of uneasiness.  But as Hooker closed the door
+awkwardly and unostentatiously behind him, Clarence smilingly said
+he had waited to hear the message from her own lips.
+
+"Jim only knows what he's heard outside: the talk of men, you
+know,--and he hears a good deal of that--more, perhaps, than YOU
+do.  It was that which put me up to finding out the truth.  And I
+didn't rest till I did.  I'm not to be fooled, Clarence,--you don't
+mind my calling you Clarence now we're both married and done for,--
+and I'm not the kind to be fooled by anybody from the Cow counties--
+and that's the Robles Ranche.  I'm a Southern woman myself from
+Missouri, but I'm for the Union first, last, and all the time, and
+I call myself a match for any lazy, dawdling, lash-swinging
+slaveholder and slaveholderess--whether they're mixed blood, Heaven
+only knows, or what--or their friends or relations, or the dirty
+half-Spanish grandees and their mixed half-nigger peons who truckle
+to them.  You bet!"
+
+His blood had stirred quickly at the mention of the Robles Ranche,
+but the rest of Susy's speech was too much in the vein of her old
+extravagance to touch him seriously.  He found himself only
+considering how strange it was that the old petulance and
+impulsiveness of her girlhood were actually bringing back with them
+her pink cheeks and brilliant eyes.
+
+"You surely didn't ask Jim to bring me here," he said smilingly,
+"to tell me that Mrs. Peyton"--he corrected himself hastily as a
+malicious sparkle came into Susy's blue eyes--"that my wife was a
+Southern woman, and probably sympathized with her class?  Well, I
+don't know that I should blame her for that any more than she
+should blame me for being a Northern man and a Unionist."
+
+"And she doesn't blame you?" asked Susy sneeringly.
+
+The color came slightly to Clarence's cheek, but before he could
+reply the actress added,--
+
+"No, she prefers to use you!"
+
+"I don't think I understand you," said Clarence, rising coldly.
+
+"No, you don't understand HER!" retorted Susy sharply.  "Look here,
+Clarence Brant, you're right; I didn't ask you here to tell you--
+what you and everybody knows--that your wife is a Southerner.  I
+didn't ask you here to tell you what everybody suspects--that she
+turns you round her little finger.  But I did ask you here to tell
+you what nobody, not even you, suspects--but what I know!--and that
+is that she's a TRAITOR--and more, a SPY!--and that I've only got
+to say the word, or send that man Jim to say the word, to have her
+dragged out of her Copperhead den at Robles Ranche and shut up in
+Fort Alcatraz this very night!"
+
+Still with the pink glowing in her rounding cheek, and eyes snapping
+like splintered sapphires, she rose to her feet, with her pretty
+shoulders lifted, her small hands and white teeth both tightly
+clenched, and took a step towards him.  Even in her attitude there
+was a reminiscence of her willful childhood, although still blended
+with the provincial actress whom he had seen on the stage only an
+hour ago.  Thoroughly alarmed at her threat, in his efforts to
+conceal his feelings he was not above a weak retaliation.  Stepping
+back, he affected to regard her with a critical admiration that was
+only half simulated, and said with a smile,--
+
+"Very well done--but you have forgotten the flag."
+
+She did not flinch.  Rather accepting the sarcasm as a tribute to
+her art, she went on with increasing exaggeration: "No, it is YOU
+who have forgotten the flag--forgotten your country, your people,
+your manhood--everything for that high-toned, double-dyed old spy
+and traitress!  For while you are standing here, your wife is
+gathering under her roof at Robles a gang of spies and traitors like
+herself--secession leaders and their bloated, drunken 'chivalry'!
+Yes, you may smile your superior smile, but I tell you, Clarence
+Brant, that with all your smartness and book learning you know no
+more of what goes on around you than a child.  But others do!  This
+conspiracy is known to the government, the Federal officers have
+been warned; General Sumner has been sent out here-- and his first
+act was to change the command at Fort Alcatraz, and send your wife's
+Southern friend--Captain Pinckney--to the right about!  Yes--
+everything is known but ONE thing, and that is WHERE and HOW this
+precious crew meet!  That I alone know, and that I've told you!"
+
+"And I suppose," said Clarence, with an unchanged smile, "that this
+valuable information came from your husband--my old friend, Jim
+Hooker?"
+
+"No," she answered sharply, "it comes from Cencho--one of your own
+peons--who is more true to you and the old Rancho than YOU have
+ever been.  He saw what was going on, and came to me, to warn you!"
+
+"But why not to me directly?" asked Clarence, with affected
+incredulity.
+
+"Ask him!" she said viciously.  "Perhaps he didn't want to warn the
+master against the mistress.  Perhaps he thought WE are still
+friends.  Perhaps"--she hesitated with a lower voice and a forced
+smile--"perhaps he used to see us together in the old times."
+
+"Very likely," said Clarence quietly.  "And for the sake of those
+old times, Susy," he went on, with a singular gentleness that was
+quite distinct from his paling face and set eyes, "I am going to
+forget all that you have just said of me and mine, in all the old
+willfulness and impatience that I see you still keep--with all your
+old prettiness."  He took his hat from the table and gravely held
+out his hand.
+
+She was frightened for a moment with his impassive abstraction.  In
+the old days she had known it--had believed it was his dogged
+"obstinacy"--but she knew the hopelessness of opposing it.  Yet
+with feminine persistency she again threw herself against it, as
+against a wall.
+
+"You don't believe me!  Well, go and see for yourself.  They are at
+Robles NOW.  If you catch the early morning stage at Santa Clara
+you will come upon them before they disperse.  Dare you try it?"
+
+"Whatever I do," he returned smilingly, "I shall always be grateful
+to you for giving me this opportunity of seeing you again AS YOU
+WERE.  Make my excuses to your husband.  Good-night."
+
+"Clarence!"
+
+But he had already closed the door behind him.  His face did not
+relax its expression nor change as he looked again at the tray with
+its broken viands before the door, the worn, stained hall carpet, or
+the waiter who shuffled past him.  He was apparently as critically
+conscious of them and of the close odors of the hall, and the
+atmosphere of listless decay and faded extravagance around him, as
+before the interview.  But if the woman he had just parted from had
+watched him she would have supposed he still utterly disbelieved her
+story.  Yet he was conscious that all that he saw was a part of his
+degradation, for he had believed every word she had uttered.
+Through all her extravagance, envy, and revengefulness he saw the
+central truth--that he had been deceived--not by his wife, but by
+himself!  He had suspected all this before.  This was what had been
+really troubling him--this was what he had put aside, rather than
+his faith, not in her, but in his ideal.  He remembered letters that
+had passed between her and Captain Pinckney--letters that she had
+openly sent to notorious Southern leaders; her nervous anxiety to
+remain at the Rancho; the innuendoes and significant glances of
+friends which he had put aside--as he had this woman's message!
+Susy had told him nothing new of his wife--but the truth of HIMSELF!
+And the revelation came from people who he was conscious were the
+inferiors of himself and his wife.  To an independent, proud, and
+self-made man it was the culminating stroke.
+
+In the same abstracted voice he told the coachman to drive home.
+The return seemed interminable--though he never shifted his
+position.  Yet when he drew up at his own door and looked at his
+watch he found he had been absent only half an hour.  Only half an
+hour!  As he entered the house he turned with the same abstraction
+towards a mirror in the hall, as if he expected to see some outward
+and visible change in himself in that time.  Dismissing his servants
+to bed, he went into his dressing-room, completely changed his
+attire, put on a pair of long riding-boots, and throwing a serape
+over his shoulders, paused a moment, took a pair of small "Derringer"
+pistols from a box, put them in his pockets, and then slipped
+cautiously down the staircase.  A lack of confidence in his own
+domestics had invaded him for the first time.  The lights were out.
+He silently opened the door and was in the street.
+
+He walked hastily a few squares to a livery stable whose proprietor
+he knew.  His first inquiry was for one "Redskin," a particular
+horse; the second for its proprietor.  Happily both were in.  The
+proprietor asked no question of a customer of Clarence's condition.
+The horse, half Spanish, powerful and irascible, was quickly
+saddled.  As Clarence mounted, the man in an impulse of sociability
+said,--
+
+"Saw you at the theatre to-night, sir."
+
+"Ah," returned Clarence, quietly gathering up the reins.
+
+"Rather a smart trick of that woman with the flag," he went on
+tentatively.  Then, with a possible doubt of his customer's
+politics, he added with a forced smile, "I reckon it's all party
+fuss, though; there ain't any real danger."
+
+But fast as Clarence might ride the words lingered in his ears.  He
+saw through the man's hesitation; he, too, had probably heard that
+Clarence Brant weakly sympathized with his wife's sentiments, and
+dared not speak fully.  And he understood the cowardly suggestion
+that there was "no real danger."  It had been Clarence's one
+fallacy.  He had believed the public excitement was only a
+temporary outbreak of partisan feeling, soon to subside.  Even now
+he was conscious that he was less doubtful of the integrity of the
+Union than of his own household.  It was not the devotion of the
+patriot, but the indignation of an outraged husband, that was
+spurring him on.
+
+He knew that if he reached Woodville by five o'clock he could get
+ferried across the bay at the Embarcadero, and catch the down coach
+to Fair Plains, whence he could ride to the Rancho.  As the coach
+did not connect directly with San Francisco, the chance of his
+surprising them was greater.  Once clear of the city outskirts, he
+bullied Redskin into irascible speed, and plunged into the rainy
+darkness of the highroad.  The way was familiar.  For a while he
+was content to feel the buffeting, caused by his rapid pace, of
+wind and rain against his depressed head and shoulders in a sheer
+brutal sense of opposition and power, or to relieve his pent-up
+excitement by dashing through overflowed gullies in the road or
+across the quaggy, sodden edges of meadowland, until he had
+controlled Redskin's rebellious extravagance into a long steady
+stride.  Then he raised his head and straightened himself on the
+saddle, to think.  But to no purpose.  He had no plan; everything
+would depend upon the situation; the thought of forestalling any
+action of the conspirators, by warning or calling in the aid of the
+authorities, for an instant crossed his mind, but was as instantly
+dismissed.  He had but an instinct--to see with his own eyes what
+his reason told him was true.  Day was breaking through drifting
+scud and pewter-colored clouds as he reached Woodville ferry,
+checkered with splashes of the soil and the spume of his horse,
+from whose neck and flanks the sweat rolled like lather.  Yet he
+was not conscious how intent had been his purpose until he felt a
+sudden instinctive shock on seeing that the ferryboat was gone.
+For an instant his wonderful self-possession abandoned him; he
+could only gaze vacantly at the leaden-colored bay, without a
+thought or expedient.  But in another moment he saw that the boat
+was returning from the distance.  Had he lost his only chance?  He
+glanced hurriedly at his watch; he had come more quickly than he
+imagined; there would still be time.  He beckoned impatiently to
+the ferryman; the boat--a ship's pinnace, with two men in it--crept
+in with exasperating slowness.  At last the two rowers suddenly
+leaped ashore.
+
+"Ye might have come before, with the other passenger.  We don't
+reckon to run lightnin' trips on this ferry."
+
+But Clarence was himself again.  "Twenty dollars for two more oars
+in that boat," he said quietly, "and fifty if you get me over in
+time to catch the down stage."
+
+The man glanced at Clarence's eyes.  "Run up and rouse out Jake and
+Sam," he said to the other boatman; then more leisurely, gazing at
+his customer's travel-stained equipment, he said, "There must have
+been a heap o' passengers got left by last night's boat.  You're
+the second man that took this route in a hurry."
+
+At any other time the coincidence might have struck Clarence.  But
+he only answered curtly, "Unless we are under way in ten minutes
+you will find I am NOT the second man, and that our bargain's off."
+
+But here two men emerged from the shanty beside the ferryhouse, and
+tumbled sleepily into the boat.  Clarence seized an extra pair of
+sculls that were standing against the shed, and threw them into the
+stern.  "I don't mind taking a hand myself for exercise," he said
+quietly.
+
+The ferryman glanced again at Clarence's travel-worn figure and
+determined eyes with mingled approval and surprise.  He lingered a
+moment with his oars lifted, looking at his passenger.  "It ain't
+no business o' mine, young man," he said deliberately, "but I
+reckon you understand me when I say that I've just taken another
+man over there."
+
+"I do," said Clarence impatiently.
+
+"And you still want to go?"
+
+"Certainly," replied Clarence, with a cold stare, taking up his
+oars.
+
+The man shrugged his shoulders, bent himself for the stroke, and
+the boat sprung forward.  The others rowed strongly and rapidly,
+the tough ashen blades springing like steel from the water, the
+heavy boat seeming to leap in successive bounds until they were
+fairly beyond the curving inshore current and clearing the placid,
+misty surface of the bay.  Clarence did not speak, but bent
+abstractedly over his oar; the ferryman and his crew rowed in equal
+panting silence; a few startled ducks whirred before them, but
+dropped again to rest.  In half an hour they were at the
+Embarcadero.  The time was fairly up.  Clarence's eyes were eagerly
+bent for the first appearance of the stage-coach around the little
+promontory; the ferryman was as eagerly scanning the bare, empty
+street of the still sleeping settlement.
+
+"I don't see him anywhere," said the ferryman with a glance, half
+of astonishment and half of curiosity, at his solitary passenger.
+
+"See whom?" asked Clarence carelessly, as he handed the man his
+promised fee.
+
+"The other man I ferried over to catch the stage.  He must have
+gone on without waiting.  You're in luck, young fellow!"
+
+"I don't understand you," said Clarence impatiently.  "What has
+your previous passenger to do with me?"
+
+"Well, I reckon you know best.  He's the kind of man, gin'rally
+speaking, that other men, in a pow'ful hurry, don't care to meet--
+and, az a rule, don't FOLLER arter.  It's gin'rally the other way."
+
+"What do you mean?" inquired Clarence sternly.  "Of whom are you
+speaking?"
+
+"The Chief of Police of San Francisco!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The laugh that instinctively broke from Clarence's lips was so
+sincere and unaffected that the man was disconcerted, and at last
+joined in it, a little shamefacedly.  The grotesque blunder of
+being taken as a fugitive from justice relieved Clarence's mind
+from its acute tension,--he was momentarily diverted,--and it was
+not until the boatman had departed, and he was again alone, that it
+seemed to have any collateral significance.  Then an uneasy
+recollection of Susy's threat that she had the power to put his
+wife in Fort Alcatraz came across him.  Could she have already
+warned the municipal authorities and this man?  But he quickly
+remembered that any action from such a warning could only have been
+taken by the United States Marshal, and not by a civic official,
+and dismissed the idea.
+
+Nevertheless, when the stage with its half-spent lamps still
+burning dimly against the morning light swept round the curve and
+rolled heavily up to the rude shanty which served as coach-office,
+he became watchful.  A single yawning individual in its doorway
+received a few letters and parcels, but Clarence was evidently the
+ONLY waiting passenger.  Any hope that he might have entertained
+that his mysterious predecessor would emerge from some seclusion at
+that moment was disappointed.  As he entered the coach he made a
+rapid survey of his fellow-travelers, but satisfied himself that
+the stranger was not among them.  They were mainly small traders or
+farmers, a miner or two, and apparently a Spanish-American of
+better degree and personality.  Possibly the circumstance that men
+of this class usually preferred to travel on horseback and were
+rarely seen in public conveyances attracted his attention, and
+their eyes met more than once in mutual curiosity.  Presently
+Clarence addressed a remark to the stranger in Spanish; he replied
+fluently and courteously, but at the next stopping-place he asked a
+question of the expressman in an unmistakable Missouri accent.
+Clarence's curiosity was satisfied; he was evidently one of those
+early American settlers who had been so long domiciled in Southern
+California as to adopt the speech as well as the habiliments of the
+Spaniard.
+
+The conversation fell upon the political news of the previous
+night, or rather seemed to be lazily continued from some previous,
+more excited discussion, in which one of the contestants--a red-
+bearded miner--had subsided into an occasional growl of surly
+dissent.  It struck Clarence that the Missourian had been an amused
+auditor and even, judging from a twinkle in his eye, a mischievous
+instigator of the controversy.  He was not surprised, therefore,
+when the man turned to him with a certain courtesy and said,--
+
+"And what, sir, is the political feeling in YOUR district?"
+
+But Clarence was in no mood to be drawn out, and replied, almost
+curtly, that as he had come only from San Francisco, they were
+probably as well informed on that subject as himself.  A quick and
+searching glance from the stranger's eye made him regret his
+answer, but in the silence that ensued the red-bearded miner,
+evidently still rankling at heart, saw his opportunity.  Slapping
+his huge hands on his knees, and leaning far forward until he
+seemed to plunge his flaming beard, like a firebrand, into the
+controversy, he said grimly,--
+
+"Well, I kin tell you, gen'l'men, THIS.  It ain't goin' to be no
+matter wot's the POLITICAL FEELING here or thar--it ain't goin' to
+be no matter wot's the State's rights and wot's Fed'ral rights--it
+ain't goin' to be no question whether the gov'ment's got the right
+to relieve its own soldiers that those Secesh is besieging in Fort
+Sumter or whether they haven't--but the first gun that's fired at
+the flag blows the chains off every d--n nigger south of Mason and
+Dixon's line!  You hear me!  I'm shoutin'!  And whether you call
+yourselves 'Secesh' or 'Union' or 'Copperhead' or 'Peace men,'
+you've got to face it!"
+
+There was an angry start in one or two of the seats; one man caught
+at the swinging side-strap and half rose, a husky voice began,
+"It's a d----d"--and then all as suddenly subsided.  Every eye was
+turned to an insignificant figure in the back seat.  It was a
+woman, holding a child on her lap, and gazing out of the window
+with her sex's profound unconcern in politics.  Clarence understood
+the rude chivalry of the road well enough to comprehend that this
+unconscious but omnipotent figure had more than once that day
+controlled the passions of the disputants.  They dropped back
+weakly to their seats, and their mutterings rolled off in the
+rattle of the wheels.  Clarence glanced at the Missourian; he was
+regarding the red-bearded miner with a singular curiosity.
+
+The rain had ceased, but the afternoon shadows were deepening when
+they at last reached Fair Plains, where Clarence expected to take
+horse to the Rancho.  He was astonished, however, to learn that all
+the horses in the stable were engaged, but remembering that some of
+his own stock were in pasturage with a tenant at Fair Plains, and
+that he should probably have a better selection, he turned his
+steps thither.  Passing out of the stable-yard he recognized the
+Missourian's voice in whispered conversation with the proprietor,
+but the two men withdrew into the shadow as he approached.  An ill-
+defined uneasiness came over him; he knew the proprietor, who also
+seemed to know the Missourian, and this evident avoidance of him
+was significant.  Perhaps his reputation as a doubtful Unionist had
+preceded him, but this would not account for their conduct in a
+district so strongly Southern in sympathy as Fair Plains.  More
+impressed by the occurrence than he cared to admit, when at last,
+after some delay, he had secured his horse, and was once more in
+the saddle, he kept a sharp lookout for his quondam companion.  But
+here another circumstance added to his suspicions: there was a main
+road leading to Santa Inez, the next town, and the Rancho, and this
+Clarence had purposely taken in order to watch the Missourian; but
+there was also a cutoff directly to the Rancho, known only to the
+habitues of the Rancho.  After a few moments' rapid riding on a
+mustang much superior to any in the hotel stables, he was satisfied
+that the stranger must have taken the cut-off.  Putting spurs to
+his horse he trusted still to precede him to the Rancho--if that
+were his destination.
+
+As he dashed along the familiar road, by a strange perversity of
+fancy, instead of thinking of his purpose, he found himself
+recalling the first time he had ridden that way in the flush of his
+youth and hopefulness.  The girl-sweetheart he was then going to
+rejoin was now the wife of another; the woman who had been her
+guardian was now his own wife.  He had accepted without a pang the
+young girl's dereliction, but it was through her revelation that he
+was now about to confront the dereliction of his own wife.  And
+this was the reward of his youthful trust and loyalty!  A bitter
+laugh broke from his lips.  It was part of his still youthful self-
+delusion that he believed himself wiser and stronger for it.
+
+It was quite dark when he reached the upper field or first terrace
+of the Rancho.  He could see the white walls of the casa rising
+dimly out of the green sea of early wild grasses, like a phantom
+island.  It was here that the cut-off joined the main road--now the
+only one that led to the casa.  He was satisfied that no one could
+have preceded him from Fair Plains; but it was true that he must
+take precautions against his own discovery.  Dismounting near a
+clump of willows, he unsaddled and unbridled his horse, and with a
+cut of the riata over its haunches sent it flying across the field
+in the direction of a band of feeding mustangs, which it presently
+joined.  Then, keeping well in the shadow of a belt of shrub-oaks,
+he skirted the long lesser terraces of the casa, intending to
+approach the house by way of the old garden and corral.  A drizzling
+rain, occasionally driven by the wind into long, misty, curtain-like
+waves, obscured the prospect and favored his design. He reached the
+low adobe wall of the corral in safety; looking over he could
+detect, in spite of the darkness, that a number of the horses were
+of alien brands, and even recognized one or two from the Santa Inez
+district.  The vague outline of buggies and carryalls filled the
+long shed beside the stables.  There WAS company at the casa--so far
+Susy was right!
+
+Nevertheless, lingering still by the wall of the old garden for the
+deepening of night, his nervous feverishness was again invaded and
+benumbed by sullen memories.  There was the opening left by the old
+grille in the wall, behind which Mrs. Peyton stood on the morning
+when he thought he was leaving the ranch forever; where he had
+first clasped her in his arms, and stayed.  A turn of the head, a
+moment's indecision, a single glance of a languorous eye, had
+brought this culmination.  And now he stood again before that
+ruined grille, his house and lands, even his NAME, misused by a
+mad, scheming enthusiast, and himself a creeping spy of his own
+dishonor!  He turned with a bitter smile again to the garden.  A
+few dark red Castilian roses still leaned forward and swayed in the
+wind with dripping leaves.  It was here that the first morning of
+his arrival he had kissed Susy; the perfume and color of her pink
+skin came back to him with a sudden shock as he stood there; he
+caught at a flower, drew it towards him, inhaled its odor in a long
+breath that left him faint and leaning against the wall.  Then
+again he smiled, but this time more wickedly--in what he believed
+his cynicism had sprung up the first instinct of revenge!
+
+It was now dark enough for him to venture across the carriage road
+and make his way to the rear of the house.  His first characteristic
+instinct had been to enter openly at his own front gate, but the
+terrible temptation to overhear and watch the conspiracy unobserved--
+that fascination common to deceived humanity to witness its own
+shame--had now grown upon him.  He knew that a word or gesture of
+explanation, apology, appeal, or even terror from his wife would
+check his rage and weaken his purpose.  His perfect knowledge of the
+house and the security of its inmates would enable him from some
+obscure landing or gallery to participate in any secret conclave
+they might hold in the patio--the only place suitable for so
+numerous a rendezvous.  The absence of light in the few external
+windows pointed to this central gathering.  And he had already
+conceived his plan of entrance.
+
+Gaining the rear wall of the casa he began cautiously to skirt its
+brambly base until he had reached a long, oven-like window half
+obliterated by a monstrous passion vine.  It was the window of what
+had once been Mrs. Peyton's boudoir; the window by which he had
+once forced an entrance to the house when it was in the hands of
+squatters, the window from which Susy had signaled her Spanish
+lover, the window whose grating had broken the neck of Judge
+Peyton's presumed assassin.  But these recollections no longer
+delayed him; the moment for action had arrived.  He knew that since
+the tragedy the boudoir had been dismantled and shunned; the
+servants believed it to be haunted by the assassin's ghost.  With
+the aid of the passion vine the ingress was easy; the interior
+window was open; the rustle of dead leaves on the bare floor as he
+entered, and the whir of a frightened bird by his ear, told the
+story of its desolation and the source of the strange noises that
+had been heard there.  The door leading to the corridor was lightly
+bolted, merely to keep it from rattling in the wind.  Slipping the
+bolt with the blade of his pocket-knife he peered into the dark
+passage.  The light streaming under a door to the left, and the
+sound of voices, convinced him that his conjecture was right, and
+the meeting was gathered on the broad balconies around the patio.
+He knew that a narrow gallery, faced with Venetian blinds to
+exclude the sun, looked down upon them.  He managed to gain it
+without discovery; luckily the blinds were still down; between
+their slats, himself invisible, he could hear and see everything
+that occurred.
+
+Yet even at this supreme moment the first thing that struck him was
+the almost ludicrous contrast between the appearance of the meeting
+and its tremendous object.  Whether he was influenced by any
+previous boyish conception of a clouded and gloomy conspiracy he
+did not know, but he was for an instant almost disconcerted by the
+apparent levity and festivity of the conclave.  Decanters and
+glasses stood on small tables before them; nearly all were drinking
+and smoking.  They comprised fifteen or twenty men, some of whose
+faces were familiar to him elsewhere as Southern politicians; a
+few, he was shocked to see, were well-known Northern Democrats.
+Occupying a characteristically central position was the famous
+Colonel Starbottle, of Virginia.  Jaunty and youthful-looking in
+his mask-like, beardless face, expansive and dignified in his
+middle-aged port and carriage, he alone retained some of the
+importance--albeit slightly theatrical and affected--of the
+occasion.  Clarence in his first hurried glance had not observed
+his wife, and for a moment had felt relieved; but as Colonel
+Starbottle arose at that moment, and with a studiously chivalrous
+and courtly manner turned to his right, he saw that she was sitting
+at the further end of the balcony, and that a man whom he recognized
+as Captain Pinckney was standing beside her.  The blood quickly
+tightened around his heart, but left him cold and observant.
+
+"It was seldom, indeed," remarked Colonel Starbottle, placing his
+fat fingers in the frill of his shirt front, "that a movement like
+this was graced with the actual presence of a lofty, inspiring, yet
+delicate spirit--a Boadicea--indeed, he might say a Joan of Arc--in
+the person of their charming hostess, Mrs. Brant.  Not only were
+they favored by her social and hospitable ministration, but by her
+active and enthusiastic cooperation in the glorious work they had
+in hand.  It was through her correspondence and earnest advocacy
+that they were to be favored to-night with the aid and counsel of
+one of the most distinguished and powerful men in the Southern
+district of California, Judge Beeswinger, of Los Angeles.  He had
+not the honor of that gentleman's personal acquaintance; he
+believed he was not far wrong in saying that this was also the
+misfortune of every gentleman present; but the name itself was a
+tower of strength.  He would go further, and say that Mrs. Brant
+herself was personally unacquainted with him, but it was through
+the fervor, poetry, grace, and genius of her correspondence with
+that gentleman that they were to have the honor of his presence
+that very evening.  It was understood that advices had been
+received of his departure, and that he might be expected at Robles
+at any moment."
+
+"But what proof have we of Judge Beeswinger's soundness?" said a
+lazy Southern voice at the conclusion of Colonel Starbottle's
+periods.  "Nobody here seems to know him by sight: is it not risky
+to admit a man to our meeting whom we are unable to identify?"
+
+"I reckon nobody but a fool or some prying mudsill of a Yankee
+would trust his skin here," returned another; "and if he did we'd
+know what to do with him."
+
+But Clarence's attention was riveted on his wife, and the
+significant speech passed him as unheeded as had the colonel's
+rhetoric.  She was looking very handsome and slightly flushed, with
+a proud light in her eyes that he had never seen before.  Absorbed
+in the discussion, she seemed to be paying little attention to
+Captain Pinckney as she rose suddenly to her feet.
+
+"Judge Beeswinger will be attended here by Mr. MacNiel, of the Fair
+Plains Hotel, who will vouch for him and introduce him," she said
+in a clear voice, which rang with an imperiousness that Clarence
+well remembered.  "The judge was to arrive by the coach from
+Martinez to Fair Plains, and is due now."
+
+"Is there no GENTLEMAN to introduce him?  Must we take him on the
+word of a common trader--by Jove! a whiskey-seller?" continued the
+previous voice sneeringly.
+
+"On the word of a lady, Mr. Brooks," said Captain Pinckney, with a
+slight gesture towards Mrs. Brant--"who answers for both."
+
+Clarence had started slightly at his wife's voice and the
+information it conveyed.  His fellow-passenger, and the confidant
+of MacNiel, was the man they were expecting!  If they had
+recognized him, Clarence, would they not warn the company of his
+proximity?  He held his breath as the sound of voices came from the
+outer gate of the courtyard.  Mrs. Brant rose; at the same moment
+the gate swung open, and a man entered.  It WAS the Missourian.
+
+He turned with old-fashioned courtesy to the single woman standing
+on the balcony.
+
+"My fair correspondent, I believe!  I am Judge Beeswinger.  Your
+agent, MacNiel, passed me through your guards at the gate, but I
+did not deem it advisable to bring him into this assembly of
+gentlemen without your further consideration.  I trust I was
+right."
+
+The quiet dignity and self-possession, the quaint, old-fashioned
+colonial precision of speech, modified by a soft Virginian
+intonation, and, above all, some singular individuality of the man
+himself, produced a profound sensation, and seemed to suddenly give
+the gathering an impressiveness it had lacked before.  For an
+instant Clarence forgot himself and his personal wrongs in the
+shock of indignation he felt at this potent addition to the ranks
+of his enemies.  He saw his wife's eyes sparkle with pride over her
+acquisition, and noticed that Pinckney cast a disturbed glance at
+the newcomer.
+
+The stranger ascended the few steps to the balcony and took Mrs.
+Brant's hand with profound courtesy.  "Introduce me to my
+colleagues--distinctly and separately.  It behooves a man at such a
+moment to know to whom he entrusts his life and honor, and the life
+and honor of his cause."
+
+It was evidently no mere formal courtesy to the stranger.  As he
+stepped forward along the balcony, and under Mrs. Brant's graceful
+guidance was introduced to each of the members, he not only
+listened with scrupulous care and attention to the name and
+profession of each man, but bent upon him a clear, searching glance
+that seemed to photograph him in his memory.  With two exceptions.
+He passed Colonel Starbottle's expanding shirt frill with a bow of
+elaborate precision, and said, "Colonel Starbottle's fame requires
+neither introduction nor explanation."  He stopped before Captain
+Pinckney and paused.
+
+"An officer of the United States army, I believe, sir?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Educated at West Point, I think, by the government, to whom you
+have taken the oath of allegiance?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Very good, sir," said the stranger, turning away.
+
+"You have forgotten one other fact, sir," said Pinckney, with a
+slightly supercilious air.
+
+"Indeed!  What is it?"
+
+"I am, first of all, a native of the State of South Carolina!"
+
+A murmur of applause and approval ran round the balcony.  Captain
+Pinckney smiled and exchanged glances with Mrs. Brant, but the
+stranger quietly returned to the central table beside Colonel
+Starbottle.  "I am not only an unexpected delegate to this august
+assembly, gentlemen," he began gravely, "but I am the bearer of
+perhaps equally unexpected news.  By my position in the Southern
+district I am in possession of dispatches received only this
+morning by pony express.  Fort Sumter has been besieged.  The
+United States flag, carrying relief to the beleaguered garrison,
+has been fired upon by the State of South Carolina."
+
+A burst of almost hysteric applause and enthusiasm broke from the
+assembly, and made the dim, vault-like passages and corridors of
+the casa ring.  Cheer after cheer went up to the veiled gallery and
+the misty sky beyond.  Men mounted on the tables and waved their
+hands frantically, and in the midst of this bewildering turbulence
+of sound and motion Clarence saw his wife mounted on a chair, with
+burning cheeks and flashing eyes, waving her handkerchief like an
+inspired priestess.  Only the stranger, still standing beside
+Colonel Starbottle, remained unmoved and impassive.  Then, with an
+imperative gesture, he demanded a sudden silence.
+
+"Convincing and unanimous as this demonstration is, gentlemen," he
+began quietly, "it is my duty, nevertheless, to ask you if you have
+seriously considered the meaning of the news I have brought.  It is
+my duty to tell you that it means civil war.  It means the clash of
+arms between two sections of a mighty country; it means the
+disruption of friends, the breaking of family ties, the separation
+of fathers and sons, of brothers and sisters--even, perhaps, to the
+disseverment of husband and wife!"
+
+"It means the sovereignty of the South--and the breaking of a
+covenant with lowborn traders and abolitionists," said Captain
+Pinckney.
+
+"If there are any gentlemen present," continued the stranger,
+without heeding the interruption, "who have pledged this State to
+the support of the South in this emergency, or to the establishment
+of a Pacific republic in aid and sympathy with it, whose names are
+on this paper"--he lifted a sheet of paper lying before Colonel
+Starbottle--"but who now feel that the gravity of the news demands
+a more serious consideration of the purpose, they are at liberty to
+withdraw from the meeting, giving their honor, as Southern
+gentlemen, to keep the secret intact."
+
+"Not if I know it," interrupted a stalwart Kentuckian, as he rose
+to his feet and strode down the steps to the patio.  "For," he
+added, placing his back against the gateway, "I'll shoot the first
+coward that backs out now."
+
+A roar of laughter and approval followed, but was silenced again by
+the quiet, unimpassioned voice of the stranger.  "If, on the other
+hand," he went on calmly, "you all feel that this news is the
+fitting culmination and consecration of the hopes, wishes, and
+plans of this meeting, you will assert it again, over your own
+signatures, to Colonel Starbottle at this table."
+
+When the Kentuckian had risen, Clarence had started from his
+concealment; when he now saw the eager figures pressing forward to
+the table he hesitated no longer.  Slipping along the passage, he
+reached the staircase which led to the corridor in the rear of the
+balcony.  Descending this rapidly, he not only came upon the backs
+of the excited crowd around the table, but even elbowed one of the
+conspirators aside without being noticed.  His wife, who had risen
+from her chair at the end of the balcony, was already moving
+towards the table.  With a quick movement he seized her wrist, and
+threw her back in the chair again.  A cry broke from her lips as
+she recognized him, but still holding her wrist, he stepped quickly
+between her and the astonished crowd.  There was a moment of
+silence, then the cry of "Spy!" and "Seize him!" rose quickly, but
+above all the voice and figure of the Missourian was heard
+commanding them to stand back.  Turning to Clarence, he said
+quietly,--
+
+"I should know your face, sir.  Who are you?"
+
+"The husband of this woman and the master of this house," said
+Clarence as quietly, but in a voice he hardly recognized as his
+own.
+
+"Stand aside from her, then--unless you are hoping that her danger
+may protect YOU!" said the Kentuckian, significantly drawing his
+revolver.
+
+But Mrs. Brant sprang suddenly to her feet beside Clarence.
+
+"We are neither of us cowards, Mr. Brooks--though he speaks the
+truth--and--more shame to me"--she added, with a look of savage
+scorn at Clarence--"IS MY HUSBAND!"
+
+"What is your purpose in coming here?" continued Judge Beeswinger,
+with his eyes fixed on Clarence.
+
+"I have given you all the information," said Clarence quietly,
+"that is necessary to make you, as a gentleman, leave this house at
+once--and that is my purpose.  It is all the information you will
+get from me as long as you and your friends insult my roof with
+your uninvited presence.  What I may have to say to you and each of
+you hereafter--what I may choose to demand of you, according to
+your own code of honor,"--he fixed his eyes on Captain Pinckney's,--
+"is another question, and one not usually discussed before a lady."
+
+"Pardon me.  A moment--a single moment."
+
+It was the voice of Colonel Starbottle; it was the frilled shirt
+front, the lightly buttoned blue coat with its expanding lapels,
+like bursting petals, and the smiling mask of that gentleman rising
+above the table and bowing to Clarence Brant and his wife with
+infinite courtesy.  "The--er--humiliating situation in which we
+find ourselves, gentlemen,--the reluctant witnesses of--er--what we
+trust is only a temporary disagreement between our charming hostess
+and the--er--gentleman whom she recognized under the highest title
+to our consideration,--is distressing to us all, and would seem to
+amply justify that gentleman's claims to a personal satisfaction,
+which I know we would all delight to give.  But that situation
+rests upon the supposition that our gathering here was of a purely
+social or festive nature!  It may be," continued the colonel with a
+blandly reflective air, "that the spectacle of these decanters and
+glasses, and the nectar furnished us by our Hebe-like hostess" (he
+lifted a glass of whiskey and water to his lips while he bowed to
+Mrs. Brant gracefully), "has led the gentleman to such a deduction.
+But when I suggest to him that our meeting was of a business, or
+private nature, it strikes me that the question of intrusion may be
+fairly divided between him and ourselves.  We may be even justified,
+in view of that privacy, in asking him if his--er--entrance to
+this house was--er--coincident with his appearance among us."
+
+"With my front door in possession of strangers," said Clarence,
+more in reply to a sudden contemptuous glance from his wife than
+Starbottle's insinuation, "I entered the house through the window."
+
+"Of my boudoir, where another intruder once broke his neck,"
+interrupted his wife with a mocking laugh.
+
+"Where I once helped this lady to regain possession of her house
+when it was held by another party of illegal trespassers, who,
+however, were content to call themselves 'jumpers,' and did not
+claim the privacy of gentlemen."
+
+"Do you mean to imply, sir," began Colonel Starbottle haughtily,
+"that"--
+
+"I mean to imply, sir," said Clarence with quiet scorn, "that I
+have neither the wish to know nor the slightest concern in any
+purpose that brought you here, and that when you quit the house you
+take your secrets and your privacy with you intact, without let or
+hindrance from me."
+
+"Do you mean to say, Mr. Brant," said Judge Beeswinger, suppressing
+the angry interruption of his fellows with a dominant wave of his
+hand, as he fixed his eyes on Clarence keenly, "that you have no
+sympathy with your wife's political sentiments?"
+
+"I have already given you the information necessary to make you
+quit this house, and that is all you have a right to know,"
+returned Clarence with folded arms.
+
+"But I can answer for him," said Mrs. Brant, rising, with a
+quivering voice and curling lip.  "There IS no sympathy between us.
+We are as far apart as the poles.  We have nothing in common but
+this house and his name."
+
+"But you are husband and wife, bound together by a sacred compact."
+
+"A compact!" echoed Mrs. Brant, with a bitter laugh.  "Yes, the
+compact that binds South Carolina to the nigger-worshipping
+Massachusetts.  The compact that links together white and black,
+the gentleman and the trader, the planter and the poor white--the
+compact of those UNITED States.  Bah! THAT has been broken, and so
+can this."
+
+Clarence's face paled.  But before he could speak there was a rapid
+clattering at the gate and a dismounted vaquero entered excitedly.
+Turning to Mrs. Brant he said hurriedly, "Mother of God! the casa
+is surrounded by a rabble of mounted men, and there is one among
+them even now who demands admittance in the name of the Law."
+
+"This is your work," said Brooks, facing Clarence furiously.  "You
+have brought them with you, but, by God, they shall not save you!"
+He would have clutched Clarence, but the powerful arm of Judge
+Beeswinger intervened.  Nevertheless, he still struggled to reach
+Clarence, appealing to the others: "Are you fools to stand there
+and let him triumph!  Don't you see the cowardly Yankee trick he's
+played upon us?"
+
+"He has not," said Mrs. Brant haughtily.  "I have no reason to love
+him or his friends; but I know he does not lie."
+
+"Gentlemen!--gentlemen!" implored Colonel Starbottle with beaming
+and unctuous persuasion, "may I--er--remark--that all this is far
+from the question?  Are we to be alarmed because an unknown rabble,
+no matter whence they come, demand entrance here in the name of the
+Law?  I am not aware of any law of the State of California that we
+are infringing.  By all means admit them."
+
+The gate was thrown open.  A single thick-set man, apparently
+unarmed and dressed like an ordinary traveler, followed by half a
+dozen other equally unpretentious-looking men, entered.  The leader
+turned to the balcony.
+
+"I am the Chief of Police of San Francisco.  I have warrants for
+the arrest of Colonel Culpepper Starbottle, Joshua Brooks, Captain
+Pinckney, Clarence Brant and Alice his wife, and others charged
+with inciting to riot and unlawful practice calculated to disturb
+the peace of the State of California and its relations with the
+Federal government," said the leader, in a dry official voice.
+
+Clarence started.  In spite of its monotonous utterance it was the
+voice of the red-bearded controversialist of the stage-coach.  But
+where were his characteristic beard and hair?  Involuntarily
+Clarence glanced at Judge Beeswinger; that gentleman was quietly
+regarding the stranger with an impassive face that betrayed no
+recognition whatever.
+
+"But the city of San Francisco has no jurisdiction here," said
+Colonel Starbottle, turning a bland smile towards his fellow-
+members.  "I am--er--sorry to inform you that you are simply
+trespassing, sir."
+
+"I am here also as deputy sheriff," returned the stranger coolly.
+"We were unable to locate the precise place of this meeting,
+although we knew of its existence.  I was sworn in this morning at
+Santa Inez by the judge of this district, and these gentlemen with
+me are my posse."
+
+There was a quick movement of resistance by the members, which was,
+however, again waived blandly aside by Colonel Starbottle.  Leaning
+forward in a slightly forensic attitude, with his fingers on the
+table and a shirt frill that seemed to have become of itself
+erectile, he said, with pained but polite precision, "I grieve to
+have to state, sir, that even that position is utterly untenable
+here.  I am a lawyer myself, as my friend here, Judge Beeswinger--
+eh?  I beg your pardon!"
+
+The officer of the law had momentarily started, with his eyes fixed
+on Judge Beeswinger, who, however, seemed to be quietly writing at
+the table.
+
+"As Judge Beeswinger," continued Colonel Starbottle, "will probably
+tell you and as a jurist himself, he will also probably agree with
+me when I also inform you that, as the United States government is
+an aggrieved party, it is a matter for the Federal courts to
+prosecute, and that the only officer we can recognize is the United
+States Marshal for the district.  When I add that the marshal,
+Colonel Crackenthorpe, is one of my oldest friends, and an active
+sympathizer with the South in the present struggle, you will
+understand that any action from him in this matter is exceedingly
+improbable."
+
+The general murmur of laughter, relief, and approval was broken by
+the quiet voice of Judge Beeswinger.
+
+"Let me see your warrant, Mr. Deputy Sheriff."
+
+The officer approached him with a slightly perplexed and constrained
+air, and exhibited the paper.  Judge Beeswinger handed it back to
+him.  "Colonel Starbottle is quite right in his contention," he said
+quietly; "the only officer that this assembly can recognize is the
+United States Marshal or his legal deputy.  But Colonel Starbottle is
+wrong in his supposition that Colonel Crackenthorpe still retains
+the functions of that office.  He was removed by the President of
+the United States, and his successor was appointed and sworn in by
+the Federal judge early this morning."  He paused, and folding up
+the paper on which he had been writing, placed it in the hands of
+the deputy.  "And this," he continued in the same even voice,
+"constitutes you his deputy, and will enable you to carry out your
+duty in coming here."
+
+"What the devil does this mean, sir?  Who are you?" gasped Colonel
+Starbottle, recoiling suddenly from the man at his side.
+
+"I am the new United States Marshal for the Southern District of
+California."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Unsuspected and astounding as the revelation was to Clarence, its
+strange reception by the conspirators seemed to him as astounding.
+He had started forward, half expecting that the complacent and
+self-confessed spy would be immolated by his infuriated dupes.  But
+to his surprise the shock seemed to have changed their natures, and
+given them the dignity they had lacked.  The excitability,
+irritation, and recklessness which had previously characterized
+them had disappeared.  The deputy and his posse, who had advanced
+to the assistance of their revealed chief, met with no resistance.
+They had evidently, as if with one accord, drawn away from Judge
+Beeswinger, leaving a cleared space around him, and regarded their
+captors with sullen contemptuous silence.  It was only broken by
+Colonel Starbottle:--
+
+"Your duty commands you, sir, to use all possible diligence in
+bringing us before the Federal judge of this district--unless your
+master in Washington has violated the Constitution so far as to
+remove him, too!"
+
+"I understand you perfectly," returned Judge Beeswinger, with
+unchanged composure; "and as you know that Judge Wilson
+unfortunately cannot be removed except through a regular course of
+impeachment, I suppose you may still count upon his Southern
+sympathies to befriend you.  With that I have nothing to do; my
+duty is complete when my deputy has brought you before him and I
+have stated the circumstances of the arrest."
+
+"I congratulate you, sir," said Captain Pinckney, with an ironical
+salute, "on your prompt reward for your treachery to the South, and
+your equally prompt adoption of the peculiar tactics of your
+friends in the way in which you have entered this house."
+
+"I am sorry I cannot congratulate YOU, sir," returned Judge
+Beeswinger gravely, on breaking your oath to the government which
+has educated and supported you and given you the epaulettes you
+disgrace.  Nor shall I discuss 'treachery' with the man who has not
+only violated the trust of his country, but even the integrity of
+his friend's household.  It is for that reason that I withhold the
+action of this warrant in so far as it affects the persons of the
+master and mistress of this home.  I am satisfied that Mr. Brant
+has been as ignorant of what has been done here as I am that his
+wife has been only the foolish dupe of a double traitor!"
+
+"Silence!"
+
+The words broke simultaneously from the lips of Clarence and
+Captain Pinckney.  They stood staring at each other--the one pale,
+the other crimson--as Mrs. Brant, apparently oblivious of the
+significance of their united adjuration, turned to Judge Beeswinger
+in the fury of her still stifled rage and mortification.
+
+"Keep your mercy for your fellow-spy," she said, with a contemptuous
+gesture towards her husband; "I go with these gentlemen!"
+
+"You will not," said Clarence quietly, "until I have said a word to
+you alone."  He laid his hand firmly upon her wrist.
+
+The deputy and his prisoners filed slowly out of the courtyard
+together, the latter courteously saluting Mrs. Brant as they
+passed, but turning from Judge Beeswinger in contemptuous silence.
+The judge followed them to the gate, but there he paused.  Turning
+to Mrs. Brant, who was still half struggling in the strong grip of
+her husband, he said,--
+
+"Any compunction I may have had in misleading you by accepting your
+invitation here I dismissed after I had entered this house.  And I
+trust," he added, turning to Clarence sternly, "I leave you the
+master of it!"
+
+As the gate closed behind him, Clarence locked it.  When his wife
+turned upon him angrily, he said quietly,--
+
+"I have no intention of restraining your liberty a moment after our
+interview is over, but until then I do not intend to be disturbed."
+
+She threw herself disdainfully back in her chair, her hands clasped
+in her lap in half-contemptuous resignation, with her eyes upon her
+long slim arched feet crossed before her.  Even in her attitude
+there was something of her old fascination which, however, now
+seemed to sting Clarence to the quick.
+
+"I have nothing to say to you in regard to what has just passed in
+this house, except that as long as I remain even nominally its
+master it shall not be repeated.  Although I shall no longer
+attempt to influence or control your political sympathies, I shall
+not allow you to indulge them where in any way they seem to imply
+my sanction.  But so little do I oppose your liberty, that you are
+free to rejoin your political companions whenever you choose to do
+so on your own responsibility.  But I must first know from your own
+lips whether your sympathies are purely political--or a name for
+something else?"
+
+She had alternately flushed and paled, although still keeping her
+scornful attitude as he went on, but there was no mistaking the
+genuineness of her vague wonderment at his concluding words.
+
+"I don't understand you," she said, lifting her eyes to his in a
+moment of cold curiosity.  "What do you mean?"
+
+"What do I mean?  What did Judge Beeswinger mean when he called
+Captain Pinckney a double traitor?" he said roughly.
+
+She sprang to her feet with flashing eyes.  "And you--YOU! dare to
+repeat the cowardly lie of a confessed spy.  This, then, is what
+you wished to tell me--this the insult for which you have kept me
+here; because you are incapable of understanding unselfish
+patriotism or devotion--even to your own cause--you dare to judge
+me by your own base, Yankee-trading standards.  Yes, it is worthy
+of you!"  She walked rapidly up and down, and then suddenly faced
+him.  "I understand it all; I appreciate your magnanimity now.  You
+are willing I should join the company of these chivalrous gentlemen
+in order to give color to your calumnies!  Say at once that it was
+you who put up this spy to correspond with me--to come here--in
+order to entrap me.  Yes entrap me--I--who a moment ago stood up
+for you before these gentlemen, and said you could not lie.  Bah!"
+
+Struck only by the wild extravagance of her speech and temper,
+Clarence did not know that when women are most illogical they are
+apt to be most sincere, and from a man's standpoint her unreasoning
+deductions appeared to him only as an affectation to gain time for
+thought, or a theatrical display, like Susy's.  And he was turning
+half contemptuously away, when she again faced him with flashing
+eyes.
+
+"Well, hear me!  I accept; I leave here at once, to join my own
+people, my own friends--those who understand me--put what
+construction on it that you choose.  Do your worst; you cannot do
+more to separate us than you have done just now."
+
+She left him, and ran up the steps with a singular return of her
+old occasional nymph-like nimbleness--the movement of a woman who
+had never borne children--and a swish of her long skirts that he
+remembered for many a day after, as she disappeared in the
+corridor.  He remained looking after her--indignant, outraged, and
+unconvinced.  There was a rattling at the gate.
+
+He remembered he had locked it.  He opened it to the flushed pink
+cheeks and dancing eyes of Susy.  The rain was still dripping from
+her wet cloak as she swung it from her shoulders.
+
+"I know it all!--all that's happened," she burst out with half-
+girlish exuberance and half the actress's declamation.  "We met
+them all in the road--posse and prisoners.  Chief Thompson knew me
+and told me all.  And so you've done it--and you're master in your
+old house again.  Clarence, old boy!  Jim said you wouldn't do it--
+said you'd weaken on account of her!  But I said 'No.'  I knew you
+better, old Clarence, and I saw it in your face, for all your
+stiffness! ha!  But for all that I was mighty nervous and uneasy,
+and I just made Jim send an excuse to the theatre and we rushed it
+down here!  Lordy! but it looks natural to see the old house again!
+And she--you packed her off with the others--didn't you?  Tell me,
+Clarence," in her old appealing voice, "you shook her, too!"
+
+Dazed and astounded, and yet experiencing a vague sense of relief
+with something like his old tenderness towards the willful woman
+before him, he had silently regarded her until her allusion to his
+wife recalled him to himself.
+
+"Hush!" he said quickly, with a glance towards the corridor.
+
+"Ah!" said Susy, with a malicious smile, "then that's why Captain
+Pinckney was lingering in the rear with the deputy."
+
+"Silence!" repeated Clarence sternly.  "Go in there," pointing to
+the garden room below the balcony, "and wait there with your
+husband."
+
+He half led, half pushed her into the room which had been his
+business office, and returned to the patio.  A hesitating voice
+from the balcony said, "Clarence!"
+
+It was his wife's voice, but modified and gentler--more like her
+voice as he had first heard it, or as if it had been chastened by
+some reminiscence of those days.  It was his wife's face, too, that
+looked down on his--paler than he had seen it since he entered the
+house.  She was shawled and hooded, carrying a traveling-bag in her
+hand.
+
+"I am going, Clarence," she said, pausing before him, with gentle
+gravity, "but not in anger.  I even ask you to forgive me for the
+foolish words that I think your still more foolish accusation"--she
+smiled faintly--"dragged from me.  I am going because I know that I
+have brought--and that while I am here I shall always be bringing--
+upon you the imputation and even the responsibility of my own
+faith!  While I am proud to own it,--and if needs be suffer for
+it,--I have no right to ruin your prospects, or even make you the
+victim of the slurs that others may cast upon me.  Let us part as
+friends--separated only by our different political faiths, but
+keeping all other faiths together--until God shall settle the right
+of this struggle.  Perhaps it may be soon--I sometimes think it may
+be years of agony for all; but until then, good-by."
+
+She had slowly descended the steps to the patio, looking handsomer
+than he had ever seen her, and as if sustained and upheld by the
+enthusiasm of her cause.  Her hand was outstretched towards his--
+his heart beat violently--in another moment he might have forgotten
+all and clasped her to his breast.  Suddenly she stopped, her
+outstretched arm stiffened, her finger pointed to the chair on
+which Susy's cloak was hanging.
+
+"What's that?" she said in a sharp, high, metallic voice.  "Who is
+here?  Speak!"
+
+"Susy," said Clarence.
+
+She cast a scathing glance round the patio, and then settled her
+piercing eyes on Clarence with a bitter smile.
+
+"Already!"
+
+Clarence felt the blood rush to his face as he stammered, "She knew
+what was happening here, and came to give you warning."
+
+"Liar!"
+
+"Stop!" said Clarence, with a white face.  "She came to tell me
+that Captain Pinckney was still lingering for you in the road."
+
+He threw open the gate to let her pass.  As she swept out she
+lifted her hand.  As he closed the gate there were the white marks
+of her four fingers on his cheek.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+For once Susy had not exaggerated.  Captain Pinckney WAS lingering,
+with the deputy who had charge of him, on the trail near the casa.
+It had already been pretty well understood by both captives and
+captors that the arrest was simply a legal demonstration; that the
+sympathizing Federal judge would undoubtedly order the discharge of
+the prisoners on their own recognizances, and it was probable that
+the deputy saw no harm in granting Pinckney's request--which was
+virtually only a delay in his liberation.  It was also possible
+that Pinckney had worked upon the chivalrous sympathies of the man
+by professing his disinclination to leave their devoted colleague,
+Mrs. Brant, at the mercy of her antagonistic and cold-blooded
+husband at such a crisis, and it is to be feared also that
+Clarence, as a reputed lukewarm partisan, excited no personal
+sympathy, even from his own party.  Howbeit, the deputy agreed to
+delay Pinckney's journey for a parting interview with his fair
+hostess.
+
+How far this expressed the real sentiments of Captain Pinckney was
+never known.  Whether his political association with Mrs. Brant had
+developed into a warmer solicitude, understood or ignored by her,--
+what were his hopes and aspirations regarding her future,--were by
+the course of fate never disclosed.  A man of easy ethics, but
+rigid artificialities of honor, flattered and pampered by class
+prejudice, a so-called "man of the world," with no experience
+beyond his own limited circle, yet brave and devoted to that, it
+were well perhaps to leave this last act of his inefficient life as
+it was accepted by the deputy.
+
+Dismounting he approached the house from the garden.  He was
+already familiar with the low arched doorway which led to the
+business room, and from which he could gain admittance to the
+patio, but it so chanced that he entered the dark passage at the
+moment that Clarence had thrust Susy into the business room, and
+heard its door shut sharply.  For an instant he believed that Mrs.
+Brant had taken refuge there, but as he cautiously moved forward he
+heard her voice in the patio beyond.  Its accents struck him as
+pleading; an intense curiosity drew him further along the passage.
+Suddenly her voice seemed to change to angry denunciation, and the
+word "Liar" rang upon his ears.  It was followed by his own name
+uttered sardonically by Clarence, the swift rustle of a skirt, the
+clash of the gate, and then--forgetting everything, he burst into
+the patio.
+
+Clarence was just turning from the gate with the marks of his
+wife's hand still red on his white cheek.  He saw Captain
+Pinckney's eyes upon it, and the faint, half-malicious, half-
+hysteric smile upon his lips.  But without a start or gesture of
+surprise he locked the gate, and turning to him, said with frigid
+significance,--
+
+"I thank you for returning so promptly, and for recognizing the
+only thing I now require at your hand."
+
+But Captain Pinckney had recovered his supercilious ease with the
+significant demand.
+
+"You seem to have had something already from another's hand, sir,
+but I am at your service," he said lightly.
+
+"You will consider that I have accepted it from you," said
+Clarence, drawing closer to him with a rigid face.  "I suppose it
+will not be necessary for me to return it--to make you understand
+me."
+
+"Go on," said Pinckney, flushing slightly.  "Make your terms; I am
+ready."
+
+"But I'm not," said the unexpected voice of the deputy at the
+grille of the gateway.  "Excuse my interfering, gentlemen, but this
+sort o' thing ain't down in my schedule.  I've let this gentleman,"
+pointing to Captain Pinckney, "off for a minit to say 'good-by' to
+a lady, who I reckon has just ridden off in her buggy with her
+servant without saying by your leave, but I didn't calkelate to let
+him inter another business, which, like as not, may prevent me from
+delivering his body safe and sound into court.  You hear me!"  As
+Clarence opened the gate he added, "I don't want ter spoil sport
+between gents, but it's got to come in after I've done my duty."
+
+"I'll meet you, sir, anywhere, and with what weapons you choose,"
+said Pinckney, turning angrily upon Clarence, "as soon as this
+farce--for which you and your friends are responsible--is over."
+He was furious at the intimation that Mrs. Brant had escaped him.
+
+A different thought was in the husband's mind.  "But what assurance
+have I that you are going on with the deputy?" he said with
+purposely insulting deliberation.
+
+"My word, sir," said Captain Pinckney sharply.
+
+"And if that ain't enuff, there's mine!" said the deputy.  "For if
+this gentleman swerves to the right or left betwixt this and Santa
+Inez, I'll blow a hole through him myself.  And that," he added
+deprecatingly, "is saying a good deal for a man who doesn't want to
+spoil sport, and for the matter of that is willing to stand by and
+see fair play done at Santa Inez any time to-morrow before
+breakfast."
+
+"Then I can count on you," said Clarence, with a sudden impulse
+extending his hand.
+
+The man hesitated a moment and then grasped it.
+
+"Well, I wasn't expecting that," he said slowly; "but you look as
+if you meant business, and if you ain't got anybody else to see you
+through, I'm thar!  I suppose this gentleman will have his friends."
+
+"I shall be there at six with my seconds," said Pinckney curtly.
+"Lead on."
+
+The gate closed behind them.  Clarence stood looking around the
+empty patio and the silent house, from which it was now plain that
+the servants had been withdrawn to insure the secrecy of the
+conspiracy.  Cool and collected as he knew he was, he remained for
+a moment in hesitation.  Then the sound of voices came to his ear
+from the garden room, the light frivolity of Susy's laugh and
+Hooker's huskier accents.  He had forgotten they were there--he had
+forgotten their existence!
+
+Trusting still to his calmness, he called to Hooker in his usual
+voice.  That gentleman appeared with a face which his attempts to
+make unconcerned and impassive had, however, only deepened into
+funereal gravity.
+
+"I have something to attend to," said Clarence, with a faint smile,
+"and I must ask you and Susy to excuse me for a little while.  She
+knows the house perfectly, and will call the servants from the
+annex to provide you both with refreshment until I join you a
+little later."  Satisfied from Hooker's manner that they knew
+nothing of his later interview with Pinckney, he turned away and
+ascended to his own room.
+
+There he threw himself into an armchair by the dim light of a
+single candle as if to reflect.  But he was conscious, even then,
+of his own calmness and want of excitement, and that no reflection
+was necessary.  What he had done and what he intended to do was
+quite clear, there was no alternative suggested or to be even
+sought after.  He had that sense of relief which comes with the
+climax of all great struggles, even of defeat.
+
+He had never known before how hopeless and continuous had been that
+struggle until now it was over.  He had no fear of tomorrow, he
+would meet it as he had to-day, with the same singular consciousness
+of being equal to the occasion.  There was even no necessity of
+preparation for it; his will, leaving his fortune to his wife,--
+which seemed a slight thing now in this greater separation,--was
+already in his safe in San Francisco, his pistols were in the next
+room.  He was even slightly disturbed by his own insensibility, and
+passed into his wife's bedroom partly in the hope of disturbing his
+serenity by some memento of their past.  There was no disorder of
+flight--everything was in its place, except the drawer of her desk,
+which was still open, as if she had taken something from it as an
+afterthought.  There were letters and papers there, some of his own
+and some in Captain Pinckney's handwriting.  It did not occur to him
+to look at them--even to justify himself, or excuse her.  He knew
+that his hatred of Captain Pinckney was not so much that he believed
+him her lover, as his sudden conviction that she was like him!  He
+was the male of her species--a being antagonistic to himself, whom
+he could fight, and crush, and revenge himself upon.  But most of
+all he loathed his past, not on account of her, but of his own
+weakness that had made him her dupe and a misunderstood man to his
+friends.  He had been derelict of duty in his unselfish devotion to
+her; he had stifled his ambition, and underrated his own
+possibilities.  No wonder that others had accepted him at his own
+valuation.  Clarence Brant was a modest man, but the egotism of
+modesty is more fatal than that of pretension, for it has the
+haunting consciousness of superior virtue.
+
+He re-entered his own room and again threw himself into his chair.
+His calm was being succeeded by a physical weariness; he remembered
+he had not slept the night before, and he ought to take some rest
+to be fresh in the early morning.  Yet he must also show himself
+before his self-invited guests,--Susy and her husband,--or their
+suspicions would be aroused.  He would try to sleep for a little
+while in the chair before he went downstairs again.  He closed his
+eyes oddly enough on a dim dreamy recollection of Susy in the old
+days, in the little madrono hollow where she had once given him a
+rendezvous.  He forgot the maturer and critical uneasiness with
+which he had then received her coquettish and willful advances,
+which he now knew was the effect of the growing dominance of Mrs.
+Peyton over him, and remembered only her bright, youthful eyes, and
+the kisses he had pressed upon her soft fragrant cheek.  The
+faintness he had felt when waiting in the old rose garden, a few
+hours ago, seemed to steal on him once more, and to lapse into a
+pleasant drowsiness.  He even seemed again to inhale the perfume of
+the roses.
+
+"Clarence!"
+
+He started.  He had been sleeping, but the voice sounded strangely
+real.
+
+A light, girlish laugh followed.  He sprang to his feet.  It was
+Susy standing beside him--and Susy even as she looked in the old
+days!
+
+For with a flash of her old audacity, aided by her familiar
+knowledge of the house and the bunch of household keys she had
+found, which dangled from her girdle, as in the old fashion, she
+had disinterred one of her old frocks from a closet, slipped it on,
+and unloosening her brown hair had let it fall in rippling waves
+down her back.  It was Susy in her old girlishness, with the
+instinct of the grown actress in the arrangement of her short skirt
+over her pretty ankles and the half-conscious pose she had taken.
+
+"Poor dear old Clarence," she said, with dancing eyes; "I might
+have won a dozen pairs of gloves from you while you slept there.
+But you're tired, dear old boy, and you've had a hard time of it.
+No matter; you've shown yourself a man at last, and I'm proud of
+you."
+
+Half ashamed of the pleasure he felt even in his embarrassment,
+Clarence stammered, "But this change--this dress."
+
+Susy clapped her hands like a child.  "I knew it would surprise
+you!  It's an old frock I wore the year I went away with auntie.  I
+knew where it was hidden, and fished it out again with these keys,
+Clarence; it seemed so like old times.  Lord! when I was with the
+old servants again, and you didn't come down, I just felt as if I'd
+never been away, and I just rampaged free.  It seemed to me, don't
+you know, not as if I'd just come, but as if I'd always been right
+here, and it was you who'd just come.  Don't you understand!  Just
+as you came when me and Mary Rogers were here; don't you remember
+her, Clarence, and how she used to do 'gooseberry' for us?  Well,
+just like that.  So I said to Jim, 'I don't know you any more--
+get!' and I just slipped on this frock and ordered Manuela around
+as I used to do--and she in fits of laughter; I reckon, Clarence,
+she hasn't laughed as much since I left.  And then I thought of
+you--perhaps worried and flustered as yet over things, and the
+change, and I just slipped into the kitchen and I told old fat
+Conchita to make some of these tortillas you know,--with sugar and
+cinnamon sprinkled on top,--and I tied on an apron and brought 'em
+up to you on a tray with a glass of that old Catalan wine you used
+to like.  Then I sorter felt frightened when I got here, and I
+didn't hear any noise, and I put the tray down in the hall and
+peeped in and found you asleep.  Sit still, I'll fetch em."
+
+She tripped out into the passage, returning with the tray, which
+she put on the table beside Clarence, and then standing back a
+little and with her hands tucked soubrette fashion in the tiny
+pockets of her apron, gazed at him with a mischievous smile.
+
+It was impossible not to smile back as he nibbled the crisp Mexican
+cake and drank the old mission wine.  And Susy's tongue trilled an
+accompaniment to his thanks.
+
+"Lord! it seems so nice to be here--just you and me, Clarence--like
+in the old days--with nobody naggin' and swoopin' round after you.
+Don't be greedy, Clarence, but give me a cake."  She took one and
+finished the dregs of his glass.
+
+Then sitting on the arm of his chair, she darted a violet ray of
+half reproach and half mischievousness into his amused and
+retrospective eyes.  "There used to be room for two in that chair,
+Klarns."
+
+The use of the old childish diminutive for his name seemed to him
+natural as her familiarity, and he moved a little sideways to make
+room for her with an instinct of pleasure, but the same sense of
+irresponsibility that had characterized his reflections.
+Nevertheless, he looked critically into the mischievous eyes, and
+said quietly,--
+
+"Where is your husband?"
+
+There was no trace of embarrassment, apology, or even of
+consciousness in her pretty face as she replied, passing her
+hand lightly through his hair,--
+
+"Oh, Jim?  I've packed him off!"
+
+"Packed him off!" echoed Clarence, slightly astonished.
+
+"Yes, to Fair Plains, full tilt after your wife's buggy.  You see,
+Clarence, after the old cat--that's your wife, please--left, I
+wanted to make sure she had gone, and wasn't hangin' round to lead
+you off again with your leg tied to her apron string like a
+chicken's!  No! I said to Jim, 'Just you ride after her until you
+see she's safe and sound in the down coach from Fair Plains without
+her knowin' it, and if she's inclined to hang back or wobble any,
+you post back here and let me know!'  I told him I would stay and
+look after you to see you didn't bolt too!"  She laughed, and then
+added, "But I didn't think I should fall into the old ways so soon,
+and have such a nice time.  Did you, Clarence?"
+
+She looked so irresponsible, sitting there with her face near his,
+and so childishly, or perhaps thoughtlessly, happy, that he could
+only admire her levity, and even the slight shock that her flippant
+allusion to his wife had given him seemed to him only a weakness of
+his own.  After all, was not hers the true philosophy?  Why should
+not these bright eyes see things more clearly than his own?
+Nevertheless, with his eyes still fixed upon them, he continued,--
+
+"And Jim was willing to go?"
+
+She stopped, with her fingers still lifting a lock of his hair.
+"Why, yes, you silly--why shouldn't he?  I'd like to see him
+refuse.  Why, Lord! Jim will do anything I ask him."  She put down
+the lock of hair, and suddenly looking full into his eyes, said,
+"That's just the difference between him and me, and you and--that
+woman!"
+
+"Then you love him!"
+
+"About as much as you love her," she said, with an unaffected
+laugh; "only he don't wind me around his finger."
+
+No doubt she was right for all her thoughtlessness, and yet he was
+going to fight about that woman to-morrow!  No--he forgot; he was
+going to fight Captain Pinckney because he was like her!
+
+Susy had put her finger on the crease between his brows which this
+supposition had made, and tried to rub it out.
+
+"You know it as well as I do, Clarence," she said, with a pretty
+wrinkling of her own brows, which was her nearest approach to
+thoughtfulness.  "You know you never really liked her, only you
+thought her ways were grander and more proper than mine, and you
+know you were always a little bit of a snob and a prig too--dear
+boy.  And Mrs. Peyton was--bless my soul!--a Benham and a planter's
+daughter, and I--I was only a picked-up orphan!  That's where Jim
+is better than you--now sit still, goosey!--even if I don't like
+him as much.  Oh, I know what you're always thinking, you're
+thinking we're both exaggerated and theatrical, ain't you?  But
+don't you think it's a heap better to be exaggerated and theatrical
+about things that are just sentimental and romantic than to be so
+awfully possessed and overcome about things that are only real?
+There, you needn't stare at me so!  It's true.  You've had your
+fill of grandeur and propriety, and--here you are.  And," she added
+with a little chuckle, as she tucked up her feet and leaned a
+little closer to him, "here's ME."
+
+He did not speak, but his arm quite unconsciously passed round her
+small waist.
+
+"You see, Clarence," she went on with equal unconsciousness of the
+act, "you ought never to have let me go--never!  You ought to have
+kept me here--or run away with me.  And you oughtn't to have tried
+to make me proper.  And you oughtn't to have driven me to flirt
+with that horrid Spaniard, and you oughtn't to have been so
+horribly cold and severe when I did.  And you oughtn't to have made
+me take up with Jim, who was the only one who thought me his equal.
+I might have been very silly and capricious; I might have been very
+vain, but my vanity isn't a bit worse than your pride; my love of
+praise and applause in the theatre isn't a bit more horrid than
+your fears of what people might think of you or me.  That's gospel
+truth, isn't it, Clarence?  Tell me!  Don't look that way and this--
+look at ME!  I ain't poisonous, Clarence.  Why, one of your cheeks
+is redder than the other, Clarence; that's the one that's turned
+from me.  Come," she went on, taking the lapels of his coat between
+her hands and half shaking him, half drawing him nearer her bright
+face.  "Tell me--isn't it true?"
+
+"I was thinking of you just now when I fell asleep, Susy," he said.
+He did not know why he said it; he had not intended to tell her, he
+had only meant to avoid a direct answer to her question; yet even
+now he went on.  "And I thought of you when I was out there in the
+rose garden waiting to come in here."
+
+"You did?" she said, drawing in her breath.  A wave of delicate
+pink color came up to her very eyes, it seemed to him as quickly
+and as innocently as when she was a girl.  "And what DID you think,
+Klarns," she half whispered--"tell me."
+
+He did not speak, but answered her blue eyes and then her lips, as
+her arms slipped quite naturally around his neck.
+
+        .        .        .        .        .        .
+
+The dawn was breaking as Clarence and Jim Hooker emerged together
+from the gate of the casa.  Mr. Hooker looked sleepy.  He had
+found, after his return from Fair Plains, that his host had an
+early engagement at Santa Inez, and he had insisted upon rising to
+see him off.  It was with difficulty, indeed, that Clarence could
+prevent his accompanying him.  Clarence had not revealed to Susy
+the night before the real object of his journey, nor did Hooker
+evidently suspect it, yet when the former had mounted his horse, he
+hesitated for an instant, extending his hand.
+
+"If I should happen to be detained," he began with a half smile.
+
+But Jim was struggling with a yawn.  "That's all right--don't mind
+us," he said, stretching his arms.  Clarence's hesitating hand
+dropped to his side, and with a light reckless laugh and a half
+sense of providential relief he galloped away.
+
+What happened immediately thereafter during his solitary ride to
+Santa Inez, looking back upon it in after years, seemed but a
+confused recollection, more like a dream.  The long stretches of
+vague distance, gradually opening clearer with the rising sun in an
+unclouded sky; the meeting with a few early or belated travelers
+and his unconscious avoidance of them, as if they might know of his
+object; the black shadows of foreshortened cattle rising before him
+on the plain and arousing the same uneasy sensation of their being
+waylaying men; the wondering recognition of houses and landmarks he
+had long been familiar with; his purposeless attempts to recall the
+circumstances in which he had known them--all these were like a
+dream.  So, too, were the recollections of the night before, the
+episode with Susy, already mingled and blended with the memory of
+their previous past; his futile attempts to look forward to the
+future, always, however, abandoned with relief at the thought that
+the next few hours might make them unnecessary.  So also was the
+sudden realization that Santa Inez was before him, when he had
+thought he was not yet halfway there, and as he dismounted before
+the Court House his singular feeling--followed, however, by no fear
+or distress--was that he had come so early to the rendezvous that
+he was not yet quite prepared for it.
+
+This same sense of unreality pervaded his meeting with the deputy
+sheriff, at the news that the Federal judge had, as was expected,
+dismissed the prisoners on their own recognizances, and that
+Captain Pinckney was at the hotel at breakfast.  In the like
+abstracted manner he replied to the one or two questions of the
+deputy, exhibited the pistols he had brought with him, and finally
+accompanied him to a little meadow hidden by trees, below the
+hotel, where the other principal and his seconds were awaiting
+them.  And here he awoke--clear-eyed, keen, forceful, and intense!
+
+So stimulated were his faculties that his sense of hearing in its
+acuteness took in every word of the conversation between the
+seconds, a few paces distant.  He heard his adversary's seconds say
+carelessly to the deputy sheriff, "I presume this is a case where
+there will be no apology or mediation," and the deputy's reply, "I
+reckon my man means business, but he seems a little queer."  He
+heard the other second laugh, and say lightly, "They're apt to be
+so when it's their first time out," followed by the more anxious
+aside of the other second as the deputy turned away,--"Yes, but by
+G-d I don't like his looks!"  His sense of sight was also so acute
+that having lost the choice of position, when the coin was tossed,
+and being turned with his face to the sun, even through the glare
+he saw, with unerring distinctness of outline, the black-coated
+figure of his opponent moved into range--saw the perfect outline of
+his features, and how the easy, supercilious smile, as he threw
+away his cigar, appeared to drop out of his face with a kind of
+vacant awe as he faced him.  He felt his nerves become as steel as
+the counting began, and at the word "three," knew he had fired by
+the recoil of the pistol in his leveled hand, simultaneously with
+its utterance.  And at the same moment, still standing like a rock,
+he saw his adversary miserably collapse, his legs grotesquely
+curving inwards under him,--without even the dignity of death in
+his fall,--and so sink helplessly like a felled bull to the ground.
+Still erect, and lowering only the muzzle of his pistol, as a thin
+feather of smoke curled up its shining side, he saw the doctor and
+seconds run quickly to the heap, try to lift its limp impotence
+into shape, and let it drop again with the words, "Right through
+the forehead, by G-d!"
+
+"You've done for him," said the deputy, turning to Clarence with a
+singular look of curiosity, "and I reckon you had better get out of
+this mighty quick.  They didn't expect it; they're just ragin';
+they may round on you--and"--he added, more slowly, "they seem to
+have just found out who you are."
+
+Even while he was speaking, Clarence, with his quickened ear, heard
+the words, "One of Hamilton Brant's pups" "Just like his father,"
+from the group around the dead man.  He did not hesitate, but
+walked coolly towards them.  Yet a certain fierce pride--which he
+had never known before--stirred in his veins as their voices hushed
+and they half recoiled before him.
+
+"Am I to understand from my second, gentlemen," he said, looking
+round the group, "that you are not satisfied?"
+
+"The fight was square enough," said Pinckney's second in some
+embarrassment, "but I reckon that he," pointing to the dead man,
+"did not know who you were."
+
+"Do you mean that he did not know that I was the son of a man
+proficient in the use of arms?"
+
+"I reckon that's about it," returned the second, glancing at the
+others.
+
+"I am glad to say, sir, that I have a better opinion of his
+courage," said Clarence, lifting his hat to the dead body as he
+turned away.
+
+Yet he was conscious of no remorse, concern, or even pity in his
+act.  Perhaps this was visible in his face, for the group appeared
+awed by this perfection of the duelist's coolness, and even
+returned his formal parting salutation with a vague and timid
+respect.  He thanked the deputy, regained the hotel, saddled his
+horse and galloped away.
+
+But not towards the Rancho.  Now that he could think of his future,
+that had no place in his reflections; even the episode of Susy was
+forgotten in the new and strange conception of himself and his
+irresponsibility which had come upon him with the killing of
+Pinckney and the words of his second.  It was his dead father who
+had stiffened his arm and directed the fatal shot!  It was
+hereditary influences--which others had been so quick to recognize--
+that had brought about this completing climax of his trouble.  How
+else could he account for it that he--a conscientious, peaceful,
+sensitive man, tender and forgiving as he had believed himself to
+be--could now feel so little sorrow or compunction for his
+culminating act?  He had read of successful duelists who were
+haunted by remorse for their first victim; who retained a terrible
+consciousness of the appearance of the dead man; he had no such
+feeling; he had only a grim contentment in the wiped-out
+inefficient life, and contempt for the limp and helpless body.  He
+suddenly recalled his callousness as a boy when face to face with
+the victims of the Indian massacre, his sense of fastidious
+superciliousness in the discovery of the body of Susy's mother!--
+surely it was the cold blood of his father influencing him ever
+thus.  What had he to do with affection, with domestic happiness,
+with the ordinary ambitions of man's life--whose blood was frozen
+at its source!  Yet even with this very thought came once more the
+old inconsistent tenderness he had as a boy lavished upon the
+almost unknown and fugitive father who had forsaken his childish
+companionship, and remembered him only by secret gifts.  He
+remembered how he had worshiped him even while the pious padres at
+San Jose were endeavoring to eliminate this terrible poison from
+his blood and combat his hereditary instinct in his conflicts with
+his school-fellows.  And it was a part of this inconsistency that,
+riding away from the scene of his first bloodshed, his eyes were
+dimmed with moisture, not for his victim, but for the one being who
+he believed had impelled him to the act.
+
+This and more was in his mind during his long ride to Fair Plains,
+his journey by coach to the Embarcadero, his midnight passage
+across the dark waters of the bay, and his re-entrance to San
+Francisco, but what should be his future was still unsettled.
+
+As he wound round the crest of Russian Hill and looked down again
+upon the awakened city, he was startled to see that it was
+fluttering and streaming with bunting.  From every public building
+and hotel, from the roofs of private houses, and even the windows
+of lonely dwellings, flapped and waved the striped and starry
+banner.  The steady breath of the sea carried it out from masts and
+yards of ships at their wharves, from the battlements of the forts
+Alcatraz and Yerba Bueno.  He remembered that the ferryman had told
+him that the news from Fort Sumter had swept the city with a
+revulsion of patriotic sentiment, and that there was no doubt that
+the State was saved to the Union.  He looked down upon it with
+haggard, bewildered eyes, and then a strange gasp and fullness of
+the throat!  For afar a solitary bugle had blown the "reveille" at
+Fort Alcatraz.
+
+
+
+PART II.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+Night at last, and the stir and tumult of a great fight over.  Even
+the excitement that had swept this portion of the battlefield--only
+a small section of a vaster area of struggle--into which a brigade
+had marched, held its own, been beaten back, recovered its ground,
+and pursuing, had passed out of it forever, leaving only its dead
+behind, and knowing nothing more of that struggle than its own
+impact and momentum--even this wild excitement had long since
+evaporated with the stinging smoke of gunpowder, the acrid smell of
+burning rags from the clothing of a dead soldier fired by a
+bursting shell, or the heated reek of sweat and leather.  A cool
+breath that seemed to bring back once more the odor of the upturned
+earthworks along the now dumb line of battle began to move from the
+suggestive darkness beyond.
+
+But into that awful penetralia of death and silence there was no
+invasion--there had been no retreat.  A few of the wounded had been
+brought out, under fire, but the others had been left with the dead
+for the morning light and succor.  For it was known that in that
+horrible obscurity, riderless horses, frantic with the smell of
+blood, galloped wildly here and there, or, maddened by wounds,
+plunged furiously at the intruder; that the wounded soldier, still
+armed, could not always distinguish friend from foe or from the
+ghouls of camp followers who stripped the dead in the darkness and
+struggled with the dying.  A shot or two heard somewhere in that
+obscurity counted as nothing with the long fusillade that had swept
+it in the daytime; the passing of a single life, more or less,
+amounted to little in the long roll-call of the day's slaughter.
+
+But with the first beams of the morning sun--and the slowly moving
+"relief detail" from the camp--came a weird half-resurrection of
+that ghastly field.  Then it was that the long rays of sunlight,
+streaming away a mile beyond the battle line, pointed out the first
+harvest of the dead where the reserves had been posted.  There they
+lay in heaps and piles, killed by solid shot or bursting shells
+that had leaped the battle line to plunge into the waiting ranks
+beyond.  As the sun lifted higher its beams fell within the range
+of musketry fire, where the dead lay thicker,--even as they had
+fallen when killed outright,--with arms extended and feet at all
+angles to the field.  As it touched these dead upturned faces,
+strangely enough it brought out no expression of pain or anguish--
+but rather as if death had arrested them only in surprise and awe.
+It revealed on the lips of those who had been mortally wounded and
+had turned upon their side the relief which death had brought their
+suffering, sometimes shown in a faint smile.  Mounting higher, it
+glanced upon the actual battle line, curiously curving for the
+shelter of walls, fences, and breastworks, and here the dead lay,
+even as when they lay and fired, their faces prone in the grass but
+their muskets still resting across the breastworks.  Exposed to
+grape and canister from the battery on the ridge, death had come to
+them mercifully also--through the head and throat.  And now the
+whole field lay bare in the sunlight, broken with grotesque shadows
+cast from sitting, crouching, half-recumbent but always rigid
+figures, which might have been effigies on their own monuments.
+One half-kneeling soldier, with head bowed between his stiffened
+hands, might have stood for a carven figure of Grief at the feet of
+his dead comrade.  A captain, shot through the brain in the act of
+mounting a wall, lay sideways half across it, his lips parted with
+a word of command; his sword still pointing over the barrier the
+way that they should go.
+
+But it was not until the sun had mounted higher that it struck the
+central horror of the field and seemed to linger there in dazzling
+persistence, now and then returning to it in startling flashes that
+it might be seen of men and those who brought succor.  A tiny brook
+had run obliquely near the battle line.  It was here that, the
+night before the battle, friend and foe had filled their canteens
+side by side with soldierly recklessness--or perhaps a higher
+instinct--purposely ignoring each other's presence; it was here
+that the wounded had afterwards crept, crawled, and dragged
+themselves, here they had pushed, wrangled, striven, and fought for
+a draught of that precious fluid which assuaged the thirst of their
+wounds--or happily put them out of their misery forever; here
+overborne, crushed, suffocated by numbers, pouring their own blood
+into the flood, and tumbling after it with their helpless bodies,
+they dammed the stream, until recoiling, red and angry, it had
+burst its banks and overflowed the cotton-field in a broad pool
+that now sparkled in the sunlight.  But below this human dam--a
+mile away--where the brook still crept sluggishly, the ambulance
+horses sniffed and started from it.
+
+The detail moved on slowly, doing their work expeditiously, and
+apparently callously, but really only with that mechanical movement
+that saves emotion.  Only once they were moved to an outbreak of
+indignation,--the discovery of the body of an officer whose pockets
+were turned inside out, but whose hand was still tightly grasped on
+his buttoned waistcoat, as if resisting the outrage that had been
+done while still in life.  As the men disengaged the stiffened hand
+something slipped from the waistcoat to the ground.  The corporal
+picked it up and handed it to his officer.  It was a sealed packet.
+The officer received it with the carelessness which long experience
+of these pathetic missives from the dying to their living relations
+had induced, and dropped it in the pocket of his tunic, with the
+half-dozen others that he had picked up that morning, and moved on
+with the detail.  A little further on they halted, in the attitude
+of attention, as a mounted officer appeared, riding slowly down the
+line.
+
+There was something more than the habitual respect of their
+superior in their faces as he came forward.  For it was the general
+who had commanded the brigade the day before,--the man who had
+leaped with one bound into the foremost rank of military leaders.
+It was his invincible spirit that had led the advance, held back
+defeat against overwhelming numbers, sustained the rally, impressed
+his subordinate officers with his own undeviating purpose, and even
+infused them with an almost superstitious belief in his destiny of
+success.  It was this man who had done what it was deemed impossible
+to do,--what even at the time it was thought unwise and unstrategic
+to do,--who had held a weak position, of apparently no importance,
+under the mandate of an incomprehensible order from his superior,
+which at best asked only for a sacrifice and was rewarded with a
+victory.  He had decimated his brigade, but the wounded and dying
+had cheered him as he passed, and the survivors had pursued the
+enemy until the bugle called them back.  For such a record he looked
+still too young and scholarly, albeit his handsome face was dark and
+energetic, and his manner taciturn.
+
+His quick eye had already caught sight of the rifled body of the
+officer, and contracted.  As the captain of the detail saluted him
+he said curtly,--
+
+"I thought the orders were to fire upon any one desecrating the
+dead?"
+
+"They are, General; but the hyenas don't give us a chance.  That's
+all yonder poor fellow saved from their claws," replied the
+officer, as he held up the sealed packet.  "It has no address."
+
+The general took it, examined the envelope, thrust it into his
+belt, and said,--
+
+"I will take charge of it."
+
+The sound of horses' hoofs came from the rocky roadside beyond
+the brook.  Both men turned.  A number of field officers were
+approaching.
+
+"The division staff," said the captain, in a lower voice, falling
+back.
+
+They came slowly forward, a central figure on a gray horse leading
+here--as in history.  A short, thick-set man with a grizzled beard
+closely cropped around an inscrutable mouth, and the serious
+formality of a respectable country deacon in his aspect, which even
+the major-generals blazon on the shoulder-strap of his loose tunic
+on his soldierly seat in the saddle could not entirely obliterate.
+He had evidently perceived the general of brigade, and quickened
+his horse as the latter drew up.  The staff followed more leisurely,
+but still with some curiosity, to witness the meeting of the first
+general of the army with the youngest.  The division general
+saluted, but almost instantly withdrew his leathern gauntlet, and
+offered his bared hand to the brigadier.  The words of heroes are
+scant.  The drawn-up detail, the waiting staff listened.  This was
+all they heard:--
+
+"Halleck tells me you're from California?"
+
+"Yes, General."
+
+"Ah! I lived there, too, in the early days."
+
+"Wonderful country.  Developed greatly since my time, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, General."
+
+"Great resources; finest wheat-growing country in the world, sir.
+You don't happen to know what the actual crop was this year?"
+
+"Hardly, General! but something enormous."
+
+"Yes, I have always said it would be.  Have a cigar?"
+
+He handed his cigar-case to the brigadier.  Then he took one
+himself, lighted it at the smouldering end of the one he had taken
+from his mouth, was about to throw the stump carelessly down, but,
+suddenly recollecting himself, leaned over his horse, and dropped
+it carefully a few inches away from the face of a dead soldier.
+Then, straightening himself in the saddle, he shoved his horse
+against the brigadier, moving him a little further on, while a
+slight movement of his hand kept the staff from following.
+
+"A heavy loss here!"
+
+"I'm afraid so, General."
+
+"It couldn't be helped.  We had to rush in your brigade to gain
+time, and occupy the enemy, until we could change front."
+
+The young general looked at the shrewd, cold eyes of his chief.
+
+"Change front?" he echoed.
+
+"Yes.  Before a gun was fired, we discovered that the enemy was in
+complete possession of all our plans, and knew every detail of our
+forward movement.  All had to be changed."
+
+The younger man now instantly understood the incomprehensible order
+of the day before.
+
+The general of division continued, with his first touch of official
+formality,--
+
+"You understand, therefore, General Brant, that in the face of this
+extraordinary treachery, the utmost vigilance is required, and a
+complete surveillance of your camp followers and civilians, to
+detect the actual spy within our lines, or the traitor we are
+harboring, who has become possessed of this information.  You will
+overhaul your brigade, and weed out all suspects, and in the
+position which you are to take to-morrow, and the plantation you
+will occupy, you will see that your private quarters, as well as
+your lines, are cleared of all but those you can vouch for."
+
+He reined in his horse, again extended his hand, saluted, and
+rejoined his staff.
+
+Brigadier-General Clarence Brant remained for a moment with his
+head bent in thoughtful contemplation of the coolness of his
+veteran chief under this exciting disclosure, and the strategy with
+which he had frustrated the traitor's success.  Then his eye caught
+the sealed packet in his belt.  He mechanically drew it out, and
+broke the seal.  The envelope was filled with papers and memorandums.
+But as he looked at them his face darkened and his brow knit.  He
+glanced quickly around him.  The staff had trotted away; the captain
+and his detail were continuing their work at a little distance.  He
+took a long breath, for he was holding in his hand a tracing of
+their camp, even of the position he was to occupy tomorrow, and a
+detailed account of the movements, plans, and force of the whole
+division as had been arranged in council of war the day before the
+battle!  But there was no indication of the writer or his intentions.
+
+He thrust the papers hurriedly back into the envelope, but placed
+it, this time, in his breast.  He galloped towards the captain.
+
+"Let me see again the officer from whom you took that packet!"
+
+The captain led him to where the body lay, with others, extended
+more decently on the grass awaiting removal.  General Brant with
+difficulty repressed an ejaculation.
+
+"Why, it's one of our own men," he said quickly.
+
+"Yes, General.  They say it's Lieutenant Wainwright, a regular, of
+the paymaster general's department."
+
+"Then what was he doing here?" asked General Brant sternly.
+
+"I can't make out, sir, unless he went into the last advance as a
+volunteer.  Wanted to see the fight, I suppose.  He was a dashing
+fellow, a West Pointer,--and a Southerner, too,--a Virginian."
+
+"A Southerner!" echoed Brant quickly.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Search him again," said Brant quietly.  He had recovered his usual
+coolness, and as the captain again examined the body, he took out
+his tablets and wrote a few lines.  It was an order to search the
+quarters of Lieutenant Wainwright and bring all papers, letters,
+and documents to him.  He then beckoned one of the detail towards
+him.  "Take that to the provost marshal at once.  Well, Captain,"
+he added calmly, as the officer again approached him, "what do you
+find?"
+
+"Only this, sir," returned the captain, with a half smile, producing
+a small photograph.  "I suppose it was overlooked, too."
+
+He handed it to Brant.
+
+There was a sudden fixing of his commanding officer's eyes, but his
+face did not otherwise change.
+
+"It's the usual find, General.  Always a photograph!  But this time
+a handsome woman!"
+
+"Very," said Clarence Brant quietly.  It was the portrait of his
+own wife.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Nevertheless, so complete was his control of voice and manner that,
+as he rode on to his quarters, no one would have dreamed that
+General Brant had just looked upon the likeness of the wife from
+whom he had parted in anger four years ago.  Still less would they
+have suspected the strange fear that came upon him that in some way
+she was connected with the treachery he had just discovered.  He
+had heard from her only once, and then through her late husband's
+lawyer, in regard to her Californian property, and believed that
+she had gone to her relations in Alabama, where she had identified
+herself with the Southern cause, even to the sacrifice of her
+private fortune.  He had heard her name mentioned in the Southern
+press as a fascinating society leader, and even coadjutrix of
+Southern politicians,--but he had no reason to believe that she had
+taken so active or so desperate a part in the struggle.  He tried
+to think that his uneasiness sprang from his recollection of the
+previous treachery of Captain Pinckney, and the part that she had
+played in the Californian conspiracy, although he had long since
+acquitted her of the betrayal of any nearer trust.  But there was a
+fateful similarity in the two cases.  There was no doubt that this
+Lieutenant Wainwright was a traitor in the camp,--that he had
+succumbed to the usual sophistry of his class in regard to his
+superior allegiance to his native State.  But was there the
+inducement of another emotion, or was the photograph only the
+souvenir of a fascinating priestess of rebellion, whom the dead man
+had met?  There was perhaps less of feeling than scorn in the first
+suggestion, but he was nevertheless relieved when the provost
+marshal found no other incriminating papers in Wainwright's
+effects.  Nor did he reveal to the division general the finding of
+the photograph.  It was sufficient to disclose the work of the
+traitor without adding what might be a clue to his wife's
+participation in it, near or remote.  There was risk enough in the
+former course,--which his duty made imperative.  He hardly dared to
+think of the past day's slaughter, which--there was no doubt now--
+had been due to the previous work of the spy, and how his brigade
+had been selected--by the irony of Fate--to suffer for and yet
+retrieve it.  If she had had a hand in this wicked plot, ought he
+to spare her?  Or was his destiny and hers to be thus monstrously
+linked together?
+
+Luckily, however, the expiation of the chief offender and the
+timely discovery of his papers enabled the division commander to
+keep the affair discreetly silent, and to enjoin equal secrecy on
+the part of Brant.  The latter, however, did not relax his
+vigilance, and after the advance the next day he made a minute
+inspection of the ground he was to occupy, its approaches and
+connections with the outlying country, and the rebel lines;
+increased the stringency of picket and sentry regulations, and
+exercised a rigid surveillance of non-combatants and civilians
+within the lines, even to the lowest canteener or camp follower.
+Then he turned his attention to the house he was to occupy as his
+headquarters.
+
+It was a fine specimen of the old colonial planter's house, with
+its broad veranda, its great detached offices and negro quarters,
+and had, thus far, escaped the ravages and billeting of the war.
+It had been occupied by its owner up to a few days before the
+engagement, and so great had been the confidence of the enemy in
+their success that it had been used as the Confederate headquarters
+on the morning of the decisive battle.  Jasmine and rose, unstained
+by the sulphur of gunpowder, twined around its ruined columns and
+half hid the recessed windows; the careless flower garden was still
+in its unkempt and unplucked luxuriance; the courtyard before the
+stables alone showed marks of the late military occupancy, and was
+pulverized by the uneasy horse-hoofs of the waiting staff.  But the
+mingled impress of barbaric prodigality with patriarchal simplicity
+was still there in the domestic arrangements of a race who lived on
+half equal familiarity with strangers and their own servants.
+
+The negro servants still remained, with a certain cat-like fidelity
+to the place, and adapted themselves to the Northern invaders with
+a childlike enjoyment of the novelty of change.  Brant, nevertheless,
+looked them over with an experienced eye, and satisfied himself of
+their trustworthiness; there was the usual number of "boys,"
+gray-haired and grizzled in body service, and the "mammys" and
+"aunties" of the kitchen.  There were two or three rooms in the wing
+which still contained private articles, pictures and souvenirs of
+the family, and a "young lady's" boudoir, which Brant, with
+characteristic delicacy, kept carefully isolated and intact from his
+military household, and accessible only to the family servants.  The
+room he had selected for himself was nearest it,--a small, plainly
+furnished apartment, with an almost conventual simplicity in its
+cold, white walls and draperies, and the narrow, nun-like bed.  It
+struck him that it might have belonged to some prim elder daughter
+or maiden aunt, who had acted as housekeeper, as it commanded the
+wing and servants' offices, with easy access to the central hall.
+
+There followed a week of inactivity in which Brant felt a singular
+resemblance in this Southern mansion to the old casa at Robles.
+The afternoon shadows of the deep verandas recalled the old
+monastic gloom of the Spanish house, which even the presence of a
+lounging officer or waiting orderly could not entirely dissipate,
+and the scent of the rose and jasmine from his windows overcame him
+with sad memories.  He began to chafe under this inaction, and long
+again for the excitement of the march and bivouac, in which, for
+the past four years, he had buried his past.
+
+He was sitting one afternoon alone before his reports and
+dispatches, when this influence seemed so strong that he half
+impulsively laid them aside to indulge in along reverie.  He was
+recalling his last day at Robles, the early morning duel with
+Pinckney, the return to San Francisco, and the sudden resolution
+which sent him that day across the continent to offer his services
+to the Government.  He remembered his delay in the Western town,
+where a volunteer regiment was being recruited, his entrance into
+it as a private, his rapid selection, through the force of his
+sheer devotion and intelligent concentration, to the captaincy of
+his company; his swift promotion on hard-fought fields to the head
+of the regiment, and the singular success that had followed his
+resistless energy, which left him no time to think of anything but
+his duty.  The sudden intrusion of his wife upon his career now,
+even in this accidental and perhaps innocent way, had seriously
+unsettled him.
+
+The shadows were growing heavier and deeper, it lacked only a few
+moments of the sunset bugle, when he was recalled to himself by
+that singular instinctive consciousness, common to humanity, of
+being intently looked at.  He turned quickly,--the door behind him
+closed softly.  He rose and slipped into the hall.  The tall figure
+of a woman was going down the passage.  She was erect and graceful;
+but, as she turned towards the door leading to the offices, he
+distinctly saw the gaudily turbaned head and black silhouette of a
+negress.  Nevertheless, he halted a moment at the door of the next
+room.
+
+"See who that woman is who has just passed, Mr. Martin.  She
+doesn't seem to belong to the house."
+
+The young officer rose, put on his cap, and departed.  In a few
+moments he returned.
+
+"Was she tall, sir, of a good figure, and very straight?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"She is a servant of our neighbors, the Manlys, who occasionally
+visits the servants here.  A mulatto, I think."
+
+Brant reflected.  Many of the mulattoes and negresses were of good
+figure, and the habit of carrying burdens on their heads gave them
+a singularly erect carriage.
+
+The lieutenant looked at his chief.
+
+"Have you any orders to give concerning her, General?"
+
+"No," said Brant, after a moment's pause, and turned away.
+
+The officer smiled.  It seemed a good story to tell at mess of this
+human weakness of his handsome, reserved, and ascetic-looking
+leader.
+
+A few mornings afterwards Brant was interrupted over his reports by
+the almost abrupt entrance of the officer of the day.  His face was
+flushed, and it was evident that only the presence of his superior
+restrained his excitement.  He held a paper in his hand.
+
+"A lady presents this order and pass from Washington, countersigned
+by the division general."
+
+"A lady?"
+
+"Yes, sir, she is dressed as such.  But she has not only declined
+the most ordinary civilities and courtesies we have offered her,
+but she has insulted Mr. Martin and myself grossly, and demands to
+be shown to you--alone."
+
+Brant took the paper.  It was a special order from the President,
+passing Miss Matilda Faulkner through the Federal lines to visit
+her uncle's home, known as "Gray Oaks," now held and occupied as
+the headquarters of Brant's Brigade, in order to arrange for the
+preservation and disposal of certain family effects and private
+property that still remained there, or to take and carry away such
+property; and invoking all necessary aid and assistance from the
+United States forces in such occupancy.  It was countersigned by
+the division commander.  It was perfectly regular and of undoubted
+authenticity.  He had heard of passes of this kind,--the terror of
+the army,--issued in Washington under some strange controlling
+influence and against military protest; but he did not let his
+subordinate see the uneasiness with which it filled him.
+
+"Show her in," he said quietly.
+
+But she had already entered, brushing scornfully past the officer,
+and drawing her skirt aside, as if contaminated: a very pretty
+Southern girl, scornful and red-lipped, clad in a gray riding-
+habit, and still carrying her riding-whip clenched ominously in her
+slim, gauntleted hand!
+
+"You have my permit in your hand," she said brusquely, hardly
+raising her eyes to Brant.  "I suppose it's all straight enough,--
+and even if it isn't, I don't reckon to be kept waiting with those
+hirelings."
+
+"Your 'permit' is 'straight' enough, Miss Faulkner," said Brant,
+slowly reading her name from the document before him.  "But, as it
+does not seem to include permission to insult my officers, you will
+perhaps allow them first to retire."
+
+He made a sign to the officer, who passed out of the door.
+
+As it closed, he went on, in a gentle but coldly unimpassioned
+voice,--
+
+"I perceive you are a Southern lady, and therefore I need not
+remind you that it is not considered good form to treat even the
+slaves of those one does not like uncivilly, and I must, therefore,
+ask you to keep your active animosity for myself."
+
+The young girl lifted her eyes.  She had evidently not expected to
+meet a man so young, so handsome, so refined, and so coldly
+invincible in manner.  Still less was she prepared for that kind of
+antagonism.  In keeping up her preconcerted attitude towards the
+"Northern hireling," she had been met with official brusqueness,
+contemptuous silence, or aggrieved indignation,--but nothing so
+exasperating as this.  She even fancied that this elegant but
+sardonic-looking soldier was mocking her.  She bit her red lip,
+but, with a scornful gesture of her riding-whip, said,--
+
+"I reckon that your knowledge of Southern ladies is, for certain
+reasons, not very extensive."
+
+"Pardon me; I have had the honor of marrying one."
+
+Apparently more exasperated than before, she turned upon him
+abruptly.
+
+"You say my pass is all right.  Then I presume I may attend to the
+business that brought me here."
+
+"Certainly; but you will forgive me if I imagined that an
+expression of contempt for your hosts was a part of it."
+
+He rang a bell on the table.  It was responded to by an orderly.
+
+"Send all the household servants here."
+
+The room was presently filled with the dusky faces of the negro
+retainers.  Here and there was the gleaming of white teeth, but a
+majority of the assembly wore the true negro serious acceptance of
+the importance of "an occasion."  One or two even affected an
+official and soldierly bearing.  And, as he fully expected, there
+were several glances of significant recognition of the stranger.
+
+"You will give," said Brant sternly, "every aid and attention to
+the wants of this young lady, who is here to represent the
+interests of your old master.  As she will be entirely dependent
+upon you in all things connected with her visit here, see to it
+that she does not have to complain to me of any inattention,--or be
+obliged to ask for other assistance."
+
+As Miss Faulkner, albeit a trifle paler in the cheek, but as
+scornful as ever, was about to follow the servants from the room,
+Brant stopped her, with a coldly courteous gesture.
+
+"You will understand, therefore, Miss Faulkner, that you have your
+wish, and that you will not be exposed to any contact with the
+members of my military family, nor they with you."
+
+"Am I then to be a prisoner in this house--and under a free pass of
+your--President?" she said indignantly.
+
+"By no means!  You are free to come and go, and see whom you
+please.  I have no power to control your actions.  But I have the
+power to control theirs."
+
+She swept furiously from the room.
+
+"That is quite enough to fill her with a desire to flirt with every
+man here," said Brant to himself, with a faint smile; "but I fancy
+they have had a taste enough of her quality."
+
+Nevertheless he sat down and wrote a few lines to the division
+commander, pointing out that he had already placed the owner's
+private property under strict surveillance, that it was cared for
+and perfectly preserved by the household servants, and that the
+pass was evidently obtained as a subterfuge.
+
+To this he received a formal reply, regretting that the authorities
+at Washington still found it necessary to put this kind of risk and
+burden on the army in the field, but that the order emanated from
+the highest authority, and must be strictly obeyed.  At the bottom
+of the page was a characteristic line in pencil in the general's
+own hand--"Not the kind that is dangerous."
+
+A flush mounted Brant's cheeks, as if it contained not only a
+hidden, but a personal significance.  He had thought of his own
+wife!
+
+Singularly enough, a day or two later, at dinner, the conversation
+turned upon the intense sectional feeling of Southern women,
+probably induced by their late experiences.  Brant, at the head of
+the table, in his habitual abstraction, was scarcely following the
+somewhat excited diction of Colonel Strangeways, one of his staff.
+
+"No, sir," reiterated that indignant warrior, "take my word for it!
+A Southern woman isn't to be trusted on this point, whether as a
+sister, sweetheart, or wife.  And when she is trusted, she's bound
+to get the better of the man in any of those relations!"
+
+The dead silence that followed, the ominous joggle of a glass at
+the speaker's elbow, the quick, sympathetic glance that Brant
+instinctively felt was directed at his own face, and the abrupt
+change of subject, could not but arrest his attention, even if he
+had overlooked the speech.  His face, however, betrayed nothing.
+It had never, however, occurred to him before that his family
+affairs might be known--neither had he ever thought of keeping them
+a secret.  It seemed so purely a personal and private misfortune,
+that he had never dreamed of its having any public interest.  And
+even now he was a little ashamed of what he believed was his
+sensitiveness to mere conventional criticism, which, with the
+instinct of a proud man, he had despised.
+
+He was not far wrong in his sardonic intuition of the effect of his
+prohibition upon Miss Faulkner's feelings.  Certainly that young
+lady, when not engaged in her mysterious occupation of arranging
+her uncle's effects, occasionally was seen in the garden, and in
+the woods beyond.  Although her presence was the signal for the
+"oblique" of any lounging "shoulder strap," or the vacant "front"
+of a posted sentry, she seemed to regard their occasional proximity
+with less active disfavor.  Once, when she had mounted the wall to
+gather a magnolia blossom, the chair by which she had ascended
+rolled over, leaving her on the wall.  At a signal from the guard-
+room, two sappers and miners appeared carrying a scaling-ladder,
+which they placed silently against the wall, and as silently
+withdrew.  On another occasion, the same spirited young lady, whom
+Brant was satisfied would have probably imperiled her life under
+fire in devotion to her cause, was brought ignominiously to bay in
+the field by that most appalling of domestic animals, the wandering
+and untrammeled cow!  Brant could not help smiling as he heard the
+quick, harsh call to "Turn out, guard," saw the men march stolidly
+with fixed bayonets to the vicinity of the affrighted animal, who
+fled, leaving the fair stranger to walk shamefacedly to the house.
+He was surprised, however, that she should have halted before his
+door, and with tremulous indignation, said,--
+
+"I thank you, sir, for your chivalrousness in turning a defenseless
+woman into ridicule."
+
+"I regret, Miss Faulkner," began Brant gravely, "that you should
+believe that I am able to control the advances of farmyard cattle
+as easily as"--  But he stopped, as he saw that the angry flash of
+her blue eyes, as she darted past him, was set in tears.  A little
+remorseful on the following day, he added a word to his ordinary
+cap-lifting when she went by, but she retained a reproachful
+silence.  Later in the day, he received from her servant a
+respectful request for an interview, and was relieved to find that
+she entered his presence with no trace of her former aggression,
+but rather with the resignation of a deeply injured, yet not
+entirely unforgiving, woman.
+
+"I thought," she began coldly, "that I ought to inform you that I
+would probably be able to conclude my business here by the day
+after to-morrow, and that you would then be relieved of my
+presence.  I am aware--indeed," she added, bitterly, "I could
+scarcely help perceiving, that it has been an exceedingly irksome
+one."
+
+"I trust," began Brant coldly, "that no gentleman of my command
+has"--
+
+"No!"
+
+She interrupted him quickly, with a return of her former manner,
+and a passionate sweep of the hand.
+
+"Do you suppose for a moment that I am speaking--that I am even
+thinking--of them?  What are they to me?"
+
+"Thank you.  I am glad to know that they are nothing; and that I
+may now trust that you have consulted my wishes, and have reserved
+your animosity solely for me," returned Brant quietly.  "That being
+so, I see no reason for your hurrying your departure in the least."
+
+She rose instantly.
+
+"I have," she said slowly, controlling herself with a slight
+effort, "found some one who will take my duty off my hands.  She is
+a servant of one of your neighbors,--who is an old friend of my
+uncle's.  The woman is familiar with the house, and our private
+property.  I will give her full instructions to act for me, and
+even an authorization in writing, if you prefer it.  She is already
+in the habit of coming here; but her visits will give you very
+little trouble.  And, as she is a slave, or, as you call it, I
+believe, a chattel, she will be already quite accustomed to the
+treatment which her class are in the habit of receiving from
+Northern hands."
+
+Without waiting to perceive the effect of her Parthian shot, she
+swept proudly out of the room.
+
+"I wonder what she means," mused Brant, as her quick step died away
+in the passage.  "One thing is certain,--a woman like that is
+altogether too impulsive for a spy."
+
+Later, in the twilight, he saw her walking in the garden.  There
+was a figure at her side.  A little curious, he examined it more
+closely from his window.  It was already familiar to him,--the
+erect, shapely form of his neighbor's servant.  A thoughtful look
+passed over his face as he muttered,--"So this is to be her
+deputy."
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Called to a general council of officers at divisional headquarters
+the next day, Brant had little time for further speculation
+regarding his strange guest, but a remark from the division
+commander, that he preferred to commit the general plan of a
+movement then under discussion to their memories rather than to
+written orders in the ordinary routine, seemed to show that his
+chief still suspected the existence of a spy.  He, therefore, told
+him of his late interview with Miss Faulkner, and her probable
+withdrawal in favor of a mulatto neighbor.  The division commander
+received the information with indifference.
+
+"They're much too clever to employ a hussy like that, who shows her
+hand at every turn, either as a spy or a messenger of spies,--and
+the mulattoes are too stupid, to say nothing of their probable
+fidelity to us.  No, General, if we are watched, it is by an eagle,
+and not a mocking-bird.  Miss Faulkner has nothing worse about her
+than her tongue; and there isn't the nigger blood in the whole South
+that would risk a noose for her, or for any of their masters or
+mistresses!"
+
+It was, therefore, perhaps, with some mitigation of his usual
+critical severity that he saw her walking before him alone in the
+lane as he rode home to quarters.  She was apparently lost in a
+half-impatient, half-moody reverie, which even the trotting hoof-
+beats of his own and his orderly's horse had not disturbed.  From
+time to time she struck the myrtle hedge beside her with the head
+of a large flower which hung by its stalk from her listless hands,
+or held it to her face as if to inhale its perfume.  Dismissing his
+orderly by a side path, he rode gently forward, but, to his
+surprise, without turning, or seeming to be aware of his presence,
+she quickened her pace, and even appeared to look from side to side
+for some avenue of escape.  If only to mend matters, he was obliged
+to ride quickly forward to her side, where he threw himself from
+his horse, flung the reins on his arm, and began to walk beside
+her.  She at first turned a slightly flushed cheek away from him,
+and then looked up with a purely simulated start of surprise.
+
+"I am afraid," he said gently, "that I am the first to break my own
+orders in regard to any intrusion on your privacy.  But I wanted to
+ask you if I could give you any aid whatever in the change you
+think of making."
+
+He was quite sincere,--had been touched by her manifest disturbance,
+and, despite his masculine relentlessness of criticism, he had an
+intuition of feminine suffering that was in itself feminine.
+
+"Meaning, that you are in a hurry to get rid of me," she said
+curtly, without raising her eyes.
+
+"Meaning that I only wish to expedite a business which I think is
+unpleasant to you, but which I believe you have undertaken from
+unselfish devotion."
+
+The scant expression of a reserved nature is sometimes more
+attractive to women than the most fluent vivacity.  Possibly there
+was also a melancholy grace in this sardonic soldier's manner that
+affected her, for she looked up, and said impulsively,--
+
+"You think so?"
+
+But he met her eager eyes with some surprise.
+
+"I certainly do," he replied more coldly.  "I can imagine your
+feelings on finding your uncle's home in the possession of your
+enemies, and your presence under the family roof only a sufferance.
+I can hardly believe it a pleasure to you, or a task you would have
+accepted for yourself alone."
+
+"But," she said, turning towards him wickedly, "what if I did it
+only to excite my revenge; what if I knew it would give me courage
+to incite my people to carry war into your own homes; to make you
+of the North feel as I feel, and taste our bitterness?"
+
+"I could easily understand that, too," he returned, with listless
+coldness, "although I don't admit that revenge is an unmixed
+pleasure, even to a woman."
+
+"A woman!" she repeated indignantly.  "There is no sex in a war
+like this."
+
+"You are spoiling your flower," he said quietly.  "It is very
+pretty, and a native one, too; not an invader, or even transplanted.
+May I look at it?"
+
+She hesitated, half recoiling for an instant, and her hand
+trembled.  Then, suddenly and abruptly she said, with a hysteric
+little laugh, "Take it, then," and almost thrust it in his hand.
+
+It certainly was a pretty flower, not unlike a lily in appearance,
+with a bell-like cup and long anthers covered with a fine pollen,
+like red dust.  As he lifted it to his face, to inhale its perfume,
+she uttered a slight cry, and snatched it from his hand.
+
+"There!" she said, with the same nervous laugh.  "I knew you would;
+I ought to have warned you.  The pollen comes off so easily, and
+leaves a stain.  And you've got some on your cheek.  Look!" she
+continued, taking her handkerchief from her pocket and wiping his
+cheek; "see there!"  The delicate cambric showed a blood-red
+streak.
+
+"It grows in a swamp," she continued, in the same excited strain;
+"we call it dragon's teeth,--like the kind that was sown in the
+story, you know.  We children used to find it, and then paint our
+faces and lips with it.  We called it our rouge.  I was almost
+tempted to try it again when I found it just now.  It took me back
+so to the old times."
+
+Following her odd manner rather than her words, as she turned her
+face towards him suddenly, Brant was inclined to think that she had
+tried it already, so scarlet was her cheek.  But it presently paled
+again under his cold scrutiny.
+
+"You must miss the old times," he said calmly.  "I am afraid you
+found very little of them left, except in these flowers."
+
+"And hardly these," she said bitterly.  "Your troops had found a
+way through the marsh, and had trampled down the bushes."
+
+Brant's brow clouded.  He remembered that the brook, which had run
+red during the fight, had lost itself in this marsh.  It did not
+increase his liking for this beautiful but blindly vicious animal
+at his side, and even his momentary pity for her was fading fast.
+She was incorrigible.  They walked on for a few moments in silence.
+
+"You said," she began at last, in a gentler and even hesitating
+voice, "that your wife was a Southern woman."
+
+He checked an irritated start with difficulty.
+
+"I believe I did," he said coldly, as if he regretted it.
+
+"And of course you taught her YOUR gospel,--the gospel according to
+St. Lincoln.  Oh, I know," she went on hurriedly, as if conscious
+of his irritation and seeking to allay it.  "She was a woman and
+loved you, and thought with your thoughts and saw only with your
+eyes.  Yes, that's the way with us,--I suppose we all do it!" she
+added bitterly.
+
+"She had her own opinions," said Brant briefly, as he recovered
+himself.
+
+Nevertheless, his manner so decidedly closed all further discussion
+that there was nothing left for the young girl but silence.  But it
+was broken by her in a few moments in her old contemptuous voice
+and manner.
+
+"Pray don't trouble yourself to accompany me any further, General
+Brant.  Unless, of course, you are afraid I may come across some of
+your--your soldiers.  I promise you I won't eat them."
+
+"I am afraid you must suffer my company a little longer, Miss
+Faulkner, on account of those same soldiers," returned Brant
+gravely.  "You may not know that this road, in which I find you,
+takes you through a cordon of pickets.  If you were alone you would
+be stopped, questioned, and, failing to give the password, you
+would be detained, sent to the guard-house, and"--he stopped, and
+fixed his eyes on her keenly as he added, "and searched."
+
+"You would not dare to search a woman!" she said indignantly,
+although her flush gave way to a slight pallor.
+
+"You said just now that there should be no sex in a war like this,"
+returned Brant carelessly, but without abating his scrutinizing
+gaze.
+
+"Then it IS war?" she said quickly, with a white, significant face.
+
+His look of scrutiny turned to one of puzzled wonder.  But at the
+same moment there was the flash of a bayonet in the hedge, a voice
+called "Halt!" and a soldier stepped into the road.
+
+General Brant advanced, met the salute of the picket with a few
+formal words, and then turned towards his fair companion, as
+another soldier and a sergeant joined the group.
+
+"Miss Faulkner is new to the camp, took the wrong turning, and was
+unwittingly leaving the lines when I joined her."  He fixed his
+eyes intently on her now colorless face, but she did not return his
+look.  "You will show her the shortest way to quarters," he
+continued, to the sergeant, "and should she at any time again lose
+her way, you will again conduct her home,--but without detaining or
+reporting her."
+
+He lifted his cap, remounted his horse, and rode away, as the young
+girl, with a proud, indifferent step, moved down the road with the
+sergeant.  A mounted officer passed him and saluted,--it was one of
+his own staff.  From some strange instinct, he knew that he had
+witnessed the scene, and from some equally strange intuition he was
+annoyed by it.  But he continued his way, visiting one or two
+outposts, and returned by a long detour to his quarters.  As he
+stepped upon the veranda he saw Miss Faulkner at the bottom of the
+garden talking with some one across the hedge.  By the aid of his
+glass he could recognize the shapely figure of the mulatto woman
+which he had seen before.  But by its aid he also discovered that
+she was carrying a flower exactly like the one which Miss Faulkner
+still held in her hand.  Had she been with Miss Faulkner in the
+lane, and if so, why had she disappeared when he came up?  Impelled
+by something stronger than mere curiosity, he walked quickly down
+the garden, but she evidently had noticed him, for she as quickly
+disappeared.  Not caring to meet Miss Faulkner again, he retraced
+his steps, resolving that he would, on the first opportunity,
+personally examine and interrogate this new visitor.  For if she
+were to take Miss Faulkner's place in a subordinate capacity, this
+precaution was clearly within his rights.
+
+He re-entered his room and seated himself at his desk before the
+dispatches, orders, and reports awaiting him.  He found himself,
+however, working half mechanically, and recurring to his late
+interview with Miss Faulkner in the lane.  If she had any
+inclination to act the spy, or to use her position here as a means
+of communicating with the enemy's lines, he thought he had
+thoroughly frightened her.  Nevertheless, now, for the first time,
+he was inclined to accept his chief's opinion of her.  She was not
+only too clumsy and inexperienced, but she totally lacked the self-
+restraint of a spy.  Her nervous agitation in the lane was due to
+something more disturbing than his mere possible intrusion upon her
+confidences with the mulatto.  The significance of her question,
+"Then it IS war?" was at best a threat, and that implied hesitation.
+He recalled her strange allusion to his wife; was it merely the
+outcome of his own foolish confession on their first interview, or
+was it a concealed ironical taunt?  Being satisfied, however, that
+she was not likely to imperil his public duty in any way, he was
+angry with himself for speculating further.  But, although he still
+felt towards her the same antagonism she had at first provoked, he
+was conscious that she was beginning to exercise a strange
+fascination over him.
+
+Dismissing her at last with an effort, he finished his work and
+then rose, and unlocking a closet, took out a small dispatch-box,
+to which he intended to intrust a few more important orders and
+memoranda.  As he opened it with a key on his watch-chain, he was
+struck with a faint perfume that seemed to come from it,--a perfume
+that he remembered.  Was it the smell of the flower that Miss
+Faulkner carried, or the scent of the handkerchief with which she
+had wiped his cheek, or a mingling of both?  Or was he under some
+spell to think of that wretched girl, and her witch-like flower?
+He leaned over the box and suddenly started.  Upon the outer
+covering of a dispatch was a singular blood-red streak!  He examined
+it closely,--it was the powdery stain of the lily pollen,--exactly
+as he had seen it on her handkerchief.
+
+There could be no mistake.  He passed his finger over the stain; he
+could still feel the slippery, infinitesimal powder of the pollen.
+It was not there when he had closed the box that morning; it was
+impossible that it should be there unless the box had been opened
+in his absence.  He re-examined the contents of the box; the papers
+were all there.  More than that, they were papers of no importance
+except to him personally; contained no plans nor key to any
+military secret; he had been far too wise to intrust any to the
+accidents of this alien house.  The prying intruder, whoever it
+was, had gained nothing!  But there was unmistakably the attempt!
+And the existence of a would-be spy within the purlieus of the
+house was equally clear.
+
+He called an officer from the next room.
+
+"Has any one been here since my absence?"
+
+"No, General."
+
+"Has any one passed through the hall?"
+
+He had fully anticipated the answer, as the subaltern replied,
+"Only the women servants."
+
+He re-entered the room.  Closing the door, he again carefully
+examined the box, his table, the papers upon it, the chair before
+it, and even the Chinese matting on the floor, for any further
+indication of the pollen.  It hardly seemed possible that any one
+could have entered the room with the flower in their hand without
+scattering some of the tell-tale dust elsewhere; it was too large a
+flower to be worn on the breast or in the hair.  Again, no one
+would have dared to linger there long enough to have made an
+examination of the box, with an officer in the next room, and the
+sergeant passing.  The box had been removed, and the examination
+made elsewhere!
+
+An idea seized him.  Miss Faulkner was still absent, the mulatto
+had apparently gone home.  He quickly mounted the staircase, but
+instead of entering his room, turned suddenly aside into the wing
+which had been reserved.  The first door yielded as he turned its
+knob gently and entered a room which he at once recognized as the
+"young lady's boudoir."  But the dusty and draped furniture had
+been rearranged and uncovered, and the apartment bore every sign of
+present use.  Yet, although there was unmistakable evidence of its
+being used by a person of taste and refinement, he was surprised to
+see that the garments hanging in an open press were such as were
+used by negro servants, and that a gaudy handkerchief such as
+housemaids used for turbans was lying on the pretty silk coverlet.
+He did not linger over these details, but cast a rapid glance round
+the room.  Then his eyes became fixed on a fanciful writing-desk,
+which stood by the window.  For, in a handsome vase placed on its
+level top, and drooping on a portfolio below, hung a cluster of the
+very flowers that Miss Faulkner had carried!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+It seemed plain to Brant that the dispatch-box had been conveyed
+here and opened for security on this desk, and in the hurry of
+examining the papers the flower had been jostled and the fallen
+grains of pollen overlooked by the spy.  There were one or two
+freckles of red on the desk, which made this accident appear the
+more probable.  But he was equally struck by another circumstance.
+The desk stood immediately before the window.  As he glanced
+mechanically from it, he was surprised to see that it commanded an
+extensive view of the slope below the eminence on which the house
+stood, even beyond his furthest line of pickets.  The vase of
+flowers, each of which was nearly as large as a magnolia blossom,
+and striking in color, occupied a central position before it, and
+no doubt could be quite distinctly seen from a distance.  From this
+circumstance he could not resist the strong impression that this
+fateful and extraordinary blossom, carried by Miss Faulkner and the
+mulatto, and so strikingly "in evidence" at the window, was in some
+way a signal.  Obeying an impulse which he was conscious had a half
+superstitious foundation, he carefully lifted the vase from its
+position before the window, and placed it on a side table.  Then he
+cautiously slipped from the room.
+
+But he could not easily shake off the perplexity which the
+occurrence had caused, although he was satisfied that it was
+fraught with no military or strategic danger to his command, and
+that the unknown spy had obtained no information whatever.  Yet he
+was forced to admit to himself that he was more concerned in his
+attempts to justify the conduct of Miss Faulkner with this later
+revelation.  It was quite possible that the dispatch-box had been
+purloined by some one else during her absence from the house, as
+the presence of the mulatto servant in his room would have been
+less suspicious than hers.  There was really little evidence to
+connect Miss Faulkner with the actual outrage,--rather might not
+the real spy have taken advantage of her visit here, to throw
+suspicion upon her?  He remembered her singular manner,--the
+strange inconsistency with which she had forced this flower upon
+him.  She would hardly have done so had she been conscious of its
+having so serious an import.  Yet, what was the secret of her
+manifest agitation?  A sudden inspiration flashed across his mind;
+a smile came upon his lips.  She was in love!  The enemy's line
+contained some sighing Strephon of a young subaltern with whom she
+was in communication, and for whom she had undertaken this quest.
+The flower was their language of correspondence, no doubt.  It
+explained also the young girl's animosity against the younger
+officers,--his adversaries; against himself,--their commander.  He
+had previously wondered why, if she were indeed a spy, she had not
+chosen, upon some equally specious order from Washington, the
+headquarters of the division commander, whose secrets were more
+valuable.  This was explained by the fact that she was nearer the
+lines and her lover in her present abode.  He had no idea that he
+was making excuses for her,--he believed himself only just.  The
+recollection of what she had said of the power of love, albeit it
+had hurt him cruelly at the time, was now clearer to him, and even
+seemed to mitigate her offense.  She would be here but a day or two
+longer; he could afford to wait without interrogating her.
+
+But as to the real intruder, spy or thief,--that was another
+affair, and quickly settled.  He gave an order to the officer of
+the day peremptorily forbidding the entrance of alien servants or
+slaves within the precincts of the headquarters.  Any one thus
+trespassing was to be brought before him.  The officer looked
+surprised, he even fancied disappointed.  The graces of the mulatto
+woman's figure had evidently not been thrown away upon his
+subalterns.
+
+An hour or two later, when he was mounting his horse for a round of
+inspection, he was surprised to see Miss Faulkner, accompanied by
+the mulatto woman, running hurriedly to the house.  He had
+forgotten his late order until he saw the latter halted by the
+sentries, but the young girl came flying on, regardless of her
+companion.  Her skirt was held in one hand, her straw hat had
+fallen back in her flight, and was caught only by a ribbon around
+her swelling throat, and her loosened hair lay in a black rippled
+loop on one shoulder.  For an instant Brant thought that she was
+seeking him in indignation at his order, but a second look at her
+set face, eager eyes, and parted scarlet lips, showed him that she
+had not even noticed him in the concentration of her purpose.  She
+swept by him into the hall, he heard the swish of her skirt and
+rapid feet on the stairs,--she was gone.  What had happened, or was
+this another of her moods?
+
+But he was called to himself by the apparition of a corporal
+standing before him, with the mulatto woman,--the first capture
+under his order.  She was tall, well-formed, but unmistakably
+showing the negro type, even in her small features.  Her black eyes
+were excited, but unintelligent; her manner dogged, but with the
+obstinacy of half-conscious stupidity.  Brant felt not only
+disappointed, but had a singular impression that she was not the
+same woman that he had first seen.  Yet there was the tall,
+graceful figure, the dark profile, and the turbaned head that he
+had once followed down the passage by his room.
+
+Her story was as stupidly simple.  She had known "Missy" from a
+chile!  She had just traipsed over to see her that afternoon; they
+were walking together when the sojers stopped her.  She had never
+been stopped before, even by "the patter rollers."*  Her old massa
+(Manly) had gib leaf to go see Miss Tilly, and hadn't said nuffin
+about no "orders."
+
+
+* i. e., patrols,--a civic home-guard in the South that kept
+surveillance of slaves.
+
+
+More annoyed than he cared to confess, Brant briefly dismissed her
+with a warning.  As he cantered down the slope the view of the
+distant pickets recalled the window in the wing, and he turned in
+his saddle to look at it.  There it was--the largest and most
+dominant window in that part of the building--and within it, a
+distinct and vivid object almost filling the opening, was the vase
+of flowers, which he had a few hours ago removed, RESTORED TO
+ITS ORIGINAL POSITION!  He smiled.  The hurried entrance and
+consternation of Miss Faulkner were now fully explained.  He had
+interrupted some impassioned message, perhaps even countermanded
+some affectionate rendezvous beyond the lines.  And it seemed to
+settle the fact that it was she who had done the signaling!  But
+would not this also make her cognizant of the taking of the
+dispatch-box?  He reflected, however, that the room was apparently
+occupied by the mulatto woman--he remembered the calico dresses and
+turban on the bed--and it was possible that Miss Faulkner had only
+visited it for the purpose of signaling to her lover.  Although
+this circumstance did not tend to make his mind easier, it was,
+however, presently diverted by a new arrival and a strange
+recognition.
+
+As he rode through the camp a group of officers congregated before
+a large mess tent appeared to be highly amused by the conversation--
+half monologue and half harangue of a singular-looking individual
+who stood in the centre.  He wore a "slouch" hat, to the band of
+which he had imparted a military air by the addition of a gold
+cord, but the brim was caught up at the side in a peculiarly
+theatrical and highly artificial fashion.  A heavy cavalry sabre
+depended from a broad-buckled belt under his black frock coat, with
+the addition of two revolvers--minus their holsters--stuck on
+either side of the buckle, after the style of a stage smuggler.  A
+pair of long enameled leather riding boots, with the tops turned
+deeply over, as if they had once done duty for the representative
+of a cavalier, completed his extraordinary equipment.  The group
+were so absorbed in him that they did not perceive the approach of
+their chief and his orderly; and Brant, with a sign to the latter,
+halted only a few paces from this central figure.  His speech was a
+singular mingling of high-flown and exalted epithets, with inexact
+pronunciation and occasional lapses of Western slang.
+
+"Well, I ain't purtendin' to any stratutegical smartness, and I
+didn't gradooate at West Point as one of those Apocryphal
+Engineers; I don't do much talking about 'flank' movements or
+'recognizances in force' or 'Ekellon skirmishing,' but when it
+comes down to square Ingin fightin', I reckon I kin have my say.
+There are men who don't know the Army Contractor," he added darkly,
+"who mebbe have heard of 'Red Jim.'  I don't mention names,
+gentlemen, but only the other day a man that you all know says to
+me, 'If I only knew what you do about scoutin' I wouldn't be
+wanting for information as I do.'  I ain't goin' to say who it was,
+or break any confidences between gentlemen by saying how many stars
+he had on his shoulder strap; but he was a man who knew what he was
+saying.  And I say agin, gentlemen, that the curse of the Northern
+Army is the want of proper scoutin'.  What was it caused Bull's
+Run?--Want o' scoutin'.  What was it rolled up Pope?--Want o'
+scoutin'.  What caused the slaughter at the Wilderness?--Want o'
+scoutin'--Ingin scoutin'!  Why, only the other day, gentlemen, I
+was approached to know what I'd take to organize a scoutin' force.
+And what did I say?--'No, General; it ain't because I represent one
+of the largest Army Beef Contracts in this country,' says I.  'It
+ain't because I belong, so to speak, to the "Sinews of War;" but
+because I'd want about ten thousand trained Ingins from the
+Reservations!'  And the regular West Point, high-toned, scientific
+inkybus that weighs so heavily on our army don't see it--and won't
+have it!  Then Sherman, he sez to me"--
+
+But here a roar of laughter interrupted him, and in the cross fire
+of sarcastic interrogations that began Brant saw, with relief, a
+chance of escape.  For in the voice, manner, and, above all, the
+characteristic temperament of the stranger, he had recognized his
+old playmate and the husband of Susy,--the redoubtable Jim Hooker!
+There was no mistaking that gloomy audacity; that mysterious
+significance; that magnificent lying.  But even at that moment
+Clarence Brant's heart had gone out, with all his old loyalty of
+feeling, towards his old companion.  He knew that a public
+recognition of him then and there would plunge Hooker into
+confusion; he felt keenly the ironical plaudits and laughter of his
+officers over the manifest weakness and vanity of the ex-teamster,
+ex-rancher, ex-actor, and husband of his old girl sweetheart, and
+would have spared him the knowledge that he had overheard it.
+Turning hastily to the orderly, he bade him bring the stranger to
+his headquarters, and rode away unperceived.
+
+He had heard enough, however, to account for his presence there,
+and the singular chance that had brought them again together.  He
+was evidently one of those large civil contractors of supplies whom
+the Government was obliged to employ, who visited the camp half
+officially, and whom the army alternately depended upon and abused.
+Brant had dealt with his underlings in the Commissariat, and even
+now remembered that he had heard he was coming, but had overlooked
+the significance of his name.  But how he came to leave his
+theatrical profession, how he had attained a position which implied
+a command of considerable capital--for many of the contractors had
+already amassed large fortunes--and what had become of Susy and her
+ambitions in this radical change of circumstances, were things
+still to be learned.  In his own changed conditions he had seldom
+thought of her; it was with a strange feeling of irritation and
+half responsibility that he now recalled their last interview and
+the emotion to which he had yielded.
+
+He had not long to wait.  He had scarcely regained the quarters at
+his own private office before he heard the step of the orderly upon
+the veranda and the trailing clank of Hooker's sabre.  He did not
+know, however, that Hooker, without recognizing his name, had
+received the message as a personal tribute, and had left his
+sarcastic companions triumphantly, with the air of going to a
+confidential interview, to which his well-known military criticism
+had entitled him.  It was with a bearing of gloomy importance and
+his characteristic, sullen, sidelong glance that he entered the
+apartment and did not look up until Brant had signaled the orderly
+to withdraw, and closed the door behind him.  And then he recognized
+his old boyish companion--the preferred favorite of fortune!
+
+For a moment he gasped with astonishment.  For a moment gloomy
+incredulity, suspicion, delight, pride, admiration, even affection,
+struggled for mastery in his sullen, staring eyes and open,
+twitching mouth.  For here was Clarence Brant, handsomer than ever,
+more superior than ever, in the majesty of uniform and authority
+which fitted him--the younger man--by reason of his four years of
+active service, with the careless ease and bearing of the veteran!
+Here was the hero whose name was already so famous that the mere
+coincidence of it with that of the modest civilian he had known
+would have struck him as preposterous.  Yet here he was--supreme,
+and dazzling--surrounded by the pomp and circumstance of war--into
+whose reserved presence he, Jim Hooker, had been ushered with the
+formality of challenge, saluting, and presented bayonets!
+
+Luckily, Brant had taken advantage of his first gratified
+ejaculation to shake him warmly by the hand, and then, with both
+hands laid familiarly on his shoulder, force him down into a chair.
+Luckily, for by that time Jim Hooker had, with characteristic
+gloominess, found time to taste the pangs of envy--an envy the more
+keen since, in spite of his success as a peaceful contractor, he
+had always secretly longed for military display and distinction.
+He looked at the man who had achieved it, as he firmly believed, by
+sheer luck and accident, and his eyes darkened.  Then, with
+characteristic weakness and vanity, he began to resist his first
+impressions of Clarence's superiority, and to air his own
+importance.  He leaned heavily back in the chair in which he had
+been thus genially forced, drew off his gauntlet and attempted to
+thrust it through his belt, as he had seen Brant do, but failed on
+account of his pistols already occupying that position, dropped it,
+got his sword between his legs in attempting to pick it up, and
+then leaned back again, with half-closed eyes serenely indifferent
+of his old companion's smiling face.
+
+"I reckon," he began slowly, with a slightly patronizing air, "that
+we'd have met, sooner or later, at Washington, or at Grant's
+headquarters, for Hooker, Meacham & Co. go everywhere, and are
+about as well known as major-generals, to say nothin'," he went on,
+with a sidelong glance at Brant's shoulder-straps, "of brigadiers;
+and it's rather strange--only, of course, you're kind of fresh in
+the service--that you ain't heard of me afore."
+
+"But I'm very glad to hear of you now, Jim," said Brant, smiling,
+"and from your own lips--which I am also delighted to find," he
+added mischievously, "are still as frankly communicative on that
+topic as of old.  But I congratulate you, old fellow, on your good
+fortune.  When did you leave the stage?"
+
+Mr. Hooker frowned slightly.
+
+"I never was really on the stage, you know," he said, waving his
+hand with assumed negligence.  "Only went on to please my wife.
+Mrs. Hooker wouldn't act with vulgar professionals, don't you see!
+I was really manager most of the time, and lessee of the theatre.
+Went East when the war broke out, to offer my sword and knowledge
+of Ingin fightin' to Uncle Sam!  Drifted into a big pork contract
+at St. Louis, with Fremont.  Been at it ever since.  Offered a
+commission in the reg'lar service lots o' times.  Refused."
+
+"Why?" asked Brant demurely.
+
+"Too much West Point starch around to suit ME," returned Hooker
+darkly.  "And too many spies!"
+
+"Spies?" echoed Brant abstractedly, with a momentary reminiscence
+of Miss Faulkner.
+
+"Yes, spies," continued Hooker, with dogged mystery.  "One half of
+Washington is watching t'other half, and, from the President's wife
+down, most of the women are secesh!"
+
+Brant suddenly fixed his keen eyes on his guest.  But the next
+moment he reflected that this was only Jim Hooker's usual speech,
+and possessed no ulterior significance.  He smiled again, and said,
+more gently,--
+
+"And how is Mrs. Hooker?"
+
+Mr. Hooker fixed his eyes on the ceiling, rose, and pretended to
+look out of the window; then, taking his seat again by the table,
+as if fronting an imaginary audience, and pulling slowly at his
+gauntlets after the usual theatrical indication of perfect
+sangfroid, said,--
+
+"There ain't any!"
+
+"Good heavens!" said Brant, with genuine emotion.  "I beg your
+pardon.  Really, I"--
+
+"Mrs. Hooker and me are divorced," continued Hooker, slightly
+changing his attitude, and leaning heavily on his sabre, with his
+eyes still on his fanciful audience.  "There was, you understand"--
+lightly tossing his gauntlet aside--"incompatibility of temper--
+and--we--parted!  Ha!"
+
+He uttered a low, bitter, scornful laugh, which, however, produced
+the distinct impression in Brant's mind that up to that moment he
+had never had the slightest feeling in the matter whatever.
+
+"You seemed to be on such good terms with each other!" murmured
+Brant vaguely.
+
+"Seemed!" said Hooker bitterly, glancing sardonically at an ideal
+second row in the pit before him, "yes--seemed!  There were other
+differences, social and political.  You understand that; you have
+suffered, too."  He reached out his hand and pressed Brant's, in
+heavy effusiveness.  "But," he continued haughtily, lightly tossing
+his glove again, "we are also men of the world; we let that pass."
+
+And it was possible that he found the strain of his present
+attitude too great, for he changed to an easier position.
+
+"But," said Brant curiously, "I always thought that Mrs. Hooker was
+intensely Union and Northern?"
+
+"Put on!" said Hooker, in his natural voice.
+
+"But you remember the incident of the flag?" persisted Brant.
+
+"Mrs. Hooker was always an actress," said Hooker significantly.
+"But," he added cheerfully, "Mrs. Hooker is now the wife of Senator
+Boompointer, one of the wealthiest and most powerful Republicans in
+Washington--carries the patronage of the whole West in his vest
+pocket."
+
+"Yet, if she is not a Republican, why did she"--began Brant.
+
+"For a purpose," replied Hooker darkly.  "But," he added again,
+with greater cheerfulness, "she belongs to the very elite of
+Washington society.  Goes to all the foreign ambassadors' balls,
+and is a power at the White House.  Her picture is in all the
+first-class illustrated papers."
+
+The singular but unmistakable pride of the man in the importance of
+the wife from whom he was divorced, and for whom he did not care,
+would have offended Brant's delicacy, or at least have excited his
+ridicule, but for the reason that he was more deeply stung by
+Hooker's allusion to his own wife and his degrading similitude of
+their two conditions.  But he dismissed the former as part of
+Hooker's invincible and still boyish extravagance, and the latter
+as part of his equally characteristic assumption.  Perhaps he was
+conscious, too, notwithstanding the lapse of years and the
+condonation of separation and forgetfulness, that he deserved
+little delicacy from the hands of Susy's husband.  Nevertheless, he
+dreaded to hear him speak again of her; and the fear was realized
+in a question.
+
+"Does she know you are here?"
+
+"Who?" said Brant curtly.
+
+"Your wife.  That is--I reckon she's your wife still, eh?"
+
+"Yes; but I do not know what she knows," returned Brant quietly.
+He had regained his self-composure.
+
+"Susy,--Mrs. Senator Boompointer, that is,"--said Hooker, with an
+apparent dignity in his late wife's new title, "allowed that she'd
+gone abroad on a secret mission from the Southern Confederacy to
+them crowned heads over there.  She was good at ropin' men in, you
+know.  Anyhow, Susy, afore she was Mrs. Boompointer, was dead set
+on findin' out where she was, but never could.  She seemed to drop
+out of sight a year ago.  Some said one thing, and some said
+another.  But you can bet your bottom dollar that Mrs. Senator
+Boompointer, who knows how to pull all the wires in Washington,
+will know, if any one does."
+
+"But is Mrs. Boompointer really disaffected, and a Southern
+sympathizer?" said Brant, "or is it only caprice or fashion?"
+
+While speaking he had risen, with a half-abstracted face, and had
+gone to the window, where he stood in a listening attitude.
+Presently he opened the window, and stepped outside.  Hooker
+wonderingly followed him.  One or two officers had already stepped
+out of their rooms, and were standing upon the veranda; another had
+halted in the path.  Then one quickly re-entered the house,
+reappeared with his cap and sword in his hand, and ran lightly
+toward the guard-house.  A slight crackling noise seemed to come
+from beyond the garden wall.
+
+"What's up?" said Hooker, with staring eyes.
+
+"Picket firing!"
+
+The crackling suddenly became a long rattle.  Brant re-entered the
+room, and picked up his hat.
+
+"You'll excuse me for a few moments."
+
+A faint sound, soft yet full, and not unlike a bursting bubble,
+made the house appear to leap elastically, like the rebound of a
+rubber ball.
+
+"What's that?" gasped Hooker.
+
+"Cannon, out of range!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+In another instant bugles were ringing through the camp, with the
+hurrying hoofs of mounted officers and the trampling of forming
+men.  The house itself was almost deserted.  Although the single
+cannon-shot had been enough to show that it was no mere skirmishing
+of pickets, Brant still did not believe in any serious attack of
+the enemy.  His position, as in the previous engagement, had no
+strategic importance to them; they were no doubt only making a
+feint against it to conceal some advance upon the centre of the
+army two miles away.  Satisfied that he was in easy supporting
+distance of his division commander, he extended his line along the
+ridge, ready to fall back in that direction, while retarding their
+advance and masking the position of his own chief.  He gave a few
+orders necessary to the probable abandonment of the house, and then
+returned to it.  Shot and shell were already dropping in the field
+below.  A thin ridge of blue haze showed the line of skirmish fire.
+A small conical, white cloud, like a bursting cotton-pod, revealed
+an open battery in the willow-fringed meadow.  Yet the pastoral
+peacefulness of the house was unchanged.  The afternoon sun lay
+softly on its deep verandas; the pot pourri incense of fallen rose-
+leaves haunted it still.
+
+He entered his room through the French window on the veranda, when
+the door leading from the passage was suddenly flung open, and Miss
+Faulkner swept quickly inside, closed the door behind her, and
+leaned back against it, panting and breathless.
+
+Clarence was startled, and for a moment ashamed.  He had suddenly
+realized that in the excitement he had entirely forgotten her and
+the dangers to which she might be exposed.  She had probably heard
+the firing, her womanly fears had been awakened; she had come to
+him for protection.  But as he turned towards her with a reassuring
+smile, he was shocked to see that her agitation and pallor were far
+beyond any physical cause.  She motioned him desperately to shut
+the window by which he had entered, and said, with white lips,--
+
+"I must speak with you alone!"
+
+"Certainly.  But there is no immediate danger to you even here--and
+I can soon put you beyond the reach of any possible harm."
+
+"Harm--to me!  God! if it were only that!"
+
+He stared at her uneasily.
+
+"Listen," she said gaspingly, "listen to me!  Then hate, despise
+me--kill me if you will.  For you are betrayed and ruined--cut off
+and surrounded!  It has been helped on by me, but I swear to you
+the blow did not come from MY hand.  I would have saved you.  God
+only knows how it happened--it was Fate!"
+
+In an instant Brant saw the whole truth instinctively and clearly.
+But with the revelation came the usual calmness and perfect self-
+possession which never yet had failed him in any emergency.  With
+the sound of the increasing cannonade and its shifting position
+made clearer to his ears, the view of his whole threatened position
+spread out like a map before his eyes, the swift calculation of the
+time his men could hold the ridge in his mind--even a hurried
+estimate of the precious moments he could give to the wretched
+woman before him--he even then, gravely and gently, led her to a
+chair and said in a calm voice,--
+
+"That is not enough!  Speak slowly, plainly.  I must know
+everything.  How and in what way have you betrayed me?"
+
+She looked at him imploringly--reassured, yet awed by his
+gentleness.
+
+"You won't believe me; you cannot believe me! for I do not even
+know.  I have taken and exchanged letters--whose contents I never
+saw--between the Confederates and a spy who comes to this house,
+but who is far away by this time.  I did it because I thought you
+hated and despised me because I thought it was my duty to help my
+cause--because you said it was 'war' between us--but I never spied
+on you.  I swear it."
+
+"Then how do you know of this attack?" he said calmly.
+
+She brightened, half timidly, half hopefully.
+
+"There is a window in the wing of this house that overlooks the
+slope near the Confederate lines.  There was a signal placed in it--
+not by me--but I know it meant that as long as it was there the
+plot, whatever it was, was not ripe, and that no attack would be
+made on you as long as it was visible.  That much I know,--that
+much the spy had to tell me, for we both had to guard that room in
+turns.  I wanted to keep this dreadful thing off--until"--her voice
+trembled, "until," she added hurriedly, seeing his calm eyes were
+reading her very soul, "until I went away--and for that purpose I
+withheld some of the letters that were given me.  But this morning,
+while I was away from the house, I looked back and saw that the
+signal was no longer there.  Some one had changed it.  I ran back,
+but I was too late--God help me!--as you see."
+
+The truth flashed upon Brant.  It was his own hand that had
+precipitated the attack.  But a larger truth came to him now, like
+a dazzling inspiration.  If he had thus precipitated the attack
+before they were ready, there was a chance that it was imperfect,
+and there was still hope.  But there was no trace of this visible
+in his face as he fixed his eyes calmly on hers, although his
+pulses were halting in expectancy as he said--
+
+"Then the spy had suspected you, and changed it."
+
+"Oh, no," she said eagerly, "for the spy was with me and was
+frightened too.  We both ran back together--you remember--she was
+stopped by the patrol!"
+
+She checked herself suddenly, but too late.  Her cheeks blazed, her
+head sank, with the foolish identification of the spy into which
+her eagerness had betrayed her.
+
+But Brant appeared not to notice it.  He was, in fact, puzzling his
+brain to conceive what information the stupid mulatto woman could
+have obtained here.  His strength, his position was no secret to
+the enemy--there was nothing to gain from him.  She must have been,
+like the trembling, eager woman before him, a mere tool of others.
+
+"Did this woman live here?" he said.
+
+"No," she said.  "She lived with the Manlys, but had friends whom
+she visited at your general's headquarters."
+
+With difficulty Brant suppressed a start.  It was clear to him now.
+The information had been obtained at the division headquarters, and
+passed through his camp as being nearest the Confederate lines.
+But what was the information--and what movement had he precipitated?
+It was clear that this woman did not know.  He looked at her keenly.
+A sudden explosion shook the house,--a drift of smoke passed the
+window,--a shell had burst in the garden.
+
+She had been gazing at him despairingly, wistfully--but did not
+blanch or start.
+
+An idea took possession of him.  He approached her, and took her
+cold hand.  A half-smile parted her pale lips.
+
+"You have courage--you have devotion," he said gravely.  "I believe
+you regret the step you have taken.  If you could undo what you
+have done, even at peril to yourself, dare you do it?"
+
+"Yes," she said breathlessly.
+
+"You are known to the enemy.  If I am surrounded, you could pass
+through their lines unquestioned?"
+
+"Yes," she said eagerly.
+
+"A note from me would pass you again through the pickets of our
+headquarters.  But you would bear a note to the general that no
+eyes but his must see.  It would not implicate you or yours; would
+only be a word of warning."
+
+"And you," she said quickly, "would be saved!  They would come to
+your assistance!  You would not then be taken?"
+
+He smiled gently.
+
+"Perhaps--who knows!"
+
+He sat down and wrote hurriedly.
+
+"This," he said, handing her a slip of paper, "is a pass.  You will
+use it beyond your own lines.  This note," he continued, handing
+her a sealed envelope, "is for the general.  No one else must see
+it or know of it--not even your lover, should you meet him!"
+
+"My lover!" she said indignantly, with a flash of her old savagery;
+"what do you mean?  I have no lover!"
+
+Brant glanced at her flushed face.
+
+"I thought," he said quietly, "that there was some one you cared
+for in yonder lines--some one you wrote to.  It would have been an
+excuse"--
+
+He stopped, as her face paled again, and her hands dropped heavily
+at her side.
+
+"Good God!--you thought that, too!  You thought that I would
+sacrifice you for another man!"
+
+"Pardon me," said Brant quickly.  "I was foolish.  But whether your
+lover is a man or a cause, you have shown a woman's devotion.  And,
+in repairing your fault, you are showing more than a woman's
+courage now."
+
+To his surprise, the color had again mounted her pretty cheeks, and
+even a flash of mischief shone in her blue eyes.
+
+"It would have been an excuse," she murmured, "yes--to save a man,
+surely!"  Then she said quickly, "I will go.  At once!  I am
+ready!"
+
+"One moment," he said gravely.  "Although this pass and an escort
+insure your probable safe conduct, this is 'war' and danger!  You
+are still a spy!  Are you ready to go?"
+
+"I am," she said proudly, tossing back a braid of her fallen hair.
+Yet a moment after she hesitated.  Then she said, in a lower voice,
+"Are you ready to forgive?"
+
+"In either case," he said, touched by her manner; "and God speed
+you!"
+
+He extended his hand, and left a slight pressure on her cold
+fingers.  But they slipped quickly from his grasp, and she turned
+away with a heightened color.
+
+He stepped to the door.  One or two aides-de-camp, withheld by his
+order against intrusion, were waiting eagerly with reports.  The
+horse of a mounted field officer was pawing the garden turf.  The
+officers stared at the young girl.
+
+"Take Miss Faulkner, with a flag, to some safe point of the enemy's
+line.  She is a non-combatant of their own, and will receive their
+protection."
+
+He had scarcely exchanged a dozen words with the aides-de-camp
+before the field officer hurriedly entered.  Taking Brant aside, he
+said quickly,--
+
+"Pardon me, General; but there is a strong feeling among the men
+that this attack is the result of some information obtained by the
+enemy.  You must know that the woman you have just given a
+safeguard to is suspected, and the men are indignant."
+
+"The more reason why she should be conveyed beyond any consequences
+of their folly, Major," said Brant frigidly, "and I look to you for
+her safe convoy.  There is nothing in this attack to show that the
+enemy has received any information regarding us.  But I would
+suggest that it would be better to see that my orders are carried
+out regarding the slaves and non-combatants who are passing our
+lines from divisional headquarters, where valuable information may
+be obtained, than in the surveillance of a testy and outspoken
+girl."
+
+An angry flush crossed the major's cheek as he saluted and fell
+back, and Brant turned to the aide-de-camp.  The news was grave.
+The column of the enemy was moving against the ridge--it was no
+longer possible to hold it--and the brigade was cut off from its
+communication with the divisional headquarters, although as yet no
+combined movement was made against it.  Brant's secret fears that
+it was an intended impact against the centre were confirmed.  Would
+his communication to the divisional commander pass through the
+attacking column in time?
+
+Yet one thing puzzled him.  The enemy, after forcing his flank, had
+shown no disposition, even with their overwhelming force, to turn
+aside and crush him.  He could easily have fallen back, when it was
+possible to hold the ridge no longer, without pursuit.  His other
+flank and rear were not threatened, as they might have been, by the
+division of so large an attacking column, which was moving steadily
+on towards the ridge.  It was this fact that seemed to show a
+failure or imperfection in the enemy's plan.  It was possible that
+his precipitation of the attack by the changed signal had been the
+cause of it.  Doubtless some provision had been made to attack him
+in flank and rear, but in the unexpected hurry of the onset it had
+to be abandoned.  He could still save himself, as his officers
+knew; but his conviction that he might yet be able to support his
+divisional commander by holding his position doggedly, but coolly
+awaiting his opportunity, was strong.  More than that, it was his
+temperament and instinct.
+
+Harrying them in flank and rear, contesting the ground inch by
+inch, and holding his own against the artillery sent to dislodge
+him, or the outriding cavalry that, circling round, swept through
+his open ranks, he saw his files melt away beside this steady
+current without flinching.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Yet all along the fateful ridge--now obscured and confused with
+thin crossing smoke-drifts from file-firing, like partly rubbed-out
+slate-pencil marks; or else, when cleared of those drifts,
+presenting only an indistinguishable map of zigzag lines of
+straggling wagons and horses, unintelligible to any eye but his--
+the singular magnetism of the chief was felt everywhere: whether it
+was shown in the quick closing in of resistance to some sharper
+onset of the enemy or the more dogged stand of inaction under fire,
+his power was always dominant.  A word or two of comprehensive
+direction sent through an aide-de-camp, or the sudden relief of his
+dark, watchful, composed face uplifted above a line of bayonets,
+never failed in their magic.  Like all born leaders, he seemed in
+these emergencies to hold a charmed life--infecting his followers
+with a like disbelief in death; men dropped to right and left of
+him with serene assurance in their ghastly faces or a cry of life
+and confidence in their last gasp.  Stragglers fell in and closed
+up under his passing glance; a hopeless, inextricable wrangle
+around an overturned caisson, at a turn of the road, resolved
+itself into an orderly, quiet, deliberate clearing away of the
+impediment before the significant waiting of that dark, silent
+horseman.
+
+Yet under this imperturbable mask he was keenly conscious of
+everything; in that apparent concentration there was a sharpening
+of all his senses and his impressibility: he saw the first trace of
+doubt or alarm in the face of a subaltern to whom he was giving an
+order; the first touch of sluggishness in a re-forming line; the
+more significant clumsiness of a living evolution that he knew was
+clogged by the dead bodies of comrades; the ominous silence of a
+breastwork; the awful inertia of some rigidly kneeling files
+beyond, which still kept their form but never would move again; the
+melting away of skirmish points; the sudden gaps here and there;
+the sickening incurving of what a moment before had been a straight
+line--all these he saw in all their fatal significance.  But even
+at this moment, coming upon a hasty barricade of overset commissary
+wagons, he stopped to glance at a familiar figure he had seen but
+an hour ago, who now seemed to be commanding a group of collected
+stragglers and camp followers.  Mounted on a wheel, with a revolver
+in each hand and a bowie knife between his teeth--theatrical even
+in his paroxysm of undoubted courage--glared Jim Hooker.  And
+Clarence Brant, with the whole responsibility of the field on his
+shoulders, even at that desperate moment, found himself recalling a
+vivid picture of the actor Hooker personating the character of "Red
+Dick" in "Rosalie, the Prairie Flower," as he had seen him in a
+California theatre five years before.
+
+It wanted still an hour of the darkness that would probably close
+the fight of that day.  Could he hold out, keeping his offensive
+position so long?  A hasty council with his officers showed him
+that the weakness of their position had already infected them.
+They reminded him that his line of retreat was still open--that in
+the course of the night the enemy, although still pressing towards
+the division centre, might yet turn and outflank him--or that their
+strangely delayed supports might come up before morning.  Brant's
+glass, however, remained fixed on the main column, still pursuing
+its way along the ridge.  It struck him suddenly, however, that the
+steady current had stopped, spread out along the crest on both
+sides, and was now at right angles with its previous course.  There
+had been a check!  The next moment the thunder of guns along the
+whole horizon, and the rising cloud of smoke, revealed a line of
+battle.  The division centre was engaged.  The opportunity he had
+longed for had come--the desperate chance to throw himself on their
+rear and cut his way through to the division--but it had come too
+late!  He looked at his shattered ranks--scarce a regiment remained.
+Even as a demonstration, the attack would fail against the enemy's
+superior numbers.  Nothing clearly was left to him now but to remain
+where he was--within supporting distance, and await the issue of the
+fight beyond.  He was putting up his glass, when the dull boom of
+cannon in the extreme western limit of the horizon attracted his
+attention.  By the still gleaming sky he could see a long gray line
+stealing up from the valley from the distant rear of the headquarters
+to join the main column.  They were the missing supports!  His heart
+leaped.  He held the key of the mystery now.  The one imperfect
+detail of the enemy's plan was before him.  The supports, coming
+later from the west, had only seen the second signal from the
+window--when Miss Faulkner had replaced the vase--and had avoided
+his position.  It was impossible to limit the effect of this
+blunder.  If the young girl who had thus saved him had reached the
+division commander with his message in time, he might be forewarned,
+and even profit by it.  His own position would be less precarious,
+as the enemy, already engaged in front, would be unable to recover
+their position in the rear and correct the blunder.  The bulk of
+their column had already streamed past him.  If defeated, there was
+always the danger that it might be rolled back upon him--but he
+conjectured that the division commander would attempt to prevent the
+junction of the supports with the main column by breaking between
+them, crowding them from the ridge, and joining him.  As the last
+stragglers of the rear guard swept by, Brant's bugles were already
+recalling the skirmishers.  He redoubled his pickets, and resolved
+to wait and watch.
+
+And there was the more painful duty of looking after the wounded
+and the dead.  The larger rooms of the headquarters had already
+been used as a hospital.  Passing from cot to cot, recognizing in
+the faces now drawn with agony, or staring in vacant unconsciousness,
+the features that he had seen only a few hours before flushed with
+enthusiasm and excitement, something of his old doubting, questioning
+nature returned.  Was there no way but this? How far was HE--moving
+among them unscathed and uninjured-- responsible?
+
+And if not he--who then?  His mind went back bitterly to the old
+days of the conspiracy--to the inception of that struggle which was
+bearing such ghastly fruit.  He thought of his traitorous wife,
+until he felt his cheeks tingle, and he was fain to avert his eyes
+from those of his prostrate comrades, in a strange fear that, with
+the clairvoyance of dying men, they should read his secret.
+
+It was past midnight when, without undressing, he threw himself
+upon his bed in the little convent-like cell to snatch a few
+moments of sleep.  Its spotless, peaceful walls and draperies
+affected him strangely, as if he had brought into its immaculate
+serenity the sanguine stain of war.  He was awakened suddenly from
+a deep slumber by an indefinite sense of alarm.  His first thought
+was that he had been summoned to repel an attack.  He sat up and
+listened; everything was silent except the measured tread of the
+sentry on the gravel walk below.  But the door was open.  He sprang
+to his feet and slipped into the gallery in time to see the tall
+figure of a woman glide before the last moonlit window at its
+farthest end.  He could not see her face--but the characteristic
+turbaned head of the negro race was plainly visible.
+
+He did not care to follow her or even to alarm the guard.  If it
+were the spy or one of her emissaries, she was powerless now to do
+any harm, and under his late orders and the rigorous vigilance of
+his sentinels she could not leave the lines--or, indeed, the house.
+She probably knew this as well as he did; it was, therefore, no
+doubt only an accidental intrusion of one of the servants.  He
+re-entered the room, and stood for a few moments by the window,
+looking over the moonlit ridge.  The sounds of distant cannon had
+long since ceased.  Wide awake, and refreshed by the keen morning
+air, which alone of all created things seemed to have shaken the
+burden of the dreadful yesterday from its dewy wings, he turned
+away and lit a candle on the table.  As he was rebuckling his sword
+belt he saw a piece of paper lying on the foot of the bed from
+which he had just risen.  Taking it to the candle, he read in a
+roughly scrawled hand:
+
+"You are asleep when you should be on the march.  You have no time
+to lose.  Before daybreak the supports of the column you have been
+foolishly resisting will be upon you.--From one who would save YOU,
+but hates your cause."
+
+A smile of scorn passed his lips.  The handwriting was unknown and
+evidently disguised.  The purport of the message had not alarmed
+him; but suddenly a suspicion flashed upon him--that it came from
+Miss Faulkner!  She had failed in her attempt to pass through the
+enemy's lines--or she had never tried to.  She had deceived him--or
+had thought better of her chivalrous impulse, and now sought to
+mitigate her second treachery by this second warning.  And he had
+let her messenger escape him!
+
+He hurriedly descended the stairs.  The sound of voices was
+approaching him.  He halted, and recognized the faces of the
+brigade surgeon and one of his aides-de-camp.
+
+"We were hesitating whether to disturb you, general, but it may be
+an affair of some importance.  Under your orders a negro woman was
+just now challenged stealing out of the lines.  Attempting to
+escape, she was chased, there was a struggle and scramble over the
+wall, and she fell, striking her head.  She was brought into the
+guardhouse unconscious."
+
+"Very good.  I will see her," said Brant, with a feeling of relief.
+
+"One moment, general.  We thought you would perhaps prefer to see
+her alone," said the surgeon, "for when I endeavored to bring her
+to, and was sponging her face and head to discover her injuries,
+her color came off!  She was a white woman--stained and disguised
+as a mulatto."
+
+For an instant Brant's heart sank.  It was Miss Faulkner.
+
+"Did you recognize her?" he said, glancing from the one to the
+other.  "Have you seen her here before?"
+
+"No, sir," replied the aide-de-camp.  "But she seemed to be quite a
+superior woman--a lady, I should say."
+
+Brant breathed more freely.
+
+"Where is she now?" he asked.
+
+"In the guardhouse.  We thought it better not to bring her into
+hospital, among the men, until we had your orders."
+
+"You have done well," returned Brant gravely.  "And you will keep
+this to yourselves for the present; but see that she is brought
+here quietly and with as little publicity as possible.  Put her in
+my room above, which I give up to her and any necessary attendant.
+But you will look carefully after her, doctor,"--he turned to the
+surgeon,--"and when she recovers consciousness let me know."
+
+He moved away.  Although attaching little importance to the
+mysterious message, whether sent by Miss Faulkner or emanating from
+the stranger herself, which, he reasoned, was based only upon a
+knowledge of the original plan of attack, he nevertheless quickly
+dispatched a small scouting party in the direction from which the
+attack might come, with orders to fall back and report at once.
+With a certain half irony of recollection he had selected Jim
+Hooker to accompany the party as a volunteer.  This done, he
+returned to the gallery.  The surgeon met him at the door.
+
+"The indications of concussion are passing away," he said, "but she
+seems to be suffering from the exhaustion following some great
+nervous excitement.  You may go in--she may rally from it at any
+moment."
+
+With the artificial step and mysterious hush of the ordinary
+visitor to a sick bed, Brant entered the room.  But some instinct
+greater than this common expression of humanity held him suddenly
+in awe.  The room seemed no longer his--it had slipped back into
+that austere conventual privacy which had first impressed him.  Yet
+he hesitated; another strange suggestion--it seemed almost a vague
+recollection--overcame him like some lingering perfume, far off and
+pathetic, in its dying familiarity.  He turned his eyes almost
+timidly towards the bed.  The coverlet was drawn up near the throat
+of the figure to replace the striped cotton gown stained with blood
+and dust, which had been hurriedly torn off and thrown on a chair.
+The pale face, cleansed of blood and disguising color, the long
+hair, still damp from the surgeon's sponge, lay rigidly back on the
+pillow.  Suddenly this man of steady nerve uttered a faint cry,
+and, with a face as white as the upturned one before him, fell on
+his knees beside the bed.  For the face that lay there was his
+wife's!
+
+Yes, hers!  But the beautiful hair that she had gloried in--the
+hair that in his youth he had thought had once fallen like a
+benediction on his shoulder--was streaked with gray along the blue-
+veined hollows of the temples; the orbits of those clear eyes,
+beneath their delicately arched brows, were ringed with days of
+suffering; only the clear-cut profile, even to the delicate
+imperiousness of lips and nostril, was still there in all its
+beauty.  The coverlet had slipped from her shoulder; its familiar
+cold contour startled him.  He remembered how, in their early
+married days, he had felt the sanctity of that Diana-like
+revelation, and the still nymph-like austerity which clung to this
+strange, childless woman.  He even fancied that he breathed again
+the subtle characteristic perfume of the laces, embroideries, and
+delicate enwrappings in her chamber at Robles.  Perhaps it was the
+intensity of his gaze--perhaps it was the magnetism of his
+presence--but her lips parted with a half sigh, half moan.  Her
+head, although her eyes were still closed, turned on the pillow
+instinctively towards him.  He rose from his knees.  Her eyes
+opened slowly.  As the first glare of wonderment cleared from them,
+they met him--in the old antagonism of spirit.  Yet her first
+gesture was a pathetic feminine movement with both hands to arrange
+her straggling hair.  It brought her white fingers, cleaned of
+their disguising stains, as a sudden revelation to her of what had
+happened; she instantly slipped them back under the coverlet again.
+Brant did not speak, but with folded arms stood gazing upon her.
+And it was her voice that first broke the silence.
+
+"You have recognized me?  Well, I suppose you know all," she said,
+with a weak half-defiance.
+
+He bowed his head.  He felt as yet he could not trust his voice,
+and envied her her own.
+
+"I may sit up, mayn't I?"  She managed, by sheer force of will, to
+struggle to a sitting posture.  Then, as the coverlet slipped from
+the bare shoulder, she said, as she drew it, with a shiver of
+disgust, around her again,--
+
+"I forgot that you strip women, you Northern soldiers!  But I
+forgot, too," she added, with a sarcastic smile, "that you are also
+my husband, and I am in your room."
+
+The contemptuous significance of her speech dispelled the last
+lingering remnant of Brant's dream.  In a voice as dry as her own,
+he said,--
+
+"I am afraid you will now have to remember only that I am a
+Northern general, and you a Southern spy."
+
+"So be it," she said gravely.  Then impulsively, "But I have not
+spied on YOU."
+
+Yet, the next moment, she bit her lips as if the expression had
+unwittingly escaped her; and with a reckless shrug of her shoulders
+she lay back on her pillow.
+
+"It matters not," said Brant coldly.  "You have used this house and
+those within it to forward your designs.  It is not your fault that
+you found nothing in the dispatch-box you opened."
+
+She stared at him quickly; then shrugged her shoulders again.
+
+"I might have known she was false to me," she said bitterly, "and
+that you would wheedle her soul away as you have others.  Well, she
+betrayed me!  For what?"
+
+A flush passed over Brant's face.  But with an effort he contained
+himself.
+
+"It was the flower that betrayed you!  The flower whose red dust
+fell in the box when you opened it on the desk by the window in
+yonder room--the flower that stood in the window as a signal--the
+flower I myself removed, and so spoiled the miserable plot that
+your friends concocted."
+
+A look of mingled terror and awe came into her face.
+
+"YOU changed the signal!" she repeated dazedly; then, in a lower
+voice, "that accounts for it all!"  But the next moment she turned
+again fiercely upon him.  "And you mean to tell me that she didn't
+help you--that she didn't sell me--your wife--to you for--for what
+was it?  A look--a kiss!"
+
+"I mean to say that she did not know the signal was changed, and
+that she herself restored it to its place.  It is no fault of hers
+nor yours that I am not here a prisoner."
+
+She passed her thin hand dazedly across her forehead.
+
+"I see," she muttered.  Then again bursting out passionately, she
+said--"Fool! you never would have been touched!  Do you think that
+Lee would have gone for you, with higher game in your division
+commander?  No!  Those supports were a feint to draw him to your
+assistance while our main column broke his centre.  Yes, you may
+stare at me, Clarence Brant.  You are a good lawyer--they say a
+dashing fighter, too.  I never thought you a coward, even in your
+irresolution; but you are fighting with men drilled in the art of
+war and strategy when you were a boy outcast on the plains."  She
+stopped, closed her eyes, and then added, wearily--"But that was
+yesterday--to-day, who knows?  All may be changed.  The supports
+may still attack you.  That was why I stopped to write you that
+note an hour ago, when I believed I should be leaving here for
+ever.  Yes, I did it!" she went on, with half-wearied, half-dogged
+determination.  "You may as well know all.  I had arranged to fly.
+Your pickets were to be drawn by friends of mine, who were waiting
+for me beyond your lines.  Well, I lingered here when I saw you
+arrive--lingered to write you that note.  And--I was too late!"
+
+But Brant had been watching her varying expression, her kindling
+eye, her strange masculine grasp of military knowledge, her
+soldierly phraseology, all so new to her, that he scarcely heeded
+the feminine ending of her speech.  It seemed to him no longer the
+Diana of his youthful fancy, but some Pallas Athene, who now looked
+up at him from the pillow.  He had never before fully believed in
+her unselfish devotion to the cause until now, when it seemed to
+have almost unsexed her.  In his wildest comprehension of her he
+had never dreamed her a Joan of Arc, and yet hers was the face
+which might have confronted him, exalted and inspired, on the
+battlefield itself.  He recalled himself with an effort.
+
+"I thank you for your would-be warning," he said more gently, if
+not so tenderly, "and God knows I wish your flight had been
+successful.  But even your warning is unnecessary, for the supports
+had already come up; they had followed the second signal, and
+diverged to engage our division on the left, leaving me alone.  And
+their ruse of drawing our commander to assist me would not have
+been successful, as I had suspected it, and sent a message to him
+that I wanted no help."
+
+It was the truth; it was the sole purport of the note he had sent
+through Miss Faulkner.  He would not have disclosed his sacrifice;
+but so great was the strange domination of this woman still over
+him, that he felt compelled to assert his superiority.  She fixed
+her eyes upon him.
+
+"And Miss Faulkner took your message?" she said slowly.  "Don't
+deny it!  No one else could have passed through our lines; and you
+gave her a safe conduct through yours.  Yes, I might have known it.
+And this was the creature they sent me for an ally and confidant!"
+
+For an instant Brant felt the sting of this enforced contrast
+between the two women.  But he only said,--
+
+"You forget that I did not know you were the spy, nor do I believe
+that she suspected you were my wife."
+
+"Why should she?" she said almost fiercely.  "I am known among
+these people only by the name of Benham---my maiden name.  Yes!--
+you can take me out, and shoot me under that name, without
+disgracing yours.  Nobody will know that the Southern spy was the
+wife of the Northern general!  You see, I have thought even of
+that!"
+
+"And thinking of that," said Brant slowly, "you have put yourself--
+I will not say in my power, for you are in the power of any man in
+this camp who may know you, or even hear you speak.  Well, let us
+understand each other plainly.  I do not know how great a sacrifice
+your devotion to your cause demands of you; I do know what it seems
+to demand of me.  Hear me, then!  I will do my best to protect you,
+and get you safely away from here; but, failing that, I tell you
+plainly that I shall blow out your brains and my own together."
+
+She knew that he would do it.  Yet her eyes suddenly beamed with a
+new and awakening light; she put back her hair again, and half
+raised herself upon the pillow, to gaze at his dark, set face.
+
+"And as I shall let no other life but ours be periled in this
+affair," he went on quietly, "and will accompany you myself in some
+disguise beyond the lines, we will together take the risks--or the
+bullets of the sentries that may save us both all further trouble.
+An hour or two more will settle that.  Until then your weak
+condition will excuse you from any disturbance or intrusion here.
+The mulatto woman you have sometimes personated may be still in
+this house; I will appoint her to attend you.  I suppose you can
+trust her, for you must personate her again, and escape in her
+clothes, while she takes your place in this room as my prisoner."
+
+"Clarence!"
+
+Her voice had changed suddenly; it was no longer bitter and
+stridulous, but low and thrilling as he had heard her call to him
+that night in the patio of Robles.  He turned quickly.  She was
+leaning from the bed--her thin, white hands stretched appealingly
+towards him.
+
+"Let us go together, Clarence," she said eagerly.  "Let us leave
+this horrible place--these wicked, cruel people--forever.  Come
+with me!  Come with me to my people--to my own faith--to my own
+house--which shall be yours!  Come with me to defend it with your
+good sword, Clarence, against those vile invaders with whom you
+have nothing in common, and who are the dirt under your feet.  Yes,
+yes!  I know it!--I have done you wrong--I have lied to you when I
+spoke against your skill and power.  You are a hero--a born leader
+of men!  I know it!  Have I not heard it from the men who have
+fought against you, and yet admired and understood you, ay, better
+than your own?--gallant men, Clarence, soldiers bred who did not
+know what you were to me nor how proud I was of you even while I
+hated you?  Come with me!  Think what we would do together--with
+one faith--one cause--one ambition!  Think, Clarence, there is no
+limit you might not attain!  We are no niggards of our rewards and
+honors--we have no hireling votes to truckle to--we know our
+friends!  Even I--Clarence--I"--there was a strange pathos in the
+sudden humility that seemed to overcome her--"I have had my reward
+and known my power.  I have been sent abroad, in the confidence of
+the highest--to the highest.  Don't turn from me.  I am offering
+you no bribe, Clarence, only your deserts.  Come with me.  Leave
+these curs behind, and live the hero that you are!"
+
+He turned his blazing eyes upon her.
+
+"If you were a man"--he began passionately, then stopped.
+
+"No!  I am only a woman and must fight in a woman's way," she
+interrupted bitterly.  "Yes!  I intreat, I implore, I wheedle, I
+flatter, I fawn, I lie!  I creep where you stand upright, and pass
+through doors to which you would not bow.  You wear your blazon of
+honor on your shoulder; I hide mine in a slave's gown.  And yet I
+have worked and striven and suffered!  Listen, Clarence," her voice
+again sank to its appealing minor,--"I know what you men call
+'honor,' that which makes you cling to a merely spoken word, or an
+empty oath.  Well, let that pass!  I am weary; I have done my share
+of this work, you have done yours.  Let us both fly; let us leave
+the fight to those who shall come after us, and let us go together
+to some distant land where the sounds of these guns or the blood of
+our brothers no longer cry out to us for vengeance!  There are
+those living here--I have met them, Clarence," she went on
+hurriedly, "who think it wrong to lift up fratricidal hands in the
+struggle, yet who cannot live under the Northern yoke.  They are,"
+her voice hesitated, "good men and women--they are respected--they
+are"--
+
+"Recreants and slaves, before whom you, spy as you are--stand a
+queen!" broke in Brant, passionately.  He stopped and turned
+towards the window.  After a pause he came back again towards the
+bed--paused again and then said in a lower voice--"Four years ago,
+Alice, in the patio of our house at Robles, I might have listened
+to this proposal, and--I tremble to think--I might have accepted
+it!  I loved you; I was as weak, as selfish, as unreflecting, my
+life was as purposeless--but for you--as the creatures you speak
+of.  But give me now, at least, the credit of a devotion to my
+cause equal to your own--a credit which I have never denied you!
+For the night that you left me, I awoke to a sense of my own
+worthlessness and degradation--perhaps I have even to thank you for
+that awakening--and I realized the bitter truth.  But that night I
+found my true vocation--my purpose, my manhood"--
+
+A bitter laugh came from the pillow on which she had languidly
+thrown herself.
+
+"I believe I left you with Mrs. Hooker--spare me the details."
+
+The blood rushed to Brant's face and then receded as suddenly.
+
+"You left me with Captain Pinckney, who had tempted you, and whom I
+killed!" he said furiously.
+
+They were both staring savagely at each other.  Suddenly he said,
+"Hush!" and sprang towards the door, as the sound of hurried
+footsteps echoed along the passage.  But he was too late; it was
+thrown open to the officer of the guard, who appeared, standing on
+the threshold.
+
+"Two Confederate officers arrested hovering around our pickets.
+They demand to see you."
+
+Before Brant could interpose, two men in riding cloaks of
+Confederate gray stepped into the room with a jaunty and self-
+confident air.
+
+"Not DEMAND, general," said the foremost, a tall, distinguished-
+looking man, lifting his hand with a graceful deprecating air.  "In
+fact, too sorry to bother you with an affair of no importance
+except to ourselves.  A bit of after-dinner bravado brought us in
+contact with your pickets, and, of course, we had to take the
+consequences.  Served us right, and we were lucky not to have got a
+bullet through us.  Gad!  I'm afraid my men would have been less
+discreet!  I am Colonel Lagrange, of the 5th Tennessee; my young
+friend here is Captain Faulkner, of the 1st Kentucky.  Some excuse
+for a youngster like him--none for me!  I"--
+
+He stopped, for his eyes suddenly fell upon the bed and its
+occupant.  Both he and his companion started.  But to the natural,
+unaffected dismay of a gentleman who had unwittingly intruded upon
+a lady's bedchamber, Brant's quick eye saw a more disastrous
+concern superadded.  Colonel Lagrange was quick to recover himself,
+as they both removed their caps.
+
+"A thousand pardons," he said, hurriedly stepping backwards to the
+door.  "But I hardly need say to a fellow-officer, general, that we
+had no idea of making so gross an intrusion!  We heard some cock-
+and-bull story of your being occupied--cross-questioning an escaped
+or escaping nigger--or we should never have forced ourselves upon
+you."
+
+Brant glanced quickly at his wife.  Her face had apparently become
+rigid on the entrance of the two men; her eyes were coldly fixed
+upon the ceiling.  He bowed formally, and, with a wave of his hand
+towards the door, said,--
+
+"I will hear your story below, gentleman."
+
+He followed them from the room, stopped to quietly turn the key in
+the lock, and then motioned them to precede him down the staircase.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Not a word was exchanged till they had reached the lower landing
+and Brant's private room.  Dismissing his subaltern and orderly
+with a sign, Brant turned towards his prisoners.  The jaunty ease,
+but not the self-possession, had gone from Lagrange's face; the
+eyes of Captain Faulkner were fixed on his older companion with a
+half-humorous look of perplexity.
+
+"I am afraid I can only repeat, general, that our foolhardy freak
+has put us in collision with your sentries," said Lagrange, with a
+slight hauteur, that replaced his former jauntiness; "and we were
+very properly made prisoners.  If you will accept my parole, I have
+no doubt our commander will proceed to exchange a couple of gallant
+fellows of yours, whom I have had the honor of meeting within our
+own lines, and whom you must miss probably more than I fear our
+superiors miss us."
+
+"Whatever brought you here, gentlemen," said Brant drily, "I am
+glad, for your sakes, that you are in uniform, although it does
+not, unfortunately, relieve me of an unpleasant duty."
+
+"I don't think I understand you," returned Lagrange, coldly.
+
+"If you had not been in uniform, you would probably have been shot
+down as spies, without the trouble of capture," said Brant quietly.
+
+"Do you mean to imply, sir"--began Lagrange sternly.
+
+"I mean to say that the existence of a Confederate spy between this
+camp and the division headquarters is sufficiently well known to us
+to justify the strongest action."
+
+"And pray, how can that affect us?" said Lagrange haughtily.
+
+"I need not inform so old a soldier as Colonel Lagrange that the
+aiding, abetting, and even receiving information from a spy or
+traitor within one's lines is an equally dangerous service."
+
+"Perhaps you would like to satisfy yourself, General," said Colonel
+Lagrange, with an ironical laugh.  "Pray do not hesitate on account
+of our uniform.  Search us if you like."
+
+"Not on entering my lines, Colonel," replied Brant, with quiet
+significance.
+
+Lagrange's cheek flushed.  But he recovered himself quickly, and
+with a formal bow said,--
+
+"You will, then, perhaps, let us know your pleasure?"
+
+"My DUTY, Colonel, is to keep you both close prisoners here until I
+have an opportunity to forward you to the division commander, with
+a report of the circumstances of your arrest.  That I propose to
+do.  How soon I may have that opportunity, or if I am ever to have
+it," continued Brant, fixing his clear eyes significantly on
+Lagrange, "depends upon the chances of war, which you probably
+understand as well as I do."
+
+"We should never think of making any calculation on the action of
+an officer of such infinite resources as General Brant," said
+Lagrange ironically.
+
+"You will, no doubt, have an opportunity of stating your own case
+to the division commander," continued Brant, with an unmoved face.
+"And," he continued, turning for the first time to Captain
+Faulkner, "when you tell the commander what I believe to be the
+fact--from your name and resemblance--that you are a relation of
+the young lady who for the last three weeks has been an inmate of
+this house under a pass from Washington, you will, I have no doubt,
+favorably explain your own propinquity to my lines."
+
+"My sister Tilly!" said the young officer impulsively.  "But she is
+no longer here.  She passed through the lines back to Washington
+yesterday.  No," he added, with a light laugh, "I'm afraid that
+excuse won't count for to-day."
+
+A sudden frown upon the face of the elder officer, added to the
+perfect ingenuousness of Faulkner's speech, satisfied Brant that he
+had not only elicited the truth, but that Miss Faulkner had been
+successful.  But he was sincere in his suggestion that her
+relationship to the young officer would incline the division
+commander to look leniently upon his fault, for he was conscious of
+a singular satisfaction in thus being able to serve her.  Of the
+real object of the two men before him he had no doubt.  They were
+"the friends" of his wife, who were waiting for her outside the
+lines!  Chance alone had saved her from being arrested with them,
+with the consequent exposure of her treachery before his own men,
+who, as yet, had no proof of her guilt, nor any suspicion of her
+actual identity.  Meanwhile his own chance of conveying her with
+safety beyond his lines was not affected by the incident; the
+prisoners dare not reveal what they knew of her, and it was with a
+grim triumph that he thought of compassing her escape without their
+aid.  Nothing of this, however, was visible in his face, which the
+younger man watched with a kind of boyish curiosity, while Colonel
+Lagrange regarded the ceiling with a politely repressed yawn.  "I
+regret," concluded Brant, as he summoned the officer of the guard,
+"that I shall have to deprive you of each other's company during
+the time you are here; but I shall see that you, separately, want
+for nothing in your confinement."
+
+"If this is with a view to separate interrogatory, general, I can
+retire now," said Lagrange, rising, with ironical politeness.
+
+"I believe I have all the information I require," returned Brant,
+with undisturbed composure.  Giving the necessary orders to his
+subaltern, he acknowledged with equal calm the formal salutes of
+the two prisoners as they were led away, and returned quickly to
+his bedroom above.  He paused instinctively for a moment before the
+closed door, and listened.  There was no sound from within.  He
+unlocked the door, and opened it.
+
+So quiet was the interior that for an instant, without glancing at
+the bed, he cast a quick look at the window, which, till then, he
+had forgotten, and which he remembered gave upon the veranda roof.
+But it was still closed, and as he approached the bed, he saw his
+wife still lying there, in the attitude in which he had left her.
+But her eyes were ringed, and slightly filmed, as if with recent
+tears.
+
+It was perhaps this circumstance that softened his voice, still
+harsh with command, as he said,--
+
+"I suppose you knew those two men?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And that I have put it out of their power to help you?"
+
+"I do."
+
+There was something so strangely submissive in her voice that he
+again looked suspiciously at her.  But he was shocked to see that
+she was quite pale now, and that the fire had gone out of her dark
+eyes.
+
+"Then I may tell you what is my plan to save you.  But, first, you
+must find this mulatto woman who has acted as your double."
+
+"She is here."
+
+"Here?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How do you know it?" he asked, in quick suspicion.
+
+"She was not to leave this place until she knew I was safe within
+our lines.  I have some friends who are faithful to me."  After a
+pause she added, "She has been here already."
+
+He looked at her, startled.  "Impossible--I"--
+
+"You locked the door.  Yes! but she has a second key.  And even if
+she had not, there is another entrance from that closet.  You do
+not know this house: you have been here two weeks; I spent two
+years of my life, as a girl, in this room."
+
+An indescribable sensation came over him; he remembered how he had
+felt when he first occupied it; this was followed by a keen sense
+of shame on reflecting that he had been, ever since, but a helpless
+puppet in the power of his enemies, and that she could have escaped
+if she would, even now.
+
+"Perhaps," he said grimly, "you have already arranged your plans?"
+
+She looked at him with a singular reproachfulness even in her
+submission.
+
+"I have only told her to be ready to change clothes with me and
+help me color my face and hands at the time appointed.  I have left
+the rest to you."
+
+"Then this is my plan.  I have changed only a detail.  You and she
+must both leave this house at the same time, by different exits,
+but one of them must be private--and unknown to my men.  Do you
+know of such a one?"
+
+"Yes," she said, "in the rear of the negro quarters."
+
+"Good," he replied, "that will be your way out.  She will leave
+here, publicly, through the parade, armed with a pass from me.  She
+will be overhauled and challenged by the first sentry near the
+guardhouse, below the wall.  She will be subjected to some delay
+and scrutiny, which she will, however, be able to pass better than
+you would.  This will create the momentary diversion that we
+require.  In the mean time, you will have left the house by the
+rear, and you will then keep in the shadow of the hedge until you
+can drop down along the Run, where it empties into the swamp.
+That," he continued, fixing his keen eyes upon her, "is the one
+weak point in the position of this place that is neither overlooked
+nor defended.  But perhaps," he added again grimly, "you already
+know it."
+
+"It is the marsh where the flowers grow, near the path where you
+met Miss Faulkner.  I had crossed the marsh to give her a letter,"
+she said slowly.
+
+A bitter smile came over Brant's face, but passed as quickly.
+
+"Enough," he said quietly, "I will meet you beside the Run, and
+cross the marsh with you until you are within hailing distance of
+your lines.  I will be in plain clothes, Alice," he went on slowly,
+"for it will not be the commander of this force who accompanies
+you, but your husband, and, without disgracing his uniform, he will
+drop to your level; for the instant he passes his own lines, in
+disguise, he will become, like you, a spy, and amenable to its
+penalties."
+
+Her eyes seemed suddenly to leap up to his with that strange look
+of awakening and enthusiasm which he had noted before.  And in its
+complete prepossession of all her instincts she rose from the bed,
+unheeding her bared arms and shoulders and loosened hair, and stood
+upright before him.  For an instant husband and wife regarded each
+other as unreservedly as in their own chamber at Robles.
+
+"When shall I go?"
+
+He glanced through the window already growing lighter with the
+coming dawn.  The relief would pass in a few moments; the time
+seemed propitious.
+
+"At once," he said.  "I will send Rose to you."
+
+But his wife had already passed into the closet, and was tapping
+upon some inner door.  He heard the sound of hinges turning and the
+rustling of garments.  She reappeared, holding the curtains of the
+closet together with her hand, and said,--
+
+"Go!  When she comes to your office for the pass, you will know
+that I have gone."
+
+He turned away.
+
+"Stop!" she said faintly.
+
+He turned back.  Her expression had again changed.  Her face was
+deadly pale; a strange tremor seemed to have taken possession of
+her.  Her hands dropped from the curtain.  Her beautiful arms moved
+slightly forward; it seemed to him that she would in the next
+moment have extended them towards him.  But even then she said
+hurriedly, "Go!  Go!" and slipped again behind the curtains.
+
+He quickly descended the stairs as the sound of trampling feet on
+the road, and the hurried word of command, announced the return of
+the scouting party.  The officer had little report to make beyond
+the fact that a morning mist, creeping along the valley, prevented
+any further observation, and bade fair to interrupt their own
+communications with the camp.  Everything was quiet in the west,
+although the enemy's lines along the ridge seemed to have receded.
+
+Brant had listened impatiently, for a new idea had seized him.
+Hooker was of the party, and was the one man in whom he could
+partly confide, and obtain a disguise.  He at once made his way to
+the commissary wagons--one of which he knew Hooker used as a tent.
+Hastily telling him that he wished to visit the pickets without
+recognition, he induced him to lend him his slouched hat and frock
+coat, leaving with him his own distinguishing tunic, hat, and
+sword.  He resisted the belt and pistols which Hooker would have
+forced upon him.  As he left the wagon he was amusedly conscious
+that his old companion was characteristically examining the
+garments he had left behind with mingled admiration and envy.  But
+he did not know, as he slipped out of the camp, that Mr. Hooker was
+quietly trying them on, before a broken mirror in the wagon-head!
+
+The gray light of that summer morning was already so strong that,
+to avoid detection, he quickly dropped into the shadow of the gully
+that sloped towards the Run.  The hot mist which the scouts had
+seen was now lying like a tranquil sea between him and the pickets
+of the enemy's rear-guard, which it seemed to submerge, and was
+clinging in moist tenuous swathes--like drawn-out cotton wool--
+along the ridge, half obliterating its face.  From the valley in
+the rear it was already stealing in a thin white line up the slope
+like the advance of a ghostly column, with a stealthiness that, in
+spite of himself, touched him with superstitious significance.  A
+warm perfume, languid and treacherous--as from the swamp magnolia--
+seemed to rise from the half-hidden marsh.  An ominous silence,
+that appeared to be a part of this veiling of all things under the
+clear opal-tinted sky above, was so little like the hush of rest
+and peace, that he half-yearned for the outburst of musketry and
+tumult of attack that might dispel it.  All that he had ever heard
+or dreamed of the insidious South, with its languid subtleties of
+climate and of race, seemed to encompass him here.
+
+But the next moment he saw the figure he was waiting for stealing
+towards him from the shadow of the gulley beneath the negro
+quarters.
+
+Even in that uncertain light there was no mistaking the tall
+figure, the gaudily striped clinging gown and turbaned head.  And
+then a strange revulsion of feeling, quite characteristic of the
+emotional side of his singular temperament, overcame him.  He was
+taking leave of his wife--the dream of his youth--perhaps forever!
+It should be no parting in anger as at Robles; it should be with a
+tenderness that would blot out their past in their separate
+memories--God knows! it might even be that a parting at that moment
+was a joining of them in eternity.  In his momentary exaltation it
+even struck him that it was a duty, no less sacred, no less
+unselfish than the one to which he had devoted his life.  The light
+was growing stronger; he could hear voices in the nearest picket
+line, and the sound of a cough in the invading mist.  He made a
+hurried sign to the on-coming figure to follow him, ran ahead, and
+halted at last in the cover of a hackmatack bush.  Still gazing
+forward over the marsh, he stealthily held out his hand behind him
+as the rustling skirt came nearer.  At last his hand was touched--
+but even at that touch he started and turned quickly.
+
+It was not his wife, but Rose!--her mulatto double!  Her face was
+rigid with fright, her beady eyes staring in their china sockets,
+her white teeth chattering.  Yet she would have spoken.
+
+"Hush!" he said, clutching her hand, in a fierce whisper.  "Not a
+word!"
+
+She was holding something white in her fingers; he snatched it
+quickly.  It was a note from his wife--not in the disguised hand of
+her first warning, but in one that he remembered as if it were a
+voice from their past.
+
+"Forgive me for disobeying you to save you from capture, disgrace,
+or death--which would have come to you where you were going!  I
+have taken Rose's pass.  You need not fear that your honor will
+suffer by it, for if I am stopped I shall confess that I took it
+from her.  Think no more of me, Clarence, but only of yourself.
+You are in danger."
+
+He crushed the letter in his hand.
+
+"Tell me," he said in a fierce whisper, seizing her arm, "and speak
+low.  When did you leave her?"
+
+"Sho'ly just now!" gasped the frightened woman.
+
+He flung her aside.  There might be still time to overtake and save
+her before she reached the picket lines.  He ran up the gully, and
+out on to the slope towards the first guard-post.  But a familiar
+challenge reached his ear, and his heart stopped beating.
+
+"Who goes there?"
+
+There was a pause, a rattle of arms voices--another pause--and
+Brant stood breathlessly listening.  Then the voice rose again
+slowly and clearly: "Pass the mulatto woman!"
+
+Thank God! she was saved!  But the thought had scarcely crossed his
+mind before it seemed to him that a blinding crackle of sparks
+burst out along the whole slope below the wall, a characteristic
+yell which he knew too well rang in his ears, and an undulating
+line of dusty figures came leaping like gray wolves out of the mist
+upon his pickets.  He heard the shouts of his men falling back as
+they fired; the harsh commands of a few officers hurrying to their
+posts, and knew that he had been hopelessly surprised and surrounded!
+
+He ran forward among his disorganized men.  To his consternation no
+one seemed to heed him!  Then the remembrance of his disguise
+flashed upon him.  But he had only time to throw away his hat and
+snatch a sword from a falling lieutenant, before a scorching flash
+seemed to pass before his eyes and burn through his hair, and he
+dropped like a log beside his subaltern.
+
+        .        .        .        .        .        .
+
+An aching under the bandage around his head where a spent bullet
+had grazed his scalp, and the sound of impossible voices in his
+ears were all he knew as he struggled slowly back to consciousness
+again.  Even then it still seemed a delusion,--for he was lying on
+a cot in his own hospital, yet with officers of the division staff
+around him, and the division commander himself standing by his
+side, and regarding him with an air of grave but not unkindly
+concern.  But the wounded man felt instinctively that it was not
+the effect of his physical condition, and a sense of shame came
+suddenly over him, which was not dissipated by his superior's
+words.  For, motioning the others aside, the major-general leaned
+over his cot, and said,--
+
+"Until a few moments ago, the report was that you had been captured
+in the first rush of the rear-guard which we were rolling up for
+your attack, and when you were picked up, just now, in plain
+clothes on the slope, you were not recognized.  The one thing
+seemed to be as improbable as the other," he added significantly.
+
+The miserable truth flashed across Brant's mind.  Hooker must have
+been captured in his clothes--perhaps in some extravagant sally--
+and had not been recognized in the confusion by his own officers.
+Nevertheless, he raised his eyes to his superior.
+
+"You got my note?"
+
+The general's brow darkened.
+
+"Yes," he said slowly, "but finding you thus unprepared--I had been
+thinking just now that you had been deceived by that woman--or by
+others--and that it was a clumsy forgery."  He stopped, and seeing
+the hopeless bewilderment in the face of the wounded man, added
+more kindly: "But we will not talk of that in your present
+condition.  The doctor says a few hours will put you straight
+again.  Get strong, for I want you to lose no time--for your own
+sake--to report yourself at Washington."
+
+"Report myself--at Washington!" repeated Brant slowly.
+
+"That was last night's order," said the commander, with military
+curtness.  Then he burst out: "I don't understand it, Brant!  I
+believe you have been misunderstood, misrepresented, perhaps
+maligned and I shall make it MY business to see the thing through--
+but those are the Department orders.  And for the present--I am
+sorry to say you are relieved of your command."
+
+He turned away, and Brant closed his eyes.  With them it seemed to
+him that he closed his career.  No one would ever understand his
+explanation--even had he been tempted to give one, and he knew he
+never would.  Everything was over now!  Even this wretched bullet
+had not struck him fairly, and culminated his fate as it might!
+For an instant, he recalled his wife's last offer to fly with him
+beyond the seas--beyond this cruel injustice--but even as he
+recalled it, he knew that flight meant the worst of all--a half-
+confession!  But she had escaped!  Thank God for that!  Again and
+again in his hopeless perplexity this comfort returned to him,--he
+had saved her; he had done his duty.  And harping upon this in his
+strange fatalism, it at last seemed to him that this was for what
+he had lived--for what he had suffered--for what he had fitly ended
+his career.  Perhaps it was left for him now to pass his remaining
+years in forgotten exile--even as his father had--his father!--his
+breath came quickly at the thought--God knows! perhaps as
+wrongfully accused!  It may have been a Providence that she had
+borne him no child, to whom this dreadful heritage could be again
+transmitted.
+
+There was something of this strange and fateful resignation in his
+face, a few hours later, when he was able to be helped again into
+the saddle.  But he could see in the eyes of the few comrades who
+commiseratingly took leave of him, a vague, half-repressed awe of
+some indefinite weakness in the man, that mingled with their
+heartfelt parting with a gallant soldier.  Yet even this touched
+him no longer.  He cast a glance at the house and the room where he
+had parted from her, at the slope from which she had passed--and
+rode away.
+
+And then, as his figure disappeared down the road, the restrained
+commentary of wonder, surmise, and criticism broke out:--
+
+"It must have been something mighty bad, for the old man, who
+swears by him, looked rather troubled.  And it was deuced queer,
+you know, this changing clothes with somebody, just before this
+surprise!"
+
+"Nonsense!  It's something away back of that!  Didn't you hear the
+old man say that the orders for him to report himself came from
+Washington LAST NIGHT?  No!"--the speaker lowered his voice--
+"Strangeways says that he had regularly sold himself out to one of
+them d----d secesh woman spies!  It's the old Marc Antony business
+over again!"
+
+"Now I think of it," said a younger subaltern, "he did seem
+mightily taken with one of those quadroons or mulattoes he issued
+orders against.  I suppose that was a blind for us!  I remember the
+first day he saw her; he was regularly keen to know all about her."
+
+Major Curtis gave a short laugh.
+
+"That mulatto, Martin, was a white woman, burnt-corked!  She was
+trying to get through the lines last night, and fell off a wall or
+got a knock on the head from a sentry's carbine.  When she was
+brought in, Doctor Simmons set to washing the blood off her face;
+the cork came off and the whole thing came out.  Brant hushed it
+up--and the woman, too--in his own quarters!  It's supposed now
+that she got away somehow in the rush!"
+
+"It goes further back than that, gentlemen," said the adjutant
+authoritatively.  "They say his wife was a howling secessionist,
+four years ago, in California, was mixed up in a conspiracy, and he
+had to leave on account of it.  Look how thick he and that Miss
+Faulkner became, before he helped HER off!"
+
+"That's your jealousy, Tommy; she knew he was, by all odds, the
+biggest man here, and a good deal more, too, and you had no show!"
+
+In the laugh that followed, it would seem that Brant's eulogy had
+been spoken and forgotten.  But as Lieutenant Martin was turning
+away, a lingering corporal touched his cap.
+
+"You were speaking of those prowling mulattoes, sir.  You know the
+general passed one out this morning."
+
+"So I have heard."
+
+"I reckon she didn't get very far.  It was just at the time that we
+were driven in by their first fire, and I think she got her share
+of it, too.  Do you mind walking this way, sir!"
+
+The lieutenant did not mind, although he rather languidly followed.
+When they had reached the top of the gully, the corporal pointed to
+what seemed to be a bit of striped calico hanging on a thorn bush
+in the ravine.
+
+"That's her," said the corporal.  "I know the dress; I was on guard
+when she was passed.  The searchers, who were picking up our men,
+haven't got to her yet; but she ain't moved or stirred these two
+hours.  Would you like to go down and see her?"
+
+The lieutenant hesitated.  He was young, and slightly fastidious as
+to unnecessary unpleasantness.  He believed he would wait until the
+searchers brought her up, when the corporal might call him.
+
+The mist came up gloriously from the swamp like a golden halo.  And
+as Clarence Brant, already forgotten, rode moodily through it
+towards Washington, hugging to his heart the solitary comfort of
+his great sacrifice, his wife, Alice Brant, for whom he had made
+it, was lying in the ravine, dead and uncared for.  Perhaps it was
+part of the inconsistency of her sex that she was pierced with the
+bullets of those she had loved, and was wearing the garments of the
+race that she had wronged.
+
+
+
+PART III.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+It was sunset of a hot day at Washington.  Even at that hour the
+broad avenues, which diverged from the Capitol like the rays of
+another sun, were fierce and glittering.  The sterile distances
+between glowed more cruelly than ever, and pedestrians, keeping in
+the scant shade, hesitated on the curbstones before plunging into
+the Sahara-like waste of crossings.  The city seemed deserted.
+Even that vast army of contractors, speculators, place-hunters, and
+lobbyists, which hung on the heels of the other army, and had
+turned this pacific camp of the nation into a battlefield of
+ignoble conflict and contention--more disastrous than the one to
+the South--had slunk into their holes in hotel back bedrooms, in
+shady barrooms, or in the negro quarters of Georgetown, as if the
+majestic, white-robed Goddess enthroned upon the dome of the
+Capitol had at last descended among them and was smiting to right
+and left with the flat and flash of her insufferable sword.
+
+Into this stifling atmosphere of greed and corruption Clarence
+Brant stepped from the shadow of the War Department.  For the last
+three weeks he had haunted its ante-rooms and audience-chambers, in
+the vain hope of righting himself before his superiors, who were
+content, without formulating charges against him, to keep him in
+this disgrace of inaction and the anxiety of suspense.  Unable to
+ascertain the details of the accusation, and conscious of his own
+secret, he was debarred the last resort of demanding a court-
+martial, which he knew could only exonerate him by the exposure of
+the guilt of his wife, whom he still hoped had safely escaped.  His
+division commander, in active operations in the field, had no time
+to help him at Washington.  Elbowed aside by greedy contractors,
+forestalled by selfish politicians, and disdaining the ordinary
+method of influence, he had no friend to turn to.  In his few years
+of campaigning he had lost his instinct of diplomacy, without
+acquiring a soldier's bluntness.
+
+The nearly level rays of the sun forced him at last to turn aside
+into one of the openings of a large building--a famous caravansary
+of that hotel-haunted capital, and he presently found himself in
+the luxurious bar-room, fragrant with mint, and cool with ice-slabs
+piled symmetrically on its marble counters.  A few groups of men
+were seeking coolness at small tables with glasses before them and
+palm-leaf fans in their hands, but a larger and noisier assemblage
+was collected before the bar, where a man, collarless and in his
+shirt-sleeves, with his back to the counter, was pretentiously
+addressing them.  Brant, who had moodily dropped into a chair in
+the corner, after ordering a cooling drink as an excuse for his
+temporary refuge from the stifling street, half-regretted his
+enforced participation in their conviviality.  But a sudden
+lowering of the speaker's voice into a note of gloomy significance
+seemed familiar to him.  He glanced at him quickly, from the shadow
+of his corner.  He was not mistaken--it was Jim Hooker!
+
+For the first time in his life, Brant wished to evade him.  In the
+days of his own prosperity his heart had always gone out towards
+this old companion of his boyhood; in his present humiliation his
+presence jarred upon him.  He would have slipped away, but to do so
+he would have had to pass before the counter again, and Hooker,
+with the self-consciousness of a story-teller, had an eye on his
+audience.  Brant, with a palm-leaf fan before his face, was obliged
+to listen.
+
+"Yes, gentlemen," said Hooker, examining his glass dramatically,
+"when a man's been cooped up in a Rebel prison, with a death line
+before him that he's obliged to cross every time he wants a square
+drink, it seems sort of like a dream of his boyhood to be standin'
+here comf'ble before his liquor, alongside o' white men once more.
+And when he knows he's bin put to all that trouble jest to save the
+reputation of another man, and the secrets of a few high and mighty
+ones, it's almost enough to make his liquor go agin him."  He
+stopped theatrically, seemed to choke emotionally over his brandy
+squash, but with a pause of dramatic determination finally dashed
+it down.  "No, gentlemen," he continued gloomily, "I don't say what
+I'm back in Washington FOR--I don't say what I've been sayin' to
+myself when I've bin picking the weevils outer my biscuits in Libby
+Prison--but ef you don't see some pretty big men in the War
+Department obliged to climb down in the next few days, my name
+ain't Jim Hooker, of Hooker, Meacham & Co., Army Beef Contractors,
+and the man who saved the fight at Gray Oaks!"
+
+The smile of satisfaction that went around his audience--an audience
+quick to seize the weakness of any performance--might have startled
+a vanity less oblivious than Hooker's; but it only aroused Brant's
+indignation and pity, and made his position still more intolerable.
+But Hooker, scornfully expectorating a thin stream of tobacco juice
+against the spittoon, remained for an instant gloomily silent.
+
+"Tell us about the fight again," said a smiling auditor.
+
+Hooker looked around the room with a certain dark suspiciousness,
+and then, in an affected lower voice, which his theatrical
+experience made perfectly audible, went on:--
+
+"It ain't much to speak of, and if it wasn't for the principle of
+the thing, I wouldn't be talking.  A man who's seen Injin fightin'
+don't go much on this here West Point fightin' by rule-of-three--
+but that ain't here or there!  Well, I'd bin out a-scoutin'--just
+to help the boys along, and I was sittin' in my wagon about
+daybreak, when along comes a brigadier-general, and he looks into
+the wagon flap.  I oughter to tell you first, gentlemen, that every
+minit he was expecting an attack--but he didn't let on a hint of it
+to me.  'How are you, Jim?' said he.  'How are you, general?' said
+I.  'Would you mind lendin' me your coat and hat?' says he.  'I've
+got a little game here with our pickets, and I don't want to be
+recognized.'  'Anything to oblige, general,' said I, and with that
+I strips off my coat and hat, and he peels and puts them on.
+'Nearly the same figure, Jim,' he says, lookin' at me, 'suppose you
+try on my things and see.'  With that he hands me his coat--full
+uniform, by G-d!--with the little gold cords and laces and the
+epaulettes with a star, and I puts it on--quite innocent-like.  And
+then he says, handin' me his sword and belt, 'Same inches round the
+waist, I reckon,' and I puts that on too.  'You may as well keep
+'em on till I come back,' says he, 'for it's mighty damp and
+malarious at this time around the swamp.'  And with that he lights
+out.  Well, gentlemen, I hadn't sat there five minutes before Bang!
+bang! rattle! rattle! kershiz! and I hears a yell.  I steps out of
+the wagon; everything's quite dark, but the rattle goes on.  Then
+along trots an orderly, leadin' a horse.  'Mount, general,' he
+says, 'we're attacked--the rear-guard's on us!'"
+
+He paused, looked round his audience, and then in a lower voice,
+said darkly,--
+
+"I ain't a fool, an' in that minute a man's brain works at high
+pressure, and I saw it all!  I saw the little game of the brigadier
+to skunk away in my clothes and leave me to be captured in his.
+But I ain't a dog neither, and I mounted that horse, gentlemen, and
+lit out to where the men were formin'!  I didn't dare to speak,
+lest they should know me, but I waved my sword, and by G-d! they
+followed me!  And the next minit we was in the thick of it.  I had
+my hat as full of holes as that ice strainer; I had a dozen bullets
+through my coat, the fringe of my epaulettes was shot away, but I
+kept the boys at their work--and we stopped 'em!  Stopped 'em,
+gentlemen, until we heard the bugles of the rest of our division,
+that all this time had been rolling that blasted rear-guard over on
+us!  And it saved the fight; but the next minute the Johnny Rebs
+made a last dash and cut me off--and there I was--by G-d, a
+prisoner!  Me that had saved the fight!"
+
+A ripple of ironical applause went round as Hooker gloomily drained
+his glass, and then held up his hand in scornful deprecation.
+
+"I said I was a prisoner, gentlemen," he went on bitterly; "but
+that ain't all!  I asked to see Johnston, told him what I had done,
+and demanded to be exchanged for a general officer.  He said, 'You
+be d----d.'  I then sent word to the division commander-in-chief,
+and told him how I had saved Gray Oaks when his brigadier ran away,
+and he said, 'You be d----d.'  I've bin 'You be d----d' from the
+lowest non-com. to the commander-in-chief, and when I was at last
+exchanged, I was exchanged, gentlemen, for two mules and a broken
+wagon.  But I'm here, gentlemen--as I was thar!"
+
+"Why don't you see the President about it?" asked a bystander, in
+affected commiseration.
+
+Mr. Hooker stared contemptuously at the suggestion, and expectorated
+his scornful dissent.
+
+"Not much!" he said.  "But I'm going to see the man that carries
+him and his Cabinet in his breeches-pocket--Senator Boompointer."
+
+"Boompointer's a big man," continued his auditor doubtfully.  "Do
+you know him?"
+
+"Know him?"  Mr. Hooker laughed a bitter, sardonic laugh.  "Well,
+gentlemen, I ain't the kind o' man to go in for family influence;
+but," he added, with gloomy elevation, "considering he's an
+intimate relation of mine, BY MARRIAGE, I should say I did."
+
+Brant heard no more; the facing around of his old companion towards
+the bar gave him that opportunity of escaping he had been waiting
+for.  The defection of Hooker and his peculiar inventions were too
+characteristic of him to excite surprise, and, although they no
+longer awakened his good-humored tolerance, they were powerless to
+affect him in his greater trouble.  Only one thing he learned--that
+Hooker knew nothing of his wife being in camp as a spy--the
+incident would have been too tempting to have escaped his dramatic
+embellishment.  And the allusion to Senator Boompointer, monstrous
+as it seemed in Hooker's mouth, gave him a grim temptation.  He had
+heard of Boompointer's wonderful power; he believed that Susy would
+and could help him--Clarence--whether she did or did not help
+Hooker.  But the next moment he dismissed the idea, with a flushing
+cheek.  How low had he already sunk, even to think of it!
+
+It had been once or twice in his mind to seek the President, and,
+under a promise of secrecy, reveal a part of his story.  He had
+heard many anecdotes of his goodness of heart and generous
+tolerance of all things, but with this was joined--so said
+contemporaneous history--a flippancy of speech and a brutality of
+directness from which Clarence's sensibility shrank.  Would he see
+anything in his wife but a common spy on his army; would he see
+anything in him but the weak victim, like many others, of a
+scheming woman?  Stories current in camp and Congress of the way
+that this grim humorist had, with an apposite anecdote or a rugged
+illustration, brushed away the most delicate sentiment or the
+subtlest poetry, even as he had exposed the sham of Puritanic
+morality or of Epicurean ethics.  Brant had even solicited an
+audience, but had retired awkwardly, and with his confidence
+unspoken, before the dark, humorous eyes, that seemed almost too
+tolerant of his grievance.  He had been to levees, and his heart
+had sunk equally before the vulgar crowd, who seemed to regard this
+man as their own buffoon, and the pompousness of position, learning
+and dignity, which he seemed to delight to shake and disturb.
+
+One afternoon, a few days later, in sheer listlessness of purpose,
+he found himself again at the White House.  The President was
+giving audience to a deputation of fanatics, who, with a pathetic
+simplicity almost equal to his own pathetic tolerance, were urging
+upon this ruler of millions the policy of an insignificant score,
+and Brant listened to his patient, practical response of facts and
+logic, clothed in simple but sinewy English, up to the inevitable
+climax of humorous illustration, which the young brigadier could
+now see was necessary to relieve the grimness of his refusal.  For
+the first time Brant felt the courage to address him, and resolved
+to wait until the deputation retired.  As they left the gallery he
+lingered in the ante-room for the President to appear.  But, as he
+did not come, afraid of losing his chances, he returned to the
+gallery.  Alone in his privacy and shadow, the man he had just left
+was standing by a column, in motionless abstraction, looking over
+the distant garden.  But the kindly, humorous face was almost
+tragic with an intensity of weariness!  Every line of those strong,
+rustic features was relaxed under a burden which even the long,
+lank, angular figure--overgrown and unfinished as his own West--
+seemed to be distorted in its efforts to adjust itself to; while
+the dark, deep-set eyes were abstracted with the vague prescience
+of the prophet and the martyr.  Shocked at that sudden change,
+Brant felt his cheek burn with shame.  And he was about to break
+upon that wearied man's unbending; he was about to add his petty
+burden to the shoulders of this Western Atlas.  He drew back
+silently, and descended the stairs.
+
+But before he had left the house, while mingling with the crowd in
+one of the larger rooms, he saw the President reappear beside an
+important, prosperous-looking figure, on whom the kindly giant was
+now smiling with humorous toleration.  He noticed the divided
+attention of the crowd; the name of Senator Boompointer was upon
+every lip; he was nearly face to face with that famous dispenser of
+place and preferment--this second husband of Susy!  An indescribable
+feeling--half cynical, half fateful--came over him. He would not
+have been surprised to see Jim Hooker join the throng, which now
+seemed to him to even dwarf the lonely central figure that had so
+lately touched him!  He wanted to escape it all!
+
+But his fate brought him to the entrance at the same moment that
+Boompointer was leaving it, and that distinguished man brushed
+hastily by him as a gorgeous carriage, drawn by two spirited
+horses, and driven by a resplendent negro coachman, dashed up.
+It was the Boompointer carriage.
+
+A fashionably-dressed, pretty woman, who, in style, bearing,
+opulent contentment, and ingenuous self-consciousness, was in
+perfect keeping with the slight ostentation of the equipage, was
+its only occupant.  As Boompointer stepped into the vehicle, her
+blue eyes fell for an instant on Brant.  A happy, childlike pink
+flush came into her cheeks, and a violet ray of recognition and
+mischief darted from her eyes to his.  For it was Susy.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+When Brant returned to his hotel there was an augmented respect in
+the voice of the clerk as he handed him a note with the remark that
+it had been left by Senator Boompointer's coachman.  He had no
+difficulty in recognizing Susy's peculiarly Brobdingnagian school-
+girl hand.
+
+"Kla'uns, I call it real mean!  I believe you just HOPED I wouldn't
+know you.  If you're a bit like your old self you'll come right off
+here--this very night!  I've got a big party on--but we can talk
+somewhere between the acts!  Haven't I growed?  Tell me!  And my!
+what a gloomy swell the young brigadier is!  The carriage will come
+for you--so you have no excuse."
+
+The effect of this childish note upon Brant was strangely out of
+proportion to its triviality.  But then it was Susy's very
+triviality--so expressive of her characteristic irresponsibility--
+which had always affected him at such moments.  Again, as at
+Robles, he felt it react against his own ethics.  Was she not right
+in her delightful materialism?  Was she not happier than if she had
+been consistently true to Mrs. Peyton, to the convent, to the
+episode of her theatrical career, to Jim Hooker--even to himself?
+And did he conscientiously believe that Hooker or himself had
+suffered from her inconsistency?  No!  From all that he had heard,
+she was a suitable helpmate to the senator, in her social
+attractiveness, her charming ostentations, her engaging vanity that
+disarmed suspicion, and her lack of responsibility even in her
+partisanship.  Nobody ever dared to hold the senator responsible
+for her promises, even while enjoying the fellowship of both, and
+it is said that the worthy man singularly profited by it.  Looking
+upon the invitation as a possible distraction to his gloomy
+thoughts, Brant resolved to go.
+
+The moon was high as the carriage whirled him out of the still
+stifling avenues towards the Soldiers' Home--a sylvan suburb
+frequented by cabinet ministers and the President--where the good
+Senator had "decreed," like Kubla Khan, "a stately pleasure dome,"
+to entertain his friends and partisans.  As they approached the
+house, the trembling light like fireflies through the leaves, the
+warm silence broken only by a military band playing a drowsy waltz
+on the veranda, and the heavy odors of jessamine in the air,
+thrilled Brant with a sense of shame as he thought of his old
+comrades in the field.  But this was presently dissipated by the
+uniforms that met him in the hall, with the presence of some of his
+distinguished superiors.  At the head of the stairs, with a
+circling background of the shining crosses and ribbons of the
+diplomatic corps, stood Susy--her bare arms and neck glittering
+with diamonds, her face radiant with childlike vivacity.  A
+significant pressure of her little glove as he made his bow seemed
+to be his only welcome, but a moment later she caught his arm.
+"You've yet to know HIM," she said in a half whisper; "he thinks a
+good deal of himself--just like Jim.  But he makes others believe
+it, and that's where poor Jim slipped up."  She paused before the
+man thus characteristically disposed of, and presented Brant.  It
+was the man he had seen before--material, capable, dogmatic.  A
+glance from his shrewd eyes--accustomed to the weighing of men's
+weaknesses and ambitions--and a few hurried phrases, apparently
+satisfied him that Brant was not just then important or available
+to him, and the two men, a moment later, drifted easily apart.
+Brant sauntered listlessly through the crowded rooms, half
+remorsefully conscious that he had taken some irrevocable step, and
+none the less assured by the presence of two or three reporters and
+correspondents who were dogging his steps, or the glance of two or
+three pretty women whose curiosity had evidently been aroused by
+the singular abstraction of this handsome, distinguished, but
+sardonic-looking officer.  But the next moment he was genuinely
+moved.
+
+A tall young woman had just glided into the centre of the room with
+an indolent yet supple gracefulness that seemed familiar to him.  A
+change in her position suddenly revealed her face.  It was Miss
+Faulkner.  Previously he had known her only in the riding habit of
+Confederate gray which she had at first affected, or in the light
+muslin morning dress she had worn at Gray Oaks.  It seemed to him,
+to-night, that the studied elegance of her full dress became her
+still more; that the pretty willfulness of her chin and shoulders
+was chastened and modified by the pearls round her fair throat.
+Suddenly their eyes met; her face paled visibly; he fancied that
+she almost leaned against her companion for support; then she met
+his glance again with a face into which the color had as suddenly
+rushed, but with eyes that seemed to be appealing to him even to
+the point of pain and fright.  Brant was not conceited; he could
+see that the girl's agitation was not the effect of any mere
+personal influence in his recognition, but of something else.  He
+turned hastily away; when he looked around again she was gone.
+
+Nevertheless he felt filled with a vague irritation.  Did she think
+him such a fool as to imperil her safety by openly recognizing her
+without her consent?  Did she think that he would dare to presume
+upon the service she had done him?  Or, more outrageous thought,
+had she heard of his disgrace, known its cause, and feared that he
+would drag her into a disclosure to save himself?  No, no; she
+could not think that!  She had perhaps regretted what she had done
+in a freak of girlish chivalry; she had returned to her old
+feelings and partisanship; she was only startled at meeting the
+single witness of her folly.  Well, she need not fear!  He would as
+studiously avoid her hereafter, and she should know it.  And yet--
+yes, there was a "yet."  For he could not forget--indeed, in the
+past three weeks it had been more often before him than he cared to
+think--that she was the one human being who had been capable of a
+great act of self-sacrifice for him--her enemy, her accuser, the
+man who had scarcely treated her civilly.  He was ashamed to
+remember now that this thought had occurred to him at the bedside
+of his wife--at the hour of her escape--even on the fatal slope on
+which he had been struck down.  And now this fond illusion must go
+with the rest--the girl who had served him so loyally was ashamed
+of it!  A bitter smile crossed his face.
+
+"Well, I don't wonder!  Here are all the women asking me who is
+that good-looking Mephistopheles, with the burning eyes, who is
+prowling around my rooms as if searching for a victim.  Why, you're
+smiling for all the world like poor Jim when he used to do the Red
+Avenger."
+
+Susy's voice--and illustration--recalled him to himself.
+
+"Furious I may be," he said with a gentler smile, although his eyes
+still glittered, "furious that I have to wait until the one woman I
+came to see--the one woman I have not seen for so long, while these
+puppets have been nightly dancing before her--can give me a few
+moments from them, to talk of the old days."
+
+In his reaction he was quite sincere, although he felt a slight
+sense of remorse as he saw the quick, faint color rise, as in those
+old days, even through the to-night's powder of her cheek.
+
+"That's like the old Kla'uns," she said, with a slight pressure of
+his arm, "but we will not have a chance to speak until later.  When
+they are nearly all gone, you'll take me to get a little refreshment,
+and we'll have a chat in the conservatory.  But you must drop that
+awfully wicked look and make yourself generally agreeable to those
+women until then."
+
+It was, perhaps, part of this reaction which enabled him to obey
+his hostess' commands with a certain recklessness that, however,
+seemed to be in keeping with the previous Satanic reputation he had
+all unconsciously achieved.  The women listened to the cynical
+flippancy of this good-looking soldier with an undisguised
+admiration which in turn excited curiosity and envy from his own
+sex.  He saw the whispered questioning, the lifted eyebrows,
+scornful shrugging of shoulders--and knew that the story of his
+disgrace was in the air.  But I fear this only excited him to
+further recklessness and triumph.  Once he thought he recognized
+Miss Faulkner's figure at a distance, and even fancied that she had
+been watching him; but he only redoubled his attentions to the fair
+woman beside him, and looked no more.
+
+Yet he was glad when the guests began to drop off, the great
+rooms thinned, and Susy, appearing on the arm of her husband,
+coquettishly reminded him of his promise.
+
+"For I want to talk to you of old times.  General Brant," she went
+on, turning explanatorily to Boompointer, "married my adopted
+mother in California--at Robles, a dear old place where I spent
+my earliest years.  So, you see, we are sort of relations by
+marriage," she added, with delightful naivete.
+
+Hooker's own vainglorious allusion to his relations to the man
+before him flashed across Brant's mind, but it left now only a
+smile on his lips.  He felt he had already become a part of the
+irresponsible comedy played around him.  Why should he resist, or
+examine its ethics too closely?  He offered his arm to Susy as they
+descended the stairs, but, instead of pausing in the supper-room,
+she simply passed through it with a significant pressure on his
+arm, and, drawing aside a muslin curtain, stepped into the moonlit
+conservatory.  Behind the curtain there was a small rustic settee;
+without releasing his arm she sat down, so that when he dropped
+beside her, their hands met, and mutually clasped.
+
+"Now, Kla'uns," she said, with a slight, comfortable shiver as she
+nestled beside him, "it's a little like your chair down at old
+Robles, isn't it?--tell me!  And to think it's five years ago!
+But, Kla'uns, what's the matter?  You are changed," she said,
+looking at his dark face in the moonlight, "or you have something
+to tell me."
+
+"I have."
+
+"And it's something dreadful, I know!" she said, wrinkling her
+brows with a pretty terror.  "Couldn't you pretend you had told it
+to me, and let us go on just the same?  Couldn't you, Kla'uns?
+Tell me!"
+
+"I am afraid I couldn't," he said, with a sad smile.
+
+"Is it about yourself, Kla'uns?  You know," she went on with
+cheerful rapidity, "I know everything about you--I always did, you
+know--and I don't care, and never did care, and it don't, and never
+did, make the slightest difference to me.  So don't tell it, and
+waste time, Kla'uns."
+
+"It's not about me, but about my wife!" he said slowly.
+
+Her expression changed slightly
+
+"Oh, her!" she said after a pause.  Then, half-resignedly, "Go on,
+Kla'uns."
+
+He began.  He had a dozen times rehearsed to himself his miserable
+story, always feeling it keenly, and even fearing that he might be
+carried away by emotion or morbid sentiment in telling it to
+another.  But, to his astonishment, he found himself telling it
+practically, calmly, almost cynically, to his old playmate,
+repressing the half devotion and even tenderness that had governed
+him, from the time that his wife, disguised as the mulatto woman,
+had secretly watched him at his office, to the hour that he had
+passed through the lines.  He withheld only the incident of Miss
+Faulkner's complicity and sacrifice.
+
+"And she got away, after having kicked you out of your place,
+Kla'uns?" said Susy, when he had ended.
+
+Clarence stiffened beside her.  But he felt he had gone too far to
+quarrel with his confidante.
+
+"She went away.  I honestly believe we shall never meet again, or I
+should not be telling you this!"
+
+"Kla'uns," she said lightly, taking his hand again, "don't you
+believe it!  She won't let you go.  You're one of those men that a
+woman, when she's once hooked on to, won't let go of, even when she
+believes she no longer loves him, or meets bigger and better men.
+I reckon it's because you're so different from other men; maybe
+there are so many different things about you to hook on to, and you
+don't slip off as easily as the others.  Now, if you were like old
+Peyton, her first husband, or like poor Jim, or even my Boompointer,
+you'd be all right!  No, my boy, all we can do is to try to keep her
+from getting at you here.  I reckon she won't trust herself in
+Washington again in a hurry."
+
+"But I cannot stay here; my career is in the field."
+
+"Your career is alongside o' me, honey--and Boompointer.  But
+nearer ME.  We'll fix all that.  I heard something about your being
+in disgrace, but the story was that you were sweet on some secesh
+girl down there, and neglected your business, Kla'uns.  But, Lordy!
+to think it was only your own wife!  Never mind; we'll straighten
+that out.  We've had worse jobs than that on.  Why, there was that
+commissary who was buying up dead horses at one end of the field,
+and selling them to the Government for mess beef at the other; and
+there was that general who wouldn't make an attack when it rained;
+and the other general--you know who I mean, Kla'uns--who wouldn't
+invade the State where his sister lived; but we straightened them
+out, somehow, and they were a heap worse than you.  We'll get you a
+position in the war department here, one of the bureau offices,
+where you keep your rank and your uniform--you don't look bad in
+it, Kla'uns--on better pay.  And you'll come and see me, and we'll
+talk over old times."
+
+Brant felt his heart turn sick within him.  But he was at her mercy
+now!  He said, with an effort,--
+
+"But I've told you that my career--nay, my LIFE--now is in the
+field."
+
+"Don't you be a fool, Kla'uns, and leave it there!  You have done
+your work of fighting--mighty good fighting, too,--and everybody
+knows it.  You've earned a change.  Let others take your place."
+
+He shuddered, as he remembered that his wife had made the same
+appeal.  Was he a fool then, and these two women--so totally unlike
+in everything--right in this?
+
+"Come, Kla'uns," said Susy, relapsing again against his shoulder.
+"Now talk to me!  You don't say what you think of me, of my home,
+of my furniture, of my position--even of him!  Tell me!"
+
+"I find you well, prosperous, and happy," he said, with a faint
+smile.
+
+"Is that all?  And how do I look?"
+
+She turned her still youthful, mischievous face towards him in the
+moonlight.  The witchery of her blue eyes was still there as of
+old, the same frank irresponsibility beamed from them; her parted
+lips seemed to give him back the breath of his youth.  He started,
+but she did not.
+
+"Susy, dear!"
+
+It was her husband's voice.
+
+"I quite forgot," the Senator went on, as he drew the curtain
+aside, "that you are engaged with a friend; but Miss Faulkner is
+waiting to say good-night, and I volunteered to find you."
+
+"Tell her to wait a moment," said Susy, with an impatience that was
+as undisguised as it was without embarrassment or confusion.
+
+But Miss Faulkner, unconsciously following Mr. Boompointer, was
+already upon them.  For a moment the whole four were silent,
+although perfectly composed.  Senator Boompointer, unconscious of
+any infelicity in his interruption, was calmly waiting.  Clarence,
+opposed suddenly to the young girl whom he believed was avoiding
+his recognition, rose, coldly imperturbable.  Miss Faulkner,
+looking taller and more erect in the long folds of her satin cloak,
+neither paled nor blushed, as she regarded Susy and Brant with a
+smile of well-bred apology.
+
+"I expect to leave Washington to-morrow, and may not be able to
+call again," she said, "or I would not have so particularly pressed
+a leave-taking upon you."
+
+"I was talking with my old friend, General Brant," said Susy, more
+by way of introduction than apology.
+
+Brant bowed.  For an instant the clear eyes of Miss Faulkner
+slipped icily across his as she made him an old-fashioned Southern
+courtesy, and, taking Susy's arm, she left the room.  Brant did not
+linger, but took leave of his host almost in the same breath.  At
+the front door a well-appointed carriage of one of the Legations
+had just rolled into waiting.  He looked back; he saw Miss
+Faulkner, erect and looking like a bride in her gauzy draperies,
+descending the stairs before the waiting servants.  He felt his
+heart beat strangely.  He hesitated, recalled himself with an
+effort, hurriedly stepped from the porch into the path, as he heard
+the carriage door close behind him in the distance, and then felt
+the dust from her horse's hoofs rise around him as she drove past
+him and away.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Although Brant was convinced as soon as he left the house that he
+could not accept anything from the Boompointer influence, and that
+his interview with Susy was fruitless, he knew that he must
+temporize.  While he did not believe that his old playmate would
+willingly betray him, he was uneasy when he thought of the vanity
+and impulsiveness which might compromise him--or of a possible
+jealousy that might seek revenge.  Yet he had no reason to believe
+that Susy's nature was jealous, or that she was likely to have any
+cause; but the fact remained that Miss Faulkner's innocent
+intrusion upon their tete-a-tete affected him more strongly than
+anything else in his interview with Susy.  Once out of the
+atmosphere of that house, it struck him, too, that Miss Faulkner
+was almost as much of an alien in it as himself.  He wondered what
+she had been doing there.  Could it be possible that she was
+obtaining information for the South?  But he rejected the idea as
+quickly as it had occurred to him.  Perhaps there could be no
+stronger proof of the unconscious influence the young girl already
+had over him.
+
+He remembered the liveries of the diplomatic carriage that had
+borne her away, and ascertained without difficulty that her sister
+had married one of the foreign ministers, and that she was a guest
+in his house.  But he was the more astonished to hear that she and
+her sister were considered to be Southern Unionists--and were
+greatly petted in governmental circles for their sacrificing
+fidelity to the flag.  His informant, an official in the State
+Department, added that Miss Matilda might have been a good deal of
+a madcap at the outbreak of the war--for the sisters had a brother
+in the Confederate service--but that she had changed greatly, and,
+indeed, within a month.  "For," he added, "she was at the White
+House for the first time last week, and they say the President
+talked more to her than to any other woman."
+
+The indescribable sensation with which this simple information
+filled Brant startled him more than the news itself.  Hope, joy,
+fear, distrust, and despair, alternately distracted him.  He
+recalled Miss Faulkner's almost agonizing glance of appeal to him in
+the drawing-room at Susy's, and it seemed to be equally consistent
+with the truth of what he had just heard--or some monstrous
+treachery and deceit of which she might be capable.  Even now she
+might be a secret emissary of some spy within the President's
+family; she might have been in correspondence with some traitor in
+the Boompointer clique, and her imploring glance only the result of
+a fear of exposure.  Or, again, she might have truly recanted after
+her escapade at Gray Oaks, and feared only his recollection of her
+as go-between of spies.  And yet both of these presumptions were
+inconsistent with her conduct in the conservatory.  It seemed
+impossible that this impulsive woman, capable of doing what he had
+himself known her to do, and equally sensitive to the shame or joy
+of such impulses, should be the same conventional woman of society
+who had so coldly recognized and parted from him.
+
+But this interval of doubt was transitory.  The next day he
+received a dispatch from the War Department, ordering him to report
+himself for duty at once.  With a beating heart he hurried to the
+Secretary.  But that official had merely left a memorandum with his
+assistant directing General Brant to accompany some fresh levies to
+a camp of "organization" near the front.  Brant felt a chill of
+disappointment.  Duties of this kind had been left to dubious
+regular army veterans, hurriedly displaced general officers, and
+favored detrimentals.  But if it was not restoration, it was no
+longer inaction, and it was at least a release from Washington.
+
+It was also evidently the result of some influence--but hardly that
+of the Boompointers, for he knew that Susy wished to keep him at
+the Capital.  Was there another power at work to send him away from
+Washington?  His previous doubts returned.  Nor were they dissipated
+when the chief of the bureau placed a letter before him with the
+remark that it had been entrusted to him by a lady with the request
+that it should be delivered only into his own hands.
+
+"She did not know your hotel address, but ascertained you were to
+call here.  She said it was of some importance.  There is no mystery
+about it, General," continued the official with a mischievous glance
+at Brant's handsome, perplexed face, "although it's from a very
+pretty woman--whom we all know."
+
+"Mrs. Boompointer?" suggested Brant, with affected lightness.
+
+It was a maladroit speech.  The official's face darkened.
+
+"We have not yet become a Postal Department for the Boompointers,
+General," he said dryly, "however great their influence elsewhere.
+It was from rather a different style of woman--Miss Faulkner.  You
+will receive your papers later at your hotel, and leave to-night."
+
+Brant's unlucky slip was still potent enough to divert the official
+attention, or he would have noticed the change in his visitor's
+face, and the abruptness of his departure.
+
+Once in the street, Brant tore off the envelope.  But beneath it
+was another, on which was written in a delicate, refined hand:
+"Please do not open this until you reach your destination."
+
+Then she knew he was going!  And perhaps this was her influence?
+All his suspicions again returned.  She knew he was going near the
+lines, and his very appointment, through her power, might be a plot
+to serve her and the enemy!  Was this letter, which she was
+entrusting to him, the cover of some missive to her Southern
+friends which she expected him to carry--perhaps as a return for
+her own act of self-sacrifice?  Was this the appeal she had been
+making to his chivalry, his gratitude, his honor?  The perspiration
+stood in beads on his forehead.  What defect lay hidden in his
+nature that seemed to make him an easy victim of these intriguing
+women?  He had not even the excuse of gallantry; less susceptible
+to the potencies of the sex than most men, he was still compelled
+to bear that reputation.  He remembered his coldness to Miss
+Faulkner in the first days of their meeting, and her effect upon
+his subalterns.  Why had she selected him from among them--when she
+could have modeled the others like wax to her purposes?  Why?  And
+yet with the question came a possible answer that he hardly dared
+to think of--that in its very vagueness seemed to fill him with a
+stimulating thrill and hopefulness.  He quickened his pace.  He
+would take the letter, and yet be master of himself when the time
+came to open it.
+
+That time came three days later, in his tent at Three Pines
+Crossing.  As he broke open the envelope, he was relieved to find
+that it contained no other inclosure, and seemed intended only for
+himself.  It began abruptly:--
+
+"When you read this, you will understand why I did not speak to you
+when we met last night; why I even dreaded that you might speak to
+me, knowing, as I did, what I ought to tell you at that place and
+moment--something you could only know from me.  I did not know you
+were in Washington, although I knew you were relieved; I had no way
+of seeing you or sending to you before, and I only came to Mrs.
+Boompointer's party in the hope of hearing news of you.
+
+"You know that my brother was captured by your pickets in company
+with another officer.  He thinks you suspected the truth--that he
+and his friend were hovering near your lines to effect the escape
+of the spy.  But he says that, although they failed to help her,
+she did escape, or was passed through the lines by your connivance.
+He says that you seemed to know her, that from what Rose--the
+mulatto woman--told him, you and she were evidently old friends.
+I would not speak of this, nor intrude upon your private affairs,
+only that I think you ought to know that I had no knowledge of it
+when I was in your house, but believed her to be a stranger to you.
+You gave me no intimation that you knew her, and I believed that
+you were frank with me.  But I should not speak of this at all--for
+I believe that it would have made no difference to me in repairing
+the wrong that I thought I had done you--only that, as I am forced
+by circumstances to tell you the terrible ending of this story, you
+ought to know it all.
+
+"My brother wrote to me that the evening after you left, the
+burying party picked up the body of what they believed to be a
+mulatto woman lying on the slope.  It was not Rose, but the body of
+the very woman--the real and only spy--whom you had passed through
+the lines.  She was accidentally killed by the Confederates in the
+first attack upon you, at daybreak.  But only my brother and his
+friend recognized her through her blackened face and disguise, and
+on the plea that she was a servant of one of their friends, they
+got permission from the division commander to take her away, and
+she was buried by her friends and among her people in the little
+cemetery of Three Pines Crossing, not far from where you have gone.
+My brother thought that I ought to tell you this: it seems that he
+and his friend had a strange sympathy for you in what they appear
+to know or guess of your relations with that woman, and I think he
+was touched by what he thought was your kindness and chivalry to
+him on account of his sister.  But I do not think he ever knew, or
+will know, how great is the task that he has imposed upon me.
+
+"You know now, do you not, WHY I did not speak to you when we
+first met; it seemed so impossible to do it in an atmosphere and a
+festivity that was so incongruous with the dreadful message I was
+charged with.  And when I had to meet you later--perhaps I may have
+wronged you--but it seemed to me that you were so preoccupied and
+interested with other things that I might perhaps only be wearying
+you with something you cared little for, or perhaps already knew
+and had quickly forgotten.
+
+"I had been wanting to say something else to you when I had got rid
+of my dreadful message.  I do not know if you still care to hear
+it.  But you were once generous enough to think that I had done you
+a service in bringing a letter to your commander.  Although I know
+better than anybody else the genuine devotion to your duty that
+made you accept my poor service, from all that I can hear, you have
+never had the credit of it.  Will you not try me again?  I am more
+in favor here, and I might yet be more successful in showing your
+superiors how true you have been to your trust, even if you have
+little faith in your friend, Matilda Faulkner."
+
+For a long time he remained motionless, with the letter in his
+hand.  Then he arose, ordered his horse, and galloped away.
+
+There was little difficulty in finding the cemetery of Three Pines
+Crossing--a hillside slope, hearsed with pine and cypress, and
+starred with white crosses, that in the distance looked like
+flowers.  Still less was there in finding the newer marble shaft
+among the older lichen-spotted slabs, which bore the simple words:
+"Alice Benham, Martyr."  A few Confederate soldiers, under still
+plainer and newer wooden headstones, carved only with initials, lay
+at her feet.  Brant sank on his knees beside the grave, but he was
+shocked to see that the base of the marble was stained with the red
+pollen of the fateful lily, whose blossoms had been heaped upon her
+mound, but whose fallen petals lay dark and sodden in decay.
+
+How long he remained there he did not know.  And then a solitary
+bugle from the camp seemed to summon him, as it had once before
+summoned him, and he went away--as he had gone before--to a
+separation that he now knew was for all time.
+
+Then followed a month of superintendence and drill, and the
+infusing into the little camp under his instruction the spirit
+which seemed to be passing out of his own life forever.  Shut in by
+alien hills on the borderland of the great struggle, from time to
+time reports reached him of the bitter fighting, and almost
+disastrous successes of his old division commander.  Orders came
+from Washington to hurry the preparation of his raw levies to the
+field, and a faint hope sprang up in his mind.  But following it
+came another dispatch ordering his return to the Capital.
+
+He reached it with neither hope nor fear--so benumbed had become
+his spirit under this last trial, and what seemed to be now the
+mockery of this last sacrifice to his wife.  Though it was no
+longer a question of her life and safety, he knew that he could
+still preserve her memory from stain by keeping her secret, even
+though its divulgings might clear his own.  For that reason, he had
+even hesitated to inform Susy of her death, in the fear that, in
+her thoughtless irresponsibility and impulsiveness, she might be
+tempted to use it in his favor.  He had made his late appointment a
+plea for her withholding any present efforts to assist him.  He
+even avoided the Boompointers' house, in what he believed was
+partly a duty to the memory of his wife.  But he saw no inconsistency
+in occasionally extending his lonely walks to the vicinity of a
+foreign Legation, or in being lifted with a certain expectation at
+the sight of its liveries on the Avenue.  There was a craving for
+sympathy in his heart, which Miss Faulkner's letter had awakened.
+
+Meantime, he had reported himself for duty at the War Department--
+with little hope, however, in that formality.  But he was surprised
+the next day when the chief of the bureau informed him that his
+claim was before the President.
+
+"I was not aware that I had presented any claim," he said, a little
+haughtily.
+
+The bureau chief looked up with some surprise.  This quiet,
+patient, reserved man had puzzled him once or twice before.
+
+"Perhaps I should say 'case,' General," he said, drily.  "But the
+personal interest of the highest executive in the land strikes me
+as being desirable in anything."
+
+"I only mean that I have obeyed the orders of the department in
+reporting myself here, as I have done," said Brant, with less
+feeling, but none the less firmness; "and I should imagine it was
+not the duty of a soldier to question them.  Which I fancy a
+'claim' or a 'case' would imply."
+
+He had no idea of taking this attitude before, but the
+disappointments of the past month, added to this first official
+notice of his disgrace, had brought forward that dogged, reckless,
+yet half-scornful obstinacy that was part of his nature.
+
+The official smiled.
+
+"I suppose, then, you are waiting to hear from the President," he
+said drily.
+
+"I am awaiting orders from the department," returned Brant quietly,
+"but whether they originate in the President as commander-in-chief,
+or not--it is not for me to inquire."
+
+Even when he reached his hotel this half-savage indifference which
+had taken the place of his former incertitude had not changed.  It
+seemed to him that he had reached the crisis of his life where he
+was no longer a free agent, and could wait, superior alike to
+effort or expectation.  And it was with a merely dispassionate
+curiosity that he found a note the next morning from the
+President's private secretary, informing him that the President
+would see him early that day.
+
+A few hours later he was ushered through the public rooms of the
+White House to a more secluded part of the household.  The
+messenger stopped before a modest door and knocked.  It was opened
+by a tall figure--the President himself.  He reached out a long arm
+to Brant, who stood hesitatingly on the threshold, grasped his
+hand, and led him into the room.  It had a single, large,
+elaborately draped window and a handsome medallioned carpet, which
+contrasted with the otherwise almost appalling simplicity of the
+furniture.  A single plain angular desk, with a blotting pad and a
+few sheets of large foolscap upon it, a waste-paper basket and four
+plain armchairs, completed the interior with a contrast as simple
+and homely as its long-limbed, black-coated occupant.  Releasing
+the hand of the general to shut a door which opened into another
+apartment, the President shoved an armchair towards him and sank
+somewhat wearily into another before the desk.  But only for a
+moment; the long shambling limbs did not seem to adjust themselves
+easily to the chair; the high narrow shoulders drooped to find a
+more comfortable lounging attitude, shifted from side to side, and
+the long legs moved dispersedly.  Yet the face that was turned
+towards Brant was humorous and tranquil.
+
+"I was told I should have to send for you if I wished to see you,"
+he said smilingly.
+
+Already mollified, and perhaps again falling under the previous
+influence of this singular man, Brant began somewhat hesitatingly
+to explain.
+
+But the President checked him gently,--
+
+"You don't understand.  It was something new to my experience here
+to find an able-bodied American citizen with an honest genuine
+grievance who had to have it drawn from him like a decayed tooth.
+But you have been here before.  I seem to remember your face."
+
+Brant's reserve had gone.  He admitted that he had twice sought an
+audience--but--
+
+"You dodged the dentist!  That was wrong."  As Brant made a slight
+movement of deprecation the President continued: "I understand!
+Not from fear of giving pain to yourself but to others.  I don't
+know that THAT is right, either.  A certain amount of pain must be
+suffered in this world--even by one's enemies.  Well, I have looked
+into your case, General Brant."  He took up a piece of paper from
+his desk, scrawled with two or three notes in pencil.  "I think
+this is the way it stands.  You were commanding a position at Gray
+Oaks when information was received by the department that, either
+through neglect or complicity, spies were passing through your
+lines.  There was no attempt to prove your neglect; your orders,
+the facts of your personal care and precaution, were all before the
+department.  But it was also shown that your wife, from whom you
+were only temporarily separated, was a notorious secessionist;
+that, before the war, you yourself were suspected, and that,
+therefore, you were quite capable of evading your own orders, which
+you may have only given as a blind.  On this information you were
+relieved by the department of your command.  Later on it was
+discovered that the spy was none other than your own wife,
+disguised as a mulatto; that, after her arrest by your own
+soldiers, you connived at her escape--and this was considered
+conclusive proof of--well, let us say--your treachery."
+
+"But I did not know it was my wife until she was arrested," said
+Brant impulsvely.
+
+The President knitted his eyebrows humorously.
+
+"Don't let us travel out of the record, General.  You're as bad as
+the department.  The question was one of your personal treachery,
+but you need not accept the fact that you were justly removed
+because your wife was a spy.  Now, General, I am an old lawyer, and
+I don't mind telling you that in Illinois we wouldn't hang a yellow
+dog on that evidence before the department.  But when I was asked
+to look into the matter by your friends, I discovered something of
+more importance to you.  I had been trying to find a scrap of
+evidence that would justify the presumption that you had sent
+information to the enemy.  I found that it was based upon the fact
+of the enemy being in possession of knowledge at the first battle
+at Gray Oaks, which could only have been obtained from our side,
+and which led to a Federal disaster; that you, however, retrieved
+by your gallantry.  I then asked the secretary if he was prepared
+to show that you had sent the information with that view, or that
+you had been overtaken by a tardy sense of repentance.  He preferred
+to consider my suggestion as humorous.  But the inquiry led to my
+further discovery that the only treasonable correspondence actually
+in evidence was found upon the body of a trusted Federal officer,
+and had been forwarded to the division commander.  But there was no
+record of it in the case."
+
+"Why, I forwarded it myself," said Brant eagerly.
+
+"So the division commander writes," said the President, smiling,
+"and he forwarded it to the department.  But it was suppressed in
+some way.  Have you any enemies, General Brant?"
+
+"Not that I know of."
+
+"Then you probably have.  You are young and successful.  Think of
+the hundred other officers who naturally believe themselves better
+than you are, and haven't a traitorous wife.  Still, the department
+may have made an example of you for the benefit of the only man who
+couldn't profit by it."
+
+"Might it not have been, sir, that this suppression was for the
+good report of the service--as the chief offender was dead?"
+
+"I am glad to hear you say so, General, for it is the argument I
+have used successfully in behalf of your wife."
+
+"Then you know it all, sir?" said Brant after a gloomy pause.
+
+"All, I think.  Come, General, you seemed just now to be uncertain
+about your enemies.  Let me assure you, you need not be so in
+regard to your friends."
+
+"I dare to hope I have found one, sir," said Brant with almost
+boyish timidity.
+
+"Oh, not me!" said the President, with a laugh of deprecation.
+"Some one much more potent."
+
+"May I know his name, Mr. President?"
+
+"No, for it is a woman.  You were nearly ruined by one, General.  I
+suppose it's quite right that you should be saved by one.  And, of
+course, irregularly."
+
+"A woman!" echoed Brant.
+
+"Yes; one who was willing to confess herself a worse spy than your
+wife--a double traitor--to save you!  Upon my word, General, I
+don't know if the department was far wrong; a man with such an
+alternately unsettling and convincing effect upon a woman's highest
+political convictions should be under some restraint.  Luckily the
+department knows nothing of it."
+
+"Nor would any one else have known from me," said Brant eagerly.
+"I trust that she did not think--that you, sir, did not for an
+instant believe that I"--
+
+"Oh dear, no!  Nobody would have believed you!  It was her free
+confidence to me.  That was what made the affair so difficult to
+handle.  For even her bringing your dispatch to the division
+commander looked bad for you; and you know he even doubted its
+authenticity."
+
+"Does she--does Miss Faulkner know the spy was my wife?" hesitated
+Brant.
+
+The President twisted himself in his chair, so as to regard Brant
+more gravely with his deep-set eyes, and then thoughtfully rubbed
+his leg.
+
+"Don't let us travel out of the record, General," he said after a
+pause.  But as the color surged into Brant's cheek he raised his
+eyes to the ceiling, and said, in half-humorous recollection,--
+
+"No, I think THAT fact was first gathered from your other friend--
+Mr. Hooker."
+
+"Hooker!" said Brant, indignantly; "did he come here?"
+
+"Pray don't destroy my faith in Mr. Hooker, General," said the
+President, in half-weary, half-humorous deprecation.  "Don't tell
+me that any of his inventions are TRUE!  Leave me at least that
+magnificent liar--the one perfectly intelligible witness you have.
+For from the time that he first appeared here with a grievance and
+a claim for a commission, he has been an unspeakable joy to me and
+a convincing testimony to you.  Other witnesses have been partisans
+and prejudiced; Mr. Hooker was frankly true to himself.  How else
+should I have known of the care you took to disguise yourself, save
+the honor of your uniform, and run the risk of being shot as an
+unknown spy at your wife's side, except from his magnificent
+version of HIS part in it?  How else should I have known the story
+of your discovery of the Californian conspiracy, except from his
+supreme portrayal of it, with himself as the hero?  No, you must
+not forget to thank Mr. Hooker when you meet him.  Miss Faulkner is
+at present more accessible; she is calling on some members of my
+family in the next room.  Shall I leave you with her?"
+
+Brant rose with a pale face and a quickly throbbing heart as the
+President, glancing at the clock, untwisted himself from the chair,
+and shook himself out full length, and rose gradually to his feet.
+
+"Your wish for active service is granted, General Brant," he said
+slowly, "and you will at once rejoin your old division commander,
+who is now at the head of the Tenth Army Corps.  But," he said,
+after a deliberate pause, "there are certain rules and regulations
+of your service that even I cannot, with decent respect to your
+department, override.  You will, therefore, understand that you
+cannot rejoin the army in your former position."
+
+The slight flush that came to Brant's cheek quickly passed.  And
+there was only the unmistakable sparkle of renewed youth in his
+frank eyes as he said--
+
+"Let me go to the front again, Mr. President, and I care not HOW."
+
+The President smiled, and, laying his heavy hand on Brant's
+shoulder, pushed him gently towards the door of the inner room.
+
+"I was only about to say," he added, as he opened the door, "that
+it would be necessary for you to rejoin your promoted commander as
+a major-general.  And," he continued, lifting his voice, as he
+gently pushed his guest into the room, "he hasn't even thanked me
+for it, Miss Faulkner!"
+
+The door closed behind him, and he stood for a moment dazed, and
+still hearing the distant voice of the President, in the room he
+had just quitted, now welcoming a new visitor.  But the room before
+him, opening into a conservatory, was empty, save for a single
+figure that turned, half timidly, half mischievously, towards him.
+The same quick, sympathetic glance was in both their faces; the
+same timid, happy look in both their eyes.  He moved quickly to her
+side.
+
+"Then you knew that--that--woman was my wife?" he said, hurriedly,
+as he grasped her hand.
+
+She cast a half-appealing look at his face--a half-frightened one
+around the room and at the open door beyond.
+
+"Let us," she said faintly, "go into the conservatory."
+
+        .        .        .        .        .        .
+
+It is but a few years ago that the veracious chronicler of these
+pages moved with a wondering crowd of sightseers in the gardens of
+the White House.  The war cloud had long since lifted and vanished;
+the Potomac flowed peacefully by and on to where once lay the broad
+plantation of a great Confederate leader--now a national cemetery
+that had gathered the soldier dead of both sections side by side in
+equal rest and honor--and the great goddess once more looked down
+serenely from the dome of the white Capitol.  The chronicler's
+attention was attracted by an erect, handsome soldierly-looking
+man, with a beard and moustache slightly streaked with gray,
+pointing out the various objects of interest to a boy of twelve or
+fourteen at his side.
+
+"Yes; although, as I told you, this house belongs only to the
+President of the United States and his family," said the gentleman,
+smilingly, "in that little conservatory I proposed to your mother."
+
+"Oh! Clarence, how can you!" said the lady, reprovingly, "you know
+it was LONG after that!"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Clarence, by Bret Harte
+
diff --git a/old/clrnc10.zip b/old/clrnc10.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97bb9b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/clrnc10.zip