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diff --git a/29726-8.txt b/29726-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..50e5382 --- /dev/null +++ b/29726-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14891 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strollers, by Frederic S. Isham + +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: The Strollers + +Author: Frederic S. Isham + +Illustrator: Harrison Fisher + +Release Date: August 19, 2009 [EBook #29726] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STROLLERS *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE STROLLERS + +By FREDERIC S. ISHAM + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + +HARRISON FISHER + +INDIANAPOLIS + +THE BOWEN-MERRILL COMPANY + +PUBLISHERS + + + + +Copyright 1902 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company + +March + +PRESS OF + +BRAUNWORTH & CO. + +BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS + +BROOKLYN, N. Y. + + + + +THE STROLLERS + + + + +CONTENTS + + PROLOGUE PAGE + THE MARQUIS' HONEYMOON 3 + +BOOK I + +ON THE CIRCUIT IN THE WILDERNESS + + CHAPTER + I THE TRAVELERS' FRIEND 11 + II A NEW ARRIVAL 33 + III AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE VENTURE 48 + IV "GREEN GROW THE RUSHES, O!" 59 + V A CONFERENCE IN THE KITCHEN 72 + VI THE DEPARTURE OF THE CHARIOT 80 + VII SOJOURNING IN ARCADIA 87 + VIII FLIPPING THE SHILLING 99 + IX SAMPLING THE VINTAGES 111 + X SEALING THE COMPACT 122 + XI THE QUEST OF THE SOLDIER 136 + XII AN ECCENTRIC JAILER 144 + XIII THE COMING OF LITTLE THUNDER 156 + XIV THE ATTACK ON THE MANOR 172 + XV A HASTY EXIT 178 + XVI THE COUNCIL AT THE TOWN PUMP 190 + XVII THE HAND FERRY 203 + +BOOK II + +DESTINY AND THE MARIONETTES + + CHAPTER + I THE FASTIDIOUS MARQUIS 211 + II "ONLY AN INCIDENT" 224 + III AT THE RACES 232 + IV LEAR AND JULIET 250 + V THE MEETING BENEATH THE OAKS 266 + VI A BLOT IN THE 'SCUTCHEON 275 + VII A CYNICAL BARD 287 + VIII THE SWEETEST THING IN NATURE 308 + IX A DEBUT IN THE CRESCENT CITY 321 + X LAUGHTER AND TEARS 333 + XI THE PASSING OF A FINE GENTLEMAN 342 + XII IN THE OLD CEMETERY 360 + XIII AN INCONGRUOUS RÔLE 370 + +BOOK III + +THE FINAL CUE + + CHAPTER + I OVERLOOKING THE COURT-YARD 387 + II ONLY A SHADOW 399 + III FROM GARRET TO GARDEN 412 + IV "THE BEST OF LIFE" 420 + V THE LAWYER'S TIDINGS 428 + VI THE COUNCIL OF WAR 436 + VII A MEETING ON THE MOUNT 450 + VIII A FAIR PENITENT 464 + IX "COMUS' MISTICK WITCHERIES" 476 + X CONSTANCE AND THE SOLDIER 488 + + + + +PROLOGUE + + + + +THE MARQUIS' HONEYMOON + + +Old Drury Lane rang with applause for the performance of Madame Carew. +Of British-French parentage, she was a recognized peer among the +favorite actresses on the English stage and a woman whose attractions +of face and manner were of a high order. She came naturally by her +talents, being a descendant of Madame de Panilnac, famed as an +actress, confidante of Louise-Benedicte, Duchess du Maine, who +originated the celebrated _nuits blanches_ at Sceaux during the close +of Louis XIV's reign. + +The bill for the evening under consideration was "Adrienne Lecouvreur" +and in no part had the actress been more natural and effective. Her +triumph was secure, for as the prologue says: + + "Your judgment given--your sentence must remain; + No writ of error lies--to Drury Lane." + +She was the talk of the day and her praises or deficiencies were +discussed by the scandal-carriers of the town; the worn-out dowagers, +the superannuated maidens, the "tabernacle gallants," the male members +of the tea tables and all the coxcombs, sparks and beaux who haunted +the stage door. + +The player had every stimulus to appear at her best on this particular +evening, for the audience, frivolous, volatile, taking its character +from the loose, weak king, was unusually complaisant through the +presence of the first gentleman of Europe. As the last of the Georges +declared himself in good-humor, so every toady grinned and every +courtly flunkey swore in the Billingsgate of that profanely eloquent +period that the actress was a "monstrous fine woman." + +With rare discretion and spirit had the latter played, a queenly +figure in that ribald, gross gathering. She had reached the scene +where the actress turns upon her tormentors, those noble ladies of +rank and position, and launches the curse of a soul lashed beyond +endurance. Sweeping forward to confront her adversaries, about to face +them, her troubled glance chanced to fall into one of the side boxes +where were seated a certain foreign marquis, somewhat notorious, and a +lady of insolent, patrician bearing. The anticipated action was +arrested, for at sight of the nobleman and his companion, Adrienne +swayed slightly, as though moved by a new overpowering emotion. Only +for a moment she hesitated, then fixing her blazing eyes upon the two +and lifting her arm threateningly, the bitter words flowed from her +lips with an earnestness that thrilled the audience. A pallor +overspread the face of the marquis, while the lady drew back behind +the draperies, almost as if in fear. At the conclusion of that effort +the walls echoed with plaudits; the actress stood as in a trance; her +face was pale, her figure seemed changed to stone and the light went +out of her eyes. + +She fainted and fell and the curtain descended quickly. The woman by +the marquis' side, who had trembled at first, now forced a laugh, as +she said: "The trollop can curse! Let us go." Together they left the +box, the marquis regretting the temerity which had led him to bring +his companion to the theater. He, too, was secretly unnerved, and, +when they entered the carriage, they seated themselves as far apart as +possible, the marquis detesting the lady and she for her part +disliking him just as cordially. + +Next day the critics referred to the scene with glowing words, while +in the coffee houses they discussed the proposition: Should an actress +feel the emotion she portrays? With a cynical smile the marquis read +the different accounts of the performance, when he and his companion +found themselves in the old stage coach _en route_ for Brighton. He +felt no regret for his action--had not the Prince of Wales taught the +gentlemen of his kingdom that it was fashionable to desert actresses? +Had he not left the "divine Perdita" to languish, after snubbing her +right royally in Hyde Park? + +Disdainfully the lady in the coach regarded her husband and it +was evident that the ties of affection which bound these two +travelers together on life's road were neither strong nor enduring. +Yet they were traveling together; their way was the same; their +destination--but that belongs to the future. The marquis had been +relieved in his mind after a consultation with a distinguished +barrister, and, moreover, was pleased at the prospect of leaving +this island of fogs for the sunny shores of France. The times +were exciting; the country, on the verge of proposed electoral +reforms. But in France the new social system had sprung into +existence and--lamentable fact!--duty towards one's country had +assumed an empire superior to ancient devotion toward kings. + +To stem this tide and attach himself closely to King Charles X was the +marquis' ambitious purpose. For this he had espoused a party in +marrying a relative of the royal princess, thus enhancing the ties +that bound him to the throne, and throwing to the winds _his_ Perdita +whose charms had once held him in folly's chains. Did he regret the +step? Has ravening aspiration any compunction; any contrite visitings +of nature? What did the player expect; that he would violate +precedence; overthrow the fashionable maxims of good George IV; become +a slave to a tragi-comic performer and cast his high destiny to the +winds? Had ever a gentleman entertained such a project? Vows? Witness +the agreeable perjuries of lovers; the pleasing pastime of fond +hearts! Every titled rascallion lied to his mistress; every noble +blackguard professed to be a Darby for constancy and was a Jonathan +Wild by instinct. If her ideals were raised so high, the worse for +her; if a farce of a ceremony was regarded as tying an indissoluble +knot--let her take example by the lady who thought herself the king's +spouse; pish! there are ceremonies and ceremonies, and wives and +wives; those of the hedge-concealed cottage and those of palace and +chateau! + +As the coach sped over the road, the lady by his side smiled +disagreeably from time to time, and my lord, when he became aware of +it, winced beneath her glance. Had she fathomed his secret? Else why +that eminently superior air; that manner which said as plainly as +spoken words: "Now I have learned what to do if he should play the +tyrant. Now I see a way to liberty, equality, fraternity!" And beneath +the baneful gleam of that look of enlightenment, my lord cursed under +his breath roundly. The only imperturbable person of the party was +François, the marquis' valet, whose impassive countenance was that of +a stoic, apathetic to the foibles of his betters; a philosopher of the +wardrobe, to whom a wig awry or a loosened buckle seemed of more +moment than the derangement of the marriage tie or the disorder of +conjugal affection. + +Not long thereafter the player left for America, where she procured an +engagement in New York City, and, so far as London was concerned, she +might have found rest and retiredness in the waters of Lethe. Of her +reception in the old New York Theater; the verdict of the phalanx of +critics assembled in the Shakespeare box which, according to +tradition, held more than two hundred souls; the gossip over +confections or tea in the coffee room of the theater--it is +unnecessary to dwell upon. But had not the player become a voluntary +exile; had she not foregone her former life for the new; had she not +found that joy sometimes begets the bitterest grief, there would have +been no occasion for this chronicle. + + + + +BOOK I + +ON THE CIRCUIT IN THE WILDERNESS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE TRAVELERS' FRIEND + + +It was a drizzly day in the Shadengo Valley. A mist had settled down +upon the old inn; lost to view was the landscape with its varied +foliage. Only the immediate foreground was visible to a teamster who +came down the road--the trees with dripping branches, and the inn from +the eaves of which water fell to the ground with depressing monotony; +the well with its pail for watering the horses and the log trough in +whose limpid waters a number of speckled trout were swimming. The +driver drew up his horses before the Travelers' Friend--as the place +was named--and called out imperatively: + +"Hullo there!" + +No one appearing, he leaned over and impatiently rapped on the door +with the heavy oak butt-end of his whip. Still there was no response. +Again he knocked, this time louder than before, and was preparing for +an even more vigorous assault upon the unhospitable entrance, when the +door swung back and the landlord, a tall, gaunt individual, confronted +the driver. + +"Well, I heard ye," he said testily. "Are ye coming in or shall I +bring it out?" + +"Bring it out," was the gruff response of the disgruntled teamster. + +Shortly afterwards mine host reappeared with a tankard of generous +dimensions. The teamster raised it; slowly drained it to the bottom; +dropped a coin into the landlord's hand; cracked his whip in a lively +manner and moved on. The steam from his horses mingled with the mist +and he was soon swallowed up, although the cheerful snap of his whip +could yet be heard. Then that became inaudible and the boniface who +had stood for a brief space in the doorway, empty tankard in hand, +re-entered the house satisfied that no more transient patronage would +be forthcoming at present. + +Going through an outer room, called by courtesy a parlor, the landlord +passed into an apartment which served as dining-room, sitting-room and +bar. Here the glow of a wood fire from the well swept hearth and the +aspect of the varied assortment of bottles, glasses and tankards, gave +more proof of the fitness of the appellation on the creaking sign of +the road-house than appeared from a superficial survey of its exterior +and far from neat stable yard, or from that chilly, forbidding room, +so common especially in American residences in those days, the parlor. +Any doubt regarding the contents of the hospitable looking bottles was +dispelled by such prominent inscriptions in gilt letters as "Whisky," +"Brandy" and "Rum." To add to the effect, between the decanters were +ranged glass jars of striped peppermint and winter-green candies, +while a few lemons suggested pleasing possibilities of a hot sling, +spiced rum flip or Tom and Jerry. The ceiling of this dining-room was +blackened somewhat and the huge beams overhead gave an idea of the +substantial character of the construction of the place. That fuel was +plentiful, appeared in evidence in the open fireplace where were +burning two great logs, while piled up against the wall were many +other good-sized sections of hickory. + +Seated at a respectful distance from this cheerful conflagration was a +young man of perhaps five-and-twenty, whose travel-stained attire +indicated he had but recently been on the road. Upon a chair near by +were a riding-whip and hat, the latter spotted with mud and testifying +to the rough character of the road over which he had come. He held a +short pipe to his lips and blew clouds of smoke toward the fire, while +upon a table, within arm's length, rested a glass of some hot mixture. +But in spite of his comfortable surroundings, the expression of his +face was not that of a person in harmony with the Johnsonian +conclusion, "A chair in an inn is a throne of felicity." His +countenance, well bronzed as a weather-tried trooper's, was harsh, +gloomy, almost morose; not an unhandsome face, but set in such a +severe cast the observer involuntarily wondered what experience had +indited that scroll. Tall, large of limb, muscular, as was apparent +even in a restful pose, he looked an athlete of the most approved +type, active and powerful. + +Mine host, having found his guest taciturn, had himself become genial, +and now remarked as he entered: "How do you find the punch? Is it to +your liking?" + +"Yes," shortly answered the stranger, without raising his eyes from a +moody regard of the fire. + +"You're from France, I guess?" continued the landlord, as he seated +himself on the opposite side of the fireplace. "Been here long? Where +you going?" Without waiting for an answer to his first question he +exercised his time-honored privilege of demanding any and all +information from wayfarers at the Travelers' Friend. + +"I say, where you going?" he repeated, turning over a log and sending +a shower of sparks up the flue. + +With no change of countenance the guest silently reached for his +punch, swallowed a portion of it, replaced the glass on the table and +resumed his smoking as though oblivious of the other's presence. +Momentarily disconcerted, the landlord devoted himself once more to +the fire. After readjusting a trunk of old hickory on the great +andirons and gazing absently for a moment at the huge crane supporting +an iron kettle of boiling water, mine host tipped back in his chair, +braced his feet against the wall, lighted a vile-smelling pipe and +again returned valiantly to the attack, resolved to learn more about +his guest. + +"I hear things are kind of onsettled in France?" he observed +diplomatically, emitting a cloud of smoke. "I see in a Syracuse paper +that Louis Philippe is no longer king; that he and the queen have fled +to England. Perhaps, now,"--inwardly congratulating himself on his +shrewdness--"you left Paris for political reasons?" + +The stranger deliberately emptied his pipe and thrust it into his +pocket, while the landlord impatiently awaited the response to his +pointed query. When it came, however, it was not calculated to allay +the curiosity of his questioner. + +"Is it your practice," said the young man coldly, in slow but +excellent English, "to bark continuously at the heels of your +guests?" + +"Oh, no offense meant! No offense! Hope none'll be taken," stammered +the landlord. + +Then he recovered himself and his dignity by drawing forth a huge +wine-colored silk handkerchief, set with white polka-dots, and +ostentatiously and vigorously using it. This ear-splitting operation +having once more set him up in his own esteem, he resumed his +attentions to the stranger. + +"I didn't know," he added with an outburst of honesty, "but what you +might be some nobleman in disguise." + +"A nobleman!" said the other with ill-concealed contempt. "My name is +Saint-Prosper; plain Ernest Saint-Prosper. I was a soldier. Now I'm an +adventurer. There you have it all in a nut-shell." + +The inn-keeper surveyed his guest's figure with undisguised +admiration. + +"Well, you look like a soldier," he remarked. "You are like one +of those soldiers who came over from France to help us in the +Revolution." + +This tribute being silently accepted, the landlord grew voluble as his +guest continued reserved. + +"We have our own troubles with lords, too, right here in New York +State," he said confidentially. "We have our land barons, descendants +of the patroons and holders of thousands of acres. And we have our +bolters, too, who are making a big stand against feudalism." + +Thereupon he proceeded to present the subject in all its details to +the soldier; how the tenants were protesting against the enforcement +of what they now deemed unjust claims and were demanding the abolition +of permanent leaseholds; how they openly resisted the collection of +rents and had inaugurated an aggressive anti-rent war against +tyrannical landlordism. His lengthy and rambling dissertation was +finally broken in upon by a rumbling on the road, as of carriage +wheels drawing near, and the sound of voices. The noise sent the +boniface to the window, and, looking out, he discovered a lumbering +coach, drawn by two heavy horses, which came dashing up with a great +semblance of animation for a vehicle of its weight, followed by a +wagon, loaded with diversified and gaudy paraphernalia. + +"Some troopers, I guess," commented the landlord in a tone which +indicated the coming of these guests was not entirely welcome to him. +"Yes," he added, discontentedly, "they're stage-folk, sure enough." + +The wagon, which contained several persons, was driven into the stable +yard, where it was unloaded of "drops" and "wings," representing a +street, a forest, a prison, and so on, while the stage coach, with a +rattle and a jerk, and a final flourish of the driver's whip, stopped +at the front door. Springing to the ground, the driver opened the door +of the vehicle, and at the same time two other men, with their heads +muffled against the wind and rain, leisurely descended from the top. +The landlord now stood at the entrance of the inn, a sour expression +on his face. Certainly, if the travelers had expected in him the +traditional glowing countenance, with the apostolic injunction to "use +hospitality without grudging" writ upon it, they were doomed to +disappointment. + +A rustle of skirts, and there emerged from the interior of the coach, +first, a little, dried-up old lady whose feet were enclosed in +prunella boots, with Indian embroidered moccasins for outside +protection; second, a young woman who hastily made her way into the +hostelry, displaying a trim pair of ankles; third, a lady resembling +the second and who the landlord afterwards learned was her sister; +fourth, a graceful girl above medium height, wearing one of those +provoking, quilted silk hoods of the day, with cherry-colored lining, +known as "Kiss-me-if-you-dare" hoods. + +Then followed a dark melancholy individual, the utility man, whose +waistcoat of figured worsted was much frayed and whose "tooth-pick" +collar was the worse for the journey. He preceded a more natty person +in a bottle-green, "shad-belly" coat, who strove to carry himself as +though he were fashionably dressed, instead of wearing clothes which +no longer could conceal their shabbiness. The driver, called in +theatrical parlance "the old man," was a portly personage in a blue +coat with velvet collar and gilt buttons, a few of which were missing; +while the ruffles of his shirt were in sad plight, for instead of +protruding elegantly a good three or even four inches, their glory had +gone and they lay ignominiously flattened upon the bosom of the +wearer. A white choker rivaled in hue the tooth-pick collar of the +melancholy individual. + +The tavern's stable boy immediately began to remove the trunks into +the main hallway. This overgrown, husky lad evidently did not share +his employer's disapproval of the guests, for he gazed in open-eyed +wonder at the sisters, and then, with increasing awe, his glance +strayed to the young girl. To his juvenile imagination an actress +appeared in the glamour of a veritable goddess. But she had obviously +that tender consideration for others which belongs to humanity, for +she turned to the old man with an affectionate smile, removing from +his shoulders the wet Petersham overcoat, and, placing it on a chair, +regarded him with a look of filial anxiety. Yet their appearance +belied the assumption of such relationship; he was hearty, florid and +sturdy, of English type, while she seemed a daughter of the South, a +figure more fitting for groves of orange and cypress, than for this +rugged northern wilderness. + +The emotion of the stable boy as he gazed at her, and the forbidding +mood of the landlord were broken in upon by the tiny old lady, who, in +a large voice, remarked: + +"A haven at last! Are you the landlord?" + +"Yes, ma'am," testily replied that person. + +"I am pleased to meet you, sir," exclaimed the melancholy individual, +as he extended a hand so cold and clammy that shivers ran up and down +the back of the host when he took it gingerly. "We are having fine +tragedy weather, sir!" + +"A fire at once, landlord!" commanded the would-be beau. + +"Refreshments will be in order!" exclaimed she of the trim ankles. + +"And show me the best room in the house," remarked her sister. + +Mine host, bewildered by this shower of requests, stared from one to +the other in helpless confusion, but finally collected his wits +sufficiently to usher the company into the tap-room with: + +"Here you'll find a fire, but as for the best room, this +gentleman"--indicating the reticent guest--"already occupies it." + +The young man at the fire, thus forced prominently into notice, arose +slowly. + +"You are mistaken, landlord," he said curtly, hardly glancing at the +players. "I no longer occupy it since these ladies have come." + +"Your complaisance does credit to your good nature, sir," exclaimed +the old man. "But we can not take advantage of it." + +"It is too good of you," remarked the elder sister with a glance +replete with more gratitude than the occasion demanded. "Really, +though, we could not think of it." + +"Thank you; thank you," joined in the wiry old lady, bobbing up and +down like a miniature figure moved by the unseen hand of the showman. +"Allow me, sir!" And she gravely tendered him a huge snuff-box of +tortoise shell, which he declined; whereupon she continued: + +"You do not use it? New fashions; new habits! Though whether for the +better is not for me to say." + +She helped herself to a liberal portion and passed the box to the +portly old gentleman. Here the landlord, in a surly tone, told the +stable boy to remove the gentleman's things and show the ladies to +their rooms. Before going, the girl in the provoking hood--now +unfastened, and freeing sundry rebellious brown curls where the +moisture yet sparkled like dew--turned to the old man: + +"You are coming up directly? Your stock wants changing, while your +ruffles"--laughing--"are disgraceful!" + +"Presently, my dear; presently!" he returned. + +The members of the company mounted the broad stairway, save the driver +of the coach--he of the disordered ruffles--who wiped his heavy boots +on a door mat and made his way to the fire, where he stood in English +fashion with his coat-tails under his arms, rubbing his hands and +drying himself before the flames. + +"A disagreeable time of year, sir," he observed to the soldier, who +had returned to his seat before the table. "Twice on the road we +nearly broke down, and once the wagon dumped our properties in the +ditch. Meanwhile, to make matters worse, the ladies heaped reproaches +upon these gray hairs. This, sir, to the man who was considered one of +the best whips in old Devonshire county." + +The other did not answer immediately, but regarded the speaker with +the look of one not readily disposed to make acquaintances. His +conclusions were apparently satisfactory, however, for he presently +vouchsafed the remark: + +"You are the manager, I presume?" + +"I enjoy that honor," returned the loquacious stranger. "But my duties +are manifold. As driver of the chariot, I endure the constant +apprehension of wrecking my company by the wayside. As assistant +carpenter, when we can not find a stage it is my task to erect one. As +bill-poster and license-procurer, treasurer and stage manager, my time +is not so taken up, sir, as to preclude my going on and assuming a +character." + +"A life of variety," observed the young man, politely if indifferently. + +"Yes; full of ups and downs, as the driver of the property wagon said +when we entered this hilly district," replied the manager, with the +contentment of a man who has found a snug haven after a hard ride in a +comparatively unbroken country. "Affluence we may know, but poverty is +apt to be our companion." + +To this the other deemed no response necessary and a silence fell +between them, broken only by the simmering water in the iron kettle, +the sputtering of the sap in the burning logs and the creaking without +of the long balancing pole that suspended the moss-covered bucket. The +wind sighed in the chimney and the wooing flames sprang to meet it, +while the heart of the fire glowed in a mass of coals between the +andirons. + +The old gentleman before the blaze began to outrival the kettle in +steaming; from his coat-tails a thin veil of mist ascended, his face +beaming through the vapor with benign felicity. Then he turned and +toasted the other side and the kettle reigned supreme until he thawed +once more and the clouds ascended, surrounding him like Jupiter on the +celestial mount. At that the kettle hummed more angrily and the old +gentleman's face beamed with satisfaction. + +"A snug company, sir," he said, finally, glowing upon the impassive +face before him, "like a tight ship, can weather a little bad weather. +Perhaps you noticed our troupe? The old lady is Mrs. Adams. She is +nearly seventy, but can dance a horn-pipe or a reel with the best of +them. The two sisters are Kate and Susan Duran, both coquettes of the +first water. Our juvenile man is a young Irishman who thinks much of +his dress and little of the cultivation of mind and manners. Then," +added the old man tenderly, "there is my Constance." + +He paused abruptly. "Landlord, a pot of ale. My throat is hoarse from +the mist. Fancy being for hours on a road not knowing where you are! +Your good-fortune, sir!" Lifting the mug. "More than once we lurched +like a cockle-shell." + +The conversation at this point was interrupted by the appearance of +the juvenile man. + +"Mr. Barnes, the ladies desire your company immediately." + +The manager hurriedly left the room and the newcomer regarded his +retiring figure with a twinkle in his eye. Then he took a turn around +the room in stilted fashion--like one who "carried about with him his +pits, boxes and galleries"--and observed: + +"Faith, Mr. Barnes' couch is not a bed of roses. It is better to have +the fair ones dangling after you, than to be running at their every +beck and call." + +Here he twisted his mustache upward. + +"A woman is a strange creature," he resumed. "If she calls and you +come once, your legs will be busy for the rest of your natural days." + +He seemed about to continue his observations along this philosophical +line, when the manager appeared in much perturbation, approaching the +landlord, who, at the same time, had entered the room from the +kitchen. + +"The ladies insist that their sheets are damp," began the manager in +his most plausible manner. + +A dangerous light appeared in the other's eyes. + +"It's the weather, you understand. Not your fault; bless you, no!" + +The landlord's face became a shade less acrimonious. + +"Now, if there was a fire in the room--it is such a comfortable, +cheery room--" + +"Sandy!" interrupted the host, calling to the long-armed, red-handed +stable boy, who thrust a shock of hair through the kitchen door. +"Build a fire upstairs." + +Mr. Barnes heaved a sigh of relief and drawing a chair to the blaze +prepared once more to enjoy a well-earned rest. + +By this time the shadows had begun to lengthen in the room as the +first traces of early twilight filled the valley. The gurgling still +continued down the water pipe; the old sign before the front door +moaned monotonously. An occasional gust of wind, which mysteriously +penetrated the mist without sweeping it aside, rattled the windows and +waved wildly in mid-air a venturesome rose which had clambered to the +second story of the old inn. The barn-yard appeared even more dismal +because of the coming darkness and the hens presented a pathetic +picture of discomfort as they tucked their heads under their wet +feathers for the night, while his lordship, the rooster, was but a +sorry figure upon his high perch, with the moisture regularly and +unceasingly dripping through the roof of the hen-house upon his +unprotected back. + +An aroma from the kitchen which penetrated the room seemed especially +grateful to the manager who smiled with satisfaction as he conjured up +visions of the forthcoming repast. By his Falstaffian girth, he +appeared a man not averse to good living, nor one to deny himself +plentiful libations of American home-brewed ale. + +"Next to actual dining," observed this past-master in the art, "are +the anticipations of the table. The pleasure consists in speculation +regarding this or that aroma, in classifying the viands and separating +this combination of culinary odors into courses of which you will in +due time partake. Alas for the poor stroller when the tavern ceases to +be! Already it is almost extinct on account of the Erie Canal. Only a +short time ago this room would have been crowded with teamsters of the +broad-tired Pennsylvania wagons, drawn by six or eight horses." + +Again the appetizing aroma from the kitchen turned the current of his +reflections into its original channel, for he concluded with: "An +excellent dinner is in progress, if my diagnosis of these penetrating +fragrances be correct." + +And it was soon demonstrated that the manager's discernment was not in +error. There was not only abundance but quality, and the landlord's +daughter waited on the guests, thereby subjecting herself to the very +open advances of the Celtic Adonis. The large table was laden with +heavy crockery, old-fashioned and quaint; an enormous rotary castor +occupied the center of the table, while the forks and spoons were--an +unusual circumstance!--of silver. + +When the company had seated themselves around the board the waitress +brought in a sucking pig, done to a turn, well stuffed, and with an +apple in its mouth. The manager heaved a sigh. + +"The lovely little monster," said Kate, admiringly. + +"Monster!" cried Susan. "Say cherub!" + +"So young and tender for such a fate!" exclaimed Hawkes, the +melancholy individual, with knife and fork held in mid-air. + +"But worthy of the bearer of the dish!" remarked Adonis, so pointedly +that the landlord's daughter, overwhelmed with confusion, nearly +dropped the platter, miniature porker and all. Whereupon Kate cast an +angry glance at the offender whom "she could not abide," yet regarded +in a certain proprietary way, and Adonis henceforth became less open +in his advances. + +Those other aromas which the manager had mentally classified took form +and substance and were arranged in tempting variety around the +appetizing and well-browned suckling. There were boiled and baked +hams, speckled with cloves, plates of doughnuts and pound cake, beet +root and apple sauce. Before each of the guests stood a foaming mug +of home-brewed ale that carried with it a palpable taste of the hops. + +"There is nothing of the stage repast about this," commented the +manager. + +To which Kate, having often partaken of the conventional banquet of +the theater, waved her hand in a serio-comic manner toward the _pièce +de résistance_ and observed: + +"Suppose, now, by some necromancy our young and tender friend here on +the platter should be changed to a cleverly fashioned block of wood, +painted in imitation of a roasted porker, with a wooden apple in his +mouth?" + +The manager, poising the carving knife, replied: + +"Your suggestion is startling. We will obviate the possibility of any +such transformation." + +And he cut the "ambrosian fat and lean" with a firm hand, eying the +suckling steadfastly the while as if to preclude any exhibition of +Hindoo mysticism, while the buxom lass, the daughter of the boniface, +with round arms bared, bore sundry other dishes from place to place +until the plates were heaped with an assortment of viands. + +"Well, my dear, how are you getting on?" said the manager to the young +actress, Constance, as he helped himself to the crackle. "Have you +everything you want?" + +She nodded brightly, and the stranger who was seated some distance +from her glanced up; his gaze rested on her for a moment and then +returned in cold contemplation to the fare set before him. + +Yet was she worthy of more than passing scrutiny. The gleam of the +lamp fell upon her well-turned figure and the glistening of her eyes +could be seen in the shadow that rested on her brow beneath the crown +of hair. She wore a dark lavender dress, striped with silk, a small +"jacquette," after the style of the day, the sleeves being finished +with lace and the skirt full and flowing. Her heavy brown tresses were +arranged in a coiffure in the fashion then prevailing, a portion of +the hair falling in curls on the neck, the remainder brought forward +in plaits and fastened at the top of the forehead with a simple pearl +ornament. + +If the young girl felt any interest in the presence of the taciturn +guest she concealed it, scarcely looking at him and joining but rarely +in the conversation. Susan, on the other hand, resorted to sundry +coquetries. + +"I fear, sir, that you find our poor company intrusive, since we have +forced you to become one of us?" she said, toying with her fork, and +thereby displaying a white and shapely hand. + +His impassive blue eyes met her sparkling ones. + +"I am honored in being admitted to your fellowship," he returned +perfunctorily. + +"Only poor players, sir!" exclaimed Hawkes deprecatingly, with the +regal gesture a stage monarch might use in setting forth the +perplexities of royal pre-eminence. + +[Illustration] + +"The landlord does not seem to share your opinion?" continued Susan, +looking once more at the stranger. + +"As a host he believes in brave deeds, not fair words," said Kate, +indicating the remains of the repast. + +"Peace to his bones!" exclaimed the manager, extending a hand over the +remnants of the suckling. + +Here the dark-haired girl arose, the dinner being concluded. There was +none of his usual brusqueness of manner, as the manager, leaning back +in his chair and taking her hand, said: + +"You are going to retire, my dear? That is right. We have had a hard +day's traveling." + +She bent her head, and her lips pressed softly the old man's cheek, +after which she turned from the rest of the company with a grave bow. +But as she passed through the doorway her flowing gown caught upon a +nail in the wall. Pre-occupied though he seemed, her low exclamation +did not escape the ear of the stranger, and, quitting his place, he +knelt at her feet, and she, with half turned head and figure +gracefully poised, looked down upon him. + +With awkward fingers, he released the dress, and she bowed her +acknowledgment, which he returned with formal deference. Then she +passed on and he raised his head, his glance following her through the +bleak-looking hall, up the broad, ill-lighted staircase, into the +mysterious shadows which prevailed above. + +Shortly afterward the tired company dispersed, and the soldier also +sought his room. There he found the landlord's daughter before him +with the warming-pan. She had spread open the sheets of his bed and +was applying the old-fashioned contrivance for the prevention of +rheumatism, but it was evident her mind was not on this commendable +housewifely task, for she sighed softly and then observed: + +"It must be lovely to be an actress!" + +Dreamily she patted the pillows, until they were round and smooth, and +absently adjusted the bed, until there was not a wrinkle in the +snow-white counterpane, after which, like a good private in domestic +service, she shouldered the warming pan with its long handle, murmured +"good-night" and departed, not to dream of milking, churning or +cheese-making, but of a balcony and of taking poison in a tomb. + +Absently the stranger gazed at the books on the table: "Nutting's +Grammar," "Adams' Arithmetic," "David's Tears" and the "New England +Primer and Catechism"--all useful books undoubtedly, but not +calculated long to engross the attention of the traveler. Turning from +these prosaic volumes, the occupant of the chamber drew aside the +curtain of the window and looked out. + +Now the mists were swept away; the stars were shining and the gurgling +had grown fainter in the pipes that descended from the roof to the +ground. Not far was the dark fringe which marked the forest and the +liquid note of a whippoorwill arose out of the solitary depths, a +melancholy tone in the stillness of the night. The little owl, too, +was heard, his note now sounding like the filing of a saw and again +changing in character to the tinkling of a bell. A dog howled for a +moment in the barn-yard, and then, apparently satisfied with having +given this evidence of watchfulness, re-entered his house of one room +and curled himself upon the straw in his parlor, after which nothing +more was heard from him. + +Drawing the curtains of his own couch, a large, four-posted affair, +sleep soon overpowered the stranger; but sleep, broken and fitful! Nor +did he dream only of France and of kings running away, of American +land barons and of "bolters." More intrusive than these, the faces of +the strollers crept in and disturbed his slumbers, not least among +which were the features of the dark-eyed girl whose gown had caught as +she passed through the doorway. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A NEW ARRIVAL + + +The crowing of the cock awakened the French traveler, and, going to +the window, he saw that daylight had thrown its first shafts upon the +unromantic barn-yard scene, while in the east above the hill-tops +spread the early flush of morning. The watch-dog had left his +one-roomed cottage and was promenading before it in stately fashion +with all the pomp of a satisfied land-holder, his great undershot jaw +and the extraordinary outward curve of his legs proclaiming an +untarnished pedigree. The hens were happily engaged in scratching the +earth for their breakfast; the rooster, no longer crestfallen, was +strutting in the sunshine, while next to the barn several grunting, +squealing pigs struggled for supremacy in the trough. From the +cow-shed came an occasional low and soon a slip-shod maid, yawning +mightily, appeared, pail in hand, and moved across the yard to her +early morning task. + +Descending the stairs and making his way to the barn, the soldier +called to Sandy, the stable boy, who was performing his ablutions by +passing wet fingers through a shock of red hair, to saddle his horse. +The sleepy lad led forth a large but shapely animal, and soon the +stranger was galloping across the country, away from the village, now +down a gentle declivity, with the virgin forest on either side, then +through a tract of land where was apparent the husbandry of the +people. + +After a brisk pace for some miles, he reined in his horse, and, +leisurely riding in a circuit, returned on the road that crossed the +farming country back of the tavern. Around him lay fields of rye and +buckwheat sweet with the odor of the bee-hive; Indian corn, whose +silken tassels waved as high as those of Frederick's grenadiers', and +yellow pumpkins nestling to the ground like gluttons that had partaken +too abundantly of mother earth's nourishment. Intermingling with these +great oblong and ovoid gourds, squashes, shaped like turbans and +many-cornered hats, appeared in fantastic profusion. + +The rider was rapidly approaching the inn, when a sudden turn in the +highway, as the road swept around a wind-break of willows, brought him +upon a young woman who was walking slowly in the same direction. So +fast was the pace of his horse, and so unexpected the meeting, she was +almost under the trampling feet before he saw her. Taken by surprise, +she stood as if transfixed, when, with a quick, decisive effort, the +rider swerved his animal, and, of necessity, rode full tilt at the +fence and willows. She felt the rush of air; saw the powerful animal +lift itself, clear the rail-fence and crash through the bulwark of +branches. She gazed at the wind-break; a little to the right, or the +left, where the heavy boughs were thickly interlaced, and the rider's +expedient had proved serious for himself, but chance--he had no time +for choice--had directed him to a vulnerable point of leaves and +twigs. Before she had fairly recovered herself he reappeared at an +opening on the other side of the willow-screen, and, after removing a +number of rails, led his horse back to the road. + +With quivering nostrils, the animal appeared possessed of unquenchable +spirit, but his master's bearing was less assured as he approached, +with an expression of mingled anxiety and concern on his face, the +young girl whom the manager had addressed as Constance. + +"I beg your pardon for having alarmed you!" he said. "It was careless, +inexcusable!" + +"It was a little startling," she admitted, with a faint smile. + +"Only a little!" he broke in gravely. "If I had not seen you just when +I did--" + +"You would not have turned your horse--at such a risk to yourself!" +she added. + +"Risk to myself! From what?" A whimsical light encroached on the set +look in his blue eyes. "Jumping a rail fence? But you have not yet +said you have pardoned me?" + +The smile brightened. "Oh, I think you deserve that." + +"I am not so sure," he returned, glancing down at her. + +Slanting between the lower branches of the trees the sunshine touched +the young girl's hair in flickering spots and crept down her dress +like caressing hands of light, until her figure, passing into a solid +shadow, left these glimmerings prone upon the dusty road behind her. +The "brides," or strings of her little muslin cap, flaunted in the +breeze and a shawl of China crape fluttered from her shoulders. So +much of her dusky hair as defied concealment contrasted strongly with +the calm translucent pallor of her face. The eyes, alone, belittled +the tranquillity of countenance; against the rare repose of features, +they were the more eloquent, shining beneath brows, delicately defined +but strongly marked, and shaded by long upturned lashes, deep in tone +as a sloe. + +"You are an early riser," he resumed. + +"Not always," she replied. "But after yesterday it seemed so bright +outdoors and the country so lovely!" + +His gaze, following hers, traversed one of the hollows. Below yet +rested deep shadows, but upon the hillside a glory celestial enlivened +and animated the surrounding scene. Scattered houses, constituting the +little hamlet, lay in the partial shade of the swelling land, the +smoke, with its odor of burning pine, rising lazily on the languid +air. In the neighboring field a farm hand was breaking up the ground +with an old-fashioned, pug-nosed "dirt-rooter;" soil as rich as that +of Egypt, or the land, Gerar, where Isaac reaped an hundred fold and +every Israelite sat under the shadow of his own vine. + +Pausing, the husbandman leaned on the handle of his plow and +deliberately surveyed the couple on the road. Having at the same time +satisfied his curiosity and rested his arms, he grasped the handles +once more and the horses pulled and tugged at the primitive +implement. + +While the soldier and the young girl were thus occupied in surveying +the valley and the adjacent mounds and hummocks, the horse, +considering doubtlessly that there had been enough inaction, tapped +the ground with rebellious energy and tossed his head in mutiny +against such procrastination. + +"Your horse wants to go on," she said, observing this equine by-play. + +"He usually does," replied the rider. "Perhaps, though, I am +interrupting you? I see you have a play in your hand." + +"I was looking over a part--but I know it very well," she added, +moving slowly from the border of willows. Leading his horse, he +followed. + +His features, stern and obdurate in repose, relaxed in severity, while +the deep-set blue eyes grew less searching and guarded. This +alleviation became him well, a tide of youth softening his expression +as a wave smoothes the sands. + +"What is the part?" + +"Juliana, in 'The Honeymoon'! It is one of our stock pieces." + +"And you like it?" + +"Oh, yes." Lingering where a bit of sward was set with field flowers. + +"And who plays the duke?" he continued. + +"Mr. O'Flariaty," she answered, a suggestion of amusement in her +glance. Beneath the shading of straight, black brows, her eyes were +deceptively dark, until scrutinized closely, they resolved themselves +into a clear gray. + +"Ah," he said, recalling Adonis, O'Flariaty's, appearance, and, as he +spoke, a smile of singular sweetness lightened his face. "A Spanish +grandee with a touch of the brogue! But I must not decry your noble +lord!" he added. + +"No lord of mine!" she replied gaily. "My lord must have a velvet +robe, not frayed, and a sword not tin, and its most sanguinary purpose +must not be to get between his legs and trip him up! Of course, when +we act in barns--" + +"In barns!" + +"Oh, yes, when we can find them to act in!" + +She glanced at him half-mockingly. + +"I suppose you think of a barn as only a place for a horse." + +The sound of carriage wheels interrupted his reply, and, looking in +the direction from whence it came, they observed a coach doubling the +curve before the willows and approaching at a rapid pace. It was a +handsome and imposing equipage, with dark crimson body and wheels, +preserving much of the grace of ancient outline with the utility of +modern springs. + +As they drew aside to permit it to pass the features of its occupant +were seen, who, perceiving the young girl on the road--the shawl, +half-fallen from her shoulder revealing the plastic grace of an erect +figure--gazed at her with surprise, then thrust his head from the +window and bowed with smiling, if somewhat exaggerated, politeness. +The next moment carriage and traveler vanished down the road in a +cloud of dust, but an alert observer might have noticed an eye at the +rear port-hole, as though the person within was supplementing his +brief observation from the side with a longer, if diminishing, view +from behind. + +The countenance of the young girl's companion retrograded from its +new-found favor to a more inexorable cast. + +"A friend of yours?" he said, briefly. + +"I never saw him before," she answered with flashing eyes. "Perhaps he +is the lord of the manor and thought I was one of his subjects." + +"There are lords in this country, then?" + +"Lords or patroons, they are called," she replied, her face still +flushed. + +At this moment, across the meadows, beyond the fence of stumps--poor +remains of primeval monarchs!--a woman appeared at the back door of +the inn with a tin horn upon which she blew vigorously, the harsh +blasts echoing over hill and valley. The startled swallows and +martins arose from the eaves and fluttered above the roof. The farm +hand at the plow released the handle, and the slip-shod maid appeared +in the door of the cow-shed, spry and nimble enough at meal time. + +From the window of her room Susan saw them returning and looked +surprised as well as a bit annoyed. Truth to tell, Mistress Susan, +with her capacity for admiring and being admired, had conceived a +momentary interest in the stranger, a fancy as light as it was +ephemeral. That touch of melancholy when his face was in repose +inspired a transitory desire for investigation in this past-mistress +of emotional analysis. But the arrival of the coach which had passed +the couple soon diverted Susan's thoughts to a new channel. + +The equipage drew up, and a young man, dressed in a style novel in +that locality, sprang out. He wore a silk hat with scarcely any brim, +trousers extremely wide at the ankle, a waistcoat of the dimensions of +1745, and large watch ribbons, sustaining ponderous bunches of seals. + +The gallant fop touched the narrow brim of his hat to Kate, who was +peeping from one window, and waved a kiss to Susan, who was +surreptitiously glancing from another, whereupon both being detected, +drew back hastily. Overwhelmed by the appearance of a guest of such +manifest distinction, the landlord bowed obsequiously as the other +entered the tavern with a supercilious nod. + +To Mistress Susan this incident was exciting while it lasted, but +when the dandy had disappeared her attention was again attracted to +Constance and Saint-Prosper, who slowly approached. He paused with his +horse before the front door and she stood a moment near the little +porch, on either side of which grew sweet-williams, four-o'clocks and +larkspur. But the few conventional words were scanty crumbs for the +fair eavesdropper above, the young girl soon entering the house and +the soldier leading his horse in the direction of the stable. As the +latter disappeared around the corner of the tavern, Susan left the +window and turned to the mirror. + +"La!" she said, holding a mass of blond hair in one hand and deftly +coiling it upon her little head, "I believe she got up early to meet +him." But Kate only yawned lazily. + +Retracing his steps from the barn, the soldier crossed the back-yard, +where already on the clothes' line evidences of early matutinal +industry, a pair of blue over-alls, with sundry white and red +stockings, were dancing in the breeze. First the over-alls performed +wildly, then the white stockings responded with vim, while the red +ones outdid themselves by their shocking abandonment, vaunting skyward +as though impelled by the phantom limbs of some Parisian _danseuse_. + +Making his way by this dizzy saturnalia and avoiding the pranks of +animated hosiery and the more ponderous frolics of over-alls, sheets +and tablecloths, Saint-Prosper entered the kitchen. Here the farm hand +and maid of all work were eating, and the landlord's rotund and +energetic wife was bustling before the fireplace. An old iron crane, +with various sized pothooks and links of chain, swung from the jambs +at the will of the housewife. Boneset, wormwood and catnip had their +places on the wall, together with ears of corn and strings of dried +apples. + +Bustling and active, with arms bared to the elbow and white with +flour, the spouse of mine host realized the scriptural injunction: +"She looketh well to the ways of her household." Deftly she spread the +dough in the baking pan; smoothly leveled it with her palm; with nice +mathematical precision distributed bits of apple on top in parallel +rows; lightly sprinkled it with sugar, and, lo and behold, was +fashioned an honest, wholesome, Dutch apple cake, ready for the +baking! + +In the tap-room the soldier encountered the newcomer, seated not far +from the fire as though his blood flowed sluggishly after his long +ride in the chill morning air. Upon the table lay his hat, and he was +playing with the seals on his watch ribbon, his legs indolently +stretched out straight before him. Occasionally he coughed when the +smoke, exuding from the damp wood, was not entirely expelled up the +chimney, but curled around the top of the fireplace and diffused +itself into the atmosphere. Well-built, although somewhat slender of +figure, this latest arrival had a complexion of tawny brown, a living +russet, as warm and glowing as the most vivid of Vandyke pigments. + +He raised his eyes slowly as the soldier entered and surveyed him +deliberately. From a scrutiny of mere physical attributes he passed on +to the more important details of clothes, noting that his sack coat +was properly loose at the waist and that the buttons were sufficiently +large to pass muster, but also detecting that the trousers lacked +breadth at the ankles and that the hat had a high crown and a broad +brim, from which he complacently concluded the other was somewhat +behind the shifting changes of fashion. + +"Curse me, if this isn't a beastly fire!" he exclaimed, stretching +himself still more, yawning and passing a hand through his black hair. +"Hang them, they might as well shut up their guests in the smoke-house +with the bacons and hams! I feel as cured as a side of pig, ready to +be hung to a dirty rafter." + +With which he pulled himself together, went to the window, raised it +and placed a stick under the frame. + +"They tell me there's a theatrical troupe here," he resumed, returning +to his chair and relapsing into its depths. "Perhaps you are one of +them?" + +"I have not that honor." + +"Honor!" repeated the new arrival with a laugh. "That's good! That was +one of them on the road with you, I'll be bound. You have good taste! +Heigho!" he yawned again. "I'm anchored here awhile on account of a +lame horse. Perhaps though"--brightening--"it may not be so bad after +all. These players promise some diversion." At that moment his face +wore an expression of airy, jocund assurance which faded to visible +annoyance as he continued: "Where can that landlord be? He placed me +in this kennel, vanished, and left me to my fate. Ah, here he is at +last!" As the host approached, respectfully inquiring: + +"Is there anything more I can do for you?" + +"More?" exclaimed this latest guest, ironically. "Well, better late +than never! See that my servant has help with the trunks." + +"Very well, sir; I'll have Sandy look after them. You are going to +stay then?" Shifting several bottles on the bar with apparent +industry. + +"How can I tell?" returned the newcomer lightly. "Fate is a Sphynx, +and I am not OEdipus to answer her questions!" + +The landlord looked startled, paused in his feigned employment, but +slowly recovering himself, began to dust a jar of peppermint candy. + +"How far is it to Meadtown?" continued the guest. + +"Forty odd miles! Perhaps you are seeking the old patroon manor there? +They say the heir is expected any day"--gazing fixedly at the young +man--"at least, the anti-renters have received information he is +coming and are preparing--" + +The sprightly guest threw up his hands. + +"The trunks! the trunks!" he exclaimed in accents of despair. "Look at +the disorder of my attire! The pride of these ruffles leveled by the +dew; my wristbands in disarray; the odor of the road pervading my +person! The trunks, I pray you!" + +"Yes, sir; at once, sir! But first let me introduce you to Mr. +Saint-Prosper, of Paris, France. Make yourselves at home, gentlemen!" + +With which the speaker hurriedly vanished and soon the bumping and +thumping in the hall gave cheering assurance of instructions +fulfilled. + +"That porter is a prince among his kind," observed the guest +satirically, wincing as an unusual bang overhead shook the ceiling. +"But I'll warrant my man won't have to open my luggage after he gets +through." + +Then as quiet followed the racket above--"So you're from Paris, +France?" he asked half-quizzically. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet +somebody from somewhere. As I, too, have lived--not in vain!--in +Paris, France, we may have mutual friends?" + +"It is unlikely," said the soldier, who meanwhile had drawn off his +riding gloves, placed them on the mantel, and stood facing the fire, +with his back to the other guest. As he spoke he turned deliberately +and bent his penetrating glance on his questioner. + +"Really? Allow me to be skeptical, as I have considerable acquaintance +there. In the army there's that fire-eating conqueror of the ladies, +Gen--" + +"My rank was not so important," interrupted the other, "that I +numbered commanders among my personal friends." + +"As you please," said the last guest carelessly. "I had thought to +exchange a little gossip with you, but--_n'importe_! In my own veins +flows some of the blood of your country." + +For the time his light manner forsook him. + +"Her tumults have, in a measure, been mine," he continued. "Now she is +without a king, I am well-nigh without a mother-land. True; I was not +born there--but it is the nurse the child turns to. Paris was my +_bonne_--a merry abigail! Alas, her vicious brood have turned on her +and cast her ribbons in the mire! Untroubled by her own brats, she +could extend her estates to the Eldorado of the southwestern seas." He +had arisen and, with hands behind his back, was striding to and fro. +Coming suddenly to a pause, he asked abruptly: + +"Do you know the Abbé Moneau?" + +At the mention of that one-time subtle confidant of the deposed king, +now the patron of republicanism, Saint-Prosper once more regarded his +companion attentively. + +"By reputation, certainly," he answered, slowly. + +"He was my tutor and is now my frequent correspondent. Not a bad sort +of mentor, either!" The new arrival paused and smiled reflectively. +"Only recently I received a letter from him, with private details of +the flight of the king and vague intimations of a scandal in the army, +lately come to light." + +His listener half-started from his seat and had the speaker not been +more absorbed in his own easy flow of conversation than in the +attitude of the other, he would have noticed that quick change of +manner. Not perceiving it, however, he resumed irrelevantly: + +"You see I am a sociable animal. After being cramped in that +miserable coach for hours, it is a relief to loosen one's tongue as +well as one's legs. Even this smoky hovel suggests good-fellowship and +jollity beyond a dish of tea. Will you not join me in a bottle of +wine? I carry some choice brands to obviate the necessity of drinking +the home-brewed concoctions of the inn-keepers of this district." + +"Thank you," said the soldier, at the same time rising from his chair. +"I have no inclination so early in the day." + +"Early?" queried the newcomer. "A half-pint of Chateau Cheval Blanc or +Cru du Chevalier, high and vinous, paves a possible way for Brother +Jonathan's _déjeuner_--fried pork, potatoes and chicory!" And turning +to his servant who had meanwhile entered, he addressed a few words to +him, and, as the door closed on the soldier, exclaimed with a shrug of +the shoulders: + +"An unsociable fellow! I wonder what he is doing here." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE VENTURE + + +Pancakes, grits, home-made sausage, and, before each guest, an egg +that had been proudly heralded by the clucking hen but a few hours +before--truly a bountiful breakfast, discrediting the latest guest's +anticipations! The manager, in high spirits, mercurial as the weather, +came down from his room, a bundle of posters under his arm, +boisterously greeting Saint-Prosper, whom he encountered in the hall: + +"Read the bill! 'That incomparable comedy, The Honeymoon, by a +peerless company.' How does that sound?" + +"Attractive, certainly," said the other. + +"Do you think it strong enough? How would 'unparagoned' do?" + +"It would be too provincial, my dear; too provincial!" interrupted the +querulous voice of the old lady. + +"Very well, Madam!" the manager replied quickly. "You shall be +'peerless' if you wish. Every fence shall proclaim it; every post +become loquacious with it." + +"I was going to the village myself," said the soldier, "and will join +you, if you don't mind?" he added suddenly. + +"Mind? Not a bit. Come along, and you shall learn of the duties of +manager, bill-poster, press-agent and license-procurer." + +An hour or so later found the two walking down the road at a brisk +pace, soon leaving the tavern behind them and beginning to descend a +hill that commanded a view to eastward. + +"How do you advertise your performances?" asked the younger man, +opening the conversation. + +"By posters, written announcements in the taverns, or a notice in the +country paper, if we happen along just before it goes to press," +answered Barnes. "In the old times we had the boy and the bell." + +"The boy and the bell?" + +"Yes," assented Barnes, a retrospective smile overspreading his +good-natured face; "when I was a lad in Devonshire the manager announced +the performance in the town market-place. I rang a cow-bell to attract +attention and he talked to the people: Ding-a-ling!--'Good people, +to-night will be given "Love in a Wood";' ding-a-long!--'to-morrow night, +"The Beaux' Strategem'";' ding!--'Wednesday, "The Provoked Wife";' +ling!--'Thursday, "The Way of the World."' So I made my début in a +noisy part and have since played no rôle more effectively than that of the +small boy with the big bell. Incidentally, I had to clean the lamps +and fetch small beer to the leading lady, which duties were perfunctorily +performed. My art, however, I threw into the bell," concluded the +manager with a laugh. + +"Do you find many theaters hereabouts?" asked the other, thoughtfully. + +Barnes shook his head. "No; although there are plenty of them upon the +Atlantic and Southern circuits. Still we can usually rent a hall, +erect a stage and construct tiers of seats. Even a barn at a pinch +makes an acceptable temple of art. But our principal difficulty is +procuring licenses to perform." + +"You have to get permission to play?" + +"That we do!" sighed the manager. "From obdurate trustees in villages +and stubborn supervisors or justices of the peace in the hamlets." + +"But their reason for this opposition?" asked his companion. + +They were now entering the little hamlet, exchanging the grassy path +for a sidewalk of planks laid lengthwise, and the peace of nature for +such signs of civilization as a troop of geese, noisily promenading +across the thoroughfare, and a peacock--in its pride of pomp as a +favored bird of old King Solomon--crying from the top of the shed and +proudly displaying its gorgeous train. Barnes wiped the perspiration +from his brow, as he answered: + +"Well, a temperance and anti-theatrical agitation has preceded us in +the Shadengo Valley, a movement originated in Baltimore by seven men +who had been drunkards and are now lecturing throughout the country. +This is known as the 'Washington' movement, and among the most +formidable leaders of the crusade is an old actor, John B. Gough. But +here we are at the supervisor's office. I'll run in and get the +license, if you'll wait a moment." + +Saint-Prosper assented, and Barnes disappeared through the door of a +one-story wooden building which boasted little in its architectural +appearance and whose principal decorations consisted of a small +window-garden containing faded geraniums, and a sign with sundry +inverted letters. The neighborhood of this far from imposing structure +was a rendezvous for many of the young men of the place who had much +leisure, and, to judge from the sidewalk, an ample supply of Lone Jack +or some other equally popular plug tobacco. As Saint-Prosper surveyed +his surroundings, the Lone Jack, or other delectable brand, was +unceremoniously passed from mouth to mouth with immediate and +surprising results so far as the sidewalk was concerned. Regarding +these village yokels with some curiosity, the soldier saw in them a +possible type of the audiences to which the strollers must appeal for +favor. To such hobnails must the fair Rosalind say: "I would kiss as +many of you as had beards that pleased me." And the churls would +applaud with their cowhide boots, devour her with eager eyes and--at +this point the soldier found himself unconsciously frowning at his +village neighbors until, with an impatient laugh, he recalled his +wandering fancies. What was it to him whether the players appeared in +city or hamlet? Why should he concern himself in possible conjectures +on the fortunes of these strollers? Moreover-- + +Here Barnes reappeared with dejection in his manner, and, treading his +way absent-mindedly past the Lone Jack contingent with no word of +explanation to his companion, began to retrace his steps toward the +hostelry on the hill. + +"Going back so soon?" asked the young man in surprise. + +"There is nothing to be done here! The temperance lecturer has just +gone; the people are set against plays and players. The supervisor +refuses the license." + +With which the manager relapsed into silence, rueful and melancholy. +Their road ran steadily upward from the sleepy valley, skirting a wood +where the luxuriance of the overhanging foliage and the bright +autumnal tint of the leaves were like a scene of a spectacular play. +Out of breath from the steepness of the ascent, and, with his hand +pressed to his side, Barnes suddenly called a halt, seated himself on +a stump, his face somewhat drawn, and spoke for the first time since +he left the hamlet. + +"Let's rest a moment. Something catches me occasionally here," tapping +his heart. "Ah, that's better! The pain has left. No; it's nothing. +The machinery is getting old, that's all! Let me see--Ah, yes!" And he +drew a cigar from his pocket. "Perhaps there lies a crumb of comfort +in the weed!" + +The manager smoked contemplatively, like a man pushed to the verge of +disaster, weighing the slender chances of mending his broken fortunes. +But as he pondered his face gradually lightened with a faint glimmer +of satisfaction. His mind, seeking for a straw, caught at a possible +way out of this labyrinth of difficulties and in a moment he had +straightened up, puffing veritable optimistic wreaths. He arose +buoyantly; before he reached the inn the crumb of comfort had become a +loaf of assurance. + +At the tavern the manager immediately sought mine host, stating his +desire to give a number of free performances in the dining-room of the +hotel. The landlord demurred stoutly; he was an inn-keeper, not the +proprietor of a play-house. Were not tavern and theater inseparable, +retorted Barnes? The country host had always been a patron of the +histrionic art. Beneath his windows the masque and interlude were +born. The mystery, harlequinade and _divertissement_ found shelter in +a pot-house. + +In a word, so indefatigably did he ply arguments, appealing alike to +clemency and cupidity--the custom following such a course--that the +landlord at length reluctantly consented, and soon after the +dining-room was transformed into a temple of art; stinted, it is true, +for flats, drops, flies and screens, but at least more tenable than +the roofless theaters of other days, when a downpour drenched the +players and washed out the public, causing rainy tears to drip from +Ophelia's nose and rivulets of rouge to trickle down my Lady +Slipaway's marble neck and shoulders. In this labor of converting the +dining-room into an auditory, they found an attentive observer in the +landlord's daughter who left her pans, plates and platters to watch +these preparations with round-eyed admiration. To her that temporary +stage was surrounded by glamour and romance; a world remote from cook, +scullion and maid of all work, and peopled with well-born dames, +courtly ladies and exalted princesses. + +Possibly interested in what seemed an incomprehensible venture--for +how could the manager's coffers be replenished by free +performances?--Saint-Prosper that afternoon reminded Barnes he had +returned from the village without fulfilling his errand. + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Barnes, his face wrinkling in perplexity. "What +have I been thinking about? I don't see how I can go now. Hawkes or +O'Flariaty can't be spared, what with lamps to polish and costumes to +get in order! Hum!" he mused dubiously. + +"If I can be of any use, command me," said the soldier, unexpectedly. + +"You!"--exclaimed the manager. "I could not think--" + +"Oh, it's a notable occupation," said the other with a satirical +smile. "Was it not the bill-posters who caused the downfall of the +French dynasty?" he added. + +"In that case," laughed Barnes, with a sigh of relief, "go ahead and +spread the inflammable dodgers! Paste them everywhere, except on the +tombstones in the graveyard." + +Conspicuously before the postoffice, grocery store, on the town pump +and the fence of the village church, some time later, the soldier +accordingly nailed the posters, followed by an inquisitive group, who +read the following announcement: "Tuesday, 'The Honeymoon'; Wednesday, +'The School for Scandal'; Thursday, 'The Stranger,' with diverting +specialties; Friday, 'Romeo and Juliet'; Saturday, 'Hamlet,' with a +Jig by Kate Duran. At the Travelers' Friend. Entrance Free." + +"They're going to play after all," commented the blacksmith's wife. + +"I don't see much harm in 'Hamlet,'" said the supervisor's yokemate. +"It certainly ain't frivolous." + +"Let's go to 'The Honeymoon'?" suggested an amorous carl to his +slip-slop Sal. + +"Go 'long!" she retorted with barn-yard bashfulness. + +"Did you ever see 'The School for Scandal'?" asked the smithy's good +wife. + +"Once," confessed the town official's faded consort, her worn face +lighting dreamily. "It was on our wedding trip to New York. Silas +warn't so strict then." + +Amid chit-chat, so diverting, Saint-Prosper finished "posting" the +town. It had been late in the afternoon before he had altered the +posters and set out on his paradoxical mission; the sun was declining +when he returned homeward. Pausing at a cross-road, he selected a tree +for one of his remaining announcements. It was already adorned with a +dodger, citing the escape of a negro slave and offering a reward for +his apprehension; not an uncommon document in the North in those +days. + +As the traveler read the bill his expression became clouded, +cheerless. Around him the fallen leaves gave forth a pleasant +fragrance; caught in the currents of the air, they danced in a circle +and then broke away, hurrying helter-skelter in all directions. + +"Poor devil!" he muttered. "A fugitive--in hiding--" + +And he nailed one of his own bills over the dodger. As he stood there +reflectively the lights began to twinkle in the village below like +stars winking upwards; the ascending smoke from a chimney seemed a +film of lace drawn slowly through the air; from the village forge came +a brighter glow as the sparks danced from the hammers on the anvils. + +Shaking the reins on his horse's neck, the soldier continued his way, +while the sun, out of its city of clouds, sent beams like a +searchlight to the church spire; the fields, marked by the plow; the +gaunt stumps in a clearing, displaying their giant sinews. Then the +resplendent rays vanished, the battlements crumbled away and night, +with its army of shadows, invaded the earth. As Saint-Prosper +approached the tavern, set prominently on the brow of the hill, all +was solemnly restful save the sign which now creaked in doleful +doldrums and again complained wildly as the wind struck it a vigorous +blow. The windows were bright from the fireplace and lamp; above the +door the light streamed through the open transom upon the swaying +sign and the fluttering leaves of the vine that clambered around the +entrance. + +In the parlor, near a deteriorated piano whose yellow keys were +cracked and broken--in almost the seventh stage of pianodum, _sans_ +teeth, _sans_ wire, _sans_ everything--he saw the dark-eyed girl and +reined his horse. As he did so, she seated herself upon the hair-cloth +stool, pressed a white finger to a discolored key and smiled at the +not unexpected result--the squeak of decrepitude. While her hand still +rested on the board and her features shone strongly in relief against +the fire like a cameo profile set in bloodstone, a figure approached, +and, leaning gracefully upon the palsied instrument, bent over her +with smiling lips. It was the grand seignior, he of the equipage with +silver trimmings. If the horseman's gaze rested, not without interest, +on the pleasing picture of the young actress, it was now turned with +sudden and greater intentness to that of the dashing stranger, a swift +interrogation glancing from that look. + +How had he made his peace with her? Certainly her manner now betrayed +no resentment. While motionless the rider yet sat in his saddle, an +invisible hand grasped the reins. + +"Shall I put up your horse?" said a small voice, and the soldier +quickly dismounted, the animal vanishing with the speaker, as +Saint-Prosper entered the inn. Gay, animated, conscious of his +attractions, the fop hovered over the young girl, an all-pervading +Hyperion, with faultless ruffles, white hands, and voice softly +modulated. That evening the soldier played piquet with the wiry old +lady, losing four shillings to that antiquated gamester, and, when he +had paid the stakes, the young girl was gone and the buoyant beau had +sought diversion in his cups. + +"Strike me," muttered the last named personage, "the little stroller +has spirit. How her eyes flashed when I first approached her! It +required some tact and acting to make her believe I took her for some +one else on the road. Not such an easy conquest as I thought, although +I imagine I have put that adventurer's nose out of joint. But why +should I waste time here? Curse it, just to cut that fellow out! +Landlord!" + +"Yes, sir," answered the host behind the bar, where he had been +quietly dozing on a stool with his back against the wall. + +"Do you think my horse will be fit for use to-morrow morning?" + +"The swelling has gone down, sir, and perhaps, with care--" + +"Perhaps! I'll take no chances. Hang the nag, but I must make the best +of it! See that my bed is well warmed, and"--rising--"don't call me in +the morning. I'll get up when I please. Tell my man to come up at +once--I suppose he's out with the kitchen wenches. I have some orders +to give him for the morning. Stay--send up a lamp, and--well, I +believe that's all for now!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"GREEN GROW THE RUSHES, O!" + + +So well advertised in the village had been the theatrical company and +so greatly had the crusade against the play and players whetted public +curiosity that on the evening of the first performance every bench in +the dining-room--auditorium--of the tavern had an occupant, while in +the rear the standing room was filled by the overflow. Upon the +counter of the bar were seated a dozen or more men, including the +schoolmaster, an itinerant pedagogue who "boarded around" and received +his pay in farm products, and the village lawyer, attired in a +claret-colored frock coat, who often was given a pig for a retainer, +or knotty wood, unfit for rails. + +From his place, well to the front, the owner of the private equipage +surveyed the audience with considerable amusement and complacency. He +was fastidiously dressed in double-breasted waistcoat of figured silk, +loosely fitting trousers, fawn-colored kid gloves, light pumps and +silk hose. Narrow ruffles edged his wristbands which were fastened +with link buttons, while the lining of his evening coat was of +immaculate white satin. As he gazed around upon a scene at once novel +and incongruous, he took from his pocket a little gold case, bearing +an ivory miniature, and, with the eyes of his neighbors bent +expectantly upon him, extracted therefrom a small, white cylinder. + +"What may that be, mister?" inquired an inquisitive rustic, placing +his hand on the other's shoulder. + +The latter drew back as if resenting that familiar touch, and, by way +of answer, poised the cylinder in a tiny holder and deliberately +lighted it, to the amazement of his questioner. Cigarettes were then +unknown in that part of the state and the owner of the coach enjoyed +the dubious distinction of being the first to introduce them there. +"Since which time," says Chronicler Barnes in his memoirs, "their use +and abuse has, I believe, extended." + +The lighting of the aboriginal American cigarette drew general +attention to the smoker and the doctor, not a man of modern small +pills, but a liberal dispenser of calomel, jalap, castor-oil and +quinine, whispered to the landlord: + +"Azeriah, who might he be?" + +"The heir of the patroon estate, Ezekiel. I found the name on his +trunks: 'Edward Mauville.'" + +"Sho! Going to take possession at the manor?" + +"He cal'lates to, I guess, ef he can!" + +"Yes; ef he can!" significantly repeated the doctor. "So this is +the foreign heir? He's got wristbands like a woman and hands +just as small. Wears gloves like my darter when she goes to +meeting-house! And silk socks! Why, the old patroon didn't wear +none at all, and corduroy was good enough for him, they say. +Wonder how the barn-burners will take to the silk socks? Who's the +other stranger, Azeriah?" Indicating with his thumb the soldier, +who, standing against a window casement in the rear of the room, +was by his height a conspicuous figure in the gathering. + +"I don't exactly know, Ezekiel," replied the landlord, regretfully. +"Not that I didn't try to find out," he added honestly, "but he was so +close, I couldn't get nothing from him. He's from Paris, France; may +be Louis Philippe himself, for all I know." + +"No; he ain't Louis Philippe," returned the doctor with decision, +"'cause I seen his likeness in the magazine." + +"Might be the dolphin then," suggested the boniface. "He's so mighty +mysterious." + +"Dolphin!" retorted the other contemptuously. "There ain't no dolphin. +There hasn't been no dolphin since the French Revolution." + +"Oh, I didn't know but there might a been," said the landlord +vaguely. + +From mouth to mouth the information, gleaned by the village doctor, +was circulated; speculation had been rife ever since the demise of the +last patroon regarding his successor, and, although the locality was +beyond the furthermost reach of that land-holder, their interest was +none the less keen. The old master of the manor had been like a myth, +much spoken of, never seen without the boundaries of his acres; but +the new lord was a reality, a creditable creation of tailor, hatter, +hosier, cobbler--which trades had not flourished under the old master +who bought his clothes, cap and boots at a country store, owned by +himself. Anticipation of the theatrical performance was thus relieved +in a measure by the presence of the heir, but the delay, incident to a +first night on an improvised stage, was so unusual that the audience +at length began to evince signs of restlessness. + +Finally, however, when the landlord's daughter had gazed what seemed +to her an interminable period upon the lady and the swan, the lake and +the greyhound, painted on the curtain, this picture vanished by +degrees, with an exhilarating creaking of the rollers, and was +succeeded by the representation of a room in a cottage. The scenery, +painted in distemper and not susceptible to wind or weather, had +manifold uses, reappearing later in the performance as a nobleman's +palace, supplemented, it is true, by a well-worn carpet to indicate +ducal luxury. + +Some trifling changes--concessions to public opinion--were made in the +play, notably in the scene where the duke, with ready hospitality, +offers wine to the rustic Lopez. In Barnes' expurgated, "Washingtonian" +version (be not shocked, O spirit of good Master Tobin!) the countryman +responded reprovingly: "Fie, my noble Duke! Have you no water from the +well?" An answer diametrically opposed to the tendencies of the +sack-guzzling, roistering, madcap playwrights of that early period! + +On the whole the representation was well-balanced, with few weak spots +in the acting for fault finding, even from a more captious gathering. +In the costumes, it is true, the carping observer might have detected +some flaws; notably in Adonis, a composite fashion plate, who strutted +about in the large boots of the Low Countries, topped with English +trunk hose of 1550; his hand upon the long rapier of Charles II, while +a periwig and hat of William III crowned his empty pate! + +Kate was Volante; not Tobin's Volante, but one fashioned out of her +own characteristics; supine, but shapely; heavy, but handsome; slow, +but specious. Susan, with hair escaping in roguish curls beneath her +little cap; her taper waist encompassed by a page's tunic; the trim +contour of her figure frankly revealed by her vestment, was truly a +lad "dressed up to cozen" any lover who preferred his friend and his +bottle to his mistress. Merry as a sand-boy she danced about in russet +boots that came to the knee; lithe and lissome in the full swing of +immunity from skirts, mantle and petticoats! + +Conscious that his identity had been divined, and relishing, perhaps, +the effect of its discovery, the young patroon gazed languidly at the +players, until the entrance of Constance as Juliana, when he forgot +the pleasing sensations of self-thought, in contemplation of the +actress. He remarked a girlish form of much grace, attired in an +attractive gown of white satin and silver, as became a bride, with +train and low shimmering bodice, revealing the round arms and +shoulders which arose ivory-like in whiteness. Instead of the +customary feathers and other ornaments of the period, specified in the +text of the play, roses alone softened the effect of her dark hair. +Very different she appeared in this picturesque Spanish attire from +the lady of the lane, with the coquettish cap of muslin and its +"brides," or strings. + +The light that burned within shone from her eyes, proud yet gay; it +lurked in the corners of her mouth, where gravity followed merriment, +as silence follows laughter when the brook sweeps from the purling +stones to the deeper pools. Her art was unconscious of itself and +scene succeeded scene with a natural charm, revealing unexpected +resources, from pathos to sorrow; from vanity to humility; from scorn +to love awakened. And, when the transition did come, every pose spoke +of the quickening heart; her movements proclaimed the golden fetters; +passion shone in her glances, defiant though willing, lofty though +humble, joyous though shy. + +Was it the heat from the lamps?--but Mauville's brow became flushed; +his buoyancy seemed gross and brutal; desire lurked in his lively +glances; Pan gleamed from the curls of Hyperion! + +The play jogged on its blithesome course to its wonted end; the duke +delivered the excellent homily, + + "A gentle wife + Is still the sterling comfort of a man's life," + +and the well-pleased audience were preparing to leave when Barnes, in +a drab jacket and trunks, trimmed with green ribbon bows, came forward +like the clown in the circus and addressed the "good people." + +"In the golden age," said the father of Juliana, "great men treated +actors like servants, and, if they offended, their ears were cut off. +Are we, in brave America, returning to the days when they tossed an +actor in a blanket or gave a poet a hiding? Shall we stifle an art +which is the purest inspiration of Athenian genius? The law prohibits +our performing and charging admission, but it does not debar us from +taking a collection, if"--with a bow in which dignity and humility +were admirably mingled--"you deem the laborer worthy of his hire?" + +This novel epilogue was received with laughter and applause, but the +audience, although good-natured, contained its proportion of timid +souls who retreat before the passing plate. The rear guard began to +show faint signs of demoralization, when Mauville sprang to his feet. +Pan had disappeared behind his leafy covert; it was the careless, +self-possessed man of the world who arose. + +"I am not concerned about the ethics of art," he said lightly, "but +the ladies of the company may count me among their devout admirers. I +am sure," he added, bowing to the manager with ready grace, "if they +were as charming in the old days, after the lords tossed the men, they +made love to the women." + +"There were no actresses in those days, sir," corrected Barnes, +resenting the flippancy of his aristocratic auditor. + +"No actresses?" retorted the heir. "Then why did people go to the +theater? However, without further argument, let me be the first +contributor." + +"The prodigal!" said the doctor in an aside to the landlord. "He's +holding up a piece of gold. It's the first time ever patroon was a +spendthrift!" + +But Mauville's words, on the whole, furthered the manager's project, +and the audience remained in its integrity, while Balthazar, a +property helmet in hand, descended from his palace and trod the aisles +in his drab trunk-hose and purple cloak, a royal mendicant, in whose +pot soon jingled the pieces of silver. No one shirked his admission +fee and some even gave in excess; the helmet teemed with riches; once +it had saved broken heads, now it repaired broken fortunes, its +properties magical, like the armor of Pallas. + +"How did you like the play, Mr. Saint-Prosper?" said Barnes, as he +approached that person. + +"Much; and as for the players"--a gleam of humor stealing over his +dark features--"'peerless' was not too strong." + +"'Your approbation likes me most, my lord,'" quoted the manager, and +passed quickly on with his tin pot, in a futile effort to evade the +outstretched hand of his whilom helper. + +Thanking the audience for their generosity and complimenting them on +their intelligence, the self-constituted lord of the treasury vanished +once more behind the curtain. The orchestra of two struck up a negro +melody; the audience rose again, the women lingering to exchange their +last innocent gossip about prayer-meeting, or about the minister who +"knocked the theologic dust from the pulpit cushions in the good old +orthodox way," when some renegade exclaimed: "Clear the room for a +dance!" + +Jerusha's shawl straightway fell from her shoulders; Hannah's bonnet +was whipped from her head; Nathaniel paused on his way to the stable +yard to bring out the team and a score of willing hands obeyed the +injunction amid laughing encouragement from the young women whose feet +already were tapping the floor in anticipation of the Virginia Reel, +Two Sisters, Hull's Victory, or even the waltz, "lately imported from +the Rhine." A battered Cremona appeared like magic and + + "In his shirt of check and tallowed hair + The fiddler sat in his bull-rush chair," + +while "'Twas Monnie Musk in busy feet and Monnie Musk by +heart"--old-fashioned "Monnie Musk" with "first couple join right +hands and swing," "forward six" and "across the set"; an honest dance +for country folk that only left regrets when it came to "Good Night +for aye to Monnie Musk," although followed by the singing of "Old +Hundred" or "Come, ye Sinners, Poor and Needy," on the homeward +journey. + +In the parlor the younger lads and lasses were playing "snap and catch +'em" and similar games. The portly Dutch clock gazed down benignly on +the scene, its face shining good-humoredly like the round visage of +some comfortable burgher. "Green grow the rushes, O!" came from many +merry-makers. "Kiss her quick and let her go" was followed by +scampering of feet and laughter which implied a doubt whether the lad +had obeyed the next injunction, "But don't you muss her ruffle, O!" +Forming a moving ring around a young girl, they sang: "There's a rose +in the garden for you, young man." A rose, indeed, or a rose-bud, +rather, with ruffles he was commanded not to "muss," but which, +nevertheless, suffered sadly! + +Among these boys and girls, the patroon discovered Constance, no +longer "to the life a duchess," with gown in keeping with the "pride +and pomp of exalted station," but attired in the simple dress of +lavender she usually wore, though the roses still adorned her hair. +Shunning the entrancing waltz, the inspiring "Monnie Musk" and the +cotillion, lively when set to Christy's melodies, she had sought the +more juvenile element, and, when seen by the land baron, was circling +around with fluttering skirts. Joyous, merry, there was no hint now in +her natural, girlish ways of the capacity that lay within for varied +impersonations, from the lightness of coquetry to the thrill of +tragedy. + +He did not know how it happened, as he stood there watching her, but +the next moment he was imprisoned by the group and voices were +singing: + +"There he stands, the booby; who will have him for his beauty?" + +Who? His eye swept the group; the merry, scornful glances fixed upon +him; the joyous, half-inviting glances; the red lips parted as in +kindly invitation; shy lips, willing lips! + +Who? His look kindled; he had made his selection, and the next moment +his arm was impetuously thrown around the actress's waist. + +"Kiss her quick and let her go!" + +Amid the mad confusion he strove to obey the command, but a panting +voice murmured "no, no!" a pair of dark eyes gazed into his for an +instant, defiantly, and the pliant waist slipped from his impassioned +grasp; his eager lips, instead of touching that glowing cheek, only +grazed a curl that had become loosened, and, before he could repeat +the attempt, she had passed from his arms, with laughing lips and +eyes. + +"Play fair!" shouted the lads. "He should 'kiss her quick and let her +go.'" + +"Oh, he let her go first!" said the others. + +"'Kiss her quick,'" reiterated the boys. + +"He can't now," answered the girls. + +The voices took up the refrain: "Don't you muss the ruffles, O!" and +the game went on. The old clock gossiped gleefully, its tongue +repeating as plainly as words: + +"Let-her-go!--ho!--ho!--one--two--three!" + +Three o'clock! Admonishingly rang out the hour, the jovial face of the +clock looking sterner than was its wont. It glowered now like a +preacher in his pulpit upon a sinful congregation. Enough of +"snatch-and-catch'em;" enough of Hull's Victory or the Opera Reel; +let the weary fiddler descend from his bull-rush chair, for soon the +touch of dawn will be seen in the eastern sky! The merry-making began +to wane and already the sound of wagon-wheels rattled over the log +road away from the tavern. Yes, they were singing, and, as Hepsibeth +leaned her head on Josiah's shoulder, they uplifted their voices in +the good old orthodox hymn, "Come, Ye Sinners," for thus they courted +and worshiped in olden times. + +"Good-night, every one!" said a sweet voice, as Constance passed +calmly on, with not a ruffle mussed. + +"Good-night," answered the patroon, a sparkle in his eyes. "I was +truly a booby." + +"What can you mean?" she laughed. + +"There's many a slip 'twixt--lip and lip!" exclaimed Susan. + +With heightened color the young girl turned, and as she did so her +look rested on the soldier. His glance was cold, almost strange, and, +meeting it, she half-started and then smiled, slowly mounting the +stairs. He looked away, but the patroon never took his eyes from her +until she had vanished. Afar, rising and falling on the clear air, +sounded the voices of the singers: + + "Praise God from whom all blessings flow; + Praise Him all creatures here below;" + +and finally, softer and softer, until the melody melted into silence: + + "Praise Him above, ye Heavenly H-o-s-t--" + +"One good turn deserves another," said Barnes to Saint-Prosper, when +Susan and Kate had likewise retired. "Follow me, sir--to the kitchen! +No questions; but come!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A CONFERENCE IN THE KITCHEN + + +A keen observer might have noticed that the door of the inn kitchen +had been kept swinging to and fro as certain ones in the audience had +stolen cautiously, but repeatedly, in and out of the culinary +apartment while the dancing and other festivities were in progress. +The itinerant pedagogue was prominent in these mysterious movements +which possibly accounted for his white choker's being askew and his +disposition to cut a dash, not by declining Greek verbs, but by +inclining too amorously toward Miss Abigail, a maiden lady with a +pronounced aversion for frivolity. + +The cause of the schoolmaster's frolicsome deportment was apparent to +the soldier when he followed Barnes into the kitchen, where, in a +secluded corner, near the hospitable oven, in the dim light of a +tallow dip, stood a steaming punch bowl. A log smoldered in the +fireplace, casting on the floor the long shadows of the andirons, +while a swinging pot was reflected on the ceiling like a mighty +eclipse. Numerous recesses, containing pans and plates that gleamed by +day, were wrapped in vague mystery. Three dark figures around the +bowl suggested a scene of incantation, especially when one of them +threw some bark from the walnut log on the coals and the flames sprang +up as from a pine knot and the eclipse danced among the rafters +overhead while the pot swung to and fro. + +As the manager approached the bowl, the trio, moved by some vague +impelling impulse, locked arms, walked toward the side door, crossed +its threshold in some confusion, owing to a unanimous determination to +pass out at one and the same time, and went forth into the tranquil +night, leaving Barnes and Saint-Prosper the sole occupants of the +kitchen. The manager now helped himself and his companion to the +beverage, standing with his back to the tiny forks of flame from the +shagbark. His face expanded with good-fellowship; joviality shone from +his eyes beaming upon the soldier whom he unconsciously regarded as an +auxiliary. + +"Here's to our better acquaintance," he said, placing his hand with +little ceremony on the other's shoulder. "The Bill-Poster!" Raising +his cup. "You gathered them in--" + +"And you certainly gathered in the contents of their pockets!" + +"A fair robbery!" laughed Barnes, "as Dick Turpin said when he robbed +the minister who robbed the king who robbed the people! A happy +thought that, turning the helmet into a collection box! It tided us +over; it tided us over!" + +Saint-Prosper returned the manager's glance in kind; Barnes' candor +and simplicity were apparent antidotes to the other's taciturnity and +constraint. During the country dance the soldier had remained a +passive spectator, displaying little interest in the rustic +merry-making or the open glances cast upon him by bonny lasses, burned +in the sunlit fields, buxom serving maids, as clean as the pans in the +kitchen, and hearty matrons, not averse to frisk and frolic in +wholesome rural fashion. + +But now, in the face of the manager's buoyancy at the success of a +mere expedient--a hopefulness ill-warranted by his short purse and the +long future before him!--the young man's manner changed from one of +indifference to friendliness, if not sympathy, for the over-sanguine +custodian of players. Would the helmet, like the wonderful pitcher, +replenish itself as fast as it was emptied? Or was it but a +make-shift? The manager's next remark seemed a reply to these queries, +denoting that Barnes himself, although temporarily elated, was not +oblivious to the precarious character of "free performances," with +voluntary offerings. + +"What we need," continued the manager, "is a temperance drama. With +what intemperate eagerness would the people flock to see it! But where +is it to be found? Plays don't grow on bushes, even in this +agricultural district. And I have yet to discover any dramatists +hereabouts, unless"--jocularly--"you are a Tom Taylor or a Tom +Robertson in disguise. Are you sure you have never courted the divine +muse? Men of position have frequently been guilty of that folly, +sir." + +"But once," answered the other in the same tone. "At college; a +political satire." + +"Was it successful?" + +"Quite so--I was expelled for writing it!" + +"Well," retorted Barnes, irrelevantly, "you have at least mildly +coquetted with the muse. Besides, I dare say, you have been behind the +scenes a good deal. The green room is a fashionable rendezvous. Where +are you going? And what--if I may ask--is your business?" + +"I am on my way to New Orleans," said the traveler, after a moment's +hesitation. "My business, fortune-getting. In sugar, tobacco, or +indigo-culture!" + +"New Orleans!" exclaimed the manager, poising the ladle in mid air. +"That, too, is our destination. We have an engagement to play there. +Why not join our band? Write or adapt a play for us. Make a temperance +drama of your play!" + +"You are a whimsical fellow," said the stranger, smiling. "Why don't +you write the play yourself?" + +"I? An unread, illiterate dotard! Why, I never had so much as a day's +schooling. As a lad I slept with the rats, held horses, swept +crossings and lived like a mudlark! Me write a play! I might let fall +a suggestion here and there; how to set a flat, or where to drop a +fly; to plan an entrance, or to arrange an exit! No, no; let the +shoemaker stick to his last! It takes"--with deference--"a scholar to +write a drama." + +"Thus you disqualify me," laughed the other, drawing out a pipe which +he filled; and lighted with a coal held in the iron grip of the +antique tongs. "If it were only to help plant a battery or stand in a +gap!" he said grimly, replacing the tongs against the old brick oven +at one side of the grate. "But to beset King Bacchus in three acts! To +storm his castle in the first; scale the walls in the second, and blow +up all the king's horses and all the king's men in the last--that is, +indeed, serious warfare!" + +"True, it will be a roundabout way to New Orleans," continued the +manager, disregarding his companion's response, "but there is no +better way of seeing the New World--that is, if you do not disdain the +company of strolling players. You gain in knowledge what you lose in +time. If you are a philosopher, you can study human nature through the +buffoon and the mummer. If you are a naturalist, here are grand +forests to contemplate. If you are not a recluse, here is free, though +humble, comradeship." + +His listener gazed thoughtfully into the fire. Was the prospect of +sharing this gipsy-like life attractive to him? An adventurer himself, +was he drawn toward these homeless strollers, for whom the illusions +of dramatic art shone with enticing luster in the comparative solitude +of the circuit on the wilderness? + +As he sat before the glow, the light of the burning shagbark, playing +elfishly above the dying embers, outlined the stalwart, yet active +figure and the impenetrable, musing features. But when, with an upward +shower of sparks, the backlog fell asunder and the waning flame cast +yet more gloomy shadows behind them, he leaned back in his heavy, hewn +chair and again bent an attentive look upon the loquacious speaker. + +"Or, if you desire," resumed the manager after some hesitation, "it +might become a business venture as well as a pleasure jaunt. Here is a +sinking ship. Will the salvage warrant helping us into port; that is, +New Orleans? There hope tells a flattering tale. The company is well +equipped; has a varied repertoire, while Constance"--tenderly--"is a +host in herself. If you knew her as I do; had watched her art +grow"--his voice trembled--"and to think, sometimes I do not know +where the next day's sustenance may come from! That she"-- + +He broke off abruptly, gazing at his companion half-apologetically. +"We players, sir," he resumed, "present a jovial front, but"--tapping +his breast--"few know what is going on here!" + +"Therein," said the younger man, emptying his pipe, "you have stated a +universal truth." He pushed a smoldering log with his foot toward the +remnants of the embers. "Suppose I were so minded to venture"--and he +mentioned a modest sum--"in this hazard and we patched up the play +together?" + +"You don't mean it?" cried the manager, eagerly. Then he regarded the +other suspiciously: "Your proposal is not inspired through sympathy?" + +"Why not through the golden prospects you have so eloquently +depicted?" replied Saint-Prosper, coldly. + +"Why not indeed!" exclaimed the reassured manager. "Success will come; +it must come. You have seen Constance but once. She lives in every +character to her heart's core. How does she do it? Who can tell? It's +inborn. A heritage to her!" + +His voice sank low with emotion. "Yes," he murmured, shaking his head +thoughtfully, as though another image arose in his mind; "a heritage! +a divine heritage!" But soon he looked up. "She's a brave girl!" he +said. "When times were dark, she would always smile encouragingly, +and, in the light of her clear eyes, I felt anew the Lord would temper +the wind to the shorn lamb." + +"One--two--three--four," rang the great clock through the silent hall, +and, at its harsh clangor, Barnes started. + +"Bless my soul, the maids'll be up and doing and find us here!" he +exclaimed. "One last cup! To the success of the temperance drama!" + +In a few moments they had parted for their respective chambers and +only the landlord was left down-stairs. Now as he came from behind the +bar, where he had been apparently dozing and secretly listening +through the half-opened door leading into the kitchen, he had much +difficulty to restrain his laughter. + +"That's a good one to tell Ezekiel," he muttered, turning out the +lights and sweeping the ashes on the hearth to the back of the grate. +"To the temperance drama!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE DEPARTURE OF THE CHARIOT + + +Down the hill, facing the tavern, the shadows of night were slowly +withdrawn, ushering in the day of the players' leaving. A single tree, +at the very top, isolated from its sylvan neighbors, was bathed in the +warm sunshine, receiving the earliest benediction of day. Down, down, +came the dark shade, pursued by the light, until the entire slope of +the hill was radiant and the sad colored foliage flaunted in new-born +gaiety. + +Returning from the stable, where he had been looking after his horse, +the soldier stood for a moment before the inn, when a flower fell at +his feet, and, glancing over his shoulder, he perceived Susan, who was +leaning from her window. The venturesome rose, which had clambered as +high as the second story, was gone; plucked, alas, by the wayward hand +of a coquette. Saint-Prosper bowed, and stooped for the aspiring but +now hapless flower which lay in the dust. + +"You have joined the chariot, I hear?" said Susan. + +"For the present," he replied. + +"And what parts will you play?" she continued, with smiling +inquisitiveness. + +"None." + +"What a pity! You would make a handsome lover." Then she blushed. +"Lud! What am I saying? Besides"--maliciously--"I believe you have +eyes for some one else. But remember,"--shaking her finger and with a +coquettish turn of the head--"I am an actress and therefore vain. I +must have the best part in the new piece. Don't forget that, or I'll +not travel in the same chariot with you." And Susan disappeared. + +"Ah, Kate," she said, a moment later, "what a fine-looking young man +he is!" + +"Who?" drawled her sister. + +"Mr. Saint-Prosper, of course." + +"He is large enough," retorted Kate, leisurely. + +"Large enough! O, Kate, what a phlegmatic creature you are!" + +"Fudge!" said the other as she left the chamber. + +Entering the tavern, the soldier was met by the wiry old lady who +bobbed into the breakfast room and explained the kind of part that +fitted her like a glove, her prejudices being strong against modern +plays. + +"Give me dramas like 'Oriana,' 'The Rival Queens' or Webster's +pieces," she exclaimed, quoting with much fire for her years: + + "'We are only like dead walls or vaulted graves!'" + +"And do not forget the 'heavy' in your piece!" called out Hawkes +across the table. "Something you can dig your teeth in!" + +"Nor the 'juvenile lead,'" chimed in the Celtic Adonis. + +"Adonis makes a great hit in a small part," laughed Kate, appearing at +the door. "'My lord, the carriage is waiting!'" + +"My lady, your tongue is too sharp!" exclaimed Adonis, nettled. + +"And put in a love scene for Adonis and myself," she continued, lazily +floating into the room. "He is so fond of me, it would not be like +acting!" + +This bantering was at length interrupted by the appearance of the +chariot and the property wagon at the front door, ready for the +journey. The rumbling of the vehicles, the resounding hoofs and the +resonant voice of the stable boy awakened the young lord of the manor +in his chamber above. He stretched himself sleepily, swore and again +composed himself for slumber, when the noise of a property trunk, +thumping its way down the front stairs a step at a time, galvanized +him into life and consciousness. + +"Has the world come to an end?" he muttered. "No; I remember; it's +only the players taking their departure!" + +But, although he spoke carelessly, the bumping of boxes and slamming +and banging of portable goods annoyed him more than he would confess. +With the "crazy-quilt"--a patch-work of heptagons of different hues +and patterns--around his shoulders, clothing him with all the colors +of the rainbow, he sat up in bed, wincing at each concussion. + +"I might as well get up!" he exclaimed. "I'll see her once more--the +perverse beauty!" And tossing the kaleidoscopic covering viciously +from him, he began to dress. + +Meanwhile, as the time for their going drew near, mine host +down-stairs sped the parting guest with good cheer, having fared +profitably by the patronage the players had brought to the inn; but +his daughter, Arabella, looked sad and pensive. How weary, flat and +stale appeared her existence now! With a lump in her throat and a pang +in her heart, she recklessly wiped her eyes upon the best parlor +curtains, when Barnes mounted to the box, as robust a stage-driver as +ever extricated a coach from a quagmire. The team, playful through +long confinement, tugged at the reins, and Sandy, who was at the bits, +occasionally shot through space like an erratic meteor. + +The manager was flourishing his whip impatiently when Constance and +Susan appeared, the former in a traveling costume of blue silk; a +paletot of dark cloth, and, after the fashion of the day, a bonnet of +satin and velvet. Susan was attired in a jupe sweeping and immensely +full--to be in style!--and jacquette with sleeves of the pagoda form. +The party seemed in high spirits, as from his dormer window Mauville, +adjusting his attire, peered through the lattice over the edge of the +moss-grown roof and leaf-clogged gutters and surveyed their +preparations for departure. How well the rich color of her gown +became the young girl! He had told himself white was her best +adornment, but his opinion veered on the moment now, and he thought he +had never seen her to better advantage, with the blue of her dress +reappearing in the lighter shade, above the dark paletot, in the +lining of the bonnet and the bow of ribbons beneath her chin. + +"On my word, but she looks handsome!" muttered the patroon. "Might sit +for a Gainsborough or a Reynolds! What dignity! What coldness! All +except the eyes! How they can lighten! But there's that adventurer +with her," as the figure of the soldier crossed the yard to the +property wagon. "No getting rid of him until the last moment!" And he +opened the shutters wider, listening and watching more closely. + +"Are you going to ride in the property wagon?" he heard Saint-Prosper +ask. + +"Yes; when I have a part to study I sometimes retire to the stage +throne," she answered lightly. "I suppose you will ride your horse?" + +Of his reply the listener caught only the words, "wind-break" and +"lame." He observed the soldier assist her to the throne, and then, to +Mauville's surprise, spring into the wagon himself. + +"Why, the fellow is going with them!" exclaimed the land baron. "Or, +at any rate, he is going with her. What can it mean?" And hurriedly +quitting his post, his toilet now being complete, he hastened to the +door and quickly made his way down-stairs. + +During the past week his own addresses had miscarried and his +gallantry had been love's labor lost. At first he had fancied he +was making progress, but soon acknowledged to himself he had +underestimated the enterprise. Play had succeeded play--he could not +have told what part favored her most! Ophelia sighed and died; Susan +danced on her grave between acts, according to the program, and +turned tears into smiles; the farewell night had come and gone--and +yet Constance had made no sign of compliance to reward the patient +wooer. Now, at the sight of these preparations for departure, and +the presence of the stalwart stranger in the property wagon, he +experienced a sudden sensation of pique, almost akin to jealousy. + +Stepping from the tavern, it was with an effort he suppressed his +chagrin and vexation and assumed that air of nonchalance which became +him well. Smilingly he bade Susan and the other occupants of the +chariot farewell, shook Barnes by the hand, and turned to the property +wagon. + +"The noise of your departure awakened me," he said to the young girl. +"So I have come to claim my compensation--the pleasure of seeing +you--" + +"Depart!" she laughed quickly. + +Momentarily disconcerted, he turned to the soldier. "You ride early." + +"As you see," returned the other, immovably. + +"A habit contracted in the army, no doubt!" retorted Mauville, +recovering his easy self-possession. "Well, a bumping trunk is as +efficacious as a bugle call! But _au revoir_, Miss Carew; for we may +meet again. The world is broad--yet its highways are narrow! There is +no need wishing you a pleasant journey." + +His glance rested on Saint-Prosper for a moment, but told nothing +beyond the slight touch of irony in his words and then shifting to the +young girl, it lingered upon each detail of costume and outline of +feature. Before she could reply, Barnes cracked his whip, the horses +sprang forward, and the stable boy, a confused tangle of legs and +arms, was shot as from a catapult among the sweet-williams. The abrupt +departure of the chariot was the cue for the property wagon, which +followed with some labor and jolting, like a convoy struggling in the +wake of a pretentious ship. From the door Mauville watched it until it +reached a toll-gate, passed beneath the portcullis and disappeared +into the broad province of the wilderness. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +SOJOURNING IN ARCADIA + + +Calm and still was the morning; the wandering air just stirred the +pendulous branches of the elms and maples, and, in the clear +atmosphere, the russet hills were sharply outlined. As they swung out +into the road, with Hans, the musician, at the reins, the young girl +removed her bonnet and leaned back in the chair of state, where kings +had fretted and queens had lolled. + +The throne, imposing on the stage, now appeared but a flimsy article +of furniture, with frayed and torn upholstering, and carving which had +long since lost its gilded magnificence. Seated amid the jumble of +theatrical appliances and accoutrements--scenery, rolled up +rug-fashion, property trunks, stage clock, lamps and draperies--she +accepted the situation gracefully, even finding nothing strange in the +presence of the soldier. New faces had come and gone in the company +before, and, when Barnes had complacently informed her Saint-Prosper +would journey with the players to New Orleans in a semi-business +capacity, the arrangement appeared conformable to precedent. The +manager's satisfaction augured well for the importance of the +semi-business rôle assumed by the stranger, and Barnes' friendliness +was perhaps in some degree unconsciously reflected in her manner; an +attitude the soldier's own reserve, or taciturnity, had not tended to +dispel. So, his being in the property wagon seemed no more singular +than Hans' occupancy of the front seat, or if Adonis, Hawkes, or Susan +had been there with her. She was accustomed to free and easy +comradeship; indeed, knew no other life, and it was only assiduous +attentions, like those of the land baron's, that startled and +disquieted her. + +As comfortably as might be, she settled back in the capacious, +threadbare throne, a slender figure in its depths--more adapted to +accommodate a corpulent Henry VIII!--and smiled gaily, as the wagon, +in avoiding one rut, ran into another and lurched somewhat violently. +Saint-Prosper, lodged on a neighboring trunk, quickly extended a +steadying hand. + +"You see how precarious thrones are!" he said. + +"There isn't room for it to more than totter," she replied lightly, +removing her bonnet and lazily swinging it from the arm of the chair. + +"Then it's safer than real thrones," he answered, watching the swaying +bonnet, or perhaps, contrasting the muscular, bronzed hand he had +placed on the chair with the smooth, white one which held the blue +ribbons; a small, though firm, hand to grapple with the minotaur, +Life! + +She slowly wound the ribbons around her fingers. + +"Oh, you mean France," she said, and he looked away with sudden +disquietude. "Poor monarchs! Their road is rougher than this one." + +"Rougher truly!" + +"You love France?" she asked suddenly, after studying, with secret, +sidelong glances his reserved, impenetrable face. + +His gaze returned to her--to the bonnet now resting in her lap--to the +hand beside it. + +"It is my native land," he replied. + +"Then why did you leave it--in its trouble?" she asked impulsively. + +"Why?" he repeated, regarding her keenly; but in a moment he added: +"For several reasons. I returned from Africa, from serving under +Bugeaud, to find the red flag waving in Paris; the king fled!" + +"Oh," she said, quickly, "a king should--" + +"What?" he asked, as she paused. + +"I was going to say it was better to die like a king than--" + +"Than live an outcast!" he concluded for her, a shadow on his brow. + +She nodded. "At any rate, that is the way they always do in the +plays," she added brightly. "But you were saying you found your real +king fled?" + +His heavy brows contracted, though he answered readily enough: "Yes, +the king had fled. A kinsman in whose house I had been reared then +bade me head a movement for the restoration of the royal fugitive. For +what object? The regency was doomed. The king, a May-fly!" + +"And so you refused?" + +"We quarreled; he swore like a Gascon. His little puppet should yet +sit in the chair where Louis XIV had lorded it! I, who owed my +commission to his noble name, was a republican, a deserter! The best +way out of the difficulty was out of the country. First it was +England, then it was here. To-morrow--where?" he added, in a lower +tone, half to himself. + +"Where?" she repeated, lightly. "That is our case, too." + +He looked at her with sudden interest. "Yours is an eventful life, +Miss Carew." + +"I have never known any other," she said, simply, adding after a +pause: "My earliest recollections are associated with my mother and +the stage. As a child I watched her from the wings. I remember a grand +voice and majestic presence. When the audience broke into applause, my +heart throbbed with pride." + +But as her thoughts reverted to times past, the touch of melancholy, +invoked by the memory of her mother, was gradually dispelled, as fancy +conjured other scenes, and a flickering smile hovered over the lips +whose parting displaced that graver mood. + +"Once or twice I played with her, too," she added. "I thought it nice +to be one of the little princes in Richard III and wear white satin +clothes. One night after the play an old gentleman took me on his knee +and said: I had to come, my child, and see if the wicked old uncle +hadn't really smothered you!' When he had gone, my mother told me he +was Mr. Washington Irving. I thought him very kind, for he brought me +a bag of bonbons from the coffee-room." + +"It's the first time I ever heard of a great critic laden with +sweetmeats!" said the soldier. "And were you not flattered by his +honeyed regard?" + +"Oh, yes; I devoured it and wanted more," she laughed. + +Hans' flourishing whip put an end to further conversation. "Der stage +goach!" he said, turning a lumpish countenance upon them and pointing +down the road. + +Approaching at a lively gait was one of the coaches of the regular +line, a vehicle of ancient type, hung on bands of leather and +curtained with painted canvas, not unlike the typical French +diligence, except for its absence of springs. The stage was +spattered with mud from roof to wheel-tire, but as the mire was not +fresh and the road fair, the presumption followed that custom and +practice precluded the cleaning of the coach. The passengers, among +whom were several ladies, wearing coquettish bonnets with ribbons +or beau-catchers attached, were too weary even to view with wonder +the odd-looking theatrical caravan. Only the driver, a diminutive +person with puckered face the color of dried apples, so venerable +as to be known as Old Hundred, seemed as spry and cheery as when +he started. + +"Morning," he said, briskly, drawing in his horses. "Come back, have +ye, with yer troupe? What's the neuws from Alban-y?" + +"Nothing, except Texas has been admitted as a State," answered +Barnes. + +"Sho! We air coming on!" commented the Methuselah of the road. + +"Coming on!" groaned a voice in the vehicle, and the florid face of an +English traveler appeared at the door. "I say, do you call this +'coming on!' I'm nearly gone, don't you know!" + +"Hi!--ge' long!--steady there!" And Old Hundred again whipped up his +team, precipitating a lady into the lap of the gentleman who was +"nearly gone," and well-nigh completing his annihilation. + +In less time than when a friendly sail is lost in the mist, Old +Hundred's bulky land-wherry passed from view, and the soldier again +turned to his companion. But she was now intent on some part in a play +which she was quietly studying and he contented himself with lighting +that staple luxury of the early commonwealth, a Virginia stogie, +observing her from time to time over the glowing end. With the book +upon her knee, her head downcast and partly turned from him, he could, +nevertheless, through the mazy convolutions and dreamy spirals of the +Indian weed, detect the changing emotions which swept over her, as in +fancy she assumed a rôle in the drama. Now the faintest shadow of a +smile, coming and going; again beneath the curve of her long lashes, a +softer gleaming in the dark eyes, adding new charm to the pale, proud +face. Around them nature seemed fraught with forgetfulness; the Libyan +peace that knows not where or wherefore. Rocked in the cradle of ruts +and furrows, Hans, portly as a carboy, half-dozed on the front seat. + +Shortly before noon they approached an ancient hostelry, set well back +from the road. To the manager's dismay, however, the door was locked +and boards were nailed across the windows. Even the water pail, +hospitably placed for man or beast, had been removed from its +customary proximity to the wooden pump. Abandoned to decay, the +tenantless inn was but another evidence of traffic diverted from the +old stage roads by the Erie Canal Company. Cold was the fireplace +before which had once rested the sheep-skin slippers for the guests; +empty was the larder where at this season was wont to be game in +abundance, sweet corn, luscious melons--the trophies of the hunt, the +fruits of the field; missing the neat, compact little keg whose spigot +had run with consolation for the wanderer! + +Confronted by the deserted house, where they had expected convivial +cheer, there was no alternative but to proceed, and their journey was +resumed with some discomfiture to the occupants of the coach which now +labored like a portly Spanish galleon, struck by a squall. They had +advanced in this manner for some distance through furrow and groove, +when the vehicle gave a sharper lurch down a deeper rut; a crash was +followed by cries of affright and the chariot abruptly settled on one +side. Barnes held the plunging horses in control, while the gentlemen +scrambled to the ground and assisted the ladies to dismount. + +"Any one hurt?" asked the manager from his box. + +"No damage done--except to the coach," said Hawkes. + +By this time the horses had become quiet and Barnes, now that the +passengers were rescued, like a good skipper, left the quarter deck. + +"We couldn't have chosen a better place for our lunch," he remarked +philosophically. "How fortunate we should have broken down where we +did!" + +"Very fortunate!" echoed the old lady ironically. + +The accident had happened upon a slight plateau, of which they +accordingly took possession, tethering the horses to graze. From the +branches overhead the squirrels surveyed them as if asking what manner +of people were these, and the busy woodpecker ceased his drumming, +cocking his head inquisitively at the intruders; then shyly drew away, +mounting spirally the trunk of the tree to the hole, chiseled by his +strong beak for a nest. As Barnes gazed around upon the pleasing +prospect, he straightway became the duke in the comedy of the forest. + +"Ha, my brothers in exile," he exclaimed, "are not these woods more +free from peril than the envious court?" + +"All it wants," said the tragedian, hungrily, "is mutton, greens and a +foaming pot." + +"I can't promise the foaming pot," answered the manager. "But, at +least, we have a well-filled hamper." + +Soon the coffee was simmering and such viands as they had brought with +them--for Barnes was a far-sighted and provident manager--were spread +out in tempting profusion. Near them a swift-flowing stream chattered +about the stones like one of nature's busiest gossips; it whispered to +the flowers, murmured to the rushes and was voluble to the overhanging +branch that dragged upon the surface of the water. The flowers on its +brim nodded, the rushes waved and the branch bent as if in assent to +the mad gossip of the blithesome brook. And it seemed as though all +this animated conversation was caused by the encampment of the band of +players by the wayside. + +The repast finished, they turned their attention to the injured +chariot, but fortunately the damage was not beyond repair, and Barnes, +actor, manager, bill-poster, license-procurer, added to his already +extensive repertoire the part of joiner and wheelwright. The skilled +artisans in coachmaking and coach-repairing might not have regarded +the manager as a master-workman, but the fractured parts were finally +set after a fashion. By that time, however, the sun had sunk to rest +upon a pillow of clouds; the squirrels, law-abiding citizens, had +sought their homes; the woodpecker had vanished in his snug chamber, +and only forest dwellers of nocturnal habits were now abroad, their +name legion like the gad-abouts of a populous city. + +"There!" exclaimed the manager, surveying his handiwork. "The 'bus is +ready! But there is little use going on to-night. I am not sure of the +road and here is a likely spot to pass the night." + +"Likely to be devoured by wild beasts," said Kate, with a shudder. + +"I am sure I see two glistening eyes!" exclaimed Susan. + +"Fudge!" observed the elastic old lady. "That's the first time you +have been afraid of two-glistening eyes." + +"There's a vast difference between wolves and men," murmured Susan. + +"I'm not so sure of that," returned the aged cynic. + +But as the light of day was withdrawn a great fire sprang up, +illumining the immediate foreground. The flames were cheering, drawing +the party more closely together. Even Hawkes partly discarded his +tragedy face; the old lady threw a bundle of fifty odd years from her +shoulders as easily as a wood-carrier would cast aside his miserable +stack of fagots, while Barnes forgot his troubles in narrating the +harrowing experience of a company which had penetrated the west at a +period antedating the settlement of the Michigan and Ohio boundary +dispute. + +The soldier alone was silent, curiously watching the play of light and +shade on the faces of the strollers, his gaze resting longest, +perhaps, on the features of the young girl. Leaning against an ancient +oak, so old the heart of it was gone and it towered but a mighty +shell, the slender figure of the actress was clearly outlined, but +against that dark and roughly-furrowed background she seemed too +slight and delicate to buffet with storms and hardships. That day's +experience was a forerunner of the unexpected in this wandering life, +but another time the mishap might not be turned to diversion. The +coach would not always traverse sunny byways; the dry leaf floating +from the majestic arm of the oak, the sound of an acorn as it struck +the earth presaged days less halcyon to come. + +"How do you enjoy being a stroller?" asked a voice, interrupting the +soldier's reverie. "It has its bitters and its sweets, hasn't it? +Especially its sweets!" Susan added, glancing meaningly at the young +girl. "But after all, it doesn't much matter what happens to you if +you are in good company." The semi-gloom permitted her to gaze +steadfastly into his eyes. He ignored the opportunity for a +compliment, and Susan stifled a little yawn, real or imaginary. + +"Positively one could die of _ennui_ in this wilderness," she +continued. "Do you know you are a welcome addition to our band? But you +will have to make yourself very agreeable. I suppose"--archly--"you +_were_ very agreeable in the property wagon?" + +"Miss Carew had a part to study," he returned, coldly. + +"A part to study!" In mock consternation. "How I hate studying parts! +They say what you wouldn't, and don't say what you would! But I'm off +to bed," rising impatiently. "I'm getting sleepy!" + +"Sleepy!" echoed Barnes. "Take your choice! The Hotel du +Omnibus"--indicating the chariot--"or the Villa Italienne?"--with a +gesture toward a tent made of the drop curtain upon the walls of which +was the picture of an Italian scene. + +"The chariot for me," answered Susan. "It is more high and dry and +does not suggest spiders and other crawling things." + +"Good-night, then, and remember a good conscience makes a hard bed +soft." + +"Then I shall sleep on down. I haven't had a chance"--with a sigh--"to +damage my conscience lately. But when I strike civilization +again"--and Susan shook her head eloquently to conclude her sentence. +"Oh, yes; if beds depend on conscience, boughs would be feathers for +me to-night." With which half-laughing, half-defiant conclusion, Susan +tripped to the chariot, pausing a moment, however, to cast a +reproachful glance over her shoulder at Saint-Prosper before vanishing +in the cavernous depths of the vehicle of the muses. + +Her departure was the signal for the dispersing of the party to their +respective couches. Now the fire sank lower, the stars came out +brighter and the moon arose and traveled majestically up the heavens, +taking a brief but comprehensive survey of the habitations of mortals, +and then, as if satisfied with her scrutiny, sailed back to the +horizon and dropped out of sight. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +FLIPPING THE SHILLING + + +Shortly after the departure of the strolling players from the tavern, +Mauville summoned his servant and ordered his equipage. While waiting +he strode impatiently to and fro in the dining-room, which, dismantled +of the stage, by very contrast to the temporary temple of art, turned +his thoughts to the players. The barrenness of the room smote him +acutely with the memory of those performances, and he laughed +ironically to himself that he should thus revert to them. But as he +scoffed inwardly, his eyes gleamed with vivacity, and the sensations +with which he had viewed the young girl night after night were +reawakened. What was one woman lost to him, his egotism whispered; he +had parted from many, as a gourmand leaves one meal for another. Yes; +but she had not been his, insinuated vanity; another had whipped her +off before his eyes. + +"Why the devil didn't you tell me he was going with them?" he demanded +of the landlord while settling his account. + +"He--who?" asked the surprised inn-keeper. + +"That adventurer you have been harboring here. How far's he going with +them?" + +"I don't know. The night after the performance I heard the manager ask +him to join the company; to write a temperance play." + +"Temperance play!" sneered Mauville. "The fool's gone with them on +account of a woman." + +"I did think he was mighty attentive to one of the actresses," said +the landlord, reflectively. "The one with them melting eyes. Purty +good-looking! Quiet and lady-like, too! So he's gallivanting after +her? Well, well, I guess actresses be all alike." + +"I guess they are," added the heir savagely. "And this one took me +in," he thought to himself. "Holding me off and playing with him, the +jade!" Then he continued aloud: "Where are they going?" + +"Didn't hear 'em say," answered the other, "and I didn't like to +appear too curious." + +"You didn't?" returned Mauville, ironically. "You must have changed +lately." + +"I don't know as I understand you quite," replied the landlord with +sudden dignity. "But here's your carriage and your things are all on. +I guess your tenants will be glad to see you," he continued, not +resisting a parting shot. + +"Curse the tenants!" muttered the guest in ill-humor, as he strode +from the tavern without more ado. + +He was soon on his way, partly forgetting his vexation in new +anticipations, and traveling with spirit to his destination, which he +reached late that afternoon. The residence of the old patroons, a +lordly manor where once lavish hospitality had been displayed, was +approached through great gates of hammered iron in which the family +arms were interwoven, leading into a fine avenue of trees. The +branches of the more majestic met overhead, forming a sylvan arch that +almost obscured the blue sky by day and the stars by night. Gazing +through this vista, a stately portico appeared, with Corinthian +columns, affording an inviting termination of the view. The grounds +bore evidence of neglect in the grass growing knee-high and rank with +weeds; the flower beds almost obliterated; a corn-crib sunk to one +side like a quadruped gone weak-kneed; and the stream that struggled +vainly through the leaves and rubbish barring its passage across the +estate. The fence resembled the "company front" of an awkward squad, +each picket being more or less independent of its neighbor, with here +and there a break or gap in the ranks. + +Passing through the leafy archway over a noiseless road and drawing +near the manor, the heir could see that the broad windows, with their +quaint squares of glass, were unwashed, the portico unswept and the +brass finishings of the front door unpolished. At the right of the +steps leading to the portico, moss-covered and almost concealed by a +rose-bush, stood a huge block of granite upon which rested the +"lifting-stone," as it was called, of one of the early masters. This +not inconsiderable weight the new retainers had been required to lift +in days of old, or failing, the patroon would have none of their +services, for he wanted only lusty, broad-backed varlets for farmers +or--when need were--soldiers. + +In answer to repeated summons from the ponderous knocker, shuffling +footsteps were finally heard within, the door was opened a few inches +and the gleaming teeth of a great, gaunt dog were thrust into the +opening, followed by an ominous growling. Mauville sprang back a step; +the snarling resolved itself into a yelp, as some one unceremoniously +dragged the canine back; the door was opened wider and a brawny +figure, smoking a long-stemmed pipe, barred the way. The dog, but +partly appeased, peered from behind the man's sturdy legs, awaiting +hostilities. The latter, an imperturbable Dutchman, eyed the intruder +askance, smoking as impassively in his face as one of his ancestors +before William the Testy. From his point of vantage on the threshold +the care-taker looked down upon the master so indifferently, while the +dog glared so viciously that the land baron cried angrily: + +"Why the devil don't you get out of the way and call off that beast?" + +The man pondered. "No one but the heir would give orders like that," +he said, so accustomed to speaking his thoughts in the solitude of the +great rooms, that he gave way to the habit now. "This must be the +heir." + +Slowly the care-taker moved aside, the hound shifting his position +accordingly, and Mauville entered, gazing around with some interest, +for the interior of the manor realized the pretensions of its outward +aspect. The floor of the hall was of satinwood and rosewood, and the +mahogany wainscoting, extending almost to the ceiling, was black with +age. With its rich carvings, the stairway suggested woody rioting in +balustrades lifting up to the support of the heavy beams in the +ceiling. The furnishings were in keeping, but dust obscured the +mirror-like surface of the mahogany tables, the heavy draperies were +in need of renovation, while a housewife would have viewed with +despair the condition of brass and ebony inlaid cabinets, ancient +tapestries, and pictures, well-nigh defaced, but worthy, even in their +faded aspect, of the brush of Sir Godfrey Kneller, Benjamin West and +the elder Peale. + +Having casually surveyed his new home, the heir was reminded of the +need for refreshment after his long journey, and, turning to the +care-taker, asked him what there was in the house? The servant smoked +silently as though deeply considering this momentous question, while +the rear guard maintained unabated hostility between the man's +firmly-planted feet. Then abruptly, without removing his pipe, the +guardian of the manor ejaculated: + +"Short-cakes and oly-koeks." + +The other laughed, struck his knee with his light cane and demanded to +be shown to the library, where he would have these outlandish dishes +served. + +"And bring with them, Mynheer Oly-koeks, a bottle of wine," he +continued. "At the same time, chain up the dog. He eyes me with such +hungry hostility that, gad! I believe he's an anti-renter!" + +Mauville was ushered into a large room, where great leather-bound +volumes filled the oak shelves to the ceiling. The care-taker turned, +and, with echoing footsteps, slowly departed, followed by his faithful +four-footed retainer. It is true the latter paused, swung half-around +and regarded the land-owner with the look of a sulky and rebellious +tenant, but, summoned by a stern "Oloffe!" from his master, the dog +reluctantly pattered across the hard-wood floor. + +In surveying his surroundings, the land baron's attention was +attracted by a coat-of-arms deeply carved in the massive wood of the +book-case--on a saltire sable, a fleur-de-lys or. This head of +heraldic flowers appeared to interest Mauville, who smiled grimly. +"From what I know of my worthy ancestors," he muttered, "and their +propensities to prey on their fellow-men, I should say a more fitting +device would be that of Lovett of Astwell: Gules, three wolves passant +sable, in pale." + +Pleased with his own humor, he threw himself upon a couch near the +window, stretching himself luxuriously. Soon the man reappeared with +the refreshments and a bottle of old-fashioned, substantial girth, +which he uncorked with marked solicitude. + +"Where are the oly-koeks?" exclaimed the heir. + +The watchman pointed to a great dish of dark blue willow-ware +pattern. + +"Oh, doughnuts!" said Mauville. "You know where the family lawyer +lives? Have my man drive you to his house and bring him here at +once." + +As the care-taker again disappeared the heir bent over the curiously +shaped bottle in delight, for when the cork was drawn a fragrance +filled the musty apartment as from a bouquet. + +"Blessings on the ancestor who laid down this wine!" he muttered. +"May his ghost wander in to sniff it! These oly-koeks are not bad. +I suppose this man, Ten Breecheses, or whatever he is called, is at +once cook and housekeeper. Although I don't think much of his +housekeeping," ruminated Mauville, as he observed a herculean spider +weaving a web from an old volume of Giraldus Cambrensis, antiquary, +to the classical works of one Joseph of Exeter. There is a strong +sympathy between wine and cobwebs, and Mauville watched with +increasing interest the uses to which these ponderous tomes had +sunk--but serving the bloodthirsty purpose of the nimble architect, +evolving its delicate engineering problem in mid air. + +A great blundering fly had just bobbed into the net and the spider, +with hideous, carnivorous zest, was scrambling for it, when the +guardian of the manor returned with the family solicitor, a little man +who bore in his arms a bundle of papers which, after the customary +greetings, he spread upon the table. He helped himself to a glass of +burgundy and proceeded forthwith to enter into the history of his +trust. + +Mynheer, the patroon, Mauville's predecessor, a lonely, arrogant man, +had held tenaciously to the immense tracts of land acquired in the +colonial days by nominal purchase. He had never married, his desire +for an heir being discounted by his aversion for the other sex, until +as the days dragged on, he found himself bed-ridden and childless in +his old age. Unfortunately the miser can not take his acres into +Paradise, and the patroon, with many an inward groan, cast about him +for some remote relative to whom he would reluctantly transfer his +earthly hereditaments. These were two: one a man of piety, who prayed +with the tenants when they complained of their lot; the other, +Mauville, upon whom he had never set eyes. + +When the earliest patroons had made known to the West India Company +their intention of planting colonies in New Netherland, they had +issued attractive maps to promote their colonization projects. Among +those who had been lured to America by these enticing advertisements +was an ancestor of Edward Mauville. Incurring the displeasure of the +governor for his godless views, this Frenchman was sent to the +pillory, or whipping post, and his neighbors were about to cast out +the devil of irreverence in good old-fashioned manner, when one of +Mynheer's daughters interceded, carried off the handsome miscreant, +and--such was her imperious way!--married him! He was heard in after +years to aver that the whipping would have been the milder punishment, +but, be that as it may, a child was born unto them who inherited the +father's adventuresome and graceless character, deserted his home, +joined hands with some ocean-rovers and sailed for that pasture-ground +of buccaneers, the Caribbean sea. Of his subsequent history various +stories may be found in the chronicles of New Orleans and Louisiana. + +The only other person who might have any pretensions to the estate was +a reverend gentleman who had been a missionary among the Indians, +preaching from a stump, and called "Little Thunder" by the red men +because of his powerful voice; a lineal descendant of the Rev. Doctor +Johannes Vanderklonk, the first dominie of the patroons, who served +for one thousand guilders, payable in meat or drink, twenty-two +bushels of wheat and two firkins of butter. He saved the souls of the +savages, while the white men cheated their bodies. Now and then, in +those early days, the children of the forest protested against this +evangelizing process and carried off the good dominie to the torture +stake, where they plucked out his finger nails; but he returned with +as much zest to his task of landing these simple souls in Paradise as +those who employed him displayed in making an earthly Paradise out of +the lands the red men left behind them. + +When by this shrewd system the savages were gradually saved, and +incidentally exterminated, Little Thunder's occupation was gone and he +became a pensioner of Mynheer the Patroon, earning his bread by an +occasional sermon to the tenants, exhorting them to thrift and +industry, to be faithful and multiply, and to pay their rents +promptly. As Mynheer's time drew near he sent for his attorney and +commanded him to look up the life, deeds and character of Edward +Mauville. + +"This I did," said the lawyer, "and here it is." Waving a roll of +papers before his interested listener. + +"A nauseating mess, no doubt," carelessly remarked the land baron. + +"Oh, sir!" deprecated the lawyer, opening the roll. "'Item: Religion; +pupil of the brilliant Jesuit, Abbé Moneau. Item: Morals; Exhibit A, +the affair with Countess ---- in Paris, where he was sent to be +educated after the fashion of French families in New Orleans; Exhibit +B--'" + +"Spare me," exclaimed Mauville. "Life is wearisome enough, but a +biography--" He shrugged his shoulders. "Come to your point." + +"Of course, sir, I was only trying to carry out his instructions. The +same, sir, as I would carry out yours!" With an ingratiating smile. +Whereupon the attorney told how he had furnished the patroon this roll +and fastened it to his bed, so that he might wind and unwind it, +perusing it at his pleasure. This the dying man did, sternly noting +the damaging facts; thinking doubtlessly how traits will endure for +generations--aye, for ages, in spite of the pillory!--the while Little +Thunder was roaring petitions to divinity by his bedside, as though to +bluster and bully the Almighty into granting his supplications. The +patroon glanced from his pensioner to the roll; from the kneeling man +to that prodigious list of peccadillos, and then he called for a +shilling, a coin still somewhat in use in America. This he flipped +thrice. + +"_Roué_ or sham," he said the first time. + +"Rake or hypocrite," he exclaimed the second time. + +"Devil or Pharisee," he cried the third time. + +He peered over the coin and sent for his attorney. His soul passed +away, mourned by Little Thunder until the will was read, when his +lamentations ceased; he soundly berated Mynheer, the Patroon, in his +coffin and refused to go to his burying. Then he became an ardent +anti-renter, a leader of "bolters," a thunderer of the people's cause, +the devoted enemy of land barons in general, and one patroon in +particular, the foreign heir of the manor. + +"But let him thunder away, sir," said Scroggs, soothingly. "The +estate's yours now, for the old patroon can't come back to change his +mind. He's buried sure enough in the grove, a dark and sombrous spot +as befitted his disposition, but restful withal. Aye, and the marble +slab's above him, which reminds me that only a month before he took to +his bed he was smoking his pipe on the porch, when his glance fell +upon the lifting-stone. Suddenly he strode towards it, bent his back +and raised it a full two inches. 'So much for age!' said he, +scoffing-like. But age heard him and now he lies with a stone on him +he can not lift, while you, sir"--to his listener, deferentially--"are +sole heir to the estate and to the feud." + +"A feud goes with the property?" remarked Mauville carelessly. + +"The tenants object to paying rent," replied Scroggs, sadly. "They're +a sorry lot!" + +"Evade their debts, do they?" said the land baron languidly. "What +presumption to imitate their betters! That won't do; I need the +money." + +"They claim the rights of the landlord originated in fraud--" + +"No doubt!" Yawning. "My ancestors were rogues!" + +"Oh, sir"--deprecatorily. + +"If the tenants don't pay, turn them out," interrupted Mauville, +listlessly, "if you have to depopulate the country." + +Having come to an understanding with his client, the lawyer arose to +take his departure. + +"By the way," he said, obsequiously, selecting a yellow, well-worn bit +of paper from his bundle of documents, "it may interest you to keep +this yourself. It is the original deed for all these lands from the +squaw Pewasch. You can see they were acquired for a few shillings' +worth of 'wet and dry goods' and seventeen and a half ells of +duffels." + +"The old patroons could strike a rare bargain," muttered the heir, as +he casually surveyed the ancient deed, and then, folding it, placed it +in his breast pocket. "For a mere song was acquired--" + +"A vast principality," added the solicitor, waving his hand toward the +fields and meadows far in the distance. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SAMPLING THE VINTAGES + + +Having started the wheels of justice fairly moving, with Scroggs at +the throttle, the new land baron soon discovered that he was not in +consonance with the great commoner who said he was savage enough to +prefer the woods and wilds of Monticello to all the pleasures of +Paris. In other words, those rural delights of his forefathers, the +pleasures of a closer intimacy with nature, awoke no responsive chord +in Mauville's breast, and he began to tire before long of a +patriarchal existence and crullers and oly-koeks and playing the fine +lord in solitary grandeur. + +The very extent of the deserted manor carried an overwhelming sense of +loneliness, especially at this season when nature was dying and +triumphal tints of decay were replacing the vernal freshness of the +forests, flaunting gaudy vestments that could not, however, conceal +the sadness of the transition. The days were growing shorter and the +leaden-colored vapors, driven by the whip of that taskmaster, the +wind, replaced the snow-white clouds becalmed in the tender depths of +ether. Soon would the hoar frost crystallize on grass and fence, or +the autumn rains descend, dripping mournfully from the water spouts +and bubbling over the tubs. Already the character of the dawn was +changed to an almost sullen awakening of the day, denoting a seeming +uneasiness of the hidden forces, while an angry passing of the glowing +orb replaced the Paphian sunset. + +In nook and cranny, through the balustrades and woody screens of the +ancient house, penetrated the wandering currents of air. The draperies +waved mysteriously, as by a hidden hand, and, at nightfall, the floor +of satin and rosewood creaked ominously as if beneath the restless +footsteps of former inmates, moving from the somber hangings of the +windows to the pearl-inlaid harpsichord whose melody was gone, and +thence up the broad staircase, pausing naturally at the landing, +beneath which had assembled gay gatherings in the colonial days. And +such a heedless phantom group--fine gentlemen in embroidered coats, +bright breeches, silk stockings and peruke, and, peeping through +ethereal lace wristbands, a white hand fit for no sterner toil than to +flourish with airy grace a gold-headed cane; ladies with gleaming bare +shoulders, dressed in "cumbrous silk that with its rustling made proud +the flesh that bore it!" The imaginative listener could almost +distinguish these footfalls, as the blind will recognize the tread of +an unseen person. + +To further add to the land baron's dissatisfaction over his heritage, +"rent-day"--that all-important day in the olden times; when my lord's +door had been besieged by the willing lease-holders, cheerful in +rendering unto Caesar what was due Caesar!--seemed to have been +dropped from the modern calendar, as many an ancient holiday has +gradually been lost in the whirligig of time. No long procession now +awaited the patroon's pleasure, when it should suit him to receive the +tribute of guilders, corn or meal; the day might have been as obsolete +as an Hellenic festival day to Zeus, for all the observance it was +accorded. + +"Your notices, Scroggs, were wasted on the desert air," said the +patroon, grimly, to that disappointed worthy. "What's the use of +tenants who don't pay? Playing at feudal lord in modern times is a +farce, Scroggs. I wish we had lived about four hundred years ago." + +"Yes, if four hundred years ago were now," assented the parasite, "I'd +begin with Dick, the tollman! He's a regular Goliath and,"--his face +becoming purple--"when I threatened him with the law, threw me out of +the barn on an obnoxious heap of refuse." + +"You weren't exactly a David, then?" laughed the patroon, in spite of +his bad humor. + +"I'll throw the stone yet," said the little man, viciously showing his +yellow teeth. "The law's the sling." + +That evening, when the broad meadows were inundated by the shadow of +the forest that crept over it like an incoming tide, the land baron +ordered lights for every room. The manor shone in isolated grandeur +amid the gloomy fields, with the forest-wall around it; radiant as of +old, when strains of music had been heard within and many figures +passed the windows. But now there was light, and not life, and a +solitary anti-renter on the lonely road regarded with surprise the +unusual illumination. + +"What does it mean?" asked Little Thunder--for it was he--waiting and +watching, as without the gates of Paradise. + +Well might he ask, for the late Mynheer, the Patroon, had been a +veritable bat for darkness; a few candles answered his purpose in the +spacious rooms; he played the prowler, not the grand lord; a recluse +who hovered over his wine butts in the cellar and gloated over them, +while he touched them not; a hermit who lived half his time in the +kitchen, bending over the smoky fireplace, and not a lavender-scented +gentleman who aired himself in the drawing-room, a fine fop with +nothing but the mirrors to pay him homage. Little Thunder, standing +with folded arms in the dark road, gloomy as Lucifer, almost expected +to see the brilliant fabric vanish like one of those palaces of joy +built by the poets. + +Hour after hour passed, midnight had come and gone, and still the +lights glowed. Seated in the library, with the curtains drawn, were +the land baron and Scroggs, a surveyor's map between them and a dozen +bottles around them. Before Mauville stood several glasses, containing +wines of various vintages which the land baron compared and sipped, +held to the light and inhaled after the manner of a connoisseur +sampling a cellar. He was unduly dignified and stately, but the +attorney appeared decidedly groggy. The latter's ideas clashed against +one another like pebbles in a child's rattle, and, if the round table +may be supposed to represent the earth, as the ancient geographers +imagined it, Scrogg's face was surely the glowing moon shining upon +it. + +Readily had the attorney lent himself to the new order of procedure. +With him it was: "The king is dead! Long live the king!" He, who had +found but poor pickings under the former master--dry crust fees for +pleadings, demurrers or rejoinders--now anticipated generous booty and +spoil. Alert for such crumbs as might fall from a bountiful table; +keen of scent for scraps and bits, but capable of a mighty mouthful, +he paid a courtier's price for it all; wheedling, pandering, ready for +any service, ripe for any revelry. With an adulator's tact, he still +strove strenuously to hold the thread of his companion's conversation, +as Mauville said: + +"Too old, Scroggs; too old!" Setting down a glass of burgundy in which +fine particles floated through the magenta-hued liquid. "It has lost +its luster, like a woman's eyes when she has passed the meridian. Good +wine, like a woman, has its life. First, sweetly innocent, delicately +palatable, its blush like a maiden of sixteen; then glowing with a +riper development, more passionate in hue, a siren vintage; finally, +thin, waning and watery, with only memories of the deeper, rosy-hued +days. Now here, my good, but muddled friend, is your youthful maiden!" +Holding toward the lamp a glass, clear as crystal, with luster like a +gem. "Dancing eyes; a figure upright as a reed; the bearing of a +nymph; the soul of a water lily before it has opened its leaves to the +wooing moonlight!" + +[Illustration] + +"Lord! How you go on!" exclaimed Scroggs. "What with a sampling this +and sampling that, my head's going round like a top. If there's +anything in the cellar the old patroons put down we haven't tried, +sir, I beg to defer the sampling. I am of the sage's mind--'Of all men +who take wine, the moderate only enjoy it,' says Master Bacon, or some +one else." + +"Pass the bottle!" answered the other. "Gently, man! Don't disturb its +repose, and remember it disdains the perpendicular." + +"So will I soon," muttered Scroggs. "I hope you'll excuse me, sir, but +that last drop of Veuve Cliquot was the whip-cord that started the top +going, and, on my word"--raising his hands to his head--"I feel like +holding it on to keep it from spinning off." + +"Spinning or not, you shall try this vintage"--the young man's eyes +gleamed with such fire as shone in the glass--"and drink to Constance +Carew!" + +"Constance Carew!" stammered the other, desperately swallowing the +toast. + +Mauville slowly emptied the glass. "A balsamic taste, slightly piquant +but agreeable," he observed. "A dangerous wine, Scroggs! It carries no +warning; your older kind is like a world-worn coquette whose glances +at once place you on the defensive. This maiden vintage, just +springing into glorious womanhood, comes over you like a springtime +dream." + +"Who--who is she?" muttered Scroggs. + +"She is not in the scroll you prepared for my lamented kinsman, eh? +They are, for the most part, deep red, dark scarlet--that list of fair +dames! She doesn't belong to them--yet! No title, man; not even a +society lady. A stroller, which is next door to a vagrant." + +"Well, sir, she's a woman and that's enough," replied the lawyer. "And +my opinion is, it's better to have nothing to do with 'em." + +This sententious remark seemed to arouse Scroggs to momentary +vivacity. + +"Now there was my Lord Hamerton, whose picture is upstairs," he went +on quickly, like a man who is bent on grasping certain ideas before +they escape him. "He brought a beautiful woman here--carried her off, +they say from England--and installed her as mistress of the manor. I +have heard my father say that his great-grandfather, who was my lord's +solicitor, said that before his death my lord desired to make her his +wife, having been brought to a sense of the sinful life he had led by +a Puritan preacher. But at that, this woman straightened herself up, +surveyed him with scorn, and, laughing like a witch, answered: 'They +say marriages are made in heaven, my lord--and you are the devil!' So +my lord died without having atoned, and, as for my lady who refused to +become an honest woman, I am sure she was damned!" concluded Scroggs +triumphantly. + +"No doubt! So this wicked lord abducted her, Scroggs?" he added +thoughtfully. "A man of spirit, until the Puritans got after him and +showed him the burning pit and frightened him to that virtue which was +foreign to his inclinations. My lady was right in refusing to honor +such a paltry scoundrel with her hand. But it takes courage, Scroggs, +to face everlasting damnation." + +"They say, too, there was a spice of revenge about her unwillingness +to give her hand to my lord," resumed the narrator, unmindful of the +interruption. "This Puritan father said nothing but marriage with her +would save Hamerton from the sulphurous flames and so my lady refused +to sanctify their relations and rescue her lord from perdition!" + +"A pleasant revenge!" laughed the land baron. "He made life a hell for +her and she gave him an eternity of it. But take a little of this +white wine, man. We've drunk to the roses of desire, and now should +drink to the sanctified lilies. Her neck, Scroggs, is like a lily, and +her hand and her brow! Beneath that whiteness, her eyes shine with a +tenderness inviting rays of passion to kindle them. Drink!" + +But the other gave a sudden lurch forward. "My lady--refused--perdition!" +he muttered, and his head dropped to the board. + +"Wake up, man, and drink!" commanded the master. + +"Jush same--they ought to have been married," said his companion +drowsily. "They lived together so--so ill!" And then to place himself +beyond reach of further temptation from the bottle, he quietly and +naturally slid under the table. + +The patroon arose, strode to the window, which he lifted, and the +night air entered, fanning his hot brow. The leaves, on high, rustled +like falling rain. The elms tossed their branches, striking one +another in blind confusion. The long grass whispered as the breeze +stirred it like the surface of an inland lake. Withering flowers gave +up their last perfume, while a storm-cloud fled wildly across the +heavens. Some of the restlessness of the external world disturbed that +silent dark figure at the window; within him, conflicting passions +jarred like the boughs of the trees and his fancies surged like the +eddying leaves. + +"The roses of desire--the sanctified lilies!" he muttered. + +As he stood there the stars grew pale; the sky trembled and quivered +before the advent of morn. A heavy footstep fell behind him, and, +turning, he beheld the care-taker. + +"Not in bed yet, Oly-koeks?" cheerfully said the land baron. + +"I am just up." + +"In that case, it is time for me to retire," returned the master, with +a yawn. "This is a dull place, Oly-koeks; no life; no variety. Nothing +going on!" + +The servant glanced at the formidable array of bottles. "And he calls +this a quiet life!" thought the care-taker, losing his impassiveness +and viewing the table with round-eyed wonder. + +"Nothing going on?" he said aloud. "Mynheer, the Patroon, complained +of too much life here, with people taking farms all around. But, if +you are dull, a farmer told me last night there was a company of +strolling players in Vanderdonkville--" + +"Strollers!" exclaimed Mauville, wheeling around. "What are they +called?" + +"Lord; I don't know, sir. They're show-folks, and that's all--" + +"Do many strolling players come this way?" + +"Not for weeks and months, sometimes! The old patroon ordered the +_schout_ to arrest them if they entered the _wyck_." + +"Is Vanderdonkville in the _wyck_?" asked the land baron quickly. + +"No. It was separated from the _wyck_ when Rickert Jacobus married--" + +"Never mind the family genealogy! Have the coach ready at nine--" + +"To-night?" + +"This morning," replied Mauville, lightly. "And, meanwhile, put this +to bed," indicating Scroggs, who was now snoring like a bag-pipe with +one arm lovingly wound around a leg of the library table. + +The care-taker hoisted the attorney on his broad shoulders, his burden +still piping as they crossed the hall and mounted the stairway. Having +deposited his load within the amazing depths of a Dutch feather +mattress, where he lay well-nigh lost to sight, but not unheard, the +_wacht-meester_ of the _steyn_ left him to well-earned slumber and +descended to the kitchen. + +At the appointed hour, the land baron, freshly shaven, not a jaded +line in his face, and elastic in step, appeared on the front porch +before which his carriage was waiting. + +"When shall I expect you back?" asked Oly-koeks, who had reappeared at +the sound of his master's footsteps. + +"Any time or never!" laughed the patroon, springing into the vehicle. + +But as he drove through a bit of wood, wrapped in pleasing reflections, +he received startling proof that the warfare between landlord and +tenants had indeed begun in earnest, for a great stone suddenly +crashed through the window of the vehicle, without, however, injuring +the occupant. Springing from his carriage, Mauville dashed through +the fringe of wood, discharging his revolver at what he fancied was a +fleeing figure. But a fluttering in the trees from the startled birds +was the only result. + +Little Thunder was too spry to be caught by even a pursuing bullet. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +SEALING THE COMPACT + + +"The show troupe has come to town," said the tall, lank postmaster to +every one who called, and the words passed from mouth to mouth, so +that those who did not witness the arrival were soon aware of it. +Punchinello and his companions never attracted more attention from the +old country peasants than did the chariot and its occupants, as on the +day after their night in the woods they passed through the main +thoroughfare of the village where they were soon to appear. + +Children in woolen dresses of red retinet, or in calico vandykes and +aprons, ran after the ponderous vehicle with cries of delight; the +staid, mature contingent of the population shook their heads +disapprovingly, while viewing with wonder the great lumbering coach, +its passengers inside and out, and, behind, the large wagon with its +load of miscellaneous trappings. Now on the stage throne lolled the +bass viol player, even as Jacques assumed the raiment of the Duke of +Aranza, reclining the while in his chair of state. Contentment was +written upon his face, and he was as much a duke or a king, as +Jacques when he swelled like a shirt bleaching in a high wind and +looked burly as a Sunday beadle. + +The principal avenue of the village boasted but few prosperous-looking +business establishments. In the general "mixed store," farmers' +implements, groceries, West India goods and even drugs were dispensed. +But the apothecary's trade then had its limitations, homeopathy being +unknown, while calomel, castor oil and rhubarb were mainly in demand, +as well as senna, manna and other bitter concoctions with which both +young and old were freely dosed. The grocer, haberdasher, and +druggist, all rolled into one substantial personage, so blocked the +doorway of his own establishment, while gazing at the strollers, it +would have puzzled a customer, though but a "sketch and outline" of a +man, to have slipped in or out. Dashing as in review before the rank +and file of the village, the coach, with an extra flourish, rattled up +to the hotel, a low but generous-sized edifice, with a wide, +comfortable veranda, upon the railing of which was an array of boots, +and behind them a number of disconsolate-looking teamsters. + +"You want to register, do you?" said the landlord in answer to Barnes' +inquiry, as the latter entered the office, the walls of which were +covered with advertisements of elections, auctions, sales of stock, +lands and quack medicines. + +"We don't keep no register," continued the landlord, "but I guess we +can accommodate you, although the house is rather full with the +fellers from the ark. Or," he added, by way of explanation in answer +to the manager's look of surprise, "Philadelphia freight wagons, I +suppose you would call them. But we speak of them as arks, because +they take in all creation. Them's the occupants, making a Mount Ararat +of the porch. They're down-hearted, because they used to liquor up +here and now they can't, for the town's temperance." + +"I trust, nevertheless, you are prepared for a season of legitimate +drama," suggested Barnes. + +The other shook his head dubiously. "The town's for lectures clear +through," he answered. "They've been making a big fuss about show +folks." + +The manager's countenance did not fall, however, upon hearing +this announcement; on the contrary, it shed forth inscrutable +satisfaction. + +No sooner were they settled in far from commodious quarters than +preparations for the future were seriously begun; and now the drama +proceeded apace, with Barnes, the moving spirit. Despite his assertion +that he was no scholar, the manager's mind was the storehouse of a +hundred plays, and in that depository were many bags of gold and many +bags of chaff. From this accumulation he drew freely, frankly, in the +light-fingered fashion of master playwrights and lesser theatrical +thimble-riggers. + +Before the manager was a table--the stage!--upon which were scattered +miscellaneous articles, symbols of life and character. A stately +salt-cellar represented the leading lady; a pepper box, the irascible +father; a rotund mustard pot, the old woman; a long, slim cruet, the +_ingenue_; and a pewter spoon, the lover. + +Barnes gravely demonstrated the action of the scene to Saint-Prosper, +and the soldier became collaborator, "abandoning, as it were," wrote +the manager in his autobiographical date-book and diary, "the sword +for the pen, and the glow of the Champ de Mars for the glimmer of a +kerosene lamp." And yet not with the inclination of Burgoyne, or other +military gentlemen who have courted the buskin and sock! On the +contrary, so foreign was the occupation to his leaning, that often a +whimsical light in his eye betrayed his disinclination and modest +disbelief in his own fitness for the task. "He said the way I laid out +an act reminded him of planning a campaign, with the outriders and +skirmishers before; the cavalry arrayed for swift service, and the +infantry marching steadily on, carrying with them the main plot, or +strength of the movement." + +No sooner were the Salt Cellar and Pepper Box reunited, and the Pewter +Spoon clasped in the arms of the loving Cruet, with the curtain +descending, than Barnes, who like the immortal Alcibiades Triplet +could turn his hand to almost anything, became furiously engaged in +painting scenery. A market-place, with a huge wagon, containing +porkers and poultry, was dashed off with a celerity that would have +made a royal academician turn green with envy. The Tiddly Wink Inn was +so faithfully reproduced that the painted bottles were a real +temptation, while on the pastoral green of a rural landscape grazed +sheep so life-like that, as Hawkes observed, it actually seemed "they +would eat the scenery all up." But finally sets and play were alike +finished, and results demonstrated that the manager was correct in his +estimate of such a drama, which became a forerunner of other pieces of +this kind, "The Bottle," "Fruits of the Wine Cup," "Aunt Dinah's +Pledge," and "Ten Nights in a Bar Room." + +In due time the drama was given in the town hall, after the rehearsals +had been witnessed by a committee from the temperance league, who +reported that the play "could not but exercise a good influence and +was entertaining withal ... We recommend the license to be issued and +commend the drama to all Good Templars." Therefore, the production was +not only well attended, but play and players were warmly received. The +town hall boasted a fairly commodious platform which now served the +purpose of a stage, and--noteworthy circumstance!--there were gas jets +for footlights, the illuminating fluid having at that early date been +introduced in several of the more progressive villages. Between the +acts, these yellow lights were turned low, and--running with the +current of popular desire--the orchestra, enlarged to four, played, by +special request, "The Old Oaken Bucket." + +The song had just sprung into popularity, and, in a moment, men, women +and children had added their voices to the instruments. It was not the +thrill of temperance fanaticism that stirred their hearts, but it was +the memories of the old pioneer home in the wilderness; the +rail-splitting, road-building days; the ancient rites of "raisings" +and other neighborly ceremonies; when the farmer cut rye with a +cradle, and threshed it out with his flail; when "butter and eggs were +pin money" and wheat paid the store-keeper. + +"How solemnly they take their amusements in the North, Mr. Barnes!" +exclaimed a voice in one of the entrances. "What a contrast to the +South--the wicked South!" + +The manager turned sharply. + +"We are mere servants of the public, Mr. Mauville." + +"And the public is master, Mr. Barnes! How the dramatic muse is +whipped around! In Greece, she was a goddess; in Rome, a hussy; in +England, a sprightly dame; now, a straight-laced Priscilla. But you +have a recruit, I see?" + +"You mean Saint-Prosper?" + +"Yes, and I can hardly blame him--under the circumstances!" murmured +the land baron, at the same time glancing around as though seeking +some one. + +"Circumstances! What circumstances?" demanded the manager. + +"Why, the pleasant company he finds himself in, of course," said the +visitor, easily. "Ah, I see Miss Carew," he added, his eye immediately +lightening, "and must congratulate her on her performance. Cursed +dusty hole, isn't it?" Brushing himself with his handkerchief as he +moved away. + +"What business has he behind the scenes anyway?" grumbled the +manager. "Dusty hole, indeed! Confound his impudence!" But his +attention being drawn to the pressing exigencies of a first night, +Barnes soon forgot his irritation over this unwarranted intrusion in +lowering a drop, hoisting a fly or readjusting a flat to his liking. + +The land baron meanwhile crossed to the semi-darkness at the rear of +the stage behind the boxed scene, where he had observed the young girl +waiting for the curtain to rise on the last act. A single light on +each side served partly to relieve the gloom; to indicate the +frame-work of the set scene and throw in shadow various articles +designed for use in the play. As she approached Mauville, who stood +motionless in an unlighted spot, the pale glow played upon her a +moment, white on her neck, in sheen on the folds of her gown, and then +she stepped into the shadow, where she was met by a tall figure, with +hand eagerly outstretched. + +"Mr. Mauville!" she exclaimed, drawing back at the suddenness of the +encounter. + +His restless eyes held hers, but his greeting was conventional. + +"Did I not say the world was small and that we might meet again?" + +"Of course, we are always meeting people and parting from them," she +replied unconcernedly. + +He laughed. "With what delightful indifference you say that! You did +not think to see me again?" + +"I hadn't thought about it," she answered, frankly, annoyed by his +persistence. + +"I am unfortunate!" he said. + +Beneath his free gaze she changed color, as though the shadow of a +rose had touched her face. + +"You are well?" he continued. + +"Yes." + +"I need not have asked." His expression conveyed more--so much more, +she bit her lip impatiently. "How do you like the new part?" + +"It is hard to tell yet," she answered evasively. + +"You would do justice to any rôle, but I prefer you in a historical or +romantic play, with the picturesque old costumes. If it were in my +domains, you should appear in those dramas, if I had to hang every +justice of the peace in the district." + +Her only response was a restless movement and he hastened to add: "I +fear, however, I am detaining you." + +He drew aside with such deference to permit her to pass that her +conscience smote her and she was half-minded to turn and leave him +more graciously, but this impulse was succeeded by another feeling, +ill-defined, the prevailing second thought. Had she looked, she would +have seen that her fluttering shawl touched his hand and he quickly +raised it to his lips, releasing it immediately. As it was, she moved +on, unaware of the gesture. The orchestra, or rather string quartet, +had ceased; Hans, a host in himself, a mountain of melody, bowed his +acknowledgments; the footlights glared, the din of voices subsiding; +and the curtain rose. + +Remaining in the background, the land baron watched the young girl +approach the entrance to the stage, where she stood, intent, one hand +resting against the scenery, her dress upheld with the other; the +glimmer from the footlights, reflected through the opening, touching +her face; suddenly, with a graceful movement, she vanished, and her +laughing voice seemed to come from afar. + +Was it for this he had made his hasty journey? To be treated with +indifference by a wandering player; he, the patroon, the unsuccessful +suitor of a stroller! She, who appeared in taverns, in barns, perhaps, +was as cold and proud as any fine lady, untroubled about the morrow, +and, as he weighed this phase of the matter, the land baron knew not +whether he loved her most for her beauty or hated her for the slight +she put upon him. But love or hate, it was all one, and he told +himself he would see the adventure to the end. + +"How do you do, Mr. Mauville?" said a gay but hushed voice, +interrupting his ruminations, and Susan, in a short skirt and bright +stockings, greeted him. + +"The better for seeing you, Mistress Susan." Nonchalantly surveying +her from head to foot. + +She bore his glance with the assurance of a pretty woman who knows she +is looking her best. + +"Pooh!" Curtesying disdainfully. "I don't believe you! You came to see +some one else. Well"--lightly--"she is already engrossed." + +"Really?" said the land baron. + +"Yes. You understand? He follows her with his every glance," she added +roguishly. Susan was never averse to straining the truth a little when +it served her purpose. + +"I should infer he was following her with more than his eyes," +retorted the master of the manor dryly. + +Susan tapped the stage viciously with a little foot. "She's a lovely +girl," she continued, drawing cabalistic figures with the provoking +slipper. + +"You are piqued?" he said, watching her skeptically. + +"Not at all." Quickly, startled by his blunt accusation. + +"Not a little jealous?" he persisted playfully. + +"Jealous?" Then with a frown, hesitatingly: "Well, she is given +prominence in the plays and--" + +"--You would not be subordinated, if she were not in the company? +Apart from this, you are fond of her?" + +The foot ceased its tracing and rested firmly on the floor. + +"I hate her!" snapped Susan, angered by this baiting. No sooner had +she spoken than she regretted her outburst. "How you draw one out! I +was only joking--though she does have the best parts and we take what +we can get!" + +"But she's a lovely girl!" concluded the land baron. Susan's eyes +flashed angrily. + +"How clever of you! You twist and turn one's words about and give +them a different meaning from what was intended. If I wanted to catch +you up--" + +"A truce!" he exclaimed. "Let us take each other seriously, hereafter. +Is it agreed?" She nodded. "Well, seriously, you can help me and help +yourself." + +"How?" doubtfully. + +"Why not be allies?" + +"What for?" + +"Mutual service." + +"Oh!" dubiously. + +"A woman's 'yes'!" + +"No," with affirmative answer in her eyes. + +He believed the latter. + +"We will seal the compact then." + +And he bent over and saluted Mistress Susan on the lips. She became as +rosy as the flowers she carried and tapped him playfully with them. + +"For shame! La! What must you think of me?" + +"That you are an angel." + +"How lovely! But I must go." + +"May I see you after the play?" + +"Yes." + +"Do not fail me, or the soldier will not transfer his affections to +you!" + +"If he dared!" And she shook her head defiantly as she tripped away. + +"Little fool!" murmured Mauville, his lips curling scornfully. "The +one is a pastime; the other"--he paused and caught his breath--"a +passion!" + +But he kept his appointment with Susan, escorting her to the hotel, +where he bade her good-night with a lingering pressure of the hand, +and--ordered his equipage to the door! + +"Hadn't you better wait until morning?" asked the surprised landlord, +when the young patroon announced his intention of taking an immediate +departure. "There are the barn-burners and--traveling at night--" + +"Have they turned footpads?" was the light reply. "Can't I drive +through my own lands? Let me see one of their thieving faces--" And he +made a significant gesture. "Not ride at night! These Jacobins shall +not prevent me." + +Barring the possible danger from the lease-holders who were +undoubtedly ripe for any mischief, the journey did not promise such +discomfiture as might have been expected, the coach being especially +constructed for night traveling. On such occasions, between the seats +the space was filled by a large cushion, adapted to the purpose, which +in this way converted the interior of the vehicle into a sleeping-room +of limited dimensions. With pillows to neutralize the jarring, the +land baron stretched himself indolently upon his couch, and gazed +through the window at the crystalline lights of the heavens, while +thoughts of lease-holders and barn-burners faded into thin air. + +At dawn, when he opened his eyes, the morning star yet gleamed with a +last pale luster. Raising himself on his elbow and looking out over +the country to learn his whereabouts, his eye fell upon a tree, +blood-red, a maple amid evergreens. Behind this somber community of +pines, stiff as a band of Puritan elders, surrounding the bright-hued +maple, a Hester in that austere congregation, appeared the glazed tile +roof of Little Thunder's habitation, a two-story abode of modest +proportions and olden type. As the land baron passed, a brindle cow in +the side yard saluted the morn, calling the sluggard from his couch, +but at the manor, which the patroon shortly reached, the ever wakeful +Oly-koeks was already engaged in chopping wood near the kitchen door. +The growling of the hound at his feet called the care-taker's +attention to the master's coming, and, driving the ax into an +obstinate stick of hickory, he donned his coat, drawing near the +vehicle, where he stood in stupid wonderment as the land baron +alighted. + +"Any callers, Oly-koeks?" carelessly asked the master. + +"A committee of barn-burners, Mynheer, to ask you not to serve any +more writs." + +"And so give them time to fight me with the lawmakers! But there; +carry my portmanteau into the library and"--as Oloffe's upper lip drew +back--"teach your dog to know me." + +"He belonged to the old master, Mynheer. When he died, the dog lay +near his grave day and night." + +"I dare say; like master, like dog! But fetch the portmanteau, you +Dutch varlet!" Entering the house, while the coachman drove the tired +horses toward the barn. "There's something in it I want. Bring it +here." As he passed into the library. "Yes; I put it in there, I am +sure. Ah, here we have it!" And unpacking the valise, he took +therefrom a handsome French writing case. + +"Thou Wily Limb of the Law," wrote the patroon, "be it known by these +presents, thou art summoned to appear before me! I have work for +you--not to serve any one with a writ; assign; bring an action, or any +of your rascally, pettifogging tricks! Send me no demurrer, but your +own intemperate self." + +Which epistle the patroon addressed to his legal satellite and +despatched by messenger. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE QUEST OF THE SOLDIER + + +Several bleak days were followed by a little June weather in October. +A somnolent influence rested everywhere. Above the undulation of land +on the horizon were the clouds, like heavenly hills, reflecting their +radiance on those earthly elevations. The celestial mountains and +valleys gave wondrous perspective to the outlook, and around them lay +an atmosphere, unreal and idyllic. + +On such a morning Susan stood at a turn in the road, gazing after a +departing vehicle with ill-concealed satisfaction and yet withal some +dubiousness. Now that the plan, suggested by Mauville, had not +miscarried, certain misgivings arose, for there is a conscience in the +culmination wanting in the conception of an act. As the partial +realization of the situation swept over her, she gave a gasp, and +then, the vehicle having meanwhile vanished, a desperate spirit of +bravado replaced her momentary apprehension. She even laughed +nervously as she waved her handkerchief in the direction the coach +had taken: "_Bon voyage!_" + +But as the words fell from the smiling lips, her eyes became +thoughtful and her hand fell to her side; it occurred to Susan she +would be obliged to divert suspicion from herself. The curling lips +straightened; she turned abruptly and hastened toward the town. But +her footsteps soon lagged and she paused thoughtfully. + +"If I reach the hotel too soon," she murmured, "they may overtake +him." + +So she stopped at the wayside, attracted by the brilliant cardinal +flowers, humming as she plucked them, but ever and anon glancing +around guiltily. The absurd thought came to her that the bright autumn +blossoms were red, the hue of sin, and she threw them on the sward, +and unconsciously rubbed her hands on her dress. + +Still she lingered, however, vaguely mindful she was adding to her +burden of ill-doing, but finally again started slowly toward the +village, hurrying as she approached the hotel, where she encountered +the soldier on the veranda. Her distressed countenance and haste +proclaimed her a messenger of disaster. + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Where is Mr. Barnes?" + +"What is the matter, Miss Duran?" Suspecting very little was the +matter, for Susan was nothing, if not all of a twitter. + +"Constance has been carried off!" + +"Carried off!" He regarded her as if he thought she had lost her +senses. + +"Yes; abducted!" + +"Abducted! By whom?" + +"I--I did not see his face!" she gasped. "And it is all my fault! +I asked her to take a walk! Oh, what shall I do?" Wringing her hands +in anguish that was half real. "We kept on and on--it was so +pleasant!--until we had passed far beyond the outskirts of the +village. At a turn in the road stood a coach--a cloak was thrown +over my head by some one behind--I must have fainted, and, when I +recovered, she was gone. Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" + +"When did it happen?" As he spoke the young man left the veranda. +Grazing contentedly near the porch was his horse and Saint-Prosper's +hand now rested on the bridle. + +"I can't tell how long I was unconscious," said the seemingly +hysterical young woman, "but I hurried here as soon as I recovered +myself." + +"Where did it occur? Down the road you came?" + +"Ye-es." + +Saint-Prosper vaulted into the saddle. "Tell the manager to see a +magistrate," he said. + +"But you're not going to follow them alone?" began Susan. "Oh dear, I +feel quite faint again! If you would please help me into the--" + +By way of answer, the other touched his horse deeply with the spur and +the mettlesome animal reared and plunged, then, recalled by the sharp +voice of the rider, galloped wildly down the road. Susan observed the +sudden departure with mingled emotions. + +"How quixotic!" she thought discontentedly. "But he won't catch them," +came the consoling afterthought, as she turned to seek the manager. + +Soon the soldier, whose spirited dash down the main thoroughfare had +awakened some misgivings in the little town, was beyond the precincts +of village scrutiny. The country road was hard, although marked by +deep cuts from traffic during a rainy spell, and the horse's hoofs +rang out with exhilarating rhythm. Regardless of all save the distance +traversed, the rider yet forbore to press the pace, relaxing only +when, after a considerable interval, he came to another road and drew +rein at the fork. One way to the right ran gently through the valley, +apparently terminating in the luxuriant foliage, while the other, like +a winding, murky stream, stretched out over a more level tract of +land. + +Which thoroughfare had the coach taken? Dismounting, the young man +hastily examined the ground, but the earth was so dry and firm, and +the tracks of wheels so many, it was impossible to distinguish the old +marks from the new. Even sign-post there was none; the roads diverged, +and the soldier could but blindly surmise their destination, selecting +after some hesitation the thoroughfare running into the gorgeous, +autumnal painted forest. + +He had gone no inconsiderable distance when his doubts were abruptly +confirmed. Reaching an opening, bright as the chapel of a darkened +monastery, he discerned a farmer in a buckboard approaching from the +opposite direction. The swift pace of the rider and the leisurely jog +of the team soon brought them together. + +"Did you pass a coach down the road?" asked the soldier. + +"No-a," said the farmer, deliberately, as his fat horses instinctively +stood stock still; "didn't pass nobody." + +"Have you come far?" + +"A good ways." + +"You would have met a coach, if it had passed here an hour ago?" + +"I guess I would," said the man. "This road leads straight across the +country." + +"Where does the other road at the fork go?" + +"To the patroon village. There's a reform orator there to-day and a +barn-burners' camp-fire." + +Without waiting to thank his informant, Saint-Prosper pulled his horse +quickly around, while the man in the buckboard gradually got under +way, until he had once more attained a comfortable, slow gait. Indeed, +by the time his team had settled down to a sleepy jog, in keeping with +the dreamy haze, hanging upon the upland, his questioner was far down +the road. + +When, however, the soldier once more reached the fork, and took the +winding way across a more level country, he moderated his pace, +realizing the need of husbanding his horse's powers of endurance. +The country seemed at peace, as though no dissension nor heated +passions could exist within that pastoral province. And yet, not far +distant, lay the domains of the patroons, the hot-bed of the two +opposing branches of the Democratic party: The "hunkers," or +conservative-minded men, and the "barn-burners," or progressive +reformers, who sympathized with the anti-renters. + +After impatiently riding an hour or more through this delectable +region, the horseman drew near the patroon village, a cluster of +houses amid the hills and meadows. Here the land barons had originally +built for the tenants comfortable houses and ample barns, saw and +grist mills. But the old homes had crumbled away, and that rugged +ancestry of dwellings had been replaced by a new generation of houses, +with clapboards, staring green blinds and flimsy verandas. + +In the historic market place, as Saint-Prosper rode down the street, +were assembled a number of lease-holders of both sexes and all ages, +from the puny babe in arms to the decrepit crone and hoary grand-sire, +listening to the flowing tongue of a rustic speech-maker. This forum +of the people was shaded by a sextette of well-grown elms. The +platform of the local Demosthenes stood in a corner near the street. + +"'Woe to thee, O Moab! Thou art undone, O people of Chemosh,' if you +light not the torch of equal rights!" exclaimed the platform patterer +as Saint-Prosper drew near. "Awake, sons of the free soil! Now is the +time to make a stand! Forswear all allegiance to the new patroon; +this Southern libertine and despot from the land of slavery!" + +The grandam wagged her head approvingly; the patriarch stroked his +beard with acquiescence and strong men clenched their fists as the +spokesman mouthed their real or fancied wrongs. It was an earnest, +implacable crowd; men with lowering brows merely glanced at the +soldier as he rode forward; women gazed more intently, but were +quickly lured back by the tripping phrases of the mellifluous +speaker. + +On the outskirts of the gathering, near the road, stood a tall, +beetling individual whom Saint-Prosper addressed, reining in his horse +near the wooden rail, which answered for a fence. + +"Dinna ye ken I'm listening?" impatiently retorted the other, with a +fierce frown. "Gang your way, mon," he added, churlishly, as he turned +his back. + +Judging from the wrathful faces directed toward him, the lease-holders +esteemed Saint-Prosper a political disturber, affiliating with the +other faction of the Democratic party, and bent, perhaps, on creating +dissension at the tenants' camp-fire. The soldier's impatience and +anger were ready to leap forth at a word; he wheeled fiercely upon the +weedy Scot, to demand peremptorily the information so uncivilly +withheld, when a gust of wind blowing something light down the road +caused his horse to shy suddenly and the rider to glance at what had +frightened the animal. After a brief scrutiny, he dismounted quickly +and examined more attentively the object,--a pamphlet with a red +cover, upon which appeared the printed design of the conventional +Greek masks of Tragedy and Comedy, and beneath, the title, "The +Honeymoon." The bright binding, albeit soiled by the dusty road, and +the fluttering of the leaves in the breeze had startled the horse and +incidentally attracted the attention of his master. Across the somber +mask of melancholy was traced in buoyant hand the name of the young +actress. + +But the soldier needed not the confirmation, for had he not noticed +this same prompt book in her lap on the journey of the chariot? It was +a mute, but eloquent message. Could she have spoken more plainly if +she had written with ink and posted the missive with one of those new +bronze-hued portraits of Franklin, called stamps by the government and +"sticking plaster" by the people? Undoubtedly she had hoped the +manager was following her when she intrusted the message to that +erratic postman, Chance, who plied his vocation long before the black +Washington or the bronze Franklin was a talisman of more or less +uncertain delivery. + +The soldier, without a moment's hesitation, thrust the pamphlet inside +his coat, flung himself on his horse, and, turning from the +market-place, dashed down the road. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AN ECCENTRIC JAILER + + +"For a man who can't abide the sex, this _is_ a predicament," muttered +the patroon's jackal, as the coach in which he found himself sped +rapidly along the highway. "Here am I as much an abductor as my lord +who whipped his lady from England to the colonies!" Gloomily regarding +a motionless figure on the seat opposite, and a face like ivory +against the dark cushions. "Curse the story; telling it led to this! +How white she is; like driven snow; almost as if--" + +And Scroggs, whose countenance lost a shade of its natural flush, +going from flame-color to salmon hue, bent with sudden apprehension +over a small hand which hung from the seat. + +"No; it's only a swoon," he continued, relieved, feeling her wrist +with his knobby fingers. "How she struggled! If it hadn't been for +smothering her with the cloak--but the job's done and that's the end +of it." + +Settling back in his seat he watched her discontentedly, alternately +protesting against the adventure, and consoling himself weakly with the +remembrance of the retainer; weighing the risks, and the patroon's +ability to gloss over the matter; now finding the former unduly +obtrusive, again comforted with the assurance of the power pre-empted +by the land barons. Moreover, the task was half-accomplished, and it +would be idle to recede now. + +"Why couldn't the patroon have remained content with his bottle?" he +grumbled. "But his mind must needs run to this frivolous and +irrational proceeding! There's something reasonable in pilfering a +purse, but carrying off a woman--Yet she's a handsome baggage." + +Over the half-recumbent figure swept his glance, pausing as he +surveyed her face, across which flowed a tress of hair loosened in the +struggle. Save for the unusual pallor of her cheek, she might have +been sleeping, but as he watched her the lashes slowly lifted, and he +sullenly nerved himself for the encounter. At the aspect of those +bead-like eyes, resolute although ill at ease, like a snake striving +to charm an adversary, a tremor of half-recollection shone in her gaze +and the color flooded her face. Mechanically, sweeping back the +straggling lock of hair, she raised herself without removing her eyes. +He who had expected a tempest of tears shifted uneasily, even +irritably, from that steady stare, until, finding the silence +intolerable, he burst out: + +"Well, ma'am, am I a bugbear?" + +In her dazed condition she probably did not hear his words; or, if she +did, set no meaning to them, Her glance, however, strayed to the +narrow window, and then wandered back to the well-worn interior of the +coach. Suddenly, as the startling realization of her position came to +her, she uttered a loud cry, sprang toward the door, and, with nervous +fingers, strove to open it. The man's face became more rubicund as he +placed a detaining hand on her shoulder, and roughly thrust her toward +the seat. + +"Make the best of it!" he exclaimed peremptorily. "You'd better, for +I'm not to be trifled with." + +Recoiling from his touch, she held herself aloof with such aversion, a +sneer crossed his face, and he observed glumly: + +"Oh, I'm not a viper! If you're put out, so am I." + +"Who are you?" she demanded, breathlessly. + +"That's an incriminating question, Ma'am," he replied. "In this case, +though, the witness has no objection to answering. I'm your humble +servant." + +His forced drollery was more obnoxious than his ill-humor, and, +awakening her impatience, restored in a measure her courage. He was +but a pitiful object, after all, with his flame-colored visage, and +short, crouching figure; and, as her thoughts passed from the brutal +part he had played on the road to her present situation, she exclaimed +with more anger than apprehension: + +"Perhaps you will tell me the meaning of this outrage--your smothering +me--forcing me into this coach--and driving away--where?" + +His face became once more downcast and moody. Driven into a corner by +her swift words, his glance met hers fairly; he drummed his fingers +together. + +"There's no occasion to show your temper, Miss," he said reflectively. +"I'm a bit touchy myself to-day; 'sudden and quick in quarrel.' You +see I know my Shakespeare, Ma'am. Let us talk about that great poet +and the parts you, as an actress, prefer--" + +"Can I get an answer from you?" she cried, subduing her dread. + +"What is it you asked?" + +"As if you did not know!" she returned, her lip trembling with +impatience and loathing. + +"Yes; I remember." Sharply. "You asked where we were driving? Across +the country. What is the meaning of this--outrage, I believe you +called it? All actions spring from two sources--Cupid and cupidity. +The rest of the riddle you'll have to guess." Gazing insolently into +her face, with his hands on his knees. + +"But you have told me nothing," she replied, striving to remain +mistress of herself and to hide her apprehension. + +"Do you call that nothing? You have the approximate cause--_causa +causans_. Was it Cupid? No, for like Bacon, your sex's 'fantastical' +charms move me not." + +This sally put him in better temper with himself. She was helpless, +and he experienced a churlish satisfaction in her condition. + +"What was it, then? Cupidity. Do you know what poverty is like in this +barren region?" he cried harshly. "The weapons of education only +unfit you for the plow. You stint, pinch, live on nothing!" He rubbed +his dry hands together. "It was crumbs and scraps under the +parsimonious régime; but now the prodigal has come into his own and +believes in honest wages and a merry life." + +Wonderingly she listened, the scene like a grotesque dream, with the +ever-moving coach, the lonely road, the dark woods, and--so near, she +could almost place her hand upon him--this man, muttering and +mumbling. He had offered her the key of the mystery, but she had +failed to use it. His ambiguous, loose talk, only perplexed and +alarmed her; the explanation was none at all. + +As he watched her out of the corner of his eye, weighing doubt and +uncertainty, new ideas assailed him. After all she had spirit, +courage! Moreover, she was an actress, and the patroon was madly in +love with her. + +"If we were only leagued together, how we could strip him!" he +thought. + +His head dropped contemplatively to his breast, and for a long +interval he remained silent, abstracted, while the old springless +coach, with many a jolt and jar, covered mile after mile; up the +hills, crowned with bush and timber; across the table land; over the +plank bridges spanning the brooks and rivulets. More reconciled to +his part and her presence, his lips once or twice parted as if he +were about to speak, but closed again. He even smiled, showing his +amber-hued teeth, nodding his head in a friendly fashion, as to +say: "It'll come out all right, Madam; all right for both of us!" +Which, indeed, was his thought. She believed him unsettled, bereft +of reason, and, although, he was manifestly growing less hostile, +his surveillance became almost unbearable. At every moment she felt +him regarding her like a lynx, and endeavored therefore to keep +perfectly still. What would her strange warder do next? It was not an +alarming act, however. He consulted a massive watch, remarking: + +"It's lunch time and over! With your permission, I'll take a bite and +a drop. Will you join me?" + +She turned her head away, and, not disconcerted by her curt refusal, +he drew a wicker box from beneath a seat and opened it. His reference +to a "bite and a drop" was obviously figurative, especially the +"drop," which grew to the dimensions of a pint, which he swallowed +quickly. Perhaps the flavor of the wine made him less attentive to his +prisoner, for as he lifted the receptacle to his lips, she thrust her +arms through the window and a play book dropped from her hand, a +possible clue for any one who might follow the coach. For some time +she had been awaiting this opportunity and when it came, the carriage +was entering a village. + +Scroggs finished his cup. "You see, we're provided for," he began. +Here the bottle fell from his hand. + +"The patroon village!" he exclaimed in consternation. "I'd forgotten +we were so close! And they're all gathered in the square, too!" + +He cast a quick glance at her. "You're all ready to call for help," he +sneered, "but I'm not ready to part company yet." + +Hastily drawing up one of the wooden shutters, he placed himself near +the other window, observing fiercely; "I don't propose you shall undo +what's being done for you. Let me hear from you"--jerking his finger +toward the square--"and I'll not answer for what I'll do." But in +spite of his admonition he read such determination in her eyes, he +felt himself baffled. + +"You intend to make trouble!" he cried. And putting his head suddenly +through the window, he called to the driver: "Whip the horses through +the market place!" + +As the affrighted animals sprang forward he blocked the window, +placing one hand on her shoulder. He felt her escape from his grasp, +but not daring to leave his post, he leaned out of the window when +they were opposite the square, and shook his fist at the anti-renters, +exclaiming: + +"I'll arrest every mother's son of you! I'll evict you--jail you for +stealing rent!" + +Drowned by the answering uproar, "The patroon's dog!" "Bullets for +deputies!" the emissary of the land baron continued to threaten the +throng with his fist, until well out of ear-shot, and, thanks to the +level road, beyond reach of their resentment. Not that they strove to +follow him far, for they thought the jackal had taken leave of his +senses. Laughter mingled with their jeers at the absurd figure he +presented, fulminating and flying at the same time. But there was no +defiance left in him when they were beyond the village, and he fell +back into his seat, his face now ash-colored. + +"If they'd stopped us my life wouldn't have been worth the asking," he +muttered hoarsely. "But I did it!" Triumphantly gazing at the young +girl who, trembling with excitement, leaned against the side of the +coach. "I see you managed to get down the shutter. I hope you heard +your own voice. I didn't; and, what's more, I'm sure they didn't!" + +With fingers he could hardly control he opened a second bottle, +dispensed with the formality of a glass, and set the neck to his lips, +repeating the operation until it was empty, when he tossed it out of +the window to be shattered against a rock, after which he sank again +into a semblance of meditation. + +Disappointed over her ineffectual efforts, overcome by the strain, the +young girl for the time relaxed all further attempt. Unseen, unheard, +she had stood at her window! She had tried to open the door, but it +resisted her frantic efforts, and then the din had died away and left +her weak, powerless, hardly conscious of the hateful voice of her +companion from time to time addressing her. + +But fortunately he preferred the gross practice of draining the cup to +the fine art of conversation. Left to the poor company of her +thoughts, she dwelt upon the miscarriage of her design, and the +slender chance of assistance. They would probably pass through no +more villages and if they did, he would undoubtedly find means to +prevent her making herself known. Unless--and a glimmer of hope +flickered through her thoughts!--her warder carried his potations to a +point where vigilance ceased to be a virtue. Inconsiderately he +stopped at the crucial juncture, with all the signs of contentment and +none of drowsiness. + +So minutes resolved themselves into hours and the day wore on. +Watching the sun-rays bathe the top of the forest below them, she +noted how fast the silver disk was descending. The day which had +seemed interminable now appeared but too short, and she would gladly +have recalled those fleeting hours. Ignorant of the direction in which +they had been traveling, she realized that the driver had been +unsparing and the distance covered not inconsiderable. The mystery of +the assault, the obscurity of the purpose and the vagueness of their +destination were unknown quantities which, added to the declining of +the day and the brewing terrors of the night, were well calculated to +terrify and crush her. + +Despairingly, she observed how the sun dipped, and ever dipped toward +the west, when suddenly a sound afar rekindled her fainting spirits. +Listening more attentively, she was assured imagination had not +deceived her; it was the faint patter of a horse's hoofs. Nearer it +drew; quicker beat her pulses. Moreover, it was the rat-a-tat of +galloping. Some one was pursuing the coach on horseback. Impatient to +glance behind, she only refrained for prudential reasons. + +Immersed in his own grape-vine castle her jailer was unmindful of the +approaching rider, and she turned her face from him that he might not +read her exultation. Closer resounded the beating hoofs, but her +impatience outstripped the pursuer, and she was almost impelled to +rush to the window. + +Who was the horseman? Was it Barnes? Saint-Prosper? The latter's name +had quickly suggested itself to her. + +Although the rider, whoever he might be, continued to gain ground, to +her companion, the approaching clatter was inseparable from the noise +of the vehicle, and it was not until the horseman was nearly abreast, +and the cadence of the galloping resolved itself into clangor, that +the dreamer awoke with an imprecation. As he sprang to his feet, thus +rudely disturbed, a figure on horseback dashed by and a stern voice +called to the driver: + +"Stop the coach!" + +Probably the command was given over the persuasive point of a weapon, +for the animals were drawn up with a quick jerk and came to a +standstill in the middle of the road. Menacing and abusive, as the +vehicle stopped, the warder's hand sought one of his pockets, when the +young girl impetuously caught his arm, clinging to it tenaciously. + +"Quick!--Mr. Saint-Prosper!" she cried, recognizing, as she thought, +the voice of the soldier. + +"You wild-cat!" her jailer exclaimed, struggling to throw her off. + +Not succeeding, he raised his free arm in a flurry of invective. + +"Curse you, will you let go!" + +"Quick! Quick!" she called out, holding him more tightly. + +A flood of Billingsgate flowed from his lips. "Let go, or--" + +But before he could in his blind passion strike her or otherwise vent +his rage, a revolver was clapped to his face through the window, and, +with a look of surprise and terror, his valor oozing from him, he +crouched back on the cushions. At the same time the carriage door was +thrown open, and Edward Mauville, the patroon, stood in the entrance! + +Only an instant his eyes swept her, observing the flushed cheeks and +disordered attire, leading her wonder at his unexpected appearance, +and--to his satisfaction!--her relief as well; only an instant, during +which the warder stared at him open-mouthed--and then his glance +rested on the now thoroughly sober limb of the law. + +"Get out!" he said, briefly and harshly. + +"But," began the other with a sickly grin, intended to be ingratiating, +"I don't understand--this unexpected manner--this forcible departure +from--" + +Coolly raising his weapon, the patroon deliberately covered the +hapless jailer, who unceremoniously scrambled out of the door. The +land baron laughed, replaced his revolver and, turning to the young +girl, removed his hat. + +"It was fortunate, Miss Carew, I happened along," he said gravely. +"With your permission, I will get in. You can tell me what has +happened as we drive along. The manor house, my temporary home, is not +far from here. If I can be of any service, command me!" + +The jackal saw the patroon spring into the carriage, having fastened +his horse behind, and drive off. Until the vehicle had disappeared, he +stood motionless in the road, but when it had passed from sight, he +seated himself on a stone. + +"That comes from mixing the breed!" he muttered. "Dramatic effect, _à +la France_!" He wiped the perspiration from his brow. "Well, I'm three +miles from my humble habitation, but I'd rather walk than ride--under +some circumstances!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE COMING OF LITTLE THUNDER + + +The afternoon was waning; against the golden western sky the old manor +house loomed in solemn majesty, the fields and forests emphasizing its +isolation in the darkening hour of sunset, as a coach, with jaded +horses, passed through the avenue of trees and approached the broad +portico. A great string of trailing vine had been torn from the walls +by the wind and now waved mournfully to and fro with no hand to adjust +it. In the rear was a huge-timbered barn, the door of which was +unfastened, swinging on its rusty hinges with a creaking and moaning +sound. + +As gaily as in the days when the periwigged coachman had driven the +elaborate equipage of the early patroons through the wrought-iron gate +this modern descendant entered the historic portals, not to be met, +however, by servitors in knee breeches at the front door, but by the +solitary care-taker who appeared on the portico in considerable +disorder and evident state of excitement, accompanied by the shaggy +dog, Oloffe. + +"The deputies shot two of the tenants to-day," hurriedly exclaimed the +guardian of the place, without noticing Mauville's companion. "The +farmers fired upon them; they replied, and one of the tenants is +dead." + +"A good lesson for them, since they were the aggressors," cried the +heir, as he sprang from the coach. "But you have startled the lady." + +An exclamation from the vehicle in an unmistakably feminine voice +caused the "_wacht-meester_" now to observe the occupant for the first +time and the servant threw up his hands in consternation. Here was a +master who drank all night, shot his tenants by proxy, visited +strollers, and now brought one of them to the _steyn_. That the +strange lady was a player, Oly-koeks immediately made up his mind, and +he viewed her with mingled aversion and fear, as the early settlers +regarded sorcerers and witches. She was very beautiful, he observed in +that quick glance, but therefore the more dangerous; she appeared +distressed, but he attributed her apparent grief to artfulness. He at +once saw a new source of trouble in her presence; as though the +threads were not already sufficiently entangled, without the +introduction of a woman--and she a public performer!--into the +complicated mesh! + +"Fasten the iron shutters of the house," briefly commanded Mauville, +breaking in upon the servant's painful reverie. "Then help this man +change the horses and put in the grays." + +Oly-koeks, with a final deprecatory glance at the coach, expressive +of his estimate of his master's light conduct and his apprehension of +the outcome, disappeared to obey this order. + +"May I assist you, Miss Carew?" said the land baron deferentially, +offering his arm to the young girl, whose pale but observant face +disclosed new demur and inquiry. + +"But you said we would go right on?" she returned, drawing back with +implied dissent. + +"When the horses are changed! If you will step out, the carriage will +be driven to the barn." + +Reluctantly she obeyed, and as she did so, the patroon and the +coachman exchanged pithy glances. + +"Look sharp!" commanded the master, sternly. "Oh, he won't run away," +added Mauville quickly, in answer to her look of surprise. "He knows I +could find him, and"--fingering his revolver--"will not disoblige me. +Later we'll hear the rogue's story." + +The man's averted countenance smothered a clandestine smile, as he +touched the horses with his whip and turned them toward the barn, +leaving the patroon and his companion alone on the broad portico. +Sweeping from a distant grove of slender poplars and snowy birch a +breeze bore down upon them, suddenly bleak and frosty, and she +shivered in the nipping air. + +"You are chilled!" he cried. "If you would but go into the house while +we are waiting! Indeed, if you do not, I shall wonder how I have +offended you! It will be something to remember"--half lightly, half +seriously--"that you have crossed my threshold!" + +He stood at the door, with such an undissembled smile, his accents so +regretful, that after a moment's hesitation, Constance entered, +followed by the patroon. Sweeping aside the heavy draperies from the +window, he permitted the golden shafts of the ebbing day to enter the +hall, gleaming on the polished floors, the wainscoting and the +furniture, faintly illuminating the faded pictures and weirdly +revealing the turnings of the massive stairway. No wonder a +half-shudder of apprehension seized the young actress in spite of her +self-reliance and courage, as she entered the solemn and mournful +place, where past grandeur offered nothing save morbid memories and +where the frailty of existence was significantly written! After that +Indian summer day the sun was sinking, angry and fiery, as though +presaging a speedy reform in the vagaries of the season and an +immediate return to the legitimate surroundings of October. + +Involuntarily the girl moved to the window, where the light rested on +her brown tresses, and as Mauville watched that radiance, shifting and +changing, her hair alight with mystic color, the passion that had +prompted him to this end was stirred anew, dissipating any intrusive +doubts. The veering and flickering sheen seemed but a web of +entangling irradiation. A span of silence became an interminable +period to her, with no sight of fresh horses nor sign of preparation +for the home journey. + +"What takes him so long?" she said, finally, with impatience. "It is +getting so late!" + +"It is late," he answered. "Almost too late to go on! You are weary +and worn. Why not rest here to-night?" + +"Rest here?" she repeated, with a start of surprise. + +"You are not fit to drive farther. To-morrow we can return." + +"To-morrow!" she cried. "But--what do you mean?" + +"That I must insist upon your sparing yourself!" he said, firmly, +although a red spot flushed his cheek. + +"No; no! We must leave at once!" she answered. + +He smiled reassuringly. "Why will you not have confidence in me?" he +asked. "You have not the strength to travel all night--over a rough +road--after such a trying day. For your own sake, I beg you to give up +the idea. Here you are perfectly safe and may rest undisturbed." + +"Please call the horses at once!" + +An impatient expression furrowed his brow. He had relied on easily +prevailing upon her through her gratitude; continuing in his +disinterested rôle for yet some time; resuming the journey on the +morrow, carrying her farther away under pretext of mistaking the road, +until--Here his plans had faded into a vague perspective, dominated by +unreasoning self-confidence and egotism. + +But her words threatened a rupture at the outset that would seriously +alter the status of the adventure. + +"It is a mistake to go on to-night," he said, with a dissenting +gesture. "However, if you are determined--" And Mauville stepped to +the window. "Why, the carriage is not there!" he exclaimed, looking +out. + +"Not there!" she repeated, incredulously. "You told them to change the +horses. Why--" + +"I don't understand," returned the land baron, with an effort to make +his voice surprised and concerned. "He may--Hello-a, there! +You!--Oly-koeks!" he called out, interrupting his own explanation. + +Not Oly-koeks, but the driver's face, appeared from behind the barn +door, and, gazing through the window, the young girl, with a start, +suddenly realized that she had seen him not for the first time that +day--but where?--when? Through the growing perplexity of her thoughts +she heard the voice of her companion + +"Why don't you hitch up the grays?" + +"There are no horses in the barn," came the answer. + +"Strange, the care-taker did not tell me they had been taken away!" +commented the other, hastily, stepping from the window as the driver +vanished once more into the barn. "I am sorry, but there seems no +alternative but to wait--at least, until I can send for others." + +She continued to gaze toward the door through which the man had +disappeared. She could place him now, although his livery had been +discarded for shabby clothes; she recalled him distinctly in spite of +this changed appearance. + +"Why not make the best of it?" said Mauville, softly, but with glance +sparkling in spite of himself. "After all, are you not giving yourself +needless apprehensions? You are at home here. Anything you wish shall +be yours. Consider yourself mistress; me, one of your servants!" + +Almost imperceptibly his manner had changed. Instinctive misgivings +which had assailed her in the coach with him now resolved themselves +into assured fears. Something she could not explain had aroused her +suspicions before they reached the manor, but his words had +glossed these inward qualms, and a feeling of obligation suggested +trust, not shrinking; but, with his last words, a full light illumined +her faculties; an association of ideas revealed his intent and +performance. + +"It was you, then," she said, slowly, studying him with steady, +penetrating glance. + +"You!" she repeated, with such contempt that he was momentarily +disconcerted. "The man in the carriage--he was hired by you. The +driver--his face is familiar. I remember now where I saw him--in the +Shadengo Valley. He is your coachman. Your rescue was planned to +deceive me. It deceived even your man. He had not expected that. Your +reassuring me was false; the plan to change horses a trick to get me +here--" + +"If you would but listen--" + +"When"--her eyes ablaze--"will this farce end?" + +Her words took him unawares. Not that he dreaded the betrayal of his +actual purpose. On the contrary, his reckless temper, chafing under +her unexpected obduracy, now welcomed the opportunity of discarding +the disinterested and chivalrous part he had assumed. + +"When it ends in a honeymoon, _ma belle_ Constance!" he said, +swiftly. + +His sudden words, removing all doubts as to his purpose, awoke such +repugnance in her that for a moment aversion was paramount to every +other feeling. Again she looked without, but only the solitude of the +fields and forests met her glance. + +The remoteness of the situation gave the very boldness of his plan +feasibility. Was he not his own magistrate in his own province? Why, +then, he had thought, waste the golden moments? He had but one heed +now; a study of physical beauty, against a crimson background. + +"To think of such loveliness lost in the wilderness!" he said, softly. +"The gates of art should all open to you. Why should you play to +rustic bumpkins, when the world of fashion would gladly receive you? I +am a poor prophet if you would not be a success in town. It is not +always easy to get a hearing, to procure an audience, but means could +be found. Soon your name would be on every one's lips. Your art is +fresh. The jaded world likes freshness. The cynical town runs to +artless art as an antidote to its own poison. Most of the players are +wrinkled and worn. A young face will seem like a new-grown white +rose." + +She did not answer; unresponsive as a statue, she did not move. The +sun shot beneath an obstructing branch, and long, searching shafts +found access to the room. Mauville moved forward impetuously, until he +stood on the verge of the sunlight on the satinwood floor. + +"May I not devote myself to this cause, Constance?" he continued. "You +are naturally resentful toward me now. But can I not show you that I +have your welfare at heart? If you were as ambitious as you are +attractive, what might you not do? Art is long; our days are short; +youth flies like a summer day." + +His glance sought hers questioningly; still no reply; only a wave of +blood surged over her neck and brow, while her eyes fell. Then the +glow receded, leaving her white as a snow image. + +"Come," he urged. "May I not find for you those opportunities?" + +He put out his eager hand as if to touch her. Then suddenly the figure +in the window came to life and shrank back, with widely opened eyes +fixed upon his face. His gaze could not withstand hers, man of the +world though he was, and his free manner was replaced by something +resembling momentary embarrassment. Conscious of this new and annoying +feeling, his egotism rose in arms, as if protesting against the novel +sensation, and his next words were correspondingly violent. + +"Put off your stage manners!" he exclaimed. "You are here at my +pleasure. It was no whim, my carrying you off. After you left I went +to the manor, where I tried to forget you. But nights of revelry--why +should I not confess it?--could not efface your memory." His voice +unconsciously sank to unreserved candor. "Your presence filled these +halls. I could no longer say: Why should I trouble myself about one +who has no thought for me?" + +Breathing hard, he paused, gazing beyond her, as though renewing the +memories of that period. + +"Learning you were in the neighboring town," he continued, "I went +there, with no further purpose than to see you. On the journey perhaps +I indulged in foolish fancies. How would you receive me? Would you be +pleased; annoyed? So I tempted my fancy with air-castles like the most +unsophisticated lover. But you had no word of welcome; scarcely +listened to me, and hurried away! I could not win you as I desired; +the next best way was this." + +He concluded with an impassioned gesture, his gaze eagerly seeking the +first sign of lenity or favor on her part, but his confession seemed +futile. Her eyes, suggestive of tender possibilities, expressed now +but coldness and obduracy. In a revulsion of feeling he forgot the +distance separating the buskined from the fashionable world; the +tragic scatterlings from the conventions of Vanity Fair! He forgot all +save that she was to him now the one unparagoned entirety, overriding +other memories. + +"Will not a life of devotion atone for this day, Constance?" he cried. +"Do you know how far-reaching are these lands? All the afternoon you +drove through them, and they extend as wide in the other direction. +These--my name--are yours!" + +A shade of color swept over her brow. + +"Answer me," he urged. + +"Drive back and I will answer you." + +"Drive back and you will laugh at me," he retorted, moodily. "You +would make a woman's bargain with me." + +"Is yours a man's with me?" Contemptuously. + +"What more can I do?" + +"Undo what you have done. Take me back!" + +"I would cut a nice figure doing that! No; you shall stay here." + +He spoke angrily; her disdain at his proposal not only injured his +pride but awoke his animosity. On the other hand, his words +demonstrated she had not improved her own position. If he meant to +keep her there he could do so, and opposition made him only more +obstinate, more determined to press his advantage. Had she been more +politic--Juliana off the stage as well as on--she, whose artifice was +glossed by artlessness-- + +Her lashes drooped; her attitude became less aggressive; her eyes, +from beneath their dark curtains, rested on him for a moment. What it +was in that glance so effective is not susceptible to analysis. Was it +the appeal that awakened the quixotic sense of honor; the helplessness +arousing compassion; the irresistible quality of a brimming eye so +fatal to masculine calculation and positiveness? Whatever it was, it +dispelled the contraction on the land baron's face, and--despite his +threats, vows!--he was swayed by a look. + +"Forgive me," he said, tenderly. + +"You will drive back?" + +"Yes; I will win you in your own way, fairly and honestly! I will take +you back, though the whole country laughs at me. Win or lose, back we +go, for--I love you!" And impetuously he threw his arm around her +waist. + +Simulation could not stand the test; it was no longer acting, but +reality; she had set herself to a rôle she could not perform. Hating +him for that free touch, she forcibly extricated herself with an +exclamation and an expression of countenance there was no mistaking. +From Mauville's face the glad light died; he regarded her once more +cruelly, vindictively. + +"You dropped the mask too soon," he said, coldly. "I was not prepared +for rehearsal, although you were perfect. You are even a better +actress than I thought you, than which"--mockingly--"I can pay you no +better compliment." + +She looked at him with such scorn he laughed, though his eyes +flashed. + +"Bravo!" he exclaimed. + +While thus confronting each other a footfall sounded without, the door +burst open, and the driver of the coach, with features drawn by fear, +unceremoniously entered the room. The patroon turned on him enraged, +but the latter without noticing his master's displeasure, exclaimed +hurriedly: + +"The anti-renters are coming!" + +The actress uttered a slight cry and stepped toward the window, when +she was drawn back by an irresistible force. + +"Pardon me," said a hard voice, from which all passing compunction had +vanished. "Be kind enough to come with me." + +"I will follow you, but--" Her face expressed the rest. + +"This way then!" + +He released her and together they mounted the stairway. For a long +time a gentle footfall had not passed those various landings; not +since the ladies in hoops, with powdered hair, had ascended or +descended, with attendant cavaliers, bewigged, beruffled, bedizened. +The land baron conducted his companion to a distant room up stairs, +the door of which he threw open. + +"Go in there," he said curtly. + +She hesitated on the threshold. So remote was it from the main part of +the great manor, the apartment had all the requirements of a prison. + +"You needn't fear," he continued, reading her thoughts. "I'm not going +to be separated from you--yet! But we can see what is going on here." + +Again she mutely obeyed him, and entered the room. It was a commodious +apartment, where an excellent view was offered of the surrounding +country on three sides. But looking from the window to discern his +assailants, Mauville could see nothing save the fields and openings, +fringed by the dark groves. The out-houses and barns were but dimly +outlined, while scattered trees here and there dotted the open spaces +with small, dark patches. A single streak of red yet lingered in the +west. A tiny spot, moving through the obscurity, proved to be a cow, +peacefully wandering over the dewy grass. The whirring sound of a +diving night-hawk gave evidence that a thing of life was inspecting +the scene from a higher point of vantage. + +From that narrow, dark crimson ribbon, left behind by the flaunting +sun, a faint reflection entered the great open windows of the chamber +and revealed Mauville gazing without, pistol in hand; Constance +leaning against the curtains and the driver of the coach standing in +the center of the room, quaking inwardly and shaking outwardly. This +last-named had found an old blunderbuss somewhere, useful once +undoubtedly, but of questionable service now. + +Meanwhile Oly-koeks had not returned. Having faithfully closed and +locked all the iron shutters, he had crept out of a cellar window and +voluntarily resigned as care-taker of the manor, with its burden of +dangers and vexations. With characteristic prudence, he had timed the +period of his departure with the beginning of the end in the fortunes +of the old patroon principality. The storm-cloud, gathering during the +life of Mauville's predecessor, was now ready to burst, the impending +catastrophe hastened by the heir's want of discretion and his failure +to adjust difficulties amicably. That small shadow, followed by a +smaller shadow, passing through the field, were none other than +Oly-koeks and Oloffe, who grew more and more imperceptible until they +were finally swallowed up and seemingly lost forever in the darkness +of the fringe of the forest. + +A branch of a tree grated against the window as Mauville looked out +over the peaceful vale to the ribbon of red that was being slowly +withdrawn as by some mysterious hand. Gradually this adornment, +growing shorter and shorter, was wound up while the shadows of the +out-houses became deeper and the meadow lands appeared to recede in +the distance. As he scanned the surrounding garden, the land baron's +eye fell upon an indistinct figure stealing slowly across the sward in +the partial darkness. This object was immediately followed by another +and yet another. To the observer's surprise they wore the headgear of +Indians. + +Suddenly the patroon heard the note of the whippoorwill, the nocturnal +songster that mourns unseen. It was succeeded by the sharp tones of a +saw-whet and the distinct mew of a cat-bird. A wild pigeon began to +coo softly in another direction and was answered by a thrush. The +listener vaguely realized that all this unexpected melody came from +the Indians, who had by this time surrounded the house and who took +this method of communicating with one another. + +An interval of portentous silence was followed by a loud knocking at +the front door, which din reverberated through the hall, echoing and +re-echoing the vigorous summons. Mauville at this leaned from the +window and as he did so, there arose a hooting from the sward as +though bedlam had broken loose. Maintaining his post, the heir called +out: + +"What do you want, men?" + +At these words the demonstration became more turbulent, and, amid the +threatening hubbub, voices arose, showing too well the purpose of the +gathering. Aroused to a fever of excitement by the shooting of the +tenants, they were no longer skulking, stealthy Indians, but a riotous +assemblage of anti-renters, expressing their determination in an +ominous chorus: + +"Hang the land baron!" + +In the midst of this far from reassuring uproar a voice arose like a +trumpet: + +"We are the messengers of the Lord, made strong by His wrath!" + +"You are the messenger of the devil, Little Thunder," Mauville shouted +derisively. + +A crack of a rifle admonished the land baron that the jest might have +cost him dear. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ATTACK ON THE MANOR + + +After this brief hostile outbreak in the garden below the right wing, +Mauville prepared to make as effective defense as lay in his power and +looked around for his aid, the driver of the coach. But that quaking +individual had taken advantage of the excitement to disappear. Upon +hearing the threats, followed by the singing of bullets, and doubting +not the same treatment accorded the master would be meted out to the +servant, the coachman's fealty so oozed from him that he dropped his +blunderbuss, groping his way through the long halls to the cellar, +where he concealed himself in an out-of-the-way corner beneath a heap +of potato sacks. In that vast subterranean place he congratulated +himself he would escape with a whole skin, his only regret being +certain unpaid wages which he considered as good as lost, together +with the master who owed them. + +Mauville, however, would have little regretted the disappearance of +this poor-spirited aid, on the theory a craven follower is worse than +none at all, had not this discovery been followed quickly by the +realization that the young girl, too, had availed herself of the +opportunity while he was at the window and vanished. + +"Why, the slippery jade's gone!" he exclaimed, staring around the +room, confounded for the moment. Then recovering himself, he hurriedly +left the chamber, more apprehensive lest she should get out of the +manor than that the tenants should get in. + +"She can't be far off," he thought, pausing doubtfully in the hall. + +For the moment he almost forgot the anti-renters and determined to +find her at all hazard. He hastily traversed the upper hall, but was +rewarded with no sight of her. He gazed down the stairs eagerly, with +no better result; the front door was still closed, as he had left it. +Evidently she had fled toward the rear of the house and made good her +escape from one of the back or side entrances. + +"Yes; she's gone," he repeated. "What a fool I was to have trusted her +to herself for a moment!" + +A new misgiving arose, and he started. What if she had succeeded in +leaving the manor? He knew and distrusted Little Thunder and his +cohorts. What respect would they have for her? For all he had done, it +was, nevertheless, intolerable to think she might be in possible +danger--from others save himself! A wave of compunction swept over +him. After all, he loved her, and, loving her, could not bear to think +of any calamity befalling her. He hated her for tricking him; feared +for her, for the pass to which he had brought her; cared for her +beyond the point his liking had reached for any other woman. A +mirthless laugh escaped him as he stood at the stairway looking down +the empty hall. + +"Surely I've gone daft over the stroller!" he thought, as his own +position recurred to him in all its seriousness. "Well, what's done is +done! Let them come!" His eyes gleamed. + +With no definite purpose of searching further, he nevertheless walked +mechanically down the corridor toward the other side of the manor and +suddenly, to his surprise and satisfaction, discerned Constance in a +blind passage, where she had inadvertently fled. + +At the end of this narrow hall a window looked almost directly out +upon the circular, brick dove-cote, now an indistinct outline, and on +both sides were doors, one of which she was vainly endeavoring to open +when he approached. Immediately she desisted in her efforts; flushed +and panting, she stood in the dim light of the passage. Quiet, +unbroken save for the cooing in the cote, had succeeded the first +noisy demonstration; the anti-renters were evidently arranging their +forces to prevent the land baron's escape or planning an assault on +the manor. + +In his momentary satisfaction at finding her, Mauville overlooked the +near prospect of a more lengthy, if not final, separation, and +surveyed the young girl with a sudden, swift joyousness, but the fear +and distrust written on her features dissipated his concern for her; +his best impulses were smothered by harsher feelings. + +"Unfortunately, the door is locked," he said, ironically. "Meanwhile, +as this spot has no strategic advantages, suppose we change our base +of defense?" + +Realizing how futile would be resistance, she accompanied him once +more to the chamber in the wing, where he had determined to make his +last defense. After closing and locking the door, he lighted one of +many candles on the mantel. The uncertain glow from the great +candelabra, covered with dust, like the white marble itself, and +evidently placed there many years before, revealed faded decorations +and a ceiling, water-stained as from a defective roof. Between the +windows, with flowery gilt details, an ancient mirror extended from +floor to ceiling. A musty smell pervaded the apartment, for Mynheer, +the Patroon, had lived so closely to himself that he had shut out both +air and sunlight from his rooms. + +The flickering glare fell upon the young actress standing, hand upon +her heart, listening with bated breath, and Mauville, with ominous +expression, brooding over that chance which sent the lease-holders to +the manor on that night of nights. It was intolerable that no sooner +had she crossed his threshold than they should appear, ripe for any +mischief, not only seeking his life, but wresting happiness from his +very lips. For, of the outcome he could have little doubt, although +determined to sell dearly that which they sought. + +The violent crash of a heavy body at the front of the house and a +tumult of voices on the porch, succeeded by a din in the hall, announced +that the first barrier had been overcome and the anti-renters were in +possession of the lower floor of the manor. Mauville had started toward +the door, when the anticipation in the young girl's eyes held him to +the spot. Inaccessible, she was the more desired; her reserve was +fuel to his flame, and, at that moment, while his life hung in the +balance, he forgot the rebuff he had received and how she had nearly +played upon him. + +Words fell from his lips, unpremeditated, eloquent, voicing those +desires which had grown in the solitude of the manor. Passionately he +addressed her, knowing the climax to his difficulties was at hand. +Once near her, he could not be at peace without her, he vowed, and +this outcome had been inevitable. All this he uttered impetuously, at +times incoherently, but as he concluded, she only clasped her hands +helplessly, solely conscious of the uproar below which spread from the +main hall to the adjoining rooms. + +"They are coming--they are coming!" she said, and Mauville stopped +short. + +But while anger and resentment were at strife within him, some one +tried the door of the chamber and finding it locked, set up a shout. +Immediately the prowlers in the wings, the searchers in the kitchen +and all the stragglers below congregated in the main hall; footsteps +were heard ascending rapidly, pausing in doubt at the head of the +stairway, not knowing whether to turn to the right or to the left. + +"Here they are!" called out the man at the door. + +"You meddlesome fool!" exclaimed Mauville, lifting a revolver and +discharging it in the direction of the voice. Evidently the bullet, +passing through the panel of the door, found its mark, for the report +was followed by a cry of pain. + +This plaint was answered from the distance and soon a number of +anti-renters hastened to the spot. Mauville, in vicious humor, moved +toward the threshold. One of the panels was already broken and an arm +thrust into the opening. The land baron bent forward and coolly +clapped his weapon to the member, the loud discharge being succeeded +by a howl from the wounded lease-holder. Mauville again raised his +weapon when an exclamation from the actress caused him to turn +quickly, in time to see a figure spring unexpectedly into the room +from the balcony. The land baron stood in amazement, eying the +intruder who had appeared so suddenly from an unguarded quarter, but +before he could recover his self-possession, his hand was struck +heavily and the revolver fell with a clatter to the floor. + +His assailant quickly grasped the weapon, presenting it to the breast +of the surprised land-owner, who looked, not into the face of an +unknown anti-renter, but into the stern, familiar countenance of +Saint-Prosper. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A HASTY EXIT + + +The afternoon following the soldier's departure from the patroon +village went by all too slowly, his jaded horse's feet as heavy as the +leaden moments. That he had not long since overtaken the coach was +inexplicable, unless Susan had been a most tardy messenger. True, at +the fork of the road he had been misled, but should before this have +regained what he had lost, unless he was once more on the wrong +thoroughfare. As night fell, the vastness of the new world impressed +the soldier as never before; not a creature had he met since leaving +the patroon village; she whom he sought might have been swallowed up +in the immensity of the wilderness. For the first time his task seemed +as if it might be to no purpose; his confidence of the morning had +gradually been replaced by consuming anxiety. He reproached himself +that he had not pressed his inquiries further at the patroon village, +but realized it was now too late for regrets; go on he must and +should. + +Along the darkening road horse and rider continued their way. Only +at times the young man pulled at the reins sharply, as the animal +stumbled from sheer weariness. With one hand he stroked encouragingly +the foam-flecked arch of the horse's neck; the other, holding the +reins, was clenched like a steel glove. Leaving the brow of a +hill, the horseman expectantly fixed his gaze ahead, when suddenly on +his right, a side thoroughfare lay before him. As he drew rein +indecisively at the turn, peering before him through the gathering +darkness, a voice from the trees called out unexpectedly: + +"Hitch up in here!" + +At this peremptory summons the soldier gazed quickly in the direction +of the speaker. Through the grove, where the trees were so slender and +sparsely planted the eye could penetrate the thicket, he saw a band of +horsemen dismounting and tying their animals. There was something +unreal, grotesque even, in their appearance, but it was not until one +of their number stepped from the shadow of the trees into the clearer +light of the road that he discerned their head-dress and garb to be +that of Indians. Recalling all he had heard of the masquerading, +marauding excursions of the anti-renters, the soldier at once +concluded he had encountered a party of them, bent upon some nefarious +expedition. That he was taken for one of their number seemed equally +evident. + +"Come!" called out the voice again, impatiently. "The patroon is at +the manor with his city trollop. It's time we were moving." + +An exclamation fell from the soldier's lips. The patroon!--his +ill-disguised admiration for the actress!--his abrupt reappearance +the night of the temperance drama! Any uncertainty Saint-Prosper +might have felt regarding the identity of him he sought, or the +reason for that day's work, now became compelling certitude. But for +the tenants, he might have ridden by the old patroon house. As it +was, congratulating himself upon this accidental meeting rather than +his own shrewdness, he quickly dismounted. A moment's thought, and he +followed the lease-holders. + +In the attack on the manor, his purpose, apart from theirs, led him to +anticipate the general movement of the anti-renters in front of the +house and to make his way alone, aided by fortuitous circumstances, to +the room where the land baron had taken refuge. As he sprang into this +chamber the young girl's exclamation of fear was but the prelude to an +expression of gladness, while Mauville's consternation when he found +himself disarmed and powerless, was as great as his surprise. For a +moment, therefore, in his bearing bravado was tempered with +hesitancy. + +"You here?" stammered the land baron, as he involuntarily recoiled +from his own weapon. + +The soldier contemptuously thrust the revolver into his pocket. "As +you see," he said coldly, "and in a moment, they"--indicating the +door--"will be here!" + +"You think to turn me over to them!" exclaimed the other violently. +"But you do not know me! This is no quarrel of yours. Give me my +weapon, and let me fight it out with them!" + +The soldier's glance rested for a moment on the young girl and his +face grew stern and menacing. + +"By heaven, I am half-minded to take you at your word! But you shall +have one chance--a slender one! There is the window; it opens on the +portico!" + +"And if I refuse?" + +"They have brought a rope with them. Go, or hang!" + +The heir hesitated, but as he pondered, the anti-renters were +effectually shattering the heavy door, regaling themselves with +threats taught them by the politicians who had advocated their cause +on the stump, preached it in the legislature, or grown eloquent over +it in the constitutional assembly. + +"The serfs are here! The drawers of water and hewers of wood have +arisen! Hang the land baron! Hang the feudal lord!" + +A braver man than Mauville might have been cowed by that chorus. But +after pausing irresolutely, weighing the chances of life and death, +gazing jealously upon the face of the apprehensive girl, and +venomously at the intruder, the heir finally made a virtue of +necessity and strode to the window. With conflicting emotions +struggling in his mind--fury toward the lease-holders, hatred for the +impassive mediator--he yet regained, in a measure, an outwardly calm +bearing. + +[Illustration] + +"It's a poor alternative," he said, shortly, flashing a last glance at +the actress. "But it's the best that offers!" + +So saying, he sprang upon the balcony--none too soon, for a moment +later the door burst open and an incongruous element rushed into the +room. Many were attired in outlandish head-dresses, embroidered +moccasins and fringed jackets, their faces painted in various hues, +but others, of a bolder spirit, had disdained all subterfuge of +disguise. Not until then did the soldier discover that he had +overlooked the possible unpleasantness of remaining in the land +baron's stead, for the anti-renters promptly threw themselves upon +him, regardless of his companion. The first to grapple with him was a +herculean, thick-ribbed man, of extraordinary stature, taller than the +soldier, if not so well-knit; a Goliath, indeed, as Scroggs had deemed +him, with arms long as windmills. + +"Stand back, lads," he roared, "and let me throw him!" And Dick, the +tollman, rushed at Saint-Prosper with furious attack; soon they were +chest to chest, each with his chin on his opponent's right shoulder, +and each grasping the other around the body with joined hands. + +Dick's muscles grew taut, like mighty whip-cords; his chest expanded +with power; he girded his loins for a great effort, and it seemed as +if he would make good his boast. Held in the grasp of those arms, +tight as iron bands, the soldier staggered. Once more the other heaved +and again Saint-Prosper nearly fell, his superior agility alone saving +him. + +Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, the soldier managed to face to the +right, twisting so as to place his left hip against his adversary--his +only chance; a trick of wrestling unknown to his herculean, but clumsy +opponent. Gathering all his strength in a last determined effort, he +stooped forward suddenly and lifted in his turn. One portentous +moment--a moment of doubt and suspense--and the proud representative +of the barn-burners was hurled over the shoulder of the soldier, +landing with a crash on the floor where he lay, dazed and immovable. + +Breathing hard, his chest rising and falling with labored effort, +Saint-Prosper fell back against the wall. The anti-renters quickly +recovering from their surprise, gave him no time to regain his +strength, and the contest promised a speedy and disastrous conclusion +for the soldier, when suddenly a white figure flashed before him, +confronting the tenants with pale face and shining eyes. A slender +obstacle; only a girlish form, yet the fearlessness of her manner, the +eloquence of her glance--for her lips were silent!--kept them back for +the instant. + +But fiercer passions were at work among them, the desire for +retaliation and bitter hatred of the patroon, which speedily +dissipated any feeling of compunction or any tendency to waver, + +"Kill him before his lady love!" cried a piercing voice from behind. +"Did they not murder my husband before me? Kill him, if you are men!" + +And pressing irresistibly to the front appeared the woman whose +husband had been shot by the deputies. Her features, once soft and +matronly, flamed with uncontrollable passions. + +"Are only the poor to suffer?" she continued, as her, burning eyes +fell on the young girl. "Shall she not feel what I did?" + +"Back woman!" exclaimed one of the barn-burners, sternly. "This is no +place for you." + +"Who has a better right to be here?" retorted the woman. + +"But this is not woman's work!" + +"Woman's work!" Fiercely. "As much woman's work as for his trull to +try to save him! Oh? let me see him!" + +Gently the soldier, now partly recovering his strength, thrust the +young girl behind him, as pushing to the foreground the woman regarded +him vengefully. But in her eyes the hatred and bitter aversion faded +slowly, to be replaced by perplexity, which in turn gave way to +wonder, while the uplifted arm, raised threateningly against him, fell +passively to her side. At first, astonished, doubting, she did not +speak, then her lips moved mechanically. + +"That is not the land baron," she cried, staring at him in disappointment +that knew no language. + +"The woman is right," added a masquerader. "I know Mauville, too, for +he told me to go to the devil when I asked him to wait for his rent." + +At this unexpected announcement, imprecations and murmurs of +incredulity were heard on all sides. + +"Woman, would you shield your husband's murderer?" exclaimed an +over-zealous barn-burner. + +"Shield him!" she retorted, as if aroused from a trance. "No, no! I'm +not here for that! But this is not the patroon. His every feature is +burned into my heart! I tell you it is not he. Yet he should be here. +Did I not see him driving toward the manor?" And she gazed wildly +around. + +For a moment, following this impassioned outburst, their rough glances +sought one another's, and the soldier quickly took advantage of this +cessation of hostilities. + +"No; I am not the land baron," he interposed. + +"You aren't?" growled a disappointed lease-holder. "Then who the devil +are you? An anti-renter?" he added, suspiciously. + +"He must be an enemy of the land baron," interrupted the woman, +passing her hand across her brow. "He was with us in the grove. I saw +him ride up and took him to be a barn-burner. He crossed the meadow +with us. I saw his face; distinctly as I see it now! He asked me about +the patroon--yes, I remember now!--and what was she like, the woman +who was with him!" + +"I am no friend of his," continued the soldier in a firm voice. "You +had one purpose in seeking him; I, another! He carried off this lady. +I was following him, when I met you in the grove." + +"Then how came you here--in this room?" + +"By the way of a tree, the branch of which reaches to the window." + +"The land baron was in this room a moment ago. Where is he now?" + +For answer Saint-Prosper pointed to the window. + +"Then you let him--" + +"We're wasting time," impatiently shouted the barn-burner who had +disclaimed the soldier's identity to the patroon. "Come!" With an +oath. "Do you want to lose him after all? He can't be far away. And +this one, damn him! isn't our man!" + +For a second the crowd wavered, then with a vengeful shout they shot +from the room, disappearing as quickly as they had come. Led by Little +Thunder, who, being a man of peace, had discreetly remained without, +they had reached the gate in their headlong pursuit when they were met +by a body of horsemen, about to turn into the yard as the anti-renters +were hurrying out. At sight of this formidable band, the lease-holders +immediately scattered. Taken equally by surprise, the others made +little effort to intercept them and soon they had vanished over field +and down dell. Then the horsemen turned, rode through the avenue of +trees, and drew up noisily before the portico. + +From their window the soldier and his companion observed the abrupt +encounter at the entrance of the manor grounds and the dispersion of +the lease-holders like leaves before the autumn gusts. Constance, who +had breathlessly watched the flight of the erstwhile assailants, felt +her doubts reawakened as the horsemen drew up before the door. + +"Are they coming back?" she asked, involuntarily clasping the arm of +her companion. + +She who had been so courageous and self-controlled throughout that +long, trying day, on a sudden felt strangely weak and dependent. He +leaned from the narrow casement to command the view below, striving to +pierce the gloom, and she, following his example, gazed over his +shoulder. Either a gust of air had extinguished the light in the +candelabra on the mantel, or the tallow dip had burnt itself out, for +the room was now in total darkness so that they could dimly see, +without being seen. + +"These men are not the ones who just fled," he replied. + +"Then who are they?" she half-whispered, drawing unconsciously closer +in that moment of jeopardy, her face distant but a curl's length. + +Below the men were dismounting, tying their horses among the trees. +Like a noisy band of troopers they were talking excitedly, but their +words were indistinguishable. + +"Why do you suppose they fled from them?" she continued. + +Was it a tendril of the vine that touched his cheek gently? He +started, his face toward the haze in the open borderland. + +"Clearly these men are not the lease-holders. They may be seeking +you." + +She turned eagerly from the window. In the darkness their hands met. +Momentary compunction made her pause. + +"I haven't yet thanked you!" And he felt the cold, nervous pressure of +her hands on his. "You must have ridden very hard and very far!" + +His hand closed suddenly upon one of hers. He was not thinking of the +ride, but of how she had placed herself beside him in his moment of +peril; how she had held them--not long--but a moment--yet long +enough! + +"They're coming in! They're down stairs!" she exclaimed excitedly. + +A flickering light below suddenly threw dim moving shadows upon the +ceiling of the hall. As she spoke she stepped forward and stumbled +over the debris at the door. His arm was about her, almost before the +startled exclamation had fallen from her lips; for a moment her +shapely, young figure rested against him. But quickly she extricated +herself, and they picked their way cautiously over the bestrewn +threshold out into the hall. + +At the balustrade, they paused. Reconnoitering at the turn, they were +afforded full survey of the lower hall where the latest comers had +taken possession. Few in numbers, the gathering had come to a dead +stop, regarding in surprise the broken door, and the furniture +wantonly demolished. But amid this scene of rack and ruin, an object +of especial wonder to the newcomers was the great lifting-stone lying +in the hall amid the havoc it had wrought. + +"No one but Dick, the tollman, could have thrown that against the +door!" said a little man who seemed a person of authority. "I wonder +where the patroon can be?" + +With unusual pallor of face the young girl stepped from behind the +sheltering post. Her hand, resting doubtfully upon the balustrade, +sought in unconscious appeal her companion's arm, as they descended +together the broad steps. In the partial darkness the little man ill +discerned the figures, but divined their bearing in the relation of +outlines limned against the obscure background. + +"Why," he muttered in surprise, "this is not the patroon! And here, if +I am not mistaken, is the lady Mr. Barnes is so anxious about." + +"Mr. Barnes--he is with you?" + +It was Constance that spoke. + +"Yes; but--" + +"Where is he?" + +"We left him a ways down the road and--" + +The sound of a horse's hoof beats in front of the manor, breaking in +on this explanation, was followed by hurried footsteps upon the porch. +The newcomer paused on the threshold, when, with an exclamation of +joy, Constance rushed to him, and in a moment was clasped in the arms +of the now jubilant Barnes. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE COUNCIL AT THE TOWN PUMP + + +Next morning the sun had made but little progress in the heavens and +the dew was not yet off the grass when the party, an imposing +cavalcade, issued from the manor on the return journey. Their +home-coming was uneventful. The barn-burners had disappeared like +rabbits in their holes; the manor whose master had fled, deserted even +by the faithful Oly-koeks, was seen for the last time from the brow of +the hill, and then, with its gables and extensive wings, vanished from +sight. + +"Well," remarked Barnes as they sped down the road, "it was a happy +coincidence for me that led the anti-renters to the patroon's house +last night." + +And he proceeded to explain how when he had sought the magistrate, he +found that official organizing a _posse comitatus_ for the purpose of +quelling an anticipated uprising of lease-holders. In answer to the +manager's complaint the custodian of the law had asserted his first +duty was generally to preserve the peace; afterward, he would attend +to Barnes' particular grievance. Obliged to content himself as best +he might with this meager assurance, the manager, at his wit's end, +had accompanied the party whose way had led them in the direction the +carriage had taken, and whose final destination--an unhoped-for +consummation!--had proved the ultimate goal of his own desires. + +On reaching, that afternoon, the town where they were playing, Susan +was the first of the company to greet Constance. + +"Now that it's all over," she laughed, "I rather envy you that you +were rescued by such a handsome cavalier." + +"Really," drawled Kate, "I should have preferred not being rescued. +The owner of a coach, a coat of arms, silver harness, and the best +horses in the country! I could drive on forever." + +But later, alone with Susan, she looked hard at her: + +"So you fainted yesterday?" + +"Oh, I'm a perfect coward," returned the other, frankly. + +Kate's mind rapidly swept the rough and troubled past; the haphazard +sea upon which they had embarked so long ago-- + +"Dear me!" she remarked quietly, and Susan turned to conceal a blush. + +Owing to the magistrate's zeal in relating the story of the rescue, +the players' success that night was great. + +"The hall was filled to overflowing," says the manager in his date +book. "At the end of the second act, the little girl was called out, +and much to her inward discomfiture the magistrate presented her with +a bouquet and the audience with a written speech. Taking advantage of +the occasion, he pointed a political moral from the tale, and referred +to his own candidacy to the legislature, where he would look after the +interests of the rank and file. It was time the land-owners were +taught their places--not by violence--Oh, no--no French methods for +Americans!--by ballot, not by bullet! Let the people vote for an +amendment to the constitution! + +"As we were preparing to leave the theater, the magistrate appeared +behind the scenes. 'Of course, Mr. Barnes, you will appear against the +patroon?' he said. 'His prosecution will do much to fortify the +issue.' + +"'That is all very fine,' I returned, satirically. 'But will the Lord +provide while we are trying the case? Shall we find miraculous +sustenance? We live by moving on, sir. One or two nights in a place; +sometimes, a little longer! No, no; 'tis necessary to forget, if not +to forgive. You'll have to fortify your issue without us.' + +"'Well, well,' he said, good-naturedly, 'if it's against your +interests, I have no wish to press the matter.' Whereupon we shook +hands heartily and parted. I looked around for Constance, but she had +left the hall with Saint-Prosper. Have I been wise in asking him to +join the chariot? I sometimes half regret we are beholden to him--" + +From the Shadengo Valley Barnes' company proceeded by easy stages to +Ohio, where the roads were more difficult than any the chariot had yet +encountered. On every hand, as they crossed the country, sounded the +refrains of that memorable song-campaign which gave to the state the +fixed sobriquet of "Buckeye." Drawing near the capital, where the +convention was to be held, a log cabin, on an enormous wagon, passed +the chariot. A dozen horses fancifully adorned were harnessed to this +novel vehicle; flowers over-ran the cabin-home, hewn from the buckeye +logs of the forest near Marysville. In every window appeared the faces +of merry lads and lasses, and, as they journeyed on, their chorus +echoed over field and through forest. The wood-cutter leaned on his ax +to listen; the plowman waved his coonskin cap, his wife, a red +handkerchief from the doorway of their log cabin. + + "Oh, tell me where the Buckeye cabin was made? + 'Twas built among the boys who wield the plow and spade, + Where the log-cabin stands in the bonnie Buckeye shade." + +From lip to lip the song had been carried, until the entire country +was singing it, and the log-cabin had become a part of the armorial +bearings of good citizenship, especially applicable to the crests of +presidents. Well might the people ask: + + "Oh, what has caused this great commotion + All the country through?" + +which the ready chorus answered: + + "It is a ball a-rolling on + For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!" + +The least of the strollers' troubles at this crucial period of their +wanderings were the bad roads or the effects of song and log-cabin +upon the "amusement world," the greatest being a temperance orator who +thundered forth denunciations of rum and the theater with the +bitterness of a Juvenal inveighing profligate Rome. The people crowded +the orator's hall, upon the walls of which hung the customary banners: +a serpent springing from the top of a barrel; the steamboat, Alcohol, +bursting her boiler and going to pieces, and the staunch craft, +Temperance, safe and sound, sailing away before a fair wind. With +perfect self-command, gift of mimicry and dramatic gestures, the +lecturer swayed his audience; now bubbling over with witty anecdotes, +again exercising his power of graphic portraiture. His _elixir +vitae_--animal spirits--humanized his effort, and, as Sir Robert Peel +played upon the House of Commons "as on an old fiddle," so John B. +Gough (for it was the versatile comic singer, actor and speaker) +sounded the chords of that homely gathering. + +Whatever he was, "poet, orator and dramatist, an English Gavazzi," or, +"mountebank," "humbug," or "backslider," Mr. Gough was, even at that +early period, an antagonist not to be despised. He had been out of +pocket and out at the elbows--indeed, his wardrobe now was mean and +scanty; want and privation had been his companions, and, from his +grievous experiences, he had become a sensational story-teller of low +life and penury. Certainly Barnes had reason to lament the coincidence +which brought players and lecturer into town at the same time, +especially as the latter was heralded under the auspices of the Band +of Hope. + +The temperance lectures and a heavy rain combined to the undoing of +the strollers. Majestically the dark clouds rolled up, outspread like +a pall, and the land lay beneath the ban of a persistent downpour. +People remained indoors, for the most part, and the only signs of life +Barnes saw from the windows of the hotel were the landlord's +Holderness breed of cattle, mournfully chewing their monotonous cuds, +and some Leicester sheep, wofully wandering in the pasture, or huddled +together like balls of stained cotton beneath the indifferent +protection of a tree amid field. + +Exceptional inducements could not tempt the villagers to the theater. +Even an epilogue gained for them none of Mr. Gough's adherents. "The +Temperance Doctor" failed miserably; "Drunkard's Warning" admonished +pitiably few; while as for "Drunkard's Doom," no one cared what it +might be and left him to it. + +After such a disastrous engagement the manager not only found himself +at the end of his resources, but hopelessly indebted, and, with much +reluctance, laid the matter before the soldier who had already +advanced Barnes a certain sum after their conversation on the night +of the country dance and had also come to his assistance on an +occasion when box-office receipts and expenses had failed to meet. +Moreover, he had been a free, even careless, giver, not looking after +his business concerns with the prudent anxiety of a merchant whose +ventures are ships at the rude mercy of a troubled sea. To this third +application, however, he did not answer immediately. + +"Is it as bad as that?" he said at length, thoughtfully. + +"Yes; it's hard to speak about it to you," replied the manager, with +some embarrassment, "but at New Orleans--" + +The soldier encountered his troubled gaze. "See if you can sell my +horse," he answered. + +"You mean--" began the other surprised. + +"Yes." + +"Hanged if I will!" exclaimed the manager. Then he put out his hand +impulsively. "I beg your pardon. If I had known--but if we're ever out +of this mess, I may give a better account of my stewardship." + +Nevertheless, his plight now was comparable to that of the strollers +of old, hunted by beadles from towns and villages, and classed as +gypsies, vagabonds and professed itinerants by the constables. He was +no better served than the mummers, clowns, jugglers, and petty chapmen +who, wandering abroad, were deemed rogues and sturdy beggars. Yet no +king's censor could have found aught "unchaste, seditious or unmete" +in Barnes' plays; no cause for frays or quarrels, arising from pieces +given in the old inn-yards; no immoral matter, "whatsoever any light +and fantastical head listeth to invent or devise;" no riotous actors +of rollicking interludes, to be named in common with fencers, +bearwards and vagrants. + +"Better give it up, Mr. Barnes," said a remarkably sweet and +sympathetic voice, as the manager was standing in the hotel office, +turning the situation over and over in his mind. + +Barnes, looking around quickly to see who had read his inmost +thoughts, met the firm glance of his antagonist. + +"Mr. Gough, it is an honor to meet one of your talents," replied the +manager, "but"--with an attempt to hide his concern--"I shall not be +sorry, if we do not meet again." + +"An inhospitable wish!" answered the speaker, fixing his luminous eyes +upon the manager. "However, we shall probably see each other +frequently." + +"The Fates forbid, sir!" said Barnes, earnestly. "If you'll tell me +your route, we'll--go the other way!" + +"It won't do, Mr. Barnes! The devil and the flesh must be fairly +fought. 'Where thou goest'--You know the scriptural saying?" + +"You'll follow us!" exclaimed the manager with sudden consternation. + +The other nodded. + +"Why, this is tyranny! You are a Frankenstein; an Old-Man-of-the +Sea!" + +"Give it up," said the orator, with a smile that singularly illumined +his thin, but powerful features. "As I gave it up! Into what dregs of +vice, what a sink of iniquity was I plunged! The very cleansing of my +soul was an Augean task. Knavery, profligacy, laxity of morals, +looseness of principles--that was what the stage did for me; that was +the labor of Hercules to be cleared away! Give it up, Mr. Barnes!" And +with a last penetrating look, he strode out of the office. + +In spite of Barnes' refusal, the soldier offered to sell his horse to +the landlord, but the latter curtly declined, having horses enough to +"eat their heads off" during the winter, as he expressed it. His +Jeremy Collier aversion to players was probably at the bottom of this +point-blank rebuff, however. He was a stubborn man, czar in his own +domains, a small principality bounded by four inhospitable walls. His +guests--having no other place to go--were his subjects, or prisoners, +and distress could not find a more unfitting tribunal before which to +lay its case. There was something so malevolent in his vigilance, so +unfriendly in his scrutiny, that to the players he seemed an emissary +of disaster, inseparable from their cruel plight. + +Thus it was that the strollers perforce reached a desperate conclusion +when making their way from the theater on the last evening. By +remaining longer, they would become the more hopelessly involved; in +going--without their host's permission--they would be taking the +shortest route toward an honorable settlement in the near future; a +paradoxical flight from the brunt of their troubles, to meet them +squarely! This, to Barnes, ample reason for unceremonious departure +was heartily approved by the company in council assembled around the +town pump. + +"Stay and become a county burden, indeed!" exclaimed Mrs. Adams, +tragically. + +"As well be buried alive as anchored here!" fretfully added Susan. + +"The council is dissolved," said the manager, promptly, "with no one +the wiser--except the town pump." + +"An ally of Mr. Gough!" suggested Adonis. + +Thus more merrily than could have been expected, with such a +distasteful enterprise before them, they resumed their way. It was +disagreeable under foot and they presented an odd appearance, each one +with a light. Mrs. Adams, old campaigner that she was, led the way for +the ladies, elastic and chatty as though promenading down Broadway on +a spring morning. With their lanterns and the purpose they had in +view, they likened themselves to a band of conspirators. As Barnes +marched ahead with his light, Susan playfully called him Guy Fawkes, +of gun-powder fame, whereupon his mind almost misgave him concerning +the grave adventure upon which they were embarked. + +The wind was blowing furiously, doors and windows creaked, and all the +demons of unrest were moaning that night in the hubbub of sounds. Save +for a flickering candle in the hall, the tavern was dark, and +landlord and maids had long since retired to rest. Amid the noise of +the rain and the sobbing of the wind, trunks were lowered from the +window; the chariot and property wagon were drawn from the stable yard +and the horses led from their stalls. In a trice they were ready and +the ladies, wrapped in their cloaks, were in the coach. But the +clatter of hoofs, the neighing of a horse, or some other untoward +circumstance, aroused the landlord; a window in the second story shot +up and out popped a head in a night-cap. + +"Here!--What are you about?" cried the man. + +"Leaving!" said the manager, laconically. + +The landlord threw up his arms like Shylock at the loss of his +money-bags. + +"The reckoning!" he exclaimed. "What about the reckoning?" + +"Your pound of flesh, sir!" replied Barnes. + +"My score! My score!" shouted the other. "You would not leave without +settling it!" + +"Go to bed, sir," was the answer, "and let honest people depart +without hindrance. You will be paid out of our first profits." + +But the man was not so easily appeased. "Robbers! Constable!" he +screamed. + +Conceiving it was better to be gone without further parley, having +assured him of their honorable intentions, Barnes was about to lash +the horses, when Kate suddenly exclaimed: + +"Where's Constance?" + +"Isn't she inside?" asked the manager quickly. + +"No; she isn't here." + +"Oh, I sent her back to get something for me I had forgotten," spoke +up Mrs. Adams, "and she hasn't returned yet." + +"Sent her back! Madam, you have ruined everything!" burst out Barnes, +bitterly. + +"Mr. Barnes, I won't be spoken to like a child!" + +"Child, indeed--" + +But the querulous words were not uttered, for, as the manager was +about to leave the box in considerable perturbation, there--gazing down +upon them at a window next to that occupied by the landlord--stood +Constance! + +For a tippet, or a ruff, or some equally wretched frippery, carelessly +left by the old lady, all their plans for deliverance appeared likely +to miscarry. Presumably, Constance, turned from her original purpose +by the noisy altercation, had hurried to the window, where now the +landlord perceived her and immediately availed himself of the +advantage offered. + +"So one of you is left behind," he shouted exultantly. "And it's the +leading lady, too! I'll take care she stays here, until after a +settlement. I'll stop you yet! Stealing away in the middle of the +night, you--you vagabonds!" + +His voice, growing louder and louder, ended in a shrieking crescendo. +Disheartened, there seemed no alternative for the players save to turn +back and surrender unconditionally. Barnes breathed a deep sigh; so +much for a tippet!--their dash for freedom had been but a sorry +attempt!--now he saw visions of prison bars, and uttered a groan, when +the soldier who was riding his own horse dashed forward beneath the +window and stood upright in his stirrups. + +"Do not be afraid, Miss Carew," he said. + +Fortunately the window was low and the distance inconsiderable, but +Barnes held his breath, hoping the hazard would deter her. + +"Do not, my dear!" he began. + +But she did not hesitate; the sight of the stalwart figure and the +strong arms, apparently reassured her, and she stepped upon the sill. + +"Quick!" he exclaimed, and, at the word, she dropped into his +upstretched arms. Scarcely had she escaped, however, before the +landlord was seen at the same window. So astonished was he to find her +gone, surprise at first held him speechless; then he burst into a +volley of oaths that would have shamed a whaler's master. + +"Come back!" he cried. "Come back, or--" The alternative was lost in +vengeful imprecation. + +Holding Constance before him, the soldier resumed his saddle. "Drive +on!" he cried to Barnes, as past the chariot sped his horse, with its +double burden. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE HAND FERRY + + +At a lively gait down the road toward the river galloped the horse +bearing Saint-Prosper and Constance. The thoroughfare was deserted and +the dwelling houses as well as the principal buildings of the town +were absolutely dark. At one place a dog ran out to the front gate, +disturbed by the unusual noise on the road, and barked furiously, but +they moved rapidly on. Now the steeple of the old church loomed +weirdly against the dark background of the sky and then vanished. + +On; on, they went, past the churchyard, with its marble slabs +indistinctly outlined in the darkness, like a phantom graveyard, as +immaterial and ghostlike itself as the spirits of the earliest +settlers at rest there beneath the sod. This was the last indication +of the presence of the town, the final impression to carry away into +the wide country, where the road ran through field and forest. As they +sped along, they plunged into a chasm of blackness, caused by the +trees on both sides of the road which appeared to be constantly +closing upon them. In the darkness of that stygian tunnel, dashing +blindly through threatening obscurity, she yet felt no terrors, for a +band of steel seemed to hold her above some pit of "visible night." + +Out of the tunnel into the comparatively open space, the wind +boomed with all its force, and like an enraged monster, drove the +storm-clouds, now rainless, across the sky. Occasionally the moon +appeared through some aperture, serene, peace-inspiring, momentarily +gilding the dark vapor, and again was swallowed up by another mass of +clouds. A brood of shadows leaped around them, like things of life, +now dancing in the road or pursuing through the tufts of grass, then +vanishing over the meadows or disappearing in murky nooks. But a +moment were they gone and then, marshaled in new numbers, menacing +before and behind, under the very feet of the horse, bidding +defiance to the clattering hoofs. With mane tossed in the angry +wind, and nostrils dilated, the animal neighed with affright, suddenly +leaping aside, as a little nest of unknown dangers lurked and +rustled in the ambush of a drift of animated brush. + +At that abrupt start, the rider swayed; his grasp tightened about the +actress' waist; her arms involuntarily held him closer. Loosened by +the wind and the mad motion, her hair brushed his cheek and fell over +his shoulder, whipped sharply in the breeze. A fiercer gust, sweeping +upon them uproariously, sent all the tresses free, and scudded by with +an exultant shriek. For a time they rode in this wise, her face cold +in the rush of wind; his gaze fixed ahead, striving to pierce the +gloom, and then he drew rein, holding the horse with some difficulty +at a standstill in the center of the thoroughfare. + +With senses numbed by the stirring flight, the young girl had been +oblivious to the firmness of the soldier's sustaining grasp, but now +as they paused in the silent, deserted spot, she became suddenly +conscious of it. The pain--so fast he held her!--made her wince. She +turned her face to his. A glint of light fell on his brow and any +lines that had appeared there were erased in the magical glimmer; +eagerness, youth, passion alone shone upon his features. + +His arm clasped her even yet more closely, as if in the wildness of +the moment he would fiercely draw her to him regardless of all. Did +she understand--that with her face so near his, her hair surrounding +him, her figure pressed in that close embrace--he must needs speak to +her; had, indeed, spoken to her. She was conscious her hand on his +shoulder trembled. Her cheek was no longer cold; abruptly the warm +glow mantled it. Was it but that a momentary calm fell around them; +the temporary hush of the boisterous wind? And yet, when again the +squall swept by with renewed turmoil, her face remained unchilled. She +seemed but a child in his arms. How light her own hand-touch compared +to that compelling grasp with which he held her! She remembered he had +but spoken to her standing in the window, and she had obeyed without a +question--without thought of fear. She longed to spring to the ground +now, to draw herself from him. + +"You can hear the chariot down the road, Miss Carew." + +Quickly her glance returned to his face; his gaze was bent down the +thoroughfare. He spoke so quietly she wondered at her momentary fears; +his voice reassured her. + +A gleam of light shot through a rift in the clouds. + +"Hello-a!" came a welcome voice from the distance. + +"Hello-a!" answered the soldier. + +"You'd better ride on!" shouted the manager. "They're after us!" + +For answer the soldier touched his horse, and now began a race for the +river and the ferry, which were in plain sight, Luna fortunately at +this critical moment sailing from between the vapors and shining from +a clear lake in the sky. The chaste light, out of the angry +convulsions of the heavens, showed the fugitives the road and the +river, winding like a broad band of silver across the darkness of the +earth, its surface rippled into waves by the northern wind. Behind +them the soldier and Constance could hear the coach creaking and +groaning. It seemed to careen on its beams' end, but some special +providence was watching over the players and no catastrophe occurred. + +Nearer came the men on horseback down the hill; now the foremost +shouted. Closer was the river; Saint-Prosper reached its bank; the +gang-plank was in position and he dashed aboard. With a mighty +tossing and rolling, the chariot approached, rattled safely across the +gangway, followed by the property wagon, and eager hands grasped the +rope, extending from shore to shore above the large, flat craft. These +hand ferries, found in various sections of the country, were strongly, +although crudely, constructed, their sole means of locomotion in the +stationary rope, by means of which the passengers, providing their own +power for transportation, drew themselves to the opposite shore. + +The energy now applied to the hempen strand sent the ferry many feet +from the shore out into the river, where the current was much swifter +than usual, owing to the heavy rainfalls. The horses on the great +cumbersome craft were snorting with terror. + +Crack! pish! One of the men on the shore used his revolver. + +"An illogical and foolish way to collect debts, that!" grumbled the +manager, tugging at the rope. "If they kill us, how can we requite +them for our obligations?" + +The river was unusually high and the current set the boat, heavily +loaded, tugging at the rope. However, it resisted the strain and soon +the craft grated on the sand and the party disembarked, safe from +constable and bailiff in the brave, blue grass country. Only one +mishap occurred, and that to Adonis, who, in his haste, fell into the +shallow water. He was as disconsolate as the young hero Minerva threw +into the sea to wrest him from the love of Eucharis. But in this +case, Eucharis (Kate) laughed immoderately at his discomfiture. + +As Barnes was not sure of the road, the strollers camped upon the +bank. The river murmured a seductive cradle-song to the rushes, and, +on the shore, from the dark and ominous background, came the deeper +voice of the pines. + +Constance, who had been unusually quiet and thoughtful, gradually +recovered her spirits. + +"Here, Mrs. Adams, is your tippet," she said with a merry smile, +taking a bit of lace from her dress. + +"Thank you, my dear; I wouldn't have lost it for anything!" said the +old lady, effusively, while Barnes muttered something beneath his +breath. + +The soldier, who had dismissed the manager's thanks somewhat abruptly, +occupied himself arranging the cushions from the chariot on the grass. +Suddenly Mrs. Adams noticed a crimson stain on his shoulder. + +"Sir!" she exclaimed, in the voice of the heroine of "Oriana," "you +are wounded!" + +"It is nothing, Madam!" he replied. + +Stripping off his coat, Barnes found the wound was, indeed, but +slight, the flesh having just been pierced. + +"How romantic!" gushed Susan. "He stood in front of Constance when the +firing began. Now, no one thought of poor me. On the contrary, if I am +not mistaken, Mr. Hawkes discreetly stood behind me." + +"Jokes reflecting upon one's honor are in bad taste," gravely retorted +the melancholy actor. + +"Indeed, I thought it no jest at the time!" replied the other. + +"Mistress Susan, your tongue is dangerous!" + +"Mr. Hawkes, your courage will never lead you into danger!" + +"Nay," he began, angrily, "this is a serious offense--" + +"On the contrary," she said, laughing, "it is a question of defense." + +"There is no arguing with a woman," he grumbled. "She always takes +refuge in her tongue." + +"While you, Mr. Hawkes, take refuge--" + +But the other arose indignantly and strode into the gloom. Meanwhile +Barnes, while dressing the injury, discovered near the cut an old scar +thoroughly healed, but so large and jagged it attracted his +attention. + +"That hurt was another matter," said he, touching it. + +Was it the manager's fingers or his words caused Saint-Prosper to +wince? "Yes, it was another matter," he replied, hurriedly. "An Arab +spear--or something of the kind!" + +"Tell us about it," prattled Susan. "You have never told us anything +about Africa. It seems a forbidden subject." + +"Perhaps he has a wife in Tangiers, or Cairo," laughed Kate. + + "He was wed in Amsterdam, + Again in far Siam, + And after this + Sought triple bliss + And married in Hindustan," + +sang Susan. + +The soldier made some evasive response to this raillery and then +became silent. Soon quiet prevailed in the encampment; only out of the +recesses of the forest came the menacing howl of a vagabond wolf. + +"Such," says Barnes in his notebook, "is the true history of an +adventure which created some talk at the time. A perilous, regrettable +business at best, but we acted according to our light and were enabled +thereafter to requite our obligations, which could not have been done +had they seized the properties, poor garments of players' pomp; tools +whereby we earned our meager livelihood. If, after this explanation, +anyone still has aught of criticism, I must needs be silent, not +controverting his censure. + +"With some amusement I learned that our notable belligerent, Mr. +Gough, was well-nigh reduced to the same predicament as that in which +we found ourselves. He could not complain of his audiences, and the +Band of Hope gained many recruits by his coming, but, through some +misapprehension, the customary collections were overlooked. The last +night of the lecture, the chairman of the evening, at the conclusion +of the address, arose and said: 'I move we thank Mr. Gough for his +eloquent effort and then adjourn.' + +"The motion prevailed, and the gathering was about to disperse when +the platform bludgeon-man held them with a gesture. 'Will you kindly +put your thanks in writing, that I may offer it for my hotel bill,' +said he. + +"But for this quick wit and the gathering's response to the appeal he +would have been in the same boat with us, or rather, on the same +boat--the old hand ferry! Subsequently, he became a speaker of foreign +and national repute, but at that time he might have traveled from +Scarboro' to Land's End without attracting a passing glance." + + + + +BOOK II + +DESTINY AND THE MARIONETTES + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE FASTIDIOUS MARQUIS + + +Through the land of the strapping, thick-ribbed pioneers of Kentucky +the strollers bent their course--a country where towns and hamlets +were rapidly springing up in the smiling valleys or on the fertile +hillsides; where new families dropping in, and old ones obeying the +injunction to be "fruitful and multiply" had so swelled the population +that the region, but a short time before sparsely settled, now teemed +with a sturdy people. To Barnes' satisfaction, many of the roads were +all that could have been wished for, the turnpike system of the center +of the state reflecting unbounded credit upon its builders. + +If a people may be judged by its highways, Kentucky, thus early, with +its macadamized roads deserved a prominent place in the sisterhood +of states. Moreover, while mindful always of her own internal +advancement, she persistently maintained an ever-watchful eye and +closest scrutiny on the parental government and the acts of congress. +"Give a Kentuckian a plug of tobacco and a political antagonist and +he will spend a comfortable day where'er he may be," has been happily +said. It was this hardy, horse-raising, tobacco-growing community +which had given the peerless Clay to the administrative councils of +the country; it was this rugged cattle-breeding, whisky-distilling +people which had offered the fearless Zach Taylor to spread the +country's renown on the martial field. + +What sunny memories were woven in that pilgrimage for the strollers! +Remembrance of the corn-husking festivities, and the lads who, having +found the red ears, kissed the lasses of their choice; of the dancing +that followed--double-shuffle, Kentucky heel-tap, pigeon wing or +Arkansas hoe-down! And mingling with the remembrance of such pleasing +diversions were the yet more satisfying recollections of large +audiences, generous-minded people and substantial rewards, well-won; +rewards which enabled them shortly afterward to pay by post the +landlord from whom they had fled. + +Down the Father of Waters a month or so after their flight into the +blue grass country steamed the packet bearing the company of players, +leaving behind them the Chariot of the Muses. + +At the time of their voyage down the Mississippi "the science of +piloting was not a thing of the dead and pathetic past," and wonderful +accounts were written of the autocrats of the wheel and the +characteristics of the ever-changing, ever-capricious river. +"Accidents!" says an early steamboat captain. "Oh, sometimes we run +foul of a snag or sawyer, occasionally collapse a boiler and blow up +sky-high. We get used to these little matters and don't mind them." + +None of these trifling incidents was experienced by the players, +however, who thereby lost, according to the Munchausens of the period, +half of the pleasure and excitement of the trip. In fact, nothing more +stirring than taking on wood from a flatboat alongside, or throwing a +plank ashore for a passenger, varied the monotony of the hour, and, +approaching their destination, the last day on the "floating palace" +dawned serenely, uneventfully. + +The gray of early morn became suffused with red, like the flush of +life on a pallid cheek. Arrows of light shot out above the trees; an +expectant hush pervaded the forest. Inside the cabin a sleepy negro +began the formidable task of sweeping. This duty completed, he shook a +bell, which feature of his daily occupation the darky entered into +with diabolical energy, and soon the ear-rending discord brought the +passengers on deck. But hot cornbread, steaks and steaming coffee +speedily restored that equanimity of temper disturbed by the morning's +clangorous summons. + +Breakfast over, some of the gentlemen repaired to the boiler deck for +the enjoyment of cigars, the ladies surrounded the piano in the cabin, +while a gambler busied himself in getting into the good graces of a +young fellow who was seeing the world. Less lonely became the shores, +as the boat, panting as if from long exertion, steamed on. Carrolton +and Lafayette were left behind. Now along the banks stretched the +showy houses and slave plantations of the sugar planters; and soon, +from the deck of the boat, the dome of the St. Charles and the +cathedral towers loomed against the sky. + +Beyond a mile or so of muddy water and a formidable fleet of old +hulks, disreputable barges and "small fry broad-horns," lay +Algiers, graceless itself as the uninviting foreground; looking out +contemplatively from its squalor at the inspiring view of Nouvelle +Orleans, with the freighters, granaries and steamboats, three +stories high, floating past; comparing its own inertia--if a city +can be presumed capable of such edifying consciousness!--with the +aspect of the busy levee, where cotton bales, sugar hogsheads, +molasses casks, tobacco, hemp and other staple articles of the South, +formed, as it were, a bulwark, or fortification of peace, for the +habitations behind it. Such was the external appearance--suggestive +of commerce--of that little center whose social and bohemian life was +yet more interesting than its mercantile features. + +At that period the city boasted of its Addison of letters--since +forgotten; its Feu-de-joie, the peerless dancer, whose beauty had +fired the Duke Gambade to that extravagant conduct which made the +recipient of those marked attentions the talk of the town; its Roscius +of the drama; its irresistible _ingenue_, the lovely, little +Fantoccini; and its theatrical carpet-knight, M. Grimacier, whose +intrigue with the stately and, heretofore, saintly Madame Etalage had, +it was said later, much to do with the unhappy taking-off of that +ostentatious and haughty lady. It had Mlle. Affettuoso, songstress, +with, it is true, an occasional break in her trill; and, last, but not +least, that general friend of mankind, more puissant, powerful and +necessary than all the nightingales, butterflies, or men of +letters--who, nevertheless, are well enough in their places!--Tortier, +the only Tortier, who carried the _art de cuisine_ to ravishing +perfection, whose ragouts were sonnets in sauce and whose fricassees +nothing less than idyls! + +Following the strollers' experiences with short engagements and +improvised theaters, there was solace in the appearance of the city of +cream and honey, and the players, assembled on the boiler deck, +regarded the thriving port with mingled feelings as they drew nearer. +Susan began forthwith to dream of conquests--a swarthy Mexican, the +owner of an opal mine; a prince from Brazil; a hidalgo, exile, or any +other notable among the cosmopolitan people. Adonis bethought himself +of dusky beauties, waiting in their carriages at the stage entrance; +sighing for him, languishing for him; whirling him away to a supper +room--and Paradise! Regretfully the wiry old lady reverted to the time +when she and her first husband had visited this Paris of the South, +and, with a deep sigh, paid brief tribute to the memory of conjugal +felicity. + +Constance's eyes were grave as they rested upon the city where she +would either triumph or fail, and the seriousness of her task came +over her, leaning with clasped hands against the railing of the boat. +Among that busy host what place would be made for her? How easy it +seemed to be lost in the legion of workers; to be crushed in the +swaying crowd! It was as though she were entering a room filled with +strangers, and stood hesitating on the threshold. But youth's +assurance soon set aside this gloomy picture; the shadow of a smile +lighted her face and her glance grew bright. At twenty the world is +rosy and in the perspective are many castles. + +Near by the soldier also leaned against the rail, looking not, +however, at New Orleans but at her, while all unconscious of his +regard she continued to gaze cityward. His face, too, was thoughtful. +The haphazard journey was approaching its end, and with it, in all +likelihood, the bond of union, the alliance of close comradeship +associated with the wilderness. She was keenly alive to honor, fame, +renown. What meaning had those words to him--save for her? He smiled +bitterly, as a sudden revulsion of dark thoughts crowded upon him. He +had had his bout; the sands of the arena that once had shone golden +now were dust. + +Drawing up to the levee, they became a part of the general bustle and +confusion; hurriedly disembarked, rushed about for their luggage, +because every one else was rushing; hastily entered carriages of which +there was a limited supply, and were whisked off over the rough +cobblestones which constituted the principal pavements of the city; +catching momentary glimpses, between oscillations, of oyster saloons, +fruit and old clothes' shops, and coffee stands, where the people ate +in the open air. In every block were _cafés_ or restaurants, and the +sign "Furnished Rooms" appearing at frequent intervals along the +thoroughfare through which they drove at headlong pace, bore evidence +to the fact that the city harbored many strangers. + +The hotel was finally reached--and what a unique hostelry it was! "Set +the St. Charles down in St. Petersburg," commented a chronicler in +1846, "and you would think it a palace; in Boston, and ten to one, you +would christen it a college; in London, and it would remind you of an +exchange." It represented at that day the evolution of the American +tavern, the primitive inn, instituted for passengers and wayfaring +men; the development of the pot-house to the metropolitan hotel, of +the rural ale-room to the palatial saloon. + +"What a change from country hostelries!" soliloquized the manager, +after the company were installed in commodious rooms. "No more inns +where soap and towels are common property, and a comb, without its +full complement of teeth, does service for all comers!" he continued, +gazing around the apartment in which he found himself. "Think of real +gas in your room, Barnes, and great chairs, easy as the arms of +Morpheus! Are you comfortable, my dear?" he called out. + +Constance's voice in an adjoining room replied affirmatively, and he +added: "I'm going down stairs to look around a bit." + +Beneath the porch and reception hall extended the large bar-room, +where several score of men were enjoying their liquors and lunches, +and the hum of conversation, the clinking of glasses and the noise +made by the skilful mixer of drinks were as sweet music to the +manager, when shortly after he strode to the bar. Wearing neither coat +nor vest, the bartender's ruffled shirt displayed a glistening stone; +the sleeves were ornamented with gold buttons and the lace collar had +a Byronic roll. + +"What will you have, sir?" he said in a well-modulated voice to a big +Virginian, who had preceded Barnes into the room. + +"A julep," was the reply, "and, while you are making it, a little +whisky straight." + +A bottle of bourbon was set before him, and he wasted no valuable time +while the bartender manipulated the more complicated drink. +Experiencing the felicity of a man who has entered a higher +civilization, the manager ordered a bottle of iced ale, drank it with +gusto, and, seating himself, was soon partaking of a palatable dish. +By this time the Virginian, joined by a friend, had ordered another +julep for the near future and a little "straight" for the immediate +present. + +"Happy days!" said the former. + +"And yours happier!" replied the newcomer. + +"Why, it's Utopia," thought Barnes. "Every one is happy!" + +But even as he thus ruminated, his glance fell upon an old man at the +next table whom the waiters treated with such deference the manager +concluded he must be some one of no slight importance. This gentleman +was thin, wrinkled and worn, with a face Voltairian in type, his hair +scanty, his dress elegant, and his satirical smile like the "flash of +a dagger in the sunlight." He was inspecting his bouillon with +manifest distrust, adjusting his eye-glass and thrusting his head +close to the plate. The look of suspicion deepened and finally a +grimace of triumph illumined his countenance, as he rapped excitedly +on the table. + +"Waiter, waiter, do you see that soup?" he almost shouted. + +"Yes, Monsieur le Marquis," was the humble response. + +"Look at it well!" thundered the old gentleman. "Do you find nothing +extraordinary about it?" + +Again the bouillon was examined, to the amusement of the manager. + +"I am sorry, Monsieur le Marquis; I can detect nothing unusual," +politely responded the waiter, when he had concluded a pains-taking +scrutiny with all the gravity and seriousness attending so momentous +an investigation. + +"You are blind!" exclaimed the old man. "See there; a spot of grease +floating in the bouillon, and there, another and another! In fact, +here is an 'Archipelago of Greece!'" This witticism was relieved by an +ironical smile. "Take it away!" + +The waiter hurried off with the offending dish and the old man looked +immensely satisfied over the disturbance he had created. + +"Well has it been said," thought the manager, "that the destiny of a +nation depends upon the digestion of its first minister! I wonder what +he'll do next?" + +Course after course that followed was rejected, the guest keeping up a +running comment: + +"This sauce is not properly prepared. This salad is not well mixed. +I shall starve in this place. These truffles; spoiled in the +importation!" + +"Oh, Monsieur le Marquis,"--clasping his hands in despair--"they were +preserved in melted paraffin." + +"What do I care about your paraffin? Never mind anything more, waiter. +I could not eat a mouthful. What is the bill? Very well; and there is +something for yourself, blockhead." + +"Thank you, Monsieur le Marquis." Deferentially. + +"The worst meal I've ever had! And I've been in Europe, Asia and +Africa. Abominable--abominable--idiot of a waiter--miserable place, +miserable--and this dyspepsia--" + +Thus running on, with snatches of caustic criticism, the old gentleman +shambled out, the waiter holding the door open for him and bowing +obsequiously. + +"An amiable individual!" observed Barnes to the waiter. "Is he +stopping at the hotel?" + +"No, Monsieur. He has an elegant house near by. The last time he was +here he complimented the cook and praised the sauces. He is a +little--what you call it?--whimsical!" + +"Yes; slightly inclined that way. But is he here alone?" + +"He is, Monsieur. He loses great sums in the gambling rooms. He keeps +a box at the theater for the season. He is a prince--a great lord--?" + +"Even if he calls you 'liar' and 'blockhead'?" + +"Oh, Monsieur,"--displaying a silver dollar with an expressive shrug +of the shoulders--"this is the--what you call it?--balm." + +"And very good balm, too," said Barnes, heartily. + +Still grumbling to himself, the marquis reached the main corridor, +where the scene was almost as animated as in the bar and where the +principal topic of conversation seemed to be horses and races that had +been or were about to be run. "I'd put Uncle Rastus' mule against that +hoss!" "That four-year-old's quick as a runaway nigger!" "Five +hundred, the gelding beats the runaway nigger!" "Any takers on Jolly +Rogers?" were among the snatches of talk which lent life and zest to +the various groups. + +Sitting moodily in a corner, with legs crossed and hat upon his knee, +was a young man whose careless glance wandered from time to time from +his cigar to the passing figures. As the marquis slowly hobbled along, +with an effort to appear alert, the young man arose quickly and came +forward with a conventional smile, intercepting the old nobleman near +the door. + +"My dear Monsieur le Marquis," he exclaimed, effusively, "it is with +pleasure I see you recovered from your recent indisposition." + +"Recovered!" almost shrieked the marquis. "I'm far from recovered; I'm +worse than ever. I detest congratulations, Monsieur! It's what a lying +world always does when you are on the verge of dissolution." + +"You are as discerning as ever," murmured the land baron--for it was +Edward Mauville. + +"I'm not fit to be around; I only came out"--with a sardonic +chuckle--"because the doctors said it would be fatal." + +"Surely you do not desire--" + +"To show them they are impostors? Yes." + +"And does New Orleans continue to please you?" asked the other, with +some of that pride Southerners entertained in those days for their +queen city. + +"How does the exile like the forced land of his adoption?" returned +the nobleman, irritably. "My king is in exile. Why should I not be +also? Should I stay there, herd with the cattle, call every shipjack +'Citizen' and every clod 'Brother'; treat every scrub as though she +were a duchess?" + +"There is, indeed, a regrettable tendency to deify common clay +nowadays," assented the patroon, soothingly. + +"Why, your 'Citizen' regards it as condescension to notice a man of +condition!" said the marquis, violently. "When my king was driven away +by the rabble the ocean was not too broad to separate me from a +swinish civilization. I will never go back; I will live there no +more!" + +"That is good news for us," returned the land baron. + +"Your politeness almost reconciles me to staying," said the old man, +more affably. "But I am on my way to the club. What do you say to a +rubber?" + +The patroon readily assented. In front of the hotel waited the +marquis' carriage, on the door of which was his coat-of-arms--argent, +three mounts vert, on each a sable bird. Entering this conveyance, +they were soon being driven over the stones at a pace which jarred +every bone in the marquis' body and threatened to shake the breath of +life from his trembling and attenuated figure. He jumped about like a +parched pea, and when finally they drew up with a jerk and a jolt, the +marquis was fairly gasping. After an interval to recover himself, he +took his companion's arm, and, with his assistance, mounted the broad +steps leading to the handsome and commodious club house. + +"At least," said the nobleman, dryly, as he paused on the stairs, "our +pavements are so well-kept in Paris that a drive there in a tumbril to +the scaffold is preferable to a coach in New Orleans!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +"ONLY AN INCIDENT" + + +To the scattering of the anti-renters by the rescue party that +memorable night at the manor the land baron undoubtedly owed his +safety. Beyond reach of personal violence in a neighboring town, +without his own domains, from which he was practically exiled, he had +sought redress in the courts, only to find his hands tied, with no +convincing clue to the perpetrators of these outrages. On the patroon +lay the burden of proof, and he found it more difficult than he had +anticipated to establish satisfactorily any kind of a case, for alibis +blocked his progress at every turn. + +At war with his neighbors, and with little taste for the monotony of a +northern winter, he bethought him of his native city, determined to +leave the locality and at a distance wait for the turmoil to subside. +His brief dream of the rehabilitation of the commonwealth brought only +memories stirring him to restlessness. He made inquiries about the +strollers, but to no purpose. The theatrical band had come and gone +like gipsies. + +Saying nothing to any one, except Scroggs, to whom he entrusted a load +of litigation, he at length quietly departed in the regular stage, +until he reached a point where two strap rails proclaimed the new +method of conveyance. Wedged in the small compartment of a little car +directly behind a smoking monster, with an enormous chimney, fed with +cord-wood, he was borne over the land, and another puffing marvel of +different construction carried him over the water. Reaching the +Crescent City some time before the strollers--his progress expedited +by a locomotive that ran full twenty miles an hour!--the land baron +found among the latest floating population, comprised of all sorts and +conditions, the Marquis de Ligne. The blood of the patroons flowed +sluggishly through the land baron's veins, but his French extraction +danced in every fiber of his being. After learning the more important +and not altogether discreditable circumstances about the land baron's +ancestors--for if every gentleman were whipped for godlessness, how +many striped backs would there be!--the marquis, who declined intimacy +with Tom, Dick and Harry, and their honest butchers, bakers and +candlestick-makers of forefathers, permitted an acquaintance that +accorded with his views governing social intercourse. + +"This is a genuine pleasure, Monsieur le Marquis," observed the land +baron suavely, when the two found themselves seated in a card room +with brandy and soda before them. "To meet a nobleman of the old +school is indeed welcome in these days when New Orleans harbors the +refugees of the world, for, strive as we will, outsiders are creeping +in and corrupting our best circles." + +"Soon we shall all be corrupt," croaked the old man. "France--but what +can you expect of a nation that exiles kings!" + +"Ah, Louis Philippe! My father once entertained him here in New +Orleans," said Mauville. + +"Indeed?" remarked the marquis with interest. + +"It was when he visited the city in 1798 with his brothers, the Duke +of Montpensier and the Count of Beaujolais. New Orleans then did not +belong to America. France was not so eager to sell her fair +possessions in those days. I remember my father often speaking of the +royal visit. The king even borrowed money, which"--laughing--"he +forgot to pay!" + +The marquis' face was a study, as he returned stiffly: "Sir, it is a +king's privilege to borrow." + +"It is his immortal prerogative," answered Mauville easily. "I only +mentioned it to show how highly he honored my father." + +The nobleman lifted his eyebrows, steadily regarding his companion. + +"It was a great honor," he said softly. "One does not lend to a king. +When Louis Philippe borrowed from your father he lent luster to your +ancestry." + +"Yes; I doubt not my father regarded himself as the debtor. Again, we +had another distinguished compatriot of yours at our house--General +Lafayette." + +"Lafayette!" repeated the marquis. "Ah, that's another matter! A man, +born to rank and condition, voluntarily sinking to the level of the +commonalty! A person of breeding choosing the cause of the rout and +rabble! How was he received?" + +"Like a king!" laughed Mauville. "A vast concourse of people assembled +before the river when he embarked on the 'Natchez' for St. Louis." + +Muttering something about "_bourgeoisie!--épicier!_" the nobleman +partook of the liquid consolation before him, which seemed to brighten +his spirits. + +"If my doctors could see me now! Dolts! Quacks!" + +"It's a good joke on them," said Mauville, ironically. + +"Isn't it? They forbid me touching stimulants. Said they would be +fatal! Impostors! Frauds! They haven't killed me yet, have they?" + +"If so, you are a most agreeable and amiable ghost," returned +Mauville. + +"An amiable ghost!" cackled the old man. "Ha! Ha! you must have your +joke! But don't let me have such a ghastly one again. I don't +like"--in a lower tone--"jests about the spirits of the other world." + +"What! A well-seasoned materialist like you!" + +"An idle prejudice!" answered the marquis. "Only when you compared me +to a ghost"--in a half whisper--"it seemed as though I were one, a +ghost of myself looking back through years of pleasure--years of +pleasure!" + +"A pleasant perspective such memories make, I am sure," observed the +land baron. + +"Memories," repeated the marquis, wagging his head. "Existence is +first a memory and then a blank. But you have been absent from New +Orleans, Monsieur?" + +"I have been north to look after certain properties left me by a +distant relative--peace to his ashes!" + +"Only on business?" leered the marquis. "No affair of the heart? You +know the saying: 'Love makes time pass--'" + +"'And time makes love pass,'" laughed Mauville, somewhat unnaturally, +his cynicism fraught with a twinge. "Nothing of the kind, I assure +you! But you, Marquis, are not the only exile." + +The nobleman raised his brows interrogatively. + +"You fled from France; I fled from the ancestral manor. The tenants +claimed the farms were theirs. I attempted to turn them out and--they +turned me out! I might as well have inherited a hornet's nest. It was +a legacy-of hate! The old patroon must have chuckled in his grave! One +night they called with the intention of hanging me." + +"My dear sir, I congratulate you!" exclaimed the nobleman +enthusiastically. + +"Thanks!" Dryly. + +"It is the test of gentility. They only hang or cut off the heads of +people of distinction nowadays." + +"Gad! then I came near joining the ranks of the well-born angels. But +for an accident I should now be a cherub of quality." + +"And how, Monsieur, did you escape such a felicitous fate?" + +The land baron's face clouded. "Through a stranger--a Frenchman--a +silent, taciturn fellow--more or less an adventurer, I take it. He +called himself Saint-Prosper--" + +"Saint-Prosper!" + +The marquis gazed at Mauville with amazement and incredulity. He might +even have flushed or turned pale, but such a possible exhibition of +emotion was lost beneath an artificial bloom, painted by his valet. +His eyes, however, gleamed like candles in a death's head. + +"This Saint-Prosper you met was a soldier?" he asked, and his voice +trembled. "Ernest Saint-Prosper?" + +"Yes; he was a soldier; served in Africa, I believe. You knew him?" +Turning to the marquis in surprise. + +"Knew him! He was my ward, the rascal!" cried the other violently. "He +was, but now--ingrate!--traitor!--better if he were dead!" + +"You speak bitterly, Monsieur le Marquis?" said the patroon +curiously. + +"Bitterly!--after his conduct!--he is no longer anything to me! He is +dead to me--dead!" + +"How did he deviate from the line of duty?" asked Mauville, with +increasing interest, and an eagerness his light manner did not +disguise. "A sin of omission or commission?" + +"Eh? What?" mumbled the old nobleman, staring at his questioner, and, +on a sudden, becoming taciturn. "A family affair!" he added finally, +with dignity. "Not worth repeating! But what was he doing there?" + +"He had joined a strolling band of players," said the other, +concealing his disappointment as best he might at his companion's +evasive reply. + +"A Saint-Prosper become an actor!" shouted the marquis, his anger +again breaking forth. "Has he not already dragged an honored name in +the dust? A stroller! A player!" The marquis fairly gasped at the +enormity of the offense; for a moment he was speechless, and then +asked feebly: "What caused him to take such a humiliating step?" + +"He is playing the hero of a romance," said the land baron, moodily. +"I confess he has excellent taste, though! The figure of a Juno--eyes +like stars on an August night--features proud as Diana--the voice of a +siren--in a word, picture to yourself your fairest conquest, Monsieur +le Marquis, and you will have a worthy counterpart of this rose of the +wilderness!" + +"My fairest conquest!" piped the listener. With lack-luster eyes he +remained motionless like a traveler in the desert who gazes upon a +mirage. "You have described her well. The features of Diana! It was +at a revival of Vanbrugh's 'Relapse' I first met her, dressed after +the fashion of the Countess of Ossory. Who would not worship before +the figures of Lely?" + +He half closed his eyes, as though gazing in fancy upon the glossy +draperies and rosy flesh of those voluptuous court beauties. + +"The wooing, begun in the wings, ended in an ivy-covered villa--a +retired nook--solitary walks by day--nightingales and moonshine by +night. It was a pleasing romance while it lasted, but joy palls on +one. Nature abhors sameness. The heart is like Mother Earth--ever +varying. I wearied of this surfeit of Paradise and--left her!" + +"A mere incident in an eventful life," said his companion, thoughtfully. + +"Yes; only an incident!" repeated the marquis. "Only an incident! I +had almost forgotten it, but your conversation about players and your +description of the actress brought it to mind. It had quite passed +away; it had quite passed away! But the cards, Monsieur Mauville; the +cards!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AT THE RACES + + +For several days, after rehearsals were over, the strollers were +free to amuse themselves as they pleased. Their engagement at the +theater did not begin for about a week, and meanwhile they managed +to combine recreation with labor in nearly equal proportions. +Assiduously they devoted themselves to a round of drives and +rambles: through pastures and wood-land to Carrolton; along the shell +road to Lake Pontchartrain; to Biloxi, the first settlement of the +French; and to the battle grounds, once known as the plains of +Chalmette, where volunteer soldiers were now encamped, awaiting +orders to go to the front in the Mexican campaign. For those who +craved greater excitement, the three race-courses--the Louisiana, +the Metairie and the Carrolton offered stimulating diversion. + +Within sight of the Metairie were the old dueling grounds, under +the oaks, where, it is related, on one Sunday in '39 ten duels +occurred; where the contestants frequently fought on horseback with +sabers; and, where the cowherds, says a chronicler, became so +accustomed to seeing honor satisfied in this manner that they paid +little attention to these meetings, pursuing their own humble +duties, indifferent to the follies of fashionable society. The +fencing schools flourished--what memories cluster around that odd, +strange master of the blade, Spedella, a melancholy enigma of a +man, whose art embodied much of the finest shading and phrasing +peculiar to himself; from whom even many of Bonaparte's discarded +veterans were not above acquiring new technique and temperament! +Men in those days were most punctilious about reputation, but +permitted a sufficiently wide latitude in its interpretation not to +hamper themselves or seriously interfere with their desires or +pleasures. Thus, virtue did not become a burden, nor honor a +millstone. Both, like epaulets or tassels, were worn lightly and +befittingly. + +Shortly after the players' arrival began the celebrated Leduc matches, +attracting noted men and women from all over the South. The hotels +were crowded, the lodging-houses filled, while many of the large homes +hospitably opened their doors to visiting friends. The afternoons +found the city almost deserted; the bartenders discontentedly smoked +in solitude; the legion of waiters in the hotels and resorts became +reduced to a thinly scattered array; while even the street venders had +"folded their tents" and silently stolen to the races. On one such +memorable occasion most of the members of Barnes' company repaired to +the Metairie. + +Below the grand stand, brilliant with color, strutted the dandies +attending to their bets; above they played a winning or losing game +with the fair sex. Intrigue and love-making were the order of the +hour, and these daughters of the South beguiled time--and mortals!--in +a heyday of pleasure. In that mixed gathering burly cotton planters +from the country rubbed elbows with aristocratic creoles, whose attire +was distinguishable by enormous ruffles and light boots of cloth. The +professional follower of these events, the importunate tout, also +mingled with the crowd, plainly in evidence by the pronounced +character of his dress, the size of his diamond studs or cravat pin, +and the massive dimensions of his finger rings. No paltry, scrubby +track cadger was this resplendent gentleman, but a picturesque rogue, +with impudence as pronounced as his jewels! + +Surrounded by a bevy of admirers, Susan, sprightly and sparkling, +was an example of that "frippery one of her sex is made up with, a +pasticcio of gauzes, pins and ribbons that go to compound that +multifarious thing, a well-dressed woman." Ever ready with a +quick retort, she bestowed her favors generously, to the evident +discomfiture of a young officer in her retinue whom she had met +several days before, and who, ever since, had coveted a full +harvest of smiles, liking not a little the first sample he had +gathered. However, it was not Susan's way to entrust herself fully +to any one; it was all very interesting to play one against +another; to intercept angry gleams; to hold in check clashing +suitors--this was exciting and diverting--but she exercised care +not to transgress those bounds where she ceased to be mistress of +the situation. Perhaps her limits in coquetry were further set +than most women would have ventured to place them, but without +this temerity and daring, the pastime would have lost its charm for +her. She might play with edged tools, but she also knew how to +use them. + +Near her was seated Kate, indolent as of yore, now watching her sister +with an indulgent, enigmatic expression, anon permitting a scornful +glance to stray toward Adonis, who, for his part, had eyes only for +his companion, a distinct change from country hoidens, tavern +demoiselles and dainty wenches, with their rough hands and rosy +cheeks. This lady's hands were like milk; her cheeks, ivory, and +Adonis in bestowing his attentions upon her, had a two-fold purpose: +to return tit for tat for Kate's flaunting ways, and to gratify his +own ever-fleeting fancy. + +In a box, half the length of the grand stand removed, some distance +back and to the left of Susan's gay party, Constance, Mrs. Adams and +the soldier were also observers of this scene of animation. + +Since the manager's successful flight from the landlord and the +constables, the relations of the young girl and Saint-Prosper had +undergone little change. At first, it is true, with the memory of +the wild ride to the river fresh in her mind, and the more or less +disturbing recollections of that strange, dark night, a certain +reticence had marked her manner toward the soldier; but, as time +went by, this touch of reserve wore off, and was succeeded by her +usual frankness or gaiety. In her eyes appeared, at times, a new +thoughtfulness, but for no longer period than the quick passing of +a summer cloud over a sunny meadow. This half-light of brief +conjecture or vague retrospection only mellowed the depths of her +gaze, and Barnes alone noted and wondered. + +But to-day no partial shadows lay under the black, shading lashes; the +exhilarating scene, the rapidly succeeding events, the turbulence and +flutter around her, were calculated to dispel the most pronounced +abstraction. Beneath a protecting parasol--for the sunlight shot below +the roof at the back and touched that part of the grand stand--a faint +glow warmed her cheeks, while her eyes shone with the gladness of the +moment. Many of the dandies, regarding her with marked persistency, +asked who she was, and none knew, until finally Editor-Rhymster Straws +was appealed to. Straws, informed on all matters, was able to satisfy +his questioners. + +"She is an actress," said Straws. "So we are told. We shall find out +next week. She is a beauty. We can tell that now." + +"You're right, Straws!" exclaimed a pitch-and-toss youngster. "If she +shows as well at the wire--" + +"You'd take a long chance on her winning?" laughed the philosopher. + +"I'll play you odds on it!" cried the juvenile. "Four to one, damme! +I'll risk that on her eyes." + +"Four to one on a lady's eyes, child! Say forty to one, and take the +hazard of the die." + +Standing near the rhymster, story-writer and journalist, was a tall +young man, dressed in creole fashion. He followed the glances of +Straws' questioners and a pallor overspread his dark complexion as he +looked at the object of their attention. + +"The stroller!" he exclaimed half audibly. "Her counterpart doesn't +exist." + +He stepped back where he could see her more plainly. In that sea of +faces, her features alone shone before him, clearly, insistently. + +"Do you know her, Mr. Mauville?" asked the rhymster, observing that +steadfast glance. + +"Know her?" repeated the land baron, starting. "Oh, I've seen her +act." + +"Tip me off her points and I'll tip my readers." + +"She is going to play here then?" said the patroon. + +"Yes. What is she like? Does tragedy or comedy favor her most? +You see," he added apologetically, "when people begin to talk +about anybody, we Grubstreet hacks thrive on the gossip. It is +deplorable"--with regret--"but small talk and tattle bring more +than a choice lyric or sonnet. And, heaven help us!"--shaking his +head--"what a vendible article a fine scandal is! It sells fast, +like goods at a Dutch auction. Penny a line? More nearly six +pence! If I could only bring myself to deal in such merchandise! +If I were only a good rag picker, instead of a bad poet!" And Straws +walked away, forgetting the questions he had asked in his own +more interesting cogitations. + +Without definite purpose, the patroon, who had listened with scant +attention to the poet, began to move slowly toward the actress, and at +that moment, the eyes of the soldier, turning to the saddling paddock, +where the horses were being led out, fell upon the figure drawing +near, recognizing in him the heir to the manor, Edward Mauville. +Construing in his approach a deliberate intention, a flush of quick +anger overspread Saint-Prosper's face and he glanced at the girl by +his side. But her manner assured him she had not observed the land +baron, for at that moment she was looking in the opposite direction, +endeavoring to discover Barnes or the others of the company in the +immense throng. + +Murmuring some excuse to his unconscious companion and cutting short +the wiry old lady's reminiscences of the first public trotting race in +1818, the soldier left the box, and, moving with some difficulty +through the crowd, met Mauville in the aisle near the stairway. The +latter's face expressed surprise, not altogether of an agreeable +nature, at the encounter, but he immediately regained his composure. + +"Ah, Monsieur Saint-Prosper," he observed easily, "I little thought to +see you here." + +"Nor I you!" said the other bluntly. + +The patroon gazed in seeming carelessness from the soldier to the +young girl. Saint-Prosper's presence in New Orleans could be accounted +for; he had followed her from the Shadengo Valley across the +continent; the drive begun at the country inn--he looking down from +the dormer window to witness the start--had been a long one; very +different from his own brief flight, with its wretched end. These +thoughts coursed rapidly through the land baron's brain; her +appearance rekindled the ashes of the past; the fire in his breast +flamed from his eyes, but otherwise he made no display of feeling. He +glanced out upon the many faces below them, bowing to one woman and +smiling at another. + +"Oh, I couldn't stand a winter in the North," resumed the patroon, +turning once more to the soldier. "Although the barn-burners promised +to make it warm for me!" + +Offering no reply to this sally, Saint-Prosper's gaze continued to +rest coldly and expectantly upon the other. Goaded by that arbitrary +regard, an implied barrier between him and the young girl, the land +baron sought to press forward; his glittering eyes met the other's; +the glances they exchanged were like the thrust and parry of swords. +Without wishing to address the actress--and thereby risk a public +rebuff--it was, nevertheless, impossible for the hot-blooded +Southerner to submit to peremptory restraint. Who had made the soldier +his taskmaster? He read Saint-Prosper's purpose and was not slow to +retaliate. + +"If I am not mistaken, yonder is our divinity of the lane," said the +patroon softly. "Permit me." And he strove to pass. + +The soldier did not move. + +"You are blocking my way, Monsieur," continued the other, sharply. + +"Not if it lies the other way." + +"This way, or that way, how does it concern you?" retorted the land +baron. + +"If you seek further to annoy a lady whom you have already sufficiently +wronged, it is any man's concern." + +"Especially if he has followed her across the country," sneered +Mauville. "Besides, since when have actresses become so chary of their +favors?" In his anger the land baron threw out intimations he would +have challenged from other lips. "Has the stage then become a holy +convent?" + +"You stamped yourself a scoundrel some time ago," said the soldier +slowly, as though weighing each word, "and now show yourself a coward +when you malign a young girl, without father, brother--" + +"Or lover!" interrupted the land baron. "Perhaps, however, you were +only traveling to see the country! A grand tour, enlivened with +studies of human nature, as well as glimpses of scenery!" + +"Have you anything further with me?" interjected Saint-Prosper, +curtly. + +The patroon's blood coursed, burning, through his veins; the other's +contemptuous manner stung him more fiercely than language. + +"Yes," he said, meaningly, his eyes challenging Saint-Prosper's. "Have +you been at Spedella's fencing rooms? Are you in practice?" + +Saint-Prosper hesitated a moment and the land baron's face fell. Was +it possible the other would refuse to meet him? But he would not let +him off easily; there were ways to force--and suddenly the words of +the marquis recurring to him, he surveyed the soldier, disdainfully. + +"Gad! you must come of a family of cowards and traitors! But you shall +fight or--the public becomes arbiter!" And he half raised his arm +threateningly. + +The soldier's tanned cheek was now as pale as a moment before it had +been flushed; his mouth set resolutely, as though fighting back some +weakness. With lowering brows and darkening glance he regarded the +land baron. + +"I was thinking," he said at length, with an effort, "that if I killed +you, people would want to know the reason." + +The patroon laughed. "How solicitous you are for her welfare--and +mine! Do you then measure skill only by inches? If so, I confess you +would stand a fair chance of despatching me. But your address? The St. +Charles, I presume." The soldier nodded curtly, and, having +accomplished his purpose, Mauville had turned to leave, when loud +voices, in a front box near the right aisle, attracted general +attention from those occupying that part of the grand stand. The young +officer who had accompanied Susan to the races was angrily confronting +a thick-set man, the latest recruit to her corps of willing captives. +The lad had assumed the arduous task of guarding the object of his +fancy from all comers, simply because she had been kind. And why +should she not have been?--he was only a boy--she was old enough to +be--well, an adviser! When, after a brief but pointed altercation, he +flung himself away with a last reproachful look in the direction of +his enslaver, Susan looked hurt. That was her reward for being nice to +a child! + +"A fractious young cub!" said the thick-set man, complacently. + +"Well, I like cubs better than bears!" retorted Susan, pointedly. + +Not long, however, could the interest of the spectators be diverted +from the amusement of the day and soon all eyes were drawn once more +to the track where the horses' hoofs resounded with exciting patter, +as they struggled toward the wire, urged by the stimulating voices of +the jockeys. + +But even when Leduc won the race, beating the best heat on record; +when the ladies in the grand stand arose in a body, like a thousand +butterflies, disturbed by a sudden footfall in a sunlit field; when +the jockey became the hero of the hour; when the small boys outside +nearly fell from the trees in their exuberance of ecstasy, and the men +threw their hats in the air and shouted themselves hoarse--even these +exhilarating circumstances failed to reawaken the land baron's concern +in the scene around him. His efforts at indifference were chafing his +inmost being; the cloak of _insouciance_ was stifling him; the +primeval man was struggling for expression, that brute-like rage whose +only limits are its own fury and violence. + +A quavering voice, near at hand, recalled him to himself, and turning, +he beheld the marquis approaching with mincing manner, the paint and +pigments cracked by the artificial smiles wreathing his wrinkled face. +In that vast assemblage, amid all the energy, youth and surfeit of +vitality, he seemed like a dried and crackling leaf, tossed +helplessly, which any foot might crush to dust. The roar of the +multitude subsided, a storm dying in the distance; the ladies sank in +their seats--butterflies settling once more in the fields--and Leduc, +with drooping head, was led to the paddock, followed by a few fair +adorers. + +"I placed the winner, Monsieur Mauville," piped the marquis. "Though +the doctors told me the excitement would kill me! What folly! Every +new sensation adds a day to life." + +"In your case, certainly, Marquis, for I never saw you looking +younger," answered the land baron, with an effort. + +"You are too amiable, my dear friend! The ladies would not think so," +he added, mournfully wagging his head with anile melancholy. + +"Nonsense!" protested the other. "With your spirit, animation--" + +"If I thought you were right," interrupted the delighted marquis, +taking his young friend's arm, "I would ask you to present me to the +lady over there--the one you just bowed to." + +"The deuce!" said Mauville to himself. "The marquis is becoming a +bore." + +"You rascal! I saw the smile she gave you," continued the other +playfully. "And you ran away from her. What are the young men made of +nowadays? In the old days they were tinder; women sparks. But who is +she?" + +"You mean Susan Duran, the actress?" + +"An actress!" exclaimed the nobleman. "A charming creature at any +rate!" + +"All froth; a bubble!" added Mauville impatiently. + +"How entertaining! Any lovers?" leered the nobleman. + +"A dozen; a baker's dozen, for all I know!" + +"What is her history?" said the marquis eagerly. + +"I never inquired." + +"Sometimes it's just as well," murmured the other vaguely. "How old is +she?" + +"How can you tell?" answered Mauville. + +"In Paris I kept a little book wherein was entered the _passe-parole_ +of every pretty woman; age; lovers platonic! When a woman became a +grandmother, I put a black mark against her name, for I have always +held," continued the nobleman, wagging his head, "that a woman who is +a grandmother has no business to deceive a younger generation of men. +But present me to Miss Susan at once, my dear friend. I am all +impatience to meet her." + +His eagerness permitted no refusal; besides, Mauville was not in the +mood to enjoy the nobleman's society, and was but too pleased to turn +him over to the tender care of Susan. + +"How do you do, Miss Duran," he said, having made his way to her box. + +"Where did you drop from?" she asked, in surprise, giving him her +hand. + +"The skies," he returned, with forced lightness. + +"A fallen angel!" commented Susan. + +"Good! Charming!" cried the marquis, clapping his withered hands. + +"Miss Duran, the Marquis de Ligne has requested the pleasure of +meeting you." + +She flashed a smile at him. He bent over her hand; held it a moment in +his icy grasp. + +"The pleasure," said Susan, prettily, not shirking the ordeal, "is +mine." + +"In which case," added Mauville, half ironically, "I will leave you +together to enjoy your happiness." + +Eagerly availing himself of the place offered at her side, soon the +marquis was cackling after the manner of a senile beau of the old +school; relating spicy anecdotes of dames who had long departed this +realm of scandal; and mingling witticism and wickedness in one +continual flow, until like a panorama another age was revived in his +words--an age when bedizened women wore patches and their perfumed +gallants wrote verses on the demise of their lap-dogs; when "their +virtue resembled a statesman's religion, the Quaker's word, the +gamester's oath and the great man's honor--but to cheat those that +trusted them!" + +The day's events, however, were soon over; the city of pleasure +finally capitulated; its people began rapidly to depart. That sudden +movement resembled the migration of a swarm of bees to form a new +colony, when, if the day be bright, the expedition issues forth with +wondrous rapidity. So this human hive commenced to empty itself of +queens, drones and workers. It was an outgoing wave of such life and +animation as is apparent in the flight of a swarm of cell-dwellers, +giving out a loud and sharp-toned hum from the action of their wings +as they soar over the blooming heather and the "bright consummate +flowers." And these human bees had their passions, too! their +massacres; their tragedies; their "Rival Queens"; their combats; their +sentinels; their dreams of that Utopian form of government realized in +the communistic society of insects. + +"How did you enjoy it, my dear?" asked Barnes, suddenly reappearing at +Constance's box. "A grand heat, that! Though I did bet on the wrong +horse! But don't wait for us, Saint-Prosper. Mrs. Adams and I will +take our time getting through the crowd. I will see you at the hotel, +my dear!" he added, as the soldier and Constance moved away. + +Only the merry home-going remained, and the culmination, a dinner at +Moreau's, Victor's, or Miguel's, the natural epilogue to the day's +pastime, the tag to the comedy! In the returning throng were creoles +with sky-blue costumes and palmetto hats; the Lafourche or Attakapas +planter; representatives of the older régime and the varied newer +populace. Superb equipages mingled in democratic confusion with carts +and wagons; the broken-winded nag and spavined crowbait--veterans at +the bugle call!--pricked up their ears and kicked up their heels like +colts in pasture, while the delighted darkies thumped their bony +shanks to encourage this brief rejuvenescence. + +Those who had lost felt the money well spent; those who had won would +be the more lavish in the spending. They had simply won a few more +pleasures. "Quick come; quick go!" sang the whirling wheels. "The +niggard in pound and pence is a usurer in happiness; a miser driving a +hard bargain with pleasure. Better burn the candle at both ends than +not burn it at all! In one case, you get light; in the other nothing +but darkness. Laughter is cheap at any price. A castle in the air is +almost as durable as Solomon's temple. How soon--how soon both fade +away!" + +Thus ran the song of the wheels before them and behind them, as the +soldier and Constance joined the desultory fag-end of the procession. +On either side of the road waved the mournful cypress, draped by the +hoary tillandsia, and from the somber depths of foliage came the chirp +of the tree-crickets and the note of the swamp owl. Faint music, in +measured rhythm, a foil to disconnected wood-sound, was wafted from a +distant plantation. + +"Wait!" said Constance. + +He drew in the horses and silently they listened. Or, was he +listening? His glance seemed bent so moodily--almost!--on space she +concluded he was not. She stole a sidelong look at him. + +"A penny for your thoughts!" she said gaily. + +He started. "I was thinking how soon I might leave New Orleans." + +"Leave New Orleans!" she repeated in surprise. "But I thought you +intended staying here. Why have you changed your mind?" + +Did he detect a subtle accent of regret in her voice? A deep flush +mounted to his brow. He bent over her suddenly, eagerly. + +"Would it matter--if I went?" + +She drew back at the abruptness of his words. + +"How unfair to answer one question with another!" she said lightly. + +A pause fell between them. Perhaps she, too, felt the sudden repulse +of her own answer and the ensuing constraint. Perhaps some compunction +moved her to add in a voice not entirely steady: + +"And so you think--of going back to France?" + +"To France!" he repeated, quickly. "No"--and stopped. + +Looking up, a half-questioning light in her eyes took flight to his, +until suddenly arrested by the hard, set expression of his features. +Abruptly chilled by she knew not what, her lashes fell. The horses +champed their bits and tugged at the reins, impatient of the prolonged +pause. + +"Let us go!" she said in a low, constrained voice. + +At her words he turned, the harshness dropping from his face like a +discarded mask; the lines of determination wavering. + +"Let us go!" she said again, without looking up. + +He made no motion to obey, until the sound of a vehicle behind them +seemed to break the spell and mechanically he touched the horses with +the whip. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LEAR AND JULIET + + +Susan dismissed her admirers at the races with some difficulty, +especially the tenacious marquis, who tenderly squeezed her hand, +saying: + +"Were I twenty years younger, I would not thus be set aside." + +"Fie, Marquis!" she returned. "These other people are dull, while you +are charmingly wicked." + +"You flatter me," he cackled, detaining her, to the impatience of the +thick-set man who was waiting to escort the young woman back to town. +"But do you notice the gentleman over there with the medals?" + +"The distinguished-looking man?" asked Susan. + +"Yes; that is the Count de Propriac. It was he who was one of the +agents of Louis Philippe in the Spanish double marriage plot. It was +arranged the queen should marry her cousin, and her sister the son of +Louis Philippe. The queen and her cousin were not expected to have +children--but had them, to spite us all, and Louis Philippe's projects +for the throne of Spain failed disastrously." + +"How inconsiderate of the queen! Good afternoon, marquis! I have been +vastly entertained." + +"And I"--kissing her hand--"enamored!" Then, chuckling: "A week ago my +stupid doctors had me laid out in funereal dignity, and now I am +making love to a fine woman. Pretty pouting lips!"--tapping her chin +playfully--"Like rose-buds! Happy the lover who shall gather the dew! +But we meet again, Mistress Susan?" + +"That will depend upon you, marquis," answered Susan, coquettishly, as +a thought flashed through her mind that it would not be unpleasant to +be called "Marquise," or "Marchioness"--she did not quite know which +would be the proper title. It was nearly vesper-time with the old +nobleman; he seemed but a procrastinating presence in the evening of +mortal life; a chateau and carriage-- + +"Then we will meet again," said the marquis, interrupting these +new-born ambitions. + +"In that case you would soon get tired of me," laughed Susan. + +"Never!" Tenderly. "When may I see you?" + +"How importunate you are! Call when you will." + +"But if you are out"--he insisted. + +"That will make it the more delightfully uncertain," she said gaily. + +"So it will!" Rubbing his hands. "Delightfully uncertain!" he +repeated. And he departed with many protestations, taking no more +notice of the thick-set man than if he were a block of wood. + +"What an old ape!" growled the latter, viciously, as the marquis +ambled from their stall. + +"Do you think so?" answered Susan, tossing her head. "He has that air +of distinction which only persons of rank and title can command." + +"Distinction!" said the other, who was but a well-to-do merchant. "I +should call it bad manners." + +"Because he never noticed you!" laughed Susan, spitefully. "But why +are we standing here? I believe you expect to take me home, don't +you?" + +Although she chattered like a magpie on the road, he was silent and +sullen, nursing his injured pride and wounded self-sufficiency. Susan, +who was interested in him for the novel reason she disliked him so +heartily, parted from him with the air of a duchess, and entered the +hotel, holding her head so high that he swore under his breath as he +drove away. And, as a result of the quarrel with the lad, he would +probably have to risk being "pinked" for this jade! Susan, on the +other hand, was as happy as a lark when she entered the dining-room of +the St. Charles, that great eating-place and meeting-place of all +classes of people. + +As she seated herself at a table, a smile lurked around the corners of +her mouth and flickered faintly upon the waiter who forthwith became a +Mercury for expedition and a prodigal for variety. Her quarrel on the +road with her companion had in nowise interfered with that appetite +which the fresh air and the lateness of the hour had provoked, nor +were her thoughts of a character to deter from the zest of eating. + +From the present to the past was but an instant's flight of the +mind--thus may the once august years swiftly and unceremoniously be +marshaled by!--and she dwelt in not unpleasing retrospection on an +endless field of investigation and discovery and the various +experiences which had befallen her in arriving at the present period +of mature knowledge; a proficiency which converted her chosen +researches into an exact science. + +Thus meditating and dining--counting on her fingers twice over +the fair actresses who had become titled ladies, and enviously +disbelieving she would join that triumphant company--Susan was +still seated at the table some time later when the soldier glanced +in. Imperatively she motioned him to her side and he obeyed with +not entirely concealed reluctance, and was so preoccupied, she +rallied him upon his reserve. + +"I believe you and Constance had a quarrel on the road." Maliciously. +"I hope you were more amiable than my companion. He hardly spoke a +word, and, when I left him"--her voice sank to a whisper--"I heard him +swear." + +"He pleased you so much earlier in the day that a duel will probably +be the outcome." + +Susan laughed gaily. + +"A duel! Then my fortune is made. All the newspapers will contain +paragraphs. It is too good to be true." And she clapped her hands. +"When is it to take place? Tell me about it!" + +Then noting his manner, she continued with an assumption of +plaintiveness: "Now you are cross with me! You think me heartless. Is +it my fault? I care nothing for either of them and I am not to be +blamed if they are so foolish. It might be different if either had +touched my heart." And she assumed a coquettish demeanor, while +Saint-Prosper coolly studied her through the wreaths of smoke from his +weed. + +"You are wondering what sort of a person I am!" she continued, +merrily, raising her glass of wine with: "To unrequited passion!" + +Her roguish face sparkled as he asked; "Whose?" + +She drained the glass and set it down demurely. "Mine!" + +The cigar was suspended; the veil cleared between them. + +"For whom?" he said. + +"You!" Offering him the limpid depths of her blue eyes. "Is my liking +returned?" + +"Liking? Perhaps!" + +"My love?" + +"Love? No." Coldly. + +"You do not fear a woman scorned?" Her lips curved in a smile, +displaying her faultless teeth. + +"Not when the avenging angel is so charming and so heartless!" he +added satirically. + +Her lashes veiled the azure orbs. + +"You think to disarm her with a compliment? How well you understand +women!" And, as he rose, the pressure of the hand she gave him at +parting was lingering. + + * * * * * + +Above in his room, Barnes, with plays and manuscripts scattered around +him, was engaged in writing in his note and date book, wherein +autobiography, ledger and journal accounts, and such miscellaneous +matter mingled indiscriminately. "To-day she said to me: 'I am going +to the races with Mr. Saint-Prosper.' What did I say? 'Yes,' of +course. What can there be in common between Lear and Juliet? +Naturally, she sometimes turns from an old fellow like me--now, if she +were only a slip of a girl again--with her short frock--her disorder +of long ringlets--running and romping-- + +"A thousand details pass through my mind, reminiscences of her +girlhood, lightening a lonesome life like glimmerings of sunshine in a +secluded wood; memories of her mother and the old days when she played +in my New York theater--for Barnes, the stroller, was once a +metropolitan manager! Her fame had preceded her and every admirer of +histrionic art eagerly awaited her arrival. + +"But the temple of art is a lottery. The town that had welcomed her so +wildly now went Elssler-mad. The gossamer floatings of this French +_danseuse_ possessed everyone. People courted trash and trumpery. +Greatness gave way to triviality. This pitiful condition preyed upon +her. The flame of genius never for a moment became less dim, but her +eyes grew larger, brighter, more melancholy. Sometimes she would fall +into a painful reverie and I knew too well the subject of her +thoughts. With tender solicitude she would regard her daughter, +thinking, thinking! She was her only hope, her only joy! + +"'The town wants dancers, not tragedians, Mr. Barnes,' she said sadly +one day. + +"'Nonsense,' I replied. 'The town wants a change of bill. We will put +on a new piece next week.' + +"'It will be but substituting one tragedy for another,' she retorted. +'One misfortune for a different one! You should import a rival dancer. +You are going down; down hill! I will leave you; perhaps you will +discover your dancer, and your fortune is made!' + +"'And you? What would you do?' I demanded. 'And your child?' + +"At this her eyes filled and she could not answer. 'And now, Madam,' I +said firmly, 'I refuse once and for all to permit you to break your +contract. Pooh! The tide will change. Men and women are sometimes +fools; but they are not fools all the time. The dancer will have had +her day. She will twirl her toes to the empty seats and throw her +kisses into unresponsive space. Our patrons will gradually return; +they will grow tired of wriggling and twisting, and look again for a +more substantial diet.' + +"Matters did, indeed, begin to mend somewhat, when to bring the whole +fabric tumbling down on our heads, this incomparable woman fell ill. + +"'You see? I have ruined you,' she said sadly. + +"'I am honored, Madam,' was all I could reply. + +"She placed her hand softly on mine and let her luminous eyes rest on +me. + +"'Dear old friend!' she murmured. + +"Then she closed her eyes and I thought she was sleeping. Some time +elapsed when she again opened them. + +"'Death will break our contract, Mr. Barnes,' she said softly. + +"I suppose my hand trembled, for she tightened her grasp and continued +firmly: 'It is not so terrible, after all, or would not be, but for +one thing.' + +"'You will soon get well, Madam,' I managed to stammer. + +"'No! Do you care? It is pleasant to have one true, kind friend in the +world; one who makes a woman believe again in the nobility of human +nature. My life has been sad as you know. I should not regret giving +it up. Nor should I fear to die. I can not think that God will be +unkind to one who has done her best; at least, has tried to. Yet there +is one thing that makes me crave for life. My child--what will she +do--poor, motherless, fatherless girl--all alone, all alone--. + +"'Madam, if I may--will you permit me to care for her? If I might +regard her as my child!' + +"How tightly she held my hand at that! Her eyes seemed to blaze +with heavenly fire. But let me not dwell further upon the sad +events that led to the end of her noble career. Something of her life +I had heard; something, I surmised. Unhappy as a woman, she was +majestic as an actress; the fire of her voice struck every ear; its +sweetness had a charm, never to be forgotten. But only to those who +knew her well were revealed the unvarying truth and simplicity of her +nature. Even as I write, her spirit, tender and steadfast, seems +standing by my side; I feel her eyes in the darkness of night, and, +when the time comes--and often of late, it has seemed not far--to go +from this mere dressing-room, the earth, into the higher life--" + +A knock at the door rudely dispelled these memories. For a moment the +manager looked startled, as one abruptly called back to his immediate +surroundings; then the pen fell from his hand, and he pushed the book +from him to the center of the table. + +"Come in," he said. + +The door opened and Saint-Prosper entered. + +"Am I interrupting you?" asked the soldier, glancing at the littered +table. + +"Not at all," answered the manager, recovering himself, and settling +back in his chair. "Make yourself at home. You'll find some cigars on +the mantel, or if you prefer your pipe, there's a jar of tobacco on +the trunk. Do you find it? I haven't had time yet to bring order out +of chaos. A manager's trunks are like a junk-shop, with everything +from a needle to an anchor." + +Filling his pipe from the receptacle indicated, which lay among old +costumes and wigs, the soldier seated himself near an open window that +looked out upon a balcony. Through a door at the far end of the +balcony a light streamed from a chandelier within, playing upon the +balustrade. Once the figure of the young actress stepped for a moment +out upon the balcony; she leaned upon the balustrade, looked across +the city, breathed the perfume of the flowers, and then quickly +vanished. + +"Can you spare me a little time to-morrow morning--early--before +rehearsal?" said Saint-Prosper, finally. + +"Yes," returned the manager, in surprise. "What is it?" + +"A foolish piece of business! The patroon is in New Orleans." + +Barnes uttered an exclamation of annoyance and apprehension. "Here! +What is he doing here?" he said. "I thought we had seen the last of +him. Has he followed--Constance?" + +"I don't know. We met yesterday at the races." + +"It is strange she did not tell me about it," remarked the manager, +without endeavoring to conceal the anxiety this unexpected information +afforded him. + +"She does not know he is here." And Saint-Prosper briefly related the +circumstances of his meeting with the land baron, to which the manager +listened attentively. + +"And so she must be dragged into it?" exclaimed Barnes at length, +resentfully. "Her name must become public property in a broil?" + +A frown darkened the soldier's face, but he replied quickly: "Need any +one know? The land baron has not been seen with her." + +"No; but you have," returned the manager, suddenly pausing and looking +down at the other. + +The silence between them lasted for some moments. Barnes stood with +his hands in his pockets, his face downcast and moody. He felt that +events were happening over which he had no control, but which were +shaping the destiny of all he loved best. In the dim light the rugged +lines of his countenance were strongly, decisively outlined. Turning +to the trunk, with a quick, nervous step, he filled a pipe himself. +After he had lighted it, he once more contemplated the soldier, +thinking deeply, reviewing the past. + +"We have been together for some time, Mr. Saint-Prosper," he said, at +length. "We have gone through fair and rough weather, and"--he paused +a moment before continuing--"should understand each other. You asked +me when you came in if you were interrupting me, and I told you that +you were not. As a matter of fact, you were." + +And, walking to a table, Barnes took up the notebook. + +"A garrulous, single man must tell his little secrets somewhere," he +continued. "Will you look at the pages I was writing when you came +in?" + +Saint-Prosper took the book, and, while he was turning the leaves that +were hardly dry, the manager relighted his pipe, over which he glanced +nervously from time to time at his companion. Finally, when the +soldier had finished the perusal of the diary, Barnes turned to him +expectantly, but the other silently laid down the little volume, and, +after waiting some moments for him to speak, the manager, as though +disappointed by his reticence, breathed a sigh. Then, clearing his +throat, in a voice somewhat husky, he went on, simply: + +"You will understand now why she is so much to me. I have always +wanted to keep her from the world as much as possible; to have her +world, her art! I have tried to keep the shadow of the past from her. +An actress has a pretty face; and there's a hue and cry! It is not +notoriety she seeks, but fame; fame, bright and pure as sunlight!" + +"The land baron will not cry abroad the cause of the meeting," said +the soldier, gravely. "These fashionable affairs need but flimsy +pretexts." + +"Flimsy pretexts!" cried Barnes. "A woman's reputation--her good +name--" + +"Hush!" said Saint-Prosper. + + +From the door at the far end of the balcony Constance had again +emerged and now approached their room. A flowing gown of an early +period surrounded her like a cloud as she paused before Barnes' +apartment. At the throat a deep-falling collar was closely fastened; +the sleeves were gathered in at elbow and wrist, and from a +"coverchief," set upon the dusky hair, fell a long veil of ample +proportions. With the light shimmering on the folds of her raiment, +she stood looking through the open door, regarding the manager and +Saint-Prosper. + +"Oh, you are not alone?" she said to the former. "You look as though +you were talking together very seriously?" she added, turning to +Saint-Prosper. + +"Nothing of consequence, Miss Carew!" he replied, flushing beneath her +clear eyes. + +"Only about some scenery!" interposed the manager, so hastily that she +glanced, slightly surprised, from the one to the other. "Some sets +that are--" + +"'Flimsy pretexts!' I caught that much! I only wanted to ask you about +this costume. Is it appropriate, do you think, for the part we were +talking about?" Turning around slowly, with arms half-raised. + +"Charming, my dear; charming!" he answered, enthusiastically. + +"If I only thought that an unbiased criticism!" Her dark lashes +lowered; she looked toward the soldier, half shyly, half mockingly. +"What do you think, Mr. Saint-Prosper?" + +At that moment her girlish grace was irresistible. + + +"I think it is not only appropriate, but"--looking at her and not at +the costume--"beautiful!" + +A gleam like laughter came into her eyes; nor did she shun his +kindling gaze. + +"Thank you!" she said, and courtesied low. + + * * * * * + +That same evening Spedella's fencing rooms were fairly thronged with +devotees of the ancient art of puncturing. The master of the place was +a tall Italian, lank and lean, all bone and muscle, with a Don Quixote +visage, barring a certain villainous expression of the eyes, +irreconcilable with the chivalrous knight-errant of distressed +Dulcineas. But every man with a bad eye is not necessarily a +rascallion, and Spedella, perhaps, was better than he looked. With a +most melancholy glance he was now watching two combatants, novices in +feats of arms. Dejection sat upon his brow; he yawned over a clumsy +_feinte seconde_, when his sinister eyes fell on a figure that had +just entered the hall. Immediately his melancholy vanished, and he +advanced to meet the newcomer with stately cordiality. + +"Well met, Mr. Mauville," he exclaimed, extending a bony hand that had +fingers like the grip of death. "What good fortune brought you here?" + +"An ill wind, Spedella, rather!" + +"It's like a breath of the old days to see you; the old days before +you began your wanderings!" + +"Get the foils, Spedella; I'll have a bout with the master. Gad, +you're as ill-looking as ever! It's some time since I've touched a +foil. I want to test myself. I have a little affair to-morrow. Hark +you, my old brigand; I wish to see if I can kill him!" + +"A lad of spirit!" chuckled the master, a gleam of interest illumining +his cavernous eyes. "Young!--frisky!--an affair of honor to-day is but +nursery sport. Two children with tin swords are more diverting. The +world goes backward! A counter-jumper thinks he can lunge, because he +is spry, that he can touch a button because he sells them. And I am +wasting my genius with ribbon-venders--" + +"I see the wolf growls as much as ever!" said the patroon. "Here's a +quiet corner. Come; tell me what I've forgotten." + +"Good!" returned the other. "You can tell me about your travels as we +fence." + +"Hang my travels!" replied the patroon, as they leisurely engaged. +"They've brought me nothing but regrets." + +"_Feinte flanconnade_--well done!" murmured Spedella. "So it was not +honey you brought home from your rambles? _Feinte seconde_ and +decisive tierce! It's long since I've touched a good blade. These +glove-sellers and perfume-dealers--" + +"You are bitter against trade, my bravo," remarked the land baron. + +"I was spoiling with languor when you came. Not bad, that feint--but +dangerous, because of the possibility of misjudging the attack. Learn +the paroles he affects to-morrow by quick, simple thrusts, and then +you will know what feints to attack him with. Time in octave--you +quitted the blade in a dangerous position. Cluck; cluck, my game cock! +Intemperance has befogged your judgment; high-living has dimmed +your--" + +"You have it!" laughed the land baron. + +The button of his foil touched the old bravo's breast; the steel was +bent like a bow. + +Spedella forgot his English and swore in soft and liquid Italian. "I +looked around to see how those ribbon-venders were getting on," he +said after this euphonious, foreign prelude. "They pay me; I have to +keep an eye on them. All the same," he added, generously, "there isn't +another man in New Orleans could have stopped that stroke--except +myself!" + +"Will I do--for to-morrow?" asked the patroon, moodily. + +The master cocked his head quizzically; his deep-set eyes were soft +and friendly. + +"The devil's with him, if you don't put your spur in him, my bantam!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE MEETING BENEATH THE OAKS + + +The mist was lifting from the earth and nature lay wrapped in the rosy +peace of daybreak as the sun's shafts of gold pierced the foliage, +illumining the historic ground of the Oaks. Like shining lances, they +gleamed from the interstices in the leafy roof to the dew-bejeweled +sward. From this stronghold of glistening arms, however, the +surrounding country stretched tranquil and serene. Upon a neighboring +bank sheep were browsing; in the distance cow-bells tinkled, and the +drowsy cowherds followed the cattle, faithful as the shepherds who +tended their flocks on the Judean hills. + +Beneath the spreading trees were assembled a group of persons +variously disposed. A little dapper man was bending over a case of +instruments, as merry a soul as ever adjusted a ligature or sewed a +wound. Be-ribboned and be-medaled, the Count de Propriac, acting for +the land baron, and Barnes, who had accompanied the soldier, were +consulting over the weapons, a magnificent pair of rapiers with costly +steel guards, set with initials and a coronet. Member of an ancient +society of France which yet sought to perpetuate the memory of the old +judicial combat and the more modern duel, the count was one of those +persons who think they are in honor bound to bear a challenge, without +questioning the cause, or asking the "color of a reason." + +"A superb pair of weapons, count!" observed the doctor, rising. + +"Yes," said the person addressed, holding the blade so that the +sunlight ran along the steel; "the same Jacques Legres and I fought +with!" + +Here the count smiled in a melancholy manner, which left no doubt +regarding the fate of the hapless Jacques. But after a moment he +supplemented this indubitable assurance by adding specifically: + +"The left artery of the left lung!" + +"Bless my soul!" commented the medical man. "But what is this head in +gold beneath the guard?" + +"Saint Michael, the patron saint of duelists!" answered the count. + +"Patron!" exclaimed the doctor. "Well, all I have to say is, it is a +saintless business for Michael." + +The count laughed and turned away with a business-like air. + +"Are you ready, gentlemen?" + +At his words the contestants immediately took their positions. The +land baron, lithe and supple, presented a picture of insolent and +conscious pride, his glance lighted by disdain, but smoldering with +fiercer passions as he examined and tested his blade. + +"Engage!" exclaimed the count. + +With ill-concealed eagerness, Mauville began a vigorous, although +guarded attack, as if asserting his supremacy, and at the same time +testing his man. The buzzing switch of the steel became angrier; the +weapons glinted and gleamed, intertwining silently and separating with +a swish. The patroon's features glowed; his movements became quicker, +and, executing a rapid parry, he lunged with a thrust so stealthy his +blade was beaten down only as it touched the soldier's breast. + +Mauville smiled, but Barnes groaned inwardly, feeling his courage and +confidence fast oozing from him. Neither he nor the other spectators +doubted the result. Strength would count but little against such +agility; the land baron was an incomparable swordsman. + +"Gad!" muttered the count to himself. "It promises to be short and +sweet." + +As if to demonstrate the verity of this assertion, Mauville suddenly +followed his momentary advantage with a dangerous lunge from below. +Involuntarily Barnes looked away, but his wandering attention was +immediately recalled. From the lips of the land baron burst an +exclamation of mingled pain and anger. Saint-Prosper had not only +parried the thrust, but his own blade, by a rapid _riposte_, had +grazed the shoulder of his foe. + +Nor was the manager's surprise greater than that of the count. The +latter, amazed this unusual strategem should have failed when directed +by a wrist as trained and an eye as quick as Mauville's, now +interposed. + +"Enough!" he exclaimed, separating the contestants. "Demme! it was +superb. Honor has been satisfied." + +"It is nothing!" cried the land baron, fiercely. "His blade hardly +touched me." In his exasperation and disappointment over his failure, +Mauville was scarcely conscious of his wound. "I tell you it is +nothing," he repeated. + +"What do you say, Mr. Saint-Prosper?" asked the count. + +"I am satisfied," returned the young man, coldly. + +"But I'm not!" reiterated the patroon, restraining himself with +difficulty. "It was understood we should continue until _both_ were +willing to stop!" + +"No," interrupted the count, suavely; "it was understood you should +continue, if both were willing!" + +"And you're not!" exclaimed the land baron, wheeling on Saint-Prosper. +"Did you leave the army because--" + +"Gentlemen, gentlemen! let us observe the proprieties!" expostulated +the count. "Is it your intention, sir"--to Saint-Prosper--"not to +grant my principal's request?" + +A fierce new anger gleamed from the soldier's eyes, completely +transforming his expression and bearing. His glance quickly swept from +the count to Mauville at the studied insult of the latter's words; on +his cheek burned a dark red spot. + +"Let it go on!" + +The count stepped nimbly from his position between the two men. Again +the swords crossed. The count's glance bent itself more closely on the +figure of the soldier; noting now how superbly poised was his body; +what reserves of strength were suggested by the white, muscular arm! +His wrist moved like a machine, lightly brushing aside the thrusts. +Had it been but accident that Mauville's unlooked-for expedient had +failed? + +"The devil!" thought the count, watching the soldier. "Here is a +fellow who has deceived us all." + +But the land baron's zest only appeared to grow in proportion to the +resistance he encountered; the lust for fighting increased with the +music of the blades. For some moments he feinted and lunged, seeking +an opening, however slight. Again he appeared bent upon forcing a +quick conclusion, for suddenly with a rush he sought to break over +Saint-Prosper's guard, and succeeded in wounding the other slightly in +the forehead. Now sure of his man, Mauville sprang at him savagely. + +But dashing the blood from his eyes with his free hand, and without +giving way, Saint-Prosper met the assault with a wrist of iron, and +the land baron failed to profit by what had seemed a certain +advantage. The wound had the effect of making the soldier more +cautious, and eye, foot and hand were equally true. Mauville was +breathing heavily from his exertions, but the appearance of both men, +the supple movements of the one contrasting with the perfect precision +of the other, would have delighted those members of the count's +society, who regarded these matches as leading to a renaissance of +chivalry. + +In his fury that his chance had slipped away, after wounding, and, as +he supposed, blinding his opponent, Mauville, throwing prudence to the +winds, recklessly attempted to repeat his rash expedient, and this +time the steel of his antagonist gleamed like quicksilver, passing +beneath his arm and inflicting a slight flesh wound. Something +resembling a look of apprehension crossed the land baron's face. "I +have underestimated him!" he thought. "The next stroke will be driven +nearer home." + +He felt no fear, however; only mute, helpless rage. In the soldier's +hand the dainty weapon was a thing of marvelous cunning; his vastly +superior strength made him practically tireless in this play. Not only +tireless; he suddenly accelerated the tempo of the exercise, but +behind this unexpected, even passionate, awakening, the spectators +felt an unvarying accuracy, a steely coldness of purpose. The blades +clicked faster; they met and parted more viciously; the hard light in +Saint-Prosper's eyes grew brighter as he slowly thrust back his +antagonist. + +Mauville became aware his own vigor was slowly failing him; instead of +pressing the other he was now obliged to defend himself. He strove to +throw off the lethargy irresistibly stealing over him; to shake the +leaden movements from his limbs. He vainly endeavored to penetrate the +mist falling before his eyes and to overcome the dizziness that made +his foeman seem like a figure in a dream. Was it through loss of +blood, or weariness, or both?--but he was cognizant his thrusts had +lost force, his plunges vitality, and that even an element of chance +prevailed in his parries. But he uttered no sound. When would that +mist become dark, and the golden day fuse into inky night? + +Before the mist totally eclipsed his sight he determined to make one +more supreme effort, and again sprang forward, but was driven back +with ease. The knowledge that he was continuing a futile struggle +smote him to the soul. Gladly would he have welcomed the fatal thrust, +if first he could have sent his blade through that breast which so far +had been impervious to his efforts. Now the scene went round and +round; the golden day became crimson, scarlet; then gray, leaden, +somber. Incautiously he bent his arm to counter an imaginary lunge, +and his antagonist thrust out his rapier like a thing of life, +transfixing Mauville's sword arm. He stood his ground bravely for a +moment, playing feebly into space, expecting the fatal stroke! When +would it come? Then the slate-colored hues were swallowed in a black +cloud. But while his mind passed into unconsciousness, his breast was +openly presented to his antagonist, and even the count shuddered. + +With his blade at guard, Saint-Prosper remained motionless; the land +baron staggered feebly and then sank softly to the earth. That fatal +look, the expression of a duelist, vanished from the soldier's face, +and, allowing the point of his weapon to drop to the ground, he +surveyed his prostrate antagonist. + +"Done like a gentleman!" cried the count, breathing more freely. "You +had him at your mercy, sir"--to Saint-Prosper--"and spared him." + +A cold glance was the soldier's only response, as without a word he +turned brusquely away. Meanwhile the doctor, hastening to Mauville's +side, opened his shirt. + +"He is badly hurt?" asked Barnes, anxiously, of the surgeon. + +"No; only fainted from loss of blood," replied that gentleman, +cheerfully. "He will be around again in a day or two." + +The count put away his blades as carefully as a mother would deposit +her babe in the cradle. + +"Another page of history, my chicks!" he observed. "Worthy of the song +of Pindar!" + +"Why not Straws or Phazma?" queried the surgeon, looking up from his +task. + +"Would you have the press take up the affair? There are already people +who talk of abolishing dueling. When they do they will abolish +reputation with it. And what's a gentleman got but his honor--demme!" +And the royal emissary carefully brushed a crimson stain from the +bespattered saint. + +By this time the land baron had regained consciousness, and, his +wounds temporarily bandaged, walked, with the assistance of the count, +to his carriage. As they were about to drive away the sound of a +vehicle was heard drawing near, and soon it appeared followed by +another equipage. Both stopped at the confines of the Oaks and the +friends of the thick-set man--Susan's admirer--and the young lad, on +whom she had smiled, alighted. + +"Ha!" exclaimed the doctor, who had accompanied the count and his +companion to the carriage. "Number two!" + +"Yes," laughed the count, as he leaned back against the soft cushions, +"it promises to be a busy day at the Oaks! Really"--as the equipage +rolled on--"New Orleans is fast becoming a civilized center--demme!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A BLOT IN THE 'SCUTCHEON + + +The land baron's injuries did not long keep him indoors, for it was +his pride rather than his body that had received deep and bitter +wounds. He chafed and fumed when he thought how, in all likelihood, +the details of his defeat could not be suppressed in the clubs and +_cafés_. This anticipated publicity he took in ill part, fanning his +mental disorder with brandy, mellow and insidious with age. But +beneath the dregs of indulgence lay an image which preyed upon his +mind more than his defeat beneath the Oaks: a figure, on the crude +stage of a country tavern; in the manor window, with an aureole around +her from the sinking sun; in the grand stand at the races, the gay +dandies singling her out in all that seraglio of beauty. + +"I played him too freely," he groaned to the Count de Propriac, as the +latter sat contemplatively nursing the ivory handle of his cane and +offering the land baron such poor solace as his company afforded. "I +misjudged the attack, besides exposing myself too much. If I could +only meet him again!" + +The visitor reflectively took the handle of the stick from his lips, +thrust out his legs and yawned. The count was sleepy, having drowned +dull care the night before, and had little sympathy with such spirited +talk so early in the day. His lack-luster gaze wandered to the +pictures on the wall, the duel between two court ladies for the +possession of the Duc de Richelieu and an old print of the deadly +public contest of François de Vivonne and Guy de Jarnac and then +strayed languidly to the other paraphernalia of a high-spirited +bachelor's rooms--foils, dueling pistols and masks--trappings that but +served to recall to the land baron his defeat. + +"It would be like running against a stone wall," said the count, +finally; "demme if it wouldn't! He could have killed you!" + +"Why didn't he do it, then?" demanded the land baron, fiercely. + +The count shrugged his shoulders, drank his brandy, and handed the +bottle to his companion, who helped himself, as though not averse to +that sort of medicine for his physical and mental ailments. + +"What's the news?" he asked abruptly, sinking back on his pillow. + +"The levees are flooded." + +"Hanged if I care if it's another deluge!" said Mauville. "I mean news +of the town, not news of the river." + +"There's a new beauty come to town--a brunette; all the bloods are +talking about her. Where did she come from? Who is she? These are +some of the questions asked. But she's a Peri, at any rate! shy, hard +to get acquainted with--at first! An actress--Miss Carew!" + +The glass trembled in the patroon's hand. "Do you know her?" he asked +unsteadily. + +Smiling, the visitor returned the cane to his lips and gazed into +vacancy, as though communing with agreeable thoughts. + +"I have met her," he said finally. "Yes; I may say I have met her. +Ged! Next to a duel with rapiers is one with eyes. They thrust at +you; you parry; they return, and, demme! you're stabbed! But don't ask +me any more--discretion--you understand--between men of the +world--demme!"--and the count relapsed into a vacuous dream. + +"What a precious liar he is!" commented the land baron to himself. But +his mind soon reverted to the duel once more. "If I had only followed +Spedella's advice and studied his favorite parades!" he muttered, +regretfully. + +"It would have been the same," retorted the count, brutally. "When you +lost your temper, you lost your cause. Your work was brilliant; but he +is one of the best swordsmen I ever saw. Who is he, anyway?" + +"All I know is, he served in Algiers," said Mauville, moodily. + +"A demmed adventurer, probably!" exclaimed the other. + +"I'd give a good deal to know his record," remarked the patroon, +contemplatively. "You should be pretty well acquainted with the +personnel of the army?" + +"It includes everybody nowadays," replied the diplomat. "I have a +large acquaintance, but I am not a directory. A person who knows +everybody usually knows nobody--worth knowing! But it seems to me I +did know of a Saint-Prosper at the military college at Saumur; or was +it at the _Ecole d'application d'état-major_? Demmed scapegrace, if I +am not mistaken; sent to Algiers; must be the same. A hell-rake +hole!--full of German and French outcasts! Knaves, adventureres, ready +for plunder and loot!" + +Here the count, after this outburst, closed his eyes and seemed almost +on the point of dropping off, but suddenly straightened himself. + +"Let's get the cards, or the dice, Mauville," he said, "or I'll fall +into a doze. Such a demmed sleepy climate!" + +Soon the count was shuffling and the land baron and he were playing +bezique, but in spite of the latter's drowsiness, he won steadily from +his inattentive companion, and, although the noble visitor had some +difficulty in keeping his eyes open, what there was of his glance was +vigilantly concentrated on his little pile of the coin of the realm. +His watchfulness did not relax nor his success desert him, until +Mauville finally threw down the cards in disgust, weary alike of such +poor luck and the half-nodding automaton confronting him; whereupon +the count thrust every piece of gold carefully away in his pocket, +absently reached for his hat, drawled a perfunctory farewell and +departed in a brown study. + +The count's company, of which he had enjoyed a good deal during the +past forty-eight hours, did not improve Mauville's temper, and he bore +his own reflections so grudgingly that inaction became intolerable. +Besides, certain words of his caller concerning Saint-Prosper had +stimulated his curiosity, and, in casting about for a way to confirm +his suspicions, he had suddenly determined in what wise to proceed. +Accordingly, the next day he left his rooms, his first visit being to +a spacious, substantial residence of stone and lime, with green +veranda palings and windows that opened as doors, with a profusion of +gauzy curtains hanging behind them. This house, the present home of +the Marquis de Ligne, stood in the French quarter, contrasting +architecturally with the newer brick buildings erected for the +American population. The land baron was ushered into a large reception +room, sending his card to the marquis by the neat-appearing colored +maid who answered the door. + +If surroundings indicate the man, the apartments in which the visitor +stood spoke eloquently of the marquis' taste. Eschewing the stiff, +affected classicalism of the Empire style, the furniture was the best +work of André Boule and Riesener; tables, with fine marquetry of the +last century, made of tulip wood and mahogany; mirrors from +Tourlaville; couches with tapestry woven in fanciful designs after +Fragonard, in the looms of Beauvais--couches that were made for +conversation, not repose; cabinets exemplifying agreeable disposition +of lines and masses in the inlaid adornment, containing tiny drawers +that fitted with old-time exactness, and, without jamming, opened and +shut at the touch. The marquis' character was stamped by these +details; it was old, not new France, to which he belonged. + +Soon the marquis' servant, a stolid, sober man, of virtuous +deportment, came down stairs to inform the land baron his master had +suffered a relapse and was unable to see any one. + +"Last night his temperature was very high," said the valet. "My master +is very ill; more so than I have known him to be in twenty years." + +"You have served the marquis so long?" said the visitor, pausing as he +was leaving the room. "Do you remember the Saint-Prosper family?" + +"Well, Monsieur. General Saint-Prosper and my master were distant +kinsmen and had adjoining lands." + +"Surely the marquis did not pass his time in the country?" observed +Mauville. + +"He preferred it to Paris--when my lady was there!" added François, +softly. + +In spite of his ill-humor, the shadow of a smile gleamed in the land +baron's gaze, and, encouraged by that questioning look, the man +continued: "The marquis and General Saint-Prosper were always +together. My lady had her own friends." + +"So I've heard," commented the listener. + +François' discreet eyes were downcast. Why did the visitor wish to +learn about the Saint-Prosper family? Why, instead of going, did he +linger and eye the man half-dubiously? François had sold so many of +his master's secrets he scented his opportunities with a sixth sense. + +"The marquis and General Saint-Prosper were warm friends?" asked the +land baron at length. + +"Yes, Monsieur; the death of the latter was a severe shock to the +Marquis de Ligne, but, _mon Dieu_!"--lifting his eyes--"it was as well +he did not live to witness the disgrace of his son." + +"His son's disgrace," repeated the land baron, eagerly. "Oh, you mean +running in debt--gaming--some such fashionable virtue?" + +"If betraying his country is a fashionable virtue," replied the valet. +"He is a traitor." + +Incredulity overspread the land baron's features; then, coincident +with the assertion, came remembrance of his conversation with the +marquis. + +"He certainly called him that," ruminated the visitor. Not only the +words, but the expression of the old nobleman's face recurred to him. +What did it mean unless it confirmed the deliberate charge of the +valet? The land baron forgot his disappointment over his inability to +see the marquis, and began to look with more favor on the man. + +"He surrendered a French stronghold," continued the servant, +softly. "Not through fear; oh, no; but for ambition, power, under +Abd-el-Kader, the Moorish leader." + +"How do you know this?" said the patroon, sharply. + +"My master has the report of the military board of inquiry," replied +the man, steadily. + +"Why has the matter attracted no public attention, if a board of +inquiry was appointed?" + +"The board was a secret one, and the report was suppressed. Few have +seen it, except the late King of France and my master." + +"And yourself, François?" said the patroon, his manner changing. + +"Oh, Monsieur!" Deprecatorily. + +"Since it has been inspected by such good company, I confess curiosity +to look at it myself. But your master is ill; I can not speak with +him; perhaps you--" + +"I, Monsieur!" Indignantly. + +"For five hundred francs, François?" + +Like oil upon the troubled waters, this assurance wrought a swift +change in the valet's manner. + +"To oblige Monsieur!" he answered, softly, but his eyes gleamed like a +lynx's. His stateliness was a sham; his perfidy and hypocrisy +surprised even the land baron. + +"You have no compunctions about selling a reputation, François?" + +"Reputation is that!" said the man, contemptuously snapping his +fingers, emboldened by his compact with the caller. "Francs and sous +are everything." + +"Lord, how servants imbibe the ideas of their betters!" quoth the +patroon, as he left the house and strode down the graveled walk, +decapitating the begonias with his cane. + +Furtively the valet watched his departing figure. "Why does he want +it?" he thought. + +Then he shrugged his shoulders. "What do I care!" + +"François!" piped a shrill and querulous treble from above, dispelling +the servant's conjectures. + +"Coming, my lord!" And the valet slowly mounted the broad stairway +amid a fusillade of epithets from the sick chamber. An hour before the +marquis had ordered him out of his sight as vehemently as now he +summoned him, all of which François endured with infinite patience and +becoming humility. + +Passing into the Rue Royale, the favorite promenade of the +Creole-French, the land baron went on through various thoroughfares +with French-English nomenclature into St. Charles Street, reaching his +apartments, which adjoined a well-known club. He was glad to stretch +himself once more on his couch, feeling fatigued from his efforts, and +having rather overtaxed his strength. + +But if his body was now inert, his mind was active. His thoughts +dwelt upon the soldier's reticence, his disinclination to make +acquaintances, and the coldness with which he had received his, +Mauville's, advances in the Shadengo Valley. Why, asked Mauville, +lying there and putting the pieces of the tale together, did not +Saint-Prosper remain with his new-found friends, the enemies of his +country? Because, came the answer, Abd-el-Kader, the patriot of +Algerian independence, had been captured and the subjection of the +country had followed. Since Algeria had become a French colony, +where could Saint-Prosper have found a safer asylum than in +America? Where more secure from "that chosen curse" for the man who +owes his weal to his country's woe? + +In his impatience to possess the promised proof, the day passed all +too slowly. He even hoped the count would call, although that worthy +brought with him all the "flattering devils, sweet poison and deadly +sins" of inebriation. But the count, like a poor friend, was absent +when wanted, and it was a distinct relief to the land baron when +François appeared at his apartments in the evening with a buff-colored +envelope, which he handed to him. + +"The suppressed report?" asked the latter, weighing it in his hand. + +"No, Monsieur; I could not find that. My master must have destroyed +it." + +The land baron made a gesture of disappointment and irritation. + +"But this," François hastened to add, "is a letter from the Duc +d'Aumale, governor of Algeria, to the Marquis de Ligne, describing the +affair. Monsieur will find it equally as satisfactory, I am sure." + +"How did you get it?" said the patroon, thoughtfully. + +"My master left the keys on the dresser." + +"And if he misses this letter--" + +"Oh, Monsieur, I grieve my master is so ill he could not miss anything +but his ailments! Those he would willingly dispense with. My poor +master!" + +"There! Take your long, hypocritical face out of my sight!" said +Mauville, curtly, at the same time handing him the promised reward, +which François calmly accepted. A moment later, however, he drew +himself up. + +"Monsieur has not paid for the right to libel my character," he said. + +"Your character!" + +"My character, Monsieur!" the valet replied firmly, and bowed in the +stateliest fashion of the old school as he backed out of the room with +grand obsequiousness. Deliberately, heavily and solidly, resounded the +echoing footsteps of François upon the stairway, like the going of +some substantial personage of unimpeachable rectitude. + +As the front door closed sharply the land baron threw the envelope on +the table and quietly surveyed it, the remnants of his pride rising in +revolt. + +"Have I then sunk so low as to read private communications or pry into +family secrets? Is it a family secret, though? Should it not become +common property? Why have they protected him? Did the marquis wish to +spare the son of an old friend? Besides"--his glance again seeking the +envelope--"it is my privilege to learn whether I have fought with a +gentleman or a renegade." But even as he meditated, he felt the +sophistry of this last argument, while through his brain ran the +undercurrent: "He has wooed her--won her, perhaps!" Passion, rather +than injured hauteur, stirred him. At the same time a great +indignation filled his breast; how Saint-Prosper had tricked her and +turned her from himself! + +And moving from the mantel upon which he was leaning, Mauville strode +to the table and untied the envelope. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A CYNICAL BARD + + +A dusty window looking out upon a dusty thoroughfare; a dusty room, +lighted by the dusty window, and revealing a dusty chair, a dusty +carpet and--probably--a dusty bed! Over the foot and the head of the +bed the lodger's wardrobe lay carelessly thrown. He had but to reach +up, and lo! his shirt was at hand; to reach down, and there were +collar and necktie! Presto, he was dressed, without getting out of +bed, running no risk from cold floors for cold feet, lurking tacks or +stray needles and pins! On every side appeared evidence of confusion, +or a bachelor's idea of order. + +Fastened to the head-board of the bed was a box, wherein were stored +various and divers articles and things. With as little inconvenience +as might be imagined the lodger could plunge his hand into his +cupboard and pull out a pipe, a box of matches, a bottle of ink, a +bottle of something else, paper and pins, and, last but not least, his +beloved tin whistle of three holes, variously dignified a _fretiau_, a +_frestele_, or a _galoubet_, upon which he played ravishing tunes. + +Oh, a wonderful box was Straws' little bedstead cupboard! As Phazma +said of it, it contained everything it should not, and nothing it +should contain. But that was why it was a poet's box. If it had held a +Harpagon's Interest Computer, instead of a well-thumbed Virgil, or +Oldcodger's Commercial Statistics for 184--, instead of an antique, +leather-covered Montaigne, Straws would have had no use for the +cupboard. It was at once his library--a scanty one, for the poet held +tenaciously to but a few books--his sideboard, his _secrétaire_, his +music cabinet--giving lodgment in this last capacity to a single work, +"The Complete and Classical Preceptor for Galoubet, Containing Tunes, +Polkas and Military Pieces." + +Suspended from the ceiling hung a wooden cage, confining a mocking +bird that had become acclimated to the death-dealing atmosphere of +tobacco smoke, alcoholic fumes and poetry. All these the songster had +endured and survived, nay, thriven upon, lifting up its voice in happy +cadence and blithely hopping about its prison, the door of which +Straws sometimes opened, permitting the feathered captive the dubious +freedom of the room. Pasted on the foot-board of the bed was an old +engraving of a wandering musician mountebank, playing a galoubet as an +accompaniment to a dancing dog and a cock on stilts, a never-wearying +picture for Straws, with his migratory, vagabond proclivities. + +A bracket on the wall looked as though it might have been intended for +a piece of statuary, or a bit of porcelain or china decoration, but +had really been set there for his ink-pot, when he was mindful to work +in bed, although how the Muse could be induced to set foot in that old +nookery of a room could only be explained through the whims and +crotchets of that odd young person's character. + +Yet come she would and did, although she got dust on her flowing +skirts when she swept across the threshold; dust on her snow-white +gown--if the writers are to be believed in regard to its hue!--when +she sat down in the only chair, and dust in her eyes when she flirted +her fan. Fortunate was it for Straws that the Muse is a wayward, +freakish gipsy; a straggler in attics; a vagrant of the streets; +fortunately for him she is not at all the fine lady she has been +depicted! Doubtless she has her own reasons for her vagaries; perhaps +because it is so easy to soar from the hovel to fairy-land, but to +soar from a palace--that is obviously impossible; it is a height in +itself! So this itinerant maiden ever yawns amid scenes of splendor, +and, from time immemorial, has sighed for lofts, garrets, and such +humble places as Straws' earthly abode. + +At the present time, however, Straws was alone. This eccentric but +lovely young lady had not deigned to visit him that day. Once, indeed, +she had just looked in, but whisked back again into the hall, slamming +the door after her, and the pen, momentarily grasped, had fallen from +Straws' hand. Instead of reaching for the ink-bottle he reached in the +cupboard for the other bottle. Again she came near entering through +the window--having many unconventional ways of coming into a +room!--but after looking in for a moment, changed her mind after her +fashion and floated away into thin space like the giddy, volatile +mistress that she was. After that she appeared no more--probably +making a friendly call on some one else!--and Straws resigned himself +to her heartless perfidy, having become accustomed to her frivolous, +fantastic moods. + +Indeed, what else could he have done; what can any man do when his +lady-love deserts him, save to make the best of it? But he found his +consolation in a pipe; not a pipe of tobacco, nor yet a pipe of old +madeira, which, figuratively, most disappointed lovers seek; but a +pipe of melody, a pipe of flowing tunes and stirring marches; a pipe +of three holes, vulgarly termed by those who know not its high classic +origin from the Grecian reeds and its relation to the Pandian pipes, a +tin whistle! Thus was Straws classic in his taste, affecting the +instrument wherein Acis sighed his soul and breath away for fair +Galatea! + +It had been a lazy, purposeless day. He had awakened at noon; had +coffee and rolls in bed; had dressed, got up, looked out, lain down +again, read, and vainly essayed original composition. Now, lying on +his back, with the Complete and Classic Preceptor before him, he +soothed himself with such music "as washes the every-day dust from the +soul." For a pipe of three holes, his instrument had a remarkable +compass; melody followed melody--"The Harp that Once through Tara's +Hall," "She is Far from the Land," "In Death I shall Calm Recline," +and other popular pieces. When Straws missed a note he went back to +find it; when he erred in a phrase, he patiently repeated it. The +cadence in the last mournful selection, "Bid her not shed a tear of +sorrow," was, on his first attempt, fraught with exceeding discord, +and he was preparing once more to assault the citadel of grief, +entrenched with bristling high notes, when an abrupt knocking at the +door, followed by the appearance of a face marred by wrath and adorned +with an enormous pair of whiskers, interrupted his attack. + +"Sair," said this person, excitedly, with no more than his head in the +room, like a Punch and Judy figure peering from behind a curtain, "you +are ze one gran' nuisance! Eet is zat--what you call eet?--whistle! I +am crazee--crazee!" + +"Yes; you look it!" replied Straws, sympathetically. "Perhaps, if you +had a keep--" + +"I am not crazee!" vociferated the man. + +"No? Perhaps I could tell better, if I could see more of you. Judging +from the sample, I confess to curiosity for a full-length view. If you +will step in--" + +"I will not step in! I will step out! I will leave zis house! I will +leave--forever!" + +And the head vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, to be followed +by hasty footsteps down the stairway. + +"Now I can understand why Orpheus was torn to pieces," ruminated +Straws, mournfully surveying the offending pipe. "He played on the +lyre! Return to thy cupboard, O reed divine!"--putting the whistle back +in the box--"a vile world, as Falstaff says! Heigho!"--yawning--"life +is an empty void--which reminds me I have a most poetic appetite. What +shall I do"--and Straws sat up relinquishing his lounging attitude--"go +out, or have pot-luck in the room? Tortier's bouillabaisse would about +tickle the jaded palate. A most poetic dish, that bouillabaisse! +Containing all the fish that swim in the sea and all the herbs that grow +on the land! Thus speaks gluttony! Get thee behind me, odoriferous +temptation of garlic! succulent combination of broth and stew!" + +So saying, Straws sprang from his bed, lighted a charcoal fire in his +tiny grate; rummaged a bureau drawer and drew forth an end of bacon, a +potato or two, a few apples, an onion and the minor part of a loaf of +bread, all of which, except the bread, he sliced and thrust +indiscriminately into the frying-pan and placed over the blue flame. +Next from behind the mirror he produced a diminutive coffee pot into +which he measured, with extreme care, just so much of the ground +berry, being rather over-nice about his demitasse. Having progressed +thus far in his preparation for pot, or frying-pan luck--and indeed it +seemed a matter of luck, or good fortune, how that mixture would turn +out--he rapped on the floor with the heel of his boot, like the prince +in the fairy tale, summoning his attendant good genii, and in a few +moments a light tapping on the door announced the coming of a +servitor. + +Not a mighty wraith nor spook of Arabian fancy, but a very small girl, +or child, with very black hair, very white skin and very dark, +beautiful eyes. A daughter of mixed ancestry, yet with her dainty +hands and little feet, she seemed descended from sprites or sylphs. + +"Monsieur called," she said in her pretty dialect. + +"Yes, my dear. Go to Monsieur Tortier's, Celestina, and tell him to +give you a bottle of the kind Monsieur Straws always takes." + +"At once, Monsieur," she answered, very gravely, very seriously. And +Celestina vanished like a butterfly that flutters quickly away. + +"Now this won't be bad after all," thought Straws, sniffing at the +frying-pan which had begun to sputter bravely over the coals, while +the coffee pot gave forth a fragrant steam. "A good bottle of wine +will transform a snack into a collation; turn pot-luck into a feast!" + +As thus he meditated the first of night's outriders, its fast-coming +shadows, stole through the window; following these swift van-couriers, +night's chariot came galloping across the heavens; in the sky several +little clouds melted like Cleopatra's pearls. Musing before his fire +the poet sat, not dreaming thoughts no mortal ever dreamed before, but +turning the bacon and apples and stirring in a few herbs, for no +other particular reason than that he had them and thought he might as +well use them. + +"Celestina is taking longer than usual," he mused. "Perhaps, though, +Monsieur Tortier intends to surprise me with an unusually fine bottle. +Yes; that is undoubtedly the reason for the delay. He is hunting about +in the cellar for something a little out of the ordinary. But here is +Celestina now!" as the child reappeared, with footsteps so noiseless +the poet saw before he heard her. "Where is the bottle, my little +Ariel? It must be an extra fine vintage. Bless old Tortier's noble +heart!" + +"There isn't any bottle," said the child. "Monsieur said that your +account--" + +"The miserable old hunks! His heart's no bigger than a pin-head!" + +"Please, I'm so sorry!" spoke up Celestina, a suspicious moisture in +her eyes. + +"I know it, my dear," returned Straws. "Your heart is as big as his +whole body. One of your tears is more precious than his most priceless +nectar." + +"I beg-ged him--that's why I--I stayed so--long!" half-sobbed +Celestina. + +"There! there!" said Straws, wiping her eyes. "Of course it's very +tragic, but there's no use crying over spilled milk. Dear me, dear me; +what can we do? It's terrible, but you know the proverb: 'Every cloud +has a silver lining.' Perhaps this one has. I wish it had; or a golden +one! Think of a cloud of gold, Celestina! Wouldn't we be rich? What +would you do with it?" + +"I'd go to--Monsieur Tortier's and--and get the bottle," said the +child in an agony of distress. + +He lifted her on his knee, soothed her and held her in his arms, +stroking her dark hair. + +"I believe you would," he said. "And now, as we haven't got the golden +cloud, let us see how we can get on without it. How shall we conquer +that ogre, Monsieur Tortier? What would you suggest, Celestina?" + +The child looked into the fire, with eyes wide-open. + +"Come, be a good fairy now," urged Straws, "and tell me." + +"Why don't you write him a poem?" said Celestina, turning her eyes, +bright with excitement, upon him. + +"A poem! Non--by Jove, you're right! An inspiration, my dear! People +like to be thought what they are not. They want to be praised for +virtues foreign to themselves. The ass wants to masquerade as the +lion. 'Tis the law of nature. Now Monsieur Tortier is a Jew; a scrimp; +a usurer! Very well, we will celebrate the virtues he hath not in +verse and publish the stanza in the Straws' column. After all, we are +only following the example of the historians, and they're an eminently +respectable lot of people. Celestina! You watch the coffee pot, and +I'll grind out the panegyric!" + +The child knelt before the fire, but her glance strayed from the +steaming spout to the poet's face, as he sat on the edge of his bed +and rapidly scribbled. By the time the bacon was fairly done and the +other condiments in the frying-pan had turned to a dark hue, the +production was finished and triumphantly waved in mid air by the now +hopeful Straws. + +"I'll just read you a part of it, my dear!" he said. "It's not half +bad. But perhaps it would--bore you?" With exaggerated modesty. + +"Oh, I just love your poetry!" cried the girl, enthusiastically. + +"If everybody were only like you now! Isn't it too bad you've got to +grow up and grow wiser? But here's the refrain. There are six stanzas, +but I won't trouble you with all of them, my dear. One mustn't drive a +willing horse, or a willing auditor." + +And in a voice he endeavored to render melodious, with her rapt glance +fixed upon him, Straws read: + + "Sing, my Muse, the lay of the prodigal host! + Who enters here leaveth behind not hope. + Course follows course; entrée, relevé, ragoût, + Ambrosial sauces, pungent, after luscious soup. + The landlord spurs his guests to fresh attack, + With fricassee, réchauffé and omelets; + A toothsome feast that Apicius would fain have served, + While wine, divine, new zeal in all begets. + Who is this host, my Muse, pray say? + Who but that prodigal, Tortier! + +"There, my dear," concluded Straws, "those feet are pretty wobbly to +walk, but flattery moves on lame legs faster than truth will travel +on two good ones. Besides, I haven't time to polish them properly, or +the mess in the frying-pan will spoil. Better spoil the poem than the +contents of the flesh pots! Now if--dear me, Celestina, if you haven't +let the coffee pot boil over!" + +"Oh, Monsieur," cried the child, almost weeping again. "I forgot to +watch it! I just couldn't while you were writing poetry." + +"The excuse more than condones the offense," continued the other. "But +as I was about to say, you take this poem to Monsieur Tortier, make +your prettiest bow and courtesy--let me see you make a courtesy." + +The girl bowed as dainty as a little duchess. + +"That should melt a heart of stone in itself," commented Straws. "But +Tortier's is flint! After that charming bow, you will give him my +compliments; Mr. Straws' compliments, remember; and, would he be kind +enough just to glance over this poem which Mr. Straws, with much +mental effort, has prepared, and which, if it be acceptable to +Monsieur Tortier, will appear in Mr. Straws' famous and much-talked-of +column in the paper?" + +"Oh, Monsieur, I can't remember all that!" said the girl. + +"Do it your own way then. Besides, it will be better than mine." + +With the poem hugged to her breast, the child fairly flew out of the +room, leaving Straws a prey to conflicting emotions. He experienced +in those moments of suspense all the doubts and fears of the nestling +bard or the tadpole litterateur, awaiting the pleasure and sentence of +the august editor or the puissant publisher. Tortier had been suddenly +exalted to the judge's lofty pedestal. Would he forthwith be an +imperial autocrat; turn tyrant or Thersites; or become critic, one of +"those graminivorous animals which gain subsistence by gorging upon +buds and leaves of the young shrubs of the forest, robbing them of +their verdure and retarding their progress to maturity"? + +Straws' anxiety was trouble's labor lost. Celestina appeared, the glad +messenger of success, and now, as she came dancing into the room, bore +in her arms the fruits of victory which she laid before the poet with +sparkling eyes and laughing lips. + +"So the poem was accepted?" murmured Straws. "Discerning Tortier! +Excellent dilettante! Let him henceforth be known as a man of taste!" +Here the poet critically examined the bottle. "Nothing vapid, thin or +characterless there!" he added, holding it before the blaze in the +grate. "Positively I'll dedicate my forthcoming book to him. 'To that +worshipful master and patron, the tasteful Tortier!' What did he say, +Celestina, when you tendered him the poem?" + +"At first he frowned and then he looked thoughtful. And then he gave +me some orange syrup. And then--O, I don't want to say!" A look of +unutterable concern displacing the happiness on her features. + +"Say on, my dear!" cried Straws. + +"He--he said he--he didn't think much of it as--O, I can't tell you; I +can't! I can't!" + +"Celestina," said the poet sternly, "tell me at once. I command you." + +"He said he didn't think much of it as poetry, but that people would +read it and come to his _café_ and--O dear, O dear!" + +"Beast! Brute! Parvenu! But there, don't cry, my dear. We have much to +be thankful for--we have the bottle." + +"Oh, yes," she said with conviction, and brightening a bit. "We have +the bottle." And as she spoke, "pop" it went, and Celestina laughed. +"May I set your table?" she asked. + +"After your inestimable service to me, my dear, I find it impossible +to refuse," he replied gravely. + +"How good you are!" she remarked, placing a rather soiled cloth, which +she found somewhere, over a battered trunk. + +"I try not to be, but I can't help it!" answered the poet modestly. + +"No; that's it; you can't help it!" she returned, moving lightly +around the room, emptying the contents of the frying-pan--now an +aromatic jumble--on to a cracked blue platter, and setting knife and +fork, and a plate, also blue, before him! "And may I wait on you, +too?" + +"Well, as a special favor--" He paused, appearing to ponder deeply and +darkly. + +Her eyes were bent upon his face with mute appeal, her suspense so +great she stood stock-still in the middle of the floor, frying-pan in +hand. + +"Yes; you may wait on me," he said finally, after perplexed and +weighty rumination. + +At that her little feet fairly twinkled, but her hand was ever so +careful as she took the coffee pot from the fire and put it near the +blue plate. A glass--how well she knew where everything was!--she +found in some mysterious corner and, sitting down on the floor, +cross-legged like a little Turk, a mere mite almost lost in the +semi-obscurity of the room, she polished it assiduously upon the +corner of the table cloth until it shone free from specks of dust; all +the time humming very lightly like a bird, or a housewife whose heart +is in her work. A strange song, a curious bit of melody that seemed to +spring from some dark past and to presage a future, equally sunless. + +"Your supper is ready, Monsieur," she said, rising. + +"And I am ready for it. Why, how nicely the table looks! Really, when +we both grow up, I think we should take a silver ship and sail to some +silver shore and live together there forever and evermore. How would +you like it?" + +Celestina's lips were mute, but her eyes were full of rapturous +response, and then became suddenly shy, as though afraid of their own +happiness. + +"May I pour your wine?" she asked, with downcast lashes. + +"Can you manage it and not spill a drop? Remember Cratinus wept and +died of grief seeing his wine--no doubt, this same vintage--spilt!" + +But Straws was not called upon to emulate this classic example. The +feat of filling his glass was deftly accomplished, and a moment later +the poet raised it with, "'Drink to me only with thine eyes!'" An +appropriate sentiment for Celestina who had nothing else to drink to +him with. "Won't you have some of this--what shall I call it?--hash, +stew or ration?" + +"Oh, I've had my supper," she answered. + +"How fortunate for you, my dear! It isn't exactly a company bill of +fare! But everything is what I call snug and cozy. Here we are high up +in the world--right under the roof--all by ourselves, with nobody to +disturb us--" + +A heavy footfall without; rap, rap, rap, on the door; no timid, +faltering knock, but a firm application of somebody's knuckles! + +"It's that Jack-in-the-box Frenchman," muttered the writer. "Go to the +devil!" he called out. + +The door opened. + +"You have an original way of receiving visitors!" drawled a languid +voice, and the glance of the surprised poet fell upon Edward Mauville. +"Really, I don't know whether to come in or not," continued the latter +at the threshold. + +"I beg your pardon," murmured Straws. "I thought it was a--" + +"Creditor?" suggested Mauville, with an amused smile. "I know the +class. Don't apologize! I am intruding. Quite a family party!" he went +on, his gaze resting upon Celestina and the interrupted repast. + +With his elegant attire, satin waistcoat and fine ruffles, he seemed +out of place in the attic nook of the Muse; a lordling who had +wandered by mistake into the wrong room. But he bore himself with the +easy assurance of a man who could adapt himself to any surroundings; +even to Calliope's shabby boudoir! + +"My dear," remarked the disconcerted bard, "get a chair for Mr. +Mauville. Or--I beg your pardon--would you mind sitting on the bed? +Won't you have some wine? Celestina, bring another glass." + +But the girl only stood and stared at the dark, courtly being who thus +unexpectedly had burst in upon them. + +"There isn't any more," she finally managed to say. "You've got the +only glass there is, please!" + +"Dear me; dear me!" exclaimed Straws. "How glasses do get broken! I +have so few occasions to use them, too, for I don't very often have +visitors." + +"You are surprised to see me?" continued Mauville, pleasantly, seating +himself on the edge of the bed. "Go on with your supper. You don't +mind my smoking while you eat?" + +[Illustration] + +"No; the odor of onions is a little strong, isn't it?" laughed the +other. "Rather strange, by the by, some of nature's best restoratives +should be rank and noisome, while her poisons, like the Upas tree, are +often sweet-smelling and agreeable?" + +"Yes," commented the land baron; "we make the worst faces over the +medicines that do us the most good." + +"I presume," said Straws, delighted at the prospect of an argument, +and forgetting his curiosity over the other's visit in this brief +interchange of words, "nature but calls our attention to the fact that +we may know our truest friends are not those with the sweetest +manners." + +"Heaven forbid!" remarked Mauville. "But how are you getting on with +your column? A surfeit of news and gossip, I presume? What a busy +fellow you are, to be sure! Nothing escapes through your seine. Big +fish or little fish, it is all one. You dress them up with alluring +sauce." + +The bard shook his head. + +"The net has been coming in dry," he said gloomily. "But that's the +way with the fish. Sometimes you catch a good haul, and then they all +disappear. It's been bad luck lately." + +"Perhaps I can make a cast for you," cried the patroon eagerly. + +"And bring up what?" asked the hack. + +"Something everybody will read; that will set the gossips talking." + +"A woman's reputation?" + +"No; a man's." + +"That is to be regretted," said Straws. "If, now, it were only a +woman's--.However, it's the next best thing to start the town +a-gossiping. I am much obliged to you for taking the trouble of +calling. All those stairs to climb, too!" + +"I was sure you would be glad to hear of it," remarked the patroon, +slowly, studying with his bright, insolent glance, the pale, +intellectual face of the scribbler. + +"Yes; there's only one thing stands in the way." + +"And that?" + +"I never publish anything I don't believe. Don't misunderstand me, +please." Pouring out a glass of wine. "Unfortunately I am so +incredulous! Isn't it a pity? I am such a carping cynic; a regular +skeptic that follows the old adage, 'Believe that story false that +ought not to be true.' It's such a detriment to my work, too! A pretty +scandal at the top of my column would make me famous, while a +sprinkling of libels and lampoons would enable me to move down a story +or two. But, after all, I'd feel lost in the luxury of a first floor +front chamber. So, you see, nature adjusts herself to our needs." + +"Makes the shell to fit the snail, as it were," commented the land +baron, patronizingly, gazing around the little cupboard of a room. "At +any rate," he added, in an effort to hide his dissatisfaction, "it's a +pleasure to become better acquainted with such a--what shall I +say?--whimsical fellow as yourself?" + +"That's it," returned the bard. "Whimsical!" + +"I dare say you have had many a chance to turn an honest penny or two, +if you had not been so skeptical, as you call it?" remarked the +patroon, significantly. "People, I presume, have even offered to pay +you for publishing the compliments of the season about their +neighbors?" + +"Well," answered the scribbler, laughing, "I may have Midas' longing +for gold, but I also have his ears. And the ears predominate. I am +such an ass I have even returned a fair petitioner's perfumed note! +Such a dainty little hand! How good the paper smelt! How devilish it +read! The world's idea about the devil always smelling of sulphur and +brimstone is a slander on that much abused person. I can positively +affirm that he smells of musk, attar, myrrh; as though he had lain +somewhere with a lady's sachet or scent-bag." + +"Really you should revise Milton," murmured the land baron, +carelessly, his interest quite gone. "But I must be moving on." And he +arose. "Good evening." + +"Good night!" said Straws, going to the door after his departing +guest. "Can you see your way down? Look out for the turn! And don't +depend too much on the bannisters--they're rather shaky. Well, he's +gone!" Returning once more to the room. "We're coming up in the world, +my dear, when such fashionable callers visit us! What do you think of +him?" + +"He is very--handsome!" replied the child. + +"Oh, the vanity of the sex! Is he--is he handsomer than I?" + +"Are you--handsome?" she asked. + +"Eh? Don't you think so?" + +"No-o," she cried, in a passion of distressed truthfulness. + +"Thank you, my dear! What a flattering creature you'll become, if you +keep on as you've begun! How you'll wheedle the men, to be sure!" + +"But mustn't I say what I think?" + +"Always! I'm a bad adviser! Think of bringing up a young person, +especially a girl, to speak the truth! What a time she'll have!" + +"But I couldn't do anything else!" she continued, with absorbing and +painful anxiety. + +"Don't, then! I'm instructing you to your destruction, but--don't! I'm +a philosopher in the School for Making Simpletons. What will you do +when you go out into the broad world with truth for your banner and +your heart on your sleeve?" + +"How could I have my heart on my sleeve?" asked Celestina. + +"Because you couldn't help it!" + +"Really and truly on my sleeve?" + +"Really and truly!" he affirmed, gravely. + +"How funny!" answered the girl. + +"No; tragic! But what shall we do now, Celestina?" + +"Wash the dishes," said the child, practically. + +"But, my dear, we won't need them until to-morrow," expostulated the +poet. "Precipitancy is a bad fault. Now, if you had proposed a little +music, or a fairy tale--" + +"Oh, I could wash them while you played, or told me a story," +suggested the child, eagerly. + +"That isn't such a bad idea," commented Straws, reflectively. + +"Then you will let me?" she asked. + +"Go ahead!" said the bard, and he reached for the whistle. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SWEETEST THING IN NATURE + + +The city, bustling and animated by day, like an energetic housewife, +was at night a gay demoiselle, awakening to new life and excitement. +The clerk betook himself to his bowling or billiards and the mechanic +to the circus, while beauty and fashion repaired to the concert room +or to the Opéra Français, to listen to Halévy or Donizetti. Restless +Americans or Irishmen rubbed elbows with the hurrying Frenchman or +Spaniard, and the dignified creole gentleman of leisure alone was +wrapped in a plenitude of dignity, computing probably the interest he +drew on money loaned these assiduous foreigners. + +Soldiers who had been granted leave of absence or had slipped the +guard at the camp on Andrew Jackson's battle-ground swaggered through +the streets. The change from a diet of pork and beans and army hard +tack was so marked that Uncle Sam's young men threw restraint to the +winds, took the mask balls by storm and gallantly assailed and made +willing prisoners of the fair sex. Eager to exchange their irksome +life in camp for the active campaign in Mexico, it was small wonder +they relieved their impatience by many a valiant dash into the +hospitable town. + +Carriages drove by with a rumble and a clatter, revealing a fleeting +glimpse of some beauty with full, dark eye. Venders of flowers +importuned the passers-by, doing a brisk business; the oyster and +coffee stands reminded the spectator of a thoroughfare in London on a +Saturday night, with the people congregating about the street stalls; +but the brilliantly illumined places of amusement, with their careless +patrons plainly apparent to all from without, resembled rather a +boulevard scene in the metropolis of France. "Probably," says a +skeptical chronicler, "here and there are quiet drawing-rooms, and +tranquil firesides, where domestic love is a chaste, presiding +goddess." But the writer merely presumes such might have been the +case, and it is evident from his manner of expression, he offers the +suggestion, or afterthought, charitably, with some doubts in his mind. +Certainly he never personally encountered the chaste goddess of the +hearth, or he would have qualified his words and made his statement +more positive. + +From the life of the streets, the land baron turned into a well-lighted +entrance, passing into a large, luxuriously furnished saloon, at one +end of which stood a table somewhat resembling a roulette board. +Seated on one side was the phlegmatic cashier, and, opposite him, the +dealer, equally impassive. Unlike faro--the popular New Orleans +game--no deal box was needed, the dealer holding the cards in his +hand, while a cavity in the center of the table contained a basket, +where the cards, once used, were thrown. A large chandelier cast a +brilliant light upon the scene. + +"_Messieurs, faites vos jeux_," drawled the monotonous voice of the +dealer, and expectation was keenly written on the faces of the double +circle of players--variously disclosed, but, nevertheless, apparent in +all; a transformation of the natural expression of the features; an +obvious nervousness of manner, or where the countenance was impassive, +controlled by a strong will, a peculiar glitter of the eyes, +betokening the most insatiable species of the gambler. As the dealer +began to shuffle together six packs of cards and place them in a row +on the table, he called out: + +"Nothing more goes, gentlemen!" + +The rapidity with which the cashier counted the winnings at a distance +and shoved them here and there with the long rake was amazing and +bewildering to the novice risking a few gold pieces for the first time +on the altar of chance. Sorting the gold pieces in even bunches, the +cashier estimated them in a moment; shoved them together; counted an +equal amount of fives with his fingers; made a little twirl in the +pile on the table; pushed it toward the winning pieces and left them +tumbled up together in pleasing confusion. + +"_Messieurs, faites vos_--" + +And the clinking went on, growing louder and louder, the clinking of +gold, which has a particularly musical sound, penetrating, +crystalline as the golden bells of Exodus, tinkling in the twilight of +the temple on the priest's raiment. The clinking, clinking, that +lingers in the brain long after, drawing the players to it night after +night; an intoxicating murmur, singing the desires that dominate the +world; the jingling that makes all men kin! + +"Oh, dear!" said a light feminine voice, as the rapacious rake +unceremoniously drew in a poor, diminutive pile of gold. "Why did I +play? Isn't it provoking?" + +"You have my sympathy, Mistress Susan," breathed a voice near her. + +Looking around, she had the grace to blush becomingly, and approached +Mauville with an expressive gesture, leaving Adonis and Kate at the +table. + +"Don't be shocked, Mr. Mauville," she began, hurriedly. "We were told +it was among the sights, and, having natural curiosity--" + +"I understand. Armed with righteousness, why should not one go +anywhere?" + +"Why, indeed?" she murmured. + +"But I'm afraid I'm taking you from your play?" + +"I'm not going to play any more to-night." + +"Tired, already?" + +"No; but--but I haven't a cent. That miserable table has robbed me of +everything. All I have left"--piteously--"are the clothes on my +back." + +"Something must have been the matter with your 'system.' But if a +temporary loan--" + +Susan was tempted, gazing longingly at the table, with the fever +burning in her. + +"No," she said, finally. "I _think_ I would win, but, of course, I +_might_ lose." + +"A wise reservation! Never place your fortune on the hazard of the +die." + +"But I have! What's the use of making good resolutions now? It's like +closing the barn-door after--" + +"Just so!" he agreed. "But it might have been worse." + +"How?" In dismay. "Didn't that stony-looking man rake in my last gold +piece? He didn't even look sorry, either. But what is the matter with +your arm?" The land baron's expression became ominous. "You shook +hands with your left hand. Oh, I see; the duel!" Lightly. + +"How did you hear about it?" asked Mauville, irritably. + +"Oh, in a roundabout way. Murder will out! And Constance--she was so +solicitous about Mr. Saint-Prosper, but rather proud, I believe, +because he"--with a laugh--"came off victorious." + +Susan's prattle, although accompanied by innocent glances from her +blue eyes, was sometimes the most irritating thing in the world, and +the land baron, goaded beyond endurance, now threw off his careless +manner and swore in an undertone by "every devil in Satan's +calendar." + +"Can you not reserve your soliloquy until you leave me?" observed +Susan, sweetly. "Otherwise--" + +"I regret to have shocked your ladyship," he murmured, satirically. + +"I forgive you." Raising her guileless eyes. "When I think of the +provocation, I do not blame you--so much!" + +"That is more than people do in your case," muttered the land baron +savagely. + +Susan's hand trembled. "What do you mean?" she asked, not without +apprehension regarding his answer. + +"Oh, that affair with the young officer--the lad who was killed in the +duel, you know--" + +Her composure forsook her for the moment and she bit her lip cruelly. + +"Don't!" she whispered. "I am not to blame. I never dreamed it would +go so far! Why should people--" + +"Why?" he interposed, ironically. + +Susan pulled herself together. "Yes, why?" she repeated, defiantly. +"Can women prevent men from making fools of themselves any more than +they can prevent them from amusing themselves as they will? To-day it +is this toy; to-morrow, another. At length"--bitterly--"a woman comes +to consider herself only a toy." + +Her companion regarded her curiously. "Well, well!" he ejaculated, +finally. "Losing at cards doesn't agree with your temper." + +"Nor being worsted by Saint-Prosper with yours!" she retorted +quickly. + +Mauville looked virulent, but Susan, feeling that she had retaliated +in ample measure, recovered her usual equanimity of temper and placed +a conciliatory hand sympathetically on his arm. + +"We have both had a good deal to try us, haven't we? But how stupid +men are!" she added suddenly. "As if you could not find other +consolation!" + +He directed toward her an inquiring glance. + +"Some time ago, while I was acting in London," resumed Susan, +thoughtfully, "the leading lady refused to receive the attentions of a +certain odious English lord. She was to make her appearance in a piece +upon which her reputation was staked. Mark what happened! She was +hissed! Hissed from the stage! My lord led this hostile demonstration +and all his hired claqueurs joined in. She was ruined; ruined!" +concluded Susan, smiling amiably. + +"You are ingenious, Mistress Susan--not to say a trifle diabolical. +Your plan--" + +She opened her eyes widely. "I have suggested no plan," she +interrupted, hurriedly. + +"Well, let us sit down and I will tell you about a French officer +who--But here is a quiet corner, Mistress Susan, and if you will +promise not to repeat it, I will regale you with a bit of interesting +gossip." + +"I promise--they always do!" she laughed. + +For such a frivolous lady, Susan was an excellent listener. She, who +on occasions chattered like a magpie, was now silent as a mouse, +drinking in the other's words with parted lips and sparkling eyes. +First he showed her the letter François had brought him. Unmarked by +postal indications, the missive had evidently been intrusted to a +private messenger of the governor whose seal it bore. Dated about +three years previously, it was written in a somewhat illegible, but +not unintelligible, scrawl, the duke's own handwriting. + +"I send you, my dear marquis," began the duke, "a copy of the secret +report of the military tribunal appointed to investigate the charges +against your kinsman, Lieut. Saint-Prosper, and regret the finding of +the court should have been one of guilty of treason. + +"Saint-Prosper and Abd-el-Kader met near the tomb of a marabout. From +him the French officer received a famous ruby which he thrust beneath +his zaboot--the first fee of their compact. That night when the town +lay sleeping, a turbaned host, armed with yataghans, stole through the +flowering cactuses. Sesame! The gate opened to them; they swarmed +within! The soldiers, surprised, could render little resistance; the +ruthless invaders cut them down while they were sleeping or before +they could sound the alarm. The bravest blood of France flowed +lavishly in the face of the treacherous onslaught; blood of men who +had been his fastest friends, among whom he had been so popular for +his dauntless courage and devil-may-care temerity! But a period, +fearfully brief, and the beloved tri-color was trampled in the dust; +the barbarian flag of the Emir floated in its place. + +"All these particulars, and the part Saint-Prosper played in the +terrible drama, Abd-el-Kader, who is now our prisoner, has himself +confessed. The necessity for secrecy, you, my dear Marquis, will +appreciate. The publicity of the affair now would work incalculable +injury to the nation. It is imperative to preserve the army from the +taint of scandal. The nation hangs on a thread. God knows there is +iniquity abroad. I, who have labored for the honor of France and +planted her flag in distant lands, look for defeat, not through want +of bravery, but from internal causes. A matter like this might lead to +a popular uprising against the army. Therefore, the king wills it +shall be buried by his faithful servants." + +As Mauville proceeded Susan remained motionless, her eyes growing +larger and larger, until they shone like two lovely sapphires, but +when he concluded she gave a little sigh of pleasure and leaned back +with a pleased smile. + +"Well?" he said, finally, after waiting some moments for her to +speak. + +"How piquantly wicked he is!" she exclaimed, softly. + +"Piquantly, indeed!" repeated the land baron, dryly. + +"And he carries it without a twinge! What a petrified conscience!" + +"I believe you find him more interesting than ever?" said Mauville, +impatiently. + +"Possibly!" Languidly. "An exceptional moral ailment sometimes makes a +man more attractive--like a--an interesting subject in a hospital, you +know! But I have always felt," she continued, with sudden seriousness, +"there was something wrong with him. When I first saw him, I was sure +he had had no ordinary past, but I did not dream it was quite so--what +shall we call it--" + +"Unsavory?" suggested her companion. + +"That accounts for his unwillingness to talk about Africa," went on +Susan. "Soldiers, as a rule, you know, like to tell all about their +sanguinary exploits. But the tented field was a forbidden topic with +him. And once when I asked him about Algiers he was almost rudely +evasive." + +"He probably lives in constant fear his secret will become known," +said Mauville, thoughtfully. "As a matter of fact, the law provides +that no person is to be indicted for treason unless within three years +after the offense. The tribunal did not return an indictment; the +three years have just expired. Did he come to America to make sure of +these three years?" + +But Susan's thoughts had flitted to another feature of the story. + +"How strange my marquis should be connected with the case! What an old +compliment-monger he was! He vowed he was deeply smitten with me." + +"And then went home and took to his bed!" added Mauville, grimly. + +"You wretch!" said the young woman, playfully. "So that is the reason +the dear old molly-coddle did not take me to any of the gay suppers he +promised? Is it not strange Saint-Prosper has not met him?" + +"You forget the marquis has been confined to his room since his brief, +but disastrous, courtship of you. His infatuation seems to have +brought him to the verge of dissolution." + +"Was it not worth the price?" she retorted, rising. "But I see my +sister and Adonis are going, so I must be off, too. So glad to have +met you!" + +"You are no longer angry with me?" + +"No; you are very nice," she said. "And you have forgiven me?" + +"Need you ask?" Pressing her hand. "Good evening, Mistress Susan!" + +"Good evening. Oh, by the way, I have an appointment with Constance to +rehearse a little scene together this evening. Would you mind loaning +me that letter?" + +"With pleasure; but remember your promise." + +"Promise?" repeated the young woman. + +"Not to tell." + +"Oh, of course," said Susan. + +"But if you shouldn't--" + +"Then?" + +"Then you might say the marquis, your friend and admirer, gave you +the letter. It would, perhaps, be easier for you to account for it +than for me." + +"But if the marquis should learn--" began the other, half-dubiously. + +"He is too ill for anything except the grave." + +"Oh, the poor old dear!" + +She looked at the gaming table with its indefatigable players and then +turned to Kate and Adonis who approached at that moment. "How did you +come out, Adonis?" + +"Out," he said, curtly. + +"Lucky in love, unlucky at"--began Kate. + +"Then you must be very unlucky in love," he retorted, "for you were a +good winner at cards." + +"Oh, there are exceptions to that rule," said Kate lazily, with a +yawn. "I'm lucky at both--in New Orleans!" + +"I have perceived it," retorted Adonis, bitterly. + +"Don't quarrel," Susan implored. Regarding the table once more, she +sighed: "I'm so sorry I came!" + +But her feet fairly danced as she flew towards the St. Charles. She +entered, airy as a saucy craft, with "all sails in full chase, ribbons +and gauzes streaming at the top," and, with a frou-frou of skirts, +burst into Constance's room, brimful of news and importance. She +remained there for some time, and when she left, it was noteworthy her +spirits were still high. In crossing the hall, her red stockings +became a fitting color accompaniment to her sprightly step, as she +moved over the heavy carpet, skirts raised coquettishly, humming with +the gaiety of a young girl who has just left boarding school. + +"A blooming, innocent creature!" growled an up-the-river planter, +surveying her from one of the landings. "Lord love me, if she were +only a quadroon, I'd buy her!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A DEBUT IN THE CRESCENT CITY + + +A versatile dramatic poet is grim Destiny, making with equal facility +tragedy, farce, burletta, masque or mystery. The world is his inn, +and, like the wandering master of interludes, he sets up his stage in +the court-yard, beneath the windows of mortals, takes out his figures +and evolves charming comedies, stirring melodramas, spirited +harlequinades and moving divertissement. But it is in tragedy his +constructive ability is especially apparent, and his characters, +tripping along unsuspectingly in the sunny byways, are suddenly +confronted by the terrifying mask and realize life is not all pleasant +pastime and that the Greek philosophy of retribution is nature's law, +preserving the unities. When the time comes, the Master of events, +adjusting them in prescribed lines, reaches by stern obligation the +avoidless conclusion. + +Consulting no law but his own will, the Marquis de Ligne had lived as +though he were the autocrat of fate itself instead of one of its +servants, and therefore was surprised when the venerable playwright +prepared the unexpected dénouement. In pursuance of this end, it was +decreed by the imperious and incontrovertible dramatist of the human +family that this crabbed, vicious, antiquated marionette should wend +his way to the St. Charles on a particular evening. Since the day at +the races, the eccentric nobleman had been ill and confined to his +room, but now he was beginning to hobble around, and, immediately with +returning strength, sought diversion. + +"François," he said, "what is there at the theater to-night?" + +"Comic opera, my lord?" + +The marquis made a grimace. "Comic opera outside of Paris!" he +exclaimed, with a shrug of the shoulders. + +"A new actress makes her début at the St. Charles." + +"Let it be the début, then! Perhaps she will fail, and that will amuse +me." + +"Yes, my lord." + +"And, by the way, François, did you see anything of a large envelope, +a buff-colored envelope, I thought I left in my secretary?" + +"No, my lord." But François became just a shade paler. + +"It is strange," said the marquis, half to himself, "what could have +become of it! I destroyed other papers, but not that. You are sure, +François, you did not steal it?" + +By this time the servant's knees began to tremble, and, had the +marquis' eyesight been better, he could not have failed to detect the +other's agitation. But the valet assumed a bold front, as he asked: + +"Why should I have stolen it?" + +"True, why?" grumbled the marquis. "It would be of no service to you. +No; you didn't take it. I believe you honest--in this case!" + +"Thank you, my lord!" + +"After all, what does it matter?" muttered the nobleman to himself. +"What's in a good name to-day--with traitors within and traitors +without? 'Tis love's labor lost to have protected it! We've fostered a +military nest of traitors. The scorpions will be faithful to nothing +but their own ends. They'll fight for any master." + +Recalled to his purpose of attending the play by François' bringing +from the wardrobe sundry articles of attire, the marquis underwent an +elaborate toilet, recovering his good humor as this complicated +operation proceeded. Indeed, by the time it had reached a triumphant +end and the valet set the marquis before a mirror, the latter had +forgotten his dissatisfaction at the government in his pleasure with +himself. + +"Too much excitement is dangerous, is it?" he mumbled. "I am afraid +there will be none at all. A stage-struck young woman; a doll-like +face, probably; a milk-and-water performance! Now, in the old days +actors were artists. Yes, artists!" he repeated, as though he had +struck a chord that vibrated in his memory. + +Arriving at the theater, he was surprised at the scene of animation; +the line of carriages; the crowd about the doors and in the entrance +hall! Evidently the city eagerly sought novelty, and Barnes' company, +offering new diversion after many weeks of opera, drew a fair +proportion of pleasure-seekers to the portals of the drama. The noise +of rattling wheels and the banging of carriage doors; the aspect of +many fair ladies, irreproachably gowned; the confusion of voices from +venders hovering near the gallery entrance--imparted a cosmopolitan +atmosphere to the surroundings. + +"You'd think some well-known player was going to appear, François!" +grumbled the marquis, as he thrust his head out of his carriage. +"Looks like a theater off the Strand! And there's an orange-girl! A +dusky Peggy!" + +The vehicle of the nobleman drew up before the brilliantly-lighted +entrance. Mincingly, the marquis dismounted, assisted by the valet; +within he was met by a _loge_ director who, with the airs of a +Chesterfield, bowed the people in and out. + +"Your ticket, sir!" said this courteous individual, scraping unusually +low. + +The marquis waved his hand toward his man, and François produced the +bits of pasteboard. Escorted to his box, the nobleman settled himself +in an easy chair, after which he stared impudently and inquisitively +around him. + +And what a heterogeneous assemblage it was; of how many nationalities +made up; gay bachelors, representatives of the western trade and +eastern manufacturers; a fair sprinkling of the military element, +seeking amusement before departing for the front, their brass buttons +and striking new uniforms a grim reminder of the conflict waging +between the United States and Mexico; cotton brokers, banking agents, +sugar, tobacco and flour dealers; some evidently English with their +rosy complexions, and others French by their gesticulations! And among +the women, dashing belles from Saratoga, proud beauties from +Louisville, "milliner-martyred" daughters of interior planters, and +handsome creole matrons, in black gowns that set off their white +shoulders! + +In this stately assemblage--to particularize for a moment!--was seated +the (erstwhile!) saintly Madame Etalage, still proud in her bearing, +although white as an angel, and by her side, her carpet knight, an +extravagant, preposterous fop. A few seats in front of her prattled +the lovely _ingenue_, little Fantoccini, a biting libeller of other +actresses, with her pitiless tongue. To her left was a shaggy-looking +gentleman, the Addison of New Orleans' letters, a most tolerant +critic, who never spoke to a woman if he could avoid doing so, but +who, from his philosophical stool, viewed the sex with a conviction it +could do no wrong; a judgment in perspective, as it were! + +The marquis paid little attention to the men; it was the feminine +portion of the audience that interested him, and he regarded it with a +gloating leer, the expression of a senile satyr. Albeit a little on +the seamy side of life, his rank and wealth were such that he himself +attracted a good deal of attention, matronly eyes being turned in his +direction with not unkindly purport. The marquis perceived the stir +his presence occasioned and was not at all displeased; on the +contrary, his manner denoted gratification, smiling and smirking from +bud to blossom and from blossom to bud! + +How fascinating it was to revel in the sight of so much youth and +beauty from the brink of the grave whereon he stood; how young it made +him feel again! He rubbed his withered hands together in childish +delight, while he contemplated the lively charms of Fantoccini or +devoted himself to the no less diverting scrutiny of certain other +dark-haired ladies. + +While occupied in this agreeable pastime the nobleman became dimly +conscious the debutante had appeared and was greeted with the moderate +applause of an audience that is reserving its opinion. "Gad," said one +of the dandies who was keenly observing the nobleman, "it's +fashionable to look at the people and not at the actors!" And he +straightway stared at the boxes, assuming a lackadaisical, languishing +air. Having taken note of his surroundings to his satisfaction, the +marquis at length condescended to turn his eye-glass deliberately and +quizzically to the stage. His sight was not the best, and he gazed for +some time before discerning a graceful figure and a pure, oval face, +with dark hair and eyes. + +"Humph, not a bad stage presence!" he thought. "Probably plenty of +beauty, with a paucity of talent! That's the way nowadays. The +voice--why, where have I heard it before? A beautiful voice! What +melody, what power, what richness! And the face--" Here he wiped the +moisture from his glasses--"if the face is equal to the voice, she has +an unusual combination in an artist." + +Again he elevated the glass. Suddenly his attenuated frame straightened, +his hand shook violently and, the glasses fell from his nerveless +fingers. + +"Impossible!" he murmured. But the melody of those tones continued to +fall upon his ears like a voice from the past. + +When the curtain went down on the first act there was a storm of +applause. In New Orleans nothing was done by halves, and Constance, +as Adrienne Lecouvreur, radiant in youth and the knowledge of +success, was called out several times. The creoles made a vigorous +demonstration; the Americans were as pleased in their less impulsive +way; and in the loges all the lattices were pushed up, "a compliment +to any player," said Straws. To the marquis, the ladies in the +_loges_ were only reminiscent of the fashionable dames, with bare +shoulders and glittering jewels, in the side boxes of old Drury +Lane, leaning from their high tribunals to applaud the Adrienne of +twenty years ago! + +He did not sit in a theater in New Orleans now, but in London town, +with a woman by his side who bent beneath the storm of words she knew +were directed at her. As in a dream he lingered, plunged in thought, +with no longer the cynical, carping expression on his face as he +looked at the stage, but awed and wonder-stricken, transported to +another scene through the lapse of years that folded their shadowy +wings and made the past to-day. Two vivid pictures floated before him +as though they belonged to the present: Adrienne, bright, smiling and +happy, as she rushed into the green room, with the plaudits of the +multitude heard outside; Adrienne, in her last moments, betrayed to +death! + +They were applauding now, or was it but the mocking echo of the past? +The curtain had descended, but went up again, and the actress stood +with flowers showered around her. Save that she was in the springtime +of life, while the other had entered summer's season; that her art was +tender and romantic, rather than overwhelming and tragic, she was the +counterpart of the actress he had deserted in London; a faithful +prototype, bearing the mother's eyes, brow and features; a moving, +living picture of the dead, as though the grave had rolled back its +stone and she had stepped forth, young once more, trusting and +innocent. + +The musical bell rang in the wine room, where the worshipers of +Bacchus were assembled, the signal that the drop would rise again in +five minutes. At the bar the imbibers were passing judgment. + +"What elegance, deah boy! But cold--give me Fantoccini!" cried the +carpet knight. + +"Fantoccini's a doll to her!" retorted the worldly young spark +addressed. + +"A wicked French doll, then! What do you think?" Turning to the local +Addison. + +"Sir, she 'snatches a grace beyond the reach of art'!" replied that +worthy. + +"You ask for a criticism, and he answers in poetry!" retorted the +first speaker. + +"'Tis only the expression of the audience!" interposed another voice. + +"Oh, of course, Mr. Mauville, if you, too, take her part, that is the +end of it!" + +The land baron's smile revealed withering contempt, as with eyes +bright with suppressed excitement, and his face unusually sallow, he +joined the group. + +"The end of it!" he repeated, fixing his glance upon the captious +dandy. "The beginning, you mean! The beginning of her triumphs!" + +"Oh, have your own way!" answered the disconcerted critic. + +Mauville deliberately turned his back. "And such dunces sit in +judgment!" he muttered to the scholar. + +"Curse me, Mauville's in a temper to-night!" said the spark in a low +voice. "Been drinking, I reckon! But it's time for the next act!" + +Punches and juleps were hastily disposed of, and the imbibers quickly +sought their places. This sudden influx, with its accompanying +laughter and chattering, aroused the marquis from his lethargy. He +started and looked around him in bewilderment. The noise and the light +conversation, however, soon recalled his mind to a sense of his +surroundings, and he endeavored to recover his self-possession. + +Could it be possible it was but a likeness his imagination had +converted into such vivid resemblance? A sudden thought seized him and +he looked around toward the door of the box. + +"François!" he called, and the valet, who had been waiting his +master's pleasure without, immediately appeared. + +"Sit down, François!" commanded the marquis. "I am not feeling well. I +may conclude to leave soon, and may need your arm." + +The servant obeyed, and the nobleman, under pretense of finding more +air near the door, drew back his chair, where he could furtively watch +his man's face. The orchestra ceased; the curtain rose, and the valet +gazed mechanically at the stage. In his way, François was as _blasé_ +as his master, only, of course, he understood his position too well to +reveal that lassitude and ennui, the expression of which was the +particular privilege of his betters. He had seen many great actresses +and heard many peerless singers; he had delved after his fashion into +sundry problems, and had earned as great a right as any of the +nobility to satiety and defatigation in his old age, but unfortunately +he was born in a class which may feel but not reveal, and mask alike +content and discontent. + +Again those tones floated out from the past; musical, soft! The +marquis trembled. Did not the man notice? No; he was still looking +gravely before him. Dolt; did he not remember? Could he not recall the +times beyond number when he had heard that voice; in the ivy-covered +cottage; in the garden of English roses? + +Suddenly the valet uttered an exclamation; the stolid aspect of his +face gave way to an obvious thrill of interest. + +"My lord!" he cried. + +"An excellent actress, François; an excellent actress!" said the +marquis, rising. "Is that my coat? Get it for me. What are you +standing there for? Your arm! Don't you see I am waiting?" + +Overwrought and excitable, he did not dare remain for the latter +portion of the drama; better leave before the last act, he told +himself, and, dazed by the reappearance of that vision, the old man +fairly staggered from the box. + +The curtain fell for the last time, and Barnes, with exultation, stood +watching in the wings. She had triumphed, his little girl; she had won +the great, generous heart of New Orleans. He clapped his hands +furiously, joining in the evidences of approval, and, when the ovation +finally ceased and she approached, the old manager was so overcome he +had not a word to say. She looked at him questioningly, and he who had +always been her instructor folded her fondly to his breast. + +"I owe it all to you," she whispered. + +"Pooh!" he answered. "You stole fire from heaven. I am but a +theatrical, bombastic, barnstorming Thespian." + +"Would you spoil me?" she interrupted, tenderly. + +"You are your mother over again, my dear! If she were only here now! +But where is Saint-Prosper? He has not yet congratulated you? He, our +good genius, whose generosity has made all this possible!" And Barnes +half-turned, when she placed a detaining hand on his arm. + +"No, no!" + +"Why, my dear, have you and he--" + +"Is it not enough that you are pleased?" replied Constance, hastily, +with a glance so shining he forgot all further remonstrances. + +"Pleased!" exclaimed Barnes. "Why, I feel as gay as Momus! But we'll +sing Te Deum later at the festive board. Go now and get ready!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +LAUGHTER AND TEARS + + +A supper was given the company after the performance by the manager, +to which representatives of the press--artful Barnes!--had been +invited. Of all the merry evenings in the bohemian world, that was one +of the merriest. Next to the young girl sat the Count de Propriac, his +breast covered with a double row of medals. Of the toasts drunk to +Constance, the manager, poets Straws and Phazma, etc., unfortunately +no record remains. Of the recollections of the wiry old lady; the +impromptu verse of the rhymsters; the roaring speech of Mr. Barnes; +the song and dainty flower dance by Susan and Kate--only the bare +facts have descended to the chronicler. + +So fancy must picture the wreaths of smoke; the superabundance of +flowers, the fragrance of cigars mingling with the perfume of fading +floral beauties; the pale dark-eyed girl presiding, upon her dusky +hair a crown of laurel, set there, despite her protestations, by +Phazma and Straws; the devotion of the count to his fair neighbor; the +almost superhuman pride of noisy Barnes; the attention bestowed by +Susan upon Saint-Prosper, while through his mind wandered the words of +a French song: + + "Adieu, la cour, adieu les dames; + Adieu les filles et les femmes--" + +Intermixed with this sad refrain the soldier's thoughts reverted to +the performance, and amidst the chatter of Susan, he reviewed again +and again the details of that evening. Was this the young girl who +played in school-houses, inns or town halls, he had asked himself, +seated in the rear of the theater? How coldly critical had been her +auditors; some of the faces about him ironical; the bored, tired faces +of men who had well-nigh drained life's novelties; the artificially +vivacious faces of women who played at light-heartedness and gaiety! +Yet how free from concern had she been, as natural and composed as +though her future had not depended upon that night! When she won an +ovation, he had himself forgotten to applaud, but had sat there, +looking from her to the auditors, to whom she was now bound by ties of +admiration and friendliness. + +"Don't you like her?" a voice next to him had asked. + +Like her? He had looked at the man, blankly. + +"Yes," he had replied. + +Then the past had seemed to roll between them: the burning sands; the +voices of the troops; the bugle call! In his brain wild thoughts had +surged and flowed--as they were surging and flowing now. + +"Is he not handsome, Constance's new admirer?" whispered Susan. "What +can he be saying? She looks so pleased! He is very rich, isn't he?" + +"I don't know," answered Saint-Prosper, brusquely. + +Again the thoughts surged and surged, and the past intruded itself! +Reaching for his glass, he drank quickly. + +"Don't you ever feel the effects of wine?" asked the young woman. + +His glance chilled her, it seemed so strange and steely! + +"I believe you are so--so strong you don't even notice it," added +Susan, with conviction. "But you don't have half as good a time!" + +"Perhaps I enjoy myself in my way," he answered. + +"What is your way?" she asked quickly. "You don't appear to be wildly +hilarious in your pleasures." And Susan's bright eyes rested on him +curiously. "But we were speaking about the count and Constance. Don't +you think it would be a good match?" she continued with enthusiasm. +"Alas, my titled admirer got no further than the beginning. But men +are deceivers ever! When they _do_ reach the Songs of Solomon, they +pass on to Exodus!" + +"And leave the fair ones to Lamentations," said Straws, who had caught +her last remarks. + +"Or Revelations!" added Phazma. + +At the sound of their laughter, Constance looked coldly their way, +until a remark from the count at her right, and, "As I was saying, my +dear," from the old lady at her left, engrossed the young girl's +attention once more. But finally the great enemy of joy--the grim +guardian of human pleasure--the reaper whose iron hands move ever in a +circle, symbolical of eternity--finally, Time reminded Barnes that the +hour had surely arrived when the curtain should descend upon these +festivities. So he roared out a last blithe farewell, and the guests +departed one by one, taking with them flowers in memory of the +occasion, until all had left save Constance, the count, Saint-Prosper +and the manager. Barnes was talking somewhat incoherently, holding the +soldier by the coat and plunging into successive anecdotes about stage +folk, while Saint-Prosper, apparently listening, observed the diplomat +and Constance, whose conversation he could overhear. + +"As I said to the Royal Infanta of Spain, flattery flies before truth +in your presence, Mademoiselle," sighed the count. And then raising +her hand to his lips, "_Ah, ma chere Mademoiselle, que je vous +adore!_" he whispered. + +She withdrew it hastily, and, ogling and gesticulating, he bowed +himself out, followed by the manager. + +Leaning against the chair, her figure outlined by the glow from the +crystal chandelier, her face in shadow, the hand the diplomat had +pressed to his lips resting in the exposed light on the mahogany, the +gaiety went out of her face, and the young girl wearily brushed the +hair from her brow. As if unaware of the soldier's presence, she +glanced absently at the table in its wrecked glory, and, throwing her +lace wrap over her arm, was moving toward the door, when he spoke. + +"Miss Carew!" + +She paused, standing with clasped hands before him, while the scarf +slipped from her arm and fell at her feet. + +"May I not also tell you how glad I am--that you succeeded to-night?" + +"I dislike congratulations!" she said, indifferently. + +He looked at her quickly, but her eyes expressed only apathy. In his a +sudden gleam of light appeared. + +"From me, you mean?" The light became brighter. + +She did not answer. His self-control was fast ebbing. + +"You underestimate your favors, if you fancy they are easily +forgotten!" + +A crimson flush extended to her brow; the unconcern died out of her +eyes. + +"I do not understand," she answered, slowly. + +"When a woman says 'I do not understand,' she means 'I wish to +forget'." + +Her wide-open glance flashed ominously to his; she clasped and +unclasped her fingers. + +"Forget what?" she said, coldly. + +"Nameless nothings!" he returned. "A smile--a glance--nothing to you, +perhaps, but"--the set expression of his face giving way to abrupt +passion!--"everything to me! Perhaps I had not meant to say this, but +it seems as though the words must come out to-night. It may be"--his +voice vibrating with strange earnestness--"for once I want to be +myself. For weeks we have been--friends--and then suddenly you begin +to treat me--how? As though I no longer existed! Why did you deceive +me--let me drift on? Because I was mute, did you think I was blind? +Why did I join the strollers--the land baron accused me of following +you across the country. He was right; I was following you. I would not +confess it to myself before. But I confess it now! It was a fool's +paradise," he ended, bitterly. + +She shrank back before his vehement words; something within her +appeared violated; as though his plea had penetrated the sanctity of +her reserve. + +"Would it not be well to say nothing about deception?" she replied, +and her dark eyes swept his face. Then, turning from him abruptly, she +stepped to the window, and, drawing aside the lace curtains +mechanically, looked out. + +The city below was yet teeming with life, lights gleaming everywhere +and shadowy figures passing. Suddenly out of the darkness came a +company of soldiers who had just landed, marching through the streets +toward the camping ground and singing as they went. + +The chorus, like a mighty breath of patriotism, filled her heart to +overflowing. It seemed as though she had heard it for the first time; +had never before felt its potency. All the tragedy of war swept before +her; all that inspiring, strange affection for country, kith and kin, +suddenly exalted her. + +[Illustration] + +Above the tramping of feet, the melody rose and fell on the distant +air, dying away as the figures vanished in the gloom. With its love of +native land, its expression of the unity of comradeship and ties +stronger than death, the song appeared to challenge an answer; and, +when the music ceased, and only the drum-beats still seemed to make +themselves heard, she raised her head without moving from her position +and looked at him to see if he understood. But though she glanced at +him, she hardly saw him. In her mind was another picture--the betrayed +garrison; the soldiers slain!--and the horror of it threw such a film +over her gaze that he became as a figure in some distressing dream. + +An inkling of her meaning--the mute questioning of her eyes--the dread +evoked by that revolting vision of the past--were reflected in his +glance. + +"Deceived you?" he began, and his voice, to her, sounded as from afar. +"How--what--" + +"Must it be--could it be put into words?" + +The deepest shadows dwelt in her eyes; shadows he could not penetrate, +although he still doggedly, yet apprehensively, regarded her! Watching +her, his brow grew darker. + +"Why not?" he continued, stubbornly. + +Why? The dimness that had obscured her vision lifted. Now she saw him +very plainly, indeed; tall and powerful; his face, harsh, intense, as +though by the vigor of physical and mental force he would override any +charge or imputation. + +Why? She drew herself up, as he quickly searched her eyes, bright with +the passions that stirred her breast. + +"You told me part of your story that day in the property wagon," she +began, repugnance, scorn and anger all mingling in her tones. "Why did +you not tell me the rest?" + +His glance, too, flashed. Would he still profess not to understand +her? His lips parted; he spoke with an effort. + +"The rest?" he said, his brow lowering. + +"Yes," she answered quickly; "the stain upon your name!--the garrison +sold!--the soldiers killed!--murdered!--" + +She had turned to him swiftly, fiercely, with her last words, but +before the look of sudden shame and dread on his face, her eyes +abruptly fell as though a portion of his dishonor had inexplicably +touched her. He made no attempt to defend himself--motionless he stood +an instant--then, without a word, he moved away. At the threshold he +paused, but she did not look up--could not! A moment; an eternity! + +"Why don't you go?" she cried. "Why don't you go?" + +The door opened, closed; she was alone. + +Pale as the dying lilies on the table, she stepped toward the +threshold, when Barnes, chipper and still indefatigable, entered by +another door. He was too inspired with festal intoxication to observe +her agitation. + +"What, my dear!" he exclaimed cheerily. "Has he gone? Did you make up +your little differences? Did you settle your quarrel before he leaves +for Mexico?" + +"For Mexico!" she repeated, mechanically. + +"Of course. He has his commission in the army and leaves early in the +morning. But you look tired, my dear. I declare you are quite +pale"--pinching her cheek--"rest will bring back the roses, though." + +Impulsively she threw her arms around his neck. + +"Why, why, what's this?" he said, patting her head. + +"I only care for you," she whispered. "My dear! My dear!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE PASSING OF A FINE GENTLEMAN + + +"'Perhaps she will fail, and that will amuse me,'" ruminated François +on his high seat next to the coachman, repeating the marquis' words, +as they drove home after the nobleman's precipitous retreat from the +theater. "Well, he didn't look as though he had been particularly +amused. But no wonder he was startled! It even"--reviewing the +impression first made upon him at sight of the actress--"sent a shiver +through me!" Here the carriage drew up sharply before the marquis' +home, and François, hastily alighting, threw open the door. + +"Eh? What? Are we here?" muttered the marquis, starting from the +corner where he had been reclining. + +He arose with some difficulty; traversed the sidewalk and the +shell-strewn path to the house which loomed darkly before them; paused +at the foot of the stairs where he breathed heavily, complaining of +the oppressiveness of the air; and finally, with the assistance of the +valet, found himself once more in his room, the sick chamber he had +grown to detest! Here alone--having dismissed the servant as soon as +possible--he moved restlessly to and fro, pondering deeply. Since the +moment when he had seen and recognized his daughter, all the buoyancy +which had given his wasted figure a sort of galvanic vitality seemed +to vanish. It was like the exhaustion of a battery, the collapse of +the sustaining power. + +"That resemblance can not be coincidence!" he thought. "Oh, errors of +the past, you come home in our old age when the limbs are faltering +and life is failing!" + +Going to the _secrétaire_, he took out a box that had not been opened +in years, and, with trembling fingers, turned over many papers. He +shivered, and, thinking it was cold, stirred the fire. Returning to +the secretary, he took from the box a package tied with a ribbon +still, after the lapse of these many years, slightly fragrant, and he +breathed that perfume, so faint, so subtle, while recollections smote +him like a knife. + +Its scent was familiar to him; it seemed to bring life to the dead, +and for the moment in his mind's eye he saw her glowing figure, the +love of his youth, with flashing, revengeful eyes and noble mien. He +cowered over the desk, as if shrinking from an avenging spirit, while +the perfume, like opium, filled his brain with strange fantasies. He +strove to drown remembrance, but some force--it seemed not his +own!--drove him irresistibly to untie that ribbon, to scrutinize many +old theater programs and to gaze upon a miniature in ivory depicting a +woman in the loveliness of her charms, but whose striking likeness to +the young actress he had just seen filled his heart with strange fear. +Some power--surely it could not have been his will which rebelled +strenuously!--impelled him to open those letters and to read them word +for word. The tenderness of the epistles fell on his heart as though +to scorch it, and he quivered like a guilty wretch. His eyes were +fascinated by these words in her last letter: "Should you desert me +and your unborn child, your end will be miserable. As I believe in +retribution, I am sure you will reap as you have sown." + +Suddenly the reader in a frenzy threw the letter to the floor and +trampled on it. He regarded the face in the miniature with fear and +hatred, and dashing it into the drawer, called down maledictions on +her. He ceased abruptly, weak and wavering. + +"I am going insane," he said, laughing harshly. "Fool! To let that +woman's memory disturb me. So much for her dire prophecy!" And he +snapped his fingers and dropped the letter in the fire. + +"What can her curse avail?" he said aloud. "She is gone, turned to +ashes like that paper and there is no life after this one. All then is +nothing--emptiness--a blank! I need rest. It is this cursed dyspepsia +which has made me nervous. Something to compose me, and then to bed!" + +In spite of soothing powders, however, he passed a restless night and +arose unrefreshed, but ordered his valet to bring one of his lightest +suits, and, having dressed, he set a white flower upon his coat, while +the servant proceeded to apply various pigments to the wrinkled face, +until it took on a mocking semblance to the countenance of a man +fifteen years younger. The marquis leered at himself in the pier-glass +and assumed a jauntiness of demeanor he was far from feeling. + +"I do not look tired or worried, François?" + +"Not at all, my lord," replied the obsequious valet. "I never saw you, +my lord, appear so young and well." + +"Beneath the surface, François, there is age and weakness," answered +the marquis in a melancholy tone. + +"It is but a passing indisposition, my lord," asserted the servant, +soothingly. + +"Perhaps. But, François"--peering around--"as I look over my shoulder, +do you know what I see?" + +The almost hideous expression of the roué's face alarmed the servant. + +"No, my lord, what is it?" + +"A figure stands there in black and is touching me. It is the spirit +of death, François. You can not see it, but there it is--" + +"My lord, you speak wildly." + +"I have seen some strange things, François. The dead have arisen. And +I have received my warning. Soon I shall join those dark specters +which once gaily traversed this bright world. A little brandy and +soda, François." + +The servant brought it to him. The marquis leered awfully over his +shoulder once more. "Your health, my guest!" he exclaimed, laughing +harshly. "But my hat, François; I have business to perform, important +business!" + +He ambled out of the room. On the street he was all politeness, +removing his hat to a dark brunette who rolled by in her carriage, and +pausing to chat with another representative of the sex of the blond +type. Then he gaily sauntered on, until reaching the theater he +stopped and made a number of inquiries. Who was the manager of +Constance Carew? Where was he to be found? "At the St. Charles hotel?" +He was obliged to Monsieur, the ticket-seller, and wished him +good-day. + +Entering the hotel, he sent his card to Barnes, requesting an +interview, and the manager, overcome by the honor of such a visit, +responded with alacrity. The customary formalities over, the nobleman +congratulated Barnes on the performance and led the conversation to +the young actress. + +"Pardon my curiosity," he said, with apparent carelessness, "but I'm +sure I remember an actress of the same name in London--many years +ago?" + +"Her mother, undoubtedly," replied the manager, proudly. + +"She was married, was she not, to--" + +"A scoundrel who took her for his wife in one church and repudiated +the ties through another denomination!" + +"Ah, a French-English marriage!" said the marquis, blandly. "An old +device! But what was this lover's name?" + +"This husband's, my lord!" + +"Lover or husband, I fancy it is all the same to her now," sneered the +caller. "She has passed the point where reputation matters." + +"Her reputation is my concern, Monsieur le Marquis!" + +"You knew her?" asked the nobleman, as though the conversation wearied +him. "And she was faithful to his memory? No scandals--none of those +little affairs women of her class are prone to? There"--as Barnes +started up indignantly--"spare me your reproaches! I'm too feeble to +quarrel. Besides, what is it to me? I was only curious about her--that +is all! But she never spoke the name of her husband?" + +"Not even to her own child!" + +"She does not know her father's name?" repeated the marquis. "But I +thank you; Mademoiselle Constance is so charming I must needs call to +ask if she were related to the London actress! Good-day, Monsieur! You +are severe on the lover. Was it not the fashion of the day for the +actresses to take lovers, or for the fops to have an opera girl or a +comedienne? Did your most popular performers disdain such diversions?" +he sneered. "_Pardie_, the world has suddenly become moral! A +gentleman can no longer, it would seem, indulge in gentlemanly +follies." + +Mumbling about the decadence of fashion, the marquis departed, his +manner so strange the manager gazed after him in surprise. + +With no thought of direction, his lips moving, talking to himself in +adynamic fashion, the nobleman walked mechanically on until he reached +the great cathedral. The organ was rolling and voices arose sweet as +those of seraphim. He hesitated at the portal and then laughed to +himself. "Well has Voltaire said: 'Pleasure has its time; so, too, has +wisdom. Make love in thy youth, and in old age, attend to thy +salvation.'" He repeated the latter words, but, although he paused at +the threshold and listened, he did not enter. + +As he stood there, uncertain and trembling, a figure replete with +youth and vigor approached, and, glancing at her, an exclamation +escaped him that caused her to pause and turn. + +"You are not well," she said, solicitously. "Can I help you?" + +"It is nothing, nothing!" answered the marquis, ashy pale at the sight +of her and the proximity of that face which regarded him with womanly +sympathy. "Go away." + +"At least, let me assist you. You were going to the cathedral? Come!" + +His hand rested upon her strong young arm; he felt himself too weak to +resist, so, together--father and daughter!--they entered the +cathedral. Side by side they knelt--he to keep up the farce, fearing +to undeceive her--while yet only mocking words came to the old man's +heart, as the bitterness of the situation overwhelmed him. She was a +daughter in whom a prince might have found pride, but he remained +there mute, not daring to speak, experiencing all the tortures of +remorse and retribution. Of what avail had been ambition? How had it +overleaped content and ease of mind! Into what a nest of stings and +thorns his loveless marriage had plunged him! And now but the black +shadow remained; he walked in the darkness of unending isolation. So +he should continue to walk straight to the door of death. + +He scarcely heard the organ or the voice of the priest. The high +altar, with its many symbols, suggested the thousands that had +worshiped there and gone away comforted. Here was abundant testimony +of the blessings of divine mercy in the numerous costly gifts and in +the discarded crutches, and here faith had manifested itself for +generations. + +The marquis' throat was hoarse; he could have spoken no words if he +had tried. He laughed in his heart at the gifts of the grateful ones; +those crosses of ivory and handsome lamps were but symbols of +barbarism and superstition. The tablets, with their inscriptions, +_"Merci"_ and _"Ex voto,"_ were to him absurd, and he gibed at the +simple credulity of the people who could thus be misled. All these +evidences of thanksgiving were but cumulative testimony that men and +women are like little children, who will be pleased over fairy tales +or frightened over ghost stories. The promise of paradise, but the +fairy tale told by priests to men and women; the threats of +punishment, the ghost stories to awe them! A malicious delight crept +into his diseased imagination that he alone in the cathedral possessed +the extreme divination, enabling him to perceive the emptiness of all +these signs and symbols. He labored in a fever of mental excitement +and was only recalled to himself as his glance once more rested upon +the young girl. + +He became dimly conscious that people were moving past them, and he +suddenly longed to cry out, "My child!" but he fought down the +impulse. There could be no turning back now at the eleventh hour; the +marquis was a philosopher, and did not believe that, in a twinkling of +an eye, a man may set behind all that has transpired and regard it as +naught. Something within held him from speaking to her--perhaps his +own inherent sense of the consistency of things; his appreciation of +the legitimate finale to a miserable order of circumstances! Even +pride forbade departure from long-established habit. But while this +train of thought passed through his mind, he realized she was +regarding him with clear, compassionate eyes, and he heard her voice: + +"Shall we go now? The services are over." + +He obeyed without question. + +"Over!" + +Those moments by her side would never return! They were about to part +to meet no more on earth. He leaned heavily upon her arm and his steps +were faltering. Out into the warm sunshine they passed, the light +revealing more plainly the ravages of time in his face. + +"You must take a carriage," she said to the old man. + +"Thank you, thank you," he replied. "Leave me here on the bench. I +shall soon be myself. I am only a little weak. You are good to an old +man. May I not"--asking solely for the pleasure of hearing her +speak--"may I not know the name of one who is kind to an old man?" + +"My name is Constance Carew." + +He shook as with the palsy. "A good name, a good name!" he repeated. +"I remember years ago another of that name--an actress in London. A +very beautiful woman, and good! But even she had her detractors and +none more bitter than the man who wronged her. You--you resemble her! +But there, don't let me detain you. I shall do very well here. You are +busy, I dare say." + +"Yes, I should be at rehearsal," she replied regretfully. + +"At rehearsal!" he repeated. "Yes!--yes!--. But the stage is no place +for you!" he added, suddenly. "You should leave it--leave it!" + +She looked at him wonderingly. "Is there nothing more I can do for +you?" + +"Nothing! Nothing! Except--no, nothing!" + +"You were about to ask something?" she observed with more sympathy. + +"If you would not think me presuming--if you would not deem it an +offense--you remind me of one I loved and lost--it is so long ago +since I felt her kiss for the last time--I am so near the grave--" + +With tears in her eyes, she bent her head and her fresh young lips +just touched his withered brow. + +"Good-by," she said. "I am so sorry for you!" And she was gone, +leaving him sitting there motionless as though life had departed. + +A rattling cab that clattered noisily past the cabildo and calaboza, +and swung around the square, aroused the marquis. He arose, stopped +the driver, and entered the rickety vehicle. + +"The law office of Marks and Culver," said the marquis. + +The man lashed his horse and the attenuated quadruped flew like a +winged Pegasus, soon drawing up before the attorneys' office. +Fortunately Culver was in, and, although averse to business on any +day--thinking more of his court-yard and his fountain than of his law +books--this botanist-solicitor made shift to comply with the marquis' +instructions and reluctantly earned a modest fee. He even refused to +express surprise at my lord's story; one wife in London, another in +Paris; why, many a southern gentleman had two families--quadroons +being plentiful, why not? Culver unobtrusively yawned, and, with fine +courtesy, bowed the marquis out. + +Slowly the latter retraced his steps to his home; his feet were heavy +as lead; his smile was forced; he glanced frequently over his +shoulder, possessed by a strange fantasy. + +"I think I will lie down a little," he said to his valet. "In this +easy chair; that will do. I am feeling well; only tired. How that mass +is repeated in my mind! That is because it is Palestrina, François; +not because it is a vehicle to salvation, employed by the gibbering +priests. Never let your heart rule your head, boy. Don't mistake +anything for reality. 'What have you seen in your travels?' was asked +of Sage Evemere. 'Follies!' was the reply. 'Follies, follies +everywhere!' We never live; we are always in the expectation of +living." + +He made an effort to smile which was little more than a grimace. + +"A cigar, François!" + +"My lord, are you well?--" + +The marquis flew into a rage and the valet placed an imported weed in +his master's hand. + +"A light, François!" + +The valet obeyed. For a moment the strong cigar seemed to soothe the +old man, although his hand shook like an aspen as he held it. + +"Now, bring me my Voltaire," commanded the marquis. "The volume on the +table, idiot! Ah! here is what I wish: 'It takes twenty years to bring +man from the state of embryo, and from that of a mere criminal, as he +is in his first infancy, to the point when his reason begins to dawn. +It has taken thirty centuries to know his structure; it would take +eternity to know something of the soul; it takes but an instant to +kill him.' But an instant; but an instant!" he repeated. + +He puffed feebly at the cigar. + +"It is cold here, François." + +The servant consulted the thermometer. + +"It is five degrees warmer than you are accustomed to, my lord," he +replied. + +"Bring me the thermometer," commanded the old man. "You should not +lie, François. It is a bad fault in servants. Leave it to your +masters; it is a polite vice. The privilege of the world's potentates, +diplomats and great people. Never fall into the rut of lying, +François, or you will soon outlive your usefulness as a valet." + +"You can see that I speak the truth, my lord," was the response, as +calm as ever, for nothing disturbed or ruffled this ideal servant. + +He held out the thermometer for the marquis' inspection and the latter +examined it carefully. The cigar fell from his fingers to the floor. +The attentive valet picked it up and threw it into the grate. + +"I believe, François," stammered the marquis, "that the fault lies +with me. It is I--I, who am growing cold like death." + +"Yes, my lord," answered the calm and imperturbable servant. + +"'Yes?' you blockhead!" shrieked the master. "Do you know what you are +saying?" + +"Well, no, then, my lord," responded the unmoved valet. + +"Yes and no!" shouted the marquis in a voice that was wildly +discordant. "What do you mean?" + +"Whatever my lord pleases," was the quiet response. + +"_Mon Dieu_! I'll discharge you." + +The servant only smiled. + +"Why did you smile?" + +"Oh, my lord--" + +"Was it not that you thought it a good joke for a dying man to +discharge his servant?" + +"My lord is quick to catch the humorous side of anything," returned +François. + +"Begone, idiot! You are waiting for my death to discharge you. I can +see it in your eyes. Yet stay, François, for, if you leave me, I shall +be alone. You will not leave me?" + +"As my lord desires," was François' response. + +"I imagine I should feel better if I had my footbath." + +The servant removed the shoes and silken stockings from his master's +feet and propped him up in a chair, throwing a blanket over his +shoulders and heaping more wood upon the fire in the grate. + +"More fire, you idiot!" cried the marquis, peevishly. "Do you not see +that I am freezing?" + +"It is ten degrees above the temperature my lord always ordered," +retorted François, coolly. + +"Ten degrees! Oh, you wish to remind me that the end is approaching? +You do not dare deny it!" The valet shrugged his shoulders. + +"But I am not gone yet." He wagged his head cunningly and began to +laugh to himself. His mind apparently rambled, for he started to chant +a French love song in a voice that had long since lost its capacity +for a sustained tone. The words were distinct, although the melody was +broken, and the spectacle was gruesome enough. As he concluded he +looked at the valet as if for approbation and began to mumble about +his early love affairs. + +"Bah, François," he said shrilly, "I'll be up to-morrow as gay as +ever. _Vive l'amour! vive la joie!_ It was a merry life we led, eh, +François?" + +"Merry indeed, my lord." + +"It kept you busy, François. There was the little peasant girl on the +Rhine. What flaxen hair she had and eyes like the sky! Yet a word of +praise--a little flattery--" + +"My lord was irresistible," said the valet with mild sarcasm. + +"Let me see, François, what became of her?" + +"She drowned herself in the river." + +"That is true. I had forgotten. Well, life is measured by pleasures, +not by years, and I was the prince of coxcombs. Up at ten o'clock; +no sooner on account of the complexion; then visits from the +tradespeople and a drive in the park to look at the ladies. It was +there I used to meet the English actress. 'Twas there, with her, I +vowed the park was a garden of Eden! What a scene, when my barrister +tried to settle the case! Fortunately a marriage in England was not +a marriage in France. I saw her last night, François"--with an +insane look--"in the flesh and blood; as life-like as the night +before we took the stage for Brighton!" Suddenly he shrieked and a +look of terror replaced the vain, simpering expression. + +"There, François!" Glancing with awe behind him. And truly there stood +a dark shadow; a gruesome presence. His face became distorted and he +lapsed into unconsciousness. + +The valet gazed at him with indifference. Then he went to an inner +room and brought a valise which he began packing carefully and +methodically. After he had completed this operation he approached the +dressing table and took up a magnificent jeweled watch, which he +examined for a moment before thrusting it into his pocket. A snuff +box, set with diamonds, and several rings followed. François with the +same deliberation opened a drawer and took out a small box which he +tried to open, and, failing, forced the lid with the poker. At this, +my lord opened his eyes, and, in a weak voice, for his strength had +nearly deserted him, demanded: + +"What are you doing, François?" + +"Robbing you, my lord," was the slow and dignified response. + +The marquis' eyes gleamed with rage. He endeavored to call out, but +his voice failed him and he fell back, trembling and overcome. + +"Thief! Ingrate!" he hissed, hoarsely. + +"I beg you not to excite yourself, my lord," said the stately valet. +"You are already very weak and it will hasten the end." + +"Is this the way you repay me?" + +"My lord will not need these things soon." + +"Have you no gratitude?" stammered the marquis, whose physical and +mental condition was truly pitiable. + +"Gratitude for having been called 'idiot,' 'dog,' and 'blockhead' +nearly all my life! I am somewhat lacking in that quality, I fear." + +"Is there no shame in you?" + +"Shame?" repeated François, as he proceeded to ransack another drawer. +"There might have been before I went into your service, my lord. Yes; +once I felt shame for you. It was years ago, in London, when you +deserted your beautiful wife. When I saw how she worshiped you and +what a noble woman she was, I confess I felt ashamed that I served one +of the greatest blackguards in Europe--" + +"Oh, you scoundrel--" exclaimed the marquis, his face becoming a +ghastly hue. + +"Be calm, my lord. You really are in need of all your energy. For +years I have submitted to your shameful service. I have been at the +beck and call of one of the greatest roués and villains in France. +Years of such association would somewhat soil any nature. Another +thing, my lord, I must tell you, since you and I are settling our last +accounts. For years I have endured your miserable King Louis Philippe. +A king? Bah! He fled from the back door! A coward, who shaved his +whiskers for a disguise." + +"No more, rascal!" + +"Rascal yourself, you worn-out, driveling breath of corruption! It is +so pleasant to exercise a gentleman's privilege of invective! Ah, here +is the purse. _Au revoir_, my lord. A pleasant dissolution!" + +But by this time the marquis was speechless, and François, taking the +valise in hand, deferentially left the room. He locked the door behind +him and thrust the key into his pocket. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +IN THE OLD CEMETERY + + +The engagement at the new St. Charles was both memorable and +profitable, The Picayune, before the fifties, an audacious sheet, +being especially kind to the players. "This paper," said a writer of +the day, "was as full of witticisms as one of Thackeray's dreams after +a light supper, and, as for Editors Straws and Phazma, they are poets +who eat, talk and think rhyme." The Picayune contained a poem +addressed to Miss Carew, written by Straws in a cozy nook in the +veranda at the Lake End, with his absinthe before him and the remains +of an elaborate repast about him. It was then quite the fashion to +write stanzas to actresses; the world was not so prosaic as it is now, +and even the president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, penned +graceful verses to a fair ward of Thalia. + +One noon, a few days after the opening performance, several members of +the company were late for rehearsal and Barnes strode impatiently to +and fro, glancing at his watch and frowning darkly. To avenge himself +for the remissness of the players, he roared at the stage carpenters +who were constructing a balcony and to the supers who were shifting +flats to the scenery room. The light from an open door at the back of +the stage dimly illumined the scene; overhead, in the flies, was +intense darkness; while in front, the auditorium yawned like a chasm, +in no wise suggestive of the brilliant transformation at night. + +"Ugh!" said Susan, standing in one of the entrances. "It is like +playing to ghosts! Fancy performing to an audience of specters! +Perhaps the phantoms of the past really do assemble in their old +places on occasions like this. Only you can't hear them applaud or +laugh." + +"Are you looking for admirers among ghosts?" remarked Hawkes, +ironically. + +"Don't," she returned, with a little shiver. + +"So, ladies and gentlemen, you are all here at last?" exclaimed +Barnes, interrupting this cheerful conversation. "Some of you are late +again to-day. It must not happen again. Go to Victor's, Moreau's, or +Miguel's, as much as you please. If you have a headache or a heartache +in consequence, that is your own affair, but I am not to be kept +waiting the next day." + +"Victor's, indeed!" retorted the elastic old lady. "As if--" + +"No one supposed, Madam, that at your age"--began the manager. + +"At my age! If you think--" + +"Are you all ready?" interrupted Barnes, hastily, knowing he would be +worsted in any argument with this veteran player. "Then clear the +stage! Act first!" And the rehearsal began. + +If the audience were specters, the performers moved, apparently +without rhyme or reason, mere shadows on the dimly lighted stage; +enacting some semblance to scenes of mortal life; their jests and +gibes, unnatural in that comparatively empty place; their voices, out +of the semi-darkness, like those of spirits rehearsing acts of long +ago. In the evening it would all become an amusing, bright-colored +reality, but now the barrenness of the scenes was forcibly apparent. + +"That will do for to-day," said the manager at the conclusion of the +last act. "To-morrow, ladies and gentlemen, at the same time. And any +one who is late--will be fined!" + +"Changing the piece every few nights is all work and no play," +complained Susan. + +"It will keep you out of mischief, my dear," replied Barnes, gathering +up his manuscripts. + +"Oh, I don't know about that!" returned Miss Susan, with a defiant +toss of the head, as she moved toward the dressing-room where they +had left their wraps. It was a small apartment, fairly bright and +cheery, with here and there a portrait against the wall. Above the +dressing-table hung a mirror, diamond-scratched with hieroglyphic +scrawls, among which could be discerned a transfixed heart, spitted +like a lark on an arrow, and an etching of Lady Gay Spanker, with +cork-screw curls. Taglioni, in pencil caricature, her limbs +"divinely slender," gyrated on her toes in reckless abandon above +this mute record of names now forgotten. + +"What lovely roses, Constance!" exclaimed Susan, as she entered, +bending over a large bouquet on one of the chairs. "From the count, I +presume?" + +"Yes," indifferently answered the young girl, who was adjusting her +hat before the mirror. + +"How attentive he is!" cooed Susan, her tones floating in a higher +register. "Poor man! Enjoy yourself while you may, my dear," she went +on. "When youth is gone, what is left? Women should sow their wild +oats as well as men. I don't call them wild oats, though, but +paradisaical oats. The Elysian fields are strewn with them." + +As she spoke, her glance swept her companion searchingly, and, in that +brief scrutiny, Susan observed with inward complacency how pale the +other was, and how listless her manner! Their common secret, however, +made Susan's outward demeanor sweetly solicitous and gently +sympathetic. Her mind, passing in rapid review over recent events, +dwelt not without certain satisfaction upon results. True, every night +she was still forced to witness Constance's success, which of itself +was wormwood and gall to Susan, to stand in the wings and listen to +the hateful applause; but the conviction that the sweets of popular +favor brought not what they were expected to bring, was, in a way, an +antidote to Susan's dissatisfaction. + +A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and can sometimes be made +annoying; in Susan's case it was a weapon sharpened with honeyed +phrase and consolatory bearing, for she was not slow to discover nor +to avail herself of the irritating power this knowledge gave her. +Constance's pride and reticence, however, made it difficult for Susan +to discern when her shafts went true. Moreover, although harboring no +suspicion of Susan's dissimulation, she instinctively held aloof from +her and remained coldly unresponsive. Perhaps in the depths of Susan's +past lurked something indefinable which threw its shadow between them, +an inscrutable impediment; and her inability to penetrate the young +actress' reserve, however she might wound her, awakened Susan's +resentment. But she was too world-wise to display her irritation. She +even smiled sweetly now, as confidante to confidante, and, turning to +her impulsively, said: + +"Let me help you on with your cloak, dear?" + +Out of the quiet, deserted theater, isolated from external din, to the +busy streets, where drays went thundering by, and industry manifested +itself in resounding clatter, was a sudden, but not altogether +unwelcome, change to Constance. Without waiting for the manager, who +paused at the rear entrance to impress his final instructions upon a +stolid-looking property-man, she turned quickly into the noisy +thoroughfares. + +On and on her restlessness led her, conscious of the clangor of +vehicles and voices and yet remote from them; past those picturesque +suggestions of the one-time Spanish rulers in which the antiquarian +could detect evidence of remote Oriental infusion; past the silken +seductions of shops, where ladies swarmed and hummed like bees around +the luscious hive; past the idlers' resorts, from whence came the +rat-a-tat of clinking billiard balls and the louder rumble of falling +ten-pins. + +In a window of one of these places, a club with a reputation for +exclusiveness, a young man was seated, newspaper in hand, a cup of +black coffee on a small table before him, and the end of a cigar +smoking on the tray where he had placed it. With a yawn, he had just +thrown aside the paper and was reaching for the thick, dark +beverage--his hand thin and nervous--when, glancing without, he caught +sight of the actress in the crowd. Obeying a sudden impulse, he arose, +picking up his hat which lay on a chair beside him. + +"Yo' order am ready in a moment, Mr. Mauville," said a colored +servant, hurrying toward the land baron as the latter was leaving. + +"I've changed my mind and don't want it," replied the other curtly. + +And sauntering down the steps of the club with ill-concealed +impatience, he turned in the direction the young girl had taken, +keeping her retreating figure in view; now, so near her in the crowded +street, he could almost touch her; then, as they left the devious +ways, more distant, but ever with his eyes bent upon her. He had +almost spoken, when in the throng he approached within arm's length, +but something--he knew not what--restrained him, and a press of people +separated them. Only for a moment, and then he continued the +questionable pleasure of following her. + +Had she turned, she would probably have seen her pursuer, but absorbed +in thought, she continued on her way, unconscious of his presence. On +and on she hurried, until she reached the tranquil outskirts and +lingered before the gate of one of the cemeteries. At the same time +the land baron slackened his footsteps, hesitating whether to advance +or turn back. After a moment's indecision, she entered the cemetery; +her figure, receding in the distance, was becoming more and more +indistinct, when he started forward quickly and also passed through +the gate. + +The annual festival of the dead, following All Saint's day, was being +observed in the burial ground. This commemoration of those who have +departed in the communion--described by Tertullian in the second +century as an "apostolic tradition," so old was the sacrifice!--was +celebrated with much pomp and variety in the Crescent City. In the +vicinity of the cemetery gathered many colored _marchandes_, their +heads and shoulders draped in shawls and fichus of bright, diversified +hues; before them, perambulating booths with baskets of molasses candy +or _pain-patate_. Women, dressed in mourning, bore to the tomb flowers +and plants, trays of images, wreaths, crosses, anchors of dried +immortelles and artificial roses. Some were accompanied by priests and +acolytes with censers, the former intoning the service: + + Fidelium Deus omnium conditor-- + +A solemn peace fell upon the young girl as she entered and she seemed +to leave behind her all disturbing emotions, finding refuge in the +supreme tranquillity of this ancient city of the dead. She was +surrounded by a resigned grief, a sorrow so dignified that it did not +clash with the sweeter influences of nature. The monotonous sound of +the words of the priests harmonized with the scene. The tongue of a +nation that had been resolved into the elements was fitting in this +place, where time and desolation had left their imprint in discolored +marble, inscriptions almost effaced, and clambering vines. + + --Animabus famulorum-- + +To many the words so mournfully intoned brought solace and surcease +from sorrow. The sisters of charity moved among the throng with grave, +pale faces, mere shadows of their earthly selves, as though they had +undergone the first stage of the great metamorphosis which is +promised. To them, who had already buried health, vitality and +passion, was not this chant to the dead, this strange intoning of +words, sweeter than the lullaby crooned by a nurse to a child, more +stirring than the patriotic hymn to a soldier, and fraught with more +fervor than the romantic dream of a lover? + + Ut indulgentiam, quam semper optaverunt-- + +The little orphan children heard and heeded no more than the butterfly +which lighted upon the engraven words, "Dust to dust," and poised +gracefully, as it bathed in the sunshine, stretching its wings in +wantonness of beauty. + + Piis supplicationibus consequantur-- + +Now Constance smiled to see the little ones playing on the steps of a +monument. It was the tomb of a great jurist, a man of dignity during +his mundane existence, his head crammed with those precepts which are +devised for the temporal well-being of that fabric, sometimes termed +society, and again, civilization. The poor waifs, with suppressed +laughter--they dared not give full vent to their merriment with the +black-robed sisters not far away--ran around the steps, unmindful of +the inscription which might have been written by a Johnson, and as +unconscious of unseemly conduct as the insects that hummed in the +grass. + +"Hush!" whispered one of the sisters, as a funeral cortège approached. + +The children, wide-eyed in awe and wonder, desisted in their play. + +"It is an old man who died last night," said a nun in a low voice to +Constance, noticing her look of inquiry. + +The silver crucifix shone fitfully ahead, while the chanting of the +priests, winding in and out after the holy symbol, fell upon the ear. +And the young girl gazed with pity as the remains of the Marquis de +Ligne, her father, were borne by. + + Qui vivis et regnas. Glorificamus te. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +AN INCONGRUOUS RÔLE + + +Longer and longer trailed the shadow of a tall tombstone until, as the +sun went down, it merged into the general twilight like a life +lengthening out and out and finally blending in restful darkness. With +that transition came a sudden sense of isolation and loneliness; the +little burial ground seemed the world; the sky, its walls and +ceiling. + +From the neighborhood of the gates had vanished the dusky venders, +trundling their booths and stalls citywards. As abruptly had +disappeared the bearers of flowers and artificial roses with baskets +poised upon their heads, imparting to their figures dignity and +erectness. The sad-eyed nuns had wended their way out of the little +kingdom of the departed, surrounded by the laughing children and +preceded by the priests and acolytes. All the sounds and activities of +the day--the merriment of the little ones, the oblations of the +priests, the greetings of friends--were followed by inertness and +languor. Motionless against the sky spread the branches of the trees, +like lines etched there; still were the clambering vines that clasped +monolith and column. + +But suddenly that death-like lull in nature's animation and unrest was +abruptly broken, and an uproarious vociferation dispelled the +voiceless peace. + + "For Jack ashore's a Croesus, lads, + With a Jill for every Jack--" + +sang a hoarse voice as its owner came staggering along one of the +walks of the cemetery; for all his song, no blue-water sailor-man, but +a boisterous denizen of the great river, a raftsman or a keel-boatman, +who had somehow found himself in the burial ground and now was beating +aimlessly about. How this rollicking waif of the grog shop came to +wander so far from the convivial haunts of his kind and to choose this +spot for a ramble, can only be explained by the vagaries of +inebriety. + + "With a Jill in your wake, + A fair port you'll make--" + +he continued, when his eye fell upon the figure of a woman, some +distance ahead, and fairly discernible in the gathering twilight. +Immediately the song ceased and he steadied himself, gazing +incredulously after the form that had attracted his attention. + +"Hello!" he said. "Avast, my dear!" he called out. + +Echoing in that still place, his harsh tones produced a startling +effect, and the figure before him moved faster and faster, casting a +glance behind her at the man from the river, who with snatches of +song, started in uncertain but determined pursuit. As the heavy +footsteps sounded nearer, she increased her pace, with eyes bent upon +the distant gate; darker seemed to grow the way; more menacing the +shadows outstretched across the path. Louder crunched the boots on the +shell walk; more audible became the words of the song that flowed from +his lips, when the sound of a sudden and violent altercation replaced +the hoarse-toned cadence, an altercation that was of brief duration, +characterized by longshoreman oaths, and followed by silence; and then +a figure, not that of the tuneful waterman, sprang to the side of the +startled girl. + +"Miss Carew!" exclaimed a well-remembered voice. + +Bewildered, breathing quickly, she gazed from Edward Mauville, who +thus unexpectedly accosted her, to the prostrate form, lying +motionless on the road. The rude awakening from her day-dream in the +hush of that peaceful place, and the surprising sequence had dazed her +senses, and, for the moment, it seemed something tragic must have +happened. + +"Is he dead?" she asked quickly, unable to withdraw her glance from +the immovable figure, stretched out in the dim light on the path. + +"No fear!" said Mauville, quietly, almost thoughtfully, although his +eyes were yet bright from the encounter. "You can't kill his kind," he +added, contemptuously. "Brutes from coal barges, or raftsmen from the +head waters! He struck against a stone when he fell, and what with +that, and the liquor in him, will rest there awhile. He'll come to +without remembering what has happened." + +Turning moodily, the land baron walked slowly down the road, away from +the gate; she thought he was about to leave her, when he paused, as +though looking for something, stooped to the ground, and returned, +holding out a garment. + +"You dropped your wrap, Miss Carew," he said, awkwardly. "The night is +cold and you will need it." She offered no resistance when he placed +it over her shoulders; indeed, seemed unconscious of the attention. + +"Don't you think we had better go?" he went on. "It won't hurt +him"--indicating the motionless body--"to stay here--the brute!" + +But as he spoke, with some constraint, her eyes, full of doubts, met +his, and he felt a flush mantle his face. The incongruity of his +position appealed forcibly to him. Had he not been watching and +following her himself? Seeing her helpless, alone, in the silent spot, +where she had unconsciously lingered too long, had he not been almost +on the point of addressing her? Moved by vague desires, had he not +already started impetuously toward her, when the man from the river +had come rollicking along and insinuated himself after his fashion in +the other's rôle? + +And at the sight--the fleeing girl, the drunken, profane waterman!--how +his heart had leaped and his body had become steel for the encounter; +an excess of vigor for a paltry task! Jack, as he called himself, might +have been a fighting-man earlier in the day, but now he had gone down +like straw. When the excitement of this brief collision was over, +however, the land baron found his position as unexpected as puzzling. + +As these thoughts swiftly crossed his mind, he could not forbear a +bitter laugh, and she, walking more quickly toward the gate, regarded +him with inquiry, not perhaps unmingled with apprehension. A picture +of events, gone by, arose before her like a menacing shadow over the +present. He interpreted her glance for what it meant, and angry that +she doubted him, angry with himself, said roughly: + +"Oh, you haven't anything to fear!" + +Her answering look was so gentle, so sad, an unwonted feeling of +compunction seized him; he repented of his harshness, and added less +brusquely: + +"Why did you remain so late?" + +"I did not realize how late it had become." + +"Your thoughts must have been very absorbing!" he exclaimed quickly, +his brow once more overcast. + +Not difficult was it for him to surmise upon whom her mind had been +bent, and involuntarily his jaw set disagreeably, while he looked at +her resentfully. In that light he could but dimly discern her face. +Her bonnet had fallen from her head; her eyes were bent before her, as +though striving to penetrate the gathering darkness. With his sudden +spell of jealousy came the temptation to clasp her in his arms in that +silent, isolated place, but the figure of the sailor came between him +and the desire, while pride, the heritage of the gentleman, fought +down the longing. This self-conquest was not accomplished, however, +without a sacrifice of temper, for after a pause, he observed: + +"There is no accounting for a woman's taste!" + +She did not controvert this statement, but the start she gave told him +the shaft had sped home. + +"An outlaw! An outcast!" exclaimed the patroon, stung beyond endurance +by his thoughts. + +Still no reply; only more hurried footsteps! Around them sounded a +gentle rustling; a lizard scrambled out of their path through the +crackling leaves; a bat, or some other winged creature, suddenly +whirred before them and vanished. They had now approached the gate, +through which they passed and found themselves on the road leading +directly to the city, whose lights had already begun to twinkle in the +dusk. + +The cheering rumble of a carriage and the aspect of the not +far-distant town quickened her spirits and imparted elasticity to her +footsteps. Upon the land baron they produced an opposite effect, for +he was obviously reluctant to abandon the interview, however +unsatisfactory it might be. There was nothing to say, and yet he was +loath to leave her; there was nothing to accomplish, and yet he wished +to remain with her. For this reason, as they drew near the city, his +mood became darker, like the night around them. Instinctively, she +felt the turbulent passions stirring in his bosom; his sudden silence, +his dogged footsteps reawakened her misgivings. Furtively she regarded +him, but his eyes were fixed straight before him on the soft luster +above the city, the reflection of the lights, and she knew and +mistrusted his thoughts. Although she found his silence more menacing +than his words, she could think of nothing to say to break the spell, +and so they continued to walk mutely side by side. An observer, seeing +them beneath the cypress, a lovers' promenade, with its soft, +enfolding shadows, would have taken them for a well-matched couple, +who had no need for language. + +But when they had emerged from that romantic lane and entered the +city, the land baron breathed more freely. She was now surrounded by +movement and din; the seclusion of the country gave way to the stir of +the city; she was no longer dependent on his good offices; his rôle of +protector had ended when they left the cypress walk behind them. + +His brow cleared; he glanced at her with ill-concealed admiration; he +noticed with secret pride the attention she attracted from passers-by, +the sidelong looks of approval that followed her through the busy +streets. The land baron expanded into his old self; he strode at her +side, gratified by the scrutiny she invited; assurance radiated from +his eyes like some magnetic heat; he played at possession wilfully, +perversely. "Why not," whispered Hope. "A woman's mind is shifting +ever. Her fancy--a breath! The other is gone. Why--" + +"It was not accident my being in the cemetery, Miss Carew," said +Mauville, suddenly covering her with his glance. Meeting her look of +surprise unflinchingly, he continued: "I followed you there; through +the streets, into the country! My seeing you first was chance; my +presence in the burial ground the result of that chance. The +inevitable result!" he repeated softly. "As inevitable as life! Life; +what is it? Influences which control us; forces which bind us! It is +you, or all; you or nothing!" + +She did not reply; his voice, vibrating with feeling, touched no +answering chord. Nevertheless, a new, inexplicable wave of sorrow +moved her. It might be he had cared for her as sincerely as it was +possible for his wayward heart to care for any one. Perhaps time would +yet soften his faults, and temper his rashness. With that shade of +sorrow for him there came compassion as well; compassion that +overlooked the past and dwelt on the future. + +She raised her steady eyes. "Why should it be 'I or nothing,' as you +put it?" she finally answered slowly. "Influences may control us in a +measure, but we may also strive for something. We can always strive." + +"For what? For what we don't want? That's the philosophy of your +moralists, Miss Carew," he exclaimed. "That's your modern ethics of +duty. Playing tricks with happiness! The game isn't worth the candle. +Or, if you believe in striving," he added, half resentfully, half +imploringly, "strive to care for me but a little. But a little!" he +said again. "I who once wanted all, and would have nothing but all, am +content to ask, to plead, for but a little." + +"I see no reason," she replied, wearily, yet not unkindly, "why we +should not be friends." + +"Friends!" he answered, bitterly. "I do not beg for a loaf, but +a crumb. Yet you refuse me that! I will wait! Only a word of +encouragement! Will you not give it?" + +She turned and looked into his eyes, and, before she spoke, he knew +what her answer would be. + +"How can I?" she said, simply. "Why should I promise something I can +never fulfil?" + +He held her glance as though loath to have it leave him. + +"May I see you again?" he asked, abruptly. + +She shook her head. His gaze fell, seeing no softening in her clear +look. + +"You are well named," he repeated, more to himself than to her. +"Constance! You are constant in your dislikes as well as your likes." + +"I have no dislike for you," she replied. "It seems to have been left +behind me somewhere." + +"Only indifference, then!" he said, dully. + +"No; not indifference!" + +"You do care what--may become of me?" + +"You should do so much--be so much in the world," she answered, +thoughtfully. + +"_Sans peur et sans reproche!_" he cried, half-amused, half-cheerlessly. +"What a pity I met you--too late!" + +They were now at the broad entrance of the brilliantly-lighted hotel. +Several loungers, smoking their after-dinner cigars, gazed at the +couple curiously. + +"Mauville's a lucky dog," said one. + +"Yes; he was born with a silver spoon," replied the person addressed. + +As he passed through the envious throng, the land baron had regained +his self-command, although his face was marked with an unusual pallor. +In his mind one thought was paramount--that the walk begun at the +burial-ground was drawing to an end; their last walk; the finale of +all between them! Yet he could call to mind nothing further to say. +His story had been told; the conclusion reached. She, too, had spoken, +and he knew she would never speak differently. Bewildered and unable +to adjust his new and strange feelings, it dawned upon him he had +never understood himself and her; that he had never really known what +love was, and he stood abashed, confronted by his own ignorance. +Passion, caprice, fancy, he had seen depth in their shallows, but now +looked down and discerned the pebbly bottom. All this and much more +surged through his brain as he made his way through the crowd, and, +entering the corridor of the hotel, took formal leave of the young +girl at the stairway. + +"Good-night, Miss Carew," he said, gravely. + +"Good-night," she replied. And then, on the steps, she turned and +looked down at him, extending her hand: "Thank you!" + +That half-timid, low "thank you!" he knew was all he would ever +receive from her. He hardly felt the hand-clasp; he was hardly +conscious when she turned away. A heavier hand fell upon his +shoulder. + +"You sly dog!" said a thick voice. "Well, a judge of a good horse is a +judge of a handsome woman! We're making up a few bets on the horses +to-morrow. Colonel Ogelby will ride Dolly D, and I'm to ride my +Gladiator. It'll be a gentlemen's race." + +"Aren't we gentlemen?" growled a professional turfsman. + +"Gad! it's the first time I ever heard a jockey pretend to be one!" +chuckled the first speaker. "What do you say, Mauville?" + +"What do I say?" repeated the land baron, striving to collect his +thoughts. "What--why, I'll make it an even thousand, if you ride your +own horse, you'll--" + +"Win?" interrupted the proud owner. + +"No; fall off before he's at the second quarter!" + +"Done!" said the man, immediately. + +"Huzza!" shouted the crowd. + +"That's the way they bet on a gentlemen's race!" jeered the gleeful +jockey. + +"Drinks on Gladiator!" exclaimed some one. And as no southern +gentleman was ever known to refuse to drink to a horse or a woman, the +party carried the discussion to the bar-room. + + + + +BOOK III + +THE FINAL CUE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +OVERLOOKING THE COURT-YARD + + +"In the will of the Marquis de Ligne, probated yesterday, all of the +property, real and personal, is left to his daughter, Constance," +wrote Straws in his paper shortly after the passing of the French +nobleman. "The document states this disposition of property is made as +'an act of atonement and justice to my daughter, whose mother I +deserted, taking advantage of the French law to annul my marriage in +England.' The legitimacy of the birth of this, his only child, is +thereupon fully acknowledged by the marquis after a lapse of many +years and long after the heretofore unrecognized wife had died, +deserted and forgotten. Thrown on her own resources, the young child, +with no other friend than Manager Barnes, battled with the world; now +playing in taverns or barns, like the players of interludes, the +strollers of old, or 'vagabonds', as the great and mighty Junius, from +his lofty plane, termed them. The story of that period of 'vagrant' +life adds one more chapter to the annals of strolling players which +already include such names as Kemble, Siddons and Kean. + +"From the Junius category to a public favorite of New Orleans has been +no slight transition, and now, to appear in the rôle of daughter of a +marquis and heiress to a considerable estate--truly man--and +woman--play many parts in this brief span called life! But in making +her sole heir the marquis specifies a condition which will bring +regrets to many of the admirers of the actress. He robs her of her +birthright from her mother. The will stipulates that the recipient +give up her profession, not because it is other than a noble one, but +'that she may the better devote herself to the duties of her new +position and by her beneficence and charity remove the stain left upon +an honored name by my second wife, the Duchesse D'Argens'." + +The marquis' reference to "charity" and "beneficence" was in such +ill-accord with his character that it might be suspected an adroit +attorney, in drawing up the document, had surreptitiously inserted it. +His proud allusion to his honored name and slurring suggestion of the +taint put upon it by his second wife demonstrated the marquis was not +above the foibles of his kind, overlooking his own light conduct and +dwelling on that of his noble helpmate. It was the final taunt, and, +as the lady had long since been laid in God's Acre, where there is +only silence divine, it received no answer, and the world was welcome +to digest and gorge it and make the most of it. + +But although the marquis and his lady had no further interest in +subsequent events, growing out of their brief sojourn on earth, the +contents of the will afforded a theme of gossip for the living and +molded the affairs of one in new shape and manner. On the same day +this public exposition appeared, Barnes and the young actress were +seated in the law office of Marks and Culver, a room overlooking a +court-yard, brightened by statues and urns of flowers. A plaster bust +of Justinian gazed benignly through the window at a fountain; a steel +engraving of Jeremy Bentham watched the butterflies, and Hobbes and +John Austin, austere in portraiture, frowned darkly down upon the +flowering garden. While the manager and Constance waited for the +attorney to appear, they were discussing, not for the first time, the +proviso of the will to which Straws had regretfully alluded. + +"Yes," said Barnes, folding the newspaper which contained Straws' +article and placing it in his pocket; "you should certainly give up +the stage. We must think of the disappointments, the possible failure, +the slender reward. There was your mother--such an actress!--yet +toward the last the people flocked to a younger rival. I have often +thought anxiously of your future, for I am old--yes, there is no +denying it!--and any day I may leave you, dependent solely upon +yourself." + +"Do not speak like that," she answered, tenderly. "We shall be +together many, many years." + +"Always, if I had my way," he returned, heartily. + +"But with this legacy you are superior to the fickle public. In fact, +you are now a part of the capricious public, my dear," he added in a +jocular tone, "and may applaud the 'heavy father,' myself, or prattle +about prevailing styles while the buskined tragedian is strutting +below your box. Why turn to a blind bargain? Fame is a jade, only +caught after our illusions are gone and she seems not half so sweet as +when pursuing her in our dreams!" + +But as he spoke, with forced lightness, beneath which, however, the +young girl could readily detect the vein of anxiety and regret, she +was regarding him with the clear eyes of affection. His face, seamed +with many lines and bearing the deeply engraved handwriting of time, +spoke plainly of declining years; every lineament was eloquent with +vicissitudes endured; and as she discerningly read that varied past of +which her own brief career had been a part, there entered her mind a +brighter picture of a tranquil life for him at last, where in old age +he could exchange uncertainty and activity for security and rest. How +could she refuse to do as he desired? How often since fate had wrought +this change in her life had she asked herself the question? + +Her work, it is true, had grown dearer to her than ever; of late she +had thrown herself into her task with an ardor and earnestness lifting +each portrayal to a higher plane. Is it that only with sorrow comes +the fulness of art; that its golden gates are never swung entirely +open to the soul bearing no burden? + +Closed to ruder buffetings, is it only to the sesame of a sad voice +those portals spring magically back? But for his sake she must needs +pause on the threshold of attainment, and stifle that ambition which +of itself precluded consideration of a calm, uneventful existence. She +was young and full of courage, but the pathos of his years smote her +heart; something inexplicable had awakened her fears for him; she +believed him far from well of late, although he laughed at her +apprehensions and protested he had never been better in his life. + +Now, reading the anxiety in his face as he watched her, she smiled +reassuringly, her glance, full of love, meeting his. + +"Everything shall be as you wish," she said, softly. "You know what is +best!" + +The manager's face lighted perceptibly, but before he could answer, +the door opened, and Culver, the attorney, entered. With ruddy +countenance and youthful bearing, in antithesis to the hair, +silvered with white, he was one of those southern gentlemen who grow +old gracefully. The law was his taskmaster; he practised from a sense +of duty, but ever held that those who rushed to court were likely +to repeat the experience of Voltaire, who had twice been ruined: +once when he lost a law suit; the second time, when he won one! +Nevertheless, people persisted in coming to Culver wantonly welcoming +unknown ills. + +"Well, Miss Carew," he now exclaimed, after warmly greeting his +visitors, "have you disburdened yourself of prejudice against this +estate? Wealth may be a little hardship at first, but soon you won't +mind it." + +"Not a bit!" spoke up Barnes. "It's as easy to get used to as--poverty, +and we've had plenty of that!" + +"You know the other condition?" she said, half-defiantly, half-sadly. +"You are to be with me always." + +"How can you teach an old dog new tricks?" protested Barnes. "How can +you make a fine man about town out of a 'heavy father?'" + +"The 'heavy father' is my father. I never knew any other. I am glad I +never did." + +"Hoity-toity!" he exclaimed scoffingly, but pleased nevertheless. + +"You can't put me off that way," she said, decisively, with a sudden +flash in her eyes he knew too well to cross. "Either you leave the +stage, too, or--" + +"Of course, my dear, of course--" + +"Then it's all settled you will accept the encumbrance to which you +have fallen heir," resumed Culver. "Even if there had been no will in +your favor, the State of Louisiana follows the French law, and the +testator can under no circumstances alienate more than half his +property, if he leave issue or descendants. Had the old will remained, +its provisions could not have been legally carried out." + +"The old will?" said Barnes. "Then there was another will?" + +"One made before he was aware of your existence, Miss Carew, in favor +of his ward, Ernest Saint-Prosper." + +"Ernest Saint-Prosper!" + +Constance's cheeks flamed crimson, and her quick start of surprise did +not escape the observant lawyer. Barnes, too, looked amazed over this +unexpected intelligence. + +"Saint-Prosper was the marquis' ward?" he cried. + +The attorney transferred his gaze from the expressive features of his +fair client to the open countenance of the manager. "Yes," he said. + +"And would have inherited this property but for Constance?" + +"Exactly! But you knew him, Mr. Barnes?" + +"He was an occupant of the chariot, sir," replied the manager, with +some feeling. "We met in the Shadengo Valley; the company was in sore +straits, and--and--to make a long story short!--he joined our band and +traversed the continent with us. And so he was the marquis' ward! It +seems almost incredible!" + +"Yes," affirmed Culver; "when General Saint-Prosper, his father, died, +Ernest Saint-Prosper, who was then but a boy, became the marquis' ward +and a member of his household." + +"Well, well, how things do come about!" ruminated Barnes. "To think he +should have been the prospective heir, and Constance, the real one!" + +"Where is he now?" asked the attorney, thoughtfully. + +"He has gone to Mexico; enlisted! But how do you know he--" + +"Had expectations? The marquis told me about a quarrel they had had; +he was a staunch imperialist; the young man as firm a republican! What +would be the natural outcome? They parted in bitter anger." + +"And then the marquis made him his heir?" exclaimed the manager, +incredulously. "How do you reconcile that?" + +The attorney smiled. "Through the oddity of my client! 'Draw up my +will,' said the marquis to me one day, 'leaving all my property to +this republican young dog. That will cut off the distant relatives who +made the sign of the cross behind my back as though I were the evil +one. They expect it all; he expects nothing! It will be a rare joke. I +leave them my affection--and the privilege of having masses said for +my soul.' The marquis was always of a satirical temperament." + +"So it seems," commented the manager. "But he changed his mind and his +will again?" + +"After he met Miss Carew." + +"Met me!" exclaimed Constance, aroused from a maze of reflection. + +"Near the cathedral! He walked and talked with you." + +"That poor old man--" + +"And then came here, acknowledged you as his daughter, and drew up the +final document." + +"That accounts for a call I had from him!" cried Barnes, telling the +story of the marquis' visit. "Strange, I did not suspect something of +the truth at the time," he concluded, "for his manner was certainly +unusual." + +A perplexed light shone in the girl's eyes; she clasped and unclasped +her hands quickly, turning to the lawyer. + +"Their quarrel was only a political difference?" she asked at length. + +"Yes," said the other, slowly. "Saint-Prosper refused to support the +fugitive king. Throughout the parliamentary government, the +restoration under Louis XVIII, and the reign of King Charles X, the +marquis had ever a devout faith in the divine right of monarchs. He +annulled his marriage in England with your mother to marry the +Duchesse D'Argens, a relative of the royal princess. But Charles +abdicated and the duchesse died. All this, however, is painful to you, +Miss Carew?" + +"Only such as relates to my mother," she replied in a clear tone. "I +suppose I should feel grateful for this fortune, but I am afraid I do +not. Please go on." + +Culver leaned back in his chair, his glance bent upon a discolored +statue of Psyche in the court-yard. "Had the marquis attended to his +garden, like Candide, or your humble servant, and eschewed the +company of kings he might have been as care-free as he was wretched. +His monarchs were knocked down like nine-pins. Louis XVIII was a man +of straw; Charles X, a feather-top, and Louis Philippe, a toy ruler. +The marquis' domestic life was as unblest as his political career. The +frail duchesse left him a progeny of scandals. These, the only +offspring of the iniquitous dame, were piquantly dressed in the +journals for public parade. Fancy, then, his delight in disinheriting +his wife's relatives, and leaving you, his daughter, his fortune and +his name!" + +"His name?" she repeated, sadly. With averted face she watched the +fountain in the garden. "If he had given it to my mother," she +continued, "but now--I do not care for it. Her name is all I want." +Her voice trembled and she exclaimed passionately: "I should rather +Mr. Saint-Prosper would keep the property and I--my work! After +denying my mother and deserting her, how can I accept anything from +him?" + +"Under the new will," said Culver, "the estate does not revert to Mr. +Saint-Prosper in any event. But you might divide it with him?" he +added, suddenly. + +"How could I do that?" she asked, without looking up. + +"Marry him!" laughed the attorney. + +But the jest met with scant response, his fair client remaining +motionless as a statue, while Barnes gazed at her furtively. Culver's +smile gradually faded; uncertain how to proceed, realizing his humor +had somehow miscarried, he was not sorry when the manager arose, +saying: + +"Well, my dear, it is time we were at the theater." + +"Won't you accept this nosegay from my garden, Miss Carew?" urged the +lawyer in a propitiatory tone as they were leaving. + +And the attorney not only accompanied them to the door, but +down-stairs to the street, where he stood for a moment watching them +drive down the thoroughfare. Then he slowly returned, breathing +heavily--invidious contradiction of his youthful assumption!--and +shaking his head, as he mounted to his room. + +"Culver, you certainly put your foot in it that time!" he muttered. +"How she froze at my suggestion! Has there been some passage of arms +between them? Apparently! But here am I, pondering over romances with +all this legal business staring me in the face!" His glance swept a +chaos of declarations, bills, affidavits and claims. "Confound the +musty old courthouse and the bustling Yankee lawyers who set such a +disturbing pace! There is no longer gentlemanly leisure in New +Orleans." + +He seated himself with a sigh before a neglected brief. In the +distance the towers of the cathedral could be seen, reminding the +attorney of the adjacent halls of justice in the scraggy-looking +square, with its turmoil, its beggars, and apple women in the lobbies; +its ancient, offensive smell, its rickety stairs, its labyrinth of +passages and its Babel of tongues. Above him, however, the plaster +bust of Justinian, out of those blank, sightless eyes, continued the +contemplation of the garden as though turning from the complex +jurisprudence of the ancients and moderns to the simple existence of +butterflies and flowers. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ONLY A SHADOW + + +There is an aphorism to the effect that one can not spend and have; +also, a saying about the whirlwind, both of which in time came home to +the land baron. For several generations the Mauville family, bearing +one of the proudest names in Louisiana, had held marked prestige under +Spanish and French rule, while extensive plantations indicated the +commercial ascendency of the patroon's ancestors. The thrift of his +forefathers, however, passed lightly over Edward Mauville. Sent to +Paris by his mother, a widow, who could deny him nothing, in the +course of a few years he had squandered two plantations and several +hundred negroes. Her death placed him in undisputed possession of the +residue of the estate, when finding the exacting details of commerce +irksome, in a moment of weakness, he was induced to dispose of some of +his possessions to Yankee speculators who had come in with the flood +of northern energy. Most of the money thus realized he placed in loose +investments, while the remainder gradually disappeared in indulging +his pleasures. + +At this critical stage in his fortunes--or misfortunes--the patroon's +legacy had seemed timely, and his trip to the North followed. But from +a swarm of creditors, to a nest of anti-renters, was out of the +frying-pan into the fire, hastening his return to the Crescent City, +where he was soon forced to make an assignment of the remaining +property. A score of hungry lawyers hovered around the sinking estate, +greedily jealous lest some one of their number should batten too +gluttonously at this general collation. It was the one topic of +interest in the musty, dusty courthouse until the end appeared with +the following announcement in the local papers: + +"_Annonce! Vente importante de Nègres!_ Mauville estate in bankruptcy!" + +And thereafter were specified the different lots of negroes to be +sold. + +Coincident with these disasters came news from the North regarding +his supposedly immense interests in New York State. A constitutional +convention had abolished all feudal tenures and freed the fields +from baronial burdens. At a breath--like a house of cards--the +northern heritage was swept away and about all that remained of +the principality was the worthless ancient deed itself, representing +one of the largest colonial grants. + +But even the sale of the negroes and his other merchandise and +property failed to satisfy his clamorous creditors or to pay his +gambling debts. Those obligations at cards it was necessary to meet, +so he moved out of his bachelor apartments, turned over his expensive +furnishings and bric-à-brac to the gamblers and snapped his fingers at +the over-anxious constables and lawyers. + +As time went by evidence of his reverses insidiously crept into his +personal appearance. He who had been the leader now clung to the +tail-ends of style, and it was a novel sensation when one day he +noticed a friend scrutinizing his garments much in the same +critical manner that he had himself erstwhile affected. This +glance rested casually on the hat; strayed carelessly to the +waistcoat; wandered absently to the trousers, down one leg and up +the other; superciliously jumped over the waistcoat and paused the +infinitesimal part of a second on the necktie. Mauville learned in +that moment how the eye may wither and humble, without giving any +ostensible reason for offense. The attitude of this mincing fribble, +as he danced twittingly away, was the first intimation Mauville had +received that he would soon be relegated to the ranks of gay +adventurers thronging the city. He who had watched his estates +vanish with an unruffled countenance now became disconcerted over +the width of his trousers and the shape of his hat. + +His new home was in the house of an aged quadroon who had been a +servant in his family many years ago--how long no one seemed to +remember!--and who had been his nurse before she had received her +freedom. She enjoyed the distinction of being feared in the +neighborhood; her fetishes had a power no other witch's possessed, and +many of the negroes would have done anything to have possessed these +infallible charms, save crossing her threshold to get them. Mauville, +when he found fortune slipping away from him and ruin staring him in +the face, had been glad to transfer his abode to this unhallowed +place; going into hiding, as it were, until the storm should blow by, +when he expected to emerge, confident as ever. + +But inaction soon chafed his restless nature, and drove him forth in +spite of himself from the streets in that quarter of the town where +the roofs of various-colored houses formed strange geometrical figures +and the windows were bright with flaring head-dresses, beneath which +looked out curious visages of ebony. Returning one day from such a +peregrination, he determined to end a routine of existence so +humiliating to his pride. + +Pausing before a doorway, the land baron looked this way and that, and +seeing only the rotating eyes of a pickaninny fastened upon him, +hurried through the entrance. Hanging upon the walls were red and +green pods and bunches of dried herbs of unquestionable virtue +belonging to the old crone's pharmacopoeia. Mauville slowly ascended +the dark stairs and reached his retreat, a small apartment, with +furniture of cane-work and floor covered with sea-grass; the ceiling +low and the windows narrow, opening upon a miniature balcony that +offered space for one and no more. + +"Is dat yo', honey?" said an adoring voice on the landing. + +"Yes, auntie," replied the land baron, as an old crone emerged from an +ill-lighted recess and stood before him. + +Now the light from the doorway fell upon her, and surely five score +years were written on her curiously wrinkled face--five score, or +more, for even the negroes did not profess to know how old she was. +Her bent figure, watery eyes and high shrill voice bore additional +testimony to her age. + +"Yo's home earlier dan usual, dearie?" she resumed. "But yo' supper's +all ready. Sit down here." + +"I'm not hungry, auntie," he returned. + +"Not hungry, honey?" she cried, laughing shrilly. "Yo' wait!" And she +disappeared into an adjoining room, soon to emerge with a steaming +platter, which she set on the snow-white cover of the little table. +Removing the lid from the dish, she hobbled back a few steps to regard +her guest with triumphant expectation. "Dat make yo' eat." + +"What a cook you are, mammy!" he said, lightly. "You would give a +longing tooth to satiety." + +"De debil blow de fire," she answered, chuckling. + +"Then the devil is a _chef de cuisine_. This sauce is bewitching." + +"Yo' like it?" Delighted. + +"Tis a spell in itself. Confess, mammy, Old Nick mixed it?" + +"No, he only blow de fire," she reiterated, with a grin. + +"Any one been to see me, mammy?" + +"Only dat Mexican gemmen; dat gemmen been here befo' who take yo' +message about de troops; when dey go from New Orleans; how many dey +am!" + +"You know that, auntie?" he asked quickly. "You know that I--" + +"Yes, honey," she answered, shaking her head. "Yo' be berry careful, +Mar's'r Edward." + +"What did he want?" said the land baron, quickly. + +"He gib me dis." And the crone handed her visitor a slip of paper on +which a few words were written. "What dat mean?" + +"It means I am going away, mammy," pushing back his chair. + +"Gwine away!" she repeated. "When's yo' gwine?" + +"To-morrow; perhaps to-night even; down the river, auntie!" Rising and +surveying himself in a mirror. + +"How long yo' gwine away foh?" + +"Perhaps forever, auntie!" + +"Not foh good, Mar's'r Edward? Not foh good?" He nodded and she broke +into loud wailings. "Yo's gwine and yo' old mammy'll see yo' no +moh--no moh! I knows why yo's gwine, Mar's'r Edward. I's heard yo' +talkin' about her in yo' sleep. But yo' stay and yo' mammy has a +love-charm foh yo'; den she's yo's, foh suah." + +This offer, coming from one of her uncanny reputation, would have been +accepted with implicit faith by most of the dwellers in that locality, +superstitious to the last degree, but Mauville laughed carelessly. + +"Pshaw, mammy! Do you think I would fly from a woman? Do I look as +though I needed a charm?" + +"No; she mus' worship yo'!" cried the infatuated crone. + +Then a change passed over her puckered face and she lifted her arms +despairingly, rocking her body to and fro, while she mumbled +unintelligible words which would have caused the negroes to draw away +from her with awe, for the spell was on her. But the land baron only +regarded her carelessly as she muttered something pertaining to spells +and omens. + +"Come, auntie," he said impatiently at last, "you know I don't believe +in this tom-foolery." + +She turned to him vehemently. "Don't go whar yo' thinkin' ob gwine, +honey," she implored. "Yo'll nebber come back, foh suah--foh suah! I +see yo' lyin' dar, honey, in de dark valley--whar de mists am +risin'--and I hears a bugle soundin'--and de tramp of horses. Dey am +all gone, honey--and de mists come back--but yo' am dar--lying dar--de +mountains around yo'--yo' am dar fo'ebber and ebber and--" Here she +broke into wild sobbing and moaning, tossing her white hair with her +trembling withered arms, a moving picture of an inspired dusky sibyl. +Mauville shrugged his shoulders. + +"We're losing time, mammy," he exclaimed. "Stop this nonsense and go +pack a few things for me. I have some letters to write." + +The old woman reluctantly obeyed, and the land baron penned a somewhat +lengthy epistle to his one-time master in Paris, the Abbé Moneau, +whose disapproval of the Anglo-Saxon encroachments--witness +Louisiana!--and zeal for the colonization of the Latin races are +matters of history. Having completed his epistle, the land baron +placed it in the old crone's hand to mail with: "If that man calls +again, tell him I'll meet him to-night," and, leaving the room, shot +through the doorway, once more rapidly walking down the shabby +thoroughfare. The aged negro woman stumbled out upon the balcony and +gazed after the departing figure still moaning softly to herself and +shaking her head in anguish. + +"Fo'ebber and ebber," she repeated in a wailing tone. Below a colored +boy gazed at her in wonderment. + +"What debblement am she up to now?" he said to a girl seated in a +doorway. "When de old witch am like dat--" + +"Come in dar, yo' black imp!" And a vigorous arm pulled the lad +abruptly through the opening. "Ef she sees yo', she can strike yo' +dead, foh suah!" + +The crone could no longer distinguish Mauville--her eyes were nearly +sightless--but she continued to look in the direction he had taken, +sobbing as before: "Fo'ebber and ebber! Fo'ebber and ebber!" + +Once more upon a fashionable thoroughfare, the land baron's footstep +relaxed and he relapsed into his languorous, indolent air. The +shadows of twilight were darkening the streets and a Caribbee-scented +breeze was wafted from the gulf across the city. It swept through +the broad avenues and narrow highways, and sighed among the trees of +the old garden. Seating himself absently on one of the public +benches, Mauville removed his hat to allow the cool air to fan his +brow. Presently he moved on; up Canal Street, where the long rows of +gas lights now gleamed through the foliage; thence into a side +thoroughfare, as dark as the other street was bright, pausing before +a doorway, illumined by a single yellow flame that flickered in +the draft and threatened to leave the entrance in total obscurity. +Mounting two flights of stairs, no better lighted than the hall +below, the land baron reached a doorway, where he paused and +knocked. In answer to his summons a slide was quickly slipped back, +and through the aperture floated an alcoholic breath. + +"Who is it?" + +"A Knight of the Golden Square," said the caller, impatiently. "Open +the door." + +The man obeyed and the land baron was admitted to the hall of an +organization which had its inception in Texas; a society not unlike +the Secret Session Legation of the Civil War, having for its object +the overthrow of the government, the carrying of mails and despatches +and other like business. Here was gathered a choice aggregation of +Mexican sympathizers, a conclave hostile to the North. Composed of +many nationalities, the polished continental adventurer rubbed +shoulders with the Spanish politicians; the swarthy agents of Santa +Anna brushed against the secret enemies of northern aggression. A +small bar, unpretentious but convenient, occupied a portion of one end +of the room, and a brisk manipulator of juleps presided over this +popular corner. + +Half-disdainfully, the land baron mingled with the heterogeneous +assembly; half-ironically, his eye swept the group at the bar--the +paid spy, the needy black-sheep; the patriot, the swashbuckler; men +with and without a career. As Mauville stepped forward, a quiet, +dark-looking man, obviously a Mexican, not without a certain +distinguished carriage, immediately approached the newcomer. + +"You have come? Good!" he said, and drew Mauville aside. They +conversed in low tones, occasionally glancing about them at the +others. + +In the hall below the rhythm of a waltz now made itself heard, and the +land baron, having received certain papers which committed him to a +hazardous service, prepared to leave. + +"Here's luck!" said a man on his left, raising his glass. At these +words several of the company turned. + +"Send it south!" roared a Texan Furioso, emptying his tumbler. + +"Send it south!" echoed the others, and "south" the fragrant juleps +were "sent," as the land baron unceremoniously tore himself away from +the group. + +"They say the floods are rising," said the man with whom Mauville had +conferred, at the door. + +"All the better if the river's running wild!" answered the other. "It +will be easier running the guard." + +"Yes," returned the Mexican, extending his hand, with a smile; "in +this case, there's safety in danger!" + +"That's reassuring!" replied the land baron, lightly, as he descended +the stairs. + +On reaching the floor below he was afforded a view through an open +door into a large room, lighted with many lamps, where a quadroon +dance, or "society ball," was in progress. After a moment's hesitation +he entered and stood in the glare, watching the waltzers. Around +the wall were dusky chaperons, guarding their charges with the +watchfulness of old dowagers protecting their daughters from the +advances of younger sons. Soft eyes flashed invitingly, graceful +figures passed, and the revelry momentarily attracted Mauville, as +he followed the movements of the waltzers and heard the strains of +music. Impulsively he approached a young woman whose complexion was +as light as his own and asked her to dance. The next moment they +were gliding to the dreamy rhythm around the room. + +By a fatal trick of imagination, his thoughts wandered to the +dark-haired girl he had met in the Shadengo Valley. If this now were +she, the partner he had so unceremoniously summoned to his side. How +light were her feet; what poetry of motion was her dancing; what +pleasure the abandonment to which she had resigned herself! +Involuntarily he clasped more tightly the slender waist, and the dark +eyes, moved by that palpable caress, looked not unkindly into his own. +But at the glance he experienced a strange repulsion and started, as +if awakening from a fevered sleep, abruptly stopping in the dance, his +arm falling to his side. The girl looked at him half-shyly, +half-boldly, and the very beauty of her eyes--the deep, lustrous orbs +of a quadroon--smote him mockingly. He felt as though some light he +sought shone far beyond his ken; a light he saw, but could never +reach; ever before him, but always receding. + +"Monsieur is tired?" said the girl, in a puzzled tone. + +"Yes," he answered bluntly, leading her to a seat. "Good-night." + +"Good-night," she replied, following his retreating figure with +something like regret. + +The evening bells, distinct and mysterious, were sounding as he +emerged from New Orleans' _Mabille_, and their crystalline tones, +rising and falling on the solemn night, brought to mind his boyhood. +Pictures long forgotten passed before him, as his footsteps led him +far from the brightly-lighted streets to a sequestered thoroughfare +that lay peacefully on the confines of the busy city; a spot inviting +rest from the turmoil yonder and in accord with the melancholy +vibrations of the bells. He stood, unseen in the shadow of great +trees, before a low rambling mansion; not so remote but that the +perfume from the garden was wafted to him over the hedge. + +"A troubadour!" he said scornfully to himself. "Edward Mauville +sighing at a lady's window like some sentimental serenader! There's a +light yonder. Now to play my despairing part, I must watch for her +image. If I were some one else, I should say my heart beats faster +than usual. She comes--the fair lady! Now the curtain's down. All that +may be seen is her shadow. So, despairing lover, hug that shadow to +your breast!" + +He plucked a rose from a bush in her garden, laughing at himself the +while for doing so, and as he moved away he repeated with conviction: + +"A shadow! That is all she ever could have been to me!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +FROM GARRET TO GARDEN + + +"Celestina, what do you think this is?" Waving something that crackled +in mid air. + +"A piece of paper," said Celestina from her place on the hearth. + +"Paper!" scoffed Straws. "It's that which Horace calls a handmaid, if +you know how to use it; a mistress, if you do not--money! It +is--success, the thing which wrecks more lives than cyclones, fires +and floods! We were happy enough before this came, weren't we, +Celestina?" + +The girl nodded her head, a look of deep anxiety in her eyes. + +"Oh, why did the critics so damn the book it fairly leaped to +popularity!" went on the bard. "Why did they advise me to learn a +trade? to spoil no more reams of paper? To spoil reams of paper and +get what--this little bit in return!" + +"Is it so very much money?" asked Celestina. + +"An enormous amount--one thousand dollars! And the worst of it is, my +publishers write there may be more to come." + +"Well," said the child, after a long, thoughtful pause, "why don't you +give it away?" + +"Hum! Your suggestion, my dear--" + +"But, perhaps, no one would take it?" interrupted Celestina. + +"Perhaps they wouldn't!" agreed Straws, rubbing his hands. "So, under +the circumstances, let us consider how we may cultivate some of the +vices of the rich. It is a foregone conclusion, set down by the +philosophers, that misery assails riches. The philosophers were never +rich and therefore they know. Besides, they are unanimous on the +subject. It only remains to make the best of it and cultivate the +vanities of our class. Where shall I begin? 'Riches betray man into +arrogance,' saith Addison. Therefore will I be arrogant; while you, my +dear, shall be proud." + +"That will be lovely!" assented Celestina, as a matter of habit. She +went to the bed and began smoothing the sheets deftly. + +"My dear!" expostulated Straws. "You mustn't do that." + +"Not make the bed!" she asked, in surprise. + +"No." + +"Nor bring your charcoal?" + +"No." + +"Nor wash your dishes?" + +"Certainly not!" + +Celestina dropped on the floor, a picture of misery. + +"Too bad, isn't it?" commented Straws. "But it can't be helped, can +it?" + +"No," she said, shaking her head, wofully; "it can't be helped! But +why--why did you publish it?" + +"Just what the critics asked, my dear! Why? Who knows? Who can tell +why the gods invented madness? But it's done; for bad, or worse!" + +"For bad, or worse!" she repeated, gazing wistfully toward the rumpled +bed. + +"If somebody tells you fine feathers don't make fine birds, don't +believe him," continued the poet. "It's envy that speaks! But what do +you suppose I have here?" Producing a slip of paper from his vest +pocket. "No; it's not another draft! An advertisement! Listen: +'Mademoiselle de Castiglione's select seminary. Young ladies +instructed in the arts of the _bon ton_. Finesse, repose, literature! +Fashions, etiquette, languages! P. S. Polkas a specialty!' Celestina, +your destiny lies at Mademoiselle de Castiglione's. They will teach +you to float into a drawing room--but you won't forget the garret? +They will instruct you how to sit on gilt chairs--you will think +sometimes of the box, or the place by the hearth? You will become a +mistress of the piano--'By the Coral Strands I Wander,' 'The Sweet +Young Bachelor'--but I trust you will not learn to despise altogether +the attic pipe?" + +"You mean," said Celestina, slowly, her face expressing bewilderment, +"I must go away somewhere?" + +Straws nodded. "That's it; somewhere!" + +The girl's eyes flashed; her little hands clenched. "I won't; I +won't!" + +"Then that's the end on't!" retorted the bard. "I had bought you +some new dresses, a trunk with your name on it, and had made +arrangements with Mademoiselle de Castiglione (who had read 'Straws' +Strophes'), but perhaps I could give the dresses away to some other +little girl who will be glad to drink at the Pierian--I mean, the +Castiglione--spring." + +Celestina's eyes were an agony of jealousy; not that she was +mercenary, or cared for the dresses, but that Straws should give them +to another little girl. Her pride, however, held her in check and she +drew herself up with composure. + +"That would be nice--for the other little girl!" she said. + +"The only difficulty is," resumed Straws, "there isn't any other +little girl." + +At that, Celestina gave a glad cry and flew to him, throwing her arms +around his neck. + +"Oh, I will go anywhere you want!" she exclaimed. + +"Get on your bonnet then--before you change your mind, my dear!" + +"And aunt?" asked Celestina, lingering doubtfully on the threshold. + +"Your aunt, as you call that shriveled-up shrew, consented at once," +answered Straws. "Her parental heart was filled with thanksgiving at +the prospect of one less mouth to fill. Go and say good-by, however, +to the old harridan; I think she has a few conventional tears to shed. +But do not let her prolong her grief inordinately, and meet me at the +front door." + +A few moments later, Straws and the child, hand-in-hand, started on +their way to the Castiglione temple of learning and culture. If +Celestina appeared thoughtful, even sad, the poet was never so merry, +and sought to entertain the abstracted girl with sparkling chit-chat +about the people they met in the crowded streets. A striking little +man was a composer of ability, whose operas, "Cosimo," "Les Pontons de +Cadiz," and other works had been produced at the Opéra Comique in +Paris. He was now director of the French opera in New Orleans and had +brought out the charming Mademoiselle Capriccioso and the sublime +Signor Staccato. The lady by his side, a dark brunette with features +that were still beautiful, was the nimble-footed Madame Feu-de-joie, +whose shapely limbs and graceful motions had delighted two generations +and were like to appeal to a third. Men who at twenty had thrown +Feu-de-joie posies, now bald but young as ever, tossed her roses. + +"I don't like that lady," said Celestina, emphatically, when the +dancer had passed on, after petting her and kissing her on the cheek. + +"Now, it's curious," commented the bard, "but your sex never did." + +"Do men like her?" asked the child, with premature penetration. + +"They did; they do; they will!" answered Straws, epigrammatically. + +"Do you like her?" + +"Oh, that's different! Poets, you know, are the exception to any +rule." + +"Why?" + +"Because--Really, my dear, you ask too many questions!" + +Although Straws and Celestina had left the house early in the day, it +was noon before they reached the attractive garden, wherein was +sequestered the "select seminary." + +In this charming prison, whose walls were overrun with flowering +vines, and whose cells were pretty vestal bowers, entered the bard and +the young girl, to be met on the front porch by the wardeness herself, +a mite of a woman, with wavy yellow hair, fine complexion and +washed-out blue eyes. Sensitive almost to shyness, Mademoiselle de +Castiglione appeared more adapted for the seclusion of the veil in the +Ursuline Church than for the varied responsibilities of a young +ladies' institute. At the approach of the poet, she turned, looked +startled, but finally came forward bravely. + +"Oh, I've read it again, Mr. Straws!" she exclaimed, impetuously. + +"What?" he returned, sternly, pausing at the foot of the steps. + +"Your--your lovely Strophes!" she continued, timidly. + +The bard frowned. "All great men profess to scowl at flattery," +thought Straws. "She will have but a poor opinion of me, if I do not +appear an offended Hector!" + +"Mademoiselle, I excessively dislike compliments," he began aloud, but +having gone thus far, his courage and lack of chivalry failed him in +the presence of her dismay; he forgot his greatness, and hastened to +add, with an ingratiating smile: "Except when delivered by such a +charming person!" + +"Oh, Mr. Straws!" + +"This, Mademoiselle," resumed the bard, "is the young girl I spoke +about. Her mother," he added in a low voice, "was a beautiful +quadroon; her father"--here Straws mentioned a name. The wardeness +flushed furiously. "Father died; always meant to make it right; +didn't; crime of good intentions! Virago of an aunt; regular +termagant; hates the girl! Where was a home to be found for her? +Where"--gazing around him--"save this--Eden? Where a mother--save in +one whose heart is the tenderest?" + +Diplomatic Straws! Impulsively the wardeness crossed to Celestina; her +blue eyes beamed with sentiment and friendliness. "I will give her my +personal attention," she said. And then to the young girl: "We will be +friends, won't we?" + +"Yes," replied Celestina, slowly, after a moment's discreet +hesitation. She was glad the other did not kiss her like Feu-de-joie. + +"I always like," said the wardeness, "to feel my little girls are all +my little friends." + +"Mademoiselle," exclaimed the bard, "I'll--I'll dedicate my next +volume of poems to you!" + +"Really, Mr. Straws!" + +"For every kindness to her, you shall have a verse," he further +declared. + +"Then your dedication would be as long as Homer!" she suddenly flashed +out, her arm around the child. + +Straws looked at her quickly. It was too bad of him! And that borrowed +Don Juan smile! Nothing could excuse it. + +Castiglione busied herself with Celestina's ribbons. "Whoever did tie +that bow-knot?" she observed. + +"Good-by, Celestina," said Straws. + +Celestina put her arms gravely about his neck and he pressed his lips +to her cheek. Then he strode quickly toward the gate. Just before +passing out, he looked back. The wardeness had finished adjusting the +ribbon and was contemplatively inspecting it. Celestina, as though +unconscious of the attention, was gazing after the poet, and when he +turned into the road, her glance continued to rest upon the gate. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +"THE BEST OF LIFE" + + +On a certain evening about a month later, the tropical rains had +flooded the thoroughfares, until St. Charles Street needed but a +Rialto and a little imagination to convert it into a watery highway of +another Venice, while as for Canal Street, its name was as applicable +as though it were spanned by a Bridge of Sighs. In the narrow streets +the projecting eaves poured the water from the roof to the sidewalks, +deluging the pedestrians. These minor thoroughfares were tributary to +the main avenues and gushed their rippling currents into them, as +streams supply a river, until the principal streets flowed swiftly +with the dirty water that choked their gutters. The rain splashed and +spattered on the sidewalks, fairly flooding out the fruit venders and +street merchants who withstood the deluge for a time and then were +forced to vanish with their portable stores. The cabby, phlegmatic to +wind and weather, sat on his box, shedding the moisture from his +oil-skin coat and facing a cloud of steam which presumably concealed a +horse. + +The dark night and the downpour made the _cafés_ look brighter. +Umbrellas flitted here and there, skilfully piloted beneath swinging +signs and low balconies, evading awning posts and high hats as best +they might. There were as many people out as usual, but they were +hurrying to their destinations, even the languid creole beauty, all +lace and alabaster, moved with the sprightliness of a maid of Gotham. + +Straws, editor and rhymster, was seated on the semi-Oriental, +semi-French gallery of the little _café_, called the Veranda, sipping +his absinthe, smoking a cheroot and watching the rain drip from the +roof of the balcony, spatter on the iron railing and form a shower +bath for the pedestrians who ventured from beneath the protecting +shelter. Before him was paper, partly covered with well-nigh illegible +versification, and a bottle of ink, while a goose-quill, tool of the +tuneful Nine, was expectantly poised in mid air. + +"Confound it!" he said to himself. "I can't write in the attic any +more, since Celestina has gone, and apparently I can't write away from +it. Since she left, the dishes haven't been washed; my work has run +down at the heels, and everything is going to the dogs generally. And +now this last thing has upset me quite. 'In the twinkling of an eye,' +says the sacred Book. But I must stop thinking, or I'll never complete +this poem. Now to make my mind a blank; a fitting receptacle to +receive inspiration!" + +The bard's figure swayed uncertainly on the stool. In the lively race +through a sonnet, it was often, of late, a matter of doubt with +Straws, whether Bacchus or Calliope would prevail at the finish, and +to-night the jocund god had had a perceptible start. "Was ever a poet +so rhyme-fuddled?" muttered the impatient versifier. "An inebriating +trade, this poetizing!"--and he reached for the absinthe. "If I am not +careful, these rhymes will put me under the table!" + +"Nappy, eh?" said a voice at his elbow, as a dripping figure +approached, deposited his hat on one chair and himself in another. The +newcomer had a long, Gothic face and a merry-wise expression. + +The left hand of the poet waved mechanically, imposing silence; the +quill dived suddenly to paper, trailed twice across it, and then was +cast aside, as Straws looked up. + +"Yes," he replied to the other's interrogation. "It's all on account +of Celestina's leaving me. You ought to see my room. Even a poet's +soul revolts against it. So what can I do, save make my home amid +convivial haunts?" The poet sighed. "And you, Phazma; how are you +feeling?" + +"Sober as a judge!" + +"Then you shall judge of this last couplet," exclaimed Straws quickly. +"It has cost me much effort. The editor wanted it. It seemed almost +too sad a subject for my halting muse. There are some things which +should be sacred even from us, Phazma. But what is to be done when the +editor-in-chief commands? 'Ours not to reason why!' The poem is a +monody on the tragedy at the theater." + +"At the St. Charles?" said Phazma, musingly. "As I passed, it was +closed. It seemed early for the performance to be over. Yet the +theater was dark; all the lights had gone out." + +"More than the lights went out," answered Straws, gravely; "a life +went out!" + +"I don't exactly--Oh, you refer to Miss Carew's farewell?" + +"No; to Barnes'!" + +"Barnes'!" exclaimed his surprised listener. + +"Yes; he is dead; gone out like the snuff of a candle! Died in +harness, before the footlights!" + +"During the performance!" cried the wondering Phazma. "Why, only this +afternoon I met him, apparently hale and hearty, and now--you tell me +he has paid the debt of nature?" + +"As we must all pay it," returned Straws. "He acted as if he were +dazed while the play was in progress and I could not but notice it, +standing in the wings. The prompter spoke of it to me. 'I don't know +what is the matter with Mr. Barnes,' he said, 'I have had to keep +throwing him his lines.' Even Miss Carew rallied him gently between +acts on his subdued manner. + +"'This is our last performance together,' he said absently. She gave +him a reproachful look and he added, quickly: 'Do I appear gloomy, my +dear? I never felt happier.' + +"At the end of the second act he seemed to arouse himself, when she, +as Isabella, said: 'I'll fit his mind to death, for his soul's rest.' +He gazed at her long and earnestly, his look caressing her wherever +she moved. Beginning the prison scene with spirit, he had proceeded +to, + + "'Reason thus with life; + If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing + That none but fools would keep--' + +When suddenly he threw up his arms and fell upon the stage, his face +toward the audience. With a cry I shall never forget, Miss Carew +rushed to him and took his head in her arms, gazing at him wildly, and +calling to him piteously. The curtain went down, but nothing could be +done, and life quickly ebbed. Once, only, his lips moved: 'Your +mother--there!--where the play never ends!' and it was over." + +"It is like a romance," said Phazma, finally, at the conclusion of +this narration. + +"Say, rather, reality! The masque is over! In that final sleep Jack +Pudding lies with Roscius; the tragedian does not disdain the mummer, +and beautiful Columbine, all silver spangles and lace, is company for +the clown. 'Tis the only true republic, Phazma; death's Utopia!" + +"But to think he should have died with those words of the poet on his +lips?" + +"A coincidence!" answered Straws. "No more notable than the death of +Edmund Kean, who, when he reached the passage 'Farewell, Othello's +occupation's gone!' fell back unconscious; or that of John Palmer, +who, after reciting 'There is another and a better world,' passed away +without a pang." + +A silence fell between the two poets; around them shadows appeared and +vanished. Phazma finished his syrup and arose. + +"Don't go," said Straws. "My own thoughts are poor company. Recite +some of your madrigals, that's a good fellow! What a wretched night! +These rain-drops are like the pattering feet of the invisible host. +Some simple song, Phazma!" + +"As many as you please!" cried his flattered brother-bard. "What shall +it be?" + +"One of your Rhymes for Children. Your 'Boy's Kingdom,' beginning: + + "When I was young, I dreamed of knights + And dames with silken trains." + +"Thou shalt have it, _mon ami_!" + +And Phazma gaily caught up the refrain, while Straws beat time to the +tinkling measures. + + * * * * * + +The last entry in the date-book, or diary, of Barnes seems curiously +significant as indicating a knowledge that his end was near. For the +first time in the volume he rambles on in a reminiscent mood about his +boyhood days: + +"The first bit of good fortune I ever enjoyed was when as a lad in +sweeping a crossing in the neighborhood of the Strand I found a +bright, shining sovereign. How tightly I grasped it in my little fist +that night when I slept in a doorway! I dared not trust it in my +pocket. The next night I walked to the ticket-seller at Drury Lane, +and demanded a seat down stairs. 'Gallery seats sold around the +corner,' said this imposing gentleman with a prodigious frown, and, +abashed, I slunk away. My dream of being near the grand people +vanished and I climbed once more to my place directly under the roof. + +"My next bit of good fortune happened in this wise. Sheridan, the +playwright-orator, attracted my attention on Piccadilly one day, and, +for the delight of gazing upon him, I followed. When he stopped, I +stopped; when he advanced, I did likewise. I felt that I was treading +in the footsteps of a king. Suddenly he paused, wheeled about and +confronted me, a raw-boned, ragged, awkward lad of fourteen. 'What one +of my creditors has set you following me?' he demanded. 'None, sir,' I +stammered. 'I only wanted to look at the author of "The Rivals."' He +appeared much amused and said: 'Egad! So you are a patron of the +drama, my boy?' I muttered something in the affirmative. He regarded +my appearance critically. 'I presume you would not be averse to +genteel employment, my lad?' he asked. With that he scribbled a moment +and handed me a note to the property man of Drury Lane. My heart was +too full; I had no words to thank him. The tears were in my eyes, +which, noting, he remarked, with an assumption of sternness: 'Are you +sure, boy, you are not a bailiff in disguise?' At this I laughed and +he left me. The note procured me an engagement as errand boy at the +stage-door and later I rose to the dignity of scene-shifter. How truly +typical of this man's greatness, to help lift a homeless lad out of +the gutters of London town! + +"But I am rambling on as though writing an autobiography, to be read +when I am gone--" + +Here the entry ceases and the rest of the pages in the old date-book +are blank. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE LAWYER'S TIDINGS + + +The sudden and tragic death of Constance's foster-father--which +occurred virtually as narrated by Straws--set a seal of profound +sadness on the heart of the young girl. "Good sir, adieu!" she had +said in the nunnery scene and the eternal parting had shortly +followed. Her affection for the old manager had been that of a loving +daughter; the grief she should have experienced over the passing of +the marquis was transferred to the memory of one who had been a father +through love's kinship. In the far-away past, standing at the bier of +her mother, the manager it was who had held her childish hand, +consoling her and sharing her affliction, and, in those distant but +unforgotten days of trouble, the young girl and the homeless old man +became all in all to each other. + +Years had rolled by; the child that prattled by his side became the +stately girl, but the hand-clasp at that grave had never been +relinquished. She could not pretend to mourn the death of the marquis, +her own father; had he not ever been dead to her; as dead as the good +wife (or bad wife) of that nobleman; as dead as Gross George, and all +the other honored and dishonored figures of that misty past? But +Barnes' death was the abrupt severing of ties, strengthened by years +of tender association, and, when his last summons came, she felt +herself truly alone. + +In an old cemetery, amid the crumbling bricks, Barnes was buried, his +sealed tomb above ground bearing in its inscription the answer to the +duke's query: "Thy Best of Life is Sleep." After the manager's death +and Constance's retirement from the stage, it naturally followed that +the passengers of the chariot became separated. Mrs. Adams continued +to play old woman parts throughout the country, remaining springy and +buoyant to the last. Susan transferred herself and her talents to +another stock company performing in New Orleans, while Kate procured +an engagement with a traveling organization. Adonis followed in her +train. It had become like second nature to quarrel with Kate, and at +the mere prospect of separation, he forthwith was driven to ask her +for her hand, and was accepted--on probation, thus departing in +leading strings. Hawkes, melancholy as of old, drifted into a comic +part in a "variety show," acquiring new laurels as a dry comedian of +the old school. But he continued to live alone in the world, +mournfully sufficient unto himself. + +Constance remained in New Orleans. There the old manager had found his +final resting place and she had no definite desire to go elsewhere. +Adrift in the darkness of the present, the young girl was too +perplexed to plan for the future. So she remained in the house Barnes +had rented shortly before his death. An elderly gentlewoman of fallen +fortunes, to whom this semi-rural establishment belonged, Constance +retained as a companion, passing her time quietly, soberly, almost in +solitude. This mansion, last remnant of its owner's earthly estate, +was roomy and spacious, nestling among the oranges and inviting +seclusion with its pretentious wall surrounding the grounds. + +The old-fashioned gentlewoman, poor and proud, was a fitting figure in +that ancient house, where in former days gay parties had assembled. +But now the principal callers at the old house were the little fat +priest, with a rosy smile, who looked after the aged lady's soul, of +which she was most solicitous in these later days, and the Count de +Propriac, who came ostensibly to see the elderly woman and chat about +genealogy and extraction, but was obviously not unmindful of the +presence of the young girl nor averse to seeking to mitigate her +sorrow. Culver, the lawyer, too, came occasionally, to talk about her +affairs, but often her mind turned impatiently from figures and +markets to the subtle rhythm of Shakespeare. She regretted having left +the stage, feeling the loneliness of this simple existence; yet averse +to seeking diversion, and shunning rather than inviting society. As +the inert hours crept by, she longed for the forced wakefulness and +stir of other days--happy days of insecurity; fleeting, joyous days, +gone now beyond recall! + +But while she was striving to solve these new problems of her life +they were all being settled for her by Fate, that arrogant meddler. +Calling one morning, Culver, nosegay in hand, was obliged to wait +longer than usual and employed the interval in casually examining his +surroundings--and, incidentally, himself. First, with the vanity of +youngish old gentlemen, he gazed into a tall mirror, framed in the +fantastic style of the early Venetians; a glass which had belonged to +the marquis and had erstwhile reflected the light beauty of his noble +spouse. Pausing about as long as it would have taken a lady to adjust +a curl, he peeped into a Dutch cabinet of ebony and mother-of-pearl +and was studying a charming creature painted on ivory, whose head like +that of Bluebeard's wife was subsequently separated from her lovely +shoulders, when a light footstep behind him interrupted his scrutiny. +Turning, he greeted the young girl, and, with stately gallantry, +presented the nosegay. + +"How well you are looking!" he said. "Though there might be a little +more color, perhaps, like some of these flowers. If I were a doctor, I +should prescribe: Less cloister; more city!" + +She took the flowers, meeting his kindly gaze with a faint smile. + +"Most patients would like such prescriptions," he went on. "I should +soon become a popular society physician." + +But although he spoke lightly, his manner was partly forced and he +regarded her furtively. Their brief acquaintance had awakened in him +an interest, half-paternal, half-curious. Women were an unknown, but +beautiful quantity; from the vantage point of a life of single +blessedness, he vaguely, but quixotically placed them in the same +category with flowers, and his curiosity was no harsher than that of a +gardener studying some new variety of bud or blossom. Therefore he +hesitated in what he was about to say, shifting in his chair uneasily +when they were seated, but finally coming to the point with: + +"Have you read the account of the engagement between the Mexican and +the American forces at Vera Cruz?" + +"No; not yet," she admitted. + +"Nor the list of--of casualties?" he continued, hesitatingly. + +"The casualties!" she repeated. "Why--" + +"Saint-Prosper has no further interest in the marquis' sous," he said +quickly. + +She gazed straight before her, calm and composed. This absence of any +exhibition of feeling reassured the attorney. + +"He is--dead?" she asked quietly. + +"Yes." + +"How did he die?" + +"Gallantly," replied the caller, now convinced she had no interest in +the matter, save that of a mere acquaintance. "His death is described +in half a column. You see he did not live in vain!" + +"Was he--killed in battle?" + +"In a skirmish. His company was sent to break up a band of guerilla +rancheros at Antigua. They ambushed him; he drove them out of the +thicket but fell--You have dropped your flowers. Allow me!--at the +head of his men." + +"At the head of his men!" She drew in her breath. + +"There passed the last of an ill-fated line," said the lawyer, +reflectively. "Poor fellow! He started with such bright prospects, +graduating from the military college with unusual honors. Ambitious, +light-hearted, he went to Africa to carve out a name in the army. But +fate was against him. The same ship that took him over carried back, +to the marquis, the story of his brother's disgrace--" + +"His brother's disgrace!" she exclaimed. + +Culver nodded. "He sold a French stronghold in Africa, Miss Carew." + +Had the attorney been closely observing her he would have noticed the +sudden look of bewilderment that crossed her face. She stared at him +with her soul in her eyes. + +"Ernest Saint-Prosper's--brother?" + +The turmoil of her thoughts held her as by a spell; in the disruption +of a fixed conclusion her brain was filled with new and poignant +reflections. Unconsciously she placed a nervous hand upon his arm. + +"Then Ernest Saint-Prosper who was--killed in Mexico was not the +traitor?" + +"Certainly not!" exclaimed Culver, quickly, "Owing to the disgrace, I +am sure, more than to any other reason, he bade farewell to his +country--and now lies unmourned in some mountain ravine. It is true +the marquis quarreled with him, disliking not a little the young man's +republican ideas, but--my dear young lady!--you are ill?" + +"No, no!" she returned, hastily, striving to maintain her self-possession. +"How--do you know this?" + +"Through the marquis, himself," he replied, somewhat uneasy beneath +her steady gaze. "He told me the story in order to protect the estate +from any possible pretensions on the part of the traitor. The renegade +was reported dead, but the marquis, nevertheless remained skeptical. +He did not believe in the old saw about the devil being dead. '_Le +diable_ lives always,' he said." + +The visitor observed a perceptible change in the young girl, just what +he could not define, but to him it seemed mostly to lie in her eyes +where something that baffled him looked out and met his glance. + +"His brother was an officer in the French army?" she asked, as though +forcing herself to speak. + +"Yes; ten years older than Ernest Saint-Prosper, he had already made a +career for himself. How eagerly, then, must the younger brother have +looked forward to meeting him; to serving with one who, in his young +eyes, was all that was brave and noble! What a bitter awakening from +the dream! It is not those we hate who can injure us most--only those +we love can stab us so deeply!" + +Mechanically she answered the lawyer, and, when he prepared to leave, +the hand, given him at parting, was as cold as ice. + +"Remember," he said, admonishingly; "less cloister, more city!" + +Some hours later, the old lady, dressed in her heavy silk and brocade +and with snow-white hair done up in imposing fashion, rapped on +Constance's door, but received no answer. Knocking again, with like +result, she entered the room, discovering the young girl on the bed, +her cheeks tinted like the rose, her eyes with no gleam of recognition +in them, and her lips moving, uttering snatches of old plays. Taking +her hand, the old lady found it hot and dry. + +"Bless me!" she exclaimed. "She is down with a fever." And at once +prepared a simple remedy which soon silenced the babbling lips in +slumber, after which she sent for the doctor. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE COUNCIL OF WAR + + +"Adjutant, tell Colonel Saint-Prosper I wish to see him." + +The adjutant saluted and turned on his heel, while General Scott bent +over the papers before him, studying a number of rough pencil +tracings. Absorbed in his task, the light of two candles on the table +brought into relief, against the dark shadows, a face of rugged +character and marked determination. Save for a slight contraction of +the brow, he gave no evidence of the mental concentration he bestowed +upon the matter in hand, which was to lead to the culmination of the +struggle and to vindicate the wisdom and boldness of his policy. + +"You sent for me, General?" + +An erect, martial figure stood respectfully at the entrance of the +tent. + +"Yes," said the General, pushing the papers from him. "I have been +studying your drawings of the defensive works at San Antonio Garita +and find them entirely comprehensive. A council of officers has been +called, and perhaps it will be as well for you to remain." + +"At what time shall I be here, General?" + +"It is about time now," answered the commander-in-chief, consulting +his watch. "You have quite recovered from your wounds?" he added, +kindly. + +"Yes, thank you, General." + +"I see by the newspapers you were reported dead. If your friends read +that it will cause them needless anxiety. You had better see that the +matter is corrected." + +"It is hardly worth while," returned the young man, slowly. + +The commanding general glanced at him in some surprise. "A strange +fellow!" he thought. "Has he reasons for wishing to be considered +dead? However, that is none of my business. At any rate, he is a good +soldier." And, after a moment, he continued: "Cerro Gordo was warm +work, but there is warmer yet in store for us. Only Providence, not +the Mexicans, can stop us. But here are the officers," as General +Pillow, Brevet-General Twiggs and a number of other officers entered. + +The commander-in-chief proceeded to give such information as he had, +touching the approaches to the city. Many of the officers favored +operating against San Antonio Garita, others attacking Chapultepec. +Saint-Prosper, when called on, stated that the ground before the San +Antonio gate was intersected by many irrigating ditches and that much +of the approach was under water. + +"Then you would prefer storming a fortress to taking a ditch?" said +one of the generals, satirically. + +"A series of ditches," replied the other. + +"Colonel Saint-Prosper is right," exclaimed the commanding general. "I +had already made up my mind. Let it be the western gate, then." + +And thus was brought to a close one of the most memorable councils of +war, for it determined the fate of the City of Mexico. + +Saint-Prosper looked older than when seen in New Orleans, as though he +had endured much in that brief but hard campaign. His wound had +incapacitated him for only a few months, and in spite of the climate +and a woful lack of medical attendance and nourishing supplies, his +hardy constitution stood him in such stead he was on his feet and in +the saddle, while his comrades languished and died in the fierce heat +of the temporary hospitals. His fellow-officers knew him as a fearless +soldier, but a man reticent about himself, who made a confidant of no +one. Liked for his ready, broad military qualities, it was a matter of +comment, nevertheless, that no one knew anything about him except that +he had served in the French army and was highly esteemed by General +Scott as a daring and proficient engineer. + +One evening shortly before the skirmish of Antigua, a small Mexican +town had been ransacked, where were found cattle, bales of tobacco, +pulque and wine. At the rare feast which followed a veteran drank to +his wife; a young man toasted his sweetheart, and a third, with moist +eyes, sang the praises of his mother. In the heart of the enemy's +land, amid the uncertainties of war, remembrance carried them back to +their native soil, rugged New England, the hills of Vermont, the +prairies of Illinois, the blue grass of Kentucky. + +"Saint-Prosper!" they cried, calling on him, when the festivities were +at their height. + +"To you, gentlemen," he replied, rising, glass in hand. "I drink to +your loved ones!" + +"To your own!" cried a young man, flushed with the wine. + +Saint-Prosper gazed around that rough company, brave hearts softened +to tenderness, and, lifting his canteen, said, after a moment's +hesitation: + +"To a princess on a tattered throne!" + +They looked at him in surprise. Who was this adventurer who toasted +princesses? The Mexican war had brought many soldiers of fortune and +titled gentlemen from Europe to the new world, men who took up the +cause more to be fighting than that they cared what the struggle was +about. Was the "tattered throne" Louis Philippe's chair of state, torn +by the mob in the Tuileries? And what foreign princess was the lady of +the throne? But they took up the refrain promptly, good-naturedly, and +a chorus rolled out: + +"To the princess!" + +Little they knew she was but a poor stroller; an "impudent, +unwomanish, graceless monster," according to Master Prynne. + +After leaving the commanding general's tent, Saint-Prosper retired to +rest in that wilderness which had once been a monarch's pleasure +grounds. Now overhead the mighty cypresses whispered their tales of +ancient glory and faded renown; the wind waved those trailing beards, +hoary with age; a gathering of venerable giants, murmuring the days +when the Aztec monarch had once held courtly revels under the grateful +shadows of their branches. The moaning breeze seemed the wild chant of +the Indian priest in honor of the war-god of Anahuac. It told of +battles to come and conflicts which would level to the dust the +descendants of the conquerors of that ill-starred country. And so the +soldier finally fell asleep, with that requiem ringing in his ears. + +When daybreak again penetrated the mountain recesses and fell upon the +valley, Saint-Prosper arose to shake off a troubled slumber. An +unhealthy mist hung over the earth, like a miasma, and the officer +shivered as he walked in that depressing and noxious atmosphere. It +lay like a deleterious veil before the glades where myrtles mingled +with the wild limes. It concealed from view a cross, said to have been +planted by Cortez--the cross he worshiped because of its resemblance +to the hilt of a sword!--and enveloped the hoary trees that were old +when Montezuma was a boy or when Marina was beloved by the mighty +free-booter. + +The shade resting on the valley appeared that of a mighty, virulent +hand. Out of the depths arose a flock of dark-hued birds, soaring +toward the morbific fog; not moving like other winged creatures, with +harmony of motion, but rising without unity, and filling the vale with +discordant sounds. Nowhere could these sable birds have appeared more +unearthly than in the "dark valley," as it was called by the natives, +where the mists moved capriciously, yet remained persistently within +the circumference of this natural cauldron, now falling like a pall +and again hovering in mid air. Suddenly the uncanny birds vanished +among the trees as quickly as they had arisen, and there was something +mysterious about their unwarranted disappearance and the abrupt +cessation of clamorous cries. + +While viewing this somber scene, Saint-Prosper had made his way to a +little adobe house which the natives had built near the trail that led +through the valley. As he approached this hut he encountered a dismal +but loquacious sentinel, tramping before the partly opened door. + +"This is chilly work, guard?" said the young man, pausing. + +"Yis, Colonel," replied the soldier, apparently grateful for the +interruption; "it's a hot foight I prefer to this cool dooty." + +"Whom are you guarding?" continued the officer. + +"A spy, taken in the lines a few days ago. He's to be executed this +morning at six. But I don't think he will moind that, for it's out of +his head he is, with the malaria." + +"He should have had medical attendance," observed the officer, +stepping to the door. + +"Faith, they'll cure him at daybreak," replied the guard. "It's a +medicine that niver fails." + +Saint-Prosper pushed open the door. The interior was so dim that at +first he could not distinguish the occupant, but when his eyes became +accustomed to the darkness, he discovered the figure of the prisoner, +who was lying with his back toward him on the ground of the little hut +with nothing but a thin blanket beneath him. The only light revealing +the barren details of this Indian residence sifted through the small +doorway or peered timorously down through a narrow aperture in the +roof that served for a chimney. As Saint-Prosper gazed at the +prostrate man, the latter moved uneasily, and from the parched lips +fell a few words: + +"Lock the doors, Oly-koeks! Hear the songsters, Mynheer Ten +Breecheses! Birds of prey, you Dutch varlet! What do you think of the +mistress of the manor? The serenading anti-renters have come for her." +Then he repeated more slowly: "The squaw Pewasch! For seventeen and +one-half ells of duffels! A rare principality for the scornful minx! +Lord! how the birds sing now around the manor--screech owls, +cat-birds, bobolinks!" + +The soldier started back, vivid memories assailing his mind. Who was +this man whose brain, independent of the corporeal shell, played +waywardly with scenes, characters and events, indissolubly associated +with his own life? + +"Do you know, Little Thunder, the Lord only rebuked the Pharisees?" +continued the prostrate man. "Though the Pharisee triumphs after all! +But it was the stroller I wanted, not the principality." + +He stirred quickly, as if suddenly aware of the presence of another in +the hut, and, turning, lifted his head in a startled manner, surveying +the figure near the doorway with conflicting emotions written on his +pallid countenance. Perhaps some fragment of a dream yet lingered in +his brain; perhaps he was confused at the sight of a face that met his +excited look with one of doubt and bewilderment, but only partial +realization of the identity of the intruder came to him in his fevered +condition. + +Arising deliberately, his body, like a machine, obeying automatically +some unconscious power, he confronted the officer, who recognized in +him, despite his thin, worn face and eyes, unnaturally bright, the +once pretentious land baron, Edward Mauville. Moving toward the door, +gazing on Saint-Prosper as though he was one of the figures of a +disturbing phantasm, he reached the threshold, and, lifting his hand +above his head, the prisoner placed it against one of the supports of +the hut and stood leaning there. From the creation of his mind's eye, +as he doubtlessly, half-conscious of his weakness, designated the +familiar form, he glanced at the sentinel and shook as though +abruptly conscious of his situation. Across the valley the soldiers +showed signs of bestirring themselves, the smoke of many fires +hovering earthward beneath the mist. Drawing his thin frame proudly to +its full height, with a gesture of disdain for physical weakness, and +setting his keen, wild eyes upon the soldier, Mauville said in a +hollow tone: + +"Is that really you, Mr. Saint-Prosper? At first I thought you but a +trick of the imagination. Well, look your fill upon me! You are my +Nemesis come to see the end." + +"I am here by chance, Edward Mauville; an officer in the American +army!" + +"And I, a spy in the Mexican army. So are we authorized foes." + +Rubbing his trembling hands together, his eyes shifted from the dark +birds to the mists, then from the phantom forests back to the hut, +finally resting on his shabby boots of yellow leather. The sunlight +penetrating a rift in the mist settled upon him as he moved feebly and +uncertainly through the doorway and seated himself upon a stool. This +sudden glow brought into relief his ragged, unkempt condition, the +sallowness of his face, and his wasted form, and Saint-Prosper could +not but contrast pityingly this cheerless object, in the garb of a +ranchero, with the prepossessing, sportive heir who had driven through +the Shadengo Valley. + +Apparently now the sun was grateful to his bent, stricken figure, +and, basking in it, he recalled his distress of the previous night: + +"This is better. Not long ago I awoke with chattering teeth. 'This,' I +said, 'is life; a miasma, cold, discomfort,' Yes, yes; a fever, a +miasma, with phantoms fighting you--struggling to choke you--but +now"--he paused, and fumbling in his pocket, drew out a cigarette +case, which he opened, but found empty. A cigar the other handed him +he took mechanically and lighted with scrupulous care. Near at hand +the guard, more cheerful under the prospect of speedy relief from his +duties, could be heard humming to himself: + + "Oh, Teady-foley, you are my darling, + You are my looking-glass night and morning--" + +Watching the smoker, Saint-Prosper asked himself how came Mauville to +be serving against his own country, or why he should have enlisted at +all, this pleasure-seeking man of the world, to whom the hardships of +a campaign must have been as novel as distasteful. + +"Are you satisfied with your trial?" said the soldier at length. + +"Yes," returned Mauville, as if breaking from a reverie. "I confess I +am the secret agent of Santa Anna and would have carried information +from your lines. I am here because there is more of the Latin than the +Anglo-Saxon in me. Many of the old families"--with a touch of insane +pride--"did not regard the purchase of Louisiana by the United States +as a transaction alienating them from other ties. Fealty is not a +commercial commodity. But this," he added, scornfully, "is something +you can not understand. You soldiers of fortune draw your swords for +any master who pays you." + +The wind moaned down the mountain side, and the slender trees swayed +and bent; only the heavy and ponderous cactus remained motionless, a +formidable monarch receiving obeisance from supple courtiers. Like +cymbals, the leaves clashed around this armament of power with its +thousand spears out-thrust in all directions. + +The ash fell from the cigar as Mauville held the weed before his +eyes. + +"It is an hour-glass," he muttered. "When smoked--Oh, for the power of +Jupiter to order four nights in one, the better to pursue his love +follies! Love follies," he repeated, and, as a new train of fancy was +awakened, he regarded Saint-Prosper venomously. + +"Do you know she is the daughter of a marquis?" said Mauville, +suddenly. + +"Who?" asked the soldier. + +"The stroller, of course. You can never win her," he added, +contemptuously. "She knows all about that African affair." + +Saint-Prosper started violently, but in a moment Mauville's +expression changed, and he appeared plunged in thought. + +"The last time I saw her," he said, half to himself, "she was dressed +in black--her face as noonday--her hair black as midnight--crowning +her with languorous allurement!" + +He repeated the last word several times like a man in a dream. + +"Allurement! allurement!" and again relapsed into a silence that was +half-stupor. + +By this time the valley, with the growing of the day, began to lose +much of its evil aspect, and the eye, tempted through glades and +vistas, lingered upon gorgeous forms of inflorescence. The land +baron slowly blew a wreath of smoke in the air--a circle, mute +reminder of eternity!--and threw the end of the cigar into the +bushes. Looking long and earnestly at the surrounding scene, he +started involuntarily. "The dark valley--whar de mists am risin'--I +see yo' da, honey--fo'ebber and fo'ebber--" + +As he surveyed this prospect, with these words ringing in his ears, +the brief silence was broken by a bugle call and the trampling of +feet. + +"The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall arise," said the prisoner, +turning and facing the soldiers calmly. "You have come for me?" he +asked, quietly. + +"Yes," said the officer in command. "General Scott has granted your +request in view of certain circumstances, and you will be shot, +instead of hanged." + +The face of the prisoner lighted wonderfully. He drew himself erect +and smiled with some of the assumption of the old insolence, that +expression Saint-Prosper so well remembered! His features took on a +semblance to the careless, dashing look they had borne when the +soldier crossed weapons with him at the Oaks, and he neither asked nor +intended to give quarter. + +"I thank you," he observed, courteously. "At least, I shall die like a +gentleman. I am ready, sir! Do not fasten my hands. A Mauville can die +without being tied or bound." + +The officer hesitated: "As to that--" he began. + +"It is a reasonable request," said Saint-Prosper, in a low tone. + +Mauville abruptly wheeled; his face, dark and sinister, was lighted +with envenomed malignity; an unnaturally clear perception replaced the +stupor of his brain, and, bending toward Saint-Prosper, his eye rested +upon him with such rancor and malevolence the soldier involuntarily +drew away. But one word fell from the land baron's lips, low, +vibrating, full of inexpressible bitterness. "Traitor!" + +"Come, come!" interrupted the officer in command of the execution +party; "time is up. As I was told not to fasten your hands, you shall +have your wish. Confess now, that is accommodating?" + +"Thanks," returned Mauville carelessly, relapsing into his old manner. +"You are an obliging fellow! I would do as much for you." + +"Not much danger of that," growled the other. "But we'll take the will +for the deed. Forward, march!" + + * * * * * + +After the reverberations, carried from rock to rock with menacing +reiteration, had ceased, the stillness was absolute. Even the +song-bird remained frightened into silence by those awful echoes. Then +the sun rested like a benediction on the land and the white cross of +Cortez was distinctly outlined against the blue sky. But soon the long +roll of drums followed this interval of quiet. + +"Fall in!" "Attention; shoulder arms!" And the sleeping spirit of the +Aztec war-god floated in the murmur which, increasing in volume, arose +to tumultuous shout. + +"On to Chapultepec! On to Chapultepec!" came from a thousand +throats; arms glistened in the sun, bugles sounded resonant in the +air, and the pattering noise of horses' hoofs mingled with the +stentorian voices of the rough teamsters and the cracking of the +whips. Like an irresistible, all-compelling wave, the troops swept out +of the valley to hurl themselves against castle and fortress and to +plant their colors in the heart of the capital city. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A MEETING ON THE MOUNT + + +Clothed at its base in a misty raiment of purple, the royal hill +lifted above the valley an Olympian crest of porphyritic rock into the +fathomless blue. Here not Jupiter and his court looked serenely down +upon the struggling race, "indifferent from their awful height," but a +dark-hued god, in Aztec vestments, gazed beyond the meadows to the +floating flower beds, the gardens with their baths, and the sensuous +dancing girls. All this, but a panorama between naps, soon faded away; +the god yawned, drew his cloak of humming bird feathers more closely +about him and sank back to rest. An uproar then disturbed his +paleozoic dreams; like fluttering spirits of the garish past, the +butterflies arose in the forest glades; and the voices of old seemed +to chant the Aztec psalm: "The horrors of the tomb are but the cradle +of the sun, and the dark shadows of death the brilliant lights for the +stars." Even so they had chanted when the early free-booters burst +upon the scene and beheld the valley with its frame-work of mountains +and two guardian volcanoes, the Gog and Magog of the table-land. + +Now again, from the towering column of Montezuma's cypress, to the +city marked by spires, the thunder rolled and echoed onward even to +the pine-clad cliffs and snow-crowned summits of the rocky giants. +Puffs of smoke dotted the valley beneath the mount, and, as the +answering reports reverberated across space, nature's mortars in the +inclosure of mountains sent forth threatening wreaths of white in +sympathy with the eight-inch howitzers and sixteen-pounders turned +upon the crest of the royal hill. + +When the trees were yet wet with their bath of dew the booming of +artillery and the clattering of small arms dispelled that peace which +partook of no harsher discord than the purling of streams and the +still, small voices of the forest. Through the groves where the +spirit of Donna Marina--the lost love of the marauder--was said to +wander, shrieked the round shot, shells and grape. Through tangled +shrubberies, bright with flowers and colored berries, pierced the +discharge of canister; the air, fragrant at the dawn with orange +blossom and starry jessamine, was noisome with suffocating, +sulphurous fumes, and, beneath the fetid shroud, figures in a fog +heedlessly trampled the lilies, the red roses and "flowers of the +heart." + +From the castle on the summit--mortal trespass upon the immortal pale +of the gods!--the upward shower was answered by an iron downpour, and +two storming parties, with ladders, pick-axes and crows, advanced, +one on each side of the hill, to the attack. Boom! boom! before one of +the parties, climbing and scrambling to the peak, belched the iron +missives of destruction from the concealed mouths of heavy guns, +followed by the rattling shower from small arms. + +Surprised, they paused, panting from the swift ascent, some throwing +themselves prone upon the earth, while the grape and canister passed +harmlessly over them, others seeking such shelter as rocks, trees and +shrubs afforded. Here and there a man fell, but was not suffered to +lie long exposed to the fire of the redoubt which, strongly manned, +held them in check midway to the summit. Doggedly their comrades +rescued the wounded and quickly conveyed them to the rear. + +"They've set out their watch-dogs," remarked the general commanding +the assault on that side of the hill, to one of his officers, as he +critically surveyed the formidable defense through the tangled +shrubbery. "Here is a battery we hadn't reckoned on." + +"It was to be expected, sir," responded the officer. "They were sure +to have some strong point we couldn't locate." + +"Yes," grumbled the general; "in such a jumble of foliage and +rocks it would take an eagle's eye to pick out all their miserable +ambuscades." + +"I have no doubt, sir, the men are rested now," ventured the other. + +"No doubt they are," chuckled the general, still studying the +situation, glancing to the right and the left of the redoubt. "The +more fighting they get the more they want. They are not so band-boxy +as they were, but remind me of an old, mongrel dog I once owned. He +wasn't much to look at--but I'll tell you the story later." A sudden +quick decision appearing on his face. Evidently the working of his +mind had been foreign to his words. + +"Saint-Prosper," he said, "I suppose the boys on the other side are +going up all the time? I promised our troops the honor of pulling down +that flag. I'm a man of my word; go ahead and take the batteries +and"--stroking his long gray goatee--"beat Pillow to the top." + +A word; a command; they rushed forward; not a laggard in the ranks; +not a man who shirked the leaden shower; not one who failed to offer +his breast openly and fearlessly to the red death which to them might +come when it would. Unwaveringly over rocks, chasms and mines, they +followed the tall figure of their leader; death underfoot, death +overhead! What would courage avail against concealed mines? Yet like a +pack of hounds that reck naught while the scent is warm, they pressed +forward, ever forward; across the level opening, where some dropped +out of the race, and over the ramparts! A brief struggle; confusion, +turmoil; something fearful occurring that no eye could see in its +entirety through the smoke; afterwards, a great shout that announced +to the palace on the mount the fate of the intermediary batteries! + +But there was sharper and more arduous work to come; this, merely a +foretaste of the last, fierce stand of the besieged; a stand in which +they knew they were fighting for everything, where defeat meant the +second conquest of Mexico! From the batteries the assailants had +captured to the foot of the castle seemed but a little way to them in +their zeal; no one thought of weariness, or the toil of the ascent. +But one determination possessed them--to end it all quickly; to carry +everything before them! Their victory at the redoubt gave them such +sudden, wild confidence that castles seemed no more than ant-hills--to +be trampled on! Instinctively every man felt sure of the day and +already experienced the glory of conquering that historic hill; that +invincible fortress! Over the great valley, so beautiful in its +physical features, so inspiring in its associations, should hang the +stars of the North, with the stars of heaven! + +The scaling ladders were brought up and planted by the storming party; +the first to mount were hurled back, killed or wounded, to the rocks +below, but others took their places; a lodgment was effected, and, +like the water bursting over a dike, a tide of besiegers found +ingress. + +Under a galling fire, with shouts that rang above the noise of rifles, +they drove the masses of the enemy from their guns; all save one, not +a Mexican from his fair skin, who stood confidently beside his piece, +an ancient machine, made of copper and strengthened by bands of iron. +A handsome face; dead to morality, alive to pleasure; the face of a +man past thirty, the expression of immortal one-and-twenty! A figure +from the pages of Ovid, metamorphosed to a gunner of Santa Anna! The +bright radiance from a cloudless sky, the smoke having drifted +westward from the summit, fell upon him and his gun. + +With inscrutable calmness, one hand fondling the breech, he regarded +the fleeting figures and the hoarse-throated pursuers; then, as if to +time the opportunity to the moment, he bent over the gun. + +"I wonder if this first-born can still bark!" he muttered. + +But an instant's hesitation, friend and foe being fairly intermingled, +was fatal to his purpose; the venerable culverin remained silent, and +the gunner met hand-to-hand a figure that sprang from the incoming +host. Simultaneously the rapid firing of a new wave of besiegers from +the other side of the castle threw once more a pall of smoke over the +scene, and, beneath its mantle, the two men were like figures +struggling in a fog, feeling rather than seeing each other's blade, +divining by touch the cut, pass or aggressive thrust. + +"Faugh!" laughed the gunner. "They'll kill us with smoke." + +The discharge of small arms gradually ceased; the fresh breeze again +cleared the crest of the mount, showing the white walls of the +structure which had been so obstinately defended; the valley, where +the batteries now lay silent, having spoken their thundering prologue, +and the alien flag, the regimental colors of the invaders, floating +from the upper walls. Below on the road toward the city, a band of +white across the table land, successive spots of smoke momentarily +appeared and were succeeded, after a considerable interval, by the +rub-a-dub of rifles. From the disenchanting distance the charge of a +body of men, in the attempt to dislodge a party entrenched in a ditch, +lost the tragic aspect of warfare, and the soldiers who fell seemed no +larger than the toy figures of a nursery game. + +With the brightening of the summit to the light of day, eagerly the +two combatants near the copper gun gazed for the first time into each +other's eyes, and, at that trenchant glance, a tremor crossed the +features of the gunner, and his arm, with its muscles of steel, +suddenly became inert, powerless. + +"_Mon Dieu!_--'Tis Ernest--little Ernest!" he exclaimed, wonderingly. + +For all that his opponent's sword, ominously red from the fierce first +assault at the wall, was at his breast, he made no effort to oppose +its threatening point, when a grape-shot, swifter than the blade, +fairly struck the gunner. With blood streaming from his shoulder, he +swayed from side to side, passing his hand before his eyes as one who +questions oracular evidence, and then sank to the earth with an arm +thrown over the tube of copper. Above his bronzed face the light curls +waved like those of a Viking; though his clothes were dyed with the +sanguinary hue and his chest rose and fell with labored breathing, it +was with an almost quizzical glance he regarded the other who stood as +if turned to stone. + +"That was not so easily done, Ernest," he said, not unkindly, "but +surprise broke down my guard." + +"Before God, it was not I!" cried the soldier, starting from a +trance. + +"And if it were!" With his free arm he felt his shoulder. "I believe +you are right," he observed, coolly. "Swords break no bones." + +"I will get a surgeon," said the other, as he turned. + +"What for? To shake his head? Get no one, or if--for boyish days!--you +want to serve me, lend me your canteen." + +Saint-Prosper held it to his lips, and he drank thirstily. + +"That was a draught in an oasis. I had the desert in my throat--the +desert, the wild desert! What a place to meet! But they caught +Abd-el-Kader, and there was nothing for it but to flee! Besides, I am +a rolling stone." + +To hear him who had betrayed his country and shed the blood of his +comrades, characterize himself by no harsher term was an amazing +revelation of the man's character. + +The space around them had become almost deserted; here and there lay +figures on the ground among which might be distinguished a +sub-lieutenant and other students of the military college, the castle +having been both academy and garrison. Their tuition barely over, so +early had they given up their lives beneath the classic walls of their +_alma mater_! The exhilarating cheering and shouting had subsided; the +sad after-flavor succeeded the lust of conquest. + +"Yes," continued the gunner, though the words came with an effort. +"First, it was the desert. What a place to roll and rove! I couldn't +help it for the life of me! When I was a boy I ran away from school; a +lad, I ran away from college! If I had been a sailor I would have +deserted the ship. After they captured the prophet, I deserted the +desert. So, hey for Mexico, a hilly place for a rolling stone!" + +He gasped, held his hand to his shoulder and brought it away covered +with red. But that Saint-Prosper knelt swiftly, sustaining and +supporting him, he would have slid to the ground. He smiled--sweetly +enough--on the stern soldier and placed his moist and stained hand +caressingly on that of his companion. Seeing them thus, it was not +difficult to trace a family likeness--a similarity in their very +dissimilarity. The older was younger; the younger, older. The gunner's +hair was light, his face wild as a gerfalcon beneath; the other's +dark, with a countenance, habitually repressed, but now, at the touch +of that dishonored hand, grown cold and harsh; yet despite the total +difference of expression, the hereditary resemblance could not be +stamped out. Even the smile of the wounded man was singularly like +that of his brother--a rare transformation that seldom failed to +charm. + +"That's my story," he said, smiling now, as though all the problems of +life and death could be thus dismissed. "As the prophet said: 'I have +urged my camel through every desert!' You see I know my Koran well. +But how came you here, Ernest? I thought you were in Africa, +colonizing--us!" + +"It was impossible to stay there long," replied Saint-Prosper, +slowly. + +"There's that cloud of smoke again," muttered the wounded man, +apparently oblivious to the other's response. As he spoke he withdrew +his hand from that of his brother. At that moment the tropic sun was +bathing him in its light and the white walls shone with luster. "No; +it's like the desert; the dark hour before the sand-storm." Upon his +brow the perspiration gathered, but his lip curled half-scornfully, +half-defiantly. "Turn me toward the valley, Ernest. There's more +space; more light!" + +The soldier, an automaton in passive compliance, placed him where he +commanded the outlook cityward; the open plain, protected by the +breast-works of mountains; the distant spires trembling on the +horizon; the lakes which once marked the Western Venice, a city of +perfume and song. Striking a body of water, the sun converted it into +a glowing shield, a silver escutcheon of the land of silver, and, in +contrast with this polished splendor, the shadows, trailing on the +far-away mountains, were soft, deep and velvety. But the freedom of +the outlook afforded the wounded man little comfort. + +"The storm!" he said. + +A change passed over his face, as of a shadow drawn before it. He +groped helplessly with his hand. + +"Feel in my burnoose, Ernest. A bag--around my neck--open it!" + +Saint-Prosper thrust his hand within the coat, shuddering at the +contact with the ebbing life's blood, and drew forth a leather bag +which he placed in the other's trembling fingers. With an effort, +breathing laboriously, and staring hard, as though striving to +penetrate a gathering film, the wounded man finally managed to display +the contents of the bag, emptying them in his palm, where they glinted +and gleamed in the sun's rays. Sapphires, of delicate blue; emeralds +with vitreous luster; opals of brilliant iridescence--but, above all, +a ruby of perfect color and extraordinary size, cut _en cabachon_, and +exhibiting a marvelous star of many rays; the ruby of Abd-el-Kader! + +With a venal expression of delight, the gunner regarded the contents +of the bag, feeling the gems one by one. "The rarest stone--from the +Sagyin hills, Ernest!" he whispered, as his trembling fingers played +with the ruby. + +But even as he fondled it, a great pain crossed his breast; he gripped +his shoulder tight with his free hand, clutching the precious stones +hard in his clenched fist. Thus he remained, how long the other never +knew, panting, growing paler, as the veins that carried life to his +heart were being slowly emptied. + +His head dropped. "How dark!" he murmured. "Like a _m'chacha_ where +the hashish-smokers dream!" + +The younger brother thought his energy was spent when he looked up +sharply. + +"The lamp's out, you Devil Jew!" he cried. "The pipe, too--spawn of +hell!" + +And he dropped back like stone, the gems falling from his hand, which +twitched spasmodically on the ground and then was still. Saint-Prosper +bent over him, but the heart, famished for nourishment, had ceased to +beat; the restless, wayward soul had fled from its tabernacle of dust. +Save for the stain on his breast and the fixedness of his eyes, he +might have been sleeping. + +Mechanically the soldier gathered the sapphires, emeralds and other +gems--flashing testimony of that thankless past--and, leaning +against the wall, gazed afar to the snow-capped volcanoes. Even as he +looked, the vapors arose from the solfataras of the "smoking +mountain" and a vast shower of cinders and stones was thrown into the +air. Unnoticed passed the eruption before the gaze of Saint-Prosper, +whose mind in a torpor swept dully back to youth's roseate season, +recalling the homage of the younger for the elder brother, a +worship as natural as pagan adoration of the sun. From the sanguine +fore-time to the dead present lay a bridge of darkness. With honor +within grasp, deliberately he had sought dishonor, little recking +of shame and murder, and childishly husbanding green, red and blue +pebbles! + +Weighing the stones in his hand now, Ernest Saint-Prosper looked at +them long and bitterly. For these the honor and pride of an old family +had been sold. For these he himself had endured the reflected +disgrace; isolation from comradeship; distrust which had blighted his +military career at the outset. How different had been the reality from +his expectations; the buoyant hopes of youth; the fond anticipation of +glory, succeeded by stigma and stain! And, as the miserable, +perplexing panorama of these later years pictured itself in his brain +he threw, with a sudden gesture, the gems far from him, over the wall, +out toward the valley! + +Like dancing beams of color, they flashed a moment in mid air; then +mingled their hues with the rainbow tints of a falling stream. Lost to +sight, they sank in the crystal waters which leaped with a caressing +murmur toward the table-land; only the tiny spectrum, vivid reminder +of their color, still waved and wavered from rock to rock above a +pellucid pool. + +"I beg your pardon, Colonel," said a voice at his elbow, breaking in +upon his reflections; "are you wounded?" + +With drawn features, the officer turned. + +"No; I am not wounded." + +"The general directs you to take this message to the commanding +general," continued the little aide. "I believe I may congratulate +you, sir, for you will have the honor of bearing the news of the +victory." He handed Saint-Prosper a sealed message. "It's been a +glorious day, sir, but"--gazing carelessly around him--"has cost many +a brave life!" + +"Yes, many a life!" answered the other, placing the message in his +breast and steadfastly regarding for the last time the figure beneath +the gun. + +"We ought to be in the City of Mexico in a day or two, sir," resumed +the aide. "Won't it be jolly though, after forced marches and all that +sort of thing! Fandangos; tambourines; cymbals! And the pulque! What +creatures of the moment we are, sir!" he added, with sudden +thoughtfulness. "'Twill be, after all, like dancing over the graves of +our dear comrades!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A FAIR PENITENT + + +The reception to General Zachary Taylor, on his return from Mexico, +and the inauguration of the carnival combined to the observance of a +dual festival day in the Crescent City. Up the river, past the rice +fields, disturbing the ducks and pelicans, ploughed the noisy craft +bearing "Old Rough and Ready" to the open port of the merry-making +town. When near the barracks, the welcoming cannon boomed, and the +affrighted darkies on the remote plantations shook with dire +forebodings of a Mexican invasion. + +The boat rounded at the Place d'Armes, where, beneath a triumphal arch, +General Taylor received the crown and chaplet of the people--popular +applause--and a salvo of eloquence from the mayor. With flying colors +and nourish of trumpets, a procession of civic and military bodies was +then formed, the parade finally halting at the St. Charles, where the +fatted calf had been killed and the succulent ox roasted. Sounding a +retreat, the veteran commander fell back upon a private parlor to +recuperate his forces in anticipation of the forthcoming banquet. + +From this stronghold, where, however, not all of the enemy--his +friends--could be excluded, there escaped an officer, with: "I'll look +around town a little, General." + +"Look around!" said the commander at the door. "I should think we had +looked around! Well, don't fall foul of too many juleps." + +With a laughing response, the young man pushed his way through the +jostling crowd near the door, traversed the animated corridor, and +soon found himself out on the busy street. Amid the variegated colors +and motley throng, he walked, not, however, in King Carnival's gay +domains, but in a city of recollections. The tavern he had just left +was associated with an unforgotten presence; the stores, the windows, +the thoroughfares themselves were fraught with retrospective +suggestion of the strollers. + +Even now--and he came to an abrupt standstill--he was staring at the +bill-board of the theater where she had played, the familiar entrance +bedecked with bunting and festival inscriptions. Before its classic +portals appeared the black-letter announcement of an act by +"Impecunious Jordan, Ethiopian artist, followed by a Tableau of +General Scott's Capture of the City of Mexico." Mechanically he +stepped within and approached the box office. From the little +cupboard, a strange face looked forth; even the ticket vender of old +had been swallowed up by the irony of fate, and, instead of the +well-remembered blond mustache of the erstwhile seller of seats, a +dark-bearded man, with sallow complexion, inquired: + +"How many?" + +"One," said Saint-Prosper, depositing a Mexican piece on the counter +before the cubby-hole. + +"We've taken in plenty of this kind of money to-day," remarked the +man, holding up the coin. "I reckon you come to town with old Zach?" + +"Yes." The soldier was about to turn away, when he changed his mind +and observed: "You used to give legitimate drama here." + +"That was some time ago," said the man in the box, reflectively. "The +soldiers like vaudeville. Ever hear Impecunious Jordan?" + +"I never did." + +"Then you've got a treat," continued the vender. "He's the best in his +line. Hope you'll enjoy it, sir," he concluded, with the courtesy +displayed toward one and all of "Old Rough and Ready's" men that day. +"It's the best seat left in the house. You come a little late, you +know." And as the other moved away: + +"How different they look before and after! They went to Mexico fresh +as daisies, and come back--those that do--dead beat, done up!" + +[Illustration] + +Passing through the door, Saint-Prosper was ushered to his seat in a +renovated auditorium; new curtain, re-decorated stalls, mirrors and +gilt in profusion; the old restfulness gone, replaced by glitter and +show. Amid changed conditions, the derangement of fixed external form +and outline, the sight of a broad face in the orchestra and the aspect +of a colossal form riveted his attention. This person was neither +stouter nor thinner than before; he perspired neither more nor less; +he was neither older nor younger--seemingly; he played on his +instrument neither better nor worse. Youth might fade, honors take +wing, the face of nature change, but Hans, Gargantuan Hans, appeared +but a figure in an eternal present! Gazing at that substantial +landmark, the soldier was carried back in thought over the long period +of separation to a forest idyl; a face in the firelight; the song of +the katydid; the drumming of the woodpecker. Dreams; vain dreams! They +had assailed him before, but seldom so sharply as now in a place +consecrated to the past. + + "Look out for the dandies, + Girls, beware; + Look out for their blandishments, + Dears, take care! + For they're always ready--remember this!-- + To pilfer from maids an unwilling kiss. + Oh, me! Oh, my! There! There!" (_Imaginary slaps._) + +sang and gesticulated a lady in abbreviated skirts and low-cut dress, +winking and blinking in ironical shyness, and concluding with a +flaunting of her gown, a toe pointed ceilingward, and a lively +"breakdown." Then she vanished with a hop, skip and a bow, reappeared +with a ravishing smile and threw a generous assortment of kisses among +the audience, and disappeared with another hop, skip and a bow, as +Impecunious Jordan burst upon the spectators from the opposite side of +the stage. + +Even the sight of Hans, a finger-post pointing to ways long since +traversed, could not reconcile the soldier to his surroundings; the +humor of the burnt-cork artist seemed inappropriate to the place; his +grotesque dancing inadmissible in that atmosphere once consecrated to +the comedy of manners and the stately march of the classic drama. +Where Hamlet had moralized, a loutish clown now beguiled the time with +some tom-foolery, his wit so broad, his quips were cannon-balls, and +his audience, for the most part soldiers from Mexico, open-mouthed +swallowed the entire bombardment. But Saint-Prosper, finding the +performance dull, finally rose and went out, not waiting for the +thrilling Tableaux of the Entrance into the City of Mexico of a +hundred American troops (impersonated by young ladies in tropical +attire) and the submission of Santa Anna's forces (more young ladies) +by sinking gracefully to their bended knees. + +Fun and frolic were now in full swing on the thoroughfares; +Democritus, the rollicker, had commanded his subjects to drive dull +care away and they obeyed the jovial lord of laughter. Animal spirits +ran high; mischief beguiled the time; mummery romped and rioted. +Marshaled by disorder, armed with drollery and divers-hued banners, +they marched to the Castle of Chaos, where the wise are fools, the old +are young and topsy-turvy is the order of the day. + +As Saint-Prosper stood watching the versicolored concourse swarm by, a +sudden rush of bystanders to view Faith on a golden pedestal, looking +more like Coquetry, propelled a dainty figure against the soldier. +Involuntarily he put out his arm which girded a slender waist; Faith +drove simpering by; the crowd melted like a receding wave, and the +lady extricated herself, breathless as one of the maids in Lorenzo de +Medici's Songs of the Carnival. + +"How awkward!" she murmured. "How--" + +The sentence remained unfinished and an exclamation, "Mr. Saint-Prosper!" +punctuated a gleam of recognition. + +"Miss Duran!" he exclaimed, equally surprised, for he had thought the +strollers scattered to the four winds. + +"Mrs. Service, if you please!" Demurely; at the same time extending +her hand with a faint flush. "Yes; I am really and truly married! But +it is so long since we met, I believe I--literally flew to your +arms!" + +"That was before you recognized me," he returned, in the same tone. + +Susan laughed. "But how do you happen to be here? I thought you were +dead. No; only wounded? How fortunate! Of course you came with the +others. I should hardly know you. I declare you're as thin as a lath +and gaunt as a ghost. You look older, too. Remorse, I suppose, for +killing so many poor Mexicans!" + +"And you"--surveying her face, which had the freshness of morn--"look +younger!" + +"Of course!" Adjusting some fancied disorder of hair or bonnet. +"Marriage is a fountain of youth for"--with a sigh--"old maids. Susan +Duran, spinster! Horrible! Do you blame me?" + +"For getting married? Not at all. Who is the fortunate man?" asked +Saint-Prosper. + +"A minister; an orthodox minister; a most orthodox minister!" + +"No?" His countenance expressed his sense of the incongruity of the +union. Susan one of the elect; the meek and lowly yokemate of--"How +did it happen?" he said. + +"In a perverse moment, I--went to church," answered Susan. "There, I +met him--I mean, I saw him--no, I mean, I heard him! It was enough. +All the women were in love with him. How could I help it?" + +"He must have been very persuasive." + +"Persuasive! He scolded us every minute. Dress and the devil! +I"--casting down her eyes--"interested him from the first. He--he +married me to reform me." + +"Ah," commented the soldier, gazing doubtfully upon Susan's smart +gown, which, with elaborate art, followed the contours of her figure. + +"But, of course, one must keep up appearances, you know," she +continued. "What's the use of being a minister's wife if you aren't +popular with the congregation? At least," she added, "with part of +them!" And Susan tapped the pavement with a well-shod boot and showed +her white teeth. "If you weren't popular, you couldn't fill the +seats--I mean pews," she added, evasively. "But you must come and see +me--us, I should say." + +"Unfortunately, I am leaving to-morrow." + +"To-morrow!" repeated Susan, reflectively. The pupils of her eyes +contracted, something they did whenever she was thinking deeply, and +her gaze passed quickly over his face, striving to read his impassive +features. "So soon? When the carnival is on! That is too bad, to stay +only one day, and not call on any of your old friends! Constance, I am +sure, would be delighted to see you." + +Many women would have looked away under the circumstances, but Susan's +eyes were innocently fixed upon his. Half the pleasure of the +assurance was in the accompanying glance and the friendly smile that +went with it. + +But a quiet question, "Miss Carew is living here?" was all the +satisfaction she received. + +"Yes. Have you not heard? She has a lovely home and an embarrassment +of riches. Sweet embarrassment! Health and wealth! What more could one +ask? Although I forgot, she was taken ill shortly after you left." + +"Ill," he said, starting. + +"Quite! But soon recovered!" And Susan launched into a narration of +the events that had taken place while he was in Mexico, to which he +listened with the composure of a man who, having had his share of the +vagaries of fate, is not to be taken aback by new surprises, however +singular or tragic. Susan expected an expression of regret--by look or +word--over the loss of the marquis' fortune, but either he simulated +indifference or passed the matter by with philosophical fortitude. + +"Poor Barnes!" was his sole comment. + +"Yes; it was very lonely for Constance at first," rattled on Susan. +"But I fancy she will find a woman's solace for that ailment," she +added meaningly. + +"Marriage?" he asked soberly. + +"Well, the engagement is not yet announced," said Susan, hesitatingly. +"But you know how things get around? And the count has been so +attentive! You remember him surely--the Count de Propriac? But I must +be off. I have an appointment with my husband and am already half an +hour late." + +"Don't let me detain you longer, then, I beg." + +"Oh, I don't mind. He's so delightfully jealous when I fail to appear +on the stroke of the clock! Always imagines I am in some misch--but I +mustn't tell tales out of school! So glad to have met you! Come and +see me--do!" + +And Susan with friendly hand-clasp and lingering look, tore herself +away, the carnival lightness in her feet and the carnival laughter in +her eyes. + +"He is in love with her still," she thought, "or he wouldn't have +acted so indifferent!" Her mind reverted to a cold little message she +had received from Constance. "And to think he was innocent after all!" +she continued, mentally reviewing the contents of the letter in which +Constance had related the conversation with the lawyer. "I don't +believe he'll call on her now, though, after--Well, why shouldn't I +have told him what every one is talking about? Why not, indeed?" + +A toss of the head dismissed the matter and any doubts pertaining +thereto, while her thoughts flew from past to present, as a fortress +on a car, its occupants armed with pellets of festival conflict, drove +by amid peals of laughter. Absorbed in this scene of merriment, Susan +forgot her haste, and kept her apostolic half waiting at the +rendezvous with the patience of a Jacob tarrying for a Rachel. But +when she did finally appear, with hat not perfectly poised, her hair +in a pretty disarray, she looked so waywardly charming, he forgave her +on the spot, and the lamb led the stern shepherd with a crook from +Eve's apple tree. + +"As thin as a lath and gaunt as a ghost!" repeated Saint-Prosper, as +the fair penitent vanished in a whirl of gaiety. "Susan always was +frank." + +Smiling somewhat bitterly, he paused long enough to light a cigar, but +it went out in his fingers as he strolled mechanically toward the +wharves, through the gardens of a familiar square, where the wheezing +of the distant steamers and the echoes of the cathedral clock marked +the hours of pleasure or pain to-day as it had tolled them off +yesterday. Beyond the pale of the orange trees with their golden +wealth, the drays were rumbling in the streets and there were the same +signs of busy traffic--for the carnival had not yet become a legal +holiday--that he had observed when the strollers had reached the city +and made their way to the St. Charles. He saw her anew, pale and +thoughtful, leaning on the rail of the steamer looking toward the +city, where events, undreamed of, were to follow thick and fast. He +saw her, a slender figure, earnest, self-possessed, enter the city +gates, unheralded, unknown. He saw her as he had known her in the +wilderness--not as fancy might now depict her, the daughter of a +marquis--a strolling player, and as such he loved best to think of +her. + +Arising out of his physical weakness and the period of inaction +following the treaty of peace, he experienced a sudden homesickness +for his native land; a desire to re-visit familiar scenes, to breathe +the sweet air of the country, where his boyhood had been passed, to +listen to the thunder of the boulevards, to watch the endless, +sad-joyful processions. + +Not far distant from the blossoming, redolent square was the office of +the Trans-Atlantic Steamship Company, where a clerk, with a spray of +jessamine in his coat, bent cordially toward Saint-Prosper as the +latter entered, and, approaching the desk, inquired: + +"The Dauphin is advertised to sail to-morrow for France?" + +"Yes, sir; at twelve o'clock noon." + +"Book me for a berth. Ernest Saint-Prosper," he added, in answer to +the other's questioning look. + +"Very good, sir. Would you like some labels for your baggage? Where +shall we send for it? The St. Charles? Very well, sir. Are you going +to the tableaux to-night?" he continued, with hospitable interest in +one whom he rightly conceived a stranger in the city. "They say it +will be the fashionable event. Good-day." As the prospective passenger +paid for and received his ticket. "A pleasant voyage! The Dauphin is a +new ship and should cross in three weeks--barring bad weather! Don't +forget the tableaux. Everybody will be there." + +The soldier did not reply; his heart had given a sudden throb at the +clerk's last words. Automatically he placed his ticket in his +pocket, and randomly answered the employee's further inquiries for +instructions. He was not thinking of the Dauphin or her new engines, +the forerunner of the modern quadruple-expansion arrangement, but +through his brain rang the assurance: "Everybody will be there." And +all the way up the street, it repeated itself again and again. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +"COMUS' MISTICK WITCHERIES" + + +That elusive, nocturnal company, "The Mistick Krewe of Comus," had +appeared--"Comus, deep skilled in all his mother's witcheries"--and +the dwellers in Phantasmagoria were joyfully numerous. More +plentiful than at a modern spectacular performance, reveled gods, +demons and fairies, while the children resembled a flight of +masquerading butterflies. The ball at the theater, the Roman +Veglioni, succeeded elaborate tableaux, the "Tartarus," of the +ancients, and "Paradise Lost," of Milton, in which the "Krewe" +impersonated Pluto and Proserpine, the fates, harpies and other +characters of the representation. In gallery, dress-circle and +parquet, the theater was crowded, the spectacle, one of dazzling +toilets, many of them from the ateliers of the Parisian modistes; a +wonderful evolution of Proserpine's toga and the mortal robes of the +immortal Fates. Picture followed picture: The expulsion from +Paradise; the conference of the Gorgons, and the court of pandemonium, +where gluttony, drunkenness, avarice and vanity were skilfully set +forth in uncompromising colors. + +Availing themselves of the open-house of the unknown "Krewe," a +composite host that vanished on the stroke of twelve, many of "Old +Rough and Ready's" retinue mingled with the gathering, their uniforms, +well-worn, even shabby, unlike the spick and span regimentals from the +_costumier_. With bronzed faces and the indubitable air of campaigns +endured, they were the objects of lively interest to the fair maskers, +nor were themselves indifferent to the complaisance of their +entertainers. Hands, burned by the sun, looked blacker that night, +against the white gowns of waists they clasped; bearded faces more +grim visaged in contrast with delicate complexions; embroidery and +brocade whirled around with faded uniforms; and dancing aigrettes +waved above frayed epaulets and shoulder straps. + +"Loog at 'im!" murmured a _fille à la cassette_, regarding one of +these officers who, however, held aloof from the festivities; a +well-built young man, but thin and worn, as though he, like his +uniform, had seen service. "If he would only carry my trunk!" she +laughed, relapsing into French and alluding to the small chest she +bore under her arm. + +"Or my little white lamb!" gaily added her companion, a shepherdess. + +And they tripped by with sidelong looks and obvious challenge which +the quarry of these sprightly huntresses of men either chose to +disregard or was unconscious of, as he deliberately surveyed his +surroundings with more curiosity than pleasure and absently listened +to a mountebank from "The Belle's Strategem." + +"Who'll buy my nostrums?" cried the buffoon. + +"What are they?" asked Folly, cantering near on a hobby horse. + +"Different kinds for different people. Here's a powder for ladies--to +dispel the rage for intrigue. Here's a pill for politicians--to settle +bad consciences. Here's an eye-water for jealous husbands--it thickens +the visual membrane. Here's something for the clergy--it eliminates +windy discourses. Here's an infusion for creditors--it creates +resignation and teaches patience." + +"And what have you for lovers?" + +"Nothing," answered the clown; "love like fever and ague must run its +course. Nostrums! Who'll buy my nostrums?" + +"Oh, I'm so glad I came!" enthusiastically exclaimed a tall, supple +girl, laden with a mass of flowers. + +"Isn't it too bad, though, you can't polka with some of the military +gentlemen?" returned her companion who wore a toga and carried a +lantern. "Mademoiselle Castiglione wouldn't let you come, until I +promised not to allow you out of my sight." + +"It was lovely of you to take me," she said, "and I don't mind about +the military gentlemen." + +"My dear, if all women were like you, we poor civilians would not be +relegated to the background! I wish, though, I had worn some other +costume. This--ahem, dress!--has a tendency to get between my legs and +disconcert my philosophical dignity. I can understand why Diogenes +didn't care about walking abroad. My only wonder is that everybody +didn't stay in his tub in those days. Don't talk to me about the +'noble Roman!' Why, he wore skirts!" + +"And Monsieur Intaglio lectured to us for an hour to-day about the +wonderful drapery of the ancients!" laughed the girl. "The poetry of +dress, he called it!" + +"Then I prefer prose. Hello!"--pausing and raising his lantern, as +they drew near the officer who had fallen under the observation of the +_fille à la cassette_. "Colonel Saint-Prosper, or set me down for an +ass--or Plato, which is the same thing!" + +"Straws!" said the soldier, as the bard frankly lifted his mask and +tilted it back over his forehead. + +"Glad to see you!" continued the poet, extending his hand. "I haven't +run across you before since the night of the banquet; the début of +Barnes' company you remember? You must have left town shortly +afterward. Returned this morning, of course! By the way, there's one +of your old friends here to-night." + +Saint-Prosper felt the color mount to his face, and even Straws noted +the change. "Who is that?" asked the soldier, awkwardly. + +"Mrs. Service--Miss Duran that was--now one of our most dashing--I +should say, charitable, ladies. Plenty of men at Service's church now. +She's dressed in Watteau-fashion to-night, so if you see any one +skipping around, looking as though she had just stepped from the +Embarkation for the Island of Venus, set her down for the minister's +pretty wife!" + +"And the minister?" asked Saint-Prosper, mechanically. + +"He brought her; he compromised on a Roundhead costume, himself! But +we must be off. _Au revoir_; don't be backward; the ladies are all +military-mad. It may be a field of arms"--casting his glance over the +assemblage of fashionably dressed ladies, with a quizzical smile--"but +not hostile arms! Come, Celestina--Nydia, I mean!" + +And Straws' arm stole about the waist of his companion, as Saint-Prosper +watched them disappearing in the throng of dancers. It was Celestina's +first ball, and after her long training at the Castiglione institute, she +danced divinely. Evidently, too, she was reconciled to the warden's +edict, denying her the freedom of the ball-room, for she showed no +disposition to escape from Straws' watchful care. On the contrary, +though her glance wandered to the wonders around her, they quickly +returned to the philosopher with the lamp, as though she courted the +restraint to which she was subjected. Something like a pang shot +through the soldier's breast as he followed the pair with his gaze; he +seemed looking backward into a world of youth and pleasure, passed beyond +recall. + +"It is useless to deny it! I knew you when I first saw you!" exclaimed +a familiar voice near by, and turning around sharply, the officer +observed approaching a masked lady, graceful of figure and lacking +nothing in the numerical strength of her escort. It was to her that +these words were addressed by an agile man of medium stature who had +apparently penetrated her disguise. The lady, who would have +attracted attention anywhere by her bearing, wore a pardessus of +white gauze, fitting close and bordered with a silver band; the +sleeves, short; the skirt of white gauze and very ample, as the +fashion of the day required; the feet shod in small white silk +"_bottines_"; the hair in bands, ornamented with wild poppies. +Altogether this costume was described by Phazma as "ravishing, the +gown adorning the lady, and the lady the gown, her graces set forth +against the sheen of voluminous satin folds, like those of some +portrait by Sir Joshua or Gainsborough." + +"How could you expect any one not to know you?" continued the speaker, +as this little coterie drew near, their masks a pretext for mystery. +"You may impersonate, but you can not deceive." + +"That is a poor compliment, since you take me for an actress," laughed +the lady. An hilarious outburst from an ill-assorted cluster of +maskers behind them drowned his reply, and the lady and her attendants +passed on. + +Saint-Prosper drew his breath sharply. "She is here, after all," he +said to himself. + +"A nostrum for jilted beaux!" called out a mountebank, seeing him +standing there, preoccupied, alone, at the same time tendering a pill +as large as a plum. A punchinello jarred against him with: "Pardonnez_ +moi, pardie!_" On the perfumed air the music swelled rapturously; a +waltz, warm with the national life of Vienna; the swan song of Lanner! +Softly, sweetly, breathed "Die Schönbrunner;" faster whirled the +moving forms. Eyes flashed more brightly; little feet seemed born for +dancing; cheeks, pale at midday, were flushed with excitement! Why +doesn't he dance, wondered the lady with the white lamb. Carnival +comes but once a year; a mad, merry time; when gaiety should sweep all +cares out of doors! + + "Said Strephon to Chloe: 'For a kiss, + I'll give thee the choice of my flock.' + Said Chloe to Strephon: 'What bliss, + If you'll add to the gift a new smock,'" + +hummed the lively nymph, as she tripped by. + + "Said Chloe to Strephon: 'For a kiss, + I'll return thee the choice of your flock. + Said Strephon to Chloe: 'What bliss, + With it I'll buy Phyllis a new frock,'" + +she concluded, throwing a glance over her shoulder. + +A sudden distaste for the festal ferment, the laughter and merriment; +a desire to escape from the very exuberance of high spirits and cheer +led the soldier to make his way slowly from the ball-room to the +balcony, where, although not removed from the echoes of liveliness +within, he looked out upon the quietude of the night. Overhead +stretched the sky, a measureless ocean, with here and there a silvery +star like the light on a distant ship; an unfathomable sea of ether +that beat down upon him. Radiant and serene, in the boundless calm of +the heavens, the splendent lanterns seemed suspended on stationary +craft peacefully rocked at anchor. Longings, suppressed through months +of absence, once more found full sway; Susan's words were recalled by +the presence of the count. + +Suddenly the song of "Die Schönbrunner" ceased within, and, as its +pulsations became hushed, many of the dancers, an elate, buoyant +throng, sought the balcony. Standing in the shadow near the entrance, +aroused from a train of reflections by this abrupt exodus, the soldier +saw among the other merry-makers, Constance and the count, who passed +through the door, so near he could almost have touched her. + +"Here she is," said the count, as they approached an elderly lady, +seated near the edge of the balcony. "Ah, Madam," he continued to the +latter, "if you would only use your good offices in my behalf! Miss +Carew is cruelty itself." + +"Why, what has she done?" asked the good gentlewoman. + +"Insisted upon deserting the ball-room!" + +"In my day," said the elderly ally of the nobleman, "you could not +drag the young ladies from cotillion or minuet. And the men would stay +till the dawn to toast them!" + +"And I've no doubt, Madam, your name was often on their lips," +returned the count gallantly, who evidently believed in the Spanish +proverb: "Woo the duenna, not the maid; then in love the game's well +played!" + +The ally in his cause made some laughing response which the soldier +did not hear. Himself unseen, Saint-Prosper bent his eyes upon the +figure of the young girl, shadowy but obvious in the reflected light +of the bright constellations. Even as he gazed, her hand removed the +mask, revealing the face he knew so well. In the silence below, the +fountain tinkled ever so loudly, as she stood, half-turned toward the +garden, a silken head-covering around her shoulders; the head outlined +without adornment, save the poppies in her hair. + +Her presence recalled scenes of other days: the drive from the races, +when her eyes had beamed so softly beneath the starry luster. Did she +remember? He dared not hope so; he did not. To him, it brought, also, +harsher memories; yet his mind was filled most with her beauty, which +appeared to gloss over all else and hold him, a not impassive +spectator, to the place where she was standing. She seemed again +Juliet--the Juliet of inns and school-house stages--the Juliet he had +known before she had come to New Orleans, whose genius had transformed +the barren stage into a garden of her own creation. + +And yet something made her different; an indefinable new quality +appeared to rest upon her. He felt his heart beating faster; he was +glad he had come; for the moment he forgot his jealousy in watching +her, as with new wealth of perfume, the languid breeze stirred the +tresses above her pallid, immovable features. But the expression of +confidence with which the count was regarding her, although ostensibly +devoting himself to her companion, renewed his inquietude. + +Had she allowed herself to be drawn into a promised alliance with that +titled roué? Involuntarily the soldier's face grew hard and stern; the +count's tactics were so apparent--flattering attention to the elderly +gentlewoman and a devoted, but reserved, bearing toward the young girl +in which he would rely upon patience and perseverance for the +consummation of his wishes. But certainly Constance did not exhibit +marked preference for his society; on the contrary, she had hardly +spoken to him since they had left the ball-room. Now clasping the iron +railing of the balcony, she leaned farther out; the flowers of the +vine, clambering up one of the supports, swayed gently around her, and +she started at the moist caress on her bare arm. + +"It is cold here," she said, drawing back. + +"Allow me--your wrap!" exclaimed the count, springing to her side with +great solicitude. + +But she adjusted the garment without his assistance. + +"You must be careful of your health--for the sake of your friends!" +Accompanying the words with a significant glance. + +"The count is right!" interposed the elderly gentlewoman. "As he +usually is!" she added, laughing. + +"Oh, Madam!" he said, bowing. "Miss Carew does not agree with you, I +am sure?" Turning to the girl. + +"I haven't given the matter any thought," she replied, coldly. She +shivered slightly, nervously, and looked around. + +At that moment the lights were turned on in the garden--another +surprise arranged by the Mistick Krewe!--illuminating trees and +shrubbery, and casting a sudden glare upon the balcony. + +"Bravo!" said the count. "It's like a _fête-champêtre_! And hear the +mandolins! Tra-la-la-la-la! Why, what is it?" + +She had given a sudden cry and stood staring toward the right at the +back of the balcony. Within, the orchestra once more began to play, +and, as the strains of music were wafted to them, a host of +masqueraders started toward the ball-room. When the inflow of +merry-makers had ceased, bewildered, trembling, she looked with +blanched face toward the spot where the soldier had been standing, but +he was gone. + +At that moment the cathedral clock began to strike--twelve times it +sounded, and, at the last stroke, the Mistick Krewe, one by one began +to disappear, vanishing as mysteriously as they had come. Pluto, +Proserpine, the Fates, fairies and harpies; Satan, Beelzebub; the +dwellers in pandemonium; the aids to appetite--all took their quick +departure, leaving the musicians and the guests of the evening, +including the visiting military, to their own pleasures and devices. +The first carnival had come to a close. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CONSTANCE AND THE SOLDIER + + +"Are you the clerk?" A well-modulated voice; a silvery crown of hair +leaning over the counter of the St. Charles; blue eyes, lighted with +unobtrusive inquiry. + +The small, quiet-looking man addressed glanced up. "No," he said; "I +am the proprietor. This"--waving his hand to a resplendent-appearing +person--"is the clerk." + +Whereupon the be-diamonded individual indicated (about whom an entire +chapter has been written by an observing English traveler!) came +forward leisurely; a Brummell in attire; an Aristarchus for taste! +Since his period--or reign--there have been many imitators; but he was +the first; indeed, created the office, and is deserving of a permanent +place in American annals. "His formality just bordered on stiffness," +wrote the interested Briton, as though he were studying some new +example of the human species; "his conversation was elegant, but +pointed, as he was gifted with a cultured economy of language. He +accomplished by inflection what many people can only attain through +volubility." + +"Yes?" he interrogatively remarked, gazing down at the caller in the +present instance. + +"Is Colonel Saint-Prosper stopping here?" + +"Yes." + +"Send this card to his room." + +"Yes?" Doubtfully. + +"Is there any reason why you shouldn't?" + +"There was a military banquet last night," interposed the quiet, +little man. "Patriotism bubbled over until morning." + +"Ah, yes," commented Culver--for it was he--"fought their battles over +again! Some of them in the hospital to-day! Well, well, they suffered +in a glorious cause, toasting the president, and the army, and the +flag, and the girls they left behind them! I read the account of it in +the papers this morning. Grand speech of the bishop; glorious response +of 'Old Rough and Ready'! You are right to protect sleeping heroes, +but I'm afraid I must run the guard, as my business is urgent." + +A few moments later the lawyer, breathing heavily, followed a colored +lad down a crimson-carpeted corridor, pausing before a door upon which +his guide knocked vigorously and then vanished. + +"Colonel Saint-Prosper?" said the lawyer, as he obeyed the voice +within and entered the room, where a tall young man in civilian attire +was engaged in packing a small trunk. "One moment, pray--let me catch +my breath. That lad accomplished the ascent two steps at a time, and, +I fear, the spectacle stimulated me to unusual expedition. We're apt +to forget we are old and can't keep up with boys and monkeys!" + +During this somewhat playful introduction the attorney was studying +the occupant of the room with keen, bright gaze; a glance which, without +being offensive, was sufficiently penetrating and comprehensive to +convey a definite impression of the other's face and figure. The +soldier returned his visitor's look deliberately, but with no surprise. + +"Won't you sit down?" he said. + +Culver availed himself of the invitation. "I am not disturbing you? I +have long known of you, although this is our first meeting." + +"You have then the advantage of me," returned Saint-Prosper, "for +I--" + +"You never heard of me?" laughed the lawyer. "Exactly! We attorneys +are always getting our fingers in every one's affairs! I am acquainted +with you, as it were, from the cradle to the--present!" + +"I am unexpectedly honored!" remarked the listener, satirically. + +"First, I knew you through the Marquis de Ligne." + +Saint-Prosper started and regarded his visitor more closely. + +"I was the humble instrument of making a fortune for you; it was also +my lot to draw up the papers depriving you of the same!" Culver +laughed amiably. "'Oft expectation fails, where most it promises.' +Pardon my levity! There were two wills; the first, in your favor; the +last, in his daughter's. I presume"--with a sudden, sharp look--"you +have no intention of contesting the final disposition? The paternity +of the child is established beyond doubt." + +Artful Culver was not by any means so sure in his own mind that, if +the other were disposed to make trouble, the legal proofs of +Constance's identity would be so easily forthcoming. Barnes was dead; +her mother had passed away many years before; the child had been born +in London--where?--the marquis' rationality, just before his demise, +was a debatable question. In fact, since he had learned Saint-Prosper +was in the city, the attorney's mind had been soaring among a cloud of +vague possibilities, and now, regarding his companion with a most +kindly, ingratiating smile, he added: + +"Besides, when the marquis took you as a child into his household, +there were, I understood, no legal papers drawn!" + +"I don't see what your visit portends," said Saint-Prosper, "unless +there is some other matter?" + +"Just so," returned Culver, his doubts vanishing. "There was a small +matter--a slight commission. Miss Carew requested me to hand you this +message." The visitor now detected a marked change in the soldier's +imperturbable bearing, as the latter took the envelope which the +attorney offered him. "The young lady saw you at the Mistick Krewe +ball last night, and, recognizing an old friend,"--with a slight +accent--"pressed me into her service. And now, having completed my +errand, I will wish you good-morning!" And the lawyer briskly +departed. + +The young man's hand trembled as he tore open the envelope, but he +surveyed the contents of the brief message with tolerable firmness. + + "COLONEL SAINT-PROSPER: Will you kindly call this morning to see + me? + + CONSTANCE CAREW." + +That was all; nothing more, save the address and the date! How long he +remained staring at it with mingled feelings he never knew, but +finally with a start, looked at his watch, thoughtfully regarded the +half-filled trunk, donned his coat and left the room. Several +fellow-officers, the first of the sluggards to appear, spoke to him as +he crossed the hall below, but what they said or what he replied he +could not afterward remember. Some one detained him at the steps, a +gentleman with a longing for juleps, but finally he found himself in a +carriage, driving somewhere, presumably to the address given in the +letter. How long the drive seemed, and yet when the carriage finally +stopped and he had paid his fare, he mentally determined it had been +too short! The driver gazed in surprise after the gentleman, who did +not wait for his change, but, forbearing injudicious comment, gathered +up the reins and drove to the nearest _café_. + +From the carriage the house was some distance, and yet it appeared +very near the gate to the soldier, who dimly realized he was passing +through a garden where were many flowering plants and where the air +was unusually heavy with perfume. Many other details, the construction +of the house, the size of the verandas, passed without attracting his +notice. Soon, however, he was seated in a great room, an apartment of +old-fashioned height and breadth. He felt his heart beating fast. How +long did he sit there? No inconsiderable period, surely. He examined +everything carefully, without carrying a definite impression of +anything to his mind. The large, carved mirror; the quaint decoration +of walls and frieze; the soft colors of the rug that covered the +floor; the hundred and one odd little things in the cabinet near the +chair where he was seated, trifles in ivory, old silver and china; the +pictures, a Van Dyke, Claude, and a few modern masters. After this +interminable, but confused scrutiny of inanimate things, his heart +beat faster still, as a tall figure, robed in white, entered the +room! + +He rose; they regarded each other with mutual constraint; her face had +a bit of color, like the tinge of a rose-leaf; her eyes seemed +agitated beneath the sweeping lashes, a sentiment in ill accord with +the stateliness of her presence. She gave him her hand; he held it he +knew not how long; probably, for the conventional moment. They found +themselves, each in a chair; at ease, yet not at ease; he studying her +face, furtively, yet eagerly; she turning in her fancy the first +strong impression of how gaunt and haggard were his features, bearing +the traces of recent illness! + +"I am glad you came," she began, their eyes meeting once more. + +He bowed. "Mr. Culver brought me your message." + +"I heard that you--it was reported you were dead." + +"I was wounded; that was all, and soon took to the field again." + +The suspense that fell between them was oppressive. + +"You should have let your friends--know," she said at length. + +He looked at her curiously, vivid memories of their last interview +recurring to him. Indecisively she interlaced her fingers, and he, +watching them, wondered why she had sent for him. Suddenly she rose, +walked to the window, and stood, looking out. He, sitting in the dim +light, in a maze of uncertainty, was vaguely conscious of her figure +outlined against the brightness without; of the waving, yellow flowers +of the vines on the veranda. + +"It is long since we have met," he said, awkwardly. + +She did not answer. Had she heard? Yet he did not resent her silence. +If he had ever felt anger for her it had all vanished now. He was only +conscious of regarding her more attentively, as she still remained, +gazing out into the sunlit garden. + +"Much has happened since I saw you," he continued. + +She turned; her eyes were moist; her hand trembled a little against +her dress, but she held her head proudly, as she had always done, and +it was the aspect of this weakness set against strength that appealed +swiftly to him, softening his heart so that he longed to spring to her +side. + +"Yes, much!" she replied. + +Was her voice tremulous, or was it but the thrill of his own heart +which made it seem so? + +"You have been here long?" she asked, still holding back what was on +her mind or blindly endeavoring to approach the subject. + +"Only since yesterday." + +"And you remain some time?" + +"I am leaving to-day--for France." + +At that a touch of color left her face, or was it that a darkening +shadow fell upon the house and garden, momentarily chastening the +outlook? + +"For France?" she repeated. + +Her lips quivered. Something seemed to still the beating of his +heart. + +"Constance--what is it?" he half-whispered. + +She stepped forward suddenly, her hands outstretched. + +"I wronged you!" she cried. "I wronged you. I thought the disgrace was +yours. Oh, do not speak!" she added, passionately. "I have suffered +for it--and now, would you mind--please--leaving me?" + +"You thought the disgrace was mine!" he repeated, slowly. "Not my"--he +broke off abruptly. "And you suffered--for it?" he said, wonderingly. +"Then you--" He arose quickly and approached her, a new expression +transfiguring his bronzed and worn young face. + +Swiftly he sought her glance; her eyes gave irrefutable answer. +Unresistingly, she abandoned herself to his arms, and he felt her +bosom rise and fall with conflicting emotions. Closely he held her, in +the surprise and surpassing pleasure of the moment; then, bending, he +kissed her lips. A wave of color flooded her face, though her eyes +still sought his. But even as he regarded her, the clear, open look +gradually changed, replaced by one of half-perplexity, half-reproach. + +"That night you went away--why did you not defend yourself?" she +asked, finally. + +"I never imagined--any mistake. Besides, what had I to offer? Your +future was bright; your name, on every one's lips!" + +"Did you think you were responsible for another's sins?" + +His dark features clouded. + +"I suppose I had become accustomed to cold looks. In Africa, by some +of my comrades who had an inkling of the story! No matter what I did, +I was his brother! And the bitterest part was that I loved him; loved +him from my boyhood! He was the handsomest, most joyous fellow! Even +when he died in my arms in Mexico my heart could not absolutely turn +from him." + +[Illustration] + +She opened her lips as if to speak, but the shadow on his face kept +her silent. + +"I was weak enough to keep the story from you in the first place--a +foolish reticence, for these matters follow a man to the ends of the +world." + +"Oh," she said, "to think it was I who made you feel this!" + +He took her hand; his grasp hurt her fingers; yet she did not shrink. + +"You showed me a new world," he answered, quickly. "Not the world I +expected to find--where life would hold little of joy or zest--but a +magical world; a beautiful world; yours!" + +She half-hung her head. "But then--then--" + +"It became a memory; bitter-sweet; yet more sweet than bitter!" + +"And now?" + +He did not answer immediately. + +The figure of the count, as he had seen him the night before, had +abruptly entered his mind. Did she understand? She smiled. + +"And now?" + +At her question he dismissed all thought of jealousy. Looking into her +clear, half-laughing eyes, he read of no entangling alliances; without +words from her, he understood. + +"Shall we go into the garden?" she said, and, opening the window, they +stepped out upon the veranda. + +In the sky a single large cloud stretched itself in a dreamy torpor, +too sluggish, apparently to move, while a brood of little clouds +nestled and slept around it. From the window, the count's ally watched +them, among the plants and vines, pausing now and then; their interest +more in themselves than in the liveliest hues or forms that nature +offered. He stood still, regarding his shadow on the path seriously. + +"Nearly noon by the soldier's dial!" he said. + +She pushed back the hair the wind had blown about her brow. + +"My boat sails in an hour," he continued. + +"But--you are not--going--now?" + +"If I stay, it must be--" + +"Forever!" she said. "Forever!" + + * * * * * + +"Have you heard the news?" said Susan to the count. + +"Secular?" drawled the erstwhile emissary. He was in ill-humor, having +called three times on Constance, who had been excused on all these +occasions. + +"Not necessarily," replied she, with the old familiar toss of the +head. "Saint-Prosper has come back, and he's going to marry +Constance!" + +"Eh? What? I don't be--Who told you?" demanded the count, sharply. + +"Well, you needn't take my head off! She did, if you want to know." + +"Miss Carew?" + +"Herself!" + +The nobleman lolled back in his chair, a dark look on his face. Here +were fine hopes gone a-glimmering! + +"_Pardie!_ the creditors will have to wait awhile," he thought. "And +I--I have been a dunce, dancing attendance all these days! I had hoped +to marry wealth and beauty. What did I come over here for? The demned +country's barren of everything!" + +"Isn't it delightful they should meet after such a long time?" rattled +on Susan, gaily. "So romantic! And then they were exactly suited for +each other. Dear me,"--enthusiastically--"I have taken such an +interest in them, I almost feel as if I had brought it all about." + +THE END + + + + +A LIST OF RECENT FICTION OF THE BOWEN-MERRILL COMPANY + + + + +AN INTERESTING STORY OF FAMILY LIFE. + +THE FIGHTING BISHOP + +By HERBERT M. HOPKINS + +"The Fighting Bishop" is drawn with firm, bold strokes and with a +sufficiently scholarly atmosphere to make the picture life like. There is +wisdom too, in the attitude of the author toward his characters; and the +entire atmosphere of the book is of fine quality. The general accuracy and +vividness of the portraiture are likely to impress everyone. * * * It +contains passages and characterizations that some readers will find it +difficult to forget.--The Hartford Courant. + +The bishop's musical son, Stephen's, obstinate vanity, his irritable +nervous nature, his impatience of advice and his wonderful confidence in +his own genius are admirably brought out in the course of the narrative +and the chapter containing his letters to his brother is one of the best +in the book. It shows his character humorously and without exaggeration, +and this is typical of the whole story. The author sees his personages +with a human sympathetic eye.--New York Sun. + +12 mo. Cloth, ornamental, $1.50 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis. + + + + +"NOTHING BUT PRAISE" + +LAZARRE + +By MARY HARTWELL CATHERWOOD + +Glorified by a beautiful love story.--Chicago Tribune. + +We feel quite justified in predicting a wide-spread and prolonged +popularity for this latest comer into the ranks of historical +fiction.--The N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. + +After all the material for the story had been collected a year was +required for the writing of it. It is an historical romance of the better +sort, with stirring situations, good bits of character drawing and a +satisfactory knowledge of the tone and atmosphere of the period +involved.--N. Y. Herald. + +Lazarre, is no less a person than the Dauphin, Louis XVII. of France, and +a right royal hero he makes. A prince who, for the sake of his lady, +scorns perils in two hemispheres, facing the wrath of kings in Europe and +the bullets of savages in America; who at the last spurns a kingdom that +he may wed her freely--here is one to redeem the sins of even those who +"never learn and never forget."--Philadelphia. North American. + +With six Illustrations by André Castaigne + +12 mo. Price, $1.50. + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +A VIVACIOUS ROMANCE OF REVOLUTIONARY DAYS + +ALICE of OLD VINCENNES + +By MAURICE THOMPSON + +The Atlanta Constitution says: + +"Mr. Thompson, whose delightful writings in prose and verse have made his +reputation national, has achieved his master stroke of genius in this +historical novel of revolutionary days in the West." + +The Denver Daily News says: + +"There are three great chapters of fiction: Scott's tournament on Ashby +field, General Wallace's chariot race, and now Maurice Thompson's duel +scene and the raising of Alice's flag over old Fort Vincennes." + +The Chicago Times-Herald says: + +"More original than 'Richard Carvel,' more cohesive than 'To Have and To +Hold,' more vital than 'Janice Meredith,' such is Maurice Thompson's +superb American romance, 'Alice of Old Vincennes.' It is, in addition, +more artistic and spontaneous than any of its rivals." + +VIRGINIA HARNED EDITION + +12mo., with six illustrations drawn by F. C. Yohn and a frontispiece in +color by Howard Chandler Christy + +Price, $1.50 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +A STORY BY THE "MARCH KING" + +THE FIFTH STRING + +By JOHN PHILIP SOUSA + +The "March King" has written much in a musical way, but "The Fifth +String" is his first published story. In the choice of his subject, as +the title indicates, Mr. Sousa has remained faithful to his art; and the +great public, that has learned to love him for the marches he has made, +will be as delighted with his pen as with his baton. + +"The Fifth String" has a strong and clearly defined plot which shows in +its treatment the author's artistically sensitive temperament and his +tremendous dramatic power. It is a story of a marvelous violin, of a +wonderful love and of a strange temptation. + +A cover, especially designed, and six full-page illustrations by Howard +Chandler Christy, serve to give the distinguishing decorative +embellishments that this first book by Mr. Sousa so richly deserves. + +With Pictures by Howard Chandler Christy + +12 mo. Price, $1.25 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +"A NOVEL THAT'S WORTH WHILE" + +THE REDEMPTION OF DAVID CORSON + +By CHARLES FREDERIC GOSS + +A Mid-century American Novel of Intense Power and Interest + +The Interior says: + +"This is a book that is worth while. Though it tells of weakness and +wickedness, of love and license, of revenge and remorse in an intensely +interesting way, yet it is above all else a clean and pure story. No one +can read it and honestly ask 'what's the use.'" + +Newell Dwight Hillis, Pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, says; + +"'The Redemption of David Corson' strikes a strong, healthy, buoyant +note." + +Dr. F. W. Gunsaulus, President Armour Institute, says: + +"Mr. Goss writes with the truthfulness of light. He has told a story in +which the fact of sin is illuminated with the utmost truthfulness and the +fact of redemption is portrayed with extraordinary power. There are lines +of greatness in the book which I shall never forget." + +President M. W. Stryker, Hamilton College, says: + +"It is a victory in writing for one whose head seems at last to have +matched his big human heart. There is ten times as much of reality in it +as there is in 'David Harum,' which does not value lightly that admirable +charcoal sketch." + +Price, $1.50 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +"THE MERRIEST NOVEL OF MANY, MANY MOONS." + +MY LADY PEGGY GOES TO TOWN + +By FRANCES AYMAR MATHEWS + +The Daintiest and Most Delightful Book of the Season. + +A heroine almost too charming to be true is Peggy, and it were a churlish +reader who is not, at the end of the first chapter, prostrate before her +red slippers.--Washington Post. + +To make a comparison would be to rank "My Lady Peggy" with "Monsieur +Beaucaire" in points of attraction, and to applaud as heartily as that +delicate romance, this picture of the days "When patches nestled o'er +sweet lips at chocolate times."--N. Y. Mail and Express. + +12 mo. Beautifully illustrated and bound. + +Price, $1.25 net + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +"AS CRISP AND CLEAN CUT AS A NEW MINTAGE." + +THE PUPPET CROWN + +BY HAROLD MacGRATH + +A princess rarely beautiful; a duchess magnificent and heartless; a +villain revengeful and courageous; a hero youthful, humorous, fearless and +truly American;--such are the principal characters of this delightful +story.--Syracuse Post-Standard. + +Harold MacGrath has attained the highest point achievable in recent +fiction. We have the climax of romance and adventure in "The Puppet +Crown."--The Philadelphia North American. + +Superior to most of the great successes.--St. Paul Pioneer Press. + +"The Puppet Crown" is a profusion of cleverness.--Baltimore American. + +Challenges comparison with authors whose names have +become immortal--Chicago American. + +Latest entry in the list of winners.--Cleveland World. + +With illustrations by R. Martine Reay + +12mo. Price, $1.50. + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +"AN ADMIRABLE SOCIAL STUDY" + +THE FALL OF THE CURTAIN + +By HAROLD BEGBIE + +The purpose of this brilliant story of modern English life is to show that +a human being, well brought-up, carefully trained in the outward +observances of religion, with a keen intellectual perception of the +difference between right and wrong, may still not have goodness, and that +ambition may easily become the dominating force in such a character. So +the book may be called a purpose novel, but in reading it, one no more +thinks of applying so discredited an epithet to it than one would think of +applying it to "Vanity Fair." + +The author possesses an admirable style, clear, unaffected, strong. To the +discriminating public, the book is certain to give far more pleasure than +that public usually gets from a new novel. + +With a Frontispiece by C. Allan Gilbert + +Cloth, 12 mo. Ornamental, $1.25 Net. + +Postage, 12 Cents + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +FULL OF INCIDENT, ACTION & COLOR + +LIKE ANOTHER HELEN + +By GEORGE HORTON + +Mr. Horton's powerful romance stands in a new field and brings an almost +unknown world in reality before the reader--the world of conflict between +Greek and Turk. + +The island of Crete seems real and genuine after reading this book; not a +mere spot on the map. The tragic and pathetic troubles of this people are +told with sympathetic force. + +Mr. Horton employs a vivid style that keeps the interest alive and many +passages are filled with delicate poetic feeling. + +Things happen and the story moves. The characters are well conceived and +are human and convincing. Beyond question Mr. Horton's fine story is +destined to take high rank among the books of the day. + +With illustrations by C. M. Relyea + +12mo, Cloth bound + +Price, $1.50 + +The Chicago Times-Herald says: + +"Here are chapters that are Stephen Crane plus sympathy; chapters of +illuminated description fragrant with the atmosphere of art." + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +"A CHRONICLE OF MARVELS" + +THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON + +By H. G. WELLS + +Author of "The War of the Worlds" and "Tales of Time and Space." + +Mr. Wells writes to entertain and in this tale of the invention of +"cavorite," and the subsequent remarkable journey made to the moon by +its inventor, he has succeeded beyond measure in alternately astounding, +convincing and delighting his readers. Told in a straightforward way, with +an air of ingenuousness that disarms doubt, the story chronicles most +marvelous discoveries and adventures on the mysterious planet. Mr. +Hering's many illustrations are admirable. Altogether the book is one of +the most original and entertaining volumes that has appeared in many a +day. + +Profusely Illustrated by E. Hering + +12mo., cloth, $1.50 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +"AN INDIANA LOVE STORY" + +ROSALYNDE'S LOVERS + +By MAURICE THOMPSON + +Author of "Alice of Old Vincennes" + +As Mr. Thompson avers, this is "only a love story," but it is a story of +such sweetness and wholesome life that it will at once claim a permanent +home in our affections. The love of nature, so prominent a characteristic +of Mr. Thompson, is reflected throughout and the thunderstorm and +following gleam of sun, the country garden and southern lake are each in +turn invested with a personality that wins our instant sympathy. Rosalynde +Banderet is winsome and artless, her lovers are human and manly, and her +final happiness is ours. Mr. Peirson's many pictures are entirely worthy. + +With many Illustrations and Decorations by G. Alden Peirson + +Ornamental 12mo. Cloth Bound, $1.50 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL HISTORICAL NOVEL + +THE BLACK WOLF'S BREED + +By HARRIS DICKSON + +From the Boston Globe: + +"A vigorous tale of France in the old and new world during the reign of +Louis XIV." + +From the Philadelphia Press: + +"As delightfully seductive as certain mint-flavored beverages they make +down South." + +From the Los Angeles Herald: + +"The sword-play is great, even finer than the pictures in 'To Have and To +Hold.'" + +From the San Francisco Chronicle: + +"As fine a piece of sustained adventure as has appeared in recent +fiction." + +From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat: + +"There is action, vivid description and intensely dramatic situations." + +From the Indianapolis News: + +"So full of tender love-making, of gallant fighting, that one regrets +it's no longer." + +Illustrated by C. M. Relyea. Price $1.50 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +"IN LONDON OF LONG AGO" + +THE FICKLE WHEEL + +By HENRY THEW STEPHENSON + +In this tale of merry England, of the time when Shakespeare jested and Ben +Johnson blustered, Mr. Stephenson has painted for us a picture informing +and above all entertaining. His is not a story of counts and crowns, but +of the ever interesting common people. Without seeming to do so the author +shows us many interesting bits of the life of the day. We go to Paul's +walk, we see Shakespeare play at the Globe theatre and other such glimpses +of old time London are deftly added to our experiences. Throughout the +book is an evanescent charm, a spirit of wholesome gaiety. It is well +worth while. + +With illustrations by C. M. Relyea + +Cloth, Ornamental, 12 mo. Price, $1.50 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +A FINE STORY OF THE COWBOY AT HIS BEST + +WITH HOOPS of STEEL + +By FLORENCE FINCH KELLY + +"The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy +soul with hoops of steel" + +From the San Francisco Chronicle: + +"Western men and women will read it because it paints faithfully the life +which they know so well, and because it gives us three big, manly fellows, +fine types of the cowboy at his best. Eastern readers will be attracted by +its splendid realism." + +From Julian Hawthorne: + +"For my own part, I finished it all in one day, and dreamt it over again +that night. And I am an old hand, heaven knows." + +From the Denver Times: + +"Mrs. Kelly's characters stand out from the background of the New Mexican +plains, desert and mountain with all the distinctness of a Remington +sketch." + +With six illustrations, in color, by Dan Smith + +Price, $1.50 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +"DIFFICULT TO FORGET" + +A FEARSOME RIDDLE + +By MAX EHRMAN + +This mystery story, based on the theory of the arithmetical rhythm of +time, contains much of the same fascination that attaches to the tales of +Poe. Simply told, yet dramatic and powerful in its unique conception, it +has a convincing ring that is most impressive. The reader can not evade a +haunting conviction that this wonderful experiment must in reality have +taken place. Delightful to read, difficult to forget, the book must evoke +a wide discussion. + +With Pictures by Virginia Keep + +12 mo. Cloth, $1.00 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +A NOVEL OF EARLY NEW YORK + +PATROON VAN VOLKENBERG + +By HENRY THEW STEPHENSON + +From the New York Press: + +"Many will compare 'Patroon Van Volkenberg,' with its dash, style and +virility, with 'Richard Carvel,' and in that respect they will be right, +as one would compare the strong, sturdy and spreading elm with a slender +sapling." + +The action of this stirring story begins when New York was a little city +of less than 5,000 inhabitants. + +The Governor has forbidden the port to the free traders or pirate ships, +which sailed boldly under their own flag; while the Patroon and his +merchant colleagues not only traded openly with the buccaneers, but owned +and managed such illicit craft. The story of the clash of these +conflicting interests and the resulting exciting happenings is absorbing. + +The atmosphere of the tale is fresh in fiction, the plot is stirring and +well knit, and the author is possessed of the ability to write forceful, +fragrant English. + +From the Brooklyn Standard-Union: + +"The tale is one of vibrant quality. It can not be read at a leisurely +pace. It bears the reader through piratical seas and buccaneering +adventures, through storm and stress of many sorts, but it lands him +safely, and leads him to peace." + +12mo, Illustrated in color by C. M. Relyea + +Price, $1.50 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +A STORY OF THE MORGAN RAID, DURING THE WAR OF THE REBELLION + +THE LEGIONARIES + +By HENRY SCOTT CLARK + +The Memphis Commercial-Appeal says: + +"The backbone of the story is Morgan's great raid--one of the most +romantic and reckless pieces of adventure ever attempted in the history of +the world. Mr. Clark's description of the Ride of the Three Thousand is a +piece of literature that deserves to live; and is as fine in its way as +the chariot race from 'Ben Hur.'" + +The Cincinnati Commercial-Tribune says: + +"'The Legionaries' is pervaded with what seems to be the true spirit of +artistic impartiality. The author is simply a narrator. He stands aside, +regarding with equal eye all the issues involved and the scales dip not in +his hands. To sum up, the first romance of the new day on the Ohio is an +eminently readable one--a good yarn well spun." + +The Rochester Herald says: + +"The appearance of a new novel in the West marks an epoch in fiction +relating to the war between the sections for the preservation of the +Union. 'The Legionaries' is a remarkable book, and we can scarcely credit +the assurance that it is the work of a new writer." + +12mo, illustrated, Price, $1.50 + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +A STORY TOLD BY A REAL STORYTELLER + +A SON OF AUSTERITY + +By GEORGE KNIGHT + +Mr. Knight has created a real atmosphere for his men and women to breathe, +and his men and women take deep breaths. They are alive, they are human, +they are real. + +He has a delightful story to tell and knows how to tell it. It is a story +of human life, of possible people in possible situations, living out their +little span of life in that state in which it has pleased God to call +them. + +The reader realizes at once that Mr. Knight is a man who served his seven +years of apprenticeship before opening a shop on his own account. + +The deftness and charm of his literary style, combined with the absorbing +interest of the story, can not but prove a delight to every reader. + +With a frontispiece by Harrison Fisher + +12mo, Cloth. Price, $1.50 + +The Liverpool Mercury says: + +"This is a book far removed from the ordinary mass of featureless +fiction. There is no gainsaying the strength of characterization and the +command of English language." + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + +VIGOROUS, ELEMENTAL, DRAMATIC + +A HEART OF FLAME + +The story of a Master Passion + +BY CHARLES FLEMING EMBREE + +Author of "A Dream of a Throne." + +The men and women in this story are children of the soil. Their strength +is in their nearness to nature. Their minds are vigorous, their bodies +powerful, their passions elemental, their courage sublime. They are loyal +in friendship, persistent in enmity, determined in purpose. + +The story is a story of great wrongs and of supreme love. It is done in +black and white, with few strokes, but they are masterly. The shadows at +the back are somber but the value of contrast is appreciated for the vivid +high light in the foreground. + +It is a work of art--powerful, convincing and abiding. Powerful, because +true to life; convincing, for it has the saving touch of humor; and +abiding because love, like "A Heart of Flame," prevails in the end. + +With illustrations by Dan Smith + +12mo. cloth. Price, $1.50. + +The Bowen-Merrill Company, Indianapolis + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Strollers, by Frederic S. 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