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diff --git a/5172-h/5172-h.htm b/5172-h/5172-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed90352 --- /dev/null +++ b/5172-h/5172-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7516 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Aladdin O'Brien, by Gouverneur Morris + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Aladdin O'Brien, by Gouverneur Morris + +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: Aladdin O'Brien + +Author: Gouverneur Morris + +Release Date: April 13, 2009 [EBook #5172] +Last Updated: November 16, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALADDIN O'BRIEN *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + ALADDIN O’BRIEN + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + BY GOUVERNEUR MORRIS + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>ALADDIN O’BRIEN</b></big> </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>BOOK I</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> XIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> XV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> XVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> XVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> XVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> <b>BOOK II</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> XIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> XX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> XXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> XXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> XXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> XXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> XXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> XXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> XXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> XXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> XXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> <b>BOOK III</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> XXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> XXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> XXXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> XXXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> XXXIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> XXXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> XXXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> XXXVII </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + BOOK I + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “It was many and many a year ago, + In a kingdom by the sea, + That a maiden there lived whom you may know + By the name of Annabel Lee. + And this maiden she lived with no other thought + Than to love and be loved by me. + I was a child and she was a child”— +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ALADDIN O’BRIEN + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I + </h2> + <p> + It was on the way home from Sunday-school that Aladdin had enticed + Margaret to the forbidden river. She was not sure that he knew how to row, + for he was prone to exaggerate his prowess at this and that, and she went + because of the fine defiance of it, and because Aladdin exercised an + irresistible fascination. He it was who could whistle the most engagingly + through his front teeth; and he it was, when sad dogs of boys of the world + were met behind the barn, who could blow the smoke of the fragrant + grapevine through his nose, and swallow the same without alarm to himself + or to his admirers. To be with him was in itself a soulful wickedness, a + delicious and elevating lesson in corruption. But to be with him when he + had done wrong, and was sorry for it (as always when found out), that was + enough to give one visions of freckled angels, and the sweetness of + Paradise in May. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin brought the skiff into the float, stern first, with a bump. Pride + sat high upon his freckled brow, and he whistled piercing notes. + </p> + <p> + “I can do it,” he said. “Now get in.” + </p> + <p> + Margaret embarked very gingerly and smoothed her dress carefully, before + and after sitting down. It was a white and starchy dress of price, with + little blue ribbons at the throat and wrists—such a dress as the + little girl of a very poor papa will find laid out on the gilt and brocade + chair beside her bed if she goes to sleep and wakes up in heaven. + </p> + <p> + “Only a little way, ‘Laddin, please.” + </p> + <p> + The boy made half a dozen circular, jabbing strokes, and the skiff + zigzagged out from the float. It was a fine blue day, cool as a cucumber, + and across the river from the deserted shipyards, where, upon lofty + beamings, stood all sorts of ships in all stages of composition, the + frequent beeches and maples showed pink and red and yellow against the + evergreen pines. + </p> + <p> + “It’s easy ‘nough,” said Aladdin. And Margaret agreed in her mind, for it + is the splash of deeds rather than the skill or power which impresses a + lady. The little lady sat primly in the stern, her mitted paws folded; her + eyes, innocent and immense, fastened admiringly upon the rowing boy. + </p> + <p> + “Only ‘bout’s far’s the cat-boat, ‘Laddin, please,” she said. “I oughtn’t + to of come ‘t all.” + </p> + <p> + Somehow the cat-boat, anchored fifty yards out and straining back from her + moorings, would not allow herself to be approached. For although Aladdin + maintained a proper direction (at times), the ocean tide, setting rigidly + in and overbearing the current of the river, was beginning to carry the + skiff to some haven where she would not be. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin saw this and tried to go back, catching many crabs in the + earnestness of his endeavor. Then the little girl, without being told, + perceived that matters were not entirely in the hands of man, and began to + look wistfully from Aladdin to the shore. After a while he stopped + grinning, and then rowing. + </p> + <p> + “Can’t you get back, ‘Laddin?” said the little girl. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said the boy, “I can’t.” He was all angel now, for he was being + visited for wrong. + </p> + <p> + The little girl’s lips trembled and got white. + </p> + <p> + “I’m awful sorry, Margaret.” + </p> + <p> + “What’ll we do, ‘Laddin?” + </p> + <p> + “Just sit still, ‘n’ whatever happens I’ll take care of you, Margaret.” + </p> + <p> + They were passing the shipyards with a steady sweep, but the offices were + closed, the men at home, and no one saw the distressed expedition. The + last yard of all was conspicuous by a three-master, finished, painted, + sparred, ready for the fragrant bottle to be cracked on her nose, and the + long shivering slide into the river. Then came a fine square, chimneyed + house with sherry-glass-shaped elm-trees about it. The boy shouted to a + man contorted under a load of wood. The man looked up and grinned + vacantly, for he was not even half-witted. And they were swept on. + Presently woods drew between them and the last traces of habitation,—gorgeous + woods with intense splashes of color, standing upon clean rocks that + emphatically divided the water from the land,—and they scurried into + a region as untroubled by man as was Eden on the first morning. The little + boy was not afraid, but so sorry and ashamed that he could have cried. The + little girl, however, was even deeper down the throat of remorse, for she + had sinned three times on Sunday,—first, she had spoken to the + “inventor’s boy”; second, she had not “come straight home”; third, she had + been seduced into a forbidden boat,—and there was no balm in Gilead; + nor any forgiveness forever. She pictured her grand, dark father standing + like a biblical allegory of “Hell and Damnation” within the somber + leathern cube of his books, the fiercely white, whalebone cane upon which + he and old brother gout leaned, and the vast gloomy centers at the bases + of which glowed his savage eyes. She thought of the rolling bitter voice + with which she had once heard him stiffen the backs of his constituents, + and she was sore afraid. She did not remember how much he loved her, or + the impotence of his principles where she was concerned. And she did not + recollect, for she had not been old enough to know, that the great bitter + voice, with its heavy, telling sarcasm, had been lifted for humanity—for + more humanity upon earth. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, ‘Laddin,” she said suddenly, “I daren’t go home now.” + </p> + <p> + “Maybe we can get her in farther up,” said Aladdin, “and go home through + the woods. That’ll be something, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + Margaret shuddered. She thought of the thin aunt who gave her lessons upon + the pianoforte—one of the elect, that aunt, who had never done + wrong, and whom any halo would fit; who gave her to understand that the + Almighty would raise Cain with any little girl who did not practise an + hour every day, and pray Him, night and morning, to help her keep off the + black notes when the white notes were intended. First there would be a + reckoning with papa, then one with Aunt Marion, last with Almighty God, + and afterward, horribile dictu, pitchforks for little Margaret, and a + vivid incandescent state to be maintained through eternity at vast cost of + pit-coal to a gentleman who carried over his arm, so as not to step on it, + a long snaky tail with a point like a harpoon’s. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, Aladdin made sundry attempts to get the boat ashore, and failed + signally. The current was as saucy as strong. Now it swept them into the + very shade of the trees, and as hope rose hot in the boy’s heart and he + began to stab the water with the oars, sent them skipping for the + midriver. Occasionally a fish jumped to show how easy it was, and high + overhead an eagle passed statelily in the wake of a cloud. After the eagle + came a V of geese flying south, moving through the treacherous currents + and whirlpools of the upper air as steadily and directly as a train upon + its track. It seemed as if nature had conspired with her children to + demonstrate to Margaret and Aladdin the facility of precise locomotion. + The narrow deeps of the river ended where the shore rolled into a high + knob of trees; above this it spread over the lower land into a great, + shallow, swiftly currented lake, having in its midst a long turtlebacked + island of dense woods and abrupt shores. Two currents met off the knob and + formed in the direction of the island a long curve of spitting white. + Aladdin rowed with great fervor. + </p> + <p> + “Do it if you can, ‘Laddin,” said the little girl. + </p> + <p> + It seemed for one moment as if success were about to crown the boy’s + effort, for he brought the boat to an exciting nearness to the shore; but + that was all. The current said: “No, Aladdin, that is not just the place + to land; come with me, and bring the boat and the young lady.” And Aladdin + at once went with the current. + </p> + <p> + “Margaret,” he said, “I done my best.” He crossed his heart. + </p> + <p> + “I know you done your best, ‘Laddin.” Margaret’s cheeks were on the brink + of tears. “I know you done it.” + </p> + <p> + They were dancing sportively farther and farther from the shore. The water + broke, now and again, and slapped the boat playfully. + </p> + <p> + “We ‘ve come ‘most three miles,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “I daren’t go back if I could now,” said Margaret. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Aladdin scanned the horizon far and wide to see if he could see + anything of Antheus, tossed by the winds, or the Phrygian triremes, or + Capys, or the ships having upon their lofty poops the arms of Caicus. + There was no help in sight. Far and wide was the bubbling ruffled river, + behind the mainland, and ahead the leafy island. + </p> + <p> + “What’ll your father do, ‘Laddin?” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin merely grinned, less by way of explaining what his father would do + than of expressing to Margaret this: “Have courage; I am still with you.” + </p> + <p> + “‘Laddin, we’re not going so fast.” + </p> + <p> + They had run into nominally still water, and the skiff was losing + momentum. + </p> + <p> + “Maybe we’d better land on the island,” said Aladdin, “if we can, and wait + till the tide turns; won’t be long now.” + </p> + <p> + Again he plied the oars, and this time with success. For after a little + they came into the shadow of the island, the keel grunted upon sand, and + they got out. There was a little crescent of white beach, with an + occasional exclamatory green reed sticking from it, and above was a fine + arch of birch and pine. They hauled up the boat as far as they could, and + sat down to wait for the tide to turn. Firm earth, in spite of her awful + spiritual forebodings, put Margaret in a more cheerful mood. Furthermore, + the woods and the general mystery of islands were as inviting as Punch. + </p> + <p> + “It’s not much fun watching the tide come in,” she said after a time. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin got up. + </p> + <p> + “Let’s go away,” he said, “and come back. It never comes in if you watch + for it to.” + </p> + <p> + Margaret arose, and they went into the woods. + </p> + <p> + A devil’s darning-needle came and buzzed for an instant on the bow of the + skiff. A belated sandpiper flew into the cove, peeped, and flew out. + </p> + <p> + The tide rose a little and said: + </p> + <p> + “What is this heavy thing upon my back?” + </p> + <p> + Then it rose a little more. + </p> + <p> + “Why, it’s poor little sister boat stuck in the mud,” said the tide. + </p> + <p> + From far off came joyful crackling of twigs and the sounds of children at + play. + </p> + <p> + The tide rose a little more and freed an end of the boat. + </p> + <p> + “That’s better,” said the boat, “ever so much better. I can almost float.” + </p> + <p> + Again the tide raised its broad shoulders a hair’s-breadth. + </p> + <p> + “Great!” said the boat. “Once more, Old Party!” + </p> + <p> + When the children came back, they found that poor little sister boat was + gone, and in her stead all of their forgotten troubles had returned and + were waiting for them, and looking them in the face. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II + </h2> + <p> + It is absurdly difficult to get help in this world. If a lady puts her + head out of a window and yells “Police,” she is considered funny, or if a + man from the very bottom of his soul calls for help, he is commonly + supposed to be drunk. Thus if, cast away upon an island, you should wave + your handkerchief to people passing in a boat, they would imagine that you + wanted to be friendly, and wave back; or, if they were New York aldermen + out for a day’s fishing in the Sound, call you names. And so it was with + Margaret and Aladdin. With shrill piping voices they called tearfully to a + party sailing up the river from church, waved and waved, were answered in + kind, and tasted the bitterest cup possible to the Crusoed. + </p> + <p> + Then after much wandering in search of the boat it got to be hunger-time, + and two small stomachs calling lustily for food did not add to the + felicity of the situation. + </p> + <p> + With hunger-time came dusk, and afterward darkness, blacker than the tall + hat of Margaret’s father. For at the last moment nature had thought better + of the fine weather which man had been enjoying for the past month, and + drawn a vast curtain of inkiness over the luminaries from one horizon even + unto the other, and sent a great puff of wet fog up the valley of the + river from the ocean, so that teeth chattered and the ends of fingers + became shriveled and bloodless. And had not vanity gone out with the + entrance of sin, Margaret would have noticed that her tight little curls + were looser and the once stately ostrich feather upon her Sunday hat, the + envy of little girls whom the green monster possessed, as flabby as a long + sermon. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the tide having turned, little sister boat made fine way of it + down the river, and, burrowing in the fog, holding her breath as it were, + and greatly assisted by the tide, slipped past the town unseen, and put + for open sea, where it is to be supposed she enjoyed herself hugely and, + finally, becoming a little skeleton of herself on unknown shores, was + gathered up by somebody who wanted a pretty fire with green lights in it. + The main point is that she went her selfish way undetected, so that the + wide-lanterned search which presently arose for little Margaret tumbled + and stumbled about clueless, and halted to take drinks, and came back + about morning and lay down all day, and said it never did, which it + certainly hadn’t. All the to-do was over Margaret, for Aladdin had not + been missed, and, even if he had, nobody would have looked for him. His + father was at home bending over the model of the wonderful lamp which was + to make his fortune, and over which he had been bending for fifteen + rolling years. It had come to him, at about the time that he fell in love + with Aladdin’s mother, that a certain worthless biproduct of something + would, if combined with something else and steeped in water, generate a + certain gas, which, though desperately explosive, would burn with a flame + as white as day. Over the perfection of this invention, with a brief + honeymoon for vacation, he had spent fifteen years, a small fortune,—till + he had nothing left,—the most of his health, and indeed everything + but his conviction that it was a beautiful invention and sure of success. + When Aladdin arrived, he was red and wrinkled, after the everlasting + fashion of the human babe, and had no name, so because of the wonderful + lamp they called him Aladdin. And that rendered his first school-days + wretched and had nothing to do with the rest of his life, after the + everlasting fashion of wonderful names. Aladdin’s mother went out of the + world in the very natural act of ushering his young brother into it, and + he remembered her as a thin person who was not strictly honorable (for, + having betrayed him with a kiss, she punished him for smoking) and had a + headache. So there was nobody to miss Aladdin or to waste the valuable + night in looking for him. + </p> + <p> + About this time Margaret began to cry and Aladdin to comfort her, and they + stumbled about in the woods trying to find—anything. After awhile + they happened into a grassy glade between two steep rocks, and there + agreeing to rest, scrunched into a depression of the rock on the right. + And Margaret, her nose very red, her hat at an angle, and her head on + Aladdin’s shoulder, sobbed herself to sleep. And then, because being + trusted is next to being God, and the most moving and gentlest condition + possible, Aladdin, for the first time, felt the full measure of his crime + in leading Margaret from the straight way home, and he pressed her close + to him and stroked her draggled hair with his cold little hands and cried. + Whenever she moved in sleep, his heart went out to her, and before the + night was old he loved her forever. + </p> + <p> + Sleep did not come to Aladdin, who had suddenly become a father and a + mother and a nurse and a brother and a lover and a man who must not be + afraid. His coat was wrapped about Margaret, and his arms were wrapped + about his coat, and the body of him shivered against the damp, cold shirt, + which would come open in front because there was a button gone. The fog + came in thicker and colder, and night with her strange noises moved slower + and slower. There was an old loon out on the river, who would suddenly + throw back his head and laugh for no reason at all. And once a great + strange bird went rushing past, squeaking like a mouse; and once two + bright eyes came, flashing out of the night and swung this way and that + like signal-lanterns and disappeared. Aladdin gave himself up for lost and + would have screamed if he had been alone. + </p> + <p> + Presently his throat began to tickle, then the base of his nose, then the + bridge thereof, and then he felt for a handkerchief and found none. For a + little while he maintained the proprieties by a gentle sniffling, finally + by one great agonized snuff. It seemed after that as if he were to be left + in peace. But no. His lips parted, his chin went up a little, his eyes + closed, the tickling gave place to a sudden imperative ultimatum, and, + when all was over, Margaret had waked. + </p> + <p> + They talked for a long time, for she could not go to sleep again, and + Aladdin told her many things and kept her from crying, but he did not tell + her about the awful bird or the more awful eyes. He told her about his + little brother, and the yellow cat they had, and about the great city + where he had once lived, and why he was called Aladdin. And when the real + began to grow dim, he told her stories out of strange books that he had + read, as he remembered them—first the story of Aladdin and then + others. + </p> + <p> + “Once,” began Aladdin, though his teeth were knocking together and his + arms aching and his nose running—“once there was a man named Ali + Baba, and he had forty thieves—” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III + </h2> + <p> + Even in the good north country, where the white breath of the melting + icebergs takes turn and turn with diamond nights and days, people did not + remember so thick a fog; nor was there a thicker recorded in any chapter + of tradition. Indeed, if the expression be endurable, so black was the + whiteness that it was difficult to know when morning came. There was a + fresher shiver in the cold, the sensibility that tree-tops were stirring, + a filmy distinction of objects near at hand, and the possibility that + somewhere ‘way back in the east the rosy fingers of dawn were spread upon + a clear horizon. Collisions between ships at sea were reported, and many a + good sailorman went down full fathom five to wait for the whistle of the + Great Boatswain. + </p> + <p> + The little children on the island roused themselves and groped about among + the chilled, dripping stems of the trees; they had no end in view, and no + place to go, but motion was necessary for the lame legs and arms. Margaret + had caught a frightful cold and Aladdin a worse, and they were hungrier + than should be allowed. Now a jarred tree rained water down their necks, + and now their faces went with a splash and sting into low-hanging plumes + of leaves; often there would be a slip and a scrambling fall. And by the + time Aladdin had done grimacing over a banged shin, Margaret would have a + bruised anklebone to cry about. The poor little soul was very tired and + penitent and cold and hurt and hungry, and she cried most of the time and + was not to be comforted. But Aladdin bit his lips and held his head up and + said it all would be well sometime. Perhaps, though he still had a little + courage left, Aladdin was the more to be pitied of the two: he was not + only desperately responsible for it all, but full of imagination and the + horrible things he had read. Margaret, like most women, suffered a little + from self-centration, and to her the trunk of a birch was just a nasty old + wet tree, but to Aladdin it was the clammy limb of one drowned, and drawn + from the waters to stand in eternal unrest. At length the stumbling + progress brought them to a shore of the island: a slippery ledge of rock, + past whose feet the water slipped hurriedly, steaming with fog as if it + had been hot, two big leaning birches, and a ruddy mink that slipped like + winking into a hole. The river, evident for only a few yards, became lost + in the fog, and where they were could only be guessed, and which way the + tide was setting could only be learned by experiment. Aladdin planted a + twig at the precise edge of the water, and they sat down to watch. + Stubbornly and unwillingly the water receded from the twig, and they knew + that the tide was running out. + </p> + <p> + “That’s the way home,” said Aladdin. Margaret looked wistfully + down-stream, her eyes as misty as the fog. + </p> + <p> + “If we had the boat we could go now,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + Then he sat moody, evolving enterprise, and neither spoke for a long time. + </p> + <p> + “Marg’ret,” said Aladdin, at length, “help me find a big log near the + water.” + </p> + <p> + “What you going to do, ‘Laddin?” + </p> + <p> + “You ‘ll see. Help look.” + </p> + <p> + They crept along the edge of the island, now among the close-growing trees + and now on the bare strip between them and the water, until at length they + came upon a big log, lying like some gnarled amphibian half in the river + and half on the dry land. + </p> + <p> + “Help push,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + They could move it only a little, not enough. + </p> + <p> + “Wait till I get a lever,” said Aladdin. He went, and came back with a + long, stiff little birch, that, growing recklessly in the thin soil over a + rock, had been willing to yield to the persuasion of a child and come up + by the roots. And then, Margaret pushing her best, and Aladdin prying and + grunting, the log was moved to within an ace of launching. Until now, for + she was too young to understand about daring and unselfishness, Margaret + had considered the log-launching as a game invented by Aladdin to while + away the dreary time; but now she realized, from the look in the pale, + set, freckly, almost comical face of the boy, that deeds more serious were + afoot, and when he said, “Somebody’ll pick me up, sure, Marg’ret, and help + me come back and get you,” she broke out crying afresh and said, “Don’t, + ‘Laddin! Doo-on’t, ‘Laddin!” + </p> + <p> + “Don’t cry, Marg’ret,” said Aladdin, with a gulp. “I’d do more’n that for + you, and I can swim a little, too—b-better’n I can row.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, ‘Laddin,” said Margaret, “it’s so cold in the water.” + </p> + <p> + “Shucks!” said Aladdin, whose teeth had been knocking all night. “She’s + the stanch little craft” (he had the phrase of a book) “Good Luck. I’m the + captain and you’re the builder’s daughter”—and so she was. “Chrissen + ‘er, Marg’et. Kiss her on the bow an’ say she’s the Good Luck.” + </p> + <p> + Then Margaret, her hat over one ear, and the draggled ostrich feather + greatly in the way, knelt, and putting her arms about the shoreward end of + the log, kissed it, and said in a drawn little voice + </p> + <p> + “The Good Luck.” + </p> + <p> + “And now, Margaret,” said Aladdin, “you must stay right here’ n’ not go + ‘way from the shore, so’s I can find you when I come back. But don’t just + sit still all the time,—keep moving, so’s not to get any colder,—‘n + I’ll come back for you sure.” + </p> + <p> + Then, because he felt his courage failing, he said, “Good-by, Marg’ret,” + and turning abruptly, waded in to his ankles and bent over the log to give + it that final impetus which was to set it adrift. In his heart were + several things: the desire to make good, fear of the river, and, poignant + and bitter, the feeling that Margaret did not understand. He was too young + to believe that death might really be near him (almost reckless enough not + to care if he had), but keenly aware that his undertaking was perilous + enough to warrant a more adequate farewell. So he bent bitterly over the + log and stiffened his back for the heave. It must be owned that Aladdin + wanted more of a scene. + </p> + <p> + “‘Laddin, I forgot something. Come back.” + </p> + <p> + He came, his white lips drawn into a sort of smile. Then they kissed each + other on the mouth with the loud, innocent kiss of little children, and + after that Aladdin felt that the river was only a river, the cold only + cold, the danger only danger and flowers—more than flowers. + </p> + <p> + He moved the log easily and waded with it into the icy waters, until his + feet were dragged from the bottom, and after one awful instant of total + submersion the stanch little ship Good Luck and valiant Captain + Kissed-by-Margaret were embarked on the voyage perilous. His left arm over + and about the log, his legs kicking lustily like the legs of a frog, his + right hand paddling desperately for stability, Aladdin disappeared into + the fog. After a few minutes he became so freezing cold that he would have + let go and drowned gladly if it had not been for the wonderful lamp which + had been lighted in his heart. + </p> + <p> + Margaret, when she saw him borne from her by the irresistible current, + cried out with all the illogic of her womanly little soul, “Come back, + ‘Laddin, come back!” and sank sobbing upon the empty shore. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + However imminent the peril of the man, it is the better part of chivalry + to remain by the distressed lady, and though impotent to be of assistance, + we must linger near Margaret, and watch her gradually rise from prone + sobbing to a sitting attitude of tears. For a long time she sat crying on + the empty shore, regarding for the most part black life and not at all the + signs of cheerful change which were becoming evident in the atmosphere + about her. The cold breath across her face and hands and needling through + her shivering body, the increasing sounds of treetops in commotion, the + recurring appearance of branches where before had been only an opaque + vault, did little to inform her that the fog was about to lift. The rising + wind merely made her the more miserable and alone. Nor was it until a disk + of gold smote suddenly on the rock before her that she looked up and + beheld a twinkle of blue sky. The fog puffed across the blue, the blue + looked down again,—a bigger eye than before,—a wisp of fog + filmed it again, and again it gleamed out, ever larger and always more + blue. The good wind living far to the south had heard that in a few days a + little girl was to be alone and comfortless upon a foggy island, and, + hearing, had filled his vast chest with warmth and sunshine, and puffed + out his merry cheeks and blown. The great breath sent the blue waves + thundering upon the coral beaches of Florida, tore across the forests of + palm and set them all waving hilariously, shook the merry orange-trees + till they rattled, whistled through the dismal swamps of Georgia, swept, + calling and shouting to itself, over the Carolinas, where clouds were + hatching in men’s minds, banked up the waters of the Chesapeake so that + there was a great high tide and the ducks were sent scudding to the decoys + of the nearest gunner, went roaring into the oaks and hickories of New + York, warmed the veins of New England fruit-trees, and finally coming to + the giant fog, rent it apart by handfuls as you pluck feathers from a + goose, and hurled it this way and that, until once more the sky and land + could look each other in the face. Then the great wind laughed and ceased. + For a long time Margaret looked down the cleared face of the river, but + there was no trace of Aladdin, and in life but one comfort: the sun was + hot and she was getting warm. + </p> + <p> + After a time, in the woods directly behind where she sat hoping and + fearing and trying to dry her tears, a gun sounded like an exclamation of + hope. Had Aladdin by any incredible circumstance returned so soon? Mindful + of his warning not to stray from where she was, Margaret stood up and + called in a shrill little voice + </p> + <p> + “Here I am! Here I am!” + </p> + <p> + Silence in the woods immediately behind where Margaret stood hoping and + fearing! + </p> + <p> + “Here I am!” she cried. And it had been piteous to hear, so small and + shrill was the voice. + </p> + <p> + Presently, though much farther off, sounded the merry yapping bark of a + little dog, and again, but this time like an echo of itself, the + exclamation of hope—hope deferred. + </p> + <p> + “Here I am! Here—I—am!” called Margaret. + </p> + <p> + Then there was a long silence—so long that it seemed as if nothing + in the world could have been so long. Margaret sat down gasping. The sun + rose higher, the river ran on, and hope flew away. And just as hope had + gone for good, the merry yapping of the dog broke out so near that + Margaret jumped, and bang went the gun—like a promise of salvation. + Instantly she was on her feet with her shrill, + </p> + <p> + “Here I am! Here I am!” + </p> + <p> + And this time came back a lusty young voice crying: + </p> + <p> + “I’m coming!” + </p> + <p> + And hard behind the voice leaves shook, and a boy came striding into the + sunlight. In one hand he trailed a gun, and at his heels trotted a waggish + spaniel of immense importance and infinitesimal size. In his other hand + the boy carried by the legs a splendid cock-grouse, ruffled and + hunger-compelling. The boy, perhaps two years older than Aladdin, was big + and strong for his age, and bore his shining head like a young wood-god. + </p> + <p> + Margaret ran to him, telling her story as she went, but so incoherently + that when she reached him she had to stop and begin over again. + </p> + <p> + “Then Senator St. John is your father?” said the boy at length. “You know, + he’s a great friend of my father’s. My father’s name is Peter Manners, and + he used to be a congressman for New York. Are you hungry?” + </p> + <p> + Margaret could only look it. + </p> + <p> + They sat down, and the boy took wonderful things out of his wonderful + pockets—sandwiches of egg and sandwiches of jam; and Margaret fell + to. + </p> + <p> + “I live in New York,” said the boy, “but I’m staying with my cousins up + the river. They told me there were partridges on this island, and I rowed + down to try and get some, but I missed two.” The boy blushed most + becomingly whenever he spoke, and his voice, and the way he said words, + were different from anything Margaret had ever heard. And she admired him + tremendously. And the boy, because she had spent a night on a desert + island, which he never had, admired her in turn. + </p> + <p> + “Maybe we’ll find ‘Laddin on the way,” said Margaret, cheerfully, and she + looked up with great eyes at her godlike young friend. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V + </h2> + <p> + Meanwhile to Aladdin and his log divers things had occurred, but the + wonderful lamp, burning low or high at the will of the river, had not gone + out. Sliding through the smoking fog at three miles an hour, kicking and + paddling, all had gone well for a while. Then, for he was more keen than + Margaret to note the fog’s promise to lift, at the very moment when the + shores began to appear and mark his course as favorable, at the very + moment when the sun struck one end of the log, an eddy of the current + struck the other, and sent the stanch little craft Good Luck and her + captain by a wide curve back up the river. The backward journey was slow + and tortuous, and twice when the Good Luck turned turtle, submerging + Aladdin, he gave himself up for lost; but amidships of the island, fairly + opposite to the spot where he had left Margaret, the log was again seized + by the right current, and the voyage recommenced. But the same eddy seized + them, and back they came, with only an arm stiffened by cold between + Aladdin and death. The third descent of the river, however, was more + propitious. The eddy, it is true, made a final snatch, but its fingers + were weakened and its murderous intentions thwarted. They passed by the + knob of trees at the narrowing of the river, and swept grandly toward the + town. Past the first shipyard they tore unnoticed, but at the second a + shouting arose, and a boat was slipped overboard and put after them. + Strong hands dragged Aladdin from the water, and, gulp after gulp, water + gushed from his mouth. Then they rowed him quickly to land, and the Good + Luck, having done her duty, went down the river alone. Years after, could + Aladdin have met with that log, he would have recognized it like the face + of a friend, and would have embraced and kissed it, painted it white to + stave off the decay of old age, and set it foremost among his Lares and + Penates. + </p> + <p> + For the present he was insensible. They put him naked into coarse, warm + horse-blankets, and laid him before the great fire in the blacksmith’s + shop across the road from the shipyard. And at the same time they sent one + flying with a horse and buggy to the house of Hannibal St. John, for + Aladdin had not passed into unconsciousness without partly completing his + mission. + </p> + <p> + “Margaret—is—up—at—” he said, and darkness came. + </p> + <p> + At the moment when Aladdin came to, the door of the smithy was darkened by + the tremendous figure of Hannibal St. John. Wrapped in his long black + cloak, fastened at the throat by three links of steel chain, his face + glowering and cavernous, the great man strode like a controlled storm + through the awed underlings and stopped rigid at Aladdin’s side. + </p> + <p> + “Can the boy speak?” he said. + </p> + <p> + To Aladdin, looking up, there was neither pity nor mercy apparent in the + senator’s face, and a great fear shook him. Would the wrath descend? + </p> + <p> + “Do you know where my daughter is?” + </p> + <p> + The great rolling voice nearly broke between the “my” and the “daughter,” + and the fear left Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “Mister St. John,” he said, “she’s up at one of the islands. We went in a + boat and couldn’t get back. If you’ll only get a boat and some one to row, + I can take you right to her.” Then Aladdin knew that he had not said all + there was to say. “Mister St. John,” said Aladdin, “I done it all.” + </p> + <p> + Men ran out of the smithy to prepare a boat. + </p> + <p> + “Who is this boy?” said St. John. + </p> + <p> + “It’s Aladdin O’Brien, the inventor’s boy,” said the smith. + </p> + <p> + “Are you strong enough to go with me, O’Brien?” said the senator. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir; I’ve got to go,” said Aladdin. “I said I’d come back for her.” + </p> + <p> + “Give him some whisky,” said St. John, in the voice of Jupiter saying + “Poison him,” “and wrap him up warm, and bring him along.” + </p> + <p> + They embarked. Aladdin, cuddled in blankets, was laid in the bow, St. + John, not deigning to sit, stood like a black tree-trunk in the stern, and + amidships were four men to row. + </p> + <p> + A little distance up the river they met a boat coming down. In the stern + sat Margaret, and at the oars her godlike young friend. Just over the bow + appeared the snout and merry eyes of the spaniel, one of his delightful + ears hanging over on each side. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad to see you alive,” said St. John to Margaret when the boats + were within hailing distance, and to her friend he said, “Since you have + brought her so far, be good enough to bring her the rest of the way.” And + to his own rowers he said, “Go back.” When the boats came to land at the + shipyard, Margaret’s father lifted her out and kissed her once on each + cheek. Of the godlike boy he asked his name, and when he learned that it + was Peter Manners and that his father was Peter Manners, he almost smiled, + and he shook the boy’s hand. + </p> + <p> + “I will send word to your cousins up the river that you are with me,” he + said, and thus was the invitation extended and accepted. + </p> + <p> + “O’Brien,” said the great man to Aladdin, “when you feel able, come to my + house; I have something to say to you.” + </p> + <p> + Then Senator St. John, and Margaret, and Margaret’s godlike young friend, + and the spaniel got into the carriage that was waiting for them, and drove + off. But Margaret turned and waved to Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “Good-by, Aladdin!” she called. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI + </h2> + <p> + They helped Aladdin back to the smithy, for his only covering was a clumsy + blanket; and there he put on his shrunken clothes, which meanwhile had + dried. The kindly men pressed food on him, but he could not eat. He could + only sit blankly by the fire and nurse the numb, overpowering pain in his + heart. Another had succeeded where he had failed. Even at parting, just + now, Margaret’s eyes had not been for him, but for the stranger who had + done so easily what he had not been able to do at all. The voyage down the + river had been mere foolishness without result. He had not rescued his + fair lady, but deserted her upon a desert island. For him no bouquets were + flung, nor was there to be any clapping of hands. After a time he rose + like one dreaming, and went slowly, for he was sick and weak, up to the + great pillared house of Hannibal St. John. The senator in that stern voice + of his had bade him come; nothing could be any worse than it was. He would + go. He knocked, and they showed him into the library. It was four walls of + leather books, an oak table neater than a pin, a huge chair covered with + horsehair much worn, and a blazing fire of birch logs. Before the fire, + one hand thrust into his coat, the other resting somewhat heavily upon the + head of a whalebone cane, stood the senator. Far off Aladdin heard + Margaret’s laugh and with it another young laugh. Then he looked up like a + little hunted thing into the senator’s smoldering eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Sit down in that chair,” said the senator, pointing with his cane to the + only chair in the room. His voice had the effect of a strong muscular + compulsion to which men at once yielded. Aladdin sat into the big chair, + his toes swinging just clear of the ground. Then there was silence. + Aladdin broke it. + </p> + <p> + “Is Margaret all right?” he gulped. + </p> + <p> + The senator disregarded the question. Having chosen his words, he said + them. + </p> + <p> + “I do not know,” he began, “what my daughter was doing in a boat with you. + I do not object to her enjoying the society at proper times of suitable + companions of her own age, but the society of those who lead her into + temptation is not suitable.” Aladdin fairly wilted under the glowering + voice. “You will not be allowed to associate with her any more,” said the + senator. “I will speak to your father and see that he forbids it.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin climbed out of the chair, and stumbled blindly into the table. He + had meant to find the door and go. + </p> + <p> + “Wait; I have not done,” said the senator. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin turned and faced the enemy who was taking away the joy of life + from him. + </p> + <p> + “In trying to atone for your fault,” said the senator, “by imperiling your + life, you did at once a foolhardy and a fine thing—one which I will + do my best to repay at any time that you may see fit to call upon me. For + the present you may find this of use.” He held forward between his thumb + and forefinger a twenty-dollar gold piece. Aladdin groped for words, and + remembered a phrase which he had heard his own father return to a + tormentor. He thrust his red hands into his tight pockets, and with + trembling lips looked up. + </p> + <p> + “It’s a matter of pride,” he said, and walked out of the room. When he had + gone the senator took from his pocket a leather purse, opened it, put back + the gold piece, and carefully tied the string. Then far from any known key + or tune the great man whistled a few notes. Could his constituents have + heard, they would have known—and often had the subject been debated—that + Hannibal St. John was human. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin stood for a while upon the lofty pillared portico of the senator’s + house, and with a mist in his eyes looked away and away to where the cause + of all his troubles flowed like a ribbon of silver through the + bright-colored land. Grown men, having, in their whole lives, suffered + less than Aladdin was at that moment suffering, have considered themselves + heartbroken. The little boy shivered and toiled down the steps, between + the tall box hedges lining the path, and out into the road. A late rose + leaning over the garden fence gave up her leaves in a pink shower as he + passed, and at the same instant all the glass in a window of the house + opposite fell out with a smash. These events seemed perfectly natural to + Aladdin, but when people, talking at the tops of their voices and + gesticulating, began to run out of houses and make down the hill toward + the town, he remembered that, just as the rose-leaves fell and just as the + glass came out of the window-frame, he had been conscious of a distant + thudding boom, and a jarring of the ground under his feet. So he joined in + the stream of his neighbors, and ran with them down the hill to see what + had happened. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin remembered little of that breathless run, and one thing only stood + ever afterward vivid among his recollections. All the people were headed + eagerly in one direction, but at the corner of the street in which Aladdin + lived, an awkish, half-grown girl, her face contorted with terror, + struggled against the tugging of two younger companions and screamed in a + terrible voice: + </p> + <p> + “I don’t wahnt to go! I don’t wahnt to go!” + </p> + <p> + But they dragged her along. That girl had no father, and her mother walked + the streets. She would never have any beauty nor any grace; she was dirt + of the dirt, dirty, but she had a heart of mercy and could not bear to + look upon suffering. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t wahnt to go! I don’t wahnt to go!” and now the scream was a + shudder. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin’s street was crowded to suffocation, and the front of the house + where Aladdin lived was blown out, and men with grave faces were going + about among the ruins looking for what was left of Aladdin’s father. + </p> + <p> + A much littler boy than Aladdin stood in the yard of the house. In his + arms folded high he clutched a yellow cat, who licked his cheek with her + rough tongue. The littler boy kept crying, “‘Laddin, ‘Laddin!” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin took the little boy and the yellow cat all into one embrace, and + people turned away their heads. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII + </h2> + <p> + In the ensuing two days Aladdin matured enormously, for though a kind + neighbor took him in, together with his brother Jack and the yellow cat, + he had suffered many things and already sniffed the wolf at the door. The + kind neighbor was a widow lady, whose husband, having been a master + carpenter of retentive habits, had left her independently rich. She owned + the white-and-green house in which she lived, the plot of ground, + including a small front and a small back yard, upon which it stood, and + she spent with some splendor a certain income of three hundred and + eighty-two dollars a year. Every picture, every chair, every mantelpiece + in the Widow Brackett’s house was draped with a silk scarf. The parlor + lamp had a glass shade upon which, painted in oils, by hand, were crimson + moss-roses and scarlet poppies. A crushed plush spring rocker had + goldenrod painted on back and seat, while two white-and-gold vases in + precise positions on the mantel were filled with tight round bunches of + immortelles, stained pink. Upon the marble-topped, + carved-by-machine-walnut-legged table in the bay-window were things to be + taken up by a visitor and examined. A white plate with a spreading of + foreign postage-stamps, such as any boy collector has in quantities for + exchange, was the first surprise: you were supposed to discover that the + stamps were not real, but painted on the plate, and exclaim about it. A + china basket contained most edible-looking fruit of the same material, and + a huge album, not to be confounded with the family Bible upon which it + rested, was filled with speaking likenesses of the Widow Brackett’s + relatives. The Bible beneath could have told when each was born, when many + had died, and where many were buried. But nobody was ever allowed to look + into the Widow Brackett’s Bible for information mundane or spiritual, + since the only result would have been showers of pressed ferns and flowers + upon the carpet, which was not without well-pressed flowers and ferns of + its own. + </p> + <p> + Very soon after the explosion of the wonderful lamp the Widow Brackett had + taken Aladdin and Jack and the cat into her house and seen to it that they + had a square meal. Early on the second day she came to the conclusion that + if it could in any way be made worth her while, she would like to keep + them until they grew up. And when the ground upon which Aladdin’s father’s + house had stood was sold at auction for three hundred and eight dollars, + she let it be known that if she could get that she would board the two + little waifs until Aladdin was old enough to work. The court appointed two + guardians. The guardians consulted for a few minutes over something brown + in a glass, and promptly turned over the three hundred and eight dollars + to the Widow Brackett; and the Widow Brackett almost as promptly made a + few alterations in the up-stairs of her house the better to accommodate + the orphans, tied a dirty white ribbon about the yellow cat’s neck, and + bought a derelict piano upon which her heart had been set for many months. + She was no musician, but she loved a tightly closed piano with a scarf + draped over the top, and thought that no parlor should be without one. Up + to middle C, as Aladdin in time found out, the piano in question was not + without musical pretensions, but above that any chord sounded like a nest + of tin plates dropped on a wooden floor, and the intervals were those of + no known scale nor fragment thereof. But in time he learned to draw + pleasant things from the old piano and to accompany his shrill voice in + song. As a matter of fact, he had no voice and never would have, but + almost from the first he knew how to sing. It so happened that he was + drawn to the piano by a singular thing: a note from his beloved. + </p> + <p> + It came one morning thumb-marked about the sealing, and covered with the + generous sprawl of her writing. It said: + </p> + <p> + DEAR ALADDIN: Do not say anything about this because I do not know if my + father would like it but I am so sorry about your father blowing up and + all your troubles and I want you to know how sory I am. I must stop now + because I have to practis. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Your loving friend + + MARGARET ST. JOHN. +</pre> + <p> + Aladdin was an exquisite speller, and the first thing he noticed about the + letter was that it contained two words spelled wrong, and that he loved + Margaret the better by two misspelled words, and that he had a lump in his + throat. + </p> + <p> + He had found the letter by his plate at breakfast, and the eyes of Mrs. + Brackett fastened upon it. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know who ken have been writin’ to you,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Neither do I,” said Aladdin, giving, as is proper, the direct lie to the + remark inquisitive. He had put the letter in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + “Why don’t you open it and see?” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin blushed. + </p> + <p> + “Time enough after breakfast,” he said. + </p> + <p> + There was a silence. + </p> + <p> + “Jack’s eatin’ his breakfast; why ain’t you eatin’ yours?” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin fell upon his breakfast for the sake of peace. And Mrs. Brackett + said no more. Some days later, for she was not to be denied in little + matters or great, Mrs. Brackett found where Aladdin had hidden the letter, + took it up, read it, sniffed, and put it back, with the remark that she + never “see such carryin’s-on.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin hid, and read his letter over and over; then an ominous silence + having informed him that Mrs. Brackett had gone abroad, he stole into the + parlor, perched on the piano-stool, and, like a second Columbus, began to + discover things which other people have to be shown. The joy of his soul + had to find expression, as often afterward the sorrow of it. + </p> + <p> + That winter Jack entered school in the lowest class, and the two little + boys were to be seen going or coming in close comradeship, fair weather or + foul. The yellow cat had affairs of gallantry, and bore to the family, at + about Christmas-time, five yellow kittens, which nobody had the heart to + drown, and about whose necks, at the age of eye-opening, the Widow + Brackett tied little white ribbons in large bows. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes Aladdin saw Margaret, but only for a little. + </p> + <p> + So the years passed, and Aladdin turned his sixteenth year. He was very + tall and very thin, energetic but not strong, very clever, but with less + application than an uncoerced camel. To single him from other boys, he was + full of music and visions. And rhymes were beginning to ring in his head. + </p> + <p> + A week came when the rhymes and the music went clean out of his head, + which became as heavy as a scuttle full of coal, and he walked about + heavily like an old man. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII + </h2> + <p> + One day, during the morning session of school, Aladdin’s head got so heavy + that he could hardly see, and he felt hot all over. He spoke to the + teacher and was allowed to go home. Mrs. Brackett, when she saw him enter + the yard, was in great alarm, for she at once supposed that he had done + something awful, which was not out of the question, and suffered + expulsion. + </p> + <p> + “What have you done?” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing,” said Aladdin. “I think I’m going to be sick.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Brackett tossed her hands heavenward. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter?” she cried. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know,” said Aladdin. She followed him into the house and up the + stairs, which he climbed heavily. + </p> + <p> + “Where do you feel bad, ‘Laddin O’Brien?” she said sharply. + </p> + <p> + “It’s my head, ma’am,” said Aladdin. He went into his room and lay face + down on the bed, having first dropped his schoolbooks on the floor, and + began to talk fluently of kings’ daughters and genii and copper bottles. + </p> + <p> + The Widow Brackett was an active woman of action. Flat-footed and hatless, + but with incredible speed, she dashed down the stairs, out of the house, + and up the street. She returned in five minutes with the doctor. + </p> + <p> + The doctor said, “Fever.” It was quite evident that it was fever; but a + doctor’s word for it put everything on a comfortable and satisfactory + footing. + </p> + <p> + “We must get him to bed,” said the doctor. He made the attempt alone, but + Aladdin struggled, and the doctor was old. Mrs. Brackett came to the + rescue and, finally, they got Aladdin, no longer violent, into his bed, + while the doctor, in a soft voice, said what maybe it was and what maybe + it wasn’t,—he leaned to a bilious fever,—and prescribed this + and that as sovereign in any case. They darkened the room, and Aladdin was + sick with typhoid fever for many weeks. He was delirious much too much, + and Mrs. Brackett got thin with watching. Occasionally it seemed as if he + might possibly live, but oftenest as if he would surely die. + </p> + <p> + In his delirium for the most part Aladdin dwelt upon Margaret, so that his + love for her was an old story to Mrs. Brackett. One gay spring morning, + after a terrible night, Aladdin’s fever cooled a little, and he was able + to talk in whispers. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Brackett,” he said, “Mrs. Brackett.” + </p> + <p> + She came hurriedly to the bed. + </p> + <p> + “I know you’re feelin’ better, ‘Laddin O’Brien.” + </p> + <p> + He smiled up at her. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Brackett,” he said, “I dreamed that Margaret St. John came here to + ask how I was—did she?” + </p> + <p> + Margaret hadn’t. She had not, so hedged was her life, even heard that + Aladdin lay sick. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Brackett lied nobly. + </p> + <p> + “She was here yesterday,” she said, “and that anxious to know all about + you.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin looked like one that had found peace. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” he said. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Brackett raised his head, pillow and all, very gently, and gave him + his medicine. + </p> + <p> + “How’s Jack?” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “He comes twice every day to ask about you,” said Mrs. Brackett. “He’s + livin’ with my brother-in-law.” + </p> + <p> + “That’s good,” said Aladdin. He lay back and dozed. After a while he + opened his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Brackett-” + </p> + <p> + “What is it, deary?” The good woman had been herself on the point of + dozing, but was instantly alert. + </p> + <p> + “Am I going to die?” + </p> + <p> + “You goin’ to die!” She tried to make her voice indignant, but it broke. + </p> + <p> + “I want to know.” + </p> + <p> + “He wants to know, good land!” exclaimed Mrs. Brackett. + </p> + <p> + “If a man’s going to die,” said Aladdin, aeat-sixteen, “he wants to know, + because he has things that have to be done.” + </p> + <p> + “Doctor said you wasn’t to talk much,” said Mrs. Brackett. + </p> + <p> + “If I’ve got to die,” said Aladdin, abruptly, “I’ve got to see Margaret.” + </p> + <p> + A woman in a blue wrapper, muddy slippers, her gray hair disheveled, + hatless, her eyes bright and wild, burst suddenly upon Hannibal St. John + where he sat in his library reading in the book called “Hesperides.” + </p> + <p> + “Senator St. John,” she began rapidly, “Aladdin O’Brien’s sick in my + house, and the last thing he said was, ‘I’ve got to see Margaret’; and + he’s dyin’ wantin’ to see her, and I’ve come for her, and she’s got to + come.” + </p> + <p> + It was a tribute to St. John’s genius that in spite of her incoherent + utterance he understood precisely what the woman was driving at. + </p> + <p> + “You say he’s dying?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Doctor’s given up hope. He’s had a relapse since this mornin’, and she’s + got to come right now if she’s to see him at all.” + </p> + <p> + The senator hesitated for once. + </p> + <p> + “It’s got nothin’ to do with the proprieties,” said Mrs. Brackett, + sternly, “nor what he was to her, nor her to him; it’s a plain case of + humanity and—” + </p> + <p> + “What is the nature of the sickness?” asked the senator. + </p> + <p> + “It’s fever—” + </p> + <p> + “Is it contagious?” asked the senator. + </p> + <p> + “No, it ain’t!” almost shrieked the old lady. “And what if it was?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course if it were contagious she couldn’t go,” said the senator. + </p> + <p> + “It ain’t contagious, and, what’s more, he once laid down his life for her + on the log, that time.” + </p> + <p> + “If you assure me the fever is not contagious—” + </p> + <p> + “You’ll let her come—” + </p> + <p> + “It seems nonsense,” said the senator. “They are only children, and I + don’t want her to get silly ideas.” + </p> + <p> + “Only children!” exclaimed Mrs. Brackett. “Senator, give me the troubles + of the grown-ups, childbirth, and losing the first-born with none to + follow, the losing of husband and mother, and the approach of old age,—give + me them and I’ll bear them, but spare me the sorrows and trials of little + children which we grown-ups ain’t strong enough to bear. You can say I + said so,” she finished defiantly. + </p> + <p> + The senator bowed in agreement. + </p> + <p> + “I believe you are right,” he said. “I will take you home in my carriage, + Mrs.—” + </p> + <p> + “Brackett,” said she, with pride. + </p> + <p> + The senator stepped into the hall and raised his voice the least trifle. + </p> + <p> + “Daughter!” + </p> + <p> + She answered from several rooms away, and came running. Her hands were + inky, and she held a letter. She was no longer the timid little girl of + the island, for somehow that escapade had emancipated her. She had waited + for a few days in expectation of damnation, but, that failing to + materialize, had turned over a leaf in her character, and became such a + bully at home that the family and servants loved her more and more from + day to day. She was fourteen at this time; altogether exquisite and + charming and wayward. + </p> + <p> + “Aladdin O’Brien is very sick, daughter,” said the senator, “and we are + going to see him.” + </p> + <p> + “And don’t tell him that you didn’t come to ask after him yesterday,” said + Mrs. Brackett, defiantly, “because I said you did. I had my reasons,” she + went on, “and you can say I said so.” + </p> + <p> + Margaret ran up-stairs to get her hat. She was almost wild with excitement + and foreboding of she knew not what. + </p> + <p> + The letter which she had been writing fell from her hand. She picked it + up, looked hastily at the superscription, “Mr. Peter Manners, Jr.,” and + tore it into pieces. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX + </h2> + <p> + There is no doubt that Aladdin’s recovery dated from Margaret’s visit. The + poor boy was too sick to say what he had planned, but Margaret sat by his + bed for a while and held his hand, and said little abrupt conventional + things that meant much more to them both, and that was enough. Besides, + and under the guns of her father’s eyes, just before she went away she + stooped and kissed him on the forehead, and that was more than enough to + make anybody get over anything, Aladdin thought. So he slept a long cool + sleep after Margaret had gone, and woke free of fever. As he lay gathering + strength to sit up in bed, which treat had been promised him in ten days, + Aladdin’s mind worked hard over the future, and what he could machinate in + order one day to be almost worthy to kiss the dust under Margaret’s feet. + She sent him flowers twice, but was not allowed to come and see him again. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin had awful struggles with the boredom of convalescence. He felt + perfectly well, and they wouldn’t let him get up and out; everything + forbidden he wanted to eat. And his one solace was the Brackett library. + This was an extraordinary collection of books. They were seven, and how + they got there nobody knows. The most important in the collection was, in + Mrs. Brackett’s estimation, an odd volume of an encyclopedia, bound in + tree-calf and labeled, “Safety-lamps to Stranglers.” Next were four fat + tomes in the German language on scientific subjects; these, provided that + anybody had ever wanted to read them, had never succeeded in getting + themselves read, but they had cuts and cuts which were fascinating to + surmise about. The sixth book was the second volume of a romance called + “The Headsman,” by “the author of ‘The Spy,’” and the seventh was a + back-split edition of Poe’s poems. + </p> + <p> + The second volume of “The Headsman” went like cakes and syrup on a cold + morning, for it was narrative, and then it was laid aside, because it was + dull. The four German books had their cuts almost examined out of them, + and the encyclopedia book, from “Safety-lamps to Stranglers,” practically + had its contents torn out and devoured. In after life Aladdin could always + speak with extraordinary fluency, feeling, and understanding on anything + that began with S, such as Simeon Stylites and Senegambia. But the poems + of Poe were what made his sickness worth while and put the call upon all + his after life. We learn of the critics and professors of English that + there are greater lyric poets than Poe. They will base this on + technicalities and theories of what poetry has been and what poetry ought + to be, and will not take into account the fact that of all of them—Keats, + Shelley, Wordsworth when he is a poet at all, Heine, and the lyric body of + Goethe and the rest—not one in proportion to the mass of his + production so often leaves the ground and spreads wings as Poe,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + If I might dwell + Where Israfel + Hath dwelt, and he where I, + He might not sing so wildly well + A mortal melody, + While a bolder note than his might swell + From my lyre within the sky,— +</pre> + <p> + and that where they have, they have perhaps risen a little higher, but + never have sung more hauntingly and clear. The wonderful sounds and the + unearthly purity—the purity of a little child that has died—took + Aladdin by the throat and shook up the imagination and music that had lain + dormant within him; his father’s bent for invention clarified into a + passion for creation. The first thing he read was three stanzas on the + left-hand page where the book opened to his uneager hands, and his eyes, + expectant of disappointment,—for up to that time, never having read + any, he hated poetry,—fell on one of the five or six perfect poems + in the world: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Helen, thy beauty is to me + Like those Nicean barks of yore + That gently o’er a perfumed sea + The weary, wayworn wanderer bore + To his own native shore. + + On desperate seas long wont to roam, + Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face, + Thy naiad airs have brought me home + To the glory that was Greece, + And the grandeur that was Rome. + + Lo, in yon brilliant window-niche + How statue-like I see thee stand, + The agate lamp within thy hand! + Ah, Psyche! From the regions which + Are holy land. +</pre> + <p> + And he knew that he had read the most exquisite, the most insouciant, and + the most universal account of every man’s heart’s desire—Margaret as + she would be when she grew tall. He knew little of the glory that was + Greece or the grandeur that was Rome, but whatever they were, Margaret had + all of them, and the hyacinth hair, very thick and clustery and beautiful, + and the naiad airs. Ah, Psyche! + </p> + <p> + And he read forward and back in the book, and after a little he knew that + he had a soul, and that the only beautiful thing in the world is beauty, + and the only sad thing, and that beauty is truth. + </p> + <p> + Open at the lines to Helen he laid the book face down upon his heart, with + his hands clasped over it, and shut his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Now I know what I’ve got to do,” he said. “Now I know what I’ve got to + do.” + </p> + <p> + He dreamed away hours until suddenly the need of deeds set him bolt + upright in bed, and he called to Mrs. Brackett to bring him pencil and + paper. From that time on he was seldom without them, and, by turns reading + and writing, entered with hope and fortitude into the challenging field of + literature. And from the first, however ignorant and unkempt the effort, + he wrote a kind of literature, for he buckled to no work that he knew, and + was forever striving after an ideal (nebulous, indescribable, and far) of + his own, and that is literature. Go to those who have wrought for—forever + (without, of course, knowing it) and those who have wrought earnestly for + the day, and these things you will find made the god in their machine: + Raphael’s sonnets and Dante’s picture! Aladdin had no message, that he + knew of, for the world, but the call of one of the arts was upon him; and + he knew that willy-nilly he must answer that call as long as eyes could + see, or hands hold pen, or tongue call for pencil and paper, money buy + them, or theft procure them. He set himself stubbornly and courageously to + the bitter-sweet task of learning to write. + </p> + <p> + “It must be like learning anything else,” he said, his eyes on a sheet of + seemingly uncorrectable misbalances, “and just because I’m rotten at it + now doesn’t prove that if I practise and practise, and try and try, and + hope and hope, I won’t be some good sometime.” + </p> + <p> + He saw very clearly the squat dark tower itself in the midst of the + chin-upon-hand hills, and the world and his friends sitting about to see + him fail. He saw them, and he knew them all, and yet, with Childe Roland, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Dauntless the slughorn to his lips he set, + And blew. +</pre> + <p> + And incidentally, when he got well and returned to school, he entered on a + period of learning his lessons, for he thought that these might one day be + of use to him in his chosen line. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + X + </h2> + <p> + Senator St. John, for he was at heart democratic, and heard little of + Aladdin that was not to Aladdin’s credit, derigorized the taboo which he + had once placed on Aladdin’s and Margaret’s friendship, and allowed the + young man to come occasionally to the house, and occasionally loaned him + books. Margaret was really at the bottom of this, but she stayed + comfortably at the bottom, and teased her father to do the needful, and + he, wrapped up in the great issues which were threatening to divide the + country, complied. In those days the senator’s interests extended far + beyond his family, Margaret and the three powerful sons who were building + a reputation for the firm of John St. John & Brothers, lawyers in + Portland. He gave Aladdin leave to come and go, even smiled grimly as he + did so, and, except at those moments when he met him face to face, forgot + that Aladdin existed. Margaret enjoyed Aladdin hugely, and unconsciously + sat for the heroine of every novel he began, and the inspiration of every + verse that he wrote. When Aladdin reached his eighteenth year and Margaret + her sixteenth there was such a delightful and strong friendship between + them that the other young people of the town talked. Margaret in her heart + of hearts was fonder of Aladdin than of anybody else—when she was + with him, or under the immediate influence of having been with him, for + nobody else had such extraordinary ideas, or such a fund of amusing + vitality, or such fascinating moods. Like every one with a touch of the + Celt in him, Aladdin was by turns gloomiest and most unfortunate of all + mortals upon whom the sun positively would not shine, or the gayest of the + gay. From his droll manner of singing a song, to the seriousness with + which he sometimes bore all the sufferings of all the world, he seemed to + her a most complex and unusual individual. But his spells were of the + instant, and her thoughts were very often on that beautiful young man, + Manners, who, having completed his course at the law school, was coming to + spend a month before he should begin to practise. Since his first visit + years ago, Manners, now a grown man of twenty, had spent much of many of + his vacations with the St. Johns. The senator was obliged, as well as his + limitations would allow, to take the place of a mother to Margaret, and + though it was barely guessable from his words or actions, he loved Peter + Manners like a son, and had resolved, almost since the beginning, to end + by having him for one. And the last time that Manners had visited them in + Washington, St. John had seen to it that he shook hands with all the great + men who were making history. Once the senator and Margaret had visited the + Manners in New York. That had been a bitter time for Aladdin, for while + all the others of his age were sniffing timidly at love and life, he had + found his grand passion early and stuck to it, and was now blissful with + hope and now acrid with jealousy. Peter Manners he hated with a green and + jealous hatred. And if Peter Manners had any of the baser passions, he + divined this, and hated Aladdin back, but rather contemptuously. They met + occasionally, and the meetings, always in the presence of Margaret, were + never very happy. She was woman enough to rejoice at being a bone of + contention, and angel enough to hate seeing good times spoiled. + </p> + <p> + But it was hard on Aladdin. He could go to her house almost when he liked, + and be welcomed by her, but to her father and the rest of the household he + was not especially welcome. They were always polite to him, and always + considerate, and he felt—quite rightly—that he was merely + tolerated, as a more or less presentable acquaintance of Margaret’s. + Manners, on the other hand, and it took less intuition to know it, was not + only greatly welcome to Margaret, but to all the others—from the + gardener up to the senator. Manners’ distinction of manner, his wellbred, + easy ways, his charmingly enunciative and gracious voice, together with + his naive and simple nature, went far with people’s hearts. Aladdin + bitterly conceded every advantage to his rival except that of mind. To + this, for he knew even in his humble moments that he himself had it, he + clung tenaciously. Mrs. Brackett, with a sneaking admiration for Peter + Manners, whom she had once seen on the street, had Aladdin’s interests + well in heart, and the lay of the matter well in hand. She put it like + this to a friendly gossip: + </p> + <p> + “I guess’ Laddin O’Brien’s ‘bout smaht enough to go a long ways further + than fine clothes and money and a genealogical past will carry a body. He + writes sometimes six and eight big sides of paper up in a day, and if he + ain’t content with that he just tears it up and goes at it again. There + won’t be anybody’ll go further in this world than ‘Laddin O’Brien, and you + can say I said so—” + </p> + <p> + Here under oath of secrecy Mrs. Brackett lowered her voice and divulged a + secret: + </p> + <p> + “He got a letter this mornin’ sayin’ that the Portland’spy’ is goin’ to + print three poems he sent ‘em, and enclosin’ three dollars to pay for ‘em. + I guess beginnin’ right now he could go along at that rate and make mebbe + five or six hundred dollars a year. Poetry’s nothin’ to him; he can write + it faster than you and I can baste.” + </p> + <p> + At the very moment of this adoring act of divulgence Aladdin was in the + parlor, giving his first taste of success a musical soul, and waiting—waiting—waiting + until it should be late enough in the day for him to climb the hill to the + St. Johns’ and hand over the Big News to Margaret. And as he sat before + the piano, demipatient and wholly joyful, his fingers twinkled the + yellowed and black keys into fits of merriment, or, after an abrupt pause, + built heap upon heap of bass chords. Then the mood would change and, to a + whanging accompaniment, he would chant, recitative fashion, the three + poems which alone he had made. + </p> + <p> + The day waned, and it was time to go and tell Margaret. His way lay past + the railway-station, under the “Look out for the locomotive” sign, across + the track, and up the hill. In the air was the exhilarating evening cool + of June, and the fragrance of flowers, which in the north country, to make + up for the shorter tale of their days, bloom bigger and smell sweeter than + any other flowers in the world. Even in the dirty paved square fronting + the station was a smell of summer and flowers. You could see people’s + faces lighten and sniff it, as they got out of the hot, cindery coaches of + the five-forty, which had just rolled in. + </p> + <p> + The St. Johns’ fine pair of bays and their open carriage were drawn up + beside the station. The horses were entering a spirited, ground-pawing + protest against the vicinity of that alway inexplicable and snorting + monster on wheels. On the platform, evidently waiting for some one to get + off the train, stood St. John and Margaret. She looked much fresher and + sweeter than a rose, and Aladdin noted that she was wearing her hair up + for the first time. Her dress was a floaty white affair with a blue ribbon + round it, and her beautiful, gay young face flushed with excitement and + anticipation till it sparkled. There was a large crowd getting off the + train, at that aggravating rate of progression with which people + habitually leave a crowded public conveyance or a theater, and Margaret + and her father were looking through the windows of the cars to see if they + could catch a glimpse of whom they sought. Suddenly the senator broke into + a smile and waved his cane. The action was so unusual for him that it + looked grotesque. Margaret stood on tiptoe and waved her hand, and a + presentiment came to Aladdin and took away all his joy. + </p> + <p> + Peter Manners, looking fresh and clean in spite of his long, dusty ride, + got off the train and made a hilarious rush for his friends. He shook + hands with Margaret, then with the senator, and turned again to Margaret. + She was altogether too pretty, and much too glad to see him. In the + excitement of the moment it couldn’t be borne, and he kissed her. Then + they both laughed, and the senator laughed, for he was glad. He put his + great hand on Manners’ shoulder, and laughing and talking, the three went + to the carriage. Then the senator remembered that the checks had been + forgotten, and against a voluble protest he secured them from Manners, and + went after an expressman. Having found the expressman—one of his + constituents and a power in the town,—he handed him the checks, a + fifty-cent piece, and a ponderous joke as old as Xerxes, at which the + expressman roared. Manners stood by the carriage and looked at Margaret. + “Lord God,” he thought, “it has come at last!” and they grinned at each + other. + </p> + <p> + “Mmm!” said Margaret, who stood for the glory that was Greece and the + grandeur that was Rome. She had not expected to be so glad to see him. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Aladdin had turned and was going home. + </p> + <p> + Margaret caught sight of his back, and the pitiful little droop in the + usually erect shoulders, and she divined like a flash, and called after + him. He pretended not to hear and went on. In his pocket was the editor’s + letter which he had designed to show her. It had lain down and died. + </p> + <p> + “Why does that man hate me so?” said Manners. + </p> + <p> + A little of the joy of meeting had gone. A cloud passed over the sun, and + the earth was darkened. Many drops of rain began to fall, each making a + distinct splash as it struck. One began to smell the disturbed dust. But + the flowers continued to send up their incense to heaven, and Manners put + his light overcoat about Margaret. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XI + </h2> + <p> + Aladdin had a large acquaintance in the town among all sorts of men, and, + as he went home sorrowfully in the rain, he met a youth, older than + himself, who had an evil notoriety; for being born with brains, of + respectable people, and propitiously launched on the world, he had begun + in his early teens, and in the face of the most heartrending solicitude, + to drink himself to death. The miserable part of it was that everybody + loved him when he was sober, and out of consideration to his family still + asked him to the best that the town could do in the way of parties and + entertainments. He was a good-looking young man with a big frame and a + pale face. His real name was William Addison Larch, but he was better + known as “Beau Larch.” He had a nervous, engaging smile, of which he made + frequent use. + </p> + <p> + “My word, Aladdin,” he said, “you look sick as a dog. Come with me and + take a snifter for it.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin hesitated a moment. And as soon as he had thoroughly made up his + mind that it was wrong to say so, he said: + </p> + <p> + “I believe I will.” The Celt in him was feeling suicidal. They went into + the ground-floor room of a house where liquor was sold. + </p> + <p> + “For me, whisky,” said Beau Larch. + </p> + <p> + “The same for me,” said Aladdin, with something suspiciously like a gulp. + The first drink which a man takes against his better judgment is a grisly + epoch in his life. Aladdin realized this, and was at once miserable and + willing that it should be so. + </p> + <p> + “To those that love us!” said Beau Larch. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin put down his liquor without grimace or gasp. + </p> + <p> + Beau Larch paid. + </p> + <p> + In Aladdin’s pocket were three dollars, the first mile-post on the steep + road to his ideal. He felt, to be sure that they were there. + </p> + <p> + “Now you ‘ll have one with me,” he said. + </p> + <p> + When the sudden rain-storm had rained and thundered and lightened itself + out, they went to another saloon, and from there to the Boat Club, of + which Beau Larch was a member and whither he asked Aladdin to supper. + Fishes and lobsters and clams were the staple articles of Boat Club + suppers, and over savory messes of these, helped down with much whisky and + water, Aladdin and Beau Larch made the evening spin. Aladdin, talking + eagerly and with the naivete of a child, wondered why he had never liked + this man so much before. And Larch told the somewhat abject story of his + life three times with an introduction of much racy anecdote. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin’s head held surprisingly well. Every now and then he would hand + himself an inward congratulation on the alertness and clearness of his + mind, and think what a fine constitution he must have. They got to singing + after a while, and reciting poems, of which each knew a quantity by heart. + And, oddly enough, Aladdin, though he had been brought up to speak sound + American, developed in his cups, and afterward clung to, in moments of + exhilaration or excitement, an indescribably faint but perfectly distinct + Hibernian accent. It was the heritage to which he was heir, and made his + eager and earnest rendering of “Annabel Lee” so pathetic that Beau Larch + wept, and knocked a glass off the table.... + </p> + <p> + Men came and sat with them, and Aladdin discovered in himself what he had + hitherto never suspected—the power of becoming heart-to-heart + friends with strangers in two seconds. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin was never able to remember just how or when or with whom they left + the Boat Club. He only remembered walking and walking and talking and + talking, and finally arguing a knotty question, on which all defended the + same side, and then sitting down on the steps of a house in a low quarter + of the town, and pouring the ramifications of all his troubles into the + thoroughly sympathetic if somewhat noncomprehending ears of Beau Larch. He + talked long and became drunker as he talked, while Larch became soberer. + Then Aladdin remembered that the door at the top of the steps had opened, + and a frowzy head had been stuck out, and that a brassy voice, with + something at once pathetic and wheedling in it, had said: + </p> + <p> + “Aren’t you coming in, boys?” + </p> + <p> + Then Aladdin remembered that Beau Larch and he had had angry words, and + that Beau Larch had told him not to make an ass of himself, and for + heaven’s sake to go home. To which Aladdin had retorted that he was old + enough to know what was good for him, and hated the world and didn’t give + a damn who knew it, and wouldn’t go home. Aladdin could swear that after + that he only closed his eyes for a second to shut out something or other, + and that when he opened them, the reverberation of a door closing was in + his ears. But for all that Beau Larch had gone, and was to be seen neither + up the street nor down. Although his own was past mending, Beau Larch, + drunk as he was, had done a good deed that night, for he had guarded a + precious innocence against the assaults of a drunken little Irish boy who + was feeling down about something—a girl named something or other, + Beau Larch thought, and another boy named something or other. The next day + Beau had forgotten even that much. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin thought that Larch was hiding in jest. He arose unsteadily and + wandered off in search of him. After a time he found himself before the + door of his own house. There were lights in the parlor, and Aladdin became + almost sober. He realized with a thrill of stricken conscience that Mrs. + Brackett was sitting up for him, and he was afraid. He tried the front + door and found it unlocked. He went in. On the right, the door leading + into the parlor stood open. On the table burned a lamp. Beside the table + in the crushed plush rocker sat Mrs. Brackett. Her spectacles were pushed + high up on her forehead. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth was slightly + open. From the corners of her eyes red marks ran down her cheeks. Her thin + gray hair was in disarray. In her lap, open, lay her huge family Bible; a + spray of pressed maidenhair fern marked the place. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin, somewhat sobered by now, and already stung with the anguish of + remorse, tiptoed into the parlor and softly blew out the light; but the + instant before he did so he glanced down at the Bible in the good lady’s + lap and saw that she had been reading about the prodigal son. Great tears + ran out of Aladdin’s eyes. He went up-stairs, weeping and on tiptoe, and + as he passed the door of his brother’s room he heard a stir within. + </p> + <p> + “Is that you, ‘Laddin?” + </p> + <p> + “Sssh, darlint,” said Aladdin; “you’ll wake Mother Brackett.” + </p> + <p> + In his own room there was a lamp burning low, and on his bureau was a note + for him from Margaret: + </p> + <p> + DEAR ALADDIN: Papa wants you to come up and have supper with us. Peter + Manners is here, and I think it will be fun. Please do come, and remember + a lot of foolish songs to sing. Why wouldn’t you speak to me? It hurts so + when you act like that.... + </p> + <p> + Aladdin, kissing the note, went down on his knees and twice began to pray, + “O God—O God!” He could say no more, but all the penitence and + heartburnings of his soul were in his prayer. Later he lay on his bed + staring into a darkness which moved in wheels, and he kept saying to the + darkness: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Neither the angels in Heaven above, + Nor the demons down under the sea, + Can ever dissever my soul from the soul + Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.” + </pre> + <p> + Late in the still morning he awoke, grieving and hurt, for he did not see + how he should ever face Mrs. Brackett, or his brother, or Margaret, or + himself, or anybody ever again. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XII + </h2> + <p> + There was in town at this time what passed for a comic-opera troupe, and + Margaret and her father, by way of doing honor to their guest, invited all + the young people to go to the performance and attend a supper afterward. + The party occupied the three foremost rows in the music-hall, and Aladdin + sat next to Margaret, and Manners sat upon the other side. + </p> + <p> + The hero of the piece was a jovial big rascal with a spirited voice, and + much byplay which kept his good-natured audience in titters—from the + young gentlemen and little shrieks—from the young ladies. Mr. + Blythoe, the hero, when the curtain had fallen upon what the management + was pleased to call the second act, consented, in response to continued + applause, due to a double back somersault and two appropriate remarks + fired off in midair (this was his great psychic moment), to make a little + speech and sing a song. His speech, though syntactically erratic, was + delivered in a loud, frank way that won everybody’s heart, and in closing + he said: + </p> + <p> + “Three nights ago I met with a young feller in this tow—city + [applause], and when we had taken one together for luck [titters from the + young gentlemen, who wanted one another to know that they knew what he + meant], he made me the loan of the song I’m a-going to sing. He made up + the words and the tune of this song hisself, and he’s right here in this + audience.” This gave an opportunity for some buffoonery among the young + gentlemen. Mr. Blythoe looked for one instant straight at Aladdin, and + Aladdin went into a cold sweat, for he began to recollect that somewhere + on a certain awful night he had taken drinks with Mr. Blythoe and had sung + him songs. Mr. Blythoe went on: + </p> + <p> + “This young gentleman said I specially wasn’t to mention his name, and I + won’t, but I want all you ladies and gentlemen to know that this here + beautiful ballad was composed right here in this tow—city [applause] + by a citizen of this city. And here goes.” + </p> + <p> + Then Mr. Blythoe did a wonderful thing. Much was owing to the words and + air, but a little something to the way in which Mr. Blythoe sang. He took + his audience with the first bar, and had some of them crying when he was + through. And the song should have been silly. It was about a gay, gay + young dog of a crow, that left the flock and went to a sunny land and + lived a mad, mad life; and finally, penitent and old, came home to the + north country and saw his old playmates in the distance circling about the + old pine-tree, but was too weak to reach them, or to call loud enough for + them to hear, and so lay down and died, died, died. The tune was the + sweetest little plaintive wail, and at the end of each stanza it died, + died, till you had to cry. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blythoe received tremendous applause, but refused to encore. He winked + to Aladdin and bowed himself off. Then Aladdin executed an unparalleled + blush. He could feel it start in the small of his back and spread all over + him—up under the roots of his hair to the top of his head. He should + have felt proud, instead of which he was suffused with shame. Margaret + caught sight of his face. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, Aladdin?” she said in a whisper. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “Won’t you tell me?” + </p> + <p> + “It’s nothing.” He got redder and redder. + </p> + <p> + “Please.” + </p> + <p> + With downcast eyes he shook his head. She looked at him dubiously and a + little pathetically for a moment. Then she said, “Silly goose,” and turned + to Manners. + </p> + <p> + “Poor old crow!” said Manners. “I had one, Margaret, when I was little; he + had his wings clipped and used to follow me like a dog, and one day he saw + some of his old friends out on the salt-marsh, and he hopped out to talk + it over with them, and they set upon him and killed him. And I couldn’t + get there quick enough to help him—I beg your pardon.” He picked up + a fan and handed it to the girl on his left, and she, having dropped it on + purpose, blushed, thanked him, and giggled. Manners turned to Margaret + again. “Ever since then,” he said, “when I have a gun in my hand and see a + crow, I want to kill him for the sake of the crows that killed mine, and + to let him go for the sake of mine, who was such a nice old fellow. So + it’s an awful problem.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin sat and looked straight before him. “Is real fame as awful as + this?” he thought. + </p> + <p> + Somebody clapped him on the shoulder, and a hearty voice, something the + worse for wear, said loudly in his ear, “Bully, Aladdin, bully!” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin looked up and recognized that bad companion, Beau Larch. + </p> + <p> + “That’s all right,” Aladdin tried to say, but Mr. Larch would not be + downed. + </p> + <p> + “Wasn’t it bully, Margaret?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Oh—hallo—hallo, Beau!” said she, starting and turning round + and collecting her wits. “What? Wasn’t what bully?” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin frowned at Larch with all the forbiddingness that he could muster, + but Larch was imperturbable. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Aladdin’s song!” he said. “You know, the one about the old crow—the + one the man just sang.” + </p> + <p> + Here a young lady, over whom Beau Larch was leaning, confided to her + escort in an audible, nervous voice that she knew Beau Larch had been + drinking, but she wouldn’t say why she knew—anybody could see he + had; and then she sniffed with her nose by way of indicating that seeing + was not the only or best method of telling. + </p> + <p> + “You don’t mean to say—” said Margaret to Aladdin, and looked him in + the eyes. “Why, Aladdin!” she said. And then: “Peter—Peter—‘Laddin + wrote it, he did. Isn’t it gr-reat!” + </p> + <p> + And Peter, rising to the occasion, said, “Bully,” and “I thought it was + great,” with such absolute frankness and sincerity that Aladdin’s heart + almost warmed toward him. It was presently known all over the house that + Aladdin had written the song. And some of the more clownish of the young + people called for Author, Author. Aladdin hung his head. + </p> + <p> + At supper at the St. Johns’ later was a crisp, brisk gentleman with + grayish hair, who talked in a pleasant, dry way. Aladdin learned that it + was Mr. Blankinship, editor and proprietor of the Portland “Spy.” Almost + immediately on learning this important item, he saw Mr. Blankinship + exchange a word with Margaret and come toward him. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. O’Brien?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “The same that sent us three poems a while ago?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “And you wrote that song we heard to-night?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir.” Aladdin was now fiery red. + </p> + <p> + “What do you do for a living?” + </p> + <p> + “I’ve just finished school,” said Aladdin. “And I don’t know what to do.” + </p> + <p> + “Newspaper work appeal to you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Timid as a coot,” thought Mr. Blankinship. + </p> + <p> + “Write easily?” he said. “Fast—short words?” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin thought a moment. “Yes, sir,” he said coolly. + </p> + <p> + “Less timid than a coot,” thought Mr. Blankinship. + </p> + <p> + “Willing to live in Portland?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “I’ll give you five dollars a week and give you a trial.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Can you get moved and start work Monday?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blankinship smiled cheerfully. + </p> + <p> + “Pretty entertainment, isn’t it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, O’Brien, see you Monday; hope we get on.” Mr. Blankinship nodded + pleasantly and passed up the room to the punch, muttering as he went, + “Writes better than talks—dash of genius—more or less timid + than a coot.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin went quickly to find Margaret. He traced her to the pantry, where + she was hurrying the servant who had charge of the ice-cream. Aladdin + waited until the servant had gone out with a heaping tray. + </p> + <p> + “Margaret,” he said, “I’m going away to live.” + </p> + <p> + He spoke in the flat, colorless voice with which a little child announces + that it has hurt itself. + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean, Aladdin?” She changed color slightly. + </p> + <p> + “Only that I’ve got to make a living, Margaret, and it’s on a paper, so I + ought to be glad.” + </p> + <p> + “Aren’t you glad, Aladdin?” + </p> + <p> + “A little.” + </p> + <p> + “Aladdin—” + </p> + <p> + “Margaret—O Margaret—” + </p> + <p> + She read in his eyes what was coming. + </p> + <p> + “Not now, Aladdin,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Not now—dear Aladdin.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you know?” + </p> + <p> + “I’ve always known, Aladdin, and been grateful and that proud.” + </p> + <p> + “Will there never be any chance for me, Margaret?” + </p> + <p> + “Aladdin, I think I like you better than anybody else in the world—” + </p> + <p> + “Darling—” he had never supposed that it could be said so easily; he + leaned toward her. + </p> + <p> + “No,” she said suddenly; “I’ve got to go and see after all those foolish + people.” + </p> + <p> + “Just for the sake of old times, and now, and new times—” + </p> + <p> + She hesitated, reddened a little, and then, as sweetly and innocently as a + child, put up her lips for him to kiss. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIII + </h2> + <p> + Hannibal St. John’s campaign for reelection to the senatorship was, owing + to a grievous error in tact, of doubtful issue. A hue and cry arose + against him among his constituents, and things in general fell out so + unhappily that it looked toward the close of the contest as if he would be + obliged to sit idle and dangle his heels, while the two halves of the + country, pushing against each other, were rising in the middle like the + hinge of a toggle-joint into the most momentous crisis in the nation’s + history. It looked as if the strong man, with his almost blasphemous + intolerance of disunion, his columnlike power of supporting, and his + incomparable intellect, was to stand in the background and watch the + nightmare play from afar. He fought for his place in the forefront of the + battle with a great fervor of bitterness, and the possibility of defeat + weighed upon his glowering soul like a premature day of judgment. He knew + himself to be the one man for the opportunity, and could his true feelings + have found utterance, they would have said, “Damn us everlastingly in + hell, but don’t shelve us now!” + </p> + <p> + Opposed to St. John was a Mr. Bispham, of about quarter his height + intellectually and integrally—a politician, simple, who went to war + for loot. But he was blessed with a tremendous voice and an inexhaustible + store of elemental, fundamental humor, upon the waves of which the ship + bearing his banner floated high. It seemed that because of one glaring + exhibition of tactlessness, and a lack of humor, a really important, + valuable, and honest man was to lose the chance of serving his country to + a designing whipper-snapper, who was without even the saving grace of + violent and virulent prejudices. And so the world goes. It seemed at one + time that St. John’s chance was a ghost of a chance, and his friends, + sons, and relatives, toiling headstrong by night and day, were brought up + at the verge of despair. To make the situation even more difficult, St. + John himself was prostrated with the gout, so that his telling oratory and + commanding personality could not be brought to bear. Margaret was never + far from her father’s side, and she worked like a dog for him, writing to + dictation till her hands became almost useless, and when the spasms of + pain were great, leaving her work to kiss his old brow. + </p> + <p> + It was at this time that people all over the State began to take up a song + with an inimitably catching tune. The words of this song held up Mr. + Bispham in so shrewdly true and farcically humorous a light that even his + own star began to titter and threatened to slip from its high place in the + heavens. The song fell so absolutely on the head of the nail that Mr. + Bispham, when he heard it for the first time, was convulsed with anger and + talked of horse-whips. The second time he heard it, he drew himself up + with dignity and pretended not to notice, and the third time he broke into + a cold sweat, for he began to be afraid of those words and that tune. At a + mass-meeting, while in the midst of a voluble harangue, somebody in the + back of the hall punctuated—an absurd statement, which otherwise + might have passed unnoticed, by whistling the first bar of the song. Mr. + Bispham faced the tittering like a man, and endeavored to rehabilitate + himself. But his hands had slipped on the handle of the audience, and the + forensic rosin of Demosthenes would not have enabled him to regain his + grip. He was cruelly assured of the fact by the hostile and ready-witted + whistler. Again Mr. Bispham absurded. This time the tune broke out in all + parts of the hall and was itself punctuated by catcalls and sotto-voce + insults delivered with terrific shouts. Mr. Bispham’s speech was hurriedly + finished, and the peroration came down as flat as a skater who tries a + grape-vine for the first time. He left the hall hurriedly, pale and + nervous. The tune followed him down the street and haunted him to his + room. The alarming takingness of it had gotten in at his ear, and as he + was savagely undressing he caught himself in the traitorous act of humming + it to himself. + </p> + <p> + Among others to leave the hall was a tall, slim young man with freckles + across the bridge of his nose and very bright blue eyes. A party of young + men accompanied him, and all were a little noisy, and, as they made the + street, broke lustily into the campaign song. People said, “That’s him,” + “That’s O’Brien,” “That’s Aladdin O’Brien,” “That’s the man wrote it,” and + the like. The young men disappeared down the street singing at the tops of + their voices, with interlardations of turbulent, mocking laughter. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin’s song went all over the North, and his name became known in the + land. + </p> + <p> + Hannibal St. John was not musical. There were only four tunes, and three + of them were variations of “Carry Me Back to Old Virginia,” that he + recognized when he heard them. As he lay on his bed of pain, he heard the + shrill whistle of his gardener piping in the garden below. Unconsciously + the senator’s well hand marked the time. All day, as he came and went + about his business, the gardener kept whistling that tune, and the senator + heard and reheard ever with increasing pleasure. And this was an + extraordinary thing, for it was as difficult or nearly so to move Hannibal + St. John with music as it must have been for Orpheus to get himself + approached by rocks and stones and trees, and far more difficult than it + ever was for the Pied Piper to achieve a following of brats and rats. + </p> + <p> + Margaret had been for a drive with a girl friend. She came home and to her + father’s side in great spirits. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, papa,” she cried, “will you do me a favor?” + </p> + <p> + She read consent. + </p> + <p> + “Claire has got the wonderfulest song, and I want you to let her come in + and sing it for you.” + </p> + <p> + “A song?” said the senator, doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + “Papa de-e-ear, please.” + </p> + <p> + He smiled grimly. + </p> + <p> + “If Claire will not be shocked by my appearance,” he said against hope. + </p> + <p> + “Rubbish,” cried Margaret, and flew out of the room. + </p> + <p> + There were a few preliminary gasps and giggles in the hall, and the two + maidens, as sedate and demure as mice, entered. Claire was a little party, + with vivacious manners and a comical little upturned face. + </p> + <p> + “How do you do, senator?” she said. “I’m so sorry you’re laid up. Isn’t it + lovely out?” She advanced and shook his well hand. + </p> + <p> + “Won’t you take a chair?” said the senator. + </p> + <p> + “I just ran in for a moment. Margaret and I thought maybe you’d like to + hear the new campaign song that everybody’s singing. My brother brought it + up from Portland—” she paused, out of breath. + </p> + <p> + “It would afford me great pleasure,” said the senator. + </p> + <p> + And forthwith Claire sang in a rollicking voice. The tune was the same as + that which the gardener had been whistling. St. John recognized it in + spite of the difference in the mediums and smiled. Then he smiled because + of the words, and presently he laughed. It was the first real pleasure he + had had in many a day. + </p> + <p> + “Everybody is wild about it,” said Claire, when she had finished. + </p> + <p> + The senator was shaking with laughter. + </p> + <p> + “That’s good,” he said, “that’s good.” + </p> + <p> + “Papa,” said Margaret, when Claire had gone, “who do you think wrote that + song?” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know,” said the senator. “But it’s good.” + </p> + <p> + “Aladdin wrote it,” said Margaret. + </p> + <p> + “Upon my word!” said the senator. + </p> + <p> + Margaret knelt and threw her arms about her father’s neck and blushed a + lovely blush. + </p> + <p> + “Isn’t it splendid?” + </p> + <p> + There was a ring at the front door, and a telegram was brought in. + </p> + <p> + “Read it, Peggy,” said the senator. He used that name only when moved + about something. The despatch was from the senator’s youngest son, + Hannibal, and read: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Do not worry; we are singing Bispham up a tree. +</pre> + <p> + “And Aladdin wrote the song!” cried Margaret. “Aladdin wrote it!” + </p> + <p> + The senator’s face clouded for a moment. He forced the cloud to pass. + </p> + <p> + “We must thank him,” he said. “We must thank him.” + </p> + <p> + Senator St. John was reelected by a small majority. Everybody admitted + that it was due to Aladdin O’Brien’s song. It was impossible to disguise + the engaging childishness of the vote. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIV + </h2> + <p> + As he went to his desk in the back room of the Portland “Spy” offices the + morning after the election, Aladdin had an evil headache, and a + subconscious hope that nobody would speak to him suddenly. He felt that + his arms and legs might drop off if anybody did, and he could have sworn + that he saw a gray sparrow with blue eyes run into a dark corner, and turn + into a mouse. But he was quite free from penitence, as the occasion of + this last offense had been joy and triumph, whereas that of his first had + been sorrow. He lighted a bad cigar, put off his editorial till later, and + covered a whole sheet of paper with pictures like these: + </p> + <p> + (Transcriber’s note: These are simple sketches of birds and animals.) + </p> + <p> + He looked back with a certain smug satisfaction upon a hilarious evening + beginning with a dinner at the club, which some of the older adherents of + St. John had given him in gratitude for the part he had taken in the + campaign. He remembered that he had not given a bad exhibition, and that + noble prophecies had been made of his future by gentlemen in their cups, + and that he himself, when just far enough gone to be courageous without + being silly, had made a snappy little speech of thanks which had been + received with great applause, and that later he had sung his campaign song + and others, and that finally, in company with an ex-judge, whose hat was + also decorated with a wreath of smilax, he had rolled amiably about the + town in a hack, going from one place where drinks could be gotten to + another, and singing with great fervor and patriotism: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Zhohn Brownzh bozhy liezh a mole-ring in zhe grave. +</pre> + <p> + Aladdin thought over these things with pleasure, for he had fallen under + the dangerous flattery of older men, and with less pleasure of the + editorial which it was his immediate business to write. His brisk, crisp + chief, Mr. Blankinship, came in for a moment, walking testily and looking + like the deuce. + </p> + <p> + “So you’ve showed up, Aladdin, have you?” he said. “That’s young blood. If + any question of politics—I mean policy—arises, I leave it + absolutely to you. I’m going back to bed. Can’t you stop smoking that + rotten cigar?” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin laughed aloud, and Mr. Blankinship endeavored to smile. + </p> + <p> + “Somewhere,” he said, “in this transcendentally beautiful continent, + Aladdin, there may be some one that feels worse than I do, but I doubt + it.” He turned to go. + </p> + <p> + “Won’t Mr. Orde be here either?” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “No; he’s home in bed. You’re editor-in-chief and everything else for the + day, see? And I wish I was dead.” Mr. Blankinship nodded, very slightly, + for it hurt, and went out. + </p> + <p> + The misery of others is a great cure: with the first sight of Mr. + Blankinship, Aladdin’s headache had gone, and he now pounced upon fresh + paper, got a notion out of the God-knows-where, wrote his editorial at + full speed, and finished it without once removing the cigar from his + mouth. + </p> + <p> + He had just done when the shrewd, inky little boy, who did everything + about the “Spy” offices which nobody else would do, entered and said that + a gentleman wanted to speak with Mr. O’Brien. Aladdin had the gentleman + shown up, and recognized the oldest of Hannibal St. John’s sons; he knew + them well by sight, but it so happened that he had never met them. They + were the three biggest and most clean-cut young men in Maine, measuring + between six feet three and four; erect, massive, utterly composed, and, if + anything, a little stronger than so many dray-horses. They were notable + shots, great fishermen, and the whole State was beginning to speculate + with excitement about their respective futures and the present almost + glittering success of the law firm which they composed. The oldest was the + tallest and the strongest. He had been known to break horseshoes and to + tear a silver dollar in two. Iron was as sealing-wax in his huge hands. + His habits were Spartan. The second son was almost a replica of the first—a + little darker and a little less vivid. The third was like the others; but + his face was handsomer, and not so strong. He was of a more gentle and + winning disposition, for his life was not ignorant of the frailties. The + girl to whom he had been engaged had died, and that had left a kind of + sweetness, almost beseechingness, in his manner, very engaging in so tall + and strong a man. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. O’Brien?” said John St. John. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin arose and held out his long, slender hand. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin had a way of moving which was very individual to himself, a + slight, ever so slight, exaggeration of stride and gesture, a kind of + captivating awkwardness and diffidence that was on the borderland of grace + and assurance. Like all slender people who work much with their heads, he + had a strong grip, but he felt that his hand was as inconsistent as an eel + when St. John’s closed over it. + </p> + <p> + “I came in for a moment,” said St. John, “to say that we are all + exceedingly grateful to you. Your song was a great factor in my father’s + reelection to the Senate. But we do not hold so much by the song as by the + good will which you showed us in writing it. I want you to understand and + believe that if I can ever be of the slightest service to you, I will go + very far to render it.” + </p> + <p> + “I’m as obliged as I can be,” said Aladdin. “It’s mighty good of you to + come and talk to me like this, and except for the good will I have toward + all your family, I don’t deserve it a bit.” + </p> + <p> + When John St. John had gone, the inky boy came to announce that another + gentleman wished to speak with Mr. O’Brien. + </p> + <p> + The second gentleman proved to be the second brother, Hamilton St. John. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. O’Brien?” said he. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin shook hands with him. + </p> + <p> + “I came in for a moment,” said Hamilton St. John, “for the pleasure of + telling you how tremendously grateful we all are to you for your song, + which was such a big factor in my father’s redirection to the Senate. But + I want to say, too, that we’re more grateful for your good will than for + the song, and if I can ever do you a service, I want you to feel perfectly + free to come and ask it of me, whatever it is.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin could have laughed for joy. Margaret did not seem so far away as + sometimes. + </p> + <p> + “I’m as obliged as I can be,” he said. “It’s mighty good of you to come + and talk to me like this, and except for the good will I have toward all + your family, I don’t deserve it a bit, but I appreciate it just the same.” + </p> + <p> + Presently Hamilton St. John departed. + </p> + <p> + Again the inky boy, and this time grinning. + </p> + <p> + “There’s a gentleman would like to speak with you, sir,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Show him in,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + Hannibal St. John, Jr., entered. + </p> + <p> + “O’Brien,” he said, “I’ve often heard my sister Margaret speak about you, + and I’ve been meaning for ever so long to look you up. And I wish I’d done + it before I had such an awfully good excuse as that song of yours, because + I don’t know how to thank you, quite. But I want you to understand that if + at any time—rubbish, you know what I mean. Come up to the club, and + we’ll make a drink and talk things over.” + </p> + <p> + He drew Aladdin’s arm into his, and they went out. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin had never before felt so near Margaret. + </p> + <p> + He returned to the office in half an hour, happy and a slave. Hannibal St. + John, Jr., had won the heart right out of him in ten minutes. He sat + musing and dreaming. Was he to be one of those chosen? + </p> + <p> + “Gentleman to see you, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Show him in.” + </p> + <p> + The inky snickered and hurried out. He could be heard saying with + importance, “This way, sir. Look out for that press, sir. It’s very dark + in here, sir.” And then, like a smart flunky in a house of condition, he + appeared again at the door and announced + </p> + <p> + “Senator Hannibal St. John.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin sprang up. + </p> + <p> + The senator, still suffering from the gout, and leaning heavily on his + whalebone cane, limped majestically in. There was an amiability on his + face, which Aladdin had never seen there before. He placed a chair for his + distinguished guest. The senator removed his high hat and stood it upon + the edge of Aladdin’s desk. + </p> + <p> + “My boy,” he said,—the word tingled from Aladdin’s ears to his + heart, for it was a word of great approachment and unbending,—“I am + very grateful for your efforts in my behalf. I will place honor where + honor is due, and say that I owe my recent reflection to the United States + Senate not so much to my more experienced political friends as to you. The + present crisis in the affairs of the nation calls for men of feeling and + honor, and not for politicians. I hope that you will not misconstrue me + into a braggart if I say from the bottom of my heart I believe that, in + returning a man of integrity and tradition to his seat in the Congress of + the nation, you have rendered a service to the nation.” + </p> + <p> + The senator paused, and Aladdin, still standing, waited for him to finish. + </p> + <p> + “After a week,” said the senator, “I shall return to my duties in + Washington. In the meanwhile, Margaret” (he had hitherto always referred + to her before Aladdin as “my daughter”) “and I are keeping open house, and + if it will give you pleasure we shall be charmed” (the word fell from the + senator’s lips like a complete poem) “to have you make us a visit. Two of + my sons will be at home, and other young people.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, and it will give me pleasure!” cried Aladdin, falling into the + least suspicion of a brogue. + </p> + <p> + “I will write a line to your chief,” continued the senator, “and I have + reason to believe that he will see you excused. We shall expect you + to-morrow by the fourthirty.” + </p> + <p> + “I’m ever so much obliged, sir,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “My boy,” said the senator, gravely, after a full minute’s pause, “we are + all concerned in your future, which promises to be a brilliant one. It + rests with you. But, if an old man may be permitted a word of caution, it + would be this: Let your chief recreation lie in your work; leave the other + things. Do I make myself clear enough?” (Aladdin nodded guiltily.) “Leave + the frailties to the dullards of this world.” + </p> + <p> + He rose to go. + </p> + <p> + “My young friend,” said the senator, “you have my best wishes.” + </p> + <p> + Grimacing with the pain in his foot, limping badly, but always stately and + impressive,—almost superimpending,—Hannibal St. John moved + slowly out of the office. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XV + </h2> + <p> + The weather turned suddenly gusty and cold, and that afternoon it began to + snow, and it kept on snowing. All night fine dry flakes fell in unexampled + profusion, and by morning the face of the land was many inches deep. Nor + did the snow then cease. All the morning it continued to fall with vigor. + The train by which Aladdin was to go to the St. Johns’ left at two-thirty, + arriving there two hours later; and it was with numb feet and stinging + ears that he entered the car reserved for smokers, and, bundling in a + somewhat threadbare over coat, endeavored to make himself comfortable for + the journey. As the train creaked and jerked out of the protecting + station, the storm smote upon the windows with a noise like thrown sand, + and a back draft down the chimney of the iron stove in one end of the car + sent out puffs of smutty smoke at whatever points the various castings of + the stove came together with insufficient snugness. There were but half a + dozen people in the whole train. + </p> + <p> + “Troubles, old man,” said Aladdin, for so he was in the habit of + addressing himself at moments of self-communication, “this is going to be + the slowest kind of a trip, but we’re going to enjoy every minute of it, + because it’s taking us to the place where we would be-God bless her!” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin took a cigar from his breast pocket. + </p> + <p> + “Troubles,” said he, “may I offer you a smoke? What? Oh, you’re very much + obliged and don’t mind if you do. There you are, then.” Aladdin sent out a + great puff of white smoke; this turned into a blue wraith, drifted down + the aisle, between the seats, gathering momentum as it went, and finally, + with the rapidity of a mint julep mounting a sucked straw (that isn’t + split) and spun long and fine, it was drawn through a puncture of the + isinglass in the stove door and went up the chimney in company with other + smoke, and out into the storm. Aladdin, full of anticipation and glee, + smoked away with great spirit. Presently, for the car was empty but for + himself, Aladdin launched into the rollicking air of “Red Renard” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Three scarlet huntsmen rode up to White Plains + With a carol of voices and jangle of chains, + For the morning was blue and the morning was fair, + And the word ran, “Red Renard” is waiting us there.” + </pre> + <p> + He puffed at his cigar a moment to be sure that its fire should not flag, + and sang on: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The first scarlet huntsman blew into his horn, + Lirala, Lovely Morning, I’m glad I was born”; + The second red huntsman he whistled an air, + And the third sang, “Red Renard” is waiting us there.” + </pre> + <p> + “Just such weather as this, Troubles,” he said, looking out into the swirl + of snow. “Just the beautifulest kind of cross-country weather!” He sang + on: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Three lovely ladies they met at the meet, + With whips in their hands and with boots on their feet; + And the gentlemen lifted their hats with a cheer, + As the girls said, “Red Renard is waiting you here.” + </pre> + <p> + He quickened into the stanza he liked best: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Three scarlet huntsmen rode off by the side + Of three lovely ladies on horses of pride. + Said the first, “Call me Ellen”; the second, “I’m Claire”; + Said the third, “I’m Red Renard—so called from my hair.” + </pre> + <p> + The train, which had been running more slowly, drew up with a chug, and + some minutes passed before it again gathered itself and lurched on. + </p> + <p> + “That’s all right,” said Aladdin. He was quite warm now, and thoroughly + happy. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Three scarlet huntsmen rode home from White Plains, + With its mud on their boots, and its girls on their brains; + And the first sang of Ellen, the second of Claire, + But the third sang, “Red Renard is waiting back there.” + </pre> + <p> + He made a waggish face to finish with: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Three scarlet huntsmen got into frock-coats, + And they pinched their poor feet, and they tortured their throats; + And the first married Ellen, the second wed Claire, + While the third said, “Re Renar izh waishing back zhere.” + </pre> + <p> + He assumed the expression for a moment of one astutely drunk. + </p> + <p> + “A bas!” he said, for this much of the French language was his to command, + and no more. He turned and attempted to look out. He yawned. Presently he + threw away the reeking butt of his cigar, closed his eyes, and fell + asleep. + </p> + <p> + The water below the veranda was alive with struggling fishes in high hats + and frock-coats. Each fish had a label painted across his back with his + name and address neatly printed on it, and each fish was struggling to + reach a tiny minnow-hook, naked of bait, which dangled just out of reach + above the water. The baitless hook was connected by a fine line (who ever + heard of baiting a line at the wrong end?) with Margaret’s hand. She had + on a white dress stamped with big pink roses, and there was a pale-green + ribbon round the middle of it; her hair was done up for the first time, + and she was leaning over the railing, which was made of safety-lamps and + stranglers alternately, painted light blue, regarding the struggling + fishes with a look at once full of curiosity and pity. Presently one of + the fishes’ labels soaked off, and went hurtling out to sea, with the fish + weeping bitterly and following at express speed, until in less than one + moment both label and fish were hull down below the horizon. Then another + label washed off, and then another and another, and fish after fish, in + varying states of distraction, followed after and disappeared, until all + you could see were two, whereof the one was labeled Manners and the other + O’Brien (these continued to fight for the hook), and all you could hear + was Neptune, from down, down, down in the sea, saying coquettishly to + Cleopatra, “I’m Red Renard—so called from my hair.” And then all of + a sudden valiant Captain Kissed-by-Margaret went by on a log writing + mottos for the wives of famous men. And then Manners and O’Brien, + struggling desperately to drown each other, sank down, down, down, and + Cleopatra could be heard saying perfectly logically to Neptune, “You + didn’t!” And then there was a tremendous shower of roses, and the dream + went out like a candle. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin opened his eyes and stroked his chin. He was troubled about the + dream. The senator had spoken to him of “others.” Could Peter Manners + possibly be there? Was that the especial demolishment that fate held in + store for him? He was very wide awake now. + </p> + <p> + At times, owing to the opaqueness of the storm, it was impossible to see + out of the car window. But there were moments when a sudden rush of wind + blew a path for the eye, and by such occasional pictures—little long + of the instantaneous—one could follow the progress of the blizzard. + Aladdin saw a huddle of sheep big with snow; then a man getting into a + house by the window; an ancient apple-tree with a huge limb torn off; two + telegraph poles that leaned toward each other, like one man fixing + another’s cravat; and he caught glimpses of wires broken, loosened, + snarled, and fuzzy with snow. Then the train crawled over a remembered + trestle, and Aladdin knew that he was within four miles of his station, + and within three of the St. Johns’ house by the best of short cuts across + country. He looked precisely in its direction, and kissed his fingers to + Margaret, and wondered what she was doing. Then there was a rumbling, + jumping jar, and the train stopped. Minute after minute went by. Aladdin + waited impatiently for the train to start. The conductor passed hurriedly + through. + </p> + <p> + “What’s up?” called Aladdin after him. + </p> + <p> + “Up!” cried the conductor. “We’re off the track.” + </p> + <p> + “Can’t we go on to-night?” + </p> + <p> + “Nup!” The conductor passed out of the car and banged the door. + </p> + <p> + “Got to sit here all night!” said Aladdin. “Not much! Get up, Troubles! If + you don’t think I know the way about here, you can stay by the stove. I’m + going to walk.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin and Troubles rose, buttoned their coat, left the car, and set out + in the direction of the St. Johns’. Aladdin’s watch at starting read five + o’clock. + </p> + <p> + “Our luggage is all checked, Troubles,” he said, “and all we’ve got to + face is the idea of walking three miles through very disagreeable weather, + over a broad path that we know like the palm of our hand (which we don’t + know as well as we might), arriving late, wet to the skin, and without a + change of clothes. On the other hand, we shall deserve a long drink and + much sympathy. As for you, Troubles, you’re the best company I know, and + all is well.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The first scarlet huntsman blew into his horn, + “Lirala, Lovely Morning, I’m glad I was born.” + </pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XVI + </h2> + <p> + At first the way, lying through waist-high fir scrub, was pretty bad + underfoot, but beyond was a stretch of fine timber, where the trees had + done much to arrest the snow, and the going was not so severe. Aladdin + calculated that he should make the distance in an hour and a half; and + when the wood ended, he looked at his watch and found that the first mile, + together with only twenty-five minutes, was behind him. + </p> + <p> + “That’s the rate of an hour and a quarter, Troubles,” he said. “And that’s + good time. Are you listening?” + </p> + <p> + But following the wood was a great open space of country pitched up from + the surrounding levels, and naked to every fury of nature. Across that + upland the wind blew a wicked gale, scarifying the tops of knolls to the + brown, dead grass, and filling the hollows flush with snow. At times, to + keep from being blown over, it was necessary to lean against the gusts. + Aladdin was conscious of not making very rapid progress, but there was + something exhilarating in the wildness, the bitter cold, and the roar of + the wind; it had an effect as of sea thundering upon beach, great views + from mountain-tops, black wild nights, the coming of thunder and freshness + after intense heat, or any of the thousand and one vaster demonstrations + of nature. Now and again Aladdin sang snatches of song: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Gaily bedight, + A gallant knight + In sunshine and shadow + Journeyed long, + Singing a song, + In search of El Dorado. +</pre> + <p> + Or from “The Mole of Marimolena” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I was turning fifty-odd when the everlasting God + Smote a path of molten gold across the blue, + Says, “There’s many million men would have done the like again, + But you didn’t, and, my man, there’s hope for you. + + “Start sheets and sail for the Mole— + For the old rotten Mole of Marimolena; + There’s maybe some one there + That you’re longing to treat fair, + On the dismal, woeful Mole of Marimolena.” + </pre> + <p> + And other deep-sea chanteys,—the one in which the pirate found the + Lady in the C-a-a-bin and slivered off her head, or back to Red Renard, or + further to his own campaign song, and furthest of all to the bad, bad + young dog of a crow. Then he got quite out of breath, and pausing for a + moment to catch it, noted for the first time the extreme bitterness of the + cold. It stung the face like insects. “Woof!” he said. “And now for lost + time.” + </p> + <p> + Again he stepped out, but with each step the snow became deeper, and + presently he floundered in to his waist. “Must be a ditch!” he said, + turning a little to the right and exclaiming, “Thought so!” as the wading + got shallower. Whereupon he stepped into a deep hole and fell. After + plunging and plowing about, it was brought home to him that he had lost + the path. Even at that the difficulty remained one of hard walking alone, + for he had been familiar with that country since childhood, and knew the + precise direction in which it was necessary for him to locomote. It was a + pity that the only structure in the vicinity was an ancient and deserted + house,—it lay just off there,—as he should have liked to have + warmed himself by a good fire before going farther. He remembered that + there were a partly preserved stove in the deserted house, broken laths, + and naily boards, and swathes of curious old wall-papers, layer upon + layer, which, dampening and rotting from the wall, hung raggedly down. He + had once explored the house with Margaret, and it seemed almost wise to go + to the place and make a fire. But on account of the delay involved and the + approach of darkness, he discarded the notion, and, a little impatient at + being badly used by a neighborhood he knew so well, struggled on. + </p> + <p> + “Troubles,” he said, “what sort of a storm is this anyway? Did you ever + see anything quite like it round here? Because I never did. It must be + like those things they have out West, when millions of poor little + baa-sheeps and horses and cattles freeze to death. I’d hate to be a horse + out in this, but I wish I had one. I—” + </p> + <p> + If, as a child, you have ever slipped, though only an inch, while climbing + over roofs, you will know that sudden, stabbing, sinking feeling that came + to Aladdin and stopped the beating of his heart by the hairbreadth of a + second. He had been proceeding chin on breast, and head bent against the + wind, or he would have seen it before, for it was a notable landmark in + that part of the world, and showed him that he had been making way, not + toward his destination, but toward the wilderness. + </p> + <p> + He gazed up at the great black blasted pine, its waist the height of a + tall tree, and its two lonely lightning-scathed and white arms stretched + out like a malediction; and for a moment he had to take himself in hand. + After a little he mastered the fear that had seized him. + </p> + <p> + “It’s only a poor old lonely vegetable out in the cold,” he said. “And it + shows us exactly where we are and exactly which way we have to go.” + </p> + <p> + He set himself right, and, with head lowered and hands clenched, again + started on. But he was beginning to be very much bored, and sensible that + his legs were not accustomed to being used so hard. Furthermore, there was + a little difficulty—not by any means an insurmountable one—in + steering straight, because of the constantly varying point of the compass + in which the wind blew. He went on for a long time.... + </p> + <p> + He began to look for the high ground to decline, as it should, about now, + if it was the high ground he took it for. “I ought to be getting + somewhere,” he said. + </p> + <p> + And, God help him! tired out, half frozen and very foot-sore, he was + getting somewhere, for, glancing up, he again beheld the gigantic and + demoniac shape of the blasted pine. + </p> + <p> + It is on prairies and among mountains, far from the habitations of men, + that man is most readily terrified before nature, and not on the + three-mile primrose way from a railway accident to a house-party. But for + a moment cold terror struck at Aladdin like a serpent, and the marrow in + his bones froze. Before he could succeed in reducing this awful feeling to + one of acute anxiety alone, he had to talk to himself and explain things + as to a child. + </p> + <p> + “Then it is true, Troubles, old man,” he said, “about a person’s tendency + to go to the left. That’s interesting, isn’t it? But what do we care? + Being gifted with a certain (flighty, it is true) intelligence, we will + simply take pains, and every step pull a little to the right; and that + will make us go straight. Come now-keep thinking about it-every step!” + </p> + <p> + As the end of the day approached, a lull came in the gale, and the snow + fell less freely. The consequently widened horizon of vision was eminently + comforting, and Aladdin’s unpleasant feeling of anxiety almost + disappeared. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he was aware of a red horse. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XVII + </h2> + <p> + It was standing almost leg-clear, in an angle of what seemed a + drifted-over snake-fence. Its ugly, Roman-nosed head was thrown up and + out, as if about to neigh. + </p> + <p> + “Poor beastie,” said Aladdin, after a start. “You must be direfful cold, + but we’ll ride you, and that will make you warm, and us cold, and we’ll + all get along faster.” + </p> + <p> + Drawing near, he began to gentle the horse and call it pet names. It was a + huge brute, over seventeen hands high, and Aladdin, aided only by a + rickety fence, and a pair of legs that would hardly support him, was + appalled by the idea of having to climb to that lofty eminence, its back. + Without doubt he was dreadfully tired. + </p> + <p> + “The fence will help, old man” he said. “Here, you, pay attention and get + over.” He tried to insinuate himself between the horse and the fence, but + the horse did not seem inclined to move. + </p> + <p> + “Get over, you!” he said, and gave a shove. The horse moved a little, very + unwillingly. “Farther yet,” said Aladdin: “Get over, you, get over.” Again + he shoved; this time harder. He slapped the great shoulder with his open + hand. And again the horse moved, but very slowly. “You’re an unwilling + brute, aren’t you?” he said angrily. + </p> + <p> + For answer the thing tottered, and, to his horror, began to fall, at first + slowly, but ever with accelerating speed, until, in the exact attitude in + which it had stood by the fence,—the great Roman-nosed head thrown + up and out, as if to neigh,—he beheld the horse stretched before him + on the ground, and noted for the first time the awful death-like glint of + the yellow teeth through the parting of the lips. + </p> + <p> + He went very gravely from that place, for he had been looking upon death + by freezing, and he himself was terribly cold, terribly tired, and—he + admitted it now—completely lost. + </p> + <p> + But he went on for a long time—four or five hundred years. And it + grew darker and colder. + </p> + <p> + He began to talk to himself, to try and steady himself, as he had done + ever since childhood at forsaken times. + </p> + <p> + “Troubles,” he said, “You’re full of troubles, aren’t you, old man? You + always were. But this is the worst. You can’t walk very much farther, can + you? I can’t. And if you don’t get helped by some one pretty soon, you’re + going to come to the end of your troubles. And, Troubles, do you know, I + think that’s what’s going to happen to you and me, and I want you to stand + up to it if it comes [gulp] and face it like a man. Now let’s rest a + little, Troubles, will we?” + </p> + <p> + Troubles and Aladdin rested a little. When the rest was over they could + hardly move, and they began to see the end of a young man that they had + hoped would live a long time and be very happy. They went on. + </p> + <p> + “Troubles,” said Aladdin, “do you suppose she knows that we are out here, + perhaps dying? We would know if she were, wouldn’t we? And do you think + she cares? Liar, you know she cares, and a lot. She wouldn’t be she if she + didn’t care. But we didn’t think that all the years of waiting and hoping + and loving and trying to be something would end like this, did we, + Troubles? We thought that it might end with the godlike Manners (whom we + wouldn’t help if he were freezing to death, would we?), but not like this—O + Lord God, not like this!... And we weren’t sure it would end with Manners; + we were going to fight it out to a mighty good finish, weren’t we, + Troubles? But now it’s going to end in a mighty good storm, and you’re + going to die for all your troubles, Troubles... And I’m talking to you so + that we won’t lose our sand, even if we are afraid to die, and there’s no + one looking on.” + </p> + <p> + Though Aladdin stopped making talk in his head, the talk kept going on by + itself; and he suddenly shouted aloud for it to stop. Then he began to + whimper and shiver, for he thought that his mind was going. + </p> + <p> + Presently he shook himself. + </p> + <p> + “Troubles,” he said, “we’ve only a little farther to go—just as far + as our feet will carry us, and no farther. That’s the proper way to + finish. And for God’s sake keep sane. We won’t give her up yet!” + </p> + <p> + Ten steps and years passed. + </p> + <p> + “Troubles,” said Aladdin, “we’re going to call for help, and if it don’t + come, which it won’t, we’re going to try and be calm. It seems simplest + and looks best to be calm.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin stood there crying aloud for the help of man, but it did not come. + And then he cried for the help of God. And he stood there waiting—waiting + for it to come. + </p> + <p> + “We must help ourselves, Troubles,” he said, with a desperate effort to be + calm. “We’ve got ten steps left in us. Now, then, one—two—” + </p> + <p> + During the taking of those ten steps the snow ceased entirely to fall, and + black night enveloped the earth. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin was all numb, and he wished to sleep, but he made the ten steps + into eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, before his limbs refused to act, + and he fell forward in the snow. He managed to raise himself and crawl a + little way. He saw a light afar off, and guessing that it must be an + angel, held out his hands to it—and one of them encountered a + something in the dark. + </p> + <p> + Even through his thick mitten it felt round and smooth and colder than his + fingers, like a ball of ice. Then Aladdin laughed aloud, for he knew that + his last walk upon earth had been in the form of a silly circle. He had + returned to the dead horse, and his gloved hand was resting upon its + frozen eye. He shrieked with laughter and became heavy with a desire to + sleep. + </p> + <p> + He sank deliciously down, and began to see showers of roses, when it + flashed upon him that this was not sleep, but death. + </p> + <p> + It was like lifting prodigious dumb-bells to get his eyes to open, and a + return to consciousness was like the stabbing of knives. But he opened his + eyes and roused himself. + </p> + <p> + “I won’t give her up yet,” he cried. + </p> + <p> + And then, by the help of God Almighty, he crawled the whole length of the + horse. + </p> + <p> + And fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XVIII + </h2> + <p> + It was a miserable, undressed thing wrapped in a horse-blanket and a + buffalo-robe that woke up in front of a red-hot stove and remembered that + it used to be Aladdin O’Brien. It had a dreadful headache, and could smell + whisky and feel warm, and that for a long time was about all. Then it + noticed that the wall opposite was ragged with loosened wall-paper and in + places stripped of plaster, so that the lathing showed through, and that + in its own head—no, in the room beyond the wall—an impatient + stamping noise of iron on wood was occurring at intervals. Then it managed + to turn its head, and it saw a big, beautiful man sitting on the end of an + old soapbox and smoking a pipe. Then it was seized with a wrenching + sickness, and the big man came quickly and held its head and was very good + to it, and it felt better and went to sleep. After a while it descended + into the Red Sea, with the avowed intention of calling Neptune Red Renard + to his face, and when it got to the bottom, which was of red brick + sprinkled with white door-knobs that people kept diving for, it became + frightened and ran and ran until it came to the bottom of an iceberg, that + had roots like a hyacinth bulb and was looking for a place to plant + itself, and it climbed up to the top of the iceberg, which was all + bulrushes, and said, “I beg your pardon, but I forgot; I must go back and + make my apologies.” Then it woke up and spoke in a weak voice. + </p> + <p> + “Peter Manners,” said Aladdin, “come here.” + </p> + <p> + Manners came and sat on the floor beside him. + </p> + <p> + “Feel better now?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me—” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, stuff!” said Manners. + </p> + <p> + “Manners,” said Aladdin, “you don’t look as if you hated me any more.” + </p> + <p> + “You sleep,” said Manners. “That’s what you need.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin thought for a long time and tried to remember what he wanted to + say, and shutting his eyes, to think better, fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + For the third time he awoke. Manners was back on the soap-box, still as a + sphinx, and smoking his pipe. + </p> + <p> + “Please come and talk some more,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + Again Manners came. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me about it,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “You be good and go to sleep,” said Manners. + </p> + <p> + “What time is it?” + </p> + <p> + “Nearly morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Still storming?” + </p> + <p> + “No; stars out and warmer.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin thought a moment. + </p> + <p> + “Manners,” he said, “please talk to me. How did you find me?” + </p> + <p> + “Simply enough,” said Manners. “I took the senator’s cutter out for a + little drive, and got lost. Then I heard somebody laughing, and I stumbled + over you and your horse; that’s all. How the devil did you manage to lose + your saddle and bridle?” + </p> + <p> + “It was a dead horse,” said Aladdin, and he shivered at the recollection. + </p> + <p> + “Quite so,” said Manners. + </p> + <p> + “It was the funniest thing,” said Aladdin, and again he shuddered with a + kind of reminiscent revolt. “I pushed it, and it fell over frozen to + death.” He was conscious of talking nonsense. + </p> + <p> + “Wait a minute, Manners,” he said. “I’ll be sensible in a minute.” + </p> + <p> + Presently he told Manners about the horse. + </p> + <p> + “I saw alight just then,” he said, “and I thought it was an angel.” + </p> + <p> + “It was I,” said Manners, naively. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Manners, it was you,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + He thought about an angel turning out to be Manners for a long time. Then + a terrible recollection came to him, and, in a voice shaking with remorse + and self-incrimination, he cried: + </p> + <p> + “God help me, Manners, I would have let you freeze.” + </p> + <p> + Manners pulled at his pipe. + </p> + <p> + “Manners,” said Aladdin, “it’s true I know it’s true, because, for all I + knew, I was dying when I said it.” + </p> + <p> + Manners shook his head. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no,” said Manners. + </p> + <p> + “Make me think that,” said Aladdin, with a quaver. “Please make me think + that if you can, for, God help me, I think I would have let you freeze.” + </p> + <p> + “When I found you,” said Manners, “I—I was sorry that the Lord + hadn’t sent somebody else to you, and me to somebody else. That was + because you always hated me with no very good reason, and a man hates to + be hated, and so, to be quite honest, I hated you back.” + </p> + <p> + “Right,” said Aladdin, “right.” + </p> + <p> + Light began to come in through the windows, whose broken panes Manners had + stopped with crumpled wall-paper. + </p> + <p> + “But when I got you here,” said Manners, “and began to work over you, you + stopped being Aladdin O’Brien, and were just a man in trouble.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Aladdin, “it must be like that. It’s got to be like that.” + </p> + <p> + “At first,” said Manners, “I worked because it seemed the proper thing to + do, and then I got interested, and then it became terrible to think that + you might die.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Aladdin. His face was ghastly in the pre-sunrise light. + </p> + <p> + “You wouldn’t get warm for hours,” said Manners, “and I got so tired that + I couldn’t rub any more, and so I stripped and got into the blankets with + you, and tried to keep you as warm as I could that way.” + </p> + <p> + He paused to relight his pipe. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin stared up at the tattered ceiling with wide, wondering eyes. + </p> + <p> + “When you got warm,” said Manners, “I gave you all the rest of the whisky, + and I’m sorry it made you sick, and now you’re as fit as a fiddle.” + </p> + <p> + “Fit-as-a-fiddle,” said Aladdin, slowly, as the wonder grew. And then he + began to cry like a little child. Manners waited till he had done, and + then wiped his face for him. + </p> + <p> + “So you see,” said Manners, simply, though with difficulty,—for he + was a man shy, to terror, of discussing his own feelings,—“I can’t + help liking you now, and—and I hope you won’t feel so hard toward me + any more.” + </p> + <p> + “I feel hard toward you!” said Aladdin. “Oh, Manners!” he cried. “I + thought all along that you were just a man that knew about horses and + dogs, but I see, I see; and I’m not going to worship anybody any more + except you and God, I’m not!” + </p> + <p> + Then he had another great long, hot cry. Manners waited patiently till it + was over. + </p> + <p> + “Manners,” said Aladdin, in a choky, hoarse voice, “I think you’re + different from what you used to be. You look as if—as if you ‘d got + the love of mankind in you.” + </p> + <p> + Manners did not answer. He appeared to be thinking of something wonderful. + </p> + <p> + “Do you think that’s it?” cried Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + Manners did not answer. + </p> + <p> + “Can’t I get it, too?” Aladdin cried. “Have I got to be little and mean + always? So help me, Manners, I don’t love any one but you and her.” + </p> + <p> + “You ‘re not fit to talk,” said Manners, with great gentleness. “You go to + sleep.” He arose, and going to the door of the house, opened it a little + way and looked out. + </p> + <p> + “It’s warm as toast out, Aladdin,” he called. “There’s going to be a big + thaw.” He closed the door and went into the next room, and Aladdin could + hear him talking to the horse. After a little he came back. + </p> + <p> + “Greener says that she never was better stalled,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Manners,” said Aladdin, “have I been raving?” + </p> + <p> + “Not been riding quite straight,” said Manners. + </p> + <p> + “How soon are we going to start?” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “We’ve got to wait till the snow’s pretty well melted,” said Manners. + “About noon, I think.” + </p> + <p> + Then, because he was very tired and sick and weak, and perhaps a trifle + delirious, Aladdin asked Manners if he would mind holding his hand. + Manners took the hand in his, and a thrill ran up Aladdin’s arm and all + over him, till it settled deliciously about his heart, and he slept. + </p> + <p> + The sun rose, and dazzling beams of light filled the room. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOOK II + </h2> + <p> + “In this combat no man can imagine, unless he had seen and heard as I did, + what yelling and hideous roaring Apollyon made all the time of the fight, + he spake like a Dragon; and on the other side, what sighs and groans burst + from Christian’s heart. I never saw him all the while give so much as one + pleasant look, till he perceived he had wounded Apollyon with his + two-edged sword: then indeed he did smile and look upward.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIX + </h2> + <p> + Senator St. John, attended by Margaret, her maid, and a physician, had + made the arduous journey from Washington to Portland without too much + fatigue, and it seemed reasonable to suppose that a long rest in his + comfortable house, far from the turmoil of public affairs, would do much + to reinstate his body after the savage attack of gout with complications + to which it had been subjected during six long weeks. Arrived at Portland, + he was driven to the house of his old friend Mr. Blankinship, and helped + to bed. Next morning he was seized with acute pains in the region of the + heart, and though his valiant mind refused for a single moment to tolerate + the thought that the end might be near, was persuaded to send for his + daughter and his sons. + </p> + <p> + Margaret was in the parlor with Aladdin. It was April, and the whole land + dripped. Through the open window, for the day was warm, the moisture of + the soaked ground and trees was almost audible. Margaret had much to say + to Aladdin, and he to her; they had not met for several months. + </p> + <p> + “I want to hear about Peter,” said Aladdin—“all about him. He met + you, of course, and got you across the city?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, and his father came, too,” said Margaret. “Such an old dear—you + never saw him, did you? He’s taller than Peter, but much thinner, and a + great aristocrat. He’s the only man I ever saw that has more presence than + papa. He looks like a fine old bird, and you can see his skull very + plainly—especially when he laughs, if you know what I mean. And he’s + really witty. He knows all about you and wants you to go and stay with + them sometime.” Aladdin sighed for the pure delight of hearing Margaret’s + voice running on and on. He was busy looking at her, and did not pay the + slightest attention to what she said. “And the girl came to lunch, + Aladdin, and she is so pretty, but not a bit serene like Peter, and the + men are all wild about her, but she doesn’t care that—” + </p> + <p> + “Doesn’t she?” said Aladdin, annoyingly. + </p> + <p> + “No, she doesn’t!” said Margaret, tartly. “She says she’s going to be a + horse-breaker or a nurse, and all the while she kept making eyes at + brother John, and he lost his poise entirely and smirked and blushed, and + I shouldn’t wonder a bit if he’d made up his mind to marry her, and if he + has he will—” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin caught at the gist of the last sentence. “Is that all that’s + necessary?” he said. “Has a man only got to make up his mind to marry a + certain girl?” + </p> + <p> + “It’s all brother John would have to do,” said Margaret, provokingly. + </p> + <p> + “Admitting that,” said Aladdin, “how about the other men?” + </p> + <p> + “Why,” said Margaret, “I suppose that if a man really and truly makes up + his mind to get the girl he wants, he’ll get her.” + </p> + <p> + She looked at him with a grand innocence. Aladdin’s heart leaped a little. + </p> + <p> + “But suppose two men made up their minds,” said Aladdin, “to get the same + girl.” + </p> + <p> + “That would just prove the rule,” said Margaret, refusing to see any + personal application, “because one of them would get her, and the other + would be the exception.” + </p> + <p> + “Would the one who spoke first have an advantage?” said Aladdin. “Suppose + he’d wanted her ever so long, and had tried to succeed because of her, + and”—he was warming to the subject, which meant much to him—“had + never known that there was any other girl in the world, and had pinned all + his faith and hope on her, would he have any advantage?” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know,” said Margaret, rather dreamily. + </p> + <p> + “Because if he would—” Aladdin reached forward and took one of her + hands in his two. + </p> + <p> + She let it lie there, and for a moment they looked into each other’s eyes. + Margaret withdrew her hand. + </p> + <p> + “I know—I know,” she said. “But you mustn’t say it, ‘Laddin dear, + because—somehow I feel that there are heaps of things to be + considered before either of us ought to think of that. And how can we be + quite sure? Anyway, if it’s going to happen—it will happen. And + that’s all I’m going to say, ‘Laddin.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell me,” he said gently, “what the trouble is, dear. Is it this: do you + think you care for me, and aren’t sure? Is that it?” + </p> + <p> + She nodded gravely. Aladdin took a long breath. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said finally, “I believe I love you well enough, Margaret, to + hope that you get the man who will make you happiest. I don’t know,” he + went on rather gloomily, “that I’m exactly calculated to make anybody + happy, but,” he concluded, with a quavering smile, “I’d like to try.” They + shook hands like the two very old friends they were. + </p> + <p> + “We’ll always be that, anyway,” said Margaret. + </p> + <p> + “Always,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle!” Eugenie opened the parlor door and looked cautiously in, + after the manner of the French domestic. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” said Margaret in French. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin listened with intense admiration, for he did not understand a + word. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur does not carry himself so well,” said Eugenie, “and he asks if + mademoiselle will have the goodness to mount a moment to his room.” + </p> + <p> + “I’ll go at once.” Margaret rose. “Papa’s worse,” she said to Aladdin. + “Will you wait?” + </p> + <p> + “I am so sorry,” said Aladdin. “No, I can’t wait; I have to get out the + paper. I”—he smiled—“am announcing to an eager public what + general, in my expert opinion, is best fitted to command the armies of the + United States.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course there’ll be fighting.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course—and in a day or two. Good-by.” + </p> + <p> + “Good-by.” + </p> + <p> + “I’ll come round later and inquire about your father. Give him my love.” + </p> + <p> + Margaret ran up-stairs to her father’s room. He was in great pain, but + perfectly calm and collected. As Margaret entered, the doctor went out, + and she was alone with her father. + </p> + <p> + “Are you feeling badly, dear?” she said. + </p> + <p> + “I am feeling more easy than a moment ago,” said the senator. “Bring a + chair over here, Peggy; we must have a little talk.” + </p> + <p> + She brought a little upright chair and sat down facing him, her right hand + nestling over one of his. + </p> + <p> + “The doctor,” said the senator, “considers that my condition is critical.” + </p> + <p> + “Papa” + </p> + <p> + “I disagree with him. I shall, I believe, live to see the end of this + civil riot, but I cannot be sure. So it behooves me to ask my dear + daughter a question.” St. John asked it with eagerness. “Which is it to + be, Peggy?” + </p> + <p> + She blushed deeply. + </p> + <p> + “You are interested in Aladdin O’Brien?” + </p> + <p> + Her head drooped a little. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, papa.” + </p> + <p> + The senator sighed. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, dear,” he said. “That is all I wanted to know. I had hoped + that it would be otherwise. Peggy,” he said, “I love that other young man + like a son.” + </p> + <p> + “Peter?” + </p> + <p> + “I have always hoped that you would see him as I have seen him. I would be + happy if I thought that I could leave you in such strong young hands. I + trust him absolutely.” + </p> + <p> + “Papa.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, dear?” + </p> + <p> + “You don’t like Aladdin?” + </p> + <p> + “He is not steady, Margaret.” The simple word was pregnant with meaning as + it fell from the senator. + </p> + <p> + “You don’t mean that he—that he’s like—” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, dear; I should not wish my youngest son to marry.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor boy,” said Margaret, softly. + </p> + <p> + “It’s the Irish in him,” said the senator. “He must do all things to + extremes. There, in a word, lies all his strength and all his weakness.” + </p> + <p> + “You would be sorry if I married Aladdin?” + </p> + <p> + “I should be afraid for your happiness. Do you love him?” + </p> + <p> + “I am not sure, papa.” + </p> + <p> + “You are fond of Peter, aren’t you?” + </p> + <p> + She leaned forward till her cheek touched his. + </p> + <p> + “Next to you and ‘Laddin.” + </p> + <p> + The senator patted her shoulder, and thus they remained for some time. + </p> + <p> + A great shouting arose in the neighborhood. + </p> + <p> + The senator sat bolt upright in bed. His nostrils began to quiver. He was + like an old war-horse that hears bugles. + </p> + <p> + “Sumter?” he cried. “Sumter? Do I hear Sumter?” + </p> + <p> + The shouting became louder. + </p> + <p> + “Sumter?” he cried. “Have they fired upon Sumter?” + </p> + <p> + Margaret flew to the window and threw it open. It acted upon the shouting + like the big swell of an organ, and the cries of excitement filled the + room to bursting. South Carolina had clenched her hand and struck the flag + in the face. + </p> + <p> + The doctor rushed in. He paused flabbergasted at sight of the man whom he + had supposed to be dying. + </p> + <p> + “Great God, man!” cried the senator, “can’t you get my clothes?” + </p> + <p> + When he was dressed they brought him his whalebone stick. + </p> + <p> + “Damn it, I can walk!” said he, and he broke the faithful old thing over a + knee that had not been bent for a month. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XX + </h2> + <p> + New fervor of enlistment took place, and among the first to enlist was + Aladdin, and when his regiment met for organization he was unanimously + elected major. He had many friends. + </p> + <p> + At first he thought that his duty did not lie where his heart lay, because + of his brother Jack, now fourteen, whom he had to support. And then, the + old promises coming to mind, he presented himself one morning before + Senator St. John. + </p> + <p> + “Senator,” he said, “you promised to do me a favor if I should ever ask + it.” + </p> + <p> + The senator thought of Margaret and trembled. + </p> + <p> + “I have come to ask it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “I want to enlist, sir, but if I do there’s nobody to look after Jack.” + </p> + <p> + Again the senator thought of Margaret, and his heart warmed. + </p> + <p> + “He shall live in my house, sir,” said the senator, “as a member of my + family, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “God bless you, sir!” cried Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + In a state of dancing glee he darted off to the “Spy” office to see his + chief. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blankinship was leaning against the post of the street door, reading + his own editorial in the morning issue. + </p> + <p> + “Hallo, Mr. Blankinship!” cried Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “Hallo, Aladdin!” cried Mr. Blankinship, grinning at his favorite. “Late + as usual.” + </p> + <p> + “And for the last time, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “I know of only one good reason for such a statement.” + </p> + <p> + “It’s it, sir!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Blankinship folded his paper carefully. His eyes were red, for he had + been up late the night before. + </p> + <p> + “I’d go, too,” he said simply, “if it wasn’t for the mother.” + </p> + <p> + The firm of John St. John & Brothers sat in its office. The head of + the firm was gorgeous in a new uniform; he had hurried up from New York + (where he had been paying vigorous court to Ellen Manners, whom he had + made up his mind to marry) in order, as oldest, biggest, and strongest, to + enlist for the family in one of the home regiments. There lingered on his + lips the thrill of a kiss half stolen, half yielded, while in his pockets + were a number of telegrams since received, and the usually grave and stern + young man was jocular and bantering. The two younger members of the firm + were correspondingly savage. + </p> + <p> + “For God’s sake, clear out of here,” said Hamilton. “Your shingle’s down. + Bul and I are running this office now.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, it’s the chance of your lives, boys,” said the frisky colonel. + “I’ll have forgotten the law by the time I come back.” + </p> + <p> + “Hope you may choke, John,” said Hannibal, sweetly. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t allow smoking in here, do you, boys?” He got no answer. It was a + hard-and-fast rule which he himself had instituted. + </p> + <p> + “Well, here goes.” He lighted a huge cigar and puffed it insolently about + the office. He surveyed himself in the cracked mirror. + </p> + <p> + “Cursed if a uniform isn’t becoming to a man!” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Chicken!” said Hamilton. + </p> + <p> + “Puppy!” said Hannibal. + </p> + <p> + “Titmouse!” said Hamilton. + </p> + <p> + “Ant!” said Hannibal. + </p> + <p> + John’s grin widened. + </p> + <p> + “Boys,” he said, “you’ve got one swell looker in the family, anyway, and + you ought to be glad of that.” + </p> + <p> + The boys exchanged glances. + </p> + <p> + Hannibal had upon his desk a pen-wiper which consisted of a small sponge + heavy with the ink of wiped pens. Hamilton had beneath his desk an odd + rubber boot which served him as a scrap-basket. These ornamental missiles + took John St. John in the back of the head at about the same moment, the + weight and impetus of the boot knocking the cigar clean out of his mouth, + so that it dashed itself against the mirror. + </p> + <p> + The gallant colonel turned, still grinning. “Which threw the boot?” said + he. + </p> + <p> + “I did,” said Hamilton. + </p> + <p> + “Then you get the first licking.” + </p> + <p> + Hamilton met his brother’s hostile if grinning advance with the hardest + blow that he could strike him over the left eye. Then they clenched, and + Hannibal joined the fray. The three brothers, roaring with laughter, + proceeded to inflict as much damage to each other and the office as they + jointly could. Over and under they squirmed and contorted, hitting, + tripping, falling and rising. Desks went over, lawbooks strewed the floor, + ink ran, and finally the bust of George Washington, which had stood over + the inner door since the foundation of the firm, came down with a crash. + </p> + <p> + By this time the three brothers were helpless with laughter. The combat + ceased, and they sat upon the floor to survey the damage. + </p> + <p> + “You can’t handle the old man yet, boys,” said the colonel. His left eye + was closed, and his new uniform looked like the ribbons hung on a + May-pole. + </p> + <p> + Hamilton was bleeding at the nose. Hannibal’s lip was split. The three + looked at each other and shook with laughter. + </p> + <p> + “I’m inclined to think we’ve had a healthy bringing-up,” said Hamilton + between gasps. + </p> + <p> + “Better move, colonel,” said Hannibal; “you’re sitting in a pool of ink.” + </p> + <p> + “So I am,” said the colonel, as the cold struck through his new trousers. + </p> + <p> + The laughter broke out afresh. + </p> + <p> + Beau Larch, in the uniform of a private, appeared at the door. + </p> + <p> + “Hallo, Beau!” + </p> + <p> + “Come in.” + </p> + <p> + “Take a hand?” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, no,” said Beau. “I just dropped in to tell you fellows that + we’ve just had a hell of a licking at Bull Run.” + </p> + <p> + “Us!” said the colonel, rising. + </p> + <p> + “Us!” said Hamilton. “Licked!” + </p> + <p> + “Us!” said Hannibal. + </p> + <p> + “And I’ve got other news, too,” said Beau, bashfully. “If I stop drinking + till my year’s up, and don’t ever drink any more, Claire says she’ll marry + me.” + </p> + <p> + Hannibal was the first to shake his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Boys,” said Beau, “I hope if any of you ever sees me touch a drop you’ll + strike me dead.” + </p> + <p> + He went out. + </p> + <p> + “I’m going to find out about this,” said John; “what did he say the name + of the licking was?” + </p> + <p> + “Bull Run.” + </p> + <p> + “Bull Run. And I’ll come back and tell you.” + </p> + <p> + He was starting to descend the steep stairs to the street, when he caught + the sound of snickers and creeping footsteps behind him. He turned like a + panther, but was not in time. The heavily driven toes of the right boots + of the younger St. Johns lifted him clear of the stairs, and clean to the + bottom of them. There he sat, his uniform a thing of the past, his left + eye blackening and closed, and roars of laughter shaking him. + </p> + <p> + But Hamilton and Hannibal put the office more or less to rights, and sat + down gloomily at their respective desks. Up till now they had faced being + left behind, but this licking was too much. Each brooded over it, while + pretending to be up to the ears in work. Hamilton wrote a letter, sealed + it, addressed it, and presently rose. + </p> + <p> + “Bul,” he said, and to Hannibal the whole manoeuver smacked suspicious, + “I’m going to run up and see the old man for a few minutes.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” said Hannibal. + </p> + <p> + Hamilton reached the door and turned. + </p> + <p> + “By the way,” he said, “I left a letter on my desk; wish you’d put a stamp + on it and mail it.” + </p> + <p> + He went out. + </p> + <p> + Hannibal felt very lonely and fidgety. + </p> + <p> + “I think I’ll just mail that letter and get it off my mind,” he said. + </p> + <p> + He put on his hat, licked a stamp, and crossed to his brother’s desk. The + letter was there, right enough, but it did not require a stamp, for on it + was written but one word, and that word was Hannibal. + </p> + <p> + Hannibal tore open the envelop and read: + </p> + <p> + DEAR OLD Bul: I can’t stand it any longer, but you’ll try and not be mad + with me for running off and leaving you to keep up the old place alone, + and damn it, Bul, two of us ought to go anyway.... + </p> + <p> + The letter ran on for a little in the same strain. Hannibal put the letter + in his pocket, and sat down at his brother’s desk. + </p> + <p> + “It will kill the old man if we all go,” he said. “And of all three I’m + the one with the best rights to go and get shot.” + </p> + <p> + He took from somewhere in his clothes a little gold locket, flat and + plain. Each of the St. John boys had carried one since their mother’s + death. Facing her picture each had had engraved the motto which he had + chosen for himself to be his watchword in life. In John’s locket was + engraved, “In fortis vinces”; in Hamilton’s, “Deo volente”; and in + Hannibal’s, “Carpe diem.” But in Hannibal’s locket there was another + picture besides that of his mother. He opened the locket with his + thumb-nails and laid it on the desk before him. Presently his eyes dimmed, + and he looked beyond the locket. + </p> + <p> + Hamilton St. John’s ink-well was a globe of glass, with a hole like a + thimble in the top to contain ink. Hannibal found himself looking at this, + and noting the perfect miniature reproduction of the big calendar on the + wall, as it was refracted by the glass. With his thoughts far away, his + eyes continued to look at the neat little curly calendar in the ink-well. + Presently it seemed to him that it was not a calendar at all, but just a + patch of bright green color—a patch of bright green that became + grass, an acre of it, a ten-acre field, a great field gay with trampled + flowers, rolling hills, woods, meadows, fences, streams. Then he saw, + lying thickly over a fair region, broken guns, exploded cannons, torn + flags, horses and men contorted and sprung in death; everywhere death and + demolition. He wandered over the field and came presently upon himself, + scorched, mangled, and dead under the wheel of a cannon. + </p> + <p> + After a little it seemed to him that the field of battle shrank until it + became again the calendar. But there was something odd about that + calendar; the dates were queer. It read July, right enough; but this was + the year 1861, whereas the calendar bore the date 1863. And why was there + a cross to mark the third day of July? Hannibal came to with a shock; but + he could have sworn that he had not been asleep. + </p> + <p> + “God is very—very good!” he said solemnly. + </p> + <p> + Then he opened his pen-knife, and scratched a deep line of erasure through + the “Carpe diem” in his locket, and underneath, cutting with great pains, + he inserted a date, “July 3, 1863,” and the words “Nunc dimittis.” Below + that he cut “Te Deum laudamus.” + </p> + <p> + He looked once more at the picture of his mother and at the picture that + was not of his mother, shut the little gold case, and put it back in his + pocket. + </p> + <p> + Then he inked on the white inside of a paper-box cover, in large letters, + these words: + </p> + <p> + This office will not be opened until the end of the war. + </p> + <p> + That office was never opened again. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXI + </h2> + <p> + The lives of sixty million people had become suddenly full of drill, + organization, uniforms, military music, flags, hatred, love, and + self-sacrifice, and the nations of the Old World stood about, note-book in + hand, like so many medical students at a clinic: could a heart, cut in + two, continue to supply a body with blood after the soul had been + withdrawn? And the nations of the Old World hoped that there would be + enough fresh meat left on the carcass for them to feed on, when the + experiment should be at an end. Mother England was particularly hungry, + and dearly hoped to have the sucking of the eggs which she herself had + laid. + </p> + <p> + It was a great time for young men, and Margaret shed secret tears on + behalf of five of them. It had fallen upon her to tell the old man that + his three sons had enlisted, and that task had tortured her for an hour + before she had dared go and accomplish it. + </p> + <p> + “Papa,” she said, “Ham has enlisted, and so has Bul.” + </p> + <p> + The senator had not moved a muscle. + </p> + <p> + “It was only a question of time,” he said. “I wish that I had begotten a + dozen others.” + </p> + <p> + He had borrowed her well-marked Bible from old Mrs. Blankinship and read + Isaiah at a gulp. Then he had sought out his boys and bantered them on + their new clothes. + </p> + <p> + Margaret sat very still for a long time after the interview with her + father. She knew that Bul, whom she loved best of her brothers, was going + to be killed. She had never before seen his face so serenely happy as when + he came to tell her that he had sworn in, nor had she ever before seen + that unexplainable phenomenon, known variously as fate, doom, numbered, + Nemesis, written upon a face. And there were others who might be taken. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin came in for a moment to give her the news. He was nervous with + enthusiasm, and had been working like a horse. His regiment was to leave + Friday for the front; he could stay but a minute; he had only dashed in on + his way to drill. Would she care to come? Quite right; there was nothing + much to look at. He talked as cheerfully and as rapidly as a mountain + brook runs. And then he gave his best piece of news, and looked almost + handsome as he gave it. + </p> + <p> + “Peter’s here,” he said. “He’s outside talking to the senator. He looks + simply stunning, and he’s a whole lot of things on a staff—assistant + adjutant-general with the rank of a colonel; and he’s floated up here on a + dash against time to say good-by to us.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin’s face puckered. + </p> + <p> + “You and Peter and I, Margaret,” he said, “Lord, what a muddle!” + </p> + <p> + “I’m terribly blue, old man,” said Margaret, “and it hurts to have you say + things like that.” + </p> + <p> + Instantly Aladdin was all concern. + </p> + <p> + “You know I wouldn’t hurt you purposely,” he said, “but I’m terribly blue, + too, dear, and one tries to keep up and says asinine things, and”—he + smiled, and his smile was very winning—“is at once forgiven by an + old dear.” + </p> + <p> + She held out her hand and gave his a friendly squeeze. + </p> + <p> + “You old darling!” he said, and ran out. + </p> + <p> + She followed him into the hall, and met Manners, who had just parted from + the senator at the front door. His uniform was wonderfully becoming. + </p> + <p> + “Is it Peter?” + </p> + <p> + They shook hands. + </p> + <p> + “Never,” she said, “have I seen anything so beautiful!” + </p> + <p> + Peter blushed (looking even more beautiful, for he hated to be talked + about). + </p> + <p> + “Where was ‘Laddin going?” he said. “He went by me like a shot out of a + gun, and had only time to pull my hat over my eyes and squeal Peeeter.” + </p> + <p> + “He’s very important now,” said Margaret, “and wonders how anybody can + want to write things and be a poet or a musician when there are real + things to do in the world.” + </p> + <p> + Peter looked at his watch. + </p> + <p> + “Isn’t that the least bit rude?” said Margaret. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Peter; “my train back leaves in one hour, and I could better + afford to lose my chances of heaven. I had no business to come, as it was. + But I had to come.” + </p> + <p> + Margaret sighed. She had hoped that it would not happen so soon. He + followed her into the parlor and closed the door behind him. + </p> + <p> + “First, Margaret,” he said, “I’m going to tell you something that may + surprise you a little. It did me; it was so sudden. My sister Ellen is + going to be married.” + </p> + <p> + “Ellen!” exclaimed Margaret. “Why, she always said—” “It’s only been + arranged in the last few days,” said Peter, “by many telegrams. I was told + to tell you.” + </p> + <p> + “Is he nice?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. He’s a good chap.” + </p> + <p> + “Rich?” + </p> + <p> + “Well—rather rising than rich.” + </p> + <p> + “Who is it?” + </p> + <p> + “Your brother John.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear Peter—” + </p> + <p> + “No—I never did, either!” + </p> + <p> + “Isn’t that splendid!” + </p> + <p> + Peter pulled a grave face. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—and no,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “I hope you’re not going to be insolent,” said Margaret. + </p> + <p> + “It depends on what you call insolent. My father, you see, objects very + much to having Ellen go out of the family, but he says that he can learn + to bear that if the only other girl in the world will come into the + family.” + </p> + <p> + Manners’ voice had become husky toward the last of the sentence, and + perhaps not husky so much as hungry. Margaret knew better than to say + anything of the kind, but she couldn’t help looking as innocent as a child + and saying: + </p> + <p> + “Won’t she?” + </p> + <p> + “How do I know?” said Peter. “I have come to ask her.” + </p> + <p> + He looked so very strong and manly and frank that Margaret, whose world + had been terribly blue recently, was half tempted to throw herself into + his arms and cry. + </p> + <p> + “O Peter!” she said pitifully. + </p> + <p> + He came and sat beside her on the sofa, and drew her close to him. + </p> + <p> + “My darling,” he said brokenly. + </p> + <p> + A great sense of trust and security stole over Margaret, but she knew that + it was not love. Yet for a moment she hesitated, for she knew that if she + took this man, his arm would always be about her, and he would always—always—always + be good to her. As she sat there, not trusting herself to speak, she had + her first doubt of Aladdin, and she wondered if he loved her as much—as + much as he loved Aladdin. Then she felt like a traitor. + </p> + <p> + For a little neither could find any words to say. So still they sat that + Margaret could hear the muffled ticking of Peter’s watch. At length Peter + spoke. + </p> + <p> + “What shall I tell my father?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Tell him—” said Margaret, and her voice broke. + </p> + <p> + “Aren’t you sure, darling—is that it?” + </p> + <p> + She nodded with tears in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + He took his arm from round her waist, and she felt very lonely. + </p> + <p> + “But I’m always going to love you,” he said. + </p> + <p> + She felt still more alone. + </p> + <p> + “Peter,” she said, “I can’t explain things very well, but I—I—don’t + want you to go away feeling as if—” + </p> + <p> + Manners’ eyes lifted up. + </p> + <p> + “As if it was all over?” he asked eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Almost that, Peter,” she said. “I—I can’t say yes now—but God + knows, Peter, perhaps sometime—I—I can.” + </p> + <p> + She was thinking of the flighty and moody Aladdin, who had loved her so + long, and whom (she suddenly realized in spite of the words just spoken) + she loved back with all her heart and soul. + </p> + <p> + Honor rose hot in her to give Peter a final answer now and forever—no. + But she looked into his eyes and could not. He looked at his watch. + </p> + <p> + “Margaret dear,” he said, “I’ve got to go. Thanks for everything, and for + the hope and all, and—and I may never see you again, but if I do, + will you give me my answer then?” + </p> + <p> + “I will,” said Margaret, “when I see you again.” + </p> + <p> + They rose. + </p> + <p> + “May I kiss you, Margaret?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, Peter.” + </p> + <p> + He kissed her on the cheek, and went away with her tears on his lips. + </p> + <p> + A newly organized fife-and-drum corps marched by struggling with “The Girl + I Left Behind Me.” + </p> + <p> + In those days the most strangled rendering of that tune would bring lumps + into the throats of those that heard. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXII + </h2> + <p> + Hannible and Hamilton were privates in the nth regiment, Aladdin was + major, and John was colonel. If any of them had the slightest military + knowledge, it was Aladdin. Not in vain had he mastered the encyclopedia + from Safety-lamps to Stranglers. He could explain with strange words and + in long, balanced sentences everything about the British army that began + with an S, except only those things whose second letter stood farther down + in the alphabet than T. But the elements of knowledge kept dropping in, at + first on perfunctory calls, visitors that disappeared when you turned to + speak with them, but that later came to stay. The four young men were like + children with a “roll-the-seven-number-eight-shot-into-the middle” puzzle. + They could make a great rattling with the shot, and control their tempers; + that was about all. Later they were to form units in the most efficient + and intelligent large body of men that the world ever saw, with the + possible exception of the armies it was to be pitted against; but those, + it must be owned, were usually smaller, though, in the ability of their + commanders to form concentration, often of three times the size. They + learned that it is cheaper to let a company sleep in tents upon hard + ground of a rainy night than to lodge them in a neighboring hotel at one’s + own expense, and that going the rounds in pitch-darkness grows less + thrilling in exact ratio to the number of times you do it, and finally, + even in sight of the enemy’s lines, becomes as boring as waltzing with a + girl you don’t like. They began to learn that cleanliness is next to + godliness only in times of peace, and that food is the one god, and the + stomach his only prophet. They learned that the most difficult of all + duties is to keep the face straight when the horse of a brother officer + who mounts for the first time is surprised to vehemence by its first + experience with a brass band. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin was absolutely equal to the occasion, and developed an astonishing + talent for play-acting, and, it is to be feared, strutted a little, both + in the bosom of his soul and on the parade-ground. It was only when he + looked at two of the “tall men on the right,” Hamilton and Hannibal St. + John, who had chosen humble parts that they might serve under their + brother, that he felt properly small and resented himself. Sometimes, too, + he searched his past life and could find in it only one brave deed, his + swim down the river, and he wondered with an awful wonder what he would do + when the firing began. He need not have troubled: he was of too curious + and inquiring a disposition to be afraid of most things. And he was yet to + see proved on many Southern fields that a coward is, if anything, a rarer + bird than a white quail. Only once in action did Aladdin see a man really + show the white feather. The man had gone into the army from a + grocery-store, and was a very thin, small specimen with a very big, + bulbous head; and, like many others of his class, proved to be a perfect + fire-eater in battle, and a regular buzzard to escape fever and find food. + But during the famous seven days before Richmond a retreat was ordered of + a part of the line which the Buzzard helped compose, and he was confronted + by the necessity, for his friends were hastening him from behind, of + crossing a gully by means of a somewhat slender fallen tree. It was then + that Aladdin saw him show fear. Bullets tore up the bark of the tree, and + pine needles, clipped from the trees overhead, fell in showers. But he did + not mind that. It was the slenderness and instability of the fallen tree + that froze the marrow in his bones: would it bear his one hundred and + twenty-four pounds, or would it precipitate him, an awful drop of ten + feet, into the softest of muds at the bottom of the gully, where a + sickeningly striped but in reality harmless water-snake lay coiled? + </p> + <p> + Finally, pale and shaking, he ventured on the log, got half-way across, + turned giddy, and fell with such a howl of terror that it was only equaled + in vehemence by the efforts of the snake to get out of the way. After + which the Buzzard picked himself up, scrambled out, and continued his + retreat, scraping his muddied boots among the fallen leaves as he went. + “Some talk of Alexander and some of Hercules,” but it may be that an + exceedingly giddy elevation coupled with a serpent would have made + shivering children of both those heroes. To each his own fear. Margaret’s + and Aladdin’s was the same they both feared Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + That afternoon the regiment was to leave for the front, and Aladdin went + to bid Margaret good-by. She and her father were still staying with the + Blankinships. + </p> + <p> + They had a very satisfactory talk, beginning with the beginning of things, + and going over their long friendship, laughing, remembering, and + regretting. Jack was to live with the St. Johns, and they talked much of + him, and of old Mrs. Brackett, and of affairs at home. Jack about this + time was in the seventh hell of despair, for his extreme youth had + prevented him from bringing to its triumphant conclusion a pleasant little + surprise, consisting of a blue uniform, which he had planned for himself + and others. No love of country stirred the bosom of the guileless Jack; + only hatred of certain books out of which he was obliged to learn many + useless things, such as reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic. + Besides, word had come to him that persimmons were to be had for the + picking and chickens for the broiling in that country toward which the + troops were heading. And much also had he heard concerning the beauty of + Southern maidens, and of the striped watermelons in the watermelon-patch. + And so he was to be left behind, and God was not good. + </p> + <p> + Toward the end their talk got very serious. + </p> + <p> + “I’m going to turn over a new leaf,” said Aladdin, “and be better things, + Margaret, and you must save up a lot of pride to have in me if I do, and + perhaps it will all come right in the end.” + </p> + <p> + “You know how fond I am of you,” said Margaret, “and because I am, and + because you’re all the big things that are hard to be, I want you to be + all the little things that ought to be so easy to be. That doesn’t seem + very plain, but I mean—” + </p> + <p> + “I know exactly what you mean,” said Aladdin. “Don’t you suppose I know + myself pretty well by this time, and how far I’ve got to climb before I + have a ghost of a right to tell you what I tell you every time I look at + you?” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin rose. + </p> + <p> + “Margaret,” he said, “this time I’m going like an old friend. If I make + good and live steady, as I mean to do, I shall come back like a lover. + Meanwhile you shall think all things over, and if you think that you can + care for me, you shall tell me so when I come back. And if you conclude + that you can’t, you shall tell me. I’m not going to ask you to marry me + now, because in no way am I in a position to. But if I come back and say + to you, ‘Margaret, I have turned into a man at last,’ you will know that I + am telling the truth and am in a position to ask anything I please. For I + shall come back without a cent, but with a character, and that’s + everything. I shall not drink any more, and every night I shall pray to + God to help me believe in Him. But, Margaret, I may not come back at all. + If I don’t it will be for one of two reasons. Either I shall fail in + becoming worthy to kiss the dust under your blessed feet, or I shall be + killed. In the first case, I beg that you will pray for me; but in the + second I pray that you will forget all that was bad in me and only + remember what was good. And so, darling—” his voice broke, “because + I am a little afraid of death and terribly afraid of myself—” + </p> + <p> + She came obediently into his arms, and knew what it was to be kissed by + the man she loved. + </p> + <p> + “Aladdin,” she said, “promise that nothing except—” + </p> + <p> + “Death?” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “—that nothing, nothing except death—shall keep you from + coming back.” + </p> + <p> + “If I live,” said Aladdin, “I will come back.” + </p> + <p> + Everybody of education knows that Lucy Locket lost her pocket and that + Betty Pringle found it without a penny “in it” (to rhyme with “found it”), + but everybody does not know that the aforementioned Lucy Locket had a tune + composed for her benefit that has thrilled the hearts of more sons of the + young republic when stepping to battle than any other tune, past, present, + or to come. There is a martial vigor and a tear in “The Girl I Left Behind + Me”; some feet cannot help falling into rhythm when they hear the “British + Grenadiers”; North and South alike are possessed with a do-or-die madness + when the wild notes of “Dixie” rush from the brass; and “John Brown’s + Body” will cause the dumb to sing. But it is the farcical little quickstep + known by the ridiculous name of “Yankee Doodle” which the nations would do + well to consider when straining the patience of the peace-loving and + United States. + </p> + <p> + And so they marched down the street to the station, and the tall men + walked on the right and the little men on the left, and the small boys + trotted alongside, and the brand-new flags flung out, and bouquets were + thrown, and there were cheers from the heart up all along the line. But + ever the saucy fifes sang, and the drums gaily beat + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Yankee Doodle came to town + Riding on a pony, + Stuck a feather in his Hat, + And called it macaroni. +</pre> + <p> + At the station the emotions attendant on departure found but one voice. + The mother said to the son what the sweetheart said to the lover, and the + sister to the brother. Nor was this in any manner different from what the + brother, lover, and son said to the sister, sweetheart, and mother. It was + the last sentence which bleeding hearts supply to lips at moments of + farewell: + </p> + <p> + “Write to me.” + </p> + <p> + And the supercilious little quickstep went on: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Yankee Doodle came to town + Riding on a pony, + Stuck a feather in his Hat, + And called it macaroni. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXIII + </h2> + <p> + A tongue of land with Richmond (built, like another capital beginning with + R, on many hills) for its major root, and a fortification vulgarly + supposed to be of the gentler sex for its tip, is formed by the yellow + flow of the James and York rivers. To land an army upon the tip of this + tongue, march the length of it and extract the root, after reducing it to + a reminiscence, was the wise plan of the powers early in the year 1862. To + march an army of preponderous strength through level and fertile country, + flanked by friendly war-ships and backed by unassailable credit; to meet + and overcome a much smaller and far less rich army, intrenched behind + earthworks of doubtful formidableness, and finally to besiege and capture + an isolated city of more historic than strategic advantages, seemed on the + face of it as easy as rolling a barrel downhill or eating when hungry. But + the level, fertile country was discovered to be very muddy, its supply of + rain from heaven unparalleled in nature, its streams as deadly as arsenic, + and its topography utterly different from that assigned to it in any known + geography. Furthermore, in its woods, and it was nearly all woods, dwelt + far more mosquitos than there are lost souls in Hades, and each mosquito + had a hollow spike in his head through which he not only could but would + squirt, with or without provocation, the triple compound essence of + malaria into veins brought up on oxygen, and on water through which you + could see the pebbles at the bottom. A bosom friend of the mosquito, and + some say his paramour, was little Miss Tick. Of the two she was + considerably the more hellish, and forsook her dwelling-places in the + woods for the warm flesh of soldiers where it is rosiest, next the skin. + The body, arms, and legs of Miss Tick could be scratched to nothing by + poisonous finger-nails, but her detached head was eternal, and through + eternity she bit and gnawed and sometimes laughed in the hollow of her + black soul. For the horses, mules, and cattle there were shrubs which + disagreed with them, and gigantic horse-flies. And for the general at the + head of the vast body of irritation there was an opposing army whose + numbers he overrated, and whose whereabouts he kept discovering suddenly. + It is said that during the Peninsular campaign the buzzards were so well + nourished that they raised a second brood. + </p> + <p> + While the army was still in the vicinity of Fort Monroe, numbers of + officers secured leave to ride over to Newport News and view the traces of + the recent and celebrated naval fight, which was to relegate wooden + battle-ships to the fireplace. Aladdin was among those to go. At this time + he was in great spirits, for it had been brought home to him that he was + one of the elect, one of those infinitely rare and godlike creatures whom + mosquitos do not bite nor ticks molest. His nights were as peaceful as the + grave, and the poisonous drinking-waters glanced from his rubber + constitution. Besides, he had forsaken his regimental duties to enjoy a + life of constant variety upon the staff of a general, and had begun to + feel at home on horseback. It was one of those radiant, smiling days, + which later on were to become rarer than charity, and the woods were + positively festive with sunshine. And the temperature was precisely that + which brings to a young man’s fancy thoughts of love. So that it was in + the nature of a shock to come suddenly upon the shore and behold for the + first time the finality of war. There was no visible glory about it. What + had happened to the Cumberland and the Congress was disappointingly like + what would happen to two ships destroyed in shallow water. The masts of + the Cumberland, slightly off the vertical and still rigged, projected for + half their length from the yellow surface of the river. That was all. Some + distance to the left and half submerged was a blackened and charred mass + that bore some resemblance to a ship that had once been proud and tall, + and known by the name of Congress. That was all. Aladdin had hoped that + war would be a little more like the pictures. + </p> + <p> + As he rode back, pondering, toward the encampment, however, he came upon + something which was truly an earnest of what was to come. There were so + many buzzards perched in the trees of a certain wood that he turned in to + see what they had. He came upon it suddenly, just beyond a cheerful bush + of holly, and the buzzards stepped reluctantly back until he had looked. + It was only a horse. Some of the buzzards, heavy with food, raised their + eyelids heavily and looked at Aladdin, and then lapsed back into filthy + sleep. Others, not yet satiated, looked upon him querulously, and + suggested as much as looks can suggest that he go, and trouble them no + more. Others, the newly arrived and ravenous, swooped above the trees, so + that dark circles were drawn over the fallen sunlight. Now a buzzard + opened and closed its wings, and now one looked from the horse to Aladdin, + and back, fretfully, to the horse. There seemed to be hundreds of them, + dark and dirty, with raw heads and eyelids. Aladdin sat solemn and + motionless upon his horse, but he could feel the cold sweat of horror + running down his sides from under his arms, and the bristling of his hair. + He wanted to make a great noise, to shout, to do anything, but he did not + dare. It would have been breaking the rules. In that assembly no sound was + allowed, for the meeting was unholy and wicked and worked with hurried + stealth, so that the attention of God should not be drawn. Aladdin knew + that he had no right to be there, that without knocking he had entered the + bedroom of horror and found her naked in the arms of lust. He turned and + rode away shivering and without looking back. He had not ridden the + distance between two forest trees before the carcass was again black with + the descending birds, and the blood streamed to their bills. + </p> + <p> + The Peninsular campaign developed four kinds of men: the survivors, the + wounded, the dead, and the missing. When the campaign was over Aladdin + sometimes woke starting in the night to think of those missing and of what + he had seen in the woods. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXIV + </h2> + <p> + The tedious locomotion of an army and the incessant reluctance of the + battle to be met will try a sinner; but a scarcity of tobacco and + constantly wet feet will try a saint. Aladdin was somewhat of both. But in + the fidgety gloom which presently settled upon man and beast, his, great + Irish gift of cheerfulness shone like a star. He even gave up longing for + promotion, and strained his mind to the cracking-point for humorous verses + and catching tunes. He went singing up the Peninsula, and thumped the gay + banjo by the camp-fire, and was greatly beloved by the foot-sore and sick. + He had given up worrying about what he would do in battle, for there were + much more important things to think about. + </p> + <p> + Battles are to soldiers what Christmas trees are to children: you must + wait, wait, and wait for them, and forever wait; and when they do come the + presents are apt to be a little tawdry. And you are only envied by the + other little children who didn’t really see what you really got. The most + comforting man in the army was one minister of the gospel, and the most + annoying was another. The first had the divine gift of story-telling and + laughter, and the second thanked God because the soldiers had run out of + their best friend, tobacco, which he described through his nose as “filthy + weed,” “vile narcotic,” or “pernicious hell-plant.” And they both served + the Lord as hard as they could—and they both suffered from + dysentery. + </p> + <p> + As the days passed and the temperature of the army rose, and its digestion + became permanently impaired, Aladdin, by giving out, and constantly, all + that was best in himself, became gradually exhausted. He found himself + telling stories as many as three times to the same man, and he began to + steal from the poets and musicians that he knew in order to keep abreast + of his own original powers of production. He even went so far as to draw + inspiration from men of uneven heights stood in line: he would hum the + intervals as scored by their heads on an imaginary staff and fashion his + tune accordingly, but this tended to a somewhat compressed range and was + not always happy in its results. His efforts, however, were appreciated, + and the emaciated young Irishman became a most exceptional prophet, and + received honor in his own land. + </p> + <p> + For the rest, being a staff-officer, he was kept busy and rode hundreds of + extra miles through the rain. It was a large army, as inexperienced as it + was large, and it stood in great need of being kept in contact with + itself. If you lived at one end of it and wanted to know what was going on + at the other end, you had to travel about as far as from New York to New + Haven. The army proper, marching by fours, stretched away through the wet + lands for forty miles. A fly-bitten tail of ambulances and wagons, with + six miserable horses or six perfectly happy mules attached to each, added + another twenty miles. At the not always attained rate of fifteen miles a + day the army could pass a given point in four days. To the gods in Olympus + it would have appeared to have all the characteristic color and shape of + an angleworm, without, however, enjoying that reptile’s excellent good + health. If the armies of Washington, Cornwallis, Clive, Pizarro, Cortes, + and Christian de Wet had been added to it, they would have passed + unnoticed in the crowd. And the recurring fear of the general in command + of this army was that the army he sought would prove to be twice as big. + So speculation was active between the York and James rivers. + </p> + <p> + In the minds of the soldiers a thousand years passed, and then there was a + little fight, and they learned that they were soldiers. And so did the + other army. Another thousand years passed, and it seemed tactful to change + bases. Accordingly, that which had been arduously established on a muddy + river called the Chickahominy (and it was very far from either of those + two good things) was forsaken, and the host began to be moved toward the + James. This move would have been more smoothly accomplished if the enemy + had not interfered. They, however, insisted upon making history, turning a + change of base into a nominal retreat, and begetting in themselves a + brass-bound and untamable spirit which it took vast wealth and several + years to humble. From Gaines’s Mill to the awful brow of Malvern Hill + there were thunder and death. Forty thousand men were somewhat needlessly + killed, wounded, or (as one paradoxical account has it) “found missing.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin missed the fight at Malvern Hill and became wounded in a + non-bellicose fashion. His general desired to make a remark to another + general, and writing it on a piece of thin yellow paper, gave it to him to + deliver. He rode off to the tune of axes,—for a Maine regiment was + putting in an hour in undoing the stately work of a hundred years,—trotted + fifteen miles peacefully enough, delivered his general’s remark, and + started back. Then came night and a sticky mist. Then the impossibility of + finding the way. Aladdin rode on and on, courageously if not wisely, and + came in time to the dimly discernible outbuildings of a Virginia mansion. + They stood huddled dark and wet in the mist, which was turning to rain, + and there was no sign of life in or about them. Aladdin passed them and + turned into an alley of great trees. By looking skyward he could keep to + the road they bounded. As he drew near the mansion itself a great smell of + box and roses filled his nostrils with fragrance. But to him, standing + under the pillared portico and knocking upon the door, came no word of + welcome and no stir of lights. He gave it up in disgust, mounted, and rode + back through the rich mud to the stables. Had he looked over his shoulder + he might have seen a face at one of the windows of the house. + </p> + <p> + He found a door of one of the stables unlocked, and went in, leading his + horse. Within there was a smell of hay. He closed the door behind him, + unsaddled, and fell to groping about in the dark. He wanted several + armfuls of that hay, and he couldn’t find them. The hay kept calling to + his nose, “Here I am, here I am”; but when he got there, it was hiding + somewhere else. It was like a game of blindman’s-buff. Then he heard the + munching of his horse and knew that the sought was found. He moved toward + the horse, stepped on a rotten planking, and fell through the floor. + Something caught his chin violently as he went through, and in a pool of + filthy water, one leg doubled and broken under him, he passed the night as + tranquilly as if he had been dosed with laudanum. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXV + </h2> + <p> + Aladdin came to consciousness in the early morning. He was about as sick + as a man can be this side of actual dissolution, and the pain in his + broken leg was as sharp as a scream. He lay groaning and doubled in the + filthy half-inch of water into which he had fallen. About him was + darkness, but overhead a glimmer of light showed a jagged and cruel hole + in the planking of the stable floor. Very slowly, for his agony was + unspeakable, he came to a realization of what had happened. He called for + help, and his voice was thick and unresonant, like the voice of a drunken + man. His horse heard him and neighed. Now and again he lapsed into + semi-unconsciousness, and time passed without track. Hours passed, when + suddenly the glimmer above him brightened, and he heard light footsteps + and the cackling of hens. He called for help. Instantly there was silence. + It continued a long time. Then he heard a voice like soft music, and the + voice said, “Who’s there?” + </p> + <p> + A shadow came between him and the light, and a fair face that was darkened + looked down upon him. + </p> + <p> + “For God’s sake take care,” he said. “Those boards are rotten.” + </p> + <p> + “You ‘re a Yankee, aren’t you?” said the voice, sweetly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Aladdin, “and I’m badly hurt.” + </p> + <p> + The voice laughed. + </p> + <p> + “Hurt, are you?” it said. + </p> + <p> + “I think I’ve broken my leg,” said Aladdin. “Can you get some one to help + me out of this?” + </p> + <p> + “Reckon you’re all right down there,” said the voice. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin revolved the brutality of it in his mind. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean to say that you’re not going to help me?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Help you? Why should I?” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin groaned, and could have killed himself for groaning. + </p> + <p> + “If you don’t help me,” he said, and his voice broke, for he was suffering + tortures, “I’ll die before long.” + </p> + <p> + A perfectly cool and cruel “Well?” came back to him. + </p> + <p> + “You won’t help me?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + Anger surged in his heart, but he spoke with measured sarcasm. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” he said, “will you at least do me the favor of getting from + between me and God’s light? If I die, I may go to hell, but I prefer not + to see devils this side of it, thank you.” + </p> + <p> + The girl went away, but presently came back. She lowered something to him + on a string. “I got it out of one of your holsters,” she said. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin’s fingers closed on the butt of a revolver. + </p> + <p> + “It may save you a certain amount of hunger and pain,” she said. “When you + are dead, we will give it to one of our men, and your horse too. He’s a + beauty.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope to God he may—” began Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “Pretty!” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + She went away, and he heard her clucking to the chickens. After a time she + came back. Aladdin was waiting with a plan. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t move,” he said, “or you’ll be shot.” + </p> + <p> + “Rubbish!” said the girl. She leaned casually back from the hole, and he + could hear her moving away and clucking to the chickens. Again she + returned. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you for not shooting,” she said. + </p> + <p> + There was no answer. + </p> + <p> + “Are you dead?” she said. + </p> + <p> + When he came to, there was a bright light in Aladdin’s eyes, for a lantern + swung just to the left of his head. + </p> + <p> + “I thought you were dead,” said the girl, still from her point of + advantage. The lantern’s light was in her face, too, and Aladdin saw that + it was beautiful. + </p> + <p> + “Won’t you help me?” he said plaintively. + </p> + <p> + “Were you ever told that you had nice eyes?” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin groaned. + </p> + <p> + “It bores you to be told that?” + </p> + <p> + “My dear young lady,” said Aladdin, “if you were as kind as you are + beautiful—” + </p> + <p> + “How about your horse kicking me to a certain place? That was what you + started to say, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “Lady—lady,” said Aladdin, “if you only knew how I’m suffering, and + I’m just an ordinary young man with a sweetheart at home, and I don’t want + to die in this hole. And now that I look at you,” he said, “I see that + you’re not so much a girl as an armful of roses.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you by any chance—Irish?” said the girl, with a laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Faith and of ahm that,” said Aladdin, lapsing into full brogue; “oi’m a + hireling sojer, mahm, and no inimy av yours, mahm.” + </p> + <p> + “What will you do for me if I help you?” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “Anything,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “Will you say ‘God save Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate + States of America,’ and sing ‘Dixie’—that is, if you can keep a + tune. ‘Dixie’s rather hard.” + </p> + <p> + “I’ll ‘God bless Jefferson Davis and every future President of the + Confederate States, if there are any,’ ten million times, if you’ll help + me out, and—” + </p> + <p> + “Will you promise not to fight any more?” + </p> + <p> + A long silence. + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “You needn’t do the other things either,” said the girl, presently. Her + voice, oddly enough, was husky. + </p> + <p> + “I thought it would be good to see a Yankee suffer,” she said after a + while, “but it isn’t.” + </p> + <p> + “If you could let a ladder down,” said Aladdin, “I might be able to get up + it.” + </p> + <p> + “I’ll get one,” said the girl. Then she appeared to reflect. “No,” she + said; “we must wait till dark. There are people about, and they’d kill + you. Can you live in that hole till dark?” + </p> + <p> + “If you could throw down a lot of hay,” said Aladdin. “It’s very wet down + here and hard.” + </p> + <p> + The girl went, and came with a bundle of hay. + </p> + <p> + “Look out for the lantern,” she called, and threw the hay down to him. She + brought, in all, seven large bundles and was starting for the eighth, + when, by a special act of Providence, the flooring gave again, and she + made an excellent imitation of Aladdin’s shute on the previous evening. By + good fortune, however, she landed on the soft hay and was not hurt beyond + a few scratches. + </p> + <p> + “Did you notice,” she said, with a little gasp, “that I didn’t scream?” + </p> + <p> + “You aren’t hurt, are you?” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “No,” she said; “but—do you realize that we can’t get out, now?” + </p> + <p> + She made a bed of the hay. + </p> + <p> + “You crawl over on that,” she said. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin bit his lips and groaned as he moved. + </p> + <p> + “It’s really broken, isn’t it?” said the girl. Aladdin lay back gasping. + </p> + <p> + “You poor boy,” she said. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXVI + </h2> + <p> + The girl borrowed Aladdin’s pocket-knife and began whittling at a fragment + of board. Then she tore several yards of ruffle from her white petticoat, + cut his trouser leg off below the knee, cut the lacings of his boot, and + bandaged his broken leg to the splint she had made. All that was against a + series of most courteous protests, made in a tearful voice. + </p> + <p> + When she had done, Aladdin took her hand in his and kissed the fingers. + </p> + <p> + “They’re the smallest sisters of mercy I ever saw,” said he. She made no + attempt to withdraw her hand. + </p> + <p> + “It was stupid of me to fall through,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Isn’t there any possible way of getting out?” + </p> + <p> + “No; the walls are stone.” + </p> + <p> + “O Lord!” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “I’m glad I repented before I fell through,” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “So am I,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “What were you doing in our stable?” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “I got lost, and came in for shelter.” + </p> + <p> + “You came to the house first. I heard you knocking, and saw you from the + window. But I wouldn’t let you in, because my father and brother were + away, and besides, I knew you were a Yankee.” + </p> + <p> + “It was too dark to see my uniform.” + </p> + <p> + “I could tell by the way you rode.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it as bad as that?” + </p> + <p> + “No—but it’s different.” + </p> + <p> + The girl laid her hand on Aladdin’s forehead. + </p> + <p> + “You’ve got fever,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “It doesn’t matter,” said Aladdin, politely. + </p> + <p> + “Does your leg hurt awfully?” + </p> + <p> + “It doesn’t matter.” + </p> + <p> + “Did any one ever tell you that you were very civil for a Yankee?” + </p> + <p> + “It doesn’t matter,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + She looked at him shrewdly, and saw that the light of reason had gone out + of his eyes. She wetted her handkerchief with the cold, filthy water + spread over the cellar floor and laid it on his forehead. Aladdin spoke + ramblingly or kept silence. Every now and then the girl freshened the + handkerchief, and presently Aladdin fell into a troubled sleep. + </p> + <p> + When he awoke his mind was quite clear. The lantern still burned, but + faintly, for the air in the cellar was becoming heavy. Beside him on the + straw the girl lay sleeping. And overhead footsteps sounded on the stable + floor. He remembered what the girl had said about the people who would + kill him if they found him, and blew out the lantern. Then, his hand over + her mouth, he waked the girl. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t make a noise,” he said. “Listen.” + </p> + <p> + The girl sat up on the straw. + </p> + <p> + “I’ll call,” she whispered presently, “and pretend you’re not here.” + </p> + <p> + “But the horse?” + </p> + <p> + “I’ll lie about him.” + </p> + <p> + She raised her voice. + </p> + <p> + “Who’s there?” she called. + </p> + <p> + “It’s I—Calvert. Where are you?” + </p> + <p> + “Listen,” she answered; “I’ve fallen through the floor into the cellar. + Don’t you see where it’s broken?” + </p> + <p> + The footsteps approached. + </p> + <p> + “You’re not hurt, are you?” + </p> + <p> + “No; but don’t come too close, don’t try to look down; the floor’s + frightfully rickety. Isn’t there a ladder there somewhere?” + </p> + <p> + A man laughed. + </p> + <p> + “Wait,” he said. They heard his footsteps and laughter receding. Presently + the bottom of a ladder appeared through the hole in the floor. + </p> + <p> + “Look out for your head,” said the man. + </p> + <p> + The girl rose and guided the ladder clear of Aladdin’s head. + </p> + <p> + “What have you done with the Yankee’s horse?” she called. + </p> + <p> + “He’s here.” + </p> + <p> + “Where’s the Yankee, do you suppose?” + </p> + <p> + “We think he must have run off into the woods.” + </p> + <p> + “That’s what I thought.” + </p> + <p> + The girl began to mount the ladder. + </p> + <p> + “I’m coming up,” she said. + </p> + <p> + She disappeared, and the ladder was withdrawn. + </p> + <p> + She came back after a long time, and there were men with her. + </p> + <p> + “It’s all right, Yankee,” she called down the hole. “They’re your own men, + and I’m the prisoner now.” + </p> + <p> + The ladder reappeared, and two friendly men in blue came down into the + cellar. + </p> + <p> + “Good God!” they said. “It’s Aladdin O’Brien!” + </p> + <p> + Hannibal St. John and Beau Larch lifted Aladdin tenderly and took him out + of his prison. + </p> + <p> + Outside, tents were being pitched in the dark, and there was a sound of + axes. Fires glowed here and there through the woods and over the fields, + and troops kept pouring into the plantation. They laid Aladdin on a heap + of hay and went to bring a stretcher. The girl sat down beside him. + </p> + <p> + “You’ll be all right now,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “And go home to your sweetheart.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Aladdin, and he thought of the tall violets on the banks of + the Maine brooks, and the freshness of the sea. + </p> + <p> + “What is her name?” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “Margaret,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “Mine’s Ellen,” said the girl, and it seemed as if she sighed. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin took her hand. + </p> + <p> + “You ‘ve been very good to me,” he said, and his voice grew tender, for + she was very beautiful, “and I’ll never forget you,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, me!” said the girl, and there was a silence between them. + </p> + <p> + “I tried to help you,” said the girl, faintly, “but I wasn’t very good at + it.” + </p> + <p> + “You were an angel,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t suppose we’ll ever see each other again, will we?” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know,” said Aladdin. “Perhaps I’ll come back some day.” + </p> + <p> + “It’s very silly of me—” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “What?” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing.” + </p> + <p> + He closed his eyes, for he was very weak. It seemed as if a great + sweetness came close to his face, and he could have sworn that something + wet and hot fell lightly on his forehead; but when he opened his eyes, the + girl was sitting aloof, her face in the shadow. + </p> + <p> + “I dreamed just then,” said Aladdin, “that something wonderful happened to + me. Did it?” + </p> + <p> + “What would you consider wonderful?” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin laid a finger on his forehead; he drew it away and saw that the + tip was wet. + </p> + <p> + “I couldn’t very well say,” he said. + </p> + <p> + The girl bent over him. + </p> + <p> + “It nearly happened,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “You are very wonderful and beautiful,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + Her eyes were like stars, and she leaned closer. + </p> + <p> + “Are you going to go on fighting against my people?” she said. + </p> + <p> + Roses lay for a moment on his lips. + </p> + <p> + “Are you?” + </p> + <p> + He made no sign. If she had kissed him again he would have renounced his + birthright and his love. + </p> + <p> + “God bless and keep you, Yankee,” she said. + </p> + <p> + Tears rushed out of Aladdin’s eyes. + </p> + <p> + “They’re coming to take you away,” she said. “Good-by.” + </p> + <p> + “Kiss me again,” said Aladdin, hoarsely. + </p> + <p> + She looked at him quietly for some moments. + </p> + <p> + “And your sweetheart?” she said. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin covered his face with his arm. + </p> + <p> + “Poor little traitor,” said the girl, sadly. She rose and, without looking + back, moved slowly up the road toward the house. + </p> + <p> + Nor did Aladdin ever see her again, but in after years the smell of box or + roses would bring into his mind the wonderful face of her, and the music + of her voice. + </p> + <p> + In the delirium which was upon him all that night, he harped to the + surgeon of Ellen, and in the morning fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + “Haec olim meminisse juvabit,” said the surgeon, as rain-clouded dawn rose + whitely in the east. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXVII + </h2> + <p> + Aladdin was jolted miserably down the Peninsula in a white ambulance, + which mules dragged through knee-deep mud and over flowing, corduroy + roads. He had fever in his whole body, anguish in one leg, and hardly a + wish to live. But at Fort Monroe the breezes came hurrying from the sea, + like so many unfailing doctors, and blew his fever back inland where it + belonged. He lay under a live-oak on the parade ground and once more + received the joy of life into his heart. When he was well enough to limp + about, they gave him leave to go home; and he went down into a ship, and + sailed away up the laughing Chesapeake, and up the broad Potomac to + Washington. There he rested during one night, and in the morning took + train for New York. The train was full of sick and wounded going home, and + there was a great cheerfulness upon them all. Men joined by the + brotherhood of common experience talked loudly, smoked hard, and drank + deep. There was tremendous boasting and the accounting of unrivaled + adventures. In Aladdin’s car, however, there was one man who did not join + in the fellowship, for he was too sick. He had been a big man and strong, + but he looked like a ghost made of white gossamer and violet shadows. His + own mother would not have recognized him. He lay back into the corner of a + seat with averted face and closed eyes. The more decent-minded endeavored, + on his account, to impose upon the noisy a degree of quiet, but their + efforts were unavailing. Aladdin, drumming with his nails upon the + windowpane, fell presently into soft song: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Give me three breaths of pleasure + After three deaths of pain, + And make me not remeasure + The ways that were in vain. +</pre> + <p> + Men grew silent and gathered to hear, for Aladdin’s fame as a maker of + songs had spread over the whole army, and he was called the Minstrel + Major. He felt his audience and sang louder. The very sick man turned a + little so that he, too, could hear. Only the occasional striking of a + match or the surreptitious drawing of a cork interrupted. The stately tune + moved on: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The first breath shall be laughter, + The second shall be wine; + And there shall follow after + A kiss that shall be mine. +</pre> + <p> + Somehow all the homing hearts were set to beating. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Roses with dewfall laden + One garden grows for me; + I call them kisses, maiden, + And gather them from thee. +</pre> + <p> + The very sick man turned fully, and there was a glad light of recognition + in his eyes. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Give me three kisses only— + Then let the storm break o’er + The vessel beached and lonely + Upon the lonely shore. +</pre> + <p> + If Aladdin’s singing ever moved anybody particularly, it was Aladdin, and + that was why it moved other people. He sang on with tears in his voice + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Give me three breaths of pleasure + After three deaths of pain, + And I will no more treasure + The hopes that are in vain. +</pre> + <p> + There was silence for a moment, more engaging than applause, and then + applause. Aladdin was in his element, and he wondered what he would best + sing next if they should ask him to sing again, and this they immediately + did. The train was jolting along between Baltimore and Philadelphia. There + was much beer in the bellies of the sick and wounded, and much sentiment + in their hearts. Aladdin’s finger was always on the pulse of his audience, + and he began with relish: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Oh, shut and dark her window is + In the dark house on the hill, + But I have come up through the lilac walk + To the lilt of the whippoorwill, + With the old years tugging at my hands + And my heart which is her heart still. +</pre> + <p> + There was another man in the car whose whole life centered about a house + on a hill with a lilac walk leading up to it. He was the very sick man, + and a shadow of red color came into his cheeks. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + They said, “You must come to the house once more, + Ere the tale of your years be done, + You must stand and look up at her window again, + Ere the sands of your life are run, + As the night-time follows the lost daytime, + And the heart goes down with the sun.” + </pre> + <p> + There were tears in the very sick man’s eyes, for the future was hidden + from him. Aladdin sang on: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Though her window be darkest of every one, + In the dark house on the hill, + Yet I turn to it here from this ruin of grass, + She has leaned on that window’s sill, + And dark it is, but there is, there is + An echo of light there still! +</pre> + <p> + There was great applause from the drunk and sentimental. And Aladdin + lowered his eyes until it was over. When he raised them it was to + encounter those of the very sick man. Aladdin sprang to his feet with a + cry and went limping down the aisle. + </p> + <p> + “Peter,” he cried, “by all that’s holy!” + </p> + <p> + All the tenderness of the Celt gushed into Aladdin’s heart as he realized + the pitiful condition and shocking emaciation of his friend. He put his + arm gently about him, and thus they sat until the journey’s end. In New + York they separated. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin rested that night and boarded an early morning train for Boston. + He settled himself contentedly behind a newspaper, and fell to gathering + news of the army. But it was difficult to read. A sentence beginning like + this: “Rumors of a savage engagement between the light horse under” would + shape itself like this: “I am going to see Margaret to-morrow—to-morrow—to-morrow—I + am going to see Margaret to-morrow-tomorrow—and God is good—is + good—is good.” + </p> + <p> + Oddly enough, there was another man in the car who was having precisely + the same difficulty in deciphering his newspaper. At about the same time + they both gave up the attempt; and their eyes met. And they laughed aloud. + And presently, seated together, they fell into good talk, but each + refrained pointedly from asking the other where he was going. + </p> + <p> + With a splendid assumption of innocence, they drove together across + Boston, and remarking nothing on the coincidence, each distinctly heard + the other checking his luggage for Portland, Maine. + </p> + <p> + Side by side they rolled out of Portland and saw familiar trees and hills + go by. Presently Aladdin chuckled: + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Peter, anyway?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Just where you are,” said Peter. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXVIII + </h2> + <p> + “Peter,” said Aladdin, presently, “it seems to me that for two such old + friends we are lacking in confidence. I know precisely what you are + thinking about, and you know precisely what I am. We mustn’t play the + jealous rivals to the last; and to put it plainly, Peter, if God is going + to be good to you instead of me, why, I’m going to try and thank God just + the same. A personal disappointment is a purely private matter and has no + license to upset old ties and affections. Does it occur to you that we are + after the same thing and that one of us isn’t going to get it?” + </p> + <p> + “We won’t let it make any difference,” said Peter, stoutly. + </p> + <p> + “That’s just it,” said Aladdin. “We mustn’t.” + </p> + <p> + “The situation—” Peter began. + </p> + <p> + “Is none the less difficult, I know. Here we are with a certain amount of + leave to occupy as we each see fit. And, unfortunately, there’s only one + thing which seems fit to either of us. And, equally unfortunately, it’s + something we can’t hold hands and do at the same time. Shall I go straight + from the station to Mrs. Brackett’s and wait until you’ve had your say, + Peter?—not that I want to wait very long,” he added. + </p> + <p> + “That wouldn’t be at all fair,” said Peter. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mind,” said Aladdin after a pause, “telling me about what your + chances are?” + </p> + <p> + Peter reddened uncomfortably. + </p> + <p> + “I’m afraid they’re not very good, ‘Laddin,” he said. “She—she said + she wasn’t sure. And that’s a good deal more apt to mean nothing than + everything, but I can’t straighten my life out till I’m sure.” + </p> + <p> + “My chances,” said Aladdin, critically, “shouldn’t by rights be anywhere + near as good as yours, but as long as they remain chances I feel just the + same as you do about yours, and want to get things straightened out. But + if I were any kind of a man, I’d drop it, because I’m not in her class.” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense,” said Peter. + </p> + <p> + “No, I’m not,” said Aladdin, gloomily. “I know that. But, Peter, what is a + man going to do, a single, solitary, pretty much good-for-nothing man, + with three great bouncing Fates lined up against him?” + </p> + <p> + Peter laughed his big, frank laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Shall we chuck the whole thing,” said Aladdin, “until it’s time to go + back to the army?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Peter, “that would be shirking; it’s got to be settled one way + or another very quickly.” He became grave again. + </p> + <p> + “I think so, too, Peter,” said Aladdin. “And I think that if she takes one + of us it will be a great sorrow for the other.” + </p> + <p> + “And for her,” said Peter, quietly. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps,” said Aladdin, whimsically, “she won’t take either of us.” + </p> + <p> + “That,” said Peter, “should be a great sorrow for us both.” + </p> + <p> + “I know,” said Aladdin. “Anyway, there’s got to be sorrow.” + </p> + <p> + “I think I shall bear it better,” said Peter, “if she takes you, ‘Laddin.” + </p> + <p> + A flash of comparison between his somewhat morbid and warped self and the + bigness and nobility of his friend passed through Aladdin’s mind. He + glanced covertly at the strong, emaciated face beside him, and noted the + steadiness and purity of the eyes. A little quixotic flame, springing like + an orchid from nothing, blazed suddenly in his heart, and for the instant + he was the better man of the two. + </p> + <p> + “I hope she takes you, Peter,” he said. + </p> + <p> + They rolled on through the midsummer woods, heavy with bright leaves and + waist-deep with bracken; little brooks, clean as whistles, piped away + among immaculate stones, and limpid light broken by delicious shadows fell + over all. + </p> + <p> + “Who shall ask her first?” said Aladdin. Peter smiled. “Shall we toss for + it?” said Aladdin. Peter laughed gaily. “Do you really want it to be like + that?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “What’s the use of our being friends,” said Aladdin, “if we are not going + to back each other up in this of all things?” + </p> + <p> + “Right!” said Peter. “But you ought to have the first show because you + mentioned it first.” + </p> + <p> + “Rubbish!” said Aladdin. “We’ll toss, but not now; we’ll wait till we get + there.” + </p> + <p> + Peter looked at his watch. + </p> + <p> + “Nearly in,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Aladdin. “I know by the woods.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you telegraph, by any chance?” said Peter. “Because I didn’t.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor I,” said Aladdin; “I didn’t want to be met.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor I,” said Peter. + </p> + <p> + “The sick man and the lame man will take hands and hobble up the hill,” + said Aladdin. “And whatever happens, they mustn’t let anything make any + difference.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Peter, “they mustn’t.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXIX + </h2> + <p> + Our veterans walked painfully through the town and up the hill; nor were + they suffered to go in peace, for right and left they were recognized, and + people rushed up to shake them by the hands and ask news of such an one, + and if Peter’s bullet was still in him, and if it was true, which of + course they saw it wasn’t, that Aladdin had a wooden leg. Aladdin, it must + be owned, enjoyed these demonstrations, and in spite of his lameness + strutted a little. But Peter, white from the after effects of his wound + and weary with the long travel, did not enjoy them at all. Then the steep + pitch of the hill was almost too much for him, and now and again he was + obliged to stop and rest. + </p> + <p> + The St. Johns’ house stood among lilacs and back from the street by the + breadth of a small garden. In the rear were large grounds, fields, and + even woods. The place had two entrances, one immediately in front of the + house for people on foot, and the other, a quarter of a mile distant, for + people driving. This latter, opening from a joyous country lane of + blackberry-vines and goldenrod, passed between two prodigious round + stones, and S-ed into a dark and stately wood. Trees, standing gladly + where God had set them, made a screen, impenetrable to the eye, between + the gateway and the house. + </p> + <p> + Here Peter and Aladdin halted, while Aladdin sent a coin spinning into the + air. + </p> + <p> + “Heads!” called Peter. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin let the piece fall to the ground, and they bent over it eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “After you,” said Peter, for the coin read, “Tails.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin picked up the coin, and hurled it far away among the trees. + </p> + <p> + “That’s our joint sacrifice to the gods, Peter,” he said. + </p> + <p> + Peter gave him five cents. + </p> + <p> + “My share,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Peter,” said Aladdin, “I will ask her the first chance I get, and if + there’s nothing in it for me, I will go away and leave the road clear for + you. Come.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Peter; “you’ve got your chance now. And here I wait until you + send me news.” + </p> + <p> + “Lord!” said Aladdin, “has it got to be as sudden as this?” + </p> + <p> + “Let’s get it over,” said Peter. + </p> + <p> + “Very good,” said Aladdin. “I’ll go. But, Peter, whatever happens, I won’t + keep you long in suspense.” + </p> + <p> + “Good man,” said Peter. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin turned his face to the house like a man measuring a distance. He + drew a deep breath. + </p> + <p> + “Well—here goes,” he said, and took two steps. + </p> + <p> + “Wait, ‘Laddin,” said Peter. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin turned. + </p> + <p> + “Can I have your pipe?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin turned over his pipe and pouch. “I’m afraid it’s a little bitter,” + he said. + </p> + <p> + Again he started up the drive; but Peter ran after him. + </p> + <p> + “‘Laddin,” he cried, “wait—I forgot something.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin came back to meet him. + </p> + <p> + “Aladdin,” said Peter, “I forgot something.” He held out his hand, and + Aladdin squeezed it. + </p> + <p> + “Aladdin,” said Peter, “from the bottom of my heart I wish you luck.” + </p> + <p> + When they separated again there were tears in the eyes of both. + </p> + <p> + Just before the curtain of trees quite closed the view of the gate, + Aladdin turned to look at Peter. Peter sat upon one of the big stones that + marked the entrance, smoking and smoking. He had thrown aside his hat, and + his hair shone in the sun. There was a kind of wistfulness in his poise, + and his calm, pure eyes were lifted toward the open sky. A great + hero-worship surged in Aladdin’s heart, and he thought that there was + nothing that he would not do for such a friend. “He gave you your life + once,” said a little voice in Aladdin’s heart; “give him his. He is worth + a million of you; don’t stand in his way.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin turned and went on, and the well-known house came into view, but + he saw only the splendid, wistful man at the gate, waiting calmly, as a + gentleman should, for life or death, and smoking smoking. + </p> + <p> + Even as he made his resolve, a lump of self-pity rose in Aladdin’s throat. + That was the old Adam in him, the base clay out of which springs the fair + flower of self-sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + He tried a variety of smiles, for he wished to be easy in the difficult + part which he had so suddenly, and in the face of all the old years, + elected to play. “He must know by the look of me,” said Aladdin, “that I + do not love her any more, for, God help me, I can’t say it.” + </p> + <p> + He found her on the broad rear veranda of the house. And instead of going + up to her and taking her in his arms,—for he had planned this + meeting often, as the stars could tell, he stood rooted, and said: + </p> + <p> + “Hallo, Margaret!” + </p> + <p> + He acted better than he knew, for the great light which had blazed for one + instant in her eyes on first seeing him went out like a snuffed candle, + and he did not see it or know that it had blazed. Therefore his own + cruelty was hidden from him, and his part became easier to play. They + shook hands, and even then, if he had not been blinded with the egotism of + self-sacrifice, he might have seen. That was his last chance. For + Margaret’s heart cried to her, “It is over,” and in believing it, + suddenly, and as she thought forever, an older sweetness came in her face. + </p> + <p> + “You’ve changed, Aladdin,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I’m thinner, if possible,” said Aladdin, “almost willowy. Do you + think it’s becoming?” + </p> + <p> + “I am not sure,” said Margaret. “The fact remains that I’m more than glad + to see you.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin fumbled for speech. + </p> + <p> + “I’m still a little lame, you see,” he said apologetically, and took + several steps to show. + </p> + <p> + “Very!” said Margaret, in such a voice that Aladdin wondered what she + meant. + </p> + <p> + “But it doesn’t hurt any more.” + </p> + <p> + “Then that’s all right.” + </p> + <p> + “Where’s Jack?” he asked at length. + </p> + <p> + Margaret became very grave. + </p> + <p> + “I’m afraid we’ve betrayed our trust, Aladdin,” she said. “Because only + yesterday he slipped away and left a little note to say that he was going + to enlist. We’re very much distressed about it.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps it’s better so,” said Aladdin, “if he really wanted to go. Did he + leave any address?” + </p> + <p> + “None whatever; he simply vanished.” + </p> + <p> + “Ungrateful little brute!” said Aladdin. Then he bethought him of Peter. + “I’ll come back later, Margaret,” he said, “but it behooves me to go and + look up the good Mrs. Brackett.” + </p> + <p> + He hardly knew how he got out of the house. He felt like a criminal who + has been let off by the judge. + </p> + <p> + The sun was now low, and the shadows long and black. Aladdin found Peter + where he had left him, balancing on the great stone at the entrance, and + sending up clouds of smoke. He rose when he saw Aladdin, and he looked + paler and more worn. “Peter,” said Aladdin, “from the bottom of my heart I + wish you luck.” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin had never seen just such a look as came into Peter’s eyes; at once + they were full of infinite pity, and at peace with the whole world. + </p> + <p> + “Peter,” said Aladdin, “give me back my pipe.” His voice broke in spite of + himself, for he had given up golden things. “I—” he said, “I’ll wait + here a little while, but if—if all goes well, Peter, don’t you + bother to come back.” + </p> + <p> + They clasped hands long and in silence. Then Peter turned with a gulp, + and, his weakness a thing of the past, went striding up the driveway. But + Aladdin sat down to wait. And now a great piping of tree-frogs arose in + all that country. Aladdin waited for a long time. He waited until the day + gave way to twilight and the sun went down. He waited until the twilight + turned to dark and the stars came out. He waited until, after all the + years of waiting and longing, his heart was finally at peace. And then he + rose to go. + </p> + <p> + For Peter had not yet come. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOOK III + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Where are the tall men that marched on the right, + That marched to the battle so handsome and tall? + They ‘ve been left to mark the places where they saw the foemen’s faces, + For the fever and the lead took them all, Jenny Orde, + The fever and the lead took them all. + + “I found him in the forefront of the battle, Kenny Orde, + With the bullets spitting up the ground around him, + And the sweat was on his brow, and his lips were on his sword, + And his life was going from him when I found him. + + “We lowered him to rest, Jenny Orde, + With your picture on his breast, Jenny Orde, + And the rumble of pursuit was the regiment’s salute + To the man that loved you best, Jenny Orde.” + </pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXX + </h2> + <p> + As a dam breaking gives free passage to the imprisoned waters, and they + rush out victoriously, so Vicksburg, starving and crumbling in the West, + was about to open her gates and set the Father of Waters free forever. + That was where the Union hammer, grasped so firmly by strong fingers that + their knuckles turned white, was striking the heaviest blows upon the + cracking skull of the Confederacy. On the other hand, Chancellorsville had + verged upon disaster, and the powers of Europe were waiting for one more + Confederate victory in order to declare the blockade of Southern ports at + an end, and to float a Southern loan. That a Confederate victory was to be + feared, the presence in Northern territory of Lee, grasping the handle of + a sword, whose splendid blade was seventy thousand men concentrated, + testified. That Lee had lost the best finger of his right hand at + Chancellorsville was but job’s comfort to the threatened government at + Washington. That government was still, after years of stern fighting, + trying generals and finding them wanting. But now the Fates, in secret + conclave, weighed the lots of Union and Disunion; and that of Disunion, + though glittering and brilliant like gold, sank heavily to the ground, as + a great eagle whose wing is broken by the hunter’s bullet comes surely if + fiercely down, to be put to death. + </p> + <p> + Early on the morning of July 1, 1863, Lee found himself in the + neighborhood of a small and obscure town named Gettysburg. A military + invasion is the process of occupying in succession a series of towns. To + occupy Gettysburg, which seemed as possible as eating breakfast, Lee sent + forward a division of a corps, and followed leisurely with all his forces. + But Gettysburg and the ridges to the west of Gettysburg were already + occupied by two brigades of cavalry, and those, with a cockiness begotten + of big lumps of armed friends approaching from the rear, determined to go + on occupying. This, in a spirit of great courage, with slowly increasing + forces, against rapidly increasing forces, they did, until the brisk and + pliant skirmish which opened the business of the day had grown so in + weight and ferocity that it was evident to the least astute that the + decisive battle of the New World was being fought. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXXI + </h2> + <p> + There was a pretty girl in Manchester, Maryland (possibly several, but one + was particularly pretty), and Aladdin, together with several young + officers (nearly all officers were young in that war) of the Sixth Army + Corps, rather flattered himself that he was making an impression. He was + all for making impressions in those days. Margaret was engaged to marry + Peter—and a pretty girl was a pretty girl. The pretty girl of + Manchester had several girls and several officers to tea on a certain + evening, and they remained till midnight, making a great deal of noise and + flirting outrageously in dark corners. Two of the girls got themselves + kissed, and two of the officers got their ears boxed, and later a glove + each to stick in their hat-bands. At midnight the party broke up with + regret, and the young officers, seeking their quarters, turned in, and + were presently sleeping the sleep of the constant in heart. But Aladdin + did not dream about the pretty girl of Manchester, Maryland. When he could + not help himself—under the disadvantage of sleep, when suddenly + awakened, or when left alone—his mind harped upon Margaret. And + often the chords of the harping were sad chords. But on this particular + night he dreamed well. He dreamed that her little feet did wrong and fled + for safety unto him. What the wrong was he knew in his dream, but never + afterward—only that it was a dreadful, unforgivable wrong, not to be + condoned, even by a lover. But in his dream Aladdin was more than her + lover, and could condone anything. So he hid her feet in his hands until + those who came to arrest them had passed, and then he waked to find that + his hands were empty, and the delicious dream over. He waked also to find + that it was still dark, and that the Sixth Army Corps was to march to a + place called Taneytown, where General Meade had headquarters. He made + ready and presently was riding by his general at the head of a creaking + column, under the starry sky. In the great hush and cool that is before a + July dawn, God showed himself to the men, and they sang the “Battle-hymn + of the Republic,” but it sounded sweetly and yearningly, as if sung by + thousands of lovers: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: + He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; + He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword + His truth is marching on. +</pre> + <p> + The full sunlight gives man poise and shows him the practical side of + things, but in the early morning and late at night man is seldom quite + rational. He weakly allows himself to dwell upon what was not, is not, and + will not be. And so Aladdin, during the first period of that march, + pretended that Margaret was to be his and that all was well. + </p> + <p> + A short distance out of Manchester the column met with orders from General + Meade and was turned westward toward Gettysburg. With the orders came + details of the first day’s fight, and Aladdin learned of the officer + bringing them, for he was a Maine man, that Hamilton St. John was among + the dead. Aladdin and the officer talked long of the poor boy, for both + had known him well. They said that he had not been as brilliant as John, + nor as winning as Hannibal, but so honest and reliable, so friendly and + unselfish. They went over his good qualities again and again, and spoke of + his great strength and purity, and of other things which men hold best in + men. + </p> + <p> + And now they were riding with the sun in their eyes, and white dust rolled + up from the swift feet of horses and men. Wild roses and new-mown grass + filled the air with delightful fragrance, and such fields as were uncut + blazed with daisies and buttercups. Over the trimmed lawns about + homesteads yellow dandelions shone like stars in a green sky. Men, women, + and children left their occupations, and stood with open mouths and wide + eyes to see the soldiers pass. The sun rose higher and the day became most + hot, but steadily, unflinchingly as the ticking of a clock, the swift, + bleeding, valiant feet of the Sixth Army Corps stepped off the miles. And + the men stretched their ears to hear the mumbled distant thunder of + artillery—that voice of battle which says so much and tells so + little to those far off. The Sixth Corps felt that it was expected to + decide a battle upon Northern soil for the North, and marching in that + buoyant hope, left scarcely a man, broken with fatigue and disappointment, + among the wild flowers by the side of the way. + </p> + <p> + If you have ever ridden from Cairo to the Pyramids you will remember that + at five miles’ distance they look as huge as at a hundred yards, and that + it is not until you actually touch them with your hand that you even begin + to realize how wonderfully huge they really are. It was so with the + thunders of Gettysburg. They sounded no louder, and they connoted no more + to the column now in the immediate vicinage of the battle, than they had + to its far-distant ears. But presently the column halted behind a circle + of hills, and beheld white smoke pouring heavenward as if a fissure had + opened in the earth and was giving forth steam. And they beheld in the + heavens themselves tiny, fleecy white clouds and motionless rings, and + they knew that shells were bursting and men falling upon the slopes beyond + the hills. + </p> + <p> + A frenzy of eagerness seized upon the tired feet, and they pressed upward, + lightly, like dancers’ feet. Straps creaked upon straining breasts, and + sweat ran in bubbles. Then the head of the column reached the ridge of a + hill, and its leaders saw through smarting eyes a great horseshoe of + sudden death. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXXII + </h2> + <p> + That morning Peter Manners had received a letter, but he had not had a + chance to open and read it. It was a letter that belonged next to his + heart, as he judged by the writing, and next to his heart, in a secure + pocket, he placed it, there to lie and give him strength and courage for + the cruel day’s work, and something besides the coming of night to look + forward to. For the rest, he went among the lines, and smiled like a boy + released from school to see how silently and savagely they fought. + </p> + <p> + The Sixth Corps rested wherever there was shade along the banks of Rock + Creek, and gathered strength and breath for whatever work should be + assigned to it. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin, sharing a cherry-pie with a friend, shivered with excitement, for + there was a terrific and ever-increasing discharge of cannons and muskets + on the left, and it seemed that the time to go forward again and win glory + was at hand. Presently one came riding back from the battle. His face was + shining with delight, and, sitting like a centaur to the fiery plunges of + his horse, he swung his hat and shouted. It was Sedgwick’s chief of staff, + McMahon, and he brought glorious news, for he said that the corps was to + move toward the heavy firing, where the fighting was most severe. + </p> + <p> + Then the whole corps sprang to its feet and went forward, tearing down the + fences in its path and trampling the long grass in the fields. A mile away + the long, flowery slopes ended in a knobbed hill revealed through smoke. + That was Little Round Top, and its possession meant victory or defeat. The + corps was halted and two regiments were sent forward up the long slope. To + them the minutes seemed moments. They went like a wave over the crest to + the right of the hill, and poured down into the valley beyond. Here the + blue flood of men banked against a stone wall, spreading to right and + left, as the waters of a stream spread the length of a dam. Then they + began to fire dreadfully into the faces of their enemy, and to curse + terribly, as is proper in battle. Bullets stung the long line like wasps, + and men bit the sod. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin was ordered to ride up Little Round Top for information. Half-way + up he left his horse among the boulders and finished the laborious ascent + on foot. At the summit he came upon a leaderless battery loading and + firing like clockwork, and he saw that the rocks were strewn with dead men + in light-blue Zouave uniforms, who looked as if they had fallen in a + shower from the clouds. Many had their faces caved in with stones, and + terrible rents showed where the bayonet had been at work, for in this + battle men had fought hand to hand like cave-dwellers. Bullets hit the + rocks with stinging blows, and round shot screamed in the air. Sometimes a + dead man would be lifted from where he lay and hurled backward, while + every instant men cried hoarsely and joined the dead. In the midst of this + thunder and carnage, Aladdin came suddenly upon Peter, smiling like a + favorite at a dance, and shouted to him. They grinned at each other, and + as Aladdin grinned he looked about to see where he could be of use, and + sprang toward a gun half of whose crew had been blasted to death by a + bursting shell. The sweat ran down his face, and already it was black with + burning powder. The flash of the guns set fire to the clothing of the dead + and wounded who lay in front, and on the recoil the iron-shod wheels broke + the bones of those lying behind. It was impossible to know how the fight + was going. It was only possible to go on fighting. + </p> + <p> + There was a voice in front of the battery that kept calling so terribly + for water that it turned cold the stomachs of those that heard. It came + from a Confederate, a general officer, who had been wounded in the spine. + Occasionally it was possible to see him through the smoke. Sometimes a + convulsion seized him, and he beat the ground with his whole body, as a + great fish that has been drawn from the water beats the deck of a vessel. + It was terrible to look at and hear. Bullets and shot tore the ground + about the man and showered him with dust and stones. Aladdin shook his + canteen and heard the swish of water. It seemed to him, and his knees + turned to water at the thought, that he must go out into that place swept + by the fire of both sides, and give relief to his enemy. He did not want + to go, and fear shook him; but he threw down the rammer which he had been + serving, and drawing breath in long gasps, took a step forward. His + resolve came too late. A blue figure slipped by him and went down the + slope at a run. It was Manners. They saw him kneel by the dying + Confederate in the bright sunlight, and then smoke swept between like a + wave of fog. The red flashes of the guns went crashing into the smoke, and + on all sides men fell. But presently there came a star-shaped explosion in + the midst of the smoke, hurling it back, and they saw Manners again. He + was staggering about with his hands over his eyes, and blood was running + through his fingers. Even as they looked, a shot struck him in the back, + and he came down. They saw his splendid square chest heaving, and knew + that he was not yet dead. Then the smoke closed in, but this time another + figure was hidden by the smoke. For no sooner did Aladdin see Peter fall + than he sprang forward like a hound from the leash. Aladdin kneeled by + Manners, and as he kneeled a bullet struck his hat from his head, and a + round shot, smashing into the rocky ground a dozen feet away, filled his + eyes with dirt and sparks. There was a pungent smell of brimstone from the + furious concussions of iron against rock. A bullet struck the handle of + Aladdin’s sword and broke it. He unstopped his canteen and pressed the + nozzle to Manners’ lips. Manners sucked eagerly, like an infant at its + mother’s breast. A bullet struck the canteen and dashed it to pieces. The + crashing of the cannon was like close thunder, and the air sang like the + strings of an instrument. But Aladdin, so cool and collected he was, might + have been the target for praises and roses flung by beauties. He put his + lips close to Peter’s ear, and spoke loudly, for the noise of battle was + deafening. + </p> + <p> + “Is it much, darlint?” + </p> + <p> + Manners turned his bleeding eyes toward Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + “Go back, you damn little fool!” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Peter, Peter,” said Aladdin, “can’t you see?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I can’t. I’m no use now. Go back; go back and give ‘em hell!” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin endeavored to raise Peter in his arms, but was not strong enough. + </p> + <p> + “I can’t lift you, I can’t lift you,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “You can’t,” said Peter. “Bless you for coming, and go back.” + </p> + <p> + “Shut up, will you?” cried Aladdin, savagely. “Where are you hit?” + </p> + <p> + “In the back,” said Peter, “and I’m done for.” + </p> + <p> + “The hell you are!” said Aladdin. Tears hotter than blood were running out + of his eyes. “What can I do for you, Peter?” he said in a husky voice. + </p> + <p> + Manners’ blackened fingers fumbled at the buttons of his coat, but he had + not the strength to undo them. + </p> + <p> + “It’s there, ‘Laddin,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “What’s there?” said Aladdin. He undid the coat with swift, clever + fingers. + </p> + <p> + “Let me hold it in my hands,” said Peter. + </p> + <p> + “Is it this—this letter—this letter from Margaret?” asked + Aladdin, chokingly, for he saw that the letter had not been opened. + </p> + <p> + A shower of dirt and stones fell upon them, and a shell burst with a sharp + crash above their heads. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Peter. “Give it to me. I can’t ever read it now.” + </p> + <p> + “I can read it for you,” said Aladdin. He was struggling with a sob that + wanted to tear his throat. + </p> + <p> + “Will you? Will you?” cried Peter, and he smiled like a beautiful child. + </p> + <p> + “Sure I will,” said Aladdin. + </p> + <p> + With the palm of his hand he pressed back the streaming sweat from his + forehead twice and three times. Then, having wiped his hands upon his + knees, he drew the battered fragment of his sword, and using it as a + paper-knife, opened the letter carefully, as a man opens letters which are + not to be destroyed. Then his stomach turned cold and his tongue grew + thick and burred. For the letter which Margaret had written to her lover + was more cruel than the shell which had blinded his eyes and the bullet + which was taking his life. + </p> + <p> + “‘Laddin—” this in a fearful voice. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank God. I thought you’d been hit. Why don’t you read?” + </p> + <p> + Aladdin’s eyes, used to reading in blocks of lines rather than a word at a + time, had at one glance taken in the purport of Margaret’s letter, and his + wits had gone from him. She called herself every base and cruel name, and + she prayed her lover to forgive her, but she had never had the right to + tell him that she would marry him, for she had never loved him in that + way. She said that, God forgive her, she could not keep up the false + position any longer, and she wished she was dead. + </p> + <p> + “There’s a man at the bottom of this,” thought Aladdin. He caught a + glimpse of Peter’s poor, bloody face and choked. + </p> + <p> + “I—it—the sheets are mixed,” he said presently. “I’m trying to + find the beginning. There are eight pages,” he went on, “fighting for + time,” and they ‘re folded all wrong, and they’re not numbered or + anything.” + </p> + <p> + Peter waited patiently while Aladdin fumbled with the sheets and tried, to + the cracking-point, to master the confusion in his mind. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly God sent light, and he could have laughed aloud. Not in vain had + he pursued the muse and sought after the true romance in the far country + where she sweeps her skirts beyond the fingers of men. Not in vain had he + rolled the arduous ink-pots and striven manfully for the right word and + the telling phrase. The chance had come, and the years of preparation had + not been thrown away. He knew that he was going to make good at last. His + throat cleared of itself, and the choking phlegm disappeared as if before + a hot flame of joy. His voice came from between his trembling lips clear + as a bell, and the thunder of battle rolled back from the plain of his + consciousness, as, slowly, tenderly, and helped by God, he began to speak + those eight closely lined pages which she should have written. + </p> + <p> + “My Heart’s Darling—” he began, and there followed a molten stream + of golden and sacred words. + </p> + <p> + And the very soul of Manners shouted aloud, for the girl was speaking to + him as she had never spoken before. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXXIII + </h2> + <p> + When the fighting was over for that day, Aladdin wrote as follows to + Margaret: + </p> + <p> + MARGARET DEAR: Peter was shot down to-day, while doing more than his duty + by his enemies and by his country and by himself, which was always his + way. He will not live very long, and you must come to him if it is in any + way possible. His love for you makes other loves seem very little, and I + think it would be better that you should walk the streets than that you + should refuse to come to him now. He had a letter from you, which God, + knowing about, blinded him so that he could not read it, and he believes + that you love him and are faithful to him. It is very merciful of God to + let him believe that. He must not be undeceived now, and you must come and + be lovely to him and pretend and pretend, and make his dying beautiful. I + have the right to ask this of you, for, next to Peter, I was the one that + loved you most. And when I made you think I didn’t I lied. I lied because + I felt that I was not worthy, and I loved you enough to want you to belong + to the best man God ever made, and I loved him too. And that was why it + was. I tell you because I think you must have wondered about it sometimes. + But it was very hard to do, and because I did it, and because Peter is + what he is, you must come to him now. If God will continue to be merciful, + you will get here in time. I hope I may be on hand to see you, but I do + not know. Hamilton is gone, and Peter is going, and there will be a + terrible battle to-morrow, and thousands of poor lads will lie on this + field forever. And here, one way or another, the war will be decided. I + have not the heart to write to you any more, my darling. You will come to + Peter, I know, and all will be as well as it can be. I pray to God that I + too shall live to see you again, and I ask him to bless you and keep you + for ever and ever. Always I see your dear face before me in the battle, + and sometimes at night God lets me dream of you. I am without dogma, + sweetest of all possible sweethearts, but this creed I say over and over, + and this creed I believe: I believe in one God, Maker of heaven and + Margaret. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Angels guard you, darling. + + ALADDIN. +GETTYSBURG, July 2, 1863. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXXIV + </h2> + <p> + On the morning of the third day of July, young Hannibal St. John shaved + his face clean and put himself into a new uniform. The old nth Maine was + no longer a regiment, but a name of sufficient glory. On three occasions + it had been shot to pieces, and after the third the remaining tens were + absorbed by other regiments. Hannibal’s father had obtained for him a + lieutenancy in the United States artillery, Beau Larch was second + lieutenant in another Maine regiment, and John, the old and honored + colonel of the nth, was now, like Aladdin, serving on a staff. + </p> + <p> + The battle began with a movement against Johnson on the Confederate left, + and one against Longstreet on their right. + </p> + <p> + That against Longstreet became known in history as Farnsworth’s charge, + and Aladdin saw it from the signal-station on Little Round Top. + </p> + <p> + It was a series of blue lines, whose relations to one another could not be + justly estimated, because of the wooded nature of the ground, which ran + out into open places before fences and woods that spat red fire, and + became thinner and of less extension, as if they had been made of wax and + were melting under the blaze of the July sun. In that charge Farnsworth + fell and achieved glory. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin held a field-glass to his eyes with trembling hands, and watched + the cruel mowing of the blue flowers. Sometimes he recognized a man that + he knew, and saw him die for his country. Three times he saw John St. John + in the forefront of the battle. The first time he was riding a glorious + black horse, of spirit and proportions to correspond with those of the + hero himself. The second time he was on foot, running forward with a-halt + in his stride, hatless, and carrying a great battle-flag. Upon the top of + it gleamed a gold eagle, that nodded toward the enemy. A dozen blue-coated + soldiers, straggling like the finishers in a long-distance race, followed + him with bayonets fixed. The little loose knot of men ran across a field + toward a stone wall that bounded it upon the other side. Then white smoke + burst from the wall, and they were cut down to the last man. The smoke + cleared, and Aladdin saw John lying above the great flag which he had + carried. A figure in gray leaped the stone wall and ran out to him, + stooped, and seizing the staff of the flag in both hands, braced his hands + and endeavored to draw it from beneath the great body of the hero. But it + would not come, and as he bent closer to obtain a better hold, the back of + a great clenched hand struck him across the jaw, and he fell like a log. + Other men in gray leaped the wall and ran out. The flag came easily now, + for St. John was dead; but so was the gray brother, for his comrades + raised him, and his head hung back over his left shoulder, and they saw + that his neck had been broken like a dry stick. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin had not been sent to that place to mourn, but to gain information. + Twice and three times he wiped his eyes clear of tears, and then he swept + his faltering glass along the lines of the enemy, until, ranged in their + center, he beheld a great semicircle of a hundred and more iron and brass + cannons, and movements of troops. Then Aladdin scrambled down from Little + Round Top to report what he had seen in the center of the Confederate + lines. + </p> + <p> + At one o’clock the Confederate batteries, one hundred and fifteen pieces + in all, opened their tremendous fire upon the center of the Union lines. + Eighty cannons roared back at them with defiant thunder, and the blue sky + became hidden by smoke. Among the Union batteries horses began to run + loose, cannons to be splintered like fire-wood, and caissons to explode. + At these moments men, horses, fragments of men and horses, stones, earth, + and things living and things dead were hurled high into the air with great + blasts of flame and smoke, and it was possible to hear miles of exultant + yells from the hills opposite. But fresh cannon were brought lumbering up + at the gallop and rolled into the places of those dismantled, shot and + shell and canister and powder were rushed forward from the reserve, and + the grim, silent infantry, the great lumbermen of Maine and Vermont, the + shrill-voiced regiments from New York, the shrewd farmers of Ohio and + Massachusetts, the deliberate Pennsylvanians, and the rest, lay closely, + wherever there was shelter, and moistened their lips, and gripped their + rifles, and waited—waited. + </p> + <p> + For two hours that terrible cannonading was maintained. The men who served + the guns looked like stokers of ships, for, such was the heat, many of + them, casting away first one piece of clothing and then another, were half + naked, and black sweat glistened in streams on their chests and backs. As + sight-seers crowd in eagerly by one door of a building where there is an + exhibition, and come reluctantly out by another and go their ways, so the + reserves kept pressing to the front, and the wounded maintained an + unceasing reluctant stream to the rear. + </p> + <p> + A little before three o’clock Hannibal St. John had his right knee smashed + by the exploding of a caisson, and fell behind one of the guns of his + battery. He was so sure that he was to be killed on this day that it had + never occurred to him that he might be trivially wounded and carried to + the rear in safety. An expression of almost comical chagrin came over his + face, for life was nothing to him, and somewhere far above the smoke a + goodly welcome awaited him: that he knew. Men came with a stretcher to + carry him off, but he cursed them roundly and struggled to his well knee. + The cannon behind which he had fallen was about to be discharged. + </p> + <p> + “Give ‘em hell!” cried Hannibal. + </p> + <p> + As he spoke, the piece was fired, and leaping back on the recoil, as a + frenzied horse that breaks its halter, one of the wheels struck him a + terrible blow on the body, breaking all the ribs on that side and killing + him instantly. His face wore a glad smile, and afterward, when Aladdin + found him and took the gold locket from his pocket, and read the + inscription written, a great wonder seized men: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + July 3, 1863. + Nunc dimittis. + Te Deum laudamus. +</pre> + <p> + Thus in one battle fell the three strong hostages which an old man had + given to fortune. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXXV + </h2> + <p> + Three o’clock the Union batteries were ordered to be silent, for it was + well known to those in command that presently there would be a powerful + attack by infantry, for which the cannonade was supposed to have paved the + way with death and disorder, and it was necessary that the pieces should + be kept cool in order to be in efficient condition to grapple with and + suppress this attack. Sometimes a regiment, stung to a frenzy of courage + by bullets and the death of comrades, will rise from its trench without + the volition of its officers, and go frantically forward against + overwhelming odds. A different effect of an almost identical psychological + process is patience. Men will sometimes lie as quietly under a rain of + bullets, in order to get in one effective shot at an enemy, as cattle in + the hot months will lie under a rain of water to get cool. It was so now. + The whole Union army was seized by a kind of bloody deliberation and lay + like statues of men, while, for quarter of an hour more, the Confederates + continued to thunder from their guns. Now and again a man felt lovingly + the long black tube of a cannon to see if its temperature was falling. + Others came hurrying from the rear with relays of powder, shot, shell, and + canister. + </p> + <p> + It seemed now to the Confederate leaders that the Union batteries had been + silenced, and that the time had come for Pickett, the Ney of the South, to + go forward with all his forces. Only Longstreet demurred and protested + against the charge. When Pickett asked him for the order to advance he + turned away his head sorrowfully and would not speak. Then Pickett, that + great leader of men, who was one half daring and one half magnetism and + all hero, said proudly: “I shall go forward, sir.” And turned to his + lovers. + </p> + <p> + Silence and smoke hung over Gettysburg. + </p> + <p> + Presently out of the smoke on the Confederate side came three lines of + gray a mile long. Battle-flags nodded at intervals, and swords blazed in + the sun. + </p> + <p> + Very deliberately and with pains about aiming, the Union batteries began + to hurl solid shot against the gray advance. Soon holes were bitten here + and there, and occasionally a flag went down, to be instantly snatched up + and waved defiantly. When Pickett, Pettigrew, and the splendid brigade of + Cadmus Wilcox had reached the bottom of the valley, their organization was + as unbroken as a parade. But there shell, instead of round shot, met them, + and men tasted death by fives and tens. But the lines, drawing together, + closed the spaces left by mortality, and the flags began to approach each + other. Then the gray men began to come up the slope, and there were + thousands of them. But shell yielded to canister, and the muskets of the + infantry sent out death in leaden showers, so that the great charge began + to melt like wax over heat, and the flags hung close together like a + trophy of battle in a chapel. But still the gray men came. And now, in a + storm of flame and smoke, they reached the foremost cannons of the Union + line, and planted their flags. So much were they permitted for the glory + of a lost cause. For a little, men killed one another with the butts of + guns, with bayonets, and with stones, and then, as the overdrip of a wave + broken upon an iron coast trickles back through the stones of the beach to + the ocean, so all that was left of Pickett’s great charge trickled back + down the slope, driblets of gray, running blood. For a little while longer + the firing continued. Battle-flags were gathered, and thrown together in + sheaves. There was a little broken cheering, and to all intents and + purposes the great war was at an end. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin, broken with grief and fatigue, went picking his way among the + dead and wounded. He had lost Peter and Hannibal in that battle, and + Hamilton and John were dead; he alone remained, and it was not just. He + felt that the Great Reaper had spared the weed among the flowers, and he + was bitter against the Great Reaper. But there was one more sorrow + reserved for Aladdin, and he was to blaspheme against the God that made + him. + </p> + <p> + There was still desultory firing from both armies. As when, on the Fourth + of July, you set off a whole bunch of firecrackers, there is at first a + crackling roar, and afterward a little explosion here and a little + explosion there, so Gettysburg must have sounded to the gods in Olympus. + Thunder-clouds begotten of the intense heat rolled across the heavens from + east to west, accentuating the streaming glory of the setting sun, and now + distant thunder rumbled, with a sound as of artillery crossing a bridge. + Drops of rain fell here and there. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin heard himself called by name, “‘Laddin, ‘Laddin.” + </p> + <p> + As quickly as the brain is advertised of an insect’s sting, so quickly did + Aladdin recognize the voice and know that his brother. Jack was calling to + him. He turned, and saw a little freckled boy, in a uniform much too big + for him, trailing a large musket. + </p> + <p> + “Jack!” he cried, and rushed toward him with outstretched arms. “You + little beggar, what are you doin’ here?” + </p> + <p> + Jack grinned like one confessing to a successful theft of apples belonging + to a cross farmer. And then God saw fit to take away his life. He dropped + suddenly, and there came a rapid pool of blood where his face had been. + With his arms wrapped about the little figure that a moment before had + been so warlike and gay, Aladdin turned toward the heavens a face of white + flint. + </p> + <p> + “I believe in one God, Maker of hell!” he cried. + </p> + <p> + Thunder rumbled and rolled slowly across the battle-field from east, to + west. + </p> + <p> + “I believe in one God, Maker of hell!” cried Aladdin, “Father of injustice + and doer of hellish deeds! I believe in two damnations, the damnation of + the living and the damnation of the dead.” + </p> + <p> + He turned to the little boy in his arms, and terrible sobs shook his body, + so that it appeared as if he was vomiting. After a while he turned his + convulsed face again to the sky. + </p> + <p> + “Come down,” he cried, “come down, you—” + </p> + <p> + Far down the hill there was a puff of white smoke, and a merciful bullet, + glancing from a rock, struck Aladdin on the head with sufficient force to + stretch him senseless upon the ground. + </p> + <p> + When the news of Gettysburg reached the Northern cities, lights were + placed in every window, and horns were blown as at the coming of a new + year. Senator Hannibal St. John had lost his three boys and the hopes of + his old age in that terrible fight, but he caused his Washington house to + be illuminated from basement to garret. + </p> + <p> + And then he walked out in the streets alone, and the tears ran down his + old cheeks. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXXVI + </h2> + <p> + There had been a wedding in the hospital tent. Margaret bent over Peter + and kissed him goodby. She was in deep black, and by her side loomed a + great, dark figure, whose eyes were like caverns in the depths of which + burned coals. The great, dark man leaned heavily upon a stick, and did not + seem conscious of what was going on. The minister who had performed the + ceremony stood with averted face. Every now and then he moistened his lips + with the tip of his tongue. The wounded in neighboring cots turned pitiful + eyes upon the girl in black, for she was most lovely—and very sad. + Occasionally a throat was cleared. + </p> + <p> + “When you come, darling,” said the dying man, “there will be an end of + sorrow.” + </p> + <p> + “There will be an end of sorrow,” echoed the girl. She bent closer to him, + and kissed him again. + </p> + <p> + “It is very wonderful to have been loved,” said Peter. Then his face + became still and very beautiful. A smile, innocent like that of a little + child, lingered upon his lips, and his blind eyes closed. + </p> + <p> + St. John laid his hand upon Margaret’s shoulder. + </p> + <p> + A man, very tall and lean and homely, entered the tent. He was clad in an + exceedingly long and ill-fitting frock-coat. Upon his head was a high + black hat, somewhat the worse for wear. He turned a pair of very gentle + and pitying eyes slowly over those in the tent. + </p> + <p> + Aladdin, his head almost concealed by bandages, sat suddenly upright in a + neighboring cot. A wild, unreasoning light was in his eyes, and marking + time with his hand, he burst suddenly into the “Battle Hymn of the + Republic” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call + retreat; + He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat + Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet! + Our God is marching on. +</pre> + <p> + He sang on, and the wounded joined him with weak voices: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, + With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me; + As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, + While God is marching on. +</pre> + <p> + The tall man who had entered, to whom every death was nearer than his own, + and to whom the suffering of others was as a crucifixion, removed the silk + hat from his head, and wiped his forehead with a colored handkerchief. + </p> + <p> + Margaret knelt by Aladdin and held his unconscious form in her arms. + </p> + <p> + Outside, the earth was bathing in exquisite sunshine. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XXXVII + </h2> + <p> + It was not long before Aladdin got back the strength of his body, but the + gray bullet which had come in answer to his cry against God, even as the + lightning came to Amyas Leigh, in that romance to which it is so good to + bow, had injured the delicate mechanism of his brain, so that it seemed as + if he would go down to the grave without memory of things past, or power + upon the hour. Indeed, the war ended before the surgeons spoke of an + operation which might restore his mind. He went under the knife a little + child, his head full of pictures, playthings, and fear of the alphabet; he + came forth made over, and turned clear, wondering eyes to the girl at his + side. And he held her hand while she bridged over the years for him in her + sweet voice. + </p> + <p> + He learned that she had married Peter, making his death peaceful, and he + God-blessed her for so doing, while the tears ran down his cheeks. + </p> + <p> + But much of Aladdin that had slept so long was to wake no more. For it was + spring when he woke, and waking, he fell in love with all living things. + </p> + <p> + One day he sat with Margaret on the porch of a familiar house, and looked + upon a familiar river that flowed silverly beyond the dark trees. + </p> + <p> + Senator St. John, very old and very moving, came heavily out of the house, + and laid his hands upon the shoulders of Margaret and Aladdin. It was like + a benediction. + </p> + <p> + “I have been thinking,” said the senator, very slowly, and in the voice of + an old man, “that God has left some flowers in my garden.” + </p> + <p> + “Roses?” said Aladdin, and he looked at Margaret. + </p> + <p> + “Roses perhaps,” said the senator, “and withal some bittersweet, but, + better than these, and more, he has left me heart’s-ease. This little + flower,” continued the senator, “is sown in times of great doubt and + sorrow and trouble, and it will grow only for a good gardener, one who has + learned to bow patiently in all things to God’s will, and to set his feet + valiantly against the stony way which God appoints. I call Margaret + ‘Heart’s-ease,’ and I call you, too, ‘Heart’s-ease,’ Aladdin, for you are + becoming like a son to me in my declining years. Consider the river, how + it flows,” said the old man, “smoothly to the sea, asking no questions, + and making no lamentations against the length of its days, and receiving + cheerfully into the steadfast current of its going alike the bitter waters + and the sweet.” + </p> + <p> + We have forgotten Aladdin’s songs and the tunes which he made, for the + people’s ear is not tuned to them any more. But that is a little thing. It + is pleasant to think of that night when, the knocking of his heart against + his ribs louder than the knocking of his hand upon her door, he carried to + Margaret’s side the wonderful lamp which, years before, had been lighted + within him, and which, burning always, now high, now low, like the rising + and falling tides in the river, had at length consumed whatever in his + nature was little or base, until there was nothing left save those + precious qualities, love and charity, which fire cannot calcine nor cold + freeze. Also it is pleasant to think that little children came of their + love and sang about their everlasting fire. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Aladdin O’Brien, by Gouverneur Morris + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALADDIN O’BRIEN *** + +***** This file should be named 5172-h.htm or 5172-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/7/5172/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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