diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:25:36 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:25:36 -0700 |
| commit | ab6b26f7f1b1674c342d36073fab520e56dfd84f (patch) | |
| tree | ebe6c2d69add6e26aa57fc5b07035f0fd0fe07e3 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5437.txt | 19019 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 5437.zip | bin | 0 -> 359974 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/aobll10.txt | 18986 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/aobll10.zip | bin | 0 -> 359481 bytes |
7 files changed, 38021 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5437.txt b/5437.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b14478f --- /dev/null +++ b/5437.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19019 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Original Belle, by E. P. Roe + +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: An Original Belle + +Author: E. P. Roe + +Posting Date: September 8, 2012 [EBook #5437] +Release Date: April, 2004 +First Posted: July 18, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ORIGINAL BELLE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo + + + + + + + + + + +An Original Belle + +By: E. P. Roe + +1900 + + + + + +PREFACE. + + + + +No race of men, scarcely an individual, is so devoid of intelligence +as not to recognize power. Few gifts are more courted. Power is +almost as varied as character, and the kind of power most desired +or appreciated is a good measure of character. The pre-eminence +furnished by thew and muscle is most generally recognized; but, as +men reach levels above the animal, other qualities take the lead. +It is seen that the immaterial spirit wins the greater triumphs,--that +the brainless giant, compared with the dwarf of trained intelligence, +can accomplish little. The scale runs on into the moral qualities, +until at last humanity has given its sanction to the Divine words, +"Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." The +few who have successfully grasped the lever of which Archimedes +dreamed are those who have attained the highest power to serve the +world. + +Among the myriad phases of power, perhaps that of a gifted and +beautiful woman is the most subtile and hard to define. It is not +the result of mere beauty, although that may be an important element; +and if wit, intelligence, learning, accomplishments, and goodness +are added, all combined cannot wholly explain the power that some +women possess. Deeper, perhaps more potent, than all else, is an +individuality which distinguishes one woman from all others, and +imparts her own peculiar fascination. Of course, such words do not +apply to those who are content to be commonplace themselves, and +who are satisfied with the ordinary homage of ordinary minds, or +the conventional attention of men who are incited to nothing better. + +One of the purposes of this story is to illustrate the power of a +young girl not so beautiful or so good as many of her sisters. She +was rather commonplace at first, but circumstances led her to the +endeavor to be true to her own nature and conscience and to adopt +a very simple scheme of life. She achieved no marvellous success, +nothing beyond the ability of multitudes like herself. + +I have also sought to reproduce with some color of life and reality +a critical period in our civil war. The scenes and events of the +story culminate practically in the summer of 1863. The novel was +not written for the sake of the scenes or events. They are employed +merely to illustrate character at the time and to indicate its +development. + +The reader in the South must be bitter and prejudiced indeed if +he does not discover that I have sought to be fair to the impulses +and motives of its people. + +In touching upon the Battle of Gettysburg and other historical +events, I will briefly say that I have carefully consulted authentic +sources of information. For the graphic suggestion of certain +details I am indebted to the "History of the 124th Regt. N.Y.S.V.," +by Col. Charles H. Weygant, to the recollections of Capt. Thomas +Taft and other veterans now living. + +Lieut.-Col. H. C. Hasbrouck, commandant of Cadets at West Point, +has kindly read the proof of chapters relating to the battle of +Gettysburgh. + +My story is also related to the New York Draft Riots of 1863, an +historical record not dwelt upon before in fiction to my knowledge. +It is almost impossible to impart an adequate impression of that +reign of terror. I have not hoped to do this, or to give anything +like a detailed and complete account of events. The scenes and +incidents described, however, had their counterpart in fact. Rev. +Dr. Howard Crosby of New York saw a young man face and disperse +a mob of hundreds, by stepping out upon the porch of his home and +shooting the leader. This event took place late at night. + +I have consulted "Sketches of the Draft Riots in 1863," by Hon. J. +T. Headley, the files of the Press of that time, and other records. + +The Hon. Thomas C. Acton. Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police +during the riot, accorded me a hearing, and very kindly followed +the thread of my story through the stormy period in question. + +E. P. R + +CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON, N.Y., AUG. 7, 1885. + + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. A RUDE AWAKENING + +CHAPTER II. A NEW ACQUAINTANCE + +CHAPTER III. A NEW FRIEND + +CHAPTER IV. WOMAN'S CHIEF RIGHT + +CHAPTER V. "BE HOPEFUL, THAT I MAY HOPE" + +CHAPTER VI. A SCHEME OF LIFE + +CHAPTER VII. SURPRISES + +CHAPTER VIII. CHARMED BY A CRITIC + +CHAPTER IX. A GIRL'S LIGHT HAND + +CHAPTER X. WILLARD MERWYN + +CHAPTER XI. AN OATH AND A GLANCE + +CHAPTER XII. "A VOW" + +CHAPTER XIII. A SIEGE BEGUN + +CHAPTER XIV. OMINOUS + +CHAPTER XV. SCORN + +CHAPTER XVI. AWAKENED AT LAST + +CHAPTER XVII. COMING TO THE POINT + +CHAPTER XVIII. A GIRL'S STANDARD + +CHAPTER XIX. PROBATION PROMISED + +CHAPTER XX. "YOU THINK ME A COWARD" + +CHAPTER XXI. FEARS AND PERPLEXITIES + +CHAPTER XXII. A GIRL'S THOUGHTS AND IMPULSES + +CHAPTER XXIII. "MY FRIENDSHIP IS MINE TO GIVE" + +CHAPTER XXIV. A FATHER'S FORETHOUGHT + +CHAPTER XXV. A CHAINED WILL + +CHAPTER XXVI. MARIAN'S INTERPRETATION OF MERWYN + +CHAPTER XXVII. "DE HEAD LINKUM MAN WAS CAP'N LANE" + +CHAPTER XXVIII. THE SIGNAL LIGHT + +CHAPTER XXIX. MARIAN CONTRASTS LANE AND MERWYN + +CHAPTER XXX THE NORTH INVADED + +CHAPTER XXXI. "I'VE LOST MY CHANCE" + +CHAPTER XXXII. BLAUVELT + +CHAPTER XXXIII. A GLIMPSE OF WAR + +CHAPTER XXXIV. A GLIMPSE OF WAR, CONTINUED + +CHAPTER XXXV. THE GRAND ASSAULT + +CHAPTER XXXVI. BLAUVELT'S SEARCH FOR STRAHAN + +CHAPTER XXXVII. STRAHAN'S ESCAPE + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. A LITTLE REBEL + +CHAPTER XXXIX. THE CURE OF CAPTAIN LANE + +CHAPTER XL. LOVE'S TRIUMPH + +CHAPTER XLI. SUNDAY'S LULL AND MONDAY'S STORM + +CHAPTER XLII. THAT WORST OF MONSTERS, A MOB + +CHAPTER XLIII. THE "COWARD" + +CHAPTER XLIV. A WIFE'S EMBRACE + +CHAPTER XLV. THE DECISIVE BATTLE + +CHAPTER XLVI. "I HAVE SEEN THAT YOU DETEST ME" + +CHAPTER XLVII. A FAIR FRIEND AND FOUL FOES + +CHAPTER XLVIII. DESPERATE FIGHTING + +CHAPTER XLIX. ONE FACING HUNDREDS + +CHAPTER L. ZEB + +CHAPTER LI. A TRAGEDY + +CHAPTER LII. "MOTHER AND SON" + +CHAPTER LIII. "MISSY S'WANEE" + + + + + + +AN ORIGINAL BELLE. + +CHAPTER I. + +A RUDE AWAKENING. + + + + + +MARIAN VOSBURGH had been content with her recognized position +as a leading belle. An evening spent in her drawing-room revealed +that; but at the close of the particular evening which it was our +privilege to select there occurred a trivial incident. She was led +to think, and thought is the precursor of action and change in all +natures too strong and positive to drift. On that night she was +an ordinary belle, smiling, radiant, and happy in following the +traditions of her past. + +She had been admired as a child, as a school-girl, and given a +place among the stars of the first magnitude since her formal debut. +Admiration was as essential as sunshine; or, to change the figure, +she had a large and a natural and healthful appetite for it. She was +also quite as much entitled to it as the majority of her class. +Thus far she had accepted life as she found it, and was in the +main conventional. She was not a deliberate coquette; it was not +her recognized purpose to give a heartache to as many as possible; +she merely enjoyed in thoughtless exultation her power to attract +young men to her side. There was keen excitement in watching them, +from the moment of introduction, as they passed through the phases +of formal acquaintanceship into relations that bordered on sentiment. +When this point was reached experiences sometimes followed which +caused not a little compunction. + +She soon learned that society was full of men much like herself in +some respects, ready to meet new faces, to use their old compliments +and flirtation methods over and over again. They could look unutterable +things at half a dozen different girls in the same season, while +their hearts remained as invulnerable as old-fashioned pin-cushions, +heart-shaped, that adorn country "spare rooms." But now and then +a man endowed with a deep, strong nature would finally leave her +side in troubled wonder or bitter cynicism. Her fair, young face, +her violet eyes, so dark as to appear almost black at night, had +given no token that she could amuse herself with feelings that +touched the sources of life and death in such admirers. + +"They should have known better, that I was not in earnest," she +would say, petulantly, and more or less remorsefully. + +But these sincere men, who had been so blind as to credit her with +gentle truth and natural intuition, had some ideal of womanhood +which had led to their blunder. Conscious of revealing so much +themselves by look, tone, and touch of hand, eager to supplement +one significant glance by life-long loyalty, they were slow in +understanding that answering significant glances meant only, "I +like you very well,--better than others, just at present; but then +I may meet some one to-morrow who is a great deal more fun than +you are." + +Fun! With them it was a question of manhood, of life, and of +that which gives the highest value and incentive to life. It was +inevitable, therefore, that Marian Vosburgh should become a mirage +to more than one man; and when at last the delusion vanished, there +was usually a flinty desert to be crossed before the right, safe +path was gained. + +From year to year Mr. Vosburgh had rented for his summer residence +a pretty cottage on the banks of the Hudson. The region abounded +in natural beauty and stately homes. There was an infusion of +Knickerbocker blood in the pre-eminently elect ones of society, and +from these there was a gradual shading off in several directions, +until by some unwritten law the social line was drawn. Strangers +from the city might be received within the inner circle, or they +might not, as some of the leaders practically decreed by their +own action. Mr. Vosburgh did not care in the least for the circle +or its constituents. He was a stern, quiet man; one of the strong +executive hands of the government at a time when the vital questions +of the day had come to the arbitrament of the sword. His calling +involved danger, and required an iron will. The questions which +chiefly occupied his mind were argued by the mouths of cannon. + +As for Marian, she too cared little for the circle and its social +dignitaries. She had no concessions to make, no court to pay. +She was not a dignitary, but a sovereign, and had her own court. +Gentleman friends from the city made their headquarters at a +neighboring summer hotel; young men from the vicinity were attracted +like moths, and the worst their aristocratic sisters could say +against the girl was that she had too many male friends, and was +not "of their set." Indeed, with little effort she could have won +recognition from the bluest blood of the vicinage; but this was not +her ambition. She cared little for the ladies of her neighborhood, +and less for their ancestors, while she saw as much of the gentlemen +as she desired. She had her intimates among her own sex, however, +and was on the best terms with her good-natured, good-hearted, +but rather superficial mother, who was a discreet, yet indulgent +chaperon, proud of her daughter and of the attention she received, +while scarcely able to comprehend that any serious trouble could +result from it if the proprieties of life were complied with. +Marian was never permitted to give that kind of encouragement +which compromises a girl, and Mrs. Vosburgh felt that there her +duty ceased. All that could be conveyed by the eloquent eye, the +inflection of tones, and in a thousand other ways, was unnoted, +and beyond her province. + +The evening of our choice is an early one in June. The air is +slightly chilly and damp, therefore the parlor is preferable to +the vine-sheltered piazza, screened by the first tender foliage. +We can thus observe Miss Vosburgh's deportment more closely, and +take a brief note of her callers. + +Mr. Lane is the first to arrive, perhaps for the reason that he is +a downright suitor, who has left the city and business, in order +to further the interests nearest his heart. He is a keen-eyed, +strong-looking fellow, well equipped for success by knowledge of +the world and society; resolute, also, in attaining his desired +ends. His attentions to Marian have been unmistakable for some +months, and he believes that he has received encouragement. In +truth, he has been the recipient of the delusive regard that she is +in the habit of bestowing. He is one whom she could scarcely fail +to admire and like, so entertaining is he in conversation, and +endowed with such vitality and feeling that his words are not airy +nothings. + +He greets her with a strong pressure of the hand, and his first +glance reveals her power. + +"Why, this is an agreeable surprise, Mr. Lane," she exclaims. + +"Agreeable? I am very glad to hear that," he says, in his customary +direct speech. "Yes, I ran up from the city this afternoon. On my +way to lunch I became aware of the beauty of the day, and as my +thoughts persisted in going up the river I was led to follow them. +One's life does not consist wholly of business, you know; at least +mine does not." + +"Yet you have the reputation of being a busy man." + +"I should hope so. What would you think of a young fellow not busy +in these times?" + +"I am not sure I should think at all. You give us girls too much +credit for thinking." + +"Oh, no; there's no occasion for the plural. I don't give 'us girls' +anything. I am much too busy for that. But I know you think, Miss +Marian, and have capacity for thought." + +"Possibly you are right about the capacity. One likes to think one +has brains, you know, whether she uses them or not. I don't think +very much, however,--that is, as you use the word, for it implies +the putting of one's mind on something and keeping it there. I like +to let thoughts come and go as the clouds do in our June skies. I +don't mean thunder-clouds and all they signify, but light vapors +that have scarcely beginning or end, and no very definite being. +I don't seem to have time or inclination for anything else, except +when I meet you with your positive ways. I think it is very kind +of you to come from New York to give me a pleasant evening." + +"I'm not so very disinterested. New York has become a dull place, +and if I aid you to pass a pleasant evening you insure a pleasanter +one for me. What have you been doing this long June day, that you +have been too busy for thought?" + +"Let me see. What have I been doing? What an uncomfortable question +to ask a girl! You men say we are nothing but butterflies, you +know." + +"I never said that of you." + +"You ask a question which makes me say it virtually of myself. That +is a way you keen lawyers have. Very well; I shall be an honest +witness, even against myself. That I wasn't up with the lark this +morning goes without saying. The larks that I know much about are +on the wing after dinner in the evening. The forenoon is a variable +sort of affair with many people. Literally I suppose it ends at 12 +M., but with me it is rounded off by lunch, and the time of that +event depends largely upon the kitchen divinity that we can lure to +this remote and desolate region. 'Faix,' remarked that potentate, +sniffing around disdainfully the day we arrived, 'does yez expects +the loikes o' me to stop in this lonesomeness? We're jist at the +ind of the wourld.' Mamma increased her wages, which were already +double what she earns, and she still condescends to provide our +daily food, giving me a forenoon which closes at her convenience. +During this indefinite period I look after my flowers and birds, +sing and play a little, read a little, entertain a little, and thus +reveal to you a general littleness. In the afternoon I take a nap, +so that I may be wide awake enough to talk to a bright man like +you in case he should appear. Now, are you not shocked and pained +at my frivolous life?" + +"You have come to the country for rest and recuperation, Miss +Marian?" + +"Oh, what a word,--'recuperation!' It never entered my head that +I had come into the country for that. Do I suggest a crying need +for recuperation?" + +"I wouldn't dare tell you all that you suggest to me, and I read +more than you say between your lines. When I approached the house +you were chatting and laughing genially with your mother." + +"Oh, yes, mamma and I have as jolly times together as two girls." + +"That was evident, and it made a very pleasant impression on me. +One thing is not so evident, and it indicates a rather one-sided +condition of affairs. I could not prevent my thoughts from visiting +you often to-day before I came myself, but I fear that among your +June-day occupations there has not been one thought of me." + +She had only time to say, sotto voce, "Girls don't tell everything," +when the maid announced, from the door, "Mr. Strahan." + +This second comer was a young man precociously mature after a +certain style. His home was a fine old place in the vicinity, but +in his appearance there was no suggestion of the country; nor did +he resemble the violet, although he was somewhat redolent of the +extract of that modest flower. He was dressed in the extreme of +the prevailing mode, and evidently cultivated a metropolitan air, +rather than the unobtrusive bearing of one who is so thoroughly a +gentleman that he can afford to be himself. Mr. Strahan was quite +sure of his welcome, for he felt that he brought to the little +cottage a genuine Madison-avenue atmosphere. He was greeted with +the cordiality which made Miss Vosburgh's drawing-room one of the +pleasantest of lounging-places, whether in town or country; and +under his voluble lead conversation took the character of fashionable +gossip, which would have for the reader as much interest as +the presentation of some of the ephemeral weeds of that period. +But Mr. Strahan's blue eyes were really animated as he ventured +perilously near a recent scandal in high life. His budget of news +was interspersed with compliments to his hostess, which, like the +extract on his handkerchief, were too pronounced. Mr. Lane regarded +him with politely veiled disgust, but was too well-bred not to +second Miss Vosburgh's remarks to the best of his ability. + +Before long two or three more visitors dropped in. One from the hotel +was a millionnaire, a widower leisurely engaged in the selection of +a second wife. Another was a young artist sketching in the vicinity. +A third was an officer from West Point who knew Mr. Vosburgh. +There were also callers from the neighborhood during the evening. +Mrs. Vosburgh made her appearance early, and was almost as skilful +a hostess as her daughter. But few of the guests remained long. +They had merely come to enjoy a pleasant half-hour or more under +circumstances eminently agreeable, and would then drive on and pay +one or two visits in the vicinity. That was the way in which nearly +all Marian's "friendships" began. + +The little parlor resounded with animated talk, laughter, and music, +that was at the same time as refined as informal. Mrs. Vosburgh +would seat herself at the piano, that a new dancing-step or a new +song might be tried. The gentlemen were at liberty to light their +cigars and form groups among themselves, so free from stiffness +was Marian's little salon. Brief time elapsed, however, without a +word to each, in her merry, girlish voice, for she had the instincts +of a successful hostess, and a good-natured sense of honor, which +made her feel that each guest was entitled to attention. She was +not much given to satire, and the young men soon learned that she +would say more briery things to their faces than behind their backs. +It was also discovered that ill-natured remarks about callers who +had just departed were not tolerated,--that within certain limits +she was loyal to her friends, and that, she was too high-minded to +speak unhandsomely of one whom she had just greeted cordially. If +she did not like a man she speedily froze him out of the ranks of +her acquaintance; but for such action there was not often occasion, +since she and her mother had a broad, easy tolerance of those +generally accepted by society. Even such as left her parlor finally +with wounds for which there was no rapid healing knew that no one +would resent a jest at their expense more promptly than the girl +whom they might justly blame for having smiled too kindly. + +Thus she remained a general favorite. It was recognized that she had +a certain kind of loyalty which could be depended upon. Of course +such a girl would eventually marry, and with natural hope and +egotism each one felt that he might be the successful competitor. +At any rate, as in war, they must take their chances, and it seems +that there is never a lack of those willing to assume such risks. + +Thus far, however, Marian had no inclination to give up her present +life of variety and excitement. She preferred incense from many +worshippers to the devotion of one. The secret of this was perhaps +that her heart had remained so untouched and unconscious that she +scarcely knew she had one. She understood the widower's preference, +enjoyed the compliment, and should there be occasion would, in +perfect good taste, beg to be excused. + +Her pulse was a little quickened by Mr. Lane's downright earnestness, +and when matters should come to a crisis she would say lovely +things to him of her esteem, respect, regret, etc. She would wish +they might remain friends--why could they not, when she liked him +so much? As for love and engagement, she did not, could not, think +of that yet. + +She was skilful, too, in deferring such crises, and to-night, in +obedience to a signal, Mrs. Vosburgh remained until even Mr. Lane +despaired of another word in private, and departed, fearing to put +his fate to the test. + +At last the dainty apartment, the merry campaigning-ground, was +darkened, and Marian, flushed, wearied, and complacent, stepped +out on the piazza to breathe for a few moments the cool, fragrant +air. She had dropped into a rustic seat, and was thinking over +the events of the evening with an amused smile, when the following +startling words arose from the adjacent shrubbery:-- + +"Arrah, noo, will ye niver be sinsible? Here I'm offerin' ye me +heart, me loife. I'd be glad to wourk for ye, and kape ye loike a +leddy. I'd be thrue to ye ivery day o' me loife,--an' ye knows it, +but ye jist goes on makin' eyes at this wan an' flirtin' wid that +wan an' spakin' swate to the t'other, an' kapin' all on the string +till they can nayther ate nor slape nor be half the min they were +till ye bewildered 'em. Ye're nothin' but a giddy, light-minded, +shallow crather, a spoilin' min for your own fun. I've kep' company +wid ye a year, and ye've jist blowed hot and cowld till I'm not +meself any more, and have come nigh losin' me place. Noo, by St. +Patrick, ye must show whether ye're a woman or a heartless jade +that will sind a man to the divil for sport." + +These words were poured out with the impetuosity of longsuffering +endurance finally vanquished, and before the speaker had concluded +Marian was on her way to the door, that she might not listen to a +conversation of so delicate a nature. But she did not pass beyond +hearing before part of the reply reached her. + +"Faix, an' I'm no wourse than me young mistress." + +It was a chance arrow, but it went straight to the mark, aad when +Marian reached her room her cheeks were aflame. + + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. + + + + + +Gross matter can change form and character in a moment, when merely +touched by the effective agent. It is easy to imagine, therefore, +how readily a woman's quick mind might be influenced by a truth +or a thought of practical and direct application. All the homilies +ever written, all the counsel of matrons and sages, could not +have produced on Marian so deep an impression as was made by these +few chance words. They came as a commentary, not only on her past +life, but on the past few hours. Was it true, then, that she was no +better than the coquettish maid, the Irish servant in the family's +employ? Was she, with her education and accomplishments, her social +position and natural gifts, acting on no higher plane, influenced +by no worthier motives and no loftier ambition? Was the ignorant +girl justified in quoting her example in extenuation of a course +that to a plain and equally ignorant man seemed unwomanly to the +last degree? + +Wherein was she better? Wherein lay the difference between her and +the maid? + +She covered her hot face with her hands as the question took the +form: "Wherein am I worse? Is not our principle of action the same, +while I have greater power and have been crippling higher types +of men, and giving them, for sport, an impulse towards the devil? +Fenton Lane has just gone from my side with trouble in his eyes. +He will not be himself to-morrow, not half the man he might be. +He left me in doubt and fear. Could I do anything oppressed with +doubt and fear? He has set his heart on what can never be. Could I +have prevented him from doing this? One thing at least is certain,--I +have not tried to prevent it, and I fear there have been many little +nameless things which he would regard as encouragement. And he +is only one. With others I have gone farther and they have fared +worse. It is said that Mr. Folger, whom I refused last winter, is +becoming dissipated. Mr. Arton shuns society and sneers at women. +Oh, don't let me think of any more. What have I been doing that +this coarse kitchen-maid can run so close a parallel between her +life and mine? How unwomanly and repulsive it all seems, as that +man put it! My delight and pride have been my gentleman friends, +and what one of them is the better, or has a better prospect for +life, because of having known me? Could there be a worse satire on +all the fine things written about woman and her influence than my +hitherto vain and complacent self?" + +Sooner or later conscience tells the truth to all; and the sooner +the better, unless the soul arraigned is utterly weak, or else +belongs essentially to the criminal classes, which require almost +a miracle to reverse their evil gravitation. Marian Vosburgh +was neither weak nor criminal at heart. Thus far she had yielded +thoughtlessly, inconsiderately, rather than deliberately, to the +circumstances and traditions of her life. Her mother had been a +belle and something of a coquette, and, having had her career, was +in the main a good and sensible wife. She had given her husband +little trouble if not much help. She had slight interest in that which +made his life, and slight comprehension of it, but in affectionate +indifference she let him go his way, and was content with her domestic +affairs, her daughter, and her novel. Marian had unthinkingly looked +forward to much the same experience as her natural lot. To-night +she found herself querying: "Are there men to-day who are not half +what they might have been because of mamma's delusive smiles? Have +any gone down into shadows darker than those cast by misfortune and +death, because she permitted herself to become the light of their +lives and then turned away?" + +Then came the rather painful reflection: "Mamma is not one to be +troubled by such thoughts. It does not even worry her that she is +so little to papa, and that he virtually carries on his life-work +alone. I don't see how I can continue my old life after to-night. +I had better shut myself up in a convent; yet just how I can change +everything I scarcely know." + +The night proved a perturbed and almost sleepless one from the chaos +and bitterness of her thoughts. The old was breaking up; the new, +beginning. + +The morning found her listless, discontented, and unhappy. The +glamour had faded out of her former life. She could not continue +the tactics practised in coarse imitation by the Irish servant, who +took her cue as far as possible from her mistress. The repugnance +was due as much to the innate delicacy and natural superiority of +Marian's nature as to her conscience. Her clear, practical sense +perceived that her course differed from the other only in being +veneered by the refinements of her social position,--that the evil +results were much greater. The young lady's friends were capable of +receiving more harm than the maid could inflict upon her acquaintances. + +There would be callers again during the day and evening, and she +did not wish to see them. Their society now would be like a glass +of champagne from which the life had effervesced. + +At last in her restlessness and perplexity she decided to spend a +day or two with her father in their city home, where he was camping +out, as he termed it. She took a train to town, and sent a messenger +boy to his office with a note asking him to dine with her. + +Mr. Vosburgh looked at her a little inquiringly as he entered his +home, which had the comfortless aspect of a city house closed for +the summer. + +"Am I de trop, papa? I have come to town for a little quiet, and +to do some shopping." + +"Come to New York for quiet?" + +"Yes. The country is the gayest place now, and you know a good +many are coming and going. I am tired, and thought an evening or +two with you would be a pleasant change. You are not too busy?" + +"It certainly will be a change for you, Marian." + +"Now there's a world of satire in that remark, and deserved, too, +I fear. Mayn't I stay?" + +"Yes, indeed, till you are tired of me; and that won't be long in +this dull place, for we are scarcely in a condition now to receive +callers, you know." + +"What makes you think I shall be tired of you soon, papa?" + +"Oh--well--I'm not very entertaining. You appear to like variety. +I suppose it is the way with girls." + +"You are not consumed with admiration for girls' ways, are you, +papa?" + +"I confess, my dear, that I have not given the subject much research. +As a naturalist would say, I have no doubt that you and your class +have curious habits and interesting peculiarities. There is a +great deal of life, you know, which a busy man has to accept in a +general way, especially when charged with duties which are a severe +and constant strain upon his mind. I try to leave you and your +mother as free from care as possible. You left her well, I trust?" + +"Very well, and all going on as usual. I'm dissatisfied with myself, +papa, and you unconsciously make me far more so. Is a woman to be +only a man's plaything, and a dangerous one at that?" + +"Why, Marian, you ARE in a mood! I suppose a woman, like a man, can +be very much what she pleases. You certainly have had a chance to +find out what pleases most women in your circle of acquaintances, +and have made it quite clear what pleases you." + +"Satire again," she said, despondently. "I thought perhaps you +could advise and help me." + +He came and took her face between his hands, looking earnestly into +her troubled blue eyes. + +"Are you not content to be a conventional woman?" he asked, after +a moment. + +"No!" was her emphatic answer. + +"Well, there are many ways of being a little outre in this age +and land, especially at this stormy period. Perhaps you want a +career,--something that will give you a larger place in the public +eye?" + +She turned away to hide the tears that would come. "O papa, you +don't understand me at all, and I scarcely understand myself," she +faltered. "In some respects you are as conventional as mamma, and +are almost a Turk in your ideas of the seclusion of women. The idea +of my wanting public notoriety! As I feel now, I'd rather go to a +convent." + +"We'll go to dinner first; then a short drive in the park, for you +look pale, and I long for a little fresh air myself. I have been +at my desk since seven this morning, and have had only a sandwich." + +"Why do you have to work so hard, papa?" + +"I can give you two reasons in a breath,--you mentioned 'shopping,' +and my country is at war. They don't seem very near of kin, do +they? Documents relating to both converge in my desk, however." + +"Have I sent you more bills than usual?" + +"Not more than usual." + +"I believe I'm a fool." + +"I know you are a very pretty little girl, who will feel better +after dinner and a drive," was the laughing reply. + +They were soon seated in a quiet family restaurant, but the young +girl was too perturbed in mind to enjoy the few courses ordered. +With self-reproach she recognized the truth that she was engaged +in the rather unusual occupation of becoming acquainted with +her father. He sat before her, with his face, generally stern and +inscrutable, softened by a desire to be companionable and sympathetic. +According to his belief she now had "a mood," and after a day or +two of quiet retirement from the world she would relapse into her +old enjoyment of social attention, which would be all the deeper +for its brief interruption. + +Mr. Vosburgh was of German descent. In his daily life he had become +Americanized, and was as practical in his methods as the shrewd +people with whom he dealt, and whom he often outwitted. Apart +from this habit of coping with life just as he found it, he had an +inner nature of which few ever caught a glimpse,--a spirit and an +imagination deeply tinged with German ideality and speculation. +Often, when others slept, this man, who appeared so resolute, +hard, and uncompromising in the performance of duties, and who was +understood by but few, would read deeply in metaphysics and romantic +poetry. Therefore, the men and women who dwelt in his imagination +were not such as he had much to do with in real life. Indeed, he had +come to regard the world of reality and that of fancy as entirely +distinct, and to believe that only here and there, as a man or woman +possessed something like genius, would there be a marked deviation +from ordinary types. The slight differences, the little characteristic +meannesses or felicities that distinguished one from another, did +not count for very much in his estimation. When a knowledge of +such individual traits was essential to his plans, he mastered them +with singular keenness and quickness of comprehension. When such +knowledge was unnecessary, or as soon as it ceased to be of service, +he dismissed the extraneous personalities from his mind almost +as completely as if they had had no existence. Few men were less +embarrassed with acquaintances than he; yet he had an observant +eye and a retentive memory. When he wanted a man he rarely failed +to find the right one. In the selection and use of men he appeared +to act like an intelligent and silent force, rather than as a man +full of human interests and sympathies. He rarely spoke of himself, +even in the most casual way. Most of those with whom he mingled +knew merely that he was an agent of the government, and that he +kept his own counsel. His wife was to him a type of the average +American woman,--pretty, self-complacent, so nervous as to require +kind, even treatment, content with feminalities, and sufficiently +intelligent to talk well upon every-day affairs. In her society he +smiled at her, said "Yes," good-humoredly, to almost everything, +and found slight incentive to depart from his usual reticence. She +had learned the limits of her range, and knew that within it there +was entire liberty, beyond it a will like adamant. They got on admirably +together, for she craved nothing further in the way of liberty and +companionship than was accorded her, while he soon recognized that +the prize carried off from other competitors could no more follow +him into his realm of thought and action than she could accompany +him on a campaign. At last he had concluded philosophically that +it was just as well. He was engaged in matters that should not be +interfered with or babbled about, and he could come and go without +questioning. He had occasionally thought: "If she were such a woman +as I have read of and imagined,--if she could supplement my reason +with the subtilty of intuition and the reticence which some of her +sex have manifested,--she would double my power and share my inner +life, for there are few whom I can trust. The thing is impossible, +however, and so I am glad she is content." + +As for Marian, she had promised, in his view, to be but a charming +repetition of her mother, with perhaps a mind of larger calibre. +She had learned more and had acquired more accomplishments, but all +this resulted, possibly, from her better advantages. Her drawing-room +conversation seemed little more than the ordinary small talk of the +day, fluent and piquant, while the girl herself was as undisturbed +by the vital questions of the hour and of life, upon which he dwelt, +as if she had been a child. He knew that she received much attention, +but it excited little thought on his part, and no surprise. +He believed that her mother was perfectly competent to look after +the proprieties, and that young fellows, as had been the case with +himself, would always seek pretty, well-bred girls, and take their +chances as to what the women who might become their wives should +prove to be. + +Marian looked with awakening curiosity and interest at the face +before her, yet it was the familiar visage of her father. She had +seen it all her life, but now felt that she had never before seen +it in its true significance--its strong lines, square jaw, and +quiet gray eyes, with their direct, steady gaze. He had come and +gone before her daily, petted her now and then a little, met her +requests in the main good-humoredly, paid her bills, and would +protect her with his life; yet a sort of dull wonder came over her +as she admitted to herself that he was a stranger to her. She knew +little of his work and duty, less of his thoughts, the mental realm +in which the man himself dwelt. What were its landmarks, what its +characteristic features, she could not tell. One may be familiar +with the outlines of a country on a map, yet be ignorant of the +scenery, productions, inhabitants, governing forces, and principles. +Her very father was to her but a man in outline. She knew little of +the thoughts that peopled his brain, of the motives and principles +that controlled his existence, giving it individuality, and even +less of the resulting action with which his busy life abounded. +Although she had crossed the threshold of womanhood, she was still +to him the self-pleasing child that he had provided for since +infancy; and he was, in her view, the man to whom, according to the +law of nature and the family, she was to look for the maintenance +of her young life, with its almost entire separation in thoughts, +pleasures, and interests. She loved him, of course. She had always +loved him, from the time when she had stretched forth her baby hands +to be taken and fondled for a few moments and then relinquished to +others. Practically she had dwelt with others ever since. Now, as +a result, she did not understand him, nor he her. She would miss +him as she would oxygen from the air. Now she began to perceive +that, although he was the unobtrusive source of her life, home, +education, and the advantages of her lot, he was not impersonal, +but a human being as truly as herself. Did he want more from her +than the common and instinctive affection of a child for its parent? +If to this she added intelligent love, appreciation, and sympathy, +would he care? If she should be able to say, "Papa, I am kin to you, +not merely in flesh and blood, but in mind, hope, and aspiration; +I share with you that which makes your life, with its success and +failure, not as the child who may find luxurious externals curtailed +or increased, but as a sympathetic woman who understands the more +vital changes in spiritual vicissitude,"--if she could truthfully +say all this, would he be pleased and reveal himself to her? + +Thoughts like these passed through her mind as they dined together +and drove in the park. When at last they returned and sat in the +dimly-lighted parlor, Mr. Vosburgh recognized that her "mood" had +not passed away. + + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A NEW FRIEND. + + + + + +"MARIAN," asked her father, after smoking awhile in silence, "what +did you mean by your emphatic negative when I asked you if you were +not content to be a conventional woman? How much do you mean?" + +"I wish you would help me find out, papa." + +"How! don't you know?" + +"I do not; I am all at sea." + +"Well, my dear, to borrow your own illustration, you can't be far +from shore yet. Why not return? You have seemed entirely satisfied +thus far." + +"Were you content with me, papa?" + +"I think you have been a very good little girl, as girls go." + +"'Good little girl, as girls go;' that's all." + +"That's more than can be said of many." + +"Papa, I'm not a little girl; I am a woman of twenty years." + +"Yes, I know; and quite as sensible as many at forty." + +"I am no companion for you." + +"Indeed you are; I've enjoyed having you with me this evening +exceedingly." + +"Yes, as you would have enjoyed my society ten years ago. I've been +but a little girl to you all the time. Do you know the thought that +has been uppermost in my mind since you joined me?" + +"How should I? How long does one thought remain uppermost in a +girl's mind?" + +"I don't blame you for your estimate. My thought is this,--we are +not acquainted with each other." + +"I think I was acquainted with you, Marian, before this mood began." + +"Yes, I think you were; yet I was capable of this 'mood,' as you +call it, before." + +"My child," said Mr. Vosburgh, coming to her side and stroking her +hair, "I have spoken more to draw you out than for anything else. +Heaven forbid that you for a moment should think me indifferent to +anything that relates to your welfare! You wish me to advise, to +help you. Before I can do this I must have your confidence, I must +know your thoughts and impulses. You can scarcely have a purpose +yet. Even a quack doctor will not attempt diagnosis or prescribe +his nostrum without some knowledge of the symptoms. When I last +saw you in the country you certainly appeared like a conventional +society girl of an attractive type, and were evidently satisfied +so to remain. You see I speak frankly, and reveal to you my habit +of making quick practical estimates, and of taking the world as I +find it. You say you were capable of this mood--let us call it an +aspiration--before. I do not deny this, yet doubt it. When people +change it is because they are ripe, or ready for change, as +are things in nature. One can force or retard nature; but I don't +believe much in intervention. With many I doubt whether there is +even much opportunity for it. They are capable of only the gradual +modification of time and circumstances. Young people are apt to +have spasms of enthusiasm, or of self-reproach and dissatisfaction. +These are of little account in the long run, unless there is fibre +enough in character to face certain questions, decide them, and +then act resolutely on definite lines of conduct. I have now given +you my views, not as to a little child, but as to a mature woman +of twenty. Jesting apart, you ARE old enough, Marian, to think +for yourself, and decide whether you will be conventional or not. +The probabilities are that you will follow the traditions of your +past in a very ladylike way. That is the common law. You are too +well-bred and refined to do anything that society would condemn." + +"You are not encouraging, papa." + +"Nor am I discouraging. If you have within you the force to break +from your traditions and stop drifting, you will make the fact +evident. If you haven't it would be useless for me to attempt +to drag, drive, or coax you out of old ways. I am too busy a man +to attempt the useless. But until you tell me your present mental +attitude, and what has led to it, we are talking somewhat at random. +I have merely aimed to give you the benefit of some experience." + +"Perhaps you are taking the right course; I rather think you are. +Perhaps I prove what a child I am still, because I feel that I +should like to have you treat me more as you did when I was learning +to walk. Then you stretched out your hands, and sustained me, and +showed me step by step. Papa, if this is a mood, and I go back +to my old, shallow life, with its motives, its petty and unworthy +triumphs, I shall despise myself, and ever have the humiliating +consciousness that I am doing what is contemptible. No matter how +one obtains the knowledge of a truth or a secret, that knowledge +exists, remains, and one can't be the same afterwards. It makes my +cheeks tingle that I obtained my knowledge as I did. It came like +a broad glare of garish light, in which I saw myself;" and she told +him the circumstances. + +He burst into a hearty laugh, and remarked, "Pat did put the ethics +of the thing strongly." + +"He made 'the thing,' as you call it, odious then and forever. I've +been writhing in self-contempt ever since. When to be conventional +is to be like a kitchen-maid, and worse, do you wonder at my revolt +from the past?" + +"Others won't see it in that light, my dear." + +"What does it matter how others see it? I have my own life to live, +to make or mar. How can I go on hereafter amusing myself in what +now seems a vulgar, base, unwomanly way? It was a coarse, rude +hand that awakened me, papa, but I am awake. Since I have met you +I have had another humiliation. As I said, I am not even acquainted +with you. I have never shown any genuine interest in that which +makes your life, and you have no more thought of revealing yourself +and your work to me than to a child." + +"Marian," said her father, slowly, "I think you are not only capable +of a change, but ripe for it. You inspire hope within me, and this +fact carries with it the assurance that you also inspire respect. +No, my dear, you don't know much about me; very few do. No man +with a nature like mine reveals himself where there is no desire +for the knowledge, no understanding, no sympathy, or even where +all these exist, unless prompted by his heart. You know I am the +last one in the world to put myself on exhibition. But it would +be a heavenly joy to me--I might add surprise--if my own daughter +became like some of the women of whom I have read and dreamed; and +I do read and dream of that in which you little imagine me to be +interested. To the world I am a stern, reticent, practical man I must +be such in my calling. In my home I have tried to be good-natured, +affectionate, and philosophical. I have seen little opportunity for +anything more. I do not complain, but merely state a fact which +indicates the general lot. We can rarely escape the law of heredity, +however. A poet and a metaphysician were among our German ancestry; +therefore, leading from the business-like and matter-of-fact apartment +of my mind, I have a private door by which I can slip away into +the realm of speculation, romance, and ideals. You perceive that +I have no unnatural or shame-faced reticence about this habit. I +tell you of it the moment you show sufficient interest to warrant +my speaking." + +"But, papa, I cannot hope to approach or even suggest the ideals +of your fancy, dressed, no doubt, in mediaeval costume, and talking +in blank verse." + +"That's a superficial view, Marian. Neither poetic or outlandish +costume, nor the impossible language put into the mouths of their +creations by the old bards, makes the unconventional woman. There +is, in truth, a conventionality about these very things, only it +is antiquated. It is not a woman's dress or phraseology that makes +her an ideal or an inspiration, but what she is herself. No two +leaves are alike on the same tree, but they are all enough alike +to make but one impression. Some are more shapely than others, +and flutter from their support with a fairer and more conspicuous +grace to the closely observant; but there is nothing independent +about them, nothing to distinguish them especially from their +companions. They fulfil their general purpose, and fall away. This +simile applies to the majority of people. Not only poetry and romance, +but history also, gives us instances wherein men and women differ +and break away from accepted types, some in absurd or grotesque +ways, others through the sheer force of gifted selfishness, and +others still in natural, noble development of graces of heart and +mind." + +"Stop generalizing, and tell me, your silly, vain, flirtatious +daughter, how I can be unconventional in this prosaic midday of +civilization." + +"Prosaic day? You are mistaken, Marian. There never was a period +like it Barbaric principles, older than Abraham, are now to triumph, +or give place to a better and more enlightened human nature. We +almost at this moment hear the echoes of a strife in which specimens +of the best manhood of the age are arrayed against one another in +a struggle such as the world has never witnessed. I have my part +in the conflict, and it brings to me great responsibilities and +dangers." + +"Dangers! You in danger, papa?" + +"Yes, certainly. Since you wish to be treated like a woman, and not +a child,--since you wish me to show my real life,--you shall know +the truth. I am controlled by the government that is engaged in a +life-and-death struggle to maintain its own existence and preserve +for the nation its heritage of liberty. Thus far I have been able +to serve the cause in quiet, unrecognized ways that I need not now +explain; but I am one who must obey orders, and I wish to do so, +for my heart is in the work. I am no better than other men who +are risking all. Mamma knows this in a way, but she does not fully +comprehend it. Fortunately she is not one of those who take very +anxious thought for the morrow, and you know I am inclined to let +things go on quietly as long as they will. Thus far I have merely +gone to an office as I did before the war, or else have been absent +on trips that were apparently civilian in character, and it has +been essential that I should have as little distraction of mind +as possible. I have lived long in hope that some decisive victory +might occur; but the future grows darker, instead of lighter, and +the struggle, instead of culminating speedily, promises to become +more deadly and to be prolonged. There is but one way out of +it for me, and that is through the final triumph of the old flag. +Therefore, what a day will bring forth God only knows. There have +been times when I wished to tell you something of this, but there +seemed little opportunity. As you said, a good many were coming and +going, you seemed happy and preoccupied, and I got into the habit +of reasoning, 'Every day that passes without a thought of trouble +is just so much gained; and it may be unnecessary to cloud her life +with fear and anxiety;' yet perhaps it would be mistaken kindness +to let trouble come suddenly, like an unexpected blow. I confess, +however, that I have had a little natural longing to be more to my +only child than I apparently was, but each day brought its increasing +press of work and responsibility, its perplexing and far-reaching +questions. Thus time has passed, and I said, 'Let her be a +light-hearted girl as long as she can.'" + +"O papa, what a blind, heartless fool I've been!" + +"No, my dear, only young and thoughtless, like thousands of +others. It so happened that nothing occurred to awaken you. One +day of your old life begat another. That so slight a thing should +make you think, and desire to be different, promises much to me, +for if your nature had been shallow and commonplace, you wouldn't +have been much disturbed. If you have the spirit your words indicate +to-night, it will be better for you to face life in the height and +depth of its reality, trusting in God and your own womanhood for +strength to meet whatever comes. Those who live on this higher +plane have deeper sorrows, but also far richer joys, than those who +exist from hand to mouth, as it were, in the immediate and material +present. What's more, they cease to be plebeian in the meaner sense +of the word, and achieve at one step a higher caste. They have broken +the conventional type, and all the possibilities of development +open at once. You are still a young, inexperienced girl, and have +done little in life except learn your lessons and amuse yourself, +yet in your dissatisfaction and aspiration you are almost infinitely +removed from what you were yesterday, for you have attained the +power to grow and develop." + +"You are too philosophical for me. How shall I grow or develop?" + +"I scarcely know." + +"What definite thing shall I do to-morrow?" + +"Do what the plant does. Receive the influence that tends to quicken +your best impulses and purposes; follow your awakened conscience +naturally. Do what seems to you womanly, right, noble in little things +or in great things, should there be opportunity. Did Shakespeare, +as a child, propose to write the plays which have made him chief +among men? He merely yielded to the impulse when it came. The law +holds good down to you, my little girl. You have an impulse which +is akin to that of genius. Instead of continuing your old indolent, +strolling gait on the dead level of life, you have left the beaten +track and faced the mountain of achievement. Every resolute step +forward takes you higher, even though it be but an inch; yet I +cannot see the path by which you will climb, or tell you the height +you may gain. The main thing is the purpose to ascend. For ihose +bent on noble achievement there is always a path. God only knows +to what it may bring you. One step leads to another, and you will +be guided better by the instincts and laws of your own nature than +if I tried to lead you step by step. The best I can do is to give +you a little counsel, and a helping hand now and then, as the +occasion requires." + +"Now in truth, papa, do not all your fine words signify about what +you and mamma used to say years ago,--'You must be a good little +girl, and then you will be happy'? It seems to me that many good +people are conventionality itself." + +"Many are, and if they ARE good, it is a fortunate phase of +conventionality. For instance, I know of a man who by the law of +heredity and the force of circumstances has scarcely a bad habit +or trait, and has many good ones. He meets the duties of life in +an ordinary, satisfactory way, and with little effort on his part I +know of another man who externally presents nearly the same aspect +to society, who is quiet and unobtrusive in his daily life, and +yet he is fighting hereditary taint and habit with a daily heroism, +such as no soldier in the war can surpass. He is not conventional, +although he appears to be so. He is a knight who is not afraid to +face demons. Genuine strength and originality of character do not +consist in saying or doing things in an unusual way. Voluntary +eccentrics are even worse than the imitators of some model or the +careless souls which take their coloring from chance surroundings. +Conventionality ceases when a human being begins the resolute +development of his own natural law of growth to the utmost extent. +This is true because nature in her higher work is not stereotyped. +I will now be as definite as you can desire. You, for instance, +Marian Vosburgh, are as yet, even to yourself, an unknown quantity. +You scarcely know what you are, much less what you may become. This +conversation, and the feeling which led to it, prove this. There +are traits and possibilities in your nature due to ancestors of +whom you have not even heard. These combine with your own individual +endowments by nature to make you a separate and distinct being, and +you grow more separate and distinct by developing nature's gifts, +traits, powers,--in brief, that which is essentially your own. Thus +nature becomes your ally and sees to it with absolute certainty that +you are not like other people. Following this principle of action +you cannot know, nor can any one know, to just what you may attain. +All true growth is from within, outward. In the tree, natural law +prevents distortion or exaggeration of one part over another. In +your case reason, conscience, good taste, must supervise and direct +natural impulses. Thus following nature you become natural, and +cease to be conventional. If you don't do this you will be either +conventional or queer. Do you understand me?" + +"I think I begin to. Let me see if I do. Let me apply your words to +one definite problem,--How can I be more helpful and companionable +to you?" + +"Why, Marian, do you not see how infinitely more to me you are +already, although scarcely beyond the wish to be different from +what you were? I have talked to you as a man talks to a woman in the +dearest and most unselfish relation of life. There is one thing, +however, you never can know, and that is a father's love for a +daughter: it is essentially a man's love and a man's experience. I +am sure it is very different from the affection I should have for +a son, did I possess one. Ever since you were a baby the phrase, +'my little girl,' has meant more than you can ever know; and now +when you come voluntarily to my side in genuine sympathy, and seek +to enter INTELLIGENTLY into that which makes my life, you change +everything for the better, precisely as that which was in cold, +gray shadow before is changed by sunlight. You add just so much by +your young, fresh, womanly life to my life, and it is all the more +welcome because it is womanly and different from mine. You cease +to be a child, a dependant to be provided for, and become a friend, +an inspiration, a confidante. These relations may count little to +heavy, stolid, selfish men, to whom eating, drinking, excitement, +and money-making are the chief considerations, but to men of mind +and ideals, especially to a man who has devoted, his heart, brain, +and life to a cause upon which the future of a nation depends, they +are pre-eminent. You see I am a German at heart, and must have my +world of thought and imagination, as well as the world in which men +look at me with cold, hard, and even hostile eyes. Thus far this +ideal world has been peopled chiefly by the shadows of those who +have lived in the past or by the characters of the great creators +in poetry. Now if my blue-eyed daughter can prove to me that she +has too much heart and brain to be an ordinary society-girl like +half a million of others, and will share my interest in the great +thoughts and achievements of the past and the greater questions +of to-day,--if she can prove that when I have time I may enjoy a +tryst with her in regions far remote from shallow, coarse, commonplace +minds,--is not my whole life enriched? We can read some of my +favorite authors together and trace their influence on the thought +of the world. We can take up history and see how to-day's struggle +is the result of the past. I think I could soon give you an +intelligent idea of the questions of the time, for which men are +hourly dying. The line of battle stretches across the continent, +and so many are engaged that every few moments a man, and too often +a woman from heart-break, dies that the beloved cause may triumph. +Southern girls and women, as a rule, are far more awake to the events +of the time than their sisters in the North. Such an influence on +the struggle can scarcely be over-estimated. They create a public +sentiment that drives even the cowardly into the ranks, and their +words and enthusiasm incite brave young men to even chivalric courage. +It is true that there are very many like them in the North, but +there are also very many who restrain the men over whom they have +influence,--who are indifferent, as you have been, or in sympathy +with the South,--or who, as is true in most instances, do not yet +see the necessity for self-sacrifice. We have not truly felt the +war yet, but it will sooner or later come home to every one who has +a heart. I have been in the South, and have studied the spirit of +the people. They are just as sincere and conscientious as we are, +and more in earnest as yet. Christian love and faith, there, look +to Heaven for sanction with absolute sincerity, and mothers send +their sons, girls their lovers, and wives their husbands, to die +if need be. For the political conspirators who have thought first +and always of their ambition I have only detestation, but for the +people of the South--for the man I may meet in the ranks and kill +if I can--I have profound respect. I should know he was wrong, I +should be equally sure that he believed himself right. + +"Look at the clock, my dear, and see how long I have talked to +you. Can you now doubt that you will be companionable to me? Men +down town think I am hard as a rock, but your touch of sympathy +has been as potent as the stroke of Moses' rod. You have had an +inundation of words, and the future is rosy to me with hope because +you are not asleep." + +"Have I shown lack of interest, papa?" + +"No, Marian, your intent eyes have been eloquent with feeling. +Therefore I have spoken so long and fully. You have, as it were, +drawn the words from me. You have made this outpouring of my heart +seem as natural as breathing, for when you look as you do to-night, +I can almost think aloud to you. You have a sympathetic face, my +child, and when expressing intelligent sympathy it grows beautiful. +It was only pretty before. Prettiness is merely a thing of outline +and color; beauty comes from the soul." + +She came and stood at his side, resting her arm lightly on his +shoulder. + +"Papa," she said, "your words are a revelation to me. Your world +is indeed a new one, and a better one than mine. But I must cease +to be a girl, and become a woman, to enter it." + +"You need not be less happy; you do not loset anything. A picture +is ever finer for shadows and depth of perspective. You can't get +anything very fine, in either art or life, from mere bright surface +glare." + +"I can't go back to that any more; something in my very soul tells +me that I cannot; and your loneliness and danger would render even +the wish to do so base. No, I feel now that I would rather be +a woman, even though it involves a crown of thorns, than to be a +shallow creature that my own heart would despise. I may never be +either wise or deep, but I shall be to you all I can." + +"You do very much for me in those words alone, my darling. As +I said before, no one can tell what you may become if you develop +your own nature naturally." + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +WOMAN'S CHIEF RIGHT. + + + + + +It was late when Marian and her father parted, and each felt that a +new era had begun in their lives. To the former it was like a deep +religious experience. She was awed and somewhat depressed, as well +as resolute and earnest. Life was no pleasure excursion to her +father. Questions involving the solemnity of danger, possibly death, +occupied his mind. Yet it was not of either that he thought, but +of the questions themselves. She saw that he was a large-hearted, +large-brained man, who entered into the best spirit of his age, +and found recreation in the best thought of the past, and she felt +that she was still but a little child beside him. + +"But I shall no longer be a silly child or a shallow, selfish, +unfeeling girl. I know there is something better in my nature than +this. Papa's words confirm what I have read but never thought of +much: the chief need of men who can do much or who amount to much +is the intelligent sympathy of women who understand and care for +them. Why, it was the inspiration of chivalry, even in the dark +ages. Well, Marian Vosburgh, if you can't excel a kitchen-maid, +it would be better that you had never lived." + +The sun was shining brightly when she wakened on the following +morning, and when she came to breakfast their domestic handed her +a note from her father, by which she was informed that he would +dine with her earlier than usual, and that they would take a sail +down the bay. + +Brief as it was, it breathed an almost lover-like fondness and +happiness. She enjoyed her first exultant thrill at her sense of +power as she comprehended that he had gone to his work that day a +stronger and more hopeful man. + +She went out to do her shopping, and was soon in a Broadway temple +of fashion, but found that she was no longer a worshipper. A week +before the beautiful fabrics would have absorbed her mind and awakened +intense desires, for she had a passion for dress, and few knew how +to make more of it than she. But a new and stronger passion was +awakening. She was made to feel at last that she had not only a +woman's lovely form and features, but a woman's mind. Now she began +to dream of triumphs through the latter, and her growing thought was +how to achieve them. Not that she was indifferent to her costume; +it should be like the soldier's accoutrements; her mind the weapon. + +As is common with the young to whom any great impulse or new, deep +experience comes, she was absorbed by it, and could think of little +else. She went over her father's words again and again, dwelling on +the last utterance, which had contained the truth uppermost in all +that he had said,--"Develop the best in your own nature naturally." + +What was her own nature, her starting-point? Her introspection +was not very reassuring. She felt that perhaps the most hopeful +indication was her strong rebound from what she at last recognized +as mean and unworthy. She also had a little natural curiosity and +vanity to see if her face was changing with changing motives. Was +there such a difference between prettiness and beauty? She was +perfectly sure she would rather be beautiful than pretty. + +Her mirror revealed a perplexed young face, suggesting +interrogation-points. The day was ending as it had begun, with a +dissatisfaction as to the past, amounting almost to disgust, and +with fears, queries, and uncertainties concerning the future. How +should she take up life again? How should she go on with it? + +More importunate still was the question, "What has the future in +store for me and for those I love? Papa spoke of danger; and when +I think of his resolute face, I know that nothing in the line of +duty will daunt him. He said that it might not be kindness to leave +me in my old, blind, unthinking ignorance,--that a blow, shattering +everything, might come, finding us all unprepared. Oh, why don't +mamma feel and see more? We have been just like comfortable passengers +on a ship, while papa was facing we knew not what. I may not be +of much use, but I feel now as if I wanted to be with him. To stay +below with scarcely any other motive than to have a good time, and +then to be paralyzed, helpless, when some shock of trouble comes, +now seems silly and weak to the last degree. I am only too glad +that I came to my senses in time, for if anything should happen to +papa, and I had to remember all my days that I had never been much +to him, and had left him to meet the stress of life and danger +alone, I am sure I should be wretched from self-reproach." + +When he came at six o'clock, she met him eagerly, and almost her +first words were, "Papa, there hasn't been any danger to-day?" + +"Oh, no; none at all; only humdrum work. You must not anticipate +trouble. Soldiers, you know, jest and laugh even when going into +battle, and they are all the better soldiers for the fact. No; I +have given you a wrong impression. Nothing has been humdrum to-day. +An acquaintance down town said: 'What's up, Vosburgh? Heard good +news? Have our troops scored a point?' You see I was so brightened +up that he thought nothing but a national victory could account for +the improvement. Men are like armies, and are twice as effective +when well supported." + +"The idea of my supporting you!" + +"To me it's a charming idea. Instead of coming back to a dismal, +empty house, I find a blue-eyed lassie who will go with me to +dinner, and add sauce piquante to every dish. Come, I am not such +a dull, grave old fellow as you imagine. You shall see how gallant +I can become under provocation. We must make the most of a couple +of hours, for that is all that I can give you. No sail to-night, as +I had planned, for a government agent is coming on from Washington +to see me, and I must be absent for at least an hour or two after +eight o'clock. You won't mope, will you? You have something to +read? Has the day been very long and lonely? What have you been +doing and thinking about?" + +"When are you going to give me a chance to answer?" + +"Oh, I read your answer, partly at least, in your eyes. You can +amplify later. Come, get ready for the street. Put on what you +please, so that you wear a smile. These are not times to worry over +slight reverses as long as the vital points are safe." + +The hour they passed at dinner gave Marian a new revelation of +her father. The quiet man proved true the words of Emerson, "Among +those who enjoy his thought, he will regain his tongue." + +At first he drew her out a little, and with his keen, quick insight +he understood her perplexity, her solicitude about him and herself +and the future, her resolute purpose to be a woman, and the +difficulties of seeing the way to the changes she desired. Instead +of replying directly to her words, he skilfully led their talk to +the events of the day, and contemporaneous history became romance +under his version; the actors in the passing drama ceased to be +names and officials, and were invested with human interest. She +was made to see their motives, their hopes, fears, ambitions; she +opened her eyes in surprise at his knowledge of prominent people, +their social status, relations, and family connection. A genial +light of human interest played over most of his words, yet now and +then they touched on the depths of tragedy; again he seemed to be +indulging in sublimated gossip, and she saw the men and women who +posed before the public in their high stations revealed in their +actual daily life. + +She became so interested that at times she left her food untasted. +"How can you know all this?" she exclaimed. + +"It is my business to know a great deal," he replied. "Then natural +curiosity leads me to learn more. The people of whom I have spoken +are the animated pieces on the chess-board. In the tremendous game +that we are playing, success depends largely on their strength, +weakness, various traits,--in brief, their character. The stake +that I have in the game leads me to know and watch those who are +exerting a positive influence. It is interesting to study the men +and women who, in any period, made and shaped history, and to learn +the secrets of their success and failure. Is it not natural that +men and women who are making history to-day--who in fact are shaping +one's own history--should be objects of stronger attention? Now, as +in the past, women exert a far greater influence on current events +than you would imagine. There are but few thrones of power behind +which you will not find a woman. What I shall do or be during the +coming weeks and months depends upon some of the people I have +sketched, free-handed, for you alone. You see the sphinx--for as +such I am regarded by many--opens his mouth freely to you. Can you +guess some of my motives for this kind of talk?" + +"You have wanted to entertain me, papa, and you have succeeded. +You should write romances, for you but touch the names one sees in +the papers and they become dramatic actors." + +"I did want to entertain you and make a fair return for your +society; I wish to prove that I can be your companion as truly as +you can become mine; but I have aimed to do more. I wish you to +realize how interesting the larger and higher world of activity is. +Do not imagine that in becoming a woman, earnest and thoughtful, +you are entering on an era of solemn platitudes. You are rather +passing from a theatre of light comedy to a stage from which +Shakespeare borrowed the whole gamut of human feeling, passion, +and experience. I also wished to satisfy you that you have mind +enough to become absorbed as soon as you begin to understand the +significance of the play. After you have once become an intelligent +spectator of real life you can no more go back to drawing-room +chit-chat, gossip, and flirtation than you can lay down Shakespeare's +'Tempest' for a weak little parlor comedy. I am too shrewd a man, +Marian, to try to disengage you from the past by exhortations and +homilies; and now that you have become my friend, I shall be too +sincere with you to disguise my purposes or methods. I propose to +co-operate frankly with you in your effort, for in this way I prove +my faith in you and my respect for you. Soon you will find yourself +an actor in real life, as well as a spectator." + +"I fear I have been one already,--a sorry one, too. It is possible +to do mischief without being very intelligent or deliberate. You +are making my future, so far as you are concerned, clearer than +I imagined it could be. You do interest me deeply. In one evening +you make it evident how much I have lost in neglecting you--for I +have neglected you, though not intentionally. Hereafter I shall be +only too proud if you will talk to me as you have done, giving me +glimpses of your thoughts, your work, and especially your dangers, +where there are any. Never deceive me in this respect, or leave +me in ignorance. Whatever may be the weaknesses of my nature, now +that I have waked up, I am too proud a girl to receive all that I +do from your hands and then give almost my whole life and thought +to others. I shall be too delighted if you are happier for my +meddling and dropping down upon you. I'll keep your secrets too, +you see;" and she confirmed her words by an emphatic little nod. +"You can talk to me about people, big and little, with whom you +have to do, just as serenely as if you were giving your confidence +to an oyster. + +"But, papa, I am confronted by a question of real life, just as +difficult for me as any that can perplex you. I can't treat this +question any more as I have done. I don't see my way at all. Now +I am going to be as direct and straightforward as a man, and not +beat around the bush with any womanish finesse. There is a gentleman +in this city who, if he knew I was in town to-night, would call, and +I might not be able to prevent him from making a formal proposal. +He is a man whom I respect and like very much, and I fear I have +been too encouraging,--not intentionally and deliberately you know, +but thoughtlessly. He was the cleverest and the most entertaining +of my friends, and always brought a breezy kind of excitement with +him. Don't you see, papa? That is what I lived for, pleasure and +excitement, and I don't believe that anything can be so exciting +to a girl as to see a man yielding to her fascinations, whatever +they may be. It gives one a delicious sense of power. I shall be +frank, too. I must be, for I want your advice. You men like power. +History is full of the records of those who sold their own souls +for it, and walked through blood and crime to reach it. I think it +is just as natural for a woman to love power also, only now I see +that it is a cruel and vile thing to get it and use it merely for +amusement. To me it was excitement. I don't like to think how it +may all end to a man like Fenton Lane, and I am so remorseful that +I am half inclined to sacrifice myself and make him as good a wife +as I can." + +"Do you love him?" + +"No. I don't think I know what love is. When a mere girl I had a +foolish little flame that went out with the first breath of ridicule. +Since that time I have enjoyed gentlemen's society as naturally +as any other girl of our set, perhaps more keenly. Their talk and +ways are so different from those of girls! Then my love of power +came in, you see. The other girls were always talking about their +friends and followers, and it was my pride to surpass them all. I +liked one better than another, of course, but was always as ready +for a new conquest as that old fool, 'Alexander the Little,' +who ran over the world and especially himself. What do you think, +papa? Shall I ever see one who will make all the others appear as +nothing? Or, would it be nobler to devote myself to a true, fine +man, like Mr. Lane, no matter how I felt?" + +"God forbid! You had better stay at your mother's side till you +are as old and wrinkled as Time himself." + +"I am honestly glad to hear you say so. But what am I to do? Sooner +or later I shall have to refuse Mr. Lane, and others too." + +"Refuse them, then. He would be less than a man who would ask a +girl to sacrifice herself for him. No, my dear, the most inalienable +right of your womanhood is to love freely and give yourself where +you love. This right is one of the issues of this war,--that the +poorest woman in this land may choose her own mate. Slavery is the +corner-stone of the Confederacy, wherein millions of women can be +given according to the will of masters. Should the South triumph, +phases of the Old-World despotism would creep in with certainly, +and in the end we should have alliances, not marriages, as is the +case so generally abroad. Now if a white American girl does not +make her own choice she is a weak fool. The law and public sentiment +protect her. If she will not choose wisely, she must suffer the +consequences, and only under the impulse of love can a true choice +be made. A girl must be sadly deficient in sense if she loves a weak, +bad, disreputable man, or a vulgar, ignorant one. Such mesalliances +are more in seeming than in reality, for the girl herself is usually +near in nature to what she chooses. There are few things that I +would more earnestly guard you against than a loveless marriage. +You would probably miss the sweetest happiness of life, and you +would scarcely escape one of its worst miseries." + +"That settles it, then. I am going to choose for myself,--to stay +with you and mamma, and to continue sending you my bills indefinitely." + +"They will be love letters, now." + +"Very dear ones, you will think sometimes. But truly, papa, you must +not let me spend more than you can afford. You should be frank on +this point also, when you know I do not wish to be inconsiderate. +The question still remains, What am I to do with Mr. Lane?" + +"Now I shall throw you on your own resources. I believe your woman's +tact can manage this question better than my reason; only, if you +don't love him and do not think you can, be sure to refuse him. +I have nothing against Mr. Lane, and approve of what I know about +him; but I am not eager to have a rival, or to lose what I have +so recently gained. Nevertheless, I know that when the true knight +comes through the wood, my sleeping beauty will have another +awakening, compared with which this one will seem slight indeed. +Then, as a matter of course, I will quietly take my place as 'second +fiddle' in the harmony of your life. But no discordant first fiddle, +if you please; and love alone can attune its strings. My time is +up, and, if I don't return early, go to bed, so that mamma may not +say you are the worse for your days in town. This visit has made +me wish for many others." + +"You shall have them, for, as Shakespeare says, your wish 'jumps' +with mine." + + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +"BE HOPEFUL, THAT I MAY HOPE." + + + + + +LEFT to herself Marian soon threw down the book she tried to read, +and thought grew busy with her father's later words. Was there then +a knight--a man--somewhere in the world, so unknown to her that +she would pass him in the street without the slightest premonition +that he was the arbiter of her destiny? Was there some one, to +whom imagination could scarcely give shadowy outline, so real and +strong that he could look a new life into her soul, set all her +nerves tingling, and her blood coursing in mad torrents through +her veins? Was there a stranger, whom now she would sweep with a +casual glance, who still had the power to subdue her proud maidenhood, +overcome the reserve which seemed to reach as high as heaven, and +lay a gentle yet resistless grasp, not only on her sacred form, but +on her very soul? Even the thought made her tremble with a vague +yet delicious dread. Then she sprung to her feet and threw back her +head proudly as she uttered aloud the words, "If this can ever be +true, my power shall be equal to his." + +A moment later she was evoking half-exultant chords from the piano. +These soon grew low and dreamy, and the girl said softly to herself: +"I have lived more in two days than in months of the past. Truly +real life is better than a sham, shallow existence." + +The door-bell rang, and she started to her feet. "Who can know I +am in town?" she queried. + +Fenton Lane entered with extended hand and the words: "I was passing +and knew I could not be mistaken in your touch. Your presence was +revealed by the music as unmistakably as if I had met you on the +street. Am I an intruder? Please don't order me away under an hour +or two." + +"Indeed, Mr. Lane, truth compels me to say that I am here in deep +retirement. I have been contemplating a convent." + +"May I ask your motive?" + +"To repent of my sins." + +"You would have to confess at a convent. Why not imagine me a +venerable father, dozing after a good dinner, and make your first +essay at the confessional?" + +"You tax my imagination too greatly. So I should have to confess; +therefore no convent for me." + +"Of course not. I should protest against it at the very altar, and +in the teeth of the Pope himself. Can't you repent of your sins in +some other way?" + +"I suppose I shall have to." + +"They would be a queer lot of little peccadilloes. I should like +to set them all under a microscope." + +"I would rather that your glass should be a goblet brimmed from +Lethe." + +"There is no Lethe for me, Miss Marian, so far as you are concerned." + +"Come, tell me the news from the seat of war," she said, abruptly. + +"This luxurious arm-chair is not a seat of war." + +"Papa has been telling me how Southern girls make all the men +enlist." + +"I'll enlist to-morrow, if you ask me to." + +"Oh, no. You might be shot, and then you would haunt me all my +life." + +"May I not haunt you anyway?" said Lane, resolutely, for he had +determined not to let this opportunity pass. She was alone, and he +would confirm the hope which her manner for months had inspired. +"Come, Miss Marian," he continued, springing to his feet and +approaching her side, his dark eyes full of fire and entreaty; "you +cannot have misunderstood me. You know that while not a soldier I +am also not a carpet-knight and have not idled in ladies' bowers. +I have worked hard and dreamed of you. I am willing to do all that +a man can to win you. Cowardice has not kept me from the war, but +you. If it would please you I would put on the blue and shoulder +a musket to-morrow. If you will permit more discretion and time, +I can soon obtain a commission as an officer. But before I fight +other battles, I wish to win the supreme victory of my life. Whatever +orders I may take from others, you shall ever be my superior officer. +You have seen this a long time; a woman of your mind could not help +it. I have tried to hope with all a lover's fondness that you gave +me glimpses of your heart also, but of this nothing would satisfy +a man of my nature but absolute assurance." + +He stood proudly yet humbly before her, speaking with strong, +impassioned, fluent utterance, for he was a man who had both the +power and the habit of expression. + +She listened with something like dismay. Her heart, instead of +kindling, grew only more heavy and remorseful. Her whole nature +shrunk, while pity and compunction wrung tears from her eyes. This +was real life in very truth. Here was a man ready to give up safe, +luxurious existence, a career already successful, and face death +for her. She knew him well enough to be sure that if he could wear +her colors he would march away with the first regiment that would +receive him. He was not a man to be influenced by little things, +but yielded absolutely to the supreme impulses of his life. If +she said the word, he would make good his promise with chivalrous, +straightforward promptness, facing death, and all that death could +then mean to him, with a light, half-jaunty courage characteristic +of the ideal soldier. She had a secret wonder at herself that she +could know all this and yet be so vividly conscious that what he +asked could never be. Her womanly pity said yes; her woman's heart +said no. He was eager to take her in his arms, to place the kiss of +life-long loyalty on her lips; but in her very soul she felt that +it would be almost sacrilege for him to touch her; since the divine +impulse to yield, without which there can be no divine sanction, +was absent. + +She listened, not as a confused, frightened girl, while he spoke +that which she had guessed before. Other men had sued, although +none had spoken so eloquently or backed their words by such weight +of character. Her trouble, her deep perplexity, was not due to a +mere declaration, but was caused by her inability to answer him. +The conventional words which she would have spoken a few days before +died on her lips. They would be an insult to this earnest man, +who had the right to hope for something better. What was scarcely +worse--for there are few emergencies in which egotism is wholly +lost--she would appear at once to him and to herself in an odious +light. Her course would be well characterized by the Irish servant's +lover, for here was a man who from the very fineness of his nature, +if wronged, might easily go to the devil. + +His words echoed her thought, for her hesitation and the visible +distress on her face led him to exclaim, in a voice tense with +something like agony: "O Marian, since you hesitate, hesitate +longer. Think well before you mar--nay, spoil--my life. For God's +sake don't put me off with some of the sham conventionalities current +with society girls. I could stand anything better than that. I +am in earnest; I have always been in earnest; and I saw from the +first, through all your light, graceful disguises, that you were not +a shallow, brainless, heartless creature,--that a noble woman was +waiting to be wakened in your nature. Give me time; give yourself +time. This is not a little affair that can be rounded off according +to the present code of etiquette; it is a matter of life or death +to me. Be more merciful than a rebel bullet." + +She buried her face in her hands and sobbed helplessly. + +He was capable of feeling unknown depths of tenderness, but there +was little softness in his nature. As he looked down upon her, his +face grew rigid and stern. In her sobs he read his answer,--the +unwillingness, probably the inability, of her heart to respond to +his,--and he grew bitter as he thought of the past. + +With the cold, quiet tones of one too strong, controlled, and +well-bred to give way violently to his intense anger, he said: +"This is a different result from what you led me to expect. All +your smiles end in these unavailing tears. Why did you smile so +sweetly after you understood me, since you had nothing better in +store? I was giving you the homage, the choice of my whole manhood, +and you knew it. What were you giving me? Why did your eyes draw +out my heart and soul? Do you think that such a man as I can exist +without heart and soul? Did you class me with Strahan, who can +take a refusal as he would lose a game of whist? No, you did not. +I saw in your very eyes a true estimate of Strahan and all his +kind. Was it your purpose to win a genuine triumph over a man who +cared nothing for other women? Why then don't you enjoy it? You +could not ask for anything more complete." + +"Trample on me--I deserve it," she faltered. + +After a moment's pause, he resumed: "I have no wish to trample +on you. I came here with as much loyalty and homage as ever a man +brought to a woman in any age. I have offered you any test of my +love and truth that you might ask. What more could a man do? As soon +as I knew what you were to me, I sought your father's permission +to win you, and I told you my secret in every tone and glance. If +your whole nature shrunk from me, as I see it does, you could have +told me the truth months since, and I should have gone away honoring +you as a true-hearted, honest girl, who would scorn the thought of +deceiving and misleading an earnest man. You knew I did not belong +to the male-flirt genus. When a man from some sacred impulse of his +nature would give his very life to make a woman happy, is it too +much to ask that she should not deliberately, and for mere amusement, +wreck his life? If she does not want his priceless gift, a woman +with your tact could have revealed the truth by one glance, by one +inflection of a tone. Not that I should have been discouraged so +easily, but I should have accepted an unspoken negative long since +with absolute respect. But now--" and he made a gesture eloquent +with protest and despair. + +"But now," she said, wearily, "I see it all in the light in which +you put it. Be content; you have spoiled my life as truly as I have +yours." + +"Yes, for this evening. There will be only one less in your +drawing-room when you return." + +"Very well," she replied, quietly. Her eyes were dry and hot now, +and he could almost see the dark lines deepening under them, and +the increasing pallor of her face. "I have only this to say. I now +feel that your words are like blows, and they are given to one who +is not resisting, who is prostrate;" and she rose as if to indicate +that their interview should end. + +He looked at her uneasily as she stood before him, with her pallid +face averted, and every line of her drooping form suggesting defeat +rather than triumph; yes, far more than defeat--the apathetic +hopelessness of one who feels himself mortally wounded. + +"Will you please tell me just what you mean when you say I have +spoiled your life?" he asked. + +"How should I know? How should anyone know till he has lived out +its bitterness? What do you mean by the words? Perhaps you will +remember hereafter that your language has been inconsistent as well +as merciless. You said I was neither brainless nor heartless; then +added that you had spoiled my life merely for one evening. But +there is no use in trying to defend myself: I should have little +to urge except thoughtlessness, custom, the absence of evil +intention,--other words should prove myself a fool, to avoid being +a criminal. Go on and spoil your life; you seem to be wholly bent +upon it. Face rebel bullets or do some other reckless thing. I +only wish to give you the solace of knowing that you have made me +as miserable as a girl can be, and that too at a moment when I was +awakening to better things. But I am wasting your valuable time. +You believe in your heart that Mr. Strahan can console me with his +gossip to-morrow evening, whatever happens." + +"Great God! what am I to believe?" + +She turned slowly towards him and said, gravely: "Do not use that +name, Mr. Lane. He recognizes the possibility of good in the weakest +and most unworthy of His creatures. He never denounces those who +admit their sin and would turn from it." + +He sprung to her side and took her hand. "Look at me," he pleaded. + +His face was so lined and eloquent with suffering that her own lip +quivered. + +"Mr. Lane," she said, "I have wronged you. I am very sorry now. +I've been sorry ever since I began to think--since you last called. +I wish you could forgive me. I think it would be better for us both +if you could forgive me." + +He sunk into a chair and burying his face in his hands groaned aloud; +then, in bitter soliloquy, said: "O God! I was right--I knew I was +not deceived. She is just the woman I believed her to be. Oh, this +is worse than death!" + +No tears came into his eyes, but a convulsive shudder ran through +his frame like that of a man who recoils from the worst blow of +fate. + +"Reproach--strike me, even," she cried. "Anything is better than +this. Oh, that I could--but how can I? Oh, what an unutterable fool +I have been! If your love is so strong, it should also be a little +generous. As a woman I appeal to you." + +He rose at once and said: "Forgive me; I fear that I have been +almost insane,--that I have much to atone for." + +"O Mr. Lane, I entreat you to forgive me. I did admire you; I was +proud of your preference,--proud that one so highly thought of +and coveted by others should single me out. I never dreamt that +my vanity and thoughtlessness could lead to this. If you had been +ill or in trouble, you would have had my honest sympathy, and few +could have sacrificed more to aid you. I never harbored one thought +of cold-blooded malice. Why must I be punished as if I had committed +a deliberate crime? If I am the girl you believe me to be, what +greater punishment could I have than to know that I had harmed a +man like you? It seems to me that if I loved any one I could suffer +for him and help him, without asking anything in return. I could +give you honest friendship, and take heart-felt delight in every +manly success that you achieved. As a weak, faulty girl, who yet +wishes to be a true woman, I appeal to you. Be strong, that I may +be strong; be hopeful, that I may hope; be all that you can be, +that I may not be disheartened on the very threshold of the better +life I had chosen." + +He took her hand, and said: "I am not unresponsive to your words. +I feel their full force, and hope to prove that I do; but there is +a tenacity in my nature that I cannot overcome. You said, 'if you +loved'--do you not love any one?" + +"No. You are more to me--twice more--than any man except my father." + +"Then, think well. Do not answer me now, unless you must. Is there +not a chance for me? I am not a shadow of a man, Marian. I fear +I have proved too well how strong and concentrated my nature is. +There is nothing I would not do or dare--" + +"No, Mr. Lane; no," she interrupted, shaking her head sadly, "I will +never consciously mislead a man again a single moment. I scarcely +know what love is; I may never know; but until my heart prompts +me, I shall never give the faintest hope or encouragement of this +nature. I have been taught the evil of it too bitterly." + +"And I have been your remorseless teacher, and thus perhaps have +destroyed my one chance." + +"You are wrong. I now see that your words were natural to one like +you, and they were unjust only because I was not deliberate. Mr. +Lane, let me be your friend. I could give you almost a sister's +love; I could be so proud of you!" + +"There," he said. "You have triumphed after all. I pledge you my +word--all the manhood I possess--I will do whatever you ask." + +She took his hand in both her own with a look of gratitude he +never forgot, and spoke gladly: "Now you change everything. Oh, I +am so glad you did not go away before! What a sad, sleepless night +I should have had, and sad to-morrows stretching on indefinitely! I +ask very much, very much indeed,--that you make the most and best +of yourself. Then I can try to do the same. It will be harder +for you than for me. You bring me more hope than sadness; I have +given you more sadness than hope. Yet I have absolute faith in you +because of what papa said to me last night. I had asked him how I +could cease to be what I was, be different, you know, and he said, +'Develop the best in your own nature naturally.' If you will do +this I shall have no fears." + +"Yet I have been positively brutal to you to-night." + +"No man can be so strong as you are and be trifled with. I understand +that now, Mr. Lane. You had no sentimentality to be touched, and +my tears did not move you in the least until you believed in my +honest contrition." + +"I have revealed to you one of my weaknesses. I am rarely angry, +but when I am, my passion, after it is over, frightens me. Marian, +you do forgive me in the very depths of your heart?" + +"I do indeed,--that is, if I have anything to forgive under the +circumstances." + +"Poor little girl! how pale you are! I fear you are ill." + +"I shall soon be better,--better all my life for your forgiveness +and promise." + +"Thank God that we are parting in this manner," he said. "I don't +like to think of what might have happened, for I was in the devil's +own mood. Marian, if you make good the words you have spoken +to-night, if you become the woman you can be, you will have a power +possessed by few. It was not your beauty merely that fascinated me, +but a certain individuality,--something all your own, which gives +you an influence apparently absolute. But I shall speak no more +in this strain. I shall try to be as true a friend as I am capable +of becoming, although an absent one. I must prove myself by deeds, +not words, however. May I write to you sometimes? I will direct +my letters under the care of your father, and you may show them to +him or your mother, as you wish." + +"Certainly you may, and you will be my first and only gentleman +correspondent. After what has passed between us, it would be +prudery to refuse. Moreover, I wish to hear often of your welfare. +Never for a moment will my warm interest cease, and you can see me +whenever you wish. I have one more thing to ask,--please take up +your old life to-morrow, just where you left off. Do nothing hastily, +or from impulse. Remember you have promised to make the most and +best of yourself, and that requires you to give conscience and +reason fair hearing. Will you also promise this?" + +"Anything you asked, I said." + +"Then good-by. Never doubt my friendship, as I shall not doubt +yours." + +Her hand ached from the pressure of his, but the pain was thus +drawn from her heart. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A SCHEME OF LIFE. + + + + + +MARIAN waited for her father's return, having been much too deeply +excited for the speedy advent of quiet sleep. When at last he came +she told him everything. As she described the first part of the +interview his brow darkened, but his face softened as she drew +toward the close. When she ceased he said:-- + +"Don't you see I was right in saying that your own tact would guide +you better than my reason? If I, instead of your own nature, had +directed you, we should have made an awful mess of it. Now let me +think a moment. This young fellow has suggested an idea to me,--a +general line of action which I think you can carry out. There is +nothing like a good definite plan,--not cast-iron, you know, but +flexible and modified by circumstances as you go along, yet so +clear and defined as to give you something to aim at. Confound it, +that's what's the matter with our military authorities. If McClellan +is a ditch-digger let them put a general in command; or, if he +is a general, give him what he wants and let him alone. There is +no head, no plan. I confess, however, that just now I am chiefly +interested in your campaigns, which, after all, stand the best chance +of bringing about union, in spite of your negative mood manifested +to-night. Nature will prove too strong for you, and some day--soon +probably--you will conquer, only to surrender yourself. Be that as +it may, the plan I suggest need not be interfered with. Be patient. +I'm only following the tactics in vogue,--taking the longest way +around to the point to be attacked. Lane said that if you carried +out your present principle of action you would have a power possessed +by few. I think he is right. I'm not flattering you. Little power +of any kind can co-exist with vanity. The secret of your fascination +is chiefly in your individuality. There are other girls more beautiful +and accomplished who have not a tithe of it. Now and then a woman +is peculiarly gifted with the power to influence men,--strong men, +too. You had this potency in no slight degree when neither your +heart nor your brain was very active. You will find that it will +increase with time, and if you are wise it will be greater when +you are sixty than at present. If you avoid the Scylla of vanity +on the one hand, and the Charybdis of selfishness on the other, and +if the sympathies of your heart keep pace with a cultivated mind, +you will steadily grow in social influence. I believe it for this +reason: A weak girl would have been sentimental with Lane, would have +yielded temporarily, either to his entreaty or to his anger, only +to disappoint him in the end, or else would have been conventional +in her refusal and so sent him to the bad, probably. You recognized +just what you could be to him, and had the skill--nature, rather, +for all was unpremeditated--to obtain an influence by which you +can incite him to a better manhood and a greater success, perhaps, +than if he were your accepted lover. Forgive this long preamble: +I am thinking aloud and feeling my way, as it were. What did you +ask him to promise? Why, to make the most and best of himself. +Why not let this sentence suggest the social scheme of your life? +Drop fellows who have neither brains nor heart,--no good mettle +in them,--and so far as you have influence strive to inspire the +others to make the most and best of themselves. You would not find +the kitchen-maid a rival on this plan of life; nor indeed, I regret +to say, many of your natural associates. Outwardly your life will +appear much the same, but your motive will change everything, and +flow through all your action like a mountain spring, rendering it +impossible for you to poison any life." + +"O papa, the very possibility of what you suggest makes life appear +beautiful. The idea of a convent!" + +"Convents are the final triumph of idiocy. If bad women could be +shut up and made to say prayers most of the time, no harm at least +would be done,--the good, problematical; but to immure a woman of +sweet, natural, God-bestowed impulses is the devil's worst practical +joke in this world. Come, little girl, it's late. Think over the +scheme; try it as you have a chance; use your power to incite men to +make the most and best of themselves. This is better than levying +your little tribute of flattery and attention, like other belles,--a +phase of life as common as cobble-stones and as old as vanity. For +instance, you have an artist among your friends. Possibly you can +make him a better artist and a better fellow in every way. Drop all +muffs and sticks; don't waste yourself on them. Have considerable +charity for some of the wild fellows, none for their folly, and from +the start tolerate no tendencies toward sentimentality. You will +find that the men who admire girls bent on making eyes rather than +making men will soon disappear. Sensible fellows won't misunderstand +you, even though prompted to more than friendship; and you will have +a circle of friends of which any woman might be proud. Of course +you will find at times that unspoken negatives will not satisfy; +but if a woman has tact, good sense, and sincerity, her position is +impregnable. As long as she is not inclined to love a man herself, +she can, by a mere glance, not only define her position, but +defend it. By simple dignity and reserve she can say to all, 'Thus +far and no farther.' If, without encouragement, any one seeks to +break through this barrier he meets a quiet negative which he must +respect, and in his heart does respect. Now, little girl, to sum up +your visit, with its long talks and their dramatic and unexpected +illustration, I see nothing to prevent you from going forward and +making the best and most of your life according to nature and truth. +You have a good start, and a rather better chance than falls to +the lot of the majority." + +"Truly," said Marian, thoughtfully, "we don't appear to grow old +and change by time so much as by what happens,--by what we think +and feel. Everything appears changed, including you and myself." + +"It's more in appearance than in reality. You will find the impetus +of your old life so strong that it will be hard even to change the +direction of the current. You will be much the same outwardly, as +I said before. The stream will flow through the same channel of +characteristic traits and habits. The vital change must be in the +stream itself,--the motive from which life springs." + +How true her father's words seemed on the following evening after +her return! Her mother, as she sat down, to their dainty little +dinner, looked as if her serenity had been undisturbed by a single +perplexing thought during the past few days. There was the same +elegant, yet rather youthful costume for a lady of her years; the +same smiling face, not yet so full in its outline as to have lost +all its girlish beauty. It was marred by few evidences of care and +trouble, nor was it spiritualized by thought or deep experience. + +Marian observed her closely, not with any disposition towards cold +or conscious criticism, but in order that she might better understand +the conditions of her own life. She also had a wakening curiosity +to know just what her mother was to her father and he to her. The +hope was forming that she could make them more to each other. She +had too much tact to believe that this could be done by general +exhortations. If anything was to be accomplished it must be by +methods so fine and unobtrusive as to be scarcely recognized. + +Her father's inner life had been a revelation to her, and she was +led to query: "Why does not mamma understand it? CAN she understand +it?" Therefore she listened attentively to the details of what had +happened in her absence. She waited in vain for any searching and +intelligent questions concerning the absent husband. Beyond that +he was well, and that everything about the house was just as she +had left it, Mrs. Vosburgh appeared to have no interest. She was +voluble over little household affairs, the novel that just then +absorbed her, and especially the callers and their chagrin at +finding the young girl absent. + +"Only the millionnaire widower remained any length of time when +learning that you were away," said the lady, "and he spent most of +the evening with me. I assure you he is a very nice, entertaining +old fellow." + +"How did he entertain you? What did he talk about?" + +"Let me remember. Now I think of it, what didn't he talk about? He +is one of the most agreeable gossips I ever met,--knows everybody +and everything. He has at his finger-ends the history of all who +were belles in my time, and" (complacently) "I find that few have +done better than I, while some, with all their opportunities, chose +very crooked sticks." + +"You are right, mamma. It seems to me that neither of us half +appreciates papa. He works right on so quietly and steadily, and +yet he is not a machine, but a man." + +"Oh, I appreciate him. Nine out of ten that he might have married +would have made him no end of trouble. I don't make him any. Well, +after talking about the people we used to know, Mr. Lanniere began +a tirade against the times and the war, which he says have cost him +a hundred thousand dollars; but he took care in a quiet way to let +me know that he has a good many hundred thousands left. I declare, +Marian, you might do a great deal worse." + +"Do you not think I might do a great deal better?" the young girl +asked, with a frown. + +"I have no doubt you think so. Girls will be romantic. I was, +myself; but as one goes on in life one finds that a million, more +or less, is a very comfortable fact. Mr. Lanniere has a fine house +in town, but he's a great traveller, and an habitue of the best +hotels of this country and Europe. You could see the world with +him on its golden side." + +"Well, mamma, I want a man,--not an habitue. What's more, I must +be in love with the man, or he won't stand the ghost of a chance. +So you see the prospects are that you will have me on your hands +indefinitely. Mr. Lanniere, indeed! What should I be but a part of +his possessions,--another expensive luxury in his luxurious life? +I want a man like papa,--earnest, large-brained, and large-hearted,--who, +instead of inveighing against the times, is absorbed in the vital +questions of the day, and is doing his part to solve them rightly. +I would like to take Mr. Lanniere into a military hospital or +cemetery, and show him what the war has cost other men." + +"Why, Marian, how you talk!" + +"I wish I could make you know how I feel. It seems to me that one +has only to think a little and look around in order to feel deeply. +I read of an awful battle while coming up in the cars. We have +been promised, all the spring, that Richmond would be taken, the +war ended, and all go on serenely again; but it doesn't look like +it." + +"What's the use of women distressing themselves with such things?" +said Mrs. Vosburgh, irritably. "I can't bear to think of war and +its horrors, except as they give spice to a story. Our whole trouble +is a big political squabble, and you know I detest politics. It +is just as Mr. Lanniere says,--if our people had only let slavery +alone all would have gone on veil. The leaders on both sides will +find out before the summer is over that they have gone too far +and fast, and they had better settle their differences with words +rather than blows. We shall all be shaking hands ana making up +before Christmas." + +"Papa doesn't think so." + +"Your father is a German at heart. He has the sense to be practical +about every-day affairs and enjoy a good dinner, but he amuses +himself with cloudy speculations and ideals and vast questions +about the welfare of the world, or the 'trend of the centuries,' +as he said one day to me. I always try to laugh him out of such +vague nonsense. Has he been talking to you about the 'trend of the +centuries'?" + +"No, mamma, he has not," replied Marian, gravely; "but if he does +I shall try to understand what he means and be interested. I know +that papa feels deeply about the war, and means to take the most +effective part in it that he can, and that he does not think it +will end so easily as you believe. These facts make me feel anxious, +for I know how resolute papa is." + +"He has no right to take any risks," said the lady, emphatically. + +"He surely has the same right that other men have." + +"Oh, well," concluded Mrs. Vosburgh, with a shrug, "there is no use +in borrowing trouble. When it comes to acting, instead of dreaming +and speculating on vast, misty questions, I can always talk your +father into good sense. That is the best thing about him,--he is +well-balanced, in spite of his tendency to theories. When I show +him that a thing is quixotic he laughs, shrugs his shoulders, and +good-naturedly goes on in the even tenor of his way. It was the +luckiest thing in the world for him when he married me, for I soon +learned his weak points, and have ever guarded him against them. +As a result he has had a quiet, prosperous career. If he wishes to +serve the government in some civilian capacity, and is well paid +for it, why shouldn't he? But I would never hear of his going to +the front, fighting, and marching in Virginia mud and swamps. If +he ever breathes such a thought to you, I hope you will aid me in +showing him how cruel and preposterous it is." + +Marian sighed, as she thought: "I now begin to see how well papa +understands mamma, but has she any gauge by which to measure him? +I fear he has found his home lonely, in spite of good dinners." + +"Come, my dear," resumed Mrs. Vosburgh, "we are lingering too long. +Some of your friends may be calling soon, although I said I did +not know whether you would be at home to-night or not. Mr. Lanniere +will be very likely to come, for I am satisfied that he has serious +intentions. What's more, you might do worse,--a great deal worse." + +"Three times you have said that, mamma, and I don't like it," said +Marian, a little indignantly. "Of course I might do worse; I might +kill him, and I should be tempted to if I married him. You know +that I do not care for him, and he knows it, too. Indeed, I scarcely +respect him. You don't realize what you are saying, for you would +not have me act from purely mercenary motives?" + +"Oh, certainly not; but Mr. Lanniere is not a monster or a decrepit +centenarian. He is still in his prime, and is a very agreeable and +accomplished man of the world. He is well-connected, moves in the +best society, and could give his wife everything." + +"He couldn't give me happiness, and he would spoil my life." + +"Oh well, if you feel so, there is nothing more to be said. I can +tell you, though, that multitudes of girls would be glad of your +chance; but, like so many young people, you have romantic ideas, +and do not appreciate the fact that happiness results chiefly from +the conditions of our lot, and that we soon learn to have plenty +of affection for those who make them all we could desire;" and she +touched a bell for the waitress, who had been temporarily dismissed. + +The girl came in with a faint smile on her face. "Has she been +listening?" thought Marian. "That creature, then, with her vain, +pretty, yet vulgar face, is the type of what I was. She has been +lighting the drawing-room for me to do what she proposes to do +later in the evening. She looks just the same. Mamma is just the +same. Callers will come just the same. How unchanged all is, as +papa said it would be! I fear much may be unchangeable." + +She soon left the dining-room for the parlor, her dainty, merry +little campaigning-ground. What should be its future record? Could +she carry out the scheme of life which her father had suggested? +"Well," she concluded, with an ominous flash in her eyes at her fair +reflection in the mirror, "whether I can incite any one to better +things or not, I can at least do some freezing out. That gossipy, +selfish old Mr. Lanniere must take his million to some other market. +I have no room in my life for him. Neither do I dote on the future +acquaintance of Mr. Strahan. I shall put him on probation. If men +don't want my society and regard on the new conditions, they can +stay away; if they persist in coming, they must do something finer +and be something finer than in the past. The friendship of one man +like Fenton Lane is worth more than the attention of a wilderness +of muffs and sticks, as papa calls them. What I fear is that I shall +appear goody-goody, and that would disgust every one, including +myself." + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +SURPRISES. + + + + + +MR. Lanniere evidently had serious intentions, for he came +unfashionably early. He fairly beamed on the young girl when he +found her at home. Indeed, as she stood before him in her radiant +youth, which her evening costume enhanced with a fine taste quickly +recognized by his practised eyes, he very justly regarded her as +better than anything which his million had purchased hitherto. It +might easily be imagined that he had added a little to the couleur +de rose of the future by an extra glass of Burgundy, for he positively +appeared to exude an atmosphere of affluence, complacency, and +gracious intention. The quick-witted girl detected at once his +King-Cophetua air, and she was more amused than embarrassed. Then +the eager face of Fenton Lane arose in her fancy, and she heard +his words, "I would shoulder a musket and march away to-morrow if +you bade me!" How insignificant was all that this man could offer, +as compared with the boundless, self-sacrificing love of the other, +before whom her heart bowed in sincere homage if nothing more! What +was this man's offer but an expression of selfishness? And what +could she ever be but an accessory of his Burgundy? Indeed, as his +eyes, humid from wine, gloated upon her, and he was phrasing his +well-bred social platitudes and compliments, quite oblivious of +the fact that HER eyes were taking on the blue of a winter sky, +her cheeks began to grow a little hot with indignation and shame. +He knew that she did not love him, that naturally she could not, +and that there had been nothing in their past relations to inspire +even gratitude and respect towards him. In truth, his only effort +had been to show his preference and to indicate his wishes. What +then could his offer mean but the expectation that she would take +him as a good bargain, and, like any well-bred woman of the world, +comply with all its conditions? Had she given him the impression that +she could do this? While the possibility made her self-reproachful, +she was conscious of rising resentment towards him who was so +complacently assuming that she was for sale. + +"Indeed, Miss Vosburgh," was the conclusion of his rather long +preliminaries, "you must not run away soon again. June days may +be charming under any circumstances, but your absence certainly +insures dull June evenings." + +"You are burdening your conscience without deceiving me," the young +girl replied, demurely, "and should not so wrong yourself. Mamma +said that you were very entertaining, and that last evening was a +delightful one. It could scarcely be otherwise. It is natural that +people of the same age should be congenial. I will call mamma at +once." + +"I beg you will not,--at least not just yet. I have something to +say to which I trust you will listen kindly and favorably. Do you +think me so very old?" + +"No older than you have a perfect right to be, Mr. Lanniere," said +the girl, laughing. "I can think of no reason for your reproachful +tone." + +"Let me give you one then. Your opinions are of immense importance +to me." + +"Truly, Mr. Lanniere, this is strange beyond measure, especially +as I am too young to have formed many opinions." + +"That fact only increases my admiration and regard One must reach +my years in order to appreciate truly the dewy freshness of youth. +The world is a terra incognita to you yet, and your opinions of +life are still to be formed. Let me give you a chance to see the +world from lofty, sunny elevations." + +"I am too recently from my geography not to remember that while +elevations may be sunny they are very cold," was the reply, with +a charming little shiver. "Mont Blanc has too much perspective." + +"Do not jest with me or misunderstand me, Miss Vosburgh," he said, +impressively. "There is a happy mean in all things." + +"Yes, Mr. Lanniere, and the girl who means to be happy should take +care to discover it." + +"May it not be discovered for her by one who is better acquainted +with life? In woman's experience is not happiness more often +thrust upon her than achieved? I, who know the world and the rich +pleasures and triumphs it affords to one who, in the military phrase +of the day, is well supported, can offer you a great deal,--more +than most men, I assure you." + +"Why, Mr. Lanniere," said the young girl, looking at him with +demure surprise, "I am perfectly contented and happy. No ambition +for triumphs is consuming me. What triumphs? As for pleasure, each +day brings all and more than I deserve. Young as one may be, one +can scarcely act without a motive." + +"Then I am personally nothing to you?" he said stiffly, and rising. + +"Pardon me, Mr. Lanniere. I hope my simple directness may not appear +childish, but it seems to me that I have met your suggestions with +natural answers; What should you be to me but an agreeable friend +of mamma's?" + +He understood her fence perfectly, and was aware that the absence +of a mercenary spirit on her part made his suit appear almost +ridiculous. If her clear young eyes would not see him through a +golden halo, but only as a man and a possible mate, what could he +be to her? Even gold-fed egotism could not blind him to the truth +that she was looking at HIM, and that the thought of bartering +herself for a little more of what she had to her heart's content +already was not even considered. There was distressing keenness in +the suggestion that, not wanting the extraneous things he offered, +no motive was left. He was scarcely capable of suspecting her +indignation that he should deem her capable of sacrificing her fair +young girlhood for greater wealth and luxury, even had she coveted +them,--an indignation enhanced by her new impulses. The triumphs, +happiness, and power which she now was bent on achieving could +never be won under the dense shade of his opulent selfishness. He +embodied all that was inimical to her hopes and plans, all that was +opposed to the motives and inspiration received from her father, +and she looked at him with unamiable eyes. + +While he saw this to some extent, he was unaccustomed to denial by +others or by himself. She was alluringly beautiful, as she stood +before him,--all the more valued because she valued herself so +highly, all the more coveted because superior to the sordid motives +upon which even he had counted as the chief allies in his suit. +In the intense longing of a self-indulgent nature he broke out, +seizing her hand as he spoke: "O Miss Marian, do not deny me. +I know I could make you happy. I would give you everything. Your +slightest wish should be law. I would be your slave." + +"I do not wish a slave," she replied, freezingly, withdrawing her +hand. "I am content, as I told you; but were I compelled to make +a choice it should be in favor of a man to whom I could look up, +and whom I could aid in manly work. I shall not make a choice until +compelled to by my heart." + +"If your heart is still your own, give me a chance to win it," +resumed the suitor, seeking vainly to take her hand again. "I am +in my prime, and can do more than most men. I will put my wealth +at your disposal, engage in noble charities, patriotic--" + +This interview had been so absorbing as to make them oblivious of +the fact that another visitor had been admitted to the hall. Hearing +voices in the drawing-room, Mr. Strahan entered, and now stood just +behind Mr. Lanniere, with an expression in which dismay, amusement, +and embarrassment were so comically blended that Marian, who first +saw him, had to cover her face with her handkerchief to hide her +sense of the ludicrous. + +"Pardon me," said the inopportune new-comer, "I--I--" + +"Maledictions on you!" exclaimed the goaded millionnaire, now +enraged beyond self-control, and confronting the young fellow with +glaring, bloodshot eyes. + +This greeting put Strahan entirely at his ease, and a glimpse of +Marian's mirth had its influence also. She had turned instantly +away, and gone to the farther side of the apartment. + +"Come now, Mr. Lanniere," he said, with an assumption of much +dignity; "there is scant courtesy in your greeting, and without +reason. I have the honor of Miss Vosburgh's acquaintance as truly +as yourself. This is her parlor, and she alone has the right to +indicate that I am unwelcome. I shall demand no apologies here and +now, but I shall demand them. I may appear very young--" + +"Yes, you do; very young. I should think that ears like yours might +have--" And then the older man paused, conscious that the violence +of his anger was carrying him too far. + +Strahan struck a nonchalant attitude, as he coolly remarked: "My +venerable friend, your passion is unbecoming to your years. Miss +Vosburgh, I humbly ask your pardon that my ears were not long enough +to catch the purport of this interview. I am not in the habit of +listening at a lady's door before I enter. My arrival at a moment +so awkward for me was my misfortune. I discovered nothing to your +discredit, Mr. Lanniere. Indeed, your appreciation of Miss Vosburgh +is the most creditable thing I know about you,--far more so than +your insults because I merely entered the door to which I was shown +by the maid who admitted me. Miss Vosburgh, with your permission +I will now depart, in the hope that you will forgive the annoyance--" + +"I cannot give you my permission under the circumstances, Mr. +Strahan. You have committed no offence against me, or Mr. Lanniere, +either, as he will admit after a little thought. Let us regard the +whole matter as one of those awkward little affairs over which good +breeding can speedily triumph. Sit down, and I will call mamma." + +"Pardon me, Miss Vosburgh," said Mr. Lanniere, in a choking voice, +for he could not fail to note the merriment which the mercurial +Strahan strove in vain to suppress; "I will leave you to more +congenial society. I have paid you the highest compliment in my +power, and have been ill-requited." + +As if stung, the young girl took a step towards him, and said, +indignantly: "What was the nature of your compliment? What have you +asked but that I should sell myself for money? I may have appeared +to you a mere society girl, but I was never capable of that. +Good-evening, sir." + +Mr. Lanniere departed with tingling ears, and a dawning consciousness +that he had over-rated his million, and that he had made a fool of +himself generally. + +All trace of mirth passed from Strahan's expression, as he looked +at the young girl's stern, flushed face and the angry sheen of her +eyes. + +"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "that's magnificent. I've seen a girl now +to whom I can take off my hat, not as a mere form. Half the girls +in our set would have given their eyes for the chance of capturing +such a man. Think what a vista of new bonnets he suggests!" + +"You are probably mistaken. One girl has proved how she regarded +the vista, and I don't believe you had any better opinion of me +than of the others. Come now, own up. Be honest. Didn't you regard +me as one of the girls 'in our set' as you phrase it, that would +jump at the chance?" + +"Oh, nonsense, Miss Marian. The idea--" + +She checked him by a gesture. "I wish downright sincerity, and I +shall detect the least false note in your words." + +Strahan looked into her resolute, earnest eyes a moment, and +then revealed a new trait. He discarded the slight affectation +that characterized his manner, stood erect, and returned her gaze +steadily. "You ask for downright sincerity?" he said. + +"Yes; I will take nothing less." + +"You have no right to ask it unless you will be equally sincere +with me." + +"Oh, indeed; you are in a mood for bargains, as well as Mr. +Lanniere." + +"Not at all. You have stepped out of the role of the mere society +girl. In that guise I shall be all deference and compliments. On +the basis of downright sincerity I have my rights, and you have +no right to compel me to give an honest opinion so personal in its +nature without giving one in return." + +"I agree," she said, after a moment's thought. + +"Well, then, while I was by no means sure, I thought it was possible, +even probable, that you would accept a man like Lanniere. I have +known society girls to do such things, haven't you?" + +"And I tell you, Mr. Strahan, that you misjudge a great many society +girls." + +"Oh, you must tell me a great deal more than that. Have I not just +discovered that I misjudged one? Now pitch into Arthur Strahan." + +"I am inclined to think that I have misjudged you, also; but +I will keep my compact, and give you the impression you made, and +you won't like it." + +"I don't expect to; but I shall expect downright sincerity." + +"Very well. I'll test you. You are not simple and manly, even in +your dress and manner; you are an anomaly in the country; you are +inclined to gossip; and it's my belief that a young man should do +more in life than amuse himself." + +Strahan flushed, but burst out laughing as he exclaimed, "My +photograph, by Jupiter!" + +"Photographs give mere surface. Come, what's beneath it?" + +"In one respect, at least, I think I am on a par with yourself. I +have enough honest good-nature to listen to the truth with thanks." + +"Is that all?" + +"Come, Miss Marian, what is the use of words when I have had such +an example of deeds? I have caught you, red-handed, in the act of +giving a millionnaire his conge. In the face of this stern fact +do you suppose I am going to try to fish up some germs of manhood +for your inspection? As you have suggested, I must do something, +or I'm out of the race with you. I honestly believe, though, I am +not such a fool as I have seemed. I shall always be something of +a rattle-brain, I suppose, and if I were dying I could not help +seeing the comical side of things." He hesitated a moment, and then +asked, abruptly, "Miss Marian, have you read to-day's paper?" + +"Yes, I have," with a tinge of sadness in her tone. + +"Well, so have I. Think of thousands of fine young fellows lying +stiff and stark in those accursed swamps!" + +"Yes," she cried, with a rush of tears, "I WILL think of them. +I will try to see them, horrible as the sight is, even in fancy. +When they died so heroically, shame on me if I turn away in weak, +dainty disgust! Oh, the burning shame that Northern girls don't +think more of such men and their self-sacrifice!" + +"You're a trump, Miss Marian; that's evident. Well, one little bit +of gossip about myself, and then I must go. I have another engagement +this evening. Old Lanniere was right. I'm young, and I've been +very young. Of late I've made deliberate effort to remain a fool; +but a man has got to be a fool or a coward down to the very hard-pan +of his soul if the logic of recent events has no effect on him. I +don't think I am exactly a coward, but the restraint of army-life, +and especially roughing it, is very distasteful. I kept thinking +it would all soon be over, that more men were in now than were +needed, and that it was a confounded disagreeable business, and +all that. But my mind wasn't at rest; I wasn't satisfied with the +ambitions of my callow youth; and, as usual when one is in trouble +and in doubt about a step, I exaggerated my old folly to disguise +my feelings. But this Richmond campaign, and the way Stonewall +Jackson has been whacking our fellows in the Shenandoah, made me +feel that I was standing back too long, and the battle described +in to-day's paper brought me to a decision. I'm in for it, Miss +Marian. You may think I'm not worth the powder required to blow me +up, but I'm going to Virginia as soon as I can learn enough not to +be more dangerous to those around me than to the enemy." + +She darted to his side, and took his hand, exclaiming, "Mr. Strahan! +forgive me; I've done you a hundred-fold more injustice than you +have me!" + +He was visibly embarrassed, a thing unusual with him, and he +said, brusquely: "Oh, come now, don't let us have any pro patria +exaltation. I don't resemble a hero any more than I do a doctor of +divinity. I'm just like lots of other young fellows who have gone, +only I have been slower in going, and my ardor won't set the river +on fire. But the times are waking up all who have any wake-up in +them, and the exhibition of the latest English cut in coats and +trousers is taking on a rather inglorious aspect. How ridiculous +it all seems in the light of the last battle! Jove! but I HAVE been +young!" + +He did look young indeed, with his blond mustache and flushed face, +that was almost as fair as a girl's. She regarded him wonderingly, +thinking how strangely events were applying the touchstone to one +and another. But the purpose of this boyish-appearing exquisite +was the most unexpected thing in the era of change that had begun. +She could scarcely believe it, and exclaimed, "You face a cannon?" + +"I don't look like it, do I? I fancy I would. I should be too +big a coward to run away, for then I should have to come back to +face you, which would be worse, you know. I'm not going to do any +bragging, however. Deeds, deeds. Not till I have laid out a Johnny, +or he has laid me out, can I take rank with you after your rout of +the man of millions. I don't ask you to believe in me yet." + +"Well, I do believe in you. You are making an odd yet vivid +impression on me. I believe you will face danger just as you did +Mr. Lanniere, in a half-nonchalant and a half-satirical mood, while +all the time there will be an undercurrent of downright earnestness +and heroism in you, which you will hide as if you were ashamed of +it." + +He flushed with pleasure, but only laughed, "We'll see." Then after +a moment he added, "Since we are down to the bed-rock in our talk +I'll say out the rest of my say, then follow Lanniere, and give +him something more to digest before he sleeps." + +"Halt, sir--military jargon already--how can you continue your +quarrel with Mr. Lanniere without involving my name?" + +Strahan looked blank for a second, then exclaimed: "Another evidence, +of extreme youth! Lanniere may go to thunder before I risk annoying +you." + +"Yes, thank you; please let him go to thunder. He won't talk of +the affair, and so can do you no harm." + +"Supposing he could, that would be no excuse for annoying you." + +"I think you punished him sufficiently before he went, and without +ceasing to be a gentleman, too. If you carry out your brave purpose +you need not fear for your reputation." + +"Well, Miss Marian, I shall carry it out. Society girl as I believed +you to be, I like you better than the others. Don't imagine I'm +going to be sentimental. I should stand as good a chance of winning +a major-general's stars as you. I've seen better fellows raising +the siege and disappearing, you know. Well, the story I thought +would be short is becoming long. I wanted to tell you first what +I proposed; for, hang it all! I've read it in your eyes that you +thought I was little better than a popinjay, and I wished to prove +to you that I could be a man after my fashion." + +"I like your fashion, and am grateful for your confidence. What's +more, you won't be able to deceive me a bit hereafter. I shall +persist in admiring you as a brave man, and shall stand up for you +through thick and thin." + +"You always had a kind of loyalty to us fellows that we recognized +and appreciated." + +"I feel now as if I had not been very loyal to any one, not even +myself. As with you, however, I must let the future tell a different +story." + +"If I make good my words, will you be my friend?" + +"Yes, yes indeed, and a proud one. But oh!"--she clasped her hand +over her eyes,--"what is all this tending to? When I think of the +danger and suffering to which you may--" + +"Oh, come now," he interrupted, laughing, but with a little +suspicious moisture in eyes as blue as her own; "it will be harder +for you to stay and think of absent friends than for them to go. +I foresee how it will turn out. You will be imagining high tragedy +on stormy nights when we shall be having a jolly game of poker. +Good-night. I shall be absent for a time,--going to West Point to +be coached a little by my friend Captain Varrum." + +He drew himself up, saluted her a la militaire, right-about-faced +with the stiffness of a ramrod, and was departing, when a light +hand touched his arm, and Marian said, with a look so kind and +sympathetic that his eyes fell before it: "Report to me occasionally, +Captain Strahan. There are my colors;" and she gave him a white +rose from her belt. + +His mouth quivered slightly, but with a rather faltering laugh +he replied, as he put the rose to his lips, "Never let the color +suggest that I will show the white feather;" and then he began his +military career with a precipitate retreat. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CHARMED BY A CRITIC. + + + + + +"WHAT next?" was Marian's wondering query after Mr. Strahan's +departure. The change of motive which already had had no slight +influence on her own action and feeling had apparently ushered in +a new era in her experience; but the sense of novelty in personal +affairs was quite lost as she contemplated the transformation in +the mercurial Strahan, who had apparently been an irredeemable fop. +That the fastidious exquisite should tramp through Virginia mud, +and face a battery of hostile cannon, appeared to her the most +marvellous of human paradoxes. An hour before she would have declared +the idea preposterous. Now she was certain he would do all that he +had said, and would do it in the manner satirical and deprecatory +towards himself which she had suggested. + +Radical as the change seemed, she saw that it was a natural one +as he had explained it. If there was any manhood in him the times +would evoke it. After all, his chief faults had been youth and +a nature keenly sensitive to certain social influences. Belonging +to a wealthy and fashionable clique in the city, he had early been +impressed by the estimated importance of dress and gossip. To excel +in these, therefore, was to become pre-eminent. As time passed, +however, the truth, never learned by some, that his clique was not +the world, began to dawn on him. He was foolish, but not a fool; +and when he saw young fellows no older than himself going to the +front, when he read of their achievements and sufferings, he drew +comparisons. The result was that he became more and more dissatisfied. +He felt that he was anomalous, in respect not only to the rural +scenery of his summer home, but to the times, and the conviction +was growing that the only way to right himself was to follow the +host of American youth who had gone southward. It was a conviction to +which he could not readily yield, and which he sought to disguise +by exaggerating his well-known characteristics. People of his +temperament often shrink from revealing their deeper feelings, +believing that these would seem to others so incongruous as to call +forth incredulous smiles. Strahan was not a coward, except in the +presence of ridicule. This had more terrors for him than all the +guns of the Confederacy; and he knew that every one, from his own +family down, would laugh at the thought of his going to the war. +In a way that puzzled him a little he felt that he would not care +so much if Marian Vosburgh did not laugh. The battle of which he +had read to-day had at last decided him; he must go; but if Marian +would give him credit for a brave, manly impulse, and not think of +him as a ludicrous spectacle when he donned the uniform, he would +march away with a light heart. He did not analyze her influence +over him, but only knew that she had a peculiar fascination which +it was not in his impressionable nature to resist. + +Thus it may be seen that he only gave an example of the truth that +great apparent changes are the result of causes that have long been +secretly active. + +Marian, like many others, did not sufficiently take this fact into +account, and was on the qui vive for other remarkable manifestations. +They did not occur. As her father had predicted, life, in its +outward conditions, resumed its normal aspects. Her mother laughed +a little, sighed a little, when she heard the story of Mr. Lanniere's +final exit; the coquettish kitchen-maid continued her career with +undisturbed complacency; and Marian to her own surprise found that, +after the first days of her enthusiasm had passed, it required the +exertion of no little will-power to refrain from her old motives +and tactics. But she was loyal to herself and to her implied promise +to her father. She knew that he was watching her,--that he had set +his heart on the development, in a natural way, of her best traits. +She also knew that if she faltered she must face his disappointment +and her own contempt. + +She had a horror, however, of putting on what she called "goody-goody +airs," and under the influence of this feeling acted much like +her old self. Not one of her callers could have charged her with +manifesting a certain kind of misleading favor, but her little salon +appeared as free from restraint as ever, and her manner as genial +and lively. It began to be observed by some, however, that while +she participated unhesitatingly in the light talk of others, she +herself would occasionally broach topics of more weight, especially +such as related to the progress of the war; and more than once she +gave such direction to her conversation with the artist as made +his eyes kindle. + +Her father was satisfied. He usually came home late on Saturday, +and some of her gentleman friends who were in the habit of dropping +in of a Sunday evening, were soon taught that these hours were +engaged. + +"You need not excuse yourself on my account," her father had said +to her. + +"But I shall," was her prompt response. "After all you have done +and are doing for me, it's a pity if I can't give you one evening +in the week. You are looking after other people in New York; +I'm going to look after you; and you shall find that I am a sharp +inquisitor. You must reveal enough of the secrets of that mysterious +office of yours to satisfy me that you are not in danger." + +He soon began to look forward with glad anticipation to his ramble +by her side in the summer twilight. He saw that what he had done +and what he had thought during the week interested her deeply, and +to a girl of her intelligence he had plenty to tell that was far +from commonplace. She saw the great drama of her country's history +unfolding, and not only witnessed the events that were presented +to the world, but was taken behind the scenes and shown many of +the strange and secret causes that were producing them. Moreover +expectation of something larger and greater was constantly raised. +After their walk they would return to the house, and she would sing +or read to him until she saw his eyes heavy with the sleep that +steals gradually and refreshingly into a weary man's brain. + +Mrs. Vosburgh observed this new companionship with but little surprise +and no jealousy. "It was time," she said, "that Marian should begin +to do something for her father, and not leave everything to me." + +One thing puzzled Marian: weeks were passing and she neither saw +nor heard anything of Lane or Strahan. This fact, in view of what +had been said at parting, troubled her. She was not on calling +terms with the latter's family, and therefore was unable to learn +anything from them. Even his male friends in the neighborhood did +not know where he was or what he was doing. Her father had taken +the pains to inform himself that Lane was apparently at work in +his law-office as usual. These two incipient subjects of the power +she hoped to wield seemed to have dropped her utterly, and she was +discouraged. + +On the last day of June she was taking a ramble in a somewhat +wild and secluded place not far from her home, and thinking rather +disconsolately that her father had overrated her influence,--that +after all she was but a pretty and ordinary girl, like millions +of others,--a fact that Lane and Strahan had at last discovered. +Suddenly she came upon the artist, sketching at a short distance +from her. As she turned to retreat a twig snapped under her foot, +revealing her presence. He immediately arose and exclaimed, "Miss +Vosburgh, is it I that you fear, or a glimpse of my picture?" + +"Neither, of course. I feared I might dispel an inspired mood. +Why should I intrude, when you have nature before you and the muse +looking over your shoulder?" + +"Over my left shoulder, then, with a mocking smile. You are +mistaken if you fancy you can harm any of my moods. Won't you stay +and criticise my picture for me?" + +"Why, Mr. Blauvelt, I'm not an art critic." + +"Yes, you are,--one of the class I paint for. Our best critics are +our patrons, cultivated people." + +"I should never think of patronizing you." + +"Perhaps you might entertain the thought of encouraging me a little, +if you felt that I was worth it." + +"Now, Mr. Blauvelt, notwithstanding the rural surroundings, you +must remember that I was bred in the city. I know the sovereign +contempt that you artists have for the opinions of the people. When +it comes to art, I'm only people." + +"No such generalization will answer in your case. You have as +distinct an individuality as any flower blooming on this hillside." + +"There are flowers and flowers. Some are quite common." + +"None are commonplace to me, for there is a genuine bit of nature +in every one. Still you are right: I was conscious of the fragrance +from this eglantine-bush here, until you came." + +"Oh, then let me go at once." + +"I beg that you will not. You are the eglantine in human form, and +often quite as briery." + +"Then you should prefer the bush there, which gives you its beauty +and fragrance without a scratch. But truly your comparison is too +far-fetched, even for an artist or a poet, for I suppose they are +near of kin. To sensible, matter-of-fact girls, nothing is more +absurd than your idealization of us. See how quickly and honestly +I can disenchant you. In the presence of both nature and art I +am conscious that it is nearly lunch-time. You are far from your +boarding-place, so come and take your luck with us. Mamma will be +glad to see you, and after lunch I may be a more amiable critic." + +"As a critic, I do not wish you to be amiable, but honest severity +itself. That you stumbled upon me accidentally in your present +mood is my good fortune. Tell me the faults in my picture in the +plainest English, and I will gratefully accept your invitation; for +the hospitality at your cottage is so genial that bread and cheese +would be a banquet. I have a strong fancy for seeing my work through +your eyes, and so much faith in you that I know you will tell me +what you think, since I ask you to do so." + +"Why have you faith in me?" she asked, with a quick, searching +glance. + +"I belong somewhat to the impressionist school, and my impression +of you leads to my words." + +"If you compel me to be honest, I must say I'm not capable of +criticising your picture. I know little of art, and nothing of its +TECHNIQUE." + +"Eyes like yours should be able to see a great deal, and, as I said, +I am possessed by the wish to know just what they do see. There is +the scene I was sketching, and here the canvas. Please, Miss Marian." + +"It will be your own fault, now, if you don't like what I say," +laughed the young girl, with ready tact, for a quick glance or two +had already satisfied her that the picture was not to her taste. +"My only remark is this, Mr. Blauvelt,--Nature does not make the +same impression on me that it does on you. There is the scene, as +you say. How can I make you understand what I feel? Nature always +looks so natural to me! It awakens within me various emotions, but +never surprise,--I mean that kind of surprise one has when seeing +a lady dressed in colors that do not harmonize. To my eye, even in +gaudy October, Nature appears to blend her effects so that there +is nothing startling or incongruous." + +"Is there anything startling and incongruous in my picture?" + +"I have not said that. You see you have brought me into perplexity, you +have taken me beyond my depth, by insisting on having my opinion. +I have read a good many art criticisms first and last. Art is gabbled +about a good deal in society, you know, and we have to keep a set +of phrases on hand, whether we understand them or not. But since +you believe in impressions, and will have mine, it is this as nearly +as I can express it. You are under the influence of a school or +a fashion in art, and perhaps unconsciously you are controlled by +this when looking at the scene there. It seems to me that if I were +an artist I should try to get on my canvas the same effects that +nature produces, and I would do it after my own fashion and not +after some received method just then prevailing. Let me illustrate +what I mean by a phase of life that I know more about. There are +some girls in society whose ambition it is to dress in the latest +style. They are so devoted to fashion that they appear to forget +themselves, and are happy if their costume reflects the mode of the +hour, even though it makes them look hideous. My aim would be to +suggest the style rather unobtrusively, and clothe myself becomingly. +I'm too egotistical to be ultra-fashionable. Since I, who am in +love chiefly with myself, can so modify style, much more should +you, who are devoted to nature, make fashion in art subservient to +nature." + +"You are right. I have worked too much in studios and not enough +out of doors. Ever since I have been sketching this summer, I have +had a growing dissatisfaction, and a sense of being trammelled. I +do believe, as you say, that a certain received method or fashion +of treatment has been uppermost in my mind, and I have been trying +to torture--nature into conformity. I'll paint this thing all out +and begin again." + +"No, don't do that. Are not pictures like people a little? If +I wanted to improve in some things, it wouldn't do for me to be +painted all out. Cannot changes for the better come by softening +features here and bringing out others there, by colorings a little +more like those before us, and--pardon me--by not leaving so much +to the imagination? You artists can see more between the lines than +we people can." + +"Let me try;" and with eager eyes he sat down before his easel +again. "Now see if I succeed a little," he added, after a moment. + +His whole nature appeared kindled and animated by hope. He worked +rapidly and boldly. His drawing had been good before, and, as time +passed, nature's sweet, true face began to smile upon him from +his canvas. Marian grew almost as absorbed as himself, learning by +actual vision how quick, light strokes can reproduce and preserve +on a few square inches the transitory beauty of the hour and the +season. + +At times she would stimulate his effort by half-spoken sentences +of satisfaction, and at last he turned and looked up suddenly at +her flushed, interested face. + +"You are the muse," he exclaimed, impetuously, "who, by looking +over my shoulder, can make an artist of me." + +She instinctively stepped farther away, saying, decisively, "Be +careful then to regard me as a muse." + +She had replied to his ardent glance and tone, even more than to +his words. There was not a trace of sentiment in her clear, direct +gaze. The quiet dignity and reserve of her manner sobered him +instantly. Her presence, her words, the unexpected success in the +new departure which she had suggested, had excited him deeply; yet +a moment's thought made it clear that there had been nothing on +her part to warrant the hope of more than friendly interest. This +interest might easily be lost by a few rash words, while there +was slight reason that he should ever hope for anything more. Then +also came the consciousness of his straitened circumstances and the +absurdity of incurring obligations which he might never be able to +meet. He had assured himself a thousand times that art should be +his mistress, yet here he was on the eve of acting like a fool by +making love to one who never disguised her expensive tastes. He was +not an artist of the olden school,--all romance and passion,--and +the modishly dressed, reserved maiden before him did not, in the +remotest degree, suggest a languishing heroine in days of yore, +certain to love against sense and reason. The wild, sylvan shade, +the June atmosphere, the fragrance of the eglantine, even the +presence of art, in whose potent traditions mood is the highest law, +could not dispel the nineteenth century or make this independent, +clear-headed American girl forget for a moment what was sensible +and right. She stood there alone under the shadow of the chestnuts, +and by a glance defined her rights, her position towards her companion, +and made him respect them. Nor was he headlong, passionate, absurd. +He was a part of his age, and was familiar with New York society. +The primal instincts of his nature had obtained ascendency for +a mordent. Ardent words to the beautiful girl who looked over +his shoulder and inspired his touch seemed as natural as breath. +She had made herself for the moment a part of his enthusiasm. But +what could be the sequel of ardent words, even if successful, but +prosaic explanations and the facing of the inexorable problem of +supporting two on an income that scarcely sufficed for the Bohemian +life of one? + +He had sufficient self-control, and was mentally agile enough to +come down upon his feet. Rising, he said, quietly: "If you will be +my muse, as far as many other claims upon your time and thoughts +permit, I shall be very grateful. I have observed that you have +a good eye for harmony in color, and, what is best of all, I have +induced you to be very frank. See how much you have helped me. In +brief--Bless me! how long have you been here?" + +He pulled out his watch in comic dismay, and held it towards her. +"No lunch for us to-day," he concluded, ruefully. + +"Well," exclaimed Marian, laughing, "this is the first symptom +I have ever had of being an artist. It was quite natural that you +should forget the needs of sublunary mortals, but that I should do +so must prove the existence of an undeveloped trait. I could become +quite absorbed in art if I could look on and see its wonders like +a child. You must come home with me and take your chance. If lunch +is over, we'll forage." + +He laughingly shouldered his apparatus, and walked by her side +through the June sunshine and shade, she in the main keeping up +the conversation. At last he said, rather abruptly: "Miss Vosburgh, +you do not look on like a child,--rather, with more intelligence +than very many society girls possess; and--will you forgive me?--you +defend yourself like a genuine American woman. I have lived abroad, +you know, and have learned how to value such women. I wish you to +know how much I respect you, how truly I appreciate you, and how +grateful and honored I shall feel if you will be simply a frank, +kind friend. You made use of the expression 'How shall I make +you understand?' So I now use it, and suggest what I mean by a +question,--Is there not something in a man's nature which enables +him to do better if some woman, in whom he believes, shows that +she cares?" + +"I should be glad if this were true of some men," she said, gently, +"because I do care. I'll be frank, too. Nothing would give me a +more delicious sense of power than to feel that in ways I scarcely +understood I was inciting my friends to make more of themselves +than they would if they did not know me. If I cannot do a little +of what you suggest, of what account am I to my friends?" + +"Your friends can serve a useful purpose by amusing you." + +"Then the reverse is true, and I am merely amusing to my friends. +Is that the gist of your fine words, after all?" and her face +flushed as she asked the question. + +"No, it is not true, Miss Vosburgh. You have the power of entertaining +your friends abundantly, but you could make me a better artist, +and that with me would mean a better man, if you took a genuine +interest in my efforts." + +"I shall test the truth of your words," was her smiling response. +"Meanwhile you can teach me to understand art better, so that I +shall know what I am talking about." Then she changed the subject. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A GIRL'S LIGHT HAND. + + + + + +ON the evening of the 3d of July Marian drove down in her phaeton +to the station for her father, and was not a little surprised to +see him advancing towards her with Mr. Lane. The young man shook +hands with her cordially, yet quietly, and there was something in +his expression that assured her of the groundlessness of all the +fears she had entertained. + +"I have asked Mr. Lane to dine with us," said her father. "He will +walk over from the hotel in the course of half an hour." + +While the gentlemen had greeted her smilingly, there had been an +expression on their faces which suggested that their minds were +not engrossed by anticipation of a holiday outing. Marian knew well +what it meant. The papers had brought to every home in the land the +tidings of the awful seven days' fighting before Richmond. So far +from taking the city, McClellan had barely saved his army. Thousands +of men were dead in the swamps of the Chickahominy; thousands were +dying in the sultry heat of the South and on the malarial banks of +the James. + +Mr. Vosburgh's face was sad and stern in its expression, and when +Marian asked, "Papa, is it so bad as the papers say?" he replied: +"God only knows how bad it is. For a large part of our army it is +as bad as it can be. The most terrible feature of it all to me is +that thick-headed, blundering men are holding in their irresolute +hands the destinies of just such brave young fellows as Mr. Lane +here. It is not so dreadful for a man to die if his death furthers +a cause which he believes to be sacred, but to die from the sheer +stupidity and weakness of his leaders is a bitter thing. Instead of +brave action, there is fatal blundering all along the line. For a +long time the President, sincere and true-hearted as he is, could +not learn that he is not a military man, and he has permitted a +large part of our armies to be scattered all over Virginia. They +have accomplished next to nothing. McClellan long since proved that +he would not advance without men enough to walk over everything. +He is as heavy as one of his own siege guns. He may be sure, if he +has all he wants, but is mortally slow, and hadn't brains enough +to realize that the Chickahominy swamps thinned his army faster +than brave fighting. He should have been given the idle, useless +men under McDowell and others, and then ordered to take Richmond. +If he wouldn't move, then they should have put a man in his place +who would, and not one who would sit down and dig. At last he has +received an impetus from Richmond, instead of Washington, and he +has moved at a lively pace, but to the rear. His men were as brave +as men could be; and if the courage shown on the retreat, or change +of base, as some call it, had been manifested in an advance, weeks +ago, Richmond would have been ours. The 'change of base' has carried +us well away from the point attacked, brave men have suffered and +died in vain, and the future is so clouded that only one thing is +certain." + +"What is that, papa?" was the anxious query. + +"We must never give up. We must realize that we are confronting +some of the best soldiers and generals the world has known. The +North is only half awake to its danger and the magnitude of its task. +We have sent out comparatively few of our men to do a disagreeable +duty for us, while we take life comfortably and luxuriously as +before. The truth will come home to us soon, that we are engaged +in a life-and-death struggle." + +"Papa, these events will bring no changes to you? In your work, I +mean?" + +"Not at present. I truly believe, Marian, that I can serve my country +more effectively in the performance of the duties with which I am +now charged. But who can tell what a day will bring forth? Lane is +going to the front. He will tell you all about it. He is a manly +fellow, and no doubt will explain why you have not heard from him." + +"Real life has come in very truth," thought Marian, as she went to +her room to prepare for dinner; "but on every side it also brings +the thought of death." + +Her face was pale, and clouded with apprehension, when she joined +the gentlemen; but Lane was so genial and entertaining at dinner +as to make it difficult for her to believe that he had resolved on +a step so fraught with risk. When at last they were alone in the +drawing-room she said, "Is it true that you intend to enter the +army?" + +"Yes, and it is time that it was true," was his smiling reply. + +"I don't feel like laughing, Mr. Lane. Going to Virginia does not +strike me as a pleasure excursion. I have thought a great deal +since I saw you last. You certainly have kept your promise to be +a distant and absent friend." + +He looked at her eagerly, as he said, "You have thought a great +deal--have you thought about me?" + +"Certainly," she replied, with a slight flush; "I meant all that +I said that evening." + +That little emphasized word dispelled the hope that had for a moment +asserted itself. Time and a better acquaintance with her own heart +had not brought any change of feeling to her, and after a moment +he said, quietly: "I think I can prove that I have been a sincere +and loyal friend as well as an absent one. Having never felt--well, +you cannot know--it takes a little time for a fellow to--pardon +me; let all that go. I have tried to gain self-control, and I have +obeyed your request, to do nothing rash, literally. I remained +steadily at work in my office a certain number of hours every +day. If the general hope that Richmond would be taken, and the war +practically ended, had proved well founded, for the sake of others +I should have resisted my inclination to take part in the struggle. +I soon concluded, however, that it would be just as well to prepare +for what has taken place, and so gave part of my afternoons and +evenings to a little useful training. I am naturally very fond +of a horse, and resolved that if I went at all it should be as a +cavalry-man, so I have been giving not a little of my time to horseback +exercise, sabre, pistol, and carbine practice, and shall not be +quite so awkward as some of the other raw recruits. I construed +McClellan's retreat into an order for me to advance, and have come +to you as soon as I could to report progress." + +"Why could you not have come before?--why could you not have told +me?" she asked, a little reproachfully. + +"Some day perhaps you will know," he replied, turning away for a +moment. + +"I feared that maturer thought had convinced you that I could not +be much of a friend,--that I was only a gay young girl who wouldn't +appreciate an earnest man's purposes." + +"Miss Marian, you wrong me in thinking that I could so wrong you. +Never for a moment have I entertained such a thought. I can't explain +to you all my experience. I wished to be more sure of myself, to +have something definite to tell you, that would prove me more worthy +of your friendship." + +"My faith in you has never faltered a moment, Mr. Lane. While your +words make me proud indeed, they also make me very sad. I don't +wonder that you feel as you do about going, and were I a man +I should probably take the same course. But I am learning at last +what this war means. I can't with a light heart see my friends go." + +"Let it be with a brave heart, then. There are tears in your eyes, +Miss Marian." + +"Why should there not be? O Mr. Lane, I am not coldhearted and +callous. I am not so silly and shallow as I seemed." + +"I never thought you so--" + +By a gesture she stopped him, as she continued: "I recognized the +expression on papa's face and yours the moment I saw you, and I +know what it means." + +"Yes, Miss Marian; and I recognize the expression on your face. +Were you a man you would have gone before this." + +"I think it would be easier to go than to stay and think of all +one's friends must face." + +"Of course it would be for one like you. You must not look on the +dark side, however. You will scarcely find a jollier set of men +than our soldiers." + +"I fear too many are reckless. This you have promised me not to +be." + +"I shall keep my promise; but a soldier must obey orders, you know. +O Miss Marian, it makes such a difference with me to know that you +care so much! Knowing you as I do now, it would seem like black +treason to do or be anything unmanly." + +Callers were now announced, and before an hour had passed there +were half a dozen or more young men in the drawing-room. Some were +staying at the hotel, but the majority were from the villas in the +neighborhood, the holiday season permitting the return of those +in business. However dark and crimson might be the tide of thought +that flowed through the minds of those present, in memory of what +had occurred during the last few days, the light of mirth played +on the surface. The times afforded themes for jest, rather than +doleful predictions. Indeed, in accordance with a principle in human +nature, there was a tendency to disguise feelings and anxiety by +words so light as to border on recklessness. Questions as to future +action were coming home to all the young men, but not for the world +would they permit one another, or especially a spirited young girl, +to suspect that they were awed, or made more serious even, by the +thought that the battle was drawing nearer to them. Lane was a +leader in the gayety. His presence was regarded by some with both +surprise and surmise. It had been thought that he had disappeared +finally below Miss Vosburgh's horizon, but his animated face and +manner gave no indication of a rejected and despondent suitor. + +The mirth was at its height when Strahan entered, dressed plainly +in the uniform of a second lieutenant. He was greeted with a shout +of laughter by the young men, who knew him well, and by a cordial +pressure from Marian's hand. This made the gauntlet which he knew +he must run of little consequence to him. All except Lane drew up +and gave him a military salute. + + +"Pretty fair for the awkward squad," he remarked, coolly. + +"Come, report, report," cried several voices; "where have you been?" + +"In Virginia." + +"Why, of course, fellows, he's been arranging the change of base +with McClellan, only the army went south and he came north." + +"I've been farther south than any of you." + +"See here, Strahan, this uniform is rather new for a veteran's." + +"Yes; never dealt in old clothes." + +"Where's your command?" + +"Here, if you'll all enlist. I think I could make soldiers of some +of you." + +"Why, fellows, what a chance for us! If Strahan can't teach us the +etiquette of war, who can?" + +"Yes, gentlemen; and I will give you the first rule in advance. +Always face the music." + +"Dance music, you mean. Strahan has been at West Point and knows +that a fellow in civilian togs stands no chance. How he eclipses +us all to-night with the insignia of rank on his shoulders! Where +will you make headquarters?" + +"At home, for the present." + +"That's right. We knew you would hit upon the true theory +of campaigning. Never was there a better strategic point for your +operations, Strahan, than the banks of the Hudson." + +"I shall try to prove you right. A recruiting sergeant will join +me in a day or two, and then I can accommodate you all with muskets." + +"All? Not Miss Marian?" + +"Those possessing her rank and influence do not carry muskets." + +"Come, fellows, let us celebrate the 4th by enlisting under Strahan," +cried the chief spokesman, who was not a very friendly neighbor of +the young officer. "It won't be long before we shall know all the +gossip of the Confederacy." + +"You will certainly have to approach near enough to receive some +very direct news." + +"Gentlemen," cried Marian, "a truce! Mr. Strahan has proved that +he can face a hot fire, and send back good shots, even when greatly +outnumbered. I have such faith in him that I have already given him +my colors. You may take my word for it that he will render a good +account of himself. I am now eager to hear of his adventures." + +"I haven't had any, Miss Marian. What I said about Virginia was +mere bluff,--merely made an excursion or two on the Virginia side +of the Potomac, out of curiosity." + +"But what does this uniform mean?" + +"Merely what it suggests. I went to Washington, which is a great +camp, you know. Through relatives I had some influence there, and +at last obtained a commission at the bottom of the ladder in a new +regiment that is to be recruited. Meanwhile I was put through the +manual of arms, with a lot of other awkward fellows, by a drill +officer. I kept shady and told my people to be mum until something +came out of it all. Come, fellows, thirteen dollars a month, hard +tack, and glory! Don't all speak at once!" + +"I'm with you as far as going is concerned," said Lane, shaking +Strahan's hand warmly, "only I've decided on the cavalry." + +"Were I a man, you should have one recruit for your regiment to-night," +said Marian. "You have gone to work in a way that inspires confidence." + +"I foresee, fellows, that we shall all have to go, or else Miss +Marian will cross us out of her books," remarked one of the young +men. + +"No, indeed," she replied. "I would not dare urge any one to go. +But those who, like Mr. Lane and Mr. Strahan, decide the question +for themselves, cannot fail to carry my admiration with them." + +"That's the loudest bugle call I expect to hear," remarked Mr. +Blauvelt, who entered at that moment. + +"Here's the place to open your recruiting-office," added another, +laughing. "If Miss Marian would be free with her colors, she could +raise a brigade." + +"I can assure you beforehand that I shall not be free with them; +much less will I hold them out as an inducement. Slight as may be +their value, they must be earned." + +"What chivalrous deed has Strahan performed?" was asked, in chorus. + +"One that I appreciate, and I don't give my faith lightly," + +"Mr. Strahan, I congratulate you," said Lane, with a swift and +somewhat reproachful glance at Marian; "you have already achieved +your best laurels." + +"I've received them, but not earned them yet. Miss Marian gives a +fellow a good send-off, however, and time will tell the story with +us all. I must now bid you good-evening," he said to the young +girl. "I merely stopped for a few moments on my way from the train." + +She followed him to the door, and said, sotto voce: "You held your +own splendidly. Your first report is more than satisfactory;" and +he departed happier than any major-general in the service. + +When the rest had gone, Lane, who had persistently lingered, began: +"No doubt it will appear absurd to you that a friend should be +jealous. But Strahan seems to have won the chief honors." + +"Perhaps he has deserved them, Mr. Lane. I know what your opinion +of him was, and I think you guessed mine. He has won the chief battle +of life,--victory over himself. Ever since I have known you, you +have inspired my respect as a strong, resolute man. In resolving +upon what you would do instinctively Mr. Strahan has had such a +struggle that he has touched my sympathies. One cannot help feeling +differently toward different friends, you know. Were I in trouble, +I should feel that I could lean upon you. To encourage and sustain +would always be my first impulse with Mr. Strahan. Are you content?" + +"I should try to be, had I your colors also." + +"Oh, I only gave him a rose. Do you want one?" + +"Certainly." + +"Well, now you are even," she said, laughing, and handing him one +of those she wore. + +He looked at it thoughtfully for a moment, and then said, quietly: +"Some would despise this kind of thing as the merest sentiment. +With others it would influence the sternest action and the supreme +moments of life." + + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +WILLARD MERWYN. + + + + + +DURING her drives Marian had often passed the entrance to one of +the finest old places in the vicinity, and, although aware that the +family was absent in Europe, she had observed that the fact made +no difference in the scrupulous care of that portion of the grounds +which was visible. The vista from the road, however, was soon lost +among the boles and branches of immense overshadowing oaks. Even to +the passer-by an impression of seclusion and exclusion was given, +and Marian at last noted that no reference was made to the family +in the social exchanges of her little drawing-room. The dwelling +to which the rather stiff and stately entrance led was not visible +from the car-windows as she passed to and from the city, so abrupt +was the intervening bluff, but upon one occasion from the deck of +a steamboat she had caught glimpses through the trees of a large +and substantial brick edifice. + +Before Strahan had disappeared for a time, as we have related, her +slight curiosity had so far asserted itself that she had asked for +information concerning the people who left their beautiful home +untenanted in June. + +"I fancy I can tell you more about them than most people in this +vicinity, but that is not so very much. The place adjoins ours, +and as a boy I fished and hunted with Willard Merwyn a good deal. +Mrs. Merwyn is a widow and a Southern-bred woman. A Northern man +of large wealth married her, and then she took her revenge on the +rest of the North by having as little to do with it as possible. +She was said to own a large property in the South,--plantation, +negroes, and all that. The place on the Hudson belonged to the +Merwyn side of the house, and the family have only spent a few +summers here and have been exclusive and unpopular. My mother made +their acquaintance abroad, and they knew it would be absurd to put +on airs with us; so the ladies of the two families have exchanged +more or less formal visits, but in the main they have little to do +with the society of this region. As boys Willard and myself did not +care a fig for these things, and became very good friends. I have +not seen him for several years; they have all been abroad; and I +hear that he has become an awful swell." + +"Why then, if he ever returns, you and he will be good friends +again," Marian had laughingly replied and had at once dismissed +the exclusive Merwyns from her mind. + +On the morning of the 4th of July Strahan had come over to have a +quiet talk with Marian, and had found Mr. Lane there before him. +By feminine tactics peculiarly her own, Marian had given them to +understand that both were on much the same footing, and that their +united presence did not form "a crowd;" and the young men, having +a common ground of purpose and motive, were soon at ease together, +and talked over personal and military matters with entire freedom, +amusing the young girl with accounts of their awkwardness in drill +and of the scenes they had witnessed. She was proud indeed of her +two knights, as she mentally characterized them,--so different, +yet both now inspiring a genuine liking and respect. She saw that +her honest goodwill and admiration were evoking their best manhood +and giving them as much happiness as she would ever have the power +to bestow, and she felt that her scheme of life was not a false +one. They understood her fully, and knew that the time had passed +forever when she would amuse herself at their expense. She had +become an inspiration of manly endeavor, and had ceased to be the +object of a lover's pursuit. If half-recognized hopes lurked in +their hearts, the fulfilment of these must be left to time. + +"By the way," remarked Strahan, as he was taking his leave, "I hear +that these long-absent Merwyns have deigned to return to their native +land,--for their own rather than their country's good though, I +fancy. I suppose Mrs. Merwyn feels that it is time she looked after +her property and maintained at least the semblance of loyalty. I +also hear that they have been hob-nobbing with the English aristocracy, +who look upon us Yankees as a 'blasted lot of cads, you know.' +Shall I bring young Merwyn over to see you after he arrives?" + +"As you please," she replied, with an indifferent shrug. + +Strahan had a half-formed scheme in his mind, but when he called +upon young Merwyn he was at first inclined to hesitate. Great as +was his confidence in Marian, he had some vaguely jealous fears, +more for the young girl than for himself, in subjecting her to the +influence of the man that his boyhood's friend had become. + +Willard Merwyn was a "swell" in Strahan's vernacular, but even in +the early part of their interview he gave the impression of being +something more, or rather such a superior type of the "swell" genus, +that Marian's friend was conscious of a fear that the young girl +might be dazzled and interested, perhaps to her sorrow. + +Merwyn had developed into a broad-shouldered man, nearly six feet +in height. His quiet, courteous elegance did not disguise from one +who had known him so well in boyhood an imperious, self-pleasing +nature, and a tenacity of purpose in carrying out his own desires. +He accepted of his quondam friend's uniform without remark. That +was Strahan's affair and not his, and by a polite reserve, he made +the mercurial fellow feel that his affairs were his own. Strahan +chafed under this polished reticence, this absence of all curiosity. + +"Blast him!" thought the young officer, "he acts like a superior +being, who has deigned to visit America to look after his rents, +and intimates that the country has no further concern with him or +he with it. Jove! I'd give all the pay I ever expect to get to see +him a rejected suitor of my plucky little American girl;" and he +regarded his host with an ill-disposed eye. At last he resolved to +take the initiative boldly. + +"How long do you expect to remain here, Merwyn?" + +"I scarcely know. It depends somewhat on my mother's plans." + +"Thunder! It's time you had plans of your own, especially when a +man has your length of limb and breadth of chest." + +"I have not denied the possession of plans," Merwyn quietly remarked, +his dark eye following the curling, upward flight of smoke from +his cigar. + +"You certainly used to be decided enough sometimes, when I wanted +you to pull an oar." + +"And you so good-naturedly let me off," was the reply, with a slight +laugh. + +"I didn't let you off good-naturedly, nor do I intend to now. Good +heavens, Merwyn! don't you read the papers? There's a chance now +to take an oar to some purpose. You were brave enough as a boy." + +Merwyn's eyes came down from the curling smoke to Strahan's face +with a flash, and he rose and paced the room for a moment, then +said, in his old quiet tones, "They say the child is father of the +man." + +"Oh well, Merwyn," was the slightly irritable rejoinder, "I have +and ever had, you remember, a way of expressing my thoughts. If, +while abroad, you have become intolerant of that trait, why, the +sooner we understand each other the better. I don't profess to be +anything more than an American, and I called to-day with no other +motive than the obvious and natural one." + +A shade of annoyance passed over Merwyn's face, but as Strahan +ceased he came forward and held out his hand, saying: "I like you +all the better for speaking your thoughts,--for doing just as you +please. You must be equally fair and yield to me the privilege of +keeping my thoughts, and doing as I please." + +Strahan felt that there was nothing to do but to take the proffered +hand, so irresistible was the constraint of his host's courtesy, +although felt to be without warmth or cordiality. Disguising his +inward protest by a light laugh he said: "I could shake hands with +almost any one on such a mutual understanding. Well, since we have +begun on the basis of such absolute frankness on my part, my next +thought is, What shall be our relations while you are here? I am a +busier fellow than I was at one time, and my stay is also uncertain, +and sure to be brief. I do not wish to be unneighborly in remembrance +of old times, nor do I wish to be obtrusive. In the natural order +of things, I should show you, a comparative stranger, some attention, +inform you about the natives and transient residents, help you +amuse yourself, and all that. But I have not the slightest desire +to make unwelcome advances. I have plenty of such in prospect south +of Mason and Dixon's line." + +Merwyn laughed with some heartiness as he said: "You have attained +one attribute of a soldier assuredly,--bluntness. Positively, +Strahan, you have developed amazingly. Why, only the other day we +were boys squabbling to determine who should have the first shot +at an owl we saw in the mountains. The result was, the owl took +flight. You never gave in an inch to me then, and I liked you all +the better for it. Come now, be reasonable. I yield to you your +full right to be yourself; yield as much to me and let us begin +where we left off, with only the differences that years have made, +and we shall get on as well as ever." + +"Agreed," said Strahan, promptly. "Now what can I do for you? I +have only certain hours at my disposal." + +"Well," replied Merwyn, languidly, "come and see me when you can, +and I'll walk over to your quarters--I suppose I should so call +them--and have a smoke with you occasionally. I expect to be awfully +dull here, but between the river and the mountains I shall have +resources." + +"You propose to ignore society then?" + +"Why say 'ignore'? That implies a conscious act. Let us suppose +that society is as indifferent to me as I to it." + +"There's a little stutterer down at the hotel who claims to be an +English lord." + +"Bah, Strahan! I hope your sword is sharper than your satire. I've +had enough of English lords for the present." + +"Yes, Merwyn, you appear to have had enough of most things,--perhaps +too much. If your countrymen are uninteresting, you may possibly +wish to meet some of your countrywomen. I've been abroad enough to +know that you have never found their superiors." + +"Well, that depends upon who my countrywoman is. I should prefer +to see her before I intrude--" + +"Risk being bored, you mean." + +"As you please. Fie, Strahan! you are not cultivating a soldier's +penchant for women?" + +"It hasn't needed any cultivating. I have my opinion of a man who +does not admire a fine woman." + +"So have I, only each and all must define the adjective for +themselves." + +"It has been defined for me. Well, my time is up. We'll be two +friendly neutral powers, and, having marked out our positions, can +maintain our frontiers with diplomatic ease. Good-morning." + +Merwyn laughingly accompanied his guest to the door, but on the +piazza, they met Mrs. Merwyn, who involuntarily frowned as she saw +Strahan's uniform, then with quiet elegance she greeted the young +man. But he had seen her expression, and was somewhat formal. + +"We shall hope to see your mother and sisters before long," the +lady remarked. + +Strahan bowed, and walked with military erectness down the avenue, +his host looking after him with cynical and slightly contemptuous +good-nature; but Mrs. Merwyn followed the receding figure with an +expression of great bitterness. + +Her appearance was that of a remarkable woman. She was tall, and +slight; every motion was marked by grace, but it was the grace of +a person accustomed to command. One would never dream of woman's +ministry when looking at her. Far more than would ever be true of +Marian she suggested power, but she would govern through her will, +her pride and prejudices. The impress of early influences had sunk +deep into her character. The only child of a doting father, she +had ruled him, and, of course, the helpless slaves who had watched +her moods and trembled at her passion. There were scars on human +backs to-day, which were the results of orders from her girlish +lips. She was not greatly to blame. Born of a proud and imperious +ancestry, she had needed the lessons of self-restraint and gentleness +from infancy. Instead, she had been absolute, even in the nursery; +and as her horizon had widened it had revealed greater numbers to +whom her will was law. From childhood she had passed into maidenhood +with a dower of wealth and beauty, learning early, like Marian, +that many of her own race were willing to become her slaves. + +In the South there is a chivalric deference to women far exceeding +that usually paid to the sex at the North, and her appearance, +temperament, and position evoked that element to the utmost. He +knows little of human nature who cannot guess the result. Yet, by +a common contradiction, the one among her many suitors who won such +love as she could give was a Northern man as proud as herself. He +stood alone in his manner of approach, made himself the object of +her thoughts by piquing her pride, and met her varying moods by +a quiet, unvarying dignity that compelled her respect. The result +was that she yielded to the first man who would not yield undue +deference to her. + +Mr. Merwyn employed his power charily, however, or rather with +principle. He quietly insisted on his rights; but as he granted hers +without a word, and never irritated her by small, fussy exactions, +good-breeding prevented any serious clashing of wills, and their +married life had passed in comparative serenity. As time elapsed +her will began, in many ways, to defer to his quieter and stronger +will, and then, as if life must teach her that there is no true +control except self-control, Mr. Merwyn died, and left her mistress +of almost everything except herself. + +It must not be supposed, however, that her self-will was a +passionate, moody absolutism. She had outgrown that, and was too +well-bred ever to show much temper. The tendency of her mature +purposes and prejudices was to crystallize into a few distinct +forms. With the feminine logic of a narrow mind, she made her husband +an exception to the people among whom he had been born and bred. +Widowed, she gave her whole heart to the South. Its institutions, +habits, and social code were sacred, and all opponents thereof +sacrilegious enemies. To that degree that they were hostile, or +even unbelieving, she hated them. + +During the years immediately preceding the war she had been abroad +superintending the education of Willard and two younger daughters, +and when hostilities began she was led to believe that she could +serve the cause better in England than on her remote plantation. +In her fierce partisanship, or rather perverted patriotism,--for +in justice it must be said that she knew no other country than the +South,--she was willing to send her son to Richmond. He thwarted +this purpose by quietly manifesting one of his father's traits. + +"No," he said, "I will not fight against the section to which my +father belonged. To my mind it's a wretched political squabble at +best, and the politicians will settle it before long. I have my +life before me, and don't propose to be knocked on the head for +the sake of a lot of political John Smiths, North or South." + +In vain she tried to fire his heart with dreams of Southern empire. +He had made up that part of himself derived from Northern birth--his +mind--and would not yield. Meantime his Southern, indolent, +pleasure-loving side was appealed to powerfully by aristocratic +life abroad, and he felt it would be the sheerest folly to abandon +his favorite pursuits. He was little more then than a graceful +animal, shrewd enough to know that his property was chiefly at the +North, and that it would be unwise to endanger it. + +Mrs. Merwyn's self-interest and natural affection led her to yield +to necessity with fairly good grace. The course resolved upon +by Willard preserved her son and the property. When the South +had accomplished its ambitious dreams she believed she would have +skill enough to place him high among its magnates, while, if he +were killed in one of the intervening battles,--well, she was loyal +enough to incur the risk, but at heart she did not deeply regret +that she had escaped the probable sacrifice. + +Thus time passed on, and she used her social influence in behalf +of her section, but guardedly, lest she should jeopardize the +interests of her children. In May of the year in which our story +opened, the twenty-first birthday of Willard occurred, and was +celebrated with befitting circumstance. He took all this quietly, +but on the morning of the day following he said to his mother:-- + +"You remember the provisions of my father's will. My share of the +property was to be transferred to me when I should become of age. +We ought to return to New York at once and have the necessary papers +made out." + +In vain she protested that the property was well managed, that the +income was received regularly, that he could have this, and that +it would be intensely disagreeable for her to visit New York. He, +who had yielded indifferently to all her little exactions, was +inexorable, and the proud, self-willed woman found that he had so +much law and reason on his side that she was compelled to submit. + +Indeed, she at last felt that she had been unduly governed by her +prejudices, and that it might be wise to go and see for themselves +that their affairs were managed to the best advantage. Deep +in her heart was also the consciousness that it was her husband's +indomitable will that she was carrying out, and that she could +never escape from that will in any exigency where it could justly +make itself felt. She therefore required of her son the promise +that their visit should be as unobtrusive as possible, and that +he would return with her as soon as he had arranged matters to his +mind. To this he had readily agreed, and they were now in the land +for which the mother had only hate and the son indifference. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +AN OATH AND A GLANCE. + + + + + +As Strahan disappeared in the winding of the avenue a sudden and +terrible thought occurred to Mrs. Merwyn. She glanced at her son, +who had walked to the farther end of the piazza, and stood for a +moment with his back towards her. His manly proportions made her +realize, as she had never done before, that he had attained his +majority,--that he was his own master. He had said he would not +fight against the North, but, as far as the South was concerned, +he had never committed himself. And then his terrible will! + +She went to her room and thought. He was in a land seething with +excitement and patriotic fervor. She knew not what influences a +day might bring to bear upon him. Above all else she feared taunts +for lack of courage. She knew that her own passionate pride slept +in his breast and on a few occasions she had seen its manifestations. +As a rule he was too healthful, too well organized and indolent, +to be easily irritated, while in serious matters he had not been +crossed. She knew enough of life to be aware that his manhood had +never been awakened or even deeply moved, and she was eager indeed +to accomplish their mission in the States and return to conditions +of life not so electrical. + +In the mean time she felt that she must use every precaution. She +summoned a maid and asked that her son should be sent to her. + +The young man soon lounged in, and threw himself into an easy chair. + +His mother looked at him fixedly for a moment, and then asked, "Why +is young Strahan in THAT uniform?" + +"I didn't ask him," was the careless reply. "Obviously, however, +because he has entered the service in some capacity." + +"Did he not suggest that it would be a very proper thing for you +to do, also?" + +"Oh, of course. He wouldn't be Strahan if he hadn't. He has a high +appreciation of a 'little brief authority,' especially if vested in +himself. Believing himself to be so heroic he is inclined to call +others to account." + +"I trust you have rated such vaporings at their worth." + +"I have not rated them at all. What do I care for little Strahan +or his opinions? Nil." + +"Shall you see much of him while we are compelled to remain in this +detestable land?" + +"More of him than of any one else, probably. We were boys together, +and he amuses me. What is more to the point, if I make a Union officer +my associate I disarm hostile criticism and throw an additional +safeguard around my property. There is no telling to what desperate +straits the Northern authorities may be reduced, and I don't propose +to give them any grounds for confiscation." + +"You are remarkably prudent, Willard, for a young man of Southern +descent." + +"I am of Northern descent also," he replied, with a light laugh. +"Father was as strong a Northern man--so I imagine--as you are a +Southern woman, and so, by a natural law, I am neutral, brought to +a standstill by two equal and opposite forces." + +The intense partisan looked at him with perplexity, and for a moment +felt a strange and almost superstitious belief in his words. Was +there a reciprocal relation of forces which would render her schemes +futile? She shared in the secret hopes and ambitions of the Southern +leaders. Had Northern and Southern blood so neutralized the heart +of this youth that he was indifferent to both sections? and had she, +by long residence abroad, and indulgence, made him so cosmopolitan +that he merely looked upon the world as "his oyster"? She was +not the first parent who, having failed to instil noble, natural +principles in childhood, is surprised and troubled at the outcome +of a mind developing under influences unknown or unheeded. That +the South would be triumphant she never doubted a moment. It would +not merely achieve independence, but also a power that would grow +like the vegetation of its genial climate, and extend until the +tapering Isthmus of Panama became the national boundary of the +empire. But what part would be taken by this strange son who seemed +equally endowed with graceful indolence and indomitable will? Were +his tireless strength and energy to accomplish nothing better than +the climbing of distant mountains? and would he maintain indifference +towards a struggle for a dominion beyond Oriental dreams? Physically +and mentally he seemed capable of doing what he chose; practically +he chose to do what he pleased from hour to hour. Amusing himself +with a languid, good-natured disregard of what he looked upon as +trivial affairs, he was like adamant the moment a supreme and just +advantage was his. He was her husband over agaim, with strange +differences. What could she do at the present moment but the thing +she proposed to do? + +"Willard," she said, slowly, and in a voice that pierced his +indifference, "have you any regard for me?" + +"Certainly. Have I shown any want of respect?" + +"That is not the question at all. You are young, Willard, and you +live in the future. I live much in the past. My early home was in +the South, where my family, for generations, has been eminent. Is +it strange, then, that I should love that sunny land?" + +"No, mamma." + +"Well, all I ask at present is that you will promise me never, +under any motive, to take up arms against that land of my ancestors." + +"I have not the slightest disposition to do so." + +"Willard, what to-day is, is. Neither you nor I know what shall be +on the morrow. I never expected to marry a Northern man, yet I did +so; nor should I regret it if I consulted my heart only. He was +different from all his race. I did not foresee what was coming, +or I could have torn my heart out before involving myself in these +Northern complications. I cannot change the past, but I must provide +for the future. O Willard, to your eyes your Northern fortune seems +large. But a few years will pass before you will be shown what +a trifle it is compared with the prizes of power and wealth that +will be bestowed upon loyal Southerners. You have an ancestry, an +ability, that would naturally place you among the foremost. Terrible +as would be the sacrifice on my part, I could still give you my +blessing if you imitated young Strahan in one respect, and devoted +yourself heart, soul, and sword to our cause." + +"The probable result would be that you and my sisters would +be penniless, I sleeping in mud, and living on junk and hoe-cake. +Another result, probable, only a little more remote, is that the +buzzards would pick my bones. Faugh! Oh, no. I've settled that +question, and it's a bore to think a question over twice. There +are thousands of Americans in Europe. Their wisdom suits me until +this tea-pot tempest is over. If any one doubts my courage I'll +prove it fast enough, but, if I had my way, the politicians, North +and South, should do their own fighting and starving." + +"But, Willard, our leaders are not mere politicians. They are men +of grand, far-reaching schemes, and when their plans are accomplished, +they will attain regal power and wealth." + +"Visions, mamma, visions. I have enough of my father's blood in +my veins to be able to look at both sides of a question. Strahan +asked me severely if I did not read the papers;" and he laughed +lightly. "Well, I do read them, at least enough of them to pick +out a few grains of truth from all the chaff. The North and South +have begun fighting like two bull-dogs, and it's just a question +which has the longer wind and the more endurance. The chances are +all in favor of the North. I shall not throw myself and property +away for the sake of a bare possibility. That's settled." + +"Have you ice-water in your veins?" his mother asked, passionately. + +"I have your blood, madam, and my father's, hence I am what I am." + +"Well, then you must be a man of honor, of your word. Will you +promise never to take arms against the South?" + +"I have told you I have no disposition to do so." + +"The promise, then, can cost you little, and it will be a relief +to my mind." + +"Oh, well, mamma, if it will make you feel any easier, I promise +with one exception. Both South and North must keep their hands off +the property my father gave me." + +"If Southern leaders were dictating terms in New York City, as they +will, ere long, they would never touch your property." + +"They had better not." + +"You know what I mean, Willard. I ask you never to assume this +hated Northern uniform, or put your foot on Southern soil with a +hostile purpose." + +"Yes, I can promise that." + +"Swear it to me then, by your mother's honor and your father's +memory." + +"Is not my word sufficient?" + +"These things are sacred to me, and I wish them treated in a sacred +manner. If you will do this my mind will be at rest and I may be +able to do more for you in the future." + +"To satisfy you, I swear never to put on the Northern uniform or +to enter the South with a hostile purpose." + +She stepped forward and touched his forehead with her lips, as she +said: "The compact is sealed. Your oath is registered on earth and +in heaven. Your simple word as a man of honor will satisfy me as +to one other request. I wish you never to speak to any one of this +solemn covenant between us." + +"I'm not in the habit of gossiping over family affairs," he replied, +haughtily. + +"I know that, and also that your delicacy of feeling would keep +you from speaking of a matter so sacred to me. But I am older and +more experienced than you, and I shall feel safer if you promise. +You would not gossip about it, of course. You might refer to it +to some friend or to the woman who became your wife. I can foresee +complications which might make it better that it should be utterly +unknown. You little know how I dream and plan for you, and I only +ask you never to speak of this interview and its character to a +living soul." + +"Certainly, mother, I can promise this. I should feel it small +business to babble about anything which you take so to heart. These +visions of empire occupy your mind and do no harm. I only hope you +will meet your disappointment philosophically. Good-by now till +lunch." + +"Poor mamma!" thought the young man, as he started out for a walk; +"she rails against Northern fanatics, forgetting that it is just +possible to be a little fanatical on the Southern side of the line." + +As he strode along in the sunshine his oath weighed upon him no +more than if he had promised not to go out in his sail-boat that +day. + +At last, after surmounting a rather steep hill, he threw himself +on the grass under the shade of a tree. "It's going to be awfully +slow and stupid here," he muttered, "and it will be a month or +two before we can return. I hoped to be back in time to join the +Montagues in climbing Mont Blanc, and here I am tied up between +these mole-hill mountains and city law-offices. How shall I ever +get through with the time?" + +A pony-phaeton, containing two ladies, appeared at the foot of +the hill and slowly approached. His eyes rested on it in languid +indifference, but, as it drew nearer, the younger of the two ladies +fixed his attention. Her charming summer costume at first satisfied +his taste, and, as her features became distinct, he was surprised +at their beauty, as he thought at first; but he soon felt that +animation redeemed the face from mere prettiness. The young girl +was talking earnestly, but a sudden movement of the horse caused +her to glance toward the road-side, and she encountered the dark +eyes of a stranger. Her words ceased instantly. A slight frown +contracted her brow, and, touching her horse with her whip, she +passed on rapidly. + +"By Jove! Strahan is right. If I have many such countrywomen in +the neighborhood, I ought to find amusement." + +He rose and sauntered after the phaeton, and saw that it turned in +at a pretty little cottage, embowered in vines and trees. Making a +mental note of the locality, he bent his steps in another direction, +laughing as he thought: "From that one glance I am sure that those +blue eyes will kindle more than one fellow before they are quenched. +I wonder if Strahan knows her. Well, here, perhaps, is a chance +for a summer lark. If Strahan is enamored I'd like to cut him out, +for by all the fiends of dulness I must find something to do." + +Strahan had accepted an invitation to lunch at the Vosburghs' that +day, and arrived, hot and flushed, from his second morning's drill. + +"Well!" he exclaimed, "I've seen the great Mogul." + +"I believe I have also," replied Marian. "Has he not short and +slightly curly hair, dark eyes, and an impudent stare?" + +"I don't recognize the 'stare' exactly. Merwyn is polite enough +in his way, and confound his way! But the rest of your description +tallies. Where did you see him?" + +She explained. + +"That was he, accomplishing his usual day's work. O ye dogs of war! +how I would like to have him in my squad one of these July days! +Miss Marian, I'd wear your shoe-tie in my cap the rest of my life, +if you would humble that fellow and make him feel that he never +spoke to a titled lady abroad who had not her equal in some American +girl. It just enrages me to see a New-York man, no better born than +myself, putting on such superior and indifferent airs. If he'd come +to me and say, 'Strahan, I'm a rebel, I'm going to fight and kill +you if I can,' I'd shake hands with him as I did not to-day. I'd +treat him like a jolly, square fellow, until we came face to face +in a fair fight, and then--the fortune of war. As it was, I felt +like taking him by the collar and shaking him out of his languid +grace. He told me to mind my own business so politely that I +couldn't take offence, although he gave scarcely any other reason +than that he proposed to mind his. When I met his Southern mother +on the piazza, she looked at me in my uniform at first as if I had +been a toad. They are rebels at heart, and yet they stand aloof and +sneer at the North, from which they derive protection and revenue. +I made his eyes flash once though," chuckled the young fellow in +conclusion. + +Marian laughed heartily as she said: "Mr. Strahan, if you fight +as well as you talk, I foresee Southern reverses. You have no idea +how your indignation becomes you. 'As well-born,' did you say? Why, +my good friend, you are worth a wilderness of such lackadaisical +fellows. Ciphers don't count unless they stand after a significant +figure; neither do such men, unless stronger men use them." + +"Your arithmetic is at fault, Miss Marian. Ciphers do have the +power of pushing a significant figure way back to the right of +the decimal point, and, as a practical fact, these elegant human +ciphers usually stand before good men and true in society. I don't +believe it would be so with you, but few of us would stand a chance +with most girls should this rich American, with his foreign airs +and graces, enter the lists against us." + +In her sincerity and earnestness, she took his hand and said: "I +thank you for your tribute. You are right. Though this person had +the wealth of the Indies, and every external grace, he could not be +my friend unless he were a MAN. I've talked with papa a good deal, +and believe there are men in the Southern army just as honest and +patriotic as you are; but no cold-blooded, selfish betwixt-and-betweens +shall ever take my hand." + +"Make me a promise," cried Strahan, giving the hand he held a hearty +and an approving shake. + +"Well?" + +"If opportunity offers, make this fellow bite the dust." + +"We'll see about that. I may not think it worth the while, and I +certainly shall not compromise myself in the slightest degree." + +"But if I bring him here you will be polite to him?" + +"Just about as polite as he was to you, I imagine." + +"Miss Marian, I wouldn't have any harm come to you for the wide +world. If--if anything should turn out amiss I'd shoot him, I +certainly would." + +The girl's only answer was a merry peal of laughter. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"A VOW." + + + + + +BENT, as was Strahan, upon his scheme of disturbing Merwyn's pride +and indifference, he resolved to permit several days to pass before +repeating his call. He also, as well as Marian, was unwilling +to compromise himself beyond a certain point, and it was his hope +that he might receive a speedy visit. He was not disappointed, for +on the ensuing day Merwyn sauntered up the Strahan avenue, and, +learning that the young officer had gone to camp, followed him +thither. The cold glance from the fair stranger in the phaeton dwelt +in his memory, and he was pleased to find that it formed sufficient +incentive to action. + +Strahan saw him coming with a grim smile, but greeted him with +off-hand cordiality. "Sorry, Merwyn," he said, "I can give you only +a few moments before I go on duty." + +"You are not on duty evenings?" + +"Yes, every other evening." + +"How about to-night?" + +"At your service." + +"Are you acquainted with the people who reside at a cottage--" and +he described Marian's abode. + +"Yes." + +"Who are they?" + +"Mr. Vosburgh has rented the place as a summer residence for his +family. His wife and daughter are there usually, and he comes when +he can. + +"And the daughter's name?" + +"Miss Marian Vosburgh." + +"Will you introduce me to her?" + +"Certainly." + +"I sha'n't be poaching on your grounds, shall I?" + +"Miss Vosburgh honors me with her friendship,--nothing more." + +"Is it so great an honor?" + +"I esteem it as such." + +"Who are they, anyway?" + +"Well, as a family I regard them as my equals, and Miss Marian as +my superior." + +"Oh come, Strahan, gossip about them a little." + +The officer burst out laughing. "Well," he said, "for a man of your +phenomenal reticence you are asking a good many questions." + +Merwyn colored slightly and blundered: "You know my motive, Strahan; +one does not care to make acquaintances that are not quite--" and +then the expression of his host's eyes checked him. + +"I assure you the Vosburghs are 'QUITE,'" Strahan said, coldly. "Did +I not say they were my equals? You may esteem yourself fortunate +if Miss Vosburgh ever permits you to feel yourself to be her equal." + +"Why, how so?" a little irritably. + +"Because if a man has brains and discernment the more he sees of +her the more will he be inclined to doubt his equality." + +Merwyn smiled in a rather superior way, and, with a light laugh, +said: "I understand, Strahan. A man in your plight ought to feel +in that way; at least, it is natural that he should. Now see here, +old fellow, I'll keep aloof if you say so." + +"Why should you? You have seen few society queens abroad who +received so much and so varied homage as Miss Vosburgh. There are +half a dozen fellows there, more or less, every evening, and you +can take your chances among them." + +"Oh, she's a bit of a coquette, then?" + +"You must discover for yourself what she is," said the young man, +buckling on his sword. "She has my entire respect." + +"You quite pique my curiosity. I'll drive in for you this evening." + +At the hour appointed, Strahan, in civilian's dress, stepped into +Merwyn's carriage and was driven rapidly to the cottage. Throwing +the reins to a footman, the young fellow followed the officer with a +confidence not altogether well founded, as he soon learned. Many +guests were present, and Lane was among them. When Merwyn was +presented Marian was observed to bow merely and not give her hand, +as was her custom when a friend of hers introduced a friend. Some +of the residents in the vicinity exchanged significant smiles +when they saw that the fastidious and exclusive Willard Merwyn had +joined their circle. Mrs. Vosburgh, who was helping to entertain +the guests, recognized nothing in his presence beyond a new social +triumph for her daughter, and was very gracious. To her offices, +as hostess, he found himself chiefly relegated for a time. + +This suited him exactly, since it gave him a chance for observation; +and certainly the little drawing-room, with its refined freedom, +was a revelation to him. Conversation, repartee, and jest were +unrestrained. While Lane was as gay as any present, Merwyn was +made to feel that he was no ordinary man, and it soon came out in +the natural flow of talk that he, too, was in the service. Merwyn +was introduced also to a captain of the regular army, and, whatever +he might think of these people, he instinctively felt that they +would no more permit themselves to be patronized than would the sons +of noble houses abroad. Indeed, he was much too adroit to attempt +anything of the kind, and, with well-bred ease, made himself at +home among them in general conversation. + +Meanwhile, he watched Marian with increasing curiosity. To him she +was a new and very interesting type. He had seen no such vivacity +and freedom abroad, and his experience led him to misunderstand +her. "She is of the genus American girl, middle class," he thought, +"who, by her beauty and the unconventionality of her drawing-room, +has become a quasi-belle. None of these men would think of marrying +her, unless it is little Strahan, and he wouldn't five years hence. +Yet she is piquant and fascinating after her style, a word and a +jest for each and all, and spoken with a sort of good-comradeship, +rather than with an if-you-please-sir air. I must admit, however, +that there is nothing loud in tone, word, or manner. She is as +delicate and refined as her own beauty, and, although this rather +florid mamma is present as chaperon, the scene and the actors are +peculiarly American. Well, I owe Strahan a good turn. I can amuse +myself with this girl without scruple." + +At last he found an opportunity to say, "We have met once before, +I believe, Miss Vosburgh." + +"Met? Where?" + +"Where I was inclined to go to sleep, and you gave me such a charming +frown that I awakened immediately and took a long ramble." + +"I saw a person stretched at lazy length under the trees yesterday. +You know the horror ladies have of intoxicated men on the road-side." + +"Was that the impression I made? Thanks." + +"The impression made was that we had better pass as quickly as +possible." + +"You made a very different impression. Thanks to Strahan I am here +this evening in consequence, and am delighted that I came." + +"'Delighted' is a strong word, Mr. Merwyn. Now that we are speaking +of impressions, mine is that years have elapsed since you were +greatly delighted at anything." + +"What gives you such an impression?" + +"Women can never account for their intuitions." + +"Women? Do not use such an elderly word in regard to one appearing +as if just entering girlhood." + +"O Mr. Merwyn! have you not learned abroad that girls of my age +are elderly indeed compared with men of yours?" + +He bit his lip. "English girls are not so--" + +"Fast?" + +"I didn't say that. They certainly have not the vivacity and +fascination that I am discovering in your drawing-room." + +"Why, Mr. Merwyn! one would think you had come to America on a voyage +of discovery, and were surprised at the first thing you saw." + +"I think I could show you things abroad that would interest you." + +"All Europe could not tempt me to go abroad at this time. In your +estimation I am not even a woman,--only a girl, and yet I have enough +girlhood to wish to take my little part in the events of the day." + +He colored, but asked, quietly, "What part are you taking?" + +"Such questions," she replied, with a merry, half-mocking flash of +her eyes, "I answer by deeds. There are those who know;" and then, +being addressed by Mr. Lane, she turned away, leaving him with +confused, but more decided sensations than he had known for a long +time. + +His first impulse was to leave the house, but this course would +only subject him to ridicule on the part of those who remained. +After a moment or two of reflection he remembered that she had not +invited him, and that she had said nothing essentially rude. He had +merely chosen to occupy a position in regard to his country that +differed radically from hers, and she had done little more than +define her position. + +"She is a Northern, as mamma is a Southern fanatic, with the +difference that she is a young, effervescing creature, bubbling +over with the excitement of the times," he thought. "That fellow in +uniform, and the society of men like Strahan and Lane, haye turned +her head, and she has not seen enough of life to comprehend a man +of the world. What do I care for her, or any here? Her briery talk +should only amuse me. When she learns more about who I am and what +I possess she will be inclined to imitate her discreet mamma and +think of the main chance; meanwhile I escape a summer's dulness +and ennui;" and so he philosophically continued his observations +and chatted with Mrs. Vosburgh and others until, with Strahan, he +took his departure, receiving from Marian a bow merely, while to +Strahan she gave her hand cordially. + +"You seem to be decidedly in Miss Vosburgh's good graces," said +Merwyn, as they drove away. + +"I told you she was my friend." + +"Is it very difficult to become her friend?" + +"Well, that depends. You should not find it difficult, since you +are so greatly my superior." + +"Oh, come, Strahan." + +"Pardon me, I forgot I was to express only my own thoughts, not +yours." + +"You don't know my thoughts or circumstances. Come now, let us be +good comrades. I will begin by thanking you cordially for introducing me +to a charming young girl. I am sure I put on no airs this evening." + +"They would not have been politic, Merwyn, and, for the life of +me, I can see no reason for them." + +"Very well. Therefore you didn't see any. How like old times we +are! We were always together, yet always sparring a little." + +"You must take us as we are in these times," said Strahan, with a +light laugh, for he felt it would jeopardize his scheme, or hope +rather, if he were too brusque with his companion. "You see it is +hard for us to understand your cosmopolitan indifference. American +feeling just now is rather tense on both sides of the line, and if +you will recognize the fact you will understand us better." + +"I think I am already aware of the fact. If Miss Vosburgh were of +our sex you would soon have another recruit." + +"I'd soon have a superior officer, you mean." + +"I fancy you are rather under her thumb already." + +"It's a difficult position to attain, I assure you." + +"How so?" + +"I have observed that, towards a good many, Miss Vosburgh is quite +your equal in indifference." + +"I like her all the better for that fact." + +"So do I." + +"How is it that you are so favored?" + +"No doubt it seems strange to you. Mere caprice on her part, +probably." + +"You misunderstand me. I would like to learn your tactics." + +"Jove! I'd like to teach you. Come down to-morrow and I'll give +you a musket." + +"You are incorrigible, Strahan. Do you mean that her good-will can +be won only at the point of the bayonet?" + +"No one coached me. Surely you have not so neglected your education +abroad that you do not know how to win a lady's favor." + +"You are a neutral, indeed." + +"I wouldn't aid my own brother in a case of this kind." + +"You are right; in matters of this kind it is every one for himself. +You offered to show me, a stranger, some attention, you know." + +"Yes, Merwyn, and I'll keep my word. I will give you just as good +courtesy as I receive. The formalities have been complied with and +you are acquainted with Miss Vosburgh. You have exactly the same +vantage that I had at the start, and you certainly cannot wish for +more. If you wish for further introductions, count on me." + +Merwyn parted from his plain-spoken companion, well content. +Strahan's promise to return all the courtesy he received left a +variable standard in Merwyn's hands that he could employ according +to circumstances or inclination. He was satisfied that his neighbor, +in accordance with a trait very common to young men, cherished for +Miss Vosburgh a chivalric and sentimental regard at which he would +smile when he became older. Merwyn, however, had a certain sense +of honor, and would not have attempted deliberately to supplant one +to whom he felt that he owed loyalty. His mind having been relieved +of all scruples of this character, he looked forward complacently +to the prospect of winning--what? He did not trouble himself to define +the kind of regard he hoped to inspire. The immediate purpose to +kill time, that must intervene before he could return to England, +was sufficient. There was promise of occupation, mild excitement, +and an amusing triumph, in becoming the foremost figure in Marian's +drawing-room. + +There is scarcely need to dwell upon the events of a few subsequent +weeks and the gradual changes that were taking place. Life with +its small vicissitudes rarely results from deliberate action. +Circumstances, from day to day, color and shape it; yet beneath +the rippling, changing surface a great tide may be rising. Strahan +was succeeding fairly well in his recruiting service, and, making +allowances for his previous history, was proving an efficient +officer. Marian was a loyal, steadfast friend, reprimanding with +mirthful seriousness at times, and speaking earnest and encouraging +words at others. After all, the mercurial young fellow daily won her +increased respect and esteem. He had been promoted to a captaincy, +and such was the response of the loyal North, during that dreary +summer of disaster and confused counsels, that his company was nearly +full, and he was daily expecting orders for departure. His drill +ground had become the occasional morning resort of his friends, and +each day gave evidence of improved soldierly bearing in his men. + +Merwyn thus far had characteristically carried out his plans to +"kill time." Thoroughly convinced of his comparative superiority, +he had been good-naturedly tolerant of the slow recognition accorded +to it by Marian. Yet he believed he was making progress, and the +fact that her favor was hard to win was only the more incitement. +If she had shown early and decided preference his occupation would +have been gone; for what could he have done in those initiatory +weeks of their acquaintance if her eyes and tones had said, "I am +ready to take you and your wealth"? The attitude she maintained, +although little understood, awakened a kind of respect, while the +barriers she quietly interposed aroused a keener desire to surmount +them. By hauteur and reserve at times he had made those with whom +he associated feel that his position in regard to the civil conflict +was his own affair. Even Marian avoided the subject when talking +with him, and her mother never thought of mentioning it. Indeed, +that thrifty lady would have been rather too encouraging had not +her daughter taken pains to check such a spirit. At the same time +the young girl made it emphatically understood that discussion of +the events of the war should be just as free when he was present +as when he was absent. + +Yet in a certain sense he was making progress, in that he awakened +anger on her part, rather than indifference. If she was a new type +to him so was he to her, and she found her thoughts reverting to him +in hostile analysis of his motives and character. She had received +too much sincere homage and devotion not to detect something cynical +and hollow in his earlier attentions. She had seen glances toward +her mother, and had caught in his tones an estimate which, however +true, incensed her greatly. Her old traits began to assert themselves, +and gradually her will accorded with Strahan's hope. If, without +compromising herself, she could humble this man, bringing him to +her feet and dismissing him with a rather scornful refusal, such an +exertion of power would give her much satisfaction. Yet her pride, +as well as her principle, led her to determine that he should sue +without having received any misleading favor on her part. + +Merwyn had never proposed to sue at all, except in the way of +conventional gallantry. For his own amusement he had resolved to +become her most intimate and familiar friend, and then it would +be time to go abroad. If false hopes were raised it would not much +matter; Strahan or some one else would console her. He admitted +that his progress was slow, and her reserve hard to combat. She +would neither drive nor sail with him unless she formed one of a +party. Still in this respect he was on the same footing with her +best friends. One thing did trouble him, however; she had never +given him her hand, either in greeting or in parting. + +At last he brought about an explanation that disturbed his equanimity +not a little. He had called in the morning, and she had chatted +charmingly with him on impersonal matters, pleasing him by her +intelligent and gracefully spoken ideas on the topics broached. +As a society girl she met him on this neutral ground without the +slightest restraint or embarrassment. As he also talked well she had +no scruple in enjoying a pleasure unsought by herself, especially +as it might lead to the punishment which she felt that he deserved. +Smilingly she had assured herself, when he was announced, "If he's +a rebel at heart, as I've been told, I've met the enemy before +either Mr. Lane or Mr. Strahan." + +When Merwyn rose to take his leave he held out his hand and said: +"I shall be absent two or three days. In saying good-by won't you +shake hands?" + +She laughingly put her hands behind her back and said, "I can't." + +"Will not, you mean?" + +"No, I cannot. I've made a vow to give my hand only to my own +friends and those of my country." + +"Do you look upon me as an enemy?" + +"Oh, no, indeed." + +"Then not as a friend?" + +"Why, certainly not, Mr. Merwyn. You know that you are not my +friend. What does the word mean?" + +"Well," said he, flushing, "what does it mean?" + +"Nothing more to me than to any other sincere person. One uses +downright sincerity with a friend, and would rather harm himself +than that friend." + +"Why is not this my attitude towards you?" + +"You, naturally, should know better than I." + +"Indeed, Miss Vosburgh, you little know the admiration you have +excited," he said, gallantly. + +An inscrutable smile was her only response. + +"That, however, has become like the air you breathe, no doubt." + +"Not at all. I prize admiration. What woman does not? But there +are as many kinds of admiration as there are donors." + +"Am I to infer that mine is of a valueless nature?" + +"Ask yourself, Mr. Merwyn, just what it is worth." + +"It is greater than I have ever bestowed upon any one else," he +said, hastily; for this tilt was disturbing his self-possession. + +Again she smiled, and her thought was, "Except yourself." + +He, thinking her smile incredulous, resumed: "You doubt this?" + +"I cannot help thinking that you are mistaken." + +"How can I assure you that I am not?" + +"I do not know. Why is it essential that I should be so assured?" + +He felt that he was being worsted, and feared that she had detected +the absence of unselfish good-will and honest purpose toward her. He +was angry with himself and her because of the dilemma in which he +was placed. Yet what could he say to the serene, smiling girl before +him, whose unflinching blue eyes looked into his with a keenness +of insight that troubled him? His one thought now was to achieve +a retreat in which he could maintain the semblance of dignity and +good breeding. + +With a light and deferential laugh he said: "I am taught, unmistakably, +Miss Vosburgh, that my regard, whatever it may be, is of little +consequence to you, and that it would be folly for me to try to +prove a thing that would not interest you if demonstrated. I feel, +however, that one question is due to us both,--Is my society a +disagreeable intrusion?" + +"If it had been, Mr. Merwyn, you would have been aware of the fact +before this. I have enjoyed your conversation this morning." + +"I hope, then, that in the future I can make a more favorable +impression, and that in time you will give me your hand." + +Her blue eyes never left his face as he spoke, and they grew dark +with a meaning that perplexed and troubled him. She merely bowed +gravely and turned away. + +Never had his complacency been so disturbed. He walked homeward with +steps that grew more and more rapid, keeping pace with his swift, +perturbed thoughts. As he approached his residence he yielded to +an impulse; leaped a wall, and struck out for the mountains. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A SIEGE BEGUN. + + + + + +"EITHER she is seeking to enhance her value, or else she is not the +girl I imagined her to be at all," was Willard Merwyn's conclusion +as he sat on a crag high upon the mountain's side. "Whichever +supposition is true, I might as well admit at once that she is the +most fascinating woman I ever met. She IS a woman, as she claims to +be. I've seen too many mere girls not to detect their transparent +deceits and motives at once. I don't understand Marian Vosburgh; +I only half believe in her, but I intend to learn whether there is +a girl in her station who would unhesitatingly decline the wealth +and position that I can offer. Not that I have decided to offer +these as yet, by any means, for I am in a position to marry wealth +and rank abroad; but this girl piques my curiosity, stirs my blood, +and is giving wings to time. At this rate the hour of our departure +may come before I am ready for it. I was mistaken in one respect +the first evening I met her. Lane, as well as Strahan and others, +would marry her if they could. She might make her choice from almost +any of those who seek her society, and she is not the pretty little +Bohemian that I imagined. Either none of them has ever touched her +heart, or else she knows her value and vantage, and she means to +make the most of them. If she knew the wealth and position I could +give her immediately, would not these certainties bring a different +expression into her eyes? I am not an ogre, that she should shrink +from me as the only incumbrance." + +Could he have seen the girl's passion after he left her he would +have understood her dark look at their parting. Hastily seeking +her own room she locked the door to hide the tears of anger and +humiliation that would come. + +"Well," she cried, "I AM punished for trifling with others. Here +is a man who seeks me in my home for no other purpose than his own +amusement and the gratification of his curiosity. He could not deny +it when brought squarely to the issue. He could not look me in the +eyes and say that he was my honest friend. He would flirt with me, +if he could, to beguile his burdensome leisure; but when I defined +what some are to me, and more would be, if permitted, he found no +better refuge than gallantry and evasion. What can he mean? what +can he hope except to see me in his power, and ready to accept any +terms he may choose to offer? O Arthur Strahan! your wish now is +wholly mine. May I have the chance of rejecting this man as I never +dismissed one before!" + +It must not be supposed that Willard's frequent visits to the +Vosburgh cottage had escaped Mrs. Merwyn's vigilant solicitude, but +her son spoke of them in such a way that she obtained the correct +impression that he was only amusing himself. Her chief hope was +that her son would remain free until the South had obtained the +power it sought. Then an alliance with one of the leading families +in the Confederacy would accomplish as much as might have resulted +from active service during the struggle. She had not hesitated to +express this hope to him. + +He had smiled, and said: "One of the leading theories of the day is +the survival of the fittest. I am content to limit my theory to a +survival. If I am alive and well when your great Southern empire takes +the lead among nations there will be a chance for the fulfilment +of your dream. If I have disappeared beneath Southern mud there +won't be any chance. In my opinion, however, I should have tenfold +greater power with our Southern friends if I introduced to them an +English heiress." + +His mother had sighed and thought: "It is strange that this +calculating boy should be my son. His father was self-controlled +and resolute, but he never manifested such cold-blooded thought of +self, first and always." + +She did not remember that the one lesson taught him from his +very cradle had been that of self-pleasing. She had carried out +her imperious will where it had clashed with his, and had weakly +compensated him by indulgence in the trifles that make up a child's +life. SHE had never been controlled or made to yield to others in +thoughtful consideration of their rights and feelings, and did not +know how to instil the lesson; therefore--so inconsistent is human +nature--when she saw him developing her own traits, she was troubled +because his ambitions differed from her own. Had his hopes and +desires coincided with hers he would have been a model youth in +her eyes, although never entertaining a thought beyond personal and +family advantage. Apparently there was a wider distinction between +them, for she was capable of suffering and sacrifice for the South. +The possibilities of his nature were as yet unrevealed. + +His course and spirit, however, set her at rest in regard to his +visits to Marian Vosburgh, and she felt that there was scarcely +the slightest danger that he would compromise himself by serious +attentions to the daughter of an obscure American official. + +Willard returned from his brief absence, and was surprised at his +eager anticipation of another interview with Marian. He called +the morning after his arrival, and learning that she had just gone +to witness a drill of Strahan's company, he followed, and arrived +almost as soon as she did at the ground set apart for military +evolutions. + +He was greeted by Marian in her old manner, and by Strahan in +his off-hand way. The young officer was at her side, and a number +of ladies and gentlemen were present as spectators. Merwyn took a +camp-stool, sat a little apart, and nonchalantly lighted a cigar. + +Suddenly there was a loud commotion in the guard-house, accompanied +by oaths and the sound of a struggle. Then a wild figure, armed with +a knife, rushed toward Strahan, followed by a sergeant and two or +three privates. At a glance it was seen to be the form of a tall, +powerful soldier, half-crazed with liquor. + +"--you!" exclaimed the man; "you ordered me to be tied up. I'll +larn you that we ain't down in Virginny yet!" and there was reckless +murder in his bloodshot eyes. + +Although at that moment unarmed, Strahan, without a second's hesitation, +sprung at the man's throat and sought to catch his uplifted hand, +but could not reach it. The probabilities are that the young +officer's military career would have been ended in another second, +had not Merwyn, without removing his cigar from his mouth, caught +the uplifted arm and held it as in a vise. + +"Stand back, Strahan," he said, quietly; but the young fellow would +not loosen his hold. Therefore Merwyn, with his left hand upon the +collar of the soldier, jerked him a yard away, and tripped him up +so that he fell upon his face. Twisting the fellow's hands across +his back, Merwyn said to the sergeant, "Now tie him at your leisure." + +This was done almost instantly, and the foul mouth was also stopped +by a gag. + +Merwyn returned to his camp-stool, and coolly removed the cigar +from his mouth as he glanced towards Marian. Although white and +agitated, she was speaking eager, complimentary, and at the same +time soothing words to Strahan, who, in accordance with his excitable +nature, was in a violent passion. She did not once glance towards +the man who had probably saved her friend's life, but Strahan came +and shook hands with him cordially, saying: "It was handsomely and +bravely done, Merwyn. I appreciate the service. You ought to be an +officer, for you could make a good one,--a better one than I am, +for you are as cool as a cucumber." + +Others, also, would have congratulated Merwyn had not his manner +repelled them, and in a few moments the drill began. Long before +it was over Marian rose and went towards her phaeton. In a moment +Merwyn was by her side. + +"You are not very well, Miss Vosburgh," he said. "Let me drive you +home." + +She bowed her acquiescence, and he saw that she was pale and a +little faint; but by a visible effort she soon rallied, and talked +on indifferent subjects. + +At last she said, abruptly: "I am learning what war means. It would +seem that there is almost as much danger in enforcing discipline +on such horrible men as in facing the enemy." + +"Of course," said Merwyn, carelessly. "That is part of the risk." + +"Well," she continued, emphatically, "I never saw a braver act than +that of Mr. Strahan. He was unarmed." + +"I was also!" was the somewhat bitter reply, "and you did not even +thank me by a look for saving your friend from a bad wound to say +the least." + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. Merwyn, you were armed with a strength +which made your act perfectly safe. Mr. Strahan risked everything." + +"How could he help risking everything? The infuriated beast was +coming towards you as well as him. Could he have run away? You are +not just to me, or at least you are very partial." + +"One can scarcely help being partial towards one's friends. I +agree with you, however; Mr. Strahan could not have taken any other +course. Could you, with a friend in such peril?" + +"Certainly not, with any one in such peril. Let us say no more +about the trifle." + +She was silent a moment, and then said, impetuously: "You shall +not misunderstand me. I don't know whether I am unjust or not. I do +know that I was angered, and cannot help it. You may as well know +my thoughts. Why should Mr. Strahan and others expose themselves +to such risks and hardships while you look idly on, when you so +easily prove yourself able to take a man's part in the struggle? +You may think, if you do not say it, that it is no affair of mine; +but with my father, whom I love better than life, ready at any +moment to give his life for a cause, I cannot patiently see utter +indifference to that cause in one who seeks my society." + +"I think your feelings are very natural, Miss Vosburgh, nor do +I resent your censure. You are surrounded by influences that lead +you to think as you do. You can scarcely judge for me, however. +Be fair and just. I yield to you fully--I may add, patiently--the +right to think, feel, and act as you think best. Grant equal rights +to me." + +"Oh, certainly," she said, a little coldly; "each one must choose +his own course for life." + +"That must ever be true," he replied, "and it is well to remember +that it is for life. The present condition of affairs is temporary. +It is the hour of excited impulses rather than of cool judgment. +Ambitious men on both sides are furthering their own purposes at +the cost of others." + +"Is that your idea of the war, Mr. Merwyn?" she asked, looking +searchingly into his face. + +"It is indeed, and time will prove me right, you will discover." + +"Since this is your view, I can scarcely wonder at your course," +she said, so quietly that he misunderstood her, and felt that she +half conceded its reasonableness. Then she changed the subject, +nor did she revert to it in his society. + +As August drew to its close, Marian's circle shared the feverish +solicitude felt in General Pope's Virginia campaign. Throughout +the North there was a loyal response to the appeal for men, and +Strahan's company was nearly full. He expected at any hour the +orders which would unite the regiment at Washington. + +One morning Mr. Lane came to say good-by. It was an impressive +hour which he spent with Marian when bidding her perhaps a final +farewell. She was pale, and her attempts at mirthfulness were forced +and feeble. When he rose to take his leave she suddenly covered +her face with her hand, and burst into tears. + +"Marian!" he exclaimed, eagerly, for the deep affection in his +heart would assert itself at times, and now her emotion seemed to +warrant hope. + +"Wait," she faltered. "Do not go just yet." + +He took her unresisting hand and kissed it, while she stifled her +sobs. + +"Miss Marian," he began, "you know how wholly I am yours--" + +"Please do not misunderstand me," she interrupted. "I scarcely +know how I could feel differently if I were parting with my twin +brother. You have been such a true, generous friend! Oh, I am all +unstrung. Papa has been sent for from Washington, and we don't know +when he'll return or what service may be required of him. I only +know that he is like you, and will take any risk that duty seems +to demand. I have so learned to lean upon you and trust you that if +anything happened--well, I felt that I could go to you as a brother. +You are too generous to blame me that I cannot feel in any other +way. See, I am frank with you. Why should I not be when the future +is so uncertain? Is it a little thing that I should think of you +first and feel that I shall miss you most when I am so distraught +with anxiety?" + +"No, Miss Marian. To me it is a sacred thing. I want you to know +that you have a brother's hand and heart at your disposal." + +"I believe you. Come," she added, rising and dashing away her +tears, "I must be brave, as you are. Promise me that you will take +no risks beyond those required by duty, and that you will write to +me." + +"Marian," he said, in a low, deep voice, "I shall ever try to do +what, in your heart, you would wish. You must also promise that if +you are ever in trouble you will let me know." + +"I promise." + +He again kissed her hand, like a knight of the olden time. + +At the last turn of the road from which he was visible she waved +her handkerchief, then sought her room and burst into a passion of +tears. + +"Oh," she sobbed, "as I now feel I could not refuse him anything. +I may never see him again, and he has been so kind and generous!" + +The poor girl was indeed morbid from excitement and anxiety. Her +pale face began to give evidence of the strain which the times +imposed on her in common with all those whose hearts had much at +stake in the conflict. + +In vain her mother remonstrated with her, and told her that she was +"meeting trouble half-way." Once the sagacious lady had ventured +to suggest that much uncertainty might be taken out of the future +by giving more encouragement to Mr. Merwyn. "I am told that he is +almost a millionnaire in his own right," she said. + +"What is he in his own heart and soul?" had been the girl's indignant +answer. "Don't speak to me in that way again, mamma." + +Meanwhile Merwyn was a close observer of all that was taking place, +and was coming to what he regarded as an heroic resolution. Except +as circumstances evoked an outburst of passion, he yielded to habit, +and coolly kept his eye on the main chances of his life, and these +meant what he craved most. + +Two influences had been at work upon his mind during the summer. +One resulted from his independent possession of large property. He +had readily comprehended the hints thrown out by his lawyer that, +if he remained in New York, the times gave opportunity for a +rapid increase in his property, and the thought of achieving large +wealth for himself, as his father had done before him, was growing +in attractiveness. His indolent nature began to respond to vital +American life, and he asked himself whether fortune-making in his +own land did not promise more than fortune-seeking among English +heiresses; moreover, he saw that his mother's devotion to the South +increased daily, and that feeling at the North was running higher +and becoming more and more sharply defined. As a business man in +New York his property would be safe beyond a doubt, but if he were +absent and affiliating with those known to be hostile to the North, +dangerous complications might arise. + +Almost unconsciously to himself at first the second influence was +gaining daily in power. As he became convinced that Marian was +not an ordinary girl, ready for a summer flirtation with a wealthy +stranger, he began to give her more serious thought, to study her +character, and acknowledge to himself her superiority. With every +interview the spell of her fascination grew stronger, until at last +he reached the conclusion which he regarded as magnanimous indeed. +Waiving all questions of rank and wealth on his part he would become +a downright suitor to this fair countrywoman. It did not occur to +him that he had arrived at his benign mood by asking himself the +question, "Why should I not please myself?" and by the oft-recurring +thought: "If I marry rank and wealth abroad the lady may eventually +remind me of her condescension. If I win great wealth here and lift +this girl to my position she will ever be devoted and subservient +and I be my own master. I prefer to marry a girl that pleases me +in her own personality, one who has brains as well as beauty. When +these military enthusiasts have disappeared below the Southern +horizon, and time hangs more heavily on her hands, she will find +leisure and thought for me. What is more, the very uncertainties +of her position, with the advice of her prudent mamma, will incline +her to the ample provision for the future which I can furnish." + +Thus did Willard Merwyn misunderstand the girl he sought, so strong +are inherited and perverted traits and lifelong mental habits. +He knew how easily, with his birth and wealth, he could arrange a +match abroad with the high contracting powers. Mrs. Vosburgh had +impressed him as the chief potentate of her family, and not at all +averse to his purpose. He had seen Mr. Vosburgh but once, and the +quiet, reticent man had appeared to be a second-rate power. He had +also learned that the property of the family was chiefly vested in +the wife. Of course, if Mr. Vosburgh had been in the city, Merwyn +would have addressed him first, but he was absent and the time of +his return unknown. + +The son knew his mother would be furious, but he had already +discounted that opposition. He regarded this Southern-born lady as +a very unsafe guide in these troublous times. Indeed, he cherished +a practical kind of loyalty to her and his sisters. + +"Only as I keep my head level," he said to himself, "are they safe. +Mamma would identify herself with the South to-day if she could, +and with a woman's lack of foresight be helpless on the morrow. +Let her dream her dreams and nurse her prejudices. I am my father's +son, and the responsible head of the family; and I part with no +solid advantage until I receive a better one. I shall establish +mamma and the girls comfortably in England, and then return to a +city where I can soon double my wealth and live a life independent +of every one." + +This prospect grew to be so attractive that he indulged, like Mr. +Lanniere, in King Cophetua's mood, and felt that one American girl +was about to become distinguished indeed. + +Watching his opportunity he called upon Mrs. Vosburgh while Marian +was out of the way, formally asking her, in her husband's absence, +for permission to pay his addresses; and he made known his financial +resources and prospects with not a little complacent detail. + +Mrs. Vosburgh was dignified and gracious, enlarged on her daughter's +worth, hinted that she might be a little difficult to win by +reason of the attentions she had received and her peculiar views, +yet left, finally, the impression that so flattering proposals +could not be slighted. + +Merwyn went home with a sigh of relief. He would no longer approach +Marian with doubtful and ill-defined intentions, which he believed +chiefly accounted for the clever girl's coldness towards him. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +OMINOUS. + + + + + +SUBORDINATE only to her father and two chief friends, in Marian's +thoughts, was her enemy, for as such she now regarded Willard Merwyn. +She had felt his attentions to be humiliating from the first. They +had presented her former life, in which her own amusement and pleasure +had been her chief thought, in another and a very disagreeable +light. These facts alone would have been sufficient to awaken a +vindictive feeling, for she was no saint. In addition, she bitterly +resented his indifference to a cause made so dear by her father's +devotion and her friends' brave self-sacrifice. Whatever his +motive might be, she felt that he was cold-blooded, cowardly, or +disloyal, and such courtesy as she showed him was due to little else +than the hope of inflicting upon him some degree of humiliation. +She had seen too many manifestations of honest interest and ardent +love to credit him with any such emotion, and she had no scruples +in wounding his pride to the utmost. + +Meanwhile events in the bloody drama of the war were culminating. +The Union officers were thought to have neither the wisdom to fight +at the right time nor the discretion to retreat when fighting was +worse than useless. In consequence thousands of brave men were +believed by many to have died in vain once more on the ill-fated +field of Bull Run. + +One morning, the last of August, Strahan galloped to the Vosburgh +cottage and said to Marian, who met him at the door: "Orders have +come. I have but a few minutes in which to say good-by. Things +have gone wrong in Virginia, and every available man is wanted in +Washington." + +His flushed face was almost as fair as her own, and gave him a boyish +aspect in spite of his military dress, but unhesitating resolution +and courage beamed from his eyes. + +"Oh, that I were a man!" Marian cried, "and you would have company. +All those who are most to me will soon be perilling their lives." + +"Guess who has decided to go with me almost at the last moment." + +"Mr. Blauvelt?" + +"Yes; I told him that he was too high-toned to carry a musket, +but he said he would rather go as a private than as an officer. He +wishes no responsibility, he says, and, beyond mere routine duty, +intends to give all his time and thoughts to art. I am satisfied +that I have you to thank for this recruit." + +"Indeed, I have never asked him to take part in the war." + +"No need of your asking any one in set terms. A man would have to +be either a coward, or else a rebel at heart, like Merwyn, to resist +your influence. Indeed, I think it is all the stronger because +you do not use it openly and carelessly. Every one who comes here +knows that your heart is in the cause, and that you would have been +almost a veteran by this time were you of our sex. Others, besides +Blauvelt, obtained the impulse in your presence which decided them. +Indeed, your drawing-room has been greatly thinned, and it almost +looks as if few would be left to haunt it except Merwyn." + +"I do not think he will haunt it much longer, and I should prefer +solitude to his society." + +"Well," laughed Strahan, "I think you will have a chance to put +one rebel to rout before I do. I don't blame you, remembering your +feeling, but Merwyn probably saved my life, and I gave him my +hand in a final truce. Friends we cannot be while he maintains his +present cold reserve. As you told me, he said he would have done +as much for any one, and his manner since has chilled any grateful +regard on my part. Yet I am under deep obligations, and hereafter +will never do or say anything to his injury." + +"Don't trouble yourself about Mr. Merwyn, Arthur. I have my own +personal score to settle with him. He has made a good foil for +you and my other friends, and I have learned to appreciate you the +more. YOU have won my entire esteem and respect, and have taught me +how quickly a noble, self-sacrificing purpose can develop manhood. +O Arthur, Heaven grant that we may all meet again! How proud I +shall then be of my veteran friends! and of you most of all. You +are triumphing over yourself, and you have won the respect of every +one in this community." + +"If I ever become anything, or do anything, just enter half the +credit in your little note-book," he said, flushing with pleasure. + +"I shall not need a note-book to keep in mind anything that relates +to you. Your courage has made me a braver, truer girl. Arthur, +please, you won't get reckless in camp? I want to think of you +always as I think of you now. When time hangs heavy on your hands, +would it give you any satisfaction to write to me?" + +"Indeed it will," cried the young officer. "Let me make a suggestion. +I will keep a rough journal of what occurs and of the scenes we +pass through, and Blauvelt will illustrate it. How should you like +that? It will do us both good, and will be the next best thing to +running in of an evening as we have done here." + +Marian was more than pleased with the idea. When at last Strahan +said farewell, he went away with every manly impulse strengthened, +and his heart warmed by the evidences of her genuine regard. + +In the afternoon Blauvelt called, and, with Marian and her mother, +drove to the station to take part in an ovation to Captain Strahan +and his company. The artist had affairs to arrange in the city +before enlisting, and proposed to enter the service at Washington. + +The young officer bore up bravely, but when he left his mother and +sisters in tears, his face was stern with effort. Marian observed, +however, that his last glance from the platform of the cars rested +upon herself. She returned home depressed and nervously excited, +and there found additional cause for solicitude in a letter from +her father informing her of the great disaster to Union arms which +poor generalship had invited. This, as she then felt, would have +been bad enough, but in a few tender, closing words, he told her that +they might not hear from him in some time, as he had been ordered +on a service that required secrecy and involved some danger. Mrs. +Vosburgh was profuse in her lamentations and protests against her +husband's course, but Marian went to her room and sobbed until +almost exhausted. + +Her nature, however, was too strong, positive, and unchastened to +find relief in tears, or to submit resignedly. Her heart was full +of bitterness and revolt, and her partisanship was becoming almost +as intense as that of Mrs. Merwyn. + +The afternoon closed with a dismal rain-storm, which added to her +depression, while relieving her from the fear of callers. "O dear!" +she exclaimed, as she rose from the mere form of supper, "I have +both head-ache and heart-ache. I am going to try to get through +the rest of this dismal day in sleep." + +"Marian, do, at least, sit an hour or two with me. Some one may +come and divert your thoughts." + +"No one can divert me to-night. It seems as if an age had passed +since we came here in June." + +"Your father knows how alone we are in the world, with no near +relatives to call upon. I think he owes his first duty to us." + +"The men of the North, who are right, should be as ready to +sacrifice everything as the men of the South, who are wrong; and so +also should Northern women. I am proud of the fact that my father +is employed and trusted by his government. The wrong rests with +those who caused the war." + +"Every man can't go and should not go. The business of the country +must be carried on just the same, and rich business men are +as important as soldiers. I only wish that, in our loneliness and +with the future so full of uncertainty, you would give sensible +encouragement to one abundantly able to give you wealth and the +highest position." + +"Mr. Merwyn?" + +"Yes, Mr. Merwyn," continued her mother, with an emphasis somewhat +irritable. "He is not an old, worn-out millionnaire, like Mr. +Lanniere. He is young, exceedingly handsome, so high-born that he +is received as an equal in the houses of the titled abroad. He has +come to me like an honorable man, and asked for the privilege of +paying his addresses. He would have asked your father had he been +in town. He was frank about his affairs, and has just received, +in his own name, a very large property, which he proposes to double +by entering upon business in New York." + +"What does his mother think of his intentions toward me?" the young +girl asked, so quietly, that Mrs. Vosburgh was really encouraged. + +"He says that he and his mother differ on many points, and will +differ on this one, and that is all he seemed inclined to say, +except to remark significantly that he had attained his majority." + +"It was he whom you meant, when you said that some one might come +who would divert my thoughts?" + +"I think he would have come, had it not been for the storm." + +"Mamma, you have not given him any encouragement? You have not +compromised yourself, or me?" + +Mrs. Vosburgh bridled with the beginnings of resentment, and said, +"Marian, you should know me too well--" + +"There, there, mamma, I was wrong to think of such a thing; I ask +your pardon." + +"I may have my sensible wishes and preferences," resumed the lady, +complacently, "but I have never yet acted the role of the anxious, +angling mamma. I cannot help wishing, however, that you would +consider favorably an offer like this one, and I certainly could +not treat Mr. Merwyn otherwise than with courtesy." + +"That was right and natural of you, mamma. You have no controversy +with Mr. Merwyn; I have. I hate and detest him. Well, since he may +come, I shall dress and be prepared." + +"O Marian! you are so quixotic!" + +"Dear mamma, you are mistaken. Do not think me inconsiderate of +you. Some day I will prove I am not by my marriage, if I marry;" +and she went to her mother and kissed her tenderly. + +Then by a sudden transition she drew herself up with the dark, +inscrutable expression that was becoming characteristic since deeper +experiences had entered into her life, and said, firmly:-- + +"Should I do as you suggest, I should be false to those true friends +who have gone to fight, perhaps to die; false to my father; false +to all that's good and true in my own soul. As to my heart," she +concluded, with a contemptuous shrug, "that has nothing to do with +the affair. Mamma, you must promise me one thing. I do not wish +you to meet Mr. Merwyn to-night. Please excuse yourself if he asks +for you. I will see him." + +"Mark my words, Marian, you will marry a poor man." + +"Oh, I have no objection to millionnaires," replied the girl, +with a short, unmirthful laugh, "but they must begin their suit in +a manner differing from that of two who have favored me;" and she +went to her room. + +As Merwyn resembled his deceased parent, so Marian had inherited +not a little of her father's spirit and character. Until within +the last few months her mother's influence had been predominant, +and the young girl had reflected the social conventionalities to +which she was accustomed. No new traits had since been created. Her +increasing maturity had rendered her capable of revealing qualities +inherent in her nature, should circumstances evoke them. The flower, +as it expands, the plant as it grows, is apparently very different, +yet the same. The stern, beautiful woman who is arraying herself +before her mirror, as a soldier assumes his arms and equipments, is +the same with the thoughtless, pleasure-loving girl whom we first +met in her drawing-room in June; but months of deep and almost +tragic experience have called into activity latent forces received +from her father's soul,--his power of sustained action, of resolute +purpose, of cherishing high ideals, and of white, quiet anger. + +Her toilet was scarcely completed when Willard Merwyn was announced. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SCORN. + + + + + +IT is essential that we should go back several hours in our story. +On the morning of the day that witnessed the departure of Strahan +and his company Merwyn's legal adviser had arrived and had been +closeted for several hours with his client. Mr. Bodoin was extremely +conservative. Even in youth he had scarcely known any leanings +toward passion of any kind or what the world regards as folly. His +training had developed and intensified natural characteristics, +and now to preserve in security the property intrusted to his +care through a stormy, unsettled period had become his controlling +motive. He looked upon the ups and downs of political men and measures +with what seemed to him a superior and philosophical indifference, +and he was more than pleased to find in Merwyn, the son of his old +client, a spirit so in accord with his own ideas. + +They had not been very long together on this fateful day before he +remarked: "My dear young friend, it is exceedingly gratifying to +find that you are level-headed, like your father. He was a man, +Willard, whom you do well to imitate. He secured what he wanted +and had his own way, yet there was no nonsense about him. I was +his intimate friend as well as legal adviser, and I know, perhaps, +more of his life than any one else. Your mother, to-day, is the +handsomest woman of her years I ever saw, but when she was of your +age her beauty was startling, and she had almost as many slaves +among the first young men of the South as there were darkies on the +plantation, yet your father quietly bore her away from them all. +What is more, he so managed as to retain her respect and affection +to the last, at the same time never yielding an inch in his just +rights or dignity, and he ever made Mrs. Merwyn feel that her just +rights and dignity were equally sacred. Proud as your mother was, +she had the sense to see that his course was the only proper one. +Their marriage, my boy, always reminded me of an alliance between +two sovereign and alien powers. It was like a court love-match +abroad. Your father, a Northern man, saw the beautiful Southern +heiress, and he sued as if he were a potentate from a foreign realm. +Well-born and accustomed to wealth all his life, he matched her +pride with a pride as great, and made his offer on his feet as if +he were conferring as much as he should receive. That, in fact, +was the only way to win a woman who had been bowed down to all +her life. After marriage they lived together like two independent +sovereigns, sometimes here, then in the city house, and, when +Mrs. Merwyn so desired it, on the Southern plantation, or abroad. +He always treated her as if she were a countess or a queen in her +own right and paid the utmost deference to her Southern ideas, but +never for a moment permitted her to forget that he was her equal and +had the same right to his Northern views. In regard to financial +matters he looked after her interests as if he were her prime minister, +instead of a husband wishing to avail himself of anything. In his +own affairs he consulted me constantly and together we planted his +investments on the bed-rock. These reminiscences will enable you +to understand the pleasure with which I recognize in you the same +traits. Of course you know that the law gives you great power over +your property. If you were inclined to dissipation, or, what would +be little better in these times, were hot-headed and bent on taking +part in this losing fight of the South, I should have no end of +trouble." + +"You, also, are satisfied, then, that it will be a losing fight?" +Merwyn had remarked. + +"Yes, even though the South achieves its independence. I am off at +one side of all the turmoil, and my only aim is to keep my trusts +safe, no matter who wins. I see things as they are up to date and +not as I might wish them to be if under the influence of passion +or prejudice. The South may be recognized by foreign powers and +become a separate state, although I regard this as very doubtful. +In any event the great North and West, with the immense tides of +immigration pouring in, will so preponderate as to be overshadowing. +The Southern empire, of which Mrs. Merwyn dreams, would dwindle +rather than grow. Human slavery, right or wrong, is contrary to the +spirit of the age. But enough of this political discussion. I only +touch upon it to influence your action. By the course you are +pursuing you not only preserve all your Northern property, but +you will also enable me to retain for your mother and sisters the +Southern plantation. This would be impossible if you were seeking +'the bubble, reputation, at the cannon's mouth' on either side. +Whatever happens, there must still be law and government. Both +sides will soon get tired of this exhausting struggle, and then +those who survive and have been wise will reap the advantage. Now, +as to your own affairs, the legal formalities are nearly completed. +If you return and spend the winter in New York I can put you in +the way of vastly increasing your property, and by such presence +and business activity you will disarm all criticism which your +mother's Southern relations may occasion." + +"Mamma will bitterly oppose my return." + +"I can only say that what I advise will greatly tend to conserve +Mrs. Merwyn's interests. If you prefer, we can manage it in this +way: after you have safely established your mother and sisters +abroad I can write you a letter saying that your interests require +your presence." + +And so it had been arranged, and the old lawyer sat down to dinner +with Mrs. Merwyn, paying her the courtly deference which, while it +gratified her pride, was accepted as a matter of course--as a part +of her husband's legacy. He had soon afterwards taken his departure, +leaving his young client in a most complacent and satisfactory +mood. + +It may thus be seen that Merwyn was not an unnatural product of +the influences which had until now guided his life and formed his +character. The reminiscences of his father's friend had greatly +increased his sense of magnanimity in his intentions towards +Marian. In the overweening pride of youth he felt as if he were +almost regally born and royally endowed, and that a career was +opening before him in which he should prove his lofty superiority +to those whose heads were turned by the hurly-burly of the hour. +Young as he was, he had the sense to be in accord with wise old age, +that looked beyond the clouds and storm in which so many would be +wrecked. Nay, even more, from those very wrecks he would gather +wealth. + +"The time and opportunity for cool heads," he smilingly assured +himself, "is when men are parting with judgment and reason." + +Such was his spirit when he sought the presence of the girl whose +soul was keyed up to almost a passion of self-sacrifice. His mind +belittled the cause for which her idolized father was, at that +moment, perilling his life, and to which her dearest friends had +consecrated themselves. He was serene in congratulating himself +that "little Strahan" had gone, and that the storm would prevent +the presence of other interlopers. + +Although the room was lighted as usual, he had not waited many +moments before a slight chill fell upon his sanguine mood. The house +was so still, and the rain dripped and the wind sighed so dismally +without, that a vague presentiment of evil began to assert itself. +Heretofore he had found the apartment full of life and mirth, and +he could not help remembering that some who had been its guests +might now be out in the storm. Would she think of this also? + +The parlor was scarcely in its usual pretty order, and no flowers +graced the table. Evidently no one was expected. "All the better," +he assured himself; "and her desolation will probably incline her +the more to listen to one who can bring golden gleams on such a +dreary night." + +A daily paper, with heavy headlines, lay on a chair near him. The +burden of these lines was DEFEAT, CARNAGE, DEATH. + +They increased the slight chill that was growing upon him, and made +him feel that possibly the story of his birth and greatness which +he had hoped to tell might be swallowed up by this other story +which fascinated him with its horror. + +A slight rustle caused him to look up, and Marian stood before him. +Throwing aside the paper as if it were an evil spell, he rose, +would have offered his hand had there been encouragement, but the +girl merely bowed and seated herself as she said: "Good-evening, +Mr. Merwyn. You are brave to venture out in such a storm." + +Was there irony in the slight accent on the word "brave"? How +singularly severe was her costume, also!--simple black, without an +ornament. Yet he admitted that he had never seen her in so effective +a dress, revealing, as it did, the ivory whiteness of her arms and +neck. + +"There is only one reason why I should not come this evening,--you +may have hoped to escape all callers." + +"It matters little what one hopes in these times," she said, "for +events are taking place which set aside all hopes and expectations." + +In her bitter mood she was impatient to have the interview over, so +that she accomplished her purpose. Therefore she proposed, contrary +to her custom with him, to employ the national tragedy, to which +he was so indifferent, as one of her keenest weapons. + +"It is quite natural that you should feel so, Miss Vosburgh, in +regard to such hopes as you have thus far entertained--" + +"Since they are the only hopes I know anything about, Mr. Merwyn, +I am not indifferent to them. I suppose you were at the depot to +see your friend, Mr. Strahan, depart?" and the question was asked +with a steady, searching scrutiny that was a little embarrassing. + +Indeed, her whole aspect produced a perplexed, wondering admiration, for +she seemed breathing marble in her cold self-possession. He felt, +however, that the explanation which he must give of his absence +when so many were evincing patriotic good-will would enable him to +impress her with the fact that he had superior interests at stake +in which she might have a share. + +Therefore he said, gravely, as if the reason were ample: "I should +have been at the depot, of course, had not my legal adviser come +up from town to-day and occupied me with very important business. +Mr. Bodoin's time is valuable to him, and he presented, for my +consideration, questions of vital interest. I have reached that +age now when I must not only act for myself, but I also have very +delicate duties to perform towards my mother and sisters." + +"Mr. Strahan had a sad duty to perform towards his mother and +sisters,--he said good-by to them." + +"A duty which I shall soon have to perform, also," Merwyn said. + +She looked at him inquiringly. Had he at last found his manhood, +and did he intend to assert it? Had he abandoned his calculating +policy, and was he cherishing some loyal purpose? If this were +true and she had any part in his decision, it would be a triumph +indeed; and, while she felt that she could never respond to any +such proposition as he had made through her mother, she could forget +the past and give him her hand in friendly encouragement towards +such a career as Lane and Strahan had chosen. She felt that it would +be well not to be over-hasty in showing resentment, but if possible +to let him reveal his plans and character fully. She listened +quietly, therefore, without show of approval or disapproval, as he +began in reply to her questioning glance. + +"I am going to be frank with you this evening, Miss Vosburgh. The +time has come when I should be so. Has not Mrs. Vosburgh told you +something of the nature of my interview with her?" + +The young girl merely bowed. + +"Then you know how sincere and earnest I am in what--in what I +shall have to say." + +To his surprise he felt a nervous trepidation that he would not +have imagined possible in making his magnanimous offer. He found +this humble American girl more difficult to approach than any other +woman he had ever met. + +"Miss Vosburgh," he continued, hesitatingly, "when I first entered +this room I did not understand your true worth and superiority, +but a sense of these has been growing on me from that hour to this. +Perhaps I was not as sincere as I--I--should have been, and you +were too clever not to know it. Will you listen to me patiently?" + +Again she bowed, and lower this time to conceal a slight smile of +triumph. + +Encouraged, he proceeded: "Now that I have learned to know you well, +I wish you to know me better,--to know all about me. My father was +a Northern man with strong Northern traits; my mother, a Southern +woman with equally strong Southern traits. I have been educated +chiefly abroad. Is it strange, then, that I cannot feel exactly as +you do, or as some of your friends do?" + +"As we once agreed, Mr. Merwyn, each must choose his own course +for life." + +"I am glad you have reminded me of that, for I am choosing for life +and not for the next ten months or ten years. As I said, then, all +this present hurly-burly will soon pass away." Her face darkened, +but in his embarrassment and preoccupation he did not perceive it. +"I have inherited a very large property, and my mother's affairs +are such that I must act wisely, if not always as she would wish." + +"May I ask what Mrs. Merwyn would prefer?" + +"I am prepared to be perfectly frank about myself," he replied, +hesitatingly, "but--" + +"Pardon me. It is immaterial." + +"I have a perfect right to judge and act for myself," resumed +Merwyn, with some emphasis. + +"Thank you. I should remember that." + +The words were spoken in a low tone and almost as if in soliloquy, +and her face seemed to grow colder and more impassive if possible. + +With something approaching dismay Merwyn had observed that the +announcement of his large fortune had had no softening influence on +the girl's manner, and he thought, "Truly, this is the most dreary +and business-like wooing that I ever imagined!" + +But he had gone too far to recede, and his embarrassment was +beginning to pass into something like indignation that he and all +he could offer were so little appreciated. + +Restraining this feeling, he went on, gravely and gently: "You once +intimated that I was young, Miss Vosburgh, yet the circumstances +and responsibilities of my lot have led me to think more, perhaps, +than others of my age, and to look beyond the present hour. I regard +the property left me by my father as a trust, and I have learned +to-day that I can greatly increase and probably double it. It is +my intention, after taking my mother and sisters abroad, to return +to New York and to enter cautiously into business under the guidance +of my legal adviser, who is a man of great sagacity. Now, as you +know, I have said from the first that it is natural for you to +feel deeply in regard to the events of the day; but I look beyond +all this turmoil, distraction, and passion, which will be as +temporary as it is violent. I am thinking for you as truly as for +myself. Pardon me for saying it; I am sure I am in a better condition +of mind to think for you than you are to judge for yourself. +I can give you the highest social position, and make your future +a certainty. From causes I can well understand the passion of the +hour has been swaying you--" + +She rose, and by an emphatic gesture stopped him, and there was a +fire in the blue eyes that had been so cold before. She appeared +to have grown inches as she stood before him and said, in tones +of concentrated scorn: "You are indeed young, yet you speak the +calculating words of one so old as to have lost every impulse of +youth. Do you know where my father is at this moment?" + +"No," he faltered. + +"He is taking part, at the risk of his life, in this temporary +hurly-burly, as you caricature it. It is he who is swaying me, and +the memory of the brave men whom you have met here and to whom you +fancied yourself superior. Did not that honored father exist, or +those brave friends, I feel within my soul that I have womanhood +enough to recognize and feel my country's need in this supreme hour +of her peril. You thoughtful beyond your years?--you think for me? +What did you think of me the first evening you spent here? What were +your thoughts as you came again and again? To what am I indebted +for this honor, but the fact that you could only beguile a summer's +ennui by a passing flirtation which would leave me you little cared +where, after you had joined your aristocratic friends abroad? Now +your plans have changed, and, after much deliberation, you have +come to lift me to the highest position! Never dream that I can +descend to your position!" + +He was fairly trembling with anger and mortification, and she was +about to leave the apartment. + +"Stay!" he said, passing his hand across his brow as if to brush +away confusion of mind; "I have not given you reason for such +contempt, and it is most unreasonable." + +"Why is it unreasonable?" she asked, her scornful self-control +passing into something like passion. "I will speak no more of the +insult of your earlier motives towards me, now that you think you +can afford to marry me. In your young egotism you may think a girl +forgets and forgives such a thing easily if bribed by a fortune. I +will let all that be as if it were not, and meet you on the ground +of what is, at this present hour. I despise you because you have +no more mind or manhood--take it as you will--than to think that +this struggle for national life and liberty is a mere passing fracas +of politicians. Do you think I will tamely permit you to call my +noble father little better than a fool? He has explained to me what +this war means--he, of twice your age, and with a mind as large +as his manhood and courage. You have assumed to be his superior, +also, as well as that of Mr. Lane and Mr. Strahan, who are about +to peril life in the 'hurly-burly.' What are your paltry thousands +to me? Should I ever love, I will love a MAN; and had I your sex +and half your inches, I should this hour be in Virginia, instead of +defending those I love and honor against your implied aspersions. +Had you your mother's sentiments I should at least respect you, +although she has no right to be here enjoying the protection of a +government that she would destroy." + +He was as pale as she had become flushed, and again he passed his +hand over his brow confusedly and almost helplessly. "It is all +like a horrid dream," he muttered. + +"Mr. Merwyn, you have brought this on yourself," she said, more +calmly. "You have sought to wrong me in my own home. Your words and +manner have ever been an insult to the cause for which my father +may die--O God!" she exclaimed, with a cry of agony--"for which +he may now be dead! Go, go," she added, with a strong repellent +gesture. "We have nothing in common: you measure everything with +the inch-rule of self." + +As if pierced to the very soul he sprung forward and seized her hand +with almost crushing force, as he cried: "No, I measure everything +hereafter by the breadth of your woman's soul. You shall not cast +me off in contempt. If you do you are not a woman,--you are a +fanatic, worse than my mother;" and he rushed from the house like +one distraught. + +Panting, trembling, frightened by a volcanic outburst such as she +had never dreamed of, Marian sunk on a lounge, sobbing like a child. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +AWAKENED AT LAST. + + + + + +IT may well be imagined that Mrs. Vosburgh was not far distant +during the momentous interview described in the last chapter, and, +as Merwyn rushed from the house as if pursued by the furies, she +appeared at once on the scene, full of curiosity and dismay. + +Exclamations, questionings, elicited little from Marian. The strain +of the long, eventful day had been too great, and the young girl, +who might have been taken as a type of incensed womanhood a few +moments before, now had scarcely better resources than such remedies +as Mrs. Vosburgh's matronly experience knew how to apply. Few remain +long on mountain-tops, physical or metaphorical, and deep valleys +lie all around them. Little else could be done for the poor girl +than to bring the oblivion of sleep, and let kindly Nature nurse +her child back to a more healthful condition of body and mind. + +But it would be long before Willard Merwyn would be amenable to the +gentle offices of nature. Simpson, the footman, flirting desperately +with the pretty waitress in the kitchen below, heard his master's +swift, heavy step on the veranda, and hastened out only in time to +clamber into his seat as Merwyn drove furiously away in the rain +and darkness. Every moment the trembling lackey expected they would +all go to-wreck and ruin, but the sagacious animals were given +their heads, and speedily made their way home. + +The man took the reeking steeds to the stable, and Merwyn disappeared. +He did not enter the house, for he felt that he would stifle there, +and the thought of meeting his mother was intolerable. Therefore, +he stole away to a secluded avenue, and strode back and forth +under the dripping trees, oblivious, in his fierce perturbation, +of outward discomfort. + +Mrs. Merwyn waited in vain for him to enter, then questioned the +attendant. + +"Faix, mum, I know nothin' at all. Mr. Willard druv home loike one +possessed, and got out at the door, and that's the last oi've seen +uv 'im." + +The lady received the significant tidings with mingled anxiety and +satisfaction. Two things were evident. He had become more interested +in Miss Vosburgh than he had admitted, and she, by strange good +fortune, had refused him. + +"It was a piece of folly that had to come in some form, I suppose," +she soliloquized, "although I did not think Willard anything like +so sure to perpetrate it as most young men. Well, the girl has +saved me not a little trouble, for, of course, I should have been +compelled to break the thing up;" and she sat down to watch and +wait. She waited so long that anxiety decidedly got the better of +her satisfaction. + +Meanwhile the object of her thoughts was passing through an experience +of which he had never dreamed. In one brief hour his complacency, +pride, and philosophy of life had been torn to tatters. He saw +himself as Marian saw him, and he groaned aloud in his loathing and +humiliation. He looked back upon his superior airs as ridiculous, +and now felt that he would rather be a private in Strahan's company +than the scorned and rejected wretch that he was. The passionate +nature inherited from his mother was stirred to its depths. Even +the traits which he believed to be derived from his father, and +which the calculating lawyer had commended, had secured the young +girl's most withering contempt; and he saw how she contrasted him +with her father and Mr. Lane,--yes, even with little Strahan. In +her bitter words he heard the verdict of the young men with whom +he had associated, and of the community. Throughout the summer he +had dwelt apart, wrapped in his own self-sufficiency and fancied +superiority. His views had been of gradual growth, and he had come +to regard them as infallible, especially when stamped with the +approval of his father's old friend; but the scathing words, yet +ringing in his ears, showed him that brave, conscientious manhood +was infinitely more than his wealth and birth. As if by a revelation +from heaven he saw that he had been measuring everything with the +little rule of self, and in consequence he had become so mean and +small that a generous-hearted girl had shrunk from him in loathing. + +Then in bitter anger and resentment he remembered how he was +trammelled by his oath to his mother. It seemed to him that his +life was blighted by this pledge and a false education. There was +no path to her side who would love and honor only a MAN. + +At last the mere physical manifestations of passion and excitement +began to pass away, and he felt that he was acting almost like one +insane as he entered the house. + +Mrs. Merwyn met him, but he said, hoarsely, "I cannot talk with +you to-night." + +"Willard, be rational. You are wet through. You will catch your +death in these clothes." + +"Nothing would suit me better, as I feel now;" and he broke away. + +He was so haggard when he came down late the next morning that his +mother could not have believed such a change possible in so short +a time. "It is going to be more serious than I thought," was her +mental comment as she poured him out a cup of coffee. + +It was indeed; for after drinking the coffee in silence, he looked +frowningly out of the window for a time; then said abruptly to the +waiter, "Leave the room." + +The tone was so stern that the man stole out with a scared look. + +"Willard," began Mrs. Merwyn, with great dignity, "you are acting +in a manner unbecoming your birth and breeding." + +Turning from the window, he fixed his eyes on his mother with a +look that made her shiver. + +At last he asked, in a low, stern voice, "Why did you bind me with +that oath?" + +"Because I foresaw some unutterable folly such as you are now +manifesting." + +"No," he said, in the same cold, hard tone. "It was because +your cursed Confederacy was more to you than my freedom, than my +manhood,--more to you than I am myself." + +"O Willard! What ravings!" + +"Was my father insane when he quietly insisted on his rights, +yielding you yours? What right had you to cripple my life?" + +"I took the only effective means to prevent you from doing just +that for yourself." + +"How have you succeeded?" + +"I have prevented you, as a man of honor, from doing, under a gust +of passion, what would spoil all my plans and hopes." + +"I am not a man. You have done your best to prevent me from being +one. You have bound me with a chain, and made me like one of the +slaves on your plantation. Your plans and hopes? Have I no right +to plans and hopes?" + +"You know my first thought has been of you and for you." + +"No, I do not know this. I now remember that, when you bound me, +a thoughtless, selfish, indolent boy, you said that you would have +torn your heart out rather than marry my father had you foreseen +what was coming. This miserable egotist, Jeff Davis, and his scheme +of empire, cost what it may, are more to you than husband or child. +A mother would have said: 'You have reached manhood and have the +rights of a man. I will advise you and seek to guide you. You know +my feelings and views, and in their behalf I will even entreat +you; but you have reached that age when the law makes you free, +and holds you accountable to your own conscience.' Of what value +is my life if it is not mine? I should have the right to make my +own life, like others." + +"You have the right to make it, but not to mar it." + +"In other words, your prejudices, your fanaticism, are to take the +place of my conscience and reason. You expect me to carry a sham of +manhood out into the world. I wish you to release me from my oath." + +"Never," cried Mrs. Merwyn, with a passion now equal to his own. +"You have fallen into the hands of a Delilah, and she has shorn +you of your manhood. Infatuated with a nameless Northern girl, you +would blight your life and mine. When you come to your senses you +will thank me on your knees that I interposed an oath that cannot +be broken between you and suicidal folly;" and she was about to +leave the room. + +"Stop," he said, huskily. "When I bound myself I did so without +realizing what I did. I was but a boy, knowing not the future. I +did it out of mere good-will to you, little dreaming of the fetters +you were forging. Since you will not release me and treat me as a +man I shall keep the oath. I swore never to put on the uniform of +a Union soldier, or to step on Southern soil with a hostile purpose, +but you have taught me to detest your Confederacy with implacable +hate; and I shall use my means, my influence, all that I am, to +aid others to destroy it." + +"What! are you not going back to England with us?" + +"Yes." + +"Before you have been there a week this insane mood will pass away." + +"Did my father's moods pass away?" + +"Your father--" began the lady, impetuously, and then hesitated. + +"My father always yielded you your just rights and maintained his +own. I shall imitate his example as far as I now may. The oath is +a thing that stands by itself. It will probably spoil my life, but +I cannot release myself from it." + +"You leave me only one course, Willard,--to bear with you as if you +were a passionate child. You never need hope for my consent to an +alliance with the under-bred creature who has been the cause of +this folly." + +"Thank you. You now give me your complete idea of my manhood. I +request that these subjects be dismissed finally between us. I make +another pledge,--I shall be silent whenever you broach them;" and +with a bow he left the apartment. + +Half an hour later he was climbing the nearest mountain, resolved +on a few hours of solitude. From a lofty height he could see +the little Vosburgh cottage, and, by the aid of a powerful glass, +observed that the pony phaeton did not go out as usual, although +the day was warm and beautiful after the storm. + +The mists of passion were passing from his mind, and in strong +reaction from his violent excitement he sunk, at first, into deep +depression. So morbid was he that he cried aloud: "O my father! +Would to God that you had lived! Where are you that you can give +no counsel, no help?" + +But he was too young to give way to utter despondency, and at last +his mind rallied around the words he had spoken to Marian. "I shall, +hereafter, measure everything by the breadth of your woman's soul." + +As he reviewed the events of the summer in the light of recent +experience, he saw how strong, unique, and noble her character was. +Faults she might have in plenty, but she was above meannesses and +mercenary calculation. The men who had sought her society had been +incited to manly action, and beneath all the light talk and badinage +earnest and heroic purposes had been formed; he meanwhile, poor +fool! had been too blinded by conceited arrogance to understand +what was taking place. He had so misunderstood her as to imagine +that after she had spent a summer in giving heroic impulses she +would be ready to form an alliance that would stultify all her +action, and lose her the esteem of men who were proving their regard +in the most costly way. He wondered at himself, but thought:-- + +"I had heard so much about financial marriages abroad that I had +gained the impression that no girl in these days would slight an +offer like mine. Even her own mother was ready enough to meet my +views. I wonder if she will ever forgive me, ever receive me again +as a guest, so that I can make a different impression. I fear she +will always think me a coward, hampered as I am by a restraint +that I cannot break. Well, my only chance is to take up life from +her point of view, and to do the best I can. There is something in +my nature which forbids my ever yielding or giving up. So far as +it is now possible I shall keep my word to her, and if she has a +woman's heart she may, in time, so far relent as to give me a place +among her friends. This is now my ambition, for, if I achieve this, +I shall know I am winning such manhood as I can attain." + +When Merwyn appeared at dinner he was as quiet and courteous as +if nothing had happened; but his mother was compelled to note that +the boyishness had departed out of his face, and in its strong +lines she recognized his growing resemblance to his father. + +Two weeks later he accompanied his mother and sisters to England. +Before his departure he learned that Marian had been seriously ill, +but was convalescent, and that her father had returned. + +Meantime and during the voyage, with the differences natural to +the relation of mother and son, his manner was so like that of his +father towards her that she was continually reminded of the past, +and was almost led to fear that she had made a grave error in the +act she had deemed so essential. But her pride and her hopes for +the future prevented all concession. + +"When he is once more in society abroad this freak will pass away," +she thought, "and some English beauty will console him." + +But after they were well established in a pretty villa near +congenial acquaintances, Merwyn said one morning, "I shall return +to New York next week." + +"Willard! how can you think of such a thing? I was planning to +spend the latter part of the winter in Rome." + +"That you may easily do with your knowledge of the city and your +wide circle of friends." + +"But we need you. We want you to be with us, and I think it most +unnatural in you to leave us alone." + +"I have taken no oath to dawdle around Europe indefinitely. I +propose to return to New York and go into business." + +"You have enough and more than enough already." + +"I certainly have had enough of idleness." + +"But I protest against it. I cannot consent." + +"Mamma," he said, in the tone she so well remembered, "is not my +life even partially my own? What is your idea of a man whom both +law and custom make his own master? Even as a woman you chose for +yourself at the proper age. What strange infatuation do you cherish +that you can imagine that a son of Willard Merwyn has no life of +his own to live? It is now just as impossible for me to idle away +my best years in a foreign land as it would be for me to return +to my cradle. I shall look after your interests and comfort to the +best of my ability, and, if you decide to return to New York, you +shall be received with every courtesy." + +"I shall never return to New York. I would much prefer to go to my +plantation and share the fortunes of my own people." + +"I supposed you would feel in that way, and I will do all in +my power to further your wishes, whatever they may be. My wishes, +in personal matters, are now equally entitled to respect. I shall +carry them out;" and with a bow that precluded all further remonstrance +he left the room. + +A day or two later she asked, abruptly, "Will you use your means +and influence against the South?" + +"Yes." + +Mrs. Merwyn's face became rigid, but nothing more was said. When +he bade her good-by there was an evident struggle in her heart, +but she repressed all manifestations of feeling, and mother and +son parted. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +COMING TO THE POINT. + + + + + +WHEN the tide has long been rising the time comes for it to recede. +From the moment of Marian's awakening to a desire for a better +womanhood, she had been under a certain degree of mental excitement +and exaltation. This condition had culminated with the events +that wrought up the loyal North into suspense, anguish, and stern, +relentless purpose. + +While these events had a national and world-wide significance, they +also pressed closely, in their consequences, on individual life. +It has been shown how true this was in the experience of Marian. +Her own personal struggle alone, in which she was combating the +habits and weakness of the past, would not have been a trivial +matter,--it never is when there is earnest endeavor,--but, in +addition to this, her whole soul had been kindling in sympathy with +the patriotic fire that was impelling her dearest friends towards +danger and possible death. Lane's, Strahan's, and Blauvelt's +departure, and her father's peril, had brought her to a point that +almost touched the limit of endurance. Then had come the man whose +attentions had been so humiliating to her personally, and who +represented to her the genius of the Rebellion that was bringing +her such cruel experience. She saw his spirit of condescension even +in his offer of marriage; worse still, she saw that he belittled +the conflict in which even her father was risking his life; and her +indignation and resentment had burst forth upon him with a power +that she could not restrain. + +The result had been most unexpected. Instead of slinking away +overwhelmed with shame and confusion, or departing in haughty anger, +Merwyn had revealed to her that which is rarely witnessed by any +one,--the awakening of a strong, passionate nature. In the cynical, +polished, self-pleasing youth was something of which she had not +dreamed,--of which he was equally unaware. Her bitter words pierced +through the strata of self-sufficiency and pride that had been +accumulating for years. She stabbed with truth the outer man and +slew it, but the inner and possible manhood felt the sharp thrust +and sprung up wounded, bleeding, and half desperate with pain. That +which wise and kindly education might have developed was evoked in +sudden agony, strong yet helpless, overwhelmed with the humiliating +consciousness of what had been, and seeing not the way to what +she would honor. Yet in that supreme moment the instinct asserted +itself that she, who had slain his meaner self, had alone the power +to impart the impulse toward true manhood and to give the true +measure of it. Hence a declaration so passionate, and an appeal so +full of his immense desire and need, that she was frightened, and +faltered helplessly. + +In the following weary days of suffering and weakness, she realized +that she was very human, and not at all the exalted heroine that +she had unconsciously come to regard herself. The suitor whom she +had thought to dismiss in contempt and anger, and to have done with, +could not be banished from her mind. The fact that he had proved +himself to be all that she had thought him did not satisfy her, +for the reason that he had apparently shown himself to be so much +more. She had judged him superficially, and punished him accordingly. +She had condemned him unsparingly for traits which, except for a few +short months, had been her own characteristics. While it was true +that they seemed more unworthy in a man, still they were essentially +the same. + +"But he was not a man," she sighed. "He was scarcely more than the +selfish boy that wealth, indulgence, and fashionable life had made +him. Why was I so blind to this? Why could I not have seen that +nothing had ever touched him deeply enough to show what he was, +or, at least, of what he was capable? What was Strahan before his +manhood was awakened? A little gossiping exquisite. Even Mr. Lane, +who was always better than any of us, has changed wonderfully +since he has had exceptional motives for noble action. What was I, +myself, last June, when I was amusing myself at the expense of a +man whom I knew to be so good and true? In view of all this, instead +of having a little charity for Mr. Merwyn, who, no doubt, is only +the natural product of the influences of his life, I only tolerated +him in the vindictive hope of giving the worst blow that a woman can +inflict. I might have seen that he had a deeper nature; at least, +I might have hoped that he had, and given him a chance to reveal +it. Perhaps there has never been one who tried to help him toward +true manhood. He virtually said that his mother was a Southern +fanatic, and his associations have been with those abroad who +sympathized with her. Is it strange that a mere boy of twenty-one +should be greatly influenced by his mother and her aristocratic +friends? He said his father was a Northern man, and he may have +imbibed the notion that he could not fight on either side. Well, +if he will give up such a false idea, if he will show that he is +not cold-blooded and calculating, as his last outbreak seemed to +prove, and can become as brave and true a soldier as Strahan, I +will make amends by treating him as I do Strahan, and will try to +feel as friendly towards him. He shall not have the right to say +I'm 'not a woman but a fanatic.'" + +She proved herself a woman by the effort to make excuses for one +towards whom she had been severe, by her tendency to relent after +she had punished to her heart's content. + +"But," added the girl aloud, in the solitude of her room, "while I +may give him my hand in some degree of kindliness and friendship, +if he shows a different spirit, he shall never have my colors, never +my loyal and almost sisterly love, until he has shown the courage +and manhood of Mr. Lane and Mr. Strahan. They shall have the first +place until a better knight appears." + +When, one September evening, her father quietly entered his home +he gave her an impulse towards convalescence beyond the power of +all remedies. There were in time mutual confidences, though his +were but partial, because relating to affairs foreign to her life, +and tending to create useless anxieties in respect to the future. +He was one of those sagacious, fearless agents whom the government, +at that period, employed in many and secret ways. For obvious reasons +the nature and value of their services will never be fully known. + + +Marian was unreserved in her relation of what had occurred, and +her father smiled and reassured her. + +"In one sense you are right," he said. "We should have a broader, +kindlier charity for all sorts of people, and remember that, since +we do not know their antecedents and the influences leading to +their actions, we should not be hasty to judge. Your course might +have been more Christian-like towards young Merwyn, it is true. +Coming from you, however, in your present state of development, +it was very natural, and I'm not sure but he richly deserved your +words. If he has good mettle he will be all the better for them. +If he spoke from mere impulse and goes back to his old life and +associations, I'm glad my little girl was loyal and brave enough +to lodge in his memory truths that he won't forget. Take the good +old doctrine to your relenting heart and don't forgive him until +he 'brings forth fruits meet for repentance.' I'm proud of you that +you gave the young aristocrat such a wholesome lesson in regard to +genuine American manhood and womanhood." + +Mrs. Vosburgh's reception of her husband was a blending of welcome +and reproaches. What right had he to overwhelm them with anxiety, +etc., etc.? + +"The right of about a million men who are taking part in the +struggle," he replied, laughing at her good-naturedly. + +"But I can't permit or endure it any longer," said his wife, and +there was irritation in her protest. + +"Well, my dear," he replied, with a shrug, "I must remain among +the eccentric millions who continue to act according to their own +judgment." + +"Mamma!" cried Marian, who proved that she was getting well by a +tendency to speak sharply, "do you wish papa to be poorer-spirited +than any of the million? What kind of a man would he be should he +reply, 'Just as you say, my dear; I've no conscience, or will of my +own'? I do not believe that any girl in the land will suffer more +than I when those I love are in danger, but I'd rather die than +blockade the path of duty with my love." + + +"Yes, and some day when you are fatherless you may repent those +words," sobbed Mrs. Vosburgh. + +"This will not answer," said Mr. Vosburgh, in a tone that quieted +both mother and daughter, who at this stage were inclined to be a +little hysterical. "A moment's rational thought will convince you +that words cannot influence me. I know exactly what I owe to you and +to my country, and no earthly power can change my course a hair's +breadth. If I should be brought home dead to-morrow, Marian would +not have the shadow of a reason for self-reproach. She would have +no more to do with it than with the sunrise. Your feelings, in +both instances, are natural enough, and no doubt similar scenes are +taking place all over the land; but men go just the same, as they +should do and always have done in like emergencies. So wipe away +your tears, little women. You have nothing to cry about yet, while +many have." + +The master mind controlled and quieted them. Mrs. Vosburgh looked +at her husband a little curiously, and it dawned upon her more +clearly than ever before that the man whom she managed, as she +fancied, was taking his quiet, resolute way through life with his +own will at the helm. + +Marian thought, "Ah, why does not mamma idolize such a man and find +her best life in making the most of his life?" + +She had, as yet, scarcely grasped the truth that, as disease +enfeebles the body, so selfishness disables the mind, robbing it of +the power to care for others, or to understand them. In a sense +Mr. Vosburgh would always be a stranger to his wife. He had +philosophically and patiently accepted the fact, and was making +the best of the relation as it existed. + +It was now decided that the family should return at once to their +city home. Mr. Vosburgh had a few days of leisure to superintend +the removal, and then his duties would become engrossing. + +The evening before their departure was one of mild, charming +beauty, and as the dining-room was partially dismantled, it was Mr. +Vosburgh's fancy to have the supper-table spread on the veranda. +The meal was scarcely finished when a tall, broad-shouldered man +appeared at the foot of the steps, and Sally, the pretty waitress, +manifested a blushing consciousness of his presence. + +"Wud Mr. Vosburgh let me spake to him a moment?" began the stranger. + +Marian recognized the voice that, from the shrubbery, had +given utterance to the indignant protest against traits which had +once characterized her own life and motives. Thinking it possible +that her memory was at fault, she glanced at Sally's face and the +impression was confirmed. "What ages have passed since that June +evening!" she thought. + +"Is it anything private, my man?" asked Mr. Vosburgh, pushing back +his chair and lighting a cigar. + +"Faix, zur, it's nothin' oi'm ashamed on. I wish to lave the country +and get a place on the perlace force," repeated the man, with an +alacrity which showed that he wished Sally to hear his request. + +"You look big and strong enough to handle most men." + +"Ye may well say that, zur; oi've not sane the man yit that oi was +afeared on." + +Sally chuckled over her knowledge that this was not true in respect +to women, while Marian whispered to her father: "Secure him the +place if you can, papa. You owe a great deal to him and so do I, +although he does not know it. This is the man whose words, spoken +to Sally, disgusted me with my old life. Don't you remember?" + +Mr. Vosburgh's eyes twinkled, as he shot a swift glance at Sally, +whose face was redder than the sunset. The man's chief attraction +to the city was apparent. + +"What's your name?" the gentleman asked. + +"Barney Ghegan, zur." + +"Are you perfectly loyal to the North? Will you help carry out the +laws, even against your own flesh and blood, if necessary?" + +"Oi'll 'bey orders, zur," replied the man, emphatically. "Oi've +come to Amarekay to stay, and oi'll stan' by the goovernment." + +"Can you bring me a certificate of your character?" + +"Oi can, zur, for foive years aback." + +"Bring it then, Barney, and you shall go on the force; for you're +a fine, strong-looking man,--the kind needed in these days," said +Mr. Vosburgh, glad to do a good turn for one who unwittingly had +rendered him so great a service, and also amused at this later +aspect of the affair. + +This amusement was greatly enhanced by observing Barney's proud, +triumphant glance at Sally. Turning quickly to note its effect on +the girl, Mr. Vosburgh caught the coquettish maid in the act of +making a grimace at her much-tormented suitor. + +Sally's face again became scarlet, and in embarrassed haste she +began to clear the table. + +Barney was retiring slowly, evidently wishing for an interview +with his elusive charmer before he should return to his present +employers, and Mr. Vosburgh good-naturedly put in a word in his +favor. + +"Stay, Barney, and have some supper before you go home. In behalf +of Mrs. Vosburgh I give you a cordial invitation." + +"Yes," added the lady, who had been quietly laughing. "Now that you +are to be so greatly promoted we shall be proud to have you stay." + +Barney doffed his hat and exclaimed, "Long loife to yez all, +espacially to the swate-faced young leddy that first spoke a good +wourd for me, oi'm a-thinkin';" and he stepped lightly around to +the rear of the house. + +"Sally," said Mr. Vosburgh, with preternatural gravity. + +The girl courtesied and nearly dropped a dish. + +"Mr. Barney Ghegan will soon be receiving a large salary." + +Sally courtesied again, but her black eyes sparkled as she whisked +the rest of the things from the table and disappeared. She maintained +her old tactics during supper and before the other servants, exulting +in the fact that the big, strong man was on pins and needles, devoid +of appetite and peace. + +"'Afeared o' no mon,' he says," she thought, smilingly. "He's so +afeared o' me that he's jist a tremblin'." + +After her duties were over, Barney said, mopping his brow: "Faix, +but the noight is warm. A stroll in the air wudn't be bad, oi'm +a-thinkin'." + +"Oi'm cool as a cowcumber," remarked Sally. "We'll wait for ye till +ye goes out and gits cooled off;" and she sat down complacently, +while the cook and the laundress tittered. + +An angry sparkle began to assert itself in Barney's blue eyes, and +he remarked drily, as he took his hat, "Yez moight wait longer than +yez bargained for." + +The shrewd girl saw that she was at the length of her chain, and +sprung up, saying: "Oh, well, since the mistress invited ye so +politely, ye's company, and it's me duty to thry to entertain ye. +Where shall we go?" she added, as she passed out with him. + +"To the rustic sate, sure. Where else shud we go?" + +"A rustic sate is a quare place for a stroll." + +"Oi shall have so much walkin' on me bate in New York, that it's +well to begin settin' down aready, oi'm a-thinkin'." + +"Why, Barney, ye're going to be a reg'lar tramp. Who'd 'a thought +that ye'd come down to that." + +"Ah! arrah, wid ye nonsense! Sit ye down here, for oi'm a-goin' to +spake plain the noight. Noo, by the Holy Vargin, oi'm in arenest. +Are ye goin' to blow hot, or are ye goin' to blow could?" + +"Considerin' the hot night, Barney, wouldn't it be better for me +to blow could?" + +Barney scratched his head in perplexity. "Ye know what I mane," he +ejaculated. + +"Where will ye foind the girl that tells all she knows?" + +"O Sally, me darlint, what's the use of batin' around the bush? +Ye know that a cat niver looked at crame as oi look on ye," said +Barney, in a wheedling tone, and trying the tactics of coaxing once +more. + +He sat down beside her and essayed with his insinuating arm to +further his cause as his words had not done. + +"Arrah, noo, Barney Ghegan, what liberties wud ye be takin' wid a +respectable girl?" and she drew away decidedly. + +He sprung to his feet and exploded in the words: "Sally Maguire, +will ye be me woife? By the holy poker! Answer, yis or no." + +Sally rose, also, and in equally pronounced tones replied: "Yes, +Barney Ghegan, I will, and I'll be a good and faithful one, too. +It's yeself that's been batin' round the bush. Did ye think a woman +was a-goin' to chase ye over hill and down dale and catch ye by +the scruff of the neck? What do ye take me for?" + +"Oi takes ye for better, Sally, me darlint;" and then followed +sounds suggesting the popping of a dozen champagne corks. + +Mr. Vosburgh, his wife, and Marian had been chatting quietly +on the piazza, unaware of the scene taking place in the screening +shrubbery until Barney's final question had startled the night like +a command to "stand and deliver." + +Repressing laughter with difficulty they tiptoed into the house +and closed the door. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A GIRL'S STANDARD. + + + + + +THE month of September, 1862, was a period of strong excitement +and profound anxiety on both sides of the vague and shifting line +which divided the loyal North from the misguided but courageous +South. During the latter part of August Gen. Pope had been +overwhelmed with disaster, and what was left of his heroic army +was driven within the fortifications erected for the defence of +Washington. Apparently the South had unbounded cause for exultation. +But a few weeks before their capital had been besieged by an immense +army, while a little to the north, upon the Rappahannock, rested +another Union army which, under a leader like Stonewall Jackson, +would have been formidable enough in itself to tax Lee's skill and +strength to the utmost. Except in the immediate vicinity of the +capital and Fortress Monroe scarcely a National soldier had been +left in Virginia. The Confederates might proudly claim that the +generalship of Lee and the audacity of Jackson had swept the Northern +invaders from the State. + +Even more important than the prestige and glory won was the fact +that the Virginian farmers were permitted to gather their crops +unmolested. The rich harvests of the Shenandoah Valley and other +regions, that had been and should have been occupied by National +troops, were allowed to replenish the Confederate granaries. There +were rejoicings and renewed confidence in Southern homes, and smiles +of triumph on the faces of sympathizers abroad and throughout the +North. + +But the astute leaders of the Rebellion were well aware that the +end had not yet come, and that, unless some bold, paralyzing blow +was struck, the struggle was but fairly begun. In response to the +request for more men new armies were springing up at the North. The +continent shook under the tread of hosts mustering with the stern +purpose that the old flag should cover every inch of the heritage +left by our fathers. + +Therefore, Lee was not permitted to remain on the defensive a moment, +but was ordered to cross the Potomac in the rear of Washington, +threatening that city and Baltimore. It was supposed that the advent +of a Southern army into Maryland would create such an enthusiastic +uprising that thinned ranks would be recruited, and the State +brought into close relation with the Confederate Government. These +expectations were not realized. The majority sympathized with +Barbara Frietchie, + +"Bravest of all in Frederick town," + +rather than with their self-styled deliverers; and Lee lost more +by desertion from his own ranks than he gained in volunteers. In +this same town of Frederick, by strange carelessness on the part +of the rebels, was left an order which revealed to McClellan Lee's +plans and the positions which his divided army were to occupy during +the next few days. Rarely has history recorded such opportunities +as were thus accidentally given to the Union commander. + +The ensuing events proved that McClellan's great need was not the +reinforcements for which he so constantly clamored, but decision +and energy of character. Had he possessed these qualities he could +have won for himself, from the fortuitous order which fell into his +hands, a wreath of unfading laurel, and perhaps have saved almost +countless lives of his fellow-countrymen. As it was, if he had +only advanced his army a little faster, the twelve thousand Union +soldiers, surrendered by the incompetent and pusillanimous Gen. +Miles, would have been saved from the horrors of captivity and +secured as a valuable reinforcement. To the very last, fortune +appeared bent on giving him opportunity. The partial success won +on the 17th of September, at the battle of Antietam, might easily +have been made a glorious victory if McClellan had had the vigor +to put in enough troops, especially including Burnside's corps, +earlier in the day. Again, on the morning of the 18th, he had only +to take the initiative, as did Grant after the first day's fighting +at Shiloh, and Lee could scarcely have crossed the Potomac with a +corporal's guard. But, as usual, he hesitated, and the enemy that +robbed him of one of the highest places in history was not the +Confederate general or his army, but a personal trait,--indecision. +In the dawn of the 19th he sent out his cavalry to reconnoitre, and +learned that his antagonist was safe in Virginia. Fortune, wearied +at last, finally turned her back upon her favorite. The desperate +and bloody battle resulted in little else than the ebb of the +tide of war southward. Northern people, it is true, breathed more +freely. Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington were safe for the +present, but this seemed a meagre reward for millions of treasure +and tens of thousands of lives, especially when the capture of Richmond +and the end of the Rebellion had been so confidently promised. + +If every village and hamlet in the land was profoundly stirred by +these events, it can well be understood that the commercial centre +of New York throbbed like an irritated nerve under the telegraph +wires concentring there from the scenes of action. Every possible +interest, every variety of feeling, was touched in its vast and +heterogeneous population, and the social atmosphere was electrical +with excitement. + +From her very constitution, now that she had begun to comprehend +the nature of the times, Marian Vosburgh could not breathe this air +in tranquillity. She was, by birthright, a spirited, warm-hearted +girl, possessing all a woman's disposition towards partisanship. +Everything during the past few months had tended to awaken a deep +interest in the struggle, and passing events intensified it. Not +only in the daily press did she eagerly follow the campaign, but +from her father she learned much that was unknown to the general +public. To a girl of mind the great drama in itself could not fail +to become absorbing, but when it is remembered that those who had +the strongest hold upon her heart were imperilled actors in the +tragedy, the feeling with which she watched the shifting scenes +may in some degree be appreciated. She often saw her father's brow +clouded with deep anxiety, and dreaded that each new day might +bring orders which would again take him into danger. + +While the letters of her loyal friend, Lane, veiled all that was +hard and repulsive in his service, she knew that the days of drill +and equipment would soon be over, and that the new regiment must +participate in the dangers of active duty. This was equally true of +Strahan and Blauvelt. She laughed heartily over their illustrated +journal, which, in the main, gave the comic side of their life. But +she never laid it aside without a sigh, for she read much between +the lines, and knew that the hour of battle was rapidly approaching. +Thus far they had been within the fortifications at Washington, +for the authorities had learned the folly of sending undisciplined +recruits to the front. + +At last, when the beautiful month of October was ended, and Lee's +shattered army was rested and reorganized, McClellan once more +crossed the Potomac. Among the reinforcements sent to him were the +regiments of which Lane and Strahan were members. The letters of +her friends proved that they welcomed the change and with all the +ardor of brave, loyal men looked forward to meeting the enemy. In +heart and thought she went with them, but a sense of their danger +fell, like a shadow, across her spirit. She appeared years older +than the thoughtless girl for whom passing pleasure and excitement +had been the chief motives of life; but in the strengthening lines +of her face a womanly beauty was developing which caused even +strangers to turn and glance after her. + +If Merwyn still retained some hold upon her thoughts and curiosity, +so much could scarcely be said of her sympathy. He had disappeared +from the moment when she had harshly dismissed him, and she was +beginning to feel that she had been none too severe, and to believe +that his final words had been spoken merely from impulse. If he +were amusing himself abroad, Marian, in her intense loyalty, would +despise him; if he were permitting himself to be identified with +his mother's circle of Southern sympathizers, the young girl's +contempt would be tinged with detestation. He had approached her +too nearly, and humiliated her too deeply, to be readily forgotten +or forgiven. His passionate outbreak at last had been so intense +as to awaken strong echoes in her woman's soul. If return to a +commonplace fashionable life was to be the only result of the past, +she would scarcely ever think of him without an angry sparkle in +her eyes. + +After she had learned that her friends were in the field and +therefore exposed to the dangers of battle at any time, she had +soliloquized, bitterly: "He promised to 'measure everything by the +breadth of my woman's soul.' What does he know about a true woman's +soul? He has undoubtedly found his selfish nature and his purse +more convenient gauges of the world. Well, he knows of one girl +who cannot be bought." + +Her unfavorable impression was confirmed one cold November morning. +Passing down Madison Avenue, her casual attention was attracted by +the opening of a door on the opposite side of the street. She only +permitted her swift glance to take in the fact that it was Merwyn +who descended the steps and entered an elegant coupe driven by +a man in a plain livery. After the vehicle had been whirled away, +curiosity prompted her to retrace her steps that she might look +more closely at the residence of the man who had asked her to be +his wife. It was evidently one of the finest and most substantial +houses on the avenue. + +A frown contracted the young girl's brow as she muttered: "He +aspired to my hand,--he, who fares sumptuously in that brown-stone +palace while such men as Mr. Lane are fortunate to have a canvas +roof over their heads. He had the narrowness of mind to half-despise +Arthur Strahan, who left equal luxury to face every danger and +hardship. Thank Heaven I planted some memories in his snobbish +soul!" + +Thereafter she avoided that locality. + +In the evening, with words scarcely less bitter, she mentioned to +her father the fact that she had seen Merwyn and his home. + +Mr. Vosburgh smiled and said, "You have evidently lost all compunctions +in regard to your treatment of the young fellow." + +"I have, indeed. The battle of Antietam alone would place a Red +Sea between me and any young American who can now live a life of +selfish luxury. Think how thousands of our brave men will sleep +this stormy night on the cold, rain-soaked ground, and then think +of his cold-blooded indifference to it all!" + +"Why think of him at all, Marian?" her father asked, with a quizzical +smile. + +The color deepened slightly in her face as she replied: "Why +shouldn't I think of him to some extent? He has crossed my path in +no ordinary way. His attentions at first were humiliating, and he +awakened an antipathy such as I never felt towards any one before. +He tried to belittle you, my friends, and the cause to which you +are devoted. Then, when I told him the truth about himself, he +appeared to have manhood enough to comprehend it. His words made me +think of a man desperately wounded, and my sympathies were touched, +and I felt that I had been unduly severe and all that. In fact, I +was overwrought, ill, morbid, conscience-stricken as I remembered +my own past life, and he appeared to feel what I said so awfully +that I couldn't forget it. I had silly dreams and hopes that he +would assert his manhood and take a loyal part in the struggle. +But what has been his course? So far as I can judge, it has been +in keeping with his past. Settling down to a life of ease and +money-making here would be little better, in my estimation, than +amusing himself abroad. It would be simply another phase of following +his own mood and inclinations; and I shall look upon his outburst +and appeal as hysterical rather than passionate and sincere." + +Mr. Vosburgh listened, with a half-amused expression, to his daughter's +indignant and impetuous words, but only remarked, quietly, "Suppose +you find that you have judged Mr. Merwyn unjustly?" + +"I don't think I have done so. At any rate, one can only judge from +what one knows." + +"Stick to that. Your present impressions and feelings do you credit, +and I am glad that your friends' loyal devotion counts for more +in your esteem than Merwyn's wealth. Still, in view of your scheme +of life to make the most and best of men of brains and force, I do +not think you have given the young nabob time and opportunity to +reveal himself fully. He may have recently returned from England, +and, since his mother was determined to reside abroad, it was his +duty to establish her well before returning. You evidently have +not dismissed him from your thoughts. Since that is true, do not +condemn him utterly until you see what he does. What if he again +seeks your society?" + +"Well, I don't know, papa. As I feel to-night I never wish to see +him again." + +"I'm not sure of that, little girl. You are angry and vindictive. +If he were a nonentity you would be indifferent." + +"Astute papa! That very fact perplexes me. But haven't I explained +why I cannot help thinking of him to some extent?" + +"No, not even to yourself." + +Marian bit her lip with something like vexation, then said, +reproachfully, "Papa, you can't think that I care for him?" + +"Oh, no,--not in the sense indicated by your tone. But your silly +dreams and hopes, as you characterize them, have taken a stronger +hold upon you than you realize. You are disappointed as well as +angry. You have entertained the thought that he might do something, +or become more in harmony with the last words he spoke to you." + +"Well, he hasn't." + +"You have not yet given him sufficient time, perhaps. I shall not +seek to influence you in the matter, but the question still presents +itself: What if he again seeks your society and shows a disposition +to make good his words?" + +"I shall not show him," replied Marian, proudly, "greater favor +than such friends as Mr. Lane and Mr. Strahan required. Without +being influenced by me, they decided to take part in the war. After +they had taken the step which did so much credit to their manly +courage and loyalty, they came and told me of it. If Mr. Merwyn +should show equal spirit and patriotism and be very humble in view +of the past, I should, of course, feel differently towards him. If +he don't--" and the girl shook her head ominously. + +Her father laughed heartily. "Why!" he exclaimed; "I doubt whether +in all the sunny South there is such a little fire-eater as we have +here." + +"No, papa, no," cried Marian, with suddenly moistening eyes. "I +regret the war beyond all power of expression. I could not ask, +much less urge, any one to go, and my heart trembles and shrinks +when I think of danger threatening those I love. But I honor--I +almost worship--courage, loyalty, patriotism. Do you think I can +ever love any one as I do you? Yet I believe you would go to Richmond +to-morrow if you were so ordered. I ask nothing of this Merwyn, or +of any one; but he who asks my friendship must at least be brave +and loyal enough to go where my father would lead. Even if I loved a +man, even if I were married, I would rather that the one _I_ loved +did all a man's duty, though my heart was broken and my life blighted +in consequence, than to have him seeking safety and comfort in some +eminently prudent, temporizing course." + +Mr. Vosburgh put his arm around his daughter, as he looked, for a +moment, into her tear-dimmed eyes, then kissed her good-night, and +said, quietly, "I understand you, Marian." + +"But, papa!" she exclaimed, in sudden remorsefulness, "you won't +take any risks that you can honorably escape?" + +"I promise you I won't go out to-night in search of the nearest +recruiting sergeant," replied her father, with a reassuring laugh. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +PROBATION PROMISED. + + + + + +MERWYN had been in the city some little time when Marian, unknown +to him, learned of his presence. He, also, had seen her more than +once, and while her aspect had increased his admiration and a +feeling akin to reverence, it had also disheartened him. To a degree +unrecognized by the girl herself, her present motives and stronger +character had changed the expression of her face. He had seen her +when unconscious of observation and preoccupied by thoughts which +made her appear grave and almost stern, and he was again assured +that the advantages on which he had once prided himself were as +nothing to her compared with the loyalty of friends now in Virginia. +He could not go there, nor could he explain why he must apparently +shun danger and hardship. He felt that his oath to his mother would +be, in her eyes, no extenuation of his conduct. Indeed, he believed +that she would regard the fact that he could give such a pledge +as another proof of his unworthiness to be called an American. How +could it be otherwise when he himself could not look back upon the +event without a sense of deep personal humiliation? + +"I was an idiotic fool when I gave away manhood and its rights," +he groaned. "My mother took advantage of me." + +In addition to the personal motive to conceal the fact of his oath, +he had even a stronger one. The revelation of his pledge would be +proof positive of his mother's disloyalty, and might jeopardize +the property on which she and his sisters depended for support. +Moreover, while he bitterly resented Mrs. Merwyn's course towards +him he felt that honor and family loyalty required that he should +never speak a word to her discredit. The reflection implied in +his final words to Marian had been wrung from him in the agony of +a wounded spirit, and he now regretted them. Henceforth he would +hide the fetters which in restraining him from taking the part in +the war now prompted by his feelings also kept him from the side of +the girl who had won the entire allegiance of his awakened heart. +He did not know how to approach her, and feared lest a false step +should render the gulf between them impassable. He saw that her +pride, while of a different character, was greater than his own +had ever been, and that the consideration of his birth and wealth, +which he had once dreamed must outweigh all things else, would not +influence her in the slightest degree. Men whom she regarded as his +equals in these respects were not only at her feet but also facing +the enemy as her loyal knights. How pitiable a figure in her eyes +he must ever make compared with them! + +But there is no gravitation like that of the heart. He felt that +he must see her again, and was ready to sue for even the privilege +of being tolerated in her drawing-room on terms little better than +those formerly accorded him. + +When he arrived in New York he had hesitated as to his course. His +first impulse had been to adopt a life of severe and inexpensive +simplicity. But he soon came to look upon this plan as an affectation. +There was his city home, and he had a perfect right to occupy it, +and abundant means to maintain it. After seeing Marian's resolute, +earnest face as she passed in the street unconscious of his +scrutiny, and after having learned more about her father from his +legal adviser, the impression grew upon him that he had lost his +chance, and he was inclined to take refuge in a cold, proud reticence +and a line of conduct that would cause no surmises and questionings +on the part of the world. He would take his natural position, and +live in such a way as to render curiosity impertinent. + +He had inherited too much of his father's temperament to sit down +in morbid brooding, and even were he disposed toward such weakness +he felt that his words to Marian required that he should do all +that he was now free to perform in the advancement of the cause to +which she was devoted. She might look with something like contempt +on a phase of loyalty which gave only money when others were giving +themselves, but it was the best he could do. Whether she would ever +recognize the truth or not, his own self-respect required that he +should keep his word and try to look at things from her point of +view, and, as far as possible, act accordingly. For a time he was +fully occupied with Mr. Bodoin in obtaining a fuller knowledge of +his property and the nature of its investment. Having learned more +definitely about his resources he next followed the impulse to aid +the cause for which he could not fight. + +A few mornings after the interview between Marian and her father +described in the previous chapter, Mr. Vosburgh, looking over his +paper at the breakfast-table, laughed and said: "What do you think +of this, Marian? Here is Merwyn's name down for a large donation +to the Sanitary and Christian Commissions." + +His daughter smiled satirically as she remarked, "Such heroism +takes away my breath." + +"You are losing the power, Marian," said her mother, irritably, +"of taking moderate, common-sense views of anything relating to +the war. If the cause is first in your thoughts why not recognize +the fact that Mr. Merwyn can do tenfold more with his money than +if he went to the front and 'stopped a bullet,' as your officer +friends express themselves? You are unfair, also. Instead of giving +Mr. Merwyn credit for a generous act you sneer at him." + +The girl bit her lip, and looked perplexed for a moment. "Well, +then," she said, "I will give him credit. He has put himself to the +inconvenience of writing two checks for amounts that he will miss +no more than I would five cents." + +"Ask your father," resumed Mrs. Vosburgh, indignantly, "if the +men who sustain these great charities and the government are not +just as useful as soldiers in the field. What would become of the +soldiers if business in the city should cease? Your ideas, carried +out fully, would lead your father to start to the front with a +musket, instead of remaining where he can accomplish the most good." + +"You are mistaken, mamma. My only fear is that he will incur too +many risks as it is. I have never asked any one to go to the front, +and I certainly would not ask Mr. Merwyn. Indeed, when I think of +the cause, I would rather he should do as you suggest. I should be +glad to have him give thousands and increase the volume of business +by millions; but if he gave all he has, he could not stand in my +estimation with men who offer their lives and risk mutilation and +untold suffering from wounds. I know nothing of Mr. Merwyn's present +motives, and they may be anything but patriotic. He may think it to +his advantage to win some reputation for loyalty, when it is well +known that his mother has none at all. Those two gifts, paltry +for one of his means, count very little in these days of immense +self-sacrifice. I value, in times of danger, especially when great +principles are at stake, self-sacrifice and uncalculating heroism +above all things, and I prefer to choose my friends from among +those who voluntarily exhibit these qualities. No man living could +win my favor who took risks merely to please me. Mr. Merwyn is +nothing to me, and if I should ever meet him again socially, which +is not probable, I should be the last one to suggest that he should +go to the war; but if he, or any one, wishes my regard, there +must be a compliance with the conditions on which I give it. I am +content with the friends I have." + +Mr. Vosburgh looked at his daughter for a moment as if she were +fulfilling his ideal, and soon after departed for his office. +A few days after, when the early shadows of the late autumn were +gathering, he was interrupted in his preparations to return up town +by the entrance of the subject of the recent discussion. + +Merwyn was pale and evidently embarrassed as he asked, "Mr. Vosburgh, +have you a few moments of leisure?" + +"Yes," replied the gentleman, briefly. + +He led the way to a private office and gave his caller a chair. + +The young man was at a loss to begin a conversation necessarily of +so delicate a nature, and hesitated. + +Mr. Vosburgh offered no aid or encouragement, for his thought was, +"This young fellow must show his hand fully before I commit myself +or Marian in the slightest degree." + +"Miss Vosburgh, no doubt, has told you of the character of our last +interview," Merwyn began at last, plunging in medias res. + +"My daughter is in the habit of giving me her confidence," was the +quiet reply. + +"Then, sir, you know how unworthy I am to make the request to which +I am nevertheless impelled. In justice I can hope for nothing. I +have forfeited the privilege of meeting Miss Vosburgh again, and I +do not feel that it would be right for me to see her without your +permission. The motives which first led me into her society were +utterly unworthy of a true man, and had she been the ordinary +society girl that I supposed she was, the results might have been +equally deserving of condemnation. I will not plead in extenuation +that I had been unfortunate in my previous associations, and in +the influences that had developed such character as I had. Can you +listen to me patiently?" + +The gentleman bowed. + +"I eventually learned to comprehend Miss Vosburgh's superiority in +some degree, and was so fascinated by her that I offered marriage +in perfect good faith; but the proposal was made in a complacent +and condescending spirit that was so perfectly absurd that now I +wonder at my folly. Her reply was severe, but not so severe as I +deserved, and she led me to see myself at last in a true light. It +is little I can now ask or hope. My questions narrow down to these: +Is Miss Vosburgh disposed to give me only justice? Have I offended +her so deeply that she cannot meet me again? Had my final words no +weight with her? She has inspired in me the earnest wish to achieve +such character as I am capable of,--such as circumstances permit. +During the summer I saw her influence over others. She was the +first one in the world who awakened in my own breast the desire +to be different. I cannot hope that she will soon, if ever, look +upon me as a friend; but if she can even tolerate me with some degree +of kindliness and good-will, I feel that I should be the better +and happier for meeting her occasionally. If this is impossible, +please say to her that the pledge implied among the last words +uttered on that evening, which I shall never forget, shall be kept. +I shall try to look at right and duty as she would." + +As he concluded, Mr. Vosburgh's face softened somewhat. For a while +the young man's sentences had been a little formal and studied, +evidently the result of much consideration; they had nevertheless +the impress of truth. The gentleman's thought was: "If Mr. Merwyn +makes good his words by deeds this affair has not yet ended. My +little girl has been much too angry and severe not to be in danger +of a reaction." + +After a moment of silence he said: "Mr. Merwyn, I can only speak for +myself in this matter. Of course, I naturally felt all a father's +resentment at your earlier attentions to my daughter. Since you +have condemned them unsparingly I need not refer to them again. I +respect your disposition to atone for the past and to enter on a +life of manly duty. You have my hearty sympathy, whatever may be the +result. I also thank you for your frank words to me. Nevertheless, +Miss Vosburgh must answer the questions you have asked. She is +supreme in her drawing-room, and alone can decide whom she will +receive there. I know she will not welcome any one whom she believes +to be unworthy to enter. I will tell her all that you have said." + +"I do not hope to be welcomed, sir. I only ask to be received with +some degree of charity. May I call on you to-morrow and learn Miss +Vosburgh's decision?" + +"Certainly, at any hour convenient to you." + +Merwyn bowed and retired. When alone he said, with a deep sigh of +relief: "Well, I have done all in my power at present. If she has +a woman's heart she won't be implacable." + +"What kept you so late?" Mrs. Vosburgh asked, as her husband came +down to dinner. + +"A gentleman called and detained me." + +"Give him my compliments when you see him again," said Marian, +"and tell him that I don't thank him for his unreasonable hours. +You need more recreation, papa. Come, take us out to hear some +music to-night." + +A few hours later they were at the Academy, occupying balcony +seats. Marian was glancing over the house, between the acts, with +her glass, when she suddenly arrested its motion, and fixed it on +a lonely occupant of an expensive box. After a moment she handed +the lorgnette to her father, and directed him whither to look. He +smiled and said, "He appears rather pensive and preoccupied, doesn't +he?" + +"I don't fancy pensive, preoccupied men in these times. Why didn't +he fill his box, instead of selfishly keeping it all to himself?" + +"Perhaps he could not secure the company he wished." + +"Who is it?" Mrs. Vosburgh asked. + +She was told, and gave Merwyn a longer scrutiny than the others. + +"Shall I go and give him your compliments and the message you spoke +of at dinner?" resumed Mr. Vosburgh, in a low tone. + +"Was it Mr. Merwyn that called so late?" she asked, with a sudden +intelligence in her eyes. + +Her father nodded, while the suggestion of a smile hovered about +his mouth. + +"Just think of it, Marian!" said Mrs. Vosburgh. "We all might now +be in that box if you had been like other girls." + +"I am well content where I am." + +During the remainder of the evening Mr. Vosburgh observed some +evidences of suppressed excitement in Marian, and saw that she +managed to get a glimpse of that box more than once. Long before +the opera ended it was empty. He pointed out the fact, and said, +humorously, "Mr. Merwyn evidently has something on his mind." + +"I should hope so; and so have you, papa. Has he formally demanded +my hand with the condition that you stop the war, and inform the +politicians that this is their quarrel, and that they must fight +it out with toothpicks?" + +"No; his request was more modest than that." + +"You think I am dying with curiosity, but I can wait until we get +home." + +When they returned, Mr. Vosburgh went to his library, for he was +somewhat owlish in his habits. + +Marian soon joined him, and said: "You must retire as soon as you +have finished that cigar. Even the momentous Mr. Merwyn shall not +keep us up a second longer. Indeed, I am so sleepy already that I may +ask you to begin your tale to-night, and end with 'to be continued.'" + +He looked at her so keenly that her color rose a little, then said, +"I think, my dear, you will listen till I say 'concluded;'" and he +repeated the substance of Merwyn's words. + +She heard him with a perplexed little frown. "What do you think I +ought to do, papa?" + +"Do you remember the conversation we had here last June?" + +"Yes; when shall I forget it?" + +"Well, since you wish my opinion I will give it frankly. It then +became your ambition to make the most and best of men over whom +you had influence, if they were worth the effort. Merwyn has been +faulty and unmanly, as he fully admits himself, but he has proved +apparently that he is not commonplace. You must take your choice, +either to resent the past, or to help him carry out his better +purposes. He does not ask much, although no doubt he hopes for far +more. In granting his request you do not commit yourself to his +hopes in the least." + +"Well, papa, he said that I couldn't possess a woman's heart and +cast him off in utter contempt, so I think I shall have to put him +on probation. But he must be careful not to presume again. I can +be friendly to many, but a friend to very few. Before he suggests +that relation he must prove himself the peer of other friends." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +"YOU THINK ME A COWARD." + + + + + +MERWYN had not been long in the city before he was waited upon +and asked to do his share towards sustaining the opera, and he had +carelessly taken a box which had seldom been occupied. On the evening +after his interview with Mr. Vosburgh, his feeling of suspense was +so great that he thought he could beguile a few hours with music. +He found, however, that the light throng, and even the harmonious +sounds, irritated, rather than diverted, his perturbed mind, and +he returned to his lonely home, and restlessly paced apartments +rendered all the more dreary by their magnificence. + +He proved his solicitude in a way that led Mr. Vosburgh to smile +slightly, for when that gentleman entered his office, Merwyn was +awaiting him. + +"I have only to tell you," he said, in response to the young man's +questioning eyes, "that Miss Vosburgh accedes to your request as +you presented it to me;" and in parting he gave his hand with some +semblance of friendliness. + +Merwyn went away elated, feeling that he had gained all for which +he had a right to hope. Eager as he was for the coming interview +with Marian, he dreaded it and feared that he might be painfully +embarrassed. In this eagerness he started early for an evening +call; but when he reached his destination, he hesitated, passing +and repassing the dwelling before he could gather courage to enter. +The young girl would have smiled, could she have seen her former +suitor, once so complacent and condescending. She certainly could +not complain of lack of humility now. + +At last he perceived that two other callers had passed in, and he +followed them, feeling that their presence would enable both him +and the object of his thoughts to take refuge in conventionalities. + +He was right in this view, for with a scarcely perceptible increase +of color, and a polite bow, Marian received him as she would any +other mere calling acquaintance, introduced him to the two gentlemen +present, and conversation at once became general. Merwyn did not +remain long under constraint. Even Marian had to admit to herself +that he acquitted himself well and promised better for the future. +When topics relating to the war were broached, he not only talked +as loyally as the others, but also proved himself well informed. +Mrs. Vosburgh soon appeared and greeted him cordially, for the +lady was ready enough to entertain the hopes which his presence +again inspired. He felt that his first call, to be in good taste, +should be rather brief, and he took his departure before the others, +Marian bowing with the same distant politeness that had characterized +her greeting. She made it evident that she had granted just what he +had asked and nothing more. Whether he could ever inspire anything +like friendliness the future only would reveal. He had serious +doubts, knowing that he suffered in contrast with even the guests +of the present evening. One was an officer home on sick-leave; the +other exempted from military duty by reason of lameness, which did +not extend to his wit and conversational powers. Merwyn also knew +that he would ever be compared with those near friends now in +Virginia. + +What did he hope? What could he hope? He scarcely knew, and would +not even entertain the questions. He was only too glad that the door +was not closed to him, and, with the innate hopefulness of youth, +he would leave the future to reveal its possibilities. He was so +thoroughly his father's son that he would not be disheartened, and +so thoroughly himself that the course he preferred would be the +one followed, so far as was now possible. + +"Well?" said Mr. Vosburgh, when Marian came to the library to kiss +him good-night. + +"What a big, long question that little word contains!" she cried, +laughing, and there was a little exhilaration in her manner which +did not escape him. + +"You may tell me much, little, or nothing." + +"I will tell you nothing, then, for there is nothing to tell. +I received and parted with Mr. Merwyn on his terms, and those you +know all about. Mamma was quite gracious, and my guests were polite +to him." + +"Are you willing to tell me what impression he made in respect to +his loyalty?" + +"Shrewd papa! You think this the key to the problem. Perhaps it +is, if there is any problem. Well, so far as WORDS went he proved +his loyalty in an incidental way, and is evidently informing himself +concerning events. If he has no better proof to offer than words, +his probation will end unfavorably, even though he may not be +immediately aware of the fact. Of course, now that I have granted +his request, I must be polite to him so long as he chooses to come." + +"Was he as complacent and superior as ever?" + +"Whither is your subtlety tending? Are you, as well as mamma, an +ally of Mr. Merwyn? You know he was not. Indeed, I must admit that, +in manner, he carried out the spirit of his request." + +"Then, to use your own words, he was 'befittingly humble'? No, I am +not his ally. I am disposed to observe the results of your experiment." + +"There shall be no experimenting, papa. Circumstances have enabled +him to understand me as well as he ever can, and he must act in +view of what he knows me to be. I shall not seek to influence him, +except by being myself, nor shall I lower my standard in his favor." + +"Very well, I shall note his course with some interest. It is +evident, however, that the uncertainties of his future action will +not keep either of us awake." + +When she left him, he fell into a long revery, and his concluding +thoughts were: "I doubt whether Marian understands herself in respect +to this young fellow. She is too resentful. She does not feel the +indifference which she seeks to maintain. The subtle, and, as yet, +unrecognized instinct of her womanhood leads her to stand aloof. +This would be the natural course of a girl like Marian towards a man +who, for any cause, had gained an unusual hold upon her thoughts. +I must inform myself thoroughly in regard to this Mr. Merwyn. Thus +far her friends have given me little solicitude; but here is one, +towards whom she is inclined to be hostile, that it may be well to +know all about. Even before she is aware of it herself, she is on +the defensive against him, and this, to a student of human nature, +is significant. She virtually said to-night that he must win his +way and make his own unaided advances toward manhood. Ah, my little +girl! if it was not in him ever to have greater power over you than +Mr. Strahan, you would take a kindlier interest in his efforts." + +If Marian idolized her father as she had said, it can readily +be guessed how much she was to him, and that he was not forgetful +of his purpose to learn more about one who manifested so deep an +interest in his daughter, and who possibly had the power to create +a responsive interest. It so happened that he was acquainted with +Mr. Bodoin, and had employed the shrewd lawyer in some government +affairs. Another case had arisen in which legal counsel was required, +and on the following day advice was sought. + +When this part of the interview was over, Mr. Vosburgh remarked, +casually, "By the way, I believe you are acquainted with Mr. Willard +Merwyn and his affairs." + +"Yes," replied the lawyer, at once on the alert. + +"Do your relations to Mr. Merwyn permit you to give me some +information concerning him?" + +The attorney thought rapidly. His client had recently been inquiring +about Mr. Vosburgh, and, therefore, the interest was mutual. +On general principles it was important that the latter should be +friendly, for he was a secret and trusted agent of the government, +and Mrs. Merwyn's course might render a friend at court essential. +Although the son had not mentioned Marian's name, Mr. Bodoin +shrewdly guessed that she was exerting the influence that had so +greatly changed the young man's views and plans. The calculating +lawyer had never imagined that he would play the role of match-maker, +but he was at once convinced that, in the stormy and uncertain +times, Merwyn could scarcely make a better alliance than the one +he meditated. Therefore with much apparent frankness the astute +lawyer told Mr. Vosburgh all that was favorable to the young man. + +"I think he will prove an unusual character," concluded the lawyer, +"for he is manifesting some of his father's most characteristic +traits," and these were mentioned. "When, after attaining his +majority, the son returned from England, he was in many respects +little better than a shrewd, self-indulgent boy, indifferent +to everything but his own pleasure, but, for some reason, he has +greatly changed. Responsibility has apparently sobered him and made +him thoughtful. I have also told him much about my old friend and +client, his father, and the young fellow is bent on imitating him. +While he is very considerate of his mother and sisters, he has +identified himself with his father's views, and has become a Northern +man to the backbone. Even to a degree contrary to my advice, he +insists on investing his means in government bonds." + +This information was eminently satisfactory, and even sagacious +Mr. Vosburgh did not suspect the motives of the lawyer, whom he +knew to be eager to retain his good-will, since it was in his power +to give much business to those he trusted. + +"I may become Merwyn's ally after all, if he makes good his own +and Mr. Bodoin's words," was his smiling thought, as he returned +to his office. + +He was too wise, however, to use open influence with his daughter, +or to refer to the secret interview. Matters should take their own +course for the present, while he remained a vigilant observer, for +Marian's interest and happiness were dearer to him than his own +life. + +Merwyn sought to use his privilege judiciously, and concentrated +all his faculties on the question of his standing in Marian's +estimation. During the first few weeks, it was evident that his +progress in her favor was slow, if any were made at all. She was +polite, she conversed with him naturally and vivaciously on topics +of general interest, but there appeared to be viewless and impassable +barriers between them. Not by word or sign did she seek to influence +his action. + +She was extremely reticent about herself, and took pains to seem +indifferent in regard to his life and plans, but she was beginning +to chafe under what she characterized as his "inaction." Giving +to hospitals and military charities and buying United-States bonds +counted for little in her eyes. + +"He parades his loyalty, and would have me think that he looks upon +the right to call on me as a great privilege, but he does not care +enough about either me or the country to incur any risk or hardship." + +Thoughts like these were beginning not only to rekindle her old +resentment, but also to cause a vague sense of disappointment. +Merwyn had at least accomplished one thing,--he confirmed her +father's opinion that he was not commonplace. Travel, residence +abroad, association with well-bred people, and a taste for reading, +had given him a finish which a girl of Marian's culture could not +fail to appreciate. Because he satisfied her taste and eye, she +was only the more irritated by his failure in what she deemed the +essential elements of manhood. In spite of the passionate words +he had once spoken, she was beginning to believe that a cold, +calculating persistency was the corner-stone of his character, that +even if he were brave enough to fight, he had deliberately decided +to take no risks and enjoy his fortune. If this were true, she +assured herself, he might shoulder the national debt if he chose, +but he could never become her friend. + +Then came the terrible and useless slaughter of Fredericksburg. +With the fatuity that characterized the earlier years of the war, +the heroic army of the Potomac, which might have annihilated Lee on +previous occasions, was hurled against heights and fortifications +that, from the beginning, rendered the attack hopeless. + +Marian's friends were exposed to fearful perils, but passed through +the conflict unscathed. Her heart went out to them in a deeper and +stronger sympathy than ever, and Merwyn in contrast lost correspondingly. + +During the remaining weeks of December, she saw that her father +was almost haggard from care and anxiety, and he was compelled to +make trips to Washington and even to the front. + +"The end has not come yet," he had said to her, after one of these +flying visits. "Burnside has made an awful blunder, but he is +eager to retrieve himself, and now has plans on foot that promise +better. The disaffection among his commanding officers and troops +is what I am most afraid of--more, indeed, than of the rebel army. +Unlike his predecessor, he is determined to move, to act, and I +think we may soon hear of another great battle." + +Letters from her friends confirmed this view, especially a brief +note from Lane, in which the writer, fearing that it might be his +last, had not wholly veiled his deep affection. "I am on the eve +of participating in an immense cavalry movement," it began, "and +it may be some time before I can write to you again, if ever." + +The anxiety caused by this missive was somewhat relieved by +a humorous account of the recall of the cavalry force. She then +learned, through her father, that the entire army was again on the +move, and that another terrific battle would be fought in a day or +two. + +"Burnside should cross the Rappahannock to-day or to-morrow, at +the latest," Mr. Vosburgh had remarked at breakfast, to which he +had come from the Washington owl-train. + +It was the 20th of December, and when the shadows of the early +twilight were gathering, Burnside had, in fact, massed his army +at the fords of the river, and his troops, "little Strahan" among +them, were awaiting orders to enter the icy tide in the stealthy +effort to gain Lee's left flank. There are many veterans now living +who remember the terrific "storm of wind, rain, sleet, and snow" +that assailed the unsheltered army. It checked further advance more +effectually than if all the rebel forces had been drawn up on the +farther shore. After a frightful night, the Union army was discovered +in the dawn by Lee. + +Even then Burnside would have crossed, and, in spite of his opponent's +preparations and every other obstacle, would have fought a battle, +had he not been paralyzed by a foe with which no general could +cope,--Virginia mud. The army mired helplessly, supply trains could +not reach it. With difficulty the troops were led back to their +old quarters, and so ended the disastrous campaigns of the year, +so far as the army of the Potomac was concerned. + +The storm that drenched and benumbed the soldiers on the Rappahannock +was equally furious in the city of New York, and Mr. Vosburgh +sat down to dinner frowning and depressed. "It seems as if fate is +against us," he said. "This storm is general, I fear, and may prove +more of a defence to Lee than his fortifications at Fredericksburg. +It's bad enough to have to cope with treachery and disaffection." + +"Treachery, papa?" + +"Yes, treachery," replied her father, sternly. "Scoundrels in our +own army informed Washington disunionists of the cavalry movement +of which Captain Lane wrote you, and these unmolested enemies +at the capital are in constant communication with Lee. When will +our authorities and the North awake to the truth that this is a +life-and-death struggle, and that there must be no more nonsense?" + +"Would to Heaven I were a man!" said the young girl. "At this very +moment, no doubt, Mr. Merwyn is enjoying his sumptuous dinner, while +my friends may be fording a dark, cold river to meet their death. +Oh! I can't eat anything to-night." + +"Nonsense!" cried her mother, irritably. + +"Come, little girl, you are taking things too much to heart. I am +very glad you are not a man. In justice, I must also add that Mr. +Merwyn is doing more for the cause than any of your friends. It so +happens that I have learned that he is doing a great deal of which +little is known." + +"Pardon me," cried the girl, almost passionately. "Any man who +voluntarily faces this storm, and crosses that river to-night or +to-morrow, does infinitely more in my estimation." + +Her father smiled, but evidently his appetite was flagging also, +and he soon went out to send and receive some cipher despatches. + +Merwyn was growing hungry for some evidence of greater friendliness +than he had yet received. Hitherto, he had never seen Marian alone +when calling, and the thought had occurred that if he braved the +storm in paying her a visit, the effort might be appreciated. One +part of his hope was fulfilled, for he found her drawing-room empty. +While he waited, that other stormy and memorable evening when he +had sought to find her alone flashed on his memory, and he feared +that he had made a false step in coming. + +This impression was confirmed by her pale face and distant greeting. +In vain he put forth his best efforts to interest her. She remained +coldly polite, took but a languid part in the conversation, and at +times even permitted him to see that her thoughts were preoccupied. +He had been humble and patient a long time, and now, in spite of +himself, his anger began to rise. + +Feeling that he had better take his leave while still under +self-control, and proposing also to hint that she had failed somewhat +in courtesy, he arose abruptly and said: "You are not well this +evening, Miss Vosburgh? I should have perceived the fact earlier. +I wish you good-night." + +She felt the slight sting of his words, and was in no mood to +endure it. Moreover, if she had failed in such courtesy as he had +a right to expect, he should know the reason, and she felt at the +moment willing that he should receive the implied reproach. + +Therefore she said: "Pardon me, I am quite well. It is natural that +I should be a little distraite, for I have learned that my friends +are exposed to this storm, and will probably engage in another +terrible battle to-morrow, or soon." + +Again the old desperate expression, that she remembered so well, +came into his eyes as he exclaimed, bitterly: "You think me a coward +because I remain in the city? What is this storm, or that battle, +compared with what I am facing! Good-night;" and, giving her no +chance for further words, he hastened away. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +FEARS AND PERPLEXITIES. + + + + + +MERWYN found the storm so congenial to his mood that he breasted +it for hours before returning to his home. There, in weariness and +reaction, he sank into deep dejection. + +"What is the use of anger?" he asked himself, as he renewed the +dying fire in his room. "In view of all the past, she has more +cause for resentment than I, while it is a matter of indifference +to her whether I am angry or not. I might as well be incensed at +ice because it is cold, and she is ice to me. She has her standard +and a circle of friends who come up to it. This I never have done +and never can do. Therefore she only tolerates me and is more than +willing that I should disappear below her horizon finally. I was a +fool to speak the words I did to-night. What can they mean to her +when nothing is left for me, apparently, but a safe, luxurious life? +Such outbreaks can only seem hysterical or mere affectations, and +there shall be no more of them, let the provocation be what it may. +Indeed, why should I inflict myself on her any more? I cannot say +that she has not a woman's heart, but I wronged and chilled it +from the first, and cannot now retrieve myself. If I should go to +her to-morrow, even in a private's uniform, she would give me her +hand cordially, but she compares me with hundreds of thousands who +seem braver men than I. It is useless for me to suggest that I am +doing more than those who go to fight. Her thought would be: 'I +have all the friends I need among more knightly spirits who are +not afraid to look brave enemies in the face, and without whom the +North would be disgraced. Let graybeards furnish the sinews of war; +let young men give their blood if need be. It is indeed strange +that a man's arm should be paralyzed, and his best hope in life +blighted, by a mother!'" + +If he could have known Marian's thoughts and heard the conversation +that ensued with her father, he would not have been so despondent. + +When he left her so abruptly she again experienced the compunctions +she had felt before. Whether he deserved it or not she could not +shut her eyes to the severity of the wound inflicted, or to his +suffering. In vain she tried to assure herself that he did deserve it. +Granting this, the thoughts asserted themselves: "Why am I called +upon to resent his course? Having granted his request to visit me, +I might, at least, be polite and affable on his own terms. Because +he wishes more, and perhaps hopes for more, this does not, as papa +says, commit me in the least. He may have some scruple in fighting +openly against the land of his mother's ancestry. If that scruple +has more weight with him than my friendly regard, that is his affair. +His words to-night indicated that he must be under some strong +restraint. O dear! I wish I had never known him; he perplexes and +worries me. The course of my other friends is simple and straightforward +as the light. Why do I say other friends? He's not a friend at all, +yet my thoughts return to him in a way that is annoying." + +When her father came home she told him what had occurred, and +unconsciously permitted him to see that her mind was disturbed. +He did not smile quizzically, as some sagacious people would have +done, thus touching the young girl's pride and arraying it against +her own best interests, it might be. With the thought of her +happiness ever uppermost, he would discover the secret causes of her +unwonted perturbation. Not only Merwyn--about whom he had satisfied +himself--should have his chance, but also the girl herself. Mrs. +Vosburgh's conventional match-making would leave no chance for +either. The profounder man believed that nature, unless interfered +with by heavy, unskilful hands, would settle the question rightly. + +He therefore listened without comment, and at first only remarked, +"Evidently, Marian, you are not trying to make the most and best +of this young fellow." + +"But, papa, am I bound to do this for people who are disagreeable +to me and who don't meet my views at all?" + +"Certainly not. Indeed, you may have frozen Merwyn out of the list +of your acquaintances already." + +"Well," replied the girl, almost petulantly, "that, perhaps, will +be the best ending of the whole affair." + +"That's for you to decide, my dear." + +"But, papa, I FEEL that you don't approve of my course." + +"Neither do I disapprove of it. I only say, according to our bond +to be frank, that you are unfair to Merwyn. Of course, if he is +essentially disagreeable to you, there is no occasion for you to +make a martyr of yourself." + +"That's what irritates me so," said the girl, impetuously. "He +might have made himself very agreeable. But he undervalued and +misunderstood me so greatly from the first that it was hard to +forgive him." + +"If he hadn't shown deep contrition and regret for that course I +shouldn't wish you to forgive him, even though his antecedents had +made anything better scarcely possible." + +"Come down to the present hour, then. What he asked of you is one +thing. I see what he wishes. He desires, at least, the friendship +that I give to those who fulfil my ideal of manhood in these times. +He has no right to seek this without meeting the conditions which +remove all hesitation in regard to others. It angers me that he does +so. I feel as if he were seeking to buy my good-will by donations +to this, that, and the other thing. He still misunderstands me. +Why can't he realize that, to one of my nature, fording the icy +Rappahannock to-night would count for more than his writing checks +for millions?" + +"Probably he does understand it, and that is what he meant by +his words to-night, when he said, 'What is this storm, or what a +battle?'" + +She was overwrought, excited, and off her guard, and spoke from a +deep impulse. "A woman, in giving herself, gives everything. If he +can't give up a scruple--I mean if his loyalty is so slight that +his mother's wishes and dead ancestors--" + +"My dear little girl, you are not under the slightest obligation +to give anything," resumed her father, discreetly oblivious to the +significance of her words. "If you care to give a little good-will +and kindness to one whom you have granted the right to visit you, +they will tend to confirm and develop the better and manly qualities +he is now manifesting. You know I have peculiar faculties of finding +out about people, and, incidentally and casually, I have informed +myself about this Mr. Merwyn. I think I can truly say that he is +doing all and more than could be expected of a young fellow in his +circumstances, with the one exception that he does not put on our +uniform and go to the front. He may have reasons--very possibly, as +you think, mistaken and inadequate ones--which, nevertheless, are +binding on his conscience. What else could his words mean to-night? +He is not living a life of pleasure-seeking and dissipation, like so +many other young nabobs in the city. Apparently he has not sought +much other society than yours. Pardon me for saying it, but you +have not given him much encouragement to avoid the temptations that +are likely to assail a lonely, irresponsible young fellow. In one +sense you are under no obligation to do this; in another, perhaps +you are, for you must face the fact that you have great influence +over him. This influence you must either use or throw away, as +you decide. You are not responsible for this influence; neither are +your friends responsible for the war. When it came, however, they +faced the disagreeable and dangerous duties that it brought." + +"O papa! I have been a stupid, resentful fool." + +"No, my dear; at the worst you have been misled by generous and +loyal impulses. Your deep sympathy with recent events has made you +morbid, and therefore unfair. To your mind Mr. Merwyn represented +the half-hearted element that shuns meeting what must be met at +every cost. If this were true of him I should share in your spirit, +but he appears to be trying to be loyal and to do what he can in +the face of obstacles greater than many overcome." + +"I don't believe he will ever come near me again!" she exclaimed. + +"Then you are absolved in the future. Of course we can make no +advances towards a man who has been your suitor." + +Merwyn's course promised to fulfil her fear,--she now acknowledged +to herself that it was a fear,--for his visits ceased. She tried +to dismiss him from her thoughts, but a sense of her unfairness +and harshness haunted her. She did not see why she had not taken +her father's view, or why she had thrown away her influence that +accorded with the scheme of life to which she had pledged herself. +The very restraint indicated by his words was a mystery, and +mysteries are fascinating. She remembered, with compunction, that +not even his own mother had sought to develop a true, manly spirit +in him. "Now he is saying," she thought, bitterly, "that I, too, +am a fanatic,--worse than his mother." + +Weeks passed and she heard nothing from him, nor did her father +mention his name. While her regret was distinct and positive, +it must not be supposed that it gave her serious trouble. Indeed, +the letters of Mr. Lane, and the semi-humorous journal of Strahan +and Blauvelt, together with the general claims of society and her +interest in her father's deep anxieties, were fast banishing it +from her mind, when, to her surprise, his card was handed to her +one stormy afternoon, late in January. + +"I am sorry to intrude upon you, Miss Vosburgh," he began, as she +appeared, "but--" + +"Why should you regard it as an intrusion, Mr. Merwyn?" + +"I think a lady has a right to regard any unwelcome society as an +intrusion." + +"Admitting even so much, it does not follow that this is an intrusion," +she said, laughing. Then she added, with slightly heightened color: +"Mr. Merwyn, I must at least keep my own self-respect, and this +requires an acknowledgment. I was rude to you when you last called. +But I was morbid from anxiety and worry over what was happening. +I had no right to grant your request to call upon me and then fail +in courtesy." + +"Will you, then, permit me to renew my old request?" he asked, with +an eagerness that he could not disguise. + +"Certainly not. That would imply such utter failure on my part! You +should be able to forgive me one slip, remembering the circumstances." + +"You have the most to forgive," he replied, humbly. "I asked for +little more than toleration, but I felt that I had not the right +to force even this upon you." + +"I am glad you are inclined to be magnanimous," she replied, +laughing. "Women usually take advantage of that trait in men--when +they manifest it. We'll draw a line through the evening of the 20th +of December, and, as Jefferson says, in his superb impersonation +of poor old Rip, 'It don't count.' By the way, have you seen him?" +she asked, determined that the conversation should take a different +channel. + +"No; I have been busy of late. But pardon me, Miss Vosburgh, +I'm forgetting my errand shamefully. Do not take the matter too +seriously. I think you have no reason to do so. Mr. Strahan is in +the city and is ill. I have just come from him." + +Her face paled instantly, and she sank into a chair. + +"I beg of you not to be so alarmed," he added, hastily. "I shall +not conceal anything from you. By the merest chance I saw him +coming up Broadway in a carriage, and, observing that he looked +ill, jumped into a hack and followed him to his residence. You had +reason for your anxiety on December 20th, for he took a severe cold +from exposure that night. For a time he made light of it, but at +last obtained sick-leave. He asked me to tell you--" + +"He has scarcely mentioned the fact that he was not well;" and +there was an accent of reproach in the young girl's tones. + +"I understand Strahan better than I once did, perhaps because better +able to understand him," was Merwyn's quiet reply. "He is a brave, +generous fellow, and, no doubt, wished to save you from anxiety. +There has been no chance for him to say very much to me." + +"Was he expected by his family?" + +"They were merely informed, by a telegram, that he was on his way. +He is not so well as when he started. Naturally he is worse for the +journey. Moreover, he used these words, 'I felt that I was going +to be ill and wished to get home.'" + +"Has a physician seen him yet?" + +"Yes, I brought their family physician in the hack, which I had kept +waiting. He fears that it will be some time before his patient is +out again. I have never been seriously ill myself, but I am sure--I +mean, I have heard--that a few words often have great influence in +aiding one in Strahan's condition to triumph over disease. It is +often a question of will and courage, you know. I will take a note +to him if you wish. Poor fellow! he may have his biggest fight on +hand while the others are resting in winter quarters." + +"I shall be only too glad to avail myself of your offer. Please +excuse me a moment." + +When she returned he saw traces of tears in her eyes. She asked, +eagerly, "Will you see him often?" + +"I shall call daily." + +"Would it be too much trouble for you to let me know how he is, +should he be very seriously ill?" Then, remembering that this might +lead to calls more frequent than she was ready to receive, or than +he would find it convenient to make, she added: "I suppose you +are often down town and might leave word with papa at his office. +I have merely a formal acquaintance with Mrs. Strahan and her +daughters, and, if Mr. Strahan should be very ill, I should have +to rely upon you for information." + +"I shall make sure that you learn of his welfare daily until he +is able to write to you, and I esteem it a privilege to render you +this service." + +He then bowed and turned away, and she did not detain him. Indeed, +her mind was so absorbed by her friend's danger that she could not +think of much else. + +The next day a note, addressed to Mr. Vosburgh, was left at +his office, giving fuller particulars of Strahan's illness, which +threatened to be very serious indeed. High fever had been developed, +and the young soldier had lost all intelligent consciousness. Days +followed in which this fever was running its course, and Merwyn's +reports, ominous in spite of all effort to disguise the deep anxiety +felt by Strahan's friends, were made only through Mr. Vosburgh. +Marian began to regret her suggestion that the information should +come in this way, for she now felt that Merwyn had received the +impression that his presence would not be agreeable. She was eager +for more details and oppressed with the foreboding that she would +never see her light-hearted friend again. She was almost tempted +to ask Merwyn to call, but felt a strange reluctance to do so. + +"I gave him sufficient encouragement to continue his visits," she +thought, "and he should distinguish between the necessity of coming +every day and the privilege of coming occasionally." + +One evening her father looked very grave as he handed Marian the +note addressed to him. + +"O papa!" exclaimed the girl, "he's worse!" + +"Yes, I fear Strahan is in a very critical condition. I happened +to meet Merwyn when he left the note to-day, and the young fellow +himself looked haggard and ill. But he carelessly assured me that +he was perfectly well. He said that the crisis of Strahan's fever +was approaching, and that the indications were bad." + +"Papa!" cried the girl, tearfully, "I can't endure this suspense +and inaction. Why would it be bad taste for us to call on Mrs. +Strahan this evening? She must know how dear a friend Arthur is to +me. I don't care for conventionality in a case like this. It seems +cold-blooded to show no apparent interest, and it might do Arthur +good if he should learn that we had been there because of our +anxiety and sympathy." + +"Well, my dear, what you suggest is the natural and loyal course, +and therefore outweighs all conventionality in my mind. We'll go +after dinner." + +Marian's doubt as to her reception by Mrs. Strahan was speedily +dispelled, for the sorrow-stricken mother was almost affectionate +in her welcome. + +"Arthur, in his delirium, often mentions your name," she said, "and +then he is in camp or battle again, or else writing his journal. +I have thought of sending for you, but he wouldn't have known you. +He does not even recognize me, and has not for days. Our physician +commands absolute quiet and as little change in those about him as +possible. What we should have done without Mr. Merwyn I scarcely +know. He is with him now, and has watched every night since Arthur's +return. I never saw any one so changed, or else we didn't understand +him. He is tireless in his strength, and womanly in his patience. +His vigils are beginning to tell on him sadly, but he says that he +will not give up till the crisis is past. If Arthur lives he will +owe his life largely to one who, last summer, appeared too indolent +to think of anything but his own pleasure. How we often misjudge +people! They were boys and playmates together, and are both greatly +changed. O Miss Vosburgh, my heart just stands still with dread +when I think of what may soon happen. Arthur had become so manly, +and we were so proud of him! He has written me more than once of +your influence, and I had hoped that the way might open for our +better acquaintance." + +"Do you think the crisis may come to-night?" Marian asked, with +quivering lips. + +"Yes, it may come now at any hour. The physician will remain all +night." + +"Oh, I wish I might know early in the morning. Believe me, I shall +not sleep." + +"You shall know, Miss Vosburgh, and I hope you will come and see +me, whatever happens. You will please excuse me now, for I cannot +be away from Arthur at this time. I would not have seen any one +but you." + +At one o'clock in the morning there was a ring at Mr. Vosburgh's +door. He opened it, and Merwyn stood there wrapped in his fur +cloak. "Will you please give this note to Miss Vosburgh?" he said. +"I think it contains words that will bring welcome relief and hope. +I would not have disturbed you at this hour had I not seen your +light burning;" and, before Mr. Vosburgh could reply, he lifted +his hat and strode away. + +The note ran as follows: + +"MY DEAR MISS VOSBURGH:--Arthur became conscious a little before +twelve. He was fearfully weak, and for a time his life appeared +to flicker. I alone was permitted to be with him. After a while I +whispered that you had been here. He smiled and soon fell into a +quiet sleep. Our physician now gives us strong hopes. + +"Sincerely and gratefully yours, + +"CHARLOTTE STRAHAN." + +Marian, who had been sleepless from thoughts more evenly divided +between her friend and Merwyn than she would have admitted even +to herself, handed the note to her father. Her face indicated both +gladness and perplexity. He read and returned it with a smile. + +"Papa," she said, "you have a man's straightforward common-sense. +I am only a little half-girl and half-woman. Do you know, I almost +fear that both Mrs. Strahan and Mr. Merwyn believe I am virtually +engaged to Arthur." + +"Their belief can't engage you," said her father, laughing. "Young +Strahan will get well, thanks to you and Merwyn. Mrs. Strahan said +that both were greatly changed. Merwyn certainly must have a hardy +nature, for he improves under a steady frost." + +"Papa!" cried Marian, with a vivid blush, "you are a deeper and more +dangerous ally of Mr. Menvyn than mamma. I am on my guard against +you both, and I shall retire at once before you begin a panegyric +that will cease only when you find I am asleep." + +"Yes, my dear, go and sleep the sleep of the unjust!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +A GIRL'S THOUGHTS AND IMPULSES. + + + + + +SLEEP, which Marian said would cut short her father's threatened +panegyrics of Merwyn, did not come speedily. The young girl had +too much food for thought. + +She knew that Mrs. Strahan had not, during the past summer, +misunderstood her son's faithful nurse. In spite of all prejudice +and resentment, in spite of the annoying fact that he would intrude +so often upon her thoughts, she had to admit the truth that he was +greatly changed, and that, while she might be the cause, she could +take to herself no credit for the transformation. To others she had +given sincere and cordial encouragement. Towards him she had been +harsh and frigid. He must indeed possess a hardy nature, or else +a cold persistence that almost made her shiver, it was so indomitable. + +She felt that she did not understand him; and she both shrunk from +his character and was fascinated by it. She could not now charge +him with disregard of her feelings and lack of delicacy. His visits +had ceased when he believed them to be utterly repugnant; he had +not availed himself of the opportunity to see her often afforded +by Strahan's illness, and had been quick to take the hint that he +could send his reports to her father. There had been no effort to +make her aware of his self-sacrificing devotion to her friend. The +thing that was irritating her was that he could approach so nearly +to her standard and yet fail in a point that to her was vital. His +course indicated unknown characteristics or circumstances, and she +felt that she could never give him her confidence and unreserved +regard while he fell short of the test of manhood which she believed +that the times demanded. If underneath all his apparent changes +for the better there was an innate lack of courage to meet danger +and hardship, or else a cold, calculating purpose not to take these +risks, she would shrink from him in strong repulsion. She knew +that the war had developed not a few constitutional cowards,--men +to be pitied, it is true, but with a commiseration that, in her +case, would be mingled with contempt. On the other hand, if he +reasoned, "I will win her if I can; I will do all and more than +she can ask, but I will not risk the loss of a lifetime's enjoyment +of my wealth," she would quietly say to him by her manner: "Enjoy +your wealth. I can have no part in such a scheme of existence; I +will not give my hand, even in friendship, to a man who would do +less than I would, were I in his place." + +If her father was right, and he had scruples of conscience, or some +other unknown restraint, she felt that she must know all before +she would give her trust and more. If he could not satisfy her on +these points, as others had done so freely and spontaneously, he +had no right to ask or expect more from her than ordinary courtesy. + +Having thus resolutely considered antidotes for a tendency towards +relentings not at all to her mind, and met, as she believed, her +father's charge of unfairness, her thoughts, full of sympathy and +hope, dwelt upon the condition of her friend. Recalling the past +and the present, her heart grew very tender, and she found that he +occupied in it a foremost place. Indeed, it seemed to her a species +of disloyalty to permit any one to approach his place and that of +Mr. Lane, for both formed an inseparable part of her new and more +earnest life. + +She, too, had changed, and was changing. As her nature deepened and +grew stronger it was susceptible of deeper and stronger influences. +Under the old regime pleasure, excitement, triumphs of power that +ministered to vanity, had been her superficial motives. To the degree +that she had now attained true womanhood, the influences that act +upon and control a woman were in the ascendant. Love ceased to dwell +in her mind as a mere fastidious preference, nor could marriage +ever be a calculating choice, made with the view of securing the +greatest advantages. She knew that earnest men loved her without a +thought of calculation,--loved her for herself alone. She called +them friends now, and to her they were no more as yet. But their +downright sincerity made her sincere and thoughtful. Her esteem and +affection for them were so great that she was not at all certain +that circumstances and fuller acquaintance might not develop her +regard towards one or the other of them into a far deeper feeling. +In their absence, their manly qualities appealed to her imagination. +She had reached a stage in spiritual development where her woman's +nature was ready for its supreme requirement. She could be more +than friend, and was conscious of the truth; and she believed that +her heart would make a positive and final choice in accord with +her intense and loyal sympathies. In the great drama of the war +centred all that ideal and knightly action that has ever been so +fascinating to her sex, and daily conversation with her father had +enabled her to understand what lofty principles and great destinies +were involved. She had been shown how President Lincoln's proclamation, +freeing the slaves, had aimed a fatal blow at the chief enemies +of liberty, not only in this land, but in all lands. Mr. Vosburgh +was a philosophical student of history, and, now that she had become +his companion, he made it clear to her how the present was linked +to the past. Instead of being imbued with vindictiveness towards +the South, she was made to see a brave, self-sacrificing, but misled +people, seeking to rivet their own chains and blight the future of +their fair land. Therefore, a man like Lane, capable of appreciating +and acting upon these truths, took heroic proportions in her fancy, +while Strahan, almost as delicate as a girl, yet brave as the best, +won, in his straightforward simplicity, her deepest sympathy. The +fact that the latter was near, that his heart had turned to her +even from under the shadow of death, gave him an ascendency for +the time. + +"To some such man I shall eventually yield," she assured herself, +"and not to one who brings a chill of doubt, not to one unmastered +by loyal impulses to face every danger which our enemies dare meet." + +Then she slept, and dreamt that she saw Strahan reaching out his +hands to her for help from dark, unknown depths. + +She awoke sobbing, and, under the confused impulse of the moment, +exclaimed: "He shall have all the help I can give; he shall live. +While he is weaker, he is braver than Mr. Lane. He triumphed over +himself and everything. He most needs me. Mr. Lane is strong in +himself. Why should I be raising such lofty standards of self-sacrifice +when I cannot give love to one who most needs it, most deserves +it?" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +"MY FRIENDSHIP IS MINE TO GIVE." + + + + + +STRAHAN'S convalescence need not be dwelt upon, nor the subtle aid +given by Marian through flowers, fruit, and occasional calls upon +his mother. + +These little kindnesses were tonics beyond the physician's skill, +and he grew stronger daily. Mrs. Strahan believed that things were +taking their natural course, and, with the delicacy of a lady, +was content to welcome the young girl in a quiet, cordial manner. +Merwyn tacitly accepted the mother's view, which she had not wholly +concealed in the sick-room, and which he thought had been confirmed +by Marian's manner and interest. With returning health Strahan's +old sense of humor revived, and he often smiled and sighed over +the misapprehension. Had he been fully aware of Marian's mood, he +might have given his physician cause to look grave over an apparent +return of fever. + +In the reticence and delicacy natural to all the actors in this +little drama, thoughts were unspoken, and events drifted on in +accordance with the old relations. Merwyn's self-imposed duties of +nurse became lighter, and he took much-needed rest. Strahan felt +for him the strongest good-will and gratitude, but grew more and +more puzzled about him. Apparently the convalescent was absolutely +frank concerning himself. He spoke of his esteem and regard for +Marian as he always had done; his deeper affection he never breathed +to any one, although he believed the young girl was aware of it, +and he did not in the least blame her that she had no power to give +him more than friendship. + +Of his military plans and hopes he spoke without reserve to Merwyn, +but in return received little confidence. He could not doubt the +faithful attendant who had virtually twice saved his life, but he +soon found a barrier of impenetrable reserve, which did not yield +to any manifestations of friendliness. Strahan at last came to +believe that it veiled a deep, yet hopeless regard for Marian. This +view, however, scarcely explained the situation, for he found his +friend even more reticent in respect to the motives which kept him +a civilian. + +"I'd give six months' pay," said the young officer, on one occasion, +"if we had you in our regiment, and I am satisfied that I could +obtain a commission for you. You would be sure of rapid promotion. +Indeed, with your wealth and influence you could secure +a lieutenant-colonelcy in a new regiment by spring. Believe me, +Merwyn, the place for us young fellows is at the front in these +times. My blood's up,--what little I have left,--and I'm bound to +see the scrimmage out. You have just the qualities to make a good +officer. You could control and discipline men without bluster or +undue harshness. We need such officers, for an awful lot of cads +have obtained commissions." + +Merwyn had walked to a window so that his friend could not see his +face, and at last he replied, quietly and almost coldly: "There +are some things, Strahan, in respect to which one cannot judge for +another. I am as loyal as you are now, but I must aid the cause in +my own way. I would prefer that you should not say anything more +on this subject, for it is of no use. I have taken my course, and +shall reveal it only by my action. There is one thing that I can +do, and shall be very glad to do. I trust we are such good friends +that you can accept of my offer. Your regiment has been depleted. +New men would render it more effective and add to your chances of +promotion. It will be some time before you are fit for active service. +I can put you in the way of doing more than your brother-officers +in the regiment, even though you are as pale as a ghost. Open +a recruiting office near your country home again,--you can act at +present through a sergeant,--and I will give you a check which will +enable you to add to the government bounty so largely that you can +soon get a lot of hardy country fellows. No one need know where +the money comes from except ourselves." + +Strahan laughed, and said: "It is useless for me to affect +squeamishness in accepting favors from you at this late day. I +believed you saved my life last summer, and now you are almost as +haggard as I am from watching over me. I'll take your offer in good +faith, as I believe you mean it. I won't pose as a self-sacrificing +patriot only. I confess that I am ambitious. You fellows used +to call me 'little Strahan.' YOU are all right now, but there are +some who smile yet when my name is mentioned, and who regard my +shoulder-straps as a joke. I've no doubt they are already laughing +at the inglorious end of my military career. I propose to prove +that I can be a soldier as well as some bigger and more bewhiskered +men. I have other motives also;" and his thought was, "Marian may +feel differently if I can win a colonel's eagles." + +Merwyn surmised as much, but he only said, quietly: "Your motives +are as good as most men's, and you have proved yourself a brave, +efficient officer. That would be enough for me, had I not other +motives also." + +"Hang it all! I would tell you my motives if you would be equally +frank." + +"Since I cannot be, you must permit me to give other proofs +of friendship. Nor do I expect, indeed I should be embarrassed by +receiving, what I cannot return." + +"You're an odd fish, Merwyn. Well, I have ample reason to give you +my faith and loyalty, as I do. Your proposition has put new life +into me already. I needn't spend idle weeks--" + +"Hold on. One stipulation. Your physician must regulate all your +actions. Remember that here, as at the front, the physician is, at +times, autocrat." + +Mervvyn called twice on Marian during his friend's convalescence, +and could no longer complain of any lack of politeness. Indeed, her +courtesy was slightly tinged with cordiality, and she took occasion +to speak of her appreciation of his vigils at Strahan's side. Beyond +this she showed no disposition towards friendliness. At the same, +time, she could not even pretend to herself that she was indifferent. +He piqued both her pride and her curiosity, for he made no further +effort to reveal himself or to secure greater favor than she +voluntarily bestowed. She believed that her father looked upon her +course as an instance of feminine prejudice, of resentment prolonged +unnaturally and capriciously,--that he was saying to himself, "A +man would quarrel and have done with it after amends were made, +but a woman--" + +"He regards this as my flaw, my weakness, wherein I differ from him +and his kind," she thought. "I can't help it. Circumstances have +rendered it impossible for me to feel toward Mr. Merwyn as toward +other men. I have thought the matter out and have taken my stand. +If he wishes more than I now give he must come up to my ground, +for I shall not go down to his." + +She misunderstood her father. That sagacious gentleman said nothing, +and quietly awaited developments. + +It was a glad day for Arthur Strahan when, wrapped and muffled +beyond all danger, he was driven, in a close carriage, to make an +afternoon visit to Marian. She greeted him with a kindness that +warmed his very soul, and even inspired hopes which he had, as yet, +scarcely dared to entertain. Time sped by with all the old easy +interchange of half-earnest nonsense. A deep chord of truth and +affection vibrated through even jest and merry repartee. Yet, so +profound are woman's intuitions in respect to some things, that, +now she was face to face with him again, she feared, before an hour +passed, that he could never be more to her than when she had given +him loyal friendship in the vine-covered cottage in the country. + +"By the way," he remarked, abruptly, "I suppose you never punished +Merwyn as we both, at one time, felt that he deserved? He admits +that he calls upon you quite frequently, and speaks of you in terms +of strongest respect. You know I am his sincere, grateful friend +henceforth. I don't pretend to understand him, but I trust him, +and wish him well from the depths of my heart." + +"I also wish him well," Marian remarked, quietly. + +He looked at her doubtfully for a moment, then said, "Well, I +suppose you have reasons for resentment, but I assure you he has +changed very greatly." + +"How do you know that, when you don't understand him?" + +"I do know it," said the young fellow, earnestly. "Merwyn never +was like other people. He is marked by ancestry; strong-willed, +reticent on one side, proud and passionate on the other. My own +mother was not more untiring and gentle with me than he, yet if I +try to penetrate his reserve he becomes at once distant, and almost +cold. When I thought he was seeking to amuse himself with you I +felt like strangling him; now that I know he has a sincere respect +for you, if not more, I have nothing against him. I wish he would +join us in the field, and have said as much to him more than once. +He has the means to raise a regiment himself, and there are few +possessing more natural ability to transform raw recruits into +soldiers." + +"Why does he not join you in the field?" she asked, quickly, and +there was a trace of indignation in her tones. + +"I do not think he will ever speak of his reasons to any one. At +least, he will not to me." + +"Very well," she said; and there was significance in her cold, +quiet tones. + +"They result from no lack of loyalty," earnestly resumed Strahan, +who felt that for some reason he was not succeeding as his friend's +advocate. "He has generously increased my chances of promotion by +giving me a large sum towards recruiting my regiment." + +"After your hard experience, are you fully determined to go back?" +she asked, with a brilliant smile. "Surely you have proved your +courage, and, with your impaired health, you have a good reason +not for leaving the task to stronger men." + +"And take my place contentedly among the weaker ones in your +estimation?" he added, flushing. "How could you suggest or think +such a thing? Certainly I shall go back as soon as my physician +permits, and I shall go to stay till the end, unless I am knocked +over or disabled." + +Her eyes flashed exultantly as she came swiftly to him. "Now you +can understand me," she said, giving him her hand. "My friendship +and honor are for men like you and Mr. Lane and Mr. Blauvelt, who +offer all, and not for those who offer--MONEY." + +"By Jove, Miss Marian, you make me feel as if I could storm Richmond +single-handed." + +"Don't think I say this in any callous disregard of what may happen. +God knows I do not; but in times like these my heart chooses friends +among knightly men who voluntarily go to meet other men as brave. +Don't let us talk any more about Mr. Merwyn. I shall always treat +him politely, and I have gratefully acknowledged my indebtedness for +his care of you. He understands me, and will give me no opportunity +to do as you suggested, were I so inclined. His conversation is +that of a cultivated man, and as such I enjoy it; but there it all +ends." + +"But I don't feel that I have helped my friend in your good graces +at all," protested Strahan, ruefully. + +"Has he commissioned you to help him?" she asked, quickly. + +"No, no, indeed. You don't know Merwyn, or you never would have +asked that question." + +"Well, I prefer as friends those whom I do know, who are not +inshrouded in mystery or incased in reticence. No, Arthur Strahan, +my friendship is mine to give, be it worth much or little. If he +does not care enough for it to take the necessary risks, when the +bare thought of shunning them makes you flush hotly, he cannot +have it. All his wealth could not buy one smile from me. Now let +all this end. I respect your loyalty to him, but I have my own +standard, and shall abide by it;" and she introduced another topic. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +A FATHER'S FORETHOUGHT. + + + + + +STRAHAN improved rapidly in health, and was soon able to divide his +time between his city and his country home. The recruiting station +near the latter place was successful in securing stalwart men, +who were tempted by the unusually large bounties offered through +Merwyn's gift. The young officer lost no opportunities of visiting +Marian's drawing-room, and, while his welcome continued as cordial +as ever, she, nevertheless, indicated by a frank and almost sisterly +manner the true state of her feelings toward him. The impulse +arising at the critical hour of his illness speedily died away. His +renewed society confirmed friendship, but awakened nothing more, +and quieter thoughts convinced her that the future must reveal what +her relations should be to him and to others. + +As he recovered health her stronger sympathy went out to Mr. Lane, +who had not asked for leave of absence. + +"I am rampantly well," he wrote, "and while my heart often travels +northward, I can find no plausible pretext to follow. I may receive +a wound before long which will give me a good excuse, since, for +our regiment, there is prospect of much active service while the +infantry remain in winter quarters. It is a sad truth that the +army is discouraged and depleted to a degree never known before. +Homesickness is epidemic. A man shot himself the other day because +refused a furlough. Desertions have been fearfully numerous among +enlisted men, and officers have urged every possible excuse for +leaves of absence. A man with my appetite stands no chance whatever, +and our regimental surgeon laughs when I assure him that I am +suffering from acute heart-disease. Therefore, my only hope is a +wound, and I welcome our prospective raid in exchange for dreary +picket duty." + +Marian knew what picket duty and raiding meant in February weather, +and wrote words of kindly warmth that sustained her friend through +hard, prosaic service. + +She also saw that her father was burdened with heavy cares and +responsibilities. Disloyal forces and counsels were increasing in +the great centres at the North, and especially in New York City. +Therefore he was intrusted with duties of the most delicate and +difficult nature. It was her constant effort to lead him to forget +his anxieties during such evenings as he spent at home, and when +she had congenial callers she sometimes prevailed upon him to take +part in the general conversation. It so happened, one evening, that +Strahan and Merwyn were both present. Seeing that the latter felt +a little de trop, Mr. Vosburgh invited him to light a cigar in the +dining-room, and the two men were soon engaged in animated talk, +the younger being able to speak intelligently of the feeling in +England at the time. By thoughtful questions he also drew out his +host in regard to affairs at home. + +The two guests departed together, and Marian, observing the pleased +expression on her father's face, remarked, "You have evidently +found a congenial spirit." + +"I found a young fellow who had ideas and who was not averse to +receiving more." + +"You can relieve my conscience wholly, papa," said the young girl, +laughing. "When Mr. Merwyn comes hereafter I shall turn him over +to you. He will then receive ideas and good influence at their +fountain-head. You and mamma are inclined to give him so much +encouragement that I must be more on the defensive than ever." + +"That policy would suit me exactly," replied her father, with +a significant little nod. "I don't wish to lose you, and I'm more +afraid of Merwyn than of all the rest together." + +"More afraid of HIM!" exclaimed the girl, with widening eyes. + +"Of him." + +"Why?" + +"Because you don't understand him." + +"That's an excellent reason for keeping him at a distance." + +"Reason, reason. What has reason to do with affairs of this kind?" + +"Much, in my case, I assure you. Thank you for forewarning me so +plainly." + +"I've no dark designs against your peace." + +Nevertheless, these half-jesting words foreshadowed the future, +so far as Mr. Vosburgh and Mr. Merwyn were concerned. Others were +usually present when the latter called, and he always seemed to +enjoy a quiet talk with the elder man. Mrs. Vosburgh never failed +in her cordiality, or lost hope that his visits might yet lead to +a result in accordance with her wishes. Marian made much sport of +their protege, as she called him, and, since she now treated him with +the same courtesy that other mere calling acquaintances received, +the habit of often spending part of the evening at the modest home +grew upon him. Mr. Vosburgh soon discovered that the young man +was a student of American affairs and history. This fact led to +occasional visits by the young man to the host's library, which +was rich in literature on these subjects. + +On one stormy evening, which gave immunity from other callers, +Marian joined them, and was soon deeply interested herself. Suddenly +becoming conscious of the fact, she bade them an abrupt good-night +and went to her room with a little frown on her brow. + +"It's simply exasperating," she exclaimed, "to see a young fellow +of his inches absorbed in American antiquities when the honor and +liberty of America are at stake. Then, at times, he permits such +an expression of sadness to come into his big black eyes! He is +distant enough, but I can read his very thoughts, and he thinks +me obduracy itself. He will soon return to his elegant home and +proceed to be miserable in the most luxurious fashion. If he were +riding with Mr. Lane, to-night, on a raid, he would soon distinguish +between his cherished woe and a soldier's hardships." + +Nevertheless, she could do little more than maintain a mental +protest at his course, in which he persevered unobtrusively, yet +unfalteringly. There was no trace of sentiment in his manner toward +her, nor the slightest conscious appeal for sympathy. His conversation +was so intelligent, and at times even brilliant, that she could not +help being interested, and she observed that he resolutely chose +subjects of an impersonal character, shunning everything relating +to himself. She could not maintain any feeling approaching contempt, +and the best intrenchment she could find was an irritated perplexity. +She could not deny that his face was growing strong in its manly +beauty. Although far paler and thinner than when she had first +seen it, a heavy mustache and large, dark, thoughtful eyes relieved +it from the charge of effeminacy. Every act, and even his tones, +indicated high breeding, and she keenly appreciated such things. +His reserve was a stimulus to thought, and his isolated life was +unique for one in his position, while the fact that he sought her +home and society with so little to encourage him was strong and +subtle homage. More than all, she thought she recognized a trait +in him which rarely fails to win respect,--an unfaltering will. +Whatever his plans or purposes were, the impression grew stronger +in her mind that he would not change them. + +"But I have a pride and a will equal to his," she assured herself. +"He can come thus far and no farther. Papa thinks I will yield +eventually to his persistence and many fascinations. Were this +possible, no one should know it until he had proved himself the +peer of the bravest and best of my time." + +Winter had passed, and spring brought not hope and gladness, but +deepening dread as the hour approached when the bloody struggle +would be renewed. Mr. Lane had participated in more than one cavalry +expedition, but had received no wounds. Strahan was almost ready +to return, and had sent much good material to the thinned ranks of +his regiment. His reward came promptly, for at that late day men +were most needed, and he who furnished them secured a leverage +beyond all political influence. The major in his regiment resigned +from ill-health, and Strahan was promoted to the vacancy at once. +He received his commission before he started for the front, and +he brought it to Marian with almost boyish pride and exultation. +He had called for Merwyn on his way, and insisted on having his +company. He found the young fellow nothing loath. + +Merwyn scarcely entertained the shadow of a hope of anything more +than that time would soften Marian's feelings toward him. The war +could not last forever. Unexpected circumstances might arise, and +a steadfast course must win a certain kind of respect. At any rate +it was not in his nature to falter, especially when her tolerance +was parting with much of its old positiveness. His presence undoubtedly +had the sanction of her father and mother, and for the former he +was gaining an esteem and liking independent of his fortunes with +the daughter. Love is a hardy plant, and thrives on meagre sustenance. +It was evident that the relations between Marian and Strahan were +not such as he had supposed during the latter's illness. Her respect +and friendship he would have, if it took a lifetime to acquire +them. He would not be balked in the chief purpose of his life, +or retreat from the pledge, although it was given in the agony of +humiliation and defeat. As long as he had reason to believe that +her hand and heart were free, it was not in human nature to abandon +all hope. + +On this particular evening Mr. Vosburgh admitted the young men, +and Marian, hearing Strahan's voice, called laughingly from the +parlor: "You are just in time for the wedding. I should have been +engaged to any one except you." + +"Engaged to any one except me? How cruel is my fate!" + +"Pardon me," began Merwyn quickly, and taking his hat again; "I +shall repeat my call at a time more opportune." + +Marian, who had now appeared, said, in polite tones: "Mr. Merwyn, +stay by all means. I could not think of separating two such friends. +Our waitress has no relatives to whom she can go, therefore we are +giving her a wedding from our house." + +"Then I am sure there is greater reason for my leave-taking +at present. I am an utter stranger to the bride, and feel that my +presence would seem an intrusion to her, at least. Nothing at this +time should detract from her happiness. Good-evening." + +Marian felt the force of his words, and was also compelled to +recognize his delicate regard for the feelings of one in humble +station. She would have permitted him to depart, but Mr. Vosburgh +interposed quickly: "Wait a moment, Mr. Merwyn; I picked up a rare +book, down town, relating to the topic we were discussing the other +evening. Suppose you go up to my library. I'll join you there, for +the ceremony will soon be over. Indeed, we are now expecting the +groom, his best man, and the minister. It so happens that the happy +pair are Protestants, and so we can have an informal wedding." + +"Oh, stay, Merwyn," said Strahan. "It was I who brought you here, +and I shouldn't feel that the evening was complete without you." + +The former looked doubtfully at Marian, who added, quickly: "You +cannot refuse papa's invitation, Mr. Merwyn, since it removes the +only scruple you can have. It is, perhaps, natural that the bride +should wish to see only familiar faces at this time, and it was +thoughtful of you to remember this, but, as papa says, the affair +will soon be over." + +"And then," resumed Strahan, "I have a little pie to show you, Miss +Marian, in which Merwyn had a big finger." + +"I thought that was an affair between ourselves," said Merwyn, +throwing off his overcoat. + +"Oh, do not for the world reveal any of Mr. Merwyn's secrets!" +cried the girl. + +"It is no secret at all to you, Miss Marian, nor did I ever intend +that it should be one," Strahan explained. + +"Mr. Merwyn, you labor under a disadvantage in your relations +with Mr. Strahan. He has friends, and friendship is not based on +reticence." + +"Therefore I can have no friends, is the inference, I suppose." + +"That cannot be said while I live," began the young officer, warmly; +but here a ring at the door produced instant dispersion. "I suppose +I can be present," Strahan whispered to Marian. "Barney Ghegan is +an older acquaintance of mine than of yours, and your pretty waitress +has condescended to smile graciously on me more than once, although +my frequent presence at your door must have taxed her patience." + +"You have crossed her palm with too much silver, I fear, to make +frowns possible. Silver, indeed! when has any been seen? But money +in any form is said to buy woman's smiles." + +"Thank Heaven it doesn't buy yours." + +"Hush! Your gravity must now be portentous." + +The aggressive Barney, now a burly policeman, had again brought +pretty Sally Maguire to terms, and on this evening received the +reward of his persistent wooing. After the ceremony and a substantial +supper, which Mrs. Vosburgh graced with her silver, the couple took +their brief wedding journey to their rooms, and Barney went on duty +in the morning, looking as if all the world were to his mind. + +When Mr. Vosburgh went up to his library his step was at first +unnoted, and he saw his guest sitting before the fire, lost in a +gloomy revery. When observed, he asked, a little abruptly: "Is the +matter to which Mr. Strahan referred a secret which you wish kept?" + +"Oh, no! Not as far as I am concerned. What I have done is a +bagatelle. I merely furnished a little money for recruiting purposes." + +"It is not a little thing to send a good man to the front, Mr. +Merwyn." + +"Nor is it a little thing not to go one's self," was the bitter +reply. Then he added, hastily, "I am eager to see the book to which +you refer." + +"Pardon me, Mr. Merwyn, your words plainly reveal your inclination. +Would you not be happier if you followed it?" + +"I cannot, Mr. Vosburgh, nor can I explain further. Therefore, +I must patiently submit to all adverse judgment." The words were +spoken quietly and almost wearily. + +"I suppose that your reasons are good and satisfactory." + +"They are neither good nor satisfactory," burst out the young man +with sudden and vindictive impetuosity. "They are the curse of my +life. Pardon me. I am forgetting myself. I believe you are friendly +at least. Please let all this be as if it were not." Then, as if +the possible import of his utterance had flashed upon him, he drew +himself up and said, coldly, "If, under the circumstances, you feel +I am unworthy of trust--" + +"Mr. Merwyn," interrupted his host, "I am accustomed to deal with +men and to be vigilantly on my guard. My words led to what has +passed between us, and it ends here and now. I would not give you +my hand did I not trust you. Come, here is the book;" and he led +the way to a conversation relating to it. + +Merwyn did his best to show a natural interest in the subject, but +it was evident that a tumult had been raised in his mind difficult +to control. At last he said: "May I take the book home? I will +return it after careful reading." + +Mr. Vosburgh accompanied him to the drawing-room, and Marian +sportively introduced him to Major Strahan. + +For a few minutes he was the gayest and most brilliant member of +the party, and then he took his leave, the young girl remarking, +"Since you have a book under your arm we cannot hope to detain you, +for I have observed that, with your true antiquarian, the longer +people have been dead the more interesting they become." + +"That is perfectly natural," he replied, "for we can form all sorts +of opinions about them, and they can never prove that we are wrong." + +"More's the pity, if we are wrong. Good-night." + +"Order an extra chop, Merwyn, and I'll breakfast with you," cried +Strahan. "I've only two days more, you know." + +"Well, papa," said Marian, joining him later in the library, "did +you and Mr. Merwyn settle the precise date when the Dutch took +Holland?" + +"'More's the pity, if we ARE wrong!' I have been applying your +words to the living rather than to the dead." + +"To Mr. Merwyn, you mean." + +"Yes." + +"Has he been unbosoming himself to you?" + +"Oh, no, indeed!" + +"Why then has he so awakened your sympathy?" + +"I fear he is facing more than any of your friends." + +"And, possibly, fear is the reason." + +"I do not think so." + +"It appears strange to me, papa, that you are more ready to trust +than I am. If there is nothing which will not bear the light, why +is he so reticent even to his friend?" + +"I do not know the reasons for his course, nor am I sure that they +would seem good ones to me, but my knowledge of human nature is +at fault if he is not trustworthy. I wish we did know what burdens +his mind and trammels his action. Since we do not I will admit, +to-night, that I am glad you feel toward him just as you do." + +"Papa, you entertain doubts at last." + +"No, I admit that something of importance is unknown and bids fair +to remain so, but I cannot help feeling that it is something for +which he is not to blame. Nevertheless, I would have you take no +steps in the dark, were the whole city his." + +"O papa! you regard this matter much too seriously. What steps had +I proposed taking? How much would it cost me to dispense with his +society altogether?" + +"I do not know how much it might cost you in the end." + +"Well, you can easily put the question to the test." + +"That I do not propose to do. I shall not act as if what may be +a great misfortune was a fault. Events will make everything clear +some day, and if they clear him he will prove a friend whom I, at +least, shall value highly. He is an unusual character, one that +interests me greatly, whatever future developments may reveal. It +would be easy for me to be careless or arbitrary, as I fear many +fathers are in these matters. I take you into my confidence and +reveal to you my thoughts. You say that your reason has much to +do with this matter. I take you at your word. Suspend judgment in +regard to Merwyn. Let him come and go as he has done. He will not +presume on such courtesy, nor do you in any wise commit yourself, +even to the friendly regard that you have for others. For your +sake, Marian, for the chances which the future may bring, I should +be glad if your heart and hand were free when I learn the whole +truth about this young fellow. I am no match-maker in the vulgar +acceptation of the word, but I, as well as you, have a deep interest +at stake. I have informed myself in regard to Mr. Merwyn, senior. +The son appears to have many of the former's traits. If he can never +meet your standard or win your love that ends the matter. But, in +spite of everything, he interests you deeply, as well as myself; +and were he taking the same course as your friend who has just +left, he would stand a better chance than that friend. You see how +frank I am, and how true to my promise to help you." + +Marian came and leaned her arm on his shoulder as she looked +thoughtfully into the glowing grate. + +At last she said: "I am grateful for your frankness, papa, and +understand your motives. Many girls would not make the sad blunders +they do had they such a counsellor as you, one who can be frank +without being blunt and unskilful. In respect to these subjects, +even with a daughter, there must be delicacy as well as precision +of touch." + +"There should also be downright common-sense, Marian, a recognition +of tacts and tendencies, of what is and what may be. On one side +a false delicacy often seals the lips of those most interested, +until it is too late to speak; on the other, rank, wealth, and +like advantages are urged without any delicacy at all. These have +their important place, but the qualities which would make your +happiness sure are intrinsic to the man. You know it is in my line +to disentangle many a snarl in human conduct. Look back on the +past without prejudice, if you can. Merwyn virtually said that he +would make your standard of right and wrong his,--that he would +measure things as you estimate them, with that difference, of course, +inherent in sex. Is he not trying to do so? Is he not acting, with +one exception, as you would wish? Here comes in the one thing we +don't understand. As you suggest, it may be a fatal flaw in the +marble, but we don't know this. The weight of evidence, in my mind, +is against it. His course toward Strahan--one whom he might easily +regard as a rival--is significant. He gave him far more than +money; he drained his own vitality in seeking to restore his friend +to health. A coarse, selfish man always cuts a sorry figure in a +sick-room, and shuns its trying duties even in spite of the strongest +obligations. You remember Mrs. Strahan's tribute to Merwyn. Yet +there was no parade of his vigils, nor did he seek to make capital +out of them with you. Now I can view all these things dispassionately, +as a man, and, as I said before, they give evidence of an unusual +character. Apparently he has chosen a certain course, and he has +the will-power to carry it out. Your heart, your life, are still +your own. All I wish is that you should not bestow them so hastily +as not to secure the best possible guaranties of happiness. This +young man has crossed your path in a peculiar way. You have immense +influence over him. So far as he appears free to act you influence +his action. Wait and see what it all means before you come to any +decision about him. Now," he concluded, smiling, "is my common-sense +applied to these affairs unnatural or unreasonable?" + +"I certainly can wait with great equanimity," she replied, laughing, +"and I admit the reasonableness of what you say as you put it. Nor +can I any longer affect any disguises with you. Mr. Merwyn DOES +interest me, and has retained a hold upon my thoughts which has +annoyed me. He has angered and perplexed me. It has seemed as if +he said, 'I will give you so much for your regard; I will not give, +however, what you ask.' As you put it to-night, it is the same as +if he said, 'I cannot.' Why can he not? The question opens unpleasant +vistas to my mind. It will cost me little, however, to do as you +wish, and my curiosity will be on the qui vive, if nothing more." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +A CHAINED WILL. + + + + + +IN due time Strahan departed, hopeful and eager to enter on the +duties pertaining to his higher rank. He felt that Marian's farewell +had been more than she had ever given him any right to expect. +Her manner had ever been too frank and friendly to awaken delusive +hopes, and, after all, his regard for her was characterized more +by boyish adoration than by the deep passion of manhood. To his +sanguine spirit the excitement of camp and the responsibilities of +his new position formed attractions which took all poignant regret +from his leave-taking, and she was glad to recognize this truth. +She had failed signally to carry out her self-sacrificing impulse, +when he was so ill, to reward his heroism and supplement his life +with her own; and she was much relieved to find that he appeared +satisfied with the friendship she gave, and that there was no +need of giving more. Indeed, he made it very clear that he was not +a patriotic martyr in returning to the front, and his accounts of +army life had shown that the semi-humorous journal, kept by himself +and Blauvelt, was not altogether a generous effort to conceal from +her a condition of dreary duty, hardship, and danger. Life in the +field has ever had its fascinations to the masculine nature, and +her friends were apparently finding an average enjoyment equal +to her own. She liked them all the better for this, since, to her +mind, it proved that that the knightly impulses of the past were +unspent,--that, latent in the breasts of those who had seemed mere +society fellows, dwelt the old virile forces. + +"I shall prove," she assured herself, proudly, "that since true men +are the same now as when they almost lived in armor, so ladies in +their bowers have favors only for those to whom heroic action is +second nature." + +Blauvelt had maintained the journal during Strahan's absence, doing +more with pencil than pen, and she had rewarded him abundantly +by spicy little notes, full of cheer and appreciation. She had +no scruples in maintaining this correspondence, for in it she had +her father's sanction, and the letters were open to her parents' +inspection when they cared to see them. Indeed, Mr. and Mrs. +Vosburgh enjoyed the journal almost as much as Marian herself. + +After Strahan's departure, life was unusually quiet in the young +girl's home. Her father was busy, as usual, and at times anxious, +for he was surrounded by elements hostile to the government. Aware, +however, that the army of the Potomac was being largely reinforced, +that General Hooker was reorganizing it with great success, and +that he was infusing into it his own sanguine spirit, Mr. Vosburgh +grew hopeful that, with more genial skies and firmer roads, a blow +would be struck which would intimidate disloyalty at the North as +well as in the South. + +Marian shared in this hopefulness, although she dreaded to think +how much this blow might cost her, as well as tens of thousands of +other anxious hearts. + +At present her mind was at rest in regard to Mr. Lane, for he had +written that his regiment had returned from an expedition on which +they had encountered little else than mud, sleet, and rain. The +prospects now were that some monotonous picket-duty in a region +little exposed to danger would be their chief service, and that +they would be given time to rest and recruit. + +This lull in the storm of war was Merwyn's opportunity. The inclement +evenings often left Marian unoccupied, and she divided her time +between her mother's sitting-room and her father's library, where +she often found her quondam suitor, and not infrequently he spent +an hour or two with her in the parlor. In a certain sense she had +accepted her father's suggestions. She was studying the enigma with +a lively curiosity, as she believed, and had to admit to herself +that the puzzle daily became more interesting. Merwyn pleased her +fastidious taste and interested her mind, and the possibilities +suggested by her own and her father's words made him an object +of peculiar and personal interest. The very uniqueness of their +relations increased her disposition to think about him. It might +be impossible that he should ever become even her friend; he might +become her husband. Her father's remark, "I don't know how much it +might cost you to dismiss him finally," had led to many questionings. +Other young men she substantially understood. She could gauge their +value, influence, and attractiveness almost at once; but what +possibilities lurked in this reticent man who came so near her ideal, +yet failed at a vital point? The wish, the effort to understand +him, gave an increasing zest to their interviews. He had asked her +to be his wife. She had understood him then, and had replied as she +would again if he should approach her in a similar spirit. Again, +at any hour he would ask her hand if she gave him sufficient +encouragement, and she knew it. He would be humility itself in suing +for the boon, and she knew this also, yet she did not understand +him at all. His secret fascinated her, yet she feared it. It must +be either some fatal flaw in his character, or else a powerful +restraint imposed from without. If it was the former she would shrink +from him at once; if the latter, it would indeed be a triumph, a +proof of her power, to so influence him that he would make her the +first consideration in the world. + +Every day, however, increased her determination to exert this +influence only by firmly maintaining her position. If he wished +her friendship and an equal chance with others for more, he must +prove himself the equal of others in all respects. By no words +would she ever now hint that he should take their course; but she +allowed herself to enhance his motives by permitting him to see +her often, and by an alluring yet elusive courtesy, of which she +was a perfect mistress. + +This period was one of mingled pain and pleasure to Merwyn. +Remembering his interview with Mr. Vosburgh, he felt that he had +been treated with a degree of confidence that was even generous. But +he knew that from Mr. Vosburgh he did not receive full trust,--that +there were certain topics which each touched upon with restraint. +Even with the father he was made to feel that he had reached the +limit of their friendly relations. They could advance no farther +unless the barrier of his reserve was broken down. + +He believed that he was dissipating the prejudices of the daughter; +that she was ceasing to dislike him personally. He exerted every +faculty of his mind to interest her; he studied her tastes and views +with careful analysis, that he might speak to her intelligently +and acceptably. The kindling light in her eyes, and her animated +tones, often proved that he succeeded. Was it the theme wholly that +interested her? or was the speaker also gaining some place in her +thoughts? He never could be quite certain as to these points, and +yet the impression was growing stronger that if he came some day +and said, quietly, "Good-by, Miss Vosburgh, I am going to face every +danger which any man dare meet," she would give him both hands in +friendly warmth, and that there would be an expression on her face +which had never been turned towards him. + +A stormy day, not far from the middle of April, ended in a stormier +evening. Marian had not been able to go out, and had suffered +a little from ennui. Her mother had a headache, Mr. Vosburgh had +gone to keep an appointment, and the evening promised to be an +interminable one to the young girl. She unconsciously wished that +Merwyn would come, and half-smilingly wondered whether he would +brave the storm to see her. + +She was not kept long in suspense, for he soon appeared with a book +which he wished to return, he said. + +"Papa is out," Marian began, affably, "and you will have to be +content with seeing me. You have a morbidly acute conscience, Mr. +Merwyn, to return a book on a night like this." + +"My conscience certainly is very troublesome." + +Almost before she was aware of it the trite saying slipped out, +"Honest confession is good for the soul." + +"To some souls it is denied, Miss Vosburgh;" and there was a trace +of bitterness in his tones. Then, with resolute promptness, he +resumed their usual impersonal conversation. + +While they talked, the desire to penetrate his secret grew strong +upon the young girl. It was almost certain that they would not be +interrupted, and this knowledge led her to yield to her mood. She +felt a strange relenting towards him. A woman to her finger-tips, +she could not constantly face this embodied mystery without an +increasing desire to solve it. Cold curiosity, however, was not the +chief inspiration of her impulse. The youth who sat on the opposite +side of the glowing grate had grown old by months as if they were +years. His secret was evidently not only a restraint, but a wearing +burden. By leading her companion to reveal so much of his trouble +as would give opportunity for her womanly ministry, might she not, +in a degree yet unequalled, carry out her scheme of life to make +the "most and best of those over whom she had influence"? + +"Many brood over an infirmity, a fault, or an obligation till they +grow morbid," she thought. "I might not be able to show him what +was best and right, but papa could if we only knew." + +Therefore her words and tones were kinder than usual, and she made +slight and delicate references to herself, that he might be led to +speak of himself. At last she hit upon domestic affairs as a safe, +natural ground of approach, and gave a humorous account of some of +her recent efforts to learn the mysteries of housekeeping, and she +did not fail to observe his wistful and deeply-interested expression. + +Suddenly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she +remarked: "I do not see how you manage to keep house in that great, +empty mansion of yours." + +"You know, then, where I live?" + +"Oh, yes. I saw you descend the steps of a house on Madison Avenue +one morning last fall, and supposed it was your home." + +"You were undoubtedly right. I can tell you just how I manage, or +rather, how everything IS managed, for I have little to do with the +matter. An old family servant looks after everything and provides +me with my meals. She makes out my daily menu according to her 'own +will,' which is 'sweet' if not crossed." + +"Indeed! Are you so indifferent? I thought men gave much attention +to their dinners." + +"I do to mine, after it is provided. Were I fastidious, old Cynthy +would give me no cause for complaint. Then I have a man who looks +after the fires and the horses, etc. I am too good a republican to +keep a valet. So you see that my domestic arrangements are simple +in the extreme." + +"And do those two people constitute your whole household?" she +asked, wondering at a frankness which seemed complete. + +"Yes. The ghosts and I have the house practically to ourselves most +of the time." + +"Are there ghosts?" she asked, laughing, but with cheeks that began +to burn in her kindling interest. + +"There are ghosts in every house where people have lived and died; +that is, if you knew and cared for the people. My father is with +me very often!" + +"Mr. Merwyn, I don't understand you!" she exclaimed, without trying +to disguise her astonishment. The conversation was so utterly unlike +anything that had occurred between them before that she wondered +whither it was leading. "I fear you are growing morbid," she added. + +"I hope not. Nor will you think so when I explain. Of course nothing +like gross superstition is in my mind. I remember my father very +well, and have heard much about him since he died. Therefore he +has become to me a distinct presence which I can summon at will. +The same is true of others with whom the apartments are associated. +If I wish I can summon them." + +"I am at a loss to know which is the greater, your will or your +imagination." + +"My imagination is the greater." + +"It must be great, indeed," she said, smiling alluringly, "for +I never knew of one who seemed more untrammelled in circumstances +than you are, or more under the dominion of his own will." + +"Untrammelled!" he repeated, in a low, almost desperate tone. + +"Yes," she replied, warmly,--"free to carry out every generous and +noble impulse of manhood. I tell you frankly that you have led me +to believe that you have such impulses." + +His face became ashen in its hue, and he trembled visibly. He +seemed about to speak some words as if they were wrung from him, +then he became almost rigid in his self-control as he said, "There +are limitations of which you cannot dream;" and he introduced a +topic wholly remote from himself. + +A chill benumbed her very heart, and she scarcely sought to prevent +it from tingeing her words and manner. A few moments later the +postman left a letter. She saw Lane's handwriting and said, "Will +you pardon me a moment, that I may learn that my FRIEND is well?" + +Glancing at the opening words, her eyes flashed with excitement +as she exclaimed: "The campaign has opened! They are on the march +this stormy night." + +"May I ask if your letter is from Strahan?" Merwyn faltered. + +"It is not from Mr. Strahan," she replied, quietly. + +He arose and stood before her as erect and cold as herself. "Will +you kindly give Mr. Vosburgh that book?" he said. + +"Certainly." + +"Will you also please say that I shall probably go to my country +place in a day or two, and therefore may not see him again very +soon." + +She was both disappointed and angry, for she had meant kindly by +him. The very consciousness that she had unbent so greatly, and +had made what appeared to her pride an unwonted advance, incensed +her, and she replied, in cold irony: "I will give papa your message. +It will seem most natural to him, now that spring has come, that +you should vary your mercantile with agricultural pursuits." + +He appeared stung to the very soul by her words, and his hands +clinched in his desperate effort to restrain himself. His white lips +moved as he looked at her from eyes full of the agony of a wounded +spirit. Suddenly his tense form became limp, and, with a slight +despairing gesture, he said, wearily: "It is of no use. Good-by." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +MARIAN'S INTERPRETATION OF MERWYN. + + + + + +Shallow natures, like shallow waters, are easily agitated, and outward +manifestations are in proportion to the shallowness. Superficial +observers are chiefly impressed by visible emotion and tumult. + +With all her faults, Marian had inherited from her father a strong +nature. Her intuitions had become womanly and keen, and Merwyn's +dumb agony affected her more deeply than a torrent of impetuous +words or any outward evidence of distress. She went back to her chair +and shed bitter tears; she scarcely knew why, until her father's +voice aroused her by saying, "Why, Marian dear, what IS the matter?" + +"Oh, I am glad you have come," she said. "I have caused so much +suffering that I feel as if I had committed a crime;" and she gave +an account of the recent interview. + +"Let me reassure you," said her father, gravely. "You did mean +kindly by Merwyn, and you gave him, without being unwomanly, the +best chance he could possibly have to throw off the incubus that +is burdening his life. If, with the opportunity he had to-night, +and under the influence of his love, he did not speak, his secret +is one of which he cannot speak. At least, I fear it is one of +which he dares not speak to you, lest it should be fatal to him and +all his hopes. I cannot even guess what it is, but at all events +it is of a serious nature, too grave to be regarded any longer as +secondary in our estimate of Mr. Merwyn's character. The shadow of +this mystery must not fall on you, and I am glad he is going away. +I hoped that your greater kindness and mine might lead him to reveal +his trouble, that we could help him, and that a character in many +respects so unique and strong might be cleared of its shadows. In +this case we might not only have rendered a fellow-being a great +service, but also have secured a friend capable of adding much to +our happiness. This mystery, however, proves so deep-rooted and +inscrutable that I shall be glad to withdraw you from his influence +until time and circumstance make all plain, if they ever can. +These old families often have dark secrets, and this young man, +in attaining his majority and property, has evidently become the +possessor of one of them. In spite of all his efforts to do well +it is having a sinister influence over his life, and this influence +must not extend to yours. The mere fact that he does not take an +active part in the war is very subordinate in itself. Thousands +who might do this as well as he are very well content to stay at +home. The true aspect of the affair is this: A chain of circumstances, +unforeseen, and uncaused by any premeditated effort on our part, has +presented to his mind the most powerful motives to take a natural +part in the conflict. It has gradually become evident that the +secret of his restraint is a mystery that affects his whole being. +Therefore, whether it be infirmity, fault, or misfortune, he has no +right to impose it on others, since it seems to be beyond remedy. +Do you not agree with me?" + +"I could not do otherwise, papa. Yet, remembering how he looked +to-night, I cannot help being sorry for him, even though my mind +inclines to the belief that constitutional timidity restrains him. +I never saw a man tremble so, and he turned white to his very lips. +Papa, have you read 'The Fair Maid of Perth'?" + +"Yes." + +"Don't you remember MacIan, the young chief of Clan Quhele? This +character always made a deep impression on me, awakening at the +same time pity and the strongest repulsion. I could never understand +him. He was high-born, and lived at an age when courage was the +commonest of traits, while its absence was worse than crime. For +the times he was endowed with every good quality except the power +to face danger. This from the very constitution of his being he +could not do, and he, beyond all others, understood his infirmity, +suffering often almost mortal agony in view of it. For some reason +I have been led to reread this story, and, in spite of myself, that +wretched young Scottish chieftain has become associated in my mind +with Willard Merwyn. He said to-night that his imagination was +stronger than his will. I can believe it from his words. His dead +father and others have become distinct presences to him. In the +same way he calls up before his fancy the horrors of a battle-field, +and he finds that he has not the power to face them, that he cannot +do it, no matter what the motives may be. He feels that he would +be simply overwhelmed with horror and faint-heartedness, and he is +too prudent to risk the shame of exposure." + +"Well," said her father, sighing, as if he were giving up a pleasing +dream, "you have thought out an ingenious theory which, if true, +explains Merwyn's course, perhaps. A woman's intuitions are subtle, +and often true, but somehow it does not satisfy me, even though I +can recall some things which give color to your view. Still, whatever +be the explanation, all MUST be explained before we can give him +more than ordinary courtesy." + +It soon became evident that Merwyn had gone to his country place, +for his visits ceased. The more Marian thought about him,--and she +did think a great deal,--the more she was inclined to believe that +her theory explained everything. His very words, "You think me a +coward," became a proof, in her mind, that he was morbidly sensitive +on this point, and ever conscious of his infirmity. He was too +ready to resent a fancied imputation on his courage. + +She strove to dismiss him from her thoughts, but with only partial +success. He gave her the sense of being baffled, defeated. What +could be more natural than that a high-spirited young man should +enter the army of his own free will? He had not entered it even +with her favor, possibly her love, as a motive. Yet he sought her +favor as if it were the chief consideration of existence. With her +theory, and her ideal of manhood, he was but the mocking shadow of +a man, but so real, so nearly perfect, that she constantly chafed +at the defect. Even her father had been deeply impressed by the +rare promise of his young life,--a promise which she now believed +could never be kept, although few might ever know it. + +"I must be right in my view," she said. "He proves his loyalty by +an unflagging interest in our arms, by the gift of thousands. He +is here, his own master. He would not shun danger for the sake of +his cold-hearted mother, from whom he seems almost estranged. His +sisters are well provided for, and do not need his care. He does not +live for the sake of pleasure, like many other young men. Merciful +Heaven! I blush even to think the words, much more to speak them. +Why does he not go, unless his fear is greater than his love for me? +why is he not with Lane and Strahan, unless he has a constitutional +dread that paralyzes him? He is the Scottish chieftain, MacIan, +over again. All I can do now is to pity him as one to whom Nature +has been exceedingly cruel, for every fibre in my being shrinks +from such a man." + +And so he came to dwell in her mind as one crippled, from birth, +in his very soul. + +Meanwhile events took place which soon absorbed her attention. +Lane's letter announcing the opening of the campaign proved a false +alarm, although, from a subsequent letter, she learned that he had +had experiences not trifling in their nature. On the rainy night, +early in April, that would ever be memorable to her, she had said +to Merwyn, "The army is on the march." + +This was true of the cavalry corps, and part of it even crossed the +upper waters of the Rappahannock; but the same storm which dashed +the thick drops against her windows also filled the river to +overflowing, and the brave troopers, recalled, had to swim their +horses in returning. Lane was among these, and his humorous account +of the affair was signed, "Your loyal amphibian!" + +A young girl of Marian's temperament is a natural hero-worshipper, +and he was becoming her hero. Circumstances soon occurred which +gave him a sure place in this character. + +By the last of April, not only the cavalry, but the whole army, moved, +the infantry taking position on the fatal field of Chancellorsville. +Then came the bloody battle, with its unspeakable horrors and +defeat. The icy Rappahannock proved the river of death to thousands +and thousands of brave men. + +Early in May the Union army, baffled, depleted, and discouraged, was +again in its old quarters where it had spent the winter. Apparently +the great forward movement had been a failure, but it was the cause +of a loss to the Confederate cause from which it never recovered,--that +of "Stonewall" Jackson. So transcendent were this man's boldness +and ability in leading men that his death was almost equivalent to +the annihilation of a rebel army. He was a typical character, the +embodiment of the genius, the dash, the earnest, pure, but mistaken +patriotism of the South. No man at the North more surely believed +he was right than General Jackson, no man more reverently asked God's +blessing on efforts heroic in the highest degree. He represented +the sincere but misguided spirit which made every sacrifice possible +to a brave people, and his class should ever be distinguished from +the early conspirators who were actuated chiefly by ambition and +selfishness. + +His death also was typical, for he was wounded by a volley fired, +through misapprehension, by his own men. The time will come when +North and South will honor the memory of Thomas J. Jackson, while, +at the same time, recognizing that his stout heart, active brain, +and fiery zeal were among the chief obstructions to the united and +sublime destiny of America. The man's errors were due to causes +over which he had little control; his noble character was due to +himself and his faith in God. + +Many days passed before Marian heard from Lane, and she then learned +that the raid in which he had participated had brought him within +two miles of Richmond, and that he had passed safely through great +dangers and hardships, but that the worst which he could say of +himself was that he was "prone to go to sleep, even while writing +to her." + +The tidings from her other friends were equally reassuring. Their +regiment had lost heavily, and Blauvelt had been made a captain almost +in spite of himself, while Strahan was acting as lieutenant-colonel, +since the officer holding that rank had been wounded. There was a +dash of sadness and tragedy in the journal which the two young men +forwarded to her after they had been a few days in their old camp +at Falmouth, but Strahan's indomitable humor triumphed, and their +crude record ended in a droll sketch of a plucked cock trying +to crow. She wrote letters so full of sympathy and admiration of +their spirit that three soldiers of the army of the Potomac soon +recovered their morale. + +The month of May was passing in mocking beauty to those whose hopes +and happiness were bound up in the success of the Union armies. Not +only had deadly war depleted Hooker's grand army, but the expiration +of enlistments would take away nearly thirty thousand more. Mr. +Vosburgh was aware of this, and he also found the disloyal elements +by which he was surrounded passing into every form of hostile +activity possible within the bounds of safety. Men were beginning to +talk of peace, at any cost, openly, and he knew that the Southern +leaders were hoping for the beginning at any time of a counter-revolution +at the North. The city was full of threatening rumors, intrigues, +and smouldering rebellion. + +Marian saw her father overwhelmed with labors and anxieties, and +letters from her friends reflected the bitterness then felt by the +army because the North appeared so half-hearted. + +"Mr. Merwyn, meanwhile," she thought, "is interesting himself in +landscape-gardening. If he has one spark of manhood or courage he +will show it now." + +The object of this reproach was living almost the life of a hermit +at his country place, finding no better resource, in his desperate +unrest and trouble, than long mountain rambles, which brought +physical exhaustion and sleep. + +He had not misunderstood Marian's final words and manner. Delicately, +yet clearly, she had indicated the steps he must take to vindicate +his character and win her friendship. He felt that he had become +pale, that he had trembled in her presence. What but cowardice +could explain his manner and account for his inability to confirm +the good impression he had made by following the example of her +other friends? From both his parents he had inherited a nature +sensitive to the last degree to any imputation of this kind. To +receive it from the girl he loved was a hundred-fold more bitter +than death, yet he was bound by fetters which, though unseen by +all, were eating into his very soul. The proud Mrs. Merwyn was a +slave-holder herself, and the daughter of a long line of slave-owners; +but never had a bondsman been so chained and crushed as was her +son. For weeks he felt that he could not mingle with other men, +much less meet the girl to whom manly courage was the corner-stone +of character. + +One evening in the latter part of May, as Mr. Vosburgh and his +family were sitting down to dinner, Barney Ghegan, the policeman, +appeared at their door with a decent-looking, elderly colored +woman and her lame son. They were refugees, or "contrabands," as +they were then called, from the South, and they bore a letter from +Captain Lane. + +It was a scrap of paper with the following lines pencilled upon +it:-- + +"MR. VOSBURGH, No. -- -- ST.: I have only time for a line. Mammy +Borden will tell you her story and that of her son. Their action +and other circumstances have enlisted my interest. Provide them +employment, if convenient. At any rate, please see that they want +nothing, and draw on me. Sincere regard to you all.--In haste, + +"LANE, Captain.-- --U.S. Cav." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +"DE HEAD LINKUM MAN WAS CAP'N LANE." + + + + + +It can be well understood that the two dusky strangers, recommended +by words from Lane, were at once invested with peculiar interest +to Marian. Many months had elapsed since she had seen him, but +all that he had written tended to kindle her imagination. This had +been the more true because he was so modest in his accounts of the +service in which he had participated. She had learned what cavalry +campaigning meant, and read more meaning between the lines than +the lines themselves conveyed. He was becoming her ideal knight, +on whom no shadow rested. From first to last his course had been +as open as the day, nor had he, in any respect, failed to reach +the highest standard developed by those days of heroic action. + +If this were true when "Mammy Borden" and her son appeared, the +reader can easily believe that, when they completed their story, +Captain Lane was her Bayard sans peur et sans reproche. + +Barney explained that they had met him in the street and asked +for Mr. Vosburgh's residence; as it was nearly time for him to be +relieved of duty he told them that in a few moments he could guide +them to their destination. Marian's thanks rewarded him abundantly, +and Mrs. Vosburgh told him that if he would go to the kitchen he +should have a cup of coffee and something nice to take home to his +wife. They both remained proteges of the Vosburghs, and received +frequent tokens of good-will and friendly regard. While these were +in the main disinterested, Mr. Vosburgh felt that in the possibilities +of the future it might be to his advantage to have some men in the +police force wholly devoted to his interests. + +The two colored refugees were evidently hungry and weary, and, +eager as Marian was to learn more of her friend when informed that +he had been wounded, she tried to content herself with the fact that +he was doing well, until the mother and son had rested a little +and had been refreshed by an abundant meal. Then they were summoned +to the sitting-room, for Mr. and Mrs. Vosburgh shared in Marian's +deep solicitude and interest. + +It was evident that their humble guests, who took seats deferentially +near the door, had been house-servants and not coarse plantation +slaves, and in answer to Mr. Vosburgh's questions they spoke in a +better vernacular than many of their station could employ. + +"Yes, mass'r," the woman began, "we seed Mass'r Lane,--may de Lord +bress 'im,--and he was a doin' well when we lef. He's a true Linkum +man, an' if all was like him de wah would soon be ended an' de +cullud people free. What's mo', de white people of de Souf wouldn't +be so bitter as dey now is." + +"Tell us your story, mammy," said Marian, impatiently; "tell us +everything you know about Captain Lane." + +A ray of intelligence lighted up the woman's sombre eyes, for she +believed she understood Marian's interest, and at once determined +that Lane's action should lose no embellishment which she could +honestly give. + +"Well, missy, it was dis away," she said. "My mass'r and his sons +was away in de wah. He own a big plantation an' a great many slabes. +My son, Zeb dar, an' I was kep' in de house. I waited on de missus +an' de young ladies, an' Zeb was kep' in de house too, 'kase he +was lame and 'kase dey could trus' him wid eberyting an' dey knew +it. + +"Well, up to de time Cap'n Lane come we hadn't seen any ob de +Linkum men, but we'd heared ob de prockermation an' know'd we was +free, far as Mass'r Linkum could do it, an' Zeb was jus' crazy to +git away so he could say, 'I'se my own mass'r.' I didn't feel dat +away, 'kase I was brought up wid my missus, an' de young ladies +was a'most like my own chillen, an' we didn't try to get away like +some ob de plantation han's do. + +"Well, one ebenin', short time ago, a big lot ob our sogers come +marchin' to our house--dey was hoss sogers--an' de missus an' de +young ladies knew some of de ossifers, an' dey flew aroun' an' got +up a big supper fo' dem. We all turned in, an' dar was hurry-skurry +all ober de big house, fo' de ossifers sed dey would stay all night +if de sogers ob you-uns would let dem. Dey said de Linkum sogers +was comin' dat away, but dey wouldn't be 'long afore de mawnin', +an' dey was a-gwine to whip dem. All was light talk an' larfin' an' +jingle ob sabres. De house was nebber so waked up afo'. De young +ladies was high-strung an' beliebed dat one ob our sogers could whip +ten Linkum men. In de big yard betwixt de house an' de stables de +men was feedin' dere hosses, an' we had a great pot ob coffee bilin' +fo' dem, too, an' oder tings, fo' de missus sed dere sogers mus' +hab eberyting she had. + +"Well, bimeby, as I was helpin' put de tings on de table, I heared +shots way off at de foot ob de lawn. Frontin' de house dar was a +lawn mos' half a mile long, dat slope down to de road, and de Linkum +sogers was 'spected to come dat away, an' dere was a lookout for +dem down dar. As soon as de ossifers heared de shots dey rush out +an' shout to dere men, an' dey saddle up in a hurry an' gallop out +in de lawn in front of de house an' form ranks." + +"How many were there?" Marian asked, her cheeks already burning +with excitement. + +"Law, missy, I doesn't know. Dere was a right smart lot--hundreds +I should tink." + +"Dere was not quite two hundred, missy," said Zeb; "I counted dem;" +and then he looked towards his mother, who continued. + +"De young ladies an' de missus went out on de verandy dat look down +de lawn, and Missy Roberta, de oldest one, said, 'Now, maumy, you +can see the difference between our sogers an' de Linkum men, as +you call dem.' Missy Roberta had great black eyes an' was allus +a-grievin' dat she wasn't a man so she could be a soger, but Missy +S'wanee had blue eyes like her moder, an' was as full ob frolic +as a kitten. She used ter say, 'I doesn't want ter be a man, fer I +kin make ten men fight fer me.' So she could, sho' 'nuff, fer all +de young men in our parts would fight de debil hisself for de sake +ob Missy S'wanee." + +"Go on, go on," cried Marian; "the Northern soldiers were coming--" + +"Deed, an' dey was, missy,--comin' right up de lawn 'fore our eyes, +an' dribin' in a few ob our sogers dat was a-watchin' fer dem by +de road; dey come right 'long too. I could see dere sabres flashin' +in de sunset long way off. One ossifer set dere men in ranks, and +den de oder head ossifer come ridin' up to de verandy, an' Missy +Roberta gave de ribbin from her ha'r to de one dey call cunnel, +an' de oder ossifer ask Missy S'wanee fer a ribbin, too. She larf +an' say, 'Win it, an' you shall hab it.' Den off dey gallop, Missy +Roberta cryin' arter dem, 'Don't fight too fa' away; I want to see +de Linkum hirelin's run.' Den de words rung out, 'For'ard, march, +trot,' an' down de lawn dey went. De Linkum men was now in plain +sight. Zeb, you tell how dey look an' what dey did. I was so afeard +fer my missus and de young ladies, I was 'mos' out ob my mind." + +"Well, mass'r and ladies," said Zeb, rising and making a respectful +bow, "I was at an upper window an' could see eberyting. De Linkum +men was trottin' too, an' comin' in two ranks, one little way +'hind de toder. Right smart way afore dese two ranks was a line +of calvary-men a few feet apart from each oder, an' dis line reach +across de hull lawn to de woods on de oder side. I soon seed dat +dere was Linkum sogers in de woods, too. Dey seemed sort ob outside +sogers all aroun' de two ranks in de middle. Dey all come on fas', +not a bit afeard, an' de thin line in front was firin' at our +sogers dat had been a-watchin' down by de road, an' our sogers was +a-firin' back. + +"Bimeby, soon, bofe sides come nigh each oder, den de thin line +ob Linkum men swept away to de lef at a gallop, an' our sogers an' +de fust rank ob Linkum men run dere hosses at each oder wid loud +yells. 'Clar to you, my heart jus' stood still. Neber heard such +horrid noises, but I neber took my eyes away, for I beliebed I saw +my freedom comin'. Fer a while I couldn't tell how it was gwine; +dere was nothin' but clash ob sabres, an' bofe sides was all mixed +up, fightin' hand ter hand. + +"I was wonderin' why de second rank of Linkum men didn't do nothin', +for dey was standin' still wid a man on a hoss, out in front ob +dem. Suddenly I heard a bugle soun', an' de Linkum men dat was +fightin' gave way to right an' lef, an' de man on de hoss wave his +sword an' start for'ard at a gallop wid all his men arter him. Den +our sogers 'gan to give back, fightin' as dey came. Dey was brave, +dey was stubborn as mules, but back dey had to come. De head Linkum +ossifer was leadin' all de time. I neber seed such a man, eberyting +an' eberybody guv way afo' him. De oder Linkum sogers dat I thought +was whipped wasn't whipped at all, fer dey come crowdin' aroun' +arter de head ossifer, jes' as peart as eber. + +"Front ob de house our ossifers an' sogers made a big stan', fer +de missus an' de young ladies stood right dar on de verandy, wabin' +dere hankerchiefs an' cryin' to dem to dribe de Yankee back. I knowed +my moder was on de verandy, an' I run to her, an' sho' 'nuff, dar +she was stan'in' right in front of Missy S'wanee an' 'treating de +missus an' de young ladies ter go in, fer de bullets was now flyin' +tick. But dey wouldn't go in, an' Missy Roberta was wringin' her +han's, an' cryin', 'Oh, dat I was a man!' De cunnel, de oder ossifer, +an' a lot ob our sogers wouldn't give back an inch. Dar dey was, +fightin' right afore our eyes. De rest ob dere sogers was givin' +way eb'rywhar. De Linkum sogers soon made a big rush togedder. De +cunnel's hoss went down. In a minute dey was surrounded; some was +killed, some wounded, an' de rest all taken, 'cept de young ossifer +dat Missy S'wanee tole to win her colors. He was on a po'ful big +hoss, an' he jes' break right through eb'ryting, an' was off wid +de rest. De Linkum sogers followed on, firin' at 'em. + +"De missus fainted dead away, an' my moder held her in her arms. +De head Linkum ossifer now rode up to de verandy an' took off his +hat, an' he say: 'Ladies, I admire your co'age, but you should not +'spose yourselves so needlessly. Should de vict'ry still remain +wid our side, I promise you 'tection an 'munity from 'noyance!' + +"Den he bow an' gallop arter his men dat was chasin' our sogers, +leabin' anoder ossifer in charge ob de pris'ners. De head Linkum +man was Cap'n Lane." + +"I knew it, I knew it," cried Marian. "Ah! he's a friend to be +proud of." + +Her father and mother looked at her glowing cheeks and flashing +eyes, and dismissed Merwyn from the possibilities of the future. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +The Signal Light. + + + + + +The colored woman again took up the thread of the story which would +explain her presence and her possession of a note from Captain +Lane, recommending her and her son to Mr. Vosburgh's protection. + +"Yes, missy," she said, "Cap'n Lane am a fren' ter be proud ob. I +tinks he mus' be like Mass'r Linkum hisself, fer dere nebber was a +man more braver and more kinder. Now I'se gwine ter tell yer what +happen all that drefful night, an' Zeb will put in his word 'bout +what he knows. While de cap'n was a-speakin' to de young ladies, +de missus jes' lay in my arms as ef she was dead. Missy Roberta, +as she listen, stand straight and haughty, an' give no sign she +hear, but Missy S'wanee, she bow and say, 'Tank you, sir!' Zeb +called some ob de house-servants, an' we carry de missus to her +room, an' de young ladies help me bring her to. Den I stayed wid +her, a-fannin' her an' a-cheerin' an' a-tellin' her dat I knew +Cap'n Lane wouldn't let no harm come ter dem. Now, Zeb, you seed +what happen downstars." + +"Yes, mass'r an' ladies, I kep' my eyes out, fer I tinks my chance +is come now, if eber. Cap'n Lane soon come back an' said to de +ossifer in charge ob de pris'ners,--an' dere was more pris'ners +bein' brought in all de time,--sez Cap'n Lane, 'De en'my won't +stand agin. I'se sent Cap'n Walling in pursuit, an' now we mus' +make prep'rations fer de night.' Den a man dey call a sergeant, +who'd been a spyin' roun' de kitchen, an' lookin' in de dinin'-room +winders, come up an' say something to Cap'n Lane; an' he come up +to de doah an' say he like ter see one ob de ladies. I call Missy +S'wanee, an' she come, cool an' lady-like, an' not a bit afeard, +an' he take off his hat to her, an' say:-- + +"'Madam, I'se sorry all dis yer happen 'bout yer house, but I'se +could not help it. Dere's a good many woun'ed, an' our surgeon is +gwine ter treat all alike. I'se tole dat yer had coffee a-bilin' +an' supper was ready. Now all I ask is, dat de woun'ed on bofe +sides shall have 'freshments fust, an' den ef dere's anyting lef', +I'd like my ossifers to have some supper.' Den he kinder smile as +he say, 'I know you 'spected oder company dis ebenin', an' when de +woun'ed is provided fer, de ossifers on your side can hab supper +too. I hab ordered de hospital made in de out-buildin's, an' de +priv'cy ob your home shall not be 'truded on.' + +"'Cunnel,' say Missy S'wanee. 'Plain Cap'n,' he say, interrupting--'Cap'n +Lane.' + +"'Cap'n Lane, she goes on, 'I tanks you fer your courtesy, +an 'sideration. I did not 'spect it. Your wishes shall be carried +out.' Den she says, 'I'se'll hab more supper pervided, an' we'll +'spect you wid your ossifers;' for she wanted ter make fren's wid +him, seein' we was all in his po'er. He says, 'No, madam, I'se +take my supper wid my men. I could not be an unwelcome gues' in any +house, What I asks for my ossifers, I asks as a favor; I doesn't +deman' it.' Den he bows an' goes away. Missy S'wanee, she larf--she +was allus a-larfin' no matter what happen--an' she says, 'I'se'll +get eben wid him.' Well, de cap'n goes an' speaks to de cunnel, +an' de oder captured ossifers ob our sogers, an' dey bow to him, +an' den dey comes up an' sits on de verandy, an' Missy Roberta goes +out, and dey talk in low tones, an' I couldn't hear what dey say. +I was a-helpin' Missy S'wanee, an' she say to me, 'Zeb, could you +eber tink dat a Yankee cap'n could be such a gemlin?' I didn't say +nuffin', fer I didn't want anybody ter'spect what was in my min', +but eb'ry chance I git I keep my eye on Cap'n Lane, fer I believed +he could gib us our liberty. He was aroun' 'mong de woun'ed, an' +seein' ter buryin' de dead, an' postin' an' arrangin' his men; +deed, an' was all ober eberywhar. + +"By dis time de ebenin' was growin' dark, de woun'ed and been cared +for, an' our ossifers an' de Linkum ossifers sat down to supper; +an' dey talk an' larf as if dey was good fren's. Yer'd tink it was +a supper-party, ef dere hadn't been a strappin' big soger walkin' +up an' down de verandy whar he could see in de winders. I help waits +on de table, an' Missy Roberta, she was rudder still an' glum-like, +but Missy S'wanee, she smiles on all alike, an' she say to de +Linkum ossifers, 'I 'predate de court'sy ob your cap'n, eben do' +he doesn't grace our board. I shall take de liberty, howsemeber, +ob sendin' him some supper;' an' she put a san'wich an' some cake +an' a cup ob coffee on a waiter an' sen' me out to him whar he +was sittin' by de fire in de edge ob de woods on de lawn. He smile +an' say, 'Tell de young lady dat I drink to her health an' happier +times.' Den I gits up my co'age an' says, 'Cap'n Lane, I wants ter +see yer when my work's done in de house.' He say, 'All right, come +ter me here.' Den he look at me sharp an' say, 'Can I trus' yer?' +An' I say, 'Yes, Mass'r Cap'n; I'se Linkum, troo an' troo.' Den he +whisper in my ear de password, 'White-rose.'" + +Marian remembered that she had given him a white rose when he had +asked for her colors. He had made it his countersign on the evening +of his victory. + +"Arter supper our ossifers were taken down ter de oder pris'ners, +an' guards walk aroun dem all night. I help clar up de tings, an' +watch my chance ter steal away. At las' de house seem quiet. I +tought de ladies had gone ter dere rooms, an' I put out de light +in de pantry, an' was watchin' an' waitin' an' listenin' to be sho' +dat no one was 'roun, when I heared a step in de hall. De pantry +doah was on a crack, an' I peeps out, an' my bref was nigh took +away when I sees a rebel ossifer, de one dat got away in de fight. +He give a long, low whistle, an' den dere was a rustle in de hall +above, an' Missy Roberta came flyin' down de starway. I know den +dat dere was mischief up, an' I listen wid all my ears. She say to +him, 'How awfully imprudent!' An' she put de light out in de hall, +les' somebody see in. Den she say, 'Shell we go in de parlor?' He +say, 'No, dere's two doahs here, each end de hall, an' a chance +ter go out de winders, too. I mus' keep open ebery line ob retreat. +Are dere any Yanks in de house?' She say, 'No,'--dat de Union cap'n +very 'sid'rate. 'Curse him!' sed de reb; 'he spoil my ebenin' wid +Miss S'wanee, but tell her I win her colors yet, an' pay dis Yankee +cap'n a bigger interest in blows dan he eber had afo.' Den he +'splain how he got his men togedder, an' he foun' anoder 'tachment ob +rebs, an' how dey would all come in de mawnin', as soon as light, +an' ride right ober eberyting, an' 'lease de cunnel an' all de +oder pris'ners. Den he says, 'We'se a-comin' on de creek-road. Put +a dim light in de winder facin' dat way, an' as long as we see it +burnin' we'll know dat all's quiet an' fav'able, an' tell Missy +S'wanee to hab her colors ready. Dey tought I was one oh de Yanks +in de dark, when I come in, but gettin' away'll be more tick'lish.' +Den she say, 'Don't go out ob de doah. Drap from de parlor winder +inter de shrub'ry, an' steal away troo de garden.' While dey was +gone ter de parlor, I step out an' up de starway mighty sudden. +Den I whip aroun' to de beginnin' ob de garret starway an' listen. +Soon Missy Roberta come out de parlor an' look in de pantry an' de +oder rooms, an' she sof'ly call me, 'kase she know I was las' up +'round de house; but I'se ain't sayin' nuffin'. Den she go in de +missus room, whar my moder was, an' soon she and Missy S'wanee came +out an' whisper, an' Missy S'wanee was a-larfin' how as ef she was +pleased. Den Missy S'wanee go back to de missus, an' Missy Roberta +go to her room. + +"Now was my chance, an' I tuck off'n my shoes an' carried dem, an' +I tank de Lord I heared it all, fer I says, 'Cap'n Lane'll give me +my liberty now sho' 'nuff, when I tells him all.' I'se felt sho' +he'd win de fight in de mawnin', fer he seemed ob de winnin' kine. +I didn't open any ob de doahs on de fust floah, but stole down in +de cellar, 'kase I knowed ob a winder dat I could creep outen. I +got away from de house all right, an' went toward de fire where I +lef Cap'n Lane. Soon a gruff voice said, 'Halt!' I guv de password +mighty sudden, an' den said, 'I want to see Cap'n Lane.' De man call +anoder soger, an' he come an' question me, an' den took me ter de +cap'n. An' he was a-sleepin' as if his moder had rocked 'im! But +he was on his feet de moment he spoke to. He 'membered me, an' ask +ef de mawnin' wouldn't answer. I say, 'Mass'r Cap'n, I'se got big +news fer yer.' Den he wide awake sho' 'nuff, an' tuck me one side, +an' I tole him all. 'What's yer name?' he says. 'Zeb Borden,' I +answers. Den he say: 'Zeb, you've been a good fren'. Ef I win de +fight in de mawnin' you shell hab your liberty. It's yours now, ef +you can get away.' I says I'se lame an' couldn't get away unless +he took me, an' dat I wanted my moder ter go, too. Den he tought +a minute, an' went back ter de fire an' tore out a little book +de paper we brought, an' he says, 'What your moder's name?' An' I +says, 'Dey call her Maumy Borden.' Den he wrote de lines we bring, +an' he says: 'No tellin' what happen in de mawnin'. Here's some +money dat will help you 'long when you git in our lines. Dis my +fust inderpendent comman', an' ef yer hadn't tole me dis I might a' +los' all I gained. Be faithful, Zeb; keep yer eyes an' ears open, +an' I'll take care ob yer. Now slip back, fer yer might be missed.'" + +"I got back to my lof' mighty sudden, an' I was jis' a-shakin' +wid fear, for I beliebe dat Missy Roberta would a' killed me wid +her own hands ef she'd knowed. She was like de ole mass'r, mighty +haughty an' despit-like, when she angry. I wasn't in de lof' none +too soon, fer Missy Roberta was 'spicious and uneasy-like, an' +she come to de head ob de gerret starway an' call my name. At fust +I ain't sayin' suffin', an' she call louder. Den I say, 'Dat you, +Missy Roberta?' Den she seem to tink dat I was all right. I slipped +arter her down de starway an' listen, an' I know she gwine ter put +de light in de winder. Den she go to her room again. + +"A long time pass, an' I hear no soun'. De house was so still dat +I done got afeard, knowin' dere was mischief up. Dere was a little +winder in my lof lookin' toward de creek-road, an' on de leabes +ob some trees I could see a little glimmer ob de light dat Missy +Roberta had put dar as a signal. Dat glimmer was jes' awful, fer +I knowed it mean woun's and death to de sogers, an' liberty or no +liberty fer me. Bimeby I heared steps off toward de creek-road, +but dey soon die away. I watched an' waited ter'ble long time, an' +de house an' all was still, 'cept de tread ob de guards. Mus' a' +been about tree in de mawnin' when I heared a stir. It was very +quiet-like, an' I hear no words, but now an' den dere was a jingle +like a sabre make when a man walk. I stole down de starway an' look +outen a winder in de d'rection whar Cap'n Lane was, an' I see dat +de Linkum men had let all dere fires go out. It was bery dark. Den +I hear Missy Roberta open her doah, an' I whip back ter my lof. +She come soon an' had a mighty hard time wakin' me up, an' den she +say: 'Zeb, dere's sumpen goin' on 'mong de Yankee sogers. Listen.' +I says, 'I doesn't hear nuffin'.' She says: 'Dere is; dey's a-saddlin' +up, an' movin' roun'. I want you ter steal outen an' see what dey +is doin', an' tell me.' I says, 'Yes, missy.' I tought de bole +plan would be de bes' plan now, an' I put on my shoes an' went out. +Putty soon I comes back and says to her, 'I axed a man, an' he tole +me dey was changin' de guard.'--'Did de res' seem quiet?'--'Yes, +missy, dey is sleepin' 'round under de trees.' She seemed greatly +'lieved, an' says, 'You watch aroun' an' tell me ef dere's any +news.' I stole out again an' crep' up 'hind some bushes, an' den +I sho' dat de Linkum men was a-slippin' away toward de creek-road, +but de guards kep' walkin' 'roun de pris'ners, jes' de same. On a +sudden dere was a man right 'longside ob me, an' he say, 'Make a +noise or move, an' you are dead. What are you doin' here?' I gasp +out, 'White-rose, Cap'n Lane.'--'Oh, it's you,' he say, wid a low +larf. Fo' I could speak dere come a scream, sich as I neber heared, +den anoder an' anoder. 'Dey comes from de missus' room.' Den he +say, 'Run down dar an' ask de sergeant ob de guard to send tree +men wid you, an' come quick!' Now moder kin tell yer what happened. +I had lef de back hall doah unlocked, an' de cap'n went in like a +flash." + +"De good Lor' bress Cap'n Lane," began the colored woman, "fer he +come just in time. De missus had been wakin' an' fearful-like mos' +ob de night, but at las' we was all a-dozin'. I was in a char by +her side, an' Missy S'wanee laid on a lounge. She hadn't undress, +an' fer a long time seemed as if listenin'. At las' dere come a +low knock, an' we all started up. I goes to de doah an' say, 'Who's +dar?'--'A message from Cap'n Lane,' says a low voice outside. 'Open +de doah,' says Missy S'wanee; 'I'se not afeard ob him.' De moment +I slip back de bolt, a big man, wid a black face, crowds in an' +say, 'Not a soun', as you valley your lives: I want yer jewelry +an' watches;' an' he held a pistol in his hand. At fust we tought +it was a plantation han', fer he tried ter talk like a cullud man, +an' Missy S'wanee 'gan ter talk ter him; but he drew a knife an' +says, 'Dis won't make no noise, an' it'll stop yer noise ef yer +make any. Not a word, but gib up eberyting.' De missus was so beat +out wid fear, dat she say, 'Gib him eberyting.' An' Missy S'wanee, +more'n half-dead, too, began to gib dere watches an' jewels. De man +put dem in his pocket, an' den he lay his hands on Missy S'wanee, +to take off her ring. Den she scream, an' I flew at 'im an' tried +to tear his eyes out. Missy Roberta 'gan screamin', so we knowed +she was 'tacked too. De man was strong an' rough, an' whedder he +would a' killed us or not de Lord only knows, fer jes' den de doah +flew wide open, an' Cap'n Lane stood dere wid his drawn sword. In +a secon' he seed what it all meant, an' sprung in an' grabbed de +robber by de neck an' jerked him outen inter de hall. Den de man +'gan ter beg fer mercy, an' tole his name. It was one of Cap'n +Lane's own sogers. At dis moment Missy Roberta rush outen her room, +cryin', 'Help! murder!' Den we heared heaby steps rushing up de +starway, an' tree ob Cap'n Lane's sogers dash for'ard. As soon as +Missy Roberta see de cap'n wid de light from de open doah shinin' +on his face, she comes an' ask, 'What does dis outrage mean?'--'It +mean dat dis man shell be shot in de mawnin', he say, in a chokin' +kind ob voice, fer he seem almost too angry to speak. Den he ask, +'Were you 'tacked also?'--' Yes,' she cried, 'dere's a man in my +room.'--'Which room?' An' she pointed to de doah. De fus' robber +den made a bolt ter get away, but de cap'n's men cotch 'im. 'Tie +his han's 'hind his back, an' shoot him if he tries to run agin,' +said de cap'n; den he say to Missy Roberta: 'Go in your moder's +room. Don't leave it without my permission. Ef dere is a man in +your room, he shall shar de fate ob dat villain dat I've 'spected +ob bein' a tief afore.' An' he went an' looken in Missy Roberta's +room. In a few moments he come back an' say, 'Dere was a man dar, +but he 'scape troo de winder on de verandy-roof. Ef I kin discober +'im he shall die too.' Den he say, grave an' sad-like: 'Ladies, dere +is bad men in eb'ry army. I'se deeply mort'fied dat dis should +happen. You'll bar me witness dat I tried to save you from all +'noyance. I know dis man,' pointin' to a soger dat stood near, +'an' I'll put him in dis hall on guard. His orders are--you hear +dem--not to let any one come in de hall, an' not to let any one +leabe dis room. As long as yer all stay in dis room, you are safe, +eben from a word.' Missy S'wanee rush for'ard an' take his han', an' +say, 'Eben ef you is my en'my you'se a gallant soger an' a gemlin, +an' I tanks you.' De cap'n smile an' bow, an' say, 'In overcomin' +your prej'dice I'se 'chieved my bes' vict'ry.' An' he gib her +back all de jewels an' watches, an' drew de doah to, an' lef us to +ourselves. Den we hear 'im go to a wes' room back ob de house wid +anoder soger, an' soon he come back alone, an' den de house all +still 'cept de eben tread ob de man outside. Missy Roberta clasp +her han's an' look wild. Den she whisper to Missy S'wanee, an' dey +seem in great trouble. Den she go an' open de doah an' say to de +soger dat she want ter go ter her room. 'You cannot, lady,' said +de soger. 'You heared my orders.'--'I'll only stay a minute,' she +say. 'You cannot pass dat doah,' said de soger. 'But I mus' an' +will,' cried Missy Roberta, an' she make a rush ter get out. De +soger held her still. 'Unhan' me!' she almost screamed. He turn +her 'roun' an' push her back in de room, an' den says: 'Lady, does +you tink a soger can disobey orders? Dere ain't no use ob your +takin' on 'bout dat light. We'se watch it all night as well as +your fren's, an' de cap'n has lef' a soger guardin' it, to keep it +burnin'. Ef I should let yer go, yer couldn't put it out, an' ef +it had been put out any time, we'd a' lighted it agin. So dere's +nuffin' fer yer to do but 'bey orders an' shut de doah. Den no one +will say a word to yer, as de cap'n said.' Den he pulled de doah +to hisself. + +"Missy Roberta 'gan to wring her han's an' walk up an' down like +a caged tiger, an' Missy S'wanee larf and cry togedder as she +say, 'Cap'n Lane too bright fer us.'--'No,' cries Missy Roberta, +'somebody's 'trayed me, an' I could strike a knife inter dere +heart fer doin' it. O S'wanee, S'wanee, our fren's is walkin' right +inter a trap.' Den she run to de winder an' open it ter see ef she +couldn't git down, an' dere in de garden was a soger, a-walkin' +up an' down a-watchin'. 'We jes' can't do nuffin',' she said, an' +she 'gan to sob an' go 'sterical-like. Missy S'wanee tole de missus, +an' she wrung her han's an' cry, too; an' Missy S'wanee, she was +a-larfin' an' a-cryin', an' a-prayin' all ter once. Suddenly dere +was a shot off toward de creek-road, an' den we was bery still. +Now. Zeb, you know de res'!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +MARIAN CONTRASTS LANE AND MERWYN. + + + + + +"Oh, come, this won't do at all," said Mr. Vosburgh, as Zeb was +about to continue the story. "It's nearly midnight now. Marian, +dear, your cheeks and eyes look as if you had a fever. Let us wait +and hear the rest of the story in the morning, or you'll be ill, +your mother will have a headache, and I shall be unfit for my work +to-morrow." + +"Papa, papa, in pity don't stop them till we know all. If Captain +Lane could watch all night and fight in the morning, can't we listen +for an hour longer?" + +"Oh, yes," cried Mrs. Vosburgh, "let them finish. It's like a story, +and I never could sleep well till I knew how a story was going to +turn out." + +"Wait a moment and I'll bring everybody something nice from the +sideboard, and you, also, papa, a cigar from the library," cried +the young girl. + +Her father smiled his acquiescence, and in a few moments they were +all ready to listen to the completion of a tragedy not without its +dash of comedy. + +"Arter Cap'n Lane posted his guards in de house an' sent de +robber off," Zeb resumed, "he jump on a hoss an' gallop toward de +creek-road. De light in de winder kep' a-burnin'! I foun' arterwards +dat he an' his ossifers had been down on de creek-road and studied +it all out. At one place--whar it was narrer' wid tick woods on +bofe sides--dey had builded a high rail-fence. Den below dat he +had put sogers in de woods each side widout dere hosses, an' farder +down still he had hid a lot of men dat was mounted. Sho' 'nuff, wid +de fust light of de mawnin', de rebs come ridin' toward de light +in de winder. I'd run out to de hill, not far away, ter see what +would happen, an' it was so dark yet dat eb'ryting was mixed up wid +shadders. When de rebs was a-comin' by de Linkum men in de woods a +shot was fired. Den I s'pose de rebs tought it would gib de 'larm, +fer dey began ter run dere hosses for'ard. An' den de Linkum men +let dem hab it on bofe sides ob de road, but dey kep' on till dey +come to de fence 'cross de road, an' den dey git a volley in front. +Dis skeered 'em, for dey knowed dat de Linkum men was ready, an' +dey tried to git back. Den I heared a great tramplin' an' yellin', +an' dere was Cap'n Lane a-leadin' his men an' hosses right in ahind +dem. Dere was orful fightin' fer a while, an' de men widout dere +hosses leap outen de woods and shot like mad. It was flash! bang! +on eb'ry side. At las' de Linkum men won de day, an' some ob de +rebs burst troo de woods an' run, wid Cap'n Lane's men arter dem, +an' dey kep' a-chasin' till a bugle call dem back. Den I run to +de house, fer dey was bringin' in de pris'ners. Who should I see +'mong dese but de bery ossifer dat was wid Missy Roberta de night +afore, de one dat wanted de light in de winder, an' he look bery +mad, I can tell you. + +"It was now gettin' broad day, an' de light at las' was outen de +winder. Dere was nuffin' mo' fer it to do. De Linkum soger dat had +been in de house was now helpin' guard de pris'ners, an' Missy Roberta +an' Missy S'wanee run up to de ossifer dat had been so fooled an' +say: 'We'se couldn't help it. Somebody 'trayed us. We was kep' +under guard, an' dere was a Yankee soger a-keepin' de light burnin' +arter we knew Cap'n Lane was aroun' an' ready.' Missy Roberta look +sharp at me, but I 'peared innercent as a sheep. Missy S'wanee say: +'No matter, Major Denham, you did all dat a brave man could do, +an' dar's my colors. You hab won dem.' An' den he cheer up 'mazin'ly. + +"Den I hear somebody say Cap'n Lane woun'ed, an' I slip out toward +de creek-road, an' dar I see dem a-carryin Cap'n Lane, an' de surgeon +walkin' 'longside ob him. My heart jes' stood still wid fear. His +eyes was shut, an' he look bery pale-like. Dey was a-carryin' him +up de steps ob de verandy when Missy S'wanee came runnin' ter see +what was de matter. Den Cap'n Lane open his eyes an' he say: 'Not +in here. Put me wid de oder woun'ed men; 'but Missy S'wanee say, +'No; he protec' us an' act like a gemlin, an' he shall learn dat +de ladies ob de Souf will not be surpassed.' De missus say de same, +but Missy Roberta frown an' say nuffin'. She too much put out yet +'bout dat light in de winder an' de 'feat it brought her fren's. +De cap'n was too weak an' gone-like ter say anyting mo', an' dey +carry him up ter de bes' company room. I goes up wid dem ter wait +on de surgeon, an' he 'zamin' de woun' an' gib de cap'n brandy, an' +at las' say dat de cap'n get well ef he keep quiet a few weeks,--dat +he weak now from de shock an' loss ob blood. + +"In de arternoon hundreds more Linkum men come, an' Cap'n Lane's +cunnel come wid dem, an' he praise de cap'n an' cheer him up, an' +de cap'n was bery peart an' say he feel better. Mos' ob de ossifers +take supper at de house. De missus an' Missy Roberta were perlite +but bery cold-like, but Missy S'wanee, while she show dat she was +a reb down to de bottom ob her good, kine heart, could smile an' +say sunshiny tings all de same. Dis night pass bery quiet, an' +in de mawnin' de Linkum cunnel say he hab orders ter 'tire toward +de Union lines. He feel bery bad 'bout leabin' Cap'n Lane, but de +surgeon say he mus' not be moved. He say, too, dat he stay wid de +cap'n an' de oder badly woun'ed men. De cap'n tell his cunnel 'bout +me an' my moder an' what he promise us, an' de cunnel say he take +us wid him an' send us to Washin'on. De missus an' de young ladies +take on drefful 'bout our gwine, but I say, 'I mus' hab my liberty,' +an' moder say she can't part wid her own flesh an' blood--" + +"Yes, yes, but what did 'Cap'n' Lane say?" interrupted Marian. + +"He tole me ter say ter you, missy, dat he was gwine ter git well, +an' dat you mus'n't worry 'kase you didn't hear from him, an' dat +he know you'd be kine to us, 'kase I'd help him win de vict'ry. De +surgeon wrote some letters, too, an' gib dem to de Linkum cunnel. +P'raps you git one ob dem. Dey put us in an army wagon, an' bimeby +we reach a railroad, an' dey gib us a pass ter Washin'on, an' we +come right on heah wid Cap'n Lane's money. I doesn't know what dey +did with de robber--" + +"Oh, oh," cried Marian, "it may be weeks before I hear from my +friend again, if I 'ever do." + +"Marian, dear," said her father, "do not look on the dark side; +it might have been a hundred-fold worse. 'Cap'n' Lane was in +circumstances of great comfort, with his own surgeon in care of +his wound. Think how many poor fellows were left on the field of +Chancellorsville to Heaven only knows what fate. In such desperate +fighting as has been described we have much reason to be thankful +that he was not killed outright. He has justly earned great credit +with his superiors, and I predict that he will get well and be +promoted. I think you will receive a letter in a day or two from +the surgeon. I prescribe that you and mamma sleep in the morning +till you are rested. I won't grumble at taking my coffee alone." +Then, to the colored woman and her son: "Don't you worry. We'll +see that you are taken care of." + +Late as it was, hours still elapsed before Marian slept. Her hero +had become more heroic than ever. She dwelt on his achievements +with enthusiasm, and thought of his sufferings with a tenderness +never before evoked, while the possibility that "Missy S'wanee" +was his nurse produced twinges approaching jealousy. + +As was expected, the morning post brought a letter from the surgeon +confirming the account that had been given by the refugees, and +full of hope-inspiring words. Then for weeks there were no further +tidings from Lane. + +Meanwhile, events were culminating with terrible rapidity, and +their threatening significance electrified the North. The Southern +people and their sympathizers everywhere were jubilant over +the victory of Chancellorsville, and both demanded and expected +that this success should be followed by decisive victories. Lee's +army, General Longstreet said, was "in a condition of strength and +morale to undertake anything," and Southern public sentiment and +the needs of the Richmond government all pointed towards a second +and more extended invasion of the North. The army was indeed strong, +disciplined, a powerful instrument in the hands of a leader like +General Lee. Nevertheless, it had reached about the highest degree +of its strength. The merciless conscription in the South had swept +into its ranks nearly all the able-bodied men, and food and forage +were becoming so scarce in war-wasted Virginia and other regions +which would naturally sustain this force, that a bold, decisive +policy had become a necessity. It was believed that on Northern +soil the army could be fed, and terms of peace dictated. + +The chief motive for this step was the hope of a counter-revolution +in the North where the peace faction had grown bold and aggressive +to a degree that only stopped short of open resistance. The draft +or general conscription which the President had ordered to take place +in July awakened intense hostility to the war and the government +on the part of a large and rapidly increasing class of citizens. +This class had its influential and outspoken leaders, who were +evidently in league with a secret and disloyal organization known +as the "Knights of the Golden Circle," the present object of which +was the destruction of the Union and the perpetuation of slavery. +In the city of New York the spirit of rebellion was as rampant in +the breasts of tens of thousands as in Richmond, and Mr. Vosburgh knew +it. His great sagacity and the means of information at his command +enabled him to penetrate much of the intrigue that was taking place, +and to guess at far more. He became haggard and almost sleepless +from his labors and anxieties, for he knew that the loyal people +of the North were living over a volcano. + +Marian shared in this solicitude, and was his chief confidante. He +wished her, with her mother, to go to some safe and secluded place +in the country, and offered to lease again the cottage which they +had occupied the previous summer, but Marian said that she would +not leave him, and that he must not ask her to do so. Mrs. Vosburgh +was eventually induced to visit relatives in New England, and then +father and daughter watched events with a hundred-fold more anxiety +than that of the majority, because they were better informed and +more deeply involved in the issues at stake than many others. But +beyond all thought of worldly interests, their intense loyal feeling +burned with a pure, unwavering flame. + +In addition to all that occupied her mind in connection with +her father's cares and duties, she had other grounds for anxiety. +Strahan wrote that his regiment was marching northward, and that +he soon expected to take part in the chief battle of the war. Every +day she hoped for some news from Lane, but none came. His wishes +in regard to Mammy Borden and her son had been well carried out. +Mr. Vosburgh had been led to suspect that the man in charge of his +offices was becoming rather too curious in regard to his affairs, +and too well informed about them. Therefore Zeb was installed +in his place; and when Mrs. Vosburgh departed on her visit Marian +dismissed the girl who had succeeded Sally Maguire, and employed +the colored woman in her stead. She felt that this action would +be pleasing to Lane, and that it was the very least that she could +do. + +Moreover, Mammy Borden was what she termed a "character," one to +whom she could speak with something of the freedom natural to the +ladies of the Southern household. The former slave could describe +a phase of life and society that was full of novelty and romance +to Marian, and "de young ladies," especially "Missy S'wanee," were +types of the Southern girl of whom she never wearied of hearing. +From the quaint talk of her new servant she learned to understand +the domestic life of those whom she had regarded as enemies, and was +compelled to admit that in womanly spirit and dauntless patriotism +they were her equals, and had proved it by facing dangers and +hardships from which she had been shielded. More than all, the old +colored woman was a protegee of Captain Lane and was never weary +of chanting his praises. + +Marian was sincerely perplexed by the attitude of her mind towards +this young officer. He kindled her enthusiasm and evoked admiration +without stint. He represented to her the highest type of manhood +in that period of doubt, danger, and strong excitement. Brave to +the last degree, his courage was devoid of recklessness. The simple, +untutored description of his action given by the refugees had only +made it all the more clear that his mind was as keen and bright as +his sword, while in chivalric impulses he had never been surpassed. +Unconsciously Mammy Borden and her son had revealed traits in him +which awakened Marian's deepest respect, suggesting thoughts of +which she would not have spoken to any one. She had been shown his +course towards beautiful women who were in his power, and who at +the same time were plotting his destruction and that of his command. +While he foiled their hostile purpose, no knight of olden times +could have shown them more thoughtful consideration and respect. +She felt that her heart ought to go out towards this ideal lover +in utter abandon. Why did it not? Why were her pride, exultation, +and deep solicitude too near akin to the emotions she would have +felt had he been her brother? Was this the only way in which she +could love? Would the sacred, mysterious, and irresistible impulses +of the heart, of which she had read, follow naturally in due time? + +She was inclined to believe that this was true, yet, to her surprise, +the thought arose unbidden: "If Willard Merwyn were showing like +qualities and making the same record--What absurdity is this!" +she exclaimed aloud. "Why does this Mr. Merwyn so haunt me, when +I could not give him even respect and friendship, although he sent +an army into the field, yet was not brave enough to go himself? +Where is he? What is he doing in these supreme hours of his country's +history? Everything is at stake at the front, yes, and even here +at the North, for I can see that papa dreads unspeakably what each +day may bring forth, yet neither this terrible emergency nor the +hope of winning my love can brace his timid soul to manly action. +There is more manhood in one drop of the blood shed by Captain Lane +than in Merwyn's whole shrinking body." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE NORTH INVADED. + + + + + +Merwyn could scarcely have believed that he had sunk so low +in Marian's estimation as her words at the close of the previous +chapter indicated, yet he guessed clearly the drift of her opinion +in regard to him, and he saw no way of righting himself. In the +solitude of his country home he considered and dismissed several +plans of action. He thought of offering his services to the Sanitary +Commission, but his pride prevented, for he knew that she and others +would ask why a man of his youth and strength sought a service in +which sisters of charity could be his equals in efficiency. He also +saw that joining a regiment of the city militia was but a half-way +measure that might soon lead to the violation of his oath, since +these regiments could be ordered to the South in case of an emergency. + +The prospect before him was that of a thwarted, blighted life. He +might live till he was gray, but in every waking moment he would +remember that he had lost his chance for manly action, when such +action would have brought him self-respect, very possibly happiness, +and certainly the consciousness that he had served a cause which +now enlisted all his sympathies. + +At last he wrote to his mother an impassioned appeal to be released +from his oath, assuring her that he would never have any part in +the Southern empire that was the dream of her life. He cherished +the hope that she, seeing how unalterable were his feelings and +purposes, would yield to him the right to follow his own convictions, +and with this kindling hope his mind grew calmer. + +Then, as reason began to assert itself, he saw that he had been absent +from the city too long already. His pride counselled: "The world +has no concern with your affairs, disappointments, or sufferings. +Be your father's son, and maintain your position with dignity. In a +few short weeks you may be free. If not, your secret is your own, +and no living soul can gossip about your family affairs, or say +that you betrayed your word or your family interests. Meanwhile, +in following the example of thousands of other rich and patriotic +citizens, you can contribute more to the success of the Union cause +than if you were in the field." + +He knew that this course might not secure him the favor of one for +whom he would face every danger in the world, but it might tend to +disarm criticism and give him the best chances for the future. + +He at once carried out his new purposes, and early in June returned +to his city home. He now resolved no longer to shrink and hide, but +to keep his own counsel, and face the situation like one who had +a right to choose his own career. Mr. Bodoin, his legal adviser, +received the impression that he had been quietly looking after +his country property, and the lawyer rubbed his bloodless hands in +satisfaction over a youthful client so entirely to his mind. + +Having learned more fully what his present resources were, Merwyn +next called on Mr. Vosburgh at his office. That gentleman greeted +the young man courteously, disguising his surprise and curiosity. + +"I have just returned from my country place," Merwyn began, "and +shall not have to go there very soon again, Can I call upon you as +usual?" + +"Certainly," replied Mr. Vosburgh; but there was no warmth in his +tone. + +"I have also a favor to ask," resumed Merwyn, with a slight +deepening of color in his bronzed face. "I have not been able to +follow events very closely, but so far as I can judge there is a +prospect of severe battles and of sudden emergencies. If there is +need of money, such means as I have are at your disposal." + +Even Mr. Vosburgh, at the moment, felt much of Marian's repulsion +as he looked at the tall youth, with his superb physique, who spoke +of severe battles and offered "money." "Truly," he thought, "she +must be right. This man will part with thousands rather than risk +one drop of blood." + +But he was too good a patriot to reveal his impression, and said, +earnestly: "You are right, Mr. Merwyn. There will be heavy fighting +soon, and all the aid that you can give the Sanitary and Christian +Commissions will tend to save life and relieve suffering." + +Under the circumstances he felt that he could not use any of the +young man's money, even as a temporary loan, although at times the +employment of a few extra hundreds might aid him greatly in his +work. + +Merwyn went away chilled and saddened anew, yet feeling that his +reception had been all that he had a right to expect. + +There had been no lack of politeness on Mr. Vosburgh's part, but +his manner had not been that of a friend. + +"He has recognized that I am under some secret restraint," Merwyn +thought, "and distrusts me at last. He probably thinks, with his +daughter, that I am afraid to go. Oh that I had a chance to prove +that I am, at least, not a coward! In some way I shall prove it +before many weeks pass." + +At dinner, that evening, Mr. Vosburgh smiled significantly at +Marian, and said, "Who do you think called on me to-day?" + +"Mr. Merwyn," she said, promptly. + +"You are right. He came to offer--" + +"Money," contemptuously completing her father's sentence. + +"You evidently think you understand him. Perhaps you do; and I admit +that I felt much as you do, to-day, when he offered his purse to +the cause. I fear, however, that we are growing a little morbid on +this subject, and inclined to judgments too severe. You and I have +become like so many in the South. This conflict and its results +are everything to us, and we forget that we are surrounded by +hundreds of thousands who are loyal, but are not ready for very +great sacrifices." + +"We are also surrounded by millions that are, and I cast in my lot +with these. If this is to be morbid, we have plenty of company." + +"What I mean is, that we may be too hard upon those who do not +feel, and perhaps are not capable of feeling, as we do." + +"O papa! you know the reason why Mr. Merwyn takes the course he +does." + +"I know what you think to be the reason, and you may be right. Your +explanation struck me with more force than ever to-day; and yet, +looking into the young fellow's face, it seems impossible. He +impresses me strangely, and awakens much curiosity as to his future +course. He asked if he could call as usual, and I, with ordinary +politeness, said, 'Certainly.' Indeed, there was a dignity about +the fellow that almost compelled the word. I don't know that we +have any occasion to regret it. He has done nothing to forfeit mere +courtesy on our part." + +"Oh, no," said Marian, discontentedly; "but he irritates me. I wish +I had never known him, and that I might never meet him again. I am +more and more convinced that my theory about him is correct, and +while I pity him sincerely, the ever-present consciousness of his +fatal defect is more distressing--perhaps I should say, annoying--than if +he presented some strong physical deformity. He is such a superb +and mocking semblance of a man that I cannot even think of him +without exasperation." + +"Well, my dear, perhaps this is one of the minor sacrifices that +we must make for the cause. Until Merwyn can explain for himself, +he has no right to expect from us more than politeness. While I +would not take from him a loan for my individual work, I can induce +him to give much material help. In aiding Strahan, and in other +ways, he has done a great deal, and he is willing to do more. The +prospects are that everything will be needed, and I do not feel +like alienating one dollar or one bit of influence. According to +your theory his course is due to infirmity rather than to fault, +and so he should be tolerated, since he is doing the best he can. +Politeness to him will not compromise either our principles or +ourselves." + +"Well, papa, I will do my best; but if he had a particle of my +intuition he would know how I feel. Indeed, I believe he does know +in some degree, and it seems to me that, if I were a man, I couldn't +face a woman while she entertained such an opinion." + +"Perhaps the knowledge that you are wrong enables him to face you." + +"If that were true he wouldn't be twenty-four hours in proving it." + +"Well," said her father, with a grim laugh, and in a low voice, +"he may soon have a chance to show his mettle without going to +the front. Marian, I wish you would join your mother. The city is +fairly trembling with suppressed disloyalty. If Lee marches northward +I shall fear an explosion at any time." + +"Leave the city!" said the young girl, hotly. "That would prove +that I possess the same traits that repel me so strongly in Mr. +Merwyn. No, I shall not leave your side this summer, unless you +compel me to almost by force. Have we not recently heard of two +Southern girls who cheered on their friends in battle with bullets +flying around them? After witnessing that scene, I should make +a pitiable figure in Captain Lane's eyes should I seek safety in +flight at the mere thought of danger. I should die with shame." + +"It is well Captain Lane does not hear you, or the surgeon would +have fever to contend with, as well as wounds." + +"O dear!" cried the girl. "I wish we could hear from him." + +Mr. Vosburgh had nearly reached the conclusion that if the captain +survived the vicissitudes of the war he would not plead a second +time in vain. + +A few evenings later Merwyn called. Mr. Vosburgh was out, and others +were in the drawing-room. Marian did not have much to say to him, +but treated him with her old, distant politeness. He felt her manner, +and saw the gulf that lay between them, but no one unacquainted with +the past would have recognized any lack of courtesy on her part. + +Among the exciting topics broached was the possibility +of a counter-revolution at the North. Merwyn noticed that Marian +was reticent in regard to her father and his opinions, but he was +startled to hear her say that she would not be surprised if violent +outbreaks of disloyalty took place any hour, and he recognized her +courage in remaining in the city. One of the callers, an officer +in the Seventh Regiment, also spoke of the possibility of all the +militia being ordered away to aid in repelling invasion. + +Merwyn listened attentively, but did not take a very active part in +the conversation, and went away with the words "counter-revolution" +and "invasion" ringing in his ears. + +He became a close student of the progress of events, and, with his +sensitiveness in regard to the Vosburghs, adopted a measure that +taxed his courage. A day or two later he called on Mr. Vosburgh at +his office, and asked him out to lunch, saying that he was desirous +of obtaining some information. + +Mr. Vosburgh complied readily, for he wished to give the young +man every chance to right himself, and he could not disguise the +fact that he felt a peculiar interest in the problem presented by +his daughter's unfortunate suitor. Merwyn was rather maladroit in +accounting for his questions in regard to the results of a counter +revolution, and gave the impression that he was solicitous about +his property. + +Convinced that his entertainer was loyal from conviction and +feeling, as well as from the nature of his pecuniary interests, +Mr. Vosburgh spoke quite freely of the dangerous elements rapidly +developing at the North, and warned his host that, in his opinion, +the critical period of the struggle was approaching. Merwyn's grave, +troubled face and extreme reticence in respect to his own course +made an unfavorable impression, yet he was acting characteristically. +Trammelled as he was, he could not speak according to his natural +impulses. He felt that brave words, not enforced by corresponding +action, would be in wretched taste, and his hope was that by deeds +he could soon redeem himself. If there was a counter-revolution he +could soon find a post of danger without wearing the uniform of a +soldier or stepping on Southern soil, but he was not one to boast +of what he would do should such and such events take place. Moreover, +before the month elapsed he had reason to believe that he would +receive a letter from his mother giving him freedom. Therefore, +Mr. Vosburgh was left with all his old doubts and perplexities +unrelieved, and Marian's sinister theory was confirmed rather than +weakened. + +Merwyn, however, was no longer despondent. The swift march of events +might give him the opportunities he craved. He was too young not to +seize on the faintest hope offered by the future, and the present +period was one of reaction from the deep dejection that, for a +time, had almost paralyzed him in the country. + +Even as a boy he had been a sportsman, and a good shot with gun, +rifle, and pistol, but now he began to perfect himself in the use +of the last-named weapon. He arranged the basement of his house in +such a way that he could practise with his revolvers, and he soon +became very proficient in the accuracy and quickness of his aim. + +According to the press despatches of the day, there was much +uncertainty in regard to General Lee's movements and plans. Mr. +Vosburgh's means of information led him to believe that the rebel +army was coming North, and many others shared the fear; but as +late as June 15, so skilfully had the Confederate leader masked +his purposes, that, according to the latest published news, the +indications were that he intended to cross the Rappahannock near +Culpepper and inaugurate a campaign similar to the one that had +proved so disastrous to the Union cause the preceding summer. + +On the morning of the 16th, however, the head-lines of the leading +journals startled the people through the North. The rebel advance +had occupied Chambersburg, Pa. The invasion was an accomplished +fact. The same journals contained a call from the President for +100,000 militia, of which the State of New York was to furnish +20,000. The excitement in Pennsylvania was intense, for not only +her capital, but her principal towns and cities were endangered. +The thick-flying rumors of the past few days received terrible +confirmation, and, while Lee's plans were still shrouded in mystery, +enough was known to awaken apprehension, while the very uncertainty +proved the prolific source of the most exaggerated and direful +stories. There was immense activity at the various armories, and +many regiments of the city militia expected orders to depart at +any hour. The metropolis was rocking with excitement, and wherever +men congregated there were eager faces and excited tones. + +Behind his impassive manner, when he appeared in the street, no +one disguised deeper feeling, more eager hope, more sickening fear, +than Willard Merwyn. When would his mother's letter come? If this +crisis should pass and he take no part in it he feared that he +himself would be lost. + +Since his last call upon Marian he felt that he could not see her +again until he could take some decided course; but if there were +blows to be struck by citizens at the North, or if his mother's +letter acceded to his wish, however grudgingly, he could act at +once, and on each new day he awoke with the hope that he might be +unchained before its close. + +The 17th of June was a memorable day. The morning press brought +confirmation of Lee's northward advance. The men of the Quaker +City were turning out en masse, either to carry the musket or for +labor on fortifications, and it was announced that twelve regiments +of the New-York militia were under marching orders. The invasion +was the one topic of conversation. There was an immense revival +of patriotism, and recruiting at the armories went on rapidly. At +this outburst of popular feeling disloyalty shrunk out of sight for +a time, and apparently the invaders who had come north as allies +of the peace party created an uprising, as they had expected, but +it was hostile to them. + +The people were reminded of the threats of the Southern leaders. +The speech of Jeff Davis in the winter of 1860-61 was quoted: "If +war should result from secession, it will not be our fields that +will witness its ravages, but those of the North." + +The fact that this prediction was already fulfilled stung even the +half-hearted into action, and nerved the loyalty of others, and +when it became known that the gallant Seventh Regiment would march +down Broadway en route for Pennsylvania at noon, multitudes lined +the thoroughfare and greeted their defenders with acclamations. + +Merwyn knew that Marian would witness the departure, and he watched +in the distance till he saw her emerge from her home and go to a +building on Broadway in which her father had secured her a place. +She was attended by an officer clad in the uniform of a service +so dear to her, but which HE had sworn never to wear. He hastily +secured a point of observation in a building opposite, for while +the vision of the young girl awakened almost desperate revolt at +his lot, he could not resist a lover's impulse to see her. Pale, +silent, absorbed, he saw her wave her handkerchief and smile at +her friends as they passed; he saw a white-haired old lady reach +out her hands in yearning love, an eloquent pantomime that indicated +that her sons were marching under her eyes, and then she sank back +into Marian's arms. + +"Oh," groaned Merwyn, "if that were my mother I could give her a +love that would be almost worship." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +"I'VE LOST MY CHANCE." + + + + + +During the remainder of the 17th of June and for the next few days, +the militia regiments of New York and Brooklyn were departing for +the seat of war. The city was filled with conflicting rumors. On +the 19th it was said that the invaders were returning to Virginia. +The questions "Where is Lee, and what are his purposes? and what +is the army of the Potomac about?" were upon all lips. + +On the 20th came the startling tidings of organized resistance to +the draft in Ohio, and of troops fired upon by the mob. Mr. Vosburgh +frowned heavily as he read the account at the breakfast-table and +said: "The test of my fears will come when the conscription begins +in this city, and it may come much sooner. I wish you to join your +mother before that day, Marian!" + +"No," she said, quietly,--"not unless you compel, me to." + +"I may be obliged to use my authority," said her father, after some +thought. "My mind is oppressed by a phase of danger not properly +realized. The city is being stripped of its loyal regiments, and +every element of mischief is left behind." + + +"Papa, I entreat you not to send me away while you remain. I assure +you that such a course would involve far greater danger to me than +staying with you, even though your fears should be realized. If +the worst should happen, I might escape all harm. If you do what +you threaten, I could not escape a wounded spirit." + +"Well, my dear," said her father, gently, "I appreciate your courage +and devotion, and I should indeed miss you. We'll await further +developments." + +Day after day passed, bringing no definite information. There were +reports of severe cavalry fighting in Virginia, but the position +of the main body of Lee's army was still practically unknown to the +people at large. On the 22d, a leading journal said, "The public +must, with patience, await events in Virginia, and remain in +ignorance until some decisive point is reached;" and on the 24th, +the head-lines of the press read, in effect, "Not much of importance +from Pennsylvania yesterday." The intense excitement caused by +the invasion was subsiding. People could not exist at the first +fever-heat. It was generally believed that Hooker's army had brought +Lee to a halt, and that the two commanders were manoeuvring for +positions. The fact was that the Confederates had an abundance of +congenial occupation in sending southward to their impoverished +commissary department the immense booty they were gathering among +the rich farms and towns of Pennsylvania. Hooker was seeking, by +the aid of his cavalry force and scouts, to penetrate his opponent's +plans, meanwhile hesitating whether to fall on the rebel communications +in their rear, or to follow northward. + +Lee and his great army, flushed with recent victories, were not all +that Hooker had to contend with, but there was a man in Washington, +whose incapacity and ill-will threatened even more fatal difficulties. +Gen. Halleck, Commander-in-Chief, hung on the Union leader like +the "Old Man of the Sea." He misled the noble President, who, +as a civilian, was ignorant of military affairs, paralyzed tens +of thousands of troops by keeping them where they could be of no +practical use, and by giving them orders of which General Hooker +was not informed. The Comte de Paris writes, "Lee's projects could +not have been more efficiently subserved," and the disastrous defeat +of General Milroy confirms these words. It was a repetition of the +old story of General Miles of the preceding year, with the difference +that Milroy was a gallant, loyal man, who did all that a skilful +officer could accomplish to avert the results of his superior's +blundering and negligence. + +Hooker was goaded into resigning, and of the army of the Potomac the +gifted French author again writes, "Everything seemed to conspire +against it, even the government, whose last hope it was;" adding +later: "Out of the 97,000 men thus divided (at Washington, Frederick, +Fortress Monroe, and neighboring points) there were 40,000, perfectly +useless where they were stationed, that might have been added to +the army of the Potomac before the 1st of July. Thus reinforced, the +Union general could have been certain of conquering his adversary, +and even of inflicting upon him an irreparable disaster." + +The fortunes of the North were indeed trembling in the balance. +We had to cope with the ablest general of the South and his great +army, with the peace (?) faction that threatened bloody arguments +in the loyal States, and with General Halleck. + +The people were asking: "Where is the army of the Potomac? What +can it be doing, that the invasion goes on so long unchecked?" At +Gettysburg this patient, longsuffering army gave its answer. + +Meanwhile the North was brought face to face with the direst +possibilities, and its fears, which history has proved to be just, +were aroused to the last degree. The lull in the excitement which +had followed the first startling announcement of invasion was +broken by the wildest rumors and the sternest facts. The public +pulse again rose to fever-heat. Farmers were flying into Harrisburg, +before the advancing enemy; merchants were packing their goods +for shipment to the North; and the panic was so general that the +proposition was made to stop forcibly the flight of able-bodied +men from the Pennsylvanian capital. + +As Mr. Vosburgh read these despatches in the morning paper, Marian +smiled satirically, and said: "You think that Mr. Merwyn is under +some powerful restraint. I doubt whether he would be restrained +from going north, should danger threaten this city." + +And many believed, with good reason, that New York City was +threatened. Major-General Doubleday, in his clear, vigorous account +of this campaign writes: "Union spies who claimed to have counted +the rebel forces as they passed through Hagerstown made their +number to be 91,000 infantry and 280 guns. This statement, though +exaggerated, gained great credence, and added to the excitement of +the loyal people throughout the Northern States, while the disloyal +element was proportionately active and jubilant." Again he writes: +"There was wild commotion throughout the North, and people began to +feel that the boast of the Georgia Senator, Toombs, that he would +call the roll of his slaves at the foot of Bunker Hill Monument, +might soon be realized. The enemy seemed very near and the army of +the Potomac far away." Again: "The Southern people were bent upon +nothing else than the entire subjugation of the North and the +occupation of our principal cities." + +These statements of sober history are but the true echoes of the +loud alarms of the hour. On the morning of the 20th of June, such +words as these were printed as the leading editorial of the New York +Tribune: "The rebels are coming North. All doubt seems at length +dispelled. Men of the North, Pennsylvanians, Jerseymen, New-Yorkers, +New-Englanders, the foe is at your doors! Are you true men or +traitors? brave men or cowards? If you are patriots, resolved and +deserving to be free, prove it by universal rallying, arming, and +marching to meet the foe. Prove it NOW!" + +Marian, with flashing eyes and glowing cheeks, read to her father +this brief trumpet call, and then exclaimed: "Yes, the issue is +drawn so sharply now that no loyal man can hesitate, and to-day +Mr. Merwyn cannot help answering the question, 'Are you a brave +man or a coward?' O papa, to think that a MAN should be deaf to +such an appeal and shrink in such an emergency!" + +At that very hour Merwyn sat alone in his elegant home, his face +buried in his hands, the very picture of dejection. Before him on +the table lay the journal from which he had read the same words +which Marian had applied to him in bitter scorn. An open letter +was also upon the table, and its contents had slain his hope. Mrs. +Merwyn had answered his appeal characteristically. "You evidently +need my presence," she wrote, "yet I will never believe that you +can violate your oath, unless your reason is dethroned. When you +forget that you have sworn by your father's memory and your mother's +honor, you must be wrecked indeed. I wonder at your blindness to +your own interests, and can see in it the influence which, in all +the past, has made some weak men reckless and forgetful of everything +except an unworthy passion. The armies of your Northern friends +have been defeated again and again. I have means of communication +with my Southern friends, and before the summer is over our gallant +leaders will dictate peace in the city where you dwell. What then +would become of the property which you so value, were it not for my +influence? My hope still is, that your infatuation will pass away +with your youth, and that your mind will become clear, so that +you can appreciate the future that might be yours. If I can only +protect you against yourself and designing people, all may yet be +well; and when our glorious South takes the foremost place among +the nations of the earth, my influence will be such that I can still +obtain for you rank and title, unless you now compromise yourself +by some unutterable folly. The crisis is approaching fast, and the +North will soon learn that, so far from subduing the South, it will +be subjugated and will gladly accept such terms as we may deem it +best to give. I have fulfilled my mission here. The leading classes +are with us in sympathy, and it will require but one or two more +victories like that of Chancellorsville to make England our open +ally. Then people of our birth and wealth will be the equals of the +English aristocracy, and your career can be as lofty as you choose +to make it. Then, with a gratitude beyond words, you will thank me +for my firmness, for you can aspire to the highest positions in an +empire such as the world has not seen before." + +"No," said Merwyn, sternly, "if there is a free State left at the +North, I will work there with my own hands for a livelihood, rather +than have any part or lot in this Southern empire. Yet what can I +ever appear to be but a shrinking coward? An owner of slaves all +her life, my mother has made a slave of me. She has fettered my +very soul. Oh! if there are to be outbreaks at the North, let them +come soon, or I shall die under the weight of my chains." + +The dark tide of invasion rose higher and higher. At last the tidings +came that Lee's whole army was in Pennsylvania, that Harrisburg +would be attacked before night, and that the enemy were threatening +Columbia on the northern bank of the Susquehanna, and would have +crossed the immense bridge which there spans the river, had it not +been burned. + +On the 27th, the Tribune contained the following editorial words: +"Now is the hour. Pennsylvania is at length arousing, we trust not +too late. We plead with the entire North to rush to the rescue; the +whole North is menaced through this invasion. It we do not stop it +at the Susquehanna, it will soon strike us on the Delaware, then +on the Hudson." + +"My chance is coming," Merwyn muttered, grimly, as he read these +words. "If the answering counter-revolution does not begin during +the next few days, I shall take my rifle and fight as a citizen as +long as there is a rebel left on Northern soil." + +The eyes of others were turned towards Pennsylvania; he scanned +the city in which he dwelt. He had abandoned all morbid brooding, +and sought by every means in his power to inform himself in regard +to the seething, disloyal elements that were now manifesting +themselves. From what Mr. Vosburgh had told him, and from what he +had discovered himself, he felt that any hour might witness bloody +co-operation at his very door with the army of invasion. + +"Should this take place," he exclaimed, as he paced his room, "oh +that it might be my privilege, before I died, to perform some deed +that would convince Marian Vosburgh that I am not what she thinks +me to be!" + +Each new day brought its portentous news. On the 30th of June, there +were accounts of intense excitement at Washington and Baltimore, +for the enemy had appeared almost at the suburbs of these cities. +In Baltimore, women rushed into the streets and besought protection. +New York throbbed and rocked with kindred excitement. + +On July 3d, the loyal Tribune again sounded the note of deep alarm: +"These are times that try men's souls! The peril of our country's +overthrow is great and imminent. The triumph of the rebels +distinctly and unmistakably involves the downfall of republican +and representative institutions." + +By a strange anomaly multitudes of the poor, the oppressed in other +lands, whose hope for the future was bound up in the cause of the +North, were arrayed against it. Their ignorance made them dupes +and tools, and enemies of human rights and progress were prompt to +use them. On the evening of this momentous 3d of July, a manifesto, +in the form of a handbill, was extensively circulated throughout +the city. Jeff Davis himself could not have written anything more +disloyal, more false, of the Union government and its aims, or +better calculated to incite bloody revolution in the North. + +For the last few days the spirit of rebellion had been burning like +a fuse toward a vast magazine of human passion and intense hatred +of Northern measures and principles. If from Pennsylvania had come +in electric flash the words, "Meade defeated," the explosion would +have come almost instantly; but all now had learned that the army +of the Potomac had emerged from its obscurity, and had grappled +with the invading forces. Even the most reckless of the so-called +peace faction could afford to wait a few hours longer. As soon as +the shattered columns of Meade's army were in full retreat, the +Northern wing of the rebellion could act with confidence. + +The Tribune, in commenting on the incendiary document distributed +on the evening of the 3d, spoke as follows: "That the more determined +sympathizers, in this vicinity, with the Southern rebels have, for +months, conspired and plotted to bring about a revolution is as +certain as the Civil War. Had Meade been defeated," etc. + +The dramatic culmination of this awful hour of uncertainty may +be found in the speeches, on July 4th, of ex-President Franklin +Pierce, at Concord, N.H., and of Governor Seymour, in the Academy +of Music, at New York. The former spoke of "the mailed hand of +military usurpation in the North, striking down the liberties of +the people and trampling its foot on a desecrated Constitution." +He lauded Vallandigham, who was sent South for disloyalty, as "the +noble martyr of free speech." He declared the war to be fruitless, +and exclaimed: "You will take care of yourselves. With or without +arms, with or without leaders, we will at least, in the effort to +defend our rights, as a free people, build up a great mausoleum of +hearts, to which men who yearn for liberty will, in after years, +with bowed heads reverently resort as Christian pilgrims to the +shrines of the Holy Land." + +Such were the shrines with which this man would have filled New +England. There is a better chance now, that a new and loyal Virginia +will some day build a monument to John Brown. + +Governor Seymour's speech was similar in tenor, but more guarded. +In words of bitter irony toward the struggling government, whose +hands the peace faction were striving to paralyze, he began: "When +I accepted the invitation to speak with others, at this meeting, +we were promised the downfall of Vicksburg, the opening of the +Mississippi, the probable capture of the Confederate capital, and +the exhaustion of the rebellion. By common consent, all parties +had fixed upon this day when the results of the campaign should be +known. But, in the moment of expected victory, there came a midnight +cry for help from Pennsylvania, to save its despoiled fields from +the invading foe; and, almost within sight of this metropolis, the +ships of your merchants were burned to the water's edge. Parties +are exasperated and stand in almost defiant attitude toward each +other." + +"At the very hour," writes the historian Lossing, "when this ungenerous +taunt was uttered, Vicksburg and its dependences and vast spoils, +with more than thirty thousand Confederate captives, were in the +possession of General Grant; and the discomfited army of Lee, who, +when that sentence was written, was expected to lead his troops +victoriously to the Delaware, and perhaps to the Hudson, was flying +from Meade's troops, to find shelter from utter destruction beyond +the Potomac." + +Rarely has history reached a more dramatic climax, and seldom have +the great scenes of men's actions been more swiftly shifted. + +Merwyn attended this great mass-meeting, and was silent when the +thousands applauded. In coming out he saw, while unobserved himself, +Mr. Vosburgh, and was struck by the proud, contemptuous expression +of his face. The government officer had listened with a cipher +telegram in his pocket informing him of Lee's repulse. + +For the last twenty-four hours Merwyn had watched almost sleeplessly +for the outburst to take place. That strong, confident face indicated +no fears that it would ever take place. + +A few hours later, he, and all, heard from the army of the Potomac. + +When at last it became known that the Confederate army was in full +retreat, and, as the North then believed, would be either captured +or broken into flying fragments before reaching Virginia, Merwyn +faced what he believed to be his fate. + +"The country is saved," he said. "There will be no revolution at the +North. Thank God for the sake of others, but I've lost my chance." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +BLAUVELT. + + + + + +In June, especially during the latter part of the month, Strahan +and Blauvelt's letters to Marian had been brief and infrequent. The +duties of the young officers were heavy, and their fatigues great. +They could give her little information forecasting the future. +Indeed, General Hooker himself could not have done this, for all +was in uncertainty. Lee must be found and fought, and all that any +one knew was that the two great armies would eventually meet in +the decisive battle of the war. + +The patient, heroic army of the Potomac, often defeated, but never +conquered, was between two dangers that can be scarcely overestimated, +the vast, confident hosts of Lee in Pennsylvania, and Halleck in +Washington. General Hooker was hampered, interfered with, deprived +of reinforcements that were kept in idleness elsewhere, and at +last relieved of command on the eve of battle, because he asked +that 11,000 men, useless at Harper's Ferry, might be placed under +his orders. That this was a mere pretext for his removal, and an +expression of Halleck's ill-will, is proved by the fact that General +Meade, his successor, immediately ordered the evacuation of Harper's +Ferry and was unrestrained and unrebuked. Meade, however, did not +unite these 11,000 men to his army, where they might have added +materially to his success, but left them far in his rear, a useless, +half-way measure possibly adopted to avoid displeasing Halleck. + +It would seem that Providence itself assumed the guidance of this +longsuffering Union army, that had been so often led by incompetence +in the field and paralyzed by interference at Washington. Even the +philosophical historian, the Comte de Paris, admits this truth in +remarkable language. + +Neither Lee nor Meade knew where they should meet, and had under +consideration various plans of action, but, writes the French +historian, "The fortune of war cut short all these discussions by +bringing the two combatants into a field which neither had chosen." +Again, after describing the region of Gettysburg, he concludes: +"Such is the ground upon which unforeseen circumstances were about +to bring the two armies in hostile contact. Neither Meade nor Lee +had any personal knowledge of it." + +Once more, after a vivid description of the first day's battle, in +which Buford with his cavalry division, Doubleday with the First +Corps, and Howard with the Eleventh, checked the rebel advance, but +at last, after heroic fighting, were overwhelmed and driven back +in a disorder which in some brigades resembled a rout, the Comte +de Paris recognizes, in the choice of position on which the Union +troops were rallied, something beyond the will and wisdom of man. + +"A resistless impulse seems to spur it (the rebel army) on to battle. +It believes itself invincible. There is scorn of its adversary; +nearly all the Confederate generals have undergone the contagion. +Lee himself, the grave, impassive man, will some day acknowledge that +he has allowed himself to be influenced by these common illusions. +It seems that the God of Armies had designated for the Confederates +the lists where the supreme conflict must take place: they cheerfully +accept the alternative, without seeking for any other." + +All the world knows now that the position in the "lists" thus +"designated" to the Union army was almost an equivalent for the +thousands of men kept idle and useless elsewhere. To a certain +extent the conditions of Fredericksburg are reversed, and the +Confederates, in turn, must storm lofty ridges lined with artillery. + +Of those days of awful suspense, the 3d, 4th, and 5th of July, the +French historian gives but a faint idea in the following words: "In +the mean while, the North was anxiously awaiting for the results +of the great conflict. Uneasiness and excitement were perceptible +everywhere; terror prevailed in all those places believed to be +within reach of the invaders. Rumors and fear exaggerated their +number, and the remembrance of their success caused them to be +deemed invincible." + +When, therefore, the tidings came, "The rebel army totally defeated," +with other statements of the victory too highly colored, a burden +was lifted from loyal hearts which the young of this generation +cannot gauge; but with the abounding joy and gratitude there were +also, in the breasts of hundreds of thousands, sickening fear and +suspense which must remain until the fate of loved ones was known. + +In too vivid fancy, wives and mothers saw a bloody field strewn with +still forms, and each one asked herself, "Could I go among these, +might I not recognize HIS features?" + +But sorrow and fear shrink from public observation, while joy and +exultation seek open expression. Before the true magnitude of the +victory at Gettysburg could be realized, came the knowledge that +the nation's greatest soldier, General Grant, had taken Vicksburg +and opened the Mississippi. + +Marian saw the deep gladness in her father's eyes and heard it in +his tones, and, while she shared in his gratitude and relief, her +heart was oppressed with solicitude for her friends. To her, who +had no near kindred in the war, these young men had become almost +as dear as brothers. She was conscious of their deep affection, +and she felt that there could be no rejoicing for her until she was +assured of their safety. All spoke of the battle of Gettysburg as +one of the most terrific combats of the world. Two of her friends +must have been in the thick of it. She read the blood-stained +accounts with paling cheeks, and at last saw the words, "Captain +Blauvelt, wounded; Major Strahan, wounded and missing." + +This was all. There was room for hope; there was much cause to +fear the worst. From Lane there were no tidings whatever. She was +oppressed with the feeling that perhaps the frank, true eyes of +these loyal friends might never again look into her own. With a +chill of unspeakable dread she asked herself what her life would +be without these friends. Who could ever take their place or fill +the silence made by their hushed voices? + +Since reading the details of the recent battle her irritation against +Merwyn had passed away, and she now felt for him only pity. Her +own brave spirit had been awed and overwhelmed by the accounts of +the terrific cannonade and the murderous hand-to-hand struggles. +At night she would start up from vivid dreams wherein she saw the +field with thousands of ghastly faces turned towards the white +moonlight. In her belief Merwyn was incapable of looking upon +such scenes. Therefore why should she think of him with scorn and +bitterness? She herself had never before realized how terrible +they were. Now that the dread emergency, with its imperative demand +for manhood and action, had passed, her heart became softened +and chastened with thoughts of death. She was enabled to form a +kinder judgment, and to believe it very possible that Merwyn, in +the consciousness of his weakness, was suffering more than many a +wounded man of sterner mettle. + +On the evening of the day whereon she had read the ominous words +in regard to her friends, Merwyn's card was handed to her, and, +although surprised, she went down to meet him without hesitation. +His motives for this call need brief explanation. + +For a time he had given way to the deepest dejection in regard to +his own prospects. There seemed nothing for him to do but wait for +the arrival of his mother, whom he could not welcome. He still had +a lingering hope that when she came and found her ambitious dreams +of Southern victory dissipated, she might be induced to give him +back his freedom, and on this hope he lived. But, in the main, he +was like one stunned and paralyzed by a blow, and for a time he +could not rally. He had been almost sleepless for days from intense +excitement and expectation, and the reaction was proportionately +great. At last he thought of Strahan, and telegraphed to Mrs. +Strahan, at her country place, asking if she had heard from her son. +Soon, after receiving a negative answer, he saw, in the long lists +of casualties, the brief, vague statement that Marian had found. +The thought then occurred to him that he might go to Gettysburg +and search for Strahan. Anything would be better than inaction. +He believed that he would have time to go and return before his +mother's arrival, and, if he did not, he would leave directions +for her reception. The prospect of doing something dispelled his +apathy, and the hope of being of service to his friend had decided +attractions, for he had now become sincerely attached to Strahan. +He therefore rapidly made his preparations to depart that very +night, but decided first to see Marian, thinking it possible that +she might have received some later intelligence. Therefore, although +very doubtful of his reception, he had ventured to call, hoping +that Marian's interest in her friend might secure for him a slight +semblance of welcome. He was relieved when she greeted him gravely, +quietly, but not coldly. + +He at once stated his purpose, and asked if she had any information +that would guide him in his search. Although she shook her head +and told him that she knew nothing beyond what she had seen in the +paper, he saw with much satisfaction that her face lighted up with +hope and eagerness, and that she approved of his effort. While +explaining his intentions he had not sat down, but now she cordially +asked him to be seated and to give his plans more in detail. + +"I fear you will find fearful confusion and difficulty in reaching +the field," she said. + +"I have no fears," he replied. "I shall go by rail as far as possible, +then hire or purchase a horse. The first list of casualties is +always made up hastily, and I have strong hopes of finding Strahan +in one of the many extemporized hospitals, or, at least, of getting +some tidings of him." + +"One thing is certain," she added, kindly,--"you have proved that +if you do find him, he will have a devoted nurse." + +"I shall do my best for him," he replied, quietly. "If he has been +taken from the field and I can learn his whereabouts, I shall follow +him." + +The color caused by his first slight embarrassment had faded away, +and Marian exclaimed, "Mr. Merwyn, you are either ill or have been +ill." + +"Oh, no," he said, carelessly; "I have only shared in the general +excitement and anxiety. I am satisfied that we have but barely +escaped a serious outbreak in this city." + +"I think you are right," she answered, gravely, and her thought was: +"He is indeed to be pitied if a few weeks of fearful expectation have +made him so pale and haggard. It has probably cost him a tremendous +effort to remain in the city where he has so much at stake." + +After a moment's silence Merwyn resumed: "I shall soon take my +train. Would you not like to write a few lines to Strahan? As I +told you, in effect, once before, they may prove the best possible +tonic in case I find him." + +Marian, eager to comply with the suggestion, excused herself. In her +absence her father entered. He also greeted the young man kindly, +and, learning of his project, volunteered some useful instructions, +adding, "I can give you a few lines that may be of service." + +At last Merwyn was about to depart, and Marian, for the first time, +gave him her hand and wished him "God-speed." He flushed deeply, +and there was a flash of pleasure in his dark eyes as he said, in +a low tone, that he would try to deserve her kindness. + +At this moment there was a ring at the door, and a card was brought +in. Marian could scarcely believe her eyes, for on it was written, +"Henry Blauvelt." + +She rushed to the door and welcomed the young officer with exclamations +of delight, and then added, eagerly, "Where is Mr. Strahan?" + +"I am sorry indeed to tell you that I do not know," Blauvelt +replied, sadly. Then he hastily added: "But I am sure he was not +killed, for I have searched every part of the field where he could +possibly have fallen. I have visited the hospitals, and have spent +days and nights in inquiries. My belief now is that he was taken +prisoner." + +"Then there is still hope!" exclaimed the young girl, with tears +in her eyes. "You surely believe there is still hope?" + +"I certainly believe there is much reason for hope. The rebels +left their own seriously wounded men on the field, and took away +as prisoners only such of our men as were able to march. It is true +I saw Strahan fall just as we were driven back; but I am sure that +he was neither killed nor seriously wounded, for I went to the spot +as soon as possible afterwards and he was not there, nor have I +been able, since, to find him or obtain tidings of him. He may have +been knocked down by a piece of shell or a spent ball. A moment or +two later the enemy charged over the spot where he fell, and what +was left of our regiment was driven back some distance. From that +moment I lost all trace of him. I believe that he has only been +captured with many other prisoners, and that he will be exchanged +in a few weeks." + +"Heaven grant that it may be so!" she breathed, fervently. "But, +Mr. Blauvelt, YOU are wounded. Do not think us indifferent because +we have asked so eagerly after Major Strahan, for you are here +alive and apparently as undaunted as ever." + +"Oh, my wounds are slight. Carrying my arm in a sling gives too +serious an impression. I merely had one of the fingers of my left +hand shot away, and a scratch on my shoulder." + +"But have these wounds been dressed lately?" Mr. Vosburgh asked, +gravely. + +"And have you had your rations this evening?" Marian added, with +the glimmer of a smile. + +"Thanks, yes to both questions. I arrived this afternoon, and at +once saw a good surgeon. I have not taken time to obtain a better +costume than this old uniform, which has seen hard service." + +"Like the wearer," said Marian. "I should have been sorry indeed +if you had changed it." + +"Well, I knew that you would be anxious to have even a negative +assurance of Strahan's safety." + +"And equally so to be positively assured of your own." + +"I hoped that that would be true to some extent. My dear old mother, +in New Hampshire, to whom I have telegraphed, is eager to see me, +and so I shall go on in the morning." + +"You must be our guest, then, to-night," said Mr. Vosburgh, +decisively. "We will take no refusal, and I shall send at once to +the hotel for your luggage." + +"It is small indeed," laughed Blauvelt, flushing with pleasure, +"for I came away in very light marching order." + +Marian then explained that Merwyn, who, after a brief, polite +greeting from Blauvelt, had been almost forgotten, was about to +start in search of Strahan. + +"I would not lay a straw in his way, and possibly he may obtain +some clue that escaped me," said the young officer. + +"Perhaps, if you feel strong enough to tell us something of that +part of the battle in which you were engaged, and of your search, +Mr. Merwyn may receive hints which will be of service to him," Mr. +Vosburgh suggested. + +"I shall be very glad to do so, and feel entirely equal to the +effort. Indeed, I have been resting and sleeping in the cars nearly +all day, and am so much better that I scarcely feel it right to be +absent from the regiment." + +They at once repaired to the library, Marian leaving word with +Mammy Borden that they were engaged, should there be other callers. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +A GLIMPSE OF WAR. + + + + + +"Captain Blauvelt," said Marian, when they were seated in the +library, "I have two favors to ask of you. First, that you will +discontinue your story as soon as you feel the least weakness, and, +second, that you will not gloss anything over. I wish a life-picture +of a soldier's experience. You and Mr. Strahan have been inclined +to give me the brighter side of campaigning. Now, tell us just what +you and Mr. Strahan did. I've no right to be the friend of soldiers +if I cannot listen to the tragic details of a battle, while sitting +here in this quiet room, and I wish to realize, as I never have +done, what you and others have passed through. Do not be so modest +that you cannot tell us exactly what you did. In brief, a plain, +unvarnished tale unfold, and I shall be content." + +"Now," she thought, "Mr. Merwyn shall know to whom I can give my +friendship. I do not ask him, or any one, to face these scenes, +but my heart is for a man who can face them." + +Blauvelt felt that he was fortunate indeed. He knew that he had +fair powers as a raconteur, and he was conscious of having taken no +unworthy part in the events he was about to describe, while she, +who required the story, was the woman whom he most admired, and +whose good opinion was dear to him. + +Therefore, after a moment's thought, he began: "In order to give +you a quiet, and therefore a more artistic prelude to the tragedy +of the battle, I shall touch lightly on some of the incidents of +our march to the field. I will take up the thread of our experiences +on the 15th of June, for I think you were quite well informed of +what occurred before that date. The 15th was one of the hottest +days that I remember. I refer to this fact because of a pleasant +incident which introduces a little light among the shadows, and +suggests that soldiers are not such bad fellows after all, although +inclined to be a little rough and profane. Our men suffered terribly +from the heat, and some received sunstrokes. Many were obliged to +fall out of the ranks, but managed to keep up with the column. At +noon we were halted near a Vermont regiment that had just drawn a +ration of soft bread and were boiling their coffee. As our exhausted +men came straggling and staggering in, these hospitable Vermonters +gave them their entire ration of bread and the hot coffee prepared +for their own meal; and when the ambulances brought in the men who +had been sun-struck, these generous fellows turned their camp into +a temporary hospital and themselves into nurses. + +"I will now give you a glimpse of a different experience. Towards +evening on the 19th a rain-storm began, and continued all night. +No orders to halt came till after midnight. On we splashed, waded, +and floundered along roads cut up by troops in advance until the +mud in many places reached the depth of ten inches. It was intensely +dark, and we could not see to pick our way. Splashed from head to +foot, and wet through for hours, we had then one of the most dismal +experiences I remember. I had not been well since the terrible +heat of the 15th, and Strahan, putting on the air of a martinet, +sternly ordered me to mount his horse while he took charge of my +company." + +Marian here clapped her hands in applause. + +"At last we were ordered to file to the right into a field and bivouac +for the night. The field proved to be a marshy meadow, worse than +the road. But there was no help for it, and we were too tired to +hunt around in the darkness for a better place. Strahan mounted +again to assist in giving orders for the night's arrangement, and +to find drier ground if possible. In the darkness he and his horse +tumbled into a ditch so full of mire and water that he escaped all +injury. We sank half-way to our knees in the swampy ground, and the +horses floundered so that one or two of the officers were thrown, +and all were obliged to dismount. At last, by hallooing, the regiment +formed into line, and then came the unique order from the colonel, +'Squat, my bull-frogs.' There was nothing for us to do but to +lie down on the swampy, oozing ground, with our shelter tents and +blankets wrapped around and under us. You remember what an exquisite +Strahan used to be. I wish you could have seen him when the morning +revealed us to one another. He was of the color of the sacred soil +from crown to toe. When we met we stood and laughed at each other, +and I wanted him to let me make a sketch for your benefit, but we +hadn't time. + +"I will now relate a little incident which shows how promptly +pluck and character tell. During the 25th we were pushed forward +not far from thirty miles. On the morning of this severe march +a young civilian officer, who had been appointed to the regiment +by the Governor, joined us, and was given command of Company I. +When he took his place in the march there was a feeling of intense +hostility toward him, as there ever is among veterans against +civilians who are appointed over them. If he had fallen out of the +ranks and died by the roadside I scarcely believe that a man would +have volunteered to bury him. But, while evidently unaccustomed to +marching, he kept at the head of his company throughout the entire +day, when every step must have been torture. He uttered not a word +of complaint, and at night was seen, by the light of a flaring +candle, pricking the blisters on his swollen feet; then he put on +his shoes, and walked away as erect as if on parade. In those few +hours he had won the respect of the entire regiment, and had become +one of us. Poor fellow! I may as well mention now that he was +killed, a few days later, with many of the company that he was +bravely leading. His military career lasted but little over a week, +yet he proved himself a hero. + +"Now I will put in a few high lights again. On the 28th we entered +Frederick City. Here we had a most delightful experience. The day +was warm and all were thirsty. Instead of the cold, lowering glances +to which we had been accustomed in Virginia, smiling mothers, often +accompanied by pretty daughters, stood in the gateways with pails +and goblets of cool, sparkling water. I doubt whether the same +number of men ever drank so much water before, for who could pass +by a white hand and arm, and a pretty, sympathetic face, beaming +with good-will? Here is a rough sketch I made of a Quaker matron, +with two charming daughters, and an old colored man, 'totin'' water +at a rate that must have drained their well." + +Marian praised the sketch so heartily that Merwyn knew she was +taking this indirect way to eulogize the soldier as as well as the +artist, and he groaned inwardly as he thought how he must suffer +by contrast. + +"I will pass over what occurred till the 1st of July. Our march +lay through a country that, after desolated Virginia, seemed like +paradise, and the kind faces that greeted us were benedictions. +July 1st was clear, and the sun's rays dazzling and intense in their +heat. Early in the afternoon we were lying around in the shade, +about two miles from the State line of Pennsylvania. Two corps +had preceded us. Some of our men, with their ears on the ground, +declared that they could hear the distant mutter of artillery. The +country around was full of troops, resting like ourselves. + +"Suddenly shrill bugle-blasts in every direction called us into +line. We were moved through Emmetsburg, filed to the left into +a field until other troops passed, and then took our place in the +column and began a forced march to Gettysburg. Again we suffered +terribly from the heat and the choking clouds of dust raised by +commands in advance of us. The sun shone in the west like a great, +angry furnace. Our best men began to stagger from the ranks and fall +by the wayside, while every piece of woods we passed was filled +with prostrate men, gasping, and some evidently dying. But on, +along that white, dusty road, the living torrent poured. Only one +command was heard. 'Forward! Forward!' + +"First, like a low jar of thunder, but with increasing volume and +threatening significance, the distant roar of artillery quickened +the steps of those who held out. Major Strahan was again on his +feet, with other officers, their horses loaded down with the rifles +of the men. Even food and blankets, indeed almost everything except +ammunition, was thrown away by the men, for, in the effort to reach +the field in time, an extra pound became an intolerable burden. + +"At midnight we were halted on what was then the extreme left of +Meade's position. When we formed our regimental line, as usual, +at the close of the day, not over one hundred men and but five or +six officers were present. Over one hundred and fifty had given +out from the heat and fatigue. The moment ranks were broken the men +threw themselves down in their tracks and slept with their loaded +guns by their sides. Strahan and I felt so gone that we determined +to have a little refreshment if possible. Lights were gleaming from +a house not far away, and we went thither in the hope of purchasing +something that would revive us. We found the building, and even +the yard around it, full of groaning and desperately wounded men, +with whom the surgeons were busy. This foretaste of the morrow took +away our appetites, and we returned to our command, where Strahan +was soon sleeping, motionless, as so many of our poor fellows would +be on the ensuing night. + +"Excessive fatigue often takes from me the power to sleep, and I lay +awake, listening to the strange, ominous sounds off to our right. +There were the heavy rumble of artillery wheels, the tramp of men, +and the hoarse voices of officers giving orders. In the still night +these confused sounds were wonderfully distinct near at hand, but +they shaded off in the northeast to mere murmurs. I knew that it +was the army of the Potomac arriving and taking its positions. The +next day I learned that General Meade had reached the field about +one A.M., and that he had spent the remaining hours of the night +in examining the ground and in making preparations for the coming +struggle. The clear, white moonlight, which aided him in his task, +lighted up a scene strange and beautiful beyond words. It glinted +on our weapons, gave to the features of the sleepers the hue +of death, and imparted to Strahan's face, who lay near me, almost +the delicacy and beauty of a girl. I declare to you, that when I +remembered the luxurious ease from which he had come, the hero he +was now, and all his many acts of kindness to me and others,--when +I thought of what might be on the morrow, I'm not ashamed to say +that tears came into my eyes." + +"Nor am I ashamed," faltered Marian, "that you should see tears in +mine. Oh, God grant that he may return to us again!" + +"Well," resumed Blauvelt, after a moment of thoughtful hesitation, +"I suppose I was a little morbid that night. Perhaps one was excusable, +for all knew that we were on the eve of the most desperate battle +of the war. I shall not attempt to describe the beauty of the +landscape, or the fantastic shapes taken by the huge boulders that +were scattered about. My body seemed almost paralyzed with fatigue, +but my mind, for a time, was preternaturally active, and noted every +little detail. Indeed, I felt a strange impulse to dwell upon and +recall everything relating to this life, since the chances were +so great that we might, before the close of another day, enter a +different state of existence. You see I am trying, as you requested, +to give you a realistic picture." + +"That is what I wish," said the young girl; but her cheeks were +pale as she spoke. + +"In the morning I was awakened by one of my men bringing me a cup +of hot coffee, and when I had taken it, and later a little breakfast +of raw pork and hard-tack, I felt like a new man. Nearly all of our +stragglers had joined us during the night, or in the dawn, and our +regiment now mustered about two hundred and forty rifles in line, +a sad change from the time when we marched a thousand strong. But +the men now were veterans, and this almost made good the difference. + +"When the sun was a few hours high we were moved forward with the +rest of our brigade; then, later, off to the left, and placed in +position on the brow of a hill that descended steeply before us, +and was covered with rocks, huge boulders, and undergrowth. The +right of our regiment was in the edge of a wood with a smoother +slope before it. I and my company had no other shelter than the +rocks and boulders, which formed a marked feature of the locality, +and protruded from the soil in every imaginable shape. If we had +only thrown the smaller stones together and covered them with earth +we might have made, during the time we wasted, a line of defence +from which we could not have been driven. The 2d of July taught us +that we had still much to learn. As it was, we lounged about upon +the grass, seeking what shade we could from the glare of another +intensely hot day, and did nothing. + +"A strange, ominous silence pervaded the field for hours, broken +only now and then by a shell screaming through the air, and the +sullen roar of the gun from which it was fired. The pickets along +our front would occasionally approach the enemy too closely, and there +would be brief reports of musketry, again followed by oppressive +silence. A field of wheat below us undulated in light billows +as the breeze swept it. War and death would be its reapers. The +birds were singing in the undergrowth; the sun lighted up the rural +landscape brilliantly, and it was almost impossible to believe +that the scenes of the afternoon could, take place. By sweeping +our eyes up and down our line, and by resting them upon a battery +of our guns but a few yards away, we became aware of the significance +of our position. Lee's victorious army was before us. Sinister +rumors of the defeat of Union forces the previous day had reached +us, and we knew that the enemy's inaction did not indicate hesitation +or fear, but rather a careful reconnaissance of our lines, that the +weakest point might be discovered. Every hour of delay, however, +was a boon to us, for the army of the Potomac was concentrating +and strengthening its position. + +"We were on the extreme left of the Union army; and, alas for us! +Lee first decided to turn and crush its left. As I have said, we +were posted along the crest of a hill which sloped off a little +to the left, then rose again, and culminated in a wild, rocky +elevation called the Devil's Den,--fit name in view of the scenes +it witnessed. Behind us was a little valley through which flowed a +small stream called Plum Run. Here the artillery horses, caissons, +and wagons were stationed, that they might be in partial shelter. +Across the Run, and still further back, rose the rocky, precipitous +heights of Little Round Top, where, during the same afternoon, +some of the severest fighting of the battle is said to have taken +place. Please give me a sheet of paper, and I can outline the +nature of the ground just around us. Of the general battle of that +day I can give you but a slight idea. One engaged in a fight sees, +as a rule, only a little section of it; but in portraying that he +gives the color and spirit of the whole thing." + +Rapidly sketching for a few minutes, Blauvelt resumed: "Here we +are along the crest of this hill, with a steep, broken declivity +in front of us, extending down a few hundred yards to another small +stream, a branch of Plum Run. Beyond this branch the ground rises +again to some thick woods, which screened the enemy's movements. + +"At midday clouds of dust were seen rising in the distance, and we +at last were told that Sedgwick's corps had arrived, and that the +entire army of the Potomac was on the ground. As hours still elapsed +and no attack was made, the feeling of confidence grew stronger. +Possibly Lee had concluded that our position was unassailable, or +something had happened. The soldier's imagination was only second +to his credulity in receiving the rumors which flew as thick as +did the bullets a little later. + +"Strahan and I had a quiet talk early in the day, and said what we +wished to each other. After that he became dreamy and absorbed in +his own thoughts as we watched for signs of the enemy through hours +that seemed interminable. Some laughing, jesting, and card-playing +went on among the men, but in the main they were grave, thoughtful, +and alert, spending the time in discussing the probabilities of +this conflict, and in recalling scenes of past battles. + +"Suddenly--it could not have been much past three o'clock--a dozen +rebel batteries opened upon us, and in a second we were in a tempest +of flying, bursting shells. Our guns, a few yards away, and other +batteries along our line, replied. The roar of the opening battle +thundered away to the right as far as we could hear. We were formed +into line at once, and lay down upon the ground. A few of our men +were hit, however, and frightful wounds were inflicted. After this +iron storm had raged for a time we witnessed a sight that I shall +never forget. Emerging from the woods on the slope opposite to us, +solid bodies of infantry, marching by columns of battalion, came +steadily toward us, their bayonets scintillating in the sunlight as +if aflame. On they came till they crossed the little stream before +us, and then deployed into four distinct lines of battle as steadily +as if on parade. It was hard to realize that those men were marching +towards us in the bright sunlight with deadly intent. Heretofore, +in Virginia, the enemy had been partially screened in his approaches, +but now all was like a panorama spread before us. We could see our +shells tearing first through their column, then through the lines of +battle, making wide gaps and throwing up clouds of dust. A second +later the ranks were closed again, and, like a dark tide, on flowed +their advance. + +"We asked ourselves, 'What chance have our thin ranks against those +four distinct, heavy battle lines advancing to assault us?' We had +but two ranks of men, they eight. But not a man in our regiment +flinched. When the enemy reached the foot of the hill our cannon +could not be so depressed as to harm them. The time had come for +the more deadly small arms. After a momentary halt the Confederates +rushed forward to the assault with loud yells. + +"Strahan's face was flushed with excitement and ardor. He hastened +to the colonel on the right of the line and asked him to order a +charge. The colonel coolly and quietly told him to go back to his +place. A crash of musketry and a line of fire more vivid than July +sunshine breaks out to the right and left as far as we can hear. +Our men are beginning to fall. Again the impetuous Strahan hastens +to the colonel and entreats for the order to charge, but our +commander, as quiet and as impassive as the boulder beside which +he stands, again orders him back. A moment later, however, their +horses are brought, and they mount in spite of my remonstrances and +those of other officers. Strahan's only answer was, "The men must +see us to-day;" and he slowly rode to the rear and centre of the +regiment, wheeled his horse, and, with drawn sword, fixed his eyes +on the colonel, awaiting his signal. Supreme as was the moment of +excitement, I looked for a few seconds at my gallant friend, for +I wished to fix his portrait at that moment forever in my mind." + +"Merciful Heaven!" said Marian, in a choking voice, "I thought I +appreciated my friends before, but I did not." + +Mr. Vosburgh's eyes rested anxiously on his daughter, and he asked, +gravely, "Marian, is it best for you to hear more of this to-night?" + +"Yes, papa. I must hear it all, and not a detail must be softened +or omitted. Moreover," she added, proudly, dashing her tears right +and left, "I am not afraid to listen." + +Merwyn had shifted his seat, and was in deep shadow. He was pale +and outwardly impassive, but there was torture in his mind. She +thought, pityingly, "In spite of my tears I have a stouter heart +than he." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +A GLIMPSE OF WAR, CONTINUED. + + + + + +"Miss Marian," resumed Blauvelt, "the scenes I am now about to +describe are terrible in the extreme, even in their baldest statement. +I cannot portray what actually took place; I doubt whether any one +could; I can only give impressions of what I saw and heard when +nearly all of us were almost insane from excitement. There are +men who are cool in battle,--our colonel was, outwardly,--but the +great majority of men must be not only veterans, but also gifted with +unusual temperaments, to be able to remain calm and well balanced +in the uproar of a bloody battle. + +"In a sense, our men were veterans, and were steady enough to aim +carefully as the enemy advanced up the steep hill. Our shots told +on them more fatally than theirs on us. The greater number of us +shared Strahan's impatience, and we longed for the wild, forward +dash, which is a relief to the tremendous nervous strain at such a +time. After a moment or two, that seemed ages, the colonel quietly +nodded to Strahan, who waved his sword, pointed towards the enemy, +and shouted, 'Charge!' + +"You know him well enough to be sure that this was not an order +for the men to fulfil while he looked on. In a second his powerful +bay sprung through the centre of our line, and to keep up with him +we had to follow on a run. There was no hesitation or flagging. +Faces that had been pale were flushed now. As I turned my eyes +from moment to moment back to my company, the terrible expression +of the men's eyes impressed me even then. The colonel watched our +impetuous rush with proud satisfaction, and then spurred his horse +to the very midst of our advance. The lieutenant-colonel, undaunted +by a former wound, never flinched a second, but wisely fought on +foot. + +"The first battle-line of the enemy seemed utterly unable to stand +before our fierce onset. Those who were not shot fled. + +"Again I saw Strahan waving his sword and shouting; 'Victory! +Forward, men! forward!' + +"He was in the very van, leading us all. At this moment the second +rebel line fired a volley, and the bullets swept by like an autumn +gust through a tree from which the leaves, thinned by former gales, +are almost stripped. It seemed at the moment as if every other man +went down. Wonder of wonders, as the smoke lifted a little, I saw +to the right the tall form of our colonel still on his gray horse, +pointing with his sword to the second rebel line, and shouting, +'Forward, my men! forward!' + +"As the order left his lips, his sword fell, point-downward, and, +with a headlong curve, he went over his horse upon the rocks below. +Even in his death he went towards the enemy. His horse galloped in +the same direction, but soon fell. I thought that Strahan was gone +also, for he was hidden by smoke. A second later I heard his voice: +'Forward! Charge!' + +"The men seemed infuriated by the loss of the colonel, and by no +means daunted. Our next mad rush broke the second line of the enemy. + +"The scene now defies all my powers of description. The little +handful of men that was left of my company were almost beyond +control. Each soldier was acting under the savage impulse to follow +and kill some rebel before him. I shared the feeling, yet remained +sane enough to thank God when I saw Strahan leap lightly down from +his staggering horse, yet ever crying, 'Forward!' A second later +the poor animal fell dead. + +"Our own cannons were bellowing above us; the shells of the enemy +were shrieking over our heads. There was a continuous crash of +musketry that sounded like a fierce, devouring flame passing through +dry thorns, yet above all this babel of horrid sounds could be heard +the shouts and yells of the combatants and the shrieks and groans +of wounded and dying men. Then remember that I saw but a little +section, a few yards in width, of a battle extending for miles. + +"In our mad excitement we did not consider the odds against us. The +two remaining lines of battle were advancing swiftly through the +fugitives, and we struck the first with such headlong impetuosity +that it was repulsed and gave back; but the fourth and last line +passing through, and being reinforced by the other broken lines, +came unfaltering, and swept us back from sheer weight of numbers. +We were now reduced to a mere skirmish line. It was at this moment +that I saw Strahan fall, and it seemed but a second later that the +enemy's advance passed over the spot. It was impossible then to +rescue him, for the lieutenant-colonel had given orders for all +to fall back and rally behind the guns that it was our duty to +protect. Indeed, the difficult thing, now, was to get back. The +Union regiment, on our right, had given way, after a gallant fight, +earlier than we had, and the rebels were on our flank and rear. A +number of our men going to the ridge, from which they had charged, +ran into the enemy and were captured. There were desperate hand-to-hand +encounters, hair-breadth escapes, and strange episodes. + +"One occurs to me which I saw with my own eyes. It happened a +little earlier in the fight. We were so close to the enemy that a +man in my company had not time to withdraw his ramrod, and, in his +instinctive haste to shoot first at a rebel just before him, sent +ramrod and all through the Confederate's body, pinning him to the +ground. The poor fellow stretched out his hands and cried for mercy. +My man not only wished to recover his rod, but was, I believe, +actuated by a kindly impulse, for he ran to the 'Johnny," pulled +out the rod, jerked the man to his feet, and started him on a run +to our rear as prisoner. + +"When at last what was left of the regiment reached its original +position it numbered no more than a full company. Scarcely a hundred +were in line. Over one hundred of our men and the majority of the +officers were either killed or wounded. While the lieutenant-colonel +was rallying us near the battery, a shell struck a gun-carriage, +hurling it against him, and he was home senseless from the field. +The command now devolved on the senior captain left unwounded. + +"One of my men now said to me, 'Captain, why don't you go to the +rear? Your face is so covered with blood that you must be badly +hurt.' + +"It was only at that moment that I became conscious of my wound. In +my intense anxiety about Strahan, in the effort to get my men back +in something like order, and in the shock of seeing the lieutenant-colonel +struck down, my mind seemed almost unaware of the existence of +the body. In the retreat I had felt something sting my hand like +a nettle, and now found one of the fingers of my left hand badly +shattered. With this hand I had been wiping my brow, for it was +intensely hot. I therefore was the most sanguineous-looking man of +our number. + +"Of course I did not go to the rear because of a wound of so slight +a nature, and my earnest hope was that reinforcements would enable +us to drive the enemy back so that I could go to the spot where I +had seen Strahan fall. + +"What I have vainly attempted to describe occurred in less time +than I have taken in telling about it. I think it would have been +much better if we had never left the line which we now occupied, +and which we still held in spite of the overwhelming superiority, +in numbers, of the enemy. If, instead of wasting the morning hours, +we had fortified this line, we never could have been driven from +it. + +"Our immediate foes, in front of us did not at that time advance +much farther than the point of our repulse, and, like ourselves, +sought cover from which to fire. We now had a chance to recover +a little from our wild excitement, and to realize, in a slight +degree, what was taking place around us. Information came that +our corps-commander had been seriously wounded. Our own colonel +lay, with other dead officers, a little in our rear, yet in plain +sight. We could only give them a mournful glance, for the battle +was still at its height, and was raging in our front and for miles +to the right. The thunder of three hundred or more guns made the +very earth tremble, while the shrieking and bursting of the shells +above us filled the air with a din that was infernal. + +"But we had little chance to observe or think of anything except +the enemy just below us. With wolfish eyes they were watching every +chance to pick off our men. Many of our killed and wounded on the +bloody declivity were in plain view, and one poor fellow, desperately +hurt, would often raise his hand and wave it to us. + +"Our men acted like heroes, and took deliberate aim before they +fired. When a poor fellow dropped, one of our officers picked up +the rifle and fired in his place." + +"Did you do that?" Marian asked. + +"Yes; my sword was of no service, and my handful of men needed no +orders. Anything at such a time is better than inaction, and we all +felt that the line must be held. Every bullet counted, you know. + +"Some of our boys did very brave things at this time. For instance: +rifles, that had become so clogged or hot as to be unserviceable, +were dropped, and the men would say to their immediate companions, +'Be careful how you fire,' and then rush down the slope, pick up +the guns of dead or wounded comrades, and with these continue the +fight. + +"At last the enemy's fire slackened a little, and I went to take +my farewell look at our colonel and others of our officers whose +bodies had been recovered. These were then carried to the rear, +and I never saw their familiar faces again. + +"The horses now came up at a gallop to take away the battery near +us, and I saw a thing which touched me deeply. As the horses were +turning that a gun might be limbered up, a shot, with a clean cut, +carried away a leg from one of the poor animals. The faithful, +well-trained beast, tried to hobble around into his place on three +legs. He seemed to have caught the spirit which animated the entire +army that day. + +"As I turned toward the regiment, the cry went up, 'They are flanking +us!' + +"The brief slackening of the enemy's fire had only indicated +preparations for a general forward movement. An aid now galloped +to us with orders to fall back instantly. A few of my men had been +placed, for the sake of cover, in the woods on the right, and I +hastened over to them to give the order. By the time I had collected +them, the enemy had occupied our old position and we barely escaped +capture. When we caught up with the regiment, our brigade-commander +had halted it and was addressing it in strong words of eulogy; +adding, however, that he still expected almost impossible things +of his troops. + +"It was pleasant to know that our efforts had been recognized and +appreciated, but our hearts were heavy with the thoughts of those +we had lost. We were now sent to a piece of woods about a mile to +the rear, as a part of the reserve, and it so happened that we were +not again called into the fight, which ended, you know, the next +day. + +"I had bound up my fingers as well as I could, and now, in reaction +and from loss of blood, felt sick and faint. I did not wish to go +to our field hospital, for I knew the scenes there were so horrible +that I should not be equal to witnessing them. Our surgeon came +and dressed my finger for me, and said that it would have to come +off in the morning, and I now found that my shoulder also had been +slightly cut with a bullet. These injuries on that day, however, +were the merest trifles. + +"Our supper was the dreariest meal I ever took. The men spoke in +subdued tones, and every now and then a rough fellow would draw his +sleeve across his eyes, as so many things brought to mind those who +had breakfasted with us. We were like a household that had returned +from burying the greater part of its number. Yes, worse than this, +for many, suffering from terrible wounds, were in the hands of the +enemy. + +"Of course I grieved for the loss of men and officers, but I had +come to feel like a brother towards Strahan, and, fatigued as I +was, solicitude on his account kept me awake for hours. The battle +was still raging on our extreme right, and I fell asleep before +the ominous sounds ceased. + +"Waking with the dawn, I felt so much better and stronger that I +took a hasty cup of coffee, and then started toward the spot where +I had seen Strahan fall, in the hope of reaching it. The surgeon had +ordered that I should be relieved from duty, and told me to keep +quiet. This was impossible with my friend's fate in such uncertainty. +I soon found that the enemy occupied the ground on which we had +fought, and that to go beyond a certain point would be death or +captivity. Therefore I returned, the surgeon amputated my finger, +and then I rested with the regiment several hours. With the dawn, +heavy fighting began again on the extreme right, but we knew at +the time little of its character or object. + +"After an early dinner I became restless and went to our corps-hospitals +to look after such of the wounded of my company as had been carried +thither. It was situated in a grove not far away. I will not describe +the scenes witnessed there, for it would only give you useless pain. +The surgeons had been at work all the night and morning around the +amputation tables, and our doctor and chaplain had done about all +that could be accomplished for our poor fellows. There were hundreds +of men lying on the ground, many of whom were in the agonies of +death even as I passed. + +"I again went back to see if there had been any change in our front +which would enable me to reach Strahan. This still being impossible, +I continued along our lines to the right at a slow pace, that I +might gain some idea of our position and prospects. My hope now of +reaching Strahan lay in our defeating Lee and gaining the field. +Therefore I had a double motive to be intensely interested in all +I saw. Since nine in the morning a strange silence had settled on +the field, but after yesterday's experience it raised no delusive +hopes. With the aid of a small field-glass that I carried, I could +see the enemy's batteries, and catch glimpses of their half-concealed +infantry, which were moving about in a way that indicated active +preparation for something. Our officers had also made the most of +this respite, and there had been a continuous shifting of troops, +strengthening of lines, and placing of artillery in position since +the dawn. Now, however, the quiet was wonderful, in view of the +vast bodies of men which were hi deadly array. Even the spiteful +picket-firing had ceased. + +"I had barely reached a high point, a little in the rear of the +Second Corps, commanded by General Hancock, when I saw evidences +of excitement and interest around me. Eyes and field-glasses were +directed towards the enemy's lines nearly opposite. Springing on +a rock near me, I turned my glass in the same direction, and saw +that Lee was massing his artillery along the edge of the woods on +the ridge opposite. The post of observation was a good one, and I +determined to maintain it. The rock promised shelter when the iron +tempest should begin. + +"Battery after battery came into position, until, with my glass, +I could count nearly a hundred guns. On our side batteries were +massing also, both to the right and the left of where I stood. +Experience had so taught me what these preparations meant that I +fairly trembled with excitement and awe. It appeared as if I were +about to witness one of the most terrific combats of the world, +and while I might well doubt whether anything could survive +the concentrated fire of these rebel guns, I could not resist the +desire to see out what I felt must be the final and supreme effort +of both armies. Therefore I stuck to my rock and swept with my glass +the salient points of interest. I dreaded the effect of the awful +cannonade upon our lines of infantry that lay upon the ground below +me, behind such slight shelter as they could find. Our position at +this point was commanding, but many of the troops were fearfully +exposed, while our artillerymen had to stand in plain view. Over +all this scene, so awfully significant and unnaturally quiet, +the scorching July sun sent down its rays like fiery darts, which +everywhere on the field scintillated as if they were kindling +innumerable fires. + +"At last the enemy fired a single gun. Almost instantly a flashing +line of light swept along the massed Confederate batteries, I sprung +down behind my rock as a perfect storm of iron swept over and around +me, and my heart stood almost still at the deep reverberations +which followed. This was but the prelude to the infernal symphony +that followed. With remarkable rapidity and precision of aim the +enemy continued firing, not irregularly, but in immense thundering +volleys, all together. There would be a moment's pause, and then +would come such a storm of iron that it seemed to me that even my +sheltering rock would be cut away, and that everything exposed must +be annihilated. + +"At first I was exceedingly troubled that our guns did not reply. +Could it be possible that the enemy's fire was so destructive that +our forces were paralyzed? I was learning to distinguish between the +measured cadences of the enemy's firing. After a hurtling shower +flew over, I sprung out, took a survey, and was so filled with +exultation and confidence, that I crept back again with hope renewed. +Our men were standing at the guns, which officers were sighting in +order to get more accurate range, and the infantry had not budged. +Of course there were streams of wounded going to the rear, but this +is true of every battle. + +"I now had to share my slight cover with several others, and saw +that if I went out again I should lose it altogether. So I determined +to wait out the artillery duel quietly. I could see the effects +of the enemy's shells in the rear, if not in front, and these were +disastrous enough. In the depression behind the ridge on which were +our guns and infantry, there were ammunition-wagons, ambulances, +and caissons. Among these, shells were making havoc. Soon a caisson +exploded with a terrific report and a great cloud of smoke, which, +clearing, revealed many prostrate forms, a few of which were able +to crawl away. + +"Minutes, which seemed like ages, had passed, and the horrible din +was then doubled by the opening of all our batteries. The ground +beneath me trembled, but as time passed and our guns kept up their +steady fire, and the infantry evidently remained unshaken in their +lines of defence, my confidence became stronger. By degrees you grow +accustomed to almost anything, and I now found leisure to observe +my companions behind the rock. I instantly perceived that two of +them were press-correspondents, young, boyish-looking fellows, who +certainly proved themselves veterans in coolness and courage. Even +in that deadly tempest they were alert and busy with their note-books. + +"When the caisson exploded, each swiftly wrote a few cabalistic +symbols. There was a house to the left, as we sat feeing our rear, +and I saw that they kept their eyes on that almost continually. +Curious to know why, I shouted in the ear of one, asking the +reason. He wrote, 'Meade's headquarters,' and then I shared their +solicitude. That it was occupied by some general of high rank, was +evident from the number of horses tied around it, and the rapid +coming and going of aids and orderlies; but it seemed a terrible +thing that our commander-in-chief should be so exposed. Shells flew +about the little cottage like angry hornets about their nest, and +every few minutes one went in. The poor horses, tied and helpless, +were kicking and plunging in their terror, and one after another +went down, killed or wounded. I was told that General Meade and +staff were soon compelled to leave the place. + +"The hours of the cannonade grew monotonous and oppressive. Again +and again caissons were exploded and added to the terrible list +of casualties. Wagons and ambulances--such of them as were not +wrecked--were driven out of range. Every moment or two the ground +shook with the recoil and thunder of our batteries, while the air +above and around us seemed literally filled with shrieking, moaning, +whistling projectiles of almost every size and pattern in present +use. From them came puffs of smoke, sharp cracks, heard above the +general din, as they exploded and showered around us pieces of +jagged iron. When a shell bursts, its fragments strike the ground +obliquely, with a forward movement; therefore our comparative +safety behind our rock, which often shook from the terrific impact +of missiles on its outer side. So many had now sought its shelter +that some extended beyond its protection, and before the cannonade +was over two were killed outright, almost within reach of my arm. +Many of the wounded, in going to the rear, were struck down before +reaching a place of safety. The same was true of the men bringing +ammunition from the caissons in the depression beneath us. Every few +minutes an officer of some rank would be carried by on a stretcher, +with a man or two in attendance. I saw one of these hastily moving +groups prostrated by a shell, and none of them rose again or +struggled. I only tell you of these scenes in compliance with your +wish, Miss Marian, and because I see that you have the spirit of +a soldier. I was told that, in the thickest of the fight, the wife +of a general came on the field in search of her husband, who was +reported wounded. I believe that you could have done the same." + +"I don't know," she replied, sadly,--"I don't know, for I never +realized what war was before;" and she looked apprehensively at +Merwyn, fearing to see traces of weakness. His side face, as he sat +in the shadow, was pale indeed, but he was rigid and motionless. +She received the impression that he was bracing himself by the +whole strength of his will to listen through the dreadful story. + +Again Mr. Vosburgh suggested that these details were too terrific +for his daughter's nerves, but she interrupted him almost sternly, +saying: "No, papa, I intend to know just what my friends have +passed through. I feel that it is due to them, and, if I cannot +hear quietly, I am not worthy to be their friend. I can listen to +words when Southern girls can listen to bullets. Captain Blauvelt, +you are describing the battle exactly as I asked and wished. My only +fear is that you are going beyond your strength;" and she poured +him out a glass of light wine. + +"When you come to hear all I passed through after leaving that +rock, you will know that this story-telling is not worth thinking +about," said Blauvelt, with a slight laugh, "All my exposure was +well worth the risk, for the chance of telling it to a woman of your +nerve. My hope now is that Strahan may some day learn how stanch +was our 'home support,' as we were accustomed to call you. I assure +you that many a man has been inspired to do his best because of +such friendship and sympathy. I am now about to tell you of the +grandest thing I ever saw or expect to see, and shall not abate one +jot of praise because the heroic act was performed by the enemy." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE GRAND ASSAULT. + + + + + +"After seeming ages had passed," Blauvelt resumed, having taken a +few moments of rest, "the fire of our artillery slackened and soon +ceased, and that of the rebete also became less rapid and furious. +We saw horses brought up, and some of our batteries going to the +rear at a gallop. Could our guns have been silenced? and was disaster +threatening us? Our anxiety was so great that the two correspondents +and I rushed out and were speedily reassured. There was our infantry, +still in line, and we soon saw that reserve batteries were taking +the place of those withdrawn. We afterward learned that General +Meade and brave General Hunt, Chief of Artillery, had ordered our +guns to be quiet and prepare for the assault which they knew would +follow the cannonade. + +"The wind blew from us towards the enemy, and our unbroken lines +were in view. All honor to the steadfast men who had kept their +places through the most awful artillery combat ever known on this +continent. For nearly two mortal hours the infantry had been obliged +to lie still and see men on every side of them torn and mangled to +death; but like a wide blue ribbon, as far as the eye could reach, +there they lay with the sunlight glittering on their polished +muskets. The rebels' fire soon slackened also. We now mounted the +friendly rock, and I was busy with my glass again. As the smoke +lifted, which had covered the enemy's position, I saw that we had +not been the only sufferers. Many of their guns were overturned, +and the ground all along their line was thick with prostrate men. + +"But they and their guns were forgotten. Their part in the bloody +drama was to be superseded, and we now witnessed a sight which can +scarcely ever be surpassed. Emerging from the woods on the opposite +ridge, over a mile away, came long lines of infantry. Our position +was to be assaulted. I suppose the cessation of our firing led the +enemy to think that our batteries had been silenced and the infantry +supports driven from the hill. The attacking column was forming +right under our eyes, and we could see other Confederate troops +moving up on the right and left to cover the movement and aid in +carrying it out. + +"There was bustle on our side also, in spite of the enemy's +shells, which still fell thickly along our line. New batteries were +thundering up at a gallop; those at the front, which had horses +left, were withdrawn; others remained where they had been shattered +and disabled, fresh pieces taking position beside them. The dead +and wounded were rapidly carried to the rear, and the army stripped +itself, like an athlete, for the final struggle. + +"Our batteries again opened with solid shot at the distant Confederate +infantry, but there was only the hesitation on their part incident +to final preparation. Soon on came their centre rapidly, their +flank supports, to right and left, moving after them. It proved +to be the launching of a human thunderbolt, and I watched its +progress, fascinated and overwhelmed with awe." + +"Were you exposed at this time to the enemy's shells?" Marias asked. + +"Yes, but their fire was not so severe as it had been, and +my interest in the assault was so absorbing that I could scarcely +think of anything else. I could not help believing that the fate +of our army, perhaps of the country, was to be decided there right +under my eyes, and this by an attack involving such deadly peril +to the participants that I felt comparatively safe. + +"The scene during the next half-hour defies description. All ever +witnessed in Roman amphitheatres was child's play in comparison. +The artillery on both sides had resumed its heavy din, the enemy +seeking to distract our attention and render the success of their +assault more probable, and we concentrating our fire on that solid +attacking column. As they approached nearer, our guns were shotted +with shells that made great gaps in their ranks, but they never +faltered. Spaces were closed instantly, and on they still came like +a dark, resistless wave tipped with light, as the sun glinted on +their bayonets through rifts of smoke. + +"As they came nearer, our guns in front crumbled and decimated +the leading ranks with grape and canister, while other batteries +farther away to the right and left still plowed red furrows with +shot and shell; but the human torrent, although shrinking and +diminishing, flowed on. I could not imagine a more sublime exhibition +of courage. Should the South rear to the skies a monument to their +soldiers, it would be insignificant compared with that assaulting +column, projected across the plain of Gettysburg. + +"At the foot of the ridge the leaders of this forlorn hope, as +it proved, halted their troops for a moment. As far as the smoke +permitted me to see, it seemed that the supporting Confederate +divisions had not kept pace with the centre. Would the assault be +made? The familiar rebel yell was a speedy answer, as they started +up the acclivity, firing as they came. Now, more vivid than the +sunlight, a sheet of fire flashed out along our line, and the crash +of musketry drowned even the thunder of the cannon. + +"The mad impulse of battle was upon me, as upon every one, and I +rushed down nearer our lines to get a better view, also from the +instinctive feeling that that attack must be repulsed, for it aimed +at nothing less than the piercing of the centre of our army. The +front melted away as if composed of phantoms, but other spectral +men took their place, the flashes of their muskets outlining their +position. On, on they came, up to our front line and over it. At +the awful point of impact there was on our side a tall, handsome +brigadier, whose black eyes glowed like coals. How he escaped so +long was one of the mysteries of battle. His voice rang out above +the horrid din as he rallied his men, who were not retreating, but +were simply pushed back by the still unspent impetus of the rebel +charge. I could not resist his appeal, or the example of his +heroism, and, seizing a musket and some cartridges belonging to a +fallen soldier, I was soon in the thick of it. I scarcely know what +happened for the next few moments, so terrible were the excitement +and confusion. Union troops and officers were rushing in on all +sides, without much regard to organization, under the same impulse +which had actuated me. I found myself firing point-blank at the +enemy but a few feet away. I saw a rebel officer waving his hat +upon his sword, and fired at him. Thank Heaven I did not hit him! +for, although he seemed the leading spirit in the charge, I would +not like to think I had killed so brave a man. In spite of all our +efforts, they pushed us back, back past the battery we were trying +to defend. I saw a young officer, not far away, although wounded, +run his gun a little forward with the aid of the two or three men +left on their feet, fire one more shot, and fall dead. Then I was +parrying bayonet thrusts and seeking to give them. One fierce-looking +fellow was making a lunge at me, but in the very act fell over, +pierced by a bullet. A second later the rebel officer, now seen to +be a general, had his hand on a gun and was shouting, 'Victory!' +but the word died on his lips as he fell, for at this moment there +was a rush in our rear. A heavy body of men burst, like a tornado, +through our shattered lines, and met the enemy in a hand-to-hand +conflict. + +"I had been nearly run over in this charge, and now regained my +senses somewhat. I saw that the enemy's advance was checked, that +the spot where lay the Confederate general would mark the highest +point attained by the crimson wave of Southern valor, for Union +troops were concentrating in overwhelming numbers. The wound in +my hand had broken out afresh. I hastened to get back out of the +melee, the crush, and the 'sing' of bullets, and soon reached my +old post of observation, exhausted and panting. The correspondents +were still there, and one of them patted me on the shoulder in a way +meant to be encouraging, and offered to put my name in his paper, +an honor which I declined. We soon parted, unknown to each other. +I learned, however, that the name of the gallant brigadier was Webb, +and that he had been wounded. So also was General Hancock at this +point. + +"The enemy's repulse was now changed into a rout. Prisoners were +brought in by hundreds, while those retreating across the plain were +followed by death-dealing shot and shell from our lines. As I sat +resting on my rock of observation, I felt that one could not exult +over such a foe, and I was only conscious of profound gratitude over +my own and the army's escape. Certainly if enough men, animated by +the same desperate courage, had taken part in the attack, it would +have been irresistible. + +"As soon as I saw that the battle at this point was practically +decided, I started back towards our left with the purpose of finding +my regiment and our surgeon, for my hand had become very painful. +I was so fortunate as to meet with my command as it was being moved +up within a few rods of the main line of the Third Corps, where we +formed a part of the reserve. Joining my little company and seeing +their familiar faces was like coming home. Their welcome, a cup of +coffee, and the redressing of my wound made me over again. I had to +answer many questions from the small group of officers remaining, +for they, kept in the rear all day, had not yet learned much about +the battle or its results. + +"While I gladdened their hearts with the tidings of our victory, +our surgeon growled: 'I'll have you put under arrest if you don't +keep quiet. You've been doing more than look on, or your hand would +not be in its present condition.' + +"Soon after I fell asleep, with my few and faithful men around me, +and it was nearly midnight when I wakened." + +"It's very evident that none of your present audience is inclined +to sleep," Marian exclaimed, with a deep breath. + +"And yet it's after midnight," Mr. Vosburgh added. "I fear we are +taxing you, captain, far beyond your strength. Your cheeks, Marian, +are feverish." + +"I do not feel weary yet," said the young officer, "if you are +not. Imagine that I have just waked up from that long nap of which +I have spoken. Miss Marian was such a sympathetic listener that +I dwelt much longer than I intended on scenes which impressed me +powerfully. I have not yet described my search for Strahan, or +given Mr. Merwyn such hints as my experience affords. Having just +come from the field, I do not see that he could gain much by undue +haste. He can accomplish quite as much by leaving sometime tomorrow. +To be frank, I believe that the only place to find Strahan is +under a rebel guard going South. Our troops may interpose in time +to release him; if not, he will be exchanged before long." + +"In a matter of this kind there should be no uncertainty which can +possibly be removed," Merwyn said, in a husky voice. "I shall now +save time by obtaining the information you can give, for I shall +know better how to direct my search. I shall certainly go in the +morning." + +"Yes, captain," said Marian, eagerly. "Since you disclaim weariness +we could listen for hours yet. You are a skilful narrator, for, +intensely as your story has interested me, you have reserved its +climax to the last, even though your search led you only among +woful scenes in the hospitals." + +"On such scenes I will touch as lightly as possible, and chiefly +for Mr. Merwyn's benefit; for if Strahan had been left on the field, +either killed or wounded, I do not see how he could have escaped +me." Then, with a smile at the young girl, he added: "Since you +credit me with some skill as a story-teller, and since my story is +so long, perhaps it should be divided. In that case what I am now +about to relate should be headed with the words, 'My search for +Strahan.'" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +BLAUVELT'S SEARCH FOR STRAHAN. + + + + + +"You will remember," said the captain, after a moment's pause, +that he might take up the thread of his narrative consecutively, +"that I awoke a little before midnight. At first I was confused, +but soon all that had happened came back to me. I found myself a +part of a long line of sleeping men that formed the reserve. Not +farther than from here across the street was another line in front +of us. Beyond this were our vigilant pickets, and then the vedettes +of the enemy. All seemed strangely still and peaceful, but a single +shot would have brought thousands of men to their feet. The moon +poured a soft radiance over all, and gave to the scene a weird +and terrible beauty. The army was like a sleeping giant. Would +its awakening be as terrible as on the last three mornings? Then +I thought of that other army sleeping beyond our lines,--an army +which neither bugle nor the thunder of all our guns could awaken. + +"I soon distinguished faint, far-off sounds from the disputed +territory beyond our pickets. Rising, I put my hand to my ear, and +then heard the words, 'Water! water!' + +"They were the cries of wounded men entreating for that which would +quench their intolerable thirst. The thought that Strahan might be +among this number stung me to the very quick, and I hastened to the +senior captain, who now commanded the regiment. I found him alert +and watchful, with the bugle at his side, for he felt the weight +of responsibility so suddenly thrust upon him. + +"'Captain Markham,' I said, 'do you hear those cries for water?' + +"'Yes,' he replied, sadly; 'I have heard them for hours, + +"'Among them may be Strahan's voice,' I said, eagerly. + +"'Granting it, what could we do? Our pickets are way this side of +the spot where he fell.' + +"'Captain,' I cried, 'Strahan was like a brother to me. I can't +rest here with the possibility that he is dying yonder for a little +water. I am relieved from duty, you know. If one of my company will +volunteer to go with me, will you give him your permission? I know +where Strahan fell, and am willing to try to reach him and bring +him in.' + +"'No,' said the captain, 'I can't give such permission. You might +be fired on and the whole line aroused. You can go to our old +brigade-commander, however--he now commands the division,--and +see what he says. He's back there under that tree. Of course, you +know, I sympathize with your feeling, but I cannot advise the risk. +Good heavens, Blauvelt! we've lost enough officers already.' + +"'I'll be back soon,' I answered. + +"To a wakeful aid I told my errand, and he aroused the general, +who was silent after he had been made acquainted with my project. + +"'I might bring in some useful information,' I added, hastily. + +"The officer knew and liked Strahan, but said: 'I shall have to put +my permission on the ground of a reconnoissance. I should be glad +to know if any changes are taking place on our front, and so would +my superiors. Of course you understand the risk you run when once +beyond our pickets?' + +"'Strahan would do as much and more for me,' I replied. + +"'Very well;' and he gave me permission to take a volunteer, at +the same time ordering me to report to him on my return. + +"I went back to our regimental commander, who growled, 'Well, if +you will go I suppose you will; but it would be a foolhardy thing +for even an unwounded man to attempt.' + +"I knew a strong, active young fellow in my company who would +go anywhere with me, and, waking him up, explained my purpose. He +was instantly on the qui vive. I procured him a revolver, and we +started at once. On reaching our pickets we showed our authority +to pass, and were informed that the enemy's vedettes ran along the +ridge on which we had fought the day before. Telling our pickets +to pass the word not to fire on us if we came in on the run, we +stole down into the intervening valley. + +"The moon was now momentarily obscured by clouds, and this favored +us. My plan was to reach the woods on which the right of our regiment +had rested. Here the shadows would be deep, and our chances better. +Crouching and creeping silently from bush to bush, we made our +gradual progress until we saw a sentinel slowly pacing back and +forth along the edge of the woods. Most of his beat was in shadow, +and there were bushes and rocks extending almost to it. We watched +him attentively for a time, and then my companion whispered: 'The +Johnny seems half dead with sleep. I believe I can steal up and +capture him without a sound. I don't see how we can get by him as +long as he is sufficiently wide awake to walk.' + +"'Very well. You have two hands, and my left is almost useless,' +I said. 'Make your attempt where the shadow is deepest, and if he +sees you, and is about to shoot, see that you shoot first. I'll be +with you instantly if you succeed, and cover your retreat in case +of failure." + +"In a moment, revolver in hand, he was gliding, like a shadow, from +cover to cover, and it was his good fortune to steal up behind the +sleepy sentinel, grasp his musket, and whisper, with his pistol +against his head, 'Not a sound, or you are dead.' + +"The man was discreet enough to be utterly silent. In a moment +I was by Rush's side--that was the name of the brave fellow who +accompanied me--and found that he had disarmed his prisoner. I +told Rush to take the rebel's musket and walk up and down the beat, +and especially to show himself in the moonlight. I made the Johnny +give me his word not to escape, telling him that he would be shot +instantly if he did. I gave him the impression that others were +watching him. I then tied his hands behind him and fastened him +to a tree in the shade. Feeling that I had not a moment to lose, +I passed rapidly down through the woods bearing to the left. The +place was only too familiar, and even in the moonlight I could +recognize the still forms of some of my own company. I found two +or three of our regiment still alive, and hushed them as I pressed +water to their lips. I then asked if they knew anything about +Strahan. They did not. Hastening on I reached the spot, by a large +boulder, where I had seen Strahan fall. He was not there, or anywhere +near it. I even turned up the faces of corpses in my wish to assure +myself; for our dead officers had been partially stripped. I called +his name softly, then more distinctly, and at last, forgetful in +my distress, loudly. Then I heard hasty steps, and crouched down +behind a bush, with my hand upon my revolver. But I had been seen. + +"A man approached rapidly, and asked, in a gruff voice, 'What the +devil are you doing here?' + +"'Looking for a brother who fell hereabouts,' I replied, humbly. + +"'You are a--Yankee,' was the harsh reply, 'and a prisoner; I know +your Northern tongue." + +"I fired instantly, and wounded him, but not severely, for he fired +in return, and the bullet whizzed by my ear. My next shot brought +him down, and then I started on a dead run for the woods, regained +Rush, and, with our prisoner, we stole swiftly towards our lines. +We were out of sure range before the startled pickets of the enemy +realized what was the matter. A few harmless shots were sent after +us, and then we gained our lines. I am satisfied that the man I shot +was a rebel officer visiting the picket line. Our firing inside +their lines could not be explained until the gap caused by the +missing sentinel we had carried off was discovered. + +"Then they knew that 'Yanks,' as they called us, had been within +their lines. Rush, taking the sentinel's place while I was below +the hill, had prevented an untimely discovery of our expedition. +Perhaps it was well that I met the rebel officer, for he was making +directly towards the spot where I had left my companion. + +"The poor fellow we had captured was so used up that he could +scarcely keep pace with us. He said he had not had any rest worth +speaking of for forty-eight hours. I passed through our lines, now +alert, and reported at Division Headquarters. The general laughed, +congratulated us, and said he was glad we had not found Strahan among +the dead or seriously wounded, for now there was a good chance of +seeing him again. + +"I turned over our prisoner to him, and soon all was quiet again. +Captain Markham, of our regiment, greeted us warmly, but I was +so exhausted that I contented him with a brief outline of what +had occurred, and said I would tell him the rest in the morning. +Satisfied now that Strahan was not crying for water, I was soon +asleep again by the side of Rush, and did not waken till the sun +was well above the horizon. + +"I soon learned that the vedettes of the enemy had disappeared from +before our lines, and that our skirmishers were advancing. After a +hasty breakfast I followed them, and soon reached again the ground +I had visited in the night. On the way I met two of our men to whom +I had given water. The other man had meanwhile died. The survivors +told me positively that they had not seen or heard of Strahan after +he had fallen. They also said that they had received a little food +and water from the rebels, or they could not have survived. + +"The dead were still unburied, although parties were sent out +within our picket line during the day to perform this sad duty, +and I searched the ground thoroughly for a wide distance, acting +on the possibility that Strahan might have crawled away somewhere. + +"I shall not describe the appearance of the field, or speak of my +feelings as I saw the bodies of the brave men and officers of our +regiment who had so long been my companions. + +"The rest of my story is soon told. From our surgeon I had positive +assurance that Strahan had not been brought to our corps hospital. +Therefore, I felt driven to one of two conclusions: either he was +in a Confederate hospital on the field beyond our lines, or else +he was a prisoner. + +"As usual, the heavy concussion of the artillery produced a rain-storm, +which set in on the afternoon of the 4th, and continued all night. +As the enemy appeared to be intrenching in a strong position, there +seemed no hope of doing any more that day, and I spent the night +in a piece of woods with my men. + +"On the dark, dreary morning of the 5th, it was soon discovered +that the Confederate army had disappeared. As the early shades of +the previous stormy evening had settled over the region, its movement +towards Virginia had begun. I became satisfied before night that +Strahan also was southward bound, for, procuring a horse, I rode +all day, visiting the temporary Confederate hospitals. Since they +had left their own severely wounded men, they certainly would not +have taken Union soldiers unable to walk. Not content with my first +search, I spent the next two days in like manner, visiting the +houses in Gettysburg and vicinity, until satisfied that my effort +was useless. Then, availing myself of a brief leave of absence, I +came north." + +Blauvelt then gave Merwyn some suggestions, adding: "If you find +no trace of him on the field, I would advise, as your only chance, +that you follow the track of Lee's army, especially the roads on +which their prisoners were taken. Strahan might have given out by +the way, and have been left at some farmhouse or in a village. It +would be hopeless to go beyond the Potomac." + +Rising, he concluded: "Mark my words, and see if I am not right. +Strahan is a prisoner, and will be exchanged." Then with a laugh and +a military salute to Marian, he said, "I have finished my report." + +"It is accepted with strong commendation and congratulations," she +replied. "I shall recommend you for promotion." + +"Good-by, Miss Vosburgh," said Merwyn, gravely. "I shall start in +the morning, and I agree with Captain Blauvelt that my best chance +lies along the line of Lee's retreat." + +Again she gave him her hand kindly in farewell; but her thought +was: "How deathly pale he is! This has been a night of horrors +to him,--to me also; yet if I were a man I know I could meet what +other men face." + +"She was kind," Merwyn said to himself, as he walked through the +deserted streets; "but I fear it was only the kindness of pitiful +toleration. It is plainer than ever that she adores heroic action, +that her ardor in behalf of the North is scarcely less than that of +my mother for the South, and yet she thinks I am not brave enough +to face a musket What a figure I make beside the men of whom we +have heard to-night! Well, to get away, to be constantly employed, +is my only hope. I believe I should become insane if I brooded much +longer at home." + +In spite of his late hours, he ordered an early breakfast, proposing +to start without further delay. + +The next morning, as he sat down to the table, the doorbell rang, +there was a hasty step down the hall, and Strahan, pale and gaunt, +with his arm in a sling, burst in upon him, and exclaimed, with +his old sang froid and humor: "Just in time. Yes, thanks; I'll stay +and take a cup of coffee with you." + +Merwyn greeted him with mingled wonder and gladness, yet even at +that moment the thought occurred to him: "Thwarted on every side! +I can do absolutely nothing." + +After Strahan was seated Merwyn said: "Half an hour later I should +have been off to Gettysburg in search of you. Blauvelt is here, and +says he saw you fall, and since a blank, so far as you are concerned." + +"Thank God! He escaped then?" + +"Yes; but is wounded slightly. What is the matter with your arm?" + +"Only a bullet-hole through it. That's nothing for Gettysburg. +I was captured, and escaped on the first night's march. Dark and +stormy, you know. But it's a long story, and I'm hungry as a wolf. +Where's Blauvelt?" + +"He's a guest at Mr. Vosburgh's." + +"Lucky fellow!" exclaimed Strahan; and for some reason the edge of +his appetite was gone. + +"Yes, he IS a lucky fellow, indeed; and so are you," said Merwyn, +bitterly. "I was there last evening till after midnight;" and +he explained what had occurred, adding, "Blauvelt trumpeted your +praise, and on the night of the 3d he went inside the enemy's picket +line in search of you, at the risk of his life.' + +"Heaven bless the fellow! Wait till I spin my yarn. I shall give +him credit for the whole victory." + +"Write a note to Miss Vosburgh, and I'll send it right down." + +"Confound it, Merwyn! don't you see I'm winged? You will even have +to cut my food for me as if I were a baby." + +"Very well, you dictate and I'll write. By the way, I have a note +for you in my pocket." + +Strahan seized upon it and forgot his breakfast. Tears suffused +his blue eyes before he finished it, and at last he said, "Well, +if you HAD found me in some hospital this would have cured me, or +else made death easy." + +Merwyn's heart grew heavy, in spite of the fact that he had told +himself so often that there was no hope for him, and he thought, +"In the terrible uncertainty of Strahan's fate she found that he +was more to her than she had supposed, and probably revealed as +much in her note, which she feared might reach him only when death +was sure." + +The glad intelligence was despatched, and then Merwyn said: "After +you have breakfasted I will send you down in my coupe." + +"You will go with me?" + +"No. There is no reason why I should be present when Miss Vosburgh +greets her friends. I remained last night by request, that I might +be better informed in prosecuting my search." + +Strahan changed the subject, but thought: "She's loyal to her friends. +Merwyn, with all his money, has made no progress. Her choice will +eventually fall on Lane, Blauvelt, or poor little me. Thank Heaven +I gave the Johnnies the slip! The other fellows shall have a fair +field, but I want one, too." + +Before they had finished their breakfast Blauvelt came tearing in, +and there was a fire of questions between the brother-officers. + +Tears and laughter mingled with their words; but at last they +became grave and quiet as they realized how many brave comrades +would march with them no more. + +In a few moments Blauvelt said, "Come; Miss Marian said she would +not take a mouthful of breakfast till you returned with me." + +Merwyn saw them drive away, and said, bitterly, "Thanks to my +mother, I shall never have any part in such greetings." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +STRAHAN'S ESCAPE. + + + + + + +AFTER Blauvelt had left Mr. Vosburgh's breakfast-table in obedience +to his own and Marian's wish to see Strahan at once, the young girl +laughed outright--she would laugh easily to-day--and exclaimed:-- + +"Poor Mr. Merwyn! He is indeed doomed to inglorious inaction. Before +he could even start on his search, Strahan found him. His part in +this iron age will consist only in furnishing the sinews of war +and dispensing canned delicacies in the hospitals. I do feel sorry +for him, for last night he seemed to realize the fact himself. He +looked like a ghost, back in the shadow that he sought when Captain +Blauvelt's story grew tragic. I believe he suffered more in hearing +about the shells than Mr. Blauvelt did in hearing and seeing them." + +"It's a curious case," said her father, musingly. "He was and has +been suffering deeply from some cause. I have not fully accepted +your theory yet." + +"Since even your sagacity can construct no other, I am satisfied +that I am right. But I have done scoffing at Mr. Merwyn, and should +feel as guilty in doing so as if I had shown contempt for physical +deformity. I have become so convinced that he suffers terribly from +consciousness of his weakness, that I now pity him from the depths +of my heart. Just think of a young fellow of his intelligence +listening to such a story as we heard last night and of the inevitable +contrasts that he must have drawn!" + +"Fancy also," said her father, smiling, "a forlorn lover seeing +your cheeks aflame and your eyes suffused with tears of sympathy +for young heroes, one of whom was reciting his epic. Strahan is +soon to repeat his; then Lane will appear and surpass them all." + +"Well," cried Marian, laughing, "you'll admit they form a trio to +be proud of." + +"Oh, yes, and will have to admit more, I suppose, before long. +Girls never fall in love with trios." + +"Nonsense, papa, they are all just like brothers to me." Then there +was a rush of tears to her eyes, and she said, brokenly, "The war +is not over yet, and perhaps not one of them will survive." + +"Come, my dear," her father reassured her, gently, "you must imitate +your soldier friends, and take each day as it comes. Remembering +what they have already passed through, I predict that they all +survive. The bravest men are the most apt to escape." + +Marian's greeting of Strahan was so full of feeling, and so many +tears suffused her dark blue eyes, that they inspired false hopes +in his breast and unwarranted fears in that of Blauvelt. The heroic +action and tragic experience of the young and boyish Strahan had +touched the tenderest chords in her heart. Indeed, as she stood, +holding his left hand in both her own, they might easily have +been taken for brother and sister. His eyes were almost as blue as +hers, and his brow, where it had not been exposed to the weather, +as fair. She knew of his victory over himself. Almost at the same +time with herself, he had cast behind him a weak, selfish, frivolous +life, assuming a manhood which she understood better than others. +Therefore, she had for him a tenderness, a gentleness of regard, +which her other friends of sterner natures could not inspire. Indeed, +so sisterly was her feeling that she could have put her arms about +his neck and welcomed him with kisses, without one quickening throb +of the pulse. But he did not know this then, and his heart bounded +with baseless hopes. + +Poor Blauvelt had never cherished many, and the old career with +which he had tried to be content defined itself anew. He would +fight out the war, and then give himself up to his art. + +He could be induced to stay only long enough to finish his breakfast, +and then said: "Strahan can tell me the rest of his story over +the camp-fire before long. My mother has now the first claim, and +I must take a morning train in order to reach home to-night." + +"I also must go," exclaimed Mr. Vosburgh, looking at his watch, +"and shall have to hear your story at second hand from Marian. Rest +assured," he added, laughing, "it will lose nothing as she tells +it this evening." + +"And I order you, Captain Blauvelt, to make this house your +headquarters when you are in town," said Marian, giving his hand +a warm pressure in parting. Strahan accompanied his friend to the +depot, then sought his family physician and had his wound dressed. + +"I advise that you reach your country home soon," said the doctor; +"your pulse is feverish." + +The young officer laughed and thought he knew the reason better +than his medical adviser, and was soon at the side of her whom he +believed to be the exciting cause of his febrile symptoms. + +"Oh," he exclaimed, throwing himself on a lounge, "isn't this +infinitely better than a stifling Southern prison?" and he looked +around the cool, shadowy drawing-room, and then at the smiling face +of his fair hostess, as if there were nothing left to be desired. + +"You have honestly earned this respite and home visit," she said, +taking a low chair beside him, "and now I'm just as eager to hear +your story as I was to listen to that of Captain Blauvelt, last +night." + +"No more eager?" he asked, looking wistfully into her face. + +"That would not be fair," she replied, gently. "How can I distinguish +between my friends, when each one surpasses even my ideal of manly +action?" + +"You will some day," he said, thoughtfully. "You cannot help doing +so. It is the law of nature. I know I can never be the equal of +Lane and Blauvelt." + +"Arthur," she said, gravely, taking his hand, "let me be frank with +you. It will be best for us both. I love you too dearly, I admire +and respect you too greatly, to be untrue to your best interests +even for a moment. What's more, I am absolutely sure that you only +wish what is right and best for me. Look into my eyes. Do you not +see that if your name was Arthur Vosburgh, I could scarcely feel +differently? I do love you more than either Mr. Lane or Mr. Blauvelt. +They are my friends in the truest and strongest sense of the word, +but--let me tell you the truth--you have come to seem like a younger +brother. We must be about the same age, but a woman is always older +in her feelings than a man, I think. I don't say this to claim any +superiority, but to explain why I feel as I do. Since I came to +know--to understand you--indeed, I may say, since we both changed +from what we were, my thoughts have followed you in a way that +they would a brother but a year or two younger than myself,--that +is, so far as I can judge, having had no brother. Don't you +understand me?" + +"Yes," he replied, laughing a little ruefully, "up to date." + +"Very well," she added, with an answering laugh, "let it be then +to date. I shall not tell you that I feel like a sister without +being as frank as one. I have never loved any one in the way--Oh, +well, you know. I don't believe these stern times are conducive to +sentiment. Come, tell me your story." + +"But you'll give me an equal chance with the others," he pleaded. + +She now laughed outright. "How do I know what I shall do?" she +asked. "I may come to you some day for sympathy and help. According +to the novels, people are stricken down as if by one of your hateful +shells and all broken up. I don't know, but I'm inclined to believe +that while a girl can withhold her love from an unworthy object, +she cannot deliberately give it here or there as she chooses. Now +am I not talking to you like a sister?" + +"Yes, too much so--" + +"Oh, come, I have favored you more highly than any one." + +"Do not misunderstand me," he said, earnestly, "I'm more grateful +than I can tell you, but--" + +"But tell me your story. There is one thing I can give you at +once,--the closest attention." + +"Very well. I only wish you were like one of the enemy's batteries, +so I could take you by storm. I'd face all the guns that were at +Gettysburg for the chance." + +"Arthur, dear Arthur, I do know what you have faced from a simple +sense of duty and patriotism. Blauvelt was a loyal, generous friend, +and he has told us." + +"You are wrong. 'The girl I left behind me' was the corps-de-reserve +from which I drew my strength. I believe the same was true of +Blauvelt, and a better, braver fellow never drew breath. He would +make a better officer than I, for he is cooler and has more brains." + +"Now see here, Major Strahan," cried Marian, in mock dignity, +"as your superior officer, I am capable of judging of the merits +of you both, and neither of you can change my estimate. You are +insubordinate, and I shall put you under arrest if you don't tell +me how you escaped at once. You have kept a woman's curiosity in +check almost as long as your brave regiment held the enemy, and +that's your greatest achievement thus far. Proceed. Captain Blauvelt +has enabled me to keep an eye on you till you fell and the enemy +charged over you. Now you know just where to begin." + +"My prosaic story is soon told. Swords and pike-staffs! what a +little martinet you are! Well, the enemy was almost on me. I could +see their flushed, savage faces. Even in that moment I thought of +you and whispered, 'Good-by,' and a prayer to God for your happiness +flashed through my mind." + +"Arthur, don't talk that way. I can't stand it;" and there was a +rush of tears to her eyes. + +"I'm beginning just where you told me to. The next second there +was a sting in my right arm, then something knocked me over and I +lost consciousness for a few moments. I am satisfied, also, that +I was grazed by a bullet that tore my scabbard from my side. When +I came to my senses, I crawled behind a rock so as not to be shot +by our own men, and threw away my sword. I didn't want to surrender +it, you know. Soon after a rebel jerked me to my feet. + +"'Can you stand?' he asked. + +"'I will try,' I answered. + +"'Join that squad of prisoners, then, and travel right smart.' + +"I staggered away, too dazed for many clear ideas, and with others +was hurried about half a mile away to a place filled with the rebel +wounded. Here a Union soldier, who happened to have some bandages +with him, dressed my arm. The Confederate surgeons had more than +they could do to look after their own men. Just before dark all +the prisoners who were able to walk were led into a large field, +and a strong guard was placed around us. + +"Although my wound was painful, I obtained some sleep, and awoke +the next morning with the glad consciousness that life with its +chances was still mine. We had little enough to eat that day, and +insufficient water to drink. This foretaste of the rebel commissariat +was enough for me, and I resolved to escape if it were a possible +thing." + +"You wanted to see me a little, too, didn't you? Nevertheless, you +shall have a good lunch before long." + +"Such is my fate. First rebel iron and now irony. I began to play +the role of feebleness and exhaustion, and it did not require much +effort. Of course we were all on the qui vive to see what would +happen next, and took an intense interest in the fight of the 3d, +which Blauvelt has described. The scene of the battle was hidden +from us, but we gathered, from the expression of our guards' faces +and the confusion around us, that all had not gone to the enemy's +mind, and so were hopeful. In the evening we were marched to the +outskirts of Gettysburg and kept there till the afternoon of the +4th, when we started towards Virginia. I hung back and dragged myself +along, and so was fortunately placed near the rear of the column, +and we plodded away. I thanked Heaven that the night promised to +be dark and stormy, and was as vigilant as an Indian, looking for +my chance. It seemed long in coming, for at first the guards were +very watchful. At one point I purposely stumbled and fell, hoping +to crawl into the bushes, but a rebel was right on me and helped +me up with his bayonet." + +"O Arthur!" + +"Yes, the risks were great, for we had been told that the first man +who attempted to leave the line would be shot. I lagged behind as +if I could not keep up, and so my vigilant guard got ahead of me, +and I proposed to try it on with the next fellow. I did not dare +look around, for my only chance was to give the impression that I +fell from utter exhaustion. We were winding around a mountain-side +and I saw some dark bushes just beyond me. I staggered towards them +and fell just beside them, and lay as if I were dead. + +"A minute passed, then another, and then there was no other sound +than the tramp and splash in the muddy road. I edged still farther +and farther from this, my head down the steep bank, and soon found +myself completely hidden. The comrade next to me either would not +tell if he understood my ruse, or else was so weary that he had +not noticed me. If the guard saw me, he concluded that I was done +for and not worth further bother. + +"After the column had passed, I listened to hear if others were +coming, then stumbled down the mountain, knowing that my best +chance was to strike some stream and follow the current. It would +take me into a valley where I would be apt to find houses. At last +I became so weary that I lay down in a dense thicket and slept till +morning. I awoke as hungry as a famished wolf, and saw nothing +but a dense forest on every side. But the brook murmured that it +would guide me, and I now made much better progress in the daylight. +At last I reached a little clearing and a wood-chopper's cottage. +The man was away, but his wife received me kindly and said I was +welcome to such poor fare and shelter as they had. She gave me +a glass of milk and some fried bacon and corn-bread, and I then +learned all about the nectar and ambrosia of the gods. In the +evening her husband came home and said that Lee had been whipped +by the Yanks, and that he was retreating rapidly, whereon I drank +to the health of my host nearly all the milk given that night by +his lean little cow. He was a good-natured, loutish sort of fellow, +and promised to guide me in a day or two to the west of the line +of retreat. He seemed very tearful of falling in with the rebels, +and I certainly had seen all I wished of them for the present, so +I was as patient as he desired. At last he kept his word and guided +me to a village about six miles away. I learned that Confederate +cavalry had been there within twenty-four hours, and, tired as I +was, I hired a conveyance and was driven to another village farther +to the northwest, for I now had a morbid horror of being recaptured. +After a night's rest in a small hamlet, I was taken in a light wagon +to the nearest railway station, and came on directly, arriving here +about six this morning. Finding our house closed, I made a descent +on Merwyn. I telegraphed mother last evening that I should be home +this afternoon." + +"You should have telegraphed me, also," said Marian, reproachfully. +"You would have saved me some very sad hours. I did not sleep much +last night." + +"Forgive me. I thoughtlessly wished to give you a surprise, and I +could scarcely believe you cared so much." + +"You will always believe it now, Arthur. Merciful Heaven! what +risks you have had!" + +"You have repaid me a thousand-fold. Friend, sister, or wife, you +will always be to me my good genius." + +"I wish the war was over," she said, sadly. "I have not heard from +Captain Lane for weeks, and after the battle the first tidings +from Blauvelt was that he was wounded and that you were wounded +and missing. I can't tell you how oppressed I was with fear and +foreboding." + +"How about Lane?" Strahan asked, with interest. + +She told him briefly the story she had heard and of the silence +which had followed. + +"He leads us all," was his response. "If he survives the war, he +will win you, Marian." + +"You suggest a terrible 'if' and there may be many others. I admit +that he has kindled my imagination more than any man I ever saw, but +you, Arthur, have touched my heart. I could not speak to him, had +he returned, as I am now speaking to you. I have the odd feeling +that you and I are too near of kin to be anything to each other +except just what we are. You are so frank and true to me, that I +can't endure the thought of misleading you, even unintentionally." + +"Very well, I'll grow up some day, and as long as you remain free, +I'll not give up hope." + +"Foolish boy! Grow up, indeed! Who mounted his horse in that storm +of shells and bullets in spite of friendly remonstrances, and said, +'The men must see us to-day'? What more could any man do? I'm just +as proud of you as if my own brother had spoken the words;" and +she took his hand caressingly, then exclaimed, "You are feverish." + +A second later her hand was on his brow, and she sprung up and +said, earnestly, "You should have attention at once." + +"I fancy the doctor was right after all," said Strahan, rising +also. "I'll take the one o'clock train and be at home in a couple +of hours." + +"I wish you would stay. You can't imagine what a devoted nurse I'll +be." + +"Please don't tempt me. It wouldn't be best. Mamma is counting the +minutes before my return now, and it will please her if I come on +an earlier train. Mountain air and rest will soon bring me around, +and I can run down often. I think the fever proceeds simply from +my wound, which hasn't had the best care. I don't feel seriously +ill at all." + +She ordered iced lemonade at once, lunch was hastened, and then +she permitted him to depart, with the promise that he would write +a line that very night. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +A LITTLE REBEL. + + + + + +THE next day Marian received a note from Strahan saying that some +bad symptoms had developed in connection with his wound, but that +his physician had assured him that if he would keep absolutely quiet +in body and mind for a week or two they would pass away, concluding +with the words: "I have promised mother to obey orders, and she +has said that she would write you from time to time about me. I do +not think I shall be very ill." + +"O dear!" exclaimed Marian to her father at dinner, "what times these +are! You barely escape one cause of deep anxiety before there is +another. Now what is troubling you, that your brow also is clouded?" + +"Is it not enough that your troubles trouble me?" + +"There's something else, papa." + +"Well, nothing definite. The draft, you know, begins on Saturday +of this week. I shall not have any rest of mind till this ordeal is +over. Outwardly all is comparatively quiet. So is a powder magazine +till a spark ignites it. This unpopular measure of the draft is to +be enforced while all our militia regiments are away. I know enough +about what is said and thought by thousands to fear the consequences. +I wish you would spend a couple of weeks with your mother in that +quiet New-England village." + +"No, papa, not till you tell me that all danger is past. How much +I should have missed during the past few days if I had been away! +But for my feeling that my first duty is to you, I should have +entreated for your permission to become a hospital nurse. Papa, +women should make sacrifices and take risks in these times as well +as men." + +"Well, a few more days will tell the story. If the draft passes +off quietly and our regiments return, I shall breathe freely once +more." + +A letter was brought in, and she exclaimed, "Captain Lane's +handwriting!" She tore open the envelope and learned little more +at that time than that he had escaped, reached our lines, and gone +to Washington, where he was under the care of a skilful surgeon. +"In escaping, my wound broke out again, but I shall soon be able +to travel, and therefore to see you." + +In order to account for Lane's absence and silence we must take +up the thread of his story where Zeb had dropped it. The cavalry +force of which Captain Lane formed a part retired, taking with it +the prisoners and such of the wounded as could bear transportation; +also the captured thief. Lane was prevented by his wound from +carrying out his threat, which his position as chief officer of +an independent command would have entitled him to do. The tides of +war swept away to the north, and he was left with the more seriously +wounded of both parties in charge of the assistant surgeon of his +regiment. As the shades of evening fell, the place that had resounded +with war's loud alarms, and had been the scene of so much bustle and +confusion, resumed much of its old aspect of quiet and seclusion. The +marks of conflict, the evidence of changes, and the new conditions +under which the family would be obliged to live, were only too +apparent. The grass on the lawn was trampled down, and there were +new-made graves in the edge of the grove. Fences were prostrate, +and partly burned. Horses and live stock had disappeared. The +negro quarters were nearly empty, the majority of the slaves having +followed the Union column. Confederate officers, who were welcome, +honored guests but a few hours before, were on their way to +Washington as prisoners. Desperately wounded and dying men were +in the out-buildings, and a Union officer, the one who had led the +attacking party and precipitated these events, had begun his long +fight for life in the mansion itself,--a strange and unexpected +guest. + +Mrs. Barkdale, the mistress of the house, could scarcely rally from +her nervous shock or maintain her courage, in view of the havoc made +by the iron heel of war. Miss Roberta's heart was full of bitterness +and impotent revolt. She had the courage and spirit of her race, +but she could not endure defeat, and she chafed in seclusion and +anger while her mother moaned and wept. Miss Suwanee now became +the leading spirit. + +"We can't help what's happened, and I don't propose to sit down +and wring my hands or pace my room in useless anger. We were all +for war, and now we know what war means. If I were a man I'd fight; +being only a woman, I shall do what I can to retrieve our losses +and make the most of what's left. After all, we have not suffered +half so much as hundreds of other families. General Lee will soon +give the Northerners some of their own medicine, and before the +summer is over will conquer a peace, and then we shall be proud of +our share in the sacrifices which so many of our people have made." + +"I wouldn't mind any sacrifice,--no, not of our home itself,--if +we had won the victory," Roberta replied. "But to have been made +the instrument of our friends' defeat! It's too cruel. And then +to think that the man who wrought all this destruction, loss, and +disgrace is under this very roof, and must stay for weeks, perhaps!" + +"Roberta, you are unjust," cried Suwanee. "Captain Lane proved +himself to be a gallant, considerate enemy, and you know it. What +would you have him do? Play into our hands and compass his own +defeat? He only did what our officers would have done. The fact +that a Northern officer could be so brave and considerate was a +revelation to me. We and all our property were in his power, and +his course was full of courtesy toward all except the armed foes +who were seeking to destroy him. The moment that even these became +unarmed prisoners he treated them with great leniency. Because we +had agreed to regard Northerners as cowards and boors evidently +doesn't make them so." + +"You seem wonderfully taken with this Captain Lane." + +"No," cried the girl, with one of her irresistible laughs; "but our +officer friends would have been taken with him if he had not been +wounded. I'm a genuine Southern girl, so much so that I appreciate +a brave foe and true gentleman. He protected us and our home as +far as he could, and he shall have the best hospitality which this +home can now afford. Am I not right, mamma?" + +"Yes, my dear, even our self-respect would not permit us to adopt +any other course." + +"You will feel as I do, Roberta, after your natural grief and anger +pass;" and she left the room to see that their wounded guest had +as good a supper as she could produce from diminished resources. + +The surgeon, whom she met in the hall, told her that his patient was +feverish and a "little flighty" at times, but that he had expected +this, adding: "The comfort of his room and good food will bring him +around in time. He will owe his life chiefly to your hospitality, +Miss Barkdale, for a little thing would have turned the scale against +him. Chicken broth is all that I wish him to have to-night, thanks." + +And so the process of care and nursing began. The Union colonel +had left a good supply of coffee, sugar, and coarse rations for +the wounded men, and Suwanee did her best to supplement these, +accomplishing even more by her kindness, cheerfulness, and winsome +ways than by any other means. She became, in many respects, a +hospital nurse, and visited the wounded men, carrying delicacies +to all alike. She wrote letters for the Confederates and read +the Bible to those willing to listen. Soon all were willing, and +blessed her sweet, sunny face. The wounds of some were incurable, +and, although her lovely face grew pale indeed in the presence of +death, she soothed their last moments with the gentlest ministrations. +There was not a man of the survivors, Union or rebel, but would +have shed his last drop of blood for her. Roberta shared in these +tasks, but it was not in her nature to be so impartial. Even among +her own people she was less popular. Among the soldiers, on both +sides, who did the actual fighting, there was not half the bitterness +that existed generally among non-combatants and those Southern +men who never met the enemy in fair battle; and now there was +a good-natured truce between the brave Confederates and those who +had perhaps wounded them, while all fought a battle with the common +foe,--death. Therefore the haggard faces of all lighted up with +unfeigned pleasure when "Missy S'wanee," as they had learned from +the negroes to call her, appeared among them. + +But few slaves were left on the place, and these were old and feeble +ones who had not ventured upon the unknown waters of freedom. The +old cook remained at her post, and an old man and woman divided +their time between the house and the garden, Suwanee's light feet +and quick hands relieving them of the easier labors of the mansion. + +Surgeon McAllister was loud in his praises of her general goodness +and her courtesy at the table, to which he was admitted; and Lane, +already predisposed toward a favorable opinion, entertained for her +the deepest respect and gratitude, inspired more by her kindness +to his men than by favors to himself. Yet these were not few, for +she often prepared delicacies with her own hands and brought them +to his door, while nearly every morning she arranged flowers and +sent them to his table. + +Thus a week passed away. The little gathering of prostrate men, +left in war's trail, was apparently forgotten except as people from +the surrounding region came to gratify their curiosity. + +Lane's feverish symptoms had passed away, but he was exceedingly +weak, and the wound in his shoulder was of a nature to require +almost absolute quiet. One evening, after the surgeon had told him +of Suwanee's ministrations beside a dying Union soldier, he said, +"I must see her and tell her of my gratitude." + +On receiving his message she hesitated a single instant, then +came to his bedside. The rays of the setting sun illumined her +reddish-brown hair as she stood before him, and enhanced her beauty +in her simple muslin dress. Her expression towards him, her enemy, +was gentle and sympathetic. + +He looked at her a moment in silence, almost as if she were a vision, +then began, slowly and gravely: "Miss Barkdale, what can I say to +you? I'm not strong enough to say very much, yet I could not rest +till you knew. The surgeon here has told me all,--no, not all. Deeds +like yours can be told adequately only in heaven. You are fanning +the spark of life in my own breast. I doubt whether I should have +lived but for your kindness. Still more to me has been your kindness +to my men, the poor fellows that are too often neglected, even +by their friends. You have been like a good angel to them. These +flowers, fragrant and beautiful, interpret you to me. You can't +know what reverence--" + +"Please stop, Captain Lane," said Suwanee, beginning to laugh, while +tears stood in her eyes. "Why, I'm only acting as any good-hearted +Southern girl would act. I shall not permit you to think me a saint +when I am not one. I've a little temper of my own, which isn't +always sweet. I like attention and don't mind how many bestow it--in +brief, I am just like other girls, only more so, and if I became +what you say I shouldn't know myself. Now you must not talk any +more. You are still a little out of your head. You can only answer +one question. Is there anything you would like,--anything we can +do for you to help you get well?" + +"No; I should be overwhelmed with gratitude if you did anything +more. I am grieved enough now when I think of all the trouble and +loss we have caused you." + +"Oh, that's the fortune of war," she said, with a light, deprecatory +gesture. "You couldn't help it any more than we could." + +"You are a generous enemy, Miss Barkdale." + +"I'm no wounded man's enemy, at least not till he is almost well. +Were I one of my brothers, however, and you were on your horse again +with your old vigor--" and she gave him a little, significant nod. + +He now laughed responsively, and said, "I like that." Then he added, +gravely: "Heaven grant I may never meet one of your brothers in +battle. I could not knowingly harm him." + +"Thank you for saying that," she said, gently. "Now, tell me truly, +isn't there anything you wish?" + +"Yes, I wish to get better, so that I may have a little of your +society. These days of inaction are so interminably long, and you +know I've been leading a very active life." + +"I fear you wouldn't enjoy the society of such a hot little rebel +as I am." + +"We should differ, of course, on some things, but that would +only give zest to your words. I'm not so stupid and prejudiced, +Miss Barkdale, as to fail to see that you are just as sincere and +patriotic as I am. I have envied the enlisted men when I have heard +of your attentions to them." + +"Now," she resumed, laughing, "I've found out that the 'good angel' +is not treating you as well as the common soldiers. Men always let +out the truth sooner or later. If Surgeon McAllister will permit, +I'll read and talk to you also." + +"I not only give my permission," said the surgeon, "but also assure +you that such kindness will hasten the captain's recovery, for time +hangs so heavily on his hands that he chafes and worries." + +"Very well," with a sprightly nod at the surgeon, "since we've +undertaken to cure the captain, the most sensible thing for us to +do IS to cure him. You shall prescribe when and how the doses of +society are to be administered." Then to Lane, "Not another word; +good-night;" and in a moment she was gone. + +Suwanee never forgot that interview, for it was the beginning +of a new and strange experience to her. From the first, her high, +chivalric spirit had been compelled to admire her enemy. The unknown +manner in which he had foiled her sister's strategy showed that +his mind was equal to his courage, while his hot indignation, when +he found them threatened by a midnight marauder, had revealed his +nature. Circumstances had swiftly disarmed her prejudices, and her +warm heart had been full of sympathy for him as he lay close to +the borders of death. All these things tended to throw down the +barriers which would naturally interpose between herself and a +Northern man. When, therefore, out of a full heart, he revealed +his gratitude and homage, she had no shield against the force of +his words and manner, and was deeply touched. She had often received +gallantry, admiration, and even words of love, but never before had +a man looked and acted as if he reverenced her and the womanhood +she represented. It was not a compliment that had been bestowed, +but a recognition of what she herself had not suspected. By her +family or acquaintances she had never been thought or spoken of as +an especially good girl. Hoydenish in early girlhood, leading the +young Southern gallants a chase in later years, ever full of frolic +and mischief, as fond of the dance as a bird of flying, she was +liked by every one, but the graver members of the community were +accustomed to shake their heads and remark, "She is a case; perhaps +she'll sober down some day." She had hailed the war with enthusiasm, +knowing little of its meaning, and sharing abundantly in rural +Virginia's contempt for the North. She had proved even a better +recruiting officer than her stately sister, and no young fellow +dared to approach her until he had donned the gray. When the war +came she met it with her own laughing philosophy and unconquerable +buoyancy, going wild over Southern victories and shrugging her plump +shoulders over defeats, crying: "Better luck next time. The Yankees +probably had a hundred to one. It won't take long for Southerners +to teach Northern abolitionists the difference between us." But +now she had seen Northern soldiers in conflict, had witnessed the +utmost degree of bravery on her side, but had seen it confronted +by equal courage, inspired by a leader who appeared irresistible. + +This Northern officer, whose eyes had flashed like his sabre in +battle, whose wit had penetrated and used for his own purpose the +scheme of the enemy, and whose chivalric treatment of women plotting +against him had been knightly,--this man who had won her respect by +storm, as it were, had followed her simple, natural course during +the past week, and had metaphorically bowed his knee to her in +homage. What did it mean? What had she done? Only made the best of +things, and shown a little humanity toward some poor fellows whose +sufferings ought to soften hearts of flint. + +Thus the girl reasoned and wondered. She did not belong to that +class who keep an inventory of all their good traits and rate them +high. Moulded in character by surrounding influences and circumstances, +her natural, unperverted womanhood and her simple faith in God +found unconscious expression in the sweet and gracious acts which +Lane had recognized at their true worth. The most exquisite music +is but a little sound; the loveliest and most fragrant flower is +but organized matter. True, she had been engaged in homely +acts,--blessing her enemies as the Bible commanded and her +woman's heart dictated,--but how were those acts performed? In her +unaffected manner and spirit consisted the charm which won the rough +men's adoration and Lane's homage. That which is simple, sincere, +spontaneous, ever attains results beyond all art and calculation. + +"Missy S'wanee" couldn't understand it. She had always thought +of herself as "that child,", that hoyden, that frivolous girl +who couldn't help giggling even at a funeral, and now here comes +a Northern man, defeats and captures her most ardent admirer, and +bows down to her as if she were a saint! + +"I wish I were what he thinks me to be," she laughed to herself. +"What kind of girls have they in the North, anyway, that he goes +on so? I declare, I've half a mind to try to be good, just for the +novelty of the thing. But what's the use? It wouldn't last with me +till the dew was off the grass in the morning. + +"Heigho! I suppose Major Denham is thinking of me and pining in +prison, and I haven't thought so very much about him. That shows +what kind of an 'angel' I am. Now if there were only a chance of +getting him out by tricking his jailers and pulling the wool over +the eyes of some pompous old official, I'd take as great a risk as +any Southern--'Reverence,' indeed! Captain Lane must be cured of +his reverence, whatever becomes of his wound." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE CURE OF CAPTAIN LANE. + + + + + +A DAINTIER bouquet than usual was placed on Lane's table next morning, +and the piece of chicken sent to his breakfast was broiled to the +nicest turn of brown. The old colored cook was friendly to the +"Linkum ossifer," and soon discovered that "Missy S'wanee" was not +averse to a little extra painstaking. + +After the surgeon had made his morning rounds the young girl +visited the men also. She found them doing well, and left them doing +better; for, in rallying the wounded, good cheer and hopefulness +can scarcely be over-estimated. + +As she was returning the surgeon met her, and said, "Captain Lane +is already better for your first visit and impatient for another." + +"Then he's both patient and impatient. A very contradictory and +improper condition to remain in. I can read to him at once, after +I have seen if mamma wishes anything." + +"Please do; and with your permission I'll take a little walk, for +I, too, am restless from inaction." + +"I don't think it's nice for you to read alone with that officer," +said Roberta. + +"I see no impropriety at all," cried Suwanee. "Yours and mamma's +rooms are but a few yards away, and you can listen to all we say +if you wish. If your colonel was sick and wounded at the North +wouldn't you like some woman to cheer him up?" + +"No, not if she were as pretty as you are," replied Roberta, +laughing. + +"Nonsense," said Suwanee, flushing. "For all I know this captain +is married and at the head of a large family. + +"But I'm going to find out," she assured herself. "I shall investigate +this new species of genus homo who imagines me to be a saint. He +wasn't long in proving that Northern men were not what I supposed. +Now I shall give him the harder task of proving me to be an angel;" +and she walked demurely in, leaving the door open for any espionage +that her mother and sister might deem proper. + +Lane's face lighted up the moment he saw her, and he said: "You +have robbed this day of its weariness already. I've had agreeable +anticipations thus far, and I'm sure you will again leave pleasant +memories." + +"Then you are better?" + +"Yes; thanks to you." + +"You are given to compliments, as our Southern men are." + +"I should be glad to equal them at anything in your estimation. But +come, such honest enemies as we are should be as sincere as friends. +I have meant every word I have said to you. You are harboring me, +an entire stranger, who presented my credentials at first very +rudely. Now you can ask me any questions you choose. You have +proved yourself to be such a genuine lady that I should be glad to +have you think that I am a gentleman by birth and breeding." + +"Oh, I was convinced of that before you put your sabre in its +scabbard on the evening of your most unwelcome arrival, when you +spoiled our supper-party. You have since been confirming first +impressions. I must admit, however, that I scarcely 'reverence' +you yet, nor have I detected anything specially 'angelic.'" + +"Your failure in these respects will be the least of my troubles. +I do not take back what I have said, however." + +"Wait; perhaps you will. You are very slightly acquainted with me, +sir." + +"You are much less so with me, and can't imagine what an obstinate +fellow I am." + +"Oh, if I have to contend with obstinacy rather than judgment--" + +"Please let us have no contentions whatever. I have often found +that your Southern men out-matched me, and not for the world would +I have a dispute with a woman of your mettle. I give you my parole +to do all that you wish, as far as it is within my power, while I +am helpless on your hands." + +"And when I have helped to make you well you will go and fight +against the South again?" + +"Yes, Miss Barkdale," gravely, "and so would your officers against +the North." + +"Oh, I know it. I sha'n't put any poison in your coffee." + +"Nor will you ever put poison in any man's life. The most delightful +thing about you, Miss Barkdale," he continued, laughing, "is that +you are so genuinely good and don't know it." + +"Whatever happens," she said, almost irritably, "you must be cured +of that impression. I won't be considered 'good' when I'm not. +Little you know about me, indeed! Good heavens, Captain Lane! what +kind of women have you been accustomed to meet in the North? Would +they put strychnine in a wounded Southerner's food, and give him +heavy bread, more fatal than bullets, and read novels while dying +men were at their very doors?" + +"Heaven help them! I fear there are many women the world over who +virtually do just those things." + +"They are not in the South," she replied, hotly. + +"They are evidently not in this house," he replied, smiling. "You +ask what kind of women I am accustomed to meet. I will show you the +shadow of one of my friends;" and he took from under his pillow a +photograph of Marian. + +"Oh, isn't she lovely!" exclaimed the girl. + +"Yes, she is as beautiful as you are; she is as brave as you are, +and I've seen you cheering on your friends when even in the excitement +of the fight my heart was filled with dread lest you or your mother +or sister might be shot. She is just as ardent for the North as +you are for the South, and her influence has had much place in the +motives of many who are now in the Union army. If wounded Confederates +were about her door you could only equal--you could not surpass--her +in womanly kindness and sympathy. The same would be true of my +mother and sisters, and millions of others. I know what you think +of us at the North, but you will have to revise your opinions some +day." + +Her face was flushed, a frown was upon her brow, a doubtful smile +upon her lips, and her whole manner betokened her intense interest. +"You evidently are seeking to revise them," she said, with a short +laugh, "much as you charged our cavalry the other evening. I think +you are a dangerous man to the South, Captain Lane, and I don't +know whether I should let you get well or not." + +He reached out his hand and took hers, as he said, laughingly: +"I should trust you just the same, even though Jeff Davis and the +whole Confederate Congress ordered you to make away with me." + +"Don't you call our President 'Jeff,'" she snapped, but did not +withdraw her hand. + +"I beg your pardon. That was just as rude in me as if you had called +Mr. Lincoln 'Abe.'" + +She now burst out laughing. "Heaven knows we do it often enough," +she said. + +"I was aware of that." + +"This won't do at all," she resumed. "Your hand is growing a +little feverish, and if my visits do not make you better I shall +not come. I think we have defined our differences sufficiently. You +must not 'reverence' me any more. I couldn't stand that at all. I +will concede at once that you are a gentleman, and that this lovely +girl is my equal; and when our soldiers have whipped your armies, +and we are free, I shall be magnanimous, and invite you to bring +this girl here to visit us on your wedding trip. What is her name?" + +"Marian Vosburgh. But I fear she will never take a wedding trip with +me. If she did I would accept your invitation gratefully after we +had convinced the South that one flag must protect us all." + +"We won't talk any more about that. Why won't Miss Vosburgh take +a wedding trip with you?" + +"For the best of reasons,--she doesn't love me well enough." + +"Stupid! Perhaps she loves some one else?" + +"No, I don't think so. She is as true a friend as a woman can be +to a man, but there it ends." + +"With her." + +"Certainly, with her only. She knows that I would do all that a +man can to win her." + +"You are frank." + +"Why should I not be with one I trust so absolutely? You think us +Northmen cold, underhanded. I do not intend virtually to take my +life back from your hands, and at the same time to keep that life +aloof from you as if you had nothing to do with it. If I survive +the war, whichever way it turns, I shall always cherish your memory +as one of my ideals, and shall feel honored indeed if I can retain +your friendship. To make and keep such friends is to enrich one's +life. Should I see Miss Vosburgh again I shall tell her about you, +just as I have told you about her." + +"You were born on the wrong side of the line, Captain Lane. You +are a Southerner at heart." + +"Oh, nonsense! Wait till you visit us at the North. You will find +people to your mind on both sides of the line. When my mother and +sisters have learned how you have treated me and my men they will +welcome you with open arms." + +She looked at him earnestly a moment, and then said: "You make me +feel as if the North and South did not understand each other." Then +she added, sadly: "The war is not over. Alas! how much may happen +before it is. My gray-haired father and gallant brothers are marching +with Lee, and while I pray for them night and morning, and often +through the day, I fear--I FEAR inexpressibly,--all the more, now +that I have seen Northern soldiers fight. God only knows what is +in store for us all. Do not think that because I seem light-hearted +I am not conscious of living on the eve of a tragedy all the time. +Tears and laughter are near together in my nature. I can't help +it; I was so made." + +"Heaven keep you and yours in safety," said Lane, earnestly; and +she saw that his eyes were moist with feeling. + +"This won't answer," she again declared, hastily. "We must have no +more such exciting talks. Shall I read to you a little while, or +go at once?" + +"Read to me, by all means, if I am not selfishly keeping you too +long. Your talk has done me good rather than harm, for you are so +vital yourself that you seem to give me a part of your life and +strength. I believe I should have died under the old dull monotony." + +"I usually read the Bible to your men," she said, half humorously, +half questioningly. + +"Read it to me. I like to think we have the same faith. That book +is the pledge that all differences will pass away from the sincere." + +He looked at her wonderingly as she read, in her sweet, girlish +voice, the sacred words familiar since his childhood; and when she +rose and said, "This must do for to-day," his face was eloquent +with his gratitude. He again reached out his hand, and said, gently, +"Miss Suwanee, Heaven keep you and yours from all harm." + +"Don't talk to me that way," she said, brusquely. "After all, we +are enemies, you know." + +"If you can so bless your enemies, what must be the experience of +your friends, one of whom I intend to be?" + +"Roberta must read to you, in order to teach you that the South +cannot be taken by storm." + +"I should welcome Miss Roberta cordially. We also shall be good +friends some day." + +"We must get you well and pack you off North, or there's no telling +what may happen," she said, with a little tragic gesture. "Good-by." + +This was the beginning of many talks, though no other was of so +personal a nature. They felt that they understood each other, that +there was no concealment to create distrust. She artlessly and +unconsciously revealed to him her life and its inspirations, and soon +proved that her mind was as active as her hands. She discovered that +Lane had mines of information at command, and she plied him with +questions about the North, Europe, and such parts of the East as +he had visited. Her father's library was well stored with standard +works, and she made him describe the scenes suggested by her +favorite poets. Life was acquiring for her a zest which it had never +possessed before, and one day she said to him, abruptly, "How you +have broadened my horizon!" + +He also improved visibly in her vivacious society, and at last +was able to come down to his meals and sit on the piazza. Mrs. +Barkdale's and Roberta's reserve thawed before his genial courtesy, +and all the more readily since a letter had been received from +Colonel Barkdale containing thanks to Lane for the consideration +that had been shown to his family, and assuring his wife that +the Barkdale mansion must not fail in hospitality either to loyal +friends or to worthy foes. + +Roberta was won over more completely than she had believed to be +possible. Her proud, high spirit was pleased with the fact that, +while Lane abated not one jot of his well-defined loyalty to the +North and its aims, he also treated her with respect and evident +admiration in her fearless assertion of her views. She also recognized +his admirable tact in preventing their talk from verging towards a +too-earnest discussion of their differences. Suwanee was delighted +as she saw him disarm her relatives, and was the life of their social +hours. She never wearied in delicately chaffing and bewildering +the good-natured but rather matter-of-fact Surgeon McAllister, and +it often cost Lane much effort to keep from exploding in laughter +as he saw the perplexed and worried expression of his friend. But +before the meal was over she would always reassure her slow-witted +guest by some unexpected burst of sunshine, and he afterwards would +remark, in confidence: "I say, Lane, that little 'Missy S'wanee' +out-generals a fellow every time. She attacks rear, flank, and +front, all at once, and then she takes your sword in such a winsome +way that you are rather glad to surrender." + +"Take care, McAllister,--take care, or you may surrender more than +your sword." + +"I think you are in the greater danger." + +"Oh, no, I'm forearmed, and Miss Suwanee and I understand each +other." + +But he did not understand her, nor did she comprehend herself. Her +conversation seemed as open, and often as bright as her Southern +sunshine, and his mind was cheered and delighted with it. He did +not disguise his frank, cordial regard for her, even before her +mother and sister, but it was ever blended with such a sincere +respect that she was touched and surprised by it, and they were +reassured. She had told them of the place possessed by Marian in +his thoughts, and this fact, with his manner, promised immunity +from all tendencies towards sentiment. Indeed, that Suwanee should +bestow anything more upon the Northern officer than kindness, a +certain chivalric hospitality, and some admiration, was among the +impossibilities in their minds. + +This, at the time, seemed equally true to the young girl herself. +Not in the least was she on her guard. Her keen enjoyment of his +society awakened no suspicions, for she enjoyed everything keenly. +His persistence in treating her, in spite of all her nonsense and +frolicsomeness, as if she were worthy of the deepest respect and +honor which manhood can pay to womanhood, ever remained a bewildering +truth, and touched the deepest chords in her nature. Sometimes +when they sat in the light of the young moon on the veranda she +revealed thoughts which surprised him, and herself even more. It +appeared to her as if a new and deeper life were awakening in her +heart, full of vague beauty and mystery. She almost believed that +she was becoming good, as he imagined. Why otherwise should she +be so strangely happy and spiritually exalted? He was developing +in her a new self-respect. She now knew that he was familiar with +standards of comparison at the North of which she need not be +ashamed. Even her mother and sister had remarked, in effect, "It is +evident that Captain Lane has been accustomed to the best society." +His esteem was not the gaping admiration of a boor to whom she had +been a revelation. + +"No," she said, "he is a revelation to me. I thought my little +prejudices were the boundaries of the world. He, who has seen the +world, walks right over my prejudices as if they were nothing, and +makes me feel that I am his friend and equal, because he fancies I +possess a true, noble womanhood; and now I mean to possess it. He +has made his ideal of me seem worthy and beautiful, and it shall +be my life effort to attain it. He doesn't think me a barbarian +because I am a rebel and believe in slavery. He has said that his +mother and sisters would receive me with open arms. It seems to me +that I have grown years older and wiser during the last few weeks." + +She did not know that her vivid, tropical nature was responding to +the influence which is mightiest even in colder climes. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +LOVE'S TRIUMPH. + + + + + +THE month of June was drawing to a close. Captain Lane, his surgeon, +and a little company of wounded men, equally with the Confederates, +were only apparently forgotten. They were all watched, and their +progress towards health was noted. Any attempt at escape would have +been checked at once. The majority of the Federal soldiers could +now walk about slowly, and were gaining rapidly. Although they were +not aware of the fact, the Confederate wounded, who had progressed +equally far in convalescence, were their guards, and the residents +of the neighborhood were allies in watchfulness. The Southerners +were only awaiting the time, near at hand, when they could proceed +to Richmond with their prisoners. This purpose indicated no deep +hostility on the part of the rebels. Companionship in suffering +had banished this feeling. A sergeant among their number had become +their natural leader, and he was in communication with guerilla +officers and other more regular authorities. They had deemed it +best to let events take their course for a time. Lee's northward +advance absorbed general attention, although little as yet was +known about it on that remote plantation. The Union men were being +healed and fed at no cost to the Confederates, and could be taken +away at the time when their removal could be accomplished with the +least trouble. + +Lane himself was the chief cause of delay. He was doing well, +but his wound was of a peculiar nature, and any great exertion or +exposure might yet cause fatal results. This fact had become known +to the rebel sergeant, and since the captain was the principal +prize, and they were all very comfortable, he had advised delay. +It had been thought best not to inform the family as to the state +of affairs, lest it should in some way become known to Lane and +the surgeon, and lead to attempted escape. The Barkdales, moreover, +were high-strung people, and might entertain some chivalric ideas +about turning over their guests to captivity. + +"They might have a ridiculous woman's notion about the matter," +said one of these secret advisers. + +Lane and McAllister, however, were becoming exceedingly solicitous +concerning the future. The former did not base much hope on Suwanee's +evident expectation that when he was well enough he would go to +his friends as a matter of course. He knew that he and his men were +in the enemy's hands, and that they would naturally be regarded +as captives. He had a horror of going to a Southern prison and of +enduring weeks and perhaps months of useless inactivity. He and +McAllister began to hold whispered consultations. His mind revolted +at the thought of leaving his men, and of departing stealthily from +the family that had been so kind. And yet if they were all taken to +Richmond he would be separated from the men, and could do nothing +for them. Matter-of-fact McAllister had no doubts or scruples. + +"Of course we should escape at once if your wound justified the +attempt." + +On the 29th of June Lane and the surgeon walked some little +distance from the house, and became satisfied that they were under +the surveillance of the rebel sergeant and his men. This fact so +troubled Lane that Suwanee noticed his abstraction and asked him +in the evening what was worrying him. The moonlight fell full on +her lovely, sympathetic face. + +"Miss Suwanee," he said, gravely, "I've been your guest about a +month. Are you not tired of me yet?" + +"That's a roundabout way of saying you are tired of us." + +"I beg your pardon: it is not. But, in all sincerity, I should be +getting back to duty, were it possible." + +"Your wound is not sufficiently healed," she said, earnestly, wondering +at the chill of fear that his words had caused. "The surgeon says +it is not." + +"Don't you know?" he whispered. + +"Know what?" she almost gasped. + +"That I'm a prisoner." + +She sprung to her feet and was about to utter some passionate +exclamation; but he said, hastily, "Oh, hush, or I'm lost. I believe +that eyes are upon me all the time." + +"Heigho!" she exclaimed, walking to the edge of the veranda, "I +wish I knew what General Lee was doing. We are expecting to hear +of another great battle every day;" and she swept the vicinity with +a seemingly careless glance, detecting a dark outline behind some +shrubbery not far away. Instantly she sprung down the steps and +confronted the rebel sergeant. + +"What are you doing here?" she asked, indignantly. + +"My duty," was the stolid reply. + +"Find duty elsewhere then," she said, haughtily. + +The man slunk away, and she returned to Lane, who remarked, +significantly, "Now you understand me." + +It was evident that she was deeply excited, and immediately she began +to speak in a voice that trembled with anger and other emotions. +"This is terrible. I had not thought--indeed it cannot be. My father +would not permit it. The laws of war would apply, I suppose, to +your enlisted men, but that you and Surgeon McAllister, who have +been our guests and have sat at our table, should be taken from our +hospitality into captivity is monstrous. In permitting it, I seem +to share in a mean, dishonorable thing." + +"How characteristic your words and actions are!" said Lane, gently. +"It would be easy to calculate your orbit. I fear you cannot help +yourself. You forget, too, that I was the means of sending to prison +even your Major Denham." + +"Major Denham is nothing--" she began, impetuously, then hesitated, +and he saw the rich color mantling her face even in the moonlight. +After a second or two she added: "Our officers were captured in +fair fight. That is very different from taking a wounded man and +a guest." + +"Not a guest in the ordinary sense of the word. You see I can +be fair to your people, unspeakably as I dread captivity. It will +not be so hard for McAllister, for surgeons are not treated like +ordinary prisoners. His remaining, however, was a brave, unselfish +act;" and Lane spoke in tones of deep regret. + +"It must not be," she said, sternly. + +"Miss Suwanee,"--and his voice was scarcely audible,--"do you think +we can be overheard?" + +"No," she replied, in like tones. "Roberta and mamma are incapable +of listening." + +"I was not thinking of them. I must speak quickly. I don't wish to +involve you, but the surgeon and I must try to escape, for I would +almost rather die than be taken prisoner. Deep as is my longing +for liberty I could not leave you without a word, and my trust in +the chivalric feeling that you have just evinced is so deep as to +convince me that I can speak to you safely. I shall not tell you +anything to compromise you. You have only to be blind and deaf if +you see or hear anything." + +Her tears were now falling fast, but she did not move, lest observant +eyes should detect her emotion. + +"Heaven bless your good, kind heart!" he continued, in a low, earnest +tone. "Whether I live or die, I wish you to know that your memory +will ever be sacred to me, like that of my mother and one other. +Be assured that the life you have done so much to save is always +at your command. Whenever I can serve you or yours you can count +on all that I am or can do. Suwanee, I shall be a better man for +having known you. You don't half appreciate yourself, and every +succeeding day has only proved how true my first impressions were." + +She did not answer, and he felt that it would be dangerous to +prolong the interview. They entered the house together. As they +went up the stairs she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes, he +wondering at her silence and emotion. At the landing in the dusky +hall-way he raised her hand to his lips. + +There was not a trace of gallantry in the act, and she knew it. It +was only the crowning token of that recognition at which she had +wondered from the first. She realized that it was only the homage +of a knightly man and the final expression of his gratitude; but +it overwhelmed her, and she longed to escape with the terrible +revelation which had come to her at last. She could not repress a +low sob, and, giving his hand a quick, strong pressure, she fled +to her room. + +"Can it be possible?" he thought. "Oh! if I have wounded that heart, +however unintentionally, I shall never forgive myself." + +"Lane," whispered McAllister, when the former entered his room, +"there are guards about the house." + +"I'm not surprised," was the despondent reply. "We are prisoners." + +"Does the family know it?" + +He told him how Suwanee had detected the espionage of the rebel +sergeant. + +"Wouldn't she help us?" + +"I shall not ask her to. I shall not compromise her with her people." + +"No, by thunder! I'd rather spend my life in prison than harm her. +What shall we do?" + +"We must put our light out soon, and take turns in watching for +the slightest opportunity. You lie down first. I do not feel sleepy." + +After making some slight preparations the doctor slept, and it was +well on towards morning before Lane's crowding thoughts permitted +him to seek repose. He then wakened McAllister and said, "There has +been a stealthy relief of guards thus far, and I've seen no chance +whatever." + +The doctor was equally satisfied that any attempt to escape would +be fruitless. + +Suwanee's vigil that night was bitter and terrible, indeed. Her +proud, passionate nature writhed under the truth that she had given +her heart, unsought, to a Northern officer,--to one who had from +the first made it clear that his love had been bestowed on another. +She felt that she could not blame him. His frankness had been almost +equal to that of her own brothers, and he had satisfied her that +they could scarcely be more loyal to her than he would be. She could +detect no flaw in his bearing towards her. He had not disguised +his admiration, his abundant enjoyment of her society, but all +expression of his regard had been tinged with respect and gratitude +rather than gallantry. He perhaps had thought that her knowledge +of his attitude towards Miss Vosburgh was an ample safeguard, if +any were needed. Alas! it had been the chief cause of her fatal +blindness. She had not dreamed of danger for him or herself in +their companionship. Nothing was clearer than that he expected and +wished no such result. It was well for Lane that this was true, +for she would have been a dangerous girl to trifle with. + +But she recognized the truth. Before, love had been to her a thing +of poetry, romance, and dreams. Now it was a terrible reality. +Her heart craved with intense longing what she felt it could never +possess. + +At last, wearied and exhausted by her deep emotion, she sighed: +"Perhaps it is better as it is. Even if he had been a lover, the +bloody chasm of war would have separated us, but it seems cruel that +God should permit such an overwhelming misfortune to come upon an +unsuspecting, inexperienced girl. Why was I so made that I could, +unconsciously, give my very soul to this stranger? yet he is not a +stranger. Events have made me better acquainted with him than with +any other man. I know that he has kept no secrets from me. There +was nothing to conceal. All has been simple, straightforward, and +honorable. It is to the man himself, in his crystal integrity, that +my heart has bowed, and then--that was his chief power--he made +me feel that I was not unworthy. He taught me to respect my own +nature, and to aspire to all that was good and true. + +"After all, perhaps I am condemning myself too harshly,--perhaps +the truth that my heart acknowledged such a man as master is proof +that his estimate of me is not wholly wrong. Were there not some +kinship of spirit between us, this could not be; but the secret +must remain between me and God." + +Lane, tormented by the fear suggested by Suwanee's manner on the +previous evening, dreaded to meet her again, but at first he was +reassured. Never had she been more brilliant and frolicsome than at +the breakfast-table that morning. Never had poor McAllister been +more at his wits' end to know how to reply to her bewildering +sallies of good-natured badinage. Every vulnerable point of Northern +character received her delicate satire. Lane himself did not escape +her light shafts. He made no defence, but smiled or laughed at +every palpable hit. The girl's pallor troubled him, and something +in her eyes that suggested suffering. There came a time when he +could scarcely think of that day without tears, believing that no +soldier on either side ever displayed more heroism than did the +wounded girl. + +He and the surgeon walked out again, and saw that they were watched. +He found that his men had become aware of the truth and had submitted +to the inevitable. They were far from the Union lines, and not +strong enough to attempt an escape through a hostile country. Lane +virtually gave up, and began to feel that the best course would be +to submit quietly and look forward to a speedy exchange. He longed +for a few more hours with Suwanee, but imagined that she avoided +him. There was no abatement of her cordiality, but she appeared +preoccupied. + +After dinner a Confederate officer called and asked for Miss +Roberta, who, after the interview, returned to her mother's room +with a troubled expression. Suwanee was there, calmly plying her +needle. She knew what the call meant. + +"I suppose it's all right, and that we can't help ourselves," +Roberta began, "but it annoys me nevertheless. Lieutenant Macklin, +who has just left, has said that our own men and the Union soldiers +are now well enough to be taken to Richmond, and that he will start +with them to-morrow morning. Of course I have no regrets respecting +the enlisted men, and am glad they are going, for they are proving +a heavy burden to us; but my feelings revolt at the thought that +Captain Lane and the surgeon should be taken to prison from our +home." + +"I don't wonder," said Suwanee, indignantly; "but then what's the +use? we can't help ourselves. I suppose it is the law of war." + +"Well, I'm glad you are so sensible about it. I feared you would +feel a hundred-fold worse than I, you and the captain have become +such good friends. Indeed, I have even imagined that he was in +danger of becoming something more. I caught him looking at you at +dinner as if you were a saint 'whom infidels might adore.' His homage +to our flirtatious little Suwanee has been a rich joke from the +first. I suppose, however, there may have been a vein of calculation +in it all, for I don't think any Yankee--" + +"Hush," said Suwanee, hotly; "Captain Lane is still our guest, +and he is above calculation. I shall not permit him to be insulted +because he has over-estimated me." + +"Why, Suwanee, I did not mean to insult him. You have transfixed +him with a dozen shafts of satire to-day, and as for poor Surgeon +McAllister--" + +"That was to their faces," interrupted Suwanee, hastily. + +"Suwanee is right," said Mrs. Barkdale, smiling. "Captain Lane has +had the sense to see that my little girl is good-hearted in spite +of her nonsense." + +The girl's lip was quivering but she concealed the fact by savagely +biting off her thread, and then was impassive again. + +"I sincerely regret with you both," resumed their mother, "that +these two gentlemen must go from our home to prison, especially +so since receiving a letter from Captain Lane, couched in terms of +the strongest respect and courtesy, and enclosing a hundred dollars +in Northern money as a slight compensation--so he phrased it--for +what had been done for his men. Of course he meant to include +himself and the surgeon, but had too much delicacy to mention the +fact. He also stated that he would have sent more, but that it was +nearly all they had." + +"You did not keep the money!" exclaimed the two girls in the same +breath. + +"I do not intend to keep it," said the lady, quietly, "and shall +hand it back to him with suitable acknowledgments. I only mention +the fact to convince Roberta that Captain Lane is not the typical +Yankee, and we have much reason to be thankful that men of a different +stamp were not quartered upon us. And yet," continued the matron, +with a deep sigh, "you little know how sorely we need the money. +Your father's and brothers' pay is losing its purchasing power. +The people about here all profess to be very hot for the South, +but when you come to buy anything from them what they call 'Linkum +money' goes ten times as far. We have never known anything but +profusion, but now we are on the verge of poverty." + +"Oh, well," said Suwanee, recklessly, "starving isn't the worst +thing that could happen." + +"Alas! my child, you can't realize what poverty means. Your heart +is as free from care as the birds around us, and, like them, you +think you will be provided for." + +The girl sprung up with a ringing laugh, and kissed her mother as +she exclaimed, "I'll cut off my hair, put on one of brother Bob's +old suits, and enlist;" and then she left the room. + +At supper there was a constraint on all except Suwanee. Mrs. Barkdale +and Roberta felt themselves to be in an embarrassing position. The +men at the table, who had been guests so long, would be marched +away as prisoners from their door in the morning. The usages of +war could not satisfy their womanly and chivalric natures, or make +them forget the courtesy and respect which, in spite of prejudices, +had won so much good-will. Lane scarcely sought to disguise his +perplexity and distress. Honest Surgeon McAllister, who knew that +they all had been an awful burden, was as troubled as some men +are pleased when they get much for nothing. Suwanee appeared in +a somewhat new role. She was the personification of dignity and +courtesy. She acted as if she knew all and was aware that their +guests did. Therefore levity would be in bad taste, and their only +resource was the good breeding which ignores the disagreeable and +the inevitable. Her mother looked on her with pride, and wondered +at so fine an exibition of tact. She did not know that the poor +girl had a new teacher, and that she was like an inexorable general +who, in a desperate fight, summons all his reserve and puts forth +every effort of mind and body. + +Lane had not found a chance to say one word to Suwanee in private +during the day, but after supper she went to the piano and began +to play some Southern airs with variations of her own improvising. +He immediately joined her and said, "We shall not attempt to escape; +we are too closely watched." + +She did not reply. + +"Miss Suwanee," he began again, and distress and sorrow were in his +tones, "I hardly know how to speak to you of what troubles me more +than the thought of captivity. How can I manage with such proud, +chivalric women as you and your mother and sister? But I am not +blind, nor can I ignore the prosaic conditions of our lot. I respect +your pride; but have a little mercy on mine,--nay, let me call it +bare self-respect. We have caused you the loss of your laborers, +your fields are bare, and you have emptied your larder in feeding +my men, yet your mother will not take even partial compensation. +You can't realize how troubled I am." + +"You, like ourselves, must submit to the fortunes of war," she +replied, with a sudden gleam of her old mirthfulness. + +"A bodily wound would be a trifle compared with this," he resumed, +earnestly. "O Miss Suwanee, have I won no rights as a friend? +rather, let me ask, will you not generously give me some rights?" + +"Yes, Captain Lane," she said, gently, "I regard you as a friend, +and I honor you as a true man. Though the war should go on forever +I should not change in these respects unless you keep harping on +this financial question." + +"Friends frankly accept gifts from friends; let it be a gift +then, by the aid of which you can keep your mother from privation. +Suwanee, Suwanee, why do you refuse to take this dross from me when +I would give my heart's blood to shield you from harm?" + +"You are talking wildly, Captain Lane," she said, with a laugh. +"Your heart belongs to Miss Vosburgh, and therefore all its blood." + +"She would be the first to demand and expect that I should risk all +and give all for one to whom I owe so much and who is so deserving." + +"I require of her no such sacrifice," Suwanee replied, coldly, "nor +of you either, Captain Lane. Unforeseen circumstances have thrown +us together for a time. We have exchanged all that is possible +between those so divided,--esteem and friendship. If my father +thinks it best he will obtain compensation from our government. +Perhaps, in happier times, we may meet again," she added, her tone +and manner becoming gentle once more; "and then I hope you will +find me a little more like what you have thought me to be." + +"God grant that we may meet again. There, I can't trust myself +to speak to you any more. Your unaffected blending of humility +and pride with rare, unconscious nobility touches my very soul. +Our leave-taking in the morning must be formal. Good-by, Suwanee +Barkdale. As sure as there is a God of justice your life will be +filled full with happiness." + +Instead of taking his proffered hand, she trembled, turned to the +piano, and said hastily between the notes she played: "Control +yourself and listen. We may be observed. You and the surgeon be +ready to open your door and follow me at any time to-night. Hang +your sword where it may be seen through the open window. I have +contrived a chance--a bare chance--of your escape. Bow and retire." + +He did so. She bent her head in a courtly manner towards him, and +then went on with her playing of Southern airs. + +A moment later the rebel sergeant disappeared from some shrubbery +a little beyond the parlor window, and chuckled, "The Yankee captain +has found out that he can't make either an ally or a sweetheart +out of a Southern girl; but I suspicioned her a little last night." + +At two o'clock that night there was an almost imperceptible tap +at Lane's door. He opened it noiselessly, and saw Suwanee with her +finger on her lips. + +"Carry your shoes in your hands," she said, and then led the way +down the stairs to the parlor window. Again she whispered: "The +guard here is bribed,--bribed by kindness. He says I saved his life +when he was wounded. Steal through the shrubbery to the creek-road; +continue down that, and you'll find a guide. Not a word. Good-by." + +She gave her hand to the surgeon, whose honest eyes were moist with +feeling, and then he dropped lightly to the ground. + +"Suwanee," began Lane. + +"Hush! Go." + +Again he raised her hand to his lips, again heard that same low, +involuntary sob that had smote his heart the preceding night; and +then followed the surgeon. The guard stood out in the garden with +his back towards them, as, like shadows, they glided away. + +On the creek-road the old colored man who worked in the garden +joined them, and led the way rapidly to the creek, where under some +bushes a skiff with oars was moored. Lane slipped twenty dollars into +the old man's hand, and then he and his companion pushed out into +the sluggish current, and the surgeon took the oars and pulled +quietly through the shadows of the overhanging foliage. The continued +quiet proved that their escape had not been discovered. Food had +been placed in the boat. The stream led towards the Potomac. With +the dawn they concealed themselves, and slept during the day, travelling +all the following night. The next day they were so fortunate as +to fall in with a Union scouting party, and so eventually reached +Washington; but the effort in riding produced serious symptoms in +Lane's wound, and he was again doomed to quiet weeks of convalescence, +as has already been intimated to the reader. + +When Mrs. Barkdale and Roberta came down the next morning they +found Suwanee in the breakfast room, fuming with apparent irritability. + +"Here is that Lieutenant Macklin again," she said, "and he is very +impatient, saying that his orders are imperative, and that he is +needed on some special duty. His orders are to convey the prisoners +to the nearest railroad station, and then report for some active +service. From all I can gather it is feared that the Yankees propose +an attack on Richmond, now that General Lee is away." + +"It's strange that Captain Lane and the surgeon don't come down," +Roberta remarked. "I truly wish, however, that we had not to meet +them again." + +"Well, since it must be, the sooner the ordeal is over the better," +said Suwanee, with increasing irritation. "Captain Lane has sense +enough to know that we are not responsible for his being taken +away." + +"Hildy," said Mrs. Barkdale, "go up and tell the gentlemen that +breakfast is ready." + +In a few moments the old woman returned in a fluster and said, "I +knock on de doah, and dey ain't no answer." + +"What!" exclaimed Suwanee, in the accents of surprise; then, sharply, +"go and knock louder, and wake them up," adding, "it's very strange." + +Hildy came back with a scared look, and said, "I knock and knock; +den I open de doah, and der' ain't no one dere." + +"They must be out in the grounds for a walk," exclaimed Roberta. +"Haven't you seen them this morning?" + +"I ain't seen nuffin' nor heard nuffin'," protested the old woman. + +"Girls, this is serious," said Mrs. Barkdale, rising; and she +summoned Lieutenant Macklin, who belonged to a class not received +socially by the family. + +"We have but this moment discovered," said the lady, "that Captain +Lane and Surgeon McAllister are not in their room. Therefore we +suppose they are walking in the grounds. Will you please inform +them that breakfast is waiting?" + +"Pardon me, madam, they cannot be outside, or I should have been +informed." + +"Then you must search for them, sir. The house, grounds, and +buildings are open to you." + +The fact of the prisoners' escape soon became evident, and there +were haste, confusion, and running to and fro to no purpose. Suwanee +imitated Roberta so closely that she was not suspected. Lieutenant +Macklin and the rebel sergeant at last returned, giving evidence +of strong vexation. + +"We don't understand this," began the lieutenant. + +"Neither do we," interrupted Mrs. Barkdale, so haughtily that they +were abashed, although they directed keen glances towards Suwanee, +who met their scrutiny unflinchingly. + +The Barkdales were not people to be offended with impunity, and the +lieutenant knew it. He added, apologetically: "You know I must do +my duty, madam. I fear some of your servants are implicated, or +that guards have been tampered with." + +"You are at liberty to examine any one you please." + +They might as well have examined a carved, wrinkled effigy as old +Cuffy, Lane's midnight guide. "I don' know nuffin' 'tall 'bout it," +he declared. "My ole woman kin tell yo' dat I went to bed when she +did and got up when she did." + +The guard, bought with kindness, was as dense in his ignorance as +any of the others. At last Macklin declared that he would have to +put citizens on the hunt, for his orders admitted of no delay. + +The Union prisoners, together with the Confederates, when formed +in line, gave a ringing cheer for "Missy S'wanee and the ladies," +and then the old mansion was left in more than its former isolation, +and, as the younger girl felt, desolation. + +She attended to her duties as usual, and then went to her piano. +The words spoken the previous evening would ever make the place +dear to her. While she was there old Hildy crept in, with her feeble +step, and whispered, "I foun' dis un'er Cap'n Lane's piller." + +It was but a scrap of paper, unaddressed; but Suwanee understood +its significance. It contained these words: "I can never repay you, +but to discover some coin which a nature like yours can accept has +become one of my supreme ambitions. If I live, we shall meet again." + +Those words formed a glimmering hope which grew fainter and fainter +in the dark years which followed. + +She did not have to mask her trouble very long, for another sorrow +came like an avalanche. Close to the Union lines, on Cemetery Ridge, +lay a white-haired colonel and his two tall sons. They were among +the heroes in Pickett's final charge, on the 3d of July. "Missy +S'wanee" laughed no more, even in self-defence. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +SUNDAY'S LULL AND MONDAY'S STORM. + + + + + +SUNDAY, the 12th of July, proved a long, restful sabbath to Marian +and her father, and they spent most of its hours together. The +great tension and strain of the past weeks appeared to be over for +a time. The magnificent Union victories had brought gladness and +hopefulness to Mr. Vosburgh, and the return of her friends had +relieved his daughter's mind. He now thought he saw the end clearly. +He believed that hereafter the tide of rebellion would ebb southward +until all the land should be free. + +"This day has been a godsend to us both," he said to Marian, as +they sat together in the library before retiring. "The draft has +begun quietly, and no disturbances have followed. I scarcely remember +an evening when the murmur of the city was so faint and suggestive +of repose. I think we can both go to the country soon, with +minds comparatively at rest. I must admit that I expected no such +experience as has blessed us to-day. We needed it. Not until this +respite came did I realize how exhausted from labor and especially +anxiety I had become. You, too, my little girl, are not the blooming +lassie you were a year ago." + +"Yet I think I'm stronger in some respects, papa." + +"Yes, in many respects. Thank God for the past year. Your sympathy +and companionship have made it a new era in my life. You have +influenced other lives, also, as events have amply proved. Are +you not satisfied now that you can be unconventional without being +queer? You have not been a colorless reflection of some social +set; neither have you left your home for some startling public +career; and yet you have achieved the distinct individuality which +truthfulness to nature imparts. You have simply been developing +your better self naturally, and you have helped fine fellows to +make the best of themselves." + +"Your encouragement is very sweet, papa. I'm not complacent over +myself, however; and I've failed so signally in one instance that +I'm vexed and almost saddened. You know what I mean." + +"Yes, I know," with a slight laugh. "Merwyn is still your unsolved +problem, and he worries you." + +"Not because he is unsolved, but rather that the solution has proved +so disappointing and unexpected. He baffles me with a trait which +I recognize, but can't understand, and only admit in wonder and +angry protest. Indeed, from the beginning of our acquaintance he +has reversed my usual experiences. His first approaches incensed +me beyond measure,--all the more, I suppose, because I saw in +him an odious reflection of my old spirit. But, papa, when to his +condescending offer I answered from the full bitterness of my heart, +he looked and acted as if I had struck him with a knife." + +Her father again laughed, as he said: "You truly used heroic surgery, +and to excellent purpose. Has he shown any conceit, complacency, +or patronizing airs since?" + +"No, I admit that, at least." + + +"In destroying some of his meaner traits by one keen thrust, you +did him a world of good. Of course he suffered under such a surgical +operation, but he has had better moral health ever since." + +"Oh, yes," she burst out, "he has become an eminently respectable +and patriotic millionnaire, giving of his abundance to save the +nation's life, living in a palace meanwhile. What did he mean by +his passionate words, 'I shall measure everything hereafter by the +breadth of your woman's soul'? What have the words amounted to? You +know, papa, that nothing but my duty and devotion to you keeps me +from taking an active part in this struggle, even though a woman. +Indeed, the feeling is growing upon me that I must spend part +of my time in some hospital. A woman can't help having an intense +conviction of what she would do were she a man, and you know what +I would have done, and he knows it also. Therefore he has not kept +his word, for he fails at the vital point in reaching my standard. +I have no right to judge men in Mr. Merwyn's position because +they do not go to the front. Let them do what they think wise and +prudent; let them also keep among their own kind. I protest against +their coming to me for what I give to friends who have already +proved themselves heroes. But there, I forgot. He looks so like a +man that I can't help thinking that he is one,--that he could come +up to my standard if he chose to. He still seeks me--" + +"No, he has not been here since he heard Blauvelt's story." + +"He passed the house once, hesitated, and did not enter. Papa, +he has not changed, and you know it. He has plainly asked for a +gift only second to what I can give to God. With a tenacity which +nothing but his will can account for, perhaps, he seeks it still. +Do you think his distant manner deceives me for a moment? Nor has +my coldness any influence on him. Yet it has not been the coldness +of indifference, and he knows that too. He has seen and felt, like +sword-thrusts, my indignation, my contempt. He has said to my face, +'You think me a coward.' He is no fool, and has fully comprehended +the situation. If he had virtually admitted, 'I am a coward, and +therefore can have no place among the friends who are surpassing your +ideal of manly heroism,' and withdrawn to those to whom a million +is more than all heroism, the affair would have ended naturally +long ago. But he persists in bringing me a daily sense of failure +and humiliation. He says: 'My regard for you is so great I can't +give you up, yet not so great as to lead me to do what hundreds +of thousands are doing. I can't face danger for your sake.' I have +tried to make the utmost allowance for his constitutional weakness, +yet it has humiliated me that I had not the power to enable him +to overcome so strange a failing. Why, I could face death for you, +and he can't stand beside one whom he used to sneer at as 'little +Strahan.' Yet, such is his idea of my woman's soul that he still +gives me his thoughts and therefore his hopes;" and she almost +stamped her foot in her irritation. + +"Would you truly give your life for me?" he asked, gently. + +"Yes, I know I could, and would were there necessity; not in callous +disregard of danger, but because the greater emotion swallows up +the less. Faulty as I am, there would be no bargainings and prudent +reservations in my love. These are not the times for half-way people. +Oh think, papa, while we are here in the midst of every comfort, +how many thousands of mutilated, horribly wounded men are dying in +agony throughout the South! My heart goes out to them in a sympathy +and homage I can't express. Think how Lane and even Strahan may be +suffering to-night, with so much done for them, and then remember +the prisoners of war and the poor unknown enlisted men, often +terribly neglected, I fear. Papa, won't you let me go as a nurse? +The ache would go out of my own heart if I tried to reduce this awful +sum of anguish a little. He whose word and touch always banished +pain and disease would surely shield me in such labors. As soon +as danger no longer threatens you, won't you let me do a little, +although I am only a girl?" + +"Yes, Marian," her father replied, gravely; "far be it from me to +repress such heaven-born impulses. You are now attaining the highest +rank reached by humanity. All the avenues of earthly distinction +cannot lead beyond the spirit of self-sacrifice for others. This +places you near the Divine Man, and all grow mean and plebeian to the +degree that they recede from him. You see what comes of developing +your better nature. Selfishness and its twin, cowardice, are crowded +out." + +"Please don't praise me any more. I can't stand it," faltered the +girl, tearfully. A moment later her laugh rang out. "Hurrah!" she +cried, "since Mr. Merwyn won't go to the war, I'm going myself." + +"To make more wounds than you will heal," her father added. +"Remember the circumstances under which you go will have to receive +very careful consideration, and I shall have to know all about the +matron and nurses with whom you act. Your mother will be horrified, +and so will not a few of your acquaintances. Flirting in shadows +is proper enough, but helping wounded soldiers to live--But we +understand each other, and I can trust you now." + +The next morning father and daughter parted with few misgivings, +and the latter promised to go to her mother in a day or two, Mr. +Vosburgh adding that if the week passed quietly he could join them +on Saturday evening. + +So they quietly exchanged their good-by kiss on the edge of a +volcano already in eruption. + +An early horseback ride in Central Park had become one of Merwyn's +habits of late. At that hour he met comparatively few abroad, and +the desire for solitude was growing upon him. Like Mr. Vosburgh, +he had watched with solicitude the beginning of the draft, feeling +that if it passed quietly his only remaining chance would be to +wring from his mother some form of release from his oath. Indeed, +so unhappy and desperate was he becoming that he had thought +of revealing everything to Mr. Vosburgh. The government officer, +however, might feel it his duty to use the knowledge, should there +come a time when the authorities proceeded against the property +of the disloyal. Moreover, the young man felt that it would be +dishonorable to reveal the secret. + +Beyond his loyal impulses he now had little motive for effort. +Marian's prejudices against him had become too deeply rooted, and +her woman's honor for the knightly men her friends had proved too +controlling a principle, ever to give him a chance for anything +better than polite tolerance. He had discovered what this meant +so fully, and in Blauvelt's story had been shown the inevitable +contrast which she must draw so vividly, that he had decided:-- + +"No more of Marian Vosburgh's society until all is changed. Therefore +no more forever, probably. If my mother proves as obdurate as a +Southern jailer, I suppose I'm held, although I begin to think I +have as good cause to break my chains as any other Union man. She +tricked me into captivity, and holds me remorselessly,--not like a +mother. Miss Vosburgh did show she had a woman's heart, and would +have given me her hand in friendship had I not been compelled to +make her believe that I was a coward. If in some way I can escape +my oath, and my reckless courage at the front proves her mistaken, +I may return to her. Otherwise it is a useless humiliation and pain +to see her any more." + +Such had been the nature of his musings throughout the long Sunday +whose quiet had led to the belief that the draft would scarcely create +a ripple of overt hostility. During his ride on Monday morning he +nearly concluded to go to his country place again. He was growing +nervous and restless, and he longed for the steadying influence +of his mountain rambles before meeting his mother and deciding +questions which would involve all their future relations. + +As with bowed head, lost in thought, he approached the city by +one of the park entrances, he heard a deep, angry murmur, as if +a storm-vexed tide was coming in. Spurring his horse forward, he +soon discovered, with a feeling like an electric shock, that a tide +was indeed rising. Was it a temporary tidal wave of human passion, +mysterious in its origin, soon to subside, leaving such wreckage +as its senseless fury might have caused? Or was it the beginning +of the revolution so long feared, but not now guarded against? + +Converging from different avenues, men, women, and children were +pouring by the thousand into a vacant lot near the park. Their presence +seemed like a dream. Why was this angry multitude gathering here +within a few rods of rural loveliness, their hoarse cries blending +with the songs of robins and thrushes? It had been expected that +the red monster would raise its head, if at all, in some purlieu +of the east side. On the contrary its segregate parts were coming +together at a distance from regions that would naturally generate +them, and were forming under his very eyes the thing of which he +had read, and, of late, had dreamed night and day,--a mob. + +To change the figure, the vacant space, unbuilt upon as yet, was +becoming an immense human reservoir, into which turgid streams +with threatening sounds were surging from the south. His eyes could +separate the tumultuous atoms into ragged forms, unkempt heads, +inflamed faces, animated by some powerful destructive impulse. Arms +of every description proved that the purpose of the gathering was +not a peaceful one. But what was the purpose? + +Riding closer he sought to question some on the outskirts of the +throng, and so drew attention to himself. Volleys of oaths, stones, +and sticks, were the only answers he received. + +"Thank you," Merwyn muttered, as he galloped away. "I begin +to comprehend your meaning, but shall study you awhile before I +take part in the controversy. Then there shall be some knock-down +arguments." + +As he drew rein at a short distance the cry went up that he was a +"spy," and another rush was made for him; but he speedily distanced +his pursuers. To his surprise the great multitude turned southward, +pouring down Fifth and Sixth avenues. After keeping ahead for a +few blocks, he saw that the mob, now numbering many thousands, was +coming down town with some unknown purpose and destination. + +Two things were at least clear,--the outbreak was unexpected, and +no preparation had been made for it. As he approached his home on +a sharp trot, a vague air of apprehension and expectation was beginning +to manifest itself, and but little more. Policemen were on their +beats, and the city on the fashionable avenues and cross-streets +wore its midsummer aspect. Before entering his own home he obeyed +an impulse to gallop by the Vosburgh residence. All was still quiet, +and Marian, with surprise, saw him clattering past in a way that +seemed reckless and undignified. + +On reaching his home he followed his groom to the stable, and said, +quietly: "You are an old family servant, but you must now give me +positive assurance that I can trust you. There is a riot in the +city, and there is no telling what house will be safe. Will you +mount guard night and day in my absence?" + +"Faix, sur, I will. Oi'll sarve ye as I did yer fayther afore ye." + +"I believe you, but would shoot you if treacherous. You know I've +been expecting this trouble. Keep the horse saddled. Bar and bolt +everything. I shall be in and out at all hours, but will enter by +the little side-door in the stable. Watch for my signal, and be +ready to open to me only any door, and bolt it instantly after me. +Leave all the weapons about the house just where I have put them. +If any one asks for me, say I'm out and you don't know when I'll +be back. Learn to recognize my voice and signal, no matter how +disguised I am." + +The faithful old servant promised everything, and was soon +executing orders. Before their neighbors had taken the alarm, the +heavy shutters were closed, and the unusual precautions that in the +family's absence had been adopted rendered access possible only +to great violence. On reaching his room Merwyn thought for a few +moments. He was intensely excited, and there was a gleam of wild +hope in his eyes, but he felt with proud exultation that in his +manner he was imitating his father. Not a motion was hasty or useless. +Right or wrong, in the solitude of his room or in the midst of the +mob, his brain should direct his hand. + +"And now my hand is free!" he exclaimed, aloud; "my oath cannot +shackle it now." + +His first conclusion was to mingle with the mob and learn the +nature and objects of the enemy. He believed the information would +be valuable to Mr. Vosburgh and the police authorities. Having +accomplished this purpose he would join any organized resistance he +could find, at the same time always seeking to shield Marian from +the possibility of danger. + +He had already been shown that in order to understand the character +and aims of the mob he must appear to be one of them, and he decided +that he could carry off the disguise of a young city mechanic better +than any other. + +This plan he carried out by donning from his own wardrobe a plain +dark flannel suit, which, when it had been rolled in dust and oil, +and received a judicious rip here and there, presented the appearance +of a costume of a workman just from his shop. With further injunctions +to Thomas and the old serving-woman, he made his way rapidly to +the north-east, where the smoke of a conflagration proved that the +spirit of mischief was increasing. + +One would not have guessed, as he hurried up Third Avenue, that he +was well armed, but there were two small, yet effective revolvers +and a dirk upon his person. As has been related before, he had +practised for this emergency, and could be as quick as a flash with +his weapon. + +He had acted with the celerity of youth, guided by definite plans, +and soon began to make his way quietly through the throng that +blocked the avenue, gradually approaching the fire at the corner of +45th Street. At first the crowd was a mystery to him, so orderly, +quiet, and inoffensive did it appear, although composed largely +of the very dregs of the slums. The crackling, roaring flames, +devouring tenement-houses, were equally mysterious. No one was +seeking to extinguish them, although the occupants of the houses +were escaping for their lives, dragging out their humble effects. +The crowd merely looked on with a pleased, satisfied expression. +After a moment's thought Merwyn remembered that the draft had been +begun in one of the burning houses, and was told by a bystander, +"We smashed the ranch and broke some jaws before the bonfire." + +That the crowd was only a purring tiger was soon proved, for some +one near said, "There's Kennedy, chief of the cops;" and it seemed +scarcely a moment before the officer was surrounded by an infuriated +throng who were raining curses and blows upon him. + +Merwyn made an impulsive spring forward in his defence, but a dozen +forms intervened, and his effort was supposed to be as hostile as +that of the rioters. The very numbers that sought to destroy Kennedy +gave him a chance, for they impeded one another, and, regaining his +feet, he led a wild chase across a vacant lot, pursued by a hooting +mob as if he were a mad dog. The crowd that filled the street +almost as far as eye could reach now began to sway back and forth +as if coming under the influence of some new impulse, and Merwyn +was so wedged in that he had to move with the others. Being tall +he saw that Kennedy, after the most brutal treatment, was rescued +almost by a miracle, apparently more dead than alive. It also +became clear to him that the least suspicion of his character and +purpose would cost him his life instantly. He therefore resolved +on the utmost self-control. He was ready to risk his life, but not +to throw it away uselessly,--not at least till he knew that Marian +was safe. It was his duty now to investigate the mob, not fight +it. + +The next excitement was caused by the cry, "The soldiers are coming!" + +These proved to be a small detachment of the invalid corps, who +showed their comprehension of affairs by firing over the rioters' +heads, thinking to disperse them by a little noise. The mob settled +the question of noise by howling as if a menagerie had broken loose, +and, rushing upon the handful of men, snatched their muskets, first +pounding the almost paralyzed veterans, and then chasing them as +a wilderness of wolves would pursue a small array of sheep. + +As Merwyn stepped down from a dray, whereon he had witnessed the +scene, he muttered, indiscreetly, "What does such nonsense amount +to!" + +A big hulking fellow, carrying a bar of iron, who had stood beside +him, and who apparently had had his suspicions, asked, fiercely, +"An' what did ye expect it wud amount to? An' what's the nonsense +ye're growlin' at? By the holy poker oi belave you're a spy." + +"Yis, prove that, and I'll cut his heart out," cried an inebriated +woman, brandishing a knife a foot long. + +"Yes, prove it, you thunderin' fool!" cried Merwyn. + +"The cops are comin' now, and you want to begin a fight among +ourselves." + +True enough, the cry came ringing up the avenue, "The cops comin.'" + +"Oh, an' ye's wan uv us, oi'll stan' by ye; but oi've got me eye +on ye, and 'ud think no more o' brainin' ye than a puppy." + +"Try brainin' the cops first, if yer know when yer well off," replied +Merwyn, drawing a pistol. "I didn't come out to fight bullies in +our crowd." + +The momentary excitement caused by this altercation was swallowed +up by the advent of a squad of police, which wheeled into the avenue +from 43d Street, and checked the pursuit of the bleeding remnants +of the invalid corps. Those immediately around the young man pressed +forward to see what took place, he following, but edging towards +the sidewalk, with the eager purpose to see the first fight between +the mob and the police. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +THAT WORST OF MONSTERS, A MOB. + + + + + +AFTER reaching the sidewalk Merwyn soon found a chance to mount +a dry-goods box, that he might better observe the action of the +police and form an idea of their numbers. The moment he saw the +insignificant band he felt that they were doomed men, or else the +spirit abroad was not what he thought it to be, and he had been +witnessing some strong indications of its ruthless nature. + +It was characteristic of the young fellow that he did not rush to +the aid of the police. He was able, even in that seething flood +of excitement, to reason coolly, and his thoughts were something +to this effect: "I'm not going to throw away my life and all its +chances and duties because the authorities are so ignorant as to +sacrifice a score or two of their men. I shall not fight at all until +I have seen Marian and Mr. Vosburgh. When I have done something to +insure their safety, or at least to prove that I am not a coward, +I shall know better what to do and how to do it. This outbreak is +not an affair of a few hours. She herself may be exposed to the +fury of these fiends, for I believe her father is, or will be, a +marked man." + +Seeing, farther up the avenue, a small balcony as yet unoccupied, +he pushed his way towards it, that he might obtain one more view +of the drift of affairs before taking his course. The hall-door +leading to the second story was open and filled with a crowd of +frightened, unkempt women and children, who gave way before him. +The door of the room opening on the balcony was locked, and, in +response to his repeated knockings, a quavering voice asked what +was wanted. + +"You must open instantly," was his reply. + +A trembling, gray-haired woman put the door ajar, and he pushed +in at once, saying: "Bolt the door again, madam. I will do you no +harm, and may be able to save you from injury;" and he was out in +the balcony before his assurances were concluded. + +"Indeed, sir, I've done no one any wrong, and therefore need no +protection. I only wish to be let alone with my children." + +"That you cannot expect with certainty, in view of what is going +on to-day. Do you not know that they are burning houses? As long +as I'm here I'll be a protection. I merely wish the use of this +little outlook for a brief time. So say nothing more, for I must +give my whole attention to the fight." + +"Well then, since you are so civil, you can stay; but the street +is full of devils." + +He paid no heed to her further lamentations, and looking southward +saw that the police had formed a line across the avenue, and that +such battered remnants of the invalid corps as had escaped were +limping off behind their cover as fast as possible. The presence +of the city's guardians had caused a brief hesitation in the +approaching and broken edge of the rabble. Seeing this the brave +sergeant ordered a charge, which was promptly and swiftly made, the +mob recoiling before it more and more slowly as under pressure it +became denser. There was no more effort to carry out the insane, +rather than humane, tactics of the invalid corps, who had either +fired high or used blank cartridges, for now the police struck +for life with their locust clubs, and the thud of the blows could +often be heard even above the uproar. Every one within reach of +their arms went down, and the majority lay quietly where they fell, +as the devoted little band pressed slowly forward. With regret +Merwyn saw Barney Ghegan among the foremost, his broad red face +streaming with perspiration, and he wielding his club as if it were +the deadliest of shillalahs. + +They did indeed strike manfully, and proved what an adequate force +could do. Rioters fell before them on every side. But hopeless +reaping was theirs, with miles of solid, bloodthirsty humanity +before them. Slowly and more falteringly they made their way three +blocks, as far as 46th Street, sustained by the hope of finding +reinforcements there. Instead of these, heavier bodies of the +enemy poured in from the side-streets upon the exhausted men, and +the mob closed behind them from 45th Street, like dark, surging +waves. Then came a mad rush upon the hemmed-in officers, who were +attacked in front and in the rear, with clubs, iron-bars, guns, +and pistols. Tom, bruised, bleeding, the force that had fought so +gallantly broke, each man striking out for his own life. The vast +heterogeneous crowd now afforded their chief chance for escape. +Dodging behind numbers, taking advantage of the wild confusion +of the swaying, trampling masses, and striking down some direct +opponent, a few got off with slight bruises. There were wonderful +instances of escape. The brave sergeant who had led the squad had +his left wrist broken by an iron bar, but, knocking down two other +assailants, he sprung into a house and bolted the door after him. +An heroic German girl, with none of the stolid phlegm attributed +to her race, lifted the upper mattress of her bed. The sergeant +sprung in and was covered up without a word. There was no time then +for plans and explanations. A moment later the door was broken, +and a score of fierce-visaged men streamed in. Now the girl was +stolidity itself. + +"Der cop run out der back door," was all that she could be made to +say in answer to fierce inquiries. Every apartment was examined in +vain, and then the roughs departed in search of other prey. Brave, +simple-hearted girl! She would have been torn to pieces had her +humane strategy been discovered. + +But a more memorable act of heroism was reserved for another woman, +Mrs. Eagan, the wife of the man who had rescued Superintendent Kennedy +a short time before. A policeman was knocked down with a hay-bale +rung, and fell at her very feet. In a moment more he would have +been killed, but this woman instantly covered his form with her +own, so that no blow could reach him unless she was first struck. +Then she begged for his life. Even the wild-beast spirit of the mob +was touched, and the pursuers passed on. A monument should have +been built to the woman who, in that pandemonium of passion, could +so risk all for a stranger. + +I am not defending Merwyn's course, but sketching a character. His +spirit of strategical observation would have forsaken him had he +witnessed that scene, and indeed it did forsake him as he saw Barney +Ghegan running and making a path for himself by the terrific blows +of his club. Three times he fell but rose again, with the same +indomitable pluck which had won his suit to pretty Sally Maguire. +At last the brave fellow was struck down almost opposite the balcony. +Merwyn knew the man was a favorite of the Vosburghs, and he could +not bear that the brave fellow should be murdered before his very +eyes; yet murdered he apparently was ere Merwyn could reach the +street. Like baffled fiends his pursuers closed upon the unfortunate +man, pounding him and jumping upon him. And almost instantly the +vile hags that followed the marauders like harpies, for the sake +of plunder began stripping his body. + +"Stop!" thundered Merwyn, the second he reached the scene, and, +standing over the prostrate form, he levelled a pistol at the throng. +"Now, listen to me," he added. "I don't wish to hurt anybody. +You've killed this man, so let his body alone. I know his wife, +an Irishwoman, and she ought at least to have his body for decent +burial." + +"Faix, an he's roight," cried one, who seemed a leader. "We've +killed the man. Let his woife have what's left uv 'im;" and the +crowd broke away, following the speaker. + +This was one of the early indications of what was proved +afterwards,--that the mob was hydra-headed, following either its +own impulses or leaders that sprung up everywhere. + +An abandoned express-wagon stood near, and into this Merwyn, with +the help of a bystander, lifted the insensible man. The young fellow +then drove, as rapidly as the condition of the streets permitted, +to the nearest hospital. A few yards carried him beyond those who +had knowledge of the affair, and after that he was unmolested. It +was the policy of the rioters to have the bodies of their friends +disappear as soon as possible. Poor Ghegan had been stripped to +his shirt and drawers, and so was not recognized as a "cop." + +Leaving him at the hospital, with brief explanations, Merwyn was +about to hasten away, when the surgeon remarked, "The man is dead, +apparently." + +"I can't help it," cried Merwyn. "I'll bring his wife as soon as +possible. Of course you will do all in your power;" and he started +away on a run. + +A few moments later Barney Ghegan was taken to the dead-house. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +THE "COWARD." + + + + + +MERWYN now felt that he had carried out the first part of his plan. +He had looked into the murderous eyes of the mob, and learned +its spirit and purpose. Already he reproached himself for leaving +Marian alone so long, especially as columns of smoke were rising +throughout the northern part of the city. It seemed an age since +he had seen that first cloud of the storm, as he emerged from the +park after his quiet ride, but it was not yet noon. + +As he sped through the streets, running where he dared, and fortunately +having enough of the general aspect of a rioter to be unmolested, +he noticed a new feature in the outbreak, one that soon became +a chief characteristic,--the hatred of negroes and the sanguinary +pursuit of them everywhere. + +"Another danger for the Vosburghs," he groaned. "They have a colored +servant, who must be spirited off somewhere instantly." + +Avoiding crowds, he soon reached the quiet side-street on which +Marian lived, and was overjoyed to find it almost deserted. Mammy +Borden herself answered his impatient ring, and was about to shut +the door on so disreputable a person as he now appeared to be, when +he shouldered it open, turned, locked and chained it with haste. + +"What do you mean, sir? and who are you?" Marian demanded, running +from the parlor on hearing the expostulations of her servant. + +"Have patience, Miss Vosburgh." + +"Oh, it is you, Mr. Merwyn. Indeed I have need of patience. An +hour ago papa sent a message from down town, saying: 'Don't leave +the house to-day. Serious trouble on foot.' Since then not a word, +only wild-looking people running through the street, the ringing of +fire-bells, and the sounds of some kind of disturbance. What does +it all mean? and why do you bar and bolt everything so timidly?" +and the excited girl poured out her words in a torrent. + +Merwyn's first words were exasperating, and the girl had already +passed almost beyond self-control. "Has any one seen your colored +servant to-day?" + +"What if they have? What does your unseemly guise mean? Oh that my +brave friends were here to go out and meet the rabble like soldiers! +There's an outbreak, of course; we've been expecting it; but +certainly MEN should not fear the canaille of the slums. It gives +me a sickening impression, Mr. Merwyn, to see you rush in, almost +force your way in, and disguised too, as if you sought safety by +identifying yourself with those who would quail before a brave, +armed man. Pardon me if I'm severe, but I feel that my father is +in danger, and if I don't hear from him soon I shall take Mammy +Borden as escort and go to his office. Whoever is abroad, they +won't molest women, and I'M NOT AFRAID." + +"By so doing you would disobey your father, who has told you not +to leave the house to-day." + +"But I can't bear inaction and suspense at such a time." + +"You must bear it, Miss Vosburgh. Seeing the mood you are in, +I shall not permit that door to be opened to any one except your +father or some one that you recognize." + +"You cannot help yourself," she replied, scornfully, approaching +the door. + +He was there before her, and, taking out the key, put it in his +pocket. + +"Oh, this is shameful!" she cried, blushing scarlet "Can your fears +carry you so far?" + +"Yes, and much farther, if needful," he replied, with a grim laugh. +"When you are calm enough to listen to me, to be sane and just, +I'll explain. Until you are I shall remain master here and protect +you and your home." Then, in a tone of stern authority, he added: +"Mrs. Borden, sit yonder in that darkened parlor, and don't move +unless I tell you to hide. Then hide in earnest, as you value your +life." + +"Would you not also like a hiding-place provided, Mr. Merwyn?" +Marian asked, almost beside herself with anger and anxiety. + +His reply was to go to the window and look up and down the still +quiet street. + +"A respite," he remarked, then turned to the colored woman, and in +a tone which she instantly obeyed, said, "Go to that parlor, where +you cannot be seen from the street." Then to Marian, "I have no +authority over you." + +"No, I should hope not. Is there no escape from this intrusion?" + +"None for the present," he replied, coldly. "You settled it long +since that I was a coward, and now that I am not a gentleman. +I shall make no self-defence except to your father, whom I expect +momentarily. He cannot leave you alone to-day an instant longer +than is unavoidable. I wish to remind you of one thing, however: +your soldier friends have long been your pride." + +"Oh that these friends were here to day!" + +"They would be surprised at your lack of quiet fortitude." + +"Must I be humiliated in my own home?" + +"You are humiliating yourself. Had you treated me with even your +old cool toleration and civility, I would have told you all that +has happened since morning; but you have left me no chance for +anything except to take the precautions heedful to save your home +and yourself. You think I fled here as a disguised fugitive. When +shall I forget this crowning proof of your estimate and esteem? +You see I did not come unarmed," partially drawing a revolver. "I +repeat, you are proud of your soldier friends. You have not learned +that the first duty of a soldier is to obey orders; and you have your +father's orders. Obey them quietly, and you are under no necessity +to speak to me again. When your father comes I will relieve you of +my hated presence. If he wishes it, I will still serve you both for +his sake, for he always kept a little faith and fairness for me. +Now, regard me as a sentinel, a common soldier, to whom you need +not speak until your father comes;" and he turned to the windows +and began fastening them. + +He, too, was terribly incensed. He had come to interpose his life +between her and danger, and her words and manner had probed a deep +wound that had long been bleeding. The scenes he had witnessed had +wrought him up to a mood as stern and uncompromising as the death +he soon expected to meet. When utterly off her guard she had shown +him, as he believed, her utter contempt and detestation, and at +that moment there was not a more reckless man in the city. + +But his bitter words and indomitable will had quieted her As he +stood motionless upon guard by the window, his was not the attitude +of a cowering fugitive. She now admitted that her wild excitement +and her disposition to rush to her father, contrary to his injunction, +were unworthy of her friends and of herself. + +There had been panic that morning in the city, and she had caught +the contagion in a characteristic way. She had had no thought of +hiding and cowering, but she had been on the eve of carrying out +rash impulses. She had given way to uncontrollable excitement; and +if her father should learn all she feared he would send her from +the city as one not to be trusted. What should she think of that +silent, motionless sentinel at the window? Suppose, after all, +she had misunderstood and misjudged him,--suppose he HAD come for +her protection. In view of this possibility which she had now to +entertain, how grossly she had insulted him! If her father came and +approved of his course, how could she ever look one so wronged in +the face again? She must try to soften her words a little. Woman-like, +she believed that she could certainly soothe a man as far as she +deemed it judicious, and then leave the future for further diplomacy. +Coward, or not, he had now made her afraid of him. + +"Mr. Merwyn," she began. + +He made no response whatever. + +Again, in a lower and more timid voice, she repeated his name. + +Without turning, he said: "Miss Vosburgh, I'm on guard. You +interfere with my duty. There is no reason for further courtesies +between us. If you are sufficiently calm, aid Mrs. Borden in packing +such belongings as she actually needs. She must leave this house +as soon as possible." + +"What!" cried the girl, hotly, "send this faithful old woman out +into the streets? Never." + +"I did not say, 'out into the streets.' When your father comes one +of his first efforts will be to send her to a place of safety. No +doubt he has already warned her son to find a hiding-place." + +"Great heavens! why don't you explain?" + +"What chance have I had to explain? Ah! come here, and all will be +plain enough." + +She stood at his side and saw a gang of men and boys' chasing +a colored man, with the spirit of bloodhounds in their tones and +faces. + +"Now I'se understan', too, Mass'r Merwyn," said the trembling +colored woman, looking over their shoulders. + +"Go back," he said, sternly. "If you were seen, that yelling pack +of fiends would break into this house as if it were paste-board. +Obey orders, both of you, and keep out of sight." + +Awed, overwhelmed, they stole to the back parlor; but Marian soon +faltered, "O Mr. Merwyn, won't you forgive me?" + +He made no reply, and a moment later he stepped to the door. Mr. +Vosburgh hastily entered, and Marian rushed into his arms. + +"What, Merwyn! you here? Thank God my darling was not alone! Well, +Merwyn, you've got to play the soldier now, and so have we all." + +"I shall not 'play the soldier';" was the reply, in quick, firm +utterance. "But no matter about me, except that my time is limited. +I wish to report to you certain things which I have seen, and leave +it to your decision whether I can serve you somewhat, and whether +Miss Vosburgh should remain in the city. I would also respectfully +suggest that your colored servant be sent out of town at once. +I offer my services to convey her to New Jersey, if you know of a +near refuge there, or else to my place in the country." + +"Good God, Merwyn! don't you know that by such an act you take your +life in your hand?" + +"I have already taken it in my hand, an open hand at that. It has +become of little value to me. But we have not a second to lose. I +have a very sad duty to perform at once, and only stayed till you +came. If you have learned the spirit abroad to-day, you know that +your household was and is in danger." + +"Alas! I know it only too well. The trouble had scarcely begun +before I was using agents and telegraph wires. I have also been +to police headquarters. Only the sternest sense of duty to the +government kept me so long from my child; but a man at Washington +is depending on me for information." + +"So I supposed. I may be able to serve you, if you can bring +yourself to employ a coward. I shall be at police headquarters, +and can bring you intelligence. When not on duty you should be in +the streets as little as possible. But, first, I would respectfully +suggest that Miss Vosburgh retire, for I have things to say to you +which she should not hear." + +"This to me, who listened to the story of Gettysburg?" + +"All was totally different then." + +"And I, apparently, was totally different. I deserve your reproach; +I should be sent to the nursery." + +"I think you should go and help Mrs. Borden," said Merwyn, quietly. + +"It's impossible to send Mammy Borden away just yet,--not till +darkness comes to aid our effort," said Mr. Vosburgh, decisively. +"You can serve me greatly, Merwyn, and your country also, if you +have the nerve. It will require great risks. I tell you so frankly. +This is going to prove worse than open battle. O Marian, would to +God you were with your mother!" + +"In that case I would come to you if I had to walk. I have wronged +and insulted you, Mr. Merwyn; I beg your pardon. Now don't waste +another moment on me, for I declare before God I shall remain with +my father unless taken away by force; and you would soon find that +the most fatal course possible." + +"Well, these are lurid times. I dreaded the thing enough, but now +that it has come so unexpectedly, it is far worse--But enough of +this. Mr. Merwyn, are you willing to take the risks that I shall?" + +"Yes, on condition that I save you unnecessary risks." + +"Oh what a fool I've been!" Marian exclaimed, with one of her +expressive gestures. + +"Mr. Vosburgh," said Merwyn, "there is one duty which I feel I ought +to perform first of all. Mrs. Ghegan, your old waitress, should be +taken to her husband." + +"What! Barney? What has happened to him?" + +"I fear he is dead. I disguised myself as you see--" + +"Yes, sensibly. No well-dressed man is safe on some streets." + +"Certainly not where I've been. I determined to learn the character +of the mob, and I have mingled among them all the morning. I saw +the invalid corps put to flight instantly, and the fight with a +handful of police that followed. I looked on, for to take part was +to risk life and means of knowledge uselessly. The savage, murderous +spirit shown on every side also proved that your household might +be in danger while you were absent. The police fought bravely +and vainly. They were overpowered as a matter of course, and yet +the police will prove the city's chief defence. When I saw Barney +running and fighting heroically for his life, I couldn't remain +spectator any longer, but before I could reach him he was prostrate, +senseless, and nearly stripped. With my revolver and a little +persuasion I secured his body, and took it to a hospital. A surgeon +thought he was dead. I don't know, but that his wife should be +informed and go to him seems only common humanity." + +"Well, Merwyn, I don't know," said Mr. Vosburgh, dubiously; "we +are in the midst of a great battle, and when one is down--Well, +the cause must be first, you know. Whether this is a part of +the rebellion or not, it will soon be utilized by the Confederate +leaders. What I say of Barney I would say of myself and mine,--all +private considerations must give--" + +"I understand," interrupted Merwyn, impatiently. "But in taking Mrs. +Ghegan across town I could see and learn as much as if alone, and +she would even be a protection to me. In getting information one +will have to use every subterfuge. I think nothing will be lost by +this act. From the hospital I will go direct to police headquarters, +and stipulate as to my service,--for I shall serve in my own way,--and +then, if there is no pressing duty, I will report to you again." + +Mr. Vosburgh sprung up and wrung the young fellow's hand as he +said: "We have done you great wrong. I, too, beg your pardon. But +more than all the city to me is my duty to the general government. +To a certain extent I must keep aloof from the actual scenes +of violence, or I fail my employers and risk vast interests. If +consistently with your ideas of duty you can aid me now, I shall +be more grateful than if you saved my life. Information now may be +vital to the nation's safety. You may find me at police headquarters +an hour or two hence." + +"It is settled then, and events will shape future action;" and he +was turning hastily away. + +A hand fell upon his arm, and never had he looked upon a face in +which shame and contrition were so blended. + +"What will be your future action towards me?" Marian asked, as she +detained him. "Will you have no mercy on the girl who was so weak +as to be almost hysterical?" + +"You have redeemed your weakness," he replied, coldly. "You are +your old high-bred, courageous self, and you will probably cease +to think of me as a coward before the day is over. Good-afternoon;" +and in a moment he was gone. + +"I have offended him beyond hope," she said, as she turned, drooping, +to her father. + +"Never imagine it, darling," her father replied, with a smile. "His +lip quivered as you spoke, and I have learned to read the faintest +signs in a man. You have both been overwrought and in no condition +for calm, natural action. Mervvyn will relent. You lost your poise +through excitement, not cowardice, and he, young and all undisciplined, +has witnessed scenes that might appall a veteran. But now all must +be courage and action. Since you will remain with me you must be a +soldier, and be armed like one. Come with me to my room, and I will +give you a small revolver. I am glad that you have amused yourself +with the dangerous toy, and know how to use it. Then you must help +me plan a disguise which will almost deceive your eyes. Keeping +busy, my dear, will prove the best tonic for your nerves. Mammy +Borden, you must go to your room and stay there till we find a way +of sending you to a place of safety. After you have disappeared +for a time I'll tell the other servant that you have gone away. I +sent your son home before I left the office, and he, no doubt, is +keeping out of harm's way." + +The old woman courtesied, but there was a dogged, hunted look in +her eyes as she crept away, muttering, "Dis is what Zeb call de +'lan' ob de free!'" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +A WIFE'S EMBRACE. + + + + + +"O PAPA," cried Marian, after reaching the library, "we let Mr. +Merwyn go without a lunch, and it's nearly two o'clock. Nor do I +believe you have had a mouthful since breakfast, and I've forgotten +all about providing anything. Oh, how signally I have failed on +the first day of battle!" + +"You are not the first soldier, by untold millions, who has done +so; but you have not shown the white feather yet." + +"When I do that I shall expire from shame. You rummage for a +disguise, and I'll be back soon." + +She hastened to the kitchen, and at a glance saw that the Irish +cook had fled, taking not a little with her. The range fire was +out, and the refrigerator and the store-closet had been ravaged. +She first barred and bolted all the doors, and then the best she +could bring her father was crackers and milk and some old Sherry +wine; but she nearly dropped these when she saw a strange man, as +she supposed, emerge from his bedroom. + +Mr. Vosburgh's laugh reassured her, and he said: "I fancy I shall +pass among strangers, since you don't know me. Nothing could be +better than the milk and crackers. No wine. My head must be clearer +to-day than it ever was before. So the Irish Biddy has gone with +her plunder? Good riddance to her. She would have been a spy in the +camp. I'll bring home food that won't require cooking, and you'll +have to learn to make coffee, for Merwyn and others will, no doubt, +often come half dead from fatigue. All we can do is to forage +in such shops as are open, and you'll have to take the office of +commissary at once. You must also be my private secretary. As fast +as I write these despatches and letters copy them. I can eat and +write at the same time. In an hour I must go out." + +"I won't play the fool again," said the girl, doggedly. + +"Drink this glass of milk first, while I run down for more, and +satisfy my mind as to the fastenings, etc." + +"But, papa--" + +"Marian," he said, gravely, "you can stay with me only on one +condition: you must obey orders." + +"That is what Mr. Merwyn said. Oh what a credit I've been to my +military friends!" and with difficulty she drank the milk. + +"You are a promising young recruit," was the smiling reply. "We'll +promote you before the week's out." + +In five minutes he was back, cool, yet almost as quick as light in +every movement. + +The despatches she copied were unintelligible to Marian, but the +one to whom they were addressed had the key. The copies of the +letters were placed in a secret drawer. + +When their tasks were finished, Mr. Vosburgh looked up and down +the street and was glad to find it comparatively empty. The storm +of passion was raging elsewhere. + +He closed all the shutters of the house, giving it a deserted aspect, +then said to his daughter. "You must admit no one in my absence, +and parley with no one who does not give the password, 'Gettysburg +and Little Round Top.' If men should come who say these words, tell +them to linger near without attracting attention, and come again +after I return. Admit Merwyn, of course, for you know his voice. +It is a terrible trial to leave you alone, but there seems to be +no prospect of trouble in this locality. At all events, I must do +my duty, cost what it may. Be vigilant, and do not worry unnecessarily +if I am detained." + +"I am bent on retrieving myself, papa; and I'd rather die than be +so weak again." + +"That's my brave girl. You won't die. After this venture, which I +must make at once, I shall be able to take greater precautions;" +and with a fond look and kiss, he hastened away through the basement +entrance, Marian fastening it securely after him. + +We must now follow Merwyn's fortunes for a time. Rapidly, yet +vigilantly he made his way up town and crossed Third Avenue. He soon +observed that the spirit of lawlessness was increasing. Columns of +smoke were rising from various points, indicating burning buildings, +and in Lexington Avenue he witnessed the unblushing sack of beautiful +homes, from which the inmates had been driven in terror for their +lives. + +"It will be strange if Mr. Vosburgh's home escapes," he thought. +"Some one must know enough of his calling to bring upon him and +his the vengeance of the mob. I shall do the best I can for him and +his daughter, but to-day has slain the last vestige of hope beyond +that of compelling her respect. Wholly off her guard, she showed +her deep-rooted detestation, and she can never disguise it again. +Regret and mortification at her conduct, a wish to make amends +and to show gratitude for such aid as I may give her father, will +probably lead her to be very gracious; at the same time I shall ever +know that in her heart is a repugnance which she cannot overcome. +A woman can never love a man towards whom she has entertained +thoughts like hers;" and with much bitter musings, added to his +reckless impulses, he made his way to the region in which Mrs. +Ghegan had her rooms. + +Finding a livery stable near he hired a hack, securing it by +threats as well as money, and was soon at the door of the tenement +he sought. + +Mrs. Ghegan showed her scared, yet pretty face in response to his +knock. + +"Ye's brought me bad news," she said, instantly, beginning to sob. + +"Yes, Mrs. Ghegan; but if you love your husband you will show it +now. I have come to take you to him. He has been wounded." + +"Is it Mr. Merwyn?" + +"Yes; I've just come from Mr. Vosburgh, and he will do what he can +for you when he has a chance. They know about your trouble. Now +make haste, for we've not a moment to lose in reaching the hospital." + +"The Lord knows I love Barney as me loife, an' that I'd go to him +through fire and blood. Oi'll kape ye no longer than to tie me +bonnet on;" and this she was already doing with trembling fingers. + +Locking the door, she took the key with her, and was soon in the +hack. Merwyn mounted the box with the driver, knowing that openness +was the best safeguard against suspicions that might soon prove +fatal. At one point they were surrounded and stopped by the rioters, +who demanded explanations. + +"Clear out, ye bloody divils!" cried Sally, who did not count +timidity among her foibles; "wud ye kape a woman from goin' to her +husband, a-dyin' beloikes?" + +"Oh, let us pass," said Merwyn, in a loud tone. "A cop knocked her +husband on the head, and we are taking her to him." + +"Och! ye are roight, me mon. We'll let onybody pass who spakes in +her swate brogue;" and the crowd parted. + +Reaching the hospital, Sally rushed into the office with the +breathless demand, "Where's Barney?" + +Merwyn recognized the surgeon he had met before, and said: "You +know the man I brought a few hours since. This is his wife." + +The surgeon looked grave and hesitated. + +"What have ye done wid him?" Sally almost screamed. "Are ye no +better than the bloody villains in the strates?" + +"My good woman," began the surgeon, "you must be more composed and +reasonable. We try to save life when there is life--" + +"Where is he?" shrieked the woman. + +The surgeon, accustomed to similar scenes, nodded to an attendant, +and said, gravely, "Show her." + +Merwyn took the poor woman's hand to restrain as well as to reassure +her, saying, with sympathies deeply touched, "Mrs. Ghegan, remember +you are not friendless, whatever happens." + +"Quick! quick!" she said to her guide. "Och! what's a wurld uv +frin's if I lose Barney? Poor man! poor man! He once said I blew +hot and could, but oi'd give him me loife's blood now." + +To Merwyn's sorrow they were led to the dead-house, and there lay +the object of their quest, apparently lifeless, his battered face +almost past recognition. But Sally knew him instantly, and stared +for a moment as if turned to stone; then, with a wild cry, she threw +herself upon him, moaning, sobbing, and straining his unconscious +form to her breast. + +Merwyn felt that it would be best to let her paroxysm of grief expend +itself unrestrained; but a bitter thought crossed his mind,--"I may +be in as bad a plight as poor Barney before the day closes, yet no +one would grieve for me like that." + +Suddenly Mrs. Ghegan became still. In her embrace her hand had +rested over her husband's heart, and had felt a faint pulsation. +A moment later she sprung up and rushed back to the office. Merwyn +thought that she was partially demented, and could scarcely keep +pace with her. + +Bursting in at the door, she cried: "Och! ye bloody spalpanes, to +put a loive man where ye did! Come wid me, an' oi'll tache ye that +I knows more than ye all." + +"Please satisfy her," said Merwyn to the surgeon, who was inclined +to ignore what he regarded as the wild ravings of a grief-crazed +woman. + +"Well, well, if it will do any good; but we have too much to do +to-day for those who have a chance--" + +"Come on, or oi'll drag ye there," the wife broke in. + +"When I've satisfied you, my good woman, you must become quiet and +civil. Other wives have lost their husbands--" + +But Sally was already out of hearing. Reaching the supposed corpse, +the deeply excited woman said, with eyes blazing through her tears, +"Put yez hand on his heart." + +The surgeon did so, and almost instantly the expression of his face +changed, and he said sharply to the attendant, "Bring a stretcher +with bearers at once." Then to Sally: "You are right; he is alive, +but there was no such pulsation as this when he was brought here. +Now be quiet and cheer up, and we may help you save his life. You +can stay and take care of him." + +Merwyn again took the wife's trembling hand and said, earnestly: +"Mrs. Ghegan, obey the surgeon's orders exactly. Be quiet, gentle, +and self-controlled, and Barney may outlive us all." + +"Faix, Mr. Merwyn, now that oi've hope I'll be whist as a baby +asleep. Ye knew me onst as a light, giddy gurl, but oi'll watch +over Barney wid such a slapeless eye as wud shame his own mither." + +And she kept her word. For days and nights her husband remained +unconscious, wavering between life and death. The faithful woman, +as indifferent to the tumult and havoc in the city as if it were +in another land, sat beside him and furthered all efforts in a +winning fight. + +Merwyn saw him in a hospital ward, surrounded by skilful hands, +before he took his leave. + +"God bless ye!" Sally began. "If yez hadn't brought me--" + +But, pressing her hand warmly, he did not wait to hear her grateful +words. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE DECISIVE BATTLE. + + + + + +MERWYN was now very anxious to reach police headquarters in +Mulberry Street, for he felt that the safety of the city, as well +as all personal interests dear to him, depended upon adequate and +well-organized resistance. + +The driver, having been promised a handsome reward to remain, still +waited. Indeed, he had gained the impression that Merwyn was in +sympathy with the ruthless forces then in the ascendant, and he +felt safer in his company than if returning alone. + +Mounting the box again, Merwyn directed the driver to make his way +through the more open streets to Broadway and 14th Street. + +They had not gone far through the disturbed districts when four +rough-looking men stopped them, took possession of the hack, and +insolently required that they should be driven to Union Square. The +last ugly-visaged personage to enter the vehicle paused a moment, +drew a revolver, and said, "An' ye don't 'bey orders, this little +bull-dog will spake to ye next." + +The Jehu looked with a pallid face at Merwyn, who said, carelessly: +"It's all right. They are going in my direction." + +The quartet within soon began to entertain suspicions of Merwyn, +and the one who had last spoken, apparently the leader, thrust his +head out of the window and shouted: "Shtop! Who the divil is that +chap on the box wid ye?" + +"I'll answer for myself," said Merwyn, seeking to employ the +vernacular as well as the appearance of an American mechanic. "The +driver don't know anything about me. A cop knocked a friend of mine +on the head this morning, and I've been taking his wife to him." + +The driver now took his cue, and added, "Faix, and a nice, dacent +little Irishwoman she was, bedad." + +"Then ye're wan wid us?" cried the leader of the gang. + +"It looks mighty like it," was the laughing reply. "This would be +a poor place for me to hang out, if I was afraid of you or your +friends." + +"Yez may bet your loife on that. How coomes it ye're so hand-and-glove +wid an Irishman, when ye spake no brogue at all?" + +"Thunder! man, do you think no one but Irishmen are going to have +a fist in this scrimmage? I'm as ready to fight as you are, and am +only going down town to join my own gang. Why shouldn't I have an +Irishman for a friend, if he's a good fellow, I'd like to know?" + +"Beloikes they'll be yez best frin's. All roight. Dhrive on and +moind your eye, or the bull-dog will bark." + +They ordered a halt several times, while one and another went to +a saloon for a drink. It was fast becoming evident that, should +there be any want of courage or recklessness, whiskey would supply +the lack. + +Merwyn preserved nonchalant indifference, even when his disreputable +companions were approached by those with whom they were in league, +and information and orders were exchanged which he partially +overheard. Although much was said in a jargon that he scarcely +understood, he gathered that nothing less was on foot than an attack +on police headquarters, in the hope of crushing at the start the +power most feared. Therefore, while he maintained his mask, every +sense was on the alert. + +At length they reached Union Square, and the occupants of the +hack alighted. Two went east and one west, while the leader said +to Merwyn, who had also jumped down: "Take me to your gang. We're +afther needing ivery divil's son of 'im widin the next hour or so. +It's a big game we're playin' now, me lad, an' see that ye play +square and thrue, or your swateheart'll miss ye the noight." + +"You'll have to have a bigger crowd on Broadway before you'll get +our fellows out," Merwyn replied. "We're not going to face the cops +until there's enough on hand to give us a livin' chance." + +"There'll be plenty on hand--more'n ye ever seed in yer loife--before +ye're an hour older. So lead on, and shtop your palaver. I'm not +quite sure on ye yet." + +"You soon will be," replied Merwyn, with his reckless and misleading +laugh. "My course is down Broadway to Bleecker Street and then +west. I can show you as pretty a lot of fellows as you'll want to +see, and most of us are armed." + +"All roight. Broadway suits me. I want to see if the coast is +clear." + +"So do I, and what the cops are about in these diggin's. The right +thing to do is for all hands to pitch right on to them in Mulberry +Street, and then the game's in our own hands." + +"If that's the lark we have on foot, can ye promise that yer gang'll +join us?" + +"Yes, sir, for we'd know that meant business." + +"How many could ye muster?" + +"I hardly know. We were a-growin' fast when I left." + +"Well, lead on loively. Ivery minute now should give me a dozen +men, an' we want to start the blaze down this way. I tell ye it's +a burning-up town." + +"So I should guess from the smoke we see," said Merwyn, with his +old laugh. "Jupiter! there comes a squad of cops." + +"Well, what do we care? We're two paceable, dacent citizens, +a-strollin' down Broadway." + +"Oh, I'm not afraid," was the careless reply. "I'm going to see +this scrimmage out, and I like the fun. Let's watch the cops cross +the street, and see how they are armed." + +As the little squad approached Broadway from a side-street, hastening +to headquarters, the Hibernian firebrand and his supposed ally stood +on the curbstone, A moment later Merwyn struck his companion such +a powerful blow on the temple that he fell in the street, almost +in front of the officers of the law. The young fellow then sprung +upon the stunned and helpless man, and took away his weapons, at +the same time, crying: "Secure him. He's a leader of the mob." + +"Yes, and you too, my hard hitter," said the sergeant in command. + +"I'll go quietly enough, so long as you take him with me. Be quick +about it, too, for I have news that should be known at headquarters +as soon as possible." + +The police now supposed that they recognized one of a band +of detectives, everywhere busy about the city in all kinds of +disguises,--men of wonderful nerve, who rendered the authorities +very important services, and often captured the most dangerous of +the ruffianly leaders. + +The fellow in question was hustled to his feet, having discovered +Merwyn's gang sooner than he desired. The squad pushed through the +fast-gathering and bewildered crowd, and soon reached headquarters. +The young fellow told his story in the presence of Mr. Vosburgh, who +evidently had credentials which secured for him absolute confidence +on the part of the authorities. + +Merwyn soon learned to recognize in his interlocutor, the +superintendent of the metropolitan police, a man to whose active +brain, iron will, and indomitable courage, the city chiefly owed +its deliverance,--Thomas C. Acton. + +Confirmation of the sinister tidings was already coming in fast. The +brutal mob that had sacked and burned the Colored Orphan Asylum was +moving southward, growing with accessions from different quarters, +like a turbulent torrent. Its destination was well understood, +and Acton knew that the crisis had come thus early. He frequently +conferred with Chief Clerk Seth C. Hawley, upon whom, next to +himself, rested the heaviest burdens of those terrific days. + +Merwyn offered his services on the force, stipulating, however, +that he might be in a measure his own master, since he had other +duties to perform, at the same time promising to do his share of +the fighting. + +Mr. Vosburgh drew Acton to one side, and made a few whispered +explanations. Merwyn's request was granted at once, Acton adding, +"There will be a general call in the morning papers for the enrolment +of citizens as policemen." + +The moments were crowded with preparations, counsels, and decisions. +The telegraph wires, concentring there from all parts of the city, +were constantly ticking off direful intelligence; but the most +threatening fact was the movement down Broadway of unknown thousands, +maddened by liquor, and confident from their unchecked excesses +during the day. They knew that they had only to destroy the handful +of men at police headquarters and the city was theirs to plunder +and destroy with hyena-like savagery. + +Acton, now cognizant of the worst, went to the police commissioners' +room and said: "Gentlemen, the crisis has come. A battle must be +fought now, and won, too, or all is lost." + +None doubted the truth of his word; but who should lead the small +force at hand? Inspector Carpenter's name was suggested, for he was +known to be a man of great resolution and courage, and leadership +naturally fell to him as one of the oldest and most experienced +members of the force. Acton instructed him not only that a battle +must be fought immediately, but also that it MUST be successful. + +Carpenter listened quietly, comprehending both the peril and the +necessity; then after a moment's hesitation he rose to his full +height, and with an impressive gesture and a terrible oath said, +"I will go, and I'll win that fight, or Daniel Carpenter will never +come back a live man." + +He instantly summoned his insignificant force, and the order, "Fall +in, men," resounded through the street. + +Merwyn, with a policeman's coat buttoned over his blouse, avowed +his purpose of going with them; and his exploit of the afternoon, +witnessed and bruited by members of the force, made his presence +welcome. + +It was now between five and six in the evening. The air was hot +and sultry, and in the west lowered heavy clouds, from which the +thunder muttered. Emblematic they seemed to such as heeded them in +the intense excitement. + +Few in the great city at that hour were so deeply stirred as Merwyn. +The tremendous excitements of the day, to which his experience at +Mr. Vosburgh's residence had chiefly contributed, were cumulative +in their effect. Now he had reached the goal of his hope, and had +obtained an opportunity, far beyond his wildest dreams, to redeem +his character from the imputation of cowardice. He was part of the +little force which might justly be regarded as a "forlorn hope." +The fate of the city depended upon its desperate valor, and no one +knew this better than he, who, from early morning, had witnessed the +tiger-spirit of the mob. If the thousands, every minute approaching +nearer, should annihilate the handful of men who alone were present +to cope with them, that very night the city would be at the mercy +of the infuriated rioters, and not a home would be secure from +outrage. + +The column of police was formed scarcely two hundred strong. +Merwyn, as a new recruit, was placed in its rear, a position that +he did not mean to keep when the fight should begin. Like the +others, he was armed with a locust-club, but he had two revolvers +on his person, and these he knew how to use with fatal precision. +From an open window Superintendent Acton shouted, "Inspector +Carpenter, my orders are, Make no arrests, bring no prisoners, but +kill--kill every time." + +It was to be a life-and-death struggle. The mob would have no mercy: +the officers of the law were commanded to show none. + +As Carpenter went forward to the head of his column, his face as +dark with his sanguinary puipose as the lowering west, Merwyn saw +that Mr. Vosburgh, quiet and observant, was present. + +The government officer, with his trained instincts, knew just where +to be, in order to obtain the most vital information. He now joined +Merwyn, and was struck by his extreme pallor, a characteristic of +the young fellow under extreme emotion. + +"Mr. Merwyn," he said, hastily, "you have done enough for two +to-day, You need rest. This is going to be a desperate encounter." + +"Forward!" shouted Carpenter. + +A proud smile lighted up Merwyn's features, as he said: "Good-by. +Thank you for such faith as you have had in me;" and he moved off +with the others. + +Mr. Vosburgh muttered, "I shall see this fight, and I shall solve +that embodied mystery whom we have thought a coward;" and he followed +so near as to keep Merwyn under his eye. + +A black, sulphurous cloud was rising in the west. This little +dark blue column approaching from the east, marching down Bleecker +Street, was insignificant in comparison, yet it was infinitely the +more dangerous, and charged with forces that would scatter death +and wounds such as the city had never witnessed. + +No words were spoken by the resolute men. The stony pavement +echoed their measured, heavy tread. Turning into Broadway they saw +the enemy but a block and a half away, a howling mob, stretching +northward as far as the eye could reach. It was sweeping the +thoroughfare, thousands in line. Pedestrians, stages, vehicles of +all kinds, were vanishing down side-streets. Pallid shopkeepers +were closing their stores as sailors take in sail before a cyclone. + +Carpenter halted his command, and sent small detachments up parallel +side-streets, that they might come around and fall upon the flanks +of the mob. + +As these men were moving off on the double-quick, Merwyn left his +squad and said to Carpenter: "I am a citizen, and I stipulated that +I should fight as I chose. I choose to fight with you." + +"Well, well, so long as you fight," was the hasty answer. "You shall +have plenty of it, if you keep near me." Then he added, sternly: +"Mark you, young fellow, if you show the white feather I'll knock +you over myself. Those devils yonder must be taught that the one +thing this force can't do is run." + +"Brain me if I do not do my whole duty," was the firm reply; and +he took his place at the right of the front rank. + +A moment later he was startled by Mr. Vosburgh, who seized his hand +and said, earnestly: "Merwyn, no man ever did a braver thing than +you are doing now. I can't forgive myself that I wronged you in my +thoughts." + +"You had reason. I'm doing no better than these other men, and I +have a thousand-fold their motive." Then he added, gravely, "I do +not think you ought to be here and your daughter alone." + +"I know my duty," was the quiet reply; "and there are those who +must be informed of the issue of this fight as soon as it is over. +Once more, farewell, my brave friend;" and he disappeared. + +Carpenter was holding his force until his flanking detachments should +reach their co-operative points. When the mob saw the police, it +advanced more slowly, as if it, too, instinctively recognized that +the supreme crisis was near. In the van of the dense mass a large +board was borne aloft, inscribed with the words, "No Draft!" and +beside it, in mocking irony, floated the stars and stripes. + +The hesitation of the rioters was but brief. They mistook the +inaction of the few policemen opposed to them for timidity, and the +immense masses behind pushed them forward. Therefore, with a new +impetus, the howling, yelling throng approached, and Merwyn could +distinguish the features of the liquor-inflamed, maddened faces that +were already becoming familiar to him. In the sultry July evening +the greater part of the rioters were in their shirt-sleeves, and +they were armed with every description of weapon, iron bars, clubs, +pitchforks, barrel-staves, and not a few with guns and pistols. + +Carpenter stood out before his men, watching the approach of his +victims with an expression which only the terrible excitement of +battle can produce. His men, behind him, were like statues. Suddenly +his stentorian command rang out,-- + +"BY THE RIGHT FLANK, COMPANY FRONT! DOUBLE-QUICK! CHARGE!" + +As if the lever of a powerful engine had been pressed, all clubs +were raised aloft, and with swift, even tread the trained, powerful +men rushed after their leader, who kept several paces ahead. + +When such a disciplined force, with such a leader, have resolved to +fight till they die, their power is not to be estimated by numbers. +They smote the astonished van of the mob like a thunderbolt, Carpenter +leading by several steps, his face aflame with his desperate resolve. +He dealt the first blow, sending down, bleeding and senseless, a +huge ruffian who was rushing upon him with a club. A second later +the impetuous officer was in the midst of the mob, giving deadly +blows right and left. + +His men closed up with him instantly, Merwyn being among the first +to reach his side, and for a few moments the thud of clubs on human +skulls was heard above every other sound. Mr. Vosburgh, keeping a +little to the rear on the sidewalk, watched Merwyn, who held his +attention almost equally with the general issues of this decisive +battle. The youth was dealing blows like an athlete, and keeping +pace with the boldest. The windows of the buildings on Broadway +were now crowded by thousands witnessing the conflict, while Mr. +Vosburgh, following closely, heard the ominous "sing" of more than +one bullet. The man who had come that day to the protection of his +home and child should not be left to the mercy of strangers, should +he fall. To his surprise he soon saw that Merwyn had shifted his +club to his left hand, and that he was fighting with a revolver. He +watched the young fellow with renewed interest, and observed that +his aim was as deliberate as it was quick, and that often when he +fired some prominent figure in the mob dropped. + +"By all the powers! if he is not coolly shooting the leaders, and +picking out his man every time!" ejaculated the astonished officer. + +The police made a clean sweep of the street, and only prostrate +forms were left in their rear. Therefore Mr. Vosburgh could almost +keep pace with Merwyn. + +The rioters soon became appalled at their punishment. Like a dark +blue wave, with bloody clubs forming a crimson crest, that unfaltering +rank of men steadily advanced and ingulfed them. All within reach +went down. Those of the police who were wounded still fought on, +or, if disabled, the ranks closed up, and there was no cessation +in the fatal hail of blows. The rioters in front would have given +way, had not the thousands in their rear pressed them forward to +their fate. + +The judicious Carpenter had provided for this feature of the +strife, for now his detachments were smiting both flanks of the +human monster with the same terrific vengeance dealt upon its head. +The undisciplined herd fought desperately for a time, then gave +way to panic and the wild effort to escape. Long since a policeman +had seized the national flag, and bore it triumphantly with his +left hand while he fought with his right. The confusion and uproar +were beyond description. The rioters were yelling their conflicting +views as to what ought to be done, while others were shouting to +those in their rear to cease crowding forward. The pressure down +Broadway now came from a desire to escape the police. In brief, +a large section of the mob was hemmed in, and it surged backwards +and forwards and up against the stores, while hundreds, availing +themselves of the side-streets, ran for their lives. In a very +short time what had been a compact, threatening mass was flying in +fragments, as if disrupted by dynamite, but the pursuing clubs of +Carpenter's men never ceased their levelling blows while a rioter's +head was in reach. Far northward the direful tidings of defeat +spread through the ragged hosts as yet unharmed, and they melted +away, to come together again and again during the lurid days and +nights which followed. + +The Gettysburg of the conflict had been fought and won. Unspeakable +outrages and heavy battles were yet to come; but this decisive +victory gave the authorities advantage which they never lost, and +time to organize more effective resistance with the aid of the +military. The police saved the city. + +Broadway looked like a battle-field, prostrate forms strewing its +crimsoned pavement throughout the area of the conflict. The majority +were left where they fell, and were carried off by their friends. + +As the melee was drawing to a close, Mr. Vosburgh saw Merwyn chasing +a man who apparently had had much influence with his associates, +and had been among the last to yield. After a brief pursuit the +young fellow stopped and fired. The man struggled on a few steps, +then fell. Merwyn, panting, sat down on the curbstone, and here Mr. +Vosburgh joined him with radiant face, exclaiming, as he wrung the +young man's hand: "I've seen it all,--seen how you smote them hip +and thigh. Never has my blood been so stirred. The city is saved. +When a mob is thus dealt with it soon gives up. Come, you have +done more than your part. Go with me, and as soon as I have sent +a despatch about this glorious victory, we'll have supper and a +little rest." + +"Impossible, Mr. Vosburgh. The inspector has heard that the mob +is sacking the mayor's house, and we have orders to march there at +once. I'll get my wind in a moment." + +"But you are not under obligations, in view of all you have done." + +"I'm going to see this fight out. If the force were ordered back +to headquarters I'd go with you." + +"But you will come soon?" + +"Yes; when the fighting is over for the night I'll bring the latest +news. There, the men are falling in for their march up Broadway, +and I must go." + +"Well, I congratulate you. No soldier ever won greener laurels in +so short a time. What's more, you were cool enough to be one of +the most effective of the force. I saw you picking off the leaders. +Good-by;" and he hastened away, while Merwyn followed Carpenter +and the captured flag to a new scene of battle. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +"I HAVE SEEN THAT YOU DETEST ME." + + + + + +After her father had left her on that eventful afternoon, Marian +felt as if alone in a beleaguered fortress. The familiar streets +in which she had trundled her hoop as a child, and until to-day +walked without fear, were now filled with nameless terrors. She who +had been so bent on going out in the morning would now as readily +stroll in a tiger-infested jungle as to venture from her door. When +men like her father used such language and took such precautions +as she had anxiously noted, she knew that dangers were manifold and +great, that she was in the midst of the most ruthless phase of war. + +But her first excitement had passed, and it had brought her such +lessons that now her chief thought was to retrieve herself. The +one who had dwelt in her mind as so weak and unmanly as to be a +constant cause of irritation had shown himself to be her superior, +and might even equal the friends with whom she had been scornfully +contrasting him. That she should have spoken to him and treated +him as she had done produced boundless self-reproach, while her +egregious error in estimating his character was humiliating in the +last degree. + +"Fool! fool!" she said, aloud, "where was your woman's intuition?" + +Marian had much warm blood in her veins and fire in her spirit, and +on provocation could become deeply incensed at others, as we have +seen; but so devoid of petty vanity was she that she could be almost +equally angry at herself. She did not share her father's confidence +that Merwyn would relent under a few smiles, for she knew how deeply +she had wounded and wronged him, and she believed that he possessed a +will as steadfast as fate. The desire to test her father's theory, +the hope to atone for her wrong judgment, grew so strong and absorbing +as to make the awful fact of the riot secondary in her thoughts. + +To get through the hours she felt that she must keep incessantly +busy. She first went to her own room, packed valuables and jewels +in a convenient form to carry if there should be cause for a hasty +exit, then concealed them. Going to her mother's and father's room, +she acted in view of the same possible necessity, all the while +carrying on the distinct process of thought in regard to Merwyn, +dwelling on their past relations, but above all questioning his +course when they should meet again. + +Suddenly she reproached herself with forgetfulness of Mammy Borden. +True, not much time had passed; but the poor creature, after what +she had heard, should be reassured frequently. She went to the attic +room, but it was empty. On inspection it became evident that the +colored woman had made up her little bundle and departed. Calling +as she went down through the house, Marian reached the basement +and saw that its door had been unfastened. + +"She has gone to join her son," said the girl, as she hastily +rebolted and barred the door. "Oh what awful imprudence! Perhaps +she also wished to relieve us of the danger of her presence. Well, +I am now alone in very truth. I could now give Mr. Merwyn a very +different reception. He and papa will be here soon perhaps. Oh, I +wish I knew how to make coffee, but I can't even kindle a fire in +the range. I have proved myself to-day a fine subject for a soldier. +My role is to listen, in elegant costume, to heroic deeds, and +to become almost hysterical in the first hour of battle. O 'Missy +S'wanee,' I make a sorry figure beside you, facing actual war and +cheering on your friends!" + +Thus she passed the time in varied and bitter soliloquy while +putting the kitchen and closets in order, and in awkward attempts +to remove the debris of the last fire from the range. The gas gave +light for her efforts, for the closed shutters darkened the apartment. + +She was startled by a tap at the door. + +"Well?" she faltered, after a moment's hesitation. + +"'Gettysburg and Little Round Top,'" was the response. + +"Mr. Vosburgh is out, and left word that you should linger near +till he returned and then come again." + +"I cannot do that. It would not be safe for either him or me. He +does not realize. Can you be trusted?" + +"I am his daughter." + +"Say, then, terrible work up town. The orphan asylum sacked and +burned. Many private residences also. The mob having its own way. +A crowd is coming, and I must not be seen here. Will be back to-night +if possible;" and the unseen communicator of dismal intelligence +went westward with hasty steps. + +Marian trembled as she heard the confused, noisy tread of many feet. +Hastening to the second story, she peeped through the blinds, and +shuddered as she saw a fragment of the mob which had been defeated +on Broadway, returning to their haunts on the west side. Baffled +and infuriated, they made the street echo with their obscene words +and curses. Her heart almost stood still as they approached her +door, and with white, compressed lips she grasped her revolver; +but the rioters passed on like a flock of unclean birds, and the +street became quiet again. + +She was now so anxious about her father that she maintained her +position of observation. The coming storm lowering in the west +oppressed her with its terrible symbolism. Already the street was +darkening, while from other parts of the city came strange sounds. + +"Oh, if papa should never come back,--if the mob should have its +own way everywhere! To think of staying here alone to-night! Would +HE come again after my treatment this morning?" + +She was aroused from her deep and painful revery by a knocking on +the basement door. Hastening down she was overjoyed to hear her +father's voice, and when he entered she clung to him, and kissed him +with such energy that his heavy beard came off, and his disguising +wig was all awry. + +"O papa!" she cried, "I'm so glad you are back safe! A body of +rioters passed through the street, and the thought of your falling +into such hands sickened me with fear;" and then she breathlessly +told him of all that had occurred, and of Mammy Borden's disappearance. + +He reassured her gently, yet strongly, and her quick ear caught +the ring of truth in his words. + +"I, too, have much to tell you," he said, "and much to do; so we +must talk as we work. First help me to unpack and put away these +provisions. This evening I must get a stout German woman that I +know of to help you. You must not be left alone again, and I have +another plan in mind for our safety. I think the worst is over, but +it is best not to entertain a sense of false security for a moment +in these times. The mob has been thoroughly whipped on Broadway. +I'll tell you all about it after we have had a good cup of coffee +and a little supper. Now that there is a respite I find I'm almost +faint myself from reaction and fatigue." + +"Have you seen--do you think Mr. Merwyn will be here again?" + +"I've seen him, and so have others, to their sorrow. 'Coward,' +indeed!" He threw back his head and laughed. "I only wish I had a +regiment of such cowards, and I could abolish the mob in twenty-four +hours. But I'll tell you the whole story after supper is ready, and +will show how quickly a soldier can get up a meal in an emergency. +You must go into training as a commissary at once." + +Her father seemed so genuinely hopeful and elated that Marian caught +his spirit and gave every faculty to the task of aiding him. Now +that he was with her, all fears and forebodings passed; the nearer +roll of the thunder was unheeded except as it called out the remark, +"It will be too bad if Mr. Merwyn is out in the storm." + +Again her father laughed, as he said, "All the thunder gusts that +have raged over the city are nothing to the storm which Merwyn has +just faced." + +"O papa, you make me half wild with curiosity and impatience. Must +I wait until the coffee boils?" + +"No," was the still laughing reply. "What is more, you shall have +another surprising experience; you shall eat your supper--for the +first time, I imagine--in the kitchen. It will save time and trouble, +and some of my agents may appear soon. Well, well, all has turned +out, so far, better than I ever hoped. I have been able to keep +track of all the most important movements; I have seen a decisive +battle, and have sent intelligence of everything to Washington. +A certain man there cannot say that I have failed in my duty, +unexpected and terrible as has been the emergency. By morning the +military from the forts in the harbor will be on hand. One or two +more such victories, and this dragon of a mob will expire." + +"Papa, should not something be done to find and protect Mammy +Borden?" + +"Yes, as soon as possible; but we must make sure that the city's +safe, and our own lives secure before looking after one poor creature. +She has undoubtedly gone to her son, as you suggest. After such a +scare as she has had she will keep herself and him out of sight. +They are both shrewd and intelligent for their race, and will, no +doubt, either hide or escape from the city together. Rest assured +she went out heavily veiled and disguised. She would have said +good-by had she not feared you would detain her, and, as you say, +her motive was probably twofold. She saw how she endangered us, +and, mother-like, she was determined to be with her son." + +"Come, papa, the coffee's boiled, and supper, such as it is, is on +the table. Hungry as I am, I cannot eat till you have told me all." + +"All about the fight?" + +"Yes, and--and--Well, what part did Mr. Merwyn take in it?" + +"Ah, now I am to recite MY epic. How all is changed since Blauvelt +kindled your eyes and flushed your cheeks with the narration of +heroic deeds! Then we heard of armies whose tread shook the continent, +and whose guns have echoed around the world. Men, already historic +for all time, were the leaders, and your soldier friends were clad +in a uniform which distinguished them as the nation's defenders. +My humble hero had merely an ill-fitting policeman's coat buttoned +over his soiled, ragged blouse. Truly it is fit that I should recite +his deeds in a kitchen and not in a library. When was the heroic +policeman sung in homeric verse before? When--" + +"O papa, papa! don't tantalize me. You cannot belittle this struggle +or its consequences. Our enemies are at our very doors, and they +are not soldiers. I would rather face scalping Indians than the +wretches that I saw an hour since. If Merwyn will do a man's part +to quell this mob I shall feel honored by his friendship. But he +never will forgive me, never, never." + +"We'll see about that," was Mr. Vosburgh's smiling reply. Then his +face became grave, and he said: "You are right, Marian. The ruffians +who filled the streets to-day, and who even now are plundering and +burning in different parts of the city, are not soldiers. They are +as brutal as they are unscrupulous and merciless. I can only tell +you what has occurred in brief outline, for the moment I am a little +rested and have satisfied hunger I must be at work." + +He then rapidly narrated how Merwyn had been brought in at police +headquarters with one of the leaders of the riot whom he had beguiled +and helped to capture. A graphic account of the battle followed, +closing with the fact that he had left the "coward" marching up +Broadway to engage in another fight. + +The girl listened with pale cheeks and drooping head. + +"He will never forgive me," she murmured; "I've wronged him too +deeply." + +"Be ready to give him a generous cup of coffee and a good supper," +her father replied. "Men are animals, even when heroes, and Merwyn +will be in a condition to bless the hand that feeds him to-night. +Now I must carry out my plans with despatch. Oh, there is the +rain. Good. Torrents, thunder, and lightning will keep away more +dangerous elements. Although I have but a slight acquaintance +with the Erkmanns, whose yard abuts upon ours, I hope, before the +evening is over, to have a door cut in the fence between us, and +a wire stretched from our rear windows to theirs. It will be for +our mutual safety. If attacked we can escape through their house +or they through ours. I'll put on my rubber suit and shall not be +gone long now at any one time. You can admit Merwyn or any of my +agents who give the password. Keep plenty of coffee and your own +courage at boiling-point. You will next hear from me at our back +door." + +In less than half an hour she again admitted her father, who said: +"It's all arranged. I have removed a couple of boards so that they +can be replaced by any one who passes through the opening. I have +some fine wire which I will now stretch from my library to Mr. +Erkmann's sleeping-apartment." + +When he again entered the house two of his agents whom Marian had +admitted were present, dripping wet, hungry, and weary. They had +come under cover of the storm and darkness. While they gave their +reports Mr. Vosburgh made them take a hearty supper, and Marian +waited on them with a grace that doubled their incentive to serve +their chief. But more than once she sighed, "Merwyn does not come." + +Then the thought flashed upon her: "Perhaps he cannot come. He may +be battered and dying in the muddy streets." + +The possibility of this made her so ill and faint that she hastily +left the apartment and went up to the darkened drawing-room, where +her father found her a moment later seeking to stifle her sobs. + +"Why, Marian, darling, you who have kept up so bravely are not +going to give way now." + +"I'm not afraid for myself," she faltered, "but Mr. Merwyn does not +come. You said he was marching to another fight. He may be wounded; +he may be--" her voice fell to a whisper--"he may be dead." + +"No, Marian," replied her father, confidently, "that young fellow +has a future. He is one of those rare spirits which a period like +this develops, and he'll take no common part in it. He has probably +gone to see if his own home is safe. Now trust God and be a soldier, +as you promised." + +"I couldn't bear to have anything happen to him and I have no chance +to make amends, to show I am not so weak and silly as I appeared +this morning." + +"Then let him find you strong and self-controlled when he appears. +Come down now, for I must question my agents while they are yet at +supper; then I must go out, and I'll leave them for your protection +till I return." + +He put his arm about her, and led her to the stairway, meanwhile +thinking, "A spell is working now which she soon will have to +recognize." + +By the time his agents had finished their meal, Mr. Vosburgh had +completed his examination of them and made his notes. He then placed +a box of cigars on the table, instructed them about admitting Merwyn +should he come, and with his daughter went up to the library, where +he wrote another long despatch. + +"After sending this," he said, "and getting the woman I spoke of, +I will not leave you again to-night, unless there should be very +urgent necessity. You can sit in the darkened front room, and watch +till either I or Merwyn returns." + +This she did and listened breathlessly. + +The rain continued to pour in torrents, and the lightning was +still so vivid as to blind her eyes at times, while the crashes of +thunder often drowned the roar of the unquiet city; but undaunted, +tearless, motionless, she watched the deserted street and listened +for the footfall of one whom she had long despised, as she had +assured herself. + +An hour passed. The storm was dying away, and still he did not +come. "Alas!" she sighed, "he is wounded; if not by the rabble, +certainly by me. I know now what it has cost him to be thought a +coward for months, and must admit that I don't understand him at +all. How vividly come back the words he spoke last December, 'What +is the storm, and what the danger, to that which I am facing?' +What was he facing? What secret and terrible burden has he carried +patiently through all my coldness and scorn? Oh, why was I such an +idiot as to offend him mortally just as he was about to retrieve +himself and render papa valuable assistance,--worse still, when he +came to my protection!" + +The gloomy musings were interrupted by the sound of a carriage +driven rapidly up town in a neighboring street. It stopped at the +corner to the east, and a man alighted and came towards the Vosburgh +residence. A moment later Marian whispered, excitedly, "It's Mr. +Merwyn." + +He approached slowly and she thought warily, and began mounting +the steps. + +"Is it Mr. Merwyn?" she called. + +"Yes." + +"I will admit you at the basement door;" and she hastened down. +She meant to give her hand, to speak in warm eulogy of his action, +but his pale face and cold glance as he entered chilled her. She +felt tongue-tied in the presence of the strangers who sat near the +table smoking. + +Merwyn started slightly on seeing them, and then she explained, +hastily, "These gentlemen are assisting my father in a way you +understand." + +He bowed to them, then sank into a chair, as if too weary to stand. + +"Mr. Merwyn," she began, eagerly, "let me make you some fresh coffee. +That on the range is warm, but it has stood some little time." + +"Please do not take the slightest trouble," he said, decidedly. +"That now ready will answer. Indeed, I would prefer it to waiting. +I regret exceedingly that Mr. Vosburgh is not at home, for I am +too exhausted to wait for him. Can I not help myself?" and he rose +and approached the range. + +"Not with my permission," she replied, with a smile, but he did +not observe it. She stole shy glances at him as she prepared the +coffee. Truly, as he sat, drooping in his chair, wet, ragged, and +begrimed, he presented anything but the aspect of a hero. Yet as +such he appeared in her eyes beyond all other men whom she had ever +seen. + +She said, gently: "Let me put the coffee on the table, and get you +some supper. You must need it sorely." + +"No, I thank you. I could not eat anything to-night;" and he rose +and took the coffee from her hand, and drank it eagerly. He then +said, "I will thank you for a little more." + +With sorrow she noted that he did not meet her eyes or relax his +distant manner. + +"I wish you could wait until papa returns," she said, almost +entreatingly, as she handed him a second cup. + +"I hope Mr. Vosburgh will pardon my seeming lack of courtesy, and +that you will also, gentlemen. It has been a rather long, hard day, +and I find that I have nearly reached the limit of my powers." With +a short, grim laugh, he added: "I certainly am not fit to remain +in the presence of a lady. I suppose, Miss Vosburgh, I may report +what little I have to say in the presence of these gentlemen? I +would write it out if I could, but I cannot to-night." + +"I certainly think you may speak freely before these gentlemen," +was her reply. + +"Mr. Vosburgh trusts us implicitly, and I think we are deserving +of it," said one of the agents. + +"Why need you go out again when you are so weary?" Marian asked. +"I am expecting papa every moment, and I know he would like you to +stay with him." + +"That would be impossible. Besides, I have some curiosity to learn +whether I have a home left. My report in brief amounts to little +more than this. Soon after our return from the mayor's residence on +Broadway we were ordered down to Printing-House Square. Intelligence +that an immense mob was attacking the Tribune Office had been +received. Our hasty march thither, and the free use of the club on +our arrival, must account for my present plight. You see, gentlemen, +that I am not a veteran, only a raw recruit. In a day or two +I shall be more seasoned to the work. You may say to your father, +Miss Vosburgh, that the mob had been broken before we arrived. We +met them on their retreat across City-Hall Park, and nothing was +left for us but the heavy, stupid work of knocking a good many of +the poor wretches on the head. Such fighting makes me sick; yet it +is imperative, no doubt. Inspector Carpenter is at City Hall with +a large force, and the rioters are thoroughly dispersed. I think +the lower part of the city will be quiet for the night." + +"You were wise, Mr. Merwyn, to ride up town," said Marian, gravely. +"I know well that you have been taxed to-day beyond the strength +of any veteran." + + +"How did you know that I rode up town?" + +"I was watching for papa, and saw you leave your carriage." + +"I could never have reached home had I not secured a cab, and that +reminds me that it is waiting around the corner; at least, the +driver promised to wait. I shall now say good-night. Oh, by the +way, in the press of other things I forgot to say that Mrs. Ghegan +reached her husband, and that her good nursing, with surgical help, +will probably save his life." + +Bowing to the agents, who had been listening and watching him with +great curiosity, he turned to the door. + +Marian opened it for him, and, stepping out into the dusky area, +said, "I see that you do not forgive me." + +"And I have seen, to-day, Miss Vosburgh, that you detest me. You +showed the truth plainly when off your guard. Your own pride and +sense of justice may lead you to seek to make amends for an error +in your estimate of me. Having convinced you that I am not a coward, +I have accomplished all that I can hope for, and I'm in no mood for +hollow courtesies. I shall do everything in my power to aid your +father until the trouble is over or I am disabled, and then will +annoy you no more. Good-night;" and he strode away, with a firm, +rapid step, proving that his pride for a moment had mastered his +almost mortal weariness. + +Marian returned to her post in the second story to watch for her +father, her ears tingling, and every faculty confused, while excited, +by the words Merwyn had spoken. He had revealed his attitude towards +her clearly, and, as she grew calmer, she saw it was not a mere +question of the offence she had given him that morning which she had +to face, but rather a deep-rooted conviction that he was personally +detested. + +"If he knew how far this is from the truth NOW!" she thought, with +a smile. + +Then the query presented itself: "How far is it from the truth? Why +am I thinking more of him than of the riot, our danger, yes, even +my father?" + +In the light of that lurid day much had been revealed to her, and +before her revery ceased she understood her long months of irritation +and anger at Merwyn's course; she saw why she had not dismissed him +from her thoughts with contemptuous indifference and why she had +ingeniously wrought the MacIan theory of constitutional timidity. +When had she given so much thought to a man whom she had disliked? +Even in her disapproval of him, even when her soldier friends +appeared at their best and she was contrasting him with them to his +fatal disadvantage as she believed, thoughts of him would pursue +her constantly. Now that he had shown himself the peer of each and +all in manhood and courage, it seemed as if feelings, long held +in check, were released and were sweeping irresistibly towards one +conclusion. Merwyn was more to her than any other man in the world. +He had fulfilled her ideal, and was all the more attractive because +he was capable of such deep, strong passion, and yet could be so +resolute and cool. + +"But how can I ever undeceive him?" was her most perplexing thought. +"I cannot make advances. Well, well, the future must disentangle +itself." + +Now that she was beginning to understand herself, every instinct +of her being led towards reserve. In a misunderstanding with her +soldier friends she could easily and frankly effect a reconciliation, +but she must be dumb with Merwyn, and distant in manner, to the +degree that she was self-conscious. + +Suddenly she became aware that it was growing late, and that her +father had not returned, and for the next hour she suffered terribly +from anxiety, as did many women in those days of strange vicissitudes. + +At last, a little before midnight, he came, looking stern and +anxious. "I will soon explain," he said to her. "Take this woman +to her room." Then, to his aroused and sleepy agents: "You have had +some rest and respite. Go to the nearest hotel and take a little +more, but be up with the dawn and do your best, for to-morrow +promises to be worse than to-day." + +With a few further instructions he dismissed them. + +Upon reaching the library he said to his daughter: "I've been at +a conference in which the police, military, and state authorities +took part, and things look gloomy. I have also sent further +despatches. My dear child, I wish you were with your mother, but +I'm too weary to think any more to-night." + +"Papa, the question of my remaining has been settled. Now rest. +Mr. Merwyn came and brought good news." + +"Yes, I know all about it. Why did he not stay?" + +"He naturally wished to return and look after his own home." + +"True enough. I hope he found it unharmed. He has proved himself a +grand, brave fellow to-day, and I only wish it was my privilege to +fight at his side. It would be far easier than to carry my burden." + +"Not another perplexing thought to-night, papa." + +"Well, Marian, I must have some sleep, to be equal to to-morrow. You +must obey orders and sleep also. I shall not take off my clothes, +and shall be ready for any emergency; and do you also sleep in your +wrapper." + +He kissed her fondly, but with heavy eyes. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +A FAIR FRIEND AND FOUL FOES. + + + + + +THE reader has already discovered that I have not attempted anything +approaching a detailed history of the dreadful days of the riot. +I merely hope to give a somewhat correct impression of the hopes, +fears, and passions which swayed men's minds and controlled +or directed their action. Many of the scenes are too horrible to +be described, and much else relating to the deeds and policy of +recognized leaders belongs to the sober page of history. The city +was in awful peril, and its destruction would have crippled the +general government beyond all calculation. Unchecked lawlessness +in New York would soon have spread to other centres. That cool, +impartial historian, the Comte de Paris, recognized the danger in +his words: "Turbulent leaders were present in the large cities of +the East, which contained all the elements for a terrible insurrection. +This insurrection was expected to break out in New York, despite +Lee's defeat: one may judge what it might have been had Lee achieved +a victory." + +With the best intentions the administration had committed many grave +errors,--none more so, perhaps, than that of ordering the draft to +be inaugurated at a time when the city was stripped of its militia. + +Now, however, it only remained for the police and a few hundreds +of the military to cope with the result of that error,--a reckless +mob of unnumbered thousands, governed by the instinct to plunder +and destroy. + +When the sun dawned in unclouded splendor on the morning of the +14th of July, a superficial observer, passing through the greater +part of the city, would not have dreamed that it could become a +battle-ground, a scene of unnumbered and untold outrages, during +the day. It was hard for multitudes of citizens, acquainted with +what had already taken place, to believe in the continuance of +such lawlessness. In large districts there was an effort to carry +on business as usual. In the early hours vehicles of every kind +rattled over the stony pavement, and when at last Merwyn awoke, +the sounds that came through his open windows were so natural that +the events of the preceding day seemed but a distorted dream. The +stern realities of the past and the future soon confronted him, +however, and he rang and ordered breakfast at once. + +Hastily disguising himself as he had done before, he again summoned +his faithful servant. This man's vigilance had enabled him to +admit his master instantly the night before. Beyond the assurance +that all was well and safe Merwyn had not then listened to a word, +yielding to the imperative craving for sleep and rest. These, +with youth and the vigor of a strong, unvitiated constitution, had +restored him wonderfully, and he was eager to enter on the perils +and duties of the new day. His valet and man-of-all-work told him +that he had been at pains to give the impression that the family +was away and the house partially dismantled. + +"It wouldn't pay ye," he had said to a band of plunderers, "to bother +with the loikes of this house when there's plenty all furnished." + +With injunctions to maintain his vigilance and not to be surprised +if Merwyn's absence was prolonged, the young man hastened away, +paving no heed to entreaties to remain and avoid risks. + +It was still early, but the uneasy city was waking, and the streets +were filling with all descriptions of people. Thousands were +escaping to the country; thousands more were standing in their doors +or moving about, seeking to satisfy their curiosity; while in the +disaffected districts on the east and the west side the hosts of +the mob were swarming forth for the renewal of the conflict, now +inspired chiefly by the hope of plunder. Disquiet, anxiety, fear, +anger, and recklessness characterized different faces, according +to the nature of their possessors; but as a rule even the most +desperate of the rioters were singularly quiet except when under +the dominion of some immediate and exciting influence. + +In order to save time, Merwyn had again hired a hack, and, seated +with the driver, he proceeded rapidly, first towards the East +River, and then, on another street, towards the Hudson. His eyes, +already experienced, saw on every side the promise of another bloody +day. He was stopped and threatened several times, for the rioters +were growing suspicious, fully aware that detectives were among +them, but he always succeeded in giving some plausible excuse. At +last, returning from the west side, the driver refused to carry +him any longer, and gave evidence of sympathy with the mob. + +Merwyn quietly showed him the butt of a revolver, and said, "You +will drive till I dismiss you." + +The man yielded sullenly, and Merwyn alighted near Mr. Vosburgh's +residence, saying to his Jehu, "Your course lies there," pointing +east,--and he rapidly turned a corner. + +As Merwyn had surmised, the man wheeled his horses with the purpose +of following and learning his destination. Observing this eager +quest he sprung out upon him from a doorway and said, "If you try +that again I'll shoot you as I would a dog." The fellow now took +counsel of discretion. + +Going round the block to make sure he was not observed, Merwyn +reached the residence of Mr. Vosburgh just as that gentleman was +rising from his breakfast, and received a cordial welcome. + +"Why, Merwyn," he exclaimed, "you look as fresh as a June daisy +this morning." + +The young fellow had merely bowed to Marian, and now said, "I +cannot wonder at your surprise, remembering the condition in which +I presented myself last night." + +"Condition? I do not understand." + +Marian laughed, as she said: "Papa came in about midnight in scarcely +better plight. In brief, you were both exhausted, and with good +reason." + +"But you did not tell me, Marian--" + +"No," she interrupted; "nothing but a life-and-death emergency +should have made me tell you anything last night." + +"Why, our little girl is becoming a soldier and a strategist. +I think you had better make your report over again, Mr. Merwyn;" +and he drew out a fuller account of events than had been given +the evening before, also the result of the young man's morning +observations. + +Marian made no effort to secure attention beyond offering Merwyn +a cup of coffee. + +"I have breakfasted," he said, coldly. + +"Take it, Merwyn, take it," cried Mr. Vosburgh. "Next to courage, +nothing keeps up a soldier better than coffee. According to your +own view we have another hard day before us." + +Merwyn complied, and bowed his thanks. + +"Now for plans," resumed Mr. Vosburgh. "Are you going to police +headquarters again?" + +"Direct from here." + +"I shall be there occasionally, and if you learn anything important, +leave me a note. If I am not there and you can get away, come here. +Of course I only ask this as of a friend and loyal man. You can +see how vitally important it is that the authorities at Washington +should be informed. They can put forth vast powers, and will do so +as the necessity is impressed upon them. If we can only hold our +own for a day or two the city will be full of troops. Therefore +remember that in aiding me you are helping the cause even more +than by fighting with the best and bravest, as you did yesterday. +You recognize this fact, do you not? I am not laying any constraint +on you contrary to your sense of duty and inclination." + +"No, sir, you are not. I should be dull indeed did I not perceive +that you are burdened with the gravest responsibilities. What +is more, your knowledge guides, in a measure, the strong national +hand, and I now believe we shall need its aid." + +"That's it, that's the point. Therefore you can see why I am eager +to secure the assistance of one who has the brains to appreciate +the fact so quickly and fully. Moreover, you are cool, and seem to +understand the nature of this outbreak as if you had made a study +of the mobs." + +"I have, and I have been preparing for this one, for I knew that +it would soon give me a chance to prove that I was not a coward." + +Marian's cheeks crimsoned. + +"No more of that, if you please," said Mr. Vosburgh, gravely. "While +it is natural that you should feel strongly, you must remember +that both I and my daughter have asked your pardon, and that you +yourself admitted that we had cause for misjudging you. We have +been prompt to make amends, and I followed you through yesterday's +fight at some risk to see that you did not fall into the hands of +strangers, if wounded. I could have learned all about the fight +at a safer distance. You are now showing the best qualities of a +soldier. Add to them a soldier's full and generous forgiveness when +a wrong is atoned for,--an unintentional wrong at that. We trust +you implicitly as a man of honor, but we also wish to work with +you as a friend." + +Mr. Vosburgh spoke with dignity, and the young fellow's face flushed +under the reproof in his tone. + +"I suppose I have become morbid on the subject," he said, with some +embarrassment. "I now ask your pardon, and admit that the expression +was in bad taste, to say the least." + +"Yes, it was, in view of the evident fact that we now esteem and +honor you as a brave man. I would not give you my hand in friendship +and trust concerning matters vital to me were this not so." + +Merwyn took the proffered hand with a deep flush of pleasure. + +"Having learned the bitterness of being misjudged," said Marian, +quietly, "Mr. Merwyn should be careful how he misjudges others." + +"That's a close shot, Merwyn," said Mr. Vosburgh, laughing. + +Their guest started and bent a keen glance on the girl's averted face, +and then said, earnestly: "Miss Vosburgh, your father has spoken +frankly to me and I believe him. Your words, also, are significant +if they mean anything whatever. I know well what is before +me to-day,--the chances of my never seeing you again. I can only +misjudge you in one respect. Perhaps I can best make everything +clear to your father as well as yourself by a single question. If +I do my duty through these troubles, Mr. Vosburgh being the judge, +can you give me some place among those friends who have already, +and justly, won your esteem? I know it will require time. I have +given you far more cause for offence than you have given me, but I +would be glad to fight to-day with the inspiration of hope rather +than that of recklessness." + +Her lip trembled as she faltered: "You would see that you have +such a place already were you not equally prone to misjudge. Do you +think me capable of cherishing a petty spite after you had proved +yourself the peer of my other friends?" + +"That I have not done, and I fear I never can. You have seen that +I have been under a strong restraint which is not removed and which +I cannot explain. To wear, temporarily, a policeman's uniform is +probably the best I can hope for." + +"I was thinking of men, Mr. Merwyn, not uniforms. I have nothing +whatever to do with the restraint to which you refer. If my father +trusts you, I can. Do not think of me so meanly as to believe I +cannot give honest friendship to the man who is risking his life +to aid my father. Last evening you said I had been off my guard. +I must and will say, in self-defence, that if you judge me by that +hour of weakness and folly you misjudge me." + +"Then we can be friends," he said, holding out his hand, his face +full of the sunshine of gladness. + +"Why not?" she replied, laughing, and taking his hand,--"that is, +on condition that there is no more recklessness." + +Mr. Vosburgh rose and said, with a smile: "Now that there is complete +amity in the camp we will move on the enemy. I shall go with you, +Merwyn, to police-headquarters;" and he hastily began his preparation. + +Left alone with Marian a moment, Merwyn said, "You cannot know how +your words have changed everything for me." + +"I fear the spirit of the rioters is unchanged, and that you are +about to incur fearful risks." + +"I shall meet them cheerfully, for I have been under a thick cloud +too long not to exult in a little light at last." + +"Ready?" said Mr. Vosburgh. + +Again Merwyn took her hand and looked at her earnestly as he said, +"Good-by, Heaven bless you, whatever happens to me;" and he wondered +at the tears that came into her eyes. + +Making their way through streets which were now becoming thronged, Mr. +Vosburgh and Merwyn reached police headquarters without detention. +They found matters there vastly changed for the better: the +whole police force well in hand; and General Harvey Brown, a most +capable officer, in command of several hundred soldiers. Moreover, +citizens, in response to a call from the mayor, were being enrolled +in large numbers as special policemen. Merwyn was welcomed by his old +companions under the command of Inspector Carpenter, and provided +with a badge which would indicate that he now belonged to the police +force. + +Telegrams were pouring in announcing trouble in different sections. +Troops were drawn up in line on Mulberry Street, ready for instant +action, and were harangued by their officers in earnest words which +were heeded and obeyed, for the soldiers vied with the police in +courage and discipline. + +Soon after his arrival Merwyn found himself marching with a force +of policemen two hundred and fifty strong, led by Carpenter and +followed by a company of the military. The most threatening gatherings +were reported to be in Second and Third Avenues. + +The former thoroughfare, when entered, was seen to be filled as far +as the eye could reach, the number of the throng being estimated +at not less than ten thousand. At first this host was comparatively +quiet, apparently having no definite purpose or recognized leaders. +Curiosity accounted for the presence of many, the hope of plunder +for that of more; but there were hundreds of ferocious-looking men +who thirsted for blood and lawless power. A Catholic priest, to +his honor be it said, had addressed the crowd and pleaded for peace +and order; but his words, although listened to respectfully, were +soon forgotten. What this section of the mob, which was now mustering +in a score of localities, would have done first it is impossible +to say; for as it began to be agitated with passion, ready to +precipitate its brutal force on any object that caught its attention, +the cry, "Cops and soldiers coming," echoed up the avenue from +block to block, a long, hoarse wave of sound. + +Carpenter, with his force, marched quietly through the crowd from +21st to 32d Street, paying no heed to the hootings, yells, and vile +epithets that were hurled from every side. Dirty, ragged women, +with dishevelled hair and bloated faces, far exceeded the men in the +use of Billingsgate; and the guardians of the law, as they passed +through those long lines of demoniacal visages, scowling with hate, +and heard their sulphurous invectives, saw what would be their fate +if overpowered. It was a conflict having all the horrors of Indian +warfare, as poor Colonel O'Brien, tortured to death through the +long hot afternoon of that same day, learned in agony. + +The mob in the street had not ventured on anything more offensive +than jeers and curses, but when Carpenter's command reached 32d +Street it was assailed in a new and deadly manner. Rioters, well +provided with stones and brick-bats, had stationed themselves on the +roofs, and, deeming themselves secure, began to rain the missiles +on the column below, which formed but too conspicuous a mark. This +was a new and terrible danger which Merwyn had not anticipated, and +he wondered how Carpenter would meet the emergency. Comrades were +falling around him, and a stone grazed his shoulder which would +have brained him had it struck his head. + +Their leader never hesitated a moment. The command, "Halt, charge +those houses, brain every devil that resists," rang down the line. + +The crowd on the sidewalk gave way before the deeply incensed and +resolute officers of the law. Merwyn, with a half-dozen others, +seized a heavy pole which had been cut down in order to destroy +telegraphic communication, and, using it as a ram, crashed in the +door of a tall tenement-house on the roof of which were a score of +rioters, meantime escaping their missiles as by a miracle. Rushing +in, paying no heed to protests, and clubbing those who resisted, he +kept pace with the foremost. In his left hand, however, he carried +his trusty revolver, for he did not propose to be assassinated by +skulkers in the dark passage-ways. Seeing a man levelling a gun +from a dusky corner, he fired instantly, and man and gun dropped. +As the guardians of the law approached the scuttle, having fought +their way thither, the ruffians stood ready to hurl down bricks, +torn from the chimneys; but two or three well-aimed shots cleared +the way, and the policemen were on the roof, bringing down a man +with every blow. One brawny fellow rushed upon Merwyn, but received +such a stroke on his temple that he fell, rolled off the roof, and +struck the pavement, a crushed and shapeless mass. + +The assaults upon the other houses were equally successful, but +the fight was a severe one, and was maintained for nearly an hour. +The mob was appalled by the fate of their friends, and looked on +in sullen, impotent anger. + +Having cleared the houses, the police re-formed in the street, and +marched away to other turbulent districts. + +Only the military were left, and had formed about a block further +to the north. Beyond the feeble demonstration of the invalid corps +the rioters, as yet, had had no experience with the soldiery. That +policemen would use their clubs was to them a matter of course, but +they scarcely believed that cannon and musketry would be employed. +Moreover, they were maddened and reckless that so many of their +best and bravest had been put hors de combat. The brief paralysis +caused by the remorseless clubs of the police passed, and like +a sluggish monster, the mob, aroused to sudden fury, pressed upon +the soldiery, hurling not only the vilest epithets but every missile +on which they could lay their hands. Colonel O'Brien, in command +for the moment, rode through the crowd, supposing he could overawe +them by his fearless bearing; but they only scoffed at him, and +the attack upon his men grew more bold and reckless. + +The limit of patience was passed. "Fire!" he thundered, and the +howitzers poured their deadly canister point-blank into the throng. +At the same time the soldiers discharged their muskets. Not only +men, but women fell on every side, one with a child in her arms. + +A warfare in which women stand an equal chance for death and wounds +is a terrible thing, and yet this is usually an inseparable feature +of mob-fighting. However, setting aside the natural and instinctive +horror at injuring a woman, the depraved creatures in the streets +were deserving of no more sympathy than their male abettors in +every species of outrage. They did their utmost to excite and keep +alive the passions of the hour. Many were armed with knives, and +did not hesitate to use them, and when stronger hands broke in the +doors of shops and dwellings they swarmed after,--the most greedy +and unscrupulous of plunderers. If a negro man, woman, or child +fell into their hands, none were more brutal than the unsexed hags +of the mob. + +If on this, and other occasions, they had remained in their homes +they would not have suffered, nor would the men have been so +ferocious in their violence. They were the first to yield to panic, +however, and now their shrieks were the loudest and their efforts +to escape out of the deadly range of the guns the most frantic. +In a few moments the avenue was cleared, and the military marched +away, leaving the dead and wounded rioters where they had fallen, +as the police had done before. Instantly the friends of the sufferers +gathered them up and carried them into concealment. + +This feature, from the first, was one of the most marked +characteristics of the outbreak. The number of rioters killed and +wounded could be only guessed at approximately, for every effort +was made to bury the bodies secretly, and keep the injured in +seclusion until they either died or recovered. Almost before a fight +was over the prostrate rioters would be spirited away by friends +or relatives on the watch. + +The authorities were content to have it so, for they had no place +or time for the poor wretches, and the police understood that they +were to strike blows that would incapacitate the recipients for +further mischief. + +In the same locality which had witnessed his morning fight, Colonel +O'Brien, later in the day, met a fate too horrible to be described. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +DESPERATE FIGHTING. + + + + + +HAVING again reached police headquarters, Merwyn rested but a short +time and then joined a force of two hundred men under Inspector +Dilkes, and returned to the same avenue in which he had already +incurred such peril. The mob, having discovered that it must cope +with the military as well as the police, became eager to obtain +arms. It so happened that several thousand carbines were stored in +a wire factory in Second Avenue, and the rioters had learned the +fact. Therefore they swarmed thither, forced an entrance, and began +to arm themselves and their comrades. A despatch to headquarters +announced the attack at its commencement, and the force we have +named was sent off in hot haste to wrest from the mob the means +of more effective resistance. Emerging into the avenue from 21st +Street, Dilkes found the thoroughfare solid with rioters, who, instead +of giving way, greeted the police with bitter curses. Hesitating +not a moment on account of vast inequality of numbers, the leader +formed his men and charged. The mob had grown reckless with every +hour, and it now closed on the police with the ferocity of a wild +beast. A terrible hand-to-hand conflict ensued, and Merwyn found +himself warding off and giving blows with the enemy so near that +he could almost feel their hot, tainted breath on his cheek, while +horrid visages inflamed with hate and fury made impressions on his +mind that could not easily pass away. It was a close, desperate +encounter, and the scorching July sun appeared to kindle passion +on either side into tenfold intensity. While the police were +disciplined men, obeying every order and doing nothing at random, +they WERE men, and they would not have been human if anger and +thoughts of vengeance had not nerved their arms as they struck down +ruffians who would show no more mercy to the wounded or captured +than would a man-eating tiger. + +Since the mob would not give way, the police cut a bloody path +through the throng, and forced their way like a wedge to the factory. +Their orders were to capture all arms; and when a rioter was seen +with a carbine or a gun of any kind, one or more of the police would +rush out of the ranks and seize it, then fight their way back. + +By the time they reached the factory so many of the mob had +been killed or wounded, and so many of their leaders were dead or +disabled, that it again yielded to panic and fled. One desperate +leader, although already bruised and bleeding, had for a time +inspired the mob with much of his own reckless fury, and was left +almost alone by his fleeing companions. His courage, which should have +been displayed in a better cause, cost him dear, for a tremendous +blow sent him reeling against a fence, the sharp point of one of +the iron pickets caught under his chin, and he hung there unheeded, +impaled and dying. He was afterwards taken down, and beneath +his soiled overalls and filthy shirt was a fair, white skin, clad +in cassimere trousers, a rich waistcoat, and the finest of linen. +His delicate, patrician features emphasized the mystery of his +personality and action. + +When all resistance in the street was overcome, there still remained +the factory, thronged with armed and defiant rioters. Dilkes +ordered the building to be cleared, and Merwyn took his place in +the storming party. We shall not describe the scenes that followed. +It was a strife that differed widely from Lane's cavalry charge +on the lawn of a Southern plantation, with the eyes of fair women +watching his deeds. Merwyn was not taking part with thousands in a +battle that would be historic as Strahan and Blauvelt had done at +Gettysburg. Every element of romance and martial inspiration was +wanting. It was merely a life-and-death encounter between a handful +of policemen and a grimy, desperate band of ruffians, cornered like +rats, and resolved to sell their lives dearly. + +The building was cleared, and at last Merwyn, exhausted and panting, +came back with his comrades and took his place in the ranks. His +club was bloody, and his revolver empty. The force marched away in +triumph escorting wagons loaded with all the arms they could find, +and were cheered by the better-disposed spectators that remained +on the scene of action. + +The desperate tenacity of the mob is shown by the fact that it +returned to the wire factory, found some boxes of arms that had been +overlooked, filled the great five-story building and the street +about it, and became so defiant that the same battle had to be +fought again in the afternoon with the aid of the military. + + +For the sake of making a definite impression we have touched upon +the conflicts taking place in one locality. But throughout this awful +day there were mobs all over the city, with fighting, plundering, +burning, the chasing and murdering of negroes occurring at the same +time in many and widely separated sections. Telegrams for aid were +pouring into headquarters from all parts of the city, large tracts +of which were utterly unprotected. The police and military could be +employed only in bodies sufficiently large to cope with gatherings +of hundreds or thousands. Individual outrages and isolated instances +of violence and plunder could not be prevented. + +But law-abiding citizens were realizing their danger and awakening +to a sense of their duty. Over four hundred special policemen were +sworn in. Merchants and bankers in Wall Street met and resolved to +close business. Millionnaires vied with their clerks and porters +in patriotic readiness to face danger. Volunteer companies were +formed, and men like Hon. William E. Dodge, always foremost in every +good effort in behalf of the city, left their offices for military +duty. While thousands of citizens escaped from the city, with their +families, not knowing where they would find a refuge, and obeying +only the impulse to get away from a place apparently doomed, other +thousands remained, determined to protect their hearths and homes +and to preserve their fair metropolis from destruction. Terrible +as was the mob, and tenfold more terrible as it would have been if +it had used its strength in an organized effort and with definite +purpose, forces were now awakening and concentrating against it +which would eventually destroy every vestige of lawlessness. With +the fight on Broadway, during Monday evening, the supreme crisis +had passed. After that the mob fought desperate but losing battles. +Acton, with Napoleonic nerve and skill, had time to plan and +organize. General Brown with his brave troops reached him on Monday +night, and thereafter the two men, providentially brought and kept +together, met and overcame, in cordial co-operation, every danger +as it arose. Their names should never be forgotten by the citizens +of New York. Acton, as chief of police, was soon feared more than +any other man in the city, and he began to receive anonymous letters +assuring him that he had "but one more day to live." He tossed +them contemptuously aside, and turned to the telegrams imploring +assistance. In every blow struck his iron will and heavy hand were +felt. For a hundred hours, through the storm, he kept his hand on +the helm and never closed his eyes. He inspired confidence in the +men who obeyed him, and the humblest of them became heroes. + +The city was smitten with an awful paralysis. Stages and street +cars had very generally ceased running; shops were closed; Broadway +and other thoroughfares and centres usually so crowded were at times +almost deserted; now and then a hack would whirl by with occupants +that could not be classified. They might be leaders of the mob, +detectives, or citizens in disguise bent on public or private +business. On one occasion a millionnaire whose name is known and +honored throughout the land, dressed in the mean habiliments of a +laborer, drove a wagon up Broadway in which was concealed a load +of arms and ammunition. In hundreds of homes fathers and sons kept +watch with rifles and revolvers, while city and State authorities +issued proclamations. + +It was a time of strange and infinite vicissitude, yet apparently +the mob steadily attained vaster and more terrible proportions, +and everywhere lawlessness was on the increase, especially in the +upper portions of the city. + +Mr. Vosburgh, with stern and clouded brow, obtained information from +all available sources, and flashed the vital points to Washington. +He did not leave Marian alone very long, and as the day advanced +kept one of his agents in the house during his absences. He failed +to meet Merwyn at headquarters, but learned of the young man's +brave action from one of his wounded comrades. + +When Mr. Vosburgh told Marian of the risks which her new friend was +incurring, and the nature of the fighting in which he was engaged, +she grew so pale and agitated that he saw that she was becoming +conscious of herself, of the new and controlling element entering +into her life. + +This self-knowledge was made tenfold clearer by a brief visit from +Mrs. Ghegan. + +"Oh! how dared you come?" cried Marian. + +"The strates are safe enough for the loikes o' me, so oi kape out +o' the crowds," was the reply, "but they're no place fer ye, Miss +Marian. Me brogue is a password iverywhere, an' even the crowds is +civil and dacent enough onless something wakes the divil in 'em;" +and then followed a vivid account of her experiences and of the +timely help Merwyn had given her. + +"The docthers think me Barney'll live, but oi thank Misther Merwyn +that took him out o' the very claws uv the bloody divils, and not +their bat's eyes. Faix, but he tops all yez frin's, Miss Marian, tho' +ye're so could to 'im. All the spalpanes in the strates couldn't +make 'im wink, yet while I was a-wailin' over Barney he was as +tender-feelin' as a baby." + +The girl's heart fluttered strangely at the words of her former +maid, but she tried to disguise her emotion. When again left alone +she strained her ears for every sound from the city, and was untiring +in her watch. From noon till evening she kept a dainty lunch ready +for Merwyn, but he did not come. + +After the young man's return from his second fight he was given some +rest. In the afternoon, he, with others, was sent on duty to the +west side, the force being carried thither in stages which Acton +had impressed into the service. One driver refused to stir, saying, +insolently, that he had "not been hired to carry policemen." + +"Lock that man in cell No. 4," was Acton's answer, while, in the +same breath, he ordered a policeman to drive. + +That was the superintendent's style of arguing and despatching +business. + +Merwyn again saw plenty of service, for the spirit of pandemonium +was present in the west side. Towards evening, however, the rioters +ceased their aimless and capricious violence, and adopted in their +madness the dangerous method of Parisian mobs. They began throwing +up a series of barricades in Eighth Avenue. Vehicles of all +kinds within reach, telegraph poles, boxes,--anything that would +obstruct,--were wired together. Barricades were also erected on +cross-streets, to prevent flank movements. Captain Walling, of the +police, who was on duty in the precinct, appreciated the importance +of abolishing this feature from street fighting as speedily +as possible, and telegraphed to headquarters for a co-operating +military force. He also sent to General Sanford, at the arsenal, +for troops. They were promised, but never sent. General Brown, +fortunately, was a man of a very different stamp from Sanford, and +he promptly sent a body of regulars. + +Captain Slott took command of the police detailed to co-operate +with the soldiers, and, with their officers, waited impatiently +and vainly for the company promised by Sanford. Meanwhile the mob +was strengthening its defences with breathless energy, and the sun +was sinking in the west. As the difficult and dangerous work to be +done required daylight it was at last resolved to wait no longer. + +As the assailants drew near the barricade, they received a volley, +accompanied by stones and other missiles. The police fell back a +little to the left, and the troops, advancing, returned the fire. +But the rioters did not yield, and for a time the crash of musketry +resounded through the avenue, giving the impression of a regular +pitched battle. The accurate aim of the soldiers, however, at last +decided the contest, and the rioters fled to the second barricade, +followed by the troops, while the police tore away the captured +obstruction. + +Obtaining a musket and cartridges from a wounded soldier, Merwyn, +by explaining that he was a good marksman, obtained the privilege +of fighting on the left flank of the military. + + +The mob could not endure the steady, well-directed fire of the +regulars, and one barricade after another was carried, until the +rioters were left uncovered when they fled, shrieking, yelling, +cursing in their impotent rage,--the police with their clubs and +the soldiers with their rifles following and punishing them until +the streets were clear. + +Merwyn, having been on duty all day, obtained a leave of absence till +the following morning, and, availing himself of his old device to +save time and strength, went to a livery stable near the station-house +and obtained a hack by payment of double the usual fare. Mounting +the box with the driver, and avoiding crowds, he was borne rapidly +towards Mr. Vosburgh's residence. He was not only terribly exhausted, +but also consumed with anxiety as to the safety of the girl who +had never been absent long from his thoughts, even in moments of +the fiercest conflict. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +ONE FACING HUNDREDS. + + + + + +THE evening was growing dusky when Merwyn dismissed his carriage +and hastened to Mr. Vosburgh's residence. Marian and her father +had waited for him until their faces were clouded with anxiety by +reason of his long delay. The young girl's attempt to dine with +her father was but a formal pretence. + +At last she exclaimed, "Something must have happened to Mr. Merwyn!" + +"Do not entertain gloomy thoughts, my dear. A hundred things besides +an injury might have detained him. Keep a good dinner ready, and +I think he'll do justice to it before the evening is over." + +Even then the German servant announced his presence at the basement +door, which, in view of the disguises worn, was still used as the +place of ingress and egress. + +Mr. Vosburgh hastened to welcome him, while Marian bustled around to +complete her preparations. When he entered the dining-room he did +indeed appear weary and haggard, a fair counterpart of the rioters +whom he had been fighting. + +"Only necessity, Miss Vosburgh, compels me to present myself in this +scarecrow aspect," he said. "I've had no time or chance for anything +better. I can soon report to your father all that is essential, +and then can go home and return later." + +"I shall be much hurt if you do so," said Marian, reproachfully. +"I kept a lunch prepared for you during the afternoon, and now have +a warm dinner all ready. It will be very ungracious in you to go +away and leave it." + +"But I look like a coal-heaver." + +"Oh, I've seen well-dressed men before. They are no novelty; but a +man direct from a field of battle is quite interesting. Will you +please take this chair? You are not in the least like my other +friends. They obey me without questionings." + +"You must remember," he replied, "that the relation is to me as new +and strange as it is welcome. I shall need a great deal of discipline." + +"When you learn what a martinet I can be you may repent, like many +another who has obtained his wish. Here we shall reverse matters. +Everything is topsy-turvy now, you know, so take this coffee at +the beginning of your dinner." + +"I admit that your orders differ widely from those of police captains." +Then he added, with quiet significance, "No; I shall not repent." + +"Mr. Merwyn, will you take an older man's advice?" + +"Certainly. Indeed, I am under your orders, also, for the night." + +"I'm glad to hear it, for it will be a night of deep anxiety to +me. Make a very light dinner, and take more refreshment later. You +are too much exhausted to dine now. You need not tell me of your +morning adventures. I learned about those at headquarters." + +"I have heard about them too," Marian added, with a look that +warmed the young fellow's soul. "I have also had a visit from Mrs. +Ghegan, and her story was not so brief as yours." + +"From what section have you just come?" Mr. Vosburgh asked. + +Merwyn gave a brief description of the condition of affairs on the +west side, ending with an account of the fight at the barricades. + +"In one respect you are like my other friends, only more so," +Marian said. "You are inclined to give me Hamlet with Hamlet left +out. What part did you take at the barricades?" + +He told her in a matter-of-fact way. + +"Ah, yes, I understand. I am learning to read between the lines of +your stories." + +"Well, Heaven be thanked," ejaculated Mr. Vosburgh, "that you demolished +the barricades! If the rioters adopt that mode of fighting us, we +shall have far greater difficulty in coping with them." + +At last Mr. Vosburgh said, "Will you please come with me to my +library for a few minutes?" + +On reaching the apartment he closed the door, and continued, gravely: +"Mr. Merwyn, I am in sore straits. You have offered to aid me. I +will tell you my situation, and then you must do as you think best. +I know that you have done all a man's duty to-day and have earned +the right to complete rest. You will also naturally wish to look +after your own home. Nevertheless my need and your own words lead +me to suggest that you stay here to-night, or at least through +the greater portion of it. I fear that I have been recognized and +followed,--that I have enemies on my track. I suspect the man whom +I discharged from the care of my office. Yet I must go out, for I +have important despatches to send, and--what is of more consequence--I +must make some careful observations. The mob seems to be a mere +lawless, floundering monster, bent chiefly on plunder; but the +danger is that leaders are organizing its strength as a part of the +rebellion. You can understand that, while I look upon the outbreak +with the solicitude of a citizen whose dearest interests are at +stake, I also, from habit of mind and duty, must study it as a part +of the great campaign of the year. If there are organizers at work +there will be signals to-night, and I can see them from a tall +neighboring church-spire. Yet how can I leave my child alone? How--" + +"Mr. Vosburgh," cried Merwyn, "what honor or privilege could I ask +greater than that of being your daughter's protector during your +absence? I understand you perfectly. You feel that you must do your +duty at any cost to yourself. After what you have said, nothing +could induce me to go away. Indeed, I would stand guard without +your door, were there no place for me within." + +"There, I won't thank you in words," said the elder man, wringing +Merwyn's hand. "Will you do as I wish?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then lie down on the sofa in the front parlor and sleep while you +can. The least disturbance in the street would waken you there. +Marian will watch from an upper window and give you warning if +anything occurs. It is possible that I may be set upon when returning +home, but I think not, for I shall enter the house from the rear;" +and he told the young man of the means of exit which he had secured +in case the house was attacked. "Rather than permit my child to +take any risks," concluded the father, solemnly, "fly with her and +the woman who will be her companion till I return. Beyond the fact +of general danger to all homes, she does not suspect anything, nor +shall I increase her anxieties by telling her of my fears. She will +be vigilant on general principles. Have you arms?" + +"I have fired most of my cartridges to-day." + +"Well here is a revolver and a repeating rifle that you can depend +upon. Do you understand the latter weapon?" + +"Yes, I have one like it." + +"I will now tell Marian of my plans, so far as it is wise for her +to know them, and then, God help and protect us all! Come, I wish +you to lie down at once, for every moment of rest may be needed." + +When they descended, Mr. Vosburgh said to his daughter, laughingly, +"Mr. Merwyn is under orders, and can have nothing more to say to +you to-night." + +The young fellow, in like vein, brought the rifle to his shoulder, +presented arms to her, wheeled, and marched to his station in the +darkened front parlor. Before lying down, however, he opened one +blind for an outlook. + +"Do you fear any special danger to-night, papa?" Marian asked, +quickly. + +"I have been expecting special dangers from the first," replied her +father, gently. "While I must do my duty I shall also take such +precautions as I can. Merwyn will be your protector during my +absence. Now take your station at your upper window and do your +part." He explained briefly what he expected of her. "In case of +an attack," he concluded, almost sternly, "you must fly before it +is too late. I shall now go and prepare Mr. Erkmann for the possible +emergency, and then go out through the basement door as usual, +after giving our loyal German her directions." + +A few moments later he had departed, all were at their posts, and +the house was quiet. + +Merwyn felt the necessity of rest, for every bone in his body ached +from fatigue; but he did not dream of the possibility of sleep. +His heart was swelling with pride and joy that he had become, not +only the friend of the girl he loved, but also her trusted protector. + +But at last Nature claimed her dues, and he succumbed and slept. + +Mr. Vosburgh, unmolested, climbed to his lofty height of observation. +The great city lay beneath him with its myriad lights, but on Third +Avenue, from 40th Street northward for a mile, there was a hiatus +of darkness. There the mob had begun, and there still dwelt its +evil spirit uncurbed. The rioters in that district had cut off +the supply of gas, feeling, as did the French revolutionists, that +"Light was not in order." + +Mr. Vosburgh watched that long stretch of gloom with the greatest +anxiety. Suddenly from its mystery a rocket flamed into the sky. +Three minutes elapsed and another threw far and wide its ominous +light. Again there was an interval of three minutes, when a third +rocket confirmed the watcher's fears that these were signals. Four +minutes passed, and then, from the vicinity of Union Square, what +appeared to be a great globe of fire rose to an immense height. +A few seconds later there was an answering rocket far off in the +eastern districts of Brooklyn. + +These were indeed portents in the sky, and Mr. Vosburgh was perplexed +as to their significance. Were they orders or at least invitations, +for a general uprising against all authority? Was the rebellion +against the government about to become general in the great centres +of population? With the gloomiest of forebodings he watched for +two hours longer, but only heard the hoarse murmur of the unquiet +city, which occasionally, off to the west, became so loud as to +suggest the continuance of the strife of the day. At last he went +to the nearest available point and sent his despatches, then stole +by a circuitous route to the dwelling of Mr. Erkmann, who was +watching for him. + +Marian's vigilance was sleepless. While she had been burdened +throughout the day with the deepest anxieties, she had been engaged +in no exhausting efforts, and the novelty of her present position +and her new emotions banished the possibility of drowsiness. She +felt as if she had lived years during the past two days. The city +was full of dangers nameless and horrible, yet she was conscious +of an exaltation of spirit and of a happiness such as she had never +known. + +The man whom she had despised as a coward was her protector, and +she wondered at her sense of security. She almost longed for an +opportunity to prove that her courage could now be equal to his, +and her eyes flashed in the darkness as they glanced up and down +the dusky street; again they became gentle in her commiseration +of the weary man in the room below, and gratefully she thanked God +that he had been spared through the awful perils of the day. + +Suddenly her attention was caught by the distant tramp of many +feet. She threw open a blind and listened with a beating heart. +Yes, a mob was coming, nearer, nearer; they are at the corner. With +a sudden outburst of discordant cries they are turning into this +very street. + +A moment later her hand was upon Merwyn's shoulder. "Wake, wake," +she cried; "the mob is coming--is here." + +He was on his feet instantly with rifle in hand. Through the window +he saw the dusky forms gathering about the door. The German woman +stood behind Marian, crying and wringing her hands. + +"Miss Vosburgh, you and the woman do as I bid," Merwyn said, sternly. +"Go to the rear of the hall, open the door, and if I say, 'Fly,' +or if I fall, escape for your lives." + +"But what will you--" + +"Obey!" he cried, with a stamp of his foot. + +They were already in the hall, and did as directed. + +Imagine Marian's wonder as she saw him throw open the front door, +step without, and fire instantly. Then, dropping his rifle on his +arm, he began to use his revolver. She rushed to his side and saw +the mob, at least three hundred strong, scattering as if swept away +by a whirlwind. + +Merwyn's plan of operations had been bold, but it proved the best +one. In the streets he had learned the effect of fearless, decisive +action, and he had calculated correctly on the panic which so often +seized the undisciplined hordes. They probably believed that his +boldness was due to the fact that he had plenty of aid at hand. +So long as there was a man within range he continued to fire, then +became aware of Marian's presence. + +"O Miss Vosburgh," he said, earnestly, "you should not look on +sights like these;" for a leader of the mob lay motionless on the +pavement beneath them. + +He took her hand, which trembled, led her within, and refastened +the door. Her emotion was so strong that she dared not speak. + +"Why did you take such a risk?" he asked, gravely. "What would +your father have said to me if one of those wretches had fired and +wounded you?" + +"I--I only realized one thing--that you were facing hundreds all +alone," she faltered. + +"Why, Miss Marian, I was only doing my duty, and I took the safest +way to perform it. I had learned from experience that the bluff game +is generally the best. No doubt I gave those fellows the impression +that there were a dozen armed men in the house." + +But her emotion was too strong for control, and she sobbed: "It was +the bravest thing I ever heard of. Oh! I have done you SUCH wrong! +Forgive me. I--I--can't--" and she hastened up the dusky stairway, +followed by her servant, who was profuse in German interjections. + +"I am repaid a thousand-fold," was Merwyn's quiet comment. "My oath +cannot blight my life now." + +Sleep had been most effectually banished from his eyes, and as he +stood in the unlighted apartment, motionless and silent, looking +out upon the dusky street, but a few moments passed before a man +and a woman approached cautiously, lifted the slain rioter, and +bore him away. + +In less than half an hour Mr. Vosburgh entered his house from the +rear so silently that he was almost beside Merwyn before his approach +was recognized. + +"What, Merwyn!" he exclaimed, with a little chiding in his tone; +"is this the way you rest? You certainly haven't stood here, 'like +Patience on a monument,' since I left?" + +"No, indeed. You are indebted to Miss Vosburgh that you have a home +to come to, for I slept so soundly that the house might have been +carried off bodily. The mob has been here." + +"O papa!" cried Marian, clasping her arms about his neck, "thank +God you are back safe! Oh, it was all so sudden and terrible!" + +"But how, how, Merwyn? What has happened?" + +"Well, sir, Miss Vosburgh was a better sentinel than I, and heard +the first approach of the ruffians. I was sleeping like old Rip +himself. She wakened me. A shot or two appeared to create a panic, +and they disappeared like a dream, as suddenly as they had come." + +"Just listen to him, papa!" cried the girl, now reassured by her +father's presence, and recovering from her nervous shock. "Why +shouldn't he sleep after such a day as he has seen? It was his duty +to sleep, wasn't it? The idea of two sentinels in a small garrison +keeping awake, watching the same points!" + +"I'm very glad you obtained some sleep, Merwyn, and surely you had +earned it; but as yet I have a very vague impression of this mob +and of the fight. I looked down the street but a few moments ago, +and it seemed deserted. It is quiet now. Have you not both slept +and dreamed?" + +"No, papa," said the girl, shudderingly; "there's a dead man at +the foot of our steps even now." + +"You are mistaken, Miss Vosburgh. As usual, his friends lost no +time in carrying him off." + +"Well, well," cried Mr. Vosburgh, "this is a longer story than I can +listen to without something to sustain the inner man. Riten,"--to +the servant,--"some fresh coffee please. Now for the lighted +dining-room,--that's hidden from the street,--where we can look +into each other's faces. So much has happened the last two days +that here in the dark I begin to feel as if it all were a nightmare. +Ah! how cosey and home-like this room seems after prowling in the +dangerous streets with my hand on the butt of a revolver! Come now, +Marian, sit down quietly and tell the whole story. I can't trust +Merwyn at all when he is the hero of the tale." + +"You may well say that. I hope, sir," with a look of mock severity +at the young fellow, "that your other reports to papa are more +accurate than the one I have heard. Can you believe it, papa? he +actually threw open the front door and faced the entire mob alone." + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Vosburgh, as I emptied my revolver and +looked around, a lady stood beside me. I've seen men do heroic +things to-day, but nothing braver than that." + +"But I didn't think!" cried the girl; "I didn't realize--" and then +she paused, while her face crimsoned. Her heart had since told her +why she had stepped to his side. + +"But you would have thought twice, yes, a hundred times," said +Merwyn, laughing, "if you hadn't been a soldier. Jove! how Strahan +will stare when he hears of it!" + +"Please, never tell him," exclaimed the girl. + +Her father now stood encircling her with his arm, and looking +fondly down upon her. "Well, thank God we're all safe yet! and, +threatening as is the aspect of affairs, I believe we shall see +happy days of peace and security before very long." + +"I am so glad that mamma is not in the city!" said Marian, earnestly. + +"Oh that you were with her, my child!" + +"I'm better contented where I am," said the girl, with a decided +little nod. + +"Yes, but great God! think of what might have happened if Merwyn +had not been here,--what might still have happened had he not had +the nerve to take, probably, the only course which could have saved +you! There, there, I can't think of it, or I shall be utterly +unnerved." + +"Don't think of it, papa. See, I'm over the shock of it already. +Now don't you be hysterical as I was yesterday." + +He made a great effort to rally, but it was evident that the +strong man was deeply agitated. They all, however, soon regained +self-control and composure, and spent a genial half-hour together, +Merwyn often going to the parlor, that he might scan the street. +After a brief discussion of plans for the morrow they separated +for the night, Merwyn resuming his bivouac in the parlor. After +listening for a time he was satisfied that even mobs must rest, +and, as the soldiers slept on their arms, he slumbered, his rifle +in hand. + +When Marian bade her father good-night he took her face in his +hands and gazed earnestly down upon it. The girl understood his +expression, and the color came into her fair countenance like a +June dawn. + +"Do you remember, darling, my words when I said, 'I do not know +how much it might cost you in the end to dismiss Mr. Merwyn finally'?" + +"Yes, papa." + +"Are you not learning how much it might have cost you?" + +"Yes, papa," with drooping eyes. + +He kissed her, and nothing more was said. + + + + + + +CHAPTER L. + +ZEB. + + + + + +MERWYN awoke early, and, as soon as he heard the German servant +coming down-stairs, wrote a line to Mr. Vosburgh saying that he +would call on his way to headquarters, and then hastened through the +almost deserted streets to his own home. To his great satisfaction +he found everything unchanged there. After luxuriating in a bath +and a bountiful breakfast he again instructed his man to be on the +watch, and to keep up a fire throughout the coming night, so that +a hot meal might be had speedily at any time. + +More than once the thought had crossed his mind: "Unless we make +greater headway with the riot, that attack on Mr. Vosburgh's house +will be repeated. Vengeance alone would now prompt the act, and +besides he is undoubtedly a marked man. There's no telling what may +happen. Our best course is to fight, fight, knock the wretches on +the head. With the quelling of the mob comes safety;" and, remembering +the danger that threatened Marian, he was in a savage mood. + +On this occasion, he went directly to Mr. Vosburgh's residence, +resolving to take no risks out of the line of duty. His first thought +now was the securing of Marian's safety. He had learned that there +was no longer any special need for personal effort on his part to +gain information, since the police authorities had wires stretching +to almost every part of the city. An account of the risks taken +to keep up this telegraphic communication would make a strange, +thrilling chapter in itself. Moreover, police detectives were busy +everywhere, and Mr. Vosburgh at headquarters and with the aid of his +own agents could now obtain all the knowledge essential. Therefore +the young fellow's plan was simple, and he indicated his course at +once after a cordial greeting from Mr. Vosburgh and Marian. + +"Hard fighting appears to me to be the way to safety," said he. "I +can scarcely believe that the rioters will endure more than another +day of such punishment as they received yesterday. Indeed, I should +not be surprised if to-day was comparatively quiet." + +"I agree with you," said Mr. Vosburgh, "unless the signals I saw +last night indicate a more general uprising than has yet taken +place. The best elements of the city are arming and organizing. +There is a deep and terrible anger rising against the mob and all +its abettors and sympathizers." + +"I know it," cried Merwyn; "I feel it myself. When I think of the +danger which threatened your home and especially Miss Vosburgh, I +feel an almost ungovernable desire to be at the wretches." + +"But that means greater peril for you," faltered the young girl. + +"No, it means the shortest road to safety for us all. A mob is like +fire: it must be stamped out of existence as soon as possible." + +"I think Merwyn is right," resumed Mr. Vosburgh. "Another day +of successful fighting will carry us to safety, for the general +government is moving rapidly in our behalf, and our militia regiments +are on their way home. I'll be ready to go to headquarters with +you in a minute." + +"Oh, please do not be rash to-day. If you had fallen yesterday +think what might have happened," said Marian. + +"Every blow I strike to-day, Miss Vosburgh, will be nerved by the +thought that you have one enemy, one danger, the less; and I shall +esteem it the greatest of privileges if I can remain here to-night +again as one of your protectors." + +"I cannot tell you what a sense of security your presence gives +me," she replied. "You seem to know just what to do and how to do +it." + +"Well," he answered, with a grim laugh, "one learns fast in these +times. A very stern necessity is the mother of invention." + +"Yes," sighed the girl, "one learns fast. Now that I have seen war, +it is no longer a glorious thing, but full of unspeakable horrors." + +"This is not war," said Merwyn, a little bitterly. "I pity, while +I detest, the poor wretches we knock on the head. Your friends, +who have fought the elite of the South will raise their eyebrows +if they hear us call this war." + +"I have but one friend who has faced a mob alone," she replied, +with a swift, shy glance. + +"A friend whom that privilege made the most fortunate of men," he +replied. "Had the rioters been Southern soldiers, they would have +shot me instantly, instead of running away." + +"All my friends soon learn that I am stubborn in my opinions," was +her laughing reply, as her father joined them. + +Mr. Erkmann on the next street north was a sturdy, loyal man, and +he permitted Mr. Vosburgh and Merwyn to pass out through his house, +so that to any one who was watching the impression would be given +that at least two men were in the house. Burdened with a sense of +danger, Mr. Vosburgh had resolved on brief absences, believing that +at headquarters and through his agents he could learn the general +drift of events. + +Broadway wore the aspect of an early Sunday morning in quiet times. +Pedestrians were few, and the stages had ceased running. The iron +shutters of the great Fifth Avenue and other hotels were securely +fastened. No street cars jingled along the side avenues; shops +were closed; and the paralysis of business was almost complete in +its greatest centres. At police headquarters, however, the most +intense activity prevailed. Here were gathered the greater part +of the police force and of the military co-operating with it The +neighboring African church was turned into a barrack. Acton occupied +other buildings, with or without the consent of the owners. + +The top floor of the police building was thronged with colored +refugees, thankful indeed to have found a place of safety, but many +were consumed with anxiety on account of absent ones. + +The sanguine hopes for a more quiet day were not fulfilled, but the +severest fighting was done by the military, and cavalry now began +to take part in the conflict. On the west side, Seventh Avenue was +swept again and again with grape and canister before the mob gave +way. On the east side there were several battles, and in one of +them, fought just before night, the troops were compelled to retreat, +leaving some of their dead and wounded in the streets. General +Brown sent Captain Putnam with one hundred and fifty regulars +to the scene of disaster and continued violence, and a sanguinary +conflict ensued between ten and eleven o'clock at night. Putnam +swept the dimly lighted streets with his cannon, and when the +rioters fled into the houses he opened such a terrible fire upon +them as to subdue all resistance. The mob was at last learning that +the authorities would neither yield nor scruple to make use of any +means in the conflict. + +In the great centres down town, things were comparatively quiet. +The New York Times took matters into its own hands. A glare of +light from the windows of its building was shed after night-fall +over Printing-House Square, and editors and reporters had their +rifles as readily within reach as their pens. + +We shall not follow Merwyn's adventures, for that would involve +something like a repetition of scenes already described. As the +day was closing, however, he took part in an affair which explained +the mystery of Mammy Borden's disappearance. + +During the first day of the riot the colored woman had seen enough +to realize her own danger and that of her son, and she was determined +to reach him and share his fate, whatever it might be. She had +no scruple in stealing away from Mr. Vosburgh's house, for by her +departure she removed a great peril from her employers and friends. +She was sufficiently composed, however, to put on a heavy veil and +gloves, and so reached her son in safety. Until the evening of the +third day of the riot, the dwelling in which they cowered escaped +the fury of the mob, although occupied by several colored families. +At last the hydra-headed monster fixed one of its baleful eyes +upon the spot. Just as the occupants of the house were beginning +to hope, the remorseless wretches came, and the spirit of Tophet +broke loose. The door was broken in with axes, and savage men streamed +into the dwelling. The poor victims tried to barricade themselves +in the basement, but their assailants cut the water-pipes and would +have drowned them. Driven out by this danger, the hunted creatures +sought to escape through the yard. As Zeb was lifting his mother +over the fence the rioters came upon her and dragged her back. + +"Kill me, kill me," cried Zeb, "but spare my mother." + +They seemed to take him at his word. Two of the fiends held his +arms, while another struck him senseless and apparently dead with +a crowbar. Then, not accepting this heroic self-sacrifice, they +began to beat the grief-frenzied mother. But retribution was at +hand. The cries of the victims and the absorption of the rioters +in their brutal work prevented them from hearing the swift, heavy +tread of the police. A moment later Merwyn and others rushed through +the hallway, and the ruffians received blows similar to the one +which had apparently bereft poor Zeb of life. The rioters were +either dispersed or left where they fell, a wagon was impressed, +and Zeb and his mother were brought to headquarters. Merwyn had soon +recognized Mrs. Borden, but she could not be comforted. Obtaining +leave of absence, the young man waited until the evening grew +dusky; then securing a hack from a stable near headquarters, the +proprietor of which was disposed to loyalty by reason of his numerous +blue-coated neighbors, he took the poor woman and the scarcely +breathing man to a hospital, and left money for their needs. The +curtains of the carriage had been closely drawn; but if the crowds +through which they sometimes passed had guessed its occupants, +they would have instantly met a tragic fate, while Merwyn's and +the driver's chances would have been scarcely better. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + +A TRAGEDY. + + + + + +MR. VOSBURGH and his daughter had passed a very anxious day, the +former going out but seldom. The information obtained from the +city had not been reassuring, for while the authorities had under +their direction larger bodies of men, and lawlessness was not +so general, the mob was still unquelled and fought with greater +desperation in the disaffected centres. In the after-part of the day +Mr. Vosburgh received the cheering intelligence that the Seventh +Regiment would arrive that night, and that other militia organizations +were on their way home. Therefore he believed that if they escaped +injury until the following morning all cause for deep anxiety would +pass away. As the hours elapsed and no further demonstration was +made against his home, his hopes grew apace, and now, as he and +his daughter waited for Merwyn before dining, he said, "I fancy +that the reception given to the mob last night has curbed their +disposition to molest us." + +"O papa, what keeps Mr. Merwyn?" + +"Well, my dear, I know he was safe at noon." + +"Oh, oh, I do hope that this will be the last day of this fearful +suspense! Isn't it wonderful what Mr. Merwyn has done in the past +few days?" + +"Not so wonderful as it seems. Periods like these always develop +master-spirits, or rather they give such spirits scope. How little +we knew of Acton before this week! yet at the beginning he seized +the mob by the throat and has not once relaxed his grasp. He has +been the one sleepless man in the city, and how he endures the +strain is almost beyond mortal comprehension. The man and the hour +came together. The same is true of Merwyn in his sphere. He had been +preparing for this, hoping that it would give him an opportunity +to right himself. Fearless as the best of your friends, he combines +with courage the singularly cool, resolute nature inherited from +his father. He is not in the least ambitious for distinction, but +is only bent on carrying out his own aims and purposes." + +"And what are they, papa?" + +"Sly fox! as if you did not know. Who first came to your protection?" + +"And to think how I treated him!" + +"Quite naturally, under the circumstances. The mystery of his former +restraint is still unexplained, but I now think it due to family +reasons. Yet why he should be so reluctant to speak of them is still +another mystery. He has no sympathy with the South or his mother's +views, yet why should he not say, frankly, 'I cannot fight against +my mother's people'? When we think, however, that the sons of the +same mother are often arrayed against each other in this war, such +a reason as I have suggested appears entirely inadequate. All his +interests are at the North, and he is thoroughly loyal; but when I +intimated, last evening, that he might wish to spend the night in +his own home to insure its protection, it seemed less than nothing +to him compared with your safety. He has long had this powerful +motive to win your regard, and yet there has been some restraint +more potent." + +"But you trust him now, papa?" + +"Yes." + +Thus they talked until the clock struck eight, and Marian, growing +pallid with anxiety and fear, went to the darkened parlor window +to watch for Merwyn, then returned and looked at her father with +something like dismay on her face. + +Before he could speak, she exclaimed, "Ah! there is his ring;" and +she rushed toward the door, paused, came back, and said, blushingly, +"Papa, you had better admit him." + +Mr. Vosburgh smilingly complied. + +The young fellow appeared in almost as bad a plight as when he +had come in on Monday night and gone away with bitter words on his +lips. He was gaunt from fatigue and long mental strain. His first +words were: "Thank God you we still all safe! I had hoped to be +here long before this, but so much has happened!" + +"What!" exclained Marian, "anything worse than took place yesterday?" + +"No, and yes." Then, with an appealing look; "Miss Marian, a cup +of your good coffee. I feel as if a rioter could knock me down with +a feather." + +She ran to the kitchen herself to see that it was of the best possible +quality, and Merwyn, sinking into a chair, looked gloomily at his +host and said: "We have made little if any progress. The mob grows +more reckless and devilish." + +"My dear fellow," cried Mr. Vosburgh, "the Seventh Regiment will +be here to-night, and others are on the way;" and he told of the +reassuring tidings he had received. + +"Thank Heaven for your news! I have been growing despondent during +the last few hours." + +"Take this and cheer up," cried Marian. "The idea of your being +despondent! You are only tired to death, and will have a larger +appetite for fighting to-morrow, I fear, than ever." + +"No; I witnessed a scene this evening that made me sick of it all. +Of course I shall do my duty to the end, but I wish that others +could finish it up. More than ever I envy your friends who can fight +soldiers;" and then he told them briefly of the scene witnessed in +the rescue of Mammy Borden and her son. + +"Oh, horrible! horrible!" exclaimed the girl. "Where are they now?" + +"I took them from headquarters to a hospital. They both need the +best surgical attention, though poor Zeb, I fear, is past help." + +"Merwyn," said Mr. Vosburgh, gravely, "you incurred a fearful risk +in taking those people through the streets." + +"I suppose so," replied the young fellow, quietly; "but in a sense +they were a part of your household, and the poor creatures were in +such a desperate plight that--" + +"Mr. Merwyn," cried Marian, a warm flush mantling her face, "you +are a true knight. You have perilled your life for the poor and +humble." + +He looked at her intently a moment, and then said, quietly, "I +would peril it again a thousand times for such words from YOU." + +To hide a sudden confusion she exclaimed: "Great Heavens! what +differences there are in men! Those who would torture and kill +these inoffensive people have human forms." + +"Men are much what women make them; and it would almost seem that +women are the chief inspiration of this mob. The draft may have +been its inciting cause, but it has degenerated into an insatiable +thirst for violence, blood, and plunder. I saw an Irishwoman to-day +who fought like a wild-cat before she would give up her stolen +goods." + +The German servant Riten now began to place dinner on the table, +Mr. Vosburgh remarking, "We had determined to wait for you on this +occasion." + +"What am I thinking of?" cried Merwyn. "If this thing goes on I +shall become uncivilized. Mr. Vosburgh, do take me somewhere that +I may bathe my hands and face, and please let me exchange this horrid +blouse, redolent of the riot, for almost any kind of garment. I +could not sit at the table with Miss Vosburgh in my present guise." + +"Yes, papa, give him your white silk waistcoat and dress-coat," +added Marian, laughing. + +"Come with me," said Mr. Vosburgh, "and I'll find you an outfit +for the sake of your own comfort." + +"I meant to trespass on your kindness when I first came in, but mind +and body seemed almost paralyzed. I feel better already, however. +While we are absent may I ask if you have your weapons ready?" + +"Yes, I have a revolver on my person, and my rifle is in the +dining-room." + +A few moments later the gentlemen descended, Merwyn in a sack-coat +that hung rather loosely on his person. Before sitting down he +scanned the street, which was quiet. + +"My former advice, Merwyn," said his host; "you must make a light +meal and wait until you are more rested." + +"O papa, what counsel to give a guest!" + +"Counsel easily followed," said Merwyn. "I crave little else than +coffee. Indeed, your kindness, Miss Vosburgh, has so heartened me, +that I am rallying fast." + +"Since everything is to be in such great moderation, perhaps I have +been too prodigal of that," was the arch reply. + +"I shall be grateful for much or little." + +"Oh, no, don't put anything on the basis of gratitude. I have too +much of that to be chary of it." + +"A happy state of affairs," said Merwyn, "since what you regard +as services on my part are priceless favors to me. I can scarcely +realize it, and have thought of it all day, that I only, of all +your friends, can be with you now. Strahan will be green with envy, +and so I suppose will the others." + +"I do not think any the less of them because it is impossible for +them to be here," said the young girl, blushing. + +"Of course not. It's only my immense good fortune. They would give +their right eyes to stand in my shoes." + +"I hope I may soon hear that they are all recovering. I fear that +Mr. Lane's and Mr. Strahan's wounds are serious; and, although Mr. +Blauvelt made light of his hurt, he may find that it is no trifle." + +"It would seem that I am doomed to have no honorable scars." + +"Through no fault of yours, Mr. Merwyn. I've thought so much of +poor mamma to-day! She must be wild with anxiety about us." + +"I think not," said Mr. Vosburgh. "I telegraphed to her yesterday +and to-day. I admit they were rather misleading messages." + +From time to time Mr. Vosburgh went to the outlook on the street, +but all remained apparently quiet in their vicinity. Yet an hour of +fearful peril was drawing near. A spirit of vengeance, and a desire +to get rid of a most dangerous enemy, prompted another attack on +Mr. Vosburgh's home that night; and, taught by former experience, +the assailants had determined to approach quietly and fight till +they should accomplish their purpose. They meant to strike suddenly, +swiftly, and remorselessly. + +The little group in the dining-room, however, grew confident with +every moment of immunity; yet they could not wholly banish their +fears, and Mr. Vosburgh explained to Merwyn how he had put bars on +the outside of the doors opening into the back yard, a bolt also +on the door leading down-stairs to the basement. + +But they dined very leisurely, undisturbed; then at Marian's request +the gentlemen lighted their cigars. Mr. Vosburgh strolled away to +see that all was quiet and secure. + +"I shouldn't have believed that I could rally so greatly in so +short a time," said Merwyn, leaning back luxuriously in his chair. +"Last night I was overcome with drowsiness soon after I lay down. +I now feel as if I should never want to sleep again. It will be my +turn to watch to-night, and you must sleep." + +"Yes, when I feel like it," replied Marian. + +"I think you bear the strain of anxiety wonderfully." + +"I am trying to retrieve myself." + +"You have retrieved yourself, Miss Vosburgh. You have become a +genuine soldier. It didn't take long to make a veteran of you." + +"So much for a good example, you see." + +"Oh, well, it's easy enough for a man to face danger. Think how +many thousands do it as a matter of course." + +"And must women be timid as a matter of course?" + +"Women do not often inspire men as you do, Miss Marian. I know I am +different from what I was, and I think I always shall be different." + +"I didn't treat you fairly, Mr. Merwyn, and I've grieved over the +past more than I can tell you." + +"And you won't mistrust me again?" + +"Never." + +"You make me very happy, and you will never know how unhappy I have +been. Even before I left the country, last autumn, I envied the +drummer-boys of Strahan's regiment. I don't wish to take advantage +of your present feeling, or have you forget that I am still under +a miserable restraint which I can't explain. I must probably resume +my old inactive life, while your other friends win fame and rank +in serving their country. Of course I shall give money, but bah! +what's that to a girl like you? When all this hurly-burly in the +streets is over, when conventional life begins again, and I seem +a part of it, will you still regard me as a friend?" + +His distrust touched her deeply, when she was giving him her +heart's best love, and her strong feeling caused her to falter as +she said, "Do you think I can grow cold towards the man who risked +his life for me?" + +"That is exaggerated gratitude. Any decent man would risk his life +for you. Why, you were as brave as I. I often ask myself, can you +be a friend for my own sake, because of some inherent congeniality? +You have done more for your other friends than they for you, and +yet they are very dear to you, because you esteem them as men. I +covet a like personal regard, and I hope you will teach me to win +it." + +"You have won it,--that is--" + +"That is--? There is a mental reservation, or you are too truthful +for undoubted assurance when shown that gratitude has no place in +this relation." + +She averted her face from his searching eyes, and was deeply +embarrassed. + +"I feared it would be so," he said, sadly. "But I do not blame +you. On the contrary I honor your sincerity. Very well, I shall +be heartily glad of any regard that you can give me, and shall try +to be worthy of it." + +"Mr. Merwyn," she said, impetuously, "no friend of mine receives a +stronger, better, or more sincere regard than I give you for your +own sake. There now, trust me as I trust you;" and she gave him +her hand. + +He took it in his strong grasp, but she exclaimed, instantly: "You +are feverish. You are ill. I thought your eyes were unnaturally +bright." + +"They should be so if it is in the power of happiness to kindle +them!" + +"Come now," she cried, assuming a little brusqueness of manner which +became her well; "I've given you my word, and that's my bond. If +you indulge in any more doubts I'll find a way to punish you. I'll +take my 'affidavy' I'm just as good a friend to you as you are to +me. If you doubt me, I shall doubt you." + +"I beg your pardon; no you won't, or cannot, rather. You know well +that I have my father's unchangeable tenacity. It's once and always +with me." + +"You are speaking riddles," she faltered, averting her face. + +"Not at all. I am glad indeed that you can give me simple friendship, +unforced, uncompelled by any other motive than that which actuates +you in regard to the others. But you know well--your most casual +glance would reveal it to you--that I, in whom you have inspired +some semblance of manhood, can never dream of any other woman. When +you see this truth, as you often will, you must not punish me for +it. You must not try to cure me by coldness or by any other of the +conventional remedies, for you cannot. When we meet, speak kindly, +look kindly; and should it ever be not best or right that we should +meet,--that is, often,--we shall not." + +"You are scarcely speaking as a friend," she said, in a low voice. + +"Will you punish me if I cannot help being far more?" + +"No, since you cannot help it," she replied, with a shy laugh. + +A new light, a new hope, began to dawn upon him, and he was about +to speak impetuously when Mr. Vosburgh appeared and said, "Merwyn, +I've been watching two men who passed and repassed the house, and +who seem to be reconnoitring." + +As Merwyn and Marian accompanied him to the parlor they heard the +heavy booming of cannon off on the east side, and it was repeated +again and again. + +"Those are ominous sounds at this time of night," said Mr. Vosburgh. + +"That they don't come from the rioters is a comfort," Merwyn replied; +"but it proves what I said before,--they are becoming more bold +and reckless." + +"It may also show that the authorities are more stern and relentless +in dealing with them." + +At last the sounds of conflict died away, the street appeared quiet +and deserted, and they all returned to the dining-room. + +The light enabled Merwyn to look eagerly and questioningly at +Marian. She smiled, flushed, and, quickly averting her eyes, began +to speak on various topics in a way that warned Merwyn to restrain +all further impatience; but she inspired so strong and delicious a +hope that he could scarcely control himself. He even fancied that +there was at times a caressing accent in her tone when she spoke +to him. + +"Surely," he thought, "if what I said were repugnant, she would give +some hint of the fact; but how can it be possible that so soon--" + +"Come, Marian, I think you may safely retire now," said her father; +"I hear Riten coming up." + +Even as he spoke, a front parlor window was crashed in. Merwyn +and Mr. Vosburgh sprung into the hall, revolvers in hand; Riten +instinctively fled back towards the stairs leading to the basement, +in which she had extinguished the light, and Mr. Vosburgh told his +daughter to follow the servant. + +But she stood still, as if paralyzed, and saw a man rushing upon +him with a long knife. Mr. Vosburgh fired, but, from agitation, +ineffectually. Merwyn at the same moment had fired on another man, +who fell. A fearful cry escaped from the girl's lips as she saw that +her father was apparently doomed. The gleaming knife was almost +above him. Then--how it happened she could never tell, so swift was +the movement--Merwyn stood before her father. The knife descended +upon his breast, yet at the same instant his pistol exploded against +the man's temple, and the miscreant dropped like a log. There were +sounds of other men clambering in at the window, and Mr. Vosburgh +snatched Merwyn back by main force, saying to Marian, "Quick! for +your life! down the stairs!" + +The moment the door closed upon them all he slid the heavy bolt. +Riten stood sobbing at the foot of the stairs. + +"Hush!" said Mr. Vosburgh, sternly. "Each one obey me. Out through +the area door instantly." + +Across this he also let down a heavy bar, and, taking his daughter's +hand, he hurried her to the fence, removed the boards, and, when all +had passed through, replaced them. Mr. Erkmann, at his neighbor's +request, had left his rear basement door open, and was on the +watch. He appeared almost instantly, and counselled the fugitives +to remain with him. + +"No," said Mr. Vosburgh; "we will bring no more peril than we must +on you. Let us out into the street at once, and then bar and bolt +everything." + +"But where can you go at this time?" + +"To my house," said Merwyn, firmly. "Please do as Mr. Vosburgh +asks. It will be safest for all." + +"Well, since you will have it so." + +"Hasten, hasten," Merwyn urged. + +Mr. Erkmann unlatched the door and looked out. The street was quiet +and deserted, and the fugitives rushed away with whispered thanks. + +"Marian, tie Riten's apron over your head, so as to partially +disguise your face," said her father. + +Fortunately they met but few people, and no crowds whatever. As +they approached Merwyn's home his steps began to grow unsteady. + +"Papa," said Marian, in agitated tones, "Mr. Merwyn is wounded; he +wants your support." + +"Merciful Heaven, Merwyn! are you wounded?" + +"Yes, hasten. I must reach home before giving out." + +When they gained his door he had to be almost carried up the steps, +and Mr. Vosburgh rang the bell furiously. + +Only a moment or two elapsed before the scared face of Thomas +appeared, but as Merwyn crossed the threshold he fainted. + +They carried him to his room, and then Mr. Vosburgh said, "Bring +a physician and lose not a second. Say it is a case of life and +death. Hold! first bring me some brandy." + +"Oh, oh!" Marian moaned, "I fear it's death! O papa he gave his +life for you." + +"No, no," was the hoarse response; "it cannot, shall not be. It's +only a wound, and he has fainted from loss of blood. Show your nerve +now. Moisten his lips with brandy. You, Riten, chafe his wrists +with it, while I cut open his shirt and stanch the wound." + +A second more and a terrible gash on Merwyn's breast was revealed. +How deep it was they could not know. + +Marian held out her handkerchief, and it was first used to stop +the flow of blood. When it was taken away she put it in her bosom. + +The old servant, Margy, now rushed in with lamentations. + +"Hush!" said Mr. Vosburgh, sternly. "Chafe that other wrist with +brandy." + +But the swoon was prolonged, and Marian, pallid to her lips, sighed +and moaned as she did her father's bidding. + +Thomas was not very long in bringing a good physician, who had +often attended the family. Marian watched his face as if she were +to read there a verdict in regard to her own life, and Mr. Vosburgh +evinced scarcely less solicitude. + +"His pulse certainly shows great exhaustion; but I cannot yet +believe that it is a desperate case. We must first tally him, and +then I will examine his wound. Mr. Vosburgh, lift him up, and let +me see if I cannot make him swallow a little diluted brandy." + +At last Merwyn revived somewhat, but did not seem conscious of what +was passing around him. The physician made a hasty examination of +the wound and said, "It is not so severe as to be fatal in itself, +but I don't like the hot, dry, feverish condition of his skin." + +"He was feverish before he received the wound," said Marian, in a +whisper. "I fear he has been going far beyond his strength." + +"I entreat you, sir, not to leave him," said Mr. Vosburgh, "until +you can give us more hope." + +"Rest assured that I shall not. I am the family physician, and I +shall secure for him in the morning the best surgical aid in the +city. All that can be done in these times shall be done. Hereafter +there must be almost absolute quiet, especially when he begins to +notice anything. He must not be moved, or be allowed to move, until +I say it is safe. Perhaps if all retire, except myself and Thomas, +he will be less agitated when he recovers consciousness. Margy, +you make good, strong coffee, and get an early breakfast." + +They all obeyed his suggestions at once. + +The servant showed Mr. Vosburgh and his daughter into a sitting-room +on the same floor, and the poor girl, relieved from the necessity +of self-restraint, threw herself on a lounge and sobbed and moaned +as if her heart was breaking. + +Wise Mr. Vosburgh did not at first restrain her, except by soothing, +gentle words. He knew that this was nature's relief, and that she +would soon be the better and calmer for it. + +The physician wondered at the presence of strangers in the Merwyn +residence, and speedily saw how Marian felt towards his patient; but +he had observed professional reticence, knowing that explanations +would soon come. Meanwhile he carefully sought to rally his patient, +and watched each symptom. + +At last Merwyn opened his eyes and asked, feebly: "Where am I? What +has happened?" + +"You were injured, but are doing well," was the prompt reply. "You +know me, Dr. Henderson, and Thomas is here also. You are in your +own room." + +"Yes, I see," and he remained silent for some little time; then +said, "I remember all now." + +"You must keep quiet and try not to think, Mr. Merwyn. Your life +depends upon it." + +"My mind has a strong disposition to wander." + +"The more need of quiet." + +"Miss Vosburgh is here. I must see her." + +"Yes, by and by." + +"Doctor, I fear I am going to be out of my mind. I must see Miss +Vosburgh. I will see her; and if you are wise you will permit me to +do so. My life depends upon it more than upon your skill. Do what +I ask, and I will be quiet." + +"Very well, then, but the interview must be brief." + +"It must be as I say." + +Marian was summoned. Hastily drying her eyes, she tried to suppress +her strong emotion. + +Merwyn feebly reached out his hand to her, and she sat down beside +him. + +"Do not try to talk," she whispered, taking his hand. + +"Yes, I must while I am myself. Dr. Henderson, I love and honor +this girl, and would make her my wife should she consent. I may +be dying, but if she is willing to stay with me, it seems as if +I could live through everything, fever and all. If she is willing +and you do not permit her to stay, I want you to know that my blood +is on your hands! Marian, are you willing to stay?" + +"Yes," she replied; and then, leaning down, she whispered: "I do +love you; I have loved you ever since I understood you. Oh, live +for my sake! What would life be now without you?" + +"Now you shall stay." + +"See, doctor, he is quiet while I am with him," she said, pleadingly. + +"And only while you are with me. I know I should die if you were +sent away." + +"She shall stay with you, Mr. Merwyn, if you obey my orders in +other respects. I give you my word," said Dr. Henderson. + +"Very well. Now have patience with me." + +"Thomas," whispered the physician, "have the strongest beef tea +made, and keep it on hand." + +Mr. Vosburgh intercepted the man, and was briefly told what had +taken place. "Now there is a chance for them both," the agitated +father muttered, as he restlessly paced the room. "Oh, how terribly +clouded would our lives be, should he die!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + +MOTHER AND SON. + + + + + +FOR a time Merwyn did keep quiet, but he soon began to mutter +brokenly and unintelligibly. Marian tried to remove her hand to +aid the physician a moment, but she felt the feeble tightening of +his clasp, and he cried, "No, no!" + +This, for days, was the last sign he gave of intelligent comprehension +of what was going on around him. + +"We must humor him as far as we can in safety," the doctor remarked, +in a low whisper, and so began the battle for life. + +Day was now dawning, and Thomas was despatched for a very skilful +surgeon, who came and gave the help of long experience. + +At last Dr. Henderson joined Mr. Vosburgh in the breakfast-room, and +the latter sent a cup of coffee to his daughter by the physician, +who said, when he returned: "I think it would be well for me to +know something about Mr. Merwyn's experience during the past few +days. I shall understand his condition better if I know the causes +which led to it." + +Mr. Vosburgh told him everything. + +"Well," said the doctor, emphatically, "we should do all within +human effort to save such a young fellow." + +"I feel that I could give my life to save him," Mr. Vosburgh added. + +Hours passed, and Merwyn's delirium became more pronounced. He +released his grasp on Marian's hand, and tossed his arms as if in +the deepest trouble, his disordered mind evidently reverting to +the time when life had been so dark and hopeless. + +"Chained, chained," he would mutter. "Cruel, unnatural mother, to +chain her son like a slave. My oath is eating out my very heart. +SHE despises me as a coward. Oh if she knew what I was facing!" +and such was the burden of all his broken words. + +The young girl now learned the secret which had been so long +unfathomed. Vainly, with streaming eyes, she tried at first to +reassure him, but the doctor told her it was of no use, the fever +must take its course. Yet her hand upon his brow and cheek often +seemed to have a subtle, quieting spell. + +Mr. Vosburgh felt that, whatever happened, he must attend to his +duties. Therefore he went to headquarters and learned that the +crisis of the insurrection had passed. The Seventh Regiment was on +duty, and other militia organizations were near at hand. + +He also related briefly how he had been driven from his home on the +previous night, and was told that policemen were in charge of the +building. Having received a permit to enter it, he sent his despatch +to Washington, also a quieting telegram to his wife, assuring her +that all danger was past. + +Then he went to his abandoned home and looked sadly on the havoc +that had been made. Nearly all light articles of value had been +carried away, and then, in a spirit of revenge, the rioters had +destroyed and defaced nearly everything. His desk had been broken, +but the secret drawer remained undiscovered. Having obtained his +private papers, he left the place, and, as it was a rented house, +resolved that he would not reside there again. + +On his return to Merwyn's home, the first one to greet him was +Strahan, his face full of the deepest solicitude. + +"I have just arrived," he said. "I first went to your house and was +overwhelmed at seeing its condition; then I drove here and have +only learned enough to make me anxious indeed. O my accursed wound +and fever! They kept the fact of the riot from me until this morning, +and then I learned of it almost by accident, and came instantly in +spite of them." + +"Mr. Strahan, I entreat you to be prudent. I am overwhelmed with +trouble and fear for Merwyn, and I and mine must cause no more +mischief. Everything is being done that can be, and all must be +patient and quiet and keep their senses." + +"Oh, I'm all right now. As Merwyn's friend, this is my place. +Remember what he did for me." + +"Very well. If you are equal to it I shall be glad to have you +take charge here. As soon as I have learned of my daughter's and +Merwyn's welfare I shall engage rooms at the nearest hotel, and, if +the city remains quiet, telegraph for my wife;" and he sent Thomas +to Dr. Henderson with a request to see him. + +"No special change, and there cannot be very soon," reported the +physician. + +"But my daughter--she must not be allowed to go beyond her strength." + +"I will look after her as carefully as after my other patient," +was the reassuring reply. + +"It's a strange story, Mr. Strahan," resumed Mr. Vosburgh, when +they were alone. "You are undoubtedly surprised that my daughter +should be one of Merwyn's watchers. He saved my life last night, and +my daughter and home the night before. They are virtually engaged." + +"Oh that I had been here!" groaned Strahan. + +"Under the circumstances it was well that you were not. It would +probably have cost you your life. Only the strongest and soundest +men could endure the strain. Merwyn came to our assistance from the +first;" and he told the young officer enough of what had occurred +to make it all intelligible to him. + +Strahan drew a long breath, then said: "He has won her fairly. I +had suspected his regard for her; but I would rather have had his +opportunity and his wound than be a major-general." + +"I appreciate the honor you pay my daughter, but there are some +matters beyond human control," was the kind response. + +"I understand all that," said the young man, sadly; "but I can +still be her loyal friend, and that, probably, is all that I ever +could have been." + +"I, at least, can assure you of our very highest esteem and respect, +Mr. Strahan;" and after a few more words the gentlemen parted. + +The hours dragged on, and at last Dr. Henderson insisted that Marian +should go down to lunch. She first met Strahan in the sitting-room, +and sobbed on his shoulder: "O Arthur! I fear he will die, and if +he does I shall wish to die, too. You must stand by us both like +a loyal brother." + +"Marian, I will," he faltered; and he kept his word. + +He made her take food, and at last inspired her with something of +his own sanguine spirit. + +"Oh, what a comfort it is to have you here!" she said, as she was +returning to her post. "You make despair impossible." + +Again the hours dragged slowly on, the stillness of the house +broken only by Merwyn's delirious words. Then, for a time, there +was disquiet in bitter truth. + +All through the dreadful night just described, an ocean steamer had +been ploughing its way towards the port of New York. A pilot had +boarded her off Sandy Hook, and strange and startling had been his +tidings to the homeward-bound Americans. The Battle of Gettysburg, +the capture of Vicksburg, and, above all, the riots had been the +burden of his narrations. + +Among the passengers were Mrs. Merwyn and her daughters. Dwelling +on the condition of her son's mind, as revealed by his letter, she +had concluded that she must not delay her departure from England an +hour longer than was unavoidable. "It may be," she thought, "that +only my presence can restrain him in his madness; for worse than +madness it is to risk all his future prospects in the South just +when our arms are crowned with victories which will soon fulfil +our hopes. His infatuation with that horrid Miss Vosburgh is the +secret of it all." + +Therefore, her heart overflowing with pride and anger, which +increased with every day of the voyage, she had taken an earlier +steamer, and was determined to hold her son to his oath if he had +a spark of sanity left. + +Having become almost a monomaniac in her dream of a Southern empire, +she heard in scornful incredulity the rumor of defeat and disaster +brought to her by her daughters. All the pride and passion of her +strong nature was in arms against the bare thought. But at quarantine +papers were received on board, their parallel columns lurid with +accounts of the riot and aglow with details of Northern victories. +It appeared to her that she had sailed from well-ordered England, +with its congenial, aristocratic circles, to a world of chaos. +When the steamer arrived at the wharf, many of the passengers were +afraid to go ashore, but she, quiet, cold, silent, hiding the anger +that raged in her heart, did not hesitate a moment. She came of a +race that knew not what fear meant. At the earliest possible moment +she and her daughters entered a carriage and were driven up town. +The young girls stared in wonder at the troops and other evidences +of a vast disturbance, and when they saw Madison Square filled with +cavalry-horses they exclaimed aloud, "O mamma, see!" + +"Yes," said their mother, sternly, "and mark it well. Even these +Northern people will no longer submit to the Lincoln tyranny. +He may win a few brief triumphs, but the day is near when our own +princely leaders will dictate law and order everywhere. The hour +has air passed when he will have the South only to fight;" and in +her prejudice and ignorance she believed her words to be absolutely +infallible. + +Strahan met them as they entered, and received but a cold greeting +from the lady. + +"Where is Willard?" she asked, hastily. + +"Mrs. Merwyn, you must prepare yourself for a great shock. Your +son--" + +Her mind was prepared for but one great disaster, and, her self-control +at last giving way, she almost shrieked, "What! has he taken arms +against the South?" + +"Mrs. Merwyn," replied Strahan, "is that the worst that could +happen?" + +A sudden and terrible dread smote the proud woman, and she sunk +into a chair, while young Estelle Merwyn rushed upon Strahan, and, +seizing his hand, faltered in a whisper, "Is--is--" but she could +proceed no further. + +"No; but he soon will be unless reason and affection control your +actions and words. Your family physician is here, Mrs. Merwyn, and +I trust you will be guided by his counsel." + +"Send him to me," gasped the mother. + +Dr. Henderson soon came and explained in part what had occurred. + +"Oh, those Vosburghs!" exclaimed Mrs. Merwyn, with a gesture +of unspeakable revolt at the state of affairs. "Well," she added, +with a stern face, "it is my place and not a stranger's to be at +my son's side." + +"Pardon me, madam; you cannot go to your son at all in your present +mood. In an emergency like this a physician is autocrat, and your +son's life hangs by a hair." + +"Who has a better right--who can do more for a child than a mother?" + +"That should be true, but--" and he hesitated in embarrassment, for +a moment, then concluded, firmly: "Your son is not expecting you, +and agitation now might be fatal to him. There are other reasons +which you will soon understand." + +"There is one thing I already understand,--a nameless stranger is +with him, and I am kept away." + +"Miss Vosburgh is not a nameless stranger," said Strahan; "and she +is affianced to your son." + +"O Heaven! I shall go mad!" the lady groaned, a tempest of conflicting +emotions sweeping through her heart. + +"Come, Mrs. Merwyn," said Dr. Henderson, kindly, yet firmly, "take +the counsel of an old friend. Distracted as you naturally are with +all these unexpected and terrible events, you must recognize the +truth that you are in no condition to take upon you the care of +your son now. He would not know you, I fear, yet your voice might +agitate him fatally. I do not forbid you to see him, but I do forbid +that you should speak to him now, and I shall not answer for the +consequences if you do." + +"Mamma, mamma, you must be patient and do as Dr. Henderson advises," +cried Estelle. "When you are calm you will see that he is right. +If anything should happen you would never forgive yourself." + +The mother's bitter protest was passing into a deadlier fear, but +she only said, coldly, "Very well; since such are your decrees +I shall go to my room and wait till I am summoned;" and she rose +and left the apartment, followed by her elder daughter, a silent, +reticent girl, whose spirit her mother had apparently quenched. + +Estelle lingered until they had gone, and then she turned to Strahan, +who said, with an attempt at a smile, "I can scarcely realize that +this is the little girl whom I used to play with and tease." + +But she heeded not his words. Her large, lustrous eyes were dim with +tears, as she asked, falteringly, "Tell me the truth, Mr. Strahan; +do you think my brother is very ill?" + +"Yes," he replied, sadly; "and I hope I may be permitted to remain +as one of his watchers. He took care of me, last winter, in an +almost mortal illness, and I would gladly do him a like service." + +"But you are hurt. Your arm is in a sling." + +"My wound is healing, and I could sit by your brother's side as +well as elsewhere." + +"You shall remain," said the girl, emphatically. "I have some of +mamma's spirit, if not all her prejudices. Is this Miss Vosburgh +such a fright?" + +"I regard her as the noblest and most beautiful girl I ever saw." + +"Oh, you do?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I shall go and talk reason to mamma, for sister Berta yields +to everything without a word. You must stay, and I shall do my +share of watching as soon as the doctor permits." + +Mrs. Merwyn thought she would remain in her room as she had said, +but the fountains of the great deep in her soul were breaking +up. She found that the mother in her heart was stronger than the +partisan. She MUST see her son. + +At last she sent Thomas for Dr. Henderson again, and obtained +permission to look upon her child. Bitter as the physician knew +the experience would be, it might be salutary. With noiseless tread +she crossed the threshold, and saw Marian's pure, pale profile; she +drew a few steps nearer; the young girl turned and bowed gravely, +then resumed her watch. + +For the moment Merwyn was silent, then in a voice all too distinct +he said: "Cruel, unnatural mother, to rob me of my manhood, to +chain me like one of her slaves. Jeff Davis and empire are more to +her than husband or son." + +The conscience-stricken woman covered her face with her hands and +glided away. As by a lightning-flash the reason why she had forfeited +her place by the couch of her son was revealed. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + +"MISSY S'WANEE." + + + + + +THERE is no need of dwelling long on subsequent events. Our story +has already indicated many of them. Mrs. Merwyn's bitter lesson was +emphasized through many weary days. She hovered about her son like +a remorseful spirit, but dared not speak to him. She had learned +too well why her voice might cause fatal agitation. For a time she +tried to ignore Marian, but the girl's gentle dignity and profound +sorrow, her untiring faithfulness, conquered pride at last, and the +mother, with trembling lips, asked forgiveness and besought affection. + +Blauvelt arrived in town on the evening of the day just described, +proposing to offer his services to the city authorities, meanwhile +cherishing the secret hope that he might serve Marian. He at last +found Strahan at Merwyn's home. The brother officers talked long +and earnestly, but, while both were reticent concerning their deeper +thoughts, they both knew that a secret dream was over forever. + +Marian came down and gave her hand to the artist soldier in warm +pressure as she said, "My friends are loyal in my time of need." + +He lingered a day or two in the city, satisfied himself that the +insurrection was over, then went home, bade his old mother good-by, +and joined his regiment. He was soon transferred to the staff of a +general officer, and served with honor and distinction to the end +of the war. + +Mrs. Vosburgh joined her husband; and the awful peril through +which he and her daughter had passed awakened in her a deeper sense +of real life. In contemplation of the immeasurable loss which she +might have sustained she learned to value better what she possessed. +By Estelle's tact it was arranged that she could often see Marian +without embarrassment. So far as her nature permitted she shared +in her husband's boundless solicitude for Merwyn. + +Warm-hearted Estelle was soon conscious of a sister's affection +for the girl of her brother's choice, and shared her vigils. She +became also a very good friend to Strahan, and entertained a secret +admiration for him, well hidden, however, by a brusque, yet delicate +raillery. + +But Strahan believed that the romance of his life was over, and he +eventually joined his regiment with some reckless hopes of "stopping +a bullet" as he phrased it. Gloomy cynicism, however, was not his +forte; and when, before the year was out, he was again promoted, +he found that life was anything but a burden, although he was so +ready to risk it. + +At last the light of reason dawned in Merwyn's eyes. He recognized +Marian, smiled, and fell into a quiet sleep. On awakening, he said +to her: "You kept your word, my darling. You did not leave me. +I should have died if you had. I think I never wholly lost the +consciousness that you were near me." + +The young girl soon brought about a complete reconciliation between +mother and son, and Merwyn was absolved from his oath. Even as a +devoted husband, which he became at Christmas-tide, she found him +too ready to go to the front. He appeared, however, to have little +ambition for distinction, and was satisfied to enter upon duty in +a very subordinate position; but he did it so well and bravely that +his fine abilities were recognized, and he was advanced. At last, +to his mother's horror, he received a colonel's commission to a +colored regiment. + +Many of Mrs. Merwyn's lifelong prejudices were never overcome, and +she remained loyal to the South; but she was taught that mother-love +is the mightiest of human forces, and at last admitted that her +son, as a man, had a right to choose and act for himself. + +Mr. Vosburgh remained in the city as the trusted agent of the +government until the close of the war, and was then transferred +to Washington. Every year cemented his friendship with Merwyn, +and the two men corresponded so faithfully that Marian declared +she was jealous. Each knew, however, that their mutual regard and +good-comradeship were among her deepest sources of happiness. While +her husband was absent Marian made the country house on the Hudson +her residence, but in many ways she sought opportunity to reduce the +awful sum of anguish entailed by the war. She often lured Estelle +from the city as her companion, even in bleak wintry weather. Here +Strahan found her when on a leave of absence in the last year of +the war, and he soon learned that he had another heart to lose. +Marian was discreetly blind to his direct and soldier-like siege. +Indeed, she proved the best of allies, aware that the young officer's +time was limited. + +Estelle was elusive as a mocking spirit of the air, until the last +day of his leave was expiring, and then laughingly admitted that +she had surrendered almost two years before. + +Of the humble characters in my story it is sufficient to say that +Zeb barely survived, and was helpless for life. Pensions from Merwyn +and Lane secured for him and his mother every comfort. Barney Ghegan +eventually recovered, and resumed his duties on the police force. + +He often said, "Oi'm proud to wear the uniform that Misther Merwyn +honored." + +I have now only to outline the fortunes of Captain Lane and "Missy +S'wanee," and then to take leave of my reader, supposing that he +has had the patience to accompany me thus far. + +Lane's wound, reopened by his exertions in escaping to Washington, +kept him helpless on a bed of suffering during the riots and for +weeks thereafter. Then he was granted a long furlough, which he +spent chiefly with his family at the North. Like Strahan he felt +that Merwyn had won Marian fairly. So far was he from cherishing +any bitterness, that he received the successful rival within the +circle of his nearest friends. By being sincere, true to nature and +conscience, Marian retained, not only the friendship and respect +of her lovers, but also her ennobling influence over them. While +they saw that Merwyn was supreme, they also learned that they would +never be dismissed with indifference from her thoughts,--that she +would follow them through life with an affectionate interest and +good-will scarcely less than she would bestow on brothers cradled +in the same home with herself. Lane, with his steadfast nature, +would maintain this relation more closely than the others, but the +reader has already guessed that he would seek to give and to find +consolation elsewhere. Suwanee Barkdale had awakened his strongest +sympathy and respect, and the haunting thought that she, like himself, +had given her love apparently where it could not be returned, made +her seem akin to himself in the deepest and saddest experience. +Gradually and almost unconsciously he gave his thoughts to her, +and began to wonder when and how they should meet again, if ever. +He wrote to her several times, but obtained no answer, no assurance +that his letters were received. When he was fit for duty again his +regiment was in the West, and it remained there until the close of +the war, he having eventually attained to its command. + +As soon as he could control his own movements he resolved +to settle one question before he resumed the quiet pursuit of his +profession,--he would learn the fate of "Missy S'wanee." Securing +a strong, fleet horse, he left Washington, and rode rapidly through +a region that had been trampled almost into a desert by the iron +heel of war. The May sun was low in the west when he turned from the +road into the extended lawn which led up to the Barkdale mansion. +Little beyond unsightly stumps was left of the beautiful groves by +which it had been bordered. + +Vividly his memory reproduced the same hour, now years since, when +he had ridden up that lawn at the head of his troopers, his sabre +flashing in the last rays of the sun. It seemed ages ago, so much +had happened; but through all the changes and perils the low sob of +the Southern girl when she opened the way for his escape had been +vibrating in stronger and tenderer chords in the depths of his soul. +It had awakened dreams and imaginings which, if dissipated, would +leave but a busy, practical life as devoid of romance as the law-tomes +to which he would give his thoughts. It was natural, therefore, +that his heart should beat fast as he approached the solution of +a question bearing so vitally on all his future. + +He concealed himself and his horse behind some low, shrubby trees +that had been too insignificant for the camp fires, long since +burned out, and scanned the battered dwelling. No sign of life was +visible. He was about to proceed and end his suspense at once, when +a lady, clad in mourning, came out and sat down on the veranda. He +instantly recognized Suwanee. + +For a few moments Lane could scarcely summon courage to approach. +The surrounding desolation, her badges of bereavement and sorrow, +gave the young girl the dignity and sacredness of immeasurable +misfortune. She who had once so abounded in joyous, spirited life +now seemed emblematical of her own war-wasted and unhappy land,--one +to whom the past and the dead were more than the future and the +living. + +Would she receive him? Would she forgive him, one of the authors +of her people's bleeding wounds? He determined to end his suspense, +and rode slowly towards her, that she might not be startled. + +At first she did not recognize the stranger in civilian dress, +who was still more disguised by a heavy beard; but she rose and +approached the veranda steps to meet him. He was about to speak, +when she gave a great start, and a quick flush passed over her +face. + +Then, as if by the sternest effort, she resumed her quiet, dignified +bearing, as she said, coldly, "You will scarcely wonder, Captain +Lane, that I did not recognize you before." He had dismounted and +stood uncovered before her, and she added, "I regret that I have +no one to take your horse, and no place to stable him, but for +yourself I can still offer such hospitality as my home affords." + +Lane was chilled and embarrassed. He could not speak to her in +like distant and formal manner, and he resolved that he would not. +However it might end, he would be true to his own heart and impulses. + +He threw the reins on the horse's neck, caring not what became +of him, and stepping to her side, he said, impetuously, "I never +doubted that I should receive hospitality at your home,--that is +refused to no one,--but I did hope for a different greeting." + +Again there was a quick, auroral flush, and then, with increased +pallor and coldness, she asked, "Have I failed in courtesy?" + +"No." + +"What reason had you to expect more?" + +"Because, almost from the first hour we met, I had given you esteem +and reverence as a noble woman,--because I promised you honest +friendship and have kept my word." + +Still more coldly she replied: "I fear there can be no friendship +between us. My father and brothers lie in nameless graves in your +proud and triumphant North, and my heart and hope are buried with +them. My mother has since died, broken-hearted; Roberta's husband, +the colonel you sent to prison, is a crippled soldier, and both +are so impoverished that they know not how to live. And you,--you +have been so busy in helping those who caused these woes that you +evidently forgot the once light-hearted girl whom you first saw on +this veranda. Why speak of friendship, Captain Lane, when rivers +of blood flow between us,--rivers fed from the veins of my kindred?" + +Her words were so stern and sad that Lane sat down on the steps at +her feet and buried his face in his hands. His hope was withering +and his tongue paralyzed in the presence of such grief as hers. + +She softened a little as she looked down upon him, and after a +moment or two resumed: "I do not blame you personally. I must try +to be just in my bitter sorrow and despair. You proved long ago +that you were obeying your conscience; but you who conquer cannot +know the hearts of the conquered. Your home does not look like +mine; your kindred are waiting to welcome you with plaudits. You +have everything to live for,--honor, prosperity, and love; for +doubtless, long before this, the cold-hearted Northern girl has +been won by the fame of your achievements. Think of me as a ghost, +doomed to haunt these desolate scenes where once I was happy." + +"No," he replied, springing to his feet, "I shall think of you as +the woman I love. Life shall not end so unhappily for us both; for +if you persist in your morbid enmity, my future will be as wretched +as yours. You judge me unheard, and you wrong me cruelly. I have +never forgotten you for an hour. I wrote to you again and again, +and received no answer. The moment I was released from the iron rule +of military duty in the West I sought you before returning to the +mother who bore me. No river of blood flows between us that my love +could not bridge. I admit that I was speechless at first before +the magnitude of your sorrows; but must this accursed war go on +forever, blighting life and hope? What was the wound you did so much +towards healing compared to the one you are giving me now? Many a +blow has been aimed at me, but not one has pierced my heart before." + +She tried to listen rigidly and coldly to his impassioned utterance, +but could not, and, as he ceased, she was sobbing in her chair. +He sought with gentle words to soothe her, but by a gesture she +silenced him. + +At last she said, brokenly: "For months I have not shed a tear. My +heart and brain seemed bursting, yet I could get no relief. Were +it not for some faith and hope in God, I should have followed my +kindred. You cannot know, you never can know." + +"I know one thing, Suwanee. You were once a brave, unselfish woman. +I will not, I cannot believe that you have parted with your noble, +generous impulses. You may remain cold to me if I merely plead my +cause for your sake, that I may bring consolation and healing into +your life; but I still have too much faith in your large, warm, +Southern heart to believe that you will blight my life also. If you +can never love me, give me the right to be your loyal and helpful +friend. Giving you all that is best and most sacred in my nature +how can you send me away as if I had no part or lot in your life? +It is not, cannot be true. When I honor you and would give my life +for you, and shall love you all my days, it is absurd to say that +I am nothing to you. Only embodied selfishness and callousness could +say that. You may not be able to give what I do, but you should +give all you can. 'Rivers of blood flowing between us' is morbid +nonsense. Forgive me that I speak strongly,--I feel strongly. My +soul is in my words. I felt towards my cause as you towards yours, +and had I not acted as I have, you would be the first to think me +a craven. But what has all this to do with the sacred instinct, +the pure, unbounded love which compels me to seek you as my wife?" + +"You have spoken such words to another," she said, in a low tone. + +"No, never such words as I speak to you. I could not have spoken +them, for then I was too young and immature to feel them. I did +love Miss Vosburgh as sincerely as I now respect and esteem her. +She is the happy wife of another man. I speak to you from the depths +of my matured manhood. What is more I speak with the solemnity and +truth which your sorrows should inspire. Should you refuse my hand +it will never be offered to another, and you know me well enough +to be sure I will keep my word." + +"Oh, can it be right?" cried the girl, wringing her hands. + +"One question will settle all: Can you return my love?" + +With that query light came into her mind as if from heaven. She +saw that such love as theirs was the supreme motive, the supreme +obligation. + +She rose and fixed her lovely, tear-gemmed eyes upon him searchingly +as she asked, "Would you wed me, a beggar, dowered only with sorrow +and bitter memories?" + +"I will wed you, Suwanee Barkdale, or no one." + +"There," she said, with a wan smile, holding out her hand; "the +North has conquered again." + +"Suwanee," he said, gravely and gently, as he caressed the head +bowed upon his breast, "let us begin right. For us two there is +no North or South. We are one for time, and I trust for eternity. +But do not think me so narrow and unreasonable as to expect that you +should think as I do on many questions. Still more, never imagine +that I shall chide you, even in my thoughts, for love of your +kindred and people, or the belief that they honestly and heroically +did what seemed to them their duty. When you thought yourself such +a hopeless little sinner, and I discovered you to be a saint, did +I not admit that your patriotic impulses were as sincere as my own? +As it has often been in the past, time will settle all questions +between your people and ours, and time and a better knowledge of +each other will heal our mutual wounds. I wish to remove fear and +distrust of the immediate future from your mind, however. I must take +you to a Northern home, where I can work for you in my profession, +but you can be your own true self there,--just what you were when +you first won my honor and esteem. The memory of your brave father +and brothers shall be sacred to me as well as to you. I shall expect +you to change your feelings and opinions under no other compulsion +than that of your own reason and conscience. Shall you fear to go +with me now? I will do everything that you can ask if you will only +bless me with your love." + +"I never dreamed before that it could be so sweet to bless an +enemy," she said, with a gleam of her old mirthfulness, "and I have +dreamed about it. O Fenton, I loved you unsought, and the truth +nearly killed me at first, but I came at last to be a little proud +of it. You were so brave, yet considerate, so fair and generous +towards us, that you banished my prejudices, and you won my heart +by believing there was some good in it after all." + +A white shock of wool surmounting a wrinkled, ebon visage appeared +at the door, and the old cook said, "Missy S'wanee, dere's nuffin' +in de house for supper but a little cawn-meal. Oh, bress de Lawd! +if dere ain't Cap'n Lane!" + +"Give us a hoe-cake, then," cried Lane, shaking the old woman's hand. +"I'd rather sup with your mistress to-night on corn-meal than sit +down to the grandest banquet you have ever prepared in the past. +In the morning I'll forage for breakfast." + +"Bress de Lawd!" said the old woman, as she hobbled away. "Good +times comin' now. If I could jes' hear Missy S'wanee larf once +mo';" and then she passed beyond hearing. + +"Yes, Suwanee, if I could only hear your old sweet laugh once more!" +Lane pleaded. + +"Not yet, Fenton; not yet,--some day." + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Original Belle, by E. P. Roe + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ORIGINAL BELLE *** + +***** This file should be named 5437.txt or 5437.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/3/5437/ + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at + www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email +contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the +Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/5437.zip b/5437.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e7162a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/5437.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08b2347 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #5437 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5437) diff --git a/old/aobll10.txt b/old/aobll10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a67d53d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/aobll10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18986 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Original Belle, by E. P. Roe +(#7 in our series by E. P. Roe) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: An Original Belle + +Author: E. P. Roe + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5437] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on July 18, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, AN ORIGINAL BELLE *** + + + + +This eBook was created by Charles Aldarondo (pg@aldarondo.net). + + + +An Original Belle + +By: E. P. Roe + +1900 + + + + + +PREFACE. + + + + +No race of men, scarcely an individual, is so devoid of intelligence +as not to recognize power. Few gifts are more courted. Power is +almost as varied as character, and the kind of power most desired +or appreciated is a good measure of character. The pre-eminence +furnished by thew and muscle is most generally recognized; but, as +men reach levels above the animal, other qualities take the lead. +It is seen that the immaterial spirit wins the greater triumphs,--that +the brainless giant, compared with the dwarf of trained intelligence, +can accomplish little. The scale runs on into the moral qualities, +until at last humanity has given its sanction to the Divine words, +"Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." The +few who have successfully grasped the lever of which Archimedes +dreamed are those who have attained the highest power to serve the +world. + +Among the myriad phases of power, perhaps that of a gifted and +beautiful woman is the most subtile and hard to define. It is not +the result of mere beauty, although that may be an important element; +and if wit, intelligence, learning, accomplishments, and goodness +are added, all combined cannot wholly explain the power that some +women possess. Deeper, perhaps more potent, than all else, is an +individuality which distinguishes one woman from all others, and +imparts her own peculiar fascination. Of course, such words do not +apply to those who are content to be commonplace themselves, and +who are satisfied with the ordinary homage of ordinary minds, or +the conventional attention of men who are incited to nothing better. + +One of the purposes of this story is to illustrate the power of a +young girl not so beautiful or so good as many of her sisters. She +was rather commonplace at first, but circumstances led her to the +endeavor to be true to her own nature and conscience and to adopt +a very simple scheme of life. She achieved no marvellous success, +nothing beyond the ability of multitudes like herself. + +I have also sought to reproduce with some color of life and reality +a critical period in our civil war. The scenes and events of the +story culminate practically in the summer of 1863. The novel was +not written for the sake of the scenes or events. They are employed +merely to illustrate character at the time and to indicate its +development. + +The reader in the South must be bitter and prejudiced indeed if +he does not discover that I have sought to be fair to the impulses +and motives of its people. + +In touching upon the Battle of Gettysburg and other historical +events, I will briefly say that I have carefully consulted authentic +sources of information. For the graphic suggestion of certain +details I am indebted to the "History of the 124th Regt. N.Y.S.V.," +by Col. Charles H. Weygant, to the recollections of Capt. Thomas +Taft and other veterans now living. + +Lieut.-Col. H. C. Hasbrouck, commandant of Cadets at West Point, +has kindly read the proof of chapters relating to the battle of +Gettysburgh. + +My story is also related to the New York Draft Riots of 1863, an +historical record not dwelt upon before in fiction to my knowledge. +It is almost impossible to impart an adequate impression of that +reign of terror. I have not hoped to do this, or to give anything +like a detailed and complete account of events. The scenes and +incidents described, however, had their counterpart in fact. Rev. +Dr. Howard Crosby of New York saw a young man face and disperse +a mob of hundreds, by stepping out upon the porch of his home and +shooting the leader. This event took place late at night. + +I have consulted "Sketches of the Draft Riots in 1863," by Hon. J. +T. Headley, the files of the Press of that time, and other records. + +The Hon. Thomas C. Acton. Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police +during the riot, accorded me a hearing, and very kindly followed +the thread of my story through the stormy period in question. + +E. P. R + +CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON, N.Y., AUG. 7, 1885. + + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. A RUDE AWAKENING + +CHAPTER II. A NEW ACQUAINTANCE + +CHAPTER III. A NEW FRIEND + +CHAPTER IV. WOMAN'S CHIEF RIGHT + +CHAPTER V. "BE HOPEFUL, THAT I MAY HOPE" + +CHAPTER VI. A SCHEME OF LIFE + +CHAPTER VII. SURPRISES + +CHAPTER VIII. CHARMED BY A CRITIC + +CHAPTER IX. A GIRL'S LIGHT HAND + +CHAPTER X. WILLARD MERWYN + +CHAPTER XI. AN OATH AND A GLANCE + +CHAPTER XII. "A VOW" + +CHAPTER XIII. A SIEGE BEGUN + +CHAPTER XIV. OMINOUS + +CHAPTER XV. SCORN + +CHAPTER XVI. AWAKENED AT LAST + +CHAPTER XVII. COMING TO THE POINT + +CHAPTER XVIII. A GIRL'S STANDARD + +CHAPTER XIX. PROBATION PROMISED + +CHAPTER XX. "YOU THINK ME A COWARD" + +CHAPTER XXI. FEARS AND PERPLEXITIES + +CHAPTER XXII. A GIRL'S THOUGHTS AND IMPULSES + +CHAPTER XXIII. "MY FRIENDSHIP IS MINE TO GIVE" + +CHAPTER XXIV. A FATHER'S FORETHOUGHT + +CHAPTER XXV. A CHAINED WILL + +CHAPTER XXVI. MARIAN'S INTERPRETATION OF MERWYN + +CHAPTER XXVII. "DE HEAD LINKUM MAN WAS CAP'N LANE" + +CHAPTER XXVIII. THE SIGNAL LIGHT + +CHAPTER XXIX. MARIAN CONTRASTS LANE AND MERWYN + +CHAPTER XXX THE NORTH INVADED + +CHAPTER XXXI. "I'VE LOST MY CHANCE" + +CHAPTER XXXII. BLAUVELT + +CHAPTER XXXIII. A GLIMPSE OF WAR + +CHAPTER XXXIV. A GLIMPSE OF WAR, CONTINUED + +CHAPTER XXXV. THE GRAND ASSAULT + +CHAPTER XXXVI. BLAUVELT'S SEARCH FOR STRAHAN + +CHAPTER XXXVII. STRAHAN'S ESCAPE + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. A LITTLE REBEL + +CHAPTER XXXIX. THE CURE OF CAPTAIN LANE + +CHAPTER XL. LOVE'S TRIUMPH + +CHAPTER XLI. SUNDAY'S LULL AND MONDAY'S STORM + +CHAPTER XLII. THAT WORST OF MONSTERS, A MOB + +CHAPTER XLIII. THE "COWARD" + +CHAPTER XLIV. A WIFE'S EMBRACE + +CHAPTER XLV. THE DECISIVE BATTLE + +CHAPTER XLVI. "I HAVE SEEN THAT YOU DETEST ME" + +CHAPTER XLVII. A FAIR FRIEND AND FOUL FOES + +CHAPTER XLVIII. DESPERATE FIGHTING + +CHAPTER XLIX. ONE FACING HUNDREDS + +CHAPTER L. ZEB + +CHAPTER LI. A TRAGEDY + +CHAPTER LII. "MOTHER AND SON" + +CHAPTER LIII. "MISSY S'WANEE" + + + + + + +AN ORIGINAL BELLE. + +CHAPTER I. + +A RUDE AWAKENING. + + + + + +MARIAN VOSBURGH had been content with her recognized position +as a leading belle. An evening spent in her drawing-room revealed +that; but at the close of the particular evening which it was our +privilege to select there occurred a trivial incident. She was led +to think, and thought is the precursor of action and change in all +natures too strong and positive to drift. On that night she was +an ordinary belle, smiling, radiant, and happy in following the +traditions of her past. + +She had been admired as a child, as a school-girl, and given a +place among the stars of the first magnitude since her formal debut. +Admiration was as essential as sunshine; or, to change the figure, +she had a large and a natural and healthful appetite for it. She was +also quite as much entitled to it as the majority of her class. +Thus far she had accepted life as she found it, and was in the +main conventional. She was not a deliberate coquette; it was not +her recognized purpose to give a heartache to as many as possible; +she merely enjoyed in thoughtless exultation her power to attract +young men to her side. There was keen excitement in watching them, +from the moment of introduction, as they passed through the phases +of formal acquaintanceship into relations that bordered on sentiment. +When this point was reached experiences sometimes followed which +caused not a little compunction. + +She soon learned that society was full of men much like herself in +some respects, ready to meet new faces, to use their old compliments +and flirtation methods over and over again. They could look unutterable +things at half a dozen different girls in the same season, while +their hearts remained as invulnerable as old-fashioned pin-cushions, +heart-shaped, that adorn country "spare rooms." But now and then +a man endowed with a deep, strong nature would finally leave her +side in troubled wonder or bitter cynicism. Her fair, young face, +her violet eyes, so dark as to appear almost black at night, had +given no token that she could amuse herself with feelings that +touched the sources of life and death in such admirers. + +"They should have known better, that I was not in earnest," she +would say, petulantly, and more or less remorsefully. + +But these sincere men, who had been so blind as to credit her with +gentle truth and natural intuition, had some ideal of womanhood +which had led to their blunder. Conscious of revealing so much +themselves by look, tone, and touch of hand, eager to supplement +one significant glance by life-long loyalty, they were slow in +understanding that answering significant glances meant only, "I +like you very well,--better than others, just at present; but then +I may meet some one to-morrow who is a great deal more fun than +you are." + +Fun! With them it was a question of manhood, of life, and of +that which gives the highest value and incentive to life. It was +inevitable, therefore, that Marian Vosburgh should become a mirage +to more than one man; and when at last the delusion vanished, there +was usually a flinty desert to be crossed before the right, safe +path was gained. + +From year to year Mr. Vosburgh had rented for his summer residence +a pretty cottage on the banks of the Hudson. The region abounded +in natural beauty and stately homes. There was an infusion of +Knickerbocker blood in the pre-eminently elect ones of society, and +from these there was a gradual shading off in several directions, +until by some unwritten law the social line was drawn. Strangers +from the city might be received within the inner circle, or they +might not, as some of the leaders practically decreed by their +own action. Mr. Vosburgh did not care in the least for the circle +or its constituents. He was a stern, quiet man; one of the strong +executive hands of the government at a time when the vital questions +of the day had come to the arbitrament of the sword. His calling +involved danger, and required an iron will. The questions which +chiefly occupied his mind were argued by the mouths of cannon. + +As for Marian, she too cared little for the circle and its social +dignitaries. She had no concessions to make, no court to pay. +She was not a dignitary, but a sovereign, and had her own court. +Gentleman friends from the city made their headquarters at a +neighboring summer hotel; young men from the vicinity were attracted +like moths, and the worst their aristocratic sisters could say +against the girl was that she had too many male friends, and was +not "of their set." Indeed, with little effort she could have won +recognition from the bluest blood of the vicinage; but this was not +her ambition. She cared little for the ladies of her neighborhood, +and less for their ancestors, while she saw as much of the gentlemen +as she desired. She had her intimates among her own sex, however, +and was on the best terms with her good-natured, good-hearted, +but rather superficial mother, who was a discreet, yet indulgent +chaperon, proud of her daughter and of the attention she received, +while scarcely able to comprehend that any serious trouble could +result from it if the proprieties of life were complied with. +Marian was never permitted to give that kind of encouragement +which compromises a girl, and Mrs. Vosburgh felt that there her +duty ceased. All that could be conveyed by the eloquent eye, the +inflection of tones, and in a thousand other ways, was unnoted, +and beyond her province. + +The evening of our choice is an early one in June. The air is +slightly chilly and damp, therefore the parlor is preferable to +the vine-sheltered piazza, screened by the first tender foliage. +We can thus observe Miss Vosburgh's deportment more closely, and +take a brief note of her callers. + +Mr. Lane is the first to arrive, perhaps for the reason that he is +a downright suitor, who has left the city and business, in order +to further the interests nearest his heart. He is a keen-eyed, +strong-looking fellow, well equipped for success by knowledge of +the world and society; resolute, also, in attaining his desired +ends. His attentions to Marian have been unmistakable for some +months, and he believes that he has received encouragement. In +truth, he has been the recipient of the delusive regard that she is +in the habit of bestowing. He is one whom she could scarcely fail +to admire and like, so entertaining is he in conversation, and +endowed with such vitality and feeling that his words are not airy +nothings. + +He greets her with a strong pressure of the hand, and his first +glance reveals her power. + +"Why, this is an agreeable surprise, Mr. Lane," she exclaims. + +"Agreeable? I am very glad to hear that," he says, in his customary +direct speech. "Yes, I ran up from the city this afternoon. On my +way to lunch I became aware of the beauty of the day, and as my +thoughts persisted in going up the river I was led to follow them. +One's life does not consist wholly of business, you know; at least +mine does not." + +"Yet you have the reputation of being a busy man." + +"I should hope so. What would you think of a young fellow not busy +in these times?" + +"I am not sure I should think at all. You give us girls too much +credit for thinking." + +"Oh, no; there's no occasion for the plural. I don't give 'us girls' +anything. I am much too busy for that. But I know you think, Miss +Marian, and have capacity for thought." + +"Possibly you are right about the capacity. One likes to think one +has brains, you know, whether she uses them or not. I don't think +very much, however,--that is, as you use the word, for it implies +the putting of one's mind on something and keeping it there. I like +to let thoughts come and go as the clouds do in our June skies. I +don't mean thunder-clouds and all they signify, but light vapors +that have scarcely beginning or end, and no very definite being. +I don't seem to have time or inclination for anything else, except +when I meet you with your positive ways. I think it is very kind +of you to come from New York to give me a pleasant evening." + +"I'm not so very disinterested. New York has become a dull place, +and if I aid you to pass a pleasant evening you insure a pleasanter +one for me. What have you been doing this long June day, that you +have been too busy for thought?" + +"Let me see. What have I been doing? What an uncomfortable question +to ask a girl! You men say we are nothing but butterflies, you +know." + +"I never said that of you." + +"You ask a question which makes me say it virtually of myself. That +is a way you keen lawyers have. Very well; I shall be an honest +witness, even against myself. That I wasn't up with the lark this +morning goes without saying. The larks that I know much about are +on the wing after dinner in the evening. The forenoon is a variable +sort of affair with many people. Literally I suppose it ends at 12 +M., but with me it is rounded off by lunch, and the time of that +event depends largely upon the kitchen divinity that we can lure to +this remote and desolate region. 'Faix,' remarked that potentate, +sniffing around disdainfully the day we arrived, 'does yez expects +the loikes o' me to stop in this lonesomeness? We're jist at the +ind of the wourld.' Mamma increased her wages, which were already +double what she earns, and she still condescends to provide our +daily food, giving me a forenoon which closes at her convenience. +During this indefinite period I look after my flowers and birds, +sing and play a little, read a little, entertain a little, and thus +reveal to you a general littleness. In the afternoon I take a nap, +so that I may be wide awake enough to talk to a bright man like +you in case he should appear. Now, are you not shocked and pained +at my frivolous life?" + +"You have come to the country for rest and recuperation, Miss +Marian?" + +"Oh, what a word,--'recuperation!' It never entered my head that +I had come into the country for that. Do I suggest a crying need +for recuperation?" + +"I wouldn't dare tell you all that you suggest to me, and I read +more than you say between your lines. When I approached the house +you were chatting and laughing genially with your mother." + +"Oh, yes, mamma and I have as jolly times together as two girls." + +"That was evident, and it made a very pleasant impression on me. +One thing is not so evident, and it indicates a rather one-sided +condition of affairs. I could not prevent my thoughts from visiting +you often to-day before I came myself, but I fear that among your +June-day occupations there has not been one thought of me." + +She had only time to say, sotto voce, "Girls don't tell everything," +when the maid announced, from the door, "Mr. Strahan." + +This second comer was a young man precociously mature after a +certain style. His home was a fine old place in the vicinity, but +in his appearance there was no suggestion of the country; nor did +he resemble the violet, although he was somewhat redolent of the +extract of that modest flower. He was dressed in the extreme of +the prevailing mode, and evidently cultivated a metropolitan air, +rather than the unobtrusive bearing of one who is so thoroughly a +gentleman that he can afford to be himself. Mr. Strahan was quite +sure of his welcome, for he felt that he brought to the little +cottage a genuine Madison-avenue atmosphere. He was greeted with +the cordiality which made Miss Vosburgh's drawing-room one of the +pleasantest of lounging-places, whether in town or country; and +under his voluble lead conversation took the character of fashionable +gossip, which would have for the reader as much interest as +the presentation of some of the ephemeral weeds of that period. +But Mr. Strahan's blue eyes were really animated as he ventured +perilously near a recent scandal in high life. His budget of news +was interspersed with compliments to his hostess, which, like the +extract on his handkerchief, were too pronounced. Mr. Lane regarded +him with politely veiled disgust, but was too well-bred not to +second Miss Vosburgh's remarks to the best of his ability. + +Before long two or three more visitors dropped in. One from the hotel +was a millionnaire, a widower leisurely engaged in the selection of +a second wife. Another was a young artist sketching in the vicinity. +A third was an officer from West Point who knew Mr. Vosburgh. +There were also callers from the neighborhood during the evening. +Mrs. Vosburgh made her appearance early, and was almost as skilful +a hostess as her daughter. But few of the guests remained long. +They had merely come to enjoy a pleasant half-hour or more under +circumstances eminently agreeable, and would then drive on and pay +one or two visits in the vicinity. That was the way in which nearly +all Marian's "friendships" began. + +The little parlor resounded with animated talk, laughter, and music, +that was at the same time as refined as informal. Mrs. Vosburgh +would seat herself at the piano, that a new dancing-step or a new +song might be tried. The gentlemen were at liberty to light their +cigars and form groups among themselves, so free from stiffness +was Marian's little salon. Brief time elapsed, however, without a +word to each, in her merry, girlish voice, for she had the instincts +of a successful hostess, and a good-natured sense of honor, which +made her feel that each guest was entitled to attention. She was +not much given to satire, and the young men soon learned that she +would say more briery things to their faces than behind their backs. +It was also discovered that ill-natured remarks about callers who +had just departed were not tolerated,--that within certain limits +she was loyal to her friends, and that, she was too high-minded to +speak unhandsomely of one whom she had just greeted cordially. If +she did not like a man she speedily froze him out of the ranks of +her acquaintance; but for such action there was not often occasion, +since she and her mother had a broad, easy tolerance of those +generally accepted by society. Even such as left her parlor finally +with wounds for which there was no rapid healing knew that no one +would resent a jest at their expense more promptly than the girl +whom they might justly blame for having smiled too kindly. + +Thus she remained a general favorite. It was recognized that she had +a certain kind of loyalty which could be depended upon. Of course +such a girl would eventually marry, and with natural hope and +egotism each one felt that he might be the successful competitor. +At any rate, as in war, they must take their chances, and it seems +that there is never a lack of those willing to assume such risks. + +Thus far, however, Marian had no inclination to give up her present +life of variety and excitement. She preferred incense from many +worshippers to the devotion of one. The secret of this was perhaps +that her heart had remained so untouched and unconscious that she +scarcely knew she had one. She understood the widower's preference, +enjoyed the compliment, and should there be occasion would, in +perfect good taste, beg to be excused. + +Her pulse was a little quickened by Mr. Lane's downright earnestness, +and when matters should come to a crisis she would say lovely +things to him of her esteem, respect, regret, etc. She would wish +they might remain friends--why could they not, when she liked him +so much? As for love and engagement, she did not, could not, think +of that yet. + +She was skilful, too, in deferring such crises, and to-night, in +obedience to a signal, Mrs. Vosburgh remained until even Mr. Lane +despaired of another word in private, and departed, fearing to put +his fate to the test. + +At last the dainty apartment, the merry campaigning-ground, was +darkened, and Marian, flushed, wearied, and complacent, stepped +out on the piazza to breathe for a few moments the cool, fragrant +air. She had dropped into a rustic seat, and was thinking over +the events of the evening with an amused smile, when the following +startling words arose from the adjacent shrubbery:-- + +"Arrah, noo, will ye niver be sinsible? Here I'm offerin' ye me +heart, me loife. I'd be glad to wourk for ye, and kape ye loike a +leddy. I'd be thrue to ye ivery day o' me loife,--an' ye knows it, +but ye jist goes on makin' eyes at this wan an' flirtin' wid that +wan an' spakin' swate to the t'other, an' kapin' all on the string +till they can nayther ate nor slape nor be half the min they were +till ye bewildered 'em. Ye're nothin' but a giddy, light-minded, +shallow crather, a spoilin' min for your own fun. I've kep' company +wid ye a year, and ye've jist blowed hot and cowld till I'm not +meself any more, and have come nigh losin' me place. Noo, by St. +Patrick, ye must show whether ye're a woman or a heartless jade +that will sind a man to the divil for sport." + +These words were poured out with the impetuosity of longsuffering +endurance finally vanquished, and before the speaker had concluded +Marian was on her way to the door, that she might not listen to a +conversation of so delicate a nature. But she did not pass beyond +hearing before part of the reply reached her. + +"Faix, an' I'm no wourse than me young mistress." + +It was a chance arrow, but it went straight to the mark, aad when +Marian reached her room her cheeks were aflame. + + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. + + + + + +Gross matter can change form and character in a moment, when merely +touched by the effective agent. It is easy to imagine, therefore, +how readily a woman's quick mind might be influenced by a truth +or a thought of practical and direct application. All the homilies +ever written, all the counsel of matrons and sages, could not +have produced on Marian so deep an impression as was made by these +few chance words. They came as a commentary, not only on her past +life, but on the past few hours. Was it true, then, that she was no +better than the coquettish maid, the Irish servant in the family's +employ? Was she, with her education and accomplishments, her social +position and natural gifts, acting on no higher plane, influenced +by no worthier motives and no loftier ambition? Was the ignorant +girl justified in quoting her example in extenuation of a course +that to a plain and equally ignorant man seemed unwomanly to the +last degree? + +Wherein was she better? Wherein lay the difference between her and +the maid? + +She covered her hot face with her hands as the question took the +form: "Wherein am I worse? Is not our principle of action the same, +while I have greater power and have been crippling higher types +of men, and giving them, for sport, an impulse towards the devil? +Fenton Lane has just gone from my side with trouble in his eyes. +He will not be himself to-morrow, not half the man he might be. +He left me in doubt and fear. Could I do anything oppressed with +doubt and fear? He has set his heart on what can never be. Could I +have prevented him from doing this? One thing at least is certain,--I +have not tried to prevent it, and I fear there have been many little +nameless things which he would regard as encouragement. And he +is only one. With others I have gone farther and they have fared +worse. It is said that Mr. Folger, whom I refused last winter, is +becoming dissipated. Mr. Arton shuns society and sneers at women. +Oh, don't let me think of any more. What have I been doing that +this coarse kitchen-maid can run so close a parallel between her +life and mine? How unwomanly and repulsive it all seems, as that +man put it! My delight and pride have been my gentleman friends, +and what one of them is the better, or has a better prospect for +life, because of having known me? Could there be a worse satire on +all the fine things written about woman and her influence than my +hitherto vain and complacent self?" + +Sooner or later conscience tells the truth to all; and the sooner +the better, unless the soul arraigned is utterly weak, or else +belongs essentially to the criminal classes, which require almost +a miracle to reverse their evil gravitation. Marian Vosburgh +was neither weak nor criminal at heart. Thus far she had yielded +thoughtlessly, inconsiderately, rather than deliberately, to the +circumstances and traditions of her life. Her mother had been a +belle and something of a coquette, and, having had her career, was +in the main a good and sensible wife. She had given her husband +little trouble if not much help. She had slight interest in that which +made his life, and slight comprehension of it, but in affectionate +indifference she let him go his way, and was content with her domestic +affairs, her daughter, and her novel. Marian had unthinkingly looked +forward to much the same experience as her natural lot. To-night +she found herself querying: "Are there men to-day who are not half +what they might have been because of mamma's delusive smiles? Have +any gone down into shadows darker than those cast by misfortune and +death, because she permitted herself to become the light of their +lives and then turned away?" + +Then came the rather painful reflection: "Mamma is not one to be +troubled by such thoughts. It does not even worry her that she is +so little to papa, and that he virtually carries on his life-work +alone. I don't see how I can continue my old life after to-night. +I had better shut myself up in a convent; yet just how I can change +everything I scarcely know." + +The night proved a perturbed and almost sleepless one from the chaos +and bitterness of her thoughts. The old was breaking up; the new, +beginning. + +The morning found her listless, discontented, and unhappy. The +glamour had faded out of her former life. She could not continue +the tactics practised in coarse imitation by the Irish servant, who +took her cue as far as possible from her mistress. The repugnance +was due as much to the innate delicacy and natural superiority of +Marian's nature as to her conscience. Her clear, practical sense +perceived that her course differed from the other only in being +veneered by the refinements of her social position,--that the evil +results were much greater. The young lady's friends were capable of +receiving more harm than the maid could inflict upon her acquaintances. + +There would be callers again during the day and evening, and she +did not wish to see them. Their society now would be like a glass +of champagne from which the life had effervesced. + +At last in her restlessness and perplexity she decided to spend a +day or two with her father in their city home, where he was camping +out, as he termed it. She took a train to town, and sent a messenger +boy to his office with a note asking him to dine with her. + +Mr. Vosburgh looked at her a little inquiringly as he entered his +home, which had the comfortless aspect of a city house closed for +the summer. + +"Am I de trop, papa? I have come to town for a little quiet, and +to do some shopping." + +"Come to New York for quiet?" + +"Yes. The country is the gayest place now, and you know a good +many are coming and going. I am tired, and thought an evening or +two with you would be a pleasant change. You are not too busy?" + +"It certainly will be a change for you, Marian." + +"Now there's a world of satire in that remark, and deserved, too, +I fear. Mayn't I stay?" + +"Yes, indeed, till you are tired of me; and that won't be long in +this dull place, for we are scarcely in a condition now to receive +callers, you know." + +"What makes you think I shall be tired of you soon, papa?" + +"Oh--well--I'm not very entertaining. You appear to like variety. +I suppose it is the way with girls." + +"You are not consumed with admiration for girls' ways, are you, +papa?" + +"I confess, my dear, that I have not given the subject much research. +As a naturalist would say, I have no doubt that you and your class +have curious habits and interesting peculiarities. There is a +great deal of life, you know, which a busy man has to accept in a +general way, especially when charged with duties which are a severe +and constant strain upon his mind. I try to leave you and your +mother as free from care as possible. You left her well, I trust?" + +"Very well, and all going on as usual. I'm dissatisfied with myself, +papa, and you unconsciously make me far more so. Is a woman to be +only a man's plaything, and a dangerous one at that?" + +"Why, Marian, you ARE in a mood! I suppose a woman, like a man, can +be very much what she pleases. You certainly have had a chance to +find out what pleases most women in your circle of acquaintances, +and have made it quite clear what pleases you." + +"Satire again," she said, despondently. "I thought perhaps you +could advise and help me." + +He came and took her face between his hands, looking earnestly into +her troubled blue eyes. + +"Are you not content to be a conventional woman?" he asked, after +a moment. + +"No!" was her emphatic answer. + +"Well, there are many ways of being a little outre in this age +and land, especially at this stormy period. Perhaps you want a +career,--something that will give you a larger place in the public +eye?" + +She turned away to hide the tears that would come. "O papa, you +don't understand me at all, and I scarcely understand myself," she +faltered. "In some respects you are as conventional as mamma, and +are almost a Turk in your ideas of the seclusion of women. The idea +of my wanting public notoriety! As I feel now, I'd rather go to a +convent." + +"We'll go to dinner first; then a short drive in the park, for you +look pale, and I long for a little fresh air myself. I have been +at my desk since seven this morning, and have had only a sandwich." + +"Why do you have to work so hard, papa?" + +"I can give you two reasons in a breath,--you mentioned 'shopping,' +and my country is at war. They don't seem very near of kin, do +they? Documents relating to both converge in my desk, however." + +"Have I sent you more bills than usual?" + +"Not more than usual." + +"I believe I'm a fool." + +"I know you are a very pretty little girl, who will feel better +after dinner and a drive," was the laughing reply. + +They were soon seated in a quiet family restaurant, but the young +girl was too perturbed in mind to enjoy the few courses ordered. +With self-reproach she recognized the truth that she was engaged +in the rather unusual occupation of becoming acquainted with +her father. He sat before her, with his face, generally stern and +inscrutable, softened by a desire to be companionable and sympathetic. +According to his belief she now had "a mood," and after a day or +two of quiet retirement from the world she would relapse into her +old enjoyment of social attention, which would be all the deeper +for its brief interruption. + +Mr. Vosburgh was of German descent. In his daily life he had become +Americanized, and was as practical in his methods as the shrewd +people with whom he dealt, and whom he often outwitted. Apart +from this habit of coping with life just as he found it, he had an +inner nature of which few ever caught a glimpse,--a spirit and an +imagination deeply tinged with German ideality and speculation. +Often, when others slept, this man, who appeared so resolute, +hard, and uncompromising in the performance of duties, and who was +understood by but few, would read deeply in metaphysics and romantic +poetry. Therefore, the men and women who dwelt in his imagination +were not such as he had much to do with in real life. Indeed, he had +come to regard the world of reality and that of fancy as entirely +distinct, and to believe that only here and there, as a man or woman +possessed something like genius, would there be a marked deviation +from ordinary types. The slight differences, the little characteristic +meannesses or felicities that distinguished one from another, did +not count for very much in his estimation. When a knowledge of +such individual traits was essential to his plans, he mastered them +with singular keenness and quickness of comprehension. When such +knowledge was unnecessary, or as soon as it ceased to be of service, +he dismissed the extraneous personalities from his mind almost +as completely as if they had had no existence. Few men were less +embarrassed with acquaintances than he; yet he had an observant +eye and a retentive memory. When he wanted a man he rarely failed +to find the right one. In the selection and use of men he appeared +to act like an intelligent and silent force, rather than as a man +full of human interests and sympathies. He rarely spoke of himself, +even in the most casual way. Most of those with whom he mingled +knew merely that he was an agent of the government, and that he +kept his own counsel. His wife was to him a type of the average +American woman,--pretty, self-complacent, so nervous as to require +kind, even treatment, content with feminalities, and sufficiently +intelligent to talk well upon every-day affairs. In her society he +smiled at her, said "Yes," good-humoredly, to almost everything, +and found slight incentive to depart from his usual reticence. She +had learned the limits of her range, and knew that within it there +was entire liberty, beyond it a will like adamant. They got on admirably +together, for she craved nothing further in the way of liberty and +companionship than was accorded her, while he soon recognized that +the prize carried off from other competitors could no more follow +him into his realm of thought and action than she could accompany +him on a campaign. At last he had concluded philosophically that +it was just as well. He was engaged in matters that should not be +interfered with or babbled about, and he could come and go without +questioning. He had occasionally thought: "If she were such a woman +as I have read of and imagined,--if she could supplement my reason +with the subtilty of intuition and the reticence which some of her +sex have manifested,--she would double my power and share my inner +life, for there are few whom I can trust. The thing is impossible, +however, and so I am glad she is content." + +As for Marian, she had promised, in his view, to be but a charming +repetition of her mother, with perhaps a mind of larger calibre. +She had learned more and had acquired more accomplishments, but all +this resulted, possibly, from her better advantages. Her drawing-room +conversation seemed little more than the ordinary small talk of the +day, fluent and piquant, while the girl herself was as undisturbed +by the vital questions of the hour and of life, upon which he dwelt, +as if she had been a child. He knew that she received much attention, +but it excited little thought on his part, and no surprise. +He believed that her mother was perfectly competent to look after +the proprieties, and that young fellows, as had been the case with +himself, would always seek pretty, well-bred girls, and take their +chances as to what the women who might become their wives should +prove to be. + +Marian looked with awakening curiosity and interest at the face +before her, yet it was the familiar visage of her father. She had +seen it all her life, but now felt that she had never before seen +it in its true significance--its strong lines, square jaw, and +quiet gray eyes, with their direct, steady gaze. He had come and +gone before her daily, petted her now and then a little, met her +requests in the main good-humoredly, paid her bills, and would +protect her with his life; yet a sort of dull wonder came over her +as she admitted to herself that he was a stranger to her. She knew +little of his work and duty, less of his thoughts, the mental realm +in which the man himself dwelt. What were its landmarks, what its +characteristic features, she could not tell. One may be familiar +with the outlines of a country on a map, yet be ignorant of the +scenery, productions, inhabitants, governing forces, and principles. +Her very father was to her but a man in outline. She knew little of +the thoughts that peopled his brain, of the motives and principles +that controlled his existence, giving it individuality, and even +less of the resulting action with which his busy life abounded. +Although she had crossed the threshold of womanhood, she was still +to him the self-pleasing child that he had provided for since +infancy; and he was, in her view, the man to whom, according to the +law of nature and the family, she was to look for the maintenance +of her young life, with its almost entire separation in thoughts, +pleasures, and interests. She loved him, of course. She had always +loved him, from the time when she had stretched forth her baby hands +to be taken and fondled for a few moments and then relinquished to +others. Practically she had dwelt with others ever since. Now, as +a result, she did not understand him, nor he her. She would miss +him as she would oxygen from the air. Now she began to perceive +that, although he was the unobtrusive source of her life, home, +education, and the advantages of her lot, he was not impersonal, +but a human being as truly as herself. Did he want more from her +than the common and instinctive affection of a child for its parent? +If to this she added intelligent love, appreciation, and sympathy, +would he care? If she should be able to say, "Papa, I am kin to you, +not merely in flesh and blood, but in mind, hope, and aspiration; +I share with you that which makes your life, with its success and +failure, not as the child who may find luxurious externals curtailed +or increased, but as a sympathetic woman who understands the more +vital changes in spiritual vicissitude,"--if she could truthfully +say all this, would he be pleased and reveal himself to her? + +Thoughts like these passed through her mind as they dined together +and drove in the park. When at last they returned and sat in the +dimly-lighted parlor, Mr. Vosburgh recognized that her "mood" had +not passed away. + + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A NEW FRIEND. + + + + + +"MARIAN," asked her father, after smoking awhile in silence, "what +did you mean by your emphatic negative when I asked you if you were +not content to be a conventional woman? How much do you mean?" + +"I wish you would help me find out, papa." + +"How! don't you know?" + +"I do not; I am all at sea." + +"Well, my dear, to borrow your own illustration, you can't be far +from shore yet. Why not return? You have seemed entirely satisfied +thus far." + +"Were you content with me, papa?" + +"I think you have been a very good little girl, as girls go." + +"'Good little girl, as girls go;' that's all." + +"That's more than can be said of many." + +"Papa, I'm not a little girl; I am a woman of twenty years." + +"Yes, I know; and quite as sensible as many at forty." + +"I am no companion for you." + +"Indeed you are; I've enjoyed having you with me this evening +exceedingly." + +"Yes, as you would have enjoyed my society ten years ago. I've been +but a little girl to you all the time. Do you know the thought that +has been uppermost in my mind since you joined me?" + +"How should I? How long does one thought remain uppermost in a +girl's mind?" + +"I don't blame you for your estimate. My thought is this,--we are +not acquainted with each other." + +"I think I was acquainted with you, Marian, before this mood began." + +"Yes, I think you were; yet I was capable of this 'mood,' as you +call it, before." + +"My child," said Mr. Vosburgh, coming to her side and stroking her +hair, "I have spoken more to draw you out than for anything else. +Heaven forbid that you for a moment should think me indifferent to +anything that relates to your welfare! You wish me to advise, to +help you. Before I can do this I must have your confidence, I must +know your thoughts and impulses. You can scarcely have a purpose +yet. Even a quack doctor will not attempt diagnosis or prescribe +his nostrum without some knowledge of the symptoms. When I last +saw you in the country you certainly appeared like a conventional +society girl of an attractive type, and were evidently satisfied +so to remain. You see I speak frankly, and reveal to you my habit +of making quick practical estimates, and of taking the world as I +find it. You say you were capable of this mood--let us call it an +aspiration--before. I do not deny this, yet doubt it. When people +change it is because they are ripe, or ready for change, as +are things in nature. One can force or retard nature; but I don't +believe much in intervention. With many I doubt whether there is +even much opportunity for it. They are capable of only the gradual +modification of time and circumstances. Young people are apt to +have spasms of enthusiasm, or of self-reproach and dissatisfaction. +These are of little account in the long run, unless there is fibre +enough in character to face certain questions, decide them, and +then act resolutely on definite lines of conduct. I have now given +you my views, not as to a little child, but as to a mature woman +of twenty. Jesting apart, you ARE old enough, Marian, to think +for yourself, and decide whether you will be conventional or not. +The probabilities are that you will follow the traditions of your +past in a very ladylike way. That is the common law. You are too +well-bred and refined to do anything that society would condemn." + +"You are not encouraging, papa." + +"Nor am I discouraging. If you have within you the force to break +from your traditions and stop drifting, you will make the fact +evident. If you haven't it would be useless for me to attempt +to drag, drive, or coax you out of old ways. I am too busy a man +to attempt the useless. But until you tell me your present mental +attitude, and what has led to it, we are talking somewhat at random. +I have merely aimed to give you the benefit of some experience." + +"Perhaps you are taking the right course; I rather think you are. +Perhaps I prove what a child I am still, because I feel that I +should like to have you treat me more as you did when I was learning +to walk. Then you stretched out your hands, and sustained me, and +showed me step by step. Papa, if this is a mood, and I go back +to my old, shallow life, with its motives, its petty and unworthy +triumphs, I shall despise myself, and ever have the humiliating +consciousness that I am doing what is contemptible. No matter how +one obtains the knowledge of a truth or a secret, that knowledge +exists, remains, and one can't be the same afterwards. It makes my +cheeks tingle that I obtained my knowledge as I did. It came like +a broad glare of garish light, in which I saw myself;" and she told +him the circumstances. + +He burst into a hearty laugh, and remarked, "Pat did put the ethics +of the thing strongly." + +"He made 'the thing,' as you call it, odious then and forever. I've +been writhing in self-contempt ever since. When to be conventional +is to be like a kitchen-maid, and worse, do you wonder at my revolt +from the past?" + +"Others won't see it in that light, my dear." + +"What does it matter how others see it? I have my own life to live, +to make or mar. How can I go on hereafter amusing myself in what +now seems a vulgar, base, unwomanly way? It was a coarse, rude +hand that awakened me, papa, but I am awake. Since I have met you +I have had another humiliation. As I said, I am not even acquainted +with you. I have never shown any genuine interest in that which +makes your life, and you have no more thought of revealing yourself +and your work to me than to a child." + +"Marian," said her father, slowly, "I think you are not only capable +of a change, but ripe for it. You inspire hope within me, and this +fact carries with it the assurance that you also inspire respect. +No, my dear, you don't know much about me; very few do. No man +with a nature like mine reveals himself where there is no desire +for the knowledge, no understanding, no sympathy, or even where +all these exist, unless prompted by his heart. You know I am the +last one in the world to put myself on exhibition. But it would +be a heavenly joy to me--I might add surprise--if my own daughter +became like some of the women of whom I have read and dreamed; and +I do read and dream of that in which you little imagine me to be +interested. To the world I am a stern, reticent, practical man I must +be such in my calling. In my home I have tried to be good-natured, +affectionate, and philosophical. I have seen little opportunity for +anything more. I do not complain, but merely state a fact which +indicates the general lot. We can rarely escape the law of heredity, +however. A poet and a metaphysician were among our German ancestry; +therefore, leading from the business-like and matter-of-fact apartment +of my mind, I have a private door by which I can slip away into +the realm of speculation, romance, and ideals. You perceive that +I have no unnatural or shame-faced reticence about this habit. I +tell you of it the moment you show sufficient interest to warrant +my speaking." + +"But, papa, I cannot hope to approach or even suggest the ideals +of your fancy, dressed, no doubt, in mediaeval costume, and talking +in blank verse." + +"That's a superficial view, Marian. Neither poetic or outlandish +costume, nor the impossible language put into the mouths of their +creations by the old bards, makes the unconventional woman. There +is, in truth, a conventionality about these very things, only it +is antiquated. It is not a woman's dress or phraseology that makes +her an ideal or an inspiration, but what she is herself. No two +leaves are alike on the same tree, but they are all enough alike +to make but one impression. Some are more shapely than others, +and flutter from their support with a fairer and more conspicuous +grace to the closely observant; but there is nothing independent +about them, nothing to distinguish them especially from their +companions. They fulfil their general purpose, and fall away. This +simile applies to the majority of people. Not only poetry and romance, +but history also, gives us instances wherein men and women differ +and break away from accepted types, some in absurd or grotesque +ways, others through the sheer force of gifted selfishness, and +others still in natural, noble development of graces of heart and +mind." + +"Stop generalizing, and tell me, your silly, vain, flirtatious +daughter, how I can be unconventional in this prosaic midday of +civilization." + +"Prosaic day? You are mistaken, Marian. There never was a period +like it Barbaric principles, older than Abraham, are now to triumph, +or give place to a better and more enlightened human nature. We +almost at this moment hear the echoes of a strife in which specimens +of the best manhood of the age are arrayed against one another in +a struggle such as the world has never witnessed. I have my part +in the conflict, and it brings to me great responsibilities and +dangers." + +"Dangers! You in danger, papa?" + +"Yes, certainly. Since you wish to be treated like a woman, and not +a child,--since you wish me to show my real life,--you shall know +the truth. I am controlled by the government that is engaged in a +life-and-death struggle to maintain its own existence and preserve +for the nation its heritage of liberty. Thus far I have been able +to serve the cause in quiet, unrecognized ways that I need not now +explain; but I am one who must obey orders, and I wish to do so, +for my heart is in the work. I am no better than other men who +are risking all. Mamma knows this in a way, but she does not fully +comprehend it. Fortunately she is not one of those who take very +anxious thought for the morrow, and you know I am inclined to let +things go on quietly as long as they will. Thus far I have merely +gone to an office as I did before the war, or else have been absent +on trips that were apparently civilian in character, and it has +been essential that I should have as little distraction of mind +as possible. I have lived long in hope that some decisive victory +might occur; but the future grows darker, instead of lighter, and +the struggle, instead of culminating speedily, promises to become +more deadly and to be prolonged. There is but one way out of +it for me, and that is through the final triumph of the old flag. +Therefore, what a day will bring forth God only knows. There have +been times when I wished to tell you something of this, but there +seemed little opportunity. As you said, a good many were coming and +going, you seemed happy and preoccupied, and I got into the habit +of reasoning, 'Every day that passes without a thought of trouble +is just so much gained; and it may be unnecessary to cloud her life +with fear and anxiety;' yet perhaps it would be mistaken kindness +to let trouble come suddenly, like an unexpected blow. I confess, +however, that I have had a little natural longing to be more to my +only child than I apparently was, but each day brought its increasing +press of work and responsibility, its perplexing and far-reaching +questions. Thus time has passed, and I said, 'Let her be a +light-hearted girl as long as she can.'" + +"O papa, what a blind, heartless fool I've been!" + +"No, my dear, only young and thoughtless, like thousands of +others. It so happened that nothing occurred to awaken you. One +day of your old life begat another. That so slight a thing should +make you think, and desire to be different, promises much to me, +for if your nature had been shallow and commonplace, you wouldn't +have been much disturbed. If you have the spirit your words indicate +to-night, it will be better for you to face life in the height and +depth of its reality, trusting in God and your own womanhood for +strength to meet whatever comes. Those who live on this higher +plane have deeper sorrows, but also far richer joys, than those who +exist from hand to mouth, as it were, in the immediate and material +present. What's more, they cease to be plebeian in the meaner sense +of the word, and achieve at one step a higher caste. They have broken +the conventional type, and all the possibilities of development +open at once. You are still a young, inexperienced girl, and have +done little in life except learn your lessons and amuse yourself, +yet in your dissatisfaction and aspiration you are almost infinitely +removed from what you were yesterday, for you have attained the +power to grow and develop." + +"You are too philosophical for me. How shall I grow or develop?" + +"I scarcely know." + +"What definite thing shall I do to-morrow?" + +"Do what the plant does. Receive the influence that tends to quicken +your best impulses and purposes; follow your awakened conscience +naturally. Do what seems to you womanly, right, noble in little things +or in great things, should there be opportunity. Did Shakespeare, +as a child, propose to write the plays which have made him chief +among men? He merely yielded to the impulse when it came. The law +holds good down to you, my little girl. You have an impulse which +is akin to that of genius. Instead of continuing your old indolent, +strolling gait on the dead level of life, you have left the beaten +track and faced the mountain of achievement. Every resolute step +forward takes you higher, even though it be but an inch; yet I +cannot see the path by which you will climb, or tell you the height +you may gain. The main thing is the purpose to ascend. For ihose +bent on noble achievement there is always a path. God only knows +to what it may bring you. One step leads to another, and you will +be guided better by the instincts and laws of your own nature than +if I tried to lead you step by step. The best I can do is to give +you a little counsel, and a helping hand now and then, as the +occasion requires." + +"Now in truth, papa, do not all your fine words signify about what +you and mamma used to say years ago,--'You must be a good little +girl, and then you will be happy'? It seems to me that many good +people are conventionality itself." + +"Many are, and if they ARE good, it is a fortunate phase of +conventionality. For instance, I know of a man who by the law of +heredity and the force of circumstances has scarcely a bad habit +or trait, and has many good ones. He meets the duties of life in +an ordinary, satisfactory way, and with little effort on his part I +know of another man who externally presents nearly the same aspect +to society, who is quiet and unobtrusive in his daily life, and +yet he is fighting hereditary taint and habit with a daily heroism, +such as no soldier in the war can surpass. He is not conventional, +although he appears to be so. He is a knight who is not afraid to +face demons. Genuine strength and originality of character do not +consist in saying or doing things in an unusual way. Voluntary +eccentrics are even worse than the imitators of some model or the +careless souls which take .their coloring from chance surroundings. +Conventionality ceases when a human being begins the resolute +development of his own. natural law of growth to the utmost extent. +This is true because nature in her higher work is not stereotyped. +I will now be as definite as you can desire. You, for instance, +Marian Vosburgh, are as yet, even to yourself, an unknown quantity. +You scarcely know what you are, much less what you may become. This +conversation, and the feeling which led to it, prove this. There +are traits and possibilities in your nature due to ancestors of +whom you have not even heard. These combine with your own individual +endowments by nature to make you a separate and distinct being, and +you grow more separate and distinct by developing nature's gifts, +traits, powers,--in brief, that which is essentially your own. Thus +nature becomes your ally and sees to it with absolute certainty that +you are not like other people. Following this principle of action +you cannot know, nor can any one know, to just what you may attain. +All true growth is from within, outward. In the tree, natural law +prevents distortion or exaggeration of one part over another. In +your case reason, conscience, good taste, must supervise and direct +natural impulses. Thus following nature you become natural, and +cease to be conventional. If you don't do this you will be either +conventional or queer. Do you understand me?" + +"I think I begin to. Let me see if I do. Let me apply your words to +one definite problem,--How can I be more helpful and companionable +to you?" + +"Why, Marian, do you not see how infinitely more to me you are +already, although scarcely beyond the wish to be different from +what you were? I have talked to you as a man talks to a woman in the +dearest and most unselfish relation of life. There is one thing, +however, you never can know, and that is a father's love for a +daughter: it is essentially a man's love and a man's experience. I +am sure it is very different from the affection I should have for +a son, did I possess one. Ever since you were a baby the phrase, +'my little girl,' has meant more than you can ever know; and now +when you come voluntarily to my side in genuine sympathy, and seek +to enter INTELLIGENTLY into that which makes my life, you change +everything for the better, precisely as that which was in cold, +gray shadow before is changed by sunlight. You add just so much by +your young, fresh, womanly life to my life, and it is all the more +welcome because it is womanly and different from mine. You cease +to be a child, a dependant to be provided for, and become a friend, +an inspiration, a confidante. These relations may count little to +heavy, stolid, selfish men, to whom eating, drinking, excitement, +and money-making are the chief considerations, but to men of mind +and ideals, especially to a man who has devoted, his heart, brain, +and life to a cause upon which the future of a nation depends, they +are pre-eminent. You see I am a German at heart, and must have my +world of thought and imagination, as well as the world in which men +look at me with cold, hard, and even hostile eyes. Thus far this +ideal world has been peopled chiefly by the shadows of those who +have lived in the past or by the characters of the great creators +in poetry. Now if my blue-eyed daughter can prove to me that she +has too much heart and brain to be an ordinary society-girl like +half a million of others, and will share my interest in the great +thoughts and achievements of the past and the greater questions +of to-day,--if she can prove that when I have time I may enjoy a +tryst with her in regions far remote from shallow, coarse, commonplace +minds,--is not my whole life enriched? We can read some of my +favorite authors together and trace their influence on the thought +of the world. We can take up history and see how to-day's struggle +is the result of the past. I think I could soon give you an +intelligent idea of the questions of the time, for which men are +hourly dying. The line of battle stretches across the continent, +and so many are engaged that every few moments a man, and too often +a woman from heart-break, dies that the beloved cause may triumph. +Southern girls and women, as a rule, are far more awake to the events +of the time than their sisters in the North. Such an influence on +the struggle can scarcely be over-estimated. They create a public +sentiment that drives even the cowardly into the ranks, and their +words and enthusiasm incite brave young men to even chivalric courage. +It is true that there are very many like them in the North, but +there are also very many who restrain the men over whom they have +influence,--who are indifferent, as you have been, or in sympathy +with the South,--or who, as is true in most instances, do not yet +see the necessity for self-sacrifice. We have not truly felt the +war yet, but it will sooner or later come home to every one who has +a heart. I have been in the South, and have studied the spirit of +the people. They are just as sincere and conscientious as we are, +and more in earnest as yet. Christian love and faith, there, look +to Heaven for sanction with absolute sincerity, and mothers send +their sons, girls their lovers, and wives their husbands, to die +if need be. For the political conspirators who have thought first +and always of their ambition I have only detestation, but for the +people of the South--for the man I may meet in the ranks and kill +if I can--I have profound respect. I should know he was wrong, I +should be equally sure that he believed himself right. + +"Look at the clock, my dear, and see how long I have talked to +you. Can you now doubt that you will be companionable to me? Men +down town think I am hard as a rock, but your touch of sympathy +has been as potent as the stroke of Moses' rod. You have had an +inundation of words, and the future is rosy to me with hope because +you are not asleep." + +"Have I shown lack of interest, papa?" + +"No, Marian, your intent eyes have been eloquent with feeling. +Therefore I have spoken so long and fully. You have, as it were, +drawn the words from me. You have made this outpouring of my heart +seem as natural as breathing, for when you look as you do to-night, +I can almost think aloud to you. You have a sympathetic face, my +child, and when expressing intelligent sympathy it grows beautiful. +It was only pretty before. Prettiness is merely a thing of outline +and color; beauty comes from the soul." + +She came and stood at his side, resting her arm lightly on his +shoulder. + +"Papa," she said, "your words are a revelation to me. Your world +is indeed a new one, and a better one than mine. But I must cease +to be a girl, and become a woman, to enter it." + +"You need not be less happy; you do not loset anything. A picture +is ever finer for shadows and depth of perspective. You can't get +anything very fine, in either art or life, from mere bright surface +glare." + +"I can't go back to that any more; something in my very soul tells +me that I cannot; and your loneliness and danger would render even +the wish to do so base. No, I feel now that I would rather be +a woman, even though it involves a crown of thorns, than to be a +shallow creature that my own heart would despise. I may never be +either wise or deep, but I shall be to you all I can." + +"You do very much for me in those words alone, my darling. As +I said before, no one can tell what you may become if you develop +your own nature naturally." + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +WOMAN'S CHIEF RIGHT. + + + + + +It was late when Marian and her father parted, and each felt that a +new era had begun in their lives. To the former it was like a deep +religious experience. She was awed and somewhat depressed, as well +as resolute and earnest. Life was no pleasure excursion to her +father. Questions involving the solemnity of danger, possibly death, +occupied his mind. Yet it was not of either that he thought, but +of the questions themselves. She saw that he was a large-hearted, +large-brained man, who entered into the best spirit of his age, +and found recreation in the best thought of the past, and she felt +that she was still but a little child beside him. + +"But I shall no longer be a silly child or a shallow, selfish, +unfeeling girl. I know there is something better in my nature than +this. Papa's words confirm what I have read but never thought of +much: the chief need of men who can do much or who amount to much +is the intelligent sympathy of women who understand and care for +them. Why, it was the inspiration of chivalry, even in the dark +ages. Well, Marian Vosburgh, if you can't excel a kitchen-maid, +it would be better that you had never lived." + +The sun was shining brightly when she wakened on the following +morning, and when she came to breakfast their domestic handed her +a note from her father, by which she was informed that he would +dine with her earlier than usual, and that they would take a sail +down the bay. + +Brief as it was, it breathed an almost lover-like fondness and +happiness. She enjoyed her first exultant thrill at her sense of +power as she comprehended that he had gone to his work that day a +stronger and more hopeful man. + +She went out to do her shopping, and was soon in a Broadway temple +of fashion, but found that she was no longer a worshipper. A week +before the beautiful fabrics would have absorbed her mind and awakened +intense desires, for she had a passion for dress, and few knew how +to make more of it than she. But a new and stronger passion was +awakening. She was made to feel at last that she had not only a +woman's lovely form and features, but a woman's mind. Now she began +to dream of triumphs through the latter, and her growing thought was +how to achieve them. Not that she was indifferent to her costume; +it should be like the soldier's accoutrements; her mind the weapon. + +As is common with the young to whom any great impulse or new, deep +experience comes, she was absorbed by it, and could think of little +else. She went over her father's words again and again, dwelling on +the last utterance, which had contained the truth uppermost in all +that he had said,--"Develop the best in your own nature naturally." + +What was her own nature, her starting-point? Her introspection +was not very reassuring. She felt that perhaps the most hopeful +indication was her strong rebound from what she at last recognized +as mean and unworthy. She also had a little natural curiosity and +vanity to see if her face was changing with changing motives. Was +there such a difference between prettiness and beauty? She was +perfectly sure she would rather be beautiful than pretty. + +Her mirror revealed a perplexed young face, suggesting +interrogation-points. The day was ending as it had begun, with a +dissatisfaction as to the past, amounting almost to disgust, and +with fears, queries, and uncertainties concerning the future. How +should she take up life again? How should she go on with it? + +More importunate still was the question, "What has the future in +store for me and for those I love? Papa spoke of danger; and when +I think of his resolute face, I know that nothing in the line of +duty will daunt him. He said that it might not be kindness to leave +me in my old, blind, unthinking ignorance,--that a blow, shattering +everything, might come, finding us all unprepared. Oh, why don't +mamma feel and see more? We have been just like comfortable passengers +on a ship, while papa was facing we knew not what. I may not be +of much use, but I feel now as if I wanted to be with him. To stay +below with scarcely any other motive than to have a good time, and +then to be paralyzed, helpless, when some shock of trouble comes, +now seems silly and weak to the last degree. I am only too glad +that I came to my senses in time, for if anything should happen to +papa, and I had to remember all my days that I had never been much +to him, and had left him to meet the stress of life and danger +alone, I am sure I should be wretched from self-reproach." + +When he came at six o'clock, she met him eagerly, and almost her +first words were, "Papa, there hasn't been any danger to-day?" + +"Oh, no; none at all; only humdrum work. You must not anticipate +trouble. Soldiers, you know, jest and laugh even when going into +battle, and they are all the better soldiers for the fact. No; I +have given you a wrong impression. Nothing has been humdrum to-day. +An acquaintance down town said: 'What's up, Vosburgh? Heard good +news? Have our troops scored a point?' You see I was so brightened +up that he thought nothing but a national victory could account for +the improvement. Men are like armies, and are twice as effective +when well supported." + +"The idea of my supporting you!" + +"To me it's a charming idea. Instead of coming back to a dismal, +empty house, I find a blue-eyed lassie who will go with me to +dinner, and add sauce piquante to every dish. Come, I am not such +a dull, grave old fellow as you imagine. You shall see how gallant +I can become under provocation. We must make the most of a couple +of hours, for that is all that I can give you. No sail to-night, as +I had planned, for a government agent is coming on from Washington +to see me, and I must be absent for at least an hour or two after +eight o'clock. You won't mope, will you? You have something to +read? Has the day been very long and lonely? What have you been +doing and thinking about?" + +"When are you going to give me a chance to answer?" + +"Oh, I read your answer, partly at least, in your eyes. You can +amplify later. Come, get ready for the street. Put on what you +please, so that you wear a smile. These are not times to worry over +slight reverses as long as the vital points are safe." + +The hour they passed at dinner gave Marian a new revelation of +her father. The quiet man proved true the words of Emerson, "Among +those who enjoy his thought, he will regain his tongue." + +At first he drew her out a little, and with his keen, quick insight +he understood her perplexity, her solicitude about him and herself +and the future, her resolute purpose to be a woman, and the +difficulties of seeing the way to the changes she desired. Instead +of replying directly to her words, he skilfully led their talk to +the events of the day, and contemporaneous history became romance +under his version; the actors in the passing drama ceased to be +names and officials, and were invested with human interest. She +was made to see their motives, their hopes, fears, ambitions; she +opened her eyes in surprise at his knowledge of prominent people, +their social status, relations, and family connection. A genial +light of human interest played over most of his words, yet now and +then they touched on the depths of tragedy; again he seemed to be +indulging in sublimated gossip, and she saw the men and women who +posed before the public in their high stations revealed in their +actual daily life. + +She became so interested that at times she left her food untasted. +"How can you know all this?" she exclaimed. + +"It is my business to know a great deal," he replied. "Then natural +curiosity leads me to learn more. The people of whom I have spoken +are the animated pieces on the chess-board. In the tremendous game +that we are playing, success depends largely on their strength, +weakness, various traits,--in brief, their character. The stake +that I have in the game leads me to know and watch those who are +exerting a positive influence. It is interesting to study the men +and women who, in any period, made and shaped history, and to learn +the secrets of their success and failure. Is it not natural that +men and women who are making history to-day--who in fact are shaping +one's own history--should be objects of stronger attention? Now, as +in the past, women exert a far greater influence on current events +than you would imagine. There are but few thrones of power behind +which you will not find a woman. What I shall do or be during the +coming weeks and months depends upon some of the people I have +sketched, free-handed, for you alone. You see the sphinx--for as +such I am regarded by many--opens his mouth freely to you. Can you +guess some of my motives for this kind of talk?" + +"You have wanted to entertain me, papa, and you have succeeded. +You should write romances, for you but touch the names one sees in +the papers and they become dramatic actors." + +"I did want to entertain you and make a fair return for your +society; I wish to prove that I can be your companion as truly as +you can become mine; but I have aimed to do more. I wish you to +realize how interesting the larger and higher world of activity is. +Do not imagine that in becoming a woman, earnest and thoughtful, +you are entering on an era of solemn platitudes. You are rather +passing from a theatre of light comedy to a stage from which +Shakespeare borrowed the whole gamut of human feeling, passion, +and experience. I also wished to satisfy you that you have mind +enough to become absorbed as soon as you begin to understand the +significance of the play. After you have once become an intelligent +spectator of real life you can no more go back to drawing-room +chit-chat, gossip, and flirtation than you can lay down Shakespeare's +'Tempest' for a weak little parlor comedy. I am too shrewd a man, +Marian, to try to disengage you from the past by exhortations and +homilies; and now that you have become my friend, I shall be too +sincere with you to disguise my purposes or methods. I propose to +co-operate frankly with you in your effort, for in this way I prove +my faith in you and my respect for you. Soon you will find yourself +an actor in real life, as well as a spectator." + +"I fear I have been one already,--a sorry one, too. It is possible +to do mischief without being very intelligent or deliberate. You +are making my future, so far as you are concerned, clearer than +I imagined it could be. You do interest me deeply. In one evening +you make it evident how much I have lost in neglecting you--for I +have neglected you, though not intentionally. Hereafter I shall be +only too proud if you will talk to me as you have done, giving me +glimpses of your thoughts, your work, and especially your dangers, +where there are any. Never deceive me in this respect, or leave +me in ignorance. Whatever may be the weaknesses of my nature, now +that I have waked up, I am too proud a girl to receive all that I +do from your hands and then give almost my whole life and thought +to others. I shall be too delighted if you are happier for my +meddling and dropping down upon you. I'll keep your secrets too, +you see;" and she confirmed her words by an emphatic little nod. +"You can talk to me about people, big and little, with whom you +have to do, just as serenely as if you were giving your confidence +to an oyster. + +"But, papa, I am confronted by a question of real life, just as +difficult for me as any that can perplex you. I can't treat this +question any more as I have done. I don't see my way at all. Now +I am going to be as direct and straightforward as a man, and not +beat around the bush with any womanish finesse. There is a gentleman +in this city who, if he knew I was in town to-night, would call, and +I might not be able to prevent him from making a formal proposal. +He is a man whom I respect and like very much, and I fear I have +been too encouraging,--not intentionally and deliberately you know, +but thoughtlessly. He was the cleverest and the most entertaining +of my friends, and always brought a breezy kind of excitement with +him. Don't you see, papa? That is what I lived for, pleasure and +excitement, and I don't believe that anything can be so exciting +to a girl as to see a man yielding to her fascinations, whatever +they may be. It gives one a delicious sense of power. I shall be +frank, too. I must be, for I want your advice. You men like power. +History is full of the records of those who sold their own souls +for it, and walked through blood and crime to reach it. I think it +is just as natural for a woman to love power also, only now I see +that it is a cruel and vile thing to get it and use it merely for +amusement. To me it was excitement. I don't like to think how it +may all end to a man like Fenton Lane, and I am so remorseful that +I am half inclined to sacrifice myself and make him as good a wife +as I can." + +"Do you love him?" + +"No. I don't think I know what love is. When a mere girl I had a +foolish little flame that went out with the first breath of ridicule. +Since that time I have enjoyed gentlemen's society as naturally +as any other girl of our set, perhaps more keenly. Their talk and +ways are so different from those of girls! Then my love of power +came in, you see. The other girls were always talking about their +friends and followers, and it was my pride to surpass them all. I +liked one better than another, of course, but was always as ready +for a new conquest as that old fool, 'Alexander the Little,' +who ran over the world and especially himself. What do you think, +papa? Shall I ever see one who will make all the others appear as +nothing? Or, would it be nobler to devote myself to a true, fine +man, like Mr. Lane, no matter how I felt?" + +"God forbid! You had better stay at your mother's side till you +are as old and wrinkled as Time himself." + +"I am honestly glad to hear you say so. But what am I to do? Sooner +or later I shall have to refuse Mr. Lane, and others too." + +"Refuse them, then. He would be less than a man who would ask a +girl to sacrifice herself for him. No, my dear, the most inalienable +right of your womanhood is to love freely and give yourself where +you love. This right is one of the issues of this war,--that the +poorest woman in this land may choose her own mate. Slavery is the +corner-stone of the Confederacy, wherein millions of women can be +given according to the will of masters. Should the South triumph, +phases of the Old-World despotism would creep in with certainly, +and in the end we should have alliances, not marriages, as is the +case so generally abroad. Now if a white American girl does not +make her own choice she is a weak fool. The law and public sentiment +protect her. If she will not choose wisely, she must suffer the +consequences, and only under the impulse of love can a true choice +be made. A girl must be sadly deficient in sense if she loves a weak, +bad, disreputable man, or a vulgar, ignorant one. Such mesalliances +are more in seeming than in reality, for the girl herself is usually +near in nature to what she chooses. There are few things that I +would more earnestly guard you against than a loveless marriage. +You would probably miss the sweetest happiness of life, and you +would scarcely escape one of its worst miseries." + +"That settles it, then. I am going to choose for myself,--to stay +with you and mamma, and to continue sending you my bills indefinitely." + +"They will be love letters, now." + +"Very dear ones, you will think sometimes. But truly, papa, you must +not let me spend more than you can afford. You should be frank on +this point also, when you know I do not wish to be inconsiderate. +The question still remains, What am I to do with Mr. Lane?" + +"Now I shall throw you on your own resources. I believe your woman's +tact can manage this question better than my reason; only, if you +don't love him and do not think you can, be sure to refuse him. +I have nothing against Mr. Lane, and approve of what I know about +him; but I am not eager to have a rival, or to lose what I have +so recently gained. Nevertheless, I know that when the true knight +comes through the wood, my sleeping beauty will have another +awakening, compared with which this one will seem slight indeed. +Then, as a matter of course, I will quietly take my place as 'second +fiddle' in the harmony of your life. But no discordant first fiddle, +if you please; and love alone can attune its strings. My time is +up, and, if I don't return early, go to bed, so that mamma may not +say you are the worse for your days in town. This visit has made +me wish for many others." + +"You shall have them, for, as Shakespeare says, your wish 'jumps' +with mine." + + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +"BE HOPEFUL, THAT I MAY HOPE." + + + + + +LEFT to herself Marian soon threw down the book she tried to read, +and thought grew busy with her father's later words. Was there then +a knight--a man--somewhere in the world, so unknown to her that +she would pass him in the street without the slightest premonition +that he was the arbiter of her destiny? Was there some one, to +whom imagination could scarcely give shadowy outline, so real and +strong that he could look a new life into her soul, set all her +nerves tingling, and her blood coursing in mad torrents through +her veins? Was there a stranger, whom now she would sweep with a +casual glance, who still had the power to subdue her proud maidenhood, +overcome the reserve which seemed to reach as high as heaven, and +lay a gentle yet resistless grasp, not only on her sacred form, but +on her very soul? Even the thought made her tremble with a vague +yet delicious dread. Then she sprung to her feet and threw back her +head proudly as she uttered aloud the words, "If this can ever be +true, my power shall be equal to his." + +A moment later she was evoking half-exultant chords from the piano. +These soon grew low and dreamy, and the girl said softly to herself: +"I have lived more in two days than in months of the past. Truly +real life is better than a sham, shallow existence." + +The door-bell rang, and she started to her feet. "Who can know I +am in town?" she queried. + +Fenton Lane entered with extended hand and the words: "I was passing +and knew I could not be mistaken in your touch. Your presence was +revealed by the music as unmistakably as if I had met you on the +street. Am I an intruder? Please don't order me away under an hour +or two." + +"Indeed, Mr. Lane, truth compels me to say that I am here in deep +retirement. I have been contemplating a convent." + +"May I ask your motive?" + +"To repent of my sins." + +"You would have to confess at a convent. Why not imagine me a +venerable father, dozing after a good dinner, and make your first +essay at the confessional?" + +"You tax my imagination too greatly. So I should have to confess; +therefore no convent for me." + +"Of course not. I should protest against it at the very altar, and +in the teeth of the Pope himself. Can't you repent of your sins in +some other way?" + +"I suppose I shall have to." + +"They would be a queer lot of little peccadilloes. I should like +to set them all under a microscope." + +"I would rather that your glass should be a goblet brimmed from +Lethe." + +"There is no Lethe for me, Miss Marian, so far as you are concerned." + +"Come, tell me the news from the seat of war," she said, abruptly. + +"This luxurious arm-chair is not a seat of war." + +"Papa has been telling me how Southern girls make all the men +enlist." + +"I'll enlist to-morrow, if you ask me to." + +"Oh, no. You might be shot, and then you would haunt me all my +life." + +"May I not haunt you anyway?" said Lane, resolutely, for he had +determined not to let this opportunity pass. She was alone, and he +would confirm the hope which her manner for months had inspired. +"Come, Miss Marian," he continued, springing to his feet and +approaching her side, his dark eyes full of fire and entreaty; "you +cannot have misunderstood me. You know that while not a soldier I +am also not a carpet-knight and have not idled in ladies' bowers. +I have worked hard and dreamed of you. I am willing to do all that +a man can to win you. Cowardice has not kept me from the war, but +you. If it would please you I would put on the blue and shoulder +a musket to-morrow. If you will permit more discretion and time, +I can soon obtain a commission as an officer. But before I fight +other battles, I wish to win the supreme victory of my life. Whatever +orders I may take from others, you shall ever be my superior officer. +You have seen this a long time; a woman of your mind could not help +it. I have tried to hope with all a lover's fondness that you gave +me glimpses of your heart also, but of this nothing would satisfy +a man of my nature but absolute assurance." + +He stood proudly yet humbly before her, speaking with strong, +impassioned, fluent utterance, for he was a man who had both the +power and the habit of expression. + +She listened with something like dismay. Her heart, instead of +kindling, grew only more heavy and remorseful. Her whole nature +shrunk, while pity and compunction wrung tears from her eyes. This +was real life in very truth. Here was a man ready to give up safe, +luxurious existence, a career already successful, and face death +for her. She knew him well enough to be sure that if he could wear +her colors he would march away with the first regiment that would +receive him. He was not a man to be influenced by little things, +but yielded absolutely to the supreme impulses of his life. If +she said the word, he would make good his promise with chivalrous, +straightforward promptness, facing death, and all that death could +then mean to him, with a light, half-jaunty courage characteristic +of the ideal soldier. She had a secret wonder at herself that she +could know all this and yet be so vividly conscious that what he +asked could never be. Her womanly pity said yes; her woman's heart +said no. He was eager to take her in his arms, to place the kiss of +life-long loyalty on her lips; but in her very soul she felt that +it would be almost sacrilege for him to touch her; since the divine +impulse to yield, without which there can be no divine sanction, +was absent. + +She listened, not as a confused, frightened girl, while he spoke +that which she had guessed before. Other men had sued, although +none had spoken so eloquently or backed their words by such weight +of character. Her trouble, her deep perplexity, was not due to a +mere declaration, but was caused by her inability to answer him. +The conventional words which she would have spoken a few days before +died on her lips. They would be an insult to this earnest man, +who had the right to hope for something better. What was scarcely +worse--for there are few emergencies in which egotism is wholly +lost--she would appear at once to him and to herself in an odious +light. Her course would be well characterized by the Irish servant's +lover, for here was a man who from the very fineness of his nature, +if wronged, might easily go to the devil. + +His words echoed her thought, for her hesitation and the visible +distress on her face led him to exclaim, in a voice tense with +something like agony: "O Marian, since you hesitate, hesitate +longer. Think well before you mar--nay, spoil--my life. For God's +sake don't put me off with some of the sham conventionalities current +with society girls. I could stand anything better than that. I +am in earnest; I have always been in earnest; and I saw from the +first, through all your light, graceful disguises, that you were not +a shallow, brainless, heartless creature,--that a noble woman was +waiting to be wakened in your nature. Give me time; give yourself +time. This is not a little affair that can be rounded off according +to the present code of etiquette; it is a matter of life or death +to me. Be more merciful than a rebel bullet." + +She buried her face in her hands and sobbed helplessly. + +He was capable of feeling unknown depths of tenderness, but there +was little softness in his nature. As he looked down upon her, his +face grew rigid and stern. In her sobs he read his answer,--the +unwillingness, probably the inability, of her heart to respond to +his,--and he grew bitter as he thought of the past. + +With the cold, quiet tones of one too strong, controlled, and +well-bred to give way violently to his intense anger, he said: +"This is a different result from what you led me to expect. All +your smiles end in these unavailing tears. Why did you smile so +sweetly after you understood me, since you had nothing better in +store? I was giving you the homage, the choice of my whole manhood, +and you knew it. What were you giving me? Why did your eyes draw +out my heart and soul? Do you think that such a man as I can exist +without heart and soul? Did you class me with Strahan, who can +take a refusal as he would lose a game of whist? No, you did not. +I saw in your very eyes a true estimate of Strahan and all his +kind. Was it your purpose to win a genuine triumph over a man who +cared nothing for other women? Why then don't you enjoy it? You +could not ask for anything more complete." + +"Trample on me--I deserve it," she faltered. + +After a moment's pause, he resumed: "I have no wish to trample +on you. I came here with as much loyalty and homage as ever a man +brought to a woman in any age. I have offered you any test of my +love and truth that you might ask. What more could a man do? As soon +as I knew what you were to me, I sought your father's permission +to win you, and I told you my secret in every tone and glance. If +your whole nature shrunk from me, as I see it does, you could have +told me the truth months since, and I should have gone away honoring +you as a true-hearted, honest girl, who would scorn the thought of +deceiving and misleading an earnest man. You knew I did not belong +to the male-flirt genus. When a man from some sacred impulse of his +nature would give his very life to make a woman happy, is it too +much to ask that she should not deliberately, and for mere amusement, +wreck his life? If she does not want his priceless gift, a woman +with your tact could have revealed the truth by one glance, by one +inflection of a tone. Not that I should have been discouraged so +easily, but I should have accepted an unspoken negative long since +with absolute respect. But now--" and he made a gesture eloquent +with protest and despair. + +"But now," she said, wearily, "I see it all in the light in which +you put it. Be content; you have spoiled my life as truly as I have +yours." + +"Yes, for this evening. There will be only one less in your +drawing-room when you return." + +"Very well," she replied, quietly. Her eyes were dry and hot now, +and he could almost see the dark lines deepening under them, and +the increasing pallor of her face. "I have only this to say. I now +feel that your words are like blows, and they are given to one who +is not resisting, who is prostrate;" and she rose as if to indicate +that their interview should end. + +He looked at her uneasily as she stood before him, with her pallid +face averted, and every line of her drooping form suggesting defeat +rather than triumph; yes, far more than defeat--the apathetic +hopelessness of one who feels himself mortally wounded. + +"Will you please tell me just what you mean when you say I have +spoiled your life?" he asked. + +"How should I know? How should anyone know till he has lived out +its bitterness? What do you mean by the words? Perhaps you will +remember hereafter that your language has been inconsistent as well +as merciless. You said I was neither brainless nor heartless; then +added that you had spoiled my life merely for one evening. But +there is no use in trying to defend myself: I should have little +to urge except thoughtlessness, custom, the absence of evil +intention,--other words should prove myself a fool, to avoid being +a criminal. Go on and spoil your life; you seem to be wholly bent +upon it. Face rebel bullets or do some other reckless thing. I +only wish to give you the solace of knowing that you have made me +as miserable as a girl can be, and that too at a moment when I was +awakening to better things. But I am wasting your valuable time. +You believe in your heart that Mr. Strahan can console me with his +gossip to-morrow evening, whatever happens." + +"Great God! what am I to believe?" + +She turned slowly towards him and said, gravely: "Do not use that +name, Mr. Lane. He recognizes the possibility of good in the weakest +and most unworthy of His creatures. He never denounces those who +admit their sin and would turn from it." + +He sprung to her side and took her hand. "Look at me," he pleaded. + +His face was so lined and eloquent with suffering that her own lip +quivered. + +"Mr. Lane," she said, "I have wronged you. I am very sorry now. +I've been sorry ever since I began to think--since you last called. +I wish you could forgive me. I think it would be better for us both +if you could forgive me." + +He sunk into a chair and burying his face in his hands groaned aloud; +then, in bitter soliloquy, said: "O God! I was right--I knew I was +not deceived. She is just the woman I believed her to be. Oh, this +is worse than death!" + +No tears came into his eyes, but a convulsive shudder ran through +his frame like that of a man who recoils from the worst blow of +fate. + +"Reproach--strike me, even," she cried. "Anything is better than +this. Oh, that I could--but how can I? Oh, what an unutterable fool +I have been! If your love is so strong, it should also be a little +generous. As a woman I appeal to you." + +He rose at once and said: "Forgive me; I fear that I have been +almost insane,--that I have much to atone for." + +"O Mr. Lane, I entreat you to forgive me. I did admire you; I was +proud of your preference,--proud that one so highly thought of +and coveted by others should single me out. I never dreamt that +my vanity and thoughtlessness could lead to this. If you had been +ill or in trouble, you would have had my honest sympathy, and few +could have sacrificed more to aid you. I never harbored one thought +of cold-blooded malice. Why must I be punished as if I had committed +a deliberate crime? If I am the girl you believe me to be, what +greater punishment could I have than to know that I had harmed a +man like you? It seems to me that if I loved any one I could suffer +for him and help him, without asking anything in return. I could +give you honest friendship, and take heart-felt delight in every +manly success that you achieved. As a weak, faulty girl, who yet +wishes to be a true woman, I appeal to you. Be strong, that I may +be strong; be hopeful, that I may hope; be all that you can be, +that I may not be disheartened on the very threshold of the better +life I had chosen." + +He took her hand, and said: "I am not unresponsive to your words. +I feel their full force, and hope to prove that I do; but there is +a tenacity in my nature that I cannot overcome. You said, 'if you +loved'--do you not love any one?" + +"No. You are more to me--twice more--than any man except my father." + +"Then, think well. Do not answer me now, unless you must. Is there +not a chance for me? I am not a shadow of a man, Marian. I fear +I have proved too well how strong and concentrated my nature is. +There is nothing I would not do or dare--" + +"No, Mr. Lane; no," she interrupted, shaking her head sadly, "I will +never consciously mislead a man again a single moment. I scarcely +know what love is; I may never know; but until my heart prompts +me, I shall never give the faintest hope or encouragement of this +nature. I have been taught the evil of it too bitterly." + +"And I have been your remorseless teacher, and thus perhaps have +destroyed my one chance." + +"You are wrong. I now see that your words were natural to one like +you, and they were unjust only because I was not deliberate. Mr. +Lane, let me be your friend. I could give you almost a sister's +love; I could be so proud of you!" + +"There," he said. "You have triumphed after all. I pledge you my +word--all the manhood I possess--I will do whatever you ask." + +She took his hand in both her own with a look of gratitude he +never forgot, and spoke gladly: "Now you change everything. Oh, I +am so glad you did not go away before! What a sad, sleepless night +I should have had, and sad to-morrows stretching on indefinitely! I +ask very much, very much indeed,--that you make the most and best +of yourself. Then I can try to do the same. It will be harder +for you than for me. You bring me more hope than sadness; I have +given you more sadness than hope. Yet I have absolute faith in you +because of what papa said to me last night. I had asked him how I +could cease to be what I was, be different, you know, and he said, +'Develop the best in your own nature naturally.' If you will do +this I shall have no fears." + +"Yet I have been positively brutal to you to-night." + +"No man can be so strong as you are and be trifled with. I understand +that now, Mr. Lane. You had no sentimentality to be touched, and +my tears did not move you in the least until you believed in my +honest contrition." + +"I have revealed to you one of my weaknesses. I am rarely angry, +but when I am, my passion, after it is over, frightens me. Marian, +you do forgive me in the very depths of your heart?" + +"I do indeed,--that is, if I have anything to forgive under the +circumstances." + +"Poor little girl! how pale you are! I fear you are ill." + +"I shall soon be better,--better all my life for your forgiveness +and promise." + +"Thank God that we are parting in this manner," he said. "I don't +like to think of what might have happened, for I was in the devil's +own mood. Marian, if you make good the words you have spoken +to-night, if you become the woman you can be, you will have a power +possessed by few. It was not your beauty merely that fascinated me, +but a certain individuality,--something all your own, which gives +you an influence apparently absolute. But I shall speak no more +in this strain. I shall try to be as true a friend as I am capable +of becoming, although an absent one. I must prove myself by deeds, +not words, however. May I write to you sometimes? I will direct +my letters under the care of your father, and you may show them to +him or your mother, as you wish." + +"Certainly you may, and you will be my first and only gentleman +correspondent. After what has passed between us, it would be +prudery to refuse. Moreover, I wish to hear often of your welfare. +Never for a moment will my warm interest cease, and you can see me +whenever you wish. I have one more thing to ask,--please take up +your old life to-morrow, just where you left off. Do nothing hastily, +or from impulse. Remember you have promised to make the most and +best of yourself, and that requires you to give conscience and +reason fair hearing. Will you also promise this?" + +"Anything you asked, I said." + +"Then good-by. Never doubt my friendship, as I shall not doubt +yours." + +Her hand ached from the pressure of his, but the pain was thus +drawn from her heart. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A SCHEME OF LIFE. + + + + + +MARIAN waited for her father's return, having been much too deeply +excited for the speedy advent of quiet sleep. When at last he came +she told him everything. As she described the first part of the +interview his brow darkened, but his face softened as she drew +toward the close. When she ceased he said:-- + +"Don't you see I was right in saying that your own tact would guide +you better than my reason? If I, instead of your own nature, had +directed you, we should have made an awful mess of it. Now let me +think a moment. This young fellow has suggested an idea to me,--a +general line of action which I think you can carry out. There is +nothing like a good definite plan,--not cast-iron, you know, but +flexible and modified by circumstances as you go along, yet so +clear and defined as to give you something to aim at. Confound it, +that's what's the matter with our military authorities. If McClellan +is a ditch-digger let them put a general in command; or, if he +is a general, give him what he wants and let him alone. There is +no head, no plan. I confess, however, that just now I am chiefly +interested in your campaigns, which, after all, stand the best chance +of bringing about union, in spite of your negative mood manifested +to-night. Nature will prove too strong for you, and some day--soon +probably--you will conquer, only to surrender yourself. Be that as +it may, the plan I suggest need not be interfered with. Be patient. +I'm only following the tactics in vogue,--taking the longest way +around to the point to be attacked. Lane said that if you carried +out your present principle of action you would have a power possessed +by few. I think he is right. I'm not flattering you. Little power +of any kind can co-exist with vanity. The secret of your fascination +is chiefly in your individuality. There are other girls more beautiful +and accomplished who have not a tithe of it. Now and then a woman +is peculiarly gifted with the power to influence men,--strong men, +too. You had this potency in no slight degree when neither your +heart nor your brain was very active. You will find that it will +increase with time, and if you are wise it will be greater when +you are sixty than at present. If you avoid the Scylla of vanity +on the one hand, and the Charybdis of selfishness on the other, and +if the sympathies of your heart keep pace with a cultivated mind, +you will steadily grow in social influence. I believe it for this +reason: A weak girl would have been sentimental with Lane, would have +yielded temporarily, either to his entreaty or to his anger, only +to disappoint him in the end, or else would have been conventional +in her refusal and so sent him to the bad, probably. You recognized +just what you could be to him, and had the skill--nature, rather, +for all was unpremeditated--to obtain an influence by which you +can incite him to a better manhood and a greater success, perhaps, +than if he were your accepted lover. Forgive this long preamble: +I am thinking aloud and feeling my way, as it were. What did you +ask him to promise? Why, to make the most and best of himself. +Why not let this sentence suggest the social scheme of your life? +Drop fellows who have neither brains nor heart,--no good mettle +in them,--and so far as you have influence strive to inspire the +others to make the most and best of themselves. You would not find +the kitchen-maid a rival on this plan of life; nor indeed, I regret +to say, many of your natural associates. Outwardly your life will +appear much the same, but your motive will change everything, and +flow through all your action like a mountain spring, rendering it +impossible for you to poison any life." + +"O papa, the very possibility of what you suggest makes life appear +beautiful. The idea of a convent!" + +"Convents are the final triumph of idiocy. If bad women could be +shut up and made to say prayers most of the time, no harm at least +would be done,--the good, problematical; but to immure a woman of +sweet, natural, God-bestowed impulses is the devil's worst practical +joke in this world. Come, little girl, it's late. Think over the +scheme; try it as you have a chance; use your power to incite men to +make the most and best of themselves. This is better than levying +your little tribute of flattery and attention, like other belles,--a +phase of life as common as cobble-stones and as old as vanity. For +instance, you have an artist among your friends. Possibly you can +make him a better artist and a better fellow in every way. Drop all +muffs and sticks; don't waste yourself on them. Have considerable +charity for some of the wild fellows, none for their folly, and from +the start tolerate no tendencies toward sentimentality. You will +find that the men who admire girls bent on making eyes rather than +making men will soon disappear. Sensible fellows won't misunderstand +you, even though prompted to more than friendship; and you will have +a circle of friends of which any woman might be proud. Of course +you will find at times that unspoken negatives will not satisfy; +but if a woman has tact, good sense, and sincerity, her position is +impregnable. As long as she is not inclined to love a man herself, +she can, by a mere glance, not only define her position, but +defend it. By simple dignity and reserve she can say to all, 'Thus +far and no farther.' If, without encouragement, any one seeks to +break through this barrier he meets a quiet negative which he must +respect, and in his heart does respect. Now, little girl, to sum up +your visit, with its long talks and their dramatic and unexpected +illustration, I see nothing to prevent you from going forward and +making the best and most of your life according to nature and truth. +You have a good start, and a rather better chance than falls to +the lot of the majority." + +"Truly," said Marian, thoughtfully, "we don't appear to grow old +and change by time so much as by what happens,--by what we think +and feel. Everything appears changed, including you and myself." + +"It's more in appearance than in reality. You will find the impetus +of your old life so strong that it will be hard even to change the +direction of the current. You will be much the same outwardly, as +I said before. The stream will flow through the same channel of +characteristic traits and habits. The vital change must be in the +stream itself,--the motive from which life springs." + +How true her father's words seemed on the following evening after +her return! Her mother, as she sat down, to their dainty little +dinner, looked as if her serenity had been undisturbed by a single +perplexing thought during the past few days. There was the same +elegant, yet rather youthful costume for a lady of her years; the +same smiling face, not yet so full in its outline as to have lost +all its girlish beauty. It was marred by few evidences of care and +trouble, nor was it spiritualized by thought or deep experience. + +Marian observed her closely, not with any disposition towards cold +or conscious criticism, but in order that she might better understand +the conditions of her own life. She also had a wakening curiosity +to know just what her mother was to her father and he to her. The +hope was forming that she could make them more to each other. She +had too much tact to believe that this could be done by general +exhortations. If anything was to be accomplished it must be by +methods so fine and unobtrusive as to be scarcely recognized. + +Her father's inner life had been a revelation to her, and she was +led to query: "Why does not mamma understand it? CAN she understand +it?" Therefore she listened attentively to the details of what had +happened in her absence. She waited in vain for any searching and +intelligent questions concerning the absent husband. Beyond that +he was well, and that everything about the house was just as she +had left it, Mrs. Vosburgh appeared to have no interest. She was +voluble over little household affairs, the novel that just then +absorbed her, and especially the callers and their chagrin at +finding the young girl absent. + +"Only the millionnaire widower remained any length of time when +learning that you were away," said the lady, "and he spent most of +the evening with me. I assure you he is a very nice, entertaining +old fellow." + +"How did he entertain you? What did he talk about?" + +"Let me remember. Now I think of it, what didn't he talk about? He +is one of the most agreeable gossips I ever met,--knows everybody +and everything. He has at his finger-ends the history of all who +were belles in my time, and" (complacently) "I find that few have +done better than I, while some, with all their opportunities, chose +very crooked sticks." + +"You are right, mamma. It seems to me that neither of us half +appreciates papa. He works right on so quietly and steadily, and +yet he is not a machine, but a man." + +"Oh, I appreciate him. Nine out of ten that he might have married +would have made him no end of trouble. I don't make him any. Well, +after talking about the people we used to know, Mr. Lanniere began +a tirade against the times and the war, which he says have cost him +a hundred thousand dollars; but he took care in a quiet way to let +me know that he has a good many hundred thousands left. I declare, +Marian, you might do a great deal worse." + +"Do you not think I might do a great deal better?" the young girl +asked, with a frown. + +"I have no doubt you think so. Girls will be romantic. I was, +myself; but as one goes on in life one finds that a million, more +or less, is a very comfortable fact. Mr. Lanniere has a fine house +in town, but he's a great traveller, and an habitue of the best +hotels of this country and Europe. You could see the world with +him on its golden side." + +"Well, mamma, I want a man,--not an habitue. What's more, I must +be in love with the man, or he won't stand the ghost of a chance. +So you see the prospects are that you will have me on your hands +indefinitely. Mr. Lanniere, indeed! What should I be but a part of +his possessions,--another expensive luxury in his luxurious life? +I want a man like papa,--earnest, large-brained, and large-hearted,--who, +instead of inveighing against the times, is absorbed in the vital +questions of the day, and is doing his part to solve them rightly. +I would like to take Mr. Lanniere into a military hospital or +cemetery, and show him what the war has cost other men." + +"Why, Marian, how you talk!" + +"I wish I could make you know how I feel. It seems to me that one +has only to think a little and look around in order to feel deeply. +I read of an awful battle while coming up in the cars. We have +been promised, all the spring, that Richmond would be taken, the +war ended, and all go on serenely again; but it doesn't look like +it." + +"What's the use of women distressing themselves with such things?" +said Mrs. Vosburgh, irritably. "I can't bear to think of war and +its horrors, except as they give spice to a story. Our whole trouble +is a big political squabble, and you know I detest politics. It +is just as Mr. Lanniere says,--if our people had only let slavery +alone all would have gone on veil. The leaders on both sides will +find out before the summer is over that they have gone too far +and fast, and they had better settle their differences with words +rather than blows. We shall all be shaking hands ana making up +before Christmas." + +"Papa doesn't think so." + +"Your father is a German at heart. He has the sense to be practical +about every-day affairs and enjoy a good dinner, but he amuses +himself with cloudy speculations and ideals and vast questions +about the welfare of the world, or the 'trend of the centuries,' +as he said one day to me. I always try to laugh him out of such +vague nonsense. Has he been talking to you about the 'trend of the +centuries'?" + +"No, mamma, he has not," replied Marian, gravely; "but if he does +I shall try to understand what he means and be interested. I know +that papa feels deeply about the war, and means to take the most +effective part in it that he can, and that he does not think it +will end so easily as you believe. These facts make me feel anxious, +for I know how resolute papa is." + +"He has no right to take any risks," said the lady, emphatically. + +"He surely has the same right that other men have." + +"Oh, well," concluded Mrs. Vosburgh, with a shrug, "there is no use +in borrowing trouble. When it comes to acting, instead of dreaming +and speculating on vast, misty questions, I can always talk your +father into good sense. That is the best thing about him,--he is +well-balanced, in spite of his tendency to theories. When I show +him that a thing is quixotic he laughs, shrugs his shoulders, and +good-naturedly goes on in the even tenor of his way. It was the +luckiest thing in the world for him when he married me, for I soon +learned his weak points, and have ever guarded him against them. +As a result he has had a quiet, prosperous career. If he wishes to +serve the government in some civilian capacity, and is well paid +for it, why shouldn't he? But I would never hear of his going to +the front, fighting, and marching in Virginia mud and swamps. If +he ever breathes such a thought to you, I hope you will aid me in +showing him how cruel and preposterous it is." + +Marian sighed, as she thought: "I now begin to see how well papa +understands mamma, but has she any gauge by which to measure him? +I fear he has found his home lonely, in spite of good dinners." + +"Come, my dear," resumed Mrs. Vosburgh, "we are lingering too long. +Some of your friends may be calling soon, although I said I did +not know whether you would be at home to-night or not. Mr. Lanniere +will be very likely to come, for I am satisfied that he has serious +intentions. What's more, you might do worse,--a great deal worse." + +"Three times you have said that, mamma, and I don't like it," said +Marian, a little indignantly. "Of course I might do worse; I might +kill him, and I should be tempted to if I married him. You know +that I do not care for him, and he knows it, too. Indeed, I scarcely +respect him. You don't realize what you are saying, for you would +not have me act from purely mercenary motives?" + +"Oh, certainly not; but Mr. Lanniere is not a monster or a decrepit +centenarian. He is still in his prime, and is a very agreeable and +accomplished man of the world. He is well-connected, moves in the +best society, and could give his wife everything." + +"He couldn't give me happiness, and he would spoil my life." + +"Oh well, if you feel so, there is nothing more to be said. I can +tell you, though, that multitudes of girls would be glad of your +chance; but, like so many young people, you have romantic ideas, +and do not appreciate the fact that happiness results chiefly from +the conditions of our lot, and that we soon learn to have plenty +of affection for those who make them all we could desire;" and she +touched a bell for the waitress, who had been temporarily dismissed. + +The girl came in with a faint smile on her face. "Has she been +listening?" thought Marian. "That creature, then, with her vain, +pretty, yet vulgar face, is the type of what I was. She has been +lighting the drawing-room for me to do what she proposes to do +later in the evening. She looks just the same. Mamma is just the +same. Callers will come just the same. How unchanged all is, as +papa said it would be! I fear much may be unchangeable." + +She soon left the dining-room for the parlor, her dainty, merry +little campaigning-ground. What should be its future record? Could +she carry out the scheme of life which her father had suggested? +"Well," she concluded, with an ominous flash in her eyes at her fair +reflection in the mirror, "whether I can incite any one to better +things or not, I can at least do some freezing out. That gossipy, +selfish old Mr. Lanniere must take his million to some other market. +I have no room in my life for him. Neither do I dote on the future +acquaintance of Mr. Strahan. I shall put him on probation. If men +don't want my society and regard on the new conditions, they can +stay away; if they persist in coming, they must do something finer +and be something finer than in the past. The friendship of one man +like Fenton Lane is worth more than the attention of a wilderness +of muffs and sticks, as papa calls them. What I fear is that I shall +appear goody-goody, and that would disgust every one, including +myself." + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +SURPRISES. + + + + + +MR. Lanniere evidently had serious intentions, for he came +unfashionably early. He fairly beamed on the young girl when he +found her at home. Indeed, as she stood before him in her radiant +youth, which her evening costume enhanced with a fine taste quickly +recognized by his practised eyes, he very justly regarded her as +better than anything which his million had purchased hitherto. It +might easily be imagined that he had added a little to the couleur +de rose of the future by an extra glass of Burgundy, for he positively +appeared to exude an atmosphere of affluence, complacency, and +gracious intention. The quick-witted girl detected at once his +King-Cophetua air, and she was more amused than embarrassed. Then +the eager face of Fenton Lane arose in her fancy, and she heard +his words, "I would shoulder a musket and march away to-morrow if +you bade me!" How insignificant was all that this man could offer, +as compared with the boundless, self-sacrificing love of the other, +before whom her heart bowed in sincere homage if nothing more! What +was this man's offer but an expression of selfishness? And what +could she ever be but an accessory of his Burgundy? Indeed, as his +eyes, humid from wine, gloated upon her, and he was phrasing his +well-bred social platitudes and compliments, quite oblivious of +the fact that HER eyes were taking on the blue of a winter sky, +her cheeks began to grow a little hot with indignation and shame. +He knew that she did not love him, that naturally she could not, +and that there had been nothing in their past relations to inspire +even gratitude and respect towards him. In truth, his only effort +had been to show his preference and to indicate his wishes. What +then could his offer mean but the expectation that she would take +him as a good bargain, and, like any well-bred woman of the world, +comply with all its conditions? Had she given him the impression that +she could do this? While the possibility made her self-reproachful, +she was conscious of rising resentment towards him who was so +complacently assuming that she was for sale. + +"Indeed, Miss Vosburgh," was the conclusion of his rather long +preliminaries, "you must not run away soon again. June days may +be charming under any circumstances, but your absence certainly +insures dull June evenings." + +"You are burdening your conscience without deceiving me," the young +girl replied, demurely, "and should not so wrong yourself. Mamma +said that you were very entertaining, and that last evening was a +delightful one. It could scarcely be otherwise. It is natural that +people of the same age should be congenial. I will call mamma at +once." + +"I beg you will not,--at least not just yet. I have something to +say to which I trust you will listen kindly and favorably. Do you +think me so very old?" + +"No older than you have a perfect right to be, Mr. Lanniere," said +the girl, laughing. "I can think of no reason for your reproachful +tone." + +"Let me give you one then. Your opinions are of immense importance +to me." + +"Truly, Mr. Lanniere, this is strange beyond measure, especially +as I am too young to have formed many opinions." + +"That fact only increases my admiration and regard One must reach +my years in order to appreciate truly the dewy freshness of youth. +The world is a terra incognita to you yet, and your opinions of +life are still to be formed. Let me give you a chance to see the +world from lofty, sunny elevations." + +"I am too recently from my geography not to remember that while +elevations may be sunny they are very cold," was the reply, with +a charming little shiver. "Mont Blanc has too much perspective." + +"Do not jest with me or misunderstand me, Miss Vosburgh," he said, +impressively. "There is a happy mean in all things." + +"Yes, Mr. Lanniere, and the girl who means to be happy should take +care to discover it." + +"May it not be discovered for her by one who is better acquainted +with life? In woman's experience is not happiness more often +thrust upon her than achieved? I, who know the world and the rich +pleasures and triumphs it affords to one who, in the military phrase +of the day, is well supported, can offer you a great deal,--more +than most men, I assure you." + +"Why, Mr. Lanniere," said the young girl, looking at him with +demure surprise, "I am perfectly contented and happy. No ambition +for triumphs is consuming me. What triumphs? As for pleasure, each +day brings all and more than I deserve. Young as one may be, one +can scarcely act without a motive." + +"Then I am personally nothing to you?" he said stiffly, and rising. + +"Pardon me, Mr. Lanniere. I hope my simple directness may not appear +childish, but it seems to me that I have met your suggestions with +natural answers; What should you be to me but an agreeable friend +of mamma's?" + +He understood her fence perfectly, and was aware that the absence +of a mercenary spirit on her part made his suit appear almost +ridiculous. If her clear young eyes would not see him through a +golden halo, but only as a man and a possible mate, what could he +be to her? Even gold-fed egotism could not blind him to the truth +that she was looking at HIM, and that the thought of bartering +herself for a little more of what she had to her heart's content +already was not even considered. There was distressing keenness in +the suggestion that, not wanting the extraneous things he offered, +no motive was left. He was scarcely capable of suspecting her +indignation that he should deem her capable of sacrificing her fair +young girlhood for greater wealth and luxury, even had she coveted +them,--an indignation enhanced by her new impulses. The triumphs, +happiness, and power which she now was bent on achieving could +never be won under the dense shade of his opulent selfishness. He +embodied all that was inimical to her hopes and plans, all that was +opposed to the motives and inspiration received from her father, +and she looked at him with unamiable eyes. + +While he saw this to some extent, he was unaccustomed to denial by +others or by himself. She was alluringly beautiful, as she stood +before him,--all the more valued because she valued herself so +highly, all the more coveted because superior to the sordid motives +upon which even he had counted as the chief allies in his suit. +In the intense longing of a self-indulgent nature he broke out, +seizing her hand as he spoke: "O Miss Marian, do not deny me. +I know I could make you happy. I would give you everything. Your +slightest wish should be law. I would be your slave." + +"I do not wish a slave," she replied, freezingly, withdrawing her +hand. "I am content, as I told you; but were I compelled to make +a choice it should be in favor of a man to whom I could look up, +and whom I could aid in manly work. I shall not make a choice until +compelled to by my heart." + +"If your heart is still your own, give me a chance to win it," +resumed the suitor, seeking vainly to take her hand again. "I am +in my prime, and can do more than most men. I will put my wealth +at your disposal, engage in noble charities, patriotic--" + +This interview had been so absorbing as to make them oblivious of +the fact that another visitor had been admitted to the hall. Hearing +voices in the drawing-room, Mr. Strahan entered, and now stood just +behind Mr. Lanniere, with an expression in which dismay, amusement, +and embarrassment were so comically blended that Marian, who first +saw him, had to cover her face with her handkerchief to hide her +sense of the ludicrous. + +"Pardon me," said the inopportune new-comer, "I--I--" + +"Maledictions on you!" exclaimed the goaded millionnaire, now +enraged beyond self-control, and confronting the young fellow with +glaring, bloodshot eyes. + +This greeting put Strahan entirely at his ease, and a glimpse of +Marian's mirth had its influence also. She had turned instantly +away, and gone to the farther side of the apartment. + +"Come now, Mr. Lanniere," he said, with an assumption of much +dignity; "there is scant courtesy in your greeting, and without +reason. I have the honor of Miss Vosburgh's acquaintance as truly +as yourself. This is her parlor, and she alone has the right to +indicate that I am unwelcome. I shall demand no apologies here and +now, but I shall demand them. I may appear very young--" + +"Yes, you do; very young. I should think that ears like yours might +have--" And then the older man paused, conscious that the violence +of his anger was carrying him too far. + +Strahan struck a nonchalant attitude, as he coolly remarked: "My +venerable friend, your passion is unbecoming to your years. Miss +Vosburgh, I humbly ask your pardon that my ears were not long enough +to catch the purport of this interview. I am not in the habit of +listening at a lady's door before I enter. My arrival at a moment +so awkward for me was my misfortune. I discovered nothing to your +discredit, Mr. Lanniere. Indeed, your appreciation of Miss Vosburgh +is the most creditable thing I know about you,--far more so than +your insults because I merely entered the door to which I was shown +by the maid who admitted me. Miss Vosburgh, with your permission +I will now depart, in the hope that you will forgive the annoyance--" + +"I cannot give you my permission under the circumstances, Mr. +Strahan. You have committed no offence against me, or Mr. Lanniere, +either, as he will admit after a little thought. Let us regard the +whole matter as one of those awkward little affairs over which good +breeding can speedily triumph. Sit down, and I will call mamma." + +"Pardon me, Miss Vosburgh," said Mr. Lanniere, in a choking voice, +for he could not fail to note the merriment which the mercurial +Strahan strove in vain to suppress; "I will leave you to more +congenial society. I have paid you the highest compliment in my +power, and have been ill-requited." + +As if stung, the young girl took a step towards him, and said, +indignantly: "What was the nature of your compliment? What have you +asked but that I should sell myself for money? I may have appeared +to you a mere society girl, but I was never capable of that. +Good-evening, sir." + +Mr. Lanniere departed with tingling ears, and a dawning consciousness +that he had over-rated his million, and that he had made a fool of +himself generally. + +All trace of mirth passed from Strahan's expression, as he looked +at the young girl's stern, flushed face and the angry sheen of her +eyes. + +"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "that's magnificent. I've seen a girl now +to whom I can take off my hat, not as a mere form. Half the girls +in our set would have given their eyes for the chance of capturing +such a man. Think what a vista of new bonnets he suggests!" + +"You are probably mistaken. One girl has proved how she regarded +the vista, and I don't believe you had any better opinion of me +than of the others. Come now, own up. Be honest. Didn't you regard +me as one of the girls 'in our set' as you phrase it, that would +jump at the chance?" + +"Oh, nonsense, Miss Marian. The idea--" + +She checked him by a gesture. "I wish downright sincerity, and I +shall detect the least false note in your words." + +Strahan looked into her resolute, earnest eyes a moment, and +then revealed a new trait. He discarded the slight affectation +that characterized his manner, stood erect, and returned her gaze +steadily. "You ask for downright sincerity?" he said. + +"Yes; I will take nothing less." + +"You have no right to ask it unless you will be equally sincere +with me." + +"Oh, indeed; you are in a mood for bargains, as well as Mr. +Lanniere." + +"Not at all. You have stepped out of the role of the mere society +girl. In that guise I shall be all deference and compliments. On +the basis of downright sincerity I have my rights, and you have +no right to compel me to give an honest opinion so personal in its +nature without giving one in return." + +"I agree," she said, after a moment's thought. + +"Well, then, while I was by no means sure, I thought it was possible, +even probable, that you would accept a man like Lanniere. I have +known society girls to do such things, haven't you?" + +"And I tell you, Mr. Strahan, that you misjudge a great many society +girls." + +"Oh, you must tell me a great deal more than that. Have I not just +discovered that I misjudged one? Now pitch into Arthur Strahan." + +"I am inclined to think that I have misjudged you, also; but +I will keep my compact, and give you the impression you made, and +you won't like it." + +"I don't expect to; but I shall expect downright sincerity." + +"Very well. I'll test you. You are not simple and manly, even in +your dress and manner; you are an anomaly in the country; you are +inclined to gossip; and it's my belief that a young man should do +more in life than amuse himself." + +Strahan flushed, but burst out laughing as he exclaimed, "My +photograph, by Jupiter!" + +"Photographs give mere surface. Come, what's beneath it?" + +"In one respect, at least, I think I am on a par with yourself. I +have enough honest good-nature to listen to the truth with thanks." + +"Is that all?" + +"Come, Miss Marian, what is the use of words when I have had such +an example of deeds? I have caught you, red-handed, in the act of +giving a millionnaire his conge. In the face of this stern fact +do you suppose I am going to try to fish up some germs of manhood +for your inspection? As you have suggested, I must do something, +or I'm out of the race with you. I honestly believe, though, I am +not such a fool as I have seemed. I shall always be something of +a rattle-brain, I suppose, and if I were dying I could not help +seeing the comical side of things." He hesitated a moment, and then +asked, abruptly, "Miss Marian, have you read to-day's paper?" + +"Yes, I have," with a tinge of sadness in her tone. + +"Well, so have I. Think of thousands of fine young fellows lying +stiff and stark in those accursed swamps!" + +"Yes," she cried, with a rush of tears, "I WILL think of them. +I will try to see them, horrible as the sight is, even in fancy. +When they died so heroically, shame on me if I turn away in weak, +dainty disgust! Oh, the burning shame that Northern girls don't +think more of such men and their self-sacrifice!" + +"You're a trump, Miss Marian; that's evident. Well, one little bit +of gossip about myself, and then I must go. I have another engagement +this evening. Old Lanniere was right. I'm young, and I've been +very young. Of late I've made deliberate effort to remain a fool; +but a man has got to be a fool or a coward down to the very hard-pan +of his soul if the logic of recent events has no effect on him. I +don't think I am exactly a coward, but the restraint of army-life, +and especially roughing it, is very distasteful. I kept thinking +it would all soon be over, that more men were in now than were +needed, and that it was a confounded disagreeable business, and +all that. But my mind wasn't at rest; I wasn't satisfied with the +ambitions of my callow youth; and, as usual when one is in trouble +and in doubt about a step, I exaggerated my old folly to disguise +my feelings. But this Richmond campaign, and the way Stonewall +Jackson has been whacking our fellows in the Shenandoah, made me +feel that I was standing back too long, and the battle described +in to-day's paper brought me to a decision. I'm in for it, Miss +Marian. You may think I'm not worth the powder required to blow me +up, but I'm going to Virginia as soon as I can learn enough not to +be more dangerous to those around me than to the enemy." + +She darted to his side, and took his hand, exclaiming, "Mr. Strahan! +forgive me; I've done you a hundred-fold more injustice than you +have me!" + +He was visibly embarrassed, a thing unusual with him, and he +said, brusquely: "Oh, come now, don't let us have any pro patria +exaltation. I don't resemble a hero any more than I do a doctor of +divinity. I'm just like lots of other young fellows who have gone, +only I have been slower in going, and my ardor won't set the river +on fire. But the times are waking up all who have any wake-up in +them, and the exhibition of the latest English cut in coats and +trousers is taking on a rather inglorious aspect. How ridiculous +it all seems in the light of the last battle! Jove! but I HAVE been +young!" + +He did look young indeed, with his blond mustache and flushed face, +that was almost as fair as a girl's. She regarded him wonderingly, +thinking how strangely events were applying the touchstone to one +and another. But the purpose of this boyish-appearing exquisite +was the most unexpected thing in the era of change that had begun. +She could scarcely believe it, and exclaimed, "You face a cannon?" + +"I don't look like it, do I? I fancy I would. I should be too +big a coward to run away, for then I should have to come back to +face you, which would be worse, you know. I'm not going to do any +bragging, however. Deeds, deeds. Not till I have laid out a Johnny, +or he has laid me out, can I take rank with you after your rout of +the man of millions. I don't ask you to believe in me yet." + +"Well, I do believe in you. You are making an odd yet vivid +impression on me. I believe you will face danger just as you did +Mr. Lanniere, in a half-nonchalant and a half-satirical mood, while +all the time there will be an undercurrent of downright earnestness +and heroism in you, which you will hide as if you were ashamed of +it." + +He flushed with pleasure, but only laughed, "We'll see." Then after +a moment he added, "Since we are down to the bed-rock in our talk +I'll say out the rest of my say, then follow Lanniere, and give +him something more to digest before he sleeps." + +"Halt, sir--military jargon already--how can you continue your +quarrel with Mr. Lanniere without involving my name?" + +Strahan looked blank for a second, then exclaimed: "Another evidence, +of extreme youth! Lanniere may go to thunder before I risk annoying +you." + +"Yes, thank you; please let him go to thunder. He won't talk of +the affair, and so can do you no harm." + +"Supposing he could, that would be no excuse for annoying you." + +"I think you punished him sufficiently before he went, and without +ceasing to be a gentleman, too. If you carry out your brave purpose +you need not fear for your reputation." + +"Well, Miss Marian, I shall carry it out. Society girl as I believed +you to be, I like you better than the others. Don't imagine I'm +going to be sentimental. I should stand as good a chance of winning +a major-general's stars as you. I've seen better fellows raising +the siege and disappearing, you know. Well, the story I thought +would be short is becoming long. I wanted to tell you first what +I proposed; for, hang it all! I've read it in your eyes that you +thought I was little better than a popinjay, and I wished to prove +to you that I could be a man after my fashion." + +"I like your fashion, and am grateful for your confidence. What's +more, you won't be able to deceive me a bit hereafter. I shall +persist in admiring you as a brave man, and shall stand up for you +through thick and thin." + +"You always had a kind of loyalty to us fellows that we recognized +and appreciated." + +"I feel now as if I had not been very loyal to any one, not even +myself. As with you, however, I must let the future tell a different +story." + +"If I make good my words, will you be my friend?" + +"Yes, yes indeed, and a proud one. But oh!"--she clasped her hand +over her eyes,--"what is all this tending to? When I think of the +danger and suffering to which you may--" + +"Oh, come now," he interrupted, laughing, but with a little +suspicious moisture in eyes as blue as her own; "it will be harder +for you to stay and think of absent friends than for them to go. +I foresee how it will turn out. You will be imagining high tragedy +on stormy nights when we shall be having a jolly game of poker. +Good-night. I shall be absent for a time,--going to West Point to +be coached a little by my friend Captain Varrum." + +He drew himself up, saluted her a la militaire, right-about-faced +with the stiffness of a ramrod, and was departing, when a light +hand touched his arm, and Marian said, with a look so kind and +sympathetic that his eyes fell before it: "Report to me occasionally, +Captain Strahan. There are my colors;" and she gave him a white +rose from her belt. + +His mouth quivered slightly, but with a rather faltering laugh +he replied, as he put the rose to his lips, "Never let the color +suggest that I will show the white feather;" and then he began his +military career with a precipitate retreat. + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CHARMED BY A CRITIC. + + + + + +"WHAT next?" was Marian's wondering query after Mr. Strahan's +departure. The change of motive which already had had no slight +influence on her own action and feeling had apparently ushered in +a new era in her experience; but the sense of novelty in personal +affairs was quite lost as she contemplated the transformation in +the mercurial Strahan, who had apparently been an irredeemable fop. +That the fastidious exquisite should tramp through Virginia mud, +and face a battery of hostile cannon, appeared to her the most +marvellous of human paradoxes. An hour before she would have declared +the idea preposterous. Now she was certain he would do all that he +had said, and would do it in the manner satirical and deprecatory +towards himself which she had suggested. + +Radical as the change seemed, she saw that it was a natural one +as he had explained it. If there was any manhood in him the times +would evoke it. After all, his chief faults had been youth and +a nature keenly sensitive to certain social influences. Belonging +to a wealthy and fashionable clique in the city, he had early been +impressed by the estimated importance of dress and gossip. To excel +in these, therefore, was to become pre-eminent. As time passed, +however, the truth, never learned by some, that his clique was not +the world, began to dawn on him. He was foolish, but not a fool; +and when he saw young fellows no older than himself going to the +front, when he read of their achievements and sufferings, he drew +comparisons. The result was that he became more and more dissatisfied. +He felt that he was anomalous, in respect not only to the rural +scenery of his summer home, but to the times, and the conviction +was growing that the only way to right himself was to follow the +host of American youth who had gone southward. It was a conviction to +which he could not readily yield, and which he sought to disguise +by exaggerating his well-known characteristics. People of his +temperament often shrink from revealing their deeper feelings, +believing that these would seem to others so incongruous as to call +forth incredulous smiles. Strahan was not a coward, except in the +presence of ridicule. This had more terrors for him than all the +guns of the Confederacy; and he knew that every one, from his own +family down, would laugh at the thought of his going to the war. +In a way that puzzled him a little he felt that he would not care +so much if Marian Vosburgh did not laugh. The battle of which he +had read to-day had at last decided him; he must go; but if Marian +would give him credit for a brave, manly impulse, and not think of +him as a ludicrous spectacle when he donned the uniform, he would +march away with a light heart. He did not analyze her influence +over him, but only knew that she had a peculiar fascination which +it was not in his impressionable nature to resist. + +Thus it may be seen that he only gave an example of the truth that +great apparent changes are the result of causes that have long been +secretly active. + +Marian, like many others, did not sufficiently take this fact into +account, and was on the qui vive for other remarkable manifestations. +They did not occur. As her father had predicted, life, in its +outward conditions, resumed its normal aspects. Her mother laughed +a little, sighed a little, when she heard the story of Mr. Lanniere's +final exit; the coquettish kitchen-maid continued her career with +undisturbed complacency; and Marian to her own surprise found that, +after the first days of her enthusiasm had passed, it required the +exertion of no little will-power to refrain from her old motives +and tactics. But she was loyal to herself and to her implied promise +to her father. She knew that he was watching her,--that he had set +his heart on the development, in a natural way, of her best traits. +She also knew that if she faltered she must face his disappointment +and her own contempt. + +She had a horror, however, of putting on what she called "goody-goody +airs," and under the influence of this feeling acted much like +her old self. Not one of her callers could have charged her with +manifesting a certain kind of misleading favor, but her little salon +appeared as free from restraint as ever, and her manner as genial +and lively. It began to be observed by some, however, that while +she participated unhesitatingly in the light talk of others, she +herself would occasionally broach topics of more weight, especially +such as related to the progress of the war; and more than once she +gave such direction to her conversation with the artist as made +his eyes kindle. + +Her father was satisfied. He usually came home late on Saturday, +and some of her gentleman friends who were in the habit of dropping +in of a Sunday evening, were soon taught that these hours were +engaged. + +"You need not excuse yourself on my account," her father had said +to her. + +"But I shall," was her prompt response. "After all you have done +and are doing for me, it's a pity if I can't give you one evening +in the week. You are looking after other people in New York; +I'm going to look after you; and you shall find that I am a sharp +inquisitor. You must reveal enough of the secrets of that mysterious +office of yours to satisfy me that you are not in danger." + +He soon began to look forward with glad anticipation to his ramble +by her side in the summer twilight. He saw that what he had done +and what he had thought during the week interested her deeply, and +to a girl of her intelligence he had plenty to tell that was far +from commonplace. She saw the great drama of her country's history +unfolding, and not only witnessed the events that were presented +to the world, but was taken behind the scenes and shown many of +the strange and secret causes that were producing them. Moreover +expectation of something larger and greater was constantly raised. +After their walk they would return to the house, and she would sing +or read to him until she saw his eyes heavy with the sleep that +steals gradually and refreshingly into a weary man's brain. + +Mrs. Vosburgh observed this new companionship with but little surprise +and no jealousy. "It was time," she said, "that Marian should begin +to do something for her father, and not leave everything to me." + +One thing puzzled Marian: weeks were passing and she neither saw +nor heard anything of Lane or Strahan. This fact, in view of what +had been said at parting, troubled her. She was not on calling +terms with the latter's family, and therefore was unable to learn +anything from them. Even his male friends in the neighborhood did +not know where he was or what he was doing. Her father had taken +the pains to inform himself that Lane was apparently at work in +his law-office as usual. These two incipient subjects of the power +she hoped to wield seemed to have dropped her utterly, and she was +discouraged. + +On the last day of June she was taking a ramble in a somewhat +wild and secluded place not far from her home, and thinking rather +disconsolately that her father had overrated her influence,--that +after all she was but a pretty and ordinary girl, like millions +of others,--a fact that Lane and Strahan had at last discovered. +Suddenly she came upon the artist, sketching at a short distance +from her. As she turned to retreat a twig snapped under her foot, +revealing her presence. He immediately arose and exclaimed, "Miss +Vosburgh, is it I that you fear, or a glimpse of my picture?" + +"Neither, of course. I feared I might dispel an inspired mood. +Why should I intrude, when you have nature before you and the muse +looking over your shoulder?" + +"Over my left shoulder, then, with a mocking smile. You are +mistaken if you fancy you can harm any of my moods. Won't you stay +and criticise my picture for me?" + +"Why, Mr. Blauvelt, I'm not an art critic." + +"Yes, you are,--one of the class I paint for. Our best critics are +our patrons, cultivated people." + +"I should never think of patronizing you." + +"Perhaps you might entertain the thought of encouraging me a little, +if you felt that I was worth it." + +"Now, Mr. Blauvelt, notwithstanding the rural surroundings, you +must remember that I was bred in the city. I know the sovereign +contempt that you artists have for the opinions of the people. When +it comes to art, I'm only people." + +"No such generalization will answer in your case. You have as +distinct an individuality as any flower blooming on this hillside." + +"There are flowers and flowers. Some are quite common." + +"None are commonplace to me, for there is a genuine bit of nature +in every one. Still you are right: I was conscious of the fragrance +from this eglantine-bush here, until you came." + +"Oh, then let me go at once." + +"I beg that you will not. You are the eglantine in human form, and +often quite as briery." + +"Then you should prefer the bush there, which gives you its beauty +and fragrance without a scratch. But truly your comparison is too +far-fetched, even for an artist or a poet, for I suppose they are +near of kin. To sensible, matter-of-fact girls, nothing is more +absurd than your idealization of us. See how quickly and honestly +I can disenchant you. In the presence of both nature and art I +am conscious that it is nearly lunch-time. You are far from your +boarding-place, so come and take your luck with us. Mamma will be +glad to see you, and after lunch I may be a more amiable critic." + +"As a critic, I do not wish you to be amiable, but honest severity +itself. That you stumbled upon me accidentally in your present +mood is my good fortune. Tell me the faults in my picture in the +plainest English, and I will gratefully accept your invitation; for +the hospitality at your cottage is so genial that bread and cheese +would be a banquet. I have a strong fancy for seeing my work through +your eyes, and so much faith in you that I know you will tell me +what you think, since I ask you to do so." + +"Why have you faith in me?" she asked, with a quick, searching +glance. + +"I belong somewhat to the impressionist school, and my impression +of you leads to my words." + +"If you compel me to be honest, I must say I'm not capable of +criticising your picture. I know little of art, and nothing of its +TECHNIQUE." + +"Eyes like yours should be able to see a great deal, and, as I said, +I am possessed by the wish to know just what they do see. There is +the scene I was sketching, and here the canvas. Please, Miss Marian." + +"It will be your own fault, now, if you don't like what I say," +laughed the young girl, with ready tact, for a quick glance or two +had already satisfied her that the picture was not to her taste. +"My only remark is this, Mr. Blauvelt,--Nature does not make the +same impression on me that it does on you. There is the scene, as +you say. How can I make you understand what I feel? Nature always +looks so natural to me! It awakens within me various emotions, but +never surprise,--I mean that kind of surprise one has when seeing +a lady dressed in colors that do not harmonize. To my eye, even in +gaudy October, Nature appears to blend her effects so that there +is nothing startling or incongruous." + +"Is there anything startling and incongruous in my picture?" + +"I have not said that. You see you have brought me into perplexity, you +have taken me beyond my depth, by insisting on having my opinion. +I have read a good many art criticisms first and last. Art is gabbled +about a good deal in society, you know, and we have to keep a set +of phrases on hand, whether we understand them or not. But since +you believe in impressions, and will have mine, it is this as nearly +as I can express it. You are under the influence of a school or +a fashion in art, and perhaps unconsciously you are controlled by +this when looking at the scene there. It seems to me that if I were +an artist I should try to get on my canvas the same effects that +nature produces, and I would do it after my own fashion and not +after some received method just then prevailing. Let me illustrate +what I mean by a phase of life that I know more about. There are +some girls in society whose ambition it is to dress in the latest +style. They are so devoted to fashion that they appear to forget +themselves, and are happy if their costume reflects the mode of the +hour, even though it makes them look hideous. My aim would be to +suggest the style rather unobtrusively, and clothe myself becomingly. +I'm too egotistical to be ultra-fashionable. Since I, who am in +love chiefly with myself, can so modify style, much more should +you, who are devoted to nature, make fashion in art subservient to +nature." + +"You are right. I have worked too much in studios and not enough +out of doors. Ever since I have been sketching this summer, I have +had a growing dissatisfaction, and a sense of being trammelled. I +do believe, as you say, that a certain received method or fashion +of treatment has been uppermost in my mind, and I have been trying +to torture--nature into conformity. I'll paint this thing all out +and begin again." + +"No, don't do that. Are not pictures like people a little? If +I wanted to improve in some things, it wouldn't do for me to be +painted all out. Cannot changes for the better come by softening +features here and bringing out others there, by colorings a little +more like those before us, and--pardon me--by not leaving so much +to the imagination? You artists can see more between the lines than +we people can." + +"Let me try;" and with eager eyes he sat down before his easel +again. "Now see if I succeed a little," he added, after a moment. + +His whole nature appeared kindled and animated by hope. He worked +rapidly and boldly. His drawing had been good before, and, as time +passed, nature's sweet, true face began to smile upon him from +his canvas. Marian grew almost as absorbed as himself, learning by +actual vision how quick, light strokes can reproduce and preserve +on a few square inches the transitory beauty of the hour and the +season. + +At times she would stimulate his effort by half-spoken sentences +of satisfaction, and at last he turned and looked up suddenly at +her flushed, interested face. + +"You are the muse," he exclaimed, impetuously, "who, by looking +over my shoulder, can make an artist of me." + +She instinctively stepped farther away, saying, decisively, "Be +careful then to regard me as a muse." + +She had replied to his ardent glance and tone, even more than to +his words. There was not a trace of sentiment in her clear, direct +gaze. The quiet dignity and reserve of her manner sobered him +instantly. Her presence, her words, the unexpected success in the +new departure which she had suggested, had excited him deeply; yet +a moment's thought made it clear that there had been nothing on +her part to warrant the hope of more than friendly interest. This +interest might easily be lost by a few rash words, while there +was slight reason that he should ever hope for anything more. Then +also came the consciousness of his straitened circumstances and the +absurdity of incurring obligations which he might never be able to +meet. He had assured himself a thousand times that art should be +his mistress, yet here he was on the eve of acting like a fool by +making love to one who never disguised her expensive tastes. He was +not an artist of the olden school,--all romance and passion,--and +the modishly dressed, reserved maiden before him did not, in the +remotest degree, suggest a languishing heroine in days of yore, +certain to love against sense and reason. The wild, sylvan shade, +the June atmosphere, the fragrance of the eglantine, even the +presence of art, in whose potent traditions mood is the highest law, +could not dispel the nineteenth century or make this independent, +clear-headed American girl forget for a moment what was sensible +and right. She stood there alone under the shadow of the chestnuts, +and by a glance defined her rights, her position towards her companion, +and made him respect them. Nor was he headlong, passionate, absurd. +He was a part of his age, and was familiar with New York society. +The primal instincts of his nature had obtained ascendency for +a mordent. Ardent words to the beautiful girl who looked over +his shoulder and inspired his touch seemed as natural as breath. +She had made herself for the moment a part of his enthusiasm. But +what could be the sequel of ardent words, even if successful, but +prosaic explanations and the facing of the inexorable problem of +supporting two on an income that scarcely sufficed for the Bohemian +life of one? + +He had sufficient self-control, and was mentally agile enough to +come down upon his feet. Rising, he said, quietly: "If you will be +my muse, as far as many other claims upon your time and thoughts +permit, I shall be very grateful. I have observed that you have +a good eye for harmony in color, and, what is best of all, I have +induced you to be very frank. See how much you have helped me. In +brief--Bless me! how long have you been here?" + +He pulled out his watch in comic dismay, and held it towards her. +"No lunch for us to-day," he concluded, ruefully. + +"Well," exclaimed Marian, laughing, "this is the first symptom +I have ever had of being an artist. It was quite natural that you +should forget the needs of sublunary mortals, but that I should do +so must prove the existence of an undeveloped trait. I could become +quite absorbed in art if I could look on and see its wonders like +a child. You must come home with me and take your chance. If lunch +is over, we'll forage." + +He laughingly shouldered his apparatus, and walked by her side +through the June sunshine and shade, she in the main keeping up +the conversation. At last he said, rather abruptly: "Miss Vosburgh, +you do not look on like a child,--rather, with more intelligence +than very many society girls possess; and--will you forgive me?--you +defend yourself like a genuine American woman. I have lived abroad, +you know, and have learned how to value such women. I wish you to +know how much I respect you, how truly I appreciate you, and how +grateful and honored I shall feel if you will be simply a frank, +kind friend. You made use of the expression 'How shall I make +you understand?' So I now use it, and suggest what I mean by a +question,--Is there not something in a man's nature which enables +him to do better if some woman, in whom he believes, shows that +she cares?" + +"I should be glad if this were true of some men," she said, gently, +"because I do care. I'll be frank, too. Nothing would give me a +more delicious sense of power than to feel that in ways I scarcely +understood I was inciting my friends to make more of themselves +than they would if they did not know me. If I cannot do a little +of what you suggest, of what account am I to my friends?" + +"Your friends can serve a useful purpose by amusing you." + +"Then the reverse is true, and I am merely amusing to my friends. +Is that the gist of your fine words, after all?" and her face +flushed as she asked the question. + +"No, it is not true, Miss Vosburgh. You have the power of entertaining +your friends abundantly, but you could make me a better artist, +and that with me would mean a better man, if you took a genuine +interest in my efforts." + +"I shall test the truth of your words," was her smiling response. +"Meanwhile you can teach me to understand art better, so that I +shall know what I am talking about." Then she changed the subject. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A GIRL'S LIGHT HAND. + + + + + +ON the evening of the 3d of July Marian drove down in her phaeton +to the station for her father, and was not a little surprised to +see him advancing towards her with Mr. Lane. The young man shook +hands with her cordially, yet quietly, and there was something in +his expression that assured her of the groundlessness of all the +fears she had entertained. + +"I have asked Mr. Lane to dine with us," said her father. "He will +walk over from the hotel in the course of half an hour." + +While the gentlemen had greeted her smilingly, there had been an +expression on their faces which suggested that their minds were +not engrossed by anticipation of a holiday outing. Marian knew well +what it meant. The papers had brought to every home in the land the +tidings of the awful seven days' fighting before Richmond. So far +from taking the city, McClellan had barely saved his army. Thousands +of men were dead in the swamps of the Chickahominy; thousands were +dying in the sultry heat of the South and on the malarial banks of +the James. + +Mr. Vosburgh's face was sad and stern in its expression, and when +Marian asked, "Papa, is it so bad as the papers say?" he replied: +"God only knows how bad it is. For a large part of our army it is +as bad as it can be. The most terrible feature of it all to me is +that thick-headed, blundering men are holding in their irresolute +hands the destinies of just such brave young fellows as Mr. Lane +here. It is not so dreadful for a man to die if his death furthers +a cause which he believes to be sacred, but to die from the sheer +stupidity and weakness of his leaders is a bitter thing. Instead of +brave action, there is fatal blundering all along the line. For a +long time the President, sincere and true-hearted as he is, could +not learn that he is not a military man, and he has permitted a +large part of our armies to be scattered all over Virginia. They +have accomplished next to nothing. McClellan long since proved that +he would not advance without men enough to walk over everything. +He is as heavy as one of his own siege guns. He may be sure, if he +has all he wants, but is mortally slow, and hadn't brains enough +to realize that the Chickahominy swamps thinned his army faster +than brave fighting. He should have been given the idle, useless +men under McDowell and others, and then ordered to take Richmond. +If he wouldn't move, then they should have put a man in his place +who would, and not one who would sit down and dig. At last he has +received an impetus from Richmond, instead of Washington, and he +has moved at a lively pace, but to the rear. His men were as brave +as men could be; and if the courage shown on the retreat, or change +of base, as some call it, had been manifested in an advance, weeks +ago, Richmond would have been ours. The 'change of base' has carried +us well away from the point attacked, brave men have suffered and +died in vain, and the future is so clouded that only one thing is +certain." + +"What is that, papa?" was the anxious query. + +"We must never give up. We must realize that we are confronting +some of the best soldiers and generals the world has known. The +North is only half awake to its danger and the magnitude of its task. +We have sent out comparatively few of our men to do a disagreeable +duty for us, while we take life comfortably and luxuriously as +before. The truth will come home to us soon, that we are engaged +in a life-and-death struggle." + +"Papa, these events will bring no changes to you? In your work, I +mean?" + +"Not at present. I truly believe, Marian, that I can serve my country +more effectively in the performance of the duties with which I am +now charged. But who can tell what a day will bring forth? Lane is +going to the front. He will tell you all about it. He is a manly +fellow, and no doubt will explain why you have not heard from him." + +"Real life has come in very truth," thought Marian, as she went to +her room to prepare for dinner; "but on every side it also brings +the thought of death." + +Her face was pale, and clouded with apprehension, when she joined +the gentlemen; but Lane was so genial and entertaining at dinner +as to make it difficult for her to believe that he had resolved on +a step so fraught with risk. When at last they were alone in the +drawing-room she said, "Is it true that you intend to enter the +army?" + +"Yes, and it is time that it was true," was his smiling reply. + +"I don't feel like laughing, Mr. Lane. Going to Virginia does not +strike me as a pleasure excursion. I have thought a great deal +since I saw you last. You certainly have kept your promise to be +a distant and absent friend." + +He looked at her eagerly, as he said, "You have thought a great +deal--have you thought about me?" + +"Certainly," she replied, with a slight flush; "I meant all that +I said that evening." + +That little emphasized word dispelled the hope that had for a moment +asserted itself. Time and a better acquaintance with her own heart +had not brought any change of feeling to her, and after a moment +he said, quietly: "I think I can prove that I have been a sincere +and loyal friend as well as an absent one. Having never felt--well, +you cannot know--it takes a little time for a fellow to--pardon +me; let all that go. I have tried to gain self-control, and I have +obeyed your request, to do nothing rash, literally. I remained +steadily at work in my office a certain number of hours every +day. If the general hope that Richmond would be taken, and the war +practically ended, had proved well founded, for the sake of others +I should have resisted my inclination to take part in the struggle. +I soon concluded, however, that it would be just as well to prepare +for what has taken place, and so gave part of my afternoons and +evenings to a little useful training. I am naturally very fond +of a horse, and resolved that if I went at all it should be as a +cavalry-man, so I have been giving not a little of my time to horseback +exercise, sabre, pistol, and carbine practice, and shall not be +quite so awkward as some of the other raw recruits. I construed +McClellan's retreat into an order for me to advance, and have come +to you as soon as I could to report progress." + +"Why could you not have come before?--why could you not have told +me?" she asked, a little reproachfully. + +"Some day perhaps you will know," he replied, turning away for a +moment. + +"I feared that maturer thought had convinced you that I could not +be much of a friend,--that I was only a gay young girl who wouldn't +appreciate an earnest man's purposes." + +"Miss Marian, you wrong me in thinking that I could so wrong you. +Never for a moment have I entertained such a thought. I can't explain +to you all my experience. I wished to be more sure of myself, to +have something definite to tell you, that would prove me more worthy +of your friendship." + +"My faith in you has never faltered a moment, Mr. Lane. While your +words make me proud indeed, they also make me very sad. I don't +wonder that you feel as you do about going, and were I a man +I should probably take the same course. But I am learning at last +what this war means. I can't with a light heart see my friends go." + +"Let it be with a brave heart, then. There are tears in your eyes, +Miss Marian." + +"Why should there not be? O Mr. Lane, I am not coldhearted and +callous. I am not so silly and shallow as I seemed." + +"I never thought you so--" + +By a gesture she stopped him, as she continued: "I recognized the +expression on papa's face and yours the moment I saw you, and I +know what it means." + +"Yes, Miss Marian; and I recognize the expression on your face. +Were you a man you would have gone before this." + +"I think it would be easier to go than to stay and think of all +one's friends must face." + +"Of course it would be for one like you. You must not look on the +dark side, however. You will scarcely find a jollier set of men +than our soldiers." + +"I fear too many are reckless. This you have promised me not to +be." + +"I shall keep my promise; but a soldier must obey orders, you know. +O Miss Marian, it makes such a difference with me to know that you +care so much! Knowing you as I do now, it would seem like black +treason to do or be anything unmanly." + +Callers were now announced, and before an hour had passed there +were half a dozen or more young men in the drawing-room. Some were +staying at the hotel, but the majority were from the villas in the +neighborhood, the holiday season permitting the return of those +in business. However dark and crimson might be the tide of thought +that flowed through the minds of those present, in memory of what +had occurred during the last few days, the light of mirth played +on the surface. The times afforded themes for jest, rather than +doleful predictions. Indeed, in accordance with a principle in human +nature, there was a tendency to disguise feelings and anxiety by +words so light as to border on recklessness. Questions as to future +action were coming home to all the young men, but not for the world +would they permit one another, or especially a spirited young girl, +to suspect that they were awed, or made more serious even, by the +thought that the battle was drawing nearer to them. Lane was a +leader in the gayety. His presence was regarded by some with both +surprise and surmise. It had been thought that he had disappeared +finally below Miss Vosburgh's horizon, but his animated face and +manner gave no indication of a rejected and despondent suitor. + +The mirth was at its height when Strahan entered, dressed plainly +in the uniform of a second lieutenant. He was greeted with a shout +of laughter by the young men, who knew him well, and by a cordial +pressure from Marian's hand. This made the gauntlet which he knew +he must run of little consequence to him. All except Lane drew up +and gave him a military salute. + + +"Pretty fair for the awkward squad," he remarked, coolly. + +"Come, report, report," cried several voices; "where have you been?" + +"In Virginia." + +"Why, of course, fellows, he's been arranging the change of base +with McClellan, only the army went south and he came north." + +"I've been farther south than any of you." + +"See here, Strahan, this uniform is rather new for a veteran's." + +"Yes; never dealt in old clothes." + +"Where's your command?" + +"Here, if you'll all enlist. I think I could make soldiers of some +of you." + +"Why, fellows, what a chance for us! If Strahan can't teach us the +etiquette of war, who can?" + +"Yes, gentlemen; and I will give you the first rule in advance. +Always face the music." + +"Dance music, you mean. Strahan has been at West Point and knows +that a fellow in civilian togs stands no chance. How he eclipses +us all to-night with the insignia of rank on his shoulders! Where +will you make headquarters?" + +"At home, for the present." + +"That's right. We knew you would hit upon the true theory +of campaigning. Never was there a better strategic point for your +operations, Strahan, than the banks of the Hudson." + +"I shall try to prove you right. A recruiting sergeant will join +me in a day or two, and then I can accommodate you all with muskets." + +"All? Not Miss Marian?" + +"Those possessing her rank and influence do not carry muskets." + +"Come, fellows, let us celebrate the 4th by enlisting under Strahan," +cried the chief spokesman, who was not a very friendly neighbor of +the young officer. "It won't be long before we shall know all the +gossip of the Confederacy." + +"You will certainly have to approach near enough to receive some +very direct news." + +"Gentlemen," cried Marian, "a truce! Mr. Strahan has proved that +he can face a hot fire, and send back good shots, even when greatly +outnumbered. I have such faith in him that I have already given him +my colors. You may take my word for it that he will render a good +account of himself. I am now eager to hear of his adventures." + +"I haven't had any, Miss Marian. What I said about Virginia was +mere bluff,--merely made an excursion or two on the Virginia side +of the Potomac, out of curiosity." + +"But what does this uniform mean?" + +"Merely what it suggests. I went to Washington, which is a great +camp, you know. Through relatives I had some influence there, and +at last obtained a commission at the bottom of the ladder in a new +regiment that is to be recruited. Meanwhile I was put through the +manual of arms, with a lot of other awkward fellows, by a drill +officer. I kept shady and told my people to be mum until something +came out of it all. Come, fellows, thirteen dollars a month, hard +tack, and glory! Don't all speak at once!" + +"I'm with you as far as going is concerned," said Lane, shaking +Strahan's hand warmly, "only I've decided on the cavalry." + +"Were I a man, you should have one recruit for your regiment to-night," +said Marian. "You have gone to work in a way that inspires confidence." + +"I foresee, fellows, that we shall all have to go, or else Miss +Marian will cross us out of her books," remarked one of the young +men. + +"No, indeed," she replied. "I would not dare urge any one to go. +But those who, like Mr. Lane and Mr. Strahan, decide the question +for themselves, cannot fail to carry my admiration with them." + +"That's the loudest bugle call I expect to hear," remarked Mr. +Blauvelt, who entered at that moment. + +"Here's the place to open your recruiting-office," added another, +laughing. "If Miss Marian would be free with her colors, she could +raise a brigade." + +"I can assure you beforehand that I shall not be free with them; +much less will I hold them out as an inducement. Slight as may be +their value, they must be earned." + +"What chivalrous deed has Strahan performed?" was asked, in chorus. + +"One that I appreciate, and I don't give my faith lightly," + +"Mr. Strahan, I congratulate you," said Lane, with a swift and +somewhat reproachful glance at Marian; "you have already achieved +your best laurels." + +"I've received them, but not earned them yet. Miss Marian gives a +fellow a good send-off, however, and time will tell the story with +us all. I must now bid you good-evening," he said to the young +girl. "I merely stopped for a few moments on my way from the train." + +She followed him to the door, and said, sotto voce: "You held your +own splendidly. Your first report is more than satisfactory;" and +he departed happier than any major-general in the service. + +When the rest had gone, Lane, who had persistently lingered, began: +"No doubt it will appear absurd to you that a friend should be +jealous. But Strahan seems to have won the chief honors." + +"Perhaps he has deserved them, Mr. Lane. I know what your opinion +of him was, and I think you guessed mine. He has won the chief battle +of life,--victory over himself. Ever since I have known you, you +have inspired my respect as a strong, resolute man. In resolving +upon what you would do instinctively Mr. Strahan has had such a +struggle that he has touched my sympathies. One cannot help feeling +differently toward different friends, you know. Were I in trouble, +I should feel that I could lean upon you. To encourage and sustain +would always be my first impulse with Mr. Strahan. Are you content?" + +"I should try to be, had I your colors also." + +"Oh, I only gave him a rose. Do you want one?" + +"Certainly." + +"Well, now you are even," she said, laughing, and handing him one +of those she wore. + +He looked at it thoughtfully for a moment, and then said, quietly: +"Some would despise this kind of thing as the merest sentiment. +With others it would influence the sternest action and the supreme +moments of life." + + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +WILLARD MERWYN. + + + + + +DURING her drives Marian had often passed the entrance to one of +the finest old places in the vicinity, and, although aware that the +family was absent in Europe, she had observed that the fact made +no difference in the scrupulous care of that portion of the grounds +which was visible. The vista from the road, however, was soon lost +among the boles and branches of immense overshadowing oaks. Even to +the passer-by an impression of seclusion and exclusion was given, +and Marian at last noted that no reference was made to the family +in the social exchanges of her little drawing-room. The dwelling +to which the rather stiff and stately entrance led was not visible +from the car-windows as she passed to and from the city, so abrupt +was the intervening bluff, but upon one occasion from the deck of +a steamboat she had caught glimpses through the trees of a large +and substantial brick edifice. + +Before Strahan had disappeared for a time, as we have related, her +slight curiosity had so far asserted itself that she had asked for +information concerning the people who left their beautiful home +untenanted in June. + +"I fancy I can tell you more about them than most people in this +vicinity, but that is not so very much. The place adjoins ours, +and as a boy I fished and hunted with Willard Merwyn a good deal. +Mrs. Merwyn is a widow and a Southern-bred woman. A Northern man +of large wealth married her, and then she took her revenge on the +rest of the North by having as little to do with it as possible. +She was said to own a large property in the South,--plantation, +negroes, and all that. The place on the Hudson belonged to the +Merwyn side of the house, and the family have only spent a few +summers here and have been exclusive and unpopular. My mother made +their acquaintance abroad, and they knew it would be absurd to put +on airs with us; so the ladies of the two families have exchanged +more or less formal visits, but in the main they have little to do +with the society of this region. As boys Willard and myself did not +care a fig for these things, and became very good friends. I have +not seen him for several years; they have all been abroad; and I +hear that he has become an awful swell." + +"Why then, if he ever returns, you and he will be good friends +again," Marian had laughingly replied and had at once dismissed +the exclusive Merwyns from her mind. + +On the morning of the 4th of July Strahan had come over to have a +quiet talk with Marian, and had found Mr. Lane there before him. +By feminine tactics peculiarly her own, Marian had given them to +understand that both were on much the same footing, and that their +united presence did not form "a crowd;" and the young men, having +a common ground of purpose and motive, were soon at ease together, +and talked over personal and military matters with entire freedom, +amusing the young girl with accounts of their awkwardness in drill +and of the scenes they had witnessed. She was proud indeed of her +two knights, as she mentally characterized them,--so different, +yet both now inspiring a genuine liking and respect. She saw that +her honest goodwill and admiration were evoking their best manhood +and giving them as much happiness as she would ever have the power +to bestow, and she felt that her scheme of life was not a false +one. They understood her fully, and knew that the time had passed +forever when she would amuse herself at their expense. She had +become an inspiration of manly endeavor, and had ceased to be the +object of a lover's pursuit. If half-recognized hopes lurked in +their hearts, the fulfilment of these must be left to time. + +"By the way," remarked Strahan, as he was taking his leave, "I hear +that these long-absent Merwyns have deigned to return to their native +land,--for their own rather than their country's good though, I +fancy. I suppose Mrs. Merwyn feels that it is time she looked after +her property and maintained at least the semblance of loyalty. I +also hear that they have been hob-nobbing with the English aristocracy, +who look upon us Yankees as a 'blasted lot of cads, you know.' +Shall I bring young Merwyn over to see you after he arrives?" + +"As you please," she replied, with an indifferent shrug. + +Strahan had a half-formed scheme in his mind, but when he called +upon young Merwyn he was at first inclined to hesitate. Great as +was his confidence in Marian, he had some vaguely jealous fears, +more for the young girl than for himself, in subjecting her to the +influence of the man that his boyhood's friend had become. + +Willard Merwyn was a "swell" in Strahan's vernacular, but even in +the early part of their interview he gave the impression of being +something more, or rather such a superior type of the "swell" genus, +that Marian's friend was conscious of a fear that the young girl +might be dazzled and interested, perhaps to her sorrow. + +Merwyn had developed into a broad-shouldered man, nearly six feet +in height. His quiet, courteous elegance did not disguise from one +who had known him so well in boyhood an imperious, self-pleasing +nature, and a tenacity of purpose in carrying out his own desires. +He accepted of his quondam friend's uniform without remark. That +was Strahan's affair and not his, and by a polite reserve, he made +the mercurial fellow feel that his affairs were his own. Strahan +chafed under this polished reticence, this absence of all curiosity. + +"Blast him!" thought the young officer, "he acts like a superior +being, who has deigned to visit America to look after his rents, +and intimates that the country has no further concern with him or +he with it. Jove! I'd give all the pay I ever expect to get to see +him a rejected suitor of my plucky little American girl;" and he +regarded his host with an ill-disposed eye. At last he resolved to +take the initiative boldly. + +"How long do you expect to remain here, Merwyn?" + +"I scarcely know. It depends somewhat on my mother's plans." + +"Thunder! It's time you had plans of your own, especially when a +man has your length of limb and breadth of chest." + +"I have not denied the possession of plans," Merwyn quietly remarked, +his dark eye following the curling, upward flight of smoke from +his cigar. + +"You certainly used to be decided enough sometimes, when I wanted +you to pull an oar." + +"And you so good-naturedly let me off," was the reply, with a slight +laugh. + +"I didn't let you off good-naturedly, nor do I intend to now. Good +heavens, Merwyn! don't you read the papers? There's a chance now +to take an oar to some purpose. You were brave enough as a boy." + +Merwyn's eyes came down from the curling smoke to Strahan's face +with a flash, and he rose and paced the room for a moment, then +said, in his old quiet tones, "They say the child is father of the +man." + +"Oh well, Merwyn," was the slightly irritable rejoinder, "I have +and ever had, you remember, a way of expressing my thoughts. If, +while abroad, you have become intolerant of that trait, why, the +sooner we understand each other the better. I don't profess to be +anything more than an American, and I called to-day with no other +motive than the obvious and natural one." + +A shade of annoyance passed over Merwyn's face, but as Strahan +ceased he came forward and held out his hand, saying: "I like you +all the better for speaking your thoughts,--for doing just as you +please. You must be equally fair and yield to me the privilege of +keeping my thoughts, and doing as I please." + +Strahan felt that there was nothing to do but to take the proffered +hand, so irresistible was the constraint of his host's courtesy, +although felt to be without warmth or cordiality. Disguising his +inward protest by a light laugh he said: "I could shake hands with +almost any one on such a mutual understanding. Well, since we have +begun on the basis of such absolute frankness on my part, my next +thought is, What shall be our relations while you are here? I am a +busier fellow than I was at one time, and my stay is also uncertain, +and sure to be brief. I do not wish to be unneighborly in remembrance +of old times, nor do I wish to be obtrusive. In the natural order +of things, I should show you, a comparative stranger, some attention, +inform you about the natives and transient residents, help you +amuse yourself, and all that. But I have not the slightest desire +to make unwelcome advances. I have plenty of such in prospect south +of Mason and Dixon's line." + +Merwyn laughed with some heartiness as he said: "You have attained +one attribute of a soldier assuredly,--bluntness. Positively, +Strahan, you have developed amazingly. Why, only the other day we +were boys squabbling to determine who should have the first shot +at an owl we saw in the mountains. The result was, the owl took +flight. You never gave in an inch to me then, and I liked you all +the better for it. Come now, be reasonable. I yield to you your +full right to be yourself; yield as much to me and let us begin +where we left off, with only the differences that years have made, +and we shall get on as well as ever." + +"Agreed," said Strahan, promptly. "Now what can I do for you? I +have only certain hours at my disposal." + +"Well," replied Merwyn, languidly, "come and see me when you can, +and I'll walk over to your quarters--I suppose I should so call +them--and have a smoke with you occasionally. I expect to be awfully +dull here, but between the river and the mountains I shall have +resources." + +"You propose to ignore society then?" + +"Why say 'ignore'? That implies a conscious act. Let us suppose +that society is as indifferent to me as I to it." + +"There's a little stutterer down at the hotel who claims to be an +English lord." + +"Bah, Strahan! I hope your sword is sharper than your satire. I've +had enough of English lords for the present." + +"Yes, Merwyn, you appear to have had enough of most things,--perhaps +too much. If your countrymen are uninteresting, you may possibly +wish to meet some of your countrywomen. I've been abroad enough to +know that you have never found their superiors." + +"Well, that depends upon who my countrywoman is. I should prefer +to see her before I intrude--" + +"Risk being bored, you mean." + +"As you please. Fie, Strahan! you are not cultivating a soldier's +penchant for women?" + +"It hasn't needed any cultivating. I have my opinion of a man who +does not admire a fine woman." + +"So have I, only each and all must define the adjective for +themselves." + +"It has been defined for me. Well, my time is up. We'll be two +friendly neutral powers, and, having marked out our positions, can +maintain our frontiers with diplomatic ease. Good-morning." + +Merwyn laughingly accompanied his guest to the door, but on the +piazza, they met Mrs. Merwyn, who involuntarily frowned as she saw +Strahan's uniform, then with quiet elegance she greeted the young +man. But he had seen her expression, and was somewhat formal. + +"We shall hope to see your mother and sisters before long," the +lady remarked. + +Strahan bowed, and walked with military erectness down the avenue, +his host looking after him with cynical and slightly contemptuous +good-nature; but Mrs. Merwyn followed the receding figure with an +expression of great bitterness. + +Her appearance was that of a remarkable woman. She was tall, and +slight; every motion was marked by grace, but it was the grace of +a person accustomed to command. One would never dream of woman's +ministry when looking at her. Far more than would ever be true of +Marian she suggested power, but she would govern through her will, +her pride and prejudices. The impress of early influences had sunk +deep into her character. The only child of a doting father, she +had ruled him, and, of course, the helpless slaves who had watched +her moods and trembled at her passion. There were scars on human +backs to-day, which were the results of orders from her girlish +lips. She was not greatly to blame. Born of a proud and imperious +ancestry, she had needed the lessons of self-restraint and gentleness +from infancy. Instead, she had been absolute, even in the nursery; +and as her horizon had widened it had revealed greater numbers to +whom her will was law. From childhood she had passed into maidenhood +with a dower of wealth and beauty, learning early, like Marian, +that many of her own race were willing to become her slaves. + +In the South there is a chivalric deference to women far exceeding +that usually paid to the sex at the North, and her appearance, +temperament, and position evoked that element to the utmost. He +knows little of human nature who cannot guess the result. Yet, by +a common contradiction, the one among her many suitors who won such +love as she could give was a Northern man as proud as herself. He +stood alone in his manner of approach, made himself the object of +her thoughts by piquing her pride, and met her varying moods by +a quiet, unvarying dignity that compelled her respect. The result +was that she yielded to the first man who would not yield undue +deference to her. + +Mr. Merwyn employed his power charily, however, or rather with +principle. He quietly insisted on his rights; but as he granted hers +without a word, and never irritated her by small, fussy exactions, +good-breeding prevented any serious clashing of wills, and their +married life had passed in comparative serenity. As time elapsed +her will began, in many ways, to defer to his quieter and stronger +will, and then, as if life must teach her that there is no true +control except self-control, Mr. Merwyn died, and left her mistress +of almost everything except herself. + +It must not be supposed, however, that her self-will was a +passionate, moody absolutism. She had outgrown that, and was too +well-bred ever to show much temper. The tendency of her mature +purposes and prejudices was to crystallize into a few distinct +forms. With the feminine logic of a narrow mind, she made her husband +an exception to the people among whom he had been born and bred. +Widowed, she gave her whole heart to the South. Its institutions, +habits, and social code were sacred, and all opponents thereof +sacrilegious enemies. To that degree that they were hostile, or +even unbelieving, she hated them. + +During the years immediately preceding the war she had been abroad +superintending the education of Willard and two younger daughters, +and when hostilities began she was led to believe that she could +serve the cause better in England than on her remote plantation. +In her fierce partisanship, or rather perverted patriotism,--for +in justice it must be said that she knew no other country than the +South,--she was willing to send her son to Richmond. He thwarted +this purpose by quietly manifesting one of his father's traits. + +"No," he said, "I will not fight against the section to which my +father belonged. To my mind it's a wretched political squabble at +best, and the politicians will settle it before long. I have my +life before me, and don't propose to be knocked on the head for +the sake of a lot of political John Smiths, North or South." + +In vain she tried to fire his heart with dreams of Southern empire. +He had made up that part of himself derived from Northern birth--his +mind--and would not yield. Meantime his Southern, indolent, +pleasure-loving side was appealed to powerfully by aristocratic +life abroad, and he felt it would be the sheerest folly to abandon +his favorite pursuits. He was little more then than a graceful +animal, shrewd enough to know that his property was chiefly at the +North, and that it would be unwise to endanger it. + +Mrs. Merwyn's self-interest and natural affection led her to yield +to necessity with fairly good grace. The course resolved upon +by Willard preserved her son and the property. When the South +had accomplished its ambitious dreams she believed she would have +skill enough to place him high among its magnates, while, if he +were killed in one of the intervening battles,--well, she was loyal +enough to incur the risk, but at heart she did not deeply regret +that she had escaped the probable sacrifice. + +Thus time passed on, and she used her social influence in behalf +of her section, but guardedly, lest she should jeopardize the +interests of her children. In May of the year in which our story +opened, the twenty-first birthday of Willard occurred, and was +celebrated with befitting circumstance. He took all this quietly, +but on the morning of the day following he said to his mother:-- + +"You remember the provisions of my father's will. My share of the +property was to be transferred to me when I should become of age. +We ought to return to New York at once and have the necessary papers +made out." + +In vain she protested that the property was well managed, that the +income was received regularly, that he could have this, and that +it would be intensely disagreeable for her to visit New York. He, +who had yielded indifferently to all her little exactions, was +inexorable, and the proud, self-willed woman found that he had so +much law and reason on his side that she was compelled to submit. + +Indeed, she at last felt that she had been unduly governed by her +prejudices, and that it might be wise to go and see for themselves +that their affairs were managed to the best advantage. Deep +in her heart was also the consciousness that it was her husband's +indomitable will that she was carrying out, and that she could +never escape from that will in any exigency where it could justly +make itself felt. She therefore required of her son the promise +that their visit should be as unobtrusive as possible, and that +he would return with her as soon as he had arranged matters to his +mind. To this he had readily agreed, and they were now in the land +for which the mother had only hate and the son indifference. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +AN OATH AND A GLANCE. + + + + + +As Strahan disappeared in the winding of the avenue a sudden and +terrible thought occurred to Mrs. Merwyn. She glanced at her son, +who had walked to the farther end of the piazza, and stood for a +moment with his back towards her. His manly proportions made her +realize, as she had never done before, that he had attained his +majority,--that he was his own master. He had said he would not +fight against the North, but, as far as the South was concerned, +he had never committed himself. And then his terrible will! + +She went to her room and thought. He was in a land seething with +excitement and patriotic fervor. She knew not what influences a +day might bring to bear upon him. Above all else she feared taunts +for lack of courage. She knew that her own passionate pride slept +in his breast and on a few occasions she had seen its manifestations. +As a rule he was too healthful, too well organized and indolent, +to be easily irritated, while in serious matters he had not been +crossed. She knew enough of life to be aware that his manhood had +never been awakened or even deeply moved, and she was eager indeed +to accomplish their mission in the States and return to conditions +of life not so electrical. + +In the mean time she felt that she must use every precaution. She +summoned a maid and asked that her son should be sent to her. + +The young man soon lounged in, and threw himself into an easy chair. + +His mother looked at him fixedly for a moment, and then asked, "Why +is young Strahan in THAT uniform?" + +"I didn't ask him," was the careless reply. "Obviously, however, +because he has entered the service in some capacity." + +"Did he not suggest that it would be a very proper thing for you +to do, also?" + +"Oh, of course. He wouldn't be Strahan if he hadn't. He has a high +appreciation of a 'little brief authority,' especially if vested in +himself. Believing himself to be so heroic he is inclined to call +others to account." + +"I trust you have rated such vaporings at their worth." + +"I have not rated them at all. What do I care for little Strahan +or his opinions? Nil." + +"Shall you see much of him while we are compelled to remain in this +detestable land?" + +"More of him than of any one else, probably. We were boys together, +and he amuses me. What is more to the point, if I make a Union officer +my associate I disarm hostile criticism and throw an additional +safeguard around my property. There is no telling to what desperate +straits the Northern authorities may be reduced, and I don't propose +to give them any grounds for confiscation." + +"You are remarkably prudent, Willard, for a young man of Southern +descent." + +"I am of Northern descent also," he replied, with a light laugh. +"Father was as strong a Northern man--so I imagine--as you are a +Southern woman, and so, by a natural law, I am neutral, brought to +a standstill by two equal and opposite forces." + +The intense partisan looked at him with perplexity, and for a moment +felt a strange and almost superstitious belief in his words. Was +there a reciprocal relation of forces which would render her schemes +futile? She shared in the secret hopes and ambitions of the Southern +leaders. Had Northern and Southern blood so neutralized the heart +of this youth that he was indifferent to both sections? and had she, +by long residence abroad, and indulgence, made him so cosmopolitan +that he merely looked upon the world as "his oyster"? She was +not the first parent who, having failed to instil noble, natural +principles in childhood, is surprised and troubled at the outcome +of a mind developing under influences unknown or unheeded. That +the South would be triumphant she never doubted a moment. It would +not merely achieve independence, but also a power that would grow +like the vegetation of its genial climate, and extend until the +tapering Isthmus of Panama became the national boundary of the +empire. But what part would be taken by this strange son who seemed +equally endowed with graceful indolence and indomitable will? Were +his tireless strength and energy to accomplish nothing better than +the climbing of distant mountains? and would he maintain indifference +towards a struggle for a dominion beyond Oriental dreams? Physically +and mentally he seemed capable of doing what he chose; practically +he chose to do what he pleased from hour to hour. Amusing himself +with a languid, good-natured disregard of what he looked upon as +trivial affairs, he was like adamant the moment a supreme and just +advantage was his. He was her husband over agaim, with strange +differences. What could she do at the present moment but the thing +she proposed to do? + +"Willard," she said, slowly, and in a voice that pierced his +indifference, "have you any regard for me?" + +"Certainly. Have I shown any want of respect?" + +"That is not the question at all. You are young, Willard, and you +live in the future. I live much in the past. My early home was in +the South, where my family, for generations, has been eminent. Is +it strange, then, that I should love that sunny land?" + +"No, mamma." + +"Well, all I ask at present is that you will promise me never, +under any motive, to take up arms against that land of my ancestors." + +"I have not the slightest disposition to do so." + +"Willard, what to-day is, is. Neither you nor I know what shall be +on the morrow. I never expected to marry a Northern man, yet I did +so; nor should I regret it if I consulted my heart only. He was +different from all his race. I did not foresee what was coming, +or I could have torn my heart out before involving myself in these +Northern complications. I cannot change the past, but I must provide +for the future. O Willard, to your eyes your Northern fortune seems +large. But a few years will pass before you will be shown what +a trifle it is compared with the prizes of power and wealth that +will be bestowed upon loyal Southerners. You have an ancestry, an +ability, that would naturally place you among the foremost. Terrible +as would be the sacrifice on my part, I could still give you my +blessing if you imitated young Strahan in one respect, and devoted +yourself heart, soul, and sword to our cause." + +"The probable result would be that you and my sisters would +be penniless, I sleeping in mud, and living on junk and hoe-cake. +Another result, probable, only a little more remote, is that the +buzzards would pick my bones. Faugh! Oh, no. I've settled that +question, and it's a bore to think a question over twice. There +are thousands of Americans in Europe. Their wisdom suits me until +this tea-pot tempest is over. If any one doubts my courage I'll +prove it fast enough, but, if I had my way, the politicians, North +and South, should do their own fighting and starving." + +"But, Willard, our leaders are not mere politicians. They are men +of grand, far-reaching schemes, and when their plans are accomplished, +they will attain regal power and wealth." + +"Visions, mamma, visions. I have enough of my father's blood in +my veins to be able to look at both sides of a question. Strahan +asked me severely if I did not read the papers;" and he laughed +lightly. "Well, I do read them, at least enough of them to pick +out a few grains of truth from all the chaff. The North and South +have begun fighting like two bull-dogs, and it's just a question +which has the longer wind and the more endurance. The chances are +all in favor of the North. I shall not throw myself and property +away for the sake of a bare possibility. That's settled." + +"Have you ice-water in your veins?" his mother asked, passionately. + +"I have your blood, madam, and my father's, hence I am what I am." + +"Well, then you must be a man of honor, of your word. Will you +promise never to take arms against the South?" + +"I have told you I have no disposition to do so." + +"The promise, then, can cost you little, and it will be a relief +to my mind." + +"Oh, well, mamma, if it will make you feel any easier, I promise +with one exception. Both South and North must keep their hands off +the property my father gave me." + +"If Southern leaders were dictating terms in New York City, as they +will, ere long, they would never touch your property." + +"They had better not." + +"You know what I mean, Willard. I ask you never to assume this +hated Northern uniform, or put your foot on Southern soil with a +hostile purpose." + +"Yes, I can promise that." + +"Swear it to me then, by your mother's honor and your father's +memory." + +"Is not my word sufficient?" + +"These things are sacred to me, and I wish them treated in a sacred +manner. If you will do this my mind will be at rest and I may be +able to do more for you in the future." + +"To satisfy you, I swear never to put on the Northern uniform or +to enter the South with a hostile purpose." + +She stepped forward and touched his forehead with her lips, as she +said: "The compact is sealed. Your oath is registered on earth and +in heaven. Your simple word as a man of honor will satisfy me as +to one other request. I wish you never to speak to any one of this +solemn covenant between us." + +"I'm not in the habit of gossiping over family affairs," he replied, +haughtily. + +"I know that, and also that your delicacy of feeling would keep +you from speaking of a matter so sacred to me. But I am older and +more experienced than you, and I shall feel safer if you promise. +You would not gossip about it, of course. You might refer to it +to some friend or to the woman who became your wife. I can foresee +complications which might make it better that it should be utterly +unknown. You little know how I dream and plan for you, and I only +ask you never to speak of this interview and its character to a +living soul." + +"Certainly, mother, I can promise this. I should feel it small +business to babble about anything which you take so to heart. These +visions of empire occupy your mind and do no harm. I only hope you +will meet your disappointment philosophically. Good-by now till +lunch." + +"Poor mamma!" thought the young man, as he started out for a walk; +"she rails against Northern fanatics, forgetting tnat it is just +possible to be a little fanatical on the Southern side of the line." + +As he strode along in the sunshine his oath weighed upon him no +more than if he had promised not to go out in his sail-boat that +day. + +At last, after surmounting a rather steep hill, he threw himself +on the grass under the shade of a tree. "It's going to be awfully +slow and stupid here," he muttered, "and it will be a month or +two before we can return. I hoped to be back in time to join the +Montagues in climbing Mont Blanc, and here I am tied up between +these mole-hill mountains and city law-offices. How shall I ever +get through with the time?" + +A pony-phaeton, containing two ladies, appeared at the foot of +the hill and slowly approached. His eyes rested on it in languid +indifference, but, as it drew nearer, the younger of the two ladies +fixed his attention. Her charming summer costume at first satisfied +his taste, and, as her features became distinct, he was surprised +at their beauty, as he thought at first; but he soon felt that +animation redeemed the face from mere prettiness. The young girl +was talking earnestly, but a sudden movement of the horse caused +her to glance toward the road-side, and she encountered the dark +eyes of a stranger. Her words ceased instantly. A slight frown +contracted her brow, and, touching her horse with her whip, she +passed on rapidly. + +"By Jove! Strahan is right. If I have many such countrywomen in +the neighborhood, I ought to find amusement." + +He rose and sauntered after the phaeton, and saw that it turned in +at a pretty little cottage, embowered in vines and trees. Making a +mental note of the locality, he bent his steps in another direction, +laughing as he thought: "From that one glance I am sure that those +blue eyes will kindle more than one fellow before they are quenched. +I wonder if Strahan knows her. Well, here, perhaps, is a chance +for a summer lark. If Strahan is enamored I'd like to cut him out, +for by all the fiends of dulness I must find something to do." + +Strahan had accepted an invitation to lunch at the Vosburghs' that +day, and arrived, hot and flushed, from his second morning's drill. + +"Well!" he exclaimed, "I've seen the great Mogul." + +"I believe I have also," replied Marian. "Has he not short and +slightly curly hair, dark eyes, and an impudent stare?" + +"I don't recognize the 'stare' exactly. Merwyn is polite enough +in his way, and confound his way! But the rest of your description +tallies. Where did you see him?" + +She explained. + +"That was he, accomplishing his usual day's work. O ye dogs of war! +how I would like to have him in my squad one of these July days! +Miss Marian, I'd wear your shoe-tie in my cap the rest of my life, +if you would humble that fellow and make him feel that he never +spoke to a titled lady abroad who had not her equal in some American +girl. It just enrages me to see a New-York man, no better born than +myself, putting on such superior and indifferent airs. If he'd come +to me and say, 'Strahan, I'm a rebel, I'm going to fight and kill +you if I can,' I'd shake hands with him as I did not to-day. I'd +treat him like a jolly, square fellow, until we came face to face +in a fair fight, and then--the fortune of war. As it was, I felt +like taking him by the collar and shaking him out of his languid +grace. He told me to mind my own business so politely that I +couldn't take offence, although he gave scarcely any other reason +than that he proposed to mind his. When I met his Southern mother +on the piazza, she looked at me in my uniform at first as if I had +been a toad. They are rebels at heart, and yet they stand aloof and +sneer at the North, from which they derive protection and revenue. +I made his eyes flash once though," chuckled the young fellow in +conclusion. + +Marian laughed heartily as she said: "Mr. Strahan, if you fight +as well as you talk, I foresee Southern reverses. You have no idea +how your indignation becomes you. 'As well-born,' did you say? Why, +my good friend, you are worth a wilderness of such lackadaisical +fellows. Ciphers don't count unless they stand after a significant +figure; neither do such men, unless stronger men use them." + +"Your arithmetic is at fault, Miss Marian. Ciphers do have the +power of pushing a significant figure way back to the right of +the decimal point, and, as a practical fact, these elegant human +ciphers usually stand before good men and true in society. I don't +believe it would be so with you, but few of us would stand a chance +with most girls should this rich American, with his foreign airs +and graces, enter the lists against us." + +In her sincerity and earnestness, she took his hand and said: "I +thank you for your tribute. You are right. Though this person had +the wealth of the Indies, and every external grace, he could not be +my friend unless he were a MAN. I've talked with papa a good deal, +and believe there are men in the Southern army just as honest and +patriotic as you are; but no cold-blooded, selfish betwixt-and-betweens +shall ever take my hand." + +"Make me a promise," cried Strahan, giving the hand he held a hearty +and an approving shake. + +"Well?" + +"If opportunity offers, make this fellow bite the dust." + +"We'll see about that. I may not think it worth the while, and I +certainly shall not compromise myself in the slightest degree." + +"But if I bring him here you will be polite to him?" + +"Just about as polite as he was to you, I imagine." + +"Miss Marian, I wouldn't have any harm come to you for the wide +world. If--if anything should turn out amiss I'd shoot him, I +certainly would." + +The girl's only answer was a merry peal of laughter. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"A VOW." + + + + + +BENT, as was Strahan, upon his scheme of disturbing Merwyn's pride +and indifference, he resolved to permit several days to pass before +repeating his call. He also, as well as Marian, was unwilling +to compromise himself beyond a certain point, and it was his hope +that he might receive a speedy visit. He was not disappointed, for +on the ensuing day Merwyn sauntered up the Strahan avenue, and, +learning that the young officer had gone to camp, followed him +thither. The cold glance from the fair stranger in the phaeton dwelt +in his memory, and he was pleased to find that it formed sufficient +incentive to action. + +Strahan saw him coming with a grim smile, but greeted him with +off-hand cordiality. "Sorry, Merwyn," he said, "I can give you only +a few moments before I go on duty." + +"You are not on duty evenings?" + +"Yes, every other evening." + +"How about to-night?" + +"At your service." + +"Are you acquainted with the people who reside at a cottage--" and +he described Marian's abode. + +"Yes." + +"Who are they?" + +"Mr. Vosburgh has rented the place as a summer residence for his +family. His wife and daughter are there usually, and he comes when +he can. + +"And the daughter's name?" + +"Miss Marian Vosburgh." + +"Will you introduce me to her?" + +"Certainly." + +"I sha'n't be poaching on your grounds, shall I?" + +"Miss Vosburgh honors me with her friendship,--nothing more." + +"Is it so great an honor?" + +"I esteem it as such." + +"Who are they, anyway?" + +"Well, as a family I regard them as my equals, and Miss Marian as +my superior." + +"Oh come, Strahan, gossip about them a little." + +The officer burst out laughing. "Well," he said, "for a man of your +phenomenal reticence you are asking a good many questions." + +Merwyn colored slightly and blundered: "You know my motive, Strahan; +one does not care to make acquaintances that are not quite--" and +then the expression of his host's eyes checked him. + +"I assure you the Vosburghs are 'QUITE,'" Strahan said, coldly. "Did +I not say they were my equals? You may esteem yourself fortunate +if Miss Vosburgh ever permits you to feel yourself to be her equal." + +"Why, how so?" a little irritably. + +"Because if a man has brains and discernment the more he sees of +her the more will he be inclined to doubt his equality." + +Merwyn smiled in a rather superior way, and, with a light laugh, +said: "I understand, Strahan. A man in your plight ought to feel +in that way; at least, it is natural that he should. Now see here, +old fellow, I'll keep aloof if you say so." + +"Why should you? You have seen few society queens abroad who +received so much and so varied homage as Miss Vosburgh. There are +half a dozen fellows there, more or less, every evening, and you +can take your chances among them." + +"Oh, she's a bit of a coquette, then?" + +"You must discover for yourself what she is," said the young man, +buckling on his sword. "She has my entire respect." + +"You quite pique my curiosity. I'll drive in for you this evening." + +At the hour appointed, Strahan, in civilian's dress, stepped into +Merwyn's carriage and was driven rapidly to the cottage. Throwing +the reins to a footman, the young fellow followed the officer with a +confidence not altogether well founded, as he soon learned. Many +guests were present, and Lane was among them. When Merwyn was +presented Marian was observed to bow merely and not give her hand, +as was her custom when a friend of hers introduced a friend. Some +of the residents in the vicinity exchanged significant smiles +when they saw that the fastidious and exclusive Willard Merwyn had +joined their circle. Mrs. Vosburgh, who was helping to entertain +the guests, recognized nothing in his presence beyond a new social +triumph for her daughter, and was very gracious. To her offices, +as hostess, he found himself chiefly relegated for a time. + +This suited him exactly, since it gave him a chance for observation; +and certainly the little drawing-room, with its refined freedom, +was a revelation to him. Conversation, repartee, and jest were +unrestrained. While Lane was as gay as any present, Merwyn was +made to feel that he was no ordinary man, and it soon came out in +the natural flow of talk that he, too, was in the service. Merwyn +was introduced also to a captain of the regular army, and, whatever +be might think of these people, he instinctively felt that they +would no more permit themselves to be patronized than would the sons +of noble houses abroad. Indeed, he was much too adroit to attempt +anything of the kind, and, with well-bred ease, made himself at +home among them in general conversation. + +Meanwhile, he watched Marian with increasing curiosity. To him she +was a new and very interesting type. He had seen no such vivacity +and freedom abroad, and his experience led him to misunderstand +her. "She is of the genus American girl, middle class," he thought, +"who, by her beauty and the unconventionality of her drawing-room, +has become a quasi-belle. None of these men would think of marrying +her, unless it is little Strahan, and he wouldn't five years hence. +Yet she is piquant and fascinating after her style, a word and a +jest for each and all, and spoken with a sort of good-comradeship, +rather than with an if-you-please-sir air. I must admit, however, +that there is nothing loud in tone, word, or manner. She is as +delicate and refined as her own beauty, and, although this rather +florid mamma is present as chaperon, the scene and the actors are +peculiarly American. Well, I owe Strahan a good turn. I can amuse +myself with this girl without scruple." + +At last he found an opportunity to say, "We have met once before, +I believe, Miss Vosburgh." + +"Met? Where?" + +"Where I was inclined to go to sleep, and you gave me such a charming +frown that I awakened immediately and took a long ramble." + +"I saw a person stretched at lazy length under the trees yesterday. +You know the horror ladies have of intoxicated men on the road-side." + +"Was that the impression I made? Thanks." + +"The impression made was that we had better pass as quickly as +possible." + +"You made a very different impression. Thanks to Strahan I am here +this evening in consequence, and am delighted that I came." + +"'Delighted' is a strong word, Mr. Merwyn. Now that we are speaking +of impressions, mine is that years have elapsed since you were +greatly delighted at anything." + +"What gives you such an impression?" + +"Women can never account for their intuitions." + +"Women? Do not use such an elderly word in regard to one appearing +as if just entering girlhood." + +"O Mr. Merwyn! have you not learned abroad that girls of my age +are elderly indeed compared with men of yours?" + +He bit his lip. "English girls are not so--" + +"Fast?" + +"I didn't say that. They certainly have not the vivacity and +fascination that I am discovering in your drawing-room." + +"Why, Mr. Merwyn! one would think you had come to America on a voyage +of discovery, and were surprised at the first thing you saw." + +"I think I could show you things abroad that would interest you." + +"All Europe could not tempt me to go abroad at this time. In your +estimation I am not even a woman,--only a girl, and yet I have enough +girlhood to wish to take my little part in the events of the day." + +He colored, but asked, quietly, "What part are you taking?" + +"Such questions," she replied, with a merry, half-mocking flash of +her eyes, "I answer by deeds. There are those who know;" and then, +being addressed by Mr. Lane, she turned away, leaving him with +confused, but more decided sensations than he had known for a long +time. + +His first impulse was to leave the house, but this course would +only subject him to ridicule on the part of those who remained. +After a moment or two of reflection he remembered that she had not +invited him, and that she had said nothing essentially rude. He had +merely chosen to occupy a position in regard to his country that +differed radically from hers, and she had done little more than +define her position. + +"She is a Northern, as mamma is a Southern fanatic, with the +difference that she is a young, effervescing creature, bubbling +over with the excitement of the times," he thought. "That fellow in +uniform, and the society of men like Strahan and Lane, haye turned +her head, and she has not seen enough of life to comprehend a man +of the world. What do I care for her, or any here? Her briery talk +should only amuse me. When she learns more about who I am and what +I possess she will be inclined to imitate her discreet mamma and +think of the main chance; meanwhile I escape a summer's dulness +and ennui;" and so he philosophically continued his observations +and chatted with Mrs. Vosburgh and others until, with Strahan, he +took his departure, receiving from Marian a bow merely, while to +Strahan she gave her hand cordially. + +"You seem to be decidedly in Miss Vosburgh's good graces," said +Merwyn, as they drove away. + +"I told you she was my friend." + +"Is it very difficult to become her friend?" + +"Well, that depends. You should not find it difficult, since you +are so greatly my superior." + +"Oh, come, Strahan." + +"Pardon me, I forgot I was to express only my own thoughts, not +yours." + +"You don't know my thoughts or circumstances. Come now, let us be +good comrades. I will begin by thanking you cordially for introducing me +to a charming young girl. I am sure I put on no airs this evening." + +"They would not have been politic, Merwyn, and, for the life of +me, I can see no reason for them." + +"Very well. Therefore you didn't see any. How like old times we +are! We were always together, yet always sparring a little." + +"You must take us as we are in these times," said Strahan, with a +light laugh, for he felt it would jeopardize his scheme, or hope +rather, if he were too brusque with his companion. "You see it is +hard for us to understand your cosmopolitan indifference. American +feeling just now is rather tense on both sides of the line, and if +you will recognize the fact you will understand us better." + +"I think I am already aware of the fact. If Miss Vosburgh were of +our sex you would soon have another recruit." + +"I'd soon have a superior officer, you mean." + +"I fancy you are rather under her thumb already." + +"It's a difficult position to attain, I assure you." + +"How so?" + +"I have observed that, towards a good many, Miss Vosburgh is quite +your equal in indifference." + +"I like her all the better for that fact." + +"So do I." + +"How is it that you are so favored?" + +"No doubt it seems strange to you. Mere caprice on her part, +probably." + +"You misunderstand me. I would like to learn your tactics." + +"Jove! I'd like to teach you. Come down to-morrow and I'll give +you a musket." + +"You are incorrigible, Strahan. Do you mean that her good-will can +be won only at the point of the bayonet?" + +"No one coached me. Surely you have not so neglected your education +abroad that you do not know how to win a lady's favor." + +"You are a neutral, indeed." + +"I wouldn't aid my own brother in a case of this kind." + +"You are right; in matters of this kind it is every one for himself. +You offered to show me, a stranger, some attention, you know." + +"Yes, Merwyn, and I'll keep my word. I will give you just as good +courtesy as I receive. The formalities have been complied with and +you are acquainted with Miss Vosburgh. You have exactly the same +vantage that I had at the start, and you certainly cannot wish for +more. If you wish for further introductions, count on me." + +Merwyn parted from his plain-spoken companion, well content. +Strahan's promise to return all the courtesy he received left a +variable standard in Merwyn's hands that he could employ according +to circumstances or inclination. He was satisfied that his neighbor, +in accordance with a trait very common to young men, cherished for +Miss Vosburgh a chivalric and sentimental regard at which he would +smile when he became older. Merwyn, however, had a certain sense +of honor, and would not have attempted deliberately to supplant one +to whom he felt that he owed loyalty. His mind having been relieved +of all scruples of this character, he looked forward complacently +to the prospect of winning--what? He did not trouble himself to define +the kind of regard he hoped to inspire. The immediate purpose to +kill time, that must intervene before he could return to England, +was sufficient. There was promise of occupation, mild excitement, +and an amusing triumph, in becoming the foremost figure in Marian's +drawing-room. + +There is scarcely need to dwell upon the events of a few subsequent +weeks and the gradual changes that were taking place. Life with +its small vicissitudes rarely results from deliberate action. +Circumstances, from day to day, color and shape it; yet beneath +the rippling, changing surface a great tide may be rising. Strahan +was succeeding fairly well in his recruiting service, and, making +allowances for his previous history, was proving an efficient +officer. Marian was a loyal, steadfast friend, reprimanding with +mirthful seriousness at times, and speaking earnest and encouraging +words at others. After all, the mercurial young fellow daily won her +increased respect and esteem. He had been promoted to a captaincy, +and such was the response of the loyal North, during that dreary +summer of disaster and confused counsels, that his company was nearly +full, and he was daily expecting orders for departure. His drill +ground had become the occasional morning resort of his friends, and +each day gave evidence of improved soldierly bearing in his men. + +Merwyn thus far had characteristically carried out his plans to +"kill time." Thoroughly convinced of his comparative superiority, +he had been good-naturedly tolerant of the slow recognition accorded +to it by Marian. Yet he believed he was making progress, and the +fact that her favor was hard to win was only the more incitement. +If she had shown early and decided preference his occupation would +have been gone; for what could he have done in those initiatory +weeks of their acquaintance if her eyes and tones had said, "I am +ready to take you and your wealth"? The attitude she maintained, +although little understood, awakened a kind of respect, while the +barriers she quietly interposed aroused a keener desire to surmount +them. By hauteur and reserve at times he had made those with whom +he associated feel that his position in regard to the civil conflict +was his own affair. Even Marian avoided the subject when talking +with him, and her mother never thought of mentioning it. Indeed, +that thrifty lady would have been rather too encouraging had not +her daughter taken pains to check such a spirit. At the same time +the young girl made it emphatically understood that discussion of +the events of the war should be just as free when he was present +as when he was absent. + +Yet in a certain sense he was making progress, in that he awakened +anger on her part, rather than indifference. If she was a new type +to him so was he to her, and she found her thoughts reverting to him +in hostile analysis of his motives and character. She had received +too much sincere homage and devotion not to detect something cynical +and hollow in his earlier attentions. She had seen glances toward +her mother, and had caught in his tones an estimate which, however +true, incensed her greatly. Her old traits began to assert themselves, +and gradually her will accorded with Strahan's hope. If, without +compromising herself, she could humble this man, bringing him to +her feet and dismissing him with a rather scornful refusal, such an +exertion of power would give her much satisfaction. Yet her pride, +as well as her principle, led her to determine that he should sue +without having received any misleading favor on her part. + +Merwyn had never proposed to sue at all, except in the way of +conventional gallantry. For his own amusement he had resolved to +become her most intimate and familiar friend, and then it would +be time to go abroad. If false hopes were raised it would not much +matter; Strahan or some one else would console her. He admitted +that his progress was slow, and her reserve hard to combat. She +would neither drive nor sail with him unless she formed one of a +party. Still in this respect he was on the same footing with her +best friends. One thing did trouble him, however; she had never +given him her hand, either in greeting or in parting. + +At last he brought about an explanation that disturbed his equanimity +not a little. He had called in the morning, and she had chatted +charmingly with him on impersonal matters, pleasing him by her +intelligent and gracefully spoken ideas on the topics broached. +As a society girl she met him on this neutral ground without the +slightest restraint or embarrassment. As he also talked well she had +no scruple in enjoying a pleasure unsought by herself, especially +as it might lead to the punishment which she felt that he deserved. +Smilingly she had assured herself, when he was announced, "If he's +a rebel at heart, as I've been told, I've met the enemy before +either Mr. Lane or Mr. Strahan." + +When Merwyn rose to take his leave he held out his hand and said: +"I shall be absent two or three days. In saying good-by won't you +shake hands?" + +She laughingly put her hands behind her back and said, "I can't." + +"Will not, you mean?" + +"No, I cannot. I've made a vow to give my hand only to my own +friends and those of my country." + +"Do you look upon me as an enemy?" + +"Oh, no, indeed." + +"Then not as a friend?" + +"Why, certainly not, Mr. Merwyn. You know that you are not my +friend. What does the word mean?" + +"Well," said he, flushing, "what does it mean?" + +"Nothing more to me than to any other sincere person. One uses +downright sincerity with a friend, and would rather harm himself +than that friend." + +"Why is not this my attitude towards you?" + +"You, naturally, should know better than I." + +"Indeed, Miss Vosburgh, you little know the admiration you have +excited," he said, gallantly. + +An inscrutable smile was her only response. + +"That, however, has become like the air you breathe, no doubt." + +"Not at all. I prize admiration. What woman does not? But there +are as many kinds of admiration as there are donors." + +"Am I to infer that mine is of a valueless nature?" + +"Ask yourself, Mr. Merwyn, just what it is worth." + +"It is greater than I have ever bestowed upon any one else," he +said, hastily; for this tilt was disturbing his self-possession. + +Again she smiled, and her thought was, "Except yourself." + +He, thinking her smile incredulous, resumed: "You doubt this?" + +"I cannot help thinking that you are mistaken." + +"How can I assure you that I am not?" + +"I do not know. Why is it essential that I should be so assured?" + +He felt that he was being worsted, and feared that she had detected +the absence of unselfish good-will and honest purpose toward her. He +was angry with himself and her because of the dilemma in which he +was placed. Yet what could he say to the serene, smiling girl before +him, whose unflinching blue eyes looked into his with a keenness +of insight that troubled him? His one thought now was to achieve +a retreat in which he could maintain the semblance of dignity and +good breeding. + +With a light and deferential laugh he said: "I am taught, unmistakably, +Miss Vosburgh, that my regard, whatever it may be, is of little +consequence to you, and that it would be folly for me to try to +prove a thing that would not interest you if demonstrated. I feel, +however, that one question is due to us both,--Is my society a +disagreeable intrusion?" + +"If it had been, Mr. Merwyn, you would have been aware of the fact +before this. I have enjoyed your conversation this morning." + +"I hope, then, that in the future I can make a more favorable +impression, and that in time you will give me your hand." + +Her blue eyes never left his face as he spoke, and they grew dark +with a meaning that perplexed and troubled him. She merely bowed +gravely and turned away. + +Never had his complacency been so disturbed. He walked homeward with +steps that grew more and more rapid, keeping pace with his swift, +perturbed thoughts. As he approached his residence he yielded to +an impulse; leaped a wall, and struck out for the mountains. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A SIEGE BEGUN. + + + + + +"EITHER she is seeking to enhance her value, or else she is not the +girl I imagined her to be at all," was Willard Merwyn's conclusion +as he sat on a crag high upon the mountain's side. "Whichever +supposition is true, I might as well admit at once that she is the +most fascinating woman I ever met. She IS a woman, as she claims to +be. I've seen too many mere girls not to detect their transparent +deceits and motives at once. I don't understand Marian Vosburgh; +I only half believe in her, but I intend to learn whether there is +a girl in her station who would unhesitatingly decline the wealth +and position that I can offer. Not that I have decided to offer +these as yet, by any means, for I am in a position to marry wealth +and rank abroad; but this girl piques my curiosity, stirs my blood, +and is giving wings to time. At this rate the hour of our departure +may come before I am ready for it. I was mistaken in one respect +the first evening I met her. Lane, as well as Strahan and others, +would marry her if they could. She might make her choice from almost +any of those who seek her society, and she is not the pretty little +Bohemian that I imagined. Either none of them has ever touched her +heart, or else she knows her value and vantage, and she means to +make the most of them. If she knew the wealth and position I could +give her immediately, would not these certainties bring a different +expression into her eyes? I am not an ogre, that she should shrink +from me as the only incumbrance." + +Could he have seen the girl's passion after he left her he would +have understood her dark look at their parting. Hastily seeking +her own room she locked the door to hide the tears of anger and +humiliation that would come. + +"Well," she cried, "I AM punished for trifling with others. Here +is a man who seeks me in my home for no other purpose than his own +amusement and the gratification of his curiosity. He could not deny +it when brought squarely to the issue. He could not look me in the +eyes and say that he was my honest friend. He would flirt with me, +if he could, to beguile his burdensome leisure; but when I defined +what some are to me, and more would be, if permitted, he found no +better refuge than gallantry and evasion. What can he mean? what +can he hope except to see me in his power, and ready to accept any +terms he may choose to offer? O Arthur Strahan! your wish now is +wholly mine. May I have the chance of rejecting this man as I never +dismissed one before!" + +It must not be supposed that Willard's frequent visits to the +Vosburgh cottage had escaped Mrs. Merwyn's vigilant solicitude, but +her son spoke of them in such a way that she obtained the correct +impression that he was only amusing himself. Her chief hope was +that her son would remain free until the South had obtained the +power it sought. Then an alliance with one of the leading families +in the Confederacy would accomplish as much as might have resulted +from active service during the struggle. She had not hesitated to +express this hope to him. + +He had smiled, and said: "One of the leading theories of the day is +the survival of the fittest. I am content to limit my theory to a +survival. If I am alive and well when your great Southern empire takes +the lead among nations there will be a chance for the fulfilment +of your dream. If I have disappeared beneath Southern mud there +won't be any chance. In my opinion, however, I should have tenfold +greater power with our Southern friends if I introduced to them an +English heiress." + +His mother had sighed and thought: "It is strange that this +calculating boy should be my son. His father was self-controlled +and resolute, but he never manifested such cold-blooded thought of +self, first and always." + +She did not remember that the one lesson taught him from his +very cradle had been that of self-pleasing. She had carried out +her imperious will where it had clashed with his, and had weakly +compensated him by indulgence in the trifles that make up a child's +life. SHE had never been controlled or made to yield to others in +thoughtful consideration of their rights and feelings, and did not +know how to instil the lesson; therefore--so inconsistent is human +nature--when she saw him developing her own traits, she was troubled +because his ambitions differed from her own. Had his hopes and +desires coincided with hers he would have been a model youth in +her eyes, although never entertaining a thought beyond personal and +family advantage. Apparently there was a wider distinction between +them, for she was capable of suffering and sacrifice for the South. +The possibilities of his nature were as yet unrevealed. + +His course and spirit, however, set her at rest in regard to his +visits to Marian Vosburgh, and she felt that there was scarcely +the slightest danger that he would compromise himself by serious +attentions to the daughter of an obscure American official. + +Willard returned from his brief absence, and was surprised at his +eager anticipation of another interview with Marian. He called +the morning after his arrival, and learning that she had just gone +to witness a drill of Strahan's company, he followed, and arrived +almost as soon as she did at the ground set apart for military +evolutions. + +He was greeted by Marian in her old manner, and by Strahan in +his off-hand way. The young officer was at her side, and a number +of ladies and gentlemen were present as spectators. Merwyn took a +camp-stool, sat a little apart, and nonchalantly lighted a cigar. + +Suddenly there was a loud commotion in the guard-house, accompanied +by oaths and the sound of a struggle. Then a wild figure, armed with +a knife, rushed toward Strahan, followed by a sergeant and two or +three privates. At a glance it was seen to be the form of a tall, +powerful soldier, half-crazed with liquor. + +"--you!" exclaimed the man; "you ordered me to be tied up. I'll +larn you that we ain't down in Virginny yet!" and there was reckless +murder in his bloodshot eyes. + +Although at that moment unarmed, Strahan, without a second's hesitation, +sprung at the man's throat and sought to catch his uplifted hand, +but could not reach it. The probabilities are that the young +officer's military career would have been ended in another second, +had not Merwyn, without removing his cigar from his mouth, caught +the uplifted arm and held it as in a vise. + +"Stand back, Strahan," he said, quietly; but the young fellow would +not loosen his hold. Therefore Merwyn, with his left hand upon the +collar of the soldier, jerked him a yard away, and tripped him up +so that he fell upon his face. Twisting the fellow's hands across +his back, Merwyn said to the sergeant, "Now tie him at your leisure." + +This was done almost instantly, and the foul mouth was also stopped +by a gag. + +Merwyn returned to his camp-stool, and coolly removed the cigar +from his mouth as he glanced towards Marian. Although white and +agitated, she was speaking eager, complimentary, and at the same +time soothing words to Strahan, who, in accordance with his excitable +nature, was in a violent passion. She did not once glance towards +the man who had probably saved her friend's life, but Strahan came +and shook hands with him cordially, saying: "It was handsomely and +bravely done, Merwyn. I appreciate the service. You ought to be an +officer, for you could make a good one,--a better one than I am, +for you are as cool as a cucumber." + +Others, also, would have congratulated Merwyn had not his manner +repelled them, and in a few moments the drill began. Long before +it was over Marian rose and went towards her phaeton. In a moment +Merwyn was by her side. + +"You are not very well, Miss Vosburgh," he said. "Let me drive you +home." + +She bowed her acquiescence, and he saw that she was pale and a +little faint; but by a visible effort she soon rallied, and talked +on indifferent subjects. + +At last she said, abruptly: "I am learning what war means. It would +seem that there is almost as much danger in enforcing discipline +on such horrible men as in facing the enemy." + +"Of course," said Merwyn, carelessly. "That is part of the risk." + +"Well," she continued, emphatically, "I never saw a braver act than +that of Mr. Strahan. He was unarmed." + +"I was also!" was the somewhat bitter reply, "and you did not even +thank me by a look for saving your friend from a bad wound to say +the least." + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. Merwyn, you were armed with a strength +which made your act perfectly safe. Mr. Strahan risked everything." + +"How could he help risking everything? The infuriated beast was +coming towards you as well as him. Could he have run away? You are +not just to me, or at least you are very partial" + +"One can scarcely help being partial towards one's friends. I +agree with you, however; Mr. Strahan could not have taken any other +course. Could you, with a friend in such peril?" + +"Certainly not, with any one in such peril. Let us say no more +about the trifle." + +She was silent a moment, and then said, impetuously: "You shall +not misunderstand me. I don't know whether I am unjust or not. I do +know that I was angered, and cannot help it. You may as well know +my thoughts. Why should Mr. Strahan and others expose themselves +to such risks and hardships while you look idly on, when you so +easily prove yourself able to take a man's part in the struggle? +You may think, if you do not say it, that it is no affair of mine; +but with my father, whom I love better than life, ready at any +moment to give his life for a cause, I cannot patiently see utter +indifference to that cause in one who seeks my society." + +"I think your feelings are very natural, Miss Vosburgh, nor do +I resent your censure. You are surrounded by influences that lead +you to think as you do. You can scarcely judge for me, however. +Be fair and just. I yield to you fully--I may add, patiently--the +right to think, feel, and act as you think best. Grant equal rights +to me." + +"Oh, certainly," she said, a little coldly; "each one must choose +his own course for life." + +"That must ever be true," he replied, "and it is well to remember +that it is for life. The present condition of affairs is temporary. +It is the hour of excited impulses rather than of cool judgment. +Ambitious men on both sides are furthering their own purposes at +the cost of others." + +"Is that your idea of the war, Mr. Merwyn?" she asked, looking +searchingly into his face. + +"It is indeed, and time will prove me right, you will discover." + +"Since this is your view, I can scarcely wonder at your course," +she said, so quietly that he misunderstood her, and felt that she +half conceded its reasonableness. Then she changed the subject, +nor did she revert to it in his society. + +As August drew to its close, Marian's circle shared the feverish +solicitude felt in General Pope's Virginia campaign. Throughout +the North there was a loyal response to the appeal for men, and +Strahan's company was nearly full. He expected at any hour the +orders which would unite the regiment at Washington. + +One morning Mr. Lane came to say good-by. It was an impressive +hour which he spent with Marian when bidding her perhaps a final +farewell. She was pale, and her attempts at mirthfulness were forced +and feeble. When he rose to take his leave she suddenly covered +her face with her hand, and burst into tears. + +"Marian!" he exclaimed, eagerly, for the deep affection in his +heart would assert itself at times, and now her emotion seemed to +warrant hope. + +"Wait," she faltered. "Do not go just yet." + +He took her unresisting hand and kissed it, while she stifled her +sobs. + +"Miss Marian," he began, "you know how wholly I am yours--" + +"Please do not misunderstand me," she interrupted. "I scarcely +know how I could feel differently if I were parting with my twin +brother. You have been such a true, generous friend! Oh, I am all +unstrung. Papa has been sent for from Washington, and we don't know +when he'll return or what service may be required of him. I only +know that he is like you, and will take any risk that duty seems +to demand. I have so learned to lean upon you and trust you that if +anything happened--well, I felt that I could go to you as a brother. +You are too generous to blame me that I cannot feel in any other +way. See, I am frank with you. Why should I not be when the future +is so uncertain? Is it a little thing that I should think of you +first and feel that I shall miss you most when I am so distraught +with anxiety?" + +"No, Miss Marian. To me it is a sacred thing. I want you to know +that you have a brother's hand and heart at your disposal." + +"I believe you. Come," she added, rising and dashing away her +tears, "I must be brave, as you are. Promise me that you will take +no risks beyond those required by duty, and that you will write to +me." + +"Marian," he said, in a low, deep voice, "I shall ever try to do +what, in your heart, you would wish. You must also promise that if +you are ever in trouble you will let me know." + +"I promise." + +He again kissed her hand, like a knight of the olden time. + +At the last turn of the road from which he was visible she waved +her handkerchief, then sought her room and burst into a passion of +tears. + +"Oh," she sobbed, "as I now feel I could not refuse him anything. +I may never see him again, and he has been so kind and generous!" + +The poor girl was indeed morbid from excitement and anxiety. Her +pale face began to give evidence of the strain which the times +imposed on her in common with all those whose hearts had much at +stake in the conflict. + +In vain her mother remonstrated with her, and told her that she was +"meeting trouble half-way." Once the sagacious lady had ventured +to suggest that much uncertainty might be taken out of the future +by giving more encouragement to Mr. Merwyn. "I am told that he is +almost a millionnaire in his own right," she said. + +"What is he in his own heart and soul?" had been the girl's indignant +answer. "Don't speak to me in that way again, mamma." + +Meanwhile Merwyn was a close observer of all that was taking place, +and was coming to what he regarded as an heroic resolution. Except +as circumstances evoked an outburst of passion, he yielded to habit, +and coolly kept his eye on the main chances of his life, and these +meant what he craved most. + +Two influences had been at work upon his mind during the summer. +One resulted from his independent possession of large property. He +had readily comprehended the hints thrown out by his lawyer that, +if he remained in New York, the times gave opportunity for a +rapid increase in his property, and the thought of achieving large +wealth for himself, as his father had done before him, was growing +in attractiveness. His indolent nature began to respond to vital +American life, and he asked himself whether fortune-making in his +own land did not promise more than fortune-seeking among English +heiresses; moreover, he saw that his mother's devotion to the South +increased daily, and that feeling at the North was running higher +and becoming more and more sharply defined. As a business man in +New York his property would be safe beyond a doubt, but if he were +absent and affiliating with those known to be hostile to the North, +dangerous complications might arise. + +Almost unconsciously to himself at first the second influence was +gaining daily in power. As he became convinced that Marian was +not an ordinary girl, ready for a summer flirtation with a wealthy +stranger, he began to give her more serious thought, to study her +character, and acknowledge to himself her superiority. With every +interview the spell of her fascination grew stronger, until at last +he reached the conclusion which he regarded as magnanimous indeed. +Waiving all questions of rank and wealth on his part he would become +a downright suitor to this fair countrywoman. It did not occur to +him that he had arrived at his benign mood by asking himself the +question, "Why should I not please myself?" and by the oft-recurring +thought: "If I marry rank and wealth abroad the lady may eventually +remind me of her condescension. If I win great wealth here and lift +this girl to my position she will ever be devoted and subservient +and I be my own master. I prefer to marry a girl that pleases me +in her own personality, one who has brains as well as beauty. When +these military enthusiasts have disappeared below the Southern +horizon, and time hangs more heavily on her hands, she will find +leisure and thought for me. What is more, the very uncertainties +of her position, with the advice of her prudent mamma, will incline +her to the ample provision for the future which I can furnish." + +Thus did Willard Merwyn misunderstand the girl he sought, so strong +are inherited and perverted traits and lifelong mental habits. +He knew how easily, with his birth and wealth, he could arrange a +match abroad with the high contracting powers. Mrs. Vosburgh had +impressed him as the chief potentate of her family, and not at all +averse to his purpose. He had seen Mr. Vosburgh but once, and the +quiet, reticent man had appeared to be a second-rate power. He had +also learned that the property of the family was chiefly vested in +the wife. Of course, if Mr. Vosburgh had been in the city, Merwyn +would have addressed him first, but he was absent and the time of +his return unknown. + +The son knew his mother would be furious, but he had already +discounted that opposition. He regarded this Southern-born lady as +a very unsafe guide in these troublous times. Indeed, he cherished +a practical kind of loyalty to her and his sisters. + +"Only as I keep my head level," he said to himself, "are they safe. +Mamma would identify herself with the South to-day if she could, +and with a woman's lack of foresight be helpless on the morrow. +Let her dream her dreams and nurse her prejudices. I am my father's +son, and the responsible head of the family; and I part with no +solid advantage until I receive a better one. I shall establish +mamma and the girls comfortably in England, and then return to a +city where I can soon double my wealth and live a life independent +of every one." + +This prospect grew to be so attractive that he indulged, like Mr. +Lanniere, in King Cophetua's mood, and felt that one American girl +was about to become distinguished indeed. + +Watching his opportunity he called upon Mrs. Vosburgh while Marian +was out of the way, formally asking her, in her husband's absence, +for permission to pay his addresses; and he made known his financial +resources and prospects with not a little complacent detail. + +Mrs. Vosburgh was dignified and gracious, enlarged on her daughter's +worth, hinted that she might be a little difficult to win by +reason of the attentions she had received and her peculiar views, +yet left, finally, the impression that so flattering proposals +could not be slighted. + +Merwyn went home with a sigh of relief. He would no longer approach +Marian with doubtful and ill-defined intentions, which he believed +chiefly accounted for the clever girl's coldness towards him. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +OMINOUS. + + + + + +SUBORDINATE only to her father and two chief friends, in Marian's +thoughts, was her enemy, for as such she now regarded Willard Merwyn. +She had felt his attentions to be humiliating from the first. They +had presented her former life, in which her own amusement and pleasure +had been her chief thought, in another and a very disagreeable +light. These facts alone would have been sufficient to awaken a +vindictive feeling, for she was no saint. In addition, she bitterly +resented his indifference to a cause made so dear by her father's +devotion and her friends' brave self-sacrifice. Whatever his +motive might be, she felt that he was cold-blooded, cowardly, or +disloyal, and such courtesy as she showed him was due to little else +than the hope of inflicting upon him some degree of humiliation. +She had seen too many manifestations of honest interest and ardent +love to credit him with any such emotion, and she had no scruples +in wounding his pride to the utmost. + +Meanwhile events in the bloody drama of the war were culminating. +The Union officers were thought to have neither the wisdom to fight +at the right time nor the discretion to retreat when fighting was +worse than useless. In consequence thousands of brave men were +believed by many to have died in vain once more on the ill-fated +field of Bull Run. + +One morning, the last of August, Strahan galloped to the Vosburgh +cottage and said to Marian, who met him at the door: "Orders have +come. I have but a few minutes in which to say good-by. Things +have gone wrong in Virginia, and every available man is wanted in +Washington." + +His flushed face was almost as fair as her own, and gave him a boyish +aspect in spite of his military dress, but unhesitating resolution +and courage beamed from his eyes. + +"Oh, that I were a man!" Marian cried, "and you would have company. +All those who are most to me will soon be perilling their lives." + +"Guess who has decided to go with me almost at the last moment." + +"Mr. Blauvelt?" + +"Yes; I told him that he was too high-toned to carry a musket, +but he said he would rather go as a private than as an officer. He +wishes no responsibility, he says, and, beyond mere routine duty, +intends to give all his time and thoughts to art. I am satisfied +that I have you to thank for this recruit." + +"Indeed, I have never asked him to take part in the war." + +"No need of your asking any one in set terms. A man would have to +be either a coward, or else a rebel at heart, like Merwyn, to resist +your influence. Indeed, I think it is all the stronger because +you do not use it openly and carelessly. Every one who comes here +knows that your heart is in the cause, and that you would have been +almost a veteran by this time were you of our sex. Others, besides +Blauvelt, obtained the impulse in your presence which decided them. +Indeed, your drawing-room has been greatly thinned, and it almost +looks as if few would be left to haunt it except Merwyn." + +"I do not think he will haunt it much longer, and I should prefer +solitude to his society." + +"Well," laughed Strahan, "I think you will have a chance to put +one rebel to rout before I do. I don't blame you, remembering your +feeling, but Merwyn probably saved my life, and I gave him my +hand in a final truce. Friends we cannot be while he maintains his +present cold reserve. As you told me, he said he would have done +as much for any one, and his manner since has chilled any grateful +regard on my part. Yet I am under deep obligations, and hereafter +will never do or say anything to his injury." + +"Don't trouble yourself about Mr. Merwyn, Arthur. I have my own +personal score to settle with him. He has made a good foil for +you and my other friends, and I have learned to appreciate you the +more. YOU have won my entire esteem and respect, and have taught me +how quickly a noble, self-sacrificing purpose can develop manhood. +O Arthur, Heaven grant that we may all meet again! How proud I +shall then be of my veteran friends! and of you most of all. You +are triumphing over yourself, and you have won the respect of every +one in this community." + +"If I ever become anything, or do anything, just enter half the +credit in your little note-book," he said, flushing with pleasure. + +"I shall not need a note-book to keep in mind anything that relates +to you. Your courage has made me a braver, truer girl. Arthur, +please, you won't get reckless in camp? I want to think of you +always as I think of you now. When time hangs heavy on your hands, +would it give you any satisfaction to write to me?" + +"Indeed it will," cried the young officer. "Let me make a suggestion. +I will keep a rough journal of what occurs and of the scenes we +pass through, and Blauvelt will illustrate it. How should you like +that? It will do us both good, and will be the next best thing to +running in of an evening as we have done here." + +Marian was more than pleased with the idea. When at last Strahan +said farewell, he went away with every manly impulse strengthened, +and his heart warmed by the evidences of her genuine regard. + +In the afternoon Blauvelt called, and, with Marian and her mother, +drove to the station to take part in an ovation to Captain Strahan +and his company. The artist had affairs to arrange in the city +before enlisting, and proposed to enter the service at Washington. + +The young officer bore up bravely, but when he left his mother and +sisters in tears, his face was stern with effort. Marian observed, +however, that his last glance from the platform of the cars rested +upon herself. She returned home depressed and nervously excited, +and there found additional cause for solicitude in a letter from +her father informing her of the great disaster to Union arms which +poor generalship had invited. This, as she then felt, would have +been bad enough, but in a few tender, closing words, he told her that +they might not hear from him in some time, as he had been ordered +on a service that required secrecy and involved some danger. Mrs. +Vosburgh was profuse in her lamentations and protests against her +husband's course, but Marian went to her room and sobbed until +almost exhausted. + +Her nature, however, was too strong, positive, and unchastened to +find relief in tears, or to submit resignedly. Her heart was full +of bitterness and revolt, and her partisanship was becoming almost +as intense as that of Mrs. Merwyn. + +The afternoon closed with a dismal rain-storm, which added to her +depression, while relieving her from the fear of callers. "O dear!" +she exclaimed, as she rose from the mere form of supper, "I have +both head-ache and heart-ache. I am going to try to get through +the rest of this dismal day in sleep." + +"Marian, do, at least, sit an hour or two with me. Some one may +come and divert your thoughts." + +"No one can divert me to-night. It seems as if an age had passed +since we came here in June." + +"Your father knows how alone we are in the world, with no near +relatives to call upon. I think he owes his first duty to us." + +"The men of the North, who are right, should be as ready to +sacrifice everything as the men of the South, who are wrong; and so +also should Northern women. I am proud of the fact that my father +is employed and trusted by his government. The wrong rests with +those who caused the war." + +"Every man can't go and should not go. The business of the country +must be carried on just the same, and rich business men are +as important as soldiers. I only wish that, in our loneliness and +with the future so full of uncertainty, you would give sensible +encouragement to one abundantly able to give you wealth and the +highest position." + +"Mr. Merwyn?" + +"Yes, Mr. Merwyn," continued her mother, with an emphasis somewhat +irritable. "He is not an old, worn-out millionnaire, like Mr. +Lanniere. He is young, exceedingly handsome, so high-born that he +is received as an equal in the houses of the titled abroad. He has +come to me like an honorable man, and asked for the privilege of +paying his addresses. He would have asked your father had he been +in town. He was frank about his affairs, and has just received, +in his own name, a very large property, which he proposes to double +by entering upon business in New York." + +"What does his mother think of his intentions toward me?" the young +girl asked, so quietly, that Mrs. Vosburgh was really encouraged. + +"He says that he and his mother differ on many points, and will +differ on this one, and that is all he seemed inclined to say, +except to remark significantly that he had attained his majority." + +"It was he whom you meant, when you said that some one might come +who would divert my thoughts?" + +"I think he would have come, had it not been for the storm." + +"Mamma, you have not given him any encouragement? You have not +compromised yourself, or me?" + +Mrs. Vosburgh bridled with the beginnings of resentment, and said, +"Marian, you should know me too well--" + +"There, there, mamma, I was wrong to think of such a thing; I ask +your pardon." + +"I may have my sensible wishes and preferences," resumed the lady, +complacently, "but I have never yet acted the role of the anxious, +angling mamma. I cannot help wishing, however, that you would +consider favorably an offer like this one, and I certainly could +not treat Mr. Merwyn otherwise than with courtesy." + +"That was right and natural of you, mamma. You have no controversy +with Mr. Merwyn; I have. I hate and detest him. Well, since he may +come, I shall dress and be prepared." + +"O Marian! you are so quixotic!" + +"Dear mamma, you are mistaken. Do not think me inconsiderate of +you. Some day I will prove I am not by my marriage, if I marry;" +and she went to her mother and kissed her tenderly. + +Then by a sudden transition she drew herself up with the dark, +inscrutable expression that was becoming characteristic since deeper +experiences had entered into her life, and said, firmly:-- + +"Should I do as you suggest, I should be false to those true friends +who have gone to fight, perhaps to die; false to my father; false +to all that's good and true in my own soul. As to my heart," she +concluded, with a contemptuous shrug, "that has nothing to do with +the affair. Mamma, you must promise me one thing. I do not wish +you to meet Mr. Merwyn to-night. Please excuse yourself if he asks +for you. I will see him." + +"Mark my words, Marian, you will marry a poor man." + +"Oh, I have no objection to millionnaires," replied the girl, +with a short, unmirthful laugh, "but they must begin their suit in +a manner differing from that of two who have favored me;" and she +went to her room. + +As Merwyn resembled his deceased parent, so Marian had inherited +not a little of her father's spirit and character. Until within +the last few months her mother's influence had been predominant, +and the young girl had reflected the social conventionalities to +which she was accustomed. No new traits had since been created. Her +increasing maturity had rendered her capable of revealing qualities +inherent in her nature, should circumstances evoke them. The flower, +as it expands, the plant as it grows, is apparently very different, +yet the same. The stern, beautiful woman who is arraying herself +before her mirror, as a soldier assumes his arms and equipments, is +the same with the thoughtless, pleasure-loving girl whom we first +met in her drawing-room in June; but months of deep and almost +tragic experience have called into activity latent forces received +from her father's soul,--his power of sustained action, of resolute +purpose, of cherishing high ideals, and of white, quiet anger. + +Her toilet was scarcely completed when Willard Merwyn was announced. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SCORN. + + + + + +IT is essential that we should go back several hours in our story. +On the morning of the day that witnessed the departure of Strahan +and his company Merwyn's legal adviser had arrived and had been +closeted for several hours with his client. Mr. Bodoin was extremely +conservative. Even in youth he had scarcely known any leanings +toward passion of any kind or what the world regards as folly. His +training had developed and intensified natural characteristics, +and now to preserve in security the property intrusted to his +care through a stormy, unsettled period had become his controlling +motive. He looked upon the ups and downs of political men and measures +with what seemed to him a superior and philosophical indifference, +and he was more than pleased to find in Merwyn, the son of his old +client, a spirit so in accord with his own ideas. + +They had not been very long together on this fateful day before he +remarked: "My dear young friend, it is exceedingly gratifying to +find that you are level-headed, like your father. He was a man, +Willard, whom you do well to imitate. He secured what he wanted +and had his own way, yet there was no nonsense about him. I was +his intimate friend as well as legal adviser, and I know, perhaps, +more of his life than any one else. Your mother, to-day, is the +handsomest woman of her years I ever saw, but when she was of your +age her beauty was startling, and she had almost as many slaves +among the first young men of the South as there were darkies on the +plantation, yet your father quietly bore her away from them all. +What is more, he so managed as to retain her respect and affection +to the last, at the same time never yielding an inch in his just +rights or dignity, and he ever made Mrs. Merwyn feel that her just +rights and dignity were equally sacred. Proud as your mother was, +she had the sense to see that his course was the only proper one. +Their marriage, my boy, always reminded me of an alliance between +two sovereign and alien powers. It was like a court love-match +abroad. Your father, a Northern man, saw the beautiful Southern +heiress, and he sued as if he were a potentate from a foreign realm. +Well-born and accustomed to wealth all his life, he matched her +pride with a pride as great, and made his offer on his feet as if +he were conferring as much as he should receive. That, in fact, +was the only way to win a woman who had been bowed down to all +her life. After marriage they lived together like two independent +sovereigns, sometimes here, then in the city house, and, when +Mrs. Merwyn so desired it, on the Southern plantation, or abroad. +He always treated her as if she were a countess or a queen in her +own right and paid the utmost deference to her Southern ideas, but +never for a moment permitted her to forget that he was her equal and +had the same right to his Northern views. In regard to financial +matters he looked after her interests as if he were her prime minister, +instead of a husband wishing to avail himself of anything. In his +own affairs he consulted me constantly and together we planted his +investments on the bed-rock. These reminiscences will enable you +to understand the pleasure with which I recognize in you the same +traits. Of course you know that the law gives you great power over +your property. If you were inclined to dissipation, or, what would +be little better in these times, were hot-headed and bent on taking +part in this losing fight of the South, I should have no end of +trouble." + +"You, also, are satisfied, then, that it will be a losing fight?" +Merwyn had remarked. + +"Yes, even though the South achieves its independence. I am off at +one side of all the turmoil, and my only aim is to keep my trusts +safe, no matter who wins. I see things as they are up to date and +not as I might wish them to be if under the influence of passion +or prejudice. The South may be recognized by foreign powers and +become a separate state, although I regard this as very doubtful. +In any event the great North and West, with the immense tides of +immigration pouring in, will so preponderate as to be overshadowing. +The Southern empire, of which Mrs. Merwyn dreams, would dwindle +rather than grow. Human slavery, right or wrong, is contrary to the +spirit of the age. But enough of this political discussion. I only +touch upon it to influence your action. By the course you are +pursuing you not only preserve all your Northern property, but +you will also enable me to retain for your mother and sisters the +Southern plantation. This would be impossible if you were seeking +'the bubble, reputation, at the cannon's mouth' on either side. +Whatever happens, there must still be law and government. Both +sides will soon get tired of this exhausting struggle, and then +those who survive and have been wise will reap the advantage. Now, +as to your own affairs, the legal formalities are nearly completed. +If you return and spend the winter in New York I can put you in +the way of vastly increasing your property, and by such presence +and business activity you will disarm all criticism which your +mother's Southern relations may occasion." + +"Mamma will bitterly oppose my return." + +"I can only say that what I advise will greatly tend to conserve +Mrs. Merwyn's interests. If you prefer, we can manage it in this +way: after you have safely established your mother and sisters +abroad I can write you a letter saying that your interests require +your presence." + +And so it had been arranged, and the old lawyer sat down to dinner +with Mrs. Merwyn, paying her the courtly deference which, while it +gratified her pride, was accepted as a matter of course--as a part +of her husband's legacy. He had soon afterwards taken his departure, +leaving his young client in a most complacent and satisfactory +mood. + +It may thus be seen that Merwyn was not an unnatural product of +the influences which had until now guided his life and formed his +character. The reminiscences of his father's friend had greatly +increased his sense of magnanimity in his intentions towards +Marian. In the overweening pride of youth he felt as if he were +almost regally born and royally endowed, and that a career was +opening before him in which he should prove his lofty superiority +to those whose heads were turned by the hurly-burly of the hour. +Young as he was, he had the sense to be in accord with wise old age, +that looked beyond the clouds and storm in which so many would be +wrecked. Nay, even more, from those very wrecks he would gather +wealth. + +"The time and opportunity for cool heads," he smilingly assured +himself, "is when men are parting with judgment and reason." + +Such was his spirit when he sought the presence of the girl whose +soul was keyed up to almost a passion of self-sacrifice. His mind +belittled the cause for which her idolized father was, at that +moment, perilling his life, and to which her dearest friends had +consecrated themselves. He was serene in congratulating himself +that "little Strahan" had gone, and that the storm would prevent +the presence of other interlopers. + +Although the room was lighted as usual, he had not waited many +moments before a slight chill fell upon his sanguine mood. The house +was so still, and the rain dripped and the wind sighed so dismally +without, that a vague presentiment of evil began to assert itself. +Heretofore he had found the apartment full of life and mirth, and +he could not help remembering that some who had been its guests +might now be out in the storm. Would she think of this also? + +The parlor was scarcely in its usual pretty order, and no flowers +graced the table. Evidently no one was expected. "All the better," +he assured himself; "and her desolation will probably incline her +the more to listen to one who can bring golden gleams on such a +dreary night." + +A daily paper, with heavy headlines, lay on a chair near him. The +burden of these lines was DEFEAT, CARNAGE, DEATH. + +They increased the slight chill that was growing upon him, and made +him feel that possibly the story of his birth and greatness which +he had hoped to tell might be swallowed up by this other story +which fascinated him with its horror. + +A slight rustle caused him to look up, and Marian stood before him. +Throwing aside the paper as if it were an evil spell, he rose, +would have offered his hand had there been encouragement, but the +girl merely bowed and seated herself as she said: "Good-evening, +Mr. Merwyn. You are brave to venture out in such a storm." + +Was there irony in the slight accent on the word "brave"? How +singularly severe was her costume, also!--simple black, without an +ornament. Yet he admitted that he had never seen her in so effective +a dress, revealing, as it did, the ivory whiteness of her arms and +neck. + +"There is only one reason why I should not come this evening,--you +may have hoped to escape all callers." + +"It matters little what one hopes in these times," she said, "for +events are taking place which set aside all hopes and expectations." + +In her bitter mood she was impatient to have the interview over, so +that she accomplished her purpose. Therefore she proposed, contrary +to her custom with him, to employ the national tragedy, to which +he was so indifferent, as one of her keenest weapons. + +"It is quite natural that you should feel so, Miss Vosburgh, in +regard to such hopes as you have thus far entertained--" + +"Since they are the only hopes I know anything about, Mr. Merwyn, +I am not indifferent to them. I suppose you were at the depot to +see your friend, Mr. Strahan, depart?" and the question was asked +with a steady, searching scrutiny that was a little embarrassing. + +Indeed, her whole aspect produced a perplexed, wondering admiration, for +she seemed breathing marble in her cold self-possession. He felt, +however, that the explanation which he must give of his absence +when so many were evincing patriotic good-will would enable him to +impress her with the fact that he had superior interests at stake +in which she might have a share. + +Therefore he said, gravely, as if the reason were ample: "I should +have been at the depot, of course, had not my legal adviser come +up from town to-day and occupied me with very important business. +Mr. Bodoin's time is valuable to him, and he presented, for my +consideration, questions of vital interest. I have reached that +age now when I must not only act for myself, but I also have very +delicate duties to perform towards my mother and sisters." + +"Mr. Strahan had a sad duty to perform towards his mother and +sisters,--he said good-by to them." + +"A duty which I shall soon have to perform, also," Merwyn said. + +She looked at him inquiringly. Had he at last found his manhood, +and did he intend to assert it? Had he abandoned his calculating +policy, and was he cherishing some loyal purpose? If this were +true and she had any part in his decision, it would be a triumph +indeed; and, while she felt that she could never respond to any +such proposition as he had made through her mother, she could forget +the past and give him her hand in friendly encouragement towards +such a career as Lane and Strahan had chosen. She felt that it would +be well not to be over-hasty in showing resentment, but if possible +to let him reveal his plans and character fully. She listened +quietly, therefore, without show of approval or disapproval, as he +began in reply to her questioning glance. + +"I am going to be frank with you this evening, Miss Vosburgh. The +time has come when I should be so. Has not Mrs. Vosburgh told you +something of the nature of my interview with her?" + +The young girl merely bowed. + +"Then you know how sincere and earnest I am in what--in what I +shall have to say." + +To his surprise he felt a nervous trepidation that he would not +have imagined possible in making his magnanimous offer. He found +this humble American girl more difficult to approach than any other +woman he had ever met. + +"Miss Vosburgh," he continued, hesitatingly, "when I first entered +this room I did not understand your true worth and superiority, +but a sense of these has been growing on me from that hour to this. +Perhaps I was not as sincere as I--I--should have been, and you +were too clever not to know it. Will you listen to me patiently?" + +Again she bowed, and lower this time to conceal a slight smile of +triumph. + +Encouraged, he proceeded: "Now that I have learned to know you well, +I wish you to know me better,--to know all about me. My father was +a Northern man with strong Northern traits; my mother, a Southern +woman with equally strong Southern traits. I have been educated +chiefly abroad. Is it strange, then, that I cannot feel exactly as +you do, or as some of your friends do?" + +"As we once agreed, Mr. Merwyn, each must choose his own course +for life." + +"I am glad you have reminded me of that, for I am choosing for life +and not for the next ten months or ten years. As I said, then, all +this present hurly-burly will soon pass away." Her face darkened, +but in his embarrassment and preoccupation he did not perceive it. +"I have inherited a very large property, and my mother's affairs +are such that I must act wisely, if not always as she would wish." + +"May I ask what Mrs. Merwyn would prefer?" + +"I am prepared to be perfectly frank about myself," he replied, +hesitatingly, "but--" + +"Pardon me. It is immaterial." + +"I have a perfect right to judge and act for myself," resumed +Merwyn, with some emphasis. + +"Thank you. I should remember that." + +The words were spoken in a low tone and almost as if in soliloquy, +and her face seemed to grow colder and more impassive if possible. + +With something approaching dismay Merwyn had observed that the +announcement of his large fortune had had no softening influence on +the girl's manner, and he thought, "Truly, this is the most dreary +and business-like wooing that I ever imagined!" + +But he had gone too far to recede, and his embarrassment was +beginning to pass into something like indignation that he and all +he could offer were so little appreciated. + +Restraining this feeling, he went on, gravely and gently: "You once +intimated that I was young, Miss Vosburgh, yet the circumstances +and responsibilities of my lot have led me to think more, perhaps, +than others of my age, and to look beyond the present hour. I regard +the property left me by my father as a trust, and I have learned +to-day that I can greatly increase and probably double it. It is +my intention, after taking my mother and sisters abroad, to return +to New York and to enter cautiously into business under the guidance +of my legal adviser, who is a man of great sagacity. Now, as you +know, I have said from the first that it is natural for you to +feel deeply in regard to the events of the day; but I look beyond +all this turmoil, distraction, and passion, which will be as +temporary as it is violent. I am thinking for you as truly as for +myself. Pardon me for saying it; I am sure I am in a better condition +of mind to think for you than you are to judge for yourself. +I can give you the highest social position, and make your future +a certainty. From causes I can well understand the passion of the +hour has been swaying you--" + +She rose, and by an emphatic gesture stopped him, and there was a +fire in the blue eyes that had been so cold before. She appeared +to have grown inches as she stood before him and said, in tones +of concentrated scorn: "You are indeed young, yet you speak the +calculating words of one so old as to have lost every impulse of +youth. Do you know where my father is at this moment?" + +"No," he faltered. + +"He is taking part, at the risk of his life, in this temporary +hurly-burly, as you caricature it. It is he who is swaying me, and +the memory of the brave men whom you have met here and to whom you +fancied yourself superior. Did not that honored father exist, or +those brave friends, I feel within my soul that I have womanhood +enough to recognize and feel my country's need in this supreme hour +of her peril. You thoughtful beyond your years?--you think for me? +What did you think of me the first evening you spent here? What were +your thoughts as you came again and again? To what am I indebted +for this honor, but the fact that you could only beguile a summer's +ennui by a passing flirtation which would leave me you little cared +where, after you had joined your aristocratic friends abroad? Now +your plans have changed, and, after much deliberation, you have +come to lift me to the highest position! Never dream that I can +descend to your position!" + +He was fairly trembling with anger and mortification, and she was +about to leave the apartment. + +"Stay!" he said, passing his hand across his brow as if to brush +away confusion of mind; "I have not given you reason for such +contempt, and it is most unreasonable." + +"Why is it unreasonable?" she asked, her scornful self-control +passing into something like passion. "I will speak no more of the +insult of your earlier motives towards me, now that you think you +can afford to marry me. In your young egotism you may think a girl +forgets and forgives such a thing easily if bribed by a fortune. I +will let all that be as if it were not, and meet you on the ground +of what is, at this present hour. I despise you because you have +no more mind or manhood--take it as you will--than to think that +this struggle for national life and liberty is a mere passing fracas +of politicians. Do you think I will tamely permit you to call my +noble father little better than a fool? He has explained to me what +this war means--he, of twice your age, and with a mind as large +as his manhood and courage. You have assumed to be his superior, +also, as well as that of Mr. Lane and Mr. Strahan, who are about +to peril life in the 'hurly-burly.' What are your paltry thousands +to me? Should I ever love, I will love a MAN; and had I your sex +and half your inches, I should this hour be in Virginia, instead of +defending those I love and honor against your implied aspersions. +Had you your mother's sentiments I should at least respect you, +although she has no right to be here enjoying the protection of a +government that she would destroy." + +He was as pale as she had become flushed, and again he passed his +hand over his brow confusedly and almost helplessly. "It is all +like a horrid dream," he muttered. + +"Mr. Merwyn, you have brought this on yourself," she said, more +calmly. "You have sought to wrong me in my own home. Your words and +manner have ever been an insult to the cause for which my father +may die--O God!" she exclaimed, with a cry of agony--"for which +he may now be dead! Go, go," she added, with a strong repellent +gesture. "We have nothing in common: you measure everything with +the inch-rule of self." + +As if pierced to the very soul he sprung forward and seized her hand +with almost crushing force, as he cried: "No, I measure everything +hereafter by the breadth of your woman's soul. You shall not cast +me off in contempt. If you do you are not a woman,--you are a +fanatic, worse than my mother;" and he rushed from the house like +one distraught. + +Panting, trembling, frightened by a volcanic outburst such as she +had never dreamed of, Marian sunk on a lounge, sobbing like a child. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +AWAKENED AT LAST. + + + + + +IT may well be imagined that Mrs. Vosburgh was not far distant +during the momentous interview described in the last chapter, and, +as Merwyn rushed from the house as if pursued by the furies, she +appeared at once on the scene, full of curiosity and dismay. + +Exclamations, questionings, elicited little from Marian. The strain +of the long, eventful day had been too great, and the young girl, +who might have been taken as a type of incensed womanhood a few +moments before, now had scarcely better resources than such remedies +as Mrs. Vosburgh's matronly experience knew how to apply. Few remain +long on mountain-tops, physical or metaphorical, and deep valleys +lie all around them. Little else could be done for the poor girl +than to bring the oblivion of sleep, and let kindly Nature nurse +her child back to a more healthful condition of body and mind. + +But it would be long before Willard Merwyn would be amenable to the +gentle offices of nature. Simpson, the footman, flirting desperately +with the pretty waitress in the kitchen below, heard his master's +swift, heavy step on the veranda, and hastened out only in time to +clamber into his seat as Merwyn drove furiously away in the rain +and darkness. Every moment the trembling lackey expected they would +all go to-wreck and ruin, but the sagacious animals were given +their heads, and speedily made their way home. + +The man took the reeking steeds to the stable, and Merwyn disappeared. +He did not enter the house, for he felt that he would stifle there, +and the thought of meeting his mother was intolerable. Therefore, +he stole away to a secluded avenue, and strode back and forth +under the dripping trees, oblivious, in his fierce perturbation, +of outward discomfort. + +Mrs. Merwyn waited in vain for him to enter, then questioned the +attendant. + +"Faix, mum, I know nothin' at all. Mr. Willard druv home loike one +possessed, and got out at the door, and that's the last oi've seen +uv 'im." + +The lady received the significant tidings with mingled anxiety and +satisfaction. Two things were evident. He had become more interested +in Miss Vosburgh than he had admitted, and she, by strange good +fortune, had refused him. + +"It was a piece of folly that had to come in some form, I suppose," +she soliloquized, "although I did not think Willard anything like +so sure to perpetrate it as most young men. Well, the girl has +saved me not a little trouble, for, of course, I should have been +compelled to break the thing up;" and she sat down to watch and +wait. She waited so long that anxiety decidedly got the better of +her satisfaction. + +Meanwhile the object of her thoughts was passing through an experience +of which he had never dreamed. In one brief hour his complacency, +pride, and philosophy of life had been torn to tatters. He saw +himself as Marian saw him, and he groaned aloud in his loathing and +humiliation. He looked back upon his superior airs as ridiculous, +and now felt that he would rather be a private in Strahan's company +than the scorned and rejected wretch that he was. The passionate +nature inherited from his mother was stirred to its depths. Even +the traits which he believed to be derived from his father, and +which the calculating lawyer had commended, had secured the young +girl's most withering contempt; and he saw how she contrasted him +with her father and Mr. Lane,--yes, even with little Strahan. In +her bitter words he heard the verdict of the young men with whom +he had associated, and of the community. Throughout the summer he +had dwelt apart, wrapped in his own self-sufficiency and fancied +superiority. His views had been of gradual growth, and he had come +to regard them as infallible, especially when stamped with the +approval of his father's old friend; but the scathing words, yet +ringing in his ears, showed him that brave, conscientious manhood +was infinitely more than his wealth and birth. As if by a revelation +from heaven he saw that he had been measuring everything with the +little rule of self, and in consequence he had become so mean and +small that a generous-hearted girl had shrunk from him in loathing. + +Then in bitter anger and resentment he remembered how he was +trammelled by his oath to his mother. It seemed to him that his +life was blighted by this pledge and a false education. There was +no path to her side who would love and honor only a MAN. + +At last the mere physical manifestations of passion and excitement +began to pass away, and he felt that he was acting almost like one +insane as he entered the house. + +Mrs. Merwyn met him, but he said, hoarsely, "I cannot talk with +you to-night." + +"Willard, be rational. You are wet through. You will catch your +death in these clothes." + +"Nothing would suit me better, as I feel now;" and he broke away. + +He was so haggard when he came down late the next morning that his +mother could not have believed such a change possible in so short +a time. "It is going to be more serious than I thought," was her +mental comment as she poured him out a cup of coffee. + +It was indeed; for after drinking the coffee in silence, he looked +frowningly out of the window for a time; then said abruptly to the +waiter, "Leave the room." + +The tone was so stern that the man stole out with a scared look. + +"Willard," began Mrs. Merwyn, with great dignity, "you are acting +in a manner unbecoming your birth and breeding." + +Turning from the window, he fixed his eyes on his mother with a +look that made her shiver. + +At last he asked, in a low, stern voice, "Why did you bind me with +that oath?" + +"Because I foresaw some unutterable folly such as you are now +manifesting." + +"No," he said, in the same cold, hard tone. "It was because +your cursed Confederacy was more to you than my freedom, than my +manhood,--more to you than I am myself." + +"O Willard! What ravings!" + +"Was my father insane when he quietly insisted on his rights, +yielding you yours? What right had you to cripple my life?" + +"I took the only effective means to prevent you from doing just +that for yourself." + +"How have you succeeded?" + +"I have prevented you, as a man of honor, from doing, under a gust +of passion, what would spoil all my plans and hopes." + +"I am not a man. You have done your best to prevent me from being +one. You have bound me with a chain, and made me like one of the +slaves on your plantation. Your plans and hopes? Have I no right +to plans and hopes?" + +"You know my first thought has been of you and for you." + +"No, I do not know this. I now remember that, when you bound me, +a thoughtless, selfish, indolent boy, you said that you would have +torn your heart out rather than marry my father had you foreseen +what was coming. This miserable egotist, Jeff Davis, and his scheme +of empire, cost what it may, are more to you than husband or child. +A mother would have said: 'You have reached manhood and have the +rights of a man. I will advise you and seek to guide you. You know +my feelings and views, and in their behalf I will even entreat +you; but you have reached that age when the law makes you free, +and holds you accountable to your own conscience.' Of what value +is my life if it is not mine? I should have the right to make my +own life, like others." + +"You have the right to make it, but not to mar it." + +"In other words, your prejudices, your fanaticism, are to take the +place of my conscience and reason. You expect me to carry a sham of +manhood out into the world. I wish you to release me from my oath." + +"Never," cried Mrs. Merwyn, with a passion now equal to his own. +"You have fallen into the hands of a Delilah, and she has shorn +you of your manhood. Infatuated with a nameless Northern girl, you +would blight your life and mine. When you come to your senses you +will thank me on your knees that I interposed an oath that cannot +be broken between you and suicidal folly;" and she was about to +leave the room. + +"Stop," he said, huskily. "When I bound myself I did so without +realizing what I did. I was but a boy, knowing not the future. I +did it out of mere good-will to you, little dreaming of the fetters +you were forging. Since you will not release me and treat me as a +man I shall keep the oath. I swore never to put on the uniform of +a Union soldier, or to step on Southern soil with a hostile purpose, +but you have taught me to detest your Confederacy with implacable +hate; and I shall use my means, my influence, all that I am, to +aid others to destroy it." + +"What! are you not going back to England with us?" + +"Yes." + +"Before you have been there a week this insane mood will pass away." + +"Did my father's moods pass away?" + +"Your father--" began the lady, impetuously, and then hesitated. + +"My father always yielded you your just rights and maintained his +own. I shall imitate his example as far as I now may. The oath is +a thing that stands by itself. It will probably spoil my life, but +I cannot release myself from it." + +"You leave me only one course, Willard,--to bear with you as if you +were a passionate child. You never need hope for my consent to an +alliance with the under-bred creature who has been the cause of +this folly." + +"Thank you. You now give me your complete idea of my manhood. I +request that these subjects be dismissed finally between us. I make +another pledge,--I shall be silent whenever you broach them;" and +with a bow he left the apartment. + +Half an hour later he was climbing the nearest mountain, resolved +on a few hours of solitude. From a lofty height he could see +the little Vosburgh cottage, and, by the aid of a powerful glass, +observed that the pony phaeton did not go out as usual, although +the day was warm and beautiful after the storm. + +The mists of passion were passing from his mind, and in strong +reaction from his violent excitement he sunk, at first, into deep +depression. So morbid was he that he cried aloud: "O my father! +Would to God that you had lived! Where are you that you can give +no counsel, no help?" + +But he was too young to give way to utter despondency, and at last +his mind rallied around the words he had spoken to Marian. "I shall, +hereafter, measure everything by the breadth of your woman's soul." + +As he reviewed the events of the summer in the light of recent +experience, he saw how strong, unique, and noble her character was. +Faults she might have in plenty, but she was above meannesses and +mercenary calculation. The men who had sought her society had been +incited to manly action, and beneath all the light talk and badinage +earnest and heroic purposes had been formed; he meanwhile, poor +fool! had been too blinded by conceited arrogance to understand +what was taking place. He had so misunderstood her as to imagine +that after she had spent a summer in giving heroic impulses she +would be ready to form an alliance that would stultify all her +action, and lose her the esteem of men who were proving their regard +in the most costly way. He wondered at himself, but thought:-- + +"I had heard so much about financial marriages abroad that I had +gained the impression that no girl in these days would slight an +offer like mine. Even her own mother was ready enough to meet my +views. I wonder if she will ever forgive me, ever receive me again +as a guest, so that I can make a different impression. I fear she +will always think me a coward, hampered as I am by a restraint +that I cannot break. Well, my only chance is to take up life from +her point of view, and to do the best I can. There is something in +my nature which forbids my ever yielding or giving up. So far as +it is now possible I shall keep my word to her, and if she has a +woman's heart she may, in time, so far relent as to give me a place +among her friends. This is now my ambition, for, if I achieve this, +I shall know I am winning such manhood as I can attain." + +When Merwyn appeared at dinner he was as quiet and courteous as +if nothing had happened; but his mother was compelled to note that +the boyishness had departed out of his face, and in its strong +lines she recognized his growing resemblance to his father. + +Two weeks later he accompanied his mother and sisters to England. +Before his departure he learned that Marian had been seriously ill, +but was convalescent, and that her father had returned. + +Meantime and during the voyage, with the differences natural to +the relation of mother and son, his manner was so like that of his +father towards her that she was continually reminded of the past, +and was almost led to fear that she had made a grave error in the +act she had deemed so essential. But her pride and her hopes for +the future prevented all concession. + +"When he is once more in society abroad this freak will pass away," +she thought, "and some English beauty will console him." + +But after they were well established in a pretty villa near +congenial acquaintances, Merwyn said one morning, "I shall return +to New York next week." + +"Willard! how can you think of such a thing? I was planning to +spend the latter part of the winter in Rome." + +"That you may easily do with your knowledge of the city and your +wide circle of friends." + +"But we need you. We want you to be with us, and I think it most +unnatural in you to leave us alone." + +"I have taken no oath to dawdle around Europe indefinitely. I +propose to return to New York and go into business." + +"You have enough and more than enough already." + +"I certainly have had enough of idleness." + +"But I protest against it. I cannot consent." + +"Mamma," he said, in the tone she so well remembered, "is not my +life even partially my own? What is your idea of a man whom both +law and custom make his own master? Even as a woman you chose for +yourself at the proper age. What strange infatuation do you cherish +that you can imagine that a son of Willard Merwyn has no life of +his own to live? It is now just as impossible for me to idle away +my best years in a foreign land as it would be for me to return +to my cradle. I shall look after your interests and comfort to the +best of my ability, and, if you decide to return to New York, you +shall be received with every courtesy." + +"I shall never return to New York. I would much prefer to go to my +plantation and share the fortunes of my own people." + +"I supposed you would feel in that way, and I will do all in +my power to further your wishes, whatever they may be. My wishes, +in personal matters, are now equally entitled to respect. I shall +carry them out;" and with a bow that precluded all further remonstrance +he left the room. + +A day or two later she asked, abruptly, "Will you use your means +and influence against the South?" + +"Yes." + +Mrs. Merwyn's face became rigid, but nothing more was said. When +he bade her good-by there was an evident struggle in her heart, +but she repressed all manifestations of feeling, and mother and +son parted. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +COMING TO THE POINT. + + + + + +WHEN the tide has long been rising the time comes for it to recede. +From the moment of Marian's awakening to a desire for a better +womanhood, she had been under a certain degree of mental excitement +and exaltation. This condition had culminated with the events +that wrought up the loyal North into suspense, anguish, and stern, +relentless purpose. + +While these events had a national and world-wide significance, they +also pressed closely, in their consequences, on individual life. +It has been shown how true this was in the experience of Marian. +Her own personal struggle alone, in which she was combating the +habits and weakness of the past, would not have been a trivial +matter,--it never is when there is earnest endeavor,--but, in +addition to this, her whole soul had been kindling in sympathy with +the patriotic fire that was impelling her dearest friends towards +danger and possible death. Lane's, Strahan's, and Blauvelt's +departure, and her father's peril, had brought her to a point that +almost touched the limit of endurance. Then had come the man whose +attentions had been so humiliating to her personally, and who +represented to her the genius of the Rebellion that was bringing +her such cruel experience. She saw his spirit of condescension even +in his offer of marriage; worse still, she saw that he belittled +the conflict in which even her father was risking his life; and her +indignation and resentment had burst forth upon him with a power +that she could not restrain. + +The result had been most unexpected. Instead of slinking away +overwhelmed with shame and confusion, or departing in haughty anger, +Merwyn had revealed to her that which is rarely witnessed by any +one,--the awakening of a strong, passionate nature. In the cynical, +polished, self-pleasing youth was something of which she had not +dreamed,--of which he was equally unaware. Her bitter words pierced +through the strata of self-sufficiency and pride that had been +accumulating for years. She stabbed with truth the outer man and +slew it, but the inner and possible manhood felt the sharp thrust +and sprung up wounded, bleeding, and half desperate with pain. That +which wise and kindly education might have developed was evoked in +sudden agony, strong yet helpless, overwhelmed with the humiliating +consciousness of what had been, and seeing not the way to what +she would honor. Yet in that supreme moment the instinct asserted +itself that she, who had slain his meaner self, had alone the power +to impart the impulse toward true manhood and to give the true +measure of it. Hence a declaration so passionate, and an appeal so +full of his immense desire and need, that she was frightened, and +faltered helplessly. + +In the following weary days of suffering and weakness, she realized +that she was very human, and not at all the exalted heroine that +she had unconsciously come to regard herself. The suitor whom she +had thought to dismiss in contempt and anger, and to have done with, +could not be banished from her mind. The fact that he had proved +himself to be all that she had thought him did not satisfy her, +for the reason that he had apparently shown himself to be so much +more. She had judged him superficially, and punished him accordingly. +She had condemned him unsparingly for traits which, except for a few +short months, had been her own characteristics. While it was true +that they seemed more unworthy in a man, still they were essentially +the same. + +"But he was not a man," she sighed. "He was scarcely more than the +selfish boy that wealth, indulgence, and fashionable life had made +him. Why was I so blind to this? Why could I not have seen that +nothing had ever touched him deeply enough to show what he was, +or, at least, of what he was capable? What was Strahan before his +manhood was awakened? A little gossiping exquisite. Even Mr. Lane, +who was always better than any of us, has changed wonderfully +since he has had exceptional motives for noble action. What was I, +myself, last June, when I was amusing myself at the expense of a +man whom I knew to be so good and true? In view of all this, instead +of having a little charity for Mr. Merwyn, who, no doubt, is only +the natural product of the influences of his life, I only tolerated +him in the vindictive hope of giving the worst blow that a woman can +inflict. I might have seen that he had a deeper nature; at least, +I might have hoped that he had, and given him a chance to reveal +it. Perhaps there has never been one who tried to help him toward +true manhood. He virtually said that his mother was a Southern +fanatic, and his associations have been with those abroad who +sympathized with her. Is it strange that a mere boy of twenty-one +should be greatly influenced by his mother and her aristocratic +friends? He said his father was a Northern man, and he may have +imbibed the notion that he could not fight on either side. Well, +if he will give up such a false idea, if he will show that he is +not cold-blooded and calculating, as his last outbreak seemed to +prove, and can become as brave and true a soldier as Strahan, I +will make amends by treating him as I do Strahan, and will try to +feel as friendly towards him. He shall not have the right to say +I'm 'not a woman but a fanatic.'" + +She proved herself a woman by the effort to make excuses for one +towards whom she had been severe, by her tendency to relent after +she had punished to her heart's content. + +"But," added the girl aloud, in the solitude of her room, "while I +may give him my hand in some degree of kindliness and friendship, +if he shows a different spirit, he shall never have my colors, never +my loyal and almost sisterly love, until he has shown the courage +and manhood of Mr. Lane and Mr. Strahan. They shall have the first +place until a better knight appears." + +When, one September evening, her father quietly entered his home +he gave her an impulse towards convalescence beyond the power of +all remedies. There were in time mutual confidences, though his +were but partial, because relating to affairs foreign to her life, +and tending to create useless anxieties in respect to the future. +He was one of those sagacious, fearless agents whom the government, +at that period, employed in many and secret ways. For obvious reasons +the nature and value of their services will never be fully known. + + +Marian was unreserved in her relation of what had occurred, and +her father smiled and reassured her. + +"In one sense you are right," he said. "We should have a broader, +kindlier charity for all sorts of people, and remember that, since +we do not know their antecedents and the influences leading to +their actions, we should not be hasty to judge. Your course might +have been more Christian-like towards young Merwyn, it is true. +Coming from you, however, in your present state of development, +it was very natural, and I'm not sure but he richly deserved your +words. If he has good mettle he will be all the better for them. +If he spoke from mere impulse and goes back to his old life and +associations, I'm glad my little girl was loyal and brave enough +to lodge in his memory truths that he won't forget. Take the good +old doctrine to your relenting heart and don't forgive him until +he 'brings forth fruits meet for repentance.' I'm proud of you that +you gave the young aristocrat such a wholesome lesson in regard to +genuine American manhood and womanhood." + +Mrs. Vosburgh's reception of her husband was a blending of welcome +and reproaches. What right had he to overwhelm them with anxiety, +etc., etc.? + +"The right of about a million men who are taking part in the +struggle," he replied, laughing at her good-naturedly. + +"But I can't permit or endure it any longer," said his wife, and +there was irritation in her protest. + +"Well, my dear," he replied, with a shrug, "I must remain among +the eccentric millions who continue to act according to their own +judgment." + +"Mamma!" cried Marian, who proved that she was getting well by a +tendency to speak sharply, "do you wish papa to be poorer-spirited +than any of the million? What kind of a man would he be should he +reply, 'Just as you say, my dear; I've no conscience, or will of my +own'? I do not believe that any girl in the land will suffer more +than I when those I love are in danger, but I'd rather die than +blockade the path of duty with my love." + + +"Yes, and some day when you are fatherless you may repent those +words," sobbed Mrs. Vosburgh. + +"This will not answer," said Mr. Vosburgh, in a tone that quieted +both mother and daughter, who at this stage were inclined to be a +little hysterical. "A moment's rational thought will convince you +that words cannot influence me. I know exactly what I owe to you and +to my country, and no earthly power can change my course a hair's +breadth. If I should be brought home dead to-morrow, Marian would +not have the shadow of a reason for self-reproach. She would have +no more to do with it than with the sunrise. Your feelings, in +both instances, are natural enough, and no doubt similar scenes are +taking place all over the land; but men go just the same, as they +should do and always have done in like emergencies. So wipe away +your tears, little women. You have nothing to cry about yet, while +many have." + +The master mind controlled and quieted them. Mrs. Vosburgh looked +at her husband a little curiously, and it dawned upon her more +clearly than ever before that the man whom she managed, as she +fancied, was taking his quiet, resolute way through life with his +own will at the helm. + +Marian thought, "Ah, why does not mamma idolize such a man and find +her best life in making the most of his life?" + +She had, as yet, scarcely grasped the truth that, as disease +enfeebles the body, so selfishness disables the mind, robbing it of +the power to care for others, or to understand them. In a sense +Mr. Vosburgh would always be a stranger to his wife. He had +philosophically and patiently accepted the fact, and was making +the best of the relation as it existed. + +It was now decided that the family should return at once to their +city home. Mr. Vosburgh had a few days of leisure to superintend +the removal, and then his duties would become engrossing. + +The evening before their departure was one of mild, charming +beauty, and as the dining-room was partially dismantled, it was Mr. +Vosburgh's fancy to have the supper-table spread on the veranda. +The meal was scarcely finished when a tall, broad-shouldered man +appeared at the foot of the steps, and Sally, the pretty waitress, +manifested a blushing consciousness of his presence. + +"Wud Mr. Vosburgh let me spake to him a moment?" began the stranger. + +Marian recognized the voice that, from the shrubbery, had +given utterance to the indignant protest against traits which had +once characterized her own life and motives. Thinking it possible +that her memory was at fault, she glanced at Sally's face and the +impression was confirmed. "What ages have passed since that June +evening!" she thought. + +"Is it anything private, my man?" asked Mr. Vosburgh, pushing back +his chair and lighting a cigar. + +"Faix, zur, it's nothin' oi'm ashamed on. I wish to lave the country +and get a place on the perlace force," repeated the man, with an +alacrity which showed that he wished Sally to hear his request. + +"You look big and strong enough to handle most men." + +"Ye may well say that, zur; oi've not sane the man yit that oi was +afeared on." + +Sally chuckled over her knowledge that this was not true in respect +to women, while Marian whispered to her father: "Secure him the +place if you can, papa. You owe a great deal to him and so do I, +although he does not know it. This is the man whose words, spoken +to Sally, disgusted me with my old life. Don't you remember?" + +Mr. Vosburgh's eyes twinkled, as he shot a swift glance at Sally, +whose face was redder than the sunset. The man's chief attraction +to the city was apparent. + +"What's your name?" the gentleman asked. + +"Barney Ghegan, zur." + +"Are you perfectly loyal to the North? Will you help carry out the +laws, even against your own flesh and blood, if necessary?" + +"Oi'll 'bey orders, zur," replied the man, emphatically. "Oi've +come to Amarekay to stay, and oi'll stan' by the goovernment." + +"Can you bring me a certificate of your character?" + +"Oi can, zur, for foive years aback." + +"Bring it then, Barney, and you shall go on the force; for you're +a fine, strong-looking man,--the kind needed in these days," said +Mr. Vosburgh, glad to do a good turn for one who unwittingly had +rendered him so great a service, and also amused at this later +aspect of the affair. + +This amusement was greatly enhanced by observing Barney's proud, +triumphant glance at Sally. Turning quickly to note its effect on +the girl, Mr. Vosburgh caught the coquettish maid in the act of +making a grimace at her much-tormented suitor. + +Sally's face again became scarlet, and in embarrassed haste she +began to clear the table. + +Barney was retiring slowly, evidently wishing for an interview +with his elusive charmer before he should return to his present +employers, and Mr. Vosburgh good-naturedly put in a word in his +favor. + +"Stay, Barney, and have some supper before you go home. In behalf +of Mrs. Vosburgh I give you a cordial invitation." + +"Yes," added the lady, who had been quietly laughing. "Now that you +are to be so greatly promoted we shall be proud to have you stay." + +Barney doffed his hat and exclaimed, "Long loife to yez all, +espacially to the swate-faced young leddy that first spoke a good +wourd for me, oi'm a-thinkin';" and he stepped lightly around to +the rear of the house. + +"Sally," said Mr. Vosburgh, with preternatural gravity. + +The girl courtesied and nearly dropped a dish. + +"Mr. Barney Ghegan will soon be receiving a large salary." + +Sally courtesied again, but her black eyes sparkled as she whisked +the rest of the things from the table and disappeared. She maintained +her old tactics during supper and before the other servants, exulting +in the fact that the big, strong man was on pins and needles, devoid +of appetite and peace. + +"'Afeared o' no mon,' he says," she thought, smilingly. "He's so +afeared o' me that he's jist a tremblin'." + +After her duties were over, Barney said, mopping his brow: "Faix, +but the noight is warm. A stroll in the air wudn't be bad, oi'm +a-thinkin'." + +"Oi'm cool as a cowcumber," remarked Sally. "We'll wait for ye till +ye goes out and gits cooled off;" and she sat down complacently, +while the cook and the laundress tittered. + +An angry sparkle began to assert itself in Barney's blue eyes, and +he remarked drily, as he took his hat, "Yez moight wait longer than +yez bargained for." + +The shrewd girl saw that she was at the length of her chain, and +sprung up, saying: "Oh, well, since the mistress invited ye so +politely, ye's company, and it's me duty to thry to entertain ye. +Where shall we go?" she added, as she passed out with him. + +"To the rustic sate, sure. Where else shud we go?" + +"A rustic sate is a quare place for a stroll." + +"Oi shall have so much walkin' on me bate in New York, that it's +well to begin settin' down aready, oi'm a-thinkin'." + +"Why, Barney, ye're going to be a reg'lar tramp. Who'd 'a thought +that ye'd come down to that." + +"Ah! arrah, wid ye nonsense! Sit ye down here, for oi'm a-goin' to +spake plain the noight. Noo, by the Holy Vargin, oi'm in arenest. +Are ye goin' to blow hot, or are ye goin' to blow could?" + +"Considerin' the hot night, Barney, wouldn't it be better for me +to blow could?" + +Barney scratched his head in perplexity. "Ye know what I mane," he +ejaculated. + +"Where will ye foind the girl that tells all she knows?" + +"O Sally, me darlint, what's the use of batin' around the bush? +Ye know that a cat niver looked at crame as oi look on ye," said +Barney, in a wheedling tone, and trying the tactics of coaxing once +more. + +He sat down beside her and essayed with his insinuating arm to +further his cause as his words had not done. + +"Arrah, noo, Barney Ghegan, what liberties wud ye be takin' wid a +respectable girl?" and she drew away decidedly. + +He sprung to his feet and exploded in the words: "Sally Maguire, +will ye be me woife? By the holy poker! Answer, yis or no." + +Sally rose, also, and in equally pronounced tones replied: "Yes, +Barney Ghegan, I will, and I'll be a good and faithful one, too. +It's yeself that's been batin' round the bush. Did ye think a woman +was a-goin' to chase ye over hill and down dale and catch ye by +the scruff of the neck? What do ye take me for?" + +"Oi takes ye for better, Sally, me darlint;" and then followed +sounds suggesting the popping of a dozen champagne corks. + +Mr. Vosburgh, his wife, and Marian had been chatting quietly +on the piazza, unaware of the scene taking place in the screening +shrubbery until Barney's final question had startled the night like +a command to "stand and deliver." + +Repressing laughter with difficulty they tiptoed into the house +and closed the door. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A GIRL'S STANDARD. + + + + + +THE month of September, 1862, was a period of strong excitement +and profound anxiety on both sides of the vague and shifting line +which divided the loyal North from the misguided but courageous +South. During the latter part of August Gen. Pope had been +overwhelmed with disaster, and what was left of his heroic army +was driven within the fortifications erected for the defence of +Washington. Apparently the South had unbounded cause for exultation. +But a few weeks before their capital had been besieged by an immense +army, while a little to the north, upon the Rappahannock, rested +another Union army which, under a leader like Stonewall Jackson, +would have been formidable enough in itself to tax Lee's skill and +strength to the utmost. Except in the immediate vicinity of the +capital and Fortress Monroe scarcely a National soldier had been +left in Virginia. The Confederates might proudly claim that the +generalship of Lee and the audacity of Jackson had swept the Northern +invaders from the State. + +Even more important than the prestige and glory won was the fact +that the Virginian farmers were permitted to gather their crops +unmolested. The rich harvests of the Shenandoah Valley and other +regions, that had been and should have been occupied by National +troops, were allowed to replenish the Confederate granaries. There +were rejoicings and renewed confidence in Southern homes, and smiles +of triumph on the faces of sympathizers abroad and throughout the +North. + +But the astute leaders of the Rebellion were well aware that the +end had not yet come, and that, unless some bold, paralyzing blow +was struck, the struggle was but fairly begun. In response to the +request for more men new armies were springing up at the North. The +continent shook under the tread of hosts mustering with the stern +purpose that the old flag should cover every inch of the heritage +left by our fathers. + +Therefore, Lee was not permitted to remain on the defensive a moment, +but was ordered to cross the Potomac in the rear of Washington, +threatening that city and Baltimore. It was supposed that the advent +of a Southern army into Maryland would create such an enthusiastic +uprising that thinned ranks would be recruited, and the State +brought into close relation with the Confederate Government. These +expectations were not realized. The majority sympathized with +Barbara Frietchie, + +"Bravest of all in Frederick town," + +rather than with their self-styled deliverers; and Lee lost more +by desertion from his own ranks than he gained in volunteers. In +this same town of Frederick, by strange carelessness on the part +of the rebels, was left an order which revealed to McClellan Lee's +plans and the positions which his divided army were to occupy during +the next few days. Rarely has history recorded such opportunities +as were thus accidentally given to the Union commander. + +The ensuing events proved that McClellan's great need was not the +reinforcements for which he so constantly clamored, but decision +and energy of character. Had he possessed these qualities he could +have won for himself, from the fortuitous order which fell into his +hands, a wreath of unfading laurel, and perhaps have saved almost +countless lives of his fellow-countrymen. As it was, if he had +only advanced his army a little faster, the twelve thousand Union +soldiers, surrendered by the incompetent and pusillanimous Gen. +Miles, would have been saved from the horrors of captivity and +secured as a valuable reinforcement. To the very last, fortune +appeared bent on giving him opportunity. The partial success won +on the 17th of September, at the battle of Antietam, might easily +have been made a glorious victory if McClellan had had the vigor +to put in enough troops, especially including Burnside's corps, +earlier in the day. Again, on the morning of the 18th, he had only +to take the initiative, as did Grant after the first day's fighting +at Shiloh, and Lee could scarcely have crossed the Potomac with a +corporal's guard. But, as usual, he hesitated, and the enemy that +robbed him of one of the highest places in history was not the +Confederate general or his army, but a personal trait,--indecision. +In the dawn of the 19th he sent out his cavalry to reconnoitre, and +learned that his antagonist was safe in Virginia. Fortune, wearied +at last, finally turned her back upon her favorite. The desperate +and bloody battle resulted in little else than the ebb of the +tide of war southward. Northern people, it is true, breathed more +freely. Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington were safe for the +present, but this seemed a meagre reward for millions of treasure +and tens of thousands of lives, especially when the capture of Richmond +and the end of the Rebellion had been so confidently promised. + +If every village and hamlet in the land was profoundly stirred by +these events, it can well be understood that the commercial centre +of New York throbbed like an irritated nerve under the telegraph +wires concentring there from the scenes of action. Every possible +interest, every variety of feeling, was touched in its vast and +heterogeneous population, and the social atmosphere was electrical +with excitement. + +From her very constitution, now that she had begun to comprehend +the nature of the times, Marian Vosburgh could not breathe this air +in tranquillity. She was, by birthright, a spirited, warm-hearted +girl, possessing all a woman's disposition towards partisanship. +Everything during the past few months had tended to awaken a deep +interest in the struggle, and passing events intensified it. Not +only in the daily press did she eagerly follow the campaign, but +from her father she learned much that was unknown to the general +public. To a girl of mind the great drama in itself could not fail +to become absorbing, but when it is remembered that those who had +the strongest hold upon her heart were imperilled actors in the +tragedy, the feeling with which she watched the shifting scenes +may in some degree be appreciated. She often saw her father's brow +clouded with deep anxiety, and dreaded that each new day might +bring orders which would again take him into danger. + +While the letters of her loyal friend, Lane, veiled all that was +hard and repulsive in his service, she knew that the days of drill +and equipment would soon be over, and that the new regiment must +participate in the dangers of active duty. This was equally true of +Strahan and Blauvelt. She laughed heartily over their illustrated +journal, which, in the main, gave the comic side of their life. But +she never laid it aside without a sigh, for she read much between +the lines, and knew that the hour of battle was rapidly approaching. +Thus far they had been within the fortifications at Washington, +for the authorities had learned the folly of sending undisciplined +recruits to the front. + +At last, when the beautiful month of October was ended, and Lee's +shattered army was rested and reorganized, McClellan once more +crossed the Potomac. Among the reinforcements sent to him were the +regiments of which Lane and Strahan were members. The letters of +her friends proved that they welcomed the change and with all the +ardor of brave, loyal men looked forward to meeting the enemy. In +heart and thought she went with them, but a sense of their danger +fell, like a shadow, across her spirit. She appeared years older +than the thoughtless girl for whom passing pleasure and excitement +had been the chief motives of life; but in the strengthening lines +of her face a womanly beauty was developing which caused even +strangers to turn and glance after her. + +If Merwyn still retained some hold upon her thoughts and curiosity, +so much could scarcely be said of her sympathy. He had disappeared +from the moment when she had harshly dismissed him, and she was +beginning to feel that she had been none too severe, and to believe +that his final words had been spoken merely from impulse. If he +were amusing himself abroad, Marian, in her intense loyalty, would +despise him; if he were permitting himself to be identified with +his mother's circle of Southern sympathizers, the young girl's +contempt would be tinged with detestation. He had approached her +too nearly, and humiliated her too deeply, to be readily forgotten +or forgiven. His passionate outbreak at last had been so intense +as to awaken strong echoes in her woman's soul. If return to a +commonplace fashionable life was to be the only result of the past, +she would scarcely ever think of him without an angry sparkle in +her eyes. + +After she had learned that her friends were in the field and +therefore exposed to the dangers of battle at any time, she had +soliloquized, bitterly: "He promised to 'measure everything by the +breadth of my woman's soul.' What does he know about a true woman's +soul? He has undoubtedly found his selfish nature and his purse +more convenient gauges of the world. Well, he knows of one girl +who cannot be bought." + +Her unfavorable impression was confirmed one cold November morning. +Passing down Madison Avenue, her casual attention was attracted by +the opening of a door on the opposite side of the street. She only +permitted her swift glance to take in the fact that it was Merwyn +who descended the steps and entered an elegant coupe driven by +a man in a plain livery. After the vehicle had been whirled away, +curiosity prompted her to retrace her steps that she might look +more closely at the residence of the man who had asked her to be +his wife. It was evidently one of the finest and most substantial +houses on the avenue. + +A frown contracted. the young girl's brow as she muttered: "He +aspired to my hand,--he, who fares sumptuously in that brown-stone +palace while such men as Mr. Lane are fortunate to have a canvas +roof over their heads. He had the narrowness of mind to half-despise +Arthur Strahan, who left equal luxury to face every danger and +hardship. Thank Heaven I planted some memories in his snobbish +soul!" + +Thereafter she avoided that locality. + +In the evening, with words scarcely less bitter, she mentioned to +her father the fact that she had seen Merwyn and his home. + +Mr. Vosburgh smiled and said, "You have evidently lost all compunctions +in regard to your treatment of the young fellow." + +"I have, indeed. The battle of Antietam alone would place a Red +Sea between me and any young American who can now live a life of +selfish luxury. Think how thousands of our brave men will sleep +this stormy night on the cold, rain-soaked ground, and then think +of his cold-blooded indifference to it all!" + +"Why think of him at all, Marian?" her father asked, with a quizzical +smile. + +The color deepened slightly in her face as she replied: "Why +shouldn't I think of him to some extent? He has crossed my path in +no ordinary way. His attentions at first were humiliating, and he +awakened an antipathy such as I never felt towards any one before. +He tried to belittle you, my friends, and the cause to which you +are devoted. Then, when I told him the truth about himself, he +appeared to have manhood enough to comprehend it. His words made me +think of a man desperately wounded, and my sympathies were touched, +and I felt that I had been unduly severe and all that. In fact, I +was overwrought, ill, morbid, conscience-stricken as I remembered +my own past life, and he appeared to feel what I said so awfully +that I couldn't forget it. I had silly dreams and hopes that he +would assert his manhood and take a loyal part in the struggle. +But what has been his course? So far as I can judge, it has been +in keeping with his past. Settling down to a life of ease and +money-making here would be little better, in my estimation, than +amusing himself abroad. It would be simply another phase of following +his own mood and inclinations; and I shall look upon his outburst +and appeal as hysterical rather than passionate and sincere." + +Mr. Vosburgh listened, with a half-amused expression, to his daughter's +indignant and impetuous words, but only remarked, quietly, "Suppose +you find that you have judged Mr. Merwyn unjustly?" + +"I don't think I have done so. At any rate, one can only judge from +what one knows." + +"Stick to that. Your present impressions and feelings do you credit, +and I am glad that your friends' loyal devotion counts for more +in your esteem than Merwyn's wealth. Still, in view of your scheme +of life to make the most and best of men of brains and force, I do +not think you have given the young nabob time and opportunity to +reveal himself fully. He may have recently returned from England, +and, since his mother was determined to reside abroad, it was his +duty to establish her well before returning. You evidently have +not dismissed him from your thoughts. Since that is true, do not +condemn him utterly until you see what he does. What if he again +seeks your society?" + +"Well, I don't know, papa. As I feel to-night I never wish to see +him again." + +"I'm not sure of that, little girl. You are angry and vindictive. +If he were a nonentity you would be indifferent." + +"Astute papa! That very fact perplexes me. But haven't I explained +why I cannot help thinking of him to some extent?" + +"No, not even to yourself." + +Marian bit her lip with something like vexation, then said, +reproachfully, "Papa, you can't think that I care for him?" + +"Oh, no,--not in the sense indicated by your tone. But your silly +dreams and hopes, as you characterize them, have taken a stronger +hold upon you than you realize. You are disappointed as well as +angry. You have entertained the thought that he might do something, +or become more in harmony with the last words he spoke to you." + +"Well, he hasn't." + +"You have not yet given him sufficient time, perhaps. I shall not +seek to influence you in the matter, but the question still presents +itself: What if he again seeks your society and shows a disposition +to make good his words?" + +"I shall not show him," replied Marian, proudly, "greater favor +than such friends as Mr. Lane and Mr. Strahan required. Without +being influenced by me, they decided to take part in the war. After +they had taken the step which did so much credit to their manly +courage and loyalty, they came and told me of it. If Mr. Merwyn +should show equal spirit and patriotism and be very humble in view +of the past, I should, of course, feel differently towards him. If +he don't--"and the girl shook her head ominously. + +Her father laughed heartily. "Why!" he exclaimed; "I doubt whether +in all the sunny South there is such a little fire-eater as we have +here." + +"No, papa, no," cried Marian, with suddenly moistening eyes. "I +regret the war beyond all power of expression. I could not ask, +much less urge, any one to go, and my heart trembles and shrinks +when I think of danger threatening those I love. But I honor--I +almost worship--courage, loyalty, patriotism. Do you think I can +ever love any one as I do you? Yet I believe you would go to Richmond +to-morrow if you were so ordered. I ask nothing of this Merwyn, or +of any one; but he who asks my friendship must at least be brave +and loyal enough to go where my father would lead. Even if I loved a +man, even if I were married, I would rather that the one _I_ loved +did all a man's duty, though my heart was broken and my life blighted +in consequence, than to have him seeking safety and comfort in some +eminently prudent, temporizing course." + +Mr. Vosburgh put his arm around his daughter, as he looked, for a +moment, into her tear-dimmed eyes, then kissed her good-night, and +said, quietly, "I understand you, Marian." + +"But, papa!" she exclaimed, in sudden remorsefulness, "you won't +take any risks that you can honorably escape?" + +"I promise you I won't go out to-night in search of the nearest +recruiting sergeant," replied her father, with a reassuring laugh. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +PROBATION PROMISED. + + + + + +MERWYN had been in the city some little time when Marian, unknown +to him, learned of his presence. He, also, had seen her more than +once, and while her aspect had increased his admiration and a +feeling akin to reverence, it had also disheartened him. To a degree +unrecognized by the girl herself, her present motives and stronger +character had changed the expression of her face. He had seen her +when unconscious of observation and preoccupied by thoughts which +made her appear grave and almost stern, and he was again assured +that the advantages on which he had once prided himself were as +nothing to her compared with the loyalty of friends now in Virginia. +He could not go there, nor could he explain why he must apparently +shun danger and hardship. He felt that his oath to his mother would +be, in her eyes, no extenuation of his conduct. Indeed, he believed +that she would regard the fact that he could give such a pledge +as another proof of his unworthiness to be called an American. How +could it be otherwise when he himself could not look back upon the +event without a sense of deep personal humiliation? + +"I was an idiotic fool when I gave away manhood and its rights," +he groaned. "My mother took advantage of me." + +In addition to the personal motive to conceal the fact of his oath, +he had even a stronger one. The revelation of his pledge would be +proof positive of his mother's disloyalty, and might jeopardize +the property on which she and his sisters depended for support. +Moreover, while he bitterly resented Mrs. Merwyn's course towards +him he felt that honor and family loyalty required that he should +never speak a word to her discredit. The reflection implied in +his final words to Marian had been wrung from him in the agony of +a wounded spirit, and he now regretted them. Henceforth he would +hide the fetters which in restraining him from taking the part in +the war now prompted by his feelings also kept him from the side of +the girl who had won the entire allegiance of his awakened heart. +He did not know how to approach her, and feared lest a false step +should render the gulf between them impassable. He saw that her +pride, while of a different character, was greater than his own +had ever been, and that the consideration of his birth and wealth, +which he had once dreamed must outweigh all things else, would not +influence her in the slightest degree. Men whom she regarded as his +equals in these respects were not only at her feet but also facing +the enemy as her loyal knights. How pitiable a figure in her eyes +he must ever make compared with them! + +But there is no gravitation like that of the heart. He felt that +he must see her again, and was ready to sue for even the privilege +of being tolerated in her drawing-room on terms little better than +those formerly accorded him. + +When he arrived in New York he had hesitated as to his course. His +first impulse had been to adopt a life of severe and inexpensive +simplicity. But he soon came to look upon this plan as an affectation. +There was his city home, and he had a perfect right to occupy it, +and abundant means to maintain it. After seeing Marian's resolute, +earnest face as she passed in the street unconscious of his +scrutiny, and after having learned more about her father from his +legal adviser, the impression grew upon him that he had lost his +chance, and he was inclined to take refuge in a cold, proud reticence +and a line of conduct that would cause no surmises and questionings +on the part of the world. He would take his natural position, and +live in such a way as to render curiosity impertinent. + +He had inherited too much of his father's temperament to sit down +in morbid brooding, and even were he disposed toward such weakness +he felt that his words to Marian required that he should do all +that he was now free to perform in the advancement of the cause to +which she was devoted. She might look with something like contempt +on a phase of loyalty which gave only money when others were giving +themselves, but it was the best he could do. Whether she would ever +recognize the truth or not, his own self-respect required that he +should keep his word and try to look at things from her point of +view, and, as far as possible, act accordingly. For a time he was +fully occupied with Mr. Bodoin in obtaining a fuller knowledge of +his property and the nature of its investment. Having learned more +definitely about his resources he next followed the impulse to aid +the cause for which he could not fight. + +A few mornings after the interview between Marian and her father +described in the previous chapter, Mr. Vosburgh, looking over his +paper at the breakfast-table, laughed and said: "What do you think +of this, Marian? Here is Merwyn's name down for a large donation +to the Sanitary and Christian Commissions." + +His daughter smiled satirically as she remarked, "Such heroism +takes away my breath." + +"You are losing the power, Marian," said her mother, irritably, +"of taking moderate, common-sense views of anything relating to +the war. If the cause is first in your thoughts why not recognize +the fact that Mr. Merwyn can do tenfold more with his money than +if he went to the front and 'stopped a bullet,' as your officer +friends express themselves? You are unfair, also. Instead of giving +Mr. Merwyn credit for a generous act you sneer at him." + +The girl bit her lip, and looked perplexed for a moment. "Well, +then," she said, "I will give him credit. He has put himself to the +inconvenience of writing two checks for amounts that he will miss +no more than I would five cents." + +"Ask your father," resumed Mrs. Vosburgh, indignantly, "if the +men who sustain these great charities and the government are not +just as useful as soldiers in the field. What would become of the +soldiers if business in the city should cease? Your ideas, carried +out fully, would lead your father to start to the front with a +musket, instead of remaining where he can accomplish the most good." + +"You are mistaken, mamma. My only fear is that he will incur too +many risks as it is. I have never asked any one to go to the front, +and I certainly would not ask Mr. Merwyn. Indeed, when I think of +the cause, I would rather he should do as you suggest. I should be +glad to have him give thousands and increase the volume of business +by millions; but if he gave all he has, he could not stand in my +estimation with men who offer their lives and risk mutilation and +untold suffering from wounds. I know nothing of Mr. Merwyn's present +motives, and they may be anything but patriotic. He may think it to +his advantage to win some reputation for loyalty, when it is well +known that his mother has none at all. Those two gifts, paltry +for one of his means, count very little in these days of immense +self-sacrifice. I value, in times of danger, especially when great +principles are at stake, self-sacrifice and uncalculating heroism +above all things, and I prefer to choose my friends from among +those who voluntarily exhibit these qualities. No man living could +win my favor who took risks merely to please me. Mr. Merwyn is +nothing to me, and if I should ever meet him again socially, which +is not probable, I should be the last one to suggest that he should +go to the war; but if he, or any one, wishes my regard, there +must be a compliance with the conditions on which I give it. I am +content with the friends I have." + +Mr. Vosburgh looked at his daughter for a moment as if she were +fulfilling his ideal, and soon after departed for his office. +A few days after, when the early shadows of the late autumn were +gathering, he was interrupted in his preparations to return up town +by the entrance of the subject of the recent discussion. + +Merwyn was pale and evidently embarrassed as he asked, "Mr. Vosburgh, +have you a few moments of leisure?" + +"Yes," replied the gentleman, briefly. + +He led the way to a private office and gave his caller a chair. + +The young man was at a loss to begin a conversation necessarily of +so delicate a nature, and hesitated. + +Mr. Vosburgh offered no aid or encouragement, for his thought was, +"This young fellow must show his hand fully before I commit myself +or Marian in the slightest degree." + +"Miss Vosburgh, no doubt, has told you of the character of our last +interview," Merwyn began at last, plunging in medias res. + +"My daughter is in the habit of giving me her confidence," was the +quiet reply. + +"Then, sir, you know how unworthy I am to make the request to which +I am nevertheless impelled. In justice I can hope for nothing. I +have forfeited the privilege of meeting Miss Vosburgh again, and I +do not feel that it would be right for me to see her without your +permission. The motives which first led me into her society were +utterly unworthy of a true man, and had she been the ordinary +society girl that I supposed she was, the results might have been +equally deserving of condemnation. I will not plead in extenuation +that I had been unfortunate in my previous associations, and in +the influences that had developed such character as I had. Can you +listen to me patiently?" + +The gentleman bowed. + +"I eventually learned to comprehend Miss Vosburgh's superiority in +some degree, and was so fascinated by her that I offered marriage +in perfect good faith; but the proposal was made in a complacent +and condescending spirit that was so perfectly absurd that now I +wonder at my folly. Her reply was severe, but not so severe as I +deserved, and she led me to see myself at last in a true light. It +is little I can now ask or hope. My questions narrow down to these: +Is Miss Vosburgh disposed to give me only justice? Have I offended +her so deeply that she cannot meet me again? Had my final words no +weight with her? She has inspired in me the earnest wish to achieve +such character as I am capable of,--such as circumstances permit. +During the summer I saw her influence over others. She was the +first one in the world who awakened in my own breast the desire +to be different. I cannot hope that she will soon, if ever, look +upon me as a friend; but if she can even tolerate me with some degree +of kindliness and good-will, I feel that I should be the better +and happier for meeting her occasionally. If this is impossible, +please say to her that the pledge implied among the last words +uttered on that evening, which I shall never forget, shall be kept. +I shall try to look at right and duty as she would." + +As he concluded, Mr. Vosburgh's face softened somewhat. For a while +the young man's sentences had been a little formal and studied, +evidently the result of much consideration; they had nevertheless +the impress of truth. The gentleman's thought was: "If Mr. Merwyn +makes good his words by deeds this affair has not yet ended. My +little girl has been much too angry and severe not to be in danger +of a reaction." + +After a moment of silence he said: "Mr. Merwyn, I can only speak for +myself in this matter. Of course, I naturally felt all a father's +resentment at your earlier attentions to my daughter. Since you +have condemned them unsparingly I need not refer to them again. I +respect your disposition to atone for the past and to enter on a +life of manly duty. You have my hearty sympathy, whatever may be the +result. I also thank you for your frank words to me. Nevertheless, +Miss Vosburgh must answer the questions you have asked. She is +supreme in her drawing-room, and alone can decide whom she will +receive there. I know she will not welcome any one whom she believes +to be unworthy to enter. I will tell her all that you have said." + +"I do not hope to be welcomed, sir. I only ask to be received with +some degree of charity. May I call on you to-morrow and learn Miss +Vosburgh's decision?" + +"Certainly, at any hour convenient to you." + +Merwyn bowed and retired. When alone he said, with a deep sigh of +relief: "Well, I have done all in my power at present. If she has +a woman's heart she won't be implacable." + +"What kept you so late?" Mrs. Vosburgh asked, as her husband came +down to dinner. + +"A gentleman called and detained me." + +"Give him my compliments when you see him again," said Marian, +"and tell him that I don't thank him for his unreasonable hours. +You need more recreation, papa. Come, take us out to hear some +music to-night." + +A few hours later they were at the Academy, occupying balcony +seats. Marian was glancing over the house, between the acts, with +her glass, when she suddenly arrested its motion, and fixed it on +a lonely occupant of an expensive box. After a moment she handed +the lorgnette to her father, and directed him whither to look. He +smiled and said, "He appears rather pensive and preoccupied, doesn't +he?" + +"I don't fancy pensive, preoccupied men in these times. Why didn't +he fill his box, instead of selfishly keeping it all to himself?" + +"Perhaps he could not secure the company he wished." + +"Who is it?" Mrs. Vosburgh asked. + +She was told, and gave Merwyn a longer scrutiny than the others. + +"Shall I go and give him your compliments and the message you spoke +of at dinner?" resumed Mr. Vosburgh, in a low tone. + +"Was it Mr. Merwyn that called so late?" she asked, with a sudden +intelligence in her eyes. + +Her father nodded, while the suggestion of a smile hovered about +his mouth. + +"Just think of it, Marian!" said Mrs. Vosburgh. "We all might now +be in that box if you had been like other girls." + +"I am well content where I am." + +During the remainder of the evening Mr. Vosburgh observed some +evidences of suppressed excitement in Marian, and saw that she +managed to get a glimpse of that box more than once. Long before +the opera ended it was empty. He pointed out the fact, and said, +humorously, "Mr. Merwyn evidently has something on his mind." + +"I should hope so; and so have you, papa. Has he formally demanded +my hand with the condition that you stop the war, and inform the +politicians that this is their quarrel, and that they must fight +it out with toothpicks?" + +"No; his request was more modest than that." + +"You think I am dying with curiosity, but I can wait until we get +home." + +When they returned, Mr. Vosburgh went to his library, for he was +somewhat owlish in his habits. + +Marian soon joined him, and said: "You must retire as soon as you +have finished that cigar. Even the momentous Mr. Merwyn shall not +keep us up a second longer. Indeed, I am so sleepy already that I may +ask you to begin your tale to-night, and end with 'to be continued.'" + +He looked at her so keenly that her color rose a little, then said, +"I think, my dear, you will listen till I say 'concluded;'" and he +repeated the substance of Merwyn's words. + +She heard him with a perplexed little frown. "What do you think I +ought to do, papa?" + +"Do you remember the conversation we had here last June?" + +"Yes; when shall I forget it?" + +"Well, since you wish my opinion I will give it frankly. It then +became your ambition to make the most and best of men over whom +you had influence, if they were worth the effort. Merwyn has been +faulty and unmanly, as he fully admits himself, but he has proved +apparently that he is not commonplace. You must take your choice, +either to resent the past, or to help him carry out his better +purposes. He does not ask much, although no doubt he hopes for far +more. In granting his request you do not commit yourself to his +hopes in the least." + +"Well, papa, he said that I couldn't possess a woman's heart and +cast him off in utter contempt, so I think I shall have to put him +on probation. But he must be careful not to presume again. I can +be friendly to many, but a friend to very few. Before he suggests +that relation he must prove himself the peer of other friends." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +"YOU THINK ME A COWARD." + + + + + +MERWYN had not been long in the city before he was waited upon +and asked to do his share towards sustaining the opera, and he had +carelessly taken a box which had seldom been occupied. On the evening +after his interview with Mr. Vosburgh, his feeling of suspense was +so great that he thought he could beguile a few hours with music. +He found, however, that the light throng, and even the harmonious +sounds, irritated, rather than diverted, his perturbed mind, and +he returned to his lonely home, and restlessly paced apartments +rendered all the more dreary by their magnificence. + +He proved his solicitude in a way that led Mr. Vosburgh to smile +slightly, for when that gentleman entered his office, Merwyn was +awaiting him. + +"I have only to tell you," he said, in response to the young man's +questioning eyes, "that Miss Vosburgh accedes to your request as +you presented it to me;" and in parting he gave his hand with some +semblance of friendliness. + +Merwyn went away elated, feeling that he had gained all for which +he had a right to hope. Eager as he was for the coming interview +with Marian, he dreaded it and feared that he might be painfully +embarrassed. In this eagerness he started early for an evening +call; but when he reached his destination, he hesitated, passing +and repassing the dwelling before he could gather courage to enter. +The young girl would have smiled, could she have seen her former +suitor, once so complacent and condescending. She certainly could +not complain of lack of humility now. + +At last he perceived that two other callers had passed in, and he +followed them, feeling that their presence would enable both him +and the object of his thoughts to take refuge in conventionalities. + +He was right in this view, for with a scarcely perceptible increase +of color, and a polite bow, Marian received him as she would any +other mere calling acquaintance, introduced him to the two gentlemen +present, and conversation at once became general. Merwyn did not +remain long under constraint. Even Marian had to admit to herself +that he acquitted himself well and promised better for the future. +When topics relating to the war were broached, he not only talked +as loyally as the others, but also proved himself well informed. +Mrs. Vosburgh soon appeared and greeted him cordially, for the +lady was ready enough to entertain the hopes which his presence +again inspired. He felt that his first call, to be in good taste, +should be rather brief, and he took his departure before the others, +Marian bowing with the same distant politeness that had characterized +her greeting. She made it evident that she had granted just what he +had asked and nothing more. Whether he could ever inspire anything +like friendliness the future only would reveal. He had serious +doubts, knowing that he suffered in contrast with even the guests +of the present evening. One was an officer home on sick-leave; the +other exempted from military duty by reason of lameness, which did +not extend to his wit and conversational powers. Merwyn also knew +that he would ever be compared with those near friends now in +Virginia. + +What did he hope? What could he hope? He scarcely knew, and would +not even entertain the questions. He was only too glad that the door +was not closed to him, and, with the innate hopefulness of youth, +he would leave the future to reveal its possibilities. He was so +thoroughly his father's son that he would not be disheartened, and +so thoroughly himself that the course he preferred would be the +one followed, so far as was now possible. + +"Well?" said Mr. Vosburgh, when Marian came to the library to kiss +him good-night. + +"What a big, long question that little word contains!" she cried, +laughing, and there was a little exhilaration in her manner which +did not escape him. + +"You may tell me much, little, or nothing." + +"I will tell you nothing, then, for there is nothing to tell. +I received and parted with Mr. Merwyn on his terms, and those you +know all about. Mamma was quite gracious, and my guests were polite +to him." + +"Are you willing to tell me what impression he made in respect to +his loyalty?" + +"Shrewd papa! You think this the key to the problem. Perhaps it +is, if there is any problem. Well, so far as WORDS went he proved +his loyalty in an incidental way, and is evidently informing himself +concerning events. If he has no better proof to offer than words, +his probation will end unfavorably, even though he may not be +immediately aware of the fact. Of course, now that I have granted +his request, I must be polite to him so long as he chooses to come." + +"Was he as complacent and superior as ever?" + +"Whither is your subtlety tending? Are you, as well as mamma, an +ally of Mr. Merwyn? You know he was not. Indeed, I must admit that, +in manner, he carried out the spirit of his request." + +"Then, to use your own words, he was 'befittingly humble'? No, I am +not his ally. I am disposed to observe the results of your experiment." + +"There shall be no experimenting, papa. Circumstances have enabled +him to understand me as well as he ever can, and he must act in +view of what he knows me to be. I shall not seek to influence him, +except by being myself, nor shall I lower my standard in his favor." + +"Very well, I shall note his course with some interest. It is +evident, however, that the uncertainties of his future action will +not keep either of us awake." + +When she left him, he fell into a long revery, and his concluding +thoughts were: "I doubt whether Marian understands herself in respect +to this young fellow. She is too resentful. She does not feel the +indifference which she seeks to maintain. The subtle, and, as yet, +unrecognized instinct of her womanhood leads her to stand aloof. +This would be the natural course of a girl like Marian towards a man +who, for any cause, had gained an unusual hold upon her thoughts. +I must inform myself thoroughly in regard to this Mr. Merwyn. Thus +far her friends have given me little solicitude; but here is one, +towards whom she is inclined to be hostile, that it may be well to +know all about. Even before she is aware of it herself, she is on +the defensive against him, and this, to a student of human nature, +is significant. She virtually said to-night that he must win his +way and make his own unaided advances toward manhood. Ah, my little +girl! if it was not in him ever to have greater power over you than +Mr. Strahan, you would take a kindlier interest in his efforts." + +If Marian idolized her father as she had said, it can readily +be guessed how much she was to him, and that he was not forgetful +of his purpose to learn more about one who manifested so deep an +interest in his daughter, and who possibly had the power to create +a responsive interest. It so happened that he was acquainted with +Mr. Bodoin, and had employed the shrewd lawyer in some government +affairs. Another case had arisen in which legal counsel was required, +and on the following day advice was sought. + +When this part of the interview was over, Mr. Vosburgh remarked, +casually, "By the way, I believe you are acquainted with Mr. Willard +Merwyn and his affairs." + +"Yes," replied the lawyer, at once on the alert. + +"Do your relations to Mr. Merwyn permit you to give me some +information concerning him?" + +The attorney thought rapidly. His client had recently been inquiring +about Mr. Vosburgh, and, therefore, the interest was mutual. +On general principles it was important that the latter should be +friendly, for he was a secret and trusted agent of the government, +and Mrs. Merwyn's course might render a friend at court essential. +Although the son had not mentioned Marian's name, Mr. Bodoin +shrewdly guessed that she was exerting the influence that had so +greatly changed the young man's views and plans. The calculating +lawyer had never imagined that he would play the role of match-maker, +but he was at once convinced that, in the stormy and uncertain +times, Merwyn could scarcely make a better alliance than the one +he meditated. Therefore with much apparent frankness the astute +lawyer told Mr. Vosburgh all that was favorable to the young man. + +"I think he will prove an unusual character," concluded the lawyer, +"for he is manifesting some of his father's most characteristic +traits," and these were mentioned. "When, after attaining his +majority, the son returned from England, he was in many respects +little better than a shrewd, self-indulgent boy, indifferent +to everything but his own pleasure, but, for some reason, he has +greatly changed. Responsibility has apparently sobered him and made +him thoughtful. I have also told him much about my old friend and +client, his father, and the young fellow is bent on imitating him. +While he is very considerate of his mother and sisters, he has +identified himself with his father's views, and has become a Northern +man to the backbone. Even to a degree contrary to my advice, he +insists on investing his means in government bonds." + +This information was eminently satisfactory, and even sagacious +Mr. Vosburgh did not suspect the motives of the lawyer, whom he +knew to be eager to retain his good-will, since it was in his power +to give much business to those he trusted. + +"I may become Merwyn's ally after all, if he makes good his own +and Mr. Bodoin's words," was his smiling thought, as he returned +to his office. + +He was too wise, however, to use open influence with his daughter, +or to refer to the secret interview. Matters should take their own +course for the present, while he remained a vigilant observer, for +Marian's interest and happiness were dearer to him than his own +life. + +Merwyn sought to use his privilege judiciously, and concentrated +all his faculties on the question of his standing in Marian's +estimation. During the first few weeks, it was evident that his +progress in her favor was slow, if any were made at all. She was +polite, she conversed with him naturally and vivaciously on topics +of general interest, but there appeared to be viewless and impassable +barriers between them. Not by word or sign did she seek to influence +his action. + +She was extremely reticent about herself, and took pains to seem +indifferent in regard to his life and plans, but she was beginning +to chafe under what she characterized as his "inaction." Giving +to hospitals and military charities and buying United-States bonds +counted for little in her eyes. + +"He parades his loyalty, and would have me think that he looks upon +the right to call on me as a great privilege, but he does not care +enough about either me or the country to incur any risk or hardship." + +Thoughts like these were beginning not only to rekindle her old +resentment, but also to cause a vague sense of disappointment. +Merwyn had at least accomplished one thing,--he confirmed her +father's opinion that he was not commonplace. Travel, residence +abroad, association with well-bred people, and a taste for reading, +had given him a finish which a girl of Marian's culture could not +fail to appreciate. Because he satisfied her taste and eye, she +was only the more irritated by his failure in what she deemed the +essential elements of manhood. In spite of the passionate words +he had once spoken, she was beginning to believe that a cold, +calculating persistency was the corner-stone of his character, that +even if he were brave enough to fight, he had deliberately decided +to take no risks and enjoy his fortune. If this were true, she +assured herself, he might shoulder the national debt if he chose, +but he could never become her friend. + +Then came the terrible and useless slaughter of Fredericksburg. +With the fatuity that characterized the earlier years of the war, +the heroic army of the Potomac, which might have annihilated Lee on +previous occasions, was hurled against heights and fortifications +that, from the beginning, rendered the attack hopeless. + +Marian's friends were exposed to fearful perils, but passed through +the conflict unscathed. Her heart went out to them in a deeper and +stronger sympathy than ever, and Merwyn in contrast lost correspondingly. + +During the remaining weeks of December, she saw that her father +was almost haggard from care and anxiety, and he was compelled to +make trips to Washington and even to the front. + +"The end has not come yet," he had said to her, after one of these +flying visits. "Burnside has made an awful blunder, but he is +eager to retrieve himself, and now has plans on foot that promise +better. The disaffection among his commanding officers and troops +is what I am most afraid of--more, indeed, than of the rebel army. +Unlike his predecessor, he is determined to move, to act, and I +think we may soon hear of another great battle." + +Letters from her friends confirmed this view, especially a brief +note from Lane, in which the writer, fearing that it might be his +last, had not wholly veiled his deep affection. "I am on the eve +of participating in an immense cavalry movement," it began, "and +it may be some time before I can write to you again, if ever." + +The anxiety caused by this missive was somewhat relieved by +a humorous account of the recall of the cavalry force. She then +learned, through her father, that the entire army was again on the +move, and that another terrific battle would be fought in a day or +two. + +"Burnside should cross the Rappahannock to-day or to-morrow, at +the latest," Mr. Vosburgh had remarked at breakfast, to which he +had come from the Washington owl-train. + +It was the 20th of December, and when the shadows of the early +twilight were gathering, Burnside had, in fact, massed his army +at the fords of the river, and his troops, "little Strahan" among +them, were awaiting orders to enter the icy tide in the stealthy +effort to gain Lee's left flank. There are many veterans now living +who remember the terrific "storm of wind, rain, sleet, and snow" +that assailed the unsheltered army. It checked further advance more +effectually than if all the rebel forces had been drawn up on the +farther shore. After a frightful night, the Union army was discovered +in the dawn by Lee. + +Even then Burnside would have crossed, and, in spite of his opponent's +preparations and every other obstacle, would have fought a battle, +had he not been paralyzed by a foe with which no general could +cope,--Virginia mud. The army mired helplessly, supply trains could +not reach it. With difficulty the troops were led back to their +old quarters, and so ended the disastrous campaigns of the year, +so far as the army of the Potomac was concerned. + +The storm that drenched and benumbed the soldiers on the Rappahannock +was equally furious in the city of New York, and Mr. Vosburgh +sat down to dinner frowning and depressed. "It seems as if fate is +against us," he said. "This storm is general, I fear, and may prove +more of a defence to Lee than his fortifications at Fredericksburg. +It's bad enough to have to cope with treachery and disaffection." + +"Treachery, papa?" + +"Yes, treachery," replied her father, sternly. "Scoundrels in our +own army informed Washington disunionists of the cavalry movement +of which Captain Lane wrote you, and these unmolested enemies +at the capital are in constant communication with Lee. When will +our authorities and the North awake to the truth that this is a +life-and-death struggle, and that there must be no more nonsense?" + +"Would to Heaven I were a man!" said the young girl. "At this very +moment, no doubt, Mr. Merwyn is enjoying his sumptuous dinner, while +my friends may be fording a dark, cold river to meet their death. +Oh! I can't eat anything to-night." + +"Nonsense!" cried her mother, irritably. + +"Come, little girl, you are taking things too much to heart. I am +very glad you are not a man. In justice, I must also add that Mr. +Merwyn is doing more for the cause than any of your friends. It so +happens that I have learned that he is doing a great deal of which +little is known." + +"Pardon me," cried the girl, almost passionately. "Any man who +voluntarily faces this storm, and crosses that river to-night or +to-morrow, does infinitely more in my estimation." + +Her father smiled, but evidently his appetite was flagging also, +and he soon went out to send and receive some cipher despatches. + +Merwyn was growing hungry for some evidence of greater friendliness +than he had yet received. Hitherto, he had never seen Marian alone +when calling, and the thought had occurred that if he braved the +storm in paying her a visit, the effort might be appreciated. One +part of his hope was fulfilled, for he found her drawing-room empty. +While he waited, that other stormy and memorable evening when he +had sought to find her alone flashed on his memory, and he feared +that he had made a false step in coming. + +This impression was confirmed by her pale face and distant greeting. +In vain he put forth his best efforts to interest her. She remained +coldly polite, took but a languid part in the conversation, and at +times even permitted him to see that her thoughts were preoccupied. +He had been humble and patient a long time, and now, in spite of +himself, his anger began to rise. + +Feeling that he had better take his leave while still under +self-control, and proposing also to hint that she had failed somewhat +in courtesy, he arose abruptly and said: "You are not well this +evening, Miss Vosburgh? I should have perceived the fact earlier. +I wish you good-night." + +She felt the slight sting of his words, and was in no mood to +endure it. Moreover, if she had failed in such courtesy as he had +a right to expect, he should know the reason, and she felt at the +moment willing that he should receive the implied reproach. + +Therefore she said: "Pardon me, I am quite well. It is natural that +I should be a little distraite, for I have learned that my friends +are exposed to this storm, and will probably engage in another +terrible battle to-morrow, or soon." + +Again the old desperate expression, that she remembered so well, +came into his eyes as he exclaimed, bitterly: "You think me a coward +because I remain in the city? What is this storm, or that battle, +compared with what I am facing! Good-night;" and, giving her no +chance for further words, he hastened away. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +FEARS AND PERPLEXITIES. + + + + + +MERWYN found the storm so congenial to his mood that he breasted +it for hours before returning to his home. There, in weariness and +reaction, he sank into deep dejection. + +"What is the use of anger?" he asked himself, as he renewed the +dying fire in his room. "In view of all the past, she has more +cause for resentment than I, while it is a matter of indifference +to her whether I am angry or not. I might as well be incensed at +ice because it is cold, and she is ice to me. She has her standard +and a circle of friends who come up to it. This I never have done +and never can do. Therefore she only tolerates me and is more than +willing that I should disappear below her horizon finally. I was a +fool to speak the words I did to-night. What can they mean to her +when nothing is left for me, apparently, but a safe, luxurious life? +Such outbreaks can only seem hysterical or mere affectations, and +there shall be no more of them, let the provocation be what it may. +Indeed, why should I inflict myself on her any more? I cannot say +that she has not a woman's heart, but I wronged and chilled it +from the first, and cannot now retrieve myself. If I should go to +her to-morrow, even in a private's uniform, she would give me her +hand cordially, but she compares me with hundreds of thousands who +seem braver men than I. It is useless for me to suggest that I am +doing more than those who go to fight. Her thought would be: 'I +have all the friends I need among more knightly spirits who are +not afraid to look brave enemies in the face, and without whom the +North would be disgraced. Let graybeards furnish the sinews of war; +let young men give their blood if need be. It is indeed strange +that a man's arm should be paralyzed, and his best hope in life +blighted, by a mother!'" + +If he could have known Marian's thoughts and heard the conversation +that ensued with her father, he would not have been so despondent. + +When he left her so abruptly she again experienced the compunctions +she had felt before. Whether he deserved it or not she could not +shut her eyes to the severity of the wound inflicted, or to his +suffering. In vain she tried to assure herself that he did deserve it. +Granting this, the thoughts asserted themselves: "Why am I called +upon to resent his course? Having granted his request to visit me, +I might, at least, be polite and affable on his own terms. Because +he wishes more, and perhaps hopes for more, this does not, as papa +says, commit me in the least. He may have some scruple in fighting +openly against the land of his mother's ancestry. If that scruple +has more weight with him than my friendly regard, that is his affair. +His words to-night indicated that he must be under some strong +restraint. O dear! I wish I had never known him; he perplexes and +worries me. The course of my other friends is simple and straightforward +as the light. Why do I say other friends? He's not a friend at all, +yet my thoughts return to him in a way that is annoying." + +When her father came home she told him what had occurred, and +unconsciously permitted him to see that her mind was disturbed. +He did not smile quizzically, as some sagacious people would have +done, thus touching the young girl's pride and arraying it against +her own best interests, it might be. With the thought of her +happiness ever uppermost, he would discover the secret causes of her +unwonted perturbation. Not only Merwyn--about whom he had satisfied +himself--should have his chance, but also the girl herself. Mrs. +Vosburgh's conventional match-making would leave no chance for +either. The profounder man believed that nature, unless interfered +with by heavy, unskilful hands, would settle the question rightly. + +He therefore listened without comment, and at first only remarked, +"Evidently, Marian, you are not trying to make the most and best +of this young fellow." + +"But, papa, am I bound to do this for people who are disagreeable +to me and who don't meet my views at all?" + +"Certainly not. Indeed, you may have frozen Merwyn out of the list +of your acquaintances already." + +"Well," replied the girl, almost petulantly, "that, perhaps, will +be the best ending of the whole affair." + +"That's for you to decide, my dear." + +"But, papa, I FEEL that you don't approve of my course." + +"Neither do I disapprove of it. I only say, according to our bond +to be frank, that you are unfair to Merwyn. Of course, if he is +essentially disagreeable to you, there is no occasion for you to +make a martyr of yourself." + +"That's what irritates me so," said the girl, impetuously. "He +might have made himself very agreeable. But he undervalued and +misunderstood me so greatly from the first that it was hard to +forgive him." + +"If he hadn't shown deep contrition and regret for that course I +shouldn't wish you to forgive him, even though his antecedents had +made anything better scarcely possible." + +"Come down to the present hour, then. What he asked of you is one +thing. I see what he wishes. He desires, at least, the friendship +that I give to those who fulfil my ideal of manhood in these times. +He has no right to seek this without meeting the conditions which +remove all hesitation in regard to others. It angers me that he does +so. I feel as if he were seeking to buy my good-will by donations +to this, that, and the other thing. He still misunderstands me. +Why can't he realize that, to one of my nature, fording the icy +Rappahannock to-night would count for more than his writing checks +for millions?" + +"Probably he does understand it, and that is what he meant by +his words to-night, when he said, 'What is this storm, or what a +battle?'" + +She was overwrought, excited, and off her guard, and spoke from a +deep impulse. "A woman, in giving herself, gives everything. If he +can't give up a scruple--I mean if his loyalty is so slight that +his mother's wishes and dead ancestors--" + +"My dear little girl, you are not under the slightest obligation +to give anything," resumed her father, discreetly oblivious to the +significance of her words. "If you care to give a little good-will +and kindness to one whom you have granted the right to visit you, +they will tend to confirm and develop the better and manly qualities +he is now manifesting. You know I have peculiar faculties of finding +out about people, and, incidentally and casually, I have informed +myself about this Mr. Merwyn. I think I can truly say that he is +doing all and more than could be expected of a young fellow in his +circumstances, with the one exception that he does not put on our +uniform and go to the front. He may have reasons--very possibly, as +you think, mistaken and inadequate ones--which, nevertheless, are +binding on his conscience. What else could his words mean to-night? +He is not living a life of pleasure-seeking and dissipation, like so +many other young nabobs in the city. Apparently he has not sought +much other society than yours. Pardon me for saying it, but you +have not given him much encouragement to avoid the temptations that +are likely to assail a lonely, irresponsible young fellow. In one +sense you are under no obligation to do this; in another, perhaps +you are, for you must face the fact that you have great influence +over him. This influence you must either use or throw away, as +you decide. You are not responsible for this influence; neither are +your friends responsible for the war. When it came, however, they +faced the disagreeable and dangerous duties that it brought." + +"O papa! I have been a stupid, resentful fool." + +"No, my dear; at the worst you have been misled by generous and +loyal impulses. Your deep sympathy with recent events has made you +morbid, and therefore unfair. To your mind Mr. Merwyn represented +the half-hearted element that shuns meeting what must be met at +every cost. If this were true of him I should share in your spirit, +but he appears to be trying to be loyal and to do what he can in +the face of obstacles greater than many overcome." + +"I don't believe he will ever come near me again!" she exclaimed. + +"Then you are absolved in the future. Of course we can make no +advances towards a man who has been your suitor." + +Merwyn's course promised to fulfil her fear,--she now acknowledged +to herself that it was a fear,--for his visits ceased. She tried +to dismiss him from her thoughts, but a sense of her unfairness +and harshness haunted her. She did not see why she had not taken +her father's view, or why she had thrown away her influence that +accorded with the scheme of life to which she had pledged herself. +The very restraint indicated by his words was a mystery, and +mysteries are fascinating. She remembered, with compunction, that +not even his own mother had sought to develop a true, manly spirit +in him. "Now he is saying," she thought, bitterly, "that I, too, +am a fanatic,--worse than his mother." + +Weeks passed and she heard nothing from him, nor did her father +mention his name. While her regret was distinct and positive, +it must not be supposed that it gave her serious trouble. Indeed, +the letters of Mr. Lane, and the semi-humorous journal of Strahan +and Blauvelt, together with the general claims of society and her +interest in her father's deep anxieties, were fast banishing it +from her mind, when, to her surprise, his card was handed to her +one stormy afternoon, late in January. + +"I am sorry to intrude upon you, Miss Vosburgh," he began, as she +appeared, "but--" + +"Why should you regard it as an intrusion, Mr. Merwyn?" + +"I think a lady has a right to regard any unwelcome society as an +intrusion." + +"Admitting even so much, it does not follow that this is an intrusion," +she said, laughing. Then she added, with slightly heightened color: +"Mr. Merwyn, I must at least keep my own self-respect, and this +requires an acknowledgment. I was rude to you when you last called. +But I was morbid from anxiety and worry over what was happening. +I had no right to grant your request to call upon me and then fail +in courtesy." + +"Will you, then, permit me to renew my old request?" he asked, with +an eagerness that he could not disguise. + +"Certainly not. That would imply such utter failure on my part! You +should be able to forgive me one slip, remembering the circumstances." + +"You have the most to forgive," he replied, humbly. "I asked for +little more than toleration, but I felt that I had not the right +to force even this upon you." + +"I am glad you are inclined to be magnanimous," she replied, +laughing. "Women usually take advantage of that trait in men--when +they manifest it. We'll draw a line through the evening of the 20th +of December, and, as Jefferson says, in his superb impersonation +of poor old Rip, 'It don't count.' By the way, have you seen him?" +she asked, determined that the conversation should take a different +channel. + +"No; I have been busy of late. But pardon me, Miss Vosburgh, +I'm forgetting my errand shamefully. Do not take the matter too +seriously. I think you have no reason to do so. Mr. Strahan is in +the city and is ill. I have just come from him." + +Her face paled instantly, and she sank into a chair. + +"I beg of you not to be so alarmed," he added, hastily. "I shall +not conceal anything from you. By the merest chance I saw him +coming up Broadway in a carriage, and, observing that he looked +ill, jumped into a hack and followed him to his residence. You had +reason for your anxiety on December 20th, for he took a severe cold +from exposure that night. For a time he made light of it, but at +last obtained sick-leave. He asked me to tell you--" + +"He has scarcely mentioned the fact that he was not well;" and +there was an accent of reproach in the young girl's tones. + +"I understand Strahan better than I once did, perhaps because better +able to understand him," was Merwyn's quiet reply. "He is a brave, +generous fellow, and, no doubt, wished to save you from anxiety. +There has been no chance for him to say very much to me." + +"Was he expected by his family?" + +"They were merely informed, by a telegram, that he was on his way. +He is not so well as when he started. Naturally he is worse for the +journey. Moreover, he used these words, 'I felt that I was going +to be ill and wished to get home.'" + +"Has a physician seen him yet?" + +"Yes, I brought their family physician in the hack, which I had kept +waiting. He fears that it will be some time before his patient is +out again. I have never been seriously ill myself, but I am sure--I +mean, I have heard--that a few words often have great influence in +aiding one in Strahan's condition to triumph over disease. It is +often a question of will and courage, you know. I will take a note +to him if you wish. Poor fellow! he may have his biggest fight on +hand while the others are resting in winter quarters." + +"I shall be only too glad to avail myself of your offer. Please +excuse me a moment." + +When she returned he saw traces of tears in her eyes. She asked, +eagerly, "Will you see him often?" + +"I shall call daily." + +"Would it be too much trouble for you to let me know how he is, +should he be very seriously ill?" Then, remembering that this might +lead to calls more frequent than she was ready to receive, or than +he would find it convenient to make, she added: "I suppose you +are often down town and might leave word with papa at his office. +I have merely a formal acquaintance with Mrs. Strahan and her +daughters, and, if Mr. Strahan should be very ill, I should have +to rely upon you for information." + +"I shall make sure that you learn of his welfare daily until he +is able to write to you, and I esteem it a privilege to render you +this service." + +He then bowed and turned away, and she did not detain him. Indeed, +her mind was so absorbed by her friend's danger that she could not +think of much else. + +The next day a note, addressed to Mr. Vosburgh, was left at +his office, giving fuller particulars of Strahan's illness, which +threatened to be very serious indeed. High fever had been developed, +and the young soldier had lost all intelligent consciousness. Days +followed in which this fever was running its course, and Merwyn's +reports, ominous in spite of all effort to disguise the deep anxiety +felt by Strahan's friends, were made only through Mr. Vosburgh. +Marian began to regret her suggestion that the information should +come in this way, for she now felt that Merwyn had received the +impression that his presence would not be agreeable. She was eager +for more details and oppressed with the foreboding that she would +never see her light-hearted friend again. She was almost tempted +to ask Merwyn to call, but felt a strange reluctance to do so. + +"I gave him sufficient encouragement to continue his visits," she +thought, "and he should distinguish between the necessity of coming +every day and the privilege of coming occasionally." + +One evening her father looked very grave as he handed Marian the +note addressed to him. + +"O papa!" exclaimed the girl, "he's worse!" + +"Yes, I fear Strahan is in a very critical condition. I happened +to meet Merwyn when he left the note to-day, and the young fellow +himself looked haggard and ill. But he carelessly assured me that +he was perfectly well. He said that the crisis of Strahan's fever +was approaching, and that the indications were bad." + +"Papa!" cried the girl, tearfully, "I can't endure this suspense +and inaction. Why would it be bad taste for us to call on Mrs. +Strahan this evening? She must know how dear a friend Arthur is to +me. I don't care for conventionality in a case like this. It seems +cold-blooded to show no apparent interest, and it might do Arthur +good if he should learn that we had been there because of our +anxiety and sympathy." + +"Well, my dear, what you suggest is the natural and loyal course, +and therefore outweighs all conventionality in my mind. We'll go +after dinner." + +Marian's doubt as to her reception by Mrs. Strahan was speedily +dispelled, for the sorrow-stricken mother was almost affectionate +in her welcome. + +"Arthur, in his delirium, often mentions your name," she said, "and +then he is in camp or battle again, or else writing his journal. +I have thought of sending for you, but he wouldn't have known you. +He does not even recognize me, and has not for days. Our physician +commands absolute quiet and as little change in those about him as +possible. What we should have done without Mr. Merwyn I scarcely +know. He is with him now, and has watched every night since Arthur's +return. I never saw any one so changed, or else we didn't understand +him. He is tireless in his strength, and womanly in his patience. +His vigils are beginning to tell on him sadly, but he says that he +will not give up till the crisis is past. If Arthur lives he will +owe his life largely to one who, last summer, appeared too indolent +to think of anything but his own pleasure. How we often misjudge +people! They were boys and playmates together, and are both greatly +changed. O Miss Vosburgh, my heart just stands still with dread +when I think of what may soon happen. Arthur had become so manly, +and we were so proud of him! He has written me more than once of +your influence, and I had hoped that the way might open for our +better acquaintance." + +"Do you think the crisis may come to-night?" Marian asked, with +quivering lips. + +"Yes, it may come now at any hour. The physician will remain all +night." + +"Oh, I wish I might know early in the morning. Believe me, I shall +not sleep." + +"You shall know, Miss Vosburgh, and I hope you will come and see +me, whatever happens. You will please excuse me now, for I cannot +be away from Arthur at this time. I would not have seen any one +but you." + +At one o'clock in the morning there was a ring at Mr. Vosburgh's +door. He opened it, and Merwyn stood there wrapped in his fur +cloak. "Will you please give this note to Miss Vosburgh?" he said. +"I think it contains words that will bring welcome relief and hope. +I would not have disturbed you at this hour had I not seen your +light burning;" and, before Mr. Vosburgh could reply, he lifted +his hat and strode away. + +The note ran as follows: + +"MY DEAR MISS VOSBURGH:--Arthur became conscious a little before +twelve. He was fearfully weak, and for a time his life appeared +to flicker. I alone was permitted to be with him. After a while I +whispered that you had been here. He smiled and soon fell into a +quiet sleep. Our physician now gives us strong hopes. + +"Sincerely and gratefully yours, + +"CHARLOTTE STRAHAN." + +Marian, who had been sleepless from thoughts more evenly divided +between her friend and Merwyn than she would have admitted even +to herself, handed the note to her father. Her face indicated both +gladness and perplexity. He read and returned it with a smile. + +"Papa," she said, "you have a man's straightforward common-sense. +I am only a little half-girl and half-woman. Do you know, I almost +fear that both Mrs. Strahan and Mr. Merwyn believe I am virtually +engaged to Arthur." + +"Their belief can't engage you," said her father, laughing. "Young +Strahan will get well, thanks to you and Merwyn. Mrs. Strahan said +that both were greatly changed. Merwyn certainly must have a hardy +nature, for he improves under a steady frost." + +"Papa!" cried Marian, with a vivid blush, "you are a deeper and more +dangerous ally of Mr. Menvyn than mamma. I am on my guard against +you both, and I shall retire at once before you begin a panegyric +that will cease only when you find I am asleep." + +"Yes, my dear, go and sleep the sleep of the unjust!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +A GIRL'S THOUGHTS AND IMPULSES. + + + + + +SLEEP, which Marian said would cut short her father's threatened +panegyrics of Merwyn, did not come speedily. The young girl had +too much food for thought. + +She knew that Mrs. Strahan had not, during the past summer, +misunderstood her son's faithful nurse. In spite of all prejudice +and resentment, in spite of the annoying fact that he would intrude +so often upon her thoughts, she had to admit the truth that he was +greatly changed, and that, while she might be the cause, she could +take to herself no credit for the transformation. To others she had +given sincere and cordial encouragement. Towards him she had been +harsh and frigid. He must indeed possess a hardy nature, or else +a cold persistence that almost made her shiver, it was so indomitable. + +She felt that she did not understand him; and she both shrunk from +his character and was fascinated by it. She could not now charge +him with disregard of her feelings and lack of delicacy. His visits +had ceased when he believed them to be utterly repugnant; he had +not availed himself of the opportunity to see her often afforded +by Strahan's illness, and had been quick to take the hint that he +could send his reports to her father. There had been no effort to +make her aware of his self-sacrificing devotion to her friend. The +thing that was irritating her was that he could approach so nearly +to her standard and yet fail in a point that to her was vital. His +course indicated unknown characteristics or circumstances, and she +felt that she could never give him her confidence and unreserved +regard while he fell short of the test of manhood which she believed +that the times demanded. If underneath all his apparent changes +for the better there was an innate lack of courage to meet danger +and hardship, or else a cold, calculating purpose not to take these +risks, she would shrink from him in strong repulsion. She knew +that the war had developed not a few constitutional cowards,--men +to be pitied, it is true, but with a commiseration that, in her +case, would be mingled with contempt. On the other hand, if he +reasoned, "I will win her if I can; I will do all and more than +she can ask, but I will not risk the loss of a lifetime's enjoyment +of my wealth," she would quietly say to him by her manner: "Enjoy +your wealth. I can have no part in such a scheme of existence; I +will not give my hand, even in friendship, to a man who would do +less than I would, were I in his place." + +If her father was right, and he had scruples of conscience, or some +other unknown restraint, she felt that she must know all before +she would give her trust and more. If he could not satisfy her on +these points, as others had done so freely and spontaneously, he +had no right to ask or expect more from her than ordinary courtesy. + +Having thus resolutely considered antidotes for a tendency towards +relentings not at all to her mind, and met, as she believed, her +father's charge of unfairness, her thoughts, full of sympathy and +hope, dwelt upon the condition of her friend. Recalling the past +and the present, her heart grew very tender, and she found that he +occupied in it a foremost place. Indeed, it seemed to her a species +of disloyalty to permit any one to approach his place and that of +Mr. Lane, for both formed an inseparable part of her new and more +earnest life. + +She, too, had changed, and was changing. As her nature deepened and +grew stronger it was susceptible of deeper and stronger influences. +Under the old regime pleasure, excitement, triumphs of power that +ministered to vanity, had been her superficial motives. To the degree +that she had now attained true womanhood, the influences that act +upon and control a woman were in the ascendant. Love ceased to dwell +in her mind as a mere fastidious preference, nor could marriage +ever be a calculating choice, made with the view of securing the +greatest advantages. She knew that earnest men loved her without a +thought of calculation,--loved her for herself alone. She called +them friends now, and to her they were no more as yet. But their +downright sincerity made her sincere and thoughtful. Her esteem and +affection for them were so great that she was not at all certain +that circumstances and fuller acquaintance might not develop her +regard towards one or the other of them into a far deeper feeling. +In their absence, their manly qualities appealed to her imagination. +She had reached a stage in spiritual development where her woman's +nature was ready for its supreme requirement. She could be more +than friend, and was conscious of the truth; and she believed that +her heart would make a positive and final choice in accord with +her intense and loyal sympathies. In the great drama of the war +centred all that ideal and knightly action that has ever been so +fascinating to her sex, and daily conversation with her father had +enabled her to understand what lofty principles and great destinies +were involved. She had been shown how President Lincoln's proclamation, +freeing the slaves, had aimed a fatal blow at the chief enemies +of liberty, not only in this land, but in all lands. Mr. Vosburgh +was a philosophical student of history, and, now that she had become +his companion, he made it clear to her how the present was linked +to the past. Instead of being imbued with vindictiveness towards +the South, she was made to see a brave, self-sacrificing, but misled +people, seeking to rivet their own chains and blight the future of +their fair land. Therefore, a man like Lane, capable of appreciating +and acting upon these truths, took heroic proportions in her fancy, +while Strahan, almost as delicate as a girl, yet brave as the best, +won, in his straightforward simplicity, her deepest sympathy. The +fact that the latter was near, that his heart had turned to her +even from under the shadow of death, gave him an ascendency for +the time. + +"To some such man I shall eventually yield," she assured herself, +"and not to one who brings a chill of doubt, not to one unmastered +by loyal impulses to face every danger which our enemies dare meet." + +Then she slept, and dreamt that she saw Strahan reaching out his +hands to her for help from dark, unknown depths. + +She awoke sobbing, and, under the confused impulse of the moment, +exclaimed: "He shall have all the help I can give; he shall live. +While he is weaker, he is braver than Mr. Lane. He triumphed over +himself and everything. He most needs me. Mr. Lane is strong in +himself. Why should I be raising such lofty standards of self-sacrifice +when I cannot give love to one who most needs it, most deserves +it?" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +"MY FRIENDSHIP IS MINE TO GIVE." + + + + + +STRAHAN'S convalescence need not be dwelt upon, nor the subtle aid +given by Marian through flowers, fruit, and occasional calls upon +his mother. + +These little kindnesses were tonics beyond the physician's skill, +and he grew stronger daily. Mrs. Strahan believed that things were +taking their natural course, and, with the delicacy of a lady, +was content to welcome the young girl in a quiet, cordial manner. +Merwyn tacitly accepted the mother's view, which she had not wholly +concealed in the sick-room, and which he thought had been confirmed +by Marian's manner and interest. With returning health Strahan's +old sense of humor revived, and he often smiled and sighed over +the misapprehension. Had he been fully aware of Marian's mood, he +might have given his physician cause to look grave over an apparent +return of fever. + +In the reticence and delicacy natural to all the actors in this +little drama, thoughts were unspoken, and events drifted on in +accordance with the old relations. Merwyn's self-imposed duties of +nurse became lighter, and he took much-needed rest. Strahan felt +for him the strongest good-will and gratitude, but grew more and +more puzzled about him. Apparently the convalescent was absolutely +frank concerning himself. He spoke of his esteem and regard for +Marian as he always had done; his deeper affection he never breathed +to any one, although he believed the young girl was aware of it, +and he did not in the least blame her that she had no power to give +him more than friendship. + +Of his military plans and hopes he spoke without reserve to Merwyn, +but in return received little confidence. He could not doubt the +faithful attendant who had virtually twice saved his life, but he +soon found a barrier of impenetrable reserve, which did not yield +to any manifestations of friendliness. Strahan at last came to +believe that it veiled a deep, yet hopeless regard for Marian. This +view, however, scarcely explained the situation, for he found his +friend even more reticent in respect to the motives which kept him +a civilian. + +"I'd give six months' pay," said the young officer, on one occasion, +"if we had you in our regiment, and I am satisfied that I could +obtain a commission for you. You would be sure of rapid promotion. +Indeed, with your wealth and influence you could secure +a lieutenant-colonelcy in a new regiment by spring. Believe me, +Merwyn, the place for us young fellows is at the front in these +times. My blood's up,--what little I have left,--and I'm bound to +see the scrimmage out. You have just the qualities to make a good +officer. You could control and discipline men without bluster or +undue harshness. We need such officers, for an awful lot of cads +have obtained commissions." + +Merwyn had walked to a window so that his friend could not see his +face, and at last he replied, quietly and almost coldly: "There +are some things, Strahan, in respect to which one cannot judge for +another. I am as loyal as you are now, but I must aid the cause in +my own way. I would prefer that you should not say anything more +on this subject, for it is of no use. I have taken my course, and +shall reveal it only by my action. There is one thing that I can +do, and shall be very glad to do. I trust we are such good friends +that you can accept of my offer. Your regiment has been depleted. +New men would render it more effective and add to your chances of +promotion. It will be some time before you are fit for active service. +I can put you in the way of doing more than your brother-officers +in the regiment, even though you are as pale as a ghost. Open +a recruiting office near your country home again,--you can act at +present through a sergeant,--and I will give you a check which will +enable you to add to the government bounty so largely that you can +soon get a lot of hardy country fellows. No one need know where +the money comes from except ourselves." + +Strahan laughed, and said: "It is useless for me to affect +squeamishness in accepting favors from you at this late day. I +believed you saved my life last summer, and now you are almost as +haggard as I am from watching over me. I'll take your offer in good +faith, as I believe you mean it. I won't pose as a self-sacrificing +patriot only. I confess that I am ambitious. You fellows used +to call me 'little Strahan.' YOU are all right now, but there are +some who smile yet when my name is mentioned, and who regard my +shoulder-straps as a joke. I've no doubt they are already laughing +at the inglorious end of my military career. I propose to prove +that I can be a soldier as well as some bigger and more bewhiskered +men. I have other motives also;" and his thought was, "Marian may +feel differently if I can win a colonel's eagles." + +Merwyn surmised as much, but he only said, quietly: "Your motives +are as good as most men's, and you have proved yourself a brave, +efficient officer. That would be enough for me, had I not other +motives also." + +"Hang it all! I would tell you my motives if you would be equally +frank." + +"Since I cannot be, you must permit me to give other proofs +of friendship. Nor do I expect, indeed I should be embarrassed by +receiving, what I cannot return." + +"You're an odd fish, Merwyn. Well, I have ample reason to give you +my faith and loyalty, as I do. Your proposition has put new life +into me already. I needn't spend idle weeks--" + +"Hold on. One stipulation. Your physician must regulate all your +actions. Remember that here, as at the front, the physician is, at +times, autocrat." + +Mervvyn called twice on Marian during his friend's convalescence, +and could no longer complain of any lack of politeness. Indeed, her +courtesy was slightly tinged with cordiality, and she took occasion +to speak of her appreciation of his vigils at Strahan's side. Beyond +this she showed no disposition towards friendliness. At the same, +time, she could not even pretend to herself that she was indifferent. +He piqued both her pride and her curiosity, for he made no further +effort to reveal himself or to secure greater favor than she +voluntarily bestowed. She believed that her father looked upon her +course as an instance of feminine prejudice, of resentment prolonged +unnaturally and capriciously,--that he was saying to himself, "A +man would quarrel and have done with it after amends were made, +but a woman--" + +"He regards this as my flaw, my weakness, wherein I differ from him +and his kind," she thought. "I can't help it. Circumstances have +rendered it impossible for me to feel toward Mr. Merwyn as toward +other men. I have thought the matter out and have taken my stand. +If he wishes more than I now give he must come up to my ground, +for I shall not go down to his." + +She misunderstood her father. That sagacious gentleman said nothing, +and quietly awaited developments. + +It was a glad day for Arthur Strahan when, wrapped and muffled +beyond all danger, he was driven, in a close carriage, to make an +afternoon visit to Marian. She greeted him with a kindness that +warmed his very soul, and even inspired hopes which he had, as yet, +scarcely dared to entertain. Time sped by with all the old easy +interchange of half-earnest nonsense. A deep chord of truth and +affection vibrated through even jest and merry repartee. Yet, so +profound are woman's intuitions in respect to some things, that, +now she was face to face with him again, she feared, before an hour +passed, that he could never be more to her than when she had given +him loyal friendship in the vine-covered cottage in the country. + +"By the way," he remarked, abruptly, "I suppose you never punished +Merwyn as we both, at one time, felt that he deserved? He admits +that he calls upon you quite frequently, and speaks of you in terms +of strongest respect. You know I am his sincere, grateful friend +henceforth. I don't pretend to understand him, but I trust him, +and wish him well from the depths of my heart." + +"I also wish him well," Marian remarked, quietly. + +He looked at her doubtfully for a moment, then said, "Well, I +suppose you have reasons for resentment, but I assure you he has +changed very greatly." + +"How do you know that, when you don't understand him?" + +"I do know it," said the young fellow, earnestly. "Merwyn never +was like other people. He is marked by ancestry; strong-willed, +reticent on one side, proud and passionate on the other. My own +mother was not more untiring and gentle with me than he, yet if I +try to penetrate his reserve he becomes at once distant, and almost +cold. When I thought he was seeking to amuse himself with you I +felt like strangling him; now that I know he has a sincere respect +for you, if not more, I have nothing against him. I wish he would +join us in the field, and have said as much to him more than once. +He has the means to raise a regiment himself, and there are few +possessing more natural ability to transform raw recruits into +soldiers." + +"Why does he not join you in the field?" she asked, quickly, and +there was a trace of indignation in her tones. + +"I do not think he will ever speak of his reasons to any one. At +least, he will not to me." + +"Very well," she said; and there was significance in her cold, +quiet tones. + +"They result from no lack of loyalty," earnestly resumed Strahan, +who felt that for some reason he was not succeeding as his friend's +advocate. "He has generously increased my chances of promotion by +giving me a large sum towards recruiting my regiment." + +"After your hard experience, are you fully determined to go back?" +she asked, with a brilliant smile. "Surely you have proved your +courage, and, with your impaired health, you have a good reason +not for leaving the task to stronger men." + +"And take my place contentedly among the weaker ones in your +estimation?" he added, flushing. "How could you suggest or think +such a thing? Certainly I shall go back as soon as my physician +permits, and I shall go to stay till the end, unless I am knocked +over or disabled." + +Her eyes flashed exultantly as she came swiftly to him. "Now you +can understand me," she said, giving him her hand. "My friendship +and honor are for men like you and Mr. Lane and Mr. Blauvelt, who +offer all, and not for those who offer--MONEY." + +"By Jove, Miss Marian, you make me feel as if I could storm Richmond +single-handed." + +"Don't think I say this in any callous disregard of what may happen. +God knows I do not; but in times like these my heart chooses friends +among knightly men who voluntarily go to meet other men as brave. +Don't let us talk any more about Mr. Merwyn. I shall always treat +him politely, and I have gratefully acknowledged my indebtedness for +his care of you. He understands me, and will give me no opportunity +to do as you suggested, were I so inclined. His conversation is +that of a cultivated man, and as such I enjoy it; but there it all +ends." + +"But I don't feel that I have helped my friend in your good graces +at all," protested Strahan, ruefully. + +"Has he commissioned you to help him?" she asked, quickly. + +"No, no, indeed. You don't know Merwyn, or you never would have +asked that question." + +"Well, I prefer as friends those whom I do know, who are not +inshrouded in mystery or incased in reticence. No, Arthur Strahan, +my friendship is mine to give, be it worth much or little. If he +does not care enough for it to take the necessary risks, when the +bare thought of shunning them makes you flush hotly, he cannot +have it. All his wealth could not buy one smile from me. Now let +all this end. I respect your loyalty to him, but I have my own +standard, and shall abide by it;" and she introduced another topic. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +A FATHER'S FORETHOUGHT. + + + + + +STRAHAN improved rapidly in health, and was soon able to divide his +time between his city and his country home. The recruiting station +near the latter place was successful in securing stalwart men, +who were tempted by the unusually large bounties offered through +Merwyn's gift. The young officer lost no opportunities of visiting +Marian's drawing-room, and, while his welcome continued as cordial +as ever, she, nevertheless, indicated by a frank and almost sisterly +manner the true state of her feelings toward him. The impulse +arising at the critical hour of his illness speedily died away. His +renewed society confirmed friendship, but awakened nothing more, +and quieter thoughts convinced her that the future must reveal what +her relations should be to him and to others. + +As he recovered health her stronger sympathy went out to Mr. Lane, +who had not asked for leave of absence. + +"I am rampantly well," he wrote, "and while my heart often travels +northward, I can find no plausible pretext to follow. I may receive +a wound before long which will give me a good excuse, since, for +our regiment, there is prospect of much active service while the +infantry remain in winter quarters. It is a sad truth that the +army is discouraged and depleted to a degree never known before. +Homesickness is epidemic. A man shot himself the other day because +refused a furlough. Desertions have been fearfully numerous among +enlisted men, and officers have urged every possible excuse for +leaves of absence. A man with my appetite stands no chance whatever, +and our regimental surgeon laughs when I assure him that I am +suffering from acute heart-disease. Therefore, my only hope is a +wound, and I welcome our prospective raid in exchange for dreary +picket duty." + +Marian knew what picket duty and raiding meant in February weather, +and wrote words of kindly warmth that sustained her friend through +hard, prosaic service. + +She also saw that her father was burdened with heavy cares and +responsibilities. Disloyal forces and counsels were increasing in +the great centres at the North, and especially in New York City. +Therefore he was intrusted with duties of the most delicate and +difficult nature. It was her constant effort to lead him to forget +his anxieties during such evenings as he spent at home, and when +she had congenial callers she sometimes prevailed upon him to take +part in the general conversation. It so happened, one evening, that +Strahan and Merwyn were both present. Seeing that the latter felt +a little de trop, Mr. Vosburgh invited him to light a cigar in the +dining-room, and the two men were soon engaged in animated talk, +the younger being able to speak intelligently of the feeling in +England at the time. By thoughtful questions he also drew out his +host in regard to affairs at home. + +The two guests departed together, and Marian, observing the pleased +expression on her father's face, remarked, "You have evidently +found a congenial spirit." + +"I found a young fellow who had ideas and who was not averse to +receiving more." + +"You can relieve my conscience wholly, papa," said the young girl, +laughing. "When Mr. Merwyn comes hereafter I shall turn him over +to you. He will then receive ideas and good influence at their +fountain-head. You and mamma are inclined to give him so much +encouragement that I must be more on the defensive than ever." + +"That policy would suit me exactly," replied her father, with +a significant little nod. "I don't wish to lose you, and I'm more +afraid of Merwyn than of all the rest together." + +"More afraid of HIM!" exclaimed the girl, with widening eyes. + +"Of him." + +"Why?" + +"Because you don't understand him." + +"That's an excellent reason for keeping him at a distance." + +"Reason, reason. What has reason to do with affairs of this kind?" + +"Much, in my case, I assure you. Thank you for forewarning me so +plainly." + +"I've no dark designs against your peace." + +Nevertheless, these half-jesting words foreshadowed the future, +so far as Mr. Vosburgh and Mr. Merwyn were concerned. Others were +usually present when the latter called, and he always seemed to +enjoy a quiet talk with the elder man. Mrs. Vosburgh never failed +in her cordiality, or lost hope that his visits might yet lead to +a result in accordance with her wishes. Marian made much sport of +their protege, as she called him, and, since she now treated him with +the same courtesy that other mere calling acquaintances received, +the habit of often spending part of the evening at the modest home +grew upon him. Mr. Vosburgh soon discovered that the young man +was a student of American affairs and history. This fact led to +occasional visits by the young man to the host's library, which +was rich in literature on these subjects. + +On one stormy evening, which gave immunity from other callers, +Marian joined them, and was soon deeply interested herself. Suddenly +becoming conscious of the fact, she bade them an abrupt good-night +and went to her room with a little frown on her brow. + +"It's simply exasperating," she exclaimed, "to see a young fellow +of his inches absorbed in American antiquities when the honor and +liberty of America are at stake. Then, at times, he permits such +an expression of sadness to come into his big black eyes! He is +distant enough, but I can read his very thoughts, and he thinks +me obduracy itself. He will soon return to his elegant home and +proceed to be miserable in the most luxurious fashion. If he were +riding with Mr. Lane, to-night, on a raid, he would soon distinguish +between his cherished woe and a soldier's hardships." + +Nevertheless, she could do little more than maintain a mental +protest at his course, in which he persevered unobtrusively, yet +unfalteringly. There was no trace of sentiment in his manner toward +her, nor the slightest conscious appeal for sympathy. His conversation +was so intelligent, and at times even brilliant, that she could not +help being interested, and she observed that he resolutely chose +subjects of an impersonal character, shunning everything relating +to himself. She could not maintain any feeling approaching contempt, +and the best intrenchment she could find was an irritated perplexity. +She could not deny that his face was growing strong in its manly +beauty. Although far paler and thinner than when she had first +seen it, a heavy mustache and large, dark, thoughtful eyes relieved +it from the charge of effeminacy. Every act, and even his tones, +indicated high breeding, and she keenly appreciated such things. +His reserve was a stimulus to thought, and his isolated life was +unique for one in his position, while the fact that he sought her +home and society with so little to encourage him was strong and +subtle homage. More than all, she thought she recognized a trait +in him which rarely fails to win respect,--an unfaltering will. +Whatever his plans or purposes were, the impression grew stronger +in her mind that he would not change them. + +"But I have a pride and a will equal to his," she assured herself. +"He can come thus far and no farther. Papa thinks I will yield +eventually to his persistence and many fascinations. Were this +possible, no one should know it until he had proved himself the +peer of the bravest and best of my time." + +Winter had passed, and spring brought not hope and gladness, but +deepening dread as the hour approached when the bloody struggle +would be renewed. Mr. Lane had participated in more than one cavalry +expedition, but had received no wounds. Strahan was almost ready +to return, and had sent much good material to the thinned ranks of +his regiment. His reward came promptly, for at that late day men +were most needed, and he who furnished them secured a leverage +beyond all political influence. The major in his regiment resigned +from ill-health, and Strahan was promoted to the vacancy at once. +He received his commission before he started for the front, and +he brought it to Marian with almost boyish pride and exultation. +He had called for Merwyn on his way, and insisted on having his +company. He found the young fellow nothing loath. + +Merwyn scarcely entertained the shadow of a hope of anything more +than that time would soften Marian's feelings toward him. The war +could not last forever. Unexpected circumstances might arise, and +a steadfast course must win a certain kind of respect. At any rate +it was not in his nature to falter, especially when her tolerance +was parting with much of its old positiveness. His presence undoubtedly +had the sanction of her father and mother, and for the former he +was gaining an esteem and liking independent of his fortunes with +the daughter. Love is a hardy plant, and thrives on meagre sustenance. +It was evident that the relations between Marian and Strahan were +not such as he had supposed during the latter's illness. Her respect +and friendship he would have, if it took a lifetime to acquire +them. He would not be balked in the chief purpose of his life, +or retreat from the pledge, although it was given in the agony of +humiliation and defeat. As long as he had reason to believe that +her hand and heart were free, it was not in human nature to abandon +all hope. + +On this particular evening Mr. Vosburgh admitted the young men, +and Marian, hearing Strahan's voice, called laughingly from the +parlor: "You are just in time for the wedding. I should have been +engaged to any one except you." + +"Engaged to any one except me? How cruel is my fate!" + +"Pardon me," began Merwyn quickly, and taking his hat again; "I +shall repeat my call at a time more opportune." + +Marian, who had now appeared, said, in polite tones: "Mr. Merwyn, +stay by all means. I could not think of separating two such friends. +Our waitress has no relatives to whom she can go, therefore we are +giving her a wedding from our house." + +"Then I am sure there is greater reason for my leave-taking +at present. I am an utter stranger to the bride, and feel that my +presence would seem an intrusion to her, at least. Nothing at this +time should detract from her happiness. Good-evening." + +Marian felt the force of his words, and was also compelled to +recognize his delicate regard for the feelings of one in humble +station. She would have permitted him to depart, but Mr. Vosburgh +interposed quickly: "Wait a moment, Mr. Merwyn; I picked up a rare +book, down town, relating to the topic we were discussing the other +evening. Suppose you go up to my library. I'll join you there, for +the ceremony will soon be over. Indeed, we are now expecting the +groom, his best man, and the minister. It so happens that the happy +pair are Protestants, and so we can have an informal wedding." + +"Oh, stay, Merwyn," said Strahan. "It was I who brought you here, +and I shouldn't feel that the evening was complete without you." + +The former looked doubtfully at Marian, who added, quickly: "You +cannot refuse papa's invitation, Mr. Merwyn, since it removes the +only scruple you can have. It is, perhaps, natural that the bride +should wish to see only familiar faces at this time, and it was +thoughtful of you to remember this, but, as papa says, the affair +will soon be over." + +"And then," resumed Strahan, "I have a little pie to show you, Miss +Marian, in which Merwyn had a big finger." + +"I thought that was an affair between ourselves," said Merwyn, +throwing off his overcoat. + +"Oh, do not for the world reveal any of Mr. Merwyn's secrets!" +cried the girl. + +"It is no secret at all to you, Miss Marian, nor did I ever intend +that it should be one," Strahan explained. + +"Mr. Merwyn, you labor under a disadvantage in your relations +with Mr. Strahan. He has friends, and friendship is not based on +reticence." + +"Therefore I can have no friends, is the inference, I suppose." + +"That cannot be said while I live," began the young officer, warmly; +but here a ring at the door produced instant dispersion. "I suppose +I can be present," Strahan whispered to Marian. "Barney Ghegan is +an older acquaintance of mine than of yours, and your pretty waitress +has condescended to smile graciously on me more than once, although +my frequent presence at your door must have taxed her patience." + +"You have crossed her palm with too much silver, I fear, to make +frowns possible. Silver, indeed! when has any been seen? But money +in any form is said to buy woman's smiles." + +"Thank Heaven it doesn't buy yours." + +"Hush! Your gravity must now be portentous." + +The aggressive Barney, now a burly policeman, had again brought +pretty Sally Maguire to terms, and on this evening received the +reward of his persistent wooing. After the ceremony and a substantial +supper, which Mrs. Vosburgh graced with her silver, the couple took +their brief wedding journey to their rooms, and Barney went on duty +in the morning, looking as if all the world were to his mind. + +When Mr. Vosburgh went up to his library his step was at first +unnoted, and he saw his guest sitting before the fire, lost in a +gloomy revery. When observed, he asked, a little abruptly: "Is the +matter to which Mr. Strahan referred a secret which you wish kept?" + +"Oh, no! Not as far as I am concerned. What I have done is a +bagatelle. I merely furnished a little money for recruiting purposes." + +"It is not a little thing to send a good man to the front, Mr. +Merwyn." + +"Nor is it a little thing not to go one's self," was the bitter +reply. Then he added, hastily, "I am eager to see the book to which +you refer." + +"Pardon me, Mr. Merwyn, your words plainly reveal your inclination. +Would you not be happier if you followed it?" + +"I cannot, Mr. Vosburgh, nor can I explain further. Therefore, +I must patiently submit to all adverse judgment." The words were +spoken quietly and almost wearily. + +"I suppose that your reasons are good and satisfactory." + +"They are neither good nor satisfactory," burst out the young man +with sudden and vindictive impetuosity. "They are the curse of my +life. Pardon me. I am forgetting myself. I believe you are friendly +at least. Please let all this be as if it were not." Then, as if +the possible import of his utterance had flashed upon him, he drew +himself up and said, coldly, "If, under the circumstances, you feel +I am unworthy of trust--" + +"Mr. Merwyn," interrupted his host, "I am accustomed to deal with +men and to be vigilantly on my guard. My words led to what has +passed between us, and it ends here and now. I would not give you +my hand did I not trust you. Come, here is the book;" and he led +the way to a conversation relating to it. + +Merwyn did his best to show a natural interest in the subject, but +it was evident that a tumult had been raised in his mind difficult +to control. At last he said: "May I take the book home? I will +return it after careful reading." + +Mr. Vosburgh accompanied him to the drawing-room, and Marian +sportively introduced him to Major Strahan. + +For a few minutes he was the gayest and most brilliant member of +the party, and then he took his leave, the young girl remarking, +"Since you have a book under your arm we cannot hope to detain you, +for I have observed that, with your true antiquarian, the longer +people have been dead the more interesting they become." + +"That is perfectly natural," he replied, "for we can form all sorts +of opinions about them, and they can never prove that we are wrong." + +"More's the pity, if we are wrong. Good-night." + +"Order an extra chop, Merwyn, and I'll breakfast with you," cried +Strahan. "I've only two days more, you know." + +"Well, papa," said Marian, joining him later in the library, "did +you and Mr. Merwyn settle the precise date when the Dutch took +Holland?" + +"'More's the pity, if we ARE wrong!' I have been applying your +words to the living rather than to the dead." + +"To Mr. Merwyn, you mean." + +"Yes." + +"Has he been unbosoming himself to you?" + +"Oh, no, indeed!" + +"Why then has he so awakened your sympathy?" + +"I fear he is facing more than any of your friends." + +"And, possibly, fear is the reason." + +"I do not think so." + +"It appears strange to me, papa, that you are more ready to trust +than I am. If there is nothing which will not bear the light, why +is he so reticent even to his friend?" + +"I do not know the reasons for his course, nor am I sure that they +would seem good ones to me, but my knowledge of human nature is +at fault if he is not trustworthy. I wish we did know what burdens +his mind and trammels his action. Since we do not I will admit, +to-night, that I am glad you feel toward him just as you do." + +"Papa, you entertain doubts at last." + +"No, I admit that something of importance is unknown and bids fair +to remain so, but I cannot help feeling that it is something for +which he is not to blame. Nevertheless, I would have you take no +steps in the dark, were the whole city his." + +"O papa! you regard this matter much too seriously. What steps had +I proposed taking? How much would it cost me to dispense with his +society altogether?" + +"I do not know how much it might cost you in the end." + +"Well, you can easily put the question to the test." + +"That I do not propose to do. I shall not act as if what may be +a great misfortune was a fault. Events will make everything clear +some day, and if they clear him he will prove a friend whom I, at +least, shall value highly. He is an unusual character, one that +interests me greatly, whatever future developments may reveal. It +would be easy for me to be careless or arbitrary, as I fear many +fathers are in these matters. I take you into my confidence and +reveal to you my thoughts. You say that your reason has much to +do with this matter. I take you at your word. Suspend judgment in +regard to Merwyn. Let him come and go as he has done. He will not +presume on such courtesy, nor do you in any wise commit yourself, +even to the friendly regard that you have for others. For your +sake, Marian, for the chances which the future may bring, I should +be glad if your heart and hand were free when I learn the whole +truth about this young fellow. I am no match-maker in the vulgar +acceptation of the word, but I, as well as you, have a deep interest +at stake. I have informed myself in regard to Mr. Merwyn, senior. +The son appears to have many of the former's traits. If he can never +meet your standard or win your love that ends the matter. But, in +spite of everything, he interests you deeply, as well as myself; +and were he taking the same course as your friend who has just +left, he would stand a better chance than that friend. You see how +frank I am, and how true to my promise to help you." + +Marian came and leaned her arm on his shoulder as she looked +thoughtfully into the glowing grate. + +At last she said: "I am grateful for your frankness, papa, and +understand your motives. Many girls would not make the sad blunders +they do had they such a counsellor as you, one who can be frank +without being blunt and unskilful. In respect to these subjects, +even with a daughter, there must be delicacy as well as precision +of touch." + +"There should also be downright common-sense, Marian, a recognition +of tacts and tendencies, of what is and what may be. On one side +a false delicacy often seals the lips of those most interested, +until it is too late to speak; on the other, rank, wealth, and +like advantages are urged without any delicacy at all. These have +their important place, but the qualities which would make your +happiness sure are intrinsic to the man. You know it is in my line +to disentangle many a snarl in human conduct. Look back on the +past without prejudice, if you can. Merwyn virtually said that he +would make your standard of right and wrong his,--that he would +measure things as you estimate them, with that difference, of course, +inherent in sex. Is he not trying to do so? Is he not acting, with +one exception, as you would wish? Here comes in the one thing we +don't understand. As you suggest, it may be a fatal flaw in the +marble, but we don't know this. The weight of evidence, in my mind, +is against it. His course toward Strahan--one whom he might easily +regard as a rival--is significant. He gave him far more than +money; he drained his own vitality in seeking to restore his friend +to health. A coarse, selfish man always cuts a sorry figure in a +sick-room, and shuns its trying duties even in spite of the strongest +obligations. You remember Mrs. Strahan's tribute to Merwyn. Yet +there was no parade of his vigils, nor did he seek to make capital +out of them with you. Now I can view all these things dispassionately, +as a man, and, as I said before, they give evidence of an unusual +character. Apparently he has chosen a certain course, and he has +the will-power to carry it out. Your heart, your life, are still +your own. All I wish is that you should not bestow them so hastily +as not to secure the best possible guaranties of happiness. This +young man has crossed your path in a peculiar way. You have immense +influence over him. So far as he appears free to act you influence +his action. Wait and see what it all means before you come to any +decision about him. Now," he concluded, smiling, "is my common-sense +applied to these affairs unnatural or unreasonable?" + +"I certainly can wait with great equanimity," she replied, laughing, +"and I admit the reasonableness of what you say as you put it. Nor +can I any longer affect any disguises with you. Mr. Merwyn DOES +interest me, and has retained a hold upon my thoughts which has +annoyed me. He has angered and perplexed me. It has seemed as if +he said, 'I will give you so much for your regard; I will not give, +however, what you ask.' As you put it to-night, it is the same as +if he said, 'I cannot.' Why can he not? The question opens unpleasant +vistas to my mind. It will cost me little, however, to do as you +wish, and my curiosity will be on the qui vive, if nothing more." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +A CHAINED WILL. + + + + + +IN due time Strahan departed, hopeful and eager to enter on the +duties pertaining to his higher rank. He felt that Marian's farewell +had been more than she had ever given him any right to expect. +Her manner had ever been too frank and friendly to awaken delusive +hopes, and, after all, his regard for her was characterized more +by boyish adoration than by the deep passion of manhood. To his +sanguine spirit the excitement of camp and the responsibilities of +his new position formed attractions which took all poignant regret +from his leave-taking, and she was glad to recognize this truth. +She had failed signally to carry out her self-sacrificing impulse, +when he was so ill, to reward his heroism and supplement his life +with her own; and she was much relieved to find that he appeared +satisfied with the friendship she gave, and that there was no +need of giving more. Indeed, he made it very clear that he was not +a patriotic martyr in returning to the front, and his accounts of +army life had shown that the semi-humorous journal, kept by himself +and Blauvelt, was not altogether a generous effort to conceal from +her a condition of dreary duty, hardship, and danger. Life in the +field has ever had its fascinations to the masculine nature, and +her friends were apparently finding an average enjoyment equal +to her own. She liked them all the better for this, since, to her +mind, it proved that that the knightly impulses of the past were +unspent,--that, latent in the breasts of those who had seemed mere +society fellows, dwelt the old virile forces. + +"I shall prove," she assured herself, proudly, "that since true men +are the same now as when they almost lived in armor, so ladies in +their bowers have favors only for those to whom heroic action is +second nature." + +Blauvelt had maintained the journal during Strahan's absence, doing +more with pencil than pen, and she had rewarded him abundantly +by spicy little notes, full of cheer and appreciation. She had +no scruples in maintaining this correspondence, for in it she had +her father's sanction, and the letters were open to her parents' +inspection when they cared to see them. Indeed, Mr. and Mrs. +Vosburgh enjoyed the journal almost as much as Marian herself. + +After Strahan's departure, life was unusually quiet in the young +girl's home. Her father was busy, as usual, and at times anxious, +for he was surrounded by elements hostile to the government. Aware, +however, that the army of the Potomac was being largely reinforced, +that General Hooker was reorganizing it with great success, and +that he was infusing into it his own sanguine spirit, Mr. Vosburgh +grew hopeful that, with more genial skies and firmer roads, a blow +would be struck which would intimidate disloyalty at the North as +well as in the South. + +Marian shared in this hopefulness, although she dreaded to think +how much this blow might cost her, as well as tens of thousands of +other anxious hearts. + +At present her mind was at rest in regard to Mr. Lane, for he had +written that his regiment had returned from an expedition on which +they had encountered little else than mud, sleet, and rain. The +prospects now were that some monotonous picket-duty in a region +little exposed to danger would be their chief service, and that +they would be given time to rest and recruit. + +This lull in the storm of war was Merwyn's opportunity. The inclement +evenings often left Marian unoccupied, and she divided her time +between her mother's sitting-room and her father's library, where +she often found her quondam suitor, and not infrequently he spent +an hour or two with her in the parlor. In a certain sense she had +accepted her father's suggestions. She was studying the enigma with +a lively curiosity, as she believed, and had to admit to herself +that the puzzle daily became more interesting. Merwyn pleased her +fastidious taste and interested her mind, and the possibilities +suggested by her own and her father's words made him an object +of peculiar and personal interest. The very uniqueness of their +relations increased her disposition to think about him. It might +be impossible that he should ever become even her friend; he might +become her husband. Her father's remark, "I don't know how much it +might cost you to dismiss him finally," had led to many questionings. +Other young men she substantially understood. She could gauge their +value, influence, and attractiveness almost at once; but what +possibilities lurked in this reticent man who came so near her ideal, +yet failed at a vital point? The wish, the effort to understand +him, gave an increasing zest to their interviews. He had asked her +to be his wife. She had understood him then, and had replied as she +would again if he should approach her in a similar spirit. Again, +at any hour he would ask her hand if she gave him sufficient +encouragement, and she knew it. He would be humility itself in suing +for the boon, and she knew this also, yet she did not understand +him at all. His secret fascinated her, yet she feared it. It must +be either some fatal flaw in his character, or else a powerful +restraint imposed from without. If it was the former she would shrink +from him at once; if the latter, it would indeed be a triumph, a +proof of her power, to so influence him that he would make her the +first consideration in the world. + +Every day, however, increased her determination to exert this +influence only by firmly maintaining her position. If he wished +her friendship and an equal chance with others for more, he must +prove himself the equal of others in all respects. By no words +would she ever now hint that he should take their course; but she +allowed herself to enhance his motives by permitting him to see +her often, and by an alluring yet elusive courtesy, of which she +was a perfect mistress. + +This period was one of mingled pain and pleasure to Merwyn. +Remembering his interview with Mr. Vosburgh, he felt that he had +been treated with a degree of confidence that was even generous. But +he knew that from Mr. Vosburgh he did not receive full trust,--that +there were certain topics which each touched upon with restraint. +Even with the father he was made to feel that he had reached the +limit of their friendly relations. They could advance no farther +unless the barrier of his reserve was broken down. + +He believed that he was dissipating the prejudices of the daughter; +that she was ceasing to dislike him personally. He exerted every +faculty of his mind to interest her; he studied her tastes and views +with careful analysis, that he might speak to her intelligently +and acceptably. The kindling light in her eyes, and her animated +tones, often proved that he succeeded. Was it the theme wholly that +interested her? or was the speaker also gaining some place in her +thoughts? He never could be quite certain as to these points, and +yet the impression was growing stronger that if he came some day +and said, quietly, "Good-by, Miss Vosburgh, I am going to face every +danger which any man dare meet," she would give him both hands in +friendly warmth, and that there would be an expression on her face +which had never been turned towards him. + +A stormy day, not far from the middle of April, ended in a stormier +evening. Marian had not been able to go out, and had suffered +a little from ennui. Her mother had a headache, Mr. Vosburgh had +gone to keep an appointment, and the evening promised to be an +interminable one to the young girl. She unconsciously wished that +Merwyn would come, and half-smilingly wondered whether he would +brave the storm to see her. + +She was not kept long in suspense, for he soon appeared with a book +which he wished to return, he said. + +"Papa is out," Marian began, affably, "and you will have to be +content with seeing me. You have a morbidly acute conscience, Mr. +Merwyn, to return a book on a night like this." + +"My conscience certainly is very troublesome." + +Almost before she was aware of it the trite saying slipped out, +"Honest confession is good for the soul." + +"To some souls it is denied, Miss Vosburgh;" and there was a trace +of bitterness in his tones. Then, with resolute promptness, he +resumed their usual impersonal conversation. + +While they talked, the desire to penetrate his secret grew strong +upon the young girl. It was almost certain that they would not be +interrupted, and this knowledge led her to yield to her mood. She +felt a strange relenting towards him. A woman to her finger-tips, +she could not constantly face this embodied mystery without an +increasing desire to solve it. Cold curiosity, however, was not the +chief inspiration of her impulse. The youth who sat on the opposite +side of the glowing grate had grown old by months as if they were +years. His secret was evidently not only a restraint, but a wearing +burden. By leading her companion to reveal so much of his trouble +as would give opportunity for her womanly ministry, might she not, +in a degree yet unequalled, carry out her scheme of life to make +the "most and best of those over whom she had influence"? + +"Many brood over an infirmity, a fault, or an obligation till they +grow morbid," she thought. "I might not be able to show him what +was best and right, but papa could if we only knew." + +Therefore her words and tones were kinder than usual, and she made +slight and delicate references to herself, that he might be led to +speak of himself. At last she hit upon domestic affairs as a safe, +natural ground of approach, and gave a humorous account of some of +her recent efforts to learn the mysteries of housekeeping, and she +did not fail to observe his wistful and deeply-interested expression. + +Suddenly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she +remarked: "I do not see how you manage to keep house in that great, +empty mansion of yours." + +"You know, then, where I live?" + +"Oh, yes. I saw you descend the steps of a house on Madison Avenue +one morning last fall, and supposed it was your home." + +"You were undoubtedly right. I can tell you just how I manage, or +rather, how everything IS managed, for I have little to do with the +matter. An old family servant looks after everything and provides +me with my meals. She makes out my daily menu according to her 'own +will,' which is 'sweet' if not crossed." + +"Indeed! Are you so indifferent? I thought men gave much attention +to their dinners." + +"I do to mine, after it is provided. Were I fastidious, old Cynthy +would give me no cause for complaint. Then I have a man who looks +after the fires and the horses, etc. I am too good a republican to +keep a valet. So you see that my domestic arrangements are simple +in the extreme." + +"And do those two people constitute your whole household?" she +asked, wondering at a frankness which seemed complete. + +"Yes. The ghosts and I have the house practically to ourselves most +of the time." + +"Are there ghosts?" she asked, laughing, but with cheeks that began +to burn in her kindling interest. + +"There are ghosts in every house where people have lived and died; +that is, if you knew and cared for the people. My father is with +me very often!" + +"Mr. Merwyn, I don't understand you!" she exclaimed, without trying +to disguise her astonishment. The conversation was so utterly unlike +anything that had occurred between them before that she wondered +whither it was leading. "I fear you are growing morbid," she added. + +"I hope not. Nor will you think so when I explain. Of course nothing +like gross superstition is in my mind. I remember my father very +well, and have heard much about him since he died. Therefore he +has become to me a distinct presence which I can summon at will. +The same is true of others with whom the apartments are associated. +If I wish I can summon them." + +"I am at a loss to know which is the greater, your will or your +imagination." + +"My imagination is the greater." + +"It must be great, indeed," she said, smiling alluringly, "for +I never knew of one who seemed more untrammelled in circumstances +than you are, or more under the dominion of his own will." + +"Untrammelled!" he repeated, in a low, almost desperate tone. + +"Yes," she replied, warmly,--"free to carry out every generous and +noble impulse of manhood. I tell you frankly that you have led me +to believe that you have such impulses." + +His face became ashen in its hue, and he trembled visibly. He +seemed about to speak some words as if they were wrung from him, +then he became almost rigid in his self-control as he said, "There +are limitations of which you cannot dream;" and he introduced a +topic wholly remote from himself. + +A chill benumbed her very heart, and she scarcely sought to prevent +it from tingeing her words and manner. A few moments later the +postman left a letter. She saw Lane's handwriting and said, "Will +you pardon me a moment, that I may learn that my FRIEND is well?" + +Glancing at the opening words, her eyes flashed with excitement +as she exclaimed: "The campaign has opened! They are on the march +this stormy night." + +"May I ask if your letter is from Strahan?" Merwyn faltered. + +"It is not from Mr. Strahan," she replied, quietly. + +He arose and stood before her as erect and cold as herself. "Will +you kindly give Mr. Vosburgh that book?" he said. + +"Certainly." + +"Will you also please say that I shall probably go to my country +place in a day or two, and therefore may not see him again very +soon." + +She was both disappointed and angry, for she had meant kindly by +him. The very consciousness that she had unbent so greatly, and +had made what appeared to her pride an unwonted advance, incensed +her, and she replied, in cold irony: "I will give papa your message. +It will seem most natural to him, now that spring has come, that +you should vary your mercantile with agricultural pursuits." + +He appeared stung to the very soul by her words, and his hands +clinched in his desperate effort to restrain himself. His white lips +moved as he looked at her from eyes full of the agony of a wounded +spirit. Suddenly his tense form became limp, and, with a slight +despairing gesture, he said, wearily: "It is of no use. Good-by." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +MARIAN'S INTERPRETATION OF MERWYN. + + + + + +Shallow natures, like shallow waters, are easily agitated, and outward +manifestations are in proportion to the shallowness. Superficial +observers are chiefly impressed by visible emotion and tumult. + +With all her faults, Marian had inherited from her father a strong +nature. Her intuitions had become womanly and keen, and Merwyn's +dumb agony affected her more deeply than a torrent of impetuous +words or any outward evidence of distress. She went back to her chair +and shed bitter tears; she scarcely knew why, until her father's +voice aroused her by saying, "Why, Marian dear, what IS the matter?" + +"Oh, I am glad you have come," she said. "I have caused so much +suffering that I feel as if I had committed a crime;" and she gave +an account of the recent interview. + +"Let me reassure you," said her father, gravely. "You did mean +kindly by Merwyn, and you gave him, without being unwomanly, the +best chance he could possibly have to throw off the incubus that +is burdening his life. If, with the opportunity he had to-night, +and under the influence of his love, he did not speak, his secret +is one of which he cannot speak. At least, I fear it is one of +which he dares not speak to you, lest it should be fatal to him and +all his hopes. I cannot even guess what it is, but at all events +it is of a serious nature, too grave to be regarded any longer as +secondary in our estimate of Mr. Merwyn's character. The shadow of +this mystery must not fall on you, and I am glad he is going away. +I hoped that your greater kindness and mine might lead him to reveal +his trouble, that we could help him, and that a character in many +respects so unique and strong might be cleared of its shadows. In +this case we might not only have rendered a fellow-being a great +service, but also have secured a friend capable of adding much to +our happiness. This mystery, however, proves so deep-rooted and +inscrutable that I shall be glad to withdraw you from his influence +until time and circumstance make all plain, if they ever can. +These old families often have dark secrets, and this young man, +in attaining his majority and property, has evidently become the +possessor of one of them. In spite of all his efforts to do well +it is having a sinister influence over his life, and this influence +must not extend to yours. The mere fact that he does not take an +active part in the war is very subordinate in itself. Thousands +who might do this as well as he are very well content to stay at +home. The true aspect of the affair is this: A chain of circumstances, +unforeseen, and uncaused by any premeditated effort on our part, has +presented to his mind the most powerful motives to take a natural +part in the conflict. It has gradually become evident that the +secret of his restraint is a mystery that affects his whole being. +Therefore, whether it be infirmity, fault, or misfortune, he has no +right to impose it on others, since it seems to be beyond remedy. +Do you not agree with me?" + +"I could not do otherwise, papa. Yet, remembering how he looked +to-night, I cannot help being sorry for him, even though my mind +inclines to the belief that constitutional timidity restrains him. +I never saw a man tremble so, and he turned white to his very lips. +Papa, have you read 'The Fair Maid of Perth'?" + +"Yes." + +"Don't you remember MacIan, the young chief of Clan Quhele? This +character always made a deep impression on me, awakening at the +same time pity and the strongest repulsion. I could never understand +him. He was high-born, and lived at an age when courage was the +commonest of traits, while its absence was worse than crime. For +the times he was endowed with every good quality except the power +to face danger. This from the very constitution of his being he +could not do, and he, beyond all others, understood his infirmity, +suffering often almost mortal agony in view of it. For some reason +I have been led to reread this story, and, in spite of myself, that +wretched young Scottish chieftain has become associated in my mind +with Willard Merwyn. He said to-night that his imagination was +stronger than his will. I can believe it from his words. His dead +father and others have become distinct presences to him. In the +same way he calls up before his fancy the horrors of a battle-field, +and he finds that he has not the power to face them, that he cannot +do it, no matter what the motives may be. He feels that he would +be simply overwhelmed with horror and faint-heartedness, and he is +too prudent to risk the shame of exposure." + +"Well," said her father, sighing, as if he were giving up a pleasing +dream, "you have thought out an ingenious theory which, if true, +explains Merwyn's course, perhaps. A woman's intuitions are subtle, +and often true, but somehow it does not satisfy me, even though I +can recall some things which give color to your view. Still, whatever +be the explanation, all MUST be explained before we can give him +more than ordinary courtesy." + +It soon became evident that Merwyn had gone to his country place, +for his visits ceased. The more Marian thought about him,--and she +did think a great deal,--the more she was inclined to believe that +her theory explained everything. His very words, "You think me a +coward," became a proof, in her mind, that he was morbidly sensitive +on this point, and ever conscious of his infirmity. He was too +ready to resent a fancied imputation on his courage. + +She strove to dismiss him from her thoughts, but with only partial +success. He gave her the sense of being baffled, defeated. What +could be more natural than that a high-spirited young man should +enter the army of his own free will? He had not entered it even +with her favor, possibly her love, as a motive. Yet he sought her +favor as if it were the chief consideration of existence. With her +theory, and her ideal of manhood, he was but the mocking shadow of +a man, but so real, so nearly perfect, that she constantly chafed +at the defect. Even her father had been deeply impressed by the +rare promise of his young life,--a promise which she now believed +could never be kept, although few might ever know it. + +"I must be right in my view," she said. "He proves his loyalty by +an unflagging interest in our arms, by the gift of thousands. He +is here, his own master. He would not shun danger for the sake of +his cold-hearted mother, from whom he seems almost estranged. His +sisters are well provided for, and do not need his care. He does not +live for the sake of pleasure, like many other young men. Merciful +Heaven! I blush even to think the words, much more to speak them. +Why does he not go, unless his fear is greater than his love for me? +why is he not with Lane and Strahan, unless he has a constitutional +dread that paralyzes him? He is the Scottish chieftain, MacIan, +over again. All I can do now is to pity him as one to whom Nature +has been exceedingly cruel, for every fibre in my being shrinks +from such a man." + +And so he came to dwell in her mind as one crippled, from birth, +in his very soul. + +Meanwhile events took place which soon absorbed her attention. +Lane's letter announcing the opening of the campaign proved a false +alarm, although, from a subsequent letter, she learned that he had +had experiences not trifling in their nature. On the rainy night, +early in April, that would ever be memorable to her, she had said +to Merwyn, "The army is on the march." + +This was true of the cavalry corps, and part of it even crossed the +upper waters of the Rappahannock; but the same storm which dashed +the thick drops against her windows also filled the river to +overflowing, and the brave troopers, recalled, had to swim their +horses in returning. Lane was among these, and his humorous account +of the affair was signed, "Your loyal amphibian!" + +A young girl of Marian's temperament is a natural hero-worshipper, +and he was becoming her hero. Circumstances soon occurred which +gave him a sure place in this character. + +By the last of April, not only the cavalry, but the whole army, moved, +the infantry taking position on the fatal field of Chancellorsville. +Then came the bloody battle, with its unspeakable horrors and +defeat. The icy Rappahannock proved the river of death to thousands +and thousands of brave men. + +Early in May the Union army, baffled, depleted, and discouraged, was +again in its old quarters where it had spent the winter. Apparently +the great forward movement had been a failure, but it was the cause +of a loss to the Confederate cause from which it never recovered,--that +of "Stonewall" Jackson. So transcendent were this man's boldness +and ability in leading men that his death was almost equivalent to +the annihilation of a rebel army. He was a typical character, the +embodiment of the genius, the dash, the earnest, pure, but mistaken +patriotism of the South. No man at the North more surely believed +he was right than General Jackson, no man more reverently asked God's +blessing on efforts heroic in the highest degree. He represented +the sincere but misguided spirit which made every sacrifice possible +to a brave people, and his class should ever be distinguished from +the early conspirators who were actuated chiefly by ambition and +selfishness. + +His death also was typical, for he was wounded by a volley fired, +through misapprehension, by his own men. The time will come when +North and South will honor the memory of Thomas J. Jackson, while, +at the same time, recognizing that his stout heart, active brain, +and fiery zeal were among the chief obstructions to the united and +sublime destiny of America. The man's errors were due to causes +over which he had little control; his noble character was due to +himself and his faith in God. + +Many days passed before Marian heard from Lane, and she then learned +that the raid in which he had participated had brought him within +two miles of Richmond, and that he had passed safely through great +dangers and hardships, but that the worst which he could say of +himself was that he was "prone to go to sleep, even while writing +to her." + +The tidings from her other friends were equally reassuring. Their +regiment had lost heavily, and Blauvelt had been made a captain almost +in spite of himself, while Strahan was acting as lieutenant-colonel, +since the officer holding that rank had been wounded. There was a +dash of sadness and tragedy in the journal which the two young men +forwarded to her after they had been a few days in their old camp +at Falmouth, but Strahan's indomitable humor triumphed, and their +crude record ended in a droll sketch of a plucked cock trying +to crow. She wrote letters so full of sympathy and admiration of +their spirit that three soldiers of the army of the Potomac soon +recovered their morale. + +The month of May was passing in mocking beauty to those whose hopes +and happiness were bound up in the success of the Union armies. Not +only had deadly war depleted Hooker's grand army, but the expiration +of enlistments would take away nearly thirty thousand more. Mr. +Vosburgh was aware of this, and he also found the disloyal elements +by which he was surrounded passing into every form of hostile +activity possible within the bounds of safety. Men were beginning to +talk of peace, at any cost, openly, and he knew that the Southern +leaders were hoping for the beginning at any time of a counter-revolution +at the North. The city was full of threatening rumors, intrigues, +and smouldering rebellion. + +Marian saw her father overwhelmed with labors and anxieties, and +letters from her friends reflected the bitterness then felt by the +army because the North appeared so half-hearted. + +"Mr. Merwyn, meanwhile," she thought, "is interesting himself in +landscape-gardening. If he has one spark of manhood or courage he +will show it now." + +The object of this reproach was living almost the life of a hermit +at his country place, finding no better resource, in his desperate +unrest and trouble, than long mountain rambles, which brought +physical exhaustion and sleep. + +He had not misunderstood Marian's final words and manner. Delicately, +yet clearly, she had indicated the steps he must take to vindicate +his character and win her friendship. He felt that he had become +pale, that he had trembled in her presence. What but cowardice +could explain his manner and account for his inability to confirm +the good impression he had made by following the example of her +other friends? From both his parents he had inherited a nature +sensitive to the last degree to any imputation of this kind. To +receive it from the girl he loved was a hundred-fold more bitter +than death, yet he was bound by fetters which, though unseen by +all, were eating into his very soul. The proud Mrs. Merwyn was a +slave-holder herself, and the daughter of a long line of slave-owners; +but never had a bondsman been so chained and crushed as was her +son. For weeks he felt that he could not mingle with other men, +much less meet the girl to whom manly courage was the corner-stone +of character. + +One evening in the latter part of May, as Mr. Vosburgh and his +family were sitting down to dinner, Barney Ghegan, the policeman, +appeared at their door with a decent-looking, elderly colored +woman and her lame son. They were refugees, or "contrabands," as +they were then called, from the South, and they bore a letter from +Captain Lane. + +It was a scrap of paper with the following lines pencilled upon +it:-- + +"MR. VOSBURGH, No. -- -- ST.: I have only time for a line. Mammy +Borden will tell you her story and that of her son. Their action +and other circumstances have enlisted my interest. Provide them +employment, if convenient. At any rate, please see that they want +nothing, and draw on me. Sincere regard to you all.--In haste, + +"LANE, Captain.-- --U.S. Cav." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +"DE HEAD LINKUM MAN WAS CAP'N LANE." + + + + + +It can be well understood that the two dusky strangers, recommended +by words from Lane, were at once invested with peculiar interest +to Marian. Many months had elapsed since she had seen him, but +all that he had written tended to kindle her imagination. This had +been the more true because he was so modest in his accounts of the +service in which he had participated. She had learned what cavalry +campaigning meant, and read more meaning between the lines than +the lines themselves conveyed. He was becoming her ideal knight, +on whom no shadow rested. From first to last his course had been +as open as the day, nor had he, in any respect, failed to reach +the highest standard developed by those days of heroic action. + +If this were true when "Mammy Borden" and her son appeared, the +reader can easily believe that, when they completed their story, +Captain Lane was her Bayard sans peur et sans reproche. + +Barney explained that they had met him in the street and asked +for Mr. Vosburgh's residence; as it was nearly time for him to be +relieved of duty he told them that in a few moments he could guide +them to their destination. Marian's thanks rewarded him abundantly, +and Mrs. Vosburgh told him that if he would go to the kitchen he +should have a cup of coffee and something nice to take home to his +wife. They both remained proteges of the Vosburghs, and received +frequent tokens of good-will and friendly regard. While these were +in the main disinterested, Mr. Vosburgh felt that in the possibilities +of the future it might be to his advantage to have some men in the +police force wholly devoted to his interests. + +The two colored refugees were evidently hungry and weary, and, +eager as Marian was to learn more of her friend when informed that +he had been wounded, she tried to content herself with the fact that +he was doing well, until the mother and son had rested a little +and had been refreshed by an abundant meal. Then they were summoned +to the sitting-room, for Mr. and Mrs. Vosburgh shared in Marian's +deep solicitude and interest. + +It was evident that their humble guests, who took seats deferentially +near the door, had been house-servants and not coarse plantation +slaves, and in answer to Mr. Vosburgh's questions they spoke in a +better vernacular than many of their station could employ. + +"Yes, mass'r," the woman began, "we seed Mass'r Lane,--may de Lord +bress 'im,--and he was a doin' well when we lef. He's a true Linkum +man, an' if all was like him de wah would soon be ended an' de +cullud people free. What's mo', de white people of de Souf wouldn't +be so bitter as dey now is." + +"Tell us your story, mammy," said Marian, impatiently; "tell us +everything you know about Captain Lane." + +A ray of intelligence lighted up the woman's sombre eyes, for she +believed she understood Marian's interest, and at once determined +that Lane's action should lose no embellishment which she could +honestly give. + +"Well, missy, it was dis away," she said. "My mass'r and his sons +was away in de wah. He own a big plantation an' a great many slabes. +My son, Zeb dar, an' I was kep' in de house. I waited on de missus +an' de young ladies, an' Zeb was kep' in de house too, 'kase he +was lame and 'kase dey could trus' him wid eberyting an' dey knew +it. + +"Well, up to de time Cap'n Lane come we hadn't seen any ob de +Linkum men, but we'd heared ob de prockermation an' know'd we was +free, far as Mass'r Linkum could do it, an' Zeb was jus' crazy to +git away so he could say, 'I'se my own mass'r.' I didn't feel dat +away, 'kase I was brought up wid my missus, an' de young ladies +was a'most like my own chillen, an' we didn't try to get away like +some ob de plantation han's do. + +"Well, one ebenin', short time ago, a big lot ob our sogers come +marchin' to our house--dey was hoss sogers--an' de missus an' de +young ladies knew some of de ossifers, an' dey flew aroun' an' got +up a big supper fo' dem. We all turned in, an' dar was hurry-skurry +all ober de big house, fo' de ossifers sed dey would stay all night +if de sogers ob you-uns would let dem. Dey said de Linkum sogers +was comin' dat away, but dey wouldn't be 'long afore de mawnin', +an' dey was a-gwine to whip dem. All was light talk an' larfin' an' +jingle ob sabres. De house was nebber so waked up afo'. De young +ladies was high-strung an' beliebed dat one ob our sogers could whip +ten Linkum men. In de big yard betwixt de house an' de stables de +men was feedin' dere hosses, an' we had a great pot ob coffee bilin' +fo' dem, too, an' oder tings, fo' de missus sed dere sogers mus' +hab eberyting she had. + +"Well, bimeby, as I was helpin' put de tings on de table, I heared +shots way off at de foot ob de lawn. Frontin' de house dar was a +lawn mos' half a mile long, dat slope down to de road, and de Linkum +sogers was 'spected to come dat away, an' dere was a lookout for +dem down dar. As soon as de ossifers heared de shots dey rush out +an' shout to dere men, an' dey saddle up in a hurry an' gallop out +in de lawn in front of de house an' form ranks." + +"How many were there?" Marian asked, her cheeks already burning +with excitement. + +"Law, missy, I doesn't know. Dere was a right smart lot--hundreds +I should tink." + +"Dere was not quite two hundred, missy," said Zeb; "I counted dem;" +and then he looked towards his mother, who continued. + +"De young ladies an' de missus went out on de verandy dat look down +de lawn, and Missy Roberta, de oldest one, said, 'Now, maumy, you +can see the difference between our sogers an' de Linkum men, as +you call dem.' Missy Roberta had great black eyes an' was allus +a-grievin' dat she wasn't a man so she could be a soger, but Missy +S'wanee had blue eyes like her moder, an' was as full ob frolic +as a kitten. She used ter say, 'I doesn't want ter be a man, fer I +kin make ten men fight fer me.' So she could, sho' 'nuff, fer all +de young men in our parts would fight de debil hisself for de sake +ob Missy S'wanee." + +"Go on, go on," cried Marian; "the Northern soldiers were coming--" + +"Deed, an' dey was, missy,--comin' right up de lawn 'fore our eyes, +an' dribin' in a few ob our sogers dat was a-watchin' fer dem by +de road; dey come right 'long too. I could see dere sabres flashin' +in de sunset long way off. One ossifer set dere men in ranks, and +den de oder head ossifer come ridin' up to de verandy, an' Missy +Roberta gave de ribbin from her ha'r to de one dey call cunnel, +an' de oder ossifer ask Missy S'wanee fer a ribbin, too. She larf +an' say, 'Win it, an' you shall hab it.' Den off dey gallop, Missy +Roberta cryin' arter dem, 'Don't fight too fa' away; I want to see +de Linkum hirelin's run.' Den de words rung out, 'For'ard, march, +trot,' an' down de lawn dey went. De Linkum men was now in plain +sight. Zeb, you tell how dey look an' what dey did. I was so afeard +fer my missus and de young ladies, I was 'mos' out ob my mind." + +"Well, mass'r and ladies," said Zeb, rising and making a respectful +bow, "I was at an upper window an' could see eberyting. De Linkum +men was trottin' too, an' comin' in two ranks, one little way +'hind de toder. Right smart way afore dese two ranks was a line +of calvary-men a few feet apart from each oder, an' dis line reach +across de hull lawn to de woods on de oder side. I soon seed dat +dere was Linkum sogers in de woods, too. Dey seemed sort ob outside +sogers all aroun' de two ranks in de middle. Dey all come on fas', +not a bit afeard, an' de thin line in front was firin' at our +sogers dat had been a-watchin' down by de road, an' our sogers was +a-firin' back. + +"Bimeby, soon, bofe sides come nigh each oder, den de thin line +ob Linkum men swept away to de lef at a gallop, an' our sogers an' +de fust rank ob Linkum men run dere hosses at each oder wid loud +yells. 'Clar to you, my heart jus' stood still. Neber heard such +horrid noises, but I neber took my eyes away, for I beliebed I saw +my freedom comin'. Fer a while I couldn't tell how it was gwine; +dere was nothin' but clash ob sabres, an' bofe sides was all mixed +up, fightin' hand ter hand. + +"I was wonderin' why de second rank of Linkum men didn't do nothin', +for dey was standin' still wid a man on a hoss, out in front ob +dem. Suddenly I heard a bugle soun', an' de Linkum men dat was +fightin' gave way to right an' lef, an' de man on de hoss wave his +sword an' start for'ard at a gallop wid all his men arter him. Den +our sogers 'gan to give back, fightin' as dey came. Dey was brave, +dey was stubborn as mules, but back dey had to come. De head Linkum +ossifer was leadin' all de time. I neber seed such a man, eberyting +an' eberybody guv way afo' him. De oder Linkum sogers dat I thought +was whipped wasn't whipped at all, fer dey come crowdin' aroun' +arter de head ossifer, jes' as peart as eber. + +"Front ob de house our ossifers an' sogers made a big stan', fer +de missus an' de young ladies stood right dar on de verandy, wabin' +dere hankerchiefs an' cryin' to dem to dribe de Yankee back. I knowed +my moder was on de verandy, an' I run to her, an' sho' 'nuff, dar +she was stan'in' right in front of Missy S'wanee an' 'treating de +missus an' de young ladies ter go in, fer de bullets was now flyin' +tick. But dey wouldn't go in, an' Missy Roberta was wringin' her +han's, an' cryin', 'Oh, dat I was a man!' De cunnel, de oder ossifer, +an' a lot ob our sogers wouldn't give back an inch. Dar dey was, +fightin' right afore our eyes. De rest ob dere sogers was givin' +way eb'rywhar. De Linkum sogers soon made a big rush togedder. De +cunnel's hoss went down. In a minute dey was surrounded; some was +killed, some wounded, an' de rest all taken, 'cept de young ossifer +dat Missy S'wanee tole to win her colors. He was on a po'ful big +hoss, an' he jes' break right through eb'ryting, an' was off wid +de rest. De Linkum sogers followed on, firin' at 'em. + +"De missus fainted dead away, an' my moder held her in her arms. +De head Linkum ossifer now rode up to de verandy an' took off his +hat, an' he say: 'Ladies, I admire your co'age, but you should not +'spose yourselves so needlessly. Should de vict'ry still remain +wid our side, I promise you 'tection an 'munity from 'noyance!' + +"Den he bow an' gallop arter his men dat was chasin' our sogers, +leabin' anoder ossifer in charge ob de pris'ners. De head Linkum +man was Cap'n Lane." + +"I knew it, I knew it," cried Marian. "Ah! he's a friend to be +proud of." + +Her father and mother looked at her glowing cheeks and flashing +eyes, and dismissed Merwyn from the possibilities of the future. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIIL + +The Signal Light. + + + + + +The colored woman again took up the thread of the story which would +explain her presence and her possession of a note from Captain +Lane, recommending her and her son to Mr. Vosburgh's protection. + +"Yes, missy," she said, "Cap'n Lane am a fren' ter be proud ob. I +tinks he mus' be like Mass'r Linkum hisself, fer dere nebber was a +man more braver and more kinder. Now I'se gwine ter tell yer what +happen all that drefful night, an' Zeb will put in his word 'bout +what he knows. While de cap'n was a-speakin' to de young ladies, +de missus jes' lay in my arms as ef she was dead. Missy Roberta, +as she listen, stand straight and haughty, an' give no sign she +hear, but Missy S'wanee, she bow and say, 'Tank you, sir!' Zeb +called some ob de house-servants, an' we carry de missus to her +room, an' de young ladies help me bring her to. Den I stayed wid +her, a-fannin' her an' a-cheerin' an' a-tellin' her dat I knew +Cap'n Lane wouldn't let no harm come ter dem. Now, Zeb, you seed +what happen downstars." + +"Yes, mass'r an' ladies, I kep' my eyes out, fer I tinks my chance +is come now, if eber. Cap'n Lane soon come back an' said to de +ossifer in charge ob de pris'ners,--an' dere was more pris'ners +bein' brought in all de time,--sez Cap'n Lane, 'De en'my won't +stand agin. I'se sent Cap'n Walling in pursuit, an' now we mus' +make prep'rations fer de night.' Den a man dey call a sergeant, +who'd been a spyin' roun' de kitchen, an' lookin' in de dinin'-room +winders, come up an' say something to Cap'n Lane; an' he come up +to de doah an' say he like ter see one ob de ladies. I call Missy +S'wanee, an' she come, cool an' lady-like, an' not a bit afeard, +an' he take off his hat to her, an' say:-- + +"'Madam, I'se sorry all dis yer happen 'bout yer house, but I'se +could not help it. Dere's a good many woun'ed, an' our surgeon is +gwine ter treat all alike. I'se tole dat yer had coffee a-bilin' +an' supper was ready. Now all I ask is, dat de woun'ed on bofe +sides shall have 'freshments fust, an' den ef dere's anyting lef', +I'd like my ossifers to have some supper.' Den he kinder smile as +he say, 'I know you 'spected oder company dis ebenin', an' when de +woun'ed is provided fer, de ossifers on your side can hab supper +too. I hab ordered de hospital made in de out-buildin's, an' de +priv'cy ob your home shall not be 'truded on.' + +"'Cunnel,' say Missy S'wanee. 'Plain Cap'n,' he say, interrupting--'Cap'n +Lane.' + +"'Cap'n Lane, she goes on, 'I tanks you fer your courtesy, +an 'sideration. I did not 'spect it. Your wishes shall be carried +out.' Den she says, 'I'se'll hab more supper pervided, an' we'll +'spect you wid your ossifers;' for she wanted ter make fren's wid +him, seein' we was all in his po'er. He says, 'No, madam, I'se +take my supper wid my men. I could not be an unwelcome gues' in any +house, What I asks for my ossifers, I asks as a favor; I doesn't +deman' it.' Den he bows an' goes away. Missy S'wanee, she larf--she +was allus a-larfin' no matter what happen--an' she says, 'I'se'll +get eben wid him.' Well, de cap'n goes an' speaks to de cunnel, +an' de oder captured ossifers ob our sogers, an' dey bow to him, +an' den dey comes up an' sits on de verandy, an' Missy Roberta goes +out, and dey talk in low tones, an' I couldn't hear what dey say. +I was a-helpin' Missy S'wanee, an' she say to me, 'Zeb, could you +eber tink dat a Yankee cap'n could be such a gemlin?' I didn't say +nuffin', fer I didn't want anybody ter'spect what was in my min', +but eb'ry chance I git I keep my eye on Cap'n Lane, fer I believed +he could gib us our liberty. He was aroun' 'mong de woun'ed, an' +seein' ter buryin' de dead, an' postin' an' arrangin' his men; +deed, an' was all ober eberywhar. + +"By dis time de ebenin' was growin' dark, de woun'ed and been cared +for, an' our ossifers an' de Linkum ossifers sat down to supper; +an' dey talk an' larf as if dey was good fren's. Yer'd tink it was +a supper-party, ef dere hadn't been a strappin' big soger walkin' +up an' down de verandy whar he could see in de winders. I help waits +on de table, an' Missy Roberta, she was rudder still an' glum-like, +but Missy S'wanee, she smiles on all alike, an' she say to de +Linkum ossifers, 'I 'predate de court'sy ob your cap'n, eben do' +he doesn't grace our board. I shall take de liberty, howsemeber, +ob sendin' him some supper;' an' she put a san'wich an' some cake +an' a cup ob coffee on a waiter an' sen' me out to him whar he +was sittin' by de fire in de edge ob de woods on de lawn. He smile +an' say, 'Tell de young lady dat I drink to her health an' happier +times.' Den I gits up my co'age an' says, 'Cap'n Lane, I wants ter +see yer when my work's done in de house.' He say, 'All right, come +ter me here.' Den he look at me sharp an' say, 'Can I trus' yer?' +An' I say, 'Yes, Mass'r Cap'n; I'se Linkum, troo an' troo.' Den he +whisper in my ear de password, 'White-rose.'" + +Marian remembered that she had given him a white rose when he had +asked for her colors. He had made it his countersign on the evening +of his victory. + +"Arter supper our ossifers were taken down ter de oder pris'ners, +an' guards walk aroun dem all night. I help clar up de tings, an' +watch my chance ter steal away. At las' de house seem quiet. I +tought de ladies had gone ter dere rooms, an' I put out de light +in de pantry, an' was watchin' an' waitin' an' listenin' to be sho' +dat no one was 'roun, when I heared a step in de hall. De pantry +doah was on a crack, an' I peeps out, an' my bref was nigh took +away when I sees a rebel ossifer, de one dat got away in de fight. +He give a long, low whistle, an' den dere was a rustle in de hall +above, an' Missy Roberta came flyin' down de starway. I know den +dat dere was mischief up, an' I listen wid all my ears. She say to +him, 'How awfully imprudent!' An' she put de light out in de hall, +les' somebody see in. Den she say, 'Shell we go in de parlor?' He +say, 'No, dere's two doahs here, each end de hall, an' a chance +ter go out de winders, too. I mus' keep open ebery line ob retreat. +Are dere any Yanks in de house?' She say, 'No,'--dat de Union cap'n +very 'sid'rate. 'Curse him!' sed de reb; 'he spoil my ebenin' wid +Miss S'wanee, but tell her I win her colors yet, an' pay dis Yankee +cap'n a bigger interest in blows dan he eber had afo.' Den he +'splain how he got his men togedder, an' he foun' anoder 'tachment ob +rebs, an' how dey would all come in de mawnin', as soon as light, +an' ride right ober eberyting, an' 'lease de cunnel an' all de +oder pris'ners. Den he says, 'We'se a-comin' on de creek-road. Put +a dim light in de winder facin' dat way, an' as long as we see it +burnin' we'll know dat all's quiet an' fav'able, an' tell Missy +S'wanee to hab her colors ready. Dey tought I was one oh de Yanks +in de dark, when I come in, but gettin' away'll be more tick'lish.' +Den she say, 'Don't go out ob de doah. Drap from de parlor winder +inter de shrub'ry, an' steal away troo de garden.' While dey was +gone ter de parlor, I step out an' up de starway mighty sudden. +Den I whip aroun' to de beginnin' ob de garret starway an' listen. +Soon Missy Roberta come out de parlor an' look in de pantry an' de +oder rooms, an' she sof'ly call me, 'kase she know I was las' up +'round de house; but I'se ain't sayin' nuffin'. Den she go in de +missus room, whar my moder was, an' soon she and Missy S'wanee came +out an' whisper, an' Missy S'wanee was a-larfin' how as ef she was +pleased. Den Missy S'wanee go back to de missus, an' Missy Roberta +go to her room. + +"Now was my chance, an' I tuck off'n my shoes an' carried dem, an' +I tank de Lord I heared it all, fer I says, 'Cap'n Lane'll give me +my liberty now sho' 'nuff, when I tells him all.' I'se felt sho' +he'd win de fight in de mawnin', fer he seemed ob de winnin' kine. +I didn't open any ob de doahs on de fust floah, but stole down in +de cellar, 'kase I knowed ob a winder dat I could creep outen. I +got away from de house all right, an' went toward de fire where I +lef Cap'n Lane. Soon a gruff voice said, 'Halt!' I guv de password +mighty sudden, an' den said, 'I want to see Cap'n Lane.' De man call +anoder soger, an' he come an' question me, an' den took me ter de +cap'n. An' he was a-sleepin' as if his moder had rocked 'im! But +he was on his feet de moment he spoke to. He 'membered me, an' ask +ef de mawnin' wouldn't answer. I say, 'Mass'r Cap'n, I'se got big +news fer yer.' Den he wide awake sho' 'nuff, an' tuck me one side, +an' I tole him all. 'What's yer name?' he says. 'Zeb Borden,' I +answers. Den he say: 'Zeb, you've been a good fren'. Ef I win de +fight in de mawnin' you shell hab your liberty. It's yours now, ef +you can get away.' I says I'se lame an' couldn't get away unless +he took me, an' dat I wanted my moder ter go, too. Den he tought +a minute, an' went back ter de fire an' tore out a little book +de paper we brought, an' he says, 'What your moder's name?' An' I +says, 'Dey call her Maumy Borden.' Den he wrote de lines we bring, +an' he says: 'No tellin' what happen in de mawnin'. Here's some +money dat will help you 'long when you git in our lines. Dis my +fust inderpendent comman', an' ef yer hadn't tole me dis I might a' +los' all I gained. Be faithful, Zeb; keep yer eyes an' ears open, +an' I'll take care ob yer. Now slip back, fer yer might be missed.'" + +"I got back to my lof' mighty sudden, an' I was jis' a-shakin' +wid fear, for I beliebe dat Missy Roberta would a' killed me wid +her own hands ef she'd knowed. She was like de ole mass'r, mighty +haughty an' despit-like, when she angry. I wasn't in de lof' none +too soon, fer Missy Roberta was 'spicious and uneasy-like, an' +she come to de head ob de gerret starway an' call my name. At fust +I ain't sayin' suffin', an' she call louder. Den I say, 'Dat you, +Missy Roberta?' Den she seem to tink dat I was all right. I slipped +arter her down de starway an' listen, an' I know she gwine ter put +de light in de winder. Den she go to her room again. + +"A long time pass, an' I hear no soun'. De house was so still dat +I done got afeard, knowin' dere was mischief up. Dere was a little +winder in my lof lookin' toward de creek-road, an' on de leabes +ob some trees I could see a little glimmer ob de light dat Missy +Roberta had put dar as a signal. Dat glimmer was jes' awful, fer +I knowed it mean woun's and death to de sogers, an' liberty or no +liberty fer me. Bimeby I heared steps off toward de creek-road, +but dey soon die away. I watched an' waited ter'ble long time, an' +de house an' all was still, 'cept de tread ob de guards. Mus' a' +been about tree in de mawnin' when I heared a stir. It was very +quiet-like, an' I hear no words, but now an' den dere was a jingle +like a sabre make when a man walk. I stole down de starway an' look +outen a winder in de d'rection whar Cap'n Lane was, an' I see dat +de Linkum men had let all dere fires go out. It was bery dark. Den +I hear Missy Roberta open her doah, an' I whip back ter my lof. +She come soon an' had a mighty hard time wakin' me up. an' den she +say: 'Zeb, dere's sumpen goin' on 'mong de Yankee sogers. Listen.' +I says, 'I doesn't hear nuffin'.' She says: 'Dere is; dey's a-saddlin' +up, an' movin' roun'. I want you ter steal outen an' see what dey +is doin', an' tell me.' I says, 'Yes, missy.' I tought de bole +plan would be de bes' plan now, an' I put on my shoes an' went out. +Putty soon I comes back and says to her, 'I axed a man, an' he tole +me dey was changin' de guard.'--'Did de res' seem quiet?'--'Yes, +missy, dey is sleepin' 'round under de trees.' She seemed greatly +'lieved, an' says, 'You watch aroun' an' tell me ef dere's any +news.' I stole out again an' crep' up 'hind some bushes, an' den +I sho' dat de Linkum men was a-slippin' away toward de creek-road, +but de guards kep' walkin' 'roun de pris'ners, jes' de same. On a +sudden dere was a man right 'longside ob me, an' he say, 'Make a +noise or move, an' you are dead. What are you doin' here?' I gasp +out, 'White-rose, Cap'n Lane.'--'Oh, it's you,' he say, wid a low +larf. Fo' I could speak dere come a scream, sich as I neber heared, +den anoder an' anoder. 'Dey comes from de missus' room.' Den he +say, 'Run down dar an' ask de sergeant ob de guard to send tree +men wid you, an' come quick!' Now moder kin tell yer what happened. +I had lef de back hall doah unlocked, an' de cap'n went in like a +flash." + +"De good Lor' bress Cap'n Lane," began the colored woman, "fer he +come just in time. De missus had been wakin' an' fearful-like mos' +ob de night, but at las' we was all a-dozin'. I was in a char by +her side, an' Missy S'wanee laid on a lounge. She hadn't undress, +an' fer a long time seemed as if listenin'. At las' dere come a +low knock, an' we all started up. I goes to de doah an' say, 'Who's +dar?'--'A message from Cap'n Lane,' says a low voice outside. 'Open +de doah,' says Missy S'wanee; 'I'se not afeard ob him.' De moment +I slip back de bolt, a big man, wid a black face, crowds in an' +say, 'Not a soun', as you valley your lives: I want yer jewelry +an' watches;' an' he held a pistol in his hand. At fust we tought +it was a plantation han', fer he tried ter talk like a cullud man, +an' Missy S'wanee 'gan ter talk ter him; but he drew a knife an' +says, 'Dis won't make no noise, an' it'll stop yer noise ef yer +make any. Not a word, but gib up eberyting.' De missus was so beat +out wid fear, dat she say, 'Gib him eberyting.' An' Missy S'wanee, +more'n half-dead, too, began to gib dere watches an' jewels. De man +put dem in his pocket, an' den he lay his hands on Missy S'wanee, +to take off her ring. Den she scream, an' I flew at 'im an' tried +to tear his eyes out. Missy Roberta 'gan screamin', so we knowed +she was 'tacked too. De man was strong an' rough, an' whedder he +would a' killed us or not de Lord only knows, fer jes' den de doah +flew wide open, an' Cap'n Lane stood dere wid his drawn sword. In +a secon' he seed what it all meant, an' sprung in an' grabbed de +robber by de neck an' jerked him outen inter de hall. Den de man +'gan ter beg fer mercy, an' tole his name. It was one of Cap'n +Lane's own sogers. At dis moment Missy Roberta rush outen her room, +cryin', 'Help! murder!' Den we heared heaby steps rushing up de +starway, an' tree ob Cap'n Lane's sogers dash for'ard. As soon as +Missy Roberta see de cap'n wid de light from de open doah shinin' +on his face, she comes an' ask, 'What does dis outrage mean?'--'It +mean dat dis man shell be shot in de mawnin', he say, in a chokin' +kind ob voice, fer he seem almost too angry to speak. Den he ask, +'Were you 'tacked also?'--' Yes,' she cried, 'dere's a man in my +room.'--'Which room?' An' she pointed to de doah. De fus' robber +den made a bolt ter get away, but de cap'n's men cotch 'im. 'Tie +his han's 'hind his back, an' shoot him if he tries to run agin,' +said de cap'n; den he say to Missy Roberta: 'Go in your moder's +room. Don't leave it without my permission. Ef dere is a man in +your room, he shall shar de fate ob dat villain dat I've 'spected +ob bein' a tief afore.' An' he went an' looken in Missy Roberta's +room. In a few moments he come back an' say, 'Dere was a man dar, +but he 'scape troo de winder on de verandy-roof. Ef I kin discober +'im he shall die too.' Den he say, grave an' sad-like: 'Ladies, dere +is bad men in eb'ry army. I'se deeply mort'fied dat dis should +happen. You'll bar me witness dat I tried to save you from all +'noyance. I know dis man,' pointin' to a soger dat stood near, +'an' I'll put him in dis hall on guard. His orders are--you hear +dem--not to let any one come in de hall, an' not to let any one +leabe dis room. As long as yer all stay in dis room, you are safe, +eben from a word.' Missy S'wanee rush for'ard an' take his han', an' +say, 'Eben ef you is my en'my you'se a gallant soger an' a gemlin, +an' I tanks you.' De cap'n smile an' bow, an' say, 'In overcomin' +your prej'dice I'se 'chieved my bes' vict'ry.' An' he gib her +back all de jewels an' watches, an' drew de doah to, an' lef us to +ourselves. Den we hear 'im go to a wes' room back ob de house wid +anoder soger, an' soon he come back alone, an' den de house all +still 'cept de eben tread ob de man outside. Missy Roberta clasp +her han's an' look wild. Den she whisper to Missy S'wanee, an' dey +seem in great trouble. Den she go an' open de doah an' say to de +soger dat she want ter go ter her room. 'You cannot, lady,' said +de soger. 'You heared my orders.'--'I'll only stay a minute,' she +say. 'You cannot pass dat doah,' said de soger. 'But I mus' an' +will,' cried Missy Roberta, an' she make a rush ter get out. De +soger held her still. 'Unhan' me!' she almost screamed. He turn +her 'roun' an' push her back in de room, an' den says: 'Lady, does +you tink a soger can disobey orders? Dere ain't no use ob your +takin' on 'bout dat light. We'se watch it all night as well as +your fren's, an' de cap'n has lef' a soger guardin' it, to keep it +burnin'. Ef I should let yer go, yer couldn't put it out, an' ef +it had been put out any time, we'd a' lighted it agin. So dere's +nuffin' fer yer to do but 'bey orders an' shut de doah. Den no one +will say a word to yer, as de cap'n said.' Den he pulled de doah +to hisself. + +"Missy Roberta 'gan to wring her han's an' walk up an' down like +a caged tiger, an' Missy S'wanee larf and cry togedder as she +say, 'Cap'n Lane too bright fer us.'--'No,' cries Missy Roberta, +'somebody's 'trayed me, an' I could strike a knife inter dere +heart fer doin' it. O S'wanee, S'wanee, our fren's is walkin' right +inter a trap.' Den she run to de winder an' open it ter see ef she +couldn't git down, an' dere in de garden was a soger, a-walkin' +up an' down a-watchin'. 'We jes' can't do nuffin',' she said, an' +she 'gan to sob an' go 'sterical-like. Missy S'wanee tole de missus, +an' she wrung her han's an' cry, too; an' Missy S'wanee, she was +a-larfin' an' a-cryin', an' a-prayin' all ter once. Suddenly dere +was a shot off toward de creek-road, an' den we was bery still. +Now. Zeb, you know de res'!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +MARIAN CONTRASTS LANE AND MERWYN. + + + + + +"Oh, come, this won't do at all," said Mr. Vosburgh, as Zeb was +about to continue the story. "It's nearly midnight now. Marian, +dear, your cheeks and eyes look as if you had a fever. Let us wait +and hear the rest of the story in the morning, or you'll be ill, +your mother will have a headache, and I shall be unfit for my work +to-morrow." + +"Papa, papa, in pity don't stop them till we know all. If Captain +Lane could watch all night and fight in the morning, can't we listen +for an hour longer?" + +"Oh, yes," cried Mrs. Vosburgh, "let them finish. It's like a story, +and I never could sleep well till I knew how a story was going to +turn out." + +"Wait a moment and I'll bring everybody something nice from the +sideboard, and you, also, papa, a cigar from the library," cried +the young girl. + +Her father smiled his acquiescence, and in a few moments they were +all ready to listen to the completion of a tragedy not without its +dash of comedy. + +"Arter Cap'n Lane posted his guards in de house an' sent de +robber off," Zeb resumed, "he jump on a hoss an' gallop toward de +creek-road. De light in de winder kep' a-burnin'! I foun' arterwards +dat he an' his ossifers had been down on de creek-road and studied +it all out. At one place--whar it was narrer' wid tick woods on +bofe sides--dey had builded a high rail-fence. Den below dat he +had put sogers in de woods each side widout dere hosses, an' farder +down still he had hid a lot of men dat was mounted. Sho' 'nuff, wid +de fust light of de mawnin', de rebs come ridin' toward de light +in de winder. I'd run out to de hill, not far away, ter see what +would happen, an' it was so dark yet dat eb'ryting was mixed up wid +shadders. When de rebs was a-comin' by de Linkum men in de woods a +shot was fired. Den I s'pose de rebs tought it would gib de 'larm, +fer dey began ter run dere hosses for'ard. An' den de Linkum men +let dem hab it on bofe sides ob de road, but dey kep' on till dey +come to de fence 'cross de road, an' den dey git a volley in front. +Dis skeered 'em, for dey knowed dat de Linkum men was ready, an' +dey tried to git back. Den I heared a great tramplin' an' yellin', +an' dere was Cap'n Lane a-leadin' his men an' hosses right in ahind +dem. Dere was orful fightin' fer a while, an' de men widout dere +hosses leap outen de woods and shot like mad. It was flash! bang! +on eb'ry side. At las' de Linkum men won de day, an' some ob de +rebs burst troo de woods an' run, wid Cap'n Lane's men arter dem, +an' dey kep' a-chasin' till a bugle call dem back. Den I run to +de house, fer dey was bringin' in de pris'ners. Who should I see +'mong dese but de bery ossifer dat was wid Missy Roberta de night +afore, de one dat wanted de light in de winder, an' he look bery +mad, I can tell you. + +"It was now gettin' broad day, an' de light at las' was outen de +winder. Dere was nuffin' mo' fer it to do. De Linkum soger dat had +been in de house was now helpin' guard de pris'ners, an' Missy Roberta +an' Missy S'wanee run up to de ossifer dat had been so fooled an' +say: 'We'se couldn't help it. Somebody 'trayed us. We was kep' +under guard, an' dere was a Yankee soger a-keepin' de light burnin' +arter we knew Cap'n Lane was aroun' an' ready.' Missy Roberta look +sharp at me, but I 'peared innercent as a sheep. Missy S'wanee say: +'No matter, Major Denham, you did all dat a brave man could do, +an' dar's my colors. You hab won dem.' An' den he cheer up 'mazin'ly. + +"Den I hear somebody say Cap'n Lane woun'ed, an' I slip out toward +de creek-road, an' dar I see dem a-carryin Cap'n Lane, an' de surgeon +walkin' 'longside ob him. My heart jes' stood still wid fear. His +eyes was shut, an' he look bery pale-like. Dey was a-carryin' him +up de steps ob de verandy when Missy S'wanee came runnin' ter see +what was de matter. Den Cap'n Lane open his eyes an' he say: 'Not +in here. Put me wid de oder woun'ed men; 'but Missy S'wanee say, +'No; he protec' us an' act like a gemlin, an' he shall learn dat +de ladies ob de Souf will not be surpassed.' De missus say de same, +but Missy Roberta frown an' say nuffin'. She too much put out yet +'bout dat light in de winder an' de 'feat it brought her fren's. +De cap'n was too weak an' gone-like ter say anyting mo', an' dey +carry him up ter de bes' company room. I goes up wid dem ter wait +on de surgeon, an' he 'zamin' de woun' an' gib de cap'n brandy, an' +at las' say dat de cap'n get well ef he keep quiet a few weeks,--dat +he weak now from de shock an' loss ob blood. + +"In de arternoon hundreds more Linkum men come, an' Cap'n Lane's +cunnel come wid dem, an' he praise de cap'n an' cheer him up, an' +de cap'n was bery peart an' say he feel better. Mos' ob de ossifers +take supper at de house. De missus an' Missy Roberta were perlite +but bery cold-like, but Missy S'wanee, while she show dat she was +a reb down to de bottom ob her good, kine heart, could smile an' +say sunshiny tings all de same. Dis night pass bery quiet, an' +in de mawnin' de Linkum cunnel say he hab orders ter 'tire toward +de Union lines. He feel bery bad 'bout leabin' Cap'n Lane, but de +surgeon say he mus' not be moved. He say, too, dat he stay wid de +cap'n an' de oder badly woun'ed men. De cap'n tell his cunnel 'bout +me an' my moder an' what he promise us, an' de cunnel say he take +us wid him an' send us to Washin'on. De missus an' de young ladies +take on drefful 'bout our gwine, but I say, 'I mus' hab my liberty,' +an' moder say she can't part wid her own flesh an' blood--" + +"Yes, yes, but what did 'Cap'n' Lane say?" interrupted Marian. + +"He tole me ter say ter you, missy, dat he was gwine ter git well, +an' dat you mus'n't worry 'kase you didn't hear from him, an' dat +he know you'd be kine to us, 'kase I'd help him win de vict'ry. De +surgeon wrote some letters, too, an' gib dem to de Linkum cunnel. +P'raps you git one ob dem. Dey put us in an army wagon, an' bimeby +we reach a railroad, an' dey gib us a pass ter Washin'on, an' we +come right on heah wid Cap'n Lane's money. I doesn't know what dey +did with de robber--" + +"Oh, oh," cried Marian, "it may be weeks before I hear from my +friend again, if I 'ever do." + +"Marian, dear," said her father, "do not look on the dark side; +it might have been a hundred-fold worse. 'Cap'n' Lane was in +circumstances of great comfort, with his own surgeon in care of +his wound. Think how many poor fellows were left on the field of +Chancellorsville to Heaven only knows what fate. In such desperate +fighting as has been described we have much reason to be thankful +that he was not killed outright. He has justly earned great credit +with his superiors, and I predict that he will get well and be +promoted. I think you will receive a letter in a day or two from +the surgeon. I prescribe that you and mamma sleep in the morning +till you are rested. I won't grumble at taking my coffee alone." +Then, to the colored woman and her son: "Don't you worry. We'll +see that you are taken care of." + +Late as it was, hours still elapsed before Marian slept. Her hero +had become more heroic than ever. She dwelt on his achievements +with enthusiasm, and thought of his sufferings with a tenderness +never before evoked, while the possibility that "Missy S'wanee" +was his nurse produced twinges approaching jealousy. + +As was expected, the morning post brought a letter from the surgeon +confirming the account that had been given by the refugees, and +full of hope-inspiring words. Then for weeks there were no further +tidings from Lane. + +Meanwhile, events were culminating with terrible rapidity, and +their threatening significance electrified the North. The Southern +people and their sympathizers everywhere were jubilant over +the victory of Chancellorsville, and both demanded and expected +that this success should be followed by decisive victories. Lee's +army, General Longstreet said, was "in a condition of strength and +morale to undertake anything," and Southern public sentiment and +the needs of the Richmond government all pointed towards a second +and more extended invasion of the North. The army was indeed strong, +disciplined, a powerful instrument in the hands of a leader like +General Lee. Nevertheless, it had reached about the highest degree +of its strength. The merciless conscription in the South had swept +into its ranks nearly all the able-bodied men, and food and forage +were becoming so scarce in war-wasted Virginia and other regions +which would naturally sustain this force, that a bold, decisive +policy had become a necessity. It was believed that on Northern +soil the army could be fed, and terms of peace dictated. + +The chief motive for this step was the hope of a counter-revolution +in the North where the peace faction had grown bold and aggressive +to a degree that only stopped short of open resistance. The draft +or general conscription which the President had ordered to take place +in July awakened intense hostility to the war and the government +on the part of a large and rapidly increasing class of citizens. +This class had its influential and outspoken leaders, who were +evidently in league with a secret and disloyal organization known +as the "Knights of the Golden Circle," the present object of which +was the destruction of the Union and the perpetuation of slavery. +In the city of New York the spirit of rebellion was as rampant in +the breasts of tens of thousands as in Richmond, and Mr. Vosburgh knew +it. His great sagacity and the means of information at his command +enabled him to penetrate much of the intrigue that was taking place, +and to guess at far more. He became haggard and almost sleepless +from his labors and anxieties, for he knew that the loyal people +of the North were living over a volcano. + +Marian shared in this solicitude, and was his chief confidante. He +wished her, with her mother, to go to some safe and secluded place +in the country, and offered to lease again the cottage which they +had occupied the previous summer, but Marian said that she would +not leave him, and that he must not ask her to do so. Mrs. Vosburgh +was eventually induced to visit relatives in New England, and then +father and daughter watched events with a hundred-fold more anxiety +than that of the majority, because they were better informed and +more deeply involved in the issues at stake than many others. But +beyond all thought of worldly interests, their intense loyal feeling +burned with a pure, unwavering flame. + +In addition to all that occupied her mind in connection with +her father's cares and duties, she had other grounds for anxiety. +Strahan wrote that his regiment was marching northward, and that +he soon expected to take part in the chief battle of the war. Every +day she hoped for some news from Lane, but none came. His wishes +in regard to Mammy Borden and her son had been well carried out. +Mr. Vosburgh had been led to suspect that the man in charge of his +offices was becoming rather too curious in regard to his affairs, +and too well informed about them. Therefore Zeb was installed +in his place; and when Mrs. Vosburgh departed on her visit Marian +dismissed the girl who had succeeded Sally Maguire, and employed +the colored woman in her stead. She felt that this action would +be pleasing to Lane, and that it was the very least that she could +do. + +Moreover, Mammy Borden was what she termed a "character," one to +whom she could speak with something of the freedom natural to the +ladies of the Southern household. The former slave could describe +a phase of life and society that was full of novelty and romance +to Marian, and "de young ladies," especially "Missy S'wanee," were +types of the Southern girl of whom she never wearied of hearing. +From the quaint talk of her new servant she learned to understand +the domestic life of those whom she had regarded as enemies, and was +compelled to admit that in womanly spirit and dauntless patriotism +they were her equals, and had proved it by facing dangers and +hardships from which she had been shielded. More than all, the old +colored woman was a protegee of Captain Lane and was never weary +of chanting his praises. + +Marian was sincerely perplexed by the attitude of her mind towards +this young officer. He kindled her enthusiasm and evoked admiration +without stint. He represented to her the highest type of manhood +in that period of doubt, danger, and strong excitement. Brave to +the last degree, his courage was devoid of recklessness. The simple, +untutored description of his action given by the refugees had only +made it all the more clear that his mind was as keen and bright as +his sword, while in chivalric impulses he had never been surpassed. +Unconsciously Mammy Borden and her son had revealed traits in him +which awakened Marian's deepest respect, suggesting thoughts of +which she would not have spoken to any one. She had been shown his +course towards beautiful women who were in his power, and who at +the same time were plotting his destruction and that of his command. +While he foiled their hostile purpose, no knight of olden times +could have shown them more thoughtful consideration and respect. +She felt that her heart ought to go out towards this ideal lover +in utter abandon. Why did it not? Why were her pride, exultation, +and deep solicitude too near akin to the emotions she would have +felt had he been her brother? Was this the only way in which she +could love? Would the sacred, mysterious, and irresistible impulses +of the heart, of which she had read, follow naturally in due time? + +She was inclined to believe that this was true, yet, to her surprise, +the thought arose unbidden: "If Willard Merwyn were showing like +qualities and making the same record--What absurdity is this!" +she exclaimed aloud. "Why does this Mr. Merwyn so haunt me, when +I could not give him even respect and friendship, although he sent +an army into the field, yet was not brave enough to go himself? +Where is he? What is he doing in these supreme hours of his country's +history? Everything is at stake at the front, yes, and even here +at the North, for I can see that papa dreads unspeakably what each +day may bring forth, yet neither this terrible emergency nor the +hope of winning my love can brace his timid soul to manly action. +There is more manhood in one drop of the blood shed by Captain Lane +than in Merwyn's whole shrinking body." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE NORTH INVADED. + + + + + +Merwyn could scarcely have believed that he had sunk so low +in Marian's estimation as her words at the close of the previous +chapter indicated, yet he guessed clearly the drift of her opinion +in regard to him, and he saw no way of righting himself. In the +solitude of his country home he considered and dismissed several +plans of action. He thought of offering his services to the Sanitary +Commission, but his pride prevented, for he knew that she and others +would ask why a man of his youth and strength sought a service in +which sisters of charity could be his equals in efficiency. He also +saw that joining a regiment of the city militia was but a half-way +measure that might soon lead to the violation of his oath, since +these regiments could be ordered to the South in case of an emergency. + +The prospect before him was that of a thwarted, blighted life. He +might live till he was gray, but in every waking moment he would +remember that he had lost his chance for manly action, when such +action would have brought him self-respect, very possibly happiness, +and certainly the consciousness that he had served a cause which +now enlisted all his sympathies. + +At last he wrote to his mother an impassioned appeal to be released +from his oath, assuring her that he would never have any part in +the Southern empire that was the dream of her life. He cherished +the hope that she, seeing how unalterable were his feelings and +purposes, would yield to him the right to follow his own convictions, +and with this kindling hope his mind grew calmer. + +Then, as reason began to assert itself, he saw that he had been absent +from the city too long already. His pride counselled: "The world +has no concern with your affairs, disappointments, or sufferings. +Be your father's son, and maintain your position with dignity. In a +few short weeks you may be free. If not, your secret is your own, +and no living soul can gossip about your family affairs, or say +that you betrayed your word or your family interests. Meanwhile, +in following the example of thousands of other rich and patriotic +citizens, you can contribute more to the success of the Union cause +than if you were in the field." + +He knew that this course might not secure him the favor of one for +whom he would face every danger in the world, but it might tend to +disarm criticism and give him the best chances for the future. + +He at once carried out his new purposes, and early in June returned +to his city home. He now resolved no longer to shrink and hide, but +to keep his own counsel, and face the situation like one who had +a right to choose his own career. Mr. Bodoin, his legal adviser, +received the impression that he had been quietly looking after +his country property, and the lawyer rubbed his bloodless hands in +satisfaction over a youthful client so entirely to his mind. + +Having learned more fully what his present resources were, Merwyn +next called on Mr. Vosburgh at his office. That gentleman greeted +the young man courteously, disguising his surprise and curiosity. + +"I have just returned from my country place," Merwyn began, "and +shall not have to go there very soon again, Can I call upon you as +usual?" + +"Certainly," replied Mr. Vosburgh; but there was no warmth in his +tone. + +"I have also a favor to ask," resumed Merwyn, with a slight +deepening of color in his bronzed face. "I have not been able to +follow events very closely, but so far as I can judge there is a +prospect of severe battles and of sudden emergencies. If there is +need of money, such means as I have are at your disposal." + +Even Mr. Vosburgh, at the moment, felt much of Marian's repulsion +as he looked at the tall youth, with his superb physique, who spoke +of severe battles and offered "money." "Truly," he thought, "she +must be right. This man will part with thousands rather than risk +one drop of blood." + +But he was too good a patriot to reveal his impression, and said, +earnestly: "You are right, Mr. Merwyn. There will be heavy fighting +soon, and all the aid that you can give the Sanitary and Christian +Commissions will tend to save life and relieve suffering." + +Under the circumstances he felt that he could not use any of the +young man's money, even as a temporary loan, although at times the +employment of a few extra hundreds might aid him greatly in his +work. + +Merwyn went away chilled and saddened anew, yet feeling that his +reception had been all that he had a right to expect. + +There had been no lack of politeness on Mr. Vosburgh's part, but +his manner had not been that of a friend. + +"He has recognized that I am under some secret restraint," Merwyn +thought, "and distrusts me at last. He probably thinks, with his +daughter, that I am afraid to go. Oh that I had a chance to prove +that I am, at least, not a coward! In some way I shall prove it +before many weeks pass." + +At dinner, that evening, Mr. Vosburgh smiled significantly at +Marian, and said, "Who do you think called on me to-day?" + +"Mr. Merwyn," she said, promptly. + +"You are right. He came to offer--" + +"Money," contemptuously completing her father's sentence. + +"You evidently think you understand him. Perhaps you do; and I admit +that I felt much as you do, to-day, when he offered his purse to +the cause. I fear, however, that we are growing a little morbid on +this subject, and inclined to judgments too severe. You and I have +become like so many in the South. This conflict and its results +are everything to us, and we forget that we are surrounded by +hundreds of thousands who are loyal, but are not ready for very +great sacrifices." + +"We are also surrounded by millions that are, and I cast in my lot +with these. If this is to be morbid, we have plenty of company." + +"What I mean is, that we may be too hard upon those who do not +feel, and perhaps are not capable of feeling, as we do." + +"O papa! you know the reason why Mr. Merwyn takes the course he +does." + +"I know what you think to be the reason, and you may be right. Your +explanation struck me with more force than ever to-day; and yet, +looking into the young fellow's face, it seems impossible. He +impresses me strangely, and awakens much curiosity as to his future +course. He asked if he could call as usual, and I, with ordinary +politeness, said, 'Certainly.' Indeed, there was a dignity about +the fellow that almost compelled the word. I don't know that we +have any occasion to regret it. He has done nothing to forfeit mere +courtesy on our part." + +"Oh, no," said Marian, discontentedly; "but he irritates me. I wish +I had never known him, and that I might never meet him again. I am +more and more convinced that my theory about him is correct, and +while I pity him sincerely, the ever-present consciousness of his +fatal defect is more distressing--perhaps I should say, annoying--than if +he presented some strong physical deformity. He is such a superb +and mocking semblance of a man that I cannot even think of him +without exasperation." + +"Well, my dear, perhaps this is one of the minor sacrifices that +we must make for the cause. Until Merwyn can explain for himself, +he has no right to expect from us more than politeness. While I +would not take from him a loan for my individual work, I can induce +him to give much material help. In aiding Strahan, and in other +ways, he has done a great deal, and he is willing to do more. The +prospects are that everything will be needed, and I do not feel +like alienating one dollar or one bit of influence. According to +your theory his course is due to infirmity rather than to fault, +and so he should be tolerated, since he is doing the best he can. +Politeness to him will not compromise either our principles or +ourselves." + +"Well, papa, I will do my best; but if he had a particle of my +intuition he would know how I feel. Indeed, I believe he does know +in some degree, and it seems to me that, if I were a man, I couldn't +face a woman while she entertained such an opinion." + +"Perhaps the knowledge that you are wrong enables him to face you." + +"If that were true he wouldn't be twenty-four hours in proving it." + +"Well," said her father, with a grim laugh, and in a low voice, +"he may soon have a chance to show his mettle without going to +the front. Marian, I wish you would join your mother. The city is +fairly trembling with suppressed disloyalty. If Lee marches northward +I shall fear an explosion at any time." + +"Leave the city!" said the young girl, hotly. "That would prove +that I possess the same traits that repel me so strongly in Mr. +Merwyn. No, I shall not leave your side this summer, unless you +compel me to almost by force. Have we not recently heard of two +Southern girls who cheered on their friends in battle with bullets +flying around them? After witnessing that scene, I should make +a pitiable figure in Captain Lane's eyes should I seek safety in +flight at the mere thought of danger. I should die with shame." + +"It is well Captain Lane does not hear you, or the surgeon would +have fever to contend with, as well as wounds." + +"O dear!" cried the girl. "I wish we could hear from him." + +Mr. Vosburgh had nearly reached the conclusion that if the captain +survived the vicissitudes of the war he would not plead a second +time in vain. + +A few evenings later Merwyn called. Mr. Vosburgh was out, and others +were in the drawing-room. Marian did not have much to say to him, +but treated him with her old, distant politeness. He felt her manner, +and saw the gulf that lay between them, but no one unacquainted with +the past would have recognized any lack of courtesy on her part. + +Among the exciting topics broached was the possibility +of a counter-revolution at the North. Merwyn noticed that Marian +was reticent in regard to her father and his opinions, but he was +startled to hear her say that she would not be surprised if violent +outbreaks of disloyalty took place any hour, and he recognized her +courage in remaining in the city. One of the callers, an officer +in the Seventh Regiment, also spoke of the possibility of all the +militia being ordered away to aid in repelling invasion. + +Merwyn listened attentively, but did not take a very active part in +the conversation, and went away with the words "counter-revolution" +and "invasion" ringing in his ears. + +He became a close student of the progress of events, and, with his +sensitiveness in regard to the Vosburghs, adopted a measure that +taxed his courage. A day or two later he called on Mr. Vosburgh at +his office, and asked him out to lunch, saying that he was desirous +of obtaining some information. + +Mr. Vosburgh complied readily, for he wished to give the young +man every chance to right himself, and he could not disguise the +fact that he felt a peculiar interest in the problem presented by +his daughter's unfortunate suitor. Merwyn was rather maladroit in +accounting for his questions in regard to the results of a counter +revolution, and gave the impression that he was solicitous about +his property. + +Convinced that his entertainer was loyal from conviction and +feeling, as well as from the nature of his pecuniary interests, +Mr. Vosburgh spoke quite freely of the dangerous elements rapidly +developing at the North, and warned his host that, in his opinion, +the critical period of the struggle was approaching. Merwyn's grave, +troubled face and extreme reticence in respect to his own course +made an unfavorable impression, yet he was acting characteristically. +Trammelled as he was, he could not speak according to his natural +impulses. He felt that brave words, not enforced by corresponding +action, would be in wretched taste, and his hope was that by deeds +he could soon redeem himself. If there was a counter-revolution he +could soon find a post of danger without wearing the uniform of a +soldier or stepping on Southern soil, but he was not one to boast +of what he would do should such and such events take place. Moreover, +before the month elapsed he had reason to believe that he would +receive a letter from his mother giving him freedom. Therefore, +Mr. Vosburgh was left with all his old doubts and perplexities +unrelieved, and Marian's sinister theory was confirmed rather than +weakened. + +Merwyn, however, was no longer despondent. The swift march of events +might give him the opportunities he craved. He was too young not to +seize on the faintest hope offered by the future, and the present +period was one of reaction from the deep dejection that, for a +time, had almost paralyzed him in the country. + +Even as a boy he had been a sportsman, and a good shot with gun, +rifle, and pistol, but now he began to perfect himself in the use +of the last-named weapon. He arranged the basement of his house in +such a way that he could practise with his revolvers, and he soon +became very proficient in the accuracy and quickness of his aim. + +According to the press despatches of the day, there was much +uncertainty in regard to General Lee's movements and plans. Mr. +Vosburgh's means of information led him to believe that the rebel +army was coming North, and many others shared the fear; but as +late as June 15, so skilfully had the Confederate leader masked +his purposes, that, according to the latest published news, the +indications were that he intended to cross the Rappahannock near +Culpepper and inaugurate a campaign similar to the one that had +proved so disastrous to the Union cause the preceding summer. + +On the morning of the 16th, however, the head-lines of the leading +journals startled the people through the North. The rebel advance +had occupied Chambersburg, Pa. The invasion was an accomplished +fact. The same journals contained a call from the President for +100,000 militia, of which the State of New York was to furnish +20,000. The excitement in Pennsylvania was intense, for not only +her capital, but her principal towns and cities were endangered. +The thick-flying rumors of the past few days received terrible +confirmation, and, while Lee's plans were still shrouded in mystery, +enough was known to awaken apprehension, while the very uncertainty +proved the prolific source of the most exaggerated and direful +stories. There was immense activity at the various armories, and +many regiments of the city militia expected orders to depart at +any hour. The metropolis was rocking with excitement, and wherever +men congregated there were eager faces and excited tones. + +Behind his impassive manner, when he appeared in the street, no +one disguised deeper feeling, more eager hope, more sickening fear, +than Willard Merwyn. When would his mother's letter come? If this +crisis should pass and he take no part in it he feared that he +himself would be lost. + +Since his last call upon Marian he felt that he could not see her +again until he could take some decided course; but if there were +blows to be struck by citizens at the North, or if his mother's +letter acceded to his wish, however grudgingly, he could act at +once, and on each new day he awoke with the hope that he might be +unchained before its close. + +The 17th of June was a memorable day. The morning press brought +confirmation of Lee's northward advance. The men of the Quaker +City were turning out en masse, either to carry the musket or for +labor on fortifications, and it was announced that twelve regiments +of the New-York militia were under marching orders. The invasion +was the one topic of conversation. There was an immense revival +of patriotism, and recruiting at the armories went on rapidly. At +this outburst of popular feeling disloyalty shrunk out of sight for +a time, and apparently the invaders who had come north as allies +of the peace party created an uprising, as they had expected, but +it was hostile to them. + +The people were reminded of the threats of the Southern leaders. +The speech of Jeff Davis in the winter of 1860-61 was quoted: "If +war should result from secession, it will not be our fields that +will witness its ravages, but those of the North." + +The fact that this prediction was already fulfilled stung even the +half-hearted into action, and nerved the loyalty of others, and +when it became known that the gallant Seventh Regiment would march +down Broadway en route for Pennsylvania at noon, multitudes lined +the thoroughfare and greeted their defenders with acclamations. + +Merwyn knew that Marian would witness the departure, and he watched +in the distance till he saw her emerge from her home and go to a +building on Broadway in which her father had secured her a place. +She was attended by an officer clad in the uniform of a service +so dear to her, but which HE had sworn never to wear. He hastily +secured a point of observation in a building opposite, for while +the vision of the young girl awakened almost desperate revolt at +his lot, he could not resist a lover's impulse to see her. Pale, +silent, absorbed, he saw her wave her handkerchief and smile at +her friends as they passed; he saw a white-haired old lady reach +out her hands in yearning love, an eloquent pantomime that indicated +that her sons were marching under her eyes, and then she sank back +into Marian's arms. + +"Oh," groaned Merwyn, "if that were my mother I could give her a +love that would be almost worship." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +"I'VE LOST MY CHANCE." + + + + + +During the remainder of the 17th of June and for the next few days, +the militia regiments of New York and Brooklyn were departing for +the seat of war. The city was filled with conflicting rumors. On +the 19th it was said that the invaders were returning to Virginia. +The questions "Where is Lee, and what are his purposes? and what +is the army of the Potomac about?" were upon all lips. + +On the 20th came the startling tidings of organized resistance to +the draft in Ohio, and of troops fired upon by the mob. Mr. Vosburgh +frowned heavily as he read the account at the breakfast-table and +said: "The test of my fears will come when the conscription begins +in this city, and it may come much sooner. I wish you to join your +mother before that day, Marian!" + +"No," she said, quietly,--"not unless you compel, me to." + +"I may be obliged to use my authority," said her father, after some +thought. "My mind is oppressed by a phase of danger not properly +realized. The city is being stripped of its loyal regiments, and +every element of mischief is left behind." + + +"Papa, I entreat you not to send me away while you remain. I assure +you that such a course would involve far greater danger to me than +staying with you, even though your fears should be realized. If +the worst should happen, I might escape all harm. If you do what +you threaten, I could not escape a wounded spirit." + +"Well, my dear," said her father, gently, "I appreciate your courage +and devotion, and I should indeed miss you. We'll await further +developments." + +Day after day passed, bringing no definite information. There were +reports of severe cavalry fighting in Virginia, but the position +of the main body of Lee's army was still practically unknown to the +people at large. On the 22d, a leading journal said, "The public +must, with patience, await events in Virginia, and remain in +ignorance until some decisive point is reached;" and on the 24th, +the head-lines of the press read, in effect, "Not much of importance +from Pennsylvania yesterday." The intense excitement caused by +the invasion was subsiding. People could not exist at the first +fever-heat. It was generally believed that Hooker's army had brought +Lee to a halt, and that the two commanders were manoeuvring for +positions. The fact was that the Confederates had an abundance of +congenial occupation in sending southward to their impoverished +commissary department the immense booty they were gathering among +the rich farms and towns of Pennsylvania. Hooker was seeking, by +the aid of his cavalry force and scouts, to penetrate his opponent's +plans, meanwhile hesitating whether to fall on the rebel communications +in their rear, or to follow northward. + +Lee and his great army, flushed with recent victories, were not all +that Hooker had to contend with, but there was a man in Washington, +whose incapacity and ill-will threatened even more fatal difficulties. +Gen. Halleck, Commander-in-Chief, hung on the Union leader like +the "Old Man of the Sea." He misled the noble President, who, +as a civilian. was ignorant of military affairs, paralyzed tens +of thousands of troops by keeping them where they could be of no +practical use, and by giving them orders of which General Hooker +was not informed. The Comte de Paris writes, "Lee's projects could +not have been more efficiently subserved," and the disastrous defeat +of General Milroy confirms these words. It was a repetition of the +old story of General Miles of the preceding year, with the difference +that Milroy was a gallant, loyal man, who did all that a skilful +officer could accomplish to avert the results of his superior's +blundering and negligence. + +Hooker was goaded into resigning, and of the army of the Potomac the +gifted French author again writes, "Everything seemed to conspire +against it, even the government, whose last hope it was;" adding +later: "Out of the 97,000 men thus divided (at Washington, Frederick, +Fortress Monroe, and neighboring points) there were 40,000, perfectly +useless where they were stationed, that might have been added to +the army of the Potomac before the 1st of July. Thus reinforced, the +Union general could have been certain of conquering his adversary, +and even of inflicting upon him an irreparable disaster." + +The fortunes of the North were indeed trembling in the balance. +We had to cope with the ablest general of the South and his great +army, with the peace (?) faction that threatened bloody arguments +in the loyal States, and with General Halleck. + +The people were asking: "Where is the army of the Potomac? What +can it be doing, that the invasion goes on so long unchecked?" At +Gettysburg this patient, longsuffering army gave its answer. + +Meanwhile the North was brought face to face with the direst +possibilities, and its fears, which history has proved to be just, +were aroused to the last degree. The lull in the excitement which +had followed the first startling announcement of invasion was +broken by the wildest rumors and the sternest facts. The public +pulse again rose to fever-heat. Farmers were flying into Harrisburg, +before the advancing enemy; merchants were packing their goods +for shipment to the North; and the panic was so general that the +proposition was made to stop forcibly the flight of able-bodied +men from the Pennsylvanian capital. + +As Mr. Vosburgh read these despatches in the morning paper, Marian +smiled satirically, and said: "You think that Mr. Merwyn is under +some powerful restraint. I doubt whether he would be restrained +from going north, should danger threaten this city." + +And many believed, with good reason, that New York City was +threatened. Major-General Doubleday, in his clear, vigorous account +of this campaign writes: "Union spies who claimed to have counted +the rebel forces as they passed through Hagerstown made their +number to be 91,000 infantry and 280 guns. This statement, though +exaggerated, gained great credence, and added to the excitement of +the loyal people throughout the Northern States, while the disloyal +element was proportionately active and jubilant." Again he writes: +"There was wild commotion throughout the North, and people began to +feel that the boast of the Georgia Senator, Toombs, that he would +call the roll of his slaves at the foot of Bunker Hill Monument, +might soon be realized. The enemy seemed very near and the army of +the Potomac far away." Again: "The Southern people were bent upon +nothing else than the entire subjugation of the North and the +occupation of our principal cities." + +These statements of sober history are but the true echoes of the +loud alarms of the hour. On the morning of the 20th of June, such +words as these were printed as the leading editorial of the New York +Tribune: "The rebels are coming North. All doubt seems at length +dispelled. Men of the North, Pennsylvanians, Jerseymen, New-Yorkers, +New-Englanders, the foe is at your doors! Are you true men or +traitors? brave men or cowards? If you are patriots, resolved and +deserving to be free, prove it by universal rallying, arming, and +marching to meet the foe. Prove it NOW!" + +Marian, with flashing eyes and glowing cheeks, read to her father +this brief trumpet call, and then exclaimed: "Yes, the issue is +drawn so sharply now that no loyal man can hesitate, and to-day +Mr. Merwyn cannot help answering the question, 'Are you a brave +man or a coward?' O papa, to think that a MAN should be deaf to +such an appeal and shrink in such an emergency!" + +At that very hour Merwyn sat alone in his elegant home, his face +buried in his hands, the very picture of dejection. Before him on +the table lay the journal from which he had read the same words +which Marian had applied to him in bitter scorn. An open letter +was also upon the table, and its contents had slain his hope. Mrs. +Merwyn had answered his appeal characteristically. "You evidently +need my presence," she wrote, "yet I will never believe that you +can violate your oath, unless your reason is dethroned. When you +forget that you have sworn by your father's memory and your mother's +honor, you must be wrecked indeed. I wonder at your blindness to +your own interests, and can see in it the influence which, in all +the past, has made some weak men reckless and forgetful of everything +except an unworthy passion. The armies of your Northern friends +have been defeated again and again. I have means of communication +with my Southern friends, and before the summer is over our gallant +leaders will dictate peace in the city where you dwell. What then +would become of the property which you so value, were it not for my +influence? My hope still is, that your infatuation will pass away +with your youth, and that your mind will become clear, so that +you can appreciate the future that might be yours. If I can only +protect you against yourself and designing people, all may yet be +well; and when our glorious South takes the foremost place among +the nations of the earth, my influence will be such that I can still +obtain for you rank and title, unless you now compromise yourself +by some unutterable folly. The crisis is approaching fast, and the +North will soon learn that, so far from subduing the South, it will +be subjugated and will gladly accept such terms as we may deem it +best to give. I have fulfilled my mission here. The leading classes +are with us in sympathy, and it will require but one or two more +victories like that of Chancellorsville to make England our open +ally. Then people of our birth and wealth will be the equals of the +English aristocracy, and your career can be as lofty as you choose +to make it. Then, with a gratitude beyond words, you will thank me +for my firmness, for you can aspire to the highest positions in an +empire such as the world has not seen before." + +"No," said Merwyn, sternly, "if there is a free State left at the +North, I will work there with my own hands for a livelihood, rather +than have any part or lot in this Southern empire. Yet what can I +ever appear to be but a shrinking coward? An owner of slaves all +her life, my mother has made a slave of me. She has fettered my +very soul. Oh! if there are to be outbreaks at the North, let them +come soon, or I shall die under the weight of my chains." + +The dark tide of invasion rose higher and higher. At last the tidings +came that Lee's whole army was in Pennsylvania, that Harrisburg +would be attacked before night, and that the enemy were threatening +Columbia on the northern bank of the Susquehanna, and would have +crossed the immense bridge which there spans the river, had it not +been burned. + +On the 27th, the Tribune contained the following editorial words: +"Now is the hour. Pennsylvania is at length arousing, we trust not +too late. We plead with the entire North to rush to the rescue; the +whole North is menaced through this invasion. It we do not stop it +at the Susquehanna, it will soon strike us on the Delaware, then +on the Hudson." + +"My chance is coming," Merwyn muttered, grimly, as he read these +words. "If the answering counter-revolution does not begin during +the next few days, I shall take my rifle and fight as a citizen as +long as there is a rebel left on Northern soil." + +The eyes of others were turned towards Pennsylvania; he scanned +the city in which he dwelt. He had abandoned all morbid brooding, +and sought by every means in his power to inform himself in regard +to the seething, disloyal elements that were now manifesting +themselves. From what Mr. Vosburgh had told him, and from what he +had discovered himself, he felt that any hour might witness bloody +co-operation at his very door with the army of invasion. + +"Should this take place," he exclaimed, as he paced his room, "oh +that it might be my privilege, before I died, to perform some deed +that would convince Marian Vosburgh that I am not what she thinks +me to be!" + +Each new day brought its portentous news. On the 30th of June, there +were accounts of intense excitement at Washington and Baltimore, +for the enemy had appeared almost at the suburbs of these cities. +In Baltimore, women rushed into the streets and besought protection. +New York throbbed and rocked with kindred excitement. + +On July 3d, the loyal Tribune again sounded the note of deep alarm: +"These are times that try men's souls! The peril of our country's +overthrow is great and imminent. The triumph of the rebels +distinctly and unmistakably involves the downfall of republican +and representative institutions." + +By a strange anomaly multitudes of the poor, the oppressed in other +lands, whose hope for the future was bound up in the cause of the +North, were arrayed against it. Their ignorance made them dupes +and tools, and enemies of human rights and progress were prompt to +use them. On the evening of this momentous 3d of July, a manifesto, +in the form of a handbill, was extensively circulated throughout +the city. Jeff Davis himself could not have written anything more +disloyal, more false, of the Union government and its aims, or +better calculated to incite bloody revolution in the North. + +For the last few days the spirit of rebellion had been burning like +a fuse toward a vast magazine of human passion and intense hatred +of Northern measures and principles. If from Pennsylvania had come +in electric flash the words, "Meade defeated," the explosion would +have come almost instantly; but all now had learned that the army +of the Potomac had emerged from its obscurity, and had grappled +with the invading forces. Even the most reckless of the so-called +peace faction could afford to wait a few hours longer. As soon as +the shattered columns of Meade's army were in full retreat, the +Northern wing of the rebellion could act with confidence. + +The Tribune, in commenting on the incendiary document distributed +on the evening of the 3d, spoke as follows: "That the more determined +sympathizers, in this vicinity, with the Southern rebels have, for +months, conspired and plotted to bring about a revolution is as +certain as the Civil War. Had Meade been defeated," etc. + +The dramatic culmination of this awful hour of uncertainty may +be found in the speeches, on July 4th, of ex-President Franklin +Pierce, at Concord, N.H., and of Governor Seymour, in the Academy +of Music, at New York. The former spoke of "the mailed hand of +military usurpation in the North, striking down the liberties of +the people and trampling its foot on a desecrated Constitution." +He lauded Vallandigham, who was sent South for disloyalty, as "the +noble martyr of free speech." He declared the war to be fruitless, +and exclaimed: "You will take care of yourselves. With or without +arms, with or without leaders, we will at least, in the effort to +defend our rights, as a free people, build up a great mausoleum of +hearts, to which men who yearn for liberty will, in after years, +with bowed heads reverently resort as Christian pilgrims to the +shrines of the Holy Land." + +Such were the shrines with which this man would have filled New +England. There is a better chance now, that a new and loyal Virginia +will some day build a monument to John Brown. + +Governor Seymour's speech was similar in tenor, but more guarded. +In words of bitter irony toward the struggling government, whose +hands the peace faction were striving to paralyze, he began: "When +I accepted the invitation to speak with others, at this meeting, +we were promised the downfall of Vicksburg, the opening of the +Mississippi, the probable capture of the Confederate capital, and +the exhaustion of the rebellion. By common consent, all parties +had fixed upon this day when the results of the campaign should be +known. But, in the moment of expected victory, there came a midnight +cry for help from Pennsylvania, to save its despoiled fields from +the invading foe; and, almost within sight of this metropolis, the +ships of your merchants were burned to the water's edge. Parties +are exasperated and stand in almost defiant attitude toward each +other." + +"At the very hour," writes the historian Lossing, "when this ungenerous +taunt was uttered, Vicksburg and its dependences and vast spoils, +with more than thirty thousand Confederate captives, were in the +possession of General Grant; and the discomfited army of Lee, who, +when that sentence was written, was expected to lead his troops +victoriously to the Delaware, and perhaps to the Hudson, was flying +from Meade's troops, to find shelter from utter destruction beyond +the Potomac." + +Rarely has history reached a more dramatic climax, and seldom have +the great scenes of men's actions been more swiftly shifted. + +Merwyn attended this great mass-meeting, and was silent when the +thousands applauded. In coming out he saw, while unobserved himself, +Mr. Vosburgh, and was struck by the proud, contemptuous expression +of his face. The government officer had listened with a cipher +telegram in his pocket informing him of Lee's repulse. + +For the last twenty-four hours Merwyn had watched almost sleeplessly +for the outburst to take place. That strong, confident face indicated +no fears that it would ever take place. + +A few hours later, he, and all, heard from the army of the Potomac. + +When at last it became known that the Confederate army was in full +retreat, and, as the North then believed, would be either captured +or broken into flying fragments before reaching Virginia, Merwyn +faced what he believed to be his fate. + +"The country is saved," he said. "There will be no revolution at the +North. Thank God for the sake of others, but I've lost my chance." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +BLAUVELT. + + + + + +In June, especially during the latter part of the month, Strahan +and Blauvelt's letters to Marian had been brief and infrequent. The +duties of the young officers were heavy, and their fatigues great. +They could give her little information forecasting the future. +Indeed, General Hooker himself could not have done this, for all +was in uncertainty. Lee must be found and fought, and all that any +one knew was that the two great armies would eventually meet in +the decisive battle of the war. + +The patient, heroic army of the Potomac, often defeated, but never +conquered, was between two dangers that can be scarcely overestimated, +the vast, confident hosts of Lee in Pennsylvania, and Halleck in +Washington. General Hooker was hampered, interfered with, deprived +of reinforcements that were kept in idleness elsewhere, and at +last relieved of command on the eve of battle, because he asked +that 11,000 men, useless at Harper's Ferry, might be placed under +his orders. That this was a mere pretext for his removal, and an +expression of Halleck's ill-will, is proved by the fact that General +Meade, his successor, immediately ordered the evacuation of Harper's +Ferry and was unrestrained and unrebuked. Meade, however, did not +unite these 11,000 men to his army, where they might have added +materially to his success, but left them far in his rear, a useless, +half-way measure possibly adopted to avoid displeasing Halleck. + +It would seem that Providence itself assumed the guidance of this +longsuffering Union army, that had been so often led by incompetence +in the field and paralyzed by interference at Washington. Even the +philosophical historian, the Comte de Paris, admits this truth in +remarkable language. + +Neither Lee nor Meade knew where they should meet, and had under +consideration various plans of action, but, writes the French +historian, "The fortune of war cut short all these discussions by +bringing the two combatants into a field which neither had chosen." +Again, after describing the region of Gettysburg, he concludes: +"Such is the ground upon which unforeseen circumstances were about +to bring the two armies in hostile contact. Neither Meade nor Lee +had any personal knowledge of it." + +Once more, after a vivid description of the first day's battle, in +which Buford with his cavalry division, Doubleday with the First +Corps, and Howard with the Eleventh, checked the rebel advance, but +at last, after heroic fighting, were overwhelmed and driven back +in a disorder which in some brigades resembled a rout, the Comte +de Paris recognizes, in the choice of position on which the Union +troops were rallied, something beyond the will and wisdom of man. + +"A resistless impulse seems to spur it (the rebel army) on to battle. +It believes itself invincible. There is scorn of its adversary; +nearly all the Confederate generals have undergone the contagion. +Lee himself, the grave, impassive man, will some day acknowledge that +he has allowed himself to be influenced by these common illusions. +It seems that the God of Armies had designated for the Confederates +the lists where the supreme conflict must take place: they cheerfully +accept the alternative, without seeking for any other." + +All the world knows now that the position in the "lists" thus +"designated" to the Union army was almost an equivalent for the +thousands of men kept idle and useless elsewhere. To a certain +extent the conditions of Fredericksburg are reversed, and the +Confederates, in turn, must storm lofty ridges lined with artillery. + +Of those days of awful suspense, the 3d, 4th, and 5th of July, the +French historian gives but a faint idea in the following words: "In +the mean while, the North was anxiously awaiting for the results +of the great conflict. Uneasiness and excitement were perceptible +everywhere; terror prevailed in all those places believed to be +within reach of the invaders. Rumors and fear exaggerated their +number, and the remembrance of their success caused them to be +deemed invincible." + +When, therefore, the tidings came, "The rebel army totally defeated," +with other statements of the victory too highly colored, a burden +was lifted from loyal hearts which the young of this generation +cannot gauge; but with the abounding joy and gratitude there were +also, in the breasts of hundreds of thousands, sickening fear and +suspense which must remain until the fate of loved ones was known. + +In too vivid fancy, wives and mothers saw a bloody field strewn with +still forms, and each one asked herself, "Could I go among these, +might I not recognize HIS features?" + +But sorrow and fear shrink from public observation, while joy and +exultation seek open expression. Before the true magnitude of the +victory at Gettysburg could be realized, came the knowledge that +the nation's greatest soldier, General Grant, had taken Vicksburg +and opened the Mississippi. + +Marian saw the deep gladness in her father's eyes and heard it in +his tones, and, while she shared in his gratitude and relief, her +heart was oppressed with solicitude for her friends. To her, who +had no near kindred in the war, these young men had become almost +as dear as brothers. She was conscious of their deep affection, +and she felt that there could be no rejoicing for her until she was +assured of their safety. All spoke of the battle of Gettysburg as +one of the most terrific combats of the world. Two of her friends +must have been in the thick of it. She read the blood-stained +accounts with paling cheeks, and at last saw the words, "Captain +Blauvelt, wounded; Major Strahan, wounded and missing." + +This was all. There was room for hope; there was much cause to +fear the worst. From Lane there were no tidings whatever. She was +oppressed with the feeling that perhaps the frank, true eyes of +these loyal friends might never again look into her own. With a +chill of unspeakable dread she asked herself what her life would +be without these friends. Who could ever take their place or fill +the silence made by their hushed voices? + +Since reading the details of the recent battle her irritation against +Merwyn had passed away, and she now felt for him only pity. Her +own brave spirit had been awed and overwhelmed by the accounts of +the terrific cannonade and the murderous hand-to-hand struggles. +At night she would start up from vivid dreams wherein she saw the +field with thousands of ghastly faces turned towards the white +moonlight. In her belief Merwyn was incapable of looking upon +such scenes. Therefore why should she think of him with scorn and +bitterness? She herself had never before realized how terrible +they were. Now that the dread emergency, with its imperative demand +for manhood and action, had passed, her heart became softened +and chastened with thoughts of death. She was enabled to form a +kinder judgment, and to believe it very possible that Merwyn, in +the consciousness of his weakness, was suffering more than many a +wounded man of sterner mettle. + +On the evening of the day whereon she had read the ominous words +in regard to her friends, Merwyn's card was handed to her, and, +although surprised, she went down to meet him without hesitation. +His motives for this call need brief explanation. + +For a time he had given way to the deepest dejection in regard to +his own prospects. There seemed nothing for him to do but wait for +the arrival of his mother, whom he could not welcome. He still had +a lingering hope that when she came and found her ambitious dreams +of Southern victory dissipated, she might be induced to give him +back his freedom, and on this hope he lived. But, in the main, he +was like one stunned and paralyzed by a blow, and for a time he +could not rally. He had been almost sleepless for days from intense +excitement and expectation, and the reaction was proportionately +great. At last he thought of Strahan, and telegraphed to Mrs. +Strahan, at her country place, asking if she had heard from her son. +Soon, after receiving a negative answer, he saw, in the long lists +of casualties, the brief, vague statement that Marian had found. +The thought then occurred to him that he might go to Gettysburg +and search for Strahan. Anything would be better than inaction. +He believed that he would have time to go and return before his +mother's arrival, and, if he did not, he would leave directions +for her reception. The prospect of doing something dispelled his +apathy, and the hope of being of service to his friend had decided +attractions, for he had now become sincerely attached to Strahan. +He therefore rapidly made his preparations to depart that very +night, but decided first to see Marian, thinking it possible that +she might have received some later intelligence. Therefore, although +very doubtful of his reception, he had ventured to call, hoping +that Marian's interest in her friend might secure for him a slight +semblance of welcome. He was relieved when she greeted him gravely, +quietly, but not coldly. + +He at once stated his purpose, and asked if she had any information +that would guide him in his search. Although she shook her head +and told him that she knew nothing beyond what she had seen in the +paper, he saw with much satisfaction that her face lighted up with +hope and eagerness, and that she approved of his effort. While +explaining his intentions he had not sat down, but now she cordially +asked him to be seated and to give his plans more in detail. + +"I fear you will find fearful confusion and difficulty in reaching +the field," she said. + +"I have no fears," he replied. "I shall go by rail as far as possible, +then hire or purchase a horse. The first list of casualties is +always made up hastily, and I have strong hopes of finding Strahan +in one of the many extemporized hospitals, or, at least, of getting +some tidings of him." + +"One thing is certain," she added, kindly,--"you have proved that +if you do find him, he will have a devoted nurse." + +"I shall do my best for him," he replied, quietly. "If he has been +taken from the field and I can learn his whereabouts, I shall follow +him." + +The color caused by his first slight embarrassment had faded away, +and Marian exclaimed, "Mr. Merwyn, you are either ill or have been +ill." + +"Oh, no," he said, carelessly; "I have only shared in the general +excitement and anxiety. I am satisfied that we have but barely +escaped a serious outbreak in this city." + +"I think you are right," she answered, gravely, and her thought was: +"He is indeed to be pitied if a few weeks of fearful expectation have +made him so pale and haggard. It has probably cost him a tremendous +effort to remain in the city where he has so much at stake." + +After a moment's silence Merwyn resumed: "I shall soon take my +train. Would you not like to write a few lines to Strahan? As I +told you, in effect, once before, they may prove the best possible +tonic in case I find him." + +Marian, eager to comply with the suggestion, excused herself. In her +absence her father entered. He also greeted the young man kindly, +and, learning of his project, volunteered some useful instructions, +adding, "I can give you a few lines that may be of service." + +At last Merwyn was about to depart, and Marian, for the first time, +gave him her hand and wished him "God-speed." He flushed deeply, +and there was a flash of pleasure in his dark eyes as he said, in +a low tone, that he would try to deserve her kindness. + +At this moment there was a ring at the door, and a card was brought +in. Marian could scarcely believe her eyes, for on it was written, +"Henry Blauvelt." + +She rushed to the door and welcomed the young officer with exclamations +of delight, and then added, eagerly, "Where is Mr. Strahan?" + +"I am sorry indeed to tell you that I do not know," Blauvelt +replied, sadly. Then he hastily added: "But I am sure he was not +killed, for I have searched every part of the field where he could +possibly have fallen. I have visited the hospitals, and have spent +days and nights in inquiries. My belief now is that he was taken +prisoner." + +"Then there is still hope!" exclaimed the young girl, with tears +in her eyes. "You surely believe there is still hope?" + +"I certainly believe there is much reason for hope. The rebels +left their own seriously wounded men on the field, and took away +as prisoners only such of our men as were able to march. It is true +I saw Strahan fall just as we were driven back; but I am sure that +he was neither killed nor seriously wounded, for I went to the spot +as soon as possible afterwards and he was not there, nor have I +been able, since, to find him or obtain tidings of him. He may have +been knocked down by a piece of shell or a spent ball. A moment or +two later the enemy charged over the spot where he fell, and what +was left of our regiment was driven back some distance. From that +moment I lost all trace of him. I believe that he has only been +captured with many other prisoners, and that he will be exchanged +in a few weeks." + +"Heaven grant that it may be so!" she breathed, fervently. "But, +Mr. Blauvelt, YOU are wounded. Do not think us indifferent because +we have asked so eagerly after Major Strahan, for you are here +alive and apparently as undaunted as ever." + +"Oh, my wounds are slight. Carrying my arm in a sling gives too +serious an impression. I merely had one of the fingers of my left +hand shot away, and a scratch on my shoulder." + +"But have these wounds been dressed lately?" Mr. Vosburgh asked, +gravely. + +"And have you had your rations this evening?" Marian added, with +the glimmer of a smile. + +"Thanks, yes to both questions. I arrived this afternoon, and at +once saw a good surgeon. I have not taken time to obtain a better +costume than this old uniform, which has seen hard service." + +"Like the wearer," said Marian. "I should have been sorry indeed +if you had changed it." + +"Well, I knew that you would be anxious to have even a negative +assurance of Strahan's safety." + +"And equally so to be positively assured of your own." + +"I hoped that that would be true to some extent. My dear old mother, +in New Hampshire, to whom I have telegraphed, is eager to see me, +and so I shall go on in the morning." + +"You must be our guest, then, to-night," said Mr. Vosburgh, +decisively. "We will take no refusal, and I shall send at once to +the hotel for your luggage." + +"It is small indeed," laughed Blauvelt, flushing with pleasure, +"for I came away in very light marching order." + +Marian then explained that Merwyn, who, after a brief, polite +greeting from Blauvelt, had been almost forgotten, was about to +start in search of Strahan. + +"I would not lay a straw in his way, and possibly he may obtain +some clue that escaped me," said the young officer. + +"Perhaps, if you feel strong enough to tell us something of that +part of the battle in which you were engaged, and of your search, +Mr. Merwyn may receive hints which will be of service to him," Mr. +Vosburgh suggested. + +"I shall be very glad to do so, and feel entirely equal to the +effort. Indeed, I have been resting and sleeping in the cars nearly +all day, and am so much better that I scarcely feel it right to be +absent from the regiment." + +They at once repaired to the library, Marian leaving word with +Mammy Borden that they were engaged, should there be other callers. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +A GLIMPSE OF WAR. + + + + + +"Captain Blauvelt," said Marian, when they were seated in the +library, "I have two favors to ask of you. First, that you will +discontinue your story as soon as you feel the least weakness, and, +second, that you will not gloss anything over. I wish a life-picture +of a soldier's experience. You and Mr. Strahan have been inclined +to give me the brighter side of campaigning. Now, tell us just what +you and Mr. Strahan did. I've no right to be the friend of soldiers +if I cannot listen to the tragic details of a battle, while sitting +here in this quiet room, and I wish to realize, as I never have +done, what you and others have passed through. Do not be so modest +that you cannot tell us exactly what you did. In brief, a plain, +unvarnished tale unfold, and I shall be content." + +"Now," she thought, "Mr. Merwyn shall know to whom I can give my +friendship. I do not ask him, or any one, to face these scenes, +but my heart is for a man who can face them." + +Blauvelt felt that he was fortunate indeed. He knew that he had +fair powers as a raconteur, and he was conscious of having taken no +unworthy part in the events he was about to describe, while she, +who required the story, was the woman whom he most admired, and +whose good opinion was dear to him. + +Therefore, after a moment's thought, he began: "In order to give +you a quiet, and therefore a more artistic prelude to the tragedy +of the battle, I shall touch lightly on some of the incidents of +our march to the field. I will take up the thread of our experiences +on the 15th of June, for I think you were quite well informed of +what occurred before that date. The 15th was one of the hottest +days that I remember. I refer to this fact because of a pleasant +incident which introduces a little light among the shadows, and +suggests that soldiers are not such bad fellows after all, although +inclined to be a little rough and profane. Our men suffered terribly +from the heat, and some received sunstrokes. Many were obliged to +fall out of the ranks, but managed to keep up with the column. At +noon we were halted near a Vermont regiment that had just drawn a +ration of soft bread and were boiling their coffee. As our exhausted +men came straggling and staggering in, these hospitable Vermonters +gave them their entire ration of bread and the hot coffee prepared +for their own meal; and when the ambulances brought in the men who +had been sun-struck, these generous fellows turned their camp into +a temporary hospital and themselves into nurses. + +"I will now give you a glimpse of a different experience. Towards +evening on the 19th a rain-storm began, and continued all night. +No orders to halt came till after midnight. On we splashed, waded, +and floundered along roads cut up by troops in advance until the +mud in many places reached the depth of ten inches. It was intensely +dark, and we could not see to pick our way. Splashed from head to +foot, and wet through for hours, we had then one of the most dismal +experiences I remember. I had not been well since the terrible +heat of the 15th, and Strahan, putting on the air of a martinet, +sternly ordered me to mount his horse while he took charge of my +company." + +Marian here clapped her hands in applause. + +"At last we were ordered to file to the right into a field and bivouac +for the night. The field proved to be a marshy meadow, worse than +the road. But there was no help for it, and we were too tired to +hunt around in the darkness for a better place. Strahan mounted +again to assist in giving orders for the night's arrangement, and +to find drier ground if possible. In the darkness he and his horse +tumbled into a ditch so full of mire and water that he escaped all +injury. We sank half-way to our knees in the swampy ground, and the +horses floundered so that one or two of the officers were thrown, +and all were obliged to dismount. At last, by hallooing, the regiment +formed into line, and then came the unique order from the colonel, +'Squat, my bull-frogs.' There was nothing for us to do but to +lie down on the swampy, oozing ground, with our shelter tents and +blankets wrapped around and under us. You remember what an exquisite +Strahan used to be. I wish you could have seen him when the morning +revealed us to one another. He was of the color of the sacred soil +from crown to toe. When we met we stood and laughed at each other, +and I wanted him to let me make a sketch for your benefit, but we +hadn't time. + +"I will now relate a little incident which shows how promptly +pluck and character tell. During the 25th we were pushed forward +not far from thirty miles. On the morning of this severe march +a young civilian officer, who had been appointed to the regiment +by the Governor, joined us, and was given command of Company I. +When he took his place in the march there was a feeling of intense +hostility toward him, as there ever is among veterans against +civilians who are appointed over them. If he had fallen out of the +ranks and died by the roadside I scarcely believe that a man would +have volunteered to bury him. But, while evidently unaccustomed to +marching, he kept at the head of his company throughout the entire +day, when every step must have been torture. He uttered not a word +of complaint, and at night was seen, by the light of a flaring +candle, pricking the blisters on his swollen feet; then he put on +his shoes, and walked away as erect as if on parade. In those few +hours he had won the respect of the entire regiment, and had become +one of us. Poor fellow! I may as well mention now that he was +killed, a few days later, with many of the company that he was +bravely leading. His military career lasted but little over a week, +yet he proved himself a hero. + +"Now I will put in a few high lights again. On the 28th we entered +Frederick City. Here we had a most delightful experience. The day +was warm and all were thirsty. Instead of the cold, lowering glances +to which we had been accustomed in Virginia, smiling mothers, often +accompanied by pretty daughters, stood in the gateways with pails +and goblets of cool, sparkling water. I doubt whether the same +number of men ever drank so much water before, for who could pass +by a white hand and arm, and a pretty, sympathetic face, beaming +with good-will? Here is a rough sketch I made of a Quaker matron, +with two charming daughters, and an old colored man, 'totin'' water +at a rate that must have drained their well." + +Marian praised the sketch so heartily that Merwyn knew she was +taking this indirect way to eulogize the soldier as as well as the +artist, and he groaned inwardly as he thought how he must suffer +by contrast. + +"I will pass over what occurred till the 1st of July. Our march +lay through a country that, after desolated Virginia, seemed like +paradise, and the kind faces that greeted us were benedictions. +July 1st was clear, and the sun's rays dazzling and intense in their +heat. Early in the afternoon we were lying around in the shade, +about two miles from the State line of Pennsylvania. Two corps +had preceded us. Some of our men, with their ears on the ground, +declared that they could hear the distant mutter of artillery. The +country around was full of troops, resting like ourselves. + +"Suddenly shrill bugle-blasts in every direction called us into +line. We were moved through Emmetsburg, filed to the left into +a field until other troops passed, and then took our place in the +column and began a forced march to Gettysburg. Again we suffered +terribly from the heat and the choking clouds of dust raised by +commands in advance of us. The sun shone in the west like a great, +angry furnace. Our best men began to stagger from the ranks and fall +by the wayside, while every piece of woods we passed was filled +with prostrate men, gasping, and some evidently dying. But on, +along that white, dusty road, the living torrent poured. Only one +command was heard. 'Forward! Forward!' + +"First, like a low jar of thunder, but with increasing volume and +threatening significance, the distant roar of artillery quickened +the steps of those who held out. Major Strahan was again on his +feet, with other officers, their horses loaded down with the rifles +of the men. Even food and blankets, indeed almost everything except +ammunition, was thrown away by the men, for, in the effort to reach +the field in time, an extra pound became an intolerable burden. + +"At midnight we were halted on what was then the extreme left of +Meade's position. When we formed our regimental line, as usual, +at the close of the day, not over one hundred men and but five or +six officers were present. Over one hundred and fifty had given +out from the heat and fatigue. The moment ranks were broken the men +threw themselves down in their tracks and slept with their loaded +guns by their sides. Strahan and I felt so gone that we determined +to have a little refreshment if possible. Lights were gleaming from +a house not far away, and we went thither in the hope of purchasing +something that would revive us. We found the building, and even +the yard around it, full of groaning and desperately wounded men, +with whom the surgeons were busy. This foretaste of the morrow took +away our appetites, and we returned to our command, where Strahan +was soon sleeping, motionless, as so many of our poor fellows would +be on the ensuing night. + +"Excessive fatigue often takes from me the power to sleep, and I lay +awake, listening to the strange, ominous sounds off to our right. +There were the heavy rumble of artillery wheels, the tramp of men, +and the hoarse voices of officers giving orders. In the still night +these confused sounds were wonderfully distinct near at hand, but +they shaded off in the northeast to mere murmurs. I knew that it +was the army of the Potomac arriving and taking its positions. The +next day I learned that General Meade had reached the field about +one A.M., and that he had spent the remaining hours of the night +in examining the ground and in making preparations for the coming +struggle. The clear, white moonlight, which aided him in his task, +lighted up a scene strange and beautiful beyond words. It glinted +on our weapons, gave to the features of the sleepers the hue +of death, and imparted to Strahan's face, who lay near me, almost +the delicacy and beauty of a girl. I declare to you, that when I +remembered the luxurious ease from which he had come, the hero he +was now, and all his many acts of kindness to me and others,--when +I thought of what might be on the morrow, I'm not ashamed to say +that tears came into my eyes." + +"Nor am I ashamed," faltered Marian, "that you should see tears in +mine. Oh, God grant that he may return to us again!" + +"Well," resumed Blauvelt, after a moment of thoughtful hesitation, +"I suppose I was a little morbid that night. Perhaps one was excusable, +for all knew that we were on the eve of the most desperate battle +of the war. I shall not attempt to describe the beauty of the +landscape, or the fantastic shapes taken by the huge boulders that +were scattered about. My body seemed almost paralyzed with fatigue, +but my mind, for a time, was preternaturally active, and noted every +little detail. Indeed, I felt a strange impulse to dwell upon and +recall everything relating to this life, since the chances were +so great that we might, before the close of another day, enter a +different state of existence. You see I am trying, as you requested, +to give you a realistic picture." + +"That is what I wish," said the young girl; but her cheeks were +pale as she spoke. + +"In the morning I was awakened by one of my men bringing me a cup +of hot coffee, and when I had taken it, and later a little breakfast +of raw pork and hard-tack, I felt like a new man. Nearly all of our +stragglers had joined us during the night, or in the dawn, and our +regiment now mustered about two hundred and forty rifles in line, +a sad change from the time when we marched a thousand strong. But +the men now were veterans, and this almost made good the difference. + +"When the sun was a few hours high we were moved forward with the +rest of our brigade; then, later, off to the left, and placed in +position on the brow of a hill that descended steeply before us, +and was covered with rocks, huge boulders, and undergrowth. The +right of our regiment was in the edge of a wood with a smoother +slope before it. I and my company had no other shelter than the +rocks and boulders, which formed a marked feature of the locality, +and protruded from the soil in every imaginable shape. If we had +only thrown the smaller stones together and covered them with earth +we might have made, during the time we wasted, a line of defence +from which we could not have been driven. The 2d of July taught us +that we had still much to learn. As it was, we lounged about upon +the grass, seeking what shade we could from the glare of another +intensely hot day, and did nothing. + +"A strange, ominous silence pervaded the field for hours, broken +only now and then by a shell screaming through the air, and the +sullen roar of the gun from which it was fired. The pickets along +our front would occasionally approach the enemy too closely, and there +would be brief reports of musketry, again followed by oppressive +silence. A field of wheat below us undulated in light billows +as the breeze swept it. War and death would be its reapers. The +birds were singing in the undergrowth; the sun lighted up the rural +landscape brilliantly, and it was almost impossible to believe +that the scenes of the afternoon could, take place. By sweeping +our eyes up and down our line, and by resting them upon a battery +of our guns but a few yards away, we became aware of the significance +of our position. Lee's victorious army was before us. Sinister +rumors of the defeat of Union forces the previous day had reached +us, and we knew that the enemy's inaction did not indicate hesitation +or fear, but rather a careful reconnaissance of our lines, that the +weakest point might be discovered. Every hour of delay, however, +was a boon to us, for the army of the Potomac was concentrating +and strengthening its position. + +"We were on the extreme left of the Union army; and, alas for us! +Lee first decided to turn and crush its left. As I have said, we +were posted along the crest of a hill which sloped off a little +to the left, then rose again, and culminated in a wild, rocky +elevation called the Devil's Den,--fit name in view of the scenes +it witnessed. Behind us was a little valley through which flowed a +small stream called Plum Run. Here the artillery horses, caissons, +and wagons were stationed, that they might be in partial shelter. +Across the Run, and still further back, rose the rocky, precipitous +heights of Little Round Top, where, during the same afternoon, +some of the severest fighting of the battle is said to have taken +place. Please give me a sheet of paper, and I can outline the +nature of the ground just around us. Of the general battle of that +day I can give you but a slight idea. One engaged in a fight sees, +as a rule, only a little section of it; but in portraying that he +gives the color and spirit of the whole thing." + +Rapidly sketching for a few minutes, Blauvelt resumed: "Here we +are along the crest of this hill, with a steep, broken declivity +in front of us, extending down a few hundred yards to another small +stream, a branch of Plum Run. Beyond this branch the ground rises +again to some thick woods, which screened the enemy's movements. + +"At midday clouds of dust were seen rising in the distance, and we +at last were told that Sedgwick's corps had arrived, and that the +entire army of the Potomac was on the ground. As hours still elapsed +and no attack was made, the feeling of confidence grew stronger. +Possibly Lee had concluded that our position was unassailable, or +something had happened. The soldier's imagination was only second +to his credulity in receiving the rumors which flew as thick as +did the bullets a little later. + +"Strahan and I had a quiet talk early in the day, and said what we +wished to each other. After that he became dreamy and absorbed in +his own thoughts as we watched for signs of the enemy through hours +that seemed interminable. Some laughing, jesting, and card-playing +went on among the men, but in the main they were grave, thoughtful, +and alert, spending the time in discussing the probabilities of +this conflict, and in recalling scenes of past battles. + +"Suddenly--it could not have been much past three o'clock--a dozen +rebel batteries opened upon us, and in a second we were in a tempest +of flying, bursting shells. Our guns, a few yards away, and other +batteries along our line, replied. The roar of the opening battle +thundered away to the right as far as we could hear. We were formed +into line at once, and lay down upon the ground. A few of our men +were hit, however, and frightful wounds were inflicted. After this +iron storm had raged for a time we witnessed a sight that I shall +never forget. Emerging from the woods on the slope opposite to us, +solid bodies of infantry, marching by columns of battalion, came +steadily toward us, their bayonets scintillating in the sunlight as +if aflame. On they came till they crossed the little stream before +us, and then deployed into four distinct lines of battle as steadily +as if on parade. It was hard to realize that those men were marching +towards us in the bright sunlight with deadly intent. Heretofore, +in Virginia, the enemy had been partially screened in his approaches, +but now all was like a panorama spread before us. We could see our +shells tearing first through their column, then through the lines of +battle, making wide gaps and throwing up clouds of dust. A second +later the ranks were closed again, and, like a dark tide, on flowed +their advance. + +"We asked ourselves, 'What chance have our thin ranks against those +four distinct, heavy battle lines advancing to assault us?' We had +but two ranks of men, they eight. But not a man in our regiment +flinched. When the enemy reached the foot of the hill our cannon +could not be so depressed as to harm them. The time had come for +the more deadly small arms. After a momentary halt the Confederates +rushed forward to the assault with loud yells. + +"Strahan's face was flushed with excitement and ardor. He hastened +to the colonel on the right of the line and asked him to order a +charge. The colonel coolly and quietly told him to go back to his +place. A crash of musketry and a line of fire more vivid than July +sunshine breaks out to the right and left as far as we can hear. +Our men are beginning to fall. Again the impetuous Strahan hastens +to the colonel and entreats for the order to charge, but our +commander, as quiet and as impassive as the boulder beside which +he stands, again orders him back. A moment later, however, their +horses are brought, and they mount in spite of my remonstrances and +those of other officers. Strahan's only answer was, "The men must +see us to-day;" and he slowly rode to the rear and centre of the +regiment, wheeled his horse, and, with drawn sword, fixed his eyes +on the colonel, awaiting his signal. Supreme as was the moment of +excitement, I looked for a few seconds at my gallant friend, for +I wished to fix his portrait at that moment forever in my mind." + +"Merciful Heaven!" said Marian, in a choking voice, "I thought I +appreciated my friends before, but I did not." + +Mr. Vosburgh's eyes rested anxiously on his daughter, and he asked, +gravely, "Marian, is it best for you to hear more of this to-night?" + +"Yes, papa. I must hear it all, and not a detail must be softened +or omitted. Moreover," she added, proudly, dashing her tears right +and left, "I am not afraid to listen." + +Merwyn had shifted his seat, and was in deep shadow. He was pale +and outwardly impassive, but there was torture in his mind. She +thought, pityingly, "In spite of my tears I have a stouter heart +than he." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +A GLIMPSE OF WAR, CONTINUED. + + + + + +"Miss Marian," resumed Blauvelt, "the scenes I am now about to +describe are terrible in the extreme, even in their baldest statement. +I cannot portray what actually took place; I doubt whether any one +could; I can only give impressions of what I saw and heard when +nearly all of us were almost insane from excitement. There are +men who are cool in battle,--our colonel was, outwardly,--but the +great majority of men must be not only veterans, but also gifted with +unusual temperaments, to be able to remain calm and well balanced +in the uproar of a bloody battle. + +"In a sense, our men were veterans, and were steady enough to aim +carefully as the enemy advanced up the steep hill. Our shots told +on them more fatally than theirs on us. The greater number of us +shared Strahan's impatience, and we longed for the wild, forward +dash, which is a relief to the tremendous nervous strain at such a +time. After a moment or two, that seemed ages, the colonel quietly +nodded to Strahan, who waved his sword, pointed towards the enemy, +and shouted, 'Charge!' + +"You know him well enough to be sure that this was not an order +for the men to fulfil while he looked on. In a second his powerful +bay sprung through the centre of our line, and to keep up with him +we had to follow on a run. There was no hesitation or flagging. +Faces that had been pale were flushed now. As I turned my eyes +from moment to moment back to my company, the terrible expression +of the men's eyes impressed me even then. The colonel watched our +impetuous rush with proud satisfaction, and then spurred his horse +to the very midst of our advance. The lieutenant-colonel, undaunted +by a former wound, never flinched a second, but wisely fought on +foot. + +"The first battle-line of the enemy seemed utterly unable to stand +before our fierce onset. Those who were not shot fled. + +"Again I saw Strahan waving his sword and shouting; 'Victory! +Forward, men! forward!' + +"He was in the very van, leading us all. At this moment the second +rebel line fired a volley, and the bullets swept by like an autumn +gust through a tree from which the leaves, thinned by former gales, +are almost stripped. It seemed at the moment as if every other man +went down. Wonder of wonders, as the smoke lifted a little, I saw +to the right the tall form of our colonel still on his gray horse, +pointing with his sword to the second rebel line, and shouting, +'Forward, my men! forward!' + +"As the order left his lips, his sword fell, point-downward, and, +with a headlong curve, he went over his horse upon the rocks below. +Even in his death he went towards the enemy. His horse galloped in +the same direction, but soon fell. I thought that Strahan was gone +also, for he was hidden by smoke. A second later I heard his voice: +'Forward! Charge!' + +"The men seemed infuriated by the loss of the colonel, and by no +means daunted. Our next mad rush broke the second line of the enemy. + +"The scene now defies all my powers of description. The little +handful of men that was left of my company were almost beyond +control. Each soldier was acting under the savage impulse to follow +and kill some rebel before him. I shared the feeling, yet remained +sane enough to thank God when I saw Strahan leap lightly down from +his staggering horse, yet ever crying, 'Forward!' A second later +the poor animal fell dead. + +"Our own cannons were bellowing above us; the shells of the enemy +were shrieking over our heads. There was a continuous crash of +musketry that sounded like a fierce, devouring flame passing through +dry thorns, yet above all this babel of horrid sounds could be heard +the shouts and yells of the combatants and the shrieks and groans +of wounded and dying men. Then remember that I saw but a little +section, a few yards in width, of a battle extending for miles. + +"In our mad excitement we did not consider the odds against us. The +two remaining lines of battle were advancing swiftly through the +fugitives, and we struck the first with such headlong impetuosity +that it was repulsed and gave back; but the fourth and last line +passing through, and being reinforced by the other broken lines, +came unfaltering, and swept us back from sheer weight of numbers. +We were now reduced to a mere skirmish line. It was at this moment +that I saw Strahan fall, and it seemed but a second later that the +enemy's advance passed over the spot. It was impossible then to +rescue him, for the lieutenant-colonel had given orders for all +to fall back and rally behind the guns that it was our duty to +protect. Indeed, the difficult thing, now, was to get back. The +Union regiment, on our right, had given way, after a gallant fight, +earlier than we had, and the rebels were on our flank and rear. A +number of our men going to the ridge, from which they had charged, +ran into the enemy and were captured. There were desperate hand-to-hand +encounters, hair-breadth escapes, and strange episodes. + +"One occurs to me which I saw with my own eyes. It happened a +little earlier in the fight. We were so close to the enemy that a +man in my company had not time to withdraw his ramrod, and, in his +instinctive haste to shoot first at a rebel just before him, sent +ramrod and all through the Confederate's body, pinning him to the +ground. The poor fellow stretched out his hands and cried for mercy. +My man not only wished to recover his rod, but was, I believe, +actuated by a kindly impulse, for he ran to the 'Johnny," pulled +out the rod, jerked the man to his feet, and started him on a run +to our rear as prisoner. + +"When at last what was left of the regiment reached its original +position it numbered no more than a full company. Scarcely a hundred +were in line. Over one hundred of our men and the majority of the +officers were either killed or wounded. While the lieutenant-colonel +was rallying us near the battery, a shell struck a gun-carriage, +hurling it against him, and he was home senseless from the field. +The command now devolved on the senior captain left unwounded. + +"One of my men now said to me, 'Captain, why don't you go to the +rear? Your face is so covered with blood that you must be badly +hurt.' + +"It was only at that moment that I became conscious of my wound. In +my intense anxiety about Strahan, in the effort to get my men back +in something like order, and in the shock of seeing the lieutenant-colonel +struck down, my mind seemed almost unaware of the existence of +the body. In the retreat I had felt something sting my hand like +a nettle, and now found one of the fingers of my left hand badly +shattered. With this hand I had been wiping my brow, for it was +intensely hot. I therefore was the most sanguineous-looking man of +our number. + +"Of course I did not go to the rear because of a wound of so slight +a nature, and my earnest hope was that reinforcements would enable +us to drive the enemy back so that I could go to the spot where I +had seen Strahan fall. + +"What I have vainly attempted to describe occurred in less time +than I have taken in telling about it. I think it would have been +much better if we had never left the line which we now occupied, +and which we still held in spite of the overwhelming superiority, +in numbers, of the enemy. If, instead of wasting the morning hours, +we had fortified this line, we never could have been driven from +it. + +"Our immediate foes, in front of us did not at that time advance +much farther than the point of our repulse, and, like ourselves, +sought cover from which to fire. We now had a chance to recover +a little from our wild excitement, and to realize, in a slight +degree, what was taking place around us. Information came that +our corps-commander had been seriously wounded. Our own colonel +lay, with other dead officers, a little in our rear, yet in plain +sight. We could only give them a mournful glance, for the battle +was still at its height, and was raging in our front and for miles +to the right. The thunder of three hundred or more guns made the +very earth tremble, while the shrieking and bursting of the shells +above us filled the air with a din that was infernal. + +"But we had little chance to observe or think of anything except +the enemy just below us. With wolfish eyes they were watching every +chance to pick off our men. Many of our killed and wounded on the +bloody declivity were in plain view, and one poor fellow, desperately +hurt, would often raise his hand and wave it to us. + +"Our men acted like heroes, and took deliberate aim before they +fired. When a poor fellow dropped, one of our officers picked up +the rifle and fired in his place." + +"Did you do that?" Marian asked. + +"Yes; my sword was of no service, and my handful of men needed no +orders. Anything at such a time is better than inaction, and we all +felt that the line must be held. Every bullet counted, you know. + +"Some of our boys did very brave things at this time. For instance: +rifles, that had become so clogged or hot as to be unserviceable, +were dropped, and the men would say to their immediate companions, +'Be careful how you fire,' and then rush down the slope, pick up +the guns of dead or wounded comrades, and with these continue the +fight. + +"At last the enemy's fire slackened a little, and I went to take +my farewell look at our colonel and others of our officers whose +bodies had been recovered. These were then carried to the rear, +and I never saw their familiar faces again. + +"The horses now came up at a gallop to take away the battery near +us, and I saw a thing which touched me deeply. As the horses were +turning that a gun might be limbered up, a shot, with a clean cut, +carried away a leg from one of the poor animals. The faithful, +well-trained beast, tried to hobble around into his place on three +legs. He seemed to have caught the spirit which animated the entire +army that day. + +"As I turned toward the regiment, the cry went up, 'They are flanking +us!' + +"The brief slackening of the enemy's fire had only indicated +preparations for a general forward movement. An aid now galloped +to us with orders to fall back instantly. A few of my men had been +placed, for the sake of cover, in the woods on the right, and I +hastened over to them to give the order. By the time I had collected +them, the enemy had occupied our old position and we barely escaped +capture. When we caught up with the regiment, our brigade-commander +had halted it and was addressing it in strong words of eulogy; +adding, however, that he still expected almost impossible things +of his troops. + +"It was pleasant to know that our efforts had been recognized and +appreciated, but our hearts were heavy with the thoughts of those +we had lost. We were now sent to a piece of woods about a mile to +the rear, as a part of the reserve, and it so happened that we were +not again called into the fight, which ended, you know, the next +day. + +"I had bound up my fingers as well as I could, and now, in reaction +and from loss of blood, felt sick and faint. I did not wish to go +to our field hospital, for I knew the scenes there were so horrible +that I should not be equal to witnessing them. Our surgeon came +and dressed my finger for me, and said that it would have to come +off in the morning, and I now found that my shoulder also had been +slightly cut with a bullet. These injuries on that day, however, +were the merest trifles. + +"Our supper was the dreariest meal I ever took. The men spoke in +subdued tones, and every now and then a rough fellow would draw his +sleeve across his eyes, as so many things brought to mind those who +had breakfasted with us. We were like a household that had returned +from burying the greater part of its number. Yes, worse than this, +for many, suffering from terrible wounds, were in the hands of the +enemy. + +"Of course I grieved for the loss of men and officers, but I had +come to feel like a brother towards Strahan, and, fatigued as I +was, solicitude on his account kept me awake for hours. The battle +was still raging on our extreme right, and I fell asleep before +the ominous sounds ceased. + +"Waking with the dawn, I felt so much better and stronger that I +took a hasty cup of coffee, and then started toward the spot where +I had seen Strahan fall, in the hope of reaching it. The surgeon had +ordered that I should be relieved from duty, and told me to keep +quiet. This was impossible with my friend's fate in such uncertainty. +I soon found that the enemy occupied the ground on which we had +fought, and that to go beyond a certain point would be death or +captivity. Therefore I returned, the surgeon amputated my finger, +and then I rested with the regiment several hours. With the dawn, +heavy fighting began again on the extreme right, but we knew at +the time little of its character or object. + +"After an early dinner I became restless and went to our corps-hospitals +to look after such of the wounded of my company as had been carried +thither. It was situated in a grove not far away. I will not describe +the scenes witnessed there, for it would only give you useless pain. +The surgeons had been at work all the night and morning around the +amputation tables, and our doctor and chaplain had done about all +that could be accomplished for our poor fellows. There were hundreds +of men lying on the ground, many of whom were in the agonies of +death even as I passed. + +"I again went back to see if there had been any change in our front +which would enable me to reach Strahan. This still being impossible, +I continued along our lines to the right at a slow pace, that I +might gain some idea of our position and prospects. My hope now of +reaching Strahan lay in our defeating Lee and gaining the field. +Therefore I had a double motive to be intensely interested in all +I saw. Since nine in the morning a strange silence had settled on +the field, but after yesterday's experience it raised no delusive +hopes. With the aid of a small field-glass that I carried, I could +see the enemy's batteries, and catch glimpses of their half-concealed +infantry, which were moving about in a way that indicated active +preparation for something. Our officers had also made the most of +this respite, and there had been a continuous shifting of troops, +strengthening of lines, and placing of artillery in position since +the dawn. Now, however, the quiet was wonderful, in view of the +vast bodies of men which were hi deadly array. Even the spiteful +picket-firing had ceased. + +"I had barely reached a high point, a little in the rear of the +Second Corps, commanded by General Hancock, when I saw evidences +of excitement and interest around me. Eyes and field-glasses were +directed towards the enemy's lines nearly opposite. Springing on +a rock near me, I turned my glass in the same direction, and saw +that Lee was massing his artillery along the edge of the woods on +the ridge opposite. The post of observation was a good one, and I +determined to maintain it. The rock promised shelter when the iron +tempest should begin. + +"Battery after battery came into position, until, with my glass, +I could count nearly a hundred guns. On our side batteries were +massing also, both to the right and the left of where I stood. +Experience had so taught me what these preparations meant that I +fairly trembled with excitement and awe. It appeared as if I were +about to witness one of the most terrific combats of the world, +and while I might well doubt whether anything could survive +the concentrated fire of these rebel guns, I could not resist the +desire to see out what I felt must be the final and supreme effort +of both armies. Therefore I stuck to my rock and swept with my glass +the salient points of interest. I dreaded the effect of the awful +cannonade upon our lines of infantry that lay upon the ground below +me, behind such slight shelter as they could find. Our position at +this point was commanding, but many of the troops were fearfully +exposed, while our artillerymen had to stand in plain view. Over +all this scene, so awfully significant and unnaturally quiet, +the scorching July sun sent down its rays like fiery darts, which +everywhere on the field scintillated as if they were kindling +innumerable fires. + +"At last the enemy fired a single gun. Almost instantly a flashing +line of light swept along the massed Confederate batteries, I sprung +down behind my rock as a perfect storm of iron swept over and around +me, and my heart stood almost still at the deep reverberations +which followed. This was but the prelude to the infernal symphony +that followed. With remarkable rapidity and precision of aim the +enemy continued firing, not irregularly, but in immense thundering +volleys, all together. There would be a moment's pause, and then +would come such a storm of iron that it seemed to me that even my +sheltering rock would be cut away, and that everything exposed must +be annihilated. + +"At first I was exceedingly troubled that our guns did not reply. +Could it be possible that the enemy's fire was so destructive that +our forces were paralyzed? I was learning to distinguish between the +measured cadences of the enemy's firing. After a hurtling shower +flew over, I sprung out, took a survey, and was so filled with +exultation and confidence, that I crept back again with hope renewed. +Our men were standing at the guns, which officers were sighting in +order to get more accurate range, and the infantry had not budged. +Of course there were streams of wounded going to the rear, but this +is true of every battle. + +"I now had to share my slight cover with several others, and saw +that if I went out again I should lose it altogether. So I determined +to wait out the artillery duel quietly. I could see the effects +of the enemy's shells in the rear, if not in front, and these were +disastrous enough. In the depression behind the ridge on which were +our guns and infantry, there were ammunition-wagons, ambulances, +and caissons. Among these, shells were making havoc. Soon a caisson +exploded with a terrific report and a great cloud of smoke, which, +clearing, revealed many prostrate forms, a few of which were able +to crawl away. + +"Minutes, which seemed like ages, had passed, and the horrible din +was then doubled by the opening of all our batteries. The ground +beneath me trembled, but as time passed and our guns kept up their +steady fire, and the infantry evidently remained unshaken in their +lines of defence, my confidence became stronger. By degrees you grow +accustomed to almost anything, and I now found leisure to observe +my companions behind the rock. I instantly perceived that two of +them were press-correspondents, young, boyish-looking fellows, who +certainly proved themselves veterans in coolness and courage. Even +in that deadly tempest they were alert and busy with their note-books. + +"When the caisson exploded, each swiftly wrote a few cabalistic +symbols. There was a house to the left, as we sat feeing our rear, +and I saw that they kept their eyes on that almost continually. +Curious to know why, I shouted in the ear of one, asking the +reason. He wrote, 'Meade's headquarters,' and then I shared their +solicitude. That it was occupied by some general of high rank, was +evident from the number of horses tied around it, and the rapid +coming and going of aids and orderlies; but it seemed a terrible +thing that our commander-in-chief should be so exposed. Shells flew +about the little cottage like angry hornets about their nest, and +every few minutes one went in. The poor horses, tied and helpless, +were kicking and plunging in their terror, and one after another +went down, killed or wounded. I was told that General Meade and +staff were soon compelled to leave the place. + +"The hours of the cannonade grew monotonous and oppressive. Again +and again caissons were exploded and added to the terrible list +of casualties. Wagons and ambulances--such of them as were not +wrecked--were driven out of range. Every moment or two the ground +shook with the recoil and thunder of our batteries, while the air +above and around us seemed literally filled with shrieking, moaning, +whistling projectiles of almost every size and pattern in present +use. From them came puffs of smoke, sharp cracks, heard above the +general din, as they exploded and showered around us pieces of +jagged iron. When a shell bursts, its fragments strike the ground +obliquely, with a forward movement; therefore our comparative +safety behind our rock, which often shook from the terrific impact +of missiles on its outer side. So many had now sought its shelter +that some extended beyond its protection, and before the cannonade +was over two were killed outright, almost within reach of my arm. +Many of the wounded, in going to the rear, were struck down before +reaching a place of safety. The same was true of the men bringing +ammunition from the caissons in the depression beneath us. Every few +minutes an officer of some rank would be carried by on a stretcher, +with a man or two in attendance. I saw one of these hastily moving +groups prostrated by a shell, and none of them rose again or +struggled. I only tell you of these scenes in compliance with your +wish, Miss Marian, and because I see that you have the spirit of +a soldier. I was told that, in the thickest of the fight, the wife +of a general came on the field in search of her husband, who was +reported wounded. I believe that you could have done the same." + +"I don't know," she replied, sadly,--"I don't know, for I never +realized what war was before;" and she looked apprehensively at +Merwyn, fearing to see traces of weakness. His side face, as he sat +in the shadow, was pale indeed, but he was rigid and motionless. +She received the impression that he was bracing himself by the +whole strength of his will to listen through the dreadful story. + +Again Mr. Vosburgh suggested that these details were too terrific +for his daughter's nerves, but she interrupted him almost sternly, +saying: "No, papa, I intend to know just what my friends have +passed through. I feel that it is due to them, and, if I cannot +hear quietly, I am not worthy to be their friend. I can listen to +words when Southern girls can listen to bullets. Captain Blauvelt, +you are describing the battle exactly as I asked and wished. My only +fear is that you are going beyond your strength;" and she poured +him out a glass of light wine. + +"When you come to hear all I passed through after leaving that +rock, you will know that this story-telling is not worth thinking +about," said Blauvelt, with a slight laugh, "All my exposure was +well worth the risk, for the chance of telling it to a woman of your +nerve. My hope now is that Strahan may some day learn how stanch +was our 'home support,' as we were accustomed to call you. I assure +you that many a man has been inspired to do his best because of +such friendship and sympathy. I am now about to tell you of the +grandest thing I ever saw or expect to see, and shall not abate one +jot of praise because the heroic act was performed by the enemy." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE GRAND ASSAULT. + + + + + +"After seeming ages had passed," Blauvelt resumed, having taken a +few moments of rest, "the fire of our artillery slackened and soon +ceased, and that of the rebete also became less rapid and furious. +We saw horses brought up, and some of our batteries going to the +rear at a gallop. Could our guns have been silenced? and was disaster +threatening us? Our anxiety was so great that the two correspondents +and I rushed out and were speedily reassured. There was our infantry, +still in line, and we soon saw that reserve batteries were taking +the place of those withdrawn. We afterward learned that General +Meade and brave General Hunt, Chief of Artillery, had ordered our +guns to be quiet and prepare for the assault which they knew would +follow the cannonade. + +"The wind blew from us towards the enemy, and our unbroken lines +were in view. All honor to the steadfast men who had kept their +places through the most awful artillery combat ever known on this +continent. For nearly two mortal hours the infantry had been obliged +to lie still and see men on every side of them torn and mangled to +death; but like a wide blue ribbon, as far as the eye could reach, +there they lay with the sunlight glittering on their polished +muskets. The rebels' fire soon slackened also. We now mounted the +friendly rock, and I was busy with my glass again. As the smoke +lifted, which had covered the enemy's position, I saw that we had +not been the only sufferers. Many of their guns were overturned, +and the ground all along their line was thick with prostrate men. + +"But they and their guns were forgotten. Their part in the bloody +drama was to be superseded, and we now witnessed a sight which can +scarcely ever be surpassed. Emerging from the woods on the opposite +ridge, over a mile away, came long lines of infantry. Our position +was to be assaulted. I suppose the cessation of our firing led the +enemy to think that our batteries had been silenced and the infantry +supports driven from the hill. The attacking column was forming +right under our eyes, and we could see other Confederate troops +moving up on the right and left to cover the movement and aid in +carrying it out. + +"There was bustle on our side also, in spite of the enemy's +shells, which still fell thickly along our line. New batteries were +thundering up at a gallop; those at the front, which had horses +left, were withdrawn; others remained where they had been shattered +and disabled, fresh pieces taking position beside them. The dead +and wounded were rapidly carried to the rear, and the army stripped +itself, like an athlete, for the final struggle. + +"Our batteries again opened with solid shot at the distant Confederate +infantry, but there was only the hesitation on their part incident +to final preparation. Soon on came their centre rapidly, their +flank supports, to right and left, moving after them. It proved +to be the launching of a human thunderbolt, and I watched its +progress, fascinated and overwhelmed with awe." + +"Were you exposed at this time to the enemy's shells?" Marias asked. + +"Yes, but their fire was not so severe as it had been, and +my interest in the assault was so absorbing that I could scarcely +think of anything else. I could not help believing that the fate +of our army, perhaps of the country, was to be decided there right +under my eyes, and this by an attack involving such deadly peril +to the participants that I felt comparatively safe. + +"The scene during the next half-hour defies description. All ever +witnessed in Roman amphitheatres was child's play in comparison. +The artillery on both sides had resumed its heavy din, the enemy +seeking to distract our attention and render the success of their +assault more probable, and we concentrating our fire on that solid +attacking column. As they approached nearer, our guns were shotted +with shells that made great gaps in their ranks, but they never +faltered. Spaces were closed instantly, and on they still came like +a dark, resistless wave tipped with light, as the sun glinted on +their bayonets through rifts of smoke. + +"As they came nearer, our guns in front crumbled and decimated +the leading ranks with grape and canister, while other batteries +farther away to the right and left still plowed red furrows with +shot and shell; but the human torrent, although shrinking and +diminishing, flowed on. I could not imagine a more sublime exhibition +of courage. Should the South rear to the skies a monument to their +soldiers, it would be insignificant compared with that assaulting +column, projected across the plain of Gettysburg. + +"At the foot of the ridge the leaders of this forlorn hope, as +it proved, halted their troops for a moment. As far as the smoke +permitted me to see, it seemed that the supporting Confederate +divisions had not kept pace with the centre. Would the assault be +made? The familiar rebel yell was a speedy answer, as they started +up the acclivity, firing as they came. Now, more vivid than the +sunlight, a sheet of fire flashed out along our line, and the crash +of musketry drowned even the thunder of the cannon. + +"The mad impulse of battle was upon me, as upon every one, and I +rushed down nearer our lines to get a better view, also from the +instinctive feeling that that attack must be repulsed, for it aimed +at nothing less than the piercing of the centre of our army. The +front melted away as if composed of phantoms, but other spectral +men took their place, the flashes of their muskets outlining their +position. On, on they came, up to our front line and over it. At +the awful point of impact there was on our side a tall, handsome +brigadier, whose black eyes glowed like coals. How he escaped so +long was one of the mysteries of battle. His voice rang out above +the horrid din as he rallied his men, who were not retreating, but +were simply pushed back by the still unspent impetus of the rebel +charge. I could not resist his appeal, or the example of his +heroism, and, seizing a musket and some cartridges belonging to a +fallen soldier, I was soon in the thick of it. I scarcely know what +happened for the next few moments, so terrible were the excitement +and confusion. Union troops and officers were rushing in on all +sides, without much regard to organization, under the same impulse +which had actuated me. I found myself firing point-blank at the +enemy but a few feet away. I saw a rebel officer waving his hat +upon his sword, and fired at him. Thank Heaven I did not hit him! +for, although he seemed the leading spirit in the charge, I would +not like to think I had killed so brave a man. In spite of all our +efforts, they pushed us back, back past the battery we were trying +to defend. I saw a young officer, not far away, although wounded, +run his gun a little forward with the aid of the two or three men +left on their feet, fire one more shot, and fall dead. Then I was +parrying bayonet thrusts and seeking to give them. One fierce-looking +fellow was making a lunge at me, but in the very act fell over, +pierced by a bullet. A second later the rebel officer, now seen to +be a general, had his hand on a gun and was shouting, 'Victory!' +but the word died on his lips as he fell, for at this moment there +was a rush in our rear. A heavy body of men burst, like a tornado, +through our shattered lines, and met the enemy in a hand-to-hand +conflict. + +"I had been nearly run over in this charge, and now regained my +senses somewhat. I saw that the enemy's advance was checked, that +the spot where lay the Confederate general would mark the highest +point attained by the crimson wave of Southern valor, for Union +troops were concentrating in overwhelming numbers. The wound in +my hand had broken out afresh. I hastened to get back out of the +melee, the crush, and the 'sing' of bullets, and soon reached my +old post of observation, exhausted and panting. The correspondents +were still there, and one of them patted me on the shoulder in a way +meant to be encouraging, and offered to put my name in his paper, +an honor which I declined. We soon parted, unknown to each other. +I learned, however, that the name of the gallant brigadier was Webb, +and that he had been wounded. So also was General Hancock at this +point. + +"The enemy's repulse was now changed into a rout. Prisoners were +brought in by hundreds, while those retreating across the plain were +followed by death-dealing shot and shell from our lines. As I sat +resting on my rock of observation, I felt that one could not exult +over such a foe, and I was only conscious of profound gratitude over +my own and the army's escape. Certainly if enough men, animated by +the same desperate courage, had taken part in the attack, it would +have been irresistible. + +"As soon as I saw that the battle at this point was practically +decided, I started back towards our left with the purpose of finding +my regiment and our surgeon, for my hand had become very painful. +I was so fortunate as to meet with my command as it was being moved +up within a few rods of the main line of the Third Corps, where we +formed a part of the reserve. Joining my little company and seeing +their familiar faces was like coming home. Their welcome, a cup of +coffee, and the redressing of my wound made me over again. I had to +answer many questions from the small group of officers remaining, +for they, kept in the rear all day, had not yet learned much about +the battle or its results. + +"While I gladdened their hearts with the tidings of our victory, +our surgeon growled: 'I'll have you put under arrest if you don't +keep quiet. You've been doing more than look on, or your hand would +not be in its present condition.' + +"Soon after I fell asleep, with my few and faithful men around me, +and it was nearly midnight when I wakened." + +"It's very evident that none of your present audience is inclined +to sleep," Marian exclaimed, with a deep breath. + +"And yet it's after midnight," Mr. Vosburgh added. "I fear we are +taxing you, captain, far beyond your strength. Your cheeks, Marian, +are feverish." + +"I do not feel weary yet," said the young officer, "if you are +not. Imagine that I have just waked up from that long nap of which +I have spoken. Miss Marian was such a sympathetic listener that +I dwelt much longer than I intended on scenes which impressed me +powerfully. I have not yet described my search for Strahan, or +given Mr. Merwyn such hints as my experience affords. Having just +come from the field, I do not see that he could gain much by undue +haste. He can accomplish quite as much by leaving sometime tomorrow. +To be frank, I believe that the only place to find Strahan is +under a rebel guard going South. Our troops may interpose in time +to release him; if not, he will be exchanged before long." + +"In a matter of this kind there should be no uncertainty which can +possibly be removed," Merwyn said, in a husky voice. "I shall now +save time by obtaining the information you can give, for I shall +know better how to direct my search. I shall certainly go in the +morning." + +"Yes, captain," said Marian, eagerly. "Since you disclaim weariness +we could listen for hours yet. You are a skilful narrator, for, +intensely as your story has interested me, you have reserved its +climax to the last, even though your search led you only among +woful scenes in the hospitals." + +"On such scenes I will touch as lightly as possible, and chiefly +for Mr. Merwyn's benefit; for if Strahan had been left on the field, +either killed or wounded, I do not see how he could have escaped +me." Then, with a smile at the young girl, he added: "Since you +credit me with some skill as a story-teller, and since my story is +so long, perhaps it should be divided. In that case what I am now +about to relate should be headed with the words, 'My search for +Strahan.'" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +BLAUVELT'S SEARCH FOR STRAHAN. + + + + + +"You will remember," said the captain, after a moment's pause, +that he might take up the thread of his narrative consecutively, +"that I awoke a little before midnight. At first I was confused, +but soon all that had happened came back to me. I found myself a +part of a long line of sleeping men that formed the reserve. Not +farther than from here across the street was another line in front +of us. Beyond this were our vigilant pickets, and then the vedettes +of the enemy. All seemed strangely still and peaceful, but a single +shot would have brought thousands of men to their feet. The moon +poured a soft radiance over all, and gave to the scene a weird +and terrible beauty. The army was like a sleeping giant. Would +its awakening be as terrible as on the last three mornings? Then +I thought of that other army sleeping beyond our lines,--an army +which neither bugle nor the thunder of all our guns could awaken. + +"I soon distinguished faint, far-off sounds from the disputed +territory beyond our pickets. Rising, I put my hand to my ear, and +then heard the words, 'Water! water!' + +"They were the cries of wounded men entreating for that which would +quench their intolerable thirst. The thought that Strahan might be +among this number stung me to the very quick, and I hastened to the +senior captain, who now commanded the regiment. I found him alert +and watchful, with the bugle at his side, for he felt the weight +of responsibility so suddenly thrust upon him. + +"'Captain Markham,' I said, 'do you hear those cries for water?' + +"'Yes,' he replied, sadly; 'I have heard them for hours, + +"'Among them may be Strahan's voice,' I said, eagerly. + +"'Granting it, what could we do? Our pickets are way this side of +the spot where he fell.' + +"'Captain,' I cried, 'Strahan was like a brother to me. I can't +rest here with the possibility that he is dying yonder for a little +water. I am relieved from duty, you know. If one of my company will +volunteer to go with me, will you give him your permission? I know +where Strahan fell, and am willing to try to reach him and bring +him in.' + +"'No,' said the captain, 'I can't give such permission. You might +be fired on and the whole line aroused. You can go to our old +brigade-commander, however--he now commands the division,--and +see what he says. He's back there under that tree. Of course, you +know, I sympathize with your feeling, but I cannot advise the risk. +Good heavens, Blauvelt! we've lost enough officers already.' + +"'I'll be back soon,' I answered. + +"To a wakeful aid I told my errand, and he aroused the general, +who was silent after he had been made acquainted with my project. + +"'I might bring in some useful information,' I added, hastily. + +"The officer knew and liked Strahan, but said: 'I shall have to put +my permission on the ground of a reconnoissance. I should be glad +to know if any changes are taking place on our front, and so would +my superiors. Of course you understand the risk you run when once +beyond our pickets?' + +"'Strahan would do as much and more for me,' I replied. + +"'Very well;' and he gave me permission to take a volunteer, at +the same time ordering me to report to him on my return. + +"I went back to our regimental commander, who growled, 'Well, if +you will go I suppose you will; but it would be a foolhardy thing +for even an unwounded man to attempt.' + +"I knew a strong, active young fellow in my company who would +go anywhere with me, and, waking him up, explained my purpose. He +was instantly on the qui vive. I procured him a revolver, and we +started at once. On reaching our pickets we showed our authority +to pass, and were informed that the enemy's vedettes ran along the +ridge on which we had fought the day before. Telling our pickets +to pass the word not to fire on us if we came in on the run, we +stole down into the intervening valley. + +"The moon was now momentarily obscured by clouds, and this favored +us. My plan was to reach the woods on which the right of our regiment +had rested. Here the shadows would be deep, and our chances better. +Crouching and creeping silently from bush to bush, we made our +gradual progress until we saw a sentinel slowly pacing back and +forth along the edge of the woods. Most of his beat was in shadow, +and there were bushes and rocks extending almost to it. We watched +him attentively for a time, and then my companion whispered: 'The +Johnny seems half dead with sleep. I believe I can steal up and +capture him without a sound. I don't see how we can get by him as +long as he is sufficiently wide awake to walk.' + +"'Very well. You have two hands, and my left is almost useless,' +I said. 'Make your attempt where the shadow is deepest, and if he +sees you, and is about to shoot, see that you shoot first. I'll be +with you instantly if you succeed, and cover your retreat in case +of failure." + +"In a moment, revolver in hand, he was gliding, like a shadow, from +cover to cover, and it was his good fortune to steal up behind the +sleepy sentinel, grasp his musket, and whisper, with his pistol +against his head, 'Not a sound, or you are dead.' + +"The man was discreet enough to be utterly silent. In a moment +I was by Rush's side--that was the name of the brave fellow who +accompanied me--and found that he had disarmed his prisoner. I +told Rush to take the rebel's musket and walk up and down the beat, +and especially to show himself in the moonlight. I made the Johnny +give me his word not to escape, telling him that he would be shot +instantly if he did. I gave him the impression that others were +watching him. I then tied his hands behind him and fastened him +to a tree in the shade. Feeling that I had not a moment to lose, +I passed rapidly down through the woods bearing to the left. The +place was only too familiar, and even in the moonlight I could +recognize the still forms of some of my own company. I found two +or three of our regiment still alive, and hushed them as I pressed +water to their lips. I then asked if they knew anything about +Strahan. They did not. Hastening on I reached the spot, by a large +boulder, where I had seen Strahan fall. He was not there, or anywhere +near it. I even turned up the faces of corpses in my wish to assure +myself; for our dead officers had been partially stripped. I called +his name softly, then more distinctly, and at last, forgetful in +my distress, loudly. Then I heard hasty steps, and crouched down +behind a bush, with my hand upon my revolver. But I had been seen. + +"A man approached rapidly, and asked, in a gruff voice, 'What the +devil are you doing here?' + +"'Looking for a brother who fell hereabouts,' I replied, humbly. + +"'You are a--Yankee,' was the harsh reply, 'and a prisoner; I know +your Northern tongue." + +"I fired instantly, and wounded him, but not severely, for he fired +in return, and the bullet whizzed by my ear. My next shot brought +him down, and then I started on a dead run for the woods, regained +Rush, and, with our prisoner, we stole swiftly towards our lines. +We were out of sure range before the startled pickets of the enemy +realized what was the matter. A few harmless shots were sent after +us, and then we gained our lines. I am satisfied that the man I shot +was a rebel officer visiting the picket line. Our firing inside +their lines could not be explained until the gap caused by the +missing sentinel we had carried off was discovered. + +"Then they knew that 'Yanks,' as they called us, had been within +their lines. Rush, taking the sentinel's place while I was below +the hill, had prevented an untimely discovery of our expedition. +Perhaps it was well that I met the rebel officer, for he was making +directly towards the spot where I had left my companion. + +"The poor fellow we had captured was so used up that he could +scarcely keep pace with us. He said he had not had any rest worth +speaking of for forty-eight hours. I passed through our lines, now +alert, and reported at Division Headquarters. The general laughed, +congratulated us, and said he was glad we had not found Strahan among +the dead or seriously wounded, for now there was a good chance of +seeing him again. + +"I turned over our prisoner to him, and soon all was quiet again. +Captain Markham, of our regiment, greeted us warmly, but I was +so exhausted that I contented him with a brief outline of what +had occurred, and said I would tell him the rest in the morning. +Satisfied now that Strahan was not crying for water, I was soon +asleep again by the side of Rush, and did not waken till the sun +was well above the horizon. + +"I soon learned that the vedettes of the enemy had disappeared from +before our lines, and that our skirmishers were advancing. After a +hasty breakfast I followed them, and soon reached again the ground +I had visited in the night. On the way I met two of our men to whom +I had given water. The other man had meanwhile died. The survivors +told me positively that they had not seen or heard of Strahan after +he had fallen. They also said that they had received a little food +and water from the rebels, or they could not have survived. + +"The dead were still unburied, although parties were sent out +within our picket line during the day to perform this sad duty, +and I searched the ground thoroughly for a wide distance, acting +on the possibility that Strahan might have crawled away somewhere. + +"I shall not describe the appearance of the field, or speak of my +feelings as I saw the bodies of the brave men and officers of our +regiment who had so long been my companions. + +"The rest of my story is soon told. From our surgeon I had positive +assurance that Strahan had not been brought to our corps hospital. +Therefore, I felt driven to one of two conclusions: either he was +in a Confederate hospital on the field beyond our lines, or else +he was a prisoner. + +"As usual, the heavy concussion of the artillery produced a rain-storm, +which set in on the afternoon of the 4th, and continued all night. +As the enemy appeared to be intrenching in a strong position, there +seemed no hope of doing any more that day, and I spent the night +in a piece of woods with my men. + +"On the dark, dreary morning of the 5th, it was soon discovered +that the Confederate army had disappeared. As the early shades of +the previous stormy evening had settled over the region, its movement +towards Virginia had begun. I became satisfied before night that +Strahan also was southward bound, for, procuring a horse, I rode +all day, visiting the temporary Confederate hospitals. Since they +had left their own severely wounded men, they certainly would not +have taken Union soldiers unable to walk. Not content with my first +search, I spent the next two days in like manner, visiting the +houses in Gettysburg and vicinity, until satisfied that my effort +was useless. Then, availing myself of a brief leave of absence, I +came north." + +Blauvelt then gave Merwyn some suggestions, adding: "If you find +no trace of him on the field, I would advise, as your only chance, +that you follow the track of Lee's army, especially the roads on +which their prisoners were taken. Strahan might have given out by +the way, and have been left at some farmhouse or in a village. It +would be hopeless to go beyond the Potomac." + +Rising, he concluded: "Mark my words, and see if I am not right. +Strahan is a prisoner, and will be exchanged." Then with a laugh and +a military salute to Marian, he said, "I have finished my report." + +"It is accepted with strong commendation and congratulations," she +replied. "I shall recommend you for promotion." + +"Good-by, Miss Vosburgh," said Merwyn, gravely. "I shall start in +the morning, and I agree with Captain Blauvelt that my best chance +lies along the line of Lee's retreat." + +Again she gave him her hand kindly in farewell; but her thought +was: "How deathly pale he is! This has been a night of horrors +to him,--to me also; yet if I were a man I know I could meet what +other men face." + +"She was kind," Merwyn said to himself, as he walked through the +deserted streets; "but I fear it was only the kindness of pitiful +toleration. It is plainer than ever that she adores heroic action, +that her ardor in behalf of the North is scarcely less than that of +my mother for the South, and yet she thinks I am not brave enough +to face a musket What a figure I make beside the men of whom we +have heard to-night! Well, to get away, to be constantly employed, +is my only hope. I believe I should become insane if I brooded much +longer at home." + +In spite of his late hours, he ordered an early breakfast, proposing +to start without further delay. + +The next morning, as he sat down to the table, the doorbell rang, +there was a hasty step down the hall, and Strahan, pale and gaunt, +with his arm in a sling, burst in upon him, and exclaimed, with +his old sang froid and humor: "Just in time. Yes, thanks; I'll stay +and take a cup of coffee with you." + +Merwyn greeted him with mingled wonder and gladness, yet even at +that moment the thought occurred to him: "Thwarted on every side! +I can do absolutely nothing." + +After Strahan was seated Merwyn said: "Half an hour later I should +have been off to Gettysburg in search of you. Blauvelt is here, and +says he saw you fall, and since a blank, so far as you are concerned." + +"Thank God! He escaped then?" + +"Yes; but is wounded slightly. What is the matter with your arm?" + +"Only a bullet-hole through it. That's nothing for Gettysburg. +I was captured, and escaped on the first night's march. Dark and +stormy, you know. But it's a long story, and I'm hungry as a wolf. +Where's Blauvelt?" + +"He's a guest at Mr. Vosburgh's." + +"Lucky fellow!" exclaimed Strahan; and for some reason the edge of +his appetite was gone. + +"Yes, he IS a lucky fellow, indeed; and so are you," said Merwyn, +bitterly. "I was there last evening till after midnight;" and +he explained what had occurred, adding, "Blauvelt trumpeted your +praise, and on the night of the 3d he went inside the enemy's picket +line in search of you, at the risk of his life.' + +"Heaven bless the fellow! Wait till I spin my yarn. I shall give +him credit for the whole victory." + +"Write a note to Miss Vosburgh, and I'll send it right down." + +"Confound it, Merwyn! don't you see I'm winged? You will even have +to cut my food for me as if I were a baby." + +"Very well, you dictate and I'll write. By the way, I have a note +for you in my pocket." + +Strahan seized upon it and forgot his breakfast. Tears suffused +his blue eyes before he finished it, and at last he said, "Well, +if you HAD found me in some hospital this would have cured me, or +else made death easy." + +Merwyn's heart grew heavy, in spite of the fact that he had told +himself so often that there was no hope for him, and he thought, +"In the terrible uncertainty of Strahan's fate she found that he +was more to her than she had supposed, and probably revealed as +much in her note, which she feared might reach him only when death +was sure." + +The glad intelligence was despatched, and then Merwyn said: "After +you have breakfasted I will send you down in my coupe." + +"You will go with me?" + +"No. There is no reason why I should be present when Miss Vosburgh +greets her friends. I remained last night by request, that I might +be better informed in prosecuting my search." + +Strahan changed the subject, but thought: "She's loyal to her friends. +Merwyn, with all his money, has made no progress. Her choice will +eventually fall on Lane, Blauvelt, or poor little me. Thank Heaven +I gave the Johnnies the slip! The other fellows shall have a fair +field, but I want one, too." + +Before they had finished their breakfast Blauvelt came tearing in, +and there was a fire of questions between the brother-officers. + +Tears and laughter mingled with their words; but at last they +became grave and quiet as they realized how many brave comrades +would march with them no more. + +In a few moments Blauvelt said, "Come; Miss Marian said she would +not take a mouthful of breakfast till you returned with me." + +Merwyn saw them drive away, and said, bitterly, "Thanks to my +mother, I shall never have any part in such greetings." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +STRAHAN'S ESCAPE. + + + + + + +AFTER Blauvelt had left Mr. Vosburgh's breakfast-table in obedience +to his own and Marian's wish to see Strahan at once, the young girl +laughed outright--she would laugh easily to-day--and exclaimed:-- + +"Poor Mr. Merwyn! He is indeed doomed to inglorious inaction. Before +he could even start on his search, Strahan found him. His part in +this iron age will consist only in furnishing the sinews of war +and dispensing canned delicacies in the hospitals. I do feel sorry +for him, for last night he seemed to realize the fact himself. He +looked like a ghost, back in the shadow that he sought when Captain +Blauvelt's story grew tragic. I believe he suffered more in hearing +about the shells than Mr. Blauvelt did in hearing and seeing them." + +"It's a curious case," said her father, musingly. "He was and has +been suffering deeply from some cause. I have not fully accepted +your theory yet." + +"Since even your sagacity can construct no other, I am satisfied +that I am right. But I have done scoffing at Mr. Merwyn, and should +feel as guilty in doing so as if I had shown contempt for physical +deformity. I have become so convinced that he suffers terribly from +consciousness of his weakness, that I now pity him from the depths +of my heart. Just think of a young fellow of his intelligence +listening to such a story as we heard last night and of the inevitable +contrasts that he must have drawn!" + +"Fancy also," said her father, smiling, "a forlorn lover seeing +your cheeks aflame and your eyes suffused with tears of sympathy +for young heroes, one of whom was reciting his epic. Strahan is +soon to repeat his; then Lane will appear and surpass them all." + +"Well," cried Marian, laughing, "you'll admit they form a trio to +be proud of." + +"Oh, yes, and will have to admit more, I suppose, before long. +Girls never fall in love with trios." + +"Nonsense, papa, they are all just like brothers to me." Then there +was a rush of tears to her eyes, and she said, brokenly, "The war +is not over yet, and perhaps not one of them will survive." + +"Come, my dear," her father reassured her, gently, "you must imitate +your soldier friends, and take each day as it comes. Remembering +what they have already passed through, I predict that they all +survive. The bravest men are the most apt to escape." + +Marian's greeting of Strahan was so full of feeling, and so many +tears suffused her dark blue eyes, that they inspired false hopes +in his breast and unwarranted fears in that of Blauvelt. The heroic +action and tragic experience of the young and boyish Strahan had +touched the tenderest chords in her heart. Indeed, as she stood, +holding his left hand in both her own, they might easily have +been taken for brother and sister. His eyes were almost as blue as +hers, and his brow, where it had not been exposed to the weather, +as fair. She knew of his victory over himself. Almost at the same +time with herself, he had cast behind him a weak, selfish, frivolous +life, assuming a manhood which she understood better than others. +Therefore, she had for him a tenderness, a gentleness of regard, +which her other friends of sterner natures could not inspire. Indeed, +so sisterly was her feeling that she could have put her arms about +his neck and welcomed him with kisses, without one quickening throb +of the pulse. But he did not know this then, and his heart bounded +with baseless hopes. + +Poor Blauvelt had never cherished many, and the old career with +which he had tried to be content defined itself anew. He would +fight out the war, and then give himself up to his art. + +He could be induced to stay only long enough to finish his breakfast, +and then said: "Strahan can tell me the rest of his story over +the camp-fire before long. My mother has now the first claim, and +I must take a morning train in order to reach home to-night." + +"I also must go," exclaimed Mr. Vosburgh, looking at his watch, +"and shall have to hear your story at second hand from Marian. Rest +assured," he added, laughing, "it will lose nothing as she tells +it this evening." + +"And I order you, Captain Blauvelt, to make this house your +headquarters when you are in town," said Marian, giving his hand +a warm pressure in parting. Strahan accompanied his friend to the +depot, then sought his family physician and had his wound dressed. + +"I advise that you reach your country home soon," said the doctor; +"your pulse is feverish." + +The young officer laughed and thought he knew the reason better +than his medical adviser, and was soon at the side of her whom he +believed to be the exciting cause of his febrile symptoms. + +"Oh," he exclaimed, throwing himself on a lounge, "isn't this +infinitely better than a stifling Southern prison?" and he looked +around the cool, shadowy drawing-room, and then at the smiling face +of his fair hostess, as if there were nothing left to be desired. + +"You have honestly earned this respite and home visit," she said, +taking a low chair beside him, "and now I'm just as eager to hear +your story as I was to listen to that of Captain Blauvelt, last +night." + +"No more eager?" he asked, looking wistfully into her face. + +"That would not be fair," she replied, gently. "How can I distinguish +between my friends, when each one surpasses even my ideal of manly +action?" + +"You will some day," he said, thoughtfully. "You cannot help doing +so. It is the law of nature. I know I can never be the equal of +Lane and Blauvelt." + +"Arthur," she said, gravely, taking his hand, "let me be frank with +you. It will be best for us both. I love you too dearly, I admire +and respect you too greatly, to be untrue to your best interests +even for a moment. What's more, I am absolutely sure that you only +wish what is right and best for me. Look into my eyes. Do you not +see that if your name was Arthur Vosburgh, I could scarcely feel +differently? I do love you more than either Mr. Lane or Mr. Blauvelt. +They are my friends in the truest and strongest sense of the word, +but--let me tell you the truth--you have come to seem like a younger +brother. We must be about the same age, but a woman is always older +in her feelings than a man, I think. I don't say this to claim any +superiority, but to explain why I feel as I do. Since I came to +know--to understand you--indeed, I may say, since we both changed +from what we were, my thoughts have followed you in a way that +they would a brother but a year or two younger than myself,--that +is, so far as I can judge, having had no brother. Don't you +understand me?" + +"Yes," he replied, laughing a little ruefully, "up to date." + +"Very well," she added, with an answering laugh, "let it be then +to date. I shall not tell you that I feel like a sister without +being as frank as one. I have never loved any one in the way--Oh, +well, you know. I don't believe these stern times are conducive to +sentiment. Come, tell me your story." + +"But you'll give me an equal chance with the others," he pleaded. + +She now laughed outright. "How do I know what I shall do?" she +asked. "I may come to you some day for sympathy and help. According +to the novels, people are stricken down as if by one of your hateful +shells and all broken up. I don't know, but I'm inclined to believe +that while a girl can withhold her love from an unworthy object, +she cannot deliberately give it here or there as she chooses. Now +am I not talking to you like a sister?" + +"Yes, too much so--" + +"Oh, come, I have favored you more highly than any one." + +"Do not misunderstand me," he said, earnestly, "I'm more grateful +than I can tell you, but--" + +"But tell me your story. There is one thing I can give you at +once,--the closest attention." + +"Very well. I only wish you were like one of the enemy's batteries, +so I could take you by storm. I'd face all the guns that were at +Gettysburg for the chance." + +"Arthur, dear Arthur, I do know what you have faced from a simple +sense of duty and patriotism. Blauvelt was a loyal, generous friend, +and he has told us." + +"You are wrong. 'The girl I left behind me' was the corps-de-reserve +from which I drew my strength. I believe the same was true of +Blauvelt, and a better, braver fellow never drew breath. He would +make a better officer than I, for he is cooler and has more brains." + +"Now see here, Major Strahan," cried Marian, in mock dignity, +"as your superior officer, I am capable of judging of the merits +of you both, and neither of you can change my estimate. You are +insubordinate, and I shall put you under arrest if you don't tell +me how you escaped at once. You have kept a woman's curiosity in +check almost as long as your brave regiment held the enemy, and +that's your greatest achievement thus far. Proceed. Captain Blauvelt +has enabled me to keep an eye on you till you fell and the enemy +charged over you. Now you know just where to begin." + +"My prosaic story is soon told. Swords and pike-staffs! what a +little martinet you are! Well, the enemy was almost on me. I could +see their flushed, savage faces. Even in that moment I thought of +you and whispered, 'Good-by,' and a prayer to God for your happiness +flashed through my mind." + +"Arthur, don't talk that way. I can't stand it;" and there was a +rush of tears to her eyes. + +"I'm beginning just where you told me to. The next second there +was a sting in my right arm, then something knocked me over and I +lost consciousness for a few moments. I am satisfied, also, that +I was grazed by a bullet that tore my scabbard from my side. When +I came to my senses, I crawled behind a rock so as not to be shot +by our own men, and threw away my sword. I didn't want to surrender +it, you know. Soon after a rebel jerked me to my feet. + +"'Can you stand?' he asked. + +"'I will try,' I answered. + +"'Join that squad of prisoners, then, and travel right smart.' + +"I staggered away, too dazed for many clear ideas, and with others +was hurried about half a mile away to a place filled with the rebel +wounded. Here a Union soldier, who happened to have some bandages +with him, dressed my arm. The Confederate surgeons had more than +they could do to look after their own men. Just before dark all +the prisoners who were able to walk were led into a large field, +and a strong guard was placed around us. + +"Although my wound was painful, I obtained some sleep, and awoke +the next morning with the glad consciousness that life with its +chances was still mine. We had little enough to eat that day, and +insufficient water to drink. This foretaste of the rebel commissariat +was enough for me, and I resolved to escape if it were a possible +thing." + +"You wanted to see me a little, too, didn't you? Nevertheless, you +shall have a good lunch before long." + +"Such is my fate. First rebel iron and now irony. I began to play +the role of feebleness and exhaustion, and it did not require much +effort. Of course we were all on the qui vive to see what would +happen next, and took an intense interest in the fight of the 3d, +which Blauvelt has described. The scene of the battle was hidden +from us, but we gathered, from the expression of our guards' faces +and the confusion around us, that all had not gone to the enemy's +mind, and so were hopeful. In the evening we were marched to the +outskirts of Gettysburg and kept there till the afternoon of the +4th, when we started towards Virginia. I hung back and dragged myself +along, and so was fortunately placed near the rear of the column, +and we plodded away. I thanked Heaven that the night promised to +be dark and stormy, and was as vigilant as an Indian, looking for +my chance. It seemed long in coming, for at first the guards were +very watchful. At one point I purposely stumbled and fell, hoping +to crawl into the bushes, but a rebel was right on me and helped +me up with his bayonet." + +"O Arthur!" + +"Yes, the risks were great, for we had been told that the first man +who attempted to leave the line would be shot. I lagged behind as +if I could not keep up, and so my vigilant guard got ahead of me, +and I proposed to try it on with the next fellow. I did not dare +look around, for my only chance was to give the impression that I +fell from utter exhaustion. We were winding around a mountain-side +and I saw some dark bushes just beyond me. I staggered towards them +and fell just beside them, and lay as if I were dead. + +"A minute passed, then another, and then there was no other sound +than the tramp and splash in the muddy road. I edged still farther +and farther from this, my head down the steep bank, and soon found +myself completely hidden. The comrade next to me either would not +tell if he understood my ruse, or else was so weary that he had +not noticed me. If the guard saw me, he concluded that I was done +for and not worth further bother. + +"After the column had passed, I listened to hear if others were +coming, then stumbled down the mountain, knowing that my best +chance was to strike some stream and follow the current. It would +take me into a valley where I would be apt to find houses. At last +I became so weary that I lay down in a dense thicket and slept till +morning. I awoke as hungry as a famished wolf, and saw nothing +but a dense forest on every side. But the brook murmured that it +would guide me, and I now made much better progress in the daylight. +At last I reached a little clearing and a wood-chopper's cottage. +The man was away, but his wife received me kindly and said I was +welcome to such poor fare and shelter as they had. She gave me +a glass of milk and some fried bacon and corn-bread, and I then +learned all about the nectar and ambrosia of the gods. In the +evening her husband came home and said that Lee had been whipped +by the Yanks, and that he was retreating rapidly, whereon I drank +to the health of my host nearly all the milk given that night by +his lean little cow. He was a good-natured, loutish sort of fellow, +and promised to guide me in a day or two to the west of the line +of retreat. He seemed very tearful of falling in with the rebels, +and I certainly had seen all I wished of them for the present, so +I was as patient as he desired. At last he kept his word and guided +me to a village about six miles away. I learned that Confederate +cavalry had been there within twenty-four hours, and, tired as I +was, I hired a conveyance and was driven to another village farther +to the northwest, for I now had a morbid horror of being recaptured. +After a night's rest in a small hamlet, I was taken in a light wagon +to the nearest railway station, and came on directly, arriving here +about six this morning. Finding our house closed, I made a descent +on Merwyn. I telegraphed mother last evening that I should be home +this afternoon." + +"You should have telegraphed me, also," said Marian, reproachfully. +"You would have saved me some very sad hours. I did not sleep much +last night." + +"Forgive me. I thoughtlessly wished to give you a surprise, and I +could scarcely believe you cared so much." + +"You will always believe it now, Arthur. Merciful Heaven! what +risks you have had!" + +"You have repaid me a thousand-fold. Friend, sister, or wife, you +will always be to me my good genius." + +"I wish the war was over," she said, sadly. "I have not heard from +Captain Lane for weeks, and after the battle the first tidings +from Blauvelt was that he was wounded and that you were wounded +and missing. I can't tell you how oppressed I was with fear and +foreboding." + +"How about Lane?" Strahan asked, with interest. + +She told him briefly the story she had heard and of the silence +which had followed. + +"He leads us all," was his response. "If he survives the war, he +will win you, Marian." + +"You suggest a terrible 'if' and there may be many others. I admit +that he has kindled my imagination more than any man I ever saw, but +you, Arthur, have touched my heart. I could not speak to him, had +he returned, as I am now speaking to you. I have the odd feeling +that you and I are too near of kin to be anything to each other +except just what we are. You are so frank and true to me, that I +can't endure the thought of misleading you, even unintentionally." + +"Very well, I'll grow up some day, and as long as you remain free, +I'll not give up hope." + +"Foolish boy! Grow up, indeed! Who mounted his horse in that storm +of shells and bullets in spite of friendly remonstrances, and said, +'The men must see us to-day'? What more could any man do? I'm just +as proud of you as if my own brother had spoken the words;" and +she took his hand caressingly, then exclaimed, "You are feverish." + +A second later her hand was on his brow, and she sprung up and +said, earnestly, "You should have attention at once." + +"I fancy the doctor was right after all," said Strahan, rising +also. "I'll take the one o'clock train and be at home in a couple +of hours." + +"I wish you would stay. You can't imagine what a devoted nurse I'll +be." + +"Please don't tempt me. It wouldn't be best. Mamma is counting the +minutes before my return now, and it will please her if I come on +an earlier train. Mountain air and rest will soon bring me around, +and I can run down often. I think the fever proceeds simply from +my wound, which hasn't had the best care. I don't feel seriously +ill at all." + +She ordered iced lemonade at once, lunch was hastened, and then +she permitted him to depart, with the promise that he would write +a line that very night. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +A LITTLE REBEL. + + + + + +THE next day Marian received a note from Strahan saying that some +bad symptoms had developed in connection with his wound, but that +his physician had assured him that if he would keep absolutely quiet +in body and mind for a week or two they would pass away, concluding +with the words: "I have promised mother to obey orders, and she +has said that she would write you from time to time about me. I do +not think I shall be very ill." + +"O dear!" exclaimed Marian to her father at dinner, "what times these +are! You barely escape one cause of deep anxiety before there is +another. Now what is troubling you, that your brow also is clouded?" + +"Is it not enough that your troubles trouble me?" + +"There's something else, papa." + +"Well, nothing definite. The draft, you know, begins on Saturday +of this week. I shall not have any rest of mind till this ordeal is +over. Outwardly all is comparatively quiet. So is a powder magazine +till a spark ignites it. This unpopular measure of the draft is to +be enforced while all our militia regiments are away. I know enough +about what is said and thought by thousands to fear the consequences. +I wish you would spend a couple of weeks with your mother in that +quiet New-England village." + +"No, papa, not till you tell me that all danger is past. How much +I should have missed during the past few days if I had been away! +But for my feeling that my first duty is to you, I should have +entreated for your permission to become a hospital nurse. Papa, +women should make sacrifices and take risks in these times as well +as men." + +"Well, a few more days will tell the story. If the draft passes +off quietly and our regiments return, I shall breathe freely once +more." + +A letter was brought in, and she exclaimed, "Captain Lane's +handwriting!" She tore open the envelope and learned little more +at that time than that he had escaped, reached our lines, and gone +to Washington, where he was under the care of a skilful surgeon. +"In escaping, my wound broke out again, but I shall soon be able +to travel, and therefore to see you." + +In order to account for Lane's absence and silence we must take +up the thread of his story where Zeb had dropped it. The cavalry +force of which Captain Lane formed a part retired, taking with it +the prisoners and such of the wounded as could bear transportation; +also the captured thief. Lane was prevented by his wound from +carrying out his threat, which his position as chief officer of +an independent command would have entitled him to do. The tides of +war swept away to the north, and he was left with the more seriously +wounded of both parties in charge of the assistant surgeon of his +regiment. As the shades of evening fell, the place that had resounded +with war's loud alarms, and had been the scene of so much bustle and +confusion, resumed much of its old aspect of quiet and seclusion. The +marks of conflict, the evidence of changes, and the new conditions +under which the family would be obliged to live, were only too +apparent. The grass on the lawn was trampled down, and there were +new-made graves in the edge of the grove. Fences were prostrate, +and partly burned. Horses and live stock had disappeared. The +negro quarters were nearly empty, the majority of the slaves having +followed the Union column. Confederate officers, who were welcome, +honored guests but a few hours before, were on their way to +Washington as prisoners. Desperately wounded and dying men were +in the out-buildings, and a Union officer, the one who had led the +attacking party and precipitated these events, had begun his long +fight for life in the mansion itself,--a strange and unexpected +guest. + +Mrs. Barkdale, the mistress of the house, could scarcely rally from +her nervous shock or maintain her courage, in view of the havoc made +by the iron heel of war. Miss Roberta's heart was full of bitterness +and impotent revolt. She had the courage and spirit of her race, +but she could not endure defeat, and she chafed in seclusion and +anger while her mother moaned and wept. Miss Suwanee now became +the leading spirit. + +"We can't help what's happened, and I don't propose to sit down +and wring my hands or pace my room in useless anger. We were all +for war, and now we know what war means. If I were a man I'd fight; +being only a woman, I shall do what I can to retrieve our losses +and make the most of what's left. After all, we have not suffered +half so much as hundreds of other families. General Lee will soon +give the Northerners some of their own medicine, and before the +summer is over will conquer a peace, and then we shall be proud of +our share in the sacrifices which so many of our people have made." + +"I wouldn't mind any sacrifice,--no, not of our home itself,--if +we had won the victory," Roberta replied. "But to have been made +the instrument of our friends' defeat! It's too cruel. And then +to think that the man who wrought all this destruction, loss, and +disgrace is under this very roof, and must stay for weeks, perhaps!" + +"Roberta, you are unjust," cried Suwanee. "Captain Lane proved +himself to be a gallant, considerate enemy, and you know it. What +would you have him do? Play into our hands and compass his own +defeat? He only did what our officers would have done. The fact +that a Northern officer could be so brave and considerate was a +revelation to me. We and all our property were in his power, and +his course was full of courtesy toward all except the armed foes +who were seeking to destroy him. The moment that even these became +unarmed prisoners he treated them with great leniency. Because we +had agreed to regard Northerners as cowards and boors evidently +doesn't make them so." + +"You seem wonderfully taken with this Captain Lane." + +"No," cried the girl, with one of her irresistible laughs; "but our +officer friends would have been taken with him if he had not been +wounded. I'm a genuine Southern girl, so much so that I appreciate +a brave foe and true gentleman. He protected us and our home as +far as he could, and he shall have the best hospitality which this +home can now afford. Am I not right, mamma?" + +"Yes, my dear, even our self-respect would not permit us to adopt +any other course." + +"You will feel as I do, Roberta, after your natural grief and anger +pass;" and she left the room to see that their wounded guest had +as good a supper as she could produce from diminished resources. + +The surgeon, whom she met in the hall, told her that his patient was +feverish and a "little flighty" at times, but that he had expected +this, adding: "The comfort of his room and good food will bring him +around in time. He will owe his life chiefly to your hospitality, +Miss Barkdale, for a little thing would have turned the scale against +him. Chicken broth is all that I wish him to have to-night, thanks." + +And so the process of care and nursing began. The Union colonel +had left a good supply of coffee, sugar, and coarse rations for +the wounded men, and Suwanee did her best to supplement these, +accomplishing even more by her kindness, cheerfulness, and winsome +ways than by any other means. She became, in many respects, a +hospital nurse, and visited the wounded men, carrying delicacies +to all alike. She wrote letters for the Confederates and read +the Bible to those willing to listen. Soon all were willing, and +blessed her sweet, sunny face. The wounds of some were incurable, +and, although her lovely face grew pale indeed in the presence of +death, she soothed their last moments with the gentlest ministrations. +There was not a man of the survivors, Union or rebel, but would +have shed his last drop of blood for her. Roberta shared in these +tasks, but it was not in her nature to be so impartial. Even among +her own people she was less popular. Among the soldiers, on both +sides, who did the actual fighting, there was not half the bitterness +that existed generally among non-combatants and those Southern +men who never met the enemy in fair battle; and now there was +a good-natured truce between the brave Confederates and those who +had perhaps wounded them, while all fought a battle with the common +foe,--death. Therefore the haggard faces of all lighted up with +unfeigned pleasure when "Missy S'wanee," as they had learned from +the negroes to call her, appeared among them. + +But few slaves were left on the place, and these were old and feeble +ones who had not ventured upon the unknown waters of freedom. The +old cook remained at her post, and an old man and woman divided +their time between the house and the garden, Suwanee's light feet +and quick hands relieving them of the easier labors of the mansion. + +Surgeon McAllister was loud in his praises of her general goodness +and her courtesy at the table, to which he was admitted; and Lane, +already predisposed toward a favorable opinion, entertained for her +the deepest respect and gratitude, inspired more by her kindness +to his men than by favors to himself. Yet these were not few, for +she often prepared delicacies with her own hands and brought them +to his door, while nearly every morning she arranged flowers and +sent them to his table. + +Thus a week passed away. The little gathering of prostrate men, +left in war's trail, was apparently forgotten except as people from +the surrounding region came to gratify their curiosity. + +Lane's feverish symptoms had passed away, but he was exceedingly +weak, and the wound in his shoulder was of a nature to require +almost absolute quiet. One evening, after the surgeon had told him +of Suwanee's ministrations beside a dying Union soldier, he said, +"I must see her and tell her of my gratitude." + +On receiving his message she hesitated a single instant, then +came to his bedside. The rays of the setting sun illumined her +reddish-brown hair as she stood before him, and enhanced her beauty +in her simple muslin dress. Her expression towards him, her enemy, +was gentle and sympathetic. + +He looked at her a moment in silence, almost as if she were a vision, +then began, slowly and gravely: "Miss Barkdale, what can I say to +you? I'm not strong enough to say very much, yet I could not rest +till you knew. The surgeon here has told me all,--no, not all. Deeds +like yours can be told adequately only in heaven. You are fanning +the spark of life in my own breast. I doubt whether I should have +lived but for your kindness. Still more to me has been your kindness +to my men, the poor fellows that are too often neglected, even +by their friends. You have been like a good angel to them. These +flowers, fragrant and beautiful, interpret you to me. You can't +know what reverence--" + +"Please stop, Captain Lane," said Suwanee, beginning to laugh, while +tears stood in her eyes. "Why, I'm only acting as any good-hearted +Southern girl would act. I shall not permit you to think me a saint +when I am not one. I've a little temper of my own, which isn't +always sweet. I like attention and don't mind how many bestow it--in +brief, I am just like other girls, only more so, and if I became +what you say I shouldn't know myself. Now you must not talk any +more. You are still a little out of your head. You can only answer +one question. Is there anything you would like,--anything we can +do for you to help you get well?" + +"No; I should be overwhelmed with gratitude if you did anything +more. I am grieved enough now when I think of all the trouble and +loss we have caused you." + +"Oh, that's the fortune of war," she said, with a light, deprecatory +gesture. "You couldn't help it any more than we could." + +"You are a generous enemy, Miss Barkdale." + +"I'm no wounded man's enemy, at least not till he is almost well. +Were I one of my brothers, however, and you were on your horse again +with your old vigor--" and she gave him a little, significant nod. + +He now laughed responsively, and said, "I like that." Then he added, +gravely: "Heaven grant I may never meet one of your brothers in +battle. I could not knowingly harm him." + +"Thank you for saying that," she said, gently. "Now, tell me truly, +isn't there anything you wish?" + +"Yes, I wish to get better, so that I may have a little of your +society. These days of inaction are so interminably long, and you +know I've been leading a very active life." + +"I fear you wouldn't enjoy the society of such a hot little rebel +as I am." + +"We should differ, of course, on some things, but that would +only give zest to your words. I'm not so stupid and prejudiced, +Miss Barkdale, as to fail to see that you are just as sincere and +patriotic as I am. I have envied the enlisted men when I have heard +of your attentions to them." + +"Now," she resumed, laughing, "I've found out that the 'good angel' +is not treating you as well as the common soldiers. Men always let +out the truth sooner or later. If Surgeon McAllister will permit, +I'll read and talk to you also." + +"I not only give my permission," said the surgeon, "but also assure +you that such kindness will hasten the captain's recovery, for time +hangs so heavily on his hands that he chafes and worries." + +"Very well," with a sprightly nod at the surgeon, "since we've +undertaken to cure the captain, the most sensible thing for us to +do IS to cure him. You shall prescribe when and how the doses of +society are to be administered." Then to Lane, "Not another word; +good-night;" and in a moment she was gone. + +Suwanee never forgot that interview, for it was the beginning +of a new and strange experience to her. From the first, her high, +chivalric spirit had been compelled to admire her enemy. The unknown +manner in which he had foiled her sister's strategy showed that +his mind was equal to his courage, while his hot indignation, when +he found them threatened by a midnight marauder, had revealed his +nature. Circumstances had swiftly disarmed her prejudices, and her +warm heart had been full of sympathy for him as he lay close to +the borders of death. All these things tended to throw down the +barriers which would naturally interpose between herself and a +Northern man. When, therefore, out of a full heart, he revealed +his gratitude and homage, she had no shield against the force of +his words and manner, and was deeply touched. She had often received +gallantry, admiration, and even words of love, but never before had +a man looked and acted as if he reverenced her and the womanhood +she represented. It was not a compliment that had been bestowed, +but a recognition of what she herself had not suspected. By her +family or acquaintances she had never been thought or spoken of as +an especially good girl. Hoydenish in early girlhood, leading the +young Southern gallants a chase in later years, ever full of frolic +and mischief, as fond of the dance as a bird of flying, she was +liked by every one, but the graver members of the community were +accustomed to shake their heads and remark, "She is a case; perhaps +she'll sober down some day." She had hailed the war with enthusiasm, +knowing little of its meaning, and sharing abundantly in rural +Virginia's contempt for the North. She had proved even a better +recruiting officer than her stately sister, and no young fellow +dared to approach her until be had donned the gray. When the war +came she met it with her own laughing philosophy and unconquerable +buoyancy, going wild over Southern victories and shrugging her plump +shoulders over defeats, crying: "Better luck next time. The Yankees +probably had a hundred to one. It won't take long for Southerners +to teach Northern abolitionists the difference between us." But +now she had seen Northern soldiers in conflict, had witnessed the +utmost degree of bravery on her side, but had seen it confronted +by equal courage, inspired by a leader who appeared irresistible. + +This Northern officer, whose eyes had flashed like his sabre in +battle, whose wit had penetrated and used for his own purpose the +scheme of the enemy, and whose chivalric treatment of women plotting +against him had been knightly,--this man who had won her respect by +storm, as it were, had followed her simple, natural course during +the past week, and had metaphorically bowed his knee to her in +homage. What did it mean? What had she done? Only made the best of +things, and shown a little humanity toward some poor fellows whose +sufferings ought to soften hearts of flint. + +Thus the girl reasoned and wondered. She did not belong to that +class who keep an inventory of all their good traits and rate them +high. Moulded in character by surrounding influences and circumstances, +her natural, unperverted womanhood and her simple faith in God +found unconscious expression in the sweet and gracious acts which +Lane had recognized at their true worth. The most exquisite music +is but a little sound; the loveliest and most fragrant flower is +but organized matter. True, she had been engaged in homely +acts,--blessing her enemies as the Bible commanded and her +woman's heart dictated,--but how were those acts performed? In her +unaffected manner and spirit consisted the charm which won the rough +men's adoration and Lane's homage. That which is simple, sincere, +spontaneous, ever attains results beyond all art and calculation. + +"Missy S'wanee" couldn't understand it. She had always thought +of herself as "that child,", that hoyden, that frivolous girl +who couldn't help giggling even at a funeral, and now here comes +a Northern man, defeats and captures her most ardent admirer, and +bows down to her as if she were a saint! + +"I wish I were what he thinks me to be," she laughed to herself. +"What kind of girls have they in the North, anyway, that he goes +on so? I declare, I've half a mind to try to be good, just for the +novelty of the thing. But what's the use? It wouldn't last with me +till the dew was off the grass in the morning. + +"Heigho! I suppose Major Denham is thinking of me and pining in +prison, and I haven't thought so very much about him. That shows +what kind of an 'angel' I am. Now if there were only a chance of +getting him out by tricking his jailers and pulling the wool over +the eyes of some pompous old official, I'd take as great a risk as +any Southern--'Reverence,' indeed! Captain Lane must be cured of +his reverence, whatever becomes of his wound." + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE CURE OF CAPTAIN LANE. + + + + + +A DAINTIER bouquet than usual was placed on Lane's table next morning, +and the piece of chicken sent to his breakfast was broiled to the +nicest turn of brown. The old colored cook was friendly to the +"Linkum ossifer," and soon discovered that "Missy S'wanee" was not +averse to a little extra painstaking. + +After the surgeon had made his morning rounds the young girl +visited the men also. She found them doing well, and left them doing +better; for, in rallying the wounded, good cheer and hopefulness +can scarcely be over-estimated. + +As she was returning the surgeon met her, and said, "Captain Lane +is already better for your first visit and impatient for another." + +"Then he's both patient and impatient. A very contradictory and +improper condition to remain in. I can read to him at once, after +I have seen if mamma wishes anything." + +"Please do; and with your permission I'll take a little walk, for +I, too, am restless from inaction." + +"I don't think it's nice for you to read alone with that officer," +said Roberta. + +"I see no impropriety at all," cried Suwanee. "Yours and mamma's +rooms are but a few yards away, and you can listen to all we say +if you wish. If your colonel was sick and wounded at the North +wouldn't you like some woman to cheer him up?" + +"No, not if she were as pretty as you are," replied Roberta, +laughing. + +"Nonsense," said Suwanee, flushing. "For all I know this captain +is married and at the head of a large family. + +"But I'm going to find out," she assured herself. "I shall investigate +this new species of genus homo who imagines me to be a saint. He +wasn't long in proving that Northern men were not what I supposed. +Now I shall give him the harder task of proving me to be an angel;" +and she walked demurely in, leaving the door open for any espionage +that her mother and sister might deem proper. + +Lane's face lighted up the moment he saw her, and he said: "You +have robbed this day of its weariness already. I've had agreeable +anticipations thus far, and I'm sure you will again leave pleasant +memories." + +"Then you are better?" + +"Yes; thanks to you." + +"You are given to compliments, as our Southern men are." + +"I should be glad to equal them at anything in your estimation. But +come, such honest enemies as we are should be as sincere as friends. +I have meant every word I have said to you. You are harboring me, +an entire stranger, who presented my credentials at first very +rudely. Now you can ask me any questions you choose. You have +proved yourself to be such a genuine lady that I should be glad to +have you think that I am a gentleman by birth and breeding." + +"Oh, I was convinced of that before you put your sabre in its +scabbard on the evening of your most unwelcome arrival, when you +spoiled our supper-party. You have since been confirming first +impressions. I must admit, however, that I scarcely 'reverence' +you yet, nor have I detected anything specially 'angelic.'" + +"Your failure in these respects will be the least of my troubles. +I do not take back what I have said, however." + +"Wait; perhaps you will. You are very slightly acquainted with me, +sir." + +"You are much less so with me, and can't imagine what an obstinate +fellow I am." + +"Oh, if I have to contend with obstinacy rather than judgment--" + +"Please let us have no contentions whatever. I have often found +that your Southern men out-matched me, and not for the world would +I have a dispute with a woman of your mettle. I give you my parole +to do all that you wish, as far as it is within my power, while I +am helpless on your hands." + +"And when I have helped to make you well you will go and fight +against the South again?" + +"Yes, Miss Barkdale," gravely, "and so would your officers against +the North." + +"Oh, I know it. I sha'n't put any poison in your coffee." + +"Nor will you ever put poison in any man's life. The most delightful +thing about you, Miss Barkdale," he continued, laughing, "is that +you are so genuinely good and don't know it." + +"Whatever happens," she said, almost irritably, "you must be cured +of that impression. I won't be considered 'good' when I'm not. +Little you know about me, indeed! Good heavens, Captain Lane! what +kind of women have you been accustomed to meet in the North? Would +they put strychnine in a wounded Southerner's food, and give him +heavy bread, more fatal than bullets, and read novels while dying +men were at their very doors?" + +"Heaven help them! I fear there are many women the world over who +virtually do just those things." + +"They are not in the South," she replied, hotly. + +"They are evidently not in this house," he replied, smiling. "You +ask what kind of women I am accustomed to meet. I will show you the +shadow of one of my friends;" and he took from under his pillow a +photograph of Marian. + +"Oh, isn't she lovely!" exclaimed the girl. + +"Yes, she is as beautiful as you are; she is as brave as you are, +and I've seen you cheering on your friends when even in the excitement +of the fight my heart was filled with dread lest you or your mother +or sister might be shot. She is just as ardent for the North as +you are for the South, and her influence has had much place in the +motives of many who are now in the Union army. If wounded Confederates +were about her door you could only equal--you could not surpass--her +in womanly kindness and sympathy. The same would be true of my +mother and sisters, and millions of others. I know what you think +of us at the North, but you will have to revise your opinions some +day." + +Her face was flushed, a frown was upon her brow, a doubtful smile +upon her lips, and her whole manner betokened her intense interest. +"You evidently are seeking to revise them," she said, with a short +laugh, "much as you charged our cavalry the other evening. I think +you are a dangerous man to the South, Captain Lane, and I don't +know whether I should let you get well or not." + +He reached out his hand and took hers, as he said, laughingly: +"I should trust you just the same, even though Jeff Davis and the +whole Confederate Congress ordered you to make away with me." + +"Don't you call our President 'Jeff,'" she snapped, but did not +withdraw her hand. + +"I beg your pardon. That was just as rude in me as if you had called +Mr. Lincoln 'Abe.'" + +She now burst out laughing. "Heaven knows we do it often enough," +she said. + +"I was aware of that." + +"This won't do at all," she resumed. "Your hand is growing a +little feverish, and if my visits do not make you better I shall +not come. I think we have defined our differences sufficiently. You +must not 'reverence' me any more. I couldn't stand that at all. I +will concede at once that you are a gentleman, and that this lovely +girl is my equal; and when our soldiers have whipped your armies, +and we are free, I shall be magnanimous, and invite you to bring +this girl here to visit us on your wedding trip. What is her name?" + +"Marian Vosburgh. But I fear she will never take a wedding trip with +me. If she did I would accept your invitation gratefully after we +had convinced the South that one flag must protect us all." + +"We won't talk any more about that. Why won't Miss Vosburgh take +a wedding trip with you?" + +"For the best of reasons,--she doesn't love me well enough." + +"Stupid! Perhaps she loves some one else?" + +"No, I don't think so. She is as true a friend as a woman can be +to a man, but there it ends." + +"With her." + +"Certainly, with her only. She knows that I would do all that a +man can to win her." + +"You are frank." + +"Why should I not be with one I trust so absolutely? You think us +Northmen cold, underhanded. I do not intend virtually to take my +life back from your hands, and at the same time to keep that life +aloof from you as if you had nothing to do with it. If I survive +the war, whichever way it turns, I shall always cherish your memory +as one of my ideals, and shall feel honored indeed if I can retain +your friendship. To make and keep such friends is to enrich one's +life. Should I see Miss Vosburgh again I shall tell her about you, +just as I have told you about her." + +"You were born on the wrong side of the line, Captain Lane. You +are a Southerner at heart." + +"Oh, nonsense! Wait till you visit us at the North. You will find +people to your mind on both sides of the line. When my mother and +sisters have learned how you have treated me and my men they will +welcome you with open arms." + +She looked at him earnestly a moment, and then said: "You make me +feel as if the North and South did not understand each other." Then +she added, sadly: "The war is not over. Alas! how much may happen +before it is. My gray-haired father and gallant brothers are marching +with Lee, and while I pray for them night and morning, and often +through the day, I fear--I FEAR inexpressibly,--all the more, now +that I have seen Northern soldiers fight. God only knows what is +in store for us all. Do not think that because I seem light-hearted +I am not conscious of living on the eve of a tragedy all the time. +Tears and laughter are near together in my nature. I can't help +it; I was so made." + +"Heaven keep you and yours in safety," said Lane, earnestly; and +she saw that his eyes were moist with feeling. + +"This won't answer," she again declared, hastily. "We must have no +more such exciting talks. Shall I read to you a little while, or +go at once?" + +"Read to me, by all means, if I am not selfishly keeping you too +long. Your talk has done me good rather than harm, for you are so +vital yourself that you seem to give me a part of your life and +strength. I believe I should have died under the old dull monotony." + +"I usually read the Bible to your men," she said, half humorously, +half questioningly. + +"Read it to me. I like to think we have the same faith. That book +is the pledge that all differences will pass away from the sincere." + +He looked at her wonderingly as she read, in her sweet, girlish +voice, the sacred words familiar since his childhood; and when she +rose and said, "This must do for to-day," his face was eloquent +with his gratitude. He again reached out his hand, and said, gently, +"Miss Suwanee, Heaven keep you and yours from all harm." + +"Don't talk to me that way," she said, brusquely. "After all, we +are enemies, you know." + +"If you can so bless your enemies, what must be the experience of +your friends, one of whom I intend to be?" + +"Roberta must read to you, in order to teach you that the South +cannot be taken by storm." + +"I should welcome Miss Roberta cordially. We also shall be good +friends some day." + +"We must get you well and pack you off North, or there's no telling +what may happen," she said, with a little tragic gesture. "Good-by." + +This was the beginning of many talks, though no other was of so +personal a nature. They felt that they understood each other, that +there was no concealment to create distrust. She artlessly and +unconsciously revealed to him her life and its inspirations, and soon +proved that her mind was as active as her hands. She discovered that +Lane had mines of information at command, and she plied him with +questions about the North, Europe, and such parts of the East as +he had visited. Her father's library was well stored with standard +works, and she made him describe the scenes suggested by her +favorite poets. Life was acquiring for her a zest which it had never +possessed before, and one day she said to him, abruptly, "How you +have broadened my horizon!" + +He also improved visibly in her vivacious society, and at last +was able to come down to his meals and sit on the piazza. Mrs. +Barkdale's and Roberta's reserve thawed before his genial courtesy, +and all the more readily since a letter had been received from +Colonel Barkdale containing thanks to Lane for the consideration +that had been shown to his family, and assuring his wife that +the Barkdale mansion must not fail in hospitality either to loyal +friends or to worthy foes. + +Roberta was won over more completely than she had believed to be +possible. Her proud, high spirit was pleased with the fact that, +while Lane abated not one jot of his well-defined loyalty to the +North and its aims, he also treated her with respect and evident +admiration in her fearless assertion of her views. She also recognized +his admirable tact in preventing their talk from verging towards a +too-earnest discussion of their differences. Suwanee was delighted +as she saw him disarm her relatives, and was the life of their social +hours. She never wearied in delicately chaffing and bewildering +the good-natured but rather matter-of-fact Surgeon McAllister, and +it often cost Lane much effort to keep from exploding in laughter +as he saw the perplexed and worried expression of his friend. But +before the meal was over she would always reassure her slow-witted +guest by some unexpected burst of sunshine, and he afterwards would +remark, in confidence: "I say, Lane, that little 'Missy S'wanee' +out-generals a fellow every time. She attacks rear, flank, and +front, all at once, and then she takes your sword in such a winsome +way that you are rather glad to surrender." + +"Take care, McAllister,--take care, or you may surrender more than +your sword." + +"I think you are in the greater danger." + +"Oh, no, I'm forearmed, and Miss Suwanee and I understand each +other." + +But he did not understand her, nor did she comprehend herself. Her +conversation seemed as open, and often as bright as her Southern +sunshine, and his mind was cheered and delighted with it. He did +not disguise his frank, cordial regard for her, even before her +mother and sister, but it was ever blended with such a sincere +respect that she was touched and surprised by it, and they were +reassured. She had told them of the place possessed by Marian in +his thoughts, and this fact, with his manner, promised immunity +from all tendencies towards sentiment. Indeed, that Suwanee should +bestow anything more upon the Northern officer than kindness, a +certain chivalric hospitality, and some admiration, was among the +impossibilities in their minds. + +This, at the time, seemed equally true to the young girl herself. +Not in the least was she on her guard. Her keen enjoyment of his +society awakened no suspicions, for she enjoyed everything keenly. +His persistence in treating her, in spite of all her nonsense and +frolicsomeness, as if she were worthy of the deepest respect and +honor which manhood can pay to womanhood, ever remained a bewildering +truth, and touched the deepest chords in her nature. Sometimes +when they sat in the light of the young moon on the veranda she +revealed thoughts which surprised him, and herself even more. It +appeared to her as if a new and deeper life were awakening in her +heart, full of vague beauty and mystery. She almost believed that +she was becoming good, as he imagined. Why otherwise should she +be so strangely happy and spiritually exalted? He was developing +in her a new self-respect. She now knew that he was familiar with +standards of comparison at the North of which she need not be +ashamed. Even her mother and sister had remarked, in effect, "It is +evident that Captain Lane has been accustomed to the best society." +His esteem was not the gaping admiration of a boor to whom she had +been a revelation. + +"No," she said, "he is a revelation to me. I thought my little +prejudices were the boundaries of the world. He, who has seen the +world, walks right over my prejudices as if they were nothing, and +makes me feel that I am his friend and equal, because he fancies I +possess a true, noble womanhood; and now I mean to possess it. He +has made his ideal of me seem worthy and beautiful, and it shall +be my life effort to attain it. He doesn't think me a barbarian +because I am a rebel and believe in slavery. He has said that his +mother and sisters would receive me with open arms. It seems to me +that I have grown years older and wiser during the last few weeks." + +She did not know that her vivid, tropical nature was responding to +the influence which is mightiest even in colder climes. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +LOVE'S TRIUMPH. + + + + + +THE month of June was drawing to a close. Captain Lane, his surgeon, +and a little company of wounded men, equally with the Confederates, +were only apparently forgotten. They were all watched, and their +progress towards health was noted. Any attempt at escape would have +been checked at once. The majority of the Federal soldiers could +now walk about slowly, and were gaining rapidly. Although they were +not aware of the fact, the Confederate wounded, who had progressed +equally far in convalescence, were their guards, and the residents +of the neighborhood were allies in watchfulness. The Southerners +were only awaiting the time, near at hand, when they could proceed +to Richmond with their prisoners. This purpose indicated no deep +hostility on the part of the rebels. Companionship in suffering +had banished this feeling. A sergeant among their number had become +their natural leader, and he was in communication with guerilla +officers and other more regular authorities. They had deemed it +best to let events take their course for a time. Lee's northward +advance absorbed general attention, although little as yet was +known about it on that remote plantation. The Union men were being +healed and fed at no cost to the Confederates, and could be taken +away at the time when their removal could be accomplished with the +least trouble. + +Lane himself was the chief cause of delay. He was doing well, +but his wound was of a peculiar nature, and any great exertion or +exposure might yet cause fatal results. This fact had become known +to the rebel sergeant, and since the captain was the principal +prize, and they were all very comfortable, he had advised delay. +It had been thought best not to inform the family as to the state +of affairs, lest it should in some way become known to Lane and +the surgeon, and lead to attempted escape. The Barkdales, moreover, +were high-strung people, and might entertain some chivalric ideas +about turning over their guests to captivity. + +"They might have a ridiculous woman's notion about the matter," +said one of these secret advisers. + +Lane and McAllister, however, were becoming exceedingly solicitous +concerning the future. The former did not base much hope on Suwanee's +evident expectation that when he was well enough he would go to +his friends as a matter of course. He knew that he and his men were +in the enemy's hands, and that they would naturally be regarded +as captives. He had a horror of going to a Southern prison and of +enduring weeks and perhaps months of useless inactivity. He and +McAllister began to hold whispered consultations. His mind revolted +at the thought of leaving his men, and of departing stealthily from +the family that had been so kind. And yet if they were all taken to +Richmond he would be separated from the men, and could do nothing +for them. Matter-of-fact McAllister had no doubts or scruples. + +"Of course we should escape at once if your wound justified the +attempt" + +On the 29th of June Lane and the surgeon walked some little +distance from the house, and became satisfied that they were under +the surveillance of the rebel sergeant and his men. This fact so +troubled Lane that Suwanee noticed his abstraction and asked him +in the evening what was worrying him. The moonlight fell full on +her lovely, sympathetic face. + +"Miss Suwanee," he said, gravely, "I've been your guest about a +month. Are you not tired of me yet?" + +"That's a roundabout way of saying you are tired of us." + +"I beg your pardon: it is not. But, in all sincerity, I should be +getting back to duty, were it possible." + +"Your wound is not sufficiently healed," she said, earnestly, wondering +at the chill of fear that his words had caused. "The surgeon says +it is not." + +"Don't you know?" he whispered. + +"Know what?" she almost gasped. + +"That I'm a prisoner." + +She sprung to her feet and was about to utter some passionate +exclamation; but he said, hastily, "Oh, hush, or I'm lost. I believe +that eyes are upon me all the time." + +"Heigho!" she exclaimed, walking to the edge of the veranda, "I +wish I knew what General Lee was doing. We are expecting to hear +of another great battle every day;" and she swept the vicinity with +a seemingly careless glance, detecting a dark outline behind some +shrubbery not far away. Instantly she sprung down the steps and +confronted the rebel sergeant. + +"What are you doing here?" she asked, indignantly. + +"My duty," was the stolid reply. + +"Find duty elsewhere then," she said, haughtily. + +The man slunk away, and she returned to Lane, who remarked, +significantly, "Now you understand me." + +It was evident that she was deeply excited, and immediately she began +to speak in a voice that trembled with anger and other emotions. +"This is terrible. I had not thought--indeed it cannot be. My father +would not permit it. The laws of war would apply, I suppose, to +your enlisted men, but that you and Surgeon McAllister, who have +been our guests and have sat at our table, should be taken from our +hospitality into captivity is monstrous. In permitting it, I seem +to share in a mean, dishonorable thing." + +"How characteristic your words and actions are!" said Lane, gently. +"It would be easy to calculate your orbit. I fear you cannot help +yourself. You forget, too, that I was the means of sending to prison +even your Major Denham." + +"Major Denham is nothing--" she began, impetuously, then hesitated, +and he saw the rich color mantling her face even in the moonlight. +After a second or two she added: "Our officers were captured in +fair fight. That is very different from taking a wounded man and +a guest." + +"Not a guest in the ordinary sense of the word. You see I can +be fair to your people, unspeakably as I dread captivity. It will +not be so hard for McAllister, for surgeons are not treated like +ordinary prisoners. His remaining, however, was a brave, unselfish +act;" and Lane spoke in tones of deep regret. + +"It must not be," she said, sternly. + +"Miss Suwanee,"--and his voice was scarcely audible,--"do you think +we can be overheard?" + +"No," she replied, in like tones. "Roberta and mamma are incapable +of listening." + +"I was not thinking of them. I must speak quickly. I don't wish to +involve you, but the surgeon and I must try to escape, for I would +almost rather die than be taken prisoner. Deep as is my longing +for liberty I could not leave you without a word, and my trust in +the chivalric feeling that you have just evinced is so deep as to +convince me that I can speak to you safely. I shall not tell you +anything to compromise you. You have only to be blind and deaf if +you see or hear anything." + +Her tears were now falling fast, but she did not move, lest observant +eyes should detect her emotion. + +"Heaven bless your good, kind heart!" he continued, in a low, earnest +tone. "Whether I live or die, I wish you to know that your memory +will ever be sacred to me, like that of my mother and one other. +Be assured that the life you have done so much to save is always +at your command. Whenever I can serve you or yours you can count +on all that I am or can do. Suwanee, I shall be a better man for +having known you. You don't half appreciate yourself, and every +succeeding day has only proved how true my first impressions were." + +She did not answer, and he felt that it would be dangerous to +prolong the interview. They entered the house together. As they +went up the stairs she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes, he +wondering at her silence and emotion. At the landing in the dusky +hall-way he raised her hand to his lips. + +There was not a trace of gallantry in the act, and she knew it. It +was only the crowning token of that recognition at which she had +wondered from the first. She realized that it was only the homage +of a knightly man and the final expression of his gratitude; but +it overwhelmed her, and she longed to escape with the terrible +revelation which had come to her at last. She could not repress a +low sob, and, giving his hand a quick, strong pressure, she fled +to her room. + +"Can it be possible?" he thought. "Oh! if I have wounded that heart, +however unintentionally, I shall never forgive myself." + +"Lane," whispered McAllister, when the former entered his room, +"there are guards about the house." + +"I'm not surprised," was the despondent reply. "We are prisoners." + +"Does the family know it?" + +He told him how Suwanee had detected the espionage of the rebel +sergeant. + +"Wouldn't she help us?" + +"I shall not ask her to. I shall not compromise her with her people." + +"No, by thunder! I'd rather spend my life in prison than harm her. +What shall we do?" + +"We must put our light out soon, and take turns in watching for +the slightest opportunity. You lie down first. I do not feel sleepy." + +After making some slight preparations the doctor slept, and it was +well on towards morning before Lane's crowding thoughts permitted +him to seek repose. He then wakened McAllister and said, "There has +been a stealthy relief of guards thus far, and I've seen no chance +whatever." + +The doctor was equally satisfied that any attempt to escape would +be fruitless. + +Suwanee's vigil that night was bitter and terrible, indeed. Her +proud, passionate nature writhed under the truth that she had given +her heart, unsought, to a Northern officer,--to one who had from +the first made it clear that his love had been bestowed on another. +She felt that she could not blame him. His frankness had been almost +equal to that of her own brothers, and he had satisfied her that +they could scarcely be more loyal to her than he would be. She could +detect no flaw in his bearing towards her. He had not disguised +his admiration, his abundant enjoyment of her society, but all +expression of his regard had been tinged with respect and gratitude +rather than gallantry. He perhaps had thought that her knowledge +of his attitude towards Miss Vosburgh was an ample safeguard, if +any were needed. Alas! it had been the chief cause of her fatal +blindness. She had not dreamed of danger for him or herself in +their companionship. Nothing was clearer than that he expected and +wished no such result. It was well for Lane that this was true, +for she would have been a dangerous girl to trifle with. + +But she recognized the truth. Before, love had been to her a thing +of poetry, romance, and dreams. Now it was a terrible reality. +Her heart craved with intense longing what she felt it could never +possess. + +At last, wearied and exhausted by her deep emotion, she sighed: +"Perhaps it is better as it is. Even if he had been a lover, the +bloody chasm of war would have separated us, but it seems cruel that +God should permit such an overwhelming misfortune to come upon an +unsuspecting, inexperienced girl. Why was I so made that I could, +unconsciously, give my very soul to this stranger? yet he is not a +stranger. Events have made me better acquainted with him than with +any other man. I know that he has kept no secrets from me. There +was nothing to conceal. All has been simple, straightforward, and +honorable. It is to the man himself, in his crystal integrity, that +my heart has bowed, and then--that was his chief power--he made +me feel that I was not unworthy. He taught me to respect my own +nature, and to aspire to all that was good and true. + +"After all, perhaps I am condemning myself too harshly,--perhaps +the truth that my heart acknowledged such a man as master is proof +that his estimate of me is not wholly wrong. Were there not some +kinship of spirit between us, this could not be; but the secret +must remain between me and God." + +Lane, tormented by the fear suggested by Suwanee's manner on the +previous evening, dreaded to meet her again, but at first he was +reassured. Never had she been more brilliant and frolicsome than at +the breakfast-table that morning. Never had poor McAllister been +more at his wits' end to know how to reply to her bewildering +sallies of good-natured badinage. Every vulnerable point of Northern +character received her delicate satire. Lane himself did not escape +her light shafts. He made no defence, but smiled or laughed at +every palpable hit. The girl's pallor troubled him, and something +in her eyes that suggested suffering. There came a time when he +could scarcely think of that day without tears, believing that no +soldier on either side ever displayed more heroism than did the +wounded girl. + +He and the surgeon walked out again, and saw that they were watched. +He found that his men had become aware of the truth and had submitted +to the inevitable. They were far from the Union lines, and not +strong enough to attempt an escape through a hostile country. Lane +virtually gave up, and began to feel that the best course would be +to submit quietly and look forward to a speedy exchange. He longed +for a few more hours with Suwanee, but imagined that she avoided +him. There was no abatement of her cordiality, but she appeared +preoccupied. + +After dinner a Confederate officer called and asked for Miss +Roberta, who, after the interview, returned to her mother's room +with a troubled expression. Suwanee was there, calmly plying her +needle. She knew what the call meant. + +"I suppose it's all right, and that we can't help ourselves," +Roberta began, "but it annoys me nevertheless. Lieutenant Macklin, +who has just left, has said that our own men and the Union soldiers +are now well enough to be taken to Richmond, and that he will start +with them to-morrow morning. Of course I have no regrets respecting +the enlisted men, and am glad they are going, for they are proving +a heavy burden to us; but my feelings revolt at the thought that +Captain Lane and the surgeon should be taken to prison from our +home." + +"I don't wonder," said Suwanee, indignantly; "but then what's the +use? we can't help ourselves. I suppose it is the law of war." + +"Well, I'm glad you are so sensible about it. I feared you would +feel a hundred-fold worse than I, you and the captain have become +such good friends. Indeed, I have even imagined that he was in +danger of becoming something more. I caught him looking at you at +dinner as if you were a saint 'whom infidels might adore.' His homage +to our flirtatious little Suwanee has been a rich joke from the +first. I suppose, however, there may have been a vein of calculation +in it all, for I don't think any Yankee--" + +"Hush," said Suwanee, hotly; "Captain Lane is still our guest, +and he is above calculation. I shall not permit him to be insulted +because he has over-estimated me." + +"Why, Suwanee, I did not mean to insult him. You have transfixed +him with a dozen shafts of satire to-day, and as for poor Surgeon +McAllister--" + +"That was to their faces," interrupted Suwanee, hastily. + +"Suwanee is right," said Mrs. Barkdale, smiling. "Captain Lane has +had the sense to see that my little girl is good-hearted in spite +of her nonsense." + +The girl's lip was quivering but she concealed the fact by savagely +biting off her thread, and then was impassive again. + +"I sincerely regret with you both," resumed their mother, "that +these two gentlemen must go from our home to prison, especially +so since receiving a letter from Captain Lane, couched in terms of +the strongest respect and courtesy, and enclosing a hundred dollars +in Northern money as a slight compensation--so he phrased it--for +what had been done for his men. Of course he meant to include +himself and the surgeon, but had too much delicacy to mention the +fact. He also stated that he would have sent more, but that it was +nearly all they had." + +"You did not keep the money!" exclaimed the two girls in the same +breath. + +"I do not intend to keep it," said the lady, quietly, "and shall +hand it back to him with suitable acknowledgments. I only mention +the fact to convince Roberta that Captain Lane is not the typical +Yankee, and we have much reason to be thankful that men of a different +stamp were not quartered upon us. And yet," continued the matron, +with a deep sigh, "you little know how sorely we need the money. +Your father's and brothers' pay is losing its purchasing power. +The people about here all profess to be very hot for the South, +but when you come to buy anything from them what they call 'Linkum +money' goes ten times as far. We have never known anything but +profusion, but now we are on the verge of poverty." + +"Oh, well," said Suwanee, recklessly, "starving isn't the worst +thing that could happen." + +"Alas! my child, you can't realize what poverty means. Your heart +is as free from care as the birds around us, and, like them, you +think you will be provided for." + +The girl sprung up with a ringing laugh, and kissed her mother as +she exclaimed, "I'll cut off my hair, put on one of brother Bob's +old suits, and enlist;" and then she left the room. + +At supper there was a constraint on all except Suwanee. Mrs. Barkdale +and Roberta felt themselves to be in an embarrassing position. The +men at the table, who had been guests so long, would be marched +away as prisoners from their door in the morning. The usages of +war could not satisfy their womanly and chivalric natures, or make +them forget the courtesy and respect which, in spite of prejudices, +had won so much good-will. Lane scarcely sought to disguise his +perplexity and distress. Honest Surgeon McAllister, who knew that +they all had been an awful burden, was as troubled as some men +are pleased when they get much for nothing. Suwanee appeared in +a somewhat new role. She was the personification of dignity and +courtesy. She acted as if she knew all and was aware that their +guests did. Therefore levity would be in bad taste, and their only +resource was the good breeding which ignores the disagreeable and +the inevitable. Her mother looked on her with pride, and wondered +at so fine an exibition of tact. She did not know that the poor +girl had a new teacher, and that she was like an inexorable general +who, in a desperate fight, summons all his reserve and puts forth +every effort of mind and body. + +Lane had not found a chance to say one word to Suwanee in private +during the day, but after supper she went to the piano and began +to play some Southern airs with variations of her own improvising. +He immediately joined her and said, "We shall not attempt to escape; +we are too closely watched." + +She did not reply. + +"Miss Suwanee," he began again, and distress and sorrow were in his +tones, "I hardly know how to speak to you of what troubles me more +than the thought of captivity. How can I manage with such proud, +chivalric women as you and your mother and sister? But I am not +blind, nor can I ignore the prosaic conditions of our lot. I respect +your pride; but have a little mercy on mine,--nay, let me call it +bare self-respect. We have caused you the loss of your laborers, +your fields are bare, and you have emptied your larder in feeding +my men, yet your mother will not take even partial compensation. +You can't realize how troubled I am." + +"You, like ourselves, must submit to the fortunes of war," she +replied, with a sudden gleam of her old mirthfulness. + +"A bodily wound would be a trifle compared with this," he resumed, +earnestly. "O Miss Suwanee, have I won no rights as a friend? +rather, let me ask, will you not generously give me some rights?" + +"Yes, Captain Lane," she said, gently, "I regard you as a friend, +and I honor you as a true man. Though the war should go on forever +I should not change in these respects unless you keep harping on +this financial question." + +"Friends frankly accept gifts from friends; let it be a gift +then, by the aid of which you can keep your mother from privation. +Suwanee, Suwanee, why do you refuse to take this dross from me when +I would give my heart's blood to shield you from harm?" + +"You are talking wildly, Captain Lane," she said, with a laugh. +"Your heart belongs to Miss Vosburgh, and therefore all its blood." + +"She would be the first to demand and expect that I should risk all +and give all for one to whom I owe so much and who is so deserving." + +"I require of her no such sacrifice," Suwanee replied, coldly, "nor +of you either, Captain Lane. Unforeseen circumstances have thrown +us together for a time. We have exchanged all that is possible +between those so divided,--esteem and friendship. If my father +thinks it best he will obtain compensation from our government. +Perhaps, in happier times, we may meet again," she added, her tone +and manner becoming gentle once more; "and then I hope you will +find me a little more like what you have thought me to be." + +"God grant that we may meet again. There, I can't trust myself +to speak to you any more. Your unaffected blending of humility +and pride with rare, unconscious nobility touches my very soul. +Our leave-taking in the morning must be formal. Good-by, Suwanee +Barkdale. As sure as there is a God of justice your life will be +filled full with happiness." + +Instead of taking his proffered hand, she trembled, turned to the +piano, and said hastily between the notes she played: "Control +yourself and listen. We may be observed. You and the surgeon be +ready to open your door and follow me at any time to-night. Hang +your sword where it may be seen through the open window. I have +contrived a chance--a bare chance--of your escape. Bow and retire." + +He did so. She bent her head in a courtly manner towards him, and +then went on with her playing of Southern airs. + +A moment later the rebel sergeant disappeared from some shrubbery +a little beyond the parlor window, and chuckled, "The Yankee captain +has found out that he can't make either an ally or a sweetheart +out of a Southern girl; but I suspicioned her a little last night." + +At two o'clock that night there was an almost imperceptible tap +at Lane's door. He opened it noiselessly, and saw Suwanee with her +finger on her lips. + +"Carry your shoes in your hands," she said, and then led the way +down the stairs to the parlor window. Again she whispered: "The +guard here is bribed,--bribed by kindness. He says I saved his life +when he was wounded. Steal through the shrubbery to the creek-road; +continue down that, and you'll find a guide. Not a word. Good-by." + +She gave her hand to the surgeon, whose honest eyes were moist with +feeling, and then he dropped lightly to the ground. + +"Suwanee," began Lane. + +"Hush! Go." + +Again he raised her hand to his lips, again heard that same low, +involuntary sob that had smote his heart the preceding night; and +then followed the surgeon. The guard stood out in the garden with +his back towards them, as, like shadows, they glided away. + +On the creek-road the old colored man who worked in the garden +joined them, and led the way rapidly to the creek, where under some +bushes a skiff with oars was moored. Lane slipped twenty dollars into +the old man's hand, and then he and his companion pushed out into +the sluggish current, and the surgeon took the oars and pulled +quietly through the shadows of the overhanging foliage. The continued +quiet proved that their escape had not been discovered. Food had +been placed in the boat. The stream led towards the Potomac. With +the dawn they concealed themselves, and slept during the day, travelling +all the following night. The next day they were so fortunate as +to fall in with a Union scouting party, and so eventually reached +Washington; but the effort in riding produced serious symptoms in +Lane's wound, and he was again doomed to quiet weeks of convalescence, +as has already been intimated to the reader. + +When Mrs. Barkdale and Roberta came down the next morning they +found Suwanee in the breakfast room, fuming with apparent irritability. + +"Here is that Lieutenant Macklin again," she said, "and he is very +impatient, saying that his orders are imperative, and that he is +needed on some special duty. His orders are to convey the prisoners +to the nearest railroad station, and then report for some active +service. From all I can gather it is feared that the Yankees propose +an attack on Richmond, now that General Lee is away." + +"It's strange that Captain Lane and the surgeon don't come down," +Roberta remarked. "I truly wish, however, that we had not to meet +them again." + +"Well, since it must be, the sooner the ordeal is over the better," +said Suwanee, with increasing irritation. "Captain Lane has sense +enough to know that we are not responsible for his being taken +away." + +"Hildy," said Mrs. Barkdale, "go up and tell the gentlemen that +breakfast is ready." + +In a few moments the old woman returned in a fluster and said, "I +knock on de doah, and dey ain't no answer." + +"What!" exclaimed Suwanee, in the accents of surprise; then, sharply, +"go and knock louder, and wake them up," adding, "it's very strange." + +Hildy came back with a scared look, and said, "I knock and knock; +den I open de doah, and der' ain't no one dere." + +"They must be out in the grounds for a walk," exclaimed Roberta. +"Haven't you seen them this morning?" + +"I ain't seen nuffin' nor heard nuffin'," protested the old woman. + +"Girls, this is serious," said Mrs. Barkdale, rising; and she +summoned Lieutenant Macklin, who belonged to a class not received +socially by the family. + +"We have but this moment discovered," said the lady, "that Captain +Lane and Surgeon McAllister are not in their room. Therefore we +suppose they are walking in the grounds. Will you please inform +them that breakfast is waiting?" + +"Pardon me, madam, they cannot be outside, or I should have been +informed." + +"Then you must search for them, sir. The house, grounds, and +buildings are open to you." + +The fact of the prisoners' escape soon became evident, and there +were haste, confusion, and running to and fro to no purpose. Suwanee +imitated Roberta so closely that she was not suspected. Lieutenant +Macklin and the rebel sergeant at last returned, giving evidence +of strong vexation. + +"We don't understand this," began the lieutenant. + +"Neither do we," interrupted Mrs. Barkdale, so haughtily that they +were abashed, although they directed keen glances towards Suwanee, +who met their scrutiny unflinchingly. + +The Barkdales were not people to be offended with impunity, and the +lieutenant knew it. He added, apologetically: "You know I must do +my duty, madam. I fear some of your servants are implicated, or +that guards have been tampered with." + +"You are at liberty to examine any one you please." + +They might as well have examined a carved, wrinkled effigy as old +Cuffy, Lane's midnight guide. "I don' know nuffin' 'tall 'bout it," +he declared. "My ole woman kin tell yo' dat I went to bed when she +did and got up when she did." + +The guard, bought with kindness, was as dense in his ignorance as +any of the others. At last Macklin declared that he would have to +put citizens on the hunt, for his orders admitted of no delay. + +The Union prisoners, together with the Confederates, when formed +in line, gave a ringing cheer for "Missy S'wanee and the ladies," +and then the old mansion was left in more than its former isolation, +and, as the younger girl felt, desolation. + +She attended to her duties as usual, and then went to her piano. +The words spoken the previous evening would ever make the place +dear to her. While she was there old Hildy crept in, with her feeble +step, and whispered, "I foun' dis un'er Cap'n Lane's piller." + +It was but a scrap of paper, unaddressed; but Suwanee understood +its significance. It contained these words: "I can never repay you, +but to discover some coin which a nature like yours can accept has +become one of my supreme ambitions. If I live, we shall meet again." + +Those words formed a glimmering hope which grew fainter and fainter +in the dark years which followed. + +She did not have to mask her trouble very long, for another sorrow +came like an avalanche. Close to the Union lines, on Cemetery Ridge, +lay a white-haired colonel and his two tall sons. They were among +the heroes in Pickett's final charge, on the 3d of July. "Missy +S'wanee" laughed no more, even in self-defence. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +SUNDAY'S LULL AND MONDAY'S STORM. + + + + + +SUNDAY, the 12th of July, proved a long, restful sabbath to Marian +and her father, and they spent most of its hours together. The +great tension and strain of the past weeks appeared to be over for +a time. The magnificent Union victories had brought gladness and +hopefulness to Mr. Vosburgh, and the return of her friends had +relieved his daughter's mind. He now thought he saw the end clearly. +He believed that hereafter the tide of rebellion would ebb southward +until all the land should be free. + +"This day has been a godsend to us both," he said to Marian, as +they sat together in the library before retiring. "The draft has +begun quietly, and no disturbances have followed. I scarcely remember +an evening when the murmur of the city was so faint and suggestive +of repose. I think we can both go to the country soon, with +minds comparatively at rest. I must admit that I expected no such +experience as has blessed us to-day. We needed it. Not until this +respite came did I realize how exhausted from labor and especially +anxiety I had become. You, too, my little girl, are not the blooming +lassie you were a year ago." + +"Yet I think I'm stronger in some respects, papa." + +"Yes, in many respects. Thank God for the past year. Your sympathy +and companionship have made it a new era in my life. You have +influenced other lives, also, as events have amply proved. Are +you not satisfied now that you can be unconventional without being +queer? You have not been a colorless reflection of some social +set; neither have you left your home for some startling public +career; and yet you have achieved the distinct individuality which +truthfulness to nature imparts. You have simply been developing +your better self naturally, and you have helped fine fellows to +make the best of themselves." + +"Your encouragement is very sweet, papa. I'm not complacent over +myself, however; and I've failed so signally in one instance that +I'm vexed and almost saddened. You know what I mean." + +"Yes, I know," with a slight laugh. "Merwyn is still your unsolved +problem, and he worries you." + +"Not because he is unsolved, but rather that the solution has proved +so disappointing and unexpected. He baffles me with a trait which +I recognize, but can't understand, and only admit in wonder and +angry protest. Indeed, from the beginning of our acquaintance he +has reversed my usual experiences. His first approaches incensed +me beyond measure,--all the more, I suppose, because I saw in +him an odious reflection of my old spirit. But, papa, when to his +condescending offer I answered from the full bitterness of my heart, +he looked and acted as if I had struck him with a knife." + +Her father again laughed, as he said: "You truly used heroic surgery, +and to excellent purpose. Has he shown any conceit, complacency, +or patronizing airs since?" + +"No, I admit that, at least." + + +"In destroying some of his meaner traits by one keen thrust, you +did him a world of good. Of course he suffered under such a surgical +operation, but he has had better moral health ever since." + +"Oh, yes," she burst out, "he has become an eminently respectable +and patriotic millionnaire, giving of his abundance to save the +nation's life, living in a palace meanwhile. What did he mean by +his passionate words, 'I shall measure everything hereafter by the +breadth of your woman's soul'? What have the words amounted to? You +know, papa, that nothing but my duty and devotion to you keeps me +from taking an active part in this struggle, even though a woman. +Indeed, the feeling is growing upon me that I must spend part +of my time in some hospital. A woman can't help having an intense +conviction of what she would do were she a man, and you know what +I would have done, and he knows it also. Therefore he has not kept +his word, for he fails at the vital point in reaching my standard. +I have no right to judge men in Mr. Merwyn's position because +they do not go to the front. Let them do what they think wise and +prudent; let them also keep among their own kind. I protest against +their coming to me for what I give to friends who have already +proved themselves heroes. But there, I forgot. He looks so like a +man that I can't help thinking that he is one,--that he could come +up to my standard if he chose to. He still seeks me--" + +"No, he has not been here since he heard Blauvelt's story." + +"He passed the house once, hesitated, and did not enter. Papa, +he has not changed, and you know it. He has plainly asked for a +gift only second to what I can give to God. With a tenacity which +nothing but his will can account for, perhaps, he seeks it still. +Do you think his distant manner deceives me for a moment? Nor has +my coldness any influence on him. Yet it has not been the coldness +of indifference, and he knows that too. He has seen and felt, like +sword-thrusts, my indignation, my contempt. He has said to my face, +'You think me a coward.' He is no fool, and has fully comprehended +the situation. If he had virtually admitted, 'I am a coward, and +therefore can have no place among the friends who are surpassing your +ideal of manly heroism,' and withdrawn to those to whom a million +is more than all heroism, the affair would have ended naturally +long ago. But he persists in bringing me a daily sense of failure +and humiliation. He says: 'My regard for you is so great I can't +give you up, yet not so great as to lead me to do what hundreds +of thousands are doing. I can't face danger for your sake.' I have +tried to make the utmost allowance for his constitutional weakness, +yet it has humiliated me that I had not the power to enable him +to overcome so strange a failing. Why, I could face death for you, +and he can't stand beside one whom he used to sneer at as 'little +Strahan.' Yet, such is his idea of my woman's soul that he still +gives me his thoughts and therefore his hopes;" and she almost +stamped her foot in her irritation. + +"Would you truly give your life for me?" he asked, gently. + +"Yes, I know I could, and would were there necessity; not in callous +disregard of danger, but because the greater emotion swallows up +the less. Faulty as I am, there would be no bargainings and prudent +reservations in my love. These are not the times for half-way people. +Oh think, papa, while we are here in the midst of every comfort, +how many thousands of mutilated, horribly wounded men are dying in +agony throughout the South! My heart goes out to them in a sympathy +and homage I can't express. Think how Lane and even Strahan may be +suffering to-night, with so much done for them, and then remember +the prisoners of war and the poor unknown enlisted men, often +terribly neglected, I fear. Papa, won't you let me go as a nurse? +The ache would go out of my own heart if I tried to reduce this awful +sum of anguish a little. He whose word and touch always banished +pain and disease would surely shield me in such labors. As soon +as danger no longer threatens you, won't you let me do a little, +although I am only a girl?" + +"Yes, Marian," her father replied, gravely; "far be it from me to +repress such heaven-born impulses. You are now attaining the highest +rank reached by humanity. All the avenues of earthly distinction +cannot lead beyond the spirit of self-sacrifice for others. This +places you near the Divine Man, and all grow mean and plebeian to the +degree that they recede from him. You see what comes of developing +your better nature. Selfishness and its twin, cowardice, are crowded +out." + +"Please don't praise me any more. I can't stand it," faltered the +girl, tearfully. A moment later her laugh rang out. "Hurrah!" she +cried, "since Mr. Merwyn won't go to the war, I'm going myself." + +"To make more wounds than you will heal," her father added. +"Remember the circumstances under which you go will have to receive +very careful consideration, and I shall have to know all about the +matron and nurses with whom you act. Your mother will be horrified, +and so will not a few of your acquaintances. Flirting in shadows +is proper enough, but helping wounded soldiers to live--But we +understand each other, and I can trust you now." + +The next morning father and daughter parted with few misgivings, +and the latter promised to go to her mother in a day or two, Mr. +Vosburgh adding that if the week passed quietly he could join them +on Saturday evening. + +So they quietly exchanged their good-by kiss on the edge of a +volcano already in eruption. + +An early horseback ride in Central Park had become one of Merwyn's +habits of late. At that hour he met comparatively few abroad, and +the desire for solitude was growing upon him. Like Mr. Vosburgh, +he had watched with solicitude the beginning of the draft, feeling +that if it passed quietly his only remaining chance would be to +wring from his mother some form of release from his oath. Indeed, +so unhappy and desperate was he becoming that he had thought +of revealing everything to Mr. Vosburgh. The government officer, +however, might feel it his duty to use the knowledge, should there +come a time when the authorities proceeded against the property +of the disloyal. Moreover, the young man felt that it would be +dishonorable to reveal the secret. + +Beyond his loyal impulses he now had little motive for effort. +Marian's prejudices against him had become too deeply rooted, and +her woman's honor for the knightly men her friends had proved too +controlling a principle, ever to give him a chance for anything +better than polite tolerance. He had discovered what this meant +so fully, and in Blauvelt's story had been shown the inevitable +contrast which she must draw so vividly, that he had decided:-- + +"No more of Marian Vosburgh's society until all is changed. Therefore +no more forever, probably. If my mother proves as obdurate as a +Southern jailer, I suppose I'm held, although I begin to think I +have as good cause to break my chains as any other Union man. She +tricked me into captivity, and holds me remorselessly,--not like a +mother. Miss Vosburgh did show she had a woman's heart, and would +have given me her hand in friendship had I not been compelled to +make her believe that I was a coward. If in some way I can escape +my oath, and my reckless courage at the front proves her mistaken, +I may return to her. Otherwise it is a useless humiliation and pain +to see her any more." + +Such had been the nature of his musings throughout the long Sunday +whose quiet had led to the belief that the draft would scarcely create +a ripple of overt hostility. During his ride on Monday morning he +nearly concluded to go to his country place again. He was growing +nervous and restless, and he longed for the steadying influence +of his mountain rambles before meeting his mother and deciding +questions which would involve all their future relations. + +As with bowed head, lost in thought, he approached the city by +one of the park entrances, he heard a deep, angry murmur, as if +a storm-vexed tide was coming in. Spurring his horse forward, he +soon discovered, with a feeling like an electric shock, that a tide +was indeed rising. Was it a temporary tidal wave of human passion, +mysterious in its origin, soon to subside, leaving such wreckage +as its senseless fury might have caused? Or was it the beginning +of the revolution so long feared, but not now guarded against? + +Converging from different avenues, men, women, and children were +pouring by the thousand into a vacant lot near the park. Their presence +seemed like a dream. Why was this angry multitude gathering here +within a few rods of rural loveliness, their hoarse cries blending +with the songs of robins and thrushes? It had been expected that +the red monster would raise its head, if at all, in some purlieu +of the east side. On the contrary its segregate parts were coming +together at a distance from regions that would naturally generate +them, and were forming under his very eyes the thing of which he +had read, and, of late, had dreamed night and day,--a mob. + +To change the figure, the vacant space, unbuilt upon as yet, was +becoming an immense human reservoir, into which turgid streams +with threatening sounds were surging from the south. His eyes could +separate the tumultuous atoms into ragged forms, unkempt heads, +inflamed faces, animated by some powerful destructive impulse. Arms +of every description proved that the purpose of the gathering was +not a peaceful one. But what was the purpose? + +Riding closer he sought to question some on the outskirts of the +throng, and so drew attention to himself. Volleys of oaths, stones, +and sticks, were the only answers he received. + +"Thank you," Merwyn muttered, as he galloped away. "I begin +to comprehend your meaning, but shall study you awhile before I +take part in the controversy. Then there shall be some knock-down +arguments." + +As he drew rein at a short distance the cry went up that he was a +"spy," and another rush was made for him; but he speedily distanced +his pursuers. To his surprise the great multitude turned southward, +pouring down Fifth and Sixth avenues. After keeping ahead for a +few blocks, he saw that the mob, now numbering many thousands, was +coming down town with some unknown purpose and destination. + +Two things were at least clear,--the outbreak was unexpected, and +no preparation had been made for it. As he approached his home on +a sharp trot, a vague air of apprehension and expectation was beginning +to manifest itself, and but little more. Policemen were on their +beats, and the city on the fashionable avenues and cross-streets +wore its midsummer aspect. Before entering his own home he obeyed +an impulse to gallop by the Vosburgh residence. All was still quiet, +and Marian, with surprise, saw him clattering past in a way that +seemed reckless and undignified. + +On reaching his home he followed his groom to the stable, and said, +quietly: "You are an old family servant, but you must now give me +positive assurance that I can trust you. There is a riot in the +city, and there is no telling what house will be safe. Will you +mount guard night and day in my absence?" + +"Faix, sur, I will. Oi'll sarve ye as I did yer fayther afore ye." + +"I believe you, but would shoot you if treacherous. You know I've +been expecting this trouble. Keep the horse saddled. Bar and bolt +everything. I shall be in and out at all hours, but will enter by +the little side-door in the stable. Watch for my signal, and be +ready to open to me only any door, and bolt it instantly after me. +Leave all the weapons about the house just where I have put them. +If any one asks for me, say I'm out and you don't know when I'll +be back. Learn to recognize my voice and signal, no matter how +disguised I am." + +The faithful old servant promised everything, and was soon +executing orders. Before their neighbors had taken the alarm, the +heavy shutters were closed, and the unusual precautions that in the +family's absence had been adopted rendered access possible only +to great violence. On reaching his room Merwyn thought for a few +moments. He was intensely excited, and there was a gleam of wild +hope in his eyes, but he felt with proud exultation that in his +manner he was imitating his father. Not a motion was hasty or useless. +Right or wrong, in the solitude of his room or in the midst of the +mob, his brain should direct his hand. + +"And now my hand is free!" he exclaimed, aloud; "my oath cannot +shackle it now." + +His first conclusion was to mingle with the mob and learn the +nature and objects of the enemy. He believed the information would +be valuable to Mr. Vosburgh and the police authorities. Having +accomplished this purpose he would join any organized resistance he +could find, at the same time always seeking to shield Marian from +the possibility of danger. + +He had already been shown that in order to understand the character +and aims of the mob he must appear to be one of them, and he decided +that he could carry off the disguise of a young city mechanic better +than any other. + +This plan he carried out by donning from his own wardrobe a plain +dark flannel suit, which, when it had been rolled in dust and oil, +and received a judicious rip here and there, presented the appearance +of a costume of a workman just from his shop. With further injunctions +to Thomas and the old serving-woman, he made his way rapidly to +the north-east, where the smoke of a conflagration proved that the +spirit of mischief was increasing. + +One would not have guessed, as he hurried up Third Avenue, that he +was well armed, but there were two small, yet effective revolvers +and a dirk upon his person. As has been related before, he had +practised for this emergency, and could be as quick as a flash with +his weapon. + +He had acted with the celerity of youth, guided by definite plans, +and soon began to make his way quietly through the throng that +blocked the avenue, gradually approaching the fire at the corner of +45th Street. At first the crowd was a mystery to him, so orderly, +quiet, and inoffensive did it appear, although composed largely +of the very dregs of the slums. The crackling, roaring flames, +devouring tenement-houses, were equally mysterious. No one was +seeking to extinguish them, although the occupants of the houses +were escaping for their lives, dragging out their humble effects. +The crowd merely looked on with a pleased, satisfied expression. +After a moment's thought Merwyn remembered that the draft had been +begun in one of the burning houses, and was told by a bystander, +"We smashed the ranch and broke some jaws before the bonfire." + +That the crowd was only a purring tiger was soon proved, for some +one near said, "There's Kennedy, chief of the cops;" and it seemed +scarcely a moment before the officer was surrounded by an infuriated +throng who were raining curses and blows upon him. + +Merwyn made an impulsive spring forward in his defence, but a dozen +forms intervened, and his effort was supposed to be as hostile as +that of the rioters. The very numbers that sought to destroy Kennedy +gave him a chance, for they impeded one another, and, regaining his +feet, he led a wild chase across a vacant lot, pursued by a hooting +mob as if he were a mad dog. The crowd that filled the street +almost as far as eye could reach now began to sway back and forth +as if coming under the influence of some new impulse, and Merwyn +was so wedged in that he had to move with the others. Being tall +he saw that Kennedy, after the most brutal treatment, was rescued +almost by a miracle, apparently more dead than alive. It also +became clear to him that the least suspicion of his character and +purpose would cost him his life instantly. He therefore resolved +on the utmost self-control. He was ready to risk his life, but not +to throw it away uselessly,--not at least till he knew that Marian +was safe. It was his duty now to investigate the mob, not fight +it. + +The next excitement was caused by the cry, "The soldiers are coming!" + +These proved to be a small detachment of the invalid corps, who +showed their comprehension of affairs by firing over the rioters' +heads, thinking to disperse them by a little noise. The mob settled +the question of noise by howling as if a menagerie had broken loose, +and, rushing upon the handful of men, snatched their muskets, first +pounding the almost paralyzed veterans, and then chasing them as +a wilderness of wolves would pursue a small array of sheep. + +As Merwyn stepped down from a dray, whereon he had witnessed the +scene, he muttered, indiscreetly, "What does such nonsense amount +to!" + +A big hulking fellow, carrying a bar of iron, who had stood beside +him, and who apparently had had his suspicions, asked, fiercely, +"An' what did ye expect it wud amount to? An' what's the nonsense +ye're growlin' at? By the holy poker oi belave you're a spy." + +"Yis, prove that, and I'll cut his heart out," cried an inebriated +woman, brandishing a knife a foot long. + +"Yes, prove it, you thunderin' fool!" cried Merwyn. + +"The cops are comin' now, and you want to begin a fight among +ourselves." + +True enough, the cry came ringing up the avenue, "The cops comin.'" + +"Oh, an' ye's wan uv us, oi'll stan' by ye; but oi've got me eye +on ye, and 'ud think no more o' brainin' ye than a puppy." + +"Try brainin' the cops first, if yer know when yer well off," replied +Merwyn, drawing a pistol. "I didn't come out to fight bullies in +our crowd." + +The momentary excitement caused by this altercation was swallowed +up by the advent of a squad of police, which wheeled into the avenue +from 43d Street, and checked the pursuit of the bleeding remnants +of the invalid corps. Those immediately around the young man pressed +forward to see what took place, he following, but edging towards +the sidewalk, with the eager purpose to see the first fight between +the mob and the police. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +THAT WORST OF MONSTERS, A MOB. + + + + + +AFTER reaching the sidewalk Merwyn soon found a chance to mount +a dry-goods box, that he might better observe the action of the +police and form an idea of their numbers. The moment he saw the +insignificant band he felt that they were doomed men, or else the +spirit abroad was not what he thought it to be, and he had been +witnessing some strong indications of its ruthless nature. + +It was characteristic of the young fellow that he did not rush to +the aid of the police. He was able, even in that seething flood +of excitement, to reason coolly, and his thoughts were something +to this effect: "I'm not going to throw away my life and all its +chances and duties because the authorities are so ignorant as to +sacrifice a score or two of their men. I shall not fight at all until +I have seen Marian and Mr. Vosburgh. When I have done something to +insure their safety, or at least to prove that I am not a coward, +I shall know better what to do and how to do it. This outbreak is +not an affair of a few hours. She herself may be exposed to the +fury of these fiends, for I believe her father is, or will be, a +marked man." + +Seeing, farther up the avenue, a small balcony as yet unoccupied, +he pushed his way towards it, that he might obtain one more view +of the drift of affairs before taking his course. The hall-door +leading to the second story was open and filled with a crowd of +frightened, unkempt women and children, who gave way before him. +The door of the room opening on the balcony was locked, and, in +response to his repeated knockings, a quavering voice asked what +was wanted. + +"You must open instantly," was his reply. + +A trembling, gray-haired woman put the door ajar, and he pushed +in at once, saying: "Bolt the door again, madam. I will do you no +harm, and may be able to save you from injury;" and he was out in +the balcony before his assurances were concluded. + +"Indeed, sir, I've done no one any wrong, and therefore need no +protection. I only wish to be let alone with my children." + +"That you cannot expect with certainty, in view of what is going +on to-day. Do you not know that they are burning houses? As long +as I'm here I'll be a protection. I merely wish the use of this +little outlook for a brief time. So say nothing more, for I must +give my whole attention to the fight." + +"Well then, since you are so civil, you can stay; but the street +is full of devils." + +He paid no heed to her further lamentations, and looking southward +saw that the police had formed a line across the avenue, and that +such battered remnants of the invalid corps as had escaped were +limping off behind their cover as fast as possible. The presence +of the city's guardians had caused a brief hesitation in the +approaching and broken edge of the rabble. Seeing this the brave +sergeant ordered a charge, which was promptly and swiftly made, the +mob recoiling before it more and more slowly as under pressure it +became denser. There was no more effort to carry out the insane, +rather than humane, tactics of the invalid corps, who had either +fired high or used blank cartridges, for now the police struck +for life with their locust clubs, and the thud of the blows could +often be heard even above the uproar. Every one within reach of +their arms went down, and the majority lay quietly where they fell, +as the devoted little band pressed slowly forward. With regret +Merwyn saw Barney Ghegan among the foremost, his broad red face +streaming with perspiration, and he wielding his club as if it were +the deadliest of shillalahs. + +They did indeed strike manfully, and proved what an adequate force +could do. Rioters fell before them on every side. But hopeless +reaping was theirs, with miles of solid, bloodthirsty humanity +before them. Slowly and more falteringly they made their way three +blocks, as far as 46th Street, sustained by the hope of finding +reinforcements there. Instead of these, heavier bodies of the +enemy poured in from the side-streets upon the exhausted men, and +the mob closed behind them from 45th Street, like dark, surging +waves. Then came a mad rush upon the hemmed-in officers, who were +attacked in front and in the rear, with clubs, iron-bars, guns, +and pistols. Tom, bruised, bleeding, the force that had fought so +gallantly broke, each man striking out for his own life. The vast +heterogeneous crowd now afforded their chief chance for escape. +Dodging behind numbers, taking advantage of the wild confusion +of the swaying, trampling masses, and striking down some direct +opponent, a few got off with slight bruises. There were wonderful +instances of escape. The brave sergeant who had led the squad had +his left wrist broken by an iron bar, but, knocking down two other +assailants, he sprung into a house and bolted the door after him. +An heroic German girl, with none of the stolid phlegm attributed +to her race, lifted the upper mattress of her bed. The sergeant +sprung in and was covered up without a word. There was no time then +for plans and explanations. A moment later the door was broken, +and a score of fierce-visaged men streamed in. Now the girl was +stolidity itself. + +"Der cop run out der back door," was all that she could be made to +say in answer to fierce inquiries. Every apartment was examined in +vain, and then the roughs departed in search of other prey. Brave, +simple-hearted girl! She would have been torn to pieces had her +humane strategy been discovered. + +But a more memorable act of heroism was reserved for another woman, +Mrs. Eagan, the wife of the man who had rescued Superintendent Kennedy +a short time before. A policeman was knocked down with a hay-bale +rung, and fell at her very feet. In a moment more he would have +been killed, but this woman instantly covered his form with her +own, so that no blow could reach him unless she was first struck. +Then she begged for his life. Even the wild-beast spirit of the mob +was touched, and the pursuers passed on. A monument should have +been built to the woman who, in that pandemonium of passion, could +so risk all for a stranger. + +I am not defending Merwyn's course, but sketching a character. His +spirit of strategical observation would have forsaken him had he +witnessed that scene, and indeed it did forsake him as he saw Barney +Ghegan running and making a path for himself by the terrific blows +of his club. Three times he fell but rose again, with the same +indomitable pluck which had won his suit to pretty Sally Maguire. +At last the brave fellow was struck down almost opposite the balcony. +Merwyn knew the man was a favorite of the Vosburghs, and he could +not bear that the brave fellow should be murdered before his very +eyes; yet murdered he apparently was ere Merwyn could reach the +street. Like baffled fiends his pursuers closed upon the unfortunate +man, pounding him and jumping upon him. And almost instantly the +vile hags that followed the marauders like harpies, for the sake +of plunder began stripping his body. + +"Stop!" thundered Merwyn, the second he reached the scene, and, +standing over the prostrate form, he levelled a pistol at the throng. +"Now, listen to me," he added. "I don't wish to hurt anybody. +You've killed this man, so let his body alone. I know his wife, +an Irishwoman, and she ought at least to have his body for decent +burial." + +"Faix, an he's roight," cried one, who seemed a leader. "We've +killed the man. Let his woife have what's left uv 'im;" and the +crowd broke away, following the speaker. + +This was one of the early indications of what was proved +afterwards,--that the mob was hydra-headed, following either its +own impulses or leaders that sprung up everywhere. + +An abandoned express-wagon stood near, and into this Merwyn, with +the help of a bystander, lifted the insensible man. The young fellow +then drove, as rapidly as the condition of the streets permitted, +to the nearest hospital. A few yards carried him beyond those who +had knowledge of the affair, and after that he was unmolested. It +was the policy of the rioters to have the bodies of their friends +disappear as soon as possible. Poor Ghegan had been stripped to +his shirt and drawers, and so was not recognized as a "cop." + +Leaving him at the hospital, with brief explanations, Merwyn was +about to hasten away, when the surgeon remarked, "The man is dead, +apparently." + +"I can't help it," cried Merwyn. "I'll bring his wife as soon as +possible. Of course you will do all in your power;" and he started +away on a run. + +A few moments later Barney Ghegan was taken to the dead-house. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +THE "COWARD." + + + + + +MERWYN now felt that he had carried out the first part of his plan. +He had looked into the murderous eyes of the mob, and learned +its spirit and purpose. Already he reproached himself for leaving +Marian alone so long, especially as columns of smoke were rising +throughout the northern part of the city. It seemed an age since +he had seen that first cloud of the storm, as he emerged from the +park after his quiet ride, but it was not yet noon. + +As he sped through the streets, running where he dared, and fortunately +having enough of the general aspect of a rioter to be unmolested, +he noticed a new feature in the outbreak, one that soon became +a chief characteristic,--the hatred of negroes and the sanguinary +pursuit of them everywhere. + +"Another danger for the Vosburghs," he groaned. "They have a colored +servant, who must be spirited off somewhere instantly." + +Avoiding crowds, he soon reached the quiet side-street on which +Marian lived, and was overjoyed to find it almost deserted. Mammy +Borden herself answered his impatient ring, and was about to shut +the door on so disreputable a person as he now appeared to be, when +he shouldered it open, turned, locked and chained it with haste. + +"What do you mean, sir? and who are you?" Marian demanded, running +from the parlor on hearing the expostulations of her servant. + +"Have patience, Miss Vosburgh." + +"Oh, it is you, Mr. Merwyn. Indeed I have need of patience. An +hour ago papa sent a message from down town, saying: 'Don't leave +the house to-day. Serious trouble on foot.' Since then not a word, +only wild-looking people running through the street, the ringing of +fire-bells, and the sounds of some kind of disturbance. What does +it all mean? and why do you bar and bolt everything so timidly?" +and the excited girl poured out her words in a torrent. + +Merwyn's first words were exasperating, and the girl had already +passed almost beyond self-control. "Has any one seen your colored +servant to-day?" + +"What if they have? What does your unseemly guise mean? Oh that my +brave friends were here to go out and meet the rabble like soldiers! +There's an outbreak, of course; we've been expecting it; but +certainly MEN should not fear the canaille of the slums. It gives +me a sickening impression, Mr. Merwyn, to see you rush in, almost +force your way in, and disguised too, as if you sought safety by +identifying yourself with those who would quail before a brave, +armed man. Pardon me if I'm severe, but I feel that my father is +in danger, and if I don't hear from him soon I shall take Mammy +Borden as escort and go to his office. Whoever is abroad, they +won't molest women, and I'M NOT AFRAID." + +"By so doing you would disobey your father, who has told you not +to leave the house to-day." + +"But I can't bear inaction and suspense at such a time." + +"You must bear it, Miss Vosburgh. Seeing the mood you are in, +I shall not permit that door to be opened to any one except your +father or some one that you recognize." + +"You cannot help yourself," she replied, scornfully, approaching +the door. + +He was there before her, and, taking out the key, put it in his +pocket. + +"Oh, this is shameful!" she cried, blushing scarlet "Can your fears +carry you so far?" + +"Yes, and much farther, if needful," he replied, with a grim laugh. +"When you are calm enough to listen to me, to be sane and just, +I'll explain. Until you are I shall remain master here and protect +you and your home." Then, in a tone of stern authority, he added: +"Mrs. Borden, sit yonder in that darkened parlor, and don't move +unless I tell you to hide. Then hide in earnest, as you value your +life." + +"Would you not also like a hiding-place provided, Mr. Merwyn?" +Marian asked, almost beside herself with anger and anxiety. + +His reply was to go to the window and look up and down the still +quiet street. + +"A respite," he remarked, then turned to the colored woman, and in +a tone which she instantly obeyed, said, "Go to that parlor, where +you cannot be seen from the street." Then to Marian, "I have no +authority over you." + +"No, I should hope not. Is there no escape from this intrusion?" + +"None for the present," he replied, coldly. "You settled it long +since that I was a coward, and now that I am not a gentleman. +I shall make no self-defence except to your father, whom I expect +momentarily. He cannot leave you alone to-day an instant longer +than is unavoidable. I wish to remind you of one thing, however: +your soldier friends have long been your pride." + +"Oh that these friends were here to day!" + +"They would be surprised at your lack of quiet fortitude." + +"Must I be humiliated in my own home?" + +"You are humiliating yourself. Had you treated me with even your +old cool toleration and civility, I would have told you all that +has happened since morning; but you have left me no chance for +anything except to take the precautions heedful to save your home +and yourself. You think I fled here as a disguised fugitive. When +shall I forget this crowning proof of your estimate and esteem? +You see I did not come unarmed," partially drawing a revolver. "I +repeat, you are proud of your soldier friends. You have not learned +that the first duty of a soldier is to obey orders; and you have your +father's orders. Obey them quietly, and you are under no necessity +to speak to me again. When your father comes I will relieve you of +my hated presence. If he wishes it, I will still serve you both for +his sake, for he always kept a little faith and fairness for me. +Now, regard me as a sentinel, a common soldier, to whom you need +not speak until your father comes;" and he turned to the windows +and began fastening them. + +He, too, was terribly incensed. He had come to interpose his life +between her and danger, and her words and manner had probed a deep +wound that had long been bleeding. The scenes he had witnessed had +wrought him up to a mood as stern and uncompromising as the death +he soon expected to meet. When utterly off her guard she had shown +him, as he believed, her utter contempt and detestation, and at +that moment there was not a more reckless man in the city. + +But his bitter words and indomitable will had quieted her As he +stood motionless upon guard by the window, his was not the attitude +of a cowering fugitive. She now admitted that her wild excitement +and her disposition to rush to her father, contrary to his injunction, +were unworthy of her friends and of herself. + +There had been panic that morning in the city, and she had caught +the contagion in a characteristic way. She had had no thought of +hiding and cowering, but she had been on the eve of carrying out +rash impulses. She had given way to uncontrollable excitement; and +if her father should learn all she feared he would send her from +the city as one not to be trusted. What should she think of that +silent, motionless sentinel at the window? Suppose, after all, +she had misunderstood and misjudged him,--suppose he HAD come for +her protection. In view of this possibility which she had now to +entertain, how grossly she had insulted him! If her father came and +approved of his course, how could she ever look one so wronged in +the face again? She must try to soften her words a little. Woman-like, +she believed that she could certainly soothe a man as far as she +deemed it judicious, and then leave the future for further diplomacy. +Coward, or not, he had now made her afraid of him. + +"Mr. Merwyn," she began. + +He made no response whatever. + +Again, in a lower and more timid voice, she repeated his name. + +Without turning, he said: "Miss Vosburgh, I'm on guard. You +interfere with my duty. There is no reason for further courtesies +between us. If you are sufficiently calm, aid Mrs. Borden in packing +such belongings as she actually needs. She must leave this house +as soon as possible." + +"What!" cried the girl, hotly, "send this faithful old woman out +into the streets? Never." + +"I did not say, 'out into the streets.' When your father comes one +of his first efforts will be to send her to a place of safety. No +doubt he has already warned her son to find a hiding-place." + +"Great heavens! why don't you explain?" + +"What chance have I had to explain? Ah! come here, and all will be +plain enough." + +She stood at his side and saw a gang of men and boys' chasing +a colored man, with the spirit of bloodhounds in their tones and +faces. + +"Now I'se understan', too, Mass'r Merwyn," said the trembling +colored woman, looking over their shoulders. + +"Go back," he said, sternly. "If you were seen, that yelling pack +of fiends would break into this house as if it were paste-board. +Obey orders, both of you, and keep out of sight." + +Awed, overwhelmed, they stole to the back parlor; but Marian soon +faltered, "O Mr. Merwyn, won't you forgive me?" + +He made no reply, and a moment later he stepped to the door. Mr. +Vosburgh hastily entered, and Marian rushed into his arms. + +"What, Merwyn! you here? Thank God my darling was not alone! Well, +Merwyn, you've got to play the soldier now, and so have we all." + +"I shall not 'play the soldier';" was the reply, in quick, firm +utterance. "But no matter about me, except that my time is limited. +I wish to report to you certain things which I have seen, and leave +it to your decision whether I can serve you somewhat, and whether +Miss Vosburgh should remain in the city. I would also respectfully +suggest that your colored servant be sent out of town at once. +I offer my services to convey her to New Jersey, if you know of a +near refuge there, or else to my place in the country." + +"Good God, Merwyn! don't you know that by such an act you take your +life in your hand?" + +"I have already taken it in my hand, an open hand at that. It has +become of little value to me. But we have not a second to lose. I +have a very sad duty to perform at once, and only stayed till you +came. If you have learned the spirit abroad to-day, you know that +your household was and is in danger." + +"Alas! I know it only too well. The trouble had scarcely begun +before I was using agents and telegraph wires. I have also been +to police headquarters. Only the sternest sense of duty to the +government kept me so long from my child; but a man at Washington +is depending on me for information." + +"So I supposed. I may be able to serve you, if you can bring +yourself to employ a coward. I shall be at police headquarters, +and can bring you intelligence. When not on duty you should be in +the streets as little as possible. But, first, I would respectfully +suggest that Miss Vosburgh retire, for I have things to say to you +which she should not hear." + +"This to me, who listened to the story of Gettysburg?" + +"All was totally different then." + +"And I, apparently, was totally different. I deserve your reproach; +I should be sent to the nursery." + +"I think you should go and help Mrs. Borden," said Merwyn, quietly. + +"It's impossible to send Mammy Borden away just yet,--not till +darkness comes to aid our effort," said Mr. Vosburgh, decisively. +"You can serve me greatly, Merwyn, and your country also, if you +have the nerve. It will require great risks. I tell you so frankly. +This is going to prove worse than open battle. O Marian, would to +God you were with your mother!" + +"In that case I would come to you if I had to walk. I have wronged +and insulted you, Mr. Merwyn; I beg your pardon. Now don't waste +another moment on me, for I declare before God I shall remain with +my father unless taken away by force; and you would soon find that +the most fatal course possible." + +"Well, these are lurid times. I dreaded the thing enough, but now +that it has come so unexpectedly, it is far worse--But enough of +this. Mr. Merwyn, are you willing to take the risks that I shall?" + +"Yes, on condition that I save you unnecessary risks." + +"Oh what a fool I've been!" Marian exclaimed, with one of her +expressive gestures. + +"Mr. Vosburgh," said Merwyn, "there is one duty which I feel I ought +to perform first of all. Mrs. Ghegan, your old waitress, should be +taken to her husband." + +"What! Barney? What has happened to him?" + +"I fear he is dead. I disguised myself as you see--" + +"Yes, sensibly. No well-dressed man is safe on some streets." + +"Certainly not where I've been. I determined to learn the character +of the mob, and I have mingled among them all the morning. I saw +the invalid corps put to flight instantly, and the fight with a +handful of police that followed. I looked on, for to take part was +to risk life and means of knowledge uselessly. The savage, murderous +spirit shown on every side also proved that your household might +be in danger while you were absent. The police fought bravely +and vainly. They were overpowered as a matter of course, and yet +the police will prove the city's chief defence. When I saw Barney +running and fighting heroically for his life, I couldn't remain +spectator any longer, but before I could reach him he was prostrate, +senseless, and nearly stripped. With my revolver and a little +persuasion I secured his body, and took it to a hospital. A surgeon +thought he was dead. I don't know, but that his wife should be +informed and go to him seems only common humanity." + +"Well, Merwyn, I don't know," said Mr. Vosburgh, dubiously; "we +are in the midst of a great battle, and when one is down--Well, +the cause must be first, you know. Whether this is a part of +the rebellion or not, it will soon be utilized by the Confederate +leaders. What I say of Barney I would say of myself and mine,--all +private considerations must give--" + +"I understand," interrupted Merwyn, impatiently. "But in taking Mrs. +Ghegan across town I could see and learn as much as if alone, and +she would even be a protection to me. In getting information one +will have to use every subterfuge. I think nothing will be lost by +this act. From the hospital I will go direct to police headquarters, +and stipulate as to my service,--for I shall serve in my own way,--and +then, if there is no pressing duty, I will report to you again." + +Mr. Vosburgh sprung up and wrung the young fellow's hand as he +said: "We have done you great wrong. I, too, beg your pardon. But +more than all the city to me is my duty to the general government. +To a certain extent I must keep aloof from the actual scenes +of violence, or I fail my employers and risk vast interests. If +consistently with your ideas of duty you can aid me now, I shall +be more grateful than if you saved my life. Information now may be +vital to the nation's safety. You may find me at police headquarters +an hour or two hence." + +"It is settled then, and events will shape future action;" and he +was turning hastily away. + +A hand fell upon his arm, and never had he looked upon a face in +which shame and contrition were so blended. + +"What will be your future action towards me?" Marian asked, as she +detained him. "Will you have no mercy on the girl who was so weak +as to be almost hysterical?" + +"You have redeemed your weakness," he replied, coldly. "You are +your old high-bred, courageous self, and you will probably cease +to think of me as a coward before the day is over. Good-afternoon;" +and in a moment he was gone. + +"I have offended him beyond hope," she said, as she turned, drooping, +to her father. + +"Never imagine it, darling," her father replied, with a smile. "His +lip quivered as you spoke, and I have learned to read the faintest +signs in a man. You have both been overwrought and in no condition +for calm, natural action. Mervvyn will relent. You lost your poise +through excitement, not cowardice, and he, young and all undisciplined, +has witnessed scenes that might appall a veteran. But now all must +be courage and action. Since you will remain with me you must be a +soldier, and be armed like one. Come with me to my room, and I will +give you a small revolver. I am glad that you have amused yourself +with the dangerous toy, and know how to use it. Then you must help +me plan a disguise which will almost deceive your eyes. Keeping +busy, my dear, will prove the best tonic for your nerves. Mammy +Borden, you must go to your room and stay there till we find a way +of sending you to a place of safety. After you have disappeared +for a time I'll tell the other servant that you have gone away. I +sent your son home before I left the office, and he, no doubt, is +keeping out of harm's way." + +The old woman courtesied, but there was a dogged, hunted look in +her eyes as she crept away, muttering, "Dis is what Zeb call de +'lan' ob de free!'" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +A WIFE'S EMBRACE. + + + + + +"O PAPA," cried Marian, after reaching the library, "we let Mr. +Merwyn go without a lunch, and it's nearly two o'clock. Nor do I +believe you have had a mouthful since breakfast, and I've forgotten +all about providing anything. Oh, how signally I have failed on +the first day of battle!" + +"You are not the first soldier, by untold millions, who has done +so; but you have not shown the white feather yet." + +"When I do that I shall expire from shame. You rummage for a +disguise, and I'll be back soon." + +She hastened to the kitchen, and at a glance saw that the Irish +cook had fled, taking not a little with her. The range fire was +out, and the refrigerator and the store-closet had been ravaged. +She first barred and bolted all the doors, and then the best she +could bring her father was crackers and milk and some old Sherry +wine; but she nearly dropped these when she saw a strange man, as +she supposed, emerge from his bedroom. + +Mr. Vosburgh's laugh reassured her, and he said: "I fancy I shall +pass among strangers, since you don't know me. Nothing could be +better than the milk and crackers. No wine. My head must be clearer +to-day than it ever was before. So the Irish Biddy has gone with +her plunder? Good riddance to her. She would have been a spy in the +camp. I'll bring home food that won't require cooking, and you'll +have to learn to make coffee, for Merwyn and others will, no doubt, +often come half dead from fatigue. All we can do is to forage +in such shops as are open, and you'll have to take the office of +commissary at once. You must also be my private secretary. As fast +as I write these despatches and letters copy them. I can eat and +write at the same time. In an hour I must go out." + +"I won't play the fool again," said the girl, doggedly. + +"Drink this glass of milk first, while I run down for more, and +satisfy my mind as to the fastenings, etc." + +"But, papa--" + +"Marian," he said, gravely, "you can stay with me only on one +condition: you must obey orders." + +"That is what Mr. Merwyn said. Oh what a credit I've been to my +military friends!" and with difficulty she drank the milk. + +"You are a promising young recruit," was the smiling reply. "We'll +promote you before the week's out." + +In five minutes he was back, cool, yet almost as quick as light in +every movement. + +The despatches she copied were unintelligible to Marian, but the +one to whom they were addressed had the key. The copies of the +letters were placed in a secret drawer. + +When their tasks were finished, Mr. Vosburgh looked up and down +the street and was glad to find it comparatively empty. The storm +of passion was raging elsewhere. + +He closed all the shutters of the house, giving it a deserted aspect, +then said to his daughter. "You must admit no one in my absence, +and parley with no one who does not give the password, 'Gettysburg +and Little Round Top.' If men should come who say these words, tell +them to linger near without attracting attention, and come again +after I return. Admit Merwyn, of course, for you know his voice. +It is a terrible trial to leave you alone, but there seems to be +no prospect of trouble in this locality. At all events, I must do +my duty, cost what it may. Be vigilant, and do not worry unnecessarily +if I am detained." + +"I am bent on retrieving myself, papa; and I'd rather die than be +so weak again." + +"That's my brave girl. You won't die. After this venture, which I +must make at once, I shall be able to take greater precautions;" +and with a fond look and kiss, he hastened away through the basement +entrance, Marian fastening it securely after him. + +We must now follow Merwyn's fortunes for a time. Rapidly, yet +vigilantly he made his way up town and crossed Third Avenue. He soon +observed that the spirit of lawlessness was increasing. Columns of +smoke were rising from various points, indicating burning buildings, +and in Lexington Avenue he witnessed the unblushing sack of beautiful +homes, from which the inmates had been driven in terror for their +lives. + +"It will be strange if Mr. Vosburgh's home escapes," he thought. +"Some one must know enough of his calling to bring upon him and +his the vengeance of the mob. I shall do the best I can for him and +his daughter, but to-day has slain the last vestige of hope beyond +that of compelling her respect. Wholly off her guard, she showed +her deep-rooted detestation, and she can never disguise it again. +Regret and mortification at her conduct, a wish to make amends +and to show gratitude for such aid as I may give her father, will +probably lead her to be very gracious; at the same time I shall ever +know that in her heart is a repugnance which she cannot overcome. +A woman can never love a man towards whom she has entertained +thoughts like hers;" and with much bitter musings, added to his +reckless impulses, he made his way to the region in which Mrs. +Ghegan had her rooms. + +Finding a livery stable near he hired a hack, securing it by +threats as well as money, and was soon at the door of the tenement +he sought. + +Mrs. Ghegan showed her scared, yet pretty face in response to his +knock. + +"Ye's brought me bad news," she said, instantly, beginning to sob. + +"Yes, Mrs. Ghegan; but if you love your husband you will show it +now. I have come to take you to him. He has been wounded." + +"Is it Mr. Merwyn?" + +"Yes; I've just come from Mr. Vosburgh, and he will do what he can +for you when he has a chance. They know about your trouble. Now +make haste, for we've not a moment to lose in reaching the hospital." + +"The Lord knows I love Barney as me loife, an' that I'd go to him +through fire and blood. Oi'll kape ye no longer than to tie me +bonnet on;" and this she was already doing with trembling fingers. + +Locking the door, she took the key with her, and was soon in the +hack. Merwyn mounted the box with the driver, knowing that openness +was the best safeguard against suspicions that might soon prove +fatal. At one point they were surrounded and stopped by the rioters, +who demanded explanations. + +"Clear out, ye bloody divils!" cried Sally, who did not count +timidity among her foibles; "wud ye kape a woman from goin' to her +husband, a-dyin' beloikes?" + +"Oh, let us pass," said Merwyn, in a loud tone. "A cop knocked her +husband on the head, and we are taking her to him." + +"Och! ye are roight, me mon. We'll let onybody pass who spakes in +her swate brogue;" and the crowd parted. + +Reaching the hospital, Sally rushed into the office with the +breathless demand, "Where's Barney?" + +Merwyn recognized the surgeon he had met before, and said: "You +know the man I brought a few hours since. This is his wife." + +The surgeon looked grave and hesitated. + +"What have ye done wid him?" Sally almost screamed. "Are ye no +better than the bloody villains in the strates?" + +"My good woman," began the surgeon, "you must be more composed and +reasonable. We try to save life when there is life--" + +"Where is he?" shrieked the woman. + +The surgeon, accustomed to similar scenes, nodded to an attendant, +and said, gravely, "Show her." + +Merwyn took the poor woman's hand to restrain as well as to reassure +her, saying, with sympathies deeply touched, "Mrs. Ghegan, remember +you are not friendless, whatever happens." + +"Quick! quick!" she said to her guide. "Och! what's a wurld uv +frin's if I lose Barney? Poor man! poor man! He once said I blew +hot and could, but oi'd give him me loife's blood now." + +To Merwyn's sorrow they were led to the dead-house, and there lay +the object of their quest, apparently lifeless, his battered face +almost past recognition. But Sally knew him instantly, and stared +for a moment as if turned to stone; then, with a wild cry, she threw +herself upon him, moaning, sobbing, and straining his unconscious +form to her breast. + +Merwyn felt that it would be best to let her paroxysm of grief expend +itself unrestrained; but a bitter thought crossed his mind,--"I may +be in as bad a plight as poor Barney before the day closes, yet no +one would grieve for me like that." + +Suddenly Mrs. Ghegan became still. In her embrace her hand had +rested over her husband's heart, and had felt a faint pulsation. +A moment later she sprung up and rushed back to the office. Merwyn +thought that she was partially demented, and could scarcely keep +pace with her. + +Bursting in at the door, she cried: "Och! ye bloody spalpanes, to +put a loive man where ye did! Come wid me, an' oi'll tache ye that +I knows more than ye all." + +"Please satisfy her," said Merwyn to the surgeon, who was inclined +to ignore what he regarded as the wild ravings of a grief-crazed +woman. + +"Well, well, if it will do any good; but we have too much to do +to-day for those who have a chance--" + +"Come on, or oi'll drag ye there," the wife broke in. + +"When I've satisfied you, my good woman, you must become quiet and +civil. Other wives have lost their husbands--" + +But Sally was already out of hearing. Reaching the supposed corpse, +the deeply excited woman said, with eyes blazing through her tears, +"Put yez hand on his heart." + +The surgeon did so, and almost instantly the expression of his face +changed, and he said sharply to the attendant, "Bring a stretcher +with bearers at once." Then to Sally: "You are right; he is alive, +but there was no such pulsation as this when he was brought here. +Now be quiet and cheer up, and we may help you save his life. You +can stay and take care of him." + +Merwyn again took the wife's trembling hand and said, earnestly: +"Mrs. Ghegan, obey the surgeon's orders exactly. Be quiet, gentle, +and self-controlled, and Barney may outlive us all." + +"Faix, Mr. Merwyn, now that oi've hope I'll be whist as a baby +asleep. Ye knew me onst as a light, giddy gurl, but oi'll watch +over Barney wid such a slapeless eye as wud shame his own mither." + +And she kept her word. For days and nights her husband remained +unconscious, wavering between life and death. The faithful woman, +as indifferent to the tumult and havoc in the city as if it were +in another land, sat beside him and furthered all efforts in a +winning fight. + +Merwyn saw him in a hospital ward, surrounded by skilful hands, +before he took his leave. + +"God bless ye!" Sally began. "If yez hadn't brought me--" + +But, pressing her hand warmly, he did not wait to hear her grateful +words. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE DECISIVE BATTLE. + + + + + +MERWYN was now very anxious to reach police headquarters in +Mulberry Street, for he felt that the safety of the city, as well +as all personal interests dear to him, depended upon adequate and +well-organized resistance. + +The driver, having been promised a handsome reward to remain, still +waited. Indeed, he had gained the impression that Merwyn was in +sympathy with the ruthless forces then in the ascendant, and he +felt safer in his company than if returning alone. + +Mounting the box again, Merwyn directed the driver to make his way +through the more open streets to Broadway and 14th Street. + +They had not gone far through the disturbed districts when four +rough-looking men stopped them, took possession of the hack, and +insolently required that they should be driven to Union Square. The +last ugly-visaged personage to enter the vehicle paused a moment, +drew a revolver, and said, "An' ye don't 'bey orders, this little +bull-dog will spake to ye next." + +The Jehu looked with a pallid face at Merwyn, who said, carelessly: +"It's all right. They are going in my direction." + +The quartet within soon began to entertain suspicions of Merwyn, +and the one who had last spoken, apparently the leader, thrust his +head out of the window and shouted: "Shtop! Who the divil is that +chap on the box wid ye?" + +"I'll answer for myself," said Merwyn, seeking to employ the +vernacular as well as the appearance of an American mechanic. "The +driver don't know anything about me. A cop knocked a friend of mine +on the head this morning, and I've been taking his wife to him." + +The driver now took his cue, and added, "Faix, and a nice, dacent +little Irishwoman she was, bedad." + +"Then ye're wan wid us?" cried the leader of the gang. + +"It looks mighty like it," was the laughing reply. "This would be +a poor place for me to hang out, if I was afraid of you or your +friends." + +"Yez may bet your loife on that. How coomes it ye're so hand-and-glove +wid an Irishman, when ye spake no brogue at all?" + +"Thunder! man, do you think no one but Irishmen are going to have +a fist in this scrimmage? I'm as ready to fight as you are, and am +only going down town to join my own gang. Why shouldn't I have an +Irishman for a friend, if he's a good fellow, I'd like to know?" + +"Beloikes they'll be yez best frin's. All roight. Dhrive on and +moind your eye, or the bull-dog will bark." + +They ordered a halt several times, while one and another went to +a saloon for a drink. It was fast becoming evident that, should +there be any want of courage or recklessness, whiskey would supply +the lack. + +Merwyn preserved nonchalant indifference, even when his disreputable +companions were approached by those with whom they were in league, +and information and orders were exchanged which he partially +overheard. Although much was said in a jargon that he scarcely +understood, he gathered that nothing less was on foot than an attack +on police headquarters, in the hope of crushing at the start the +power most feared. Therefore, while he maintained his mask, every +sense was on the alert. + +At length they reached Union Square, and the occupants of the +hack alighted. Two went east and one west, while the leader said +to Merwyn, who had also jumped down: "Take me to your gang. We're +afther needing ivery divil's son of 'im widin the next hour or so. +It's a big game we're playin' now, me lad, an' see that ye play +square and thrue, or your swateheart'll miss ye the noight." + +"You'll have to have a bigger crowd on Broadway before you'll get +our fellows out," Merwyn replied. "We're not going to face the cops +until there's enough on hand to give us a livin' chance." + +"There'll be plenty on hand--more'n ye ever seed in yer loife--before +ye're an hour older. So lead on, and shtop your palaver. I'm not +quite sure on ye yet." + +"You soon will be," replied Merwyn, with his reckless and misleading +laugh. "My course is down Broadway to Bleecker Street and then +west. I can show you as pretty a lot of fellows as you'll want to +see, and most of us are armed." + +"All roight. Broadway suits me. I want to see if the coast is +clear." + +"So do I, and what the cops are about in these diggin's. The right +thing to do is for all hands to pitch right on to them in Mulberry +Street, and then the game's in our own hands." + +"If that's the lark we have on foot, can ye promise that yer gang'll +join us?" + +"Yes, sir, for we'd know that meant business." + +"How many could ye muster?" + +"I hardly know. We were a-growin' fast when I left." + +"Well, lead on loively. Ivery minute now should give me a dozen +men, an' we want to start the blaze down this way. I tell ye it's +a burning-up town." + +"So I should guess from the smoke we see," said Merwyn, with his +old laugh. "Jupiter! there comes a squad of cops." + +"Well, what do we care? We're two paceable, dacent citizens, +a-strollin' down Broadway." + +"Oh, I'm not afraid," was the careless reply. "I'm going to see +this scrimmage out, and I like the fun. Let's watch the cops cross +the street, and see how they are armed." + +As the little squad approached Broadway from a side-street, hastening +to headquarters, the Hibernian firebrand and his supposed ally stood +on the curbstone, A moment later Merwyn struck his companion such +a powerful blow on the temple that he fell in the street, almost +in front of the officers of the law. The young fellow then sprung +upon the stunned and helpless man, and took away his weapons, at +the same time, crying: "Secure him. He's a leader of the mob." + +"Yes, and you too, my hard hitter," said the sergeant in command. + +"I'll go quietly enough, so long as you take him with me. Be quick +about it, too, for I have news that should be known at headquarters +as soon as possible." + +The police now supposed that they recognized one of a band +of detectives, everywhere busy about the city in all kinds of +disguises,--men of wonderful nerve, who rendered the authorities +very important services, and often captured the most dangerous of +the ruffianly leaders. + +The fellow in question was hustled to his feet, having discovered +Merwyn's gang sooner than he desired. The squad pushed through the +fast-gathering and bewildered crowd, and soon reached headquarters. +The young fellow told his story in the presence of Mr. Vosburgh, who +evidently had credentials which secured for him absolute confidence +on the part of the authorities. + +Merwyn soon learned to recognize in his interlocutor, the +superintendent of the metropolitan police, a man to whose active +brain, iron will, and indomitable courage, the city chiefly owed +its deliverance,--Thomas C. Acton. + +Confirmation of the sinister tidings was already coming in fast. The +brutal mob that had sacked and burned the Colored Orphan Asylum was +moving southward, growing with accessions from different quarters, +like a turbulent torrent. Its destination was well understood, +and Acton knew that the crisis had come thus early. He frequently +conferred with Chief Clerk Seth C. Hawley, upon whom, next to +himself, rested the heaviest burdens of those terrific days. + +Merwyn offered his services on the force, stipulating, however, +that he might be in a measure his own master, since he had other +duties to perform, at the same time promising to do his share of +the fighting. + +Mr. Vosburgh drew Acton to one side, and made a few whispered +explanations. Merwyn's request was granted at once, Acton adding, +"There will be a general call in the morning papers for the enrolment +of citizens as policemen." + +The moments were crowded with preparations, counsels, and decisions. +The telegraph wires, concentring there from all parts of the city, +were constantly ticking off direful intelligence; but the most +threatening fact was the movement down Broadway of unknown thousands, +maddened by liquor, and confident from their unchecked excesses +during the day. They knew that they had only to destroy the handful +of men at police headquarters and the city was theirs to plunder +and destroy with hyena-like savagery. + +Acton, now cognizant of the worst, went to the police commissioners' +room and said: "Gentlemen, the crisis has come. A battle must be +fought now, and won, too, or all is lost." + +None doubted the truth of his word; but who should lead the small +force at hand? Inspector Carpenter's name was suggested, for he was +known to be a man of great resolution and courage, and leadership +naturally fell to him as one of the oldest and most experienced +members of the force. Acton instructed him not only that a battle +must be fought immediately, but also that it MUST be successful. + +Carpenter listened quietly, comprehending both the peril and the +necessity; then after a moment's hesitation he rose to his full +height, and with an impressive gesture and a terrible oath said, +"I will go, and I'll win that fight, or Daniel Carpenter will never +come back a live man." + +He instantly summoned his insignificant force, and the order, "Fall +in, men," resounded through the street. + +Merwyn, with a policeman's coat buttoned over his blouse, avowed +his purpose of going with them; and his exploit of the afternoon, +witnessed and bruited by members of the force, made his presence +welcome. + +It was now between five and six in the evening. The air was hot +and sultry, and in the west lowered heavy clouds, from which the +thunder muttered. Emblematic they seemed to such as heeded them in +the intense excitement. + +Few in the great city at that hour were so deeply stirred as Merwyn. +The tremendous excitements of the day, to which his experience at +Mr. Vosburgh's residence had chiefly contributed, were cumulative +in their effect. Now he had reached the goal of his hope, and had +obtained an opportunity, far beyond his wildest dreams, to redeem +his character from the imputation of cowardice. He was part of the +little force which might justly be regarded as a "forlorn hope." +The fate of the city depended upon its desperate valor, and no one +knew this better than he, who, from early morning, had witnessed the +tiger-spirit of the mob. If the thousands, every minute approaching +nearer, should annihilate the handful of men who alone were present +to cope with them, that very night the city would be at the mercy +of the infuriated rioters, and not a home would be secure from +outrage. + +The column of police was formed scarcely two hundred strong. +Merwyn, as a new recruit, was placed in its rear, a position that +he did not mean to keep when the fight should begin. Like the +others, he was armed with a locust-club, but he had two revolvers +on his person, and these he knew how to use with fatal precision. +From an open window Superintendent Acton shouted, "Inspector +Carpenter, my orders are, Make no arrests, bring no prisoners, but +kill--kill every, time." + +It was to be a life-and-death struggle. The mob would have no mercy: +the officers of the law were commanded to show none. + +As Carpenter went forward to the head of his column, his face as +dark with his sanguinary puipose as the lowering west, Merwyn saw +that Mr. Vosburgh, quiet and observant, was present. + +The government officer, with his trained instincts, knew just where +to be, in order to obtain the most vital information. He now joined +Merwyn, and was struck by his extreme pallor, a characteristic of +the young fellow under extreme emotion. + +"Mr. Merwyn," he said, hastily, "you have done enough for two +to-day, You need rest. This is going to be a desperate encounter." + +"Forward!" shouted Carpenter. + +A proud smile lighted up Merwyn's features, as he said: "Good-by. +Thank you for such faith as you have had in me;" and he moved off +with the others. + +Mr. Vosburgh muttered, "I shall see this fight, and I shall solve +that embodied mystery whom we have thought a coward;" and he followed +so near as to keep Merwyn under his eye. + +A black, sulphurous cloud was rising in the west. This little +dark blue column approaching from the east, marching down Bleecker +Street, was insignificant in comparison, yet it was infinitely the +more dangerous, and charged with forces that would scatter death +and wounds such as the city had never witnessed. + +No words were spoken by the resolute men. The stony pavement +echoed their measured, heavy tread. Turning into Broadway they saw +the enemy but a block and a half away, a howling mob, stretching +northward as far as the eye could reach. It was sweeping the +thoroughfare, thousands in line. Pedestrians, stages, vehicles of +all kinds, were vanishing down side-streets. Pallid shopkeepers +were closing their stores as sailors take in sail before a cyclone. + +Carpenter halted his command, and sent small detachments up parallel +side-streets, that they might come around and fall upon the flanks +of the mob. + +As these men were moving off on the double-quick, Merwyn left his +squad and said to Carpenter: "I am a citizen, and I stipulated that +I should fight as I chose. I choose to fight with you." + +"Well, well, so long as you fight," was the hasty answer. "You shall +have plenty of it, if you keep near me." Then he added, sternly: +"Mark you, young fellow, if you show the white feather I'll knock +you over myself. Those devils yonder must be taught that the one +thing this force can't do is run." + +"Brain me if I do not do my whole duty," was the firm reply; and +he took his place at the right of the front rank. + +A moment later he was startled by Mr. Vosburgh, who seized his hand +and said, earnestly: "Merwyn, no man ever did a braver thing than +you are doing now. I can't forgive myself that I wronged you in my +thoughts." + +"You had reason. I'm doing no better than these other men, and I +have a thousand-fold their motive." Then he added, gravely, "I do +not think you ought to be here and your daughter alone." + +"I know my duty," was the quiet reply; "and there are those who +must be informed of the issue of this fight as soon as it is over. +Once more, farewell, my brave friend;" and he disappeared. + +Carpenter was holding his force until his flanking detachments should +reach their co-operative points. When the mob saw the police, it +advanced more slowly, as if it, too, instinctively recognized that +the supreme crisis was near. In the van of the dense mass a large +board was borne aloft, inscribed with the words, "No Draft!" and +beside it, in mocking irony, floated the stars and stripes. + +The hesitation of the rioters was but brief. They mistook the +inaction of the few policemen opposed to them for timidity, and the +immense masses behind pushed them forward. Therefore, with a new +impetus, the howling, yelling throng approached, and Merwyn could +distinguish the features of the liquor-inflamed, maddened faces that +were already becoming familiar to him. In the sultry July evening +the greater part of the rioters were in their shirt-sleeves, and +they were armed with every description of weapon, iron bars, clubs, +pitchforks, barrel-staves, and not a few with guns and pistols. + +Carpenter stood out before his men, watching the approach of his +victims with an expression which only the terrible excitement of +battle can produce. His men, behind him, were like statues. Suddenly +his stentorian command rang out,-- + +"BY THE RIGHT FLANK, COMPANY FRONT! DOUBLE-QUICK! CHARGE!" + +As if the lever of a powerful engine had been pressed, all clubs +were raised aloft, and with swift, even tread the trained, powerful +men rushed after their leader, who kept several paces ahead. + +When such a disciplined force, with such a leader, have resolved to +fight till they die, their power is not to be estimated by numbers. +They smote the astonished van of the mob like a thunderbolt, Carpenter +leading by several steps, his face aflame with his desperate resolve. +He dealt the first blow, sending down, bleeding and senseless, a +huge ruffian who was rushing upon him with a club. A second later +the impetuous officer was in the midst of the mob, giving deadly +blows right and left. + +His men closed up with him instantly, Merwyn being among the first +to reach his side, and for a few moments the thud of clubs on human +skulls was heard above every other sound. Mr. Vosburgh, keeping a +little to the rear on the sidewalk, watched Merwyn, who held his +attention almost equally with the general issues of this decisive +battle. The youth was dealing blows like an athlete, and keeping +pace with the boldest. The windows of the buildings on Broadway +were now crowded by thousands witnessing the conflict, while Mr. +Vosburgh, following closely, heard the ominous "sing" of more than +one bullet. The man who had come that day to the protection of his +home and child should not be left to the mercy of strangers, should +he fall. To his surprise he soon saw that Merwyn had shifted his +club to his left hand, and that he was fighting with a revolver. He +watched the young fellow with renewed interest, and observed that +his aim was as deliberate as it was quick, and that often when he +fired some prominent figure in the mob dropped. + +"By all the powers! if he is not coolly shooting the leaders, and +picking out his man every time!" ejaculated the astonished officer. + +The police made a clean sweep of the street, and only prostrate +forms were left in their rear. Therefore Mr. Vosburgh could almost +keep pace with Merwyn. + +The rioters soon became appalled at their punishment. Like a dark +blue wave, with bloody clubs forming a crimson crest, that unfaltering +rank of men steadily advanced and ingulfed them. All within reach +went down. Those of the police who were wounded still fought on, +or, if disabled, the ranks closed up, and there was no cessation +in the fatal hail of blows. The rioters in front would have given +way, had not the thousands in their rear pressed them forward to +their fate. + +The judicious Carpenter had provided for this feature of the +strife, for now his detachments were smiting both flanks of the +human monster with the same terrific vengeance dealt upon its head. +The undisciplined herd fought desperately for a time, then gave +way to panic and the wild effort to escape. Long since a policeman +had seized the national flag, and bore it triumphantly with his +left hand while he fought with his right. The confusion and uproar +were beyond description. The rioters were yelling their conflicting +views as to what ought to be done, while others were shouting to +those in their rear to cease crowding forward. The pressure down +Broadway now came from a desire to escape the police. In brief, +a large section of the mob was hemmed in, and it surged backwards +and forwards and up against the stores, while hundreds, availing +themselves of the side-streets, ran for their lives. In a very +short time what had been a compact, threatening mass was flying in +fragments, as if disrupted by dynamite, but the pursuing clubs of +Carpenter's men never ceased their levelling blows while a rioter's +head was in reach. Far northward the direful tidings of defeat +spread through the ragged hosts as yet unharmed, and they melted +away, to come together again and again during the lurid days and +nights which followed. + +The Gettysburg of the conflict had been fought and won. Unspeakable +outrages and heavy battles were yet to come; but this decisive +victory gave the authorities advantage which they never lost, and +time to organize more effective resistance with the aid of the +military. The police saved the city. + +Broadway looked like a battle-field, prostrate forms strewing its +crimsoned pavement throughout the area of the conflict. The majority +were left where they fell, and were carried off by their friends. + +As the melee was drawing to a close, Mr. Vosburgh saw Merwyn chasing +a man who apparently had had much influence with his associates, +and had been among the last to yield. After a brief pursuit the +young fellow stopped and fired. The man struggled on a few steps, +then fell. Merwyn, panting, sat down on the curbstone, and here Mr. +Vosburgh joined him with radiant face, exclaiming, as he wrung the +young man's hand: "I've seen it all,--seen how you smote them hip +and thigh. Never has my blood been so stirred. The city is saved. +When a mob is thus dealt with it soon gives up. Come, you have +done more than your part. Go with me, and as soon as I have sent +a despatch about this glorious victory, we'll have supper and a +little rest." + +"Impossible, Mr. Vosburgh. The inspector has heard that the mob +is sacking the mayor's house, and we have orders to march there at +once. I'll get my wind in a moment." + +"But you are not under obligations, in view of all you have done." + +"I'm going to see this fight out. If the force were ordered back +to headquarters I'd go with you." + +"But you will come soon?" + +"Yes; when the fighting is over for the night I'll bring the latest +news. There, the men are falling in for their march up Broadway, +and I must go." + +"Well, I congratulate you. No soldier ever won greener laurels in +so short a time. What's more, you were cool enough to be one of +the most effective of the force. I saw you picking off the leaders. +Good-by;" and he hastened away, while Merwyn followed Carpenter +and the captured flag to a new scene of battle. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +"I HAVE SEEN THAT YOU DETEST ME." + + + + + +After her father had left her on that eventful afternoon, Marian +felt as if alone in a beleaguered fortress. The familiar streets +in which she had trundled her hoop as a child, and until to-day +walked without fear, were now filled with nameless terrors. She who +had been so bent on going out in the morning would now as readily +stroll in a tiger-infested jungle as to venture from her door. When +men like her father used such language and took such precautions +as she had anxiously noted, she knew that dangers were manifold and +great, that she was in the midst of the most ruthless phase of war. + +But her first excitement had passed, and it had brought her such +lessons that now her chief thought was to retrieve herself. The +one who had dwelt in her mind as so weak and unmanly as to be a +constant cause of irritation had shown himself to be her superior, +and might even equal the friends with whom she had been scornfully +contrasting him. That she should have spoken to him and treated +him as she had done produced boundless self-reproach, while her +egregious error in estimating his character was humiliating in the +last degree. + +"Fool! fool!" she said, aloud, "where was your woman's intuition?" + +Marian had much warm blood in her veins and fire in her spirit, and +on provocation could become deeply incensed at others, as we have +seen; but so devoid of petty vanity was she that she could be almost +equally angry at herself. She did not share her father's confidence +that Merwyn would relent under a few smiles, for she knew how deeply +she had wounded and wronged him, and she believed that he possessed a +will as steadfast as fate. The desire to test her father's theory, +the hope to atone for her wrong judgment, grew so strong and absorbing +as to make the awful fact of the riot secondary in her thoughts. + +To get through the hours she felt that she must keep incessantly +busy. She first went to her own room, packed valuables and jewels +in a convenient form to carry if there should be cause for a hasty +exit, then concealed them. Going to her mother's and father's room, +she acted in view of the same possible necessity, all the while +carrying on the distinct process of thought in regard to Merwyn, +dwelling on their past relations, but above all questioning his +course when they should meet again. + +Suddenly she reproached herself with forgetfulness of Mammy Borden. +True, not much time had passed; but the poor creature, after what +she had heard, should be reassured frequently. She went to the attic +room, but it was empty. On inspection it became evident that the +colored woman had made up her little bundle and departed. Calling +as she went down through the house, Marian reached the basement +and saw that its door had been unfastened. + +"She has gone to join her son," said the girl, as she hastily +rebolted and barred the door. "Oh what awful imprudence! Perhaps +she also wished to relieve us of the danger of her presence. Well, +I am now alone in very truth. I could now give Mr. Merwyn a very +different reception. He and papa will be here soon perhaps. Oh, I +wish I knew how to make coffee, but I can't even kindle a fire in +the range. I have proved myself to-day a fine subject for a soldier. +My role is to listen, in elegant costume, to heroic deeds, and +to become almost hysterical in the first hour of battle. O 'Missy +S'wanee,' I make a sorry figure beside you, facing actual war and +cheering on your friends!" + +Thus she passed the time in varied and bitter soliloquy while +putting the kitchen and closets in order, and in awkward attempts +to remove the debris of the last fire from the range. The gas gave +light for her efforts, for the closed shutters darkened the apartment. + +She was startled by a tap at the door. + +"Well?" she faltered, after a moment's hesitation. + +"'Gettysburg and Little Round Top,'" was the response. + +"Mr. Vosburgh is out, and left word that you should linger near +till he returned and then come again." + +"I cannot do that. It would not be safe for either him or me. He +does not realize. Can you be trusted?" + +"I am his daughter." + +"Say, then, terrible work up town. The orphan asylum sacked and +burned. Many private residences also. The mob having its own way. +A crowd is coming, and I must not be seen here. Will be back to-night +if possible;" and the unseen communicator of dismal intelligence +went westward with hasty steps. + +Marian trembled as she heard the confused, noisy tread of many feet. +Hastening to the second story, she peeped through the blinds, and +shuddered as she saw a fragment of the mob which had been defeated +on Broadway, returning to their haunts on the west side. Baffled +and infuriated, they made the street echo with their obscene words +and curses. Her heart almost stood still as they approached her +door, and with white, compressed lips she grasped her revolver; +but the rioters passed on like a flock of unclean birds, and the +street became quiet again. + +She was now so anxious about her father that she maintained her +position of observation. The coming storm lowering in the west +oppressed her with its terrible symbolism. Already the street was +darkening, while from other parts of the city came strange sounds. + +"Oh, if papa should never come back,--if the mob should have its +own way everywhere! To think of staying here alone to-night! Would +HE come again after my treatment this morning?" + +She was aroused from her deep and painful revery by a knocking on +the basement door. Hastening down she was overjoyed to hear her +father's voice, and when he entered she clung to him, and kissed him +with such energy that his heavy beard came off, and his disguising +wig was all awry. + +"O papa!" she cried, "I'm so glad you are back safe! A body of +rioters passed through the street, and the thought of your falling +into such hands sickened me with fear;" and then she breathlessly +told him of all that had occurred, and of Mammy Borden's disappearance. + +He reassured her gently, yet strongly, and her quick ear caught +the ring of truth in his words. + +"I, too, have much to tell you," he said, "and much to do; so we +must talk as we work. First help me to unpack and put away these +provisions. This evening I must get a stout German woman that I +know of to help you. You must not be left alone again, and I have +another plan in mind for our safety. I think the worst is over, but +it is best not to entertain a sense of false security for a moment +in these times. The mob has been thoroughly whipped on Broadway. +I'll tell you all about it after we have had a good cup of coffee +and a little supper. Now that there is a respite I find I'm almost +faint myself from reaction and fatigue." + +"Have you seen--do you think Mr. Merwyn will be here again?" + +"I've seen him, and so have others, to their sorrow. 'Coward,' +indeed!" He threw back his head and laughed. "I only wish I had a +regiment of such cowards, and I could abolish the mob in twenty-four +hours. But I'll tell you the whole story after supper is ready, and +will show how quickly a soldier can get up a meal in an emergency. +You must go into training as a commissary at once." + +Her father seemed so genuinely hopeful and elated that Marian caught +his spirit and gave every faculty to the task of aiding him. Now +that he was with her, all fears and forebodings passed; the nearer +roll of the thunder was unheeded except as it called out the remark, +"It will be too bad if Mr. Merwyn is out in the storm." + +Again her father laughed, as he said, "All the thunder gusts that +have raged over the city are nothing to the storm which Merwyn has +just faced." + +"O papa, you make me half wild with curiosity and impatience. Must +I wait until the coffee boils?" + +"No," was the still laughing reply. "What is more, you shall have +another surprising experience; you shall eat your supper--for the +first time, I imagine--in the kitchen. It will save time and trouble, +and some of my agents may appear soon. Well, well, all has turned +out, so far, better than I ever hoped. I have been able to keep +track of all the most important movements; I have seen a decisive +battle, and have sent intelligence of everything to Washington. +A certain man there cannot say that I have failed in my duty, +unexpected and terrible as has been the emergency. By morning the +military from the forts in the harbor will be on hand. One or two +more such victories, and this dragon of a mob will expire." + +"Papa, should not something be done to find and protect Mammy +Borden?" + +"Yes, as soon as possible; but we must make sure that the city's +safe, and our own lives secure before looking after one poor creature. +She has undoubtedly gone to her son, as you suggest. After such a +scare as she has had she will keep herself and him out of sight. +They are both shrewd and intelligent for their race, and will, no +doubt, either hide or escape from the city together. Rest assured +she went out heavily veiled and disguised. She would have said +good-by had she not feared you would detain her, and, as you say, +her motive was probably twofold. She saw how she endangered us, +and, mother-like, she was determined to be with her son." + +"Come, papa, the coffee's boiled, and supper, such as it is, is on +the table. Hungry as I am, I cannot eat till you have told me all." + +"All about the fight?" + +"Yes, and--and--Well, what part did Mr. Merwyn take in it?" + +"Ah, now I am to recite MY epic. How all is changed since Blauvelt +kindled your eyes and flushed your cheeks with the narration of +heroic deeds! Then we heard of armies whose tread shook the continent, +and whose guns have echoed around the world. Men, already historic +for all time, were the leaders, and your soldier friends were clad +in a uniform which distinguished them as the nation's defenders. +My humble hero had merely an ill-fitting policeman's coat buttoned +over his soiled, ragged blouse. Truly it is fit that I should recite +his deeds in a kitchen and not in a library. When was the heroic +policeman sung in homeric verse before? When--" + +"O papa, papa! don't tantalize me. You cannot belittle this struggle +or its consequences. Our enemies are at our very doors, and they +are not soldiers. I would rather face scalping Indians than the +wretches that I saw an hour since. If Merwyn will do a man's part +to quell this mob I shall feel honored by his friendship. But he +never will forgive me, never, never." + +"We'll see about that," was Mr. Vosburgh's smiling reply. Then his +face became grave, and he said: "You are right, Marian. The ruffians +who filled the streets to-day, and who even now are plundering and +burning in different parts of the city, are not soldiers. They are +as brutal as they are unscrupulous and merciless. I can only tell +you what has occurred in brief outline, for the moment I am a little +rested and have satisfied hunger I must be at work." + +He then rapidly narrated how Merwyn had been brought in at police +headquarters with one of the leaders of the riot whom he had beguiled +and helped to capture. A graphic account of the battle followed, +closing with the fact that he had left the "coward" marching up +Broadway to engage in another fight. + +The girl listened with pale cheeks and drooping head. + +"He will never forgive me," she murmured; "I've wronged him too +deeply." + +"Be ready to give him a generous cup of coffee and a good supper," +her father replied. "Men are animals, even when heroes, and Merwyn +will be in a condition to bless the hand that feeds him to-night. +Now I must carry out my plans with despatch. Oh, there is the +rain. Good. Torrents, thunder, and lightning will keep away more +dangerous elements. Although I have but a slight acquaintance +with the Erkmanns, whose yard abuts upon ours, I hope, before the +evening is over, to have a door cut in the fence between us, and +a wire stretched from our rear windows to theirs. It will be for +our mutual safety. If attacked we can escape through their house +or they through ours. I'll put on my rubber suit and shall not be +gone long now at any one time. You can admit Merwyn or any of my +agents who give the password. Keep plenty of coffee and your own +courage at boiling-point. You will next hear from me at our back +door." + +In less than half an hour she again admitted her father, who said: +"It's all arranged. I have removed a couple of boards so that they +can be replaced by any one who passes through the opening. I have +some fine wire which I will now stretch from my library to Mr. +Erkmann's sleeping-apartment." + +When he again entered the house two of his agents whom Marian had +admitted were present, dripping wet, hungry, and weary. They had +come under cover of the storm and darkness. While they gave their +reports Mr. Vosburgh made them take a hearty supper, and Marian +waited on them with a grace that doubled their incentive to serve +their chief. But more than once she sighed, "Merwyn does not come." + +Then the thought flashed upon her: "Perhaps he cannot come. He may +be battered and dying in the muddy streets." + +The possibility of this made her so ill and faint that she hastily +left the apartment and went up to the darkened drawing-room, where +her father found her a moment later seeking to stifle her sobs. + +"Why, Marian, darling, you who have kept up so bravely are not +going to give way now." + +"I'm not afraid for myself," she faltered, "but Mr. Merwyn does not +come. You said he was marching to another fight. He may be wounded; +he may be--" her voice fell to a whisper--"he may be dead." + +"No, Marian," replied her father, confidently, "that young fellow +has a future. He is one of those rare spirits which a period like +this develops, and he'll take no common part in it. He has probably +gone to see if his own home is safe. Now trust God and be a soldier, +as you promised." + +"I couldn't bear to have anything happen to him and I have no chance +to make amends, to show I am not so weak and silly as I appeared +this morning." + +"Then let him find you strong and self-controlled when he appears. +Come down now, for I must question my agents while they are yet at +supper; then I must go out, and I'll leave them for your protection +till I return." + +He put his arm about her, and led her to the stairway, meanwhile +thinking, "A spell is working now which she soon will have to +recognize." + +By the time his agents had finished their meal, Mr. Vosburgh had +completed his examination of them and made his notes. He then placed +a box of cigars on the table, instructed them about admitting Merwyn +should he come, and with his daughter went up to the library, where +he wrote another long despatch. + +"After sending this," he said, "and getting the woman I spoke of, +I will not leave you again to-night, unless there should be very +urgent necessity. You can sit in the darkened front room, and watch +till either I or Merwyn returns." + +This she did and listened breathlessly. + +The rain continued to pour in torrents, and the lightning was +still so vivid as to blind her eyes at times, while the crashes of +thunder often drowned the roar of the unquiet city; but undaunted, +tearless, motionless, she watched the deserted street and listened +for the footfall of one whom she had long despised, as she had +assured herself. + +An hour passed. The storm was dying away, and still he did not +come. "Alas!" she sighed, "he is wounded; if not by the rabble, +certainly by me. I know now what it has cost him to be thought a +coward for months, and must admit that I don't understand him at +all. How vividly come back the words he spoke last December, 'What +is the storm, and what the danger, to that which I am facing?' +What was he facing? What secret and terrible burden has he carried +patiently through all my coldness and scorn? Oh, why was I such an +idiot as to offend him mortally just as he was about to retrieve +himself and render papa valuable assistance,--worse still, when he +came to my protection!" + +The gloomy musings were interrupted by the sound of a carriage +driven rapidly up town in a neighboring street. It stopped at the +corner to the east, and a man alighted and came towards the Vosburgh +residence. A moment later Marian whispered, excitedly, "It's Mr. +Merwyn." + +He approached slowly and she thought warily, and began mounting +the steps. + +"Is it Mr. Merwyn?;" she called. + +"Yes." + +"I will admit you at the basement door;" and she hastened down. +She meant to give her hand, to speak in warm eulogy of his action, +but his pale face and cold glance as he entered chilled her. She +felt tongue-tied in the presence of the strangers who sat near the +table smoking. + +Merwyn started slightly on seeing them, and then she explained, +hastily, "These gentlemen are assisting my father in a way you +understand." + +He bowed to them, then sank into a chair, as if too weary to stand. + +"Mr. Merwyn," she began, eagerly, "let me make you some fresh coffee. +That on the range is warm, but it has stood some little time." + +"Please do not take the slightest trouble," he said, decidedly. +"That now ready will answer. Indeed, I would prefer it to waiting. +I regret exceedingly that Mr. Vosburgh is not at home, for I am +too exhausted to wait for him. Can I not help myself?" and he rose +and approached the range. + +"Not with my permission," she replied, with a smile, but he did +not observe it. She stole shy glances at him as she prepared the +coffee. Truly, as he sat, drooping in his chair, wet, ragged, and +begrimed, he presented anything but the aspect of a hero. Yet as +such he appeared in her eyes beyond all other men whom she had ever +seen. + +She said, gently: "Let me put the coffee on the table, and get you +some supper. You must need it sorely." + +"No, I thank you. I could not eat anything to-night;" and he rose +and took the coffee from her hand, and drank it eagerly. He then +said, "I will thank you for a little more." + +With sorrow she noted that he did not meet her eyes or relax his +distant manner. + +"I wish you could wait until papa returns," she said, almost +entreatingly, as she handed him a second cup. + +"I hope Mr. Vosburgh will pardon my seeming lack of courtesy, and +that you will also, gentlemen. It has been a rather long, hard day, +and I find that I have nearly reached the limit of my powers." With +a short, grim laugh, he added: "I certainly am not fit to remain +in the presence of a lady. I suppose, Miss Vosburgh, I may report +what little I have to say in the presence of these gentlemen? I +would write it out if I could, but I cannot to-night." + +"I certainly think you may speak freely before these gentlemen," +was her reply. + +"Mr. Vosburgh trusts us implicitly, and I think we are deserving +of it," said one of the agents. + +"Why need you go out again when you are so weary?" Marian asked. +"I am expecting papa every moment, and I know he would like you to +stay with him." + +"That would be impossible. Besides, I have some curiosity to learn +whether I have a home left. My report in brief amounts to little +more than this. Soon after our return from the mayor's residence on +Broadway we were ordered down to Printing-House Square. Intelligence +that an immense mob was attacking the Tribune Office had been +received. Our hasty march thither, and the free use of the club on +our arrival, must account for my present plight. You see, gentlemen, +that I am not a veteran, only a raw recruit. In a day or two +I shall be more seasoned to the work. You may say to your father, +Miss Vosburgh, that the mob had been broken before we arrived. We +met them on their retreat across City-Hall Park, and nothing was +left for us but the heavy, stupid work of knocking a good many of +the poor wretches on the head. Such fighting makes me sick; yet it +is imperative, no doubt. Inspector Carpenter is at City Hall with +a large force, and the rioters are thoroughly dispersed. I think +the lower part of the city will be quiet for the night." + +"You were wise, Mr. Merwyn, to ride up town," said Marian, gravely. +"I know well that you have been taxed to-day beyond the strength +of any veteran." + + +"How did you know that I rode up town?" + +"I was watching for papa, and saw you leave your carriage." + +"I could never have reached home had I not secured a cab, and that +reminds me that it is waiting around the corner; at least, the +driver promised to wait. I shall now say good-night. Oh, by the +way, in the press of other things I forgot to say that Mrs. Ghegan +reached her husband, and that her good nursing, with surgical help, +will probably save his life." + +Bowing to the agents, who had been listening and watching him with +great curiosity, he turned to the door. + +Marian opened it for him, and, stepping out into the dusky area, +said, "I see that you do not forgive me." + +"And I have seen, to-day, Miss Vosburgh, that you detest me. You +showed the truth plainly when off your guard. Your own pride and +sense of justice may lead you to seek to make amends for an error +in your estimate of me. Having convinced you that I am not a coward, +I have accomplished all that I can hope for, and I'm in no mood for +hollow courtesies. I shall do everything in my power to aid your +father until the trouble is over or I am disabled, and then will +annoy you no more. Good-night;" and he strode away, with a firm, +rapid step, proving that his pride for a moment had mastered his +almost mortal weariness. + +Marian returned to her post in the second story to watch for her +father, her ears tingling, and every faculty confused, while excited, +by the words Merwyn had spoken. He had revealed his attitude towards +her clearly, and, as she grew calmer, she saw it was not a mere +question of the offence she had given him that morning which she had +to face, but rather a deep-rooted conviction that he was personally +detested. + +"If he knew how far this is from the truth NOW!" she thought, with +a smile. + +Then the query presented itself: "How far is it from the truth? Why +am I thinking more of him than of the riot, our danger, yes, even +my father?" + +In the light of that lurid day much had been revealed to her, and +before her revery ceased she understood her long months of irritation +and anger at Merwyn's course; she saw why she had not dismissed him +from her thoughts with contemptuous indifference and why she had +ingeniously wrought the MacIan theory of constitutional timidity. +When had she given so much thought to a man whom she had disliked? +Even in her disapproval of him, even when her soldier friends +appeared at their best and she was contrasting him with them to his +fatal disadvantage as she believed, thoughts of him would pursue +her constantly. Now that he had shown himself the peer of each and +all in manhood and courage, it seemed as if feelings, long held +in check, were released and were sweeping irresistibly towards one +conclusion. Merwyn was more to her than any other man in the world. +He had fulfilled her ideal, and was all the more attractive because +he was capable of such deep, strong passion, and yet could be so +resolute and cool. + +"But how can I ever undeceive him?" was her most perplexing thought. +"I cannot make advances. Well, well, the future must disentangle +itself." + +Now that she was beginning to understand herself, every instinct +of her being led towards reserve. In a misunderstanding with her +soldier friends she could easily and frankly effect a reconciliation, +but she must be dumb with Merwyn, and distant in manner, to the +degree that she was self-conscious. + +Suddenly she became aware that it was growing late, and that her +father had not returned, and for the next hour she suffered terribly +from anxiety, as did many women in those days of strange vicissitudes. + +At last, a little before midnight, he came, looking stern and +anxious. "I will soon explain," he said to her. "Take this woman +to her room." Then, to his aroused and sleepy agents: "You have had +some rest and respite. Go to the nearest hotel and take a little +more, but be up with the dawn and do your best, for to-morrow +promises to be worse than to-day." + +With a few further instructions he dismissed them. + +Upon reaching the library he said to his daughter: "I've been at +a conference in which the police, military, and state authorities +took part, and things look gloomy. I have also sent further +despatches. My dear child, I wish you were with your mother, but +I'm too weary to think any more to-night." + +"Papa, the question of my remaining has been settled. Now rest. +Mr. Merwyn came and brought good news." + +"Yes, I know all about it. Why did he not stay?" + +"He naturally wished to return and look after his own home." + +"True enough. I hope he found it unharmed. He has proved himself a +grand, brave fellow to-day, and I only wish it was my privilege to +fight at his side. It would be far easier than to carry my burden." + +"Not another perplexing thought to-night, papa." + +"Well, Marian, I must have some sleep, to be equal to to-morrow. You +must obey orders and sleep also. I shall not take off my clothes, +and shall be ready for any emergency; and do you also sleep in your +wrapper." + +He kissed her fondly, but with heavy eyes. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +A FAIR FRIEND AND FOUL FOES. + + + + + +THE reader has already discovered that I have not attempted anything +approaching a detailed history of the dreadful days of the riot. +I merely hope to give a somewhat correct impression of the hopes, +fears, and passions which swayed men's minds and controlled +or directed their action. Many of the scenes are too horrible to +be described, and much else relating to the deeds and policy of +recognized leaders belongs to the sober page of history. The city +was in awful peril, and its destruction would have crippled the +general government beyond all calculation. Unchecked lawlessness +in New York would soon have spread to other centres. That cool, +impartial historian, the Comte de Paris, recognized the danger in +his words: "Turbulent leaders were present in the large cities of +the East, which contained all the elements for a terrible insurrection. +This insurrection was expected to break out in New York, despite +Lee's defeat: one may judge what it might have been had Lee achieved +a victory." + +With the best intentions the administration had committed many grave +errors,--none more so, perhaps, than that of ordering the draft to +be inaugurated at a time when the city was stripped of its militia. + +Now, however, it only remained for the police and a few hundreds +of the military to cope with the result of that error,--a reckless +mob of unnumbered thousands, governed by the instinct to plunder +and destroy. + +When the sun dawned in unclouded splendor on the morning of the +14th of July, a superficial observer, passing through the greater +part of the city, would not have dreamed that it could become a +battle-ground, a scene of unnumbered and untold outrages, during +the day. It was hard for multitudes of citizens, acquainted with +what had already taken place, to believe in the continuance of +such lawlessness. In large districts there was an effort to carry +on business as usual. In the early hours vehicles of every kind +rattled over the stony pavement, and when at last Merwyn awoke, +the sounds that came through his open windows were so natural that +the events of the preceding day seemed but a distorted dream. The +stern realities of the past and the future soon confronted him, +however, and he rang and ordered breakfast at once. + +Hastily disguising himself as he had done before, he again summoned +his faithful servant. This man's vigilance had enabled him to +admit his master instantly the night before. Beyond the assurance +that all was well and safe Merwyn had not then listened to a word, +yielding to the imperative craving for sleep and rest. These, +with youth and the vigor of a strong, unvitiated constitution, had +restored him wonderfully, and he was eager to enter on the perils +and duties of the new day. His valet and man-of-all-work told him +that he had been at pains to give the impression that the family +was away and the house partially dismantled. + +"It wouldn't pay ye," he had said to a band of plunderers, "to bother +with the loikes of this house when there's plenty all furnished." + +With injunctions to maintain his vigilance and not to be surprised +if Merwyn's absence was prolonged, the young man hastened away, +paving no heed to entreaties to remain and avoid risks. + +It was still early, but the uneasy city was waking, and the streets +were filling with all descriptions of people. Thousands were +escaping to the country; thousands more were standing in their doors +or moving about, seeking to satisfy their curiosity; while in the +disaffected districts on the east and the west side the hosts of +the mob were swarming forth for the renewal of the conflict, now +inspired chiefly by the hope of plunder. Disquiet, anxiety, fear, +anger, and recklessness characterized different faces, according +to the nature of their possessors; but as a rule even the most +desperate of the rioters were singularly quiet except when under +the dominion of some immediate and exciting influence. + +In order to save time, Merwyn had again hired a hack, and, seated +with the driver, he proceeded rapidly, first towards the East +River, and then, on another street, towards the Hudson. His eyes, +already experienced, saw on every side the promise of another bloody +day. He was stopped and threatened several times, for the rioters +were growing suspicious, fully aware that detectives were among +them, but he always succeeded in giving some plausible excuse. At +last, returning from the west side, the driver refused to carry +him any longer, and gave evidence of sympathy with the mob. + +Merwyn quietly showed him the butt of a revolver, and said, "You +will drive till I dismiss you." + +The man yielded sullenly, and Merwyn alighted near Mr. Vosburgh's +residence, saying to his Jehu, "Your course lies there," pointing +east,--and he rapidly turned a corner. + +As Merwyn had surmised, the man wheeled his horses with the purpose +of following and learning his destination. Observing this eager +quest he sprung out upon him from a doorway and said, "If you try +that again I'll shoot you as I would a dog." The fellow now took +counsel of discretion. + +Going round the block to make sure he was not observed, Merwyn +reached the residence of Mr. Vosburgh just as that gentleman was +rising from his breakfast, and received a cordial welcome. + +"Why, Merwyn," he exclaimed, "you look as fresh as a June daisy +this morning." + +The young fellow had merely bowed to Marian, and now said, "I +cannot wonder at your surprise, remembering the condition in which +I presented myself last night." + +"Condition? I do not understand." + +Marian laughed, as she said: "Papa came in about midnight in scarcely +better plight. In brief, you were both exhausted, and with good +reason." + +"But you did not tell me, Marian--" + +"No," she interrupted; "nothing but a life-and-death emergency +should have made me tell you anything last night." + +"Why, our little girl is becoming a soldier and a strategist. +I think you had better make your report over again, Mr. Merwyn;" +and he drew out a fuller account of events than had been given +the evening before, also the result of the young man's morning +observations. + +Marian made no effort to secure attention beyond offering Merwyn +a cup of coffee. + +"I have breakfasted," he said, coldly. + +"Take it, Merwyn, take it," cried Mr. Vosburgh. "Next to courage, +nothing keeps up a soldier better than coffee. According to your +own view we have another hard day before us." + +Merwyn complied, and bowed his thanks. + +"Now for plans," resumed Mr. Vosburgh. "Are you going to police +headquarters again?" + +"Direct from here." + +"I shall be there occasionally, and if you learn anything important, +leave me a note. If I am not there and you can get away, come here. +Of course I only ask this as of a friend and loyal man. You can +see how vitally important it is that the authorities at Washington +should be informed. They can put forth vast powers, and will do so +as the necessity is impressed upon them. If we can only hold our +own for a day or two the city will be full of troops. Therefore +remember that in aiding me you are helping the cause even more +than by fighting with the best and bravest, as you did yesterday. +You recognize this fact, do you not? I am not laying any constraint +on you contrary to your sense of duty and inclination." + +"No, sir, you are not. I should be dull indeed did I not perceive +that you are burdened with the gravest responsibilities. What +is more, your knowledge guides, in a measure, the strong national +hand, and I now believe we shall need its aid." + +"That's it, that's the point. Therefore you can see why I am eager +to secure the assistance of one who has the brains to appreciate +the fact so quickly and fully. Moreover, you are cool, and seem to +understand the nature of this outbreak as if you had made a study +of the mobs." + +"I have, and I have been preparing for this one, for I knew that +it would soon give me a chance to prove that I was not a coward." + +Marian's cheeks crimsoned. + +"No more of that, if you please," said Mr. Vosburgh, gravely. "While +it is natural that you should feel strongly, you must remember +that both I and my daughter have asked your pardon, and that you +yourself admitted that we had cause for misjudging you. We have +been prompt to make amends, and I followed you through yesterday's +fight at some risk to see that you did not fall into the hands of +strangers, if wounded. I could have learned all about the fight +at a safer distance. You are now showing the best qualities of a +soldier. Add to them a soldier's full and generous forgiveness when +a wrong is atoned for,--an unintentional wrong at that. We trust +you implicitly as a man of honor, but we also wish to work with +you as a friend." + +Mr. Vosburgh spoke with dignity, and the young fellow's face flushed +under the reproof in his tone. + +"I suppose I have become morbid on the subject," he said, with some +embarrassment. "I now ask your pardon, and admit that the expression +was in bad taste, to say the least." + +"Yes, it was, in view of the evident fact that we now esteem and +honor you as a brave man. I would not give you my hand in friendship +and trust concerning matters vital to me were this not so." + +Merwyn took the proffered hand with a deep flush of pleasure. + +"Having learned the bitterness of being misjudged," said Marian, +quietly, "Mr. Merwyn should be careful how he misjudges others." + +"That's a close shot, Merwyn," said Mr. Vosburgh, laughing. + +Their guest started and bent a keen glance on the girl's averted face, +and then said, earnestly: "Miss Vosburgh, your father has spoken +frankly to me and I believe him. Your words, also, are significant +if they mean anything whatever. I know well what is before +me to-day,--the chances of my never seeing you again. I can only +misjudge you in one respect. Perhaps I can best make everything +clear to your father as well as yourself by a single question. If +I do my duty through these troubles, Mr. Vosburgh being the judge, +can you give me some place among those friends who have already, +and justly, won your esteem? I know it will require time. I have +given you far more cause for offence than you have given me, but I +would be glad to fight to-day with the inspiration of hope rather +than that of recklessness." + +Her lip trembled as she faltered: "You would see that you have +such a place already were you not equally prone to misjudge. Do you +think me capable of cherishing a petty spite after you had proved +yourself the peer of my other friends?" + +"That I have not done, and I fear I never can. You have seen that +I have been under a strong restraint which is not removed and which +I cannot explain. To wear, temporarily, a policeman's uniform is +probably the best I can hope for." + +"I was thinking of men, Mr. Merwyn, not uniforms. I have nothing +whatever to do with the restraint to which you refer. If my father +trusts you, I can. Do not think of me so meanly as to believe I +cannot give honest friendship to the man who is risking his life +to aid my father. Last evening you said I had been off my guard. +I must and will say, in self-defence, that if you judge me by that +hour of weakness and folly you misjudge me." + +"Then we can be friends," he said, holding out his hand, his face +full of the sunshine of gladness. + +"Why not?" she replied, laughing, and taking his hand,--"that is, +on condition that there is no more recklessness." + +Mr. Vosburgh rose and said, with a smile: "Now that there is complete +amity in the camp we will move on the enemy. I shall go with you, +Merwyn, to police-headquarters;" and he hastily began his preparation. + +Left alone with Marian a moment, Merwyn said, "You cannot know how +your words have changed everything for me." + +"I fear the spirit of the rioters is unchanged, and that you are +about to incur fearful risks." + +"I shall meet them cheerfully, for I have been under a thick cloud +too long not to exult in a little light at last." + +"Ready?" said Mr. Vosburgh. + +Again Merwyn took her hand and looked at her earnestly as he said, +"Good-by, Heaven bless you, whatever happens to me;" and he wondered +at the tears that came into her eyes. + +Making their way through streets which were now becoming thronged, Mr. +Vosburgh and Merwyn reached police headquarters without detention. +They found matters there vastly changed for the better: the +whole police force well in hand; and General Harvey Brown, a most +capable officer, in command of several hundred soldiers. Moreover, +citizens, in response to a call from the mayor, were being enrolled +in large numbers as special policemen. Merwyn was welcomed by his old +companions under the command of Inspector Carpenter, and provided +with a badge which would indicate that he now belonged to the police +force. + +Telegrams were pouring in announcing trouble in different sections. +Troops were drawn up in line on Mulberry Street, ready for instant +action, and were harangued by their officers in earnest words which +were heeded and obeyed, for the soldiers vied with the police in +courage and discipline. + +Soon after his arrival Merwyn found himself marching with a force +of policemen two hundred and fifty strong, led by Carpenter and +followed by a company of the military. The most threatening gatherings +were reported to be in Second and Third Avenues. + +The former thoroughfare, when entered, was seen to be filled as far +as the eye could reach, the number of the throng being estimated +at not less than ten thousand. At first this host was comparatively +quiet, apparently having no definite purpose or recognized leaders. +Curiosity accounted for the presence of many, the hope of plunder +for that of more; but there were hundreds of ferocious-looking men +who thirsted for blood and lawless power. A Catholic priest, to +his honor be it said, had addressed the crowd and pleaded for peace +and order; but his words, although listened to respectfully, were +soon forgotten. What this section of the mob, which was now mustering +in a score of localities, would have done first it is impossible +to say; for as it began to be agitated with passion, ready to +precipitate its brutal force on any object that caught its attention, +the cry, "Cops and soldiers coming," echoed up the avenue from +block to block, a long, hoarse wave of sound. + +Carpenter, with his force, marched quietly through the crowd from +21st to 32d Street, paying no heed to the hootings, yells, and vile +epithets that were hurled from every side. Dirty, ragged women, +with dishevelled hair and bloated faces, far exceeded the men in the +use of Billingsgate; and the guardians of the law, as they passed +through those long lines of demoniacal visages, scowling with hate, +and heard their sulphurous invectives, saw what would be their fate +if overpowered. It was a conflict having all the horrors of Indian +warfare, as poor Colonel O'Brien, tortured to death through the +long hot afternoon of that same day, learned in agony. + +The mob in the street had not ventured on anything more offensive +than jeers and curses, but when Carpenter's command reached 32d +Street it was assailed in a new and deadly manner. Rioters, well +provided with stones and brick-bats, had stationed themselves on the +roofs, and, deeming themselves secure, began to rain the missiles +on the column below, which formed but too conspicuous a mark. This +was a new and terrible danger which Merwyn had not anticipated, and +he wondered how Carpenter would meet the emergency. Comrades were +falling around him, and a stone grazed his shoulder which would +have brained him had it struck his head. + +Their leader never hesitated a moment. The command, "Halt, charge +those houses, brain every devil that resists," rang down the line. + +The crowd on the sidewalk gave way before the deeply incensed and +resolute officers of the law. Merwyn, with a half-dozen others, +seized a heavy pole which had been cut down in order to destroy +telegraphic communication, and, using it as a ram, crashed in the +door of a tall tenement-house on the roof of which were a score of +rioters, meantime escaping their missiles as by a miracle. Rushing +in, paying no heed to protests, and clubbing those who resisted, he +kept pace with the foremost. In his left hand, however, he carried +his trusty revolver, for he did not propose to be assassinated by +skulkers in the dark passage-ways. Seeing a man levelling a gun +from a dusky corner, he fired instantly, and man and gun dropped. +As the guardians of the law approached the scuttle, having fought +their way thither, the ruffians stood ready to hurl down bricks, +torn from the chimneys; but two or three well-aimed shots cleared +the way, and the policemen were on the roof, bringing down a man +with every blow. One brawny fellow rushed upon Merwyn, but received +such a stroke on his temple that he fell, rolled off the roof, and +struck the pavement, a crushed and shapeless mass. + +The assaults upon the other houses were equally successful, but +the fight was a severe one, and was maintained for nearly an hour. +The mob was appalled by the fate of their friends, and looked on +in sullen, impotent anger. + +Having cleared the houses, the police re-formed in the street, and +marched away to other turbulent districts. + +Only the military were left, and had formed about a block further +to the north. Beyond the feeble demonstration of the invalid corps +the rioters, as yet, had had no experience with the soldiery. That +policemen would use their clubs was to them a matter of course, but +they scarcely believed that cannon and musketry would be employed. +Moreover, they were maddened and reckless that so many of their +best and bravest had been put hors de combat. The brief paralysis +caused by the remorseless clubs of the police passed, and like +a sluggish monster, the mob, aroused to sudden fury, pressed upon +the soldiery, hurling not only the vilest epithets but every missile +on which they could lay their hands. Colonel O'Brien, in command +for the moment, rode through the crowd, supposing he could overawe +them by his fearless bearing; but they only scoffed at him, and +the attack upon his men grew more bold and reckless. + +The limit of patience was passed. "Fire!" he thundered, and the +howitzers poured their deadly canister point-blank into the throng. +At the same time the soldiers discharged their muskets. Not only +men, but women fell on every side, one with a child in her arms. + +A warfare in which women stand an equal chance for death and wounds +is a terrible thing, and yet this is usually an inseparable feature +of mob-fighting. However, setting aside the natural and instinctive +horror at injuring a woman, the depraved creatures in the streets +were deserving of no more sympathy than their male abettors in +every species of outrage. They did their utmost to excite and keep +alive the passions of the hour. Many were armed with knives, and +did not hesitate to use them, and when stronger hands broke in the +doors of shops and dwellings they swarmed after,--the most greedy +and unscrupulous of plunderers. If a negro man, woman, or child +fell into their hands, none were more brutal than the unsexed hags +of the mob. + +If on this, and other occasions, they had remained in their homes +they would not have suffered, nor would the men have been so +ferocious in their violence. They were the first to yield to panic, +however, and now their shrieks were the loudest and their efforts +to escape out of the deadly range of the guns the most frantic. +In a few moments the avenue was cleared, and the military marched +away, leaving the dead and wounded rioters where they had fallen, +as the police had done before. Instantly the friends of the sufferers +gathered them up and carried them into concealment. + +This feature, from the first, was one of the most marked +characteristics of the outbreak. The number of rioters killed and +wounded could be only guessed at approximately, for every effort +was made to bury the bodies secretly, and keep the injured in +seclusion until they either died or recovered. Almost before a fight +was over the prostrate rioters would be spirited away by friends +or relatives on the watch. + +The authorities were content to have it so, for they had no place +or time for the poor wretches, and the police understood that they +were to strike blows that would incapacitate the recipients for +further mischief. + +In the same locality which had witnessed his morning fight, Colonel +O'Brien, later in the day, met a fate too horrible to be described. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +DESPERATE FIGHTING. + + + + + +HAVING again reached police headquarters, Merwyn rested but a short +time and then joined a force of two hundred men under Inspector +Dilkes, and returned to the same avenue in which he had already +incurred such peril. The mob, having discovered that it must cope +with the military as well as the police, became eager to obtain +arms. It so happened that several thousand carbines were stored in +a wire factory in Second Avenue, and the rioters had learned the +fact. Therefore they swarmed thither, forced an entrance, and began +to arm themselves and their comrades. A despatch to headquarters +announced the attack at its commencement, and the force we have +named was sent off in hot haste to wrest from the mob the means +of more effective resistance. Emerging into the avenue from 21st +Street, Dilkes found the thoroughfare solid with rioters, who, instead +of giving way, greeted the police with bitter curses. Hesitating +not a moment on account of vast inequality of numbers, the leader +formed his men and charged. The mob had grown reckless with every +hour, and it now closed on the police with the ferocity of a wild +beast. A terrible hand-to-hand conflict ensued, and Merwyn found +himself warding off and giving blows with the enemy so near that +he could almost feel their hot, tainted breath on his cheek, while +horrid visages inflamed with hate and fury made impressions on his +mind that could not easily pass away. It was a close, desperate +encounter, and the scorching July sun appeared to kindle passion +on either side into tenfold intensity. While the police were +disciplined men, obeying every order and doing nothing at random, +they WERE men, and they would not have been human if anger and +thoughts of vengeance had not nerved their arms as they struck down +ruffians who would show no more mercy to the wounded or captured +than would a man-eating tiger. + +Since the mob would not give way, the police cut a bloody path +through the throng, and forced their way like a wedge to the factory. +Their orders were to capture all arms; and when a rioter was seen +with a carbine or a gun of any kind, one or more of the police would +rush out of the ranks and seize it, then fight their way back. + +By the time they reached the factory so many of the mob had +been killed or wounded, and so many of their leaders were dead or +disabled, that it again yielded to panic and fled. One desperate +leader, although already bruised and bleeding, had for a time +inspired the mob with much of his own reckless fury, and was left +almost alone by his fleeing companions. His courage, which should have +been displayed in a better cause, cost him dear, for a tremendous +blow sent him reeling against a fence, the sharp point of one of +the iron pickets caught under his chin, and he hung there unheeded, +impaled and dying. He was afterwards taken down, and beneath +his soiled overalls and filthy shirt was a fair, white skin, clad +in cassimere trousers, a rich waistcoat, and the finest of linen. +His delicate, patrician features emphasized the mystery of his +personality and action. + +When all resistance in the street was overcome, there still remained +the factory, thronged with armed and defiant rioters. Dilkes +ordered the building to be cleared, and Merwyn took his place in +the storming party. We shall not describe the scenes that followed. +It was a strife that differed widely from Lane's cavalry charge +on the lawn of a Southern plantation, with the eyes of fair women +watching his deeds. Merwyn was not taking part with thousands in a +battle that would be historic as Strahan and Blauvelt had done at +Gettysburg. Every element of romance and martial inspiration was +wanting. It was merely a life-and-death encounter between a handful +of policemen and a grimy, desperate band of ruffians, cornered like +rats, and resolved to sell their lives dearly. + +The building was cleared, and at last Merwyn, exhausted and panting, +came back with his comrades and took his place in the ranks. His +club was bloody, and his revolver empty. The force marched away in +triumph escorting wagons loaded with all the arms they could find, +and were cheered by the better-disposed spectators that remained +on the scene of action. + +The desperate tenacity of the mob is shown by the fact that it +returned to the wire factory, found some boxes of arms that had been +overlooked, filled the great five-story building and the street +about it, and became so defiant that the same battle had to be +fought again in the afternoon with the aid of the military. + + +For the sake of making a definite impression we have touched upon +the conflicts taking place in one locality. But throughout this awful +day there were mobs all over the city, with fighting, plundering, +burning, the chasing and murdering of negroes occurring at the same +time in many and widely separated sections. Telegrams for aid were +pouring into headquarters from all parts of the city, large tracts +of which were utterly unprotected. The police and military could be +employed only in bodies sufficiently large to cope with gatherings +of hundreds or thousands. Individual outrages and isolated instances +of violence and plunder could not be prevented. + +But law-abiding citizens were realizing their danger and awakening +to a sense of their duty. Over four hundred special policemen were +sworn in. Merchants and bankers in Wall Street met and resolved to +close business. Millionnaires vied with their clerks and porters +in patriotic readiness to face danger. Volunteer companies were +formed, and men like Hon. William E. Dodge, always foremost in every +good effort in behalf of the city, left their offices for military +duty. While thousands of citizens escaped from the city, with their +families, not knowing where they would find a refuge, and obeying +only the impulse to get away from a place apparently doomed, other +thousands remained, determined to protect their hearths and homes +and to preserve their fair metropolis from destruction. Terrible +as was the mob, and tenfold more terrible as it would have been if +it had used its strength in an organized effort and with definite +purpose, forces were now awakening and concentrating against it +which would eventually destroy every vestige of lawlessness. With +the fight on Broadway, during Monday evening, the supreme crisis +had passed. After that the mob fought desperate but losing battles. +Acton, with Napoleonic nerve and skill, had time to plan and +organize. General Brown with his brave troops reached him on Monday +night, and thereafter the two men, providentially brought and kept +together, met and overcame, in cordial co-operation, every danger +as it arose. Their names should never be forgotten by the citizens +of New York. Acton, as chief of police, was soon feared more than +any other man in the city, and he began to receive anonymous letters +assuring him that he had "but one more day to live." He tossed +them contemptuously aside, and turned to the telegrams imploring +assistance. In every blow struck his iron will and heavy hand were +felt. For a hundred hours, through the storm, he kept his hand on +the helm and never closed his eyes. He inspired confidence in the +men who obeyed him, and the humblest of them became heroes. + +The city was smitten with an awful paralysis. Stages and street +cars had very generally ceased running; shops were closed; Broadway +and other thoroughfares and centres usually so crowded were at times +almost deserted; now and then a hack would whirl by with occupants +that could not be classified. They might be leaders of the mob, +detectives, or citizens in disguise bent on public or private +business. On one occasion a millionnaire whose name is known and +honored throughout the land, dressed in the mean habiliments of a +laborer, drove a wagon up Broadway in which was concealed a load +of arms and ammunition. In hundreds of homes fathers and sons kept +watch with rifles and revolvers, while city and State authorities +issued proclamations. + +It was a time of strange and infinite vicissitude, yet apparently +the mob steadily attained vaster and more terrible proportions, +and everywhere lawlessness was on the increase, especially in the +upper portions of the city. + +Mr. Vosburgh, with stern and clouded brow, obtained information from +all available sources, and flashed the vital points to Washington. +He did not leave Marian alone very long, and as the day advanced +kept one of his agents in the house during his absences. He failed +to meet Merwyn at headquarters, but learned of the young man's +brave action from one of his wounded comrades. + +When Mr. Vosburgh told Marian of the risks which her new friend was +incurring, and the nature of the fighting in which he was engaged, +she grew so pale and agitated that he saw that she was becoming +conscious of herself, of the new and controlling element entering +into her life. + +This self-knowledge was made tenfold clearer by a brief visit from +Mrs. Ghegan. + +"Oh! how dared you come?" cried Marian. + +"The strates are safe enough for the loikes o' me, so oi kape out +o' the crowds," was the reply, "but they're no place fer ye, Miss +Marian. Me brogue is a password iverywhere, an' even the crowds is +civil and dacent enough onless something wakes the divil in 'em;" +and then followed a vivid account of her experiences and of the +timely help Merwyn had given her. + +"The docthers think me Barney'll live, but oi thank Misther Merwyn +that took him out o' the very claws uv the bloody divils, and not +their bat's eyes. Faix, but he tops all yez frin's, Miss Marian, tho' +ye're so could to 'im. All the spalpanes in the strates couldn't +make 'im wink, yet while I was a-wailin' over Barney he was as +tender-feelin' as a baby." + +The girl's heart fluttered strangely at the words of her former +maid, but she tried to disguise her emotion. When again left alone +she strained her ears for every sound from the city, and was untiring +in her watch. From noon till evening she kept a dainty lunch ready +for Merwyn, but he did not come. + +After the young man's return from his second fight he was given some +rest. In the afternoon, he, with others, was sent on duty to the +west side, the force being carried thither in stages which Acton +had impressed into the service. One driver refused to stir, saying, +insolently, that he had "not been hired to carry policemen." + +"Lock that man in cell No. 4," was Acton's answer, while, in the +same breath, he ordered a policeman to drive. + +That was the superintendent's style of arguing and despatching +business. + +Merwyn again saw plenty of service, for the spirit of pandemonium +was present in the west side. Towards evening, however, the rioters +ceased their aimless and capricious violence, and adopted in their +madness the dangerous method of Parisian mobs. They began throwing +up a series of barricades in Eighth Avenue. Vehicles of all +kinds within reach, telegraph poles, boxes,--anything that would +obstruct,--were wired together. Barricades were also erected on +cross-streets, to prevent flank movements. Captain Walling, of the +police, who was on duty in the precinct, appreciated the importance +of abolishing this feature from street fighting as speedily +as possible, and telegraphed to headquarters for a co-operating +military force. He also sent to General Sanford, at the arsenal, +for troops. They were promised, but never sent. General Brown, +fortunately, was a man of a very different stamp from Sanford, and +he promptly sent a body of regulars. + +Captain Slott took command of the police detailed to co-operate +with the soldiers, and, with their officers, waited impatiently +and vainly for the company promised by Sanford. Meanwhile the mob +was strengthening its defences with breathless energy, and the sun +was sinking in the west. As the difficult and dangerous work to be +done required daylight it was at last resolved to wait no longer. + +As the assailants drew near the barricade, they received a volley, +accompanied by stones and other missiles. The police fell back a +little to the left, and the troops, advancing, returned the fire. +But the rioters did not yield, and for a time the crash of musketry +resounded through the avenue, giving the impression of a regular +pitched battle. The accurate aim of the soldiers, however, at last +decided the contest, and the rioters fled to the second barricade, +followed by the troops, while the police tore away the captured +obstruction. + +Obtaining a musket and cartridges from a wounded soldier, Merwyn, +by explaining that he was a good marksman, obtained the privilege +of fighting on the left flank of the military. + + +The mob could not endure the steady, well-directed fire of the +regulars, and one barricade after another was carried, until the +rioters were left uncovered when they fled, shrieking, yelling, +cursing in their impotent rage,--the police with their clubs and +the soldiers with their rifles following and punishing them until +the streets were clear. + +Merwyn, having been on duty all day, obtained a leave of absence till +the following morning, and, availing himself of his old device to +save time and strength, went to a livery stable near the station-house +and obtained a hack by payment of double the usual fare. Mounting +the box with the driver, and avoiding crowds, he was borne rapidly +towards Mr. Vosburgh's residence. He was not only terribly exhausted, +but also consumed with anxiety as to the safety of the girl who +had never been absent long from his thoughts, even in moments of +the fiercest conflict. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + +ONE FACING HUNDREDS. + + + + + +THE evening was growing dusky when Merwyn dismissed his carriage +and hastened to Mr. Vosburgh's residence. Marian and her father +had waited for him until their faces were clouded with anxiety by +reason of his long delay. The young girl's attempt to dine with +her father was but a formal pretence. + +At last she exclaimed, "Something must have happened to Mr. Merwyn!" + +"Do not entertain gloomy thoughts, my dear. A hundred things besides +an injury might have detained him. Keep a good dinner ready, and +I think he'll do justice to it before the evening is over." + +Even then the German servant announced his presence at the basement +door, which, in view of the disguises worn, was still used as the +place of ingress and egress. + +Mr. Vosburgh hastened to welcome him, while Marian bustled around to +complete her preparations. When he entered the dining-room he did +indeed appear weary and haggard, a fair counterpart of the rioters +whom he had been fighting. + +"Only necessity, Miss Vosburgh, compels me to present myself in this +scarecrow aspect," he said. "I've had no time or chance for anything +better. I can soon report to your father all that is essential, +and then can go home and return later." + +"I shall be much hurt if you do so," said Marian, reproachfully. +"I kept a lunch prepared for you during the afternoon, and now have +a warm dinner all ready. It will be very ungracious in you to go +away and leave it." + +"But I look like a coal-heaver." + +"Oh, I've seen well-dressed men before. They are no novelty; but a +man direct from a field of battle is quite interesting. Will you +please take this chair? You are not in the least like my other +friends. They obey me without questionings." + +"You must remember," he replied, "that the relation is to me as new +and strange as it is welcome. I shall need a great deal of discipline." + +"When you learn what a martinet I can be you may repent, like many +another who has obtained his wish. Here we shall reverse matters. +Everything is topsy-turvy now, you know, so take this coffee at +the beginning of your dinner." + +"I admit that your orders differ widely from those of police captains." +Then he added, with quiet significance, "No; I shall not repent." + +"Mr. Merwyn, will you take an older man's advice?" + +"Certainly. Indeed, I am under your orders, also, for the night." + +"I'm glad to hear it, for it will be a night of deep anxiety to +me. Make a very light dinner, and take more refreshment later. You +are too much exhausted to dine now. You need not tell me of your +morning adventures. I learned about those at headquarters." + +"I have heard about them too," Marian added, with a look that +warmed the young fellow's soul. "I have also had a visit from Mrs. +Ghegan, and her story was not so brief as yours." + +"From what section have you just come?" Mr. Vosburgh asked. + +Merwyn gave a brief description of the condition of affairs on the +west side, ending with an account of the fight at the barricades. + +"In one respect you are like my other friends, only more so," +Marian said. "You are inclined to give me Hamlet with Hamlet left +out. What part did you take at the barricades?" + +He told her in a matter-of-fact way. + +"Ah, yes, I understand. I am learning to read between the lines of +your stories." + +"Well, Heaven be thanked," ejaculated Mr. Vosburgh, "that you demolished +the barricades! If the rioters adopt that mode of fighting us, we +shall have far greater difficulty in coping with them." + +At last Mr. Vosburgh said, "Will you please come with me to my +library for a few minutes?" + +On reaching the apartment he closed the door, and continued, gravely: +"Mr. Merwyn, I am in sore straits. You have offered to aid me. I +will tell you my situation, and then you must do as you think best. +I know that you have done all a man's duty to-day and have earned +the right to complete rest. You will also naturally wish to look +after your own home. Nevertheless my need and your own words lead +me to suggest that you stay here to-night, or at least through +the greater portion of it. I fear that I have been recognized and +followed,--that I have enemies on my track. I suspect the man whom +I discharged from the care of my office. Yet I must go out, for I +have important despatches to send, and--what is of more consequence--I +must make some careful observations. The mob seems to be a mere +lawless, floundering monster, bent chiefly on plunder; but the +danger is that leaders are organizing its strength as a part of the +rebellion. You can understand that, while I look upon the outbreak +with the solicitude of a citizen whose dearest interests are at +stake, I also, from habit of mind and duty, must study it as a part +of the great campaign of the year. If there are organizers at work +there will be signals to-night, and I can see them from a tall +neighboring church-spire. Yet how can I leave my child alone? How--" + +"Mr. Vosburgh," cried Merwyn, "what honor or privilege could I ask +greater than that of being your daughter's protector during your +absence? I understand you perfectly. You feel that you must do your +duty at any cost to yourself. After what you have said, nothing +could induce me to go away. Indeed, I would stand guard without +your door, were there no place for me within." + +"There, I won't thank you in words," said the elder man, wringing +Merwyn's hand. "Will you do as I wish?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then lie down on the sofa in the front parlor and sleep while you +can. The least disturbance in the street would waken you there. +Marian will watch from an upper window and give you warning if +anything occurs. It is possible that I may be set upon when returning +home, but I think not, for I shall enter the house from the rear;" +and he told the young man of the means of exit which he had secured +in case the house was attacked. "Rather than permit my child to +take any risks," concluded the father, solemnly, "fly with her and +the woman who will be her companion till I return. Beyond the fact +of general danger to all homes, she does not suspect anything, nor +shall I increase her anxieties by telling her of my fears. She will +be vigilant on general principles. Have you arms?" + +"I have fired most of my cartridges to-day." + +"Well here is a revolver and a repeating rifle that you can depend +upon. Do you understand the latter weapon?" + +"Yes, I have one like it." + +"I will now tell Marian of my plans, so far as it is wise for her +to know them, and then, God help and protect us all! Come, I wish +you to lie down at once, for every moment of rest may be needed." + +When they descended, Mr. Vosburgh said to his daughter, laughingly, +"Mr. Merwyn is under orders, and can have nothing more to say to +you to-night." + +The young fellow, in like vein, brought the rifle to his shoulder, +presented arms to her, wheeled, and marched to his station in the +darkened front parlor. Before lying down, however, he opened one +blind for an outlook. + +"Do you fear any special danger to-night, papa?" Marian asked, +quickly. + +"I have been expecting special dangers from the first," replied her +father, gently. "While I must do my duty I shall also take such +precautions as I can. Merwyn will be your protector during my +absence. Now take your station at your upper window and do your +part." He explained briefly what he expected of her. "In case of +an attack," he concluded, almost sternly, "you must fly before it +is too late. I shall now go and prepare Mr. Erkmann for the possible +emergency, and then go out through the basement door as usual, +after giving our loyal German her directions." + +A few moments later he had departed, all were at their posts, and +the house was quiet. + +Merwyn felt the necessity of rest, for every bone in his body ached +from fatigue; but he did not dream of the possibility of sleep. +His heart was swelling with pride and joy that he had become, not +only the friend of the girl he loved, but also her trusted protector. + +But at last Nature claimed her dues, and he succumbed and slept. + +Mr. Vosburgh, unmolested, climbed to his lofty height of observation. +The great city lay beneath him with its myriad lights, but on Third +Avenue, from 40th Street northward for a mile, there was a hiatus +of darkness. There the mob had begun, and there still dwelt its +evil spirit uncurbed. The rioters in that district had cut off +the supply of gas, feeling, as did the French revolutionists, that +"Light was not in order." + +Mr. Vosburgh watched that long stretch of gloom with the greatest +anxiety. Suddenly from its mystery a rocket flamed into the sky. +Three minutes elapsed and another threw far and wide its ominous +light. Again there was an interval of three minutes, when a third +rocket confirmed the watcher's fears that these were signals. Four +minutes passed, and then, from the vicinity of Union Square, what +appeared to be a great globe of fire rose to an immense height. +A few seconds later there was an answering rocket far off in the +eastern districts of Brooklyn. + +These were indeed portents in the sky, and Mr. Vosburgh was perplexed +as to their significance. Were they orders or at least invitations, +for a general uprising against all authority? Was the rebellion +against the government about to become general in the great centres +of population? With the gloomiest of forebodings he watched for +two hours longer, but only heard the hoarse murmur of the unquiet +city, which occasionally, off to the west, became so loud as to +suggest the continuance of the strife of the day. At last he went +to the nearest available point and sent his despatches, then stole +by a circuitous route to the dwelling of Mr. Erkmann, who was +watching for him. + +Marian's vigilance was sleepless. While she had been burdened +throughout the day with the deepest anxieties, she had been engaged +in no exhausting efforts, and the novelty of her present position +and her new emotions banished the possibility of drowsiness. She +felt as if she had lived years during the past two days. The city +was full of dangers nameless and horrible, yet she was conscious +of an exaltation of spirit and of a happiness such as she had never +known. + +The man whom she had despised as a coward was her protector, and +she wondered at her sense of security. She almost longed for an +opportunity to prove that her courage could now be equal to his, +and her eyes flashed in the darkness as they glanced up and down +the dusky street; again they became gentle in her commiseration +of the weary man in the room below, and gratefully she thanked God +that he had been spared through the awful perils of the day. + +Suddenly her attention was caught by the distant tramp of many +feet. She threw open a blind and listened with a beating heart. +Yes, a mob was coming, nearer, nearer; they are at the corner. With +a sudden outburst of discordant cries they are turning into this +very street. + +A moment later her hand was upon Merwyn's shoulder. "Wake, wake," +she cried; "the mob is coming--is here." + +He was on his feet instantly with rifle in hand. Through the window +he saw the dusky forms gathering about the door. The German woman +stood behind Marian, crying and wringing her hands. + +"Miss Vosburgh, you and the woman do as I bid," Merwyn said, sternly. +"Go to the rear of the hall, open the door, and if I say, 'Fly,' +or if I fall, escape for your lives." + +"But what will you--" + +"Obey!" he cried, with a stamp of his foot. + +They were already in the hall, and did as directed. + +Imagine Marian's wonder as she saw him throw open the front door, +step without, and fire instantly. Then, dropping his rifle on his +arm, he began to use his revolver. She rushed to his side and saw +the mob, at least three hundred strong, scattering as if swept away +by a whirlwind. + +Merwyn's plan of operations had been bold, but it proved the best +one. In the streets he had learned the effect of fearless, decisive +action, and he had calculated correctly on the panic which so often +seized the undisciplined hordes. They probably believed that his +boldness was due to the fact that he had plenty of aid at hand. +So long as there was a man within range he continued to fire, then +became aware of Marian's presence. + +"O Miss Vosburgh," he said, earnestly, "you should not look on +sights like these;" for a leader of the mob lay motionless on the +pavement beneath them. + +He took her hand, which trembled, led her within, and refastened +the door. Her emotion was so strong that she dared not speak. + +"Why did you take such a risk?" he asked, gravely. "What would +your father have said to me if one of those wretches had fired and +wounded you?" + +"I--I only realized one thing--that you were facing hundreds all +alone," she faltered. + +"Why, Miss Marian, I was only doing my duty, and I took the safest +way to perform it. I had learned from experience that the bluff game +is generally the best. No doubt I gave those fellows the impression +that there were a dozen armed men in the house." + +But her emotion was too strong for control, and she sobbed: "It was +the bravest thing I ever heard of. Oh! I have done you SUCH wrong! +Forgive me. I--I--can't--" and she hastened up the dusky stairway, +followed by her servant, who was profuse in German interjections. + +"I am repaid a thousand-fold," was Merwyn's quiet comment. "My oath +cannot blight my life now." + +Sleep had been most effectually banished from his eyes, and as he +stood in the unlighted apartment, motionless and silent, looking +out upon the dusky street, but a few moments passed before a man +and a woman approached cautiously, lifted the slain rioter, and +bore him away. + +In less than half an hour Mr. Vosburgh entered his house from the +rear so silently that he was almost beside Merwyn before his approach +was recognized. + +"What, Merwyn!" he exclaimed, with a little chiding in his tone; +"is this the way you rest? You certainly haven't stood here, 'like +Patience on a monument,' since I left?" + +"No, indeed. You are indebted to Miss Vosburgh that you have a home +to come to, for I slept so soundly that the house might have been +carried off bodily. The mob has been here." + +"O papa!" cried Marian, clasping her arms about his neck, "thank +God you are back safe! Oh, it was all so sudden and terrible!" + +"But how, how, Merwyn? What has happened?" + +"Well, sir, Miss Vosburgh was a better sentinel than I, and heard +the first approach of the ruffians. I was sleeping like old Rip +himself. She wakened me. A shot or two appeared to create a panic, +and they disappeared like a dream, as suddenly as they had come." + +"Just listen to him, papa!" cried the girl, now reassured by her +father's presence, and recovering from her nervous shock. "Why +shouldn't he sleep after such a day as he has seen? It was his duty +to sleep, wasn't it? The idea of two sentinels in a small garrison +keeping awake, watching the same points!" + +"I'm very glad you obtained some sleep, Merwyn, and surely you had +earned it; but as yet I have a very vague impression of this mob +and of the fight. I looked down the street but a few moments ago, +and it seemed deserted. It is quiet now. Have you not both slept +and dreamed?" + +"No, papa," said the girl, shudderingly; "there's a dead man at +the foot of our steps even now." + +"You are mistaken, Miss Vosburgh. As usual, his friends lost no +time in carrying him off." + +"Well, well," cried Mr. Vosburgh, "this is a longer story than I can +listen to without something to sustain the inner man. "Riten,"--to +the servant,--"some fresh coffee please. Now for the lighted +dining-room,--that's hidden from the street,--where we can look +into each other's faces. So much has happened the last two days +that here in the dark I begin to feel as if it all were a nightmare. +Ah! how cosey and home-like this room seems after prowling in the +dangerous streets with my hand on the butt of a revolver! Come now, +Marian, sit down quietly and tell the whole story. I can't trust +Merwyn at all when he is the hero of the tale." + +"You may well say that. I hope, sir," with a look of mock severity +at the young fellow, "that your other reports to papa are more +accurate than the one I have heard. Can you believe it, papa? he +actually threw open the front door and faced the entire mob alone." + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Vosburgh, as I emptied my revolver and +looked around, a lady stood beside me. I've seen men do heroic +things to-day, but nothing braver than that." + +"But I didn't think!" cried the girl; "I didn't realize--" and then +she paused, while her face crimsoned. Her heart had since told her +why she had stepped to his side. + +"But you would have thought twice, yes, a hundred times," said +Merwyn, laughing, "if you hadn't been a soldier. Jove! how Strahan +will stare when he hears of it!" + +"Please, never tell him," exclaimed the girl. + +Her father now stood encircling her with his arm, and looking +fondly down upon her. "Well, thank God we're all safe yet! and, +threatening as is the aspect of affairs, I believe we shall see +happy days of peace and security before very long." + +"I am so glad that mamma is not in the city!" said Marian, earnestly. + +"Oh that you were with her, my child!" + +"I'm better contented where I am," said the girl, with a decided +little nod. + +"Yes, but great God! think of what might have happened if Merwyn +had not been here,--what might still have happened had he not had +the nerve to take, probably, the only course which could have saved +you! There, there, I can't think of it, or I shall be utterly +unnerved." + +"Don't think of it, papa. See, I'm over the shock of it already. +Now don't you be hysterical as I was yesterday." + +He made a great effort to rally, but it was evident that the +strong man was deeply agitated. They all, however, soon regained +self-control and composure, and spent a genial half-hour together, +Merwyn often going to the parlor, that he might scan the street. +After a brief discussion of plans for the morrow they separated +for the night, Merwyn resuming his bivouac in the parlor. After +listening for a time he was satisfied that even mobs must rest, +and, as the soldiers slept on their arms, he slumbered, his rifle +in hand. + +When Marian bade her father good-night he took her face in his +hands and gazed earnestly down upon it. The girl understood his +expression, and the color came into her fair countenance like a +June dawn. + +"Do you remember, darling, my words when I said, 'I do not know +how much it might cost you in the end to dismiss Mr. Merwyn finally'?" + +"Yes, papa." + +"Are you not learning how much it might have cost you?" + +"Yes, papa," with drooping eyes. + +He kissed her, and nothing more was said. + + + + + + +CHAPTER L. + +ZEB. + + + + + +MERWYN awoke early, and, as soon as he heard the German servant +coming down-stairs, wrote a line to Mr. Vosburgh saying that he +would call on his way to headquarters, and then hastened through the +almost deserted streets to his own home. To his great satisfaction +he found everything unchanged there. After luxuriating in a bath +and a bountiful breakfast he again instructed his man to be on the +watch, and to keep up a fire throughout the coming night, so that +a hot meal might be had speedily at any time. + +More than once the thought had crossed his mind: "Unless we make +greater headway with the riot, that attack on Mr. Vosburgh's house +will be repeated. Vengeance alone would now prompt the act, and +besides he is undoubtedly a marked man. There's no telling what may +happen. Our best course is to fight, fight, knock the wretches on +the head. With the quelling of the mob comes safety;" and, remembering +the danger that threatened Marian, he was in a savage mood. + +On this occasion, he went directly to Mr. Vosburgh's residence, +resolving to take no risks out of the line of duty. His first thought +now was the securing of Marian's safety. He had learned that there +was no longer any special need for personal effort on his part to +gain information, since the police authorities had wires stretching +to almost every part of the city. An account of the risks taken +to keep up this telegraphic communication would make a strange, +thrilling chapter in itself. Moreover, police detectives were busy +everywhere, and Mr. Vosburgh at headquarters and with the aid of his +own agents could now obtain all the knowledge essential. Therefore +the young fellow's plan was simple, and he indicated his course at +once after a cordial greeting from Mr. Vosburgh and Marian. + +"Hard fighting appears to me to be the way to safety," said he. "I +can scarcely believe that the rioters will endure more than another +day of such punishment as they received yesterday. Indeed, I should +not be surprised if to-day was comparatively quiet." + +"I agree with you," said Mr. Vosburgh, "unless the signals I saw +last night indicate a more general uprising than has yet taken +place. The best elements of the city are arming and organizing. +There is a deep and terrible anger rising against the mob and all +its abettors and sympathizers." + +"I know it," cried Merwyn; "I feel it myself. When I think of the +danger which threatened your home and especially Miss Vosburgh, I +feel an almost ungovernable desire to be at the wretches." + +"But that means greater peril for you," faltered the young girl. + +"No, it means the shortest road to safety for us all. A mob is like +fire: it must be stamped out of existence as soon as possible." + +"I think Merwyn is right," resumed Mr. Vosburgh. "Another day +of successful fighting will carry us to safety, for the general +government is moving rapidly in our behalf, and our militia regiments +are on their way home. I'll be ready to go to headquarters with +you in a minute." + +"Oh, please do not be rash to-day. If you had fallen yesterday +think what might have happened," said Marian. + +"Every blow I strike to-day, Miss Vosburgh, will be nerved by the +thought that you have one enemy, one danger, the less; and I shall +esteem it the greatest of privileges if I can remain here to-night +again as one of your protectors." + +"I cannot tell you what a sense of security your presence gives +me," she replied. "You seem to know just what to do and how to do +it." + +"Well," he answered, with a grim laugh, "one learns fast in these +times. A very stern necessity is the mother of invention." + +"Yes," sighed the girl, "one learns fast. Now that I have seen war, +it is no longer a glorious thing, but full of unspeakable horrors." + +"This is not war," said Merwyn, a little bitterly. "I pity, while +I detest, the poor wretches we knock on the head. Your friends, +who have fought the elite of the South will raise their eyebrows +if they hear us call this war." + +"I have but one friend who has faced a mob alone," she replied, +with a swift, shy glance. + +"A friend whom that privilege made the most fortunate of men," he +replied. "Had the rioters been Southern soldiers, they would have +shot me instantly, instead of running away." + +"All my friends soon learn that I am stubborn in my opinions," was +her laughing reply, as her father joined them. + +Mr. Erkmann on the next street north was a sturdy, loyal man, and +he permitted Mr. Vosburgh and Merwyn to pass out through his house, +so that to any one who was watching the impression would be given +that at least two men were in the house. Burdened with a sense of +danger, Mr. Vosburgh had resolved on brief absences, believing that +at headquarters and through his agents he could learn the general +drift of events. + +Broadway wore the aspect of an early Sunday morning in quiet times. +Pedestrians were few, and the stages had ceased running. The iron +shutters of the great Fifth Avenue and other hotels were securely +fastened. No street cars jingled along the side avenues; shops +were closed; and the paralysis of business was almost complete in +its greatest centres. At police headquarters, however, the most +intense activity prevailed. Here were gathered the greater part +of the police force and of the military co-operating with it The +neighboring African church was turned into a barrack. Acton occupied +other buildings, with or without the consent of the owners. + +The top floor of the police building was thronged with colored +refugees, thankful indeed to have found a place of safety, but many +were consumed with anxiety on account of absent ones. + +The sanguine hopes for a more quiet day were not fulfilled, but the +severest fighting was done by the military, and cavalry now began +to take part in the conflict. On the west side, Seventh Avenue was +swept again and again with grape and canister before the mob gave +way. On the east side there were several battles, and in one of +them, fought just before night, the troops were compelled to retreat, +leaving some of their dead and wounded in the streets. General +Brown sent Captain Putnam with one hundred and fifty regulars +to the scene of disaster and continued violence, and a sanguinary +conflict ensued between ten and eleven o'clock at night. Putnam +swept the dimly lighted streets with his cannon, and when the +rioters fled into the houses he opened such a terrible fire upon +them as to subdue all resistance. The mob was at last learning that +the authorities would neither yield nor scruple to make use of any +means in the conflict. + +In the great centres down town, things were comparatively quiet. +The New York Times took matters into its own hands. A glare of +light from the windows of its building was shed after night-fall +over Printing-House Square, and editors and reporters had their +rifles as readily within reach as their pens. + +We shall not follow Merwyn's adventures, for that would involve +something like a repetition of scenes already described. As the +day was closing, however, he took part in an affair which explained +the mystery of Mammy Borden's disappearance. + +During the first day of the riot the colored woman had seen enough +to realize her own danger and that of her son, and she was determined +to reach him and share his fate, whatever it might be. She had +no scruple in stealing away from Mr. Vosburgh's house, for by her +departure she removed a great peril from her employers and friends. +She was sufficiently composed, however, to put on a heavy veil and +gloves, and so reached her son in safety. Until the evening of the +third day of the riot, the dwelling in which they cowered escaped +the fury of the mob, although occupied by several colored families. +At last the hydra-headed monster fixed one of its baleful eyes +upon the spot. Just as the occupants of the house were beginning +to hope, the remorseless wretches came, and the spirit of Tophet +broke loose. The door was broken in with axes, and savage men streamed +into the dwelling. The poor victims tried to barricade themselves +in the basement, but their assailants cut the water-pipes and would +have drowned them. Driven out by this danger, the hunted creatures +sought to escape through the yard. As Zeb was lifting his mother +over the fence the rioters came upon her and dragged her back. + +"Kill me, kill me," cried Zeb, "but spare my mother." + +They seemed to take him at his word. Two of the fiends held his +arms, while another struck him senseless and apparently dead with +a crowbar. Then, not accepting this heroic self-sacrifice, they +began to beat the grief-frenzied mother. But retribution was at +hand. The cries of the victims and the absorption of the rioters +in their brutal work prevented them from hearing the swift, heavy +tread of the police. A moment later Merwyn and others rushed through +the hallway, and the ruffians received blows similar to the one +which had apparently bereft poor Zeb of life. The rioters were +either dispersed or left where they fell, a wagon was impressed, +and Zeb and his mother were brought to headquarters. Merwyn had soon +recognized Mrs. Borden, but she could not be comforted. Obtaining +leave of absence, the young man waited until the evening grew +dusky; then securing a hack from a stable near headquarters, the +proprietor of which was disposed to loyalty by reason of his numerous +blue-coated neighbors, he took the poor woman and the scarcely +breathing man to a hospital, and left money for their needs. The +curtains of the carriage had been closely drawn; but if the crowds +through which they sometimes passed had guessed its occupants, +they would have instantly met a tragic fate, while Merwyn's and +the driver's chances would have been scarcely better. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + +A TRAGEDY. + + + + + +MR. VOSBURGH and his daughter had passed a very anxious day, the +former going out but seldom. The information obtained from the +city had not been reassuring, for while the authorities had under +their direction larger bodies of men, and lawlessness was not +so general, the mob was still unquelled and fought with greater +desperation in the disaffected centres. In the after-part of the day +Mr. Vosburgh received the cheering intelligence that the Seventh +Regiment would arrive that night, and that other militia organizations +were on their way home. Therefore he believed that if they escaped +injury until the following morning all cause for deep anxiety would +pass away. As the hours elapsed and no further demonstration was +made against his home, his hopes grew apace, and now, as he and +his daughter waited for Merwyn before dining, he said, "I fancy +that the reception given to the mob last night has curbed their +disposition to molest us." + +"O papa, what keeps Mr. Merwyn?" + +"Well, my dear, I know he was safe at noon." + +"Oh, oh, I do hope that this will be the last day of this fearful +suspense! Isn't it wonderful what Mr. Merwyn has done in the past +few days?" + +"Not so wonderful as it seems. Periods like these always develop +master-spirits, or rather they give such spirits scope. How little +we knew of Acton before this week! yet at the beginning he seized +the mob by the throat and has not once relaxed his grasp. He has +been the one sleepless man in the city, and how he endures the +strain is almost beyond mortal comprehension. The man and the hour +came together. The same is true of Merwyn in his sphere. He had been +preparing for this, hoping that it would give him an opportunity +to right himself. Fearless as the best of your friends, he combines +with courage the singularly cool, resolute nature inherited from +his father. He is not in the least ambitious for distinction, but +is only bent on carrying out his own aims and purposes." + +"And what are they, papa?" + +"Sly fox! as if you did not know. Who first came to your protection?" + +"And to think how I treated him!" + +"Quite naturally, under the circumstances. The mystery of his former +restraint is still unexplained, but I now think it due to family +reasons. Yet why he should be so reluctant to speak of them is still +another mystery. He has no sympathy with the South or his mother's +views, yet why should he not say, frankly, 'I cannot fight against +my mother's people'? When we think, however, that the sons of the +same mother are often arrayed against each other in this war, such +a reason as I have suggested appears entirely inadequate. All his +interests are at the North, and he is thoroughly loyal; but when I +intimated, last evening, that he might wish to spend the night in +his own home to insure its protection, it seemed less than nothing +to him compared with your safety. He has long had this powerful +motive to win your regard, and yet there has been some restraint +more potent." + +"But you trust him now, papa?" + +"Yes." + +Thus they talked until the clock struck eight, and Marian, growing +pallid with anxiety and fear, went to the darkened parlor window +to watch for Merwyn, then returned and looked at her father with +something like dismay on her face. + +Before he could speak, she exclaimed, "Ah! there is his ring;" and +she rushed toward the door, paused, came back, and said, blushingly, +"Papa, you had better admit him." + +Mr. Vosburgh smilingly complied. + +The young fellow appeared in almost as bad a plight as when he +had come in on Monday night and gone away with bitter words on his +lips. He was gaunt from fatigue and long mental strain. His first +words were: "Thank God you we still all safe! I had hoped to be +here long before this, but so much has happened!" + +"What!" exclained Marian, "anything worse than took place yesterday?" + +"No, and yes." Then, with an appealing look; "Miss Marian, a cup +of your good coffee. I feel as if a rioter could knock me down with +a feather." + +She ran to the kitchen herself to see that it was of the best possible +quality, and Merwyn, sinking into a chair, looked gloomily at his +host and said: "We have made little if any progress. The mob grows +more reckless and devilish." + +"My dear fellow," cried Mr. Vosburgh, "the Seventh Regiment will +be here to-night, and others are on the way;" and he told of the +reassuring tidings he had received. + +"Thank Heaven for your news! I have been growing despondent during +the last few hours." + +"Take this and cheer up," cried Marian. "The idea of your being +despondent! You are only tired to death, and will have a larger +appetite for fighting to-morrow, I fear, than ever." + +"No; I witnessed a scene this evening that made me sick of it all. +Of course I shall do my duty to the end, but I wish that others +could finish it up. More than ever I envy your friends who can fight +soldiers;" and then he told them briefly of the scene witnessed in +the rescue of Mammy Borden and her son. + +"Oh, horrible! horrible!" exclaimed the girl. "Where are they now?" + +"I took them from headquarters to a hospital. They both need the +best surgical attention, though poor Zeb, I fear, is past help." + +"Merwyn," said Mr. Vosburgh, gravely, "you incurred a fearful risk +in taking those people through the streets." + +"I suppose so," replied the young fellow, quietly; "but in a sense +they were a part of your household, and the poor creatures were in +such a desperate plight that--" + +"Mr. Merwyn," cried Marian, a warm flush mantling her face, "you +are a true knight. You have perilled your life for the poor and +humble." + +He looked at her intently a moment, and then said, quietly, "I +would peril it again a thousand times for such words from YOU." + +To hide a sudden confusion she exclaimed: "Great Heavens! what +differences there are in men! Those who would torture and kill +these inoffensive people have human forms." + +"Men are much what women make them; and it would almost seem that +women are the chief inspiration of this mob. The draft may have +been its inciting cause, but it has degenerated into an insatiable +thirst for violence, blood, and plunder. I saw an Irishwoman to-day +who fought like a wild-cat before she would give up her stolen +goods." + +The German servant Riten now began to place dinner on the table, +Mr. Vosburgh remarking, "We had determined to wait for you on this +occasion." + +"What am I thinking of?" cried Merwyn. "If this thing goes on I +shall become uncivilized. Mr. Vosburgh, do take me somewhere that +I may bathe my hands and face, and please let me exchange this horrid +blouse, redolent of the riot, for almost any kind of garment. I +could not sit at the table with Miss Vosburgh in my present guise." + +"Yes, papa, give him your white silk waistcoat and dress-coat," +added Marian, laughing. + +"Come with me," said Mr. Vosburgh, "and I'll find you an outfit +for the sake of your own comfort." + +"I meant to trespass on your kindness when I first came in, but mind +and body seemed almost paralyzed. I feel better already, however. +While we are absent may I ask if you have your weapons ready?" + +"Yes, I have a revolver on my person, and my rifle is in the +dining-room." + +A few moments later the gentlemen descended, Merwyn in a sack-coat +that hung rather loosely on his person. Before sitting down he +scanned the street, which was quiet. + +"My former advice, Merwyn," said his host; "you must make a light +meal and wait until you are more rested." + +"O papa, what counsel to give a guest!" + +"Counsel easily followed," said Merwyn. "I crave little else than +coffee. Indeed, your kindness, Miss Vosburgh, has so heartened me, +that I am rallying fast." + +"Since everything is to be in such great moderation, perhaps I have +been too prodigal of that," was the arch reply. + +"I shall be grateful for much or little." + +"Oh, no, don't put anything on the basis of gratitude. I have too +much of that to be chary of it." + +"A happy state of affairs," said Merwyn, "since what you regard +as services on my part are priceless favors to me. I can scarcely +realize it, and have thought of it all day, that I only, of all +your friends, can be with you now. Strahan will be green with envy, +and so I suppose will the others." + +"I do not think any the less of them because it is impossible for +them to be here," said the young girl, blushing. + +"Of course not. It's only my immense good fortune. They would give +their right eyes to stand in my shoes." + +"I hope I may soon hear that they are all recovering. I fear that +Mr. Lane's and Mr. Strahan's wounds are serious; and, although Mr. +Blauvelt made light of his hurt, he may find that it is no trifle." + +"It would seem that I am doomed to have no honorable scars." + +"Through no fault of yours, Mr. Merwyn. I've thought so much of +poor mamma to-day! She must be wild with anxiety about us." + +"I think not," said Mr. Vosburgh. "I telegraphed to her yesterday +and to-day. I admit they were rather misleading messages." + +From time to time Mr. Vosburgh went to the outlook on the street, +but all remained apparently quiet in their vicinity. Yet an hour of +fearful peril was drawing near. A spirit of vengeance, and a desire +to get rid of a most dangerous enemy, prompted another attack on +Mr. Vosburgh's home that night; and, taught by former experience, +the assailants had determined to approach quietly and fight till +they should accomplish their purpose. They meant to strike suddenly, +swiftly, and remorselessly. + +The little group in the dining-room, however, grew confident with +every moment of immunity; yet they could not wholly banish their +fears, and Mr. Vosburgh explained to Merwyn how he had put bars on +the outside of the doors opening into the back yard, a bolt also +on the door leading down-stairs to the basement. + +But they dined very leisurely, undisturbed; then at Marian's request +the gentlemen lighted their cigars. Mr. Vosburgh strolled away to +see that all was quiet and secure. + +"I shouldn't have believed that I could rally so greatly in so +short a time," said Merwyn, leaning back luxuriously in his chair. +"Last night I was overcome with drowsiness soon after I lay down. +I now feel as if I should never want to sleep again. It will be my +turn to watch to-night, and you must sleep." + +"Yes, when I feel like it," replied Marian. + +"I think you bear the strain of anxiety wonderfully." + +"I am trying to retrieve myself." + +"You have retrieved yourself, Miss Vosburgh. You have become a +genuine soldier. It didn't take long to make a veteran of you." + +"So much for a good example, you see." + +"Oh, well, it's easy enough for a man to face danger. Think how +many thousands do it as a matter of course." + +"And must women be timid as a matter of course?" + +"Women do not often inspire men as you do, Miss Marian. I know I am +different from what I was, and I think I always shall be different." + +"I didn't treat you fairly, Mr. Merwyn, and I've grieved over the +past more than I can tell you." + +"And you won't mistrust me again?" + +"Never." + +"You make me very happy, and you will never know how unhappy I have +been. Even before I left the country, last autumn, I envied the +drummer-boys of Strahan's regiment. I don't wish to take advantage +of your present feeling, or have you forget that I am still under +a miserable restraint which I can't explain. I must probably resume +my old inactive life, while your other friends win fame and rank +in serving their country. Of course I shall give money, but bah! +what's that to a girl like you? When all this hurly-burly in the +streets is over, when conventional life begins again, and I seem +a part of it, will you still regard me as a friend?" + +His distrust touched her deeply, when she was giving him her +heart's best love, and her strong feeling caused her to falter as +she said, "Do you think I can grow cold towards the man who risked +his life for me?" + +"That is exaggerated gratitude. Any decent man would risk his life +for you. Why, you were as brave as I. I often ask myself, can you +be a friend for my own sake, because of some inherent congeniality? +You have done more for your other friends than they for you, and +yet they are very dear to you, because you esteem them as men. I +covet a like personal regard, and I hope you will teach me to win +it" + +"You have won it,--that is--" + +"That is--? There is a mental reservation, or you are too truthful +for undoubted assurance when shown that gratitude has no place in +this relation." + +She averted her face from his searching eyes, and was deeply +embarrassed. + +"I feared it would be so," he said, sadly. "But I do not blame +you. On the contrary I honor your sincerity. Very well, I shall +be heartily glad of any regard that you can give me, and shall try +to be worthy of it." + +"Mr. Merwyn," she said, impetuously, "no friend of mine receives a +stronger, better, or more sincere regard than I give you for your +own sake. There now, trust me as I trust you;" and she gave him +her hand. + +He took it in his strong grasp, but she exclaimed, instantly: "You +are feverish. You are ill. I thought your eyes were unnaturally +bright." + +"They should be so if it is in the power of happiness to kindle +them!" + +"Come now," she cried, assuming a little brusqueness of manner which +became her well; "I've given you my word, and that's my bond. If +you indulge in any more doubts I'll find a way to punish you. I'll +take my 'affidavy' I'm just as good a friend to you as you are to +me. If you doubt me, I shall doubt you." + +"I beg your pardon; no you won't, or cannot, rather. You know well +that I have my father's unchangeable tenacity. It's once and always +with me." + +"You are speaking riddles," she faltered, averting her face. + +"Not at all. I am glad indeed that you can give me simple friendship, +unforced, uncompelled by any other motive than that which actuates +you in regard to the others. But you know well--your most casual +glance would reveal it to you--that I, in whom you have inspired +some semblance of manhood, can never dream of any other woman. When +you see this truth, as you often will, you must not punish me for +it. You must not try to cure me by coldness or by any other of the +conventional remedies, for you cannot. When we meet, speak kindly, +look kindly; and should it ever be not best or right that we should +meet,--that is, often,--we shall not." + +"You are scarcely speaking as a friend," she said, in a low voice. + +"Will you punish me if I cannot help being far more?" + +"No, since you cannot help it," she replied, with a shy laugh. + +A new light, a new hope, began to dawn upon him, and he was about +to speak impetuously when Mr. Vosburgh appeared and said, "Merwyn, +I've been watching two men who passed and repassed the house, and +who seem to be reconnoitring." + +As Merwyn and Marian accompanied him to the parlor they heard the +heavy booming of cannon off on the east side, and it was repeated +again and again. + +"Those are ominous sounds at this time of night," said Mr. Vosburgh. + +"That they don't come from the rioters is a comfort," Merwyn replied; +"but it proves what I said before,--they are becoming more bold +and reckless." + +"It may also show that the authorities are more stern and relentless +in dealing with them." + +At last the sounds of conflict died away, the street appeared quiet +and deserted, and they all returned to the dining-room. + +The light enabled Merwyn to look eagerly and questioningly at +Marian. She smiled, flushed, and, quickly averting her eyes, began +to speak on various topics in a way that warned Merwyn to restrain +all further impatience; but she inspired so strong and delicious a +hope that he could scarcely control himself. He even fancied that +there was at times a caressing accent in her tone when she spoke +to him. + +"Surely," he thought, "if what I said were repugnant, she would give +some hint of the fact; but how can it be possible that so soon--" + +"Come, Marian, I think you may safely retire now," said her father; +"I hear Riten coming up." + +Even as he spoke, a front parlor window was crashed in. Merwyn +and Mr. Vosburgh sprung into the hall, revolvers in hand; Riten +instinctively fled back towards the stairs leading to the basement, +in which she had extinguished the light, and Mr. Vosburgh told his +daughter to follow the servant. + +But she stood still, as if paralyzed, and saw a man rushing upon +him with a long knife. Mr. Vosburgh fired, but, from agitation, +ineffectually. Merwyn at the same moment had fired on another man, +who fell. A fearful cry escaped from the girl's lips as she saw that +her father was apparently doomed. The gleaming knife was almost +above him. Then--how it happened she could never tell, so swift was +the movement--Merwyn stood before her father. The knife descended +upon his breast, yet at the same instant his pistol exploded against +the man's temple, and the miscreant dropped like a log. There were +sounds of other men clambering in at the window, and Mr. Vosburgh +snatched Merwyn back by main force, saying to Marian, "Quick! for +your life! down the stairs!" + +The moment the door closed upon them all he slid the heavy bolt. +Riten stood sobbing at the foot of the stairs. + +"Hush!" said Mr. Vosburgh, sternly. "Each one obey me. Out through +the area door instantly." + +Across this he also let down a heavy bar, and, taking his daughter's +hand, he hurried her to the fence, removed the boards, and, when all +had passed through, replaced them. Mr. Erkmann, at his neighbor's +request, had left his rear basement door open, and was on the +watch. He appeared almost instantly, and counselled the fugitives +to remain with him. + +"No," said Mr. Vosburgh; "we will bring no more peril than we must +on you. Let us out into the street at once, and then bar and bolt +everything." + +"But where can you go at this time?" + +"To my house," said Merwyn, firmly. "Please do as Mr. Vosburgh +asks. It will be safest for all." + +"Well, since you will have it so." + +"Hasten, hasten," Merwyn urged. + +Mr. Erkmann unlatched the door and looked out. The street was quiet +and deserted, and the fugitives rushed away with whispered thanks. + +"Marian, tie Riten's apron over your head, so as to partially +disguise your face," said her father. + +Fortunately they met but few people, and no crowds whatever. As +they approached Merwyn's home his steps began to grow unsteady. + +"Papa," said Marian, in agitated tones, "Mr. Merwyn is wounded; he +wants your support." + +"Merciful Heaven, Merwyn! are you wounded?" + +"Yes, hasten. I must reach home before giving out." + +When they gained his door he had to be almost carried up the steps, +and Mr. Vosburgh rang the bell furiously. + +Only a moment or two elapsed before the scared face of Thomas +appeared, but as Merwyn crossed the threshold he fainted. + +They carried him to his room, and then Mr. Vosburgh said, "Bring +a physician and lose not a second. Say it is a case of life and +death. Hold! first bring me some brandy." + +"Oh, oh!" Marian moaned, "I fear it's death! O papa he gave his +life for you." + +"No, no," was the hoarse response; "it cannot, shall not be. It's +only a wound, and he has fainted from loss of blood. Show your nerve +now. Moisten his lips with brandy. You, Riten, chafe his wrists +with it, while I cut open his shirt and stanch the wound." + +A second more and a terrible gash on Merwyn's breast was revealed. +How deep it was they could not know. + +Marian held out her handkerchief, and it was first used to stop +the flow of blood. When it was taken away she put it in her bosom. + +The old servant, Margy, now rushed in with lamentations. + +"Hush!" said Mr. Vosburgh, sternly. "Chafe that other wrist with +brandy." + +But the swoon was prolonged, and Marian, pallid to her lips, sighed +and moaned as she did her father's bidding. + +Thomas was not very long in bringing a good physician, who had +often attended the family. Marian watched his face as if she were +to read there a verdict in regard to her own life, and Mr. Vosburgh +evinced scarcely less solicitude. + +"His pulse certainly shows great exhaustion; but I cannot yet +believe that it is a desperate case. We must first tally him, and +then I will examine his wound. Mr. Vosburgh, lift him up, and let +me see if I cannot make him swallow a little diluted brandy." + +At last Merwyn revived somewhat, but did not seem conscious of what +was passing around him. The physician made a hasty examination of +the wound and said, "It is not so severe as to be fatal in itself, +but I don't like the hot, dry, feverish condition of his skin." + +"He was feverish before he received the wound," said Marian, in a +whisper. "I fear he has been going far beyond his strength." + +"I entreat you, sir, not to leave him," said Mr. Vosburgh, "until +you can give us more hope." + +"Rest assured that I shall not. I am the family physician, and I +shall secure for him in the morning the best surgical aid in the +city. All that can be done in these times shall be done. Hereafter +there must be almost absolute quiet, especially when he begins to +notice anything. He must not be moved, or be allowed to move, until +I say it is safe. Perhaps if all retire, except myself and Thomas, +he will be less agitated when he recovers consciousness. Margy, +you make good, strong coffee, and get an early breakfast." + +They all obeyed his suggestions at once. + +The servant showed Mr. Vosburgh and his daughter into a sitting-room +on the same floor, and the poor girl, relieved from the necessity +of self-restraint, threw herself on a lounge and sobbed and moaned +as if her heart was breaking. + +Wise Mr. Vosburgh did not at first restrain her, except by soothing, +gentle words. He knew that this was nature's relief, and that she +would soon be the better and calmer for it. + +The physician wondered at the presence of strangers in the Merwyn +residence, and speedily saw how Marian felt towards his patient; but +he had observed professional reticence, knowing that explanations +would soon come. Meanwhile he carefully sought to rally his patient, +and watched each symptom. + +At last Merwyn opened his eyes and asked, feebly: "Where am I? What +has happened?" + +"You were injured, but are doing well," was the prompt reply. "You +know me, Dr. Henderson, and Thomas is here also. You are in your +own room." + +"Yes, I see," and he remained silent for some little time; then +said, "I remember all now." + +"You must keep quiet and try not to think, Mr. Merwyn. Your life +depends upon it." + +"My mind has a strong disposition to wander." + +"The more need of quiet." + +"Miss Vosburgh is here. I must see her." + +"Yes, by and by." + +"Doctor, I fear I am going to be out of my mind. I must see Miss +Vosburgh. I will see her; and if you are wise you will permit me to +do so. My life depends upon it more than upon your skill. Do what +I ask, and I will be quiet" + +"Very well, then, but the interview must be brief." + +"It must be as I say." + +Marian was summoned. Hastily drying her eyes, she tried to suppress +her strong emotion. + +Merwyn feebly reached out his hand to her, and she sat down beside +him. + +"Do not try to talk," she whispered, taking his hand. + +"Yes, I must while I am myself. Dr. Henderson, I love and honor +this girl, and would make her my wife should she consent. I may +be dying, but if she is willing to stay with me, it seems as if +I could live through everything, fever and all. If she is willing +and you do not permit her to stay, I want you to know that my blood +is on your hands! Marian, are you willing to stay?" + +"Yes," she replied; and then, leaning down, she whispered: "I do +love you; I have loved you ever since I understood you. Oh, live +for my sake! What would life be now without you?" + +"Now you shall stay." + +"See, doctor, he is quiet while I am with him," she said, pleadingly. + +"And only while you are with me. I know I should die if you were +sent away." + +"She shall stay with you, Mr. Merwyn, if you obey my orders in +other respects. I give you my word," said Dr. Henderson. + +"Very well. Now have patience with me." + +"Thomas," whispered the physician, "have the strongest beef tea +made, and keep it on hand." + +Mr. Vosburgh intercepted the man, and was briefly told what had +taken place. "Now there is a chance for them both," the agitated +father muttered, as he restlessly paced the room. "Oh, how terribly +clouded would our lives be, should he die!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + +MOTHER AND SON. + + + + + +FOR a time Merwyn did keep quiet, but he soon began to mutter +brokenly and unintelligibly. Marian tried to remove her hand to +aid the physician a moment, but she felt the feeble tightening of +his clasp, and he cried, "No, no!" + +This, for days, was the last sign he gave of intelligent comprehension +of what was going on around him. + +"We must humor him as far as we can in safety," the doctor remarked, +in a low whisper, and so began the battle for life. + +Day was now dawning, and Thomas was despatched for a very skilful +surgeon, who came and gave the help of long experience. + +At last Dr. Henderson joined Mr. Vosburgh in the breakfast-room, and +the latter sent a cup of coffee to his daughter by the physician, +who said, when he returned: "I think it would be well for me to +know something about Mr. Merwyn's experience during the past few +days. I shall understand his condition better if I know the causes +which led to it." + +Mr. Vosburgh told him everything. + +"Well," said the doctor, emphatically, "we should do all within +human effort to save such a young fellow." + +"I feel that I could give my life to save him," Mr. Vosburgh added. + +Hours passed, and Merwyn's delirium became more pronounced. He +released his grasp on Marian's hand, and tossed his arms as if in +the deepest trouble, his disordered mind evidently reverting to +the time when life had been so dark and hopeless. + +"Chained, chained," he would mutter. "Cruel, unnatural mother, to +chain her son like a slave. My oath is eating out my very heart. +SHE despises me as a coward. Oh if she knew what I was facing!" +and such was the burden of all his broken words. + +The young girl now learned the secret which had been so long +unfathomed. Vainly, with streaming eyes, she tried at first to +reassure him, but the doctor told her it was of no use, the fever +must take its course. Yet her hand upon his brow and cheek often +seemed to have a subtle, quieting spell. + +Mr. Vosburgh felt that, whatever happened, he must attend to his +duties. Therefore he went to headquarters and learned that the +crisis of the insurrection had passed. The Seventh Regiment was on +duty, and other militia organizations were near at hand. + +He also related briefly how he had been driven from his home on the +previous night, and was told that policemen were in charge of the +building. Having received a permit to enter it, he sent his despatch +to Washington, also a quieting telegram to his wife, assuring her +that all danger was past. + +Then he went to his abandoned home and looked sadly on the havoc +that had been made. Nearly all light articles of value had been +carried away, and then, in a spirit of revenge, the rioters had +destroyed and defaced nearly everything. His desk had been broken, +but the secret drawer remained undiscovered. Having obtained his +private papers, he left the place, and, as it was a rented house, +resolved that he would not reside there again. + +On his return to Merwyn's home, the first one to greet him was +Strahan, his face full of the deepest solicitude. + +"I have just arrived," he said. "I first went to your house and was +overwhelmed at seeing its condition; then I drove here and have +only learned enough to make me anxious indeed. O my accursed wound +and fever! They kept the fact of the riot from me until this morning, +and then I learned of it almost by accident, and came instantly in +spite of them." + +"Mr. Strahan, I entreat you to be prudent. I am overwhelmed with +trouble and fear for Merwyn, and I and mine must cause no more +mischief. Everything is being done that can be, and all must be +patient and quiet and keep their senses." + +"Oh, I'm all right now. As Merwyn's friend, this is my place. +Remember what he did for me." + +"Very well. If you are equal to it I shall be glad to have you +take charge here. As soon as I have learned of my daughter's and +Merwyn's welfare I shall engage rooms at the nearest hotel, and, if +the city remains quiet, telegraph for my wife;" and he sent Thomas +to Dr. Henderson with a request to see him. + +"No special change, and there cannot be very soon," reported the +physician. + +"But my daughter--she must not be allowed to go beyond her strength." + +"I will look after her as carefully as after my other patient," +was the reassuring reply. + +"It's a strange story, Mr. Strahan," resumed Mr. Vosburgh, when +they were alone. "You are undoubtedly surprised that my daughter +should be one of Merwyn's watchers. He saved my life last night, and +my daughter and home the night before. They are virtually engaged." + +"Oh that I had been here!" groaned Strahan. + +"Under the circumstances it was well that you were not. It would +probably have cost you your life. Only the strongest and soundest +men could endure the strain. Merwyn came to our assistance from the +first;" and he told the young officer enough of what had occurred +to make it all intelligible to him. + +Strahan drew a long breath, then said: "He has won her fairly. I +had suspected his regard for her; but I would rather have had his +opportunity and his wound than be a major-general." + +"I appreciate the honor you pay my daughter, but there are some +matters beyond human control," was the kind response. + +"I understand all that," said the young man, sadly; "but I can +still be her loyal friend, and that, probably, is all that I ever +could have been." + +"I, at least, can assure you of our very highest esteem and respect, +Mr. Strahan;" and after a few more words the gentlemen parted. + +The hours dragged on, and at last Dr. Henderson insisted that Marian +should go down to lunch. She first met Strahan in the sitting-room, +and sobbed on his shoulder: "O Arthur! I fear he will die, and if +he does I shall wish to die, too. You must stand by us both like +a loyal brother." + +"Marian, I will," he faltered; and he kept his word. + +He made her take food, and at last inspired her with something of +his own sanguine spirit. + +"Oh, what a comfort it is to have you here!" she said, as she was +returning to her post. "You make despair impossible." + +Again the hours dragged slowly on, the stillness of the house +broken only by Merwyn's delirious words. Then, for a time, there +was disquiet in bitter truth. + +All through the dreadful night just described, an ocean steamer had +been ploughing its way towards the port of New York. A pilot had +boarded her off Sandy Hook, and strange and startling had been his +tidings to the homeward-bound Americans. The Battle of Gettysburg, +the capture of Vicksburg, and, above all, the riots had been the +burden of his narrations. + +Among the passengers were Mrs. Merwyn and her daughters. Dwelling +on the condition of her son's mind, as revealed by his letter, she +had concluded that she must not delay her departure from England an +hour longer than was unavoidable. "It may be," she thought, "that +only my presence can restrain him in his madness; for worse than +madness it is to risk all his future prospects in the South just +when our arms are crowned with victories which will soon fulfil +our hopes. His infatuation with that horrid Miss Vosburgh is the +secret of it all." + +Therefore, her heart overflowing with pride and anger, which +increased with every day of the voyage, she had taken an earlier +steamer, and was determined to hold her son to his oath if he had +a spark of sanity left. + +Having become almost a monomaniac in her dream of a Southern empire, +she heard in scornful incredulity the rumor of defeat and disaster +brought to her by her daughters. All the pride and passion of her +strong nature was in arms against the bare thought. But at quarantine +papers were received on board, their parallel columns lurid with +accounts of the riot and aglow with details of Northern victories. +It appeared to her that she had sailed from well-ordered England, +with its congenial, aristocratic circles, to a world of chaos. +When the steamer arrived at the wharf, many of the passengers were +afraid to go ashore, but she, quiet, cold, silent, hiding the anger +that raged in her heart, did not hesitate a moment. She came of a +race that knew not what fear meant. At the earliest possible moment +she and her daughters entered a carriage and were driven up town. +The young girls stared in wonder at the troops and other evidences +of a vast disturbance, and when they saw Madison Square filled with +cavalry-horses they exclaimed aloud, "O mamma, see!" + +"Yes," said their mother, sternly, "and mark it well. Even these +Northern people will no longer submit to the Lincoln tyranny. +He may win a few brief triumphs, but the day is near when our own +princely leaders will dictate law and order everywhere. The hour +has air passed when he will have the South only to fight;" and in +her prejudice and ignorance she believed her words to be absolutely +infallible. + +Strahan met them as they entered, and received but a cold greeting +from the lady. + +"Where is Willard?" she asked, hastily. + +"Mrs. Merwyn, you must prepare yourself for a great shock. Your +son--" + +Her mind was prepared for but one great disaster, and, her self-control +at last giving way, she almost shrieked, "What! has he taken arms +against the South?" + +"Mrs. Merwyn," replied Strahan, "is that the worst that could +happen?" + +A sudden and terrible dread smote the proud woman, and she sunk +into a chair, while young Estelle Merwyn rushed upon Strahan, and, +seizing his hand, faltered in a whisper, "Is--is--" but she could +proceed no further. + +"No; but he soon will be unless reason and affection control your +actions and words. Your family physician is here, Mrs. Merwyn, and +I trust you will be guided by his counsel." + +"Send him to me," gasped the mother. + +Dr. Henderson soon came and explained in part what had occurred. + +"Oh, those Vosburghs!" exclaimed Mrs. Merwyn, with a gesture +of unspeakable revolt at the state of affairs. "Well," she added, +with a stern face, "it is my place and not a stranger's to be at +my son's side." + +"Pardon me, madam; you cannot go to your son at all in your present +mood. In an emergency like this a physician is autocrat, and your +son's life hangs by a hair." + +"Who has a better right--who can do more for a child than a mother?" + +"That should be true, but--" and he hesitated in embarrassment, for +a moment, then concluded, firmly: "Your son is not expecting you, +and agitation now might be fatal to him. There are other reasons +which you will soon understand." + +"There is one thing I already understand,--a nameless stranger is +with him, and I am kept away." + +"Miss Vosburgh is not a nameless stranger," said Strahan; "and she +is affianced to your son." + +"O Heaven! I shall go mad!" the lady groaned, a tempest of conflicting +emotions sweeping through her heart. + +"Come, Mrs. Merwyn," said Dr. Henderson, kindly, yet firmly, "take +the counsel of an old friend. Distracted as you naturally are with +all these unexpected and terrible events, you must recognize the +truth that you are in no condition to take upon you the care of +your son now. He would not know you, I fear, yet your voice might +agitate him fatally. I do not forbid you to see him, but I do forbid +that you should speak to him now, and I shall not answer for the +consequences if you do." + +"Mamma, mamma, you must be patient and do as Dr. Henderson advises," +cried Estelle. "When you are calm you will see that he is right. +If anything should happen you would never forgive yourself." + +The mother's bitter protest was passing into a deadlier fear, but +she only said, coldly, "Very well; since such are your decrees +I shall go to my room and wait till I am summoned;" and she rose +and left the apartment, followed by her elder daughter, a silent, +reticent girl, whose spirit her mother had apparently quenched. + +Estelle lingered until they had gone, and then she turned to Strahan, +who said, with an attempt at a smile, "I can scarcely realize that +this is the little girl whom I used to play with and tease." + +But she heeded not his words. Her large, lustrous eyes were dim with +tears, as she asked, falteringly, "Tell me the truth, Mr. Strahan; +do you think my brother is very ill?" + +"Yes," he replied, sadly; "and I hope I may be permitted to remain +as one of his watchers. He took care of me, last winter, in an +almost mortal illness, and I would gladly do him a like service." + +"But you are hurt. Your arm is in a sling." + +"My wound is healing, and I could sit by your brother's side as +well as elsewhere." + +"You shall remain," said the girl, emphatically. "I have some of +mamma's spirit, if not all her prejudices. Is this Miss Vosburgh +such a fright?" + +"I regard her as the noblest and most beautiful girl I ever saw." + +"Oh, you do?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I shall go and talk reason to mamma, for sister Berta yields +to everything without a word. You must stay, and I shall do my +share of watching as soon as the doctor permits." + +Mrs. Merwyn thought she would remain in her room as she had said, +but the fountains of the great deep in her soul were breaking +up. She found that the mother in her heart was stronger than the +partisan. She MUST see her son. + +At last she sent Thomas for Dr. Henderson again, and obtained +permission to look upon her child. Bitter as the physician knew +the experience would be, it might be salutary. With noiseless tread +she crossed the threshold, and saw Marian's pure, pale profile; she +drew a few steps nearer; the young girl turned and bowed gravely, +then resumed her watch. + +For the moment Merwyn was silent, then in a voice all too distinct +he said: "Cruel, unnatural mother, to rob me of my manhood, to +chain me like one of her slaves. Jeff Davis and empire are more to +her than husband or son." + +The conscience-stricken woman covered her face with her hands and +glided away. As by a lightning-flash the reason why she had forfeited +her place by the couch of her son was revealed. + + + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. + +"MISSY S'WANEE." + + + + + +THERE is no need of dwelling long on subsequent events. Our story +has already indicated many of them. Mrs. Merwyn's bitter lesson was +emphasized through many weary days. She hovered about her son like +a remorseful spirit, but dared not speak to him. She had learned +too well why her voice might cause fatal agitation. For a time she +tried to ignore Marian, but the girl's gentle dignity and profound +sorrow, her untiring faithfulness, conquered pride at last, and the +mother, with trembling lips, asked forgiveness and besought affection. + +Blauvelt arrived in town on the evening of the day just described, +proposing to offer his services to the city authorities, meanwhile +cherishing the secret hope that he might serve Marian. He at last +found Strahan at Merwyn's home. The brother officers talked long +and earnestly, but, while both were reticent concerning their deeper +thoughts, they both knew that a secret dream was over forever. + +Marian came down and gave her hand to the artist soldier in warm +pressure as she said, "My friends are loyal in my time of need." + +He lingered a day or two in the city, satisfied himself that the +insurrection was over, then went home, bade his old mother good-by, +and joined his regiment. He was soon transferred to the staff of a +general officer, and served with honor and distinction to the end +of the war. + +Mrs. Vosburgh joined her husband; and the awful peril through +which he and her daughter had passed awakened in her a deeper sense +of real life. In contemplation of the immeasurable loss which she +might have sustained she learned to value better what she possessed. +By Estelle's tact it was arranged that she could often see Marian +without embarrassment. So far as her nature permitted she shared +in her husband's boundless solicitude for Merwyn. + +Warm-hearted Estelle was soon conscious of a sister's affection +for the girl of her brother's choice, and shared her vigils. She +became also a very good friend to Strahan, and entertained a secret +admiration for him, well hidden, however, by a brusque, yet delicate +raillery. + +But Strahan believed that the romance of his life was over, and he +eventually joined his regiment with some reckless hopes of "stopping +a bullet" as he phrased it. Gloomy cynicism, however, was not his +forte; and when, before the year was out, he was again promoted, +he found that life was anything but a burden, although he was so +ready to risk it. + +At last the light of reason dawned in Merwyn's eyes. He recognized +Marian, smiled, and fell into a quiet sleep. On awakening, he said +to her: "You kept your word, my darling. You did not leave me. +I should have died if you had. I think I never wholly lost the +consciousness that you were near me." + +The young girl soon brought about a complete reconciliation between +mother and son, and Merwyn was absolved from his oath. Even as a +devoted husband, which he became at Christmas-tide, she found him +too ready to go to the front. He appeared, however, to have little +ambition for distinction, and was satisfied to enter upon duty in +a very subordinate position; but he did it so well and bravely that +his fine abilities were recognized, and he was advanced. At last, +to his mother's horror, he received a colonel's commission to a +colored regiment. + +Many of Mrs. Merwyn's lifelong prejudices were never overcome, and +she remained loyal to the South; but she was taught that mother-love +is the mightiest of human forces, and at last admitted that her +son, as a man, had a right to choose and act for himself. + +Mr. Vosburgh remained in the city as the trusted agent of the +government until the close of the war, and was then transferred +to Washington. Every year cemented his friendship with Merwyn, +and the two men corresponded so faithfully that Marian declared +she was jealous. Each knew, however, that their mutual regard and +good-comradeship were among her deepest sources of happiness. While +her husband was absent Marian made the country house on the Hudson +her residence, but in many ways she sought opportunity to reduce the +awful sum of anguish entailed by the war. She often lured Estelle +from the city as her companion, even in bleak wintry weather. Here +Strahan found her when on a leave of absence in the last year of +the war, and he soon learned that he had another heart to lose. +Marian was discreetly blind to his direct and soldier-like siege. +Indeed, she proved the best of allies, aware that the young officer's +time was limited. + +Estelle was elusive as a mocking spirit of the air, until the last +day of his leave was expiring, and then laughingly admitted that +she had surrendered almost two years before. + +Of the humble characters in my story it is sufficient to say that +Zeb barely survived, and was helpless for life. Pensions from Merwyn +and Lane secured for him and his mother every comfort. Barney Ghegan +eventually recovered, and resumed his duties on the police force. + +He often said, "Oi'm proud to wear the uniform that Misther Merwyn +honored." + +I have now only to outline the fortunes of Captain Lane and "Missy +S'wanee," and then to take leave of my reader, supposing that he +has had the patience to accompany me thus far. + +Lane's wound, reopened by his exertions in escaping to Washington, +kept him helpless on a bed of suffering during the riots and for +weeks thereafter. Then he was granted a long furlough, which he +spent chiefly with his family at the North. Like Strahan he felt +that Merwyn had won Marian fairly. So far was he from cherishing +any bitterness, that he received the successful rival within the +circle of his nearest friends. By being sincere, true to nature and +conscience, Marian retained, not only the friendship and respect +of her lovers, but also her ennobling influence over them. While +they saw that Merwyn was supreme, they also learned that they would +never be dismissed with indifference from her thoughts,--that she +would follow them through life with an affectionate interest and +good-will scarcely less than she would bestow on brothers cradled +in the same home with herself. Lane, with his steadfast nature, +would maintain this relation more closely than the others, but the +reader has already guessed that he would seek to give and to find +consolation elsewhere. Suwanee Barkdale had awakened his strongest +sympathy and respect, and the haunting thought that she, like himself, +had given her love apparently where it could not be returned, made +her seem akin to himself in the deepest and saddest experience. +Gradually and almost unconsciously he gave his thoughts to her, +and began to wonder when and how they should meet again, if ever. +He wrote to her several times, but obtained no answer, no assurance +that his letters were received. When he was fit for duty again his +regiment was in the West, and it remained there until the close of +the war, he having eventually attained to its command. + +As soon as he could control his own movements he resolved +to settle one question before he resumed the quiet pursuit of his +profession,--he would learn the fate of "Missy S'wanee." Securing +a strong, fleet horse, he left Washington, and rode rapidly through +a region that had been trampled almost into a desert by the iron +heel of war. The May sun was low in the west when he turned from the +road into the extended lawn which led up to the Barkdale mansion. +Little beyond unsightly stumps was left of the beautiful groves by +which it had been bordered. + +Vividly his memory reproduced the same hour, now years since, when +he had ridden up that lawn at the head of his troopers, his sabre +flashing in the last rays of the sun. It seemed ages ago, so much +had happened; but through all the changes and perils the low sob of +the Southern girl when she opened the way for his escape had been +vibrating in stronger and tenderer chords in the depths of his soul. +It had awakened dreams and imaginings which, if dissipated, would +leave but a busy, practical life as devoid of romance as the law-tomes +to which he would give his thoughts. It was natural, therefore, +that his heart should beat fast as he approached the solution of +a question bearing so vitally on all his future. + +He concealed himself and his horse behind some low, shrubby trees +that had been too insignificant for the camp fires, long since +burned out, and scanned the battered dwelling. No sign of life was +visible. He was about to proceed and end his suspense at once, when +a lady, clad in mourning, came out and sat down on the veranda. He +instantly recognized Suwanee. + +For a few moments Lane could scarcely summon courage to approach. +The surrounding desolation, her badges of bereavement and sorrow, +gave the young girl the dignity and sacredness of immeasurable +misfortune. She who had once so abounded in joyous, spirited life +now seemed emblematical of her own war-wasted and unhappy land,--one +to whom the past and the dead were more than the future and the +living. + +Would she receive him? Would she forgive him, one of the authors +of her people's bleeding wounds? He determined to end his suspense, +and rode slowly towards her, that she might not be startled. + +At first she did not recognize the stranger in civilian dress, +who was still more disguised by a heavy beard; but she rose and +approached the veranda steps to meet him. He was about to speak, +when she gave a great start, and a quick flush passed over her +face. + +Then, as if by the sternest effort, she resumed her quiet, dignified +bearing, as she said, coldly, "You will scarcely wonder, Captain +Lane, that I did not recognize you before." He had dismounted and +stood uncovered before her, and she added, "I regret that I have +no one to take your horse, and no place to stable him, but for +yourself I can still offer such hospitality as my home affords." + +Lane was chilled and embarrassed. He could not speak to her in +like distant and formal manner, and he resolved that he would not. +However it might end, he would be true to his own heart and impulses. + +He threw the reins on the horse's neck, caring not what became +of him, and stepping to her side, he said, impetuously, "I never +doubted that I should receive hospitality at your home,--that is +refused to no one,--but I did hope for a different greeting." + +Again there was a quick, auroral flush, and then, with increased +pallor and coldness, she asked, "Have I failed in courtesy?" + +"No." + +"What reason had you to expect more?" + +"Because, almost from the first hour we met, I had given you esteem +and reverence as a noble woman,--because I promised you honest +friendship and have kept my word." + +Still more coldly she replied: "I fear there can be no friendship +between us. My father and brothers lie in nameless graves in your +proud and triumphant North, and my heart and hope are buried with +them. My mother has since died, broken-hearted; Roberta's husband, +the colonel you sent to prison, is a crippled soldier, and both +are so impoverished that they know not how to live. And you,--you +have been so busy in helping those who caused these woes that you +evidently forgot the once light-hearted girl whom you first saw on +this veranda. Why speak of friendship, Captain Lane, when rivers +of blood flow between us,--rivers fed from the veins of my kindred?" + +Her words were so stern and sad that Lane sat down on the steps at +her feet and buried his face in his hands. His hope was withering +and his tongue paralyzed in the presence of such grief as hers. + +She softened a little as she looked down upon him, and after a +moment or two resumed: "I do not blame you personally. I must try +to be just in my bitter sorrow and despair. You proved long ago +that you were obeying your conscience; but you who conquer cannot +know the hearts of the conquered. Your home does not look like +mine; your kindred are waiting to welcome you with plaudits. You +have everything to live for,--honor, prosperity, and love; for +doubtless, long before this, the cold-hearted Northern girl has +been won by the fame of your achievements. Think of me as a ghost, +doomed to haunt these desolate scenes where once I was happy." + +"No," he replied, springing to his feet, "I shall think of you as +the woman I love. Life shall not end so unhappily for us both; for +if you persist in your morbid enmity, my future will be as wretched +as yours. You judge me unheard, and you wrong me cruelly. I have +never forgotten you for an hour. I wrote to you again and again, +and received no answer. The moment I was released from the iron rule +of military duty in the West I sought you before returning to the +mother who bore me. No river of blood flows between us that my love +could not bridge. I admit that I was speechless at first before +the magnitude of your sorrows; but must this accursed war go on +forever, blighting life and hope? What was the wound you did so much +towards healing compared to the one you are giving me now? Many a +blow has been aimed at me, but not one has pierced my heart before." + +She tried to listen rigidly and coldly to his impassioned utterance, +but could not, and, as he ceased, she was sobbing in her chair. +He sought with gentle words to soothe her, but by a gesture she +silenced him. + +At last she said, brokenly: "For months I have not shed a tear. My +heart and brain seemed bursting, yet I could get no relief. Were +it not for some faith and hope in God, I should have followed my +kindred. You cannot know, you never can know." + +"I know one thing, Suwanee. You were once a brave, unselfish woman. +I will not, I cannot believe that you have parted with your noble, +generous impulses. You may remain cold to me if I merely plead my +cause for your sake, that I may bring consolation and healing into +your life; but I still have too much faith in your large, warm, +Southern heart to believe that you will blight my life also. If you +can never love me, give me the right to be your loyal and helpful +friend. Giving you all that is best and most sacred in my nature +how can you send me away as if I had no part or lot in your life? +It is not, cannot be true. When I honor you and would give my life +for you, and shall love you all my days, it is absurd to say that +I am nothing to you. Only embodied selfishness and callousness could +say that. You may not be able to give what I do, but you should +give all you can. 'Rivers of blood flowing between us' is morbid +nonsense. Forgive me that I speak strongly,--I feel strongly. My +soul is in my words. I felt towards my cause as you towards yours, +and had I not acted as I have, you would be the first to think me +a craven. But what has all this to do with the sacred instinct, +the pure, unbounded love which compels me to seek you as my wife?" + +"You have spoken such words to another," she said, in a low tone. + +"No, never such words as I speak to you. I could not have spoken +them, for then I was too young and immature to feel them. I did +love Miss Vosburgh as sincerely as I now respect and esteem her. +She is the happy wife of another man. I speak to you from the depths +of my matured manhood. What is more I speak with the solemnity and +truth which your sorrows should inspire. Should you refuse my hand +it will never be offered to another, and you know me well enough +to be sure I will keep my word." + +"Oh, can it be right?" cried the girl, wringing her hands. + +"One question will settle all: Can you return my love?" + +With that query light came into her mind as if from heaven. She +saw that such love as theirs was the supreme motive, the supreme +obligation. + +She rose and fixed her lovely, tear-gemmed eyes upon him searchingly +as she asked, "Would you wed me, a beggar, dowered only with sorrow +and bitter memories?" + +"I will wed you, Suwanee Barkdale, or no one." + +"There," she said, with a wan smile, holding out her hand; "the +North has conquered again." + +"Suwanee," he said, gravely and gently, as he caressed the head +bowed upon his breast, "let us begin right. For us two there is +no North or South. We are one for time, and I trust for eternity. +But do not think me so narrow and unreasonable as to expect that you +should think as I do on many questions. Still more, never imagine +that I shall chide you, even in my thoughts, for love of your +kindred and people, or the belief that they honestly and heroically +did what seemed to them their duty. When you thought yourself such +a hopeless little sinner, and I discovered you to be a saint, did +I not admit that your patriotic impulses were as sincere as my own? +As it has often been in the past, time will settle all questions +between your people and ours, and time and a better knowledge of +each other will heal our mutual wounds. I wish to remove fear and +distrust of the immediate future from your mind, however. I must take +you to a Northern home, where I can work for you in my profession, +but you can be your own true self there,--just what you were when +you first won my honor and esteem. The memory of your brave father +and brothers shall be sacred to me as well as to you. I shall expect +you to change your feelings and opinions under no other compulsion +than that of your own reason and conscience. Shall you fear to go +with me now? I will do everything that you can ask if you will only +bless me with your love." + +"I never dreamed before that it could be so sweet to bless an +enemy," she said, with a gleam of her old mirthfulness, "and I have +dreamed about it. O Fenton, I loved you unsought, and the truth +nearly killed me at first, but I came at last to be a little proud +of it. You were so brave, yet considerate, so fair and generous +towards us, that you banished my prejudices, and you won my heart +by believing there was some good in it after all." + +A white shock of wool surmounting a wrinkled, ebon visage appeared +at the door, and the old cook said, "Missy S'wanee, dere's nuffin' +in de house for supper but a little cawn-meal. Oh, bress de Lawd! +if dere ain't Cap'n Lane!" + +"Give us a hoe-cake, then," cried Lane, shaking the old woman's hand. +"I'd rather sup with your mistress to-night on corn-meal than sit +down to the grandest banquet you have ever prepared in the past. +In the morning I'll forage for breakfast." + +"Bress de Lawd!" said the old woman, as she hobbled away. "Good +times comin' now. If I could jes' hear Missy S'wanee larf once +mo';" and then she passed beyond hearing. + +"Yes, Suwanee, if I could only hear your old sweet laugh once more!" +Lane pleaded. + +"Not yet, Fenton; not yet,--some day." + +THE END + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, AN ORIGINAL BELLE *** + +This file should be named aobll10.txt or aobll10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, aobll11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, aobll10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext04 + +Or /etext03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/aobll10.zip b/old/aobll10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4cd0d69 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/aobll10.zip |