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} - .quote { font-size: 95%; margin-top: 1.0em; margin-bottom: 1.0em; } - .linegroup .group { margin: 0em auto; } - </style> - </head> - <body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Peculiar, by Epes Sargent</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Peculiar</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>A Tale of the Great Transition</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Epes Sargent</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 18, 2022 [eBook #67872]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: KD Weeks, Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PECULIAR ***</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Transcriber’s Note:</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Footnotes have been collected at the end of each chapter, and are -linked for ease of reference.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s <a href='#endnote'>note</a> at the end of this text -for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered -during its preparation.</p> - -<div class='htmlonly'> - -<p class='c001'>Any corrections are indicated using an <ins class='correction' title='original'>underline</ins> -highlight. Placing the cursor over the correction will produce the -original text in a small popup.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='epubonly'> - -<p class='c001'>Any corrections are indicated as hyperlinks, which will navigate the -reader to the corresponding entry in the corrections table in the -note at the end of the text.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div> - <h1 class='c002'>PECULIAR</h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><i>A Tale of the Great Transition</i></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='sc'>By EPES SARGENT</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_title.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>NEW YORK</div> - <div>CARLETON, PUBLISHER, 413 BROADWAY</div> - <div>M DCCC LXIV</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='small'>Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by</span></div> - <div>EPES SARGENT,</div> - <div><span class='small'>in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='sc'>University Press:</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Welch, Bigelow, and Company,</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Cambridge.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_iii'>iii</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='15%' /> -<col width='76%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c005'> </td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Chapter</span></td> - <td class='c007'><span class='sc'>Page</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>I.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>A Glance in the Mirror</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>II.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>A Matrimonial Blank</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_6'>6</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>III.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Wolf and the Lamb</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_12'>12</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>IV.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>A Fugitive Chattel</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_19'>19</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>V.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>A Retrospect</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_28'>28</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>VI.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Pin-holes in the Curtain</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_34'>34</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>VII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>An Unconscious Heiress</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_46'>46</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>VIII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>A Descendant of the Cavaliers</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_57'>57</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>IX.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Upper and the Lower Law</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_69'>69</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>X.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Groups on the Deck</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_81'>81</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XI.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Mr. Onslow speaks his Mind</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_97'>97</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Story of Estelle</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_105'>105</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XIII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Fire up!</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_148'>148</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XIV.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Waiting for the Summoner</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_151'>151</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XV.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Who shall be Heir?</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_158'>158</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XVI.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Vendue</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_165'>165</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XVII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Shall there be a Wedding?</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_178'>178</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XVIII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Unities Disregarded</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_183'>183</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XIX.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The White Slave</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_187'>187</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XX.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Encounters at the St. Charles</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_200'>200</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXI.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>A Monster of Ingratitude</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_219'>219</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Young Lady with a Carpet-Bag</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_224'>224</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXIII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Will you walk into my Parlor?</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_233'>233</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_iv'>iv</span>XXIV.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Confessions of a Mean White</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_240'>240</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXV.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Meetings and Partings</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_251'>251</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXVI.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Clara makes an Important Purchase</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_257'>257</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXVII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Delight and Duty</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_264'>264</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXVIII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>A Letter of Business</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_274'>274</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXIX.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Woman who Deliberates is Lost</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_279'>279</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXX.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>A Feminine Van Amburgh</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_290'>290</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXXI.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>One of the Institutions</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_300'>300</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXXII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>A Double Victory</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_305'>305</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXXIII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Satan amuses Himself</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_314'>314</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXXIV.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Light from the Pit</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_327'>327</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXXV.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Committee adjourns</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_335'>335</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXXVI.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Occupant of the White House</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_349'>349</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXXVII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Comparing Notes</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_359'>359</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXXVIII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Lawyer and the Lady</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_372'>372</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XXXIX.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Seeing is Believing</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_382'>382</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XL.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Remarkable Man at Richmond</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_392'>392</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XLI.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Hopes and Fears</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_397'>397</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XLII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>How it was done</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_430'>430</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XLIII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Making the best of it</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_442'>442</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XLIV.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>A Domestic Reconnaissance</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_455'>455</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XLV.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Another Descendant of the Cavaliers</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_464'>464</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XLVI.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>The Night cometh</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_471'>471</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XLVII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>An Autumnal Visit</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_480'>480</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XLVIII.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Time Discovers and Covers</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_489'>489</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c005'>XLIX.</td> - <td class='c006'><span class='sc'>Eyes to the Blind</span></td> - <td class='c007'><a href='#Page_493'>493</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c008'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span><span class='xlarge'>PECULIAR.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER I. <br /> A GLANCE IN THE MIRROR.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Wed not for wealth, Emily, without love,—’tis gaudy slavery; nor for love without -competence,—’tis twofold misery.”—<cite>Colman’s Poor Gentleman.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>It is a small and somewhat faded room in an unpretending -brick house in one of the streets that intersect Broadway, -somewhere between Canal Street and the Park. A woman -sits at a writing-table, with the fingers of her left hand thrust -through her hair and supporting her forehead, while in her -right hand she holds a pen with which she listlessly draws -figures, crosses, circles and triangles, faces and trees, on the -blotting-paper that partly covers a letter which she has been -inditing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A window near by is open at the top. March, having come -in like a lion, is going out like a lamb. A canary-bird, intoxicated -with the ambrosial breath and subduing sunshine of the -first mild day of spring, is pouring forth such a <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><cite>Te Deum laudamus</cite></span> -as Mozart himself would have despaired of rivalling. -Yesterday’s rain-storm purified the atmosphere, swept clean -the streets, and deodorized the open gutters, that in warm -weather poison with their effluvium the air of the great American -metropolis.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the wall, in front of the lady at the table, hangs a mirror. -Look, now, and you will catch in it the reflection of her face. -Forty? Not far from it. Perhaps four or five years on the -sunny side. Fair? Many persons would call her still beautiful. -The features, though somewhat thin, show their fine -<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>Grecian outline. The hair is of a rich flaxen, the eyes blue -and mild, the mouth delicately drawn, showing Cupid’s bow in -the curve of the upper lip, and disclosing, not too ostentatiously, -the whitest teeth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Her dress is significant of past rather than present familiarity -with a fashionable wardrobe. If she ever wore jewels, she -has parted with all of them, for there is not even a plain gold -ring on her forefinger. Her robe is a simple brown cashmere, -not so distended by crinoline as to disguise her natural -figure, which is erect, of the average height, and harmoniously -rounded. We detect this the better as she rises, looks a moment -sorrowfully in the glass, and sighs to herself, “Fading! -fading!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is a gentle knock at the door, and to her “Come in,” -an old black man enters.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good morning, Toussaint,” says the lady; “what have you -there?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Only a few grapes for Madame. They are Black Hamburgs, -and very sweet. I hope Madame will relish them. -They will do her good. Will she try some of them now?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They are excellent, Toussaint. And what a beautiful basket -you have brought them in! You must have paid high for -all this fruit, so early in the season. Indeed, you must not run -into such extravagances on my account.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Does Madame find her cough any better?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you, Toussaint, I do not notice much change in it -as yet. Perhaps a few more mild days like this will benefit -me. How is Juliette?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Passablement bien.</i></span> Pretty well. May I ask—ahem! -Madame will excuse the question—but does her husband treat -her with any more consideration now that she is ill?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My good Toussaint, I grieve to say that Mr. Charlton is -not so much softened as irritated by my illness. It threatens -to be expensive, you see.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! but that is sad,—sad! I wish Madame were in my -house. Such care as Juliette and I would take of her! You -look so much like your mother, Madame! I knew her before -her first marriage. I dressed her hair the day of her wedding. -People used to call her proud. But she was always kind to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>me,—very kind. And you look like her so much! As I -grow old I think all the more of my old and early friends,—the -first I had when I came to New York from St. Domingo. -Most of them are dead, but I find out their children if I can; -and if they are sick I amuse myself by carrying them a few -grapes or flowers. They are very good to indulge me by -accepting such trifles.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Toussaint, the goodness is all on your side. These grapes -are no trifle, and you ought to know it. I thank you for them -heartily. Let me give you back the basket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, please don’t. Keep it. Good morning, Madame! Be -cheerful. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le bon temps reviendra.</i></span> All shall be well. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Bon -jour! Au revoir</i>, Madame!</span>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He hurries out of the room, but instantly returns, and, taking -a leaf of fresh lettuce out of his pocket, reaches up on -tiptoe and puts it between the bars of the bird-cage. “I was -nigh forgetting the lettuce for the bird,” says he. “Madame -will excuse my <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>gaucherie</i></span>.” And, bowing low, he again disappears.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The story of Emily Bute Charlton may be briefly told. -Her mother, Mrs. Danby, was descended from that John Bradshaw -who was president of the court which tried Charles the -First, and who opposed a spirited resistance to the usurpation -of Cromwell in dissolving the Parliament. Mrs. Danby was -proud of her family tree. In her twentieth year she was left -a widow, beautiful, ambitious, and poor, with one child, a -daughter, who afterwards had in Emily a half-sister. This -first daughter had been educated carefully, but she had hardly -reached her seventeenth year when she accepted the addresses -of a poor man, some fifteen years her senior, of the name of -Berwick. The mother, with characteristic energy, opposed the -match, but it was of no use. The daughter was incurably in -love; she married, and the mother cast her off.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Time brought about its revenges. Mr. Berwick had inherited -ten acres of land on the island of Manhattan. He tried to -sell it, but was so fortunate as to find nobody to buy. So he -held on to the land, and by hard scratching managed to pay -the taxes on it. In ten years the city had crept up so near to -his dirty acres that he sold half of them for a hundred thousand -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>dollars, and became all at once a rich man. Meanwhile his -wife’s mother, Mrs. Danby, after remaining fourteen years a -widow, showed the inconsistency of her opposition to her -daughter’s marriage by herself making an imprudent match. -She married a Mr. Bute, poor and inefficient, but belonging to -“one of the first families.” By this husband she had one -daughter, Emily, the lady at whose reflection in the mirror we -have just been looking.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Emily Bute, like her half-sister, Mrs. Berwick, who was -many years her senior, inherited beauty, and was quite a belle -in her little sphere in Philadelphia, where her family resided. -Her mother, who had repelled Berwick as a son-in-law in his -adversity, was too proud to try to propitiate him in his prosperity. -She concealed her poverty as well as she could from -her daughter, Mrs. Berwick, and the latter had often to resort -to stratagem in order to send assistance to the family. At last -the proud mother died; and six months afterwards her firstborn -daughter, Mrs. Berwick, died, leaving one child, a son, -Henry Berwick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Years glided on, and Mr. Bute had hard work to keep the -wolf from the door. He was one of those persons whose efforts -in life are continual failures, from the fact that they cannot -adapt themselves to circumstances,—cannot persevere during -the day of small things till their occupation, by gradual development, -becomes profitable. He would tire of an employment -the moment its harvest of gold seemed remote. Forever -sanguine and forever unsuccessful, he at last found himself reduced, -with his daughter, to a mode of life that bordered on the -shabby.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In this state of things, Mr. Berwick, like a timely angel, reappeared, -rich, and bearing help. He was charmed with -Emily, as he had formerly been with her half-sister. He proposed -marriage. Mr. Bute was enchanted. He could not -conceive of Emily’s hesitating for a moment. Were her affections -pre-engaged? No. She had been a little of a flirt, -and that perhaps had saved her from a serious passion. Why -not, then, accept Mr. Berwick? He was so old! Old? What -is a seniority of thirty years? He is rich,—has a house on -the Fifth Avenue, and another on the North River. What -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>insanity it would be in a poor girl to allow such a chance to -slip by!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Still Emily had her misgivings. Her virginal instincts protested -against the sacrifice. She had an ideal of a happy life, -which certainly did not lie all in having a freestone house, -French furniture, and a carriage. She knew the bitterness of -poverty; but was she quite ready to marry without love? Her -father’s distresses culminated, and drove her to a decision. -She became Mrs. Berwick; and Mr. Bute was presented with -ten thousand dollars on the wedding-day. He forthwith relieved -himself of fifteen hundred in the purchase of a “new -patent-spring phaeton” and span. “A great bargain, sir; -splendid creatures; spirited, but gentle; a woman can drive -them; no more afraid of a locomotive than of a stack of hay; -the carriage in prime order; hasn’t been used a dozen times; -will stand any sort of a shock; the property of my friend, -Garnett; he wouldn’t part with the horses if he could afford to -keep them; his wife is quite broken-hearted at the idea of -losing them; such a chance doesn’t occur once in ten years; -you can sell the span at a great advance in the spring.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This urgent recommendation from “a particular friend, entirely -disinterested,” decided Bute. He bought the “establishment.” -The next day as he was taking a drive, the shriek -of a steam-whistle produced such an effect upon his incomparable -span, that they started off at headlong speed, ran against a -telegraph-pole, smashed the “new patent-spring phaeton,” -threw out the driver, and broke his neck against a curb-stone; -and that was the end of Mr. Bute for this world, if -we may judge from appearances.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Emily’s marriage did not turn out so poorly as the retributions -of romance might demand. But on Mr. Berwick’s death -she followed her mother’s example, and married a second time. -She became Mrs. Charlton. Some idea of the consequences -of this new alliance may be got from the letter which she has -been writing, and which we take the liberty of laying before -our readers.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER II. <br /> A MATRIMONIAL BLANK.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,</div> - <div class='line'>And delves the parallels in beauty’s brow.”</div> - <div class='line in33'><cite>Shakespeare.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c012'> - <div><span class='sc'>To HENRY BERWICK, Cincinnati.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c013'><span class='sc'>Dear Henry</span>: You kindly left word for me to write -you. I have little of a cheering nature to say in regard -to myself. We have moved from the house in Fourteenth -Street into a smaller one nearer to the Park and to Mr. Charlton’s -business. His complaints of his disappointment in regard -to my means have lately grown more bitter. Your allowance, -liberal as it is, seems to be lightly esteemed. The other day -he twitted me with <em>setting a snare</em> for him by pretending to be -a rich widow. O Henry, what an aggravation of insult! I -knew nothing, and of course said nothing, as to the extent of -your father’s wealth. I supposed, as every one else did, that -he left a large property. His affairs proved to be in such a -state that they could not be disentangled by his executors till -two years after his death. Before that time I was married to -Mr. Charlton.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Had I but taken your warning, and seen through his real -feelings! But he made me think he loved me for myself -alone, and he artfully excited my distrust of you and your motives. -He represented his own means as ample; though for -that I did not care or ask. Repeatedly he protested that he -would prefer to take me without a cent of dowry. I was simpleton -enough to believe him, though he was ten years my -junior. I fell foolishly in love, soon, alas! to be rudely roused -from my dream!</p> - -<p class='c001'>It seems like a judgment, Henry. You have always been -as kind to me as if you were my own son. Your father was -so much my senior, that you may well suppose I did not marry -him from love. I was quite young. My notions on the subject -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>of matrimony were unformed. My heart was free. My -father urged the step upon me as one that would save him -from dire and absolute destitution. What could I do, after -many misgivings, but yield? What could I <em>do</em>? I now well -see what a woman of real moral strength and determination -could and ought to have done. But it is too late to sigh over -the past.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I behaved passably well, did I not? in the capacity of your -step-mother. I was loyal, even in thought, to my husband, -although I loved him only with the sort of love I might have -entertained for my grandfather. You were but two or three -years my junior, but you always treated me as if I were a -dowager of ninety. As I now look back, I can see how nobly -and chivalrously you bore yourself, though at the time I did -not quite understand your over-respectful and distant demeanor, -or why, when we went out in the carriage, you always -preferred the driver’s company to mine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Your father died, and for a year and a half I conducted -myself in a manner not unworthy of his widow and your -mother. At the end of that period Mr. Charlton appeared at -Berwickville. He dressed pretty well, associated with gentlemen, -was rather handsome, and professed a sincere attachment -for myself. Time had dealt gently with me, and I was not -aware of that disparity in years which I afterwards learned -existed between me and my suitor. In an unlucky moment I -was subdued by his importunities. I consented to become his -wife.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first six months of our marriage glided away smoothly -enough. My new husband treated me with all the attention -which I supposed a man of business could give. If the vague -thought now and then obtruded itself that there was something -to me undefined and unsounded in his character, I thrust the -thought from me, and found excuses for the deficiency which -had suggested it. One trait which I noticed caused me some -surprise. He always discouraged my buying new dresses, and -grew very economical in providing for the household. I am -no epicure, but have been accustomed to the best in articles -of food. I soon discovered that everything in the way of provisions -brought into the house was of a cheap or deteriorated -quality. I remonstrated, and there was a reform.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>One bright day in June, two gentlemen, Mr. Ken and Mr. -Turner, connected with the management of your father’s estate, -appeared at Berwickville. They came to inform me that my -late husband had died insolvent, and that the house we then -occupied belonged to his creditors, and must be sold at once. -Mr. Charlton received this intelligence in silence; but I was -shocked at the change wrought by it on his face. In that -expression disappointment and chagrin of the intensest kind -seemed concentrated. Nothing was to be said, however. There -were the documents; there were the facts,—the stern, irresistible -facts of the law. The house must be given up.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After these bearers of ill-tidings had gone, Mr. Charlton -turned to me. But I will not pain you by a recital of what he -said. He rudely dispelled the illusions under which I had -been laboring in regard to him. I could only weep. I could -not utter a word of retaliation. Whilst he was in the midst -of his reproaches, a servant brought me a letter. Mr. Charlton -snatched it from my hand, opened, and read it. Either it -had a pacifying effect upon him, or he had exhausted his stock -of objurgations. He threw the letter on the table and quitted -the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was your letter of condolence and dutiful regard, promising -me an allowance from your own purse of a hundred dollars -a month. What coals of fire it heaped on my head! To -please Mr. Charlton I had quarrelled with you,—forbidden -you to visit or write me,—and here was your return! The -communication coming close upon the dropping of my husband’s -disguise almost unseated my reason. What a night of -tears that was! I recalled your warnings, and now saw their -truth,—saw how truly disinterested you were in them all. -How generous, how noble you appeared to me! How in contrast, -alas! with him I had taken for better or worse!</p> - -<p class='c001'>I lay awake all night. Of course I could not think of accepting -your offer. In the first place, my past treatment of -you forbade it. And then I knew that your own means were -narrow, and that you had just entered into an engagement of -marriage with a poor girl. But when, the next day, I communicated -my resolve to my husband, he calmly replied: “Nonsense! -Write Mr. Berwick, thanking him for his offer, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>telling him that, small as the sum is, considering your wants, -you accept it.” What a poor thing you must have thought me, -when you got my cold letter of acceptance. Do me the justice -to believe me when I affirm that every word of it was dictated -by my husband. How I have longed to see you in person, to -tell you all that I have endured and felt! But this circumstances -have prevented. And now I am possessed with the -idea that I never shall see you in this life again. And that is -why I make these confessions. Your marriage, your absence -in Europe, your recent return, and your hurried departure -for the West, have kept me uncertain as to where a message -would reach you. Yesterday I got a few affectionate lines -from you, telling me a letter, if mailed at once, would reach -you in Cincinnati, or, if a week later, in New Orleans. And -so I am devoting the forenoon to this review of my past, so -painful and sad.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Let me think of your happier lot, and rejoice in it. So your -affairs have prospered beyond all hope! Through your wife -you are unexpectedly rich in worldly means. Better still, you -are rich in affection. Your little Clara is “the brightest, the -loveliest, the sunniest little thing in the wide world.” So you -write me; and I can well believe it from the photograph and -the lock of hair you send me. Bless her! What would I give -to hug her to my bosom. And you too, Henry, you too I -could kiss with a kiss that should be purely maternal,—a -benediction,—a kiss your wife would approve, for, after all, -you are the only child I have had. Mr. Charlton has always -said he would have no children till he was a rich man. He -and the female physician he employs have nearly killed me -with their terrible drugs. Yes, I am dying, Henry. Even the -breath of this sweet spring morning whispers it in my ear. -Bless you and yours forever! What a mistake my life has -been! And yet, how I craved to love and be loved! You -will think kindly of me always, and teach your wife and child -to have pleasant associations with my name.</p> - -<p class='c001'>All the rich presents your father made me have been sold by -Mr. Charlton; but I have one, that he has not seen,—a costly -and beautiful gold casket for jewels, which I reserve as a present -for your little Clara. I shall to-morrow pack it up carefully, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>and take it to a friend, who I know will keep and deliver -it safely. That friend, strange as it may sound to you, is -the venerable old black hair-dresser, Toussaint, who lives in -Franklin Street. Your father used to say he had never met a -man he would trust before Toussaint; and I can say as much. -Toussaint used to dress my mother’s hair; he is now my adviser -and friend.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Born a slave in the town of St. Mark in St. Domingo in -1766, Pierre Toussaint was twelve years the junior of that -fellow-slave, the celebrated Toussaint l’Ouverture, born on the -same river, who converted a mob of undrilled, uneducated -Africans into an army with which he successively overthrew -the forces of France, England, and Spain. At the beginning -of the troubles in the island, in 1801, Pierre was taken by his -master, the wealthy Mons. Berard, to New York. Berard, -having lost his immense property in St. Domingo, soon died, -and Pierre, having learnt the business of a hair-dresser, supported -Madame Berard by his labors some eight years till her -death, though she had no legal claim upon his service. Bred -up, as he was, indulgently, Pierre’s is one of those exceptional -cases in which slavery has not destroyed the moral sense.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I know of few more truly venerable characters. A pious -Catholic, he is one of the stanchest of friends. One of his -rules through life has been, never to incur a debt,—to pay on -the spot for everything he buys. And yet he is continually -giving away large sums in charity. One day I said, “Toussaint, -you are rich enough; you have more than you want; -why not stop working now?” He answered, “Madame, I -have enough for myself, but if I stop work, I have not enough -for others!” By the great fire of 1835, Toussaint lost by his -investments in insurance companies. The Schuylers and the -Livingstons passed around a subscription-paper to repair his -losses; but he stopped it, saying he would not take a cent from -them, since there were so many who needed help more than he.</p> - -<p class='c001'>An old French gentleman, a white man, once rich, whom -Toussaint had known, was reduced to poverty and fell sick. -For several months Toussaint and his wife, Juliette, sent him a -nicely cooked dinner; but Toussaint would not let him know -from whom it came, “because,” said the negro, “it might hurt -his pride to know it came from a black man.” Juliette once -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>called on this invalid to learn if her husband could be of any -help. “O no,” said the old Monsieur, “I am well known; I -have good friends; every day they send me a dinner, served up -in French style. To-day I had a charming <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">vol-au-vent</span>, an -omelette, and green peas, not to speak of salmon. I am a person -of some importance, you see, even in this strange land.” -And Juliette would go home, and she and Toussaint would have -a good laugh over the old man’s vauntings.<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c014'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>But what has possessed me to enter into all these details! I -know not, unless it is the desire to escape from less agreeable -thoughts.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I have a request to make, Henry. You will think me fanciful, -foolish, perhaps fanatical; and yet I am impelled, by an unaccountable -impression, to ask you to give up the tickets you tell -me you have engaged in the Pontiac, and to take passage for -New Orleans in some other boat. If you ask me <em>why</em>, the -only explanation I can give is, that the thought besets me, but -the reason of it I do not know. Do you remember I once -capriciously refused to let your father go in the cars to Springfield, -although his baggage was on board? Those cars went -through the draw-bridge, and many lives were lost. Write me -that you will heed my request.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And now, Henry, son, nephew, friend, good by! Tell little -Clara she has an aunt or grandmother (which, shall it be?) in -New York who loves to think of her and to picture the fair -forehead over which the little curl you sent me once fell. By the -way, I have examined her photograph with a microscope, and -have conceived a fancy that her eyes are of a slightly different -color; one perhaps a gray and the other a mixed blue. Am I -right? Tell your wife how I grieve to think that circumstances -have not allowed us to meet and become personally acquainted. -You now know all the influences that have kept us -apart, and that have made me seem frigid and ungrateful, even -when my heart was overflowing with affection. What more -shall I say, except to sum up all my love for you and all my gratitude -in the one parting prayer, Heaven bless you and yours!</p> - -<div class='c015'>Your mother, <span class='sc'>Emily Charlton</span>.</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER III.<br /> THE WOLF AND THE LAMB.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Bitten by rage canine of dying rich;</div> - <div class='line'>Guilt’s blunder! and the loudest laugh of hell!”</div> - <div class='line in38'><i>Young.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>The poor little lady! First sold by a needy parent to an -old man, and then betrayed by her own uncalculating affections -to a young one, whose nature had the torpor without the -venerableness of age! Her heart, full of all loving possibilities, -had steered by false lights and been wrecked. Brief had -been its poor, shattered dream of household joys and domestic -amenities!</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was the old, old story of the cheat and the dupe; of credulous -innocence overmatched by heartless selfishness and fraud.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The young man “of genteel appearance and address” who -last week, as the newspapers tell us, got a supply of dry-goods -from Messrs. Raby & Co., under false pretences, has been arrested, -and will be duly punished.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But the scoundrel who tricks a confiding woman out of her -freedom and her happiness under the false pretences of a disinterested -affection and the desire of a loving home,—the -swindler who, with the motives of a devil of low degree, affects -the fervor and the dispositions of a loyal heart,—for such an -impostor the law has no lash, no prison. To play the blackleg -and the sharper in a matter of the affections is not penal. -Success consecrates the crime; and the victim, when her eyes -are at length opened to the extent of the deception and the -misery, must continue to submit to a yoke at once hateful and -demoralizing; she must submit, unless she is willing to brave -the ban of society and the persecutions of the law.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ralph Charlton, when he gave his wife Berwick’s letter the -night before, had supposed she would sit down to pen an answer -as soon as she was alone. And so the next morning, after visiting -his office in Fulton Street, he retraced his steps, and re-entered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>his house soon after Toussaint had left, and just as Mrs. -Charlton had put her signature to the last page of the manuscript, -and, bowing her forehead on her palms, was giving vent -to sobs of bitter emotion.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton was that prodigy in nature,—a young man in whom -an avarice that would have been remarkable in a senile miser -had put in subjection all the other passions. Well formed and -not ungraceful, his countenance was at first rather prepossessing -and propitiatory. It needed a keener eye than that of the ordinary -physiognomist to penetrate to the inner nature. It was -only when certain expressions flitted over the features that they -betrayed him. You must study that countenance and take it at -unawares before you could divine what it meant. Age had not -yet hardened it in the mould of the predominant bias of the -character. Well born and bred, he ought to have been a gentleman, -but it is difficult for a man to be that and a miser at -the same time. There was little in his style of dress that distinguished -him from the mob of young business-men, except -that a critical eye would detect that his clothes were well preserved. -Few of his old coats were made to do service on the -backs of the poor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton called himself a lawyer, his specialty being conveyancing -and real estate transactions. His one purpose in -life was to be a rich man. To this end all others must be subordinate. -When a boy he had been taught to play on the -flute; and his musical taste, if cultivated, might have been a -saving element of grace. But finding that in a single year he -had spent ten dollars in concert tickets, he indignantly repudiated -music, and shut his ears even to the hand-organs in the -street. He had inherited a fondness for fine horses. Before -he was twenty-five he would not have driven out after Ethan -Allen himself, if there had been any toll-gate keepers to pay. -His taste in articles of food was nice and discriminating; but -he now bought fish and beef of the cheapest, and patronized a -milkman whose cows were fed on the refuse of the distilleries.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton was not venturous in speculation. The boldest operation -he ever attempted was that of his marriage. Before -taking that step he had satisfied himself in regard to the state -of the late Mr. Berwick’s affairs. They could be disentangled, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>and made to leave a balance of half a million for the heirs, if a -certain lawsuit, involving a large amount of real estate, should -be decided the right way. Charlton burrowed and inquired -and examined till he came to the conclusion that the suit would -go in favor of the estate. On that hint he took time by the -forelock, and married the widow. To his consternation matters -did not turn out as he had hoped.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Charlton entered his wife’s room, on the morning she had -been writing the letter already presented, “What is all this, -madam?” he exclaimed, advancing and twitching away the -manuscript that lay before her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lady thus startled rose and looked at him without speaking, -as if struggling to comprehend what he had done. At -length a gleam of intelligence flashed from her eyes, and she -mildly said, “I will thank you to give me back those papers: -they are mine.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<em>Mine</em>, Mrs. Charlton! Where did you learn that word?” -said the husband, really surprised at the language of his usually -meek and acquiescent helpmate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you not mean to give them back?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Assuredly no. To whom is the letter addressed? Ah! I -see. To Mr. Henry Berwick. Highly proper that I should -read what my wife writes to a young man.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you do not mean to give the letter back, Charlton?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Another surprise for the husband! At first she used to -speak to him as “Ralph,” or “dear”; then as “Mr. Charlton”; -then as “Sir”; and now it was plain “Charlton.” -What did it portend?</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lady held out her hand, as if to receive the papers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pooh!” said the husband, striking it away. “Go and -attend to your housework. What a shrill noise your canary -is making! That bird must be sold. There was a charge of -seventy-five cents for canary-seed in my last grocer’s bill! It’s -atrocious. The creature is eating us out of house and home. -Bird and cage would bring, at least, five dollars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The letter,—do you choose to give it back?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If, after reading it, I think proper to send it to its address, -it shall be sent. Give yourself no further concern about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Charlton advanced with folded arms, looked him unblenchingly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>in the face, and gasped forth, with a husky, half-chocked -utterance, “Beware!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Truly, madam,” said the astonished husband, “this is a -new character for you to appear in, and one for which I am -not prepared.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is for that reason I say, Beware! Beware when the -tame, the submissive, the uncomplaining woman is roused at -last. Will you give me that letter?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Go to the Devil!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Charlton threw out her hand and clutched at the manuscript, -but her husband had anticipated the attempt. As -she closed with him in the effort to recover the paper, he -threw her off so forcibly that she fell and struck her head -against one of the protuberant claws of the legs of her writing-table.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Whatever were the effects of the blow, it did not prevent -the lady from rising immediately, and composing her exuberant -hair with a gesture of puzzled distress that would have -excited pity in the heart of a Thug. But Charlton did not -even inquire if she were hurt. After a pause she seemed to -recover her recollection, and then threw up her head with a -lofty gesture of resolve, and quitted the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Her husband sat down and read the letter. His equanimity -was unruffled till he came to the passage where the writer -alludes to the gold casket she had put aside for little Clara. -At that disclosure he started to his feet, and gave utterance -to a hearty execration upon the woman who had presumed to -circumvent him by withholding any portion of her effects. -He opened the door and called, “Wife!” No voice replied to -his summons. He sought her in her chamber. She was not -there. She had left the house. So Dorcas, the one overworked -domestic of the establishment, assured him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton saw there was no use in scolding. So he put on -his hat and walked down Broadway to his office. Here he -wrote a letter which he wished to mail before one o’clock. It -was directed to Colonel Delaney Hyde, Philadelphia. Having -finished it and put it in the mail-box, Charlton took his way at -a brisk pace to the house of old Toussaint.</p> - -<p class='c001'>That veteran himself opened the door. A venerable black -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>man, reminding one of Ben Franklin in ebony. His wool was -gray, his complexion of the blackest, showing an unmixed African -descent. He was of middling height, and stooped slightly; -was attired in the best black broadcloth, with a white vest -and neckcloth, and had the manners of a French marquis of -the old school.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is my wife here?” asked Charlton.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Madame is here,” replied the old man; “but she suffers, -and prays to be not disturbed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I must see her. Conduct me to her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Pardonnez.</i></span> Monsieur will comprehend as I say the commands -of Madame in this house are sacred.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You insolent old nigger! Do you mean to tell me I am not -to see my own wife?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Precisement.</i></span> Monsieur cannot see Madame Charlton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll search the house for her, at any rate. Out of the way, -you blasted old ape!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here a policeman, provided for the occasion by Toussaint, -and who had been smoking in the front room opening on the -hall, made his appearance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You can’t enter this house,” said Blake, carelessly knocking -the ashes from his cigar. Charlton had a wholesome respect -for authority. He drew back on seeing the imperturbable -Blake, with the official star on his breast, and said, “I came -here, Mr. Blake, to recover a little gold box that I have reason -to believe my wife has left with this old nigger.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, she might have left it in worse hands,—eh, Toussaint?” -said Blake, resuming his cigar; and then, removing -it, he added, “If you call this old man a nigger again, I’ll -make a nigger of you with my fist.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Toussaint might have taken for his motto that of the old -eating-house near the Park,—“<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Semper paratus</i>.</span>” The gold box -having been committed to him to deposit in a place of safety, -he had meditated long as to the best disposition he could make -of it. As he stood at the window of his house, looking thoughtfully -out, he saw coming up the street a gay old man, swinging -a cane, humming an opera tune, and followed by a little -dog. As the dashing youth drew nearer, Toussaint recognized -in him an old acquaintance, and a man not many years his -junior,—Mr. Albert Pompilard, stock-broker, Wall Street.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>No two men could be more unlike than Toussaint and Pompilard; -and yet they were always drawn to each other by some -subtle points of attraction. Pompilard was a reckless speculator -and spendthrift; Toussaint, a frugal and cautious economist; -but he had been indebted for all his best investments to -Pompilard. Bold and often audacious in his own operations, -Pompilard never would allow Toussaint to stray out of the -path of prudence. Not unfrequently Pompilard would founder -in his operations on the stock exchange. He would fall, perhaps, -to a depth where a few hundred dollars would have been -hailed as a rope flung to a drowning man. Toussaint would -often come to him at these times and offer a thousand dollars -or so as a loan. Pompilard, in order not to hurt the negro’s -feelings, would take it and pretend to use it; but it would -be always put securely aside, out of his reach, or deposited in -some bank to Toussaint’s credit.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Toussaint stood at his door as Pompilard drew nigh.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ha! good morning, my guide, philosopher, and friend!” -exclaimed the stock-broker. “What’s in the wind now, Toussaint? -Any money to invest?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Mr. Pompilard; but here’s a box that troubles me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A box! Not a pill-box, I hope? Let me look at it. -Beautiful! beautiful, exceedingly! It could not be duplicated -for twelve hundred dollars. Whose is it? Ah! here’s -an inscription,—‘<i>Henry Berwick to Emily</i>.’ Berwick? It -was a Henry Berwick who married my wife’s niece, Miss -Aylesford.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This box,” interposed Toussaint, “was the gift of his late -father to his second wife, the present Mrs. Charlton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! yes, I remember the connection now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mrs. Charlton wishes me to deposit the box where, in the -event of her death, it will reach the daughter of the present -Mrs. Berwick. Here is the direction on the envelope.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard read the words: “For Clara Aylesford Berwick, -daughter of Henry Berwick, Esq., to be delivered to her in -the event of the death of the undersigned, Emily Charlton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will tell you what to do,” said Pompilard. “Here come -Isaac Jones of the Chemical and Arthur Schermerhorn. Isaac -shall give a receipt for the box and deposit it in the safe of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>bank, there to be kept till called for by Miss Clara Berwick or -her representative.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That will do,” said Toussaint.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The two gentlemen were called in, and in five minutes the -proper paper was drawn up, witnessed, and signed, and Mr. -Jones gave a receipt for the box.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Briefly Toussaint now explained to Charlton the manner in -which the box had been disposed of. Charlton was nonplussed. -It would not do to disgust the officials at the Chemical. It -might hurt his credit. A consolatory reflection struck him. -“Do you say my wife is suffering?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Madame will need a physician,” replied the negro. “I have -sent for Dr. Hull.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, look here, old gentleman, I’m responsible for no -debts of your contracting on her account. I call Mr. Blake to -witness. If you keep her here, it must be at your own expense. -Not a cent shall you ever have from <em>me</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That will not import,” replied Toussaint, with the hauteur -of a prince of the blood.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Felicitating himself on having got rid of a doctor’s bill, -Charlton took his departure.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The exceedingly poor cuss!” muttered Blake, tossing after -him the stump of a cigar.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me pay you for your trouble, Mr. Blake,” said Toussaint.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not a copper, Marquis! I have been here only half an -hour, and in that time have read the newspaper, smoked one -regalia, quality prime, and pocketed another. If that is not -pay enough, you shall make it up by curling my hair the next -time I go to a ball.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But take the rest of the cigars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There, Marquis, you touch me on my weak point. Thank -you. Good by, Toussaint!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Toussaint closed the door, and called to his wife in a whisper, -speaking in French, “How goes it, Juliette?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hist! She sleeps. She wishes you to put this letter in -the post-office as soon as possible. If you can get the canary-bird, -do it. I hope the doctor will be here soon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Toussaint left at once to mail the invalid’s letter and get -possession of her bird.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER IV. <br /> A FUGITIVE CHATTEL.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“The providential trust of the South is to perpetuate the institution of domestic slavery -as now existing, with freest scope for its natural development. We should at once lift -ourselves intelligently to the highest moral ground, and proclaim to all the world that we -hold this trust from God, and in its occupancy are prepared to stand or fall.”—<cite>Rev. Dr. -Palmer of New Orleans, 1861.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>The next morning Charlton sat in his office, calculating -his percentage on a transaction in which he had just acted -as mediator between borrower and lender. The aspect of the -figures, judging from his own, was cheerful.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The office was a gloomy little den up three flights of stairs. -All the furniture was second hand, and the carpet was ragged -and dirty. No broom or dusting-cloth had for months molested -the ancient, solitary reign of the spiders on the ceiling. A -pile of cheap slate-colored boxes with labels stood against the -wall opposite the stove. An iron safe served also as a dressing-table -between the windows that looked out on the street; and -over it hung a small rusty mirror in a mahogany frame with a -dirty hair-brush attached. The library of the little room was -confined to a few common books useful for immediate reference; -a City Directory, a copy of the Revised Statutes, the -Clerk’s Assistant, and a dozen other volumes, equally recondite.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a knock at the door, and Charlton cried out, -“Come in!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The visitor was a negro whose face was of that fuliginous -hue that bespeaks an unmixed African descent. He was of -medium height, square built, with the shoulders and carriage -of an athlete. He seemed to be about thirty years of age. -His features, though of the genuine Ethiopian type, were a -refinement upon it rather than an exaggeration. The expression -was bright, hilarious, intelligent; frank and open, you would -add, unless you chanced to detect a certain quick oblique -glance which would flash upon you now and then, and vanish -before you could well realize what it meant. Across his left -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>cheek was an ugly scar, almost deep enough to be from a cutlass -wound.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good morning, Peculiar. Take a chair.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not that name, if you please, Mr. Charlton,” said the -negro, closing the door and looking eagerly around to see if -there had been a listener. “Remember, you are to call me -Jacobs.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah yes, I forgot. Well, Jacobs, I am glad to see you; -but you are a few minutes before the time. It isn’t yet -twelve. Just step into that little closet and wait there till I -call you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The negro did as he was directed, and Charlton closed the -door upon him. Five minutes after, the clock of Trinity -struck twelve, and there was another knock at the door.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before we suffer it to be answered, we must go back and -describe an interview that took place some seven weeks previously, -in the same office, between Charlton and the negro.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A year before that first interview, Charlton had, in some -accidental way, been associated with a well-known antislavery -counsel, in a case in which certain agents of the law for -the rendition of fugitive slaves had been successfully foiled. -Though Charlton’s services had been unessential and purely -mercenary, he had shared in the victor’s fame; and the grateful -colored men who employed him carried off the illusion that -he was a powerful friend of the slave. And so when Mr. Peculiar, -<em>alias</em> Mr. Jacobs, found himself in New York, a fugitive -from bondage, he was recommended, if he had any little misgivings -as to his immunity from persecution and seizure, to -apply to Mr. Charlton as to a fountain of legal profundity and -philanthropic expansiveness. Greater men than our colored -brethren have jumped to conclusions equally far from the truth -in regard not only to lawyers, but military generals.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton’s primary investigations, in his first interview with -Peek, had reference to the amount of funds that the negro -could raise through his own credit and that of his friends. -This amount the lawyer found to be small; and he was about -to express his dissatisfaction in emphatic terms, when a new -consideration withheld him. Affecting that ruling passion of -universal benevolence which the fond imagination of his colored -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>client had attributed to him, he pondered a moment, then -spoke as follows:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You tell me, Jacobs, you are in the delicate position of a -fugitive slave. I love the slave. Am I not a friend and a -brother, and all that? But if you expect me to serve you, -you must be entirely frank,—disguise nothing,—disclose to -me your real history, name, and situation,—make a clean breast -of it, in short.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That I will do, sir. I know, if I trust a lawyer at all, I -ought to trust him wholly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was nothing in the negro’s language to indicate the -traditional slave of the stage and the novel, who always says -“Massa,” and speaks a gibberish indicated to the eye by a -cheap misspelling of words. A listener who had not seen -him would have supposed it was an educated white gentleman -who was speaking; for even in the tone of his voice there was -an absence of the African peculiarity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My friends tell me I may trust you, sir,” said Jacobs, advancing -and looking Charlton square in the face. Charlton -must have blenched for an instant, for the negro, as a slight but -significant compression of the lip seemed to portend, drew back -from confidence. “Can I trust you?” he continued, as if he -were putting the question as much to himself as to Charlton. -There was a pause.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton took from his drawer a letter, which he handed to -the negro, with the remark, “You know how to read, I suppose.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Without replying. Peek took the letter and glanced over it,—a -letter of thanks from a committee of colored citizens in -return for Charlton’s services in the case already alluded to. -Peek was reassured by this document. He returned it, and -said, “I will trust you, Mr. Charlton.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Take a seat then, Jacobs, and I will make such notes of -your story as I may think advisable.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek did as he was invited; but Charlton seemed interested -mainly in dates and names. A more faithful reporter would -have presented the memorabilia of the narrative somewhat in -this form:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Was born on Herbert’s plantation in Marshall County, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>Mississippi. Mother a house-slave. When he was four years -old she was sold and taken to Louisiana. His real name not -Jacobs. That name he took recently in New York. The -name he was christened by was <span class='sc'>Peculiar Institution</span>. It -was given to him by one Ewell, a drunken overseer, and was -soon shortened to Peek, which name has always stuck to him. -Was brought up a body servant till his fourteenth year. Soon -found that the way for a slave to get along was to lie, but to -lie so as not to be found out. Grew to be so expert a liar, that -among his fellows he was called the lawyer. No offence to -you, Mr. Charlton.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As soon as he could carry a plate, was made to wait at -table. Used to hear the gentlemen and ladies talk at meals. -Could speak their big words before he knew their meaning. -Kept his ears and eyes well open. An old Spanish negro, -named Alva, taught him by stealth to read and write. When -the young ladies took their lessons in music, this child stood by -and learnt as much as they did, if not more. Learnt to play -so well on the piano that he was often called on to show off -before visitors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Was whipped twice, and then not badly, at Herbert’s: once -for stealing some fruit, once for trying to teach a slave to read. -Family very pious. Old Herbert used to read prayers every -morning. But he didn’t mind making a woman give up one -husband and take another. Didn’t mind separating mother -and child. Didn’t mind shooting a slave for disobedience. -Saw him do it once. Herbert had told Big Sam not to go with -a certain metif girl; for Herbert was as particular about -matching his niggers as about his horses and sheep. A jealous -negro betrayed Sam. Old Herbert found Sam in the metif -girl’s hut, and shot him dead, without giving him a chance to -beg for mercy.<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c014'><sup>[2]</sup></a> Well, Sam was only a nigger; and didn’t Mr. -Herbert have family prayers, and go to church twice every -Sunday? Who should save his soul alive, if not Mr. Herbert?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In spite of prayers, however, things didn’t go right on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>plantation. The estate was heavily mortgaged. Finally the -creditors took it, and the family was broken up. Peculiar was -sold to one Harkman, a speculator, who let him out as an -apprentice in New Orleans, in Collins’s machine-shop for the -repair of steam-engines. But Collins failed, and then Peek -became a waiter in the St. Charles Hotel. Here he stayed six -years. Cut his eye-teeth during that time. Used to talk freely -with Northern visitors about slavery. Studied the big map of -the United States that hung in the reading-room. Learnt all -about the hotels, North and South. Stretched his ears wide -whenever politics were discussed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Having waited on the principal actors and singers of the -day at the St. Charles, he had a free pass to the theatres. Used -often to go behind the scenes. Waited on Blitz, Anderson, and -other jugglers. Saw Anderson show up the humbug, as he -called it, of spiritual manifestations. Went to church now and -then. Heard some bad preachers, and some good. Heard Mr. -Clapp preach. Heard Mr. Palmer preach. After hearing the -latter on the duties of slaves, tried to run away. Was caught -and taken to a new patent whipping-machine, recently introduced -by a Yankee. Here was left for a whipping. Bought -off the Yankee with five dollars, and taught him how to stain -my back so as to imitate the marks of the lash. Thus no discredit -was brought on the machine. A week after was sold to -a Red River planter, Mr. Carberry Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can never speak of this man calmly. He had a slave, a -woman white as you are, sir, that he beat, and then tried to -make me take and treat as my wife. When he found I had -cheated him, he just had me tied up and whipped till three -strong men were tired out with the work. It’s a wonder how -I survived. My whole back is seamed deep with the scars. -This scar over my cheek is from a blow he himself gave me -that day with a strip of raw hide. He sold me to Mr. Barnwell -in Texas as soon as I could walk, which wasn’t for some -weeks. I left, resolving to come back and kill Ratcliff. I -meant to do this so earnestly, that the hope of it almost restored -me. Revenge was my one thought, day and night. I -felt that I could not be at ease till that man Ratcliff had paid -for his barbarity. Even now I sometimes wake full of wrath -from my dreams, imagining I have him at my mercy.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>“I went to Texas with a bad reputation. Was put among -the naughty darkies, and sent to the cotton-field. Braxton, the -overseer, had been a terrible fellow in his day, but I happened -to be brought to him at the time he was beginning to get scared -about his soul. Soon had things my own way. Braxton made -me a sort of sub-overseer; and I got more work out of the -field-hands by kindness than Braxton had ever got by the -lash.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One day I discovered on a neighboring plantation an old -woman who proved to be my mother. She had been brought -here from Louisiana. She was on the point of dying. She -knew me, first from hearing my name, and then from a cross -she had pricked in India ink on my breast. She hadn’t seen -me for sixteen years. Had been having a hard time of it. -Her hut was close by a slough, a real fever-hole, and she had -been sick most of the time the last three years.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The old woman flashed up bright on finding me: gave me -a long talk; told me little stories of when I was a child; told -me how my father had been sold to an Alabama man, and shot -dead for trying to break away from a whipping-post. All at -once she said she saw angels, drew me down to her, and dropped -away quiet as a lamb, so that, though my forehead lay on her -breast, I didn’t know when she died.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“After this loss, I was pretty serious. Wasn’t badly treated. -My master, an educated gentleman, was absent in New Orleans -most of the time. Overseer Braxton, after the big scare he -got about his soul, grew to be humane, and left almost everything -to me. But I felt sick of life, and wanted to die, though -not before I had killed Ratcliff. One day I heard that Corinna, -a quadroon girl, a slave on the plantation, had fallen into a -strange state, during which she preached as no minister had -ever preached before. I had known her as a very ordinary and -rather stupid girl. Went to see her in one of her trances. -Found that report had fallen short of the real case. Was -astonished at what I saw and heard. Saw what no white man -would believe, and so felt I was wiser on one point than all the -white men. My interviews with Corinna soon made me forget -about Ratcliff; and when she died, six weeks after my first -visit, felt my mind full of things it would take me a lifetime -to think out and settle.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>“After Corinna’s death, I stayed some months on the plantation, -though I had a chance to leave. Stayed because I had -an easy time and because I found I could be of use to the -slaves; and further, because I had resolved, if ever I got free, -it should be by freeing myself. A white man, a Mr. Vance, -whose life I had saved, wanted to buy and free me. I made -him spend his money so it would show for more than just the -freeing of one man. But Braxton, the overseer, who was letting -me have pretty much my own way, at last died; and -Hawks, his successor, was of opinion that the way to get work -out of niggers was to treat them like dogs; and so, one pleasant -moonlight night, I made tracks for Galveston. Here, by -means of false papers, I managed to get passage to New Orleans, -and there hid myself on board a Yankee schooner bound -for New London, Connecticut. When she was ten days out, -I made my appearance on deck, much to the surprise of the -crew. Fifteen days afterwards we arrived in the harbor of -New London.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Old Skinner, the captain, had been playing possum with -me all the voyage,—keeping dark, and pretending to be my -friend, meaning all the while to have me arrested in port. No -sooner had he dropped anchor than he sent on shore for the -officers. But the mate tipped me the wink. ‘Darkey,’ said -he, ‘do you see that little green fishing-boat yonder? Well, -that belongs to old Payson, an all-fired abolitionist and friend -of the nigger. Our Captain and crew are all under hatches, -and now if you don’t want to be a lost nigger, jest you drop -down quietly astern, swim off to Payson, and tell him who you -are, and that the slave-catchers are after you. If old Payson -don’t put you through after that, it will be because it isn’t old -Payson.’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I did as the mate told me. Reached the fishing-boat. Found -old Payson, a gnarled, tough, withered old sea-dog, who comprehended -at once what was in the wind, and cried, ‘Ha! ha!’ -like the war-horse that snuffs the battle. Just as I got into -the boat, Captain Skinner came up on the schooner’s deck, and -saw what had taken place. The schooner’s small boat had -been sent ashore for the officers whose business it was to carry -out the Fugitive-Slave Law. What could Skinner do? Visions -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>of honors and testimonials and rewards and dinners from Texan -slaveholders, because of his loyalty to the <em>institution</em> in -returning a runaway nigger, suddenly vanished. He paced -the deck in a rage. To add to his fury, old Payson, while I -stood at the bows, dripping and grinning, came sailing up -before a stiff breeze, and passed within easy speaking distance, -Payson pouring in such a volley of words that Skinner was -dumbfounded. ‘I’ll make New London too hot for you, you -blasted old skinflint!’ cried Payson. ‘You’d sell your own -sister just as soon as you’d sell this nigger, you would! Let -me catch you ashore, and I’ll give you the blastedest thrashing -you ever got yet, you infernal doughface, you! Go and lick -the boots of slaveholders. It’s jest what you was born for.’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the little sail-boat passed on out of hearing. Payson -got in the track of one of the spacious steamboats that ply -between the cities of Long Island Sound and New York, and -managed to throw a line, so as to be drawn up to the side. -We then got on board. In six hours, we were in New -York. Payson put me in the proper hands, bade me good by, -returned to his sail-boat, and made the best speed he could -back to New London, fired with hopes of pitching into that -‘meanest of all mean skippers, old Skinner.’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This was three years ago. The despatch agents of the -underground railroad hurried me off to Canada. As soon as I -judged it safe, I returned to New York. Here I got a good -situation as head-waiter at Bunker’s. Am married. Have a -boy, named Sterling, a year old. Am very happy with my -wife and child and my hired piano. But now and then I and -my wife have an alarm lest I shall be seized and carried back -to slavery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here Mr. Institution finished his story, which we have condensed, -generally using, however, his own words. Charlton -did not subject him to much cross-questioning. He asked, <em>first</em>, -what was the name of the schooner in which Peek had escaped -from Texas. It was the Albatross. Charlton made a note. -<em>Second</em>, did Mr. Barnwell, Peek’s late master, have an agent -in New Orleans? Yes; Peek had often seen the name on -packages: P. Herman & Co. And, <em>third</em>, did Peek marry his -wife in Canada? Yes. Then she, too, is a fugitive slave, eh?</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>Peek seemed reluctant to answer this question, and flashed -a quick, distrustful glance on Charlton. The latter assumed -an air of indifference, and said, “Perhaps you had better not -answer that question; it is immaterial.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Again Peek’s mind was relieved.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is enough for the present, Mr. Jacobs,” continued -Charlton. “If I have occasion to see you, I can always find -you at Bunker’s, I suppose.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Mr. Charlton. Inquire for John Jacobs. Keep a -bright lookout for me, and you sha’n’t be the loser. Will five -dollars pay you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton wavered between the temptation to clutch more at -the moment, and the prospect of making his new client available -in other ways. At length taking the money he replied, -“I will make it do for the present. Good morning.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER V.<br />A RETROSPECT.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Any slave refusing obedience to any command may be flogged till he submits or dies. -Not by occasional abuses alone, but by the universal law of the Southern Confederacy, -the existing system of slavery violates all the moral laws of Christianity.”—<cite>Rev. Newman -Hall.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Before removing Peculiar from the closet which at -Charlton’s bidding he has entered, we must go back to -the time when he was a slave, and amplify and illustrate certain -parts of his abridged narrative. His life, up to the period -when he comes upon our little stage, divides itself into three -eras, all marked by their separate moral experiences. In the -<em>first</em>, he felt the slave’s crowning curse,—the absence of that -sense of personal responsibility which freedom alone can give; -and he fell into the demoralization which is the inherent consequence -of the slave’s condition. In the <em>second</em> era, he encountered -his mother, and then the frozen fountain of his affections -was unsealed and melted. In the <em>third</em>, he met Corinna, -and for the first time looked on life with the eyes of belief.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It will seem idle to many advanced minds in this nineteenth -century to use words to show the wrong of slavery. Why not -as well spend breath in denouncing burglary or murder? But -slavery is still a power in the world. We are daily told it is -the proper <em>status</em> for the colored man in this country; that he -ought to covet slavery as much as a white man ought to covet -freedom. Besides, since Peek has confessed himself at one -time of his life a liar, we must show why he ought logically to -have been one.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To blame a slave for lying and stealing, is about as fair as it -would be to blame a man for using strategy in escaping from -an assassin. For the slaveholder, if not the assassin of the -slave’s life, is the assassin of his liberty, his manhood, his moral -dignity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Pugh of Ohio, Vallandigham’s associate on the gubernatorial -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>ticket for 1863, presents his thesis thus: “When the -slaves are fit for freedom, they will be free.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The profundity of this oracular proposition is only equalled -in the remark of the careful grandmother, who declared she -would never let a boy go into the water till he knew how to -swim.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<em>When</em> the slaves are fit!” As if the road were clear for -them to achieve their fitness! Why, the slave is not only -robbed of his labor, but of his very chances as a thinking -being. Yes, with a charming consistency, the slavery barons, -the Hammonds and the Davises, while they tell us the negro -is unfitted for mental cultivation, institute the severest penal -laws against all attempts to teach the slave to read!</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first natural instinct of the slave, black or white, towards -his master is, to cheat and baffle that armed embodiment of -wrong, who stands to him in the relation of a thief and a tyrant. -Thus, from his earliest years, lying and fraud become -legitimate and praiseworthy in the slave’s eyes; for slavery, -except under rare conditions, crushes out the moral life in the -victim.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Any conscience he may have, being subordinate to the conscience -of his master, is kept stunted or perverted. The slave -may wish to be true to his wife; but his master may compel -him to repudiate her and take another. He may object to -being the agent of an injustice; but the snap of the whip or -the revolver may be the reply to any conscientious scruples he -may offer against obedience.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the first stage of his slave-life, Peculiar probably gave -little thought to the moral bearings of his lot; although old -Alva, his instructor, who was something of a casuist, had -offered him not a few hard nuts to crack in the way of knotty -questions. But Peculiar did precisely what you or I would -have done under similar circumstances: he taxed his ingenuity -to find how he could most safely shirk the tasks that were -put upon him. Knowing that his taskmasters had no right to -his labor, that they were, in fact, robbing him of what was his -own, he did what he could to fool and circumvent them. Thus -he grew to be, by a necessity of his condition, the most consummate -of hypocrites and the most intrepid and successful of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>liars. At eighteen he was a match for Talleyrand in using -speech to conceal his thoughts.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He saw that, if slaves were well treated, it was because the -prudent master believed that good treatment would pay. Humanity -was gauged by considerations of cotton. Thus the very -kindnesses of a master had the taint of an intense selfishness; -and Peculiar, while readily availing himself of all indulgences, -correctly appreciated the spirit in which they were granted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The devotional element seems to be especially active in the -negro; but it has little chance for rational development, dwarfed -and kept from the light as the intellect is. The uneducated slave, -like the Italian brigand,—indeed, like many worthy people who -go to church,—thinks it an impertinence to mix up morality -with religion. He agrees fully with the distinguished American -divine, who the other Sunday began his sermon with these -words, “Brethren, I am not here to teach you morality, but to -save your souls.” As if a saving faith could exist allied to a -corrupt morality!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peculiar could not come in contact with a sham, however -solemn and pretentious, without applying to it the puncture -of his skeptical analysis. He saw his master, Herbert, go to -church on a Sunday and kneel in prayer, and on a Monday -shoot down Big Sam for attaching himself to the wrong woman. -He saw the Rev. Mr. Bloom take the murderer by the hand, as -if nothing had happened more tragical than the shooting of a -raccoon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And then Peculiar cogitated, wondering what religion could -be, if its professors made such slight account of robbery and -murder. Was it the observance of certain forms for the propitiation -of an arbitrary, capricious, and unamiable Power, who -smiled on injustice and barbarity? The more he thought of it, -the more inexplicable grew the puzzle. Herbert evidently -regarded himself as one of the elect; and Mr. Bloom encouraged -him in his security. If heaven was to be won by -such kind of service as theirs, Peculiar concluded that he -would prefer taking his chances in hell; and so he became a -scoffer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His residence in New Orleans, in enlarging the sphere of his -experiences, did not bring him the light that could quicken the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>devotional part of his nature. Dwelling most of the time in -a hotel which frequently contained three or four hundred inmates, -he was thrown among white men of all grades, intellectual -and moral. He instinctively felt his superiority both ways -to not a few of these. It was therefore a swindling lie to say -that the blacks were born to be the thrall of the whites, that -slavery was the proper <em>status</em> of the black in this or any country. -If it were true that <em>stupid</em> blacks ought to be slaves, -so must it be true of the same order of whites.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He heard preachers stand up in their pulpits, and, like the -Rev. Dr. Palmer, blaspheme God by calling slavery a Divine -institution. “Would it have been tolerated so long, if it were -not?” they asked, with the confidence of a conjurer when he -means to hocus you. To which Peek might have answered, -“Would theft and murder have been tolerated so long, if they -were not equally Divine?” The Northern clergymen he encountered -held usually South-side views of the subject, and -so his prejudices against the cloth grew to be somewhat too -sweeping and indiscriminate. Judged of by its relations to -slavery, religion seemed to him an audacious system of impositions, -raised to fortify a lie and a wrong by claiming a Divine -sanction for merely human creeds and inventions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This persuasion was deepened when he found there were -intelligent white men utterly incredulous as to a future state, -and that the people who went to church were many of them -practically, and many of them speculatively, infidels. The remaining -fraction might be, for all he knew, not only devout, -but good and just. Indeed, he had met some such, but they -could be almost counted on his ten fingers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One day at the St. Charles he overheard a discussion between -Mr. James Sterling, an English traveller, and the Rev. -Dr. Manners of Virginia. Slaves are good listeners; and -Peculiar had sharpened his sense of hearing by the frequent -exercise of it under difficulties. He was an amateur in key-holes. -On this occasion he had only to open a ventilating -window at the top of a partition, and all that the disputants -might say would be for his benefit.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you deny, sir,” asked the reverend Doctor, “that -slavery has the sanction of Scripture?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>“I exclude that inquiry as impertinent at present,” said -Sterling. “If Scripture authorized murder, then it would not -be murder that would be right, but Scripture that would be -wrong. And so in regard to slavery. On that particular -point Scripture must not be admitted as authoritative. It -cannot override the enlightened human conscience. It cannot -render null the deductions of science and of reason on a question -that manifestly comes within their sphere.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! if you reject Scripture, then I have nothing more to -say,” retorted the Doctor. But, after a pause, he added, -“Have you not generally found the slaves well treated and -contented?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A system under which they are well treated and made content,” -replied Sterling, “is really the most to be deplored and -condemned. If slavery could so brutalize men’s minds as to -make them hug their chains and glory in degradation, it would -be, in my eyes, doubly cursed. But it is not so; the slaves -are not happy, and I thank God for it. There is manhood -enough left in them to make them at least unhappy.”<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c014'><sup>[3]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“You assume the equality of the races,” interposed the -Doctor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is unnecessary for my argument to make any such assumption,” -said Sterling. “I have found that many black men -are superior to many white men, and some of those white men -slaveholders. I do not <em>assume</em> this. I know it. I have seen -it. But even if the black men were inferior, I hold, that man, -as man, is an end unto himself, and that to use him as a brute -means to the ends of other men is to outrage the laws of God. -I take my stand far above the question of happiness or unhappiness. -Have you noticed the young black man, called -Peek, who waits behind my chair at table?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, a bright-looking lad. He anticipates your wants well. -You have <a id='corr32.33'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='feed'>fed</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_32.33'><ins class='correction' title='feed'>fed</ins></a></span> him, I suppose?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have given him nothing. I have put a few questions to -him, that is all; and what I have to say is, that he is superior -in respect to brains to nine tenths of the white youth who -suck juleps in your bar-rooms or kill time at your billiard-tables.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>“As soon as the Abolitionists will stop their infatuated clamor,” -replied the Doctor, “the condition of the slave will be -gradually improved, and we shall give more and more care to -his religious education.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So long as the negro is ruled by force,” returned Mr. Sterling, -“no forty-parson power of preaching can elevate his character. -It is a savage mockery to prate of <em>duty</em> to one in whom -we have emasculated all power of will. We cannot make a -moral intelligence of a being we use as a mere muscular force.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All that the South wants,” exclaimed the Doctor, “is to be -let alone in the matter of slavery. If there are any alleviations -in the system which can be safely applied, be sure they -will not be lacking as soon as we are let alone by the fanatics -of the North. Leave the solution of the problem to the intelligence -and humanity of the South.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not while new cotton-lands pay so well! Be sure, reverend -sir, if the South cannot quickly find a solution of this slave -problem, God will find one for them, and that, trust me, will be -a violent one. American civilization and American slavery -can no longer exist together. One or the other must be destroyed. -For my part, I can’t believe it to be the Divine -purpose that a remnant of barbarism shall overthrow the civilization -of a new world. Slavery must succumb.”<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c014'><sup>[4]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“I recommend you, Mr. Sterling, not to raise your voice -quite so high when you touch upon these dangerous topics here -at the South. I will bid you good evening, sir.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER VI. <br /> PIN-HOLES IN THE CURTAIN.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-r c016'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The reader will here be led into the great, ill-famed land of the marvellous.”</div> - <div class='line in53'><i>Ennemoser.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The conversation between the English traveller and the -Virginia Doctor of Divinity was brought to a close, and -Peek jumped down from the table on which he had been listening, -refreshed and inspired by the eloquent words he had -taken in.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A week afterwards he made a second attempt to escape from -bondage. He was caught and sold to Mr. Carberry Ratcliff, -who had an estate on the Red River. Here, failing in obedience -to an atrocious order, he received a punishment, the scars -of which always remained to show the degree of its barbarity. -He was soon after sent to Texas, where he became the slave -of Mr. Barnwell.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here he was at first put to the roughest work in the cotton-field. -It tasked all his ingenuity to slight or dodge it. Luckily -for him, about the time of his arrival he found an opportunity -to make profitable use of the ecclesiastical knowledge he -had derived from the Rev. Messrs. Bloom and Palmer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Braxton, the overseer, had been frightened into a concern -for his soul. He had a heart-complaint which the doctor told -him might carry him off any day in a flash. A travelling -preacher completed the work of terror by satisfying him he -was in a fair way of being damned. The prospect did not -seem cheerful to Braxton. He had found exhilaration and -comfort in whipping intractable niggers. The amusement -now began to pall. Besides, the doctor had told him to shun -excitement.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In this state of things, enter Mr. Peculiar Institution. That -gentleman soon learnt what was the matter; and he contrived -that the overseer, seemingly by accident, should overhear him -at prayers. Braxton had heard praying, but never any that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>had the unction of Peek’s. From that time forth Peek had -him completely under his control.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek did not abuse his authority. He ruled wisely, though -despotically. At last the accidental encounter with his dying -mother introduced a new world of thoughts and emotions. -Short as was his opportunity for acquaintance with her, such a -wealth of tenderness and love as she lavished upon him developed -a hitherto inactive and undreamed-of force in his soul. -The affectional part of his nature was touched. She told him -of the delight his father used to take in playing with him, an -infant; and when he thought of that father’s fate, shot down -for resisting the lash, he felt as if he could tear the first upholder -of slavery he might meet limb from limb, in his rage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The mother died, and then all seemed worthless and insipid -to Peek. Having seen how little heed was paid to the feelings -of slaves in separating those of opposite sex who had -become attached to each other, he early in life resolved to shun -all sexual intimacies, till he should be free. He saw that in -slavery the distinction between licit and illicit connections was -a playful mockery. The thought of being the father of a slave -was horrible to him; and neither threats of the lash nor coaxings -from masters and overseers could induce him to enter into -those temporary alliances which Mr. Herbert used pleasantly -to call “the holy bonds of matrimony.” His resolution grew -to be a passion stronger even than desire.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Thus the affections were undeveloped in him till he encountered -his mother. He knew of no relative on earth, after her, -to love,—no one to be loved by. Life stretched before him -flat, dull, and unprofitable; and death,—what was that but -the plunge into nothingness?</p> - -<p class='c001'>True, Mr. Herbert and the clergyman who drank claret -with Mr. Herbert after the latter had shot down Big Sam -talked of a life beyond the grave; but could such humbugs -as they were be believed? Could the stories be trustworthy, -which were based mainly on the truth of a book which all the -preachers (so he supposed) declared was the all-sufficient authority -for slavery? Well might Peek distrust the promise -that was said to rest only on writings that were made to supply -the apology of injustice and bloody wrong!</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>While in this state of mind, he heard of Corinna, the quadroon -girl. Unattractive in person, slow of apprehension, and -rarely uttering a word, she had hitherto excited only his pity. -But now she fell into trances during which she seemed to be -a new and entirely different being. At his first interview with -her when she fell into one of these inexplicable states, she -seized his hand, and imitating the look, actions, and very tone -of his dying mother, poured forth such a flood of exhortations, -comfortings, warnings, and encouragements, that he was bewildered -and confounded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>What could it all mean? The power that spoke through -Corinna claimed to be his mother, and seemed to identify -itself, as far as revelations to the understanding could go. It -recalled the little incidents that had passed between them in -the presence of no other witness. It pierced to his inmost -secrets,—secrets which he well knew he had communicated -to no human being.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And yet Peek saw upon reflection that, though a preternatural -faculty was plainly at work,—a faculty that took possession -of his mind as a photographer does of all the stones, flaws, -and stains in the wall of a building,—there was no sufficient -identification of that faculty with the individual he knew as -his mother. Little that might not already have been in his -own mind, long hidden, perhaps, and forgotten, was revealed to -him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He also concluded that the intelligence, whatever it might -be, was a fallible one, and that it would be folly to give up to -its guidance his own free judgment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He renewed his interviews daily as long as the quadroon -girl lived. Skeptical, cautious, and meditative, he must test -all these phenomena over and over again. And he did test -them. He established conditions. He made records on the -spot. He removed all possibilities of collusion and deception. -And still the same phenomena!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Nor were they confined to the imperfect wonders of clairvoyance -and prophecy. Once in the broad daylight, when he -was alone with the invalid girl in her hut, and no other human -being within a distance of a quarter of a mile, she was lifted -horizontally before his eyes into the air, and kept there swaying -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>about at least a third of a minute, while the drapery of her -dress clung to her person as if held by an invisible hand.<a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c014'><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>A bandore—a stringed musical instrument the name of which -has been converted by the negroes into <em>banjo</em>—hung on a nail -in the wall. One moonlight evening, when no third person was -present, this African lute was detached by some invisible force -and carried by it through the room from one end to the other! -It would touch Peek on the head, then float away through the -air, visible to sight, and sending forth from its chords, smitten -by no mortal fingers, delectable strains. The same invisible -power would tune the instrument, tightening the strings and -trying them with a delicate skill; and then it would hang the -banjo on its nail.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After this improvised concert, Peek felt all at once a warm -living hand upon his forehead, first lovingly patting it and then -passing round his cheek, under his chin, and up on the other -side of his face. He grasped the hand, and it returned his -pressure. It was a hand much larger than Corinna’s, and she -lay on her back several feet from him, too far to touch him -with any part of her person. Plainly in the moonlight he -could see it,—a perfect hand, resembling his mother’s! It -shaded off into vacuity above the wrist, and, even while he -held it solid and flesh-like, melted all at once, like an impalpable -ether, in his grasp.<a id='r6' /><a href='#f6' class='c014'><sup>[6]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>These phenomena, with continual variations, were repeated -day after day and night after night. Flowers would drop from -the ceiling into his hands, delicious odors of fruits would diffuse -themselves through the room. A music like that of the Swiss -bell-ringers would break upon the silence, continuing for a -minute or more. A pen would start up from the table and -write an intelligible sentence. A castanet would be played on -and dashed about furiously, as if by some invisible Bacchante. -A clatter, as of the hammering of a hundred carpenters, would -suddenly make itself heard. A voice would speak intelligible -sentences, sometimes using a tin trumpet for the purpose. Articles -of furniture would pass about the room and cross each -other with a swiftness and precision that no mortal could imitate. -The noise of dancers, using their feet, and keeping time, -would be heard on the floor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Once Corinna asked him to leave his watch with her. He -did so. When he was several rods from the house she called -to him, “You are sure you haven’t your watch?” “Yes, -sure,” replied Peek. He hurried home, a distance of two -miles, without meeting a human being. On undressing to go -to bed, he found his watch in his vest pocket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>These physical thaumaturgies produced upon Peek a more -astounding effect than all the evidences of mind-reading and -clairvoyance. In the communications made to him by the -“power,” there was generally something unsatisfying or incomplete. -He would, for instance, think of some departed friend,—a -white man, perhaps,—and, without uttering or writing a -word, would desire some manifestation from that friend. Immediately -Corinna would strip from her arm the drapery, and -show on her skin, written in clear crimson letters, some brief -message signed by the right name. And then the supposed -bearer of that name (speaking through Corinna) would correctly -recall incidents of his acquaintance with Peek.<a id='r7' /><a href='#f7' class='c014'><sup>[7]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>Thus much was amazing and satisfactory; but when Peek -analyzed it all in thought, he found that no sufficient proof of -identification had been given. A “power,” able to probe his -own mind, might get from it all that was spoken relative to the -individual claiming identity; might even know how to imitate -that individual’s handwriting. Peek concluded that one must -be himself in a spiritual state in order to identify a spirit. The -so-called “communications” he found, for the most part, monotonous. -They were, some of them, above Corinna’s capacity, -but not above his own. Erroneous answers were not unfrequently -given, especially in reply to questions upon matters of -worldly concern. He was repeatedly told of places where he -could find silver and gold, and never truly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He concluded that to surrender one’s faith implicitly to the -word of a spirit <em>out</em> of the flesh, either on moral or on secular -questions, was about as unwise as it would be to give one’s self -up to the control of a spirit <em>in</em> the flesh,—a mere mortal like -himself. He was satisfied by his experience that it was not -in the power of spirits to impair his own freedom of will and -independence of thought, so long as he exercised them manfully. -And this assurance was to his mind not only a guaranty -of his own spiritual relationship, but it pointed to a supreme, -omniscient Spirit, the gracious Father of all. If the words -that came through Corinna had proved, in every instance, infallible, -what would Peek have become but a passive, unreasoning -recipient, as sluggish in thought as Corinna herself!</p> - -<p class='c001'>We have said that the “communications” were generally on -a level with Peek’s own mind. There was once an exception. -Said a very learned spirit (learned, as to him it seemed) one -night, speaking through Corinna:—</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Attend, even if you do not understand all that I may utter. -The great purpose of creation is to exercise and develop independent, -individual thought, and through that, a will in harmony -with the Supreme Wisdom. Men are subjected to the -discipline of the earth-sphere, not to be happy there, but to -qualify themselves for happiness,—to deserve happiness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What would all created wonders be without thought to -appreciate and admire them? Study is worship. Admiration -is worship. Of what account would be the starry heavens, if -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>there were not <em>mind</em> to study and to wonder at creation, and -thus to fit itself for adoration of the Creator?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My friend Lessing, when he was on your earth, once said, -that, if God would <em>give</em> him truth, he would decline the gift, -and prefer the labor of seeking it for himself. But most men -are mentally so inert, they would rather believe than examine; -and so they flatter themselves that their loose, unreasoning -acquiescence is a saving belief. Pernicious error! All the -mistakes and transgressions of men arise either from feeble, imperfect -thinking, or from not thinking at all.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The heart is much,—is principal; but men must not hope -to rise until they do their own thinking. They cannot think -by proxy. They must exercise the mind on all that pertains -to their moral and mental growth. You may perhaps sometimes -wish that you too, like this poor, torpid, parasitical -creature, Corinna, might be a medium for outside spirits to -influence and speak through. But beware! You know not -what you wish. Learn to prize your individuality. The wisdom -Corinna may utter does not become hers by appropriation. -In her mind it falls on barren soil.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We all are more or less mediums; but the innocent man -is he who resists and overcomes temptation, not he who never -felt its power; and the wise man is he who, at once recipient -and repellent, seeks to appropriate and assimilate with his -being whatever of good he can get from all the instrumentalities -of nature, divine and human, angelic and demoniac.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek derived an indefinable but awakening impression from -these words, and asked, “Is the Bible true?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The reply was: “It is true only to him who construes it -aright. If you find in it the justification of American slavery, -then to you it is not true. All the theologies which would -impose, as essentials of faith, speculative dogmas or historical -declarations which do not pertain to the practice of the highest -human morality and goodness, as taught in the words and the -example of Christ, are, in this respect at least, irreverent, mischievous, -and untrue.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How do I know,” asked Peek, “that you are not a devil?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am aware of no way,” was the reply, “by which, in your -present state, you can know absolutely that I am not a devil,—even -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>Beelzebub, the prince of devils. Each man’s measure -of truth must be the reason God has given him. But of this -you may rest assured: it is a great point gained to be able to -believe really even in a devil. Given a devil, you will one day -work yourself so far into the light as to believe in an angel.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is there a God?” asked the slave.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“God is,” said the spirit, “and says to thee, as once to Pascal, -‘<span class="blackletter">Be consoled! Thou wouldst not seek me, if thou hadst -not found me.</span>’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>These were almost the only words Peek ever received -through Corinna that struck him by their superiority to what -he himself could have imagined; and he was impressed by -them accordingly. Though they were above his comprehension -at the moment, he thought he might grow up to them, and -he caused them to be repeated slowly while he wrote them -down.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Corinna died, and Peek kept on thinking.</p> - -<p class='c001'>What rapture in thought now! What a new meaning in life! -What a new universe for the heart was there in love! Henceforth -the burden and the mystery of “all this unintelligible -world” was lightened if not dissolved; for death was but the step -to a higher plane of life. The old, trite emblem of the chrysalis -was no mere barren fancy. Continuous life was now to his -mind a <em>certainty</em>; arrived at, too, by the deductions of experience, -sense, and reason, as well as intimated by the eager -thirst of the heart.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The process by which he made the phenomena he had witnessed -conduce to this conclusion was briefly this. An invisible, -intelligent <em>force</em> had lifted heavy articles before his eyes, played -on musical instruments, written sentences, and spoken words. -This <em>force</em> claimed to be a human spirit in a human form, of -tissues too fine to be visible to our grosser senses. It could -pass, like heat and electricity, through what might seem material -impediments. It had a plastic power to reincarnate itself -at will, and imitate human forms and colors, under certain circumstances, -and it gave partial proof of this by showing a -hand, an arm, or a foot undistinguishable from one of flesh and -blood. On one occasion the human form entire had been displayed, -been touched, and had then dissolved into invisibility -and intangibility before him.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>Now he must either take the word of this intelligent “force,” -that it was an independent spiritual entity, or he must account -for its acts by some other supposition. The “force,” in its -communications to his mind, had shown it was not infallible; -it had erred in some of its predictions, although in others it -had been wonderfully correct. If its explanation of itself was -untrue,—if no outside intelligent force were operating,—the -other supposition was, that the phenomena were a proceeding -either from himself, the spectator, or from Corinna. And here, -without knowing it, Peek found himself speculating on the -theory of Count Gasparin,<a id='r8' /><a href='#f8' class='c014'><sup>[8]</sup></a> who has had the candor to brave -the laugh of modern science (a very different thing from -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>scientia</i></span>) by recounting as facts what Professor Faraday and -our Cambridge <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>savans</i></span> denounce as impositions or delusions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek was therefore reduced to these two explanations: either -the “force” was a spirit (call it, if you please, an outside -power), as it claimed to be, or it was a faculty unconsciously -exerted by the mortals present. In either case, it supplied an -assurance of spirit and immortality; for it might fairly be presumed -that such wonderful powers would not be wrapt up in the -human organism except for a purpose; and that purpose, what -could it be but the future development of those powers under -suitable conditions? So either of Peek’s hypotheses led to the -same precious and ineffable conviction of continuous life,—of -the soul’s immortality!</p> - -<p class='c001'>On one occasion a Northern Professor, who had given his days -to the positive sciences, and who believed in matter and motion, -and nothing else, passed a week, while visiting the South for -his health, with his old friend and classmate, Mr. Barnwell; -and Peek overheard the following conversation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How do you get rid of all this testimony on the subject?” -asked Mr. Barnwell.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stuff and nonsense!” exclaimed the Professor. “That a -poor benighted nigger should believe this trash isn’t surprising. -That poets, like Willis and Mrs. Browning, should give in to it -may be tolerated, for they are privileged. In them the imaginative -faculty is irregularly developed. But that sane and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>intelligent white men like Edmonds, and Tallmadge, and Bowditch, -and Brownson, and Bishop Clark of Rhode Island, and -Howitt, and Chambers, and Coleman, and Dr. Gray, and Wilkinson, -and Mountford, and Robert Dale Owen, should gravely -swallow these idiotic stories, is lamentable indeed. The -spectacle becomes humiliating, and I sigh, ‘Poor human nature!’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But Peek is far from being a benighted nigger,” replied -Barnwell; “he can read and write as well as you can; he -is the best shot in the county; he is a good mechanic; for a -time he waited on one of the great jugglers at the St. Charles; -he can explain or cleverly imitate all the tricks of all the conjurers; -he is not a man to be humbugged, especially by a poor -sick girl in a hut with no cellar, no apparatus, no rooms where -any coadjutor could hide. It has been the greatest puzzle of -my life to know how to explain Peek’s stories.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Half that is extraordinary in them,” said the Professor, “is -probably a lie, and the other half is delusion. Not one man in -fifty is competent to test such occurrences. Men’s senses have -not been scientifically trained; their love of the marvellous -blinds them to the simplest solutions of a mystery. <em>How to -observe</em> is one of the most difficult of arts; and one must undergo -rigid scientific culture in the practical branches before he -can observe properly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Under your theory, Professor, ninety-eight men out of -every hundred ought to be excluded as witnesses from our -courts of justice. It strikes me that a fellow like Peek—with -his senses always in good working trim, who never misses -his aim, who can hit a mark by moonlight at forty paces, and -shoot a bird on the wing in bright noonday, who can detect a -tread or a flutter of wings when to your ear all is silence—is -as competent to see straight and judge of sights and sounds as -any blinkard from a college, even though he wear spectacles -and call himself professor of mathematics. Remember, Peek -is not a superstitious nigger. He will feel personally obliged -to any ghost who will show himself. He shrinks from no -haunted room, no solitude, no darkness.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Truly, Horace, you speak as if you half believed these -absurdities.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>“No,—I wish I could. Peek once said to me, that he -wouldn’t have believed these things on <em>my</em> testimony, and -couldn’t expect me to believe them on <em>his</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Our business,” said the Professor, “is with the life before -us. I agree with Comte, that we ought to confine ourselves -to positive, demonstrable facts; with Humboldt, that ‘there is -not much to boast of after our dissolution,’ and that ‘the blue -regions on the other side of the grave’<a id='r9' /><a href='#f9' class='c014'><sup>[9]</sup></a> are probably a poet’s -dream. Let us not trouble ourselves about the inexplicable or -the uncertain.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But you do not consider, Professor, that Peek’s facts <em>are</em> -positive to his experience. Besides, to say, with Comte, that -a fact is inexplicable, and that we can’t go beyond it, is not to -demonstrate that the fact has its cause in itself; it is merely to -confess the mystery of a cause unknown.”<a id='r10' /><a href='#f10' class='c014'><sup>[10]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Horace, I’m sleepy, and must retire. I’ll find an -opportunity to cross-examine Peek before I go, and you shall -see how he will contradict and stultify himself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before the opportunity was found, the Professor had <em>passed -on</em>. Less modest than Rabelais was in his last moments, he -did not condescend to say, “I go to inquire into a great possibility.” -The physician in attendance, who was a young man, -and had recently “experienced religion,” asked the Professor -if he had found the Lord Jesus. To which the Professor, -making a wry face, replied, “Jargon!” “Have you no regard -for your soul?” asked the well-meaning doctor. “Can you -prove to me, young man, that I <em>have</em> a soul?” returned the -Professor, trying to raise himself on his pillow, in an argumentative -posture. “Don’t you believe in a future state?” -asked the doctor. “I believe what can be proved,” said the -Professor; “and there are two things, and only two, that can be -proved,—though Berkeley thinks we can’t prove even those,—matter -and motion.<a id='r11' /><a href='#f11' class='c014'><sup>[11]</sup></a> All phenomena are reducible to matter -and motion,—matter and motion,—matter and mo-o-o—”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>The effort was too much for the moribund Professor. He -did not complete the utterance of his formula, at least on this -side of the great curtain. Probably when he awoke in the -next life, conscious of his identity, he felt very much in the -mood of that other man of science, who, on being told that the -microscope would confute an elaborate theory he had raised, -refused to look through the impertinent instrument.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For several months Peek retained his place under Braxton. -But even overseers, whip in hand, cannot frighten off Death. -Braxton disappeared through the common portal. His successor, -Hawks, had a theory that the true mode of managing -niggers was to overawe them by extreme severity at the start, -and then taper off into clemency. He had been lord of the lash -a week or two, when he was asked by Mr. Barnwell how he -got along with Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Capitally!” replied Hawks. “I took care to put him -through his paces at our first meeting,—took the starch right -out of him. He’d score his own mother now if I told him to. -He’s a thorough nigger—is Peek. A nigger must fear a -white man before he can like him. Peek would go through -fire and water for me now. He has behaved so well, I have -given him a pass to visit his sister at Carter’s.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I never knew before that Peek had a sister,” said Barnwell.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek did not come back from that visit.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER VII.<br />AN UNCONSCIOUS HEIRESS.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“She is coming, my dove, my dear;</div> - <div class='line in2'>She is coming, my life, my fate;</div> - <div class='line'>The red rose cries, ‘She is near, she is near’;</div> - <div class='line in2'>And the white rose weeps, ‘She is late’;</div> - <div class='line'>The larkspur listens, ‘I hear, I hear’;</div> - <div class='line in2'>And the lily whispers, ‘I wait.’”</div> - <div class='line in27'><cite>Tennyson.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>We left Peek (known in New York as Jacobs) in the -little closet opening from the apartment where Charlton -sat at his papers. The knock at the outer door was -succeeded by the entrance of a person of rather imposing -presence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Albert Pompilard stood upwards of six feet in his polished -shoes and variegated silk stockings. He was bulky, and -could not conceal, by any art of dress, an incipient paunch. -But whether he was a youth of twenty-five or a man of fifty it -was very difficult to judge on a hasty inspection. He was in -reality sixty-nine. He affected an extravagantly juvenile and -jaunty style of dress, and was never twenty-four hours behind -the extreme fashions of Young America.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On this occasion Mr. Pompilard was dressed in a light-colored -sack or pea-jacket, with gaping pockets and enormous -buttons, the cloth being a sort of shaggy, woollen stuff, coarse -enough for a mat. His pantaloons and vest were of the same -astounding fabric. He wore a new black hat, just ironed and -brushed by Leary; a neckerchief of a striped red-and-black -silk, loosely tied; immaculate linen; and a diamond on his -little finger. A thick gold chain passed round his neck, and -entered his vest pocket. He swung a gold-headed switch, and -was followed by a little terrier dog of a breed new to Broadway.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Pompilard’s complexion was somewhat florid, and presented -few marks of age. He wore his own teeth, which were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>still sound and white, and his own hair, including whiskers, -although the hue was rather too black to be natural.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I believe I have the honor of addressing Mr. Charlton,” -said Pompilard, with the air of one who is graciously bestowing -a condescension.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s my name, sir. What’s your business?” replied -Charlton, in the curt, dry manner of one who gives his information -grudgingly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My name, sir, is Pompilard. You may not be aware that -there is a sort of family connection between us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! yes; I remember,” said Charlton, looking inquiringly -at his visitor, but not asking him to sit down.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard returned his gaze, as if waiting for something; -then, seeing that nothing came, he lifted a chair, replaced it -with emphasis on the floor, and sat down. If it was a rebuke, -Charlton did not take it, though the terrier seemed to comprehend -it fully, for he began to bark, and made a reconnoissance -of Charlton’s legs that plainly meant mischief.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard refreshed himself for a moment with the lawyer’s -alarm, then ordered Grip to lie down under the table, which he -did with a quavering whine of expostulation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see,” said Pompilard, “you almost forget the precise -nature of the connection to which I allude. Let me explain: -the lady who has the honor to be your wife is the step-mother, -I believe, of Mr. Henry Berwick.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Both the step-mother and aunt,” interposed Charlton, somewhat -mollified by the language of his visitor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, she was half-sister to his own mother,” resumed Pompilard. -“Well, the wife of Mr. Henry Berwick was Miss -Aylesford of Chicago, and is the niece of my present wife.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I understand all that,” said Charlton; and then, as the -thought occurred to him that he might make the connection -useful, he rose, and, offering his hand, said, “I am happy to -make your acquaintance, Mr. Pompilard.” That gentleman -rose and exchanged salutations; and Grip, under the table, -gave a smothered howl, subsiding into a whine, as if he felt -personally aggrieved by the concession, and would like to put -his teeth in the calf of a certain leg.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My object in calling,” said Pompilard, “is merely to inquire -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>if you can give me the present address of Mrs. Henry Berwick. -My wife wishes to communicate with her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton generally either evaded a direct question or answered -it by a lie. He never received a request for information, -even in regard to the time of day, that he did not cast -about in his mind to see how he could gain by the withholding -or profit by the giving. He took it for granted that every -man was trying to get the advantage of him; and he resolved -to take the initiative in that game. And so, to Pompilard’s -inquiry, Charlton replied:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I really cannot say whether Mr. Berwick is in the country -or not. The last I heard of him he was in Paris.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then your intelligence of him is not so late as mine. He -arrived in Boston some days since, but left immediately for the -West by the way of Albany. I thought your wife might be in -communication with him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They seldom correspond.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I must inquire about him at the Union Club,” said Pompilard, -musingly. “By the way, Mr. Charlton, you deal in real -estate securities, do you not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Occasionally. There are some old-fashioned persons who -consult me in regard to investments.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you want any good mortgages?” asked Pompilard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Just at present, money is very scarce and high,” replied -Charlton.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s the very reason why I want it,” said his visitor. -“Could you negotiate a thirty thousand dollar mortgage -for me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But that’s a very large sum.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Another reason why I want it,” returned Pompilard. -“Supposing the security were satisfactory, what bonus should -you require for getting me the money? Please give me -your lowest terms, and at once, for I have an engagement in -five minutes on ’Change.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, sir,” said Charlton, in the tone of a man to whom it -is an ordinary act to drive the knife in deep, “I think in these -times five per cent would be about right.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pooh! I’ll bid you good morning, Mr. Charlton,” said Pompilard, -with an air of unspeakable contempt. “Come, Grip.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>And Mr. Pompilard bowed and turned to leave, just as -another knock was heard at the door. He opened it, encountering -four men, one of whom kicked the unoffending terrier; an -indignity which Pompilard resented by switching the aggressor -smartly twice round the legs, and then passed on. He had not -descended five steps when a bullet from a pistol grazed his -whiskers. “Not a bad shot that, my Southern friend!” said -the old man, deliberately continuing his descent.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before losing sight of Pompilard we must explain why he -was desirous that his wife should communicate with Mrs. -Berwick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Inheriting a fortune from his mother, Albert Pompilard had -managed to squander it in princely expenditures before he was -twenty-five years old. The vulgar dissipations of sensualists -he despised. He abstained from wine and strong drink at a -time when to abstain was to be laughed at. With the costliest -viands and liquors on his table for guests, he himself ate sparingly -and drank cold water. Had he been as scrupulously -moral in the management of his soul as he was of his body, he -would have been a saint. But he was a spendthrift and a -gambler on a large scale.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Having ruined himself financially, he married. A little -money which his wife brought him was staked entire on a stock -operation, and won. Thence a new fortune larger than the first. -At thirty-five he was worth half a million. He took his wife, -two daughters, and a son to Paris, gave entertainments that -made even royalty envious, and in ten years returned to New -York a bankrupt. His wife died, and Pompilard appeared -once more at the stock board. Ill-luck now pursued him with -remorseless pertinacity, but never succeeded in disturbing his -equanimity. He was frightfully in debt, but the consideration -never for a moment marred his digestion nor his slumbers. -The complacency of a man contented with himself and the -world shed its beams over his features always.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At fifty, a widower, with three children, he carried off and -married Miss Aylesford, who at the time was on a visit to New -York,—a girl of eighteen, handsome, accomplished, and worth -half a million. In vain had her brother tried to open her eyes -to Pompilard’s character as an inveterate fortune-hunter and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>spendthrift. The wilful young lady would have her way. -Pompilard took possession, paid his debts with interest, and, -with less than one third of his wife’s property left, once more -tried his fortune in Wall Street. This time he won. At sixty -he was richer than ever. He became the owner of a domain -of three hundred acres on the Hudson,—built palatial residences,—one -in the country, and one on the favored avenue that -leads to Murray Hill,—bought a steamboat to transport his -guests to and from the city,—gave a series of <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>fêtes</i></span>, and kept -open houses.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But soon one of those panics in the money-market which -take place periodically to baffle the calculations and paralyze -the efforts of large holders of stocks, occurred to confound -Pompilard. In trying to <em>hold</em> his stocks, he was compelled -to make heavy sacrifices, and then, in trying to <em>hedge</em>, he -heaped loss on loss. He had to sell his acres on the Hudson,—then -his town house,—finally his horses; and at sixty-nine -we find him trying to get a mortgage for thirty thousand -dollars on five or six poor little houses, the last remnant from -the wreck of his wife’s property. In the hope of effecting this -he had persuaded his wife to communicate with her niece, Mrs. -Berwick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The brother of Mrs. Pompilard, Robert Aylesford, had inherited -a large estate, which he had increased by judicious investments -in land on the site of Chicago, some years before -that wonderful city had risen like an exhalation in a night -from the marsh on which it stands. His wife had died in -child-birth, leaving a daughter whom he named after her, Leonora. -His own health was subsequently impaired by a malignant -fever, caught in humane attendance on a Mr. Carteret, -a stranger whom he had accidentally met at Cairo in Southern -Illinois.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Deeply chagrined at his sister’s imprudent marriage, and feeling -that his own health was failing, Aylesford conceived a -somewhat romantic project in regard to his only child, Leonora. -During a winter he had passed in Italy he had become acquainted -with the Ridgways, a refined and intelligent family -from Western Massachusetts. One of the members, a lady, -kept a boarding-school of deserved celebrity in the town of -Lenbridge.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>To this lady Aylesford took his little girl, then only two -years old, and said: “I wish you to bring her up under the -name of Leonora Lockhart, her mother’s maiden name, and -her own, though not all of it. When she is married, let her -know that the rest of it is <em>Aylesford</em>. She is so young she will -not remember much of her father. Keep both her and the -world in ignorance of the fact that she is born to a fortune. My -wish is that she shall not be the victim of a fortune-hunter in -marriage; and you will take all needful steps to carry out my -wish. I leave you the address of my man of business, Mr. -Keep, in New York, who will supply you with a thousand dollars -a year as your compensation for supporting and educating -her. Neither she nor any one else must know that even this -allotment is on her account. My physician orders me to pass -the winter in Cuba, and I may not return. Should that be my -lot, I look to you to be in the place of a parent to my child. -Her relations may suppose her dead. I shall not undeceive -them. Her nearest relative is her aunt, my sister, Mrs. Pompilard, -who, in the event of my death, will be legally satisfied -that such a disposition is made of my property that it cannot -directly or indirectly fall into the hands of that irreclaimable -spendthrift, her husband. As I have lived for the last twenty -years at the West, I do not think you will have any difficulty in -keeping my secret.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Subsequently he said: “On the day of Leonora’s marriage, -should she have passed her eighteenth year, the trustees of my -property will have directions to hand over to her the income. -Till that it is done, your lips must be sealed in regard to her -prospects. In the event of her remaining single, I have made -provisions which Mr. Keep will explain to you. I am resolved -that my daughter shall not have to buy a husband.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Ridgway accepted the trust in the same frank spirit in -which it was offered. Mr. Aylesford took leave of his little -girl, and before the next spring she was fatherless. Her eighteenth -birthday found her developed into a young lady of singular -grace and beauty, with accomplishments which showed -that the body had not been neglected in adorning the mind. -But the mystery that surrounded her family and origin produced -a shyness that kept her aloof from social intimacies. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>Vainly did her attentive friends try to overcome her fondness -for solitary musings and rides. She was possessed with the -idea that she was an illegitimate child, though to this suspicion -she never gave utterance till candor seemed to compel it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On a charming morning in June, as a young man, just -escaped from a law-office in New York for a week’s recreation -among the hills of Lenbridge, was entering “the cathedral -road,” as it was called, overarched as it was by forest-trees, -and spread with an elastic mat of pine-leaves, he saw a young -lady riding a spirited horse, a bright-colored bay, exquisitely -formed, and showing high blood in every step. The sagacious -creature evidently felt the exhilaration of the fresh, balsamic -air, for he played the most amusing antics, dancing and curvetting -as if for the entertainment of a circus of spectators; starting -lightly and feigning fright at little shining puddles of water, -leaping over fallen stumps, but with such elastic ease and precision -as not to stir his rider in her seat,—and frolicking much -like a pet kitten when the ball of yarn is on the floor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His mistress evidently understood his ways, and he hers, for -she talked to him and patted his glossy neck and seemed to -encourage him in his tricks. At last she said, “Come, now, -Hamlet, enough of this,—behave yourself!” and then he -walked on quite demurely. He traversed a cross-road newly -repaired with broken stones, and entered on the forest avenue. -But all at once Hamlet seemed to go lame, and the lady dismounted, -and, lifting one of his fore-feet, tried to extract a -stone that had got locked in the hollow of his sole. Her -strength was unequal to the task. The pedestrian who had -been watching her movements approached, bowed, and offered -his assistance. The lady thanked him, and resigned into his -hand the hoof of the gentle animal, who plainly understood that -something for his benefit was going on.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The stone is wedged in so tightly, I fear it will require a -chisel to pry it out,” said the new acquaintance, whose name -was Henry Berwick. Then, after a pause, he added, “But -perhaps I can hammer it out with another stone.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me find one for you,” said Leonora, running here and -there, and searching as she held up her riding-habit.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Henry looked after her with an interest he had never felt -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>before for any one in the form of a young lady. How bewitchingly -that black beaver with its ostrich plumes sat on her head, -but failed to hide those luxuriant curls,—luxuriant by the -grace of nature and not of the hair-dresser! And then that -face,—how full of life and tenderness and mind! And how -admirably did its red and white contrast with the surrounding -blackness of its frame! And that figure,—how were its harmonious -perfections brought out by the simple, closely fitting -nankeen riding-habit trimmed with green!</p> - -<p class='c001'>While she was engaged in her search, Mr. Henry Berwick -dishonestly did his best to loosen the shoe. All at once, in the -most innocent manner, he exclaimed, “This shoe is loose,—it -has come off,—look here!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And he held it up, just as Leonora handed him a stone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He took the stone, and with one blow knocked out the fragment -that lay wedged in the hollow of the sole.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you, sir,” said Leonora.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are one of Mrs. Ridgway’s young ladies, I presume,” -said Henry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I shall not be back in time for my music-lesson, if I -do not hurry.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is a blacksmith not a quarter of a mile from here. -My advice to you is to stop and have this shoe refitted. Remember, -you have a mile of a newly macadamized road to -travel before you get home, and over that you will have to -walk your horse slowly unless you restore him his shoe.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Leonora seemed struck by these considerations. “I will take -your advice,” she said, putting herself in the saddle with a -movement so quick and easy that Berwick could not interpose -to help her. But the horse limped so badly that she once more -dismounted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me lead him for you,” said Berwick, “I shall not have -to go a step out of my way.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are very obliging,” replied the lady.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And the young man led the horse, while the young lady -walked by his side.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The quarter of a mile was a remarkably long one. It was a -full hour before the blacksmith’s shed was reached, and then -Berwick, secretly giving the man of the anvil a dollar, winked -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>at him, and said aloud, “Call us as soon as you have fitted the -shoe”; and then added, in an <em>aside</em>, “Be an hour or so about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The new acquaintances strolled together to a beautiful pond -within sight among the hills.</p> - -<p class='c001'>O that exquisite June morning, with its fresh foliage, its -clear sky, its pine odors, its wild-flowers, and its songs of birds! -How imperishable in the memories of both it became! How -much happier were they ever afterwards for the happiness of -that swift-gliding moment!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Leonora spied some harebells in the crevices of the slaty -rocks of a steep declivity, and pointed them out as the first of -the season.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I must get them for you,” cried Berwick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, no! It is a dangerous place,” said Leonora.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They shall be your harebells,” said Berwick, swinging himself, -by the aid of a birch-tree that grew almost horizontally -out of the cleft of a rock, over the precipice, and snatching the -flowers. Leonora treasured them for years, pressed between -the leaves of Shelley’s Poems.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Thus began a courtship which, three weeks afterwards, was -followed by an offer of marriage. Early in the acquaintance, -foreseeing the drift of Berwick’s eager attentions, Leonora had -frankly communicated by letter her suspicions in regard to her -own birth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In his reply Berwick had written: “I almost wish it may -be as you imagine, in order that I may the better prove to you -the strength of my attachment; for I do not underrate the desirableness -of an honorable genealogy. No one can prize more -than I an unspotted lineage. But I would not marry the woman -who I did not think could in herself compensate me for -the absence of all advantages of family position and wealth; -and whose society could not more than m—flittedake up for the loss of -all social attractions that could be offered outside of the home -her presence would sanctify. You are the one my heart points -to as able to do all this; and so, Leonora, whether it be the bar -sinister or the ducal coronet that ought to be in your coat of -arms, it matters not to me. No herald’s pen can make you -less charming in my eyes. Under any cloud that could be -thrown over your origin, to me you would always be, as Portia -was to Brutus, a fair and honorable wife;—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>‘As dear to me as are the ruddy drops</div> - <div class='line'>That visit this sad heart.’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c018'>And yet not sad, if you were mine! So do not think that -any future development in regard to the antecedents of yourself -or of your parents can detract from an affection based on -those qualities which are of the soul and heart, and the worth -of which no mortal disaster can impair.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>To all which the imprudent young lady returned this answer: -“Do not think to outdo me in generosity. You judge -me independently of all social considerations and advantages; -I will do the same by you; for I know as little of you as you -do of me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>They met the next morning, and Berwick said: “Is not this -a very dangerous precedent we are setting for romantic young -people? What if I should turn out to be a swindler or a -bigamist?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My heart would have prescience of it much sooner than -my head,” replied Leonora. “Women are not so often misled -into uncongenial alliances by their affections as by their passions -or their calculations. The lamb, before he has ever known a -wolf, is instinctively aware of an enemy’s presence, even while -the wolf is yet unseen. If the lamb stopped to reason with -himself, he would be very apt to say, ‘Nonsense! it is no doubt -a very respectable beast who is approaching. Why should I -imagine he wants to harm me?’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But what if I am a wolf disguised as a lamb?” asked -Berwick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am so good a judge of tune,” replied Leonora, “that I -should detect the sham the moment you tried to cry <em>baa</em>. Nay, -a repugnant nature makes itself felt to me by its very presence. -There are some persons the very touch of whose hand produces -an impression, I generally find to be true, of their -character.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An ingenious plea!” said Berwick with an affectation of -sarcasm. “But it does not palliate your indiscretion.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very well, sir,” replied Leonora, “since you disapprove -my precipitancy, we will—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Berwick interrupted the speech at the very portal of her -mouth, by surprising its warders, the lips.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>And so it was a betrothal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>How admirably had Mrs. Ridgway behaved through it all! -How scrupulous she had been in withholding all intimations -of Leonora’s prospective wealth! There were young men -among the Ridgways, handsome, accomplished, just entering -the hard paths of commercial or professional toil. How easy it -would have been to have hinted to some of them, “Secure this -young lady, and your fortune is made. Let a hint suffice.” -But Mrs. Ridgway was too loyal to her trust to even blindly -convey by her demeanor towards Leonora a suspicion that the -child was aught more than the dowerless orphan she appeared.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Berwick took a small house in Brooklyn, and prepared for -his marriage. Clients were as yet few and poor, but he did -not shrink from living on twelve hundred a year with the -woman he loved. He was not quite sure that his betrothed -was even rich enough to refurnish her own wardrobe. So he -delicately broached the question to Mrs. Ridgway. That lady -mischievously told him that if he could let Leonora have fifty -dollars, it might be convenient. The next day Berwick sent a -check for ten times that amount.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But after the wedding, an elderly gentleman, named Keep, -to whom Berwick had been introduced a few days before, took -him and the bride aside, and delivered to him a schedule of -the title-deeds of an estate worth a million, the bequest of the -bride’s father, and the income of which was to be subject to -her order.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But this deranges all our little plans!” exclaimed the bride, -with delightful <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>naïveté</i></span>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, my children, you must put up with it as well as you -can,” said Mr. Keep.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Berwick took the surprise gravely and thoughtfully. With -this great enlargement of his means and opportunities, were -not his responsibilities proportionably increased?</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER VIII.<br />A DESCENDANT OF THE CAVALIERS.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Pride of race, pride in an ancestry of gentlemen, pride in all those habitudes and instincts -which separated us so immeasurably from the peddling and swindling Yankee -nation,—all this pride has been openly cherished and avowed in all simplicity and good -faith.”—<cite>Richmond (Va.) Enquirer.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Peek sat in the little closet which opened into Charlton’s -office. Suddenly he heard the crack of a pistol, followed -by a volley of ferocious oaths. Efforts seemed to be made to -pacify the utterer, who was with difficulty withheld by his companions -from following the person who had offended him. At -these sounds Peek felt a cold, creeping sensation down his -back, and a tightness in his throat, as if it were grasped by a -hand. The pistol-shot and the nature of the oaths brought -before him the figure of the overseer with his broad-brimmed -hat, his whip, and his revolver.</p> - -<p class='c001'>All the negro’s senses were now concentrated in the one -faculty of hearing. He judged that five persons had entered -the room. The angry man had cooled down, and the voices -were not raised above a whisper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is he here?” asked one.</p> - -<p class='c001'>No answer was heard in reply. Probably a gesture had -sufficed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will he resist?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Possibly. These fugitives usually go armed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What shall we do if he threatens to fire?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here an altercation ensued, during which Peek could understand -little of what was uttered. But he had heard enough. -His thoughts first reverted to his wife and his infant boy, and -he pictured to himself their destitute condition in the event of -his being taken away. Then the treachery of Charlton glared -upon him in all its deformity, and he instinctively drew from -the sheath in an inside pocket of his vest a sharp, glittering -dagger-like knife. He looked rapidly around, but there was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>nothing to suggest a mode of escape. The only window in the -closet was one over the door communicating with the office.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly it occurred to him that, if he were to be hemmed -in in this closet, his chances of escape would be small. It -would be better for him to be in the larger room, whether he -chose to adopt a defensive or an offensive policy. Seeing an -old rope in a corner of the closet, he seized it with the avidity -a drowning man might show in grasping at a straw.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He listened intently once more to the whisperers. A low -susurration, accompanied with a whistling sound, he identified -at once as coming from Skinner, the captain of the schooner -in which he had made his escape. Then some one sneezed. -Peek would have recognized that sneeze in Abyssinia. It must -have proceeded from Colonel Delancy Hyde.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Standing on tiptoe on a coal-box, the negro now looked -through a hole in the green-paper curtain covering the glass -over the door, and surveyed the whole party. He found he -was right in his conjectures. The captain was there with one -of his sailors,—an old inebriate by the name of Biggs, both -doubtless ready to swear to the slave’s identity. And the -Colonel was there as natural as when he appeared on the plantation, -strolling round to take a look at the “smart niggers,” -so as to be able to recognize them in case of need. Two policemen, -armed with bludgeons, and probably with revolvers; and -Charlton, with a paper tied with red tape in his hand, formed -the other half of this agreeable company. Peek marked well -their positions, put his knife between his teeth, and descended -from the box.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Colonel Delancy Hyde is a personage of too much importance -to be kept waiting while we describe the movements of -a slave. Colonel Delancy Hyde must be attended to first. -Tall, lank, and gaunt in figure, round-shouldered and stooping, -he carried his head very much after the fashion of a bloodhound -on the scent. Beard and moustache of a reddish, sandy -hue, coarse and wiry, concealed much of the lower part of a -face which would have been pale but for the floridity which -bad whiskey had imparted. The features were rather leonine -than wolfish in outline (if we may believe Mr. Livingstone, the -lion is a less respectable beast than the wolf). But the small -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>brownish eyes, generally half closed and obliquely glancing, had -a haughty expression of penetration or of scorn, as if the person -on whom they fell would be too much honored by a full, -entire regard from those sublime orbs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel wore a loosely fitting frock-coat and pantaloons, -evidently bought ready made. They were of a grayish nondescript -material which he used to boast was manufactured in -Georgia. He generally carried his hands in his pockets, and -bestowed his tobacco-juice impartially on all sides with the -<em>abandon</em> of a free and independent citizen who has not been -used to carpets.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There were two things of which Colonel Delancy Hyde was -proud: one, his name, the other, his Virginia birth. It is -interesting to trace back the genealogy of heroes; and we have -it in our power to do this justice to the Colonel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the year 1618 there resided in London a stable-keeper -of doubtful reputation, and connected with gentlemen of the -turf who frequented Hyde Park and Newmarket in the early -days of that important British institution, the horse-race. This -man’s name was Hyde. He had a patron in Sir Arthur Delancy, -a dissipated nobleman, whom he admired, naming after -him a son who was early initiated in all the mysteries of jockeyship -and gambling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Unfortunately for the youth, he did not have the wit to keep -out of the clutches of the law. Twice he was arrested and -imprisoned for swindling. A third offence of a graver character, -consisting in the theft of a pocket-book containing thirteen -shillings, led to his arraignment for grand larceny, a -crime then punishable with death. The gallows began to -loom in the not remote distance with a sharpness of outline -not pictorially pleasant to the ambition of the Hyde family.</p> - -<p class='c001'>About that time the “London Company,” whose colony in -Virginia was in a languishing condition, petitioned the Crown -to make them a present of “vagabonds and condemned men” -to be sent out to enforced labor. The senior Hyde applied to -Sir Arthur Delancy to save his namesake; and that nobleman -laid the case before his friend, Sir Edward Sandys, treasurer of -the company aforesaid. By their joint influence the Hydes -were spared the disgrace of seeing their eldest hung; and King -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>James having graciously granted the London Company’s petition -for a consignment of “vagabonds and condemned men,” a -hundred were sent out (a mere fraction of the numbers of similar -gentry who had preceded them), and of this precious lot -the younger Hyde made one.<a id='r12' /><a href='#f12' class='c014'><sup>[12]</sup></a> Just a year afterwards, namely, -in 1620, a Dutch trading-vessel anchored in James River with -twenty negroes, and this was the beginning of African slavery -in North America.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Neither threats nor lashes could induce young Mr. Hyde, -this “founder of one of the first families,” to work. Soon after -his arrival on the banks of the Chickahominy he stole a gun, -and thenceforth got a precarious living by shooting, fishing, and -pilfering. He took to himself a female partner, and faithfully -transmitted to his descendants the traits by which he was distinguished.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Not one of them, except now and then a female of the stock, -was ever known to get an honest living; and even if the poor -creatures had desired to do so, the state of society where their -lot was cast was such as to deter them from learning any mechanical -craft or working methodically at any manual employment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Slavery had thrown its ban and its slime over white labor, -branding it with disrepute. To get bread, not by the sweat of -your own brow, but by somebody else’s sweat, became the one -test of manhood and high spirit. To be a gentleman, you must -begin with robbery.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Hydes were hardly an educated race. There was a tradition -in the family that one of them had been to school, but if -he had, the fruits of culture did not appear. They seemed to -have shared the benediction of Sir William Berkeley, once -Governor of Virginia, who wrote: “I thank God there are no -free schools nor printing, and I hope we shall not have them -these hundred years.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is true that our Colonel Delancy Hyde could read and write, -although indifferently. The labor of acquiring this ability had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>been enormous and repugnant; but before his eighteenth year -he had achieved it; and thenceforth he was a prodigy in the -eyes of the rest of his kin. He got his title of Colonel from -once receiving a letter so addressed from Senator Mason, who -had employed him to buy a horse. Among the Colonel’s acquaintances -who could read, this brevet was considered authoritative -and sufficient.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Not being of a thrifty and forehanded habit, the Colonel’s -father never rose to the possession of more than three slaves at -a time; but he made up for his deficiency in this respect by -beating these three all the more frequently. They were a miserable -set, and, to tell the truth, deserved many of the whippings -they got. The owner was out of pocket by them, year -after year, but was too shiftless a manager to provide against -the loss, and was too proud to get rid of the encumbrances altogether. -He and his children and his neighbors were kept poor, -squalid, and degraded by a system that in effect made them the -serfs of a few rich proprietors, who, by discrediting white labor, -were able to buy up at a trifling cost the available lands, and -then impoverish them by the exhausting crops wrung from the -generous soil by large gangs of slaves under the rule of superior -capital and intelligence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And yet no lord of a thousand “niggers” could be a more -bigoted upholder than the Hydes of “our institutions, sir.” -(Living by jugglery, Slavery usually speaks of <em>the</em> institution as -our <em>institutions</em>.) They would foam at the mouth in speaking -of those men of the North who dared to question the divinity -and immutability of slavery. To deny its right to unlimited -extension was the one kind of profanity not to be pardoned. -It was worse than atheism to say that slavery was sectional -and freedom national.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To the Colonel’s not very clear geographical conceptions the -white Americans south of Mason and Dixon’s line were, with -hardly an exception, descendants of noblemen and gentlemen; -while all north were, to borrow the words of Mr. Jefferson -Davis, either the “scum of Europe” or “a people whose ancestors -Cromwell had gathered from the bogs and fens of -Ireland and Scotland.”<a id='r13' /><a href='#f13' class='c014'><sup>[13]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>Colonel Delancy Hyde revelled in those genealogical invectives -of a similar tenor by a Richmond editor, whose fatuous -and frantic iterations that the Yankees were the descendants -of low-born peasants and blackguards, while the Southern -Americans are the progeny of the English cavaliers, betrayed -a ludicrous desire to strengthen his own feeble belief in the -asseveration by loud and incessant clamor; for he had faith -in Sala’s witty saying, that, if a man has strong lungs, and will -keep bawling day after day that he is a genius or a gentleman, -the public will at last believe him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel never tired of denouncing the Puritans:—“A -canting, hyppercritical set of cusses, sir; but they had some -little fight in ’em, though they couldn’t stahnd up agin the -caval’yers,—no sir-r-r!—the caval’yers gev ’em particular -hell; but the Yankee spawn of these cusses,—they hev -lost the little pluck the Puritans wonst had, and air cowards, -every mother’s son on ’em. One high-tone Southern gemmleman—one -descendant of the caval’yers—can clare out any -five on ’em in a fair fight.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>By a fair fight for a descendant of the cavaliers, the Colonel -meant one of two things: either a six-barrelled revolver against -an unarmed antagonist, or an ambush in which the aforesaid -descendant could hit, but be secure against being hit in return. -One of the Colonel’s maxims was, “Never fire unless you can -take your man at a disadvantage.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>His sire having been unluckily cast in a petty lawsuit, “by -a low-born Yankee judge, sir,” Colonel Delancy Hyde drifted -off to the Southwest, and gradually emerged into the special -vocation for which the unfortunate habits of life, which the -Southern system had driven him to, seemed to qualify him. -He became a sort of agent for the recovery of runaway slaves, -and in this capacity had the freedom of the different plantations, -and was frequently applied to for help by bereaved masters. -Every man is said to have his specialty: the Colonel -had at last found <em>his</em>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the survey which Peculiar took of the assemblage in -Charlton’s office, he saw that Charlton himself was separated -from the rest in being behind a small semicircular counter, -an old piece of furniture, bought cheap at a street auction. By -getting in the lawyer’s place the negro would have a sort of -barrier, protecting him in front and on two sides against his -assailants. Behind him would be the stove.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Stealthily throwing open the closet-door he glided out, and -before any one could intercept him, he had fastened Charlton’s -arms in a noose, and was standing over him with upraised -knife. So rapid, so sudden, so unexpected had been the movement, -that it was all completed before even an exclamation was -uttered. The first one to break the silence was Charlton, who -in a paroxysm of terror cried out, “Mercy! Save me, officers! -save me!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Iverson, one of the policemen, started forward and drew a -revolver; but Peek made a shield of the body of the lawyer, -who now found himself threatened with a pistol on one side -and a knife on the other, much to his mortal dismay.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Put down your pistol, Iverson!” he stammered. “Don’t -attempt to do anything, any of you. This g-g-gentleman -doesn’t mean to do any harm. He will listen to reason. The -gentleman will listen to reason.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>“Gentleman be damned!” exclaimed Colonel Delancy -Hyde. “Officer, put down your pistol. This piece of property -mustn’t be damaged. I’m responsible for it. Peek, you -imperdent black cuss, drop that rib-tickler,—drop it right -smart, or yer’ll ketch hell.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel advanced, and Peek brought down his knife so -as to inflict on Charlton’s shoulder a gentle puncture, which -drew from him a cry of pain, followed by the exclamation, in -trembling tones: “Keep off, keep off, Colonel! Peek doesn’t -mean any harm.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Iverson made an attempt to get in the negro’s rear, but a -shriek of remonstrance from Charlton drove the officer back.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Finding now that he was master of the situation, Peek let -his right arm fall gradually to his side, and, still holding Charlton -in his grasp, said: “Gentlemen, there are just five chairs -before you. Be seated, and hear what I have to say.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The company looked hesitatingly at one another, till Blake, -one of the policemen, said, “Why not?” and took a seat. The -rest followed his example.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And then Peek, crowding back the rage and anguish of his -heart, spoke as follows: “My name is Peculiar Institution. I -came to this lawyer some seven weeks ago for advice. I paid -him money. He got me to tell him my story. He pretended -to be my friend; but thinking he could make a few dollars -more out of the slaveholder than he could out of me, he sends -on word to the man who calls himself my master;—in short, -betrays me. You see I have him in my power. What would -you do with him if you were in my place?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’d cut off his dirty ears!” exclaimed Blake, carried beyond -all the discretion of a policeman by his indignation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you say, Colonel Hyde?” asked Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, Peek, I don’t car’ what yer do ter him, providin’ yer’ -don’t damage yerself; but I reckon yer’d better drop that knife -dam quick, and give in. It’s no use tryin’ to git off. We’ve -three witnesses here to swar you’re the right man. The Yankees -put through the Fugitive Law right smart now. Yer -stand no chance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s all true, Colonel,” replied Peek, speaking as if arguing -aloud to himself. “The law was executed in Boston last -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>week, where there wasn’t half the proof you have. To do it -they had to call out the whole police force, but they <em>did</em> it; and -if such things are done in Boston, we can’t expect much better -in New York. But you see, Colonel, with this knife in my -hand, I can now do one of two things: I can either kill this -man, or kill myself. In either case you lose. The law hangs -me if I kill him, and if I kill myself the sexton puts all of me -he can lay hold of under the ground. Now, Colonel, if you -refuse my terms, I’m fully resolved to do one of these two -things,—probably the first, for I have scruples about the -second.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The cussed nigger talks as ef he was readin’ from a book!” -exclaimed Hyde, in astonishment. “Wall, Peek, what tairms -do yer mean?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You must promise that, on my letting this man go, you’ll -allow me to walk freely out of this room, and go where I please -unattended, on condition that I’ll return at five o’clock this -afternoon and deliver myself up to you to go South with you -of my own accord, without any trial or bother of any kind.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel gave a furtive wink at the policeman Iverson, -and replied: “Wall, Peek, that’s no more nor fair, seein’ as -you’re sich a smart respectible nigger. But I reckon yer’ll go -and stir up the cussed abolitioners.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll promise,” returned Peek, “not to tell any one what’s -going on.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hyde whispered in Iverson’s ear, and the latter nodded -assent.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, Peek,” said Colonel Hyde, “if yer’ll swar, so help -yer Gawd, yer’ll do as yer say, we’ll let yer go.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Please write down my words, sir,” said Peek, addressing -Blake.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The policeman took pen and paper, and wrote, after Peek’s -dictation, as follows:—</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We the undersigned swear, on our part, so help us God, -we will allow Peculiar Institution to quit this room free and -unfollowed, on his promise that he will return and give himself -up at five o’clock this P. M. And I, Peculiar Institution, -swear, on my part, so help me God, I will, if these terms are -carried out, fulfil the above-named promise.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>“Sign that, you five gentlemen, and then I’ll sign,” said -Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The five signed. The paper and pen were then handed to -Peek, and he added his name in a good legible hand, and gave -the paper to Blake.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Having done this, he pulled the rope from Charlton’s arms, -and threw it on the floor, then returned his knife to the sheath, -and picked up his cap.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But as he started for the door, Colonel Hyde drew his revolver, -stood in his way, and said: “Now, nigger, no more damn -nonsense! Did yer think Delancy Hyde was such a simple -cuss as to trust yer? Officers, seize this nigger.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><a id='corr66.13'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='“Iverson'>Iverson</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_66.13'><ins class='correction' title='“Iverson'>Iverson</ins></a></span> stepped forward to obey, but Blake, with the assured -gesture of one whose superiority has been felt and -admitted, motioned him aside, and said to Hyde, “I’ll take -your revolver.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel, either thrown off his guard by Blake’s cool -air of authority, or supposing he wanted the weapon for the -purpose of overawing the negro, gave it up. Blake then -walked to the door, threw it open, and said: “Peculiar Institution, -I fulfil my part of the contract. Now go and fulfil -yours; and see you don’t come the lawyer over me by breaking -your word.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before Colonel Delancy Hyde could recover from the amazement -and wrath into which he was put by this act, Peculiar -had disappeared from the room, and Blake, closing the door -after him, had locked it, and taken out the key and thrust it -in his pocket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“May I be shot,” exclaimed the Colonel, “but this is the -damdest mean Yankee swindle I ever had put on me yit,—damned -if it ain’t! Here I’ve been to a hunderd dollars expense -to git back that ar nigger, and now I’m tricked out of -my property by the very man I hired to help me git it. This -is Yankee all through,—damned if it ain’t!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton, still pale and trembling from his recent shock, had -yet strength to put in these words: “I must say, Mr. Blake, -your conduct has been unprofessional and unhandsome. There -isn’t another officer in the whole corps that would have committed -such a blunder. I shall report you to your superiors.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>Blake shook his finger at him, and replied, “Open your lips -again, you beggarly hound, and I’ll slap your face.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton collapsed into silence. Blake took a chair and -said, “Amuse yourselves five minutes, gentlemen, and then -I’ll open the door.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A hell of a feller fur an officer!” muttered the Colonel. -“To let the nigger slide in that ar way, afore I’d ever a chance -to take from him his money and watch, which in course owt to -go to payin’ my expenses. Cuss me if I—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Silence!” exclaimed Blake in a voice of thunder.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Cowed by the force of a reckless and impulsive will, all -present now kept quiet. Colonel Hyde, who, deprived of his -revolver, felt his imbecility keenly, went to the window and -looked out. Iverson, who was a coward, tried to smile, and -then, seeing the expression on Blake’s face, looked suddenly -grave. Captain Skinner gave way to melancholy forebodings. -His companion, Biggs, refreshed himself with a quid of tobacco, -and stood straddling and bracing himself on his feet as if he -thought a storm was brewing, and expected a lurch to leeward -to take him off his legs. As for Charlton, he drew a slip of -paper toward him, and appeared to be carelessly figuring on -it; although, when he thought Blake was not looking, his manner -changed to an eager and anxious consideration of the matter -before him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The five minutes had nearly expired when Blake rose, -turned his back to Charlton, and seemed to be lost in reverie. -Charlton took this opportunity to hastily finish what he had -been writing. He then enclosed it in an envelope, and directed -it. This done, he motioned to Iverson, and held up the letter. -The latter nodded, and pointed with a motion of the thumb to -a newspaper on the table. Charlton placed the letter under it, -coughed, and turned to warm himself at the stove. Iverson -sidled toward the newspaper, but before he could reach it, -Blake turned and dashed his fist on it, took up the letter, and -whispered menacingly to Charlton, “Utter a single word, and -I’ll choke you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then unlocking and opening the door, he said to the other -persons in the room, “Go! you can return, if you choose, at five -o’clock.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>“Give me my revolver,” demanded the Colonel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Say two words, and I’ll have you arrested for trying to -shoot an unarmed man,” replied Blake.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel swallowed his rage and left the room, followed -by Iverson and the two witnesses. Blake again locked the door -and took the key.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s the meaning of all this?” asked Charlton, seriously -alarmed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It means that if you open that traitor’s mouth of yours -till I tell you to, you’ll come to grief.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton subsided and was silent.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Blake unfolded the paper he had seized, and read as follows: -“You will probably find Peek, either at Bunker’s in Broadway, -or at his rooms in Greenwich Street, the side nearest the river, -third or fourth house from the corner of Dey Street.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Blake thrust the paper back into his pocket, and, wholly regardless -of Charlton’s presence, began pacing the floor.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER IX.<br />THE UPPER AND THE LOWER LAW.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“There is a law above all the enactments of human codes,—the same throughout the -world, the same in all times: it is the law written by the finger of God on the heart of -man; and by that law, unchangeable and eternal, while men despise fraud and loathe -rapine and abhor bloodshed, they will reject with indignation the wild and guilty fantasy -than man can hold property in man.”—<cite>Lord Brougham.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>The policeman, Blake, was a Vermonter whose grandsire -had been one of the eighty men under Ethan Allen at -the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. The traditions of the Revolution -were therefore something more than barren legends in -Blake’s mind. They had inspired him with an enthusiastic -admiration of the republic and its institutions. His patriotism -was a sentiment which all the political and moral corruption, -with which a New York policeman is inevitably brought in -contact, could not corrode or enfeeble.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Even slavery, being tolerated by the Constitution of the -United States, was, in his view, not to be spoken of lightly. -He shut his eyes and his ears to all that could be said in its -condemnation; he opened them to all its palliating features -and facts. Did not statistics prove that the blacks, in a state -of slavery, increase in double the proportion they do in a state -of freedom, surrounded by whites? This comforting argument -was eagerly seized by Blake as a moral sedative.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Fugitive-Slave Law he was satisfied was strictly in -accordance with both the spirit and the letter of the Constitution -of the United States. Therefore it must be honestly -enforced. The Abolitionists, who were striving to defeat the -execution of the law, were almost as bad as Mississippi repudiators -who were swindling their foreign creditors. So long as we -were enjoying the benefits of the Constitution, was it not mean -and dastardly to undertake to jockey the South out of the -obvious protection of that clause in it which has reference to -the “person held to service or labor,” which we all knew to -mean the slave?</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>Considerations like these had made Blake one of the most -earnest advocates of the enforcement of the law among his -brethren of the police; and when at last he was called on to -carry it out in the case of Peek, he felt that obedience was a -duty which it would be poltroonery to evade. He went forth, -therefore, with alacrity that morning, resolved to allow no -mawkish sensibility to interfere with his obligations as an -officer and a citizen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Accompanied by Iverson, he waited on Colonel Delancy -Hyde at the New York Hotel. They found that worthy in -the smoking-room, seated at a small marble table, with a cigar -in his mouth and an emptied tumbler, which smelt strongly -of undiluted whiskey, before him. The Colonel graciously -asked the officers to “liquor.” Iverson assented, but Blake -declined.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A refusal to “liquor,” the Colonel had been bred to regard -as a personal indignity; and so, turning to Blake, he said: -“Look here, stranger! I’m Colonel Delancy Hyde. Virginia-born, -be Gawd! From one of the oldest families in the State! -None of yer interloping Yankee scum! No Puritan blood in -<em>me</em>! My ahncestor was one of the cavalyers. My father was -one of the largest slave-owners in the State. Now if yer -want to put an affront on me, I’d jest have yer understand -fust who yer’ve got to deal with.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bah!” said Blake, turning on his heel, and walking to the -window.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Iverson, who dreaded a scene, smoothed over the affront -with a lie. “The fact is, Colonel,” whispered he, “Blake -wouldn’t be fit for duty if he were to drink with us. A spoonful -upsets him; but he’s ashamed to confess it. A weak head! -You understand?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The explanation pacified the Colonel. Indeed, his sympathies -were at once wakened for the unhappy man who couldn’t -drink. This representative of the interests of slavery certainly -did not prepossess Blake in favor of his mission; but justice -must be done, notwithstanding the character of the claimant.</p> - -<p class='c001'>An addition was now made to the circle. Captain Skinner -and Biggs, the sailor already mentioned,—a short, thick-set -stump of a man, with only one eye, and that black and overarched -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>by a bushy, gray eyebrow,—a very wicked-looking old -fellow,—entered and made themselves known to the Colonel. -They had come up from New London, to serve as witnesses. -As a matter of policy, the Colonel could not do less than ask -them to join in the raid on the whiskey decanter; and this -they did so effectually that the last drop disappeared in Biggs’s -capacious tumbler.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As it was not yet time for the appointment at Charlton’s -office, the party, all but Blake, took chairs and lighted cigars, -and the Colonel asked Captain Skinner to narrate the circumstances -of Peek’s appearance on board the Albatross.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, you see, Colonel,” said Skinner, “we had been ten -days out, when one night the second mate, as he was poking -about between decks, caught a strange nigger creeping into a -cotton-bale just for’ard of the store-room. We ordered the -nigger out, and he came into the cabin, and pretended to be a -free nigger, and said he’d pay his passage as soon as he could -git work in New York. In course I knew he was lyin’, but -I didn’t let on that I suspected him. I played smooth; and -cuss me, if the nigger didn’t play smooth too; for he made as -if he believed me; and so when we got to New London, afore -I could git the officers on board, he jumped into the water and -swam to old Payson’s boat, and Payson he got him on board -one of the Sound steamers, and had him put through to New -York that same night. The next day Payson attakted me in -the street, knocked me down, and stamped on me, and afore -I could have him tuk up, he was on board that infernal boat of -his, and off out of sight. There’s the scar of the gash Payson -left on my skull.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Blake, at these words, left the window, and came and looked -at the scar with evident satisfaction. Colonel Hyde, with a -lordly air of patronage, held out his hand to Skinner, and said: -“Capting, the scar is an honor. Capting, yer hand. I love to -meet a high-tone gemmleman, and you’re one. Capting, allow -me to shake yer hand.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“With pleasure,” said Biggs, taking the Colonel’s hand and -shaking it in his own big, coarsely-seamed flipper, before the -Captain had a chance to reach out. The Colonel smiled grimly -at Biggs’s playfulness, but said nothing.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>“Come! it’s time to go,” exclaimed Iverson, looking at his -watch. The party rose, and proceeded down Broadway to -Charlton’s office. We have already seen what transpired on -their arrival. Our business is now with what happened after -their departure.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Three o’clock struck. The small hand on the dial of Trinity -was fast moving toward four; and still Blake paced the floor in -Charlton’s office. Every now and then there would be a knock -at the door, and Blake, with a menacing shake of his head, -would impose silence on the conveyancer, till the applicant for -admission, tired of knocking, would go away.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Blake’s thoughts were in the condition of a chopping sea -where wind and tide are opposing each other. Reflections that -reached to the very foundation of human society—questions -of abstract right and wrong—were combating old notions -adopted on the authority of others, and as yet untested in the -cupel of his own conscience.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Brought for the first time face to face with the law for the -rendition of fugitive slaves,—encountering it in its practical -operation,—he found in it a barbarous necessity from which -his heart recoiled with horror and disgust. Must he disregard -that pleading cry of conscience, that voice of God and Christ -in his soul, calling on him to do in righteousness unto others as -he would have them do unto him? Could any human enactment -exempt him from that paramount obedience?</p> - -<p class='c001'>How had he felt dwarfed in another’s presence that day! -He had seen a man, and that man a negro, putting forth his -manhood in the best way he could to parry the arm of a savage -oppression, doubly fiendish in its mockery, coming as it did -under the respectable escort of the law. Surely the negro -showed himself better worthy of freedom than any white man -among his hunters.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Would the fellow keep his pledge? Would he come back? -Blake now earnestly hoped he would not. Was not any stratagem -justifiable in such a case? Should we mind resorting to -deception in order to rescue ourselves or another from a madman -or a murderer? Why, then, might not Peek violate his -written promise, made as it was to men who were trying to rob -him of a freedom more precious than life to such a soul as his?</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>But had not he himself—he, Blake—made use of his poor -show of generosity to impress it on Peek that he must prove -worthy the trust reposed in him? This recollection brought -bitter regret to the policeman. Instead of encouraging the -negro to escape, he had put scruples of conscience or of generosity -in his way, which might induce him to return. Would -Blake have done so to his own brother, under similar circumstances? -Would he not have bidden him cheat his persecutors, -and make good his flight? Assuredly yes! And yet to -the poor negro he had practically said, Return!</p> - -<p class='c001'>These reflections wrought powerfully upon Blake. Why not -run and urge the negro to escape? It was still more than an -hour to five o’clock. Yes, he would do it!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then came a consideration to check the impulse. He, a -sworn officer of the law, should he lend himself to the defeat of -the very law he had taken it upon himself to execute? Was -there not something intensely dishonest in such a course?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Well, he could do one thing at least: he could resign his -office, and then try to undo the mischief he had perhaps done -the negro by his injunction. Yes, he would do that.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Impulsive in all his movements, Blake looked at his watch, -and found he would have just an hour in which to crowd all -the action he proposed to himself. Turning to Charlton, he -said: “Your conduct to this runaway slave will make your life -insecure if I choose to go to certain men in this city and tell -them what I can with truth. What you now are intending to -do is to have the slave intercepted. I don’t ask you to promise, -simply because you will lie if you think it safe; but I -say this to you: If I find that any measures are taken before -five o’clock to catch the slave, I shall hold you responsible for -them, and shall expose you to parties who will see you are -paid back for your rascality. Take no step for an arrest, and I -hold my tongue.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Glad of such a compromise, Charlton replied: “I’m agreed. -Up to five o’clock I’ll do nothing, directly or indirectly, to -intercept the nigger.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Blake was speedily in the street after this. He hurried to -the City Hall, found the Chief of Police, gave in his resignation, -deposited Colonel Hyde’s pistol among the curiosities -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>of the room, and said that another man must be found to -attend to the case at Charlton’s office. Having in this way -eased his conscience, Blake ran as far as Broadway, and -jumped into an omnibus. But the omnibus was too slow, so he -jumped out and ran down Broadway to Bunker’s. How the -precious time flew by! Before he could be satisfied at Bunker’s -that Peek was not there, the clock indicated five minutes -of five. He rushed out in the direction of the slave’s lodgings. -An old woman with wrinkled face, and bent form, and carrying -a broom, was showing the apartments to an applicant who -thought of moving from the story below. Where were the -negro and his wife? Gone! How long ago? More than two -hours! The clock struck five.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wholly disheartened, Blake ran back to Charlton’s office. -He found it locked. No one answered to his knock. Raising -his foot he kicked open the door with a single effort. The -office was deserted. No one there! He ran to the Jersey -City ferry-boat that carries passengers for the Philadelphia -cars; it had left the wharf some twenty minutes before. -Baffled in all directions, he took his way to the police-station to -find Iverson; but that officer was on duty, nobody knew where. -After waiting at the station till nearly midnight, Blake at last, -worn out with discouragement and fatigue, went home.</p> - -<p class='c001'>What had become of Peek all this time?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Anticipating that he and his wife might at any moment find it -prudent to leave for Canada at half an hour’s notice, Peek had -always kept his affairs in a state to enable him to do this conveniently. -He had hired his rooms, furniture, and piano-forte -by the week, paying for them in advance. Two small trunks -were sufficient to contain all his movable property; and these -might be packed in five minutes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Flora, his wife, who like Peek was of unmixed blood, had -been lady’s maid in a family in Vicksburg. Here she had become -an expert in washing and doing up muslins and other fine -articles of female attire. But the lady she served died, and -Flora became the property of Mr. Penfield, a planter, who, -looking on her with the eyes that a cattle-breeder might turn -on a Durham cow, ordered her to marry one Bully Bill, a lusty -African with a neck like the cylinder of a steam-engine. Flora -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>objected, and learning that her objections would not be respected, -she ran away, and after various fortunes settled at Montreal. -Here she married Peek, who taught her to read and write. -She had been bred a pious Catholic, and Peek, finding that -they agreed in the essentials of a devout and believing heart, -never undertook to disturb her faith.</p> - -<p class='c001'>They moved to New York, and Peek with his wages as -waiter, and Flora with the money she got for doing up muslins, -earned jointly an income which placed them far above want in -the region of absolute comfort and partial refinement. Few -more happy and loyal couples could have been found even in -freestone palaces on the Fifth Avenue.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Flora, how long will it take you to get ready?” said -Peek, entering the neat little kitchen, where she was at work -at her ironing-board, while little Sterling sat amusing himself -on the floor in building a house with small wooden bricks.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Flora, at once comprehending the intent of the question, replied, -“I sha’n’t want more ’n half an hour.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, a boat leaves for Albany at five,” said Peek, taking -the Sun newspaper, and cutting out an advertisement. “We’d -better quit here, and go on board just as soon as we can.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Le ’m me see,” said Flora, meditatively. “The grocer at -the corner will send round these muslins, ’specially if we pay -him for it. My customers owe me twenty dollars,—how shall -we collek that?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You can write to them from Montreal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Lor! so I can, Peek. Who’d have thought of it but you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come, then! Be lively. Tumble the things into the -trunks. We’ll give poor old Petticum the odds and ends we -leave behind; and she’ll notify the landlord, and take care of -the rooms.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In less than an hour’s time they had made all their preparations, -and were all three in a coach with their luggage, rattling -up Greenwich Street towards one of the Twenties. Here they -went on board an old steamer, recently taken from the regular -line for freighting purposes, and carrying only a few passengers. -Having seen Flora and Sterling safely bestowed with the luggage, -and given the former his watch and all his money, except -a dollar in change, Peek said: “Now, Flora, I’ve got to go -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>ashore on business. If I shouldn’t be here when the boat -starts, do you keep straight on to Montreal without me. Go to -the post-office regularly twice a week to see if there’s a letter -for you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What is it, Peek? Tell me all about it,” said Flora, who -painfully felt there was a secret which her husband did not -choose to disclose.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, Flora, don’t be silly,” replied Peek, wiping the tears -from her face with his handkerchief. “I tell you, I may be -aboard again before you start,—haven’t made up my mind yet,—only, -if you shouldn’t see me, never you mind, but just -keep on. Find out your old customers in Montreal, and wait -patiently till I join you. So don’t cry about it. The Lord -will take care of it all. Here’s a handbill that tells you the -best way to get to Montreal. Look out for pickpockets. I -shouldn’t leave you if I didn’t have to, Flora. I’ll tell you -everything about it when we meet. So good by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Having no suspicion of the actual cause of Peek’s leaving -her, and confident, through faith in him, that it must be for a -right purpose, Flora cheered up, and said: “Well, Peek, I -’spec you’ve got some little debts to pay; but do come back -to-day if you can; and keep clar’ of the hounds, Peek,—keep -clar’ of the hounds.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And so, kissing wife and child, with an overflowing heart -Peek quitted the boat. He did not at once leave the vicinity. -There was a pile of fresh lumber not far off. Dodging out -of sight behind it, and then sitting down in a little enclosure -formed by the boards, where he could see the boat and not be -seen, he tried to orient his conscience as to his duty under the -extraordinary circumstances in which he found himself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Go back to the life of a slave? Leave wife and child, and -return to bondage, degradation, subordination to another’s will? -He looked out on the beautiful river, flashing in the warm -spring sunshine; to the opposite shore of Hoboken, where he -and Flora used to stroll on Sundays last summer, dragging -Sterling in his little carriage. Was there to be no more of -that pleasant independent life?</p> - -<p class='c001'>A slave? Liable to be kicked, cuffed, spit on, fettered, -scourged by such a creature as Colonel Delancy Hyde? No! -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>To escape the pursuing fiends who would force such a lot on -an innocent human being, surely any subterfuge, any stratagem, -any lie, would be justifiable!</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Peek thought of the joy that Flora would feel at seeing -him return, and he rose to go back to the boat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A single thought drew him back to his covert. “So help -me God.” Had he not pledged himself,—pledged himself in -sincerity at the moment in those words? Had he not by his -act promised Blake, who had befriended him, that he would -return, and might not Blake lose his situation if the promise -were broken?</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Peek found conscience getting the better of inclination in -the dispute, he bowed his head in his hands, and wept sobbingly -like a child. Such anguish was there in the thought of a surrender! -Then, extending himself prostrate on the boards, his -face down, and resting on his arms, he strove to shut out -all except the voice of God in his soul. He uttered no word, -but he felt the mastery of a great desire, and that was for -guidance from above. Tender <a id='corr77.19'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='thoughtt'>thoughts</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_77.19'><ins class='correction' title='thoughtt'>thoughts</ins></a></span> of the sufferings and -wants of the poor slaves he had left on Barnwell’s plantation -stole back to him. Would he not like to see them and be -of service to them once more? What if he should be whipped, -imprisoned? Could he not brave all such risks, for the -satisfaction of keeping a pledge made to a man who had shown -him kindness? And he recalled the words, once spoken through -Corinna, “Not to be happy, but to deserve happiness.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Besides, might he not again escape? Yes! He would go -back to Charlton’s office. He would surrender himself as he -had promised. The words which Colonel Hyde had conceived -to be of no more binding force than a wreath of tobacco-smoke -were the chain stronger than steel that drew the negro back to -the fulfilment of his pledge. “So help me God!” Could he -profane those words, and ever look up again to Heaven for -succor?</p> - -<p class='c001'>And so he rose, took one despairing look at the boat, where -he could see Flora pointing out to her little boy the wonders of -the river, and then rushed away in the direction of Broadway. -There was no lack of omnibuses, but no friendly driver would -give him a seat on top, and he was excluded by social prejudice -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>from the inside. It was twenty minutes to five when -he reached Union Park. Thence running all the way in the -middle of the street with the carriages, he reached Charlton’s -office before the clock had finished striking the hour.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There had been wrangling and high words just before his -entrance. Colonel Delancy Hyde was ejecting his wrath -against the universal Yankee nation in the choicest terms of -vituperation that his limited vocabulary could supply. The -loss of both his nigger and his revolver had been too much for -his equanimity. Captain Skinner and his companion, Biggs, -were sturdily demanding their fees, which did not seem to be -forthcoming. Charlton, in abject grief of heart, was silently -lamenting the loss of his fifty dollars, forfeited by the non-delivery -of the slave; and Iverson, the policeman, was delicately -insinuating in the ear of the lawyer that he should look to him -for his pay.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek, entering in this knotty condition of affairs, was the -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Deus ex machina</i></span> to disentangle the complication and set the -wheels smoothly in motion. No one believed he would come -back, and there issued from the lips of all an exclamation of -surprise, not unseasoned with oaths to suit the several tastes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Cuss me if here ain’t the nigger himself come back!” exclaimed -the Colonel. “Wall, Peek, I didn’t reckon you was -gwine to keep yer word, and it made me swar some to see how -I’d been chiselled fust out of my revolver and then out of my -nigger, by a damned Yankee policeman. But here you air, -and we’ll fix things right off, so’s to be ready for the next -Philadelphy train, if so be yer’ll go without any fuss.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I’ll go, Colonel,” said Peek, “but you’ll have an -officer to see I don’t escape from the cars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thar’s seventy-five dollars expense, blast yer!” exclaimed -the Colonel. “Yes, be Gawd! I’ve got to pay this man for -goin’ to Cincinnati and back. O, but old Hawks will take your -damned hide off when we git you back in Texas,—sure!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek, to serve some purpose of his own, here dropped his -dignity entirely, and assumed the manner and language of the -careless, rollicking plantation nigger. “Yah! yah!” laughed -he. “Wall, look a-he-ah, Kunnle Delancy Hyde. Les make a -trade,—we two,—and git rid of the policeman altogedder. I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>can sabe yer fifty dollars, shoo-er-r-r, Kunnle Delancy Hyde, if -you’ll do as how dis nigger tells yer to.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How’ll yer do it, Peek?” asked the Colonel, much pacified -by the slave’s repetition of his entire name and title.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll promise to be a good nigger all the way to Cincinnati, -and not try to run away,—no, not wunst,—if you’ll pay me -twenty-five dollars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will yer sign to that, Peek, and put in, ‘So help me -Gawd’?” asked the Colonel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek started, and looked sharply at Hyde; and then quietly -replied, “Yes, I’ll do it, if you’ll gib me the money to do with -as I choose; but you must agree to le’m me write a letter, and -put it in the post-office afore we leeb.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel considered the matter a moment, then turned -to Charlton, and said, “Draw up an agreement, and let the -nigger sign it, and be sure and put in, ‘So help me Gawd.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The arrangement was speedily concluded. The witnesses -and the officers were paid off. Charlton received his fifty -dollars and Peek his twenty-five. The slave then asked for -pen, ink, and paper, and placed five cents on the table as payment. -In two minutes he finished a letter to Flora, and -enclosed it with the money in an envelope, on which he wrote -an address. Charlton tried hard to get a sight of it, but Peek -did not give him a chance to do this.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel and Peek then walked to the post-office, where -the slave deposited his letter; after which they passed over to -Jersey City in the ferry-boat, and took the train to Philadelphia.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As for Charlton, no sooner had his company left him, than -he seized his hat, locked up his office, and hurried to Greenwich -Street, where he proceeded to examine the lodgings -vacated by Peek. He found Mrs. Petticum engaged in collecting -into baskets the various articles abandoned to her by -the negroes,—old dusters, a hod of charcoal, kindling-wood, -loaves of bread, and small collections of groceries, sufficient for -the family for a week. Mrs. Petticum appeared to have been -weeping, for she raised her apron and wiped her eyes as Charlton -came in.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, have they gone?” asked he.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>“Yes, sir, and the wuss for me!” said the old woman.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton took his cue at once, and replied: “They were -excellent people, and I’m sorry they’ve gone. What was the -matter? Were the slave-catchers after them?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know,” sighed Petticum; “I shouldn’t wonder. -Poor Flora! That was all she worried about. I’d like to -have got my hands in the hair of the man that would have -carried her off. Where’ll you find the white folks better and -decenter than they was?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not in New York, ma’am,” said Charlton, stealthily looking -about the room, examining every article of furniture, and -opening the drawers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The furniture belongs to Mr. Craig; but all in the drawers -is mine,” said the old woman, not favorably impressed by Charlton’s -inquisitiveness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, it’s all right,” replied Charlton; “I didn’t know but I -could be of some help. You’ve no idea where they went to?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They didn’t tell me, and if I knowed, I shouldn’t tell you, -without I knowed they wanted me to.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, it’s no sort of consequence. I’m a particular friend, -that’s all,” said Charlton. “Did you notice the carriage -they went off in?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I did.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Could you tell me the number?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, I couldn’t.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Seeing an old handkerchief in one of the baskets, Charlton -took it out, and looked at the mark. He could get nothing -from that; so he threw it back. An old shoe lay swept in a -corner. He took it up. Stamped on the inner sole were the -words, “J. Darling, Ladies’ Shoes, Vicksburg.” Charlton -copied the inscription in his memorandum-book before putting -the shoe back where he had found it. The Sun newspaper -lay on the floor. Taking it up, he found that an advertisement -had been cut out. Selecting an opportunity when Mrs. Petticum -was not looking, he thrust the paper in his pocket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And then, after examining an old stove-funnel, he went out.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He’s no gentleman, anyhow,” said Mrs. Petticum; “and -I don’t believe he ever was a friend of the Jacobses.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER X.<br />GROUPS ON THE DECK.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Incredulity is but Credulity seen from behind, bowing and nodding assent to the -Habitual and the Fashionable.”—<cite>Coleridge.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>The Pontiac had passed New Madrid on the Mississippi. -She was advertised as a first-class high-pressure boat, -bound to beat any other on the river in the long run, but with -a captain and officers who were “teetotalers,” and never raced.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The weather had been stormy for several days; but it was -now a delightful April forenoon. The sun-bright atmosphere -was at once fresh and soft, exhilarating and luxurious, in a -combination one rarely enjoys so fully as on a Western prairie. -The delicate spring tracery of the foliage was fast expanding -into a richer exuberance on either bank of the great river. -The dogwood, with its blossoms of an alabaster whiteness, here -and there gleamed forth amid the tender green of the surrounding -trees,—maples, sycamores, and oaks. All at once a -magnolia sent forth a gush of fragrance from its snowy flowers. -With every mile southward the verdure grew thicker and the -blossoms larger.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Two miles in the rear of the Pontiac, ploughing up the -tawny waters with her sharp and pointed beak, came the -Champion, a new boat, and destined, as many believed, to -prove the fastest on the river. Whatever her capacities, she -had thus far shown herself inferior to the Pontiac in speed. -She kept within two or three miles, but failed to get much -nearer. Captain Crane of the Pontiac, a small, thin, wiry man, -who had acquired a great reputation for sagacity by always -holding his tongue, kept puffing away at a cigar, looking now -and then anxiously at his rival, but evidently happy in the -assurance of victory.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The passengers of the Pontiac were distributed in groups about -different parts of the boat. Some were in the cabin playing at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>euchre or brag. Some, regardless of the delicious atmosphere -which they could drink in without money and without price, -were imbibing fiery liquors at the bar, or puffing away at bad -cigars on the forward part of the lower deck. A few were -reading, and here and there a lady might be seen busy with -her needle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the hurricane deck were those who had come up for conversation -or a promenade. Smokers were requested to keep -below. The groups here were rather more select and less -numerous than on the main deck. They were mostly gathered -aft, so that the few promenaders could have a clear space.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Among these last were a lady and two gentlemen, one -on either side of her; the younger, a man apparently about -thirty-two, of middle height, finely formed, handsome, and with -the quiet, unarrogating air of one whose nobility is a part of his -nature, not a question of convention. (The snob’s nonchalance -is always spurious. He hopes to make you think he is unconscious -of your existence, and all the while is anxiously trying -to dazzle or stun you by his appearance.)</p> - -<p class='c001'>The other gentleman was also one to whom that much-abused -name would be unhesitatingly applied. He seemed to -be about fifty-five, with a person approaching the portly, dignified, -gray-haired, and his face indicating benevolence and self-control.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lady, who appeared to be the wife of the younger man, -was half a head shorter than he, and a model of delicate -beauty in union with high health. Personally of a figure and -carriage which Art and Grace could hardly improve, she was -dressed in a simple gray travelling-habit, with a velvet hat and -ostrich-plumes of the same color. But she had the rare skill -of making simplicity a charm. Flounces, jewels, and laces -would have been an impertinence. While she conversed, she -seemed to take a special interest in a group that occupied two -“patent life-preserving stools” near the centre of the deck. A -young boy held in his lap a little girl, seemingly not more than -two years old, and pointed out pictures to her from a book, -while a mulatto woman, addressed as Hattie, who appeared to -have the infant in charge, joined in their juvenile prattle, and -placed her arm so as to assist the boy in securing his hold.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>“Your son seems to know how to fascinate children,” said -the lady, addressing the elder gentleman; “he has evidently -won the heart of my little Clara.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He has a sister just about her age in Texas,” replied -the father; “he is glad to find in your little girl a substitute for -Emily.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You live in Texas then?” asked the younger gentleman.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; let me introduce myself, since I was the first to broach -conversation. My name is John Onslow, and my home is -in Southwestern Texas, though I was born in Mississippi, -whence I removed some six or seven years ago. My family -consists of a wife, two sons, and a daughter. The younger of -my sons, Robert, sits yonder. The elder, William Temple, is -a student at Yale. I inherited several hundred slaves. I have -gradually liberated them all. In Texas I am trying the experiment -of free labor; but it is regarded with dislike by my slave-holding -neighbors, and they do not scruple, behind my back, -to call me an Abolitionist. I have been North to buy farming -implements, and to offer inducements to German immigrants. -There, sir, you have my story; and if you are a -Yankee, you will appreciate my candor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And requite it, I suppose you think,” returned the younger -gentleman, laughing. “It strikes me that it is you, Mr. Onslow, -who are playing the Yankee. You have been talking, sir, -with one Henry Berwick, New-Yorker by birth, retired lawyer -by profession, and now on his way to New Orleans to attend to -some real estate belonging to his wife. That little girl is his -daughter. This lady is his wife. My dear, this is our fellow-passenger, -Mr. Onslow. Allow me to introduce him to your -better acquaintance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lady courtesied, flashing upon the stranger a smile that -said as eloquently as smile could say, “I need no vouchers; I -flatter myself I can distinguish a gentleman.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As she turned aside her glance it met that of a third person, -till then unnoticed. He was pacing the deck and held an opera-glass -in his hand, with which he looked at places on either -bank. He was slightly above the middle height, compactly -built, yet rather slender than stout, erect, square-shouldered, -neatly limbed. He might be anywhere between thirty and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>thirty-five years of age. His hair was here and there threaded -with gray, and his cheeks were somewhat sunken, although -there was nothing to suggest the lassitude of ill-health in his -appearance. His complexion was that of a man who leads an -active out-of-door life; but his hands were small and unmarked -by toil. He wore his beard neatly trimmed. His finely -curved Roman features and small expressive mouth spoke refinement -and strength of will, not untempered with tenderness; -while his dark gray eyes seemed to penetrate without a pause -straight to their object. A sagacious physiognomist would have -said of him, “That man has a story to tell; life has been to -him no holiday frolic.” In the expression of his eyes Mrs. -Berwick was reminded of Sir Joshua’s fine picture of “The -Banished Lord.” This stranger, as he passed by, looked at -her gravely but intently, as if struck either by her beauty or -by a fancied resemblance to some one he had known. There -was that in his glance which so drew her attention, she said -to her husband, “Who is that man?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have not seen him before,” replied Mr. Berwick. “Probably -he came on board at New Madrid.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>They walked to the extent of their promenade forward, and -turning saw this stranger leaning against the bulwarks. His -low-crowned hat of a delicate, pliable felt, with its brims half -curled up, his well-cut pantaloons of a coarse but unspotted -fabric, and his thin overcoat of a light gray, showed that the -Broadway fashions of the hour were not unfamiliar to the -wearer. This time he did not look up as the three passed. -His gaze seemed intent on the children; and the soft smile -on his lips and the dewy suffusion in his eyes betrayed emotion -and tender meditation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Leonora, what is your judgment? Is he, too, a gentleman?” -asked Mr. Berwick of his wife.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; I will stake my reputation as a sibyl on it,” she -replied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! you vain mother!” said Berwick, laughing. “You -say that, because he seems lost in admiration of our little Clara. -Isn’t her weakness transparent, Mr. Onslow? What think <em>you</em> -of this new-comer?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He certainly has the air of a gentleman,” said Onslow -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>“and yet he looks to me very much like a fellow I once had up -before me for horse-stealing. Was he too much interested in -looking at your wife, or did he purposely abstain from letting -me catch his eye? I shouldn’t wonder if he were either a -steamboat gambler or a horse-thief!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Atrocious!” exclaimed Mrs. Berwick. “I don’t believe a -word of it. That man a horse-thief! Impossible!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“On closer examination, I think I must be mistaken,” rejoined -Mr. Onslow. “If I remember aright, the fellow with -whom I confound him had red hair.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There! I knew you must be either joking or in error,” -said the lady.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now,” continued Mr. Onslow, “I have a vague recollection -of meeting him at the hotel where I stopped in Chicago -last week.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! if he is a Chicago man, I must be right in my estimate -of him,” said Mrs. Berwick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why so? Why should you be partial to Chicago?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because my father was one of the first residents of the -place.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What was his name?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Robert Aylesford.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As she uttered this word they repassed the stranger. To -their surprise he repeated, in a tone of astonishment, “Aylesford!” -then seemed to fall into a fit of musing. Before they -again reached the spot, he had walked away, and taken a seat -in an arm-chair aft, where he occupied himself in wiping the -opera-glass with his handkerchief. If he had recognized Onslow, -he had not betrayed it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here the attention of all on the upper deck was arrested by -an explosion of wrathful oaths.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A tall, gaunt, round-shouldered man, dressed in an ill-fitting -suit of some coarse, home-made cloth, had ascended the stairs -with a lighted cigar in his mouth. One of the waiters of the -boat, a bright-looking mulatto, followed him, calling, “Mister! -Mister!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The tall man paid no heed to the call, and the mulatto -touched him on the shoulder, and said, “We don’t allow smoking -on this deck,” whereupon the tall man angrily turned on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>him and, with eyes blazing with savage fire, exclaimed: “What -in hell air yer at, nigger? Ask my pardon, blast yer, or I’ll -smash in yer ugly profile, sure!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ask your pardon for what?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For darrin’ to put yer black hand on me, confound yer!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The mulatto replied with spirit: “You don’t bully this child, -Mister. I merely did my duty.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Duty be damned! I’ll stick yer, sure, if yer don’t apologize -right off, damned lively!” And the tall man unsheathed a -monstrous bowie-knife.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Onslow approached, and mildly interposed with the remark, -“It was natural for the waiter to touch you, since he -couldn’t make you hear.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who the hell air you, sir?” said the tall man. “I reckon -I kn settle with the nigger without no help of yourn.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” said another voice; “if the gentleman demands it, -the nigger must ask his pardon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Onslow turned, and to his surprise beheld the stranger -with the opera-glass.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Really, sir,” said Mr. Onslow, “I hope you do not wish to -see a man degrade himself merely because he isn’t white like -ourselves.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The point can’t be argued, sir,” said the stranger, putting -his glass in his pocket. Then seizing the mulatto by the -throat, he thrust him on his knees. “Down, you black hound, -and ask this gentleman’s pardon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>To everybody’s surprise, the mulatto’s whole manner -changed the minute he saw the stranger; and, sinking on -his knees, he crossed his arms on his breast, and, with downcast -eyes, said, addressing the tall man, “I ask pardon, sir, for -putting my hand on you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, that’s enough, nigger! I pardon yer,” said the mollified -tall man, returning his bowie-knife to its sheath. “Niggers -mus’ know thar places,—that’s all. Ef a nigger knows -his place, I’d no more harm him nor I’d harm a val’able hoss.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The mulatto rose and walked away; but with no such show -of chagrin as a keen observer might have expected; and the -tall man, turning to him of the opera-glass, said, “Sir, ye ’r a -high-tone gemmleman; an’ cuss me but I’m proud of yer acquaint. -Who mowt it be I kn call yer, sir?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>“Vance of New Orleans,” was the reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Vance, I’m yourn. I know’d yer mus’ be from the -South. Yer mus’ liquor with me, Mr. Vance. Sir, ye’r a -high-tone gemmleman. I’m Kunnle Hyde,—Kunnle Delancy -Hyde. Virginia-born, be Gawd! An’ I’m not ashamed ter -say it! My ahnces’tors cum over with the caval’yers in King -James’s time,—yes, sir-r-r! My father was one of the largest -slave-owners in the hull State of Virginia,—yes, sir-r-r! -Lost his proputty, every damned cent of it, sir, through a low-lived -Yankee judge, sir!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I could have sworn, Colonel Hyde, there was no Puritan -blood in your veins.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s a fak!” said the Colonel, grimly smiling his gratification. -Then, throwing his cigar overboard, he remarked: -“The Champion’s nowhar, I reckon, by this time. She ain’t -in sight no longer. What say yer to a brandy-smash? Or -sh’l it be a julep?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The bar is crowded just now; let’s wait awhile,” replied -Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here Mr. Onslow turned away in disgust, and, rejoining the -Berwicks, remarked to the lady, “What think you of your -gentleman now?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall keep my thoughts respecting him to myself for the -present,” she replied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My wife piques herself on her skill in judging of character -by the physiognomy,” said Mr. Berwick, apologetically; “and -I see you can’t make her believe she is wrong in this case. -She sometimes gets impressions from the very handwriting of -a person, and they often turn out wonderfully correct.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Has Mrs. Berwick the gift of second-sight? Is she a -seeress?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Her faculty does not often show itself in soothsaying,” -said Berwick. “But I have a step-mother who now and then -has premonitions.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do they ever find a fulfilment?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One time in a hundred, perhaps,” said Berwick. “If I -believed in them largely, I should not be on board this boat.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why so?” inquired Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She predicts disaster to it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>“But why did you not tell me that before?” asked Mrs. -Berwick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Simply, my dear, because you are inclined to be superstitious.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hear him, Mr. Onslow!” said Mrs. Berwick. “He calls -me superstitious because I believe in spirits, whereas it is that -belief which has cured me of superstition.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can readily suppose it,” replied Onslow. “The superstitious -man is the <em>un</em>believer,—he who thinks that all these -phenomena can be produced by the blind, unintelligent forces -of nature, by a mechanical or chemical necessity.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I may believe in spirits in their proper places,” said Berwick, -“and not believe in their visiting this earth.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But what if their condition is such that they are independent -of those restrictions of space or place which are such -impediments to us poor mortals?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you, too, then, believe in ghosts?” asked Berwick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; I am a ghost myself,” said Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Berwick started at the abruptness of the announcement, then -smiled, and replied, “Prove it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That I will, both etymologically and chemically,” rejoined -Onslow. “The words <em>ghost</em> and <em>gas</em> are set down by a majority -of the philologists as from the same root, whether Gothic, -Saxon, or Sanscrit, implying vapor, spirit. The fermenting -<em>yeast</em>, the steaming <em>geyser</em>, are allied to it. Now modern science -has established (and Professor Henry will confirm what I say) -that man begins his earthly existence as a microscopic vesicle -of almost pure and transparent water. It is not true that he is -made of dust. He consists principally of solidified air. The -ashes which remain after combustion are the only ingredient of -an earthy character that enters into the composition of his -body. All the other parts of it were originally in the atmosphere. -Nay, a more advanced science will probably show -that even his ashes, in their last analysis, are an invisible, -gaseous substance. Nine tenths of a man’s body, we can even -now prove, are water; and water, we all know, may be decomposed -into invisible gases, and then made to reappear as a visible -liquid. Science tells me, dear madam, that as to my body -I am nothing but forty or fifty pounds of carbon and nitrogen, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>diluted by five and a half pailfuls of water. Put me under -hydraulic pressure, and you can prove it. So I do seriously -maintain, that I am as much entitled to the appellation of a -ghost (that is, a gaseous body) as was the buried majesty of -Denmark, otherwise known as Hamlet’s father.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And I assert that Mr. Onslow has proved his point admirably,” -said Mrs. Berwick, clapping her little hands.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I confess I never before considered the subject in that -light,” rejoined her husband.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If science can prove,” continued Mr. Onslow, “that nine -tenths of my present body may be changed to a gaseous, invisible -substance (invisible to mortal eyes), with power to permeate -what we call matter, like electricity, is it so very difficult to -imagine that a spirit in a spiritual body may be standing here -by our side without our knowing it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see you haven’t the fear of Sir David Brewster and the -North British Review before your eyes, Mr. Onslow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, for I do not regard them as infallible either in questions -of physical or of metaphysical science. Rather, with John -Wesley, the founder of Methodism, would I say, ‘With my -latest breath will I bear testimony against giving up to infidels -one great proof of the invisible world, that, namely, of witchcraft -and apparitions, confirmed by the testimony of all ages.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>While this discussion was proceeding, Colonel Hyde and his -new acquaintance were pacing the larboard side of the deck, -pausing now and then at the railing forward of the wheel-house -and looking down on the lower deck, where, seated upon a coil of -cables, were four negroes, one of them, and he the most intelligent-looking -of the lot, being handcuffed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How are niggers now?” asked Mr. Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Niggers air bringin’ fust-rate prices jest now,” replied the -Colonel; “and Gov’nor Wise he reckons ef we fix Californy -and Kahnsas all right, a prime article of a nigger will fotch -twenty-five hunderd dollars, sure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s the prospect of doing that?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good. The South ain’t sleeping,—no, not by a damned -sight. Californy’s bound to be ourn, an’ the Missouri boys will -take car’ of Kahnsas.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see the North are threatening to send in armed immigrants,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>said Vance; “and one John Brown swears Kansas -shall be free soil.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“John Brown be damned!” replied the Colonel. “One -common Suthun man is more’n a match fur five of thar best -Yankees, any day. Kahnsas must be ourn, ef we hev to shoot -every white squatter in the hull terrertory. By the way, -that’s a likely yuller gal, sittin’ thar with the bebby. That gal -ud bring sixteen hunderd dollars <em>sure</em> in Noo Orleenz.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Whose niggers are those I see forward there, on the -cables?” asked Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Them niggers, Mr. Vance, air under my car’, an’ I’m takin’ -’em to Texas fur Kunnle Barnwell. The feller yer see han’cuffed -thar an’ sleepin’, run away three or four yars ago. At last -the Kunnle heerd, through Hermin & Co., that Peek (that’s his -name) was in New York; an’ so the Kunnle gits me ter go on -fur him; an’ cuss me ef I didn’t ketch him easy. The other -three niggers air a lot the Kunnle’s agent in St. Louis bowt fur -him last week.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How did you dodge the Abolitionists in New York?” inquired -Vance. “You went before the United States Commissioner, -I suppose, and proved your claim to the article.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Damned ef I did! Arter I’d kotched Peek, he said, ef as -how I’d let him go home, an’ settle up, he’d return, so help him -Gawd, an’ give hisself up without no fuss or trial. Wall, I’m a -judge of niggers,—kn see right through ’em,—kn ollerz tell -whan a nigger’s lying. I seed Peek was in airnest, and so I -let him go; and may I be shot but he cum back jest at the -hour he said he would.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very extraordinary!” said Vance, musingly. “You must -be a great judge of character, Colonel Hyde.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, what’s extrordinerer still,” continued the Colonel, “is -this: Peek wanted money ter send ter his wife, and cuss me ef -he didn’t offer ter go the hull way ter Cincinnati without no -officers ter guard him, ef I’d give him twenty-five dollars. In -coorse I done it, seein’ as how I saved fifty dollars by the operation. -The minute he got on board this ’ere boat I hahd him -han’cuffed, fur I knowed his promise wahn’t good no longer, -anyhow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Colonel, what’s your address?” asked Mr. Vance. “If -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>ever I lose a nigger, you’re the man I must send for to help me -find him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel drew forth from his vest pocket a dirty card, -and presented it to Mr. Vance. It contained these words: -“Colonel Delancy Hyde, Agent for the Recovery of Escaped -Slaves. Address him, care of J. Breckenridge, St. Louis; Hermin -& Co., New Orleans.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Shall be proud to do yer business, Mr. Vance,” said the -Colonel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I must have a talk with that handcuffed fellow of yours by -and by,” remarked Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do!” returned the Colonel. “Yer’ll find him a right -knowin’ nigger. He kn read an’ write, an’ that air’s more ’n -we kn say of some white folks in our part of the kintry.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do the owners hereabouts lose many slaves now-a-days?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not sence old Gashface was killed last autumn.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who’s Gashface? Is it a real name?” asked Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nobody ever knowed his raal name,” returned the Colonel; -“an’ so we called him Gashface, seem’ as he’d a bad gash over -his left cheek. He was a half mulatto, with woolly hair, an’ so -short-sighted he weared specs. Wall, that bloody cuss hahz -run off more niggers nor all the abolitioners in the Northwest,—damned -ef he haint! Two millions of dollars wouldn’t pay -fur all the slaves he’s helped across the line. He guv his hull -time ter the work, an’ was crazy mad on that one pint. Last -yar the planters clubbed together an’ made up a pus of five -thousand dollars fur the man that ’ud shoot the cuss. Two -gemmlemen from Vicksburg went inter the job, treed him, shot -him dead, an’ tuk the five thousand dollars. An almighty -good day’s work!”<a id='r14' /><a href='#f14' class='c014'><sup>[14]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“How did the planters know they had got the right man?” -asked Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, there wah n’t much doubt about that, yer see,” said -the Colonel. “Them as shot him war’ high-tone gemmlemen, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>both on ’em, an’ knowed the cuss well. So did I, an’ they -paid me a cool hunderd,—damned if they didn’t!—to come -on an’ swar ter the body.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let’s go and have a talk with your smart nigger,” interrupted -Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Agreed!” replied the Colonel with an oath; and the two -descended a short ladder, and stood on the lower deck in front -of Peek, who was leaning against a green sliding box of stones, -used for keeping the boat rightly trimmed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wake up here, Peek,” said Hyde, kicking him not very -gently; “here’s my friend, Mr. Vance, come ter see yer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The slave started, and his eyes had a lurid glitter as they -turned on Hyde; but they opened with a wild and pleased surprise -as they caught the quick, intelligible glance of Vance, -whose right hand was pointing to an inner pocket of his coat. -The change of expression in the slave was, however, too subtle -and evanescent for any one except Vance himself to recognize -it; and he was not moved by it to take other notice of the -negro than to imitate the Colonel’s example by pushing Peek -with his foot, at the same time saying, “I wish I had you on a -sugar-plantation down in Louisiana, my fine fellow! I’d teach -you to run away! You wouldn’t try it more than once, I’m -thinking.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look he-ah, stranger,” exclaimed Peek, rising to his feet, -with a look of savage irritation, and clenching his fists, in spite -of the irons on his wrists, “you jes’ put yer foot on me agin, -and I’ll come at yer, shoo-ar!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ll do that, will you,” said Vance, laying both hands -on the slave’s throat, shaking him, and muttering words audible -to him only.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek, seeming to struggle, thrust his fettered hands into the -bosom of his antagonist, as if to knock him down; but Vance -pushed him up against the bulwarks of the boat, and held him -there, with his grasp on his throat, till the slave begged humbly -for mercy. Vance then let him go, and turning to Colonel -Hyde, with perfect coolness, said, “That’s the way to let a -nigger know you’re master.” To which the Colonel, unable to -repress his admiration, replied: “I see as how yer understand -’em, from hide to innards, clar’ through. A nigger’s a nigger, -all the world over. Now let’s liquor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>They went to the bar, around which a motley group of -smokers and drinkers were standing. The bar-keeper was a -black man, and between him and Vance there passed a flash of -intelligence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What shall it be, Mr. Vance?” asked the Colonel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Gin for me,” was the reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Make me a whiskey nose-tickler,” said the Colonel, who -seemed to be not unfamiliar with the fancy nomenclature of the -bar-room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The bar-keeper, with that nimbleness and dexterity which -high art alone could have inspired, compounded a preparation -of whiskey, lemon, and sugar with bitters, crushed ice, and a -sprig of mint, and handed it to the Colonel, at the same time -placing a decanter labelled “<span class='sc'>Gin</span>” before Vance. The latter -poured out two thirds of a tumbler of what seemed to be the -raw spirit, and, adding neither water nor sugar, touched glasses -with the Colonel, and swallowed it off as if it had been a -spoonful of <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>eau sucré</i></span>. So overpowered with admiration at the -feat was the Colonel, that he paused a full quarter of a minute -before doing entire justice to the “nose-tickler” which had -been brewed for him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Some of the loungers now drew round the Colonel, and -asked him to join them in a game of euchre. He looked -inquiringly at Vance, and the latter said, “Go and play, -Colonel; I’ll rejoin you by and by.” Then, in a confidential -whisper, he added, “I must find out about that yellow girl,—whether -she’s for sale.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel winked, and answered, “All right,” and Vance -walked away.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who’s that?” asked Mr. Leonidas Quattles, a long-haired, -swarthy youth, who looked as if he might be half Indian.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s Mr. Vance of Noo Orleenz,” replied the Colonel; -“he’s my partik’lar friend, an’ a perfek high-tone gemmleman, -I don’t car’ whar’ the other is.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How stands the Champion now?” said another of the -party.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Three miles astern, and thar she’ll stick,” exclaimed Quattles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Vance reascended to the upper deck, he encountered the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>children at play. Little Clara Berwick, in high glee, was running -as fast as her infantile feet could carry her, pursued by -Master Onslow, while Hattie, the mulatto woman in attendance, -held out the child’s bonnet, and begged her to come and -have it on. But Clara, with her light-brown ringlets flying on -the breeze, was bent on trying her speed, and the boy, fearful -that she would fall, was trying to arrest her. Before he could -do this, his fears were realized. Clara tripped and fell, striking -her forehead. Vance caught her up, and her parents, with -Mr. Onslow and Hattie, gathered round her, while the boy -looked on in speechless distress.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The little girl was so stunned by the blow, that for nearly a -minute she could neither cry nor speak. Then opening her -eyes on Mr. Vance, who, seating himself, held her in his lap, -she began to grieve in a low, subdued whimper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The dear little creature! How she tries to restrain her -tears!” said Vance. “Cry, darling, cry!” he added, while the -moisture began to suffuse his own eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then, taking from his pocket a small morocco case, he said -to Mrs. Berwick, “I have some diluted arnica here, madam, -the best lotion in the world for a bruise. With your permission -I will apply it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do so,” said the mother. “I know the remedy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And, pulling from a side pocket of his coat a fresh handkerchief -of the finest linen, he wet it with the liquid, and applied -it tenderly to the bruise, all the while engaging the child’s attention -with prattle suited to her comprehension, and telling -her what a brave good little girl she was.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What is your name?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She tried to utter it, but, failing to make herself understood, -the mother helped her to say, “Clara Aylesford Berwick.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Aylesford!” said Vance, thoughtfully. Then, gazing in the -child’s face, he rejoined: “How strange! Her eyes are dissimilar. -One is a decided gray, the other a blue.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” said Berwick; “she gets the handsome eye from me; -the other from her mamma.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Conceited man! cease your trifling!” interposed the lady.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance picked up from the deck a little sleeve-button of -gold and coral. It had been dropped in the child’s fall.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>“This must belong to Miss Clara,” said Vance, “for it bears -the initials C. A. B.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The mother took it and fixed it in the little dimity pelisse -which the child wore.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hattie now offered to receive Miss Clara from Vance’s arms; -but, with an utterance and gesture of remonstrance, the child -signified she did not choose to be parted without a kiss; so he -bent down and kissed her, while she threw her little arms about -his neck. Then seeing the boy, who felt like a culprit for -chasing her, she called him to her and gave him absolution by -the same token. Thanking Vance for his service, Mr. Berwick -walked away with Leonora.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s a noble boy of yours, sir,” said Vance, addressing -himself to Mr. Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>All the father’s displeasure vanished with the compliment, -and he replied, “Yes, Robert <em>is</em> a noble boy; that’s the true -word for him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I fear,” resumed Vance, “I gave you some cause just now -to form a bad opinion of me because of my conduct to one of -the waiters.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To be frank,” replied Onslow, “I <em>did</em> feel surprise that you -should take not only the strong side, but the wrong one.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Onslow, did you ever read Parnell’s poem of the ‘Hermit’?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, it was one of the favorites of my youth.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And do you remember how many things seemed wrong to -the hermit that he afterwards found to be right?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I perceive the drift of your allusion, sir,” returned Onslow; -“but I am puzzled, nevertheless.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps one of these days you will be enlightened.” Then, -changing the subject, Vance remarked, “How do you succeed -in Texas in your attempt to substitute free labor for that of -slaves?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My success has been all I could have hoped; but the more -successful I am, the more imminent is my failure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why so? That sounds like a paradox.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The rich slave-owners look with fear and dislike on my -experiment.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What else could you expect, Mr. Onslow? Take a case, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>publicly vouched for as true. Not long since a New York capitalist -purchased mineral lands in Virginia, with a view to working -them. He went on the ground and hired some of the white -inhabitants of the neighborhood as laborers. All promised -well, when lo! a committee of slaveholders, headed by one -Jenkins,<a id='r15' /><a href='#f15' class='c014'><sup>[15]</sup></a> waited on him, and told him he must discharge his -hands and hire <em>slaves</em>. The white laborers offered to work at -reduced wages rather than give up their employment, but they -were overawed, and their employer was compelled by the slave -despots to abandon his undertaking and return to a State where -white laborers have rights.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And yet,” said Onslow, “there are politicians who try to -persuade the people that the enslaving of a black man removes -him from competition with white labor; whereas the direct -effect of slavery is to give to slaveholders the monopoly and -control of the most desirable kinds of labor, and to enable them -to degrade and impoverish the white laboring man!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here the furious ringing of a bell called the gentlemen to -dinner.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XI.<br />MR. ONSLOW SPEAKS HIS MIND.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“How faint through din of merchandise</div> - <div class='line in6'>And count of gain</div> - <div class='line'>Has seemed to us the captive’s cries!</div> - <div class='line'>How far away the tears and sighs</div> - <div class='line in6'>Of souls in pain!”</div> - <div class='line in25'><cite>Whittier.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>An opportunity for resuming the conversation did not occur -till long after sundown, and when many of the passengers -were retiring to bed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have heard, Mr. Onslow,” said Vance, “that since your -removal to Texas you have liberated your slaves.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have been rightly informed,” replied Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And how did they succeed as freedmen?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Two thirds of them poorly, the remaining third well.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Does not such a fact rather bear against emancipation, and -in favor of slavery?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Quite the contrary. I am aware that the enthusiastic Mr. -Ruskin maintains that slavery is ‘not a political institution at -all, but an inherent, natural, and eternal inheritance of a large -portion of the human race.’ But as his theory would involve -the enslaving of white men as well as black, I think we may -dismiss it as the sportive extravagance of one better qualified -to dogmatize than argue.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But is he not right in the application of his theory to the -black race?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Far from it. Look at the white men you and I knew some -twenty-five years ago. How many of them have turned out -sots, gluttons, thieves, incapables! Shall the thrifty and wise, -therefore, enslave the imprudent and foolish? Assuredly not, -whatever such clever men as Mr. Ruskin and Mr. Thomas -Carlyle may say in extenuation of such a proceeding.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do not escaped or emancipated negroes often voluntarily -return to slavery?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>“Not often, but occasionally; and so occasionally a white -man commits an offence in order that he may be put in the penitentiary. -A poor negro is emancipated or escapes. He goes -to Philadelphia or New York, and has a hard time getting his -grub. In a year or two he drifts back to his old master’s plantation, -anxious to be received again by one who can insure to -him his rations of mush; and so he declares there’s no place -like ‘old Virginny for a nigger.’ Then what pæans go up in behalf -of the patriarchal system! What a conclusive argument -this that ‘niggers will be niggers,’ and that slavery is right and -holy! Slave-drivers catch at the instance to stiffen up their -consciences, and to stifle that inner voice that is perpetually -telling them (in spite of the assurances of bishops, clergymen, -and literary <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><i>dilettanti</i></span> to the contrary) that slavery is a violation -of justice and of that law of God written on the heart -and formulized by Christ, that we must do unto others as we -would have them do unto us, and that therefore liberty is the -God-given right of every innocent and able-minded man. Instances -like that I have supposed, instead of being a palliation -of slavery, are to my mind new evidences of its utter sinfulness. -A system that can so degrade humanity as to make -a man covet repression or extinction for his manhood must -be devilish indeed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Mr. Onslow, do not statistics prove that the blacks -increase and multiply much more in a state of slavery than -in any other? Is not that a proof they are well treated and -happy?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is the most hideous argument yet in favor of the system. -In slavery women are stimulated by the beastly ambition -of contending which shall bear ‘the most little nigs for massa’! -Among these poor creatures the diseases consequent upon too -frequent child-bearing are dreadfully prevalent. Surely the -welfare of a people must be measured, not by the mere amount -of animal contentment or of rapid breeding with which they -can be credited, but by the sum of manly acting and thinking -they can show. A whole race of human beings is not created -merely to eat mush, hoe in cotton-fields, and procreate slaves. -The example of one such escaped slave as Frederick Douglas -shows that the blacks are capable of as high a civilization as -the <a id='corr98.39'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='whites”'>whites.”</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_98.39'><ins class='correction' title='whites”'>whites.”</ins></a></span></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>“Do they not seem to you rather feeble in the moral -faculty?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No more feeble than any race would be, treated as they -have been. The other day there fell into my hands a volume -of sermons for pious slaveholders to preach to their slaves. It -is from the pen of the excellent Bishop Meade of Virginia. -The Bishop says to poor Cuffee: ‘Your bodies, you know, are -not your own; they are at the disposal of those you belong to; -<em>but your precious souls are still your own</em>.’ What impious -cajolery is this? The master has an unlimited, irresponsible -power over the slave, from childhood up,—can force him to act -as he wills, however conscience may protest! The slave may -be compelled to commit crimes or to reconcile himself to wrongs, -familiarity with which may render his soul, like his body, the -mere unreasoning, impassive tool of his master. And yet a -bishop is found to try to cozen Cuffee out of the little common -sense slavery may have left him, by telling him he is responsible -for that soul, which may be stunted, soiled, perverted in -any way avarice or power may choose.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Mr. Onslow, will you deny that slavery has an ennobling -effect in educating a chivalrous, brave, hospitable aristocracy -of whites, untainted by those meannesses which are -engendered by the greed of gain in trading communities?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will not deny,” replied Onslow, “that the habit of irresponsible -command may develop certain qualities, sometimes -good, sometimes bad, in the slave-driver; and so the exercise of -the lash by the overseer may develop the extensor muscles of -the arm; but the evils to the whites from slavery far, far outbalance -the benefits. First, there are the five millions of mean, -non-slaveholding whites. These the system has reduced to a -condition below that of the slave himself, in many cases. -Slavery becomes at once their curse and their infatuation. It -fascinates while it crushes them; it drugs and stupefies while -it robs and degrades.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But may we not claim advantages from the system for the -few,—for the upper three hundred thousand?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That depends on what you may esteem advantages. Can -an injustice be an advantage to the perpetrator? The man -who betrays a moneyed trust, and removes to Europe with his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>family, may in one sense derive an advantage from the operation. -He may procure the means of educating and amusing -himself and his children. So the slaveholder, by depriving -other men of their inherent rights, may get the means of benefiting -himself and those he cares for. But if he is content with -such advantages, it must be because of a torpid, uneducated, or -perverted conscience. Patrick Henry was right when he said, -‘Slavery is inconsistent with the religion of Christ.’ O’Connell -was right when he declared, ‘No constitutional law can create -or sanction slavery.’ I have often thought that Mississippians -would never have been reconciled to that stupendous public -swindle, politely called repudiation, if slavery had not first prepared -their minds for it by the robbery of labor. And yet we -have men like Jefferson Davis,<a id='r16' /><a href='#f16' class='c014'><sup>[16]</sup></a> who not only palliate, but approve -the cheat. O the atrocity! O the shame! With what -face can a repudiating community punish thieves?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Shall we not,” asked Vance, “at least grant the slaveholder -the one quality he so anxiously claims,—that which he expresses -in the word <em>chivalry</em>?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Onslow shrugged his shoulders, and replied: “Put before -the chivalrous slaveholder a poor fanatic of an Abolitionist, -caught in the act of tampering with slaves, and then ask this -representative of the chivalry to be magnanimous. No! the -mean instincts of what he deems self-interest will make him a -fiend in cruelty. He looks upon the Abolitionist very much as -a gunpowder manufacturer would look upon the wandering -Celt who should approach his establishment with a lighted pipe -in his mouth; and he cheerfully sees the culprit handed over to -the tender mercies of a mob of ignorant white barbarians.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you, then, deny that slavery develops any high qualities -in the master?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And if it did, what right have I to develop my high qualities -at another’s expense? Yes! Jefferson is right when he -says: ‘The whole commerce between master and slave is a -perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions; the most unremitting -despotism on the one part and degrading submissions -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>on the other. The man must be a prodigy who can retain his -manners and his morals undepraved by such circumstances.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Onslow paced the deck for a moment, and then, returning, -exclaimed: “O the unspeakable crimes, barbarities, and -deviltries to which the system has educated men here at the -South during the last thirty years! Educated not merely the -poor and ignorant, but the rich and refined! The North knows -hardly a tithe of the actual horrors. Worse than the wildest -religious fanaticism, slavery sees men tortured, hung, mutilated, -subjected to every conceivable indignity, cruelty, agony, -simply because the victim is unsound, or suspected to be unsound, -on the one supreme question. I myself have been often -threatened, and sometimes the presentiment is strong upon me -that my end will be a bloody one. I should not long be safe, -were it not that in our region there are brave men who, like -me, begin to question the divinity of the obscene old hag.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Onslow again walked away, and then, coming close up -to Vance, said in low tones: “But retribution must come,—as -sure as God lives, retribution must come, and that speedily! -Slavery must die, in order that Freedom and Civilization may -live. I see it in all the signs of the times, in all the straws -that drift by me on the current of events. Retribution must -come,—come with bloodshed, anguish, and desolation to both -North and South,—to Slavery, with spasms of diabolical -cruelty, violence, and unholy wrath, and to Freedom with -trials long and doubtful, but awaking the persistent energy -which a righteous cause will inspire, and leading ultimately to -permanent triumph and to the annihilation on this continent of -the foul power which has ruled us so long, and which shall -dare to close in deadly combat with the young genius of universal -Liberty.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance grasped Onslow by the hand, but seemed too excited -to speak. Then, as if half ashamed of his emotion, he said, -“Will there be men at the South, think you, to array themselves -on the side of freedom, in the event of a collision?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There will be such men, but, until the slave-power shall be -annihilated forever, they will be a helpless minority. A few -rich leaders control the masses which Slavery has herself first -imbruted. Crush out slavery, and there will be regenerators -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>of the land who will spring up by thousands to welcome their -brethren of the North, whose interests, like theirs, lie in universal -freedom and justice.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You do not, then, believe those who tell us there is an eternal -incompatibility between the people of the slaveholding and -non-slaveholding States?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bah! These exaggerations, the rhetoric of feeble spirits, -and the logic of false, are stuff and rubbish to any true student -of human nature. There is no incompatibility between North -and South, except what slavery engenders and strives to intensify. -Strike away slavery, and the people gravitate to each -other by laws higher than the bad passions of your Rhetts, -Yanceys, and Maurys. The small-beer orators and forcible-feeble -writers of the South, who are eternally raving about -the mean, low-born Yankees, and laboring to excite alienation -and prejudice, are merely the tools of a few plotting oligarchs -who hope to be the chiefs of a Southern Confederacy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And must civil war necessarily follow from a separation?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As surely as thunder follows from the lightning-rent! -Yes, Webster is undoubtedly right: there can be no such thing -as peaceable secession, and I rejoice that there cannot be.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But would not a civil war render inevitable that alienation -which these Richmond scribblers are trying to antedate?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No. Enmity would be kept up long enough for the slave-power -to be scotched and killed, and then the people of both -sections would see that there was nothing to keep them apart, -that their interests are identical. The true people of the -South would soon realize that the three hundred thousand -slaveholders are even more <em>their</em> enemies than enemies of the -North. A reaction against our upstart aristocracy (an aristocracy -resting on tobacco-casks and cotton-bales) would ensue, -and the South would be republicanized,—a consummation -which slavery has thus far prevented. South Carolina was -Tory in the Revolution, just as she is now. Abolish slavery, and -we should be United States in fact as well as in name. Abolish -slavery, and you abolish sectionalism with it. Abolish -slavery, and you let the masses North and South see that their -welfare lies in the preservation of the republic, one and indivisible.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>“And do you anticipate civil war?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, such a civil war as the world has never witnessed.<a id='r17' /><a href='#f17' class='c014'><sup>[17]</sup></a> -The devil of slavery must go out of us, and as it is the worst -of all the devils that ever afflicted mankind, it can go out only -through unprecedented convulsions and tearings and agonies. -The North must suffer as well as the South, for the North -shares in the guilt of slavery, and there are thousands of men -there who shut their eyes to its enormities. Believe me, their -are high spiritual laws underlying national offences; and the -Nemesis that must punish ours is near at hand. Slavery must -be destroyed, and war is the only instrumentality that I can -conceive of energetic enough to do it. Through war, then, -must slavery be destroyed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And I care not how soon!” said Vance. Then, lowering -his tone, he remarked: “Have you not been imprudent in confiding -your views to a stranger, who could have you lynched at -the next landing-place by reporting them?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps. But I bide the risk; you have not been so -shrewd an actor, sir, that I have not seen behind the mask.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance started at the word <em>actor</em>, then said, looking up at the -stars: “What a beautiful night! Does not the Champion seem -to be gaining on us?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have been thinking so for some minutes,” replied Onslow. -“Good night, Mr.——. Excuse me. I haven’t the pleasure -of knowing your name.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And yet we have met before, Mr. Onslow, and under circumstances -that ought to make me remembered.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To what do you allude?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I was once brought before you for horse-stealing, and, what -is more, you found me guilty of the charge, and rightly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then my recollection was not at fault, after all!” exclaimed -Onslow, astonished. “But were you indeed guilty?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I certainly took a horse, but it was a case of necessity. -A friend of mine, a colored man, in defence of his liberty, had -wounded his master, so called, and was flying for life. To -save him I robbed the robber,—took his horse and gave it to -his victim, enabling the latter to get off safely. The fact of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>my taking the horse was clearly proved, but my motive was not -discovered. If it had been, Judge Lynch would surely have -relieved you of the care of me. You, as justice of the peace, -remanded me to prison for trial. That night I escaped. In -an outer room of the jail I found a knife and half of a slaughtered -calf. The knife I put in my pocket. The carcass I -threw over my shoulder, and ran. In the morning I found five -valuable bloodhounds on my track. I climbed a tree, and when -they came under it, I fed them till they were all tame, and -allowed me to descend; and then I cut their throats, lest they -should be used to hunt down fugitives from slavery. Two days -afterwards I was safe on board a steamboat, on my way North.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who, then, <em>are</em> you, sir?” asked Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance whispered a word in reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Onslow seemed agitated for a moment, and then exclaimed, -“But I thought he was dead!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The report originated with those who took the reward -offered for his head. Mr. Onslow, I have repaid your frankness -with a similar frankness of my own. To-morrow morning, -at ten o’clock, meet me here, and you shall hear more of my -story. Good night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The gentlemen parted, each retiring to his state-room for -repose.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XII.<br />THE STORY OF ESTELLE.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,</div> - <div class='line'>Tears from the depth of some divine despair,</div> - <div class='line'>Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,</div> - <div class='line'>In looking on the happy autumn-fields</div> - <div class='line'>And thinking of the days that are no more.”</div> - <div class='line in33'><cite>Tennyson.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Balmy, bright, and beautiful broke the succeeding morning. -Every passenger as he came on deck looked astern -to see what had become of the Champion. She still kept her -usual distance, dogging the Pontiac with the persistency of a -fate. Captain Crane said nothing, but it was noticeable that -he puffed away at his cigar with increased vigor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Vance encountered the Berwicks once more on the hurricane -deck and interchanged greetings. Little Clara recognized -her friend of the day before, and, jumping from Hattie’s -lap, ran and pulled his coat, looking up in his face, and pouting -her lips for a kiss.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I fancy I see two marked traits in your little girl, already,” -said Vance to the mother, after he had saluted the child; “she -is strong in the affections, and has a will-power that shows -itself in self-control.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You are right,” replied the mother; “I have known her -to bite her lips till the blood came, in her effort to keep from -crying.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Such is her individuality,” continued Vance. “I doubt if -circumstances of education could do much to misshape her -moral being.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! that is a fearful consideration,” said the lady; “we -cannot say how far the best of us would have been perverted -if our early training had been unpropitious.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I knew your father, Mrs. Berwick. He found me, a stranger -stricken down by fever, forsaken and untended, in a miserable -shanty called a tavern, in Southern Illinois, in the sickly season. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>He devoted himself to me till I was convalescent. I -shall never forget his kindness. Will you allow mg to look at -that little seal on your watch-chain? It ought to bear the letters -‘W. C. to R. A.’ Thank you. Yes, there they are! I -sent him the seal as a memento. The cutting is my own.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall regard it with a new interest,” said Mrs. Berwick, -as she took it back.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Onslow here appeared and bade the party good morning.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I feel that I am among friends,” said Vance. “I last night -promised Mr. Onslow a story. Did you ever hear of the redoubtable -Gashface, Mr. Berwick?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, and I warn you, sir, that I am quite enough of an -Abolitionist to hold his memory in a sort of respect.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bold words to utter on the Southern Mississippi! But do -not be under concern: I myself am Gashface. Yes. The -report of his being killed is a lie. Are you in a mood to hear -his story, Mrs. Berwick?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall esteem it a privilege, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The last time I told it was to your father. Be seated, and -try and be as patient as he was in listening.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The party arranged themselves in chairs; and Mr. Vance -was about to take up his parable, when the figure of Colonel -Delancy Hyde was seen emerging from the stairs leading from -the lower deck.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hah! Mr. Vance, I’m yourn,” exclaimed the Colonel, with -effusion. “Been lookin’ fur yer all over the boat. Introduce -yer friends ter me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance took from his pocket the Colonel’s card, and read -aloud the contents of it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“From Virginia, ma’am,” supplemented the Colonel, who -was already redolent of Bourbon; “the name of Delancy -Hyde hahz been in the family more ’n five hunderd yarz. -Fak, ma’am! My father owned more slaves nor he could count. -Ef it hahdn’t been fur a damned Yankee judge, we sh’d hahv -held more land nor you could ride over in a day. Them low-born -Yankees, ma’am, air jes’ fit to fetch an’ carry for us as air -the master race; to larn our childern thar letters an’ make our -shoes, as the Greeks done fur the Romans, ma’am. Ever read -the Richmond newspapers, ma’am? John Randolph wunst -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>said he’d go out of his way to kick a sheep. I’d go out of -my way, ma’am, to kick a Yankee.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you’re disposed to listen to a story, Colonel,” said -Vance, “take a chair.” And he pointed to one the furthest -from Mrs. Berwick. “I am about to read an autobiography of -the fellow Gashface, of whom you have heard.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Vance drew from his pocket a small visiting card -crowded close with stenographic characters in manuscript.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An’ that’s an auter—what d’ yer call it,—is it?” asked -the Colonel. “Cur’ous!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel reinforced himself with a plug of tobacco, and -Vance began to recite what he called, for the occasion, “The -Autobiography of Gashface.” But we prefer to name it</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><span class='large'><span class="blackletter">The Story of Estelle.</span></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>I was born in New Orleans, and am the son of William -Carteret. He was a Virginian by birth, the younger son of a -planter, whose forefather, a poor Yorkshire gentleman, came -over from England with Sir Thomas Dale in the year 1611. -You might think me false to my father’s native State if I did -not vindicate my claim to a descent from one of the first Virginia -families. You must be aware that all the gentle blood -that flowed from Europe to this continent sought Virginia as its -congenial reservoir. It would be difficult to find a low-born -white man in the whole eastern section of the State.</p> - -<p class='c001'>[“That’s a fak!” interposed the Colonel.]</p> - -<p class='c001'>My grandfather died in 1820, leaving all his property to his -eldest son, Albert. (Virginia then had her laws of primogeniture.) -Albert generously offered to provide for my father, but -the latter, finding that Albert could not do this without reducing -the provision for his sisters, resolved to seek fortune at the -North. He went to New York, where he studied medicine. -But here he encountered Miss Peyton, a beautiful girl from -Virginia, nobly supporting herself by giving instruction in -music. He married her, and they consoled themselves for -their poverty by their fidelity and devotion to each other. -The loss of their first child, in consequence, as my father -believed, of the unhealthy location of his house, induced him -to make extraordinary efforts to earn money.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>After various fruitless attempts to establish himself in some -lucrative employment, he made his <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>début</i></span>, under an assumed -name, at the Park Theatre, in the character of Douglas, in -Home’s once famous tragedy of that name. My father’s choice -of this part is suggestive of the moderate but respectable character -of his success. He played to the judicious few; but their -verdict in his favor was not sufficiently potent to make him a -popular actor. He soon had to give up the high starring parts, -and to content himself with playing the gentleman of comedies -or the second part in tragedies. In this humbler line he gained -a reputation which has not yet died out in theatrical circles. -He could always command good engagements for the theatrical -season in respectable stock-companies. He was fulfilling one -of these engagements in New Orleans when I was born.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A month afterwards he ended his career in a manner that -sent a thrill through the public heart. He was one evening -playing Othello for his own benefit. Grateful for a crowded -house, he was putting forth his best powers, and with extraordinary -success. Never had such plaudits greeted and inspired -him. The property-man, whose duty it is to furnish all the articles -needed by the actor, had given him at rehearsal a blunted -dagger, so contrived with a spring that it seemed to pierce the -breast when thrust against it. At night this false dagger was -mislaid, and the property-man handed him a real one, omitting -in the hurry of the moment to inform him of the change. In -uttering the closing words of his part,—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“I took by the throat the circumci-sed dog,</div> - <div class='line'>And smote him <em>thus</em>,”—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c018'>my father inflicted upon himself, not a mimic, but a real stab, -so forcible that he did not survive it ten minutes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Great was my mother’s anguish at her loss. She was not -left utterly destitute. My father had not fallen into the besetting -sins of the profession. He saw in it a way to competence, -if he would but lead a pure and thrifty life. In the seven -years he had been on the stage he had laid up seven thousand -dollars. Pride would not let him allow my mother to labor -for her support. But now she gladly accepted from the manager -an offer of twenty-five dollars a week as “walking lady.” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>On this sum she contrived for seventeen years to live decently -and educate her son liberally.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At last sickness obliged her to give up her theatrical engagement. -She had invested her seven thousand dollars in bonds -of the Planters’ Bank of Mississippi, to the redemption of which -the faith of that State was pledged. The repudiation of the -bonds by the State authorities, under the instigation of Mr. Jefferson -Davis, deprived her of her last resource. Impoverished -in means, broken in health, and unable to labor, she fell into a -decline and died.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The humane manager gave me a situation in his company. -I became an actor, and for seven years played the part of second -young gentleman in comedies and melodramas; also such -parts as Horatio in “Hamlet” or Macduff in “Macbeth.” But -my heart was not in my vocation. It had chagrins which I -could not stomach.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One evening I was playing the part of a lover. The <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>dramatis -persona</i></span> of whom I was supposed to be enamored was represented -by Miss B——, rather a showy, voluptuous figure, but -whom I secretly disliked for qualities the reverse of those of -Cæsar’s wife. Instead of allowing my aversion to appear, I -played with the appropriate ardor. In performing the “business” -of the part, I was about to <em>kiss</em> her, when I heard a loud, -solitary hiss from a person in an orchestra box. He was a -man of a full face, very fair red-and-white complexion, and -thick black whiskers,—precisely what a coarse feminine taste -would call “a handsome fellow.” Folding my arms, I walked -towards the foot-lights, and asked what he wanted. “None of -your business, you damned stroller!” replied he; “I have a -right to hiss, I suppose.” “And I have a right to pronounce -you a blackguard, I suppose,” returned I. The audience applauded -my rebuke, and laughed at the handsome man, who, -with scarlet cheeks, rose and left the house. I learned he was -a Mr. Ratcliff, a rich planter, and an admirer of Miss B——.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Soon after this adventure I quitted the profession, and for -some time gave myself up to study. My tastes were rather -musical than histrionic; and having from boyhood been a proficient -on the piano-forte, I at last, when all my money was -exhausted, offered my services to the public as a teacher.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>My first pupil was Henri Dufour, the only son of the widow -of a French physician. It was soon agreed that, for the greater -convenience of Henri, and in payment for his tuition, I should -become a member of the family, which was small, consisting -only of himself, his mother, Jane, a black slave, and Estelle, a -white girl who occupied the position of a humble companion of -the widow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>[At this point in the narrative, Mr. Quattles appeared at the -head of the stairs, and, with his forefinger placed on the side -of his long nose, winked expressively at Colonel Hyde. The -latter rose, and said, “Sorry to go, Mr. Vance; but the fak is, -I’m in fur a hahnd at euchre, an’ jest cum up ter see ef you’d -jine us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’re too gallant a man, Colonel Delancy Hyde,” replied -Vance, “not to agree with me, when I say, Duty to ladies first.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yer may bet yer pile on that, Mr. Vance; the ladies fust -ollerz; but Madame will ’scuze <em>me</em>, I reckon. Hahd a high -old time, ma’am, last night, an’ an almighty bahd streak of luck. -Must make up fur it somehow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Business before pleasure, Colonel,” said Vance. “We’ll -excuse you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And the Colonel, with a lordly sweep of his arm, by way of -a bow, joined his companion, Quattles, to whom he remarked, -“A high-tone Suthun gemmleman that, and one as does credit -to his raisin’.” The companions having disappeared, Vance -proceeded with his story.]</p> - -<p class='c001'>Let me call up before you, if I can, the image of Estelle. -In person about three inches shorter than I (and I am five feet -six), slender, lithe, and willowy, yet compactly rounded, straight, -and singularly graceful in every movement; a neck and bust -that might have served Powers for a model when the Greek -Slave was taking form in his brain; a head admirably proportioned -to all these symmetries; a face rather Grecian than Roman, -and which always reminded me of that portrait of Beatrice -Cenci by Guido, made so familiar to us through copies and engravings; -a portrait tragic as the fate of the original in its serene -yet mournful expression. But Estelle’s hair differed from -that of Beatrice in not being auburn, but of a rare and beautiful -olive tint, almost like the bark of the laburnum-tree, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>exquisitely fine and thick. In complexion she could not be -called either a blonde or a brunette; although her dark blue -eyes seemed to attach her rather to the former classification. -She was one of the few beautiful women I have seen, whose -beauty was not marred by a besetting self-consciousness of -beauty, betrayed in every look and movement, and even in the -tones of the voice. In respect to her personal charms Estelle -was as unconscious as a moss-rose.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Dufour was an invalid, selfish, parsimonious, and exacting; -but Estelle, in devotion to that lady’s service and in adaptation -to her caprices, showed a patience and a tact so admirable -that it was difficult to guess whether they were the result of -sincere affection or of a simple sense of duty.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Henri, my pupil in music, was a youth of sixteen, who inherited -not only his mother’s morbid constitution, but her ungenerous -qualities of heart and temper. Arrogant and vain, he -seemed to regard me in the light of a menial, and I could not -find in him intellect enough to make him sensible of his folly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I spent my last twenty dollars in advertising; but no new -pupil appeared in answer to my insinuating appeal. My wardrobe -began to get impaired; my broadcloth to lose its nap, and -my linen to give evidence of premeditated poverty. One day -I marvelled at finding in my drawer a shirt completely renovated, -with new wristbands, bosom, and collar. The next week -the miracle was repeated. Had Mrs. Dufour opened her heart -and her purse? Impossible! Had Jane, my washerwoman, -slyly performed the service? She honestly denied it. I pursued -my investigations no further.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next Sunday, in putting on my best pantaloons, I found -in the right pocket two gold quarter-eagles. Yes! There -could now be no doubt. I had misjudged Mrs. Dufour. Her -stinginess was all a pretence. Touched with gratitude, yet humiliated, -I went to return the gold. It was plain that Madame -knew nothing about it. I looked at Estelle, who sat at a window -mending a muslin collar.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you explain, Mademoiselle?” I asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Explain what?” she inquired, as if she had been too absorbed -in her own thoughts to hear a word of the conversation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you explain how those gold pieces came into my -pocket?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>Without the least sign of guilt, she replied, “I cannot explain, -sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Was she deceiving me? I thought not. Though we had -met twice a day at meals for weeks, her demeanor towards me -had been always distant and reserved.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was my habit daily, after giving a morning lesson to my -pupil, to walk a couple of hours on the Levee. One forenoon, -on account of the heat of the weather, I returned home an hour -earlier than usual. Henri and his mother were out riding. As -I entered the house I heard the sound of the piano, and stopped -in the hall to listen. It was Estelle at the instrument.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had left on the music-stand a rough score of my arrangement -of that remarkable composition, then newly published in -Europe, the music and words of which Colonel Pestal wrote -with a link of his fetters on his prison-wall the day before his -execution. I had translated the original song, and written it on -the same page with the music. What was my astonishment to -hear the whole piece,—this new <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><cite>De Profundis</cite></span>, this mortal cry -from the depths of a proud, indignant heart,—a cry condensed -by music into tones the most apt and fervid,—now reproduced -by Estelle with such passionate power, such reality of emotion, -that I was struck at once with admiration and with horror.</p> - -<p class='c001'>They were not, then, for Pestal so much as for Estelle,—those -utterances of holy wrath and angelic defiance! The -words by themselves are simple,—commonplace, if you will.<a id='r18' /><a href='#f18' class='c014'><sup>[18]</sup></a> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>But, conveyed to the ear through Pestal’s music and Estelle’s -voice, they seemed vivid with the very lightning of the soul. -As she sang, the victim towered above the oppressor like an -archangel above a fiend. The prison-walls fell outward, and -the welcoming heavens opened to the triumphant captive.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I entered the room. She turned suddenly. Her face had -not yet recovered from the expression of those emotions which -the song had called up. She rose with the air of an avenging -goddess. Then, seeing me, she drew up her clasped hands to -her bosom with a gesture full of grace and eloquent with -deprecation, and said, “Forgive me if I have disturbed your -papers.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Estelle!” I began. Then, seeing her look of surprise, I -said, “Excuse me if the address is too familiar; but I know -you by no other name.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Estelle is all sufficient,” she replied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, then, Estelle, you have moved me by your singing as -I was never moved before,—so terribly in earnest did you -seem! What does it mean?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It means,” she replied, “that you have adapted the music -to a faithful translation of the words.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have heard you play,” said I, “but why have you kept -me in ignorance of your powers as a singer?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My powers, such as they are,” she said, “have been rarely -used since I left the convent. I can give little time now -to music. Indeed, the hour I have given to it this morning -was stolen, and I must make up for it. So good by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stay, Estelle,” said I, seizing her hand. “There is a mystery -which hangs over you like a cloud. Tell me what it is. -Your eyes look as if a storm of unshed tears were brooding -behind them. Your expression is always sad. Can I in any -way help you? Can I render a true brother’s service?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She stood, looking me in the face, and it was plain, from a -certain convulsed effort at deglutition, that she was striving to -swallow back the big grief that heaved itself up from her heart. -She wavered as if half inclined to reveal something. There -was the noise of a carriage at the door; and, pressing my hand -gently, she said, with an effort at a smile that should have been -a sob, “Thank you; you cannot—help me; my mistress is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>at the door; good by.” And dropping my hand, she glided -out of the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I can never forget her as she then appeared in her virginal, -spring-like beauty, with her profuse silky hair parted plainly -in front, and folded in a classic knot behind, with her dress of -a light gauze-like material, and an unworked muslin collar -about her neck having a simple blue ribbon passing under it -and fastened in front with a little cross of gold. How unpretending -and unadorned,—and yet what a charm was lent to her -whole attire by her consummate grace of person and of action!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Dufour entered, and I did not see Estelle again that -day.</p> - -<hr class='c019' /> - -<p class='c001'>It was that fearful summer when the fever seemed to be -indiscriminate in its ravages. Not only transient visitors in -the city, but old residents long acclimated, natives of the city, -physicians and nurses, were smitten down. Many fled from -the pest-ridden precincts. Whole blocks of houses were deserted. -There were few doors at which Death did not knock -for one or more of the inmates.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My pupil, Henri Dufour, was taken ill on a Saturday, and -on Wednesday his mortal remains were conveyed to the cemetery. -I had tended him day and night, and was much worn -down by watchings and anxiety. Jane, a hired black domestic, -was wanted by her owner, and left us. All the work of our -diminished household now fell on Estelle. As for Madame -Dufour, she lived in a hysterical fear lest the inevitable summoner -should visit her next. She was continually imagining -that the symptoms were upon her. One day she fell into an -unusual state of alarm. I was alone with her in the house. -Estelle had gone out without asking permission,—an extraordinary -event. I did what I could for the invalid, and, by her -direction, called in a physician whose carriage she had seen -standing at a neighboring door.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The poor little doctor seemed flurried and overworked, and -an odor of brandy came from his breath. He assured Mrs. -Dufour that her symptoms were wholly of the imagination, and -that if she would keep tranquil, all danger would speedily pass. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>He administered a dose of laudanum. It afterwards occurred -to me that he had given three times the usual quantity. He -received his fee and departed; and I sat down behind the -curtain of an alcove so as to be within call.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Three minutes had not elapsed when Estelle burst into the -room, and in a voice low and husky, as if with overpowering -agitation, exclaimed: “You have deceived me, Madame! Mr. -Semmes tells me you never gave him any orders about a will. -Do you mean to cheat me? Beware! Tell me this instant! -tell me! Will you do it? Will you do it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Estelle! how can you?” whined Mrs. Dufour. “At such -a time, when the slightest agitation may bring on the fever, -how can you trouble me on such a subject?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No evasion!” exclaimed Estelle, in imperious tones. “I -demand it,—I exact it,—now—this instant! You shall—you -shall perform it!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Madame had some vague superstitious notion connected with -the signing of a will, and she murmured: “I shall do nothing at -present; I’m not in a state to sign my name. The doctor -said I must be tranquil. How can you be so selfish, Estelle? -Do you imagine I’m going to die, that you are so urgent just -now?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You told me three months ago,” replied Estelle, “that the -will had been regularly signed and witnessed. You lied! If -you now refuse to make amends, do not hope for peace either -in this world or the next. No priest shall attend you here, and -my curses shall pursue you down to hell to double the damnation -your sin deserves! Will you sign, if I bring the notary?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Dufour began to moan, and complain of her symptoms, -while I could hear Estelle pacing the room like a caged tigress. -Suddenly she stood still, and cried, “Do you still refuse?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The moaning of the invalid had been succeeded by a stertorous -breathing, as if she had been suddenly overcome by sleep.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She is stone,—stone! She sleeps!—she has no heart!” -groaned Estelle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I now left the alcove. Estelle knelt weeping with her face -on the sofa. I touched her on the head, and she started up -alarmed. She saw tears of sympathy on my cheek. I drew -her away with my arm about her waist, and said, “Come! -come and tell me all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>She let me lead her down-stairs into the parlor. I placed -her in an arm-chair, and sat on a low ottoman at her feet. -“Tell me all, Estelle,” I repeated. “What does it mean?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I then drew from her these facts. Her mother, though undistinguishable -from a white woman, had been a slave belonging -to a Mr. Huger, a sugar-planter. She was <em>reputed</em> to be -the daughter of what the Creoles call a <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>meamelouc</i></span>, that is, the -offspring of a white man and a metif mother, a metif being -the offspring of a white and a quarteron. This account of the -genealogy of Estelle’s mother I never had occasion to doubt -till years afterwards. The father of Estelle was Albert Grandeau, -a young Parisian of good family. Being suddenly called -home from Louisiana to France by the death of his parents, -he left America, promising to return the following winter, and -purchase the prospective mother of his child and take her to -Paris. This he honestly intended to do; but alas for good <em>intentions</em>! -It is good <em>deeds</em> only that are secure against the -caprices of Fate. The vessel in which Grandeau sailed foundered -at sea, and he was among the lost. Estelle’s mother -died in child-birth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And then Estelle,—on the well-known principle of Southern -law, “<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>proles sequitur ventrem</i></span>,”—in spite of her fair complexion, -was a slave. Mr. Huger dying, she fell to the portion of -his unmarried daughter, Louise, who was a member of the -newly established Convent of St. Vivia. She took Estelle, -then a mere child, with her to bring up. Fortunately for Estelle, -there were highly accomplished ladies in the convent, to -whom it was at once a delight and a duty to instruct the little -girl. French, English, and Italian were soon all equally familiar -to her, and before she was seventeen she surpassed, in -needlework and music, even her teachers. But the convent -of St. Vivia had been cheated in the title of its estate; and -through failure of funds, it was at length broken up. Soon -afterwards, Louise Huger, whose health had always been feeble, -died suddenly, leaving Estelle to her sister, Mrs. Dufour, with -the request that measures should be at once taken to secure -the maiden’s freedom, in the contingency of Mrs. Dufour’s demise. -It was the failure of the latter to take the proper steps -for Estelle’s manumission that now roused her anger and -anxiety.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>These disclosures on the part of Estelle awoke in me conflicting -emotions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Shall I confess it? Such was the influence of education, of -inherited prejudice, and of social proscription, that when she -told me she was a slave, I shuddered as a high-caste Brahmin -might when he finds that the man he has taken by the hand is -a Pariah. Estelle was too keen of penetration not to detect it; -and she drew her robe away from my touch, and moved her -chair back a little.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My ancestors, with the exception of my father, had been -slaveholders ever since 1625. I had lived all my life in a -community where slavery was held a righteous and a necessary -institution. I had never allowed myself to question its policy -or its justice. Skepticism as to a God or a future state was -venial, nay, rather fashionable; but woe to the youth who -should play the Pyrrhonist in the matter of slavery!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yet it was not fear, it was not self-interest, that made me -acquiesce; it was simply a failure to exercise my proper powers -of thought. I took the word of others,—of interested parties, -of social charlatans, of sordid, self-stultified fanatics,—that the -system was the best possible one that could be conceived of, -both for blacks and whites. From the false social atmosphere -in which I had grown up I had derived the accretions that went -to build up and solidify my moral being.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And so if St. Paul or Fenelon, Shakespeare or Newton, had -come to me with ebonized faces, I should have refused them -the privileges of an equal. To such folly are we shaped by -what we passively receive from society! To such outrages on -justice and common sense are we reconciled simply by the -inertness of our brains, not to speak of the hollowness of our -hearts!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Estelle paused, and almost despaired, when she saw the effect -upon me of her confession. But I pressed her to a conclusion -of her story, and then asked, “Who has any claim upon you, -in the event of Madame Dufour’s dying intestate?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nearly all her property,” replied Estelle, “is mortgaged to -her nephew, Carberry Ratcliff, and he is her only heir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Give me some account of him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He is a South Carolinian by birth. Some years ago he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>married a Creole lady, by whom he got a fine cotton-plantation -on the Red River, stocked with several hundred slaves. He -has a house and garden in Lafayette, but lives most of the -time on his plantation at Loraine.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you ever seen him?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; the first time only ten days ago, and he has been -here four times since to call on Madame Dufour, though he -rarely used to visit her oftener than twice a year.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Estelle spoke, her eyes flashed, and her breast heaved.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How did he behave to you, Estelle?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How should the lord of a plantation behave to a comely -female slave? Of course he insulted me both with looks and -words. What more could you expect of such a connoisseur in -flesh and blood as the planter who recruits his gangs at slave-auctions? -Do not ask me how he behaved.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I rose, deeply agitated, and paced the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What sort of a looking man is this Mr. Ratcliff?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She went to an <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>étagère</i></span> in a corner, opened a little box, and -took from it a daguerrotype, which she placed in my hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Looking at the likeness, I recognized the man who once insulted -me at the theatre.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I must go and attend to Madame Dufour,” said Estelle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me accompany you,” said I.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She made no objection. We went together into the chamber. -Estelle rushed to the bedside,—shook the invalid,—called her -aloud by name,—put her ear down to learn if she breathed,—put -her hand on the breast to find if the heart beat,—then -turned to me, and shrieked, “She is dead!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>What was to be done?</p> - -<p class='c001'>I led Estelle into the parlor. She sat down. Her face was -of a frightful pallor; but there was not the trace of a tear -in her eyes. The expression was that of blank, unmitigated -despair.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Poor, poor child!” I murmured. “What can I do for -her? Estelle, you must be saved,—but how?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>My words and my look seemed to inspire her with a hope. -She rose, sank upon both knees before me, lifted up her -clasped hands, and said: “O sir! O Mr. Carteret! as you -are a man, as you reverence the recollection of your mother, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>save me,—save me from the consequences of this death! -I am now the slave of Mr. Ratcliff; and what that involves -to me you can guess, but I, without a new agony, cannot explain. -Save me, dear sir! Good sir, kind sir, for God’s love, -save me!” And then, with a wild cry of despair, she added: -“I will be yours,—body and soul, I will be yours, if you will -only save me! I will be your slave,—your <em>anything</em>,—only -let me belong to one I can love and respect. Do not, do not -cast me off!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Cast you off, dear child? Never!” said I, and, raising her -to her feet, I kissed her forehead.</p> - -<p class='c001'>That first kiss! How shall I analyze it? It was pure and -tender as a mother’s, notwithstanding the utter abandonment -signified in the maiden’s words. That very self-surrender was -her security. Had she been shy, I might have been less cold. -But her look of disappointment showed she attributed that -coldness to some less flattering cause,—plainly to indifference, -if not to personal dislike. She could not detect in me the first -symptom of what she instinctively knew would be a guaranty -of my protection, stronger than duty.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Like all the slaves and descendants of slaves in Louisiana, of -all grades of color, she had been bred up to a knowledge that -it was a consequence of her condition that there could be no -marriage union between her and a respectable white man. Impressed -with this conviction, she had pleaded to be allowed to -remain in some convent, though it were but as a servant, for the -remainder of her life. The selfishness of her mistress and owner, -Miss Huger, put it out of her power to make this choice effectual. -Her kind-hearted Catholic instructors consoled her, as -well as they could, by the assurance that, being a slave, the sin -of any mode of life to which she might be forced would be -attended with absolution. But she had the horror which every -pure nature, strong in the affections, must feel, under like circumstances, -at the prospect of constraint. Since her life was to -be that of a slave, O that her master might be one she could -love, and who could love her! The first part of the dream -would be realized if I could buy her. What misery to think -that the latter part must remain unfulfilled!</p> - -<p class='c001'>I led her to a chair. She sat down and burst into a passion -<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>of tears. In vain I tried to console her by words. Supporting -her head with one hand, I then with the other smoothed back -the beautiful hair from her forehead. Gradually she became -calm. I knelt beside her, and said: “Estelle, compose yourself. -I promise you I will risk everything, life itself, to save you -from the fate you abhor. Now summon your best faculties, -and let us together devise some plan of proceeding.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She lifted my hand to her lips in gratitude, made me take a -seat by her side, and said: “Mr. Ratcliff or his agent may be -here any minute, and then you would be powerless. The first -step is to leave this house, and seek concealment.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know any place of refuge?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; I know a mulatto woman, named Mallet, who has a -little stall on Poydras Street for the sale of baskets. She occupies -a small tenement near by, and has two spare rooms. I -think we can trust her, for I once tended one of her children -who died; and she does not know that I am a slave.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Estelle, I grieve to say it,—I am poor, almost destitute. -My friends are chiefly theatrical people, poor like -myself, and most of them are North at this season.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do not let that distress you,” she said; “I am the owner -of a gold watch, for which we can get at least fifty dollars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And mine will bring another fifty,” returned I. “Let us -go, then, at once, since here you are in danger.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>An old negro, well known to the family, and who carried -round oranges for sale, at this moment stopped at the door. I -gave him a dollar, on condition that he would occupy and guard -the house till some one should come to relieve him. I then, -at Estelle’s suggestion, sent a letter to the Superintendent of -Burials, announcing Madame Dufour’s death, and requesting -him to attend to the interment. I also enclosed the address of -Mr. Ratcliff and Mr. Semmes as the persons who would see all -expenses paid. To this I signed my real name.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was agreed that Estelle should leave at once. She gave -me written directions for finding our place of rendezvous. -There was before it an old magnolia-tree which I was particularly -to note. I was to follow soon with such articles of attire, -belonging to her and to myself, as I could bring, and I was to -return for more if necessary. We parted, and I think she -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>must have read something not sinister in the expression of my -face, for her own suddenly brightened, and, with a smile ineffably -sweet in its thankfulness, she said, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“<i>Au revoir!</i>”</span></p> - -<p class='c001'>Our plans were all successfully carried out. The wardrobe -of neither of us was extensive. Two visits to the house enabled -me to remove all that we required. My letter to the Superintendent -of Burials I had dropped into his box, and that afternoon -I saw him enter the house, so that I knew the proper -attentions to the dead would not be wanting.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Mallet gladly received us on our own terms. Estelle -had appropriated for me the better of the two little rooms, and -had arranged and decked it so as to wear an appearance of -neatness and comfort, if not of luxury. I expostulated, but -she would not listen to my occupying the inferior apartment. -Her own preferences must rule.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ever dear to memory must be that first evening in our new -abode! There was one old fauteuil in her room, and, placing -Estelle in that, I sat on a low trunk by her side, where I could -lean my elbow on the arm of the chair. It was a warm, but -not oppressive July evening, with a bright moon. The window -was open, and in the little area upon which it looked a lemon-tree -rustled as the breeze swelled, now and then, to a whisper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We were alone. I asked a thousand questions. I extorted -the secret of my mended clothes and the mysterious gold pieces. -That air of depression which had always been so marked in -Estelle had vanished. She spoke and looked like a new being. -I put a question in French, and she answered in that language -with a fluency and a purity of accent that put me to the blush -for my own lingual shortcomings. I spoke of books, and was -surprised to find in her a bold, detective taste in recognizing -the peculiarities, and penetrating to the spiritual life, of the -higher class of thinkers and literary artists, whether French, -English, or American.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I asked her to sing. In subdued tones, but with an exquisite -accuracy, she sang some of the favorite airs by Mozart, Bellini, -and Donizetti, using the Italian as if it were her native -tongue.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And there, in that atmosphere of death, while the surrounding -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>population were being decimated by the terrible pestilence, -I drank in my first draughts of an imperishable love.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I looked at my watch. It was half an hour after midnight. -How had the hours slipped by! We must part.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Estelle!” I exclaimed with emotion; but I could not put -into words what I had intended to say. Then, taking her hand, -I added, “You have given me the most delightful evening of -my life.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>No light was burning in the room, but by the moonbeams I -could see her face all luminous with joy and triumph. My -second kiss was bestowed; but this time it was on her lips,—brief, -but impassioned. “Good night, Estelle!” I whispered; -and, forcing myself instantly away, I closed the door.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I entered my apartment, and went to bed, but not to sleep. -Tears that I could not repress gushed forth. A strange rapture -possessed me. Nature had proved itself stronger than convention. -The impulsive heart was more than a match for the -calculating head. For the first time in my life I saw the new -heavens and the new earth which love brings in. Estelle -now seemed all the dearer to me for her very helplessness,—for -the degradation and isolation in which slavery had placed -her. Were she a princess, could I love her half as well? But -she shall be treated with all the consideration due to a princess! -Passion shall take no advantage of her friendlessness and self-abandonment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then came thoughts of the danger she was in,—of what I -should do for her rescue; and it was not till light dawned in -the east that I fell into a slumber.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We gave up nearly the whole of the next day to the discussion -of plans. In pursuance of that on which we finally fixed, -Estelle wrote a letter to Mr. Ratcliff in these words:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“<span class='sc'>To Carberry Ratcliff</span>, Esq.:—Sir: By the time this letter -reaches you I shall be out of your power, and with my freedom -assured. Still I desire to be at liberty to return to New -Orleans, if I should so elect, and therefore I request you to name -the sum in consideration of which you will give me free papers. -A friend will negotiate with you. Let that friend have your -answer, if you please, in the form of an advertisement in the -Picayune, addressed to</p> - -<div class='c015'><span class='sc'>Estelle</span>.”</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>Two days afterwards we found the following answer in the -newspaper named:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“<span class='sc'>To Estelle</span>: For fifty dollars, I will give you the papers -you desire.</p> -<div class='c015'>C. R.”</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Long and anxiously we meditated on this reply. I dreaded -a trap. Was it not most likely that Ratcliff, in naming so low -a figure, hoped to secure some clew to the whereabouts of -Estelle?</p> - -<p class='c001'>While I was puzzling myself with the question, Estelle suggested -an expedient. The answer to the advertisement undoubtedly -came from Ratcliff, and we had a right to regard it -as valid. Why not address a letter, with fifty dollars, to Ratcliff, -and have it legally registered at the post-office?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Admirable!” exclaimed I, delighted at her quickness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, it is not admirable,” she replied. “An objection suggests -itself. Some one will have to go to the post-office to -register the letter, and he may be known or tracked.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I reflected a moment, and then said: “I think I can guard -against such a danger. Having been an actor, I am expert at -disguises. I will go as an old man.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The plan was approved and put into effect. The two watches -were disposed of at a jeweller’s for a hundred and ten dollars. -In an altered hand I wrote Ratcliff a letter, enclosed in it a fifty-dollar -bill, and bade him direct his answer simply to Estelle -Grandeau, Cincinnati, Ohio. I added one dollar for the purpose -of covering any expense he might be at for postage. Then, -at the shop of a theatrical costumer, I disguised myself as a man -of seventy, and went to the post-office. There I had the letter -and its contents of money duly registered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As I was returning home in my disguise, I saw the old negro -I had left in charge at Mrs. Dufour’s. He did not recognize -me, and was not surprised at my questions. From him I -learned, that before he left the house a gentleman (undoubtedly -Ratcliff) had called, and had seemed to be in a terrible fury -on finding that Estelle had gone away some hours before; but -his rage had redoubled when he further ascertained that a -young man was her attendant.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The interesting question now was, Had Ratcliff any clew to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>my identity? My true name, William Carteret, under which I -had been known at Mrs. Dufour’s, was not the name I had gone -by on the stage. Here was one security. Still it was obvious -the utmost precaution must be used.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My plans were speedily laid. Not having money enough to -pay the passage of both Estelle and myself up the Mississippi, -I decided that Estelle should go alone, disguised as an old -woman. I engaged a state-room, and paid for it in advance. -I had much difficulty in persuading her to accede to the arrangement, -so painful was the prospect of a separation; but she -finally consented. At my friend the costumer’s I fitted her -out in a plain, Quaker-like dress. She was to be Mrs. Carver, -a schoolmistress, going North. The next morning I covered -her beautiful hair with a grayish wig; and then, by the aid of a -hare’s foot and some pigments, added wrinkles and a complexion -suitable to a maiden lady of fifty. With a veil over her -face, she would not be suspected.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The hour of parting came. I put a plain gold ring on her -finger. “Be constant,” I said. “Forever!” she solemnly -replied, pressing the ring to her lips with tears of delight. -The carriage was at the door. The farewell kiss was exchanged. -Her little trunk was put on the driver’s foot-board. -Mrs. Mallet entered and took a seat, and Estelle was about to -follow, when suddenly a faintness seized me. She detected it at -once, turned back, and exclaimed in alarm: “You are not well. -What is the matter?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing, that a glass of wine will not cure,” I replied. -“There! It is over already. Do not delay. Your time is -limited. Driver! Fast, but steady! Here’s a dollar for you! -There! Step in, Estelle.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She looked at me hesitatingly. I summoned all my will to -check my increasing faintness. Urging her into the carriage, I -closed the door, and the horses started. Estelle watched me -from the window, till an angle in the street hid me from her -view. Then, staggering into the house, I crawled up-stairs to -my chamber, and sank upon the bed.</p> - -<hr class='c019' /> - -<p class='c001'>The next ten days were a blank to consciousness. Fever -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>and delirium had the mastery of my brain. On the eleventh -morning I seemed to wake gradually, as if from some anxious -dream. I lay twining my hands feebly one over the other. -Then suddenly a speck in the ceiling fixed my attention. -Raising myself on the pillow, I looked around. Very gently -and slowly recollection came back. The appearance of Mrs. -Mallet soon seemed a natural sequence. She smiled, gave an -affirmative shake of the head, as if to tell me all was well, and -at her bidding, I lay down and slept. The following day I was -strong enough to inquire after Estelle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Be good, and you shall see her,” was the reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What! Did she not take passage in the boat?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There! Do not be alarmed; she will explain it all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And as she spoke, Estelle glided in, held up her forefinger -by way of warning, and, smiling through her tears, kissed my -forehead. I felt a shock of joy, followed by anxiety. “Why -did you not go?” I asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I found I could dispose of my state-room, and I did it, for I -was too much concerned about your health to go in peace. It -was fortunate I returned. You have had the fever, but the -danger is over.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How long have I lain thus?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This is the twelfth day.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have I had a physician?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No one but Estelle; but then she is an expert; she once -walked the hospitals with the Sisters of Charity.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>My convalescence was rapid. By the first of September -I was well enough to take long strolls in the evening with -Estelle. On the fifth of that month, early one starlit night, I said -to her, “Come, Estelle, put on your bonnet and shawl for a -walk.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She brought them into my room, and placed them on the -bed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where shall we go?” she inquired.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To the Rev. Mr. Fulton’s,” I replied; “that is, if you -will consent to be—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To be what?” she asked, not dreaming of my drift.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To be married to me, Estelle!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The expressions that flitted over her face,—expressions of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>doubtful rapture, pettish incredulity, and childlike eagerness,—come -back vividly to my remembrance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You do not mean it!” at length she murmured, reproachfully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“From my inmost heart I mean it, and I desire it above all -earthly desires,” I replied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She sank to the floor, and, clasping my knees with her arms, -bowed her head upon them, and wept. Then, starting up, she -said: “What! Your wife? Really your wife? Mistress -and wife in one? Me,—a slave? Can it be, William, you -desire it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was the first time she had called me by my first name.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you considered it well?” she continued. “O, I fear -it would be ungenerous in me to consent. Such an alliance -might jeopard all your future. You are young, well-connected, -and can one day command all that the best society -of the country can offer. No, William, not for me,—not for -me the position of your wife!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I replied to these misgivings by putting on her shawl, then -her bonnet, the tying of which I accompanied with a kiss that -brought the roses to her cheeks.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Estelle,” I said, “unless we are very different from what -we believe, the step is one we shall not regret. I must be -degenerate indeed, if I can ever find anything in life more precious -than the love you give and inspire. But perhaps you -shrink from so binding a tie.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Shrink from it?” she repeated, in a tone of abandonment to -all that was rapturous and delightful in her conceptions, though -the tears gushed from her eyes. “O, generous beyond my -dreams! Would I might prove to you of what my love is -capable, and how you have deepened its unfathomable depths -by this last proof of your affection!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We went forth under the stars that beautiful evening to the -well-known minister’s house. He received us kindly, asked us -several questions, and, having satisfied himself of our intelligence -and sincerity, united us in marriage. We gave him our real -names,—William Carteret and Estelle Grandeau,—and he -promised to keep the secret.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>Six weeks flew by, how swiftly! The pressure which circumstances -had put upon Estelle’s buoyancy of character being -taken away, she moved the very embodiment of joy. It was -as if she was making up for the past repression of her cheerfulness -by an overflow, constant, yet gentle as the superflux of a -fountain. Her very voice grew more childlike in its tones. -A touching gratitude that never wearied of making itself felt -seemed added to an abounding tenderness towards me.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She had a quick sense of the humorous which made hers an -atmosphere of smiles. She would make me laugh by the odd -and childish, yet charming pet phrases she would lavish upon -me. She would amuse me by her anxiety in catering for me -at meal-time, and making her humble fare seem sumptuous by -her devices of speech, as well as by her culinary arts. The good -nuns with whom she had lived had made her a thorough housekeeper, -and a paragon of neatness. She wanted further to be -my valet, my very slave, anticipating my wants, and forestalling -every little effort which I might put forth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My object now was to raise the sum necessary for our departure -from the city. I took pupils in music among the humblest -classes,—among the free blacks and even the slaves. I would -be absent from nine o’clock in the morning till five in the afternoon. -Estelle aided me in my purpose. She learned from -Mrs. Mallet the art of making baskets, and contrived some of -a new pattern which met a ready sale. We began to lay up -five, sometimes six dollars a day.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Once I met Mr. Ratcliff in Carondelet Street. He evidently -recognized me, for he turned on me a glance full of arrogance -and hate. The encounter made me uneasy, but, thinking the -mention of it might produce needless anxiety, I said nothing -about it to Estelle. We were sitting that very evening in our -little room. Estelle, always childlike, was in my lap, questioning -me closely about all the incidents of the day,—what streets -I had walked through; what persons I had seen; if I had -been thinking of her, &c. I answered all her questions but -one, and she seemed content; and then whispered in my ears -the intelligence that she was likely to be the mother of my -child. Delightful announcement! And yet with the thrill of -satisfaction came a pang of solicitude.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>“Do you believe,” prattled Estelle, “there ever were two -people so happy? I can’t help recalling those words you read -me the other night from your dear father’s last part, ‘If it -were now to die, ’t were now to be most happy.’ It seems to -me as if the felicity of a long life had been concentrated into -these few weeks, and as if we were cheating our mortal lot in -allowing ourselves to be quite so happy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Was this the sigh of her presaging heart?</p> - -<p class='c001'>I resolved on immediate action. The next day (a Wednesday) -I passed upon the Levee. After many inquiries, I found -a ship laden with cotton that would sail the following Sunday -for Boston. The captain agreed to give up his best state-room -for a hundred dollars. It should be ready for our occupancy on -Saturday. I closed with his offer at once. Estelle rejoiced at -the arrangement.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What has happened to-day?” I asked her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing of moment,” she replied. “Two men called to -get names for a Directory.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What did you tell them?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That if they wanted my husband’s name, they must get it -from him personally.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You did well. Were they polite?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very, and seemed to seek excuses for lingering; but, getting -no encouragement, they left.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Could it be they were spies? The question occurred to me, -but I soon dismissed it as improbable.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And yet they were creatures employed by Carberry Ratcliff -to find out what they could about the man who had offended -him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff was the type of a class that spring from slavery as -naturally as certain weeds spring from a certain quality of -manure. He was such a man as only slavery could engender. -The son of a South Carolina planter, he was bred to believe -that his little State—little in respect to its white population—was -yet the master State of the Union, and that his family -was the master family of the State. The conclusion that he -was the master man of his family, and consequently of the -Union, was not distant or illogical. As soon as he could lift a -pistol he was taught to fire at a mark, and to make believe it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>was an Abolitionist. Before he was twelve years old he had -fired at and wounded a free negro, who had playfully answered -an imperious order by mimicking the boy’s strut. Of this -achievement the father was rather proud.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Accustomed to regard the lives and persons of slaves as -subject to his irresponsible will, or to the caprices of his untrained -and impure passions, he soon transferred to the laboring -white man and woman the contempt he felt for the negro. -We cannot have the moral sense impaired in one direction without -having it warped and corrupted throughout.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wrong feeling must, by an inexorable law, breed wrong -thinking. And so Ratcliff looked upon all persons, whether -white or black, who had to earn their bread by manual labor, -as (in the memorable words of his friend Mr. Hammond, -United States Senator from South Carolina) “Mudsills and -slaves.” For the thrifty Yankee his contempt was supreme, -bitter, almost frantic.</p> - -<p class='c001'>By mismanagement and extravagance his family estate was -squandered, and, the father having fallen in a duel with a -political adversary, Ratcliff found himself at twenty-one with -expensive tastes and no money. He borrowed a few hundred -dollars, went to Louisiana, and there married a woman of large -property, but personally unattractive. Revengeful and unforgetting -as a savage where his pride was touched, and more -cruel than a wolf in his instincts, Ratcliff had always meant -to requite me for the humiliation I had made him experience. -He had lost trace of me soon after the incident at the theatre. -No sooner had I passed him in Carondelet Street than he put -detectives on my track, and my place of abode was discovered. -He received such a report of my wife’s beauty as roused him -to the hope of an exquisite revenge. Doubtless he found an -opportunity of seeing Estelle without being seen; and on discovering -in her his slave, his surprise and fury reached an -ungovernable height.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Let me not dwell on the horrors of the next few days. We -had made all our arrangements for departure that Saturday -morning.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Estelle, in her simple habit, never looked so lovely. A little -cherry-colored scarf which I had presented her was about her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>neck, and contrasted with the neutral tint of her robe. The -carriage for our conveyance to the ship was at the door. Our -light amount of luggage was put on behind. We bade our -kind hostess good by. Estelle stepped in, and I was about to -follow, when two policemen, each with a revolver in his hand, -approached from a concealment near by, shut the carriage -door, and, laying hands upon me, drew me back. At the same -moment, from the opposite side of the street, Ratcliff, with two -men wearing official badges, came, and, opening the opposite door -of the coach, entered and took seats. So sudden were these -movements, that they were over before either Estelle or I -could offer any resistance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The coachman at once drove off. An imploring shriek from -Estelle was followed by a frantic effort on her part to thrust -open the door of the coach. I saw her struggling in the arms -of the officers, her face wild with terror, indignation, rage. -Ratcliff, who had taken the seat opposite to her, put his head -out of the coach, and bowed to me mockingly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One of my stalwart captors held a pistol to my head, and -cautioned me to be “asy.” For half a minute I made no resistance. -I was calculating how I could best rescue Estelle. All -the while I kept my eyes intently on the departing carriage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My captors held me as if they were prepared for any struggle. -But I had not been seven years on the stage without -learning something of the tricks of the wrestler and the gymnast. -Suddenly both policemen found their legs knocked from -under them, and their heads in contact with the pavement. A -pistol went off as they fell, and a bullet passed through the -crown of my hat; but before they could recover their footing, I -had put an eighth of a mile between us.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Where was the carriage? The street into which it had -turned was intersected by another which curved on either side -like the horns of a crescent. To my dismay, when I reached -this curve, the carriage was not to be seen. It had turned into -the street either on the right or on the left, and the curve hid -it from view. Which way? I could judge nothing from the -sound, for other vehicles were passing. I stopped a man, and -eagerly questioned him. He did not speak English. I put -my question in French. He stopped to consider,—believed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>the carriage had taken the left turning, but was not quite -certain. I ran leftward with all my speed. Carriages were to -be seen, but not one with the little trunk and valise strapped on -behind. I then turned and ran down the right turning. Baffled! -At fault! In the network of streets it was all conjecture. -Still on I ran in the desperate hope of seeing the carriage at -some cross street. But my efforts were fruitless.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Panting and exhausted, I sought rest in a “magasin” for the -sale of cigars. A little back parlor offered itself for smokers. -I entered. A waiter brought in three cigars, and I threw a -quarter of a dollar on the table. But I was no lover of the -weed. The tobacco remained untouched. I wanted an opportunity -for summoning my best thoughts.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Even if I had caught the coach, would not the chances have -been against me? Clearly, yes. Further search for it, then, -could be of no avail. Undoubtedly Ratcliff would take Estelle -at once to his plantation, for there he could have her most -completely in his power. Let that calculation be my starting-point.</p> - -<p class='c001'>How stood it in regard to myself? Did not my seizure by -the policemen show that legal authority for my arrest had been -procured? Probably. If imprisoned, should I not be wholly -powerless to help Estelle? Obviously. Perhaps the morning -newspapers would have something to say of the affair? Nothing -more likely. Was it not, then, my safest course to keep still -and concealed for the present? Alas, yes! Could I not trust -Estelle to protect her own honor? Ay, she would protect it -with her life; but the pang was in the thought that her life -might be sacrificed in the work of protection.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The “magasin” was kept by Gustave Leroux, an old Frenchman, -who had been a captain under Napoleon, and was in the -grand army in its retreat from Moscow. A bullet had gone -through his cheeks, and another had taken off part of his -nose.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I must have sat with the untouched cigars before me nearly -three hours. At last, supposing I was alone, I bowed my forehead -on my hand, and wept. Suddenly I looked up. The old -Frenchman, with his nose and cheek covered with large black -patches, was standing with both hands on the table, gazing -wistfully and tenderly upon me.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>“What is it, my brave?” he asked in French, while tears -began to fill his own eyes. I looked up. There was no resisting -the benignity of that old battered face. I took the two -hands which he held out to me in my own. He sat down by -my side, and I told him my story.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After I had finished, he sat stroking his gray moustache with -forefinger and thumb, and for ten minutes did not speak. -Then he said: “I have seen this Mr. Ratcliff. A bad physiognomy! -And yet what Mademoiselle Millefleurs would call -a pretty fellow! Let us see. He will carry the girl to Lorain, -and have her well guarded in his own house. As he has -no faith in women, his policy will be to win her by fine presents, -jewels, dresses, and sumptuous living. He will try that -game for a full month at least. I think, if the girl is what you -tell me she is, we may feel quite secure for a month. That -will give us time to plan a campaign. Meanwhile you shall -occupy a little room in my house, and keep as calm as you can. -My dinner will be ready in ten minutes. You must try to -coax an appetite, for you will want all your health and strength. -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Courage, mon brave!</i></span>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This old soldier, in his seventieth year, had done the most -courageous act of his life. Out of pure charity he had married -Madame Ponsard, five years his elder, an anti-Bonapartist, -and who had been left a widow, destitute, and with six young -parentless grandchildren. Fifty years back he had danced with -her when she was a belle in Paris, and that fact was an offset -for all her senile vanity and querulousness. It reconciled him, -not only to receiving the lady herself, large, obese, and rubicund, -and, worst of all, anti-Bonapartist, but to take her encumbrances, -four girls and two boys, all with fearful appetites and -sound lungs. But the old Captain was a sentimentalist; and -the young life about him had rejuvenated his own. After all, -there was a selfish calculation in his lovely charities; for he -knew that to give was to receive in larger measure.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I accepted his offer of a shelter. The next morning he -brought me a copy of the Delta. It contained this paragraph:</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We regret to learn that Mr. Julian Talbot, formerly an -actor, and well known in theatrical circles, was yesterday -arrested in the atrocious act of abducting a female slave of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>great personal beauty, belonging to the Hon. Carberry Ratcliff. -The slave was recovered, but Talbot managed to escape. The -officers are on his track. It is time an example was made of -these sneaking Abolitionists.”</p> - -<hr class='c019' /> - -<p class='c001'>“O insupportable, O heavy hour!” I tried to reconcile myself -to delay. I stayed a whole fortnight with Leroux. At -last I procured the dress of a laboring Celt, and tied up in a -bundle a cheap dress that would serve for a boy. I then stuck -a pipe through my hat-band, and put a shillelah under my arm. -A mop-like red wig concealed a portion of my face. Lamp-black -and ochre did the rest. Leroux told me I was premature -in my movements, but, without heeding his expostulations, -I took an affectionate leave of him and of Madame, whose heart -I had won by talking French with her, and listening to her long -stories of the ancient <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>régime</i></span>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I went on board a Red River boat. One of the policemen -who arrested me was present on the watch; but I stared him -stupidly in the face, and passed on unsuspected.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff was having a canal dug at Lorain for increasing the -facilities of transporting cotton; and as the work was unhealthy, -he engaged Irishmen for it. The killing an Irishman was no -loss, but the death of a slave would be a thousand dollars out -of the master’s pocket. I easily got a situation among the -diggers. How my heart bounded when I first saw Ratcliff! -He came in company with his superintendent, Van Buskirk, -and stood near me some minutes while I handled the spade.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For hours, every night during the week, I watched the house -to discover the room occupied by Estelle. On Sunday I went -in the daytime. From the window of a room in the uppermost -story a little cherry-colored scarf was flaunting in the -breeze. I at once recognized its meaning. Some negroes -were near by under a tree. I approached, and asked an ancient -black fellow, who was playing on an old cracked banjo, -what he would take for the instrument.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look yere, Paddy,” said he, “if yer tink to fool dis chile, -yer’ll fine it airn’t to be did. So wood up, and put off ter -wunst, or yer’ll kotch it, shoo-ah.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>“But, Daddy, I’m in right earnest,” replied I. “If you’ll -sell that banjo at any price within reason, I’ll buy it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’ll take a heap more’n you kn raise ter buy dis yere -banjo; so, Paddy, make tracks, and jes’ you mine how yer -guv dis yere ole nigger any more ob yer sarss.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll pay you two dollars for that banjo, Daddy. Will you -take it?” said I, holding out the silver.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The old fellow looked at me incredulously; then seized the -silver and thrust the banjo into my hand, uttering at the same -time such an expressive “Wheugh!” as only a negro can. -Then, unable to restrain himself, he broke forth: “Yah, yah, -yah! Paddy’s got a bargain dis time, shoo-ah. Yah, yah, yah! -Look yere, Paddy. Dat am de most sooperfinest banjo in dese -parts; can’t fine de match ob it in all Noo Orleenz. Jes’ you -hole on ter dem air strings, so dey won’t break in two places ter -wonst, and den fire away, and yer’ll ’stonish de natives, shoo-ah. -Yah, yah, yah! Takes dis ole nigg to sell a banjo. Yah! -yah!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Every man who achieves success finds his penalty in a -train of parasites; and Daddy’s case was not exceptional. As -he started in a bee line for his cabin, to boast of his acuteness -in trade to an admiring circle, he was followed by his whole -gang of witnesses.</p> - -<p class='c001'>All this time I could see Ratcliff with a party of gentlemen -on his piazza. They were smoking cigars; and, judging from -the noise they made, had been dining and drinking. I slipped -away with the banjo under my arm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>That night I returned and played the air of “Pestal” as -near to the house as I deemed it prudent to venture. I would -play a minute, and then pause. I had not done this three times, -when I heard Estelle’s voice from her chamber, humming these -words in low but audible tones:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Hark! methinks I hear celestial voices sing,</div> - <div class='line'>Soon thou shalt be free, child of misery,—</div> - <div class='line'>Rest and perfect joy in heaven are waiting thee;</div> - <div class='line'>Spirit, plume thy wings and flee!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>I struck a few notes, by way of acknowledgment, and left.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next night I merely whistled the remembered air in -token of my presence. A light appeared for a moment at the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>window, and then was removed. I crept up close to the house. -On that side of it where Estelle was confined there were -no piazzas. I had not waited two minutes when something -touched my head and bobbed before my eyes. It was a little -roll of paper. I detached it from the string to which it was -tied; and then, taking from my pocket an old envelope, I wrote -on it in the dark these words: “To-morrow night at ten o’clock -down the string. If prevented, then any night after at the -same hour. Love shall find a way. Forever.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The letter which I found folded in the paper lies yet in -my pocket-book, but I need not look at it in order to repeat it -entire. It is in these words:—‚Î</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“What shall I call thee? Dearest? But that word implies -a comparative; and whom shall I compare with thee? Most -precious and most beloved? O, that is not a tithe of it! Idol? -Darling? Sweet? Pretty words, but insufficient. Ah! life -of my life, there are no superlatives in language that can interpret -to thee the unspeakable affection which swells in my -heart and moistens my eyes as I commence this letter! Can -we by words give an idea of a melody? No more can I put on -paper what my heart would be whispering to thine. Forgive -the effort and the failure.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have the freedom of the upper story of the house, and my -room is where you saw the scarf. Two strong negro women, -with sinister faces, and employed as seamstresses, watch me -every time I cross the threshold. At night I am locked in. -The windows, as you may see, are always secured by iron bars.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ratcliff hopes to subdue me by slow approaches. O, the -unutterable loathing which he inspires! He has placed impure -books in my way. He sends me the daintiest food and -wines. I confine myself to bread, vegetables, and cream. He -cannot drug me without my knowledge. Twice and sometimes -three times a day he visits me, and, finding me firm in my -resolve, retires with a self-satisfied air which maddens me. He -evidently believes in my final submission. No! Sooner, death! -on my knees I swear it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yesterday he sent splendid dresses, laces, jewels, diamonds. -He offers me a carriage, an establishment, and to settle on me -enough to make me secure for the future. How he magnifies -my hate by all these despicable baits!</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sweet, be very prudent. While steadily maintaining towards -this wretch, whom the law calls my master, the demeanor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>that may best assure him of my steadfast resolve, I take care -not to arouse his anger; for I know what you want is opportunity. -He may any time be called off suddenly to New -Orleans. Be wary. Tell me what you propose. A string shall -be let down from my window to-morrow night at ten by stealth, -for I am watched. God keep thee, my husband, my beloved! -How I shudder at thought of all thy dangers! Be sure, O -William, tender and true, my heart will hold eternally one only -image. Adieu!</p> -<div class='c015'><span class='sc'>Estelle.</span>”</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The next night I put her in possession of a rope and a boy’s -dress, also of two files, with directions for filing apart the iron -bars. I saw it would not be difficult to enable her to get out of -the house. The dreadful question was, How shall we escape -the search which will at once be made? For a week we exchanged -letters. At last she wrote me that Ratcliff would the -next day leave for New Orleans for his wife. I wrote to -Estelle to be ready the ensuing night, and on a signal from me -to let herself down by the rope.</p> - -<p class='c001'>These plans were successfully carried out. Disguised as a -laboring boy, Estelle let herself down to the ground. Once -more we clasped each other heart to heart. I had selected a -moonless night for the escape. In order to baffle the scent of -the bloodhounds that would be put on our track, I took to the -river. In a canoe I paddled down stream some fifteen miles -till daylight. There, at a little bend called La Coude, we -stopped. It now occurred to me that our safest plan would be -to take the next boat up the river, and return on our course -instead of keeping on to the Mississippi. Our pursuers would -probably look for us in any direction but that.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Rigolette was the first boat that stopped. We went on -board, and the first person we encountered was Ratcliff! He -was returning, having learnt at the outset of his journey that -his wife had left New Orleans the day before. Estelle was -thrown off her guard by the suddenness of the meeting, and -uttered a short, sharp cry of dismay which betrayed her. -Poor child! She was little skilled in feigning. Ratcliff -walked up to her and removed her hat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I had seen men in a rage, but never had I witnessed such an -infuriated expression as that which Ratcliff’s features now exhibited. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>It was wolfish, beastly, in its ferocity. His smooth -pink face grew livid. Seizing Estelle roughly by the arm, he—whatever -he was about to do, the operation was cut short by a -blow from my fist between his eyes which felled him senseless -on the deck.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The spectacle of a rich planter knocked down by an Irishman -was not a common one on board the Rigolette. We were -taken in custody, Estelle and I, and confined together in a -state-room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff was badly stunned, but cold water and brandy at -length restored him. At Lorain the boat stopped till Van -Buskirk and half a dozen low whites, his creatures and hangers-on, -could be summoned to take me in charge. Ratcliff now -recognized me as his acquaintance of the theatre, and a new -paroxysm of fury convulsed his features. I was searched, deprived -of my money, then handcuffed; then shackled by the -legs, so that I could only move by taking short steps. Estelle’s -arms were pinioned behind her, and in that state she was forced -into an open vehicle and conveyed to the house.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I was placed in an outbuilding near the stable, a sort of -dungeon for refractory slaves. It was lighted from the roof, -was unfloored, and contained neither chair nor log on which -to sit. For two days and nights neither food nor drink was -brought to me. With great difficulty, on account of my chain, -I managed to get at a small piece of biscuit in my coat-pocket. -This I ate, and, as the rain dripped through the roof, I was -enabled to quench my thirst.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the third day two men led me out to an adjoining building, -and down-stairs into a cellar. As we entered, the first -object I beheld sent such a shock of horror to my heart that I -wonder how I survived it. Tied to a post, and stripped naked -to her hips, her head drooping, her breast heaving, her back -scored by the lash and bleeding, stood Estelle. Near by, leaning -on a cotton-bale, was Ratcliff smoking a cigar. Seated on -a block, his back resting against the wall, with one leg over the -other, was a white man, holding a cowskin, and apparently -resting from his arduous labors as woman-whipper. Forgetting -my shackles, and uttering some inarticulate cry of anguish, I -strove to rush upon Ratcliff, but fell to the ground, exciting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>his derision and that of his creatures, the miserable “mean” -whites, the essence of whose manhood familiarity with slavery -had unmoulded till they had become bestial in their feelings.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Estelle, roused by my voice, turned on me eyes lighted up -by an affection which no bodily agony could for one moment -enfeeble, and said, gaspingly: “My own husband! You see I -keep my oath!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Husband indeed! We’ll see about that,” sneered Ratcliff. -“Fool! do you imagine that a marriage contracted by a slave -without the consent of the master has any validity, moral or -legal?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I turned to him, and uttered—I know not what. The -frenzy which seized me lifted me out of my normal state of -thought, and by no effort of reminiscence have I ever since -been able to recall what I said.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I only remember that Ratcliff, with mock applause, clapped -his hands and cried, “Capital!” Then, lighting a fresh cigar, -he remarked: “There is yet one little ceremony more to be -gone through with. Bring in the bridegroom.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>What new atrocity was this?</p> - -<p class='c001'>A moment afterwards a young, lusty, stout, and not ill-looking -negro, fantastically dressed, was led in with mock ceremony, -by one of the mean whites, a whiskey-wasted creature named -Lovell. I looked eagerly in the face of the negro, who bowed -and smirked in a manner to excite roars of laughter on the part -of Ratcliff and his minions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, boy, are you ready to take her for better or for -worse?” asked the haughty planter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The negro bowed obsequiously, and, jerking off his hat, -scratched his wool, and, with a laugh, replied: “’Scuze me, -massa, but dis nigger can’t see his wife dat is to be ’xposed in -dis onhan’some mahnner to de eyes of de profane. If Massa -Ratcliff hab no ’jection, I’ll jes’ put de shawl on de bride’s back. -Yah, yah, yah!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, make yourself as gallant as you please now,” said the -planter, laughing. “Let’s see you begin to play the bridegroom.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Gracious heavens! Was I right in my surmises? Under -all his harlequin grimaces and foolery, this negro, to my quickened -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>penetration, seemed to be crowding back, smothering, disguising, -some intense emotion. His laugh was so extravagantly -African, that it struck me as imitative in its exaggeration. I -had heard a laugh much like it from the late Jim Crow Rice on -the stage. Was the negro playing a part?</p> - -<p class='c001'>He approached Estelle, cut the thongs that bound her to the -post, threw her shawl over her shoulders, and then, falling on -one knee, put both hands on his heart, and rolled up his eyes -much after the manner of Bombastes Furioso making love to -Distaffina. The Ratcliffites were in ecstasies at the burlesque. -Then, rising to his feet, the negro affectedly drew nearer to -Estelle, and, putting up his hand, whispered, first in one of her -ears, then in the other. I could see a change, sudden, but -instantly checked, in her whole manner. Her lips moved. -She must have murmured something in reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look here, Peek, you rascal,” cried Ratcliff, “we must -have the benefit of your soft words. What have you been -saying to her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ze been tellin’ her,” said the negro, with tragic gesticulation, -pointing to himself and then at me, “to look fust on dis -yere pikter, den on dat. Wheugh!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Still affecting the buffoon, he came up to me, presenting his -person so that his face was visible only to myself. There was -a divine pity in his eyes, and in the whole expression of his -face the guaranty of a high and holy resolve. “She will trust -me,” he whispered. “Do you the same.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>To the spectators he appeared to be mocking me with grimace. -To me he seemed an angel of deliverance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, Peek, to business!” said Ratcliff. “You swear, do -you, to make this woman your wife in fact as well as in name; -do you understand me, Peek?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, massa, I understan’.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You swear to guard her well, and never to let that white -scoundrel yonder come near or touch her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, massa, I swar ter all dat, an’ ebber so much more. -He’ll kotch what he can’t carry if he goes fur to come nare -my wife.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Kiss the book on it,” said Ratcliff, handing him a Bible.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, massa, as many books as you please,” replied Peek, -doing as he was bidden.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>“Then, by my authority as owner of you two slaves, and as -justice of the peace, I pronounce you, in presence of these witnesses, -man and wife,” said Ratcliff. “Why the hell, Peek, -don’t you kiss the bride?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, you jes’ leeb dis chile alone for dat air, Massa Ratcliff,” -replied the negro; and, concealing his mouth by both hands, he -simulated a kiss.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now attend to Mrs. Peek while another little ceremony -takes place,” said Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At a given signal I was stripped of my coat, waistcoat, and -shirt, then dragged to the whipping-post, and bound to it. I -could see Estelle, her face of a mortal paleness, her body writhing -as if in an agony. The first lash that descended on my -bare flesh seemed to rive her very heart-strings, for she uttered -a loud shriek, and was borne out senseless in the negro’s arms.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All right!” said Ratcliff. “We shall soon have half a -dozen little Peeks toddling about. Proceed. Vickery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A hundred lashes, each tearing or laying bare the flesh, were -inflicted; but after the first, all sensibility to pain was lost -in the intensity of my emotions. Had I been changed into a -statue of bronze I could not have been more impenetrable to -pain.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, sir,” said the slave lord, coming up to me, “you see -what it is to cross the path of Carberry Ratcliff. The next -time you venture on it, you won’t get off so easy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then, turning to Vickery, he said: “I promised the boys -they should have a frolic with him, and see him safely launched. -They have been longing for a shy at an Abolitionist. So unshackle -him, and let him slide.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>My handcuffs and shackles were taken off. My first impulse -on being freed, was to spring upon Ratcliff and strangle him. -I could have done it. Though I stood in a pool of my own -blood, a preternatural energy filled my veins, and I stepped -forth as if just refreshed by sleep. But the thought of Estelle -checked the vindictive impulse. A rope was now put about -my neck, so that the two ends could be held by my conductors. -In this state I was led up-stairs out of the building, and beyond -the immediate enclosure of the grounds about the house to a -sort of trivium, where some fifty or sixty “mean whites” and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>a troop of boys of all colors were assembled round a tent in -which a negro was dealing out whiskey gratis to the company. -Near by stood a kettle sending forth a strong odor of boiling -tar. A large sack, the gaping mouth of which showed it was -filled with feathers, lay on the ground.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a yell of delight from the assembly as soon as I -appeared. Half naked as I was, I was dragged forward into -their midst, and tied to a tree near the kettle. I could see, at -a distance of about a quarter of a mile, Ratcliff promenading -his piazza.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a dispute among the “chivalry” whether I should -be stripped of the only remaining article of dress, my pantaloons, -before being “fitted to a new suit.” The consideration -that there might be ladies among the distant spectators finally -operated in my favor. A brush, similar to that used in whitewashing, -was now thrust into the bituminous liquid; and an -illustration of one of “our institutions, sir,” was entered upon -with enthusiasm. Lovell was the chief operator. The brush -was first thrust into my face till eyelids, eyebrows, and hair -were glued by the nauseous adhesion. Then it was vigorously -applied to the bleeding seams on my back, and the intolerable -anguish almost made me faint. My entire person at length -being thickly smeared, the bag of feathers was lifted over me -by two men and its contents poured out over the tarred surface.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I will not pain you, my friends, by suggesting to your imagination -all that there is of horrible, agonizing, and disgusting in -this operation, which men, converted into fiends by the hardening -influences of slavery, have inflicted on so many hundreds -of imprudent or suspected persons from the Northern States. -I see in it all now, so far as I was concerned, a Providential -martyrdom to awake me to a sense of what slavery does for -the education of white men.</p> - -<p class='c001'>O, ye palliators of the “institution”!—Northern men with -Southern principles,—ministers of religion who search the -Scriptures to find excuses for the Devil’s own work,—and ye -who think that any system under which money is made must -be right, and of God’s appointment,—who hate any agitation -which is likely to diminish the dividends from your cotton-mills -or the snug profits from your Southern trade,—come and learn -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>what it is to be tarred and feathered for profaning, by thought -or act, or by suspected thought or act, that holy of holies called -slavery!</p> - -<p class='c001'>After the feathers had been applied, a wag among my tormentors -fixed to my neck and arms pieces of an old sheet -stretched on whalebone to imitate a pair of wings. This spectacle -afforded to the spectators the climax of their exhilaration -and delight. I was then led by a rope to the river’s side and -put on an old rickety raft where I had to use constant vigilance -to keep the loose planks from disparting. Two men in a -boat towed me out into the middle of the stream, and then, -amid mock cheers, I was left to drift down with the current or -drown, just as the chances might hold in regard to my strength.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Two thoughts sustained me; one Estelle, the other Ratcliff. -But for these, with all my youth and power of endurance, I -should have sunk and died under my sufferings. For nearly -an hour I remained within sight of the mocking, hooting crowd, -who were especially amused at my efforts to save myself from -immersion by keeping the pieces of my raft together. At -length it was floated against a shallow where some brushwood -and loose sticks had formed a sort of dam. The sun was sinking -through wild, ragged clouds in the west. My tormentors -had all gradually disappeared. For the last thirty-six hours I -had eaten nothing but a cracker. My eyes were clogged with -tar. My efforts in keeping the raft together had been exhaustive. -No sooner was I in a place of seeming safety than my -strength failed me all at once. I could no longer sit upright. -The wind freshened and the waves poured over me, almost -drowning me at times. Thicker vapors began to darken the -sky. A storm was rising. Night came down frowningly. The -planks slipped from under me. I could not lift an arm to stop -them. I tried to seize the brushwood heaped on the sand-bar, -but it was easily detached, and offered me no security. I -seemed to be sinking in the ooze of the river’s bottom. The -spray swept over me in ever-increasing volume. I was on the -verge of unconsciousness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly I roused myself, and grasped the last plank of my -raft. I had heard a cry. I listened. The cry was repeated,—a -loud halloo, as if from some one afloat in an approaching -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>skiff. I could see nothing, but I lifted my head as well as I -could, and cried out, “Here!” Again the halloo, and this time -it sounded nearer. I threw my whole strength into one loud -shriek of “Here!” and then sank exhausted. A rush of waves -swept over me, and my consciousness was suspended.</p> - -<hr class='c019' /> - -<p class='c001'>When I came to my senses, I lay on a small cot-bedstead in -a hut. A negro, whom I at once recognized as the man called -Peek, was rubbing my face and limbs with oil and soap. A -smell of alcohol and other volatile liquids pervaded the apartment. -Much of my hair had been cut off in the effort to rid -it of the tar.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Estelle,—where is she?” were my first words.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You shall see her soon,” replied the negro. “But you -must get a little strength first.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He spoke in the tones, and used the language, of an educated -person. He brought me a little broth and rice, which I swallowed -eagerly. I tried to rise, but the pain from the gashes -left by the scourge on my back was excruciating.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Take me to my wife,” I murmured.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He lifted me in his arms and carried me to the open door of -an adjoining cabin. Here on a mattress lay Estelle. A colored -woman of remarkable aspect, and with straight black hair, was -kneeling by her side. This woman Peek addressed as Esha. -The little plain gold cross which Estelle used to wear on the -ribbon round her neck was now made to serve as the emblem -of one of the last sacraments of her religion. At her request, -Esha held it, pinned to the ribbon, before her eyes. On a rude -table near by, two candles were burning. Estelle’s hands were -clasped upon her bosom, and she lay intently regarding the -cross, while her lips moved in prayer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Try to lib, darlin’,” interrupted Esha; “try to lib,—dat’s -a good darlin’! Only try, an’ yer kn do it easy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Estelle took the little cross in her hand and kissed it, then -said to Esha, “Give this, with a lock of my hair, to—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before she could pronounce my name, I rallied my strength, -and, with an irrepressible cry of grief, quitted Peek’s support, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>and rushed to her side. I spoke her name. I took her dear -head in my hands. She turned on me eyes beaming with an -immortal affection. A celestial smile irradiated her face. Her -lips pouted as if pleading for a kiss. I obeyed the invitation, -and she acknowledged my compliance by an affirmative motion -of the head; a motion that was playful even in that supreme -moment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My own darling!” she murmured; “I knew you would -come. O my poor, suffering darling!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then, with a sudden effort, she threw her arms about my -neck, and, drawing me closer down to her bosom, said, in sweet, -low tones of tenderness: “Love me still as among the living. -I do not die. The body dies. I do not die. Love cannot -die. Who believes in death, never loved. You may not see -<em>me</em>, but I shall see <em>you</em>. So be a good boy. Do good to -all. Love all; so shall you love me the better. I do not -part with my love. I take it where it will grow and grow, so -as to be all the more fit to welcome my darling. Carrying my -love, I carry my heaven with me. It would not be heaven -without my love. I have been with my father and mother. -So beautiful they are! And such music I have heard! There! -Lay your cheek on my bare bosom. So! You do not hurt me. -Closer! closer! <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Carissime Jesu, nunc libera me!</i></span>”<a id='r19' /><a href='#f19' class='c014'><sup>[19]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>Thus murmuring a line from a Latin poem which she had -learnt in the convent where her childhood was passed, her pure -spirit, without a struggle or a throe of pain, disentangled itself -from its lovely mortal mould, and rose into the purer ether of -the immortal life.</p> - -<hr class='c019' /> - -<p class='c001'>I afterwards learnt that Ratcliff, finding Estelle inexorable -in her rejection of his foul proffers, was wrought to such a -pitch of rage that he swore, unless she relented, she should be -married to a negro slave. He told her he had a smart nigger -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>he had recently bought in New Orleans, a fellow named Peek, -who should be her husband. Goaded to desperation by his -infamous threats, Estelle had replied, “Better even a negro -than a Ratcliff!” This reply had stung him to a degree that -was quite intolerable.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To be not only thwarted by a female slave, but insulted,—he, -a South Carolinian, a man born to command,—a man with -such a figure and such a face rejected for a strolling actor,—a -vagabond, a fellow, too, who had knocked him down,—what -slave-owner would tamely submit to such mortification! He -brooded on the insult till his cruel purpose took shape and consistency -in his mind; and it was finally carried out in the way -I have described.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It may seem almost incredible to you who are from the -North, that any man not insane should be guilty of such atrocities. -But Mr. Onslow need not be told that slavery educates -men—men, too, of a certain refinement—to deeds even more -cowardly and fiendish. Do not imagine that the tyrant who -would not scruple to put a black skin under the lash, would -hesitate in regard to a white; and the note-book of many -an overseer will show that of the whippings inflicted under -slavery, more than one third are of women.<a id='r20' /><a href='#f20' class='c014'><sup>[20]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>For three weeks I was under Peek’s care. Thanks to his -tenderness and zeal, my wounds were healed, my strength was -restored. Early in December I parted from him and returned -to New Orleans. I went to my old friends, the Leroux. They -did not recognize me at first, so wasted was I by suffering. -Madame forgot her own troubles in mine, and welcomed me -with a mother’s affection. The grandchildren subdued their -riotous mirth, and trod softly lest they should disturb me. The -old Captain wept and raved over my story, and uttered more -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>sacr-r-r-rés</i></span> in a given time than I supposed even a Frenchman’s -volubility could accomplish. I bade these kind friends -good by, and went northward.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In Cincinnati and other cities I resumed my old vocation as -a play-actor. In two years, having laid up twenty-five hundred -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>dollars, I returned to the Red River country to secure the -freedom of the slave to whom I owed my life. He had changed -masters. It had got to Ratcliff’s ears that Peek had cheated -him in sparing Estelle and rescuing me. He questioned Peek -on the subject. Peek, throwing aside all his habitual caution, -had declared, in regard to Estelle, that if she had been the Virgin -Mary he could not have treated her with more reverence; that -he had saved my life, and restored me to her arms. Then, -shaking his fist at Ratcliff, he denounced him as a murderer -and a coward. The result was, that Peek, after having been -put through such a scourging as few men could endure and -survive, had been sold to a Mr. Barnwell in Texas.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I followed Peek to his new abode, and proposed either to -buy and free him, or to aid him to escape. He bade me save -my money for those who could not help themselves. He meant -to be free, but did not mean to pay for that which was his -by right. At that time he was investigating certain strange -occurrences produced by some invisible agency that claimed to -be spiritual. He must remain where he was a while longer. -I was under no serious obligations to him, he said. He -had simply done his duty.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We parted. I tried to find the woman Esha, who had been -kind to my wife, but she had been sold no one knew to whom. -I went to New Orleans, and assuming, by legislative permission, -the name of William Vance, I entered into cotton speculations.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My features had been so changed by suffering, that few -recognized me. My operations were bold and successful. In -four years I had accumulated a little fortune. Occasionally I -would meet Ratcliff. Once I had him completely in my -power. He was in the passage-way leading to my office. -I could have dragged him in and——</p> - -<p class='c001'>No! The revenge seemed too poor and narrow. I craved -something huge and general. The mere punishing of an -<em>individual</em> was too puny an expenditure of my hoarded vengeance. -But to strike at the “institution” which had spawned -this and similar monsters, that would be some small satisfaction.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Closing up my affairs in New Orleans, I entered upon that -career which has gained me such notoriety in the Southwest. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>I have run off many thousand slaves, worth in the aggregate -many millions of dollars. My theatrical experience has made -me a daring expert in disguising myself. At one time I am a -mulatto with a gash across my face; at another time, an old -man; at another, a mean whiskey-swilling hanger-on of the -chivalry. My task is only just begun. It is not till we have -given slavery its immedicable wound, or rather till it has -itself committed suicide in the house of its friends, that I shall -be ready to say, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Nunc dimittas, domi-ne!</i></span><a id='r21' /><a href='#f21' class='c014'><sup>[21]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span> - <h2 class='c021'>CHAPTER XIII. <br /> FIRE UP!</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“What is the end and essence of life? It is to expand all our faculties and affections. -It is to grow, to gain by exercise new energy, new intellect, new love. It is to hope, to -strive, to bring out what is within us, to press towards what is above us. In other -words, it is to be Free. Slavery is thus at war with the true life of human nature.”—<cite>Channing.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>At the conclusion of Vance’s narrative, Mr. Onslow rose, -shook him by the hand, and walked away without making -a remark.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Berwick showed her appreciation by her tears.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What a pity,” said her husband, “that so fine a fellow as -Peek did not accept your proposal to free him!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Peek freed himself,” replied Vance. “He escaped to -Canada, married, settled in New York, and was living happily, -when a few days ago, rather than go before a United States -Commissioner, he surrendered himself to that representative -of the master race, Colonel Delancy Hyde, to whom you have -had the honor to be introduced. Peek is now on board this -boat, and handcuffed, lest he should jump overboard and swim -ashore. If you will walk forward, I will show him to you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Greatly surprised and interested, the Berwicks followed -Vance to the railing, and looked down on Peek as he reclined -in the sunshine reading a newspaper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But he must be freed. I will buy him,” said Berwick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t trouble yourself.” returned Vance. “Peek will be -free without money and without price, and he knows it. Those -iron wristbands you see are already filed apart.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are there many such as he among the negroes?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not many, I fear, either among blacks or whites,” replied -Vance. “But, considering their social deprivations, there are -more good men and true among the negroes—ay, among the -slaves—than you of the North imagine. Your ideal of the -negro is what you derive from the Ethiopian minstrels and -from the books and plays written to ridicule him. His type -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>is a low, ignorant trifler and buffoon, unfit to be other than a -slave or an outcast. Thus, by your injurious estimate, you lend -yourselves to the support and justification of slavery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Would you admit the black to a social equality?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I would admit him,” replied Vance, “to all the civil rights -of the white. There are many men whom I am willing to acknowledge -my equals, whose society I may not covet. That -does not at all affect the question of their rights. Let us give -the black man a fair field. Let us not begin by declaring his -inferiority in capacity, and then anxiously strive to prevent his -finding a chance to prove our declaration untrue.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But would you favor the amalgamation of the races?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is a question for physiologists; or, perhaps, for individual -instincts. Probably if all the slaves were emancipated -in all the Cotton States, amalgamation would be much less than -it is now. The French Quadroons are handsome and healthy, -and are believed to be more vigorous than either of the parent -races from which they are descended.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Many of the most strenuous opponents of emancipation -base their objections on their fears of amalgamation.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To which,” replied Vance, “I will reply in these words of -one of your Northern divines, ‘<em>What a strange reason for oppressing -a race of fellow-beings, that if we restore them to their -rights we shall marry them!</em>’ Many of these men who cry out -the loudest against amalgamation keep colored mistresses, and -practically confute their own protests. To marriage, but not -to concubinage, they object.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see no way for emancipation,” said Berwick, “except -through the consent of the Slave States.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“God will find a way,” returned Vance. “He infatuates -before he destroys; and the infatuation which foreruns destruction -has seized upon the leading men of the South. Plagiarizing -from Satan, they have said to slavery, ‘Evil, be thou our -good!’ They are bent on having a Southern Confederacy with -power to extend slavery through Mexico into Central America. -That can never be attempted without civil war, and civil war -will be the end of slavery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Would you not,” asked Berwick, “compensate those masters -who are willing to emancipate their slaves?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>“I deny,” said Vance, “that property in slaves can morally -exist. No decision of the State can absolve me from the moral -law. It is a sham and a lie to say that man can hold property -in man. The right to make the black man a slave implies the -right to make you or me a slave. No legislation can make -such a claim valid. No vote of a majority can make an act of -tyranny right,—can convert an innocent man into a chattel. -All the world may cry out it is right, but they cannot make it -so. The slaveholder, in emancipating his slave, merely surrenders -what is not his own. I would be as liberal to him in -the way of encouragement as the public means would justify. -But the loss of the planter from emancipation is greatly over -estimated. His land would soon double in value by the act; -and the colored freedmen would be on the soil, candidates for -wages, and with incentives to labor they never had before.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The bell for dinner broke in upon the conversation. It was -not till evening that the parties met again on the upper deck.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have been talking with Peek,” said Berwick, “and to -my dismay I find he was betrayed by the husband of my -step-mother. You must help me cancel this infernal wrong.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have laid my plans for taking all these negroes ashore at -midnight at our next stopping-place,” replied Vance. “I am -to personate their owner. The keepers of the boat, who have -seen me so much with Hyde, will offer no opposition. He is -already so drunk that we have had to put him to bed. He -begged me to look after his niggers. Whiskey had made him -sentimental. He wept maudlin tears, and wanted to kiss me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here’s a check,” said Berwick, “for twenty-five hundred -dollars. Give it to Peek the moment he is free.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance placed it in a small water-proof wallet.</p> - -<p class='c001'>What’s the matter?</p> - -<p class='c001'>A rush and a commotion on the deck! Captain Crane left -the wheel-house, and jumped over the railing down to the lower -deck forward, his mouth bubbling and foaming with oaths.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There had been a slackening of the fires, and the Champion -was all at once found to be fast gaining on the Pontiac.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Fire up!” yelled the Captain. “Pile on the turpentine -splinters. Bring up the rosin. Blast yer all for a set of cowardly -cusses! I’m bound to land yer either in Helena or hell, -ahead of the Champion.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XIV.<br />WAITING FOR THE SUMMONER.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“So every spirit, as it is more pure,</div> - <div class='line'>And hath in it the more of heavenly light,</div> - <div class='line'>So it the fairer body doth procure,</div> - <div class='line'>To habit in, and it more fairly dight</div> - <div class='line'>With cheerful grace and amiable sight.</div> - <div class='line'>For of the soul the body form doth take,</div> - <div class='line'>For soul is form, and doth the body make.”</div> - <div class='line in23'><cite>Edmund Spenser.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>In the best chamber of the house of Pierre Toussaint in -Franklin Street, looking out on blossoming grape-vines and -a nectarine-tree in the area, sat Mrs. Charlton in an arm-chair, -and propped by pillows. Her wasted features showed that -disease had made rapid progress since the glance we had of her -in the mirror.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A knock at the door was followed by the entrance of Toussaint.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Toussaint, what’s the news to-day?” asked the invalid.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Toussaint replied in French: “I do not find much of new in -the morning papers, madame. Is madame ready for her breakfast?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, any time now. I see my little Lulu is washing himself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Lulu was the canary-bird. Toussaint quitted the room and -returned in a few minutes, bringing in a tray, spread with the -whitest of napkins, and holding a silver urn of boiling water, a -pitcher of cream, and two little shining pots, one filled with -coffee, the other with tea. The viands were a small roll, with -butter, an omelette, and a piece of fresh-broiled salmon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sit down and talk with me, Toussaint, while I eat,” said -the invalid. “Have you seen my husband lately?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not, madame, since he called to recover the box.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Has he sent to make inquiry in regard to my health?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>“Not once, to my knowledge.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I cannot reconcile my husband’s indifference with his fondness -for money. He must know that my death will deprive -him of twelve hundred a year. How do you account for it, -Toussaint?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pardon me, madame, but I would rather not say.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And why not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My surmise may be uncharitable, or it might give you pain.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do not fear that, Toussaint. I have surrendered what -they say is the last thing a woman surrenders,—all personal -vanity. So speak freely.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Charlton is young and good-looking, madame, and he -is probably well aware that, in the event of his being left a -widower, it would not be difficult for him to form a marriage -connection that would bring him a much larger income than -that you supply.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing more likely, Toussaint. How strange that I can -talk of these things so calmly,—eating my breakfast, thus! -They say that a woman who has once truly loved must always -love. What do you think, Toussaint?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This, madame, that if we love a thing because we think it -good, and then find, on trial, that it is not good, but very bad, -our love cannot continue the same.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But do we not, in marriage, promise to love, honor, and -obey?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not by the Catholic form, madame. Try to force love, you -kill it. It is like trying to force an appetite. You make yourself -sick at the stomach in the attempt.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here there was a ring at the door-bell, and Toussaint left -the room. On his return he said: “The husband of madame -is below. He wishes to speak with madame.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Surprised and disturbed, Mrs. Charlton said, “Take away -the breakfast things.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But madame has not touched the salmon nor the omelette, -and only a poor little bit of the crust of this roll,” murmured -Toussaint.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have had enough, my good Toussaint. Take them away, -and let Mr. Charlton come in.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then, as if by way of contradicting what she had said a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>moment before, she began smoothing her hair and arranging -her shawl. The inconsistency between her practice and her -profession seemed to suggest itself to her suddenly, for she -smiled sadly, and murmured, “After all, I have not quite outlived -my folly!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton entered unaccompanied. His manner was that of -a man who has a big scheme in his head, which he is trying to -disguise and undervalue. Moved by an unwonted excitement, -he strove to appear calm and indifferent, but, like a bad actor, -he overdid his part.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have come, Emily,” said he, “to ask your pardon for the -past.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! Then you want something. What can I do for -you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You misapprehend me, my dear. Affairs have gone wrong -with me of late; but my prospects are brightening now, and my -wish is that you should have the benefit of the change.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My time for this world’s benefits is likely to be short,” said -the invalid.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not so, my dear! You are looking ten per cent better than -when I saw you last.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My glass tells me you do not speak truly in that. Come, -deal frankly with me. What do you want?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As I was saying, my love,” resumed Charlton, “my business -is improving; but I need a somewhat more extended credit, -and you can help me to it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I thought there was something wanted,” returned the invalid, -with a scornful smile; “but you overrate my ability. -How can I help your credit? The annuity allowed by Mr. -Berwick ends with my life. I have no property, real or personal,—except -my canary-bird, and what few clothes you can -find in yonder wardrobe.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, my dear,” urged Charlton, “many persons imagine -that you have property; and if I could only show them an -authenticated instrument under which you bequeath, in the -event of your death, all your estate, real and personal, to your -husband, it would aid me materially in raising money.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That, sir, would be raising money under false pretences. -I shall lend myself to no such attempt. Why not tell the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>money-lenders the truth? Why not tell them your wife -has nothing except what she receives from the charity of her -step-son?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Enraged at seeing how completely his victim had thrown off -his influence, and at the same time indulging a vague hope that -he might recover it, Charlton’s lips began to work as if he were -hesitating whether to try his old game of browbeating or to -adopt a conciliatory course. A suspicion that the lady was -disenchanted, and no longer subject to any spell he could throw -upon her, led him to fall back on the more prudent policy; and -he replied: “I have concealed nothing from the parties with -whom I am negotiating. I have told them the precise situation -of our affairs; but they have urged this contingency: your -wife, it is true, is dependent, but her rich relatives may die and -leave her a bequest. We will give you the money you want, -if you will satisfy us that you are her heir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You fatigue me,” said the invalid. “You wish me to make -a will in your favor. You have the instruments all drawn up -and ready for my signature in your pocket; and on the opposite -side of the street you have three men in waiting who may -serve as witnesses.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But who told you this?” exclaimed Charlton, confounded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your own brain by its motions told it,” replied the wife. -“I am rather sensitive to impressions, you see. Strike one -of the chords of a musical instrument, and a corresponding -chord in its duplicate near by will be agitated. Your drift is -apparent. The allusions under which I have labored in regard -to you have vanished, never, never to return! How I deferred -the moment of final, irrevocable estrangement! How I strove, -by meekness, love, and devotion, to win you to the better -choice! How I shut my eyes to your sordid traits! But now -the infatuation is ended. You are powerless to wound or to -move me. The love you spurned has changed, not to hate, but -to indifference. Free to choose between God and Mammon, -you have chosen Mammon, and nothing I can say can make -you reconsider your election.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You do me injustice, my wife, my dearest—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Psha! Do not blaspheme. We understand each other -at last. Now to business. You want me to sign a will in your -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>favor, leaving you all the property I may be possessed of at -the time of my death. Would you know when that time -will be?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do not speak so, Emily,” said Charlton, in tones meant to -be pathetic.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It may be an agreeable surprise to you,” continued the -invalid, “to learn that my time in this world will be up the -tenth of next month. I will sign the will, on one condition.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Name it!” said Charlton, eagerly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The condition is, that you pay Toussaint a thousand dollars -cash down as an indemnity for the expense he has been at -on my account, and to cover the costs of my funeral.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With difficulty Charlton curbed his rage so far as to be -content with the simple utterance, “Impossible!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then please go,” said the invalid, taking up a silver bell to -ring it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stop! stop!” cried Charlton. “Give me a minute to consider. -Three hundred dollars will more than cover all the -expenses,—medical attendance, undertaker’s charges,—all. -At least, I know an undertaker who charges less than half -what such fellows as Brown of Grace pile on. Say three hundred -dollars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With a smile of indescribable scorn, the invalid touched the -bell.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stop! We’ll call it five hundred,” groaned the conveyancer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A louder ring by the lady, and the old negro’s step was heard -on the stairs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Seven hundred,—eight hundred: O, I couldn’t possibly -afford more than eight hundred!” said Charlton, in a tone -the pathos of which was no longer feigned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The invalid now rang the bell with energy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It shall be a thousand, then!” exclaimed Charlton, just as -Toussaint entered the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Toussaint,” said the invalid, “Mr. Charlton has a paper he -wishes me to sign. I have promised to do it on his paying you -a thousand dollars. Accept it without demur. Do you understand?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Toussaint bowed his assent; and Charlton, leaving the room, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>returned with his three witnesses. The sum stipulated was -paid to Toussaint, and the will was duly signed and witnessed. -Possessed of the document, Charlton’s first impulse was to vent -his wrath upon his wife; but he discreetly remembered that, -while life remained, it was in her power to revoke what she had -done; so he dismissed his witnesses, and began to play the -fawner once more. But he was checked abruptly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There! you weary me. Go, if you please,” said she. -“If I have occasion, I will send for you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“May I not call daily to see how you are getting on?” -whined Charlton.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I really don’t see any use in it,” replied the invalid. “If -you will look in the newspapers under the obituary head the -eleventh or twelfth of next month, you will probably get all the -information in regard to me that will be important.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Cruel and unjust!” said the husband. “Have you no -forgiveness in your heart?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Forgiveness? Trampled on, my heart has given out love -and duty in the hope of finding some spot in your own heart -which avarice and self-seeking had not yet petrified. But I -despair of doing aught to change your nature. I must leave -you to God and circumstance. Neither you nor any other -offender shall lack my forgiveness, however; for in that I only -give what I supremely need. Farewell.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good by, since you will not let me try to make amends for -the past,” said Charlton; and he quitted the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Half sorry for her own harshness, and thinking she might -have misjudged her husband’s present feelings, the invalid got -Toussaint to help her into the next room, where she could look -through the blinds. No sooner was Charlton in the street than -he drew from his pocket the will, and walked slowly on as if -feasting his eyes on its contents. With a gesture of exultation, -he finally returned the paper to his pocket, and strode briskly -up the street to Broadway.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You see!” said the invalid, bitterly. “And I loved that -man once! And there are worthy people who would say I -ought to love him still. Love him? Tell my little Lulu to -love a cat or a hawk. How can I love what I find on testing -to be repugnant to my own nature? Tell me, Toussaint, does -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>God require we should love what we know to be impure, -unjust, cruel?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah, madame, the good God, I suppose, would have us love -the wicked so far as to help them to get rid of their wickedness.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But there are some who will not be helped,” said the invalid. -“Take the wickedness out of some persons, and we -should deprive them of their very individuality, and practically -annihilate them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“God knows,” replied Toussaint; “time is short, and eternity -is long,—long enough, perhaps, to bleach the filthiest nature, -with Christ’s help.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Right, Toussaint. What claim have I to judge of the -capacities for redemption in a human soul? But there is a -terrible mystery to me in these false conjunctions of man and -woman. Why should the loving be united to the unloving and -the brutal?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Simply, madame, because this is earth, and not heaven. -In the next life all masks must be dropped. What will the -hypocrite and the impostor do then? Then the loving will -find the loving, and the pure will find the pure. Then our -bodies will be fair or ugly, black or white, according to our -characters.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I believe it!” exclaimed the invalid. “Yes, there is an -infinite compassion over all. God lives, and the soul does not -die, and the mistakes, the infelicities, the shortcomings of this -life shall be as fuel to kindle our aspirations and illumine our -path in another stage of being.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here a clamorous newsboy stopped on the other side of the -way to sell a gentleman an Extra.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What is that boy crying?” asked the invalid.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A great steamboat accident on the Mississippi,” replied -Toussaint.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XV.<br />WHO SHALL BE HEIR?</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“I care not, Fortune, what you me deny,</div> - <div class='line in2'>You cannot rob me of free Nature’s grace;</div> - <div class='line'>You cannot shut the windows of the sky,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Through which Aurora shows her brightening face.”</div> - <div class='line in36'><cite>Thomson.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>When we parted from Mr. Pompilard, he was trying to -negotiate a mortgage for thirty thousand dollars on -some real estate belonging to his wife. This mortgage was -effected without recourse to the Berwicks, as was also a -second mortgage of five thousand dollars, which left the property -so encumbered that no further supply could be raised -from it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The money thus obtained Mr. Pompilard forthwith cast -upon the waters of that great financial maelstrom in Wall -Street which swallows so many fortunes. This time he lost; -and our story now finds him and his family established in the -poorer half of a double house, wooden, and of very humble pretensions, -situated in Harlem, some seven or eight miles from -the heart of the great metropolis. Compared with the princely -seat he once occupied on the Hudson, what a poor little den it -was!</p> - -<p class='c001'>A warm, almost sultry noon in May was brooding over the -unpaved street. The peach-trees showed their pink blossoms, -and the pear-trees their white, in the neighboring enclosures. -All that Mr. Pompilard could look out upon in his poor, narrow -little area was a clothes-line and a few tufts of grass with -the bald soil interspersed. Yet there in his little back parlor -he sat reading the last new novel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly he heard cries of murder in the other half of his -domicil. Throwing down his book, he went out through the -open window, and, stepping on a little plank walk dignified -with the name of a piazza, put his legs over a low railing and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>passed into his neighbor’s house. That neighbor was an Irish -tailor of the name of Pat Maloney, a little fellow with carroty -whiskers and features intensely Hibernian.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On inquiring into the cause of the outcry, Pompilard learned -that Maloney was only “larruping the ould woman with a bit -of a leather strap, yer honor.” Mrs. Maloney excused her -husband, protesting that he was the best fellow in the world, -except when he had been drinking, which was the case that -day; “and not a bad excuse for it there was, your honor, for a -band of Irish patriots had landed that blessed morning, and -Pat had only helped wilcom them dacently, which was the -cause of his taking a drap too much.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With an air of deference that he might have practised -towards a grand-duchess, Pompilard begged pardon for his -intrusion, and passed out, leaving poor Pat and his wife -stunned by the imposing vision.</p> - -<p class='c001'>No sooner had Pompilard resumed his romance, than the -dulcet strains of a hand-organ under the opposite window solicited -his ear. Pompilard was a patron of hand-organs; he -had a theory that they encouraged a taste for music among the -humbler classes. The present organ was rich-toned, and was -giving forth the then popular and always charming melody of -“Love Not.” Pompilard grew sentimental, and put his hand -in his pocket for a quarter of a dollar; but no quarter responded -to the touch of his fingers. He called his wife.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Enter a small middle-aged lady, dressed in white muslin -over a blue under-robe, with ribbons streaming in all directions. -She was followed by Antoinette, or Netty, as she was -generally called, a little elfish-looking maiden, six or seven -years old, with her hands thrust jauntily into the pockets of -her apron, and her bright beady eyes glancing about as if in -search of mischief.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Lend me a quarter, my dear, for the organ-man,” said -Pompilard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! there you have me at a disadvantage, husband,” said -the lady. “Do you know I don’t believe ten cents could be -raised in the whole house?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And the lady laughed, as if she regarded the circumstance -as an excellent joke. The child, taking her cue from the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>mother, screamed with delight. Then, imitating the sound of a -bumble-bee, she made her father start up, afraid he was going -to be stung. This put the climax to her merriment, and she -threw herself on the sofa in a paroxysm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What a little devil it is!” exclaimed Pompilard, proudly -smiling on his offspring. “Is it possible that no one in the -house has so much as a quarter of a dollar? Where are the -girls? Girls!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>His call brought down from up-stairs his two eldest, children -of his first wife,—one, Angelica Ireton, a widow, whose perplexity -was how to prevent herself from becoming fat, for -she was already fair and forty; the other, Melissa (by Netty -nicknamed Molasses), a sentimentalist of twenty-five, affianced, -since her father’s last financial downfall, to Mr. Cecil Purling, -a gentleman five years her senior, who labored under the delusion -that he was born to be an author, and who kept on -ruining publishers by writing the most ingeniously unsalable -books. Angelica had a son with the army in Mexico, and two -little girls, Julia and Mary, older than Netty, but over whom -she exercised absolute authority by keeping them constantly -informed that she was their aunt.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Angelica was found to have in her purse the sum required -for the organ-man. Pompilard took it, and started for the -door, when a prolonged feline cry made him suppose he had -trodden on the kitten. “Poor Puss!” he exclaimed; “where -the deuce are you?” He looked under the sofa, and an outburst -of impish laughter told him he had been tricked a second -time by his little girl.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That child will be kidnapped yet by the circus people,” -said Pompilard, complacently. “Where did she learn all these -accomplishments?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of the children in the next house, I believe,” said Mrs. -Pompilard; “or else of the sailors on the river, for she is constantly -at the water-side watching the vessels, and trying to -make pictures of them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard went to the door, paid the organ-grinder, and re-entered -the room with an “Extra” which the grateful itinerant -had presented to him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What have we here?” said Pompilard; and he read from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>the paper the announcement of a terrible steamboat accident, -which had occurred on the night of the Wednesday previous, -on the Mississippi.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This is very surprising,—very surprising indeed,” he exclaimed. -“My dear, it appears from—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The noise of a dog yelping, as if his leg had been suddenly -broken by a stone, here interrupted him. He rushed to the -window. No dog was there.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will that little goblin never be out of mischief? Take -her away, Molasses,” said the secretly delighted father. Then, -resuming his seat, he continued: “It appears from this account, -wife, that among the passengers killed by this great steamboat -explosion were your niece Leonora Berwick, her husband, and -child. Did she have more than one child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not that I know of,” said Mrs. Pompilard. “Is poor Leonora -blown up? That is very hard indeed. But I never set -eyes on her,—though I have her photograph,—and I shall not -pretend to grieve for one I never saw. My poor brother could -never get over our elopement, you wicked Albert.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your poor brother thought I was cheating you, when I said -I loved you to distraction. Now put your hand on your heart, -Mrs. Pompilard, and say, if you can, that I haven’t proved -every day of my life that I fell short of the truth in my professions.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I sha’n’t complain,” replied the lady, smiling; “but we -were shockingly imprudent, both of us; and I tell Netty I -shall disown her if she ever elopes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course Netty mustn’t take our example as a precedent.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Buoyed up on her husband’s ever-sanguine and cheerful temperament, -Mrs. Pompilard had looked upon their fluctuations -from wealth to poverty as so many piquant variations in their -way of life. This moving into a little mean house in Harlem,—what -was it, after all, but playing poor? It would be only -temporary, and was a very good joke while it lasted. Albert -would soon have his palace on the Fifth Avenue once more. -There was no doubt of it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And so Mrs. Pompilard made the best of the present moment. -Her step-daughters (she was the junior of one of -them) used to treat her as they might a spoiled child, taking -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>her in their laps, and petting her, and often rocking her to -sleep.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The news Pompilard had been reading suggested to him a -not improbable contingency, but he exhibited the calmness of -the experienced gambler in considering it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear,” said he, “if this news is true, it is not out of the -range of possibilities that the extinction of this Berwick family -may leave you the inheritrix of a million of dollars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That would be quite delightful,” exclaimed Mrs. Pompilard; -“for then that poor pining Purling could marry Melissa -at once. Not that I wish my niece and her husband any harm. -O no!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, it wouldn’t be an ill wind for Purling and Melissa, -that’s a fact,” said Pompilard. “The chances stand thus: If -the mother died the last of the three, the property comes to you -as her nearest heir. If the child died last, at least half, and -perhaps all the property, must come to you. If the child died -first (which is most probable), and then the father and the -mother, or the mother and the father, still the property comes -to you. If the father died first, then the child, and then the -mother, the property comes to you. But if the mother died -first, then the child, and then the father, the money all goes to -Mrs. Charlton, by virtue of her kinship as aunt and nearest -relative to Mr. Berwick. So you see the chances are largely -in your favor. If the report is true that the family are all lost, -I would bet fifteen thousand to five that you inherit the property. -I shall go to the city to-morrow, and perhaps by that -time we shall have further particulars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard then plunged anew into his novel, and the wife -returned to her task of trimming a bonnet, intended as a wedding -present to a girl who had once been in her service, and -who was now to occupy one of the houses opposite.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next day, Pompilard, fresh, juvenile, and debonair, descended -from the Harlem cars at Chambers Street, and strolled -down Broadway, swinging his cane, and humming the Druidical -chorus from Norma. Encountering Charlton walking in the -same direction, he joined him with a “Good morning.” Charlton -turned, and, seeing Pompilard jubilant, drew from the spectacle -an augury unfavorable to his own prospects. “Has the old -fellow had private advices?” thought he.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>Pompilard spoke of the opera, of Maretzek, the Dusseldorf -gallery, and the Rochester rappings. At length Charlton interposed -with an allusion to the great steamboat disaster. Pompilard -seemed to dodge the subject; and this drove Charlton to -the direct interrogatory, “Have you had any information in -addition to what the newspapers give?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O nothing,—that is, nothing of consequence,” said Pompilard. -“Did you hear Grisi last night?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It appears,” resumed Charlton, “that your wife’s niece, -Mrs. Berwick, was killed outright, that the child was subsequently -drowned, and that Mr. Berwick survived till the next -day at noon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing more likely!” replied Pompilard, who had not yet -seen the morning papers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know any of the survivors?” asked Charlton,</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I haven’t examined the list yet,” said Pompilard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And they parted at the head of Fulton Street.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton built his hopes largely on the fact that Colonel -Delancy Hyde was among the survivors. If, fortunately, the -Colonel’s memory should serve him the right way, he might -turn out a very useful witness. At any rate, he (Charlton) -would communicate with him by letter forthwith.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In one of the reports in the Memphis Avalanche, telegraphed -to the morning papers, was the following extract:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“Judge Onslow, late of Mississippi, and his son saved themselves -by swimming. Among the bodies they identified was -that of Mrs. Berwick of New York, wounded in the head. -From the nature of the wound, her death must have been instantaneous. -Her husband was badly scalded, and, on recognizing -the body of his wife, and learning that his child was -among the drowned, he became deeply agitated. He lingered -till the next day at noon. The child had been in the keeping -of a mulatto nurse. Mr. Burgess of St. Louis, who was saved, -saw them both go overboard. It appears, however, that the -nurse, with her charge in her arms, was seen holding on to a -life-preserving stool; but they were both drowned, though -every effort was made by Colonel Hyde, aided by Mr. Quattles -of South Carolina, to save them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We regret to learn that Colonel Hyde is a large loser in -slaves. One of these, a valuable negro, named Peek, is probably -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>drowned, as he was handcuffed to prevent his escape. -The other slaves may have perished, or may have made tracks -for the underground railroad to Canada. The report that Mr. -Vance of New Orleans was lost proves to be untrue. The -night was dark, though not cloudy. The river is very deep, -and the current rapid at the place of the explosion (a few -miles above Helena), and it is feared that many persons have -been drowned whose bodies it will be impossible to recover.”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard read this account, and felt a million of dollars -slipping away from his grasp. But not a muscle of his face -betrayed emotion. Impenetrable fatalist, he still had faith in -the culmination of his star.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We must wait for further particulars,” thought Pompilard; -“there is hope still”; and, stopping at a stall to buy the new -novel of “Monte Cristo” by Dumas, he made his way to the -cars, and returned to Harlem.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Weeks glided by. Mrs. Charlton passed away on the day -she had predicted, and Toussaint, after seeing her remains -deposited at Greenwood, gave away in charity the thousand -dollars which she had extorted for him from her husband.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Melissa Pompilard began to fear that the marriage-day -would never come round. Cecil Purling, her betrothed, had -made a descent on a young publisher, just starting in business, -and had induced him to put forth a volume of “playful” essays, -entitled “Skimmings and Skippings.” The result was financial -ruin to the publisher, and his rapid retreat back to the clerkship -from which he had emerged.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But Purling was indomitable. He began forthwith to plan -another publication, and to look round for another victim; -comforting Melissa with the assurance that, though the critics -were now in a league to keep him in obscurity, he should make -his mark some day, when all his past works would turn out the -most profitable investments he could possibly have found.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To whom should the Aylesford-Berwick property descend? -That was now a question of moment, both in legal and financial -circles. Pompilard read novels, made love to his wife, and -romped with his daughters and grandchildren. Charlton -groaned and grew thin under the horrible state of suspense -in which the lawyers kept him.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XVI.<br />THE VENDUE.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“A queen on a scaffold is not so pitiful a sight as a woman on the auction-block.”—<cite>Charles -Sumner.</cite></p> - -<p class='c022'>“Slavery gratifies at once the love of power, the love of money, and the love of ease; it -finds a victim for anger who cannot smite back his oppressor, and it offers to all, without -measure, the seductive privileges which the Mormon gospel reserves for the true believers -on earth, and the Bible of Mahomet only dares promise to the saints in heaven.”—<cite>O. W. -Holmes.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>About a month after the explosion of the Pontiac, a select -company were assembled, one beautiful morning in June, -under a stately palmetto-tree in front of the auction store of -Messrs. Ripper & Co. in New Orleans, and on the shady side -of the street. There was to be a sale of prime slaves that day. -A chair with a table before it, flanked on either side by a bale -of cotton, afforded accommodations for the ceremony. Mr. -Ripper, the auctioneer, was a young man, rather handsome, -and well dressed, but with that flushed complexion and telltale -expression of the eyes which a habit of dissipation generally -imparts to its victims.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The company numbered some fifty. They were lounging -about in groups, and were nearly all of them smoking cigars. -Some were attired in thin grass-cloth coats and pantaloons, -some in the perpetual black broadcloth to which Americans -adhere so pertinaciously, even when the thermometer is at -ninety. There was but one woman present; and she was a -strong-minded widow, a Mrs. Barkdale, who by the death of -her husband had come into the possession of a plantation, and -now, instead of sending her overseer, had come herself, to bid -off a likely field-hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The negroes to be sold, about a dozen in number, were in -the warehouse. Mr. Ripper paced the sidewalk, looking now -and then impatiently at his watch. The sale was to begin at -ten. Suddenly a tall, angular, ill-formed man, dressed in a -light homespun suit, came up to Ripper and drew him aside to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>where a young man, dressed in black and wearing a white -neckcloth, stood bracing his back up against a tree. His -swarthy complexion, dark eyes, and long nose made it doubtful -whether the Caucasian, the Jewish, or the African blood predominated -in his veins. A general languor and unsteadiness -of body showed that he had been indulging in the “ardent.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>To this individual the tall man led up the auctioneer, and -said: “The Reverend Quattles, Mr. Ripper; Mr. Ripper, -the Reverend Quattles. Gemmlemen, yer both know <em>me</em>. -I’m Delancy Hyde,—Virginia-born, be Gawd. (’Scuze me, -Reverend sir.) None of your Puritan scum! My ahnces’tor, -Delancy Hyde, kum over with Pocahontas and John Smith; -my gra’ffther owned more niggers nor ’ary other man in the -county; my father was cheated and broke up by a damned -Yankee judge, sir; that’s why the family acres ain’t mine.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve but five minutes more,” interposed Mr. Ripper, impatiently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, sir,” continued the Colonel, “this gemmleman, as I -war tellin’ yer, is the Reverend Quattles of Alabamy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Reverend Quattles bowed, and, with fishy eyes and a -maudlin smile, put his hand on his heart.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The little nig I’ve brung yer ter sell, Mr. Ripper, b’longs -ter the Reverend Quattles’s brother, a high-tone gemmleman, -who lives in Mobile, but has been unfortnit in business, and has -had ter sell off his niggers. An’ as I was goin’ ter Noo Orleenz, -he puts this little colored gal in my hands ter sell. The Reverend -Quattles wanted ter buy her, but was too poor. He then -said he’d go with me ter see she mowt fall inter the right -hahnds. In puttin’ her up, yer must say ’t was a great ’fliction, -and all that, ter part with her; that the Reverend Quattles, -ruther nor see her fall inter the wrong hands, would sell his -library, and so on; that she’s the child of a quadroon as has -been in the family all her life, and as is a sort of half-sister of -the Reverend Quattles.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O yes! I understand all that game,” said Ripper, knocking -with his little finger the ashes from his cigar.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel, in an <em>aside</em> to the auctioneer, now remarked: -“The Reverend Quattles, in tryin’ to stiddy his narves for the -scene, has tuk too stiff a horn, yer see.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>“Yes; take him where he can sleep it off. It’s time for the -sale to begin. Remember your lot is Number 12, and will be -struck off last.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The auctioneer then made his way across the street, jumped -on one of the cotton-bales, and thence into the chair placed -near the table.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come, Quattles,” said Hyde, “we’ve time for another horn -afore we’re wanted.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No yer don’t, Kunnle!” exclaimed Quattles, throwing off -that worthy’s arm from his shoulder. “I tell yer this is too -cussed mean a business for any white man; I tell yer I won’t -give inter it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hush! Don’t bawl so,” pleaded the Colonel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I <em>will</em> bawl. Yer think yer’ve got me so drunk I hain’t -no conscience left. But I tell yer, I woan’t give in. I tell -yer, I’ll ’xpose the hull trick!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hush! hush!” said the Colonel, patting him as he might a -restive beast. “Arter the sale’s over, we’ll have a fust-rate -dinner all by ou’selves at the St. Charles. Terrapin soup and -pompinoe! Champagne and juleps! Ice-cream and jelly! A -reg’lar blow-out! Think of that, Quattles! Think of that!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Cuss the vittles! O, I’m a poor, mis’able, used-up, good-for-northin’ -creetur, wuss nor a nigger!—yes, wuss nor a -nigger!” said Quattles, bursting into maudlin sobs and weeping. -The Colonel walked him away into a contiguous drinking-saloon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Brandy-smashes for two,” said the Colonel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The decoctions were brewed, and the tumblers slid along -the marble counter, with the despatch of a man who takes -pride in his vocation. They were as quickly emptied. Quattles -gulped down his liquor eagerly. The Colonel then hired -a room containing a sofa, and, seeing his companion safely -bestowed there, made his own way back to the auction.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On one of the cotton-bales stood a prime article called a -negro-wench. This was Lot Number 3. She was clad in an -old faded and filthy calico dress that had apparently been -made for a girl half her size. A small bundle containing the -rest of her wardrobe lay at her feet. Her bare arms, neck, -and breasts were conspicuously displayed, and her knees were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>hardly covered by the stinted skirt. Without shame she stood -there, as if used to the scene, and rather flattered by the glib -commendations of the auctioneer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look at her, gentlemen!” said he. “All her pints good. -Fust-rate stock to breed from. Only twenty-three years old, -and has had five children already. And thar’s no reason -why she shouldn’t have a dozen more. I’m only bid eight -hunderd dollars for this most valubble brood-wench. Only -eight hunderd dollars for this superior article. Thank you, -sir; you’ve an eye for good pints. I’m offered eight hunderd -and twenty-five. Only eight hunderd and twenty-five for this -most useful hand. Jest look at her, sir. Limbs straight; teeth -all sound; wool thick, though she has had five children. All -livin’, too; ain’t they, Portia?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, massa, all sole ter Massa Wade down thar in Texas. -He’m gwoin’ ter raise de hull lot.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You hear, gentlemen. Thar’s nothin’ vicious about her. -Makes no fuss because her young ones are carried off. Knows -they’ll be taken good care of. A good, reasonable, pleasant-tempered -wench as ever lived. And now I’m offered only -eight hunderd and—Did I hear fifty? Thank you, sir. -Eight hunderd and fifty dollars is bid. Is thar nary a man -har that knows the valoo of a prime article like this? Eight -hunderd and fifty dollars. Goin’ for eight hunderd and fifty! -Goin’! Gone! For eight hunderd and fifty dollars. Gentlemen, -you must be calculating on the opening of the slave-trade, -if you’ll stand by and see niggers sacrificed in this way. -Pass up the next lot.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next “lot” was a man, a sulky, discontented-looking -creature, but large, erect, and with shoulders that would have -made his fortune as a hotel-porter. Laying down his bundle, -he mounted the cotton-bale with a weary, desponding air, as -if he had begun to think there was no good in reserve for him, -either on the earth or in the heavens.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Lot Number 4 is Ike,” said the auctioneer. “A fust-rate -field-hand. Will hoe more cotton in three hours than a common -nigger will in ten. Ike is pious, and has been a famous -exhorter among the niggers; belongs to the Baptist church. -You all know, gentlemen, the advantage of piety in a nigger. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>Ike’s piety ought to add thirty per cent to his wuth. I’m -offered nine hunderd dollars for Ike. Nine hunderd dollars!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here a squinting, hatchet-faced fellow in a broad-brimmed -straw hat, who had been making quite a puddle of tobacco-juice -on the ground, leaped upon the bale, and lifted the slave’s -faded baize shirt so as to get a look at his back. Then, putting -his finger on the side of his nose, the examiner winked at Ripper, -and jumped down.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Scored?” asked an anxious inquirer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Scored? Wall, stranger, he’s been scored, then put under -a harrer, then paddled an’ burnt. A hard ticket that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The nine hundred dollar bid was as yet in the imagination -of the auctioneer. But, with the quick penetration of his -craft, he saw the strong-minded widow standing on tiptoe, her -face eager with the excitement of bidding, and her words only -checked by the desire to judge from the amount of competition -whether the article were a desirable one.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A thousand and ten! Thank you, sir, thank you!” said -Ripper, bowing to a gentleman he had seen only in his mind’s -eye. Nobody could dispute the bid, all eyes being directed -toward the auctioneer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A thousand and twenty-five,” continued Ripper, turning -in an opposite direction, and bowing to an equally imaginary -bidder. Then, apparently catching the eye of the competing -customer, “A thousand and forty!” he exclaimed; and so, see-sawing -from one chimerical gentleman to the other, he carried -the sham bidding up to a thousand and seventy-five.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At this point Mrs. Barkdale, pale, and following with swayings -of her own body the motions of the auctioneer, her heart -in her mouth almost depriving her of speech, waved her hand -to attract his attention, and, rising on tiptoe, gasped forth, “A -thousand and eighty!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you, madam,” said Ripper, politely touching his hat. -Then, apparently catching the eye of his imaginary bidder on -the right, “Monsieur Dupré,” he said, “you won’t allow such -a bargain to slip through your hands, will you? <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Voyez! Où -trouverez-vous un mieux?</i></span> Thank you, sir; thank you! A -thousand and ninety,—I’m offered a thousand and ninety for -this superior field-hand. Goin’,—goin’. Thank you, madam. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>Eleven hunderd dollars; only eleven hunderd dollars for this -most valubble piece of property. I assure you, gentlemen, ‘t is -not often you’ve such a chance. Goin’ for eleven hunderd -dollars! Are you all done? Eleven hunderd dollars. Goin’! -Gone! You were too late, sir. To Mrs. Barkdale for eleven -hunderd dollars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The widow, almost ready to faint, made her way to her -carriage, and was driven off. Some of the company shrugged -their shoulders, while others uttered a low, significant whistle. -Ike, who maintained his dogged, sulky look, picked up his -bundle, and was remanded to the warehouse, there to be kept -till claimed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, gentlemen,” said the auctioneer, “I have to call your -attention to the primest fancy article that it has ever been -my good fortin to put under the hammer. Lot Number 5 is -the quadroon gal, Nelly. Bring her on.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here a negro assistant led out, with his hand on her shoulder, -a girl apparently not more than eighteen years of age, and -helped her on the cotton-bale. She was modestly clad in -an old but neatly-fitting black silk gown, and, notwithstanding -the heat, wore round her shoulders a checked woollen shawl. -Her hair was straight. Evidently she derived her blood chiefly -from white ancestors. She was very pretty; and had a neat, -compact figure, in which the tendency to plumpness, common -among the quadroons, was not yet too marked for grace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was apparently the first time she had ever been put up for -sale; for she had a scared, deprecatory look, strangely accompanied -with a smile put on for the purpose of propitiating some -well-disposed master, if such there might be among the crowd.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, gentlemen,” said Ripper, “here is Lot Number 5. -It speaks for itself, and needs no puffin’ from me. But thar is -a little story connected with Nelly. She was the property of -Miss Pettigrew, down in Plaquemine, and always thought she’d -be free as soon as her missis died. But her missis fell under -conviction jest afore her death, and ordered in her will that -Nelly should be sold, and the proceeds paid over to the fund -for the support of indigent young men studyin’ for the ministry. -So, gentlemen, in biddin’ lib’rally for this superior lot, you’ll -have the satisfaction of forruding a most-er praiseworthy and -pious objek.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>“Make her drop her shawl,” said a gray-haired man, with a -blotched, unwholesome skin, and with dirty deposits of stale -tobacco-juice at the corners of his mouth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Certainly, Mr. Tibbs,” said Ripper, pulling off the girl’s -shawl as if he had been uncovering a sample of Sea-Island -cotton.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She has been a lady’s maid, and nothin’ else, I can assure -you, gentlemen. Small hands and feet, yer see. Look at that -neck and them shoulders! Her missis has kept her very strict; -and the executor, by whose order she is sold, warrants you, -gentlemen, she has never been <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>enceinte</i></span>. A very nice, good-natured, -correct, and capable gal. Will never give her owner -any trouble, and will ollerz do her best to please. Shall I start -her at a thousand dollars?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here Mr. Tibbs and two other men jumped on the bale, and -began to give a closer examination to the article. One pinched -the flesh of its smooth and well-rounded shoulders. Another -stretched its lips apart so as to get a sight of its teeth. Mr. -Tibbs pulled at the bosom of its dress in order to draw certain -physiological conclusions as to the truth of the auctioneer’s -warranty.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Please don’t,” expostulated the girl, putting away his hand, -and with her scared look trying hard to smile, but showing -in the act a set of teeth that at once added twenty per cent -to her value in the estimation of the beholder.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You see her, gentlemen,” said Ripper. “She’s just what -she appears to be. No sham about her. No paddin’. All -wholesome flesh and blood. What shall I have for Nelly?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A thousand dollars,” said Tibbs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You hear the bid, gentlemen. I’m offered a thousand -dollars for this <em>very</em> superior article. Only a thousand dollars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Eleven hundred,” said Jarvey, the well-known keeper of a -gambling-saloon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tibbs glanced angrily at the audacious competitor, then -nodded to the auctioneer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Eleven hundred and fifty is what I’m offered for Lot -Number 5. Gentlemen, bar in mind, that you air servin’ a -pious cause in helpin’ me to git the full valoo of this most-er -excellent article. Remember the proceeds go to edicate indigent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>young men for the ministry. Mr. Jarvey, can’t you do -su’thin’ for the church?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Twelve hundred,” said Jarvey.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Twelve fifty,” exclaimed Tibbs, abruptly, in a tone sharp -with exasperation and malevolence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Nelly, seeing that the bidding was confined to these two, -looked from the one to the other with an expression of deepest -solicitude, as if scanning their countenances for some way of -hope. Alas! there was not much to choose. To Jarvey, as -the less ill-favored, she evidently inclined; but Tibbs had -plainly made up his mind to “go his pile” on the purchase, -and the article was finally knocked down to him for fifteen -hundred dollars.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You owt to be proud to bring sich a price as that, my gal,” -said Ripper, in a tone of congratulation. Nelly made a piteous, -frightened attempt at a smile, then burst into tears, and got -down from the bale, stumbling in her confusion so as to fall -on her hands to the ground, much to the amusement of the -spectators.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lots from six to eleven inclusive did not excite much -competition. They were mostly field-hands, coarse and stolid -in feature, and showing a cerebral development of the most -rudimental kind. They brought prices ranging from seven -hundred to nine hundred dollars.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, gentlemen,” said Ripper, “I have one little fancy -article to offer you, and then the sale will be closed. Bring on -Number 12.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The colored assistant here issued from the warehouse and -crossed the street, bearing a little quadroon girl and her bundle -in his arms. Simultaneously a new and elegant barouche, drawn -by two sleek horses, and having two blacks in livery on the -driver’s box, stopped in the rear of the crowd. The occupant -got out, and strolled toward the stand. He was a middle-aged -man, with well-formed features, a smooth, florid complexion, -and a figure inclining to portliness. Apparently a -gentleman, were it not for that imperious, aggressive air, which -the habit of domineering from infancy over slaves generally -imparts. He carried a riding-whip, with which he carelessly -switched his legs.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>As he drew near the stand, the auctioneer’s assistant placed -on the cotton-bale the little quadroon girl. She was almost an -infant, evidently not three years old, with very black hair and -eyebrows, though her eyes did not harmonize with the hue. -She was naked even to her feet, with the exception of a little -chemise that did not reach to her thighs. Her figure promised -grace and health for the future. In the shape of her features -there was no sign of the African intermixture indicated in the -hue of her skin. With a wondering, anxious look she regarded -the scene before her, and was making an obvious effort to keep -from crying.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now here is Number 12, gentlemen,” said Ripper. “Jest -look at the little lady! Thar she is. Fust-rate stock. Look -at her hands and feet. Belonged to the Quattles family of -Mobile, and I’m charged by the Rev. Mr. Quattles to knock her -down to himself (though he can’t afford to buy her), rather -than have her go into the wrong hands. She’s the child of -his half-sister, yer see, gentlemen. What am I offered for this -little lady?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A hundred dollars,” said a voice from the crowd.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m offered two hunderd dollars for this little tidbit,” said -Ripper, pretending to have misunderstood the bid.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Colonel Delancy Hyde stepped forward, and, taking a position -at the side of the auctioneer, addressed the crowd: “I know -the Quattles family, gentlemen. It’s an unfort’nit family, and -they’d never have put this yere child under the hammer if so -be they hadn’t been forced right up ter it by starn necessity.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who the hell are you?” asked a tall, lank, defiant-looking -gentleman, who seemed to be disgusted at the Colonel’s interference.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who am I? I’ll tell yer who am I,” cried the latter. -“I’m Colonel Delancy Hyde. Anything to say agin that? -Virginia-born, be Gawd! My father was Virginia-born afore -me, and his father afore him, and they owned more niggers -nor you ever looked at. Anything to say agin that, yer despisable -corn-cracker, yer!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hold yer tongue, Colonel; you’re drivin’ off a bidder,” -whispered Ripper. The Colonel collapsed at once, quelling -his indignation.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>“I’m offered two hunderd dollars for Number 12,” exclaimed -the auctioneer, putting his hand on the little girl’s -head. “If there’s any good judge here of figger an’ face, he -won’t see this article sacrificed for such a trifle.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Two twenty-five,” said Tibbs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The gentleman who had descended from the barouche here -drew nearer, and examined the form and features of the little -girl with a closer scrutiny.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Two fifty,” said he, as the result of his inspection.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tibbs, irritated by the competition, made his bid three hundred.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Four hundred!” said the man with the riding-whip.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Five hundred!” retorted Tibbs, ejecting the words with a -vicious snort.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Six hundred,” returned his competitor, with perfect nonchalance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Seven hundred and fifty,” shrieked Tibbs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A thousand,” said the other, playing with his whip.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tibbs did not venture further. Mortified and angry, he turned -away, and consoled himself with an enormous cut of tobacco.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Cash takes it,” said the successful bidder, putting his finger -to his lips by way of caution to the auctioneer, and then beckoning -him to come down. Ripper exchanged a few words with -him in a whisper, and told his assistant to put the little girl with -her bundle into the barouche, and throw a carriage-shawl over -her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As the barouche drove off, Hyde asked, “Who is he?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Cash,” replied Ripper. “Didn’t you hear? I reckon -you see more of overseers than of planters. You’ve done -amazin’ well, Colonel, gittin’ such a price fur that little concern.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” said Hyde; “Mr. Cash is a high-tone one, that’s a -fak. I should know him agin ’mong a thousand.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The company dispersed, the auctioneer settled with his customers, -and Hyde went to find Quattles, and give him the -jackal’s share of the spoils.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Let us follow the barouche. Leaving the business streets, -it rolled on till, in about a quarter of an hour, it stopped before -a respectable brick house, on the door of which was the -sign, “Mrs. Gentry’s Seminary for Young Ladies.” Here the -gentleman got out and rang the bell.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>“Is Mrs. Gentry at home?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, sir. Walk in. I will take your card.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He was ushered into a parlor. In five minutes the lady appeared,—a -tall, erect person with prominent features, a sallow -complexion, and dry puffs of iron-gray hair parted over her -forehead. A Southern judge’s daughter and a widow, Mrs. -Gentry kept one of the best private schools in the city. On -seeing the name of Carberry Ratcliff on the card, which Tarquin, -the colored servant, had handed to her, she went with -alacrity to her mirror, and, after a little pranking, descended to -greet her distinguished visitor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps you have heard of me before,” began Mr. Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Often, sir. Be seated,” said the lady, charmed at the idea -of having a visit from the lord of a thousand slaves.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have in my barouche, madam, a little girl I wish to -leave with you. She is my property, and I want her well -taken care of. Can you receive her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gentry looked significantly at the gentleman, and he, -as if anticipating her interrogatory, replied: “The child came -into my possession only within this hour. I bought her quite -accidentally at auction. She has none of my blood in her -veins, I assure you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can I see her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes”; and, walking to the window, Ratcliff motioned to -one of his negroes to bring the child in. This was done; and -the infant was placed on the floor with her little bundle by her -side, and nude as she was when exposed on the auction-block.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A quadroon, I should think,” said Mrs. Gentry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I really don’t know what she is,” replied Ratcliff. “I want -you, however, to take her into your family, and raise her as -carefully as if you knew her to be my daughter. You shall be -liberally paid for your trouble.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is she to know that she is a slave?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As to that I can instruct you hereafter. Meanwhile keep -the fact a secret, and mention my name to no one in connection -with her. You can occasionally send me a daguerrotype, -that I may see if her looks fulfil her promise. I wish you to -be particular about her music and French, also her dancing. -Let her understand all about dress too. You can draw upon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>me as often as you choose for the amount we fix upon; and -the probability is, I shall not wish to see her till she reaches -her fifteenth or sixteenth year. I rely upon you to keep her -strictly, and, as she grows older, to guard her against making -acquaintances with any of the other sex. Will seven hundred -dollars a year pay you for your trouble?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Amply, sir,” said the gratified lady. “I will do my best to -carry out your wishes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You need not write me oftener than once a year,” said -Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not if she were dangerously ill?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No; not even then. You could take better care of her -than I; and all my interest in her is <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>in futuro</i></span>.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I think I understand, sir,” said Mrs. Gentry; “and I will -at once make a note of what you say.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here is payment for the first half-year in advance,” said -Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you, sir,” returned the lady, quite overwhelmed -at the great planter’s munificence. “Shall I write you a -receipt?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is superfluous, madam.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>All this while the child, with a seriousness strangely at variance -with her infantile appearance, sat on the floor, looking -intently first at the woman, then at the man, and evidently -striving to understand what they were saying. Ratcliff now -took his leave; but Mrs. Gentry called him back before he had -reached the door.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excuse me, sir, there is something I wished to ask you? -What was it? Oh! By what name shall we call the child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Upon my word,” said Ratcliff, “I have forgotten the name -the auctioneer gave her. No matter! Call her anything you -please.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, then, Estelle is a pretty name. Shall I call her -Estelle?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff started, came close up to Mrs. Gentry, looked her -steadily in the face, and asked, “What put that name into your -head?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know. Probably I have seen it in some novel.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, don’t call her Estelle. Call her Ellen Murray.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>“I will remember.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And the interview closed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After the gentleman had gone, the child, with an anxious -and grieved expression of face, tried to articulate an inquiry -which Mrs. Gentry found it difficult to understand. At last -she concluded it was an attempt to say, “Where’s Hatty?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gentry rang the bell, and it was answered by a colored -woman of large, stately figure, whose peculiar hue and straight -black hair showed that she was descended from some tribe distinct -from ordinary Africans.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where’s the chambermaid?” asked Mrs. Gentry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O missis, dat Deely’s neber on de spot when she’s wanted. -De Lord lub us, what hab we here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A new inmate of the family, Esha. I’ve taken her to -bring up.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Some rich man’s lub-child, I reckon, missis. But ain’t -she a little darlin’?” And Esha took her up from the floor, -and kissed her. The child, feeling she had at last found a -friend, threw its arms about the woman’s neck, and broke into -a low, plaintive sobbing, as if her little heart were overfull of -long-suppressed grief.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thar! thar!” said Esha, soothing her; “she mustn’t -greeb nebber no more. Ole Esha will lub her dearly!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gentry opened the bundle, and was surprised to see -several articles of clothing of a rich and fine texture, all neatly -marked, though somewhat soiled.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There, Esha,” she said, “take the poor little thing and -her bundle up-stairs, and dress her. To-morrow I’ll get her -some new clothes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha obeyed, and the child thenceforth clung to her as to -a mother. To the servant’s surprise, when she came to wash -away the little one’s tears, the skin parted with its tawny hue, -and showed white and fair. On examining the child’s hair, too, -it was found to be dyed. What could be the object of this? -It never occurred to Esha that the little waif might be a slave, -and that a white slave was not so salable as a colored.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gentry communicated the phenomenon at once to Mr. -Ratcliff, but he never alluded to it in any subsequent letter or -conversation.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XVII.<br />SHALL THERE BE A WEDDING?</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Ah! spare your idol; think him human still;</div> - <div class='line'>Charms he may have, but he has frailties too!</div> - <div class='line'>Dote not too much, nor spoil what ye admire.”</div> - <div class='line in36'><cite>Young.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>The question as to the inheritance of the Aylesford-Berwick -property was not decided without a lawsuit. The -case was put into the courts, and kept there many months. -The heavy legal expenses to which Charlton was subjected, -and his reluctance to meet them, protracted the contest by -alienating his lawyers. Pompilard went straight to the point -by promising his counsel a fee of a hundred thousand dollars -in the event of success; and thus he enlisted and kept active -the best professional aid. Still the prospect was doubtful.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But even the <em>law’s</em> delay must finally have an end. The -hour of the final settlement of the great case by the ultimate -court of appeal had come at last. The judges had entered and -taken their seats. Charlton, pale and haggard, sat by the side -of his lawyer, Detritch. Pompilard, still masking his age, -entered airy as a maiden just stepping forth into Broadway in -her new spring bonnet. He wore a paletot of light gray, a -choker girt by a sky-blue silk ribbon, a white vest, checked -pantaloons, and silk stockings under low-cut patent-leather -shoes. Taking a seat at a little semicircular table near his -lawyers, he exchanged repartees with them, and then tranquilly -abided his fate. Charlton looked with anguish on the -composure of his antagonist.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Just as the case was expected to come on, one of the judges -was found to have left a certain document at home. They all -retired, and a messenger was sent for the important paper. -Hence a delay of an hour. Charlton could not conceal his -agitation. Pompilard took up the morning journal, and read -with sorrow of the death of an old friend.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Poor old Toussaint! I see he has left us,” said Pompilard.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>“Yes,” replied Girard, “All-Saint has gone. He was well -named. He has never held up his head since he lost his wife.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Toussaint was a gentleman, every inch of him,” said Pompilard. -“He believed in the elevation of the black man, not -by that process of absorption or amalgamation which some of -our noodles recommend, but by his showing in his life and -character that a negro can be as worthy and capable of freedom -as a white man. He was for keeping the blacks socially -separate from the whites, though one before the law, and teaching -them to be content with the color God had given them. A -brave fellow was Toussaint. I remember—that was before -your day—when the yellow fever prevailed here. Maiden -Lane and the lower parts of the city were almost deserted. -But Toussaint used to cross the barricades every day to tend -on the sick and dying, and carry them food and medicine.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you know him well?” asked Girard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Intimately, these thirty years. In his demeanor exquisitely -courteous and respectful, there was never the slightest tinge -of servility. You could not have known him as I did without -forgetting his color and feeling honored in the companionship -of a man so thoroughly generous, pious, and sincere. He -would sometimes make playful allusions to his color. He -seemed much amused once by my little Netty, who, when -she was about three years old, said to him, after looking him -steadily in the face for some time, ‘Toussaint, do you live in -a black house?’ The other day, knowing he was quite ill, my -wife called on him, and while by his bedside asked him if she -should close a window, the light of which shone full in his face. -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">‘O non, madam,’</span> he replied, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">‘car alors je serai trop noir.’</span>”<a id='r22' /><a href='#f22' class='c014'><sup>[22]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>Here Pompilard ceased, and looked up. There was a stir -in the court-room. Their Honors had re-entered and taken -seats. The messenger with the missing paper had returned. -The presiding judge, after a long and tantalizing preamble, in -the course of which Charlton was alternately elevated and depressed, -at length summed up, in a few intelligible words, the -final decision of the court. Charlton fainted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard’s lawyers bent down their heads, as if certain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>papers suddenly demanded their close scrutiny; but Pompilard -himself was radiant. Everybody stared at him, and -handsomely did he baffle everybody by his imperturbable good -humor. It is not every day that one has an opportunity of -seeing how a fellow-being is affected by the winning or the -losing of a million of dollars. No one could have guessed -from Pompilard’s appearance whether he had won or lost. -Unfortunately he had lost; and Charlton had reached the -acme of his hopes, mortal or immortal,—he was a millionnaire.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard took the news home to his wife in the little old -double house at Harlem; and her only comment was: “Poor -dear Melissa! I had hoped to make her a present of a furnished -cottage on the North River.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The conversation was immediately turned to the subject of -Toussaint, and one would have thought, hearing these strange -foolish people talk, that the old negro’s exit saddened them far -more than the loss of their fortune. Angelica, Pompilard’s -widowed daughter, entered. After her came Netty, the elf, -now almost a young lady. She carried under her arm a portfolio, -filled with such drawings of ships, beaches, and rocks as -she could find in occasional excursions to Long Island, under -the patronage of Mrs. Maloney, the tailor’s wife.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Julia and Mary Ireton, daughters of Angelica, came in.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Which of my little nieces will take my portfolio up-stairs?” -asked Netty.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will, aunt,” said the dutiful Mary; and off she ran with it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Poor Melissa! We shall now have to put off the wedding,” -sighed Angelica, on learning the result of the lawsuit.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No such thing! It sha’n’t be put off!” said Pompilard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Netty threw her arms round the old man’s neck, kissed him, -and exclaimed: “Bravo, father of mine! Stick to that! It -isn’t half lively enough in this house. We want a few more -here to make it jolly. Why can’t we have such high times as -they have in at the Maloneys’? There we made such a noise -the other night that the police knocked at the door.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Maloney, by the way, be it recorded, had, under the pupilage -of Pompilard, given up strong drink and wife-beating, and risen -to be a tailor of some fashionable note. Pompilard had found -out for him an excellent cutter,—had kept him posted in regard -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>to the fashions,—and then had gone round the city to all -the clubs, hotels, and opera-houses, blowing for Maloney with -all his lungs. He didn’t “hesitate to declare” that Maloney -was the only man in the country who could fit you decently to -pantaloons. Pantaloons were his <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>specialité</i></span>. His cutter was -a born genius,—“an Englishman, sir, whose grandfather used -to cut for the famous Brummel,—you’ve heard of Brummel?” -The results of all this persistent blowing were astonishing. -Soon the superstition prevailed in Wall Street and -along the Fifth Avenue, that if one wanted pantaloons he must -go to Maloney. Haynes was excellent for dress-coats and -sacks; but don’t let him hope to compete with Maloney in -pantaloons. You would hear young fops discussing the point -with intensest earnestness and enthusiasm.</p> - -<p class='c001'>How many fortunes have a basis quite as airy and unsubstantial! -Soon Maloney’s little shop was crowded with customers. -He was obliged to take a large and showy establishment -in Broadway. Here prosperity insisted on following him. -Wealth began to flow steadily in. He found himself on the -plain, high road to fortune; and by whom but Pompilard had -he been led there? The consequence was perpetual gratitude -on the tailor’s part, evinced in daily sending home, with his -own marketing, enough for the other half of the house; evinced -also in the determination to stick to Harlem till his benefactor -would consent to leave.</p> - -<p class='c001'>While the Pompilards were discussing the matter of the -wedding, Melissa and Purling entered from a walk. Melissa -carried her years very well; though hope deferred had written -anxiety on her amiable features. Purling was a slim, gentlemanly -person, always affecting good spirits, though certain -little silvery streaks in the side-locks over his ears showed that -time and care were beginning their inevitable work. In -aspiring to authorship he had not thought it essential that he -should consume gin like Byron, or whiskey like Charles Lamb, -or opium like De Quincey. But if there be an avenging deity -presiding over the wrongs of undone publishers, Purling must -be doomed to some unquiet nights. There was something -sublime in the pertinacity with which he kept on writing after -the public had snubbed him so repeatedly by utter neglect; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>something still more sublime in the faith which led publishers -to fall into the nets he so industriously wove for them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The result of the lawsuit being made known to the newcomers, -Melissa, hiding her face, at once left the room, and was -followed by her sisters and step-mother.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Purling keenly felt the embarrassment of his position. -Pompilard came to his relief. “We have concluded, my dear -fellow,” said he, “not to put off the wedding. Don’t concern -yourself about money-matters. You can come and occupy -Melissa’s room with her till I get on my legs once more. I -shall go to work in earnest now this lawsuit is off my hands.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear sir,” said Purling, “you are very generous,—very -indulgent. The moment my books begin to pay, what is -mine shall be yours; and if you can conveniently accommodate -me for a few months, till the work I’m now writing is—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Accommodate you? Of course we can! The more the -merrier,” interrupted Pompilard. “So it’s settled. The -wedding comes off next Wednesday.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And the wedding came off according to the programme. It -took place in church. Pompilard was in his glory. Cards had -been issued to all his friends of former days. Many had conveniently -forgotten that such a person existed; but there were -some noble exceptions, as there generally are in such cases. -Presents of silver, of dresses, books, furniture, and pictures were -sent in from friends both of the bride and bridegroom; so that -the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>trousseau</i></span> presented a very respectable appearance; but the -prettiest gift of the occasion was a little porte-monnaie, containing -a check for two thousand dollars signed by Pat Maloney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As for Charlton, young in years, if not in heart, good-looking, -a widower unencumbered with a child, what was there he might -not aspire to with his twelve hundred thousand dollars?</p> - -<p class='c001'>He was taken in charge by the J——s, and the M——s, -and the P——s, and introduced into “society.” Yes, that is -the proper name for “our set.” A competition, outwardly calm, -but internally bitter and intense, was entered upon by fashionable -mothers having daughters to provide for. Charlton became -the sensation man of the season. “Will he marry?” That -was now the agitating question that convulsed all the maternal -councils within a mile’s radius of the new Fifth Avenue Hotel.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XVIII.<br />THE UNITIES DISREGARDED.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Blessed, are they who see, and yet believe not!</div> - <div class='line'>Yea, blest are they who look on graves, and still</div> - <div class='line'>Believe none dead; who see proud tyrants ruling,</div> - <div class='line'>And yet believe not in the strength of Evil.”</div> - <div class='line in32'><cite>Leopold Schefer.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>The admirers of Aristotle must bear with us while we -take a little liberty: that, namely, of violating all the -unities.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Fourteen years had slipped by since the great steamboat -accident; fourteen years, pregnant with forces, and prolific of -events, to the far-reaching influence of which no limit can be -set.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In those years a mechanic named Marshall, while building -a saw-mill for Captain Sutter in California, had noticed a -glistening substance at the bottom of the sluice. Thence the -beginning of the great exodus from the old States, which soon -peopled the auriferous region, and in five years made San -Francisco one of the world’s great cities.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In those years the phenomena, by some called spiritual, of -which our friend Peek had got an inkling, excited the attention -of many thousand thinkers both in America and Europe. -In France these manifestations attracted the investigation of -the Emperor himself, and won many influential believers, -among them Delamarre, editor of La Patrie. In England -they found advocates among a small but educated class; while -the Queen’s consort, the good and great Prince Albert, was -too far advanced on the same road to find even novelty in -what Swedenborg and Wesley had long before prepared him -to regard as among the irregular developments of spirit power.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Humbug and idiocy!” cried the doctors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A cracking of the toe-joints!” said Conjurer Anderson.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A scientific trick!” insisted Professor Faraday.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>“Spirits are the last thing I’ll give into,” said Sir David -Brewster.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O ye miserable mystics!” cried the eloquent Ferrier, -“have ye bethought yourselves of the backward and downward -course which ye are running into the pit of the bestial -and the abhorred?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How very undignified for a spirit to rap on tables and talk -commonplace!” objected the transcendentalists, who looked for -Orphic sayings and Delphian profundities.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To all which the investigators replied: We merely take -facts as we find them. The conjurers and the professors fail -to account for what we see and hear. Sir David may give or -refuse what name he pleases: the phenomena remain. Professor -Ferrier may wax indignant; but his indignation does -not explain why tables, guitars, and tumblers of water are -lifted and carried about by invisible and impenetrable intelligent -forces. We are sorry the manifestations do not please -our transcendental friends. Could we have our own way, -these spirits, forces, intelligences—call them what you will—should -talk like Carlyle and deport themselves like Grandison. -Could we have our own way, there should be no rattlesnakes, -no copperheads, no mad dogs. ’T is a great puzzle to us why -Infinite Power allows such things. We do not see the use of -them, the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono</i></span>? Still we accept the fact of their existence. -And so we do of what, in the lack of a name less vague, we -call <em>spirits</em>. There are many drunkards, imbeciles, thieves, -hypocrites, and traitors, who quit this life. According to the -transcendental theory, these ought to be converted at once, by -some magical <em>presto-change!</em> into saints and sages, their identity -wholly merged or obliterated. If the All-Wise One does -not see it in that light, we cannot help it. If He can afford to -wait, we shall not impatiently rave. It would seem that the -Eternal chariot-wheels must continue to roll and flash on, -however professors, conjurers, and quarterly reviewers may -burn their poor little hands by trying to catch at the spokes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I did not bargain for this,” grumbles the habitual novel-reader, -resentfully throwing down our book.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Bear with us yet a moment longer, injured friend.</p> - -<p class='c001'>During these same fourteen years of which we have spoken, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>the Slave Power of the South having, through the annexation -of Texas, plunged the country into a war with Mexico for the -extension of the area of slavery, met its first great rebuff in -the establishment of California as a Free State of the Union.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Fugitive-Slave Bill was given in 1850 to appease the -slaveholding caste. Soon afterwards followed the repeal of -that Missouri Compromise which had prohibited slavery north -of a certain line. It was hoped that these two concessions -would prove such a tub thrown to the whale as would divert -him from mischief.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then came the deadly struggle for supremacy in Kansas; -pro-slavery ruffianism, on the one side, striving to dedicate the -virgin soil to the uses of slavery; and the spirit of freedom, on -the other side, resisting the profanation. The contest was long, -doubtful, and bloody; but freedom, thank God! prevailed in -the end. Slavery thus came to grief a second time; for the -lords of the lash well knew that to circumscribe their system -was to doom it, and that without ever new fields for extension -it could not live and prosper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One John Brown, of Ossawatomie in Kansas, during these -years having learnt what it was to come under the ban of -the Slave Power,—having been hunted, hounded, shot at, and -had a son brutally murdered by the devilish hate, born of slavery, -and engendering such dastardly butchers as Quantrell,—resolved -to do what little service he could to God and man, by -trying to wipe out an injustice that had long enough outraged -heaven and earth. With less than fifty picked men he rashly -seized on Harper’s Ferry, held it for some days, and threw old -Virginia into fits. He was seized and hung; and many good -men approved the hanging; but in little more than a year -afterwards, John Brown’s soul was “marching on” in the song -of the Northern soldiery going South to battle against rebellion, -until the very Charlestown where his gallows was set up was -made to ring with the terrible refrain in his honor, the echoes of -which are now audible in every State, from Maine to Louisiana.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Slavery first showed its ungloved hand at the Democratic -Convention at Charleston in 1860 for the nomination of President. -Here it was that Stephen A. Douglas, the very man -who had given to the South as a boon the repeal of the Missouri -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>Compromise, was rejected by the Southern conspirators -against the Union, and John C. Breckenridge, the potential and -soon actual traitor, was put in nomination as the extreme pro-slavery -candidate against Douglas. And thus the election of -Abraham Lincoln, the candidate pledged against slavery extension, -was secured.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This election “is not the cause of secession, but the opportunity,” -said Mr. Robert Barnwell Rhett of South Carolina. -“Slavery shall be the corner-stone of our new Confederacy,” -said Mr. A. H. Stephens, Confederate Vice-President, who a -few weeks before, namely, in January, 1861, had said in the -Georgia Convention: “For you to attempt to overthrow such -a government as this, under which we have lived for more than -three quarters of a century, with unbounded prosperity and -rights unassailed, is the height of madness, folly, and wickedness, -to which I can neither lend my sanction nor my vote.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>After raising armies for seizing Washington and for securing -the Border States to slavery, Mr. Jefferson Davis, President -of the improvised Confederacy, proclaimed to an amused and -admiring world, “All we want is to be let alone.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peaceful reader of the year 1875 (pardon the presumption -that bids us hope such a reader will exist), bear with us for -these digressions. In your better day let us hope all these terrible -asperities will have passed away. But, while we write, -our country’s fate hangs poised. It is her great historic hour. -Daily do our tears fall for the wounded or the slain. Daily do -we regret that we, too, cannot give something better than words, -thicker than tear-drops, to our country. But thus, through -blood and anguish and purifying sufferings, is God leading us -to that better future which you shall enjoy.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XIX.<br />THE WHITE SLAVE.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Because immortal, therefore is indulged</div> - <div class='line'>This strange regard of deities to dust!</div> - <div class='line'>Hence, Heaven looks down on Earth with all her eyes;</div> - <div class='line'>Hence, the soul’s mighty moment in her sight;</div> - <div class='line'>Hence, every soul has partisans above,</div> - <div class='line'>And every thought a critic in the skies.”</div> - <div class='line in40'><cite>Young.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>“The creature is great, to whom it is allowed to imagine questions to which only a -God can reply.”—<cite>Aimé Martin.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>No one who has travelled largely through the Southern -States will require to be told that the slave system -sanctions the holding in slavery of persons who are undistinguishable -in complexion from the whitest Anglo-Saxons. -Several carefully authenticated cases, analogous to that developed -in our story, though surpassing it in unspeakable baseness, -have been recently brought to light. We need only hint -at them at this stage of our narrative.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The reader has already divined that the little girl sold at -the slave-auction, and placed under Mrs. Gentry’s care, was no -other than the unfortunate child whose parents were lost in -the disaster of the Pontiac.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is a class of minds which, either from inertness or -lack of leisure, never revise the opinions they have received -from others. If we might borrow a fresh illustration from -Mrs. Gentry’s copy-books, we might say that in her mental -growth the tree was inclined precisely as the twig had been -bent. She honestly believed that there was no appeal from -what her sire, the judge, had once laid down as law or gospel. -Having been bred in the belief that slavery was a wholesome -and sacred institution, she would probably have seen her own -sister dragged under it to the auction-block, and not have ventured -to question the righteousness of the act.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There were only two passions which, should they ever come -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>in direct collision with her veneration for slavery, might possibly -override it; but even on this there seemed to rest much -uncertainty. Her acquisitiveness, as the phrenologists would -have called it, was large; and then, although she was fast declining -into the sere and yellow leaf, she had not surrendered -all hope of one day finding a successor to the late Mr. Gentry -in her affections.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Regarding poor little Clara Berwick (or Ellen Murray) as -a slave, she could never be so far moved by the child’s winning -presence and ways as to look on her as entitled to the -same atmosphere and sun as herself. No infantile grace, no -solicitation of affection, could ever melt the icy barrier with -which the pride and self-seeking, fostered by slavery, had -encircled the heart, not naturally bad, of the schoolmistress. -And yet she did her duty by the child to the best of her -ability. Though not a highly educated person, Mrs. Gentry -was shrewd enough to employ for her pupils the most accomplished -teachers; and in respect to Clara she faithfully carried -out Mr. Ratcliff’s directions. True, she always exacted an -obedience that was unquestioning and blind. She did not care -to see that the child could have been led by a silken thread, -only satisfy her reason or appeal to her affections. And so it -was to Esha that Clara would always have to go for sympathy, -both in her sorrows and her joys; and it was Esha whose -influence was felt in the very depths of that fresh and sensitive -nature.</p> - -<p class='c001'>From her third to her fourteenth year Clara gave little -promise of beauty. Ratcliff, on receiving her photographs, -used to throw them aside with a “Psha! After all, she’ll be -fit only for a household drudge.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>But as she emerged into her sixteenth year, and features -and form began to develop the full meaning of their outlines, she -all at once appeared in the new and startling phase of a rare -model of incipient womanhood. Her hair, thick and flowing, -was of a softened brown tint, which yet was distinct from that -cognate hue, <em>abrun</em> (a-brown) or auburn, a shade suggestive of -red. Her complexion was clear and pure, though not of that -brilliant pink and white often associated with delicacy of constitution. -A profile, delicately cut as if to be the despair of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>sculptors; a forehead not high, but high enough to show -Mind enthroned there; eyes—it was not till you drew quite -near that you marked the peculiarity already described in the -infant of the Pontiac. The mouth and lips were small and passionate, -the chin bold, yet not protrusive, the nostrils having -that indescribable curve which often makes this feature surpass -all the others in giving a character of decision to a face. A -man of the turf would have summed up his whole description -of the girl in the one word “blood.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Such a union of the sensuous nature with pure will and intellect -might well have made a watchful parent tremble for her -future.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff had been for more than a year in South Carolina, -helping to fire the Southern heart, and forward the secession -movement. Early in January, 1861, he made a flying visit to -New Orleans, and called on Mrs. Gentry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After some conversation on public affairs, the lady asked, -“Would you like to see my pupil?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not if she resembles the photographs you’ve sent me,” replied -Ratcliff. Then, looking at his watch, he added: “I leave -for Charleston this afternoon, and haven’t time to see her now. -Early in March I shall be back, and will call then.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You must see her a minute,” said Mrs. Gentry. “I think -you’ll admit she does no discredit to my bringing up.” And -she rang the bell.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tell Miss Murray, I desire her presence in the parlor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara entered. She was attired in a plain robe of slate-colored -muslin, exquisitely fitted, and had a book in her hand, -as if just interrupted in study. She stood inquiringly before -the schoolmistress, and seemed unconscious of another’s presence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wish you, Miss Murray, to play for this gentleman. Play -the piece you last learnt.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Without the slightest shyness, Clara obeyed, seating herself -at the piano, and performing Schubert’s delectable “Lob der -Throenen,” (Eulogy of Tears,) with Liszt’s arrangement. This -she did with an executive facility and precision of touch that -would have charmed a competent judge, which Ratcliff was not.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And yet astonishment made him speechless. He had expected -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>an undeveloped, awkward, homely girl. Lo a beautiful -young woman whose perfect composure and grace were such as -few queens of society could exhibit! And all that youth and -loveliness were his!</p> - -<p class='c001'>He looked at his watch. Not another moment could he -remain. He drew near to Clara and took her hand, which she -quickly withdrew. “Only maiden coyness,” thought he, and -said: “We must be better acquainted. But I must now hasten -from your dangerous society, or I shall miss the steamer. -Good by, my dear. Good by, Mrs. Gentry. You shall hear -from me very soon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Mrs. Gentry rang the bell, and black Tarquin opened -the door for Ratcliff. As it closed upon him, “Who is that -old man?” asked Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Old? Why, he does doesn’t look a year over forty,” replied -Mrs. Gentry. “That’s the rich Mr. Ratcliff.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, I detest him,” said Clara, emphatically.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Detest!” exclaimed Mrs. Gentry, horror-stricken; for it -was not often that Clara condescended to speak her mind so -freely to that lady. “Detest? Is this the end of all my -moral and religious teachings? O, but you’ll be <em>come up with</em>, -if you go on in this way. Retire to your room, Miss.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Swiftly and gladly Clara obeyed.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Apropos</i></span> of the aforesaid teachings, Ratcliff was very willing -that his predestined victim should be piously inclined. It -would rather add to the piquancy of her degradation. He -wavered somewhat as to whether she should be a Protestant -or a Catholic, but finally left the whole matter to Mrs. Gentry. -That profound theologian had done her best to lead Clara into -her own select fold, and, as she thought, had succeeded; but -Clara was pretty sure to take up opinions the reverse of those -held by her teacher. So, after sitting in weariness of spirit -under the ministry of the Rev. Dr. Palmer in the morning, -the perverse young lady would ventilate her religious conceptions -by reading Fenelon, Madame Guyon, or Zschokke in the -evening.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gentry believed in secession, and raved like a Pythoness -against the cowardly Yankees. Clara, seeing a United -States flag trampled on and torn in the street, secured a rag -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>of it, secretly washed it, and placed it as a holy symbol on her -bosom. Mrs. Gentry expatiated to her pupils on the righteousness -and venerableness of slavery. Clara cut out from a -pictorial paper a poor little dingy picture of Fremont, and -concealed it between two leaves of her Bible, underlining on -one of them these words: “Proclaim liberty throughout all -the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha, the colored cook, a slave, was Clara’s fast friend in all -her youthful troubles. Esha had passed through all degrees -of slavery,—from toiling in a cotton-field to serving as a lady’s -maid. Having had a child, a little girl, taken from her and -sold, she ever afterwards refused to be again a mother. The -straight hair, coppery hue, and somewhat Caucasian cast of -features of this slave showed that she belonged to a race different -from that of the ordinary negro. She had been named -Ayesha, after one of Mahomet’s wives. She generally wore a -Madras handkerchief about her head, and showed a partiality -for brilliant colors. Many were the stealthy interviews that -she and Clara enjoyed together.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Said Esha, on one of these occasions: “Don’t b’leeb ’em, -darlin’, whan dey say de slabe am berry happy, an’ all dat. -No slabe dat hab any sense am happy. He know, he do, dat -suffn’s tuk away from him dat God gabe him, and meant he -sh’d hole on ter; and so he feel ollerz kind o’ mean afore God -an’ man too; an’ I ’fy anybody, white or black, to be happy -who feel dat ar way.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But it isn’t the slave’s fault, Esha, that he’s a slave.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s de slabe’s fault dat he stay a slabe, darlin’,” said the -old woman, with a strange kindling of the eyes. “But den de -massa hab de raisin’ ob him, an’ so take good car’ ter break -down all dar am of de man in de poor slabe; an’ de poor slabe -hab no larnin’, and dunno whar’ to git a libbin’ or how to sabe -hisself from starvin’. An’ if he run away, de people Norf send -him back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>On studying Esha further, Clara discovered that she was -half Mahometan, and could speak Arabic. Her mixed notions -she had got partly from her father, Amri, who belonged to -one of those African tribes who cultivate a pure deism, tempered -only by faith in the mission of Mahomet as an inspired -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>prophet. Amri had been captured by a hostile tribe and sold -into slavery. He lived long enough to teach his little Esha -some things which she remembered. She could repeat several -Arabic poems, and Clara first became familiar with the Arabian -Nights through this old household drudge. One of these -poems had a mystical charm for Clara. Through the illiterate -garb which the slave’s English gave it, Clara detected a significance -that led her to write out a paraphrase in the following -words:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“The sick man lay on his bed of pain. ‘Allah!’ he moaned; and his -heart grew tender, and his eyes moist, with prayer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The next morning the tempter said to him: ‘No answer comes from -Allah. Call louder, still no Allah will hear thee or ease thy pain.’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The sick man shuddered. His heart grew cold with doubt and inquietude; -when suddenly before him stood Elias.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Child!’ said Elias, ‘why art thou sad? Dost think thy prayers are -unheard and unanswered; that thy devotion is all in vain?’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the sick man replied: ‘Ah! so often, and with such tears I have -called on Allah! I call <em>Allah!</em> but never do I hear his “Here am I!”’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And Elias left the sick man; but God said to Elias: ‘Go to the tempted -one; lift him up from his despair and unbelief.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Tell him that his very longing is its own fulfilment; that his very -prayer, “Come, Allah!” is Allah’s answer, “Here am I!”’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, every good aspiration is an angel straight from God. Say from the -heart, ‘O my Father!’ and that very utterance is the Father’s reply, ‘Here, -my child!’” <a id='r23' /><a href='#f23' class='c014'><sup>[23]</sup></a></p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Like many native Africans, Esha was fully assured of the -existence of spirits, and of their power, in exceptional cases, -to manifest themselves to mortals. And she related so many -facts within her own experience, that Clara became a believer -on human testimony,—the more readily because Esha’s faith -in demonism was unmixed with superstition.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tell me, Esha,” said Clara, at one of their secret midnight -conferences, “were you ever whipped?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never badly, darlin’. It ain’t de whippins and de suf’rins -dat make de wrong ob slavery. De mos kindest thing dey -could do de slabe would be ter treat him so he wouldn’t stay a -slabe no how. But dey know jes how fur to go, widout stirrin’ -up de man inside ob him. An’ dat’s the cuss ob slabery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Esha, don’t they generally treat the women well on -the plantations?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>“De breedin’ women dey treat well,—speshilly jes afore dar -time,<a id='r24' /><a href='#f24' class='c014'><sup>[24]</sup></a>—but I’ze known a pregnant woman whipped so she -died de same night. O de poor bressed lily ob de world! O -de angel from hebbn! O de sweet lubly chile! Nebber, no, -nebber, nebber shall I disremember how I held de little gole -cross afore dat chile’s eyes, an’ how she die wid de smile on her -sweet face, and her own husband’s head on her bosom.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And the old woman burst into a passion of tears, rocking -herself to and fro, and living over again the sorrow of that -death-bed scene to which she and Peek and one other, years -before, had been witnesses.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara pacified her, and Esha said, “You jes stop one -minute, darlin’, and I’ll show yer suff’n.” She went to her -garret-closet, and returned with a small silk bag, from which -she took a package done up in fine linen. This she unpinned, -and displayed a long strand of human hair, thick, silky, soft, -and of a peculiarly beautiful color, hardly olive, yet reminding -one of that hue. Holding it up, she said: “Dar! Dat’s de -hair I cut from de head of dat same bress-ed chile I jes tell -yer ’bout.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But that is the hair of a white woman,” said Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bress yer, darlin’, she war jes as white as you am dis -minute.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>After some seconds of silence, Clara said, “Tell me of her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Esha related many, though not all, of the particulars -already familiar to the reader in the story of Estelle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Esha, you must give me some of that hair,” said Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, darlin’, I ’ll change half of it fur some ob yourn.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The exchange was made, Clara wrapping her portion in the -little strip of bunting torn from the American flag.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the subject of her birth Clara had put to Mrs. Gentry -some searching questions, but had learnt simply that her parentage -was unknown. For her concealed benefactor she had -conceived a romantic attachment; and gratitude incited her to -make the best of her opportunities, and to patiently bear her -chagrins.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A month after the late interview with Ratcliff, Mrs. Gentry -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>received a letter which caused Clara to be summoned to her -presence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sit down. I’ve something important to communicate,” -said the schoolmistress. “You’ve often asked me to whom -you are indebted for your support. Learn now that you belong -to Mr. Carberry Ratcliff, whom you met here some weeks -ago. He is the rich planter whose house and grounds in -Lafayette you’ve often admired.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<em>Belong</em> to him?” cried Clara. “What do you mean? -Am I his daughter? Am I in any way related?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, you’re his slave. He bought you at auction.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Impulsive as her own mocking-bird by nature, Clara had -learned that cruel lesson, which gifted children are often compelled -to acquire when subjected to the rule of inferior minds,—the -art, namely, of checking and disguising the emotions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Excepting a quivering of her lips, a flushing of her brow, a -slight heaving of her bosom, and a momentary expression as -of deadly sickness in her face, she did not betray, by outward -signs, the intensity of that feeling of disgust, hate, and indignation -which Mrs. Gentry’s communication had aroused.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did Mr. Ratcliff request you to inform me that he considered -me his slave?” she asked, in a tone which, by a -strenuous effort, she divested of all significance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; he concluded you are now of an age to understand -the responsibilities of your real situation. He not only paid a -price for you when you were yet an infant, but he has maintained -you ever since. But for him you might have been -toiling in the sun on a plantation. But for him you might -never have got an education. But for him you might never -have heard of salvation through Christ. But for him you might -never have had the privilege of attending the Rev. Dr. Palmer’s -Sunday school. Is there any sacrifice too great for you to -make for such a master? Would it be too much for you to lay -down your life for him? Speak!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gentry, it will be seen, pursued the Socratic method of -impressing truth upon her pupils. As Clara made no reply to -her interrogatories, she continued: “As your instructress, it -has been my object to make you feel sensibly the importance -of doing your duty in whatever sphere you may be cast.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>“And what, madame, may be the duty of a slave?” interposed -Clara, stifling down and masking the rage of her -heart.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The duty of a slave,” said Mrs. Gentry, “is to obey her -master. Prompt and unhesitating obedience, that is her duty.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Obedience to any and every command,—is that what you -mean, madame?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Unquestionably, it is.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And must I not exercise my reason as to what is right or -wrong?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your reason, under slavery, is subordinated to another’s. -You must not set up your own reason against your master’s.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Supposing my master should order me to stab or poison -you,—ought I to do it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The judge’s daughter, like all who venture to vindicate the -leprous wrong on moral grounds, found herself nonplussed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You suppose a ridiculous and improbable case,” she replied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, madame, let me state a fact. One of your pupils -had a letter yesterday from a sister in Alabama, who wrote -that a slave woman had killed herself under these circumstances: -her master had compelled her to unite herself in so-called -marriage with a black man, though she fully believed a -former husband still lived. To escape the abhorred consequence, -she put an end to her life. Was that woman right or -wrong in opposing her master’s will?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How can you ask?” returned Mrs. Gentry, reproachfully. -“’T is the slave’s duty to marry as the master orders.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Even though her husband be living, do I understand you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Undoubtedly. Ministers of the Gospel will tell you, if -there’s wrong in it, the master, not the slave, is to blame.”<a id='r25' /><a href='#f25' class='c014'><sup>[25]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“I thank you for making the slave’s duty so clear. You’re -quite sure Dr. Palmer would approve your view?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Entirely. All his preaching on the subject convinces me -of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the woman, you think, who killed herself rather than -be false to her husband, went straight to hell?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>“I can hope nothing better for her. She must have been a -poor heathen creature, wholly ignorant of Scripture. Paul -commands slaves to obey; and the woman who wilfully violates -his injunction does it at the peril of her soul.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara was silent; and Mrs. Gentry, felicitating herself on the -powerful moral lesson adapted to her pupil’s “new sphere of -duty,” resumed, “By the way, your master—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Master!” shrieked Clara, running with upraised hands to -Mrs. Gentry, as if to dash them down on her. Then suddenly -checking herself, she said pleasantly: “You see I’m a little unused -to the name. What were you going to say?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Really, child, one would think you were out of your wits. -It isn’t as if you were going to be consigned to a master who’d -abuse you. There’s many a poor girl in our first society who’d -be glad to be taken care of as you’ll be. Only think of it! -Here’s a beautiful diamond ring for you. And here’s a check -for five hundred dollars for you to spend in dresses, and you’re -to have the selecting of them all yourself,—think of that!—under -my superintendence of course; but Madame Groux tells -me your taste is excellent, and I shall not interfere. ’T is now -nine o’clock. We’ll drive out this very forenoon to see what -there is in the shops; for Mr. Ratcliff may be here any hour -now. Run and get ready, that’s a good girl. The carriage -shall be here at half past ten.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Without touching, or even looking at, the ring, Clara ran up-stairs -to her room, and, locking the door, knelt, with flushed, -burning brow and brain, at a little <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>prie-dieu</i></span> in the corner. She -did not try to put her prayer in words, for the emotions which -swelled within her bosom were all unspeakable. Clara was -intellectually a mystic, but the current of her individualism -was too strong to be diverted from its course by ordinary influences, -whether from spirits <em>in</em> or <em>out</em> of the flesh. She was -too positive to be constrained by other impulses than those -which her own will, enlightened by her own reason, had generated. -So, while she felt assured that angelic witnesses were -round about her, and that her every thought “had a critic in -the skies,”—and while she believed that, in one sense, nothing -of mind or body was truly her own,—that she was but a vessel -or recipient,—she keenly experienced the consciousness that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>she was a free, responsible agent. O mystery beyond all -fathoming! O reconcilement of contrarieties which only Omnipotence -could effect, and only Omnipotence can explain!</p> - -<p class='c001'>She paced the floor of her little room,—looked her situation -unflinchingly in the face,—and resolved, with God’s help, to -gird herself for the strife. Her unknown benefactor, whom her -imagination had so exalted, ah! how poor a thing, hollow and -corrupt, he had proved! Could she ever forgive the man who -had dared claim her as his slave?</p> - -<p class='c001'>And yet might she not misjudge him? Might he not be -plotting some generous surprise? She recalled a single expression -of his face, and felt satisfied she did him no injustice. -How hateful now seemed all those accomplishments she had -acquired! They were but the gilding of an abhorred chain.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the midst of her whirling thoughts, her mocking-bird, -which had been pecking at some crumbs in his cage, burst into -such a wild <em>jubilate</em> of song, that Clara’s attention was withdrawn -for a moment even from her own great grief. Opening -the door of the cage, she said: “Come, Dainty, you too shall -be free. The window is open. Go find a pleasant home -among the trees and on the plantations.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The bird flew about her head, and alighted on her forefinger, -as it had been accustomed. Clara pressed the down of its neck -to her cheek, and then, taking the little songster to the window, -threw it off her finger. Dainty flew back into the room, and, -alighting on Clara’s head, pecked at her hair.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Naughty Dainty! Good by, my pet! We must part. -Freedom is best for both you and me.” And, putting her head -out of the window, Clara brushed Dainty off into the airy void, -and closed the glass against the bird’s return.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She now summoned Esha, and said: “Esha, we’ve often -wondered as to my true place in the world. The mystery is -solved to-day. Mrs. Gentry informs me I’m a slave.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What! Wha-a-a-t! You? You, too, a slabe? My little -darlin’ a slabe? O, de good Lord in hebbn won’t ’low dat!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We’ve but a moment for talk, Esha. Help me to act. -My owner (owner!) may be here any minute.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who am dat owner?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Carberry Ratcliff.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>“No,—no,—no! Not dat man! Not him! De Lord help -de dare chile if dat born debble wunst git hole ob her!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you know of him?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He war de cruel massa ob dat slabe gal whom you hab de -hair ob in yer bosom.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m glad of it!” cried Clara, throwing her clenched hand -in the air, and looking up as if to have the heavens hear her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, darlin’ chile, what am dar ole Esha kn do for her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara stopped short, and, pressing both hands on her forehead, -stood as if calling her best thoughts to a council of war, -and then said, “Can you get me a small valise, Esha?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hab a carpet-bag I kn gib her. You jes wait one minute.” -And Esha returned with the desired article.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now help me pack it with the things I shall most need. -Mrs. Gentry expects me soon to go a-shopping with her. -When she calls for me, I shall be missing. I’ve not yet made -up my mind where to go. I shall think on that as I walk -along. What’s the matter, Esha? What do you stare at?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look dar! What yer see dar, darlin’?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A pair of little sleeve-buttons. How pretty! Gold with -a setting of coral. And on the inside, in tiny letters, C. A. B.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, dat’s de ’stonishin’est ting I’ze seen dis many a day. -Ten—no, ’lebben—no, fourteen yars ago, as I war emptyin’ -suds out ob de wash-tub, I see dese little buttons shinin’ on -de groun’. ’T was de Monday arter you was browt here. -Your little underclose had been in de wash. So what does I -do but put de buttons in my pocket, tinkin’ I’d gib ’em ter -missis ter keep fur yer. But whan I look for ’em, dey was -clean gone,—couldn’t fine ’em nowhar. So I say noting t’ all -’bout it. Jes now, as I tuk up fro’ my trunk a little muslin -collar dat de dare saint I tell yer ’bout used ter wear, what -sh’d drop from de foles but dis same little pair ob buttons dat I -hab’nt seen fur all dese yars. Take ’em, darlin’, fur dey ’long -ter you an’ ter nobody else.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you, Esha. I’ll keep them with my other treasures”; -and Clara fastened them with a pin to the piece of -bunting in her bosom. “And now, good by. Pray for me, -Esha.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Night and day, darlin’. But Esha mus gib suffn more ’n -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>prayers. Take dese twenty dollars in gold, darlin’. Yer’ll -want ’em, sure. Don’t ’fuze ’em.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How long have you been saving up this money, Esha?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bress de chile, only tree muntz. Dat’s nuffn. You jes -take ’em. Dar! Dat’s right. Tie ’em up safe in de corner -ob yer hankerchy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Esha, you may not be paid back till you get to -heaven.” And Clara put on her bonnet, and spoke rapidly to -choke down a sob.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So much de better. Dar! Put ’em safe in yer pocket. -Dat’s a good chile.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Fearing a refusal would only grieve the old woman, Clara -received and put away the gold-pieces. Then, closing the -spring of the carpet-bag, she kissed Esha, and said, “If they -inquire for me, balk them as well as you can.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Leeb me alone fur dat, darlin’. An’ now yer mus’ go. De -Lord an’ his proppet bless yer! Allah keep yer! De mudder -ob God watch ober yer!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In these ejaculations Esha would hardly have been held as -orthodox either by a mufti or a D.D. But what if, in the balance -of the All-Seeing, the sincere heart should outweigh the -speculative head? Poor old Esha was Mahometan through -reverence for her father; Catholic through influences from the -family with whom she lived when a child; and Protestant -through <a id='corr199.26'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='knowedge'>knowledge</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_199.26'><ins class='correction' title='knowedge'>knowledge</ins></a></span> of many good men and women of that faith. -She cared not how many saints there were in her calendar. -The more the merrier. All goodness in man or woman, of -whatever race or sect, was deified in her simple and semi-barbarous -conceptions. Poor, ignorant, sinful, unregenerate -creature!</p> - -<p class='c001'>“God bless you, Esha!” said Clara. “Look! There is -poor Dainty perched on the window-sill. Plainly he is no -Abolitionist. He prefers slavery. Take care of him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dat I will, if only for your sake, darlin’.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And the old woman let the bird in and closed the window; -and then—her bronzed face wet with tears—she conducted -Clara to a back door of the house, from which the fugitive could -issue, without being observed, into an obscure carriage-way.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XX.<br />ENCOUNTERS AT THE ST. CHARLES.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Hail, year of God’s farming! Hail, summer of an emancipated continent, which -shall lay up in storehouse and barn the great truths that were worth the costly dressing -of a people’s blood!”—<cite>Rev. John Weiss.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>In one of the rooms of the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans -a man sat meditating. The windows looked out on a street -where soldiers were going through their drill amid occasional -shouts from by-standers. As the noise grew louder, the man -rose and went to a window. He was hardly above the middle -stature, slim and compact, but as lithe as if jointed like an eel. -His hair was slightly streaked with gray. His features, though -not full, spoke health, vigor, and pure habits of life; while his -white, well-preserved teeth, neatly trimmed beard, and well-cut, -well-adjusted clothes showed that, as he left his youth behind -him, his attention to his personal appearance did not decrease. -Fourteen years had made but little change in Vance. It had -not tamed the fire of his eyes nor slackened the alertness of -his tread.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As he caught sight of the “stars and bars” waving in the -spring sunlight, an expression of scorn was emitted in his -frown, and he exclaimed: “Detested rag! I shall yet live to -trample you in the dirt on that very spot where you now -flaunt so bravely. Shout on, poor fools! Continue, ye unreasoning -cattle, to crop the flowery food, and lick the hand -just raised to shed your blood. And you, too, leaders of the -rank and file, led, in your turn, by South Carolina fire-eaters, -go on and overtake that fate denounced by the prophet on evil-doers. -Hug the strong delusion and believe the lie! Declare, -with the smatterers of the Richmond press, that Christian civilization -is a mistake, and that the new Confederacy is <em>a God-sent -missionary to the nations</em> to teach them that pollution is -purity, and incest a boon from heaven. The time is not far -distant when you shall learn how far the Eternal Powers are -the allies of human laziness, arrogance, and lust!”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>Suddenly the soliloquist seemed struck by the appearance -of some one in the crowd; for, taking from his pocket an opera-glass, -and regulating the focus, he looked through it, then muttered: -“Yes, it is he! Poor maggot! What haughtiness in -his look!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Just then a man on horseback, in the dress of a civilian, -and followed by a slave, also mounted, rode forward nearer to -where Vance sat at his window. A multitude gathered round -the foremost equestrian, and called for a speech. “The Kunnle -is jest frum South Kerlinay,” exclaimed a swarthy inebriate, -who seemed to be spokesman for the mob. “A speech -frum Kunnle Ratcliff! Hoorray!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff, with a gesture of annoyance, rose in his stirrups, -and said: “Friends, I’ve nothing to tell you that you can’t -find better told in the newspapers. This is no time for talk. -We want action now. All’s right at Charleston. Sumter -has fallen. That’s the first great step. The Yankees may -bluster, but they’ll never fight. The meanest white man at -the South is more than a match for any five Yankees. We’ll -have them begging to be let into our Southern Confederacy -before Christmas. But we won’t receive ’em. No! As Jeff -Davis well says, sooner hyenas than Yankees! But we must -whip them into decency. And so, before the next Fourth of -July, we mean to have our flag flying over Faneuil Hall. We -are the master race, my friends! We must show these nigger -stealing, beggarly Yankees that they must stand cap in hand -when they venture to come into our presence. Don’t believe -the croakers who tell you slavery will be weakened by secession. -It’s going to be strengthened. So convinced am I of -it, that I’ve doubled my number of slaves; and if any of you -wish to sell, bring on your niggers! Do you see that flag? -Well, that flag has got to wave over all Mexico, Cuba, and -Central America. In five years from now every man of you -shall own his score of niggers and his hundred acres of land. -So go ahead, and aim low when you sight a Yankee.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The speech was received with cheers, and Ratcliff started his -horse; but the leading loafer of the crowd seized the reins, and -said: “Can’t let yer off so, Kunnle,—can’t no how you kun -fix it. We want a reg’lar game speech, sich as you kun make -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>when you dam please. So fire up, and do your prettiest. -Be n’t we the master race?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pshaw! Let go those reins,” said Ratcliff, cutting the -vagabond over his face with the but-end of a riding-whip.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The crowd laughed, and the loafer, astonished and sobered, -dropped the reins, and put his hand to his eye, which had been -badly hit. Ratcliff rode on, but a muttered curse went after him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Seeing the loafer stand feeling of his eye as if had been hurt, -Vance said to him from the window: “Go to the apothecary’s, -and tell him to give you something to bathe it in.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Go ter the ’pothecary’s! With nary a red in my pocket! -Strannger, don’t try to fool this child.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here’s money, if you want it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Money? I should like ter see the color of it, strannger.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hold your hat, then.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Vance dropped into the hat something wrapped in a -newspaper which the loafer incredulously unfolded. Finding in -it a five-dollar gold-piece, he stared first at the money, then at -Vance, and said: “Strannger, I’d say, God bless yer, if I -didn’t think, what a poor cuss like I could say would rayther -harm than help. Haven’t no influence with God A’mighty, -strannger. But you’re a man,—you air,—not a sneakin’ -’ristocrat as despises a poor white feller more ’n he does a -nigger. I’ve seen yer somewhar afore, but can’t say whar.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Go and attend to your eye, my friend,” said Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will. An’ if ever I kun do yer a good turn, jes call on——”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance could not hear the name; but he bowed, and the -loafer moved on. Looking in another direction, Vance saw -Ratcliff dismount, throw the reins to his attendant, and disappear -in a vestibule of the hotel. Vance rose and wildly paced -the room. His whole frame quivered to the very tips of his -fingers, which he stretched forth as if to clutch some invisible -antagonist. He muttered incoherent words, and, smiting his -brow as if to keep back thoughts that struggled too tumultuously -for expression, cried: “O that I had him here,—here, -face to face,—weaponless, both of us! Would I not—The -merciless villain! The cowardly miscreant! To lash a woman! -That moment of horror! Often as I’ve lived it over, -it is ever new. Can eternity make it fade? Again I see her,-pale, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>very pale and bleeding,—and tied,—tied to the stake. -O Ratcliff! When shall this bridled vengeance overtake thee? -Pshaw! What is <em>he</em>,—an individual,—what is the sum of -pain that <em>he</em> can suffer? Would that be a requital? Will not -his own devices work better for me than aught <em>I</em> can do?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Seating himself in an arm-chair, Vance calmed his vindictive -thoughts. In memory he went back to that day when he first -heard Estelle sing; then to their first evening in Mrs. Mallet’s -little house; then to the old magnolia-tree before it. That -house he had bought and given in keeping to Mrs. Bernard, a -married granddaughter of old Leroux, the Frenchman. Every -tree and shrub in the area had been reverently cared for. Had -not Estelle plucked blossoms from them all?</p> - -<p class='c001'>He thought of his marriage,—of his pleasant walks with -Estelle in Jackson Square,—of their musical enjoyments,—of -all her little devices to minister to his comfort and delight,—and -then of the sudden clouding of this brief but most exquisite -sunshine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance took from the pocket of his vest a little circular box -of rosewood. Unscrewing the cover, he revealed a photograph -of Estelle, taken after her marriage. There was such a smile -on the countenance as only the supreme happiness of a loving -heart could have created. On the opposite circle was a curl of -her hair of that strangely beautiful neutral tint which Vance had -often admired. This he pressed to his lips. “Dear saint,” he -murmured, “I have not forgotten thy parting words. For thy -sake will I wrestle with this spirit that would seek a <em>paltry</em> -revenge. Thy smile, O my beloved! shall dispel the remembrance -of thy agony, and thy love shall conquer all earth-born -hate. For thy dear sake will I still calmly meet thy murderer. -O, lend me of thy divine patience to endure his presence! -Sweet child, affectionate and pure, I can dream of nothing in -heaven more precious than thyself. If from thee, O my beloved! -come this spiritual refreshing and reinforcement,—if -from thee these tender influences, so bright and yet so gentle,—then -must thy sphere be one within which the angels delight to -come.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a knock at the door. Vance shut the box, replaced -it in his pocket, and cried, “Come in!”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>“Colored man down stars, sar, wants to see yer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did he give his name?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, sar, he say his name is Jacobs.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Show him up.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A negro now entered wearing green spectacles, and a wig of -gray wool. Across his cheek there was a scar. No sooner was -the door closed upon the waiter, than Vance exclaimed: “Is -it possible? Can this be you, Peek?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek threw off his disguises, and Vance seized him by the -hand as he might have seized a returning brother.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What of your wife and child? Have you found ’em?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Mr. Vance, I’m still a wanderer over the earth in -search of them. I shall find them in God’s good time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sit down, Peek.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excuse me, Mr. Vance, I’d rather stand.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very well. Then I’ll stand too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Since you make it a point of politeness, sir, I’ll sit.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s right. And now, my dear fellow, tell me what -you’ve been about these many years. Surely you’ve discovered -some traces of the lost ones?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“None that have been of much use, Mr. Vance. I’m satisfied -that Flora was lured on to Baltimore by some party who -deceived her with the expectation of meeting me there. From -Baltimore she and her child were taken to Richmond by the -agent of her old master, and sold at auction to a dealer, who -soon afterwards died. There the clew breaks.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My poor Peek, your not finding her has probably saved -you from a deeper disappointment.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you mean, Mr. Vance?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The chance is, she has been forced to marry some other -man.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I know, sir, that would be the probability in the case of -ninety-nine slave-women out of a hundred. But Flora once -swore to me on the crucifix, she would be true to me or die. -And I feel very certain she will keep her oath.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! slavery is so crafty and remorseless in working on -human passions,” sighed Vance. “But you are right, my dear -Peek, in hoping on. Tell me of your adventures.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When you and I parted at Memphis, Mr. Vance, I went to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>Montreal. Flora had left there some weeks before. At New -York I sought out Mr. Charlton; also the policemen. But I -could get nothing out of them. At length a Canadian told me -he had met Flora on board the Baltimore boat. I followed up -the clew till it broke, as I’ve told you. Since then I’ve been -seeking my wife and boy through all the Cotton States. The -money you gave me from Mr. Berwick lasted me seven years; -and then I had to work to get the means of continuing my -search. There are not many counties in the Slave States -which I have not visited.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“During your travels, Peek, you must have had opportunities -of helping on the good cause.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Mr. Vance. I needed some strong motive to send me -far and wide among my poor brethren. Without it I might -have led a selfish life, content with my own comforts. But -God has ordered it all right. I bought a pass as an old slave -preacher, and thus was able to visit the plantations, and establish -secret societies in the cause of freedom. Give the slaves -arms, treat them like men, and they will fight. But they will -not rise unarmed in useless insurrection. As soon as the North -will give them the means of defending their freedom, they will -break their fetters. It is the North, and not the South, that -now holds the slave in check.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Peek; public sentiment is almost as much poisoned at -the North as at the South, by this slavery virus.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what have <em>you</em>, sir, been about all these years?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Much of my time has been spent in Kansas. I’ve been a -border ruffian.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A sham one, I suppose?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Peek, so seriously did I play my part, that perhaps -I shall go down in history as one of the pro-slavery leaders. -John Brown of Ossawatomie would at one time have shot me -on sight. He afterwards understood me better,—understood -that, if I fraternized with the pro-slavery crew, it was to thwart -their schemes. The rascals were continually astounded at finding -their bloodiest secrets revealed to the Abolitionists, and -little suspected that one of their most trusted advisers was the -informer. Yes! I helped on the madness which God sends -to those he means to destroy. Baffled in California, the devil -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>of slavery set his heart on establishing his altars in Kansas. -How effectually we have headed him off! And now the frenzied -idiot wants secession and a slave empire. Heaven forbid -I should arrest him in his fatuity! Let me rather help it on.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you, then, a secessionist, Mr. Vance?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In one sense: I’m for secession from slavery by annihilating -it, holding on to the Union. I was at the great Nashville -convention. I’ve been the last few months watching things -here in conservative Louisiana. She will have to follow South -Carolina. That little vixen among States cracks the overseer’s -whip over our heads, and threatens us with her sovereign -displeasure for our timidity. She has nearly frightened -poor Governor Moore out of his boots.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve been thinking much lately,” said Peek, “of our adventure -on board the Pontiac. What ever became of Colonel -Delancy Hyde?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Colonel,” replied Vance, “for a time wooed fortune -in Kansas, but didn’t win her. Since then I’ve lost him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The last I heard of him,” said Peek, “he had quarrelled -with a fellow at a cock-fight in Montgomery, and been wounded; -and his sister, a decent woman, was tending on him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I confess I’ve a weakness for the Colonel,” said Vance, -“though unquestionably he’s a great scoundrel.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you ever learn, Mr. Vance, what became of that yellow -girl he coveted?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She and the child were drowned,” was the reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What proof of that did you ever have?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My first endeavor, after the accident,” said Vance, “was -to serve the man to whom I had owed my own life; and it was -not till I saw you secure from Hyde, and your scalds taken -care of, I learnt from Judge Onslow that the Berwicks, husband -and wife, had died from their wounds.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Were their bodies ever recovered?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Those of the husband and wife I saw and recognized. But -not half the bodies of the drowned were recovered, so strong -was the current. It was not surprising, therefore, that the -child and nurse should be of this number. Two of the passengers -testified to seeing them in the river,—tried ineffectually -to save them, and saw them go under.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>“Did you ever learn who those passengers were?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No. But I satisfied myself, so far as I could from human -testimony, that the child was not among the saved. Business -called me suddenly to New Orleans. Why do you ask?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excuse me. Were you never summoned as a witness on -the trial which gave Mr. Charlton the Berwick property?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never. Perhaps one of the inconveniences of my <em>aliases</em> -is, that my friends do not often know where to find me, or how -to address me. I was not aware there had been a trial.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nor was I,” said Peek, “until a few weeks ago. At the -Exchange Hotel in Montgomery, I waited on Captain Ireton -of the army, who, learning that I had had dealings with Charlton, -informed me that his (Ireton’s) grandfather had been a -party to a lawsuit growing out of the loss of the Pontiac, but -that the case had been decided in Charlton’s favor. When -Captain Ireton learned that I, too, had been on the Pontiac, he -put me many questions, in the course of which I learned that -the evidence as to the death of the child and her nurse rested -solely on the testimony of Colonel Delancy Hyde and his -friend, Leonidas Quattles.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance started up and paced the floor, striking both palms -against his forehead. “Dupe and fool that I’ve been!” he -exclaimed. “Deep as I thought myself, this thick-skulled -Hyde has been deeper still. I’ve been outwitted by a low -rascal and blockhead. In all my talk with Hyde about the -explosion, he never intimated to me that he had ever testified -as a witness in a suit growing out of the accident. Never -would he have kept silent on such a point if he hadn’t been -guilty. He and Quattles and Charlton! What possible rascality -might not have been hatched among the three! Of -course there was knavery! What was the amount of property -in suit?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“More than a million of dollars,—so Ireton told me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A million? The father and mother dead,—then prove -that the child—But stop. I’m going too fast. <em>Hyde</em> -couldn’t have been interested in having it supposed that the -child was dead. How could he have known about the Berwick -property?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But might he not have tried to kidnap the yellow girl?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>“There you hit it, Peek! Dolt that I’ve been not to think -of that! I remember now that Hyde once said to me, the -yellow girl would bring sixteen hundred dollars in New Orleans. -Well, supposing he took the yellow girl, what could he -do with the white child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you, of all men, Mr. Vance, not guess? He could -sell the child as a slave. Or, if he wanted to make her bring -a little better price, he could tinge her skin just enough to give -it a slight golden hue.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance wet a towel in iced water, and pressed it on his forehead.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But you pierce my heart, Peek, by the bare suggestion -of such things,” he said. “That poor child! Clara was her -name,—a bright, affectionate little lady! Should Hyde have -given false testimony in regard to her death, I shudder to think -what may have become of her. She, born to affluence, may be -at this moment a wretched menial, or worse, a trained Cyprian, -polluted, body and soul. Why was I not more thorough in my -investigations? But perhaps ’t is not too late to prove the villany, -if villany there has been.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hyde may be able to put you on the right track,” suggested -Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance sat down, and for five minutes seemed lost in meditation. -Then, starting up, he said: “Where would you next -go in pursuit of your wife and child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To Texas,” replied Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To Texas you shall go. Would you venture to face Colonel -Hyde?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“With these green goggles I would face any of my old masters; -and the scalds upon my face would alone prevent my -being known.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can get you a pass from the Mayor himself, so that you’d -not be molested. Find Hyde, and bring him to me at any cost. -Money will do it. When can you start?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By the next boat,—in half an hour.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All right. Make your home at Bernard’s when you return. -The house is mine. Here’s the direction. Here’s a pass from -the Mayor which I’ve filled up for you. And here’s money, -which you needn’t stop to count. Good by!”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>And, with a grasp of the hand, they parted, and Peek quitted -the hotel to take the boat for Galveston.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He had no sooner gone than Vance went down-stairs to the -dining-hall. Most of the guests had finished their dinners; but -at a small table near that at which he took his seat were a -company of four, lingering over the dessert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Senator Wigman, a puffy, red-faced man, had been holding -forth on the prospective glories of the Confederacy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, sir,” said he, refilling his glass with Burgundy, “with -the rest of the world we’ll trade, but never, never with the -Yankees. Not one pound of cotton shall ever go from the -South to their accursed cities; not one ounce of their steel -or their manufactures shall ever cross our borders.” And Wigman -emptied his glass at a single gulp.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good for Wigman!” exclaimed Mr. Robson, a round, full-faced -young man, rather fat, and wearing gold-rimmed spectacles. -“But what about Yankee ice, Wigman? Will you deprive -us of that also? And tell me, my Wigman, why is it -that, since you despise these Yankees so intensely, you allow -your children to remain at school in Massachusetts? Isn’t -that a little inconsistent, my Wigman?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wigman was obliged to refill his glass before he could summon -his thoughts for a reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Robson,” he then said, “you’re a scholar, and must -be aware that the ancient Spartans, in order to disgust their -children with intemperance, used to make their slaves drunk. -If I send my children among the Yankees, it is that they may -be struck by the superiority of the Southern character when -they return home.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So you’ve no faith in the old maxim touching evil communications,” -said Robson, taking a bottle of Champagne, and -easing the cork so as to send it to the ceiling with a loud pop. -“Now, gentlemen, bumpers all round! Onslow, let me fill -your glass; Kenrick, yours. Drink to my sentiment. Here’s -confusion to the old concern!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance was just lifting a spoonful to his lips; but he returned -it to his plate as he heard the name of Onslow, and looked -round. Yes, it was surely he!—the boy of the Pontiac, now -a handsome youth of twenty-four. On his right sat the young -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>man addressed as Kenrick. At the latter Vance hardly looked, -so intent was he on Onslow’s response.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wigman spoke first. Holding up his glass, and amorously -eyeing the salmon hue of the wine, he exclaimed: “Agreed! -Here’s confusion to the old con-hiccup-concern!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Senator’s unfortunate hiccup elicited inextinguishable -laughter from the rest, until Robson rapped with the handle -of his knife on the table, and cried: “Order! order! Gentlemen, -I consider that man a sneaking traitor who’ll not get -drunk in behalf of sentiments like those our friend the Senator -has been uttering.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look here, young man, do you mean to insinuate that I’m -getting drunk,” said Wigman, angrily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Far from it, Wigman. Any one can see you’re <em>not getting</em> -drunk.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I accept the apology,” said Wigman, with maudlin dignity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, then, gentlemen,” cried Robson, “now for the previous -question! Confusion to the old concern!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wigman and Onslow drank to the sentiment, but Kenrick, -calling a negro waiter, handed the glass to him, and said: -“Throw that to the pigs, and bring me a fresh glass.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Halloo! What the deuce do you mean by that?” cried -Robson. “Have we a Bourbon among us? Have we a -Yankee sympathizer among us? Is it possible? Does Mr. -Charles Kenrick of Kenrick, son of Robert Kenrick, Esq., -Confederate M. C., and heir to a thousand niggers, refuse to -drink to the downfall of Abolitionism, and those other isms -against which we’ve drawn the sword and flung away the -scabbard?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, by Jove!” interposed Wigman. “And we’ll welcome -our invaders with—with—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“With bloody hands to hospitable graves,” said Robson. -“Speak quick, my Wigman. That’s the Southern formula, I -believe, invented, like the new song of <cite>Dixie</cite>, by an impertinent -Yankee. It’s devilish hard we have to import from -these blasted Yankees the very slang and music we turn -against them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Answer me, Mr. Charles Kenrick,” said Wigman, assuming -a front of judicial severity, “did you mean any offence to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>the Confederacy by dishonoring the sentiment of hostility to -its enemy?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Damn the Confederacy!” said Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hear him,” said Robson. “Was there ever such blasphemy? -Please write it down, Onslow, that he damns the -Confederacy. And write Wigman down an—No matter -for that part of it! We shall hear Kenrick blaspheming -slavery by and by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Damn slavery!” said Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Kenrick is joking,” said Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Kenrick was never more serious in his life, Mr. Onslow!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look here, my dear fellow,” said Robson, “there <em>are</em> sanctities -which must not be invaded, even under the privilege of -Champagne. Insult the Virgin Mary, traduce the Holy Trinity, -profane the Holy of holies, say that Jeff Davis isn’t a -remarkable man, as much as you please, but beware how you -speak ill of the peculiar institution. We’ll twist the noose for -you with a pleased alacrity unless you retract those wicked -words, and do penance in two tumblers of Heidsieck drunk in -expiation of your horrible levity.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Damn slavery!” reiterated Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He’s a subject for the Committee of Safety,” suggested -Wigman.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Kenrick is playing with us all this while,” said Onslow. -“Come! Confess it, old schoolfellow! You honor the new -flag as much as I do.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll show you how much I honor it,” said Kenrick; and, -going to a table where a small Confederate flag was stuck in a -leg of bacon, he tore off the silken emblem, ripped it in four -parts, and, casting it on the floor, put his foot on the fragments -and spat on them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wigman drew a small bowie-knife from a pocket inside of -his vest, and, starting to his feet, kicked back his chair, and -rushed with somewhat tortuous motion towards Kenrick; but, -having miscalculated his powers of equilibrium, the Senator fell -helplessly on the floor, and dropped his knife. Robson kicked -it to a distant part of the room, and, helping Wigman to his -feet, placed him in his chair, and counselled him not to try it -again.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>“It is to me that Mr. Kenrick must answer for this insult to -the flag,” said Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick bowed. Then, resuming his seat, he took a fresh -glass, and, filling it till it overflowed with Champagne, rose and -exclaimed: “The Union! not as it <em>was</em>, but as it <em>shall</em> be, with -universal freedom,—from the St. Croix to the Rio Grande,—from -Cape Cod to the Golden Gate!” Kenrick touched his -lips reverently to the wine, then put it down, and, taking from -his bosom a beautiful American flag made of silk, shook it out, -and said, “Here, gentlemen, is <em>my</em> religion.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow made a snatch at it, but Kenrick warded off his grip, -and, folding and returning the flag to the inner pocket of his -vest, calmly took his seat as if nothing had happened.</p> - -<p class='c001'>All this while Vance had been gazing on Kenrick intently, -as if wrestling in thought with some inexplicable mystery. -“Strange!” he murmured. “The very counterpart of my -own person as I was at twenty-three! My very features! -My very figure! The very color of my hair! And then,—what -my mother often told me was a Carteret peculiarity,—when -he smiles, that fan-like radiation of fine wrinkles under -the temples from the outer corner of the eye! What does it -all mean? I know of no relation of the name of Kenrick.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall not sit at table with a traitor,” cried Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then keep standing all the time,” said Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nonsense! I thought we were all philosophers in this -company,” interposed Robson, who, having had large commercial -dealings with the elder Kenrick, was in no mood to see -the son harmed. “Sit down, Onslow! Wigman, keep your -seat. Now, waiter, green glasses all round, and a bottle of -that sparkling Moselle. They’ll know at the bar what I -mean.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow resumed his seat. Wigman stiffened himself up and -drew nearer to the table, fired at the prospect of a fresh bottle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At this juncture Mr. George Sanderson, a Northern man -with Southern principles, in person short, vulgar, and flashily -dressed, the very <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>beau ideal</i></span> of a bar-room rowdy, having heard -the clink of glasses, and sighted from the corridor an array of -bottles, was seized with one of his half-hourly attacks of thirstiness, -and entered to join the party, although Wigman was the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>only one he knew. The latter introduced him to the rest. -Robson uncorked the Moselle, and asked, “Now that Sumter -has fallen, what’s next on the programme?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Washington must be taken,” said Sanderson.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We must winter in Philadelphia,” said Wigman.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In what capacity? As conquerors or as captives?” said -Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is the gentleman at all shaky?” asked Sanderson.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He has been shamming Abolitionism,” replied Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He damns slavery,” cried the indignant Wigman.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He’s sure to go to hell for that,” said Robson; “intercession -can’t save him. He has committed the unpardonable sin. -The Rev. Dr. Palmer has recently made researches in theology -which satisfy himself and me and the rest of the saints, that -the sin against the Holy Ghost is in truth nothing less than to -be an Abolitionist.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What is your private opinion of the Yankees, Mr. Sanderson?” -asked Kenrick. “Do you think they’ll fight?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, sir-r-r. Fifty thousand Confederates could walk through -the Northern States, and plant their colors on every State capital -north of Mason and Dixon’s line. They could whip any -army the Yankees could bring against them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then you think the Yankees are cowards, eh?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Compared with the Southerners,—yes!” said Sanderson, -holding up his glass for the waiter to refill.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“His opinion is that of an expert. He’s himself a Yankee!” -cried Robson.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see Mr. Sanderson soars far above the spirit of the old -proverb touching the bird that fouls its nest,” said Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Order!” cried Robson. “Mr. Sanderson is a philosopher. -He disdains vulgar prejudices. To him the old nest is straw -and mud, and the old flag is a bit of bunting. Isn’t it so, -Sanderson?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Exactly so,” said Sanderson, a little puzzled by Robson’s -persiflage, and seeking relief from it in another glass of wine. -But, finding the Moselle bottle empty, he applied himself to a -decanter labelled Old Monongahela.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A sudden snore from Wigman, who had fallen asleep in his -chair, startled the party once more into laughter.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>“Happy Wigman!” said Robson. “He smiles. He is -dreaming of slavery extension into benighted, slaveless Mexico,—of -Cuba annexed, and her stupidly mild slave-code -reformed,—of tawny-hued houries, metifs, and quarteroons -fanning him while he reposes,—of unnumbered Yankees -howling over their lost trade, and kneeling vainly for help to -him,—to Wigman! Profound Wigman! Behold the great -man asleep! Happy Texas in having such a representative! -Happy Jeff Davis in having such a counsellor! Gentlemen, -my feelings grow too effusive. I must leave you. The dinner -has been good. The wine has been good. I must make -one criticism, however. The young gentlemen are degenerate. -They do not drink. Look at them. They are perfectly sober. -What is the world coming to? At our hotels, where twenty -years ago we used to see fifty—yes, a hundred—champagne -bottles on the dinner-table, we now don’t see ten. And yet -men talk of the progress of the age! ’T is all a delusion. -The day of juleps has gone by. We are receding in civilization. -Wigman is a type of the good old times,—a landmark, -a pattern for the rising generation. To his immortal honor be -it recorded, that after that most heroic achievement of this or -any other age, the subjugation of Anderson’s little starving -garrison in Sumter by Beauregard, Wigman started in a small -boat for the fort. Wigman landed. Wigman was the first to -land. He entered one of the bomb-proofs. The first thought -of a vulgar mind would have been to fly the victorious flag. -Not so Wigman. On a shelf he saw a bottle. With a sublime -self-abandonment he saw nothing else. He seized it; he -uncorked it; he drank from it. And it was not till he had -exhausted the last drop, that he learnt from the surgeon it was -poison. O posterity! don’t be ungrateful and forget this picture -when you think of Sumter. Our Wigman was saved to -us by an emetic. Hand him down, ye future Hildreths and -Motleys of America. Unconscious Wigman! He responds -with another rhoncus. Mr. Sanderson, I leave him to your -generous care. Gentlemen, good by!” And without waiting -for a reply, Robson received his hat from the attentive waiter, -waved a bow to the party, and waddled out of the hall.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Sanderson, seeing that a bottle of Chateau Margaux -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>was but half emptied, sighed that he had not detected it sooner. -Filling a goblet with the purple fluid, he drained it in long and -appreciative draughts, rolling the smooth juice over his tongue, -and carefully savoring the bouquet. Having emptied this bottle, -he sighted another nearly two thirds full of champagne. -Sanderson felt a pang at the thought that there was a limit to -man’s ability to quaff good liquor. He, however, went up to -the attack bravely, and succeeded in disposing of two full tumblers. -Then a spirit of meek content at his bibulous achievements -seemed to come over him. He put his thumbs in the -arm-holes of his vest, leaned back, and benignantly said, “This -warm weather has made me a trifle thirsty.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wigman suddenly started from his sleep, wakened by the -cessation of noise. Sanderson rose, and assisted the Senator -to his feet. “Come, my dear fellow,” said he, “it’s time to -adjourn. Good by, young gentlemen!” And arm in arm the -two worthies staggered out of the hall, each under the impression -that the other was the worse for liquor, and each affectionately -counselling the other not to expose himself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance still sat at his table, and from behind a newspaper -glanced occasionally at the two young men who had so excited -his interest.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, Kenrick,” said Onslow, “now that Robson the -impenetrable, and Wigman the windy, and Sanderson the -beastly, are out of the way, tell me what you mean by your -incomprehensible conduct. When we met at table to-day, the -first time for five years, I did not dream that you were other -than you used to be, the enthusiastic champion of the South -and its institutions.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You wonder,” replied Kenrick, “that I should express my -detestation of the Rebellion and its cause,—of the Confederacy -and its corner-stone,—that I should differ from my father, who -believes in slavery. How much more reasonably might I -wonder at <em>your</em> apostasy from truths which such a man as -your father holds!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My father is an honorable man,—an excellent man,” -said Onslow; “but—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But,” interrupted Kenrick, “if you were sincere just now -in the epithet you flung at me, you consider him also a traitor. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>Now a traitor is one who betrays a trust. What trust has -your father betrayed?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He does not stand by his native State in her secession -from the old Union,” answered Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But what if he holds that his duty to the central government -is paramount to his duty to his State?” asked Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That I regard as an error,” replied Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then by your own showing,” said Kenrick, “all that you -can fairly say is, that your father has erred in judgment,—not -that he has been guilty of a base act of treason.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, I didn’t mean that, Charles,—your pardon,” said -Onslow, holding out his hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick cordially accepted the proffered apology, and then -asked: “May I speak frankly to you, Robert,—speak as I -used to in the old times at William and Mary’s?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Certainly. Proceed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your father literally obeyed the Saviour’s injunction. He -gave up all he had, to follow where truth led. Convinced -that slavery was a wrong, he ruined his fortunes in the attempt -to substitute free labor for that of slaves. Through the -hostility of the slave interest the experiment failed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I think,” said Onslow, “my father acted unwisely in -sacrificing his fortunes to an abstraction.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An abstraction! The man who tries to undo a wrong is -an abstractionist, is he? What a world this would be if all -men would be guilty of similar abstractions. To such a one -I would say, ‘Master, lead on, and I will follow thee, to the -last gasp, with truth and loyalty!’ Strange! unaccountably -strange, that his own son should have deserted him for the -filthy flesh-pots of slavery!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“May not good men differ as to slavery?” asked Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Put that question,” replied Kenrick, “to nine tenths of the -slaveholders,—men in favor of lynching, torturing, murdering, -those opposed to the institution. Put it to Mr. Carson, who, -the other day, in his own house, shot down an unarmed and -unsuspecting visitor, because he had freely expressed views -opposed to slavery. Abolitionists don’t hang men for not -believing with them,—do they? But the whole code and -temper of the South reply to you, that men may <em>not</em> differ, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>and <em>shall</em> not differ, on the subject of slavery. Onslow, give -me but one thing,—and that a thing guaranteed by the -Constitution of the United States, though never tolerated in -the Slave States,—give me <em>liberty of the press</em> in those States, -and I, as a friend of the Union, would say to the government -at Washington, ‘Put by the sword. Wait! I will put down -this rebellion. I have the pen and the press! Therefore is -slavery doomed, and its days are numbered.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why is it,” asked Onslow, “if slavery is wrong, that you -find all the intelligence, all the culture, at the South, and even -in the Border States, on its side?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! there,” replied Kenrick, “there’s the sunken rock on -which you and many other young men have made wreck of -your very souls. Your æsthetic has superseded your moral -natures. To work is in such shocking bad taste, when one can -make others work for one!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nine tenths of the men at the South of any social position,” -said Onslow, “are in favor of secession.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I know it,” returned Kenrick, “and the sadder for human -nature that it should be so! In Missouri, in Kentucky, in -Virginia, in Baltimore, all the young men who would be -considered fashionable, all who thoughtlessly or heartlessly -prize more their social <em>status</em> than they do justice and right, -follow the lead of the pro-slavery aristocracy. I know from -experience how hard it is to break loose from those social and -family ties. But I thank God I’ve succeeded. ’T was like -emerging from mephitic vapors into the sweet oxygen of a -clear, sun-bright atmosphere, that hour I resolved to take my -lot with freedom and the right against slavery and the wrong!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How was your conversion effected?” asked Onslow. “Did -you fall in love with some Yankee schoolmistress? I wasn’t -aware you’d been living at the North.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve never set foot in a Free State,” replied Kenrick. “My -life has been passed here in Louisiana on my father’s plantation. -I was bred a slaveholder, and lived one after the most -straitest sect of our religion until about six months ago. See -at the trunkmaker’s my learned papers in De Bow’s Review. -They’re entitled ‘Slave Labor <i>versus</i> Free.’ Unfortunately for -my admirers and disciples, there was in my father’s library a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>little stray volume of Channing’s writings on slavery. I read -it at first contemptuously, then attentively, then respectfully, -and at last lovingly and prayerfully. The truth, almost insufferably -radiant, poured in upon me. Convictions were heaved -up in my mind like volcanic islands out of the sea. I was -spiritually magnetized and possessed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What said your father?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My father and I had always lived more as companions than -as sire and son. There is only a difference of twenty-two -years in our ages. My own mother, a very beautiful woman -who died when I was five years old, was six years older than -my father. From her I derived my intellectual peculiarities. -Of course my father has cast me off,—disowned, disinherited -me. He is sincere in his pro-slavery fanaticism. I wish I could -say as much of all who fall in with the popular current.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But what do you mean to do, Charles? ’T is unsafe for -you to stay here in New Orleans, holding such sentiments.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My plans are not yet matured,” replied Kenrick. “I shall -stand by the old flag, you may be sure of that. And I shall -liberate all the slaves I can, beginning with my father’s.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You would not fight against your own State?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Incontinently I would if my own State should persist in -rebellion against the Union; and so I would fight against my -own county should that rebel against the State.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, schoolfellow,” said Onslow, with a fascinating frankness, -“let us reserve our quarrels for the time when we shall -cross swords in earnest. That time may come sooner than we -dream of. The less can we afford to say bitter things to each -other now. Come, and let me introduce you to a charming -young lady. How long do you stay here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps a week; perhaps a month.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall watch over you while you remain, for I do not -fancy seeing my old crony hung.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Better so than be false to the light within me. Though -worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow made no reply, but affectionately, almost compassionately, -took Kenrick by the arm and led him away.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance put down his newspaper, and then, immersed in meditation, -slowly passed out of the dining-hall and up-stairs into -his own room.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXI.<br />A MONSTER OF INGRATITUDE.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Faint hearts are usually false hearts, choosing sin rather than suffering.”—<em>Argyle, -before his execution.</em></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Mrs. Gentry had attired herself in her new spring -costume, a feuillemorte silk, with a bonnet trimmed to -match, of the frightful coal-hod shape, with sable roses and a -bristling ruche. It was just such a bonnet as Proserpine, -Queen of the Shades, might have chosen for a stroll with Pluto -along the shore of Lake Avernus.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After many satisfactory glances in the mirror, Mrs. Gentry -sat down and trotted her right foot impatiently. Tarquin, entering, -announced the carriage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, go to Miss Ellen, and ask when she’ll be ready.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Five minutes Mrs. Gentry waited, while the horses, pestered -by stinging insects, dashed their hoofs against the pavements. -At last Tarquin returned with the report that Miss Ellen’s -room was empty.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Has Pauline looked for her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, missis.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ask Esha if she has seen her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pauline, standing at the head of the stairs, put the question, -and Esha replied testily from the kitchen: “Don’t know -nuffin ’bout her. Hab suffin better ter do dan look af’r all de -school-gals in dis house.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pauline turned from the old heathen in despair, and suggested -that perhaps Miss Ellen had stepped out to buy a ribbon -or some hair-pins.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gentry waxed angry. “O, but she’ll be come up -with!” This was the teacher’s favorite form of consolation. -The <em>Abolitionists</em> would be come up with. Abe Lincoln would -be come up with. General Scott would be come up with. -Everybody who offended Mrs. Gentry would be come up with,—if -not in this world, why then in some other.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>An hour passed. She began to get seriously alarmed. She -sent away the carriage. Hardly had it gone, when a second -vehicle drew up before the door, and out of it stepped Mr. -Ratcliff. She met him in the parlor, and, fearing to tell the -truth, merely remarked, that Ellen was out making a few purchases.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When will she be back?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps not till dinner-time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I’ll call to-morrow at this hour.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gentry passed the day in a state of wretched anxiety. -She sent out messengers. She interested a policeman in the -search. But no trace of the fugitive! Mrs. Gentry was in -despair. If Ellen had not been a slave, her disappearance -would have been comparatively a small matter. If it had been -somebody’s free-born daughter who had absconded, it wouldn’t -have been half so bad. But here was a slave! One whose -flight would lay open to suspicion the teacher’s allegiance to <em>the</em> -institution! Intolerable! Of course it was no concern of hers -to what fate that slave was about to be consigned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ah! sister of the South,—(and I have known many, the -charms of whose persons and manners I thought incomparable,)—a -woman whose own virtue is not rooted in sand, cannot, if -she thinks and reasons, fail to shudder at a system which sends -other women, perhaps as innocent and pure as she herself, to -be sold to brutal men at auctions. And yet, if any one had -told Mrs. Gentry she was no better than a procuress, both she -and the Rev. Dr. Palmer would have thought it an impious -aspersion.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At the appointed hour Ratcliff appeared. Mrs. Gentry’s -toilet that day was appropriate to the calamitous occasion. She -was dressed in a black silk robe intensely flounced, and decorated -around the bust with a profluvium of black lace that might -have melted the heart of a Border-ruffian. She entered the -parlor, tragically shaking out a pocket handkerchief with an -edging of black.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Mr. Ratcliff! Mr. Ratcliff!” she exclaimed, rushing forward, -then checking herself melodramatically, and seizing the -back of a chair, as if for support.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, madam, what’s the matter?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>“That heartless,—that ungrateful girl!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What of her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gentry answered by applying her handkerchief to her -eyes very much as Mrs. Siddons used to do in Belvidera.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come, madam,” interrupted Ratcliff, “my time is precious. -No damned nonsense, if you please. To the point. What has -happened?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rudely shocked into directness by these words, Mrs. Gentry -replied: “She has disappeared,—r-r-run away!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Damnation!” was Ratcliff’s concise and emphatic comment. -He started up and paced the room. “This is a -damned pretty return for my confidence, madam.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, she’ll be come up with,—she’ll be come up with!” -sobbed Mrs. Gentry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come up with,—where?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In the next world, if not in this.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pooh! When did she disappear?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yesterday, while I was waiting for her to go out to buy -her new dresses. O the ingratitude!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you made no search for her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I’ve made every possible inquiry. I’ve paid ten -dollars to a police-officer to look her up. O the ingratitude of -the world! But she’ll be come up with!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you let her know that I was her master?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, ’t was only yesterday I imparted the information.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How did she receive it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She was a little startled at first, but soon seemed reconciled, -even pleased with the idea of her new wardrobe.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you closely questioned your domestics?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. They know nothing. She must have slipped unobserved -out of the house.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is there any one among them with whom she was more -familiar than with another?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She used to read the Bible to old Esha, by my direction.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Call up old Esha. I would like to question her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha soon appeared, her bronzed face glistening with perspiration -from the kitchen fire,—the never-failing bright-colored -Madras handkerchief on her head.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Esha,” said Mr. Ratcliff, “have you ever seen me before?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>“Yes, Massa Ratcliff, of’n. Lib’d on de nex’ plantation to -yourn. I ’longed to Massa Peters wunst. But he’m dead -and gone.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you know what an oath is, Esha?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, massa, it’s when one swar he know dis or dunno dat.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very well. Do you know what becomes of her who swears -falsely?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O yes, massa; she go to de lake of brimstone and fire, -whar’ she hab bad time for eber and eber, Amen.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you a Christian, Esha?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ze notin’ else, Massa Ratcliff.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Esha, here’s the Holy Bible. Take it in your left -hand, kiss the book, and then hold up your right hand.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha went through the required form.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You do solemnly swear, as you hope to be saved from the -torments of hell through all eternity, that you will truly answer, -to the best of your knowledge and belief, the questions I -may put to you. And if you lie, may the Lord strike you -dead. Now kiss the book again, to show you take the oath.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha kissed the book, and returned it to the table.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, then, do you know anything of the disappearance of -this girl, Ellen Murray?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nuffin, massa, nuffin at all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did she ever tell you she meant to leave this house?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nebber, massa! She nebber tell me any sich ting.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did she have any talk with you yesterday?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not a bressed word did dat chile say to me ’cep ter scole -me ’cause I didn’t do up her Organdy muslin nice as she -’spected. De little hateful she-debble! How can dis ole nig -do eb’ry ting all at wunst, and do’t well, should like ter know? -It’s cook an’ wash an’ iron, an’ iron an’ wash an’—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There! That will do, Esha. You can go.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Massa Ratcliff.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Stealing into the next room, Esha listened at the folding-doors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She knows nothing,—that’s very clear,” said Ratcliff. -He went to the window, and looked out in silence a full minute; -then, coming back, added: “Stop snivelling, madam. I’m not -a fool. I’ve seen women before now. This girl must be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>found,—found if it costs me ten thousand dollars. And you -must aid in the search. If I find her,—well and good. If I -don’t find her, you shall suffer for it. This is what I mean to -do: I shall have copies of her photograph put in the hands of -the best detectives in the city. I shall pay them well in advance, -and promise five hundred dollars to the one that finds -her. They’ll come to you. You must give them all the information -you can, and lend them your servants to identify the -girl. This old Esha plainly has a grudge against her, and may -be made useful in hunting her up. Let her go out daily for -that purpose. Tell all your pupils to be on the watch. I’ll -break up your school if she isn’t found. Do you understand?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll do all I can, sir, to have her caught.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That will be your most prudent course, madam.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Ratcliff, with more exasperation in his face than his -words had expressed, quitted the house.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The brute!” muttered Mrs. Gentry, as through the blinds -she saw him enter his barouche, and drive off. “He treated -me as if I’d been a drab. But he’ll be come up with,—he -will!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha crept down into the kitchen, with thoughts intent on -what she had heard.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXII. <br /> THE YOUNG LADY WITH A CARPET-BAG.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Pain has its own noble joy when it kindles a consciousness of life, before stagnant and -torpid.”—<cite>John Sterling.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Children are quick to detect flaws in the genealogy of -their associates. School-girls are quite as exclusive in -their notions as our grown-up leaders of society. Woe to the -candidate for companionship on whose domestic record there -hangs a doubt!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Gentry having felt it her duty to inform her pupils that -Clara was not a lady, the latter was thenceforth “left out in the -cold” by the little Brahmins of the seminary. She would sit, -like a criminal, apart from the rest, or in play-hours seek the -company, either of Esha or the mocking-bird.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One circumstance puzzled the other young ladies. They -could not understand why, in the more showy accomplishments -of music, singing, and dancing, more expense should be bestowed -on Clara’s education than on theirs. The elegance and variety -of her toilet excited at once their envy and their curiosity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara, finding that she was held back from serious studies, -gave her thoughts to them all the more resolutely, and excelled -in them so far as to shock the conservative notions of Mrs. -Gentry, who thought such acquisitions presumptuous in a slave. -The pupils all tossed their little heads, and turned their backs, -when Clara drew near. All but one. Laura Tremaine prized -Clara’s counsels on questions of dress, and defied the jeers and -frowns that would deter her from cultivating the acquaintance -of one suspected of ignoble birth. Something almost like a -friendship grew up between the two. Laura was the only -daughter of a wealthy cotton-broker who resided the greater -part of the year in New Orleans, at the St. Charles Hotel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The two girls used to stroll through the garden with arms -about each other’s waist. One day Clara, in a gush of candor, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>not only avowed herself an Abolitionist, but tried to convert -Laura to the heresy. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Quelle horreur!</i></span> There was at once a -cessation of the intimacy,—-Laura exacting a recantation -which the little infidel proudly refused.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The disagreement had occurred only a few days before that -flight of Clara’s in which we must now follow her. After parting -from Esha, she walked for some distance, ignorant why she -selected one direction rather than another, and having no -clearly defined purpose as to her destination. She had promenaded -thus about an hour, when she saw a barouche approaching. -The occupant, a man, sat leaning lazily back with his feet -up on the opposite cushions. A black driver and footman, both -in livery, filled the lofty front seat. As the vehicle rolled on, -Clara recognized Ratcliff. She shuddered and dropped her veil.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Fortunately he was half asleep, and did not see her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Whither now? Of two streets she chose the more obscure. -On she walked, and the carpet-bag began to be an encumbrance. -The heat was oppressive. Occasionally a passer-by among the -young men would say to an acquaintance, “Did you notice that -figure?” One man offered to carry the bag. She declined -his aid. On and on she walked. Whither and why? She -could not explain. All at once it occurred to her she was -wasting her strength in an objectless promenade.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Her utterly forlorn condition revealed itself in all its desolateness -and danger. She stopped under the shade of a magnolia-tree, -and, leaning against the trunk, put back her veil, and -wiped the moisture from her face. She had been walking more -than two hours, and was overheated and fatigued. What -should she do? The tears began to flow at the thought that -the question was one for which she had no reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly she looked round with the vague sense that some -one was watching her. She encountered the gaze of a gentleman -who, with an air of mingled curiosity and compassion, -stood observing her grief. He wore a loose frock of buff -nankin, with white vest and pantaloons; and on his head was -a hat of very fine Panama straw. Whether he was young or -old Clara did not remark. She only knew that a face beautiful -from its compassion beamed on her, and that it was the face of -a gentleman.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>“Can I assist you?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, thank you,” replied Clara. “I’m fatigued,—that’s -all,—and am resting here a few minutes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here’s a little house that belongs to me,” said the gentleman, -pointing to a neat though small wooden tenement before -which they were standing. “I do not live here, but the family -who do will be pleased to receive you for my sake. You shall -have a room all to yourself, and rest there till you are refreshed. -Do you distrust me, my child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There are faces out of which Truth looks so unequivocally, -that to distrust them seems like a profanation. Clara did not -distrust, and yet she hesitated, and replied through her tears, -“No, I do not distrust you, but I’ve no claim on your kindness.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! but you <em>have</em> a claim,” said Vance (for it was he); -“you are unhappy, and the unhappy are my brothers and my -sisters. I’ve been unhappy myself. I knew one years ago, -young like you, and like you unhappy, and through her also -you have a claim. There! Let me relieve you of that bag. -Now take my arm. Good! This way.” Clara’s tears gushed -forth anew at these words, and yet less at the words than at -the tone in which they were uttered. So musical and yet so -melancholy was that tone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He knocked at the door. It was opened by Madame Bernard, -a spruce little Frenchwoman, who had married a journeyman -printer, and who felt unbounded gratitude to Vance for -his gift of the rent of the little house.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is it you, Mr. Vance? We’ve been wondering why you -didn’t come.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Madame Bernard, this young lady is fatigued. I wish her -to rest in my room.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The room of Monsieur is always in order. Follow me, my -dear.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And, taking the carpet-bag, Madame conducted her to the -little chamber, then asked: “Now what will you have, my dear? -A little claret and water? Some fruit or cake?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing, thank you. I’ll rest on the sofa awhile. You’re -very kind. The gentleman’s name is Vance, is it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; is he not an acquaintance?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I never saw him till three minutes ago. He noticed me -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>resting, and, I fear, weeping in the street, and he asked me in -here to rest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“’T was just like him. He’s so good, so generous! He -gives me the rent of this house with the pretty garden attached. -You can see it from the window. Look at the grapes. -He reserves for himself this room, which I daily dust and keep -in order. Poor man! ’T was here he passed the few months -of his marriage, years ago. His wife died, and he bought the -house, and has kept it in repair ever since. This used to be -their sleeping-room. ’T was also their parlor, for they were -poor. There’s their little case of books. Here’s the piano -on which they used to play duets. ’T was a hired piano, and -was returned to the owner; but Mr. Vance found it in an old -warehouse, not long ago, had it put in order, and brought here. -’T is one of Chickering’s best; a superb instrument. You -should hear Mr. Vance play on it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Does he play well?” asked Clara, who had almost forgotten -her own troubles in listening to the little woman’s gossip.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! you never heard such playing! I know something -of music. My family is musical. I flatter myself I’m a -judge. I’ve heard Thalberg, Vieuxtemps, Jael, Gottschalk; -and Mr. Vance plays better than any of them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is he a professor?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, merely an amateur. But he puts a soul into the -notes. Do you play at all, my dear?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I began to learn so early that I cannot recollect the -time when.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I thought you must be musical. Just try this instrument, -my dear, that is, if you ’re not too tired.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Certainly, if ’t will oblige you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Seating herself at the piano, Clara played, from Donizetti’s -<cite>Lucia</cite>, Edgardo’s melodious wail of abandonment and despair, -<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">“<i>L’ universo intero e un deserto per me sensa Lucia</i>.”</span></p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Bernard had opened the door that Vance might hear. -At the conclusion he knocked and entered. “Is this the way -you rest yourself, young pilgrim?” he asked. “You’re a proficient, -I see. You’ve been made to practise four hours a -day.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, ever since I can remember.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>“So I should think. Now let me hear something in a different -vein.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara, while the blood mounted to her forehead, and her -whole frame dilated, struck into the “Star-spangled Banner,” -playing it with her whole soul, and at the close singing the -refrain,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“And the Star-spangled Banner in triumph shall wave</div> - <div class='line'>O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>“But that’s treason!” cried Mrs. Bernard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Mrs. Bernard,” said Vance, “run at once to the police-station. -Tell them to send a file of soldiers. We must have -her arrested.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O no, no!” exclaimed Clara, deceived by Vance’s grave -acting. Then, seeing her mistake, she laughed, and said: -“That’s too bad. I thought for a moment you were in -earnest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We will spare you this time,” said Vance, with a smile -that made his whole face luminous; “but should outsiders in -the street hear you, they may not be so forbearing. They will -tear our little house down if you’re not careful.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll not be so imprudent again,” returned Clara. “Will -you play for me, sir?” And she resumed her seat on the sofa.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance played some extemporized variations on the Carnival -of Venice; and Clara, who had regarded Mrs. Bernard’s -praises as extravagant, now concluded they were the literal -truth. “Oh!” she exclaimed, naively, “I never heard playing -like that. Do not ask me to play before you again, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Bernard left to attend to the affairs of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>cuisine</i></span>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, mademoiselle,” said Vance, “what can I do before -I go?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All I want,” replied Clara, “is time to arrange some plan. -I left home so suddenly I’m quite at a loss.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do I understand you’ve left your parents?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have no parents, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then a near relation, or a guardian?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Neither, sir. I am independent of all ties.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you no friend to whom you can go for advice?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I had a friend, but she gave me up because I’m an Abolitionist.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>“My poor little lady! An Abolitionist? You? In times -like these? When Sumter has fallen, too? No wonder your -friend has cast you off. Who is she?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Miss Laura Tremaine. She lives at the St. Charles. Do -you know her, sir?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Slightly. I met her in the drawing-room not long since. -She does not appear unamiable. But why are you an Abolitionist?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because I believe in God.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance felt that this was the summing-up of the whole matter. -He looked with new interest on the “little lady.” In -height she was somewhat shorter than Estelle,—not much over -five feet two and a half. Not from her features, but from the -maturity of their expression, he judged she might have reached -her eighteenth year. Somewhat more of a brunette than -Estelle, and with fine abundant hair of a light brown. Eyes—he -could not quite see their color; but they were vivid, -penetrating, earnest. Features regular, and a profile even -more striking in its beauty than her front face. A figure -straight and slim, but exquisitely rounded, and every movement -revealing some new grace. Where had he seen a face -like it?</p> - -<p class='c001'>After a few moments of contemplation, he said: “Do not -think me impertinently curious. You have been well educated. -You have not had to labor for a living. Are the persons to whom -you’ve been indebted for support no longer your friends?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They are my worst enemies, and all that has been bestowed -on me has been from hateful motives and calculations.”—“Now -I’m going to ask a very delicate question. Are you -provided with money?”—“O yes, sir, amply.”—“How -much have you?”—“Twenty dollars.”—“Indeed! Are -you so rich as that? What’s your name?”—“The name -I’ve been brought up under is Ellen Murray; but I hate it.”—“Why -so?”—“Because of a dream.”—“A dream! And -what was it?”—“Shall I relate it?”—“By all means.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I dreamed that a beautiful lady led me by the hand into a -spacious garden. On one side were fruits, and on the other -side flowers, and in the middle a circle of brilliant verbenas -from the centre of which rose a tall fountain, fed from a high -hill in the neighborhood. And the lady said, ‘This is your -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>garden, and your name is not Ellen Murray.’ Then she gave -me a letter sealed with blue—no, gray—wax, and said, ‘Put -this letter on your eyes, and you shall find it there when you -wake. Some one will open it, and your name will be seen -written there, though you may not understand it at first.’ ‘But -am I not awake?’ I asked. ‘O no,’ said the lady. ‘This is -all a dream. But we can sometimes impress those we love in -this way.’ ‘And who are you?’ I asked. ‘That you will -know when you interpret the letter,’ she said.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what resulted from the dream?”—“The moment I -waked I put my hand on my eyes. Of course I found no letter. -The next night the lady came again, and said, ‘The seal -cannot be broken by yourself. Your name is not Ellen Murray,—remember -that.’ A third night this dream beset me, -and so forcibly that I resolved to get rid of the name as far as -I could. And so I made my friends call me Darling.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Darling, as you—”—“O, but, sir! <em>you</em> must not -call me Darling. That would never do!”—“What <em>can</em> I call -you, then?”—“Call me Miss, or Mademoiselle.”—“Well, -Miss.”—“No, I do not like the sibilation.”—“Will <em>Ma’am</em> -do any better?”—“Not till I’m more venerable. Call me -Perdita.”—“Perdita what?”—“Perdita Brown,—yes, I -love the name of Brown.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Perdita, as you’ve not quite made up your mind to -seek the protection of Miss Tremaine, my advice is that you -remain here till to-morrow. Here is a little case filled with -books; and on the shelf of the closet is plenty of old music,—works -of Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert, -and some of the Italian masters. Do you play Schubert’s -Sacred Song?”—“I never heard it.”—“Learn it, then, by all -means. ’T is in that book. Shall I tell Mrs. Bernard you’ll -pass the night here?”—“Do, sir. I’m very grateful for your -kindness.”—“Good by, Perdita! Should anything detain me -to-morrow, wait till I come. Keep up your four hours’ practice. -Madame Bernard is amiable, but a little talkative. I -shall tell her to allow you five hours for your studies. Adieu, -Perdita!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He held out his hand, and Clara gave hers, and cast down -her eyes. “You’ve told me a true story?” said he. “Yes! -I will trust you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>“Indeed, sir, I’ve told you nothing but the truth.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yes. She had told the truth, but unhappily not the <em>whole</em> -truth. And yet how she longed to kneel at his feet and confess -all! Various motives withheld her. She was not quite -sure how he had received her antislavery confessions. He -might be a friend of Mr. Ratcliff. There was dismay in the -very possibility. And finally a certain pride or prudence -restrained her from throwing herself on the protection of a -stranger not of her own sex.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And so the golden opportunity was allowed to escape!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance lingered for a moment holding her hand, as if to -invite her to a further confidence; but she said nothing, and -he left the room. Clara opened the music-book at Schubert’s -piece, and commenced playing. Vance stopped on the stairs -and listened, keeping time approvingly. “Good!” he said. -Then telling the little landlady not to interrupt Miss Brown’s -studies, he quitted the house, walking in the direction of the -hotel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara practised till she could play from memory the charming -composition commended by Vance. Then she threw -herself on the bed and fell asleep. She had not remained -thus an hour when there was a knock. Dinner! Mr. -Bernard had come in; a dapper little man, so remarkably well -satisfied with himself, his wife, and his bill of fare, that he -repeatedly had to lay down knife and fork and rub his hands -in glee.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you related to Mr. Vance?” he asked Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not at all. He saw me in the street, weary and distressed. -The truth is, I had left my home for a good reason. I have -no parents, you must consider. He asked me in here. From -his looks I judged he was a man to trust. I gladly accepted -his invitation.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Truly he’s a friend in need, Mademoiselle. I saw him do -another kind thing to-day.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What was it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It happened only an hour ago in Carondelet Street. A -ragged fellow was haranguing a crowd. He spoke on the -wrong side,—in short, in favor of the old flag. Some laughed, -some hissed, some applauded. Suddenly a party of men, -armed with swords and muskets, pushed through the crowd, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>and seized the speaker. They formed a court, Judge Lynch -presiding, under a palmetto. They decided that the vagabond -should be hung. He had already been badly pricked in the -flank with a bayonet. And now a table was brought out, he -was placed on it, and a rope put round his neck and tied to a -bough. Decidedly they were going to string him up.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good heavens!” cried Clara, who, as the story proceeded, -had turned pale and thrust away the plate of food from before -her. “Did you make no effort to save him?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What could I do? They would merely have got another -rope, and made me keep him company. Well, the mob were -expecting an entertainment. They were about to knock away -the table, when Monsieur Vance pushed through the crowd, -hauled off the hangman, and, jumping on the table, cut the -rope, and lifted the prisoner faint and bleeding to the ground. -What a yell from Judge Lynch and the court! Monsieur -Vance, his coat and vest all bloody from contact with—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What a shame!” interposed Mrs. Bernard. “A coat and -vest he must have put on clean this morning! So nicely -ironed and starched!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But my story agitates you, Mademoiselle,” said the typesetter. -“You look pale.” And the little man, not regarding -the inappropriateness of the act, rubbed his hands.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Go on,” replied Clara; and she sipped from a tumbler of -cold water.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s little more to say, Mademoiselle. Messieurs, the -bullies, drew their swords on Monsieur Vance. He showed a -revolver, and they fell back. Then he talked to them till they -cooled down, gave him three cheers, and went off. I and old -Mr. Winslow helped him to find a carriage. We put the -wounded man into it. He was driven to the hospital, and his -wound attended to. ’T is serious, I believe.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Bernard again rubbed his hands.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And was that the last you saw of Mr. Vance?” asked Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The last. Shall I help you to some pine-apple, Mademoiselle?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, thank you. I’ve finished my dinner. You will excuse -me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And she returned to the little room assigned to her use.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXIII.<br />WILL YOU WALK INTO MY PARLOR?</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Sing again the song you sung</div> - <div class='line'>When we were together young;</div> - <div class='line'>When there were but you and I</div> - <div class='line'>Underneath the summer sky.</div> - <div class='line'>Sing the song, and o’er and o’er,</div> - <div class='line'>Though I know that nevermore</div> - <div class='line'>Will it seem the song you sung</div> - <div class='line'>When we were together young.”</div> - <div class='line in12'><cite>George William Curtis.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Vance passed on through the streets, wondering what -could be the mystery which had driven his new acquaintance -forth into the wide world without a protector. Should he -speak of her to Miss Tremaine? Perhaps. But not unless he -could do it without betrayal of confidence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was something in Perdita that reminded him of Estelle. -Had a pressure of similar circumstances wrought the -peculiarity which awakened the association? Yet he missed -in Perdita that diaphanous simplicity, that uncalculating candor, -which seemed to lead Estelle to unveil her whole nature before -him. But Perdita had not wholly failed in frankness. Had -she not glorified the old flag in her music? And had she not -been outspoken on the one forbidden theme?</p> - -<p class='c001'>As these thoughts flitted through his mind, excluding for the -moment those graver interests, involving a people’s doom, he -heard the shouts of a crowd, and saw a man, pale and bloody, -standing on a table under a tree, from a branch of which a -rope was dangling. Vance comprehended the meaning of it -all in an instant. He darted toward the spot, gliding swift, -agile, and flexuous through the compacted crowd. Yes! The -victim was the same man to whom he had given the gold-piece, -some days before. Vance put a summary stop to Judge -Lynch’s proceedings, breaking up the court precisely as Bernard -had related. The wounded man was conveyed to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>hospital. Here Vance saw his wound dressed, hired an extra -attendant to nurse him, and then, in tones of warmest sympathy, -asked the sufferer what more he could do for him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The man opened his eyes. A swarthy, filthy, uncombed, -unshaven wretch. He had been so blinded by blood that he -had not recognized Vance. But now, seeing him, he started, -and strove to raise himself on his elbow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance and the surgeon prevented the movement. The -patient stared, and said: “You’ve done it agin, have yer? -What’s yer name?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This is Mr. Vance,” replied the surgeon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Vance! Vance!” said the patient, as if trying to force his -memory to some particular point. Then he added: “Can’t do -it! And yit I’ve seen him afore somewhar.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, my poor fellow, I must leave you. Good by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, this hand is small and white as a woman’s!” said the -patient, touching Vance’s fingers carefully as he might have -touched some fragile flower. “Yer’ll come agin to see me,—woan’t -yer?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I’ll not forget it.”—“Call to-morrow, will yer?”—“Yes, -if I’m alive I’ll call.”—“Thahnk yer, strannger. -Good by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Giving a few dollars to the surgeon for the patient’s benefit, -Vance quitted the hospital. An hour afterwards, in his room -at the St. Charles, he penned and sent this note:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“<span class='sc'>To Perdita</span>: I shall not be able to see you again to-day. -Content yourself as well as you can in the company of -Mozart and Beethoven, Bellini and Donizetti, Irving and Dickens, -Tennyson and Longfellow. The company is not large, but -you will find it select. Unless some very serious engagement -should prevent, I will see you to-morrow.</p> - -<div class='c015'><span class='sc'>Vance.</span>”</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>This little note was read and re-read by Clara, till the darkness -of night came on. She studied the forms of the letters, -the curves and flourishes, all the peculiarities of the chirography, -as if she could derive from them some new hints for her incipient -hero-worship. Then, lighting the gas, she acted on the -advice of the letter, by devoting herself to the performance of -Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance meanwhile, after a frugal dinner, eliminated from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>luxurious viands, rang the bell, and sent his card to Miss Tremaine. -Laura’s mother was an invalid, and Laura herself, -relieved from maternal restraint, had been lately in the habit -of receiving and entertaining company, much to her own satisfaction, -as she now had an enlarged field for indulging a propensity -not uncommon among young women who have been -much admired and much indulged.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Laura was a predestined flirt. Had she been brought up -between the walls of a nunnery, where the profane presence of -a man had never been known, she would instinctively have -launched into coquetry the first time the bishop or the gardener -made his appearance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Having heard Madame Brugière, the fashionable widow, -speak of Mr. Vance as the handsomest man in New Orleans, -Laura was possessed with the desire of bringing him into her -circle of admirers. So, one day after dinner, she begged her -father to stroll with her through a certain corridor of the hotel. -She calculated that Vance would pass there on his way to his -room. She was right. “Is that Mr. Vance, papa?”—“Yes, -my dear.”—“O, do introduce him. They say he’s such a -superb musician. We must have him to try our new piano.”—“I’m -but slightly acquainted with him.”—“No matter. -He goes into the best society, you know.” (The father didn’t -know it,—neither did the daughter,—but he took it for -granted she spoke by authority.) “He’s very rich, too,” added -Laura. This was enough to satisfy the paternal conscience. -“Good evening, Mr. Vance! Lively times these! Let me -make you acquainted with my daughter, Miss Laura. We -shall be happy to see you in our parlor, Mr. Vance.” Vance -bowed, and complimented the lady on a tea-rose she held in -her hand. “Did you ever see anything more beautiful?” -she asked.—“Never till now,” he replied.—“Ah! The -rose is yours. You’ve fairly won it, Mr. Vance; but there’s -a condition attached: you must promise to call and try my -new piano.”—“Agreed. I’ll call at an early day.” He bowed, -and passed on. “A very charming person,” said Laura.—“Yes, -a gentleman evidently,” said the father.—“And he isn’t redolent -of cigar-smoke and whiskey, as nine tenths of you ill-smelling -men are,” added Laura.—“Tut! Don’t abuse your -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>future husband, my dear.”—“How old should you take Mr. -Vance to be?”—“About thirty-five.”—“O no! Not a year -over thirty.”—“He’s too old to be caught by any chaff of -yours, my dear!”—“Now, papa! I’ll not walk with you -another minute!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A few evenings afterwards, as Laura sat lonely in her private -parlor, a waiter put into her hand a card on which was -simply written in pencil, “<span class='sc'>Mr. Vance</span>.” She did not try -to check the start of exultation with which she said, “Show -him in.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Laura was now verging on her eighteenth year. A little -above the Medicean height, her well-rounded shoulders and -bust prefigured for her womanhood a voluptuous fulness. Nine -men out of ten would have pronounced her beautiful. Had -she been put up at a slave-vendue, the auctioneer, if a connoisseur, -would have expatiated thus: “Let me call your attention, -gentlemen, to this <em>very</em> superior article. Faultless, you -see, every way. In limb and action perfect. Too showy, perhaps, -for a field-hand, but excellent for the parlor. Look at -that profile. The Grecian type in its perfection! Nose a little -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>retroussé</i></span>, but what piquancy in the expression! Hair dark, -glossy, abundant. Cheeks,—do you notice that little dimple -when she smiles? Teeth sound and white: open the mouth of -the article and look, gentlemen. Just feel of those arms, gentlemen. -Complexion smooth, brilliant, perfect. Did you ever -see a head and neck more neatly set on the shoulders?—and -such shoulders! What are you prepared to bid, gentlemen, for -this very, very superior article?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Laura was attired in a light checked foulard silk, trimmed -with cherry-colored ribbons. Running to the mirror, she adjusted -here and there a curl, and lowered the gauze over her -shoulders. Then, resuming her seat, she took Tennyson’s -“In Memoriam” from the table, and became intensely absorbed -in the perusal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Vance entered, Laura said to herself, “I know I’m right -as to his age!” Nor was her estimate surprising. During the -last two lustrums of his nomadic life, he had rather reinvigorated -than impaired his physical frame. He never counteracted -the hygienic benefits of his Arab habits by vices of eating and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>drinking. Abjuring all liquids but water, sleeping often on the -bare ground under the open sky, he so hardened and purified -his constitution that those constantly recurring local inflammations -which, under the name of “colds” of some sort, beset men -in their ordinary lives in cities, were to him almost unknown. -And so he was what the Creoles called <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>bien conservé</i></span>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Laura, with a pretty affectation of surprise, threw down her -book, and, with extended hand, rose to greet her visitor. To him -the art he had first studied on the stage had become a second -nature. Every movement was proportioned, graceful, harmonious. -He fell into no inelegant posture. He did not sit -down in a chair without naturally falling into the attitude that -an artist would have thought right. That consummate ease -and grace which play-goers used to admire in James Wallack -were remarkable in Vance, whether in motion or in repose.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Taking Laura’s proffered hand, he led her to the sofa, where -they sat down. After some commonplaces in regard to the -news of the day, he remarked: “By the way, do you know of -any good school in the city for a young girl, say of fourteen?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. Mrs. Gentry’s school, which I’ve just left, is one of -the most select in the city. Here’s her card.”—“But are her -pupils all from the best families?”—“I believe so. Indeed, -I know the families of all except one.”—“And who is <em>she</em>?”—“Her -name is Ellen Murray, but I call her Darling. I -think she must be preparing either for the opera or the ballet; -for in music, singing, and dancing she’s far beyond the rest of -us.”—“And behind you in the other branches, I suppose.”—“I’m -afraid not. She won’t be kept back. She must have -given twice the time to study that any of the rest of us gave.”—“Does -she seem to be of gentle blood?”—“Yes; though -Mrs. Gentry tells us she is low-born. For all that, she’s quite -pretty, and knows more than Madame Groux herself about -dress. And so Darling and I, in spite of Mrs. Gentry, were -getting to be quite intimate, when we quarrelled on the slavery -question, and separated.”—“What! the little miss is a politician, -is she?”—“Oh! she’s a downright Abolitionist!—talks -like a little fury against the wrongs of slavery. I couldn’t -endure it, and so cast her off.”—“Bring her to me. I’ll convert -her in five minutes.”—“O you vain man! But I wish -<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>you could hear her sing. Such a voice!”—“Couldn’t you -give me an opportunity? You shouldn’t have quarrelled with -her, Miss Tremaine! It rather amuses me that she should -talk treason. Why not arrange a little musical party? I’ll -come and play for you a whole evening, if you’ll have Darling -to sing.”—“O, that would be so charming! But then -Darling and I have separated. We don’t speak.”—“Nonsense! -Miss Laura Tremaine can afford to offer the olive-branch -to a poor little outcast.”—“To be sure I can, Mr. -Vance! And I’ll have her here, if I have to bring her by -stratagem.”—“Admirable! Just send for me as soon as you -secure the bird. And keep her strictly caged till I can hear -her sing.”—“I’ll do it, Mr. Vance. Even the dragon Gentry -shall not prevent it.”—“Shall I try the new piano?”—“O, -I’ve been so longing to hear you!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Vance, seating himself at the instrument, exerted himself -as he had rarely done to fascinate an audience. Laura, -who had taste, if not diligence, in music, was charmed and -bewildered. “How delightful! How very delightful!” she -exclaimed. Vance was growing dangerous.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At that moment the servant entered with two cards.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you tell them I’m in?”—“Yes, Mahmzel.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, then,” said Laura, with an air of disappointment, -“show them up.” And handing the cards to Vance, she -asked, “Shall I introduce them?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Robert Onslow,—Charles Kenrick. Certainly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The young men entered, and were introduced.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick drew near, and said: “Mr. Vance, allow me the -honor of taking you by the hand. I’ve heard of the poor -fellow you rescued from the halter of Judge Lynch. In the -name of humanity, I thank you. That poor ragged declaimer -merely spoke my own sentiments.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! What did he say?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He said, according to the Delta’s report, that this was the -rich man’s war; that the laboring man who should lift his arm -in defence of slavery was a fool. All which I hold to be true.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pshaw, Charles! A truce to politics!” said Onslow. -“Why will you thrust it into faces that frown on your wild -notions?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>“Miss Tremaine reigns absolute in this room,” rejoined -Vance; “and from the slavery she imposes we have no desire, -I presume, to be free.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And her order is,” cried Laura, “that you sink the shop. -Thank you, Mr. Vance, for vindicating my authority.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was no further jarring. Both the young men were -personally fine specimens of the Southern chivalric race. Onslow -was the larger and handsomer. He seemed to unite with -a feminine gentleness the traits that make a man popular and -beloved among men; a charming companion, sunny-tempered, -amiable, social, ever finding a soul of goodness in things evil, -and making even trivialities surrender enjoyments, where to -other men all was barren. Life was to him a sort of grand -picnic, and a man’s true business was to make himself as -agreeable as possible, first to himself, and then to others.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Far different seemed Kenrick. To him the important world -was that of ideas. All else was unsubstantial. The thought -that was uppermost must be uttered. Not to conciliate, not to -please, even in the drawing-room, would he be an assentator, a -flatterer. To him truth was the one thing needful, and therefore, -in season and out of season, must error be combated -whenever met. The times were of a character to intensify in -him all his idiosyncrasies. He could not smile, and sing, and -utter small-talk while his country was being weighed in the -balance of the All-just,—and her institutions purged as by fire.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And so to Laura he dwindled into insignificance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance rose to go.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One song. Indeed, I must have one,” said Laura.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance complied with her request, singing a favorite song of -Estelle’s, Reichardt’s</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">“Du liebes Aug’, du lieber Stern,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Du bist mir nah’, und doch so fern!”</span><a id='r26' /><a href='#f26' class='c014'><sup>[26]</sup></a></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Then, pressing Laura’s proffered hand, and bowing, he left.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What a voice! what a touch!” said Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was enchanting!” cried Laura.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I thought he was a different sort of man,” sighed Kenrick.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXIV.<br />CONFESSIONS OF A MEAN WHITE.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Throw thyself on thy God, nor mock him with feeble denial;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Sure of his love, and O, sure of his mercy at last;</div> - <div class='line'>Bitter and deep though the draught, yet drain thou the cup of thy trial,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And in its healing effect smile at the bitterness past.”</div> - <div class='line in16'><cite>Lines composed by Sir John Herschel in a dream.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>After an early breakfast the following morning, Vance -proceeded to the hospital. The patient had been -expecting him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He has seemed to know just how near you’ve been for -the last hour,” said the nurse. “He followed—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sit down, Mr. Vance, please,” interrupted the patient.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance drew a chair near to the pillow and sat down.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It all kum ter me last night, Mr. Vance! Now I -remember whar ’t was I met yer. But fust lem me tell yer -who an’ what I be. My name’s Quattles. I was born in -South Kerliny, not fur from Columby. I was what the -niggers call a <em>mean white</em>, and my father he was a mean white -afore me, and all my brothers they was mean whites, and my -sisters they mahrrid mean whites. The one thing we was -raised ter do fiust-rate, and what we tuk ter kindly from the -start, was ter shirk labor. We was taught ’t was degradin’ ter -do useful work like a nigger does, so we all tried hard ter -find su’thin’ that mowt be easy an’ not useful.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear fellow,” interrupted Vance, who saw the man was -suffering, “you’re fatiguing yourself too much. Rest awhile.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Mr. Vance. You musn’t mind these twitchin’s an’ -spazums like. They airn’t quite as bahd as they look. Wall, -as I war sayin’, one cuss of slavery ar’, it drives the poor -whites away from honest labor; makes ’em think it’s mean-sperretid -ter hoe corn an’ plant ’taters. An’ this feelin’, yer -see, ar’ all ter the profit uv the rich men,—the Hammonds, -Rhetts, an’ Draytons,—’cause why? ’cause it leaves ter the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>rich all the good land, an’ drives the poor whites ter pickin’ -up a mean livin’, any way they kin, outside uv hard work! -Howsomever, I didn’t see this; an’ so, like other mis’rable -fools, I thowt I war a sort uv a ’ristocrat myself, ’cause I could -put on airs afore a nigger. An’ this feelin’ the slave-owners -try to keep up in the mean whites; try to make ’em feel proud -they’re not niggers, though the hull time the poor cusses fare -wuss nor any nigger in a rice-swamp.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My friend,” said Vance, “you’ve got at the truth at last, -though I fear you’ve been long about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yer may bet high on that, Mr. Vance! How I used ter -cuss the Abolishuners, an’ go ravin’ mahd over the meddlin’ -Yankees! Wall, what d’yer think war the best thing South -Kerliny could do fur me, after never off’rin’ me a chance ter -larn ter read an’ write? I’ll tell yer what the <em>peculiar</em> -prermoted me ter. I riz to be foreman uv of a rat-pit.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of a <em>what</em>?” interrogated Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of a rat-pit. There war a feller in Charleston who kept -a rat-pit, whar a little tareyer dog killed rats, so many a -minute, to please the sportin’ gentry an’ other swells. Price -uv admission one dollar. The swells would come an’ bet how -many rats the dog would kill in a minute,—’t was sometimes -thirty, sometimes forty, and wunst ’t was fifty. My bus’ness -was ter throw the rats, one after another, inter the pit. We’d -a big cage with a hole in the top, an’ I had ter put my bar -hand in, an’ throw out the rats fast as I could, one by one. -The tareyer would spring an’ break the backs uv the varmints -with one jerk uv his teeth. Great bus’ness fur a white man,—warn’t -it? So much more genteel than plantin’ an’ hoein’! -Wall, I kept at that pleasant trade five yars, an’ then lost my -place ’cause both hands got so badly bit I couldn’t pull out the -rats no longer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You must have seen things from a bad stand-point, my -friend.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bad as ’t was, ’t was better nor the slavery stand-pint I -kum ter next. Yer’v heerd tell uv Jeff McTavish? Wall, -Jeff hahd an overseer who got shot in the leg by a runaway -swamp nigger, an’ so I was hired as a sort uv overseer’s mate. -I warn’t brung up ter be very tender ’bout niggers, Mr. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>Vance; but the way niggers was treated on that air plantation -was too much even for my tough stomach. I’ve seen niggers -shot down dead by McTavish fur jest openin’ thar big lips to -answer him when he was mad. There warn’t ten uv his -slaves out uv a hunderd, that warn’t scored all up an’ down -the back with marks uv the lash.”<a id='r27' /><a href='#f27' class='c014'><sup>[27]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you whip them?” inquired Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I didn’t do nothin’ else; but I did it slack, an’ McTavish -he found it out, and begun jawin’ me. An’ I guv it to him -back, and we hahd it thar purty steep, an’ bymeby he outs -with his revolver, but I war too spry for him. I tripped him -up, an’ he hahd ter ask pardon uv a mean white wunst in his -life, an’ no mistake. A little tahmrin’ water, please.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance administered a spoonful, and the patient resumed his -story.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In coorse, I hahd ter leave McTavish. Then fur five -years I’d a tight time of it keepin’ wooded up. What with -huntin’ and fishin’, thimble-riggin’ an’ stealin’, I got along -somehow, an’ riz ter be a sort uv steamboat gambler on the -Misippy. ’T was thar I fust saw you, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“On the Mississippi! When and where?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Some fifteen yars ago, on boord the Pontiac, jest afore -she blowed up.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! I’ve no recollection of meeting you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t yer remember Kunnle D’lancy Hyde?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perfectly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, I war his shadder. He couldn’t go nowhar I didn’t -foller. If he took snuff, I sneezed. If he got drunk, I -staggered. Don’t yer remember a darkish, long-haired feller, -he called Quattles?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you that man?” exclaimed Vance, restraining his -emotion.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m nobody else, Mr. Vance, an’ it ain’t fur nothin’ I’ve -<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>got yer here to har what I’ve ter tell. Ef I don’t stop to say -I’m sorry for the mean things I done, ’taint ’cause I hain’t some -shame ’bout it, but ’cause time’s short. When the Pontiac -blowed up, I an’ the Kunnle (he’s ’bout as much uv a kunnle -as I’m uv a bishop), we found ou’selves on that part uv the -boat whar least damage was did. We was purty well corned, -for we’d been drinkin’ some, but the smash-up sobered us. The -Kunnle’s fust thowt was fur his niggers. Says I: ‘Let the -niggers slide. We sh’ll be almighty lucky ef we keep out of -hell ou’selves.’ ’T was ev’ry man for hisself, yer know.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Were you on the forward part of the wreck?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Mr. Vance, an’ it soon began ter sink. Poor critters, -men an’ women, some scalded, some strugglin’ in the water, -war cryin’ for help. The Kunnle an’ I—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stop a moment,” said Vance; and, drawing out paper and -pencil, he made copious notes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As I war sayin’, Mr. Vance, the Kunnle an’ I got four life-presarvin’ -stools, lahshed ’em together, an’ begun ter make off -for the shore. Says I, ‘We owt ter save one uv those women -folks.’ A yaller gal, with a white child in her arms, was -screamin’ out for us to take her an’ the child. Jest then she -got a blow on the head from a block that fell from one uv the -masts. It seemed ter make her wild, an’ she dropped inter the -water, but held on tight ter the young ’un. Says the Kunnle -to me, says he, ‘Now, Cappn, you take the gal, an’ I’ll take -the bebby.’ An’ so we done it, and all got ashore safe. We -lahnded on the Tennessee side. The sun hahdn’t riz, but ’t was -jest light enough ter see. We made tracks away from the -river till we kum ter a nigger’s desarted hut, out of sight -’t ween two hills. Thar we left the yaller gal and the bebby. -The gal seemed kind o’ crazy; so we fastened ’em in.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And the child?” asked Vance. “Did you know whose it -was?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O yes, I knowed it, ’cause I’d seen the yaller gal more ’n -a dozen times, off an’ on, leadin’ the little thing about. The -Berwicks, a North’n family, was the parrents. Wall, the -Kunnle an’ I, we went back ter the river to see what was -goin’ on. The sun was up now. The Champion hahd turned -back to give help. Poor critters war dyin’ all round from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>scalds and bruises. All at wunst the Kunnle an’ I kum upon -a crowd round Mr. Berwick, who lay thar on the ground bahdly -wounded. His wife lay dead close by. He kept askin’ fur -his child. A feller named Burgess told him he seed the yaller -gal an’ child go overboord, an’ that they must have drownded. -Prehaps he did see ’em in the water, but he didn’t see us pick -’em up. Old Onslow he said he an’ his boy had sarched ev’rywhar, -but couldn’t find the child nowhar. They b’leeved she -was drownded. A drop uv water, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And didn’t you undeceive them?” asked Vance, giving -the water.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Mr. Vance. The Kunnle seed a prize in that yaller -gal, and the Devil put an idee inter his head. Says the Kunnle -to me, says he, ‘Now foller yer leader, Cappn.’ (He used ter -call me Cappn.) ‘Swar jest as yer har me swar.’ Then up -he steps an’ says to Mr. Onslow, ’Judge, it’s all true what Mr. -Burgess says; the yaller gal, with the child in her arms, war -crowded overboord. This gemmleman an’ I tried ter save -them. Ef we didn’t, may I be shot. We throw’d the gal a -life-presarver, but she couldn’t hold on, no how. Fust the -child went under, an’ we was so chilled we couldn’t save it. -Then the gal let go her grip uv the stool an’ sunk. ’T war as -much as we could do ter git ashore ou’selves.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did the judge put you to your oaths?” asked Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Mr. Vance. He swar’d us both; then writ down all -we said, read it over ter us, and we put our names ter it, an’ -’t was witnessed all right. The feller Burgess bahcked us up by -sayin’ he see us in the water jest afore the gal fell, which was -all true. It seemed a plain case. The judge tell’d it all ter -Mr. Berwick, an’ he growed sort o’ wild, an’ died soon arter. -What bekummed of <em>you</em> all that time, Mr. Vance?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I landed on the Arkansas side,” said Vance. “I supposed -the Berwick family all lost. The bodies of the parents I saw -and identified, and Burgess told me he’d talked with two men -who saw the child go down.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, Mr. Vance. Thar ain’t much more uv a story. We -went ter Memphis. The Kunnle swelled round consid’rable, -and got his name inter the newspapers. But the yuller gal -she was sort o’ cracked-brained. She war no use ter us or ter -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>the child. The Kunnle got low-sperreted. He’d made a bad -spec, ahter all. He’d lost his niggers; an’ the yuller gal, she -as he hoped ter sell in Noo Orleenz fur sixteen hunderd dollars, -she turned out a fool. Howzomever, he found a lightish, -genteel sort uv a nigger, a quack doctor, who took her off our -hands. He said as how she mowt be ’panned an’ made as good -as noo.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what did you do with the child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, another bright idee hahd struck the Kunnle. Says -he, ‘Color this young ’un up a little, and she’d bring risin’ uv -four hunderd dollars at a vahndoo. Any mahn, used ter buyin’ -niggers, would see at wunst she’d grow up ter be a val’able -fancy article. Ef I could afford it, I’d hold her on spekilation -till she war fifteen.’ Wall, Mr. Vance, uv all the mean things -I ever done, the meanest was to let the Kunnle, whan we got -ter Noo Orleenz, take that poor little patient thing, as I had -toted all the way down from Memphis, an’ sell her ter the -highest bidder.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With an irrepressible groan, Vance walked to the window. -When he returned, he looked with pity on Quattles, and said, -“Proceed!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yer see, Mr. Vance, I owed the Kunnle two hunderd dollars, -he’d won from me at euchre. He offered ter make it -squar ef I’d give up my int’rest in the child. Wall, I’d got -kind o’ fond uv the little thing; an’ ’t wasn’t till I got blind -drunk on’t that I could bring my mind ter say yes. The thowt -uv what I done that day has kept me drunk most ever sence. -But the Kunnle, he tried to comfort me like. Says he, ‘The -child was fairly ourn, seein’ as how we saved it from drownin’.’ -‘Don’t take on so, old feller,’ says he. ‘Think yerself lucky -ef yer hahvn’t nothin’ wuss nor that agin yerself.’ But ’t was -no go. He never could make me hold up my head agin like -as I used ter; an’ we two cut adrift, an’ hain’t kept ’count uv -each other sence.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How did he dispose of the child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He stained her skin till she looked like a half mulatter, an’ -then he jest got Ripper, the auctioneer, ter sell her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who bought the child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, Cash bowt her. That’s all I ever could find out. -Ef Ripper knowed more, he wouldn’t tell.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>“To whom did you sell the yellow girl?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We didn’t sell her at all. Was glad to git her off our -hahnds at no price. The chap what took her called hisself Dr. -Davy. He was a free nigger, a trav’lin’ quack,—one of those -fellers that ’tises to cure ev’ry thing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When did you last hear of him?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The last I heerd tell uv Davy, he war in Natchez, and that -war five years ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What became of the yellow girl?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, thar’s a quar story ’bout that. Whan we fust saw -that air gal on the wreck, she was callin’ out ter us, ‘Take me -an’ the child with yer!’ She said it wunst, an’ hahd jest begun -ter say it again, an’ hahd got as fur as <em>Take</em>, whan the block -hit her on the head, an’ she fell inter the water. Wall, six -months ahter, Davy took that air gal ter a surgeon in Philadelphy, -an’ hahd her ’panned; an’ jest as the crushed bone war -lifted from the brain, that gal cried out, ‘—me an’ the child -with yer!’ Shoot me ef she didn’t finish the cry she’d begun -jest six months afore.<a id='r28' /><a href='#f28' class='c014'><sup>[28]</sup></a> She got back her senses all straight, -an’ Davy made her his wife.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you keep anything that belonged to the child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jest you feel in the pockets uv them pants under my piller, -and git out my pus.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance obeyed, and drew forth a small bag of wash-leather. -This he emptied on the coverlet, the contents being a few -dimes and five-cent pieces, a tonga-bean, and a small pill-box -covered with cotton-wool and tied round with twine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thar! Open that ar’ box,” said the patient.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance opened it, and took out a pair of little sleeve-buttons, -gold with a setting of coral. Examining them, he found on the -under surface the inscription C. A. B. in diminutive characters.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll tell you how ’t was,” said the wounded man. “That -night of the ’splosion the yuller gal an’ the child must have -gone ter bed without ondressin’; for they’d thar cloze all on. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>Most like the gal fell asleep an’ forgot. Soon as we touched -the shore, the Kunnle says ter me, says he, ‘Cap’n, you cahrry -the child, an’ I’ll pilot the gal.’ Wall; I took the child in my -arms, an’ as I cahrr’d her, I seed she wore gold buttons on the -sleeves uv her little pelisse,—a pair on each; an’, thinks I, -the Kunnle will pocket them buttons sure. So I pocketed ’em -myself; but whan it kum to partin’ with the child, I jest took -one pair uv the buttons, an sowd ’em on inside uv the bosom uv -her little shirt whar they wouldn’t be seen. The other pair is -that thar. Take ’em an’ keep ’em, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you any article of clothing belonging to her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not a rag, Mr. Vance. They all went with her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you notice any mark on the clothes?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, they was marked C. A. B., in letters worked in hahnsum -with white silk.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Was that the kind of letter?” asked Vance, who, having -drawn the cipher in old English, held it before the patient’s -eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, them’s um. I remember, ’cause I used ter ondress the -child. An’, now I think uv it, one uv her eyes was bluish, an’ -t’ other grayish.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What day was it you parted with the child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The same day she was sold.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When was that?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It must have been in May follerin’ the ’splosion. Lem -me see. ’T was that day I got the pill-box. I’d been ter -the doctor’s fur some physickin’ stuff. He give me a prescrip, -an’ I went an’ got some pills in that air box, an’ then -throwed the pills away an’ kept the box.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance glanced at the cover. The apothecary’s name and -the number of the prescription were legible. Vance put the -box in his pocket.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can’t yer think uv su’thin’ else?” asked Quattles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Only this,” replied Vance: “How shall I manage Hyde?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, ef the Kunnle sh’d hold up his milk, you jest say ter -him these eer words: ‘Dorothy Rusk must be provided for. -What kn I do fur her?’ The widder Rusk is his sister, yer -see, an’ that’s the one soft spot the Kunnle’s got.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance carefully recorded the mysterious words; then asked, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>“Do you remember Peek, the runaway slave Hyde had in -charge?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In coorse I do,” said Quattles, twisting with pain from -his wound. “Should you ever see that nigger, Mr. Vance, tell -him that Amos Slink, St. Joseph Street, kn tell him su’thing’ -’bout his wife. Amos wunst tell’d me how he ’coyed her down -from Montreal. ’T was through that same lawyer chap that -kum it over Peek.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can Amos identify you as the Quattles of the Pontiac?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In coorse he can, for he knowed all ’bout me at the time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now, my friend, I wish to have this testimony of yours -sworn to and witnessed; but I’m overtasking your strength.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do it, Mr. Vance. Help me ter lose my strength, ef yer -think I kn do any good tellin’ the truth.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you get along without this opiate two hours longer?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Mr. Vance, I kn do without it altogether.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I’ll leave you for two hours.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One word, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What is it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did yer ever pray?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; every man prays who tries to do good or undo evil. -You’ve been praying for the last hour, my friend.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How did yer know that? I’ve been thinkin’ of it, that’s -a fak. But I’m not up to it, Mr. Vance. Could you pray for -me jest three minutes?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Willingly, my poor fellow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And kneeling at the little cot, Vance, holding a hand of the -sufferer, prayed for him so tenderly, so fervently, and so searchingly -withal, that the poor dying outcast wept as he had never -wept before. O precious tears, parting the mist that hung upon -his future (even as clouds are parted that hide the sunset’s -glories), and revealing to his spiritual eyes new possibilities of -being, fruits of repentance, through a mercy which (God be -thanked!) is not measured by the mercy of men.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Leaving the hospital, Vance stepped into an office, and drew -up, in the form of a deposition, all the facts elicited from Quattles. -His next step was to find Amos Slink. That gentleman -had settled down in the second-hand clothing business. Vance -made a liberal purchase of hospital clothing; and then adverted -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>to the past exploits of Amos in the “nigger-catching” line. -Amos proudly produced letters to authenticate his prowess. -They bore the signature of Charlton. “I want you to lend -me those letters, Mr. Slink.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Couldn’t do it, Mr. Vance. Them letters I mean to hand -down to my children.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, it’s of no consequence. I’ll go into the next store -for the rest of my goods.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t think of it. Here! take the letters. Only return ’em.” -Vance not only secured the letters, but got Mr. Slink to go -with him to the hospital to identify Quattles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then, on his way, enlisting three friends who were good -Union men, one of them being a justice of the peace, Vance -led them where the wounded man lay. Slink, who was known -to the parties, identified the patient as the Mr. Quattles of the -Pontiac; and the identification was duly recorded and sworn -to. Vance then read his notes aloud to Quattles, whose competency -to listen and understand was formally attested by the -surgeon. The justice administered the oath. Quattles put his -name to the document, and the signature was duly witnessed -by all present.</p> - -<p class='c001'>No sooner was the act completed than the patient sank into -unconsciousness. “He’ll not rally again,” said the surgeon. -A quick, heavy breathing, gradually growing faint and fainter,—and -lo! there was a smile on the face, but the spirit that -had left it there had fled!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance first went to the apothecary whose name was on the -pill-box. “Did Mr. Gargle keep the books in which he pasted -his prescriptions?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, he had them for twenty years back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Would he look in the volume for 18—, for a certain -number?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Willingly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In two minutes the number was found, and the day of the -prescription fixed. Vance then proceeded to the office of -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><cite>L’Abeille</cite></span>, turned to the newspaper of that day, and there, in -the advertising columns, found a sale advertised by P. Ripper -& Co., auctioneers. It was a sale of a “lot” of negroes; and -as a sort of postscript to the specifications was the following:—</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span></div> -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“Also, one very promising little girl, an orphan, two years -old, almost white; can take care of herself; promises to be -very pretty; has straight, brown hair, regular features, first-rate -figure. Warranted sound and healthy. Amateurs who -would like to train up a companion to their tastes will find this -a rare opportunity to purchase.”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Not pausing to indulge the emotions which these cruel words -awoke, Vance went in search of Ripper & Co. The firm had -been broken up more than ten years before. Not one of the -partners was in the city. They had disappeared, and left no -trace. Were any of their old account-books in the warehouse? -No. The building had been burnt to the ground, and a new -one erected on its site.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where next?” thought Vance. “Plainly to Natchez, to -see if I can learn anything of Davy and his wife.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXV.<br />MEETINGS AND PARTINGS.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“I hold it true, whate’er befall,—</div> - <div class='line in2'>I feel it when I sorrow most,—</div> - <div class='line in2'>’Tis better to have loved and lost</div> - <div class='line'>Than never to have loved at all.”</div> - <div class='line in24'><cite>Tennyson.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>It being too late to take the boat for Natchez, Vance proceeded -to the St. Charles. The gong for the fire o’clock -ordinary had sounded. Entering the dining-hall, he was about -taking a seat, when he saw Miss Tremaine motioning to him -to occupy one vacant by her side.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Truly an enterprising young lady!” But what could -he do?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m so glad to see you, Mr. Vance! I’ve not forgotten -my promise. I called to-day on Mrs. Gentry,—found her in -the depths. Miss Murray has disappeared,—absconded,—nobody -knows where!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! After what you’ve said of her singing, I’m very -anxious to hear her. Do try to find her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll do what I can, Mr. Vance. There’s a mystery. Of -that much I’m persuaded from Mrs. Gentry’s manner.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You mustn’t mind Darling’s notions on slavery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O no, Mr. Vance, I shall turn her over to you for conversion.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Should you succeed in entrapping her, detain her till I -come back from Natchez, which will be before Sunday.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Be sure I’ll hold on to her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Tremaine came in, and began to talk politics. Vance -was sorry he had an engagement. The big clock of the hall -pointed to seven o’clock. He rose, bowed, and left.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why,” sighed Laura, “can’t other gentlemen be as agreeable -as this Mr. Vance? He knows all about the latest fashions; -all about modes of fixing the hair; all about music and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>dancing; all about the opera and the theatre; in short, what is -there the man doesn’t know?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Papa was too absorbed in his terrapin soup to answer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Let us follow Vance to the little house, scene of his brief, -fugitive days of delight. He stood under the old magnolia in -the tender moonlight. The gas was down in Clara’s room. -She was at the piano, extemporizing some low and plaintive -variations on a melody by Moore, “When twilight dews are -falling soft.” Suddenly she stopped, and put up the gas. -There was a knock at her door. She opened it, and saw -Vance. They shook hands as if they were old friends.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where are the Bernards?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They are out promenading. I told them I was not afraid.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How have you passed your time, Miss Perdita?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, I’ve not been idle. Such choice books as you have -here! And then what a variety of music!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you studied any of the pieces?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not many. That from Schubert.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Please play it for me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tacitly accepting him as her teacher, she played it without -embarrassment. Vance checked her here and there, and suggested -a change. He uttered no other word of praise than to -say: “If you’ll practise six years longer four hours a day, -you’ll be a player.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall do it!” said Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you heard that famous Hallelujah Chorus, which the -Northern soldiers sing?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No? Why, ’tis in honor of John Brown (any relation of -Perdita?) You shall hear it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And he played the well-known air, now appropriated by the -hand-organs. Clara asked for a repetition, that she might -remember it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sing me something,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara placed on the reading-frame the song of “Pestal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not that, Perdita! What possessed you to study that?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It suited my mood. Will you not hear it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No!... Yes, Perdita. Pardon my abruptness. But -that song was the first I ever heard from lips, O so fair and -dear to me!”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>Clara put aside the music, and walked away toward the -window. Vance went up to her. He could see that she was -with difficulty curbing her tears.</p> - -<p class='c001'>O, if this man whose very presence inspired such confidence -and hope,—if it was sweeter to him to <em>remember</em> another than -to <em>listen</em> to <em>her</em>,—where in the wide world should she find, in -her desperate strait, a friend?</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was that in her attitude which reminded Vance of -Estelle. Some lemon-blossoms in her hair intensified the association -by their odors. For a moment it was as if he had -thrown off the burden of twenty years, and was living over, in -Clara’s presence, that ambrosial hour of first love on the very -spot of its birth. “For O, she stood beside him like his -youth,—transformed for him the real to a dream, clothing -the palpable and the familiar with golden exhalations of the -dawn!” Be wary, Vance! One look, one tone amiss, and -there’ll be danger!</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let us talk over your affairs,” he said. “To-morrow I -must leave for Natchez. Will you remain here till I come -back?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara leaned out of the window a moment, as if to enjoy the -balmy evening, and then, calmly taking a seat, replied: “I -think ’t will be best for me to lay my case before Miss Tremaine. -True, we parted in a pet, but she may not be implacable. -Yes, I will call on her. To you, a stranger, what return -for your kindness can I make?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This return, Perdita: let me be your friend. As soon as -’t is discovered you’ve no money, your position may become a -painful one. Let me supply you with funds. I’m rich; and -my only heir is my country.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Mr. Vance! I’ve no claim upon you,—none whatever. -What I want for the moment is a shelter; and Laura will give -me that, I’m confident.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance reflected a moment, and then, as if a plan had occurred -to him by which he could provide for her without her knowing -it, he replied: “We shall probably meet at the St. Charles. -You can easily send for me, should you require my help. Be -generous, and say you’ll notify me, should there be an hour of -need?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>“I’ll not fail to remember you in that event, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Honor bright?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Honor bright, Mr. Vance!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Consider, Perdita, you can always find a home in this -house. I shall give such directions to Mrs. Bernard as will -make your presence welcome.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I shall not feel utterly homeless. Thank you, Mr. -Vance!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And by the way, Perdita, do not let Miss Tremaine know -that we are acquainted.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll heed your caution, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We shall meet again, my dear young lady. Of that I feel -assured.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I hope so, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now farewell! I’ll tell Bernard to order a carriage -and attend to your baggage. Good by, Perdita!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good by, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Again they shook hands, and parted. Vance gave his -directions to the Bernards, and then strolled home to his hotel. -As he traversed the corridor leading to his room, he encountered -Kenrick. Their apartments were nearly opposite.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I was not aware we were such near neighbors, Mr. -Kenrick.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To me also ’t is a surprise,—and a pleasant one. Will -you walk in, Mr. Vance?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, if ’t is not past your hour for visitors.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>They went in, and Kenrick put up the gas. “I can’t -offer you either cigars or whiskey; but you can ring for what -you want.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is it possible you eschew alcohol and tobacco?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” replied Kenrick; “I once indulged in cigars. But -I found the use so offensive in others that I myself abandoned -it in disgust. One sits down to converse with a person -disguised as a gentleman, and suddenly a fume, as if from the -essence of old tobacco-pipes, mixed with odors from stale -brandy-bottles, poisons the innocent air, and almost knocks one -down. It’s a mystery that ladies endure the nuisance of such -breaths. My sensitive nose has made me an anti-rum, anti-tobacco -man.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>“But I fear me you’re a come-outer, Mr. Kenrick! Is it -conservative to abuse tobacco and whiskey? No wonder you -are unsound on the slavery question!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come up to the confessional, Mr. Vance! Admit that -you’re as much of an antislavery man as I am.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“More, Mr. Kenrick! If I were not, I might be quite as -imprudent as you. And then I should put a stop to my -usefulness.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You puzzle me, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not as much as you’ve puzzled <em>me</em>, my young friend. -Come here, and look in the mirror with me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance took him by the hand and led him to a full-length -looking-glass. There they stood looking at their reflections.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you see?” asked Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Two rather personable fellows,” replied Kenrick, laughing; -“one of them ten or twelve years older than the other; -height of the two, about the same; figures very much alike, -inclining to slimness, but compact, erect, well-knit; hands and -feet small; heads,—I have no fault to find with the shape or -size of either; hair similar in color; eyes,—as near as I can -see, the two pairs resemble each other, and the crow’s-feet at -the corners are the same in each; features,—nose,—brows—I -see why you’ve brought me here, Mr. Vance! We are -enough alike to be brothers.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you explain the mystery?” asked Vance, “for I -can’t. Can there be any family relationship? I had an aunt, -now deceased, who was married to a Louisianian. But his -name was not Kenrick.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What was it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Arthur Maclain.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My father! Cousin, your hand! In order to inherit -property, my father, after his marriage, procured a change of -name. I can’t tell you how pleasant to me it is to meet one -of my mother’s relations.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>They had come together still more akin in spirit than in -blood. The night was all too short for the confidences they -now poured out to each other. Vance told his whole story, -pausing occasionally to calm down the excitement which the -narrative caused in his hearer.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>When it was finished Kenrick said: “Cousin, count me -your ally in compassing your revenge. May God do so to me, -and more also, if I do not give this beastly Slave Power blood -for blood.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can’t help thinking, Charles,” said Vance, “that your -zeal has the purer origin. <em>Mine</em> sprang from a personal -experience of wrong; yours, from an abstract conception of -what is just; from those inner motives that point to righteousness -and God.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I almost wish sometimes,” replied Kenrick, “that I had -the spur of a great personal grievance to give body to my -wrath. And yet Slavery, when it lays its foul hand on <em>the -least of these little ones</em> ought to be felt by me also, and by all -men! But now—now—I shall not lack the sting of a -personal incentive. <em>Your</em> griefs, cousin, fall on my own heart, -and shall not find the soil altogether barren. This Ratcliff,—I -know him well. He has been more than once at our house. -A perfect type of the sort of beast born of slavery,—moulded -as in a matrix by slavery,—kept alive by slavery! -Take away slavery, and he would perish of inanition. He -would be, like the plesiosaur, a fossil monster, representative -of an extinct genus.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Cousin,” said Vance, “all you lack is to join the serpent -with the dove. Be content to bide your time. Here in -Louisiana lies your work. We must make the whole western -bank of the Mississippi free soil. Texas can be taken care of -in due time. But with a belt of freedom surrounding the -Cotton States, the doom of slavery is fixed. Give me to see -that day, and I shall be ready to say, ‘Now, Lord, dismiss thy -servant!’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I had intended to go North, and join the army of freedom,” -said Kenrick; “but what you say gives me pause.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We must not be seen together much,” resumed Vance. -“And now good night, or rather, good morning, for there’s a -glimmer in the east, premonitory of day. Ah, cousin, when I -hear the braggarts around us, gassing about Confederate courage -and Yankee cowardice, I can’t help recalling an old couplet -I used to spout, when an actor, from a play by Southern,—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘There is no courage but in innocence,</div> - <div class='line'>No constancy but in an honest cause!’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXVI.<br />CLARA MAKES AN IMPORTANT PURCHASE.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Allow slavery to be ever so humane. Grant that the man who owns me is ever so -kind. The wrong of him who presumes to talk of owning me is too unmeasured to be -softened by kindness.”</p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Laura Tremaine had just come in from a drive with -her invalid mother, and stood in the drawing-room looking -out on a company of soldiers. There was a knock at the door. -A servant brought in a card. It said, “Will Laura see Darling?” -The arrival, concurring so directly with Laura’s wishes, -caused a pleasurable shock. “Show her in,” she said; and the -next moment the maidens were locked in each other’s embrace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, you dear little good-for-nothing Darling,” said Laura, -after there had been a conflux of kisses. “Could anything be -more <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>apropos</i></span>? What’s the meaning of all this? Have you -really absconded? Is it a love affair? Tell me all about it. -Rely on my secrecy. I’ll be close as bark to a tree.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you solemnly promise,” said Clara, “on your honor as -a lady, not to reveal what I tell you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As I hope to be saved, I promise,” replied Laura.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I will tell you the cause of my leaving Mrs. Gentry’s. -’T was only day before yesterday she told me,—look at me, -Laura, and say if I look like it!—she told me I was a slave.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A slave? Impossible! Why, Darling, you’ve a complexion -whiter than mine.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So have many slaves. The hue of my skin will not invalidate -a claim.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s true. But who presumes to claim you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Carberry Ratcliff.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A friend of my father’s! He’s very rich. I’ll ask him -to give you up. Let me go to him at once.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Laura, I’ve seen the man. ’T would be hopeless to -try to melt him. You must help me to get away.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>“But you do not mean,—surely you do not mean to—to—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To what, Laura? You seem gasping with horror at some -frightful supposition. What is it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’d not think of running off, would you? You wouldn’t -ask me to harbor a fugitive slave?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara looked at the door. The color flew to her cheek,—flamed -up to her forehead. Her bosom heaved. Emotions of -unutterable detestation and disgust struggled for expression. -But had she not learnt the slave’s first lesson, duplicity? Her -secret had been confided to one who had forthwith showed herself -untrustworthy. Bred in the heartless fanaticism which -slavery engenders, Laura might give the alarm and have her -stopped, should she rise suddenly to go. Farewell, then, white-robed -Candor, and welcome Dissimulation!</p> - -<p class='c001'>After a pause, “What do you advise?” said Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Darling, stay with me a week or two, then go quietly -back to Mrs. Gentry’s, and play the penitent.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hadn’t I better go at once?” asked Clara, simulating -meekness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O no, Darling! I can’t possibly permit that. Now I’ve -got you, I shall hold on till I’ve done with you. Then we’ll -see if we can’t persuade Mr. Ratcliff to free you. Who’d have -thought of this little Darling being a slave!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But hadn’t I better write to Mrs. Gentry and tell her -where I am?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, no. She’ll only be forcing you back. You shall do -nothing but stay here till I tell you you may go. You shall -play the lady for one week, at least. There’s a Mr. Vance in -the house, to whom I’ve spoken of your singing. He’s wild -to hear you. I’ve promised him he shall. I wouldn’t disappoint -him on any account.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara saw that, could she but command courage to fall in -with Laura’s selfish plans, it might, after all, be safer to come -thus into the very focus of the city’s life, than to seek some -corner, penetrable to police-officers and slave-hunters.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How will you manage?” asked Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What more simple?” replied Laura. “I’ll take you right -into my sleeping-room; you shall be my schoolmate, Miss -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>Brown, come to pass a few days with me before going to St. -Louis. Papa will never think of questioning my story.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I’ve no dresses with me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No matter. I’ve a plenty I’ve outgrown. They’ll fit you -beautifully. Come here into my sleeping-room. It adjoins, you -see. There! We’re about of a height, though I’m a little -stouter.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It will not be safe for me to appear at the public table.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, you shall be an invalid, and I’ll send your meals -from the table when I send mother’s. Miss Brown from St. -Louis! Let me see. What shall be your first name?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let it be Perdita.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perdita? The lost one! Good. How quick you are! -Perdita Brown! It does not sound badly. Mr. Onslow,—Miss -Brown,—Miss Perdita Brown from St. Louis! Then -you’ll courtesy, and look so demure! Won’t it be fun?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Between grief and anger, Clara found disguise a terrible -effort. So! Her fate so dark, so tragic, was to be Laura’s -pastime, not the subject of her grave and tender consideration!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Already had some of the traits, congenital with slavery, -begun to develop themselves in Clara. Strategy now seemed -to her as justifiable under the circumstances as it would be in -escaping from a murderer, a lunatic, or a wild beast. Was not -every pro-slavery man or woman her deadly foe,—to be cheated, -circumvented, robbed, nay, if need be, slain, in defence of -her own inalienable right of liberty? The thought that Laura -was such a foe made Clara look on her with precisely the same -feelings that the exposed sentinel might have toward the lurking -picket-shooter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>An expression so strange flitted over Clara’s face, that Laura -asked: “What’s the matter? Don’t you feel well?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Checking the exasperation surging in her heart, Clara affected -frivolity. “O, I feel well enough,” she replied. “A little -tired,—that’s all. What if this Mr. Onslow should fall in -love with me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, but that would be too good!” exclaimed Laura. Between -you and me, I owe him a spite. I’ve just heard he once -said, speaking of me, ‘Handsome,—but no depth!’ Hang -the fellow! I’d like to punish him. He’s proud as Lucifer. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>Wouldn’t it be a joke to let him fall in love with a poor little -slave?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So, you don’t mean to fall in love with him yourself?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O no! He’s good-looking, but poor. Can you keep a -secret?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, I mean to set my cap for Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Possible?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Perdita. He’s fine-looking, of the right age, very -rich, and so altogether fascinating! Father learnt yesterday -that he pays an enormous tax on real estate.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And is he the only string to your bow?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O no. But our best young men are in the army. Onslow -is a captain. O, I mustn’t forget Charles Kenrick. Onslow -is to bring him here. Kenrick’s father owns a whole brigade -of slaves. Hark! Dear me! That was two o’clock. Will -you have luncheon?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, thank you. I’m not hungry.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I must leave you. I’ve an appointment with my -dressmaker. In the lower drawers there you’ll find some of -my last year’s dresses. I’ve outgrown them. Amuse yourself -with choosing one for to-night. We shall have callers.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Laura hurried off. Clara, terrified at the wrathfulness of -her own emotions, walked the room for a while, then dropped -upon her knees in prayer. She prayed to be delivered from -her own wild passions and from the toils of her enemies.</p> - -<p class='c001'>With softened heart, she rose and went to the window.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There, on the opposite sidewalk, stood Esha! Crumpling -up some paper, Clara threw it out so as to arrest her attention, -then beckoned to her to come up. Stifling a cry of surprise, -Esha crossed the street, and entered the hotel. The next minute -she and Clara had embraced.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But how did you happen to be there, Esha?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bress de chile, I’ze been stahndin’ dar de last hour, but -what for I knowed no more dan de stones. ’T warn’t till I seed -de chile hersef it ’curred ter me what for I’d been stahndin’ -dar.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What happened after I left home?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dar war all sort ob a fuss dat ebber you see, darlin’. Fust -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>de ole woman war all struck ob a heap, like. Den Massa Ratcliff, -he come, and he swar like de Debble hisself. He cuss’d -de ole woman and set her off cryin’, and den he swar at her all -de more. Dar was a gen’ral break-down, darlin’. Massa Ratcliff -he’b goin’ ter gib yer fortygraf ter all de policemen, an’ -pay five hundred dollar ter dat one as’ll find yer. He sends -us niggers all off—me an’ Tarquin an’ de rest—ter hunt yer -up. He swar he’ll hab yer, if it takes all he’s wuth. He -come agin ter-day an’ trow de ole woman inter de highstrikes. -She say he’ll be come up wid, sure, an’ you’ll be come up wid, -an’ eberybody else as doesn’t do like she wants ’em ter, am -bound to be come up wid. Yah, yah, yah! Who’s afeard?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So the hounds are out in pursuit, are they?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, darlin’. Look dar at dat man stahndin’ at de corner. -He’m one ob ’em.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He’s not dressed like a policeman.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bress yer heart, dese ’tektivs go dressed like de best -gem’men about. Yer’d nebber suspek dey was doin’ de work -ob hounds.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Esha, I’m afraid to have you stay longer. I’m -here with Miss Tremaine. She may be back any minute. I -can’t trust her, and wouldn’t for the world have her see -you here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No more would I, darlin’! Nebber liked dat air gal. -She’m all fur self. But good by, darlin’! It’s sich a comfort -ter hab seed you! Good by!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha slipped into the corridor and out of the hotel. Clara -put on her bonnet, threw a thick veil over it, and hurried -through St. Charles Street to a well-known cutlery store. -“Show me some of your daggers,” said she; “one suitable -as a present to a young soldier.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The shopkeeper displayed several varieties. She selected -one with a sheath, and almost took away the breath of the -man of iron by paying for it in gold. Dropping her veil, she -passed into the street. As she left the shop, she saw a man -affecting to look at some patent pistols in the window. He -was well dressed, and sported a small cane.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hound number one!” thought Clara to herself, and, having -walked slowly away in one direction, she suddenly turned, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>retraced her steps, then took a narrow cross-street that debouched -into one of the principal business avenues. The -individual had followed her, swinging his cane, and looking in -at the shop-windows. But Clara did not let him see he was -an object of suspicion. She slackened her pace, and pretended -to be looking for an article of muslin, for she would stop and -examine the fabrics that hung at the doors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly she saw Esha approaching. Moment of peril! -Should the old black woman recognize and accost her, she was -lost. On came the old slave, her eyes wide open and her -thoughts intent on detecting detectives. Suddenly, to her -consternation, she saw Clara stop before a “magasin” and take -up some muslin on the shelf outside the window; and almost -in the same glance, she saw the gentleman of the cane, -watching both her and Clara out of the corners of his eyes. -A sideway glance, quick as lightning from Clara, and delivered -without moving her head, was enough to enlighten Esha. -She passed on without a perceptible pause, and soon appeared -to stumble, as if by accident, almost into the arms of the -detective. He caught her by the shoulder, and said, “Don’t -turn, but tell me if you noticed that woman there,—there by -Delmar’s, with a green veil over her face?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, massa, I seed a woman in a green veil.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, are you sure she mayn’t be the one?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bress yer, massa, I owt to know de chile I’ze seed grow -up from a bebby. Reckon I could tell her widout seem’ -her face.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Go back and take a look at her. There! she steps into -the shop.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Glad of the opportunity of giving Clara a word of caution, -Esha passed into Delmar’s. Beckoning Clara into an alcove, -she said: “De veil, darlin’! De veil! Dat ole rat would -nebber hab suspek noting if’t hahdn’t been fur de veil. His -part ob de play am ter watch eb’ry woman in a veil.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see my mistake, Esha. I’ve been buying a dagger. -Look there!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“De Lord save us!” said Esha, with a shudder, half of -horror and half of sympathy. “Don’t be in de street oftener -dan yer kin help, darlin’? Remember de fotygrafs. Dar! I -mus go.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>Esha joined the detective. “Did you get a good sight of -her?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Went right up an’ spoke ter her,” said Esha. “She’s jes -as much dat gal as she’s Madame Beauregard.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The detective, his vision of a $500 <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>douceur</i></span> melting into -thin air, pensively walked off to try fortune on a new beat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara, now that the danger was over, began to tremble. -Hitherto she had not quailed. Leaving the shop, she took the -nearest way to the hotel. For the last twenty-four hours -agitation and excitement had prevented her taking food. -Wretchedly faint, she stopped and took hold of an iron lamppost -for support.</p> - -<p class='c001'>An officer in the Confederate uniform, seeing she was ill, -said, “Mademoiselle, you need help. Allow me to escort -you home.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Dreading lest she should fall, through feebleness, into worse -hands, Clara thanked him and took his proffered arm. “To -the St. Charles, sir, if you please.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I myself stop at the St. Charles. Allow me to introduce -myself: Robert Onslow, Captain in Company D, Wigman -Regiment. May I ask whom I have the pleasure of assisting?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Miss Brown. I’m stopping a few days with my friend, -Miss Tremaine.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! I was to call on her this evening. We may -renew our acquaintance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara suddenly put down her veil. Approaching slowly -like a fate, rolled on the splendid barouche of Mr. Ratcliff. -He sat with arms folded and was smoking a cigar. Clara -fancied she saw arrogance, hate, disappointment, rage, all -written in his countenance. Without moving his arms, he -bowed carelessly to Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s one of the prime managers of the secession movement.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So I should think,” said Clara; but Onslow detected -nothing equivocal in the tone of the remark. Having escorted -her to the door of Miss Tremaine’s parlor, he bowed his -farewell, and Clara went in. Laura had not yet returned.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXVII.<br />DELIGHT AND DUTY.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“According to our living here, we shall hereafter, by a hidden concatenation of -causes, be drawn to a condition answerable to the purity or impurity of our souls in -this life: that silent Nemesis that passes through the whole contexture of the universe, -ever fatally contriving us into such a state as we ourselves have fitted ourselves for by -our accustomary actions. Of so great consequence is it, while we have opportunity, to -aspire to the best things.”—<cite>Henry More</cite>, A.D. 1659.</p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>It may seem strange that Onslow and Kenrick, differing -so widely, should renew the friendship of their boyhood. -We have seen that Onslow, allowing the æsthetic side of his -nature to outgrow the moral, had departed from the teachings -of his father on the subject of slavery. Kenrick, in whom the -moral and devotional faculty asserted its supremacy over all -inferior solicitings, also repudiated <em>his</em> paternal teachings; but -they were directly contrary to those of his friend, and, in abandoning -them, he gave up the prospect of a large inheritance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To Onslow, these thick-lipped, woolly-headed negroes,—what -were they fit for but to be hewers of wood and drawers -of water to the gentle and refined? It was monstrous to suppose -that between such and him there could be equality of -any kind. The ethnological argument was conclusive. Had -not Professor Moleschott said that the brain of the negro contains -less phosphorus than that of the white man? Proof -sufficient that Cuffee was expressly created to pull off my -boots and hoe in my cotton-fields, while I make it a penal -offence to teach him to read!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow, too, had been fortunate in his intercourse with -slaveholders. Young, handsome, and accomplished, he had -felt the charm of their affectionate hospitality. He had found -taste, culture, and piety in their abodes; all the graces and all -the amenities of life. What wonder that he should narcotize -his moral sense with the aroma of these social fascinations! -Even at the North, where the glamour they cast ought not to -distort the sight, and where men ought healthfully to look the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>abstract abomination full in the face, and testify to its deformity,—how -many consciences were drugged, how many hearts -shut to justice and to mercy!</p> - -<p class='c001'>With Kenrick, brought up on a plantation where slavery -existed in its mildest form, meditation on God’s law as written -in the enlightened human conscience, completely reversed the -views adopted from upholders of the institution. Thenceforth -the elegances of his home became hateful. He felt like a -robber in the midst of them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The spectacle of some hideous, awkward, perhaps obscene -and depraved black woman, hoeing in the corn-field, instead -of awakening in his mind, as in Onslow’s, the thought that she -was in her proper place, did but move him to tears of bitter -contrition and humiliation. How far there was sin or accountability -on her part, or that of her progenitors, he could not -say; but that there was deep, immeasurable sin on the part -of those who, instead of helping that degraded nature to rise, -made laws to crush it all the deeper in the mire, he could not -fail to feel in anguish of spirit. Through all that there was in -her of ugliness and depravity, making her less tolerable than -the beast to his æsthetic sense, he could still detect those traits -and possibilities that allied her with immortal natures, and in -her he saw all her sex outraged, and universal womanhood -nailed to the cross of Christ, and mocked by unbelievers!</p> - -<p class='c001'>The evening of the day of Clara’s arrival at the St. Charles, -Onslow and Kenrick met by agreement in the drawing-room -of the Tremaines. Clara had told Laura, that, in going out to -purchase a few hair-pins, she had been taken suddenly faint, -and that a gentleman, who proved to be Captain Onslow, had -escorted her home.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Could anything be more apt for my little plot!” said -Laura. “But consider! Here it is eight o’clock, and you’re -not dressed! Do you know how long you’ve been sleeping? -This will never do!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A servant knocked at the door, with the information that -two gentlemen were in the drawing-room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dear me! I must go in at once,” said Laura. “Now -tell me you’ll be quick and follow, Darling.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara gave the required pledge, and proceeded to arrange -<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>her hair. Laura looked on for a minute envying her those -thick brown tresses, and then darted into the next room where -the visitors were waiting. Greeting them with her usual animation -of manner, she asked Onslow for the news.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The news is,” said Onslow, “my friend Charles is undergoing -conversion. We shall have him an out-and-out Secessionist -before the Fourth of July.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“On what do you base your calculations?” asked Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“On the fact that for the last twelve hours I haven’t heard -you call down maledictions on the Confederate cause.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps I conclude that the better part of valor is discretion.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Charles, yours is not the Falstaffian style of courage.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, construe my mood as you please. Miss Tremaine, -your piano stands open. Does it mean we’re to have music?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. Hasn’t the Captain told you of his meeting a young -lady,—Miss Perdita Brown?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll do him the justice to say he <em>did</em> tell me he had escorted -such a one.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What did he say of her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing, good or bad.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But that’s very suspicious.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So it is.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pray who is Miss Perdita Brown?” asked Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She’s a daughter of—of—why, of Mr. Brown, of course. -He lives in St. Louis.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is she a good Secessionist?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“On the contrary, she’s a desperate little Abolitionist.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look at Charles!” said Onslow. “He’s enamored already. -I’m sorry she isn’t secesh.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Think of the triumph of converting her!” said Laura.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That indeed! Of course,” said Onslow, “like all true women, -she’ll take her politics from the man she loves.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And the Captain smoothed his moustache, and looked handsome -as Phœbus Apollo.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O the conceit!” exclaimed Laura. “Look at him, Mr. -Kenrick! Isn’t he charming? Where’s the woman who -wouldn’t turn Mormon, or even Yankee, for his sake? Surely -one of us weak creatures could be content with one tenth or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>even one twentieth of the affections of so superb an Ali. Come, -sir, promise me I shall be the fifteenth Mrs. Onslow when you -emigrate to Utah.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow was astounded at this fire of raillery. Could the -lady have heard of any disparaging expression he had dropped?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Spare me, Miss Laura,” he said. “Don’t deprive the -Confederacy of my services by slaying me before I’ve smelt -powder.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where’s Miss Brown all this while?” asked Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Laura went to the door, and called “Perdita!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In five minutes!” was the reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara was dressing. When, that morning, she came in from -her walk, she thought intently on her situation, and at last -determined on a new line of policy. Instead of playing the -humble companion and shy recluse, she would now put forth -all her powers to dazzle and to strike. She would, if possible, -make friends, who should protest against any arbitrary claim -that Ratcliff might set up. She would vindicate her own right -to freedom by showing she was not born to be a slave. All -who had known her should feel their own honor wounded in -any attempt to injure hers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Having once fixed before herself an object, she grew calm -and firm. When her dinner was sent up, she ate it with a good -appetite. Sleep, too, that had been a stranger to her so many -hours, now came to repair her strength and revive her spirits.</p> - -<p class='c001'>No sooner had Laura left to attend to her visitors, than -Clara plunged into the drawers containing the dresses for her -choice. With the rapidity of instinct she selected the most becoming; -then swiftly and deftly, with the hand of an adept -and the eye of an artist, she arranged her toilet. A dexterous -adaptation of pins speedily rectified any little defect in the fit. -Where were the collars? Locked up. No matter! There -was a frill of exquisite lace round the neck of the dress; and -this little narrow band of maroon velvet would serve to relieve -the bareness of the throat. What could she clasp it with? -Laura had not left the key of her jewel-box. A common pin -would hardly answer. Suddenly Clara bethought herself of the -little coral sleeve-button, wrapped up in the strip of bunting. -That would serve admirably. Yes. Nothing could be better. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>It was her only article of jewelry; though round her right -wrist she wore a hair-bracelet of her own braiding, made from -that strand given her by Esha; and from a flower-vase she had -taken a small cape-jasmine, white as alabaster, and fragrant as -a garden of honeysuckles, and thrust it in her hair. A fan? -Yes, here is one.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And thus accoutred she entered the room where the three -expectants were seated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On seeing her, Laura’s first emotion was one of admiration, -as at sight of an imposing <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>entrée</i></span> at the opera. She was suddenly -made aware of the fact that Clara was the most beautiful -young woman of her acquaintance; nay, not only the most -beautiful, but the most stylish. So taken by surprise was she, -so lost in looking, that it was nearly a third of a minute before -she introduced the young gentlemen. Onslow claimed acquaintance, -presented a chair, and took a seat at Clara’s side. Kenrick -stood mute and staring, as if a paradisic vision had dazed -his senses. When he threw off his bewilderment, he quieted -himself with the thought, “She can’t be as beautiful as she -looks,—that’s one comfort. A shrew, perhaps,—or, what is -worse, a coquette!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When were you last in St. Louis, Miss Brown?” asked -Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All questions for information must be addressed to Miss -Tremaine,” said Clara. “I shall be happy to talk with you on -things I know nothing about. Shall we discuss the Dahlgren -gun, or the Ericsson Monitor?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So! She sets up for an eccentric,” thought Onslow. “Perhaps -politics would suit you,” he added aloud. “I hear you’re -an Abolitionist.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ask Miss Tremaine,” said Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, she has betrayed you already,” replied Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I’ve nothing to say. I’m in her hands.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is it possible,” said Kenrick, who was irrepressible on the -one theme nearest his heart, “is it possible Miss Brown can’t -see it,—can’t see the loveliness of that divine cosmos which -we call slavery? Poor deluded Miss Brown! I know not what -other men may think, but as for me, give me slavery or give -me death! Do you object to woman-whipping, Miss Brown?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>“I confess I’ve my prejudices against it,” replied Clara. -“But these charges of woman-whipping, you know, are Abolition -lies.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, so Northern conservatives say; but we of the plantations -know that nearly one half the whippings are of women.”<a id='r29' /><a href='#f29' class='c014'><sup>[29]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come! Sink the shop!” cried Laura. “Are we so dull -we can’t find anything but our horrible <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>bête noir</i></span> for our -amusement? Let us have scandal, rather; nonsense, rather! -Tell us a story, Mr. Kenrick.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well; once on a time—how would you like a ghost-story?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Above all things. Charming! Only ghosts have grown -so common, they no longer thrill us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” said Kenrick,—whose trivial thoughts ever seemed -to call up his serious,—“yes; materialism has done a good -work in its day and generation. It has taught us that the -business of this world must go on just as if there were no -ghosts. The supernatural is no longer an incubus and an -oppression. Its phenomena no longer frighten and paralyze. -Let us, then, since we are now freed from their terrors, welcome -the great facts themselves as illumining and confirming all -that there is in the past to comfort us with the assurance of -continuous life issuing from seeming death.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dear Mr. Kenrick, is this a time for a lecture?” expostulated -Laura. “Aren’t you bored, Perdita?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>“On the contrary, I’m interested.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you think of spiritualism, Miss Brown?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve witnessed none of the phenomena, but I don’t see -why the testimony of these times, in regard to them, shouldn’t -be taken as readily as that of centuries back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My father is a believer,” said Onslow; “and I have certainly -seen some unaccountable things,—tables lifted into the -air,—instruments of music floated about, and played on -without visible touch,—human hands, palpable and warm, -coming out from impalpable air:—all very queer and very -inexplicable! But what do they prove? <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><i>Cui bono?</i></span> What -of it all?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Nothing in it!’ as Sir Charles Coldstream says of the -Vatican,” interposed Laura.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You demand the use of it all,—the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono</i></span>,—do -you?” retorted Kenrick. “Did it ever occur to you to make -your own existence the subject of that terrible inquiry, <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><i>cui -bono</i></span>?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Certainly,” replied Onslow, laughing; “my <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono</i></span> is to -fight for the independence of the new Confederacy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And for the propagation of slavery, eh?” returned Kenrick. -“I don’t see the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono</i></span>. On the contrary, to my -fallible vision, the world would be better off without than with -you. But let us take a more extreme case. These youths—Tom, -Dick, and Harry—who give their days and nights, -not to the works of Addison, but to gambling, julep-drinking, -and cigar-smoking,—who hate and shun all useful work,—and -are no comfort to anybody,—only a shame and affliction -to somebody,—can you explain to me the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono</i></span> of their -corrupt and unprofitable lives?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But how undignified in a spirit to push tables about and -play on accordions!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, what authority have you for the supposition that -there are no undignified spirits? We know there are weak -and wicked spirits <em>in</em> the flesh; why not <em>out</em> of the flesh? A -spirit, or an intelligence claiming to be one, writes an ungrammatical -sentence or a pompous commonplace, and signs <em>Bacon</em> -to it; and you forthwith exclaim, ‘Pooh! this can’t come from -a spirit.’ How do you know that? Mayn’t lies be told in other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>worlds than this? Will the ignoramus at once be made a -scholar,—the dullard a philosopher,—the blackguard a -gentleman,—the sinner a saint,—the liar truthful,—by the -simple process of elimination from this husk of flesh? Make -me at once altogether other than what I am, and you annihilate -me, and there is no immortality of the soul.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But what has the ghost contributed to our knowledge -during these fourteen years, since he appeared at Rochester? -Of all he has brought us, we may say, with Shakespeare, -‘There needs no ghost come from the grave to tell us that.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll tell you what the ghost has contributed, not at Rochester -merely, but everywhere, through the ages. He has contributed -<em>himself</em>. You say, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono?</i></span> And I might say of ten -thousand mysteries about us, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono?</i></span> The lightning strikes -the church-steeple,—<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono?</i></span> An idiot is born into the -world,—<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono?</i></span> It is absurd to demand as a condition of -rational faith, that we should prove a <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono</i></span>. A good or a -use may exist, and we be unable to see it. And yet grave -men are continually thrusting into the faces of the investigators -of these phenomena this preposterous <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono?</i></span>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Enough, my dear Mr. Kenrick!” exclaimed Laura.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But he was not to be stopped. He rose and paced the -room, and continued: “The <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>cui bono</i></span> of phenomena must of -course be found in the mind that regards them. ‘I can’t find -you both arguments and brains,’ said Dr. Johnson to a noodle -who thought Milton trashy. One man sees an apple fall, and -straightway thinks of the price of cider. Newton sees it, and -it suggests gravitation. One man sees a table rise in the air, -and cries: ‘It can’t be a spirit; ’t is too undignified for a -spirit!’ Mountford sees it, and the immortality of the soul is -thenceforth to him a fact as positive as any fact of science.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your story, dear Mr. Kenrick, your story!” urged Laura.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My story is ended. The ghost has come and vanished.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is that all?” whined Laura. “Are n’t we, then, to have a -story?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In mercy give us some music, Miss Brown,” said Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Play Yankee Doodle, with variations,” interposed Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not unless you’d have the windows smashed in,” pleaded -Onslow; and, giving his arm, he waited on Clara to the piano.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span><a id='corr272.1'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='“She'>She</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_272.1'><ins class='correction' title='“She'>She</ins></a></span> dashed into a medley of brilliant airs from operas, -uniting them by extemporized links of melody to break the -abruptness of the transitions. The young men were both -connoisseurs; and they interchanged looks of gratified astonishment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now for a song!” exclaimed Laura.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara paused a moment, and sat looking with clasped hands -at the keys. Then, after a delicate prelude, she gave that -song of Pestal, already quoted.<a id='r30' /><a href='#f30' class='c014'><sup>[30]</sup></a> She gave it with her whole -soul, as if a personal wrong were adding intensity to the -defiance of her tones.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick, wrought to a state of sympathy which he could not -disguise, had taken a seat where he could watch her features -while she sang. When she had finished, she covered her face -with her hands, then, finding her emotion uncontrollable, rose -and passed out of the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you think of that, Charles?” asked Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was terrible,” said Kenrick. “I wanted to kill a slaveholder -while she sang.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But she has the powers of a <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>prima donna</i></span>,” said Onslow, -turning to Laura.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, one would think she had practised for the stage.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara now returned with a countenance placid and smiling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How long do you stay in New Orleans, Miss Brown?” -inquired Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How long, Laura?” asked Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A week or two.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We shall have another opportunity, I hope, of hearing you -sing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I hope so.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have an appointment now at the armory. Charles, are -you ready to walk?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, thank you. I prefer to remain.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow left, and, immediately afterwards, Laura’s mother -being seized with a timely hemorrhage, Laura was called off -to attend to her. Kenrick was alone with Clara. Charming -opportunity! He drew from her still another and another -song. He conversed with her on her studies,—on the books -<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>she had read,—the pictures she had seen. He was roused by -her intelligence and wit. He spoke of slavery. Deep as was -his own detestation of it, she helped him to make it deeper. -What delightful harmony of views! Kenrick felt that his -time had come. The hours slipped by like minutes, yet there -he sat chained by a fascination so new, so strange, so delightful, -he marvelled that life had in it so much of untasted joy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick was not accustomed to be critical in details. He -looked at general effects. But the most trifling point in -Clara’s accoutrements was now a thing to be marked and -remembered. The little sleeve-button dropped from the band -round her throat. Kenrick picked it up,—examined it,—saw, -in characters so fine as to be hardly legible, the letters -C.A.B. upon it. (“B. stands for Brown,” thought he.) And -then, as Clara put out her hand to receive it, he noticed the -bracelet she wore. “What beautiful hair!” he said. He -looked up at Clara’s to trace a resemblance. But his glance -stopped midway at her eyes. “Blue and gray!” he murmured.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, can you read them?” asked Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Only a dream I had. There’s a letter on them somebody -is to open and read.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, that I were a Daniel to interpret!” said Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At last Miss Tremaine returned. Her mother had been -dangerously ill. It was an hour after midnight. Sincerely -astounded at finding it so late, Kenrick took his leave. Heart -and brain were full. “Thou art the wine whose drunkenness -is all I can desire, O love!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And how was it with Clara? Alas, the contrariety of the -affections! Clara simply thought Kenrick a very agreeable -young man: handsome, but not so handsome as Onslow; -clever, but not so clever as Vance!</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXVIII.<br />A LETTER OF BUSINESS.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“This war’s duration can be more surely calculated from the moral progress of the -North than from the result of campaigns in the field. Were the whole North to-day as -one man on the moral issues underlying the struggle, the Rebellion were this day crushed. -God bids us, I think, <em>be just and let the oppressed go free</em>. Let us do his bidding, -and the plagues cease.”—<cite>Letter from a native of Richmond, Va.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>The following letter belongs chronologically to this stage -in our history:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'><cite>From F. Macon Semmes, New York, to T. J Semmes, New -Orleans.</cite></p> - -<p class='c001'>“<span class='sc'>Dear Brother</span>: I have called, as you requested, on -Mr. Charlton in regard to his real estate in New Orleans. -Let me give you some account of this man. He is taxed for -upwards of a million. He inherited a good part of this sum -from his wife, and she inherited it from a nephew, the late Mr. -Berwick, who inherited it from his infant daughter, and this -last from her mother. Mother, child, and father—the whole -Berwick family—were killed by a steamboat explosion on the -Mississippi some fifteen or sixteen years ago.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In the lawsuit which grew out of the conflicting claims of -the relatives of the mother on the one side, and of the father -on the other, it was made to appear that the mother must have -been killed instantaneously, either by the inhalation of steam -from the explosion, or by a blow on the head from a splinter; -either cause being sufficient to produce immediate death. It -was then proved that the child, having been seen with her -nurse alive and struggling in the water, must have lived after -the mother,—thus inheriting the mother’s property. But it -was further proved that the child was drowned, and that the -father survived the child a few hours; and thus the father’s -heir became entitled to an estate amounting to upwards of a -million of dollars, all of which was thus diverted from the -Aylesford family (to whom the property ought to have gone), -and bestowed on a man alien in blood and in every other -respect to all the parties fairly interested.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>“This fortunate man was Charlton. The scandal goes, that -even the wife from whom he derived the estate (and who died -before he got it) had received from him such treatment as to -alienate her wholly. The nearest relative of Mrs. Berwick, -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>née</i></span> Aylesford, is a Mrs. Pompilard, now living with an aged -husband and with dependent step-children and grandchildren, -in a state of great impoverishment. To this aunt the large -property derived from her brother, Mr. Aylesford, ought to -have gone. But the law gave it to a stranger, this Charlton. -I mention these facts, because you ask me to inform you what -manner of man he is.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let one little anecdote illustrate. Mr. Albert Pompilard, -now some eighty years old, has been in his day a great operator -in Wall Street. He has made half a dozen large fortunes -and lost them. Five years ago, by a series of bold and fortunate -speculations, he placed himself once more on the top -round of the financial ladder. He paid off all his debts with -interest, pensioned off a widowed daughter, lifted up from the -gutter several old, broken-down friends, and advanced a handsome -sum to his literary son-in-law, Mr. Cecil Purling, who -had found, as he thought, a short cut to fortune. Pompilard -also bought a stylish place on the Hudson; and people supposed -he would be content to keep aloof from the stormy fluctuations -of Wall Street.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But one day he read in the financial column of the newspaper -certain facts that roused the old propensity. His near -neighbor was a rich retired tailor, a Mr. Maloney, an Irishman, -who used to come over to play billiards with the venerable -stock-jobber. Pompilard had made a visit to Wall Street -the day before. He had been fired with a grand scheme of -buying up the whole of a certain stock (in which sellers at -sixty days at a low figure were abundant) and then holding -on for a grand rise. He did not find it difficult to kindle the -financial enthusiasm of poor Snip.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Brief, the two simpletons went into the speculation, and -lost every cent they were worth in the world. Simultaneously -with their break-down, Purling, the son-in-law, managed to lose -all that had been confided to his hands. The widowed daughter, -Mrs. Ireton, gave up all the little estate her father had -settled on her. Poor Maloney had to go back to his goose; -and Pompilard, now almost an octogenarian, has been obliged, -he and his family, to take lodgings in the cottage of his late -gardener.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The other day Mr. Hicks, a friend of the family, learning -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>that they were actually pinched in their resources, ventured to -call upon Charlton for a contribution for their relief. After -an evident inward struggle, Charlton manfully pulled out his -pocket-book, and tendered—what, think you?—why, a ten-dollar -bill! Hicks affected to regard the tender as an insult, -and slapped the donor’s face. Charlton at first threatened a -prosecution, but concluded it was too expensive a luxury. -Thus you see he is a miser. It was with no little satisfaction, -therefore, that I called to communicate the state of his affairs -in New Orleans.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He lives on one of the avenues in a neat freestone house, -such as could be hired for twenty-five hundred a year. There -is a stable attached, and he keeps a carriage. Soon after he -burst upon the fashionable world as a millionnaire, there was a -general competition among fashionable families to secure him -for one of the daughters. But Charlton, with all his wealth, -did not want a wife who was merely stylish, clever, and beautiful; -she must be rich into the bargain. He at last encountered -such a one (as he imagined) in Miss Dykvelt, a member -of one of the old Dutch families. He proposed, was accepted, -married,—and three weeks afterwards, to his consternation -and horror, he received an application from old D., the father-in-law, -for a loan of a hundred thousand dollars.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Charlton, of course, indignantly refused it. He found that -he had been, to use his own words, ‘taken in and done for.’ -Old Dykvelt, while he kept up the style of a prince, was on -the verge of bankruptcy. The persons to whom Charlton applied -for information, knowing the object of the inquiry and -the meanness of the inquirer, purposely cajoled him with stories -of Dykvelt’s wealth. Charlton fell into the trap. Charlotte -Dykvelt, who was in love at the time with young Ireton (a -Lieutenant in the army and a grandson of old Pompilard), -yielded to the entreaties of her parents and married the man -she detested. She was well versed in the history of his first -wife, and resolved that her own heart, wrung by obedience to -parental authority, should be iron and adamant to any attempt -Charlton might make to wound it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He soon found himself overmatched. The bully and tyrant -was helpless before the impassive frigidity and inexorable determination -of that young and beautiful woman. He had a large -iron safe in his house, in which he kept his securities and coupons, -and often large sums of money. One day he discovered -he had been robbed of thirty thousand dollars. He charged the -theft upon his wife. She neither denied nor confessed it, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>treated him with a glacial scorn before which he finally cowered -and was dumb. Undoubtedly she had taken the money. She -forced him against his inclination to move into a decent house, -and keep a carriage; and at last, by a threat of leaving him, -she made him settle on her a liberal allowance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A loveless home for him, as you may suppose! One daughter, -Lucy Charlton, is the offspring of this ill-assorted marriage; -a beautiful girl, I am told, but who shrinks from her father’s -presence as from something odious. Probably the mother’s -impressions during pregnancy gave direction to the antipathies -of the child; so that before it came into the world it was fatherless.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, I called on Charlton last Thursday. As I passed the -little sitting-room of the basement, I saw a young and lovely -girl putting her mouth filled with seed up to the bars of a cage, -and a canary-bird picking the food from her lips. A cat, who -seemed to be on excellent terms with the bird, was perched -on the girl’s shoulder, and superintending the operation. So, -thought I, she exercises her affections in the society of these -dumb pets rather than in that of her father.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I found Charlton sitting lonely in a sort of library scantily -furnished with books. A well-formed man, but with a face -haggard and anxious as if his life-blood were ebbing irrecoverably -with every penny that went from his pockets. On my -mentioning your name, his eyes brightened; for he inferred I -had come with your semiannual remittances. He was at once -anxious to know if rents in New Orleans had been materially -affected by the war. I told him his five houses near Lafayette -Square, excepting that occupied on a long lease by Mr. Carberry -Ratcliff, would not bring in half the amount they did last -year. He groaned audibly. I then told him that your semiannual -collections for him amounted to six thousand dollars, but -that you were under the painful necessity of assuring him that -the money would have to be paid all over to the Confederate -government.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Charlton, completely struck aghast, fell back in his chair, -his face pale, and his lips quivering. I thought he had fainted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Your brother wouldn’t rob me, Mr. Semmes?’ he gasped -forth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Certainly not,’ I replied; ‘but his obedience is due to the -authorities that are uppermost. The Confederate flag waves -over New Orleans, and will probably continue to wave. All -your real estate has been or will be confiscated.’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘But it is worth two hundred thousand dollars!’ he exclaimed, -in a tone that was almost a shriek.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>“‘So much the better for the Confederate treasury!’ I replied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I then broached what you told me to in regard to his making -a <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>bona fide</i></span> sale of the property to you. I offered him twenty -thousand dollars in cash, if he would surrender all claim.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Never! never!’ he exclaimed. ‘I’ll run my risk of the -city’s coming back into our possession. I see through your -brother’s trick.’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Please recall that word, sir,’ I said, touching my wristbands.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Well, your brother’s <em>plan</em>, sir. Will that suit you?’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘That will do,’ I replied. ‘My brother will pay your ten -thousand dollars over to the Confederacy. But I am authorized -to pay you a tenth part of that sum for your receipt in full -of all moneys due to you for rents up to this time.’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Ha! you Secessionists are not quite so positive, after all, as -to your fortune!’ he exclaimed. ‘You’re a little weak-kneed -as to your ability to hold the place,—eh?’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“‘The city will be burnt,’ I replied, ‘before the inhabitants -will consent to have the old flag restored. You’d better make -the most, Mr. Charlton, of your opportunity to compound for -a fractional part of the value of your Southern property.’</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was all in vain. I couldn’t make him see it. He hates -the war and the Lincoln administration; but he won’t sell -or compound on the terms you propose. And, to be frank, I -wouldn’t if I were he. It would be a capital thing for us if he -could be made to do it. But as he is in no immediate need of -money, we cannot rely on the stimulus of absolute want to influence -him as we wish. I took my leave, quite disgusted with -his obstinacy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The fall of Sumter seems to have fired the Northern heart -in earnest. I fear we are going to have serious work with -these Yankees. Secretary Walker’s cheerful promise of raising -the Confederate flag over Faneuil Hall will not be realized for -some time. Nevertheless, we are bound to prevail—I hope. -Of course every Southern man will die in the last ditch rather -than yield one foot of Southern soil to Yankee domination. -We must have Maryland and the Chesapeake, Fortress Monroe, -and all the Gulf forts, Western Virginia, Missouri, Kentucky, -Delaware,—every square inch of them. Not a rood -must we part with. We can whip, if we’ll only think so. -We’re the master race, and can do it. Can hold on to our -niggers into the bargain. At least, we’ll talk as if we -believed it. Perhaps the prediction will work its fulfilment. -Who knows?</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c023'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Fraternally yours,</div> - <div class='line in47'>F. M. S.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXIX.<br />THE WOMAN WHO DELIBERATES IS LOST.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“O North-wind! blow strong with God’s breath in twenty million men.”—<cite>Rev. -John Weiss.</cite></p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Loud wind, strong wind, sweeping o’er the mountains,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Fresh wind, free wind, blowing from the sea,</div> - <div class='line'>Pour forth thy vials like streams from airy fountains,</div> - <div class='line in4'>Draughts of life to me.”—<cite>Miss Muloch.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>On coming down to the breakfast-table one morning, -Kenrick was delighted to encounter Vance, and asked, -“What success?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I found in Natchez,” was the reply, “an old colored man -who knew Davy and his wife. They removed to New York, -it seems, some three years ago. I must push my inquiries -further. The clew must not be dropped. The old man, my -informant, was formerly a slave. He came into my room at -the hotel, and showed me the scars on his back. Ah! I, too, -could have showed scars, if I had deemed it prudent.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Cousin William,” said Kenrick, “I wouldn’t take the testimony -of our own humane overseer as to slavery. I have -studied the usages on other plantations. Let me show you a -photograph which I look at when my antislavery rage wants -kindling, which is not often.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He produced the photograph of a young female, apparently -a quarteroon, sitting with back exposed naked to the hips,—her -face so turned as to show an intelligent and rather handsome -profile. The flesh was all welted, seamed, furrowed, and scarred, -as if both by fire and the scourge.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There!” resumed Kenrick, “that I saw taken myself, and -know it to be genuine. It is one out of many I have collected. -The photograph cannot lie. It will be terrible as the recording -angel in reflecting slavery as this civil war will unearth it. -What will the Carlyles and the Gladstones say to this? Will -it make them falter, think you, in their Sadducean hoot against -<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>a noble people who are manfully fighting the great battle of -humanity against such infernalism as this?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They would probably fall back on the doubter’s privilege.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, that’s the most decent way of escape. But I would -pin them with the sharp fact. That woman (her name was -Margaret) belonged to the Widow Gillespie,<a id='r31' /><a href='#f31' class='c014'><sup>[31]</sup></a> on the Black -River. Margaret had a nursing child, and, out of maternal -tenderness, had disobeyed Mrs. Gillespie’s orders to wean -it. For this she was subjected to <em>the punishment of the -hand-saw</em>. She was laid on her face, her clothes stripped up to -around her neck, her hands and feet held down, and Mrs. -Gillespie, sitting by, then ‘paddled,’ or stippled the exposed -body with the hand-saw. She then had Margaret turned over, -and, with heated tongs, attempted to grasp her nipples. The -writhings of the victim foiled her purpose; but between the -breasts the skin and flesh were horribly burned.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A favorite remark,” said Vance, “with our smug apologists -of slavery, is, that an owner’s interests will make him treat a -slave well. Undoubtedly in many cases so it is. But I have -generally found that human malignity, anger, or revenge is -more than a match for human avarice. A man will often -gratify his spite even at the expense of his pocket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick showed the photograph of a man with his back -scarred as if by a shower of fire.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This poor fellow,” said Kenrick, “shows the effects of the -<em>corn-husk punishment</em>; not an unusual one on some plantations. -The victim is stretched out on the ground, with hands and feet -held down. Dry corn-husks are then lighted, and the burning -embers are whipped off with a stick so as to fall in showers of -live sparks on the naked back. Such is the ‘patriarchal’ -system! Such the tender mercies bestowed on ‘our man-servants -and our maid-servants,’ as that artful dodger, Jeff Davis, -calls our plantation slaves.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And yet,” remarked Vance, “horrible as these things are, -how small a part of the wrong of slavery is in the mere <em>physical</em> -suffering inflicted!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, the crowning outrage is mental and moral.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This war,” resumed Vance, “is not sectional, nor geographical, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>nor, in a party sense, political: it is a war of eternally antagonistic -principles,—Belial against Gabriel.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I took up a Northern paper to-day,” said Kenrick, “in -which the writer pleads the necessity of slavery, because, he -says, ‘white men can’t work in the rice-swamps.’ Truly, a -staggering argument! The whole rice production of the United -States is only worth some four millions of dollars per -annum! A single factory in Lowell can beat that. And we -are asked to base a national policy on such considerations!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here the approach of guests led to a change of topic.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And how have <em>your</em> affairs prospered?” asked Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! cousin,” replied Kenrick, “I almost blush to tell you -what an experience I’ve had.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not fallen in love, I hope?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If it isn’t that, ’t is something very near it. The lady is -staying with Miss Tremaine. A Miss Perdita Brown. Onslow -took me to see her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And which is the favored admirer?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Onslow, I fear. I’m not a lady’s man, you see. Indeed, -I never wished to be till now. Give me a few lessons, cousin. -Teach me a little small-talk.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I must know something of the lady first.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To begin at the beginning,” said Kenrick, “there can be -no dispute as to her beauty. But there is a something in her -manner that puzzles me. Is it lack of sincerity? Not that. -Is it preoccupation of thought? Sometimes it seems that. -And then some apt, flashing remark indicates that she has her -wits on the alert. You must see her and help me read her. -You visit Miss Laura?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. I’ll do your bidding, Charles. How often have you -seen this enchantress?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Too often for my peace of mind: three times.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is she a coquette?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If one, she has the art to conceal art. There seems to be -something on her mind more absorbing than the desire to fascinate. -She’s an unconscious beauty.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Say a deep one. Shall we meet at Miss Tremaine’s -to-night?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; the moth knows he’ll get singed, but flutter he must.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>“Take comfort, Charles, in that of thought of Tennyson’s, -who tells us,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘That not a moth with vain desire</div> - <div class='line'>Is shrivelled in a fruitless fire.’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The cousins parted. They had no sooner quitted the breakfast-room -than Onslow entered. After a hasty meal, he took -his sword-belt and military-cap, and walked forth out of the -hotel. As he passed Wakeman’s shop, near by, for the sale of -books and periodicals, he was attracted by a photograph in a -small walnut frame in the window. Stopping to examine it, he -uttered an exclamation of surprise, stepped into the shop, and -said to Wakeman, “Where did you get that photograph?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That was sent here with several others by the photographer. -You’ll find his name on the back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see. What shall I pay you for it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A dollar.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There it is.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow took the picture and left the shop, but did not notice -that he was followed by a well-dressed gentleman with a cigar -in his mouth. This individual had been for several days watching -every passer-by who looked at that photograph. He now -followed Onslow to the head-quarters of his regiment; put an -inquiry to one of the members of the Captain’s company, and -then strolled away as if he had more leisure than he knew -what to do with. But no sooner had he turned a corner, than -he entered a carriage which was driven off at great speed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Not an hour had passed when a black man in livery put into -Onslow’s hands this note:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you come and dine with me at five to-day without -ceremony? Please reply by the bearer.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c023'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Yours,</div> - <div class='line in26'><span class='sc'>C. Ratcliff</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>What can he want? thought Onslow, somewhat gratified by -such an attention from so important a leader. Presuming that -the object merely was to ask some questions concerning military -matters, the Captain turned to the man in livery, and said, -“Tell Mr. Ratcliff I will come.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Punctually at the hour of five Onslow ascended the marble -steps of Ratcliff’s stately house, rang the bell, and was ushered -into a large and elegantly furnished drawing-room, the windows -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>of which were heavily curtained so as to keep out the glare of -the too fervid sunlight. Pictures and statues were disposed -about the apartment, but Onslow, who had a genuine taste for -art, could find nothing that he would covet for a private gallery -of his own.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff entered, habited in a cool suit of grass-cloth. The -light hues of his vest and neck-tie heightened the contrast of -his somewhat florid complexion, which had now lost all the -smoothness of youth. Self-indulgent habits had faithfully done -their work in moulding his exterior. Portly and puffy, he -looked much older than he really was. But in his manner of -greeting Onslow there was much of that charm which renders -the hospitality of a plantation lord so attractive. Throwing -aside all that arrogance which would have made his overseers -and tradespeople keep their distance, he welcomed Onslow -like an old friend and an equal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ve a superb house here,” said the ingenuous Captain.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“’T will do, considering that I sometimes occupy it only a -month in the year,” replied Ratcliff. “I’m glad to say I only -hire it. The house belonged to a Miss Aylesford, a Yankee -heiress; then passed into the possession of a New York man, -one Charlton; but I pay the rent into the coffers of the Confederate -government. The property is confiscate.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Won’t the Yankees retaliate?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We sha’n’t allow them to.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“After we’ve whipped Yankee-Doo-dle-dom, what then?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then a strong military government. Having our slaves -to work for us, we shall become the greatest martial nation in -the world. Our poor whites, now a weakness and a burden, -we will convert into soldiers and Cossacks; excepting the artisan -and trading classes, and them we must disfranchise.”<a id='r32' /><a href='#f32' class='c014'><sup>[32]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can we expect aid from England?” asked Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not open aid, but substantial aid nevertheless. Exeter -Hall may grumble. The <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>doctrinaires</i></span>, the Newmans, Brights, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>Mills, and Cobdens may protest and agitate. The English -clodhoppers, mudsills, and workies of all kinds will sympathize -of course with the low-born Yankees. But the master race of -England, the non-producers, will favor the same class here. -The disintegration of North America into warring States is -what they long to see. Already the English government is -swift to hail us as belligerents. Already it refuses what it -once so eagerly proffered,—an international treaty making -privateering piracy. Soon it will let us fit out privateers -in English ports. Yes, England is all right.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here a slave-boy announced dinner, and they entered a -smaller but lofty apartment, looking out on a garden, and -having its two open windows pleasantly latticed with grape-vines. -A handsome, richly dressed quadroon lady sat at the -table. In introducing his young guest, Ratcliff addressed her -as Madame Volney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow, in his innocence, inquired after Mrs. Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My wife is an invalid, and rarely quits her room,” said the -host.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The dinner was sumptuous, beginning with turtle-soup and -ending with ices and fruits. The costliest Burgundies and -Champagnes were uncorked, if only for a sip of their flavors. -Madame Volney, half French, was gracious and talkative, -occasionally checking Ratcliff in his eating, and warning him -to be prudent. At last cigars were brought on, and she left -the room. Ratcliff rose and listened at the door, as if to be -sure she had gone up-stairs. Then, walking on tiptoe, he -resumed his seat. He alluded to the opera,—to the ballet,—to -the subject of pretty women.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>apropos</i></span> of pretty women,” he exclaimed, “let me -show you a photograph of one I have in my pocket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As he spoke, there was a rustling in the grape-vines at a -window. He turned, but saw nothing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow took the photograph, and exclaimed: “But this is -astonishing! I’ve a copy of the same in my pocket.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You surprise me, Captain. Do you know the original?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Quite well; and I grant you she’s beautiful.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow did not notice the expression of Ratcliff’s face at -this confession, but another did. Lifting a glass of Burgundy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>so as to help his affectation of indifference, “Confess now, -Captain,” said Ratcliff, “that you’re a favorite! That delicate -mouth has been pressed by your lips; those ivory shoulders -have known your touch.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O never! never!” returned Onslow, with the emphasis of -sincerity in his tone. “You misjudge the character of the -lady. She’s a friend of Miss Tremaine,—is now passing -a few days with her at the St. Charles. A lady wholly -respectable. Miss Perdita Brown of St. Louis! That rascally -photographer ought to be whipped for making money out -of her beautiful picture.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Has she admirers in her train?” asked Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I know of but one beside myself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! And who is he?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Charles Kenrick has called on her with me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By the way, Wigman tells me that Charles insulted the -flag the other day.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Poh! Wigman was so drunk he couldn’t distinguish jest -from earnest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So Robson told me. But touching this Miss Brown,—is -she as pretty as her photograph would declare?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It hardly does her justice. But her sweet face is the -least of her charms. She talks well,—sings well,—plays -well,—and, young as she is, has the bearing, the dignity, the -grace, of the consummate lady.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here there was another rustling, as if the grape-vine were -pulled. Ratcliff started, went to the window, looked out, but, -seeing nothing, remarked, “The wind must be rising,” and -returned to his seat. “I’ve omitted,” said he, “to ask after -your family; are they well?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; they were in Austin when I heard from them last. -My father, I grieve to say, goes with Hamilton and his set in -opposition to the Southern movement. My brother, William -Temple, is equally infatuated. My mother and sister of -course acquiesce. So I’m the only faithful one of my family.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You deserve a colonelcy for that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you. Is your clock right?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I must go. I’ve an engagement.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>“Sorry for it. Beware of Miss Brown. This is the day -of Mars, not Venus. Good by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>When Onslow had gone, Ratcliff sat five minutes as if meditating -on some plan. Then, drawing forth a pocket-book, he -took out an envelope,—wrote on it,—reflected,—and wrote -again. When he had finished, he ordered the carriage to -be brought to the door. As he was passing through the hall, -Madame Volney, from the stairs, asked where he was going.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To the St. Charles, on political business.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t be out late, dear,” said Madame. “Let me see how -you look. Your neck-tie is out of place. Let me fix it. There! -And your vest needs buttoning. So!” And as her delicate -hands passed around his person, they slid unperceived into a -side-pocket of his coat, and drew forth what he had just deposited -there.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bother! That will do, Josephine,” grumbled Ratcliff. She -released him with a kiss. He descended the marble steps of -the house, entered a carriage, and drove off.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Madame passed into the dining-room, the brilliant gas-lights -of which had not yet been lowered, and, opening the pocket-book, -drew out several photographic cards, all containing one -and the same likeness of a young and beautiful girl. As the -quadroon scanned that fresh vernal countenance, that adorably -innocent, but earnest and intelligent expression, those thick, -wavy tresses, and that exquisitely moulded bust, her own handsome -face grew grim and ugly by the transmuting power of -anger and jealousy. “So, this is the game he’s pursuing, is -it?” she muttered. “This is what makes him restive! Not -politics, as he pretends, but this smoothed-faced decoy! Deep -as you’ve kept it, Ratcliff, I’ve fathomed you at last!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Searching further among his papers, she found an envelope, -on which certain memoranda were pencilled, and among them -these: “<em>First see Tremaine. Arrange for seizure without scandal -or noise. Early in morning call on Gentry,—have her -prepared. Take Esha with us to help.</em>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hardly had Madame time to read this, when a carriage -stopped before the door. Laying the pocket-book with its contents, -as if undisturbed, on the table, she ran half-way up-stairs. -Ratcliff re-entered, and, after looking about the hall, passed into -<span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>the dining-room. “Ah! here it is!” she heard him say to the -attendant; “I could have sworn I put it in my pocket.” He -then left the house, and the carriage again drove off,—drove to -the St. Charles, where Ratcliff had a long private interview -with the pliable Tremaine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>While it was going on, Laura and Clara sat in the drawing-room, -waiting for company. Laura having disapproved of the -costume in which Clara had first appeared, the latter now wore -a plain robe of black silk; and around her too beautiful neck -Laura had put a collar, large enough to be called a cape, fastening -it in front with an old-fashioned cameo pin. But how -provoking! This dress would insist on being more becoming -even than the other!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance was the earliest of the visitors. On being introduced -to Clara, he bowed as if they had never met before. Then, -seating himself by Laura, he devoted himself assiduously to -her entertainment. Clara turned over the leaves of a music-book, -and took no part in the conversation. Yes! It was plain -that Vance was deeply interested in the superficial, but showy -Laura. Well, what better could be expected of a man?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Once more was Laura summoned to the bed-side of her -mother. “How vexatious!” Regretfully she left the drawing-room. -As soon as she had gone, Vance rose, and, taking a seat -by Clara, offered her his hand. She returned its cordial pressure. -“My dear young friend,” he said, “tell me everything. -What can I do for you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>O, that she might fling herself on that strong arm and tender -heart! That she might disclose to him her whole situation! -Impulses, eager and tumultuous, urged her to do this. Then -there was a struggle as if to keep down the ready confession. -Pride battled with the feminine instinct that claimed a protector.</p> - -<p class='c001'>What! This man, on whom she had no more claim than on -the veriest stranger,—should she put upon him the burden of -her confidence? This man who in one minute had whispered -more flattering things in the ear of Laura than he had said to -Clara during the whole of their acquaintance,—should she ask -favors from <em>him</em>? O, if he would, by look or word, but betray -that he felt an interest in her beyond that of mere friendship! -But then came the frightful thought, “I am a slave!” And -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>Clara shuddered to think that no honorable attachment between -her and a gentleman could exist.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What of that? Surely I may claim from him the help -which any true man ought to lend to a woman threatened with -outrage. Stop there! Does not the chivalry of the plantation -reverse the notions of the old knight-errants, and give heed to -no damsel in distress, unless she can show free papers? Nay, -will not the representative of the blood of all the cavaliers look -calmly on, and smoke his cigar, while a woman is bound naked -to a tree and scourged?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And then her mind ran rapidly over certain stories which a -slave-girl, once temporarily hired by Mrs. Gentry, had told of -the punishments of female slaves: how, for claiming too long a -respite from work after childbirth, they had been “fastened up -by their wrists to a beam, or to a branch of a tree, their feet -barely touching the ground,” and in that position horribly -scourged with a leather thong; perhaps, the father, brother, -or husband of the victim being compelled to officiate as the -scourger!<a id='r33' /><a href='#f33' class='c014'><sup>[33]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“But surely this man, whose very glance seems shelter and -protection,—this true and generous <em>gentleman</em>,—must belong -to a very different order of chivalry from that of the Davises, -the Lees, and the Toombses. Yes! I’ll stake my life he’s -another kind of cavalier from those foul, obscene, and dastardly -woman-whipping miscreants and scoundrels. Yes! I’ll comply -with that gracious entreaty of his, ‘Tell me everything!’ -I’ll confess all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Her heart throbbed. She was on the point of uttering that -one name, <em>Ratcliff</em>,—a sound that would have inspired Vance -with the power and wisdom of an archangel to rescue her,—when -there were voices at the door, and Laura entered, followed -by Onslow. They brought with them a noise of talking -and laughing. Soon Kenrick joined the party.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The golden opportunity seemed to have slipped by!</p> - -<p class='c001'>To Kenrick’s gaze Clara never appeared so transcendent. -But there was an unwonted paleness on her cheeks; and what -meant that thoughtful and serious air? For a sensitive moral -barometer commend us to a lover’s heart!</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>Of course there was music; and Clara sang.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you think of her voice?” asked Laura of Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It justifies all your praises,” was the reply; and then, seeing -that Clara was not in the mood for display, he took her -place at the piano, and rattled away just as Laura requested. -Onslow tried to engage Clara in conversation; but a cloud, as -if from some impending ill, was palpably over her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick sat by in silence, deaf to the brilliant music. -Clara’s presence, with its subtle magnetism, had steeped his -own thoughts in the prevailing hue of hers. Suddenly he -turned to her, and whispered: “You want help. What is -it? Grant me the privilege of a brother. What can I do -for you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The glance Clara turned upon him was so full of thanks, -so radiant with gratitude, that hope sprang in his heart. But -before she could put her reply in words, Laura had come up, -and taken her away to the piano for a concluding song. Clara -gave them Longfellow’s “Rainy Day” to Dempster’s music.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The little gilt clock over the mantel tinkled eleven.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance rose to go, and said to Laura, “May I call on Miss -Brown to-morrow with some new music?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll answer for her, yes,” replied Laura. “We shall be at -home any time after twelve.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The gentlemen all took leave. Onslow made his exit the -last. A rose that had been fastened in Clara’s waist dropped -on the floor. “May I have it?” he asked, picking it up.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why not? I wish it were fresher. Good night!” And -she put out her hand. Onslow eagerly pressed it; but Clara, -lifting his, said, “May this hand never strike except for justice -and human freedom!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Amen to that!” replied Onslow, before he well took in the -entire meaning of what she had said.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He hastened to rejoin his friends, following them through the -corridor. He seemed to tread on air. “I was the only one -she offered to shake hands with!” he exultingly soliloquized.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The three parted, after an interchange of good nights. Both -Onslow and Kenrick betook themselves to their rooms, each -with no desire for other companionship than his own rose-colored -dreams.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXX.<br />A FEMININE VAN AMBURGH.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“She who ne’er answers till a husband cools,</div> - <div class='line'>Or, if she rules him, never shows she rules.”—<cite>Pope.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>The morning after the dinner, Madame Volney rose at -sunrise, and was stealing on tiptoe into her dressing-room, -when Ratcliff, always a late riser, grumbled, “What’s -the matter?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s to be an early church-service,” she replied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bah! You’re always going to church!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The quadroon made no reply, but gently retired, dressed, and -glided out of the house into the open air. On through the yet -deserted streets she swiftly passed. A white fog brooded over -the city. Heavy-winged sea-birds were slowly making their -way overhead to the marshes of Lake Ponchartrain, or still -farther out to the beaches of the Gulf. The sound of drums -and fifes in the distance occasionally broke the matutinal stillness. -The walls of the streets were covered with placards of -meetings of volunteer companies,—of the Wigman Rifles, the -MacMahon Guards, the Beauregard Lancers, the Black Flag -Invincibles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After half an hour’s walk, the quadroon paused before a -house, on the door of which was a brass plate presenting the -words,—“Mrs. Gentry’s Seminary for Young Ladies.” While -she looked and hesitated, a black girl came up from some steps -leading into the basement, and with a mop and pail of water -proceeded to wash the sidewalk.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is Esha in?” asked the quadroon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, missis, Esha am in. Jes you go down dem steps inter -de kitchen, an’ dar you’ll fine Esha, sure.” And taking the -direction pointed out, Madame found herself in the presence of -a large, powerfully built mulatto woman, who was engaged in -preparations for breakfast.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>“Is this Esha?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, missis, dis am nob’dy else.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Esha, I want a few minutes’ talk with you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Take a char, den, missis, and ’scuse my looks.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You look like a good woman, Esha, so no matter for dress.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tahnk yer, missis. Esha’s like de res’,—not too good,—but -nebdeless dar’s wuss folks dan she.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Esha, who is this young girl Mr. Ratcliff is after?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha’s eyes snapped, and she looked sharply at her visitor. -“Why you want ter know?” she asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you a slave, Esha?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, missis, I’se born a slabe,—hab libd a slabe, an’ ’spek -to die a slabe.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I too am a slave, Esha. I belonged to old Etienne La -Harpe, who died six years ago. Though I had had two children, -one by him and one by his son, the old man’s widow sent -me to the auction-block. I was sold to the highest bidder. I -was bought by Mr. Carberry Ratcliff.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! by him? by him?” muttered Esha.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I was handsome. He made me his favorite. I’ve been -faithful to him. Even his wife, poor thing, blesses the day I -came into the house. She would have died long ago but for -my care. The slaves, too, come to me with their sorrows. I -do what I can for their relief. I am not, by nature, a bad -woman. I would continue to serve this man and his household.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do yer lub him,—dis Massa Ratcliff?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s a hard question, Esha. He has treated me like a -lady. I am practically at the head of his house. I have a -carriage at my command. He gives me all the money I ask -for. He prizes me for my prudence and good temper. I love -him so far as this: I should hate the woman who threatened to -step between me and him. Now tell me who this girl is whose -photograph he has.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She, missis? She am a slabe too.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She a slave? Whose slave?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She ’longs to Massa Ratcliff!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And he has kept it a secret from me!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha, like most slaves, was a quick judge of character. She -<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>had an almost intuitive perception of shams. Convinced of the -quadroon’s sincerity, she now threw a cushion on the floor, and, -seating herself on it after the Oriental fashion, frankly told the -whole story of the child Clara, and disclosed the true nature -of her own relations to Ratcliff. When she had concluded, -Madame Volney impulsively kissed her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And are you sure,” she asked, “quite sure that little -Darling, as you call her, will resist Ratcliff to the last?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dat chile will sooner die dan gib up ter dat ole man. -What you ’spose she went out ter buy dat day I met her last? -Wall, missis, she buyed a dagger.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good! I love her!” cried Madame Volney, with flushed -cheeks. “But Esha, do you know where she is now?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, missis; but I tink I better not tell eb’n you,—’cause -you see—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She’s with Miss Tremaine, at the St. Charles!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“De Lord help us! How yer know dat, missis?” cried -Esha, alarmed. “Do Massa Ratcliff know ’bout it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He knows it all, and has made his preparations for seizing -the girl this very day. He’ll be here this morning to give you -your directions. Now, Esha, don’t make a blunder. Don’t -let him see that you’re the girl’s friend. Say nothing of my -visit. I’ll tell you what I suspect: Ratcliff knows his wife -can’t live three months longer. He has never had a child by -her. All his children are mulattoes and illegitimate. The -desire of his heart is for a lawful heir. He means—Are -you sure the girl is white?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I tell yer, missis, whoebber sold her, fust stained her -skin to put up de price. Shouldn’t be ’stonished if dat chile -was kidnapped.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Madame Volney looked at her watch. “Esha,” she said, -“you’ll be employed by Ratcliff to help secure her person. If, -when he comes to you, the ribbon on his straw hat is <em>green</em>, do -as he tells you. Should the ribbon be <em>black</em>, tell him to wait -ten minutes. Then do you run round the corner to Aurora -Street, where you’ll see a carriage with a white handkerchief -held out at the right-hand window. You’ll find me there. -We’ll drive to the St. Charles, and take the girl with us -somewhere out of Ratcliff’s reach. Can you remember all -I’ve told you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>“Ebry word ob it, missis! Tahnk de Lord fur sendin’ yer. -Watch Massa Ratcliff sharp. Fix him sure, missis,—fix -him sure!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Trust me, Esha! He seizes no young girl to-day, unless I -let him. But be very prudent. You may need money.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, missis. No pay fur tellin’ de troof.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But you may need it for the child’s sake.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O yis, missis. I’ll take it fur de chile, sure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Madame Volney placed in her hands thirty dollars in gold, -then left the house, and, hailing a carriage at a neighboring -stand, told the driver where to take her. “Double speed, -double fare!” she added. In ten minutes she was at home.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff had not yet come down. He had rung the bell, and -given orders for an early breakfast. Madame went up to her -dressing-room, and put on her most becoming morning attire. -We have called her a quadroon; but her complexion was of -that clear golden hue, mixed with olive and a dash of carnation, -which so many Southern amateurs prefer to the pure red -and white of a light-haired Anglo-Saxon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When Ratcliff came down, he complimented her on her good -looks, and kissed her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve been to confession,” she said, as she touched the tap -of a splendid silver urn, and let hot water into the cups.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what have you been confessing, Josy?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve been confessing how very foolish I’ve been the last -few months.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Foolish in what, Josephine?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Foolish in my jealousy of <em>you</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jealousy? What cause have I given you for jealousy? -I’ve been too much bothered about public matters to have -time to think of any woman but you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s partly true. But don’t I know what you most -desire of earthly things?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course! You know I desire the success of the Southern -Confederacy, corner-stone and all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, not that. You covet one thing even more than that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! What is it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A legitimate child who may inherit your wealth, and transmit -your name.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>“Yes, I’d like a child. But we must take things as they -come along. You mustn’t be jealous because now and then I -may have dropped a hint of regret that I’ve no direct heir to -my estate.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ve not confined yourself to hints. You’ve been provident -in act as well as in thought.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What the deuce do you mean?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t be angry when I tell you, you haven’t planned a -plan, the last three months, of which I haven’t been aware.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, I’ve always thought you the keenest woman of my -acquaintance; but I’d like to have it put through my hair -what you’re exactly driving at now. What is it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This: I know your scheme in regard to Miss Murray, and, -what is more, I highly approve of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’re the Devil!” exclaimed Ratcliff, starting up from -his seat. Then, seeing Josephine’s unaffected smile and evident -good humor, he sat down.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“At first I was a little chagrined,” she said, “especially when -I found Mademoiselle so very pretty. But I’ve reflected much -on it since, and talked with my confessor about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The deuce you have! Talked with your confessor, eh?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, with my confessor. And the result is, that, so far -from opposing you in your plan, I’ve concluded to give it my -support.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what do you understand to be my plan?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps ’ tis vague even in your own mind as yet. But -I’ll tell you what I mean. Your wife is not likely to live -many weeks longer. You’ll inherit from her a large estate. -You’ll wish to marry again, and this time with a view to -offspring. Both taste and policy will lead you to choose a -young and accomplished woman. Who more suitable than -Miss Murray?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, Josephine, she’s a slave!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A slave, is she? Look me in the face and tell me, if you -can, you believe she has a drop of African blood in her veins. -No! That child must have been kidnapped. And you have -often suspected as much.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where the Devil—Confound the woman!” muttered -Ratcliff, half frightened at what looked like clairvoyance.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>“Yes,” she continued, “her parents must have been of -gentle blood. Look at her hands and feet. Hear her speak.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What is there you don’t find out, Josy?” exclaimed Ratcliff. -“Here you tell me things that have been working in my -mind, which I was hardly aware of myself till you mentioned -them!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, I’ve known all about your search for the girl. ’T was -not till after a struggle I could reconcile it to my mind to lend -you my aid. But this was what I thought: He will soon be a -widower. He will desire to marry; not that he does not love -his Josy—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Josy, you’re right there; you’re a jewel of a woman. -Such devilish good common sense! Go on.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He would marry, not that he does not love his Josy, but -because he wants a legitimate child of his own. That’s but -natural and proper. Why should I oppose it, and thus give -him cause to cast me out from his affections? Why not give -him new reason for attachment, by showing him I am capable -of a sacrifice for his sake? Yes, he will love me none the less -for letting him see that without one jealous pang I can help -him to a young and beautiful wife.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Josy, would you really recommend my marrying this -girl?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why not? Where will you find her equal?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But just think of it,—she was sold to me at public auction -as a slave.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, and the next day Mrs. Gentry wrote you that the -coloring stuff had washed off from her skin, and she was whiter -than any one in the school. You wrote not a word in reply. -But did not the thought occur to you, the child has been kidnapped? -Of course it did! In this great city of rogues and -murderers, did you not consider there were plenty of men -capable of such an act? Deny it if you can.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Josy, you’re enough to unsteady a man’s nerves. How -did you discover there was such a being as Miss Murray? and -how did you get out of my mind what I had thought about the -kidnapping? and how, what I myself had hardly dreamed of, -the idea, namely, of making her my wife?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When one loves,” replied Josephine, “one is quick to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>watch, and sharp to detect. At first, as I’ve told you, I -was disposed to be jealous. But reflection soon convinced me -’ would be for your happiness to take this young person, now -in the false position of a slave, and educate her for your wife. -Even if the world should know her story, what would you -care? You’re above all social criticism. Besides, would it -not be comical for our swarthy Creole ladies to snuff at such a -beautiful blonde, whose very presence would give the lie to all -that malice could insinuate as to her birth?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, I don’t care for what society may say. I’m out of the -reach of its sneers. And what you urge, Josy, is reasonable,—very. -Yes, she’s a remarkably fine girl, and I’ve certainly -taken a strong fancy to her. Some of our first young men are -already deep in love with her. Of course she’d be eternally -grateful, if I were to emancipate her and make her my wife.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Josephine could hardly repress a smile of triumph to see this -thorough-bred tyrant, who knew no law but his own will, thus -falling into the snare she was so delicately spreading for him. -Something of the satisfaction Van Amburgh might have felt -when his tiger succumbed, spread its glow over her cheeks. -Never in his coarse calculations had Ratcliff thought of showing -Clara any further mercy than he had shown to the humblest -of his concubines. And yet Josephine, by her apt suggestions, -had half persuaded him, little given as he was to introspective -analysis, that the idea of making the girl his wife had originated -in his own mind!</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did he keep the whole story from her because he supposed -Josy would be jealous?” asked the quadroon, with a caress.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, yes, Josy; to tell the truth, I thought there’d have -to be a scene sure, when you found out I’d been educating -such a girl with a view to her taking your place some time. -So I kept dark. But you’re a trump,—you are! I shouldn’t -wonder if you could acquire the same influence over her -that you now have over my wife.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Easily!” said Josephine. “I’ve seen her. I like her. -I know we should agree. When she learns it was my wish -you should emancipate and marry her, she will regard me as -her friend. I can teach her not to be jealous of me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Capital!” exclaimed Ratcliff. “Josy can remain where -<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>she is in the family. Josy will not have to abdicate. There’ll -be no unpleasant row between the two women. The whole -thing can be harmoniously managed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why not, Carberry? And let me say ’ would be folly -to seize this girl rudely, wounding her pride and rousing her -resentment. The true way is to decoy her gently till you get -her into your possession, and then secure her by such means -as I can suggest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hang me, but you’re right again, Josy! I had thought -of carrying her off this very day.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I supposed so.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Supposed so? Where in the name of all the devils did -you get your information? For there’s but one person beside -myself who knows anything about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And that’s Mr. Tremaine!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So it is, by Jove! How did you know it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I put this and that together, and drew an inference. You -mean to place her again, for the present, at Mrs. Gentry’s.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“True! That was my plan. But I hadn’t mentioned it to -a soul.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What of that? Where one loves, one has such insight! -But is there any one at Mrs. Gentry’s on whom you can rely -to keep watch of the girl?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, there’s an old slave-woman,—Esha. She has a -grudge against the little miss, and isn’t likely to be too indulgent.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But why, Carberry, would you take the little miss to Mrs. -Gentry’s rather than to your own house? I see! You thought -I would be in the way; that I would be jealous of her! Confess!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Josy, I didn’t think anything else.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, now, let me plan for you: first, I, with Esha, will -call on her. Esha can easily persuade her that the best thing -she can do will be to come with us to this house. We’ll have -the blue room ready for her. It being between two other -rooms, and having no other exit than through them, she will -not have another chance to abscond. Esha would perhaps be -a suitable person to keep guard. But then probably Mrs. Gentry -wouldn’t part with Esha.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>“Bah! Gentry will have to do as I order, or see her school -broken up as an Abolition concern. Your plan strikes me -favorably, Josy; but what if the girl should refuse to accompany -you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We can have an officer close by to apply to in case of -need.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course! What a woman you are for plotting!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Carberry, give me <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>carte blanche</i></span> to act for you, and -I’ll have her here before one o’clock. But there’s a condition, -Carberry.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Name it, Josy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is, that so long as your present wife lives, you shall keep -strictly aloof from the maiden, not even taking the liberty of a -kiss. Don’t you see why? She has been religiously brought -up. She is pure, with affections disengaged. Would it be for -your future interests as a husband to undo all that has been -done for her moral education? Surely no! You mean to -make her your wife; and the wife of Carberry Ratcliff must -be intemerate!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Right! right! A thousand times right!” exclaimed the -debauchee, his pride getting the ascendency.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For the present, then,” continued the quadroon, “you, a -married man, must hardly look on her. Consent to this, and -I’ll take the whole trouble of the affair off your hands. I’ll -bring the girl here, and so mould her that she will be prepared -to be your lawful wife as soon as decency may permit.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff rose from the table, and paced the floor. Under -Josephine’s way of presenting the subject, what had seemed -rather an embarrassing job began to assume a new and attractive -aspect. How well-judged the whole arrangement! The -idea of elevating Clara to the exalted position of successor to -the present Mrs. Ratcliff was fast becoming more and more inviting -to his contemplation. Wealth in a wife would be of no -account. He would have enough of his own. Family rank was -desirable; but did not the girl give every sign of high blood? -It would not be surprising if, in fact, she were of a stock almost -equal to his own in gentility. Besides, would not he, a Ratcliff, -carry, lodged in his own person, sufficient dignity of pedigree -to cover the genealogical shortcomings of a wife?</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>The fact that Onslow and Kenrick admired her did much to -enhance the girl’s value in his eyes; and he could readily see -how it would be for Madame Volney’s interests, since she knew -he meant to marry again, to have the training, to a certain -extent, of his future wife, and put her under a seeming obligation. -And so the quadroon’s protestations that she had conquered -all jealousy on the subject seemed to him the most -natural thing in the world.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Josy,” said he, after a silence of some minutes, “I -accept your condition; I give the promise you demand.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Honor bright?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; you’ll have me close under your eyes. I commit the -girl entirely to your keeping. I will myself go at once and see -Esha, and send her to you here. I’ll also see Tremaine, and -shut up his mouth with a plug that will be effectual. The fellow -owes me money. Then you can take Esha in the carriage, -and go and put your plan in execution.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good! You’ve decided wisely, Carberry. Shall I order -the carriage for you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. I’ll send it back to you with Esha, and then myself -go on foot to the St. Charles to see Tremaine.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff passed out of the breakfast-room, and the quadroon -went to the hat-closet in the hall, and removed the straw hat -with a <em>black</em> ribbon on it, leaving the one distinguished by a -<em>green</em> band. She then rang and ordered the carriage.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXXI.<br />ONE OF THE INSTITUTIONS.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Small service is true service while it lasts;</div> - <div class='line'>Of friends, however humble, scorn not one.”—<cite>Wordsworth.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>On being bought at the auction-block by Ratcliff, and introduced -into his household, Josephine Volney, the quadroon, -had devoted herself to the health of his wife from purely -selfish motives. But in natures not radically perverse, beneficence -cannot long be divorced from benevolence. Josephine -believed her interests lay in preventing as long as possible a -second marriage: hence, at first, her sedulous care of the -invalid wife.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Those who know anything of society in the Slave States are -well aware that concubinage (one of the institutions of <em>the</em> institution) -is there, in many conspicuous instances, as patiently -acquiesced in by wives as polygamy is in Utah. Mrs. Ratcliff -had, at first, almost adored her husband. Very unattractive, -personally, she had yet an affectionate nature, and one of her -most marked traits was gratitude for kindness. Soon Ratcliff -dropped the mask by which he had won her; and she, instead -of lamenting over her mistake, accepted as a necessary evil -the fact of his relations to the handsome slave. The latter -attempted no deception, but conducted herself as discreetly as -any woman, so educated, could have done, under such compulsory -circumstances.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Ratcliff was soon touched by Josephine’s obvious solicitude -to minister to her happiness and health. The slave-girl’s -childlike frankness begot frankness on the part of the wife. -Seeing that their interests were identical, each was gradually -drawn to the other, till a sincere and tender attachment was -the result. The wife was made aware of her husband’s calculations -in regard to a second marriage; and Josephine found in -that wife a faithful and crafty ally, too deep, with all her shallowness, -to be fathomed by the husband.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>No sooner had Ratcliff quitted the house, on the morning of -the breakfast described, than Josephine hurried to the invalid’s -room. A poor diminutive Creole lady, with wrinkled skin, -darker even than the quadroon’s, and with one shoulder higher -than the other, she sat, with a white crape-shawl wrapped -round her, in a large arm-chair. Her face, as Josephine entered, -lighted up with a smile of welcome that for a moment -seemed to transfigure even those withered and pain-stricken -features. In half an hour Josephine had put her in possession -of all the developments of the last two days, and of her own -plans for controlling the movements of Ratcliff in regard to the -young white woman supposed to be his slave.</p> - -<p class='c001'>With absorbed interest the invalid listened to the details, and -approved warmly of what Josephine had planned. Her feminine -curiosity was pleased with the idea of having, in her own -house and under her own eye, this young person whom Ratcliff -had presumed to think of as a second wife; while the thought -of baffling him in his selfish schemes sent a shock of pleasure -to her heart. Furthermore, the excitement seemed to brace -up her frame anew, and to ruffle into breezy action the torpid -tide of her monotonous existence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha was announced and introduced. A new and refreshing -incident for the invalid! And now, if Esha had needed any -further confirmation of the quadroon’s story, it was amply -afforded. Josephine’s project for the present security of Ratcliff’s -white slave was discussed and approved.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The carriage was waiting at the door. “Go now,” said Mrs. -Ratcliff, “and be sure you bring the girl right up to see me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In less than twenty minutes afterwards, as Clara, lonely and -anxious, sat in Tremaine’s drawing-room, a servant entered and -told her that a colored woman was in Number 13, waiting to -see her. Supposing it could be no other than Esha, she followed -the servant to the room, and, on entering, recoiled at sight -of a stranger. For a moment the quadroon was so absorbed -in scanning the girl’s whole personal outline, that there was -silence on both sides.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s wanting?” asked Clara, half dreading some trick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Please close the door, and I’ll tell you,” was the reply. -Clara did as she was requested. “Have you any objections to -locking the door?” continued the quadroon.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>“None whatever,” replied Clara, and she locked it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You fear I may be here as an agent of Mr. Ratcliff,” said -Josephine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! am I betrayed?” cried Clara, instinctively carrying -her hand to her bosom, where lay the weapon she had bought. -The quadroon noticed the gesture, and smiled. “Sit down,” -she said, “and do not consider me an enemy until I have -proved myself such. Listen to what I have to propose.” -Clara took a seat where she could be within reach of the door, -and then pointed to the sofa.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I will sit here,” said the quadroon, complying with the -tacit invitation. “Now, listen, dear young lady, to a proposition -I am authorized to make. Mr. Ratcliff will very soon be -a widower. His wife cannot survive three months. He has -seen you, and likes you. He is willing to lift you from slavery -to freedom,—from poverty to wealth,—from obscurity to -grandeur,—on one very easy condition; this, namely: that, as -soon after his wife’s death as propriety will allow, you will -yourself become Mrs. Ratcliff.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never!” exclaimed Clara, the blood flaming up like red -auroras over neck, face, and brow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But consider, my dear. You will, in the first place, be -forthwith treated with all the respect and consideration due to -Mr. Ratcliff’s future bride. As soon as he has you secure as -his wife, he will emancipate you,—make you a free woman. -Think of that! Mr. Ratcliff is supposed to be worth at least -five millions. You will at once have such a purse as no other -young woman in the city can boast. Now why not be reasonable? -Why not say <em>yes</em> to the proposition?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never! never!” cried Clara, carrying her hand again to -her breast with a gesture she thought significant only to herself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Josephine rose and felt of the bosom of Clara’s dress till she -distinguished the weapon of which Esha had spoken. Then a -smile, so sincere as to forbid suspicion, broke over the quadroon’s -face, and she exclaimed: “Let me kiss you! Let me -hug you!” And having given vent to her satisfaction in an -embrace, she unlocked the door, and there stood Esha.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What does it all mean, Esha?” asked Clara, bewildered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It mean, darlin’, dat Massa Ratcliff hab tracked you to dis -<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>yere place, an’ we two women mean to pull de wool ober his -eyes, so he can’t do yer no harm no how. You jes do what -we want yer to, and we’ll bodder him so he sha’n’ know his -head’s his own.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Josephine then communicated all the facts that had come -to her knowledge in regard to Ratcliff’s pursuit of Clara, together -with her own conversation with him that morning, and -the plan she had contrived for his discomfiture. “As soon,” -she said, “as such an opportunity offers that I can be sure you -can be put beyond his reach, I will supply you with money, -and help you to escape.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Truth beamed from her looks, and made itself musical in her -tones, and Clara gratefully pressed her hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And shall I have Esha with me?” she asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; and Mrs. Ratcliff, though an invalid, will also befriend -you. ’T will be strange indeed if we four women can’t -defeat one man.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I shall have all the slave-hunters in the Confederacy -after me if I try to get away.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do not fear. We have golden keys that open many doors -of escape.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara did not hesitate. She had faith in Esha’s quickness, -as well as in her own, to detect insincerity. And so she was -persuaded that her safest present course would be to go boldly -into the house of the very man she had most cause to dread!</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was agreed that the three should leave together at once. -Clara went to her sleeping-room, and there, encountering the -chambermaid, made her a present of two dollars, and sent her -off. Laura was absent at the dressmaker’s.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I would like,” said Clara, “to find out at the bar what -charge has been made for my stay here, and pay it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me do it for you,” suggested the quadroon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you would be so kind!” replied Clara. “Here are -fifteen dollars. I don’t think it can come to more than that.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Without taking the money, Josephine left the room. In five -minutes she returned with a receipted bill, made out against -“Miss Tremaine’s friend.” This receipt Clara enclosed, together -with a five-dollar gold-piece, in a letter to Laura, containing -these words:—</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span></div> -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“I thank you for all the hospitality I have received at your -hands. Enclosed you will find my hotel bill receipted, also -five dollars for the use of such dresses as I have worn. With -best wishes for your mother’s restoration to health and for your -own welfare, I bid you good by.</p> - -<div class='c015'>P. B.”</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The three women now passed through a side entrance to the -street where the carriage was in waiting; and before half an -hour had elapsed, Clara was established in the blue room of the -house in Lafayette Square,—the invalid lady had seen her -and approved,—and Esha, like a faithful hound, was following -her steps, keeping watch, as Ratcliff had directed, though -for other reasons than he had imagined.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hardly had Clara left the hotel, before Vance called. He -had come, fully resolved to wring from her, if possible, the -secret of her trouble. Much to his disappointment, he learned -she had gone and would not return. He called a second time, -and saw Miss Tremaine. That young lady, warned and threatened -by her father, now displayed such a ready and facile gift -for lying, as would have highly distinguished her in diplomacy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Only think of it, Mr. Vance,” said the intrepid Laura, “it -turns out that Miss Brown has been having a love affair with -one of her father’s clerks, a low-born Yankee. He followed -her to New Orleans,—managed to send a letter to her at Mrs. -Gentry’s,—Clara went forth to find him, but, failing in her -search, came to claim hospitality of me. This morning her -father—a very decent man he seems to be—arrived from -Mobile and took her, fortunately before she had been able to -meet her lover.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The story was plausible. Vance, however, looked the narrator -sharply and searchingly in the face. She met his glance -with an expression beaming with innocence and candor. It -was irresistible. The strong man surrendered all suspicion, -and gave in “beat.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXXII.<br />A DOUBLE VICTORY.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Whence it is manifest that the soul, speaking in a natural sense, loseth nothing by -Death, but is a very considerable gainer thereby. For she does not only possess as much -body as before, with as full and solid dimensions, but has that accession cast in, of having -this body more invigorated with life and motion than it was formerly.”—<cite>Henry More</cite>, -A. D. 1659.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“No, sure, ’t is ever youth there! Time and Death</div> - <div class='line'>Follow our flesh no more; and that forced opinion,</div> - <div class='line'>That spirits have no sexes, I believe not.</div> - <div class='line'>There <em>must</em> be love,—there <em>is</em> love!”</div> - <div class='line in25'><cite>Beaumont and Fletcher.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>“I shall be jealous of this little lady if you go on at this -rate,” said Madame Volney to Mrs. Ratcliff, a week after -Clara had been established in the house.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never fear that I shall love you less, my dear Josephine,” -replied the invalid. Then, pointing to her heart, she added: -“I’ve a place here big enough for both of you. I only wish -’ were in better repair.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you had those sharp throbbings to-day?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not badly. You warn me against excitement. I sometimes -think I’m better under it. Certainly I’ve improved -since Esha and Darling have been here. What should I do -now without Darling to play and read to me? What a touch -she has! And what a voice! And then her selection of music -and of books is so good. By the way, she promised to translate -a story for me from the German. I wonder if she has it -finished. Go ask her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The answer was brought by Clara herself, and Josephine left -the two together. Yes, Clara had written out the story. It -was called <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Zu Spat</i></span>, or “Too Late,” and was by an anonymous -author. Clara read aloud from it. She had read about -ten minutes, when the following passage occurred:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“Selfish and superstitious, the Baroness put out of her mind -the irksome thought of making her will; but now, struck -speechless by disease, and paralyzed in her hands, she was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span>impotent to communicate her wishes. Her agonized effort to -say something in her last moments undoubtedly related to a will. -But she died intestate, and all her large estate passed into the -hands of a comparative stranger. And thus the humble friends -whose kindness had saved and prolonged her life were left to -struggle with the world for a meagre support. If in the new -condition to which she had passed through death she could -look back on her selfishness and its consequences, what poignant -regrets must have been hers!”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>“Read that passage again,” said Mrs. Ratcliff; adding, after -Clara had complied, “You needn’t read any more now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>That evening the wife summoned the husband to an interview. -Somewhat surprised at the unusual command, Ratcliff -made his appearance and took a seat at her side. His manner -was that of a man who thinks no woman can resist him, and -that his transparent cajoleries are the proper pabulum for her -weak intellect,—poor thing!</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, my peerless one, what is it?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wish to talk with you, Ratcliff, about this white slave of -yours. What do you think of her?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Think of her? Nothing! I’ve given no thought to the -subject. I’ve hardly looked at her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Lie Number 1,” thought the invalid, looking him in the -face, but betraying no distrust in her expression.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The truth was, that Ratcliff, for the first time in his life, was -under the power of a sentiment which, if not love, was all that -there was in his nature akin to it. Even at political meetings -his thoughts would stray from the public business, from the fulminations -of “last-ditch” orators and curb-stone generals, and -revert to that youthful and enchanting figure. True, Josephine -rigidly exacted conformity to the conditions that kept him aloof -from all communication with the girl. But Ratcliff, through -the window-blinds, would now and then see her, in the pride -of youth and beauty, walking with Esha in the garden. He -would hear her songs, too. And once,—when he thought no -one knew it,—though the quadroon had her eye on him,—he -overheard Clara’s conversation. “She has mind as well -as beauty,” thought he.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And that brilliant and dainty creature was <em>his</em>,—<em>his!</em> He -<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>could, if he chose, marry her to the blackest of his slaves. Of -course he could! There was no indignity he could not put -upon her, under the plea of upholding his rights as a master. -Had he not once proved it in another case, on his own plantation? -And who had ever dared raise a voice against the just -assertion of his rights? Truly, any such rash malcontents, -opening their lips, would have been in danger of being ducked -as Abolitionists!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Patience! Yes, Josephine was right in her scheme of keeping -the young girl secluded from his too fascinating society. -Not a hint must the maiden have of the favor with which he -regarded her,—not an intimation, until the present Mrs. Ratcliff -should considerately “step out.” Then—Well, what -then? Why, then an end to hopes deferred and desires unfulfilled! -Then an immediate private marriage, to be followed -by a public one, after a decent interval.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Every secret device and cherished anticipation, meanwhile, -of that imperious nature was understood and analyzed by the -quadroon. She felt a vindictive satisfaction in seeing him riot -in calculations which she would task her best energies to baffle. -Esha’s stories of his conduct to Estelle had withered the last -bloom of affection which Josephine’s heart had cherished towards -him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m glad you’re so indifferent to this white slave,” said -Mrs. Ratcliff to her husband.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And why should you be glad, my pet?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because, Ratcliff, I want you to give her to me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Staggered by the suddenness of the request, and puzzled for -an answer, he replied: “But she may prove a very valuable -piece of property. There’s many a man who would pay ten -thousand dollars for her, two or three years hence.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, if you don’t want to <em>give</em> her, then <em>sell</em> her to me. -I’ll pay you twenty thousand dollars for her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You shall have her for nothing, my dear,” said Ratcliff, -after reflecting that the slave would still be virtually his, inasmuch -as no conveyance of her could be made by his wife without -his consent.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Detecting the trap, the wife at once replied: “Thank you, -dear husband. This generosity is so like you! Can she be -freed?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span>“No. There are recent State laws against emancipation. -It was found there were too many weak-minded persons, who, -in their last moments, beginning to have scruples about slave-holding, -would think to purchase heaven by emancipating their -slaves. The example was bad, and productive of discontent -among those left in bondage.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, then, Ratcliff, there’s one little form you must consent -to. The title-deed must be vested in Mr. Winslow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff started as if recoiling from a pitfall. The remark -brought home to his mind the disagreeable consideration that -there was nearly half a million of dollars which ought to come -to his wife, but which was absolutely in the keeping and under -the control of Simon Winslow. It happened in this wise: -The father of Mrs. Ratcliff, old Kittler, not having that entire -faith in his son-in-law which so distinguished a member of the -chivalry as the South Carolinian ought to have commanded, -gave into the hands of Winslow a large sum of money, relying -solely upon his honor to use it <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>in loco parentis</i></span> for the benefit -of the lady. But there were no legal restrictions imposed -upon Simon as to the disposition of the property, and if he had -chosen to give or throw it away, or keep it himself, he might -have done it with impunity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Winslow acted much as he would have done if Mrs. Ratcliff -had been his own daughter. He invested the money solely for -her ultimate benefit and disposal, seeing that her husband already -had millions which she had brought him. Ratcliff, however, -regarded as virtually his the money in Winslow’s hands, -and had several angry discussions with him on the subject. -But Simon was impracticable. The only concession he would -make was to say, that, in the event of Mrs. Ratcliff’s death, he -should respect any <em>requests</em> she might have made. There had -consequently been an informal will, if <em>will</em> it could be called, -made by her a year before, in Ratcliff’s favor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wanting money now to carry out his speculations in slaves, -Ratcliff had again applied to Winslow for this half a million,—had -tried wheedlings and threats, both in vain. He had even -threatened to denounce Simon before the Committee of Safety,—to -denounce him as a “damned Yankee and Abolitionist.” -To which Simon had replied by taking a pinch of snuff.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>Simon, though born somewhere in the vicinity of Plymouth -Rock, was one of the oldest residents of New Orleans. He -had helped General Jackson beat off Packenham. He had -stood by him in his rough handling of the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>habeas corpus</i></span> act. -Simon had been a slaveholder, though rather as an experiment -than for profit; for, finding that the State Legislature were -going to pass a law against emancipation, he took time by the -forelock, and not only made all his slaves free, but placed them -where they could earn their living.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The invalid wife’s proposal to vest the title to the white slave -in Winslow caused in Ratcliff a visible embarrassment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You know, my dear,” he replied, “I would do anything for -your gratification; but there are particular reasons why—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why what, husband?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Give me a few days to think the matter over. We’ll talk -of it when I haven’t so much on my mind. Meanwhile I’ll -tell you what I <em>will</em> consent to: Josephine shall be yours to do -with just as you please.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come, that’s something,” said the wife. “What I ask, then, -is, that you convey Josephine to Mr. Winslow to hold in trust -for me. Will you do this the first thing in the morning?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I certainly will,” replied Ratcliff, flattering himself that his -ready compliance with one of his wife’s morbid whims would -more than content her for his evasion of the other.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, then, good night,” said she, pointing to the door.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She submitted, with a slight shudder, imperceptible to Ratcliff, -to be kissed by him, and he went down-stairs. Josephine -issued from behind a screen whither the wife had beckoned her -to go on his first coming in. If there had been any remnant -of affection for him in the quadroon’s heart, she was well cured -of it by what she had heard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The invalid called for writing materials, and penned a note. -“Take this, Josephine,” she said, “early to-morrow to Mr. -Winslow. In it I simply tell him of Ratcliff’s proposition in -regard to yourself, and ask him, the moment that affair is -attended to, to come and see me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The clock was striking twelve the next day when Mr. -Winslow came, and Josephine ushered him into the invalid’s -presence.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span>“You may leave us alone for a while, Josephine,” she said.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As soon as the quadroon had gone out and shut the door, -the invalid motioned to Winslow to draw near. He was upwards -of seventy, tall and erect, with venerable gray locks, -and an expression of face at once brisk and gentle, benevolent -and keen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s the state of the property you still hold for me, Mr -Winslow?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is half invested in real estate in Northern cities, and -half in special deposits of gold in Northern banks.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! Then you must have sent it North long before -these troubles began.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, more than four years ago,—soon after the Nashville -Convention.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s the amount in your hands?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Half a million; probably it will be seven hundred thousand, -if gold should rise, as I think it will.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And how much, Mr. Winslow, of the property, my father -left me has gone to Mr. Ratcliff?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“More than three millions.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very well. I wish to revoke all previous requests I may -have made as to the disposition of the property in your hands. -Now take your pen and write as I shall dictate.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me first explain, Mrs. Ratcliff, that any conveyance of -personalty you might make would be null without your husband’s -consent. But in this case forms are of no account, and -even witnesses are unnecessary. Everything is left to my -individual honor and discretion.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m aware of that, Mr. Winslow. It is not so much a -will as a series of requests I’ve to make.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I see you understand it, madam. The memoranda you -give me I will embody in the form of a will of my own. -Proceed!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Put down,” said the invalid, “a hundred thousand for the -Orphan Asylum.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excellent; but as the Secessionists are using that sacred -fund for war purposes, I shall take the liberty of withholding -the bequest for the present. Go on.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A hundred thousand to the Lying-in Hospital.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span>“Nothing could be more proper. Proceed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A hundred thousand to the fund for the Sisters of Charity.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! those dear sisters! Bless you for remembering them, -madam.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A hundred thousand to be distributed in sums of five thousand -severally to the persons whose names I have here written -down.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She handed him a sheet of paper containing the names, and -he transcribed them carefully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And now,” resumed the invalid, “the remainder of the -fund in your possession I wish paid over, when you can safely -do it, one half to the slave Josephine, the other half to the white -slave, Ellen Murray, of whom Josephine will tell you, and -whom you must rescue from slavery. Both must be free before -the money can be of any service to them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course. Their owner could at once appropriate any -sum you might leave to them, even though it were a million -of dollars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have now heard all I have to say, Mr. Winslow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then, madam, you will please write under these memoranda -with your own hand something to this effect, and sign -your name, with date, place, et cetera: ‘<em>This I declare to be -my own spontaneous, unbiassed request to Mr. Winslow, to dispose -of the property in his possession, in the manner hereinabove -stated.</em>’ The autograph will have no legal force, but it -may serve to satisfy your husband.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lady wrote, and handed back the paper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good!” said Winslow. “Before taking another meal, I -will draw up and sign a will by which your requests can be -made effectual.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your hand, Mr. Winslow! My father trusted you as he -did no other man, and I thank you for your loyalty to what you -knew to be his wishes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The task he put upon me has been a very simple one, -madam. Good by. We shall soon meet again, I hope.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. I shall be quite well of my heart-complaint <em>then</em>. -Good by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hardly had Winslow left the house than Ratcliff drove up -and entered. He was in a jubilant mood. News had just been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>received of the Confederate victory at Bull Run. He knocked -at his wife’s door. “Come in!” He entered. Josephine and -Clara were present, trying to soothe the invalid. One was -bathing her forehead with <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>eau de Cologne</i></span>; the other was -kneeling, and rubbing her feet. She had been telling them -what she had done. She had kissed first one and then the -other, lavishing on them profuse tokens of affection. Her eyes -gleamed with an unnatural brightness, and her cheeks were -flushed with the glow of a great excitement.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Ratcliff came in she rose, and, standing between Josephine -and Clara, put an arm round the shoulder of each, and looked -her husband steadily in the face. Her expression was that of -one who cannot find words adequate to the utterance of some -absorbing emotion. The look was compounded at once of defiance -and of pity. Her lips moved, but no articulation followed. -Then suddenly, with a gasped “Ah!” she convulsively bowed -her body like a tree smitten by the tornado. The pain, if -sharp, was but for a moment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The motion was her last. She sank into the faithful arms -that encircled her. The one attenuated chord that bound her -to the mortal life had been snapped.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff started forward, and satisfied himself that his wife -was really dead. Then he looked up at Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She caught the expression of his countenance, and instinctively -comprehended it, even as the little bird understands the -hawk, or the lamb the wolf. Josephine saw it too. What a -triumph now to think that she was no longer <em>his</em> slave!</p> - -<p class='c001'>But Clara,—what of <em>her</em>? Mrs. Ratcliff’s sudden death -seemed to shatter the last barrier between her and danger.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff did not affect to conceal his satisfaction. Here was -a double victory! The Federals and his wife both disposed -of in one day! Youth and beauty within his grasp! Truly, -fortune seemed to be heaping her good things upon him. That -half a million too, in Winslow’s hands, would come very opportunely; -for slaves could be bought cheap, dog-cheap, now that -croakers were predicting ruin to the institution.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Josephine,” said he, “I must go at once to see Winslow, -the late”—how readily he seized on that word!—“the late -Mrs. Ratcliff’s man of business. I may not be home to dinner. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_313'>313</span>You’d better not take out the carriage. The horses would be -frightened; for the streets are all in commotion with salvos for -our great victory. Good by till I return.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Once more he turned on Clara that look from which she had -twice before shrunk dismayed and exasperated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After he had gone, “Help me to escape at once!” she exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No,” replied Josephine. “This is our safest place for the -present. The avenues of escape from the city are all closed; -and we should find it difficult to go where we would not be -tracked. The danger is not immediate. Do not look so wild, -Darling. I swear to you that I will protect you to the last. -Whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will -lodge.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_314'>314</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXXIII.<br />SATAN AMUSES HIMSELF</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“We can die;</div> - <div class='line'>And, dying nobly, though we leave behind us</div> - <div class='line'>These clods of flesh, that are too massy burdens,</div> - <div class='line'>Our living souls fly crowned with living conquests.”</div> - <div class='line in25'><cite>Beaumont and Fletcher.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Vance sat in his room at the St. Charles. He seemed -plunged in meditation. His fingers were playing with a -little gold cross he wore round his neck; a trinket made very -precious by the dying kiss and pious faith of Estelle. It recalled -to him daily those memorable moments of their last -earthly parting. And she now seemed so near to him, so truly -alive to him, in all his perplexities, that he would hardly have -been surprised to see her suddenly standing in immortal youth -by his side. How could he, while thus possessed with her enchanting -image, evoke from his heart any warmer sentiment -than that of friendship for any other woman?</p> - -<p class='c001'>He thought of the so-called Perdita. He feared he would -have to leave the city without getting any further light than -Miss Tremaine had vouchsafed on the mystery that surrounded -that interesting young person. One thing, on reconsideration, -puzzled him and excited his distrust in Laura’s story. Perdita -had pretended that the name Brown was improvised for the -occasion,—assumed while she was conversing with him. -Could she have been deceiving?</p> - -<p class='c001'>There were still other reflections that brought anxiety. He -had not yet heard from Peek. Could that faithful friend have -failed in all his inquiries for Hyde?</p> - -<p class='c001'>The immediate matter for consideration, however, was the -danger that began to darken over Vance’s own path. It had -been ascertained by leading Secessionists, interested in providing -for the financial wants of the Rebellion, that Vance had -drawn more than a hundred thousand dollars of special deposits -<span class='pageno' id='Page_315'>315</span>of gold from the banks since the fall of Sumter. The question -was now put to him by the usurpers, What had been done -with that money? He was summoned to appear before the -authorities with an explanation. A committee would be in -session that very evening to hear his statement.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was still another subject to awaken his concern. -Kenrick had been called on to set at rest certain unfavorable -reports, by appearing before that same committee, and accepting -a captaincy in the confederate army. Onslow was to be -presented with a colonel’s commission.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance had made preparations for the escape of Kenrick and -himself. A little steam-tug called the Artful Dodger, carrying -the Confederate flag, lay in the river. Everybody supposed -she was a sort of spy on United States cruisers. For two -days she had lain there with steam all up, ready to start at a -moment’s warning. Her crew appeared to be all ashore, except -the captain, mate, engineer, cook, and two stewards. -The last three were black men. The other three, if they were -not Yankees, had caught some peculiarities of pronunciation -which the schoolmaster is vainly striving to extirpate at the -North. These men said <em>beeyownd</em> for <em>bounds</em> and <em>neeyow</em> for -<em>now</em>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>While Vance was meditating on his arrangements, a card -was brought to him. It bore the name “Simon Winslow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Show him in,” said Vance to the servant.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Simon entered, Vance recognized him as the individual -who had aided him the day of the rescue of Quattles from the -mob.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s a sort of freemasonry, Mr. Vance,” said Winslow, -“that assures me I may trust you. Your sympathies, sir, are -with the Union.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wary and suspicious, Vance bowed, but made no reply.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do not doubt me,” continued Winslow. “True, I’ve been -a slaveholder. But ’t is now several years since I owned a -slave. Mr. Vance, I want your counsel, and, it may be, your -aid. Still distrustful? How shall I satisfy you that I’m not -a traitor knave?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Enough, Mr. Winslow! I’ll trust your threescore years -and your loyal face. Tell me what I can do for you. Be -seated.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_316'>316</span>They sat down, and the old man resumed: “I have lived in -this city more than forty years, Mr. Vance, but for some time -I’ve foreseen that there would be little hope for a man of -Northern birth unless he would consent to howl with the pack -for secession and a slave confederacy. Now I’m too old to -tune my bark to any such note. The consequence is, I am a -marked man, liable at any moment to be seized and imprisoned. -My property here is nearly all in real estate; so if -that is confiscated, as it will be, I’ve no fear but Uncle Sam -will soon come to give it back to me. The rest of my assets -it will be hard for the keenest-scented inquisitor to find. To-day, -by the death of Mrs. Ratcliff—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of what Mrs. Ratcliff?” inquired Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mrs. Carberry Ratcliff. By her death I become the -legally irresponsible, and therefore all the more <em>morally</em> the -responsible, manager of an estate of more than half a million, -of which a considerable portion is to be used by me for the -benefit of two women at present slaves.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But her husband will never consent to it!” interposed -Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Fortunately,” replied Winslow, “all the property was some -time since sent North and converted into gold. Well: I’ve -just come from an interview with Ratcliff himself. He came -to tell me of his wife’s death. He brought with him a <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>quasi</i></span> -will, signed a year ago, in which his wife requests me to hand -over to him such property as I may consider at her disposal. -He called on me to demand that I should forthwith surrender -my trust; said he was in immediate need of three hundred -thousand dollars. He did not dream of a rebuff. He was in -high spirits. The news from Bull Run had greatly elated -him. His wife’s death he plainly regarded as a happy relief. -Conceive of his wrath, when, in the midst of his lofty hopes -and haughty demands, I handed him a copy of the memoranda, -noted down by me this very day, in which Mrs. Ratcliff makes -a very different disposition of the property.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I know something of the man’s temper,” said Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He laughed a scornful laugh,” resumed Winslow, “and, -shaking his forefinger at me, said: ‘You shall swing for this, -you damned old Yankee! Your trusteeship isn’t worth a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_317'>317</span>straw. I’ll have you compelled to disgorge, this very hour.’ -But when I told him that the whole half-million, left in my -hands by his wife’s father, was safely deposited in gold in a -Northern city, the man actually grew livid with rage. He -drew his Derringer on me, and would probably have shot me -but for the sober second thought that told him he could make -more out of me living than dead. In a frenzy he left my -office. This was about half an hour ago. After reflection on -our interview I concluded it would be prudent in me to escape -from the city if possible, and I have come to ask if you can aid -me in doing it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing could be more opportune,” replied Vance, “than -your coming. I have laid all my plans to leave in a small -steamer this very night. A young friend goes with me. You -shall accompany us. Have you any preparations to make?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“None, except to find some trustworthy person with whom -I can leave an amount of money for the two slave-women of -whom I spoke. For it would be dangerous, if not impracticable, -to attempt to take them with us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, use your golden keys to unlock their chains in this -case,” said Vance. “Do not show yourself again on the street. -Ratcliff will at once have detectives at your heels. Hark! -There’s a knock at the door. Pass into my chamber, and lock -yourself in, and open only to my rapping, thus,—one, two—one, -two—one.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Winslow obeyed, and Vance, opening his parlor door, met -Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, cousin,” asked Vance, “are you all ready? You -look pale, man! What’s the matter?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing,” replied Kenrick; “that is, everything. I wish -I’d never seen that Perdita Brown! Look here! They’ve -got her photograph in the print-shops. Beautiful, is it not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; it almost does her justice. Could you draw out from -the Tremaines no remark which would afford a further clew?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“After you had failed, what could I hope to do? But I’ll -tell you what I ventured upon. All stratagems in love and -war are venial, I suppose. Seeing that Miss Tremaine was -deeply interested in your conquering self, I tried to pique -her by making her think you were secretly enamored of Miss -<span class='pageno' id='Page_318'>318</span>Brown. She denied it warmly. I then said: ‘Reflect! Hasn’t -he been very inquisitive in trying to find out all he could -about her?’ She was obliged to confess that you had; and at -last, after considerable skirmishing between us, she dropped -this remark: ‘Those who would fall in love with her had -better first find out whether she’s a lady.’ ‘She certainly -appears one,’ I replied. ‘Yes,’ said Miss Tremaine, ‘and so -does many a Creole who has African blood in her veins.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! what could that mean?” exclaimed Vance, thoughtfully. -“Can that story of a paternal Brown be all a lie?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here there was a low knock at the door. Vance opened it, -and there stood Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come in!” said Vance, grasping him by the hand, drawing -him in, and closing the door. “What news?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And then, seeing the negro’s hesitation, Vance turned to -Kenrick, and said: “Cousin, this is the man to whom you -need no introduction. He was christened Peculiar Institution; -but, for brevity, we call him Peek.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick put out his hand with a face so glowing with a -cordial respect that Peek could not resist the proffer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, Peek,” said Vance, “pull off that hot wig and those -green spectacles, and, unless you would keep us standing, sit -down and be at ease. There! That’s right. Now, first of -all, did you hit upon any trace of your wife and boy?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“None, Mr. Vance. I think they cannot be in Texas.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then what of Colonel Delancy Hyde?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Colonel was said to have attached himself to the fortunes -of General Van Dorn. That’s all I could find out about -Hyde.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pity! I must unearth the fellow somehow. The fate of -that poor little girl of the Pontiac haunts me night and day. -My suspicions of foul play have been fully confirmed. When -you have time, read this letter which I had written to send -you. It will tell you of all I learnt from Quattles and Amos -Slink. But you have something to ask. What is it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where shall I find Captain Onslow of the Confederate -army?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance pointed to Kenrick, who replied: “I know him well. -He is probably now in this house. ’T is his usual time for -dressing for dinner.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_319'>319</span>“I’ve terrible news for him,” said Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What has happened?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“On my way from Austin to Fort Duncan on the Rio -Grande I passed through San Antonio. You have heard something -of the persecutions of Union men in Western Texas?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. Good Heavens! Is old Onslow among the victims?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He and his whole family—wife, son, and daughter—have -been slain by the Confederate agents.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The cousins looked at each other, and each grew paler as he -read the other’s thought. Vance spoke first. “Go on, Peek,” -he said. “Tell us what you know.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The old man, you see,” said Peek, “has been trying for -some time to do without slave labor. He has employed a good -many Germans on his lands. The slaveholders haven’t liked -this. At the beginning of the Rebellion he went with old -Houston and others against secession; but when Houston -caved in, Onslow remained firm and plucky. He kept quiet, -however, and did nothing that the Secesh authorities could find -fault with. But what they wanted was an excuse for murdering -him and seizing his lands. They employed three scoundrels, a -broken-down lawyer, a planter, and a horse-jockey, to visit him -under the pretence that they were good Union and antislavery -men, trying to escape the conscription. The old man fell into -the trap. Thinking he was among friends, he freely declared, -that ‘he meant to keep true to the old flag; that only one of his -family had turned traitor; the rest (thank God!) including the -women, were thoroughly loyal; that secession would prove a -failure, and end (thank God always!) in the breaking up of -slavery.’ At the same time he told them he should make no -resistance, either open or clandestine, to the laws of the State. -The scoundrels tried to implicate him in some secret plot, but -failed. They had drawn out of him enough, however, for their -purposes. They left him, and straightway denounced him as -an Abolitionist. A gang of cutthroats, set on by the Rebel -leaders, came to hang him. Well knowing he could expect no -mercy, the old man barricaded his doors, armed his household, -and prepared to resist. The women loaded the guns while the -men fired. Several of the assailants were wounded. The -rest grew furious, and at last made an entrance by a back door, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_320'>320</span>rushed in, and overpowered William Onslow, the son, who had -received a ball in his neck. They dragged him out and hung -him to a tree. The daughter they tried to pinion and lash to -the floor, but she fought so desperately that a ruffian, whose -hair she had torn out by the roots, shot her dead. The -mother, in a frantic attempt to save the daughter, received a -blow on the head from which she died. The old man, exhausted -and fatally wounded, was disarmed, and placed under -guard in the room from which he had been firing. It was not -till the women and the son were dead that I arrived on the -spot. I claimed to be a Secesh nigger, and the passes Mr. -Vance had given me confirmed my story. The Rebels regarded -me as a friend and helper. I lurked round the room where the -old man was confined, and at last, through whiskey, I persuaded -his guard to lie down and go to sleep. I then made myself -known to the sufferer. I helped him write a letter to his surviving -son. Here it is, stained as you see by the writer’s blood. -You can read it, Mr. Vance. It contains no secrets. Hardly -had I concealed it in my pocket, when some of the Rebels came -in, seized the old man, helpless and dying as he was, and, dragging -him out, hung him on a tree by the side of his son.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek ended his narrative, and Vance, taking the proffered -letter, slowly drew it from the envelope and unfolded it. There -dropped out four strands of hair: one white, one iron-gray, one -a fine and thick flaxen, and one a rich brown-black.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I cut off those strands of hair, thinking that Captain Onslow -might prize them,” said Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You did well,” remarked Vance. “And since you have -authority to permit it, I will read this letter.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He then read aloud as follows:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Stricken down by a death-wound, I write this. When it</div> - <div class='line'>reaches you, my son, you will be the last survivor of your</div> - <div class='line'>family. The faithful negro who bears this letter will tell you</div> - <div class='line'>all. You may rely on what he says. This crafty, this Satanic</div> - <div class='line'>Slave Power has—I can use the pen no longer. But I</div> - <div class='line'>can dictate. The negro must be my amanuensis.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>And then, in a different handwriting, the letter proceeded:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“This Slave Power, which, for many weeks past, has been -hunting down and hanging Union men, has at last laid its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_321'>321</span>bloody hand on our innocent household. Should you meet -Colonel A. J. Hamilton,<a id='r34' /><a href='#f34' class='c014'><sup>[34]</sup></a> he will tell you something of what -the pro-slavery butchers have been doing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yesterday three men called on me. They brought forged -letters from one I knew to be my friend. The trick succeeded. -I admitted them to my confidence. They left and denounced -me to the Confederate leaders. My only crime was a secret -sympathy with the Union cause. Not a finger had I lifted or -threatened to lift against the ruling powers of the State. But -I did not love slavery,—that was the crime of crimes in the -eyes of Jeff Davis’s immediate partisans and friends.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To-day they came with ropes to hang us,—to hang us, -remember, not for resistance to authority, however usurped, -not for one imprudent act or threat against slavery, but simply -because we were known at heart to disapprove of slavery, -and consequently to love the old flag. And many hundreds -have been hung here for no other offence. We knew we could -expect no better fate than our neighbors had bravely encountered; -and we resolved, men and women, to sell our lives -dearly. Your brother fell wounded, and was hung; then your -sister, resisting outrage, was slain; then your mother, striving -to protect Emily, received a mortal blow. And I am lying -here wounded, soon to be dragged forth and hung—for what?—for -unbelief, not in a God, but in the Southern Confederacy -and its corner-stone!</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And this is slavery! All these brutalities and wrongs -spring from slavery as naturally as the fruit from the blossom. -That which is inherently wrong must, by eternal laws, still produce -and reproduce wrong. The right to hold one innocent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_322'>322</span>man a slave, implies the right to enslave or murder any other -man! There is no such right. It is a lie born in the inmost -brain of hell. No laws can make it a right. No clamor of -majorities can give it a sanction. In slavery, Satan once more -scales the heavenly heights.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Jeff Davis, I hear, has just joined the church. Would he -be pardoned, and <em>retain</em> the offence? If so, not prayers nor -sacraments can save his trembling and perjured soul from the -guilt of such wrongs as I and mine, and hundreds of other true -men and women, here in Texas have fallen under because of -slavery. God is not to be cheated by any such flattering unction -as Davis is laying to his heart. The more he seeks to -cover profane with holy things, the deeper will be his damnation -in that world where all shams and self-delusions are dissolved, -and the true man stands revealed, to be judged by his -fidelity to Christ’s golden rule,—to the cause of justice and -humanity on earth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Our national agony is the old conflict of the Divine with -the Satanic principle. Believe in God, my son, and you cannot -doubt the result. Do you suppose Eternal Justice will be -patient much longer? Think of the atrocities to which this -American slave system has reconciled us! A free white man -can, in any of the Slave States, go into a negro’s house and -beat or kill any of the inmates, and not be prosecuted by law, -except a free white man sees him do it; because <em>a negro’s testimony -is not taken against a white man</em>. As for the <em>marriage</em> of -slaves, you well know what a mere farce—what a subject for -ribaldry and laughter—it is among the masters. No tie, -whether of affection, of blood, or of form, is respected.<a id='r35' /><a href='#f35' class='c014'><sup>[35]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“The originators of this rebellion saw that <em>by inevitable laws -of population</em> slavery must go down under a republican form -of government. Their fears and their jealousies of freedom -grew intolerable. The very word <em>free</em> became hateful. They -saw that their property in slaves depended for its duration on -the action of political forces slumbering in the mass of their -white population, which population, though now densely ignorant, -would gradually learn that slavery is adverse to the interests -of nine tenths of the whites. And so this war was originated -<em>even less to separate from the North than to crush into -hopeless subjection, through that separation, the white masses at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_323'>323</span>the South</em>. The slave barons dreaded lest this drugged and -stupefied giant should rouse from his ignoble slumber, and, -learning his strength, and opening his eyes to the truth, should, -Samson-like, seize the pillars of their system. To prevent this, -a grand oligarchy of slaveholders must be created, and the liberties -of the whites destroyed!</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You will see all this now, my son. Yes, I have this comfort -in my extremity: my son will be converted from wrong; -the stubborn head will be reached through the stricken heart; -we shall not have died in vain. And his conversion will be -instantaneous. But be prudent, my son. Let not passion betray -you. These Rebel leaders are as remorseless as they are -crafty. All the bad energies of the very prince of devils are -ranged on their side, and will help them to temporary success.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let them see that higher and more persistent energies can -spring from the right. What I most fear for the North is the -paralyzing effect of its prosperity. It will go on thriving on -the war, while the South is learning the wholesome training -of adversity. Young men at the North will be tempted by -money-making to stay at home. The voice of Mammon will -be louder than the voice of God in their hearts. This will be -their tremendous peril. But God will not be thwarted. If -prosperity will not make the North do God’s work, then adversity -must be called in.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Set your heart on no private vengeance, my son. Take -this as my dying entreaty. Let your revenge be the restoration -of the old flag. All the rest must follow as the night the -day.... And now, farewell! May God bless and guide you. -I go to join your mother, brother, and sister. Their spirits are -round me while I speak. Their love goes forth to you with -mine, and my prayer for you is their prayer also. Adieu!”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>There was silence for a full minute after the reading.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll wait,” said Kenrick, “till he gets through dinner before -I tell him the news. He’ll need all his strength, poor -fellow!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I foresee,” said Vance, “that Onslow will be of our party -of escape this night.” And then, turning to Peek, he remarked: -“Your coming, Peculiar, is timely. I want the help of a trustworthy -driver. You are the man for us. Can you, without -exciting suspicion, get the control of a carriage and two fast, -fresh horses?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek reflected a moment, and then said: “Yes; I know a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_324'>324</span>colored man, Antoine Lafour, who has the care of two of the -best horses in the city. His master really thinks Antoine -would fight any Abolitionist who might come to free him; but -Antoine and I laugh at the old man’s credulity.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s yet another service you can render,” said Vance; -and he gave five raps on the door of his chamber.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lock was turned from the inside, and Winslow appeared.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’re among friends,” said Vance. “This is my cousin, -Mr. Kenrick; and this is Peculiar Institution, otherwise called -Peek. Notwithstanding his inauspicious name, you may trust -him as you would your own right hand.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I want an agent who can write and keep accounts.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then Peek is just the man for you. Of his ability you -can satisfy yourself in five minutes. For his <em>honesty</em> I will -vouch.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But will he remain in New Orleans the next six months?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I hope so,” replied Vance. “This is my plan for you, -Peek: that you should still occupy that little house of mine -with the Bernards. I’ve spoken to them about it; and they -will treat you well for my sake. I want some one here with -whom I may freely communicate; and more, I want you to -pursue your search for Colonel Delancy Hyde, and to secure -him when found, which you can easily do with money. Will -you remain?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You know how it is with me, Mr. Vance,” said Peek. “I -have two objects in life: One is to find my wife and child; the -other is to help on the great cause. For both these objects I -can have no better head-quarters than New Orleans.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good! He will remain, Mr. Winslow. Go now both of -you into the next room. You’ll find writing materials on the -table.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The old man and the negro withdrew. Kenrick paced the -floor, thinking one moment of Clara, and the next of the dreadful -communication he must make to Onslow. Vance sat down -and leaned his head on his hands to consider if there was anything -he had left undone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I hear some one knocking at the door of my room,” said -Kenrick. He went into the corridor, and a servant handed -him a card. It was from Onslow, and pencilled on it was the -following:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_325'>325</span>“Come to the dinner-table, Kenrick. Where are you?</div> - <div class='line'>Dreaming of Perdita? Or planning impracticable victories</div> - <div class='line'>for your Yankee friends? Come and join me in a bottle of</div> - <div class='line'>claret. It may be our last together. Only think of it, my</div> - <div class='line'>dear fellow, I am to be made a Colonel! But that will not</div> - <div class='line'>please you. Sink politics! We will ignore all that is disagreeable.</div> - <div class='line'>There shall be no slavery,—no Rebeldom,—no</div> - <div class='line'>Yankeedom. All shall be Arcadian. We will talk over old</div> - <div class='line'>times, and compare notes in regard to Perdita. I don’t believe</div> - <div class='line'>you are a tenth part as much in love as I am. Where has the</div> - <div class='line'>enchantress gone? ‘O matchless sweetness! whither art thou</div> - <div class='line'>vanished? O thou fair soul of all thy sex! what paradise hast</div> - <div class='line'>thou enriched and blessed?’ Come, Kenrick, come; if only</div> - <div class='line'>for auld lang syne, come and chat with me; for the day of</div> - <div class='line'>action draws near, when there shall be no more chatting!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Sick at heart, Kenrick handed the card to Vance, who read -it, and said: “The sooner a disagreeable duty is discharged, -the better. Go, cousin, and let him know the character of that -fell Power which he would serve. Let him know what reason -he, of all men, has to love it!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’d rather face a battery than do it; but it must be done.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>At the same moment Winslow and the negro entered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve arranged everything with Peek,” said the old man. -“I’ve placed in his hands funds which I think will be sufficient.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That reminds me that I must do the same,” said Vance; -and, taking a large sum in bank-bills from his pocket-book, he -gave it to Peek to use as he might see fit, first for the common -cause, and secondly for prosecuting inquiries in regard to the -kidnapped child of the Pontiac, and his own family.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek carefully noted down dates and amounts in a memorandum-book, -and then remarked, “Now I must see Captain -Onslow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Give me that letter from his father, and I will myself -deliver it,” said Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I promised to see him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That you can do this evening.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek gave up the letter, and Kenrick darted out of the -room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Turning to Vance and Winslow, Peek remarked: “I thank -<span class='pageno' id='Page_326'>326</span>you for your confidence, gentlemen. I’ll do my best to deserve -it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wish our banks deserved it as well,” said Vance; then he -added: “And now, Peek, make your arrangements carefully, -and be with the carriage at the door just under my window at -nine o’clock precisely.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek compared watches with Vance, promised to be punctual, -and took his leave.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance rang the bell, and ordered a private dinner for two. -Unlocking a drawer, he took from it two revolvers and handed -one to Winslow, with the remark, “You are skilled in the use -of the pistol, I suppose?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Though I’ve been a planter and owned slaves, I must -say <em>no</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then a revolver would rather be a danger than a security.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Vance thrust the pistols into the side pockets of his -own coat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Dinner was brought in.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come,” said Vance, “we must eat. My way of life has -compelled me to suffer no excitement to impair my appetite. -Indeed, I have passed through the one supreme excitement, -after which all others, even the prospect of immediate death, -are quite tame. Happy the man, Mr. Winslow, who can say, -I cling to this life no longer for myself, but for others and for -humanity!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Such a sentiment would better become a man of my age -than of yours,” replied Winslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here’s the dinner,” said Vance. “Now let us talk nothing -but nonsense. Let us think of nothing that requires the -effort of a serious thought.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well then,” replied Winslow. “Suppose we discuss the -last number of De Bow’s Review, or that charlatan Maury’s -last lying letter in the London Times.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excellent!” said Vance. “For reaching the very sublime -of the superficial, commend me to De Bow or to the -Chevalier Maury.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before the dinner was over, each man felt that the day had -not been unprofitable, since he had earned a friend.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_327'>327</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXXIV.<br />LIGHT FROM THE PIT.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“There’s not a breathing of the common wind</div> - <div class='line'>That will forget thee; thou hast great allies;</div> - <div class='line'>Thy friends are exultations, agonies,</div> - <div class='line'>And love, and Man’s unconquerable mind.”—<cite>Wordsworth.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Kenrick found Onslow seated at one of the tables of -the large dining-hall and expecting his coming. The -chair on his right was tipped over on its fore legs against the -table as a signal that the seat was engaged. On Onslow’s left -sat the scoffer, Robson.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Kenrick advanced, Onslow rose, took him by the hand, -and placed him in the reserved seat. Robson bowed, and filled -three glasses with claret.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But how grave and pale you look, Charles!” said Onslow. -“What the deuce is the matter? Come on! <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Absit atra cura!</i></span> -Begone, dull care! Toss off that glass of claret, or Robson -will scorn you as a skulker.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The wine is not bad,” said Robson, “but there should have -been ice in the cooler. May the universal Yankee nation be -eternally and immitigably consigned to perdition for depriving -us of our ice. Every time I am thirsty,—and that is fifty -times a day,—my temper is tried, and I wish I had a plenipotentiary -power of cursing. With the thermometer at ninety, -’t is a lie to say Cotton is king. Ice is king. The glory of our -juleps has departed. For my own part, I would grovel at old -Abe’s feet if he would give us ice.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick could not force a smile. He touched his lips with -the claret.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You will take soup?” inquired Onslow. “It is tomato, -and very good.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What you please, I’m not hungry.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow ordered the servant to bring a plate of soup. Kenrick -stirred it a moment, tasted, then pushed it from him. Its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_328'>328</span>color reminded him of the precious blood, dear to his friend, -which had been so ruthlessly shed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A plate of pompinoe,” said Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The dainty fish was put before Kenrick, and he broke it into -morsels with his fork, then told the servant to take it away.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But you’ve no appetite,” complained Onslow. “Is it the -Perdita?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick shook his head mournfully.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is it Bull Run?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No. Had not somebody been afraid of hurting slavery, -and so played the laggard, the United States forces would have -carried the day; and that would have been the worst thing for -the country that could have happened!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did I not promise there should be no politics? Nevertheless, -expound.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He laughs best who laughs last. Let that suffice. It is -not time yet for the Union to gain decisive victories; nor will -it be time till the conscience of the people of the North is right -and ripe for the uprooting of slavery. Their conservative -politicians,—their Seymours and Pughs,—who complain of -the ‘irrepressible negro,’—must find out it is the irrepressible -God Almighty, and give up kicking against the pricks. Then -when the North as one man shall say, ‘Thy kingdom come,’—Thy -kingdom of justice and compassion,—then, O then! we -may look for the glorious day-star that shall herald the dawn. -God reigns. Therefore shall slavery not reign. I believe in -the moral government of the world.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Isn’t it a pity, Robson, that so good a fellow as Charles -should be so bitter an Abolitionist?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wait till he’s tempted with a colonelcy in the Confederate -army,” sneered Robson. “Ah! Mr. Kenrick, when you see -Onslow charging into Philadelphia, at the head of his troop of -horse, sacking that plethoric old city of rectangles,—leering at -the pretty Quakeresses,—knocking down his own men for unsoldierly -familiarities,—walking into those Chestnut Street -jewelry stores and pocketing the diamond rings,—when you -see all that, you’ll wish you’d gone with the winning side.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As I live,” cried Onslow, “there’s a tear in his eye! -What does it mean, Charley?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_329'>329</span>“If it is a tear, respect its sanctity,” replied Kenrick, gravely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Gentlemen, I must go,” said Robson, who found the atmosphere -getting to be unjoyous and uncongenial. “Good by! -I’ve a polite invitation to be present at a meeting to raise -money for the outfit of a new regiment. Between ourselves, -if it were a proposition to supply the alligators in our bayous -with gutta-percha tails, I would contribute my money much -more cheerfully, assured that it would do much more good, and -be a far more profitable investment. Addio!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>No sooner had he gone than Kenrick said: “Let us adjourn -to your room. I have something to say to you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In silence the friends passed out of the hall and up-stairs -into Onslow’s sleeping apartment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Kenrick,” said he, “your manner is inexplicable. It chills -and distresses me. If I can do anything for you before I go -North to fight for the stars and bars—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never will you lift the arm for that false flag!” interrupted -Kenrick. “You will join me this very hour in cursing it and -spurning it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Charles, your hate of the Confederacy grows morbid. Let -it not make us private as well as public enemies.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Robert, we shall be faster friends than ever.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Kenrick affectionately threw his arms round his friend -and pressed him to his breast.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But what does this mean, Charles?” cried Onslow. -“There’s a terrible pity in your eyes. Explain it, I beseech -you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick drew from his pocket a letter-envelope, and, taking -from it four strands of hair, placed them on the white marble -of the bureau before Onslow’s eyes. The Captain looked at -them wonderingly; took up one after another, examined it, -and laid it down. His breast began to heave, and his cheek to -pale. He looked at Kenrick, then turned quickly away, as if -dreading some foreshadowing of an evil not to be uttered. -For five minutes he walked the room, and said nothing. Then -he again went to the bureau and regarded the strands of hair.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well,” said he, speaking tremulously and quickly, and not -daring to look at Kenrick, “I recognize these locks of hair. -This white hair is my father’s; this half gray is my mother’s; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_330'>330</span>this beautiful flaxen is my sister Emily’s; and this brownish -black is my brother’s. Why do you put these before me? A -sentimental way of telling me, I suppose, that they all send -their love, and beg I would turn Abolitionist!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” sighed Kenrick. “From their graves they beg it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With a look of unspeakable horror, his hands pressed on -the top of his head as if to keep down some volcanic throe, -his mouth open, his tongue lolling out, idiot-like, Onslow stood -speechless staring at his friend.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick led him gently to the sofa, forced him to sit down, -and then, with a tenderness almost womanly in its delicacy, -removed the sufferer’s hands from his head, and smoothed back -his thick fine hair from his brow, and away from his ears. -Onslow’s inward groanings began to grow audible. Suddenly -he rose, as if resolved to master his weakness. Then, sinking -down, he exclaimed, “God of heaven, can it be?” And then -groans piteous but tearless succeeded.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At last, as if bracing himself to an effort that tore his very -heart-strings, he rose and said, “Now, Charles, tell me all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick handed him the letter which Peek had brought. -“Let me leave you while you read,” he said. Onslow did not -object; and Kenrick went into the corridor, and walked there -to and fro for nearly half an hour. Then he re-entered the -chamber. Onslow was on his knees by the sofa; his father’s -letter, smeared with his father’s life-blood, in his hand. The -young man had been praying. And his eyes showed that -prayer had so softened his heart that he could weep. He rose, -calm, though very pale.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where can I see this negro?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He will be here at the hotel this evening,” replied Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what,—what,” said Onslow hesitatingly, “what did -they do with my father?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“They hung him on the same tree with your brother.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” said Onslow, with a calmness more terrible than a -frantic grief. “Yes! Of course his gray hairs were no protection.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a pause; and then, “What do you mean to do?” -said Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you doubt?” exclaimed Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_331'>331</span>A servant knocked at the door and left a package. It contained -a complimentary letter and a Colonel’s commission, -signed by the Confederate authorities. “You see these,” said -Onslow, handing them to Kenrick. Then, taking them, he -contemptuously tore them, and madly threw the pieces on the -floor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, my father is right,” he cried. “It is Slavery that has -done this horror. On the head of Slavery lies the guilt. O -the blind fool, the abject fawner, that I’ve been! Instead of -being by the side of my brave brother, here I was wearing the -detested livery of the brutal Power that smote down a whole -family because they would not kneel at its bloody footstool! -Who ever heard of a man being harmed at the North for <em>defending</em> -Slavery? No! ’t is a foul lie to say that aught but -Slavery can prompt and lend itself to such barbarities! The -cowardly butchers! O, damn them! damn them!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And he tore from his shoulders the badges of his military -rank, and, spurning them with his foot, continued: “My noble -father! the good, the devout, the heroic old man! How, even -under his mortal agony, his belief in God, in right, in immortality, -shines forth! Did ever an outcast creature apply to him -in vain for help? Quick to resent, how much quicker he was to -forgive! The soul of rectitude and truth! Did you ever see his -seal, Charles? A straight line, with the motto <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Omnium brevissima -recta!</i></span> But he could not bow to Slavery as the supreme -good. For that he and his must be slaughtered! And William, -the brave and gentle! And Emily, the tenderly-bred and -beautiful! And my sainted—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He knelt, and, raising both arms to heaven, cried: “Hear -me, O God! Eternal Justice, hear me! If ever again, in -thought or act, I show mercy to this merciless Slave Power,—if -ever again I palliate its crimes or utter a word in extenuation -of its horrors,—that moment annihilate me as a wretch -unfit either for this world or any other!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then, rising, he said, “Kenrick, your hand!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not yet,” said Kenrick. “My friend, Slavery is no worse -to-day than it was yesterday. You have known for the last -three months that these minions and hirelings of the slave aristocracy -were hounding, hanging, and torturing men throughout -<span class='pageno' id='Page_332'>332</span>Slavedom, for the crime of being true to their country’s -flag.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I knew it, Kenrick; but my heart was hardened, and therefore -have God’s hammers smitten it thrice,—nay, four times, -terribly! I saw these things, but turned away from them! -Idle and false to say, Slavery is not responsible for them! -They are the very spawn of its filthy loins. I know it,—I, -who have been behind the scenes, know what the leaders say -as to the means of treading out every spark of Union fire. And -I—heedless idiot that I was!—never once thought that the -bloody instructions might return to plague <em>me</em>,—that my own -father’s family might be among the foremost victims! I acknowledge -the hand of God in this stroke! A voice cries to me, -as of old to Saul, ‘Why persecutest thou me?’ And now -there fall from my eyes as it were scales, and I arise and am -baptized!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear friend,” said Kenrick, “I want your conversion to -be, not the result of mere passion, but of calm conviction. I -have been asking myself, What if a party of Unionists should -outrage and murder those who are nearest and dearest to -myself,—would I, therefore, embrace the pro-slavery cause? -And from the very depths of my soul, I can cry <em>No!</em> Not -through passion,—though I have enough of that,—but -through the persuasion of my intellect, added to the affirmation -of my heart, do I array myself against this hideous Moloch -of slavery. By a terrible law of affinity, wrongs and crimes -cannot stand alone. They must summon other wrongs and -crimes to their support; and so does murder as naturally follow -in the train of slavery, as the little parasite fish follows the -shark. It is fallacy to say that the best men among slaveholders -do not approve of these outrages; for these outrages -are now the necessary and inseparable attendants of the system.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I believe it,” said Onslow. “O the wickedness of my -apostasy from my father’s faith! O the sin, and O the punishment! -It needed a terrible blow to reach me, and it has -come. Kenrick, do not withhold your hand. Trust me, my -conversion is radical. The ‘institution’ shall henceforth find -in me its deadliest foe. ‘<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Delenda est!</i></span>’ is now and henceforth -my motto!”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_333'>333</span>Kenrick clasped his proffered hand, and, looking up, said, “So -prosper us, Almighty Disposer, as we are true to the promises -of this hour!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Charles,” said Onslow, “I did not think that Perdita would -so soon have her prayer granted.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Her last words to me were, ‘May this arm never be lifted -except in the cause of right!’ I feel that God has heard her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It jarred on Kenrick’s heart for the moment to see that -Onslow, in the midst of his troubles, still thought of Perdita; -but soon, stilling the selfish tremor, he said: “What we would -do we must do quickly. Will you go North with me and join -the armies of the Union?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, the first opportunity.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That opportunity will be this very night.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So much the better! I’m ready. I had but one tie to -bind me here; and that was Perdita. And she has fled. And -what would I be to her, were she here? Nothing! Charles, -this day’s news has made me ten years older already. O for -an army with banners, to go down into that bloody region of -the Rio Grande, and right the wrongs of the persecuted!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Be patient. We shall live to see the old flag wave resplendent -over free and regenerated Texas.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Amen! Good heavens, Charles!—it appalls me, when I -think what a different man I am from what I was when I -crossed this threshold, one little hour ago!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In these volcanic days,” said Kenrick, “such changes are -not surprising. These terrible eruptions, ‘painting hell on the -sky,’ uptear many old convictions, and illumine many benighted -minds.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” rejoined Onslow, “in that infernal flash, coming from -my own violated home, I see slavery as it is,—monstrous, -bestial, devilish!—no longer the graceful, genteel, hospitable, -and fascinating embodiment which I—fond fool that I was!—have -been wont to think it. The Republicans of the North -were right in declaring that not one inch more of national soil -should be surrendered to the pollutions of slavery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Time flies,” said Kenrick. “Have you any preparations -to make?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_334'>334</span>“Yes, a few bills to pay and a few letters to write.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you despatch all your work by quarter to nine?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sooner, if need be.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That will answer. Have your baggage ready, and let it be -compact as possible. I’ll call for you at your room at quarter -to nine. Vance goes with us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is it possible? I supposed him an ultra Secessionist.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He has a stronger personal cause than even you to strike -at slavery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can that be? Well, he shall find me no tame ally. Do -you know, Charles, you resemble him personally?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, there’s good reason for it. We are cousins.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow’s heart was too full to comment on the reply. He -took up the strands of hair, kissed them fervently, and placed -them with his father’s letter in a little silk watch-bag, which he -pinned inside of his vest just over his heart.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If ever my new faith should falter,” he said, “here are the -mementos that will revive it. God! Did I need all this for -my reformation?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Be firm,—be prudent, my friend,” said Kenrick. “And -now good by till we meet again.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow pressed Kenrick’s proffered hand, and replied, “You -shall find me punctual.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_335'>335</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXXV.<br />THE COMMITTEE ADJOURNS.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Why now, blow, wind; swell, billow; and swim, bark!</div> - <div class='line'>The storm is up, and all is on the hazard.”—<cite>Shakspeare.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Vance’s plan was to escape down the river in his little -steam-tug, and join some one of the blockading fleet of -the United States, either at Pass à l’Outre or at the Balize. -The unexpected accession of two fellow-fugitives led him to -postpone his departure from the St. Charles to nine o’clock. -His own and Kenrick’s baggage had been providently put on -board the Artful Dodger the day before. Winslow, in order -not to jeopard any of the proceedings, had accepted Vance’s -offer to get from the latter’s supply whatever articles of apparel -he might need.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At ten minutes before nine, the four fugitives met in Vance’s -room. Vance and Onslow grasped each other by the hand. -That silent pressure conveyed to each more than words could -ever have told. The sympathy between them was at once profound -and complete.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The negro who is to drive us,” said Vance, “is the man -to whom your father confided his last messages.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah!” exclaimed Onslow; “let me be with him. Let me -learn from him all I can!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance told him he should ride on the outside with Peek. -Then turning to Winslow, he said: “Those white locks of -yours are somewhat too conspicuous. Do me the favor to hide -them under this black wig.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The disguise was promptly carried into effect. At nine -o’clock Vance put his head out of the window. A rain-storm -had set in, but he could see by the gas-lights the glistening top -of a carriage, and he could hear the stamping of horses.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All right,” said he. “Peek is punctually on the spot. -Does that carpet-bag contain all your baggage, Mr. Onslow?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_336'>336</span>“Yes, and I can dispense with even this, if you desire it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You have learnt one of the first arts of the soldier, I see,” -said Vance. “There can be no harm in your taking that -amount. Now let me frankly tell you what I conceive to be -our chief, if not our only hazard. My venerable friend, here, -Winslow, was compelled, a few hours since, in the discharge of -his duty, to give very dire offence to Mr. Carberry Ratcliff, of -whom we all have heard. Knowing the man as I do, I am of -opinion that his first step on parting with our friend would be -to put spies on his track, with the view of preventing his departure -or concealment. Mr. Winslow thinks Ratcliff could -not have had time to do this. Perhaps; but there’s a chance -my venerable friend is mistaken, and against that contingency -I wish to be on my guard. You see I take in my hand this -lasso, and this small cylindrical piece of wood, padded with -india-rubber at either end. Three of us, I presume, have revolvers; -but I hope we shall have no present use for them. -You, Mr. Winslow, will go first and enter the carriage; Kenrick -and I will follow at ten or a dozen paces, and you, Onslow, -will bring up the rear. In your soldier’s overcoat, and with -your carpet-bag, it will be supposed you are merely going out -to pass the night at the armory.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>While this conversation was going on, Peek had dismounted -from the driver’s seat. He had taken the precaution to cover -both the horses and the carriage with oil-cloth, apparently as a -protection against the rain, but really to prevent an identification. -No sooner had his feet touched the side-walk, than a -man carrying a bludgeon stepped up to him and said, “Whose -turn-out have you here, darkey?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dis am massa’s turn-out, an’ nobody else’s, sure,” said -Peek, disguising his voice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, who’s massa?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Massa’s de owner ob dis carriage. Thar, yer’v got it. So -dry up, ole feller!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The inquirer tried to roll up the oil-cloth to get a sight of -the panel. Peek interposed, telling him to stand off. The -man raised his bludgeon and threatened to strike. Peek’s first -impulse was to disarm him and choke him into silence, but, -fearing the least noise might bring other officers to the spot, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_337'>337</span>he prudently abstained. Just at this moment, Winslow issued -from the side door of the hotel, and was about to enter the carriage, -when the detective who had succeeded in rolling up the -covering of the panel till he could see the coat-of-arms, politely -stopped the old man, and begged permission to look at him -closely by the gaslight, remarking that he had orders from -head-quarters to arrest a certain suspected party.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pooh! Everybody in New Orleans knows me,” said -Winslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can’t help that, sir,” said the detective, laying his hand -on the old man’s shoulder, “I must insist on your letting—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before the speaker could finish his sentence, his arms were -pinioned from behind by a lasso, and he was jerked back so as -to lose his balance. But one articulation escaped from his lips, -and that was half smothered in his throat. “O’Gorman!” he -cried, calling to one of his companions; but before he could -repeat the cry, a gag was inserted in his mouth, and he was -lifted into the carriage and there held with a power that speedily -taught him how useless was resistance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Kenrick made Peek and Onslow acquainted, and these two -sprang on to the driver’s seat. The rest of the party took -their places inside.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Down! down!” cried Peek, thrusting Onslow down on -his knees and starting the horses. The next moment a pistol -was discharged, and there was the whiz of a bullet over their -heads. But the horses had now found out what was wanted of -them, and they showed their blood by trotting at a two-fifty -speed along St. Charles Street.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek was an accomplished driver. That very afternoon he -had learnt where the steam-tug lay, and had gone over the -route in order to be sure of no obstructions. He now at first -took a direction away from the river to deceive pursuit. Then -winding through several obscure streets, he came upon the -avenue running parallel with the Levee, and proceeded for -nearly two miles till he drew near that part of the river where -the Artful Dodger, with steam all up, was moored against the -extensive embankment, from the top of which you can look -down on the floor of the Crescent City, lying several feet -below the river’s level.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_338'>338</span>The rain continued to pour furiously, each drop swelling to -the size of a big arrow-head before reaching the earth. It was -not unusual to see carriages driven at great speed through the -streets during such an elementary turmoil: else the policemen -or soldiers would have tried to stop Peek in his headlong -career. Probably they had most of them got under some shelter, -and did not care to come out to expose themselves to a -drenching. On and on rolled the carriage. The rain seemed -to drown all noises, so that the occupants could not tell whether -or no there was a trampling of horses in pursuit.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As the carriage passed on to a macadamized section of the -road, “Tell me,” said Onslow, “what happened after my father -gave you the letter?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I hardly had time to conceal it,” replied Peek, “when six -of the ruffians entered the room, and I was ordered out. I -pleaded hard to stay, but ’ was no use. The house was entirely -surrounded by armed men, ready to shoot down any one -attempting to escape. Your father had enjoined it upon me -that I should leave him to die rather than myself run the risk -of not reaching you with his letter and his messages.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<em>Did</em> he?” cried Onslow. “Was he, then, more anxious -that I should know all, than that he himself should escape?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He feared life more than death after what had happened,” -said Peek. “The six ruffians tried to get out of him words to -implicate certain supposed Union men in the neighborhood; -but he would tell no secrets. He obstinately resisted their -orders and threats, and at last their leader, in a rage, thrust -his sword into the old man’s lungs. The wound did not immediately -kill; but the loss of blood seemed likely to make him -faint. Fearing he would balk them in their last revenge, the -ruffians dragged him out to a tree and hung him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you see it done?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I saw him the moment after it was done. I had been -trying to satisfy myself that there was no life in your mother’s -body; and it was not till I heard the shouts of the crowd that -I learnt what was going on below. I ran out, but your father -was already dead. He died, I learnt, without a struggle, much -to the disappointment of the Rebels.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And my mother,” asked Onslow. “Was there any hope?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_339'>339</span>“None whatever, sir. She was undoubtedly dead.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Peek, you have a claim upon me henceforth. At present -I’ve but little money with me, but what I have you must take.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not a penny, sir! You’ll need it more than I. Mr. Vance -and Mr. Winslow have supplied me with ten times as much as -I shall require.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow said no more. For the first time in his life he felt -that a negro could be a gentleman and his equal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Peek,” said he, “you may refuse my money, but you must -not refuse my friendship and respect. Promise me you will -seek me if I can ever aid you. Nay, promise me you will visit -me when you can.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That I do cheerfully, sir. Here we are close by the -steam-tug.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek pulled up the horses, and he and Onslow jumped to -the ground. The door was opened, and those inside got out. -The detective, who was the principal man of his order in New -Orleans (Myers himself), and whose mortification at being -overreached by a non-professional person was extreme, made -a desperate effort to escape. Vance was ready for it. He -simply twisted the lasso till Myers cried out with pain and -promised to submit. Then pitching him on board the steam-tug, -Vance left him under the guard of Kenrick and the Captain. -Winslow followed them on board; and Vance, turning -to Peek, said: “Now, Peek, drive for dear life, and take back -your horses. Our danger is almost over; but yours is just -beginning.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never fear for me, Mr. Vance. I could leave the horses -and run, in case of need. Do not forget the telegraph wires.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well thought of, Peek! Farewell!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>They interchanged a quick, strong grasp of the hand, and -Peek jumped on the box and drove off.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance saw a telegraph-pole close by, the wires of which -communicated with the forts on the river below. Climbing to -the top of it, he took from his pocket a knife, having a file on -one of its blades, and in half a minute severed the wire, then -tied it by a string to the pole so that the place of the disconnection -might not be at once discovered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next moment he cast off the hawser and leaped on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_340'>340</span>board the tug. Everything was in readiness. Captain Payson -was in his glory. The pipes began to snort steam, the -engines to move, and the little tug staggered off into the river. -Hardly were they ten rods from the levee, however, when a -carriage drove up, and a man issued from it who cried: “Boat -ahoy! Stop that boat! Every man of you shall be hung if -you don’t stop that boat.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Captain Payson took up his speaking-trumpet, and replied: -“Come and stop it yourself, you blasted bawler!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By order of the Confederate authorities I call on you to -stop that boat,” screamed the officer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Confederate authorities may go to hell!” returned old -Payson.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The retort of the officer was lost in the mingled uproar of -winds and waves.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Confounded at the steam-tug’s defiance, the officer, O’Gorman -by name, stood for a minute gesticulating and calling out -wildly, and then, re-entering the carriage, told the driver to -make his best speed to Number 17 Diana Street.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Let us precede him by a few minutes and look in upon the -select company there assembled. In a stately apartment some -dozen of the principal Confederate managers sat in conclave. -Prominent among them were Ratcliff, and by his side his lawyer, -Semmes, an attenuated figure, sharp-faced and eager-eyed. -Complacent, but inwardly cursing the Rebellion, sat Robson -with his little puffed eyes twinkling through gold-rimmed spectacles, -and his fat cheeks indicating good cheer. It was with -difficulty he could repress the sarcasms that constantly rose to -his lips. Wigman and Sanderson were of the company; and -the rest of the members were nearly all earnest Secessionists -and gentlemen of position.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff had communicated his grievances, and it had been -decided to send a messenger to bring Winslow before the conclave -to answer certain questions as to his disposition of the -funds confided to him by the late Mrs. Ratcliff. The messenger -having returned once with the information that Winslow -was not at home, had been sent a second time with orders to -wait for him till ten o’clock.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It had been also resolved to summon Charles Kenrick before -<span class='pageno' id='Page_341'>341</span>the conclave, and an officer had been sent to the hotel for that -purpose.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was now a discussion as to Vance. Who knew him? -No one intimately. Several had a mere bowing acquaintance -with him. Ratcliff could not remember that he had ever seen -him. Had Vance contributed to the cause? Yes. He had -paid a thousand dollars for the relief of the suffering at the -hospital. Did anybody know what he was worth? A cotton-broker -present knew of his making “thirty thousand dollars -clean” in one operation in the winter of 1858. Did he own -any real estate in the city? His name was not down in the -published list of holders. If he owned any, it was probably -held under some other person’s name. Among tax-payers he -was rated at only fifty thousand dollars; but he might have an -income from property in other places, perhaps at the North, -on which he ought to pay his quota in this hour of common -danger. It was decided to send to see why Vance did not -come; and a third officer was despatched to find him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Does any one know,” asked Semmes, “whether Captain -Onslow has yet got the news of this terrible disaster to his -family in Texas?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The intelligence has but just reached us at head-quarters,” -replied Mr. Ferrand, a wealthy Creole. “I hope it will not -shake the Captain’s loyalty to the good cause.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why should it?” inquired Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He must be a spooney to let it make any difference,” said -Sanderson.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Some people are so weak and prejudiced!” replied Robson. -“Tell them the good of the institution requires that their whole -family should be disembowelled, and they can’t see it. Tell -them that though their sister was outraged, yet ’ was in the -holy cause of slavery, and it doesn’t satisfy ’em. Such sordid -souls, incapable of grand sacrifices, are too common.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s a fact,” responded George Sanderson, who was getting -thirsty, and adhered to Robson as to the genius of good -liquor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Old Onslow deserved his fate,” said Mr. Curry, a fiery little -man, resembling Vice-President Stephens.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To be sure he deserved it!” returned Robson. “And so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_342'>342</span>did that heretical young girl, his daughter, deserve hers. Why, -it’s asserted, on good authority, that she had been heard to repeat -Patrick Henry’s remark, that slavery is inconsistent with -the Christian religion!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Polk, who, being related to a bishop, thought it was -incumbent on him to rebuke extreme sentiments, here mildly -remarked: “We do not make war on young girls and women. -I’m sorry our friends in Texas should resort to such violent -practices.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let us have no half-way measures!” exclaimed Robson. -“We can’t check feminine treason by sprinkling rose-water.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The rankest Abolitionists are among the women,” interposed -Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No doubt of it,” replied Robson. “Or if a woman isn’t an -Abolitionist herself, she may become the mother of one. An -ounce of precaution is worth a pound of cure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Gentlemen,” said Mr. Polk, “I base my support of slavery -on evangelical principles, and they teach me to look upon rape -and murder as crimes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It will do very well for you and the bishops,” replied Robson, -“to tell the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>hoi polloi</i></span>,—the people,—that slavery is -evangelical; but here in this snug little coterie, we mustn’t -try to fool each other,—’ wouldn’t be civil. We’ll take it -for granted there are no greenhorns among us. We can therefore -afford to speak plainly. Slavery is based on the principle -that <em>might makes right</em>, and on no other.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s the talk,” said Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That being the talk,” continued Robson, “let us face the -music without dodging. The object of this war is to make -the slaveholding interest, more than it has ever been before, -the ruling interest of America; to propagate, extend, and at -the same time consolidate slavery; to take away all governing -power from the people and vest it in the hands of a committee -of slaveholders, who will regard the wealth and power of their -order as paramount to all other considerations and laws, human -or divine. I presume there’s nobody here who will deny -this.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is it quite prudent to make such declarations?” asked Mr. -Polk, in a deprecatory tone.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_343'>343</span>“Is there any one here, sir, you want to hoodwink?” returned -Robson.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O no, no!” replied Mr. Polk. “I presume we are all -qualified to understand the esoteric meaning of the Rebellion.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is no longer esoteric,” said Robson. “The doctrine is -openly proclaimed. What says Spratt of South Carolina? -What says Toombs? What De Bow, Fitzhugh, Grayson, -the Richmond papers, Trescott, Cobb? They are openly in -favor of an aristocracy, and against popular rights.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before any reply was made, there was a knock at the door, -and Ratcliff was called out. In three minutes he returned, his -face distorted with anger and excitement. “Gentlemen,” said -he, “we are the victims of an infernal Yankee trick. I have -reason to believe that Winslow, aided perhaps by other suspected -parties, has made his escape this very night in a little -steam-tug that has been lying for some days in the river, ready -for a start.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Which way has it gone?” asked Semmes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Down the river. Probably to Pass à l’Outre.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Telegraph to the forts to intercept her,” said Semmes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A good idea!” exclaimed Ratcliff. “I’d do it at once.” -He joined O’Gorman outside, and the next moment a carriage -was heard rolling over the pavements.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Gentlemen,” said Robson, “if we expect to see any of the -parties we have summoned here to-night, there is something so -touching and amiable in our credulity that I grieve to harshly -dispel it. But let me say that Mr. Kenrick would see us all -in the profoundest depths before he would put himself in our -power or acknowledge our jurisdiction; Mr. Vance can keep -his own counsel and will not brook dictation, or I’m no judge -of physiognomy; Captain Onslow has a foolish sensitiveness -which leads him to resent murder and outrage when practised -against his own family; and as for old Winslow, he hasn’t -lived seventy years not to know better than to place himself -within reach of a tiger’s claws. I think we may as well adjourn, -and muse over the mutability of human affairs.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before Robson’s proposition was carried into effect, an -errand-boy from the telegraph-office brought Semmes this -letter:—</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_344'>344</span></div> -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“The scoundrels have cut the telegraph wires, and we can’t -communicate with the forts. I leave here at once to engage a -boat for the pursuit. Shall go in her myself. You must do -this one thing for me without fail: Take up your abode at -once, this very night, in my house, and stay there till I come -back. Use every possible precaution to prevent another escape -of that young person of whom I spoke to you. Do not -let her move a step out of doors without you or your agents -know precisely where she is. I shall hold you responsible for -her security. I may not be back for a day or two, in which -case you must have my wife’s interment properly attended to.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c023'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Yours,</div> - <div class='line in11'><span class='sc'>Ratcliff</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>“I agree with Mr. Robson,” said Semmes, “that we may as -well adjourn. The telegraph wires are cut, and I should not -wonder if all the summoned parties were among the fugitives. -Ratcliff pursues.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The select assemblage broke up, and above the curses, freely -uttered, rang the sardonic laugh of Robson. “Two to one that -Ratcliff doesn’t catch them!” said he; but no one took up the -bet, though it should be remembered, in defence of Wigman -and Sanderson, that they were too busy in the liquor-closet to -heed the offer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! my pious friends,—still at it, I see!” exclaimed -Robson, coming in upon them. “You remind me of a French -hymn I learnt in my youth:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">‘Tous les méchants sont buveurs d’eau;</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">C’est bien prouvé par le déluge!’</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c018'>Which, for Sanderson’s benefit, I will translate:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>‘Who are the wicked? Why, water-drinkers!</div> - <div class='line'>The deluge proves it to all right thinkers.’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Leaving the trio over their cups, let us follow the enraged -Ratcliff in his adventures subsequent to his letter to Semmes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Rebel was a boat armed with a one-hundred-pound rifled -gun, and used for occasional reconnoitring expeditions down -the river. Ratcliff had no difficulty in inducing the captain to -put her on the chase; but an hour was spent hunting up the -engineer and getting ready. At last the Rebel was started in -pursuit. The rain had ceased, and the moon, bursting occasionally -from dark drifting clouds, shed a fitful light. Ratcliff -paced the deck, smoking cigars, and nursing his rage.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_345'>345</span>It was nearly sunrise before they reached Forts Jackson and -St. Philip, thirty-three miles above the Balize. Nothing could -yet be seen of the steam-tug; but there was a telltale pillar -of smoke in the distance. “We shall have her!” said Ratcliff, -exultingly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Following in the trail of the Rebel were numerous sea-gulls -whom the storm had driven up the river. The boat now entered -that long canal-like section where the great river flows -between narrow banks, which, including the swamps behind -them, are each not more than two or three hundred yards -wide, running out into the Gulf of Mexico. Here and there -among the dead reeds and scattered willows a tall white crane -might be seen feeding. Over these narrow fringes of swampy -land you could see the dark-green waters of the Gulf just beginning -to be incarnadined by the rising sun. With the saltwater -so near on either side that you could shoot an arrow into -it, you saw the river holding its way through the same deep, -unbroken channel, keeping unmixed its powerful body of fresh -water, except when hurricanes sweep the briny spray over -these long ribbons of land into the Mississippi.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance had abandoned his original intention of trying the -Pass à l’Outre. Having learned from a pilot that the Brooklyn, -carrying the Stars and Stripes, was cruising off the Southwest -Pass, he resolved to steer in that direction. But when -within five miles of the head of the Passes, one of those capricious -fogs, not uncommon on the river, came down, shrouding -the banks on either side. The Artful Dodger crept along at -an abated speed through the sticky vapor. Soon the throb of -a steamer close in the rear could be distinctly heard. The -Artful had but one gun, and that was a 5-inch rifled one; but -it could be run out over her after bulwarks.</p> - -<p class='c001'>All at once the fog lifted, and the sun came out sharp and -dazzling, scattering the white banks of vapor. The Rebel -might be seen not a third of a mile off. A shot came from her -as a signal to the Artful to heave to. Vance ordered the Stars -and Stripes to be run up, and the engines to be reversed. The -Rebel, as if astounded at the audacity of the act on the part -of her contemptible adversary, swayed a little in the current -so as to present a good part of her side. Vance saw his opportunity, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_346'>346</span>and, with the quickness of one accustomed to deadshots, -decided on his range. The next moment, and before the -Rebel could recover herself, he fired, the shock racking every -joint in the little tug.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The effect of the shot was speedily visible and audible in -the issuing of steam and in cries of suffering on board the -Rebel. The boiler had been hit, and she was helpless. Vance -fired a second shot, but this time over her, as a summons for -surrender. The confederate flag at once disappeared. The -next moment a small boat, containing half a dozen persons, -put out from the Rebel as if they intended to gain the bank -and escape among the low willows and dead reeds of the -marshy deposits. But before this could be done, two cutters -bearing United States flags, were seen to issue from a diminutive -bayou in the neighborhood, and intercept the boat, which -was taken in tow by the larger cutter. The Artful Dodger -then steamed up to the disabled Rebel and took possession.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At the mouth of the Southwest Pass they met the Brooklyn. -Vance went on board, found in the Commodore an old acquaintance, -and after recounting the adventures of the last twelve -hours, gave up the two steamers for government use. It was -then arranged that he and his companions should take passage -on board the store-ship Catawba, which was to sail for New -York within the hour; while all the persons captured on board -the Rebel, together with the detective carried off by Vance, -should be detained as prisoners and sent North in an armed -steamer, to leave the next day.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There’s one man,” said Vance,—“his name is Ratcliff,—who -will try by all possible arts and pleadings to get away. -Hold on to him, Commodore, as you would to a detected incendiary. -’T is all the requital I ask for my little present to -Uncle Sam.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He shall be safe in Fort Lafayette before the month is -out,” replied the Commodore. “I’ll take your word for it, -Vance, that he isn’t to be trusted.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One word more, Commodore. My crew on board the little -tug are all good men and true. Old Skipper Payson, whom -you see yonder, goes into this fight, not for wages, but for love. -He has but one fault!”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_347'>347</span>“What’s that? Drinks, I suppose!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No. He’s a terrible Abolitionist.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So much the better! We shall all be Abolitionists before -this war is ended. ’T is the only way to end it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good, my Commodore! Such sentiments from men in -your position will do as much as rifled cannon for the cause.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“More, Mr. Vance, more! And now duty calls me off. Your -men, sir, shall be provided for. Good by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance and the Commodore shook hands and parted. Vance -was rowed back to the Artful Dodger. On his way, looking -through his opera-glass, he could see Ratcliff in the cutter, -gnawing his rage, and looking the incarnation of chagrin.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Catawba was making her toilet ready for a start. She -lay at a short distance from the Artful. Vance, Winslow, Kenrick, -and Onslow went on board, where the orders of the Commodore -had secured for them excellent accommodations. Before -noon a northeasterly breeze had sprung up, and they took their -leave of the mouths of the Mississippi.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff no sooner touched the deck of the Brooklyn, than, -conquering with an effort his haughtiness, he took off his hat, -and, approaching the Commodore, asked for an interview.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Commodore was an old weather-beaten sailor, not far -from his threescore and ten years. He kept no “circumlocution -office” on board his ship, and as he valued his time, he -could not tolerate any tortuous delays in coming to the point.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Commodore,” said Ratcliff, “’t is important I should have a -few words with you immediately.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, sir, be quick about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Commodore, I have long known you by reputation as a -man of honor. I have often heard Commodore Tatnall—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The damned old traitor! Well sir?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I beg pardon; I supposed you and Tatnall were intimate.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So we were! Loved him once as my own brother. He -and I and Percival have had many a jolly time together. But -now, damn him! The man who could trample on the old flag -that had protected and honored and enriched him all his life -is no better than a beast. So damn him! Don’t let me hear -his name again.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I beg pardon, Commodore. As I was saying, we know -you to be a gentleman—”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_348'>348</span>“Stop! I’m an officer in the United States service. That’s -the only capacity I shall allow you to address me in. Your -salvy compliments make me sick. What do you want?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s necessary I should return at once to New Orleans.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! How do you propose to get there?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When you hear my story, you’ll give me the facilities.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t flatter yourself. I shall do no such thing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Commodore, I came out in pursuit of an unfaithful -agent, who was running off with my property.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hark you, sir, when you speak in those terms of Simon -Winslow, you lie, and deserve the cat.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff grew purple in the struggle to suppress an outburst -of wrath. But, after nearly a minute of silence, he said: -“Commodore, my wife died only a few hours ago. Her unburied -remains lie in my house. Surely you’ll let me return -to attend her funeral. You’ll not be so cruel as to refuse me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pah! Does your dead wife need your care any more than -my live wife needs mine? ’T is your infernal treason keeps me -here. Can you count the broken hearts and ruined constitutions -you have already made,—the thousands you have sent -to untimely graves,—in this attempt to carry out your beastly -nigger-breeding, slavery-spreading speculation? And now you -presume to whine because I’ll not let you slip back to hatch -more treason, under the pretence that you want to go to a funeral! -As if you hadn’t made funerals enough already in the -land! Curse your impudence, sir! Be thankful I don’t string -you up to the yard-arm. Here, Mr. Buttons, see that this fellow -is placed among the prisoners and strictly guarded. I hold you -responsible for him, sir!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Commodore turned on his heel and left Ratcliff panting -with an intolerable fury that he dared not vent. Big drops of -perspiration came out on his face. The Midshipman, playfully -addressed as Mr. Buttons, was a very stern-looking gentleman, -of the name of Adams, who wore on his coat a very conspicuous -row of buttons, and whose fourteenth birthday had been -celebrated one week before. Motioning to Ratcliff, and frowning -imperiously, he stamped his foot and exclaimed, “Follow -me!” The slave-lord, with an internal half-smothered groan -of rage and despair, saw that there was no help, and obeyed.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_349'>349</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXXVI.<br />THE OCCUPANT OF THE WHITE HOUSE.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“They forbore to break the chain</div> - <div class='line in2'>Which bound the dusky tribe,</div> - <div class='line'>Checked by the owner’s fierce disdain,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Lured by ‘Union’ as the bribe.</div> - <div class='line'>Destiny sat by and said,</div> - <div class='line in2'>‘Pang for pang your seed shall pay;</div> - <div class='line'>Hide in false peace your coward head,—</div> - <div class='line in2'>I bring round the harvest-day.’”</div> - <div class='line in26'><cite>R. W. Emerson.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>In one of the smaller parlors of the White House in Washington -sat two men of rather marked appearance. One of -them sat leaning back in his tipped chair, with his thumbs in -the arm-holes of his vest, and his right ancle resting on his -left knee. His figure, though now flaccid and relaxed, would -evidently be a tall one if pulled out like the sliding joints of -a spy-glass; but gaunt, lean, and ungainly, with harsh angles -and stooping shoulders. He was dressed in a suit of black, -with a black satin vest, and round his neck a black silk kerchief -tied carelessly in a knot, and passing under a shirt-collar -turned down and revealing a neck brawny, sinewy, and tanned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The face that belonged to this figure was in keeping with it, -and yet attractive from a certain charm of expression. Nose -prominent and assertive; cheek-bones rather obtrusive, and -under them the flesh sallow and browned, though partially covered -by thick bristling black whiskers; eyes dark and deeply -set; mouth and lips large; and crowning all these features a -shock of stiff profuse black hair carelessly put aside from his -irregularly developed forehead, as if by no other comb than -that which he could make of his long lank fingers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This man was not only the foremost citizen of the Republic, -officially considered, but he had a reputation, exaggerated beyond -his deserts, for homeliness. By the Rebel press he was -frequently spoken of as “the ape” or the “gorilla.” From -<span class='pageno' id='Page_350'>350</span>the rowdy George Sanderson to the stiff, if not stately Jefferson -Davis (himself far from being an Adonis), the pro-slavery -champions took a harmless satisfaction, in their public addresses, -in alluding, in some contemptuous epithet, to the man’s personal -shortcomings. So far from being disturbed, the object of all -these revilings would himself sometimes playfully refer to his -personal attractions, unconscious how much there was in that -face to redeem it from being truly characterized either as ugly -or commonplace.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As he sat now, with eyes bent on vacancy, and his mind -revolving the arguments or facts which had been presented by -his visitor, his countenance assumed an expression which was -pathetic in its indication of sincere and patient effort to grasp -the truth and see clearly the way before him. The expression -redeemed the whole countenance, for it was almost tender in -its anxious yet resigned thoughtfulness; in its profound sense -of the enormous and unparalleled responsibilities resting on -that one brain, perplexing it in the extreme.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The other party to the interview was a man whose personal -appearance was in marked contrast. Although he had numbered -in his life nearly as many years as the President, he -looked some ten years younger. His figure was strikingly -handsome, compact, and graceful; and his clothes were nicely -adapted to it, both in color and cut. Every feature of his face -was finely outlined and proportioned; and the whole expression -indicated at once refinement and energy, habits of intellectual -culture and of robust physical exercise and endurance. -This man was he who has passed so long in this story under -the adopted name of Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There had been silence between the two for nearly a minute. -Suddenly the President turned his mild dark eyes on his visitor, -and said: “Well, sir, what would you have me do?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I would have you lead public opinion, Mr. President, instead -of waiting for public opinion to lead you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Make this allowance for me, Mr. Vance: I have many -conflicting interests to reconcile; many conflicting facts and -assertions to sift and weigh. Remember I am bound to listen, -not merely to the men of New England, but to those of Kentucky, -Maryland, and Eastern Tennessee.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_351'>351</span>“Mr. President, you are bound to listen to no man who is -not ready to say, Down with slavery if it stands in the way of -the Republic! You should at once infuse into every branch -of the public service this determination to tear up the bitter -root of all our woes. Why not give me the necessary authority -to raise a black regiment?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Impossible! The public are not ripe for any such extreme -measure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There it is! You mean that the public shall be the -responsible President instead of Abraham Lincoln. O, sir, -knowing you are on the side of right, have faith in your own -power to mould and quicken public opinion. When last August -in Missouri, Fremont declared the slaves of Rebels free, -one word of approval from you would have won the assent of -every loyal man. But, instead of believing in the inherent -force of a great idea to work its own way, you were biased by -the semi-loyal men who were lobbying for slavery, and you -countermanded the righteous order, thus throwing us back a -whole year. Do I give offence?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, sir, speak your mind freely. I love sincerity.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We know very well, Mr. President, that you will do what -is right eventually. But O, why not do it at once, and forestall -the issue? We know that you will one of these days -remove Buell and other generals, the singleness of whose devotion -to the Union as against slavery is at least questionable. -We know that you will put an end to the atrocious pro-slavery -favoritism of many of our officers. We know you will issue a -proclamation of emancipation.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I think not, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pardon me, you will do it before next October. You will -do it because the pressure of an advanced public opinion will -force you to do it, and because God Almighty will interpose -checks and defeats to our arms in order that we of the North -may, in the fermentation of ideas, throw off this foul scum, -redolent of the bottomless pit, which apathy or sympathy in -regard to slavery engenders. Yes, you will give us an emancipation -proclamation, and then you will give us permission to -raise black regiments, and then, after being pricked, and urged, -and pricked again, by public opinion, you will offset the Rebel -<span class='pageno' id='Page_352'>352</span>threats of massacre by issuing a war bulletin declaring that -the United States will protect her fighting men of whatever -color, and that there must be life for life for every black soldier -killed in violation of the laws of war.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But are you a prophet, Mr. Vance?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It requires no gift of prophecy, Mr. President, to foretell -these things. It needs but full faith in the operation of Divine -laws to anticipate all that I have prefigured. You refuse now -to let me raise a black regiment. In less than ten months you -will give me a <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>carte blanche</i></span> to enlist as many negroes as I can -for the war.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps,—but I don’t see my way clear to do it yet.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A great man,” said Vance, “ought to lead and fashion -public opinion in stupendous emergencies like this,—ought to -throw himself boldly on some great principle having its root in -eternal justice,—ought to grapple it, cling to it, stake everything -upon it, and make everything give way to it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I am not a great man, Mr. Vance,” said the President, -with unaffected <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>naïveté</i></span>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I believe your intentions are good and great, Mr. President,” -was the reply; “for what you supremely desire is, to do -your duty.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I claim that much. Thank you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, your duty is to take the most energetic measures for -conquering a peace. Under the Constitution, the war power is -committed to your hands. That power is not defined by the -Constitution, for it is imprescriptible; regulated by international -usage. That usage authorizes you to free the slaves of -an enemy. Why not do it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Would not a proclamation of emancipation from Abraham -Lincoln be much like the Pope’s bull against the comet?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is this difference: in the latter case, the fulmination -is against what we have no reason to suppose is an evil; in the -former case, you would attack with moral weapons what you -know to be a wrong and an injustice immediately under your -eyes and within your reach. If it could be proved that the -comet is an evil, the Pope’s bull would not seem to me an absurdity; -for I have faith in the operation of ideas, and in the -triumph of truth and good <em>throughout the universe</em>. But the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_353'>353</span>emancipation proclamation would not be futile; for it would -give body and impulse to an <em>idea</em>, and that idea one friendly -to right and to progress.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The President rose, and, walking to the window, drummed a -moment with his fingers abstractedly on the glass, then, returning -to his chair, reseated himself and said: “As Chief Magistrate -of the Republic, my first duty is to save it. If I can best -do that by tolerating slavery, slavery shall be tolerated. If I -can best do it by abolishing slavery, you may be sure I will try -to abolish it. But I mustn’t be biased by my feelings or my -sentiments.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why not?” asked Vance. “Do not all great moral truths -originate in the feelings and the sentiments? The heart’s -policy is often the safest. Is not cruelty wrong because the -heart proclaims it? Is not despotism to be opposed because -the heart detests it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Vance, you eager philanthropists little know how hard -it often is for less impulsive and more conservative men to -withstand the urgency of those feelings that you give way to -at once. But you have read history to little purpose if you do -not know that the best cause may be jeoparded by the premature -and too radical movements of its friends. I have been -blamed for listening to the counsels of Kentucky politicians -and Missouri conservatives; and yet if we had not held back -Kentucky from the secession madness, she might have contributed -the straw that would have broken the camel’s back.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O Kentucky!” exclaimed Vance, “I know thy works, -that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or -hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor -hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth! Mr. President, the -ruling powers in Kentucky would hand her over bound to Jeff -Davis to-morrow, <em>if they dared</em>; but they dare not do it. In -the first place, they fear Uncle Sam and his gunboats; in the -next place, they fear Kentuckians, of whom, thank God! there -are enough who do not believe in slavery; and, lastly, they fear -the nineteenth century and the spirit of the age. Better take -counsel from the Rhetts and Spratts of South Carolina than -from the selfish politicians of Kentucky! They will moor you -to the platform of a false conservatism till the golden opportunity -<span class='pageno' id='Page_354'>354</span>slips by, and new thousands must be slaughtered before it -can be recovered.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, what would be your programme?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This, Mr. President: accept it as a foregone conclusion -that slavery <em>must</em> be exterminated; and then bend all your energies -on accelerating its extermination. We sometimes hear -it said, ‘What! do you expect such a vast system—so interwoven -with the institutions of the South—to be uprooted and -overthrown all at once?’ To which I reply, ‘Yes! <em>The price -paid has been already proportionate to the magnitude of the -overthrow.</em>’ Before the war is over, upwards of a million of -men will have lost their lives in order that Slavery might try -its experiment of establishing an independent slave empire. A -million of men! And there are not four millions of slaves in -the country! We will not take into account the treasure expended,—the -lands desolated,—the taxes heaped upon the -people,—the ruin and anguish inflicted. It strikes me the -price we have paid is big enough to offset the vastness of the -social change. And, after all, it is not such a formidable job -when you consider that there are not forty thousand men in the -whole country who severally own as many as ten slaves. -Why, in a single campaign we lose more soldiers than there -are slaveholders having any considerable stake in the institution. -Experience has proved that there could be universal -emancipation to-morrow without bad results to either master or -slave,—with advantage, on the contrary, to both.”<a id='r36' /><a href='#f36' class='c014'><sup>[36]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Mr. Vance, we will suppose the Mississippi opened; -New Orleans, Mobile, Charleston, and Richmond captured,—the -Rebellion on its last legs;—what then?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“With the capture of New Orleans and Vicksburg, and the -opening of the Mississippi, you have Secessia on the hip, and -her utter subjugation is merely a question of time. When she -cries <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>peccavi</i></span>, and offers to give in, I would say to the people of -the Rebel States: ‘<em>First</em>, Slavery, the cause of this war, must -be surrendered, to be disposed of at the discretion of the victors. -<em>Secondly</em>, you must so modify your constitutions that -Slavery can never be re-established among you. <em>Thirdly</em>, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_355'>355</span>every anti-republican feature in your State governments must -be abandoned. <em>Fourthly</em>, every loyal man must be restored -to the property and the rights you may have robbed him of. -<em>Fifthly</em>, no man offensively implicated in the Rebellion must -represent any State in Congress. <em>Sixthly</em>, no man must be -taxed against his will for any debt incurred through rebellion -against the United States. Under these easy and honorable -terms, I would readmit the seceded States to the Union; and -if these terms are refused, I would occupy and hold the States -as conquered territory.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And could we reconcile such a course with a due regard to -law?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Surely yes; for the people in rebellion are at once subjects -and belligerents. They are public enemies, and as such are -entitled only to such privileges as we may choose to concede. -They are subjects, and as such must fulfil their obligations to -the Republic.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But you say nothing of <a id='corr355.18'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='confiscation,” Mr. Vance'>confiscation, Mr. Vance.”</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_355.18'><ins class='correction' title='confiscation,” Mr. Vance'>confiscation, Mr. Vance.”</ins></a></span></p> - -<p class='c001'>“I would be as generous as possible in this respect, Mr. -President. Loyal men who have been robbed by the secession -fury must of course be reimbursed, and the families of -those who have been hung for their loyalty must be provided -for. I see no fairer way of doing this than by making the -robbers give up their plunder, and by compelling the murderers -to contribute to the wants of those they have orphaned. But -beyond this I would be governed by circumstances as they -might develop themselves. I would practice all the clemency -and forbearance consistent with justice. Those landholders -who should lend themselves fairly and earnestly to the work -of substituting a system of paid labor for slavery should be -entitled to the most generous consideration and encouragement, -whatever their antecedents might have been. I would -do nothing for vengeance and humiliation; everything for the -benefit of the Southern people themselves and their posterity. -Questions of indemnification should not stand in the way of a -restored Union.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Undoubtedly, Mr. Vance, the interests of the masses, North -and South, are identical.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is true, Mr. President, but it is what the Rebel leaders -<span class='pageno' id='Page_356'>356</span>try to conceal from their dupes. The most damnable effect of -slavery has been the engendering at the South of that large -class of mean whites, proud, ignorant, lazy, squalid, and brutally -degraded, who yet feel that they are a sort of aristocracy -because they are not niggers. Having produced this class, -Slavery now sees it must rob them of all political rights. -Hence the avowed plan of the Secession leaders to have either -a close oligarchical or a monarchical government. The thick -skulls of these mean whites (or if not of them, of their children) -we must reach by help of the schoolmaster, and let them -see that their interests lie in the elevation of labor and in opposition -to the theories of the shallow <span lang="it" xml:lang="it"><i>dilettanti</i></span> of the South, -who, claiming to be great political thinkers and philosophers, -maintain that capital ought to own labor, and that there must -be a hereditary servile race, if not black, then white, in whom -all mental aspiration and development shall be discouraged and -kept down, in order that they may be content to be hewers of -wood and drawers of water. As if God’s world-process were -kept up in order that a few Epicurean gentlemen may have a -good time of it, and send their sons to Paris to eat sumptuous -dinners and attend model-artist entertainments, while thousands -are toiling to supply the means for their base pleasures. As -if a Frederick Douglas must be brutified into a slave in order -that a Slidell may give Sybarite banquets and drive his neat -span through the Champs Elysées!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What should we do with the blacks after we had freed -them?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let them alone! Let them do for themselves. The difficulties -in the way are all those of the imagination.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I like the moderation of your views as to confiscation.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When the mass of the people at the South,” continued -Vance, “come to see, as they will eventually, that we have -been fighting the great battle of humanity and of freedom, for -the South even more than for the North, for the white man -even more than for the black, there will be such a reaction as -will obliterate every trace of rancor that internecine war has -begotten. But I have talked too much. I have occupied too -much of your time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O no! I delight to meet with men who come to me, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_357'>357</span>thinking how they may benefit, not themselves, but their country. -The steam-tugs you gave us off the mouths of the Mississippi -we would gladly have paid thirty thousand dollars for. -I wish I could meet your views in regard to the enlistment of -black troops; but—but—that pear isn’t yet ripe. Failing -that, you shall have any place you want in the Butler and -Farragut expedition against New Orleans. As for your young -friends,—what did you say their names are?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Robert Onslow and Charles Kenrick.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O yes! Onslow, you say, has been a captain in the Rebel -service. Both the young men shall be honorably placed where -they can distinguish themselves. I’ll speak to Stanton about -them this very day. Let me make a note of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The President drew from his pocket a memorandum-book -and hastily wrote a line or two. Vance rose to take his leave.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. President,” said he, “I thank you for this interview. -But there’s one thing in which you’ve disappointed me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! you think me rather a slow coach, eh?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; but that wasn’t what I alluded to.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What then?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“From what I’ve read about you in the newspapers, I -expected to have to hear one of your stories.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A smile full of sweetness and <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>bonhommie</i></span> broke over the -President’s care-worn face as he replied: “Really! Is it possible? -Have you been here all this time without my telling -you a story? Sit down, Mr. Vance, and let me make up for -my remissness.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance resumed his seat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The President ran his fingers through his long, carelessly -disposed hair, pushing it aside from his forehead, and said: -“Once on a time the king of beasts, the lion, took it into his -head he would travel into foreign parts. But before leaving -his kingdom he installed an old ’coon as viceroy. The lion -was absent just four months to a day; and on his return he -called all the principal beasts to hear their reports as to the -way in which affairs had been managed in his absence. Said -the fox, ‘You left an old imbecile to rule us, sire. No sooner -were you gone than a rebellion broke out, and he appointed -for our leader a low-born mule, whose cardinal maxim in military -<span class='pageno' id='Page_358'>358</span>matters was to put off till to-morrow whatever could be -just as well done to-day; whose policy was a masterly inactivity -instead of a straightforward movement on the enemy’s -works.’ Said the sheep, ‘The ’coon could have had peace if -he had listened to me and others who wanted to draw it mild -and to compromise. Such a bloodthirsty wretch as the ’coon -ought to be expelled from civilized society.’ Said the horse, -‘He is too slow.’ Said the ox, ‘He is too fast.’ Said the -jackass, ‘He doesn’t know how to bray; he can’t utter an -inspiring note.’ Said the pig, ‘He is too full of his jokes and -stories.’ Said the magpie, ‘He is a liar and a thief.’ Said -the owl, ‘He is no diplomatist.’ Said the tiger, ‘He is too -conservative.’ Said the beaver, ‘He is too radical.’ ‘Stop!’ -roared the king,—‘shut up, every beast of you!’ At once -there was silence in the assembly. Then, turning to his viceroy, -the lion said, ‘Old ’coon, I wish no better proof that you -have been faithful than all this abuse from opposite parties. -You have done so well, that you shall be reinstalled for -another term of four months!’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And what did the old ’coon say to that?” asked Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The old ’coon begged to be excused, protesting that he had -experienced quite enough of the charms of office.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The President held out his hand. Vance pressed it with a -respectful cordiality, and withdrew from the White House.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_359'>359</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXXVII.<br />COMPARING NOTES.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“But thou art fled,...</div> - <div class='line'>Like some frail exhalation which the dawn</div> - <div class='line'>Robes in its golden beams,—ah! thou hast fled;</div> - <div class='line'>The brave, the gentle, and the beautiful,</div> - <div class='line'>The child of grace and genius!”</div> - <div class='line in31'><cite>Shelley.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Not many weeks after the conversation (not altogether -imaginary) at the White House, a young man in the -uniform of a captain lay on the sofa in a room at Willard’s -Hotel in Washington. He lay reading a newspaper, but the -paleness of his face showed that he had been suffering either -from illness or a serious wound. This young man was Onslow. -In a cavalry skirmish at Winchester, in which the Rebels had -been handsomely routed, he had been shot through the lungs, -the ball coming out at his back. There was one chance in a -thousand that the direction taken by the ball would be such that -the wound should not prove fatal; and this thousandth chance -happened in his favor. Thanks to a naturally vigorous constitution, -he was rapidly convalescing. He began to be impatient -once more for action.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a knock at the door, and Vance entered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How is our cavalry captain to-day?” he asked cheerily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Better and better, my dear Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me feel of his pulse. Excellent! Firm, regular! -Appetite?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Improving daily. He ate two boiled eggs and a lamb chop -for breakfast, not to speak of a slice of aerated bread.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come now,—that will do. He will be ready soon for a -bullet through his other lung. But he must not get restless. -There’s plenty of fighting in store for him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Vance, I’ve been pondering the strange story of your -life; your interview with my father on board the Pontiac; the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_360'>360</span>loss of the Berwicks; the supposed loss of their child; the -developments by which you were led to suspect that the child -was kidnapped; Peek’s unavailing search for the rascal Hyde; -the interview with Quattles, confirming your suspicion of foul -play; and finally your interview last week in New York with -the mulatto woman, Hattie Davy. Let me ask if Hattie thinks -she could still identify the lost child.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, by certain marks on her person. She at once recognized -the little sleeve-button I got from Quattles.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Please let me look at it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance took from his pocket a small circular box which he -unscrewed, and there, in the centre of a circle of hair, lay the -button. He handed the box to the wounded soldier. At this -moment Kenrick entered the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ha, Lieutenant! What’s the news?” exclaimed Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ask any one but me,” returned Kenrick. “Have I not -been all the morning trying guns at the navy-yard? What -have you there, Robert! A lock of hair? Ah! I have seen -that hair before.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Impossible!” said Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not at all!” replied Kenrick. “The color is too peculiar -to be confounded. Miss Perdita Brown wore a bracelet of that -hair the last evening we met her at the St. Charles.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Again I say, impossible,” quoth Vance. “Something like -it perhaps, but not this. How could she have come by it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Cousin,” replied Kenrick, “I’m quick to detect slight differences -of color, and in this case I’m sure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly the Lieutenant noticed the little sleeve-button in -Onslow’s hand, and, while the blood mounted to his forehead, -turning to him said, “How did you come by <em>this</em>, Robert?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why do you ask with so much interest?” inquired Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because that same button I’ve seen worn by Perdita.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now I know you’re raving,” said Vance; “for, till now, it -hasn’t been out of my pocket since Quattles gave it me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you mean to say,” exclaimed Kenrick, “that this is the -jewel of which you told me; that which belonged to the lost -infant of the Pontiac?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; her nurse identifies it. Undoubtedly it is one of a -pair worn by poor little Clara.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_361'>361</span>“Then,” said Kenrick, with the emphasis of sudden conviction, -“Clara and Perdita are one and the same!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Startling as a severe blow was this declaration to Vance. -It forced upon his consideration a possibility so new, so strange, -so distressing, that he felt crushed by the thought that there -was even a chance of its truth. Such an opportunity, thrust, -as it were, by Fate under his eyes, had it been allowed to -escape him? His emotions were those of a blind man, who -being suddenly restored to sight, learns that he has passed by a -treasure which another has picked up. He paced the room. -He struck his arms out wildly. He pushed up the sleeves of -his coat with an objectless energy, and then pulled them down.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O blind mole!” he groaned, “too intent on thy own little -burrow to see the stars out-shining! O beast with blinders! -looking neither on the right nor on the left, but only straight -before thy nose!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And then, as if ashamed of his ranting, he sat down and said: -“How strange that this possibility should never have occurred -to me! I saw there was a mystery in the poor girl’s fate, and -I tried to make her disclose it. Had I only seen her that last -day I called, I should have extorted her confidence. Once or -twice during our interviews she seemed on the point of telling -me something. Then she would check herself, as if from some -prompting of delicacy or of caution. To think that I should -have been so inconsiderate! To think, too, that I should have -been duped by that heartless lay-figure for dressmakers and -milliners, Miss Tremaine! Yes! I almost dread to look further -lest I should be convinced that Charles is right, and that Clara -Berwick and Perdita Brown are one and the same person. If -so, the poor girl we all so admired is a slave!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A slave!” gasped Kenrick, struck to the heart by the -cruel word, and turning pale.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’d like to see the man who’d venture to style himself her -master in my presence!” cried Onslow, forgetting his wound, -and half rising from the sofa.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Soft!” said Vance. “We may be too hasty in our conclusion. -There may be sleeve-buttons by the gross, precisely of -this pattern, in the shops.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No!” replied Kenrick. “Coral of that color is what you -<span class='pageno' id='Page_362'>362</span>do not often meet with. Such a delicate flesh tint is unusual. -You cannot convince me that the mate of this button is not the -one worn by the young lady we knew as Perdita. Perhaps, too, -it is marked like the other pair. If so, it ought to have on it -the letters—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What letters?” exclaimed Vance, fiercely, arresting Kenrick’s -hand so he could not examine the button.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The letters C. A. B.,” replied Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good heavens, yes!” ejaculated Vance, releasing him, and -sinking into an arm-chair. And then, after several seconds of -profound sighing, he drew forth from his pocket-book an envelope, -and said: “This contains the testimony of Hattie -Davy in regard to certain personal marks that would go far to -prove identity. One of these marks I distinctly remember as -striking my attention in Clara, the child, and yet I never -noticed it in the person we knew as Perdita. Could I have -failed to remark it, had it existed?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why not?” answered Kenrick. “Your thoughts are too -intent on public business for you to apply them very closely to -an examination of the personal graces or defects of any young -woman, however charming.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tell me, Captain,” said Vance to Onslow, “did you ever -notice in Perdita any physical peculiarity, in which she differed -from most other persons?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I merely noticed she was peculiarly beautiful,” replied -Onslow; “that she wore her own fine, rich, profuse hair exclusively, -instead of borrowing tresses from the wig-maker, as -nine tenths of our young ladies do now-a-days; that her features -were not only handsome in themselves by those laws -which a sculptor would acknowledge, but lovely from the expression -that made them luminous; that her form was the most -symmetrical; her—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Enough, Captain!” interrupted Vance. “I see you did -not detect the peculiarity to which I allude. Now tell me, -cousin, how was it with <em>you</em>? Were you more penetrating?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I think I know to what you refer,” replied Kenrick. “Her -eyes were of different colors; one a rich dark blue, the other -gray.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Fate! yes!” exclaimed Vance, dashing one hand against -the other. “Can you tell me which was blue?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_363'>363</span>“Yes, the left was blue.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance took from the envelope a paper, and unfolding it -pointed to these lines which Onslow and Kenrick perused together:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'><i>Vance.</i> “You tell me one of her eyes was dark blue, the -other dark gray. Can you tell me which was blue?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><i>Hattie.</i> “Yes; for I remember a talk about it between the -father and the mother. The father had blue eyes, the mother -gray. The mother playfully boasted that the eye of <em>her</em> color -was the child’s <em>right</em> eye; to which the father replied, ‘But the -<em>left</em> is nearest the heart.’ And so, sir, remembering that conversation, -I can swear positively that the child’s left eye was -the blue one.”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>“Rather a striking concurrence of testimony!” said Onslow. -“I wonder I should never have detected the oddity.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me remark,” replied Kenrick, “that it required a near -observation to note the difference in the hue of the eyes. -Three feet off you would hardly discriminate. The depth of -shade is nearly equal in both. You might be acquainted with -Perdita a twelvemonth and never heed the peculiarity. So do -not, cousin, take blame to yourself for inattention.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you remember, Charles,” said Vance, “our visit to the -hospital the day after our landing in New York?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, I shall never forget the scene,” replied Kenrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you remember,” continued Vance, “among the nurses -quite a young girl, who, while carrying a salver of food to a -wounded soldier, was asked by you if you should not relieve -her of the burden?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; and her reply was, ‘Where are your shoulder-straps?’ -And she eyed me from head to foot with provoking coolness. -‘I’m on my way to Washington for them,’ answered I. ‘Then -you may take the salver,’ said the little woman, graciously -thrusting it into my hands.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Charles, when I was in New York last week, I saw -that same little woman again, and found out who she is. How -strangely, in this kaleidoscope of events which we call the -world, we are brought in conjunction with those persons between -whose fate and our own Chance or Providence seems to -tender a significance which it would have us heed and solve! -<span class='pageno' id='Page_364'>364</span>This girl was a Miss Charlton, the daughter of that same -Ralph Charlton who holds the immense estate that rightfully -belongs to our lost Clara.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Would he be disposed to surrender it?” asked Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Probably not. I took pains while in New York to make -inquiries. I learnt that his domestic <em>status</em> is far from enviable. -He himself, could he follow his heart’s proclivities, would -be a miser. Then he could be happy and contented—in his -way. But this his wife will not allow. She forces him by -the power of a superior will into expenses at which his heart -revolts, although they do not absorb a fifth part of his income. -The daughter shrinks from him with an innate aversion which -she cannot overcome. And so, unloving and unloved, he finds -in his own base avarice the instrument that scourges him and -keeps him wretched.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I should not feel much compunction in compelling such a -man to unclutch his riches,” remarked Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It will be very difficult to do that, I fear,” said Vance, -“even supposing we can find and identify the true heir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We must find her, cost what it may!” cried Kenrick. -“Cousin, take me to New Orleans with you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Charles. You are wanted here on the Potomac. Your -reputation in gunnery is already high. The country needs more -officers of your stamp. You cannot be spared. The Captain -here can go with me to the Gulf. He is wounded and entitled -to a furlough. A trip to New Orleans by sea will do him good.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With a look of grave disappointment Kenrick took up a -newspaper and kept his face concealed by it for a moment. -Then putting it down, and turning to Vance, he said, with a -sweet sincerity in his tone: “Cousin, where my wishes are so -strongly enlisted, you can judge better than I of my duty. I -yield to your judgment, and, if you persist in it, will make no -effort to get from government the permission I covet.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Truly I think your place is here,” said Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A servant entered with a letter. It was for Vance. He -opened it, and finding it was from Peek, read as follows:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<div class='c015'>“<span class='sc'>New Orleans</span>, February, 1862.</div> - -<p class='c001'>”<span class='sc'>Dear Mr. Vance</span>: On leaving you at the Levee I drove -straight for the stable where my horses belonged. I passed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_365'>365</span>the night with my friend Antoine, the coachman. The next -day I went to your house, where I have stayed with those kind -people, the Bernards, ever since.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Please inform Mr. Winslow I duly attended to his commissions. -What will seem strange to you is the fact that in -attending to his affairs I am attending to yours. Two days -after your departure the newspapers contained flaming accounts -of the treacherous seizure of the Artful Dodger by -Messrs. Vance, Winslow, & Co.,—their pursuit by the Rebel, -the encounter, the Rebel’s discomfiture, the ‘abduction’ of -Mr. Ratcliff, the funeral of his poor wife, etc. Seeing that -Mr. Ratcliff was absent, I thought the opportunity favorable -for me to call at his house on the quadroon lady, Madame -Volney, to whom Mr. Winslow had commended me. I went -and found in the servant who opened the door an old acquaintance, -Esha, whom years ago you sought for in vain. She was -here keeping watch over a white slave.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And who is the white slave? you will ask. Ah! there’s -the mystery. Who <em>is</em> she indeed! In the first place, she is -claimed by Ratcliff; in the next, she and Madame Volney are -the residuary legatees of the late Mrs. Ratcliff; in the next, -she is the young lady who has been staying with Miss Tremaine -at the St. Charles.”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Here there was a cry of pain from Vance, so sharp and -sudden that Kenrick started forward to his relief.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s the matter? Is it bad news?” inquired Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll finish reading the letter by myself,” replied Vance, -taking his departure without ceremony.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Seated in his own apartment, he continued the reading:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“Do not think me fanciful, Mr. Vance, but the moment I -set eyes on this young woman the conviction struck me, She -is the lost Clara for whom we are seeking. The coincidence -of age and the fact that I have had the search of her on my -mind, may fully explain the impression. <em>May.</em> But you know -I believe in the phenomena of Spiritualism. <em>Belief</em> is not the -right word. <em>Knowledge</em> would be nearer the truth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is here in New Orleans a young man named Bender -who calls himself a <em>medium</em>. He is a worthless fellow, and I -have several times caught him cheating. But he nevertheless -gives me glimpses of spiritual powers. There are some plain -cases in which cheating is impossible. For instance, if without -throwing out any previous hint, however remote, I think of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_366'>366</span>twenty different persons in succession, my knowledge of whom -is a secret in my own brain, and if I say to a medium, ‘Of -what person am I thinking now?’ and if the medium instantly, -without hesitation or inquiry, gives me the right reply twenty -times in succession, I may reasonably conclude—may I not?—that -the power is what it appears to be, and that the medium -gets his knowledge through a faculty which, if not preternatural, -is very rare, and is denied as possible by science. Well, -this test has been fulfilled, not once only, but more than fifty -different times.<a id='r37' /><a href='#f37' class='c014'><sup>[37]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“I got Madame Volney’s consent to bring Bender to the -house. After he had showed her his wonderful powers of -thought-reading, we put the hand of the white slave in his, -and bade him tell us her name. He wrote with great rapidity, -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Clara Aylesford Berwick</i></span>. We asked her father’s name. In -a moment the medium’s limbs twitched and writhed, his eyeballs -rolled up so that their natural expression was lost, and he -extended his arm as if in pain. Then suddenly dropping the -girl’s hand he drew up the sleeve from his right arm, and -there, in crimson letters on the white skin were the words -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Henry Berwick</i></span>.<a id='r38' /><a href='#f38' class='c014'><sup>[38]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now whether this is the right name or not I do not know. -I presume that it is; though it is rarely safe to trust a medium -in such cases. The child’s name I have heard you say -was Clara Berwick. I have never spoken or written it except -to yourself. Still Bender may have got the father’s name,—the -surname at least,—from my mind. But if the name -<em>Henry</em> is right, where did he get <em>that</em>? I am not aware of -ever having known the father’s name. The check he once -gave you for me you never showed me, but cashed it yourself. -Still I shall not too positively claim that the name was communicated -preternaturally; for experience has convinced me it -may have been in my mind without my knowing it. Every -thought of our lives is probably photographed on our brains, -never to be obliterated. Let me study, then, to multiply my -good thoughts. But in whatever way Bender got the name, -whether from my mind or from a spirit, the fact is interesting -and important in either case.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The effect upon Clara (for so we now all call her) of this -singular event was such as to convince her instantaneously that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_367'>367</span>the name was right, and that she is the child of Henry Berwick. -As soon as the medium had gone, she asked me if I -could not find out who Mr. Berwick was. I then told her the -story of the Pontiac, down to the recent confession of Quattles, -and my own search for Colonel Delancy Hyde. All my little -group of hearers—Madame Volney, Esha, and Clara—were -deeply interested, as you may suppose, in the narrative. Clara -was much moved when she learnt that the same Mr. Vance, -whose acquaintance she had made, was the one who had known -the parents, and was now seeking for their daughter. She has -a serene conviction that she is the identical child. When I -read what you had written about different colored eyes, she -simply said, ‘Look, Peek!’ And there they were,—blue and -gray!</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Ratcliff’s house is in the charge of his lawyer, Mr. -Semmes, who keeps a very strict eye over all outgoings and -incomings. Esha has his confidence, but he distrusts both -Clara and Madame Volney. By pretending that I am her half-brother, -Esha enables me to come and go unsuspected. The -medium, Bender, was introduced as a chiropedist. Clara never -goes out without a driver and footman, who are agents and -spies of Semmes. It does not matter at present; for it would -be difficult in the existing state of affairs to remove Clara out -of the city without running great risk of detection and pursuit. -I have sometimes thought of putting her in a boat and rowing -down the river to Pass à l’Outre; but the hazard would be -serious.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As it is important to collect all the proofs possible for Clara’s -identification, it was at first agreed among the women that Esha -should call, as if in the interests of Mr. Ratcliff, on Mrs. Gentry, -the teacher, and get from that lady all the facts, dates, and -memorials that may have a bearing on Clara’s history. But, -on reflection, I concluded it would be better to put the matter -in the hands of a lawyer who could take down in legal form, -with the proper attestation, all that Mrs. Gentry might have to -communicate. Mr. Winslow had given me a letter of introduction -to Mr. Jasper, his confidential adviser, and a loyal man. -To him I went and explained what I wanted. He at once -gave the business his attention. With two suitable witnesses -he called on Mrs. Gentry and took down her deposition. I -had told him to procure, if possible, some articles of dress that -belonged to the child when first brought to the house. This he -succeeded in doing. A little undershirt and frock,—a child’s -petticoat and pocket-handkerchief,—were among the articles, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_368'>368</span>and they were all marked in white silk, C. A. B. Mrs. Gentry -said that her own oath as to the clothes could be confirmed by -Esha’s. Esha was accordingly sent for, and she came, and, being -duly sworn, identified the clothes as those the child had on -when first left at the house; which clothes Esha had washed, -and the child had subsequently worn. This testimony being -duly recorded, the clothes were done up carefully in a paper -package, to which the seals of all the gentlemen present were -attached; and then the package was placed in a small leather -trunk which was locked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I should mention one circumstance that adds fresh confirmation. -In telling Miss Clara what Quattles had confessed (the -details of which you give in that important letter you handed -me) I alluded to the pair of sleeve-buttons. ‘Was there any -mark upon them?’ she asked. ‘Yes, the initials C. A. B.’ -She instantly drew forth from her bosom another pair, the -counterpart probably of that described in your letter, and on -one of the buttons were the same characters! Can we resist -such evidences?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me mention another extraordinary development. Madame -Volney does not scruple to resort to all the stratagems -justifiable in war to get information from the enemy. Mr. -Semmes is an old fox, but not so cunning as to guard against -an inspection of his papers by means of duplicate keys. In -one of the drawers of the library he deposits his letters. In -looking them over the other day, Madame V. found one from -Mr. Semmes’s brother in New York, in which the fact is disclosed -that this house, hired by Mr. Ratcliff, belonged to Miss -Clara’s father, and ought, if the inheritance had not been fraudulently -intercepted, to be now her property! Said Miss Clara -to me when she learnt the fact, ‘Peek, if I am ever rich, you -shall have a nice little cottage overlooking my garden.’ Ah! -Mr. Vance, I thought of Naomi, and wondered if she would be -living to share the promised fortune.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have a vague fear of this Mr. Semmes. Under the affectation -of great frankness, he seems to me one of those men who -make it a rule to suspect everybody. I have warned the -women to take heed to their conversation; to remember that -walls have ears. I rely much on Esha. She has, thus far, -been too deep for him. He has several times tried to throw -her off her guard; but has not yet succeeded. He is evidently -distrustful and disposed to lay traps for us.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It appears that Mr. Ratcliff’s plan, at the time you intercepted -him in his career, and had him sent North, was to offer marriage -<span class='pageno' id='Page_369'>369</span>to this young girl he claims to hold as a slave. Marriage -with him would plainly be as hateful to her as any other species -of relation; and my present wish is to put her as soon as -possible beyond his reach, lest he should any time unexpectedly -return. Madame Volney is so confident in her power to save -her, that Clara’s anxieties seem to be much allayed; and now -that she fully believes she is no slave, but the legitimate child -of honorable parents, she cultivates an assurance as to her -safety, which I hope is not the precursor of misfortune. The -money which Mr. Winslow left in my hands for her use would -be sufficient to enable us to carry out some effectual scheme of -escape; but Madame Volney does not agree with me as to the -importance of an immediate attempt. Will Ratcliff come -back? That is the question I now daily ask myself.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I recognized on Clara’s wrist the other day a bracelet of -your wife’s hair. How did she come by it? The reply was -simple. Esha gave it to her. Clara is very fond of questioning -me about you. She has learnt from me all the particulars -of your wife’s tragical fate, and of the debt you yourself owe -to the Slave Power. She takes the intensest interest in the -war. Learning from me that my friend Cailloux was forming -a secret league among the blacks in aid of the Union cause, -she made me take five hundred dollars of the money left by Mr. -Winslow for her in my possession, and this she sent to Cailloux -with a letter. He wrote her in reply, that he wished no better -end than to die fighting for the Union and for the elevation of -his race.<a id='r39' /><a href='#f39' class='c014'><sup>[39]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have not forgotten the importance of getting hold of -Colonel Hyde. I have searched for him daily in the principal -drinking-saloons, but have found no trace of him as yet. I -have also kept up my search for my wife, having sent out two -agents, who, I trust, may be more fortunate than I myself have -been; for I sometimes think my own over-anxiety may have -defeated my purpose. In making these searches I have availed -myself of the means you have so generously placed at my -disposal.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The few Union men who are here are looking hopefully to -the promised expedition of Farragut and Butler. But the -Rebels are defiant and even contemptuous in their incredulity. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_370'>370</span>They say our fleet can never pass Forts Jackson and St. -Philip. And then they have an iron ram, on the efficacy of -which they largely count. Furthermore, they mean to welcome -us with bloody hands, &c.; die in the last ditch, &c. We -shall see. This prayer suffices for me: <em>God help the right!</em> -Adieu!</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c023'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in12'>“Faithfully,</div> - <div class='line in47'><span class='sc'>Peek</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>We have seen with what profound emotion Vance received -the information, that the man whose formidable power was enclosing -Clara in its folds was the same whose brutality had -killed Estelle. Vance could no longer doubt that Clara and -Perdita were identical. He looked in his memorandum-book -to assure himself of the name of Clara’s father. Yes! Bender -was right. There were the words: <em>Henry Berwick</em>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then putting on his hat Vance hurried to the War Office. -Would the Secretary have the goodness to address a question -to the officer commanding at Fort Lafayette? Certainly: it -could be done instantly by telegraph. Have the goodness to -ask if Mr. Ratcliff, of New Orleans, is still under secure confinement.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The click of the telegraph apparatus in the War Office was -speedily heard, putting the desired interrogatory.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Expect a reply in half an hour,” said the operator.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance looked at his watch, and then passed out into the -paved corridor and walked up and down. He thought of -Clara,—of the bracelet of his wife’s hair on her wrist. It -moved him to tears. Was there not something in the identity -in the position of these two young and lovely women that -seemed to draw him by the subtle meshes of an overruling fate -to Clara’s side? Could it be that Estelle herself, a guardian -angel, was favoring the conjunction?</p> - -<p class='c001'>For an instant that gracious image which had so long been -the light of his waking and his sleeping dreams, seemed to -retire, and another to take her place; another, different, yet -hardly less lovely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For an instant, and for the second time, visions of a new -domestic paradise,—of beautiful children who should call him -father,—of a daughter whose name should be Estelle,—of life’s -evening spent amid the amenities of a refined and happy home,—flitted -<span class='pageno' id='Page_371'>371</span>before his imagination, and importuned desire. But -they speedily vanished, and that other transcendent image returned -and resumed its place.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ah! it was so life-like, so real, so near and positive in its -presence, that no other could be its substitute! For no other -could his heart’s chalice overflow with immortal love. Had she -not said,—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“And dear as sacramental wine</div> - <div class='line'>To dying lips was all she said,”—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>had she not said, “I shall see you, though you may not see -me?” Vance took the words into his believing heart, and -thenceforth they were a reality from the sense of which he -could not withdraw himself, and would not have withdrawn -himself if he could.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He looked again at his watch, and re-entered that inner -office of the War Department, to which none but those high in -government confidence were often admitted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We have just received a reply to your inquiry,” said the -clerk. “Mr. Ratcliff of New Orleans made his escape from -Fort Lafayette ten days ago. The Department has taken -active measures to have him rearrested.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_372'>372</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXXVIII.<br />THE LAWYER AND THE LADY.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“The Devil is an ass.”—<cite>Old Proverb.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Peek’s apprehensions in regard to Ratcliff’s agent, -Semmes, were not imaginary. Semmes was of the -school in politics and policy of old Mr. Slidell. He did not -believe in the vitality and absoluteness of right and goodness. -His life maxim was, while bowing and smirking to all the world, -to hold all the world as cheats. To his mind, slavery was right, -because it was profitable; and inwardly he pooh-poohed at -every attempt to vindicate or to condemn it from a moral or -religious point of view. He laid it down as an axiom, that -slavery must exist just so long as it paid.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Worthy souls, sir, these philanthropists,—but they want -the virile element,—the practical element, sir! Like women -and poets, they are led by their emotions. If the world were -in the hands of such softs, the old machine would be smashed -up in universal anarchy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ah, thou blind guide! These tender souls thou scornest -are they who always prevail in the long run. They prevail, -because God rules through them, and because he does not withdraw -himself utterly from human affairs! They prevail because -Christ’s doctrine of self-abnegation, and of justice and -love, is the very central principle of progress, whether in the -heavens or on the earth; because it is the keystone of the -arch by which all things are upheld and saved from chaos. -Yes, Divine duty, Charity! “Thou dost preserve the stars -from wrong,—and the most ancient heavens, through thee, -are fresh and strong!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Benjamin Constant remarked of conservative Talleyrand, -that had he been present at the creation of all things, he would -have exclaimed, “Good God! chaos will be destroyed!” Beware -<span class='pageno' id='Page_373'>373</span>of the conservatism that would impede God’s work of -justice and of love!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff, in his last confidential interview with Semmes, had -communicated to the lawyer all the facts which he himself was -in possession of in regard to the White Slave. In the quiet -of Ratcliff’s library, Semmes now carefully revolved and -weighed all these particulars. The fact that Clara might be -wrongfully held as a slave made little impression upon him, -his proper business being to conform to his client’s wishes and -to make his client’s claim as strong as possible, without regard -to any other considerations. What puzzled him greatly was -Madam Volney’s apparent interest in Clara; and as for Esha, -she was a perfect sphinx in her impenetrability. As he pondered -the question of her fidelity, the thought occurred to him, -Why not learn something of her antecedents from Mrs. Gentry? -A good idea!</p> - -<p class='c001'>That very evening he knocked at the door of the “select -establishment.” A bright-faced black boy had run up the steps -in advance of him, and asked who it was he wanted to see. -“Mrs. Gentry.” “Well, sir, she’s in. Just give the bell a -good pull.” And the officious boy disappeared. A minute afterwards -the lawyer was seated in the lady’s presence in her -little parlor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And have you heard from poor Mr. Ratcliff?” she asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He is still in confinement, I believe, in Fort Lafayette.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! is he, poor man?” returned the lady; and it was on -her mind to add: “I knew he would be come up with! I said -he would be come up with!” But she repressed the exulting -exclamation, and simply added: “Those horrid Yankees! Do -you think, Mr. Semmes, we are in any danger from this down-east -general, known as Picayune Butler?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t be under concern, Madam. He may be a sharp lawyer, -but if he ever comes to New Orleans, it will be as a -prisoner.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And how is Miss Murray?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Never better, or handsomer. And by the way, I wish to -make some inquiries respecting the colored woman Esha, who, -I believe, lived some time in your family.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Esha lived with me fifteen years. A capital cook, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_374'>374</span>and good washer and ironer. I wouldn’t have parted with -her if Mr. Ratcliff hadn’t been so set on borrowing her. She -was here some days ago about that deposition business.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O yes,” said Semmes, thoroughly startled, yet concealing -every sign of surprise, and remarking: “By the way, how did -you get through with that business?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, very well. Mr. Jasper and the other gentlemen were -very polite and considerate.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jasper! He was the counsel in the great case of Winslow -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>versus</i></span> Burrows. Probably he was now Winslow’s confidential -agent and adviser. Semmes’s thin, wiry hands closed together, -as if grasping a clew that would lead him to hidden treasures.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I hope,” said he, carefully trying his ground, “you weren’t -incommoded by the application.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not at all. I only had to refer to my account-books, which -gave me all the necessary dates. And as for the child’s clothes, -they were in an old trunk in the garret, where they hadn’t been -touched for fifteen years. I had forgotten all about them till -Mr. Jasper asked me whether I had any such articles.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Semmes was still in the dark.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And was Esha’s testimony taken?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, though I don’t see of what use it can be, seeing that -she’s a slave, and her deposition is worthless under our laws.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To what did Esha depose?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Haven’t you seen the depositions?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O yes! But not having read them carefully as yet, I -should like the benefit of your recollections.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, Esha merely identified the girl’s clothes and the initials -marked upon them,—for she knows the alphabet. She also -remembered seeing Mr. Ratcliff lift the child out of the barouche -the day he first called here. All which was taken -down.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Could you let me see the clothes and the account-books?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I gave them all up to Mr. Jasper. Didn’t he tell you -so?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps. I may have forgotten.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Semmes bade Mrs. Gentry good evening.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Headed off by all that’s unfortunate!” muttered he, as he -walked away. “And by that smooth Churchman, Jasper! -<span class='pageno' id='Page_375'>375</span>Why didn’t I think to hermetically seal up this Mrs. Gentry’s -clack, and take away all her traps and books? And Esha,—if -she weren’t playing false, she would have reported all this to -me at once. But I’ll let the old hag see that, deep as she is, -she isn’t beyond the reach of my plummet. That pretended -brother of hers, too! He must be looked after. I shouldn’t -wonder if he were a spy of Winslow’s. I must venture upon -a <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>coup d’état</i></span> at once, if I would defeat their plottings. How -shall I manage it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Semmes had on his books heavy charges against Ratcliff for -professional services, and did not care to jeopard their payment -by any slackness in attending to that gentleman’s parting injunctions. -He saw he would be justified in any act of precaution, -however extreme, that was undertaken in good faith towards -his client. And so he resolved on two steps: one was to -arrest Esha’s pretended brother, and the other to withdraw -Clara from the surveillance of Esha and Madame Volney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek had not been idle meanwhile. For several weeks he -had employed a boy to dog Semmes’s footsteps; and when that -enterprising lad brought word of the lawyer’s visit to Mrs. -Gentry’s, Peek saw that his own communications with the -women at Ratcliff’s were cut off. He immediately sent word -of the fact to Esha, and told her to redouble her caution.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Semmes waited three days in the hope that Peek would -make his appearance; but at length growing impatient, took -occasion to accost the impracticable Esha.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Esha, can that brother of yours drive a carriage?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O yes, massa, he can do eb’ry ting.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Jim wants to go up to Baton Rouge to see his wife, -and I’ve no objection to hiring your brother awhile in his -place.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dar’s noting Jake would like quite so well, massa; but -how unfortnit it am!—Jake’s gone to Natchez.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where does Jake live when he’s here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yah, yah! Dat’s a good joke. Whar does he lib? He -lib all ’bout in spots. Jake’s got more wives nor ole Brigham -Young.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Finding he could make nothing out of Esha, Semmes resolved -on his second precaution; for he felt that, with two -<span class='pageno' id='Page_376'>376</span>plotting women against him, his charge was likely any moment -to be abstracted from under his eyes. He had the letting of -several vacant houses, some of them furnished. If he could -secretly transfer Clara to one of these, he could guard and hold -her there without being in momentary dread of her escape. -He thought long and anxiously, and finally nodded his head as -if the right scheme had been hit upon at last.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara was an early riser. Every morning, in company with -Esha, she took a promenade in the little garden in the rear -of the house. One morning as they were thus engaged, and -Clara was noticing the indications of spring among the early -buds and blossoms (though it was yet March), a woman, newly -employed as a seamstress in the family, called out from the -kitchen window, “O Esha! Come quick! Black Susy is -trying to catch Minnie, to kill her for stealing cream.” Minnie -was a favorite cat, petted by Madame Volney.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t let her do it, Esha!” exclaimed Clara. “Run quick, -and prevent it!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha ran. But no sooner had she disappeared over the -threshold than Clara, who stood admiring an almond-tree in -full bloom, felt a hood thrown over her face from behind, while -both her hands were seized to prevent resistance. The hood -was so strongly saturated with chloroform, that almost before -she could utter a cry she was insensible.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When Clara returned to consciousness, she found herself -lying on a bed in a large and elegant apartment. The rich -Parisian furniture, the Turkish carpet, and the amber-colored -silk curtains told of wealth and sumptuous tastes. Her first -movement was to feel for the little dagger which she carried -in a sheath in a hidden pocket. She found it was safe. The -windows were open, and the pleasant morning breeze came in -soft and cool.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As she raised herself on her elbow and looked about, a -woman wearing the white starched linen bonnet of a Sister of -Charity rose from a chair and stood before her. The face of -this woman had a tender and serious expression, but the head -showed a deficiency in the intellectual regions. Indeed, Sister -Agatha was at once a saint and a simpleton; credulous as a -child, though pious as Ignatius himself. She was not in truth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_377'>377</span>a recognized member of the intelligent order whose garb she -wore. She had been rejected because of those very traits she -now revealed; but being regarded as harmless, she was suffered -to play the Sister on her own account, procuring alms -from the charitable, and often using them discreetly. Having -called at Semmes’s office on a begging visit, he had recognized -in her a fitting tool, and had secured her confidence by a liberal -contribution and an affectation of rare piety.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How do you feel now, my dear?” asked Agatha.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What has happened?” said Clara, trying to recall the circumstances -which had led to her present position. “Who are -you? Where’s Esha? Why is not Josephine here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There! don’t get excited,” said the sister. “Your poor -brain has been in a whirl,—that’s all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Please tell me who you are, and why I am here, and what -has happened.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am Sister Agatha. I have been engaged by Mr. Semmes -to take care of you. What has happened is,—you have had -one of your bad turns, that’s all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara pondered the past silently for a full minute; then, -turning to the woman, said: “You would not knowingly do a -bad act. I get that assurance from your face. Have they told -you I was insane?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There, dear, be quiet! Lie down, and don’t distress yourself,” -said Sister Agatha. “We’ll have some breakfast for -you soon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You speak of my having had a bad turn,” resumed Clara. -“What sort of a bad turn? A fit?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, dear, a fit.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come nearer to me, Sister Agatha. Don’t you perceive -an odor of chloroform on my clothes?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why not? They gave it for your relief.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No; they gave it to render me powerless, that they might -bring me without a struggle to this place out of the reach of -the two friends with whom I have been living. Sister Agatha, -don’t let them deceive you. Do I talk or look like an insane -person? Do not fear to answer me. I shall not be offended.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, child, you both talk and look as if you were not in -your right mind. So be a good girl and compose yourself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_378'>378</span>Clara stepped on the floor, walked to the window, and saw -that she was in the third story of a spacious house. She tried -the doors. They were all locked, with the exception of one -which communicated by a little entry, occupied by closets, with -a corresponding room which looked out on the street from the -front.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am a prisoner within these rooms, am I?” asked Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, there’s no way by which you can get out. But here -is everything comfortable, you see. In the front room you will -find a piano and a case of pious books. Here is a bathing-room, -where you can have hot water or cold. This door on -my right leads to a billiard-table, where you can go and play, -if you are good. You need not lack for air or exercise.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“When can I see Mr. Semmes?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He promised to be here by ten o’clock.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do not fail to let me see him when he comes. Sister Agatha, -is there any way by which I can prove to you I am not insane?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No; because the more shrewd and sensible you are, the -more I shall think you are out of your head. Insane people -are always cunning. You have showed great cunning in all -you have said and done.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then if I turn simple, you will think I am recovering, eh?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No; I shall think you are feigning. Why, I once passed -a whole day with a crazy woman, and never one moment suspected -she was crazy till I was told so.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who told you I am crazy?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The gentleman who engaged me to attend you,—Mr. -Semmes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Am I crazy only on one point or on many?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You ought to know best. I believe you are what they call -a monomaniac. You are crazy on the subject of freedom. You -want to be free.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, Sister Agatha, if you were shut up in a house against -your will, wouldn’t you desire to be free?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There it is! I knew you would put things cunningly. But -I’m prepared for it. You mustn’t think to deceive me, child, -Why not be honest, and confess your wits are wandering?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The door of the communicating room was here unlocked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s that?” asked Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_379'>379</span>“They are bringing in your breakfast,” said the sister. “I -hope you have an appetite.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Though faint and sick at heart, Clara resolved to conceal her -emotions. So she sat down and made a show of eating.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will leave you awhile,” said the sister. “If you want -anything, you can ring.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Left to herself, Clara rose and promenaded the apartment, -her thoughts intently turned inward to a survey of her position. -Why had she been removed to this new abode? Plainly because -Semmes feared she would be aided by her companions in -baffling his vigilance and effecting her escape. Clara knelt by -the bedside and prayed for light and guidance; and an inward -voice seemed to say to her: “You talk of trusting God, and -yet you only half trust him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>What could it mean? Clara meditated upon it long and -anxiously. What had been her motive in procuring the dagger! -A mixed motive and vague. Perhaps it was to take her -own life, perhaps another’s. Had she not reached that point -of faith that she could believe God would save her from both -these alternatives? Yes; she would doubt no longer. Walking -to the back window she drew the dagger from its sheath -and threw it far out into a clump of rose-bushes that grew rank -in the centre of the area.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The key turned in the door, and Sister Agatha appeared.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Semmes is here. Can he come in?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. I’ve been waiting for him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The sister withdrew and the gentleman entered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sit down,” said Clara. “For what purpose am I confined -here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear young lady, you desire to be treated with frankness. -You are sensible,—you are well educated,—you are -altogether charming; but you are a slave.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stop there, sir! How do you know I’m a slave?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of course I am bound to take the testimony of my client, -an honorable gentleman, on that point.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you examined the record! Can Mr. Ratcliff produce -any evidence that the child he bought was white? Look -at me. Look at this arm. Do you believe my parentage is -other than pure Saxon? If that doesn’t shake your belief, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_380'>380</span>let me tell you that I have proofs that I am the only surviving -child of that same Mr. and Mrs. Berwick who were lost more -than fourteen years ago in a steamboat explosion on the Mississippi.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Proofs? You have proofs? Impossible! What are -they?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That I do not choose to tell you. Only I warn you that -the proofs exist, and that you are lending yourself to a fraud -in helping your client to hold me as a slave.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear young lady, don’t encourage such wild, romantic -dreams. Some one, for a wicked purpose, has put them into -your head. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Berwick was lost -with them, as was clearly proved on the trial that grew out of -the disaster, and their large property passed into the possession -of a distant connection.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But what if the story of the child’s loss was a lie,—what -if she was saved,—then kidnapped,—then sold as a slave? -What if she now stands before you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As a lawyer I must say, I don’t see it. And even if it -were all true, what an incalculable advantage the man who -has millions in possession will have over any claimant who -can’t offer a respectable fee in advance! Who holds the purse-strings, -wins. ’T is an invariable rule, my child.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“God will defend the right, Mr. Semmes; and I advise you -to range yourself on his side forthwith.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It wouldn’t do for me to desert my client. That would be -grossly unprofessional.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Even if satisfied your client was in the wrong?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear young lady, that’s just the predicament where a -lawyer’s services are most needed. What can I do for you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing, for I’m not in the wrong. My cause is that of -justice and humanity. You cannot serve it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In that remark you wound my <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>amour propre</i></span>. Now let me -put the case for my client: Accidentally attending an auction -he buys an infant slave. He brings her up tenderly and well. -He spares no expense in her education. No sooner does she -reach a marriageable age, than, discarding all gratitude for his -kindness, she runs away. He discovers her, and she is brought -to his house. His wife dying, he proposes to marry and emancipate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_381'>381</span>this ungrateful young woman. Instead of being touched -by his generosity, she plots to baffle and disappoint him. Who -could blame him if he were to put her up at auction to-morrow -and sell her to the highest bidder?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If you speak in sincerity, sir, then you are, morally considered, -blind as an owl; if in raillery, then you are cruel as a -wolf.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My dear young lady, you show in your every remark that -you are a cultivated person; that you are naturally clever, and -that education has added its polish. How charming it would -be to see one so gifted and accomplished placed in that position -of wealth and rank which she would so well adorn! There -must never be unpleasant words between me and the future -Mrs. Ratcliff,—never!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then, sir, you’re safe, however angrily I may speak.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Your pin-money alone, my dear young lady, will be enough -to support half a dozen ordinary families.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara made no reply, and Semmes continued: “Think of it! -First, the tour of Europe in princely style; then a return to -the most splendid establishment in Louisiana!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, sir, if your eloquence is exhausted, you can do me a -favor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What is it, my dear young lady?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Leave the room.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Certainly. By the way, I expect Mr. Ratcliff any hour -now.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I thought he was in Fort Lafayette!” replied Clara, trying -to steady her voice and conceal her agitation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No. He succeeded in escaping. His letter is dated Richmond.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara made no reply, and the old lawyer passed out, muttering: -“Poor little simpleton. ’T is only a freak. No woman in -her senses could resist such an offer. She’ll thank me one of -these days for my anæsthetic practice.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_382'>382</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XXXIX.<br />SEEING IS BELIEVING.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“It is a very obvious principle, although often forgotten in the pride of prejudice and -of controversy, that what has been seen <em>by one pair of human eyes</em> is of force to countervail -all that has been reasoned or guessed at by a thousand human understandings.”—<cite>Rev. -Thomas Chalmers.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>When, after some detention, Esha returned to the garden, -and could not see Clara, she ran up-stairs and -sought her in all the rooms. Then returning to the garden -she looked in the summer-house, in the grape-arbor, everywhere -without avail. Suddenly she caught sight of a small -black girl, a sort of under-drudge in the kitchen, who was -standing with mouth distended, showing her white teeth, and -grinning at Esha’s discomfiture. It was the work of a moment -for Esha to seize the hussy, drag her into the wash-house, and -by the aid of certain squeezings, liberally applied to her cervical -vertebræ, to compel her to extrude the fact that Missie -Clara had been forcibly carried off by two men, and placed in -a carriage, which had been driven fast away.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When Esha communicated this startling information to Madame -Volney, the wrath of the latter was terrible to behold. It -was well for Lawyer Semmes that his good stars kept him that -moment from encountering the quadroon lady, else a sudden -stop might have been put to his professional usefulness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After she had recovered from her first shock of anger, she -asked: “Why hasn’t Peek been here these five days?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“’Cause he ’cluded’t wan’t safe,” replied Esha. “He seed -ole Semmes war up ter su’thin, an’ so he keep dark.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Esha, we must see Peek. You know where he -lives?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Missis, but we mus’ be car’ful ’bout lettin’ anybody -foller us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We can look out for that. Come! Let us start at once.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The two women sallied forth into the street, and proceeded -<span class='pageno' id='Page_383'>383</span>some distance, Esha looking frequently behind with a caution -that proved to be not ill-timed. Suddenly she darted across -the street, and going up to a negro-boy who stood looking with -an air of profound interest at some snuff-boxes and pipes in -the window of a tobacconist, seized him by the wool of his -head and pulled him towards a carriage-stand, where she accosted -a colored driver of her acquaintance, and said: “Look -har, Jube, you jes put dis little debble ob a spy on de box wid -yer, and gib him a twenty minutes’ dribe, an’ den take him to -Massa Ratcliff’s, open de door, an’ pitch him in, an’ I’ll gib -yer half a dollar ef yer’ll do it right off an’ ahx no questions; -an’ ef he dars ter make a noise you jes put yer fingers har,—dy’e -see,—and pinch his win’pipe tight. Doan let him git -away on no account whatsomebber.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Seein’ as how jobs air scarss, Esha, doan’ car ef I do; so -hahnd him up.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha lifted the boy so that Jube could seize him by the -slack of his breeches and pull him howling on to the driver’s -seat. Then promising a faithful compliance with Esha’s orders, -he received the half-dollar with a grin, and drove off. -Rejoining Madame Volney, Esha conducted her through lanes -and by-streets till they stopped before the house occupied by -Peek. He was at home, and asked them in.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are you sure you weren’t followed?” was his first inquiry. -Esha replied by narrating the summary proceedings -she had taken to get rid of the youth who had evidently been -put as a spy on her track.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That was well done, Esha,” said Peek. “Remember -you’ve got the sharpest kind of an old lawyer to deal with; -and you must skin your eyes tight if you ’spect to ’scape being -tripped.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wish I’d thowt ob dat dis mornin’, Peek; for ole Semmes -has jes done his wustest,—carried off dat darlin’ chile, Miss -Clara.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek could hardly suppress a groan at the news.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now what’s to be done?” said Madame Volney. “Think -of something quickly, or I shall go mad. That smooth-tongued -Semmes,—O that I had the old scoundrel here in my grip! -Can’t you find out where he has taken that dear child?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_384'>384</span>“That will be difficult, I fear,” said Peek; “difficult for the -reason that Semmes will be on the alert to baffle us. He will -of course conclude that some of us will be on his track. He -would turn any efforts we might make to dog him directly -against us, arresting us when we thought ourselves most secure, -just as the boy-detective was arrested by Esha.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But what if Ratcliff should return?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s what disturbs me; for the papers say he has escaped.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then he may be here any moment?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For that we must be prepared.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But that is horrible! I pledged my word—my very life—that -the poor child should be saved from his clutches. She -<em>must</em> be saved! Money can do it,—can’t it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Brains can do it better.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let both be used. Is not this a case where some medium -can help us? Why not consult Bender?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is, perhaps, one chance in a hundred that he might -guide us aright,” said Peek. “That chance I will try, but I -have little hope he will find her. During the years I have -been searching for my wife I have now and then sought information -about her from clairvoyants; but always without success. -The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. So -with these spiritual doings. Look for them, and you don’t find -them. Don’t look, and they come. I once knew a colored -boy, a medium, who was lifted to the ceiling before my eyes in -the clear moonlight. A white man offered him a hundred dollars -if he would show him the same thing; but it couldn’t be. -No sooner had the white man gone than the boy was lifted, -while the rest of us were not expecting it, and carried backward -and forward through the air for a full minute. Seeing is -believing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But we’ve no time for talking, Peek. We must act. <em>How</em> -shall we act?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you give me any article of apparel which Miss Clara -has recently worn,—a glove, for instance?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, that can easily be got.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Send it to me at once. Send also a glove which the lawyer -has worn. Do not let the two come in contact. And be careful -your messenger is not tracked.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_385'>385</span>“Do you mean to take the gloves to a clairvoyant?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not to a clear-see’er, but to a clear-smeller,—in short, to -a four-footed medium, a bloodhound of my acquaintance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, but what hound can keep the scent through our streets?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If any one can, Victor can.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, only do something, and that quickly, for I’m distracted,” -said Madame Volney, her tears flowing profusely. -“Come, Esha, we’ll take a carriage at the corner, and drive -home.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not at the corner!” interposed Peek. “Go to some more -distant stand. Move always as if a spy were at your heels.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The two women passed into the street. Half an hour afterwards -Esha returned with the glove. There was a noise of -firing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dem guns am fur de great vict’ry down below,” said Esha. -“De Yankees, dey say, hab been beat off han’some at Fort -Jackson; an’ ole Farragut he’s backed out; fines he can’t -come it. But, jes you wait, Peek. Dese Yankees hab an -awful way of holdin’ on. Dey doan know when dey air fair -beat. Dey crow loudest jes when dey owt ter shut up and -gib in.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Esha slipped out of the house, looking up and down the -street to see if she were watched, and Peek soon afterwards -passed out and walked rapidly in the direction of St. Genevieve -Street. The great thoroughfares were filled with crowds of -excited people. The stars and bars, emblem of the perpetuity -of slavery, were flaunted in his face at every crossing. The -newspapers that morning had boasted how impregnable were -the defences. The hated enemy—the mean and cowardly -Yankees—had received their most humiliating rebuff. Forts -Jackson and St. Philip and the Confederate ram had proved -too much for them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek stopped at a small three-story brick house of rather -shabby exterior and rang the bell. The door was opened by -an obese black woman with a flaming red and yellow handkerchief -on her head. In the entry-way a penetrating odor of -fried sausages rushed upward from the kitchen and took him -by the throat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Does Mr. Bender board here?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_386'>386</span>“Yes, sar, go up two pair ob stairs, an’ knock at de fust door -yer see, an’ he’ll come.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek did as he was directed. “<i>J. Bender, Consulting Medium</i>,” -appeared and asked him in. A young and not ill-looking -man, in shabby-genteel attire. Shirt dirty, but the bosom -ornamented with gold studs. Vest of silk worked with sprigs -of flowers in all the colors of the rainbow. His coat had been -thrown off. His pantaloons were of the light-blue material -which the war was making fashionable. He was smoking a -cigar, and his breath exhaled a suspicion of whiskey.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How is business, Mr. Bender?” asked Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Very slim just now,” said Bender. “This war fills people’s -minds. Can I do anything for you to-day?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. You remember the young woman at the house I -took you to the other day,—the one whose name you said was -Clara?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I remember. She paid me handsomely. Much obliged to -you for taking me. Will you have a sip of Bourbon?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, thank you. I don’t believe in anything stronger than -water. I want to know if you can tell me where in the city -that young lady now is.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Bender put down his cigar, clasped his hands, laid them on -the table, and closed his eyes. In a minute his whole face -seemed transfigured. A certain sensual expression it had worn -was displaced by one of rapt and tender interest. The lids of -the eyes hung loosely over the uprolled balls. He looked five -years younger. He sighed several times heavily, moved his -lips and throat as if laboring to speak, and then seemed absorbed -as if witnessing unspeakable things. He remained thus -four or five minutes, and then put out his hands and placed -them on one of Peek’s.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! this is a good hand,” said the young seer; “I like the -feel of it. I wish his would speak as well of him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of whom do you mean?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Of this one whose hands are on yours. Ah! he is weak -and you are strong. He knows the right, but he will not do -the right. He knows there is a heaven, and yet he walks -hellward.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can we not save him?” asked Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_387'>387</span>“No. His own bitter experiences must be his tutor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why will he try to deceive,” asked Peek;—“to deceive -sometimes even in these manifestations of his wonderful gift?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You see it is the very condition of that gift that he should -be impressible to influences whether good or bad. He takes -his color from the society which encamps around him. Sometimes, -as now, the good ones come, and then so bitterly he -bewails his faults! Sometimes the bad get full possession of -him, and he is what they will,—a drunkard, a liar, a thief, a -scoffer. Yes! I have known him to scoff at these great facts -which make spirit existence to him a certainty.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can I help him in any way? Will money aid him to -throw off the bad influences?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No. Poor as he is, he has too much money. He doesn’t -know the true uses of it. He must learn them through suffering. -Leave him to the discipline of the earth-life. You know -what that is. How much you have passed through! How -sad, and yet how brave and cheerful you have been! It all -comes to me as I press the palm of your hand. Ah! you have -sought her so long and earnestly! And you cannot find her! -And you think she is faithful to you still!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, and neither mortal nor spirit could make me think -otherwise. But tell me where I shall look for her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The young man lifted the black hand to his white forehead -and pressed the palm there for a moment, and then, with a -sigh, laid it gently on the table, and said: “It is of no use. I -get confused impressions,—nothing clear and forcible. Why -have you not consulted me before about your wife?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because, first, I wished to leave it to you to find out what -I wanted; and this you have done at last. Secondly, I did not -think I could trust you, or rather the intelligences that might -speak through you. But you have been more candid than I -expected. You have not pretended, as you often do, to more -knowledge than you really possess.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The reason is, that I am now admitted into a state where -I can look down on myself as from a higher plane; so that I -feel like a different being from myself, and must distinguish between -<em>me</em>, as I now <em>am</em>, and <em>him</em> as he usually <em>is</em>. Do you -know what is truly the hell of evil-doers? <em>It is to see themselves -<span class='pageno' id='Page_388'>388</span>as they are, and God as he is.</em><a id='r40' /><a href='#f40' class='c014'><sup>[40]</sup></a> These tame preachers -rave about hell-fire and lakes of sulphur. What poor, feeble, -halting imaginations they have. Better beds of brimstone -than a couch of down on which one lies seeing what he might -have been, but isn’t,—then seeing what he <em>is</em>! But pardon -me; your mind is preoccupied with the business on which you -came. You are anxious and impatient.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you tell me,” asked Peek, “what it is about?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The clairvoyant folded his arms, and, bending down his head, -seemed for a minute lost in contemplation. Then looking up -(if that can be said of him while his external eyes were -closed), he remarked: “The bloodhound will put you through. -Only persevere.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And is that all you can tell me?” inquired Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes. Why do you seem disappointed?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Because you merely give me the reflection of what is in -my own mind. You offer me no information which may not -have come straight from your own power of thought-reading. -You show me no proof that your promise may not be simply -the product of my own sanguine calculations.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I cannot tell you how it is,” replied the clairvoyant; “I -say what I am impressed to say. I cannot argue the point -with you, for I have no reasons to give.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I must go. What shall I pay?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pay him his usual fee, two dollars. Not a cent more.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The clairvoyant sighed heavily, and leaning his elbows on the -table, covered his face with his hands. He remained in this -posture for nearly a minute. Suddenly he dropped his hands, -shook himself, and started up. His eyes were open. He -stared wildly about, then seemed to slip back into his old self. -The former unctuous, villanous expression returned to his face. -He looked round for his half-smoked cigar, which he took up -and relighted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek drew two dollars from a purse, and offered them to him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I reckon you can afford more than that,” said Mr. Bender.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s your regular fee,” replied Peek. “I haven’t been -here half an hour.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_389'>389</span>“O well, we won’t dispute about it,” said the medium, thrusting -the rags into a pocket of his vest.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek left the house, the dinner-bell sounding as he passed -out, and another whiff from the breath of the sausage-fiend -that presided over that household pursuing him into the street.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The course he now took was through stately streets occupied -by large and showy houses. He stopped before one, on the -door-plate of which was the name, Lovell. Here his friend -Lafour lived as coachman. For two weeks they had not met. -Peek was about to pass round and ring at the servant’s door on -the basement story of the side, when an orange was thrown -from an upper window and fell near his feet. He looked up. -An old black woman was gesticulating to him to go away. -Peek was quick to take a hint. He strolled away as far as he -could get without losing sight of the house. Soon he saw the -old woman hobble out and approach him. He slipped into an -arched passage-way, and she joined him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s the matter, mother?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Matter enough. De debble’s own time, and all troo you, -Peek. I’se been watchin’ fur yer all de time dese five days.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Explain yourself. How have I brought trouble on Antoine?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dat night you borrid de ole man’s carriage,—dat was de -mischief. Policeman come las’ week, an’ take Antoine off ter -de calaboose. Tree times dey lash him ter make him tell whar -dey can find you; but he tell ’em, so help him God, he dun -know noting ’bout yer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek reflected for a moment, and then recalled the fact that -Myers, the detective, had got sight of the coat-of-arms on the -carriage. Yes! the clew was slight, but it was sufficient.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My poor Antoine!” said Peek. “Must he, then, suffer -for me? Tell me, mother, what has become of Victor, his -dog?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Goramity! dat dog know more’n half de niggers. He -wouldn’t stay in dat house ahfer Antoine lef; couldn’t make -him do it, no how.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where shall I be likely to find the dog?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“’Bout de streets somewhar, huntin’ fur Antoine. Ef dat -dumb critter could talk, he’d ’stonish us all.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_390'>390</span>“Well, mother, thank you for all your trouble. Here’s a -dollar to buy a pair of shoes with. Good by.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The old woman’s eyes snapped as she clutched the money, -and with a “Bress yer, Peek!” hobbled away.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The rest of that day Peek devoted to a search for Victor. -He sought him near the stable,—in the blacksmith’s shop,—in -the market,—at the few houses which Antoine frequented; -but no Victor could be found. At last, late at night, weary -and desponding, Peek retraced his steps homeward; and as he -took out the door-key to enter the house, the dog he had been -looking for rose from the upper step, and came down wagging -his tail, and uttering a low squealing note of satisfaction.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, Victor, is this you? I’ve been looking for you all -day.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The dog, as if he fully understood the remark, wagged his -tail with increased vigor, and then checked himself in a bark -which tapered off into a confidential whine, as if he were afraid -of being heard by some detective.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Victor was a cross between a Scotch terrier and a thorough-bread -Cuba bloodhound, imported for hunting runaway slaves. -He combined the good traits of both breeds. He had the accurate -scent, the large size and black color of the hound, the wiry -hair, the tenacity, and the affectionate nature of the terrier. -In the delicate action of his expressive nose, you saw keenness -of scent in its most subtle inquisitions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Late as was the hour, Peek (who, in the event of being -stopped, had the mayor’s pass for his protection) determined -on an instant trial of the dog’s powers, for the exercise of -which perhaps the night would in this instance be the most -favorable time. He took him to Semmes’s office, and making -him scent the lawyer’s glove, indicated a wish to have him find -out his trail. Victor either would not or could not understand -what was wanted. He threw up his nose as if in contempt, -and turned away from the glove as if he desired to have nothing -to do with it. Then he would run away a short distance, -and come back, and rise with his fore feet on Peek’s breast. -He repeated this several times, and at last Peek said: “Well, -have your own way. Go ahead, old fellow.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Victor thanked him in another low whine, uttered as if addressed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_391'>391</span>exclusively to his private ears, and then trotted off, -assured that Peek was following. In half an hour’s time, he -stopped before a square whitewashed building with iron-grated -windows.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Confound you, Victor!” muttered Peek. “You’ve told -me nothing new, bringing me here. I was already aware your -master was in jail. I can do nothing for him. Can’t you do -better than that? Come along!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Returning to Semmes’s office, Peek tried once more to interest -the dog in the glove; but Victor tossed his nose away as -if in a pet. He would have nothing to do with it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Come along, then, you rascal,” said Peek. “We can do -nothing further to-night. Come and share my room with me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He reached home as the clock struck one. Victor followed -him into the house, and eagerly disposed of a supper of bones -and milk. Peek then went up to bed and threw down a mat -by the open window, upon which the dog stretched himself as -if he were quite as tired as his human companion.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_392'>392</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XL.<br />THE REMARKABLE MAN AT RICHMOND.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Let me have men about me that are fat;</div> - <div class='line'>Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o’ nights:</div> - <div class='line'>Yond’ Cassius has a lean and hungry look.”</div> - <div class='line in32'><cite>Shakespeare.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Yes, Ratcliff had escaped. His temper had not been -sweetened by his forced visit to the North. In Fort -Lafayette he had for a while given way to the sulks. Then -he changed his tactics. Finding that Surgeon Mooney, though -a Northern man, had conservative notions on the subject of the -“nigger,” he addressed himself to the work of befooling that -functionary. Inasmuch as Nature had already half done it to -his hands, he did not find the task a difficult one.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In his imprisonment Ratcliff had ample time for indulging in -day-dreams. He grew almost maudlin over that photograph -of Clara. Yes! By his splendid generosity he would bind to -him forever that beautiful young girl.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He must transmit his proud name to legitimate children. -He must be the founder of a noble house; for the Confederacy, -when triumphant, would undoubtedly have its orders of -nobility. A few years in Europe with such a wife would suit -him admirably. Slidell and Mason, having been released from -Fort Warren in Boston harbor, would be proud to take him -by the hand and introduce him and his to the best society.</p> - -<p class='c001'>These visions came to soften his chagrin and mitigate the -tediousness of imprisonment. But he now grew impatient for -the fulfilment of his schemes. Delay had its dangers. True, -he confided much in the vigilance of Semmes, but Semmes -was an old man, and might drop off any day. A beautiful -white slave was a very hazardous piece of property.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was not difficult for Ratcliff to persuade Surgeon Mooney -that his health required greater liberty of movement. At a -time when, under the Davis <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>régime</i></span>, sick and wounded United -<span class='pageno' id='Page_393'>393</span>States soldiers, imprisoned at Richmond in filthy tobacco-warehouses, -were, in repeated instances, brutally and against all -civilized usages shot dead for going to the windows to inhale -a little fresh air, the National authorities were tender to a -degree, almost ludicrous in contrast, of the health and rights -of Rebel prisoners. If any of these were troubled with a -bowel complaint or a touch of lumbago, the “central despotism -at Washington” was denounced, by journals hostile to the war, -as responsible for the affliction, and the people were called on -to rescue violated Freedom from the clutches of an insidious -tyrant, even from plain, scrupulous “old Abe,” son of a poor -Kentuckian who could show no pedigree, like Colonel Delancy -Hyde and Jefferson Davis.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A pathetic paragraph appeared in one of the newspapers, -giving a piteous story of a “loyal citizen of New Orleans,” -who, for no namable offence, was made to pine in a foul dungeon -to satisfy the personal pique of Mr. Secretary Stanton. -Soon afterwards a remonstrance in behalf of this victim of -oppression was signed by Surgeon Mooney. Ratcliff, whom -the public sympathy had been led to picture as in the last -stage of a mortal malady, was forthwith admitted to extraordinary -privileges. He was enabled to communicate clandestinely -with friends in New York. He soon managed to get on -board a Nova Scotia coasting schooner. A week afterwards, -he succeeded in running the blockade, and in disembarking -safely at Wilmington, N. C.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Anxious as he was to get home, he must first go to Richmond -to pay his respects to “President” Davis, of whom -everybody at the South used to say to Mr. W. H. Russell -of the London Times, “Don’t you think our President is a -remarkable man?” Ratcliff was not unknown to Davis, and -sent up his card. It drew forth an immediate “Show him in.” -The “remarkable man” sat in his library at a small table -strewn with letters and manuscripts. A thin, Cassius-like, -care-burdened figure, slightly above the middle height. What -some persons called dignity in his manner was in truth merely -ungracious stiffness; while his <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>hauteur</i></span> was the unquiet arrogance -that fears it shall not get its due. His face was not -that of a man who could prudently afford to sneer (as he had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_394'>394</span>publicly done) at Abraham Lincoln’s homeliness. But before -him lay letters on which the postage-stamp was an absurdly -flattered likeness of himself,—as like him as the starved -apothecary is like Jupiter Tonans.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the original the cheeks were shrunken and sallow, leaving -the bones high and salient. The jaws were thin and -hollow; the forehead wrinkled and out of all proportion with -the lower part of the face; the eyes deep-set, and one of them -dulled by a severe neuralgic affection. The lips were too thin, -and there was no sweetness in the mouth. The whole expression -was that of one whose besetting characteristic is an intense -self-consciousness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This man could not be betrayed into the ease and <em>abandon</em> -of one of nature’s noblemen, for he was never thinking so -much of others as of himself. The absence in him of all geniality -of manner was not the reserve of a gentleman, but the -frigidity of an unsympathetic and unassured heart. There was -little in him of the Southern type of manhood. It is not to be -wondered that bluff General Taylor could not overcome his -repugnance to him as a son-in-law.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Although at the head of the Rebellion, this man had no vital -faith in it; no enthusiasm that could magnetize others by a -noble contagion. He was not a fanatic, like Stonewall Jackson. -And yet, just previously to Ratcliff’s call, he had been exercised -in mind about joining the church,—a step he finally took.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He had few of the qualities of a statesman. His petty malignities -overcame all sense of the proprieties becoming his -station; for he would give way, even in his public official addresses, -to scurrilities which had the meanness without the -virility of the slang of George Sanderson, and which showed a -lack of the primary elements of a heroic nature.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A man greatly overrated as to abilities. A repudiator of -the sacred obligations assumed by his State, it was his added -infelicity to be defended by John Slidell. Never respected -for truthfulness by those who knew him best. Future historians -will contrast him with President Lincoln, and will show -that, while the latter surpassed him immeasurably in high -moral attributes, he was also his superior in intellectual pith.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The interview between Ratcliff and Davis began with an -<span class='pageno' id='Page_395'>395</span>interchange of views on the subject of New Orleans. Each -cheered the other with assurances of the impracticability of the -Federal attack. After public affairs had been discussed, the -so-called President said: “Excuse me for not having asked -after Mrs. Ratcliff. Is she well?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She died some time since,” replied Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! In these times of general bereavement we find -it impossible to keep account of our friends.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It is my purpose, Mr. President, to marry soon again. -You have yourself set the example of second nuptials, and I -believe the experiment has been a happy one.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; may yours be as fortunate! Who is the lady?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A young person not known in society, but highly respectable -and well educated. I shall have the pleasure to present -her to you here in Richmond in the course of the summer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mrs. Davis will be charmed to make her acquaintance. -Come and help us celebrate Lee’s next great victory.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you. If I can get my affairs into position, I may -wish to pass the next year in Europe with my new wife. It -would not be difficult, I suppose, for you to give me some diplomatic -stamp that would make me pass current.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The government will be disposed, no doubt, to meet your -views. We are likely to want some accredited agent in Spain. -A post that would enable you to fluctuate between Madrid and -Paris would be not an unpleasant one.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It would suit me entirely, Mr. President.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You may rely on my friendly consideration.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you. How about foreign recognition?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Slidell writes favorably as to the Emperor’s <a id='corr395.29'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='predispositions'>predispositions.</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_395.29'><ins class='correction' title='predispositions'>predispositions.</ins></a></span> -In England, the aristocracy and gentry, with most of the trading -classes, undoubtedly favor our cause. They desire to see the -Union permanently broken up, and will help us all they can. -But they must do this <em>indirectly</em>, seeing that the mass of the -English people, the rabble rout, even the artisans, thrown out -of employment by this war, sympathize with the plebeians of -the North rather than with us, the true master race of this -continent, the patricians of the South.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m glad to see, Mr. President, you characterize the Northern -scum as they deserve,—descendants of the refuse sent -over by Cromwell.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_396'>396</span>“Yes, Mr. Ratcliff, you and I who are gentlemen by birth -and education,—and whose ancestors, further back than the -Norman Conquest, were all gentlemen,<a id='r41' /><a href='#f41' class='c014'><sup>[41]</sup></a>—can poorly disguise -our disgust at any association with Yankees.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Gladstone says you’ve created a nation, Mr. President.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; Gladstone is a high-toned gentleman. His ancestors -made their fortunes in the Liverpool slave-trade.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you any assurances yet from Mason?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing decisive. But the eagerness of the Ministry to -humble the North in the Trent affair shows the real <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>animus</i></span> -of the ruling classes in England. Lord John disappoints me -occasionally. Bad blood there. But the rest are all right.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A pity they couldn’t put their peasantry into the condition -of our slaves!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A thousand pities! But the new Confederacy must be a -Missionary to the Nations,<a id='r42' /><a href='#f42' class='c014'><sup>[42]</sup></a> to teach the ruling classes throughout -the world, that slavery is the normal <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>status</i></span> for the mechanic -and the laborer. Meanwhile the friends of monarchy in Europe -must foresee that such a triumph as republicanism would -have in the restoration of the old Union, with slavery no longer -a power in the land, and with an army and navy the first in the -world, would be an appalling spectacle.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you hear from Washington, Mr. President?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The last I heard of the gorilla, he was investigating the -so-called spiritual phenomena. The letter-writers tell of a -<em>medium</em> having been entertained at the White House.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here Mr. Memminger came in to talk over the state of the -Rebel exchequer,—a subject which Mr. Davis generally disposed -of by ignoring; his old experience in repudiation teaching -him that the best mode of fancy financiering was,—if we -may descend to the vernacular,—to “go it blind.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ll intrude no longer on your precious time,” said Ratcliff. -“I go home to send you word that the renegade Tennessean, -Farragut, and that peddling lawyer from Lowell, Picayune -Butler, have been spued out of the mouths of the Mississippi.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The “President” rose, pressed Ratcliff’s proffered hand, and, -with a stiff, angular bow, parted from him at the door.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_397'>397</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XLI.<br />HOPES AND FEARS.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“In the same brook none ever bathed him twice:</div> - <div class='line'>To the same life none ever twice awoke.”</div> - <div class='line in33'><cite>Young.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>Three days after his interview with the “remarkable -man,” Ratcliff was at Montgomery, Ala. There he telegraphed -to Semmes, and received these words in reply: “All -safe. On your arrival, go first to my office for directions.” -Ratcliff obeyed, and found a letter telling him not to go home, -but to meet Semmes immediately at the house to which the -latter had transferred the white slave. Half an hour did not -elapse before lawyer and client sat in the curtained drawing-room -of this house, discussing their affairs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I cannot believe,” said Ratcliff, “that Josephine intended -to have the girl escape. She was the first to plan this marriage.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I did not act on light grounds of suspicion,” replied -Semmes. “I had myself overheard remarks which convinced -me that Madame was playing a double game. Either she or -some one else has put it into the girl’s head that she is not lawfully -a slave, but the kidnapped child of respectable parents.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As he spoke these words Semmes looked narrowly at Ratcliff, -who blenched as if at an unexpected thrust. Following -up his advantage, Semmes continued: “And, by the way, there -is one awkward circumstance which, if known, might make -trouble. I see by examining the notary’s books, that, in the -record of your proprietorship, you speak of the child as a -<em>quadroon</em>. Now plainly she has no sign of African blood in -her veins.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff gnawed his lips a moment, and then remarked: -“The fact that the record speaks of the child as a quadroon -does not amount to much. She may have been born of a -quadroon mother, and may have been tanned while an infant -<span class='pageno' id='Page_398'>398</span>so as to appear herself like a quadroon; and subsequently her -skin may have turned fair. All that will be of little account. -Half of the white slaves in the city would not be suspected of -having African blood in their veins, but for the record. Who -would think of disputing my claim to a slave,—one, too, that -had been held by me for some fifteen years?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Well might Ratcliff ask the question. It is true that the -laws of Louisiana had some ameliorated features that seemed -to throw a sort of protection round the slave; and one of these -was the law preventing the separation of young children from -their mothers under the hammer; and making ownership in -slaves transferable, not by a mere bill of sale, like a bale of -goods, but by deed formally recorded by a notary. But it is -none the less true that such are the necessities of slavery that -the law was often a dead letter. There was always large room -for evasion and injustice; and the man who should look too -curiously into transactions, involving simply the rights of the -slave, would be pretty sure to have his usefulness cut short by -being denounced as an Abolitionist.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The ignominious expulsion of Mr. Hoar who went to South -Carolina, not to look after the rights of slaves, but of colored -freemen, was a standing warning against any philanthropy that -had in view the enforcement or testing of laws friendly to the -blacks.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I should not be surprised,” remarked Semmes, “if this -young woman either has, or believes she has, some proofs -invalidating your claim to hold her as a chattel.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bah! I’ve no fear of that. Who, in the name of all the -fairies, does the little woman imagine she is?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“She cherishes the notion that she is the daughter of that -same Henry Berwick who was lost in the Pontiac. Should -that be so, the house you live in is hers. That would be odd, -wouldn’t it? You seem surprised. Is there any probability -in the tale?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“None whatever!” exclaimed Ratcliff, affecting to laugh, -but evidently preoccupied in mind, and intent on following out -some vague reminiscence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He remembered that the infant he had bought as a slave -and taken into his barouche wore a chemise on which were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_399'>399</span>initial letters marked in silk. He was struck at the time by -the fineness of the work and of the fabric. He now tried to -recall those initial letters. By their mnemonic association with -a certain word, he had fixed them in his mind. He strove to -recall that word. Suddenly he started up. The word had -come back to him. It was <em>cab</em>. The initials were C. A. B. -Semmes detected his emotion, and drew his own inferences -accordingly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By the way,” said he, “having a little leisure last night, I -looked back through an old file of the Bee newspaper, and -there hit upon a letter from the pen of a passenger, written a -few days after the explosion of the Pontiac.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! One would think, judging from the trouble you -take about it, you attached some degree of credence to this fanciful -story.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No. ’T is quite incredible. But a lawyer, you know, -ought to be prepared on all points, however trivial, affecting his -client’s interests.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did you find anything to repay you for your search?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will read you a passage from the letter; which letter, by -the way, bears the initials A. L., undoubtedly, as I infer from -the context, those of Arthur Laborie, whose authority no one -in New Orleans will question. Here is the passage. The letter -is in French. I will translate as I read:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“‘Among the mortally wounded was a Mr. Berwick of -New York, a gentleman of large wealth. They had pointed -him out to me the day before, as, with a wife and infant child, -the latter in the arms of a nurse, a colored woman, he stood on -the hurricane-deck. The wife was killed, probably by the inhalation -of steam. I saw and identified the body. The child, -they said, was drowned; if so, the body was not recovered. A -colored boy reported, that the day after the accident he had seen -a white child and a mulatto woman, probably from the wreck, in -the care of two white men; that the men told him the woman -was crazy, and that the child belonged to a friend of theirs -who had been drowned. I give this report, in the hope it may -reach the eyes of some friend of the Berwicks, though it did -not seem to make much impression on the officials who conducted -the investigation. Probably they had good reason for -dismissing the testimony; for Mr. Berwick died in the full belief -that his wife and child had already passed away.’”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_400'>400</span>“I don’t see anything in all that,” said Ratcliff, impatiently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps not,” replied Semmes; “but an interested lawyer -would see a good deal to set him thinking and inquiring. The -letter, having been published in French, may not have met the -eyes of any one to whom the information would have been -suggestive.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Really, Semmes, you seem to be trying to make out a -case.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The force of habit. ’T is second nature for a lawyer to revolve -such questions. Many big cases are built on narrower -foundations.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Psha! The incident might do very well in a romance, -but ’t is not one of a kind known to actual life.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pardon me. Incidents resembling it are not infrequent. -There was the famous Burrows case, where a child stolen by -Indians was recovered and identified in time to prevent the -diversion of a large property. There was the case of Aubert, -where a quadroon concubine managed to substitute her own -child in the place of the legitimate heir. Indeed, I could mention -quite a number of cases, not at all dissimilar, and some of -them having much more of the quality of romance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Damn it, Semmes, what are you driving at? Do you want -to take a chance in that lottery?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have I ever deserted a client? We must not shrink—we -lawyers—from looking a case square in the face.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nonsense! The art how <em>not</em> to see is that which the prudent -lawyer is most solicitous to learn. It is not by looking a -case square in the face, but by looking only at <em>his</em> side of it, -that he wins.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“On the contrary, the man of nerve looks boldly at the danger, -and fends off accordingly. Should you marry this young -lady, it may be a very pleasant thing to know that she’s the -true heir to a million.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Curse me, but I didn’t think of that!” cried Ratcliff, rubbing -his hands, and then patting the lawyer on the shoulder. -“Go on with your investigations, Semmes! Hunt up more information -about the Pontiac. Go and see Laborie. Question -Ripper, the auctioneer. I left him in Montgomery, but he will -be at the St. Charles to-morrow. Find out who Quattles was; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_401'>401</span>and who the Colonel was who acted as Quattles’s friend, but -whose name I forget. ’T is barely possible there <em>may</em> have -been some little irregularities practised; and if so, so much -the better for me! What fat pickings for you, Semmes, if we -could make it out that this little girl is the rightful heir! All -this New Orleans property can be saved from Confederate confiscation. -And then, as soon as the war is ended, we can go -and establish her rights in New York.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Semmes took a pinch of snuff, and replied: “You remember -Mrs. Glass’s well-worn receipt for cooking a hare: ‘First, -catch your hare.’ So I say, first make sure that the young girl -will say <em>yes</em> to your proposition.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What! do you entertain a doubt? A slave? One I could -send to the auction-block to-morrow? Do you imagine she -will decline an alliance with Carberry Ratcliff? Look you, -Semmes! I’ve set my heart on this marriage more than I -ever did on any other scheme in my whole life. The chance—for -’t is only a remote chance—that she is of gentle blood,-well-born, -the rightful heir to a million,—this enhances the -prize, and gives new piquancy to an acquisition already sufficiently -tempting to my eyes. There must be no such word as -<em>fail</em> in this business, Mr. Lawyer. You must help me to bring -it to a prosperous conclusion instantly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No: do not say <em>instantly</em>. Beware being precipitate. -Remember what the poet says,—‘A woman’s <em>No</em> is but a -crooked path unto a woman’s <em>Yes</em>.’ Do not mind a first rebuff. -Do not play the master. Be distant and respectful. Attempt -no liberties. You will only shock and exasperate. By a gentle, -insinuating course, you may win.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“<em>May</em> win? I <em>must</em> win, Semmes! There must be no <em>if</em> -about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I want to see you win, Ratcliff; but show her you assume -there’s no <em>if</em> in the case, and you repel and alienate her.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t know that. Most women like a man the better for -being truly, as well as nominally, the lord and master. The -more imperious he is, the more readily and tenaciously they -cling to him. I don’t believe in letting a woman suppose that -she can seize the reins when she pleases.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lawyer shrugged his shoulders, then replied: “The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_402'>402</span>tyrant is hated by every person of sense, whether man or woman. -I grant you there are many women who haven’t much -sense. But this little lady of yours is the last in the world on -whom you can safely try the experiment of compulsion. Take -my word for it, the true course is to let her suppose she is free -to act. You must rule her by not seeming to rule.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, let me see the girl, and I can judge better then as -to the fit policy. I’ve encountered women before in my day. -You don’t speak to a novice in woman-taming. I never met -but one yet who ventured to hold out against me,—and she -got the worst of it, I reckon.” And a grim smile passed over -Ratcliff’s face as he thought of Estelle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You will find the young lady in the room corresponding -with this, on the third story,” said the lawyer. “The door is -locked, but the key is on the outside. Please consider that my -supervision ends here. I leave the servants in the house subject -to your command. The Sister Agatha in immediate -attendance is a pious fool, who believes her charge is insane. -She will obey you implicitly. Sam will attend to the marketing. -My own affairs now claim my attention. I’ve suffered -largely from their neglect during your absence. Be careful -not to be seen coming in or going out of this house. I have -used extreme precautions, and have thus far baffled those who -would help the young woman to escape.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall not be less vigilant,” replied Ratcliff. “I accept -the keys and the responsibility. Good by. I go to let the -young woman know that her master has returned.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff seized his hat and passed out of the room up-stairs -as fast as his somewhat pursy habit of body would allow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There goes a man who puts his hat on the head of a fool,” -muttered the old lawyer. “Confound him! If he weren’t so -deep in my books, I would leave him to his own destruction, -and join the enemy. I’m not sure this wouldn’t be the best -policy as it is.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Thus venting his anger in soliloquy Mr. Semmes quitted the -house, and walked in meditative mood to his office.</p> - -<hr class='c019' /> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff paused at the uppermost stair on the third story. -From the room came the sound of a piano-forte, with a vocal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_403'>403</span>accompaniment. Clara was singing “While Thee I seek, protecting -Power,”—a hymn which, though written by Helen -Maria Williams when she thought herself a deist, is used by -thousands of Christian congregations to interpret their highest -mood of devout trust and pious resignation. As the clear, -out-swelling notes fell on Ratcliff’s ears, he drew back as if a -flaming sword had been waved menacingly before his face.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He walked down into the room below and waited till the -music was over; then he boldly proceeded up-stairs again, -knocked at the door, unlocked it, and entered. Clara looked -round from turning the leaves of a music-book, rose, and bent -upon her visitor a penetrating glance as if she would fathom -the full depth of his intents. Ratcliff advanced and put out -his hand. She did not take it, but courtesied and motioned -him to a seat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She was dressed in a flowing gauze-like robe of azure over -white, appropriate to the warmth of the season. Her hair was -combed back from her forehead and temples, showing the full -symmetry of her head. Her lips, of a delicate coral, parted -just enough to show the white perfection of her teeth. Rarely -had she looked so dangerously beautiful. Ratcliff was swift to -notice all these points.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Assuming that a compliment on her personal appearance -could never come amiss to a woman, young or old, he said: -“Upon my word, you are growing more beautiful every day, -Miss Murray. I had thought there was no room for improvement. -I find my mistake.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff looked narrowly to see if there were any expression -of pleasure on her face, but it did not relax from its impenetrability.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Will you not be seated?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She sat down, and he followed her example. There was -silence for a moment. The master felt almost embarrassed -before the young girl he had so long regarded as a slave. -Something like a genuine emotion began to stir in his heart as -he said: “Miss Murray, you are well aware that I am the -only person to whom you are entitled to look for protection and -support. From an infant you have been under my charge, and -I hope you will admit that I have not been ungenerous in providing -for you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_404'>404</span>“One word, sir, at the outset, on that point,” interposed -Clara. “All the expense you have been at for me shall be -repaid and overpaid at once with interest. You are aware I -have the means to reimburse you fully.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excuse me, Miss Murray; without meaning to taunt you,—simply -to set you right in your notions,—let me remark, -that, being my slave, you can hold no property independent of -me. All you have is legally mine.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“How can that be, sir, when what I have is entirely out of -your power; safely deposited in the vaults of Northern banks, -where your claim not only is not recognized, but where you -could not go to enforce it without being liable to be arrested as -a traitor?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A dark, savage expression flitted over Ratcliff’s face as he -thought of the turn which his wife, aided by Winslow, had -served him; but he checked the ire which was rising to his -lips, and replied: “Let me beg you not to cherish an unprofitable -delusion, my dear Miss Murray. When this war terminates, -as it inevitably will, in the triumph of the South, one of -the conditions of peace which we shall impose on the North -will be, that all claims resulting out of slavery, either through -the abduction of slaves or the transfer of property held as -theirs, shall be settled by the fullest indemnification to masters. -In that event your little property, which Mr. Winslow thinks -he has hid safely away beyond my recovery, will be surely -reached and returned to me, the lawful owner.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, sir,” replied Clara, forcing a calmness at which she -herself was surprised, “supposing, what I do not regard as -probable, that the South will have its own way in this war, -and that my title to all property will be set aside as superseded -by yours, let me inform you that I have a friend who -will come to my aid, and make you the fullest compensation -for all the expense you have been at on my account.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! Is there any objection to my knowing to what -friend you allude?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“None at all, sir. Madame Volney is that friend.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, we will not discuss that point now,” said Ratcliff, -smiling incredulously as he thought how speedily a few blandishments -from him would overcome any resolution which the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_405'>405</span>lady referred to might form. “My plans for you, Miss Murray, -are all honorable, and such as neither you nor the world -can regard as other than generous. Consider what I might do -if I were so disposed! I could put you up at auction to-morrow -and sell you to some brute of a fellow who would degrade -and misuse you. Instead of that, what do I propose? First -let me speak a few words of myself. I am, it is true, considerably -your senior, but not old, and not ill-looking, if I may -believe my glass. My property, already large, will be enormous -the moment the war is over. I have bought within the -last six months, at prices almost nominal, over a thousand -slaves, whose value will be increased twenty-fold with the -return of peace. My position in the new Confederacy will be -among the foremost. Already President Davis has assured -me that whatever I may ask in the way of a new foreign mission -I can have. Thus the lady who may link her fate with -mine will be a welcome guest at all the courts of Europe. If -she is beautiful, her beauty will be admired by princes, kings, -and emperors. If she is intellectual, all the wits and great -men of London and Paris will be ambitious to make her acquaintance. -Now what do you think I propose for you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me not disguise my knowledge,” replied Clara, looking -him in the face till he dropped his eyelids. “You propose that -I should be your wife.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! Josephine has told you, then, has she? And what -did you say to it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I said I could never say <em>yes</em> to such a proposition from a -man who claimed me as a slave.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But what if I forego my claim, and give you free papers?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Try it,” said Clara, sternly.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can you then give me any encouragement?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The idea was so hideous to her, and so strong her disinclination -to deceive, or to allow him to deceive himself, that she -could not restrain the outburst of a hearty and emphatic -“<em>No!</em>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff’s eyes swam a moment with their old glitter that -meant mischief; but the recollection of his lawyer’s warning -restored him to good humor. He resolved to bear with her -waywardness at that first interview, and to let her say <em>no</em> as -much as she pleased.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_406'>406</span>“You say <em>no</em> now, but by and by you will say <em>yes</em>,” he -replied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara had risen and was pacing the floor. Suddenly she -stopped and said: “My desire is to disabuse you wholly of -any expectation, even the most remote, that I can ever change -my mind on this point. Under no conceivable circumstances -could I depart from my determination.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tell me one thing,” replied Ratcliff. “Do you speak thus -because your affections are pre-engaged?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I do not,” said Clara; “and for that reason I can make -my refusal all the more final and irrevocable; for it is not -biased by passion. I beg you seriously to dismiss all expectation -of ever being able to change my purpose; and I propose -you should receive for my release such a sum as may be a -complete compensation for what you have expended on me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff had it in his heart to reply, “Slave! do your master’s -bidding”; but he discreetly curbed his choler, and said, -“Can you give me any good reason for your refusal?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” answered Clara, “the best of reasons: one which no -gentleman would wish to contend against: my inclinations will -not let me accept your proposal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Inclinations may change,” suggested Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In this case mine can only grow more and more adverse,” -replied Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff found it difficult to restrain himself from assuming -the tone that chimes so well with the snap of the plantation -scourge; and so he resolved to withdraw from the field for the -present. He rose and said: “As we grow better acquainted, -my dear, I am persuaded your feelings will change. I have -no wish to force your affections. That would be unchivalrous -towards one I propose to place in the relation of a <em>wife</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He laid a significant emphasis on this last word, <em>wife</em>; and -Clara started as at some hideous object in her path. Was -there, then, another relation in which he might seek to place -her, if she persisted in her course? And then she recollected -Estelle; and the flush of an angry disgust mounted to her -brow. But she made no reply; and Ratcliff, with his hateful -gaze devouring her beauties to the last, passed out of the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the whole he felicitated himself on the interview. He -<span class='pageno' id='Page_407'>407</span>thought he had kept his temper remarkably well, and had not -allowed this privileged beauty to irritate him beyond the prudent -point. He believed she could not resist so much suavity -and generosity on his part. She had confessed she was heart-free: -surely that was in his favor. It was rather provoking -to have a slave put on such airs; but then, by Jove, she was -worth enduring a little humiliation for. Possibly, too, it might -be high blood that told in her. Possibly she might be that -last scion of the Berwick stock which an untoward fate had -swept far from all signs of parentage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>These considerations, while they disposed Ratcliff to leniency -in judging of her waywardness, did but aggravate the importunity -of his desires for the proposed alliance. Although hitherto -his tastes had led him to admire the coarser types of feminine -beauty, there was that in the very difference of Clara from all -other women with whom he had been intimate, which gave -novelty and freshness and an absorbing fascination to his present -pursuit. The possession of her now was the prime necessity -of his nature. That prize hung uppermost. Even Confederate -victories were secondary. Politics were forgotten. He -did not ask to see the newspapers; he did not seek to go abroad -to confer with his political associates, and tell them all that he -had seen and heard at Richmond. Semmes’s caution in regard -to the danger of his being tracked had something to do with -keeping him in the house; but apart from this motive, the mere -wish to be under the same roof with Clara, till he had secured -her his beyond all hazard, would have been sufficient to keep -him within doors.</p> - -<hr class='c019' /> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff went down into the dining-room. The table was -set for one. He thought it time to inquire into the arrangements -of the household. He rang the bell, and it was answered -by a slim, delicate looking mulatto man, having on the white -apron of a waiter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s your name, and whose boy are you?” asked Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My name is Sam, sir, and I belong to lawyer Semmes,” -replied the man, smoothing the table-cloth, and removing a -pitcher from the sideboard.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_408'>408</span>“What directions did he leave for you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He told me to stay and wait upon you, sir, just as I had -upon him, till you saw fit to dismiss me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What other servants are there in the house?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One colored woman, sir, and one, a negro; Manda the -cook, and Agnes the chambermaid.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Any other persons?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Only the young woman that’s crazy, and the Sister of -Charity that attends her. They are on the third floor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff looked sharply at the mulatto, but could detect in -his face no sign that he mistrusted the story of the insane -woman.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Send up the chambermaid,” said Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, sir. When will you have your dinner, sir?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In half an hour. Have you any wines in the house?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, sir; Sherry, Madeira, Port, Burgundy, Hock, Champagne.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Put on Port and Champagne.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sam’s departure was followed by the chamber-maid’s appearance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Are my rooms all ready, Agnes?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, massa. Front room, second story, all ready. Sheets -fresh and aired. Floor swept dis mornin’. All clean an’ -sweet, massa.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was something in the forward and assured air of this -negro woman that was satisfactory to Ratcliff. Some little -coquetries of dress suggested that she had a weakness through -which she might be won to be his unquestioning ally in any designs -he might adopt. He threw out a compliment on her good -looks, and this time he found his compliment was not thrown -away. He gave her money, telling her to buy a new dress -with it, and promised her a silk shawl if she would be a good -girl. To all of which she replied with simpers of delight.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, Agnes,” said he, “tell me what you think of the -little crazy lady up-stairs?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’se of ’pinion, sar, dat gal am no more crazy nor I’m -crazy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m glad to hear you say so, for I intend to make her my -wife; and want you to help me all you can in bringing it about.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_409'>409</span>“Shouldn’t tink massa would need no help, wid all his -money. Wheugh! What’s de matter? Am she offish?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A little obstinate, that’s all. But she’ll come round in -good time. Only you stand by me close, Agnes, and you shall -have a hundred dollars the day I’m married.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I nebber ’fuse a good offer, massa. You may count on dis -chile, sure!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now go and send up dinner,” said Ratcliff, confident he -had secured one confederate who would not stick at trifles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The dinner was brought up hot and carefully served.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Curse me but this does credit to old Semmes,” soliloquized -Ratcliff, as course after course came on. “The wines, too, are -not to be impeached. I wonder if his Burgundy is equal to his -Champagne.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff pressed his foot on the brass mushroom under the -table and rang the bell.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A bottle of Burgundy, Sam.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The mulatto brought on a bottle, and drew the cork gently -and skilfully, so as not to shake the precious contents.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! this will do,” said Ratcliff; “it must be of the famous -vintage of eighteen hundred and—confound the date! Sam, -you sly nigger, try a glass of this.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you, sir, I never drink.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nigger, you lie! Hand me that goblet.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sam did as he was bid. Ratcliff filled the glass with the -dark ruby liquid, and said, “Now toss it off, you rascal. Don’t -pretend you don’t like it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sam meekly obeyed, and put down the emptied goblet. Ratcliff -skirmished feebly among the bottles a few minutes longer, -then rose, and made his way unsteadily to the sofa.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sam, you solemn nigger, what’s o’clock?” said he.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The clock is just striking ten, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Possible? Have I been three—hiccup—hours at the -table? Sam, see me up-stairs and put me to bed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Half an hour afterwards Ratcliff lay in the heavy, stertorous -slumber which wine, more than fatigue, had engendered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He was habitually a late sleeper. It wanted but a few -minutes to eleven o’clock the next morning when Sam started -to answer his bell. Ratcliff called for soda-water. Sam had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_410'>410</span>taken the precaution to put a couple of bottles under his arm, -foreseeing that it would be needed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It took a full hour for Ratcliff to accomplish the duties of his -toilet. Then he went down to breakfast. And still the one -thought that pursued him was how best to extort compliance -from that beautiful maiden up-stairs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A brilliant idea occurred to him. He would go and exert -his powers of fascination. Without importunately urging his -suit, he would deal out his treasure of small-talk: he would -read poetry to her; he would try all the most approved means -of making love.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Again he knocked at her door. It was opened by Sister -Agatha, who at a sign from him withdrew into the adjoining -room. Clara was busy with her needle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you any objection to playing a tune for me?” he -asked, with the timid air of a Corydon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara seated herself at the piano and began playing Beethoven’s -Sonatas, commencing with the first. Ratcliff was horribly -bored. After he had listened for what seemed to him an -intolerable period, he interrupted the performance by saying, -“All that is very fine, but I fear it is fatiguing to you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not at all. I can go through the whole book without -fatigue.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t think of it! What have you here? ‘Willis’s -Poems.’ Are you fond of poetry, Miss Murray?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I <em>am</em> fond of poetry; but my name is not Murray.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Indeed! What may it then be?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My name is Berwick. I am no slave, though kidnapped -and sold as such while an infant. You bought me. But you -would not lend yourself to a fraud, would you? I must be -free. You shall be paid with interest for all your outlays in -my behalf. Is not that fair?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I am too much interested in your welfare, my dear young -lady, to consent to giving you up. You will find it impossible -to prove this fanciful story which some unfriendly person has -put into your head. Even if it were true, you could never -recover your rights. But it is all chimerical. Don’t indulge -so illusory a hope. What I offer, on the other hand, is substantial, -solid, certain. As my wife you would be lifted at -once to a position second to that of no lady in the land.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_411'>411</span>Clara inadvertently gave way to a shudder of dislike. Ratcliff -noticed it, and rising, drew nearer to her and asked, -“Have I ever given you any cause for aversion?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” she replied, starting up from the music-chair,—“the -cause which the master must always give the slave.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But if I were to remove that objection, could you not like -me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Impossible!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have I ever done anything to prevent it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, much.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Surely not toward you; and if not toward you, toward -whom?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Toward Estelle!” said Clara, roused to an intrepid scorn, -which carried her beyond the bounds at once of prudence and -of fear.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Had Ratcliff seen Estelle rise bodily before him, he could -not have been struck more to the heart with an emotion partaking -at once of awe and of rage. The habitually florid hue -of his cheeks faded to a pale purple. He swung his arms -awkwardly, as if at a loss what to do with them. He paced -the floor wildly, and finally gasping forth, “Young woman, -you shall—you shall repent this,” left the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He did not make his appearance in Clara’s parlor again that -day. It was already late in the afternoon. Dinner was nearly -ready. The consideration that such serious excitement would -be bad for his appetite gradually calmed him down; and by -the time he was called to the table he had thrown off the -effects of the shock which a single word had given him. The -dinner was a repetition of that of the day before, varied by the -production of new dishes and wines. Sam was evidently doing -his best as a caterer. Again Ratcliff sat late, and again Sam -saw him safe up-stairs and helped him to undress. And again -the slave-lord slept late into the hours of the forenoon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After breakfast on the third day of his return he paced the -back piazza for some two hours, smoking cigars. He had no -thought but for the one scheme before him. To be baffled in -that was to lose all. Public affairs sank into insignificance. -Sam handed him a newspaper, but without glancing at it he -threw it over the balustrade into the area. “She’s but a wayward -<span class='pageno' id='Page_412'>412</span>girl, after all! I must be patient with her,” thought he, -one moment. And the next his mood varied, and he muttered -to himself: “A slave! Damnation! To be treated so by a -slave,—one I could force to drudge instead of letting her play -the lady!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly he went up-stairs and paid her a third visit. His -manner and speech were abrupt.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wish to deal with you gently and generously,” said he; -“and I beseech you not to compel me to resort to harshness. -You are legally my slave, whatever fancies you may entertain -as to your origin or as to a flaw in my title. You can prove -nothing, or if you could, it would avail you nothing, against -the power which I can exert in this community. I tell you I -could this very day, in the mere exercise of my legal rights, -consign you to the ownership of those who would look upon -your delicate nurture, your assured manners, and your airs of -a lady, merely as so many baits enhancing the wages of your -infamy; who would subject you to gross companionship with -the brutal and the merciless; who would scourge you into -compliance with any base uses to which they might choose to -put you. Fair-faced slaves are forced to such things every -day. Instead of surrendering yourself to liabilities like these, -you have it in your power to take the honorable position of -my wife,—a position where you could dispense good to others -while having every luxury that heart could covet for yourself. -Now decide, and decide quickly; for I can no longer endure -this torturing suspense in which you have kept me. Will you -accede to my wishes, or will you not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will not!” said Clara, in a firm and steady tone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then remember,” replied Ratcliff, “it is your own hands -that have made the foul bed in which you prefer to lie.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And with these terrible words he quitted the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Frightened at her own temerity, Clara at once sank upon -her knees, and called with earnest supplication on the Supreme -Father for protection. Blending with her own words those -immortal formulas which the inspired David wrote down for -the help and refreshing of devout souls throughout all time, -she exclaimed: “Thou art my hiding-place and my shield: I -hope in thy word. Seven times a day do I praise thee because -<span class='pageno' id='Page_413'>413</span>of thy righteous judgments. Wonderfully hast thou led me -heretofore: forsake me not in this extreme. Save now, I beseech -thee, O Lord; <em>send now prosperity</em>! Let thine hand -help me. Deliver my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, -and my feet from falling. Out of the depth I cry unto thee. O -Lord, hear my voice, and be attentive unto my supplications.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As she remained with head bent and arms crossed upon her -bosom, motionless as some sculptured saint, she suddenly felt -the touch of a hand on her head, and started up. It was Sister -Agatha, who had come to bid her good by.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But you’re not going to leave me!” cried Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; I’ve been told to go.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By whom have you been told to go?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“By the gentleman who now takes charge of you,—Mr. -Ratcliff.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But he’s a bad man! Look at him, study him, and you’ll -be convinced.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O no! he has given me fifty dollars to distribute among -the poor. If you were in your senses, my child, you would -not call him bad. He is your best earthly friend. You must -heed all he says. Agnes will remain to wait on you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Agnes? I’ve no faith in that girl. I fear she is corrupt; -that money could tempt her to much that is wrong.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What fancies! Poor child! But this is one of the signs -of your disease,—this disposition to see enemies in those -around you. There! you must let me go. The Lord help -and cure you! Farewell!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sister Agatha withdrew herself from Clara’s despairing -grasp and eager pleadings, and, passing into the sleeping-room, -opened the farther door which led into the billiard-room, of the -door of which, communicating with the entry, she had the key.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For the moment Hope seemed to vanish from Clara’s heart -with the departing form of the Sister; for, simple as she was, -she was still a protection against outrage. No shame could -come while Sister Agatha was present.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly the idea occurred to Clara that she had not tested -all the possibilities of escape. She ran and tried the doors. -They were all locked. We have seen that she had the range -of a suite of three large rooms: a front room serving as a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_414'>414</span>parlor and connected by a corridor, having closets and doors at -either end, with the sleeping-room looking out on the garden -in the rear. This sleeping-room, as you looked from the windows, -communicated with the billiard-room on the left, and had -one door, also on the left, communicating with the entry on -which you came from the stairs. This door was locked on the -outside. The parlor also communicated with this entry or hall -by a door on the left, locked on the outside. The house was -built very much after the style of most modern city houses, so -that it is not difficult to form a clear idea of Clara’s position.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Finding the doors were secure against any effort of hers to -force them, it occurred to her to throw into the street a letter -containing an appeal for succor to the person who might pick it -up. She hastily wrote a few lines describing her situation, the -room where she was confined, the fraud by which she was held -a slave, and giving the name of the street, the number of the -house, &c. This she signed <em>Clara A. Berwick</em>. Then rolling -it up in a handkerchief with a paper-weight she threw it out of -the window far into the street. Ah! It went beyond the opposite -sidewalk, over the fence, and into the tall grass of the -little ornamented park in front of the house!</p> - -<p class='c001'>She could have wept at the disappointment. Should she -write another letter and try again? While she was considering -the matter, she saw a well-dressed lady and gentleman promenading. -She cried out “Help!” But before she could repeat -the cry a hand was put upon her mouth, and the window was -shut down.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Missis, can’t ’low dat,” said the chuckling voice of -Agnes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara took the girl by the hand, made her sit down, and then, -with all the persuasiveness she could summon, tried to reach her -better nature, and induce her to aid in her escape. Failing in -the effort to move the girl’s heart, Clara appealed to her acquisitiveness, -promising a large reward in money for such help as -she could give. But the girl had been pre-persuaded by Ratcliff -that Clara’s promises were not to be relied upon; and so, -disbelieving them utterly, she simply shook her head and simpered. -How could Agnes, a slave, presume to disobey a great -man like Massa Ratcliff? Besides, he meant the young missis -<span class='pageno' id='Page_415'>415</span>no harm. He only wanted to make her his wife. Why should -she be so obstinate about it? Agnes couldn’t see the sense -of it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>During the rest of the day, Clara felt for the first time that -her every movement was watched. If she went to the window, -Agnes was by her side. If she took up a bodkin, Agnes -seemed ready to spring upon her and snatch it from her hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Terrible reflections brought their gloom. Clara recalled the -case of a slave-girl which she had heard only the day before -her last walk with Esha. It was the case of a girl quite white -belonging to a Madame Coutreil, residing just below the city. -This girl, for attempting to run away, had been placed in a filthy -dungeon, and a thick, heavy iron ring or yoke, surmounted by -three prongs, fastened about her neck.<a id='r43' /><a href='#f43' class='c014'><sup>[43]</sup></a> If a <em>mistress</em> could do -<span class='pageno' id='Page_416'>416</span>such things, what barbarity might not a <em>master</em> like Ratcliff -attempt?</p> - -<hr class='c019' /> - -<p class='c001'>And where was Ratcliff all this while?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Still keeping in the house, brooding on the one scheme on -which he had set his heart. He smoked cigars, stretched himself -on sofas, cursed the perversity of the sex, and theorized as -to the efficacy of extreme measures in taming certain feminine -tempers. Was not a woman, after all, something like a horse? -Had he not seen Rarey tame the most furious mare by a simple -process which did not involve beating or cruelty? The consideration -was curious,—a matter for philosophy to ruminate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff dined late that day. It was almost dark enough -for the gas to be lighted when he sat down to the table. The -viands were the choicest of the season, but he hardly did them -justice. All the best wines were on the sideboard. Sam -filled three glasses with hock, champagne, and burgundy; but, -to his surprise and secret disappointment, Ratcliff did not empty -one of them. “Mr. Semmes used to praise this Rudesheimer -very highly,” said Sam, insinuatingly. Ratcliff simply raised -his hand imperiously with a gesture imposing silence. He -sipped half a glass of the red wine, then drank a cup of coffee, -then lit a cigar, and resumed his walk on the piazza.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was now nine o’clock in the evening. Without taking off -any of her clothes, Clara had lain down on the bed. Agnes -sat sewing at a table near by. The room was brilliantly -illuminated by two gas-burners. Light also came through -the corridor from a burner in the parlor. Every few minutes -the chambermaid would look round searchingly, as if to see -whether the young “missis” were asleep. In order to learn -what effect it would have, Clara shut her eyes and breathed as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_417'>417</span>if lost in slumber. Agnes put down her work, moved stealthily -to the bed, and gently felt around the maiden’s waist and -bosom, as if to satisfy herself there was no weapon concealed -about her person.</p> - -<p class='c001'>While the negro woman was thus engaged, there was a sound -as if a key had dropped on the billiard-room floor, which was -of oak and uncarpeted. Agnes stopped and listened as if puzzled. -There was then a sound as if the outer door of the -billiard-room communicating with the entry were unlocked and -opened. Agnes went up to the mantel-piece and looked at the -clock, and then listened again intently.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was now a low knock from the billiard-room at the -chamber-door, which was locked on the inside, and the key of -which was left in while Agnes was present, but which she was -accustomed to take out and leave on the billiard-room side -when she quitted the apartments to go down-stairs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Before unlocking the door on this occasion she asked in a -whisper, “Who’s dar?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The reply came, “Sam.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s de matter?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I want to speak with you a minute. Open the door.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can’t do it, Sam. It’s agin orders.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, no matter. I only thought you’d like to tell me -what sort of a shawl to get.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What?—what’s dat you say ’bout a shawl?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Massa has given me ten dollars to buy a silk shawl for -you. What color do you want?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara heard every word of this little dialogue. It was followed -by the chambermaid’s unlocking the door, taking out the -key and entering the billiard-room. Clara started from the -bed, and went and listened. The only words she could distinguish -were, “I’ll jes run up-stairs an’ git a pattern fur yer.” -Clara tried the door, but found it locked. She listened yet -more intently. There was no further sound. She waited five -minutes, then went back to the bed and sat down.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A sense of something incommunicable and mysterious weighed -upon her brain and agitated her thoughts. It was as if she -were enclosed by an atmosphere impenetrable to intelligences -that were trying to reach her brain. For a week she had seen -<span class='pageno' id='Page_418'>418</span>no newspaper. What had happened during that time? Great -events were impending. What shape had they taken? The -terror of the Vague and the Unknown dilated her eyes and -thrilled her heart.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As she sat there breathless, she heard through the window, -open at the top, the distant beat of music. The tune was distinguishable -rather by the vibrations of the air than by audible -notes. But it seemed to Clara as if a full band were playing -the Star-Spangled Banner. What could it mean? Nothing. -The tune was claimed both by Rebels and Loyalists.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hark! It had changed. What was it now? Surely that -must be the air of “Hail Columbia.” Never before, since the -breaking out of the Rebellion, had she heard that tune. As -the wind now and then capriciously favored the music, it came -more distinct to her ears. There could be no mistake.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And now the motion of the sounds was brisk, rapid, and lively. -Could it be? Yes! These rash serenaders, whoever they were, -had actually ventured to play “Yankee Doodle.” Was it possible -the authorities allowed such outrages on Rebel sensibilities?</p> - -<p class='c001'>And now the sounds ceased, but only for a moment. A -slower, a grand and majestic strain, succeeded. It arrested her -closest attention. What was it? What? She had heard it -before, but where? When? What association, strange yet -tender, did it have for her? Why did it thrill and rouse her -as none of the other tunes had done? Suddenly she remembered -it was that fearful “John Brown Hallelujah Chorus,” -which Vance had played and sung for her the first evening of -their acquaintance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The music ceased; and she listened vainly for its renewal. -All at once a harsh sound, that chilled her heart, and seemed to -concentrate all her senses in one, smote on her ears. The key -of the parlor door was slowly turned. There was a step, and -it seemed to be the step of a man.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara started up and pressed both bands on her bosom, to -keep down the flutterings of her heart, which beat till a sense -of suffocation came over her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The awe and suspense of that moment seemed to protract it -into a whole hour of suffering. “God help me!” was all she -could murmur. Her terror grew insupportable. The steps -<span class='pageno' id='Page_419'>419</span>came over the carpet,—they fell on the tessellated marble of -the little closet-passage,—they drew near the half-open door -which now alone intervened.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then there was a knock on the wood-work. She wanted to -say, “Who’s there?” but her tongue refused its office. The -strength seemed ebbing from every limb. Horror at the -thought of her helplessness came over her. Then a form—the -form of a man—stood before her. She uttered one cry,—a -simple “Oh!”—and sinking at his feet, put her arms -about his knees and pressed against them her head.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There are times when a brief, hardly articulate utterance,—a -simple intonation,—seems to carry in it whole volumes of -meaning. That single <em>Oh!</em>—how much of heart-history it -conveyed! In its expression of transition from mortal terror -to entire trustfulness and delight, it was almost childlike. It -spoke of unexpected relief,—of a joyful surprise,—of a gratitude -without bounds,—of an awful sense of angelic guardianship,—of -an inward faith vindicated and fulfilled against a tumultuous -crowd of selfish external fears and misgivings.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The man whose appearance had called forth this intensified -utterance wore the military cap and insignia of a Colonel in -the United States service. His figure seemed made for endurance, -though remarkable for neatness and symmetry. His face -was that of one past the middle stage,—one to whom life had -not been one unvaried holiday. The cheeks were bronzed; the -eyes mobile and penetrating, the mouth singularly sweet and -firm. Clara knew the face. It was that of Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He lifted her flaccid form from the posture in which she had -thrown herself,—lifted and supported it against his breast as -if to give her the full assurance of safety and protection. She -opened her eyes upon him as thus they stood,—eyes now -beaming with reverential gratitude and transport. He looked -at them closely.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes,” said he, “there they are! the blue and the gray! -Why did I not notice them before?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah!” she cried. “Here is my dream fulfilled. You have -at last taken from them that letter which lay there.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was the sound of footsteps on the landing in the upper -hall. Clara instinctively threw an arm over Vance’s shoulder. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_420'>420</span>The key of the chamber-door was turned, and Ratcliff -entered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He had been pacing the piazza and smoking uncounted -cigars. The distant music, which to Clara’s aroused senses -had been so audible, had not been heard by him. He had not -dreamed of any interruption of his plans. Was he not dealing -with a slave in a house occupied by slaves? What possible -service was there he could not claim of a slave? Were not -slaves made every day to scourge slaves, even their own wives -and children, till the backs of the sufferers were seamed and -bloody? Besides, he had fortified the fidelity of one of them—of -Agnes—by presents and by flatteries. Even the revolver -he usually carried with him was laid aside in one of the drawers -of his dressing-room as not likely to be wanted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On entering the chamber, Ratcliff, before perceiving that -there was an unexpected occupant, turned and relocked the -door on the inside.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Was it some vision, the product of an incantation, that now -rose before his eyes? For there stood the maiden on whose -compliance he had so wreaked all the energy of his tyrannical -will,—his own purchased slave and thrall,—creature bound -to serve either his brute desires or his most menial exactions,—there -she stood, in the attitude of entire trust and affection, -folded in the arms of a man!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Instantly Ratcliff reflected that he was unarmed, and he -turned and unlocked the door to rush down-stairs after his -revolver. But Vance was too swift for him. Placing Clara -in a chair, quick as the tiger-cat springs on his prey, he darted -upon Ratcliff, and before the latter could pass out on to the -landing, relocked the door and took the key. Then dragging -him into the middle of the room, he held him by a terrible grip -on the shoulders at arm’s length, face to face.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now look at me well,” said Vance. “You have seen me -before. Do you recognize me now?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Wild with a rage to which all other experiences of wrath -were as a zephyr to a tornado, Ratcliff yet had the curiosity to -look, and that look brought in a new emotion which made even -his wrath subordinate. For the first time in more than twenty -years he recognized the man who had once offended him at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_421'>421</span>the theatre,—who had once knocked him down on board a -steamboat in the eyes of neighbors and vassals,—who had -robbed him of one beautiful slave girl, and was now robbing -him of another. Yes, it never once occurred to Ratcliff that -he, a South Carolinian, a man born to command, was not the -aggrieved and injured party!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance stood with a look like that of St. George spearing the -dragon. The past, with all its horrors, surged up on his recollection. -He thought of that day of Estelle’s abduction,—of -the escape and recapture,—of that scene at the whipping-post,—of -the celestial smile she bent on him through her agony,—of -the scourging he himself underwent, the scars of which he -yet bore,—of those dreadful hours when he clung to the loosened -raft in the river,—of the death scene, the euthanasia of -Estelle, of his own despair and madness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And here, before him, within his grasp, was the author of -all these barbarities and indignities! Here was the man who -had ordered and superintended the scourging of one in whom -all the goodness and grace that ever made womanhood lovely -and adorable had met! Here was the haughty scoundrel who -had thought to bind her in marriage with one of his own -slaves! Here was the insolent ruffian! Here the dastard -murderer! What punishment could be equal to his crimes? -Death? His life so worthless for hers so precious beyond all -reckoning? Oh! that would go but a small way toward paying -the enormous debt!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance carried in a secret pocket a pistol, and wore a small -sword at his side. This last weapon Ratcliff tried to grasp, -but failed. Vance looked inquiringly about the room. Ratcliff -felt his danger, and struggled with the energy of despair. -Vance, with the easy knack of an adroit wrestler, threw him -on the floor, then dragging him toward the closet, pulled from -a nail a thick leather strap which hung there, having been -detached from a trunk. Then hurling Ratcliff into the middle -of the room, he collared him before he could rise, and brought -down the blows, sharp, quick, vigorous, on face, back, shoulders, -till a shriek of “murder” was wrung from the proud lips -of the humbled adversary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly, in the midst of these inflictions, Vance felt his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_422'>422</span>arm arrested by a firm grasp. He disengaged himself with a -start that was feline in its instant evasiveness, turned, and before -him stood Peek, interposing between him and the prostrate -Ratcliff.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stand aside, Peek,” said Vance; “I have hardly begun -yet. You are the last man to intercede for this wretch.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not one more blow, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stand aside, I say! Come not between me and my mortal -foe. Have I not for long years looked forward to this hour? -Have I not toiled for it, dreamed of it, hungered for it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Mr. Vance, I’ll not think so poorly of you as to believe -you’ve done any such thing. It was to right a great wrong -that you have toiled,—not to wreak a poor revenge on flesh -and blood.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No preaching, Peek! Stand out of the way! I’d sooner -forego my hope of heaven than be balked now. Away!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have I ever done that which entitles me to ask a favor of -you, Mr. Vance?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; for that reason I will requite the scars you yourself -bear. The scourger shall be scourged.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Would you not do <em>her</em> bidding, could you hear it; and can -you doubt that she would say, Forgive?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance recoiled for a moment, then replied: “You have used -the last appeal; but ’ will not serve. <em>My</em> wrongs I can forgive. -<em>Yours</em> I can forgive. But <em>hers</em>, never! Once more I -say, Stand aside!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You <em>shall</em> not give him another blow,” said Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Shall not?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And before he could offer any resistance Peek had been -thrown to the other side of the room so as to fall backward on -his hands.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then, in a moment, Vance seemed to regret the act. He -jumped forward, helped the negro up, begged his pardon, saying: -“Forgive me, my dear, dear Peek! Have your own -way. Do with this man as you like. Haven’t you the right? -Didn’t you once save my life? Are you hurt? Do you forgive -me?” And the tears sprang to Vance’s eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No harm done, Mr. Vance! But you are quick as lightning.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_423'>423</span>“Look at me, Peek. Let me see from your face that I’m -forgiven.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Peek turned on him such an expression, at once tender -and benignant, that Vance, seeing they understood each other, -was reassured.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara had sat all this time intently watching every movement, -but too weak from agitation to interfere, even if she had -been so disposed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff, recovering from the confusion of brain produced by -the rapid blows he had endured, looked to see to whom he had -been indebted for help. In all the whims of Fate, could it be -there was one like this in reserve? Yes! that negro was the -same he, Ratcliff, had once caused to be scourged till three -men were wearied out in the labor of lashing. The fellow’s -back must be all furrowed and criss-crossed with the marks got -from him, Ratcliff. Yet here was the nigger, coming to the -succor of his old master! The instinct of servility was stronger -in him even than revenge. Who would deny, after this, what -he, Ratcliff, had often asserted, “Niggers will be niggers?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And so, instead of recognizing a godlike generosity in the -act, the slave-driver saw in it only the habit of a base spirit, -and the wholesome effect, upon an inferior, of that imposing -quality in his, Ratcliff’s, own nature and bearing, which showed -he was of the master race, and justified all his assumptions.</p> - -<hr class='c019' /> - -<p class='c001'>Watching his opportunity Ratcliff crawled toward the billiard-room -door, and, suddenly starting up, pulled it open, -thinking to escape. To his dismay he encountered a large -black dog of the bloodhound species, who growled and showed -his teeth so viciously that Ratcliff sprang back. Following -the dog appeared a young soldier, who, casting round his eyes, -saw Clara, and darting to her side, seized and warmly pressed -her extended hand. Overcome with amazement, Ratcliff reeled -backward and sank into an arm-chair, for in the soldier he recognized -Captain Onslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Voices were now heard on the stairs, and two men appeared. -One of them was of a compact, well-built figure, and apparently -about fifty years old. He was clad in a military dress, and his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_424'>424</span>aspect spoke courage and decision. The individual at his side, -and who seemed to be paying court to him, was a tall, gaunt -figure, in the coarse uniform of the prison. He carried his -cap in his hand, showing that half of his head was entirely -bald, while the other half was covered with a matted mass of -reddish-gray hair.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This last man, as he mounted the stairs and stood on the -landing, might have been heard to say: “Kunnle Blake, you’re -a high-tone gemmleman, ef you air a Yankee. You see in -me, Kunnle, a victim of the damdest ongratitood. These -Noo-Orleenz ’ristocrats couldn’t huv treated a nigger or an -abolitioner wuss nor they’ve treated <em>me</em>. I told ’em I wuz -Virginia-born; told ’em what I’d done fur thar damned Confed’racy; -told ’em what a blasted good friend I’d been to the -institootion; but—will you believe it?—they tuk me up on -a low charge of ’propriatin’ to private use the money they giv -me ter raise a company with;—they hahd me up afore a -committee of close-fisted old fogies, an’ may I be shot ef they -didn’t order me to be jugged, an’ half of my head to be -shaved! An’ ’t was did. Damned ef it warnt! But I’ll -be even with ’em, damn ’em! Ef I don’t, may I be kept ter -work in a rice-swamp the rest of my days. I’ll let ’em see -what it is to treat one of the Hyde blood in this ’ere way, as -if he war a low-lived corn-cracker. I’ll let ’em see what thar -rotten institootion’s wuth. Ef they kn afford ter make out of -a born gemmleman a scarecrow like I am now, with my half-shaved -scalp, jes fur ’propriatin’ a few of thar damned rags, -well and good. They’ll hahv ter look round lively afore they -kn find sich another friend as Delancey Hyde has been ter -King Cotton,—damn him! They shall find Delancy Hyde -kn unmake as well as make.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>To these wrathful words, Blake replied: “Perhaps you don’t -remember me, Colonel Hyde.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Cuss me ef I do. Ef ever I seed you afore, ’ was so long -ago that it’s clean gone out of my head.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t you remember the policeman who made you give up -the fugitive slave, Peek, that day in the lawyer’s office in New -York?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t remember nobody else!” exclaimed Hyde, jubilant -<span class='pageno' id='Page_425'>425</span>at the thought of claiming one respectable man as an old acquaintance, -and quite forgetting the fact that they had parted -as foes. “Kunnle Blake, we must liquor together the fust -chance we kn git. As for Peek, I don’t want to see a higher-toned -gemmleman than Peek is, though he <em>is</em> blacker than my -boot. Will you believe it, Kunnle? That ar nigger, findin’ -as how I wuz out of money, arter Kunnle Vance had tuk me -out of jail, what does he do but give me twenty dollars! In -good greenbacks, too! None of your sham Confed’rate trash! -Ef that ain’t bein’ a high-tone gemmleman, what is? He done -it too in the most-er delicate manner,—off-hand, like a born -prince.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>By this time the interlocutors had entered the billiard-room. -After them came a colored man and a negro. One of these -was Sam, the house-servant, the other Antoine, the owner of -the dog. Immediately after them came Esha and Madame -Josephine. They passed Ratcliff without noticing him, and -went to Clara, and almost devoured her with their kisses.</p> - -<p class='c001'>No sooner had these two moved away in this terrible procession -than an oldish lady, hanging coquettishly on the arm of a -man somewhat younger than herself, of a rather red face, and -highly dressed, entered the room, and, apparently too much absorbed -in each other to notice Ratcliff, walked on until the lady, -encountering Clara, rushed at her hysterically, and shrieking, -“My own precious child!” fell into her arms in the most approved -melodramatic style. This lady was Mrs. Gentry, who -had recently retired from school-keeping with “something handsome,” -which the Vigilance Committee had been trying to get -hold of for Confederate wants, but which she had managed to -withhold from their grasp, until that “blessed Butler” coming, -relieved her fears, and secured her in her own. The gentleman -attending her was Mr. Ripper, ex-auctioneer, who, in his -mellow days, finding that Jordan was a hard road to travel, had -concluded to sign the temperance pledge, reform, and take care -of himself. With this view, what could he do better than find -some staid, respectable woman, with “a little something of her -own,” with whom he could join hands on the downhill of life? -As luck would have it, he was introduced to Mrs. Gentry that -very evening, and he was now paying his first devoirs.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_426'>426</span>After the appearance of this couple, steps heavy and slow -were heard ascending the stairs into the billiard-room; and the -next moment Mr. Winslow appeared, followed by Lawyer -Semmes. And, bringing up the rear of the party, and presenting -in himself a fitting climax to these stunning surprises, -came a large and powerful negro in military rig, bearing a -musket with bayonet fixed, and displaying a small United -States flag. This man was Decazes, an escaped slave belonging -to Ratcliff, and for whom he had offered a reward of five -hundred dollars.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff had half-risen from his chair, holding on to the arms -with both hands for support. His countenance, laced by the -leathern blows he had received, his left eye blue and swollen, -every feature distorted with consternation, rage, and astonishment, -he presented such a picture of baffled tyranny as photography -alone could do justice to. Was it delirium,—was it some -harrowing dream,—under which he was suffering? That flag! -What did it mean?</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Semmes!” he exclaimed, “what has happened? Where -do these Yankees come from?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Possible? Haven’t you heard the news?” returned the -lawyer. “Farragut and Butler have possession of New -Orleans. What have you been doing with yourself the last -three days?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Butler?” exclaimed Ratcliff, astounded and incredulous,—“Picayune -Butler?—the contemptible swell-head,—the pettifogging—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Semmes walked away, as if choosing not to be implicated in -any treasonable talk.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly recognizing Winslow, Ratcliff impotently shook his -fists and darted at him an expression of malignant and vindictive -hate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Could it be? New Orleans in the hands of the Vandals,—the -“miserable miscreants,”—the “hyenas,” as President Davis -and Robert Toombs were wont to stigmatize the whole people -of the North? Where was the great ram that was to work -such wonders? Where were the Confederate gunboats? Were -not Forts Jackson and St. Philip impregnable? Could not the -Chalamette batteries sink any Yankee fleet that floated? Had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_427'>427</span>not the fire-eaters,—the last-ditch men,—resolved that New -Orleans should be laid in ashes before the detested flag, emblematic -of Yankee rule, should wave from the public buildings? -And here was a black rascal in uniform, flaunting that -flag in the very face of one of the foremost of the chivalry! -Let the universe slide after this! Let chaos return!</p> - -<p class='c001'>The company drifted in groups of two and three through the -suite of rooms. Sam disappeared suddenly. The women were -in the front room. Ratcliff, supposing that he was unnoticed, -rose to escape. But Victor the hound, was on hand. He had -been lying partly under the bed, with his muzzle out and resting -on his fore paws, affecting to be asleep, but really watching -the man whom his subtle instincts had told him was the game -for which he was responsible; and now the beast darted up -with an imperious bark, and Ratcliff, furious, but helpless, sank -back on his seat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Colonel Delancy Hyde approached, with the view of making -himself agreeable.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Squire Ratcliff,” said he, “you seem to be in a dam bad -way. Kin I do anything fur yer? Any niggers you want -kotched, Squire? Niggers is mighty onsartin property jes -now, Squire. Gen’ral Butler swars he’ll have a black regiment -all uniformed afore the Fourth of July comes round. -Wouldn’t give much fer yer Red River gangs jes now, -Squire! Reckon they’ll be findin’ thar way to Gen’ral Butler’s -head-quarters, sure.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff cowered and groaned in spirit as he thought of the -immense sums which, in his confidence in the success of the -Rebellion, he had been investing in slaves. Unless he could -run his gangs off to Texas, he would be ruined.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Look at me, Squire,” continued the Colonel; “I’m Kunnle -Delancy Hyde,—Virginia born, be Gawd; but, fur all that, I -might jest as well been born in hell, fur any gratitude you -cust ’ristocrats would show me. Yes, you’re one on ’em. -Here I’ve been drudgin’ the last thirty years in the nigger-ketchin’ -business, and see my reward,—a half-shaved scalp, -an’ be damned to yer! But my time’s comin’. Now Kunnle -Delancy Hyde tries a new tack. Instead of ketchin’ niggers, -he’s goin’ to free ’em; and whar he kotched one he’ll free a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_428'>428</span>thousand. Lou’siana’s bound to be a free State. All Cotton-dom’s -bound to be free. Uncle Sam shall have black regiments -afore Sumter soon. Only the freedom of every nigger -in the land kn wipe out the wrongs of Delancy Hyde,—kn -avenge his half-shaved scalp!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here the appearance of Sam, the house-servant, with a large -salver containing a pitcher, a sugar-bowl, a decanter, tumblers, -and several bottles, put a stop to the Colonel’s eloquence, and -drew him away as the loadstone draws the needle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Onslow came near to Ratcliff, looked him in the face contemptuously, -and turned away without acknowledging the -acquaintance. After him reappeared Ripper and Mrs. Gentry, -arm-in-arm, the lady with her hands clasped girlishly, and -her shoulder pressed closely up against that of the auctioneer. -It was evident she was going, going, if not already gone. -Ripper put up his eye-glass, and, carelessly nodding, remarked, -“Such is life, Ratcliff!” (Ratcliff! The beggar presumed to -call him Ratcliff!) The couple passed on, the lady exclaiming -so that the observation should not be lost on the ears for -which it was intended,—“I always said he would be come up -with!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Semmes now happening to pass by, Ratcliff, deeply agitated, -but affecting equanimity, said: “How is it, Semmes? Are -you going to help me out of this miserable scrape?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Our relations must end here, Mr. Ratcliff,” replied the -lawyer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So much the better,” said Ratcliff; “it will spare my -standing the swindle you call professional charges on your -books.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t be under a misapprehension, my poor friend,” returned -Semmes. “I have laid an attachment on your deposits -in the Lafayette Bank. They will just satisfy my claim.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And taking a pinch of snuff the lawyer walked unconcernedly -away. “O that I had my revolver here!” thought Ratcliff, -with an inward groan.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But here was Madame Josephine. Here was at least <em>one</em> -friend left to him. Of her attachment, under any change of -fortune, he felt assured. Her own means, not insignificant, -might now suffice for the rehabilitation of his affairs. She -<span class='pageno' id='Page_429'>429</span>drew near, her face radiant with the satisfaction she had felt in -the recovery of Clara. She drew near, and Ratcliff caught -her eye, and rising and putting out his hands, as if for an -embrace, murmured, in a confidential whisper, “Josephine, -dearest, come to me!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She frowned indignantly, threw back her arm with one -scornful and repelling sweep, and simply ejaculating, “No -more!” moved away from him, and took the proffered arm of -the trustee of her funds, the venerable Winslow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The party now passed away from Ratcliff, and out of the -two rooms; most of them going down-stairs to the carriages -that waited in the street to bear them to the St. Charles Hotel, -over whose cupola the Stars and Stripes were gloriously fluttering -in the starlight.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ratcliff found himself alone with the ever-watchful bloodhound. -Suddenly a whistle was heard, and Victor started up -and trotted down-stairs. Ratcliff rose to quit the apartment. -All at once the stalwart negro, lately his slave, in uniform, and -bearing a musket, with the old flag, stood before him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Follow me,” said the man, with the dignity of a true soldier.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where to?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To the lock-up, to wait General Butler’s orders.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>On a pallet of straw that night Ratcliff had an opportunity -of revolving in solitude the events of the day. In the miscarriage -of his schemes, in the downfall of his hopes, and in the -humbling of his pride, he experienced a hell worse than the -imagination of the theologian ever conceived. What pangs -can equal those of the merciless tyrant when he tumbles into -the place of his victims and has to endure, in unstinted measure, -the stripes and indignities he has been wont to inflict so -unsparingly on others!</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_430'>430</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XLII.<br />HOW IT WAS DONE.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“From Thee is all that soothes the life of man,</div> - <div class='line'>His high endeavor and his glad success,</div> - <div class='line'>His strength to suffer and his will to serve:</div> - <div class='line'>But O, thou bounteous Giver of all good,</div> - <div class='line'>Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown!</div> - <div class='line'>Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor,</div> - <div class='line'>And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away!”—<cite>Cowper.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>All the efforts of Peculiar to induce the bloodhound, -Victor, to take the scent of either of the gloves, had -proved unavailing. At every trial Victor persisted in going -straight to the jail where his master, Antoine, was confined. -Peek began to despair of discovering any trace of the abducted -maiden.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Were dumb animals ever guided by spirit influence? There -were many curious facts showing that birds were sometimes -used to convey impressions, apparently from higher intelligences. -At sea, not long ago, a bird had flown repeatedly in the -helmsman’s face, till the latter was induced to change his course. -The consequence was, his encounter with a ship’s crew in a -boat, who must have perished that night in the storm, had they -not been picked up. There were also instances in which dogs -would seem to have been the mere instruments of a <a id='corr430.24'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='super human'>super</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_430.24'><ins class='correction' title='super human'>super</ins></a></span> -and supercanine sagacity. But Victor plainly was not -thus impressible. His instincts led him to his master, but beyond -that point they would not or could not be made to exert -themselves.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Had not Peek’s faith in the triumph of the right been large, -he would have despaired of any help from the coming of the -United States forces. For weeks the newspapers had teemed -with paragraphs, some scientific and some rhetorical, showing -that New Orleans must not and could not be taken. They all -overflowed with bitterness toward the always “cowardly and -base-born” Yankees. The Mayor of the city wrote, in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_431'>431</span>true magniloquent and grandiose style affected by the Rebel -leaders: “As for hoisting any flag not of our own adoption, -the man lives not in our midst whose hand and heart <em>would not -be paralyzed at the mere thought of such an act</em>!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A well-known physician, who had simply expressed the opinion -that possibly the city might have to surrender, had been -waited on by a Vigilance Committee and warned. Taking the -hint, the man of rhubarb forthwith handed over a contribution -of five hundred dollars, in expiation of his offence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>All at once the confident heart of Rebeldom was stunned by -the news that two of the Yankee steamers had passed Forts -Jackson and St. Philip. The great ram had been powerless to -prevent it. Then followed the announcement that seven,—then -thirteen,—then twenty,—then the whole of Farragut’s -fleet, excepting the Varuna, were coming. Yes, the Hartford -and the Brooklyn and the Mississippi and the Pensacola and -the Richmond, and the Lord knew how many more, were on -their way up the great river. They would soon be at English -Bend; nay, they would soon be at the Levee, and have the -haughty city entirely at their mercy!</p> - -<p class='c001'>No sooner was the terrible news confirmed than the Rebel -authorities ordered the destruction of all the cotton-bales stored -on the Levee. The rage, the bitterness, the anguish of the pro-slavery -chiefs was indescribable. Several attempts were made -to fire the city, and they would probably have succeeded, but -for a timely fall of rain. On the landing of the United States -forces, the frenzy of the Secessionists passed all bounds; and -one poor fellow, a physician, was hung by them for simply telling -a United States officer where to find the British Consulate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But if some hearts were sick and crushed at the spectacle, -there were many thousands in that great metropolis to whom -the sight of the old flag carried a joy and exultation transcending -the power of words to express; and one of these hearts -beat under the black skin of Peek. Followed by Victor, he -ran to the Levee where United States troops were landing, and -there—O joy unspeakable!—standing on the upper deck of -one of the smaller steamers, and almost one of the first persons -he saw, was Mr. Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek shouted his name, and Vance, leaping on shore, threw -<span class='pageno' id='Page_432'>432</span>his arms impulsively round the brawny negro, and pressed him -to his breast. Brief the time for explanations. In a few -clear words, Peek made Vance comprehend the precise state of -affairs, and in five minutes the latter, at the head of a couple of -hundred soldiers, and with Peek walking at his side, was on -his way to the jail. Victor, the bloodhound, evidently understood -it all. He saw, at length, that he was going to carry his -point.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Arrived at the jail, a large, square, whitewashed building, -with barred windows, they encountered at the outer door three -men smoking cigars. The foremost of them, a stern-looking, -middle-aged man, with fierce, red whiskers, and who was in his -shirt-sleeves, came forward, evidently boiling over with a wrath -he was vainly trying to conceal, and asked what was wanted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There is a black man, Antoine Lafour, confined here. -Produce him at once.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, sir,” said the deputy, “this is altogether against civilized -usage. This is a place for—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I can’t stop to parley with you. Produce the man instantly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall do no such thing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance turned to an orderly, and said, “Arrest this man.” -At once the deputy was seized on either side by two soldiers. -“Now, sir,” said Vance, cocking his pistol and taking out his -watch, “Produce Antoine Lafour in five minutes, or I will -shoot you dead.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The bloodhound, who had been scenting with curious nose -the man’s person, now seconded the menace by a savage growl, -which seemed to have more effect even than the pistol, for the -deputy, turning to one of the men in attendance, said sulkily, -“Bring out the nigger, and be quick about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In three minutes Antoine appeared, and the dog leaped bodily -into his arms, the negro talking to him much as he would to -a human being. “I knowed you’d do it, ole feller! Thar! -Down! Down, I say, ole Vic! It takes you,—don’t it? -Down! Behave yourself afore folk. Why, Peek, is this -you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Antoine, and this is Mr. Vance, and here’s the old -flag, and you’re no longer a slave.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_433'>433</span>“What? I no longer a— No! Say them words agin, -Peek! Free? Owner of my own flesh an’ blood? Dis arm -mine? Dis head mine? Bress de Lord, Peek! Bress him -for all his mercies! Amen! Hallelujah!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The released negro could not forego a few wild antics expressive -of his rapture. Peek checked him, and bade him -remember the company he was in; and Antoine bowed to -Vance and said: “’Scuze me, Kunnle. I don’t perfess to be -sich a high-tone gemmleman as Peek here, but—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stop!” cried Peek; “where did you get those last words?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What words?” asked Antoine, showing the whites of his -eyes with an expression of concern at Peek’s suddenly serious -manner.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Those words,—‘high-tone gemmleman.’ Whom did you -ever hear use them?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yah, yah! Wall, Peek, those words I got from Kunnle -Delancy Hyde.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where,—where and when did you get them?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Bress yer, Peek, jes now,—not two minutes ago,—dar in -the gallery whar the Kunnle’s walkin’ up and down.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek smiled significantly at Vance, and the latter, approaching -the deputy who had not yet been released from custody, -remarked: “You have a man named Hyde confined there.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Delancy Hyde. The scoundrel stole the funds given -to him to pay recruiting expenses.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“For which I desire to thank him. Bring him out.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But, sir, you wouldn’t—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Five minutes, Mr. Deputy, I give you, a second time, in -which to obey my orders. If Mr. Delancy Hyde isn’t forthcoming -before this second-hand goes round five times, one of -your friends here shall have the opportunity of succeeding you -in office, and you shall be deposited where the wicked cease -from troubling.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The deputy was far from being agreeably struck at the prospect -of quitting the company of the wicked. But for them his -vocation would be wanting. And so he nodded to a subordinate, -and in three minutes out stalked the astonishing figure -of Colonel Delancy Hyde, wearing a dirty woollen Scotch cap, -and attired in the coarsest costume of the jail.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_434'>434</span>Ignorant of the great event of the day, not perceiving the -old flag, and supposing that he had been called out to be shot, -Hyde walked up to Vance, and said: “Kunnle, you look like -a high-tone gemmleman, and afore I’m shot I want ter make a -confidential request.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, sir, what is it?” said Vance, shading his face with -his cap so as not to be recognized. “Speak quick. I can’t -spare you three minutes.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, Kunnle, it’s jes this: I’ve a sister, yer see, in Alabamy, -jest out of Montgomery; her name’s Dorothy Rusk. -She’s a widder with six childern; one on ’em an idiot, one a -cripple, and the eldest gal in a consumption. Dorothy has had -a cruel hard time on it, as you may reckon, an’ I’ve ollerz -paid her rent and a leetle over till this cussed war broke out, -since when I’ve been so hard up I’ve had ter scratch gravel -thunderin’ lively to git my own grub. Them Confed’rate rags -that I ’propriated, I meant to send to Dorothy; but the fogies, -they war too quick for me. Wall, ter come ter the pint: I -want you ter write a letter ter Dorothy, jes tellin’ her that the -reason why Delancy can’t remit is that Delancy has been shot; -and tellin’ her he sent his love and all that—whar you can’t -come it too strong, Kunnle, for yer see Dorothy an’ I, we was -’bout the same age, and used ter make mud-pies together, and -sail our boats together down thar in the old duck-pond, when -we was childern; an’ so yer see—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance looked into his face. Yes, the battered old reprobate -was trying to gulp down his agitation, and there were tears -rolling down his cheeks. Vance was touched.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hyde, don’t you know me?” he said.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What! Mr. Vance? Mr. Vance!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nobody else, Hyde. He comes here a United States officer, -you see. New Orleans has surrendered to Uncle Sam. -Look at that flag. Instead of being shot, you are set at liberty. -Here’s your old friend, Peek.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The knees of Colonel Delancy Hyde smote each other, and -his florid face grew pale. Flesh and blood he could encounter -well as any man, but a ghost was a piling on of something he -hadn’t bargained for. Yet there palpably before him stood -Peek, the identical Peek he believed to have been drowned in -the Mississippi some fifteen years back.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_435'>435</span>“Wall, how in creation—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s all right, Hyde,” interrupted Vance. “And now if -you want that sister of yours provided for, you just keep as -close to my shadow as you can.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hyde was too confounded and stupefied to make any reply. -These revelations coming upon him like successive shocks from -a galvanic-battery, were too much for his equanimity. Awestruck -and stunned, he stared stupidly, first at Vance, then at -the flag, and finally at Peek.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The roll of the drum, accompanied by Vance’s orders to the -soldiers, roused him, and then attaching himself to Peek, he -marched on with the rest, Peek beguiling the way with much -useful and enlightening information.</p> - -<p class='c001'>They had not marched farther than the next carriage-stand -when Vance, leaving Captain Onslow in command, with orders -to bivouac in Canal Street, slipped out of the ranks, and beckoning -to Peek and his companions, they all, including Antoine -and Hyde, entered a vehicle which drove off with the faithful -Victor running at its side.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Behold them now in Vance’s old room at the St. Charles. -The immediate matter of concern was, how to find Clara? -How was the search to be commenced?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Antoine, a bright, well-formed negro of cheerful aspect, after -scratching his wool thoughtfully for a moment, said: “Peek, -you jes gib me them two glubs you say you’ve got.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Antoine then took the gloves, and, throwing them on the -floor, called Victor’s attention to them, and said: “Now, Vic, -I want yer to show these gemmen your broughten up. Ob -dem two glubs, you jes bring me de one dat you tink you kn -fine de owner ob right off straight, widout any mistake. Now, -be car’ful.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Victor snuffed at the large glove, and instantly kicked it -aside with contempt. Then, after a thoughtful scenting of the -small glove, he took it up in his mouth and carried it to -Antoine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Berry well,” said Antoine. “Dat’s your choice, is it? Now -tell me, Vic, hab yer had yer dinner?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The dog barked affirmatively.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Berry well. Now take a good drink.” And, filling a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_436'>436</span>washbowl with water, Antoine gave it to the dog, who lapped -from it greedily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hab yer had enough?” asked Antoine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Victor uttered an affirmative bark.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, now,” said Antoine, “you jes take dis ere glub, an’ -don’t yer come back till you fine out su’thin’ ’bout de owner ob -it. Understan’?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The dog again barked assent, and Antoine, escorting him -down-stairs and out-of-doors, gave him the glove. Victor at -once seized it between his teeth and trotted off at “double-quick,” -up St. Charles Street.</p> - -<p class='c001'>During the interval of waiting for Victor’s return, “Tell me -now, Peek,” said Vance, “of your own affairs. Have you -been able to get any clew from Amos Slink to guide you in -your search for your wife?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All that he could do,” replied Peek, “was merely to confirm -what I already suspected as to Charlton’s agency in -luring her back into the clutch of Slavery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I must make the acquaintance of that Charlton,” said -Vance. “And by the way, Hyde, you must know something -of the man.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I know more nor I wish I did,” replied Hyde. “I could -scar’ up some old letters of his’n, I’m thinkin’, ef I was ter -sarch in an old trunk in the house of the Widder Rusk (her -as is my sister) in Montgomery.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Those letters we must have, Hyde,” said Vance. “You -must lay your plans to get them. ’T would be hardly safe for -you to trust yourself among the Rebels. They’ve an awkward -fashion of hanging up without ceremony all who profane the -sanctity of Confederate scrip. But you might send for the -letters.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s a fak, Kunnle Vance. I’m gittin’ over my taste -for low society. I want nothin’ more ter do with the Rebels. -But I’ve a nephew at Montgomery,—Delancy Hyde Rusk,—who -can smuggle them letters through the Rebel lines easy -as a snake kn cahrry a toad through a stump-fence. He’ll go -his death for his Uncle Delancy. He’s got the raal Hyde -blood in him,—he has,—an’ no mistake.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can he read and write?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_437'>437</span>“I’m proud to say he kin, Kunnle. I towt his mother, and -she towt him and the rest of the childern.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Hyde, go into the next room and write a letter to -your nephew, telling him to start at once for New York city, -and report himself to Mr. William C. Vance, Astor House. -I’ll give you a couple of hundred dollars to enclose for him to -pay his expenses, and a couple of hundred more for your -sister.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Four hundred dollars! What an epoch would it be in their -domestic history, when that stupendous sum should fall into -the hands of Mrs. Rusk! Colonel Hyde moved with alacrity -to comply with Vance’s bidding.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Winslow and Captain Onslow now entered, followed by -Colonel Blake, between whom and Vance a friendship had -sprung up during the voyage from New York. Suddenly -Peek, who had been looking from the window, exclaimed: -“There goes the man who could tell us, if he would, what we -want.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who is it?” cried Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ratcliff’s lawyer, Semmes. See him crossing the street!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Captain Onslow,” said Vance, “arrest the man at once.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Five minutes did not elapse before Semmes, bland and suave, -and accompanied by Peek and Onslow, entered the room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ha! my dear friend Winslow!” cried the old lawyer, putting -out his hand, “I’m delighted to see you. Make me acquainted -with your friends.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Winslow introduced him to all, not omitting Peek, to whom -Semmes bowed graciously, as if they had never met before, -and as if the negro were the whitest of Anglo-Saxons.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sit down, Mr. Semmes,” said Vance; “I have a few questions -to put to you. Please answer them categorically. Are -you acquainted with a young lady, claimed by Mr. Carberry -Ratcliff as a slave, educated by him at Mrs. Gentry’s school, -and recently abducted by parties unknown from his house near -Lafayette Square?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I do know such a young person,” replied Semmes; “I had -her in my charge after Mr. Ratcliff’s compulsory departure -from the city.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well. And do you know where she now is?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_438'>438</span>“I certainly do not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Have you seen her since she left Ratcliff’s house?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Happily for Semmes, before he could perjure himself irretrievably, -there was a knock at the door, and Antoine entered, -followed by the bloodhound, bearing something tied in a white -handkerchief, in his mouth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A general sensation and uprising! For all except the lawyer -had been made acquainted with the nature of the dog’s -search. Semmes glanced at the bloodhound,—then at the -negroes,—and then at the other persons present, with their -looks of absorbed attention. Surely, there was a <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>dénouement</i></span> -expected; and might it not be fatal to him, if he left it to be -supposed that he was colluding with Ratcliff in what would be -stigmatized as rascality by low, cowardly, base-born Yankees, -though, after all, it was only the act of a slave-owner enforcing -his legal rights in a legitimate way?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Darting forward, just as Vance received from Antoine the -little bundle the dog had been carrying, the lawyer exclaimed: -“Colonel Vance, I do not <em>know</em>, but I can <em>conjecture</em> where -the girl is. Seek her at Number 21 Camelia Place.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance paused, and looked the old lawyer straight in the eyes -till the latter withdrew his glance, and resorted to his snuff-box -to cover his discomfiture. Deep as he was, he saw that he had -been fathomed. But Vance bowed politely, and said: “We -will see, sir, if your information agrees with that of the dog.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He untied the handkerchief, took out the paper-weight, and -underneath it found Clara’s note, which he opened and read. -Then turning to the lawyer, he said: “I congratulate you, Mr. -Semmes. You <em>were</em> right in your <em>conjecture</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>None but Semmes and Peek noticed the slightly sarcastic -stress which Vance put on this last word from his lips.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance now knelt on one knee, and resting on the other the -fore-legs of the bloodhound, patted his head and praised him in -a manner which Victor, by his low, gratified whine, seemed -fully to comprehend and appreciate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek, who had been restless ever since the words “21 Camelia -Place” had fallen on his ears, here said: “Lend me your -revolver, Mr. Vance, and don’t leave till I come back. I promise -not to rob you of your share in this work.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_439'>439</span>“I will trust you with the preliminary reconnoissance, Peek,” -said Vance, giving up the weapon. “Be quick about it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek beckoned to Antoine, and the two went out, followed by -the bloodhound.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Semmes, now realizing that by some display of zeal, -even if it were superserviceable, he might get rid of the ill -odor which would follow from lending himself to Ratcliff’s -schemes, approached Vance and said: “Colonel, it was only -quite recently that I heard of the suspicions that were entertained -of foul play in the case of that little girl claimed by -Ratcliff as a slave. Immediately I looked into the notary’s -record, and I there found that the slave-child is set down as a -quadroon; a misstatement which clearly invalidates the title. I -have also discovered a letter, written in French, and published -in L’Abeille, in which some important facts relative to the loss -of the Pontiac are given. The writer, Monsieur Laboulie, is -now in the city. Finally, I have to inform you that Mr. Ripper, -the auctioneer who sold the child, is now in this house. I -would suggest that both he and the Mrs. Gentry, who brought -her up, should be secured this very evening, as witnesses.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I like your suggestion, Mr. Semmes,” said Vance, in a tone -which quite reassured the lawyer; “go on and make all the -investigations in your power bearing on this case. Get the -proper affidavit from Monsieur Laboulie. Secure the parties -you recommend as witnesses. I employ you professionally.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In his rapid and penetrating judgments of men, Vance rarely -went astray; and when Semmes, who was thinking of a little -private business of his own with the President of the Lafayette -Bank, remarked, “If you can dismiss me now, Colonel, I will -meet you an hour hence at any place you name,” Vance knew -the old lawyer would keep his promise, and replied: “Certainly, -Mr. Semmes. You will find me at 21 Camelia Place.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek and Antoine, taking a carriage, drove at full speed to -the house designated. Here they found to their surprise in -the mulatto Sam, a member of a secret society of men of African -descent, bound together by faith in the speedy advent of -the United States forces, and by the resolve to demand emancipation. -Peek at once satisfied himself that Clara was in no -immediate danger. He found that Sam had withdrawn the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_440'>440</span>bullets from Ratcliff’s revolver, and was himself well armed, -having determined to shoot down Ratcliff, if necessary, in liberating -Clara. In pursuance of his plan he had lured the -negrowoman, Agnes, up-stairs, under the pretence already -mentioned. Here he had gagged, bound, and confined her -securely. Hardly had he finished this job, when, looking out -of the window, he had seen Peek and Antoine get out of a -carriage and reconnoitre the house. Instantly he had run down-stairs, -opened the front door, and made himself known.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was arranged that Antoine and Sam, well armed, and supported -by the bloodhound, should remain and look after Ratcliff, -not precipitating action, however, and not communicating -with Clara, whose relief Peek had generously resolved should -first come from the hands of Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then jumping into the carriage, Peek drove to Lafayette -Square, and taking in Madame Josephine and Esha, returned -to the St. Charles Hotel. Here he told Vance all he -had done, and introduced the two women,—Vance greeting -Esha with much emotion, as he recognized in her that attendant -at his wife’s death-bed for whom he had often sought.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Four carriages were now drawn up on Gravier Street. Into -one stepped Winslow, Hyde, and Vance; into another Semmes, -Blake, Onslow, and Blake’s trusty servant, Sergeant Decazes, -the escaped slave. Into the third carriage stepped Madame -Josephine, Esha, and Peek; and into the fourth, Mrs. Gentry -and Mr. Ripper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This last vehicle must be regarded as the centre of interest, -for over it the Loves and Graces languishingly hovered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In introducing Ripper to Mrs. Gentry, Semmes had remarked, -in an aside to the former: “A retired schoolma’am: -some money there!” Here was a shaft that went straight to -the auctioneer’s heart. In three minutes he drew from the -lady the fact that, ten days before, she had received a visit from -a Vigilance Committee, who had warned her, if she did not -pay over to them five thousand dollars within a week, her -house would be confiscated, sold, and the proceeds paid over to -the Confederate treasury. “Five thousand dollars indeed!” -said the lady, in relating the interview; “a whole year’s income! -O, haven’t they been nicely come up with!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Confederate highwaymen had done what Satan recommended -<span class='pageno' id='Page_441'>441</span>the Lord to do in the case of Job: they had tried Mrs. -Gentry in her substance, and she had not stood the test. It -had wrought a very sudden and radical change in her political -notions. Even slavery was no longer the august and unapproachable -thing which she had hitherto imagined; and she -threw out a sentiment which savored so much of the abolition -heresy, that Ripper, thinking to advance himself in her good -opinion, avowed himself boldly an emancipationist, and declared -that slavery was “played out.” These words, strange to say, -did not make him less charming in Mrs. Gentry’s eyes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The drive in the carriage soon offered an opportunity for -tenderer topics, and before they reached Camelia Street, the -enterprising auctioneer had declared that he really believed he -had at last, after a life-long search, found his “affinity.” And -from that he ventured to glide an arm round the lady’s waist,—a -familiarity at which her indignation was so feebly simulated, -that it only added new fuel to hope.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But Camelia Place was now reached, and the carriages stopped. -The whole party were noiselessly introduced into the -house. Vance darted up to the room where Clara’s note had -instructed him he could find her. Seeing the key on the outside, -he turned it, opened the door, and presented himself to -Clara in the manner already related. The unsuspecting Ratcliff -soon followed, and then followed the scenes upon which -the curtain has already been raised.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Vance left the house, with Clara on his arm, several of -Ratcliff’s slaves gathered round them. To all these Vance -promised immediate freedom and help. An old black hostler, -named Juba, or Jube, who was also a theologian and a strenuous -preacher, was spokesman for the freedmen. He proposed -“tree chares for Massa Vance.” They were given with a will.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An’ now, Massa Vance,” said the Reverend Jube, “may -de Lord bress yer fur comin’ down har from de Norf ter free -an’ help we. De Lord bress yer an’ de young Missis likewise. -An’ when yer labors am all ended, an’ yer’v chewed all de -hard bones, an’ swollerd de bitter pill, may yer go ober Jordan -wid a tight hold on de Lord, an’ not leeb go till yer git clar -inter de city ob Zion.”<a id='r44' /><a href='#f44' class='c014'><sup>[44]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_442'>442</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XLIII.<br />MAKING THE BEST OF IT.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“O, blest with temper whose unclouded ray</div> - <div class='line'>Can make to-morrow cheerful as to-day!”—<cite>Pope.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>A sound of the prompter’s whistle, sharp and stridulous.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The scenes move,—they dispart. The Crescent City, with -its squares and gardens filled with verdure, its stately steeples, -and its streets lying lower than the river, and protected only -by the great Levee from being converted into a bed for fishes,—the -Crescent City, under the swift touch of our fairy -scene-shifters, divides, slides, and disappears.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A new scene simultaneously takes its place. It represents a -street in New York. Not one of the clean, broad, well-kept -avenues, lined on either side with mansions, beautiful and spacious. -It is a trans-Bowery Street, narrow and noisome, dirty -and dismal. There the market-man stops his cart and haggles -for the price of a cabbage with the care-worn housewife, who -has a baby in her arms and a two-year-old child tugging at -her gown. Poor woman! She tries to cover her bosom as -the wayfarer, redolent of bad tobacco, passes by with a grin at -her shyness. There the milkman rouses you at daylight by -his fiendish yell, nuisance not yet abated in the more barbarous -parts of the city. There the soap-man and the fish-man -and the rag-man stop their carts, presenting in their visits the -chief incidents that vary the monotony of life in Lavinia -Street, if we except an occasional dog-fight.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One of the tenements is a small, two-story brick house, with -a basement beneath the street-level, and a dormer window in -the attic. A family moved in only the day before yesterday. -They have hardly yet got settled. Nevertheless, let us avail -ourselves of the author’s privilege (universal “dead-head” that -he is!) and enter.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_443'>443</span>We stand in a little hall, the customary flight of stairs being -in front, while a door leads into the front sitting-room or -parlor on the left. Entering this room, the first figure we -notice is an apparently young man, rather stout, with black -whiskers and hair, and dressed in a loose sack and pantaloons, -in the size and cut of which the liberal fashion of the day is -somewhat exaggerated. He stands in low-cut shoes and flesh-colored -silk stockings. About his neck he wears a choker of -the most advanced style, and tied with a narrow lustring ribbon, -gay with red and purple. As his back is partly turned to -us, we cannot yet see who he is.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A woman, in age perhaps not far from fifty, with a pleasant, -well-rounded face, and attired in a white cambric wrapper, -richly embroidered, her hair prudently hidden under a brown -chenille net, stands holding a framed picture, waiting for it to -be hung. It is Marshall’s new engraving of Washington. -The lady is Mrs. Pompilard, <em>born</em> Aylesford; and the youth -on the chair is her husband, the old, yet vernal, the venerable -yet blooming, Albert himself. It is more than ten years since -he celebrated his seventieth birthday.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Having hung the picture, Pompilard stepped down, and said: -“There! Show me the place in the whole city where that -picture would show to more advantage than just there in that -one spot. The color of the wall, the light from the window -are just what they ought to be to bring out all the beauties. -Let us not envy Belmont and Roberts and Stewart and Aspinwall -their picture-galleries,—let us be guilty of no such folly, -Mrs. Pompilard,—while we can show an effect like that!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Who spoke of envying them, Albert? Not I, I’m sure! -The house will do famously for our temporary use. Yet it -puzzles me a little to know where I am to stow these two children -of Melissa’s.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pooh! That can be easily managed. Leonora can have -a mattress put down for her in the upper entry; and as for the -five-year-old, Albert, my namesake, he can throw himself down -anywhere,—in the wood-shed, if need be. Indeed, his mother -tells me she found him, the other night, sleeping on the boards -of the piazza, in order, as he said, to harden himself to be a -soldier. How is poor Purling this morning?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_444'>444</span>“His wound seems to be healing, but he’s deplorably low-spirited; -so Melissa tells me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Low-spirited? But we mustn’t allow it! The man who -could fight as he did at Fair Oaks ought to be jolly for the -rest of his life, even though he had to leave an arm behind -him on the battle-field.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It isn’t his wound, I suspect, that troubles him, but the -state of his affairs. The truth is, Purling is fearfully poor, -and he’s too honest to run in debt. His castles in the air -have all tumbled in ruins. Nobody will buy his books, and -his publishers have all failed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But he can’t help that. The poor fellow has done his best, -and I maintain that he has talents of a certain sort.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Perhaps so, but his forte is not imaginative writing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then let him try history.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I repeat it, my dear Albert, imaginative writing is not -his forte.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! true. You are getting satirical, Mrs. Pompilard. -Our historians, you think, are prone to exercise the novelist’s -privilege. Let us go up and see the Major.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>They mounted one flight of stairs to the door of the front -chamber, and knocked. It was opened by Mrs. Purling, once -the sentimental Melissa, now a very matronly figure, but still -training a few flaxen, maiden-like curls over her temples, and -shedding an air of youth and summer from her sky-blue calico -robe, with its straw-colored facings. She inherited much of -the paternal temperament; and, were it not that her husband’s -desponding state of mind had clouded her spirits, she would -have shown her customary aspect of cheerful serenity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is the Major awake?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O yes! Walk in.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! Cecil, my hearty,” exclaimed Pompilard, “how are -you getting on?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pretty well, sir. The wound’s healing, I believe. I’m -afraid we’re inconveniencing you shockingly, coming here, all -of us, bag and baggage.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t speak of it, Major. Even if we <em>are</em> inconvenienced -(which I deny), what then? Oughtn’t <em>we</em>, too, to do something -for our country? If <em>you</em> can afford to contribute an arm, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_445'>445</span>oughtn’t we to contribute a few trifling conveniences? For -my part, I never see a maimed or crippled soldier in the street, -that I don’t take off my hat to him; and if he is poor, I give -him what I can afford. Was he not wounded fighting for the -great idea of national honor, integrity, freedom,—fighting for -me and my children? The cold-blooded indifference with which -people who stay snugly and safely at home pass by these noble -relics from the battle-field, and pursue their selfish amusements -and occupations while thousands of their countrymen are periling -life and health in their behalf, is to me inexplicable. If -we can’t give anything else, let us at least give our sympathy -and respect, our little word of cheer and of honor, to those who -have sacrificed so much in order that we might be undisturbed -in our comforts!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m afraid, sir,” continued the Major, “that your good feelings -blind you to the gravity, in a domestic point of view, of -this incursion into your household of the whole Purling race. -But the truth is, I expected a remittance, about this time, from -my Philadelphia publisher. It doesn’t come. I wonder what -can be the matter?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yes! The insatiable Purling, having exhausted New York, -had gone to Philadelphia with his literary wares, and had found -another victim whose organ of marvellousness was larger than -his bump of caution.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t bother yourself about remittances, Major,” said Pompilard. -“Don’t be under any concern. You mustn’t suppose -that because, in an eccentric freak, Mrs. Pompilard has chosen -to occupy this little out-of-the-way establishment, the exchequer -is therefore exhausted. Some persons might complain of the -air of this neighborhood. True, the piny odors of the forest -are more agreeable than the exhalations one gets from the -desiccating gutters under our noses. True, the song of the -thrush is more entrancing than the barbaric yell of that lazy -milkman who sits in his cart and shrieks till some one shall -come with a pitcher. But in all probability we sha’n’ occupy -these quarters longer than the summer months. Why it was -that Mrs. Pompilard should select them, more especially for -the <em>summer</em> months, has mystified me a little; but the ladies -know best. Am sorry we couldn’t welcome you at Redcliff -<span class='pageno' id='Page_446'>446</span>or Thrushwood, or some other of our old country-seats; but—the -fact is, we’ve disposed of them all. To what we have, my -dear Cecil, consider yourself as welcome as votes to a candidate -or a contract to an alderman. So don’t let me hear you -utter the word <em>remittances</em> again.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! my dear father, we men can make light of these -household inconveniences, but they fall heavy on the women.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not on my wife, bless her silly heart! Why, she’ll be -going round bragging that she has a wounded Major in her -house. She’s proud of you, my hero of ten battles! Didn’t -I hear her just now boasting to the water-rate collector, that -she had a son in the house who had lost an arm at Fair Oaks? -A son, Major! Ha, ha, ha! Wasn’t it laughable? She’s -trying to make people think you’re her <em>son</em>! I tell you, Cecil, -while Albert Pompilard has a crust to eat or a kennel to creep -into, the brave volunteer, wounded in his country’s cause, shall -not want for food or shelter.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Major looked wistfully at Mrs. Pompilard, and said: -“He doesn’t make allowance for a housekeeper’s troubles,—does -he, mother? So long as the burden doesn’t fall on <em>him</em>, -he doesn’t realize what a bore it is to have an extra family -on one’s hands when one barely has accommodations for one’s -own.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What <em>he</em> says, <em>I</em> say, Cecil!” replied Madame, kissing the -invalid’s pale forehead. “You’re a thousand times welcome, -my dear boy,—you and Melissa and the children; and -where will you find two better children, or who give less -trouble? No fear but we can accommodate you all. And if -you’ve any wounded companion who wants to be taken care -of, just send him on. For your sake, Cecil, and for the sake -of the old flag, we’ll take him in, and do our best by him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hear her! Hear the darling little woman!” exclaimed -Pompilard, lifting her in his arms, and kissing her with a genuine -admiration. “Bravo, wife! Give me the woman whose -house is like a Bowery omnibus, always ready for one more. -While this war lasts, every true lady in the land ought to be -willing to give up her best room, if wanted, for a hospital.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The hero of Fair Oaks was suddenly found to be snivelling. -He made a movement with his right shoulder as if to get a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_447'>447</span>handkerchief, but remembering that his arm was gone, he used -his left hand to wipe away his tears. “You’re responsible, -between you, for this break-down,” said the lachrymose Major. -“I’m sure I thank you. You’ve given me two good starts in -life already, father, and both times I’ve gone under. With -such advantages as I’ve had, I ought to be a rich man, and -here I am a pauper. Poor Melissa and the children are bound -to be dependent on their friends. I’m afraid I’m an incompetent, -a ne’er-do-well.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard flourished a large white silk handkerchief, and, -blowing his nose sonorously, replied: “Bah! ’T was no fault -of yours, Cecil, that your operations out West proved a failure. -’T was the fortune of war. I despise the man who never made -a blunder. How the deuce could you know that a great financial -revulsion was coming on, just after you had bought? Let -the spilt milk sink into the sand. Don’t fret about it. We’ll -have you hearty as a buck in a week or two. You shall rejoin -your regiment in time for the next great fight.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Major smiled faintly, and, shaking his head incredulously, -replied: “The fact is, what makes me so low is, that, at -the time I went into that last fight, I was just recovering from -a fever got in the swamps of the Chickahominy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I know all about it, my brave boy! I’ve just got a letter, -Mrs. Pompilard, from his surgeon. He writes me, he forbade -Cecil’s moving from his bed; told him ’ would be at the risk -of his life. Like a gallant soldier, Cecil rose up, pale and -wasted as he was, and went into the thick of the frolic. A -Minie bullet in the right arm at last checked his activity. -Faint from exhaustion and loss of blood, he sank insensible on -the damp field, and there lay twenty-four hours without succor, -without food, the cold night-dews aggravating his disease.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, father,” said the Major, “between you and me, superadded -to the fever I got a rheumatic affection, which I’m -afraid will prevent my doing service very soon again in the -field.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So much the better!” returned Pompilard. “Then, my -boy, we can keep you at home,—have you with us all the -time. You can sit in your library and write books, while -Molasses sits by and works slippers for <em>old blow-hard</em>, as the -boys here in Lavinia Street have begun to call me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_448'>448</span>“My books don’t sell, sir,” sighed the ex-author, with another -incredulous shake of the head. “Either there’s a conspiracy -among the critics to keep me down, or else I’m grossly mistaken -in my vocation. Besides, I’ve lost my right arm, and -can’t write. <a id='corr448.5'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='“Do'>Do</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_448.5'><ins class='correction' title='“Do'>Do</ins></a></span> you know,” he continued, wiping away a -tear,—“do you know what one of the newspapers said on -receiving the news of my wound? Well, it said, ‘This will -be a happy dispensation for publishers and the public, if it -shall have the effect of keeping the Major from again using -the pen!’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The unclean reptile!” exclaimed Pompilard, grinding his -heel on the floor as if he would crush something. “Don’t mind -such ribaldry, Major.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wouldn’t, if I weren’t afraid there’s some truth in it,” -sighed the unsuccessful author.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It’s an entire lie!” exclaimed Pompilard; “your books -are good books,—excellent books,—and people will find it -out some of these days. You shall write another. You don’t -need an arm, do you, to help you do brain-work? Didn’t Sir -Walter employ an amanuensis? Why can’t Major Purling do -the same? Why can’t he dictate his <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>magnum opus</i></span>,—the -crowning achievement of his literary life,—his history of the -Great Rebellion,—why can’t he dictate it as well without as -with an arm?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Major’s lips began to work and his eyes to brighten. -Ominous of disaster to the race of publishers, the old spirit -began to be roused in him, bringing animation and high resolve. -The passion of authorship, long repressed, was threatening to -rekindle in that bosom. He tried to rub his forehead with his -right hand, but finding it gone, he resorted to his left. His hair -(just beginning to get crisp and grayish over his ears) he -pushed carelessly away from his brow. He jerked himself up -from his pillow, and exclaimed: “Upon my word, father-in-law, -that’s not a bad idea of yours,—that idea of tackling -myself to a history of the war. Let me see. How large a -work ought it to be? Could it be compressed into six volumes -of the size of Irving’s Washington? I think it might. At -any rate, I could try. ‘A History of the Great Rebellion: -its Rise and Fall. By Cecil Purling, late Major of Volunteers.’ -<span class='pageno' id='Page_449'>449</span>Motto: ‘All which I saw and part of which I was.’ Come, -now! That wouldn’t sound badly.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It would be a trump card for any publisher,” said Pompilard, -growing to be sincerely sanguine. “Get up the right kind -of a Prospectus, and publish the work by subscription. I could -procure a thousand subscribers myself. There’s no reason -why we shouldn’t get twenty thousand. We might all make -our fortunes by it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So we might!” exclaimed the excited Major, forgetting -that there were ladies present, and that he had on only his -drawers, and leaping out of bed, then suddenly leaping back -again, and begging everybody’s pardon. “It can be easily calculated,” -continued he. “Just hand me a slip of paper and a -pencil, Melissa. Thank you. Look now, father-in-law; twenty -thousand copies at two dollars a volume for six volumes would -give a hundred and forty thousand dollars clear. Throw off fifty -per cent of that for expenses, commissions, printing, binding, -et cetera, and we have left for our profit <em>seventy thousand dollars</em><a id='corr449.18'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='!'>!”</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_449.18'><ins class='correction' title='!'>!”</ins></a></span></p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nothing can be plainer,” said Pompilard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But the publisher would want the lion’s share of that,” -interposed Melissa.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Pooh! What do <em>you</em> know about it?” retorted Pompilard. -“If we get up the work by subscription, we can take an office -and do our own publishing.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To be sure we can!” exclaimed the Major, reassured.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here Pompilard’s eldest daughter, Angelica Ireton, long a -widow, and old enough to be a grandmother, entered the room -with a newspaper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What is it, Jelly?” asked the paternal voice.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“News of the surrender of Memphis! And, only think of -it! Frederick is highly complimented in the despatch.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good for Fred!” said Pompilard. “Make a note of it, -Major, for the new history.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A knock at the door now introduced the once elfish and imitative -Netty, or Antoinette, grown up into a dignified young -lady of striking appearance, who, if not handsome, had a face -beaming with intelligence and the cheerfulness of an earnest -purpose. She wore, not a Bloomer, but a sort of blouse, -which looked well on her erect and slender figure; and her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_450'>450</span>hair, as if to be put out of harm’s way in working hours, was -combed back into a careless though graceful knot.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Walk in, Netty!” said the wounded man.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Here’s our great <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>artiste</i></span>,—our American Rosa Bonheur!” -cried Pompilard, patting her on the head.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Why, father, I never painted a horse or a cow in my life,” -expostulated Netty. “Remember, I’m a marine painter. I -deal in ships, shipwrecks, calms, squalls, and sea-washed rocks; -not in cattle.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Cecil, she’s engaged on a bit of beach scenery, which -will make a sensation when ’t is hung in the Academy. Better -sea-water hasn’t been painted since Vernet; and she beats -Vernet in rigging her ships.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hear him,” said the artistic Netty. “All his geese are -swans. What a ridiculous papa it is!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Go back to your easel, girl,” exclaimed Pompilard. “Cecil -and I are talking business.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And that reminds me,” said Netty, “I came to say that Mr. -Maloney is in the parlor, and wants to see you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Has the rascal found me out so soon?” muttered Pompilard. -“I supposed I had dodged him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dodged Mr. Maloney, dear? What harm has he ever -committed?” asked Mrs. Pompilard, in surprise.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No harm, perhaps; but he’s the most persistent of duns.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is he dunning you now, my love?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, all the time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you owe him much?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Not a cent, confound him!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then what is he dunning you for?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, he’s dunning me to get me to borrow money of him, -and I know he can’t afford to lend it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Go and see him, my dear, and treat him civilly at least.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard turned to the Major, who was now deep in his -Prospectus, and fired with the thought of a grand success that -should make amends for all his past failures in authorship. -Seeing that the invalid was thoroughly cured of his attack of -the blues, Pompilard remarked, “Strike while the iron’s hot, -Major,” and passed out to meet the visitor who was waiting for -him below.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_451'>451</span>Pat Maloney was pacing the parlor in a great rage; and -he exploded in these words, as Pompilard presented himself: -“Arn’t ye ashamed to look an honest man in the face, yer -desateful ould sinner?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What’s the bother now, Pat? Whose mare’s dead?” -said Pompilard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Whose mare’s dead, yer wicked ould man? Is that the -kind o’ triflin’ ye think is goin’ down wid Pat Maloney? Look -at that wall.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, what of it?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What of it? See the cracks of it, bedad, and the dirt -of it, and the damp of it, and hearken to the rats of it, yer -wicked ould man! What of it? See that baste of a cockroach -comin’ out as confidint as ye plaze, and straddlin’ across -the floor. Smell that smell up there in the corner. Dead -rats, by jabbers! And this is the entertainment, is it, ye -bring a dacent family to, that wasn’t born to stenches and -filthiness! Typhus and small-pox in every plank under the -feet of ye! And a sick sodger ye’ve got in the house too; -and because he wasn’t quite kilt down in them swamps on the -Chickahominy, ye think ye’ll stink him to death in this hole -of all the nastiness!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Maloney, this is my house, sir, such as it is, and I -must request you either to walk out of it or to keep a civil -tongue in your head.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Hoo! Ye think to come the dignified over me, do ye, yer -silly ould man! I’m not to be scaret by any such airs. I tell -ye it’s bastely to bring dacent women and children inter sich a -cesspool as this. By jabbers, I shall have to stop at Barker’s, -as I go back, and take a bath.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Maloney, leave the house.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Lave the house, is it? Not till I’m ready, will I lave the -house on the biddin’ of the likes of a man who hasn’t more -regard for the mother that bore him nor to do what you’ve -been doin’, yer ould barbarryan.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Quit the house, I say! If you think I’m going to borrow -money of a beggarly Irish tailor, you’ll find yourself mistaken, -Mr. Pat Maloney!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, it’s that game yez thinkin’ to come on me, is it? Ha! -<span class='pageno' id='Page_452'>452</span>By jabbers, I’m ready for yer there too. He’s a beggarly -Irish tailor, is he? Then why did ye have the likes o’ him at -all yer grand parties at Redcliff? Why did ye have him and -his at all yer little family hops? Why couldn’t ye git through -a forenoon, yer ould hyppercrit, widout the beggarly Irish tailor, -to play billiards wid yer, or go a fishin’ wid yer, or a sailin’ -wid yer?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I don’t choose to keep up the acquaintance, Mr. Maloney, -now that you are poor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s the biggest lie ye iver tould in yer life, yer ould -chate!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you tell me I lie? Out of my house! Pay your own -debts, you blackguard Paddy, before you come playing flush of -your money to a gentleman like me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A jintleman! Ye call yerself a jintleman, do ye,—ye -onnateral ould simpleton? Ye bring born ladies inter a foul, -unreputable house like this is, in a foul, unreputable street, wid -a house of ill-fame on both sides of yer, and another oppersit, -and then ye call yerself a jintleman. A jintleman, bedad! -Ha, ha!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You lie, Pat Maloney. My next-door neighbors are decent -folks,—much decenter than you are, you foul-mouthed -Paddy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And thin ye tell me to pay my debts, do yer? Find the -debt of Pat Maloney’s that’s unpaid, and he’ll pay it double, -yer unprincipled ould calumniator. If ’ warrent for yer eighty -yares, I’d larrup yer on the spot.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I claim no privilege of age, you cowardly tailor. That’s -a dodge of yours that won’t serve. Come on, you ninth part -of a man, if you have even that much of a man left in you. -Come on, or I’ll pound your head against the wall.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ye’d knock the house down, bedad, if ye tried it. I’d -like no better sport nor to polish ye off wid these two fists of -mine, yer aggrawatin’ superannuated ould haythen.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You shall find what my eighty years can do, you ranting -Paddy. Since you won’t go quietly out of the house, I’ll put -you out.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And Pompilard began pulling up his sleeves, as if for action. -Maloney was not behind him in his pugilistic demonstrations.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_453'>453</span>“If ye want to have the wind knocked out of yer,” said he, -“jist try it, yer quarrelsome ould bully,—gittin’ up a disturbance -like this at your time of life!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here Angelica, who had been listening at the door, burst -into the room, and interposed between the disputants. By the -aid of some mysterious signs and winks addressed to Maloney, -she succeeded in pacifying him so far that he took up his hat, -and shaking his head indignantly at Pompilard, followed her -out of the room. The front door was heard to open and close. -Then there was a slight creaking on the basement stairs, followed -by a coughing from Angelica, and a minute afterwards -she re-entered the parlor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She found her father with his fists doubled, and his breast -thrown back, knocking down an imaginary Irishman in dumb -show.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Has that brute left the house?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, father. What did he want?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“He has been dunning me to borrow a couple of thousand -dollars of him,—the improvident old fool. He needs every -cent of his money in his business. He knows it. He merely -wants to put me under an obligation, knowing I may never pay -him back. He can’t dupe me.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If ’ would gratify poor Maloney, why not humor him?” -said Angelica. “He feels eternally grateful to you for having -made a man of him. You helped him to a fortune. He has -often said he owed it to you that he wasn’t a sot about the -streets.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If I helped him to a fortune, I showed him how to lose it, -Jelly. So there we’re just even. I tell you I won’t get in -debt again, if I can help it. You, Jelly, are the only one I’ve -borrowed from since the last great crash.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And in borrowing from me, you merely take back your -own,” interposed Angelica.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’ve paid everything in the way of a debt, principal and -interest,” said Pompilard. “And I don’t want to break the -charm again at my time of life. Debt is the Devil’s own snare. -I know it from sad experience. I’ve two good schemes on -foot for retrieving my affairs, without having to risk much -money in the operation. If you can let me have five hundred -dollars, I think ’ will be the only nest-egg I shall need.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_454'>454</span>“Certainly, father,” said Angelica; and going down-stairs -into the basement, she found the persevering Maloney waiting -her coming.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Maloney,” said she, “let me propose a compromise. -My father wants five hundred dollars of me. I haven’t it to -give him. But if you’ll lend it on my receipt, I’ll take it and -be very thankful.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Make it a thousand, and I’ll say yes,” said Pat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, I’ll not haggle with you, Mr. Maloney,” replied -Angelica.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Maloney handed her the money, and, refusing to take a receipt, -seized his hat, and quitted the house by the back area, -looking round suspiciously, and snuffing contemptuously at the -surroundings, as he emerged into the alley-way which conducted -him to one of the streets leading into the Bowery.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Angelica put five hundred dollars in her port-monnaie, and -handed the like amount to her sire. He thrust it into his vest-pocket, -brushed his hat, and arranged his choker. Mrs. Pompilard -came down with the Prospectus that was to be the -etymon of a new fortune. He took it, kissed wife and daughter, -and issued from the house.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As he passed up Lavinia Street, many a curious eye from behind -curtains and blinds looked out admiringly on the imposing -figure. One boy on the sidewalk remarked to another: “I -say, Ike, who is that old swell as has come into our street? -I’ve a mind to shy this dead kitten at him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Don’t do it, Peter Craig!” exclaimed Ike; “father says -that man’s a detective,—a feller as sees you when you think -he ain’t looking. We’d better mind how we call arter him -again, ‘Old blow-hard!’”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_455'>455</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XLIV.<br />A DOMESTIC RECONNOISSANCE.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“O Spirit of the Summer time!</div> - <div class='line in2'>Bring back the roses to the dells;</div> - <div class='line'>The swallow from her distant clime,</div> - <div class='line in2'>The honey-bee from drowsy cells.</div> - <div class='line'>Bring back the singing and the scent</div> - <div class='line in2'>Of meadow-lands at dewy prime;—</div> - <div class='line'>O, bring again my heart’s content,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Thou Spirit of the Summer time!”</div> - <div class='line in26'><cite>W. Allingham.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>The following Wednesday, Pompilard returned rather -earlier than usual from his diurnal visit to Wall Street. -He brought home a printed copy of the Prospectus, and sent it -up-stairs to the wounded author. Then taking from the bookcase -a yellow-covered pamphlet, he composed himself in an -arm-chair, and, resting his legs on an ottoman, began reading -that most thrilling production of the season, “The Guerilla’s -Bride, or the Temptation and the Triumph, by Carrie Cameron.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Pompilard glided into the room, and, putting her hands -over his eyes from behind, said, “What’s the matter, my -love?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Matter? Nothing, wife! Leave me to my novel.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Always of late,” she replied, “when I see you with one of -these sensation novels, I know that something has gone wrong -with you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Nonsense, you silly woman! I know what you want. It’s -a kiss. There! Take it and go.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’ve lost money!” said Madam, receiving the kiss, then -shaking her finger at him, and returning to her household -tasks.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She was right in her surmise. Pompilard, hopeful of Union -victories on the Peninsula of Virginia, had been selling gold in -expectation of a fall. There had been a large rise, and his five -hundred dollars had been swallowed up in the great maw of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_456'>456</span>Wall Street like a straw in Niagara. He passed the rest of -that day in the house, reading his novel, or playing backgammon -with the Major.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next morning, putting the Prospectus and his pride -with it in his pocket, he issued forth, resolved to see what could -be done in furtherance of the grand literary scheme which was -to immortalize and enrich his son-in-law. Entering Broadway -he walked up to Union Park, then along Fourteenth Street to -the Fifth Avenue. And now, every square or two, he would -pass door-plates that displayed some familiar name. Frequently -he would be tempted to stop, but he passed on and on, -until he came to one which bore in large black walnut letters -the name <span class='sc'>Charlton</span>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>With this gentleman he had not had any intercourse since -the termination of that great lawsuit in which they had been -opposed. Charlton, having put the greater part of his property -into gold just before the war, had made enormous sums by the -rise in the precious metal. It was noticed in Wall Street, that -he was growing fat; that he had lost his anxious, eager look. -War was not such a bad thing after all. Surely he would be -glad of the opportunity of subscribing for five or ten copies of -the wounded Purling’s great work.</p> - -<p class='c001'>These considerations encouraged the credulous Pompilard to -call. A respectable private carriage stood before the house, -and in it sat a young lady, probably Miss Charlton, playing -with a pet spaniel. Pompilard rang the door-bell, and a dapper -footman in white gloves ushered him up-stairs into the library. -Here Charlton sat computing his profits on the rates of exchange -as given in that day’s report.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He rose on Pompilard’s entrance, and with a profuse politeness -that contrasted somewhat with his manner on previous -occasions, shook hands with him, and placed him in a seat. -Excessive prosperity had at last taught Charlton to temper his -refusals with gracious speech. It was so much cheaper to give -smooth words than solid coin!</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Am delighted to see you, Mr. Pompilard!” quoth he. “How -fresh and young you’re looking! Your family are all well, I -trust.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“All save my son-in-law, Major Purling. He, having been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_457'>457</span>thrown on his back by a bad wound and by sickness got in -camp, now proposes to occupy himself with preparing a history -of the war. Here is his Prospectus, and we want your name -to head the subscription.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A most laudable project! Excellent! I don’t doubt the -Major’s ability to produce a most authentic and admirable work. -I shall take great pleasure in commending it to my friends.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here Charlton, who had received one of the papers from -Pompilard, and glanced at it, handed it back to the old man.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I want your autograph, Mr. Charlton. The work, you perceive, -will be in six volumes at only two dollars a volume. For -how many copies will you put down your name?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Excuse me, Mr. Pompilard, but the demands on my purse -for objects, public and private, are so incessant just now, that I -must decline subscribing. Probably when the work is published -I shall desire to procure a copy for my library. I have -heard of Major Purling as a gallant officer and a distinguished -writer. I can’t doubt he will succeed splendidly. Make my -compliments to your estimable family.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here a lady elegantly dressed, as if for a promenade, entered -the room, and asked for the morning paper. She looked searchingly -at Pompilard, and then went up to him, and putting out -her hand, said, “Have you forgotten Charlotte Dykvelt?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Impossible! Who could have believed it? And you are -now Mrs. Charlton!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lady’s lip curled a little, as if no gracious emotion came -with the reminder. Then taking from the old man’s hand the -printed sheet which Charlton had returned to him, she exclaimed: -“What have we here? A Prospectus! Is not Major -Purling your son-in-law? To be sure he is! A brave -officer! He must be encouraged in his project. And how is -your daughter, Mrs. Ireton? I see,” continued Mrs. Charlton, -laying down the Prospectus and pulling away nervously at her -gloves,—“I see that your grandson, Captain Ireton, has been -highly complimented for gallant behavior on the Mississippi.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, he’s a good boy, is Fred. Do you know he was a -great admirer of yours?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lady was suddenly absorbed in looking for a certain -advertisement of a Soldier’s Relief Meeting. Pompilard took -<span class='pageno' id='Page_458'>458</span>up his Prospectus, began folding it, and rose from his chair as -if to go.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me look at that Prospectus a moment,” said Mrs. -Charlton, taking up a pen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Certainly,” he replied, handing her the paper. While she -read it, he examined what appeared a bronze vase that stood -on one side of the table. He undertook to lift it, and drew -out from a socket, which extended beneath the surface of the -wood, a polished steel tube.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Take care, Mr. Pompilard!” said Charlton; “’t is loaded. -No one would suppose ’ was a revolver, eh? I got it the day -after old Van Wyck was robbed, sitting in his library. Please -don’t mention the fact that I have such a weapon within my -reach.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have put down my name for thirty copies,” said Mrs. -Charlton, returning to Pompilard his Prospectus.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But this is munificent, Madam!” exclaimed the old man.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton gnawed his lips in helpless anger.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Madam had played her cards so well, that it was a stipulation -she and her daughter should have each a large allowance, -in the spending of which they were to be independent. Drawing -forth her purse, she took from it three one hundred dollar -bills, a fifty, and a ten, and handed them to Pompilard.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you wish to pay in advance, Madam?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I wish that money to be paid directly to the author, to aid -him in his patriotic labors,” she replied. “There need be no -receipt, and there need be no delivery of books.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard took the bills and looked her in the face. He -felt that words would be impertinent in conveying his thanks. -She gave him one sad, sweet smile of acknowledgment of his -silent gratitude. “Major Purling,” said he, in a tone that -trembled a little, “will be greatly encouraged by your liberality. -I will bid you good morning, Madam. Good morning, -Mr. Charlton!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Husband and wife were left alone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That’s the way you fool away my money, is it, Mrs. Charlton? -Three hundred and sixty dollars disposed of already! -A nice morning’s work!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You speak of the money as yours, sir. You forget. By -<span class='pageno' id='Page_459'>459</span>contract it is mine. I shall spend it as I choose. Does not -our agreement say that my allowance and my daughter’s shall -be absolutely at our disposal?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Those allowances, Mrs. Charlton, must be cut down to -meet the state of the times. I can’t afford them any -longer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sir, you say what you know to be untrue. Your profits -from the rise in exchange alone, since the war began, have -already been two hundred thousand dollars. The rise in your -securities generally has been enormous. And yet you talk of -not <em>affording</em> the miserable pittance you allow me and my -daughter!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A miserable pittance! O yes! Ten thousand a year for -pin-money is a very miserable pittance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So it is, when one lays by five times that amount of superfluous -income. Thank me that I don’t force you to double -the allowance. Do you think to juggle <em>me</em> with your groans -about family expenses and the hard times? Am I so easily -duped, think you, as not to see through the miserly sham?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This is the woman that promised to love, honor, and -obey!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Do you twit me with that? Go back, Charlton, to that -first day you pressed me to be your wife. I frankly told you -I could not love you,—that I loved another. You made light -of all that. You enlisted the influence of my parents against -me. You drove me into the toils. No sooner was I married -than I found that you, with all your wealth, had chosen me -merely because you thought I was rich. What a satisfaction -it was to me when I heard of my father’s failure! What was -your disappointment,—your rage! But there was no help for -it. And so we settled down to a loveless life, in which we -have thus far been thoroughly consistent. You go your way, -and I mine. You find your rapture in your coupons and dividends; -I seek such distraction as I can in my little charities, -my Sanitary Aid Societies, and my Seaman’s Relief. If you -think to cut me off from these resources, the worst will probably -be your own.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton was cowed and nonplussed, as usual in these altercations. -“There, go!” said he. “Go and make ducks and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_460'>460</span>drakes of your money in your own way. That old Pomposity -has left his damned Prospectus here on the table.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mrs. Charlton passed out and down-stairs. On a slab in -the hall was a bouquet which a neighboring greenhouse man -she had befriended had just left. She stooped to smell of it. -What was there in the odors which brought back associations -that made her bow her head while the tears gushed forth? -Conspicuous among the flowers was a bunch of English violets,—just -such a little bunch as Frederick Ireton used to -bring her in those far-off days, when the present and the future -seemed so flooded with rose-hues.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Miss Lucy wants to know if you’re ever coming?” said a -servant.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes!” replied Mrs. Charlton. “’T is too bad to keep her -waiting so!” And the next moment she joined her daughter -in the carriage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Meanwhile Charlton, as his wife left him, had groaned out, -in soliloquy, “What a devil of a woman! How different from -my first wife!” Then he sought consolation in the quotations -of stock. While he read and chuckled, there was a knock. It -was only Pompilard returned for his Prospectus. As the old -man was folding it up, the white-gloved footman laid a card -before Charlton. “Vance!” exclaimed the latter: “I’m acquainted -with no such person. Show him up.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance had donned his citizen’s dress. He wore a blue frock, -fastened by a single black silk button at the top, a buff vest, -white pantaloons, and summer shoes. Without a shoulder-strap, -he looked at once the soldier and the gentleman. Rapidly and -keenly he took Charlton’s physiognomical measure, then glanced -at Pompilard. The latter having folded up his Prospectus, was -turning to quit the room. As he bowed on departing, Charlton -remarked, “Good day to you, Mr. Pompilard.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did I hear the name Pompilard?” inquired Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is my name, sir,” replied the old man.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is it he whose wife was a Miss Aylesford?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The same, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Pompilard, I have been trying to find you. My carriage -is at the door. Will you do me the favor to wait in it -five minutes for me till I come down?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_461'>461</span>“Certainly, sir.” And Pompilard went out.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Now, Mr. Charlton,” said Vance, “what I have to say is, -that I am called Colonel Vance; that I am recently from New -Orleans; that while there it became a part of my official duty -to look at certain property held in your name, but claimed by -another party.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Claimed by a rebel and a traitor, Colonel Vance. I’m -delighted to see you, sir. Will you be seated?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, thank you. Let me propose to you, that, as preliminary -to other proceedings, I introduce to you to-night certain -parties who came with me from New Orleans, and whose testimony -may be at once interesting and useful.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I shall be obliged to you for the interview, Colonel Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It would be proper that your confidential lawyer should -be present; for it may be well to cross-question some of the -witnesses.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you for the suggestion, Colonel Vance. I shall -avail myself of it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“As there will be ladies in the party, I hope your wife and -daughter will be present.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I will give them your message.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Tell them we have a young officer with us who was shot -through the lungs in battle not long since. Shall we make the -hour half-past eight;—place, the Astor House?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That would suit me precisely, Colonel Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Then I will bid you good day, sir, for the present.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton put out his hand, but Vance bowed without seeming -to notice it, and passed out of the house into the carriage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mr. Pompilard,” said he, as the carriage moved on, “are -you willing to take me on trust, say for the next hour, as a -gentleman, and comply with my reasonable requests without -compelling me to explain myself further? Call me, if you -please, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Truly, Mr. Vance,” replied Pompilard, “I do not see how -I risk much in acceding to your proposition. If you were an -impostor, you would hardly think of fleecing <em>me</em>, for I am -shorn close already. Besides, you carry the right signet on -your front. Yes, I <em>will</em> trust you, Mr. Vance.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you, sir. Your wife is living?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_462'>462</span>“I left her alive and well some two hours ago.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Has she any children of her own?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One,—a daughter, Antoinette. We call her Netty. A -most extraordinary creature! An artist, sir! Paints sea-pieces -better than Lane, Bradford, or Church himself. A -girl of decided genius.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Mr. Pompilard, if your house is not far from here, I -wish to drive to it at once, and have your wife and daughter do -us the honor to take seats in this carriage.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That we can do, Mr. Vance. Driver, 27 Lavinia Street! -The day is pleasant. They will enjoy a drive. I must make -you acquainted with my son-in-law, Major Purling. A noble -fellow, sir! Had an arm shot off at Fair Oaks. Used up, too, -by fever. Brave as Julius Cæsar! And, like Julius Cæsar, -writes as well as he fights. He proposes getting up a history -of the war. Here’s his Prospectus.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance looked at it. “I mustn’t be outdone,” said he, “by -a lady. Put me down also for thirty copies. Put down Mr. -Winslow and Madame Volney each for as many more.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But that is astounding, sir!” cried Pompilard. “A hundred -and twenty copies disposed of already! The Major will -jump out of his bed at the news!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As the carriage crossed the Bowery and bowled into Lavinia -Street, Pompilard remarked: “There are some advantages, Mr. -Vance, in being on the East River side. We get a purer sea -air in summer, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>At that moment an unfortunate stench of decayed vegetables -was blown in upon them, by way of comment, and Pompilard -added: “You see, sir, we are very particular about removing -all noxious rubbish. Health, sir, is our first consideration. We -have the dirt-carts busy all the time.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here the carriage stopped. “A modest little place we have -taken for the summer, Mr. Vance. Small, but convenient and -retired. Most worthy and quiet people, our neighbors. Walk -in, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>They entered the parlor. “Take a seat, Mr. Vance. If -you’ve a taste for art, let me commend to your examination -that fine engraving between the windows. Here’s a new book, -if you are literary,—Miss Carrie Cameron’s famous novel. -Amuse yourself.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_463'>463</span>And having handed him “The Guerilla’s Bride,” Pompilard -rushed up-stairs. Instantly a great tumult was heard in the -room over Vance’s head. It was accompanied with poundings, -jumpings, and exultant shouts. Three hundred and sixty dollars -had been placed on the coverlid beneath which lay the -wounded Purling. It was the first money his literary efforts -had ever brought him. The spell was broken. Thenceforth -the thousands would pour in upon him in an uninterrupted -flood. Can it be wondered that there was much jubilation -over the news?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance was of course introduced to all the inmates, and -made a partaker in their good spirits. At last Mrs. Pompilard -and Netty were dressed and ready. Vance handed them -into the carriage. He and Pompilard took the back seat. As -they drove off they encountered a crowd before an adjoining -door. It was composed of some of those “most worthy and -quiet neighbors” of whom Pompilard had recently spoken. -They were gathering, amid a Babel of voices, round a cart -where an ancient virago, Milesian by birth, was berating a -butcher whom she charged with having sold her a stale leg of -mutton the week before.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“One misses these bustling little scenes in the rural districts,” -quoth Pompilard. “They serve to give color and -movement, life and sparkle, to our modest neighborhood.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mrs. Pompilard,” said Vance, “we are on our way to the -Astor House, where I propose to introduce to you a young -lady. I wish you and your daughter to scrutinize her closely, -and to tell me if you see in her a likeness to any one you have -ever known.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_464'>464</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XLV.<br />ANOTHER DESCENDANT OF THE CAVALIERS.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“Those flashes of marvellous light point to the existence of dormant faculties, which, -unless God can be supposed to have <em>over-furnished</em> the soul for its appointed field of -action, seem only to be awaiting more favorable circumstances, to awaken and disclose -themselves.”—<cite>John James Tayler.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>While the carriage is rolling on, and the occupants are -getting better acquainted, let us hurry forward and -clear the way by a few explanations.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance and his party had now been several days in New -York, occupying contiguous suites of rooms at the Astor -House. The ladies consisted of Clara, Madam Volney, and -Mrs. Ripper (late Mrs. Gentry). Esha was, of course, of the -party. She had found her long-lost daughter in Hattie, or Mrs. -Davy, now a widow, whose testimony came in to fortify the -proofs that seemed accumulating to place Clara’s identity beyond -dispute. Hattie joyfully resumed her place as Clara’s -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>femme de chambre</i></span>, though the post was also claimed by the -unyielding Esha.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The gentlemen of the party included Mr. Winslow, Mr. -Semmes, Mr. Ripper, Captain Onslow, Colonel Delancy Hyde, -and a youth not yet introduced.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Never had Vance showed his influence in so marked a degree -as in the change he had wrought in Hyde. Detecting in -the rascal’s affection for a widowed sister the one available spot -in his character, Vance, like a great moral engineer, had -mounted on that vantage-ground the guns which were to batter -down the citadels of ignorance, profligacy, and pride, in -which all the regenerative capabilities of Hyde’s nature had -been imprisoned so long. The idea of having that poor toiling -sister—her who had “fust taught him to make dirt-pies, down -thar by the old duck-pond”—rescued with her children from -poverty and suffering, placed in a situation of comfort and -respectability, was so overpowering to the Colonel, that it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_465'>465</span>enabled Vance to lead him like a child even to the abjuring of -strong drink and profanity. Cut off from bragging of his Virginia -birth and his descent from the Cavaliers,—made to see -the false and senseless nature of the slang which he had been -taught to expectorate against the “Yankees,”—Hyde might -have lost his identity in the mental metamorphosis he was undergoing, -were it not that a most timely substitute presented -itself as a subject for the expenditure of his surplus gas.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance had collected and arranged a body of proofs for the -establishment of Clara’s identification as the daughter of Henry -Berwick; but, if Colonel Hyde’s memory did not mislead him, -there was collateral evidence of the highest importance in those -old letters from Charlton, which might be found in a certain -trunk in the keeping of the Widow Rusk in Alabama. With -deep anxiety, therefore, did they await the coming of that -youthful representative of the Hyde family, Master Delancy -Hyde Rusk.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel stood on the steps of the Astor House from -early morn till dewy eve, day after day, scrutinizing every boy -who came along. Clad in a respectable suit of broadcloth, and -concealing the shorn state of his scalp under a brown wig, he -did no discredit to the character of Mr. Stetson’s guests. His -patience was at length rewarded. A boy, travel-soiled and -dusty, apparently fifteen years old, dressed in a butternut-colored -suit, wearing a small military cap marked C. S. A., and -bearing a knapsack on his back, suddenly accosted Colonel -Hyde with the inquiry, “Does Mr. William C. Vance live -here?” In figure, face, and even the hue of his eyebrows, the -youth was a miniature repetition of the Colonel himself; but -the latter, in his wig and his new suit, was not recognized till -the exclamation, “Delancy!” broke in astonishment from his -lips.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What, uncle? Uncle Delancy?” cried the boy; and the -two forgot the proprieties, and embraced in the very eyes of -Broadway. Then the Colonel led the way to his room.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Is this ’ere room yourn, Uncle D’lancy? An’ is this ’ere -trunk yourn? And this ’ere umbrel? Crikee! What a fine -trunk! And do you and the damned Yankees bet now on the -same pile, Uncle D’lancy?”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_466'>466</span>“Delancy Hyde Rusk,” said the Colonel solemnly, “stahnd -up thar afore me. So! That’ll do! Now look me straight -in the face, and mind what I say.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, uncle,” said Delancy junior, deeply impressed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Fust, have yer got them air letters?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, uncle, they’re sewed inter my side-pocket, right -here.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wal an’ good. Now tell me how’s yer mother an’ all the -family.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Mother’s middlin’ bright now; but Malviny, she died in a -fit last March, and Tom, the innocent, he died too; and Charlotte -Ann, she was buried the week afore your letter cum; and -mother, she had about gi’n up; for we hadn’t a shinplaster left -after payin’ for the buryin’, and we thowt as how we should -have ter starve, sure; and lame Andrew Jackson and the two -young ’uns, they wahr lookin’ pretty considerable peakid, I kn -tell yer, when all at wunst your letter cum with four hunderd -dollars in it. Crikee! Didn’t the old woman scream for joy? -Didn’t she hug the childern, and cry, and laugh, and take on, -till we all thowt she was crazy-like? And didn’t she jounce -down on her knees, and pray, jest like a minister does?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Did she? Did she, Delancy? Tell it over to me again. -Did she raally pray?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I reckon she didn’t do nothin’ else.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Try ter think what she said, Delancy. Try ter think. -It’s important.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wal, ’ was all about the Lord Jesus, and Brother D’lancy, -and not forsakin’ the righteous, and bless the Lord, O my soul, -and the dear angels that was took away, and then about Brother -D’lancy again, and might the Lord put his everlastin’ arms -about him, and might the Lord save his soul alive, and all that -wild sort of talk, yer know. Why, uncle! Uncle D’lancy! -What’s the matter with yer?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yes! the old sinner had boo-hooed outright; and then, <a id='corr466.34'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='coving'>covering</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_466.34'><ins class='correction' title='coving'>covering</ins></a></span> -his face with his hands, he wept as if he were making up -for a long period of drought in the lachrymal line.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We have spoken of the influence which Vance had applied -to this stony nature. We should have spoken of other influences, -perhaps more potent still, that had reached it through -<span class='pageno' id='Page_467'>467</span>Peek. Before the exodus from New Orleans, Peek had introduced -him to certain phenomena which had shaken the Colonel’s -very soul, by the proofs they gave him of powers transcending -those usually ascribed to mortals, or admitted as possible by -science. The proofs were irresistible to his common sense, -<em>First</em>, That there was a power outside of himself that could -read, not only his inmost nature, but his individual thoughts, as -they arose, and this without any aid from him by look, word, -or act.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here was a test in which there was no room left for deception. -The <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>savans</i></span> can only explain it by denying it; and there -are in America more than three millions of men and women -who <em>khow</em> what the denial amounts to. Given a belief in -clairvoyance, and that in spirits and immortality follows. The -motto of the ancient Pagan theists was, “<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Si divinatio est, dii -sunt</i></span>.”<a id='r45' /><a href='#f45' class='c014'><sup>[45]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'><em>Secondly</em>, Hyde saw heavy physical objects moved about, -floated in the air, made to perform intelligent offices, and all -without the intervention of any agencies recognized as material.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The hard, cold atheism of the man’s heart was smitten, rent, -and displaced. For the first time, he was made to feel that the -body’s death is but a process of transition in the soul’s life; -that our trials here have reference to a future world; that -what we love we become; that heavenly thoughts must be entertained -and relished even here, if we would not have heaven’s -occupations a weariness and a perplexity to us hereafter. For -the first time, the awful consciousness came over him as a -reality, that all his acts and thoughts were under the possible -scrutiny of myriads of spiritual eyes, and, above them all, those -Supreme eyes in whose sight even the stars are not pure,—how -much less, then, man that is a worm! For the first time, -he could read the Bible, and catch from its mystic words rich -gleams of comforting truth. For the first time, he could feel -the meaning of that abused and uncomprehended word, <em>pardon</em>; -and he could dimly see the preciousness of Christ’s revelations -of the Father’s compassion.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Return we to the interview between uncle and nephew. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_468'>468</span>Having wiped his eyes and steadied his voice, the Colonel -said: “Delancy Hyde Rusk, yer’ve got ter larn some things, -and unlarn others. Fust of all, you’re not to swar, never no -more.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What, Uncle D’lancy! Can’t I swar when I grow up? -<em>You</em> swar, Uncle D’lancy!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m clean cured of it, nevvy. Ef ever you har me swar -again, Delancy Hyde Rusk, you jes tell me of ’t, an’ I’ll put -myself through a month’s course of hard-tack an’ water.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Can’t I say <em>hell</em>, Uncle D’lancy, nor <em>damn</em>?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You’re not ter use them words profanely, nevvy, unless -you want that air back of yourn colored up with a rope’s end. -Now look me straight in the face, Delancy Hyde Rusk, an’ tell -me ef yer ever drink sperrits?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, Uncle D’lancy, I promised the old woman—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Stop! Say you promised mother.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, I promised mother I wouldn’t drink, and I haven’t.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Good! Now, nevvy, yer spoke jest now of the Yankees. -What do yer mean by Yankees?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I mean, uncle, ev’ry man born in a State whar they hain’t -no niggers to wallop. Yankees are sneaks and cowards. Can’t -one Suth’n-born man whip any five Yankees?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I reckon not.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What! Not ef the Suth’n man’s Virginia-born?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I reckon not. Delancy Hyde Rusk, that’s the decoy the -’ristocrats down South have been humbuggin’ us poor whites -with tell the common sense is all eat clean out of our brains. -They stuff us up with that air fool’s brag so we may help ’em -hold on ter thar niggers. Whar did the Yankees come from? -They camed from England like we did. They speak English -like we do. Thar ahnces’tors an’ our ahnces’tors war countrymen. -Now don’t be sich a lout as ter suppose that ’cause a -man lives North, and hain’t no niggers ter wallop, he must be -either a sneak or a coward, or what Jeff Davis calls a hyena.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ain’t we down South the master race, Uncle D’lancy?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Wall, nevvy, in some respects we air; in some respects -not. In dirt an’ vermin, ignorance an’ sloth, our poor folks kn -giv thar poor folks half the game, an’ beat ’em all holler. In -brag an’ swagger our rich folks kn beat thars. But I’ll tell -<span class='pageno' id='Page_469'>469</span>yer what it is, nevvy: ef, as the slaveholders try to make us -think, it’s slavery that makes us the master race, then we -must be powerful poor cattle to owe it to niggers and not to -ou’selves that we’re better nor the Yankees. Now mind what -I’m goin’ ter say: the best thing for the hull Suth’n people -would be to set ev’ry slave free right off at wunst.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What, Uncle D’lancy! Make a nigger free as a white -man? Can’t I, when I’m a man, own niggers like gra’f’her -Hyde done? What’s the use of growin’ up ef I can’t have a -nigger to wallop when I want ter, I sh’d like ter know?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Delancy Hyde Rusk, them sentiments must be nipped in -the bud.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel went to the door and locked it, then cast his -eyes round the room as if in search of something. The boy -followed his movements with a curiosity in which alarm began -to be painfully mingled. Finally, the Colonel pulled a strap -from his trunk, and, approaching Delancy junior, who was now -uttering a noise between a whimper and a howl, seized him by -the nape of the neck, bent him down face foremost on to the -bed, and administered a succession of smart blows on the most -exposed part of his person. The boy yelled lustily; but after -the punishment was over, he quickly subsided into a subdued -snuffling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thar, Delancy Hyde Rusk! yer’ll thahnk me fur that air -latherin’ all the days of yer life. Ef I’d a-had somebody to -do as much for me, forty yars ago, I shouldn’t have been the -beast that Slavery brung me up ter be. Never you talk no -more of keepin’ niggers or wallopin’ niggers. They’ve jest -as much right ter wallop you as you have ter wallop them. -Slavery’s gone up, sure. That game’s played out. Thank -the Lord! Jest you bar in mind, Delancy Hyde Rusk, that -the Lord made the black man as well as the white, and that ef -you go fur to throw contempt on the Lord’s work, he’ll bring -yer up with a short turn, sure. Will you bar that in mind fur -the rest of yer life, Delancy Hyde Rusk?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Uncle D’lancy. I woan’t do nothin’ else.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“An’ ef anybody goes fur to ask yer what you air, jest you -speak up bright an’ tell him you’re fust a Union man, an’ then -an out-an’-out Abolitionist. Speak it out bold as ef you meant -it,—<em>Ab-o-litionist!</em>”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_470'>470</span>“What, uncle! a d-d-da—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The boy’s utterance subsided into a whimper of expostulation -as he saw the Colonel take up the strap.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But he was spared a second application. Having given him -his first lesson in morals and politics, Colonel Hyde made him -wash his face, and then took him down-stairs and introduced -him to Vance. The latter received with eagerness the precious -letters of which the boy was the bearer; at once opened them, -and having read them, said to Hyde: “I would not have failed -getting these for many thousand dollars. Still there’s no knowing -what trap the lawyers may spring upon us.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Turning to Delancy junior, Vance, who had opened all the -windows when the youth came in, questioned him as to his -adventures on his journey. The boy showed cleverness in his -replies. It was a proud day for the elated Hyde when Vance -said: “That nephew of yours shall be rewarded. He’s an -uncommonly shrewd, observing lad. Now take him down-stairs -and give him a hot bath. Soak him well; then scrub -him well with soap and sand. Let him put on an entire new -rig,—shirt, stockings, everything. You can buy them while -he’s rinsing himself in a second water. Also take him to the -barber’s and have his hair cut close, combed with a fine-tooth -comb, and shampooed. Do this, and then bring him up to my -room to dinner. Here’s a fifty-dollar bill for you to spend on -him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Three hours afterwards Delancy junior reappeared, too much -astonished to recognize his own figure in the glass. Colonel -Hyde had thenceforth a new and abounding theme for gasconade -in describing the way “that air bi, sir, trahv’ld the hull -distance from Montgomery ter New York, goin’ through the -lines of both armies, sir, an’ bringin’ val’able letters better nor -a grown man could have did.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A dinner at Vance’s private table, with ladies and gentlemen -present, put the apex to the splendid excitements of the -day in the minds of both uncle and nephew.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_471'>471</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XLVI.<br />THE NIGHT COMETH.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“How swift the shuttle flies that weaves thy shroud!”—<cite>Young.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>On the evening of the day of the encounter in Charlton’s -library, some of the principal persons of our story were -assembled in one of the private parlors of the Astor House in -New York.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Some hours previously, Vance had introduced Clara to her -nearest relatives, the Pompilards; but before telling them her -true name he had asked them to trace a resemblance. Instantly -Netty had exclaimed: “Why, mother, it is the face you have -at home in the portrait of Aunt Leonora.” And Aunt Leonora -was the grandmother of Clara!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Vance then briefly presented his proofs of the relationship. -Who could resist them? Pompilard, in a high state of excitement, -put his hands under Clara’s arms, lifted her to a level -with his lips, and kissed her on both cheeks. His wife, her -grand-aunt, greeted her not less affectionately; and in embracing -“Cousin Netty,” Clara was charmed to find a congenial -associate.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard all at once recollected the gold casket which old -Toussaint had committed to his charge for Miss Berwick. -Writing an order, he got Clara to sign it, and then strode out -of the room, delighted with himself for remembering the trust. -Half an hour afterwards he returned and presented to his -grand-niece the beautiful jewel-box, the gift of her father’s -step-mother, Mrs. Charlton. Clara received it with emotion, -and divesting it of the cotton-wool in which it had been kept -wrapped and untouched so many years, she unlocked it, and -drew forth this letter:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“<span class='sc'>My dear little Granddaughter</span>: This comes to you -from one to whom you seem nearer than any other she leaves -<span class='pageno' id='Page_472'>472</span>behind. She wishes she could make you wise through her -experience. Since her heart is full of it, let her speak it. In -that event, so important to your happiness, your marriage, may -you be warned by her example, and neither let your affections -blind your reason, nor your reason underrate the value of the -affections. Be sure not only that you love, but that you are -loved. Choose cautiously, my dear child, if you choose at all; -and may your choice be so felicitous that it will serve for the -next world as well as this.</p> - -<div class='c015'>E. B. C.”</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The Pompilards remained of course to dinner; and then -to the expected interview of the evening. They were introduced -to the highly-dressed bride, Mrs. Ripper, formerly -Clara’s teacher; also to the quadroon lady, Madame Volney. -And then the gentlemen—Captain Onslow, Messrs. Winslow, -Semmes, and Ripper, and last, not least, Colonel Delancy -Hyde and his nephew—were all severally and formally presented -to the Pompilards.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Does it appear from Charlton’s letters to Hyde that Charlton -knew of Hyde’s villany in kidnapping the child?” asked -Mr. Semmes of Vance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, Charlton was unquestionably ignorant, and is so to -this day, of the fact that the true heir survives. All that he -expected Hyde to do was to so shape his testimony as to make -it appear that the child died <em>after</em> the mother and <em>before</em> the -father. On this nice point all Charlton’s chances hung. And -the letters are of the highest importance in showing that it was -intimated by the writer to Hyde, that, in case his testimony -should turn out to be of a certain nature, he, Hyde, besides -having his and Quattles’s expenses to New York all paid, -should receive a thousand dollars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That is certainly a tremendous point against Charlton. Is -it possible that Hyde did not see that he held a rod over Charlton -in those letters?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Both he and Quattles appear to have been very shallow -villains. Probably they did not comprehend the legal points -at issue, and never realized the vital importance of their testimony.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Let me suggest,” said Semmes, “the importance of having -Charlton recognize Hyde in the presence of witnesses.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_473'>473</span>“Yes, I had thought of that, and arranged for it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Here there was a stir in the little unoccupied anteroom -adjoining. The Charltons and Charlton’s lawyer, Mr. Detritch, -had arrived. The ladies were removing their bonnets -and shawls. Hyde drew near to Vance, and the latter -threw open the door. Charlton entered first. The prospect -of recovering his New Orleans property had put him in the -most gracious of humors. His dyed hair, his white, well-starched -vest, his glossy black dress-coat and pantaloons, -showed that his personal appearance was receiving more than -usual attention. He would have been called a handsome man -by those who did not look deep as Lavater.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After saluting Vance, Charlton started on recognizing the -gaunt figure of Delancy Hyde. Concluding at once that the -Colonel had come as a friend, Charlton exclaimed: “What! -My old friend, Colonel Delancy Hyde? Is it possible?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And there was a vehement shaking of hands between them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Detritch and the ladies having entered, all the parties were -formally introduced to one another. The mention of Miss -Berwick’s name excited no surprise on the part of any one.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The company at once disposed themselves in separate groups -for conversation. Captain Onslow gave his arm to Miss Charlton, -and they strolled through the room to talk of ambulances, -sanitary commissions, hospitals, and bullets through the lungs. -Pompilard, who declared he felt only eighteen years old while -looking at his niece, divided his delightful attentions between -Madame Volney and Mrs. Ripper. Clara invited Colonel -Hyde to take a seat near her, and gave him such comfort as -might best confirm him in the good path he was treading. -Hyde junior looked at the war pictures in Harper’s Weekly. -Winslow and Mrs. Charlton found they had met five years before -at Saratoga, and were soon deep in their recollections. -Semmes and Detritch skirmished like two old roosters, each -afraid of the other. Ripper made himself agreeable to Mrs. -Pompilard and Netty, by talking of paintings, of which he -knew something, having sold them at auction. Vance took -soundings of Charlton’s character, and found that rumor, for -once, had not been unjust in her disparagement. The man’s -heart, what there was of it, was in his iron safe with his coupons -and his certificates of deposit.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_474'>474</span>Suddenly Vance went to the piano, and, striking some of -the loud keys, attracted the attention of the company, and then -begged them to be silent while he made a few remarks. The -hum of conversation was instantly hushed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We are assembled, ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “on -business in which Mr. Charlton here present is deeply interested.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Charlton, who occupied an arm-chair, and had Detritch -on his right, bowed his acknowledgments.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“If,” continued Vance, “I have not communicated privately -to Mr. Charlton, or his respectable counsel, all the startling -and important facts bearing on the case, I hope they will -understand that it was not through any failure of respect for -them, and especially for Mrs. and Miss Charlton, but simply -because I have thought it right to choose the course which -seemed to me the most proper in serving the cause of justice -and of the party whose interests I represent.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton and Detritch looked at each other inquiringly, -and the look said, “What is he driving at?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The amiable bride (Mrs. Ripper) touched Pompilard coquettishly -with her fan, and, pointing to Charlton, whispered, “O, -won’t he be come up with?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No innocent man,” continued Vance, “will think it ever -untimely to be told that he is holding what does not belong to -him; that he has it in his power to rectify a great wrong; to -make just restitution. On the table here under my hand are -certain documents. This which I hold up is a certified printed -copy of the great Trial, by the issue of which Mr. Charlton, -here present, came into possession of upwards of a million of -dollars, derived from the estate of the brother of one of the -ladies now before me. It appears from the judge’s printed -charge (see page 127) on the Trial, that the essential testimony -in the case was that given by one Delancy Hyde and one -Leonidas Quattles. With the former, Mr. Charlton has here -renewed his acquaintance. Mr. Quattles died some months -since, but we here have his deposition, duly attested, taken just -before his death.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What has all this to do with my property in New Orleans?” -exclaimed Charlton, thoroughly mystified.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_475'>475</span>“Be patient, sir, and you will see. The verdict, ladies and -gentlemen, turned upon the question whether, on the occasion -of the explosion of the Pontiac, the child, Clara, or her father, -Henry Berwick, died first. The testimony of Messrs. Hyde -and Quattles was to the effect that the child died first. But it -now appears that the father died—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“A lie and a trick!” shouted Charlton, starting up with features -pale and convulsed at once with terror and with rage. -“A trick for extorting money. Any simpleton might see -through it. Have we been brought here to be insulted, sir? -You shall be indicted for a conspiracy. ’T is a case for the -grand jury,—eh, Detritch?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“My advice to you, Mr. Charlton,” said Detritch, “is to turn -this gentleman over to me, and to refuse to listen yourself to -anything further he may have to say.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In this advice Charlton snuffed, as he thought, the bad odor -of a fee, and he determined not to be guided by it. Laughing -scornfully, he said, resuming his seat: “Let the gentleman play -out his farce. He hopes to show, does he, that the child died -<em>after</em> the father!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“No, ladies and gentleman,” said Vance, crossing the room, -taking Clara by the hand, and leading her forth, “what I have -to show is, that she didn’t die at all, and that Clara Aylesford -Berwick now stands before you.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton rose half-way from his chair, the arms of which he -grasped as if to keep himself from sinking. His features were -ghastly in their expression of mingled amazement and indignation, -coupled with a horrible misgiving of the truth of the disclosure, -to which Vance’s assured manner and the affirmative -presence of Colonel Hyde gave their dreadful support. Charlton -struggled to speak, but failed, and sank back in his chair, -while Detritch, after having tried to compose his client, rose -and said: “In my legal capacity I must protest against this -most irregular and insidious proceeding, intended as it obviously -is to throw my client and myself off our guard, and to produce -an alarm which may be used to our disadvantage.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Sir,” replied Vance, “you entirely misapprehend my object. -It is not to your fears, but to your manhood and your sense of -justice that I have thought it right to make my first appeal. I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_476'>476</span>propose to prove to you by facts, which no sane man can resist, -that the young lady whose hand I hold is the veritable Miss -Berwick, to whom her mother’s estate belonged, and to whom -it must now be restored, with interest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“With interest! Ha, ha, ha!” cried Charlton, with a frightful -attempt at a merriment which his pale cheeks belied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“There will be time,” continued Vance, “for the scrutiny of -the law hereafter. I court it to the fullest extent. But I have -thought it due to Mr. Charlton, to give him the opportunity to -show his disposition to right a great wrong, in the event of my -proving, as I can and will, that this lady is the person I proclaim -her to be, the veritable Miss Berwick.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Moved by that same infatuation which compels a giddy man -to look over the precipice which is luring him to jump, Charlton, -with a deplorable affectation of composure, wiped the perspiration -from his brow, and said: “Well, sir, bring on these -proofs that you pretend are so irresistible. I think we can -afford to hear them,—eh, Detritch?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“First,” said Vance, “I produce the confession of Hyde, -here present, and of Quattles, deceased, that the infant child -of Mr. Berwick was saved by them from the wreck of the Pontiac, -taken to New Orleans, and sold at auction as a slave. -The auctioneer, Mr. Richard Ripper, is here present, and will -testify that he sold the child to Carberry Ratcliff, whose late -attorney, T. J. Semmes. Esq., is here present, and can identify -Miss Berwick as the child bought, according to Ratcliff’s own -admission, from the said Ripper. Then we have the testimony -of Mrs. Ripper, lately Mrs. Gentry, by whom the child was -brought up, and of Esha, her housemaid, both of whom are -now in this house. We have further strong collateral testimony -from Hattie Davy, now in this house, the nurse who had -the child in charge at the time of the accident, and who identifies -her by the marks on her person, especially by her different -colored eyes,—a mark which I also can corroborate. We -have articles of clothing and jewels bearing the child’s initials, -to the reception and keeping of which Mrs. Ripper and Esha -will testify, and which, when unsealed, will no doubt be sworn -to by Mrs. Davy as having belonged to the child at the time of -the explosion.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_477'>477</span>“Well, sir,” said Mr. Detritch, with a sarcastic smile, “I -think Brother Semmes will admit that all this doesn’t make -out a case. Unless you can bring some proof (which I know -you cannot) of improper influences being applied by my client -to induce his chief witnesses to give the testimony they did, -you can make little headway in a court of law against a party -who is fortified in what he holds by more than fourteen years -of possession.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Even on this point, sir,” replied Vance, “we are not weak. -Here are five original letters, with their envelopes, postage-marks, -&c., all complete, from Mr. Charlton to Colonel Delancy -Hyde, offering him and his accomplice their expenses and a -thousand dollars if they will come on to New York and testify -in a certain way. Here also are letters showing that, in the -case of a colored woman named Jacobs, decoyed from Montreal -back into slavery, the writer conducted himself in a -manner which will afford corroborative proof that he was capable -of doing what these other letters show that he did or attempted.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As Vance spoke, he held one of the letters so that Charlton -could read it. The latter, while affecting not to look, read -enough to be made aware of its purport. His fingers worked -so to clutch it, that Detritch pulled him by the coat; and then -Charlton, starting up, exclaimed: “I’ll not stay here another -moment to be insulted. This is a conspiracy to swindle. Come -along, Detritch. Come, Mrs. Charlton and Lucy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He passed out. Detritch offered his arm to Mrs. Charlton. -She declined it, and he left the room. There was an interval -of silence. Every one felt sympathy for the two ladies. Mrs. -Charlton approached Vance, and said, “Will you allow me to -examine those letters?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Certainly, madam,” he replied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>She took them one by one, scrutinized the handwriting, read -them carefully, and returned them to Vance. She then asked -the privilege of a private conference with Hyde, and the Colonel -accompanied her into the anteroom. This interview was -followed by one, first with Mrs. Ripper, then with Mr. Winslow, -then with Esha and Mrs. Davy, and finally with Clara. During -the day Pompilard had sent home for a photograph-book -<span class='pageno' id='Page_478'>478</span>containing likenesses of Clara’s father, mother, and maternal -grandmother. These were placed in Mrs. Charlton’s hands. A -glance satisfied her of the family resemblance to the supposed -child.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Re-entering the parlor Mrs. Charlton said: “Friends, there -is no escape that I can see from the proofs you offer that this -young lady is indeed Clara Aylesford Berwick. Be sure it -will not be my fault if she is not at once instated in her rights. -I bid you all good evening.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And then, escorted by Captain Onslow, she and her daughter -took their leave, and the company broke up.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton, impatient, had quitted the hotel with Detritch and -sent back the carriage. They were closeted in the library -when Mrs. Charlton and Lucy returned. The unloving and -unloved wife, but tender mother, kissed her daughter for goodnight -and retired to her own sleeping-room. She undressed -and went to bed; but not being able to sleep, rose, put on a light -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>robe de chambre</i></span>, and sat down to read. About two o’clock in -the morning she heard the front door close and a carriage drive -off. Detritch had then gone at last!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Charlton’s sleeping-room was on the other side of the entry-way -opposite to his wife’s. She threw open her door to hear -him when he should come up to bed. She waited anxiously a -full hour. She began to grow nervous. Void as her heart -was of affection for her husband, something like pity crept in -as she recalled his look of anguish and alarm at Vance’s disclosures. -Ah! is it not sad when one has to despise while one -pities! “Shall I not go, and try to cheer him?” she asked -herself. Hopeless task! What cheer could she give unless -she went with a lie, telling him that Vance’s startling revelation -was all a trick!</p> - -<p class='c001'>The laggard moments crept on. Though the gas was put up -bright and flaring, she could not have so shivered with a nameless -horror if she had been alone in some charnel-house, lighted -only by pale, phosphoric gleams from dead men’s bones.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But why did not Charlton come up?</p> - -<p class='c001'>The wind, which had been rising, blew back a blind, and -swept with a mournful whistle through the trees in the area. -Then it throbbed at the casement like a living heart that had -something to reveal.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_479'>479</span>Why does he not come up?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Why not go down and see?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Though the entry-ways and the stairs were lighted, it seemed -a frightful undertaking to traverse them as far as the library. -Still she would do it. She darted out, placed her hand on the -broad black-walnut balustrade, and stepped slowly down,—down,—down -the broad, low, thickly carpeted stairs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At last she stood on one of the spacious square landings.</p> - -<p class='c001'>What terrible silence! Not even the rattle of an early -milk-cart through the streets! Heavenly Powers! Why this -unaccountable pressure, as of some horrid incubus, upon her -mind, so that every thought as it wandered, try as she might to -control it, would stop short at a tomb? She recoiled. She -drew back a step or two up,—up the stairs. And then, at -that very moment, there was a dull, smothered, explosive sound -which smote like a hand on her heart. She sank powerless on -the stairs, and sat there for some minutes, gasping, horror-stricken, -helpless.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then rallying her strength she rushed up three flights to the -room of Fletcher, the man-servant, and bade him dress quickly -and come to her. He obeyed, and the two descended to the -library.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Through the glass window of the door the gas shone brightly. -Fletcher entered first; and his cry of alarm told the -whole tragic tale. Mrs. Charlton followed, gave one look, and -fell senseless on the floor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Leaning back in his arm-chair,—his head erect,—his eyes -open and staring,—sat Charlton. On his white vest a crimson -stain was beginning to spread and spread, and, higher up, -the cloth was blackened as if by fire. The vase-like ornament -which had attracted Pompilard’s attention on the library table -had been drawn forth from its socket, and the pistol it concealed -having been discharged, it lay on the floor, while Charlton’s -right hand, as it hung over the arm of the chair, pointed to the -deadly weapon as if in mute accusation of its instrumentality.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_480'>480</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XLVII.<br />AN AUTUMNAL VISIT.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Why linger, why turn back, why shrink, my heart?</div> - <div class='line'>Thy hopes have gone before: from all things here</div> - <div class='line'>They have departed; thou shouldst now depart.”—<cite>Shelley.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>The defunct having left no will, administrators of his estate -were appointed. These deemed it proper to be guided -by the wishes of the widow and the daughter, notwithstanding -the latter was still a minor. Those wishes were, that the identification -of Miss Berwick, conclusive as it was, should be -frankly admitted, and her property, with its accumulated interest, -restored to her without a contest.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was a friendly hearing in chambers, before the probate -and other judges. The witnesses were all carefully examined; -the contents of the sealed package in the little trunk were identified; -and at last, in accordance with high legal and judicial -approval, the vast estate, constituting nearly two-thirds of the -amount left by Charlton, was transferred to trustees to be held -till Clara should be of age. And thus finally did Vance carry -his point, and establish the rights of the orphan of the Pontiac.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was on a warm, pleasant day in the last week of September, -1862, that he called to take leave of her.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Little more than an hour’s drive beyond the Central Park -brought him to a private avenue, at the stately gate of which -he found children playing. One of these was a cripple, who, -as he darted round on his little crutch, chasing or being chased, -seemed the embodiment of Joy exercising under difficulties. -His name was Andrew Rusk. An old colored woman who was -carrying a basket of fruit to some invalid in the neighborhood, -stopped and begged Andrew not to break his neck. Vance, recognizing -Esha, asked if Clara was at home.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, Massa Vance; she’ll be powerful glad to see yer.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>While Vance is waiting in a large and lofty drawing-room -<span class='pageno' id='Page_481'>481</span>for her appearance, let us review some of the incidents that -have transpired since we encountered her last.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One of Clara’s first acts, on being put in partial possession -of her ancestral estate, had been to present her aunt Pompilard -with a furnished house, retaining for herself the freedom of a -few rooms. The house stood on a broad, picturesque semi-circle -of rocky table-land, that protruded like a huge bracket -from a pleasant declivity, partly wooded, in view of the Palisades -of the Hudson. The grounds included acres enough to -satisfy the most aspiring member of the Horticultural Society. -The house, also, was sufficiently spacious, not only for present, -but for prospective grandchildren of the Pompilard stock. To -the young Iretons and Purlings it was a blessed change from -Lavinia Street to this new place.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Amid these sylvan scenes,—these green declivities and -dimpling hollows,—these gardens beautiful, and groves and -orchards,—the wounded Major and aspiring author, Cecil -Purling, grew rapidly convalescent. The moment it was understood -in fashionable circles that, through Clara’s access to -fortune, he stood no longer in need of help, subscribers to his -history poured in not merely by dozens, but by hundreds. He -soon had confirmation made doubly sure that he should have -the glorious privilege of being independent through his own -unaided efforts. This time there is no danger that he will ruin -a publisher. The work proceeds. On your library shelf, O -friendly reader, please leave a vacant space for six full-sized -duodecimos!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Pompilard’s first great dinner, on being settled in his new -home, was given in honor of the Maloneys. In reply to the -written invitation, Maloney wrote, “The beggarly Irish tailor -accepts for himself and family.” On entering the house, he -asked a private interview with Pompilard, and thereupon bullied -him so far, that the old man signed a solemn pledge abjuring -Wall Street, and all financial operations of a speculative -character thenceforth forever.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The dinner was graced by the presence of Mr. and Mrs. -Ripper, both of them now furious Abolitionists, and proud of -the name. The lady was at last emphatically of the opinion -that “Slavery will be come up with.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_482'>482</span>Clara had Esha and Hattie to wait on her, though rather in -the capacity of friends than of servants. Having got from -Mrs. Ripper a careful estimate of the amount paid by Ratcliff -for the support and education of his putative slave, Clara had -it repaid with interest. The money came to him most acceptably. -His large investments in slaves had ruined him. His -“maid-servants and man-servants”<a id='r46' /><a href='#f46' class='c014'><sup>[46]</sup></a> had flocked to the old flag -and found freedom. A piteous communication from him appeared -on the occasion in the Richmond Whig. We quote -from it a single passage.</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“What contributed most to my mortification was, that in my -whole gang of slaves, among whom there were any amount of -Aarons, Abrahams, Isaacs, and Jacobs, there was not one Abdiel,—not -one remained loyal to the Rebel.”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The philosophical editor, in his comments, endeavored to -shield his beloved slavery from inferential prejudice, and said:</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“The escaped slave is ungrateful; therefore, slavery is -wrong! Children are often ungrateful; does it follow that -the relation of parent and child is wrong?”<a id='r47' /><a href='#f47' class='c014'><sup>[47]</sup></a></p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Could even Mr. Carlyle have put it more cogently?</p> - -<p class='c001'>The money received by Clara from Mrs. Ratcliff’s private -estate was all appropriated to the establishment of an institution -in New Orleans for the education of the children of freed -slaves. To this fund Madame Volney not only added from -her own legacy, but she went back to New Orleans to superintend -the initiation of the humane and important enterprise.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Into each life some rain must fall.” The day after the -dinner to the Maloneys intelligence came of the death of -Captain Ireton. He had been hung by the fierce slaveocracy -at Richmond as a spy. It was asserted that he had joined the -Rebel Engineer Corps, at Island Number Ten, to obtain information -for the United States. However this may have been, -it is certain <em>he was not captured in the capacity of a spy</em>; and -every one acquainted with the usages of civilized warfare will -recognize the atrocity of hanging a man on the ground that he -had <em>formerly</em> acted as a spy. The Richmond papers palliated -<span class='pageno' id='Page_483'>483</span>the murder by saying Ireton had “<em>confessed</em> himself to be a -spy.” As if any judicial tribunal would hang a man on his -own confession! “Would you make me bear testimony -against myself?” said Joan of Arc to her judges.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Much to the disgust of the pro-slavery leaders, who had -counted on a display of that cowardice which they had taught -the Southern people to regard as inseparable from Yankee -blood, Ireton met his death cheerily, as a bridegroom would go -forth to take the hand of his beloved.<a id='r48' /><a href='#f48' class='c014'><sup>[48]</sup></a> It reminded them unpleasantly -of old John Brown.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Whether on the gallows high</div> - <div class='line in2'>Or in the battle’s van,</div> - <div class='line'>The fittest place for man to die</div> - <div class='line in2'>Is where he dies for man.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The news of Ireton’s death was mentioned by Captain Onslow -while making a morning call on Miss Charlton. Her -mother had dressed herself to drive out on some visits of charity. -As she was passing through the hall to her carriage, Lucy -called her into the drawing-room and communicated the report. -The widow turned deadly pale, and left the room without -speaking. She gave up her drive for that day, and commissioned -Lucy to fulfil the beneficent errands she had planned. -Captain Onslow begged so hard to be permitted to accompany -Lucy, that, after a brief consultation between mother and -daughter, consent was given.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Thus are Nature and Human Life ever offering their tragic -contrasts! Here the withered leaf; and there, under the decaying -mould, the green germ! Here Grief, finding its home -in the stricken heart; and there thou, O Hope, with eyes so -fair!</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_484'>484</span>Colonel Delancy Hyde speedily had an opportunity of showing -the sincerity of his conversion, political and moral. He -went into the fight at South Mountain, and was by the side of -General Reno when that loyal and noble officer (Virginia-born) -fell mortally wounded. For gallant conduct on that -occasion Hyde was put on General Mansfield’s staff, and saw -him, too, fall, three days after Reno, in the great fight at Antietam. -On this occasion Hyde lost a leg, but had the satisfaction -of seeing his nephew, Delancy junior, come out -unscathed, and with the promise of promotion for gallantry -in carrying the colors of the regiment after three successive -bearers had been shot dead.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hyde was presented with a wooden leg, of which he was -quite proud. But the great event of his life was the establishment -of his sister, the Widow Rusk, with her children, in a -comfortable cottage on the outskirts of Pompilard’s grounds, -where the family were well provided for by Clara. Here on -the piazza, looking out on the river, the Colonel played with -the children, watched the boats, and read the newspapers. -Perhaps one of the profoundest of his emotions was experienced -the day he saw in one of the pictorial papers a picture -of Delancy junior, bearing a flag riddled by bullets. But the -Colonel’s heart felt a redoubled thrill when he read the following -paragraph:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“This young and gallant color-bearer is, we learn, a descendant -of an illustrious Virginia family, his ancestor, Delancy -Hyde, having come over with the first settlers. Nobly has the -youth adhered to the traditions of the Washingtons and the -Madisons. His uncle, the brave Colonel Hyde, was one of -the severely wounded in the late battle.”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The Colonel did not faint, but he came nearer to it than -ever before in his life.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Can the Ethiopian change his skin? It has generally been -thought not. But there was certainly an element of grace in -Hyde which now promised to bleach the whole moral complexion -of the man; and that element, though but as a grain -of mustard-seed, was love for his sister and her offspring.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Semmes was glad to receive, as the recompense for his -services, the exemption of certain property from confiscation. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_485'>485</span>At their parting interview Vance ingenuously told him he considered -him a scoundrel. Semmes didn’t see it in that light, -and entered into a long argument to prove that he had done no -wrong. Vance listened patiently, and said in reply, “Do you -perceive an ill odor of dead rats in the wall?” Semmes -snuffed, and then answered, “Indeed I don’t perceive any bad -smell.” “I <em>do</em>,” said Vance; “good by, sir!” And that was -the end of their acquaintance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But it is in the track of Vance and Clara that we promised -to conduct the reader. Clara had proposed a ramble over the -grounds. Never had she appeared so radiant in Vance’s eyes. -It was not her dress, for that was rather plain, though perfect -in its adaptedness to the season and the scene. It was not -that jaunty little hat, hiding not too much of her soft, thick -hair. But the climate of her ancestral North seemed to have -added a new sparkle and gloss to her beauty. And then the -pleasure of seeing Vance showed itself so unreservedly in her -face!</p> - -<p class='c001'>They strolled through the well-appointed garden, and Vance -was glad to see that Clara had a genuine love of flowers and -fruits, and could name all the varieties, distinguishing with -quick perception the slightest differences of form and hue. In -the summer-house, overlooking the majestic river, and surrounded, -though not too much shaded, by birches, oaks, and -pines, indigenous to the soil, they found Miss Netty Pompilard -engaged in sketching. She ran away as they approached, presuming, -like a sensible young person, that she could be spared. -Even the mocking-bird, Clara’s old friend Dainty, who pecked -at a peach in his cage, seemed to understand that his noisy -voluntaries must now be hushed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The promenaders sat down on a rustic bench.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well, Clara,” said Vance, “I have heard to-day great and -inspiring news. It almost made me feel as if I could afford to -stop short in my work, and to be content, should I, like Moses, -be suffered only to <em>see</em> the promised land with my eyes, but not -to ‘go over thither.’”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To what do you allude?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To-morrow President Lincoln issues a proclamation of -prospective emancipation to the slaves of the Rebel States.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_486'>486</span>“Good!” cried Clara, giving him her hand for a grasp of -congratulation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I foresee,” said Vance, “that there is much yet to be -done before it can be effective, and I’ve come to bid you a -long, perhaps a last farewell.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara said not a word, but ran out of the summer-house -below the bank into a little thicket that hid her entirely from -view. Here she caught at the white trunk of a birch, and -leaning her forehead against it, wept passionately for some -time. Vance sat wondering at her disappearance. Ten minutes -passed, and she did not return. He rose to seek her, -when suddenly he saw her climbing leisurely up the bank, a -few wild-flowers in her hand. There was no vestige of emotion -in her face.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You wondered at my quitting you so abruptly,” she said. -“I thought of some fringed gentians in bloom below there, and -I ran to gather them for you. Are they not of a lovely blue?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Thank you,” said Vance, not wholly deceived by her calm, -assured manner.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So you really mean to leave us?” she said, smiling and -looking him full in the face. “I’m very sorry for it.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So am I, Clara, for it would be very delightful to settle -down amid scenes like these and lead a life of meditative leisure. -But not yet can I hope for my discharge. My country -needs every able-bodied son. I must do what I best can to -serve her. But first let me give you a few words of advice. -Your Trustees tell me you have been spending money at such -a fearful rate, that they have been compelled to refuse your -calls. To this you object. Let me beg you to asquiesce with -cheerfulness. They are gentlemen, liberal and patriotic. They -have consented to your giving your aunt this splendid estate -and the means of supporting it. They have allowed you to -bestow portentous sums in charity, and for the relief of sick -and wounded soldiers. I hear, too, that Miss Tremaine has -sent to you for aid.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes; her mother is dead, and her father has failed. They -are quite poor.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“So you’ve sent her a couple of thousand dollars. The first -pauper you shall meet will have as much claim on you as she. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_487'>487</span>Would I check that divine propensity of your nature,—the -desire to bestow? O never, never! Far from it! Cherish -it, my dear child. Believe in it. Find your constant delight -in it. But be reasonable. Consider your own future. A little -computation will show you that, at the present rate, it will not -take you ten years to get rid of all your money. You will -soon have suitors in plenty. Indeed, I hear that some very -formidable ones are already making reconnoissances, although -they find to their despair that the porter forbids them entrance -unless they come on crutches; and I hear you send word to -your serenaders, to take their music to the banks of the Potomac. -But your time will soon come, Clara. You will be -married. (Please not pull that fringed gentian to pieces in -that barbarous way!) You will have your own tasteful, munificent, -and hospitable home. Reserve to yourself the power -to make it all that, and do not be wise too late.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And is there nothing I can do, Mr. Vance, to let you see I -have some little gratitude for all that you have done for me?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Ah! I shall quote Rochefoucault against you, if you say -that. ‘Too great eagerness to requite an obligation is a species -of ingratitude.’ All that I’ve done is but a partial repayment -of the debt I owed your mother’s father; for I owed him my -life. Besides, you pay me every time you help the brave fellow -whose wound or whose malady was got in risking all for country -and for justice.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“We must think of each other often,” sighed Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“That we cannot fail to do,” said Vance. “There are incidents -in our past that will compel a frequent interchange of -remembrances; and to me they will be very dear. Besides, -from every soul of a good man or woman, with whom I have -ever been brought in communication (either by visible presence -or through letters or books), I unwind a subtile filament -which keeps us united, and never fails. I meet one whose -society I would court, but cannot,—we part,—one thinks of -the other, ‘How indifferent he or she seemed!’ or ‘Why did -we not grow more intimate?’ And yet a friendship that shall -outlast the sun may have been unconsciously formed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You must write me” said Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m a poor correspondent,” replied Vance; “but I shall -<span class='pageno' id='Page_488'>488</span>obey. And now my watch tells me I must go. I start in a -few hours for Washington.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>They strolled back to the house. Vance took leave of all -the inmates, not forgetting Esha. He went to Hyde’s cottage, -and had an affectionate parting with that worthy; and then -drove to a curve in the road where Clara stood waiting solitary -to exchange the final farewell.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was on an avenue through the primeval forest, having on -either side a strip of greensward edged by pine-trees, odorous -and thick, which had carpeted the ground here and there with -their leafy needles of the last years growth, now brown and dry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The mild, post-equinoctial sunshine was flooding the middle -of the road, but Clara stood on the sward in the shade. Vance -dismounted from his carriage and drew near. All Clara’s -beauty seemed to culminate for that trial. A smile adorably -tender lighted up her features. Vance felt that he was treading -on enchanted ground, and that the atmosphere swam with the -rose-hues of young romance. The gates of Paradise seemed -opening, while a Peri, with hand extended, offered to be his -guide. Youth and glad Desire rushed back into that inner -chamber of his heart sacred to a love ineffably precious.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara put out her hand; but why was it that this time it was -her right hand, when heretofore, ever since her rescue in New -Orleans, she had always given the left?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rather high up on the wrist of the right was a bracelet; a -bracelet of that soft, fine hair familiar to Vance. He recognized -it now, and the tears threatened to overflow. Lifting the -wrist to his lips he kissed it, and then, with a “God keep -you!” entered the carriage, and was whirled away.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“It was the bracelet, not the wrist, he kissed,” sighed Clara.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_489'>489</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XLVIII.<br />TIME DISCOVERS AND COVERS.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>“<i>Crito.</i> How and where shall we bury you?</p> - -<p class='c022'>”<i>Socrates.</i> Bury me in any way you please, if you can catch me to bury. Crito obstinately -thinks, my friends, I am that which he shall shortly behold dead. Say rather, -Crito,—say if you love me, ‘Where shall I bury your body’; and I will answer you, -‘Bury it in any manner and in any place you please.’”—<cite>Plato.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>On rolled the months, nor slackened their speed because -of the sufferings and the sighings with which they went -freighted. Almost every day brought its battle or its skirmish. -Almost every day men,—sometimes many hundreds,—would -be shot dead, or be wounded and borne away in ambulances or -on stretchers, not grudging the sacrifices they had made.</p> - -<p class='c001'>O precious blood, not vainly shed! O bereaved hearts, not -unprofitably stricken! Do not doubt there shall be compensation. -Do not doubt that every smallest effort, though seemingly -fruitless, rendered to the right, shall be an imperishable -good both to yourselves and others.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On rolled the months, bringing alternate triumph and disaster, -radiance and gloom, to souls waiting the salvation of the -Lord. The summer of 1863 had come. There had been laurels -for Murfreesboro’ and crape for Chancellorville. Vicksburg -and Port Hudson yet trembled in the balance. Pennsylvania -was threatened with a Rebel invasion. The Emancipation -Proclamation, gradual as the great processes of nature, was -working its way, though not in the earthquake nor in the fire. -Black regiments had been enlisted, and were beginning to answer -the question, Will the negro fight?</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the sixth of June, 1863, a cavalry force of Rebels made -their appearance some four miles from Milliken’s Bend on the -Mississippi, and attacked and drove a greatly inferior Union -force, composed mainly of the Tenth Illinois cavalry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Suddenly there rose up in their path, as if from the soil, two -hundred and fifty black soldiers. They belonged to the Eleventh -<span class='pageno' id='Page_490'>490</span>Louisiana African regiment, and were under the command -of Colonel Lieb. They had never been in a fight before. The -“chivalry” came on, expecting to see their former bondsmen -crouch and tremble at the first imperious word; but, to the dismay -of the Rebels, they were met with such splendid bravery, -that they turned and fled, and the Illinois men were saved.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next day nine hundred and forty-one troops of African -descent had a hand-to-hand engagement with a Texan brigade, -commanded by McCulloch, which numbered eighteen hundred -and sixty-five. Three hundred and forty-five of the colored -troops were killed or wounded, though not till they had put -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>hors de combat</i></span> twice that number of Rebels. The gunboat -Choctaw finally came up to drive off the enemy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Conspicuous for intrepid conduct on both these occasions -was a black man, slightly above the middle height, but broad-shouldered, -well-formed, and athletic. Across his left cheek -was a scar as if from a sabre-cut. This man had received the -name of Peculiar Institution, but he was familiarly called -Peek. On the second day his words and his example had inspired -the men of his company with an almost superhuman -courage. Bravely they stood their ground, and nowhere else -on the field did so many of the enemy’s dead attest the valor -of these undrilled Africans.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One youth, apparently not seventeen, had fought by Peek’s -side and under his eye with heroic defiance of danger. At last, -venturing too far from the ranks, he got engaged with two -Rebel officers in a hand-to-hand encounter, and was wounded. -Peek saw his danger, rushed to his aid, parried a blow aimed -at the lad’s life, and shot one of the infuriate officers; but as -he was bearing the youth back into the ranks, he was himself -wounded in the side, and fell with his burden.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The boy’s wound was not serious. He and Peek were borne -within the protection of the guns of the Choctaw. They lay -in the shade cast by the Levee. The surgeon looked at Peek’s -wound, and shook his head. Then turning to the boy he exclaimed, -“Why, Sterling, is this you?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>At the name of Sterling, Peek had roused himself and -turned a gaze, at once of awe and curiosity, on the youth; -then sending the surgeon to another sufferer, had beckoned to -the boy to draw near.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_491'>491</span>“Is your name Sterling?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Where were you born?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“In Montreal.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“And your mother’s name was Flora Jacobs, and your -father’s—Sterling! <em>I</em> am your father!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Profoundly overcome by the disclosure, the boy was speechless -for a time with agitation. But Peek pressed him to tell -of his mother. “And be quick, Sterling; for my time is short.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We need not give the boy’s narrative in his own words, -interrupted as it was by the inquiries put by Peek, while his -life-blood was ebbing. The story which Clara Berwick had -heard at school, and communicated to Mrs. Gentry, was the -story of Flora Jacobs. Those who hate to think ill of slavery -sneer at such reports as the exaggerations of romance; but the -great heart of humanity will need no testimony to show that, in -the nature of things, they must be too often true.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Flora and Sterling, mother and son, were held as slaves by -one Floyd in Alabama. Flora had religiously kept her oath -of fidelity to Peek, much to the chagrin and indignation of her -master, who saw that he was losing at least fifty per cent on -his investment, through her stubborn resistance to his demands -that she should increase and multiply after the fashion of his -Alderneys and Durhams. At last it happened that Sterling, -who had been inspired by his mother with the desire to seek -his father, ran away, was retaken, and tied up for a whipping. -Ten lashes had been given, and had drawn blood. And there -were to be one hundred and ninety more! The mother, in an -agony, interceded. There was only one way by which she -could save him. She must marry coachman George. She -consented. But a month afterwards Floyd learnt that Flora -had made the marriage practically null, and had not suffered -coachman George to touch even the hem of her robe. Floyd -was enraged. He wrought upon the evil passions of George. -There were first threats, and then an attempt at violence. -The attempt was baffled by Flora’s inflicting upon herself a -mortal stab. As she fell on the floor she marked upon it with -her own blood a cross, and kissed it with her last breath.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“’T is all right,—all just as it should be,” murmured Peek. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_492'>492</span>“God knew best. Bless him always for this meeting, Sterling. -Hold the napkin closer to the wound. There! I knew she -would be true! So! Take the belt from under my vest. -Easy! It contains a hundred dollars. ’T is yours. Take -the watch from the pocket. So! A handsome gold one, you -see. ’T was given me by Mr. Vance. The name’s engraved -on it. Can you write? Good. Your mother taught you. -Write by the next mail to William C. Vance, Washington, -D. C. Tell him what has happened. Tell him how your -mother died. He’ll be your friend. You fought bravely, my -son. What sweetness God puts into this moment! Take no -trouble about the body I leave behind. Any trench will do for -it. Fight on for freedom and the right. Slavery must die. -All wrong must die. You can’t wrong even a worm without -wronging yourself more than it. Remember that. Holy living -makes holy believing. Charity first. Think to shut out -others from heaven, and the danger is great you’ll shut yourself -out. Don’t strike for revenge. Slay because ’t is God’s -cause on earth you defend; and don’t fight unless you see and -believe that much, let who may command. Love life. ’T is -God’s gift and opportunity. The more you suffer, the more, -my dear boy, you can show you prize life, not for the world’s -goods, but for that love of God, which is heaven,—Christ’s -heaven. Think. Not to think is to be a brute. Learn -something every day. Love all that’s good and fair. Love -music. Love flowers. Don’t be so childish as to suppose -that because you don’t hear or see spirits, they don’t hear -and see <em>you</em>. Remember that your mother and I can watch -you,—can know your every thought. You’ll grieve us if -you do wrong. You’ll make us very happy if you do right. -Ah! The napkin has slipped. No matter. There! Let -the blood ooze. See! Sterling! Look! There! Do you -not see? They come. The angels! <em>Your</em> mother—<em>my</em> -mother—and beyond there, high up there—one—Ah, God! -Tell Mr. Vance—tell him—his—his—”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peek stood up erect, lifted his clasped hands above his head, -looked beyond them as if watching some beatific vision, then -dropped his mortal body dead upon the earth.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_493'>493</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CHAPTER XLIX.<br />EYES TO THE BLIND.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c011'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Farewell! The passion of long years I pour</div> - <div class='line'>Into that word!”—<cite>Mrs. Hemans.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>“Heureux l’homme qu’un doux hymen unira avec elle! il n’aura à craindre que de la -perdre et de lui survivre.”—<cite>Fenelon.</cite></p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_4_0_4 c010'>It was that Fourth of July, 1863, when every sincere friend -of the Great Republic felt his heart beat high with mingled -hope and apprehension. Tremendous issues, which must -affect the people of the American continent through all coming -time, were in the balance of Fate, and the capricious chances -of war might turn the scale on either side. Gettysburg, Vicksburg, -Port Hudson, Helena! The great struggles that were -to make these places memorable had reached their culminating -and critical point, but were as yet undecided.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Lee’s Rebel army of invasion, highly disciplined, and numbering -nearly a hundred thousand men, was marching into -Pennsylvania. General Lee assured his friends he should -remain North just as long as he wished; that there was no -earthly power strong enough to drive him back across the -Potomac. He expected “to march on Baltimore and occupy -it; then to march on Washington and dictate terms of peace.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Such was Lee’s plan. Its success depended on his defeating -the Union army; and of that he felt certain.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The loyal North was unusually reticent and grave; “troubled -on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in -despair.” A change of commanders in the army of the Potomac, -when just on the eve of the decisive contest, added to the -general seriousness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara, since her parting from Vance, had addressed herself -thoughtfully to the business of life. Duties actively discharged -had brought with them their reward in a diffusive cheerfulness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the morning of that eventful Fourth of July, the ringing -of bells and the firing of cannon roused her from slumber -<span class='pageno' id='Page_494'>494</span>somewhat earlier than usual. On the piazza she met Netty -Pompilard, and Mary and Julia Ireton, and Master and Miss -Purling, and they all strolled to the river’s side,—then home -to breakfast,—then out to the mown field by the orchard, -where a mammoth tent had been erected, and servants were -spreading tables for the day’s entertainment, to be given by -Clara to all the poor and rich of the neighborhood. Colonel -Hyde, having been commissioned to superintend the arrangements, -was here in his glory, and not a little of his importance -was reflected on the busy cripple, his nephew.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara’s thoughts, however, were at Gettysburg, where brave -men were giving up their lives and exposing themselves to terrible, -life-wasting wounds, in order that we at home might live -in peace and have a country, free and undishonored. She -thought of Vance. She knew he had resigned his colonelcy, -and was now employed in the important and hazardous, though -untrumpeted labors of a scout or spy, for which he felt that his -old practice as an actor had given him some aptitude. We -subjoin a few fragmentary extracts from the last letter she had -received from him:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“Poor Peek,—rather let me say fortunate Peek! He fell -nobly, as he always desired to fall, in the cause of freedom and -humanity. His son, Sterling, is now with me; a bright, brave -little fellow, who is already a great comfort and help.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Until the North are as much in earnest for the right as the -South are for the wrong, we must not expect to see an end to -this war. It is not enough to say, ‘Our cause is just. Providence -will put it through.’ If we don’t think the right and the -just worth making great sacrifices for,—worth risking life and -fortune for,—we repel that aid from Heaven which we lazily -claim as our due. God gives Satan power to try the nations -as he once tried Job. ‘Skin for skin,’ says Satan; ‘yea, all -that a man hath will he give for his life.’ Unless we have -pluck enough to disprove the Satanic imputation, and to show -we prize God’s kingdom on earth more than we do life or limb -or worldly store, then it is not a good cause that will save us, -but a sordid spirit that will ruin us. O for a return of that -inspiration which filled us when the first bombardment of -Sumter smote on our ears!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The President will soon call for three hundred thousand -more volunteers. O women of the North!—ye whose heart-wisdom -<span class='pageno' id='Page_495'>495</span>foreruns the slow processes of our masculine reason,—lend -yourselves forthwith to the great work of raising this force -and sending it to fill up our depleted armies.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“This Upas-tree of slavery is now girdled, they tell us. -‘Why not leave it to the winds of heaven to blow down?’ -But if this whirlwind of civil war can’t do it, don’t trust to the -zephyrs of peace. No! The President’s proclamation must -be carried into effect on every plantation, in every dungeon, -where a slave exists. Better that this generation should go -down with harness on to its grave, and that war should be the -normal state of the next generation, than that we should fail in -our pledged faith to the poor victims of oppression whose masters -have brought the sword.”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The grand entertainment under the tent lasted late into the -afternoon. An excellent band of music was present, and as -the tunes were selected by Clara, they were all good. Pompilard -was, of course, a prominent figure at the table. He was -toast-master, speech-maker, and general entertainer. He said -pleasant things to the women and found amusements for the -children. He complimented “the gallant Colonel Hyde” on -his “very admirable arrangements” for their comfort; and the -Colonel replied in a speech, in which he declared that much of -the honor belonged to his sister Dorothy, and his nephew, Andrew -Jackson.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In a high-flown tribute to the Emerald Isle, “the land of the -Emmetts and of that brave hater of slavery, O’Connell,” -Pompilard called up Maloney, who, in a fiery little harangue, -showed that he did not lack that gift of extemporaneous eloquence -which the Currans and the Grattans used so lavishly to -exhibit. The band played “Rory O’More.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A compliment to “the historian of the war” called up -Purling, who, in the lack of one arm, made the other do double -duty in gesticulating. He was cheered to his heart’s content. -The band played “Hail Columbia.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A compliment to the absent Captain Delaney Hyde Rusk -drew from his uncle this sentiment: “The poor whites of the -South! may the Lord open their eyes and send them plenty of -soap!” The band played “Dixie.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A venerable clergyman present, the Rev. Mr. Beitler, now -rose and gave “The memory of our fallen brave!” This was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_496'>496</span>drunk standing in solemn silence, with heads uncovered. But -Mrs. Ireton and Clara vainly put their handkerchiefs to their -faces to keep back their sobs. By a secret sympathy they -sought each other, and sat down under a tree where they could -be somewhat retired from the rest. Esha drew near, but had -too much tact to disturb them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was four o’clock when a courier was seen running toward -the assembled company. He came with an “Extra,” containing -that telegraphic despatch from the President of the United -States, flashed over the wires that day, giving comforting assurances -from Gettysburg. Pompilard stood on a chair and proposed -a succession of cheers, which were vociferously delivered. -Clara and Mrs. Ireton dried their tears and partook of the -general joy. Then rapping on the table, Pompilard obtained -profound silence; and the old clergyman, kneeling, addressed -the Throne of Grace in words of thankfulness that found a -response in every heart. The day’s amusements ended in a -stroll of the company through the beautiful grounds.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After the glory the grief. No sooner was it known that Lee, -whipped and crestfallen, was retreating, than there was a call -for succor to the wounded and the dying. Clara, under the -escort of Major Purling (who was eager to glean materials -for the great history) went immediately to Gettysburg. She -visited the churches (converted into hospitals), where wounded -men, close as they could lie, were heroically enduring the -sharpest sufferings. She labored to increase their accommodations. -If families wouldn’t give up their houses for love, then -they must for money. Yes, money can do it. She drew on her -trustees till they were frightened at the repetition of big figures -in her drafts. She soothed the dying; she made provision for -the wounded; she ordered the wholesomest viands for those -who could eat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the third day she met Mrs. Charlton and her daughter, -and they affectionately renewed their acquaintance. As they -walked together through a hospital they had not till then entered, -Clara suddenly started back with emotion and turned -deadly pale. But for Major Purling’s support she would have -fallen. Tears came to her relief, and she rallied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>What was the matter?</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_497'>497</span>On one of the iron beds lay a captain of artillery. He did -not appear to be wounded. He lay, as if suffering more from -exhaustion than from physical pain. And yet, on looking closer, -you saw from the glassy unconsciousness of his eyes that the -poor man was blind. But O that expression of sweet resignation -and patient submission! It was better than a prayer to -look on it. It touched deeper than any exhortation from -holiest lips. It spoke of an inward reign of divinest repose; -of a land more beautiful than any the external vision ever -looked on; of that peace of God which passeth all understanding.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Clara recognized in it the face of <a id='corr497.11'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Clarles'>Charles</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_497.11'><ins class='correction' title='Clarles'>Charles</ins></a></span> Kenrick. A cannon-ball -had passed before his eyes, and the shock from the -concussion of air had paralyzed the optic nerves. The surgeons -gave him little hope of ever recovering his sight.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For some private reason, best known to herself, Clara did -not make herself known to Kenrick. She did not even inform -any one that she knew him. She induced Lucy Charlton to -minister to his wants. On Lucy’s asking him what she could -do (for she did not know he was Onslow’s friend), he said, -“If you can pen a letter for me, I shall be much obliged.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Certainly,” said she; “and my friend here shall hold the -ink while I write.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>She received from the hands of her maid in attendance a -portfolio with which she had come provided, anticipating such -requests. She then took a seat by his side, while Clara sat at -the foot of the cot, where she could look in his blind, unconscious -face, and wipe away her tears unseen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I’m ready,” said Lucy. And he dictated as follows:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“<span class='sc'>My dear Cousin</span>: I received last night your letter from -Meade’s headquarters. ’T was a comfort to be assured you -escaped unharmed amid your many exposures.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You tell me I am put down in the reports as among the -slightly wounded, and you desire to know all the particulars. -Alas! I may say with the tragic poet, ‘My wound is great -because it is so small.’ Don’t add, as Johnson once did, ‘Then -‘t would be greater, were it none at all.’ A cannon-ball, my -dear fellow, passed before my eyes, and the sight thereof is -extinguished utterly. The handwriting of this letter, you will -perceive, is not my own.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_498'>498</span>“What you say of Onslow delights me. So he has behaved -nobly before Vicksburg, and is to be made a Colonel! The -one hope of his heart is to be with the army of liberation that -shall go down into Texas. Onslow will not rest till he has -redeemed that bloody soil to freedom, and put an end to the -rule of the miscreant hangmen of the State.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I said the <em>one</em> hope of his heart. But what you insinuate -leads me to suspect there may be still another,—a tender -hope. Can it be? Poor fellow! He deserves it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You bid me take courage and call on Perdita. You tell -me she is free as air,—that the bloom is on the plum as yet -untouched, unbreathed upon. My own dear cousin, if I was -hopeless before I lost my eyesight, what must I be now? But, -since a thing of beauty is a joy forever, was I not lucky in -making her acquaintance before that cannon-ball swept away -my optic sense? Now, as I rest here on my couch, I can call -up her charming image,—nay, I can hear the very tones of -her singing. She is worthy of the brilliant inheritance you -were instrumental in restoring to her. I shall always be the -happier for having known her, even though the knowing should -continue to be my disquietude.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I have just heard from my father. He and his young wife -are in Richmond. His pecuniary fortunes are at a very low -ebb. His slaves were all liberated last month by Banks, who -has anticipated the work I expected to do myself. My father -begins to be disenchanted in regard to the Rebellion. He even -admits that Davis isn’t quite so remarkable a man as he had -supposed. How gladly I would help my father if I could! -May the opportunity be some day mine. All I have (’t is only -five thousand dollars) shall be his.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What can I do, my dear cousin, if I can’t get back my eyesight? -God knows and cares; and I am content in that belief. -‘There is a special providence in the falling of a sparrow.’ -Am not I better than many sparrows? ‘Hence have I genial -seasons!’ ’T is all as it should be; and though He slay me, -yet will I trust in him.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c023'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Farewell,</div> - <div class='line in20'>“<span class='sc'>Charles Kenrick</span>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c024'>“<span class='sc'>To William C. Vance.</span>”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Several times during the dictating of this letter, Lucy (especially -when Onslow’s name was mentioned) would have betrayed -both herself and Clara, had not the latter in dumb show -dissuaded her. The next day Clara made herself known, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_499'>499</span>introduced Major Purling; but she did not allow the blind man -to suspect that she was that friend of his unknown amanuensis, -who had “held the ink.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Her own persuasions, added to those of the Major, forced -Kenrick at last to consent to be removed to Onarock. Here, -in the society of cheerful Old Age and congenial Youth, he -rapidly recovered strength. But to his visual orbs there returned -no light. There it was still “dark, dark, dark, amid -the blaze of noon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>He did not murmur at the dispensation. In all Clara’s -studies, readings, and exercises he was made the partaker. -Even the beautiful landscapes on all sides were brought vividly -before his inner eyes by her graphic words. Along the river’s -bank, and through the forest aisles, and along the garden borders -she would lead him, and not a flower was beautiful that he was -not made to know it.</p> - -<hr class='c019' /> - -<p class='c001'>It was the 18th of October, 1863,—that lovely Sabbath -which seemed to have come down out of heaven,—so beautiful -it was,—so calm, so bright,—so soft and yet so exhilarating. -The forest-trees had begun to put on their autumnal -drapery of many colors. The maple was already of a fiery -scarlet; the beech-leaves, the birch, and the witch-hazel, of a -pale yellow; and there were all gradations of purple and -orange among the hickories, the elms, and the ashes. The varnished -leaves of the oak for the most part retained their greenness, -forming mirrors for the light to reflect from, and flashing -and glistening, as if for very joy, under the bland, indolent -breeze. It was such weather as this that drew from Emerson -that note, we can all respond to, in our higher moments of -intenser life, “Give me health and a day, and I will make the -pomp of emperors ridiculous.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With Kenrick, even to his blindness there came a sense of -the beauty and the glow. He could enjoy the balmy air, the -blest power of sunshine, the odors from the falling leaves and -the grateful earth. And what need of external vision, since -Clara could so well supply its want? He walked forth with -her, and they stopped near a rustic bench overlooking the -Hudson, and sat down.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_500'>500</span>“Indeed I must leave you to-morrow,” said he, in continuation -of some previous remark: “I’ve got an excellent situation -as sub-teacher of French at West Point.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, you’ve got a situation, have you?” returned Clara.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The tears sprang to her eyes; but, alas for human frailty! -this time they were tears of vexation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was silence for almost a minute. Then Kenrick said, -“Do you know I’ve been with you more than three months?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Well,” replied Clara, pettishly, “is there anything so very -surprising or disagreeable in that?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“But I fear Onarock will prove my Capua,—that it will -unfit me for the sterner warfare of life.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“O, go to your sterner warfare, since you desire it!”</p> - -<p class='c001'>And with a desperate effort at nonchalance she swung her -hat by its ribbon, and sang that little air from “La Bayadère” -by Auber,—<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Je suis content,—je suis heureux.”</span></p> - -<p class='c001'>“Clara, dear friend, you seem displeased with me. What -have I done?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“You want to humiliate me!” exclaimed Clara, reproachfully, -and bursting into a passion of tears.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Want to humiliate you? I can’t see how.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“I suppose not,” returned Clara, ironically. “There are -none so blind as those who don’t choose to see.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“What do you mean, dear friend?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Dear <em>friend</em> indeed!” sobbed Clara. “Is he as blind as -he would have me think? Haven’t I given hints enough, intimations -enough, opportunities enough? Would the man force -me to offer myself outright?”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There was another interval of silence, and this time it lasted -full ten minutes. And then Kenrick, his breath coming quick, -his breast heaving, unable longer to keep back his tears, drew -forth his handkerchief, and covering his face, wept heartily.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He rose and put out his hand. Clara seized it. He folded -her in his arms; and their first kiss,—a kiss of betrothal,—was -exchanged.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c008'> - <div>THE END.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>Cambridge: Stereotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Footnotes</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c025' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. Having slept under Toussaint’s roof, and seen him often, the writer can -testify to the accuracy of this sketch of one of the most thorough gentlemen -in bearing and in heart that he ever knew.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. A fact. The incident, which occurred literally as related (on Bob Myers’s -plantation in Alabama), was communicated to the writer by an eye-witness, -a respectable citizen of Boston, once resident at the South. The -murder, of course, passed not only unpunished, but unnoticed.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. See James Sterling’s “Letters from the Slave States.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. This last paragraph embodies the actual words of Mr. Sterling, published -in 1856.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f5'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. Similar occurrences are related by Cotton Mather to have taken place in -Boston in 1693. Six witnesses, whose affidavits he gives, namely, Samuel -Aves, Robert Earle, John Wilkins, Dan Williams, Thomas Thornton, and -William Hudson, testify to having repeatedly seen Margaret Rule lifted from -her bed up near to the ceiling by an invisible force. It is a cheap way of -getting rid of such testimony to say that the witnesses were false or incompetent. -The present writer could name at least six witnesses of his own -acquaintance now living, gentlemen of character, intelligence, sound senses -and sound judgment, who will testify to having seen similar occurrences. -The other phenomena, related as witnessed by Peek, are such as hundreds of -intelligent men and women in the United States will confirm by their testimony. -Indeed, the number of believers in these phenomena may be now -fairly reckoned at more than three million.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. There are thousands of intelligent persons in the United States who -will testify to the fact of spirit touch. The writer has on several occasions -<em>felt</em>, though he has not <em>seen</em>, a live hand, guided by intelligence, that he was -fully convinced belonged to no mortal person present. The conditions were -such as to debar trick or deception. There are several trustworthy witnesses, -whom the writer could name, who have both <em>seen</em> and <em>felt</em> the phenomenon, -and tested it as thoroughly as Peek is represented to have done.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f7'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. The phenomenon of <em>stigmata</em> appearing on the flesh of impressible mediums -is one of the most common of the manifestations of modern Spiritualism. -Sometimes written words and sometimes outline representations of -objects appear, under circumstances that make deception impossible. The -writer has often witnessed them. St. Francis, and many other saints of the -Catholic Church, were the subjects of similar phenomena. The late Earl of -Shrewsbury, a Catholic nobleman, has published a long account of their -occurrence during the present century. The Catholic Church has been -always true to the doctrine of the miraculous.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f8'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. Author of “The Uprising of a Great People,” “America before Europe,” -&c.; also of two large volumes on Modern Spiritualism.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f9'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. See Alexander Humboldt’s Letters to Varnhagen.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f10'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. See Edouard Laboulaye, “De la Personnalité Divine.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f11'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. Tertullian, a devout Christian, when he wrote the following, would seem -to have believed there could be no spirit independent of substance and -form: <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Nihil enim, si non corpus. Omne quod est, corpus est sui generis; -nihil est incorporale, nisi quod non est. Quis enim negabit Deum corpus -esse, etsi Deus spiritus est? Spiritus enim corpus sui generis, sua effigie;”</span>—“For -there is nothing, if not body. All that is, is body after its kind; -nothing is incorporeal except what is <em>not</em>. For who will deny God to be -body, albeit God is spirit? For spirit is body of its proper kind, in its proper -effigy.” These views are not inconsistent with those entertained by many -modern Spiritualists.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f12'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. In a work published in London by De Foe, in 1722, one of his characters -speaks of the Virginia immigration as being composed either of “first, such -as were brought over by masters of ships, to be sold as servants; or, second, -such as are transported, after having been found guilty of crimes punishable -with death.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f13'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r13'>13</a>. These passages are from a speech of President Davis at Jackson, Miss., -December, 1862. When he gets in a passion, Mr. Davis repudiates the truth -even as he would State debts. Notorious facts of history are set aside in his -blind wrath. The colonists of New England, he well knows, were the friends -and compatriots of Cromwell and his Parliament; and the few prisoners of -war Cromwell sent over from Ireland and England as slaves did not constitute -an appreciable part of the then resident population of the North. It is a -well-known fact, which no genealogist will dispute, that not Virginia, nor -any other American State, can show such a purely English ancestry as -Massachusetts. The writer of a paper in the New York Continental Monthly -for July, 1863, under the title of “The Cavalier Theory Refuted,” proves -this statistically. “Let it be avowed,” he says, “that Puritanic New England -could always display a greater array of <em>gentlemen by birth</em> than Virginia, -or even the entire South. This is said deliberately, because we know whereof -we speak.” He gives figures and names. And yet even so judicious a -writer as John Stuart Mill has fallen into the error of supposing that the -South had the advantage of the North in this respect. The anxious and -persistent clamor of the Secessionists on this point, in the hope to enlist the -sympathy of the British aristocracy, has not been wholly without effect. -We would only remark, in conclusion, that Davis and his brethren, in their -over-anxiety to prove that <em>their</em> ancestors were gentlemen, and <em>ours</em> clodhoppers, -show the genuine spirit of the upstart and the <em>parvenu</em>. The true -gentleman is content to have his gentility appear in his acts.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Clay of the Confederate Congress has introduced a resolution proposing -that the coat of arms of the Slave Confederacy shall be <em>the figure of a -cavalier</em>! Would not a beggar on horseback, riding in a certain familiar -direction, be more appropriate?</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f14'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r14'>14</a>. It afterwards appeared that the Vicksburg “gentlemen,” impatient at -their want of success, selected a man who came nearest to the description of -Gashface, shot him, and then marked his body in a way to satisfy the expectations -of those who had formed an imaginative idea of the personal peculiarities -that would identify the celebrated liberator, so long the terror of -masters on the Mississippi.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f15'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r15'>15</a>. Afterwards the notorious proslavery guerilla leader in Virginia.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f16'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r16'>16</a>. The dishonesty of Mr. John Slidell’s attempt to expunge from Davis’s -history the reproach of repudiation is thoroughly and irrefutably exposed by -Mr. Robert J. Walker in the Continental Monthly, 1863.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f17'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r17'>17</a>. This prediction was merely one among many hundred such which every -reader of newspapers will remember.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f18'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r18'>18</a>. We subjoin one of the various translations:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Yes, it comes at last!</div> - <div class='line in4'>And from a troubled dream awaking,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Death will soon be past,</div> - <div class='line in4'>And brighter day around me breaking!</div> - <div class='line'>Hark! methinks I hear celestial voices say,</div> - <div class='line'>Soon thou shalt be free, child of misery,—</div> - <div class='line'>Rest and perfect joy in heaven are waiting thee;</div> - <div class='line'>Spirit, plume thy wings and flee!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Yes! the strife is o’er,</div> - <div class='line in4'>With all its pangs, with all its sorrow;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Hope shall droop no more,</div> - <div class='line in4'>For heavenly day will dawn to-morrow!</div> - <div class='line'>Proud Oppression, vain thy utmost tyranny!</div> - <div class='line'>Come and thou shalt see, I can smile at thee!</div> - <div class='line'>Mine shall be the triumph, mine the victory,—</div> - <div class='line'>Death but sets the captive free!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f19'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r19'>19</a>. The line is from the following prayer, attributed to Mary, Queen of Scots:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“O domine Deus, speravi in Te;</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Carissime Jesu, nunc libera me!</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">In dura catena, in misera pœna,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Desidero Te!</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Languendo, gemendo, et genuflectendo,</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Adoro, imploro, ut liberes me.”</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f20'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r20'>20</a>. Some of these note-books have been brought to light by the civil war, -and a quotation from one of them will be found on another page of this work.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f21'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r21'>21</a>. Should any person question the probability of the incidents in Vance’s -narrative, we would refer him to the “Letter to Thomas Carlyle” in the -Atlantic Monthly for October, 1863. On page 501, we find the following: -“Within the past year, a document has come into my hands. It is the -private diary of a most eminent and respectable slaveholder, recently deceased. -The chances of war threw it into the hands of our troops.... -One item I must have the courage to suggest more definitely. Having -bidden a young slave-girl (whose name, age, color, &c., with the shameless -precision that marks the entire document, are given) to attend upon -his brutal pleasure, and she silently remaining away, he writes, ‘Next morning -ordered her a dozen lashes for disobedience.’” In a foot-note to the -above we are assured by Messrs. Ticknor and Fields that the author of -the letter is “one whose word is not and cannot be called in question; and -he pledges his word that the above is exact and <em>proven</em> fact.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f22'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r22'>22</a>. “O no, madam, for then I shall be too black.” A Life of Toussaint, by -Mrs. George Lee, was published in Boston some years since.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f23'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r23'>23</a>. By Dsheladeddin, a famous Mahometan mystic.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f24'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r24'>24</a>. On the contrary, Mrs. Kemble says they are cruelly treated, and that -the forms of suffering are “manifold and terrible” in consequence.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f25'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r25'>25</a>. The Savannah River Baptist Association of Ministers decreed (1836) -that the slave, sold at a distance from his home, was not to be countenanced -by the church in resisting his master’s will that he should take a new wife.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f26'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r26'>26</a>. </p> -<div class='lg-container-b c017'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Beloved eye, beloved star,</div> - <div class='line'>Thou art so near, and yet so far!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f27'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r27'>27</a>. General Ullmann writes from New Orleans, June 6, 1863, to Governor -Andrew: “Every man (freed negro) presenting himself to be recruited, -strips to the skin. My surgeons report to me that <em>not one in fifteen</em> is free -from marks of severe lashing. More than one half are rejected because of -disability from lashing with whips, and the biting of dogs on calves and -thighs. It is frightful. Hundreds have welts on their backs as large as one -of your largest fingers.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f28'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r28'>28</a>. Abercrombie relates an authenticated case of the same kind. A woodman, -while employed with his axe, was hit on the head by a falling tree. He -remained in a semi-comatose state for a whole year. On being trepanned, he -uttered an exclamation which was found to be the completion of the sentence -he had been in the act of uttering when struck twelve months before.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f29'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r29'>29</a>. Among the foul records the Rebellion has unearthed is one, found at -Alexandria, La., being a stray leaf from the diary of an overseer in that -vicinity, in the year 1847. It chronicles the whippings of slaves from April -20 to May 21. Of thirty-nine whippings during that period, <em>nineteen were -of females</em>. We give a few extracts from this precious and authentic -document:—</p> - -<p class='c001'>“April 20. Whipped Adam for cutting cotton too wide. Nat, for thinning -cotton.—21. Adaline and Clem, for being behind.—24. Esther, for leaving -child out in yard to let it cry.—27. Adaline, for being slow getting out of -quarters.—28. Daniel, for not having cobs taken out of horse-trough.—May -1. Anna, Jo, Hannah, Sarah, Jim, and Jane, for not thinning corn right. -Clem, for being too long thinning one row of corn. Esther, for not being out -of quarters quick enough.—10. Adaline, for being last one out with row.—15. -Esther, for leaving grass in cotton.—17. Peggy, for not hoeing as much -cane as she ought to last week.—18. Polly, for not hoeing faster.—20. -Martha. Esther, and Sarah, for jawing about row, while I was gone.—21. -Polly, for not handling her hoe faster.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>A United States officer from Cambridge, Mass., sent home this stray leaf, -and it was originally published in the Cambridge Chronicle.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f30'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r30'>30</a>. See Chapter XII. page 112.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f31'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r31'>31</a>. The names and the facts are real. See Harper’s Weekly, July 4, 1868.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f32'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r32'>32</a>. Mr. W.S. Grayson of Mississippi writes, in De Bow’s Review (August, -1860): “Civil liberty has been the theme of praise among men, and most -wrongfully. This is the infatuation of our age.” And Mr. George Fitzhugh -of Virginia writes: “Men are never efficient in military matters, or in -industrial pursuits, until wholly deprived of their liberty. <em>Loss of liberty is -no disgrace.</em>”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f33'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r33'>33</a>. Testimony of Mrs. Fanny Kemble to facts within her knowledge.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f34'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r34'>34</a>. Late member of Congress from Texas. In his speech in New York -(1862) he said: “I know that the loyalists of Texas have died deaths not -heard of since the dark ages until now; not only hunted and shot, murdered -upon their own thresholds, but tied up and scalded to death with boiling -water; torn asunder by wild horses fastened to their feet; whole neighborhoods -of men exterminated, and their wives and children driven away.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is estimated by a writer in the New Orleans Crescent (June, 1863), that -at least <em>twenty-five hundred</em> persons had been hung in Texas during the preceding -two years <em>for fidelity to the Union</em>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The San Antonio (Texas) Herald, a Rebel sheet of November 13th, 1862, -taunted the Unionists with the havoc that had been made among them! It -says: “They (Union men) are known and will be remembered. Their numbers -were small at first, and they are becoming every day less. In the -mountains near Fort Clark and along the Rio Grande <em>their bones are bleaching -in the sun</em>, and in the counties of Wire and Denton <em>their bodies are -suspended by scores</em> from black-jacks.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Such are the shameless butchers and hangmen that Slavery spawns!</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f35'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r35'>35</a>. “Marriage,” says a Catholic Bishop of a Southern State, quoted in the -Cincinnati Catholic Telegraph, “is scarcely known amongst them (the -slaves); the masters <em>attach no importance to it</em>. In some States those who -teach them (the slaves) to read <em>are punished with death</em>.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f36'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r36'>36</a>. Our experience in South Carolina and Louisiana proves that there would -be no danger, but, on the contrary, great good in instant emancipation.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f37'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r37'>37</a>. The writer has fully tested it in repeated instances; and there are probably -several hundred thousand persons at this moment in the United States, -to whom the same species of test is a <em>certainty</em>, not merely a <em>belief</em>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f38'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r38'>38</a>. The parallel facts are too numerous and notorious to need specification.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f39'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r39'>39</a>. Captain Andre Cailloux, a negro, was a well-educated and accomplished -gentleman. He belonged to the First Louisiana regiment, and perished -nobly at Port Hudson, May 17, 1863, leading on his men in the thickest of -the fight. His body was recovered the latter part of July, and interred with -great ceremony at New Orleans.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f40'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r40'>40</a>. The actual definition given by E. A., one of the Rev. Chauncy Hare -Townshend’s mesmerized subjects.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f41'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r41'>41</a>. Mr. Davis’s father was a “cavalier.” He dealt in horses.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f42'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r42'>42</a>. “Reverently, we feel that our Confederacy is a God-sent missionary to -the nations, with great truths to preach.”—<cite>Richmond Enquirer.</cite></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f43'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r43'>43</a>. This yoke was on exhibition several months at Williams and Everett’s, -Washington Street, Boston, it having been sent by Governor Andrew with a -letter, the original of which we have before us while we write. It bears date -September 10th, 1863. It says of this yoke (which we have held in our -hands), that it “was cut from the neck of a slave girl” who had worn it “for -three weary months. An officer of Massachusetts Volunteers, whose letter I -enclose to you, sent me this memento,” &c. That officer’s original letter, -signed S. Tyler Read, Captain Third Massachusetts Cavalry, is also before -us. He writes to the Governor of Massachusetts, that, having been sent with -a detachment of troops down the river to search suspected premises on the -plantation of Madame Coutreil, his attention was attracted by a small house, -closed tightly, and about nine or ten feet square. “I demanded,” writes Captain -Read, “the keys, and after unlocking double doors found myself in the -entrance of a dark and loathsome dungeon. ‘In Heaven’s name, what have -you here?’ I exclaimed to the slave mistress. ‘O, only a little girly—<em>she -runned away!</em>’ I peered into the darkness, and was able to discover, sitting at -one end of the room upon a low stool, a girl about eighteen years of age. <em>She -had this iron torture riveted about her neck, where it had rusted through the skin, and -lay corroding apparently upon the flesh.</em> Her head was bowed upon her hands, -and she was almost insensible from emaciation and immersion in the foul air -of her dungeon. She was quite white.... I had the girl taken to the city, -where this torture was removed from her neck by a blacksmith, who cut the -rivet, and she was subsequently made free by military authority.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>See in the Atlantic Monthly (July, 1863) a paper entitled “Our General,” -from the pen of one who served as Deputy Provost Marshal in New Orleans. -His facts are corroborated both by General Butler and Governor Shepley, -who took pains to authenticate them. A girl, “a perfect blonde, her hair of -a very pretty, light shade of brown, and perfectly straight,” had been publicly -whipped by her master (who was also her father), and then “forced to -marry a colored man.” We spare our readers the mention of the most loathsome -fact in the narrative.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Another case is stated by the same writer. A mulatto girl, the slave of -one Landry, was brought to General Butler. She had been brutally scourged -by her master. He confessed to the castigation, but pleaded that she had -tried to get her freedom. The poor girl’s back had been flayed “until the -quivering flesh resembled a fresh beefsteak scorched on a gridiron.” It was -declared by influential citizens, who interceded for him, that Landry was (we -quote the recorded words) “not only a <em>high-toned gentleman</em>, but a person of -unusual amiability of character.” General Butler freed the girl, and compelled -the high-toned Landry to pay over to her the sum of five hundred -dollars.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f44'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r44'>44</a>. Actual words of a negro preacher, taken down on the spot by a hearer.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f45'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r45'>45</a>. If there is divination (clairvoyance), there must be gods (spirits).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f46'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r46'>46</a>. See Mr. Jefferson Davis’s proclamation for a fast, March, 1863.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f47'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r47'>47</a>. These quotations are genuine, as many newspaper readers will recollect.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f48'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r48'>48</a>. The case seems to have been precisely parallel to that of Spencer Kellogg -Brown, hung in Richmond, September 25th, 1863, as a spy. On the -18th of that month, Brown told the Rev. William G. Scandlin of Massachusetts -(see the latter’s published letter), that they had kept him there in prison -“<em>until all his evidence had been sent away, allowed him but fifteen hours to -prepare for his defence, and denied him the privilege of counsel</em>.” Brown was -captured by guerillas, not while he was acting as a spy, but while returning -from destroying a rebel ferry-boat near Port Hudson, which he had done under -the order of Captain Porter. The hanging of this man was as shameless -a murder as was ever perpetrated by Thugs. But Slavery, disappointed -in the hanging of Captains Sawyer and Flynn, was yelling lustily for a Yankee -to hang; and Jeff Davis was not man enough to say “No.”</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<p class='c001'><a id='endnote'></a></p> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'>Transcriber’s Note</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>There are several compound words which appear with and without -hyphenation, which are given here as printed (bed-side, chamber-maid, -child-birth, head-quarters, low-lived, side-walk). If a word is -hyphenated at a line or page break, the hyphen is retained only -if other instances can establish the author’s intent.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.</p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='12%' /> -<col width='69%' /> -<col width='18%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_32.33'></a><a href='#corr32.33'>32.33</a></td> - <td class='c006'>You have fe[e]d him, I suppose?</td> - <td class='c026'>Removed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_66.13'></a><a href='#corr66.13'>66.13</a></td> - <td class='c006'>[“]Iverson stepped forward</td> - <td class='c026'>Removed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_77.19'></a><a href='#corr77.19'>77.19</a></td> - <td class='c006'>Tender thought[t/s] of the sufferings</td> - <td class='c026'>Replaced.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_98.39'></a><a href='#corr98.39'>98.39</a></td> - <td class='c006'>as high a civilization as the whites[.]”</td> - <td class='c026'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_199.26'></a><a href='#corr199.26'>199.26</a></td> - <td class='c006'>know[l]edge of many good men and women</td> - <td class='c026'>Inserted.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_272.1'></a><a href='#corr272.1'>272.1</a></td> - <td class='c006'>[“]She dashed into a medley</td> - <td class='c026'>Removed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_355.18'></a><a href='#corr355.18'>355.18</a></td> - <td class='c006'>“But you say nothing of confiscation,[” Mr. Vance./ Mr. Vance”]</td> - <td class='c026'>” moved.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_395.29'></a><a href='#corr395.29'>395.29</a></td> - <td class='c006'>to the Emperor’s predispositions[.]</td> - <td class='c026'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_430.24'></a><a href='#corr430.24'>430.24</a></td> - <td class='c006'>super[ ]human and supercanine</td> - <td class='c026'>Removed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_448.5'></a><a href='#corr448.5'>448.5</a></td> - <td class='c006'>[“]Do you know,” he continued,</td> - <td class='c026'>Removed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_449.18'></a><a href='#corr449.18'>449.18</a></td> - <td class='c006'><i>seventy thousand dollars</i>![”]</td> - <td class='c026'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_466.34'></a><a href='#corr466.34'>466.34</a></td> - <td class='c006'>and then, cov[er]ing his face</td> - <td class='c026'>Inserted.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c006'><a id='c_497.11'></a><a href='#corr497.11'>497.11</a></td> - <td class='c006'>the face of C[l/h]arles> Kenrick</td> - <td class='c026'>Replaced.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PECULIAR ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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