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diff --git a/16556-h/16556-h.htm b/16556-h/16556-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b94fa2 --- /dev/null +++ b/16556-h/16556-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7141 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Short Story Classics (American), Volume +Two</title> +<style type="text/css"> + h2 { text-align: center } + body { font-size:14pt; margin-left:10%; margin-right:10% } + .b1 { font-size:12pt } + .b2 { font-size:10pt } + .b3 { font-size:50pt } + .author { font-size:12pt; margin-left:15% } +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Short Story Classics (American) Vol. 2, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Short Story Classics (American) Vol. 2 + The Brigade Commander by J. W. Deforest; Who Was She? by + Bayard Taylor; Mademoiselle Olympe Zabriski by Thomas + Bailey Aldrich; Brother Sebastian's Friendship by Harold + Frederic; A Good-For-Nothing by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen; + The Idyl Of Red Gulch by Bret Harte; Crutch, The Page by + George Alfred Townsend ("Gath"); In Each Other's Shoes by + George Parsons Lathrop; The Denver Express by A. A. Hayes; + Jaune D'antimoine by Thomas Allibone Janvier; Ole 'Stracted + by Thomas Nelson Page; Our Consul At Carlsruhe by F. J. + Stimson ("J. S. Of Dale") + +Author: Various + +Editor: William Patten + +Release Date: August 20, 2005 [EBook #16556] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHORT STORY CLASSICS *** + + + + +Produced by Michael Gray + + + + + +</pre> + +<h2><img src="images/portrait1.jpg" alt=" "></h2> +<br><br> +<h2><img src="images/title.jpg" alt="The title page"></h2> +<p align="center"><span class="b1">C</span><span class="b2">OPYRIGHT +1905</span> +<br><span class="b1">B</span><span class="b2">Y</span> +<span class="b1"> P. F. C</span><span class="b2">OLLIER</span> +<span class="b1"> & S</span><span class="b2">ON</span> +<span class="b1"><br>———————— +<br>The use of the copyrighted stories in this +<br>collection has been authorized in every +<br>instance by the authors or +<br>their representatives.</span></p> +<br><br> +<h2>CONTENTS—VOLUME II</h2> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#1">THE BRIGADE COMMANDER</a></span><br> +<span class="author">J. W. DEFOREST ...... 335</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#2">WHO WAS SHE?</a></span><br> +<span class="author"> BAYARD TAYLOR ...... 377</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#3">MADEMOISELLE OLYMPE ZABRISKI</a></span><br> +<span class="author">THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH ...... 403</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#4">BROTHER SEBASTIAN'S FRIENDSHIP</a></span><br> +<span class="author">HAROLD FREDERIC ...... 423</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#5">A GOOD-FOR-NOTHING</a></span><br> +<span class="author">HJALMAR HJORTH BOYESEN ...... 445</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#6">THE IDYL OF RED GULCH</a></span><br> +<span class="author">BRET HARTE ...... 485</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#7">CRUTCH, THE PAGE</a></span><br> +<span class="author">GEORGE ALFRED TOWNSEND ("GATH") ...... 501</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#8">IN EACH OTHER'S SHOES</a></span><br> +<span class="author">GEORGE PARSONS LATHROP ...... 533</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#9">THE DENVER EXPRESS</a></span><br> +<span class="author">A. A. HAYES ...... 559</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#10">JAUNE D'ANTIMOINE</a></span><br> +<span class="author">THOMAS ALLIBONE JANVIER ...... 595</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#11">OLE 'STRACTED</a></span><br> +<span class="author">THOMAS NELSON PAGE ...... 639</span></p> + +<p><span class="b1"><a href="#12">OUR CONSUL AT CARLSRUHE</a></span><br> +<span class="author">F. J. STIMSON ("J. S. OF DALE") ...... 661</span></p> +<br><br><br><br> + +<h2><a name="1">THE BRIGADE +COMMANDER</a> +<br>—————————— +<br>BY J. W. DE FOREST<br><br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A +writer"></h2><p><i>John William De Forest (born March 36, 1826, in Seymour, +Ct.) at the outbreak of the Rebellion abandoned a promising career as a +historian and writer of books of travel to enlist in the Union army. He served +throughout the entire war, first as captain, then as major, and so acquired a +thorough knowledge of military tactics and the psychology of our war which +enabled him, on his return to civil life, to write the best war stories of his +generation. Of these "The Brigade Commander" is Mr. De Forest's masterpiece. +Solidly grounded on experience, and drawing its emotive power from our greatest +national cataclysm, like a Niagara dynamo the story sends us a thrill +undiminishing with the increasing distance of its source.</i></p><h2><img +src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p align="center">THE BRIGADE +COMMANDER<br><span class="b2">BY J. W. DE FOREST<br>[By permission of "The New +York Times."]</span></p><p><span class="b3">T</span>HE Colonel was the idol of +his bragging old regiment and of the bragging brigade which for the last six +months he had commanded.<br><br>He was the idol, not because he was good and +gracious, not because he spared his soldiers or treated them as fellow- +citizens, but because he had led them to victory and made them famous. If a man +will win battles and give his brigade a right to brag loudly of its doings, he +may have its admiration and even its enthusiastic devotion, though he be as +pitiless and as wicked as Lucifer.<br><br>"It's nothin' to me what the Currnell +is in prrivit, so long as he shows us how to whack the rrebs," said Major +Gahogan, commandant of the "Old Tenth." "Moses saw God in the burrnin' bussh, +an' bowed down to it, an' worrshipt it. It wasn't the bussh he worrshipt; it +was his God that was in it. An' I worr-ship this villin of a Currnell (if he is +a villin) because he's almighty and gives us the vict'ry. He's nothin' but a +human burrnin' bussh, perhaps, but he's got the god of war in urn. Adjetant +Wallis, it's a ——— long time between dhrinks, as I think ye +was sayin', an' with rayson. See if ye can't confiscate a canteen of whiskee +somewhere in the camp. Bedad, if I can't buy it I'll stale it. We're goin' to +fight tomorry, an' it may be it's the last chance we'll have for a dhrink, +unless there's more lik'r now in the other worrld than Dives got."<br><br>The +brigade was bivouacked in some invisible region, amid the damp, misty darkness +of a September night. The men lay in their ranks, each with his feet to the +front and his head rearward, each covered by his overcoat and pillowed upon his +haversack, each with his loaded rifle nestled close beside him. Asleep as they +were, or dropping placidly into slumber, they were ready to start in order to +their feet and pour out the red light and harsh roar of combat. There were two +lines of battle, each of three regiments of infantry, the first some two +hundred yards in advance of the second. In the space between them lay two four- +gun batteries, one of them brass twelve-pounder "Napoleons," and the other +rifled Parrotts. To the rear of the infantry were the recumbent troopers and +picketed horses of a regiment of cavalry. All around, in the far, black +distance, invisible and inaudible, paced or watched stealthily the sentinels of +the grand guards.<br><br>There was not a fire, not a torch, nor a star-beam in +the whole bivouac to guide the feet of Adjutant Wallis in his pilgrimage after +whiskey. The orders from brigade headquarters had been strict against +illuminations, for the Confederates were near at hand in force, and a surprise +was proposed as well as feared. A tired and sleepy youngster, almost dropping +with the heavy somnolence of wearied adolescence, he stumbled on through the +trials of an undiscernible and unfamiliar footing, lifting his heavy riding- +boots sluggishly over imaginary obstacles, and fearing the while lest his toil +were labor misspent. It was a dry camp, he felt dolefully certain, or there +would have been more noise in it. He fell over a sleeping sergeant, and said to +him hastily, "Steady, man—a friend!" as the half-roused soldier clutched +his rifle. Then he found a lieutenant, and shook him in vain; further on a +captain, and exchanged saddening murmurs with him; further still a camp- +follower of African extraction, and blasphemed him.<br><br>"It's a God-forsaken +camp, and there isn't a horn in it," said Adjutant Wallis to himself as he +pursued his groping journey. "Bet you I don't find the first drop," he +continued, for he was a betting boy, and frequently argued by wagers, even with +himself. "Bet you two to one I don't. Bet you three to one—ten to +one."<br><br>Then he saw, an indefinite distance beyond him, burning like red- +hot iron through the darkness, a little scarlet or crimson gleam, as of a +lighted cigar.<br><br>"That's Old Grumps, of the Bloody Fourteenth," he +thought. "I've raided into his happy sleeping-grounds. I'll draw on +him."<br><br>But Old Grumps, otherwise Colonel Lafayette Gildersleeve, had no +rations—that is, no whiskey.<br><br>"How do you suppose an officer is to +have a drink, Lieutenant?" he grumbled. "Don't you know that our would-be +Brigadier sent all the commissary to the rear day before yesterday? A +canteenful can't last two days. Mine went empty about five minutes +ago."<br><br>"Oh, thunder!" groaned Wallis, saddened by that saddest of all +thoughts, "Too late!" "Well, least said soonest mended. I must wobble back to +my Major."<br><br>"He'll send you off to some other camp as dry as this one. +Wait ten minutes, and he'll be asleep. Lie down on my blanket and light your +pipe. I want to talk to you about, official business—about our would-be +Brigadier."<br><br>"Oh, <i>your</i> turn will come some day," mumbled Wallis, +remembering Gildersleeve's jealousy of the brigade commander—a jealousy +which only gave tongue when aroused by "commissary." "If you do as well as +usual to-morrow you can have your own brigade."<br><br>"I suppose you think we +are all going to do well to-morrow," scoffed old Grumps, whose utterance by +this time stumbled. "I suppose you expect to whip and to have a good time. I +suppose you brag on fighting and enjoy it."<br><br>"I like it well enough when +it goes right; and it generally does go right with this brigade. I should like +it better if the rebs would fire higher and break quicker."<br><br>"That +depends on the way those are commanded whose business it is to break them," +growled Old Grumps. "I don't say but what we are rightly commanded," he added, +remembering his duty to superiors. "I concede and acknowledge that our would-be +Brigadier knows his military business. But the blessing of God, Wallis! I +believe in Waldron as a soldier. But as a man and a Christian, +faugh!"<br><br>Gildersleeve had clearly emptied his canteen unassisted; he +never talked about Christianity when perfectly sober.<br><br>"What was your +last remark?" inquired Wallis, taking his pipe from his mouth to grin. Even a +superior officer might be chaffed a little in the darkness.<br><br>"I made no +last remark," asserted the Colonel with dignity. "I'm not a-dying yet. If I +said anything last it was a mere exclamation of disgust—the disgust of an +officer and gentleman. I suppose you know something about our would-be +Brigadier. I suppose you think you know something about him."<br><br>"Bet you I +know <i>all</i> about him" affirmed Wallis. "He enlisted in the Old Tenth as a +common soldier. Before he had been a week in camp they found that he knew his +biz, and they made him a sergeant. Before we started for the field the Governor +got his eye on him and shoved him into a lieutenancy. The first battle h'isted +him to a captain. And the second—bang! whiz! he shot up to colonel right +over the heads of everybody, line and field. Nobody in the Old Tenth grumbled. +They saw that he knew his biz. I know <i>all</i> about him. What'll you +bet?"<br><br>"I'm not a betting man, Lieutenant, except in a friendly game of +poker," sighed Old Grumps. "You don't know anything about your Brigadier," he +added in a sepulchral murmur, the echo of an empty canteen. "I have only been +in this brigade a month, and I know more than you do, far, very far more, sorry +to say it. He's a reformed clergyman. He's an apostatized minister." The +Colonel's voice as he said this was solemn and sad enough to do credit to an +undertaker. "It's a bad sort, Wallis," he continued, after another deep sigh, a +very highly perfumed one, the sigh of a barkeeper. "When a clergyman falls, he +falls for life and eternity, like a woman or an angel. I never knew a +backslidden shepherd to come to good. Sooner or later he always goes to the +devil, and takes down whomsoever hangs to him."<br><br>"He'll take down the Old +Tenth, then," asserted Wallis. "It hangs to him. Bet you two to one he takes it +along."<br><br>"You're right, Adjutant; spoken like a soldier," swore +Gildersleeve. "And the Bloody Fourteenth, too. It will march into the burning +pit as far as any regiment; and the whole brigade, yes, sir! But a backslidden +shepherd, my God! Have we come to that? I often say to myself, in the solemn +hours of the night, as I remember my Sabbath-school days, 'Great Scott! have we +come to that?' A reformed clergyman! An apostatized minister! Think of it, +Wallis, think of it! Why, sir, his very wife ran away from him. They had but +just buried their first boy," pursued Old Grumps, his hoarse voice sinking to a +whimper. "They drove home from the burial-place, where lay the new-made grave. +Arrived at their door, <i>he</i> got out and extended his hand to help +<i>her</i> out. Instead of accepting, instead of throwing herself into his arms +and weeping there, she turned to the coachman and said, 'Driver, drive me to my +father's house.' That was the end of their wedded life, Wallis."<br><br>The +Colonel actually wept at this point, and the maudlin tears were not altogether +insincere. His own wife and children he heartily loved, and remembered them now +with honest tenderness. At home he was not a drinker and a rough; only amid the +hardships and perils of the field.<br><br>"That was the end of it, Wallis," he +repeated. "And what was it while it lasted? What does a woman leave her husband +for? Why does she separate from him over the grave of her innocent first-born? +There are twenty reasons, but they must all of them be good ones. I am sorry to +give it as my decided opinion, Wallis, in perfect confidence, that they must +all be whopping good ones. Well, that was the beginning; only the beginning. +After that he held on for a while, breaking the bread of life to a skedaddling +flock, and then he bolted. The next known of him, three years later, he +enlisted in your regiment, a smart but seedy recruit, smelling strongly of +whiskey."<br><br>"I wish I smelt half as strong of it myself," grumbled Wallis. +"It might keep out the swamp fever."<br><br>"That's the true story of Col. John +James Waldron," continued Old Grumps, with a groan which was very somnolent, as +if it were a twin to a snore. "That's the true story."<br><br>"I don't believe +the first word of it—that is to say, Colonel, I think you have been +misinformed—and I'll bet you two to one on it. If he was nothing more +than a minister, how did he know drill and tactics?"<br><br>"Oh, I forgot to +say he went through West Point—that is, nearly through. They graduated +him in his third year by the back door, Wallis."<br><br>"Oh, that was it, was +it? He was a West Pointer, was he? Well, then, the backsliding was natural, and +oughtn't to count against him. A member of Benny Havens's church has a right to +backslide anywhere, especially as the Colonel doesn't seem to be any worse than +some of the rest of us, who haven't fallen from grace the least particle, but +took our stand at the start just where we are now. A fellow that begins with a +handful of trumps has a right to play a risky game."<br><br>"I know what +euchered him, Wallis. It was the old Little Joker; and there's another of the +same on hand now."<br><br>"On hand where? What are you driving at, +Colonel?"<br><br>"He looks like a boy. I mean she looks like a boy. You know +what I mean, Wallis; I mean the boy that makes believe to wait on him. And her +brother is in camp, got here to-night. There'll be an explanation to-morrow, +and there'll be bloodshed."<br><br>"Good-night, Colonel, and sleep it off," +said Wallis, rising from the side of a man whom he believed to be sillily drunk +and altogether untrustworthy. "You know we get after the rebs at +dawn."<br><br>"I know it—goo-night, Adjutant—gawblessyou," mumbled +Old Crumps. "We'll lick those rebs, won't we?" he chuckled. "Goo-night, ole +fellow, an' gawblessyou."<br><br>Whereupon Old Grumps fell asleep, very +absurdly overcome by liquor, we extremely regret to concede, but nobly sure to +do his soldierly duty as soon as he should awake.<br><br>Stumbling wearily +blanketward, Wallis found his Major and regimental commander, the genial and +gallant Gahogan, slumbering in a peace like that of the just. He stretched +himself anear, put out his hand to touch his sabre and revolver, drew his caped +greatcoat over him, moved once to free his back of a root or pebble, glanced +languidly at a single struggling star, thought for an instant of his far-away +mother, turned his head with a sigh and slept. In the morning he was to fight, +and perhaps to die; but the boyish veteran was too seasoned, and also too +tired, to mind that; he could mind but one thing—nature's pleading for +rest.<br><br>In the iron-gray dawn, while the troops were falling dimly and +spectrally into line, and he was mounting his horse to be ready for orders, he +remembered Gildersleeve's drunken tale concerning the commandant, and laughed +aloud. But turning his face toward brigade headquarters (a sylvan region marked +out by the branches of a great oak), he was surprised to see a strange officer, +a fair young man in captain's uniform, riding slowly toward it.<br><br>"Is that +the boy's brother?" he said to himself; and in the next instant he had +forgotten the whole subject; it was time to form and present the +regiment.<br><br>Quietly and without tap of drum the small, battle-worn +battalions filed out of their bivouacs into the highway, ordered arms and +waited for the word to march. With a dull rumble the field-pieces trundled +slowly after, and halted in rear of the infantry. The cavalry trotted off +circuitously through the fields, emerged upon a road in advance and likewise +halted, all but a single company, which pushed on for half a mile, spreading +out as it went into a thin line of skirmishers.<br><br>Meanwhile a strange +interview took place near the great oak which had sheltered brigade +headquarters. As the unknown officer, whom Wallis had noted, approached it, +Col. Waldron was standing by his horse ready to mount. The commandant was a man +of medium size, fairly handsome in person and features, and apparently about +twenty-eight years of age. Perhaps it was the singular breadth of his forehead +which made the lower part of his face look so unusually slight and feminine. +His eyes were dark hazel, as clear, brilliant, and tender as a girl's, and +brimming full of a pensiveness which seemed both loving and melancholy. Few +persons, at all events few women, who looked upon him ever looked beyond his +eyes. They were very fascinating, and in a man's countenance very strange. They +were the kind of eyes which reveal passionate romances, and which make +them.<br><br>By his side stood a boy, a singularly interesting and beautiful +boy, fair-haired and blue-eyed, and delicate in color. When this boy saw the +stranger approach he turned as pale as marble, slid away from the brigade +commander's side, and disappeared behind a group of staff officers and +orderlies. The new-comer also became deathly white as he glanced after the +retreating youth. Then he dismounted, touched his cap slightly and, as if +mechanically, advanced a few steps, and said hoarsely, "I believe this is +Colonel Waldron. I am Captain Fitz Hugh, of the —th +Delaware."<br><br>Waldron put his hand to his revolver, withdrew it +instantaneously, and stood motionless.<br><br>"I am on leave of absence from my +regiment, Colonel," continued Fitz Hugh, speaking now with an elaborate +ceremoniousness of utterance significant of a struggle to suppress violent +emotion. "I suppose you can understand why I made use of it in seeking +you."<br><br>Waldron hesitated; he stood gazing at the earth with the air of +one who represses deep pain; at last, after a profound sigh, he raised his eyes +and answered:<br><br>"Captain, we are on the eve of a battle. I must attend to +my public duties first. After the battle we will settle our private +affair."<br><br>"There is but one way to settle it, Colonel."<br><br>"You shall +have your way if you will. You shall do what you will. I only ask what good +will it do to <i>her</i>?"<br><br>"It will do good to <i>me</i>, Colonel," +whispered Fitz Hugh, suddenly turning crimson. "You forget +<i>me</i>."<br><br>Waldron's face also flushed, and an angry sparkle shot from +under his lashes in reply to this utterance of hate, but it died out in an +instant.<br><br>"I have done a wrong, and I will accept the consequences," he +said. "I pledge you my word that I will be at your disposal if I survive the +battle. Where do you propose to remain meanwhile?"<br><br>"I will take the same +chance, sir. I propose to do my share in the fighting if you will use +me."<br><br>"I am short of staff officers. Will you act as my aid?"<br><br>"I +will, Colonel," bowed Fitz Hugh, with a glance which expressed surprise, and +perhaps admiration, at this confidence.<br><br>Waldron turned, beckoned his +staff officers to approach, and said, "Gentlemen, this is Captain Fitz Hugh of +the —th Delaware. He has volunteered to join us for the day, and will act +as my aid. And now, Captain, will you ride to the head of the column and order +it forward? There will be no drum-beat and no noise. When you have given your +order and seen it executed, you will wait for me."<br><br>Fitz Hugh saluted, +sprang into his saddle and galloped away. A few minutes later the whole column +was plodding on silently toward its bloody goal. To a civilian, unaccustomed to +scenes of war, the tranquillity of these men would have seemed very wonderful. +Many of the soldiers were still munching the hard bread and raw pork of their +meagre breakfasts, or drinking the cold coffee with which they had filled their +canteens the day previous. Many more were chatting in an undertone, grumbling +over their sore feet and other discomfits, chaffing each other, and laughing. +The general bearing, however, was grave, patient, quietly enduring, and one +might almost say stolid. You would have said, to judge by their expressions, +that these sunburned fellows were merely doing hard work, and thoroughly +commonplace work, without a prospect of adventure, and much less of danger. The +explanation of this calmness, so brutal perhaps to the eye of a sensitive soul, +lies mainly in the fact that they were all veterans, the survivors of marches, +privations, maladies, sieges, and battles. Not a regiment present numbered four +hundred men, and the average was not above three hundred. The whole force, +including artillery and cavalry, might have been about twenty-five hundred +sabres and bayonets.<br><br>At the beginning of the march Waldron fell into the +rear of his staff and mounted orderlies. Then the boy who had fled from Fitz +Hugh dropped out of the tramping escort, and rode up to his side.<br><br>"Well, +Charlie," said Waldron, casting a pitying glance at the yet pallid face and +anxious eyes of the youth, "you have had a sad fright. I make you very +miserable."<br><br>"He has found us at last," murmured Charlie in a tremulous +soprano voice. "What did he say?"<br><br>"We are to talk to-morrow. He acts as +my aide-de-camp to-day. I ought to tell you frankly that he is not +friendly."<br><br>"Of course, I knew it," sighed Charlie, while the tears +fell.<br><br>"It is only one more trouble—one more danger, and perhaps it +may pass. So many <i>have</i> passed."<br><br>"Did you tell him anything to +quiet him? Did you tell him that we were married?"<br><br>"But we are not +married yet, Charlie. We shall be, I hope."<br><br>"But you ought to have told +him that we were. It might stop him from doing something—mad. Why didn't +you tell him so? Why didn't you think of it?"<br><br>"My dear little child, we +are about to have a battle. I should like to carry some honor and truth into +it."<br><br>"Where is he?" continued Charlie, unconvinced and unappeased. "I +want to see him. Is he at the head of the column? I want to speak to him, just +one word. He won't hurt me."<br><br>She suddenly spurred her horse, wheeled +into the fields, and dashed onward. Fitz Hugh was lounging in his saddle, and +sombrely surveying the passing column, when she galloped up to +him.<br><br>"Carrol!" she said, in a choked voice, reining in by his side, and +leaning forward to touch his sleeve.<br><br>He threw one glance at her—a +glance of aversion, if not of downright hatred, and turned his back in +silence.<br><br>"He is my husband, Carrol," she went on rapidly. "I knew you +didn't understand it. I ought to have written you about it. I thought I would +come and tell you before you did anything absurd. We were married as soon as he +heard that his wife was dead."<br><br>"What is the use of this?" he muttered +hoarsely. "She is not dead. I heard from her a week ago. She was living a week +ago."<br><br>"Oh, Carrol!" stammered Charlie. "It was some mistake then. Is it +possible! And he was so sure! But he can get a divorce, you know. She abandoned +him. Or <i>she</i> can get one. No, <i>he</i> can get it—of course, when +she abandoned him. But, Carrol, she must be dead—he was so +sure."<br><br>"She is not dead, I tell you. And there can be no divorce. +Insanity bars all claim to a divorce. She is in an asylum. She had to leave +him, and then she went mad."<br><br>"Oh, no, Carrol, it is all a mistake; it is +not so. Carrol," she murmured in a voice so faint that he could not help +glancing at her, half in fury and half in pity. She was slowly falling from her +horse. He sprang from his saddle, caught her in his arms, and laid her on the +turf, wishing the while that it covered her grave. Just then one of Waldron's +orderlies rode up and exclaimed: "What is the matter with the—the boy? +Hullo, Charlie."<br><br>Fitz Hugh stared at the man in silence, tempted to tear +him from his horse. "The boy is ill," he answered when he recovered his self- +command. "Take charge of him yourself." He remounted, rode onward out of sight +beyond a thicket, and there waited for the brigade commander, now and then +fingering his revolver. As Charlie was being placed in an ambulance by the +orderly and a sergeant's wife, Waldron came up, reined in his horse violently, +and asked in a furious voice, "Is that boy hurt?<br><br>"Ah—fainted," he +added immediately. "Thank you, Mrs. Gunner. Take good care of him—the +best of care, my dear woman, and don't let him leave you all +day."<br><br>Further on, when Fitz Hugh silently fell into his escort, he +merely glanced at him in a furtive way, and then cantered on rapidly to the +head of the cavalry. There he beckoned to the tall, grave, iron-gray Chaplain +of the Tenth, and rode with him for nearly an hour, apart, engaged in low and +seemingly impassioned discourse. From this interview Mr. Colquhoun returned to +the escort with a strangely solemnized, tender countenance, while the +commandant, with a more cheerful air than he had yet worn that day, gave +himself to his martial duties, inspecting the landscape incessantly with his +glass, and sending frequently for news to the advance scouts. It may properly +be stated here that the Chaplain never divulged to any one the nature of the +conversation which he had held with his Colonel.<br><br>Nothing further of note +occurred until the little army, after two hours of plodding march, wound +through a sinuous, wooded ravine, entered a broad, bare, slightly undulating +valley, and for the second time halted. Waldron galloped to the summit of a +knoll, pointed to a long eminence which faced him some two miles distant, and +said tranquilly, "There is our battle-ground."<br><br>"Is that the enemy's +position?" returned Captain Ives, his adjutant-general. "We shall have a tough +job if we go at it from here."<br><br>Waldron remained in deep thought for some +minutes, meanwhile scanning the ridge and all its surroundings.<br><br>"What I +want to know," he observed, at last, "is whether they have occupied the wooded +knolls in front of their right and around their right flank."<br><br>Shortly +afterward the commander of the scouting squadron came riding back at a furious +pace.<br><br>"They are on the hill. Colonel," he shouted.<br><br>"Yes, of +course," nodded Waldron; "but have they occupied the woods which veil their +right front and flank?"<br><br>"Not a bit of it; my fellows have cantered all +through, and up to the base of the hill."<br><br>"Ah!" exclaimed the brigade +commander, with a rush of elation. "Then it will be easy work. Go back, +Captain, and scatter your men through the wood, and hold it, if possible. +Adjutant, call up the regimental commanders at once. I want them to understand +my plan fully."<br><br>In a few minutes, Gahogan, of the Tenth; Gilder-sleeve, +of the Fourteenth; Peck, of the First; Thomas, of the Seventh; Taylor, of the +Eighth, and Colburn, of the Fifth, were gathered around their commander. There, +too, was Bradley, the boyish, red-cheeked chief of the artillery; and Stilton, +the rough, old, bearded regular, who headed the cavalry. The staff was at hand, +also, including Fitz Hugh, who sat his horse a little apart, downcast and +sombre and silent, but nevertheless keenly interested. It is worthy of remark, +by the way, that Waldron took no special note of him, and did not seem +conscious of any disturbing presence. Evil as the man may have been, he was a +thoroughly good soldier, and just now he thought but of his +duties.<br><br>"Gentlemen," he said, "I want you to see your field of battle. +The enemy occupy that long ridge. How shall we reach it?"<br><br>"I think, if +we go at it straight from here, we shan't miss it," promptly judged Old Crumps, +his red-oak countenance admirably cheerful and hopeful, and his jealousy all +dissolved in the interest of approaching combat.<br><br>"Nor they won't miss us +nuther," laughed Major Gahogan. "Betther slide our infantree into thim wuds, +push up our skirmishers, play wid our guns for an hour, an' thin rowl in a +couple o' col'ms."<br><br>There was a general murmur of approval. The limits of +volunteer invention in tactics had been reached by Gahogan. The other +regimental commanders looked upon him as their superior in the art of +war.<br><br>"That would be well, Major, if we could do nothing better," said +Waldron. "But I do not feel obliged to attack the front seriously at all. The +rebels have been thoughtless enough to leave that long semicircle of wooded +knolls unoccupied, even by scouts. It stretches from the front of their centre +clear around their right flank. I shall use it as a veil to cover us while we +get into position. I shall throw out a regiment, a battery, and five companies +of cavalry, to make a feint against their centre and left. With the remainder +of the brigade I shall skirt the woods, double around the right of the +position, and close in upon it front and rear."<br><br>"Loike scissors blades +upon a snip o' paper," shouted Gahogan, in delight. Then he turned to Fitz +Hugh, who happened to be nearest him, and added, "I tell ye he's got the God o' +War in um. He's the burrnin' bussh of humanity, wid a God o' Battles inside +on't."<br><br>"But how if they come down on our thin right wing?" asked a +cautious officer, Taylor, of the Eighth. They might smash it and seize our line +of retreat."<br><br>"Men who have taken up a strong position, a position +obviously chosen for defence, rarely quit it promptly for an attack," replied +Waldron. "There is not one chance in ten that these gentlemen will make a +considerable forward movement early in the fight. Only the greatest geniuses +jump from the defensive to the offensive. Besides, we must hold the wood. So +long as we hold the wood in front of their centre we save the +road."<br><br>Then came personal and detailed instructions. Each regimental +commander was told whither he should march, the point where he should halt to +form line, and the direction by which he should attack. The mass of the command +was to advance in marching column toward a knoll where the highway entered and +traversed the wood. Some time before reaching it Taylor was to deploy the +Eighth to the right, throw out a strong skirmish line and open fire on the +enemy's centre and left, supported by the battery of Parrotts, and, if pushed, +by five companies of cavalry. The remaining troops would reach the knoll, file +to the left under cover of the forest, skirt it for a mile as rapidly as +possible, infold the right of the Confederate position, and then move upon it +concentrically. Counting from the left, the Tenth, the Seventh, and the +Fourteenth were to constitute the first line of battle, while five companies of +cavalry, then the First, and then the Fifth formed the second line. Not until +Gahogan might have time to wind into the enemy's right rear should Gildersleeve +move out of the wood and commence the real attack.<br><br>"You will go straight +at the front of their right," said Waldron, with a gay smile, to this latter +Colonel. "Send up two companies as skirmishers. The moment they are clearly +checked, lead up the other eight in line. It will be rough work. But keep +pushing. You won't have fifteen minutes of it before Thomas, on your left, will +be climbing the end of the ridge to take the rebels in flank. In fifteen +minutes more Gahogan will be running in on their backs. Of course, they will +try to change front and meet us. But they have extended their line a long way +in order to cover the whole ridge. They will not be quick enough. We shall get +hold of their right, and we shall roll them up. Then, Colonel Stilton, I shall +expect to see the troopers jumping into the gaps and making +prisoners."<br><br>"All right, Colonel," answered Stilton in that hoarse growl +which is apt to mark the old cavalry officer. "Where shall we find you if we +want a fresh order?" "I shall be with Colburn, in rear of Gildersleeve. That is +our centre. But never mind me; you know what the battle is to be, and you know +how to fight it. The whole point with the infantry is to fold around the +enemy's right, go in upon it concentrically, smash it, and roll up their line. +The cavalry will watch against the infantry being flanked, and when the latter +have seized the hill, will charge for prisoners. The artillery will reply to +the enemy's guns with shell, and fire grape at any offensive demonstration. You +all know your duties, now, gentlemen. Go to your commands, and +march!"<br><br>The colonels saluted and started off at a gallop. In a few +minutes twenty-five hundred men were in simultaneous movement. Five companies +of cavalry wheeled into column of companies, and advanced at a trot through the +fields, seeking to gain the shelter of the forest. The six infantry regiments +slid up alongside of each other, and pushed on in six parallel columns of +march, two on the right of the road and four on the left. The artillery, which +alone left the highway, followed at a distance of two or three hundred yards. +The remaining cavalry made a wide detour to the right as if to flank the +enemy's left.<br><br>It was a mile and a quarter—it was a march of fully +twenty minutes—to the edge of the woodland, the proposed cover of the +column. Ten minutes before this point was reached a tiny puff of smoke showed +on the brow of the hostile ridge; then, at an interval of several seconds, +followed the sound of a distant explosion; then, almost immediately, came the +screech of a rifled shell. Every man who heard it swiftly asked himself, "Will +it strike me?" But even as the words were thought out it had passed, high in +air, clean to the rear, and burst harmlessly. A few faces turned upward and a +few eyes glanced backward, as if to see the invisible enemy. But there was no +pause in the column; it flowed onward quietly, eagerly, and with business-like +precision; it gave forth no sound but the trampling of feet and the muttering +of the officers, "Steady, men! Forward, men!"<br><br>The Confederates, however, +had got their range. A half minute later four puffs of smoke dotted the ridge, +and a flight of hoarse humming shrieks tore the air. A little aureole cracked +and splintered over the First, followed by loud cries of anguish and a brief, +slight confusion. The voice of an officer rose sharply out of the flurry, +"Close up, Company A! Forward, men!" The battalion column resumed its even +formation in an instant, and tramped unitedly onward, leaving behind it two +quivering corpses and a wounded man who tottered rearward.<br><br>Then came +more screeches, and a shell exploded over the highroad, knocking a gunner +lifeless from his carriage. The brigade commander glanced anxiously along his +batteries, and addressed a few words to his chief of artillery. Presently the +four Napoleons set forward at a gallop for the wood, while the four Parrotts +wheeled to the right, deployed, and advanced across the fields, inclining +toward the left of the enemy. Next, Taylor's regiment (the Eighth) halted, +fronted, faced to the right, and filed off in column of march at a double-quick +until it had gained the rear of the Parrotts, when it fronted again, and pushed +on in support. A quarter of a mile further on these guns went into battery +behind the brow of a little knoll, and opened fire. Four companies of the +Eighth spread out to the right as skirmishers, and commenced stealing toward +the ridge, from time to time measuring the distance with rifle-balls. The +remainder of the regiment lay down in line between the Parrotts and the forest. +Far away to the right, five companies of cavalry showed themselves, manoeuvring +as if they proposed to turn the left flank of the Southerners. The attack on +this side was in form and in operation.<br><br>Meantime the Confederate fire +had divided. Two guns pounded away at Taylor's feint, while two shelled the +main column. The latter was struck repeatedly; more than twenty men dropped +silent or groaning out of the hurrying files; but the survivors pushed on +without faltering and without even caring for the wounded. At last a broad belt +of green branches rose between the regiments and the ridge; and the rebel +gunners, unable to see their foe, dropped suddenly into silence.<br><br>Here it +appeared that the road divided. The highway traversed the forest, mounted the +slope beyond and dissected the enemy's position, while a branch road turned to +the left and skirted the exterior of the long curve of wooded hillocks. At the +fork the battery of Napoleons had halted, and there it was ordered to remain +for the present in quiet. There, too, the Fourteenth filed in among the dense +greenery, threw out two companies of skirmishers toward the ridge, and pushed +slowly after them into the shadows.<br><br>"Get sight of the enemy at once!" +was Waldron's last word to Gildersleeve. "If they move down the slope, drive +them back. But don't commence your attack under half an hour."<br><br>Next he +filed the Fifth into the thickets, saying to Colburn, "I want you to halt a +hundred yards to the left and rear of Gildersleeve. Cover his flank if he is +attacked; but otherwise lie quiet. As soon as he charges, move forward to the +edge of the wood, and be ready to support him. But make no assault yourself +until further orders."<br><br>The next two regiments—the Seventh and +First—he placed in <i>échelon</i>, in like manner, a quarter of a mile +further along. Then he galloped forward to the cavalry, and a last word with +Stilton. "You and Gahogan must take care of yourselves. Push on four or five +hundred yards, and then face to the right. Whatever Gahogan finds let him go at +it. If he can't shake it, help him. You two <i>must</i> reach the top of the +ridge. Only, look out for your left flank. Keep a squadron or two in reserve on +that side."<br><br>"Currnel, if we don't raich the top of the hill, it'll be +because it hasn't got wan," answered Gahogan. Stilton only laughed and rode +forward.<br><br>Waldron now returned toward the fork of the road. On the way he +sent a staff officer to the Seventh with renewed orders to attack as soon as +possible after Gildersleeve. Then another staff officer was hurried forward to +Taylor with directions to push his feint strongly, and drive his skirmishers as +far up the slope as they could get. A third staff officer set the Parrotts in +rear of Taylor to firing with all their might. By the time that the commandant +had returned to Colburn's ambushed ranks, no one was with him but his enemy, +Fitz Hugh.<br><br>"You don't seem to trust me With duty, Colonel," said the +young man.<br><br>"I shall use you only in case of extremity, Captain," replied +Waldron. "We have business to settle tomorrow."<br><br>"I ask no favors on that +account. I hope you will offer me none."<br><br>"In case of need I shall spare +no one," declared Waldron.<br><br>Then he took out his watch, looked at it +impatiently, put it to his ear, restored it to his pocket, and fell into an +attitude of deep attention. Evidently his whole mind was on his battle, and he +was waiting, watching, yearning for its outburst.<br><br>"If he wins this +fight," thought Fitz Hugh, "how can I do him a harm? And yet," he added, "how +can I help it?"<br><br>Minutes passed. Fitz Hugh tried to think of his injury, +and to steel himself against his chief. But the roar of battle on the right, +and the suspense and imminence of battle on the left, absorbed the attention of +even this wounded and angry spirit, as, indeed, they might have absorbed that +of any being not more or less than human. A private wrong, insupportable though +it might be, seemed so small amid that deadly clamor and awful expectation! +Moreover, the intellect which worked so calmly and vigorously by his side, and +which alone of all things near appeared able to rule the coming crisis, began +to dominate him, in spite of his sense of injury. A thought crossed him to the +effect that the great among men are too valuable to be punished for their evil +deeds. He turned to the absorbed brigade commander, now not only his ruler, but +even his protector, with a feeling that he must accord him a word of peace, a +proffer in some form of possible forgiveness and friendship. But the man's face +was clouded and stern with responsibility and authority. He seemed at that +moment too lofty to be approached with a message of pardon. Fitz Hugh gazed at +him with a mixture of profound respect and smothered hate. He gazed, turned +away, and remained silent.<br><br>Minutes more passed. Then a mounted orderly +dashed up at full speed, with the words, "Colonel, Major Gahogan has +fronted."<br><br>"Has he?" answered Waldron, with a smile which thanked the +trooper and made him happy. "Ride on through the thicket here, my man, and tell +Colonel Gildersleeve to push up his skirmishers."<br><br>With a thud of hoofs +and a rustling of parting foliage the cavalryman disappeared amid the +underwood. A minute or two later a thin, dropping rattle of musketry, five +hundred yards or so to the front, announced that the sharpshooters of the +Fourteenth were at work. Almost immediately there was an angry response, full +of the threatenings and execution of death. Through the lofty leafage tore the +screech of a shell, bursting with a sharp crash as it passed overhead, and +scattering in humming slivers. Then came another, and another, and many more, +chasing each other with hoarse hissings through the trembling air, a succession +of flying serpents. The enemy doubtless believed that nearly the whole +attacking force was massed in the wood around the road, and they had brought at +least four guns to bear upon that point, and were working them with the utmost +possible rapidity. Presently a large chestnut, not fifty yards from Fitz Hugh +was struck by a shot. The solid trunk, nearly three feet in diameter, parted +asunder as if it were the brittlest of vegetable matter. The upper portion +started aside with a monstrous groan, dropped in a standing posture to the +earth, and then toppled slowly, sublimely prostrate, its branches crashing and +all its leaves wailing. Ere long, a little further to the front, another Anak +of the forest went down; and, mingled with the noise of its sylvan agony, there +arose sharp cries of human suffering. Then Colonel Colburn, a broad-chested and +ruddy man of thirty-five, with a look of indignant anxiety in his iron-gray +eyes, rode up to the brigade commander.<br><br>"This is very annoying, +Colonel," he said. "I am losing my men without using them. That last tree fell +into my command."<br><br>"Are they firing toward our left?" asked Waldron. "Not +a shot."<br><br>"Very good," said the chief, with a sigh of contentment. "If we +can only keep them occupied in this direction! By the way, let your men lie +down under the fallen tree, as far as it will go. It will protect them from +others."<br><br>Colburn rode back to his regiment. Waldron looked impatiently +at his watch. At that moment a fierce burst of line firing arose in front, +followed and almost overborne by a long-drawn yell, the scream of charging men. +Waldron put up his watch, glanced excitedly at Fitz Hugh, and smiled.<br><br>"I +must forgive or forget," the latter could not help saying to himself. "All the +rest of life is nothing compared with this."<br><br>"Captain," said Waldron, +"ride off to the left at full speed. As soon as you hear firing at the shoulder +of the ridge, return instantly and let me know."<br><br>Fitz Hugh dashed away. +Three minutes carried him into perfect peace, beyond the whistling of ball or +the screeching of shell. On the right was a tranquil, wide waving of foliage, +and on the left a serene landscape of cultivated fields, with here and there an +embowered farm-house. Only for the clamor of artillery and musketry far behind +him, he could not have believed in the near presence of battle, of blood and +suffering and triumphant death. But suddenly he heard to his right, assaulting +and slaughtering the tranquillity of nature, a tumultuous outbreak of file +firing, mingled with savage yells. He wheeled, drove spurs into his horse, and +flew back to Waldron. As he re-entered the wood he met wounded men streaming +through it, a few marching alertly upright, many more crouching and groaning, +some clinging to their less injured comrades, but all haggard in face and +ghastly.<br><br>"Are we winning?" he hastily asked of one man who held up a +hand with three fingers gone and the bones projecting in sharp spikes through +mangled flesh.<br><br>"All right, sir; sailing in," was the answer.<br><br>"Is +the brigade commander all right?" he inquired of another who was winding a +bloody handkerchief around his arm.<br><br>"Straight ahead, sir; hurrah for +Waldron!" responded the soldier, and almost in the same instant fell lifeless +with a fresh ball through his head.<br><br>"Hurrah for him!" Fitz Hugh answered +frantically, plunging on through the underwood. He found Waldron with Colburn, +the two conversing tranquilly in their saddles amid hissing bullets and +dropping branches.<br><br>"Move your regiment forward now," the brigade +commander was saying; "but halt it in the edge of the wood."<br><br>"Shan't I +relieve Gildersleeve if he gets beaten?" asked the subordinate officer +eagerly.<br><br>"No. The regiments on the left will help him out. I want your +men and Peck's for the fight on top of the hill. Of course the rebels will try +to retake it; then I shall call for you."<br><br>Fitz Hugh now approached and +said, "Colonel, the Seventh has attacked in force."<br><br>"Good!" answered +Waldron, with that sweet smile of his which thanked people who brought him +pleasant news. "I thought I heard his fire. Gahogan will be on their right rear +in ten minutes. Then we shall get the ridge. Ride back now to Major Bradley, +and tell him to bring his Napoleons through the wood, and set two of them to +shelling the enemy's centre. Tell him my idea is to amuse them, and keep them +from changing front."<br><br>Again Fitz Hugh galloped off as before on a +comfortably safe errand, safer at all events than many errands of that day. +"This man is sparing my life," he said to himself. "Would to God I knew how to +spare his!"<br><br>He found Bradley lunching on a gun caisson, and delivered +his orders. "Something to do at last, eh?" laughed the rosy-cheeked youngster. +"The smallest favors thankfully received. Won't you take a bite of rebel +chicken, Captain? This rebellion must be put down. No? Well, tell the Colonel I +am moving on, and John Brown's soul not far ahead."<br><br>When Fitz Hugh +returned to Waldron he found him outside of the wood, at the base of the long +incline which rose into the rebel position. About the slope were scattered +prostrate forms, most numerous near the bottom, some crawling slowly rearward, +some quiescent. Under the brow of the ridge, decimated and broken into a mere +skirmish line sheltered in knots and singly, behind rocks and knolls and +bushes, lay the Fourteenth Regiment, keeping up a steady, slow fire. From the +edge above, smokily dim against a pure, blue heaven, answered another rattle of +musketry, incessant, obstinate, and spiteful. The combatants on both sides were +lying down; otherwise neither party could have lasted ten minutes. From Fitz +Hugh's point of view not a Confederate uniform could be seen. But the smoke of +their rifles made a long gray line, which was disagreeably visible and +permanent; and the sharp <i>whit! whit!</i> of their bullets continually passed +him, and cheeped away in the leafage behind.<br><br>"Our men can't get on +another inch," he ventured say to his commander. "Wouldn't it be well for me to +ride up and say a cheering word?"<br><br>"Every battle consists largely in +waiting," replied Waldron thoughtfully. "They have undoubtedly brought up a +reserve to face Thomas. But when Gahogan strikes the flank of the reserve, we +shall win."<br><br>"I wish you would take shelter," begged Fitz Hugh. +"Everything depends on your life."<br><br>"My life has been both a help and a +hurt to my fellow-creatures," sighed the brigade commander. "Let come what will +to it."<br><br>He glanced upward with an expression of profound emotion; he was +evidently fighting two battles, an outward and an inward one.<br><br>Presently +he added, "I think the musketry is increasing on the left. Does it strike you +so?"<br><br>He was all eagerness again, leaning forward with an air of earnest +listening, his face deeply flushed and his eye brilliant. Of a sudden the +combat above rose and swelled into higher violence. There was a clamor far +away—it seemed nearly a mile away—over the hill. Then the nearer +musketry—first Thomas's on the shoulder of the ridge, next Gildersleeve's +in front—caught fire and raged with new fury.<br><br>Waldron laughed +outright. "Gahogan has reached them," he said to one of his staff who had just +rejoined him. "We shall all be up there in five minutes. Tell Colburn to bring +on his regiment slowly."<br><br>Then, turning to Fitz Hugh, he added, "Captain, +we will ride forward."<br><br>They set off at a walk, now watching the smoking +brow of the eminence, now picking their way among dead and wounded. Suddenly +there was a shout above them and a sudden diminution of the firing; and looking +upward they saw the men of the Fourteenth running confusedly toward the summit. +Without a word the brigade commander struck spurs into his horse and dashed up +the long slope at a run, closely followed by his enemy and aid. What they saw +when they overtook the straggling, running, panting, screaming pell-mell of the +Fourteenth was victory!<br><br>The entire right wing of the Confederates, +attacked on three sides at once, placed at enormous disadvantage, completely +outgeneraled, had given way in confusion, was retreating, breaking, and flying. +There were lines yet of dirty gray or butternut; but they were few, meagre, +fluctuating, and recoiling, and there were scattered and scurrying men in +hundreds. Three veteran and gallant regiments had gone all to wreck under the +shock of three similar regiments far more intelligently directed. A strong +position had been lost because the heroes who held it could not perform the +impossible feat of forming successively two fresh fronts under a concentric +fire of musketry. The inferior brain power had confessed the superiority of the +stronger one.<br><br>On the victorious side there was wild, clamorous, fierce +exultation. The hurrying, shouting, firing soldiers, who noted their commander +riding among them, swung their rifles or their tattered hats at him, and +screamed "Hurrah!" No one thought of the Confederate dead underfoot, nor of the +Union dead who dotted the slope behind. "What are you here for, Colonel?" +shouted rough old Gildersleeve, one leg of his trousers dripping blood. "We can +do it alone."<br><br>"It is a battle won," laughed Fitz Hugh, almost worshiping +the man whom he had come to slay.<br><br>"It is a battle won, but not used," +answered Waldron. "We haven't a gun yet, nor a flag. Where is the cavalry? Why +isn't Stilton here? He must have got afoul of the enemy's horse, and been +obliged to beat it off. Can anybody hear anything of Stilton?"<br><br>"Let him +go," roared Old Crumps. "The infantry don't want any help."<br><br>"Your +regiment has suffered, Colonel," answered Waldron, glancing at the scattered +files of the Fourteenth. "Halt it and reorganize it, and let it fall in with +the right of the First when Peck comes up. I shall replace you with the Fifth. +Send your Adjutant back to Colburn and tell him to hurry along. Those fellows +are making a new front over there," he added, pointing to the centre of the +hill. "I want the Fifth, Seventh and Tenth in <i>échelon</i> as quickly as +possible. And I want that cavalry. Lieutenant," turning to one of his staff, +"ride off to the left and find Colonel Stilton. Tell him that I need a charge +in ten minutes."<br><br>Presently cannon opened from that part of the ridge +still held by the Confederates, the shell tearing through or over the +dissolving groups of their right wing, and cracking viciously above the heads +of the victorious Unionists. The explosions followed each other with stunning +rapidity, and the shrill whirring of the splinters was ominous. Men began to +fall again in the ranks or to drop out of them wounded. Of all this Waldron +took no further note than to ride hastily to the brow of the ridge and look for +his own artillery.<br><br>"See how he attinds to iverything himself," said +Major Gahogan, who had cantered up to the side of Fitz Hugh. "It's just a +matther of plain business, an' he looks after it loike a business man. Did ye +see us, though, Captin, whin we come in on their right flank? By George, we +murthered um. There's more'n a hundred lyin' in hapes back there. As for old +Stilton, I just caught sight of um behind that wood to our left, an' he's +makin' for the enemy's right rair. He'll have lots o' prisoners in half an +hour."<br><br>When Waldron returned to the group he was told of his cavalry's +whereabouts, and responded to the information with a smile of +satisfaction.<br><br>"Bradley is hurrying up," he said, "and Taylor is pushing +their left smartly. They will make one more tussle to recover their line of +retreat; but we shall smash them from end to end and take every gun."<br><br>He +galloped now to his infantry, and gave the word "Forward!" The three regiments +which composed the <i>échelon</i> were the Fifth on the right, the Seventh +fifty yards to the rear and left of the Fifth, the Tenth to the rear and left +of the Seventh. It was behind the Fifth, that is the foremost battalion, that +the brigade commander posted himself.<br><br>"Do <i>you</i> mean to stay here, +Colonel?" asked Fitz Hugh, in surprise and anxiety.<br><br>"It is a certain +victory now," answered Waldron, with a singular glance upward. "My life is no +longer important. I prefer to do my duty to the utmost in the sight of all +men."<br><br>"I shall follow you and do mine, sir," said the Captain, much +moved, he could scarcely say by what emotions, they were so many and +conflicting.<br><br>"I want you otherwheres. Ride to Colonel Taylor at once, +and hurry him up the hill. Tell him the enemy have greatly weakened their left. +Tell him to push up everything, infantry, and cavalry, and artillery, and to do +it in haste."<br><br>"Colonel, this is saving my life against my will," +remonstrated Fitz Hugh.<br><br>"Go!" ordered Waldron, imperiously. "Time is +precious."<br><br>Fitz Hugh dashed down the slope to the right at a gallop. The +brigade commander turned tranquilly, and followed the march of his +<i>échelon</i>. The second and decisive crisis of the little battle was +approaching, and to understand it we must glance at the ground on which it was +to be fought. Two hostile lines were marching toward each other along the +broad, gently rounded crest of the hill and at right angles to its general +course. Between these lines, but much the nearest to the Union troops, a +spacious road came up out of the forest in front, crossed the ridge, swept down +the smooth decline in rear, and led to a single wooden bridge over a narrow but +deep rivulet. On either hand the road was hedged in by a close board fence, +four feet or so in height. It was for the possession of this highway that the +approaching lines were about to shed their blood. If the Confederates failed to +win it all their artillery would be lost, and their army captured or +dispersed.<br><br>The two parties came on without firing. The soldiers on both +sides were veterans, cool, obedient to orders, intelligent through long +service, and able to reserve all their resources for a short-range and final +struggle. Moreover, the fences as yet partially hid them from each other, and +would have rendered all aim for the present vague and +uncertain.<br><br>"Forward, Fifth!" shouted Waldron. "Steady. Reserve your +fire." Then, as the regiment came up to the fence, he added, "Halt; right +dress. Steady, men."<br><br>Meantime he watched the advancing array with an +eager gaze. It was a noble sight, full of moral sublimity, and worthy of all +admiration. The long, lean, sunburned, weather-beaten soldiers in ragged gray +stepped forward, superbly, their ranks loose, but swift and firm, the men +leaning forward in their haste, their tattered slouch hats pushed backward, +their whole aspect business-like and virile. Their line was three battalions +strong, far outflanking the Fifth, and at least equal to the entire +<i>échelon</i>. When within thirty or forty yards of the further fence they +increased their pace to nearly a double-quick, many of them stooping low in +hunter fashion, and a few firing. Then Waldron rose in his stirrups and yelled, +"Battalion! ready—aim—aim low. Fire!"<br><br>There was a stunning +roar of three hundred and fifty rifles, and a deadly screech of bullets. But +the smoke rolled out, the haste to reload was intense, and none could mark what +execution was done. Whatever the Confederates may have suffered, they bore up +under the volley, and they came on. In another minute each of those fences, not +more than twenty-five yards apart, was lined by the shattered fragment of a +regiment, each firing as fast as possible into the face of the other. The Fifth +bled fearfully: it had five of its ten company commanders shot dead in three +minutes; and its loss in other officers and in men fell scarcely short of this +terrible ratio. On its left the Seventh and the Tenth were up, pouring in +musketry, and receiving it in a fashion hardly less sanguinary. No one present +had ever seen, or ever afterward saw, such another close and deadly +contest.<br><br>But the strangest thing in this whole wonderful fight was the +conduct of the brigade commander. Up and down the rear of the lacerated Fifth +Waldron rode thrice, spurring his plunging and wounded horse close to the +yelling and fighting file-closers, and shouting in a piercing voice +encouragement to his men. Stranger still, considering the character which he +had borne in the army, and considering the evil deed for which he was to +account on the morrow, were the words which he was distinctly and repeatedly +heard to utter. "Stand steady, men—God is with us!" was the extraordinary +battle-cry of this backslidden clergyman, this sinner above many.<br><br>And it +was a prophecy of victory. Bradley ran up his Napoleons on the right in the +nick of time, and, although only one of them could be brought to bear, it was +enough; the grape raked the Confederate left, broke it, and the battle was +over. In five minutes more their whole array was scattered, and the entire +position open to galloping cavalry, seizing guns, standards, and +prisoners.<br><br>It was in the very moment of triumph, just as the stubborn +Southern line reeled back from the fence in isolated clusters, that the +miraculous immunity of Waldron terminated, and he received his death wound. A +quarter of an hour later Fitz Hugh found a sorrowful group of officers gazing +from a little distance upon their dying commander.<br><br>"Is the Colonel hit?" +he asked, shocked and grieved, incredible as the emotion may +seem.<br><br>"Don't go near him," called Gildersleeve, who, it will be +remembered, knew or guessed his errand in camp. "The chaplain and surgeon are +there. Let him alone."<br><br>"He's going to render his account," added +Gahogan. "An' whativer he's done wrong, he's made it square to-day. Let um lave +it to his brigade."<br><br>Adjutant Wallis, who had been blubbering aloud, who +had cursed the rebels and the luck energetically, and who had also been trying +to pray inwardly, groaned out, "This is our last victory. You see if it ain't. +Bet you, two to one."<br><br>"Hush, man!" replied Gahogan. "We'll win our share +of urn, though we'll have to work harder for it. We'll have to do more +ourselves, an' get less done for us in the way of tactics."<br><br>"That's so, +Major," whimpered a drummer, looking up from his duty of attending to a wounded +comrade. "He knowed how to put his men in the right place, and his men knowed +when they was in the right place. But it's goin' to be uphill through the +steepest part of hell the rest of the way."<br><br>Soldiers, some of them +weeping, some of them bleeding, arrived constantly to inquire after their +commander, only to be sent quietly back to their ranks or to the rear. Around +lay other men—dead men, and senseless, groaning men—all for the +present unnoticed. Everything, except the distant pursuit of the cavalry, +waited for Waldron to die. Fitz Hugh looked on silently with the tears of +mingled emotions in his eyes, and with hopes and hatreds expiring in his heart. +The surgeon supported the expiring victor's head, while Chaplain Colquhoun +knelt beside him, holding his hand and praying audibly. Of a sudden the +petition ceased, both bent hastily toward the wounded man, and after what +seemed a long time exchanged whispers. Then the Chaplain rose, came slowly +toward the now advancing group of officers, his hands outspread toward heaven +in an attitude of benediction, and tears running down his haggard white +face.<br><br>"I trust, dear friends," he said, in a tremulous voice, "that all +is well with our brother and commander. His last words were, 'God is with +us.'"<br><br>"Oh! but, man, <i>that</i> isn't well," broke out Gahogan, in a +groan. "What did ye pray for his soul for? Why didn't ye pray for his +loife?"<br><br>Fitz Hugh turned his horse and rode silently away. The next day +he was seen journeying rearward by the side of an ambulance, within which lay +what seemed a strangely delicate boy, insensible, and, one would say, mortally +ill.</p> +<br><br><br><br> +<h2><a name="2">WHO WAS +SHE?</a> +<br>—————————<br> +BY BAYARD TAYLOR<br><br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A +writer"></h2><p><i>James Bayard Taylor (born at Kennett Square, Pa., in 1825; +died in 1878) was probably in his day the best American example of the all- +round literary craftsman. He was poet, novelist, journalist, writer of books of +travel, translator, and, in general, magazine writer. Says Albert H. Smith in +the volume on Taylor in the "American Men of Letters" series: "He was a man of +talent, and master of the mechanics of his craft. On all sides he touched the +life of his time." Henry A. Beers, in his "Initial Studies in American +Letters," says that in his short stories, as in his novels, "Taylor's pictorial +skill is greater, on the whole, than his power of creating characters or +inventing plots." In the present selection, however, he has both conceived an +original type of character in the mysterious heroine, and invented an ingenious +situation, if not plot, and so, in one instance at least, has achieved a short +story classic.</i></p><h2><img src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p +align="center">WHO WAS SHE?<br><span class="b2">BY BAYARD TAYLOR<br>[Reprinted +by permission. From "The Atlantic Monthly" for September, +1874.]</span></p><p><span class="b3">C</span>OME, now, there may as well be an +end of this! Every time I meet your eyes squarely, I detect the question just +slipping out of them. If you had spoken it, or even boldly looked it; if you +had shown in your motions the least sign of a fussy or fidgety concern on my +account; if this were not the evening of my birthday, and you the only friend +who remembered it; if confession were not good for the soul, though harder than +sin to some people, of whom I am one—well, if all reasons were not at +this instant converged into a focus, and burning me rather violently, in that +region where the seat of emotion is supposed to lie, I should keep my trouble +to myself. Yes, I have fifty times had it on my mind to tell you the whole +story. But who can be certain that his best friend will not smile—or, +what is worse, cherish a kind of charitable pity ever afterward—when the +external forms of a very serious kind of passion seem trivial, fantastic, +foolish? And the worst of all is that the heroic part which I imagined I was +playing proves to have been almost the reverse. The only comfort which I can +find in my humiliation is that I am capable of feeling it. There isn't a bit of +a paradox in this, as you will see; but I only mention it, now, to prepare you +for, maybe, a little morbid sensitiveness of my moral nerves.<br><br>The +documents are all in this portfolio under my elbow. I had just read them again +completely through when you were announced. You may examine them as you like +afterward: for the present, fill your glass, take another Cabana, and keep +silent until my "ghastly tale" has reached its most lamentable +conclusion.<br><br>The beginning of it was at Wampsocket Springs, three years +ago last summer. I suppose most unmarried men who have reached, or passed, the +age of thirty—and I was then thirty-three—experience a milder +return of their adolescent warmth, a kind of fainter second spring, since the +first has not fulfilled its promise. Of course, I wasn't clearly conscious of +this at the time: who is? But I had had my youthful passion and my tragic +disappointment, as you know: I had looked far enough into what Thackeray used +to call the cryptic mysteries to save me from the Scylla of dissipation, and +yet preserved enough of natural nature to keep me out of the Pharisaic Charyb- +dis. My devotion to my legal studies had already brought me a mild distinction; +the paternal legacy was a good nest-egg for the incubation of wealth—in +short, I was a fair, respectable "party," desirable to the humbler mammas, and +not to be despised by the haughty exclusives.<br><br>The fashionable hotel at +the Springs holds three hundred, and it was packed. I had meant to lounge there +for a fortnight and then finish my holidays at Long Branch; but eighty, at +least, out of the three hundred were young and moved lightly in muslin. With my +years and experience I felt so safe that to walk, talk, or dance with them +became simply a luxury, such as I had never—at least so +freely—possessed before. My name and standing, known to some families, +were agreeably exaggerated to the others, and I enjoyed that supreme +satisfaction which a man always feels when he discovers, or imagines, that he +is popular in society. There is a kind of premonitory apology implied in my +saying this, I am aware. You must remember that I am culprit, and culprit's +counsel, at the same time.<br><br>You have never been at Wampsocket? Well, the +hills sweep around in a crescent, on the northern side, and four or five +radiating glens, descending from them, unite just above the village. The +central one, leading to a waterfall (called "Minne-hehe" by the irreverent +young people, because there is so little of it), is the fashionable drive and +promenade; but the second ravine on the left, steep, crooked, and cumbered with +bowlders which have tumbled from somewhere and lodged in the most extraordinary +groupings, became my favorite walk of a morning. There was a footpath in it, +well-trodden at first, but gradually fading out as it became more like a ladder +than a path, and I soon discovered that no other city feet than mine were +likely to scale a certain rough slope which seemed the end of the ravine. With +the aid of the tough laurel-stems I climbed to the top, passed through a cleft +as narrow as a doorway, and presently found myself in a little upper dell, as +wild and sweet and strange as one of the pictures that haunts us on the brink +of sleep.<br><br>There was a pond—no, rather a bowl—of water in the +centre; hardly twenty yards across, yet the sky in it was so pure and far down +that the circle of rocks and summer foliage inclosing it seemed like a little +planetary ring, floating off alone through space. I can't explain the charm of +the spot, nor the selfishness which instantly suggested that I should keep the +discovery to myself. Ten years earlier I should have looked around for some +fair spirit to be my "minister," but now—<br><br>One forenoon—I +think it was the third or fourth time I had visited the place—I was +startled to find the dent of a heel in the earth, half-way up the slope. There +had been rain during the night and the earth was still moist and soft. It was +the mark of a woman's boot, only to be distinguished from that of a walking- +stick by its semicircular form. A little higher, I found the outline of a foot, +not so small as to awake an ecstasy, but with a suggestion of lightness, +elasticity, and grace. If hands were thrust through holes in a board-fence, and +nothing of the attached bodies seen, I can easily imagine that some would +attract and others repel us: with footprints the impression is weaker, of +course, but we can not escape it. I am not sure whether I wanted to find the +unknown wearer of the boot within my precious personal solitude: I was afraid I +should see her, while passing through the rocky crevice, and yet was +disappointed when I found no one.<br><br>But on the flat, warm rock overhanging +the tarn—my special throne—lay some withering wild-flowers and a +book! I looked up and down, right and left: there was not the slightest sign of +another human life than mine. Then I lay down for a quarter of an hour, and +listened: there were only the noises of bird and squirrel, as before. At last, +I took up the book, the flat breadth of which suggested only sketches. There +were, indeed, some tolerable studies of rocks and trees on the first pages; a +few not very striking caricatures, which seemed to have been commenced as +portraits, but recalled no faces I knew; then a number of fragmentary notes, +written in pencil. I found no name, from first to last; only, under the +sketches, a monogram so complicated and laborious that the initials could +hardly be discovered unless one already knew them.<br><br>The writing was a +woman's, but it had surely taken its character from certain features of her +own: it was clear, firm, individual. It had nothing of that air of general +debility which usually marks the manuscript of young ladies, yet its firmness +was far removed from the stiff, conventional slope which all Englishwomen seem +to acquire in youth and retain through life. I don't see how any man in my +situation could have helped reading a few lines—if only for the sake of +restoring lost property. But I was drawn on, and on, and finished by reading +all: thence, since no further harm could be done, I reread, pondering over +certain passages until they stayed with me. Here they are, as I set them down, +that evening, on the back of a legal blank:<br><br>"It makes a great deal of +difference whether we wear social forms as bracelets or handcuffs."<br><br>"Can +we not still be wholly our independent selves, even while doing, in the main, +as others do? I know two who are so; but they are married."<br><br>"The men who +admire these bold, dashing young girls treat them like weaker copies of +themselves. And yet they boast of what they call 'experience'!"<br><br>"I +wonder if any one felt the exquisite beauty of the noon as I did to-day? A +faint appreciation of sunsets and storms is taught us in youth, and kept alive +by novels and flirtations; but the broad, imperial splendor of this summer +noon!—and myself standing alone in it—-yes, utterly +alone!"<br><br>"The men I seek must exist: where are they? How make an +acquaintance, when one obsequiously bows himself away, as I advance? The fault +is surely not all on my side."<br><br>There was much more, intimate enough to +inspire me with a keen interest in the writer, yet not sufficiently so to make +my perusal a painful indiscretion. I yielded to the impulse of the moment, took +out my pencil, and wrote a dozen lines on one of the blank pages. They ran +something in this wise:<br><br><span class="b1">"IGNOTUS IGNOTAE!—You +have bestowed without intending it, and I have taken without your knowledge. Do +not regret the accident which has enriched another. This concealed idyl of the +hills was mine, as I supposed, but I acknowledge your equal right to it. Shall +we share the possession, or will you banish me?"</span><br><br>There was a +frank advance, tempered by a proper caution, I fancied, in the words I wrote. +It was evident that she was unmarried, but outside of that certainty there lay +a vast range of possibilities, some of them alarming enough. However, if any +nearer acquaintance should arise out of the incident, the next step must be +taken by her. Was I one of the men she sought? I almost imagined +so—certainly hoped so.<br><br>I laid the book on the rock, as I had found +it, bestowed another keen scrutiny on the lonely landscape, and then descended +the ravine. That evening, I went early to the ladies' parlor, chatted more than +usual with the various damsels whom I knew, and watched with a new interest +those whom I knew not. My mind, involuntarily, had already created a picture of +the unknown. She might be twenty-five, I thought; a reflective habit of mind +would hardly be developed before that age. Tall and stately, of course; +distinctly proud in her bearing, and somewhat reserved in her manners. Why she +should have large dark eyes, with long dark lashes, I could not tell; but so I +seemed to see her. Quite forgetting that I was (or had meant to be) +<i>Ignotus</i>, I found myself staring rather significantly at one or the other +of the young ladies, in whom I discovered some slight general resemblance to +the imaginary character. My fancies, I must confess, played strange pranks with +me. They had been kept in a coop so many years that now, when I suddenly turned +them loose, their rickety attempts at flight quite bewildered me.<br><br>No! +there was no use in expecting a sudden discovery. I went to the glen betimes, +next morning: the book was gone and so were the faded flowers, but some of the +latter were scattered over the top of another rock, a few yards from mine. Ha! +this means that I am not to withdraw, I said to myself: she makes room for me! +But how to surprise her?—for by this time I was fully resolved to make +her acquaintance, even though she might turn out to be forty, scraggy, and +sandy-haired.<br><br>I knew no other way so likely as that of visiting the glen +at all times of the day. I even went so far as to write a line of greeting, +with a regret that our visits had not yet coincided, and laid it under a stone +on the top of <i>her</i> rock. The note disappeared, but there was no answer in +its place. Then I suddenly remembered her fondness for the noon hours, at which +time she was "utterly alone." The hotel <i>table d'hôte</i> Avas at one +o'clock: her family, doubtless, dined later, in their own rooms. Why, this gave +me, at least, her place in society! The question of age, to be sure, remained +unsettled; but all else was safe.<br><br>The next day I took a late and large +breakfast, and sacrificed my dinner. Before noon the guests had all straggled +back to the hotel from glen and grove and lane, so bright and hot was the +sunshine. Indeed, I could hardly have supported the reverberation of heat from +the sides of the ravine, but for a fixed belief that I should be successful. +While crossing the narrow meadow upon which it opened, I caught a glimpse of +something white among the thickets higher up. A moment later it had vanished, +and I quickened my pace, feeling the beginning of an absurd nervous excitement +in my limbs. At the next turn, there it was again! but only for another moment. +I paused, exulting, and wiped my drenched forehead. "She can not escape me!" I +murmured between the deep draughts of cooler air I inhaled in the shadow of a +rock.<br><br>A few hundred steps more brought me to the foot of the steep +ascent, where I had counted on overtaking her. I was too late for that, but the +dry, baked soil had surely been crumbled and dislodged, here and there, by a +rapid foot. I followed, in reckless haste, snatching at the laurel branches +right and left, and paying little heed to my footing. About one-third of the +way up I slipped, fell, caught a bush which snapped at the root, slid, whirled +over, and before I fairly knew what had happened, I was lying doubled up at the +bottom of the slope.<br><br>I rose, made two steps forward, and then sat down +with a groan of pain; my left ankle was badly sprained, in addition to various +minor scratches and bruises. There was a revulsion of feeling, of +course—instant, complete, and hideous. I fairly hated the Unknown. "Fool +that I was!" I exclaimed, in the theatrical manner, dashing the palm of my hand +softly against my brow: "lured to this by the fair traitress! But, +no!—not fair: she shows the artfulness of faded, desperate spinsterhood; +she is all compact of enamel, 'liquid bloom of youth' and hair +dye!"<br><br>There was a fierce comfort in this thought, but it couldn't help +me out of the scrape. I dared not sit still, lest a sunstroke should be added, +and there was no resource but to hop or crawl down the rugged path, in the hope +of finding a forked sapling from which I could extemporize a crutch. With +endless pain and trouble I reached a thicket, and was feebly working on a +branch with my pen-knife, when the sound of a heavy footstep surprised +me.<br><br>A brown harvest-hand, in straw hat and shirtsleeves, presently +appeared. He grinned when he saw me, and the thick snub of his nose would have +seemed like a sneer at any other time.<br><br>"Are you the gentleman that got +hurt?" he asked. "Is it pretty tolerable bad?"<br><br>"Who said I was hurt?" I +cried, in astonishment.<br><br>"One of your town-women from the hotel—I +reckon she was. I was binding oats, in the field over the ridge; but I haven't +lost no time in comin' here."<br><br>While I was stupidly staring at this +announcement, he whipped out a big clasp-knife, and in a few minutes fashioned +me a practicable crutch. Then, taking me by the other arm, he set me in motion +toward the village.<br><br>Grateful as I was for the man's help, he aggravated +me by his ignorance. When I asked if he knew the lady, he answered: "It's +more'n likely <i>you</i> know her better." But where did she come from? Down +from the hill, he guessed, but it might ha' been up the road. How did she look? +was she old or young? what was the color of her eyes? of her hair? There, now, +I was too much for him. When a woman kept one o' them speckled veils over her +face, turned her head away, and held her parasol between, how were you to know +her from Adam? I declare to you, I couldn't arrive at one positive particular. +Even when he affirmed that she was tall, he added, the next instant: "Now I +come to think on it, she stepped mighty quick; so I guess she must ha' been +short."<br><br>By the time we reached the hotel, I was in a state of fever; +opiates and lotions had their will of me for the rest of the day. I was glad to +escape the worry of questions, and the conventional sympathy expressed in +inflections of the voice which are meant to soothe, and only exasperate. The +next morning, as I lay upon my sofa, restful, patient, and properly cheerful, +the waiter entered with a bouquet of wild flowers.<br><br>"Who sent them?" I +asked.<br><br>"I found them outside your door, sir. Maybe there's a card; yes, +here's a bit o' paper."<br><br>I opened the twisted slip he handed me, and +read: "From your dell—and mine." I took the flowers; among them were two +or three rare and beautiful varieties which I had only found in that one spot. +Fool, again! I noiselessly kissed, while pretending to smell them, had them +placed on a stand within reach, and fell into a state of quiet and agreeable +contemplation.<br><br>Tell me, yourself, whether any male human being is ever +too old for sentiment, provided that it strikes him at the right time and in +the right way! What did that bunch of wild flowers betoken? Knowledge, first; +then, sympathy; and finally, encouragement, at least. Of course she had seen my +accident, from above; of course she had sent the harvest laborer to aid me +home. It was quite natural she should imagine some special, romantic interest +in the lonely dell, on my part, and the gift took additional value from her +conjecture.<br><br>Four days afterward, there was a hop in the large dining- +room of the hotel. Early in the morning, a fresh bouquet had been left at my +door. I was tired of my enforced idleness, eager to discover the fair unknown +(she was again fair, to my fancy!), and I determined to go down, believing that +a cane and a crimson velvet slipper on the left foot would provoke a glance of +sympathy from certain eyes, and thus enable me to detect them.<br><br>The fact +was, the sympathy was much too general and effusive. Everybody, it seemed, came +to me with kindly greetings; seats were vacated at my approach, even fat Mrs. +Huxter insisting on my taking her warm place, at the head of the room. But Bob +Leroy—you know him—as gallant a gentleman as ever lived, put me +down at the right point, and kept me there. He only meant to divert me, yet +gave me the only place where I could quietly inspect all the younger ladies, as +dance or supper brought them near.<br><br>One of the dances was an old- +fashioned cotillon, and one of the figures, the "coquette," brought every one, +in turn, before me. I received a pleasant word or two from those whom I knew, +and a long, kind, silent glance from Miss May Danvers. Where had been my eyes? +She was tall, stately, twenty-five, had large dark eyes, and long dark lashes! +Again the changes of the dance brought her near me; I threw (or strove to +throw) unutterable meanings into my eyes, and cast them upon hers. She seemed +startled, looked suddenly away, looked back to me, and—blushed. I knew +her for what is called "a nice girl"—that is, tolerably frank, gently +feminine, and not dangerously intelligent. Was it possible that I had +overlooked so much character and intellect?<br><br>As the cotillon closed, she +was again in my neighborhood, and her partner led her in my direction. I was +rising painfully from my chair, when Bob Leroy pushed me down again, whisked +another seat from somewhere, planted it at my side, and there she +was!<br><br>She knew who was her neighbor, I plainly saw; but instead of +turning toward me, she began to fan herself in a nervous way and to fidget with +the buttons of her gloves. I grew impatient.<br><br>"Miss Danvers!" I said, at +last.<br><br>"Oh!" was all her answer, as she looked at me for a +moment.<br><br>"Where are your thoughts?" I asked.<br><br>Then she turned, with +wide, astonished eyes, coloring softly up to the roots of her hair. My heart +gave a sudden leap.<br><br>"How can you tell, if I can not?" she +asked.<br><br>"May I guess?"<br><br>She made a slight inclination of the head, +saying nothing. I was then quite sure.<br><br>"The second ravine to the left of +the main drive?"<br><br>This time she actually started; her color became +deeper, and a leaf of the ivory fan snapped between her fingers.<br><br>"Let +there be no more a secret!" I exclaimed. "Your flowers have brought me your +messages; I knew I should find you—"<br><br>Full of certainty, I was +speaking in a low, impassioned voice. She cut me short by rising from her seat; +I felt that she was both angry and alarmed. Fisher, of Philadelphia, jostling +right and left in his haste, made his way toward her. She fairly snatched his +arm, clung to it with a warmth I had never seen expressed in a ballroom, and +began to whisper in his ear. It was not five minutes before he came to me, +alone, with a very stern face, bent down, and said:<br><br>"If you have +discovered our secret, you will keep silent. You are certainly a +gentleman."<br><br>I bowed, coldly and savagely. There was a draught from the +open window; my ankle became suddenly weary and painful, and I went to bed. Can +you believe that I didn't guess, immediately, what it all meant? In a vague +way, I fancied that I had been premature in my attempt to drop our mutual +incognito, and that Fisher, a rival lover, was jealous of me. This was rather +flattering than otherwise; but when I limped down to the ladies' parlor, the +next day, no Miss Danvers was to be seen. I did not venture to ask for her; it +might seem importunate, and a woman of so much hidden capacity was evidently +not to be wooed in the ordinary way.<br><br>So another night passed by; and +then, with the morning, came a letter which made me feel, at the same instant, +like a fool and a hero. It had been dropped in the Wampsocket post-office, was +legibly addressed to me and delivered with some other letters which had arrived +by the night mail. Here it is; listen!<br><br><span class="b1">"NOTO +IGNOTA!—Haste is not a gift of the gods, and you have been impatient, +with the usual result. I was almost prepared for this, and thus am not wholly +disappointed. In a day or two more you will discover your mistake, which, so +far as I can learn, has done no particular harm. If you wish to find me, there +is only one way to seek me; should I tell you what it is, I should run the risk +of losing you—that is, I should preclude the manifestation of a certain +quality which I hope to find in the man who may—or, rather, must—be +my friend. This sounds enigmatical, yet you have read enough of my nature, as +written in those random notes in my sketch-book, to guess, at least, how much I +require. Only this let me add: mere guessing is useless.<br><br>"Being unknown, +I can write freely. If you find me, I shall be justified; if not, I shall +hardly need to blush, even to myself, over a futile experiment.<br><br>"It is +possible for me to learn enough of your life, henceforth, to direct my relation +toward you. This may be the end; if so, I shall know it soon. I shall also know +whether you continue to seek me. Trusting in your honor as a man, I must ask +you to trust in mine, as a woman."</span><br><br>I <i>did</i> discover my +mistake, as the Unknown promised. There had been a secret betrothal between +Fisher and Miss Danvers, and, singularly enough, the momentous question and +answer had been given in the very ravine leading to my upper dell! The two +meant to keep the matter to themselves; but therein, it seems, I thwarted them; +there was a little opposition on the part of their respective families, but all +was amicably settled before I left Wampsocket.<br><br>The letter made a very +deep impression upon me. What was the one way to find her? What could it be but +the triumph that follows ambitious toil—the manifestation of all my best +qualities as a man? Be she old or young, plain or beautiful, I reflected, hers +is surely a nature worth knowing, and its candid intelligence conceals no +hazards for me. I have sought her rashly, blundered, betrayed that I set her +lower, in my thoughts, than her actual self: let me now adopt the opposite +course, seek her openly no longer, go back to my tasks, and, following my own +aims vigorously and cheerfully, restore that respect which she seemed to be on +the point of losing. For, consciously or not, she had communicated to me a +doubt, implied in the very expression of her own strength and pride. She had +meant to address me as an equal, yet, despite herself, took a stand a little +above that which she accorded to me.<br><br>I came back to New York earlier +than usual, worked steadily at my profession and with increasing success, and +began to accept opportunities (which I had previously declined) of making +myself personally known to the great, impressible, fickle, tyrannical public. +One or two of my speeches in the hall of the Cooper Institute, on various +occasions—as you may perhaps remember—gave me a good headway with +the party, and were the chief cause of my nomination for the State office which +I still hold. (There, on the table, lies a resignation, written to-day, but not +yet signed. We'll talk of it afterward.) Several months passed by, and no +further letter reached me. I gave up much of my time to society, moved +familiarly in more than one province of the kingdom here, and vastly extended +my acquaintance, especially among the women; but not one of them betrayed the +mysterious something or other—really I can't explain precisely what it +was!—which I was looking for. In fact, the more I endeavored quietly to +study the sex, the more confused I became.<br><br>At last, I was subjected to +the usual onslaught from the strong-minded. A small but formidable committee +entered my office one morning and demanded a categorical declaration of my +principles. What my views on the subject were, I knew very well; they were +clear and decided; and yet, I hesitated to declare them! It wasn't a temptation +of Saint Anthony—that is, turned the other way—and the belligerent +attitude of the dames did not alarm me in the least; but <i>she</i>! What was +<i>her</i> position? How could I best please her? It flashed upon my mind, +while Mrs. ——— was making her formal speech, that I had taken +no step for months without a vague, secret reference to <i>her</i>. So I strove +to be courteous, friendly, and agreeably noncommittal; begged for further +documents, and promised to reply by letter in a few days.<br><br>I was hardly +surprised to find the well-known hand on the envelope of a letter shortly +afterward. I held it for a minute in my palm, with an absurd hope that I might +sympathetically feel its character before breaking the seal. Then I read it +with a great sense of relief.<br><br><span class="b1">"I have never assumed to +guide a man, except toward the full exercise of his powers. It is not opinion +in action, but opinion in a state of idleness or indifference, which repels me. +I am deeply glad that you have gained so much since you left the country. If, +in shaping your course, you have thought of me, I will frankly say that, <i>to +that extent,</i> you have drawn nearer. Am I mistaken in conjecturing that you +wish to know my relation to the movement concerning which you were recently +interrogated? In this, as in other instances which may come, I must beg you to +consider me only as a spectator. The more my own views may seem likely to sway +your action, the less I shall be inclined to declare them. If you find this +cold or unwomanly, remember that it is not easy!"</span><br><br>Yes! I felt +that I had certainly drawn much nearer to her. And from this time on, her +imaginary face and form became other than they were. She was twenty- +eight—three years older; a very little above the middle height, but not +tall; serene, rather than stately, in her movements; with a calm, almost grave +face, relieved by the sweetness of the full, firm lips; and finally eyes of +pure, limpid gray, such as we fancy belonged to the Venus of Milo. I found her +thus much more attractive than with the dark eyes and lashes—but she did +not make her appearance in the circles which I frequented.<br><br>Another year +slipped away. As an official personage, my importance increased, but I was +careful not to exaggerate it to myself. Many have wondered (perhaps you among +the rest) at my success, seeing that I possess no remarkable abilities. If I +have any secret, it is simply this—doing faithfully, with all my might, +whatever I undertake. Nine-tenths of our politicians become inflated and +careless, after the first few years, and are easily forgotten when they once +lose place.<br><br>I am a little surprised now that I had so much patience with +the Unknown. I was too important, at least, to be played with; too mature to be +subjected to a longer test; too earnest, as I had proved, to be doubted, or +thrown aside without a further explanation.<br><br>Growing tired, at last, of +silent waiting, I bethought me of advertising. A carefully written "Personal," +in which <i>Ignotus</i> informed <i>Ignota</i> of the necessity of his +communicating with her, appeared simultaneously in the "Tribune," "Herald," +"World," and "Times." I renewed the advertisement as the time expired without +an answer, and I think it was about the end of the third week before one came, +through the post, as before.<br><br>Ah, yes! I had forgotten. See! my +advertisement is pasted on the note, as a heading or motto for the manuscript +lines. I don't know why the printed slip should give me a particular feeling of +humiliation as I look at it, but such is the fact. What she wrote is all I need +read to you:<br><br><span class="b1">"I could not, at first, be certain that +this was meant for me. If I were to explain to you why I have not written for +so long a time, I might give you one of the few clews which I insist on keeping +in my own hands. In your public capacity, you have been (so far as a woman may +judge) upright, independent, wholly manly: in your relations with other men I +learn nothing of you that is not honorable: toward women you are kind, +chivalrous, no doubt, overflowing with the <i>usual</i> social refinements, +but—Here, again, I run hard upon the absolute necessity of silence. The +way to me, if you care to traverse it, is so simple, so very simple! Yet, after +what I have written, I can not even wave my hand in the direction of it, +without certain self-contempt. When I feel free to tell you, we shall draw +apart and remain unknown forever.<br><br>"You desire to write? I do not +prohibit it. I have heretofore made no arrangement for hearing from you, in +turn, because I could not discover that any advantage would accrue from it. But +it seems only fair, I confess, and you dare not think me capricious. So, three +days hence, at six o'clock in the evening, a trusty messenger of mine will call +at your door. If you have anything to give her for me, the act of giving it +must be the sign of a compact on your part that you will allow her to leave +immediately, unquestioned and unfollowed."</span><br><br>You look puzzled, I +see: you don't catch the real drift of her words? Well, that's a melancholy +encouragement. Neither did I, at the time: it was plain that I had disappointed +her in some way, and my intercourse with or manner toward women had something +to do with it. In vain I ran over as much of my later social life as I could +recall. There had been no special attention, nothing to mislead a susceptible +heart; on the other side, certainly no rudeness, no want of "chivalrous" (she +used the word!) respect and attention. What, in the name of all the gods, was +the matter?<br><br>In spite of all my efforts to grow clearer, I was obliged to +write my letter in a rather muddled state of mind. I had <i>so</i> much to say! +sixteen folio pages, I was sure, would only suffice for an introduction to the +case; yet, when the creamy vellum lay before me and the moist pen drew my +fingers toward it, I sat stock dumb for half an hour. I wrote, finally, in a +half-desperate mood, without regard to coherency or logic. Here's a rough draft +of a part of the letter, and a single passage from it will be +enough:<br><br><span class="b1">"I can conceive of no simpler way to you than +the knowledge of your name and address. I have drawn airy images of you, but +they do not become incarnate, and I am not sure that I should recognize you in +the brief moment of passing. Your nature is not of those which are instantly +legible. As an abstract power, it has wrought in my life and it continually +moves my heart with desires which are unsatisfactory because so vague and +ignorant. Let me offer you personally, my gratitude, my earnest friendship, +<i>you</i> would laugh if I were to <i>now</i> offer more."</span><br><br>Stay! +here is another fragment, more reckless in tone:<br><br><span class="b1">"I +want to find the woman whom I can love—who can love me. But this is a +masquerade where the features are hidden, the voice disguised, even the hands +grotesquely gloved. Come! I will venture more than I ever thought was possible +to me. You shall know my deepest nature as I myself seem to know it. Then, give +me the commonest chance of learning yours, through an intercourse which shall +leave both free, should we not feel the closing of the inevitable +bond!"</span><br><br>After I had written that, the pages filled rapidly. When +the appointed hour arrived, a bulky epistle, in a strong linen envelope, sealed +with five wax seals, was waiting on my table. Precisely at six there was an +announcement: the door opened, and a little outside, in the shadow, I saw an +old woman, in a threadbare dress of rusty black.<br><br>"Come in!" I +said.<br><br>"The letter!" answered a husky voice. She stretched out a bony +hand, without moving a step.<br><br>"It is for a lady—very important +business," said I, taking up the letter; "are you sure that there is no +mistake?"<br><br>She drew her hand under the shawl, turned without a word, and +moved toward the hall door.<br><br>"Stop!" I cried: "I beg a thousand pardons! +Take it—take it! You are the right messenger!"<br><br>She clutched it, +and was instantly gone.<br><br>Several days passed, and I gradually became so +nervous and uneasy that I was on the point of inserting another "Personal" in +the daily papers, when the answer arrived. It was brief and mysterious; you +shall hear the whole of it:<br><br><span class="b1">"I thank you. Your letter +is a sacred confidence which I pray you never to regret. Your nature is sound +and good. You ask no more than is reasonable, and I have no real right to +refuse. In the one respect which I have hinted, <i>I</i> may have been +unskilful or too narrowly cautious: I must have the certainty of this. +Therefore, as a generous favor, give me six months more! At the end of that +time I will write to you again. Have patience with these brief lines: another +word might be a word too much."</span><br><br>You notice the change in her +tone? The letter gave me the strongest impression of a new, warm, almost +anxious interest on her part. My fancies, as first at Wampsocket, began to play +all sorts of singular pranks: sometimes she was rich and of an old family, +sometimes moderately poor and obscure, but always the same calm, reposeful face +and clear gray eyes. I ceased looking for her in society, quite sure that I +should not find her, and nursed a wild expectation of suddenly meeting her, +face to face, in the most unlikely places and under startling circumstances. +However, the end of it all was patience—patience for six +months.<br><br>There's not much more to tell; but this last letter is hard for +me to read. It came punctually, to a day. I knew it would, and at the last I +began to dread the time, as if a heavy note were falling due, and I had no +funds to meet it. My head was in a whirl when I broke the seal. The fact in it +stared at me blankly, at once, but it was a long time before the words and +sentences became intelligible.<br><br><span class="b1">"The stipulated time has +come, and our hidden romance is at an end. Had I taken this resolution a year +ago, it would have saved me many vain hopes, and you, perhaps, a little +uncertainty. Forgive me, first, if you can, and then hear the +explanation:<br><br>"You wished for a personal interview: <i>you have had, not +one, but many.</i> We have met, in society, talked face to face, discussed the +weather, the opera, toilettes, Queechy, Aurora Floyd, Long Branch and Newport, +and exchanged a weary amount of fashionable gossip; and you never guessed that +I was governed by any deeper interest! I have purposely uttered ridiculous +platitudes, and you were as smilingly courteous as if you enjoyed them: I have +let fall remarks whose hollowness and selfishness could not have escaped you, +and have waited in vain for a word of sharp, honest, manly reproof. Your manner +to me was unexceptionable, as it was to all other women: but there lies the +source of my disappointment, of—yes—of my sorrow!<br><br>"You +appreciate, I can not doubt, the qualities in woman which men value in one +another—culture, independence of thought, a high and earnest apprehension +of life; but you know not how to seek them. It is not true that a mature and +unperverted woman is flattered by receiving only the general obsequiousness +which most men give to the whole sex. In the man who contradicts and strives +with her, she discovers a truer interest, a nobler respect. The empty-headed, +spindle-shanked youths who dance admirably, understand something of billiards, +much less of horses, and still less of navigation, soon grow inexpressibly +wearisome to us; but the men who adopt their social courtesy, never seeking to +arouse, uplift, instruct us, are a bitter disappointment.<br><br>"What would +have been the end, had you really found me? Certainly a sincere, satisfying +friendship. No mysterious magnetic force has drawn you to me or held you near +me, nor has my experiment inspired me with an interest which can not be given +up without a personal pang. I am grieved, for the sake of all men and all +women. Yet, understand me! I mean no slightest reproach. I esteem and honor you +for what you are. Farewell!"</span><br><br>There! Nothing could be kinder in +tone, nothing more humiliating in substance. I was sore and offended for a few +days; but I soon began to see, and ever more and more clearly, that she was +wholly right. I was sure, also, that any further attempt to correspond with her +would be vain. It all comes of taking society just as we find it, and supposing +that conventional courtesy is the only safe ground on which men and women can +meet.<br><br>The fact is—there's no use in hiding it from myself (and I +see, by your face, that the letter cuts deep into you own conscience)—she +is a free, courageous, independent character, and—I am not.<br><br>But +who <i>was</i> she?</p> +<br><br><br><br> +<h2><a name="3">MADEMOISELLE OLYMPE +ZABRISKI</a><br> +—————————————— +<br>BY THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH<br><br><img +src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A writer"></h2><p><i>Thomas Bailey Aldrich (born +at Portsmouth, N. H., Nov. n, 1836) is an artist to his finger tips, whether +working in verse or prose. His short story of a non-existent heroine, "Marjorie +Daw" has been repeatedly mentioned by the critics as a masterpiece of dainty +workmanship. Consequently most readers are familiar with it. It gave title to a +volume of short stories, one of which, the present selection, hardly deserved +to be thrust in this manner into the background. Its denouement is fully as +ingenious and unexpected as that of "Marjorie Daw," and it is led up to with an +art that is just as illusory. The reader, too, is relieved at the final +shattering of the romance, where, in the same case with "Marjorie Daw," he can +hardly bring himself to forgive the author.</i></p><h2><img +src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p align="center">MADEMOISELLE OLYMPE +ZABRISKI<br><span class="b2">BY THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH<br>[Copyright, 1873 and +1901, by Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Published by special arrangement with Messrs. +Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers of Mr. Aldrich's works.]</span></p><p +align="center">I</p><p><span class="b3">W</span>E are accustomed to speak with +a certain light irony of the tendency which women have to gossip, as if the sin +itself, if it is a sin, were of the gentler sex, and could by no chance be a +masculine peccadillo. So far as my observation goes, men are as much given to +small talk as women, and it is undeniable that we have produced the highest +type of gossiper extant. Where will you find, in or out of literature, such +another droll, delightful, chatty busybody as Samuel Pepys, Esq., Secretary to +the Admiralty in the reigns of those fortunate gentlemen Charles II and James +II of England? He is the king of tattlers, as Shakespeare is the king of +poets.<br><br>If it came to a matter of pure gossip, I would back Our Club +against the Sorosis or any women's club in existence. Whenever you see in your +drawing-room four or five young fellows lounging in easy chairs, cigar in hand, +and now and then bringing their heads together over the small round Japanese +table which is always the pivot of these social circles, you may be sure that +they are discussing Tom's engagement, or Dick's extravagance, or Harry's +hopeless passion for the younger Miss Fleurdelys. It is here old Tippleton gets +execrated for that everlasting <i>bon mot</i> of his which was quite a success +at dinner-parties forty years ago; it is here the belle of the season passes +under the scalpels of merciless young surgeons; it is here B's financial +condition is handled in a way that would make B's hair stand on end; it is +here, in short, that everything is canvassed—everything that happens in +our set, I mean—much that never happens, and a great deal that could not +possibly happen. It was at Our Club that I learned the particulars of the Van +Twiller affair.<br><br>It was great entertainment to Our Club, the Van Twiller +affair, though it was rather a joyless thing, I fancy, for Van Twiller. To +understand the case fully, it should be understood that Ralph Van Twiller is +one of the proudest and most sensitive men living. He is a lineal descendant of +Wouter Van Twiller, the famous old Dutch governor of New York—Nieuw +Amsterdam, as it was then; his ancestors have always been burgomasters or +admirals or generals, and his mother is the Mrs. Vanrensselaer Vanzandt Van +Twiller whose magnificent place will be pointed out to you on the right bank of +the Hudson as you pass up the historic river toward Idlewild. Ralph is about +twenty-five years old. Birth made him a gentleman, and the rise of real +estate—some of it in the family since the old governor's time—made +him a millionaire. It was a kindly fairy that stepped in and made him a good +fellow also. Fortune, I take it, was in her most jocund mood when she heaped +her gifts in this fashion on Van Twiller, who was, and will be again, when this +cloud blows over, the flower of Our Club.<br><br>About a year ago there came a +whisper—if the word "whisper" is not too harsh a term to apply to what +seemed a mere breath floating gently through the atmosphere of the billiard- +room—imparting the intelligence that Van Twiller was in some kind of +trouble. Just as everybody suddenly takes to wearing square-toed boots, or to +drawing his neckscarf through a ring, so it became all at once the fashion, +without any preconcerted agreement, for everybody to speak of Van Twiller as a +man in some way under a cloud. But what the cloud was, and how he got under it, +and why he did not get away from it, were points that lifted themselves into +the realm of pure conjecture. There was no man in the club with strong enough +wing to his imagination to soar to the supposition that Van Twiller was +embarrassed in money matters. Was he in love? That appeared nearly as +improbable; for if he had been in love all the world—that is, perhaps a +hundred first families—would have known all about it +instantly.<br><br>"He has the symptoms," said Delaney, laughing. "I remember +once when Jack Fleming—"<br><br>"Ned!" cried Flemming, "I protest against +any allusion to that business."<br><br>This was one night when Van Twiller had +wandered into the club, turned over the magazines absently in the reading-room, +and wandered out again without speaking ten words. The most careless eye would +have remarked the great change that had come over Van Twiller. Now and then he +would play a game of billiards with De Peyster or Haseltine, or stop to chat a +moment in the vestibule with old Duane; but he was an altered man. When at the +club, he was usually to be found in the small smoking-room upstairs, seated on +a fauteuil fast asleep, with the last number of "The Nation" in his hand. Once, +if you went to two or three places of an evening, you were certain to meet Van +Twiller at them all. You seldom met him in society now.<br><br>By and by came +whisper number two—a whisper more emphatic than number one, but still +untraceable to any tangible mouthpiece. This time the whisper said that Van +Twiller <i>was</i> in love. But with whom? The list of possible Mrs. Van +Twillers was carefully examined by experienced hands, and a check placed +against a fine old Knickerbocker name here and there, but nothing satisfactory +arrived at. Then that same still small voice of rumor but now with an easily +detected staccato sharpness to it, said that Van Twiller was in love—with +an actress! Van Twiller, whom it had taken all these years and all this waste +of raw material in the way of ancestors to bring to perfection—Ralph Van +Twiller, the net result and flower of his race, the descendant of Wouter, the +son of Mrs. Vanrensselaer Vanzandt Van Twiller—in love with an actress! +That was too ridiculous to be believed—and so everybody believed +it.<br><br>Six or seven members of the club abruptly discovered in themselves +an unsuspected latent passion for the histrionic art. In squads of two or three +they stormed successively all the theatres in town—Booth's, Wallack's, +Daly's Fifth Avenue (not burned down then), and the Grand Opera House. Even the +shabby homes of the drama over in the Bowery, where the Germanic Thespis has +not taken out his naturalization papers, underwent rigid exploration. But no +clew was found to Van Twiller's mysterious attachment. The <i>opéra bouffe</i>, +which promised the widest field for investigation, produced absolutely nothing, +not even a crop of suspicions. One night, after several weeks of this, Delaney +and I fancied that we caught sight of Van Twiller in the private box of an +uptown theatre, where some thrilling trapeze performance was going on, which we +did not care to sit through; but we concluded afterward that it was only +somebody who looked like him. Delaney, by the way, was unusually active in this +search. I dare say he never quite forgave Van Twiller for calling him Muslin +Delaney. Ned is fond of ladies' society, and that's a fact.<br><br>The +Cimmerian darkness which surrounded Van Twiller's inamorata left us free to +indulge in the wildest conjectures. Whether she was black-tressed Melpomene, +with bowl and dagger, or Thalia, with the fair hair and the laughing face, was +only to be guessed at. It was popularly conceded, however, that Van Twiller was +on the point of forming a dreadful <i>mésalliance</i>.<br><br>Up to this period +he had visited the club regularly. Suddenly he ceased to appear. He was not to +be seen on Fifth Avenue, or in the Central Park, or at the houses he generally +frequented. His chambers—and mighty comfortable chambers they +were—on Thirty-fourth Street were deserted. He had dropped out of the +world, shot like a bright particular star from his orbit in the heaven of the +best society.<br><br>The following conversation took place one night in the +smoking-room:<br><br>"Where's Van Twiller?"<br><br>"Who's seen Van +Twiller?<br><br>"What has become of Van Twiller?"<br><br>Delaney picked up the +"Evening Post," and read—with a solemnity that betrayed young Firkins +into exclaiming, "By Jove, now!—"<br><br>"Married, on the 10th instant, +by the Rev. Friar Laurence, at the residence of the bride's uncle, Montague +Capulet, Esq., Miss Adrienne Le Couvreur to Mr. Ralph Van Twiller, both of this +city. No cards."<br><br>"Free List suspended," murmured De Peyster.<br><br>"It +strikes me," said Frank Livingstone, who had been ruffling the leaves of a +magazine at the other end of the table, "that you fellows are in a great fever +about Van Twiller."<br><br>"So we are."<br><br>"Well, he has simply gone out of +town."<br><br>"Where?"<br><br>"Up to the old homestead on the +Hudson."<br><br>"It's an odd time of year for a fellow to go into the +country."<br><br>"He has gone to visit his mother," said +Livingstone.<br><br>"In February?"<br><br>"I didn't know, Delaney, that there +was any statute in force prohibiting a man from visiting his mother in February +if he wants to."<br><br>Delaney made some light remark about the pleasure of +communing with Nature with a cold in her head, and the topic was +dropped.<br><br>Livingstone was hand in glove with Van Twiller, and if any man +shared his confidence it was Living-stone. He was aware of the gossip and +speculation that had been rife in the club, but he either was not at liberty or +did not think it worth while to relieve our curiosity. In the course of a week +or two it was reported that Van Twiller was going to Europe; and go he did. A +dozen of us went down to the "Scythia" to see him off. It was refreshing to +have something as positive as the fact that Van Twiller had sailed.</p><p +align="center">II</p><p>Shortly after Van Twiller's departure the whole thing +came out. Whether Livingstone found the secret too heavy a burden, or whether +it transpired through some indiscretion on the part of Mrs. Vanrensselaer +Vanzandt Van Twiller, I can not say; but one evening the entire story was in +the possession of the club.<br><br>Van Twiller had actually been very deeply +interested—not in an actress, for the legitimate drama was not her humble +walk in life,<br>but—in Mademoiselle Olympe Zabriski, whose really +perilous feats on the trapeze had astonished New York the year before, though +they had failed to attract Delaney and me the night we wandered into the up- +town theatre on the trail of Van Twiller's mystery.<br><br>That a man like Van +Twiller should he fascinated even for an instant by a common circus-girl seems +incredible; but it is always the incredible thing that happens. Besides, +Mademoiselle Olympe was not a common circus-girl; she was a most daring and +startling gymnaste, with a beauty and a grace of movement that gave to her +audacious performance almost an air of prudery. Watching her wondrous dexterity +and pliant strength, both exercised without apparent effort, it seemed the most +natural proceeding in the world that she should do those unpardonable things. +She had a way of melting from one graceful posture into another like the +dissolving figures thrown from a stereopticon. She was a lithe, radiant shape +out of the Grecian mythology, now poised up there above the gaslights, and now +gleaming through the air like a slender gilt arrow.</p><h2><img +src="images/portrait2.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p>I am describing Mademoiselle +Olympe as she appeared to Van Twiller on the first occasion when he strolled +into the theatre where she was performing. To me she was a girl of eighteen or +twenty years of age (maybe she was much older, for pearl powder and distance +keep these people perpetually young), slightly but exquisitely built, with +sinews of silver wire; rather pretty, perhaps, after a manner, but showing +plainly the effects of the exhaustive draughts she was making on her physical +vitality. Now, Van Twiller was an enthusiast on the subject of calisthenics. +"If I had a daughter," Van Twiller used to say, "I wouldn't send her to a +boarding school, or a nunnery; I'd send her to a gymnasium for the first five +years. Our American women have no physique. They are lilies, pallid, +pretty—and perishable. You marry an American woman, and what do you +marry? A headache. Look at English girls. They are at least roses, and last the +season through."<br><br>Walking home from the theatre that first night, it +flitted through Van Twiller's mind that if he could give this girl's set of +nerves and muscles to any one of the two hundred high-bred women he knew, he +would marry her on the spot and worship her forever.<br><br>The following +evening he went to see Mademoiselle Olympe again. "Olympe Zabriski," he +soliloquized as he sauntered through the lobby—"what a queer name! Olympe +is French and Zabriski is Polish. It is her <i>nom de guerre</i>, of course; +her real name is probably Sarah Jones. What kind of creature can she be in +private life, I wonder? I wonder if she wears that costume all the time, and if +she springs to her meals from a horizontal bar. Of course she rocks the baby to +sleep on the trapeze." And Van Twiller went on making comical domestic tableaux +of Mademoiselle Zabriski, like the clever, satirical dog he was, until the +curtain rose.<br><br>This was on a Friday. There was a matinee the next day, +and he attended that, though he had secured a seat for the usual evening +entertainment. Then it became a habit of Van Twiller's to drop into the theatre +for half an hour or so every night, to assist at the interlude, in which she +appeared. He cared only for her part of the programme, and timed his visits +accordingly. It was a surprise to himself when he reflected, one morning, that +he had not missed a single performance of Mademoiselle Olympe for nearly two +weeks.<br><br>"This will never do," said Van Twiller. "Olympe"—he called +her Olympe, as if she were an old acquaintance, and so she might have been +considered by that time—"is a wonderful creature; but this will never do. +Van, my boy, you must reform this altogether."<br><br>But half-past nine that +night saw him in his accustomed orchestra chair, and so on for another week. A +habit leads a man so gently in the beginning that he does not perceive he is +led—with what silken threads and down what pleasant avenues it leads him! +By and by the soft silk threads become iron chains, and the pleasant avenues +Avernus!<br><br>Quite a new element had lately entered into Van Twiller's +enjoyment of Mademoiselle Olympe's ingenious feats—a vaguely born +apprehension that she might slip from that swinging bar; that one of the thin +cords supporting it might snap, and let her go headlong from the dizzy height. +Now and then, for a terrible instant, he would imagine her lying a glittering, +palpitating heap at the foot-lights, with no color in her lips! Sometimes it +seemed as if the girl were tempting this kind of fate. It was a hard, bitter +life, and nothing but poverty and sordid misery at home could have driven her +to it. What if she should end it all some night, by just unclasping that little +hand? It looked so small and white from where Van Twiller sat!<br><br>This +frightful idea fascinated while it chilled him, and helped to make it nearly +impossible for him to keep away from the theatre. In the beginning his +attendance had not interfered with his social duties or pleasures; but now he +came to find it distasteful after dinner to do anything but read, or walk the +streets aimlessly, until it was time to go to the play. When that was over, he +was in no mood to go anywhere but to his rooms. So he dropped away by +insensible degrees from his habitual haunts, was missed, and began to be talked +about at the club. Catching some intimation of this, he ventured no more in the +orchestra stalls, but shrouded himself behind the draperies of the private box +in which Delaney and I thought we saw him on one occasion.<br><br>Now, I find +it very perplexing to explain what Van Twiller was wholly unable to explain to +himself. He was not in love with Mademoiselle Olympe. He had no wish to speak +to her, or to hear her speak. Nothing could have been easier, and nothing +further from his desire, than to know her personally. A Van Twiller personally +acquainted with a strolling female acrobat! Good heavens! That was something +possible only with the discovery of perpetual motion. Taken from her theatrical +setting, from her lofty perch, so to say, on the trapeze-bar, Olympe Zabriski +would have shocked every aristocratic fibre in Van Twiller's body. He was +simply fascinated by her marvelous grace and <i>élan</i>, and the magnetic +recklessness of the girl. It was very young in him and very weak, and no member +of the Sorosis, or all the Sorosisters together, could have been more severe on +Van Twiller than he was on himself. To be weak, and to know it, is something of +a punishment for a proud man. Van Twiller took his punishment, and went to the +theatre, regularly.<br><br>"When her engagement comes to an end," he meditated, +"that will finish the business."<br><br>Mademoiselle Olympe's engagement +finally did come to an end and she departed. But her engagement had been highly +beneficial to the treasury-chest of the uptown theatre, and before Van Twiller +could get over missing her she had returned from a short Western tour, and her +immediate reappearance was underlined on the play-bills.<br><br>On a dead wall +opposite the windows of Van Twiller's sleeping-room there appeared, as if by +necromancy, an aggressive poster with M<span class="b1">ADEMOISELLE</span> +O<span class="b1">LYMPE</span> Z<span class="b1">ABRISKI</span> on it in +letters at least a foot high. This thing stared him in the face when he woke up +one morning. It gave him a sensation as if she had called on him overnight and +left her card.<br><br>From time to time through the day he regarded that poster +with a sardonic eye. He had pitilessly resolved not to repeat the folly of the +previous month. To say that this moral victory cost him nothing would be to +deprive it of merit. It cost him many internal struggles. It is a fine thing to +see a man seizing his temptation by the throat, and wrestling with it, and +trampling it underfoot like St. Anthony. This was the spectacle Van Twiller was +exhibiting to the angels.<br><br>The evening Mademoiselle Olympe was to make +her reappearance, Van Twiller, having dined at the club, and feeling more like +himself than he had felt for weeks, returned to his chamber, and, putting on +dressing-gown and slippers, piled up the greater portion of his library about +him, and fell to reading assiduously. There is nothing like a quiet evening at +home with some slight intellectual occupation, after one's feathers have been +stroked the wrong way.<br><br>When the lively French clock on the +mantelpiece—a base of malachite surmounted by a flying bronze Mercury +with its arms spread gracefully in the air, and not remotely suggestive of +Mademoiselle Olympe in the act of executing her grand flight from the +trapeze—when the clock, I repeat, struck nine, Van Twiller paid no +attention to it. That was certainly a triumph. I am anxious to render Van +Twiller all the justice I can, at this point of the narrative, inasmuch as when +the half hour sounded musically, like a crystal ball dropping into a silver +bowl, he rose from the chair automatically, thrust his feet into his walking- +shoes, threw his overcoat across his arm, and strode out of the room.<br><br>To +be weak and to scorn your weakness, and not to be able to conquer it, is, as +has been said, a hard thing; and I suspect it was not with unalloyed +satisfaction that Van Twiller found himself taking his seat in the back part of +the private box night after night during the second engagement of Mademoiselle +Olympe. It was so easy not to stay away!<br><br>In this second edition of Van +Twiller's fatuity, his case was even worse than before. He not only thought of +Olympe quite a number of times between breakfast and dinner, he not only +attended the interlude regularly, but he began, in spite of himself, to occupy +his leisure hours at night by dreaming of her. This was too much of a good +thing, and Van Twiller regarded it so. Besides, the dream was always the +same—a harrowing dream, a dream singularly adapted to shattering the +nerves of a man like Van Twiller. He would imagine himself seated at the +theatre (with all the members of Our Club in the parquette), watching +Mademoiselle Olympe as usual, when suddenly that young lady would launch +herself desperately from the trapeze, and come flying through the air like a +firebrand hurled at his private box. Then the unfortunate man would wake up +with cold drops standing on his forehead.<br><br>There is one redeeming feature +in this infatuation of Van Twiller's which the sober moralist will love to look +upon—the serene unconsciousness of the person who caused it. She went +through her <i>rôle</i> with admirable aplomb, drew her salary, it may be +assumed, punctually, and appears from first to last to have been ignorant that +there was a miserable slave wearing her chains nightly in the left-hand +proscenium box.<br><br>That Van Twiller, haunting the theatre with the +persistency of an ex-actor, conducted himself so discreetly as not to draw the +fire of Mademoiselle Olympe's blue eyes shows that Van Twiller, however deeply +under a spell, was not in love. I say this, though I think if Van Twiller had +not been Van Twiller, if he had been a man of no family and no position and no +money, if New York had been Paris and Thirty-fourth Street a street in the +Latin Quarter—but it is useless to speculate on what might have happened. +What did happen is sufficient.<br><br>It happened, then, in the second week of +Queen Olympe's second unconscious reign, that an appalling Whisper floated up +the Hudson, effected a landing at a point between Spuyten Duyvil Creek and Cold +Spring, and sought out a stately mansion of Dutch architecture standing on the +bank of the river. The Whisper straightway informed the lady dwelling in this +mansion that all was not well with the last of the Van Twillers; that he was +gradually estranging himself from his peers, and wasting his nights in a +playhouse watching a misguided young woman turning unmaidenly somersaults on a +piece of wood attached to two ropes.<br><br>Mrs. Vanrensselaer Vanzandt Van +Twiller came down to town by the next train to look into this little +matter.<br><br>She found the flower of the family taking an early breakfast +at<br>11 A. M., in his cosey apartments on Thirty-fourth Street. With the least +possible circumlocution she confronted him with what rumor had reported of his +pursuits, and was pleased, but not too much pleased, when he gave her an exact +account of his relations with Mademoiselle Zabriski, neither concealing nor +qualifying anything. As a confession, it was unique, and might have been a +great deal less entertaining. Two or three times in the course of the +narrative, the matron had some difficulty in preserving the gravity of her +countenance. After meditating a few minutes, she tapped Van Twiller softly on +the arm with the tip of her parasol, and invited him to return with her the +next day up the Hudson and make a brief visit at the home of his ancestors. He +accepted the invitation with outward alacrity and inward disgust.<br><br>When +this was settled, and the worthy lady had withdrawn, Van Twiller went directly +to the establishment of Messrs. Ball, Black, and Company, and selected, with +unerring taste, the finest diamond bracelet procurable. For his mother? Dear +me, no! She had the family jewels.<br><br>I would not like to state the +enormous sum Van Twiller paid for this bracelet. It was such a clasp of +diamonds as would have hastened the pulsation of a patrician wrist. It was such +a bracelet as Prince Camaralzaman might have sent to the Princess Badoura, and +the Princess Badoura—might have been very glad to get.<br><br>In the +fragrant Levant morocco case, where these happy jewels lived when they were at +home, Van Twiller thoughtfully placed his card, on the back of which he had +written a line begging Mademoiselle Olympe Zabriski to accept the accompanying +trifle from one who had witnessed her graceful performances with interest and +pleasure. This was not done inconsiderately. "Of course, I must inclose my +card, as I would to any lady," Van Twiller had said to himself. "A Van Twiller +can neither write an anonymous letter nor make an anonymous present." Blood +entails its duties as well as its privileges.<br><br>The casket despatched to +its destination, Van Twiller felt easier in his mind. He was under obligations +to the girl for many an agreeable hour that might otherwise have passed +heavily. He had paid the debt, and he had paid it <i>en prince</i>, as became a +Van Twiller. He spent the rest of the day in looking at some pictures at +Goupil's, and at the club, and in making a few purchases for his trip up the +Hudson. A consciousness that this trip up the Hudson was a disorderly retreat +came over him unpleasantly at intervals.<br><br>When he returned to his rooms +late at night, he found a note lying on the writing-table. He started as his +eyes caught the words "——— Theatre" stamped in carmine +letters on one corner of the envelope. Van Twiller broke the seal with +trembling fingers.<br><br>Now, this note some time afterward fell into the +hands of Livingstone, who showed it to Stuyvesant, who showed it to Delaney, +who showed it to me, and I copied it as a literary curiosity. The note ran as +follows:<br><br><span class="b1">MR VAN TWILLER DEAR SIR—i am verry +greatfull to you for that Bracelett. it come just in the nic of time for me. +The Mademoiselle Zabriski dodg is about Plaid out. my beard is getting to much +for me. i shall have to grow a mustash and take to some other line of busyness, +i dont no what now, but will let you no. You wont feel bad if i sell that +Bracelett. i have seen Abrahams Moss and he says he will do the square thing. +Pleas accep my thanks for youre Beautifull and Unexpected present. Youre +respectfull servent,<br>C</span><span class="b2">HARLES</span> <span +class="b1">M</span><span class="b2">ONTMORENCI </span><span +class="b1">W</span><span class="b2">ALTERS.</span><br><br>The next day Van +Twiller neither expressed nor felt any unwillingness to spend a few weeks with +his mother at the old homestead.<br><br>And then he went abroad.</p> +<br><br><br><br> +<h2><a name="4">BROTHER SEBASTIAN'S +FRIENDSHIP</a><br> +——————————————— +<br>BY HAROLD FREDERIC<br><br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A writer"></h2><p><i>Harold Frederic (born at +Utica, N. Y., August 19, 1856; died in 1898) was a novelist whose every book +exceeded its predecessor in conception, general construction, and technique of +detail. His death at the maturity of his powers was therefore a great loss to +American literature. His posthumous novel, "The Market Place" indicates that +Frederic, had he lived, might have outshone even Balzac in the fiction of +business life. "Brother Sebastian's Friendship" is a clever short story of the +days of his literary 'prenticeship. It was his introduction to the "Utica +Observer," where he worked for several years.</i></p><h2><img +src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><br><br><p align="center">BROTHER +SEBASTIAN'S FRIENDSHIP<br><span class="b2">BY HAROLD FREDERIC<br>[Footnote: By +permission of the "Utica Observer."]</span></p><p><span class="b3">I</span> WHO +tell this story am called Brother Sebastian. This name was given me more than +forty years ago, while Louis Philippe was still king. My other name has been +buried so long that I have nearly forgotten it. I think that my people are +dead. At least I have heard nothing from them in many years. My reputation has +always been that of a misanthrope—if not that, then of a dreamer. In the +seminary I had no intimates. In the order, for I am a Brother of the Christian +Schools, my associates are polite—nothing more. I seem to be outside +their social circles, their plans, their enjoyments. True, I am an old man now. +But in other years it was the same. All my life I have been in +solitude.<br><br>To this there is a single exception—one star shining in +the blackness. And my career has been so bleak that, although it ended in +deeper sadness than I had known before, I look back to the epsiode with +gratitude. The bank of clouds which shut out this sole light of my life +quickened its brilliancy before they submerged it.<br><br>After the terrible +siege of '71, when the last German was gone, and our houses had breasted the +ordeal of the Commune, I was sent to the South. The Superior thought my cheeks +were ominously hollow, and suspected threats of consumption in my cough. So I +was to go to the Mediterranean, and try its milder air. I liked the change. +Paris, with its gloss of noisy gayety and its substance of sceptical +heartlessness, was repugnant to me. Perhaps it was because of this that Brother +Sebastian had been mured up in the capital two-thirds of his life. If our +surroundings are too congenial we neglect the work set before us. But no +matter; to the coast I went.<br><br>My new home was a long-established house, +spacious, venerable, and dreary. It was on the outskirts of an ancient town, +which was of far more importance before our Lord was born than it has ever been +since. We had little to do. There were nine brothers, a handful of resident +orphans, and some threescore pupils. Ragged, stupid, big-eyed urchins they +were, altogether different from the keen Paris boys. For that matter, every +feature of my new home was odd. The heat of the summer was scorching in its +intensity. The peasants were much more respectful to our cloth, and, as to +appearance, looked like figures from Murillo's canvases. The foliage, the wine, +the language, the manners of the people—everything was changed. This +interested me, and my morbidness vanished. The Director was delighted with my +improved condition. Poor man! he was positive that my cheeks had puffed out +perceptibly after the first two months. So the winter came—a mild, wet, +muggy winter, wholly unlike my favorite sharp season in the North.<br><br>We +were killing time in the library one afternoon, the Director and a Swiss +Brother sitting by the lamp reading, I standing at one of the tall, narrow +windows, drumming on the panes and dreaming. The view was not an inspiring one. +There was a long horizontal line of pale yellow sky and another of flat, black +land, out of Avhich an occasional poplar raised itself solemnly. The great mass +below the stripes was brown; above, gloomy gray. Close under the window two +boys were playing in the garden of the house. I recall distinctly that they +threw armfuls of wet fallen leaves at each other with a great shouting. While I +stood thus, the Brother Servitor, Abonus, came in and whispered to the +Director. He always whispered. It was not fraternal, but I did not like this +Abonus.<br><br>"Send him up here," said the Director. Then I remembered that I +had heard the roll of a carriage and the bell ring a few moments before. Abonus +came in again. Behind him there was some one else, whose footsteps had the +hesitating sound of a stranger's. Then I heard the Director's +voice:<br><br>"You are from Algiers?"—"I am, Brother."<br><br>"Your +name?"<br><br>"Edouard, Brother."<br><br>"Well, tell me more."<br><br>"I was +under orders to be in Paris in January, Brother. As my health was poor, I +received permission to come back to France this autumn. At Marseilles I was +instructed to come here. So I am here. I have these papers from the Mother +house, and from Etienne, Director, of Algiers."<br><br>Something in the voice +seemed peculiar to me. I turned and examined the new-comer. He stood behind and +to one side of the Director, who was laboriously deciphering some papers +through his big horn spectacles. The light was not very bright, but there was +enough to see a wonderfully handsome face, framed in dazzling black curls. +Perhaps it looked the more beautiful because contrasted with the shaven gray +poll and surly features of grim Abonus, But to me it was a dream of St. John +the Evangel. The eyes of the face were lowered upon the Director, so I could +only guess their brilliancy. The features were those of an extreme +youth—round, soft, and delicate. The expression was one of utter fatigue, +almost pain. It bore out the statement of ill-health.<br><br>The Director had +finished his reading. He lifted his head now and surveyed the stranger in turn. +Finally, stretching out his fat hand, he said:<br><br>"You are welcome, Brother +Edouard. I see the letter says you have had no experience except with the +youngest children. Brother Photius does that now. We will have you rest for a +time. Then we will see about it. Meanwhile I will turn you over to the care of +good Abonus, who will give you one of the north rooms."<br><br>So the two went +out, Abonus shuffling his feet disagreeably. It was strange that he could do +nothing to please me.<br><br>"Brother Sebastian," said the Director, as the +door closed, "it is curious that they should have sent me a tenth man. Why, I +lie awake now to invent pretences of work for those I have already. I will give +up all show of teaching presently, and give out that I keep a hospital—a +retreat for ailing brothers. Still, this Edouard is a pretty +boy."<br><br>"Very."<br><br>"Etienne's letter says he is twenty and a Savoyard. +He speaks like a Parisian."<br><br>"Very likely he is seminary bred," put in +the Swiss.<br><br>"Whatever he is, I like his looks," said our Superior. This +good man liked every one. His was the placid, easy Alsatian nature, prone to +find goodness in all things—even crabbed Abonus. The Director, or, as he +was known, Brother Elysee, was a stout, round little man, with a fine face and +imperturbable good spirits. He was adored by all his subordinates. But I fancy +he did not advance in favor at Paris very rapidly.<br><br>I liked Edouard from +the first. The day after he came we were together much, and, when we parted +after vespers, I was conscious of a vast respect for this new-comer. He was +bright, ready spoken, and almost a man of the world. Compared with my dull +career, his short life had been one of positive gayety. He had seen Frederic le +Maitre at the Comédie Française. He had been at Court and spoken with the +Prince Imperial. He was on terms of intimacy with Monsignori, and had been a +protégé of the sainted Darboy. It was a rare pleasure to hear him talk of these +things.<br><br>Before this, the ceaseless shifting of brothers from one house +to another had been indifferent to me. For the hundreds of strangers who came +and went in the Paris house on Oudinot Street I cared absolutely nothing. I did +not suffer their entrance nor their exit to excite me. This was so much the +case that they called me a machine. But with Edouard this was different. I grew +to love the boy from the first evening, when, as he left my room, I caught +myself saying, "I shall be sorry when he goes." He seemed to be fond of me, +too. For that matter most of the brothers petted him, Elysee especially. But I +was flattered that he chose me as his particular friend. For the first time my +heart had opened.<br><br>We were alone one evening after the holidays. It was +cold without, but in my room it was warm and bright. The fire crackled merrily, +and the candles gave out a mellow and pleasant light. The Director had gone up +to Paris, and his mantle had fallen on me. Edouard sat with his feet stretched +to the fender, his curly head buried in the great curved back of my invalid +chair, the red fire-light reflected on his childish features. I took pleasure +in looking at him. He looked at the coals and knit his brows as if in a puzzle. +I often fancied that something weightier than the usual troubles of life +weighed upon him. At last he spoke, just as I was about to question +him:<br><br>"Are you afraid to die, Sebastian?"<br><br>Not knowing what else to +say, I answered, "No, my child."<br><br>"I wonder if you enjoy life in +community?"<br><br>This was still stranger. I could but reply that I had never +known any other life; that I was fitted for nothing else.<br><br>"But still," +persisted he, "would you not like to leave it—to have a career of your +own before you die? Do you think this is what a man is created for—to +give away his chance to live?"<br><br>"Edouard, you are interrogating your own +conscience," I answered. "These are questions which you must have answered +yourself, before you took your vows. When you answered them, you sealed +them."<br><br>Perhaps I spoke too harshly, for he colored and drew up his feet. +Such shapely little feet they were. I felt ashamed of my +crustiness.<br><br>"But, Edouard," I added, "your vows are those of the +novitiate. You are not yet twenty-eight. You have still the right to ask +yourself these things. The world is very fair to men of your age. Do not dream +that I was angry with you."<br><br>He sat gazing into the fire. His face wore a +strange, far-away expression, as he reached forth his hand, in a groping way, +and rested it on my knee, clutching the gown nervously. Then he spoke slowly, +seeking for words, and keeping his eyes on the flames.<br><br><br>"You have +been good to me, Brother Sebastian. Let me ask you: May I tell you something in +confidence—something which shall never pass your lips? I mean +it."<br><br>He had turned and poured those marvelous eyes into mine with +irresistible magnetism. Of course I said, "Speak!" and I said it without the +slightest hesitation.<br><br>"I am not a Christian Brother. I do not belong to +your order. I have no claim upon the hospitality of this roof. I am an +impostor!"<br><br>He ejected these astounding sentences with an energy almost +fierce, gripping my knee meanwhile. Then, as suddenly, his grasp relaxed, and +he fell to weeping bitterly.<br><br>I stared at him solemnly, in silence. My +tongue seemed paralyzed. Confusing thoughts whirled in a maze unbidden through +my head. I could say nothing. But a strange impulse prompted me to reach out +and take his hot hand in mine. It was piteous to hear him sobbing, his head +upon his raised arm, his whole frame quivering with emotion. I had never seen +any one weep like that before. So I sat dumb, trying in vain to answer this +bewildering self-accusation. At last there came out of the folds of the chair +the words, faint and tear-choked:<br><br>"You have promised me secrecy, and you +will keep your word; but you will hate me."<br><br>"Why, no, no, Edouard, not +hate you," I answered, scarcely knowing what I said. I did not comprehend it at +all. There was nothing more for me to say. Finally, when some power of thought +returned, I asked:<br><br>"Of all things, my poor boy, why should you choose +such a dreary life as this? What possible reason led you to enter the +community? What attractions has it for you?"<br><br>Edouard turned again from +the fire to me. His eyes sparkled. His teeth were tight set.<br><br>"Why? Why? +I will tell you why, Brother Sebastian. Can you not understand how a poor +hunted beast should rejoice to find shelter in such an out-of-the-way place, +among such kind men, in the grave of this cloister life? I have not told you +half enough. Do you not know in the outside world, in Toulon, or Marseilles, or +that fine Paris of yours, there is a price on my head?—or no, not that, +but enemies that are looking for me, searching everywhere, turning every little +stone for the poor privilege of making me suffer? And do you know that these +enemies wear shakos, and are called gens d'armes? Would you be pleased to learn +that it is a prison I escape by coming here? <i>Now</i>, will you hate +me?"<br><br>The boy had risen from his chair. He spoke hurriedly, almost +hysterically, his eyes snapping at mine like coals, his curls disheveled, his +fingers curved and stiffened like the talons of a hawk. I had never seen such +intense earnestness in a human face. Passions like these had never penetrated +the convent walls before.<br><br>While I sat dumb before him, Edouard left the +room. I was conscious of his exit only in a vague way. For hours I sat in my +chair beside the grate thinking, or trying to think. You can see readily that I +was more than a little perplexed. In the absence of Elysee, I was director. The +management of the house, its good fame, its discipline, all rested on my +shoulders. And to be confronted by such an abyss as this! I could do absolutely +nothing. The boy had tied my tongue by the pledge. Besides, had I been unsworn, +I am sure the idea of exposure would never have come to me. It was late before +I retired that night. And I recall with terrible distinctness the chaos of +brain and faculty which ushered in a restless sleep almost as dawn was +breaking.<br><br>I had fancied that Brother Edouard would find life intolerable +in community after his revelation to me. He would be chary of meeting me before +the brothers; would be constantly tortured by fear of detection. As I saw this +prospect of the poor innocent—for it was absurd to think of him as +anything else—dreading exposure at each step in his false life, shrinking +from observation, biting his tongue at every word—I was greatly moved by +pity. Judge my surprise, then, when I saw him the next morning join in the +younger brothers' regular walk around the garden, joking and laughing as I had +never seen before. On his right was thin, sickly Victor, rest his soul! and on +the other pursy, thick-necked John, as merry a soul as Cork ever turned out. +And how they laughed, even the frail consumptive! It was a pleasure to see his +blue eyes brighten with enjoyment and his warm cheeks blush. Above John's +queer, Irish chuckle, I heard Edouard's voice, with its dainty Parisian accent, +retailing jokes and leading in the laughter. The tramp was stretched out longer +than usual, so pleasant did they find it. At this development I was much +amazed.<br><br>The same change was noticeable in all that Edouard did. Instead +of the apathy with which he had discharged his nominal duties, his baby pupils +(for Photius had gone to Peru) now became bewitched with him. He told them +droll stories, incited their rivalry in study by instituting prizes for which +they struggled monthly, and, in short, metamorphosed his department. The change +spread to himself. His cheeks took on a ruddier hue, the sparkle of his black +eyes mellowed into a calm and steady radiance. There was no trace of feverish +elation which, in solitude, recoiled to the brink of despair. He sang to +himself evenings in his dormitory, clearly and with joy. His step was as +elastic as that of any schoolboy. I often thought upon this change, and +meditated how beautiful an illustration of confession's blessings it furnished. +Frequently we were alone, but he never referred again to that memorable +evening, even by implication. At first I dreaded to have the door close upon +us, feeling that he must perforce seek to take up the thread where he had +broken it then. But he talked of other things, and so easily and naturally that +I felt embarrassed. For weeks I could not shake off the feeling that, at our +next talk, he would broach the subject. But he never did.<br><br>Elysee +returned, bringing me kind words from the Mother house, and a half-jocular hint +that Superior General Philippe had me much in his mind. No doubt there had been +a time when the idea of becoming a Director would have stirred my pulses. +Surely it was gone now. I asked for nothing but to stay beside Edouard, to +watch him, and to be near to lend him a helping hand when his hour of trouble +should come. From that ordeal, which I saw approaching clearly and certainly, I +shrank with all my nerves on edge. As the object of my misery grew bright-eyed +and strong, I felt myself declining in health. My face grew thin, and I could +not eat. I saw before my eyes always this wretched boy singing upon the brow of +the abyss. Sometimes I strove not to see his fall—frightful and swift. +His secret seemed to harass him no longer. To me it was heavier than +lead.<br><br>The evening the Brother Director returned, we sat together in the +reading-room, the entire community. Elysee had been speaking of the Mother +house concerning which Brother Barnabas, an odd little Lorrainer who spoke +better German than French, and who regarded Paris with the true provincial awe +and veneration, exhibited much curiosity. We had a visitor, a gaunt, self- +sufficient old Parisian, who had spent fourteen days in the Mazas prison during +the Commune. I will call him Brother Albert, for his true name in religion is +very well known.<br><br>"I heard a curious story in the Vaugirard house," said +the Brother Director, refreshing himself with a pinch of snuff, "which made the +more impression upon me that I once knew intimately one of the persons in it. +Martin Delette was my schoolmate at Pfalsbourg in the old days. A fine, +studious lad he was, too. He took orders and went to the north, where he lived +for many years a quiet country curé. He had a niece, a charming girl who is not +now more than twenty or one-and-twenty. She was an orphan, and lived with him, +going to a convent to school and returning at vacations. She was not a bad +girl, but a trifle wayward and easily led. She gave the Sisters much anxiety. +Last spring she barely escaped compromising the house by an escapade with a +young <i>miserable</i> of the town, named Banin."<br><br>"I know your story," +said Albert, with an air which hinted that this was a sufficient reason why the +rest should not hear it. "Banin is in prison."<br><br>Elysee proceeded: "The +girl was reprimanded. Next week she disappeared. To one of her companions she +had confided a great desire to see Paris. So good Father Delette was summoned, +and, after a talk with the Superioress, started post-haste for the capital. He +found no signs either of poor Renée or of Banin, who had also disappeared. The +Curé was nearly heart-broken. Each day, they told me, added a year to his +appearance. He did not cease to importune the police chiefs and to haunt the +public places for a glimpse of his niece's face. But the summer came, and no +Renée. The Curé began to cough and grow weak. But one day in August the +Director, good Prosper, called him down to the reception-room to see a +visitor.<br><br>"'There is news for you,'" he whispered, pressing poor Martin's +hand. In the room he found—"<br><br>"In the room he found—" broke +in Albert, impertinently, but with a quiet tone of authority which cowed good +Elysee, "a shabby man, looking like a poorly fed waiter. This person rose and +said, 'I am a detective; do you know Banin—young man, tall, blond, +squints, broken tooth upper jaw, hat back on his head, much talk, hails from +Rheims?'<br><br>"'Ah,' said Delette, 'I have not seen him, but I know him too +well.'<br><br>"The detective pointed with his thumb over his left shoulder. 'He +is in jail. He is good for twenty years. I did it myself. My name is So-and-so. +Good job. Procurator said you were interested—some woman in the case, +parishioner of yours, eh?'<br><br>"'My niece,' gasped the Curé.<br><br>"'O ho! +does you credit; pretty girl, curly head. good manners. Well, she's off. Good +trick, too. She was the decoy. Banin stood in the shadow with club. She brought +gentleman into alley, friend did work. That's Banin's story. Perhaps a lie. You +have a brother in Algiers? Thought so. Girl went out there once? So I was told. +Probably there now. African officers say not; but they're a sleepy lot. If I +was a criminal I'd go to Algiers. Good hiding. The detective went. Delette +stood where he was in silence. I went to him, and helped carry him upstairs. We +put him in his bed. He died there."<br><br>Brother Albeit stopped. He had told +the story, dialogue and all, like a machine. We did not doubt its correctness. +The memory of Albert had passed into a proverb years before.<br><br>Brother +Albert raised his eyes again, and added, as if he had not paused, "He was +ashamed to hold his head up. He might well be."<br><br>A strange, excited voice +rose from the other end of the room. I looked and saw that it was Edouard who +spoke. He had half arisen from his chair and scowled at Albert, throwing out +his words with the tremulous haste of a young man first addressing an +audience:<br><br>"Why should he be ashamed? Was he not a good man? Was the +blame of his bad niece's acts his? From the story, she was well used and had no +excuse. It is he who is to be pitied, not blamed!"<br><br>The Brother Director +smiled benignly at the young enthusiast. "Brother Edouard is right," he said. +"Poor Martin was to be compassioned. None the less, my heart is touched for the +girl. In Banin's trial it appeared that he maltreated her, and forced her to do +what she did by blows. They were really married. Her neighbors gave Renee a +name for gentleness and a good heart. Poor thing!"<br><br>"And she never was +found?" asked Abonus, eagerly. He spoke very rarely. He looked now at me as he +spoke, and there was a strange, ungodly glitter in his eyes which made me +shudder involuntarily.<br><br>"Never," replied the Director, "although there is +a reward, 5,000 francs, offered for her recovery. Miserable child, who can tell +what depths of suffering she may be in this moment?"<br><br>"It would be +remarkable if she should be found now, after all this time," said Abonus, +sharply. His wicked, squinting old eyes were still fastened upon me. This time, +as by a flash of eternal knowledge, I read their meaning, and felt the ground +slipping from under me.<br><br>I shall never forget the night that followed. I +made no pretence of going to bed. Edouard's little dormitory was in another +part of the house. I went once to see him, but dared not knock, since Abonus +was stirring about just across the hall, in his own den. I scratched on a piece +of paper "Fly!" in the dark, and pushed it under the door. Then I returned to +walk my chamber, chafing like a wild beast. Ah, that night, that +night!<br><br>With the first cock crow in the village below, long before the +bell, I left my room. I wanted air to breathe. I passed Abonus on the broad +stairway. He strode up with unwonted vigor, bearing a heavy caldron of water as +if it had been straw. His gown was tumbled and dusty; his greasy <i>rabat</i> +hung awry about his neck. I had it in my head to speak with him, but could not. +So the early hours, with devotions which I went through in a dream, wore on in +horrible suspense, and breakfast came.<br><br>We sat at the long table, five on +a side, the Director—looking red-eyed and weary from the evening's +unaccustomed dissipation—sitting at the head. Below us stood Brother +Albert, reading from Tertullian in a dry, monotonous chant. I recall, as I +write, how I found a certain comfort in those splendid, sonorous Latin +sentences, though I was conscious of not comprehending a word. I dreaded the +moment they should end. Edouard sat beside me. We had not exchanged a word +during the morning. How could I speak? What should I say? I was in a nervous +flutter, like unto those who watch the final pinioning of a criminal whose +guillotine is awaiting him. I could not keep my eyes from the fair face beside +me, with its delicately cut profile, made all the more cameo-like by its pallid +whiteness. The lips were tightly compressed. I could see askant that the tiny +nostrils were quivering with excitement. All else was impassive on Edouard's +face. We two sat waiting for the axe to fall.<br><br>It is as distinct as a +nightmare to me. Abonus came in with his great server laden with victuals. He +stumbled as he approached. He too was excited. He drew near, and stood behind +me. I seemed to feel his breath penetrate my skull; and yet I was forced to +answer a whispered question of Brother John's with a smooth face. I saw Edouard +suddenly reach for the milk glass in front of his plate, and hand it back to +Abonus with the disdain of a duchess. He said, in a sharp, peremptory +tone:<br><br>"Take it away and cleanse it. No one but a dirty monk would place +such a glass on the table."<br><br>Albert ceased his reading. Abonus did not +touch the glass. He shuffled hastily to the sideboard and deposited his burden. +Then he came back with the same eager movement. He placed his fists on his +hips, like a fish-woman, and hissed, in a voice choking with concentrated +rage:<br><br>"No one but a woman would complain of it!"<br><br>The brothers +stared at each other and the two speakers in mute surprise. But they saw +nothing in the words beyond a personal wrangle—though even that was such +a novelty as to arrest instant attention. I busied myself with my plate. The +Director assumed his harshest tone, and asked the cause of the altercation. +Abonus leaned over and whispered something in his ear. I remember next a room +full of confusion, a babel of conflicting voices, and a whirling glimpse of +uniforms. Then I fainted.<br><br>When I revived I was in my own room, stretched +upon my pallet. I looked around in a dazed way and saw the Brother Director and +a young gendarme by the closed door. Something black and irregular in the +outline of the bed at my side attracted my eyes. I saw that it was Edouard's +head buried in the drapery. As in a dream I laid my numb hand upon those crisp +curls. I was an old man, she was a weak, wretched girl. She raised her face at +my touch, and burned in my brain a vision of stricken agony, of horrible soul- +pain, which we liken, for want of a better simile, to the anguish in the eyes +of a dying doe. Her lips moved; she said something, I know not what. Then she +went, and I was left alone with Elysee. His words—broken, stumbling +words—I remember:<br><br>"She asked to see you, Sebastian, my friend. I +could not refuse. Her papers were forged. She did come from Algiers, where her +uncle is a Capuchin. I do not ask, I do not wish to know, how much you know of +this. Before my Redeemer, I feel nothing but pity for the poor lamb. Lie still, +my friend; try to sleep. We are both older men than we were +yesterday."<br><br>There is little else to tell. Only twice have reflections of +this episode in my old life reached me in the seclusion of a missionary post at +the foot of the Andes. I learned a few weeks ago that the wretched Abonus had +bought a sailor's café on the Toulon wharves with his five thousand francs. And +I know also that the heart of the Marshal-President was touched by the sad +story of Renee, and that she left the prison La Salpetriere to lay herself in +penitence at the foot of Mother Church. This is the story of my friendship.</p> +<br><br><br><br> +<h2><a name="5">A GOOD-FOR- +NOTHING</a><br> +—————————— +<br>BY HJALMAR HJORTH BOYESEN<br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A +writer"></h2><p><i>Hjalmar Hjorth Boyescn (born at Frederiksvaern, Norway, +September 23, 1848; died in 1895) was a university graduate who came to this +country in 1869 to take a professorship of languages in a small Ohio college. +Soon after he was called to Cornell, and in 1882 he became Professor of German +in Columbia. His proficiency in the English language was phenomenal. His +mastery of scholarly English in the essay form was to be expected, but his +ready command of the delicately shaded style required of a literary novelist +has not been equaled by any other naturalized American author. Hence in this +series he has received citizenship among those to the manner born. The story +selected by his son, as representative of his work in brief fiction, is a fine +study of character, with a pathetic ending, whose poignancy is due to its +fidelity to truth.</i></p><h2><img src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p +align="center">A GOOD-FOR-NOTHING<br><span class="b2">BY HJALMAR HJORTH +BOYESEN<br>[By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons. Copyright, 1876, by James +R. Osgood & Co.]</span></p><p align="center">I</p><p><span +class="b3">R</span>ALPH GRIM was born a gentleman. He had the misfortune of +coming into the world some ten years later than might reasonably have been +expected. Colonel Grim and his lady had celebrated twelve anniversaries of +their wedding-day, and had given up all hopes of ever having a son and heir, +when this late comer startled them by his unexpected appearance. The only +previous addition to the family had been a daughter, and she was then ten +summers old.<br><br>Ralph was a very feeble child, and could only with great +difficulty be persuaded to retain his hold of the slender thread which bound +him to existence. He was rubbed with whiskey, and wrapped in cotton, and given +mare's milk to drink, and God knows what not, and the Colonel swore a round +oath of paternal delight when at last the infant stopped gasping in that +distressing way and began to breathe like other human beings. The mother, who, +in spite of her anxiety for the child's life, had found time to plot for him a +career of future magnificence, now suddenly set him apart for literature, +because that was the easiest road to fame, and disposed of him in marriage to +one of the most distinguished families of the land. She cautiously suggested +this to her husband when he came to take his seat at her bedside; but to her +utter astonishment she found that he had been indulging a similar train of +thought, and had already destined the infant prodigy for the army. She, +however, could not give up her predilection for literature, and the Colonel, +who could not bear to be contradicted in his own house, as he used to say, was +getting every minute louder and more flushed, when, happily, the doctor's +arrival interrupted the dispute.<br><br>As Ralph grew up from infancy to +childhood, he began to give decided promise of future distinction. He was fond +of sitting down in a corner and sucking his thumb, which his mother interpreted +as the sign of that brooding disposition peculiar to poets and men of lofty +genius. At the age of five, he had become sole master in the house. He slapped +his sister Hilda in the face, or pulled her hair, when she hesitated to obey +him, tyrannized over his nurse, and sternly refused to go to bed in spite of +his mother's entreaties. On such occasions, the Colonel would hide his face +behind his newspaper, and chuckle with delight; it was evident that nature had +intended his son for a great military commander. As soon as Ralph himself was +old enough to have any thoughts about his future destiny, he made up his mind +that he would like to be a pirate. A few months later, having contracted an +immoderate taste for candy, he contented himself with the comparatively humble +position of a baker; but when he had read "Robinson Crusoe" he manifested a +strong desire to go to sea in the hope of being wrecked on some desolate +island. The parents spent long evenings gravely discussing these indications of +uncommon genius, and each interpreted them in his or her own way.<br><br>"He is +not like any other child I ever knew," said the mother.<br><br>"To be sure," +responded the father, earnestly. "He is a most extraordinary child. I was a +very remarkable child too, even if I do say it myself; but, as far as I +remember, I never aspired to being wrecked on an uninhabited +island."<br><br>The Colonel probably spoke the truth; but he forgot to take +into account that he had never read "Robinson Crusoe."<br><br>Of Ralph's +school-days there is but little to report, for, to tell the truth, he did not +fancy going to school, as the discipline annoyed him. The day after his having +entered the gymnasium, which was to prepare him for the Military Academy, the +principal saw him waiting at the gate after his class had been dismissed. He +approached him, and asked why he did not go home with the rest.<br><br>"I am +waiting for the servant to carry my books," was the boy's answer.<br><br>"Give +me your books," said the teacher.<br><br>Ralph reluctantly obeyed. That day the +Colonel was not a little surprised to see his son marching up the street, and +every now and then glancing behind him with a look of discomfort at the +principal, who was following quietly in his train, carrying a parcel of school- +books. Colonel Grim and his wife, divining the teacher's intention, agreed that +it was a great outrage, but they did not mention the matter to Ralph. +Henceforth, however, the boy refused to be accompanied by his servant. A week +later he was impudent to the teacher of gymnastics, who whipped him in return. +The Colonel's rage knew no bounds; he rode in great haste to the gymnasium, +reviled the teacher for presuming to chastise <i>his</i> son, and committed the +boy to the care of a private tutor.<br><br>At the age of sixteen, Ralph went to +the capital with the intention of entering the Military Academy. He was a tall, +handsome youth, slender of stature, and carried himself as erect as a candle. +He had a light, clear complexion of almost feminine delicacy; blond, curly +hair, which he always kept carefully brushed; a low forehead, and a straight, +finely modeled nose. There was an expression of extreme sensitiveness about the +nostrils, and a look of indolence in the dark-blue eyes. But the +<i>ensemble</i> of his features was pleasing, his dress irreproachable, and his +manners bore no trace of the awkward self-consciousness peculiar to his age. +Immediately on his arrival in the capital he hired a suite of rooms in the +aristocratic part of the city, and furnished them rather expensively, but in +excellent taste. From a bosom friend, whom he met by accident in the +restaurant's pavilion in the park, he learned that a pair of antlers, a stuffed +eagle, or falcon, and a couple of swords, were indispensable to a well- +appointed apartment. He accordingly bought these articles at a curiosity shop. +During the first weeks of his residence in the city he made some feeble efforts +to perfect himself in mathematics, in which he suspected he was somewhat +deficient. But when the same officious friend laughed at him, and called him +"green," he determined to trust to fortune, and henceforth devoted himself the +more assiduously to the French ballet, where he had already made some +interesting acquaintances.<br><br>The time for the examination came; the French +ballet did not prove a good preparation; Ralph failed. It quite shook him for +the time, and he felt humiliated. He had not the courage to tell his father; so +he lingered on from day to day, sat vacantly gazing out of his window, and +tried vainly to interest himself in the busy bustle down on the street. It +provoked him that everybody else should be so light-hearted, when he was, or at +least fancied himself, in trouble. The parlor grew intolerable; he sought +refuge in his bedroom. There he sat one evening (it was the third day after the +examination), and stared out upon the gray stone walls which on all sides +inclosed the narrow courtyard. The round stupid face of the moon stood +tranquilly dozing like a great Limburger cheese suspended under the +sky.<br><br>Ralph, at least, could think of a no more fitting simile. But the +bright-eyed young girl in the window hard by sent a longing look up to the same +moon, and thought of her distant home on the fjords, where the glaciers stood +like hoary giants, and caught the yellow moonbeams on their glittering shields +of snow. She had been reading "Ivanhoe" all the afternoon, until the twilight +had overtaken her quite unaware, and now she suddenly remembered that she had +forgotten to write her German exercise. She lifted her face and saw a pair of +sad, vacant eyes gazing at her from the next window in the angle of the court. +She was a little startled at first, but in the next moment she thought of her +German exercise and took heart.<br><br>"Do you know German?" she said; then +immediately repented that she had said it.<br><br>"I do," was the +answer.<br><br>She took up her apron and began to twist it with an air of +embarrassment.<br><br>"I didn't mean anything," she whispered, at last. "I only +wanted to know."<br><br>"You are very kind."<br><br>That answer roused her; he +was evidently making sport of her.<br><br>"Well, then, if you do, you may write +my exercise for me. I have marked the place in the book."<br><br>And she flung +her book over to the window, and he caught it on the edge of the sill, just as +it was falling.<br><br>"You are a very strange girl," he remarked, turning over +the leaves of the book, although it was too dark to read. "How old are +you?"<br><br>"I shall be fourteen six weeks before Christmas," answered she, +frankly.<br><br>"Then I excuse you."<br><br>"No, indeed," cried she, +vehemently. "You needn't excuse me at all. If you don't want to write my +exercise, you may send the book back again. I am very sorry I spoke to you, and +I shall never do it again."<br><br>"But you will not get the book back again +without the exercise," replied he, quietly. "Good-night."<br><br>The girl stood +long looking after him, hoping that he would return. Then, with a great burst +of repentance, she hid her face in her lap, and began to cry.<br><br>"Oh, dear, +I didn't mean to be rude," she sobbed. "But it was Ivanhoe and Rebecca who +upset me."<br><br>The next morning she was up before daylight, and waited for +two long hours in great suspense before the curtain of his window was raised. +He greeted her politely; threw a hasty glance around the court to see if he was +observed, and then tossed her book dexterously over into her hands.<br><br>"I +have pinned the written exercise to the flyleaf," he said. "You will probably +have time to copy it before breakfast."<br><br>"I am ever so much obliged to +you," she managed to stammer.<br><br>He looked so tall and handsome, and grown- +up, and her remorse stuck in her throat, and threatened to choke her. She had +taken him for a boy as he sat there in his window the evening +before.<br><br>"By the way, what is your name?" he asked, carelessly, as he +turned to go.<br><br>"Bertha."<br><br>"Well, my dear Bertha, I am happy to have +made your acquaintance."<br><br>And he again made her a polite bow, and entered +his parlor.<br><br>"How provokingly familiar he is," thought she; "but no one +can deny that he is handsome."<br><br>The bright roguish face of the young girl +haunted Ralph during the whole next week. He had been in love at least ten +times before, of course; but, like most boys, with young ladies far older than +himself. He found himself frequently glancing over to her window in the hope of +catching another glimpse of her face; but the curtain was always drawn down, +and Bertha remained invisible. During the second week, however, she relented, +and they had many a pleasant chat together. He now volunteered to write all her +exercises, and she made no objections. He learned that she was the daughter of +a well-to-do peasant in the<br>sea-districts of Norway (and it gave him quite a +shock to hear it), and that she was going to school in the city, and boarded +with an old lady who kept a pension in the house adjoining the one in which he +lived.<br><br>One day in the autumn Ralph was surprised by the sudden arrival +of his father, and the fact of his failure in the examination could no longer +be kept a secret. The old Colonel flared up at once when Ralph made his +confession; the large veins upon his forehead swelled; he grew<br>coppery-red +in his face, and stormed up and down the floor, until his son became seriously +alarmed; but, to his great relief, he was soon made aware that his father's +wrath was not turned against him personally, but against the officials of the +Military Academy who had rejected him. The Colonel took it as insult to his own +good name and irreproachable standing as an officer; he promptly refused any +other explanation, and vainly racked his brain to remember if any youthful +folly of his could possibly have made him enemies among the teachers of the +Academy. He at last felt satisfied that it was envy of his own greatness and +rapid advancement which had induced the rascals to take vengeance on his son. +Ralph reluctantly followed his father back to the country town where the latter +was stationed, and the fair-haired Bertha vanished from his horizon. His +mother's wish now prevailed, and he began, in his own easy way, to prepare +himself for the University. He had little taste for Cicero, and still less for +Virgil, but with the use of a "pony" he soon gained sufficient knowledge of +these authors to be able to talk in a sort of patronizing way about them, to +the great delight of his fond parents. He took quite a fancy, however, to the +ode in Horace ending with the lines:</p> +<p align="center">Dulce ridentem,<br>Dulce loquentem,<br>Lalagen +amabo.</p><p>And in his thought he substituted for Lalage the fair-haired +Bertha, quite regardless of the requirements of the metre.<br><br>To make a +long story short, three years later Ralph returned to the capital, and, after +having worn out several tutors, actually succeeded in entering the +University.<br><br>The first year of college life is a happy time to every +young man, and Ralph enjoyed its processions, its parliamentary gatherings, and +its leisure, as well as the rest. He was certainly not the man to be +sentimental over the loss of a young girl whom, moreover, he had only known for +a few weeks. Nevertheless, he thought of her at odd times, but not enough to +disturb his pleasure. The standing of his family, his own handsome appearance, +and his immaculate linen opened to him the best houses of the city, and he +became a great favorite in society. At lectures he was seldom seen, but more +frequently in the theatres, where he used to come in during the middle of the +first act, take his station in front of the orchestra box, and eye, through his +lorgnette, by turns, the actresses and the ladies of the parquet.</p><p +align="center">II</p><p>Two months passed, and then came the great annual ball +which the students give at the opening of the second semester. Ralph was a man +of importance that evening; first, because he belonged to a great family; +secondly, because he was the handsomest man of his year. He wore a large golden +star on his breast (for his fellow-students had made him a Knight of the Golden +Boar) and a badge of colored ribbons in his buttonhole.<br><br>The ball was a +brilliant affair, and everybody was in excellent spirits, especially the +ladies. Ralph danced incessantly, twirled his soft mustache, and uttered +amiable platitudes. It was toward midnight, just as the company was moving out +to supper, that he caught the glance of a pair of dark-blue eyes, which +suddenly drove the blood to his cheeks and hastened the beating of his heart. +But when he looked once more the dark-blue eyes were gone, and his unruly heart +went on hammering against his side. He laid his hand on his breast and glanced +furtively at his fair neighbor, but she looked happy and unconcerned, for the +flavor of the ice cream was delicious. It seemed an endless meal, but, when it +was done, Ralph rose, led his partner back to the ballroom, and hastily excused +himself. His glance wandered round the wide hall, seeking the well-remembered +eyes once more, and, at length, finding them in a remote corner, half hid +behind a moving wall of promenaders. In another moment he was at Bertha's +side.<br><br>"You must have been purposely hiding yourself, Miss Bertha," said +he, when the usual greetings were exchanged. "I have not caught a glimpse of +you all this evening, until a few moments ago."<br><br>"But I have seen you all +the while," answered the girl, frankly. "I knew you at once as I entered the +hall."<br><br>"If I had but known that you were here," resumed Ralph, as it +were invisibly expanding with an agreeable sense of dignity, "I assure you, you +would have been the very first one I should have sought."<br><br>She raised her +large grave eyes to his, as if questioning his sincerity; but she made no +answer.<br><br>"Good gracious!" thought Ralph. "She takes things terribly in +earnest."<br><br>"You look so serious, Miss Bertha," said he, after a moment's +pause. "I remember you as a bright-eyed, flaxen-haired little girl, who threw +her German exercise-book to me across the yard, and whose merry laughter still +rings pleasantly in my memory. I confess I don't find it quite easy to identify +this grave young lady with my merry friend of three years ago."<br><br>"In +other words, you are disappointed at not finding me the same as I used to +be."<br><br>"No, not exactly that; but—"<br><br>Ralph paused and looked +puzzled. There was something in the earnestness of her manner which made a +facetious compliment seem grossly inappropriate, and in the moment no other +escape suggested itself.<br><br>"But what?" demanded Bertha, +mercilessly.<br><br>"Have you ever lost an old friend?" asked he, +abruptly.<br><br>"Yes; how so?"<br><br>"Then," answered he, while his features +lighted up with a happy inspiration—"then you will appreciate my +situation. I fondly cherished my old picture of you in my memory. Now I have +lost it, and I can not help regretting the loss. I do not mean, however, to +imply that this new acquaintance—this second edition of yourself, so to +speak—will prove less interesting."<br><br>She again sent him a grave, +questioning look, and began to gaze intently upon the stone in her +bracelet.<br><br>"I suppose you will laugh at me," began she, while a sudden +blush flitted over her countenance. "But this is my first ball, and I feel as +if I had rushed into a whirlpool, from which I have, since the first rash +plunge was made, been vainly trying to escape. I feel so dreadfully forlorn. I +hardly know anybody here except my cousin, who invited me, and I hardly think I +know him either."<br><br>"Well, since you are irredeemably committed," replied +Ralph, as the music, after some prefatory flourishes, broke into the delicious +rhythm of a Strauss waltz, "then it is no use struggling against fate. Come, +let us make the plunge together. Misery loves company."<br><br>He offered her +his arm, and she rose, somewhat hesitatingly, and followed.<br><br>"I am +afraid," she whispered, as they fell into line with the procession that was +moving down the long hall, "that you have asked me to dance merely because I +said I felt forlorn. If that is the case, I should prefer to be led back to my +seat."<br><br>"What a base imputation!" cried Ralph.<br><br>There was something +so charmingly <i>naïve</i> in this self-depreciation—something so +altogether novel in his experience, and, he could not help adding, just a +little bit countrified. His spirits rose; he began to relish keenly his +position as an experienced man of the world, and, in the agreeable glow of +patronage and conscious superiority, chatted with hearty <i>abandon</i> with +his little rustic beauty.<br><br>"If your dancing is as perfect as your German +ex1-ercises were," said she, laughing, as they swung out upon the floor, "then +I promise myself a good deal of pleasure from our meeting."<br><br>"Never +fear," answered he, quickly reversing his step, and whirling with many a +capricious turn away among the thronging couples.<br><br>When Ralph drove home +in his carriage toward morning he briefly summed up his impressions of Bertha +in the following adjectives: intelligent, delightfully unsophisticated, a +little bit verdant, but devilish pretty.<br><br>Some weeks later Colonel Grim +received an appointment at the fortress of Aggershuus, and immediately took up +his residence in the capital. He saw that his son cut a fine figure in the +highest circles of society, and expressed his gratification in the most +emphatic terms. If he had known, however, that Ralph was in the habit of +visiting, with alarming regularity, at the house of a plebeian merchant in a +somewhat obscure street, he would, no doubt, have been more chary of his +praise. But the Colonel suspected nothing, and it was well for the peace of the +family that he did not. It may have been cowardice in Ralph that he never +mentioned Bertha's name to his family or to his aristocratic acquaintances; +for, to be candid, he himself felt ashamed of the power she exerted over him, +and by turns pitied and ridiculed himself for pursuing so inglorious a +conquest. Nevertheless it wounded his egotism that she never showed any +surprise at seeing him, that she received him with a certain frank +unceremoniousness, which, however, was very becoming to her; that she +invariably went on with her work heedless of his presence, and in everything +treated him as if she had been his equal. She persisted in talking with him in +a half sisterly fashion about his studies and his future career, warned him +with great solicitude against some of his reprobate friends, of whose merry +adventures he had told her; and if he ventured to compliment her on her beauty +or her accomplishments, she would look up gravely from her sewing, or answer +him in a way which seemed to banish the idea of<br>love-making into the land of +the impossible. He was constantly tormented by the suspicion that she secretly +disapproved of him, and that from a mere moral interest in his welfare she was +conscientiously laboring to make him a better man. Day after day he parted from +her feeling humiliated, faint-hearted, and secretly indignant both at himself +and her, and day after day he returned only to renew the same experience. At +last it became too intolerable, he could endure it no longer. Let it make or +break, certainty, at all risks, was at least preferable to this sickening +suspense. That he loved her, he could no longer doubt; let his parents foam and +fret as much as they pleased; for once he was going to stand on his own legs. +And in the end, he thought, they would have to yield, for they had no son but +him.<br><br>Bertha was going to return to her home on the sea-coast in a week. +Ralph stood in the little low-ceiled parlor, as she imagined, to bid her good- +by. They had been speaking of her father, her brothers, and the farm, and she +had expressed the wish that if he ever should come to that part of the country +he might pay them a visit. Her words had kindled a vague hope in his breast, +but in their very frankness and friendly regard there was something which slew +the hope they had begotten. He held her hand in his, and her large confiding +eyes shone with an emotion which was beautiful, but was yet not +love.<br><br>"If you were but a peasant born like myself," said she, in a voice +which sounded almost tender, "then I should like to talk to you as I would to +my own brother; but—"<br><br>"No, not brother, Bertha," cried he, with +sudden vehemence; "I love you better than I ever loved any earthly being, and +if you knew how firmly this love has clutched at the roots of my heart, you +would perhaps—you would at least not look so reproachfully at +me."<br><br>She dropped his hand, and stood for a moment silent.<br><br>"I am +sorry that it should have come to this, Mr. Grim," said she, visibly struggling +for calmness. "And I am perhaps more to blame than you."<br><br>"Blame," +muttered he, "why are you to blame?"<br><br>"Because I do not love you; +although I sometimes feared that this might come. But then again I persuaded +myself that it could not be so."<br><br>He took a step toward the door, laid +his hand on the knob, and gazed down before him.<br><br>"Bertha," began he, +slowly, raising his head, "you have always disapproved of me, you have despised +me in your heart, but you thought you would be doing a good work if you +succeeded in making a man of me."<br><br>"You use strong language," answered +she, hesitatingly; "but there is truth in what you say."<br><br>Again there was +a long pause, in which the ticking of the old parlor clock grew louder and +louder.<br><br>"Then," he broke out at last, "tell me before we part if I can +do nothing to gain—I will not say your love—but only your regard? +What would you do if you were in my place?"<br><br>"My advice you will hardly +heed, and I do not even know that it would be well if you did. But if I were a +man in your position, I should break with my whole past, start out into the +world where nobody knew me, and where I should be dependent only upon my own +strength, and there I would conquer a place for myself, if it were only for the +satisfaction of knowing that I was really a man. Here cushions are sewed under +your arms, a hundred invisible threads bind you to a life of idleness and +vanity, everybody is ready to carry you on his hands, the road is smoothed for +you, every stone carefully moved out of your path, and you will probably go to +your grave without having ever harbored one earnest thought, without having +done one manly deed."<br><br>Ralph stood transfixed, gazing at her with open +mouth; he felt a kind of stupid fright, as if some one had suddenly seized him +by the shoulders and shaken him violently. He tried vainly to remove his eyes +from Bertha. She held him as by a powerful spell. He saw that her face was +lighted with an altogether new beauty; he noticed the deep glow upon her cheek, +the brilliancy of her eye, the slight quiver of her lip. But he saw all this as +one sees things in a half-trance, without attempting to account for them; the +door between his soul and his senses was closed.<br><br>"I know that I have +been bold in speaking to you in this way," she said at last, seating herself in +a chair at the window. "But it was yourself who asked me. And I have felt all +the time that I should have to tell you this before we parted."<br><br>"And," +answered he, making a strong effort to appear calm, "if I follow your advice, +will you allow me to see you once more before you go?"<br><br>"I shall remain +here another week, and shall, during that time, always be ready to receive +you."<br><br>"Thank you. Good-by."<br><br>"Good-by."<br><br>Ralph carefully +avoided all the fashionable thoroughfares; he felt degraded before himself, and +he had an idea that every man could read his humiliation in his countenance. +Now he walked on quickly, striking the sidewalk with his heels; now, again, he +fell into an uneasy, reckless saunter, according as the changing moods inspired +defiance of his sentence, or a qualified surrender. And, as he walked on, the +bitterness grew within him, and he piteously reviled himself for having allowed +himself to be made a fool of by "that little country goose," when he was well +aware that there were hundreds of women of the best families of the land who +would feel honored at receiving his attentions. But this sort of reasoning he +knew to be both weak and contemptible, and his better self soon rose in loud +rebellion.<br><br>"After all," he muttered, "in the main thing she was right. I +am a miserable good-for-nothing, a hothouse plant, a poor stick, and if I were +a woman myself, I don't think I should waste my affections on a man of that +calibre."<br><br>Then he unconsciously fell to analyzing Bertha's character, +wondering vaguely that a person who moved so timidly in social life, appearing +so diffident, from an ever-present fear of blundering against the established +forms of etiquette, could judge so quickly, and with such a merciless +certainty, whenever a moral question, a question of right and wrong, was at +issue. And, pursuing the same train of thought, he contrasted her with himself, +who moved in the highest spheres of society as in his native element, heedless +of moral scruples, and conscious of no loftier motive for his actions than the +immediate pleasure of the moment.<br><br>As Ralph turned the corner of a +street, he heard himself hailed from the other sidewalk by a chorus of merry +voices.<br><br>"Ah, my dear Baroness," cried a young man, springing across the +street and grasping Ralph's hand (all his student friends called him the +Baroness), "in the name of this illustrious company, allow me to salute you. +But why the deuce—what is the matter with you? If you have the +<i>Katzenjammer</i> [Footnote: <i>Katzenjammer</i> is the sensation a man has +the morning after a carousal.] soda-water is the thing. Come along—it's +my treat!"<br><br>The students instantly thronged around Ralph, who stood +distractedly swinging his cane and smiling idiotically.<br><br>"I am not quite +well," said he; "leave me alone."<br><br>"No, to be sure, you don't look well," +cried a jolly youth, against whom Bertha had frequently warned him; "but a +glass of sherry will soon restore you. It would be highly immoral to leave you +in this condition without taking care of you."<br><br>Ralph again vainly tried +to remonstrate; but the end was, that he reluctantly followed.<br><br>He had +always been a conspicuous figure in the student world; but that night he +astonished his friends by his eloquence, his reckless humor, and his capacity +for drinking. He made a speech for "Woman," which bristled with wit, cynicism, +and sarcastic epigrams. One young man, named Vinter, who was engaged, undertook +to protest against his sweeping condemnation, and declared that Ralph, who was +a universal favorite among the ladies, ought to be the last to revile +them.<br><br>"If," he went on, "the Baroness should propose to six well-known +ladies here in this city whom I could mention, I would wager six +Johannisbergers, and an equal amount of champagne, that every one of them would +accept him."<br><br>The others loudly applauded this proposal, and Ralph +accepted the wager. The letters were written on the spot, and immediately +despatched. Toward morning, the merry carousal broke up, and Ralph was +conducted in triumph to his home.</p><p align="center">III</p><p>Two days +later, Ralph again knocked on Bertha's door. He looked paler than usual, almost +haggard; his immaculate linen was a little crumpled, and he carried no cane; +his lips were tightly compressed, and his face wore an air of desperate +resolution.<br><br>"It is done," he said, as he seated himself opposite her. "I +am going."<br><br>"Going!" cried she, startled at his unusual appearance. "How, +where?"<br><br>"To America. I sail to-night. I have followed your advice, you +see. I have cut off the last bridge behind me."<br><br>"But, Ralph," she +exclaimed, in a voice of alarm. "Something dreadful must have happened. Tell me +quick; I must know it."<br><br>"No; nothing dreadful," muttered he, smiling +bitterly. "I have made a little scandal, that is all. My father told me to-day +to go to the devil, if I chose, and my mother gave me five hundred dollars to +help me along on the way. If you wish to know, here is the +explanation."<br><br>And he pulled from his pocket six perfumed and carefully +folded notes, and threw them into her lap.<br><br>"Do you wish me to read +them?" she asked, with growing surprise.<br>"Certainly. Why not?"<br><br>She +hastily opened one note after the other, and read.<br><br>"But, Ralph," she +cried, springing up from her seat, while her eyes flamed with indignation, +"what does this mean? What have you done?"<br><br>"I didn't think it needed any +explanation," replied he, with feigned indifference. "I proposed to them all, +and, you see, they all accepted me. I received all these letters to-day. I only +wished to know whether the whole world regarded me as such a worthless scamp as +you told me I was."<br><br>She did not answer, but sat mutely staring at him, +fiercely crumpling a rose-colored note in her hand. He began to feel +uncomfortable under her gaze, and threw himself about uneasily in his +chair.<br><br>"Well," said he, at length, rising, "I suppose there is nothing +more. Good-by."<br><br>"One moment, Mr. Grim," demanded she, sternly. "Since +I have already said so much, and you have obligingly revealed to me a new side +of your character, I claim the right to correct the opinion I expressed of you +at our last meeting."<br><br>"I am all attention."<br><br>"I did think, Mr. +Grim," began she, breathing hard, and steadying herself against the table at +which she stood, "that you were a very selfish man—an embodiment of +selfishness, absolute and supreme, but I did not believe that you were +wicked."<br><br>"And what convinced you that I was selfish, if I may +ask?"<br><br>"What convinced me?" repeated she, in a tone of inexpressible +contempt. "When did you ever act from any generous regard for others? What good +did you ever do to anybody?"<br><br>"You might ask, with equal justice, what +good I ever did to myself."<br><br>"In a certain sense, yes; because to gratify +a mere momentary wish is hardly doing one's self good."<br><br>"Then I have, at +all events, followed the Biblical precept, and treated my neighbor very much as +I treat myself."<br><br>"I did think," continued Bertha, without heeding the +remark, "that you were, at bottom kind-hearted, but too hopelessly well-bred +ever to commit an act of any decided complexion, either good or bad. Now I see +that I have misjudged you, and that you are capable of outraging the most +sacred feelings of a woman's heart in mere wantonness, or for the sake of +satisfying a base curiosity, which never could have entered the mind of an +upright and generous man."<br><br>The hard, benumbed look in Ralph's face +thawed in the warmth of her presence, and her words, though stern, touched a +secret spring in his heart. He made two or three vain attempts to speak, then +suddenly broke down, and cried:<br><br>"Bertha, Bertha, even if you scorn me, +have patience with me, and listen."<br><br>And he told her, in rapid, broken +sentences, how his love for her had grown from day to day, until he could no +longer master it; and how, in an unguarded moment, when his pride rose in +fierce conflict against his love, he had done this reckless deed of which he +was now heartily ashamed. The fervor of his words touched her, for she felt +that they were sincere. Large mute tears trembled in her eyelashes as she sat +gazing tenderly at him, and in the depth of her soul the wish awoke that she +might have been able to return this great and strong love of his; for she felt +that in this love lay the germ of a new, of a stronger and better man. She +noticed, with a half-regretful pleasure, his handsome figure, his delicately +shaped hands, and the noble cast of his features; an overwhelming pity for him +rose within her, and she began to reproach herself for having spoken so +harshly, and, as she now thought, so unjustly. Perhaps he read in her eyes the +unspoken wish. He seized her hand, and his words fell with a warm and alluring +cadence upon her ear.<br><br>"I shall not see you for a long time to come, +Bertha," said he, "but if at the end of five or six years your hand is still +free, and I return another man—a man to whom you could safely intrust +your<br>happiness—would you then listen to what I may have to say to you? +For I promise, by all that we both hold sacred—"<br><br>"No, no," +interrupted she, hastily. "Promise nothing. It would be unjust to yourself, and +perhaps also to me; for a sacred promise is a terrible thing, Ralph. Let us +both remain free; and, if you return and still love me, then come, and I shall +receive you and listen to you. And even if you have outgrown your love, which +is, indeed, more probable, come still to visit me wherever I may be, and we +shall meet as friends and rejoice in the meeting."<br><br>"You know best," he +murmured. "Let it be as you have said."<br><br>He arose, took her face between +his hands, gazed long and tenderly into her eyes, pressed a kiss upon her +forehead, and hastened away.<br><br>That night Ralph boarded the steamer for +Hull, and three weeks later landed in New York.</p><p +align="center">IV</p><p>The first three months of Ralph's sojourn in America +were spent in vain attempts to obtain a situation. Day after day he walked down +Broadway, calling at various places of business, and night after night he +returned to his cheerless room with a faint heart and declining spirits. It +was, after all, a more serious thing than he had imagined, to cut the cable +which binds one to the land of one's birth. There a hundred subtile influences, +the existence of which no one suspects until the moment they are withdrawn, +unite to keep one in the straight path of rectitude, or at least of external +respectability; and Ralph's life had been all in society; the opinion of his +fellow-men had been the one force to which he implicitly deferred, and the +conscience by which he had been wont to test his actions had been nothing but +the aggregate judgment of his friends. To such a man the isolation and the +utter irresponsibility of a life among strangers was tenfold more dangerous; +and Ralph found, to his horror, that his character contained innumerable latent +possibilities which the easy-going life in his home probably never would have +revealed to him. It often cut him to the quick, when, on entering an office in +his daily search for employment, he was met by hostile or suspicious glances, +or when, as it occasionally happened, the door was slammed in his face, as if +he were a vagabond or an impostor. Then the wolf was often roused within him, +and he felt a momentary wild desire to become what the people here evidently +believed him to be. Many a night he sauntered irresolutely about the gambling +places in obscure streets, and the glare of light, the rude shouts and clamors +in the same moment repelled and attracted him. If he went to the devil, who +would care? His father had himself pointed out the way to him; and nobody could +blame him if he followed the advice. But then again a memory emerged from that +chamber of his soul which still he held sacred; and Bertha's deep-blue eyes +gazed upon him with their earnest look of tender warning and regret. When the +summer was half gone, Ralph had gained many a hard victory over himself, and +learned many a useful lesson; and at length he swallowed his pride, divested +himself of his fine clothes, and accepted a position as assistant gardener at a +villa on the Hudson. And as he stood perspiring with a spade in his hand, and a +cheap broad-brimmed straw hat on his head, he often took a grim pleasure in +picturing to himself how his aristocratic friends at home would receive him if +he should introduce himself to them in this new costume.<br><br>"After all, it +was only my position they cared for," he reflected, bitterly; "without my +father's name what would I be to them?"<br><br>Then, again, there was a certain +satisfaction in knowing that, for his present situation, humble as it was, he +was indebted to nobody but himself; and the thought that Bertha's eyes, if they +could have seen him now, would have dwelt upon him with pleasure and +approbation, went far to console him for his aching back, his sunburned face, +and his swollen and blistered hands.<br><br>One day, as Ralph was raking the +gravel-walks in the garden, his employer's daughter, a young lady of seventeen, +came out and spoke to him. His culture and refinement of manner struck her with +wonder, and she asked him to tell her his history; but then he suddenly grew +very grave, and she forbore pressing him. From that time she attached a kind of +romantic interest to him, and finally induced her father to obtain him a +situation that would be more to his taste. And, before winter came, Ralph saw +the dawn of a new future glimmering before him. He had wrestled bravely with +fate, and had once more gained a victory. He began the career in which success +and distinction awaited him as proofreader on a newspaper in the city. He had +fortunately been familiar with the English language before he left home, and by +the strength of his will he conquered all difficulties. At the end of two years +he became attached to the editorial staff; new ambitious hopes, hitherto +foreign to his mind, awoke within him; and with joyous tumult of heart he saw +life opening its wide vistas before him, and he labored on manfully to repair +the losses of the past, and to prepare himself for greater usefulness in times +to come. He felt in himself a stronger and fuller manhood, as if the great +arteries of the vast universal world-life pulsed in his own being. The drowsy, +indolent existence at home appeared like a dull remote dream from which he had +awaked, and he blessed the destiny which, by its very sternness, had mercifully +saved him; he blessed her, too, who, from the very want of love for him, had, +perhaps, made him worthier of love.<br><br>The years flew rapidly. Society had +flung its doors open to him, and what was more, he had found some warm friends, +in whose houses he could come and go at pleasure. He enjoyed keenly the +privilege of daily association with high-minded and refined women; their eager +activity of intellect stimulated him, their exquisite ethereal grace and their +delicately chiseled beauty satisfied his aesthetic cravings, and the responsive +vivacity of their nature prepared him ever new surprises. He felt a strange +fascination in the presence of these women, and the conviction grew upon him +that their type of womanhood was superior to any he had hitherto known. And by +way of refuting his own argument, he would draw from his pocketbook the +photograph of Bertha, which had a secret compartment there all to itself, and, +gazing tenderly at it, would eagerly defend her against the disparaging +reflections which the involuntary comparison had provoked. And still, how could +he help seeing that her features, though well molded, lacked animation; that +her eye, with its deep, trustful glance, was not brilliant, and that the calm +earnestness of her face, when compared with the bright, intellectual beauty of +his present friends, appeared pale and simple, like a violet in a bouquet of +vividly colored roses? It gave him a quick pang, when, at times, he was forced +to admit this; nevertheless, it was the truth.<br><br>After six years of +residence in America, Ralph had gained a very high reputation as a journalist +of rare culture and ability, and in 1867 he was sent to the World's Exhibition +in Paris, as correspondent of the paper on which he had during all these years +been employed. What wonder, then, that he started for Europe a few weeks before +his presence was needed in the imperial city, and that he steered his course +directly toward the fjord valley where Bertha had her home? It was she who had +bidden him Godspeed when he fled from the land of his birth, and she, too, +should receive his first greeting on his return.</p><p +align="center">V</p><p>The sun had fortified itself behind a citadel of flaming +clouds, and the upper forest region shone with a strange ethereal glow, while +the lower plains were wrapped in shadow; but the shadow itself had a strong +suffusion of color. The mountain peaks rose cold and blue in the +distance.<br><br>Ralph, having inquired his way of the boatman who had landed +him at the pier, walked rapidly along the beach, with a small valise in his +hand, and a light summer overcoat flung over his shoulder. Many half-thoughts +grazed his mind, and ere the first had taken shape, the second and the third +came and chased it away. And still they all in some fashion had reference to +Bertha; for in a misty, abstract way, she filled his whole mind; but for some +indefinable reason, he was afraid to give free rein to the sentiment which +lurked in the remoter corners of his soul.<br><br>Onward he hastened, while his +heart throbbed with the quickening tempo of mingled expectation and fear. Now +and then one of those chill gusts of air, which seem to be careering about +aimlessly in the atmosphere during early summer, would strike into his face, +and recall him to a keener self-consciousness.<br><br>Ralph concluded, from his +increasing agitation, that he must be very near Bertha's home. He stopped and +looked around him. He saw a large maple at the roadside, some thirty steps from +where he was standing, and the girl who was sitting under it, resting her head +in her hand and gazing out over the sea, he recognized in an instant to be +Bertha. He sprang up on the road, not crossing, however, her line of vision, +and approached her noiselessly from behind.<br><br>"Bertha," he +whispered.<br><br>She gave a little joyous cry, sprang up, and made a gesture +as if to throw herself in his arms; then suddenly checked herself, blushed +crimson, and moved a step backward.<br><br>"You came so suddenly," she +murmured.<br><br>"But, Bertha," cried he (and the full bass of his voice rang +through her very soul), "have I gone into exile and waited these many years for +so cold a welcome?"<br><br>"You have changed so much, Ralph," she answered, +with that old grave smile which he knew so well, and stretched out both her +hands toward him. "And I have thought of you so much since you went away, and +blamed myself because I had judged you so harshly, and wondered that you could +listen to me so patiently, and never bear me any malice for what I +said."<br><br>"If you had said a word less," declared Ralph, seating himself at +her side on the greensward, "or if you had varnished it over with politeness, +then you would probably have failed to produce any effect and I should not have +been burdened with that heavy debt of gratitude which I now owe you. I was a +pretty thick-skinned animal in those days, Bertha. You said the right word at +the right moment; you gave me a bold and a good piece of advice, which my own +ingenuity would never have suggested to me. I will not thank you, because, in +so grave a case as this, spoken thanks sound like a mere mockery. Whatever I +am, Bertha, and whatever I may hope to be, I owe it all to that +hour."<br><br>She listened with rapture to the manly assurance of his voice; +her eyes dwelt with unspeakable joy upon his strong, bronzed features, his full +thick blond beard, and the vigorous proportions of his frame. Many and many a +time during his absence had she wondered how he would look if he ever came +back, and with that minute conscientiousness which, as it were, pervaded her +whole character, she had held herself responsible before God for his fate, +prayed for him, and trembled lest evil powers should gain the ascendency over +his soul.<br><br>On their way to the house they talked together of many things, +but in a guarded, cautious fashion, and without the cheerful abandonment of +former years. They both, as it were, groped their way carefully in each other's +minds, and each vaguely felt that there was something in the other's thought +which it was not well to touch unbidden. Bertha saw that all her fears for him +had been groundless, and his very appearance lifted the whole weight of +responsibility from her breast; and still, did she rejoice at her deliverance +from her burden? Ah, no; in this moment she knew that that which she had +foolishly cherished as the best and noblest part of herself had been but a +selfish need of her own heart. She feared that she had only taken that interest +in him which one feels in a thing of one's own making, and now, when she saw +that he had risen quite above her; that he was free and strong, and could have +no more need of her, she had, instead of generous pleasure at his success, but +a painful sense of emptiness, as if something very dear had been taken from +her.<br><br>Ralph, too, was loth to analyze the impression his old love made +upon him. His feelings were of so complex a nature, he was anxious to keep his +more magnanimous impulses active, and he strove hard to convince himself that +she was still the same to him as she had been before they had ever parted. But, +alas! though the heart be warm and generous, the eye is a merciless critic. And +the man who had moved on the wide arena of the world, whose mind had housed the +large thoughts of this century, and expanded with its invigorating +breath—was he to blame because he had unconsciously outgrown his old +provincial self, and could no more judge by its standards?<br><br>Bertha's +father was a peasant, but he had, by his lumber trade, acquired what in Norway +was called a very handsome fortune. He received his guest with dignified +reserve, and Ralph thought he detected in his eyes a lurking look of distrust. +"I know your errand," that look seemed to say, "but you had better give it up +at once. It will be of no use for you to try."<br><br>And after supper, as +Ralph and Bertha sat talking confidingly with each other at the window, he sent +his daughter a quick, sharp glance, and then, without ceremony, commanded her +to go to bed. Ralph's heart gave a great thump within him; not because he +feared the old man, but because his words, as well as his glances, revealed to +him the sad history of these long, patient years. He doubted no longer that the +love which he had once so ardently desired was his at last: and he made a +silent vow that, come what might, he would remain faithful.<br><br>As he came +down to breakfast the next morning, he found Bertha sitting at the window, +engaged in hemming what appeared to be a rough kitchen towel. She bent eagerly +over her work, and only a vivid flush upon her cheek told him that she had +noticed his coming. He took a chair, seated himself opposite her, and bade her +"good-morning." She raised her head, and showed him a sweet, troubled +countenance, which the early sunlight illumined with a high spiritual beauty. +It reminded him forcibly of those pale, sweet-faced saints of Fra Angelico, +with whom the frail flesh seems ever on the point of yielding to the ardent +aspirations of the spirit. And still even in this moment he could not prevent +his eyes from observing that one side of her forefinger was rough from sewing, +and that the whiteness of her arm, which the loose sleeves displayed, +contrasted strongly with the browned and sunburned complexion of her +hands.<br><br>After breakfast they again walked together on the beach, and +Ralph, having once formed his resolution, now talked freely of the New +World—of his sphere of activity there; of his friends and of his plans +for the future; and she listened to him with a mild, perplexed look in her +eyes, as if trying vainly to follow the flight of his thoughts. And he +wondered, with secret dismay, whether she was still the same strong, brave- +hearted girl whom he had once accounted almost bold; whether the life in this +narrow valley, amid a hundred petty and depressing cares, had not cramped her +spiritual growth, and narrowed the sphere of her thought. Or was she still the +same, and was it only he who had changed? At last he gave utterance to his +wonder, and she answered him in those grave, earnest tones which seemed in +themselves to be half a refutation of his doubts.<br><br>"It was easy for me to +give you daring advice then, Ralph," she said. "Like most school-girls, I +thought that life was a great and glorious thing, and that happiness was a +fruit which hung within reach of every hand. Now I have lived for six years +trying single-handed to relieve the want and suffering of the needy people with +whom I come in contact, and their squalor and wretchedness have sickened me, +and, what is still worse, I feel that all I can do is as a drop in the ocean, +and, after all, amounts to nothing. I know I am no longer the same reckless +girl who, with the very best intention, sent you wandering through the wide +world; and I thank God that it proved to be for your good, although the whole +now appears quite incredible to me. My thoughts have moved so long within the +narrow circle of these mountains that they have lost their youthful elasticity, +and can no more rise above them."<br><br>Ralph detected, in the midst of her +despondency, a spark of her former fire, and grew eloquent in his endeavors to +persuade her that she was unjust to herself, and that there was but a wider +sphere of life needed to develop all the latent powers of her rich +nature.<br><br>At the dinner-table, her father again sat eying his guest with +that same cold look of distrust and suspicion. And when the meal was at an end, +he rose abruptly and called his daughter into another room. Presently Ralph +heard his angry voice resounding through the house, interrupted now and then by +a woman's sobs, and a subdued, passionate pleading. When Bertha again entered +the room, her eyes were very red, and he saw that she had been weeping. She +threw a shawl over her shoulders, beckoned to him with her hand, and he arose +and followed her. She led the way silently until they reached a thick copse of +birch and alder near the strand. She dropped down upon a bench between two +trees, and he took his seat at her side.<br><br>"Ralph," began she, with a +visible effort, "I hardly know what to say to you; but there is something which +I must tell you—my father wishes you to leave us at once."<br><br>"And +<i>you</i>, Bertha?"<br><br>"Well—yes—I wish it too."<br><br>She +saw the painful shock which her words gave him, and she strove hard to speak. +Her lips trembled, her eyes became suffused with tears, which grew and grew, +but never fell; she could not utter a word.<br><br>"Well, Bertha," answered he, +with a little quiver in his voice, "if you, too, wish me to go, I shall not +tarry. Good-by."<br><br>He rose quickly, and, with averted face, held out his +hand to her; but as she made no motion to grasp the hand, he began distractedly +to button his coat, and moved slowly away.<br><br>"Ralph."<br><br>He turned +sharply, and, before he knew it, she lay sobbing upon his +breast.<br><br>"Ralph," she murmured, while the tears almost choked her words, +"I could not have you leave me thus. It is hard enough—it is +hard<br>enough—"<br><br>"What is hard, beloved?"<br><br>She raised her +head abruptly, and turned upon him a gaze full of hope and doubt, and sweet +perplexity.<br><br>"Ah, no, you do not love me," she whispered, +sadly.<br><br>"Why should I come to seek you, after these many years, dearest, +if I did not wish to make you my wife before God and men? Why should +I—"<br><br>"Ah, yes, I know," she interrupted him with a fresh fit of +weeping, "you are too good and honest to wish to throw me away, now when you +have seen how my soul has hungered for the sight of you these many years, how +even now I cling to you with a despairing clutch. But you can not disguise +yourself, Ralph, and I saw from the first moment that you loved me no +more.<br><br>"Do not be such an unreasonable child," he remonstrated, feebly. +"I do not love you with the wild, irrational passion of former years; but I +have the tenderest regard for you, and my heart warms at the sight of your +sweet face, and I shall do all in my power to make you as happy as any man can +make you who—"<br><br>"Who does not love me," she finished.<br><br>A +sudden shudder seemed to shake her whole frame, and she drew herself more +tightly up to him.<br><br>"Ah, no," she continued, after a while, sinking back +upon her seat. "It is a hopeless thing to compel a reluctant heart. I will +accept no sacrifice from you. You owe me nothing, for you have acted toward me +honestly and uprightly, and I shall be a stronger or—at least—a +better woman for what you gave me—and—for what you could not give +me, even though you would."<br><br>"But, Bertha," exclaimed he, looking +mournfully at her, "it is not true when you say that I owe you nothing. Six +years ago, when first I wooed you, you could not return my love, and you sent +me out into the world, and even refused to accept any pledge or promise for the +future."<br><br>"And you returned," she responded, "a man, such as my hope had +pictured you; but, while I had almost been standing still, you had outgrown me, +and outgrown your old self, and, with your old self, outgrown its love for me, +for your love was not of your new self, but of the old. Alas! it is a sad tale, +but it is true."<br><br>She spoke gravely now, and with a steadier voice, but +her eyes hung upon his face with an eager look of expectation, as if yearning +to detect there some gleam of hope, some contradiction of the dismal truth. He +read that look aright and it pierced him like a sharp sword. He made a brave +effort to respond to its appeal, but his features seemed hard as stone, and he +could only cry out against his destiny, and bewail his misfortune and +hers.<br><br>Toward evening, Ralph was sitting in an open boat, listening to +the measured oar-strokes of the boatmen who were rowing him out to the nearest +stopping-place of the steamer. The mountains lifted their great placid heads up +among the sun-bathed clouds, and the fjord opened its cool depths as if to make +room for their vast reflections. Ralph felt as if he were floating in the midst +of the blue infinite space, and, with the strength which this feeling inspired, +he tried to face boldly the thought from which he had but a moment ago shrunk +as from something hopelessly sad and perplexing.<br><br>And in that hour he +looked fearlessly into the gulf which separates the New World from the Old. He +had hoped to bridge it; but, alas! it can not be bridged.</p> +<br><br><br><br> +<h2><a name="6">THE IDYL OF RED +GULCH</a><br> +—————————— +<br>BY BRET HARTE<br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A +writer"></h2><p><i>Francis Bret Harte (born at Albany, N. Y., August 25, 1839; +died in 1902) wrought a revolution in the art of story-writing by his +California tale, "The Luck of Roaring Camp" which appeared in 1868 in the +second number of "The Overland Monthly," of which Harte was editor. This was +followed by a number of stories of the same original quality, such as "The +Outcasts of Poker Flat" and "The Idyl of Red Gulch," concerning which Parke +Godwin wrote in "Putnam's Magazine," 1870: "Bret Harte has deepened and +broadened our literary and moral sympathies; he has broken the sway of the +artificial and conventional; he has substituted actualities for +idealities—but actualities that manifest the grandeur of self-sacrifice, +the beauty of love, the power of childhood, and the ascendency of +nature."</i></p><h2><img src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p +align="center">THE IDYL OF RED GULCH<br><span class="b2">BY BRET +HARTE<br>[Footnote: Copyright, 1899, by Bret Harte. Published by special +arrangement with Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers of Mr. Harte's +works.]</span></p><p><span class="b3">S</span>ANDY was very drunk. He was lying +under an azalea-bush, in pretty much the same attitude in which he had fallen +some hours before. How long he had been lying there he could not tell, and +didn't care; how long he should lie there was a matter equally indefinite and +unconsidered. A tranquil philosophy, born of his physical condition, suffused +and saturated his moral being.<br><br>The spectacle of a drunken man, and of +this drunken man in particular, was not, I grieve to say, of sufficient novelty +in Red Gulch to attract attention. Earlier in the day some local satirist had +erected a temporary tombstone at Sandy's head, bearing the inscription, +"Effects of McCorkle's whiskey—kills at forty rods," with a hand pointing +to McCorkle's saloon. But this, I imagine, was, like most local satire, +personal; and was a reflection upon the unfairness of the process rather than a +commentary upon the impropriety of the result. With this facetious exception, +Sandy had been undisturbed. A wandering mule, released from his pack, had +cropped the scant herbage beside him, and sniffed curiously at the prostrate +man; a vagabond dog, with that deep sympathy which the species have for drunken +men, had licked his dusty boots and curled himself up at his feet, and lay +there, blinking one eye in the sunlight, with a simulation of dissipation that +was ingenious and dog-like in its implied flattery of the unconscious man +beside him.<br><br>Meanwhile the shadows of the pine-trees had slowly swung +around until they crossed the road, and their trunks barred the open meadow +with gigantic parallels of black and yellow. Little puffs of red dust, lifted +by the plunging hoofs of passing teams, dispersed in a grimy shower upon the +recumbent man. The sun sank lower and lower, and still Sandy stirred not. And +then the repose of this philosopher was disturbed, as other philosophers have +been, by the intrusion of an unphilosophical sex.<br><br>"Miss Mary," as she +was known to the little flock that she had just dismissed from the log +schoolhouse beyond the pines, was taking her afternoon walk. Observing an +unusually fine cluster of blossoms on the azalea-bush opposite, she crossed the +road to pluck it, picking her way through the red dust, not without certain +fierce little shivers of disgust and some feline circumlocution. And then she +came suddenly upon Sandy!<br><br>Of course she uttered the little staccato cry +of her sex. But when she had paid that tribute to her physical weakness she +became overbold and halted for a moment—at least six feet from this +prostrate<br>monster—with her white skirts gathered in her hand, ready +for flight. But neither sound nor motion came from the bush. With one little +foot she then overturned the satirical headboard, and muttered +"Beasts!"—an epithet which probably, at that moment, conveniently +classified in her mind the entire male population of Red Gulch. For Miss Mary, +being possessed of certain rigid notions of her own, had not, perhaps, properly +appreciated the demonstrative gallantry for which the Californian has been so +justly celebrated by his brother Californians, and had, as a new-comer, perhaps +fairly earned the reputation of being "stuck up."<br><br>As she stood there she +noticed, also, that the slant sunbeams were heating Sandy's head to what she +judged to be an unhealthy temperature, and that his hat was lying uselessly at +his side. To pick it up and to place it over his face was a work requiring some +courage, particularly as his eyes were open. Yet she did it and made good her +retreat. But she was somewhat concerned, on looking back, to see that the hat +was removed, and that Sandy was sitting up and saying something.<br><br>The +truth was, that in the calm depths of Sandy's mind he was satisfied that the +rays of the sun were beneficial and healthful; that from childhood he had +objected to lying down in a hat; that no people but condemned fools, past +redemption, ever wore hats; and that his right to dispense with them when he +pleased was inalienable. This was the statement of his inner consciousness. +Unfortunately, its outward expression was vague, being limited to a repetition +of the following formula: "Su'shine all ri'! Wasser maär, eh? Wass up, +su'shine?"<br><br>Miss Mary stopped, and, taking fresh courage from her vantage +of distance, asked him if there was anything that he wanted.<br><br>"Wass up? +Wasser maär?" continued Sandy, in a very high key.<br><br>"Get up, you horrid +man!" said Miss Mary, now thoroughly incensed; "get up and go +home."<br><br>Sandy staggered to his feet. He was six feet high, and Miss Mary +trembled. He started forward a few paces and then stopped.<br><br>"Wass I go +home for?" he suddenly asked, with great gravity.<br><br>"Go and take a bath," +replied Miss Mary, eying his grimy person with great disfavor.<br><br>To her +infinite dismay, Sandy suddenly pulled off his coat and vest, threw them on the +ground, kicked off his boots, and, plunging wildly forward, darted headlong +over the hill in the direction of the river.<br><br>"Goodness heavens! the man +will be drowned!" said Miss Mary; and then, with feminine inconsistency, she +ran back to the schoolhouse and locked herself in.<br><br>That night, while +seated at supper with her hostess, the blacksmith's wife, it came to Miss Mary +to ask, demurely, if her husband ever got drunk. "Abner," responded Mrs. +Stidger reflectively—"let's see! Abner hasn't been tight since last +'lection." Miss Mary would have liked to ask if he preferred lying in the sun +on these occasions, and if a cold bath would have hurt him; but this would have +involved an explanation, which she did not then care to give. So she contented +herself with opening her gray eyes widely at the red-cheeked Mrs. +Stidger—a fine specimen of Southwestern efflorescence—and then +dismissed the subject altogether. The next day she wrote to her dearest friend +in Boston: "I think I find the intoxicated portion of this community the least +objectionable. I refer, my dear, to the men, of course. I do not know anything +that could make the women tolerable."<br><br>In less than a week Miss Mary had +forgotten this episode, except that her afternoon walks took thereafter, almost +unconsciously, another direction. She noticed, however, that every morning a +fresh cluster of azalea, blossoms appeared among the flowers on her desk. This +was not strange, as her little flock were aware of her fondness for flowers, +and invariably kept her desk bright with anemones, syringas, and lupines; but, +on questioning them, they one and all professed ignorance of the azaleas. A few +days later, Master Johnny Stidger, whose desk was nearest to the window, was +suddenly taken with spasms of apparently gratuitous laughter, that threatened +the discipline of the school. All that Miss Mary could get from him was, that +some one had been "looking in the winder." Irate and indignant, she sallied +from her hive to do battle with the intruder. As she turned the corner of the +schoolhouse she came plump upon the quondam drunkard, now perfectly sober, and +inexpressibly sheepish and guilty-looking.<br><br>These facts Miss Mary was not +slow to take a feminine advantage of, in her present humor. But it was somewhat +confusing to observe, also, that the beast, despite some faint signs of past +dissipation, was<br>amiable-looking—in fact, a kind of blond Samson, +whose corn-colored silken beard apparently had never yet known the touch of +barber's razor or Delilah's shears. So that the cutting speech which quivered +on her ready tongue died upon her lips, and she contented herself with +receiving his stammering apology with supercilious eyelids and the gathered +skirts of uncontamination. When she re-entered the schoolroom, her eyes fell +upon the azaleas with a new sense of revelation; and then she laughed, and the +little people all laughed, and they were all unconsciously very +happy.<br><br>It was a hot day, and not long after this, that two short-legged +boys came to grief on the threshold of the school with a pail of water, which +they had laboriously brought from the spring, and that Miss Mary +compassionately seized the pail and started for the spring herself. At the foot +of the hill a shadow crossed her path, and a blue-shirted arm dexterously but +gently relieved her of her burden. Miss Mary was both embarrassed and angry. +"If you carried more of that for yourself," she said spitefully to the blue +arm, without deigning to raise her lashes to its owner, "you'd do better." In +the submissive silence that followed she regretted the speech, and thanked him +so sweetly at the door that he stumbled. Which caused the children to laugh +again—a laugh in which Miss Mary joined, until the color came faintly +into her pale cheek. The next day a barrel was mysteriously placed beside the +door, and as mysteriously filled with fresh spring-water every +morning.<br><br>Nor was this superior young person without other quiet +attentions. "Profane Bill," driver of the Slumgullion Stage, widely known in +the newspapers for his "gallantry" in invariably offering the box-seat to the +fair sex, had excepted Miss Mary from this attention, on the ground that he had +a habit of "cussin' on up grades," and gave her half the coach to herself. Jack +Hamlin, a gambler, having once silently ridden with her in the same coach, +afterward threw a decanter at the head of a confederate for mentioning her name +in a barroom. The over-dressed mother of a pupil whose paternity was doubtful +had often lingered near this astute Vestal's temple, never daring to enter its +sacred precincts, but content to worship the priestess from afar.<br><br>With +such unconscious intervals the monotonous procession of blue skies, glittering +sunshine, brief twilights, and starlit nights passed over Red Gulch. Miss Mary +grew fond of walking in the sedate and proper woods. Perhaps she believed, with +Mrs. Stidger, that the balsamic odors of the firs "did her chest good," for +certainly her slight cough was less frequent and her step was firmer; perhaps +she had learned the unending lesson which the patient pines are never weary of +repeating to heedful or listless ears. And so one day she planned a picnic on +Buckeye Hill, and took the children with her. Away from the dusty road, the +straggling shanties, the yellow ditches, the clamor of restless engines, the +cheap finery of shop-windows, the deeper glitter of paint and colored glass, +and the thin veneering which barbarism takes upon itself in such localities, +what infinite relief was theirs! The last heap of ragged rock and clay passed, +the last unsightly chasm crossed—how the waiting woods opened their long +files to receive them! How the children—perhaps because they had not yet +grown quite away from the breast of the bounteous Mother—threw themselves +face downward on her brown bosom with uncouth caresses, filling the air with +their laughter; and how Miss Mary herself—felinely fastidious and +intrenched as she was in the purity of spotless skirts, collar, and +cuffs—forgot all, and ran like a crested quail at the head of her brood, +until, romping, laughing, and panting, with a loosened braid of brown hair, a +hat hanging by a knotted ribbon from her throat, she came suddenly and +violently, in the heart of the forest, upon the luckless Sandy!<br><br>The +explanations, apologies, and not overwise conversation that ensued need not be +indicated here. It would seem, however, that Miss Mary had already established +some acquaintance with this ex-drunkard. Enough that he was soon accepted as +one of the party; that the children, with that quick intelligence which +Providence gives the helpless, recognized a friend, and played with his blond +beard and long silken mustache, and took other liberties—as the helpless +are apt to do. And when he had built a fire against a tree, and had shown them +other mysteries of woodcraft, their admiration knew no bounds. At the close of +two such foolish, idle, happy hours he found himself lying at the feet of the +schoolmistress, gazing dreamily in her face as she sat upon the sloping +hillside weaving wreaths of laurel and syringa, in very much the same attitude +as he had lain when first they met. Nor was the similitude greatly forced. The +weakness of an easy, sensuous nature, that had found a dreamy exaltation in +liquor, it is to be feared was now finding ah equal intoxication in +love.<br><br>I think that Sandy was dimly conscious of this himself. I know +that he longed to be doing something—slaying a grizzly, scalping a +savage, or sacrificing himself in some way for the sake of this sallow-faced, +gray-eyed schoolmistress. As I should like to present him in an heroic +attitude, I stay my hand with great difficulty at this moment, being only +withheld from introducing such an episode by a strong conviction that it does +not usually occur at such times. And I trust that my fairest reader, who +remembers that, in a real crisis, it is always some uninteresting stranger or +unromantic policeman, and not Adolphus, who rescues, will forgive the +omission.<br><br>So they sat there undisturbed—the woodpeckers chattering +overhead and the voices of the children coming pleasantly from the hollow +below. What they said matters little. What they thought—which might have +been interesting—did not transpire. The woodpeckers only learned how Miss +Mary was an orphan; how she left her uncle's house to come to California for +the sake of health and independence; how Sandy was an orphan too; how he came +to California for excitement; how he had lived a wild life, and how he was +trying to reform; and other details, which, from a woodpecker's viewpoint, +undoubtedly must have seemed stupid and a waste of time. But even in such +trifles was the afternoon spent; and when the children were again gathered, and +Sandy, with a delicacy which the schoolmistress well understood, took leave of +them quietly at the outskirts of the settlement, it had seemed the shortest day +of her weary life.<br><br>As the long, dry summer withered to its roots, the +school term of Red Gulch—to use a local euphuism—"dried up" also. +In another day Miss Mary would be free, and for a season, at least, Red Gulch +would know her no more. She was seated alone in the school-house, her cheek +resting on her hand, her eyes half closed in one of those day-dreams in which +Miss Mary, I fear, to the danger of school discipline, was lately in the habit +of indulging. Her lap was full of mosses, ferns, and other woodland memories. +She was so preoccupied with these and her own thoughts that a gentle tapping at +the door passed unheard, or translated itself into the remembrance of far-off +woodpeckers. When at last it asserted itself more distinctly, she started up +with a flushed cheek and opened the door. On the threshold stood a woman, +the<br>self-assertion and audacity of whose dress were in singular contrast to +her timid, irresolute bearing.<br><br>Miss Mary recognized at a glance the +dubious mother of her anonymous pupil. Perhaps she was disappointed, perhaps +she was only fastidious; but as she coldly invited her to enter, she half +unconsciously settled her white cuffs and collar, and gathered closer her own +chaste skirts. It was, perhaps, for this reason that the embarrassed stranger, +after a moment's hesitation, left her gorgeous parasol open and sticking in the +dust beside the door, and then sat down at the further end of a long bench. Her +voice was husky as she began:<br><br>"I heerd tell that you were goin' down to +the Bay to-morrow, and I couldn't let you go until I came to thank you for your +kindness to my Tommy."<br><br>Tommy, Miss Mary said, was a good boy, and +deserved more than the poor attention she could give him.<br><br>"Thank you, +miss; thank ye!" cried the stranger, brightening even through the color which +Red Gulch knew facetiously as her "war paint," and striving, in her +embarrassment, to drag the long bench nearer the schoolmistress. "I thank you, +miss, for that; and if I am his mother, there ain't a sweeter, dearer, better +boy lives than him. And if I ain't much as says it, thar ain't a sweeter, +dearer, angeler teacher lives than he's got."<br><br>Miss Mary, sitting primly +behind her desk, with a ruler over her shoulder, opened her gray eyes widely at +this, but said nothing.<br><br>"It ain't for you to be complimented by the like +of me, I know," she went on hurriedly. "It ain't for me to be comin' here, in +broad day, to do it, either; but I come to ask a favor—not for me, +miss—not for me, but for the darling boy."<br><br>Encouraged by a look in +the young schoolmistress's eye, and putting her lilac-gloved hands together, +the ringers downward, between her knees, she went on, in a low +voice:<br><br>"You see, miss, there's no one the boy has any claim on but me, +and I ain't the proper person to bring him up. I thought some, last year, of +sending him away to Frisco to school, but when they talked of bringing a +schoolma'am here, I waited till I saw you, and then I knew it was all right, +and I could keep my boy a little longer. And, oh! miss, he loves you so much; +and if you could hear him talk about you in his pretty way, and if he could ask +you what I ask you now, you couldn't refuse him.<br><br>"It is natural," she +went on rapidly, in a voice that trembled strangely between pride and +humility—"it's natural that he should take to you, miss, for his father, +when I first knew him, was a gentleman—and the boy must forget me, sooner +or later—and so I ain't a-goin' to cry about that. For I come to ask you +to take my Tommy—God bless him for the bestest, sweetest boy that +lives—to—to—take him with you."<br><br>She had risen and +caught the young girl's hand in her own, and had fallen on her knees beside +her.<br><br>"I've money plenty, and it's all yours and his. Put him in some +good school, where you can go and see him, and help him to—to—to +forget his mother. Do with him what you like. The worst you can do will be +kindness to what he will learn with me. Only take him out of this wicked life, +this cruel place, this home of shame and sorrow. You will! I know you +will—won't you? You will—you must not, you can not say no! You will +make him as pure, as gentle as yourself; and when he has grown up, you will +tell him his father's name—the name that hasn't passed my lips for +years—the name of Alexander Morton, whom they call here Sandy! Miss +Mary!—do not take your hand away! Miss Mary, speak to me! You will take +my boy? Do not put your face from me. I know it ought not to look on such as +me. Miss Mary!—my God, be merciful!—she is leaving me!"<br><br>Miss +Mary had risen, and in the gathering twilight had felt her way to the open +window. She stood there, leaning against the casement, her eyes fixed on the +last rosy tints that were fading from the western sky. There was still some of +its light on her pure young forehead, on her white collar, on her clasped white +hands, but all fading slowly away. The suppliant had dragged herself, still on +her knees, beside her.<br><br>"I know it takes time to consider. I will wait +here all night; but I can not go until you speak. Do not deny me now. You +will!—I see it in your sweet face—such a face as I have seen in my +dreams. I see it in your eyes, Miss Mary!—you will take my +boy!"<br><br>The last red beam crept higher, suffused Miss Mary's eyes with +something of its glory, flickered, and faded, and went out. The sun had set on +Red Gulch. In the twilight and silence Miss Mary's voice sounded +pleasantly.<br><br>"I will take the boy. Send him to me to-night."<br><br>The +happy mother raised the hem of Miss Mary's skirts to her lips. She would have +buried her hot face in its virgin folds, but she dared not. She rose to her +feet.<br><br>"Does—this man—know of your intention?" asked Miss +Mary suddenly.<br><br>"No, nor cares. He has never seen the child to know +it."<br><br>"Go to him at once—to-night—now! Tell him what you have +done. Tell him I have taken his child, and tell him—he must never +see—see—the child again. Wherever it may be, he must not come; +wherever I may take it, he must not follow! There, go now, please—I'm +weary, and—have much yet to do!"<br><br>They walked together to the door. +On the threshold the woman turned.<br><br>"Good-night!"<br><br>She would have +fallen at Miss Mary's feet. But at the same moment the young girl reached out +her arms, caught the sinful woman to her own pure breast for one brief moment, +and then closed and locked the door.<br><br>It was with a sudden sense of great +responsibility that Profane Bill took the reins of the Slumgullion stage the +next morning, for the schoolmistress was one of his passengers. As he entered +the highroad, in obedience to a pleasant voice from the "inside," he suddenly +reined up his horses and respectfully waited, as Tommy hopped out at the +command of Miss Mary.<br><br>"Not that bush, Tommy—the +next."<br><br>Tommy whipped out his new pocket-knife, and cutting a branch from +a tall azalea-bush, returned with it to Miss Mary.<br><br>"All right +now?"<br><br>"All right!"<br><br>And the stage-door closed on the Idyl of Red +Gulch.</p> +<br><br><br><br> +<h2><a name="7">CRUTCH, THE +PAGE</a><br> +—————————<br> +BY GEORGE ALFRED TOWNSEND<br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A +writer"></h2><p><i>George Alfred Townsend (born at Georgetown, Del., January +30, 1841) has written over his signature of "Gath" more newspaper +correspondence than any other living writer. In addition he has found time to +write a number of books, one of which, "Tales of the Chesapeake" published in +1880, ranks among the notable collections of American short stories. It +contains tales in the manner of Hawthorne, Poe, and Bret Harte, which critics +have complimented as being equal to the work of these masters. Of the present +selection, a story in which a famous Washington character, "Beau Hickman" is +introduced, E. C. Stedman said: "It is good enough for Bret Harte or +anybody."</i></p><h2><img src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p +align="center">CRUTCH, THE PAGE<br><span class="b2">BY GEORGE ALFRED TOWNSEND +("GATH")<br><br>[Footnote: From "Tales of the Chesapeake." Copyright, 1880, by +George Alfred Townsend]</span></p><p align="center">I—CHIPS</p><p><span +class="b3">T</span>HE Honorable Jeems Bee, of Texas, sitting in his committee- +room half an hour before the convening of Congress, waiting for his negro +familiar to compound a julep, was suddenly confronted by a small boy on +crutches.<br><br>"A letter!" exclaimed Mr. Bee, "with the frank of Reybold on +it—that Yankeest of Pennsylvania Whigs! Yer's familiarity! Wants me to +appoint one U—U—U, what?"<br><br>"Uriel Basil," said the small boy +on crutches, with a clear, bold, but rather sensitive voice.<br><br>"Uriel +Basil, a page in the House of Representatives, bein' an infirm, deservin' boy, +willin' to work to support his mother. Infirm boy wants to be a page, on the +recommendation of a Whig, to a Dimmycratic committee. I say, gen'lemen, what do +you think of that, heigh?"<br><br>This last addressed to some other members of +the committee, who had meantime entered.<br><br>"Infum boy will make a spry +page," said the Hon. Box Izard, of Arkansaw.<br><br>"Harder to get infum page +than the Speaker's eye," said the orator, Pontotoc Bibb, of +Georgia.<br><br>"Harder to get both than a 'pintment in these crowded times on +a opposition recommendation when all ole Virginny is yaw to be tuk care of," +said Hon. Fitzchew Smy, of the Old Dominion.<br><br>The small boy standing up +on crutches, with large hazel eyes swimming and wistful, so far from being cut +down by these criticisms, stood straighter, and only his narrow little chest +showed feeling, as it breathed quickly under his brown jacket.<br><br>"I can +run as fast as anybody," he said impetuously. "My sister says so. You try +me!"<br><br>"Who's yo' sister, bub?"<br><br>"Joyce."<br><br>"Who's +Joyce?"<br><br>"Joyce Basil—<i>Miss</i> Joyce Basil to you, gentlemen. My +mother keeps boarders. Mr. Reybold boards there. I think it's hard when a +little boy from the South wants to work, that the only body to help him find it +is a Northern man. Don't you?"<br><br>"Good hit!" cried Jeroboam Coffee, Esq., +of Alabama. "That boy would run, if he could!"<br><br>"Gentlemen," said another +member of the committee, the youthful abstractionist from South Carolina, who +was reputed to be a great poet on the stump, the Hon. Lowndes +Cleburn—"gentlemen, that boy puts the thing on its igeel merits and +brings it home to us. I'll ju my juty in this issue. Abe, wha's my +julep?"<br><br>"Gentlemen," said the Chairman of the Committee, Jeems Bee, "it +'pears to me that there's a social p'int right here. Reybold, bein' the only +Whig on the Lake and Bayou Committee, ought to have something if he sees fit to +ask for it. That's courtesy! We, of all men, gentlemen, can't afford to forget +it."<br><br>"No, by durn!" cried Fitzchew Smy.<br><br>"You're right, Bee!" +cried Box Izard. "You give it a constitutional set."<br><br>"Reybold," +continued Jeems Bee, thus encouraged, "Reybold is (to speak out) no genius! He +never will rise to the summits of usefulness. He lacks the air, the swing, the +<i>pose</i>, as the sculptors say; he won't treat, but he'll lend a little +money, provided he knows where you goin' with it. If he ain't open-hearted, he +ain't precisely mean!"<br><br>"You're right, Bee!" (General +expression.)<br><br>"Further on, it may be said that the framers of the +gov'ment never intended <i>all</i> the patronage to go to one side. Mr. +Jeff'son put <i>that</i> on the steelyard principle: the long beam here, the +big weight of being in the minority there. Mr. Jackson only threw it considabul +more on one side, but even he, gentlemen, didn't take the whole patronage from +the Outs; he always left 'em enough to keep up the courtesy of the thing, and +we can't go behind <i>him</i>. Not and be true to our traditions. Do I put it +right?"<br><br>"Bee," said the youthful Lowndes Cleburn, extending his hand, +"you put it with the lucidity and spirituality of Kulhoon +himself!"<br><br>"Thanks, Cleburn," said Bee; "this is a compliment not likely +to be forgotten, coming from you. Then it is agreed, as the Chayman of yo' +Committee, that I accede to the request of Mr. Reybold, of +Pennsylvania?"<br><br>"Aye!" from everybody.<br><br>"And now," said Mr. Bee, +"as we wair all up late at the club last night, I propose we take a second +julep, and as Reybold is coming in he will jine us."<br><br>"I won't give you a +farthing!" cried Reybold at the door, speaking to some one. "Chips, indeed! +What shall I give you money to gamble away for? A gambling beggar is worse than +an impostor! No, sir! Emphatically no!"<br><br>"A dollar for four chips for +brave old Beau!" said the other voice. "I've struck 'em all but you. By the +State Arms! I've got rights in this distreek! Everybody pays toll to brave old +Beau! Come down!"<br><br>The Northern Congressman retreated before this +pertinacious mendicant into his committee-room, and his pesterer followed him +closely, nothing abashed, even into the privileged cloisters of the committee. +The Southern members enjoyed the situation.<br><br>"Chips, Right Honorable! +Chips for old Beau. Nobody this ten-year has run as long as you. I've laid for +you, and now I've fell on you. Judge Bee, the fust business befo' yo' committee +this mornin' is a assessment for old Beau, who's 'way down! Rheu-matiz, bettin' +on the black, failure of remittances from Fauqueeah, and other casualties by +wind an' flood, have put ole Beau away down. He's a institution of his country +and must be sustained!"<br><br>The laughter was general and cordial among the +Southerners, while the intruder pressed hard upon Mr. Reybold. He was a +singular object; tall, grim, half-comical, with a leer of low familiarity in +his eyes, but his waxed mustache of military proportions, his patch of goatee +just above the chin, his elaborately oiled hair and flaming necktie, set off +his faded face with an odd gear of finery and impressiveness. His skin was that +of an old <i>roué's,</i> patched up and chalked, but the features were those of +a once handsome man of style and carriage.<br><br>He wore what appeared to be a +cast-off spring overcoat, out of season and color on this blustering winter +day, a rich buff waistcoat of an embossed pattern, such as few persons would +care to assume, save, perhaps, a gambler, negro buyer, or fine "buck" barber. +The assumption of a large and flashy pin stood in his frilled shirt-bosom. He +wore watch-seals without the accompanying watch, and his pantaloons, though +faded and threadbare, were once of fine material and cut in a style of +extravagant elegance, and they covered his long, shrunken, but aristocratic +limbs, and were strapped beneath his boots to keep them shapely. The boots +themselves had been once of varnished kid or fine calf, but they were cracked +and cut, partly by use, partly for comfort; for it was plain that their wearer +had the gout, by his aristocratic hobble upon a gold-mounted cane, which was +not the least inconsistent garniture of mendicancy.<br><br>"Boys," said +Fitzchew Smy, "I s'pose we better come down early. There's a shillin', Beau. If +I had one more such constituent as you, I should resign or die +premachorely!"<br><br>"There's a piece o' tobacker," said Jeems Bee languidly, +"all I can afford, Beau, this mornin'. I went to a chicken-fight yesterday and +lost all my change."<br><br>"Mine," said Box Izard, "is a regulation pen-knife, +contributed by the United States, with the regret, Beau, that I can't +'commodate you with a pine coffin for you to git into and git away down lower +than you ever been."<br><br>"Yaw's a dollar," said Pontotoc Bibb; "it'll do for +me an' Lowndes Cleburn, who's a poet and genius, and never has no money. This +buys me off, Beau, for a month."<br><br>The gorgeous old mendicant took them +all grimly and leering, and then pounced upon the Northern man, assured by +their twinkles and winks that the rest expected some sport.<br><br>"And now, +Right Honorable from the banks of the Susquehanna, Colonel Reybold—you +see, I got your name; I ben a layin' for you!—come down handsome for the +Uncle and ornament of this capital and country. What's +yore's?"<br><br>"Nothing," said Reybold in a quiet way. "I can not give a man +like you anything, even to get rid of him."<br><br>"You're mean," said the +stylish beggar, winking to the rest. "You hate to put your hand down in yer +pocket, mightily. I'd rather be ole Beau, and live on suppers at the faro +banks, than love a dollar like you!"<br><br>"I'll make it a V for Beau," said +Pontotoc Bibb, "if he gives him a rub on the raw like that another lick. Durn a +mean man, Cleburn!"<br><br>"Come down, Northerner," pressed the incorrigible +loafer again; "it don't become a Right Honorable to be so mean with old +Beau."<br><br>The little boy on crutches, who had been looking at this scene in +a state of suspense and interest for some time, here cried hotly:<br><br>"If +you say Mr. Reybold is a mean man, you tell a story, you nasty beggar! He often +gives things to me and Joyce, my sister. He's just got me work, which is the +best thing to give; don't you think so, gentlemen?"<br><br>"Work," said Lowndes +Cleburn, "is the best thing to give away, and the most onhandy thing to keep. I +like play the best—Beau's kind o' play!"<br><br>"Yes," said Jeroboam +Coffee; "I think I prefer to make the chips fly out of a table more than out of +a log."<br><br>"I like to work!" cried the little boy, his hazel eyes shining, +and his poor, narrow body beating with unconscious fervor, half suspended on +his crutches, as if he were of that good descent and natural spirit which could +assert itself without bashfulness in the presence of older people. "I like to +work for my mother. If I was strong, like other little boys, I would make money +for her, so that she shouldn't keep any boarders—except Mr. Reybold. Oh! +she has to work a lot; but she's proud and won't tell anybody. All the money I +get I mean to give her; but I wouldn't have it if I had to beg for it like that +man!"<br><br>"O Beau," said Colonel Jeems Bee, "you've cotched it now! +Reybold's even with you. Little Crutch has cooked your goose! Crutch is right +eloquent when his wind will permit."<br><br>The fine old loafer looked at the +boy, whom he had not previously noticed, and it was observed that the last +shaft had hurt his pride. The boy returned his wounded look with a straight, +undaunted, spirited glance, out of a child's nature. Mr. Reybold was impressed +with something in the attitude of the two, which made him forget his own +interest in the controversy.<br><br>Beau answered with a tone of nearly tender +pacification:<br><br>"Now, my little man; come, don't be hard on the old +veteran! He's down, old Beau is, sence the time he owned his blooded pacer and +dined with the <i>Corps Diplomatique</i>; Beau's down sence then; but don't +call the old feller hard names. We take it back, don't we?—we take +<i>them</i> words back?"<br><br>"There's a angel somewhere," said Lowndes +Cleburn, "even in a Washington bummer, which responds to a little chap on +crutches with a clear voice. Whether the angel takes the side of the bummer or +the little chap, is a p'int out of our jurisdiction. Abe, give Beau a julep. He +seems to have been demoralized by little Crutch's last."<br><br>"Take them hard +words back, Bub," whined the licensed mendicant, with either real or affected +pain; "it's a p'int of honor I'm a-standin' on. Do, now, little +Major!"<br><br>"I shan't!" cried the boy. "Go and work like me. You're big, and +you called Mr. Reybold mean. Haven't you got a wife or little girl, or nobody +to work for? You ought to work for yourself, anyhow. Oughtn't he, +gentlemen?"<br><br>Reybold, who had slipped around by the little cripple and +was holding him in a caressing way from behind, looked over to Beau and was +even more impressed with that generally undaunted worthy's expression. It was +that of acute and suffering sensibility, perhaps the effervescence of some +little remaining pride, or it might have been a twinge of the gout. Beau looked +at the little boy, suspended there with the weak back and the narrow chest, and +that scintillant, sincere spirit beaming out with courage born in the stock he +belonged to. Admiration, conciliation, and pain were in the ruined vagrant's +eyes. Reybold felt a sense of pity. He put his hand in his pocket and drew +forth a dollar.<br><br>"Here, Beau," he said, "I'll make an exception. You seem +to have some feeling. Don't mind the boy!"<br><br>In an instant the coin was +flying from his hand through the air. The beggar, with a livid face and +clinched cane, confronted the Congressman like a maniac.<br><br>"You bilk!" he +cried. "You supper customer! I'll brain you! I had rather parted with my shoes +at a dolly shop and gone gadding the hoof, without a doss to sleep on—a +town pauper, done on the vag—than to have been made scurvy in the sight +of that child and deserve his words of shame!"<br><br>He threw his head upon +the table and burst into tears.</p><p align="center">II—HASH</p><p>Mrs. +Tryphonia Basil kept a boarding-house of the usual kind on Four-and-a-Half +Street. Male clerks—there were no female clerks in the Government in +1854—to the number of half a dozen, two old bureau officers, an +architect's assistant, Reybold, and certain temporary visitors made up the +table. The landlady was the mistress; the slave was Joyce.<br><br>Joyce Basil +was a fine-looking girl, who did not know it—a fact so astounding as to +be fitly related only in fiction. She did not know it, because she had to work +so hard for the boarders and her mother. Loving her mother with the whole of +her affection, she had suffered all the pains and penalties of love from that +repository. She was to-day upbraided for her want of coquetry and neatness; to- +morrow, for proposing to desert her mother and elope with a person she had +never thought of. The mainstay of the establishment, she was not aware of her +usefulness. Accepting every complaint and outbreak as if she deserved it, the +poor girl lived at the capital a beautiful scullion, an unsalaried domestic, +and daily forwarded the food to the table, led in the chamber work, rose from +bed unrested and retired with all her bones aching. But she was of a natural +grace that hard work could not make awkward; work only gave her bodily power, +brawn, and form. Though no more than seventeen years of age, she was a superb +woman, her chest thrown forward, her back like the torso of a Venus de Milo, +her head placed on the throat of a Minerva, and the nature of a child molded in +the form of a matron. Joyce Basil had black hair and eyes—very long, +excessive hair, that in the mornings she tied up with haste so imperfectly that +once Reybold had seen it drop like a cloud around her and nearly touch her +feet. At that moment, seeing him, she blushed. He pleaded, for once, a +Congressman's impudence, and without her objection wound that great crown of +woman's glory around her head, and as he did so, the perfection of her form and +skin, and the overrunning health and height of the Virginia girl, struck him so +thoroughly that he said:<br><br>"Miss Joyce, I don't wonder that Virginia is +the mother of Presidents."<br><br>Between Reybold and Joyce there were already +the delicate relations of a girl who did not know that she was a woman and a +man who knew she was beautiful and worthy. He was a man vigilant over himself, +and the poverty and menial estate of Joyce Basil were already insuperable +obstacles to marrying her, but still he was attracted by her insensibility that +he could ever have regarded her in the light of marriage. "Who was her father, +the Judge?" he used to reflect. The Judge was a favorite topic with Mrs. Basil +at the table.<br><br>"Mr. Reybold," she would say, "you commercial people of +the Nawth can't hunt, I believe. Jedge Basil is now on the mountains of +Fawquear hunting the plova. His grandfather's estate is full of +plova."<br><br>If, by chance, Reybold saw a look of care on Mrs. Basil's face, +he inquired for the Judge, her husband, and found he was still shooting on the +Occequan.<br><br>"Does he never come to Washington, Mrs. Basil?" asked Reybold +one day, when his mind was very full of Joyce, the daughter.<br><br>"Not while +Congress is in session," said Mrs, Basil. "It's a little too much of the <i>oi +polloi</i> for the Judge. His family, you may not know, Mr. Reybold, air oi the +Basils of King George. They married into the Tayloze of Mount Snaffle. The +Tayloze of Mount Snaffle have Ingin blood in their veins—the blood of +Pokyhuntus. They dropped the name of Taylor, which had got to be common through +a want of Ingin blood, and spelled it with a E. It used to be Taylor, but now +it's Tayloze."<br><br>On another occasion, at sight of Joyce Basil cooking over +the fire, against whose flame her molded arms took momentary roses upon their +ivory, Reybold said to himself: "Surely there is something above the common in +the race of this girl." And he asked the question of Mrs. +Basil:<br><br>"Madame, how was the Judge, your husband, at the last +advices?"<br><br>"Hunting the snipe, Mr. Reybold. I suppose you do not have the +snipe in the Nawth. It is the aristocratic fowl of the Old Dominion. Its bill +is only shorter than its legs, and it will not brown at the fire, to +perfection, unless upon a silver spit. Ah! when the Jedge and myself were +young, before his land troubles overtook us, we went to the springs with our +own silver and carriages, Mr. Reybold."<br><br>Looking up at Mrs. Basil, +Reybold noticed a pallor and flush alternately, and she evaded his +eye.<br><br>Once Mrs. Basil borrowed a hundred dollars from Reybold in advance +of board, and the table suffered in consequence.<br><br>"The Judge," she had +explained, "is short of taxes on his Fawquear lands. It's a desperate moment +with him." Yet in two days the Judge was shooting blue-winged teal at the mouth +of the Acco-tink, and his entire indifference to his family set Reybold to +thinking whether the Virginia husband and father was anything more than a +forgetful savage. The boarders, however, made very merry over the absent +unknown. If the beefsteak was tough, threats were made to send for "the Judge," +and let him try a tooth on it; if scant, it was suggested that the Judge might +have paid a gunning visit to the premises and inspected the larder. The +daughter of the house kept such an even temper, and was so obliging within the +limitations of the establishment, that many a boarder went to his department +without complaint, though with an appetite only partly satisfied. The boy, +Uriel, also was the guardsman of the household, old-faced as if with the +responsibility of taking care of two women. Indeed, the children of the +landlady were so well behaved and prepossessing that, compared with Mrs. +Basil's shabby <i>hauteur</i> and garrulity, the legend of the Judge seemed to +require no other foundation than offspring of such good spirit and +intonation.<br><br>Mrs. Tryphonia Basil was no respecter of persons. She kept +boarders, she said, as a matter of society, and to lighten the load of the +Judge. He had very little idea that she was making a mercantile matter of +hospitality, but, as she feelingly remarked, "the old families are misplaced in +such times as these yer, when the departments are filled with Dutch, Yankees, +Crackers, Pore Whites, and other foreigners." Her manner was, at periods, +insolent to Mr. Reynold, who seldom protested, out of regard to the daughter +and the little Page; he was a man of quite ordinary appearance, saying little, +never making speeches or soliciting notice, and he accepted his fare and +quarters with little or no complaint.<br><br>"Crutch," he said one day to the +little boy, "did you ever see your father?"<br><br>"No, I never saw him, Mr. +Reybold, but I've had letters from him."<br><br>"Don't he ever come to see you +when you are sick?"<br><br>"No. He wanted to come once when my back was very +sick, and I laid in bed weeks and weeks, sir, dreaming, oh! such beautiful +things. I thought mamma and sister and I were all with papa in that old home we +are going to some day. He carried me up and down in his arms, and I felt such +rest that I never knew anything like it, when I woke up, and my back began to +ache again. I wouldn't let mamma send for him, though, because she said he was +working for us all to make our fortunes, and get doctors for me, and clothes +and school for dear Joyce. So I sent him my love, and told papa to work, and he +and I would bring the family out all right."<br><br>"What did your papa seem +like in that dream, my little boy?"<br><br>"Oh! sir, his forehead was bright as +the sun. Sometimes I see him now when I am tired at night after running all day +through Congress."<br><br>Reybold's eyes were full of tears as he listened to +the boy, and, turning aside, he saw Joyce Basil weeping also.<br><br>"My dear +girl," he said to her, looking up significantly, "I fear he will see his great +Father very soon."<br><br>Reybold had few acquaintances, and he encouraged the +landlady's daughter to go about with him when she could get a leisure hour or +evening. Sometimes they took a seat at the theatre, more often at the old +Ascension Church, and once they attended a President's reception. Joyce had the +bearing of a well-bred lady, and the purity of thought of a child. She was +noticed as if she had been a new and distinguished arrival in +Washington.<br><br>"Ah! Reybold," said Pontotoc Bibb, "I understand, ole +feller, what keeps you so quiet now. You've got a wife unbeknown to the +Remittee! and a happy man I know you air."<br><br>It pleased Reybold to hear +this, and deepened his interest in the landlady's family. His attention to her +daughter stirred Mrs. Basil's pride and revolt together.<br><br>"My daughter, +Colonel Reybold," she said, "is designed for the army. The Judge never writes +to me but he says: 'Tryphonee, be careful that you impress upon my daughter the +importance of the military profession. My mother, grandmother, and great- +grandmother married into the army, and no girl of the Basil stock shall descend +to civil life while I can keep the Fawquear estates.'"<br><br>"Madame," said +the Congressman, "will you permit me to make the suggestion that your daughter +is already a woman and needs a father's care, if she is ever to receive it. I +beseech you to impress this subject upon the Judge. His estates can not be more +precious to his heart, if he is a man of honor; nay, what is better than honor, +his duty requires him to come to the side of these children, though he be ever +so constrained by business or pleasure to attend to more worldly +concerns."<br><br>"The Judge," exclaimed Mrs. Basil, much miffed, "is a man of +hereditary ijees, Colonel Reybold. He is now in pursuit of +the—ahem!—the Kinvas-back on his ancestral waters. If he should +hear that you suggest a pacific life and the groveling associations of the +capital for him, he might call you out, sir!"<br><br>Reybold said no more; but +one evening when Mrs. Basil was absent, called across the Potomac, as happened +frequently, at the summons of the Judge—and on such occasions she +generally requested a temporary loan or a slight advance of board—Reybold +found Joyce Basil in the little parlor of the dwelling. She was alone and in +tears, but the little boy Uriel slept before the chimney-fire on a rug, and his +pale, thin face, catching the glow of the burning wood, looked beautified as +Reybold addressed the young woman.<br><br>"Miss Joyce," he said, "our little +brother works too hard. Is there never to be relief for him? His poor, withered +body, slung on those crutches for hours and hours, racing up the aisles of the +House with stronger pages, is wearing him out. His ambition is very interesting +to see, but his breath is growing shorter and his strength is frailer every +week. Do you know what it will lead to?"<br><br>"O my Lord!" she said, in the +negrofied phrase natural to her latitude, "I wish it was no sin to wish him +dead."<br><br>"Tell me, my friend," said Reybold, "can I do nothing to assist +you both? Let me understand you. Accept my sympathy and confidence. Where is +Uriel's father? What is this mystery?"<br><br>She did not answer.<br><br>"It is +for no idle curiosity that I ask," he continued. "I will appeal to him for his +family, even at the risk of his resentment. Where is he?"<br><br>"Oh, do not +ask!" she exclaimed. "You want me to tell you only the truth. He is +<i>there</i>!"<br><br>She pointed to one of the old portraits in the +room—a picture fairly painted by some provincial artist—and it +revealed a handsome face, a little voluptuous, but aristocratic, the shoulders +clad in a martial cloak, the neck in ruffles, and a diamond in the shirt bosom. +Reybold studied it with all his mind.<br><br>"Then it is no fiction," he said, +"that you have a living father, one answering to your mother's description. +Where have I seen that face? Has some irreparable mistake, some miserable +controversy, alienated him from his wife? Has he another family?"<br><br>She +answered with spirit:<br><br>"No, sir. He is my father and my brother's only. +But I can tell you no more."<br><br>"Joyce," he said, taking her hand, "this is +not enough. I will not press you to betray any secret you may possess. Keep it. +But of yourself I must know something more. You are almost a woman. You are +beautiful."<br><br>At this he tightened his grasp, and it brought him closer to +her side. She made a little struggle to draw away, but it pleased him to see +that when the first modest opposition had been tried she sat quite happily, +though trembling, with his arm around her.<br><br>"Joyce," he continued, "you +have a double duty: one to your mother and this poor invalid, whose journey +toward that Father's house not made with hands is swiftly hastening; another +duty toward your nobler self—the future that is in you and your woman's +heart. I tell you again that you are beautiful, and the slavery to which you +are condemning yourself forever is an offence against the creator of such +perfection. Do you know what it is to love?"<br><br>"I know what it is to feel +kindness," she answered after a time of silence. "I ought to know no more. Your +goodness is very dear to me. We never sleep, brother and I, but we say your +name together, and ask God to bless you."<br><br>Reybold sought in vain to +suppress a confession he had resisted. The contact of her form, her large dark +eyes now fixed upon him in emotion, the birth of the conscious woman in the +virgin and her affection still in the leashes of a slavish sacrifice, tempted +him onward to the conquest.<br><br>"I am about to retire from Congress," he +said. "It is no place for me in times so insubstantial. There is darkness and +beggary ahead for all your Southern race. There is a crisis coming which will +be followed by desolation. The generation to which your parents belong is +doomed! I open my arms to you, dear girl, and offer you a home never yet +gladdened by a wife. Accept it, and leave Washington with me and with your +brother. I love you wholly."<br><br>A happy light shone in her face a moment. +She was weary to the bone with the day's work and had not the strength, if she +had the will, to prevent the Congressman drawing her to his heart. Sobbing +there, she spoke with bitter agony:<br><br>"Heaven bless you, dear Mr. Reybold, +with a wife good enough to deserve you! Blessings on your generous heart. But I +can not leave Washington. I love another here!"</p><p +align="center">III—DUST</p><p>The Lake and Bayou Committee reaped the +reward of a good action. Crutch, the page, as they all called Uriel Basil, +affected the sensibility of the whole committee to the extent that profanity +almost ceased there, and vulgarity became a crime in the presence of a child. +Gentle words and wishes became the rule; a glimmer of reverence and a thought +of piety were not unknown in that little chamber.<br><br>"Dog my skin!" said +Jeems Bee, "if I ever made a 'pintment that give me sech satisfaction! I feel +as if I had sot a nigger free!"<br><br>The youthful abstractionist, Lowndes +Cleburn, expressed it even better. "Crutch," he said, "is like a angel reduced +to his bones. Them air wings or pinions, that he might have flew off with, +being a pair of crutches, keeps him here to tarry awhile in our service. But, +gentlemen, he's not got long to stay. His crutches is growing too heavy for +that expandin' sperit. Some day we'll look up and miss him through our +tears."<br><br>They gave him many a present; they put a silver watch in his +pocket, and dressed him in a jacket with gilt buttons. He had a bouquet of +flowers to take home every day to that marvelous sister of whom he spoke so +often; and there were times when the whole committee, seeing him drop off to +sleep as he often did through frail and weary nature, sat silently watching +lest he might be wakened before his rest was over. But no persuasion could take +him off the floor of Congress. In that solemn old Hall of Representatives, +under the semicircle of gray columns, he darted with agility from noon to dusk, +keeping speed upon his crutches with the healthiest of the pages, and racing +into the document-room, and through the dark and narrow corridors of the old +Capitol loft, where the House library was lost in twilight. Visitors looked +with interest and sympathy at the narrow back and body of this invalid child, +whose eyes were full of bright, beaming spirit. He sometimes nodded on the +steps by the Speaker's chair; and these spells of dreaminess and fatigue +increased as his disease advanced upon his wasting system. Once he did not +awaken at all until adjournment. The great Congress and audience passed out, +and the little fellow still slept, with his head against the Clerk's desk, +while all the other pages were grouped around him, and they finally bore him +off to the committee-room in their arms, where, among the sympathetic watchers, +was old Beau. When Uriel opened his eyes the old mendicant was looking into +them.<br><br>"Ah! little Major," he said, "poor Beau has been waiting for you +to take those bad words back. Old Beau thought it was all bob with his little +cove."<br><br>"Beau," said the boy, "I've had such a dream! I thought my dear +father, who is working so hard to bring me home to him, had carried me out on +the river in a boat. We sailed through the greenest marshes, among white +lilies, where the wild ducks were tame as they can be. All the ducks were +diving and diving, and they brought up long stalks of celery from the water and +gave them to us. Father ate all his. But mine turned into lilies and grew up so +high that I felt myself going with them, and the higher I went the more +beautiful grew the birds. Oh! let me sleep and see if it will be so +again."<br><br>The outcast raised his gold-headed cane and hobbled up and down +the room with a laced handkerchief at his eyes.<br><br>"Great God!" he +exclaimed, "another generation is going out, and here I stay without a stake, +playing a lone hand forever and forever."<br><br>"Beau," said Reybold, "there's +hope while one can feel. Don't go away until you have a good word from our +little passenger."<br><br>The outstretched hand of the Northern Congressman was +not refused by the vagrant, whose eccentric sorrow yet amused the Southern +Committeemen.<br><br>"Ole Beau's jib-boom of a mustache '11 put his eye out," +said Pontotoc Bibb, "ef he fetches another groan like that."<br><br>"Beau's +very shaky around the hams an' knees," said Box Izard; "he's been a good +figger, but even figgers can lie ef they stand up too long."<br><br>The little +boy unclosed his eyes and looked around on all those kindly, watching +faces.<br><br>"Did anybody fire a gun?" he said. "Oh! no. I was only dreaming +that I was hunting with father, and he shot at the beautiful pheasants that +were making such a whirring of wings for me. It was music. When can I hunt with +father, dear gentlemen?"<br><br>They all felt the tread of the mighty hunter +before the Lord very near at hand—the hunter whose name is +Death.<br><br>"There are little tiny birds along the beach," muttered the boy. +"They twitter and run into the surf and back again, and I am one of them! I +must be, for I feel the water cold, and yet I see you all, so kind to me! Don't +whistle for me now; for I don't get much play, gentlemen! Will the Speaker turn +me out if I play with the beach birds just once? I'm only a little boy working +for my mother."<br><br>"Dear Uriel," whispered Reybold, "here's Old Beau, to +whom you once spoke angrily. Don't you see him?"<br><br>The little boy's eyes +came back from far-land somewhere, and he saw the ruined gamester at his +feet.<br><br>"Dear Beau," he said, "I can't get off to go home with you. They +Avon't excuse me, and I give all my money to mother. But you go to the back +gate. Ask for Joyce. She'll give you a nice warm meal every day. Go with him, +Mr. Reybold! If you ask for him it will be all right; for Joyce—dear +Joyce!—she loves you."<br><br>The beach birds played again along the +strand; the boy ran into the foam with his companions and felt the spray once +more. The Mighty Hunter shot his bird—a little cripple that twittered the +sweetest of them all. Nothing moved in the solemn chamber of the committee but +the voice of an old forsaken man, sobbing bitterly.</p><p +align="center">IV—CAKE</p><p>The funeral was over, and Mr. Reybold +marveled much that the Judge had not put in an appearance. The whole committee +had attended the obsequies of Crutch and acted as pall-bearers. Reybold had +escorted the page's sister to the Congressional cemetery, and had observed even +old Beau to come with a wreath of flowers and hobble to the grave and deposit +them there. But the Judge, remorseless in death as frivolous in life, never +came near his mourning wife and daughter in their severest sorrow. Mrs. +Tryphonia Basil, seeing that this singular want of behavior on the Judge's part +was making some ado, raised her voice above the general din of +meals.<br><br>"Jedge Basil," she exclaimed, "has been on his Tennessee +purchase. These Christmas times there's no getting through the snow in the +Cumberland Gap. He's stopped off thaw to shoot the—ahem!—the wild +torkey—a great passion with the Jedge. His half-uncle, Gineral Johnson, +of Awkinso, was a torkey-killer of high celebrity. He was a Deshay on his Maw's +side. I s'pose you haven't the torkey in the Dutch country, Mr. +Reybold?"<br><br>"Madame," said Reybold, in a quieter moment, "have you written +to the Judge the fact of his son's death?"<br><br>"Oh, yes—to +Fawquear."<br><br>"Mrs. Basil," continued the Congressman, "I want you to be +explicit with me. Where is the Judge, your husband, at this +moment?"<br><br>"Excuse me, Colonel Reybold, this is a little of a assumption, +sir. The Jedge might call you out, sir, for intruding upon his incog. He's very +fine on his incog., you air awair."<br><br>"Madame," exclaimed Reybold +straightforwardly, "there are reasons why I should communicate with your +husband. My term in Congress is nearly expired. I might arouse your interest, +if I chose, by recalling to your mind the memorandum of about seven hundred +dollars in which you are my debtor. That would be a reason for seeing your +husband anywhere north of the Potomac, but I do not intend to mention it. Is he +aware—are you?—that Joyce Basil is in love with some one in this +city?"<br><br>Mrs. Basil drew a long breath, raised both hands, and ejaculated: +"Well, I declaw!"<br><br>"I have it from her own lips," continued Reybold. "She +told me as a secret, but all my suspicions, are awakened. If I can prevent it, +madame, that girl shall not follow the example of hundreds of her class in +Washington, and descend, through the boarding-house or the lodging quarter, to +be the wife of some common and unambitious clerk, whose penury she must some +day sustain by her labor. I love her myself, but I will never take her until I +know her heart to be free. Who is this lover of your daughter?"<br><br>An +expression of agitation and cunning passed over Mrs. Basil's +face.<br><br>"Colonel Reybold," she whined, "I pity your blasted hopes. If I +was a widow, they should be comfoted. Alas! my daughter is in love with one of +the Fitz-chews of Fawqueeah. His parents is cousins of the Jedge, and attached +to the military."<br><br>The Congressman looked disappointed, but not yet +satisfied.<br><br>"Give me at once the address of your husband," he spoke. "If +you do not, I shall ask your daughter for it, and she can not refuse +me."<br><br>The mistress of the boarding-house was not without alarm, but she +dispelled it with an outbreak of anger.<br><br>"If my daughter disobeys her +mother," she cried, "and betrays the Jedge's incog., she is no Basil, Colonel +Reybold. The Basils repudiate her, and she may jine the Dutch and other +foreigners at her pleasure."<br><br>"That is her only safety," exclaimed +Reybold. "I hope to break every string that holds her to yonder barren honor +and exhausted soil."<br><br>He pointed toward Virginia, and hastened away to +the Capitol. All the way up the squalid and muddy avenue of that day he mused +and wondered: "Who is Fitzhugh? Is there such a person any more than a Judge +Basil? And yet there <i>is</i> a Judge, for Joyce has told me so. <i>She</i>, +at least, can not lie to me. At last," he thought, "the dream of my happiness +is over. Invincible in her prejudice as all these Virginians, Joyce Basil has +made her bed among the starveling First Families, and there she means to live +and die. Five years hence she will have her brood around her. In ten years she +will keep a boarding-house and borrow money. As her daughters grow up to the +stature and grace of their mother, they will be proud and poor again and breed +in and out, until the race will perish from the earth."<br><br>Slow to love, +deeply interested, baffled but unsatisfied, Reybold made up his mind to cut his +perplexity short by leaving the city for the county of Fauquier. As he passed +down the avenue late that afternoon, he turned into E Street, near the theatre, +to engage a carriage for his expedition. It was a street of livery stables, +gambling dens, drinking houses, and worse; murders had been committed along its +sidewalks. The more pretentious <i>canaille</i> of the city harbored there to +prey on the hotels close at hand and aspire to the chance acquaintance of +gentlemen. As Reybold stood in an archway of this street, just as the evening +shadows deepened above the line of sunset, he saw something pass which made his +heart start to his throat and fastened him to the spot. Veiled and walking +fast, as if escaping detection or pursuit, the figure of Joyce Basil flitted +over the pavement and disappeared in a door about at the middle of this +Alsatian quarter of the capital.<br><br>"What house is that?" he asked of a +constable passing by, pointing to the door she entered.<br><br>"Gambling den," +answered the officer. "It used to be old Phil Pendleton's."<br><br>Reybold knew +the reputation of the house: a resort for the scions of the old tidewater +families, where hospitality thinly veiled the paramount design of plunder. The +connection established the truth of Mrs. Basil's statement. Here, perhaps, +already married to the dissipated heir of some unproductive estate, Joyce +Basil's lot was cast forever. It might even be that she had been tempted here +by some wretch whose villany she knew not of. Reybold's brain took fire at the +thought, and he pursued the fugitive into the doorway. A negro steward +unfastened a slide and peeped at Reybold knocking in the hall; and, seeing him +of respectable appearance, bowed ceremoniously as he let down a chain and +opened the door.<br><br>"Short cards in the front saloon," he said; "supper and +faro back. Chambers on the third floor. Walk up."<br><br>Reybold only tarried a +moment at the gaming tables, where the silent, monotonous deal from the tin +box, the lazy stroke of the markers, and the transfer of ivory "chips" from +card to card of the sweat-cloth, impressed him as the dullest form of vice he +had ever found. Treading softly up the stairs, he was attracted by the light of +a door partly ajar, and a deep groan, as of a dying person. He peeped through +the crack of the door and beheld Joyce Basil leaning over an old man, whose +brow she moistened with her handkerchief. "Dear father," he heard her say, and +it brought consolation to more than the sick man. Reybold threw open the door +and entered into the presence of Mrs. Basil and her daughter. The former arose +with surprise and shame, and cried:<br><br>"Jedge Basil, the Dutch have hunted +you down. He's here—the Yankee creditor."<br><br>Joyce Basil held up her +hand in imploration, but Reybold did not heed the woman's remark. He felt a +weight rising from his heart, and the blindness of many months lifted from his +eyes. The dying mortal upon the bed, over whose face the blue billow of death +was rolling rapidly, and whose eyes sought in his daughter's the promise of +mercy from on high, was the mysterious parent who had never arrived—the +Judge from Fauquier. In that old man's long waxed mustache, crimped hair, and +threadbare finery the Congressman recognized old Beau, the outcast gamester and +mendicant, and the father of Joyce and Uriel Basil.<br><br>"Colonel Reybold," +faltered that old wreck of manly beauty and of promise long departed, "old +Beau's passing in his checks. The chant coves will be telling to-morrow what +they know of his life in the papers, but I've dropped a cold deck on 'em these +twenty years. Not one knows old Beau, the Bloke, to be Tom Basil, cadet at West +Point in the last generation. I've kept nothing of my own but my children's +good names. My little boy never knew me to be his father. I tried to keep the +secret from my daughter, but her affection broke down my disguises. Thank God! +the old rounder's deal has run out at last. For his wife he'll flash her diles +no more, nor be taken on the vag."<br><br>"Basil," said Reybold, "what trust do +you leave to me in your family?"<br><br>Mrs. Basil strove to interpose, but the +dying man raised his voice:<br><br>"Tryphonee can go home to Fauquier. She was +always welcome there—without me. I was disinherited. But here, Colonel! +My last drop of blood is in the girl. She loves you."<br><br>A rattle arose in +the sinner's throat. He made an effort, and transferred his daughter's hand to +the Congressman's. Not taking it away, she knelt with her future husband at the +bedside and raised her voice:<br><br>"Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom, +remember him!"</p> +<br><br><br><br> +<h2><a name="8">IN EACH OTHER'S +SHOES</a><br> +——————————— +<br>BY GEORGE PARSONS LATHROP<br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A +writer"></h2><p><i>George Parsons Lathrop (born in Hawaii, August 25, 1851; +died in 1898) was literally wedded to American literature, in that he married +Rose, the second daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne. She had inspired his youthful +poems, and now collaborated with him in several prose works, as well as helped +him materially in his master work, a biographical edition of the works of +Hawthorne. The fantastic conception of the present story is reminiscent of the +imaginative tales of his father-in-law, but there is lacking the glamour of +mysticism that Hawthorne would have thrown around it. However, in aiming +directly at the moral sense of his readers, instead of approaching this through +the aesthetic sense, the obvious treatment of Lathrop gains in human interest +more than it loses in literary quality.</i></p><h2><img src="images/clover.jpg" +alt=" "></h2><p align="center">IN FACH OTHER'S SHOES<br><span +class="b2">BY GEORGE PARSONS LATHROP<br>[Footnote: By permission of the +publishers. From "True and Other Stories" copyright, 1884, by Punk & +Wagnalls.]</span></p><p align="center">I</p><p><span class="b3">J</span>OHN +CROMBIE had taken a room at the new apartment building, The Lorne; having +advanced so far in his experience of New York as to be aware that if he could +once establish himself in a house associated by name with foreign places and +titles his chance of securing "position" would be greatly increased. He did +not, however, take his meals in the expensive café of that establishment, +finding it more economical to go to an outlandish little French restaurant, +some distance away, which had been nicknamed among those of his acquaintance +who resorted to it "The Fried Cat." This designation, based on a supposed +resemblance to the name of the proprietor, Fricat, was also believed to have +value as a sarcasm.<br><br>It was with no pleasant sensations, therefore, that +Crombie, waking on a gray and drizzling morning of November, remembered that he +must hie him to "The Fried Cat" for an early breakfast. He was in a hurry that +day; he had a great deal to do. His room was very small and dark; he bounced up +and dressed himself, in an obscure sort of way, surreptitiously opening the +door and reaching vaguely for his shoes, which stood just outside, ready +blacked. Nor did it add to his comfort to know that the shoes were very +defective as to their soles, and would admit the water freely from the +accumulated puddles of the sidewalks. In fact, he had been ashamed to expose +their bad condition to the porter when he put them out every night, as he was +forced to do, since they were his only pair. Drawing them on hastily, in order +to conceal his mortification from even his own mind, he sallied forth; and +though at the moment of putting them on a dim sense of something unfamiliar +crossed his mind, it was not until he reached "The Fried Cat" that he became +fully aware that he had carried off some one else's shoes. He turned up the +soles, privately, underneath the low-hanging tablecloth, and by a brief +examination convinced himself that the gaiters did not belong to him. The test +was simple: his feet were unaccountably dry, and there were none of those +breaks in the lower surface of their leather covering which he had so often +been obliged to contemplate.<br><br>He saw at once that the porter of The Lorne +had made a mistake, and must have deposited at another apartment his own very +insufficient foot-gear; but there was no chance now to remedy the confusion. +Crombie had barely time to reach the office where he was employed.<br><br>On an +ordinary occasion he would perhaps have gone back to The Lorne and effected an +honorable exchange. This particular day, however, was by no means an ordinary +occasion. Crombie had made up his mind to take a momentous step; and it was +therefore essential that he should appear at his desk exactly on +time.<br><br>He was a clerk in an important engraving company. For several +years he had occupied that post, without any opportunity having presented +itself for a promotion. At the best, even should he rise, what could he expect? +To be cashier, perhaps, or possibly, under exceptional circumstances, a +confidential private secretary. This prospect did not satisfy him; he was +determined to strike for something higher.<br><br>It will naturally be inferred +that he was ambitious. I am not in a position to deny this; but all I can be +certain of is, that he was in love—which is often about the same +thing.<br><br>Several times at The Lorne he had met in the hallways or in the +elevator a young lady, who was in no small degree beautiful, and charmed him +still more by her generous presence, which conveyed the idea of a harmonious +and lovely character. She had light hair and blue eyes, but these outward +attributes were joined with a serenity and poise of manner that indicated +greater stability than is attributed, as a rule, to individuals of her +type.<br><br>Once he happened to arrive at the main entrance just as this +vision of beauty emerged to take her place in a coupe which was waiting by the +curbstone. She dropped her card-case upon the sidewalk, and Crombie's heart +throbbed with delight as he picked it up, gave it to her, and received her +smiling thanks for his little service. Another time, as he was descending in +the elevator, a door opposite the shaft, on the second floor, stood open, and +he caught a glimpse of the apartment to which it gave access. The room was +finished in soft tints, and was full of upholstery and hangings that lent it a +dim golden atmosphere. In the middle of it stood the young girl, clad in the +palest blue, above which her hair shone like a golden cloud on some dim evening +sky.<br><br>Slight occurrences of this sort had affected him. He learned that +she was the daughter of Littimer, the rich, widowed banker: her name was +Blanche.</p><p align="center">II</p><p>In these new, stout shoes that did not +belong to him Crombie trod with a buoyancy and assurance strongly in contrast +with the limp and half-hearted pace to which his old, shabby gaiters had +formerly inclined him. He rattled down the stairs of the elevated station with +an alacrity almost bumptious; and the sharp, confident step that announced his +entrance into the company's office made the other clerks quite ashamed of their +own want of spirit.<br><br>He worked at his desk until noon; but when the bells +of Trinity rang twelve in solemn music over the busy streets, he dropped his +pen, walked with a decisive air the length of the room, and, opening a door at +the other end, presented himself before Mr. Blatchford, the treasurer, who was +also an influential director. "Crombie, eh? Well, what is it?"<br><br>"I want +to speak with you a moment, sir."<br><br>"Anything important? I'm +busy."<br><br>"Yes, sir; quite important—to me. Possibly it may be to +you."<br><br>"Fire away, then; but cut it short." Mr. Blatchford's dense, well- +combed gray side-whiskers were directed toward the young man in an aggressive +way, as if they had been some sort of weapon.<br><br>Crombie nonchalantly +settled himself in a chair, at ease.<br><br>"I am tired of being a clerk," he +said. "I'm going to be a director in this company."<br><br>"I guess you're +going to be an inmate of a lunatic asylum," Mr. Blatchford remarked with +astonished cheerfulness.<br><br>"That seems as unlikely to me as the other +thing does to you," said Crombie.<br><br>Hereupon Mr. Blatchford became +sarcastically deferential. "And just about when do you propose to become a +director?" he asked.<br><br>"In the course of a month. The election, I believe, +takes place in December."<br><br>"Quite right," said his senior, whose urbanity +was meant to be crushing. "Meanwhile, you will need leisure to attend to this +little matter. Suppose I oblige you by saying that the company has no further +need of your services?"<br><br>"Suppose you do. What then?"<br><br>Mr. +Blatchford gave way to his anger. "What then? Why, then you would have to go; +that's all. You would be thrown out of employment. You would have to live on +your principal, as long as there was any; and afterward you would be obliged to +find some other work, or beg, or borrow, or—"<br><br>"That's enough," +said Crombie, rising with dignity.<br><br>"No, it isn't," the treasurer +declared, "for you don't seem to understand even now. I discharge you, Mr. +Crombie, on the company's behalf, and you may leave this office at +once."<br><br>Crombie bowed and went out. "I'm going to be a director, all the +same," he told Mr. Blatchford before he closed the door. Then he collected the +few articles that belonged to him from his desk, and departed, a free man. He +had his future to himself; or else he had no future worth speaking of; he +wasn't sure which. Nevertheless, he felt quite happy. Such a result as this had +seemed to him, in the prospect, hardly possible; but now that it had arrived he +was not discomfited. Unbounded courage seemed to rise from the stout soles of +the alien boots, percolating through his whole system. He was surprised at +himself. He had intended to use more diplomacy with Mr. Blatchford, and it was +no joke to him to lose his place. But instead of feeling despondent, or going +at once in search of new employment, he cheerfully went about making calls on +several gentlemen who, he thought, might be induced to aid in his ambitious +project. His manner was that of a person sure of his powers and enjoying a +well-earned leisure. It had its effect. Two or three stockholders of the +company joined in agreeing with him that improved methods could be introduced +into its management, and that it would be a good thing to have in the board, +say, two young, fresh, active men—of whom Crombie, by reason of his +experience and training, should be one.<br><br>"I own a little stock," said the +deposed clerk, who had taken the precaution to obtain a couple of shares by +great effort in saving. "Besides, not having any other engrossing interests at +present, I could give my whole attention to the company's +affairs."<br><br>"Quite so," said the merchant whom he was addressing, +comfortably. "We must see if we can get together a majority; no time to be +lost, you know."<br><br>"No, sir. I shall go right to work; and perhaps you +will speak to some of your friends, and give me some names."<br><br>"Certainly. +Come in again pretty soon; will you?"<br><br>Crombie saw that he had a good +foundation to build upon already. Blatchford was not popular, even among the +other directors; and sundry stockholders, as well as people having business +with the company, had conceived a strong dislike of him on account of his +overbearing manners. Therefore it would not be hard to enlist sympathy for a +movement obnoxious to him. But it was imperative that the self-nominated +candidate should acquire more of the stock; and to do this capital must be had. +Crombie did not see quite how it was to be got; he had no sufficient influence +with the bankers.<br><br>The afternoon was nearly spent, and he trudged uptown, +thinking of the ways and means. But though the problem was far from solved, he +still continued in a state of extraordinary buoyancy. Those shoes, those shoes! +He was so much impressed by their comfort and the service they had done him in +making a good appearance that he resolved to get a new pair of his own. He +stopped and bought them; then kept on toward The Lorne, carrying his purchase +under his arm without embarrassment. The cold drizzle had ceased, and the +sunset came out clear and golden, dipping its bright darts into the shallow +pools of wet on the pavement, and somehow mingling with his financial dreams a +dream of that fair hair that gave a glory to Miss Blanche's face.<br><br>On +regaining his modest apartment he sent for the boot-boy, and inquired the +whereabouts of his missing shoes.<br><br>"Couldn't tell you, sir," said the +servant. "Pretty near all the men's boots in the house has gone out, you see, +and they'll only be coming back just about now. I'll look out for 'em, sir, and +nab 'em as soon as they show up."<br><br>"All right. Whose are these that I've +been wearing?"<br><br>The boy took them, turned them over, and examined them +with the eye of a connoisseur in every part. "Them? I should say, sir, them was +Mr. Littimer's."<br><br>Crombie blushed with mortification. Of all the dwellers +in The Lorne, this was the very one with whom it was the most embarrassing to +have such a complication occur; and yet, strange inconsistency! he had been +longing for any accident, no matter how absurd or fantastic, that could bring +him some chance of an acquaintance with Blanche.<br><br>"Take these boots, dry +them right away, and give 'em a shine. Then carry them up to Mr. Littimer's +rooms." He gave the boy a quarter: he was becoming reckless.<br><br>Now that he +had embarked upon a new career, he perceived the impropriety of a future +director in the Engraving Company going to dine at "The Fried Cat," and so +resolved to take his dinner in the gorgeous café of The Lorne. While he was +waiting for the proper moment to descend thither, he could not get the shoe +question out of his mind. Surely, the boot-boy could not have been so idiotic +as to have left that ancient, broken-down pair at Littimer's threshold! And yet +it was possible. Crombie felt another flush of humility upon his cheeks. Then +he wandered off into reverie upon the multifarious errands of all the pairs of +boots and shoes that had gone forth from the great apartment house that day. +Patter, patter, patter! tramp, tramp!—he imagined he heard them all +walking, stamping, shuffling along toward different parts of the city, with +many different objects, and sending back significant echoes. Whither had his +own ruinous Congress gaiters gone?—to what destination which they would +never have reached had he been in them? Had they carried their temporary +possessor into any such worriment and trouble as he himself had often traveled +through on their worn but faithful soles?<br><br>Breaking off from these idle +fancies at length, he went down to the café; and there he had the pleasure of +dining at a table not far from Blanche Littimer. But, to his surprise, she was +alone. Her father did not appear during the meal.</p><p +align="center">III</p><p>The fact was that the awful possibility, mere +conjecture of which had frightened Crombie, had occurred. Littimer had received +the young man's shoes in place of his own.<br><br>They happened to fit him +moderately well; so that he, likewise, did not notice the exchange until he had +started for his office. He believed in walking the entire distance, no matter +what the weather; and to this practice he made rare exceptions. But he had not +progressed very far before he became annoyed by an unaccustomed intrusion of +dampness that threatened him with a cold. He looked down, carefully surveyed +the artificial casing of his extremities, and decided to hail the first +unoccupied coupé he should meet. It was some time before he found one; and when +finally he took his seat in the luxurious little bank parlor at Broad Street, +his feet were quite wet.<br><br>His surprise at this occurrence was doubled +when, on taking off the shoes and scrutinizing them more closely, he +ascertained that they were the work of his usual maker. What had happened to +him? Was he dreaming? It seemed to him that he had gone back many years; that +he was a poor young man again, entering upon his first struggle for a foothold +in the crowded, selfish, unhomelike metropolis. He remembered the day when +<i>he</i> had worn shoes like these.<br><br>He sent out for an assortment of +new ones, from which, with unnecessary lavishness, he chose and kept three or +four pairs. All the rest of the day, nevertheless, those sorry Congress boots +of Crombie's, which he had directed his office-boy to place beside the soft- +coal fire, for drying, faced him with a sort of haunting look. However much he +might be occupied with weightier matters, he could not keep his eyes from +straying in that direction; and whenever they rested on that battered "right" +and that way-worn "left," turned up in that mute, appealing repose and +uselessness at the fender, his thoughts recurred to his early years of trial +and poverty. Ah! how greatly he had changed since then! On some accounts he +could almost wish that he were poor again. But when he remembered Blanche, he +was glad, for her sake, that he was rich.<br><br>But if for her sake, why not +for others? Perhaps he had been rather selfish, not only about Blanche, but +toward her. His conscience began to reproach him. Had he made for her a large +life? Since her mother's premature death, had he instilled into her sympathies, +tastes, companionships that would make her existence the richer? Had he not +kept her too much to himself? On the other hand, he had gratified all her +material wants; she could wear what she pleased, she could go where she chose, +she had acquaintances of a sort becoming to the daughter of a wealthy man. Yet +there was something lacking. What did she know about old, used-up boots and all +that pertains to them? What did she know about indigence, real privation, and +brave endurance, such as a hundred thousand fellow-creatures all around her +were undergoing?<br><br>Somehow it dawned upon the old banker that if she knew +about all these things and had some share in them, albeit only through sympathy +and helping, she might be happier, more truly a woman, than she was +now.<br><br>As he sat alone, in revery, he actually heaved a deep sigh. A sigh +is often as happy a deliverance as a laugh, in this world of sorrows. It was +the first that had escaped Littimer in years. Let us say that it was a +breathing space, which gave him time for reflection; it marked the turning of a +leaf; it was the beginning of a new chapter in his life.<br><br>Before he left +the bank he locked the door of the private parlor, and was alone for two or +three minutes. The office boy was greatly puzzled the next morning, when he +found all the new pairs of shoes ranged intact in the adjoining cupboard. The +old ones were missing.<br><br>Littimer had gone away in them, furtively. He was +ashamed of his own impulse.<br><br>This time he resolutely remained afoot +instead of hiring a carriage. He despatched a messenger to Blanche, saying that +sudden business would prevent his returning to dinner, and continued +indefinitely on his way—whither? As to that he was by no means certain; +he knew only that he must get out of the beaten track, out of the ruts. For an +hour or two he must cease to be Littimer, the prosperous moneyed man, and must +tread once more the obscure paths through which he had made his way to fortune. +He could hardly have explained the prompting which he obeyed. Could it have had +anything to do with the treacherous holes in the bottoms of those old +shoes?<br><br>As it chanced, he passed by "The Fried Cat"; and, clingy though +the place was, lie felt an irresistible desire to enter it. Seating himself, he +ordered the regular dinner of the day. The light was dim; the tablecloth was +dirty; the attendance was irregular and distracted. Littimer took one sip of +the sour wine—which had a flavor resembling vinegar and carmine ink in +equal parts—and left the further contents of his bottle untasted. The +soup, the stew, and the faded roast that were set before him, he could scarcely +swallow; but a small cup of coffee at the end of the wellnigh Barmecide repast +came in very palatably.<br><br>In default of prandial attractions, Littimer +tried to occupy himself by looking at the people around him. The omnifarious +assembly included pale, prim-whiskered young clerks; shabby, lonely, sallow +young women, whose sallowness and shabbiness stamped them with the mark of +integrity; other females whose specious splendor was not nearly so reassuring; +old men, broken-down men, middle-aged men of every description, except the +well-to-do.<br><br>"Some of them," Littimer reflected, "are no worse than I am. +But are any of them really any better?"<br><br>He could not convince himself +that they were; yet his sympathies, somehow, went out toward this motley crowd. +It appeared to him very foolish that he should sympathize, but he could not +help it. "And, after all," was the next thought that came to him, "are we to +give pity to people, or withhold it, simply because they are better or worse +than ourselves? No; there is something more in it than that."<br><br>Leaving +"The Fried Cat" abruptly, he betook himself to an acquaintance who, he knew, +was very active in charities—a man who worked practically, and gave time +to the work.<br><br>"Do you visit any of your distress cases to-night?" he +asked.<br><br>"Yes, I shall make a few calls," answered the man of charity. +"Would you like to go along?"<br><br>"Very much."<br><br>So the two started out +together. The places they went to were of various kinds, and revealed a +considerable diversity of misfortune. Sometimes they entered tenement houses of +the most wretched character; but in other instances they went to small and +cheap but decent lodgings over the shops on West Side avenues, or even +penetrated into boarding-houses of such good appearance that the banker was +surprised to find his friend's mission carrying him thither. All the cases, +however, had been studied, and were vouched for; and several were those of +young men and women having employment, but temporarily disabled, and without +friends who could help them.<br><br>"You do well to help these beginners, at +critical times," said the banker, with satisfaction. "I take a special interest +in them."<br><br>It was almost the same as if he were receiving relief himself. +Who knows? Perhaps he was; but to the outward eye it appeared merely that, with +his friend's sanction, he was dispensing money and offers of goodwill to the +needy. What a strange freak it was, though, in Littimer! He kept on with the +work until quite late in the evening, regardless of the risk he ran by +continuing out-of-doors when so ill shod.<br><br>I think he had some idea in +his mind that he was performing an act of penance.</p><p +align="center">IV</p><p>Having waited a reasonable length of time after dinner, +Crombie again left his room, resolved to make a call upon Mr. Littimer, on the +plea of apologizing for having marched away with his shoes.<br><br>He would not +run the risk, by sending his card, of being denied as a stranger; so, +notwithstanding much hesitation and tremor, he approached the door which he had +once seen standing open, and knocked. A voice which he now heard for the second +time in his life, but which was so sweet and crept so naturally into the centre +of his heart that the thought of it seemed always to have been there, answered: +"Come in." And he did come in.<br><br>"Is Mr. Lit—is your father at +home?" It seemed to bring him a little nearer to her to say "your +father."<br><br>Blanche had risen from the chair where she was reading, and +looked very much surprised. "Oh," she exclaimed, with girlish simplicity, "I +thought it was the waiter! N-no; he hasn't come home yet."<br><br>"I beg +pardon. Then perhaps I'd better call later." Crombie made a feeble movement +toward withdrawal.<br><br>"Did you want to see him on business? Who shall I +tell him?"<br><br>"Mr. Crombie, please. It's nothing very +important."<br><br>"Oh," said Blanche, with a little blush at her own +deception, "haven't I seen you in the house before? Are you staying +here?"<br><br>She remembered distinctly the incident of the card-case, and how +very nice she had thought him, both on that occasion and every time she had +seen him. But as for him, his heart sank at the vague impersonality with which +she seemed to regard him.<br><br>"Yes, I'm here, and can easily come in +again."<br><br>"I expect my father almost any moment," she said. "Would you +like to wait?"<br><br>What an absurd question, to one in his frame of mind! +"Well, really, it is such a very small matter," he began, examining his hat +attentively. Then he glanced up at her again, and smiled: "I only wanted +to—to make an apology."<br><br>"An apology!" echoed Blanche, becoming +rather more distant. "Oh, dear! I'm very sorry, I'm sure. I didn't know there'd +been any trouble." She began to look anxious, and turned her eyes upon the +smouldering fire in the grate. So this was to be the end of her pleasant, +cheerful reveries about this nice young man. And the reveries had been more +frequent than she had been aware of until now.<br><br>"There has been no +trouble," he assured her, eagerly. "Just a little mistake that occurred; and, +in fact, I was hardly responsible for it."<br><br>Blanche's eyes began to +twinkle with a new and amusing interpretation. "Ah!" she cried, "are you the +gentleman who—" Then she stopped short.<br><br>Crombie was placed in an +unexpected embarrassment. How could he possibly drag into his conversation with +this lovely young creature so commonplace and vulgar a subject as shoe-leather! +Ignoring her unfinished question, he asked: "Do you know, Miss Littimer, +whether the—a—one of the servants here has brought up anything for +your father—that is, a parcel, a—"<br><br>"A pair of shoes?" +Blanche broke in, her eyes dancing, while her lips parted in a +smile.<br><br>"Yes, yes; that's what I meant."<br><br>"They came up just after +dinner," Blanche returned. "Then you <i>are</i> the gentleman."<br><br>"I'm +afraid I am," Crombie owned, and they both laughed.<br><br>Blanche quietly, and +with no apparent intention, resumed her chair; and this time Crombie took a +seat without waiting to be invited again. Thus they fell to talking in the +friendliest way.<br><br>"I can't imagine what has become of papa," said +Blanche. "He sent word, in the most mysterious manner, that he had an +engagement; and it is so unusual! Perhaps it's something about the new house +he's building—up-town, you know. Dear me! it does make so much trouble, +and I don't believe I shall like it half as well as these little, cosey +rooms."<br><br>The little, cosey rooms were as the abode of giants compared +with Crombie's contracted quarters; but he drew comfort from what she said, +thinking how such sentiments might make it possible to win even so unattainable +an heiress into some modest home of his own.<br><br>"You don't know till you +try it," he replied. "Just think of having a place all to yourself, belonging +to you."<br><br>Blanche lifted her eyebrows, and a little sigh escaped her. She +was reflecting, perhaps, that a place all to herself would be rather +lonely.<br><br>"You have never met my father?" she asked.<br><br>"No. I have +seen him."<br><br>"Well, I think you will like him when you know +him."<br><br>"I don't doubt it!" Crombie exclaimed with fervor, worshiping the +very furniture that surrounded Blanche.<br><br>"I hope we may become better +acquainted."<br><br>"Only I think, Mr. Crombie, he will owe you an apology +now."<br><br>"Why?"<br><br>"For keeping your shoes out so late."<br><br>"My +shoes!" said the young man, in vehement surprise.<br><br>"Why, yes. Didn't you +know they came to him? The porter said so."<br><br>Crombie grew red with the +sense of his disgrace in having his poverty-stricken boots come to the +knowledge of the banker. Really, his mortification was so great that the +accident seemed to him to put an end to all his hopes of further relations with +Blanche and her father.<br><br>"Oh, I assure you," he said, rising, "that makes +no difference at all! I'm sorry I mentioned the matter. Pray tell Mr. Littimer +not to think of it. I—I believe I'd better go now, Miss +Littimer."<br><br>Blanche rose too, and Crombie was on the point of bowing a +good-night, when the door opened, and a weary figure presented itself on the +threshold; the figure of a short man with a spare face, and whiskers in which +gray mingled with the sandy tint. He had a pinched, half-growling expression, +was draped in a light, draggled overcoat, and carried an umbrella, the ribs of +which hung loose around the stick.<br><br>"There's papa this moment!" cried +Blanche.<br><br>Crombie perceived that escape was impossible, and, in a few +words, the reason of his presence there was made known to the old +gentleman.<br><br>Littimer examined the visitor swiftly, from head to +foot—especially the foot. He advanced to the fire, toasted first one and +then the other of the damp gaiters he had on? and at length broke out, in a +tone bordering on reproach: "So you are the owner, are you? Then my sympathy +has all been wasted! Why, I supposed, from the condition of these machines that +I've been lugging around with me half the day that you must be in the greatest +distress. And, lo and behold! I find you a young fellow in prime health, spruce +and trim, doing well, I should say, and perfectly happy."<br><br>"I can't help +that, sir," retorted Crombie, nettled, but speaking with respect. "I confess I +was very happy until a moment or two ago."<br><br>"What do you mean by that?" +the other demanded, with half-yielding pugnacity. "Till I came in—is that +the idea?"<br><br>"Oh, papa!" said Banche, softly.<br><br>"Well, honey-bee, +what's the matter?" her father asked, trying to be gruff. "Can't I say what I +like, here?" But he surrendered at once by adding: "You may be sure I don't +want to offend any one. Sit down, Mr. Crombie, and wait just a few moments +while I go into the other room and rejuvenate my hoofs, so to speak—for I +fear I've made a donkey of myself."<br><br>He disappeared into an adjoining +room with Blanche, who there informed him artlessly of Crombie's consideration +and attentiveness in restoring the errant shoes. When they came back Littimer +insisted upon having the young man remain a little longer and drink a glass of +port with him. Before taking his departure, however, Crombie, who felt free to +speak since Blanche had retired, made a brief statement in satisfaction of +conscience.<br><br>"You hinted," he said, "that you judged me to be doing well. +I don't want to leave you with a false impression. The truth is, I am not doing +well. I have no money to speak of, and to-day I lost the position on which I +depended."<br><br>"You don't tell me!" Littimer's newly roused charitable +impulses came to the fore. "Why, now you begin to be really interesting, Mr. +Crombie."<br><br>"Thanks," said Crombie; "I'm not ambitious to interest people +in that way, I told you only because I thought it fair."<br><br>"Don't be +touchy, my dear sir," answered the banker. "I meant what I said. Come, let's +see what can be done. Have you any scheme in view?"<br><br>"Yes, I have," said +Crombie, with decision.<br><br>Littimer gave a grunt. He was afraid of people +with schemes, and was disappointed with the young man's want of helplessness. +Dependence would have been an easier thing to deal with.<br><br>"Well," said +he, "we must talk it over. Come and see me at the bank to-morrow. You know the +address."<br><br>The next day Crombie called at the bank; but Littimer was not +there. He was not very well, it was said; had not come down-town. Crombie did +what he could toward organizing his fight for a directorship, and then returned +to The Lorne, where he punctually inquired after Mr. Littimer's health, and +learned that the banker's ardor in making the rounds among distressed people +the night before had been followed by reaction into a bad cold, with some +threat of pneumonia. Blanche was plainly anxious. The attack lasted three or +four days, and Crombie, though the affair of the directorship was pressing for +attention, could not forbear to remain as near as possible to Blanche, offering +every aid within his power, so far as he might without overstepping the lines +of his very recent acquaintance. But the Littimers did not, according to his +observation, number any very intimate companions in their circle, or at least +had not many friends who would be assiduous in such an emergency. Perhaps their +friends were too busy with social engagements. Consequently, he saw a good deal +of Blanche, and became to her an object of reliance.<br><br>Well, it was simply +one of those things that happen only in fairy tales or in romances—or in +real life. Littimer recovered without any serious illness, and, after a brief +conference with Crombie, entered heartily into the young man's campaign. +Crombie showed him just what combinations could be formed, how success could be +achieved, and what lucrative results might be made to ensue. He conquered by +figures and by lucid common-sense. Littimer agreed to buy a number of shares in +the Engraving Company, which he happened to know could be purchased, and to +advance Crombie a good sum with which to procure a portion of the same lot. But +before this agreement could be consummated, Crombie, with his usual frankness, +said to the banker:<br><br>"I will conceal nothing from you, Mr. Littimer. I +fell in love with Blanche before I knew her, and if this venture of mine +succeeds, I shall ask her to become my wife."<br><br>"Let us attend to +business," said Littimer, severely. "Sentiment can take care of +itself."<br><br>Their manoeuvre went on so vigorously that Blatchford became +alarmed, and sent an ambassador to arrange a compromise; but by this time +Crombie had determined to oust Blatchford himself and elect an entirely new set +of men, to compose more than half the Board, and so control +everything.<br><br>He succeeded.<br><br>But Littimer did not forget the +charitable enthusiasm which had been awakened by a circumstance on the surface +so trivial as the mistake of a boot-boy. He did not desist from his interest in +aiding disabled or unfortunate people who could really be aided. Some time +after Crombie had achieved his triumph in the Engraving Company, and had repaid +Littimer's loan, he was admitted to a share in the banking business; and +eventually the head of the house was able to give a great deal of attention to +perfecting his benevolent plans.<br><br>When the details of their wedding were +under discussion, Crombie said to Blanche: "Oughtn't we to have an old shoe +thrown after the carriage as we drive away?"<br><br>She smiled; looked him full +in the eyes with a peculiar tenderness in which there was a bright, delicious +sparkle of humor. "No; old shoes are much too useful to be wasted that +way."<br><br>Somehow she had possessed herself of that particular, providential +pair; and, though I don't want anybody to laugh at my two friends, I must risk +saying that I suspect Mrs. Crombie of preserving it somewhere to this day, in +the big new house up-town.</p> +<br><br><br><br> +<h2><a name="9">THE DENVER +EXPRESS</a> +<br>————————— +<br>BY A. A. HAYES<br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A +writer"></h2><p><i>Augustus Alien Hayes (born in New England in 1837, died in +1892) was the author of two works relating to the Far West which have placed on +permanent record an interesting phase, now forever past, of the development of +civilisation in that region. "New Colorado and the Santa Fe Trail" is a +descriptive book yielding the information of fact concerning the pioneer period +of settlement in that region; and "The Denver Express" is a stirring piece of +fiction vividly reproducing the spirit of those days when the forces of social +order introduced by the railroad were battling with the primitive elements of +vice and crime. The latter story, which is here reproduced, appeared in an +English magazine, "Belgravia," where it was most favorably received by readers +whose appetite for such fiction had already been whetted by the tales of Bret +Harte.</i></p><h2><img src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p +align="center">THE DENVER EXPRESS<br><span class="b2">BY A. A. +HAYES<br>[Footnote: From "Belgravia" for January, 1884]</span></p><p><span +class="b3">A</span>NY one who has seen an outward-bound clipper ship getting +under way, and heard the "shanty-songs" sung by the sailors as they toiled at +capstan and halliards, will probably remember that rhymeless but melodious +refrain—</p><p class="b1">"I'm bound to see its muddy +waters,<br> Yeo ho! that rolling river;<br>Bound to see its muddy +waters,<br> Yeo ho! the wild Missouri."</p><p>Only a happy inspiration +could have impelled Jack to apply the adjective "wild" to that ill-behaved and +disreputable river which, tipsily bearing its enormous burden of mud from the +far Northwest, totters, reels, runs its tortuous course for hundreds on +hundreds of miles; and which, encountering the lordly and thus far well-behaved +Mississippi at Alton, and forcing its company upon this splendid river (as if +some drunken fellow should lock arms with a dignified pedestrian), contaminates +it all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.<br><br>At a certain point on the banks of +this river, or rather—as it has the habit of abandoning and destroying +said banks—at a safe distance therefrom, there is a town from which a +railroad takes its departure, for its long climb up the natural incline of the +Great Plains, to the base of the mountains; hence the importance to this town +of the large but somewhat shabby building serving as terminal station. In its +smoky interior, late in the evening and not very long ago, a train was nearly +ready to start. It was a train possessing a certain consideration. For the +benefit of a public easily gulled and enamored of grandiloquent terms, it was +advertised as the "Denver Fast Express"; sometimes, with strange unfitness, as +the "Lightning Express"; "elegant" and "palatial" cars were declared to be +included therein; and its departure was one of the great events of the twenty- +four hours in the country round about. A local poet described it in the "live" +paper of the town, cribbing from an old Eastern magazine and passing off as +original the lines—</p><p class="b1">"Again we stepped into the +street,<br> A train came thundering by,<br>Drawn by the snorting iron +steed<br> Swifter than eagles fly.<br>Rumbled the wheels, the whistle +shrieked,<br> Far rolled the smoky cloud,<br>Echoed the hills, the valleys +shook,<br> The flying forests bowed."</p><p>The trainmen, on the other +hand, used no fine phrases. They called it simply "Number Seventeen"; and, when +it started, said it had "pulled out."<br><br>On the evening in question, there +it stood, nearly ready. Just behind the great hissing locomotive, with its +parabolic headlight and its coal-laden tender, came the baggage, mail, and +express cars; then the passenger coaches, in which the social condition of the +occupants seemed to be in inverse ratio to their distance from the engine. +First came emigrants, "honest miners," "cowboys," and laborers; Irishmen, +Germans, Welshmen, Mennonites from Russia, quaint of garb and speech, and +Chinamen. Then came long cars full of people of better station, and last the +great Pullman "sleepers," in which the busy black porters were making up the +berths for well-to-do travelers of diverse nationalities and +occupations.<br><br>It was a curious study for a thoughtful observer, this +motley crowd of human beings sinking all differences of race, creed, and habits +in the common purpose to move westward—to the mountain fastnesses, the +sage-brush deserts and the Golden Gate.<br><br>The warning bell had sounded, +and the fireman leaned far out for the signal. The gong struck sharply the +conductor shouted, "All aboard," and raised his hand; the tired ticket-seller +shut his window, and the train moved out of the station, gathered way as it +cleared the outskirts of the town, rounded a curve, entered on an absolutely +straight line, and, with one long whistle from the engine, settled down to its +work. Through the night hours it sped on, past lonely ranches and infrequent +stations, by and across shallow streams fringed with cottonwood trees, over the +greenish-yellow buffalo grass near the old trail where many a poor emigrant, +many a bold frontiersman, many a brave soldier, had laid his bones but a short +time before.<br><br>Familiar as they may be, there is something strangely +impressive about all-night journeys by rail, and those forming part of an +American transcontinental trip are almost weird. From the windows of a night +express in Europe or the older portions of the United States, one looks on +houses and lights, cultivated fields, fences, and hedges; and, hurled as he may +be through the darkness, he has a sense of companionship and semi-security. Far +different is it when the long train is running over those two rails which, seen +before night set in, seem to meet on the horizon. Within all is as if between +two great seaboard cities; the neatly dressed people, the uniformed officials, +the handsome fittings, the various appliances for comfort. Without are now long +dreary levels, now deep and wild canyons, now an environment of strange and +grotesque rock-formations, castles, battlements, churches, statues. The +antelope fleetly runs, and the coyote skulks away from the track, and the gray +wolf howls afar off. It is for all the world, to one's fancy, as if a bit of +civilization, a family or community, its belongings and surroundings complete, +were flying through regions barbarous and inhospitable.<br><br>From the cab of +Engine No. 32, the driver of the Denver Express saw, showing faintly in the +early morning, the buildings grouped about the little station ten miles ahead, +where breakfast awaited his passengers. He looked at his watch; he had just +twenty minutes in which to run the distance, as he had run it often before. +Something, however, traveled faster than he. From the smoky station out of +which the train passed the night before, along the slender wire stretched on +rough poles at the side of the track, a spark of that mysterious something +which we call electricity flashed at the moment he returned the watch to his +pocket; and in five minutes' time the station-master came out on the platform, +a little more thoughtful than his wont, and looked eastward for the smoke of +the train. With but three of the passengers in that train has this tale +especially to do, and they were all in the new and comfortable Pullman "City of +Cheyenne." One was a tall, well-made man of about thirty—blond, blue- +eyed, bearded, straight, sinewy, alert. Of all in the train he seemed the most +thoroughly at home, and the respectful greeting of the conductor, as he passed +through the car, marked him as an officer of the road. Such was he—Henry +Sinclair, assistant engineer, quite famed on the line, high in favor with the +directors, and a rising man in all ways. It was known on the road that he was +expected in Denver, and there were rumors that he was to organize the parties +for the survey of an important "extension." Beside him sat his pretty young +wife. She was a New Yorker—one could tell at first glance—from the +feather of her little bonnet, matching the gray traveling dress, to the tips of +her dainty boots; and one, too, at whom old Fifth Avenue promenaders would have +turned to look. She had a charming figure, brown hair, hazel eyes, and an +expression at once kind, intelligent, and spirited. She had cheerfully left a +luxurious home to follow the young engineer's fortunes; and it was well known +that those fortunes had been materially advanced by her tact and +cleverness.<br><br>The third passenger in question had just been in +conversation with Sinclair and the latter was telling his wife of their curious +meeting. Entering the toilet-room at the rear of the car, he said, he had begun +his ablutions by the side of another man, and it was as they were sluicing +their faces with water that he heard the cry:<br><br>"Why, Major, is that you? +Just to think of meeting you here!"<br><br>A man of about tweny-eight years of +age, slight, muscular, wiry, had seized his wet hand and was wringing it. He +had black eyes, keen and bright, swarthy complexion, black hair and mustache. A +keen observer might have seen about him some signs of a <i>jeunesse +orageuse</i>, but his manner was frank and pleasing. Sinclair looked him in the +face, puzzled for a moment.<br><br>"Don't you remember Foster?" asked the +man.<br><br>"Of course I do," replied Sinclair. "For a moment I could not place +you. Where have you been and what have you been doing?"<br><br>"Oh," replied +Foster, laughing, "I've braced up and turned over a new leaf. I'm a respectable +member of society, have a place in the express company, and am going to Denver +to take charge."<br><br>"I am very glad to hear it, and you must tell me your +story when we have had our breakfast."<br><br>The pretty young woman was just +about to ask who Foster was, when the speed of the train slackened, and the +brakeman opened the door of the car and cried out in stentorian +tones:<br><br>"Pawnee Junction; twenty minutes for refreshments!"</p><p +align="center">II</p><p>When the celebrated Rocky Mountain gold excitement +broke out, more than twenty years ago, and people painted "PIKE'S PEAK OR BUST" +on the canvas covers of their wagons and started for the diggings, they +established a "trail" or "trace" leading in a southwesterly direction from the +old one to California.<br><br>At a certain point on this trail a frontiersman +named Barker built a forlorn ranch-house and <i>corral</i>, and offered what is +conventionally called "entertainment for man and beast."<br><br>For years he +lived there, dividing his time between fighting the Indians and feeding the +passing emigrants and their stock. Then the first railroad to Denver was built, +taking another route from the Missouri, and Barker's occupation was gone. He +retired with his gains to St. Louis and lived in comfort.<br><br>Years passed +on, and the "extension" over which our train is to pass was planned. The old +pioneers were excellent natural engineers and their successors could find no +better route than they had chosen. Thus it was that "Barker's" became, during +the construction period, an important point, and the frontiersman's name came +to figure on time-tables. Meanwhile the place passed through a process of +evolution which would have delighted Darwin. In the party of engineers which +first camped there was Sinclair and it was by his advice that the contractors +selected it for division headquarters. Then came drinking "saloons" and +gambling houses—alike the inevitable concomitant and the bane of Western +settlements; then scattered houses and shops and a shabby so-called hotel, in +which the letting of miserable rooms (divided from each other by canvas +partitions) was wholly subordinated to the business of the bar. Before long, +Barker's had acquired a worse reputation than even other towns of its type, the +abnormal and uncanny aggregations of squalor and vice which dotted the plains +in those days; and it was at its worst when Sinclair returned thither and took +up his quarters in the engineers' building. The passion for gambling was +raging, and to pander thereto were collected as choice a lot of desperadoes as +ever "stacked" cards or loaded dice. It came to be noticed that they were on +excellent terms with a man called "Jeff" Johnson, who was lessee of the hotel; +and to be suspected that said Johnson, in local parlance, "stood in with" them. +With this man had come to Barker's his daughter Sarah, commonly known as +"Sally," a handsome girl, with a straight, lithe figure, fine features, reddish +auburn hair, and dark-blue eyes. It is but fair to say that even the "toughs" +of a place like Barker's show some respect for the other sex, and Miss Sally's +case was no exception to the rule. The male population admired her; they said +she "put on heaps of style"; but none of them had seemed to make any progress +in her good graces.<br><br>On a pleasant afternoon just after the track had +been laid some miles west of Barker's, and construction trains were running +with some regularity to and from the end thereof, Sinclair sat on the rude +veranda of the engineers' quarters, smoking his well-colored meerschaum and +looking at the sunset. The atmosphere had been so clear during the day that +glimpses were had of Long's and Pike's peaks, and as the young engineer gazed +at the gorgeous cloud display he was thinking of the miners' quaint and +pathetic idea that the dead "go over the Range."<br><br>"Nice-looking, ain't +it, Major?" asked a voice at his elbow, and he turned to see one of the +contractors' officials taking a seat near him.<br><br>"More than nice-looking +to my mind, Sam," he replied. "What is the news to-day?"<br><br>"Nothin' much. +There's a sight of talk about the doin's of them faro an' keno sharps. The boys +is gettin' kind o' riled, fur they allow the game ain't on the square wuth a +cent. Some of 'em down to the tie-camp wuz a-talkin' about a vigilance +committee, an' I wouldn't be surprised ef they meant business. Hev yer heard +about the young feller that come in a week ago from Laramie an' set up a new +faro-bank?"<br><br>"No. What about him?"<br><br>"Wa'al, yer see he's a feller +thet's got a lot of sand an' ain't afeared of nobody, an' he's allowed to hev +the deal to his place on the square every time. Accord-in' to my idee, +gamblin's about the wust racket a feller kin work, but it takes all sorts of +men to make a world, an' ef the boys is bound to hev a game, I cal-kilate +they'd like to patronize his bank. Thet's made the old crowd mighty mad an' +they're a-talkin' about puttin' up a job of cheatin' on him an' then stringin' +him up. Besides, I kind o' think there's some cussed jealousy on another lay as +comes in. Yer see the young feller—Cyrus Foster's his name—is sweet +on thet gal of Jeff Johnson's. Jeff wuz to Laramie before he come here, an' +Foster knowed Sally up thar. I allow he moved here to see her. Hello! Ef thar +they ain't a-coming now."<br><br>Down a path leading from the town past the +railroad buildings, and well on the prairie, Sinclair saw the girl walking with +the "young feller." He was talking earnestly to her and her eyes were cast +down. She looked pretty and, in a way, graceful; and there was in her attire a +noticeable attempt at neatness, and a faint reminiscence of bygone fashions. A +smile came to Sinclair's lips as he thought of a couple walking up Fifth Avenue +during his leave of absence not many months before, and of a letter many times +read, lying at that moment in his breast-pocket.<br><br>"Papa's bark is worse +than his bite," ran one of its sentences. "Of course he does not like the idea +of my leaving him and going away to such dreadful and remote places as Denver +and Omaha and I don't know what else; but he will not oppose me in the end, and +when you come on again.—"<br><br>"By thunder!" exclaimed Sam; "ef thar +ain't one of them cussed sharps a-watchin' 'em."<br><br>Sure enough a rough- +looking fellow, his hat pulled over his eyes, half concealed behind a pile of +lumber, was casting a sinister glance toward the pair.<br><br>"The gal's well +enough," continued Sam; "but I don't take a cent's wuth of stock in thet thar +father of her'n. He's in with them sharps, sure pop, an' it don't suit his book +to hev Foster hangin' round. It's ten to one he sent that cuss to watch 'em. +Wa'al, they're a queer lot, an' I'm afeared thar's plenty of trouble ahead +among 'em. Good luck to you, Major," and he pushed back his chair and walked +away.<br><br>After breakfast next morning, when Sinclair was sitting at the +table in his office, busy with maps and plans, the door was Lhrown open, and +Foster, panting for breath, ran in.<br><br>"Major Sinclair," he said, speaking +with difficulty, "I've no claim on you, but I ask you to protect me. The other +gamblers are going to hang me. They are more than ten to one. They will track +me here unless you harbor me, I'm a dead man."<br><br>Sinclair rose from his +chair in a second and Avalked to the window. A party of men were approaching +the building. He turned to Foster:<br><br>"I do not like your trade," said he; +"but I will not see you murdered if I can help it. You are welcome here." +Foster said "Thank you," stood still a moment, and then began to pace the room, +rapidly clinching his hands, his whole frame quivering, his eyes flashing +fire—"for all the world," Sinclair said, in telling the story afterward, +"like a fierce caged tiger."<br><br>"My God!" he muttered, with concentrated +intensity, "to be <i>trapped</i>, TRAPPED like this!"<br><br>Sinclair stepped +quickly to the door of his bedroom and motioned Foster to enter. Then there +came a knock at the outer door, and he opened it and stood on the threshold +erect and firm. Half a dozen "toughs" faced him.<br><br>"Major," said their +spokesman, "we want that man."<br><br>"You can not have him, +boys."<br><br>"Major, we're a-goin' to take him."<br><br>"You had better not +try," said Sinclair, with perfect ease and self-possession, and in a pleasant +voice. "I have given him shelter, and you can only get him over my dead body. +Of course you can kill me, but you won't do even that without one or two of you +going down; and then you know perfectly well, boys, what will happen. You +<i>know</i> that if you lay your finger on a railroad man it's all up with you. +There are five hundred men in the tie-camp, not five miles away, and you don't +need to be told that in less than one hour after they get word there won't be a +piece of one of you big enough to bury."<br><br>The men made no reply. They +looked him straight in the eyes for a moment. Had they seen a sign of flinching +they might have risked the issue, but there was none. With muttered curses, +they slunk away. Sinclair shut and bolted the door, then opened the one leading +to the bedroom.<br><br>"Foster," he said, "the train will pass here in half an +hour. Have you money enough?"<br><br>"Plenty, Major."<br><br>"Very well; keep +perfectly quiet and I will try to get you safely off." He went to an adjoining +room and called Sam, the contractor's man. He took in the situation at a +glance.<br><br>"Wa'al, Foster," said he, "kind o' 'close call' for yer, warn't +it? Guess yer'd better be gittin' up an' gittin' pretty lively. The train boys +will take yer through an' yer kin come back when this racket's worked +out."<br><br>Sinclair glanced at his watch, then he walked to the window and +looked out. On a small <i>mesa</i>, or elevated plateau, commanding the path to +the railroad, he saw a number of men with rifles.<br><br>"Just as I expected," +said he. "Sam, ask one of the boys to go down to the track and, when the train +arrives, tell the conductor to come here."<br><br>In a few minutes the whistle +was heard and the conductor entered the building. Receiving his instructions, +he returned, and immediately on engine, tender, and platform appeared the +trainmen, with <i>their</i> rifles covering the group on the bluff. Sinclair +put on his hat.<br><br>"Now, Foster," said he, "we have no time to lose. Take +Sam's arm and mine, and walk between us."<br><br>The trio left the building and +walked deliberately to the railroad. Not a word was spoken. Besides the men in +sight on the train, two behind the window-blinds of the one passenger coach, +and unseen, kept their fingers on the triggers of their repeating carbines. It +seemed a long time, counted by anxious seconds, until Foster was safe in the +coach.<br><br>"All ready, conductor," said Sinclair. "Now, Foster, good-by. I +am not good at lecturing, but if I were you, I would make this the turning- +point in my life."<br><br>Foster was much moved.<br><br>"I will do it, Major," +said he; "and I shall never forget what you have done for me to-day. I am sure +we shall meet again."<br><br>With another shriek from the whistle the train +started. Sinclair and Sam saw the men quietly returning the firearms to their +places as it gathered way. Then they walked back to their quarters. The men on +the <i>mesa</i>, balked of their purpose, had withdrawn.<br><br>Sam accompanied +Sinclair to his door, and then sententiously remarked: "Major, I think I'll +light out and find some of the boys. You ain't got no call to know anything +about it, but I allow it's about time them cusses was bounced."<br><br>Three +nights after this, a powerful party of <i>Vigilantes</i>, stern and inexorable, +made a raid on all the gambling dens, broke the tables and apparatus, and +conducted the men to a distance from the town, where they left them with an +emphatic and concise warning as to the consequences of any attempt to return. +An exception was made in Jeff Johnson's case—but only for the sake of his +daughter—for it was found that many a "little game" had been carried on +in his house.<br><br>Ere long he found it convenient to sell his business and +retire to a town some miles to the eastward, where the railroad influence was +not as strong as at Barker's. At about this time, Sinclair made his +arrangements to go to New York, with the pleasant prospect of marrying the +young lady in Fifth Avenue. In due time he arrived at Barker's, with his young +and charming wife and remained for some days. The changes were astounding. +Commonplace respectability had replaced abnormal lawlessness. A neat station +stood where had been the rough contractor's buildings. At a new "Windsor" (or +was it "Brunswick"?) the performance of the kitchen contrasted sadly (alas! how +common is such contrast in these regions) with the promise of the <i>menu</i>. +There was a tawdry theatre yclept "Academy of Music," and there was not much to +choose in the way of ugliness between two "meeting-houses."<br><br>"Upon my +word, my dear," said Sinclair to his wife, "I ought to be ashamed to say it, +but I prefer Barker's <i>au naturel.</i>"<br><br>One evening, just before the +young people left the town, and as Mrs. Sinclair sat alone in her room, the +frowzy waitress announced "a lady," and was requested to bid her enter. A woman +came with timid mien into the room, sat down, as invited, and removed her veil. +Of course the young bride had never known Sally Johnson, the whilom belle of +Barker's, but her husband would have noticed at a glance how greatly she was +changed from the girl who walked with Foster past the engineers' quarters. It +would be hard to find a more striking contrast than was presented by the two +women as they sat facing each other: the one in the flush of health and beauty, +calm, sweet, self-possessed; the other still retaining some of the shabby +finery of old days, but pale and haggard, with black rings under her eyes, and +a pathetic air of humiliation.<br><br>"Mrs. Sinclair," she hurriedly began, +"you do not know me, nor the like of me. I've got no right to speak to you, but +I couldn't help it. Oh! please believe me, I am not real downright bad. I'm +Sally Johnson, daughter of a man whom they drove out of the town. My mother +died when I was little, and I <i>never</i> had a show; and folks think because +I live with my father, and he makes me know the crowd he travels with, that I +must be in with them, and be of their sort. I never had a woman speak a kind +word to me, and I've had so much trouble that I'm just drove wild, and like to +kill myself; and then I was at the station when you came in, and I saw your +sweet face and the kind look in your eyes, and it came in my heart that I'd +speak to you if I died for it." She leaned eagerly forward, her hands nervously +closing on the back of a chair. "I suppose your husband never told you of me; +like enough he never knew me; but I'll never forget him as long as I live. When +he was here before, there was a young man"—here a faint color came in the +wan cheeks—"who was fond of me, and I thought the world of him, and my +father was down on him, and the men that father was in with wanted to kill him; +and Mr. Sinclair saved his life. He's gone away, and I've waited and waited for +him to come back—and perhaps I'll never see him again. But oh! dear lady, +I'll never forget what your husband did. He's a good man, and he deserves the +love of a dear good woman like you, and if I dared I'd pray for you both, night +and day."<br><br>She stopped suddenly and sank back in her seat, pale as +before, and as if frightened by her own emotion. Mrs. Sinclair had listened +with sympathy and increasing interest.<br><br>"My poor girl," she said, +speaking tenderly (she had a lovely, soft voice) and with slightly heightened +color, "I am delighted that you came to see me, and that my husband was able to +help you. Tell me, can we not do more for you? I do not for one moment believe +you can be happy with your present surroundings. Can we not assist you to leave +them?"<br><br>The girl rose, sadly shaking her head. "I thank you for your +words," she said. "I don't suppose I'll ever see you again, but I'll say, God +bless you!"<br><br>She caught Mrs. Sinclair's hand, pressed it to her lips, and +was gone.<br><br>Sinclair found his wife very thoughtful when he came home, and +he listened with much interest to her story.<br><br>"Poor girl!" said he; +"Foster is the man to help her. I wonder where he is? I must inquire about +him."<br><br>The next day they proceeded on their way to San Francisco, and +matters drifted on at Barker's much as before. Johnson had, after an absence of +some months, come back and lived without molestation amid the shifting +population. Now and then, too, some of the older residents fancied they +recognized, under slouched sombreros, the faces of some of his former "crowd" +about the "Ranchman's Home," as his gaudy saloon was called.<br><br>Late on the +very evening on which this story opens, and they had been "making up" the +Denver Express in the train-house on the Missouri, "Jim" Watkins, agent and +telegrapher at Barker's, was sitting in his little office, communicating with +the station rooms by the ticket window. Jim was a cool, silent, efficient man, +and not much given to talk about such episodes in his past life as the "wiping +out" by Indians of the construction party to which he belonged, and his own +rescue by the scouts. He was smoking an old and favorite pipe, and talking with +one of "the boys" whose head appeared at the wicket. On a seat in the station +sat a woman in a black dress and veil, apparently waiting for a +train.<br><br>"Got a heap of letters and telegrams there, ain't yer, Jim?" +remarked the man at the window.<br><br>"Yes," replied Jim; "they're for +Engineer Sinclair, to be delivered to him when he passes through here. He left +on No. 17, to-night." The inquirer did not notice the sharp start of the woman +near him.<br><br>"Is that good-lookin' wife of his'n a-comin' with him?" asked +he.<br><br>"Yes, there's letters for her, too." "Well, good-night, Jim. See yer +later," and he went out. The woman suddenly rose and ran to the window. "Mr. +Watkins," cried she, "can I see you for a few moments where no one can +interrupt us? It's a matter of life and death." She clutched the sill with her +thin hands, and her voice trembled. Watkins recognized Sally Johnson in a +moment. He unbolted a door, motioned her to enter, closed and again bolted it, +and also closed the ticket window. Then he pointed to a chair, and the girl sat +down and leaned eagerly forward.<br><br>"If they knew I was here," she said in +a hoarse whisper, "my life wouldn't be safe five minutes. I was waiting to tell +you a terrible story, and then I heard who was on the train due here to-morrow +night. Mr. Watkins, don't, for God's sake, ask me how I found out, but I hope +to die if I ain't telling you the living truth! They're going to wreck that +train—No. 17—at Dead Man's Crossing, fifteen miles east, and rob +the passengers and the express car. It's the worst gang in the country, +<i>Perry's</i>. They're going to throw the train off the track, the passengers +will be maimed and killed—and Mr. Sinclair and his wife on the cars! Oh! +my God! Mr. Watkins, send them warning!"<br><br>She stood upright, her face +deadly pale, her hands clasped. Watkins walked deliberately to the railroad map +which hung on the wall and scanned it. Then he resumed his seat, laid his pipe +down, fixed his eyes on the girl's face, and began to question her. At the same +time his right hand, with which he had held the pipe, found its way to the +telegraph key. None but an expert could have distinguished any change in the +<i>clicking</i> of the instrument, which had been almost incessant; but Watkins +had "called" the head office on the Missouri. In two minutes the "sounder" +rattled out "<i>All right! What is it</i>?"<br><br>Watkins went on with his +questions, his eyes still fixed on the poor girl's face, and all the time his +fingers, as it were, playing with the key. If he were imperturbable, so was +<i>not</i> a man sitting at a receiving instrument nearly five hundred miles +away. He had "taken" but a few words when he jumped from his chair and +cried:<br><br>"Shut that door, and call the superintendent and be quick! +Charley, brace up—lively—and come and write this out!" With his +wonderful electric pen, the handle several hundreds of miles long, Watkins, +unknown to his interlocutor, was printing in the Morse alphabet this startling +message:</p><p class="b1">"Inform'n rec'd. Perry gang going to throw No. 17 off +track near —xth mile-post, this division, about nine to-morrow (Thursday) +night, kill passengers, and rob express and mail. Am alone here. No chance to +verify story, but believe it to be on square. Better make arrangements from +your end to block game. No Sheriff here now. Answer."</p><p>The superintendent, +responding to the hasty summons, heard the message before the clerk had time to +write it out. His lips were closely compressed as he put his own hand on the +key and sent these laconic sentences: "<i>O. K. Keep perfectly dark. Will +manage from this end</i>."<br><br>Watkins, at Barker's, rose from his seat, +opened the door a little way, saw that the station was empty, and then said to +the girl, brusquely, but kindly:<br><br>"Sally, you've done the square thing, +and saved that train. I'll take care that you don't suffer and that you get +well paid. Now come home with me, and my wife will look out for +you."<br><br>"Oh! no," cried the girl, shrinking back, "I must run away. You're +mighty kind, but I daren't go with you." Detecting a shade of doubt in his eye, +she added: "Don't be afeared; I'll die before they'll know I've given them away +to you!" and she disappeared in the darkness.<br><br>At the other end of the +wire, the superintendent had quietly impressed secrecy on his operator and +clerk, ordered his fast mare harnessed, and gone to his private +office.<br><br>"Read that!" said he to his secretary. "It was about time for +some trouble of this kind, and now I'm going to let Uncle Sam take care of his +mails. If I don't get to the reservation before the General's turned in, I +shall have to wake him up. Wait for me, please."<br><br>The gray mare made the +six miles to the military reservation in just half an hour. The General was +smoking his last cigar, and was alert in an instant; and before the +superintendent had finished the jorum of "hot Scotch" hospitably tendered, the +orders had gone by wire to the commanding officer at Fort +———, some distance east of Barker's, and been duly +acknowledged.<br><br>Returning to the station, the superintendent remarked to +the waiting secretary:<br><br>"The General's all right. Of course we can't tell +that this is not a sell; but if those Perry hounds mean business they'll get +all the fight they want—and if they've got any souls—which I +doubt—may the Lord have mercy on them!"<br><br>He prepared several +despatches, two of which were as follows:<br><br>"M<span class="b1">R. +</span>H<span class="b1">ENRY </span>S<span class="b1">INCLAIR:<br><br>"On No. +17, Pawnee Junction:<br><br>This telegram your authority to take charge of +train on which you are, and demand obedience of all officials and trainmen on +road. Please do so, and act in accordance with information wired station agent +at Pawnee Junction."</span><br><br>To the Station Agent:<br><br>"Reported Perry +gang will try wreck and rob No. 17 near —xth mile-post, Denver Division, +about nine Thursday night. Troops will await train at Fort +———. Car ordered ready for them. Keep everything secret, and +act in accordance with orders of Mr. Sinclair."<br><br>"It's worth about ten +thousand dollars," sententiously remarked he, "that Sinclair's on that train. +He's got both sand and brains. Good-night," and he went to bed and slept the +sleep of the just.</p><p align="center">III</p><p>The sun never shone more +brightly and the air was never more clear and bracing than when Sinclair helped +his wife off the train at Pawnee Junction. The station-master's face fell as he +saw the lady, but he saluted the engineer with as easy an air as he could +assume, and watched for an opportunity to speak to him alone. Sinclair read the +despatches with an unmoved countenance, and after a few minutes' reflection +simply said: "All right. Be sure to keep the matter perfectly quiet." At +breakfast he was <i>distrait</i>—so much so that his wife asked him what +was the matter. Taking her aside, he at once showed her the +telegrams.<br><br>"You see my duty," he said. "My only thought is about you, my +dear child. Will you stay here?"<br><br>She simply replied, looking into his +face without a tremor:<br><br>"My place is with you." Then the conductor called +"All aboard," and the train once more started.<br><br>Sinclair asked Foster to +join him in the smoking compartment and tell him the promised story, which the +latter did. His rescue at Barker's, he frankly and gratefully said, <i>had</i> +been the turning point in his life. In brief, he had "sworn off" from gambling +and drinking, had found honest employment, and was doing well.<br><br>"I've two +things to do now, Major," he added; "first, I must show my gratitude to you; +and next"—he hesitated a little—"I want to find that poor girl that +I left behind at Barker's. She was engaged to marry me, and when I came to +think of it, and what a life I'd have made her lead, I hadn't the heart till +now to look for her; but, seeing I'm on the right track, I'm going to find her, +and get her to come with me. Her father's an—old scoundrel; but that +ain't her fault, and I ain't going to marry <i>him</i>."<br><br>"Foster," +quietly asked Sinclair, "do you know the Perry gang?"<br><br>The man's brow +darkened.<br><br>"Know them?" said he. "I know them much too well. Perry is as +ungodly a cutthroat as ever killed an emigrant in cold blood, and he's got in +his gang nearly all those hounds that tried to hang me. Why do you ask, +Major?"<br><br>Sinclair handed him the despatches. "You are the only man on the +train to whom I have shown them," said he.<br><br>Foster read them slowly, his +eyes lighting up as he did so. "Looks as if it was true," said he. "Let me see! +Fort ——. Yes, that's the —th infantry. Two of their boys were +killed at Sidney last summer by some of the same gang, and the regiment's sworn +vengeance. Major, if this story's on the square, that crowd's goose is cooked, +and <i>don't you forget it</i>! I say, you must give me a hand +in."<br><br>"Foster," said Sinclair, "I am going to put responsibility on your +shoulders. I have no doubt that, if we be attacked, the soldiers will dispose +of the gang; but I must take all possible precautions for the safety of the +passengers. We must not alarm them. They can be made to think that the troops +are going on a scout, and only a certain number of resolute men need be told of +what we expect. Can you, late this afternoon, go through the cars, and pick +them out? I will then put you in charge of the passenger cars, and you can post +your men on the platforms to act in case of need. My place will be +ahead."<br><br>"Major, you can depend on me," was Foster's reply. "I'll go +through the train and have my eye on some boys of the right sort, and that's +got their shooting-irons with them."<br><br>Through the hours of that day on +rolled the train, still over the crisp buffalo grass, across the well-worn +buffalo trails, past the prairie-dog villages. The passengers chatted, dozed, +played cards, read, all unconscious, with the exception of three, of the coming +conflict between the good and the evil forces bearing on their fate; of the +fell preparations making for their disaster; of the grim preparations making to +avert such disaster; of all of which the little wires alongside of them had +been talking back and forth. Watkins had telegraphed that he still saw no +reason to doubt the good faith of his warning, and Sinclair had reported his +receipt of authority and his acceptance thereof. Meanwhile, also, there had +been set in motion a measure of that power to which appeal is so reluctantly +made in time of peace. At Fort ———, a lonely post on the +plains, the orders had that morning been issued for twenty men under Lieutenant +Halsey to parade at 4 p. M., with overcoats, two days' rations, and ball +cartridges; also for Assistant Surgeon Kesler to report for duty with the +party. Orders as to destination were communicated direct to the lieutenant from +the post commander, and on the minute the little column moved, taking the road +to the station. The regiment from which it came had been in active service +among the Indians on the frontier for a long time, and the officers and men +were tried and seasoned fighters. Lieutenant Halsey had been well known at the +West Point balls as the "leader of the german." From the last of these balls he +had gone straight to the field, and three years had given him an enviable +reputation for <i>sang-froid</i> and determined bravery. He looked every inch +the soldier as he walked along the trail, his cloak thrown back and his sword +tucked under his arm. The doctor, who carried a Modoc bullet in some +inaccessible part of his scarred body, growled good-naturedly at the need of +walking, and the men, enveloped in their army-blue overcoats, marched easily by +fours. Reaching the station, the lieutenant called the agent aside, and with +him inspected, on a siding, a long platform car on which benches had been +placed and secured. Then he took his seat in the station and quietly waited, +occasionally twisting his long blond mustache. The doctor took a cigar with the +agent, and the men walked about or sat on the edge of the platform. One of +them, who obtained a surreptitious glance at his silent commander, told his +companions that there was trouble ahead for somebody.<br><br>"That's just the +way the leftenant looked, boys," said he, "when we was laying for them Apaches +that raided Jones's Ranch and killed the women and little children."<br><br>In +a short time the officer looked at his watch, formed his men, and directed them +to take their places on the seats of the car. They had hardly done so when the +whistle of the approaching train was heard. When it came up, the conductor, who +had his instructions from Sinclair, had the engine detached and backed on the +siding for the soldiers' car, which thus came between it and the foremost +baggage car when the train was again made up. As arranged, it was announced +that the troops were to be taken a certain distance to join a scouting party, +and the curiosity of the passengers was but slightly excited. The soldiers sat +quietly in their seats, their repeating rifles held between their knees, and +the officer in front. Sinclair joined the latter, and had a few words with him +as the train moved on. A little later, when the stars were shining brightly +overhead, they passed into the express car, and sent for the conductor and +other trainmen, and for Foster. In a few words Sinclair explained the position +of affairs. His statement was received with perfect coolness, and the men only +asked what they were to do.<br><br>"I hope, boys," said Sinclair, "that we are +going to put this gang to-night where they will make no more trouble. +Lieutenant Halsey will bear the brunt of the fight, and it only remains for you +to stand by the interests committed to your care. Mr. Express Agent, what help +do you want?" The person addressed, a good-natured giant, girded with a +cartridge belt, smiled as he replied:<br><br>"Well, sir, I'm wearing a watch +which the company gave me for standing off the James gang in Missouri for half +an hour, when we hadn't the ghost of a soldier about. I'll take the contract, +and welcome, to hold <i>this</i> fort alone."<br><br>"Very well," said +Sinclair. "Foster, what progress have you made?"<br><br>"Major, I've got ten or +fifteen as good men as ever drew a bead, and just red-hot for a +fight."<br><br>"That will do very well. Conductor, give the trainmen the rifles +from the baggage car and let them act under Mr. Foster. Now, boys, I am sure +you will do your duty. That is all."<br><br>From the next station Sinclair +telegraphed "All ready" to the superintendent, who was pacing his office in +much suspense. Then he said a few words to his brave but anxious wife, and +walked to the rear platform. On it were several armed men, who bade him good- +evening, and asked "when the fun was going to begin." Walking through the +train, he found each platform similarly occupied, and Foster going from one to +the other. The latter whispered as he passed him:<br><br>"Major, I found +Arizona Joe, the scout, in the smokin' car, and he's on the front platform. +That lets me out, and although I know as well as you that there ain't any +danger about that rear sleeper where the madam is, I ain't a-going to be far +off from her." Sinclair shook him by the hand; then he looked at his watch. It +was half-past eight. He passed through the baggage and express cars, finding in +the latter the agent sitting behind his safe, on which lay two large revolvers. +On the platform car he found the soldiers and their commander sitting silent +and unconcerned as before. When Sinclair reached the latter and nodded, he rose +and faced the men, and his fine voice was clearly heard above the rattle of the +train.<br><br>"Company, 'ten<i>tion</i>!" The soldiers straightened themselves +in a second.<br><br>"With ball cartridge, <i>load</i>!" It was done with the +precision of a machine. Then the lieutenant spoke, in the same clear, crisp, +tones that the troops had heard in more than one fierce battle.<br><br>"Men," +said he, "in a few minutes the Perry gang, which you will remember, are going +to try to run this train off the track, wound and kill the passengers, and rob +the cars and the United States mail. It is our business to prevent them. +Sergeant Wilson" (a gray-bearded non-commissioned officer stood up and +saluted), "I am going on the engine. See that my orders are repeated. Now, men, +aim low, and don't waste any shots." He and Sinclair climbed over the tender +and spoke to the engine-driver.<br><br>"How are the air-brakes working?" asked +Sinclair.<br><br>"First-rate."<br><br>"Then, if you slowed down now, you could +stop the train in a third of her length, couldn't you?"<br><br>"Easy, if you +don't mind being shaken up a bit."<br><br>"That is good. How is the country +about the —xth mile-post?"<br><br>"Dead level, and smooth."<br><br>"Good +again. Now, Lieutenant Halsey, this is a splendid head-light, and we can see a +long way with my night glass. I will have a—"<br><br>"—2d mile-pole +just past," interrupted the engine-driver.<br><br>"Only one more to pass, then, +before we ought to strike them. Now, lieutenant, I undertake to stop the train +within a very short distance of the gang. They will be on both sides of the +track, no doubt; and the ground, as you hear, is quite level. You will best +know what to do."<br><br>The officer stepped back. "Sergeant," called he, "do +you hear me plainly?" "Yes, sir."<br><br>"Have the men fix bayonets. When the +train stops, and I wave my sword, let half jump off each side, run up quickly, +and form line <i>abreast of the engine</i>—not ahead."<br><br>"Jack," +said Sinclair to the engine-driver, "is your hand steady?" The man held it up +with a smile. "Good. Now stand by your throttle and your air-brake. Lieutenant, +better warn the men to hold on tight, and tell the sergeant to pass the word to +the boys on the platforms, or they will be knocked off by the sudden stop. Now +for a look ahead!" and he brought the binocular to his eyes.<br><br>The great +parabolic head-light illuminated the track a long way in advance, all behind it +being of course in darkness. Suddenly Sinclair cried out:<br><br>"The fools +have a light there, as I am a living man; and there is a little red one near +us. What can that be? All ready, Jack! By heaven! they have taken up two rails. +Now <i>hold on, all</i>! S<span class="b1">TOP HER</span>!!"<br><br>The engine- +driver shut his throttle-valve with a jerk. Then, holding hard by it, he +sharply turned a brass handle. There was a fearful jolt—a +grating—and the train's way was checked. The lieutenant, standing +sidewise, had drawn his sword. He waved it, and almost before he could get off +the engine the soldiers were up and forming, still in shadow, while the bright +light was thrown on a body of men ahead.<br><br>"Surrender, or you are dead +men!" roared the officer. Curses and several shots were the reply. Then came +the orders, quick and sharp:<br><br>"<i>Forward! Close tip! Double-quick! +Halt!</i> F<span class="b1">IRE</span>!" . . . It was speedily over. Left on +the car with the men, the old sergeant had said:<br><br>"Boys, you hear. It's +that ——— Perry gang. Now, don't forget Larry and Charley that +they murdered last year," and there had come from the soldiers a sort of +fierce, subdued <i>growl</i>. The volley was followed by a bayonet charge, and +it required all the officer's authority to save the lives even of those who +"threw up their hands." Large as the gang was (outnumbering the troops), well +armed and desperate as they were, every one was dead, wounded, or a prisoner +when the men who guarded the train platforms ran up. The surgeon, with +professional coolness, walked up to the robbers, his instrument case under his +arm.<br><br>"Not much for me to do here, Lieutenant," said he. "That practice +for Creedmoor is telling on the shooting. Good thing for the gang, too. Bullets +are better than rope, and a Colorado jury will give them plenty of +that."<br><br>Sinclair had sent a man to tell his wife that all was over. Then +he ordered a fire lighted, and the rails relaid. The flames lit a strange scene +as the passengers flocked up. The lieutenant posted men to keep them +back.<br><br>"Is there a telegraph station not far ahead, Sinclair?" asked he. +"Yes? All right." He drew a small pad from his pocket, and wrote a despatch to +the post commander.<br><br>"Be good enough to send that for me," said he, "and +leave orders at Barker's for the night express eastward to stop for us, and +bring a posse to take care of the wounded and prisoners. And now, my dear +Sinclair, I suggest that you get the passengers into the cars, and go on as +soon as those rails are spiked. When they realize the situation, some of them +will feel precious ugly, and you know we can't have any +lynching."<br><br>Sinclair glanced at the rails and gave the word at once to +the conductor and brakemen, who began vociferating, "All aboard!"' Just then +Foster appeared, an expression of intense satisfaction showing clearly on his +face, in the firelight.<br><br>"Major," said he, "I didn't use to take much +stock in special Providence, or things being ordered; but I'm darned if I don't +believe in them from this day. I was bound to stay where you put me, but I was +uneasy, and wild to be in the scrimmage; and, if I had been there, I wouldn't +have taken notice of a little red light that wasn't much behind the rear +platform when we stopped. When I saw there was no danger there I ran back, and +what do you think I found? There was a woman in a dead faint, and just +clutching a lantern that she had tied up in a red scarf, poor little thing! +And, Major, it was Sally! It was the little girl that loved me out at Barker's, +and has loved me and waited for me ever since! And when she came to, and knew +me, she was so glad she 'most fainted away again; and she let on as it was her +that gave away the job. And I took her into the sleeper, and the madam, God +bless her!—she knew Sally before and was good to her—she took care +of her and is cheering her up. And now, Major, I'm going to take her straight +to Denver, and send for a parson and get her married to me, and she'll brace +up, sure pop."<br><br>The whistle sounded, and the train started. From the +window of the "sleeper" Sinclair and his wife took their last look at the weird +scene. The lieutenant, standing at the side of the track, wrapped in his cloak, +caught a glimpse of Mrs. Sinclair's pretty face, and returned her bow. Then, as +the car passed out of sight, he tugged at his mustache and hummed:<br><br><span +class="b1">"Why, boys, why,<br> Should we be melancholy, boys,<br>Whose +business 'tis to die?"</span><br><br>In less than an hour, telegrams having in +the meantime been sent in both directions, the train ran alongside the platform +at Barker's; and Watkins, imperturbable as usual, met Sinclair, and gave him +his letters.<br><br>"Perry gang wiped out, I hear, Major," said he. "Good thing +for the country. That's a lesson the 'toughs' in these parts won't forget for a +long time. Plucky girl that give 'em away, wasn't she? Hope she's all +right."<br><br>"She is all right," said Sinclair with a smile.<br><br>"Glad of +that. By the way, that father of her'n passed in his checks to-night. He'd got +one warning from the Vigilantes, and yesterday they found out he was in with +this gang, and they was a-going for him; but when the telegram come, he put a +pistol to his head and saved them all trouble. Good riddance to everybody, I +say. The sheriff's here now, and is going east on the next train to get them +fellows. He's got a big posse together, and I wouldn't wonder if they was hard +to hold in, after the 'boys in blue' is gone."<br><br>In a few minutes the +train was off, and its living freight—the just and the unjust, the +reformed and the rescued, the happy and the anxious. With many of the +passengers, the episode of the night was already a thing of the past. Sinclair +sat by the side of his wife, to whose cheeks the color had all come back; and +Sally Johnson lay in her berth, faith still, but able to give an occasional +smile to Foster. In the station on the Missouri the reporters were gathered +around the happy superintendent, smoking his cigars, and filling their note- +books with items. In Denver, their brethren would gladly have done the same, +but Watkins failed to gratify them. He was a man of few words. When the train +had gone through, and a friend remarked: "Hope they'll get through all right, +now," he simply said: "Yes, likely. Two shots don't 'most always go in the same +hole." Then he went to the telegraph instrument. In a few minutes, he could +have told a story as wild as a Norse <i>saga</i>, but what he said, when Denver +had responded, was only—<br><br>"<i>No. 17, fifty-five minutes +late</i>."</p> +<br><br><br><br> +<h2><a name="10">JAUNE +D'ANTIMOINE</a> +<br>—————————— +<br>BY THOMAS ALLIBONE TANVIER<br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A +writer"></h2><p><i>Thomas Allibone Janvier (born in Philadelphia in 1849) began +work as a journalist in his native city in 1870. In 1881 he went to spend +several years in Colorado, and New and Old Mexico—sojourns which left +their impression upon his literary work, A well-known writer of short stories, +Janvier is especially skilled in the delineation of the picturesque foreign +life of New York.</i></p><h2><img src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p +align="center">JAUNE D'ANTIMOINE<br><span class="b2">BY THOMAS ALLIBONE +JANVIER<br>[Footnote: By permission of Charles Scribner's Sons. From "Color +Studies and a Mexican Campaign," copyright, 1891.]</span></p><p><span +class="b3">D</span>OWN Greenwich way—that is to say, about in the heart +of the city of New York—in a room with a glaring south light that made +even the thought of painting in it send shivers all over you, Jaune d'Antimoine +lived and labored in the service of Art.<br><br>By all odds, it was the very +worst room in the whole building; and that was precisely the reason why Jaune +d'Antimoine had chosen it, for the rent was next to nothing: he would have +preferred a room that rented for even less. It certainly was a forlorn-looking +place. There was no furniture in it worth speaking of; it was cheerless, +desolate. A lot of studies of animals were stuck against the walls, and a +couple of finished pictures—a lioness with her cubs, and a span of +stunning draught-horses—stood in one corner, frameless. There was good +work in the studies, and the pictures really were capital—a fact that +Jaune himself recognized, and that made him feel all the more dismal because +they so persistently remained unsold. Indeed, this animal painter was having a +pretty hard time of it, and as he sat there day after day in the shocking +light, doing honest work and getting no return for it, he could not help +growing desperately blue.<br><br>But to-day Jaune d'Antimoine was not blue, for +of a sudden he had come to be stayed by a lofty purpose and upheld by a high +resolve: and his purpose and resolve were that within one month's time he would +gain for himself a new suit of clothes! There were several excellent reasons +which together served to fortify him in his exalted resolution. The most +careless observer could not fail to perceive that the clothes which he +wore—and which were incomparably superior to certain others which he +possessed, but did not wear—were sadly shabby; and Vandyke Brown had +asked him to be best man at his wedding; and further—and this was the +strongest reason of all—Jaune d'Antimoine longed, from the very depths of +his soul, to make himself pleasing in the eyes of Rose Carthame.<br><br>How she +managed it none but herself knew; but this charming young person, although the +daughter of a widowly exile of France who made an uncertain living by letting +lodgings in the region between south and west of Washington Square, always +managed to dress herself delightfully. It is true that feminine analysis might +reveal the fact that the materials of which her gowns were made were of the +cheapest product of the loom; yet was feminine envy aroused—yea, even in +the dignified portion of Fifth Avenue that lies not south but north of +Washington Square—by the undeniable style of these same gowns, and by +their charming accord with the stylish gait and air of the trig little body who +wore them. Therefore it was that when Monsieur Jaune graciously was permitted +to accompany Mademoiselle Rose in her jaunts into the grand quarter of the +town, the propriety of her garments and the impropriety of his own brought a +sense of desolation upon his spirit and a great heaviness upon his loyal +heart.<br><br>For Jaune loved Rose absolutely to distraction. To say that he +would have laid his coat in the mud for her to walk over does not—the +condition of the coat being remembered—imply a very superior sort of +devotion. He would have done more than this; he would have laid himself in the +mud, and most gladly, that he might have preserved from contamination her +single pair of nice shoes. Even a cool and unprejudiced person, being permitted +to see these shoes—and he certainly would have been, for Rose made +anything but a mystery of them—would have declared that such gallant +sacrifice was well bestowed.<br><br>The ardor of Jaune's passion was +increased—as has been common in love matters ever since the world +began—by the knowledge that he had a rival; and this rival was a most +dangerous rival, being none other than Madame Carthame's second-story-front +lodger, the Count Siccatif de Courtray. Simply to be the second-story-front +lodger carries with it a most notable distinction in a lodging-house; but to be +that and a count too was a combination of splendors that placed Jaune's rival +on a social pinnacle and kept him there. Not that counts are rare in the region +between west and south of Washington Square; on the contrary, they are rather +astonishingly plentiful. But the sort of count who is very rare indeed there is +the count who pays his way as he goes along. Now, in the matter of payments, at +least so far as Madame Carthame was concerned, the Count Siccatif de Courtray +was exemplary.<br><br>That there was something of a mystery about this nobleman +was undeniable. Among other things, he had stated that he was a relative of the +Siccatifs of Harlem—the old family established here in New Amsterdam in +the early days of the Dutch Colony. Persons disposed to comment invidiously +upon this asserted relationship, and such there were, did not fail to draw +attention to the fact that the Harlem Siccatifs, without exception, were fair, +while the Count Siccatif de Courtray was strikingly dark; and to the further +fact that, if the distinguished American family really was akin to the Count, +its several members were most harmoniously agreed to give him the cold +shoulder. With these malicious whisperings, however, Madame Carthame did not +concern herself. She was content, more than content, to take the Count as he +was, and at his own valuation. That he was a proscribed Bonapartist, as he +declared himself to be, seemed to her a reasonable and entirely credible +statement; and it certainly had the effect of creating about him a halo of +romance. Though not proscribed, Madame Carthame herself was a Bonapartist, and +a most ardent one; a fact, it may be observed, concerning which the Count +assured himself prior to the avowal of his own political convictions. When, on +the 2Oth of April, he came home wearing a cluster of violets in his buttonhole, +and bearing also a bunch of these imperial flowers for Madame Carthame, and +with the presentation confessed his own imperialistic faith and touched +gloomily upon the sorry reward that it had brought him—when this event +occurred, Madame Carthame's kindly feelings toward her second-floor lodger were +resolved into an abiding faith and high esteem. It was upon this auspicious day +that the conviction took firm root in her mind that the Count Siccatif de +Courtray was the heaven-sent husband for her daughter Rose.<br><br>That Rose +approved this ambitious matrimonial project of her mother's was a matter open +to doubt; at least her conduct was such that two diametrically opposite views +were entertained in regard to her intentions. On the one hand, Madame Carthame +and the Count Siccatif de Courtray believed that she had made up her mind to +live in her mother's own second-story front and be a countess. On the other +hand, Jaune d'Antimoine, whose wish, perhaps, was father to his thought, +believed that she would not do anything of the sort. Jaune gladly would have +believed, also, that she cherished matrimonial intentions in quite a different, +namely, an artistic, direction; but he was a modest young fellow, and suffered +his hopes to be greatly diluted by his fears. And, in truth, the conduct of +Rose was so perplexing, at times so atrociously exasperating, that a person +much more deeply versed in women's ways than this young painter was, very well +might have been puzzled hopelessly; for if ever a born flirt came out of +France, that flirt was Rose Carthame.<br><br>Of one thing, however, Jaune was +convinced: that unless something of a positive nature was done, and done +speedily, for the improvement of his outward man, his chance of success was +gone forever. Already, Madame Carthame eyed his seedy garments askance; +already, for Rose had admitted the truth of his suspicions in this dismal +direction, Madame Carthame had instituted most unfavorable comparisons between +his own chronic shabbiness and the no less chronic splendor of the Count +Siccatif de Courtray. Therefore, it came to pass—out of his abstract need +for presentable habiliments, out of his desire to appear in creditable form at +Vandyke Brown's wedding, and, more than all else, out of his love for +Rose—that Jaune d'Antimoine registered a mighty oath before high heaven +that within a month's time a new suit of clothes should be his!<br><br>Yet the +chances are that he would have gone down Christopher Street to the North River, +and still further down, even into a watery grave—as he very frequently +thought of doing during this melancholy period of his existence—had not +his fortunes suddenly been irradiated by the birth in his mind of a happy +thought. It came to him in this wise: He was standing drearily in front of a +ready-made clothing store on Broadway, sadly contemplating a wooden figure clad +in precisely the morning suit for which his soul panted, when suddenly +something gave him a whack in the back. Turning sharply, and making use of an +exclamation not to be found in the French dictionaries compiled for the use of +young ladies' boarding-schools, he perceived a wooden framework, from the lower +end of which protruded the legs of a man. From a cleft in the upper portion of +the framework came the apologetic utterance, "Didn't mean ter hit yer, boss," +and then the structure moved slowly away through the throng. Over its four +sides, he observed, were blazoned announcements of the excellences of the +garments manufactured by the very clothing establishment in front of which he +stood.<br><br>The thought came idly into his mind that this method of +advertising was clumsy, and not especially effective; followed by the further +thought that a much better plan would be to set agoing upon the streets a +really gentlemanly-looking man, clad in the best garments that the tailoring +people manufactured—while a handsome sign upon the man's back, or a +silken banner proudly borne aloft, should tell where the clothes were made, and +how, for two weeks only, clothes equally excellent could be bought there at a +tremendous sacrifice. And then came into his mind the great thought of his +life: he would disguise himself by changing his blond hair and beard to gray, +and by wearing dark eye-glasses, and thus disguised he would be that man! +Detection he believed to be impossible, for merely dressing himself in +respectable clothes almost would suffice to prevent his recognition by even the +nearest of his friends. With that prompt decision which is the sure sign of +genius backed by force of character, he paused no longer to consider. He acted. +With a firm step he entered the clothing establishment; with dignity demanded a +personal interview with its proprietor; with eloquence presented to that +personage his scheme.<br><br>"You will understand, sare," he said, in +conclusion, "that these clothes such as yours see themselves in the best way +when they are carried by a man very well made, and who 'as the air <i>comme il +faut</i>. I 'ave not the custom to say that I am justly that man. But now we +talk of <i>affaires</i>. Look at me and see!" And so speaking, he drew himself +up his full six feet, and turned slowly around. There could not be any question +about it: a handsomer, a more distinguished-looking man was not to be found in +all New York. With the added dignity of age, his look of distinction would be +but increased.<br><br>The great head of the great tailoring establishment was +visibly affected. Original devices in advertising had been the making of him. +He perceived that the device now suggested to him was superior to anything that +his own genius had struck out. "It's a pretty good plan," he said, +meditatively. "What do you want for carrying it out?"<br><br>"For you to serve +two weeks, I ask but the clothes I go to wear."<br><br>For a moment the tailor +paused. In that moment the destinies of Jaune d'Antimoine, of Rose Carthame, of +the Count Siccatif de Courtray, hung in the balance. It was life or death. +Jaune felt his heart beating like a trip-hammer. There was upon him a feeling +of suffocation. The silence seemed interminable; and the longer it lasted, the +more did he feel that his chances of success were oozing away, that the crisis +of his life was going against him. Darkness, the darkness of desolate despair, +settled down upon his soul. Mechanically he felt in his waistcoat pocket for a +five-cent piece that he believed to be there—for the stillness, the +restful oblivion of the North River were in his mind. His fingers clutched the +coin convulsively, thankfully. At least he would not be compelled' to walk down +Christopher Street to his death: he could pay his way to eternity in the one- +horse car. Yet even while the blackness of shattered hope seemed to be closing +him in irrevocably, the glad light came again. As the voice of an angel sounded +the voice of the tailor; and the words which the tailor spake were +these:<br><br>"Young man, it's a bargain!"<br><br>But the tailor, upon whom +Heaven had bestowed shrewdness to an extraordinary degree, perceived in the +plan proposed to him higher, more artistic possibilities than had been +perceived in it by its inventor. There was a dramatic instinct, an appreciation +of surprise, of climax, in this man's mind that he proceeded to apply to the +existing situation. With a wave of his hand he banished the suggested sign on +the walking advertiser's back, and the suggested silken banner. His plan at +once was simpler and more profound. Dressed in the highest style of art, Jaune +was to walk Broadway daily between the hours of 11 A. M. and 2 P. M. He was to +walk slowly; he was to look searchingly in the faces of all young women of +about the age of twenty years; he was to wear, over and above his garments of +price, an air of confirmed melancholy. That was all.<br><br>"But of the +advertisement? 'Ow ——"<br><br>"Now, never you mind about the +advertisement, young man. Where that is going to come in is my business. But +you can just bet your bottom dollar that I don't intend to lose any money on +you. All that you have to do is just what I've told you; and to be well +dressed, and walk up and down Broadway for three hours every day, and look in +all the girls' faces, don't strike me as being the hardest work that you might +be set at. Now come along and be measured, and day after to-morrow you shall +begin."<br><br>As Jaune walked slowly homeward to his dismal studio, he +meditated deeply upon the adventure before him. He did not fancy it at all; but +it was the means to an end, and he was braced morally to go through with it +without flinching. For the chance of winning Rose he would have stormed a +battery single-handed; and not a bit more of moral courage would have been +needed for such desperate work than was needed for the execution of the +bloodless but soul-trying project that he had in hand. For the life and spirit +of him, though, he could not see how the tailor was to get any good out of this +magnificent masquerading.<br><br>In one of the evening papers, about a week +later, there appeared a half-column romance that quite took Jaune d'Antimoine's +breath away. It began with a reference to the distinguished elderly gentleman +who, during the past week, had been seen daily upon Broadway about the hour of +noon; who gazed with such intense though respectful curiosity into every 'young +woman's face; who, in the gay crowd, was conspicuous not less by the elegance +of his dress than by his air of profound melancholy. Then briefly, but +precisely, the sorrowful story of the Marquis de ——— ("out of +consideration for the nobleman's feelings" the name was withheld) was told: +how, the son of a peer of France, he had married, while yet a minor, against +the wishes of his stern father; how his young wife and infant daughter had been +spirited away by the stern father's orders; how on his death-bed the father had +confessed his evil deed to his son, and had told that mother and child had been +banished to America, where the mother speedily had died of grief, and where the +child, though in ignorance of her noble origin, had been adopted by an +enormously rich American, about whom nothing more was known than the fact that +he lived in New York. The Marquis, the article stated, now was engaged in +searching for his long-lost daughter, and among other means to the desired end +had hit upon this—of walking New York's chief thoroughfare in the faith +that should he see his child his paternal instinct would reveal to him her +identity.<br><br>"I calculate that this will rather whoop up public interest in +our performance," said the tailor, cheerfully, the next day, as he handed the +newspaper containing the pleasing fiction to Jaune. "That's my idea, for a +starter. I've got the whole story ready to come out in sections—paid a +literary feller twenty dollars to get it up for me. And you be careful to-day +when you are interviewed" (Jaune shuddered) "to keep the story up—or" +(for Jaune was beginning a remonstrance) "you can keep out of it altogether, if +you'd rather. Say you must refuse to talk upon so delicate a subject, or +something of that sort. Yes, that's your card. It'll make the mystery greater, +you know—and I'll see that the public gets the facts, all the +same."<br><br>The tailor chuckled, and Jaune was unutterably wretched. He was +on the point of throwing up his contract. He opened his mouth to speak the +decisive words—and shut it again as the thought came into his mind that +his misery must be borne, and borne gallantly, because it was all for the love +of Rose.<br><br>That day there was no affectation in his air of melancholy. He +was profoundly miserable. Faithful to his contract, he looked searchingly upon +the many young women of twenty years whom he met; and such of them as were +possessors of tender hearts grew very sorrowful at sight of the obvious woe by +which he was oppressed. His woe, indeed, was keen, for the newspaper article +had had its destined effect, and he was a marked man. People turned to look at +him as people had not turned before; it was evident that he was a subject of +conversation. Several times he caught broken sentences which he recognized as +portions of his supposititious biography. His crowning torture was the assault +of the newspaper reporters. They were suave, they were surly, they were +insinuatingly sympathetic, they were aggressively peremptory—but all +alike were determined to wring from him to the uttermost the details of the +sorrow that he never had suffered, of the life that he never had lived. It was +a confusing sort of an experience. He began to wonder, at last, whether or not +it were possible that he could be somebody else without knowing it; and if it +were, in whom, precisely, his identity was vested. Being but a simple-minded +young fellow, with no taste whatever for metaphysics, this line of thought was +upsetting.<br><br>While involved in these perplexing doubts and the crowd at +the Fifth Avenue crossing, he was so careless as to step upon the heel of a +lady in front of him. And when the lady turned, half angrily, half to receive +his profuse apologies, he beheld Mademoiselle Carthame. The face of this young +person wore an expression made up of not less than three conflicting emotions: +of resentment of the assault upon the heel of her one pair of good shoes, of +friendly recognition of the familiar voice, of blank surprise upon perceiving +that this voice came from the lips of a total stranger. She looked searchingly +upon the smoked glasses, obviously trying to pry into the secret of the hidden +eyes. Jaune's blood rushed up into his face, and he realized that detection was +imminent. Mercifully, at that moment the crowd opened, and with a bow that hid +his face behind his hat he made good his retreat. During the remaining half +hour of his walk, he thought no more of metaphysics. The horrid danger of +physical discovery from which he had escaped so narrowly filled him with a +shuddering alarm. Nor could he banish from his mind the harrowing thought that +perhaps, for all his gray hair and painted wrinkles and fine clothes, Rose in +truth had recognized him.<br><br>That night an irresistible attraction drew him +to the Carthame abode. In the little parlor he found the severe Madame +Carthame, her adorable daughter, and the offensive Count Siccatif de Courtray. +Greatly to his relief, his reception was in the usual form: Madame Carthame +conducted herself after the fashion of a well-bred iceberg; Rose endeavored to +mitigate the severity of her parent's demeanor by her own affability; the +Count, as much as possible, ignored his presence. Jaune could not repress a +sigh of relief. She had not recognized him.<br><br>But his evening was one of +trial. With much vivacity, Rose entertained the little company with an account +of her romantic adventure with the French nobleman who had come to America in +quest of his lost daughter; for she had read the newspaper story, and had +identified its hero with the assailant of her heel. She dwelt with enthusiasm +upon the distinguished appearance of the unhappy foreigner; she ventured the +suggestion, promptly and sternly checked by her mamma, that she herself might +be the lost child; she grew plaintive, and expressed a burning desire to +comfort this stricken parent with a daughter's love, and, worst of all, she sat +silent, with a far-away look in her charming eyes, and obviously suffered her +thoughts to go astray after this handsome Marquis in a fashion that made even +the Count Siccatif de Courtray fidget, and that filled the soul of Jaune +d'Antimoine with a consuming jealousy—not the less consuming because of +the absurd fact that it was jealousy of himself! As he walked home that night +through the devious ways of Greenwich to his dismal studio, he seriously +entertained the wish that he never had been born.<br><br>The next day all the +morning papers contained elaborate "interviews" with the Marquis: for each of +the several reporters who had been put on the case, believing that he alone had +failed to get the facts, and being upheld by a lofty determination that no +other reporter should "get a beat on him," had evolved from his own inner +consciousness the story that Jaune, for the best of reasons, had refused to +tell. The stories thus told, being based upon the original fiction, bore a +family resemblance to each other; and as all of them were interesting, they +stimulated popular curiosity in regard to their hero to a very high pitch. As +the result of them, Jaune found himself the most conspicuous man in New York. +During the three hours of his walk he was the centre of an interested crowd. +Several benevolent persons stopped to tell him of fatherless young women with +whom they were acquainted, and to urge upon him the probability that each of +these young women was his long-lost child. The representatives of a dozen +detective bureaus introduced themselves to him, and made offer of their +professional services; a messenger from the chief of police handed him a polite +note tendering the services of the department and inviting him to a conference. +It was maddening.<br><br>But worst of all were his meetings with Rose. As these +multiplied, the conviction became irresistible that they were not the result of +chance; indeed, her manner made doubt upon this head impossible. At first she +gave him only a passing glance, then a glance somewhat longer, then a look of +kindly interest, then a long look of sympathy; and at last she bestowed upon +him a gentle, almost affectionate, smile that expressed, as plainly as a smile +could express, her sorrow for his misery and her readiness to comfort him. In a +word, Rose Carthame's conduct simply was outrageous!<br><br>The jealous anger +which had inflamed Jattne's breast the night before swelled and expanded into a +raging passion. He longed to engage in mortal combat this stranger who was +alienating the affection that should be his. The element of absurdity in the +situation no longer was apparent to him. In truth, as he reasoned, the +situation was not absurd. To all intents and purposes he was two people and it +was the other one of him, not himself at all, who was winning Rose's interest, +perhaps her love. For a moment the thought crossed his mind that he would +adjust the difficulty in his own favor by remaining this other person always. +But the hard truth confronted him that every time he washed his face he would +cease to be the elderly Marquis, with the harder truth that the fabulous wealth +with which, as the Marquis, the newspapers had endowed him was too entirely +fabulous to serve as a basis for substantial life. And being thus cut off from +hope, he fell back upon jealous hatred of himself.<br><br>That night the +evening paper in which the first mention of the mysterious French nobleman had +been made contained an article cleverly contrived to give point to the mystery +in its commercial aspect. The fact had been observed, the article declared, +that the nobleman's promenade began and ended at a prominent clothing +establishment on Broadway; and then followed, in the guise of a contribution +toward the clearing up of the mystery, an interview with the proprietor of the +establishment in question. However, the interview left the mystery just where +it found it, for all that the tailor told was that the Marquis had bought +several suits of clothes from him; that he had shown himself to be an +exceptionally critical person in the matter of his wearing apparel; that he had +expressed repeatedly his entire satisfaction with his purchases. In another +portion of the paper was a glaring advertisement, in which the clothing man set +forth, in an animated fashion, the cheapness and desirability of "The Marquis +Suit"—a suit that "might be seen to advantage on the person of the +afflicted French nobleman now in our midst who had honored it with his +approval, and in whose honor it had been named." Upon reading the newspaper +narrative and its advertisement pendant, Jaune groaned aloud. He was oppressed +by a horror of discovery, and here, as it seemed to him in his morbidly nervous +condition, was a clew to his duplex identity sufficiently obvious to be +apparent even to a detective.<br><br>The Count Siccatif de Courtray, as has +been intimated, went so far as to fidget while listening to Mademoiselle +Carthame's vivacious description of her encounter with the handsome Marquis. +Being regaled during the ensuing evening with a very similar narrative—a +materially modified version of the events which had aroused in so lively a +manner the passion of jealousy in the breast of Jaune d'Antimoine—the +Count ceased merely to fidget and became the prey to a serious anxiety. He +determined that the next day, quite unobtrusively, he would observe +Mademoiselle Carthame in her relations with this unknown but dangerously +fascinating nobleman; and also that he would give some attention to the +nobleman himself. This secondary purpose was strengthened the next morning, +while the Count was engaged with his coffee and newspaper, by his finding in +the "Courrier des Etats-Unis" a translation of the paragraph stating the +curious fact that the daily walk of the Marquis began and ended at the Broadway +tailor shop.<br><br>Having finished his breakfast, the Count leisurely betook +himself to Broadway. As he slowly strolled eastward, he observed on the other +side of the street Jaune d'Antimoine, in his desperately shabby raiment, +hurriedly walking eastward also. The Count murmured a brief panegyric upon M. +d'Antimoine, in which the words "cet animal" alone were distinguishable. They +were near Broadway at this moment, and to the Count's surprise M. d'Antimoine +entered the clothing establishment from which the Marquis departed upon his +daily walk. Could it be possible, he thought, that fortune had smiled upon the +young artist, and that he was about to purchase a new suit of clothes? The +Count entertained the charitable hope that such could not be the +case.<br><br>It was the Count's purpose, in order that he might follow also the +movements of Mademoiselle Carthame, to follow the Marquis from the beginning to +the end of his promenade. He set himself, therefore, to watching +closely—for the appearance of the grief-stricken foreigner, moving +carelessly the while from one shop-window to another that commanded a view of +the field. At the end of half an hour, when the Count was beginning to think +that the object of his solicitude was a myth, out from the broad portal of the +clothing establishment came the Marquis in all his glory—more glorious, +in truth, than Solomon, and more melancholy than the melancholy Jaques. And yet +for an instant the Count Siccatif de Courtray was possessed by the absurd fancy +that this stately personage was Jaune d'Antimoine! Truly, here was the same +tall, handsome figure, the same easy, elegant carriage, the same cut of hair +and beard. But the resemblance went no further, for beard and hair were gray +almost to whiteness, the face was pale and old, and the clothes, so far from +being desperately seedy, were more resplendent even than the Count's own. No, +the thought was incredible, preposterous, and yet the Count could not discharge +it from his mind. He stamped his foot savagely; this mystery was becoming more +interesting than pleasing.<br><br>In the crowd that the Marquis drew in his +wake, as he slowly, sadly sauntered up Broadway, the Count had no difficulty in +following him unobserved. The situation was that of the previous day, only it +was intensified, and therefore, to its hero, the more horrible. The benevolent +people with stray fatherless young women to dispose of were out in greater +force; the detectives were more aggressive; the newspaper people were more +persistent; the general public was more keenly interested in the whole +performance. And Rose—most dreadful of all—was more outrageous than +ever! The Count grew almost green with rage during the three hours that he was +a witness of this young woman's scandalous conduct. A dozen times she met the +Marquis in the course of his walk, and each time that she met him she greeted +him with a yet more tender smile. A curious fact that at first surprised, then +puzzled, then comforted the Count was the very obvious annoyance which these +flattering attentions caused their recipient. Evidently, he persistently +endeavored to evade the meetings which Rose as persistently and more +successfully endeavored to force upon him. Within the scope of M. de Courtary's +comprehension only one reason seemed to be sufficient to explain the +determination on the part of the Marquis to resist the advances of a singularly +attractive young woman, whose good disposition toward him was so conspicuously, +though so irregularly, manifested: a fear of recognition. And this reason +adjusted itself in a striking manner to the queer notion that had come into his +mind that the Marquis was an ideal creation whose reality was Jeaune +d'Antimoine. The thought was absurd, irrational, but it grew stronger and +stronger within him—and became an assured conviction when, shortly after +the promenade of the Marquis had ended, Jaune came forth from the clothing +store in his normal condition of shabbiness and youth. The Count was not in all +respects a praiseworthy person, but among his vices was not that of stupidity. +Without any very tremendous mental effort he grasped the fact that his rival +had sold himself into bondage as a walking advertisement, and, knowing this, a +righteous exultation filled his soul. Jaune's destiny, so far as Mademoiselle +Carthame was concerned, he felt was in his power: and he was perplexed by no +nice doubts as to the purpose to which the power that he had gained should be +applied.<br><br>Untroubled by the knowledge that his secret was discovered, +Jaune entered upon the last day of his martyrdom. It was the most agonizing day +of all. The benevolent persons, the reporters, the detectives, the crowd +surging about him, drove him almost to madness. He walked as one dazed. And +above and over all he was possessed by a frenzy of jealousy that came of the +offensively friendly smiles which Rose bestowed upon him as she forced meetings +upon him again and again. It was with difficulty that he restrained himself +from laying violent hands upon this bogus Marquis who falsely and infamously +had beguiled away from him the love for which he gladly would have given his +life. Only the blood of his despicable rival, he felt, would satisfy him. He +longed to find himself with a sword in his hand on a bit of smooth turf, and +the villanous Marquis over against him, ready to be run through. The thought +was so delightful, so animating, that involuntarily he made a lunge—and +had to apologize confusedly to an elderly gentleman whom he had poked in the +back with his umbrella.<br><br>At last the three hours of torture, the last of +his two weeks of hateful servitude, came to an end. Pale beneath his false +paleness, haggard beyond his false haggardness of age, he entered the clothing +store and once more was himself. With a gladness unspeakable he washed off his +wrinkles and washed out the gray from his hair and beard; with a sense of +infinite satisfaction that, a fortnight earlier, he would not have believed +possible, he resumed his shabby old clothes. Had he chosen to do so, he might +have walked away in the new and magnificent apparel which he now fairly had +earned; but just at present his loathing for these fine garments was beyond all +words.<br><br>The tailor fain would have had the masquerade continue longer, +for, as he frankly stated, "The Marquis Suit" was having a tremendous sale. But +Jaune was deaf not only to the tailor's blandishments, but to his offers of +substantial cash. "Not for the millions would I be in this part of the Marquis +for one day yet more," he said firmly. And he added, "I trust to you in honor, +sare, that not never shall my name be spoken in this affair."<br><br>"Couldn't +speak it if I wanted to, my dear boy. It's a mystery to me how you're able to +say it yourself! Well, I'd like you to run the 'Marquis' for another week; but +if you won't, you won't, I suppose, so there's an end of it. I'm sorry you +haven't enjoyed it. I have. It's been as good a thing as I ever got hold of. +Now give me your address and I'll have your clothes sent to you. Don't you want +some more? I don't mind letting you have a regular outfit if you want it. One +good turn, you know—and you've done me a good turn, and that's a +fact."<br><br>But Jaune declined this liberal offer, and declined also to leave +his address, which would have involved a revelation of his name. It was a +comfort to him to know that his name was safe—a great comfort. So the +garments of the forever departed Marquis were put up in a big bundle, and Jaune +journeyed homeward to his studio in Greenwich—bearing his sheaves with +him—in a Bleecker Street car.<br><br>"Well, you are a cheeky beggar, +d'Antimoine," said Vandyke Brown, cheerfully, the next morning, as he came into +Jaune's studio with a newspaper in his hand. "So you are the Marquis who has +been setting the town wild for the last week, eh? And whom did you bet with? +And what started you in such a crazy performance, anyway? Tell me all about it. +It's as funny—Good heavens! d'Antimoine, what's the matter? Are you ill?" +For Jaune had grown deathly pale and was gasping.<br><br>"I do not know of what +it is that you talk," he answered, with a great effort.<br><br>"Oh, come now, +that's too thin, you know. Why, here's a whole column about it, telling how you +made a bet with somebody that you could set all the town to talking about you, +and yet do it all in such a clever disguise that nobody would know who you +really were, not even your most intimate friends. And I should say that you had +won handsomely. Why, I've seen you on Broadway a dozen times myself this last +week, and I never had the remotest suspicion that the Marquis was you. I must +say, though," continued Brown, reflectively, and looking closely at Jaune, +"that it was stupid of me. I did think that you had a familiar sort of look; +and once, I remember, it did occur to me that you looked astonishingly like +yourself. It—it was the clothes, you see, that threw me out. Where ever +did you get such a stunning rig? I don't believe that I'd have known you +dressed like that, even if you hadn't been gray and wrinkled. But tell me all +about it, old man. It must have been jolly fun!"<br><br>"Fun!" groaned Jaune; +"it was the despair!" And then, his heart being very full and his longing for +sympathy overpowering, Jatine told Brown the whole story. "But what is this of +one bet, my dear Van," he concluded, "I do not of the least +know."<br><br>"Well, here it all is in the paper, anyway. Calls you 'a +distinguished animal-painter,' and alludes to your 'strikingly vigorous +"Lioness and Cubs" and powerful "Dray Horses" at the last spring exhibition of +the Society of American Artists.' Must be somebody who knows you, you see, and +somebody who means well by you, too. There's nothing at all about your being an +advertisement; indeed, there's nothing in the story but a good joke, of which +you are the hero. It's an eccentric sort of heroism, to be sure; but then, for +some unknown reason, people never seem to believe that artists are rational +human beings, so your eccentricity will do you no harm. And it's no end of an +advertisement for you. Whoever wrote it meant well by you. And, by Jove! I know +who it is! It's little Conté Crayon. He's a good-hearted little beggar, and he +likes you ever so much, for I've heard him say so; but how he ever got hold of +the story, and especially of such a jolly version of it, I don't +see."<br><br>At this moment, by a pleasing coincidence, Conté Crayon himself +appeared with the desired explanation. "You see," he said, "that beast of a +Siccatif de Courtray hunted me up yesterday and told me the yarn about you and +the slop-shop man. He wanted me to write it up and publish it, 'as a joke,' he +said; but it was clear enough that he was in ugly earnest about it. And so, you +see, I had to rush it into print in the way I chose to tell it—which +won't do you a bit of harm, d'Antimoine—in order to head him off. The +blackguard meant to get you into a mess, and if I'd hung fire he'd have told +somebody else about it, and had the real story published. Of course, you know, +there's nothing in the real story that you need be ashamed of; but if it had +been told, you certainly would have been laughed at, and nasty people would +have said nasty things about it. And as there wasn't any time to lose, I had to +print it first and then come here and explain matters afterward. And what I've +got to say is this: Just you cheek it out and say that it was a bet, and that +you won it! Brown and I will back you up in it, and so will the slop-shop man. +I've been to see him this morning, and he is so pleased with the way that 'The +Marquis Suit' is selling, and with the extra free advertisement that he has got +out of my article, that he's promised to adopt the bet version in his +advertisement in all the papers. He is going to advertise that The Marquis Suit +is so called because everybody who wears it looks like a marquis—just as +you did. This cuts the ground right from under the Count's feet, you see; for +nobody'd believe him on his oath if they could help it.<br><br>"And now I must +clear out. I've got a race at Jerome Park at two o'clock. It's all right, +d'Antimoine; I assure you it's all right—but I should advise you to punch +the Count's head, all the same."<br><br>Vandyke Brown thought it was all right, +too, as he talked the matter over with Jaune after little Conté Crayon had +gone. But Jaune refused to be comforted. So far as the public was concerned he +admitted that Conté Crayon's story had saved him, but he was oppressed by a +great dread of what might be the effect of the truth upon Rose. For Juane +d'Antimoine was too honest a gentleman even to think of deceiving his mistress. +He must tell her the whole story, without reserve, and as she approved or +disapproved of what he had done must his hopes of happiness live or +die.<br><br>"Better have it out with her to-day, and be done with it," +counseled Brown.<br><br>"Ah! it is well for you to speak of a 'urry, my good +Van; but it is not you who go to execute your life. No, I 'ave not the force to +go to-day. To-day I go to make a long walk. Then this night I sleep well. +Tomorrow, in the morning, do I go to affront my destiny." And from this +resolution Jaune was not to be moved.<br><br>Yet it was an unfortunate +resolution, for it gave the Count Siccatif de Courtray time and opportunity for +a flank movement. In the Count's breast rage and astonishment contended for the +mastery as he contemplated the curious miscarriage of his newspaper assault. He +had chosen this line of attack partly because his modesty counseled him to keep +his own personality in the background, partly because the wider the publicity +of his rival's disgrace the more complete would that disgrace be. But as his +newspaper ally failed him, he took the campaign into his own hands; that is to +say, he hurried to tell the true story, and a good deal more than the true +story, to Rose and Madame Carthame.<br><br>Concerning its effect upon Rose, he +was in doubt; but its effect upon Madame Carthame was all that he could desire. +This severe person instantly took the cue that the Count dexterously gave her +by affecting to palliate Jaune's erratic conduct. He urged that, inasmuch as M. +d'Antimoine was a conspicuous failure as an artist, for him to engage himself +to a tailor as a walking advertisement, so far from being a disgrace to him, +was greatly to his credit. And Madame Carthame promptly and vehemently asserted +that it wasn't. She refused to regard what he had done in any other light than +that of a crime. She declared that never again should his offensive form darken +her door. Solemnly she forbade Rose from recognizing him when in the future +they should chance to meet. And then she abated her severity to the extent of +thanking the Count with tears in her eyes for the service that he had done her +in tearing off this viper's disguise. Naturally, the Count was charmed by Ma- +dame Carthame's energetic indignation. He perceived that his unselfish +investigations of the actions of Monsieur Jaune were bearing excellent fruit. +Already, as he believed, the way toward his own happiness was smooth and clear. +As the Count retired from this successful conference, he laughed softly to +himself: nor did he pause in his unobtrusive mirth to reflect that those laugh +best who laugh last.<br><br>And thus it came to pass that when Jaune, refreshed +by sound slumber and a little cheered by hope, presented himself the next +morning at Madame Carthame's gates, fate decreed that Rose herself should open +the gates to him—in response to his ring—and in her own proper +person should tell him that she was not at home. In explanation of this +obviously inexact statement she announced to him her mother's stern decree. +Being but a giddy young person, however, and one somewhat lacking in fit +reverence of maternal authority, she added, on her own account, that in half an +hour or so she was going up Fourth Street to the Gansevoort market, and that +Fourth Street was a public thoroughfare, upon which M. d'Antimoine also had a +perfect right to walk.<br><br>In the course of this walk, while Jaune gallantly +carried the market-basket, the story that Rose already had heard from the Count +Siccatif de Courtray was told again—but told with a very different +coloring. For Mademoiselle Carthame clearly perceived how great the sacrifice +had been that Jaune had made for her sake, and how bravely, because it was for +her sake, it had been made. There was real pathos in his voice; once or twice +he nearly broke down. Possibly it was because she did not wish him to see her +eyes that she manifested so marked an interest in the shop windows as they +walked along.<br><br>"And so that adorable Marquis was unreal?" queried +Mademoiselle Carthame sadly, and somewhat irrelevantly, when Jaune had told her +all.<br><br>"He was not adorable. He was a disgusting beast!" replied M. +d'Antimoine savagely.<br><br>"I—I loved him!" answered Rose, turning upon +Jaune, at last, her black eyes. They did not sparkle, as was their wont, but +they were wonderfully lustrous and soft.<br><br>Jaune looked down into the +market-basket and groaned.<br><br>"And—and I love him still. I think, +I—I hope, that he will live always in my heart."<br><br>The voice of +Mademoiselle Carthame trembled, and her hand grasped very tightly the bag of +carrots that they had been unable to make a place for in the basket: they were +coming back from the market now.<br><br>Jaune did not look up. For the life of +him he could not keep back a sob. It was bitter hard, he felt, that out of his +love for Rose should come love's wreck; and harder yet that the rival who had +stolen her from him should be himself! Through the mist of his misery he seemed +to hear Rose laughing softly. Could this be so? Then, indeed, was the capstone +set upon his grief!<br><br>"Jaune!"<br><br>He started, and so violently that a +cabbage, with half a dozen potatoes after it, sprang out of the basket and +rolled along the pavement at her feet. His bowed head rose with a jerk, and +their eyes met full. In hers there was a look half mocking, that as he gazed +changed into tenderness; into his, as he saw the change and perceived its +meaning, there came a look of glad delight.<br><br>"As though you could deceive +<i>me</i>! Why, of course, I knew you from the very first!"<br><br>Then they +collected the potatoes and the cabbage and walked slowly on, and great +happiness was in their hearts.<br><br>The world was a brighter world for Jaune +d'Antimoine when he gave into Rose's hand the market-basket on her own +doorstep, and turned reluctantly away. But there still were clouds in it. Rose +had admitted that two things were necessary before getting married could be +thought of at all seriously: something must be done by which the nose of the +Count Siccatif de Courtray would be disjointed; something must be done to +assure Madame Carthame that M. d'Antimoine, in some fashion at least a little +removed from semi-starvation, could maintain a wife.<br><br>It was certain that +until these things were accomplished Madame Carthame's lofty resolution to +transform her daughter into a countess, and her stern disapprobation of Jaune +as a social outcast, never would be overcome!<br><br>As events turned out, it +was the second of these requirements that was fulfilled first.<br><br><br>Mr. +Badger Brush was a very rich sporting man, whose tastes were horsey, but whose +heart was in the right place. It was his delight to make or to back +extraordinary wagers. Few New Yorkers have forgotten that very queer bet of his +that resulted in putting high hats on all the Broadway telegraph poles. When +Mr. Brush read the story of Jaune d'Antimoine's wager, therefore, he was +greatly pleased with its originality; and when, later in the day, he fell in +with little Conté Crayon at Jerome Park, he pressed that ingenious young +newspaper man for additional particulars. And knowing the whereabouts of Mr. +Badger Brush's heart, Conté Crayon did not hesitate to tell the whole +story—winding up with the pointed suggestion that inasmuch as the hero of +the story was an animal-painter of decided, though as yet unrecognized, +ability, Mr. Brush could not do better than manifest his interest in a +practical way by giving him an order. The sporting man rose to the suggestion +with a commendable promptness and warmth.<br><br>"I don't care a blank if it +wasn't a bet," he said, heartily. "That young man has pluck, and he deserves to +be encouraged. I'll go down and see him to-morrow, and I'll order a portrait of +Celeripes; a life-size, thousand-dollar portrait, by Jove! Celeripes deserves +it, after the pot of money he brought me at Long Branch, and your friend +deserves it too. And I have some other horses that I want painted, and some +dogs—he paints dogs, I suppose? And I know a lot of other fellows who +ought to have their horses painted, and I'll start them along at him. I'll give +him all the painting he can handle in the next ten years. For it <i>was</i> a +bet, you see, after all. Didn't he back his cleverness in disguise against the +wits of the whole town? And didn't the slop-shop man put up the stakes? And +didn't he just win in a canter? I should rather think he did! Of course it was +a bet, and a mighty good one at that. Gad! Crayon, it's the best thing that's +been done in New York for years. It's what I call first-class cheek. I couldn't +have done it better, sir, myself!"<br><br>Thus it fell out that half an hour +after Jaune got back to his studio from that memorable walk to the Gansevoort +market, he had the breath-taking-away felicity of booking a thousand-dollar +order, and of receiving such obviously trustworthy assurances of many more +orders that his wildest hopes of success in a moment were resolved into +substantial realities. When he was alone again he certainly would have believed +that he had been dreaming but for the fact that Mr. Badger Brush had insisted +upon paying half the price of the picture down in advance; for whatever this +good-hearted, horsey gentleman did, he did thoroughly well. The crisp notes, +more than Jaune ever had seen together in all his life before—save once, +when he took a dealer's check for ten dollars to a bank and looked through the +wire screen while the bank man haughtily cashed it—lay on the table where +Mr. Badger Brush had left them; and their blissful presence proved that his +happiness was not a dream, but real.<br><br>From the corner into which, +loathingly, he had kicked it, he drew forth the bundle containing "The Marquis +Suit." With a certain solemnity he resumed these garments of price in which he +had suffered so much torture, and, being clad, boldly presented himself to +Madame Carthame with a formal demand for her daughter's hand. And in view of +the sudden and prodigious change that had come over M. d'Antimoine's fortunes, +almost was Madame Carthame persuaded that the matrimonial plans which she had +laid out for her daughter might be changed. Yet did she hesitate before +announcing that their Median and Persian quality might be questioned: for the +hope that Rose might be a countess lay very close to Madarne Carthame's heart. +However, her determination was shaken, which was a great point +gained.<br><br>And presently—for Jaune's star was triumphantly in the +ascendant—it was completely destroyed. The instrument of its destruction +was Mr. Badger Brush's groom, Stumps.<br><br>Stumps was a talkative creature, +and whenever he came down to Jaune's studio, as he very often did while the +portrait of Celeripes was in progress, he had a good deal to say over and above +the message that he brought, as to when the horse would be free for the next +"sitting" in the paddock at Mr. Brush's country place, where Jaune was painting +him. And Jaune, who was one of the best-natured of mortals, usually suffered +Stumps to talk away until he was tired.<br><br>"You might knock me down with a +wisp of hay, you might, indeed, sir," said the groom one morning a fortnight +after the picture had been begun—the day but one, in fact, before that +set for Vandyke Brown's wedding. "Yes, sir," he continued, "with a wisp of hay, +or even with a single straw! Here I've been face to face with my own father's +brother's son, and I've put out my hand to him, and he's turned away short and +pretended as he didn't know me and went off! And they tells me at his lodgin', +for I follered him a-purpose to find him out, that he calls hisself a +Frenchman, and says as how his name—which it is Stumps, and always has +been—is Count Sikativ de Cortray!"<br><br>Jaune's palette and brushes +fell to the floor with a crash. "Is it posseeble that you do tell me of the +Comte Siccatif de Courtray? Are you then sure that you do not make one grand +meestake? Is it 'im truly that you 'ave seen?"<br><br>"Him, sir? Why, in course +it's him. Haven't I knowed him ever since he wasn't higher'n a hoss's fetlock? +Don't I tell you as me and him's fust cousins? Him? In course it's +him—the gump!"<br><br>"Then, my good Stump, you will now tell me of this +wonder all."<br><br>It's not much there is to tell, sir, and wat there is isn't +to his credit. His father was my father's brother. My father was in the hoss +line out Saint John's Wood way—in Lunnon, you know, sir—and his +father lived in our street and was a swell barber. Uncle'd married a French +young 'ooman as was dressmakin' and had been a lady's maid; it's along of his +mother that he gets his Frenchness, you see. He was an only son, he was, and +they made a lot of him—dressin' him fine, and coddlin' him, and sendin' +him to school like anythink. Uncle was doin' a big trade, you see, and makin' +money fast. Then, when he was a young fellow of twenty or so, and after he'd +served at barberin' with his father for a couple of years, he took service with +young Lord Cadmium—as had his 'cousin' livin' in a willa down our way and +came to uncle's to be barbered frequent. And wen Lord Cadmium went sudden-like +over to the Continent, wishin' to give his 'cousin' the slip, havin' got sick +of her, Stumps he went along. That's a matter of ten years ago, sir, and +blessed if I've laid eyes on him since until I seed him here in New York to- +day. Uncle died better'n two year back, aunt havin' died fust, and he left a +tidy pot of money to Stumps; and I did hear that Stumps, who'd been barberin' +in Paris, had giv' up work when he got the cash and had set up to be a +gentleman, but I didn't know as he'd set up to be a count too. The like of this +I never did see!"<br><br>"And you are then sure, you will swear, my good Stump, +that this are the same man?"<br><br>"Swear, sir! I'll swear to it 'igh and low +and all day long! But I must be goin', sir. You will please to remember that +the hoss will be ready for you at ten o'clock to-morrow mornin', +sharp."<br><br>Jaune rushed down to Vandyke Brown's studio for counsel as to +whether he should go at once to the Count's lodgings and charge him with fraud +to his face, or should make the charge first to Madame Carthame. But Brown was +out. Nor was he in old Madder's studio, though about this time he was much more +likely to be there than in his own. Old Madder said that Brown had taken Rose +over to Brooklyn, to the Philharmonic, and he believed that they were going to +dinner at Mr. Mangan Brown's afterward, and would not be in till late; and he +seemed to be pretty grumpy about it.<br><br>Jaune fumed and fretted away what +was left of the afternoon and a good part of the evening. At last Brown and +Rose came home, and Brown, with a very bad grace, suffered himself to be led +away from old Madder's threshold. To do him justice, though, when he had heard +the story that Jaune had to tell, he was all eagerness. His advice was to make +the attack instantly; and without more words they set off together, walking +briskly through the chill air of the late October night.<br><br>As they were +passing along Macdougal Street—midway between Bleecker and Houston, in +front of the row of pretty houses with verandas all over their +fronts—Jaune suddenly gripped Brown's arm and drew him quickly within one +of the little front yards and into the shadow of the high iron +steps.<br><br>"Look!" he said.<br><br>On the other side of the street, in the +light of the gas-lamp that stands in the centre of the block, was the Count +himself. For the moment that he was beneath the gas-lamp they saw him clearly. +His face was set in an expression of gloomy sternness; his rapid, resolute walk +indicated a definite purpose; he carried a little bundle in his +hand.<br><br>"What a villain he looks!" whispered Brown. "Upon my soul, I do +believe that he is going to murder somebody!"<br><br>"Ah, the vile animal! We +will pursue," answered Jaune, also in a whisper.<br><br>Giving the Count a +start of a dozen house fronts, they stepped out from their retreat and followed +him cautiously. He walked quickly up Macdougal Street until he came out on +Washington Square. For a moment he paused—by Sam Wah's laundry—and +then turned sharply to the left along Fourth Street. At a good pace he crossed +Sixth Avenue, swung around the curve that Fourth Street makes before beginning +its preposterous journey northward, went on past the three little balconied +houses whose fronts are on Washington Place, and so came out upon the open +space where Washington Place and Barrow Street and Fourth Street all run into +each other. It was hereabout that Wouter Van Twiller had his tobacco farm a +trifle less than two centuries ago.<br><br>The Count stopped, as though to get +his bearings, and while they waited for him to go on Brown nudged Jaune to look +at the delightfully picturesque frame house, set in a deep niche between two +high brick houses, with the wooden stair elbowing up its outside to its third +story. It came out wonderfully well in the moonlight, but Jaune was too much +excited even to glance at it.<br><br>At the next group of corners—where +Fourth Street crosses Grove and Christopher Streets at the point where they go +sidling into each other along the slanting lines of the little park—the +Count halted again. Evidently, the exceeding crookedness of Greenwich Village +puzzled him—as well it might. Presently a Christopher Street car came +along and set him straight; and thus guided, he started resolutely westward, as +though heading for the river.<br><br>"Is it posseeble that he goes 'imself to +drown?" suggested d'Antimoine.<br><br>"No such good luck," Brown answered +shortly.<br><br>Coming out on what used to be called "the Strand"—West +Street they call it now—the Count bore away from the lights of the +Hoboken Ferry and from the guarded docks of the White Star and Anchor lines of +steamers, skirted the fleet of oyster boats, and so came to the quiet pier at +the foot of Perry Street, where the hay barges unload. This pier runs a long +way out into the river, for it is a part of what was called Sapo-kamikke Point +in Indian times. The Count stopped and looked cautiously around him, but his +pursuers promptly crouched behind a dray and became invisible.<br><br>As he +went out upon the pier, though, they were close upon his heels—walking +noiselessly over the loose hay and keeping themselves hidden in the shadow of +the barges and behind the piles of bales. At the very end of the pier he +stopped. Jaune and Brown, hidden by a bale of hay, were within five feet of +him. Their hearts were beating tremendously. There had been no tragical purpose +in their minds when they started, but it certainly did look now as though they +were in the thick of a tragedy. In the crisp October moonlight the Count's face +shone deathly pale; they could see the fingers of his right hand working +convulsively; they could hear his labored breathing. Below him was the deep, +black water, lapping and rippling as the swirl of the tide sucked it into the +dark, slimy recesses among the piles. In its bosom was horrible death. The +Count stepped out upon the very edge of the pier and gazed wofully down upon +the swelling waters. His dismal purpose no longer admitted of doubt. +Involuntarily the two followed him until they were close at his back. Little as +they loved him, they could not suffer him thus despairingly to leave the +world.<br><br>But instead of casting himself over the edge of the pier, the +Count slowly raised the hand that held the bundle, with the obvious intention +of throwing the bundle and whatever was the evil secret that it contained into +the river's depths. Quick as thought, Brown had seized the upraised arm, and +Jaune had settled upon the other arm with a grip like a vise.<br><br>"No, you +don't, my boy! Let's see what it is before it goes overboard. Hold fast, +d'Antimoine!"<br><br>The Count struggled furiously, but +hopelessly.<br><br>"It's no use. You may as well give in, Stumps!"<br><br>As +Brown uttered this name the Count suddenly became limp. The little bundle that +he had clutched tightly through the struggle dropped from his nerveless hand, +and fell open as it struck the ground. And there, gleaming in the moonlight, a +brace of razors, a stubby brush, a stout pair of shears, lay loosely in the +folds of a barber's jacket!<br><br>And this was the sorry climax to the +brilliant romance of the proscribed Bonapartist, the Count Sicca-tif de +Courtray!<br><br>Jaune, who was a generous-hearted young fellow, was for +setting free his crestfallen rival at once, and so having done with him. Brown +took a more statesmanlike view of the situation. "We will let him go after he +has owned up to Madame Carthame what a fraud he is," he said. The Count winced +when this sentence was pronounced, but he uttered no remonstrance. The shock of +the discovery had completely demoralized him.<br><br>It was after midnight when +they reached Madame Carthame's dwelling, and Rose herself, with her hair done +up in curl papers, opened the door for them, When she recognized the three +visitors and perceived that the Count was in custody, and at the same moment +remembered her curl papers, on her face the gaze of astonishment and the blush +of maidenly modesty contended for the right of way.<br><br>Madame Carthame +fairly was in bed—as was evident from the spirited conversation between +herself and her vivacious daughter that was perfectly audible through the +folding doors which separated the little parlor from her bedroom. It was +evident, also, that she was indisposed to rise. However, her indisposition was +overcome and in the course of twenty minutes or so she appeared arrayed in a +frigid dignity and a loose wrapper. Rose, meanwhile, had taken off her curl +papers, and Jaune regarded her tumbled hair with ecstasy.<br><br>The tribunal +being assembled, the prisoner was placed at the bar and the trial began. It was +an eminently irregular trial, looking at it from a legal point of view, for the +verbal evidence all was hearsay. But it also was extra-legal in that it was +brief and decisive. Brown gave his testimony in the shape of a repetition of +the story that Jaune had told him had been told by Mr. Badger Brush's groom; +and when this was concluded, Jaune produced the jacket, razors, shears, and +shaving brush, and stated the circumstances under which they had been found. +Then the prosecution rested.<br><br>Being questioned by the court—that is +to say, by Madame Carthame—in his own defence, the Count replied gloomily +that he hadn't any. "When I saw that horse fellow," he said, "I knew that I was +likely to get into trouble, and that was the reason why I wanted to get rid of +these things. And now the game is up. It is all true. I was a barber. I am not +a count. My real name is Stumps."<br><br>Then it was that Madame Carthame, +blissfully ignorant of the fact that she had neglected to remove her nightcap, +stood up in her place, with her wrapper gathered about her in a statuesque +fashion, and in a tragic tone uttered the single +word:<br><br>"Sortez!"<br><br>And the Count went!<br><br>Out, out into the +chill and gloom of night went the false Count, never to return; and with him +went Madame Carthame's fond hope that her daughter would be a countess, which +also was the last barrier in the way of Jaune d'Antimoine's love. Perceiving +that the force of fate inexorably was pressing upon her, Madame +Carthame—still in her night-cap—bestowed upon Rose and Jaune the +maternal blessing in a manner that, even allowing for the nightcap, was both +stately and severe.<br><br>As at Vandyke Brown's wedding Jaune d'Antimoine was +radiantly magnificent in "The Marquis Suit," adding splendor to the ceremony +and rendering himself most pleasing in the eyes of Rose Carthame; so, a month +later, he was yet more radiant when he wore the famous suit again, in the +church of Saint Vincent de Paul, and was himself married.<br><br>Conté Crayon +brought Mr. Badger Brush down to the wedding, and the groom came too, and the +tailor got wind of it and came without being asked—and had to be implored +not to work it up into an advertisement, as he very much wanted to do. Mrs. +Vandyke Brown, just home from her wedding journey, was the first—after +the kiss of Madame Carthame had been sternly bestowed—to kiss the bride; +and Mr. Badger Brush irreverently whispered to Conté Crayon that he wished, by +gad! he had her chance!</p> +<br><br><br><br> +<h2><a name="11">OLE +'STRACTED</a><br> +———————<br>BY THOMAS +NELSON PAGE<br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A writer"></h2><p><i>Thomas +Nelson Page (born in Oakland, Virginia, April 23, 1853) represents the +generation of Southerners who were too young to fight but not to feel during +the Civil War. In the middle eighties he published a number of stories in the +"Century Magazine" which presented with loving sympathy charming views of the +old aristocratic régime that it had become a literary fashion sweepingly to +condemn. These tales of courtly ideals on the part of the masters, and +affecting loyalty on the side of the slaves, were gathered together and +published in 1887 in a volume entitled "In Ole Virginia." "Marse Chan," "Meh +Lady" and "Ole 'Stracted" the present selection, are the favorites of the +collection.</i></p><h2><img src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p +align="center">OLE 'STRACTED<br><span class="b2"><br>BY THOMAS NELSON +PAGE<br>[Footnote: This story is reprinted, by permission, from the book +entitled "In Ole Virginia." Copyright, 1887, by Charles Scribner's +Sons.]</span></p><p><span class="b3">A</span>WE, little Ephum! <i>awe</i> +little E-phum! ef you don' come 'long heah, boy, an' rock dis chile, I'll buss +you haid open!" screamed the high-pitched voice of a woman, breaking the +stillness of the summer evening. She had just come to the door of the little +cabin, where she was now standing, anxiously scanning the space before her, +while a baby's plaintive wail rose and fell within with wearying monotony. The +log cabin, set in a gall in the middle of an old field all grown up in +sassafras, was not a very inviting-looking place; a few hens loitering about +the new hen-house, a brood of half-grown chickens picking in the grass and +watching the door, and a runty pig tied to a "stob," were the only signs of +thrift; yet the face of the woman cleared up as she gazed about her and afar +off, where the gleam of green made a pleasant spot, where the corn grew in the +river bottom; for it was her home, and the best of all was she thought it +belonged to them.<br><br>A rumble of distant thunder caught her ear, and she +stepped down and took a well-worn garment from the clothes-line, stretched +between two dogwood forks, and having, after a keen glance down the path +through the bushes, satisfied herself that no one was in sight, she returned to +the house, and the baby's voice rose louder than before. The mother, as she set +out her ironing table, raised a dirge-like hymn, which she chanted, partly from +habit and partly in self-defence. She ironed carefully the ragged shirt she had +just taken from the line, and then, after some search, finding a needle and +cotton, she drew a chair to the door and proceeded to mend the +garment.<br><br>"Dis de on'ies' shut Ole 'Stracted got," she said, as if in +apology to herself for being so careful.<br><br>The cloud slowly gathered over +the pines in the direction of the path; the fowls carefully tripped up the +path, and after a prudent pause at the hole, disappeared one by one within; the +chickens picked in a gradually contracting circuit, and finally one or two +stole furtively to the cabin door, and after a brief reconnaissance came in, +and fluttered up the ladder to the loft, where they had been born, and yet +roosted. Once more the baby's voice prevailed, and once more the woman went to +the door, and, looking down the path, screamed, "Awe, little Ephum! awe, little +Ephum!"<br><br>"Ma'm," came the not very distant answer from the +bushes.<br><br>"Why 'n't you come 'long heah, boy, an' rock dis +chile?"<br><br>"Yes'm, I comin'," came the answer. She waited, watching, until +there emerged from the bushes a queer little caravan, headed by a small brat, +who staggered under the weight of another apparently nearly as large and quite +as black as himself, while several more of various degrees of diminutiveness +struggled along behind.<br><br>"Ain't you heah me callin' you, boy? You better +come when I call you. I'll tyah you all to pieces!" pursued the woman, in the +angriest of keys, her countenance, however, appearing unruffled. The head of +the caravan stooped and deposited his burden carefully on the ground; then, +with a comical look of mingled alarm and penitence, he slowly approached the +door, keeping his eye watchfully on his mother, and, picking his opportunity, +slipped in past her, dodging skilfully just enough to escape a blow which she +aimed at him, and which would have "slapped him flat" had it struck him, but +which, in truth, was intended merely to warn and keep him in wholesome fear, +and was purposely aimed high enough to miss him, allowing for the certain +dodge.<br><br>The culprit, having stifled the whimper with which he was +prepared, flung himself on to the foot of the rough plank cradle, and began to +rock it violently and noisily, using one leg as a lever, and singing an +accompaniment, of which the only words that rose above the noise of the rockers +were "By-a-by, don't you cry; go to sleep, little baby"; and sure enough the +baby stopped crying and went to sleep.<br><br>Eph watched his mammy furtively +as she scraped away the ashes and laid the thick pone of dough on the hearth, +and shoveled the hot ashes upon it. Supper would be ready directly, and it was +time to propitiate her. He bethought himself of a message.<br><br>"Mammy, Ole +'Stracted say you must bring he shut; he say he marster comin' to- +night."<br><br>"How he say he is?" inquired the woman, with some +interest.<br><br>"He ain' say—jes say he want he shut. He sutny is +comical—he layin' down in de baid." Then, having relieved his mind, Eph +went to sleep in the cradle.<br><br>"'Layin' down in de baid?'" quoted the +woman to herself as she moved about the room. "I 'ain' nuver hern 'bout dat +befo'. Dat sutny is a comical ole man anyways. He say he used to live on dis +plantation, an' yit he al'ays talkin' 'bout de gret house an' de fine kerridges +dee used to have, an' 'bout he marster comin' to buy him back. De 'ain' nuver +been no gret house on dis place, not sence I know nuttin 'bout it, 'sep de +overseer house whar dat man live. I heah Ephum say Aunt Dinah tell him de ole +house whar used to be on de hill whar dat gret oak-tree is in de pines bu'nt +down de year he wuz born, an' he ole marster had to live in de overseer house, +an' hit break he heart, an' dee teck all he niggers, an' dat's de way <i>he</i> +come to blongst to we all; but dat ole man ain' know nuttin 'bout dat house, +'cause hit bu'nt down. I wonder whar he did come from?" she pursued, "an' what +he sho' 'nough name? He sholy couldn' been named 'Ole 'Stracted,' jes so; dat +ain' no name 'tall. Yit ef he ain' 'stracted, 'tain' nobody is. He ain' even +know he own name," she continued, presently. "Say he marster'll know him when +he come—ain' know de folks is free; say he marster gwi buy him back in de +summer an' kyar him home, an' 'bout de money he gwine gi' him. Ef he got any +money, I wonder he live down dyah in dat evil-sperit hole." And the woman +glanced around with great complacency on the picture-pasted walls of her own by +no means sumptuously furnished house. "Money!" she repeated aloud, as she began +to rake in the ashes, "He ain' got nuttin. I got to kyar him piece o' dis bread +now," and she went off into a dream of what they would do when the big crop on +their land should be all in, and the last payment made on the house; of what +she would wear, and how she would dress the children, and the appearance she +would make at meeting, not reflecting that the sum they had paid for the +property had never, even with all their stinting, amounted in any one year to +more than a few dollars over the rent charged for the place, and that the eight +hundred dollars yet due on it was more than they could make at the present rate +in a lifetime.<br><br>"Ef Ephum jes had a mule, or even somebody to help him," +she thought, "but he ain' got nuttin. De chil'n ain big 'nough to do nuttin but +eat; he 'ain' not no brurrs, an' he deddy took 'way an' sold down Souf de same +time my ole marster whar dead buy him; dat's what I al'ays heah 'em say, an' I +know he's dead long befo' dis, 'cause I heah 'em say dese Virginia niggers earn +stan' hit long deah, hit so hot, hit frizzle 'em up, an' I reckon he die befo' +he ole marster, whar I heah say die of a broked heart torectly after dee teck +he niggers an' sell 'em befo' he face. I heah Aunt Dinah say dat, an' dat he +might'ly sot on he ole servants, spressaly on Ephum deddy, whar named Little +Ephum, an' whar used to wait on him. Dis mus' 'a' been a gret place dem days, +'cordin' to what dee say." She went on: "Dee say he sutny live strong, wuz jes +rich as cream, an' weahed he blue coat an' brass buttons, an' lived in dat ole +house whar was up whar de pines is now, an' whar bu'nt down, like he owned de +wull. An' now look at it; dat man own it all, an' cuttin' all de woods off it. +He don't know nuttin 'bout black folks, ain' nuver been fotch up wid 'em. Who +ever heah he name 'fo' he come heah an' buy de place, an' move in de overseer +house, an' charge we all eight hundred dollars for dis land, jes 'cause it got +little piece o' bottom on it, an' forty-eight dollars rent besides, wid he ole +stingy wife whar oon' even gi' 'way buttermilk!" An expression of mingled +disgust and contempt concluded the reflection.<br><br>She took the ash-cake out +of the ashes, slapped it first on one side, then on the other, with her hand, +dusted it with her apron, and walked to the door and poured a gourd of water +from the piggin over it. Then she divided it in half; one half she set up +against the side of the chimney, the other she broke up into smaller pieces and +distributed among the children, dragging the sleeping Eph, limp and soaked with +sleep, from the cradle to receive his share. Her manner was not rough—was +perhaps even tender—but she used no caresses, as a white woman would have +done under the circumstances. It was only toward the baby at the breast that +she exhibited any endearments. Her nearest approach to it with the others was +when she told them, as she portioned out the ash-cake, "Mammy ain't got nuttin +else; but ntiver min', she gwine have plenty o' good meat next year, when deddy +done pay for he land."<br><br>"Hi! who dat out dyah?" she said, suddenly. "Run +to de do', son, an' see who dat comin'," and the whole tribe rushed to inspect +the new-comer.<br><br>It was, as she suspected, her husband, and as soon as he +entered she saw that something was wrong. He dropped into a chair, and sat in +moody silence, the picture of fatigue, physical and mental. After waiting for +some time, she asked, indifferently. "What de matter?"<br><br>"Dat +man."<br><br>"What he done do now?" The query was sharp with +suspicion.<br><br>"He say he ain' gwine let me have my land."<br><br>"He's a +half-strainer," said the woman, with sudden anger. "How he gwine help it? Ain' +you got crap on it?" She felt that there must be a defence against such an +outrage.<br><br>"He say he ain' gwine wait no longer; dat I wuz to have tell +Christmas to finish payin' for it, an' I ain' do it, an' now he done change he +min'."<br><br>"Tell dis Christmas comin'," said his wife, with the positiveness +of one accustomed to expound contracts.<br><br>"Yes; but I tell you he say he +done change he min'." The man had evidently given up all hope; he was dead +beat.<br><br>"De crap's yourn," said she, affected by his surrender, but +prepared only to compromise.<br><br>"He say he gwine teck all dat for de rent, +and dat he gwine drive Ole 'Stracted 'way too."<br><br>"He ain' nuttin but po' +white trash!" It expressed her supreme contempt.<br><br>"He say he'll gi' me +jes one week mo' to pay him all he ax for it," continued he, forced to a +correction by her intense feeling, and the instinct of a man to defend the +absent from a woman's attack, and perhaps in the hope that she might suggest +some escape.<br><br>"He ain' nuttin sep po' white trash!" she repeated. "How +you gwine raise eight hundred dollars at once? Dee kyarn nobody do dat. Gord +mout! He ain' got good sense."<br><br>"You ain' see dat corn lately, is you?" +he asked. "Hit jes as rank! You can almos' see it growin' ef you look at it +good. Dat's strong land. I know dat when I buy it."<br><br>He knew it was gone +now, but he had been in the habit of calling it his in the past three years, +and it did him good to claim the ownership a little longer.<br><br>"I wonder +whar Marse Johnny is?" said the woman. He was the son of her former owner; and +now, finding her proper support failing her, she instinctively turned to him. +"He wouldn' let him turn we all out."<br><br>"He ain' got nuttin, an' ef he is, +he kyarn get it in a week," said Ephraim.<br><br>"Kyarn you teck it in de +co't?"<br><br>"Dat's whar he say he gwine have it ef I don' git out," said her +husband, despairingly.<br><br>Her last defence was gone.</p><h2><img +src="images/portrait3.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p>"Ain' you hongry?" she +inquired.<br><br>"What you got?"<br><br>"I jes gwine kill a chicken for +you."<br><br>It was her nearest approach to tenderness, and he knew it was a +mark of special attention, for all the chickens and eggs had for the past three +years gone to swell the fund which was to buy the home, and it was only on +special occasions that one was spared for food.<br><br>The news that he was to +be turned out of his home had fallen on him like a blow, and had stunned him; +he could make no resistance, he could form no plans. He went into a rough +estimate as he waited.<br><br>"Le' me see: I done wuck for it three years dis +Christmas done gone; how much does dat meek?"<br><br>"An' fo' dollars, an' five +dollars, an' two dollars an' a half last Christmas from de chickens, an' all +dem ducks I done sell he wife, an' de washin' I been doin' for 'em; how much is +dat?" supplemented his wife.<br><br>"Dat's what I say!"<br><br>His wife +endeavored vainly to remember the amount she had been told it was; but the +unaccounted-for washing changed the sum and destroyed her reliance on the +result. And as the chicken was now approaching perfection, and required her +undivided attention, she gave up the arithmetic and applied herself to her +culinary duties.<br><br>Ephraim also abandoned the attempt, and waited in a +reverie, in which he saw corn stand so high and rank over his land that he +could scarcely distinguish the bulk, and a stable and barn and a mule, or maybe +two—it was a possibility—and two cows which his wife would milk, +and a green wagon driven by his boys, while he took it easy and gave orders +like a master, and a clover patch, and wheat, and he saw the' yellow grain +waving, and heard his sons sing the old harvest song of "Cool Water" while they +swung their cradles, and—<br><br>"You say he gwine turn Ole 'Stracted +out, too?" inquired his wife, breaking the spell. The chicken was done now, and +her mind reverted to the all-engrossing subject.<br><br>"Yes; say he tired o' +ole 'stracted nigger livin' on he place an' payin' no rent."<br><br>"Good Gord +A'mighty! Pay rent for dat ole pile o' logs! Ain't he been mendin' he shoes an' +harness for rent all dese years?"<br><br>"'Twill kill dat ole man to tu'n him +out dat house," said Ephraim; "he ain 'nuver stay away from dyah a hour since +he come heah."<br><br>"Sutny 'twill," assented his wife; then she added, in +reply to the rest of the remark, "Nuver min'; den we'll see what he got in +dyah." To a woman, that was at least some compensation. Ephraim's thoughts had +taken a new direction.<br><br>"He al'ays feared he marster'd come for him while +he 'way," he said, in mere continuance of his last remark.<br><br>"He sen' me +wud he marster comin' to-night, an he want he shut," said his wife, as she +handed him his supper. Ephraim's face expressed more than interest; it was +tenderness which softened the rugged lines as he sat looking into the fire. +Perhaps he thought of the old man's loneliness, and of his own father torn away +and sold so long ago, before he could even remember, and perhaps very dimly of +the beauty of the sublime devotion of this poor old creature to his love and +his trust, holding steadfast beyond memory, beyond reason, after the knowledge +even of his own identity and of his very name was lost.<br><br>The woman caught +the contagion of his sympathy.<br><br>"De chil'n say he mighty comical, an' he +layin' down in de baid," she said.<br><br>Ephraim rose from his +seat.<br><br>"Whar you gwine?"<br><br>"I mus' go to see 'bout him," he said, +simply.<br><br>"Ain' you gwine finish eatin'?"<br><br>"I gwine kyar dis to +him."<br><br>"Well, I kin cook you anurr when we come back," said his wife, +with ready acquiescence.<br><br>In a few minutes they were on the way, going +single file down the path through the sassafras, along which little Eph and his +followers had come an hour before, the man in the lead and his wife following, +and, according to the custom of their race, carrying the bundles, one the +surrendered supper and the other the neatly folded and well-patched shirt in +which Ole 'Stracted hoped to meet his long-expected loved ones.<br><br>As they +came in sight of the ruinous little hut which had been the old man's abode +since his sudden appearance in the neighborhood a few years after the war, they +observed that the bench beside the door was deserted, and that the door stood +ajar—two circumstances which neither of them remembered ever to have seen +before; for in all the years in which he had been their neighbor Ole 'Stracted +had never admitted any one within his door, and had never been known to leave +it open. In mild weather he occupied a bench outside, where he either cobbled +shoes for his neighbors, accepting without question anything they paid him, or +else sat perfectly quiet, with the air of a person waiting for some one. He +held only the briefest communication with anybody, and was believed by some to +have intimate relations with the Evil One, and his tumble-down hut, which he +was particular to keep closely daubed, was thought by such as took this view of +the matter to be the temple where he practiced his unholy rites. For this +reason, and because the little cabin, surrounded by dense pines and covered +with vines which the popular belief held "pizenous," was the most desolate +abode a human being could have selected, most of the dwellers in that section +gave the place a wide berth, especially toward nightfall, and Ole 'Stracted +would probably have suffered but for the charity of Ephraim and his wife, who, +although often wanting the necessaries of life themselves, had long divided it +with their strange neighbor. Yet even they had never been admitted inside his +door, and knew no more of him than the other people about the settlement +knew.<br><br>His advent in the neighborhood had been mysterious. The first that +was known of him was one summer morning, when he was found sitting on the bench +beside the door of this cabin, which had long been unoccupied and left to +decay. He was unable to give any account of himself, except that he always +declared that he had been sold by some one other than his master from that +plantation, that his wife and boy had been sold to some other person at the +same time for twelve hundred dollars (he was particular as to the amount), and +that his master was coming in the summer to buy him back and take him home, and +would bring him his wife and child when he came. Everything since that day was +a blank to him, and as he could not tell the name of his master or wife, or +even his own name, and as no one was left old enough to remember him, the +neighborhood having been entirely deserted after the war, he simply passed as a +harmless old lunatic laboring under a delusion. He was devoted to children, and +Ephraim's small brood were his chief delight. They were not at all afraid of +him, and whenever they got a chance they would slip off and steal down to his +house, where they might be found any time squatting about his feet, listening +to his accounts of his expected visit from his master, and what he was going to +do afterward. It was all of a great plantation, and fine carriages and horses, +and a house with his wife and the boy.<br><br>This was all that was known of +him, except that once a stranger, passing through the country, and hearing the +name Ole 'Stracted, said that he heard a similar one once, long before the war, +in one of the Louisiana parishes, where the man roamed at will, having been +bought of the trader by the gentleman who owned him, for a small price, on +account of his infirmity.<br><br>"Is you gwine in dyah?" asked the woman, as +they approached the hut.<br><br>"Hi! yes; 'tain' nuttin' gwine hu't you; an' +you say Ephum say he be layin' in de baid?" he replied, his mind having +evidently been busy on the subject.<br><br>"An' mighty comical," she corrected +him, with exactness born of apprehension.<br><br>"Well? I 'feared he +sick."<br><br>"I ain' nuver been in dyah," she persisted.<br><br>"Ain' de +chil'n been in dyah?"<br><br>"Dee say 'stracted folks oon hu't +chil'n."<br><br>"Dat ole man oon hu't nobody; he jes tame as a ole +tomcat."<br><br>"I wonder he ain' feared to live in dat lonesome ole house by +hisself. I jes lieve stay in a graveyard at once. I ain' wonder folks say he +sees sperrits in dat hanty-lookin' place." She came up by her husband's side at +the suggestion. "I wonder he don' go home."<br><br>"Whar he got any home to go +to sep heaven?" said Ephraim.<br><br>"What was you mammy name, +Ephum?"<br><br>"Mymy," said he, simply.<br><br>They were at the cabin now, and +a brief pause of doubt ensued. It was perfectly dark inside the door, and there +was not a sound. The bench where they had heretofore held their only +communication with their strange neighbor was lying on its side in the weeds +which grew up to the very walls of the ruinous cabin, and a lizard suddenly ran +over it, and with a little rustle disappeared under the rotting ground-sill. To +the woman it was an ill omen. She glanced furtively behind her, and moved +nearer her husband's side. She noticed that the cloud above the pines was +getting a faint yellow tinge on its lower border, while it was very black above +them. It filled her with dread, and she was about to call her husband's notice +to it, when a voice within arrested their attention. It was very low, and they +both listened in awed silence, watching the door meanwhile as if they expected +to see something supernatural spring from it.<br><br>"Nem min'—jes +wait—'tain so long now—he'll be heah torectly," said the voice. +"Dat's what he say—gwine come an' buy me back—den we gwine +home."<br><br>In their endeavor to catch the words they moved nearer, and made +a slight noise. Suddenly the low, earnest tone changed to one full of +eagerness.<br><br>"Who dat?" was called in sharp inquiry.<br><br>"'Tain' nobody +but me an' Polly, Ole 'Stracted," said Ephraim, pushing the door slightly wider +open and stepping in. They had an indistinct idea that the poor deluded +creature had fancied them his longed-for loved ones, yet it was a relief to see +him bodily.<br><br>"Who you say you is?" inquired the old man, +feebly.<br><br>"Me an' Polly."<br><br>"I done bring you shut home," said the +woman, as if supplementing her husband's reply. "Hit all bran' clean, an' I +done patch it."<br><br>"Oh, I thought—" said the voice, +sadly.<br><br>They knew what he thought. Their eyes were now accustomed to the +darkness, and they saw that the only article of furniture which the room +contained was the wretched bed or bench on which the old man was stretched. The +light sifting through the chinks in the roof enabled them to see his face, and +that it had changed much in the last twenty-four hours, and an instinct told +them that he was near the end of his long waiting.<br><br>"How is you, Ole +'Stracted?" asked the woman.<br><br>"Dat ain' my name," answered the old man, +promptly. It was the first time he had ever disowned the name.<br><br>"Well, +how is you, Ole—What I gwine to call you?" asked she, with feeble +finesse.<br><br>"I don' know—he kin tell you."<br><br>"Who?"<br><br>"Who? +Marster. He know it. Ole 'Stracted ain' know it; but dat ain' nuttin. <i>He</i> +know it—got it set down in de book. I jes waitin' for 'em now."<br><br>A +hush fell on the little audience—they were in full sympathy with him, +and, knowing no way of expressing it, kept silence. Only the breathing of the +old man was audible in the room. He was evidently nearing the end. "I mighty +tired of waitin'," he said, pathetically. "Look out dyah and see ef you see +anybody," he added suddenly.<br><br>Both of them obeyed, and then returned and +stood silent; they could not tell him no.<br><br>Presently the woman said, +"Don' you warn put you' shut on?"<br><br>"What did you say my name was?" he +said.<br><br>"Ole 'Str—" She paused at the look of pain on his face, +shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, and relapsed into embarrassed +silence.<br><br>"Nem min'! dee'll know it—dee'll know me 'dout any name, +oon dee?" He appealed wistfully to them both. The woman for answer unfolded the +shirt. He moved feebly, as if in assent.<br><br>"I so tired waitin'," he +whispered; "done 'mos gin out, an' he oon come; but I thought I heah little Eph +to-day?" There was a faint inquiry in his voice.<br><br>"Yes, he wuz +heah."<br><br>"Wuz he?" The languid form became instantly alert, the tired face +took on a look of eager expectancy. "Heah, gi'm'y shut quick. I knowed it. +Wait; go over dyah, son, and git me dat money. He'll be heah torectly." They +thought his mind wandered, and merely followed the direction of his eyes with +theirs. "Go over dyah quick—don't you heah me?"<br><br>And to humor him +Ephraim went over to the corner indicated.<br><br>"Retch up dyah, an' run you' +hand in onder de second jice. It's all in dyah," he said to the +woman—"twelve hunderd dollars—dat's what dee went for. I wucked +night an' day forty year to save dat money for marster; you know dee teck all +he land an' all he niggers an' tu'n him out in de old fiel'? I put 'tin dyah +'ginst he come. You ain' know he comin' dis evenin', is you? Heah, help me on +wid dat shut, gal—I stan'in' heah talkin' an' maybe ole marster waitin'. +Push de do' open so you kin see. Forty year ago," he murmured, as Polly jammed +the door back and returned to his side—"forty year ago dee come an' +leveled on me: marster sutny did cry. 'Nem min',' he said, 'I comin' right down +in de summer to buy you back an' bring you home.' He's comin', too—nuver +tol' me a lie in he life—comin' dis evenin.' Make 'aste." This in +tremulous eagerness to the woman, who had involuntarily caught the feeling, and +was now with eager and ineffectual haste trying to button his shirt.<br><br>An +exclamation from her husband caused her to turn around, as he stepped into the +light and held up an old sock filled with something.<br><br>"Heah, hoi you' +apron," said the old man to Polly, who gathered up the lower corners of her +apron and stood nearer the bed.<br><br>"Po' it in dyah." This to Ephraim, who +mechanically obeyed. He pulled off the string, and poured into his wife's lap +the heap of glittering coin—gold and silver more than their eyes had ever +seen before.<br><br>"Hit's all dyah," said the old man, confidentially, as if +he were rendering an account. "I been savin' it ever sence dee took me 'way. I +so busy savin' it I ain' had time to eat, but I ain' hongry now; have plenty +when I git home." He sank back exhausted. "Oon marster be glad to see me?" he +asked presently in pathetic simplicity. "You know we grewed up to-gerr? I been +waitin' so long I 'feared dee 'mos' done forgit me. You reckon dee is?" he +asked the woman, appealingly.<br><br>"No, suh, dee ain' forgit you," she said, +comfortingly.<br><br>"I know dee ain'," he said, reassured. "Dat's what he tell +me—he ain' nuver gwine forgit me." The reaction had set in, and his voice +was so feeble now it was scarcely audible. He was talking rather to himself +than to them, and finally he sank into a doze. A painful silence reigned in the +little hut, in which the only sign was the breathing of the dying man. A single +shaft of light stole down under the edge of the slowly passing cloud and +slipped up to the door. Suddenly the sleeper waked with a start, and gazed +around.<br><br>"Hit gittin' mighty dark," he whispered, faintly. "You reckon +dee'll git heah 'fo' dark?"<br><br>The light was dying from his +eyes.<br><br>"Ephum," said the woman, softly, to her husband.<br><br>The effect +was electrical.<br><br>"Heish! you heah dat!" exclaimed the dying man, +eagerly.<br><br>"Ephum"—she repeated. The rest was drowned by Ole +'Stracted's joyous exclamation.<br><br>"Gord! I knowed it!" he cried, suddenly +rising upright, and, with beaming face, stretching both arms toward the door. +"Dyah dee come! Now watch 'em smile. All y'all jes stand back. Heah de one you +lookin' for. Marster—Mymy—heah's Little Ephum!" And with a smile on +his face he sank back into his son's arms.<br><br>The evening sun, dropping on +the instant to his setting, flooded the room with light; but as Ephraim gently +eased him down and drew his arm from around him, it was the light of the +unending morning that was on his face. His Master had at last come for him, and +after his long waiting, Ole 'Stracted had indeed gone home.</p> +<br><br><br><br> + + + + +<h2><a name="12">OUR CONSUL AT +CARLSRUHE</a> +<br>——————————— +<br>BY F. J. STIMSON<br><img src="images/writer.jpg" alt="A +writer"></h2><p><i>Frederic Jesup Stimson is a prominent lawyer of Boston. He +is a member of the New York and Boston bars and is a special lecturer at +Harvard. He has been more or less identified with State politics in +Massachusetts for a great many years, was Assistant Attorney-General of the +State in 1884-85, general counsel to the United States Industrial Commission, +and Democratic candidate for Congress in 1902. In addition to being the author +of several novels, essays, etc., Mr. Stimson has written a number of law books. +His earlier novels were published under the pen-name of "J. S. of Dale." Mr. +Stimsorfs latest novel is entitled "In Cure of Her Soul". The hero of the +story, Austin Pinckney, is a son of the "Consul at Carlsruhe."</i></p><h2><img +src="images/clover.jpg" alt=" "></h2><p align="center">OUR CONSUL AT +CARLSRUHE<br><span class="b2">BY F. J. STIMSON ("J. S. OF DALE")<br>[Footnote: +By permission of the publishers, from "The Sentimental Calendar," by J. S. of +Dale (F. J. Stimson). Copyright, 1886, by Charles Scribner's +Sons.]</span></p><p><span class="b3">D</span>IED.—<i>In Baden, Germany, +the 22d instant, Charles Austin Pinckney, late U. S. Consul at Carlsruhe, aged +sixty years.</i><br><br>There: most stories of men's lives end with the +epitaph, but this of Pinckney's shall begin there. If we, as haply God or Devil +can, could unroof the houses of men's souls, if their visible works were of +their hearts rather than their brains, we should know strange things. And this +alone, of all the possible, is certain. For bethink you, how men appear to +their Creator, as He looks down into the soul, that matrix of their visible +lives we find so hard to localize and yet so sure to be. For all of us believe +in self, and few of us but are forced, one way or another, to grant existence +to some selves outside of us. Can you not fancy that men's souls, like their +farms, would show here a patch of grain, and there the tares; there the weeds +and here the sowing; over this place the rain has been, and that other, to one +looking down upon it from afar, seems brown and desolate, wasted by fire or +made arid by the drought? In this man's life is a poor beginning, but a better +end; in this other's we see the foundations, the staging, and the schemes of +mighty structures, now stopped, given over, or abandoned; of vessels, fashioned +for the world's seas, now rotting on the stocks. Of this one all seems ready +but the launching, of that the large keelson only has been laid; but both alike +have died unborn, and the rain falls upon them, and the mosses grow: the sound +of labor is far off, and the scene of work is silent. Small laws make great +changes; slight differences of adjustment end quick in death. Small, now, they +would seem to us; but to the infinite mind all things small and great are +alike; the spore of rust in the ear is very slight, but a famine in the corn +will shake the world.<br><br>Pinckney's life the world called lazy; his leisure +was not fruitful, and his sixty years of life were but a gentleman's. Some +slight lesion may have caused paralysis of energy, some clot of heart's blood +pressed upon the soul: I make no doubt our doctors could diagnose it, if they +knew a little more. Tall and slender, he had a strange face, a face with a +young man's beauty; his white hair gave a charm to the rare smile, like new +snow to the spring, and the slight stoop with which he walked was but a grace +the more. In short, Pinckney was interesting. Women raved about him; young men +fell in love with him; and if he was selfish, the fault lay between him and his +Maker, not visible to other men. There are three things that make a man +interesting in his old age: the first, being heroism, we may put aside; but the +other two are regret and remorse. Now, Mr. Pinckney's fragrance was not of +remorse—women and young men would have called it heroism: it may have +been. As much heroism as could be practiced in thirty-six years of +Carlsruhe.<br><br>Why Carlsruhe? That was the keynote of inquiry; and no one +knew. Old men spoke unctuously of youthful scandals; women dreamed. I suspect +even Mrs. Pinckney wondered, about as much as the plowed field may wonder at +the silence of the autumn. But Pinckney limped gracefully about the sleepy +avenues which converge at the Grand Duke's palace, like a wakeful page in the +castle of the Sleeping Beauty. Pinckney was a friend of the Grand Duke's, and +perhaps it was a certain American flavor persisting in his manners which made +him seem the only man at the Baden court who met his arch-serene altitude on +equal terms. For one who had done nothing and possessed little, Pinckney +certainly preserved a marvelous personal dignity. His four daughters were all +married to scions of Teutonic nobility; and each one in turn had asked him for +the Pinckney arms, and quartered them into the appropriate check-square with as +much grave satisfaction as he felt for the far-off patch of Hohenzollern, or of +Hapsburg in sinister chief. Pinckney had laughed at it and referred them to the +Declaration of Independence, clause the first; but his wife had copied them +from some spoon or sugar bowl. She was very fond of Pinckney, and no more +questioned him why they always lived in Carlsruhe than a Persian would the sun +for rising east. Now and then they went to Baden, and her cup was +full.<br><br>Pinckney died of a cold, unostentatiously, and was buried like a +gentleman; though the Grand Duke ac tually wanted to put the court in mourning +for three days, and consulted with his chamberlain whether it would do. Mrs. +Pinckney had preceded him by some six years; but she was an appendage, and her +husband's deference had always seemed in Carlsruhe a trifle strained. It was +only in these last six years that any one had gossiped of remorse, in answer to +the sphinx-like question of his marble brow. Such questions vex the curious. +Furrows trouble nobody—money matters are enough f them; but white +smoothness in old age is a bait, and tickles curiosity. Some said at home he +was a devil and beat his wife.<br><br>But Pinckney never beat his wife. Late in +the last twilight of her life she had called him to her, and excluded even the +four daughters, with their stout and splendid barons; then, alone with him, she +looked to him and smiled. And suddenly his gentleman's heart took a jump, and +the tears fell on her still soft hands. I suppose some old road was opened +again in the gray matter of his brain. Mrs. Pinckney smiled the more strongly +and said—not quite so terribly as Mrs. Amos Barton: "Have I made you +happy, dearest Charles?" And Charles, the perfect-mannered, said she had; but +said it stammering. "Then," said she, "I die very happily, dear." And she did; +and Pinckney continued to live at Carlsruhe.<br><br>The only activities of +Pinckney's mind were critical. He was a wonderful orator, but he rarely spoke. +People said he could have been a great writer, but he never wrote, at least +nothing original. He was the art and continental-drama critic of several +English and American reviews; in music, he was a Wagnerian, which debarred him +from writing of it except in German; but the little Court Theatre at Carlsruhe +has Wagner's portrait over the drop-curtain, and the consul's box was never +empty when the mighty heathen legends were declaimed or the holy music of the +Grail was sung. In fiction of the earnest sort, and poetry, Pinckney's critical +pen showed a marvelous magic, striking the scant springs of the author's +inspiration through the most rocky ground of incident or style. He had a +curious sympathy with youthful tenderness. But, after all, as every young +compatriot who went to Baden said, what the deuce and all did he live in Baden +for? Miles Breeze had said it in 'Fifty, when he made the grand tour with his +young wife, and dined with him in Baden-Baden; that is, when Breeze dined with +him, for his young wife was indisposed and could not go. Miles Breeze, junior, +had said it, as late as 'Seventy-six, when he went abroad, ostensibly for +instruction, after leaving college. He had letters to Mr. Pinckney, who was +very kind to the young Baltimorean, and greatly troubled the Grand Duke his +Serenity by presenting him as a relative of the Bonapartes. Many another +American had said it, and even some leading politicians: he might have held +office at home: but Pinckney continued to live in Carlsruhe.<br><br>His +critical faculties seemed sharpened after his wife's death, as his hair grew +whiter; and if you remember how he looked before you must have noticed that the +greatest change was in the expression of his face. There was one faint downward +line at either side of his mouth, and the counterpart at the eyes; n doubtful +line which, faint as it was graven, gave a strange amount of shading to the +face. And in speaking of him still earlier, you must remember to take your +india-rubber and rub out this line from his face. This done, the face is still +serious; but it has a certain light, a certain air of confidence, of +determination, regretful though it be, which makes it loved by women. Women can +love a desperate, but never begin to love a beaten, cause. Women fell in love +with Pinckney, for the lightning does strike twice in the same place; but his +race was rather that of Lohengrin than of the Asra, and he saw it, or seemed to +see it, not. Still, in these times those downward lines had not come, and there +was a certain sober light in his face as of a sorrowful triumph. This was in +the epoch of his greatest interestingness to women.<br><br>When he first came +to Carlsruhe, he was simply the new consul, nothing more; a handsome young man, +almost in his honeymoon, with a young and pretty wife. He had less presence in +those days, and seemed absorbed in his new home, or deeply sunk in something; +people at first fancied he was a poet, meditating a great work, which finished, +he would soon leave Carlsruhe. He never was seen to look at a woman, not +overmuch at his wife, and was not yet popular in society.<br><br>But it was +true that he was newly married. He was married in Boston, in 'Forty-three or +four, to Emily Austin, a far-off cousin of his, whom he had known (he himself +was a Carolinian) during his four years at Cambridge. For his four years in +Cambridge were succeeded by two more at the Law School; then he won a great +case against Mr. Choate, and was narrowly beaten in an election for Congress; +after that it surprised no one to hear the announcement of his engagement to +Miss Austin, for his family was unexceptionable and he had a brilliant future. +The marriage came in the fall, rather sooner than people expected, at King's +Chapel. They went abroad, as was natural; and then he surprised his friends and +hers by accepting his consulship and staying there. And they were +imperceptibly, gradually, slowly, and utterly forgotten.<br><br>The engagement +came out in the spring of 'Forty-three. And in June of that year young Pinckney +had gone to visit his <i>fiancée</i> at Newport. Had you seen him there, you +would have seen him in perhaps the brightest role that fate has yet permitted +on this world's stage. A young man, a lover, rich, gifted, and ambitious, of +social position unquestioned in South Carolina and the old Bay State—all +the world loved him, as a lover; the many envied him, the upper few desired +him. Handsome he has always remained.<br><br>And the world did look to him as +bright as he to the world. He was in love, as he told himself, and Miss Austin +was a lovable girl; and the other things he was dimly conscious of; and he had +a long vacation ahead of him, and was to be married late in the autumn, and he +walked up from the wharf in Newport swinging his cane and thinking on these +pleasant things.<br><br>Newport, in those days, was not the paradise of +cottages and curricles, of lawns and laces, of new New Yorkers and Nevada +miners; it was the time of big hotels and balls, of Southern planters, of +Jullien's orchestras, and of hotel hops; such a barbarous time as the wandering +New Yorker still may find, lingering on the simple shores of Maine, sunning in +the verdant valleys of the Green Mountains; in short, it was Arcadia, not +Belgravia. And you must remember that Pinckney, who was dressed in the latest +style, wore a blue broadcloth frock coat, cut very low and tight in the waist, +with a coat-collar rolling back to reveal a vast expanse of shirt-bosom, +surmounted by a cravat of awful splendor, bow-knotted and blue-fringed. His +trousers were of white duck, his boots lacquered, and he carried a gold-tipped +cane in his hand. So he walked up the narrow old streets from the wharf, making +a sunshine in those shady places. It was the hottest hour of a midsummer +afternoon; not a soul was stirring, and Pinckney was left to his own pleasant +meditations.<br><br>He got up the hill and turned into the park by the old +mill; over opposite was the great hotel, its piazzas deserted, silent even to +the hotel band. But one flutter of a white dress he saw beneath the trees, and +then it disappeared behind them, causing Pinckney to quicken his steps. He +thought he knew the shape and motion, and he followed it until he came upon it +suddenly, behind the trees, and it turned.<br><br>A young girl of wonderful +beauty, rare, erect carriage, and eyes of a strange, violet-gray, full of much +meaning. This was all Pinckney had time to note; it was no one he had ever seen +before. He had gone up like a hunter, sure of his game, and too far in it to +retract. The embarrassment of the situation was such that Pinckney forgot all +his cleverness of manner, and blurted out the truth like any +schoolboy.<br><br>"I beg pardon—I was looking for Miss Austin," said he; +and he raised his hat.<br><br>A delightful smile of merriment curled the +beauty's lips. "My acquaintance with Miss Austin is too slight to justify my +finding her for you; but I wish you all success in your efforts," she said, and +vanished, leaving the promising young lawyer to blush at his own awkwardness +and wonder who she was. As she disappeared, he only saw that her hair was a +lustrous coil of pale gold-brown, borne proudly.<br><br>He soon found Emily +Austin, and forgot the beauty, as he gave his betrothed a kiss and saw her +color heighten; and in the afternoon they took a long drive. It was only at +tea, as he was sitting at table with the Austins in the long dining-room, that +some one walked in like a goddess; and it was she. He asked her name; and they +told him it was a Miss Warfield, of Baltimore, and she was engaged to a Mr. +Breeze.<br><br>In the evening there was a ball; and as they were dancing (for +every one danced in those days) he saw her again, sitting alone this time and +unattended. She was looking eagerly across the room, through the dancers and +beyond; and in her eyes was the deepest look of sadness Pinckney had ever seen +in a girl's face; a look such as he had thought no girl could feel. A moment +after, and it was gone, as some one spoke to her; and Pinckney wondered if he +had not been mistaken, so fleeting was it, and so strange. An +acquaintance—one of those men who delight to act as brokers of +acquaintances—who had noticed his gaze came up. "That is the famous Miss +Mary Warfield," said he. "Shall I not introduce you?"<br><br>"No," said +Pinckney; and he turned away rudely. To be rude when you like is perhaps one of +the choicest prerogatives of a good social position. The acquaintance stared +after him, as he went back to Miss Austin, and then went up and spoke to Miss +Warfield himself. A moment after, Pinckney saw her look over at him with some +interest; and he wondered if the man had been ass enough to tell her. Pinckney +was sitting withlimily Austin; and, after another moment, he saw Miss Warfield +look at her. Then her glance seemed to lose its interest; her eyelids drooped, +and Pinckney could see, from her interlocutor's mantief^ that he was put to his +trumps to keep her attention. At last he got away, awkwardly; and for many +minutes the strange girl sat like a statue, her long lashes just veiling her +eyes, so that Pinckney, from a distance, could not see what was in them. +Suddenly the veil was drawn and her eyes shone full upon him, her look meeting +his. Pinckney's glance fell, and his cheeks grew redder. Miss Warfield's face +did not change, but she rose and walked unattended through the centre of the +ballroom to the door. Pinckney's seat was nearer it than hers; she passed him +as if without seeing him, moving with unconscious grace, though it would not +have been the custom at that time for a girl to cross so large a room alone. +Just then some one asked Miss Austin for a dance; and Pinckney, who was growing +weary of it, went out on the piazza for a cigar, and then, attracted by the +beauty of the night, strayed further than he knew, alone, along the cliffs +above the sea.<br><br>The next day he was walking with Miss Austin, and they +passed her, in her riding habit, waiting by the mounting stone; she bowed to +Miss Austin alone, leaving him out, as it seemed to Pinckney, with exaggerated +care.<br><br>"Is she not beautiful?" said Emily, ardently.<br><br>"Humph!" said +Pinckney. A short time after, as they were driving on the road to the Fort, he +saw her again; she was riding alone, across country, through the rocky knolls +and marshy pools that form the southern part of Rhode Island. She had no groom +lagging behind, but it was not so necessary then as now; and, indeed, a groom +would have had a hard time to keep up with her, as she rattled up the granite +slopes and down over logs and bushes with her bright bay horse. The last +Pinckney saw of her she disappeared over a rocky hill against the sky; her +beautiful horse flecked with foam, quivering with happy animal life, and the +girl calm as a figure carved in stone, with but the faintest touch of rose upon +her face, as the pure profile was outlined one moment against the sunlit +blue.<br><br>"How recklessly she rides!" whispered Miss Austin to him, and +Pinckney said <i>yes</i>, absently, and, whipping up his horse, drove on, +pretending to listen to his fiancée's talk. It seemed to be about dresses, and +rings, and a coming visit to the B———s, at Nahant. He had +never seen a girl like her before; she was a puzzle to him.<br><br>"It is a +great pity she is engaged to Mr. Breeze," said Miss Austin; and Pinckney woke +up with a start, for he was thinking of Miss Warneld too.<br><br>"Why?" said +he.<br><br>"I don't like him," said Emily. "He isn't good enough for +her."<br><br>As this is a thing that women say of all wooers after they have +won, and which the winner is usually at that period the first to admit, +Pinckney paid little attention to this remark. But that evening he met Miles +Breeze, saw him, talked with him, and heard others talk of him. A handsome man, +physically; well made, well dressed, well fed; well bred, as breeding goes in +dogs or horses; a good shot, a good sportsman, yachtsman, story-teller; a good +fellow, with a weak mouth; a man of good old Maryland blood, yet red and +healthy, who had come there in his yacht and had his horses sent by sea. A +well-appointed man, in short; provided amply with the conveniences of +fashionable life. A man of good family, good fortune, good health, good sense, +good nature, whom it were hypercritical to charge with lack of soul. "The first +duty of a gentleman is to be a good animal," and Miles Breeze performed it +thoroughly. Pinckney liked him, and he could have been his companion for years +and still have liked him, except as a husband for Miss Warfield.<br><br>He +could not but recognize his excellence as a <i>parti</i>. But the race of Joan +of Arc does not mate with Bon-homme Richard, even when he owns the next farm. +Pinckney used to watch the crease of Breeze's neck, above the collar, and +curse.<br><br>Coming upon Miss Austin one morning, she had said, "Come—I +want to introduce you to Miss War-field." Pinckney had demurred, and offered as +an excuse that he was smoking. "Nonsense, Charles," said the girl; "I have told +her you are coming." Pinckney threw away his cigar and followed, and the +presentation was made. Miss Warfield drew herself almost unusually erect after +courtesying, as if in protest at having to bow at all. She was so tall that, as +Emily stood between them, he could meet Miss War-field's iron-gray eyes above +her head. It was the first time in Pinckney's life that he had consciously not +known what to say.<br><br>"I was so anxious to have you meet Charles before he +left," said Emily. Evidently, his fiancée had been expatiating upon him to this +new friend, and if there is anything that puts a man in a foolish position it +is to have this sort of preamble precede an acquaintance.<br><br>"An anxiety I +duly shared, Miss Warfield, I assure you," said he; which was a truth spoiled +in the uttering—what the conversational Frenchman terms +<i>banale</i>.<br><br>"Thank you," said Miss Warfield, very simply and +tremendously effectively. Pinckney, for the second time with this young lady, +felt himself a schoolboy. Emily interposed some feeble commonplaces, and then, +after a moment, Miss Warfield said, "I must go for my ride"; and she left, with +a smile for Emily and the faintest possible glance for him. She went off with +Breeze; and it gave Pinckney some relief to see that she seemed equally to +ignore the presence of the man who was her acknowledged lover, as he trotted on +a smart cob beside her. That evening, when he went on the piazza, after tea, he +found her sitting alone, in one corner, with her hands folded: it was one +peculiarity about this woman that she was never seen with work. She made no +sign of recognition as he approached; but, none the less, he took the chair +that was beside her and waited a moment for her to speak. "Have you found Miss +Austin?" said the beauty, with the faintest trace of malice in her coldly +modulated tones, not looking at him. "I am not looking for Miss Austin," said +he; and she continued not looking at him, and so this strange pair sat there in +the twilight, silent.<br><br>What was said between them I do not know. But in +some way or other their minds met; for long after Miss Austin and her mother +had returned from some call, long after they had all left him, Pinckney +continued to pace up and down restlessly in the dark. Pinckney had never seen a +woman like this. After all, he was very young; and he had, in his heart, +supposed that the doubts and delights of his soul were peculiar to men alone. +He thought all women—at all events, all young and worthy +women—regarded life and its accepted forms as an accomplished fact, not +to be questioned, and, indeed, too delightful to need it. The young South +Carolinian, in his ambitions, in his heart-longings and heart-sickenings, in +his poetry, even in his emotions, had always been lonely; so that his +loneliness had grown to seem to him as merely part of the day's work. The best +women, he knew, where the best housewives; they were a rest and a benefit for +the war-weary man, much as might be a pretty child, a bed of flowers, a strain +of music. With Emily Austin he should find all this; and he loved her as good, +pretty, amiable, perfect in her way. But now, with Miss Warfield—it had +seemed that he was not even lonely.<br><br>Pinckney did not see her again for a +week. When he met her, he avoided her; she certainly avoided him. Breeze, +meantime, gave a dinner. He gave it on his yacht, and gave it to men alone. +Pinckney was of the number.<br><br>The next day there was a driving party; it +was to drive out of town to Purgatory, a pretty place, where there is a brook +in a deep ravine with a verdant meadow-floor; and there they were to take food +and drink, as is the way of humanity in pretty places. Now it so happened that +the Austins, Miss Warfield, Breeze, and Pinckney were going to drive in a +party, the Austins and Miss Warfield having carriages of their own; but at the +last moment Breeze did not appear, and Emily Austin was incapacitated by a +headache. She insisted, as is the way of loving women, that "Charles should not +lose it"; for to her it was one of life's pleasures, and such pleasures +satisfied her soul. (It may be that she gave more of her soul to life's duties +than did Charles, and life's pleasures were thus adequate to the remainder; I +do not know.) Probably Miles Breeze also had a headache; at all events, he did +not, at the last moment, appear. It was supposable that he would turn up at the +picnic; Mrs. Austin joined her daughter's entreaty; Miss Warfield was left +unattended; in fine, Pinckney went with her.<br><br>Miss Warfield had a solid +little phaeton with two stout ponies: she drove herself. For some time they +were silent; then, insensibly, Pinckney began to talk and she to answer. What +they said I need not say —indeed I could not, for Pinckney was a poet, a +man of rare intellect and imagination, and Miss Warfield was a woman of this +world and the next; a woman who used conventions as another might use a fan, +to' screen her from fools; whose views were based on the ultimate. But they +talked of the world, and of life in it; and when it came to an end, Pinckney +noted to himself this strange thing, that they had both talked as of an +intellectual problem, no longer concerning their emotions—in short, as if +this life were at an end, and they were two dead people discussing +it.<br><br>So they arrived at the picnic, silent; and the people assembled +looked to one another and smiled, and said to one another how glum those two +engaged people looked, being together, and each wanting another. Mr. Breeze had +not yet come; and as the people scattered while the luncheon was being +prepared, Pinckney and she wandered off like the others. They went some +distance—perhaps a mile or more—aimlessly; and then, as they seemed +to have come about to the end of the valley, Pinckney sat down upon a rock, but +she did not do so, but remained standing. Hardly a word had so far been said +between them: and then Pinckney looked at her and said:<br><br>"Why are you +going to marry Mr. Breeze?"<br><br>"Why not?"—listlessly.<br><br>"You +might as well throw yourself into the sea," said Pinckney; and he looked at the +sea which lay beyond them shimmering.<br><br>"That I had not thought of," said +she; and she looked at the sea herself with more interest. Pinckney drew a long +breath.<br><br>"But why this man?" he said at length.<br><br>"Why that man?" +said the woman; and her beautiful lip curled, with the humor of the mind, while +her eyes kept still the sadness of the heart, the look that he had seen in the +ballroom. "We are all poor," she added; then scornfully, "it is my duty to +marry."<br><br>"But Miles Breeze?" persisted Pinckney.<br><br>The lip curled +almost to a laugh. "I never met a better fellow than Miles," said she; and the +thought was so like his own of the night before that Pinckney gasped for +breath. They went back, and had chicken croquettes and champagne, and a band +that was hidden in the wood made some wild Spanish music.<br><br>Going home, a +curious thing happened. They had started first and far preceded all the others. +Miss Warfield was driving; and when they were again in the main road, not more +than a mile from the hotel, Pinckney saw ahead of them, coming in a light +trotting buggy of the sort that one associates with the gentry who call +themselves "sports," two of the gentlemen whom he had met at Breeze's dinner +the night before. Whether Miss Warfield also knew them he did not know; but +they evidently had more wine than was good for them, and were driving along in +a reckless manner on the wrong side of the road. The buggy was much too narrow +for the two; and the one that was driving leaned out toward them with a tipsy +leer. Pinckney shouted at him, but Miss War-field drove calmly on. He was on +the point of grasping the reins, but a look of hers withheld him, and he sat +still, wondering; and in a moment their small front wheel had crashed through +both the axles and spider-web wheels of the trotting buggy. The shock of the +second axle whirled them round, and Pinckney fell violently against the dasher, +while Miss Warfield was thrown clear of the phaeton on the outer side. But she +had kept the reins, and before Pinckney could get to her she was standing at +her horses' heads, patting their necks calmly, with a slight cut in her +forehead where she had fallen, and only her nostril quivering like theirs, as +the horses stood there trembling. The buggy was a wreck, and the horse had +disappeared; and the two men, sobered by the fall, came up humbly to her to +apologize. She heard them silently, with a pale face like some injured queen's; +and then, bowing to them their dismissal, motioned Pinckney into the phaeton, +which, though much broken, was still standing, and, getting in herself, drove +slowly home.<br><br>"She might have killed herself," thought Pinckney, but he +held his peace, as if it were the most natural course of action in the world. +To tell the truth, under the circumstances he might have done the same +alone.<br><br>Then it began. Pinckney could not keep this woman out of his +head. He would think of her at all times, alone and in company. Her face would +come to him in the loneliness of the sea, in the loneliness of crowds; the +strong spirit of the morning was hers, and the sadness of the sunset and the +wakeful watches of the night. Her face was in the clouds of evening, in the +sea-coal fire by night; her spirit in the dreams of summer morns, in the +hopeless breakers on the stormy shores, in the useless, endless effort of the +sea. Her eyes made some strange shining through his dreams; and he would wake +with a cry that she was going from him, in the deepest hours of the night, as +if in the dreams he had lost her, vanishing forever in the daily crowd. Then he +would lie awake until morning, and all the laws of God and men would seem like +cobwebs to his sorrow, and the power of it freezing in his heart. This was the +ultimate nature of his being, to follow her, as drop of water blends in drop of +water, as frost rends rock. Let him then follow out his law, as other beings do +theirs; gravitation has no conscience; should he be weaker than a drop of +water, because he was conscious, and a man?<br><br>So these early morning +battles would go on, and character, training, conscience, would go down before +the simpler force, like bands of man's upon essential nature. Then, with the +first ray of the dawn, he would think of Emily Austin, sleeping near him, +perhaps dreaming of him, and his mad visions seemed to fade; and he would rise +exhausted, and wander out among the fresh fields and green dewy lanes, and +calm, contentful trees, and be glad that these things were so; yet could these +not be moved, nor their destiny be changed. And as for him, what did it +matter?<br><br>So the days went by. And Emily Austin looked upon him with eyes +of limitless love and trust, and Pinckney did not dare to look upon himself; +but his mind judged by day-time and his heart strove by night. Hardly at all +had he spoken to Miss Warfield since; and no reference had ever been made +between them to the accident, or to the talk between them in the valley. Only +Pinckney knew that she was to be married very shortly; and he had urged Miss +Austin to hasten their own wedding.<br><br>Emily went off with her mother to +pay her last visit among the family, and to make her preparations; and it was +deemed proper that at this time Pinckney should not be with her. So he stayed +in Newport five long days alone; and during this time he never spoke to Miss +Warfield. I believe he tried not to look at her: she did not look at him. And +on the fifth night Pinckney swore that he must speak to her once more, whatever +happened.<br><br>In the morning there was talk of a sailing party; and Pinckney +noted Breeze busying himself about the arrangements. He waited; and at noon +Breeze came to him and said that there was a scarcity of men: would he go? Yes. +They had two sail-boats, and meant to land upon Conanicut, which was then a +barren island without a house, upon the southern end, where it stretches out to +sea.<br><br>Pinckney did not go in the same boat with Breeze and Miss Warfield; +and, landing, he spent the afternoon with others and saw nothing of her. But +after dinner was over, he spoke to her, inviting her to walk; and she came, +silently. A strange evening promenade that was: they took a path close on the +sheer brink of the cliffs, so narrow that one must go behind the other. +Pinckney had thought at first she might be frightened, with the rough path, and +the steepness of the rocks, and the breakers churning at their base; but he saw +that she was walking erect and fearlessly. Finally she motioned him to let her +go ahead; and she led the way, choosing indiscriminately the straightest path, +whether on the verge of the sea or leading through green meadows. A few +colorless remarks were made by him, and then he saw the folly of it, and they +walked in silence. After nearly an hour, she stopped.<br><br>"We must be +getting back," she said.<br><br>"Yes," said he, in the same tone; and they +turned; she still leading the way, while he followed silently. They were +walking toward the sunset; the sun was going down in a bank of dense gray +cloud, but its long, level rays came over to them, across a silent sea. She +walked on over the rugged cliff, like some siren, some genius of the place, +with a sure, proud grace of step; she never looked around, and his eyes were +fixed upon the black line of her figure, as it went before him, toward the gray +and blood-red sunset. It seemed to him this was the last hour of his life; and +even as he thought his ankle turned, and he stumbled and fell, walking +unwittingly into one of the chasms, where the line of the cliff turned in. He +grasped a knuckle of rock, and held his fall, just on the brink of a ledge +above the sea. Miss Warfield had turned quickly and seen it all; and she leaned +down over the brink, with one hand around the rock and the other extended to +help him, the ledge on which he lay being some six feet below. Pinckney grasped +her hand and kissed it.<br><br>Her color did not change at this; but, with a +strange strength in her beautiful lithe figure, she drew him up steadily, he +helping partly with the other hand, until his knees rested on the path again. +He stood up with some difficulty, as his ankle was badly wrenched.<br><br>"I am +afraid you can not walk," said she.<br><br>"Oh, yes," he answered; and took a +few steps to show her. The pain was great; but she walked on, and he followed, +as best he could, limping. She looked behind now, as if to encourage him; and +he set his teeth and smiled.<br><br>"We must not be late," she said. "It is +growing dark, and they will miss us."<br><br>But they did not miss them; for +when they got to the landing-place, both the sail-boats had left the shore +without them. There was nothing but the purple cloud-light left by this time; +but Pinckney fancied he could see her face grow pale for the first time that +day.<br><br>"We must get home," she said, hurriedly. "Is there no +boat?"<br><br>Pinckney pointed to a small dory on the beach, and then to the +sea. In the east was a black bank of cloud, rifted now and then by lightning; +and from it the wind came down and the white caps curled angrily toward +them.<br><br>"No matter," said she; "we must go."<br><br>Pinckney found a pair +of oars under the boat, and dragged it, with much labor, over the pebbles, she +helping him. The beach was steep and gravelly, with short breakers rather than +surf; and he got the bow well into the water and held it there.<br><br>"Get +in," said he.<br><br>Miss Warfield got into the stern, and Pinckney waded out, +dragging the flat-bottomed boat until it was well afloat. Then he sprang in +himself, and, grasping the oars, headed the boat for the Fort point across the +channel, three miles away. She sat silently in the stern, and it was too dark +for him to see her face. He rowed savagely.<br><br>But the wind was straight +ahead, and the sea increasing every moment. They were not, of course, exposed +to the full swell of the ocean; but the wide sea-channel was full of short, +fierce waves that struck the little skiff repeated rapid blows, and dashed the +spray over both of them.<br><br>"Are you not afraid?" said he, calmly. "It is +growing rougher every minute."<br><br>"Oh, no, Mr. Pinckney," said she. "Pray +keep on."<br><br>Pinckney noticed a tremor of excitement in her voice; but by a +flash of lightning that came just then he saw her deep eyes fixed on his, and +the pure white outline of her face undisturbed. So he rowed the harder, and she +took a board there was and tried to steer; and now and then, as the clouds were +lit, he saw her, like a fleeting vision in the night.<br><br>But the storm grew +stronger; and Pinckney knew the boat that they were in was not really moving at +all, though, of course, the swash of the waves went by and the drifted spray. +He tried to row harder, but with the pain in his ankle and the labor he was +nearly exhausted, and his heart jumped in his chest at each recover. "Can you +not make it?" said she, in the dark; and Pinckney vowed that he could, and set +his teeth for a mighty pull. The oar broke, and the boat's head fell rapidly +off in the trough of the sea. He quickly changed about his remaining oar, and +with it kept the head to the wind. "We must go back," he said, panting. "I +know," said she. The windstorm was fairly upon them; and, in spite of all his +efforts, an occasional wave would get upon the beam and spill its frothing +crest into the boat. Pinckney almost doubted whether it would float until it +reached the shore; but Miss Warfield did not seem in the least disturbed, and +spoke without a tremor in her voice. The lightning had stopped now, and he +could not see her.<br><br>He had miscalculated the force of the wind and waves, +however; for in a very minutes they were driven broadside back upon the beach, +almost at the same place from which they had started. Miss War-field sprang out +quickly, and he after, just as a wave turned the dory bottom upward on the +stones.<br><br>"They will soon send for us," he said; and stepping painfully up +the shore, he occupied himself with spreading her shawl in a sheltered spot for +them to wait in. She sat down, and he beside her. He was very wet, and she made +him put some of the shawl over himself. The quick summer storm had passed now, +with only a few big drops of rain; and the moon was breaking out fitfully +through veils of driving clouds and their storm-scud. By its light he looked at +her, and their eyes met. Pinckney groaned aloud, and stood up. "Would that they +would never come; would God that we could—"<br><br>"We can not," said +she, softly, in a voice that he had never heard from her before—a voice +with tears in it; and the man threw himself down at her feet, inarticulate, +maddened. Then, with a great effort at control, not touching her, but looking +straight into her eyes, he said, in blunt, low speech: "Miss Warfield, I love +you—do you know it?"<br><br>Her head sank slowly down; but she answered, +very low, but clearly, <i>yes</i>. Then their eyes met again; and, by some +common impulse, they rose and walked apart. After a few steps, he stopped, +being lame, and leaned against the cliff; but she went on until her dark figure +was blended with the shadows of the crags.<br><br>So, when the boat came back, +its sail silvered by the moonlight, they saw it, and, coming down, they met +again; but only as the party were landing on the beach. Several of the party +had come back; and Mr. Breeze, who was among them, was full of explanation how +he had missed the first boat and barely caught the second, supposing that his +fiancée was in the first. An awkward accident, but easily explained by +Pinckney, with the sprain in his ankle; and, indeed, the others were too full +of excuses for having forgotten them to inquire into the causes of their +absence together.<br><br>Pinckney went to his room, and had a night of +delirium. Toward morning, his troubled wakefulness ended, and he fell into a +dream. He dreamed that in the centre of the world was one green bower, beneath +a blossoming tree, and he and Miss Warfield were there. And the outer world was +being destroyed, one sphere by fire and the other by flood, and there was only +this bower left. But they could not stay there, or the tree would die. So they +went away, he to the one side and she to the other, and the ruins of the world +fell upon them, and they saw each other no more.<br><br>In the morning his +delirium left him, and his will resumed its sway. He went down, and out into +the green roads, and listened to the singing of the birds; and then out to the +cliff-path, and there he found Miss Warfield sitting as if she knew that he +would come. He watched her pure face while she spoke, and her gray eyes: the +clear light of the morning was in them, and on the gleaming sea +beyond.<br><br>"You must go," said she.<br><br>"Yes," he said, and that was +all. He took her hand for one moment, and lifted it lightly to his lips; then +he turned and took the path across the fields. When he got to the first stile, +he looked around. She was still sitting there, turned toward him. He lifted his +hat, and held it for a second or two; then he turned the corner of the hedge +and went down to the town.<br><br>Thus it happened that this story, which began +sadly, with an epitaph, may end with wedding bells:<br><br>M<span +class="b1">ARRIED.</span><i>At King's Chapel, by the Rev. Dr. A——, +the 21st of September, Charles Austin Pinckney to Emily, daughter of the late +James Austin.</i></p> +<br><br><br><br> +<p align="center"><span class="b1">END OF VOLUME TWO</span></p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Short Story Classics (American) Vol. 2, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHORT STORY CLASSICS *** + +***** This file should be named 16556-h.htm or 16556-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/5/5/16556/ + +Produced by Michael Gray + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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